/|—| Pokémon Mystery Dungeon |—|\
Waves Of Destruction
— — —
|— Chapter Twelve: Three Days Tryouts —|
—[The Depth-Strider | Training-Area]—
[The First Day]
Agatha barely managed to duck as Excadrill's claw stabbed the air, right where her head had been. The duck became an entire roll, and when she emerged from it, she made to strike at his side with her scythes, but before contact could be made, Excadrill leapt back. Just as quick, he dove forward through the air and somehow had enough time and momentum to curl himself into a drill-shape.
This attack DID make contact, sending Agatha flying into the metal wall of the training area.
"Alright! I'd say that's about enough of that," Excadrill decided, unfurling in mid-air and landing expertly. "Unless of course ya wanna go for another round?"
Picking herself up from the cold metal, Agatha gave the world a moment to stop spinning before she replied, "No. I was done warming up the first time you tried sending me through the wall."
Excadrill laughed, making his way over to small spot of the area which had had its various work-out equipment pushed aside, in order to make way for a few boxes and tables. Papers upon papers sat atop the tables, while the boxes held a large amount of oran berries while a few were still entirely shut. Agatha was pretty sure she'd seen the closed boxes in Bewear's dojo. She assumed their contents were the same, namely, more suspicious disks that beamed information into your brain.
Excadrill chuckled, grabbing two oran berries and threw one across the room, leaving it to roll into Agatha's feet, "Then ya should've said something, girl! Didn't think you were ready to quit when ya jumped back up and tried to barrel me over, haha."
Not willing to admit she'd been functioning entirely on instinct, Agatha instead grumbled a weak apology as she fumbled with her scythes to pick the berry up, getting it into her mouth just before it could slip away. She joined Excadrill next to the tables, pushing a few papers aside to sit.
"So, how ya feeling?"
"Ready, I guess," Agatha sighed, crossing her legs as she sat. "You're not gonna drag me out of bed to warm up everyday, are you?"
Excadrill shook his head, throwing another oran berry into his mouth. "Nah, today's just a special case. You're gonna be down here fighting plenty of mons, so it's good you limber up. But that ain't quite what I meant…"
Agatha titled her head a bit as she watched him begin to move some of the boxes around. "…what? You mean about this whole thing? Whatever, I guess," Her tone grew a little sharper as she continued. "I mean, if you ask me, it's probably not the best idea to have a human who's only been here a week be measuring a bunch of Pokémon's fighting power, but, again. Whatever."
As he picked up some strange weight-mover-thing, Excadrill shrugged. "Girl, me and Mal trust ya enough to leave the loners of our little recruitment shin-dig to you. Sides, don't knock yourself! Even if ya haven't been here too long, ya're already getting better with those scythes."
"I'm not worried about that part. I've gotten into few fights already, the part that bugs me is filling out all these forms," she tapped the various sheets with the tip of her scythes.
The sheets themselves were plain and simple. There weren't sections for writing, only small boxes to tick with attributes tied to them, allowing Agatha to rank a potential recruit from A to F. Strength, offense, defense, speed and control were among the various options. Beyond those, there were other boxes to be ticked, including one for 'troublesome personality traits'. The one that gave Agatha the most worry read, 'high value recruit'. How was she suppose to know when to tick that?
"Want my advice?" Excadrill slammed his chest. "Go with ya gut! 's what I'm planning to do. Never spent a day of my life doing paperwork for the association, yet I'm in charge of helping teams that show up fill their stuff out," his face scrunched a bit. "Sorry, helping squads fill out their stuff. Seriously, I dunno what Mal's doing with all these names."
"He's being annoying," Agatha simmered. "Didn't he say yesterday that HE'D be the one doing the paperwork? What happened to that?"
"Girl, ticking some boxes and putting down names ain't really what'd I'd call proper paperwork. I imagine Mal's thinking more in the line of…" Excadrill clicked his tongue a few times, before shrugging. "I dunno. Maybe he's sorting out how we're gonna be getting jobs. Gotta imagine we'd need to work out something with the Postal Guild to get folk's letters sent out here…" He shook his head clear of the thoughts. "Point is, we got it easy in comparison! We welcome folks, give em a test, fill the form, hand em a TM and then send em on their way. Simple, right?"
Agatha didn't mention the sudden, anxiety riddled thought of being asked by about TMs that bolted through her.
Thankfully, Excadrill continued, "But that still ain't what I was talking about. I'm asking if you're alright, girl?"
…perhaps not so thankfully. Agatha blinked at him. "What do you mean?"
"We've been through a lot in the past few days. I know Mal sat ya down after the Path and gave ya a talking to, but I wanted to check in with ya myself. So? How's the past few days left ya now that you've had time to sit on em?"
Agatha closed her eyes and remembered.
Sunlight crashing into her.
Flames scorching her body.
A charred, dead thing on a throne.
The stares of the crowd burning into her as she and Malamar entered the Depth-Strider after it's grand reveal.
Agatha opened them. She felt cold. Numb.
But it would all be worth it in the end.
"Fine," before Excadrill could stop her, she spoke louder. "Seriously, I am. Like you've said, I've been here for, what, a week now? I'm getting used to how this place works."
She got the strong feeling that Excadrill didn't believe her, but she was pleased to see that he didn't push the topic. After a few more exchanges of pleasantries, he left her alone in the training area. Attempting to fill out a form or two revaled the process to be easy and the paper to be strong enough to resist scythe-poking. Afterwards she confined herself to sitting under the humming of the lights.
An hour or so later, Agatha could hear the sound of footsteps clanking about above her, and though they were decently muffled, voices. She hoped that the sheer number of steps meant that most had decided to come with a friend. And for another hour, she was able to hide in that fantasy, with not a single soul showing up to bother her in her fortress.
Of course, it couldn't last forever. Her solitude was broken when the room's door's shifted open to allow a Mienfoo in to marvel at the different equipment.
Oh, wow," The Meinfoo gasped as she beheld the rows of strange machines and weights that dotted the room, before her attention settled on Agatha. "H-Hi there! The Excadrill told me I needed to come here for a test or something?"
Agatha hoped she didn't look as nervous as she felt. "You're in the right place…he did mention that the test involves fighting, right?"
The Meinfoo giggled at that. "Ha, yeah, kind of hard to miss that part. I was kinda hoping he'd send me off on some mission like the others, but I guess this is fine. Kinda makes me feel special, ya know?"
"Well you're definitely the first one to show up here. Cmon over this way, there's a ring…thing." Should she be saying more? She could imagine Excadrill chatting it up a bit, but there was no way she was going to try an imitate his friendliness. "Uh, anything I should know before we begin?"
"O-Oh. W-We're fighting?" Mienfoo asked.
