Sausage note: IT'S RABBIT TIME!
Last time: Buneary joined the guild, and the first day ended! Also, she shlicked lol
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Lively Morning
Buneary looked back and forth as she travelled the soggy cave. It was damp and cold, but she was determined to become a good explorer, so she would persevere!
She chewed on an ice cream she'd found on the floor earlier as she cautiously glanced around, waiting for something to strike. A sudden growl from behind made her yelp and spin around.
A horde of rock-types and water-types crawled out of the walls, all at once. Their entire bodies were cloaked in shadow, and their eyes glowed red as they glared her way.
She was startled, but she dropped her cookies and stood firm. No, she had this!
Taking a breath, she rushed towards them. She tried to remember the techniques she'd learned from her 'fight' with Coalossal, and all of the books she'd read, featuring her favorite heroes.
As the various fights and action scenes ran through her mind, she weaved around their attacks with extreme precision and sent out waves of stars in retaliation. They struck the pokémon attacking her with deadly accuracy, making them faint instantly with each strike.
"Woo! Keep it up!" Cheerleader Corsola cheered from the water on the wall.
"You're gonna go far, kid!" Sasspot Grumpig praised from her stool.
Buneary beamed. Hee~! She was doing so well as an explorer, already!
Confidence brimming, she continued going on the offensive, punching away rocks that were launched her way, and doing front flips to dodge sharp slices flying in her direction, sent out by bug scythes. Conjuring Bounce, she went towards one of the pokémon, feet first.
Her foot connected with its face, making it collapse into bubbles. Landing, she leapt at another pokémon to do the same.
When she kicked the next pokémon, it suddenly transformed into a bone and hit her in the neck, sending her flying backwards into something. The bone remained firmly lodged at her throat, stopping her from moving and leaving her feet dangling. Gack!
Struggling, she glanced behind herself and saw Vile Marowisp's bony face, grinning meanly at her.
"Better get ready, bitch bunny," he sneered.
"W-What're you-!?" Buneary started. She shrieked when a dark, evil purple mist enveloped her. She shrieked again when it faded and she noticed that her very large breasts and her groin were on display. Nooo! She should've known not to trust antics fog!
The cave walls of the dungeon fell away, revealing a dry, dusty desert.
She shrieked for a third time as she saw all of her friends and family standing around, watching her and laughing at her.
Her face burned from sheer embarrassment. Darn it all! She was so mortified! This couldn't get any worse!
A golden ring appeared in front of her, creating a portal to space. From it, Elgyem emerged. "It is time to make breeding!" he proclaimed as a massive red tentacle with big yellow suckers erupted from his groin.
The blood drained from her face as she eyed it up. Uh oh...
"I warned you about them rapes, Buneary!" Runaway Salandit shouted.
"She's right!" Rush Swadloon added. "We warned you, rabbit!"
Buneary pouted hard at them. Weren't they going to help!?
She cried out in alarm as Elgyem's tentacle started to slither around her folds. It felt weird, like a slippery chinchou was tickling her crotch.
"No! Don't do it!" she cried out.
"Why not, hon? Then you can be just like Mommykins~" a familiar woman's voice chimed.
Startled, Buneary turned to face the woman and shouted, "N-No, I-!"
At that exact moment, she felt the tentacle shoot all the way through her. She jumped out of her covers with a cry.
Blinking, she squinted through her blurry eyes and looked around, wondering what was going on. Also, where the heck was she? This wasn't, uh... Drenched Cave...? No, uh... Beached Bluff?
She drearily blinked as her mind slowly tried to catch up with her. After a few seconds, she figured it out. Oh, that had been a dream, hadn't it? Yeesh, what a terrible dream... What had brought that on?
Her eyes widened when she looked around and realized that this place didn't look like her tent. "Huh...?" she muttered in confusion. "Where am I...?"
She felt herself jolt awake at the loud clanging sound of a huge bell.
"Up and at 'em, campers!" a familiar, friendly voice called out all of a sudden. "It's morning!"
She clutched her chest in shock to slow her beating heart. Holy moly, why was Snorlax talking to her from out of nowhere, all of a sudden!?
Glancing all around, she spotted a megaphone of some sort attached to the corner of the room, embedded in the ceiling. Ah... that was probably it.
... Wait a minute... Snorlax!?
It suddenly hit her and her eyes snapped open. The guild! She'd joined the guild yesterday! She was a part of a team, and everything!
The excitement that shot through her cleared away any fatigue. She had to get ready! This was her chance to make it big as an explorer!
She stretched her back, arms, legs and ears before standing up. Yawning, she groggily made her way to the wash basin in the corner of the room to rinse her face.
After splashing a refreshing, if not cold, load of water against her face, she heard a knock at the door. Wiping herself off, she turned in time to see Grumpig stepping though. She was smiling at her while rubbing an eye.
"Hey, kid. Time to get up, and..." She paused and chuckled. "Never mind, you beat me to it."
Buneary giggled. "Yep! Morning!" she replied gleefully.
"Hehe, morning," Grumpig replied with a small wave. "Well, in any case, this is convenient. We need to be at the assembly, once you're all good to go."
"Assembly?" Buneary asked with a yawn.
"Yeah, it's a routine we have every morning. Y'know, like the Wigglytuff Guild, with their... 'smiles go for miles' thing."
Buneary's eyes lit up. "Ooh, right, I know that one!" Every morning, before they set out to do their daily jobs, Wigglytuff's guild would recite their motto. She didn't remember exactly how the Wigglytuff Guild's assemblies went, because the book only elaborated on it once, but she knew that much, at least!
"Heh, I'll bet. Now then, you get yourself ready, and I'll go get Maractus up."
Buneary hopped towards her. "It's okay, I can come~"
"Oh, sure."
The two girls quickly left the room. As she stepped out into the hall, Buneary was met with the sight of lots of other pokémon leaving their rooms. Her guildmates... or better yet, her friends.
She beamed, though having so many of them in the same place was a bit overwhelming, honestly. Still, she was happy to see them!
She waved and said a quick, gleeful greeting to everyone she passed by on the way to Maractus' room. She yelped when something sticky caught her foot, making her stumble to the floor from momentum. Picking herself back up, she looked behind her and saw a bundle of web caught on her foot.
She noticed Spinarak laughing in the distance and immediately knew what had happened. She pouted at him, as well as Slugma, who was laughing silently from the entrance of her own room. What a load of troublemakers!
Grumpig chuckled. "Yeah, you'll wanna look out for him. He loves being a pest," she remarked.
"Yeah..." Buneary mumbled. Well, she wouldn't fall for his tricks again!
After being helped up by Grumpig, they went over to Maractus' room. The pig rapped her knuckles against the door a few times before entering.
"Yo, Maractus! You ready?" Grumpig asked. She blinked and sighed. "Evidently not..."
Buneary gave a curious hum and looked past her. She saw Maractus lying naked on her back, snoring loudly. Her blanket was hanging off her spiky ear, all her spines and needles were wonky and crooked, and she was covered in pastry crumbs.
"... Uh..." Buneary mumbled, surprised at the sight.
"Ugh, she always has too much energy to sleep," Grumpig explained, "so this happens a lot."
"Ah, right," Buneary replied, staring at the sight, perplexed. No kidding...
In all honesty, she would've expected Grumpig to be the one who had trouble waking up, and that Maractus would've been the one to wake up the second dawn broke. Apparently not, though.
Grumpig went over and nudged the cactus in the side with a foot, wincing lightly in the process. "Oi, Sleeping Beauty! Up you get!"
"Gruggllefuuu..." Maractus muttered back, eyes cracking open slightly. "I dunn fffhh..." Her eyes closed again as she gave a relaxed sigh.
Grumpig huffed and prodded her again. "No, no more sleep. Now, come on, or we'll be late."
"Awwwww..." Maractus mumbled, rubbing one of her eyes.
"Oh, hey, Buneary, it's you!" a familiar voice said from behind. Turning, Buneary saw Calamity Yamask approach.
"Hi, Yamask!" Buneary replied cheerfully.
He entered the room, floating above her and Grumpig. "Hey! I went to see my dad, and I got you- Holy shit!" he exclaimed, staring straight ahead at Maractus' nude form.
Buneary's eyes widened. She also saw Grumpig staring in concern. Uh oh.
The cactus lurched upright, making her huge breasts sway and wobble. "W-Wha...? Wha's holy and shitty...?" she asked groggily.
