"And that should conclude for the time being." Hyberion spoke. He looked at his fellow councilmen and women as they held no notes to reprieve the intermission. "Thank you for your cooperation, Arthur."
On a lacrima screen projected in theater format, Arthur had his hands clasped together on his desk as Marie stood by his side. The CEO offered a generous smile. "Of course, it's no trouble, Councilman Ruge. I trust that the plans are in good hands."
"Very well. We'll schedule another meeting this week. Until then." The lacrima screen turned off. The large room fell to a short silence. It was so quiet one could've sworn they heard Kricketot chirping elsewhere.
Ruge humbly smirked. "Well, I suppose that went rather well. Wouldn't you say?"
Wolfheim turned away, scoffing at the light notion. "Hmph, speak for yourself. At the rate this is progressing, the whippersnappers of today are gonna be old bags of dead brains."
"And we'll be rolling in our graves." Montgomery finished, sighing. He pinched the bridge of his nose to cut off the strain to his head. "Yes, I believe we're all fully aware of the circumstances here, Wolfheim. But you know that progress doesn't bloom just overnight. Mr. Solaris is a very busy man. There's different priorities in case you haven't noticed."
Wolfheim scoffed.
"But he has a point." Maryam interjected. "This juncture is taking longer than we anticipated. The closing date of our plans to his majesty are drawing near."
"It's her majesty now." Justice informed, a brow raised. "The current king has stepped down so that his daughter and the princess is now the queen. Did you forget to read to memo this morning?"
Leiji bit his lower lip as he looked down at his desk. Jeffrey looked over and acted on notice. "Hm? Something troubling you?"
"It's nothing." Leiji advised. "It's just hard to believe that at this point, we're making all these changes that even us councilmen can barely keep up. This week roughly 72 of our laws and policies had been updated, and all just on behalf of the Cambire Foundation…I believe that we are becoming too lenient as we are now."
A fist banged against the desk as a body arose. "That's exactly what I've been saying this whole time!" Alfredo barked.
Ruge shot him a look. "Easy, Alfredo. Let's not be hasty here."
"Hasty, you say?" The enraged councilman glared. "We've been kissing that man's ass ever since this Spring, when that bastard of a man Nic Pularis said he can't just fix this whole mess. If anything, all this change is causing even more problems than when it all started!"
A grievous sigh came from Hyberion. "And yet they've been nothing but cooperative, less you've forgotten."
Alfredo shot him a look of disgust. His brow furrowed he became mellow for his associates.
"We're well aware of this factor, and that because of it, many have taken advantage to these policies changing. It's understandable that there's merit to keeping much of our policies, but we mustn't forget whom we're aligned with. You should try and consider this a win for once, Alfredo."
Alfredo cocked a brow. "Why's that?"
Ruge lightly snickered, grasping attention. "Well, for example…let's say that in this instance, the Grand Magic Games is the same as before. There'd be no advertisement of Pokémon anywhere. Am I wrong?" Before Alfredo or Wolfheim spoke, he pressed the matter further. "But, hypothetically speaking, let's say we do in fact intertwine Pokémon into our economical standpoints and events. The fact that can happen because we allowed it is proof that we still have some measure of regulation to all this. We're aligned with the Cambire Foundation after all; they're the ones who know these creatures as much as anyone else. And I trust they'd know better than to allow their information to fall into other hands, right?"
Alfredo turned away, his brow furrowed further. He wanted to disagree, but his fellow associate had brought up a valid point.
"On that note." Montgomery straightened up. "We've now gotten clearance to expand our supplies to all of Seven, thanks to the cooperation of their government and Queen Hisui's treaty."
"Alvarez, Antarcia, and now Seven." Maryam listed. "That makes three countries that aren't within our border that the Cambire Foundation now has an expansive opportunity over. As much as it amazes me, their methods have been rather fruitful."
"Still…" Hyberion clasped his hands and lowered his head. "This doesn't exactly mean that our trust in our allies will remain secure. But, for the time being, let's keep showing our faith…it's the least that we owe everyone." His apologetic notion lead off with several documents stacked beside him being sorted. He reached for the next order. "Now then, to the trials of the new inmates…"
Arthur sat back in his seat, his shoulders slouched and terribly relaxed. He's been on discussion boarding for over two hours straight. His own head was throbbing nonstop.
Marie dismissively sat a glass of fresh wine on his desk. He immediately bloomed with some energy again. "Ah, thank you, Marie." He didn't waste a second when daintily grabbing the flask. He took a long pause and deep sip. As the wine ran down his throat, the stinging feeling in his throat was surprisingly therapeutic. "Ah~. Just what the doctor ordered." He sighed dreamingly.
Marie cleared her throat as she stepped forward. "Well, sir, if you're finished with your debriefing, we have some matters to attend to."
"You're absolutely right." He turned his mechanical chair to the side, the flask sitting in a cupholder. "My apologies, Marie. Seems the scheduled programs for these Grand Magic Games takes longer than anticipated. I trust that we aren't too far behind schedule now."
The assistant slipped him a clipboard filled with official documents. Arthur looked down and scrutinized each of the ratings and sentences scribbled on each one. Marie continued.
"Yes, well, anyways sir, Ms. Jet's department has been having a surplus of Pokémon that have been hauled in from the captives. She and her department are in the works of conditioning them, along with the platoon acquainted by the Rune Knights."
Arthur raised a brow. "I see…that would explain why this report seems so rushed…" He flipped the contents to the page below it. He saw the handwriting was much neater. "And I presume that this is Jefferey's department's progress then?"
"Yes, sir. Mr. Bistro's branch has been receiving an abundance of supply and demand. By this week's end, we'll have a shortage of medicinal equities to distribute." She flipped to another page of the clipboard. "But, thanks to the employment and the Pokémon, the Earth Land herbs mixed with Grass-type natural properties is allowing us to remain stable until a fresh supply is set."
Arthur looked down, picking up the flask again. "I understand." He took a long sip from the wine, giving him the breather he so desperately needed. "So…and about that 'special crystal and stone'?"
"You mean the one that was sent in by Fairy Tail a week ago…let me see." Marie rummaged through the papers, seeing a few sentences. She squinted her vision. "Ah, yes. Apologies, sir. Mr. Bistro has experts and equipment set up to test the energy given off." She passed him a graph chart. "These are the current results."
Arthur reached and read the graphing. As he read the energy levels of the first scans, he was shown to be visibly surprised. His Stoutland's snoring made him turn away for a second to see him calmly sleeping in the sunlight the room was being given.
The businessman humbly snickered. "That Fairy Tail…how is it that they never fail to pique our interests." He swerved around to face Marie. "I'm sorry, Marie. Were you saying something?"
Marie furrowed her brow, pursing her lips to hold back slight annoyance. "No, sir. But, we have a meeting to discuss with some of the few Trainers that are new here."
"Yes, I'm aware, Marie. I'll be ready in 10 minutes." He watched Marie nod and dismissively turn to walk away. As she exited, Arthur's relaxed grin turned into a small frown. As soon as the door shut, he gave a grievous sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'More Trainers…just how many have been taken from their homes I wonder?'
The thought was perilous at best, and personally, he can empathize with what's happened. He looked out the window, seeing the courtyard section below. He was seeing a Lombre unleashing a geyser of water that sped directly into a Ninjask's face, knocking it to the ground. The Trainer that was commanding it looked stern. He could see the look closer to tell there was wavering of grief.
'There's a lot to accommodate with these changes and Grand Magic Games. It's the Cambire Foundation's solemn duty to ensure the cooperation of humans and Pokémon goes smoothly…these games coming up might not seem like it…but I think we may have an opportunity to alleviate the Trainers here. I just hope he is understanding.'
As Arthur sipped from his wine, Stoutland's furry ear twitched cutely.
Joey and Dereece's apartment was sound for the time being, but the door to the bathroom slamming wide open omitted the momentary tranquility of the situation.
"Now that's what I call hot!" Joey stood in front of the upstairs bathroom, having exited from a steamy shower. He draped himself in his spotted coat and inhaled a sharp breath. The fresh scent of pines filled his humble abode that made his so relaxed.
Smelling something peculiar, the Captain's senses lead to his stomach. He made way down the stairs and made way into the kitchen. Immediately he was greeted with a smorgasbord of breakfast essentials.
He whistled admirably. "Damn, Dereece. You really went all out this time."
By the stove flipping a pancake, Dereece looked back at Joey. "Huh? Oh, hey Captain." He grinned as he slid him a glass of orange juice across the counter. Joey caught it effortlessly. "Take it your shower was fine?"
Joey took a prolonged sip from the cup to quench his thirst. He finished the whole thing with a hardy sigh. "You have no idea." He flung his wrist back and lobbed the plastic cup through the air. It spun through the air until it hit the side of the sink with a loud 'clank' before ricocheting topside. Not a single drop of orange juice spilled in the process. "After a long morning of training, a nice hot shower to unwind the muscles is just what the doctor ordered." He looked around, noticing something off. "Dereece, where's Duncan?"
They heard an eruption outside that almost shook the house. Joey and Dereece went wide-eyed as they turned their attention towards the blinds. Racing over to uncover them, Joey peaked outside to find a tornado of leaves rushing into a wall of ice.
The ice shattered to pieces by the maelstrom of leaves, leaving shrapnel of ice cluttered all around. Duncan and Torterra looked skywards to find Gastrodon was directly above them and dropping fast.
"Wood Hammer!" Duncan ordered. Torterra's large tree manifested a green aura stump that he aimed at Gastrodon. With reflexive timing, the tortoise extended the reach into Gastrodon.
Gastrodon looked down and knew precisely how to react. He unleashed a blast of ice into the wooden tipoff the attack to freeze it up. Instead of overpowering it, the sea slug allowed the end to hit his underside, but it was much weaker, and his slimy body nullified much of the blow. Instead, he used it as a perch and shot even higher into the air. Out of reach for even Torterra's wooden beam, he gathered water from the atmosphere into a single point and fired it with deathly accuracy.
"Intercept!" Torterra spread his front legs, directing his still wooden stump into the direction of the fast-moving water blast. The swing was spot-on and struck with enough force to deflect the sphere to the ground besides Torterra. The ground exploded in a misty jet, though all Torterra felt was a drizzle on his left side.
Duncan watched Gastrodon land on the ground softly. He furrowed his brow. "Good."
Watching the whole thing, Joey retraced himself back towards the counter, a look of shock on his face. "Wow…talk about a trooper." He murmured.
Dereece groaned. "I know, right?" He sat a plate of breakfast materials in front of Joey. "But hey, look on the bright side, at least he's starting to train more frequently around us than before."
Joey pierced the pancake with his fork. He went ahead and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. "Mmm…" he muffled.
Dereece rolled his eyes. "Chew."
Doing as told, Joey took his time breaking down the pancake before his mouth was cleansed. "Like I was saying, yeah. I guess so. He's been pretty mellow, too." He raised a brow, crossing his arms. "He hasn't called me out on anything nor reprimanded me that much…is he sick?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." He sighed. "Well, brunch is set. I'll go get him."
Before Dereece was about to move towards the door to the backyard, the doorbell rang. Their attention adverted towards the front, where Joey perked his head up with glee.
"Oh! I'll get it!" Joey jumped and raced for the door. He opened the door, but no one was there. "Hello?" He cocked a brow. He looked left and right, but saw no one. "Huh…well that's just rude. Who even does ding-dong-ditch anymo-!" His voice came to a complete halt when he noticed something sitting at the doormat.
He saw what appeared to be a magazine wrapped in plastic casing, with a tag on it with his name on it. It had a few mages on it, but more importantly, the label and check attached to it certainly didn't go unnoticed.
"No way…" He seized it like his life depended on it! "DEREECE!" He rushed back inside and slammed the door behind.
Dereece flinched at the door slamming and looked at Joey sliding his way back into the kitchen to show him something that got into his face. "Dereece, look! It came! It's here! Do you know what this is?!"
"Uh, Captain, slow down…please." He backpedaled away from the excited Joey and focused on the magazine. He narrowed his eyes at the spread before an epiphany came. "Hey, hold on. This is Sorcerer Weekly…you mean the exclusive edition got mailed in today?"
"Bingo Dugtrio!" He flipped the cover to face himself. "Now…let's see what's the popular spreads this week has to offer, shall we?"
Groaning at the que, Dereece walked around the isle to meet up with Joey in the stools as he was flipping through the pages. He notices how intently the Captain was focusing a lot on the fashion section of the pages.
"Oh…I like that style." He pointed to a figure of a male model on a page. He had a white cap with a black and white striped polo beneath a white jacket, with classy charcoal gray pants. He also sported a gray bowtie around the collar. "She's definitely got some class here." He pointed to a female model on the next page over. The model had a slender frame with a yellow fur-lined coat with purple covering it and sported a yellow tank top with skin-tight black pants. "That's punk-style. Flashy!" He goggled towards the next page, which sported yet another female, though she had more Egyptian-themed clothing with yellow-orange drapes as a wing cape and high heels that strapped to her ankles. "Man, I've got a bunch of competition to catch up on." He muttered to himself.
Dereece skeptically raised a brow. He knew Joey was a fashion freak, but he hasn't seen him this engrossed for a while. "So Captain…uh, what is it about this issue exactly that you're looking for?" He flinched at what he said. "Uh, not that I don't know of course."
Joey rummaged through the contents and found what he was looking for. "This!" He held up a page in the magazine to Dereece's face. On it, was a number 10, along with the naked upper body of Rogue on it. He had his hair back as he held a relaxing pose.