"There's no one else here." Agatha said, instantly regretting the snappish-ness in her voice.
Thankfully, Mienfoo didn't seem to mind, only blushing slightly, "A-Ah! Makes sense, haha. Sorry if that was a dumb thing to ask, it's just I've never seen a Lurantis, much less fought one. This isn't a, uh, win-or-you-fail kinda test, is it?"
"No. We'll keep fighting either until I've gotten what I needed, or one of us is knocked out," Agatha said, pleading inwardly that whatever she needed was going to become glaringly obvious mid-fight.
"Alright! Well, I'll give it my best shot!" Mienfoo said, hopping into the circular arena after Agatha. "…but if I knock you out, that's like an auto-pass, huh?" She assumed an odd stance, one paw high in the air and the other facing forward.
Agatha made her way to the other side of the circle, before shrugging. "Find out."
The battle was decent. Early into it, Agatha realized that she outclassed the other mon by several magnitudes, allowing her to feel confidant enough to give her opponent room to breathe. She still needed to focus of course, but it was almost refreshing to be in a fight that she knew she could end at any moment.
That wasn't to say that Mienfoo was bad by any means. Through repetition, Agatha was able to recognize that the mon had a few stances that she fell back upon when given the chance, showing clear signs of practice. There was an unnecessary amount of flourish to some of her attacks though. Openings, small ones, but abusable ones. They allowed for Agatha to trip Mienfoo up a number of times. There was skill there, sure, but she got the sense that there was also something blocking that skill. Little hesitations here and there, an opportunity not taken advantage of. What Mienfoo needed was someone to beat the style out of her moves and replace it with function.
A few minutes in, Agatha had decided she'd seen enough. Seeing her opponent raising her leg into a kick, Agatha quickly swept the one that remained grounded. "Alright, that's enough."
"You're telling me…" Mienfoo panted, rising into a sitting position. "S-So how'd I do? Did I...hoooo...pass or-"
"Maybe catch your breath first? There's some oran berries over there too." Agatha said dismissively, leaving the ring for the tables. Dipping the tip of her scythe into some ink, she quickly filled out the form so that Mienfoo could leave. Attack? A six seemed fair.
She could feel Mienfoo's eyes on her as she wrote. "Whoo! That was some good berry. So, what's the word? Pass or fail? Are you able to tell me orrr?"
Agatha hadn't been told she couldn't. "It's not really up to me, but I'd say you did good."
"Heh, thanks. Didn't really feel that way though." Mienfoo chuckled, taking another loud bite of a berry. "I'm guessing it's up to THE Malamar then?"
"He's the boss." Agatha mummered, dipping her scythe in the ink once again.
"And he might be MY boss. Gah! That's so cool to think about. I don't think he noticed, but I was almost losing it when I met Excadrill. I mean, I know lots of Pokémon don't like him because he kind of lost it when team tidal-wave split-up, but I always thought that just showed how much of a bond they had."
"…right."
"…so…um, weird question-"
Agatha prayed that she was going to ask if she could leave.
"-but…who are you?"
Agatha paused mid-way through her ticking. "…you mean my name?"
Mienfoo turned as red as a tomato. "O-Oh! No, no, no, no, gosh. Jeez, I was hoping I didn't come across as stand-offish or whatever, but I'm not THAT crazy. I kinda meant more like…what's your connection to Malamar and Excadrill?"
Before Agatha could cook up a lie, the whirring of the door sounded once again as a sleepy-looking Wooloo rolled into the room, "Is this the place where I fight someone?"
"Yep," Agatha said quickly, "Right this way." She gave Mienfoo what she hoped appeared to be an apologetic shrug, before fleeing the conversation.
The day progressed and Agatha fell into a rhythm that she found anxiety-inducing at first, but eventually got used to. Every few minutes a new Pokémon would come through the door, they'd briefly exchange pleasantries, and then Agatha was free to beat the snot out of them. She gave them enough room to fight back and show their stuff of course, but she couldn't deny that there eventually grew to be something thrilling in being in total control while your opponent desperately tried to keep up with you.
That was the case for most of the applicants. Not terrible fighters, by any means, but not really enough to stir any amount of worry that she might lose. There were some stand-outs, both positive and negative. The Wooloo who'd come in just after the Mienfoo was surprisingly unpredictable in terms of movement. The Wartortle who'd come an hour or so after? His defense was something to behold, though his attack power left much to be desired. Not long after him was an Electrike who'd been very insistent on being allowed to use items, citing that she'd do far better with them on her person, yet faltered quickly when, mid-battle, Agatha snatched the bag from her.
The worst had been a Skitty who, in all honesty, Agatha doubted had ever been in a fight before. When he had looked up to her, eyes-shimmering with tears, asking if he'd passed, she had panicked and given a blunt, "No," leading to the dam of tears bursting.
That particular situation wasn't helped by the crowd. Though some had taken their test, marveled at the free TMs, picked one and then left, some had decided to stick around, lounging about on the various equipment in the room, watching the battles. Over the hours, they'd gone from quietly whispering in the corner, to full blown spectators, giving cheers and condolences when yet another Pokémon fell to her blade.
Maybe she could have told them to leave. She considered it at first, being annoyed by their pesky yammering, but overtime, she had to admit, it gave her a sense of satisfaction. She didn't put on a show by any means, but to press a little harder on her opponent when the crowd began to wonder if this was the one to beat her? It felt good. Winning felt good. By the time she'd knocked down what might have been her twentieth opponent, her scythes were tingling with anticipation for the next bout. She could've almost sworn that she felt the flame inside her purring.
She happily finished off another form with a flick of her ink-tipped-scythe. Her previous opponent, a Clauncher was browsing the boxes of TMs while chatting happily to his fellow losers. One upside of the crowd was that some of the Pokémon had taken it upon themselves to give input to what TM could patch up their strategy, washing away Agatha's worry of being looked to for advice.
"Alright," She kept her voice monotonous despite her inner eagerness. "So, who's up next?"
"That'd be me."
From the small group sticking near the door who had yet to take a swing at her, a Mudbray stepped forth. Agatha had spotted him a few minutes ago watching as she disposed of Clauncher and she already disliked him. The feeling was clearly mutual as, now separate from the crowd, Mudbray appraised her before quietly scoffing. "So, all I gotta do is beat ya?"
Maybe Agatha would take a little extra enjoyment from this fight. "We fight, I get a good look at what you can do, then it's over. You WERE watching the others, right?"
"Course I watched. Watched em lose," Mudbray said, getting a few annoyed looks from the crowd. "I reckon it's time I give ya something to really make ya sweat. So, I'm asking. What happens if I beat ya?"
Agatha stared at him before stabbing an oran berry onto the tip of her scythe (the amount she'd eaten had given her plenty of practice) popping it into her mouth and answering, "Only one way to find out."