Yamask squealed again, face bright red. "Oh, Arceus, I'm sorry!" he yelled. He threw his golden mask over his face. "I-I-I didn't see anything! I'm going!" He zipped out of the room and into one of the other rooms. He squealed loudly again and shouted another apology before zipping into another room.
"... Oh dear," Buneary muttered awkwardly, not sure what else to say. This early in the morning, and she could already feel second-hand embarrassment coming in droves. This didn't bode well...
Grumpig let out a sigh, before snorting in amusement. "Well, great work, Maractus. You've made Yamask's entire day." She snorted again. "... Again."
"Huh... okie dokes. Neaaat..." Maractus mumbled. She flopped onto her front with her bum in the air. She started snoring again immediately after.
Grumpig shook her head and turned to Buneary. "Right, well as you can see, this might take a little while. Why don't'cha go talk to some people, or freshen up or whatever while I drag her out of bed?"
"Uh, okay," Buneary replied, hoping that was the best way to avoid any more antics and shenanigans.
With that in mind, she turned and went down the hallway to say hi to the others. Thankfully, nobody else seemed as out of it or nude as Maractus was.
"I'll bet he's dead. He died and now he's in a ditch, and I'll never see him again," Salandit whined, getting more and more upset as she spoke.
"Ohh, I bloody 'ope not," Big Bang Gourgeist replied to her, frowning worriedly.
"N-No, I... don't think it'll be that," Buneary replied, starting to get a bit exasperated. That's what she got for asking Salandit if she was doing okay...
"He's always come back, before, though!" Salandit argued, her hands up to her face in dismay. "With no Sneasel around, keeping things together, I'm screwed in these dungeons! Literally! Virginity, thy name won't be Salandit!"
Buneary giggled at her strange sentence. She cleared her throat and tried to look more apologetic. "Well, he said he was going after some thief in a dungeon, somewhere. Uh... Mt. Bristle, I think."
"Oof, that's a tough place," Hobby Ducklett added, being close enough to listen in. "Yeah, he's probably just camping out, or something, right? In the longer, tougher dungeons, there's no way you'll get out in one day."
"Oh, well that's a right ol' relief, then," Gourgeist said cheerfully. "I'd've 'ad an 'eart attack if I'd 'eard 'e'd croaked it. Me ol' ma 'n' pa wouldn't be right 'appy, now, either."
"Oh, legends, I hear that place is like Hell, though!" Salandit squealed. "And with a criminal there, too? Nope, I'm calling it. Goodbye, Sneasel. I'll come to your funeral. Y'know... when it gets quieter..."
"Ohh, 'eck!" he replied, looking worried again. "Maybe we'd best leg it up to the mountain, then!"
"Oh, never mind, I guess I'm joining him in the coffin," Salandit said, visibly sweating. "Fuuuck...!"
"He'll be fine, I'm sure," Buneary said with a strained smile, wondering if she was even helping at all.
"Best of luck, guys," Ducklett replied while turning away, looking pretty bemused. Because of the topic or because of their nihilistic outlook on Sneasel's situation, Buneary couldn't tell.
"Yeah," she added. "I'm, uh... gonna see if Maractus is awake, yet. So good luck from me, too~"
"Cheers, Buneary!" Gourgeist replied gleefully.
"See you in the afterlife. Urghhh...!" Salandit replied unhappily.
Buneary gave them one last pleasant, and hopefully not too exasperated, smile and walked back down the corridor from where they'd been.
Everyone else was dotted about, chatting with each other about random things. Glancing into the barred window of the cell where outlaws were apparently kept overnight, she saw an assortment of different pokémon inside. In fact... she could swear she recognized some of them...
When one of the pokémon inside made brief eye contact with her, she looked away and hurried along while pulling a face. Well, it wasn't her concern, either way...
After a small trek down the hallway, she saw Grumpig emerge with Maractus in tow. The cactus was now all covered up, and she seemed to be tidied up and far more awake, though perhaps a little groggy, still.
On noticing Buneary, she perked up. "Morning, Bunearyyy~!" Maractus called out, waving eagerly. She bounded over.
"Heehee, hello~" Buneary replied happily.
Maractus stopped in front of her. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, I did, thanks." Even if her dreams had been questionable, at best... "Did, uh... you?"
"We both know the answer to that question," Grumpig interjected with a chuckle.
Buneary and Maractus giggled, with the cactus also sticking her tongue out at the pig.
The three girls shared a comfortable moment of mirth.
Soon after, Grumpig gave a surprised hum. "Oops, it's starting. Let's go," she said.
Buneary turned around to see that the other teams were starting to assemble in the main room, outside the guildmasters' door.
"Ooh, we made it!" Maractus chimed. She went off hopping towards the others. "Yeah, off we get!"
Buneary nodded and hopped after her. She heard Grumpig following them at a brisk pace.
Soon after Buneary and Maractus got into position - with Grumpig not far behind - the grand doors opened up. Puzzle Solver Donphan and Relic Finder Snorlax strolled out of their room and stood before them.
As the crowd fell silent, Donphan gave a nod with a small smile. "Good morning, my guild members," she said.
Buneary and everyone else said their own variation of, "Good morning, Donphan!" in response.
"Another glorious day is upon us, guys!" Snorlax announced, beaming. "Which means only one thing..."
Nearly everyone pumped their arms into the air, startling Buneary. "Quest and rescue!" They pumped their arms a second time. "Contest and arrest!" They pumped their arms a third time. "Earn and learn!"
Snorlax pumped his own arm into the air. "And remember..."
Everyone joined him, pumping their arms a fourth time. "Cheers go for years!" everyone else finished. "Huzzah!"
Buneary smiled. It really was just like Wigglytuff's place~! She made a mental note to join in with that tomorrow.
"Heh, alright, everyone..." Donphan said. "Go get breakfast, then it's time to get to work."
Everyone gave a cheerful response before going up the stairs en masse, save for the ones who could fly or crawl up the walls, who did so.
"Wow, the morning routine is more exciting than I thought it would be~" Buneary chimed, following the others.
Grumpig huffed in amusement. "Apparently, it's a revised version of something the Wigglytuff Guild does every morning. I've always thought it was pretty cheesy, honestly."
Maractus giggled. "For sure! It's way more fun than Wigglytuff's, though~" she added.
Grumpig huffed again. "Yeah, what was it again? 'One! Don't shirk work! Two! Stay away and pay! Three! Smiles go for miles!'"
Buneary giggled heartily. "Yeah, that's what it said in the book!" she said. "This one's a lot friendlier. Heehee, though I guess it doesn't rhyme quite as well, either..."
Grumpig huffed a third time. "Hah, that's what I thought, too!"
"Everyone's a critic~" Maractus joked.
Buneary giggled again. Thinking about the chant used by the Wigglytuff Guild some more, she cringed. "Do they mean it, though? The other guild? Their chant sounds pretty... uh, strict?"
"I'd believe it," Grumpig replied. She shrugged. "I've heard they're a bit less strict about it these days, though, so who knows?"
"Huh... that's not what Corsola said," Buneary muttered. Though Chatot had been nicer than expected, yesterday...
"Ooh, did someone call?" a familiar girl's voice asked from behind.
Ear perking, Buneary turned around and saw Cheerleader Corsola approach, giving a friendly wave.
"Oh, hey, Corsola~" Buneary greeted, waving back. On seeing Punishment Whimsicott float closer, she waved to her, too. "Hey, Whimsicott!"
"Hey there, newbie~" Whimsicott replied cheerfully, posing cutely. Eying up Grumpig and Maractus, she murmured in intrigue. "Ooh, so you're a member of Team Nebula now, huh?"
"She sure is~!" Maractus chimed, hopping over to Buneary and scooping her into a cheery hug. The usual sensation of needles pricking into her skin made the rabbit yelp loudly.
"Y-Yeah, I am," Buneary whined out with a grimaced smile.
"She's fitting in nicely, as you can see," Grumpig joked.
"I'll say," Corsola said, smiling sheepishly. Her smile went more natural before becoming amused. "That chant, though, yeah... the first day we were here, I remember Whimsicott going, 'What the heck was that?'"
"I see..." Buneary muttered through clenched teeth.
"That was in Wigglytuff's place, actually," Whimsicott corrected, folding her arms with a light, pouty frown. "His weird morning chant was creepy and dumb."
"Ohhh yeah..." Corsola mumbled in recollection. "Then we left after Chatot started chewing you out for ten minutes straight, for that and some other stuff."
Whimsicott blew air through her lips. "If he can't deal with me wanting to fry criminals to a crisp, then he can get stuffed!"
"How much of a crisp?" Grumpig asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not enough of one!"
