Chapter 9 - Stay

Sparks felt like a failure.

The jury was still out on whether or not that was a valid description of himself, but it was certainly what he felt like. The feeling of inadequateness weighed on his shoulders like a two-ton weight, leaving him looking tired and grumpy as he sipped his morning coffee.

It was the middle of October. Sparks had brought Ziggy into the guild exactly 28 days ago. Ziggy only had two or three more days left to stay there.

Things had been going well. It was the honest truth; Ziggy had been slowly becoming a bit more outgoing among the company of the active team, and had even casually interacted with some other guild members that he hadn't met before. He was starting to appear less skittish and nervous.

However, things were simply not going well enough. Or, rather, they weren't going well fast enough. Ziggy's newfound sense of comfort still only extended to Sparks, Carmen and the 12 members of the team. He was still nervous around the many other members in the building, making him feel uneasy whenever he was taken out of the common room to other parts of the building. Even setting foot outside was still completely out of the question.

Even if he were to be sent somewhere helpful, the fact still remained: Ziggy was not ready to leave.

Sparks groaned as he sat at the table in the common room, taking another sip of coffee. It was very early, and only a few Pokémon such as Kona and Akash were awake. The simple fact that Ziggy wasn't here next to him was proof enough of this conundrum. Once again, an active team member had briefly taken a client through the common room, and Ziggy had been in the room at the time. Unlike the Sableye, this client hardly even batted an eye at Ziggy. It was possible he hadn't even noticed the shiny Buizel, as he had been fully engaged in conversation with Shay. However, that was enough to throw Ziggy into a near-panic attack, and now he didn't want to come out of his room.

That wasn't all, though. Sparks could tell the looming deadline was weighing on Ziggy's mind too.

The sad fact was that Sparks had likely bitten off way more than he could chew. It was thankful that circumstances had led to them meeting, and that Ziggy had formed a bond of trust with him relatively quickly, but Sparks wasn't a miracle worker. There had never been any hope that he could cure Ziggy within a month.

But, what could be done? There were rules about the length of clients' residence. The Rescue Society was a non-profit organization partially funded by the government. While it was true that the government mostly stayed out of the guild's affairs entirely, seeing them mostly as a pseudo-public service, they did have some stipulations here and there. The government wasn't willing to pay to feed and house a whole crowd of Pokémon for months and months. This wasn't a hotel. If word got out that a client was staying for an extended period of time, even if it was just Ziggy alone, heads would start butting.

One by one, the other guild members woke up and filed into the common room. Liz brought out breakfast and everybody dug in. Pretty much everyone asked Sparks where Ziggy was, to the point that he got a little annoyed at giving the same answer repeatedly. Breakfast was still a lighthearted event, though, with everybody excited to begin the day's work.

Sparks just sighed and sipped his coffee. He didn't feel very hungry.

Soon after, everybody was gathered around the white board for the morning briefing. Sparks stood off to the side and watched silently as Carmen took her place at the front to address everybody.

"All right, team," she announced, "We've got a few assignments here. The east side high school wants to hire some of us to help with 'free lunch day'. They want someone making sandwiches and handing them out to the cubs, and such. Any takers?"

"I can do that," Lupe spoke up.

"Can I join you?" Kona asked.

"Sure! Sounds like fun."

"All right then," Carmen said as she scribbled something onto her clipboard, "Kona…and Lupe… Right! There's also a celebration party going on down by the beaches for a company and its employees. They're looking for somebody…"

The sound of Carmen's voice trailed off. Sparks found himself staring off at nothing for a moment, his thoughts running wild. He could feel his stress building, forming a painful ache in the pit of his stomach. He started to regret not eating anything at breakfast as an uneasy feeling started to cloud over him. He couldn't focus on anything anymore. He was just too lost in his own pessimistic, troubled thoughts. Why? Why did things have to end up like this?

"…Sparks? …Sparks!"

The Raichu gasped softly, startled out of his trance by Carmen's voice. He shook his head and glanced around, realizing that he and Carmen were alone in the room now. The morning briefing was over. When had that happened?

"Sparks, are you okay?"

"Ah…" Sparks faltered for a moment but quickly got a hold of himself, "Yeah, I'm fine… Sorry, I kinda…dozed off for a moment there."

Carmen was looking down at him, genuine concern easily visible in her expression.

Sparks closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "I'm fine, Carmen. I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today…" It was the honest truth, and the reason that he had nothing but coffee in his belly at the moment.

"Okay…" Carmen said, sounding unsure of whether to accept his explanation or not, "I have to go supervise the requests board and open the gate, but after I'm done we need to talk."

Dread filled Sparks' heart. He knew immediately what Carmen wanted to talk about. "All right…" he said resignedly, "I'll just, uh… See if there's anything left over from breakfast that I can choke down."

"I didn't see you eat very much."

"I didn't eat anything."

Carmen gave him another very concerned look before taking her leave and heading out to the courtyard. Sparks, meanwhile, sullenly made his way back over to the table and picked up a single bun. It was about the only thing there that looked even a little appetizing.

Ten minutes later, Carmen returned. Sparks had only eaten half of the bun. She marched over and sat at the table across from him. With a neutral expression, she folded her paws in front of her and simply said, "What are we going to do with him?"

Sparks closed his eyes and sighed. "I don't know," he admitted, "I just don't know. I've failed…"

"You haven't failed anything, Sparks. You have helped him a lot already. We're just stuck in an unfortunate situation here. I sympathise with both you and Ziggy, but we need to address this."

"I know…" Sparks mumbled, not feeling motivated by Carmen's encouragement. He still felt like a failure. He had helped plenty of homeless and struggling Pokémon before, and the one-month time limit had never been an issue until now. Sending difficult cases off to other organizations was just the natural flow of how they helped out at the Society.

Ziggy was different, though. Ziggy's case was special.

"We can't keep treating him here, Sparks," Carmen said in an even tone, "And you live here, so it's not like you can board him in your house or anything."

"Mm…"

"I know it might not be the best thing for Ziggy, exactly, but it's just something we have to do. We have to decide who we're going to hand him off to." When Sparks just shook his head, Carmen added in a softer tone, "I know it will frighten him and stress him out, but in the long run it'll be good for him. I'm sure wherever he goes, you can still go visit him."