Mudbray snorted. "Think you're hot stuff, dontcha? But I got you all figured out. I've been-"
The flame inside her hissed.
Following it's instruction, Agatha ignored whatever Mudbray was babbling about and moved towards the arena. There was a distant sound of complaining, mixed in with some laughter from the crowd. However one voice did manage to stand out above the crowd.
"Kick her butt, bro!"
The sound smacked Agatha upside the head. She glanced back to see a Ponyta with a sparkling, pastel mane of cyan and pink. Mudbray looked to her with a smirk and a wink.
The show of confidence got a few calls and cheers from the crowd. Agatha stuffed the nasty feeling that welled up inside her deep into her chest and stomped into the arena.
Seconds later, she and Mudbray were staring each other down, she raising her scythes in a defensive position, while Mudbray impatiently dragged a hoof against the ground. The surrounding Pokémon fell silent waiting with baited breath for the coming clash.
Agatha gave her enemy a nod.
Instead of the charge she'd been expecting, Mudbray instead reared up and from his hooves and large masses of mud sprayed forth, coating Agatha in the muck. As she spluttered, catching some of the disgusting substance in her mouth, her opponent dashed forward and spun, delivering a brutal kick that sent her stumbling backwards.
Caught off guard, Agatha didn't have time to recover before another kick, then another. One more impacted her head, sending the whole world into a spiral. It was sheer anger that forced her to lash out, and luck that blocked one of the incoming hooves.
Shaking away muck and seeing Mudbray knocked off balance, Agatha took advantage of the opportunity and delivered a three-hit Fury Cutter to his body, ending with a kick that pushed him away.
Keeping the pressure up, she threw herself at him and they became entangled in a dance of hooves and scythes, some blocking, some striking and all moving at a furious speed. In truth, it was impressive to see a bipedal form moving with such practiced ferocity.
So practiced in fact that Agatha quickly came to the realization that Mudbray was, in fact, a better fighter then her. In terms of technique. The way his eyes darted from here to there, reading or thinking up a movement. The way each block was followed so quickly by the next move. Even when he got hit, the grunts of pain he let out were controlled. She was dealing with a mon who was use to fighting.
Yet, her flame purred. Agatha knew she had already won.
Technique didn't mean a whole lot when your enemy had a type advantage and could throttle you over with sheer force.
When the combatants had distanced themselves for a moment (owing to the two attempting powerful strikes at the same time) Agatha quickly kept pace by firing a scattering of leafs at Mudbray, and upon contact his controlled grunts became gasps of pain instead. Suddenly, the distance between the two seemed like a gift. Agatha sent more and more Razor Leafs sailing towards him. She only stopped to speed towards her prey, keeping pace with her last barrage. She dove towards him and delivered a powerful headbutt to the front of his face, with more force then anything Mudbray had been able to muster.
He stumbled back and-
Agatha slammed her head into his face again.
He began tripping over his own hooves in an attempt to-
Agatha slammed her head into his face again.
He reared up and tried to-
Agatha lunged forward and bit down on his throat. Midway through the scream that built up in Mudbray she threw him to the ground, and by the time he desperately tried to get up, he was met with a Scythe in his face.
"That's enough," the rasping in Agatha's voice surprised even her and only served to strike more fear into the battered and beaten Mudbray. The flame crept up her chest, through her arm and into her scythe, egging her on to strike again. Through a considerable amount of willpower, Agatha stormed away from the downed Mudbray, focusing on the sheet she needed to fill.
She didn't get too far before Mudbray's voice called out, "I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE!"
Still, that didn't mean she needed to pay him any mind. Almost stabbing her scythe's tip through the table, she dragged a sheet over to her, dipped the other scythe in some ink, and then resisted the urge to-
"YOU'RE A DIALGA-DAMMNED PERIL FERAL!"
Apparently his little rhyme meant something to the crowd, as their hushed whispers turned to utter silence. Some looked to Mudbray, utterly aghast, while the rest waited for a response from Agatha. She was busy filling out the troublesome personality traits section of the paper.
"HEY! YOU HEAR ME, FERAL? THOSE TWO BETTER HAVE YOU ON A LEASH IF THEY EXPECT YOU TO WORK WITH US CIVILIZED MONS!"
This caused some uproar, for which side, Agatha refused to recognize. As the voices grew wilder and wilder, she finished the sheet with a massive stroke of her scythe, and spun round. Mudbray was still standing in the middle of the arena, though it looked like one of his legs wasn't doing too well.
"We're done here," Agatha spat. "Unless you wanna play the prideful pony and trot out of here with your tail between your legs, take an oran berry, then join the crowd. I don't care what you do."
Mudbray grit his teeth for a few seconds before spitting and limping into the crowd towards the Ponyta, who was clearly fretting over his injuries. Even with him merging into them the damage had already been done to the surrounding Pokémon. Sure, they'd descended back down into whispers, but there were MANY shared words amongst them.
Peril feral.
Trained.
Safe.
Dangerous.
A tired breath escaped Agatha. Right, so who was-
"Uh…is it cool if I go now?"
At first, she felt bad for the be the one to step up to the plate after the last battle would certainly take an amount of guts. But that feeling vanished the second she actually saw him
The Sandslash from the market looked about, obviously uncomfortable to be the center of attention. "So…long as everyone else is alright with it?"
Agatha realized it was going to be an awful day.
—[The Depth-Strider | Main Stairway]—
[The Second Day]
Zoroark was having a fantastic day. And he hadn't even been himself for most of it!
"So we're in agreement then?" The illusion of a Kirlia looked to Zoroark's victims. "We'll meet up here again tomorrow?"
Staravia, at the front of the group, was hopping up the stairs. "Indeed. I must say, I'm quite glad I met the lot of you. When I first came here, I had fully intended to try out for a solo position. But now-"
"Now you got us!" The Ekans behind the Kirlia illusion chirped. "It's, like, destiny that we all met up! We totally crushed that exam!"
"If by crush, you mean we barely made it through, you're right," Pansear, bringing up the rear, chuckled. "Seriously, as if this metal can wasn't amazing already, it's got a room like THAT? I'm still trying to wrap my head around how ANY of it worked. Like a miniature dungeon."
They arrived at the main door of the Depth-Strider, where many Pokémon had entered and exited the ship throughout the day. In truth, Zoroark had spent a lot of his time here, messing with or merely watching as folks came and went. When one struck his fancy, he'd follow them for a bit, and if they were interesting enough, he'd approach them while in disguise.
