[Originally completed January 21st, 2019. Published July 20th, 2019.]
Chapter 2: Strains of the Wilds
The sun came to blanket over the darkness of night, and the walls of the little dome-shaped house on the cliffside reflected the dim sky back, repelling the warmth of light away in all but the paneless windows. The rays shone through to the forcefully shut eyes of a cubone, burning away at them and presenting him the world once again.
The cubone awoke with a low, piercing yelp. His breathing changed from the gentleness of automation to the heavy breaths of a man gasping for air and life. The brief commotion caused the door to the other room to slowly open. Mathew then saw Meowth step in of his room to check the source of the distress.
"You're awake," Meowth said. "I thought I heard somebody in here."
Mathew shakedly turned his head at the door to the other room before realizing it was only the quiet homeowner. "O-oh, Meowth! Y-you're up, too?"
"Yes."
"S-sorry if I woke you up," Mathew said before slowly rising from his nest. "It - it was just a nightmare, is all." The cubone rubbed his eyes as he stood up and approached Meowth.
"I see."
As the two spoke, Mathew noticed the totodile nearby was slowly beginning to shift. Joey stretched across his nest, trying to get into a more comfortable position. As he moved, he seemed to notice the awkward conversation taking place a few feet away. "Wh… What's going on...?" Joey yawned.
"Oh, you're awake, too," Mathew said, turning his head back to see the totodile. "And it's nothing."
Joey pulled himself up from the once comfy bed of sticks. "Oh. So, when does work start?" he asked.
"Two hours," Meowth responded.
"I guess we have time to kill?" Mathew asked.
"Seems so," Meowth said.
Joey looked down at his stomach, seemingly feeling a grumble. "Y'know what we all need? Breakfast. Do you have anything?"
Meowth shrugged. "I know a place, but you owe me from your first paycheck."
"After paying for that doughnut, that's pretty fair," Joey looked around the sparse room. Using only the dim light from the window, the totodile looked towards their pikachu roommate laying curled in peace upon his nest. "Who's gonna wake him?" After a pause, the totodile slowly started to do it himself. Joey walked up to the pikachu and gently nudged the small mouse on the cheek. "Rise and - OW!" The totodile jolted his hand backward.
"Oh, oh, I'm up, I'm up!" Jermy flung himself into a sitting position instantly. "Wait… Oh. Good morning, Joey. And… Mathew. And - Was I the last to wake up?"
"Not by much," Joey told him.
"That feels… strange. I'm not used to being the last one up. Usually I'm a bit more up-and-at-em', you know?" Jermy reached over for his spherical companion and turned him on.
"GOOD MORNING, MATHEW, JOEY, MEOWTH," ORB greeted.
"And me!" Jermy exclaimed.
"NO. YOU DON'T DESERVE A GOOD MORNING, JERMY."
Jermy ignored the brief and simple insult. "So anyways, what's going on, guys?"
Mathew quickly recapped the plans to Jermy.
"Alright then. When are we going?" Jermy asked.
"Soon," Meowth said before turning around. "Just let me get my contacts in."
"You wear contacts?" Mathew asked. As the words left his mouth, Mathew noticed the green coloration to the cat's eyes were gone, replaced by black pupils. "Wait, color contacts?"
"You aren't wearing contacts?"
"Um… No, I have natural brown eyes," Mathew responded.
"Yeah, me too…" Joey followed up.
"Yep," Jermy quipped. "I have normal blue ones."
"That shouldn't be possible. How…" Meowth opened his door. "I'll worry about this later." (He will not worry about this later.)
Meowth returned to the confines of his room, not to be seen for a few minutes. He later stepped out of his room, his eyes now shining their quaint green hue and his paw now holding the same kit he had carried the previous day. Mathew departed the house alongside his strange new housemates, ready to venture into their new lives.
The door of Kalmwa'er Resort opened silently, letting in the group of four. Within were the likes of the remaining coworkers who had arrived some time before them while they were away eating. Joey watched as Mathew took the time to engage in casual conversation, Jermy introduced everyone to ORB to allow him to identify everyone in the room, and Meowth stood around silently.
Soon, Mrs. Cinccino arrived carrying a large set of blue satchels. Joey noted that each one was almost boringly indistinguishable in size, color, and shape. The totodile comfortably settled a satchel under the same arm he had carried ORB with the previous day. As the gathering for the collection of satchels disbanded, he drew his attention towards a conversation between Breloom and Minccino, interested in learning more about the pokémon he had yet to properly engage with.
"Hey Minccino, look what finally came in!" Breloom said. Her appearance had changed from the previous day; now she was showing off a green bracelet with words Joey couldn't make out. In her hand she was holding the end of a necklace a circular piece of metal engraved with a foreign-looking symbol. Joey wouldn't have noticed it past the straps of the Pick-it Up Club satchel had she not been holding it at that moment.
"Hey, that looks awesome! I know you two were waiting on those for a while," Minccino said.
"Yeah! Politoed was so excited when that pelipper came in with them."
"I sure bet he was. They look great on both of you!"
Joey was about to compliment Breloom's new attire himself when suddenly Mr. Persian was upon them.
"Good morning!" Mr. Persian began. "As usual, Medicham will be splitting you up today."
"Wait, hold on. We're splitting up?" Mathew said.
"Indeed. It'd be quite useless to keep everyone in one area, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah, that seems fair…" Jermy said.
