Chapter Three: A Damn Good Deal

Cobalt's fur was ruffled by the cool, sea breeze. The pain in his side had died down, and he was able to freely enjoy the quiet night. He slowly padded along the tranquil beach behind Violet—waves ebbing and flowing against the shore rhythmically. He looked out to sea, gazing up at the full moon and stars twinkling above. "It's quite a beautiful sight," Cobalt smiled to himself, a sense of scale and beauty coming over him. However as he took in the gorgeous view, he realized something. None of this was familiar. The night sky was incomprehensible, as if he had never seen it before in his life. He couldn't make out any constellations, even they even had constellations here. Even the patterns of the moon's landscape were unfamiliar to him. He couldn't help but stress over these details. His mind was jogged by the color of the night sky—the similarity between his name and the colors giving him something to work off of at least. But this was different—it was completely foreign to him. Was this a byproduct of his amnesia? No, there was something wrong here. His mind was racing with questions, but also found itself unable to find any answers. Why was he feeling this way? Why was it that—when he looked at his reflection—he felt that something was not quite right on a fundamental level?

"Cobalt, where are you going? Food is this way." Violet's voice snapped him out of his stupor. He heard the scrunches of wet sand under his paws as the waves lapped at his legs. He had wandered into the reef and hadn't even noticed it. "I know you're tired after those fights, do try to keep up." She mewed, before heading off the beach and up a sandy dirt path.

"I was looking out at the sea, it's quite nice." he explained.

"Eh, not nearly as full of life as it was this evening." Violet remarked, not bothering to take in the view.

"I like it. It's quiet." he responded earnestly.

"To each their own. Now come on, let's get some food already. You can enjoy that on your own time." Violet continued up the path.

"How are we going to find somewhere to eat?" Cobalt questioned, running up beside her as they made their way out of the sand. "It's pretty late. Will anything be open?"

"I know a place that'll let us in."

"How convenient." Cobalt deadpanned, before chuckling to himself. "But I'm not gonna complain about a good meal."

A small breath of amusement left Violet as the two continued up the path towards a lone building overlooking the beach from above a small hill. "Yeah, I figured. Now come on, we're almost there!" Violet exclaimed, sprinting off.

"Hey, don't start without me!" Cobalt exclaimed, racing after her, eager to get something to eat.

Violet hurried across the way to a small, rustic looking shack. It's was still lit up, but she knew that wouldn't be the case for much longer. She hurried up the steps and hopped up, planting her front paws on the door. "Tips? It's me! I'm back!" Violet called out, trying to look through the glass to see where her friend was. "Tiiips!"

Cobalt caught up a few moments later. "Violet, you're going to wake everyone up! I told you, they're definitely closed."

"Nah, Tips is always willing to help a friend ou-" But before Violet could finish, the front door swung open and knocked her over onto her side. "Waah—Oof!" She grunted upon impact.

"Oh! Sorry, dearie! I didn't see you there!" A wobbly voice came from behind the door, belonging to a Spinda. She could barely keep herself upright, and was stumbling back and forth. "I was just closing up shop. It's a bit late to have a visit, don't you think?"

"I was wondering if you were able to fit one—er—two customers in before the night is over?" Violet asked, rolling onto her stomach and rising to her paws once more. Cobalt waved back, still taken aback by what had just happened.

Tips hobbled forward, sidestepping Violet, and accidentally bumped into Cobalt, who caught her in his arms before she sent them both crashing down the stairs. "Oh! A Riolu? How cute! I'm glad you're making friends dearie!" she cheered, as Cobalt helped her back upright. Her head leaned back and before she knew it she was rapidly backpedaling into the café, rolling over onto the floor inside the restaurant. "Come in! Tell me more!"

"Don't worry about it, Cobalt; she's survived a lot worse." Violet assured, slinking into the building as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"I guess…" Cobalt mused, closing the door behind him.

The small café was quaint and charming, though most objects looked as if they had been broken at least once or twice. Dimly, lanterns lined the wall shined down from above, placed there to keep them safe from Tips's wanton destruction. Couches, chairs and tables filled up the room, with a counter and kitchen door off to the side. A small spiral staircase was tucked away in the corner of the establishment, presumably leading to her residence.

Tips picked herself up off the floor, her two guests sitting down at the counter. "Hang tight, dearies, let me fashion up some food for you~ " she hummed, stumbling over to the kitchen.

Cobalt rapped his fingers against the counter and smacked his lips with a silent, "What the fuck was that?" look on his face.

Violet pulled up a chair. "She's fine, trust me."