Take the Sandile who'd wandered in while the sun had been high in the sky! Under the guise of a Krokorok, he'd assured the smaller mon that he'd lead him RIGHT to the solo applicants room. Of course, what Zoroark had actually done was led him around the Depth-Strider several times, until the Sandile snapped, yelled at him in the middle of the corridor, got embarrassed by the attention of it's other occupants and then ran off.
He was sure the little guy had found what he was looking for. And if he didn't? Who cared?
The sun was now setting against the horizon, dying light flooding into the entrance way. As he puppeteered the Kirlia illusion into looking at it nostalgically, he spoke. "No kidding. I've never even heard of another...thing like this one. And to think, we're gonna work here..."
"HECK YEAH WE ARE!" Ekans cheered, throwing a tail around Pansear. "Fate Squad is TOTALLY gonna show up the rest of the competition, we're gonna get RICH and then we're gonna be even more famous then Team Tidal-Wave!"
Pansear blushed a little at her touch. "R-Right. Well, first things first, before we go showing up continental heroes, let's get some rest first. You two sure you gotta split?"
Staravia ushered them to the side of the door with a wing, allowing a Kabutops to hurry past in. "I'm afraid so. It's best I return to my family and inform them of my success…" he too, blushed a bit. "Between friends, I suspect they may have a celebration planned."
"I think I'm gonna look around the Strider a bit more. Besides, I'm sure you and Ekans will be able to keep each other company, right?" The illusion shot Pansear a knowing wink. It got a 'cmon man' expression from the fire-type.
"Dawww, you guyssssss…" Ekans whined, but perked up the next second, slithering into the open doorway. "Oh well! At least we'll have TONS of new co-workers to talk to!"
It was true. Down by the beach near the Depth-Strider, a large number of mons had set up a sort of campsite, plenty of tents allowing those who journeyed all the way out to take some respite, just in case they weren't quite ready for the alien interior of a metal coffin. Zoroark would have LOVED to go down and undo some of the tents fastenings, but he'd been given very explicit, direct and repeated orders.
"Stay within the Depth-Strider for the next three days and don't scare away any of our recruits. Do this, and I will keep my end of the deal. Understood?"
That's what Malamar had told him. And Zoroark had decided to play along…for now. In truth, the Sandile had maaaaybe been crossing a line, but he'd made up for that! He'd basically put a squad together to make up for the fun he'd managed to have! Really, he'd expect Malamar to thank him…well, if Zoroark DID tell him any of this. Which, of course, he wouldn't.
Staravia stayed with the illusion a little longer as they watched Ekans and Pansear join those resting by the beach. It was mindless pleasantries that began to grate on Zoroark's patience. Sure, the sunset was pretty, but he had things to do.
Namely, he was SURE that the solo applicant process had ended, and there was a rumor he wanted to check up on, as well as a certain pink Pokémon.
It was time to make an exit.
Repeating the illusion's previous dramatic turn towards the sun, Zoroark had it whisper, "Staravia….I…I need you to promise me something. If…if I'm not here tomorrow then…I need you to look after the other two, alright?"
The mysterious tone did wonders to draw out a curious and concerned tilt of the head from Staravia. "I…pardon? What do you mean by-"
"Don't ask just-" The illusion faked a slow, yet unstable breath. "…just trust me, okay? Promise."
Zoroark had to hold back laughter as Staravia nodded earnestly. "A-Alright. I promise." He wondered what sort of secrets the bird-brain thought the illusion was holding. Hopefully it would add a little to the squad's backstory.
A few moments later, the illusion stared as it's squadmate became a dot in the distant sky before it began to stroll back down the stairs. Once he was sure that none of the wandering mons were looking, Zoroark dispatched the illusion, opting instead for the classic Nidoran look.
Both he and the new form practically skipped through the halls towards where he had spotted a mopey-looking-Lurantis; the cafeteria. Coincidentally as he'd passed by, he'd also heard a few Pokémon who'd been sitting near the entrance talking about the mon, and with the most curious language too! Or, word, rather.
Feral.
Now THAT was something he wanted to look into.
Of course, it was easy to spot her. The fact that the day was coming to a close and Pokémon were slowly making their way from the machine certainly helped, but even amongst those who were were loitering around the cafeteria, it was easy to spot Pinky. She was sitting near the window that viewed the kitchen, with her usual aura of 'stay-away-from-me'.
So, of course, Zoroark quickly made a beeline for her, sneaking his way around the edge of the room. Interestingly enough, as he grew closer, Zoroark was pretty sure he could hear Lurantis SPEAKING to someone! It seemed not every occupant of the cafeteria had settled for pointing and whispering behind her back.
"-that I actually care, it's just annoying. Now they're all in a hurry to get it over with." Lurantis complained to the unseen conversation partner.
The smell of berries cooking wafted its way through the air and Zoroark felt his mouth water. With it, there was a meek voice. "W-Well, isn't that good? I thought you said that the whole thing was a bother?"
"It is," Lurantis snapped. "It's just…look, if they were just hurrying through it, that would be fine. But now there's this...feeling in the room. You know, a few of them came by today literally just to gawk at...whatever a peril feral is."
"I can't really blame them for that…" there was a moment of silence, during which Lurantis' eyes sharpened. "Wh-What I-I-I mean is, I can't really blame them for being scared at the idea! I-I know you're not a peril feral, obviously, haha…."
Pinky rolled her eyes. "Obviously. But what is-?"
Zoroark had the illusionary Nidoran hop onto the counter, proclaiming loudly, "A PERIL FERAL-" good, everyone in the room was looking their way now. "-is a feral who puts you in peril. For real Pinky, try to keep up, will ya?"
For a second, Zoroark thought that she was going to lunge at the illusion, but was satisfied to see that, instead, Lurantis merely smouldered under the sudden attention, though much of that energy was also converted into a hateful glare. Having the illusion give her a wink, he turned his attention to the other converser.
The Leafeon from his little scheme with the dojo met the illusions gaze, a bowl of soup balanced on her back. From what he'd seen, Zoroark guessed she was the kind of mon to go hide in some corner when meeting a 'dangerous' 'outlaw,' so judging from her bewildered yet curious expression, the little mon had no idea who he really was.
Excellent.
Pinky opened her mouth to spit something at him, but Zoroark jabbered faster. "But for reals. Its basically a kind of feral that becomes so strong that it ditches whatever pack or dungeon it usually hangs out with. Then, it roams about, wiping out whatever, or whoever, gets in its way, ooooooooooo…" he waved his arms around to spookily prove the point. "Picture a Blastoise that goes around drowning villages, or a Nidoqueen who'll charge at you the second she sees you wandering the road, screaming crazily all the while. THAT'S a peril feral," he shot a smile at Pinky. "You didn't tell me you were one."
He was thrilled to see her scythes twitch. "Go away."
The Nidoran fluttered its eyelashes. "If I do, will you chase me while screaming crazily?"