Grumpig slowly shook her head. "Pft, knowing you, I figured."
As Maractus mercifully dropped Buneary - allowing her to nurse her sore body - the rabbit pulled a face. Considering how Whimsicott had blown that mienfoo thief to kingdom come yesterday, it was a pretty safe guess, for sure.
After rolling her eyes, the grass-type in question spoke up again. "Well, anyway, girls, let's get breakfast together!" she suggested, seeming cheery again. "The sooner we eat, the sooner we can get stuff done!"
Buneary and the other girls agreed and walked up the spiral staircase together.
As they climbed it, Corsola spoke up. "So, Buneary! How'd the rest of your day go after we split up?"
"Pretty well, thanks!" Buneary replied, smiling. "I went around town with Sneasel and his team, and met so many people~"
Corsola's eyes lit up. "Ooh, nice! Sneasel's really hot, so I'm jealous~"
Buneary giggled. Well, she wasn't wrong...
Whimsicott huffed. "There's more to life than dumb boys, y'know," she chastised.
"Nawww!" Maractus chimed. She danced around as she moved. "Hot guys like Cacturne make the world go 'round~!"
Whimsicott looked at Maractus with a questioning frown, her eyes seemingly following the cactus' heavily bouncing bosom. "Uh, yeah. I'll bet you like male attention."
"Oh you~" Corsola said to her, giggling.
Buneary stared at the scene, curious. Did Whimsicott not like boys, or something? Why not?
Her eyes widened lightly. And speaking of bosoms, where was Whimsicott's!? She was effectively as flat as a board!
Buneary looked away, not wanting to bring attention to her observation. Well, it made her feel a little better about her own circumstances, she guessed...
She noticed Grumpig shaking her head at the others with an amused huff. The pig paused before clicking her fingers. "Y'know, that's a point," she said, looking down at Buneary. "We should introduce you to the other teams in the guild. The ones you haven't met yet, anyway."
"Ooh!" Maractus said. "That sounds like fun!"
Buneary blinked. "... Is there anyone else I haven't met?" she asked.
"List off who you've met already, and we'll find out," Grumpig said.
"Oh, uh..." Buneary rubbed her chin in thought. Boy, she was going to have to think about that one...
"My memory's terrible when it comes to who's in what team," Corsola admitted with a small giggle. "I'll be no help!"
"Heehee, it's alright. Well, um..." Buneary replied before getting to work, saying the names of anyone who came to mind.
Buneary chewed on another small handful of chopped berries and fruits from the fruit salad she'd been given for breakfast.
It was a delightful blend of juicy, tangy, sweet and sour flavors, with a dash of dry ones in the mix. Thankfully, because they were allowed to choose what would go into the fruit and berry salad, there were no bitter or spicy ones to worry about! All in all, it was lovely!
She was currently eating with Grumpig, Maractus, Corsola and Whimsicott, who seemed to be enjoying their meals just as much. They were eating in comfortable silence, until they heard someone clearing his or her throat.
Looking at the source, Buneary saw Donphan standing on a raised stage off to the side of the room. She had a megaphone in her trunk, and was holding it to her mouth.
"Hello, my guild members," her voice rang out, catching everyone's attention. "It's time for some morning news. Um..." She looked down, shuffling some papers by her feet as she did. "... Yes. I've received notice that Sneasel is returning back to us later today, having been away to try catching a criminal. He'll be returning with Team Expectations, who had also taken the time to camp out there."
"Oh, that's a relief, eh?" Gourgeist called out happily.
"I'll say... No death mountain for us, yes!" Salandit added gleefully.
"... Yeah," Donphan responded, an air of bemusement to her voice. She looked back at her notes. "Um... yesterday, we gained a new guildmate. Please find some time to say hello to Wallflower Buneary, when you can."
Buneary's ear pricked at the sound of her name. As almost everyone looked around to find her before clapping, she bashfully held her fluff up to her red hot face. Gosh, she wasn't used to this amount of attention at all...!
As everyone let up, Donphan gave a light chuckle before looking back at her notes. "Hmm... ah." Her face hardened lightly in what seemed like concern. "Team Shadow have fainted in Frosty Grotto. I'd read their notice out, but... it's been worded by Mannish Banette, so I won't. You can find it in the notice board room, if you want to help."
Buneary furrowed her brows in concern as she plucked a grepa berry from her bowl and ate it. Team Shadow, huh? The team that also had Umbreon in it? She remembered them from yesterday, arguing rather noisily in the hall. If they got along that poorly often, she wasn't surprised they hadn't made it through the dungeon, unscathed.
She chewed the pleasant mix of sweet and sour in her mouth, as well as the dry, astringent skin. Well, at least it was reassuring to know that if she ever failed a mission, she could have someone come rescue her. Though the hope was that she wouldn't fail...
Donphan continued talking, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Finally, Charjabug was kind enough to bring something to my attention..." she started.
She reached behind herself with a back leg and brought out a very fancy-looking... art piece? One which had a silver donut-shaped base, a dark pink 'face' pattern on top, and was covered in golden rings. Actually, that was something from her room, wasn't it?
Donphan continued with a flat frown. "... Peeping Hoopa was caught being a pervert again, so you know what that means..."
Many of the pokémon let out a cheer, though Buneary was left tilting her head as she swallowed her food. Huh...?
"Uh oh! N-No! No way!" Hoopa suddenly exclaimed from somewhere in the room. "I will not return to the bottle!" A pause passed. "... Well, if the bottle summons me, I have to, though..."
Putting down the megaphone, Donphan pulled out the face-shaped lid on the 'bottle' with her trunk. Hoopa's voice-cracking screams filled the air as he was sucked into the bottle from where he was, like water into a hole.
Donphan put the lid back onto the bottle and held the whole thing high with her trunk. "... Go long!" she shouted, throwing it as hard as she could.
Buneary blinked as most of the pokémon in the room got out of their seats and clambered for the bottle as it went sailing through the air. It was caught by Awesome Pansear, who leapt up with several flips to toss it forwards. Spinarak caught it with a strand of web and lassoed it away.
It went sailing through the air until it hit the wall and bounced off. It landed on a table which Gourgeist was sitting at, and Salandit was hiding under. The pumpkin picked it up, shrugged, and gleefully tossed it elsewhere. As it went, it was hit by a blast of steaming hot water which sent it tumbling off course, curtsey of Death Threat Octillery.
Hoopa's screams could be faintly heard the whole time from within. It was clear that he felt every ding and bump that happened to his lamp while inside that thing.
"Ooh, I love this game~" Maractus chimed, hopping out of her seat to join in. "Pass! Paaaasss!"
"You bet! That pervert deserves it!" Whimsicott added, flying out of her seat while preparing a windy move of some sort in her hands.
"Heehee, oh dear," Corsola giggled. She began to cheer while waving her stubby hands. "Go whack him one for the team, girls! Wooo~!"
"Pft. Aye, ai, ai..." Grumpig muttered in amusement.
Buneary pulled a face. Well... this felt pretty extreme, but as long as everyone was on board, she guessed. Except for Hoopa, anyway.
Actually, thinking about it, was all of this over the incident yesterday, where Hoopa had convinced her that he could grant wishes, as long as he could see her bottom?
She pouted. Tsk! Honestly, she was a bit miffed at Hoopa, she'd come to realize. She'd been a bit too overwhelmed by all the chaos that had been going on yesterday, so she hadn't gotten a chance to think about it until now... but she definitely wouldn't have given him a show of her bottom if she'd known he was apparently a big fibber!
She was just lucky she'd kept her bum covered, so no one could see anything too embarrassing. Well... she hoped it had been covered, anyway. She hadn't gotten to see how it had looked after she'd flattened out the fluff, so...
She cringed. Ughh...! Curse him and his convincing hoops!
... Wait. Thinking about it, he'd acted a bit odd when she'd actually allowed him to look. How bizarre... Shouldn't he have been really happy, or something?
"Ugh..." she heard Yamask mutter from nearby. Looking, she saw him with his face in one of his palms as he looked at the scene. "Freaking Hoopa."
"It's a wonder you put up with him, I've gotta say!" Corsola called over to him amusedly.
His attention snapping their way, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... someone's gotta, I guess." He brightened up. "Oh yeah! Uh, I got you some things!"
He reached into the treasure bag around his waist and brought out a bag filled with... pastries? Oooh~!
"As promised! Eheh," Yamask said, looking Buneary's way as he handed it to her.
"They look super delicious, thank you~!" she replied happily. She knew she was going to enjoy these later!