This time, Sparks groaned in frustration, which mildly caught Carmen off guard. "We can't do that to him. We just can't. It's going to cause him harm. It's going to be traumatizing to him. Doing that to a Pokémon goes completely against our entire mission statement. We're here to help Pokémon, and that won't help him."

"Sparks, it will help him…" Carmen started.

The Raichu cut her off. "No. What he needs right now is safety and security. What he needs are Pokémon he can trust. He has that right here. Do you know how bad it's going to be for him if we take all of that away?"

Carmen stared at Sparks in silence for a moment. Sparks sighed and tried to calm his temper. He had known Carmen long enough to feel comfortable interrupting her like that, even though she was his boss, but he also knew that getting heated wouldn't help anybody.

"Sparks…" she eventually said, "I want him to stay here. Maybe you don't believe it, but it's true. I also think keeping Ziggy here will be the most helpful to him." She pressed one of her paws against the table for emphasis. "But he can't, Sparks. He can't sit in one of our rooms and take more of the government's money. We're lucky enough that the government provides almost full cost of living for everybody on the active team, plus yourself and myself. The fact that lunch is the only thing we have to buy for ourselves is a luxury, but that's because we work for the guild. If the higher ups find out that Ziggy is essentially freeloading here…we might lose those luxuries."

Poor Sparks just held a paw to his forehead and groaned.

"That's the way things are, Sparks," Carmen said regrettably, "If you can think of a way around that, by all means let me know. However, as it currently stands… Sparks, he has to go."

"Ugh…" Sparks murmured, swearing under his breath.

"I don't want you to make a decision on the last possible day, so I'm gonna ask for your decision right now."

Sparks turned to Carmen and gave her a wide-eyed look. She seemed apologetic but firm. "I…" Sparks started to say, suddenly put on the spot, but fell silent again. He gave the matter some more thought, glancing over at the door to the dorms a few times, as he drummed his paws on the table and flitted his tail in irritation.

"Just…" he finally said, "Can you just…give me until tonight?"

Carmen arched an eyebrow.

Sparks sighed in resignation and said, "I promise I will have a decision by then, even if I don't like it… I just feel like I can't make it right this second."

"…All right, fine," Carmen replied, "Whatever we do with him, though, we have to start setting it up tomorrow."

"I know. You're right."

"Give it some thought and let me know."

Sparks nodded grimly in response. Carmen then got up, bid him good day, and left to do work elsewhere, leaving Sparks alone in the common room. Everybody on the team had gone off to do a duty of some sort, and Ziggy was still in his room. The feeling of quiet was deafening. It only made the thoughts and questions in Sparks' head louder.

Some time passed, though how much Sparks couldn't be sure. The silence in the room was finally broken by the sound of a door opening. Sparks lifted his head towards the door to the main hall, but it wasn't open. He turned the other way, realizing that it was the dorm room doorway that had opened by just a tiny crack. Peeking out from behind the doorway was a tiny, nervous little Buizel head. "Sparks…?"

"Hey, buddy," Sparks greeted him in a gentle tone, "How're you doing?"

Ziggy glanced around the room for a moment. When he saw that it was empty save for Sparks, he entered through the doorway fully and began to make his way over to the table. "I… I wondered where you were," he said, rubbing his arm and looking awkward.

"I've just been sitting out here, bud."

"Yeah… S-sorry for stayin' in my room…"

Sparks shook his head. "It's fine, buddy. Do you feel better?"

"Yeah, sorta… I'm just really…really scared lately. I can't focus, and I'm worrying about everything."

"Ah…" Sparks said with a sigh. He knew exactly what Ziggy was scared of. "I'm still trying, buddy. Trust me, I'm trying…"

Ziggy finally reached the table and took a seat across from Sparks. He looked up at the larger Raichu with small, vulnerable eyes and whispered, "I don't wanna go…"

"I don't want you to go either… None of us do."

Ziggy frowned even more. "So why do I haveta…?"

"'Cus those are the rules…"

The crestfallen look on Ziggy's face upon hearing that was heartbreaking to see. Sparks tried to think of something, anything, he could say to cheer him up. Just then, though, someone else entered the room.

"Oop! Pardon me, y'all," Liz said, making her way to the table, "I'm just gon' pick up these dishes 'fore I head out." The Miltank then started the process of gathering up the used plates, cutlery, and leftover food from breakfast.

"Sorry, Liz. We can move," Sparks said to her.

"Aw, shut yer mouth and hold yer butts. Y'all are fine where ya are. Pr'tend I'm not here, sugar."

Sparks gave her a questioning look, to which she nodded, and then he shrugged and turned back to Ziggy. "Buddy…" he said in a sombre tone, "Have you given any thought to moving out of this place? Or is it too stressful to even think of?"

Ziggy immediately looked uncomfortable. "I…I-it's scary…"

"You know that if we send you somewhere, it'll be some place that we trust, full of Pokémon that we trust, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

"And I can come visit you, wherever it…"

Ziggy whined and started to appear agitated.

"…Y'know what, never mind," Sparks quickly interjected, "Don't worry about it. Let us figure it out, okay? Just put it out of your mind. Focus on something else today. Is there maybe something you wanna do? Or something we can do for you…?"

"I dunno…" Ziggy murmured.

A moment of tense silence filled the room, only broken up by the repeated clinking and clanging of Liz gathering up everything off of the table. Eventually, those sounds drew the curious attention of both Pokémon. Liz was at the opposite end, and had made two impressive stacks of plates and bowls. She had with her a metal tray, and was in the process of loading both stacks onto the tray, which was already filled with an assortment of cutlery. Sparks knew that Liz was skilled enough to be able to carry that all the way back to the kitchen without dropping a thing. She had a masterful sense of balance. Still, though, it looked like it was going to take her at least three trips to clean up everything.

"Golly me," she commented to herself with a chuckle, "I'm gonna havta start servin' everything through a juicer. A lot less cleanup there, ha!"