"If you stay here, you'll be the one screaming," Lurantis hissed, even as a bowl was slid to her, courtesy of Leafeon.
"Promise?" Zoroark asked.
Sadly, Leafeon chose this moment to interject. "U-Uh, d-do you two know each other?"
"Sure do!" Nidoran looked down from the counter at his victim. "Sorry for ignoring ya, me and Pinks here have some history. See-"
"Don't listen to a word that spews from his mouth, Leafeon." Lurantis interrupted.
"-I'm Pinky's bro."
Oh the wonderful reaction the improvised lie got. Lurantis, who'd poorly chosen that moment to take a drink of her soup began coughing. Leafeon, on the other hand, tilted her head.
"I will HURT you," Lurantis warned. "BADLY."
"Lurantis! You shouldn't say things like that!" Leafeon squeak-scolded, before bowing her head to the illusion. "I am SO sorry."
The illusion gave an appreciative nod. "Nah, its alright. You know how us siblings are. Always threatening each other."
"Would you SHUT UP?" Lurantis shouted. Wonderfully, she quieted down the next second, noticing the grass-type shrinking back from her. The rest of the room wasn't bothering to conceal their staring now. She'd given the action justification.
She brought her voice to a whisper-growl. "This freak is not my brother. The only reason he's even here is because Malamar won't let me…" she trailed off, though the threat hung in the air.
"That's a boss for you. Always suppressing creativity," Nidoran sighed.
Having recovered from Lurantis's yell, Leafeon edged a little closer to the conversation, even finding it in her to prop her front paws up on the counter. "W-Wait so…you're one of the Pokémon who were trying out today?"
"Nope! Those wannabes haven't even gotten in yet. You're looking at a bonafide member of the Waves of Destruction. Me and Pinky here are the same rank."
"But…" Leafeon looked the illusion up and down. "…um…no offense but you're a little…well, little."
"Appearances can be deceiving," he chided, eyeing Lurantis. "Take Pinky here. Everyone else is afraid of even looking at her. But you're her pal, riiiiiight?"
A small smile. Cute. "Oh. C-Cool. U-Uh, what's the real reason you don't like each other then?"
Choosing to keep his trap shut, both illusion and the cloaked Zoroark turned to Lurantis, awaiting her answer. Despite sipping from her bowl, she was still eyeing him with a flaming hatred in her eyes. The question was, how far was she going to let that hatred take her?
Go ahead, tell her. Tell your pal that your working with an outlaw who you watched TORCH a Pokémon. Of course, I imagine Malamar will have a few choice words for you if word gets out that he's letting me strut around this place. What's more important? Hitting back at me, or being a good little minion? Pick a poison, Pinky.
Placing an empty bowl down, Lurantis scoffed. "You're kidding right? Have you listened to him? He's so annoying that even Excadrill is getting tired of him. Just try to ignore him."
Can't do it, huh? Just what does Malamar have that's so important that you can't warn your friend about little old me? Zoroark's curiosity was driving him mad. Lurantis didn't seem like the kind of mon to really care about much, so whatever she was after…
"Um…okay…" Leafeon looked between the two with uncertainty. "…if it, uh, means anything he's telling the truth about the peril feral thing. Feral Pokémon almost always travel in groups for safety 'n stuff. When one goes off by itself it means that it can provide for itself and that it's strong enough to deal with entire other packs by itself. They're REALLY scary."
"But they can be trained?" Lurantis guessed.
"Nope!" Zoroark chimed in proudly. "Normal ferals sure, that's just a matter of showing them who's boss. Then they might figure 'oh hey, this pack seems pretty strong, better team-up with them'. Kinda goes against peril feral's whole thing. A mon that ditches its pals because it thinks its tough is gonna have a hard time admitting it. But if any team could do it…"
"It'd be Malamar and Excadrill," Leafeon finished.
"Fantastic," Lurantis spat as she surveyed the rest of the room. "So now they all think those two of them found me in some cave and taught me how to not tear throats out."
Zoroark shrugged. "Seems that way. Say, I bet the two of us could try and battle those rumors with a bit of the truth. All you gotta do is admit that you're just your average, run of the mill feral."
Lurantis responded by getting up from her chair and storming away. "I'm going to bed. Thanks for coming by Leafeon. You? Screw off."
They watched her leave, as did the rest of the cafeterias occupants. As soon as she was gone, the chatter-levels spiked noticeably.
Zoroark considered hurrying after her. They were neighbors after all, what with Excadril INSISTING that Zoroark bunk with him. Maybe he could kick the wall that separated them until she came storming out, telling him to stop.
Before any other annoyance-tactics formed in his head however, Leafeon mumbled. "She's, uh, n-not a feral. J-Just in case you thought she was she…she's not."
He shrugged. Zoroark had figured that much out on his own. Even once ferals got the hang of civilized Pokémon's rules, they still had a air of wildness about them. Lurantis just seemed grumpy.
Still, the little mon piping up gave him a new distraction.
"Fiiiiinally, someone tells me something. You know, I get that I'm not the easiest guy to get along with, but you'd think Excadrill or Malamar would at least tell me what her deal is," he shot her a wink. "Figures you'd know. You're, like, her best friend, right?"
"H-Her b-best friend?" Leafeon asked, as if she'd just been offered something. "Wh-Who told you that?"
Lurantis was the most obvious lie here. Best to take a step away from her.
"Eh, Excadrill mentioned you at some point. If I'm being honest, I didn't believe someone as grumped-up as her could really have friends, yet here you are," he said, looking down at her curiously. Why was Leafeon putting up with Lurantis anyway?
"Best friend…oh! Uh, y-yep! That's me! I'm…I'm Lurantis's best friend," she declared proudly, once again going a little red in the face. "She's…I know it isn't any of my business but…maybe you could try being a little nicer to her? If you two are going to be working together, I bet it'd make things easier."
"Ehhh, I'll give it a shot, but I'm pretty sure she's dead-set on hating me."
Leafeon seemed to take this moment to try and get a read on him. Her brown eyes scanning the facades face for traces of truth. She was welcome to try all she wanted, but the only vibes she was going to get was whatever Zoroark wanted her to get. Namely, that of a trouble-maker, but a harmless one.
She titled her head at him, puzzled. "You started it though, right? N-Not to be rude but…"
"Nah, I get it, you gotta side with your bestie," Zoroark had the Nidoran yawn, scratching its belly a bit. "I killed a mon in front of her, so that's probably bugging her a bit."
Leafeon blinked before furrowing her brow. "No, seriously, what did you do?"
"I diiiiiiiiiiid, reaaaaallly. I may look small, but I got a mean tackle."
