~\({O})/~

7.

Detention

~\({O})/~

~Espurr~

"... Safety. Regulated!"

Watchog's high-pitched ranting slowly trickled through the ringing fuzz consuming Espurr's hearing. She blinked her eyes open a crack, her vision still too blurry to see anything right. Thoughts came to her, but in bits and pieces that still needed to be reassembled into something whole. The only thing she knew for sure was that she had a splitting headache, worse than anything she'd had before.

"Because what could a bunch of kids do?" The frenzied speech wavered in and out. She could barely focus on it."But no…"

"Watchog! Calm yourself!" That was Farfetch'd. He was distant, he must have just gotten here.

"Calm myself?!" Some more sputtering. "L-look at the classroom! Just think of the repair bill for all this! What even was that?"

"That was a blast of uncontrolled psychic energy," said a new voice it took Espurr a minute to recognize. It was a male's voice, smooth and a little airy, and she could hear his footsteps approaching. Principal Simipour. "It's usually linked to high emotional stress and seen in newborns. However… most pokemon learn to control their power before they even walk. To see somemon of her age with so little control is curious, to say the least. Nurse Audino, if you would like to do the honors?"

"Yes, Principal." Another set of footsteps, right towards her, and then Espurr felt herself get lifted off the ground.

"Not fatal, my tail…" Espurr heard Watchog mutter in the distance. "Piece of the blackboard nearly got me in the heart."

After that, the ringing, the fuzz, and the headache took over for a little while.

~\({O})/~

"Holy mystery dungeon!" Tricky hollered, leaning out the window of the School Clinic. "The classroom is wrecked!"

"So wrecked…" Shelmet said in between bites of food, "That school should be cancelled for the summer?"

"Nice try." Audino said, setting Espurr's lunch aside and taking a bite of an apple. In the corner, Watchog stared out the window and muttered quietly to himself in disbelief.

Principal Simipour poured himself a wooden cup of orangeberry tea and blew on it to cool it off.

"The classroom's destruction should do nothing to impede our regular school schedule," he said. "Exams will continue as usual."

That garnered collective grumbles from all the other students. Simipour took a sip of his tea indifferently.

Espurr had been watching it all from one of the clinic's nests, still a passive observer. Her vision had come together after a bit, the ringing and fuzz had gone away, and the roof of the clinic was only spinning a little now. Her head still pounded like she was being hit between her eyes repeatedly with one of Farfetch'd's leeks, and she felt much wearier than she had before. She tried a move, and this was what happened. Maybe that was on her for pushing it.

"Doing better now?" Farfetch'd looked down at her, his pointy beaked craned down towards her head. Addled as she was, it took her a few seconds to register: "I think so."

"Atta girl." Farfetch'd lightly tapped Espurr on the head with his leek, before moving off to another part of the clinic.

"Espurr!"

Espurr barely had time to glance in the direction of the voice before she was tackled by Tricky. Soon after, she was swarmed completely by the rest of the students.

"You totally destroyed the classroom!" Tricky exclaimed. "It was awesome."

"It was not awesome!" Deerling glanced at Tricky angrily. "Somemon could have been seriously hurt!" She looked at Espurr. "Are you alright?"

"I think I swallowed a wood chip," Goomy complained.

"Maybe it'll stay in your belly forever and ever…" Shelmet hissed to Goomy. A kick against his side from Deerling's hind leg made him retreat into his shell.

Pancham didn't say anything. He just folded his arms, and leaned back against the wall.

Audino placed Espurr's lunch in front of her, a meager assortment of berries, nuts, and seeds.

"Seeing as you're doing better," she began. "You should be well enough to serve detention after school today."

Watchog suddenly stood up, as if reminded on the spot.

"That reminds me…" he muttered to himself, before pushing open the door and heading towards the supply building in the distance.

Tricky flopped down upon the bean bag next to Espurr.

"I wonder what detention's gonna be today?" She mused to herself idly.

~\({O})/~

"Separate detentions?" Tricky howled as Watchog pushed her out the door. "But why?"