"You're…gonna carry all of that?" Ziggy spoke up, nervously raising his voice high enough for the Miltank to hear.

Liz glanced up, surprised to be addressed by him, but then flashed him a winning smile. "Sure am, cutie pie! This here's my mornin' exercise! Haha! And don't y'all go thinkin' I'm gonna drop somethin', 'cus if I do then I owe Jules 10 Poké."

"That's… a lot of dishes…" Ziggy muttered.

"Yeah… Sadly, I ain't some fancy-schmancy Psychic-Type so I can't carry it all back at once. But that's kinda lazy anyhow, if ya ask me. I don't mind it none. I just do my best." With that, Liz then expertly lifted the tray up with her two front hooves. The stacks of dishes barely swayed.

"Uh… L-Liz?"

Liz had turned around to leave, but looked back over her shoulder at Ziggy. "Yes, hun?"

"Um…" The Buizel briefly glanced at Sparks, and then back to Liz. "Uh…Can I help?"

"Beg pardon?" Liz asked with a tilted glance. Sparks was also giving the Buizel a curious look, which caused him to feel a bit self-conscious about the attention.

"I-I mean, if you…if you want help, or…Y'know, I just thought, that seems like a lot…for one Pokémon to carry…" His words trailed off until they were nothing more than a quiet murmur.

Sparks looked at Ziggy with raised eyebrows. "You want to help Liz carry the dishes back to the kitchen?" he asked gently.

"Well…s-sure, I guess…" he said, "I mean… I can carry stuff. That's not that hard, and I thought it would…y'know, help."

"Well, that's mighty kind of ya," Liz answered before Sparks could say anything else, "Sure, I don't mind if'n ya wanna carry a few things back. Just don't take too much, hon, and take care not to drop anythin'. I'd certainly 'preciate the help."

Sparks thought he saw Ziggy's face light up for just a brief moment. "Y-yeah? Uh, okay. Yeah, I can take a couple things…" the Buizel said.

As Ziggy stood up and started to gather a couple plates, spoons and forks, Sparks watched him from his seat. Liz patiently waited by the door, since she'd have to show Ziggy where the kitchen was, but Ziggy moved as quickly as he could to gather up as much as he could safely carry. Compared to Liz it wasn't much, but it still made a dent in Liz's remaining workload.

Ziggy then carefully walked over towards Liz, giving her a shy look as he approached as if to silently ask if what he was doing was okay.

"All right, hon, ya just follow me and I'll show ya where that all goes," she said to him with a big, warm smile. He nodded to her, and then made his way over to the door. Liz expertly managed to open the door using only her tail, and allowed the Buizel to step through. There was a brief hesitation as he stepped out into the main hall, away from the 'safety' of the common room, but it only lasted a brief moment.

"'Ey! Sparky boy!"

Sparks was jolted out of his stupor by Liz's shout. He had been watching Ziggy with great interest, perhaps even a little transfixed by what he was watching. "Ah, uh…Wha?" he replied.

"Ya just gonna sit there an' let Zig do everythin'? Grab somethin' and help out, ya punk! What kinda mentor are ya?" She punctuated her statement with a laugh, showing she was only joking.

"Right!" Sparks said, feeling embarrassed, "Right, sorry. I was distracted by something…" He then stood up and started to gather some dishes himself. He would have gotten up right alongside Ziggy to help right away, but his mind had been occupied by something else. Something rather important.

Sparks had just gotten an idea…


"Sparks, what is this about?" Carmen asked impatiently, no doubt giving the back of his head a perturbed scowl.

"Just trust me," Sparks said as he continued to lead her down the stairs and back towards the common room, "I have an idea for how we can make this all work."

"And are you going to explain this giant stack of paper you're carrying?" Carmen pressed.

"It's just a bunch of old status reports and recycle paper. Nothing important."

"Erm…"

Before long, they had reached the door to the common room. The door was closed, and Sparks and Carmen came to a stop outside of it. "Okay!" Sparks said, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Sparks…"

The Raichu very gently opened the door with his tail, making no sound and opening a crack just barely large enough to peek inside. He saw Ziggy sitting at the end of the table, the same place he had been in when Sparks had departed earlier, but there was nobody else in the room. It was late, so most of the team were in their own rooms.

"All right. Just stay out here and watch. Try not to let him see you," Sparks said to Carmen.

"Sparks, what the hell is going on?"

"Just watch. This is the answer. This is the answer we need."

Before even giving the Braixen a chance to answer, Sparks pushed open the door with his hind paw and walked into the common room carrying his large stack of paper. Ziggy glanced up upon him entering, so he shouted a quick greeting to the Buizel before closing the door almost all the way with his tail, leaving a crack for Carmen to look through.

"How's it going, buddy?" he asked as he walked across the room.

"Okay…I guess…" Ziggy murmured in a melancholy voice.

Sparks made it about halfway across the room, where he was still a fair distance away from where Ziggy was seated. It was at that moment that Sparks lost his grip, sending the entire stack of papers tumbling to the ground.

"Aw, crap!" he exclaimed as the papers quickly made a huge mess on the floor. With a heavy sigh, he bent down and started to gather them up once again. He grumbled to himself softly as he did.

The truth was that Sparks had done this on purpose. These papers were of no importance and he had deliberately dropped them all. Sparks kept his focus on the papers, hoping that his hunch was correct.

A moment later, to his relief, Ziggy was at his side a moment later. No words had been spoken, but the Buizel immediately started to help him gather up the dropped papers. "Ah… Thanks, buddy," Sparks said to him in gratitude.

"Mm… No problem…"

With the two of them working together, it didn't take much more than a couple minutes to gather up all of the papers into a pair of neat stacks. "I gotta watch where I'm goin'," Sparks commented with a chuckle as he picked up one of the stacks again, and then turned to Ziggy. "I'm supposed to bring these to Carmen, but I guess she's not here. You haven't seen her have you?"

Ziggy shook his head.

"She's probably upstairs," Sparks commented, "I shoulda checked there first. Oh well… Can you help put that stack on top of my stack, bud?"

"Uh… No, it's fine. I got 'em…" Ziggy said before reaching down and picking up his own, comparatively smaller pile of papers. He managed to hold them in his paws fairly easily.

