Fire, Ice, Bug, Ultimate; Whatever could it mean?
The Tale of Twin Hearts
(Chapter 2) Quest for Approval, Searching for Acceptance
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Dinner? Great.
Sleep? Even better.
Pain? Unlike you would ever believe.
Waking up was like trying to pull yourself out of quicksand, but not because of the beds. Have you ever been hit somewhere on your body, but not felt at the moment it happens, but later on, it hits you at full force? That's what we felt. The amount of damage we took from Chatot's attacks left, not only me but Miya and Pumpkin's bodies feeling like jello but also extremely sore. We didn't know we took so much damage; very dangerous.
Before we went to sleep that night, we told Queen what had happened before suddenly running into him on the beach. To my surprise, he wasn't too phased about it. Usually, when things didn't make sense, he would ask all kinds of questions, even if he knew we didn't have the answer (I'm the same way). Afterward, I decided to take the liberty to ask him how did he end up being kidnapped by the Mighthenya. According to him, he was the only one willing to fend off the fiend while at a nearby town from the area we encounter him but didn't stand a chance. Initially, the Pokemon was going to kill him, but after seeing he was an explorer, he decided to take him for some sort of ransom. (Honestly, I feel like Queen left something out in that explanation, but whatever.)
Judging by the way the sun shined through the window of our room, it was clear it was around 8 am or so, but an hour before, I could hear Pokemon being woken up by Loudred since his voice nearly startled me, and the door was closed! Sometime after, I heard a loud shout from seemingly all of the recruits was heard from the Main Room, saying: "SMILES GO FOR MILES", followed by many footsteps in all directions; I guess they were getting their day started. What baffled me was that we were not disturbed. We're recruits too, are we not?
Curious to see what was going on, Miya took the initiative to head out of the room with Pumpkin, Queen, and I following behind her. We stopped after hearing a passing conversation between Chatot and a Croagunk, who was not originally here the last time we were at the base, or I just never noticed him. His demeanor was...odd but his tone was just enough to tell he was friendly. Was he possibly older? it didn't seem like it, but the way he spoke, he's probably been around longer than he lets on.
"Well, it's quite good to have to back at the guild, Croagunk. As an experienced member of the guild, your help is rather valuable, especially in tough situations," Chatot said, giving a cheerful smile as he welcomes him back.
"Hehe, thanks. It's not the same without the guild, besides the shop isn't going to run itself."
"Who? you're opening the shop back up so soon? But you just got back from a rather tedious mission"
"Heh, yep. I'm the only one who knows how to use my cauldron. The items that come out are pretty useful."
"I have to say, it's quite true," Chatot nods approvingly.
"Hmm, speaking of missions, I hear there were a new set of recruits. Two in fact.
"Yes, yes! They have started recently. What of them?"
"The trio, I heard one of them was inflicted with Terrified and Petrification."
Chatot gave a hesitant look "Who...who told you that?"
"You know just as well as I do that almost no one in this guild can keep quiet," Croagunk chuckled cheekily. I wasn't sure if he was amused by Chatot's reaction or the fact that him laughing was just what he does. It's hard to tell when he chuckles every couple of sentences.
"Chatot, What kind of mission did you send those kids on? What rank?"
"For the last time, we're not k-!" Quickly, Pumpkin covered my mouth while the others attempted to shush me. Sorry, but it's infuriating being called a kid all the time, especially when you KNOW you're an adult. Another reason why I need to hurry up and evolve. Once I'm a Froslass, there will be no denying if I'm an adult or not.
Bitterly, I stopped my protest and kept quiet as Miya, Pumpkin, Queen, and I looked back around the corner to see if they had noticed we were here.
They didn't.
Instead, there was a long suspenseful silence as Chatot was looking over to the side, pondering on how to (or if he should respond to) Croagunk's question or not. Despite the silence, Croagunk grinned then chuckled manically.
