Not for the first time, I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting this story thus far. It means the world to me, to say the least.

Here's the seventh chapter. I post this as I'm getting over my second cold in as many weeks. I hope you guys enjoy.

After the success of our first job, I found myself in a state of moderate happiness. It wasn't euphoria by any means, but I was pretty content overall with the way my new life was going.

From the moment he woke up, Xeno showed considerable improvement in his condition. Part of this, of course, could be attributed to the fact that Pokémon healed quickly in general. Our bodies were resilient; they could handle almost any punishment they took in battle.

There were, however, other races that did not heal quite as quickly. I remembered that I'd once been taught about humans, a seemingly mythical race I'd never seen a member of. Apparently those beings required considerably more time to convalesce after being poisoned.

After receiving the old Delphox's reward for rescuing his grandson, my team and I felt a lot more financially secure. Although the 1,000 P was just enough to cover a month of rent, we didn't spend it all in one place. We also had to buy groceries to feed ourselves, and, two days after saving Xeno, we decided to splurge.

"Can I please go with you to the Chauntecleer?" the Braixen boy pleaded. He sat up in bed, moving his right arm to show just how much energy he had.

I sighed. "That's up to Nurse Kara, but I doubt you could do that with an IV in your arm. We'll bring food back for you, though."

The Audino frowned. "I don't think I can allow that, sorry. It might sour in your stomach, Xeno. I'm afraid it's nothing but soup and saltines for you tonight."

The Braixen looked up at his nurse with demanding eyes, but the Audino wasn't going to relent that easily, or at all. She made the exact same expression back at her patient.

"You are in no position to go against my advice. You will stay here until I am confident you are finished recovering." Turning to me, Kara said, "Enjoy yourself, will you?"

After nodding, I bounded down the steps to the guild's lobby. It was there that I found Rose and Axel, smiling ear to ear at the sight of me.

We'd made reservations at the Chauntecleer, a moderately fancy restaurant, earlier in the day. Thus far we'd mostly been eating whatever we could microwave in our apartment, but today we were in the mood for something a little more upscale.

"How's Xeno doing?" Rose asked me. "Is he upset?"

I nodded. "The kid's heartbroken, but medical advice is medical advice. He'll thank himself later."

During the short walk to the restaurant, I couldn't help but smile as well; happiness is contagious. I truly believed at the time that this was the start of Team Morningstar's glory days, but to borrow a phrase, we weren't sick of winning yet. Not even close.

Our dinner at the Chauntecleer was a pleasant affair overall. Our server, a Braixen in a tuxedo, seemed to have any number of stories to tell us about Angelcaida City, and we had to stop him from droning on and on about the city's history. However, the service was excellent, and the food was nothing to complain about either.

Indeed, I couldn't help but be amazed at just how heavenly everything tasted. My tongue felt as though it were being gently massaged by every morsel that passed my lips. After a week of subsisting largely on canned food, it was almost overwhelming.

It was almost perfect, but not quite.

You see, I hadn't yet been able to work up the courage to tell my teammates why I found it hard to visit Xeno in the hospital. I'd spent considerably less time with him than Axel or Rose, simply because the sight was, for lack of a better word, triggering.

Once I'd polished off my steak, and my teammates had also finished their food, we were presented with the check. I gasped at the numbers I saw.

"There must be a mistake," I told our waiter.

The well-dressed Braixen shook his head. "There is no mistake. Exploration teams that present their badges upon being served receive a fifty percent discount."

It was then that I realized we'd put our badges on for some reason before leaving our apartment. It had been such an innocuous action, and yet it had such a benefit. Maybe we should treat ourselves more often.

Rose and Axel headed straight back to our apartment that night, but I took a bit of a detour. I made my way to the castle, where the first stars were starting to appear in the sky, creating small silvery reflections in the sea.

Back at the hospital, I saw that Xeno was still sitting up in bed. This surprised me, because I would have expected the Audino nurses to make him sleep as much as possible. He still needed to recover, after all.

When the Braixen boy saw me approach his bed, he said, "Oh. It's you again."

I nodded. "Yes. Did it take you all day to figure that out?"