"Now then, direct your attention to Medicham. See you all soon." With that, Mr. Persian made his exit.
"Today, we have a dungeon in heavy need of assistance," Medicham informed the group. "Asulaguah Beach has received an influx of garbage pulled in from the tides."
"That's the fifth time since this job even opened up…" Breloom said worryingly.
"It's a rarity?" Joey said hopefully.
"Common," Meowth answered out of his silence.
"The Club's only been around for two weeks," Minccino explained. "Five out of twelve days is pretty frequent, I'd say."
"Returning to topic…" Medicham reeled everyone back in. "We'll need our best workers busy with that beach, and our new employees need some time to become comfortable, so we'll be splitting into a group of five and a group of three. Going to Asulaguah Beach: Jermy Shock, Joey, Mathew Walker, Minccino, Politoed. Going to Verde Valley: Breloom, Meowth, Ziggy."
"Hm? That wasn't in the rotation before." Said Breloom.
"Yes. Verde Valley usually doesn't cause enough trouble to send members, but today I felt an unexpected resurgence. You'll be heading straight to the cliffsides to the west and back, since the valley is too large to reasonably clean everything," Medicham said. "Unless either of you are interested in working extra."
Breloom eyed Politoed, then shook her head.
"Any questions?" Medicham asked.
"Uh, I've got one," answered Mathew.
Medicham looked down at the cubone. "Hm, yes?"
"How dangerous would you call this… job? On a scale of one through ten?"
"...I don't believe I'm exactly the one to tell you. I'm not the one who ventures through dungeons. My job is to guide you to where it's most important for you to focus efforts."
"Oh."
"Relax, dungeons around here are no biggie, especially Asulaguah Beach," Minccino said.
"MOVE!" Ziggy said. "LUCK IS GOOD FOR YOU I HOPE!" He then ran to the doors and attempted to squeeze through the small gap the automatic doors provided as it opened too slowly for the creature's pace.
"Woah, wait for us!" Breloom exclaimed, hurrying out as well. Meowth glanced at the other group, then followed her silently.
"'S about time for us to get moving, too, I think," Politoed said.
"You're right, Politoed. ONWARDS!" Minccino exclaimed, charging out of the hotel.
"Wait, don't run off too!" Mathew said as they began to give chase. The group ran southwards along the streets until those streets turned at a corner to begin forming the next edge of town. From there, they ran along the grasses, slowing down to wade through it when it became tall enough to trump their size at its end. Finally, they moved into the sands which were under siege by the brilliant white attacks of the water several yards away.
Joey noticed Mathew lightly hopping each step he took, as if the beach was heated by the sun. The totodile took a moment to analyze as he moved and found that the sand felt a comfortable, tender warmth that filled his feet as they coursed through the surface and remain carried inside the gaps between his toes. He wasn't so sure why Mathew found it uncomfortable.
Suddenly, from behind Joey came a yelp. He stopped and turned his head to see Jermy laying on his side in the sand after tripping and falling. From being covered with grains of sand at the expense of slathering the side of his body with them, Jermy was able to save ORB, which he had been carrying in front of his chest. Joey turned back and approached him. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" Jermy said sadly as he pulled himself to his feet.
"NOTICE: SANDY TERRAIN DETECTED," ORB announced. "PROCEED SLOWLY TO AVOID TRIPPING. SAND COULD PROVE DANGEROUS TO HARDWARE."
"Yeah, thanks, buddy," Jermy said as he began walking again. Joey followed slowly alongside him.
"YOU'RE WELCOME," ORB stated.
As the two of them walked, Jermy pulled his brown goggles over his tall ears and began inspecting them. "All over my goggles, ugh…" he muttered. He then reached behind his head and untied his floral bandana. He held the goggles in his right hand and rubbed the lens with the bandana with his left.
"Is that why you wear a bandana? So you can carry it as a cleaning item?" Joey asked.
"Yep. It was a joke Secret Santa gift from my sister when we were teenagers. She got a real kick out of my reaction. Joke's on her now, heh."
Joey looked at Jermy quizzically. "Secret Santa? What's that?"
"O-Oh, just a… just a holiday tradition. Don't you worry yourself about it."
"Alright then." Joey decided to respect Jermy's boundaries, having learned from Mathew. Their attention was drawn ahead of them as they caught up with Mathew and Politoed, who themselves caught up with an exhausted Minccino. She was visibly intaking air while lightly holding her right foot off of the ground. Joey watched her swap to her left foot in a cycle of tending to her soles.
"How do you know we've arrived?" Mathew asked.
"The taped tree… it's… over there…" Minccino said past her breaths. She pointed away from the beach and towards the wooded area that stood opposite of the water. One of the many trees that filled the area had a strip of bright, visible yellow tape wrapped around its trunk. "It means… we're about to get into... the thick of it." The area in front of them agreed with Minccino; dug into the grains were pieces of all kinds of used articles. Bottles, canisters, and bags were arranged in an unorganized manner, but they all shared the same similarity; they were completely coated in sand.
"Are you alright?" Joey asked. "Do you need to sit down?"
"No, I'm fine… Just sprinted a good distance… I'll trail behind for a bit."
"Leading again, then," Politoed mumbled with an air of familiarity. Joey, Mathew, and Jermy all began to follow the tall pokémon and proceeded into Asulaguah Beach. They broke up to begin casually picking up whatever was nearby.