"Hehehe, Same ol' Chatot. I knew you wouldn't tell me; I doubt you told anyone else. Always keeping secrets. I asked because the status Terrified isn't something you usually see in easier dungeons. I should know, I specialize in it, heh. As for Perfrification, no pokemon can Inflict it. Chatot, I'm not sure what kind of mission you sent those recruits on, but either I'm overthinking this or..."
Croagunk slightly turns his head in our direction. Surprised we backed away from the corner to hide.
"Or?" Chatot said, interested in what he said to say next.
"...or I probably won't live to be a Shopkeeper very long," Croagunk chuckled, grinning once again as he turns his attention back to Chatot. "regardless, I'm happy to help any way I can. Let them know the shop is open for business, heh."
Chatot smiled, but the hint of wariness in it was way too obvious. "Thank you, Croagunk. Rest assured, there's nothing to worry about. I'll have Bidoof give them a proper tour of the guild like he did with the first set of recruits. He'll let them know you're open.
"Thanks," Croaunk said as he walked towards the shop stall, leaving Chatot by himself. Sighing, Chatot stared at the floor, with regret and remorse almost screaming from the way he was frowning. What happened next almost made us jump out of our skin.
"Miya, Pumpkin, Queen, Liloxi. You can come out from around the corner." He said without even looking.
Slowly, each one of us emerged from the corner of the doorway. As we walked towards Chatot, Miya elbowed me in the arm and mouthed nice going as I held my arm in pain. She sure has a lot of strength. Standing in front of him, Chatot was still looking down, his expression unchanged.
"How much did you all hear?"
"Enough to know that there's more to that mission that you sent us on," Miya said, trying to study his expression, "I know you told us that now wasn't the time to ask about the mission, but there's one thing we would like to know: How did you know to come and save us?"
"I followed you all," He said plainly.
"Wait, you followed us? Why?" Pumpkin asked, to which Chatot held up his wing, dismissing the question.
"I will tell more about it, but first, I need you all to complete a mission for me; the one we spoke of earlier. Are you still up for the task?"
We all nodded to which Chatot smiled before looking up at us. You could see the relief on his face.
"Perfect, but before we discuss the mission, I wanted to give you a tour of the Guild, but Bidoor doesn't seem to be here..."
"Bidoof? We ran into him upstairs yesterday while he was at the board. We...kinda started him, but he did help us find you."
Chatot Chuckled. "I expected nothing less. He is quite helpful, especially during busy times. Sadly, it seems he has returned from helping the other recruits. In that case, it seems I'll have to give you a brief tour. We'll end it off at the mission board, which is where I'll explain your next mission. Let's get to it!"
From there, Chatot showed us around the Main 2F of the Guild, starting with Croagunk's Shop, of course. He explained that if we ever run across Treasure Boxes during our missions, we could end up getting rare and exclusive items that may (or may not) help us. Next, was the Sentry, the place where pokemon are identified before coming in, Wigglytuff/Chatot's room, The Mess hall on the left, and the Guild Member's rooms on the right (There's actually multiple floors, surprisingly).
Upstairs on the 1F Floor, he introduced us to the Summoning Bell, explaining that the Pokemon we battle will sometimes end up respecting us and want to join our team. Once they are recruited, we can summon or dismiss them after talking to Chimecho by either ringing the bell or going to the watering hole outside the guild. Afterward, we finally came to a halt at the Mission Board.
"Now, to end the tour off, here is the Mission board. You may have seen it a few times leaving the first floor."
"Yep, we have," I nodded.
"If it ever comes to a point that I don't have a task for you all, feel free to come to the board to take on some missions."
"Sounds good!" Miya said, enthusiastically, "But quick question. What's that board over there?"
"Oh! That would be the Outlaw Board," Chatot pointed to the board to the right side of the room as we made our way over. "Similar to the other one, you can on missions listed by other Pokemon. Please be warned that harsh and insidious criminals usually make their way on this board, some with quite a large bounty on their heads. Be careful about taking missions from this board."
