Well, our walk to the Kangaskhan Storage was a bit of a silent and awkward one. I mean, how do you respond to when others walk in during a… well, personal family moment like what just happened? It kinda embarrassed us to the point where we were silent all the way down to thestorage place. Zev didn't care; he walked silently as we all tried to keep eye contact away from that.
But as we reached the store, Sasuke finally cleared his throat and said, "Okay, the reason why we're going to the storage is not only are we gonna introduce Thomas to the owners, but we're gonna purchase a few things."
"Oh, really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, Thomas," Sasuke said as he nodded, "As you know, Auntie Kangaskhan and Uncle Raichu are our legal guardians, so they would want to know about you."
"They're really cool! I can't wait for you to meet them!" Naruto said happily as we approached the storage.
We watched as Auntie Kangaskhan came out of the store with a smile and gasped at seeing Sasuke and Naruto. She laughed with joy as my brothers ran to her and jumped into her arms that held them in a hug. They giggled as her daughter in her pouch laughed too.
"Good morning, Auntie!" Naruto said happily as his tail wagged.
"We're sorry we missed you yesterday," Sasuke apologized as he snuggled.
"It's all right, my little darlings," Auntie Kangaskhan said sweetly, "I'm so happy to see you again. I see you're also here to get something?"
"Yes, but before we do that," Sasuke said, "We have to show you our team so far."
As Auntie Kangaskhan looked at us, she first laid eyes on Zev. Now, I can expect what anyone would thinking (or I should say 'could be') which is how she was gonna react. Probably be rotten to him, yell most likely, maybe even go for that old fashioned way that women deal with teenage hooligans that they don't want in their store; dusty and old broom to the face. But surprisingly she smiled at him.
"Oh, Zev, you're joining them too?" She asked sweetly.
"I… yes, ma'am," Zev said as he looked at me with a glare that you know just said 'You are the reason for my torment'.
I grinned sheepishly at him as Auntie Kangaskhan looked at me and smiled. She turned to Sasuke and Naruto.
"And who is this fine young looking man here?" she asked my brothers.
So, I'm just gonna save you all and skip to the next part. The reason is because frankly I'm pretty sure a lot of you are getting bored of Sasuke having to continually explain the Monster House Victim alibi we had made up. I mean, it's a clever one, but hearing something over and over again can be a bit repetitive. So, from now on, I'll say something like insert intermission or something when it comes up again. Okay? Okay.
So, anyways, it was then a male Raichu came out of the store and sneaked up against them. He giggled as he slowly raised his arms and then grabbed both Sasuke and Naruto with a playful growl. My brothers laughed as they snuggled into him, causing him to chuckle and snuggle back.
"How are my wonderful boys doing this morning?" He said with a raspy voice and a smile.
"Great, Uncle Raichu!" Naruto cheerfully said as he laughed and snuggled more.
"That's good to see and hear that, boys," he said as he laughed with them.
I watched as Auntie Kangaskhan told him about me. After he said good morning to Zev, he looked over and smirked proudly at me. I could sense an interest to know me more, but I was kinda thrown off by the motive; was it because I'm a Pikachu and usually Raichus have rivalries with them, or was it because I was their new brother?
"Well, hello there, Thomas," he said as he walked over with a smile, "I see that you're now our little youngings' new little brother, I see."
I smiled and nodded, "Yes, sir."
Suddenly, I was pulled into a side-hug by him. I blushed in surprise as I looked up at his face. He grinned at me with a wink as his tail teased mine by stroking it.
"Well, I'm glad that you're onboard, Thomas," he said warmly to me with a wink, "I'm glad that you guys can come to us for your shopping needs and storage."
"So, since you're here, what can we do for you?" Auntie Kangaskhan asked with a smile.
Sasuke turned to her and said politely, "Well, we need a few items for the Rescue Team exams. But we could use some help with the apparel."
"Apparel? What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, Thomas, when Rescue Teams are given badges, it's best to wear something to put the badge on. We got so many reports of Rescue Teams losing their badges and criminals using them for their purposes. So, the new rule is that you have to wear like a hat, bandana, headband, scarf, and any clothing item that the badge can clip onto," Sasuke said.