"No worries!" Yamask replied, grinning with a thumbs up.
"Teehee, how precious~" Corsola remarked.
"Heh, well I know what I'm getting you for your birthday, now," Grumpig said jokingly. "Got a bit of a sweet tooth, huh?"
"Um... a little..." Buneary muttered, face warming. She couldn't resist a sweet treat, it was true...
"Ooh, anything for me, Yamask?" Corsola asked eagerly. She flinched as a crash rang out from Ducklett dropping Hoopa's lamp - which he'd been trying to keep in the air with his head, until dropping it - but she stayed smiling.
"You bet! I got that flag you wanted!" Yamask said to her, pulling out a small rod, attached to a flag. One with a multicolored pattern that reminded Buneary of confetti. He floated down to her level to hand it over.
"Ohh yeah, the flag thing!" Corsola remarked, taking it. "It affects everyone around me, right?"
Yamask gave another thumbs up. "You got it! When you wear this cheering flag, your friends get stronger!"
"Wow, neat! Whimsicott will love this! Aww, this is why you're the best, Yamask~!" Corsola replied gratefully, reaching forward and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
His face immediately flushed and he started stammering up a storm. Corsola only giggled in response.
Buneary beamed. How cute! She even saw Grumpig giving an amused smirk.
"Heh, well, now you've just gotta figure out how to wear it," Grumpig joked.
"I'll figure it out! Or at least, Whimsicott will~" Corsola replied.
"Y-Y-Yeah!" Yamask said, still flustered. "Um, uh, I'm gonna... go give Octillery the, uh... w-whatever I got him. See ya!" He quickly flew away, though not in the direction Octillery was in.
Grumpig laughed. "Smooth," she joked.
"Teehee! What a cutie~" Corsola chimed.
Buneary suddenly felt an odd buzzing in her head she couldn't explain. What the...?
"{You are a table filled with females of varying breedability, including: Wallflower Buneary, Sasspot Grumpig and Cheerleader Corsola. Greetings to all,}" a familiar voice said directly in her head.
Surprised, Buneary looked around until she saw Elgyem approaching the table from the air. He was holding his hands up, allowing the lights on them to flash rapidly. After a pause, he tried a stiff wave towards the girls.
"Uh... thank you?" Corsola replied, smiling sheepishly.
Buneary pulled a face. Same old Elgyem from yesterday... "Hey, Elgyem," she said, trying not to show her exasperation.
"Come on, Elgyem," Grumpig said with a roll of the eyes, "I get enough of that crap from my old friend, Glameow."
"{Glameow...?}" Elgyem muttered psychically. He stared at Grumpig intently.
She clicked her tongue and held up a hand, which glowed with what seemed like psychic energy. "Ohh no, you don't. Stay out of my memories," she retorted.
Elgyem's head dipped in apparent displeasure. "{This causes disappointment.}" He turned his gaze away, inadvertently meeting Buneary's as he did.
Gazing into his eyes immediately reminded her of the dream she'd had earlier. She shivered. Ughh... did her imagination have to have used a friend, and not just some random pokémon? She was going to have to work hard to remind herself that he didn't act that way.
... His 'habits' weren't going to help with that, much, were they?
His voice started to manifest in her head again. "{Me appearing in your dream in such an antagonistic role causes shame. I would never force a breeding with anyone. Especially my new lagomorph friend.}"
Buneary slapped a paw to her rapidly warming face. Fudge!
"Huh? Jeez, what were you dreaming about?" Corsola asked Buneary. Through her awkward grimace, she also looked like she was holding back a large smirk, which only embarrassed the rabbit further.
"N-Nothing! Nothing important!" Buneary quickly shouted, rapidly shaking her paws in denial.
"{... This causes confusion,}" Elgyem replied, holding his flashing fingers up. "{you were clearly dreaming about how I-}" His voice in her head cut out sharply.
"Alright, Elgyem," Grumpig started sassily while waving her glowing hand again, "'Embarrassing Buneary Hour' ended yesterday. So cut that out, capiche?"
Buneary let out a breath. Was she using her psychic powers to disrupt Elgyem? Either way, what a relief!
"I do not understand the cause of this embarrassment..." Elgyem replied, foregoing his telepathy to talk directly. "But okay..."
"Oyy... you wouldn't, would you?" Grumpig muttered, letting her hand stop glowing. "I guess there's a reason they call you Breeding Chaser Elgyem. You're shameless enough."
"Eheh, you're telling me..." Corsola muttered sheepishly, popping a slice of wiki berry into her mouth. "It'sh no wondher Whimshicott doeshn't..." She petered off into mumbles as she chewed.
"Uh... i-in any case," Buneary started, waving her paws to diffuse things, "the dream I had..." She gulped. "Uh... where I was, um... f-fighting you as an outlaw! That is! Uh..." She avoided Grumpig's questioning gaze and Corsola's cheeky grin. "Um... nothing personal, Elgyem! I think you're neat, and not a... a villain."
"This causes relief. Thank you, Wallflower Buneary," Elgyem replied. His expression was as unreadable as ever, but he seemed satisfied with her response, thankfully!
She smiled. "No problem!"
"Heh, indeed," Grumpig said. She indicated off to the side, towards the chaos that was still going on. "Anyway, Elgyem, why don't you go and rescue Hoopa from certain death? I'm sure he'd appreciate it."
"That is a good plan. This causes appreciation," Elgyem replied, hovering over in the genie's lamp's general direction. "{Please keep me informed if you wish to engage in breeding, later,}" he said with telepathy.
"Uh... maybe!" Buneary replied, knowing full well that wasn't happening any time soon.
"Excited already," Grumpig added, lounging back in her seat with an unimpressed grimace.
As he went out of earshot - though it was hard to tell with telepathy - Corsola sighed in relief before looking amused. "Heehee! Imagine losing your virginity to that guy," she joked.
Buneary giggled and pulled a face, while Grumpig snorted out a laugh.
"Uh... an interesting choice, for sure," Buneary said. She knew she didn't really want to go for it, no offense to him.
"No kidding," Grumpig added. "As weak in the knees as he makes me, though, I think I'll abstain."
The girls shared some more giggles and chuckles. After another bite of food, Buneary looked off to the side as she tried to think of something to say. She saw Maractus and Whimsicott using Hoopa's lamp as a volley ball while Elgyem watched from a distance, likely waiting for an opening to grab it. Well, best of luck to him...
She let out a murmur as seeing him brought something to mind. "What's a... 'lagomorph', though?" she asked.
"Some weird sorta pickup line from outer space?" Corsola asked.
Grumpig shook her head as she picked out the last slice of mango in her bowl. "It's a fancy word for 'rabbit'. Heard someone call a mouse that, too, though, so they might count as well," she explained.
"Ooh, okay! I'll never remember that for as long as I live, but good to know~" Corsola remarked, as chipper as ever.
"Heehee, well, I'll try and remember," Buneary said. "I think I like it!"
"Alright, then, legomarth~" Corsola sang, grinning.
As Grumpig laughed again, Buneary just let out an embarrassed giggle. Darn it...
Buneary bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement while staring up at the notice board for rescue missions in front of her.
This was so cool~! Her first, proper, official on paper mission! Well... the first one where she wasn't a part of a squad, anyway!
Either way, it was exciting! She could see so many notices on the board, all with their own missions! She didn't even know which one to choose!
She kept glancing around in wonderment. Hearing Grumpig and Maractus making sounds of amusement from her sides, she looked at the two of them.
"D'aww, you're so excited, ain't'cha?" Maractus cooed, both of her spiky hands held to her chin in adoration.
"A little bit," Buneary replied, face warming.
"Better get to picking, then," Grumpig said, grinning. She glanced around at the many sheets of paper that were pinned to the board. "Hmm, lessie..."
"Which mission should we go on, then, Grumpig?" Maractus asked.
"I dunno..." Grumpig looked at Buneary. "We can handle a few tough missions, being platinum rankers, but for your sake, we should try something less stressful. Especially after all the tomfoolery you went through yesterday."
"Ah, I guess so," Buneary replied. She sheepishly glanced away and scuffed her foot on the floor, feeling slightly ashamed and embarrassed. "Sorry..."
"It's alright. I prefer 'em easier, anyway."
"Hence why we're only platinum rank!" Maractus joked, sticking her tongue out.
"Hmph. Ranks don't matter that much," Grumpig retorted sassily.
"Heehee! Anyway, seems fair! With that, I'm thinking we should start with an E or D rank! Get her to learn the ropes!"
"Alright, E to D rank it is, then." Grumpig turned back to the bulletin board.