Dereece was confused until he looked at the title. "'Top 10 Fiore Summer Bachelors'." He raised a brow at Joey. "This is why?"
"Yeah! I've been dying to see who ended up here. This is basically a chart of the most charismatic guys in Fiore. Now let's see who's here…" He turned the next page, seeing the next one on the list.
#9: Sting Eucliffe
"That Sabertooth's Master from last week?" Dereece read off. "Huh…?"
Joey rummaged through the contests some more, his brow furrowing. He wasgoing down the list of names of people and mages he wasn't sure of, but he didn't care. His interests did pique when he saw a familiar someone there.
#5: Gray Fullbuster
"Wow, that's a shock." Dereece deadpanned. "And here I thought Nic would make it on the list." He felt a sting when Joey gave him a sharp look. "What?"
"Dereece, are you blind?" he scorned curtly. "Nic-senpai does not do photospreads! And he's already married. See?" He held up another issue of an older magazine spread, with Nic and Erza on the covers. It was their wedding night, and the reception was lively. "This was a limited time, exclusive photospread when the photographers were at their wedding before coming back to PokeEarth."
Dereece blinked at the dumbfoundedness, but he didn't question it. "Whatever, who's next?"
Joey looked down at the magazine. "Anyways…"
#4: Laxus Dreyar
#3: Lyon Vastia
#2: Hibiki Lates
Joey showed a tinge of surprise. His eyes glued to Hibiki's face when he realized that was different. "Wait, what?!"
"What is it?" Dereece piqued.
"It's just…Hibiki has been the top Fiore Bachelor for a long time now. What happened?" He peered deeper to the page. "His moisturizing lotion is still there…and the hair…who beat him?"
"Well turn the page and let's see."
Joey frowned. "Well, okay…let's see who #1 is this month." He turned the page slowly towards the next bachelor – the top bachelor. Almost immediately his heart stopped.
"Captain, are you okay?" Dereece worried. "What are you seeing? Please tell me no one's naked again." He looked over his shoulder, only for his expression to rival Joey's. "What the-?!"
On the picture with a golden #1 encrusted onto its corner, there was the background of the beach where Fairy Tail had their little reprieve a while ago. With the rocks as background and the sun's rays at the right point, Joey in his swimsuit was striking a regal, yet photogenic pose with a wink. Around him were several copies of pictures taken from his recent venture, all with different clothing as well as poses that had him charming the camera.
#1: Joey Haycliff
"Captain…are you seeing this?" He saw Joey quivering in place, looking like he was going to take off. "Uh, Captain Joey? Now just…just hold a sec-!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Joey flung the magazine when he released a jovial shriek that echoed throughout the apartment. Dereece flinched as Joey hopped up from his perch and smiled wide.
"YES! YE~S! I'M #1! I'M #1!" he chanted around Dereece. "Who?! Me! That's right! Me!"
As Joey was cackling on joy adrenaline for the day, Dereece nervously retrieved the magazine. The first page that was there was Hibiki's. "Oh boy…"
…
At a familiar instance in Blue Pegasus, a melancholic wail echoed through the guild hall. Everyone was around Hibiki as he was on his hands and knees, grieving at the magazine that was sprawled in front of him. "How could this have happened…?" he whimpered.
"Cheer up, Hibiki. It'll be alright." Eve consoled. "There's always next time." His Panpour nodded in agreement.
"It happens, don't worry too much about it." Ren persuaded. Hibiki's bawling only grew. "It's not like we're gonna start worrying, too, you know…" he trailed off as he looked away. His Pansear tilted his head in confusion.
Hibiki's Pansage hopped down from the stool and patted Hibiki's back. "It's okay."
"When did let myself slip up so much…" He wailed.
Ichiya acknowledge the situation, holding up his hand sign with a pose. "Ma~n."
…
Joey squealed and pranced all around the apartment, jittering with glee. It was only when Duncan came inside that he showed interest. "What's the noise about?" he irritably asked.
"Duncan!" He zipped past Dereece and beelined for Duncan's face, holding up the magazine. "Check who's bad now! That's right! Me!"
Duncan didn't have time to answer as Joey beelined for the living room and cleared his throat.
"So…first of all, thank you for the support everyone, it means so much that you really do care. I'd like to give it up to Arceus, for always looking out for me." He bumped his chest and aimed two fingers to the sky. "Peace out, Arceus! And second, I'd like to thank me, on behalf of…myself, and the camera guy for making all this possible!"
Dereece and Duncan looked towards each other, then back at Joey. The former lowered his head, facepalming in grief.
"Dereece!" Joey pointed to him sharply. "Drop me a beat! I feel a need to party~!"
"Alright, alright." He mumbled as he pulled out the boombox and pressed a button.
[Pink – So What]
Rather than go for the small intro, the song picked up at the first chorus. The rocking beat and the drum beating immediately got Joey to bang his head as he stammered and pranced around the living room. He smiled wide as he reeled back his head as he mimicked an air guitar.
"I feel so ali~ve!" Joey hopped clean over the loveseat, landing softly and spinning around. He pranced around, swaying in stern fashions like someone who was rebelling to the world.
Dereece watched, rocking his head some while he was cleaning some dishes. He smirked as he watched Joey enjoy the beats. He shook his head and chuckled at how easy it is to just go along with Joey when he was like this.
"Nothing's stopping the Joey mojo train today! I am so on fi~~re! Somebody get the hose because this fire's gonna become a blaze in 3…2…"
The boombox suddenly started glitching, causing Joey to pause in place. Everyone in the apartment could hear the static and glitching of the voice to the point where it cracked. Until ultimately, the boombox shut off.
Duncan shot the boombox beside him a deadpan look. "Guess the 'train' was derailed after all."
"AAAHH~!" Joey made a beeline for the boombox to check on it. He saw that it was in good condition. Nothing was broken. Everything was in place and everything. "Boombox? Boomy? Dude?" He tapped the screen. No response. "Hey, don't play games! Dereece! DEREECE!"
"I'm here! I'm here!" Dereece waddled up to the boombox' side. Immediately he went and checked on the backside. Using the latch on the back, he popped open a small compartment where four cylindrical batteries powered it. Carefully, he took them out.
Seeing the issue, Dereece eased himself. "You can relax, Joey. He's not broken. Just needs new batteries."
A lead weight fell off of Joey's heart. He was so relieved that his jelly legs almost caved in. He sighed in relief as he wiped sweat off his forehead. "Phew…hehe…for a moment there, I was actually scared there." He nervously chuckled. "Eh, check for new batteries, would ya?"
"Sure thi…" Dereece was about to finish when it seemed like an epiphany struck him hard. But it also glued his face with a troublesome expression. Without even looking, the wingman reached into his pocket for the batteries that the boombox needed. He held up several batteries in one hand, but that's not why he was looking so worried.
"Um…Captain…?"
"What?"
"I…don't know how to say this…but we just ran through all our batteries we had when we came to Earth Land…so…"
And just like a U-Turn, that lead weight that was on Joey's heart had returned to sender. What's worse, it even crushed it. His breathing was starting to get heavy as he eyed the boombox, then the dead batteries. His chest was starting to throb uncontrollably to where the oxygen was depleting. "No…no…NO~!" He screamed. "This can't be! This is a nightmare!" he turned towards Dereece. "Dereece! Tell me I'm dreaming! This can't be!"
Dereece nervously shifted his eyes. "I'm sorry, Captain…"
Before he had the chance to finish, Joey took the boombox. "GOTTA FIND BATTERIES!" He rushed out the door, but failed to close it. "I'LL SAVE YOU BOOMBOX! YOU WON'T DIE ON ME NOW!"
"Captain, wait!" Dereece started for the door. "Oh man, of all the times to…" He charged out the door to follow Joey.
Now alone, Duncan realized that he had no reason to stay. Scoffing, he turned and walked out the door, but in a different direction. "Guess that means joint training's over today." Relieved, he walked down the avenue to mind his own affairs.
Along the streets of Magnolia, oblivious to the ruckus afoot several blocks down, Sophie and Vanessa were walking down the avenue towards the guild hall. Their morning was plentiful enough. And by their morning, that meant Sophie, considering Vanessa had just woken up some time ago.
"I swear, Vanessa. Sometimes, I wonder if you're even hopeless to get around by yourself." The blonde mulled along the streets. "This is the 10th morning in a row now. I'm starting to think you keep yourself up late at night on purpose, or you're just being lazy to pull legs."
Vanessa noticed a nearby stand with fruit. The scent of fresh lemons enticed her. "My apologies. It's not like it's intentional or anything." She smirked. "And believe me when I say, would I really joke?"
Sophie nerves crept up to her facial muscles. "Well you could've fooled me." She morbidly sighed. "Well, it's not like it's the end of the world. Anyways, we really should get to the guild. We need to pay the rent coming up."
"Speaking of the guild…" Vanessa's glance turned wary. "How is your magic coming along?"
Sophie's expression turned downwards. Vanessa's aura sensed an overcast of uncertainty. "It's…coming along. Rufus has been helping me with his advice, and I'm starting to grasp the idea of what I need to do." She gazed down at the pavement. "I've been meaning to contact him again soon. He didn't come because he was on a job. He promised to make it up to me next time."
"I see…" Vanessa trailed off, wondering briefly how to change the subject. "So then, what have you been looking into? Or maybe, have you looked into hobbies?"
Sophie furrowed her brow. "Honestly, with all the work we've been doing, I haven't thought of it…" she looked at her with an inquired stare. "Did…I have any hobbies? I asked Rufus, but he just said that I read books."
Vanessa read a brow. "Is there something wrong with just that?"
"No!" Sophie flinched at how abrupt her answer was. "I-I was just curious is all."
Vanessa meekly chuckled. This caught Sophie by surprise at how relaxed she was. "It's fine. Don't trouble over it." She gave her a sincere look. "I don't think that's important right now. You find what you like at your own pace. No need to rush these thoughts. I'd think your headaches would only stiffen if you do."
"You're probably right." Sophie sourly mused to herself, but she began chuckling along with Vanessa in hindsight of the unneeded stress on her shoulders. It was probably for the best she did try and pace herself. She went her way as she almost bumped into someone passing by. "Oh, excuse me."
The person turned around, locking eyes with Sophie. It was Duncan. The three stopped stiff in their tracks as a vague tension filled the air at that moment.
Vanessa blinked. "Duncan?"
Duncan shot Vanessa a rivalry-like look, but turned his attention towards Sophie. The blonde woman was staring at him confusedly, a deep concern in her face. A subtle wind passed between the two of them that seemed to have chilled the temperature a few degrees, though it was still mildly warm out.
The wind passing, Sophie and Duncan's long stare had to be postponed when the former asked a question. "You're…that man from Astral, right?" She had to think hard on that one, not that Vanessa didn't sense already.
Duncan seemed apprehensive at first, but snorted it off. "Yeah." He turned his back towards her. "…don't strain yourself."
Sophie weakly nodded. "Sure. Thanks." She watched Duncan's back as he chose to depart for the Eastern Forest. As he went his own way, the Memory-Make Mage was rendered speechless. 'Do I know him from somewhere?'
Vanessa's boots pivoted as she crossed her arms. "Duncan, have you seen Joey or Dereece perhaps? I was told you've been around them more often."
"No, I don't." he deadpanned. Going with his half-baked lie, he went his own way, not giving a care. "I'll be off training. I'm already behind." He went down the avenue without another distraction, with nothing better to do.
Vanessa glanced from him to the other female, seeing the state of conjecture she was in. "Sophie, are you well?"
Sophie continued staring at Duncan's back until he was no longer in sight. It stuck with her that she must've seen him somewhere before, but she couldn't place her amnesiac brain on it. She dismissively shook her head. "It's nothing…just déjà vu, I guess."
A rolling spike ball quickly made way towards the opposing Charmeleon on the opposite end of the battlefield. With swift reflexes, the Charmeleon rolled to the side at the last second as the spike ball kept going.
"Now Charmeleon, Dragon Rage!" Natsu yelled.
"You got it!" Pivoting on his left hell, Charmeleon craned his neck and charged draconic flames inside his maw. Once charged, he aimed and fired a roaring black and blue dragon-shaped beam that engulfed the spike ball. Dragonfire spewed in a frenzy upwards, expelling the Sandslash that fell onto his side with a thud.
Max flinched at the fall Sandslash had taken. "Hey, are you okay?"
Sandslash slowly stood up, spreading his feet beneath to balance himself. That attack did more than knock a couple of spikes out of place. "Ugh, been better." He dizzily slurred before lightly shaking his head. "But that stung!"
Charmeleon snorted embers. "Heh."
Off to the side, some of the other guildmates that weren't currently on jobs were hanging around the guild's outside area. Some were engrossed in seeing Natsu and Max's rematch. Cana of course took full advantage of the situation to gain some betting money Gray sat at a table, along with Lucy, Erza, Happy, and Juvia. "Natsu's really been stepping up his game." Gray commented.
Juvia punctually nodded. "Yes, he has been improving since the last time." She watched as Sandslash stomped a shockwave across the ground, which Charmeleon jumped over. "He's actually keeping up with Max's Sandslash. That's improvement."
"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed. "He's been training hard day after day!"
Gray turned towards Lucy. "So what about you, have you been working on anything recently?"
The Celestial blonde gave her response in a sigh. "You wish…" She opened her eyes. "Unfortunately, my spirits are still on absence, so I can't really train, sort of speak." She perked up with a wink. "But hey, it's not all bad. This little spin is just what I needed to make one more crazy twist to my novel."
Gray cocked a brow. "Oh yeah, I forgot you've been working on that. What's it about again?"