"No," Xeno replied. "But did you bring me any food from the restaurant?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I didn't; it was against medical advice to do so."

"Ah, shucks. Well, I had something else I wanted to ask too."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"

I don't know what I expected Xeno to say, but it certainly wasn't the question he ended up asking.

"Can I join you guys? Your team, whatever your name is?"

If I'd been holding a glass of water, I would have dropped it right then and there. To call it shocking would be an understatement.

Xeno had to know that joining an exploration team meant, well, exploring. And exploring was exactly how he'd gotten himself into this mess.

"You want to join Team Morningstar? Xeno, don't you know what that entails? You'd be on plenty of expeditions through Mystery Dungeons, doing all sorts of dangerous things, and aren't you only fourteen?"

"So? Age is just a number. And I survived out in the woods for a few days."

"Barely."

Xeno rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I can do whatever I must if I'm with you guys. I want to join Team Morningstar."

"Xeno, I don't know if I can allow you to. And I'm the leader, so whatever I say goes. You're too young." And too brazen, I thought, but didn't say.

The Braixen boy made that same pleading face he'd used on the nurse. And when I saw it, I was immediately tempted to give him what he wanted, even before I fully knew what it was.

"Could you at least talk it over with your team? At least consider it; I promise I'll be an asset!"

A little debate about it won't hurt anyone. After all, my mind is already made up. There's no way in hell Xeno can be on the team, because he's too young, and he's already demonstrated that he has poor judgment.

I didn't want to shut him out, but I also didn't want to make a serious commitment. So this is what I said:

"Sure, Xeno. I'll bring it up. But don't get your hopes up."

That seemed to satisfy him, at least for the moment, and I left the castle and made the evening trek back to the apartment.

"Rose? Axel? Let's have a team meeting right now" I announced as soon as I'd entered the living room. In a way, I realized that I was echoing my mother by doing so; this was something she'd done frequently when Elijah and I were Rockruff.

The Ninetales and the Umbreon both came out of their bedrooms and sat on the couch. They stared intently at me.

"What's going on?" Axel enquired.

I cut right to the chase. "Xeno wants to join Team Morningstar. And it doesn't sound like he'll take a no very easily."

"What did you tell him?" the Ninetales responded.

"I told him he was too young. But he insisted I at least bring it up with you two, so I thought it was worth discussing."

"I mean", Rose said, "I understand if he feels like he owes us a debt for saving his life. But he might do more harm than good."

"Exactly," Axel said. "He's pretty young, and I don't know if he fully realizes what he'd be getting himself into. It's better to wait a while."

I sighed happily. "I'm glad all of us see eye to eye on this. At least for now, it's too early to let him join."

I hated having to completely shut the kid out, and I dreaded telling him the news tomorrow, but sometimes being a leader involves making tough decisions. I guess the silver lining was that I now knew that I had what it took to choose wisely, even when doing so wasn't easy.

I visited the hospital again the next morning, and I braced myself for the worst. I was prepared to be screamed at, but no matter what, I couldn't give in. Logic was on my side, after all.

Xeno didn't take the news well.

"So they both said no?" he all but yelled at me, sitting up abruptly and clenching his fists. Had the IV still been in his arm, it would have been ripped out by this motion.

"They didn't say no" I replied, as calmly as I could. "They said not right now. You'll have to prove that you can handle it first. And again, since you were in bad shape when we got to you in the Toxic Forest, that doesn't seem promising."

The Braixen boy grunted. "But I've got nothing else to do. There's just no way I could sit around all day and not do anything."

"Don't you have school?" I asked. I assumed that Angelcaida City had normal secondary schools for Pokémon who didn't want to join exploration teams, but I could have been wrong about that.

"My grandpa homeschools me," Xeno replied, as though he were speaking off a script. "And I'm sure I know whatever I need to know by now in order to be a productive member of your team. But by all means, deny me if you must."

I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't sound genuine at all, Xeno."

The Braixen shrugged. "Have it your way. But I'm sure I would add value to Team Morningstar, so it's your loss."

I ended my visit after that; as much as Xeno clearly wanted me to stay, I didn't have any desire to argue with him further. Ultimately, he didn't have any power over me, since he wasn't even a member of the team. And he wouldn't be for the foreseeable future.

