Gina and Pikachu were walking into town. They were silent, and listening to San and Cherry. San was being a sort of mentor about tactics in battle, and telling tricks of determining type of enemy Pokémon. It was quite dark, not many were awake, and the four of them had one thing in mind, get ready for the incoming push into dark territory.
"Truth or Dare anyone? If you don't want to share secrets, you don't have to join in." Cherry said as they were walking up to the shop, it had gotten quite just after they entered town, and she felt unnerved by that.
"I'll play, why not?" Pikachu bubbled, she was a bit joyous about being with two grand explorers. Her face wore an expectant smile, but her tone didn't push anything beyond a simple question.
"You already know my answer." San said, shaking his head.
"I-I'm not s-so sure, b-b-but if San-sama is, I will." Gina stuttered, she still spoke extremely softly, but she was pushing out. She was not naturally an introvert, the bigotry of the town forced her to be. She was afraid of making a single mistake in this unfamiliar language and being ridiculed for it.
"I'll start then. Hey you, Pikachu, truth or dare?" Cherry asked of Pikachu, as the game goes. Pikachu said truth in a flat tone, leaving Cherry to respond. "Where did you first come from?" Cherry asked, so long as it didn't get out of control, this game was a great team-building exercise.
"I originally came from a town called Clock Town. It's a region over, so we can't get to it. Alright, now… How about you Gina? Truth or Dare?" Pikachu fulfilled her request, and now it was the cyndaquil's turn, a game of opportunity, or of honesty. Gina muttered something along the lines of Truth. Pikachu nodded and started speaking, "Then why don't I surprise you all, Gina, tell us your full name, and where you came from."
"M-me? R-really? Ok-kay. M-my name is Gina Kato, many people didn't know who I really was when I was back home. I am from Japan, and I've been trapped here." Gina said, pointing to San.
"Me? Dare, all the way." He said, nodding his head.
"Let Cherry-sama fly you up to about 20 feet above your head." Gina muttered, Pikachu had to repeat it for her.
"Wh-What? Nah, n-no thanks. I think I'll sit out." He stuttered.
"Someone's afraid? Is someone just a little scared?" Cherry scoffed at San's reaction to his dare.
"N-no, it's just that g-ground-types need to stay on the ground in order to survive. Yeah! That's it." He stutters, everyone else just broke out laughing at him.
"Suuuure, now don't move, it'll increase my chance of dropping you." Cherry said, grabbing a hold of him tightly.
"WAIT NOOOOOO!" He yelled, being lifted well beyond where Gina wanted him to.
"Okay, you can bring him down…" Pikachu yelled, or rather, started to yell, everyone was screaming, and the general mass of it was garbled and incomprehensible. Cherry had dropped him on purpose, and then flew down and caught him, of course just before the ground.
"That was NOT COOL!" San yelled, after being placed softly on the ground.
"That's fine, I just want you to trust me and my flight abilities. I trusted them enough to catch you."
"F-fine, maybe once more I'll let you carry me some more." He said, scared for his life. "You there, Pikachu, truth or dare?"
"Gimme another truth, I'm feelin' lucky!"
"How much longer until you were thinking of letting your partner nickname you?" He finished, waiting for the answer, Pikachu walked up to the counter and asked the vital question.
"How many Reviver seeds do you have?"
"Oh, we have two. I'll sell both of them to you for fourteen hundred Poké." Kecleon
"Wouldn't that be sixteen hundred?" Pikachu asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"It's a sale, most items are off at least ten percent." Kecleon stated.
"What warrants this?"
"Nothing, we're just clearing out stock, huge shipment coming in, supposedly. We've been waiting far too long. He'll come eventually though." Kecleon shook his head, Pikachu didn't know how to react.
"Thanks for the info, here's your Poké." Pikachu said, tossing a bag filled the the fourteen hundred Poké, Pikachu had made the trade, and received some Reviver seeds. Walking away, the other three followed her.
"I was actually thinking of letting her after these preparations." Pikachu answered to the question that was put on hold.
"Really then? Fancy that."
"Okay then, Cherry, Truth or dare?"
"Truth, I don't want to be stuck underground. I'll deal with it when necessary, but no more."
"DARN IT, fine then, when'd you get your nicknames?" Pikachu was mad, her first question would have been 'what is your greatest fear'.
"Oh that's a funny story all on it's own." She began, chuckling to herself about how she would tell the story. She continued with a broad smile on her face, "Well, it began with us as a silver rank exploration team back in our guild. It is always back to the old times that the best stories arise, so listen carefully. We had just broken the old guild's record for fastest silver rank from bronze, quite the momentous occasion, and we were rewarded, and greatly, half fines for a week. Might not seem long in the moment, but it was amazing in retrospect. I remember us starting to take missions that were just within reach and gave us the most money. All for the riches, all because we were suddenly receiving over fifty percent of the entire job. San, then known as Sandslash, was keeping a cool head, making sure I didn't grab too hard of requests. I would usually get angry after three of his vetoes, and would force him to choose a request that was just within our grasps of difficulty…
"How about this one?" San asked of Cherry, who was shaking her head.
"Too easy, we'll breeze right through it, maybe if you can get one in the same dungeon." Cherry, then known as Charmeleon, said.