Klefki shifted between the two, a mischievous smirk on her face. "Oh! It's amazing! She let me peek at it and everything! You see, what happens so far, is that-!" A hand covered Klefki's mouth, muffling her metallic mouth at the ire of her Trainer.
"Sorry, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't allow spoilers." Lucy's brow twitched. "Besides, you looked at while I was taking a bath, you little key troll." She let Klefki go, the key ring whimpering at the scolding.
"Um, okay…" Gray turned towards Erza to shift the tone. "So, where's Nic?"
Erza humbly smirked. "He's off on a job. Something about a Bibarel den drying up a town's water supply. He'll probably dig around if the Bibarel don't try anything."
Gray smirked. "Well if I were them, I'd probably be glad to never cross his path."
Back on the battlefield, Charmeleon spewed orange sparks at Sandslash, only for energy claws to swipe them away like flies. The energy claws dissipated. "Sorry Natsu, but you'll have to do better if you wanna burn my Sandslash." Max scoffed. He reached forward for a follow-up command. "Come on, Crush Claw!" Sandslash's claws lengthened in the same energy and he charged for Charmeleon.
Natsu balled his fist, one of which popped with veins from pressure. "Okay Charmeleon…" His teeth gnashed. "AERIAL ACE!"
Charmeleon's eyes glazed over. He got into runner's position and suddenly blurred into Sandslash. The spiked mouse use the gap close to his advantage to try and get in a quick swing, but he was sucker punched straight in the gut. With the wind knocked out of him, Charmeleon volleyed several blows that lead to a tail slam across the face. Sandslash's snout cringed from cartilage being jutted inwards.
The mouse shot onto his back for the umpteenth time, but unfortunately, it was the last time as he was blacked out. Max looked down in shame. "Damnit…"
Natsu folded his arms, victoriously smirking. "Well that's that. Looks like it's clear who the winner is now." He watched Charmeleon straighten up, releasing a roar of triumph. "Alright, so who's next-?!"
Suddenly a harsh force slammed straight into him, mowing Natsu down like a doormat. The dust cloud raging through left him on the ground, dazed and distraught as a second figure rushed pass him. "Please excuse us." Dereece apologized, continuing hastily.
"Ah, geez…" Natsu rolled over, clutching his face. Charmeleon raced up to check on him. "You bastard, the hell was that for, huh?!"
But he was ignored, Joey hastily rushed for the group at the table. He was out of breath, and looked like he was desperate fir something. "You…you guys…!" he wheezed. "Please…please tell me you guys have batteries you can spare…"
"Joey?" Lucy blinked. "Uh, hey, what's going on?"
"Is something the matter?" Juvia wondered.
Joey showed her the backside of Boombox, the proximity violating Juvia's emotional area. "Thisis the matter! Boombox is dying!" He pulled it back and held it close. "We need batteries, stat! You guys wouldn't happen to have any, would ya? I'll pay you back!"
Lucy nervously blinked. "Uh…sorry, I don't think that's how it works."
"Damnit!" Joey hissed. He was on the verge of a breakdown. Along the way he rummaged through practically every hardware store in town. He almost caused landslides of materials to fall over if it wasn't for Dereece there to stop it. "Uh, uh…" he looked around for any other alternatives. "Oh! What about that blue-haired girl! What's her name again…?"
Happy raised a paw. "Wendy?"
Joey snapped an index finger. "Yes! What about her! She has healing powers! Maybe plastic surgery can do the trick!"
Dereece hunched forward with a raised brow. "Plastic surgery…really?"
"What?"
Dereece groaned again. "You do realize that's for people…right?"
Joey raised a brow and cocked it skywards. "Huh, oh yeah. I tried to get that for double jointed hips, but they said I wasn't 'medically insured' for that." He added two fingers to emphasize the quote. "But anyways, where is she?!"
"I'm afraid you won't find her here." Erza answered straightforwardly. "She went to Lamia Scale for the day to visit Chelia and the others."
"Then we'll try that hermit doctor out by the woods. Or maybe…" He felt a tap on his shoulder, making him see Dereece's saddened expression. His eyes began to show regret. "Dereece, is Boombox really…?"
Dereece lowered his head, his heart bearing sadness. "I'm sorry, Captain…but I don't think Boombox is coming back."
Joey quivered in disbelief. Unable to hold it back anymore, his gnashing teeth nearly lit in sparks until he sunk to his knees, screaming up to the sky that echoed all throughout Magnolia.
With Joey's inevitable breakdown, the case of Boombox unable to gain a charge left, there was only one place where Joey could put it. He sat it in a shoebox he kept for some classy ruby red slippers he kept in his closet and used it as a makeshift coffin for Boombox. He made a small grave in the corner of Kardia Cathedral and got a small flat stone from the outskirts of town. With whatever legibility he had, he wrote "Boombox" in surprisingly neat italics.
Sniffling on his knees with his Pokémon surrounding him, Joey was bowing his head in shame. "Why, Boombox? Why did it have to be you…of all the precious things I've gained in my life, why did it have to be you…?" he murmured somberly. "It should've been me instead…well not really, I am pretty important." He nervously chuckled. "But still, after all the playlists we've shared, and the sick beats that made my sweet booty shake in my sleep, this…this is how it ends?" He placed his hand on the makeshift tombstone. "We've shared a lot of good times, haven't we old buddy? The merriment of the booty beats…to the sick awesome kicks…man, your Ultra-Bass is sick…"
Quilladin and Tranquill looked to each other, though Tranquill seemed more somber. Gyarados growled low. Trubbish meekly belched a stinky cloud that made the grass in front of her wilt.
Joey sniffled. "Boombox, no matter what, you'll always have a special place in my heart…I'll always love you." He gulped. "So…make Bro and Camilla's booties don't get bored up there. Love ya man. Peace!"
He finished by banging his chest with the fist and aiming skywards. Quilladin seemingly mimicked him. Joey got up and walked pass his Pokémon with a deep dejected glare. He looked like he was about to cry. Dereece patted his back to try and comfort him.
"It'll be okay." He assured. "Cheer up."
Joey gave him a furrowed brow. "Cheer up? Cheer up?!" he raised his voice. "Dereece, have you been drinking with Cana?! Are you high on dense?! Where have you been or the last 45 minutes of my life?!" He grabbed him by the arms. "Do you realize what has been done?!...Boombox is dead. Dead! And without Boombox…we're dead." He began sniffling again, quivering to where Dereece was feeling the vibrations.
"Uh…m-maybe we need to just calm down. I'm sure we just had a long morning. Let's just see about getting some work in, alright?"
Joey shot him a glare. "Are you deaf?! I can't work without knowing my booty can just fail on me when I get back! What will we do when we have to celebrate our jobs? How am I gonna keep my butt and calves in shape? How am I going to become the universe's biggest dancer and party king, without mad beats to ruin the lives of others?!"
"Uh…"
"I can never dance again! It's over!" With a girlish whimper, Joey zipped pass a dumbfounded Dereece. Tranquill fluttered over his head, with Quilladin, Gyarados, and Trubbish filing behind their Trainer's lamenting dread.
Dereece passively shook his head. "Why's this of all times…?"
"What's wrong? Is Joey okay?"
Dereece turned around, almost jumping at the sight of someone. "N-Nic?!" he gasped. "What are you doing here?!"
"I just got back from a job. I was sure I'd come back to Erza or maybe Vanessa to see about family dinner plans…" he looked towards the direction Gyarados' frame lumbered down the street. "But what about Joey? Did something happened?"
Dereece simply pointed in the cathedral graveyard. "Have a look."
Nic turned towards the gravestones and noticed one that sat on the grass but close to where the hedges met at the right angle. He saw the label and put the pieces together. "…oh...I see." He glanced back at Dereece. "Did you guys try changing the batteries?"
"We ran out. That was all we had." Dereece lamented. "And Stunfisk's Thunder Shock doesn't give a lot of charge neither."
"I see…" He looked out in the street and went silent to consider the position. He was well aware of how meaningful music was to Joey. He should know, he loaded his phone with heavy metal back when he started his journey. It was therapeutic.
Seeing Nic's pondering, Dereece shook his head. "He'll get over it, I'm sure. I-I mean you did, right? I'm sure he'll come around in a couple days."
Nic raised his head. "If you say so…"
3 Days Later
Dereece walked closer to Joey's room. He noticed how the door was shut all the way. Beside him, Heracross had a jar of Honey as per it being his lunch. Still, he chose to follow Dereece as he leaned against the wooden blockade. "Captain?" He knocked on the door, but got no response. "Captain, you can come out now…it's been a couple of days now."
On the other side of the door, a whiny, wailing moan could be heard, followed by some bizarre splatter.
"Captain, don't make me have Heracross tear down the door." He chimed. He heard another inaudible gurgle from the other side. It sounded sour compared to before. He groaned. "Heracross."
Slurping on his Honey, Heracross had no choice but sat the Honey jar on the floor. He pressed his sticky claws against the door; the door hinges were slowly creaking until they fell over. The door fell to the floor, with two imprints of honey glaze on them.
"Thanks, Heracross. Now then…" Dereece peeked inside the dark room. The first thing he noticed was the huge whiff of vanilla that enflamed his nostrils. He smelled it clear from outside the door, but this was borderline raw he almost felt like gagging. Looking at the floor, he noticed empty tubs of vanilla ice cream scattered around; some of which had drips trickling the carpet. Pass the graveyard of tubs of white dessert, he saw a body in the corner that was muffling moans while stuffing its face.
Creeping in slowly to avoid detection, Dereece moved to the side and flipped on the ceiling light. The new light gave view to the body in the corner being Joey. He had bags under his eyes as he sat in fetal position against the wall. He had misty eyes as he was sedating his stress and sadness with a silver spoon scooping up more vanilla ice cream into his cream-stained lips.
He took a somber look, his patience wearing thin. "…okay, this is just sad. Even for you."
Joey's response to the comment was a louder moan. He opened his mouth to show the bleach white cream on his gums and tongue ready to be swallowed.
Dereece ignored the retort and decided to play maid. He picked up the empty ice cream tubs first. "Well first of all, let's get this place cleaned up." He went to the corner of the room and stacked the tubs on top of each other like plastic cups. "And secondly, let's open up these blinds, shall we?" He reached over, pulling the curtains back to allow sunlight into the room.
The moment sunlight reached Joey's face, he yelped and turned away.
Dereece opened the window, the first thing he'd done was stick his head out and smell the fresh roses and Roselia. "Ah, smell that Joey? You can feel the freshness of outside?" he paused. "Isn't that right?"
"All I smell is the stench of deprave." He hollered, biting another load of ice cream off. He noticed that the tub was already empty. "Tranquill! I need more vanilla ice cream!"
The Poke Ball on top of the dresser popped open, summoning the bird unprovoked. "I shall obey, Master Joey!" The avian dutifully soared pass Dereece to the open doorway; he bypassed Heracross along the way. "Hi!"
Heracross didn't have time to answer before Tranquill left. He turned towards his Trainer instead as he walked towards Joey.
"Okay, Captain. I think it's time that we put the spoon down. You've been sulking long enough. I'm sure there's better things to do than just sit in a corner all day and stress eat."
Joey licked his vanilla creamed lips and squinted at Dereece. "How, Dereece…? Just. How?"
Dereece put his hands up defensively. "I don't know! But anything other than-!" A white blur passed him, leaving him frozen in place. He saw Tranquill return to Joey with a fresh tub of vanilla. The top was pried off by his talons.
"Thank you, Tranquill. That'll be all." Joey dismissed the bird. Tranquill nodded and returned to his Poke Ball on his own, his "master" too busy dipping his silver spoon into his sedative. "You were saying, Dereece?"
His left eye twitched at how irritating this situation has become. If it wasn't for his immeasurable patience he's grown over the years of handling Joey, he would've upright dragged him out in a fuss. But he thought better for him. "Captain, I understand you're upset. I-I kinda am, too…but you know, there can be a bright side to all this."
Joey didn't answer. He kept eating his ice cream until he could be fully satisfied.
Dereece scratched the back of his head. "You know, I've been giving it some thought. A lot actually…why don't we find a replacement boombox instead?"
Joey's mouth was open as the spoon was halfway inside. He seemed to have frozen solid with his jaw hung wide and pupils shrunk. Slowly, his head craned in Dereece's face. "…what…did you just say?" he mumbled speechlessly.
"I said a replacement. You know, something to get your butt back in shape?" he paused and glanced away. "I know it won't exactly be the same, but at least it'll do good to try and-!" He froze for a second time when a tube of ice cream barely missed his face. It went between Heracross and his Honey jar and splattered white cream on the wall paint. They simultaneously flinched at the sudden provocation.
"Have you no respect for the dead?!" Joey's tone hardened the closer he got to Dereece. "Now I know you've been hanging with Cana, you heartless, insensitive devil! Did Boombox mean anything to you?!"
Dereece stepped back to assure his proximity from Joey's ire. "I never said that!"
"Well it sounds like you're a doubter." Joey sassily snarked, whipping around with folded arms. "I don't think you remember how hard it was to even get Boombox. Do you? It was a limited-edition seller, and we had to send in like 50 Octilli-O's cereal box covers to get even one of those things!"
Dereece furrowed his brow, but more from the memory. His stomach gurgled at the thought of that cereal. "Yeah, I remember…your Mom made us eat nothing but that cereal for 3 months." He shook his head at the thought. "It was the worse 3 months my stomach ever lived through."
The anger on Joey turned to remorse. "That Boombox was so valuable because that was probably one of the first things we worked so hard for. We've had that thing since our last year in middle school…it was like a best friend to me." He deflated his knees to the floor again, resting his chin on his palms. "How am I supposed to dance and boogey now? That's like…my thing."