"Oh! All right then. Thanks again! She shouldn't be too far…"

With that, Sparks turned around and headed back towards the door he had come in from in the first place. He heard the pawsteps of Ziggy following closely behind him. When he opened up the door and stepped through, as expected, a slightly-bewildered Carmen stood on the other side.

"Aha! There you are!" Sparks said once he 'noticed' her, "I got those papers you wanted. Here you go." He then handed over the stack of papers, which Carmen took though it only made her appear even more confused. She turned to regard Ziggy, who paused for a moment before approaching her as well. He added his stack to hers, leaving her carrying all of the papers.

"Great! Thanks again, buddy," Sparks said to the Buizel, "Carmen and I have to talk about this stuff now." He indicated the stack of papers with his paw. "It's gettin' late. Why don't you head back to your room, and I'll come and hang out with you for a bit before bed. Okay?"

"Uh… Okay, sure," Ziggy said. He nodded to Sparks, and then gave a bit more of a reverent bow to Carmen. After bidding the two of them farewell, he headed back through the door to the common room and shut it behind him.

Carmen then turned to Sparks and simply said, "Sparks, what the hell was all of that?"

"That's how he can stay!" Sparks said excitedly.

"All right…" Carmen said, putting down the papers and pinching the bridge of her muzzle, "You're gonna have to start making a lot more sense, because this is going nowhere."

"We can hire him, Carmen."

The Braixen gave him an odd look. "'Hire' him?"

Sparks nodded. "He can't stay with us anymore if he's a client, but if he's working for us then we can house him here. That's how it works, isn't it? If he's officially on record as an employee of the guild, then he can stay with us and we can keep giving him help."

"Hire him to do what, exactly?"

"To help out around the guild! Y'know, be an assistant. A custodian. That sort of stuff." Sparks gestured towards the closed door and continued. "I've noticed that he's a very helpful Pokémon. Once he gets past all that fear and anxiety, the desire to help others seems to come naturally to him. You saw him just now, he didn't even have to be asked to help me pick that stuff up. He just did it! Earlier today he asked if he could help Liz clear the table after breakfast, and I've seen him help out here and there too."

Carmen gave him a thoughtful, though slightly dubious look. "Mmm…" she murmured in thought.

"We're authorized to hire employees here. We've got Suva the Tentacruel washing dishes, for example. As long as we can get him to pull his weight a bit and help out around the building with chores and stuff, I'm sure we can justify keeping him here. And doing stuff like that might be good for his treatment anyway!"

Now, Carmen had crossed her forelimbs and was glancing away. She was silent for a moment, and then finally said, "Interesting…"

"I'm sure he'd be happy to do it, and we can just keep it to doing chores for us, the Pokémon he's close with. He really doesn't want to leave, so if this is the price to pay for staying I think he'll go for it."

"I understand the idea, Sparks," Carmen commented, "I'm just not entirely sure."

"Not sure about what? Carmen, it's the only way I can think of to keep him here."

"I know, Sparks, but I can't just run a bunch of technicalities to get what I want. I'm still the guildmaster."

Sparks shook his head. "It might not be the most conventional of employment, but it'll work. I'm sure of it!"

Carmen grumbled indecisively for a moment. "I'd have to think about it…" she eventually said, "but, of course, we don't have much time for that. If I find a problem with this plan and he can't stay, then his time will be up and he'll have to leave immediately…"

"…Right," Sparks said softly, a rush of trepidation overcoming him. He hadn't thought about it this way, but there was a bit of a risk involved. Hiring Ziggy to help around the society was the only plan he had come up with. He had nothing for backup.

Eventually, Sparks spoke up again. "Y'know what? This might start out as a technicality to keep him here, but I think once he gets used to it he can really help us out. I mean, you've got so many papers in your office that you haven't seen your desk in months. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone come and help sort them?"

"He's not educated, Sparks. And he started out as a client. There's likely to be questions."

Sparks shook his head. "We'll make it work. Don't worry about all that. It's not like someone from the government barges down our door the minute we make an adjustment to the budget."

"I'm sure they'd love to…"

"Just sleep on it, Carmen…" After a pause, he added in a quiet voice, "Please?"

Carmen hefted a heavy sigh. "…All right," she relented, "This is, if you'll pardon the high society phrase, highly unorthodox…"

Sparks chuckled and said, "I know… He's a bit of an unorthodox Pokémon."


A very tired and groggy Raichu groaned and lifted himself out of bed. It was bright outside already, meaning he had likely overslept. Breakfast was probably starting right about now without him. As he sat up, he held a paw to his head and groaned. He was incredibly tired. He hadn't gotten a good sleep at all.

Perhaps he had been tossing and turning subconsciously as he worried about Ziggy in the back of his mind. The uncertainty of whether or not Ziggy could stay may have been playing with his mind and preventing him from getting a good sleep.

Or, more likely, simply because the nightmares had been particularly bad that night.

Sparks groaned again as he stood up and shuffled his way to the door. He wandered like a zombie out of his room and over to one of the dorm's bathrooms. His head was lightly pounding the entire time.

It was unfortunate. Today was not a good day to be running on fumes.

After his business in the bathroom was concluded, Sparks ducked back into his room one more time so he could comb some of his fur into place and put on his badge. Before he departed to join the others for breakfast, he paused halfway out the door. He glanced back into his room, looking at the top of his dresser. He stood there for a few moments, staring in silence and stewing in indecision. Eventually, he shook his head dismissively and continued out the door, closing it behind him.

The bottle of pills sat untouched on the top of the dresser.

Breakfast was rather uproarious as Sparks entered the room, which didn't help his headache very much. However, the smiling faces of his friends and the warm 'good mornings' were enough to brighten his spirits. He noticed that Ziggy was sitting at the very end of the table next to Kona, which made Sparks happy to see. It wasn't very often the Buizel could get himself up and out of his room in the morning without Sparks there alongside him.

Sparks took a seat across from Ziggy. "G'mornin' bud," he said.

"Hey…" he said, and then gave Sparks a frown. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Just tired," Sparks answered.