"Doesn't matter why," Watchog grunted. "Any chance to separate troublemakers is a gift to me." With that, he managed to push the fennekin out the door, Goomy sliming off with them.

"You'll be helping me clean up the clinic today," Audino said once they had left. "Start by picking up all the bits and pieces of food strewn around the place. I'll clean the back room."

With that, she pulled on a pair of gloves and continued into the backroom. Espurr saw a bed and a wall of wooden filing cabinets as it closed after her.

Left to her own devices, she got to picking up all the stray bits of food that had been scattered around the clinic by the rest of the students. There were copious amounts of nuts and seeds scattered everywhere, the splotchy remains of an oran berry that looked like it had been stepped on, and an entire discarded apple core that was probably Shelmet's. Espurr even picked out all the small bits of food that had landed in the straw beds, a task she spent sorely wishing she could just rip all those bits and pieces out of the straw with her mind and not get a headache.

By the time she was done setting the empty wicker baskets on the counter that was almost taller than she was, Espurr felt thoroughly exhausted. She cast a look at the stack of baskets sitting on the counter to her right. Then she remembered. They had hidden something there, hadn't they?

That stray thought was enough to jog Espurr's memory. She had completely forgotten about it in the mess of a day that followed! Casting a look towards the back door of the clinic to make sure Audino wouldn't suddenly walk in on her, Espurr raised a paw, and tried to use her mind power to shove the baskets towards her.

Splitting pain suddenly exploded through her head again, making her stumble back a little and clutch her forehead. It disappeared as quick as it came, replaced with the slight pounding she'd been feeling all this time. So that wasn't happening, she'd just have to do it the normal way. She slowly pulled the stack of woven baskets towards her with her one good arm, trying to be careful as she pulled them down from the countertop…

Too late. They all toppled over on the floor, creating several clatters as they rolled to a stop.

The door must've opened seconds after that. Luckily, Espurr acted fast. She snatched the paper—glued to the bottom of the bucket with some of Goomy's slime—separated it from the basket, and shoved it under a nest.

"Oh, honey! You don't need to do that part." Audino, who had just opened the door, rushed over and began to pick up the baskets. As she stacked them, she looked back at Espurr. "You should have asked me if you needed something from the counter!"

Espurr just tried to keep in a sigh. "I will next time."

She sat on the nest, her legs brushing up against the paper she'd hidden in the straw. She could feel her cast brush up against her fur. A few days ago, the dull throbbing of the bone would have cut clean through her thoughts. Now, she barely noticed it. Did that mean it was healing?

"The next step is dusting," Audino said, setting the stack of baskets back on the counter. I'll get all the high places. I need you to dust in the lower spots for me. Can you do that?"

Espurr nodded, taking the duster she was handed that was only a fraction of the size of Audino's big puffy one. It was going to be a while before she'd be able to sneak a peek at that paper, wasn't it?

~\({O})/~

Café Connection

~Tricky~

"Just some regular old cleanup at Kangaskhan's," Watchog said from behind as he made Tricky and Goomy march ahead of him through the square. "What could go wrong? Everything. Everything could go wrong. But nothing. Is going. To go wrong. Or I'm not Vice Principal Watchog—Sharp left!"

The two of them both made a sharp left, heading up the steps and into the well-lit interior of the Café Connection.

Tricky never got to be inside the Café Connection. She'd spied looks through the window, sure, but being inside was like entering a whole other world! It was darker, lit by candles that gave the place a nice-smelling scent and luminous orbs that hung like chandeliers. There were flowers hanging from the walls, plants in vases on the tables and counters, and long, leafy vines that drooped along the entranceways. Some kind of song was playing on an emera-powered radio behind the counter, but Tricky didn't like it. And all the pokemon! This must have been why the village square was always so quiet a few hours before sunset.

"And what can I get for y—Oh! Watchog!" Kangaskhan behind the counter almost dropped the stack of seashells she was drying as she caught sight of Watchog approaching. "It's not like you to bring students along for your evening drink."

"Alas, duty calls," Watchog told Kangaskhan, sliding onto a stool. "I'm here on official school business. These two troublemakers have landed themselves detention. I don't suppose you have some chores they could help out with?"