There was another reason I was eager to leave. Earlier that morning, my teammates and I had come to the decision that we needed a supplemental source of income in addition to exploring. Doing odd jobs like rescuing Xeno was all well and good, but if we wanted to upgrade our living conditions, we needed more dough.

So we walked over to the Chauntecleer and applied for jobs there. Axel applied to wash dishes, whereas Rose and I applied to be waiters. As an added incentive, employees of the restaurant got to eat there with a fifty percent discount, meaning that Team Morningstar would only have to pay a quarter of the cost whenever we dined at the Chauntecleer. Given how splendid the food was, this was a major perk.

Once we'd filled out the forms, there was a waiting period before we knew if we'd gotten the job. We wouldn't know until we arrived the following morning whether or not we had been accepted.

I really, really hope we got in, I remember thinking as I looked around our flat.

The apartment was adequate, but just barely. We'd only been living there for a couple of days, but given the way the floor creaked whenever we walked across it, as well as the fact that the hot water didn't work (which was a big problem heading into winter), we knew that we wanted an upgrade.

And if Xeno or someone else eventually joins our team, we'll need a bigger space. That's just a fact.

I wasn't exactly warming myself up to the idea of the Braixen boy joining, but having only three of us could get old after a while. Still, it would take some time, because I cared about these two. I really did.

Who would have thought that after so little time, I would have grown so attached to my teammates? Certainly not me.

The following morning, the three of us stood outside the entrance to the Chauntecleer. None of us wore clothes, but we'd taken the extra time to tidy up our appearances. The water had been as cold as usual, but we'd all taken showers before using a special technique to dry ourselves off that Rose showed us.

Having a formal job, as opposed to a temporary one like rescuing Xeno, was a new experience for me. It presented a different type of challenge; I would have to be focused on the task at hand for eight hours a day, and there would be a lot more interaction with Pokémon outside of our team. But, as I thought about our living situation and pictured a grander apartment, I knew that it would all be worth it in the end.

The restaurant's owner, a Gallade named Freddy, waved us inside. Unlike what one might expect from the owner of such a deluxe eatery, Freddy was a pretty down-to-Nexus fellow. He was genuine in a way many such Pokémon are not.

"Ah, Team Morningstar! It is wonderful to see you three here this morning!" the Gallade exclaimed. "Do you guys need any practice before you begin serving customers?"

I shook my head. "I don't think that'll be necessary. All we really have to do is carry platters of food, right?"

"Pretty much," Freddy replied. "But you do have to remember which dish goes to which guest. And you don't want to drop anything."

"We get it," Rose said, sounding somewhat impatient. Turning to me, she continued with, "Well, after going through a dungeon and fighting off enemies, this can't be that hard, can it?"

"I heard about that," the Gallade told us. "You're Team Morningstar, and you three saved Austin Delphox's grandson in the Toxic Forest the other day. Great job, a very good thing you did. How's Xeno doing?"

"A lot better" I replied. "He wanted to join our team, in fact, but we said no."

"I mean, I understand why he does. Poor kid wants something to do, to feel like he's needed somewhere. But I also get why you guys didn't want to let him in."

I nodded. "By the way, how did you know about it? Aren't there lots of other rescue missions all the time?"

Freddy raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know what status his family has? The fact that Xeno went missing was a big deal, because his grandfather is one of the most visible figures in town! Everybody in Angelcaida City knows who he is."

"Everybody? He's just a random old man who entered the castle lobby demanding someone save his son. At least, as far as I'm aware."

"He's not a random old man, Eliot. Austin Delphox, until a few years ago, was the Mayor of Angelcaida City."

I was extremely grateful that I hadn't been carrying a plate; if I had been, it would have been smashed into smithereens on the ground. My jaw hung open.

"He was Mayor? Why didn't I know?"

The Gallade shrugged. "Sometimes he forgets to tell people. Sometimes he neglects to tell people. Really, it doesn't make a difference, because he resigned several years ago."

"But why did he resign?" I asked, well aware that Rose was motioning for me to cool it down with the questions. "He's hardly senile, I'm sure he still has the energy for the job!"