Ziggy continued to frown, not looking entirely convinced by that answer. "Y'sure…?"

Sparks nodded and gave him a tired but reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, bud. How about you? You came to breakfast by yourself, I see."

"Uh, well…" Ziggy looked bashful as he tilted his head towards the Dewott next to him. "Kona woke me up…" he said.

Kona was in the middle of a mouthful of food, which he awkwardly tried to smile around once attention was on him.

"That's nice," Sparks commented.

"Yeah…" Ziggy nodded, "Breakfast with everybody is cool. It's…I can handle this."

Sparks realized that the implication was that there was hardly any risk of anybody coming into the room during breakfast besides the active team. The Raichu took a moment to glance down the table at the other Pokémon. He was quite thankful that everybody had been so accommodating and nobody had a problem with letting Ziggy eat breakfast with all of them, despite the fact that he was merely a client.

While he was looking down the table, Sparks caught Kandice's eye. The Audino was watching him in concern, no doubt having noticed how tired he seemed.

"I figured Ziggy wouldn't want to miss Liz's famous eggy toast!"

Sparks glanced back at Kona, who had managed to swallow his mouthful and could now talk. "Everything Liz makes is 'famous'," he quipped in reply.

"Yeah. It's…really, really good," Ziggy said, "Thanks for coming to get me, Kona."

"Aw, no problem dude!"

Ziggy nodded and took another bite of the dish; slices of toast covered in a layer of eggs and milk. Sparks noticed that the Buizel seemed melancholy, no doubt because of his impending departure from the Society. Sparks just hoped that Carmen had come to a decision by now. He didn't want to discuss aspects of the job with Ziggy until Carmen gave him the okay. He didn't want to give the kid false hope, after all.

Sparks sighed and rubbed his cheeks. Whenever he got overly tired or didn't get enough sleep, the electricity in the sacs in his cheeks got stagnant and it made parts of his head and face ache. He often found he couldn't use Electric-type attacks properly if he was too tired.

The Raichu idly glanced down the table, and once again caught Kandice's eye. She only gave him a brief look this time before returning to her food, but it was clear she was still showing concern. Sparks wasn't sure why, exactly. It wasn't the first time he had come to the breakfast table feeling exhausted.

Breakfast passed by rather uneventfully after that. Sparks tried to engage in friendly conversation with Ziggy, but the Buizel didn't feel much like talking. Sparks knew he had to get an answer from Carmen sooner rather than later. When breakfast was finished, the entire group moved like clockwork over to the morning briefing. Sparks remained sitting at the table, as did Ziggy, and they watched from a distance as Carmen addressed the team.

Terry and Rico were sent off as a pair, as usual, while Danika was once again banished to her dungeon upstairs. All in all, things were quite normal and routine in the Rescue Society.

Sparks realized he was falling asleep. He needed coffee.

"Hey…" Ziggy spoke up, causing Sparks to turn and look at him.

"Yeah, buddy?"

Ziggy bit his lip and glanced away for a moment, but then started to speak in a soft voice. "Just…thanks for everything. You've all been so nice to me, but especially you. I…I'm really glad I got to meet you all."

"I'm glad I got to meet you too, Ziggy, but don't talk like this is goodbye. No matter what happens, we're not gonna write each other out of our lives entirely."

"Mmm…" Ziggy rubbed his shoulder and glanced down at the table. "It's…been really nice…"

Sparks skewed his lips for a moment as he regarded the downcast Buizel. "How've you been feeling lately?" he asked.

"Uhh…B-besides being worried about…?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, well…" Ziggy murmured, "Okay. I guess. It feels nice to be here with you guys… I finally feel like I can kinda relax a bit… It feels like a place where I'm actually allowed to be. Just…the fact that I'm here, instead of…out there…I dunno, it feels like my brain can finally work and I can think about other stuff besides…stealing food and hiding from Pokémon…"

Sparks nodded sagely. "Do you feel like we're helping you?"

"Oh, absolutely," Ziggy said, giving Sparks a concerned frown, "I…I seriously couldn't imagine what woulda happened to me out there without you guys… In here, in this room anyway, I feel like I can just sit here…and nobody cares about my freaky golden fur. I feel like…me. I don't know what it's like to feel like me, y'know?"

"I get that…" Sparks said, "The most important thing is to make you feel comfortable and secure, because only then can real progress be made, and one day soon hopefully you can proudly march out that door."

Ziggy looked as if a cold breeze had just blew past him. "I…don't think I can…"

Sparks shook his head. "No. I know. You feel safe and comfortable here, in this room, but outside is another story."

"Y-yeah…"

"You're still nervous about just going to the rest of the building, right?"

Ziggy bit his lip, and then said, "Yeah…" There was a poignant pause where neither said anything, and then Ziggy spoke up again. "Um…Did you talk to Carmen…?"

"She hasn't given me a solid answer yet. She should let me know by tonight."

"Oh, okay…"

Sparks then yawned loudly, feeling like his head weighed a thousand pounds. Once the yawn was finished, he noticed Ziggy was looking at him in concern again.

"Why're you so sleepy?" he asked.

"'Cus I didn't sleep right…" Sparks answered, "Urgh…" He was realizing that he actually felt even more tired than he had thought. Any energy he had gotten upon waking up had just vanished completely.

"Are…you gonna be okay?" Ziggy asked him.

"I should just go back to bed for a bit… Get a few more Z's…" Sparks commented, his gaze drifting over towards the door to the dorms. After a moment, he looked back at Ziggy and asked, "Issat okay with you? Can you handle being by yourself for a li'l bit? I'm only gonna nap for another hour, hour and a half tops."

"Um…" Ziggy looked a little nervous, but it only lasted for a second. "Yeah, I guess…" he answered, "I can sit on the couch. Kona gave me this neat book with pictures from all around the world."

"Did he? That was nice of him."

"Yeah. He's really nice…"

Sparks nodded again, a bit of a smile tugging at his lips. "You've made friends here."

A little half-smile briefly flashed across the Buizel's muzzle. "I…I have, haven't I?"