"Doesn't the school usually handle detentions?" Kangaskhan cocked a rocky eyebrow.

Watchog leaned in close over the counter.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this," he began, his voice a dramatic hush. "But just between you and me: One of the students had an 'accident' in the classroom. A big accident. Boom."

"Boom… ?" The other eyebrow went up.

"Boom." Watchog waved his paws out, exaggerating the effect as much as possible.

"Well…" Kangaskhan set the stack of seashells aside before she had another chance to drop and crack them. "I guess I could use some help behind the counter. A—"

Tricky's ears suddenly fell flat, terrified at the word that was about to leave Kangaskhan's mouth. Kangaskhan quickly corrected herself before the word was uttered in its entirety, sending Tricky a brief apologetic look.

"I mean, Tricky could do that. And Goomy could help me with the dirty dishes. Sound all right?"

Watchog leaned back in his stool, relaxing himself. "Sounds wonderful. And I will have that drink, by the way. Mago berry, please. Here—I'll pay you up front—"

As Watchog searched the small bag he had brought along for his money pouch, Tricky quietly slunk off into another section of the restaurant. She shook off the brief tremors that were still going through her body, trying her hardest to blot out the things she didn't want to think about. It was going to be fun to see what made this place tick!

"H-hey! Wait for me!" Goomy called after her over the hustle and bustle of the restaurant. He was slower than here but still sliming his way over anyway. Tricky looked back, tilting her head at him.

"What's the problem?" she asked.

"You can't just leave me alone like that…" Goomy panted, sliming up to Tricky. "Not like what you did yesterday!"

"…What did we do yesterday?" Tricky was more clueless than a deino surrounded by a flock of noivern.

"You left me!" Goomy snapped at her. He snapped. Goomy never snapped. "All alone, for hours!"

"Oh, that…" Tricky's eyes suddenly lit up. "That was fun. You should have joined in!"

"I spent three hours in the hot sun waiting for you guys!" Goomy continued angrily. "I almost dried out! That, that wasn't fun! That was unpleasant! A-and hot! And dusty!"

Their argument was beginning to turn the heads of a lot of serenity villagers. Tricky's ears slowly lowered at Goomy's comments.

"Sorry…" she muttered, eyeing the ground she was beginning to paw.

"Just… Just d-don't run off without me again," Goomy said. With a slimy paw, he pointed behind him. "T-the door to the counters is that way."

Silently, Tricky turned around and started trudging back to the front of the counter. Glancing back at Watchog, Goomy began to follow.

Seconds later, Kangaskhan propped her up on a moving cart against the counter.

"Don't get too rowdy, okay?" Kangaskhan told Tricky. "I won't have accidents in my restaurant. You're my waiter for the night. Just take everymon's orders and bring them to Houndoom in the kitchens. He'll take it from there. You can start with this one: 'One Mago berry drink, fermented.' Got it?"

Tricky nodded so vigorously it unsettled Kangaskhan a little. "Alright then. Go!"

Tricky hopped down from the cart and sprinted into the kitchens, where a houndoom was searing something in a pan with his fire breath. Awesome.

"Oi!" He paused the flame to look over and snap at Tricky. "No kits in the kitchen!"

"But I'm the waiter!" Tricky announced proudly. "Also, I have all your orders, so you don't wanna kick me out."

Houndoom raised an eyebrow, taking a second to continue simmering the dish again. "Let's see them, then."

Tricky cleared her throat. "One Mago Berry—"

"No, not like that!" Houndoom snapped. "You're supposed to write them down first!" he went back to simmering the dish full force, ordering Tricky out with his wiry tail. Tricky was gone faster than a speeding Thunderbolt.

~\({O})/~

Baram Town ~ Air Continent

~Mawile and Archen~

"Once we get back to the Society, I am taking a long, long nap," Archen announced as he and Mawile idly strolled through the streets of Baram Town. "And then I'm not taking any long-distance missions for a week. So tiring…"

The lapras Mawile had chartered was running late, and the next wailord liner to the Water Continent wasn't for another six hours. That left Mawile and Archen with nothing to do until their lapras arrived for them, and while Mawile would have much preferred to prematurely record the day's events in her explorer's log, Archen had almost forcefully dragged her out to see the town's sights while they were here. In hindsight, Mawile couldn't really complain. Baram Town was a tourist location for a reason, after all, and it even made Mawile a little wistful that they wouldn't be able to return for a while after this.