"Some of them don't seem very "harsh" to me," Queen said, taking the words right out of my mouth. "What about that one?"
Queen pointed to a poster of a Drowzee. The poster, unlike the others, seemed rather new as if almost no one has touched it, but it was clear someone did since it was torn off the board at one point.
"Hmm, this one is new...but according to the poster, it seems the Drowzee is known for conning Pokemon and deceiving them into do his bidding, usually leading to harmful consequences if resisting. Would you like to look at it?"
"Sure."
Chatot takes the poster off the wall and hands it to Queen. Standing next to him, I got a good look at it myself. Everything that Chatot said was true, stating he's just as dangerous as the poster described. After taking a good look at it, Queen then hands it to Miya.
"Wow, yeah we need to be careful when taking something off this board..." She said while reading all of the crimes the Pokemon has committed.
"Hey, can I see?" Pumpkin asked, to which Miya passed it to him. Upon taking it, Pumpkin suddenly freezes and goes into a distance stare. It wasn't immediately apparent to us that it happened, but as soon as we looked at Chatot, his eyes were narrowed at Pumpkin. Looking over to him, he had the same look in his eyes as he did when he touched the claw marks on the tree.
"Miya...you don't think..."
"Yeah, I think it's happening again, Liloxi," Miya said, frowning as she waves her hand in front of Pumpkin's face.
Queen looks at us, utterly confused. "What is?"
"Is...that him...?" Pumpkin said as if he was in some sort of trance. Miya Frowned.
"We're not entirely sure, but the last time this happened, it was after he touched the claw markings on the tree. At one point he got thrown backs and told us that he was in another location a moment ago and was attacked. He said it felt like he was there, but not there at the same time."
"Really?" Queen walks up to him and looks at him. "Have you tried shaking him?"
"Don't touch him" Chatot snapped, startling, not only Queen but also Miya and I as we back away, "It's best not to."
"Right! of course!" Queen responded, also backing away nervously.
"They...won? amazing...good..." Pumpkin spoke once more. Within moments, Pumpkin suddenly comes to and looks around in a daze.
"Pumpkin? are you alright?" Miya asked as she walks back up to him.
"Yeah...I was watching a battle. There were two pokemon and a Drowzee, like the one on this Poster."
"Eh? Do you think it was real?" I asked, thinking about what he said.
"It sure seemed real. If it is, then the Drowzee should be headed back here. He was just captured and being escorted by a Magnezone."
"Yes, Officer Magnezone." Chatot chimed in. "Then that means they were successes, good."
"Chatot, you believe what I saw was real?"
"Yes, yes I do."
"So that means you know what happened to Pumpkin," Miya said, looking hopeful. To her dismay, Chatot frowned and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I do not. Nevertheless, It is good to see you're back to your senses Pumpkin."
"T-Thanks..." Pumpkin said, smiling awkwardly.
"Now, with the tour out of the way, I've decided not to burden you with a lot of details in terms of the mission. In fact, while you were all asleep, I put a letter containing the mission itself inside of your bag. Here."
Stretching out his wing towards us, he hands us our Team bag to Miya, to which she slowly takes it, completely confused as to how he got it out of our room without waking any of us up.
"Please, do not delay any further. Your map now has an "X" over the next location you all should be heading to now. All further instructions are written in the letter. Go.
Without Question, we all head for the stairs. However, just before Pumpkin could leave for the Exit, I heard Chatot briefly call him, as he was the last one, behind me.
("Pumpkin...May I ask. Who were the two Pokemon you saw that defeated the Drowzee?")
("Uh...I'm not sure about their names, but there was a Mudkip and a Torchic, both wearing blue scarves around their necks. If that helps any.)
(Chatot chuckled, "Yes, it does actually. Thank you.)
"Hey, Pumpkin, you coming?" I said, yelling down the stairwell.
"Yep! Let's go!" He said making his way out.