I'd seen the way Austin could move quickly whenever he wanted to. When his son was in danger, he'd run right alongside us to the Braixen boy's side. Surely he still had what it took to work an office job.

Freddy sighed; he'd had a smile before, but it wasn't there anymore. "There are other types of energy besides physical, Eliot. Sometimes when something happens, it makes you reevaluate what you want to do in life. Regardless, I don't think we should pry into Austin's personal life; it's not important to your job."

A few minutes later, Rose and I were decked out in fancy dinner jackets. Somehow, they'd been tailor-made for quadrupedal Pokémon, an impressive feat in my view. All the waiters had to look the part, after all.

We started serving guests, and the first thing I noticed was that most of them didn't share the same general demeanor as Freddy Gallade. Rather, they seemed to think they were a cut above those who couldn't afford to eat at the Chauntecleer, simply because they could.

For the first few tables, it took everything I had not to slap that Blaziken in the face for laughing about how unnatural I looked in my tuxedo. I could also have pointed out that anyone on an exploration team got a discount, and for most of us, that is the only way we'd be able to eat at the Chauntecleer.

Most of the shift was uneventful, but there were a few moments that stuck out in my mind, and still do to this day. The first one was rather frightening.

During brunch, I was serving a family of Eeveelutions a variety of breakfast dishes. During the walk to the table, during which I carried the tray in my teeth (thank Arceus for a Lycanroc's immense jaw strength), I noticed something that made me shiver.

At one of the nearby tables, there sat an Absol. He was eating alone, and he'd already been served his filet mignon. The instant I saw this Pokémon, my jaw's grip on the tray loosened, and said tray tilted forward.

No!

In a split second, I tilted my head back and tried to clamp down harder with my teeth. The dishes started sliding towards my face; I was nearly hit in the eye with a stack of pancakes, and a bit of maple syrup got in my fur.

Somehow, I was able to get the tray on its stand without any of the plates falling off, but it was a very close call. The family of Eeveelutions all gave me weird stares.

It was obviously my first day on the job, but the family didn't know that. Maybe they could have guessed it, but my point is that they all appeared disgusted with me. In their eyes, I had no excuse to mess up such an order, and they had a point. I should have done better.

But in the back of my mind, seeing the eyes of that Absol made me think of one particular day in my past. More specifically, those huge red eyes that shone through the bakery's window, against the purple sky.

Did I…did I just see him?

No, that's ridiculous; if he were going to attack me, he could be doing it right now. It doesn't seem like he cares about anyone who might witness it.

After that, I returned to Rose's side. She had just finished serving a different family, and when I looked up at her, she didn't even ask what had just happened. She began gently stroking my back with her snout.

It was reassuring to know that the Ninetales was doing her best to comfort me. Of course, the fact remained that I'd made a fool of myself in front of a couple dozen Pokémon; I had a feeling that word would spread quickly throughout the city.

Another occurrence, this one early in the afternoon, was potentially even more embarrassing. It was the type of thing one might laugh about later, but at the time, it felt like the end of the world.

The Slowpoke at the table had recited the list of ingredients she wanted in her sandwich, and I would be tasked with instructing the chefs to make the Slowpoke that sandwich. Since I couldn't very well carry a notepad, I had to memorize this list.

"Okay" I told the customer. This is the hard part. And this isn't even the hard part yet.

I made my way to the kitchen, where two of the chefs, a Charizard and a Blastoise, were slacking off. Okay, I'm kidding, but they didn't seem to have any other job currently, so I tasked them with making the sandwich.

"The Slowpoke would like a sandwich on rye with thinly sliced anchovies, capers, onions, and…uh…what was it again?"

The Blastoise frowned at me. "I wouldn't know. I wasn't in the dining room with you two."

I felt the urge to facepaw, but I knew that wouldn't exactly help me retain that information. Instead, I took a deep breath and admitted, "I think I need to ask the customer again."

My face was probably hot pink as I returned to the table. "What was on your sandwich again?" I asked the Slowpoke.

"Thinly sliced anchovies, capers, onions, and horseradish."

Horseradish! That was the last ingredient! What even is that, anyway?

