Chapter 23:Where day three passes.
Mo spent the rest of the last day inside his room, on his bed. He was too much of a wreck to go somewhere at all and after what happened, what everyone saw him doing, he felt embarrassed to face the others.
Alfons, not so kindly, explained to Mo that his actions, how he behaved during the fight, what he did to Charlotte, was not acceptable to the guild. He may only be the substitute, but he can still dismiss him from the guild. Because this was the first time Alfons ever saw Mo freaking out this way and because this was also kind of his fault as well, Mo got away with a warning this time. In the future, fight between guild members will have stricter rules and once Hilarius returned, he'll be informed about this event.
Alfons told Mo all that, with Aaron still standing there, watching in silent.
The next morning, Mo's everything, especially his claw, was still hurting. He together with Aaron, Charlotte and the others, now including Amy's and Nya's mother and father, still attended the morning briefing as usual. No one was giving Mo and attention. They just went on with the briefing as if everything was normal, and as if Mo wasn't there.
Mo began to worry. Today was the last day. If Axel and Amy would not return sometime this day, it would mean something went wrong and the Chosen one has failed. Hilarius, Gangolf and Bao didn't returned by now either. Mo hoped they would return soon. Hoping they did not underestimated the so called Forces of Evil. Hoping and waiting was the only thing he could do. Was it? He did not know.
Some time after the briefing, Mo knocked on Team Red's door.
"Mrs. Amy's mother? It's me, Mo from Team Purple. The Mimikyu from yesterday. Can I come in?", Mo said and waited for a response. But nothing came.
Mo decided to open the door anyway. Just a little peak.
In the middle of the room stood Steve. Just him, looking rather confused.
"Sorry, is Amy's mother here?", Mo asked the Voltorb.
Steve suspiciously looked to the side for a short moment.
"I wanted to talk to her and Heidi said she's in here.", Mo explained further.
"NO. SHE'S NOT HERE.", Steve finally answered.
"Is everything alright?", Mo asked him, knowing something is off.
"EVERYTHING IS FINE. JUST ME, BY MYSELF. ALL BY MYSELF.", Steve affirmed in a monotone voice.
Mo focused the Voltorb, believing someone was paying tricks with him.
"May I come in for a moment?", Mo asked.
"NO, YOU MAY NOT.", Steve kind of impolitely answered.
Guessing the joke that was played on him he placed his right claw on the door, still focussed on Steve. Mo then showed the door hard and fast in the hope that it would either band against the wall really hard or hitting someone who was hiding behind it. And the last scenario was what happened.
Mo heard a loud female grunt as the door hit something.
Meanwhile Steve looked shocked over what Mo just did.
Mo quickly rushed in and closed the door as he entered. At the wall next to the door stood Amy's mother, holding her nose in pain.
"Are you alright?!", Mo asked her.
"No!", she told him, checking her nose for blood. There was none.
"I didn't wanted to push THAT hard!", Mo tried to explain and turned to Steve.
"SHE TOLD ME TO KEEP QUIET.", Steve said to Mo.
Mo turned back to Amy's mother, who looked mad at the moment. Because of him.
"Look, Mrs. Amy, I know I did not make a good first impression yesterday ... and not a second impression either ... or a third a few seconds ago.", Mo began. "I just wanted to ask what happened when we first met. Why you where so shocked all the sudden? Did I said something wrong?"
Amy's mother rubbed her nose one more time and then looked over to Steve.
"Steve! We need some time alone. He and I.", she told him in a serious tone.
Still shocked and confused, Steve rolled out of his teams room, leaving Mo alone with Amy's mother.
"Mo. Right?", Amy's mother began. "Please sit down."
She pointed to the hay bed of Team Red, similar to the one they had in their room.
Obeying, Mo sat down on the hay, followed by Amy's mother who sat down next to him.
"About yesterday.", she began to explain. "My kind is able to see and control aura, the energy every living being possesses."
She demonstrated this ability by showing Mo one of her paws that then began to glow in a dark blue light, appearing like a flame. It was similar to Mo's energy he used in his last battle. The sight fascinated Mo.
"Aura's are unique, it is rare to meet two Pokémon who possess almost the exact same kind of aura. It shows their strength and their character.", Amy's mother further explained.
Mo listened carefully but could not understand what was wrong with her yesterday.
"When I met you and your Sylveon friend for the first time, I only saw you from the outside. But what truly matters is what's on the inside.", she said and her paw stopped glowing as she put it away again. "My little Amy has trouble using her aura abilities right. This can be a disadvantage in a battle, on missions or if you should trust someone. She loves you like she loves all the other members of the Adventurer Guild. Because you and him were new, I wanted to know who I am really talking to. Just a peak."
Amy's mother seemed nervous again and stopped talking for a while.
"So you sensed my aura? And then?", Mo asked her what was now wrong.