"I don't know…"
Joey remorsefully sighed towards the ceiling. "Ever since I could remember, I've always loved the tunes that made my little bottom stir…"
In a hospital nursery, there were dozens of incubators and cribs lined up with one another. Many newborn babies were either asleep or crying for needs. Nurses were there to help those who were crying, and others were checking on those asleep.
Amongst the newborn, there was one on a blue blanket with a tuft of yellow hair on top of his head. His blue eyes were eyeing the toy bell that danced Ponyta and Pikachu plushies. The musical chime the toy had was supposed to help a baby sleep, but instead the baby's large blue eyes were wide awake as he cooed loudly. Strangely enough, he was fidgeting excitedly and stirring at the sleeping tune.
Joey pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "Where does the time go…?"
Dereece frowned and walked up to pat his back. "I know it's hard. It's kinda hard to know what can happen when the one thing your life revolves around is gone…" He didn't want to sound insensitive, but it felt like Dereece backhanded himself there. He ignored it this once. "I…don't want to come off as rude or anything, but you know…life still goes on. And music does, too. Kinda like how we as people have to learn to move along with life. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."
Joey's brow furrowed. To be fair with himself, he knew exactly what he was talking about. He flashed back to Broly, and Camilla, and finally Ella. Even though their lives came to a close, the world still kept going on. And Joey kept living.
"So, let's just try and compromise here. How's about we just set the spoon down, and we can go find a job. We can use the money to buy a new boombox system. One that doesn't have to rely on batteries…please, at least try?"
The feeling sunk into Joey like a sponge, but the ooze felt more like poison if anything else. Human life he knew was meaningful; he wasn't that stupid. But the thought of replacing even expandable items was just as sickening. The more he wanted to reject having to replace Boombox, the angrier he got. Eventually, he made up his mind.
"…ugh, fine." He sourly huffed. "Just this one, Dereece, I'll go along with what you have to say. I'll try to move along until we get a new system…"
Dereece smiled and swung his arm. "That's the spirit!"
"But before that…" He pointed at the wall behind with the ice cream dripping to the floor. "Could you clean that up? It'll stain the paint." He walked pass him to get to the bathroom. "Oh, and go get Duncan, too. Tell him we're readying for work soon…and we need more vanilla ice cream, you know, just in case."
Dereece groaned.
Nic was upside-down as bullets of sweat dripped like a faucet from his face. With his coat off, his abs and chest were visible seen crunching as he was doing sit-ups with his legs anchored around a sturdy tree branch. In and out his breathing was, his abdominal muscles in the works. Right beside him, his Arbok had a coil around the tree branch as he was slinking up and down, but it was clear he was training just as hard.
Erza walked out towards him, her posture upright and glare on her husband. She could see him with his shirt off, the evidence of him training clear as day. Regardless, she chose to intervene. As she walked closer to him, she noticed her strides were getting a little heavier. 'Gravity?' She raised a brow. She looked at the intensified area and Nic. Seeing the pinkish shade on his pants, she put the two pieces together. 'I see, gravity training.'
Shaking her head, she powered through the intensified field until she was below Nic and Arbok's one-on-one training. "Nic!"
Near the canopy, the human and serpent heard the calls of the female mage. Easing their abdominal regions for a moment, they hung upside down and saw Erza and her impatient stare. "Erza?" He undid his legs, allowing the intense gravity to drag him. He flipped and slammed his feet into the earth, with Arbok slinking beside him. "Hey, what's going on?"
"I just got back from my job…I was calling for you around the house." She meekly smiled.
"I see, uh…" Nic looked away, squinting nervously. He honestly didn't expect Erza to be back so soon from her job with the others. It was getting a little awkward. "I guess that means you guys got the job done then?"
Erza sighed. "As well as you'd expect. There were several Crawdaunt causing problems in a local pond, scaring the fish around. Naturally Scizor made quick work of those ruffians."
"That's a good choice. Scizor's a Bug-type, so facing Crawdaunt was a good call…" He paused. "So, were you able to get Lucy to tag along?"
"For once. She and Happy distracted the Crawdaunt while her Staryu decided to play fodder and used Minimize to cause them to strike each other. That star is more resourceful than I gave it credit for."
"Well, considering this is Lucy's we're talking about, I'm probably not that shocked." He took another pause to contemplate. He showed a frown. "So, guess that means that her spirits are still in recovery, right?"
Erza lowered her head. "Yes, I'm afraid so…they sure take their sweet time. I swear, if any of my Pokémon didn't come out of their Poke Balls, I'd probably lose it. I don't know how yours just come out as they see it."
Nic raised a brow. For a compliment as that was intended, he felt more backhanded than praised. He and Arbok glanced at each other, the latter flicking his tongue. Nic chose to dismiss it than digress.
"Have you set everything out for dinner?"
Nic shook his head. "No, not yet. I'll handle it as soon as I'm finished with my workout. Arbok…" With a snap, Arbok slipped to his side. "You ready? We're gonna try a tag race. Remember how that goes?"
Arbok knowingly nodded. "Yesss, Nic." He eagerly hissed. "I'm alwaysss ready."
Nic smirked. He didn't expect any less from Arbok. He looked back towards Erza to continue. "Don't worry, we won't take long."
Erza exasperatedly sighed. "You shouldn't." She turned away and walked back towards the house.
With her back turned, Nic turned towards Arbok. "She's just tired from the job, I wouldn't worry." He glowed, shifting into his Spooky Form. "Now, Arbok, let's see how you anticipate this…" With a bloodthirsty smirk, Nic slowly faded from view. "You're it."
Erza kept walking when she chose to slow her pace and look over her shoulder. Behind her back, she was seeing Arbok narrowly evading Nic as he reappeared and disappeared like a ghost at random. She turned back towards the house and smirked. If she was being personal, she was starting to get a little envious of what Nic's going through. He's been getting a lot more creative as of late. A lot trickier…and as a warrior, she wasn't going to stand for being shown up.
Nic reappeared directly above Arbok, but faded in a haze when Arbok's tail snapped like a twig milliseconds upon forming. He remained invisible as he saw his cobra's eyes sharply follow his ethereal frame. He vanished into the ground, coming up at an angle below the cobra. But Arbok disappeared, spiraling in midair and landed. He and Nic were at a standoff as the latter rematerialized.
'He's gotten better at perception and anticipation.' Nic thought. He suddenly picked up on a wave of wind. His bodily reflexes kicked in at the last second for him to turn intangible and allow the wind wave to reach out to the trees behind them. Each one fell in elongated rows.
Looking back where the wind came from, Nic gawked at who the attacker was. "Erza?"
In her Wind God Armor, Erza smirked expectantly as she crossed her blades. "You wanna play tag, you say?" She crossed her blades, sending a scissor wind at him. "You're it!"
As expected, Nic turned intangible and the wind blades went through him. He reappeared, mockingly winking at Erza. "Too slow." He saw sharp fangs and evaded Arbok's lunge. He hovered towards the trees. "So you wanna change the rules, do ya? Okay…" He started fading into the shadows. "I'm not making dinner till you catch me…"
Erza poised her sword towards the forest. "You know better than to joke with me of all people." She got no answer. "Nic? Are you there?" She visibly sneered. "Tehehe…when I find you I'm gonna…"
Arbok hissed readily. "Heh…thisss isss gonna be a long night." He snaked into the woods, competing with the redhead for first bites. And both were starving.
The train made its stop in front of a train station, screeching to its final halt before a loud clang sound signaled the cargo was ready to be unloaded.
The Freaks exited the train compartment, grabbing all their essentials. They walked out from the train's tunnels and made way down the stairway that lead to the lobby of the station.
Joey was hunched forward, a grumpy mood plastered. "C'mon, Captain. You know we need the money." Dereece chimed. "It'll be fun. We get to explore…a-and don't forget why we're here…"
Joey pouted and eyerolled. "…whatever."
His attitude problem has been a complete pout the whole train ride towards their destination, Kunugi. It sat just between Oshibana and Clover, and where their next job was supposed to be held. Dereece was grateful for Duncan participating, but he wished the same could be said for Joey. Normally he'd so nonchalant and ready for work. But he was worse than a drenched Sandshrew.
"So, Duncan…" Dereece chimed. "What was that job you picked out again?"
The expert Trainer eyes Dereece sharply as he snapped out the flier angrily. It made him flinch. He looked down and inspected the flier. "It says here that the client is looking for Pokémon Trainers to help train his Pokémon for a race."
Dereece squinted. "…is that all it says? What about an award?"
Duncan looked at the flier again. "It says negotiable." He did an eyeroll. "And don't worry, it's not like the last time we didn't go on a mission unprepared…right, Captain?"
Joey half-heartedly gave a thumbs up. He knew exactly what he meant. But rather than verbally reply, he scoffed.
"So, where's the location?" Dereece asked.
"Up ahead. At this address."
They looked over Duncan's shoulder to see a house number and ID. The person by the name of Sam Cecil. They followed the address and made it to the location by following the road directions. Though when they got there, they were more than a little surprised.
The house resident was on the far end of the town, specifically closer to the woodland areas. It was the last house on the block before it went into a trail towards the grottos out by the wilderness. Just looking at the house alone, they could tell it was in bad shape. There was overgrowth covering the house paint, and housed windows that had fingerprints and smudge marks. Blinds were bent inside where the sun couldn't shine. By all means, they could've considered the house to be abandoned just from the looks of it.
Blinking once, Dereece slowly cocked a brow. "You, uh…sure that address was right?"
Duncan snorted as he looked the flier over again. "Yeah."
"Oh, okay…" Dereece paused to clear his throat. "I…guess we should go in then."
The three walked up towards the door, Joey in tow. He held a deep pout as he uncrossed his arms and got a serious look. It was a job after all. And he took jobs seriously, as per what he trained for. For now, he had to be on alert.
Dereece tapped his knuckles on the wooden door, making an echo. "Um, excuse me. Anyone home?" He waited a for a response, but was blank. "We're Fairy Tail Mages hired for a quest. Is the client here?"
They waited longer for a possible response. Again, a blank was drawn. Dereece looked back and shrugged worriedly. A sudden jerk in the doorknob almost made him jump when he realized he was finally answered. The door slowly creaked open, revealing their client peeking through the door.
"Du~de…s'up." The client nodded upwards as a sign of improper greetings. The client, to their surprise, was a man about their age, maybe younger. He had a round nose with long, yellow, shaggy hair that covered his eyes. He had a white tank top with stained jeans and brown boots. He was hunched forward and looked at them all with illegible eyes.
A moment's pause filled the atmosphere as The Freaks stood there, perplexed at the identity of their client. Dereece spoke once more. "Um…Sam Cecil, I take it?" he quipped, uncertainty in his tune.
The shaggy individual turned towards him. "Yeah…that's my name, dude. S'up." He pointed at the gang. "You dudes are mages, right?"
Duncan folded his arms, giving him a straightforward look. "Yeah, we are. You sent a request, right?"
Sam nudged again. "Yah, bro. You dudes, come inside." He lazily moved off to the side to allow free passage.
The Freaks took it, with Joey slipping in front to take charge. Almost immediately, the smell of overbaked foods enflamed their nostrils. The whole place had junk laying everywhere, and juice boxes laying everywhere. All around, there were different accessories, like a horse saddleback, some stools with random magazines on them; cluttered papers with bills on them, and something that made Dereece flinch…a half-eaten granola bar sitting on the shaggy carpet.
"Yeesh. He really should've hired an interior decorator." He whispered low to Dereece's ear, while facing forward.
Dereece cleared his throat to talk. "So, uh, Sam…this is where you live?"
Sam closed the door, the lock being unturned. He shrugged it off. "Huh? What dude?" He processed what he said. "Pfft, yeah. This is my crib, bro. Bachelor pad for moi. Not bad, right?"
"Uh, it's…" Joey tried to think of which words to use. When he turned left, he saw a clock sitting sideways against a side window; it looked cracked. When he turned right, he saw crumbs along a windowsill, where a pair of stained underwear sat. It even smelled bad. "…something alright." He murmured. 'For once, I'm kinda glad I don't have Trubbish up front.'
Dereece tinged at the smell the place had. He was starting to show doubts. Duncan, on the other hand, looked like he couldn't acre any less.
Sam made way through the rubbish and leaped onto a cushioned chair. He kicked his feet up on the coffee table, the boots clanging against the cheap wood. "So, you guys are interested in helping me out? It's not often I get good help these days. Usually people just up and go. Seriously, hurtful bro."
Joey straightened his posture and folded his arms. He seemed to understand why they would thin that, but he wasn't running when he needed the money. "So, what about this job again? It says you need help raising Pokémon for a race or something?"
"Dude…right." He slurred. "I almost, like, totally, forgot. Right…" He adjusted his seating to hunch over. "So, here's the thing…we have, like, this big stream down pass this grotto, right? It leads to this massive basin, where there's a whole bunch of space there." He paused. "So, like, to promote the town, the mayor's, like, having this chilled swimming competition for Trainers with Pokémon that can, like, swim their way down the stream and towards that basin."
"Uh huh…?" Dereece cocked a brow. "So, what's the catch to all this?"
"Yah, the catch." He pointed a finger at him. "Well dude, the mayor's gonna give a big cash reward to the winner of this whole thing, bro. It's, like, 500,000 Jewel or something." He saw the raised brows of everyone there. "Dude, I know, right? That's like…a lot!"
Duncan got straight to the point. "So you're saying if we help you train your Pokémon for you, we get paid the reward money. Is that it?"