Later, as I was carrying the sandwich with horseradish to the Slowpoke's table, my face was burning again. This time, it wasn't just from embarrassment.

I'm working in food service again. Just like I was that day. I suppose old habits really do die hard.

On the one hand, it was nice to have some continuity. My life had fallen apart not long ago, and even if I'd managed to build a new one, it at least felt somewhat normal to be working at a culinary establishment.

On the other hand, it brought back memories, not all of them good. It served as yet another reminder of what I had lost. All of these things (not things; Pokémon) had gone down a road nobody came back from.

Tears formed in my eyes as I carried the empty tray back for the last time. The best way to honor my family would be to live my life and thank Arceus for it every day, because He was the one who'd put me where I was, and He could take me away as well.

At the end of the shift, we all took off our suits, which was a relief (it really was stuffy under those things.) Axel glared at us.

"I had to wear that thing in the kitchen this whole time. And let me tell you, I was roasting there, washing dishes and all that."

I sighed. "It's a job, Axel. It's not supposed to be fun."

As we were signing out, we made an agreement with Freddy Gallade that we would notify him whenever we went out on a mission, since doing so would obviously interfere with our ability to go into work. He didn't seem to have a problem with it; in fact, he straight-up told us, "You three should do whatever you need to. If you have to take on other jobs to make ends meet, that's none of my business."

In the end, I considered that day a success, even if Axel might disagree. It was a necessary first step in bettering our living situation, and I don't think any of us could object to that.

Later that evening, the three of us were eating dinner around the coffee table in our apartment. After getting to have some of the Chauntecleer's fare for lunch, it was a bit difficult to adjust to regular food again, but not too much so.

It was during that meal that I remembered something potentially important. It had been off my mind during our shift, but now that I no longer had to focus on memorizing customers' orders, it had decided to come roaring back with a vengeance.

He didn't hear this earlier. And I think he should know this now.

"Axel, I don't know if you heard this, but Freddy told me something that was pretty shocking. Put down your glass before I tell you this, so that you don't drop it."

The Umbreon raised an eyebrow at me, but he did as he was told. "What is it?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. "Austin Delphox used to be Mayor here, up until a few years ago."

My advice to Axel had been quite sound indeed, because his mouth hung agape once he heard that news.

"Really? Freddy told you that?"

I nodded. "He said that's the reason our rescue of Xeno made headlines. That's the reason we should expect plenty of job offers in the future; he's a pretty high-profile figure."

Axel smiled, then frowned. "I mean, it's a good thing that we'll get more prestige. But at the same time, I wonder…why did he resign? I'm sure he's still capable of being Mayor if he wants to be."

Rose shrugged. "Freddy mentioned that he didn't want to invade Austin's privacy. Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't, but for some reason, Austin just didn't want to be Mayor anymore."

The Umbreon nodded. "I mean, I guess it makes sense. Still, I don't think I'd give up power like that so easily."

I snorted. "It's just as well that you're not in power, then. Maybe it's a good thing I'm the leader."

Later, as we had just finished doing the dishes, Rose pulled me aside. "I want to talk to you about something."

I frowned. "Can we do that in the bedroom, where it's just the two of us?"

I could have heard Axel laugh from a mile away; he was practically guffawing. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Eliot Lycanroc and Rose Ninetales became a couple. Eliot and Rose…you know, it has a nice ring to it. What's your ship name?"

As Axel chuckled at his line, I felt my face flush. "Ship name?"

"You know, like a name for the relationship, usually a combination of your two names. Maybe Reliot? Or Eliose? Eh, neither of those sound good. Come back to me later, I'll have a better idea then."

"Axel," I said threateningly, "Rose and I are not dating. We have no plans to date. So please, stop this nonsense."

"Fine," the Umbreon replied. "Whenever you two quit acting like you've got the hots for each other, I'll quit talking about you two like that. I'm just telling it like it is, though."

Ignore him. He might be your teammate, but teammates can be just as annoying as rivals sometimes.

Rose and I headed into the nearest bedroom, which was the one I shared with Axel. We both sat on my bed.

I looked at the Ninetales, raising my eyebrows. "Why did you want to talk in private? Why can't we have this conversation in front of Axel, so that he's not suspicious?"