Joey dug his right hand into the sand and pulled out some kind of ripped-off plastic wrapping. He briefly took a glance at it, understood it as part of a water bottle, then dumped his first ever piece into the satchel. He took notice of his brown-colored friend moving closer towards the shimmering blue. Its allure captivated him to step into the soaked sand and begin cleaning trash there. While that region had its payouts, the ocean's harsh waves often took away trash as soon as it was visible. The garbage easier to collect was closer to the end of the sand and the beginning of the soil. The totodile decided he should focus his efforts in that region of the beach instead.
On his way to the beach's northeastern end, Joey took notice of yet another instance of heat bearing its wrath down upon his friends. He saw Jermy fanning himself intensely with his hand as he moved from one discarded article to another. Joey stopped walking. He reached up with his right hand and brushed against the side of his face. Bringing it down, he felt the liquid left on his hand. It was hot and he was sweating… but he couldn't feel it. Why? He began to dive into the questions he didn't like asking. Shouldn't he be able to feel it? Was there something wrong with him for not feeling it? Was it-
"You drifting off there?"
Joey was pulled back into reality. Politoed had turned to look back at his companions and found him frozen on the beach. "O-Oh, yeah, I was." He began walking back to the edge of the beach. As he approached, he could see a large circle of accumulated garbage covered in sand. "There's a lot here. Care to help?"
"Sure, no problem with me." Politoed began reaching down to pull out a plastic bottle. "Hot day, right?" Politoed asked while squatting with his hand on the bottle, distracting himself with Joey. "At this rate, we're gonna evaporate!"
"E...Evaporate?" Joey asked, concerned.
"Get it? ...Because we're water type, and we're…" Politoed slowly let go of the bottle and came back up. "...You know what a type is, right? You didn't know what Mystery Dungeons are, so..."
Joey despondently shook his head while grabbing a discarded canister full of sand.
Politoed sighed. "Guess I'm always gonna be stuck as a teacher, huh?"
Joey looked back at Politoed in surprise. "You're gonna teach me?"
"Well've gotta make sure you can do it so you can contribute at work. Plus, it's kind of important stuff." Politoed stepped back from the trash-covered region so he could demonstrate. "So. Not everyone's created the same, right? Every pokémon is made distinct with a type, usually a combination of two or maybe three if they're using a weapon. The type each pokémon possesses is manipulable in a lot of ways."
"What do you mean by manipulable? Is it, like, bending the elements?"
Politoed gave Joey a strange look. "Elements? You mean, like, hydrogen and nitrogen and all that? Or controlling the weather?"
"You know, air, water, earth, and fire?"
"Uh, those are types, Joey. There's a bunch more than just four. You have all of those - but most people call earth type ground type - plus others like electric, fighting, steel, dragon, ghost, poison, psychic, and a couple of others. Each of them plays a role in the dynamics of pokémon species and combat. Let me use, um…" Politoed's gaze sailed over the totodile. "Minccino as an example." Joey looked behind him and saw Minccino in the back of the pack slowly gathering trash. Her satchel already looked halfway to capacity. "A normal type. Run-of-the-mill, not too special when it comes to attacks. A better fighter - a fighting type like Breloom - could take her down more quickly. That's called a type advantage, or disadvantage from Minccino's perspective."
"Oh, I think I understand. What type am I, and what am I weak to?"
"Water type, like me. We specialize in, well, water. It's all over us, in our bodies and out. Most of us actually have this little pack near the lungs full of water, and we can switch to it to fire water attacks out of the mouth. You breathe out and try to get this gurgling feeling in the throat, then…" Politoed exhaled. He pulled his head back, and…
Joey was taken by surprise. Out of Politoed's open mouth came a concentrated stream of bubbles densely packed between one another, which struck the sand rapidly. Once Politoed was finished, the segment of beach was deeply dampened. Politoed took a deep breath to return to normal breathing. "...Get an attack like that."
"Wow! That was cool!" Joey said. "But does it really count as an attack?"
"They hurt more than they look," Politoed explained. "Our watery selves give a bunch of other nifty things. We have type advantage against fire, so all kinds of heat feels much cooler."
"THAT'S why the beach doesn't feel hot!" Joey realized.
"Yep," Politoed said. "But don't forget that you have type disadvantage against grass types like Breloom and electric types like Jermy. Be wary if you know you're fighting against one of those types."
"Hey!" Minccino arrived at the scene. "What are you two doing?"
"Was just teaching Joey here some stuff about fighting."
"Oh, cool! But you really should get back to trash collection. I can't tell you just how much stuff you, Mathew, and Jermy have been leaving behind that I had to pick up for you." Minccino's filled satchel spoke for itself.
"What was that?" Mathew asked as he approached with a bag quarter-full of junk.
"Uh, nothing."
Mathew's eyes were drawn to the already filled satchel in Minccino's possession. "Wow, that's a lot, Minccino."
"A lot?" Minccino responded. "This is nothing compared to the last house I cleaned! Some people, man. You get one look at the living room, and you just think 'NOOO! Why would you do that to your own property...!'"
"I know, right? I had this friend once, Greg, and his living room was something else, I tell you. He was hilarious, but Lord, that room… It only got worse the longer I knew him, heh."
Minccino winced at the thought of this enigmatic friend and his heretical uncleanliness. "How do you become FRIENDS with someone like that?!"
"Because he's a cool guy, of course! Just because he needs to clean his house doesn't mean he's a bad person."