She snorted, shaking her head. "Fine, don't tell me. I can just ask my best friend about it tomorrow."
"Ohhhhh, here long term, eh? Malamar digging his claws into you too?" Zoroark didn't need to fake his surprised tone.
"N-Not exactly…it was actually what I was hoping to talk to Lurantis about today but then you…" she trailed off, as if waiting for an apology. Zoroark smiled politely at her. "A-Anyway, i-it's a long story, but my Mom got invited here today by Excadrill, h-he's a friend of ours. I-I only came along to see Lurantis, but I sort of overheard him mention that the Depth-Strider needs a chef. Mom turned him down but I'm sort of wondering if I could…try…for it…" she turned her reddest shade yet. "I-I know it's stupid, I've never even-"
"Yoooooooooooo, for real? You were the one cooking up a storm in there?" He had the Nidoran tap it's claws off the table, creating the noise with his own. "Lemme try some. If you do, I'll put in a good word for ya with the bosses. Promise."
Her eyes lit up a tad. "You'd do that?" Then, suspicion snuffed that light. "You don't seem as bad as Lurantis said…this isn't a trick is it?"
"It ain't, but she's right. Me?" The Nidoran jabbed a thumb at it's own chest. "I'm bad to the bone."
Again, that small smile. "…sure. I think I have some soup left over, hang on a second."
As she lowered herself from the counter and padded back into the kitchens depths, Zoroark grinned to himself, not allowing the same excitement to show on his illusion. Making friends with the Pokémon who'd be feeding him? Oh, that was a no brainer. But to have the chance to juggle that AND get some influence over Pinky's little pal? Oh, it was perfect.
His smile was jagged. Zoroark was having a fantastic day.
—[The Adventures Association | Dorm Rooms]—
[The Third Day]
"Traitor."
Sandslash nearly tripped over his own feat at the sudden words, losing grip of the bag he'd been carrying. It fell to the ground, and out spilled badges. Badges upon badges. One with three golden rings, another with a red dot at the center, a greed dot, a silver dot. They, and a myriad more, clattered onto the floor loudly.
He could only sigh and look to the Pokémon standing in his room's doorway. To say that Litten looked angry would be an understatement. The expression that she was wearing would probably leave any mon who didn't know her fleeing for the dunes. However, Sandslash did know her. This meant that he could just sigh and begin cleaning up the metallic mess. However, it also meant the simple word caused his stomach to tie itself in knots.
"Traitor." Litten repeated, stalking into the room. Her temper only seemed to grow as she noticed a lack of any real reaction.
Having managed to stuff the badges back into the bag, Sandslash sighed, walking over to bed. He was using most of the satchels as a way to carry other bags, but somehow throwing his collection in with something like his scarves and items felt wrong. With a moments hesitation, he placed them in the last empty satchel.
All done. Four satchels upon his bed, one for exploration items, one for personal items, one for those things that didn't quite fit in with either, and finally, one just for all his badges. Perfect. The room was now as spotless as he'd found it all those months ago.
"Traitor."
Frowning slightly, he turned to Litten, tilting his head a bit. The fire-types eyes were sharp, only becoming more so when he faced her directly. With another sigh, he turned back to his bags, hoping to find a way to look busy.
Litten did NOT like that.
"Well? Don't you have anything to say?"
The nerves in Sandslash's stomach twisted with anxiety. Just what was he suppose to say to this mon? Clearly she'd come here looking for trouble, yet when he looked at her he just felt bad.
"Um…" he stupidly went with the first thing that came to mind. "D-Do you know if Tsareena got my note. I-I tried to find her this morning but-"
"YOU GAVE HER A NOTE?" Embers flickered around Litten's mouth as she stormed forward. "GROUDON, it's like your trying to rub it in her face. Why didn't you just leave without a word like all the others?"
"There's others leaving?" He asked, surprised.
"Don't act like you didn't know. I bet you all met up with each other. A big meet-up of all the traitors, going to see their new boss while their old one is STILL in an infirmary!" She spat, nose-to-nose with him. "All of you. Traitors."
He could feel the literal heat from her words, yet it was her eyes that caused Sandslash the most discomfort. He looked to the side as he mumbled out, "Technically he's not my boss yet. I, uh, only did a tryout and then I got the letter saying-"
"OF COURSE YOU'RE GONNA GET IN!" Litten howled, making him retreat a tad. "You've only been at the association for a few months, but you've already made it farther then some teams who have been her for a freakin YEAR!"
With his back to the wall, Sandslash's eyes darted about. "Uh…th-thank you?"
"AND YOU'RE NICE!" Some of the fire ebbed out of her, even as she continued her approach. "Which is why I don't get it. You're suppose to be our friend. One day you go out to eat with me and the other apprentices, the next day you're showing us some tricks you've learned in another continent. After that you're saving us from some pink psycho…" the anger found its way back in, "…and then you're going to work with that same psycho."
Again, they were nose to nose. But this time, Sandslash didn't have any room to retreat.
"…well…" he was almost whispering. "Technically I don't know i-if I actually got in yet, s-so-"
"YOU ALREADY-" She stopped short, taking a deep breath in and closing her eyes. When she opened them, her pupils were barely visible, mere slits. "Well you better hope you got in. You and the rest of the backstabbers. Cause if you didn't, then you better not even think for a second that you're welcome back here."
A calmer voice sounded from the doorway. "Litten. That's enough."
Sandslash's nerves only worsened when he saw Tsareena standing there, gold scarf and all. She didn't look angry. She just looked tired. Tired and disappointed.
He was suddenly hoping that Litten would stay.
Yet, it wasn't meant to be. Tsareena walked into the room with her usual grace. "Word has reached me of you storming about the association and verbally assaulting members."
"They're not members any more!" Litten shot back angrily. "I've only been going after the ones who went to those stupid-"
"Regardless of whether they seek employment elsewhere, they are STILL a member of the association until they either turn in their badge or are expelled by the head or his deputy," Tsareena said, nodding towards the door. "And as deputy, I'm ordering you to return to your quarters. You're lucky Rowlet informed me of before you earned a harsher punishment."
Litten spluttered for a few seconds, and Sandslash worried the rug beneath her feet would catch fire. She stomped out of the room, but just before leaving, called back. "I thought you were our friend. I should've listen to everyone else from day one."
Thus, Sandslash was left alone with a disappointed mon, rather then an angry one. He honestly would've preferred a second Litten to come storming into the room.
Even worse, Tsareena wasn't even saying anything. Instead, she was just looking about at the now empty space, nothing left but a desk, chest and a bed. The window to the outside was a beautiful day, Spiral-Town spinning away against a blue sky. The early morning heralded a day of work.
The silence was poking at Sandslash, managing to un-clench his jaw. "I was worried there for a second. Th-Things were getting heated."