Buneary smiled lightly. Well, they didn't seem too put off by her bringing them down to her level, so maybe it was alright.
Honestly, she hadn't considered it before, but she was sort of keeping them back. She didn't know if she even classified as whatever the smallest rank was, let alone platinum!
Oh well. Maybe she was over thinking things...
"Hmm... Oh, how about this one?" Grumpig pulled one of the notices off the board and handed it to Maractus.
Maractus read it. "Ah, that's perfect!" she replied. She handed it to Buneary. "What do you think, Buneary?
"Hmm..." Buneary murmured, reading it.
Type: Rescue mission
Request: "Help me! I lost in a battle and fell down a hole... Please, I need help!"
Client: Cabbage Caterpie
Location: Floor B3 of Hidden Cave (Grass Continent)
Goal: Rescue Cabbage Caterpie!
Reward: 200 pokédollars + A reviver seed
Difficulty: E rank
Buneary looked the note over, taking in the details. She realized with a slight sad feeling that, unless there was an F rank, E was probably the easiest rank available.
Still, like her teammates had said, it would probably mean the least amount of shenanigans, so it wasn't that bad, she supposed.
"So, do you wanna do the mission?" Grumpig asked.
"Sure! We can do it, if you want," Buneary replied.
"Neat. In that case, we'll find some more easy ones to do in Hidden Cave. Why not?"
"Okay!"
They searched a little bit more. They found and accepted another one that seemed rather easy, though there was one that took place on one of the later floors, making it a B rank. They decided to leave that one be.
"Alright, that should do it," Grumpig said, packing the notes they'd accepted into her bag.
"How about something from the outlaw board, too?" Maractus suggested.
"Good idea." The pig looked at Buneary. "You're probably not ready for outlaws yet, right? So we'll stick to hooligans for now. Keep things simple."
"Okay, then," Buneary replied, feeling fairly relieved. She still didn't want to tango with criminals, to be honest. The idea sounded scary...
Actually, speaking of outlaws, she'd noticed a load of pokémon being led out of the cell room earlier, by a magnezone and several magnemites. She wondered if they were going to that boot camp place, led by... a sawk and throh, was it? She hoped they would come out as better pokémon!
The girls wandered over to the outlaw board. On the way, Buneary's eyes widened when she noticed some new pokémon off to the side, heading towards the rescue board they'd just been looking through.
One was a brown dog with a rather fluffy, white collar who was around her size, and the other was a golden-colored cricket, about Grumpig's height. He also had orange spikes lining both sides of his back, and his hard skin seemed to sparkle slightly. A shiny pokémon?
Buneary heard them talking amongst themselves. "See it anywhere?" the dog asked. Though slightly croaky and tomboyish, her voice suggested female. Not to mention her chest, as not terribly massive as it was. "It should have a ball-shaped logo on it. Y'know, the same color as the wings on our badges."
"Roger," the cricket replied with an exaggerated, yet stiff salute, his voice fairly masculine. He looked around animatedly, though with his arms kept tightly at his sides. Eventually, he reached up to pluck off a note with a metal dark gray logo clipped to the corner of the paper. "Found it."
"Ah, cool! What does it say?"
He held it in front of him. "It's from Mannish Banette, and it reads... 'We fainted at Frosty Grotto, because Umbreon sucks at finding yache berries for our client. Hey, help us out, please! And hurry! It's so cold, my nipples are hard enough to cut glass!' ... End quote." He blinked. He stared at the note in utter bewilderment.
The dog sounded like she was holding back a laugh. "R-Right, uh... thanks." She reached for the glasses with tinted lenses on her head and pulled them down over her eyes. "Let's get going, then. 'Kay?"
After another disbelieving glance, the cricket shook his head and quickly put the note in the treasure bag wrapped around his waist. "Yeah, uh... roger that!" he said with another salute.
Buneary nearly giggled, herself. Honestly, though, she didn't blame him for that reaction. Banette sure lived up to that 'Mannish' title of hers.
"Oh! Oh! You never mentioned meeting Team Sharp!" Maractus suddenly said. Looking at her, Buneary saw her pointing towards the two pokémon, who seemed to be leaving.
"Uh... yeah, I haven't met them, yet!" Buneary replied.
"Right. Let's say hi, quickly, then," Grumpig said. "And knowing them, I do mean quickly. Too serious about work for their own good, those two."
"Um, okay!"
As the group speedily made their way over, Maractus called out, first. "Yoohoo~! Rockruff! Lokix~!"
The dog and cricket turned around, giving them curious glances.
"Oh? What's up?" the dog asked, pulling her glasses back onto her head. Her eyes widened and she smiled when she saw Buneary. "Ah, the new gal! Hey there!"
"Hey," the cricket added with a friendly smile.
Buneary waved. "Hello~ They call me, uh... Actually, Miss Donphan said my title already," she replied with a giggle.
The dog chuckled. "Yeah, I remember. Wallflower Buneary, that right?"
Buneary smiled. "Yep!"
"Heh, cool!" She pointed a thumb at herself. "Well, I'm Focused Rockruff!" She pointed at her teammate. "And this here's Salute Lokix! We're Team Sharp!"
"Pleasure to meet you," Lokix replied with his signature exaggerated salute. As he did, Buneary only just noticed the scarf tied around his wrist, which had a white, fluffy, cloud-like pattern with a sunset-colored line running along it.
"Thanks!" she replied, instinctively copying him with a salute of her own. She faltered when she heard Grumpig and Maractus giggle behind her, though. Aww, nobody ever laughed when he saluted...!
As she held back the urge to pout, Grumpig started saying something. "So, you two up for hanging out?"
Rockruff shook her head. "Nope! No offense, but we've pokémon to rescue, and, from the sounds of it, yache berries to get."
"That's right," Lokix added. He tapped the reflective badge on his chest. It had black wings on its sides, and a shiny green button in the middle. "We can't slow down, or we'll never get to be top explorers!"
"Figured," Grumpig said with an amused snort. "Do you guys ever rest?"
"Don't need it!" Rockruff refuted cockily. "Anyway, on that note, we'll catch ya later! Kay?"
"Aww, okay," Buneary replied, a little disappointed. Well, Grumpig hadn't been kidding, it seemed.
"Aww, you spoilsports," Maractus joked.
"Uh... sorry?" Lokix replied, seeming a little flustered.
She giggled. "Naww, it's okay. You enjoy your mission~!"
Buneary and her teammates exchanged more goodbyes as Team Sharp went on their way.
"What did I tell ya?" Grumpig said sassily. "Guess they've got a point, though. Why don't we find a few more missions of our own to do?"
"Okay~" Buneary chimed.
The girls had decided that they'd needed to buy a few things before their adventure, so they'd gone out to Venture Village for a few supplies.
Waiting in line for the Happy Sneasel Shop, Buneary tried to wait patiently for the pokémon in front to get their things. It was hard, though. She reaaally wanted to go on her first proper mission, already! Ohhh, she was just bursting with excitement!
The line moved forwards and Buneary and the girls took a few steps to match it. It only served to make Buneary more excited, so to try and take her mind off things, she glanced around at the town. Like before, pokémon were going this way and that, milling about and enjoying the sunshine, or browsing the different shops around.
She even saw some pokémon she recognized from yesterday. She saw Marathon Scorbunny and Callous Carer Chansey, who were arguing with each other over something. She saw the banker, Safe Lairon, leaning against Ledian the ice cream seller's stall, eating an ice cream while talking to him. She wasn't sure what the ladybug's title was, but she could assume it had something to do with ice cream and puns. Heehee, or should that be 'Cold Assume'?
Grinning at her silly joke, she looked the other way and saw Death Glare Zoroark and Sunshine Luxio walking alongside each other. The latter was walking along as gleeful as could be, while the former... well, it was hard to tell with her. She was frowning, either way.
The shiny fox lady suddenly stopped in place and immediately glared in her direction. Nearly squealing in terror, Buneary snapped her focus forward. Ohhh, legends, she was scary!
On looking forward, her eyes widened when she saw Mind Study Zebstrika, who was facing away, talking to the shopkeepers. His large, round bumcheeks were proudly out in the open, barely covered. ... Were they covered!?
... Actually, he looked pretty good.
She found herself staring, face flushing hard. He had firm cheek muscles in all the right places, so it was easy to tell he liked to run. Oh, legends...!
"Heh, bet you're wanting a squeeze, huh?" Grumpig said in an amused tone.