"You know he's just joking around, Eliot" Rose replied soothingly. "He probably doesn't even think we're together. He's allowed to be playful if he wants to be."

"Okay" I replied blankly, not sure I bought that. "But what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"I'll cut right to the chase" the Ninetales told me. "The other day, when we were at the hospital with Xeno, you passed out when you saw him being treated. Is there any particular reason hospitals scare you so much?"

It was as though a lock were placed over my heart. I might have trusted Rose, but I wasn't ready to tell her the full truth, at least not yet.

"Well, I'd think it's reasonable to be scared of hospitals," I replied. "They're not exactly places you go to party."

"Yeah, but it's not normal to faint when you're just watching a patient there. Did it trigger something within you, perhaps?"

"Could you use something other than the T-word, perhaps?"

"Fine. Was there anything in your past that you thought of? Or just any particular reason that seeing Xeno like that scared you?"

I sighed quietly; Rose had me backed into a corner here. I suppose I could have refused to tell her the truth about why this topic was so difficult for me. Just as she had the right to ask me a question, I had the right not to answer.

But then I remembered that I owed Rose so much. If not for her, I'd probably be starving in the wilderness, struggling to build a fire, until my body gave out. Even if I was technically the leader of the team, it wouldn't exist without her.

If I couldn't trust the Ninetales, I couldn't trust anyone, so it would be wrong not to tell her the truth.

"Okay, I'll admit it," I said. "There is a reason, I promise you. It's a rather tough subject for me to talk about, but I owe you the truth. I owe you a lot more than the truth, too, but I'll tell my story."

After visiting my father in the hospital, I wasn't quite able to get the image of him in that cold, blue bed out of my mind. I'd seen him sick before, but I hadn't ever seen him be sick quite like that.

My mother, of course, still tried to pretend that everything was okay; or at least, she tried to put up a facade of normality. She was at my dad's bedside a lot more than Elijah or I, so she had more information than we did.

"He'll get better" she would always say whenever we asked. "He's a strong Lycanroc, and he's not going to let a little sickness get between him and life. All of us know how much he wants to keep living."

What she said was comforting, and I didn't bother to question it at first. I wanted to believe in my dad's ability to heal, his willingness to fight like hell to stay alive. In the end, that's what was most important: What I wanted to think, rather than what actually made sense.

One night, I remember a very vivid dream.

I was lying in my bed, but it wasn't my nice comfortable bed at home; it was a hospital bed, as evidenced by the numerous machines around it, including an oxygen mask over my face. There was also a considerable amount of beeping.

I felt myself slipping away; it's very hard to describe, but my vision was darkening, and it was getting considerably harder to breathe. Despite this, whatever machine the mask was attached to tried to force air into my now-useless lungs.

While I'd never experienced near-drowning, this is what I imagined it would feel like: Trying harder and harder to breathe, even if the only thing around you is water. In this case, every breath became more and more exhausting; then, one of the monitors flatlined.

It had been beeping faster and faster, but then it simply stopped. A series of alarms went off, and I heard a group of Chansey nurses running into my room pulling a crash cart, rushing to revive me and restart my heart.

Fortunately, my subconscious spared me the gory details of what it's like to be shocked back to life. All I remember is waking up in bed, and this time, it was my own.

I had been clawing at my throat, as evidenced by a series of scratch marks on my neck, which gave off a sizable stinging sensation. It was only when I became more lucid that I realized what I'd just dreamed about.

I saw what my father must be seeing right now, I thought. That's what it's like to be as sick as he is.

My mother had assured me that he was getting better. Now, I didn't know what to believe.

No, actually, I did. I knew that she'd most likely been lying to my brother and I. She'd been telling us what she thought would make us feel better, even when it came into conflict with what was true.

My worst fears were confirmed when my mother entered my bedroom a few minutes later, her eyes drooping and filled with tears.

"We're having a family meeting in five minutes," she managed to choke out.

I didn't even need to attend that meeting to know what had happened. Her face gave it all away.

I hope you guys like the flashbacks, because the next chapter has more of it. If you're enjoying this story, make sure to favorite, follow, and/or review to let me know! I'll see you guys for the next chapter.