Tsareena stared at him.
"Heated," he repeated, feeling his own face become just that. "C-Cause she's a fire-type. T-Type humor. Haha…ha…ha?"
She regarded him for a few moments, before smiling softy. "I suppose I should've been more careful then. Being a grass-type and all."
The nerves loosened a bit. Oh, how nice it would be for her to play along with his joke and then mosey on out of his room. But Sandslash knew what was coming. Even just the small smile she had just gained was enough for him to push forward.
"So…did you get the note I left you?" He asked slowly.
She deflated a bit, but at least the ghost of a smile was still there. "I did. I meant to thank you for that. Everyone else who's attended the Waves tryouts seems to plan on leaving without a word."
A nail of sympathy struck him. "There's really that many leaving?"
"Including you? Twelve in total, six of them being apprentices. I imagine that's why Litten is so worked up. We haven't had a new one in some time, so to lose this many…the apprentices wing is going to feel emptier, I imagine."
The nail became a knife, cutting away at his resolve. "I-I mean you'll fill up those spaces fast enough. It's busy enough these days, what with Broken-Call a-and-"
The smile returned, but it was wrong this time. Faked. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? We even had a few applicants taking their final test this week as a matter of fact…more then half of them have cancelled."
The knife became a dagger. "B-But it won't stay like that forever! I-I'm sure this is just a case of Pokémon flocking to the newest thing. Sure, it may be a little slower here for awhile, but once things die down, things will get back to normal…" he turned away from her, digging through his bags. "You'll see."
"Things going back to normal, hm? Careful. If you were paying attention to your new bosses speech, you'd remember that's the exact opposite of what he wants," an edge entered her voice. "I get the feeling that if Malamar has his way, things won't be getting back to how they were for some time…"
"H-He was just being dramatic. Drawing the crowd in, y-ya know?" Sandslash mummbled.
But for a second, just a second, he wondered. Would that really be so bad? For things to be shaken up a little?
Finding the badge he'd been looking for, he turned to her. "Here."
Tsareena looked down at the adventurer's badge he'd been given. A spiral stamped against cool silver metal, wings jutting out from each side. She shook her head. "Keep it."
"But you said-"
"For the time being, I don't intend to take ANY of those who choose to leave's badges. And I don't intend to expel any of you either," the edge in her voice grew sharper. "Malamar's planning something, and I imagine he plans to use these Waves of Destruction to see it through. I'm hoping some of you realize that you're making a mistake by joining up with him."
Sandslash blinked, looking down at the bade. "Oh."
A soft hand placed itself atop his head. "And when that time comes, I want you all to remember you have a place here, even if you don't want it…" she chuckled softly. "That's assuming I can get Seismitoad to agree with the idea. Just keep it with you and I'll say it got lost in the paperwork if things go south."
"You're gonna lose twelve mon's paperwork?" Sandslash blinked at her.
She shrugged. "I've been deputy long enough that I think I can get away with, what, a days worth of incompetence? Not like it'd go against the luck we've been having lately."
Now it was Sandslash's turn to smile, if a bit sadly. "I…I feel bad about this. Seriously, I do but…this is just something I have to do. Thanks for letting me in, even with all the…the baggage…I'm sorry things didn't work out."
"We're adventures. It's our job to help others. Same goes for our comrades too," she winked. "Any bits of feedback you can give me before you run off?"
Sandslash thought for a few moments, taking the time to throw each of the four satchels on. He looked about the room, his home for what had felt like the smallest amount of time. It blurred together with other rooms, each left barren on one final day. Outside, the sun shined into view as Spiral-Town spun.
The light hit him directly in the eyes and he gasped, squinting. "I-If I could suggest one thing? Maybe a change in location. Everyone kept saying I'd get used to it, but I still don't understand why anyone would want to live on a giant slab that won't stop moving."
The relief that flooded him when his words earned a surprised snort out of the deputy was immense. It only grew when he saw that her smile was back, though cloaked in mock anger. "Alright, I take it back. Expulsion. Now...and remember to take care of yourself."
—[Sand-Continent | Approaching Blazer's Beach]—
"Well damn. Look, I know I'm suppose to be empathizing with you here, but that sounds like it went SPECTACULARLY well," Silvally snickered.
Sandslash, who was hanging onto his friends neck for dear life, almost had to yell over the wind his ride was pushing against. "How did ANY of that sound 'spectacular' to you?"
Silvally shrugged, almost jostling his passenger loose as he skated down a dune, before simply jumping over the next one. "WELL IT SOUNDS TO ME-" they landed atop the next dune over, and he leapt again, "-LIKE YOU AND THE DEPUTY SPENT SOME TIME ALONE IN YOUR ROOM-" another jump and he was skating down a particularly rock filled section of desert, bobbing and weaving through the obstacles. "-AND YOU LEFT HER SMILING!"
A particularly large rock, practically a boulder, stood in the way of their decent. Silvally lowering his head so that the large crest atop his head would meet it. Sandslash held back a screech of fear as their splattering across rock grew closer.
But he should've known better. At the very last moment, Silvally's crest flashed and upon impacting with the rock, split it just enough into two that the duo made it through without issue.
"SANDSLASH, LADY KILLER!" Silvally howled with laughter as sand scattered everywhere. Somehow, none of the particles left him coughing.
The same could not be said for Sandslash. "Blech, blughs, g-gah! I-It wasn't like that."
"Duh, I was just messing with ya. No offense, but that one is out of your league. Sides, I bet her and Seismitoad have a thing going on. Ohhhhhhhhhhh, do you think she was pissed when Malamar showed up because there's that rumor he and Seismitoad were a thing?"
"Dude!"
"Oh my GOSH, I'm just trying to lighten the mood. When you asked me to give you a ride to the beach, I figured we'd be cracking jokes, not talking about your anxiety issues," he turned as best he could to face Sandslash, not at all looking where he was skating. "Slash. She literally said that you could come back whenever you wanted. You've basically been given a vacation for as long as you please! I'd kill for that."
Sandslash shook the last of the sand from his spines. "You don't work anywhere?"
"Yeah, but my boss is a real ass. He knows that it'd be funny to smack into that rock up ahead, but knows that you'd get mad about it. Don't worry, I'm having an in depth discussion about it with him right now."
With that, Silvally closed his eyes and started humming.
Glaring at his mount, Sandslash sighed. "Not funny."
The humming continued.
"Silv, that's enough, cmon."
The humming went on.
"Seriously! I am gonna JUMP off if you-"
Suddenly, Silvally kicked with his hind legs, sending Sandslash flying through the air, screaming all the while. The world became a mixture of sky blue and desert yellow as he was sent tumbling through the air. Barely managing to right himself mid-flight, Sandslash saw that Blazer's Beach was just over the next dune, a small campsite having been set up next to the behemoth of metal that was the Depth-Strider. Below him however, he could hear Silvally laughing.