"Your aura ...", she stopped again. Mo could see how she was thinking about choosing the right words to tell. "It is filled with so much malice. So much envy and wrath, hate for others. Lack of compassion and love. You may be kind and polite to others ... at least according to Amy, but deep inside you are a Pokémon that just wants to see this world burn."
Mo found these words very harsh. In fact, he found this offending. He saw himself as someone who is actually not a good guy inside, but this description topped his own opinion on himself.
"I don't really see myself this way.", Mo said to her, trying to still sound friendly. "But it's not the first time someone told me this. Not with these words but this kind of way."
"Mo, the problem is that you have the soul of an evil Pokémon. If I didn't knew you were a member of the guild, I would say you work for 'the others'. The ones who took your friends and who Amy and the others are looking for. To be fair, I never saw a more wicked aura than yours.", Amy's mother told him.
This offended Mo even more.
"Are you saying I'm evil?!", he shouted and as he did his eyes began to glow.
"What I'm trying to say is, the others may tolerate you, trust you, even my own daughter, but there are many more Pokémon out there who I would trust more than you.", Amy's mother said and stood up. With crossed arms she looked at Mo still sitting there. Judging him.
"I thought you were a nice lady!", Mo told her and also stood up, his eye still glowing.
"I don't want you to be near Amy or Axel from now on. For the rest of my time here, I will keep an eye on you.", she told Mo.
For some time, Mo and her were just looking at each other in silence. Both of them absolutely not amused over each other.
"You me too.", Mo replied and left the room.
"Steel types...", Mo quietly muffled while closing the door behind him.
"WHAT DID SHE SAID?", Steve asked Mo. He was waiting outside the whole time.
In response Mo grunted as he walked by.
Mo just wanted to get away from Pokémon for a while. Maybe the bath? Just a quiet place. He didn't even need another bath.
At theme moment, his cloth felt much heavier than usual. It never was much, not even with his scarf, but there was more weight now.
"Little one!", someone shouted.
Mo look to the side and saw King Kamili sitting in the corner of the hall, looking at him.
"This place is so empty and boring! Depressing I say! What do you do all day long in this place?!", the king grumbled.
It took Mo some time to find the right words, not to anger him more.
"We mostly spend the time outside. Adventuring. I prefer the library we guild has to offer.", Mo said to him, still standing away from King Kamili, leaving space out of respect.
The king stood up and walked over to Mo in a kind of majestic way, focussing the way smaller Mimikyu.
"These books are boring to me. Most of them have no pictures.", the king told him, now standing right in front of him.
Mo looked back. He did not know what to say, so he just looked back at him. Walking away was not a option either to him.
"You are scared of me, aren't you?", the king asked Mo.
"Yes.", Mo answered nervously.
King Kamili began to smile.
"You should be."
The king layed down on the ground, so his face was about at the same high as Mo's own was.
"I saw you fighting. It was the most pleasant fight out of all.", the Pyroar said. "The others were mostly short and one sided. That Sylveon, that friend of yours ... like a Rattata smacking it's head against a rock until it faints by itself. But you and that other friend of yours. I felt the rage! There was fire!"
The king began to look inspired. This surprised Mo very much, in a good way.
"You have lost your fight. Yes, ... yes.", the king went on. "But Pokémon like you are rare! So, I have been thinking for a while. You have potential and from all those here in this ... 'guild' ... you seemed to show me the most respect. What would you say about coming to my kingdom and join my court?"
This took Mo by even more surprise. An offer to a new job? Under a king? Mo didn't know what to say. If he should say something now.
"You don't have a problem hurting others. It makes you happy. I can give you a spot at the royal prison. I'm thinking about replacing my judge. He sometimes tends to sentence my servants too easy for my taste.", the king further explained Mo's future career. "When I leave, you feel free to join me on my journey back home. Your own chamber, a title, I even let you choose the fait of your predecessor. What do you think?"
Mo had to think fast now. Fast and good.
"I'm very honored, your highness! In fact, I've been thinking about leaving in the near future.", Mo confessed his thoughts to him. "I just don't like to leave things unfinished. I will have decided once the trouble the guild is in now is solved. I hope you will understand."
Mo bowed down to the king.
King Kamili stood up and glanced down to the Mimikyu.
"I suppose this is a 'yes'. I plan to leave once my daughter has returned. And you should better be ready when the day has arrived."
Kamili's face darkened.
"And your friends should hope it will be very soon."
Later that day, much later, during dinner time to be exact, Mo spent the time alone in their team room. Despite being quit hungry, he decided to skip dinner today. He still felt ashamed of what happened and tried not to face others as much as possible.
He was thinking about was Yinping said to him the day after he and the others went to Mt. Avalanche., what Amy's mother said this morning, and were Axel and Amy were right now. There was still nothing. No word about them.