"I think that's a victory if nothing else," Sparks said, giving the Buizel a warm smile before another yawn suddenly interrupted him. "Mrgh… I'd better go before I fall asleep here on the table. I'll see you in an hour, bud."

"Okay," Ziggy said, and then after a pause added, "I hope you feel better."

"Thanks, buddy," Sparks said, and then stood up. He proceeded to walk like a zombie back towards his room, hoping he would wake up later with a bit more energy. He would need it if he was going to face the day, after all.

Decisions would be made today.


Sparks yawned and groaned softly as he rolled over in his bed. He still felt a bit sluggish, but was feeling much better after his nap. A moment later, he forced himself to sit up so he could shake off the last remnants of sleepiness. He stretched his limbs, letting out a satisfied sigh as he did. He had pretty much crawled right back into bed the moment he had stepped back into his room, and he was out cold as soon as he had hit the pillow.

It was raining outside. Sparks could hear the raindrops pattering against the small window in his room. Fall had been approaching slowly and peacefully, but by the sound of it the first heavy rainfall of the season had arrived.

With one more short yawn, he reached over towards the side table next to his bed and picked up his badge, which he affixed to his fur once more. He had left it there so that if someone had needed him, the sound of their voice through the badge would have awakened him. It looked as if that hadn't been the case, though. He'd had a nice uninterrupted sleep, and it had left him feeling quite relaxed.

Sparks glanced over at the window, and saw confirmation that it was indeed raining outside. It wasn't extremely heavy rain, like one would see in a storm, but it was more than just a couple showers. The kind of rain that makes a nice, constant din sound against the ground and the trees, but doesn't immediately soak you to the bone if you stand in it for more than two seconds.

As his eyes drifted around the room and eventually found the clock on his wall, that's when his relaxation utterly shattered. Sparks at first thought grogginess was making him see things, but his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw that wasn't the case.

It was one o'clock in the afternoon.

Sparks had overslept. His quick one hour nap had turned into nearly five hours long.

The Raichu leapt out of his bed like it was on fire and quickly dashed for the door. Sparks had always had a great internal clock. If he decided he was going to nap for an hour, then an hour later was when he would wake up without any alarm clock necessary. The fact that he had overslept this much showed just how exhausted he had been, and it came as a shock to him.

Sparks made a quick visit to the bathroom before dashing out into the common room. He had left Ziggy alone, planning to come back to him in an hour. Not only was it hours later, likely making Ziggy confused and concerned as to where he was, but he had now missed lunch. Sparks was supposed to be Ziggy's caretaker while he was here, and he was kicking himself for oversleeping so much.

The Raichu practically burst through the door, but he found the common room completely empty. Ziggy wasn't anywhere to be seen, and there was nobody else around. There weren't even any active team members taking a late lunch break.

Where was Ziggy? Sparks quickly darted back to the dorms to see if Ziggy was in his room, but his knocks on the Buizel's bedroom door went unanswered. Sparks eventually used his badge to open the door, but Ziggy wasn't inside. Sparks then headed back to the common room and called out Ziggy's name, but to no response. He opened the door to the main hall and called for Ziggy again, but there was still no answer.

Sparks then tapped his badge. "Does anybody know where Ziggy is?" he spoke into it.

"No, sorry."

"I'm out of the building right now."

"He was in the common room last I saw him…"

The string of negative responses shed no further light on where Ziggy had disappeared to. With nothing else to go on, Sparks' only option at this point was to search the halls of the building and hope the Buizel could be found. Sparks didn't think Ziggy would have left the society again, so he had to be in the building somewhere.

At least, Sparks hoped he hadn't run away again.

He started by checking the ground level. Sparks felt awful as he dashed through the halls and checked as many places as he could. This entire week he had been feeling like he was letting the Buizel down, and now he felt like that more than ever. Ziggy was his responsibility. He was supposed to be there, looking after the poor Buizel, instead of sleeping like a Slowpoke in his room. Why hadn't he just set an alarm?

It was the middle of the day on a weekday, so there weren't too many Pokémon running around on the lower floors. Everybody was either out in the fields, or working in an office upstairs. The lower floors acted more as a living space, with amenities such as the gymnasium, the swimming pool, meeting rooms and the like. Sparks continued calling out Ziggy's name as he went, but couldn't find a single trace of the Buizel anywhere.

Sparks eventually ended up back where he started, in the last open hallway before the door leading back to the guild's entrance. He was taking a moment to catch his breath, as he had been running everywhere, and was about to give up and go check the second floor. Before he did, though, something caught his eye.

This particular hallway went in two directions away from the door to the entrance hall, but there was a slightly larger area near the doorway with a few seats and potted plants. It was an area that generally served as a waiting area for clients if they had business down here. Across from the doorway, the opposite wall was occupied by a large sliding glass door. This led out into the guild's courtyard.

The courtyard was a green area behind the society building, accessible only through this single glass doorway. Looking at the building from the front or from its sides, it would appear that the building was a perfect rectangle in shape. However, there was a small area that cut into the back face of the building, which formed the courtyard. It was surrounded on three sides by the walls of the building, and on the fourth side by a tall, decorative stone wall. Behind the stone wall, though not visible from within the courtyard, was the edge of the cliff that the society was built on, which overlooked the ocean to the north of Radiant City. The courtyard was small but picturesque, filled with a couple trees, beds of colourful flowers, some aesthetically pleasing stones and boulders, as well as a small artificial pond and creek near the middle.

And, standing out in the middle of the courtyard, was Ziggy.

Sparks walked up to the glass door and stared out in confusion. The rain was still coming down, heavy but not hard, and creating a quiet din that could be heard through the door. The Buizel was standing on a low, flat rock that sat next to the pond. His eyes were closed, his expression was blank, and he was simply standing there in the middle of the rain.

"What the…?" Sparks murmured. He didn't quite know what to make of the sight. It looked as if Ziggy had been hit with Hypnosis or Disable or something. He looked as if he were in a trance, or perhaps as if he had been sleepwalking.

Sparks knocked on the door, trying to get Ziggy's attention, but the din of the rain likely drowned out the noise. He then slid the door open, letting in a wave of cooler air as he did. The scent of fresh rainfall immediately filled his senses. Sparks took a single step out into the courtyard so that he was still under the awning, the only dry space in the outdoor area.