Snapping out of her daze, Buneary glanced at her, wondering what she meant. Her eyes widened when she saw that Grumpig was giving her a very sassy, knowing gaze. "Uh, w-what do you mean?" she stammered.
Maractus let out a hearty giggle. "Buneary...! Don't tell me your mind is worse than Grumpig's!" she said teasingly.
Buneary's already warm face grew even hotter. "W-What? What? I didn't- ... What?" she asked in disbelief. They hadn't read her mind, had they!?
"You were staring like you've never seen a backside before," Grumpig said, smirking.
Maractus continued giggling. "I think our Buneary likes her butts~" she teased.
"N-No, I don't!" Buneary quickly retorted, nearly dying of embarrassment. "I-I was just wondering if I should tell him about it!"
Grumpig laughed. "Yeah, of course. Anyway, I think zebstrikas don't have much cover fur back there. It's true for every zebstrika I've ever seen," she explained.
"Heehee, yeah!" Maractus said, barely calming down from her giggles. "I'll bet the same would've been true for Bli- ... Um..." She blinked. She gulped and chuckled sheepishly, looking somewhat guilty. "Uh, anyway, it's okay to be a perv, sometimes~"
"Y-Yeah," Grumpig added awkwardly before clearing her throat. "Doubt you're anything like Hoopa, after all."
"Th-Thanks..." Buneary mumbled, deciding not to continue the awkward discussion further. She pouted. "B-But I'm not pervy! Really!"
"Heh, convincing. Especially with a face as scarlet red as yours."
Buneary pouted more, her face likely going even redder. Hmph!
Eventually, Zebstrika seemed to be finished, as he galloped away with a sling bag full of things. It was a miracle, because now there was a distraction! Plus... one less distraction, so to speak...
The trio moved forwards, towards the two sneasels. The brown man with a long turquoise feather, and the pink lady with a shorter yellow feather.
"Hi, there," Grumpig said with a simple wave. Buneary and Maractus also added their own hellos.
"Hello, Team Nebula~!" Merry Market Sneasel said. He gleefully cupped his brown paws together. "What can my sister and I help you with today?"
"Oh...?" Shining Sales Sneasel said, leaning over the counter and grinning at Buneary. "What've we here, then? Are you joining these girls for the day, Buneary?"
"You bet'cha!" Maractus said happily. "She's the newest member of our team!"
"Yep!" Buneary said, beaming.
"That so?" the pink sneasel asked, straightening up again. "Well, ain't that great? Heh, honestly, I think you'll do much better with these girls than that other cheesy weasel," she added with a wink.
Buneary let out a small giggle. Well, she wasn't sure about that, but...
"Indeed!" the brown sneasel agreed. He snickered. "Especially since now, there are two rabbits in Team Nebula!"
Buneary looked at him in surprise. "There are?"
Maractus giggled. "Sure! I'm a rabbit, too, y'know!" she said, wiggling her spiky ears and making the pink petals of the flowers on the ends sway. "And it's soooo nice not to be the only rabbit anymore!"
Buneary smiled. "Oh, okay! I guess that is cool~" she chimed. Now that she thought about it, the cactus did hop everywhere and have long, floppy ears!
Merry Market Sneasel chuckled. "How lovely! So, what can we help you dear ladies with today?" he asked.
"Right, well..." Grumpig started, tearing a small hole into her chest coverings to pull a shopping list out of her cleavage. She placed it on the counter. "Everything on here, please."
Merry Market Sneasel eagerly pinched it with his two claws and lifted it to allow him and his sister to read it. After a short while, with several nods to himself, he smiled brightly. "Why, most certainly, Team Nebula~!"
Shining Sales Sneasel began to produce bundled bags in her paws with the power of some move or another, one after the other. As she placed them on the counter, they unraveled to reveal three apples, three oran berries, two ethers, and a wonder orb.
"There you are, girls! That just comes to one hundred and fifty five poké!" she said.
"Okie dokie~" Maractus replied, reaching into her bag. "I got it!"
"Wait..." Grumpig muttered, holding up an arm to stop her.
Maractus looked at her in confusion. "Huh? Okay?" she replied, stopping.
"Is... anything the matter?" Merry Market Sneasel asked, cupping his hands together and smiling.
Buneary looked at the pig curiously, wondering the very same thing. Did she not want them after all?
Grumpig seemed to contemplate something for a little while before raising an eyebrow at the sneasels. "... Alright, where's the extra forty coming from?" she asked.
Buneary noticed a light, concerned frown cross Merry Market Sneasel's features. "I don't... P-Pardon me?" he asked apprehensively.
Grumpig put a fist to her hip. "If my maths is right, it should only be a hundred and fifteen."
"Oh, you're right!" Maractus said, eyes widening. "That's weird!"
"Uh, maybe you misheard him?" Buneary asked. "Like... fifty? And Not fifteen?" It was possible... even if it had sounded like fifty.
"I don't think so," Grumpig replied.
"Yup! That was a fifty, alright!" Maractus replied.
"Oh, yes, I see..." Merry Market Sneasel replied, his grip on his paws seeming to tighten. He let out a quick, almost nervous-sounding laugh. "We had a... little price change recently, you see. The oran berries and the ethers, to, haha... be precise!"
Grumpig gave him a dry look. "That so?" she asked.
Shining Sales Sneasel gave a big, forlorn frown. "Yeah... with the lilligant's greenhouse opening up lately, we've had a bit of a problem with selling fruits and berries, as of late!" she said, dramatically putting a paw to her face in dismay. "It's terrible, I know, but we had no choice... we had to bump the price up a little bit to make up for lost costs..."
Buneary gave a sad frown of her own. Aww, that was no good...
Grumpig didn't, though. She just gave an exasperated huff. "Damn, good point. Well, I guess we'd better go there ourselves, then, eh?" she suggested with a shrug. "Though the Kecleon Mart in Treasure Town's pretty cheap, too. We could peruse their wares, instead...!"
"Y-You know, all of that said...!" Merry Market Sneasel interjected. "I suppose we could always offer a friend discount! Team Nebula are our prized customers, and..." His smile stretched wide across his face, "... more importantly, friends, after all!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Shining Sales Sneasel grumbled with crossed arms, her earlier sad demeanor completely gone. "One fifteen for the lot. You got us."
Grumpig smirked. "Well... when you put it that way, I guess it'll save us some travel," she remarked.
Maractus giggled. "Money coming up!" she sang, putting her hand back into her treasure bag.
Buneary stared at everyone's odd reactions. Err... how nice of the sneasels...? As long as they didn't go poor, anyway...
As they walked towards Vespiquen's Storage on the grassy cliff next to the sea, Buneary looked over the wonder orb she'd been given to store in her treasure bag. It was entirely black, save for colorful specks of light, which flew towards the bright middle.
"So... what does this do again?" Buneary asked. "I don't think I've used an escape orb, before."
"Heh, your old team must've been pretty good, if you've never needed this before," Grumpig replied.
Buneary chuckled lightly. Well, she wasn't wrong...
Grumpig continued. "It lets you escape a dungeon early. Without it, you'd need to travel all the way to the end of the dungeon to get out with your badge. And with how hard Hidden Cave gets on the later floors, we'll need it."
"Ahh, okay then! Handy!"
After some more travel, they found themselves passing some familiar palm trees on a large, grassy field close to a cliff overlooking the ocean.
As they approached the giant beehive that made up Vespiquen's Storage, the large bee in question flew in from somewhere to float behind the stand.
"Greetings, Team Nebula," Storage Queen Vespiquen said, sounding as monotone as Buneary remembered her. "How may I help you?"
"We'd like to take out some items, please," Grumpig said. She turned to Maractus. "Hey, what do you want?"
"I'll take a detect band!" Maractus replied. "I got hit too much on the last mission, so I wanna dodge better!"
"Okay." Grumpig turned back to Vespiquen. "And for me, I'll pick..." She let out a breath. "Let's see..."
Maractus giggled. "I think you should take a stamina band. Maybe it'll help you eat less of our food!"
Grumpig blushed slightly. "Hmph. Very funny, Maractus."
"Okay," Vespiquen said, calling her combees over and buzzing some instructions to them. They flew back into the hive and, after a few moments, brought out some scarves. She took them and placed them on the counter. "So that's one detect band and one stamina band."
"Wha-? Hey!" Grumpig retorted indignantly, crossing her arms as Maractus giggled.
Buneary looked at the girls in utter confusion. She was so out of the loop. She didn't have a clue what any of these things did.
"What about the other pokémon?" Vespiquen asked. She stared for a second. "... Wallflower Buneary, was it?"