Sam waved his hands at him. "Whoa, whoa, dude. Slow it down, would ya?" he sat his hands on his thighs. "Like, how about this instead. You, like, train my little critters for me, yeah…and if I win, you can have some of it. Yeah."
Nobody bought that for a second. They knew well of the diversity of jobs, and normally – as per trial and error – the reward has got to be guaranteed. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair. Joey wanted to back out now, but he really needed the Jewel. He must do this for Boombox.
"Uh, listen, buddy." Joey sat on the edge of the wooden table. "Not that I'm complaining here, but don't you think that's a little unreasonable? I mean, what happens if you don't win?"
Sam tilted his head. "What…?"
Joey's left eye twitch. "…okay, let me rephrase. Can you guarantee something out of this? Because you know, we do business too."
Sam flinched at the seeming offense. "Dude…chill alright? I'm positive I can win this. Alright?"
Joey furrowed his brow. He couldn't tell if it was arrogance or plain stupidity the guy worked on. But he tried to be professional, or as well as he can be. "Well, if you say so. But, if we do win, we want half the prize money. That's the final bargain." He pointed his finger down on the table to emphasize his standing.
Dereece and Duncan looked towards each other, showing some surprise at Joey's boldness.
"Dude, really? Half?" Sam whined. "Bruh…that's like…200,000 or something. Bummer…" He lethargically got up. "Well, whatever, dude. If you can make my pups fast, I guess I can give you dudes the benefit of the doubt."
"So, where's the Pokémon?" Duncan demanded.
"Follow me, they're outback."
The Freaks navigated their way through the rubbish labyrinth the best they could. Once around the hellgrounds, they walked to the backdoor, where they went into the backyard. The grass was just as bad as wilted savannahs. Upon coming out to the open, Sam pointed his thumb over his back.
"These them."
The moment they turned, Joey and Dereece's faces contorted with disbelief. Right behind Sam was a wall of small cages contained small amphibious creatures that resembled oversized tadpoles. They had black and blue bumps on the sides of their heads. They had small black eyebrows, glossy black eyes, and small mouths that curved to seem like small smiles.
"Tympole…?" Dereece blinked. "A…a lot of them…" Without hesitation, he decided to pull out his PokeDex. This was his first time seeing a school of Tympole.
"Tympole, the Tadpole Pokémon. By vibrating its cheeks, it emits sound waves imperceptible to humans and warns others of danger."
Looking back at the Tympole school, they could definitely see why this guy needed help. All the Tympole present looked pale. Many of them looked vastly malnourished to where they seemed pruney. Some of them shook like they were scared, and others looked dried up. Even this was enough to scare Joey out of his little uptown funk.
"Uh…a-are these them?" Joey pointed at them. "They look kinda…down?"
"Dude, I know, right?" Sam asked. "At first, I thought they were these sick, gnarly, huge tadpole. But then I started seeing more of them pop up, and I was like '…dude, I gotta have these'."
Dereece stepped forward to give them a closer look, the one specifically slowly blinking like it was high and slurred. "Um…how exactly have you been taking care of them exactly?"
Sam shrugged. "Kept them in my backyard pond. Pretty sure tadpoles need water, right?"
The Freaks looked over towards the pond that sat several meters away from them. On top of the surface was algae, with moss on a majority of the rocks. The algae looked to have made the whole pond dark green. They saw clumps of wrappers and bread that wasn't broken down, signs they were attempted at being fed. Judging from their looks, the answer was clear how that turned out.
"You've been keeping them in this pond, than Poke Balls?" Dereece deadpanned. He almost felt sick just from looking at the pond.
"Dude…I can't afford those things." Sam pointed at the Tympole. "That's why I got so many of them. This race is in the bag, bruh."
Joey turned towards him. "Hold the phone. If you don't have Poke Balls, then how are we gonna…?"
"Beats me, dude. You guys are the Trainers." He walked back towards his house. "Well dudes, I'll leave you to it. The race is in one week. Hope we win."
Sam's wandering without care just left The Freaks stupefied. Joey especially was twitching in the left eye. He sharply turned to a Tympole, which was staring specifically at him. It seemed a little too weak to voice anything, but from the small vibrations its cheeks gave off, it must be saying hello.
"…Dereece…"
"Yes Captain?" he dreaded.
"I need ice cream. Bad."
"Thank you so much for this! I can't tell you how much we owe you!"
Behind Nic and Erza's home, The Freaks were gathered before Nic as he stood before them. The sickly Tympole were all currently swimming in the backyard pond with the waterfall on it. He heard the explanation from before, and despite what Joey felt about wanting to handle this themselves, he knew better to take chances. Nic taught him to be open to the guild to help.
"Yeah, don't mention it." Nic dismissively took the comment. His body was covered in a few patches of dirt, and his arms had some small cuts to them. He looked like he was through some kind of hell. Nevertheless, he stayed relaxed. "You can use that pond for as long as you need to…" his brow furrowed. "Just be careful, okay?"
Joey was on his hands and knees, bowing before Nic. "Thank you, Nic-senpai! We are not worthy!"
Duncan eyerolled and scoffed. He took notice of the battle mementos on Nic's body. Aside from the scars, he paid more attention to the fresh battle wounds he sustained. Specifically, the patch over his cheek. "What's the matter with you?"
Nic tapped the small patch on his cheek. "Oh, this?" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, turning away nervously. "Well…let's just say that Erza takes these games and exercises a little too…competitively." His cheek still stung from the massive hammer Erza managed to smite him with.
Apparently he learned the hard way that holy weapons and ghosts don't get along. 'Did she really have to hit me that hard?'
"Nic!" a feminine chimed came from the window. "Dinner isn't gonna make itself, you know!"
"Yeah, I'll be right there!" he called back. "You guys just let me know if you need anything, alright?"
Dereece nodded. Joey kept bowing, unable to face his merciful savior. With a nod, Nic rushed back towards his wooden cottage of a home.
Duncan scoffed. "Well that's a disappointment. So that's who wears the pants in the family, is it?" he turned towards the Tympole, changing the subject. "Well now that's taken cared of, how are you gonna fix up these guys?"
Dereece furrowed his brow. "Beats me. We gotta get these guys ready in a week if we wanna get paid 250,000 Jewel." He shifted his eyes away. "Plus, we're a little handicapped on help at the moment…"
Joey was on his knees, staring into the water. All he saw were weak Tympole that were swimming at Shellos pace. The hopes of dough to replace Boombox dwindled faster than his body fat percentage. He had a tub of vanilla ice cream beside him, but he hasn't opened it…yet.
"All this just to replace your device." Duncan scoffed. "And here I thought you guys stopped being so reliant on others to help you when they're not there. So you're saying this boombox is what keeps Joey's mood up? If you ask me, that thing was a handicap."
Dereece furrowed his brow. "You know it's not like that!"
Duncan scoffed. "Fine, so be it." He faced the Tympole, holding up a can of Water-type Pokémon Food. "But if you really need my help, just don't expect me to go easy when I aim to win." He dumped the large can of brown contents into the pond. Almost immediately many starving Tympole raced to get whatever nibbles of nourishment they could.
Dereece watched Duncan feeding up the crop of Tympole. He wasn't expecting this to be easy, but he was very glad they had someone who was an expert with at the very least maintaining their Pokémon. He brought up a can of Water-type food and poured it in. Like a swarm of bees to honey, Tympole swam the lakeside to the buffet.
In the swarm of Tympole that were begging to be fed, there was a small 'plop' to one side that a Tympole caught up on. "Hm?" The little guy turned and saw a random piece of food that enticed him. Following instinct he swam over and ate it up. He looked up to see where the piece came from.
Sitting along the pond's edge, Joey had his knees to his head as he lazily lobbed a single piece of the food in at a time. He weakly threw them in, but he seemed lost and sad.
The Tympole vibrated his ears again, croaking. He chose to dismiss the Trainer as he was getting some helpings. He opened his mouth, anticipating Joey's weak lobs. Every piece was landing in Tympole's mouth.
After the feeding, Duncan turned and walked away. "Hmph, first thing tomorrow, we start training them."
"Sounds like a plan." Dereece agreed. He turned towards Joey, but his expectations declined at his slow pace of feeding. He sighed. "You go on ahead, I'll watch him."
"Suit yourself." Duncan respectfully walked around Nic and Erza's cottage, heading down the trail back to town. His strides were focused and on task. 'Can't believe I'm doing this. I'm not a Day-Care.' As much as he wanted to just ignore training the Tympole for his own gain, an image of Sophie crossed his mind.
His teeth visibly gnashed at her last remarks. 'Damnit.'
Dereece watched Duncan go his way for the evening. He turned towards Joey and grabbed the tub of Pokémon Food. He dumped the rest in, allowing the Tympole to feast as many more flocked in for a third helping. "C'mon, Captain. Let's rest up. We've got a long week ahead of us."
Joey somberly sighed. He didn't budge a bit, aside from reaching the tub of vanilla ice cream beside him. He pried the lid off as Dereece grabbed his collar.
"Come on." He dragged the sulking Joey as he was slowly eating the ice cream tub. It was leaving a grass trail paved by his classy shoe heels. 'This is gonna be a long week.'
As the Tympole settled into the pond feasting, the Tympole that Joey was singling out popped his head out of the water and watched him go. He blinked once before he coughed. He submerged for the night.
Night had soon fallen onto the world. With everyone in their beds, they were sound asleep. Well, most of them were.
The exception to this rule was none other than Joey. Under his bedsheets, his body turned left and right, his brow contorted and mumbling something incoherent in his sleep. His fingers twitched before they subconsciously grabbed the sheets for comfort.
…
Standing out in a dark void, there was a complete silence. The unsubtle calm that spelled foreboding disaster would scare anybody. For Joey, in particular, he was all over the place.
"Eh…hello?" His voice echoed in the infinite darkness. "Hello~? Dereece? Duncan~?" He waited for any response…but got nothing. He snapped his fingers. "Snap. Where the heck am I?"
A faint light radiated from behind, snatching his attention. Whipping around, he saw some golden orb much like the sun floating over him. He squinted to try and get a better look. "Um, who's there?" His demands were answered as the light silhouette dimmed. Joey's eyes slowly widened as his jaw hung open. "It can't be…"
Levitating in a golden aura, Boombox glared at Joey. The figment that was the device's spirit didn't make a single sound.
"Boombox…you're okay!" Joey went to hug the device, squeezing it firmly. He caressed the curved edges of the machine. "I had this crazy dream! It's where you died on me and we couldn't fix you for once. Now isn't that just crazy to think about…? Boombox?"
Joey's eyes slowly widened. He looked down at his hands to find Boombox' angel was missing. His frown strengthened. "Boombox? Where'd you go…?" He turned left and right, but got no response. "Boombox?!"
Off to the distance, flashy lights went on and off repeatedly. Joey was distracted yet again to find that in his eye's reach, there were what looked like a club party with silhouettes of people holding up glowsticks and shaking.
Instantly Joey was interested. "A party?!" He ran on over towards the festive. "Hey guys, save a spot for the king here! Move aside!" He got closer, but alas, all he got was silence. He reached the dance floor, but everything was muted. He couldn't hear. "Hey? Guys?! What's the song? Guys?!"
He tapped into his ears to check if his hearing aids were working. When he turned them off, he got a ring. They worked. He tapped the dance floor with his shoe in hopes of a sound. He got nothing. He saw the DJ changing the discs around, but when he hit play, everyone stopped dancing in unison.
Joey stepped back in fear. The silhouettes gazed at him as the flashy lights faded. Swallowing a lump, he saw the DJ paused, too. He fearfully turned around, but was stopped by the return of Boombox.
"B-Boombox! Why?! You know dancing is my life! Why are you doing this to me?!"
Boombox said nothing. His glow faded, leaving the space to black. The flashy lights turned gray and Joey slowly turned back around. The dull color closed in on him, causing him to shriek in fear.
…
Joey shot wide awake with a breathless gasp. He blinked repeatedly, trying to process his surroundings. His heart was racing still, despite the dull dream that he had awakened from.
He looked down at his hands, seeing that they were still there. He sighed to himself. "Just a dream…" He was thankful that all it was a dream, it still didn't do justice for him. His frown was as heavy as the pain in his heart.
Mulling over himself, he sauntered across the bedroom towards the bathroom. He took one look down the hallways to find Dereece's door was shut. He entered the bathroom, the first thing he did was turn on the faucet of cold water. He dipped his hands into the cool liquid, the icy cold refreshment making his nerves shudder. He gingerly scooped up a handful of it and applied it to his face.
As he washed his face, he made sure to get to the eyes and around the sockets. He used his index fingers with extra pressure on the ends to dig at the eye waste that he got in his sleep…and the more he will likely get later on. Nearly matting his face, he stopped to look at his reflection. His usual, jumpy, and lively self in the mirror was something he had gotten used to. He expected that glow to stay. But instead, he saw a pale, tired, and very unmotivated creature staring back at him, with a hazy stare that seemed borderline delirious.
"And here I thought you guys stopped being so reliant on others to help you when they're not there. So you're saying this boombox is what keeps Joey's mood up? If you ask me, that thing was a handicap."
Duncan's words from earlier echoed in Joey's head. His brow furrowed at his own gaze to show his rising frustrations. His cooled face was damp from splashes, but in his depraved state, he was mistaking them for sweat. 'That Duncan…is it really a handicap?' His thoughts were muted by his gurgling stomach. With his dizziness and the ice cream he had for the past few days, he wasn't feeling so good.
