Chapter Four: Last Night; First Day
It was a rather slow night on the farm, which Tropius welcomed warmly. The work for the day had been done in record time, and so he found it pertinent to give his farmhands some rest. He quietly relaxed in the cool night breeze on the porch of his large, two story home. He was overlooking the fields he and his workers had toiled over during the day.
"Boss? Boss!" A Lurantis called to him, running up the steps in a hurry.
Tropius rose to his feet and responded slowly and calmly, "What is it? It's rather late you know, I was enjoying some peace and quiet."
"S-sorry boss, it's just… I lost my charm," Lurantis panicked, looking around with a frenetic aura. "I can't find it anywhere!"
"Come now, you believe in those bedtime stories?" The wood creaked under the large Pokémon as he lumbered over to his friend. "They are meant to teach us lessons at a young age, and nothing more."
"No, that's not it! It was something I found in a dungeon..." Lurantis trailed off wistfully.
"Oh? When you went out exploring the other day, I assume?"
"It's all I could find," she explained, "I don't get the chance to go all that often… Please, do you know where it is?"
"I'm afraid I don't. Have you asked the others?"
"Yes, and they don't know where it is either!" Lurantis exclaimed as she paced around with a nervous energy. "Do you think they took it?"
Tropius firmly shut her down, "No, Dartrix may be young and Simisage may be irritable, but neither of them are criminals. I think it may have just come off when you were working in the fields. Tomorrow, I'll give you time to look for it before we get to work, alright?"
Lurantis nods and sighs with relief, while it might not have solved her problem, his help has calmed her down considerably. "You're the best, boss! But, uh, can I… sleep in the guest room of the big house? Sorry, it's just…"
Tropius nodded, "You don't want to be alone? I understand. Sleep there if it will help."
"I'll make sure to go get some rest right now so I can get to searching early and not waste time!"
Tropius chuckled, "Alright, I'll make sure to get some rest of my own before then."
"Good night, boss!" Lurantis shouted, heading towards her room for the night.
"Good night, Lurantis." Tropius called back, before sitting back down where he was before and drifting off to sleep.
Cobalt rubbed his eyes and yawned, silently complaining that he hardly got enough sleep to be comfortable. Violet had made a point of heading out early in the morning in order to get a head start—much to his vehement protesting. But, she insisted nonetheless.
"Violettt, what are we even doooiiinnnggg here," Cobalt whined. "It's like… actually I don't know what time it is, but it's too damn early for whatever you want to do!"
"Oh come on, show some more pep than that! You were all for this last night!" Violet snickered.
"Yeah, because I thought you were a reasonable Vulpix who woke up at a reasonable time!" he huffed in annoyance.
"You should get used to waking up early, it's good for you, or something like that."
He glared at her and groaned, "Yeah, yeah, mess with me all you want, can you at least tell me what we're even doing?"
"Two things: We need to get you a bag, and I need to restock on food; those two assholes ate every berry and apple in my bag."
"We could have done that in the afternoon…" Cobalt complained, walking alongside Violet before they came to a stop in front of a market.
"We need time to be able to find work for the day. Now quit your complaining and come here," Violet called, pulling a small, jingling pouch from her bag with her teeth. She sat it down in front of him. "Here's 200 Poké. Go into that store and get yourself a bag—nothing too fancy—any old bag will do. I'm gonna get some food from the mart next door."
"Alright, I'll see you in a bit." Cobalt scooped up the coins and headed into the shop.
"Yeah," Violet affirmed. "I won't take long, and I'll meet you back out here once I get everything I need." With that, she walked into the market.
Cobalt padded into the tailor shop. He searched but couldn't find anyone-not even the owner. Curious, he decided to take a look around at the various goods that stocked the shelves and racks of the store in the meantime. "The owner is probably fussing with merchandise in the back," he reckoned. "I can take a look around. Violet won't be ready for a little while… I wonder if I could find a place to nap…" he mused idly. He passed by cloaks and coats, but a bright orange bandana caught his eye. It complimented his fur nicely, and felt nice and smooth in his paws as he inspected it, looking for a price tag. "That'll be 25 Poké," a voice called out from behind, startling the young jackal. A Leavanny looked at him from behind her counter on the other side of the room, smiling.
"Ah, thanks," he responded, placing the scarf back in its place. "But I need a bag, actually."
"I should have something that will fit you!" the shop owner exclaimed, eager to make a sale. "Feel free to check out the merchandise in the meantime!" she called out from behind her desk. Cobalt continued to look the scarf over, before deciding to try it on. Coincidentally, Leavanny just so happened to finish up with finding the bag right after he put it on. "Why, that looks great on you! Are you thinking of buying it and the bag?"
"Well, it does look nice…" he murmured, trying on the bag. "That fits well, too. Thank you." he rubbed the scarf between his fingers idly. "Alright, I'll take it and the bag, too."
"That'll be 150 Poké." Cobalt handed over 15 silver coins before waving goodbye as he exited the store.
Violet sat down, waiting for Cobalt—who hopefully had purchased just a bag and not a whole outfit in its place. She quietly chuckled a bit at the thought of Cobalt walking out of the store in the somewhat overkill clothes Leavanny made. To both her relief and disappointment, however, he came out with only a simple brown bag and an orange scarf. "Huh," she mused.