"Um, yeah!" Buneary replied, slightly surprised at being addressed.
Grumpig looked at Buneary, looking thoughtful. "Hmm... I dunno... How about a zinc band? That'll boost your defense against energy-based attacks," she suggested.
Buneary felt her spirits lower. Oh, darn it... "Um, actually... as nice as that would be..." she started.
Grumpig looked at her curiously. "Hmm?"
"I... I can't use items like scarves, and that sort of stuff."
Grumpig blinked at her. "You can't?"
Buneary sighed, her unrolled ear drooping. "No, uh..."
"I see," Vespiquen interjected. "You have the ability Klutz, don't you?"
Buneary nodded with a small murmur.
"That's a shame," Vespiquen responded.
"Ughh... I hate having Klutz and Run Away," Buneary grumbled. "My species might just have the two most useless abilities ever."
"Huh, no kidding..." Grumpig said, frowning sympathetically. "You guys didn't roll it lucky with abilities, did you?"
"Aww, Run Away's not so bad!" Maractus said. "It can be sorta useful sometimes! Didn't Redemption Flareon make crazy good use of it?"
Grumpig huffed. "That guy is crazy, though. So Run Away suited him."
"Mmm..." Buneary replied, gaze turning downward. Darn it all... she wished she had the same skill Flareon had.
"Aww, is there anything we can do, Grumpig?" Maractus asked.
"Hmm..." Grumpig replied, "not a lot, unfortunately. Save for turning her into another species."
"Ugh, no thanks..." Buneary grumbled. Never again.
A brief pause passed. "... I have an idea," Vespiquen said, buzzing out some more instructions a few seconds after.
Buneary looked up as her combees flew off to grab something. A short while later, a bangle was placed onto the counter. It was pink with green highlights, and had a recognizable berry-shaped jewel embedded in the side.
"This is your pecha looplet, Team Nebula," Vespiquen said.
"Oh yeah, that old thing," Grumpig said. "I meant to sell it a while ago, but forgot all about it."
"Hm. It doesn't actually do much, only offering light poison resistance, as opposed to poison immunity, like a pecha scarf would... but it looks pretty." Vespiquen picked it up and held it out to Buneary. "This is so you don't feel left out."
"Hey, why not," Grumpig said, smiling. "Try it on, kid."
Buneary slowly took the pecha looplet and stared at it in wonder. After a few moments, she slipped it onto her wrist. Although she had Klutz, it seemed to fit her just fine.
"Ooooh, it looks so cute on you!" Maractus praised, clapping for her.
Grumpig nodded. "Yeah, it looks good!" she said with a smile and a thumbs up.
"Agreed," Vespiquen added.
Buneary gave a shy smile, her face warming from the praise. "Heehee, thanks, guys~" she replied, feeling a lot better.
"You're welcome," Vespiquen replied. Though her tone and expression were unreadable, Buneary could tell she had a big heart, really!
On that note, she'd certainly been right. This was making her feel a lot better! She would make sure to treasure this, even if it was just an explorer's item.
"Alright, then," Grumpig said, grabbing both scarves that were on the counter and tossing one to Maractus. She slipped the green band around her neck, which showed off the golden decoration attached to it, of arrows surrounding an apple. "Let's move out."
"Yeah, let's groove~!" Maractus sang, tying the red bandanna around one of her ears. Its two white, zigzag pattern-tipped tassels flowed in the air behind her.
Buneary nodded eagerly, holding her arm up to let her pink bangle, embedded with a pecha berry jewel, glint in the sunlight. "Yeah!"
She was looking forward to what was coming up next~!
Though still gripping onto Grumpig's side for dear life, Buneary had finally stopped shuddering. Ughh, she swore she was never going to get used to these carriage rides for as long as she lived. Especially since Dash Crash Rapidash was at the helm, yet again.
Grumpig was reading an apparently funny book called Trying Again, which had a snivy and an oshawott posing goofily on the cover, the former of which looking rather awkward as the latter smirked at her. Maractus was on Buneary's other side, humming a cheery tune to herself as she stared at the scenery.
Thankfully, the two of them had stopped laughing at her a while back, so this wasn't quite as embarrassing anymore...
Now that her nerves had finally caught up with her, about forty minutes into the journey, Buneary looked forwards to see where they were even going.
She expected to see some grassy plains, or something just as pleasant. Instead, she saw a dark, arid wasteland, its grounds dark with soot, and with only dead, thorny-looking plants daring to grow on it. Lava spewing volcanoes lay across the distance, and the sky was murky with smog.
Buneary blinked. Huh... thinking about it, the air had smelled a little bit smoky for a while...
"Where, um... where are we going?" Buneary asked tentatively.
"Oh, did'ja forget?" Maractus replied, looking at her. "We're off to Hidden Cave!"
"I remember that. I just didn't know it would be so, uh... volcanic."
"The cave itself isn't so bad," Grumpig said, not looking away from her book. "Don't worry, kid."
"Well... okay, then..." Buneary replied. Well, if they weren't worried, it couldn't be too bad.
She let out a breath. Actually, thinking about it, this wasn't too different to her old home, Wildfire Village. That had been nestled between some lava-spewing volcanoes, too. As a result, she was used to hot landscapes. At least, once she'd had her fluff trimmed, anyway.
Actually... if there was a chance they were going to visit places like this more often, maybe she would keep her fluff just the way it was! Admittedly, it was a bit of an excuse, because she liked having her fluff styled this way, but still!
After another while, the carriage came to a stop. "We're hereeeee~!" Rapidash sang out.
"Oh boy!" Maractus chimed, impatiently opening the carriage door and hopping out.
Grumpig slipped a bookmark into her book and then threw it into her treasure bag. "Neat. You ready, kid?" she asked Buneary.
Letting out a long exhale - mostly to regain the rest of her nerves after such a harrowing journey - Buneary gave a nod. "Y-Yeah! Let's go!" she replied.
The both of them got out of the carriage. The dry ground crinkled under Buneary's feet. She smiled at the familiar feeling.
"Alrighty, I'm off, then! Thanks for riding~" Rapidash said gleefully, looking like she was ready to speed off again.
"Oh, uh... what do we do when we're ready to go back home?" Buneary asked quickly. From what she could gather, they were pretty far away from home right now, so she didn't really want to walk back.
"Oh, it's simple!" Rapidash replied, looking at her with a big smile. "If you need me- Oh, or, uh, any rapidash that's on duty, I guess. " She giggled before clearing her throat, and pointing towards a post with a carving of a rapidash's head on top, "just come back to this post, wish for us, and we'll come-a runnin'!"
"How... does that work?" Buneary asked, surprised.
"Same way it works for sending out missions, I'll bet," Grumpig replied. "A pokémon's wishes fly over to HAPPI's HQ, wherever that is. Then Mr. Director somehow gets it inscribed onto some notes, which get shipped over to all the guilds. Or to specific people, if that's what the pokémon in question wants."
"Heehee! 'Inscriiiibed~'" Maractus sang teasingly.
Grumpig snorted in amusement. "Oi."
"Yeah, you've got it, Grumpig!" Rapidash said with a gleeful nod. "We have this special... uh, magic thing that tells us whenever someone who's near a rapidash post wants us! So when it flashes up with the location, one of us just rushes over!"
Buneary looked at them in wonder. "Wow, is that really how it works? That's so cool and magical~!" she chimed.
"Yup! It sure is! Now, I'm off to do more of my job! Ta-taaaaa~!" Rapidash sang as she rushed off, taking the carriage with her as she went.
The three girls waved her off with some goodbyes. As she disappeared behind a hill, Grumpig took something out of her bag and crouched down.
"Alright, let's see where this place is..." she said, rolling out the object and placing it on the floor.
Buneary looked at it with widened eyes. It seemed to be a map, but it somehow had an icon that resembled Grumpig's face plastered onto some fiery mountains.
When Grumpig placed both her hands onto the area and spread them apart, the map seemed to 'zoom in' on the location, showing the place in more detail. It even had some names of dungeons plastered onto certain places, one of which was glowing. The one they were headed towards, even!
"Holy moly, is this magic?" Buneary gasped out, hardly believing her eyes.
"Heh, probably," Grumpig replied. "It's something they send out to all us explorers. A wonder map."
"Cool, huh?" Maractus asked.
"I'll say!" Buneary said in glee. "Holy legends, who is that Mr. Director? I've heard his name a few times, now, but with all the stuff he keeps making, how haven't I heard more about him!?"
"Nobody really knows," Grumpig said with a shrug. "He usually stays out of the public eye, managing everything in secret."