He hopped towards the toilet, his mind going to white as the sounds of his spewing splashing was heard through the bathroom door.
"Honchkrow, do it now!"
The large raven emitted a caw before he fired pulsing black rings across the water. The trail was in a straight line that quickly gained lead on the Tympole. They majority of them picked up speed to get to the other side of the pond, while a few had to submerge to evade.
Duncan furrowed his brow at the few who chose to back out. "Again." He told Honchkrow. Dutifully, Honchkrow opened his beak, readying a jumbled mesh of dark rings.
Dereece reached forward. "Alright, now everyone follow Seel now. Keep a steady pace."
The majority of the Tympole that were on the other side of the pond were following Dereece's Seel. The Sea Lion looked back at the pacers behind her and jettisoned across the water. Many of the Tympole swam close behind, and others were lazily following. "Come on, y'all be on board now!" Seel assured to the ones behind. Surely she swam to the other end of the pond, where the Tympole squirmed to a stop.
The two have been doing incredulous job in conditioning the Tympole for past two days. Two days of hard work, and two days of conditioning the Tympole and their health. The time issue aside, their patience was rewarded with the Tympole that were once sick, now looking healthier by the day. Well, certainly better than yesterday if that meant anything to Duncan.
"One more time! Race to the other side before Dark Pulse hits you!" Duncan pointed forward, commanding the unleash of a second blast of dark rings. The beam struck the pond, signaling the Tympole to vibrate their cheeks and swim away. This time all of them swam than dove. "Good. That's more like it."
Honchkrow scoffed. He saw the Tympole swim off, but a few were straying to the open middle. His glare fastened on the few and fired a third dark jumbled ring ray in their direction. A wave of water erupted in a break, causing the Tympole to squeal and swim back in line.
"Easy now. We're here to get them in shape, not scare them to swim." Dereece insisted.
Duncan raised his head upwards, disinterested. "Did you want to win? He said he caught all these Tympole to make sure he wins the race. We can't have loose ends; that's how a battle works."
'Everything's about battling with him, I swear.' Dereece dismissed the thought to focus. "How is your share coming along then? They look better?"
Duncan faced the water. "It's fine." He turned to see Seel directing the Tympole in a sharp angle as they followed her lead across the water. "So that's your method then? Just follow the leader?"
"It was either that or Stunfisk." Dereece pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's not bad…but Seel's got more hydrodynamic." He felt the Great Ball shake in his pocket. "Sorry, Stunfisk."
The Tympole following Seel around had branched off to take a rest. If one looked closely like Seel had, she noticed their pale faces and their habits have been a little more active compared to yesterday. They were definitely in better shape. She swam to Dereece's side and jumped out of the water to earn his praise.
"Great job, Seel." He petted her head, minding the horn. He sat a small plate of Oran Berries in front of her. "Thanks for all your help."
Seel meekly shrugged. "Aw, garsh now. You're just flattering me. Honestly, them small tykes are giving it their all. I think pretty soon they'll be up to the big catches."
"I don't doubt you there." Using his magic, Dereece started walking across the water towards the center of the Tympole swimming freely for the time being. "Alright guys…" he undid the lid to a large container of food. "Dig in."
The Tympole vibrated their cheeks and rushed for the falling bits around Dereece's shoes. With his magic keeping him up from the splashes, he could see a bottomless frenzy of blue and black tadpoles everywhere.
"Okay, easy now." He chuckled. 'These guys have bigger appetites than my Captain. Speaking of which…'
He paced the other end of the pond. "Captain, how's it going~?" His gaze slowly turned to a frown as his shoulders sulked at a certain sight. "Uh…Captain?"
Seel and Duncan shot a look at what Dereece saw.
Sprawled on the edge of the pond, a lone Tympole croaked as it jumped up and down through a hula hoop. The same Tympole from yesterday happily croaked while the hand attached to the toy was pale and shriveled. Joey was shuddering and gagging, a deep, depressing cloud hanging over him. Every now and again, he'd twitch. They couldn't tell if it was because he was actually trying to move, or he was having a mental breakdown.
"Uuuugh…" A bubbly gurgle came from Joey as he stared at his reflection in the water. He looked even worse than before to where he seemed sick.
Offhand, Dereece looked worried. 'Okay, I take back what I said…this is just sad.'
"Bupta!" The Tympole splashed out of the water onto dryland next to Joey. The eyes blinked as they gazed curiously at Joey. "Bupta?" The Tympole blinked again, this time croaking a long vowel.
Joey gurgled incoherently. "Booty…no booty energy…too drained…"
"Aw geez." Dereece shook his head. He wandered up to him; the Tympole flopping out of the way. He kneeled and put his hand in front of Joey's face. He tried seeing if he would follow…he didn't. "I think he's going into some 'Booty Withdrawal'." He groaned. "He hasn't gone this long without dancing."
"Bupta!" the Tympole croaked.
This wasn't gonna work out. Not at this current age. Dereece hoisted Joey up over his shoulder, keeping him steady. "Guess we gotta go see someone if he's not responding." He started walking. "Hey, Duncan, can you watch the Tympole while we're gone?"
His back turned, Duncan lethargically stared elsewhere. "Whatever."
Two of The Freaks came and went, but the sound of spewing was heard loud enough for Duncan to hear. Aside from shouts of Dereece, he pressed on with the mission. "Breaktime's over. Honchkrow!" The bird arose from a nearby perch to start the next round.
All the Tympole swam in a school back towards the one end of the pool. A Tympole lagged behind, this one being the same one that was by Joey. He turned around, staring off into somewhere as he watched him head off in that direction.
"Bupta…"
"Okay, Miss Porlyusica, how is he?"
Dereece stood a good distance away from the apothecary as she was overlooking Joey, who was in a wheelchair for some odd reason. He looked dead from the neck up, but to be safe, she did some bloodwork. She looked over at her table to see a sample of Joey's blood in a class slit. After careful analysis, she came back with a scowl.
"The boy's just being a drama queen for heaven's sake." She bitterly scoffed. "Honestly, he's just sick because he's been eating nothing but ice cream for almost a week. Surprised he hadn't fallen ill sooner."
Dereece sighed again. "I got it. Thanks anyways."
Porlyusica scoffed and turned towards her Morelull sitting at her table. "Don't come back here unless it's an actual emergency. I've had enough trouble dealing with just one of you earlier this week."
Getting the message, Dereece took the handlebars of the wheelchair and pushed Joey out of the tree stump. Porlyusica looked over her shoulder one more time to see them off before looking back to her curious Morelull. "…these humans. Always having problems." She sighed to herself. "Honestly, when did they start becoming so helpless?"
The Morelull tilted her head. "I don't know?"
With a defeated look, Dereece strolled his handicapped friend out of Porlyusica's house. He was aware of the last time they were here, and he sure didn't want to get the bad side of the broom. Once they were far enough out of her sight, the mage mentally relieved himself.
"Alright, Captain…let's just get some fresh air. A nice stroll back through the forest should do your spirit good." He cheerfully hoped.
In his wheelchair with a thin black fleece blanket, Joey was a shuddering mess. He shakily turned left and right, frightened about the world like a scared child. "You don't understand, Dereece…I'm so vulnerable without my jams…what the hell am I supposed to attach my identity to?" Even his voice was cracked.
"I-It's not all bad. Well, you have me right now, a-and that's a lot more reliable than 'sick jams', right?" Joey sulked even further in his wheelchair. "…I don't even know why I try."
They strolled through the clearing of the Eastern Forest towards Magnolia. For Joey's sake Dereece took it nice and easy. He came to a brief halt, one that alarmed Joey out of his mulling. "Hey, a little respect for the precious cargo here! I could've fallen and broken my hip, or something."
Dereece looked forward. "Um…Captain?"
"What?" he growled. He turned forward, only to raise a brow. "…oh great, what is it now?"
Flopping up to them, a lone Tympole was making his way towards them. His smile was present as he splashed and squirmed towards Joey and Dereece's feet, looking up at them.
"A Tympole?" Joey grimaced, gritting his teeth. "Great, now we're playing Hide-and-Seek, and I can't even walk?! Why is this happening to me~?" He put his hands to his cheeks and despaired at the dull things to come now.
Dereece ignored his Captain's plight and looked at the Tympole. "What is it doing all the way out here?"
The Tympole flicked his tailspin cutely. "Uf! Človeče, určite viete, ako ma unaviť." The Tadpole chimed.
Dereece and Joey blinked at what he said. They looked t each other as he continued.
"Vážne viete, aké ťažké je dostať sa z vody na zem bez nôh? Ešte nie som dobre!"
"…Dereece, I think he's as sick as I am." Joey fret. "Is that a disease?"
"Bupta!" Tympole chimed. He suddenly hopped onto Joey's lap, startling him.
"GAH! Dereece, g-get it off of me…I think it's contagious." Joey shuddered. Suddenly the Tympole croaked, much to Joey's surprise. "Uh, what do you want little guy…? Dereece, you're the expert caretaker! Take care of this!"
"It's just harmless, I'm sure." He insisted, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "But, I guess we've wasted enough time as it is. I'm gonna go ahead and see to it that Duncan doesn't turn the Tympole into kalamari before dinner. Why don't you take your time with that one?"
Joey flinched at the prospect. He looked down at the Tympole gawking at him and fret.
Watch this one? But I…"
"It'll be fine. C'mon, I'll clear a path for you." Dereece started ahead towards Magnolia. "We're doing this so we can win money for a new Boombox, don't forget that."
Joey sighed in defeat. "Fine." He watched Dereece go on ahead of him. He furrowed his brow and folded his arms in a pout. "You better win me a new Boombox for all the pain this's been." He told the Tympole.
The Tympole blinked. "Nebuď tak negatívny. Bude to v poriadku." He croaked.
"Oh, croak yourself." Joey pouted.
"Páni, niekto je dole ..." The Tympole turned away.
Joey snorted. He was too upset to care at the moment. He bit his lower lip and shit a glance at the Tympole again, which sat patiently on his lap with shifting eyes. He cleared his throat to try and make things a little less awkward for them. "Well I…guess you are kind of a dashing Tympole." He backhanded.
The Tympole perked up. "Naozaj?" The Tympole hopped off of Joey's lap. He started flopping off happily elsewhere.
"Hey! Where're you going?! Get back here you little amphibious troglodyte!" He started moving his wheelchair on his own, though he was having trouble with his shaky his arms were. "This…isn't funny…!" He turned the wheels so he could follow the flopping Tympole into the underbrush. "Get your wet butt back here, or so help me-!"
As he passed the shrubs and underbrush, his wheelchair nicked a small rock. His eyes widened when he felt gravity lever his frame downward. The next thing he saw was all a blur as his wheelchair rolled down a small ledge onto a curved ledge. The velocity made him sail off and soar into the air, shrieking in panic.
With a frivolous shriek that rivaled that of a little girl, the wheelchair somersaulted through the air fumbling to the lower ends of the forest. The wheelchair slammed into the ground rightside-up, its echo running through all of Joey's bones. He was completely stunned as his wheelchair had survived that…
But once he blinked twice, the wheelchair slowly fell apart like building blocks. He plopped on the leather seat into the grass, a state of frozen shock on his face.
Still processing what happened, something light and round found its way on his forehead. Snapping out of his shock, Joey slowly looked up to find Tympole looking down on him. His glossy dark eyes gazed down and nearly met Joey's. Their faces were so close in fact that any sensation of shock was leaving Joey.
First Joey blinked, then the smiling Tympole. He flopped off his head and smiled as he watched Joey process his surroundings of the grotto they fell in.
"Where the heck did we go now?" he wondered. 'I don't think we went this far in the woods before.'
Looking around the Eastern Forest, he was surrounded by loads of tall trees that housed various birds. Some of whom were Pidgey and other Pidove. Along the brushes of leave were small Nincada and Paras that were crawling away from Joey. Looking all around, the different rattles of wings and leaves surrounded the disillusioned man.
He blinked several times, his head going blank for a second. 'I think I really am losing it…'
"Pod! Tadiaľto!" Tympole flopped joyfully before pouncing off elsewhere.
Joey raised a brow. "What? You know the way?" Taking a gander at what he was saying, Joey followed the tadpole. The first step was getting up. With shaky legs, he used a nearby tree to position himself. He was definitely not in the best shape. "Okay, okay. I'll be there…"
Stumbling aimlessly through the underbrush, Joey managed to catch up with Tympole on the other side of some bushes. Tympole plopped off a rock and into the smooth creek and swam along a pathway of stones.
"Geez dude, slow down, would ya?" Joey stepped onto a rock. He waddled onto the next one. "You sure this is the way back?"
Tympole jumped in and out of the water with joy across to the other side. Joey followed, his strides on the stones picking up to skips. Even he was surprised.
"H-Hey…look at me…!" He gasped jovially. He made another leap over a stone. "I'm…hopping!"
He continued skipping towards the other side without breaking a sweat. For some reason, his energy was getting brighter. Probably from his body finally getting the jumpstart it needed after a week. He didn't care. For now, he was getting high on a little nature.
With a joyous cackle, Joey raced the frolicking Tympole across the open woods to the hilly fields full of flowers. There, Butterfree chimed as they gathered to feast on pollen. The chirping of their conversations enticed Joey. It wasn't the music he was used to…but it was more…therapeutic? He didn't know. He skipped with Tympole across a log and leaped on through. The cool breeze through the meadow, the grinding of petals that scattered. The Butterfree chirping. The leaves rustling. The nearby riverbank flowing. These noises filled his hearing aids with relaxation-filled themes that he was taking in.