"Ziggy?" he called out to the Buizel, "Buddy? Whatcha doin'?"

He didn't answer, though. He simply remained, still as a statue.

Sparks started to get concerned. "Ziggy? Are you all right?" he called, a little louder. When there was still no response, Sparks sighed softly to himself. It looked like he was going to have to get wet.

Sparks resigned himself to the inconvenience and stepped out into the courtyard, immediately feeling the cool drops of rain on his fur. Sparks didn't particularly enjoy being out in the rain, but working at the guild often necessitated it so he had learned to simply tolerate it. Still, though, he quickly made his way over to Ziggy hoping he had to spend as little time out here as possible.

The Buizel still didn't move as he approached. Sparks waited until he was right next to Ziggy before speaking again. "Ziggy!"

Finally, a reaction. Ziggy started, his eyes darting open as if he had just been woken up. He turned to look at Sparks, and recognition quickly replaced his look of surprise. "Oh, Sparks," he said, "You surprised me…"

Sparks looked at him in concern. "You okay, bud?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry," he said, giving Sparks a remorseful look, "I…didn't notice you. I was kinda…I wasn't paying attention."

"All right…" Sparks said, a tad warily, "What're you doing out here?"

"Oh, uh…" Ziggy murmured as the slightest hint of a bashful blush adorned his cheeks, "I'm just, y'know, standing. Out here in the rain, y'know…"

Sparks gave him a quizzical look. "Erm…"

"Ah, well…" Ziggy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and glanced away. "I've always really liked the rain…" he said, "I…like the way it looks. The way it sounds. The way it feels… I saw that it was raining, and I remember you showed me this yard thingy, and…"

"Oh…" Sparks remarked, "You just came out here 'cus you…like the rain?"

"I-it's kinda silly, I know…" Ziggy murmured bashfully, "I…I do this all the time. I did it back in Sunshine Village too. When it rains, I go find a spot where I can be alone and…"

Sparks furrowed his brow. "Um…Okay. I hope you don't mind me asking this, but…Why? Aren't you getting cold?"

"No, not really…"

"Oh, right," Sparks said, slapping his forehead, "Water-Type."

"I don't know, really. I just…I guess…" Ziggy was quiet for a moment as he gathered his thoughts, and then said, "I guess it just feels…nice to be out in the rain. It makes me feel relaxed. It makes me feel calm… Sometimes…even when it feels like everything is going wrong…I stand out in the rain and…things don't seem so bad anymore."

Sparks was silent for a moment as he regarded the Buizel. Appearance-wise, he did seem rather calm. "You kinda feel like it just washes the worries away."

"Yeah! Exactly!"

"Huh…"

He was starting to feel really wet, so Sparks took a step back and shook the rain off of his head. It didn't help much.

"Um… Sorry," Ziggy muttered, "I-I'll go back inside now…"

"No, no, no," Sparks quickly replied, holding up his paws, "No, it's fine. It's totally fine. You're not doing anything wrong."

"Oh…?"

"Yeah, I just wish you'd told me or left a note or something. I mean I know I was asleep, but…"

"Um… I can't write very good…" Ziggy remarked.

"Whatever, don't worry about it. It's fine, Ziggy. If you wanna hang out in the conservatory when it's raining, you go right ahead. This spot's open to anybody, so feel free to use it."

"Really…?"

"Yeah! I mean, I can't say it's something I would enjoy, but…" Sparks punctuated his statement by shaking water off of his head again. He realized he really should have gone back and gotten a coat from his room, but he had just been so caught up in the relief of finding Ziggy.

When Sparks turned to look at Ziggy again, he had gone right back to his earlier position with his head tilted up to the sky slightly and his eyes closed. He looked rather zen, like a meditating Abra. It was an odd contrast with the Buizel's usual demeanour.

This didn't last long, though, as the two were both interrupted by a loud knock on the window. This time Ziggy heard it, and both he and Sparks turned to the glass door, which was still open.

"I was wondering where you two were," Carmen commented. The Braixen was standing just inside of the doorway.

"Oh. Hey, Carmen," Sparks said, "Sorry. I accidentally passed out in bed earlier…"

Carmen simply lifted a paw and gestured towards herself. "I want to talk to you two."

Sparks and Ziggy glanced at each other. Ziggy looked nervous all of a sudden, like a cub who had just been called to the principal's office. Sparks couldn't lie and say he wasn't feeling a touch nervous as well. He had a feeling he knew what Carmen wanted to talk about, and could only hope for the best.

The Raichu made his way back over to the door, with Ziggy following closely behind him. The two stepped up to the door in the dry area under the awning, which was when Sparks realized just how dripping wet the two of them were. He turned and gave the Buizel a look. "I suppose towels didn't cross either of our minds, hm?"

Ziggy blushed. "Uh… N-no, I didn't…think…"

Carmen held up a paw towards them and shook her head. "The gym's just down the hall. I'll grab some for you in a moment."

"All right. Thanks, Carmen," Sparks said.

"Now then," Carmen spoke up, addressing them both, "We have an important matter to discuss."

Out the corner of his eye, Sparks saw Ziggy visibly wince.

"Ziggy," Carmen continued, "You've been with us for a full month now. As we informed you when you first arrived, clients cannot remain boarded at the guild for more than a month. This is our policy." She paused and then continued, saying, "Unfortunately, I cannot override this policy for you."

The Buizel visibly deflated, casting his gaze downward and frowning in despair.

"However…" Carmen said, causing Ziggy to perk right back up, "Sparks here has proposed an interesting idea which would, theoretically, allow you to stay here. I think it is quite clear that staying here is the best thing for you right now, and all the other active team members I spoke with agreed with me on this."

Ziggy turned and gave Sparks a confused look, but Sparks just remained silent and let Carmen speak.

"So…after giving it some thought…" Carmen said, "I think that this is something we can go ahead with, though this is entirely dependent on how much you can work with us on this matter, Ziggy."