"Count your lucky wooloo, that's all we'll hear about it officially." Mawile held on tightly to the exploration bag as they passed through what looked like a disassembled bird pokemons' choir. "We'll be out of HAPPI's snouts once we hand over those photos to Cloud Nine, and then it'll be down to Dedenne and the Chief to handle Meowth and the local news outlets."

"Wherever he is." Archen added.

"I wonder that caused the delay?" he wondered aloud as they passed a stall of dungeon supplies. "I take this lapras all the time, he's almost never late."

"I wouldn't worry too much on it," Mawile responded. "Harbor traffic often interferes with lapras trave—"

A sudden commotion that erupted from the docks only seconds later turned both Mawile and Archen's heads. Without another word between them, the two explorers rushed in the direction of the harbor, pushing past several other 'mon who were fleeing in the opposite direction.

A panicking swirlix pointed a trembling limb towards the water as they and a few other pokemon arrived to see the source of the confusion. "look…" she gasped out.

The source of all the commotion made both Archen and Mawile's hearts skip a beat. Floating on the water was the stone statue of a lapras on a wooden raft, a note stuck to their chest in thick, loopy handwriting:

Drop The Trail

Or You're Next

This Is Your Only Warning

Mawile acted quickly. She pulled out an expedition gadget—it didn't matter which one—and snapped a photo of the statue floating before them. Then two others. Then a close-up of the note, and another, just to be safe. Then she quickly pulled Archen away by the wing, the bird scrambling to keep up as she walked away from the docks at a brisk pace.

"W-what's this about?" Archen squawked, trying not to end up with his poor feathers pulled out.

"This is better discussed at the inn," Mawile said, but even her steady tone couldn't help but betray the slightest hint of unease. "We don't want to be tangling with this when the local rescue teams show up. It'll create complications."

Even stubborn Archen had to admit that was advice best taken. He made more of an effort to catch up with Mawile, and neither of them cast a single look back on their hurried path to the inn.

"I know this may be a bad time," Kecleon asked hopefully as the pair of explorers walked by his stall. "But have you heard any word on when my supplier will—"

"Don't count on it," Mawile told him flatly. And then they were gone.

~\({O})/~

Café Connection

~Tricky~

The normal waiter was an inkay, so there was no ink anywhere around the Café Connection to write with. But Tricky had found a fix for that. Oran berries were kind of like ink, and yes, she had used up like ten of them, and nibbled a few when Kangaskhan wasn't looking, but now she had something to write with!

Mystery Dungeoneering Life Hacks, written by Wartortle of Pokemon Plaza. Tricky swore by it.

It was just a problem of remembering everything long enough to get it all down on paper, and hoping that Houndoom wouldn't chew her out for misspelling a little something here and there.

Tricky scooted the moving cart over to the last pokemon currently in the café she hadn't taken the order of yet, trying to get a good look at the pokemon who was obscured behind the giant menu.

"Can I get your order?" she asked cheerily.

"A plate of the vegetable pasta, please." None other than Ampharos put down the menu, clearing his throat politely. "And a raspberry sorbet—those always have been my guilty pleasure, I'm afraid…"

Tricky's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "No. Way!" she exclaimed, barely keeping her voice down to an excited hiss. "You're Ampharos! We totally met in the square two days ago!"

"That we did." Ampharos folded the menu and set it aside. "I must say, I was looking forward to meeting the two of you again. What kept your friend?"

"You mean Espurr?" Tricky tilted her head. "She got stuck with detention somewhere else…"

"How unfortunate." Ampharos lowered his head, looking pensive. "See," he continued. "After our chance meeting, I got in touch with a close friend in the Expedition Society." Tricky's eyes widened and sparkled. "They pulled some strings with the top brass, and brought into my possession a pair of Junior Memberships."

Ampharos sighed. "I was going to gift them to the two of you, but presenting them with only one of you around… that just won't do! It'll have to wait until I can meet you both."

Tricky almost yipped for joy with excitement! Her dream was finally coming true and she couldn't believe it! She just stopped herself from throwing a joy tantrum in the middle of the restaurant, instead taking a deep breath and asking Ampharos the world's most important question—

"Whencanwemeet? I know this really good place and it's quiet and there's a nice view and, and…"

Her throat was catching on her excited breath. She was so worked up she couldn't even spit the final words out.

"Hmm…" Ampharos thought on it. "How about… in three days? I hear that's when your schooldays end. I'll be waiting for you at the hill with the tree at sundown."

"That's exactly where I was thinking!" Tricky excitedly slammed her paws on the counter before the yellow pokemon could say another word, scooting the moving cart closer as she balance between them. "Now… what was that order again? I… kinda forgot."

~\({O})/~

Serenity Village Outskirts

~Espurr~

Once the cleaning of the school clinic was finally over, Espurr needed to clear her mind and get rid of her lingering headache. So rather than digging the paper out of the nest immediately, she decided to go for a walk. She wandered in silence the streets of Serenity Village, passing by the villagers who were enjoying the late afternoon breeze.

The place wasn't big. The main plaza in the center of the village was easily the largest spot in town. There was the forest path to the school up north, some houses to the west, and to the east was the archways of the village entrance.

Espurr ended up wandering south.

The houses quickly got sparser as she continued; within less than a minute, she had completely outstripped all the buildings.

Except for the crooked one.

It stood all on its own way out on the bay, on a small, swampy island that the house easily took up half of. It had two floors, and an attic, a wide gash in the wall setting the upper half of the house at a lopsided angle. A steep, shingled roof pointed up towards the skies. Two gnarled trees shot up around the ground on either side, looming protectively over the building like a pair of massive claws. The only thing connecting the island to the mainland was a ramshackle, rickety bridge that looked like it was ready to collapse into the water at just a touch. Espurr was sharp enough to figure out what it was: This was the Crooked House.

She cast a quick look both ways, just in case somemon caught her staring at the place. There was no way the old house was actually haunted, of course. And even if it was, the ghosts obviously preferred to keep to themselves. The entrance to the house, sealed off with several large wooden planks, made that much clear.

It was a place no-mon else in the village would go, not even Tricky. Just from here, she could see the difference between its muddy, blackened boards and the sparkling water of the lake clear as day. She should just be on her way, and forget she ever saw it.

But for some reason, she didn't. For some reason, it was like the house was grasping her attention in its claws, beckoning silently for her to come here and take a look inside.

Just a quick peek, she figured. Just to sate her curiosity. It would be to the doors and back. She'd get it out of her system, and then she'd get to brag to Tricky about it.

Espurr slowly crept along the creaky, moss-covered dock, testing each new board hesitantly with her foot before she stepped on it. The island was far out. Why did it have to be so long?

It didn't get any better as she went. Some of the boards had completely rotted away, and Espurr nearly fell into the lake when a board she stepped on snapped off and tumbled down into the water. And that was without noting the desolate feeling that pervaded the entire island. It made Espurr feel like she was being watched, and whether or not she was, it solidified one chief concept in her mind: There was something wrong with this house.

With this place. The entire island was evil, a blight upon the village and she was sure of it, and she just wanted to leave before something bad happened…

But something she couldn't quite make out kept her going anyway. She wasn't going back now. She wanted to accomplish at least one thing today.

Espurr trudged through the mud towards the crooked house. It stuck to her fur as she walked, and made disgusting squelching noises. She shivered thinking about how it felt stuck to her.

Something hidden in all the muck caught her foot, and sent her sprawling forward. She yelped, planting her arms forward before she could entirely fall forward. They sunk all the way up to her elbows.

Hidden in all the grime was what looked like a pair of cards on a small tablet. Espurr's foot was caught in the groove between the muck and the bottom of the tablet, and she'd kicked the cards slightly out of place. She gingerly pulled her foot out of the mud and away from it – was it some kind of card game?

An experimental tug revealed it was attached to something underneath all the muck. Espurr tried her best to put it back into place, but the mud smeared all over it made it impossible. The best she was able to get it was back on its pedestal, but halfway out of its original resting spot.

It was only then that she noticed the door of the Crooked House was open.

But it had been sealed. There were boards nailed to that door!

… And yet it was open.

Against all better judgement, Espurr slowly trudged up near the house's sagging porch. The structure loomed over her, absolutely massive when from a distance it had been so small. She gazed into the darkness that crawled out of the house's front door, and her eyes locked on the uniform darkness inside.

Something broke that darkness. Slowly she could make out what looked like a blue flame, ghostly, transparent, fading. Was this one of the house's ghosts? It looked like it was coming closer, but when it reached the doors it suddenly vanished. Just like that.

There was a gurgling deep within the house. And then a wet POP, and the sound of liquid being sprayed every which way met Espurr's ears. A few drops landed on the porch, brown and muddy. Espurr took several steps back, suddenly much less brave than before.

And then an endless torrent of swamp water shot out the doors of the Crooked House, engulfing Espurr completely and sending her skidding back across the bridge covered in nasty-smelling water.

She picked herself up, coughing from the mouthful of swamp she had accidentally inhaled – swamp tasted disgusting—and tried to rub the water out of her eyes with her wet fur. When her vision cleared, she saw she was back by the lakeside, apparently, and the house stared at her from a distance.

And the boards were back on the door. Like nothing had happened. That was the point where a scared, sopping wet Espurr decided it was officially too weird for her. She was getting as far away from that house as possible, and she was doing it now.

~\({O})/~

Village Square

"Freedom!" Tricky gleefully announced to the world as she bounded out the doors of the Café Connection.

"Your tail is still mine for the next three days, you hear that?" Watchog grumbled after her, still half-drunken.

Goomy silently slimed around Watchog, keeping to himself as he headed west. He didn't want to rack up any extra detentions.

Finally over her burst of energy, Tricky spun in a circle in the middle of the square, then fell on her haunches dizzily. Glancing offhandedly to the south side of the village, she thought she saw…

… No way… Was it…

"Espurr!" Tricky called out, immediately making a beeline for her classmate. "You're never gonna believe this—"

For a second, it looked like Espurr was running to catch up with her too—

But then she rushed right past the fennekin, her coat smelling of wet fur, and Tricky's face fell as she watched her only friend catch up with none other than Vice Principal Watchog.

"Excuse me, Vice Principal," Espurr said as she caught up to Watchog.

"So now you use my title," Watchog snapped, and it became clear to Espurr that he was not fully himself right now. "After you colluded with the Troublemaker, ran off during detention yesterday—made me worried sick—and blew up the entire classroom."

Espurr was left speechless. That… was a lot of trouble.

"So what do you want?" Watchog's harsh tone slapped Espurr back to reality. "Did you just come here to gloat? Or was Audino too much of a bore for you."

"Actually," Espurr began. "I'm here to apologize."

Watchog came to a halt, so suddenly Espurr outstripped him by a few steps before she realized he had stopped. His face twitched slightly, a look of disbelief covering it completely.

"You want… to apologize?" He asked slowly. Espurr nodded. Watchog sighed in disbelief.

"I've never had a student apologize to me before," he said. Espurr wasn't sure it was meant for her. "I-is that all you want?"

"That…" Espurr began. "… And maybe an oral session for the test tomorrow," she finished quicker than she probably should have.

"I knew there was a catch."

Watchog sighed and continued walking, but didn't seem to object to Espurr following.

"So…" she began trepidaciously.

"Yeah, I'll do it." He muttered. "Happy now?"

Espurr wanted to say something, but she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't spoil Watchog's rare calm mood. Instead, she silently broke off at some point, running in the other direction and back towards the school. She ran right past Tricky without even noticing her there.

~\({O})/~

School Clinic

When Espurr got back to the school, night had just about fallen. Audino was busy setting tarps over the orbs of luminous moss like she did every night. She stepped down from the stool she was on when Espurr walked in.