"No offense, but that does sound like a bad person," Joey commented.
"Nah, he was pretty fun other than that thing."
"...If you say so…"
"Well, anyway…" Minccino redirected the conversation. "I have a lot of stuff now. It's an advantage of being in the back, but I'm basically a sitting duck now that mine's full."
"Let's trade," Joey said. "My satchel's pretty much empty. You'd be better off with it." The two wordlessly exchanged and a new weight was brought on the totodile. With it, he lead the charge into the trash circle they had neglected for the past few minutes, Politoed behind him.
"The hell was...?!" As they finished the cleansing of the radius, Joey's attention was drawn to Mathew's exclamation behind him. The cubone had his weapon drawn, aimed at the sand. He eyes were darting in every direction, searching for something as he slowly shuffled away from the soaked sand.
Politoed seemed confused. "Hell? That, like, a play on heck…?" Minccino shrugged in response.
The three watched as Jermy approached Mathew. "Hey, are you alright?"
"I h-heard something scuttling around - it touched my leg and-!"
Politoed started approaching the mortified pokémon. "Probably just a wild Wimpod under the sand. They're normal here."
"W-wilds?"
"Wilds. You know 'em, yes?"
"I mean, I know what being 'wild' is, but - I'm confused. Some people are normal, and others not? It's - it's just so strange."
"Wild pokémon WOULD be normal, but they're messed with by the Mystery Dungeon. Going a bit crazy from the exposure; makes them screwy and a bit hostile."
"Wait, wait. Are you saying that lunatics are going to attack us on top of the already exhausting work?!"
"Not just during the job," Minccino said. "Wilds are active in all Mystery Dungeons around the world, Mathew. They have a very… special culture they intend to keep."
The cubone paused. "Oh, okay, I get it now." Mathew began removing his empty satchel from his body, then dropped it on the ground. When he finished, he turned around and began to walk away. "See ya."
"Wait, where are you going?"
"Back to town. I didn't come to this place to deal with this crazy crap."
"Wait, Mathew," Jermy said. "If you leave, you won't get paid for the shift."
"I don't care!" He twisted his head backwards in fury. "I didn't take this job so I could have my ass kicked by hobos! I could've done that at home! I'm here because I'm sick of this kind of crap!" He slowly turned around and began walking again. "I'll sell some tech again or some shit," he muttered.
"Woah, nelly, Mathew." Joey ran over to Mathew and blocked his way forward. "Let's slow down for a moment. Minccino just told you that Mystery Dungeons are a common thing, right?"
"There's a Mystery Dungeon between every town!" she shouted.
"These dungeons are a way of life, sort of."
"Why should I care?" Mathew asked sternly.
"Well, what if something bad happens to Jermy or somebody and you need to go into a Mystery Dungeon to help them?"
"I'll inform the local authorities about the situation and let them handle it."
"But what if there's no authorities?"
"Joey, you're terrible at convincing me. Like this situation would ever happen."
"Okay, let's try something else. What if you're in danger? Alone? Scared? They're common, it could happen."
"Just get to the point."
"Look, I won't tell you that you have to stay. Just… I think the practice could be good for you, you know? Even if you hate it, stick around for practice. Let the rest of us handle trash. Please, just for two weeks to understand the basics. Then you can do whatever you want."
Mathew seemed to dwell on this for a moment. Finally, he sighed. "Two weeks. And if anybody gets seriously injured, I'm done."
"Thank you." Joey helped Mathew begin the path back to his bag, which laid on the sand… until the satchel's strap was pulled under and the satchel vanished beneath the grains.
"Oh no!" Minccino ran to the crime scene. "That Wimpod snatched your bag, Mathew! We've gotta get it back."
"I mean, was Mathew going to use that satchel for much, anyway?" Jermy asked.
"Maybe not, but that Wimpod has stolen trash we've gotta get back."
"My satchel had barely anything in it," Mathew said. "What harm could it really do?"
"A lot! One piece of trash is just the start of a long chain of events that eventually will end in our children's children being made entirely out of plastic bottles and tin cans! Do you want that for your grandchildren?"
"Um… no…?" Joey said, lost in the fantastical logic of Minccino's statement.
"Plus, if that wild tries using the satchel as a food source, it's going to choke to death."
"Okay, that makes more sense as a reason," Joey said.
"No denying that," Mathew responded.
"Good! Now let's get that bag," Minccino said confidently.
"How, though?" Mathew asked. "It's under the beach."
"Well, uh… I could dig it out of the sand with Tail Slap…?"
"Need to know where it is first," Politoed said. "Like finding a thorn in a haystack."
"We'll find ten thorns in a hundred haystacks if we have to, we're finding this bag!"
"Let's scan the ground for any signs of his location," Jermy said. "The thing can't go far while he's in the sand." The group silently accepted the plan and began scanning the ground. As Joey walked, he forcibly exhausted the air in his breath, searching for that feeling Politoed was speaking of moments ago.
"What's up with you?" Mathew asked the totodile.
Joey lurched his view up from the sand to the cubone. "Oh, I was just trying to do the thing that Politoed talked to me about. He did something like…" This time, Joey pulled his neck back. After exhaling, he felt something cold bubbling deep within his throat. At that moment, he knew he had it. He swiftly threw his head forwards and dispensed the sensation…but it was all wrong! No bubbles came out of his mouth. Only a tiny stream of water that left a pitiful puddle on the sand! "Ugh, no! I messed it up! That's not what it's supposed to look like!" Joey said in despair.