"I'll bet he's a legendary pokémon!" Maractus chimed.
"Probably."
Buneary listened with great interest. "A legendary, huh? Oh my, that sounds really cool!" she said excitedly.
"Sure is!" Maractus replied. "I hope he's a grass-type one!"
Grumpig huffed in amusement. "No way. He's definitely a psychic," she replied with a shake of the head. "With all the magical stuff, he has to be."
"I doubt he's a normal-type..." Buneary mumbled. There was barely anything special about her type, after all.
"Heh, well, who knows?" Grumpig prodded the map in a section which was nestled between some mountains. It had a notable crevice in the ground, almost like a hole. "Anyway, I think I know which route to take to get there, so we'd best get moving. We've got a caterpie to rescue, a TM to find and a gligar's ass to kick."
"Sure thi-" Buneary blinked as she spotted where they were on the map. "Are we... on an island?"
"Yup."
"How... did we get here?"
Rolling up the wonder map and putting it into her bag, Grumpig snickered. "Rapidash ran across the ocean at top speed, skimming on the surface."
Buneary gasped. "Really!? That's so cool~"
Maractus laughed. "That's so mean, Grumpig! We took the underground route through Deep Ocean Tunnel!" she scolded.
Standing up, Grumpig laughed, too. "Yeah. You just didn't notice, because you were too busy shaking like a leaf," she teased.
Buneary blinked. Her face went very warm and she pouted up a storm. "I... wasn't shaking that hard," she grumbled.
The other girls laughed at her again, making her pout harder. It wasn't her fault Rapidash rode like a mad woman possessed...
After a five minute walk or so, Buneary and the girls found themselves in front of a huge crack in the earth. It seemed to lead into a large underground cavern of some sort.
"This is it," Grumpig said. "Down here is Hidden Cave. Home to our missions for the day."
Buneary peered into the crack. She'd expected a hellish cavern that would almost feel like demons belonged in it, considering the fiery landscape around them... but honestly, it looked like a pretty mundane place. She couldn't immediately make out many details from a mere glance.
"Um... okay!" Buneary said, her confidence growing. "I'm ready if you two are!"
"Always~" Maractus chimed, energetically dancing in place.
"Great. In that case..." Grumpig said before jumping into the hole. Buneary heard her land shortly afterwards.
Maractus leapt in after her, twirling with a cheerful cry as she did.
Buneary peered over the edge. It didn't seem like a large drop... so she went ahead and jumped in after them.
As she fell, she was filled with a sense of excitement. What awaited her during her first official mission on her new team in here?
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished: 17/09 (September)/2023
Word count: 11,268
VGS2's sausage notes: Y'know, I could've made their first mission a part of this chapter, too... but then it wouldn't be morning anymore, would it? Xd
(By the way, I'm not implying anything with Whimsicott's chest size. She's just got tiny titties. XD)
Today's shameless promotion: Try Again
Author: scarcrow59
Universe: An original Mystery Dungeon world
Main species: A snivy, an oshawott, a luxray and a munchlax
Summary: Erin Winters is a Snivy that is a new member of the Justice Guild of Peridot City, a guild dedicated to catching the worst criminals. After the disappearance of a child, she finds herself working with an Oshawott against the fight of their lives.
Romance: Not yet, but knowing the author, definitely!
Wackiness: Lots!
Lewdness: Non!
Action: For sure! Lots of cool fights to be expected!
Grittiness: Death and somber tones are a thing!
Length: Looks to be fairly long!
Hey, remember scarcrow151? Well he's back under a new name, with a new crazy fic! :D
Admittedly, it has a few typos here and there, but damn, if the fic hasn't made me laugh a lot so far. XD It also has lots of cool scenes, and some really fun characters! I'd certainly recommend this one! It's pretty brill!
Sadly, it's also lacking in reviews! So make sure you go and drop him a comment or two, lest you be a sausage! :D
Fun mistakes of the day:
#1: '"She's right, rabbit!" Sadloon added.'
(That moment when a depressed Looney Tune accosts Bugs Bunny.)
#2: 'Baby Seeker Elgyem'
(I realised that I hadn't given him a title yet, so I tried to think of one. This was one I thought up, but, uh... yeah, maybe not. XD Not unless he pulls a Majora's Mask and decides to go abducting kids in his UFO, or something.)
#3: '... Wait a minute... a snotrlax!?'
(Eww... Sounds like something from Yo-Kai Watch.)
#4: 'all her spines and needles were cooked'
(I'm sure Maractus' needles will make a great herbal tea, or something.)
#5: 'I'm Maractus' needles'
(*Pricks Buneary all over*)
#6: 'She blinked and sighed. "Evidentially not..."'
("The evidence points to something else... So clearly, she is not the phantom stripper!" *Audience gasps*)
#7: 'and she could already feel second-hand coming in droves.'
(Is she starting up a second-hand store? I hope they sell old Pokémon games there! Y'know, before they went shit.)
#8: 'Bunbeary'
(The buneary species does look like a teddy bear, to be fair (lel, rhyme))
#9: 'Two! Stay away and pat!'
("Squawk! You lying sack of shit, you will pat for this!")
#10: "Cheers gof or years!"
(Reminds me of My Immortal, the fic. XD Vampire Potter approves of how goffik everyone in the guild is!)
#11: 'Grumpig huffed a third time again.'
(I think something's up with her lungs! That's six times, altogether!)
#12: 'They wear eating in comfortable silence,'
(You don't wear food, silly billies, you eat it!)
#13: 'having been way to try catching a criminal.'
(Sadly, Sneasel did not know da wae...)
#14: 'she bashfully held her fluff up to her face, which felt red hot.'
(She should have let her fluff cool, first!)
#15: 'I'll never remember that for ass'
(Buneary might do, though...!)
#16: '"Heehee! Imagine losing your virginity to that guy," I joked.'
(Technically speaking, every joke they ever utter is me joking. XD Probably should break the immersion, though, huh?)
#17: 'It was entirely black, save for colourful specs'
(Sounds like my shitty computer.)
#18: 'Merry Market Sneasel eagerly pinched it with his two claws and read it.'
(Does he have to pinch things to read them? Is he blind, and requires Braille?)
#19: "If my maths is right, I should only be a hundred and fifteen."
(Either she's old as shit, or she's pretty cheap on the slave market. Maybe because she's that age...?)
#20: 'And Not fidteen?'
(What, is she from Brooklyn? Is she Bugs Bunny?)
#21: 'Grumpig huffed. "That guy's crazy, tough"'
(I mean, she's not wrong! In the playthroughs of both Red and Blue Rescue Team I've watched ravengal play, the human protagonist got strong as shit both times. Unlike Super, where there was constant rape, because the main characters are pretty weedy.)
#22: 'She prodded a map'
(Not the wonder map. Just some random map.)
#23: 'It wasn't her fault Rapidash drove like a mad woman posessed...'
(Rapidash owns a car, apparently. Imagine her driving crazily with her hooves on the wheel. XD)
- Bonus mistake from ravengal's A Gracious Gift -
#24: "He said he wants to do in private"
(What's he doing!? O,o Either way, it sounds like it should be private!)
#25: "In that case, it's time to rock, roll and rub!"
(When Dr. Light gets too frisky for his own good... (He'll go to jail (again), don't worry!))
#26: "I can get my fifth ribbon, and Ash can get his eighty badge!"
(Good luck. According to the show, he's still only an eighth of the way there, even now. XD)
- Cheeky ravengal moment .mp4-
"She's fitting in nicely, as you can see," Grumpig joked.
"I'll say," Corsola said, smiling sheepishly.
"Platinum rank on my first day, bitcheeees~!" Buneary said with a smirk, sunglasses falling from the ceiling to land perfectly over her eyes. "Get on my level."
- No context notes I left for myself when half asleep and wishing I was dead -
- Brief breakfast scene.
- Hoopa gets raped
- Present from Yamask
- Quick update from Donphan, whatever
- Oh yamask you so cute teehee
- Boner embarassment
- Smooth say grumgrum
- Elgyem mentions 'the lagomorph'
- Let's go to a fucking dungeon. YEAHHHHH BOI!
- Buneary Hidden Cave Rapidsash jump in my hole you slut
- Buneary was excited to spread her cheeks this week
- BRAD
- fuckass
(Sadly, there were no Brad or 'excited for the week' scenes this time. Next chapter, though...!)
Alrighty, next up is a small adventure! After that, a couple of 'fast track' chapters before...
... it happens...
... Stay tuned! Godbless you sexy feckers, and tata for now! c: