Note from the author: Props to Artemis173 for the sole review (pun unintended) of this story. Keep in mind, I won't be getting any better at my writing without some feedback, so write me some reviews! Comments, suggestions, death threats. I'm not picky.
"What are we supposed to be doing?" Eevee whispered.
Sol glanced around the room and saw that most of the apprentices were going up the rough, wooden stairs to the middle floor of the guild.
"I don't know. Maybe we should just follow them…"
"Hey, you shouldn't just be wandering around there." Chatot laughed at his own joke, causing Sol to roll her eyes. "You two, follow me."
Up the stairs into a room somewhat smaller than the one below it, the three stood in front of a bulletin board cluttered with papers. Sol could only stare uncomprehendingly.
Are those… footprints?
Sure enough, a collection of varying footprints were sketched on the pages. They meant nothing to Sol, and she was left wondering what they were and what they meant.
"This is the Job Bulletin Board," Chatot announced. "Pokémon from various regions post job requests here. You're aware that bad Pokémon are cropping up in greater numbers, right?"
"Yup," Eevee answered. "Because the flow of time is getting messed up. It's wreaking havoc, right? Which is why lots of bad Pokémon are appearing."
What?! Time is getting messed up? What does that even mean, and how is that possible?
"Well, aren't you're well informed!" Chatot said in a tone one would use to praise a pet that performed an amusing trick. "Time getting out of whack has caused an outbreak of bad Pokémon. Perhaps, because of that, we have seen an increase in the number of jobs. So… let's look for a job that you should perform!"
Chatot quickly scanned the requests and plucked down a page.
"Ah, yes! Maybe this will do?"
Chatot handed the paper to Sol, who immediately passed it on to Sol. They both gave her an odd look, but she offered no explanation.
"Ok, I'll read it," Eevee said.
Hello! My name is Spoink! An outlaw has run off with my most prized possession. My precious pearl! That pearl is life itself… to me! I just can't seem to settle down if that pearl isn't in its proper place atop my head! But I've heard my pearl has been sighted! It's said to be in Drenched Bluff! But the bluff is reported to be extremely unsafe. I could never go somewhere so frightening. Oh, friendly readers! Would you be so kind as to go to the bluff and get my pearl? I beg your help exploration team members!
"Wait a second…" Eevee said after he finished reading the request. "We're going to fetch an item that someone dropped?!"
"It's important you rookies pay your dues!" Chatot snapped. "I suggest you get on with the job."
With that, Chatot marched off back down the stairs.
"Ugh. I can't believe we're stuck doing this pointless job," Eevee complained. "We're an exploration team! We should be exploring lost places and finding ancient treasure, not fetching random items!"
"Eevee, what would you have done if I refused to help you find your lost item? This pearl is probably as important to Spoink as your relic fragment is to you."
Eevee blinked once, then shame swept across his features. "Oh, it probably isn't fair for me to think that, is it? Exploration teams are supposed to help people too, and I suppose that's what we'll be doing. Sorry for the crummy attitude."
"No need. Your just excited to be on a team, which is understandable. Come on, then. We have a job to do.
They climbed the stairs to the topmost floor of the guild and walked down to the crossroads. Sol knew that the south path led to the beach, north was back to the guild, and she could see buildings down the path to the west. Eevee led them down the eastern path, pulling a scroll from his ever-present bag.
They stopped at the side of the road. With the crinkle of paper, Eevee unrolled the scroll to reveal a map worn from use. It was detailed and colored, a legend in the bottom corner featuring neatly drawn footprints.
How many hours has Eevee spent, pouring over this map and planning explorations and adventures he never found the courage to follow through with?
"Now we're here," Eevee said, pointing to a spot in the center near the left edge. "And we need to go… here." He lightly tapped a spot slightly to the northeast. "Its pretty close, so it shouldn't takes us that long to get there."
He rolled up the map and placed it back in his bag. They continued down the path at a leisurely pace.
It was a beautiful morning. The sky was a clear, sapphire blue, the trees and grass lining the dirt path a bright, emerald green. The vibrancy of it all took Sol's breath away, and her eyes flicked from sight to sight, color to color, trying to drink it all in.
"And then we killed him and ate him."
"What?" Sol asked, turning back to her brow-furred teammate.
"Now that got your attention," Eevee smiled. "You were just completely zoned out. Is something wrong?"
"No, just, look at it all." Sol gestured to their surroundings. "Isn't it all just so… wonderful?"
"Ah… what?"
"I mean, look at this."
Sol walked off the path to a nearby tree and ran her fingers along the rough textured bark. "It's all so alive."
"It's just a tree, Sol. They're everywhere."
"And that makes them any less great?"
Sol snapped a small branch off the tree and returned to the road. She held up the dark brown branch with its wide, green leaves, then snapped it to the side, revealing the luminous blue sky behind it.
Snap, green. Snap, blue.
"You're… really weird sometimes…"
"No, I'm weird all the time. You just don't notice," Sol informed him with a grin.
They kept walking with Sol's attention focused on the branch she help above her head, craning her neck to see it.
Snap, green. Snap, blue.
Why does it feel like I haven't seen colors in a long time?
"Can I ask you a question, Sol? Why didn't you read the job request earlier?"
Snap, green. Snap, blue.
"Sol?"
Snap, green.
"I couldn't read it," she answered quietly.
"What do you mean?"
Snap, blue.
"I looked at it, but the writing didn't make any sense to me. Maybe it's because of my amnesia, or maybe I have always used a different form of writing. Or maybe I'm simply illiterate, I don't know."
Sol braced herself for the condemnation, the judgment she was sure was coming.
Snap, green.
"If you want, I could teach you later."
Sol looked down to Eevee and saw no judgment in his features. Just a friend offering help, and Sol immediately felt guilty for thinking so little of him.
"That sounds great."
Sol dropped the branch, and they quietly stood together on the path.
Well this is unbelievably awkward.
Sol looked around for anything to break the silence.
"So, what else to you keep in that man-purse of yours?"
"It's a satchel!"
Sol laughed and began walking. "A rose by any other name is still a man-purse."
"Satchel!" Eevee insisted with a hint of a smile.