"...Uh-huh…"

"Give her some credit, she's actually managed to not break anything for a whole hour. That's a lot of time for any Spinda," Violet snickered. Cobalt couldn't help but snort in response to seeing the clumsy acrobatics of the small panda.

"I heard that Violet!" Tips snapped from the other side of the doors, causing the fox to wheeze with laughter at her response. "Do you know what it's like to not have a sense of balance?"

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing is all," Violet called back.

"Yeah, well don't make me spit in your food!" her friend exclaimed, the sound of pots clattering and shattered glass came from the other side of the door. "...Forget you heard that."

"You know I mean well, Tee. It's all good!" Violet giggled warmly.

"Yeah, I know," Tips chuckled back.

"Thanks for the late night service."

Her friend hummed in confirmation before getting to work.

Violet turned back to focus on Cobalt, noticing he'd been silently chuckling to himself this whole time. "We poke fun at each other," she added with a smirk.

"I can see that," the Riolu responded, his laughter dying down. "Are you good friends?"

"She's great!" Violet explained. "I come here all the time when I'm back from adventuring and such. Plus, she's a great cook too."

"That's certainly music to my ears! It feels like I haven't eaten anything in forever." Cobalt rubbed his belly in anticipation.

"The Sitrus berries?" Violet looked at him as if he had forgotten.

"...Something substantial," he corrected.

"Hey! Those aren't cheap you know!" Violet looked at him in slight annoyance. "I spent a lot of money on those. You could at least be thankful."

"I am," Cobalt confirmed. "I'm just saying that it wasn't exactly a satisfying meal."

Violet looked forward, deep in thought. "Fine, fair enough, but I believe you promised me some answers?"

Cobalt adjusted himself in his seat. "Right. I suppose I should start with the amnesia thing? Uh, basically, I don't really have much knowledge besides basic things. Like, I know what a Vulpix and Riolu are… clearly."

Violet took a moment to think before responding. "Hmm, I see. You're missing your memories, but not your knowledge..." she hummed, digesting this information. "Strange. Usually amnesia would entail losing more than just that."

"It's so outlandish, I know," Cobalt defended. "It makes sense not to trust me, I get it. But if I wanted to hurt you, I would've just ganged up with the other guys."

"Hmm, that's true…" Violet stared down at her paws as she thought it over. "I suppose you're cool in my book. Just… odd, and a little reckless I guess. Er, odd in a good way, I mean. Like a mystery book."

"Gee, thanks." He rolled his eyes at the comparison, but silently, he was glad that she at least somewhat trusted him. "I guess I'm just… kind of at a loss of what to do? I have nothing. I mean, look at me. I was all beat up and tossed into the sand. So… yeah. That's pretty much all I can tell you, really." Cobalt tapped his fingers against the counter, trying to remember something more.

Before he could get anywhere, however, the doors to the kitchen burst open. Tips entered-her face emotionless and completely blank. She was in an incredible state of concentration as she brought out food and drink for her guests without so much as her paws shaking. "Eat up!" the small panda announced, plopping down in a chair with an exhausted sigh. "Phew. Takes a lot out of me to do that!"

Cobalt's mouth watered at the delicious looking salad in front of him. Looking to Violet, only to discover she was already tearing through it with blinding speed. He immediately and ravenously dug in with glee, as they both felt the edge of their hunger fading fast as they chowed down on their respective meals.

"Glad you're enjoying it!" Tips cheered with a smile. "Consider it a treat for getting into the Guild, Violet!"

The Vulpix stopped her assault, looking up slowly at her friend. There was a bit of awkwardness between them. Violet swallowed her mouthful and responded in a quiet tone of voice, her ears lay flat against her head. "Uh actually I… didn't… get in. I uh, I chickened out…" Cobalt could tell that Tips had pinched a rather sensitive nerve by accident with her kind gesture.

"Oh," the Spinda responded flatly. A few seconds went by with nothing happening, aside from Cobalt eating his food in awkward silence. "S-so… uhhhhh… where did you meet your friend…?"

"Cobalt," he answered, muffled by mouthfuls of sweet berries and fresh greens.

"Right, Cobalt," Tips replied, thankful for the save, "Where did you two meet?"

"Oh you know, just uh… at the beach… and… stuff." Violet looked down at her food in silent shame.

"Her bag got stolen," Cobalt responded, covering for her. "I helped her get it back."

"Oh! How kind of you!" Tips sat up in her seat, her peppiness returning in full force. "Tell me all about it, you two!"