"I left a plate of berries out for you if you're hungry," she said to Espurr.

When Audino wasn't looking, Espurr finally ducked behind one of the straw beds and unfurled the paper in excitement. Finally, It was the moment of truth. She was finally going to see what had flown in on the breeze by chance. Unfolding the paper slowly, Espurr spread it out in front of her…

It was—or at least, it looked like—a map. It wasn't like she could read any of it, but the pictures of towns and small trails snaking every which way made it obvious what it was. Espurr wasn't sure if that upheld her expectations, or let them down completely. What was such a thing doing flying around on the breeze? And who did it formerly belong to?

Never mind the fact that the largest town on the map was marked with a sigil that looked like a golden circle with wings, and above it, more of those pesky Unown symbols that annoyed Espurr so. She tried to sound out some of them and see if she could read it, but to no avail.

But at the end of the day, that was it. It was obviously a map, but it was a map she couldn't read at all. She flopped back against the straw bed, her ears tingling in frustration. Everything she'd tried to do, and this stupid block kept getting in her way. She'd give anything to be able to remove it.

Anything… she drifted off to sleep that way, barely remembering to hide the map under the bed before she flopped face-down into it.

~\({O})/~

Baram Town ~ Air Continent

~Mawile and Archen~

"I—I—I don't get it," Archen said as he paced the hotel room anxiously. "Of all the lapras in the sea—why our lapras? Why us?"

Mawile didn't have an answer for him, and told him as much. "The most important thing we can do right now is make copies of the pictures we took, and contact the Chief," she told him, taking the connection orb out of her expedition gadget and slotting it back in again.

"Yeah—and has he picked up yet?" Archen half-squawked. "You've been doing that for almost an hour."

"Give it time," Mawile calmly said. "He'll pick up sooner or later."

"How long before it comes here?" Archen wrung out his head feathers with his wings. "How long before whatever got to all those pokemon in Pokemon Plaza—whatever petrified that poor lapras—comes for us?"

"If you're that concerned over it, then help me make copies of all these photos." Mawile set the second expedition gadget on the table and scooted it towards the pacing Archen. "That's what I've been doing all this time."

"But…" Archen stammered. "I— … fine. I need to sit down anyway."

"That, we agree on." Mawile never even looked away from her expedition gadget as Archen reluctantly sat down at the table.

A sudden knocking at the room door roused both their attention. "I'll get it," Archen announced, standing up a little too readily.

Mawile spared a rare glance up from her gadget as Archen slowly opened the door a crack, and peeked out.

"M-Mr. Mayor!" he suddenly stammered out. That phrase caused Mawile to stuff both gadgets in her bag and stand up, posthaste.

The door was opened wide, and a pair of murkrow fluttered in, preceding Mayor Honchkrow himself. The mayor sighed.

"I thought I told you to leave," he said, a weary tone cracking through his voice.

"Well," Archen began, his voice beginning to rise into a squawk. "Maybe—"

"—We experienced a hold-up at the docks, Mayor." Mawile smoothly cut in, nipping whatever petty comeback Archen might have had in the bud. "One I have no doubt you're aware of by now. Given that all transportation to or from the Air Continent was cut off… We didn't have much choice but to stay."

"Well, it's too late to do anything about that right now." The mayor walked towards the table, picking one of the complimentary berries off the plate in the middle and stuffing it into his beak. "Stay here the night. There'll be a sharpedo waiting for the two of you in the early morning tomorrow. I want you to take it."

"We'll be out of your feathers first thing tomorrow," Mawile replied cordially, setting the exploration bag on the opposite side of the room from the mayor. Satisfied, Mayor Honchkrow turned around and left, the murkrow closing the door after them.

"Another early morning," Archen grumbled, falling back on the room's cot and folding his wings. "Can this day get any better?"

Mawile held back a sigh, taking out her expedition gadget and formally beginning another attempt to contact Ampharos. This was going to be a long night.

[notes: So this is a good scene. I think you want to make it a bit more meaty/tied into the previous one. Also get your internal logic consistent.]

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Music of the week!

Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Movement III – Bella Bartok