"Fine then. This one then. This one will be fine, right?" San, not as mature as the present, but still enough to make wise decisions.
"Yeah, it's perfect, let's move Sandslash!" She yelled, taking off. While running she had turned around and ran right into the guild's grump, a slow Pokémon known only as Slowking, he was the assistant to the guild leader, although he feels as if he belongs as something just a little higher.
"Oi, watchit ya stupid oaf, I might just give you somethin' ya don't want." Slowking said, glaring at Charmeleon.
"Are you really going to tell it in third person?" San asked, shaking his head.
"Yes, now shush so I can continue." Cherry said, covering San's mouth with her paw.
"Maybe, just maybe, I'll tell Cloyster that you're bullying me again." Charmeleon said, her tail burning a little more than it normally was. Although that is only half of the average size, she got really angry, and really fast, really often.
"You're telling me?" San asked, basically stating that everyone already knew that.
"More so than now, sheeeesh, just be quiet for fifteen minutes as I tell my tale of our tails being beaten."
"Who do you think she would listen to more, the man with too many bruises as is, or a measly rookie?" He smirked, almost laughing.
"Who do you think she would trust, her favourite rookie, or a man who has been known to get angry real fast?" Charmeleon asked. Slowking dropped his smirk in favor of a glare now. This would have escalated more if Sandslash hadn't stepped in.
"Time to go, we want to get the full reward, right?" Sandslash, nervous of another all-out brawl, said, attempting to force her to go subtly.
"Alright, let's get moving." Charmeleon growled, glaring deeply at Slowking. They walked around Slowking, Charmeleon glaring at Slowking the entire time. Charmeleon was walking with a new pep, dreaming of times yet to come, but would come unexpectedly soon.
"So we've got just through this tunnel right?" Charmeleon asked, shaking her head.
"If this map is to be believed, then yes, yes it is." Sandslash said, holding the map, and using Charmeleon's tail as the light to read the map.
"Good thing this isn't a mystery dungeon." Charmeleon stated flatly.
"Yeah. Hey Char-Mmph!" Sandslash started, he had his mouth covered by someone, Charmeleon stopped walking.
"Oh, are you nicknaming me? This is surprising! Uh, Char? Erm… I don't think that's quite for me could you try again?" She was nervous, it was finally time, she loved the thought of being trusted enough to have a nickname. She heard some struggling and turned around. Immediately she yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She had seen Slowking holding on to her friend.
"They're never gonna find you here, It ain't possible, maybe I can please Milord, and stop this madness. I'll rule a region, and after Milord dies, the world!" He said, barely registering that Charmeleon was even there.
"Hey, bozo, before you go insane, you better pay attention to your surroundings!" She yelled, using dragon rush she one-hit knocked out the madman and he disintegrated. Sandslash fell away from the Slowking and started coughing. "Did, did I just…" Charmeleon started, stepping back from the now non-existent body.
"You… you're ready? I mean, I never thought that… Erm… I basically just met you… how long was it? Can't have been longer than a week." He started. Charmeleon had just snapped back to what she had said before attacking Slowking, the color drained out of her face and she blushed uncontrollably.
"It was actually almost a month. We've spent every day together since meeting. I mean, it would be natural. We're closer than I am to my parents. I don't care if others think we're rushing the gun, what do you think, San?" The seeming permanently red in the face, but white everywhere else Charmeleon said.
"It seems natural, and may I say you look just like a… Cherry, that's going to be your name for me." San said, smiling at her.
"Well it seems you've accepted yours San. So, do we continue on?" Cherry asked, this was going to be stuck in her memories forever.
"And it really was." Cherry said, finishing her story. A smile tipping her mouth as she remembered her favorite moment of her life.
"Yeah, good day, Slowking was unable to bug us from that day on." San smiled and nodded his head.
"I can't think of anything to go on with this, so let's just get moving. It shouldn't be too much more right?" Cherry stated, the story had taken quite a bit of time, and there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be anything else waiting for them.
"Hey, we should get some requests, it seems like the board would be empty if we wait any longer." Pikachu said, shaking her head. Smiling at their story, Gina thought if it would mean that much to Pikachu.
"Really? Let's get a move on then." San said.
They walked over to the request board, but there were already two requests torn off. They looked over the board, but couldn't find anything.
"Maybe we should…" Gina started.
"Look! That's rare, a Thunderstone! We should do that request." Pikachu yelled, San and Cherry looked at each other, and simply nodded, "Oh yeah! Let's go!" She yelled again, smiling even wider.
Author's note
Found my G-D PS2! Goodness, I only played like 2 games on it, and it was the first console I could call my own. I broke out SSX and tried to play it... Forgetting that the game was stupidly hard, and got upset at myself only getting bronze. Whoops.
Also, I blame the internet for my sins, as there is nothing better for my unhealth.
Post-Author's note
-_- So much writer's block. Miiiiiight be another week before any sort of update. Yeeesh. I would have said, if it weren't for my over-enthusiasm in to play my PS2 that I forgot to post this on time. Luckily to my stupidity I don't have to actually feel bad about not having this chapter done! I only have to feel bad about leaving you all in the random dark...