"That just looks like Water Gun to me..." Mathew said.
"What do mean, Water Gun? I'm looking for bubbles, not water..."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but not everyone is going to learn the same things. Politoed knows Bubble or Bubble Beam while you know Water Gun. That's just the way things are."
"Aw…" Joey sank down glumly and picked up another piece of garbage, trying to distract himself with work. Mathew joined him in the endeavor. It would be a few minutes before any of them said anything else: "What are you doing?" Joey asked, glancing at the pikachu ahead of them.
Taken by surprise, Jermy dropped the clump of sand he was holding in his hand. "Oh, sorry! I got distracted, I was thinking…"
"What were you thinking about?" Joey asked.
"Well… Are we really able to find this Wimpod just by looking at the sand? It's probably camouflaged like this all his life. It must be a master at concealing itself."
"TRACKING WIMPOD'S AURAL SIGNAL," ORB announced. "HE IS TRAVELING AT AN ABOVE AVERAGE PACE UNDER THE SAND JUST EAST OF OUR CURRENT LOCATION. NO NOTABLE SURFACE SHIFTING DETECTED."
"See? Sand is so grainy that subtle movements on the surface are barely noticeable."
Joey noticed Mathew pondering beside him, muttering something beneath his breath that he couldn't catch. The cubone turned around and immediately experienced an epiphany. "OH! Jermy, I figured out a plan!" Mathew exclaimed as he ran over to the puddle Joey had just made. "Normal sand is grainy…" Mathew dug his right hand into the puddle and pulled out a handful of wet sand. It dropped out of his angled grip slowly in pieces that ranged in various sizes. "But what about wet sand?"
"Wet sand is a lot chunkier… Oh, I see what you're saying! If we slather the area with water, we'll make the sand chunkier and it'll be more obvious if something's moved. That way we can track the Wimpod's movement on the surface and expose him at just the right moment!"
"Yes, exactly!" Mathew excitedly looked to Joey. "Think you're up for it?"
"Sounds like more of a me job." Politoed approached the cubone. "I can probably cover the area in a breath or two if you all can get out of the way."
"Alright then, come on!" Joey grabbed Mathew by the hand and stormed away, pulling him quickly in the progress.
"Holy crap, Joey! Warn me next time!" Mathew exclaimed as Joey let go and let the cubone regain his bearings.
"Oh, I'm sorry…"
Jermy quickly caught up with the two of them, carrying ORB. At the other end of the beach, Joey could see Minccino running out of the way as well. The three of them watched as Politoed readied himself for the effort. With a few deep breaths, he stared intently some distance in front of him and reared his body. He began to fire the Bubble Beam at the surface, slowly angling his mouth closer and closer as he slowly shuffled around. Exhausted, he completed his work and tried his hardest to recover the air and water he had thoroughly dispensed. They were left with a large circumference of completely drenched sand.
"Let me…" he gasped for air. "Know if you need more done, okay? I'm gonna take a quick breather." Politoed walked off as if he was searching for a bed after running a marathon.
"Look!" Minccino exclaimed, pointing at the surface. A small, oval-shaped elevation in the sand was now clear, causing exposed sand to roll and move off of the elevation.
"Now that the sand is more adhesive to itself, it's harder to break apart what's already linked," Jermy said. "It's obvious when the Wimpod's presence is pushing other chunks around!"
"OH MY GOD, YOUR NERD-SPEAK IS DRIVING ME INSANE," ORB announced.
"Geez…" Jermy muttered, setting him back on the ground and letting his wheel roam free.
"Wait!" Joey exclaimed. "Look! It's coming towards us, out of the circle!" When the rest of the group traced the line the Wimpod was making, it was clear that it was aware that he was just exposed and was seeking escape.
"Hang on! I'll clear the sand above it on the count of three!" Minccino exclaimed, breaking into a sprint towards the exposure.
"Wait, we need a plan first!" Mathew said.
"You have the big bad - uh, swingy weapon of - I meant to say, blunt-force trauma! And death! Or something! Just smack it before it goes underground!"
"That's not much of a plan, but- HOLY SHIT!" Mathew jumped as the top of the isopod-like creature dug itself up where his foot once laid.
Minccino quickly hopped into the air, spun, and swiped at the sand with her large tail. As if a burst of wind emitted from the action, a surprisingly large amount of sand was blown away, completely removing the stealth layer covering the Wimpod's relatively flat backside. Its eyes widened in terror of the oncoming attack. "Three!" Minccino shouted as she landed.
Mathew planted his raised leg just to left of the Wimpod. With the club in both of his hands, he fiercely swung downward into the creature's center. The attack pressured the Wimpod in a way that knocked it out of consciousness swiftly and easily.
And then Mathew pulled back and swung again. And again. And again. Each swing was more sloppy and less prepared, as if he was slipping into an enraged daze that called for his violence to arise past his conscious thought.
"Woah, woah, Mathew, you got 'em," Minccino said. "You can stop swinging."
As if a blur in his eyes focused, Mathew returned to his senses and saw the unconscious Wimpod. "Oh… how long was it…?"
"Didn't you see?" Jermy said. "The first swing was enough. It wasn't a tough thing, and that's why it needed to hide."