Sparks gasped. She said yes! It was the answer he had been hoping for. Eagerly, he turned to Ziggy as well to see how he would react.

Ziggy didn't look like he knew exactly what was going on, but Sparks could see he was trying his best not to look afraid. "Uh…I-if there's a way I can stay here…" He fidgeted on the spot for a moment before saying, "I'll do it…"

"You will?" Sparks asked excitedly.

"Um… What is it?"

Carmen took the reins and said, "You cannot stay here as a client. However, our policies allow for non-alumnus employees to live at the guild so long as circumstances render residence at the guild vital to continued employment, which should fit your situation quite well I should think."

Ziggy just gave Sparks a blank look, silently asking him to translate.

"You can live here if you work for us," Sparks simplified.

"W-work for you?" Ziggy's eyes grew wide as a look of trepidation passed over him, "I-I-I can't d-do what you guys do! I can't be a rescue Pokémon like Sparks and Kona and…"

"No, no, no," Sparks interrupted, "That's not what we mean. You wouldn't be an RSGA, you would just be an employee. What we want you to do is to just help out around the building with chores and stuff."

Ziggy blinked. "Chores…?"

"Yeah! Remember how you were helping Liz clean the dishes off the table?"

"Uh…Yeah…"

"Stuff like that. We've seen you help out others at the guild quite a few times already. It would just be more of that sort of stuff. And if you do that for us, then you can continue staying here and we can keep helping you."

Ziggy was silent and didn't reply. Sparks glanced over at Carmen, who was looking at Ziggy expectantly with crossed forelimbs. She had slipped into 'business mode' a touch, but Sparks couldn't blame her. It had to be a huge headache dealing with policies like this.

"Um…" Ziggy spoke up, causing Sparks to look at him again. He looked nervous but hopeful. "That's…all I have to do? Clean dishes and…stuff like that? And I can stay?"

"If you are willing to," Carmen answered, "Your residence at the guild will be provided in lieu of payment, but I'm guessing you don't mind that aspect."

"You didn't have much of a problem helping out our teammates before. Remember when you were picking stuff up for Lupe? Or when I dropped a bunch of stuff yesterday?"

"Yeah…" Ziggy replied, "I…I don't really mind that…i-if it's somebody I know, anyway. I…I liked helping Liz. She seemed really happy…"

"We can work with you on this to make sure you're comfortable, right Carmen?" Sparks said.

"To an extent, anyway…" she replied.

"Well…O-okay then," Ziggy said with a nod, "I'll do it. I'll…I'll do my best."

"Great!" Sparks beamed, "And don't worry, bud. Trying to do your best is all we ask for."

"Can I still stay in the same room?"

"Yes," Carmen replied, "Unless, in the unlikely event we gain three new members to the active team at once."

Sparks chuckled. "Yeah, four new recruits and I get kicked out. Don't worry about that."

"All right then," Carmen said with a nod, "Welcome aboard, Ziggy. I'll draft up some paperwork for you to sign. Hopefully no-one's gonna raise an issue about your legal name, but whatever…" She then extended her paw towards Ziggy. Sparks was delighted to see that Ziggy didn't flinch this time.

Ziggy took her paw and shook it. "Thank you, miss Carmen," he said, "Thank you so much."

Carmen then smiled for the first time during this exchange and said in a more friendly tone, "Our pleasure, Ziggy. We just want to help." She then took a step back and said, "Right. I'll go grab towels for you two."

"Thanks again, Carmen," Sparks said as she turned to leave. When it was just the two of them left, Sparks turned to Ziggy with a relieved smile. "See, buddy? We made it work."

Ziggy nodded in response, but then frowned for a moment. "I, uh…This is great, but…I'm a little nervous…"

"Oh, don't be nervous," Sparks said, giving him a pat on the back, "We're not gonna have you re-tile the roof or anything. Just like any new hire, we'll start small and maybe work up to bigger things later. I'm still in charge of you, technically, so I'll help you out as much as I can."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll see if Carmen will let me decide your duties for the first week or so."

"Okay…"

There was a moment of silence between the two, and then a thought occurred to Sparks. He turned to Ziggy again and said, "Are you…okay with this? The whole idea in general, I mean. Or did you just say yes because you could stay here?"

Ziggy immediately shook his head, to Sparks' relief. "N-no, it's fine. I don't mind. It sounds like…y'know, a good thing. A good thing I can do for you guys. Kinda like, y'know, as thanks…?"

Sparks smiled and said, "We'll appreciate the effort either way."

The two remained standing under the awning until Carmen came back with a pair of towels. They thanked her and quickly dried themselves off while Carmen headed off to take care of other business. Sparks ended up taking twice as long to dry as Ziggy did, which gave him a chuckle.

Once they were finally dry enough to enter the guild's interior, Sparks suggested to Ziggy that they take a walking tour around other parts of the building that the Buizel wasn't as familiar with. Ziggy didn't particularly like the notion, but Sparks reasoned that his 'chores' might end up sending him all over the building, so it would be better to start getting used to it. Ziggy finally agreed after Sparks promised he'd be there the whole time.

Sparks planned on taking Ziggy upstairs first, so they headed out to the grand staircase in the entryway. As they approached the base of the stairs, though, Kandice was just stepping out of her office nearby. She locked eyes with Sparks and immediately gestured for him to come over.

"Kandice?" Sparks called out.

"I want to speak with you, Sparks," she said, sweetly but firmly.

"Ziggy and I were just going to…" Sparks started to say. His words slowly died off as he noticed the insistent look in Kandice's eyes. "Ah, all right…" he relented.

"Sparks?" Ziggy asked quietly.

He turned to the Buizel and said, "Sorry bud, Kandice wants to see me. Can you wait in the common room until I'm done?"

"Uh, sure…" Ziggy said, though he looked concerned.

"I'll try not to be long."

"Okay…" Ziggy then left Sparks' side and walked through the doorway leading to the common room, leaving Sparks and Kandice alone in the hall. Sparks walked over to Kandice, who gestured for him to enter her office.

"Kandy, I'm fine," he said in a reassuring voice.

"I'm sure you are. We still need to talk," she replied.

"Yeah, all right…"