"Way ahead of you!" The daughter in Auntie Kangaskhan's pouch said as she brought over five headbands.
They each had different colors. The following colors: black, green, white, yellow, and red. I noticed that out of all them, there was more than our team value. I looked at Sasuke, and it was like he had read my mind.
"Just in case we lose one, we have more," He explained.
Out of nowhere, Zev grabbed the green headband and started tying it around his neck, saying, "Sorry, but nobody's getting the green one but me."
We all sort of chuckled at him as Sasuke took the black one and Naruto choose red. As they tied it around, Sasuke put the other two in his paw after he folded them. I blinked as I looked up at him.
"Hey, Sasuke! I didn't get one!" I said.
"What are you talking about? You're wearing yours already," he replied back with a smile.
It was then I realized he was referring to my blue headband tied around my head. I blushed embarrassingly as I took it as that this would be my apparel for the badge I would get. Naruto laughed at me as Zev just shook his head disappointingly at me. I guess I really am a bit of a silly guy, after all.
"Hey, we'll be taking those spare headbands now."
We looked towards the Square to see KING and BATSU come over. I blinked in shock as the store owners greeted them with a hello. Both said hello back and then turned to Sasuke.
"Hm? But why do you need these headbands?" Sasuke asked as Auntie Kangaskhan gave him the rest of the items we needed.
"Yeah, they belong to us! Not you!" Naruto said, with a bit of a bark.
"Do we need a reason? Just fork 'em over, Sasuke," King said in what appeared to be a threatening tone of voice, yet Sasuke was not going with it.
"King, just because you're three months older than me, doesn't give you a reason to bully me and be a jerk," my brother replied.
"Yeah, so why don't you go pick on some 3-year-old kid who can't intellectually and physically outwit you?" Zev said, sending to all of us an angry alarm from a Charmeleon.
"WHAT WAS THAT!?" King stepped forward to Zev.
The Grovyle folded his arms and said, "You heard me. Beat it."
Now, if any of you are really good with imagination, you'll understand that you could picture a huge blue line of electricity just being connected from both their eyes back and forth at each other. I didn't need a psychology major from Pokémon college to figure out that they're gonna have some cooperation problems down the way. But surprisingly, Batsu had called enough as he walked right in between them, and with a flash, both Zev and King yelped in pain as they staggered back, holding their head.
"Enough," he said as he looked to Sasuke, "The reason we want the headbands is because we're a part of your team, Sasuke."
With that, all of the current members of our team did a double-take as Sasuke became hesitant and said, "What? You're not on our team. I didn't put either of you two down as members."
"We know…. Rrguh…" King groaned and stood by Batsu, "We were assigned to your team by Whiscash Elder and Lucario."
Well, that took me by surprise. Although a bit hesitant and unsure, Sasuke handed the headbands over to Batsu. He took the white one, as King had to settle with yellow, yet he gave a glare to Naruto in an annoyed fashion, which told me he really would've wanted the red one. Before the puppy could push him with a little teasing, Sasuke also gave a glare, making him obey and be quiet. With that, all members of our team (excluding me) tied their headband around their necks.
But in a way, this now made me a bit more uncomfortable with the team. I mean, Batsu clearly does not like me right now; I mean, I've argued with him, with an official Rescue Team, with his father, WITH THE ELDER… and broke the rules in which he clearly stands for. Meanwhile, I got King as a bully who thinks I'm a useless pipsqueak and Zev who thinks he's in debt to me and doesn't get the fact you can do nice things for people without wanting anything back at all. And to make it a bit worse, this happened.
"The reason we're ACTUALLY here is that Whiscash Elder wants us to bring you guys to the pond to talk with him," Batsu said.
We all looked at each other in surprise as I asked, "What does the Elder want with us?"
Batsu shook his head and said, "He didn't tell. All he told us was it was important and that he'll only explain until we all get there."
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