"WHAT WONDERFUL INFERENCES," ORB stated. "NONE OF YOUR PEERS COULD HAVE FIGURED IT OUT WITHOUT YOUR BRILLIANT EXPLANATIONS. STOP TRYING SO HARD TO SOUND SMART, PLEASE. WE GET IT."
"...It wasn't clear to me that it was so weak…" Joey said meekly.
"WELL, I DON'T COUNT YOU, JOEY, BECAUSE YOU'RE DU-" ORB was cut off by Jermy forcefully pressing into its power button. Before ORB could lifelessly tumble forward into the sand, Jermy pushed the button again to reactivate the robot. "IS THIS YOUR NEW METHOD OF PUNISHMENT? IT'S NOT WORKING."
"No, buddy, it's just to keep you from saying things that are… very dumb."
"WHO WAS THE PERSON WHO PROGRAMMED THOSE VERY DUMB STATEMENTS?"
"I-" Jermy paused for a moment. "Darn."
"Enough with the buddy comedy already!" Minccino interjected. "Can we get a move on?"
"Yeah, I agree," Jermy said. "We've got a job to do still."
The rest of the crew nodded in agreement before returning to their duties. Systematically they segregated into their own little groups; Jermy accompanied Mathew; and Minccino ran ahead of them all grabbing scraps.
Joey noticed Politoed sitting behind the advancing group. "Hey, Politoed, we're getting back to work. Are you alright?" he said as he approached his new friend.
Politoed turned around while seated to see the totodile. "Oh, you're done with Wimpod?" He began to stand up. "Yeah'm ready to get back to work." The two of them rekindled their small alliance on the way to conquer the filth in the sand. For a short while, they silently dug up and collected every bit of trash they could find, hoping to alleviate some of the workload off of Minccino.
"Hey, by the way… what's that fancy thing around your neck? I saw Breloom wearing one just like it..." Joey asked as they walked to the their next targets.
Politoed looked down at his necklace before turning his gaze to Joey. "Oh, it's a thing for Breloom and I. You know what a musical staff is?"
"...No," Joey said, embarrassed.
"That's fine. All you have to know is that it's the way we can read out music."
"Music? Are you a singer or something?"
"I'm part of a band. That's what this bracelet is for." Politoed quickly showed Joey the bracelet on his right arm, but he brought his arm back down to his side before he could make out anything on the bracelet. "Anyways, long story short, my bracelet has a musical phrase on it that ends on Breloom's necklace."
"Oh. What's it for?"
"You know. Symbol of affection and all that jazz."
"Affection? Are you two related?"
"...Joey, do you know what a couple is?"
"What? Of course I do."
"Finally…" Politoed muttered. "Breloom and I are in a relationship."
"Wow, that's pretty nice."
"Sure is," he said while pulling a large paper plate out of the dirt. Out of conversation topics, the two silently continued their work. As the time slowly passed, trash was collected and their bags began to fill. Joey's hands began to show signs of exhaustion as he dug and dug for each scrap and moved them into his bag. Thus, when his yellow mouse of a friend approached Politoed, he used the budding conversation as an opportunity to take a short break and engage in small talk.
"Howdy, Jermy," Joey began.
"Hey, Joey. I wanted to ask a question to Politoed…"
"Fire away," Politoed said.
"Is my satchel supposed to be full already?" Jermy asked.
"...Why's that matter to you?" Politoed asked back.
"Well… There just seems to be a bunch more trash than what these bags could fit. Aren't we supposed to get it all?"
"Um…" Politoed gathered his thoughts. "Much as Minccino wants to get every little bit, there's a whole lot of mess around here. Really impossible to get it all in a single day. Just do what you can, Jermy."
"Oh… Thanks for the talk, Politoed," Jermy said.
"That seems kind of sad…" Joey said.
"I mean, it's a worldwide problem this little company's trying to cure. Eleven people can't fix everything, Joey."
Joey tilted his head. "Why ain't more people working on it? If it's such an important issue around here, then shouldn't more people want to help?"
Politoed shrugged. "You can't control pokémon, I guess."
"W-well, I mean, you probably could with - never mind, that's dumb," Jermy sputtered.
"...So I guess I'll get back to work," Joey said, proceeding once again.
"Yeah," Jermy said as both of them did the same. As their bags began to reach capacity, each of them felt more and more ready to turn around and cash in their labor. It would only be a few short minutes until they reached a point where it would be smart to return to their homes.
In front of them now was a large barrier made of stone cleaving the beach and reaching into the water. Out of the stone wall came a maw of an opening, spilling a small stream into the ocean.
"What's this?" Mathew asked from the shoreline.
Joey watched Minccino approach the cubone. "This is Roci Grotto. It's its own Mystery Dungeon inside. This place means that Asulaguah Beach ends here."
"Then… Are we done?"
"Yeah, time to turn around, but before I go, I need…" Minccino carefully sat down with her back to the side of the cave.
"I didn't realize the route would be this short…" Jermy said.
"The shorter the better, if you ask me. I don't want to be done in by some maniac hiding in the sand..." Mathew stated, ready to begin the walk back to the entrance of the dungeon. Suddenly, an old plastic shovel within the borders of the dry and wet parts of the beach began to vibrate, causing everyone to stare at it in concern.
"Is that a…?" Joey asked.
"Might be," Politoed said. "Don't get closer to it."
"Oh God, what is this now…" Mathew muttered.
"TOUCH THINE SHOVEL, IF YOU WILL," A voice from beneath the sand boomed.