"Oh, uh, right. Sorry, I got a scarf, too," Cobalt apologized.
"No, no, it's fine. Looks good on you," she complimented. Cobalt beamed in pride upon hearing this, which made him nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise as a giant thundering crash came from the side of the grocery. Violet's tail tips merely twitched. She knew of only one clutz capable of this level of havoc. "Hi Tee," she greeted.
"Why hello there, Violet! Cobalt too, nice scarf, that's a good color for you!" the small panda remarked, seeming no worse for wear despite leaning against the wall of the building upside down. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Only peace and quiet," Violet quipped, "But you're usually busy with customers in the morning, aren't you?"
"Usually, you'd be right! But as it turns out, I knocked over my last jars of berry jam last night!" she chuckled, seemingly not all too bothered.
"Oh, sorry to hear that," Cobalt replied.
"Oh please, it's no trouble! I just need to see if the store has any in stock." Tips responded modestly.
"Hmm, I don't believe I saw any when I was in there myself. You don't usually buy it here, do you? I thought you bought it directly from a farm?" Violet tilted her head as she investigated further.
"Yeah, usually, but today I'm suffering a bit of a dizzy spell!" Tips clarified. Cobalt's ears twitched in disbelief. He was unconvinced that dizziness was a major concern for her. "I'd take days to get there, so I thought I'd check is all." That much, however, he did believe.
"How about we go get some for you then? I bet we can make the trip there and back in less than a day," Violet offered.
Cobalt nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! It sounds like a good way to see the world." Violet hummed in agreement.
"Oh! That would be splendid!" Tips replied with peppiness as she finally sat up straight. "It's Tropius's farm. You know the way, Violet?"
"Yep. That's not far at all. Come on Cobalt, let's get a head start so we can be back by lunch," Violet remarked, rising to her paws before heading off. Cobalt waved goodbye before sprinting over to catch up with his teammate.
The big hill on the way to the farm was rather taxing to climb for Violet. Her calves ached from the long journey, and she panted softly as they worked their way up. She looked to see how Cobalt was holding up, and was somewhat annoyed to see him leisurely keeping pace beside her as if this was a walk in the park. "You know, it just hit me… we didn't ask Tee for the money to get the food." Cobalt stated, facepalming. Violet closed her eyes, whining up to the sky. She forgot the most important part of this whole operation.
"Ugh, fuck it, let's at least see if we can get an I.O.U or something," she groaned, clearly upset at the fact that there would be taking more than one trip. "Whatever, at least we can get something to eat and drink at the farm."
"Don't you have stuff in your bag?" Cobalt inquired.
"Yes, but I'd like to save it for when we need it," Violet responded.
"...I mean, we're both hungry now…" Cobalt trailed off, rubbing his stomach.
"You can wait until we get there to eat, Cobalt. I don't want to waste what I just bought," Violet asserted with an annoyed look. "Besides, you could have gotten some food with the money I gave you."
"I spent it on the bag."
"Oh? The scarf was on the house?" Violet snarked back.
"You said that it looks cool!" Cobalt looked at her with annoyance and confusion.
"It was a good purchase, sure, but you still wasted money on it," Violet stated, turning her attention back to the road. "I'm just saying, you should have thought about what you needed not what you wanted."
Cobalt grumbled and stuffed the cloth into his bag in embarrassment. "You didn't even tell me I could go get something from the food store!"
"Am I the boss of you?" Violet questioned rhetorically, "I just told you what I thought was best. If you want to get food, say so. I'm not controlling you or something, we're supposed to be working together after all. If I was controlling you, you'd be working for me, not with me."
"...So you're saying that you aren't gonna be telling me what to do and that I'm allowed to make my own choices?" Cobalt put together what she had been saying over the course of the conversation.
Violet nodded. "Yes, that's what I just said."
Cobalt huffed in frustration, "Open with that next time, sheesh. You made it sound so mean spirited."
"Sorry, I do think it's a cool scarf. I'll give you time to get stuff before we leave on jobs," Violet apologized. "But for now, let's get the job done."
"Mhm, right," Cobalt nodded, returning his focus back towards their current goal. The ground started to level out under them. "It was just across the hill, right?" Cobalt queried.
"Yep, we're almost there."
Cobalt cheered and raced forward, eager to see what lay ahead. Violet chuckled; he was so unlike any other Riolu—he constantly expressed emotions and was quite energetic. It was almost unreal to see one act in such a lively manner. She couldn't help but watch as he ran forward with a big smile, and noticed immediately when it stopped and Cobalt stood still.
"Cobalt? What's going on?" Violet questioned, her eyes narrowed-this wasn't normal, something was wrong. "Cobalt?" She sprinted up to him, looking out over the hilltop towards the farm. She shouted in fear and surprise, taken aback by the sight before her.
The house was riddled with holes seared into its various walls. Shattered glass and broken window frames lay strewn lifelessly across the ground. The front porch had been sliced cleanly in two, and the walls along it had huge, gaping holes punched straight through them. Large swaths of the fields were stripped bare and the earth looked torn up. The large barn's roof had collapsed in on itself, and a silent stillness filled the air in the morning sun. Neither Pokémon said a word, as they anxiously stood before the carnage before them, silently wondering what to do next.
END CHAPTER FOUR