All this time, Mo kept Amy's letter hidden under his cloth. He did not found a place to put it where it would either get lost or found by anyone and probably taken away. Because of this it was somewhat creased and smelled of sweat and the soap Mo was using sometimes. Green tea.
Believing if they didn't returned by know they wouldn't return tomorrow Mo decided to finally open it, revealing Team Red's emergency option. His task to help save the world.
Mo took the letter in one claw and prepared to open it with the sharp tip of his other claw's finger.
That moment, there was a knocking on the door.
Mo was surprised and quickly put the letter back under his cloth in his shocked state right as he heard the knock. Mo desperately hoped Team Red NOW finally returned and would tell him that everything was fine now.
"Come in?", Mo answered to the knocking in a kind of exhausted sounding voice.
The door slowly opened and Charlotte casually rolled in.
It made Mo nervous that he was now alone with Charlotte. The two problems were what happened the last time they were alone and what happened yesterday. She ignored him like the others, but now she came to him, knowing he was in their room.
Mo did not know how to react now. She already saw him and heard him, so hiding wasn't an option.
Charlotte rolled to the hay bed and stood there, with her head turned to Mo. Nothing more. Mo had no idea what to say. So he just said nothing at all and looked back at Charlotte, waiting for her to make the first move.
After a short while neither Charlotte or Mo had said something or at least did something beside looking at each other and waiting. So Mo just stopped and thought about doing something else. Sooner or later she should go away or at least do something. Mo thought about finally opening his letter, but he felt uneasy doing it while someone was watching.
What first was unsettling to him now became annoying.
"Yes?!", Mo finally said to Charlotte, trying to not sound rude and hoping to finally get this awkward situation going.
Charlotte rolled past by Mo and took some signs from the big pile in their room and a pen. She rolled over to Mo again and began to write.
"Why did you do that?", she wrote.
"You mean yesterday?", Mo asked her.
Charlotte wrote on the other site.
"Yes. Why?"
This question was easy to answer for Mo. But he was not sure how to but his thoughts in words. Words that would proper explain it.
"You hurt me, I hurt you.", Mo answered. His claw grasped one of his fake ears as a demonstration. "You damage my stuff, I make you pay."
Mo could see the tension rising up in her. Charlotte took another sign and began to write fast.
"We are friends! We are partners! Do you do this to your friends?!", she wrote. In comparison to her other writings this one was written to hasty and was therefore hard to read.
"I don't have friends! And this partnership will not last.", Mo angrily replied.
Then the room became silent. Again, they both were just staring at each other. Charlotte put her sign away she was holding.
"Charlotte. Do you still love me?", Mo asked her, now calm again. "After what happened?"
Charlotte took a sign and wrote.
"I still do."
"Why?", Mo asked in disbelieve. This attachment of her was getting surreal for him.
"Because we need each other.", Charlotte wrote on the backside.
Charlotte turned the sign back around and wrote again on the side she just showed him.
"That's why!", she wrote underneath her last answer.
Mo looked at Charlotte.
"Huh?", Mo exclaimed, for he did not understood what she meant.
Charlotte took jet another sign and wrote. She wrote something that took some time for her.
"You need someone to guide you. You can't be on your own forever. We both are strangers in our own way. I am aware I live in a different world as you do. Despite our strangeness, there is a connection between us. I fell it in my stomach. So we can be strange together.", she wrote in small letters so it would fit on the sign.
It also took a while for Mo to read it and to think about it. He came down from the hay to read it properly.
"So it's not love, it's more a mentor and student relationship.", he told her what he understood.
Charlotte quickly took another sign.
"I care a lot about you!", she wrote.
"But you admit it is not love.", Mo found himself assured.
"I DO LOVE YOU!", she quickly wrote in big letters on the other side of her sign.
"Then proof it!", Mo told her, starting to get angry again.
Just as he said that, Charlotte jumped of her log and landed on Mo, making him fall on his back. Before Mo could react Charlotte lifted his cloth, exposing him.
The next moment, Mo felt Charlotte. He felt her lips touching him between his eyes. Mo's heart began to race. His mind was fuzzy as it happened.
As their contact with each other ended Charlotte quickly went back to her log. Mo could see she was blushing very hard under her fur.
And with that Charlotte raced out of the room. First crashing on the wall next to the still open door, then out.
Mo stood up and fixed his disguise. He was not sure what just happened. He was not if it really did just happened. Mo picked up Charlottes last sign she wrote on. The last one before IT happened.
Mo secretly took the sign and put it under the pile with his own stuff. He had to kept that. He needed to remember this one moment.
Mo shook his body to get the fuzzyness out of his mind. To get his head clear.
As he realised he was alone again, he remembered the letter.
Mo made sure there was no other Pokémon in the corridor and closed the door.
He sat back on his hay bed and opened the envelope with his finger.
Mo carefully pullet out the letter inside and began to read.