What was visible of Mathew's face molded itself into pure fear as the cubone carefully tiptoed around the shovel and made his way to the cluster of Joey, Politoed, and Jermy. "Nonononononono…" he repeated rapidly beneath his breath.
"FINE THEN, IF YOU WON'T BUILD MY MAGNIFICENT BODY, THEN I SHALL!" The shovel rose from the beach floor, pulling up a myriad of sand and shells. The material quickly formed into the shaped of a slightly rounded castle. "FIRST THOUST TAKETH THINE TREASURE HORDE, NEXT THOU REFUSES TO FURTHER BRING CONSTRUCTION TO MINE GREAT FORME! THOU SHALT PAY WITH HEAD AND SOUL!"
"Um… W-What?" The cubone spoke meekly.
"Hey." Politoed attracted attention away from Mathew, who was slowly moving towards the back of the group. "We're not looking for trouble." Politoed said.
"OHO! THE THIEF HAST RETURNED."
"Thief?"
"INDEED! THOUST WITH THE BUBBLES!"
"Uh… that circle of trash? Wasn't even your property. It's mucking up the place, and it's our job to return it."
"IT INDEED BELONGED TO MYSELF, THANK THEE MUCH. I CLAIMED IT BY MINE OWN PILLARS. I ADORED MINE COLLECTION DEARLY, AND NOW IT IS GONE! GONE! NOT ONLY HAST THAT BEEN DONE, BUT THOU HAST BROUGHT RUIN TO THE WONDROUS SANDS OF MINE KINGDOM! MINE TURF DOTH BEEN BLIGHTED BY THINE DRENCHING! THOU SHALL BE PUNISHED BY MINE OWN HAND!"
"You don't even have hands!" Minccino exclaimed, standing up as the conversation brought up threats for the second time.
"NAY IS WHAT I SHALL SAY!" The turrets at the side of the sand castle flailed about in random directions. "DOST THOU SEE NOW? HANDS HAVE I!"
"ANALYSIS COMPLETE: THIS GUY'S SPEECH QUIRK SUCKS," ORB said.
"Agreeable," Politoed said.
"ENOUGH, FOOLS! IF THEE SHAN'T TAKE ME IN A MANNER OF SERIOUSNESS THOU MUST FACE MY GUARDS' WRATH!" The sand castle suddenly lowered into its substance. It arose with a pair of small shovels on its spires. When the pallosand moved away, two summoned sandy beings proved their existence under the two shovels.
"FOR THE GLORY OF THE KING!" the sandygasts exclaimed before launching themselves at Politoed with full force.
Noticing the attack, Politoed jumped to the side before countering with a quick volley of bubbles. The attack struck the front "walls" of the enemies, sending the leader into an uncontrollable tantrum.
"REFRAIN FROM AVOIDING MY KNIGHT'S ASSAULT, KNAVE!"
"You ain't allowed to hurt my friend, you jerk!" Joey shouted as he ran and dived into the pallosand's body. Joey's hands sunk deep into the palossand, attempting to pry the enemy apart. However, as his tightened grip found the sand it was hoping to force out of the beast, he found that he could not move himself. Joey yelped in panic as he realized that that the pallosand was now attempting to pull his arms and his maw within. The blue crocodile's mouth was tightly shut. "Mmph! Mmmmph!" he shouted, alerting his busy friends of the situation. Fortunately, one of them was not dealing with the sandygasts and was able to help him in time.
"This Helping Hand should be what you need!" Minccino told the struggling totodile.
Joey's eyes locked on his ally, now aware that help was on the way. "Mmmm!" The totodile responded.
Minccino raised her two arms and slammed them together, making a clapping noise that forcefully cut through the air, briefly distracting the sandygasts that were busy fighting Politoed. Minccino did not approach the pallosand at all.
Joey's face stared at Minccino with minor disappointment. "Mmph," Joey pouted, hoping Minccino would've given him actual help. He could barely finish his sentence before somehow he was able to free his jaws from its sandy prison. He gasped loudly for air.
The palossand was in disbelief. "HOW DARE THOU PULL THY FLESH OUT OF MINE FLESH?!" he said before trying to bring the totodile back in with his remaining hands. Suddenly, the sandy beast's absorption ability was not as forceful as Joey's will; or rather, as Joey began to realise, his will plus the assistance of Minccino's Helping Hand technique. He fully pried himself from the entity, only leaving the traces of sand all over his arms and mouth as souvenirs. Joey took a few steps away, gauging the current situation. Nearby, one of the sandygasts was dealing with the electric surges of Jermy and the fearsome Bubble Beam of Politoed, a battle which would almost certainly mark the end of it but occupied the two of them for the time. Minccino was taking initiative against the pallosand, swiping at it with her tail to blow the castle's walls down. And then there was Mathew.
Joey glanced over to see poor Mathew watching from afar, clearly afraid and unsure as to what was going on and what he was supposed to be doing. He then noticed that somebody was missing in his attendance check: the second sandygast. Joey was about to warn Mathew of the unaccounted threat and his role as the blatantly open target just before a large clump of sand was launched out of the ground and into the openings of the skull for his eyes, taking both of them by surprise. "Gah! Wh-who the hell...?!" Mathew exclaimed, trying desperately to rub out the disgusting substance in his vision.
"Hey, are you-?!" Joey started. Before he could even ask the question, Mathew was pushed forward by a large arm comprised of sand, causing him to slip and fall to his knees in front of the totodile.