Violet took a deep breath and shifted her focus over to the new topic, breaking out of her gloomy mood slowly. "Well, I was down at the beach in the evening as usual, when all of a sudden I saw this Riolu passed out in the sand."

Tips' eyes went wide. "What?! You were unconscious when she found you?" she hopped up onto her knees in her seat, pointing, with some difficulty, in Cobalt's direction.

"Yeah, I was. Violet helped me out by giving me some berries," he answered, taking a swig from his drink.

"But how did you get there in the first place? And if her bag was stolen how did she have a berry?"

"I was getting to that," Violet chimed in, drawing the attention of the conversation back to her. "As it turns out, Cobalt can't remember anything before the moment I woke him up on the beach."

"Because of the bandits that stole your bag?"

Both of the storytellers looked at each other-they hadn't considered that. "No, I don't think so," Violet responded after a moment. "They didn't seem to recognize him at all. I think they had just shown up on the scene after I met him."

"Oooooh, I see. So you two were probably just talking and then they swooped in when you were distracted?" Tips guessed.

"Yeah, pretty much," Cobalt admitted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "We were… pretty wrapped up in what was going on. But we managed to find them and get the bag back! With style, I might add!" Cobalt exclaimed with pride.

"Yeah, we did. After that we left, and he hadn't eaten anything at all, so we came here," Violet elaborated, finishing the story.

"That's great! But I have a question," Tips announced. Cobalt and Violet both turned to look at her before she spoke, "What are you going to do now, Cobalt?"

Cobalt's eyebrows raised up as he took a deep breath, genuinely at a loss for what to do next. "I didn't really think about that… I don't know, to be honest." He scratched the side of his neck lightly in thought.

Violet looked over at him with concern. "Right, you don't exactly have anywhere to go."

"Well, if you need a place to stay, you can always rent out—oh wait," Tips realized what she was saying. "You don't have any money on you, do you?" Cobalt shook his head. Her eyes flicked between the two of them, then down to the floor in thought, narrowing in concentration. "Oh! I have an idea!" Both of her guests turned to face her.

Capturing their attention, Tips took a deep breath and started talking. "I guess I should explain something to you Cobalt. I'm sure you know what a Mystery Dungeon is, after your little adventure back there. But, as of late, things have been getting a lot more dangerous: Pokémon are going missing left and right, Mystery Dungeons are getting longer, and the Pokémon found inside are getting stronger. That's why Violet was trying to get into the nearby Guild—it's a lot safer to be travelling in groups than alone. However, if you two were to work together, you'd both have a much better chance of staying safe than going alone."

"I'm not inviting some guy I just met back to my house, Tee!" Violet scoffed.

"I know, I know! What I'm thinking is… you two partner up, and in return for keeping my friend safe, I'll let Cobalt stay here, free of charge!" she declared.

"Free food and housing? No complaints here! I'm in, for sure!" Cobalt answered eagerly.

"I don't know… it's rather sudden." Violet trailed off.

"Well, seeing as how you were rejected from the guild, I think this is a great way to still chase your dream, no?" Tips pointed out.

Violet looked up at the ceiling, contemplating everything. She did have a point… "You don't know anything about the world and need a place to stay; I need to be able to be able to keep exploring." She closed her eyes, mulling it over. After a few moments, she finally responded, "I'm in." All three parties involved shook paws, agreeing to the deal.

"Excellent! I'll go get your room ready, Cobalt. Violet, you best be heading home now." Tips hopped out of her seat, performing her signature "waltz" as she hobbled off towards the bedrooms.

"Right." Violet finished the rest of her food before grabbing her bag and hopping back down onto the floor, with Cobalt following suit. She headed to the door and pushed it open, the nighttime sea air rushing in as she stepped out onto the porch.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Cobalt asked, leaning against the frame of the door.

"Yeah, I'll swing by to pick you up in the morning. I'll think of what to do before then, for now, get some rest okay?"

"Oh yeah, don't you worry. I'm very tired," Cobalt confessed with laughter.

Violet laughed as well. "Alright then, just don't sleep in and we're good. I'll see you in the morning." And with that, the two exchanged goodbyes and she went off into the night.

"Alright, Cobalt! Your room is ready! Last door to the right. Get to sleep and I'll make something to eat in the morning, sound good?" Tips called from the staircase, holding onto the railing for support. Cobalt nodded at her and climbed up the stairs, heading towards his room—a small place, fitting in with the style of the rest of the building.

He climbed into the soft bed he was given and sat up, looking out the window into the starry sky. He got one last look at the full moon before exhaustion overtook him and he laid down to rest.

END CHAPTER THREE