Joey was having the time of his life. No music. No noise pollution. Nothing poisonous to ruin their lives. Tympole was free and out of his cage, and Joey's body was back in business. The two newfound friends slowly looked to each other's eyes as time slowed down around them. They looked so alive!
With the sun overhead, Joey and Tympole frolicked into the unknown with laughter behind them.
"Captain?! Captain Joey?!"
Dereece walked through the underbrush of the woods, his pacing faster than Duncan's. They – or rather Dereece – had been training the Tympole all day, and while progress was made, Joey hadn't come back. Even as the sun was going down now, it was still too long.
"This isn't good. I shouldn't have left him alone." Dereece cursed himself. He heard rustling behind, but it wasn't Joey. He frowned when he saw that it was Duncan taking his time. "Hey, try and keep up, would ya?"
Duncan's eyelids half-shut. "It's not my fault the Captain decided to up and leave."
"Still, we've gotta keep searching!" He heard a humming overhead that alarmed him. Looking up, he saw his Yanma descend from the air. She dropped and clung to his head to rest.
"Yanma! Please tell me you've found him!" Dereece begged dryly.
Yanma lifted off his head and sailed off in a direction. Dereece looked at Duncan and nudged him with a head notion. "C'mon."
They followed Yanma as she sailed through the woods, deep into the grotto that passed through various shrubs and bushes. When Yanma breached the other side, she perched herself on a rock. Dereece and Duncan burst out next to find where Yanma was sitting.
"Look…" Dereece waddled up towards the rock. He saw clothing sprawled onto it, mainly a buttoned white t-shirt with a collar and a fancy spotted coat folded beside it. He instantly recognized where they came from. "The Captain's upper clothing…why are they here?"
Duncan looked ahead, his raised brow catching Dereece's eye. He turned and blinked at what he was seeing. "What the-?!"
Right beside the rock was a rather large lake, where the streams from the Eastern Forest had gathered. Along the shallow water, a Gyarados roared as he arched back in to swim off. Floating nearby was a Trubbish on her back, her body like a big bag to keep afloat. Flapping across the water was Tranquill, who was carrying Quilladin before he let go.
"Cannonball~!" Tucking in his limbs, he curled into a ball and spun into the water with a large splash. The splash drenched Joey and Tympole nearby.
"Nice one!" Joey gave a thumbs up.
"Lepšie ako minule!" Tympole jumped up and did a backflip in midair. "Bupta!"
"You said it, buddy! Bupta!" Joey noticed the familiar faces ashore, his attitude brimming brighter. "Hey, guys! What took ya?!" he waved at them. "You guys can get in! The water's awesome! Tympole and I never felt so alive!"
Tympole agreed with a chirp. Nearby, Trubbish belched weakly, her musky fume layering the water. In a matter of seconds, she noticed some Magikarp that floated to the surface on their sides, spirals in their eyes.
Joey laughed it off and dove in, Tympole following him. Dereece and Duncan stared in complete awe at his completely new attitude that befuddle them.
"…I think the Captain's officially lost his mind." Dereece whispered.
Duncan turned away. "Hmph. Funny, thought he never had one at all."
A few days later
A whole week had passed since the deal had been made. Today was the big day for everyone in Kunugi, and now it was time to see what their relation to their Water-type training meant. Gathered along the streams, many of the contestants had various Water-types lined up, and they all had belonged to several Trainers and citizens that have gotten used to them. Poliwag, Shellder, Goldeen, and several Magikarp were present as those seemed to be the main catches people could've found.
On a small makeshift stage, there was a tall, burly man with a curled moustache. He had a black hat and suite combo, and dark eyes. Beside him was a stool with a cage on it, showcasing his choice, which was a Slowpoke. He cleared his throat as he spoke into the lacrima microphone. "Er-hem. Now then…" He stepped back to adjust his collar before leaning in again. "Hello, one and all! I, your mayor Van here. And today, we are coming to all of Fiore, live! Where we have the new local sport showing up today! As your host, it is in my power, to ensure each and every single individual, make sure that they and their Pokémon enjoy the first ever Stream Derby! The winner whom…" He moved to the side, revealing a glass case with a large golden trophy on it. And on it was also a check, with the prize money being the biggest thing everyone was after. "…will be walking away with a solid gold trophy, proving their mastery along the river! And as a bonus, the winner, shall also receive a potential 500,000 Jewel, provided by part of the Cambire Foundation's expenses!"
All around, reporters from Sorcerer Weekly were present and interviewing some of the more well-known people, and those who had the cooler-looking Pokémon that seemed well conditioned and ready. A Trainer with a Poliwrath and a Dewott were being interviewed offhand.
In the background, Joey and The Freaks were currently walking with the cages of Tympole present. Mest was also there with his Kirlia, who was seen banging his head against a nearby tree. Since he had to use his Teleportation to help The Freaks transport there. He was in the town a couple of times, so he knew where they were going. He stood with them as he raised a brow.
"You guys sure about this?" he asked.
"Well there's no backing out now, I'm afraid. We're already here." Dereece pointed out. "Thanks again for the help. We really appreciate it."
Mest nodded. "Don't mention it. Come along, Kirlia."
Kirlia was banging his head against a nearby tree, but teleported as he knocked his head hard. Mest followed him back to the guild.
Joey looked around, holding the cage that contained the Tympole he bonded with. He saw all the Water-types around them. "Get a load of this, guys. There's a bunch of competition today…"
He definitely wasn't wrong. Aside from several other Magikarp people had, he saw familiar Pokémon like Buizel, and others that looked like sea slugs and turtles. He almost didn't recognized a few of them. But he knew if they weren't Pokémon, they wouldn't have gotten behind security. 'This must be a bigger deal than I thought. Everyone's looking so into it…'
"Du~des…are those seriously all my Tympole?" Sam stood in front of the twenty or so cages of Tympole that kept croaking. They not only sounded better than before, but they looked well and refreshed. "Dudes, I knew you guys were, like, Trainers and all…but I almost didn't recognize them."
Duncan nodded. "Thank you."
"It wasn't easy, I tell you that." Dereece sidenoted.
"Nice. And as soon as we win, you guys get your Jewel." He smirked. "Because by these guys, that win is as good as mine."
Dereece inwardly frowned. He knew this was all just a job and all, but he wasn't sure about this. There ere several factors to take into winning a race. True the Tympole were raised well and were healthy, but there wasn't a guarantee…especially if they're up against Golduck and other well-rounded swimmers. Either this guy was so desperate to win or was borderline arrogant. But they needed the money as well.
Sam turned towards Joey. "That one especially looks like a winner, dude."
"Bupta!" Tympole cheered.
"Contestants! Present your Pokémon for final inspection!" the mayor announced.
Joey heard the call loud and clear; his hearing aids made the echo all the more visible. He looked down at Tympole, his brow furrowing. He tussled a heel into the dirt beneath upon hesitation. "Um, Sam? You, uh…sure Tympole doesn't mind?"
Sam raised a brow. "Bruh, what makes you say that? You wanna help me win, right?"
Joey shifted his gaze away. "Well, I do…it's just that…" If he was honest with himself, he didn't know why he was hesitating from the start. He should be happy bout this, right? A week's worth of training (or rather playing) with Tympole wasn't all bad. It was a long wait with a cost that wasn't all fully guaranteed. What was he so upset about? Their hard work was about to pay off…so why did it feel so empty?
He looked down at Tympole one more time, a silence brewing. "…it's nothing."
Tympole croaked gain as he looked up at Joey's heavy frown.
"Alright, bruh. Thanks." Sam had his hands out in waiting for the final cage.
Joey turned the cage to face Tympole one last time, meeting his glossy eyes. His smile was wide and tail wagged for him. He looked so happy now that he's bonded this long with the human. Quirks aside, the Tympole cutely vibrated his ears for Joey. How could he let such a pure thing go back to a slob who couldn't take care of him before.
His eyes misted weakly before he ultimately hesitated to give the cage back. Sam accepted it; but Joey and Tympole's eye contact never left each other. He sat the cage on top and wheeled it on down using the U-Boat that the townsfolk provided.
Joey's shoulders slumped as he breathed in, then out heavily. He was feeling pretty bad about all this…
Dereece put a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, Captain, let's go to the sidelines. They're about to start."
The spectators went off to the stream's side to watch the contestants set their cages in the shallow water. All the caged Water-typed were ordered in racing fashion beside one another from one end towards the other. A twenty-foot line of cages was in front of Sam's spot that housed all the Tympole.
Once everyone was set, Van went over to the stage in front and cleared his throat. "Now then, ladies and gentlemen, let's discuss what the rules are before we begin…"
As he monologued all the rules that droned on, Dereece looked over at Joey's crestfallen face.
Joey was at a complete loss for what to do. As the mayor was going to the next set of rules and directions, he stopped to think about what's happened for almost two weeks now. Two weeks…that's how long he's went without busting a move. He couldn't believe he still lived after losing all his mojo.
"And here I thought you guys stopped being so reliant on others to help you when they're not there. So you're saying this boombox is what keeps Joey's mood up? If you ask me, that thing was a handicap."
On the one hand, Joey might have a chance to get the money he needed to get by for replacing Boombox. A dear friend whom he valued beyond measure. He looked over towards Sam to see that he could provide such a feat. With his lazy posture and scratching the underside with a finger, he didn't look very promising. This was a big gamble, but he so desperately wanted to shake his booty again. He needed to feel good again in his own little world.
His gaze then shifted towards the cages readied to be set free. He saw the big glossy eyes of Tympole looking directly at him, croaking something. The little guy looked so adorable the way he was seeing into Joey. His blue eyes shrunk as his own heart stung at the sight. His bottom lip quivered as beads of sweat were starting to form around his face at the guilt that was stockpiling down on his shoulders.
"Now then, contestants…we're about to commence." The mayor said. "On the sound of the gun, take your marks!"
As he raised his arm with the fake gun set to fire a magical firework, Joey was visibly shuddering. His teeth gnashed so hard together that it could shrunk off Swirlix fluff clean off. His fists started balling tightly with the tension building up inside his conscience. It was now or never…it was either Boombox…or the Tympole's freedom.
Looking at Sam one more time, he knew first-hand that if they did go through with this, the Tympole would all return to him. Then the effort they put into this would've been for them to get sick and lose more of their lifespan. That feeling alone was enough to make Joey want to vomit on purpose.
"You know, it takes a leader to make great decisions…but it takes a real leader to make the good ones. It's better to be a man of goodness before greatness, in my eyes that is."
The words of his late teacher stung Joey for the umpteenth time now. He wanted to be great…but he had to make the good decisions, too. Some things you have to give in order to receive more.
Van held up the pistol to signal the start of the race. "Racers! On your marks…get set…and-!"
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" A shrilled, primal cry alarmed the entire audience. Van and the others stopped in their tracks as the cry came from the sidelines, specifically where the spectators were.
The cry came from Joey as he looked mad. His bellowed cries didn't stop there as he pulled out a Poke Ball and tossed it in the water. In a blue flash below, the stream began bulging a mountain of water that arose behind Joey. The mountain of water roared out, revealing his Gyarados.
"IT'S NOT WORTH IT! IT'S NOT WORTH IT ANYMORE!" He pointed a finger at the captive Water-types in cages. "LIBERATION~!"
Gyarados cried out to the skies, causing the water to rock back and forth. The Atrocious Pokémon swam towards the iron gates that imprisoned the Pokémon and used his glowing fangs to rip through them. Joey manifested a barrier around his fist and dented the iron bars to a Wartortle's cell.
"FREEDOM~!" he roared. At that, the Tympole that were caged began squirming in joy. Hastily, he began prying the cell door open, letting all the tadpoles swim freely.
Van was at a loss here. "He's…he's releasing all the Water Pokémon…" He accusingly pointed at Joey. "HE'S LETTING ALL OF THEM LOOSE!"
Joey laughed maniacally as he unlocked each door, while Gyarados tore them open through his rampage. "Dereece! Duncan! Freedom~!"
Dereece was stupefied with what Joey had done. But he quickly gained ground on what was happening and grinned. "Yeah, I'm with you, Captain!" He pulled out a Poke Ball and tossed it. "C'mon, Seel!"
The Poke Ball flew open, out bursting Seel. The Sea Lion clapped her flippers and followed Dereece. "Geez, so much of a fuss." She huffed, seeing the people running away around her.
Dereece pointed at the cages. "Seel, Icy Wind!" Seel took in a deep breath as her mouth glowed bright blue. She inhaled, then exhaled a cold breath that raced across the water into several cages lined up, containing Magikarp, Barboach, and several other Pokémon that didn't have Poke Balls.
With the freezing wind chilling up the iron bars, a Corphish used his pincers to snip it open. "I'm outta here, baby!" With a salute, he dove back into the stream.
"I'm free!" a Tympole cried.
"I can breathe again~!" Another Tympole cried out.
All the Tympole cheerfully vibrated their cheeks as they swam down the stream in an unorderly fashion. They, along with the many Water-types, scurried in random places. Some of whom decided to come onto shore and squander around people to go into the woods.
Duncan folded his arms, a deadpanned look on his face as several Tympole passed by him. "…so much for that, I guess." He irritably grunted.
Up along the stream, Sam saw his Tympole swimming pass him. "Du~des…what's up? Aren't you guys, like, supposed to be winning me free stuff?"
Some of the Tympole that took notice of their lazy owner gathered around. Sam blinked and leaned in closer without realizing what was going on. Out of the blue, colorful soundwaves echoed straight out for the water into him, blowing him onto his back. He hit his back, immediately knocked out.
"YAAAAAAY~!" The Tympole all cried out in unison. Their colorful soundwaves traveled everywhere across the water and land. Anyone who was too close got away and took off.