Sandslash decided to have some fun of his own.
Curling into a ball, his body began to fall faster, gaining more and more speed before it landed right in front of the still-moving Silvally. With a plume of sand as cover, he accelerated through the field of rocks, flowing between them like a river. Finding one that was a suitable size, he rolled over it, uncurling his body just as he did, latching onto it.
With some effort, he tore the rock from the sand, and, still moving, flung it at Silvally.
His traveling companion grinned as his crest flashed, smashing the rock into pieces. "Thaaaaaat's one!"
Understanding immediately, Sandslash curled back up, putting on another burst of speed. Before making contact with the next rock, he dove beneath the sand, quickly coming back up from beneath it so it would be sent hurtling into the sky.
Silvally leapt, and with another flash, smashed the target before landing with a triumphant, "THAT'S TWO!"
Unfurling just as they reached the incline of the final dune, Sandslash turned around to face his friend, crossing his arms and letting the left over velocity carry him upwards. Right past several, very throwable rocks.
Sailing all the way to the top, Sandslash's movement halted just in time to give him a proper view of the beach. Even with it being the last day for applicants, there was still a large crowd of Pokémon awaiting their turn to be let into the Depth-Strider. Was there even more then there'd been the first day?
He tried to recount just how many he'd been among during his own visit as Silvally arrived beside him with a, "Dude. You can't just throw me two things to break without a third. That's breaking the rule of three."
"Maybe don't try launching me and I'll think about it."
"Ohhh, I knew you'd be fine. Seriously, you're WAY better at moving through this wasteland than I am. I don't even know why you asked for a ride when you've got your speed."
"I'm fast over short distances. Still need to work on my stamina," Sandslash hummed.
"Eh, stamina-shmanima. You had enough to get you into this Waves thing. Speaking of which, here we are! Ready to be made boss of all those mons down there?" Silvally asked, peering down at the line that had formed towards the Depth-Strider's entrance.
"I didn't do that well."
Scoffing, Silvally sat, somehow not being bothered by the sheer heat of the sand. "Didn't you say you beat the Pokémon who was testing you? Pretty sure that puts you above, like, anyone who didn't."
"I barely won," Sandslash replied, frowning at the memory. "Besides, it wasn't a fair fight. She'd been battling all day and she had to deal with everyone whispering about her. I don't think I'd be able to handle that..."
Indeed, Sandslash hadn't felt very good about his battle at all. What with the Mudbray before him accusing her of being a peril feral, and then the sudden tension that the crowd created in the room from the idea, he had no idea how Lurantis had managed to continue. When the crowd had exploded into cheers at his victory, he'd felt like he'd cheated somehow. And the look Lurantis had given him when he'd managed to get an oran berry into her mouth. If she had any power in the Waves of Destruction, he was pretty sure she was going to make his life a as hard as possible. Worse still, he'd been too freaked out to apologize about their first meeting in the market the other day.
"Ohhhhhh, right. A Lurantis, yeah?" Silvally seemed to have picked up on his souring mood. "Is she good looking?"
Now that was one Sandslash wasn't going to let throw him off. "She's a Lurantis. They're all good looking."
"True that. You know, back in the mist continent I met one and let me tell you. Me and him?" He winked. "We had some good times."
Sandslash squinted at him. "You're…in a romantic mood today, aren't you?"
"Can't help it. This might be the last time we see each other."
That one did throw Sandslash off. "Wh-What?"
"Cmon, do the math. We meet up every time you start at some gig. First at the Rescue Operatives place, then again when you joined Wigglytuff's. Prrrrretty sure you've done em all. Well, except the knights of divinity, but cmon, who'd join those guys." Tears formed in Silvally's eyes. Sandslash was pretty sure they were fake. "That means this is the last time we'll meet. Ever."
"You know, you could always come with me." Sandslash scratched the back of his head. "You already know how weird I feel about all this. It'd be nice to have someone I know around…plus, ya know, you'd have somewhere to sleep for a change."
The humming began once again. Sandslash rolled his eyes.
Thankfully, there was no sudden bucking when it ended this time. "Nah. For one beds are overrated. They don't have that outdoors-y smell Second, like the last time you asked. Guilds, associations, crews. They just ain't my thing. There's still something out there I gotta find."
He should've been expecting that response, but Sandslash was still a little disappointed. "Alright…hope you find what you're looking for."
"Hey, same to you. Whatever it is we're after." a giant claw suddenly ruffled Sandslash's spines. "But for real, when I'm wandering around a continent and I hear the Waves of Destruction are parked nearby, I'm gonna come a knocking. You better not have ditched the thing by then, ya hear?"
Sandslash shook his spines back into place, smirking up at the taller mon. "Right….but seriously. Thanks for always being around. You've made this whole thing a little easier."
"Eh, don't thank me. Same as it always was. I'm just passing by." Getting back to his feet, Silvally began to pad away. "Later, Slash. Try not to get too tied up in whatever that creep of a boss is planning!"
With a burst of speed, he was gone, once again skating his way across the desert. Sandslash watched him bob, weave and burst through a few rocks, before turning his attention back to the Depth-Strider.
He couldn't help but frown to himself. So many of the mons he'd mentioned his new work place to had told him how exciting it sounded to work alongside a hero of the Ultra Event. Yet, all the mons he put any stock in were telling him of how off Malamar seemed. How much getting involved in his plans was a bad idea. Yet, there was that spark. That spark of excitement he felt deep down.
Opening one of his satchels, he dug around unto he clasped a note that he'd placed neatly in one of it's pouches. Reading it for what must have been the tenth time that day, Sandslash mummbled under his breath,
Howdy Sandslash,
This is Excadrill, from the Waves of Destruction. Here's hoping this letter finds ya okay at the association, and your pals don't give ya too hard a time about getting it. Just wanted to let ya know that the big boss is MIGHTY pleased with what he's heard about ya and he wants to meet ya himself. Even have a mission lined up for ya if you're willing! If ya're, come on down to the Depth-Strider on the last day of the tryouts.
Don't gotta agree to anythin, just hear us out!
Excadrill - First mate 'o the crew!
He was still trying to figure out of the title tacked on at the end was an official rank within the waves, or just a joke. Either way, the letter didn't give off any sort of bad feeling.
Holding the paper tighter, he let out a breath. Yes, he was nervous. But why should he be? All of this was just an overreaction.
He'd been a part of so many groups before. It'd almost be nice if the Waves of Destruction shook things up a little.
Notes:
A quick switch up of POVs. Next chapter, Agatha is back as our main.
Thanks for reading!