In a matter of minutes, the entire river was a mess. There was debris everywhere, along with broken clipboards and cages that were being washed away. The mayor had long since ran off on the account of the rampaging Gyarados that swam downstream.
As the giant was jetting uncontrollably, sitting along the river edge, Joey sat in shock. His shoulders were slumped over and his neck was hunched. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.
As he was regaining control of his conscience, his eyes blinked several times over as Dereece and Duncan came up to him. Dereece was the first to speak to him. "Captain, you okay?"
Joey slowly blinked to register. "…Dereece…what the hell did I just do…?"
"Your conscience completely snapped on you for once, that's what. You gave up half a million Jewel just so a lot of Tympole can live a healthier lifestyle. It was a close call, but…I support you." He put a hand on his shoulder. "You did a good thing."
Feeling his pal's warmth, a soft smile tugged on Joey's lips. "…yeah. I guess I really did do good."
Duncan scoffed his head up. "You know what this means, right?"
"That we're not getting a new Boombox system, we know." Dereece looked back at the wrecked stream. "And also…I think Master Laxus is gonna have a word with us for this…"
Seel jumped out of the stream, shaking her body of the water. She looked mighty refreshed from that. But she wasn't the only one. She turned her head, seeing the Tympole swim to their freedom. "Y'all take care then!" she waved them off.
The Tympole all cooed goodbyes to her as they departed for the clear rivers that lied ahead of them.
Dereece sighed again. "Well, I guess that's that, wouldn't you say?"
Joey dumbly nodded. "Yeah, I guess so…" He was getting feeling in his legs again. Once he attempted standing, a Tympole splashed out of the water onto his lap. "Woah, hey now!"
"Prekvapenie! Myslel som, že sa ma tak ľahko zbavíš, hm?" Tympole joyously looked up at Joey with beaming pride.
Joey blinked in surprise. "Oh, uh…hey Tympole. What are you doing here? I thought you'd wanna…y'know…skedaddle?"
Tympole vibrated his cheeks lightly, chuckling some.
"I think that Tympole really likes you, Captain." Dereece prompted. "Y'know…I think it just wants to stay with you."
Joey was caught by surprise. He looked down at the Tympole for confirmation. "Is that true? Do you really wanna be with me?"
The Tympole plopped on his lap. "Bupta!"
Joey blinked twice over. For once, after two long weeks, he actually felt relieved to an extent. Sure, he felt stupid giving up money, but the smile on Tympole's face made him think otherwise. 'Tympole…' Something glinting in the distance caught his eye. Looking over briefly, he saw something in the grass. Getting up, he ran over to see what it was. Bending down to pick it up, his eyes widened when he saw that it was a Poke Ball. But not just any Poke Ball. It was primarily black, with red, yellow, and white stripes on it. 'Wait…this is a Luxury Ball. Did someone drop it in the panic?' He took a close examination at the Luxury Ball. It was light, so that meant it was empty. 'Doesn't look like it has an imprint of anyone's name on it either. Guess it just dropped.'
"Bupta!"
Looking over his shoulder, Joey saw Tympole plopping up and down, anxious for Joey to catch him. When he saw the opportunity before him, he had to take it as a sign. A smirk crossed his face. "Oh well…one man's trash is another person's treasure as they say." He stepped back, lashing the Luxury Ball at Tympole. "Here we go!"
The capsule spun towards Tympole upon descending. The ball tapped his head and ricocheted into the air. Once it opened, he manifested into energy that went into the ball and closed shut. The ball landed in his place and instantly started rattling.
A few rattles were heard from the capsule; one, then a second, and finally a third. Until a "click" sound came from it. That was the signal.
Joey had caught the Tympole.
"Yes!" Joey ran over to pick up the capsule. He held it to the sky. "You see this, world?! I'm not a loser! That's right! Take that nature!" He pointed towards the sky. "You can take away my tunes! But the booty, will always push on!"
Dereece grinned at the sight, sighing. "Well, at least we didn't get out of this empty-handed." He chose to walk up towards his Captain and padded his shoulder. "You sure you'll be alright without Boombox for a while longer?"
Joey turned and lively grinned. "Heh, don't worry. We'll get by somehow. We'll just have to pick up the slack the next few days is all." He looked down at the Luxury Ball in his hand and threw it up. Out came Tympole, landing in his arms. "And it's all thanks to this guy, right?"
"Bupta!" Tympole cheered.
A bright flash appeared beside Joey, making him shriek and flinch. "AH! Mest! What the hell dude?! You know you really gotta warn someone when you do that stuff."
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." He took notice of the surroundings almost immediately. He blinked in complete shock at the carnage all along the stream. "What happened here…?"
Dereece cut in before Joey could answer. "Tha~t's not important…so, why the sudden visit?"
Mest held something in front of him. Joey and Dereece's eyes twitched at the medium-sized box in Mest's hands. Joey shakily pointed at it. "Wait…is that…?"
"I kinda had to, sorry. The church said to dig it up, since it was taking up some unneeded space." Mest awkwardly glanced away. "…and that you kinda did it without their permission, so there was that, too. But look."
They saw Kirlia walking towards them, withdrawing from the nearby rock that had a small dent in it. He scuttled up and presented something that looked like a lacrima. It had a bright golden sheen around it that gave it a majestic filament to it.
"Um, mind I ask what's going on?" Dereece quipped.
"Allow me to explain." Mest picked the lacrima up from Kirlia. "This right here is a special lacrima, similar to what Magic Headphones use. It draws in magic and ethernano to give it a continual charge."
"Really? But how did you…?"
"I didn't. Mirajane was going through her belongings and had an old pair of Magic Headphones that she doesn't use anymore. We thought about giving it away, but then everyone saw your little 'episode' last week."
Joey's eyes widened. "…you…you don't mean…?"
Mest opened up the back of the Boombox and opened the hatch. Using the lacrima crystal, he inserted it where the battery would go. The single crystal made a perfect fit as the ends stuck into the port. The lid closed. Mest handed it back to Joey as he gazed at it.
Swallowing a lump, Joey's breathing was growing rasped. He didn't know what to say, let alone do. "I…I…"
Dereece nudged him. "Go on, Captain…you've earned it."
"Bupta!"
Hearing their reasoning, Joey swallowed one more lump. He hesitated for a moment, but slowly, he reached for the play button. He closed his eyes and looked away as his finger reached and tapped the play button…
[Anja – Dance All Nite]
The music began playing loud and clear with the beats instantly clicking with electronics. They started vibrating against the Boombox as the speakers played them at great capacity.
Joey opened one eye and blinked. His second eye slowly widened as he slowly turned around to face Boombox. "It…it lives…" he rasped. "It lives…IT LIVES!" He noticed something off, too. Looking down, his hips were swaying sexily s his legs pivoted with the beat. His bright smile widened further. "Dereece, Duncan…look! It's back! My dancing groove is back, baby! It's a miracle!"
Dereece and Duncan stepped back to allow Joey his space. He started breakdancing with his arms stiffening with elbows out. He swerved his body back with exotic exaggeration. Tympole watched with his cheeks vibrating in synch with the tunes.
"Páči sa mi to!"
"I know, right?!" Joey stomped off to the side, smiling as he went back to his original position. He was dancing nonstop, while Mest decided to work his way around it.
"I think I'll get going now…see you guys are busy." He dismissed himself and Kirlia in teleportation.
Dereece looked at Joey dancing his heart out, a smile creeping onto him. "Well, I guess that solves that problem, too."
Duncan turned away in disinterest. "Good for you."
"Aha~! Feels awesome to be back in business again! But really though…" Much to Dereece's surprise, Joey stopped his dancing and turned the music off. He faced his team with a serious disposition. "You know, I actually learned a lesson from all this. It's never wrong to live your life and party hard till you die. Gotta practice what you preach, am I right?" he chuckled. "But also, sometimes…it's okay to put the tunes down and smell the roses…maybe not all the time. But, you know, it's always nice to hear some other things around you, too." He turned his head down towards Tympole. "It's not tunes…but it's something I can groove to."
Tympole happily flopped. "Bupta!"
"Now then, come everybody!" He hit the play button again, starting up at the chorus. He shimmied his way through his allies. "We have a week's worth of booty to make up for! Stride like you own it!"
Dereece held up an index finger. "Um, Captain? Aren't you forgetting something?"
Joey raised a brow. He looked in the direction where Dereece was pointing towards looked downstream. In the distance, waves were splashing as many fish were swimming for their lives from Gyarados' silhouette bashing through logs and branches. His roars were loud and ferocious.
"Oh…" he shrugged. "Meh, we'll get him on the way back. Oh! That reminds me! I know a great field we can all shimmy through as a shortcut!"
"Bupta~!" Tympole cheered.
Dereece and Duncan looked at each other and went silent as they followed their dancing leader, seeing nothing but his behind shaking all the way into the sunset with the tadpole frolicking beside him.
"So what's the status?"
Jefferey's branch of the Cambire Foundation was hard at work. He stood in front of a machine that looked similar to a pod with green bubbling liquid inside. In the center of the containment was the Z-Ring and crystal that were attached to wires that detected its energy output.
An employee was looking through a holographic screen, showing wavelengths of energy that seemed to have gone drastically higher. "Sir, there's an 87% increase since last time. The theory was correct all along."
Jefferey stood in front of the pod, his hands behind his back as he investigated the bizarre stone The Freaks had sent in a short while back. It's been two weeks, and even from day three, his patience was as thin as paper. But unlike Charlotte, he was showing self-control over the results.
Eliza walked up to his side, arms behind her back as well. "Mr. Bistro, I trust that we're on schedule for this, right?" She handed him a steaming cup of coffee. He accepted it with his gloved hand.
Thanks to the gloves, the heat from the hot cup didn't directly burn his hand. Though it was kinda harsh to the touch. He took a small sip to quench his energy levels. The sting of piping hot coffee ran down his throat to his stomach. He could've been seen smacking his lips at the effort he took to keep his subordinates from knowing his tongue was burning.
"Don't worry. This isn't taking much longer, Eliza." He sat the coffee off to a metal plate, his eyes still on the prize ahead. "So, how is the production still going?"
Eliza dutifully saluted. "Sir, the recruits are cooperating as of now. The production of the berries has also been at a stable rate. However, there's been a 6% demand increase for Super Potions, and a 4% increase for Hyper Potions. There's also the education program for volunteers outside the foundation that's been getting substantially high."
It was bound to happen in Jefferey's case; he knew it was coming. He and Arthur were aware of how much the Cambire Foundation has been growing and gaining names everywhere. To someone like Arthur, it was a steppingstone and a great deal to a man who was very trustworthy. However, to someone who had a more strict mindset like Jefferey, he wanted room. Inwardly he was worrying with how much land the Cambire Foundation would have left until they would have to compensate with the populace needing to rely on them. He was more than pleased to know he would be able to provide for all, but the supplies and the territory would have to be sorted out at a later date.
"I see…set a date this week so we can have a meeting with Arthur about the education programming. We've recently learned some new methods to help the Trainers."
"Sir." Eliza dutifully straightened herself and turned away. She walked out the door as it slid shut.
Looking back at the doors to find Eliza gone, Jefferey sighed to himself. "…she always makes my coffee too hot." He snickered. "Always keeping me on my toes I see…"
"Sir, shall we begin the next test?" an employee asked.
He turned to him. "Please do." He faced the pod once more, eyes narrowing. In the background, the lights brightened around the containment to make it illuminate brighter. 'We have to discover what secrets these things are capable of. As far as we know…the future of Pokémon could depend on it.'
The employees increased the output, causing the stone and crystal alike to dully shone inside the liquid.
In the far reaches of Earth Land's deserts, it was quiet. In the depths of the valleys of sand dunes, a crack in space was seen. It chipped off, revealing hints of a dimensional pull. Something inside cried out on the other end that echoed into the desert night sky.
Well, here you have it, one more chapter for ole 2019. I know I didn't update at all in November, but I was focusing on From Depths We Rise, and I still am. I just wanted to get this chapter out so you guys weren't deprived for so long. Still though, this year regarding my Fanfiction in general, I've been slacking really hard. I should've been updating like once a week on a single story so I could be getting like 100 or so updates a year. I know in 2016, I think my record was 120…but now my chapters have been getting twice as long, and my pacing has been dropping. I have really got to get myself back in writing shape!
I will also apologize if this chapter was a little more on the last side of things. I know many of you were expecting something like Sophie since she's partially the focus this time. But I wanted to get this comedic backlash out of the way for The Freaks since they also are a part of this. You could say this was another Joey episode, but I wanted to make this one more or less…semi-developmental, sort of speak. You can say it was a filler, yet it wasn't. But bottom line here was that this was how I feel Joey should have caught his 5th Pokémon, Tympole. And for those who know or are familiar with Slovakian, I apologize in advance. I got Google translate to work with, in no way am I a pro at speaking in general.
With Tympole's personality and language, I was having a really hard time with what to do. If I didn't make something of Tympole, he'd just have a bland personality. So I thought 'what if I made him speak a different language for comedic relief?', and this was what I got. Normally I would have parentheses and the translation to English like I did with Sophie, but I chose not to just to keep everyone on their toes. You can also say that this is another part of Joey's trait that Tympole personifies: Interpretation.
So anyways, guys, now Joey has his 5th Pokémon, and it looks like we have a little something happening with Ultra Beasts. Plus, the Cambire Foundation and Council are making plans that'll be coming up. Stay tuned!
So if I don't update before New Years, have a happy holidays guys, and stay safe!