"YOU LOT HAVE NO RIGHT TO DARE INTRUDE ON OUR KINGDOM'S TERRITORY," the sandygast shouted just as his leader did. "AND FOR THAT, THOU MUST PAY WITH THINE LIFE!"
Mathew still couldn't see the monster looming in front of him the sand still stung his eyes with the fury of a thousand bees. "Help! Help! Somebody get this guy away from me!"
"NOT ONE OF YOUR COMPANIONS CAN HEAR YOUR SCREAMS NOW, FOOL! I SHALL SEND THEE TO THE GREAT BEYOND!"
Just before the sandy beast could land, a tiny stream of water surprisingly pushed it away into the immensely shallow tide, rendering it immobile in its sogginess. "That'll teach you!" Joey exclaimed.
"Joey? Joey, are you there?" Mathew said, reaching out looking for something to grab to while blinded.
"Yes, yes, it's me!" Joey responded. He then helped Mathew back to his feet and used his hands to help clear out Mathew's eyes.
Mathew let out a relieved sigh. "Th...Thank you."
The palossand slammed his royal pillars into the sand beside him. "NAY, I SAY, NAY! THOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO AVOID MY CAPTURE FOR THIS LONG!" the palossand screamed outraged by his allies' utter incompetence. As if his words were designed for irony, Joey watched as the remaining sandygast, now drenched from Politoed's onslaught, began to shout.
"I'M MELTING! I'M… MEL… TING…" The sandygast sunk into the depths of the sand, leaving behind only a shovel that marked the place where it would return on whichever day the pallosand next called for his aid.
"Now's your turn," Politoed said as he reared his head, aimed, and shot a wave of bubbles towards the palossand. One of its spires was thoroughly dampened by the stream, but the sandy beast showed no signs of backing down.
"HAH! DOST THOU FEEL FOOLISH NOW FOR PENETRATING MY DEFEN… SES..." The palossand realized that the spire was now missing. Joey could feel the light breeze produced from the Tail Swipe Minccino performed that wiped out the tower. "OH… OHHH! NOOO… AAAAHH…!"
Minccino easily dodged the sand tossed at her chest by the castle making various groaning noises in immense pain. "Uh…" Minccino seemed dumbfounded by the pallosand's concerning response.
Joey wanted to help Minccino get away from the clearly mentally unstable castle, but what could he do now? His Water Gun was barely developed unlike Politoed's Bubble Beam, and attacking him head-on just didn't work. Fortunately, Jermy clearly seemed to take Minccino's look of worry as a cry for help as well.
"ORB, how can we help Minccino with this?" the pikachu asked the robot.
"WELL, MINCCINO SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO HURT THE PALLOSAND'S INFRASTRUCTURE BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE. PERHAPS YOU COULD PRESENT YOURSELF TO THE BEAST AS A DELICIOUS MEAL THUS GIVING HER AN OPENING TO ATTACK," barked the robotic sphere. "IF YOU ARE EATEN, AT LEAST YOU WILL PERISH PROVIDING SUSTENANCE TO THE BEAST."
"Uh, any way to do this that doesn't require me to die?" Jermy asked calmly.
"SIGH. DOUSE HIM AGAIN, THEN HAVE MINCCINO REPEAT THE ACTION."
"I've got a better plan!" Before anybody could douse the creature, Minccino swiped at it; however, her tail was suddenly soaked, combining both the impact of the Tail Swipe and the dousing of water with a devastating attack: "AQUA TAIL!"
"NO… NOT ANOTHER WEEK OF RECOVERYYYyyyy…!" Palossand trailed off. The shovel that had been held upon its head dropped into the sand, somehow perfectly embedding itself into it like a sword in a stone.
"Nice job with that Aqua Tail, Minccino!" Politoed exclaimed.
"What does he mean by a week…?" Joey asked.
"I believe it means that it takes a week for its body to rescuciate naturally," Jermy explained.
"What do you mean by rescuciate? I don't know that word…"
"Means revive, going by this context," Politoed said, pushing Joey's eyes back to him.
"Oh." Joey looked upon the shovel; he hadn't done much to help them succeed in the fight, but hey, at least he learned a new word, right?
"So, now that THAT'S over… Are we done? Are there any more things that will to kill and/or blind me?" Mathew piped up next to Joey.
"Should be finished. Reached the end of the beach, and all," responded Politoed as he turned his body around. "Let's get a move on so we can report to Medicham and wrap up before noon comes."
"Oh, thank God…" Mathew muttered as he walked. Joey and the rest of the group trailed behind.
As the group walked back in the direction they came, Joey got a view of their result for the day. Joey's morale slowly began to drain. He had thought that he would view a beautiful, clean beach after he and his friends had done such great work at filling their bags, but the truth held a much more depressing realization. Despite their best efforts, the shores were still filled with pieces of cups, bags, and wrappers. No wonder Medicham kept sending them back; the job was never done! Frustrated with the revelation, Joey silently scooped up a plastic cup and tried desperately to fit it into his filled load.
"I never thought I'd see anybody else pick up something on the return trip."
Joey was started by the female voice behind him. "M-Minccino! You scared me."
"Oh, sorry!" She apologized as they walked side by side. "I try my best to get what I can whenever I come here, so it's always a disappointment that I can't get it all. But hey, there's always an empty satchel the next day, right?"
I guess that's true, but…" Joey looked out into the expanse of the ocean. "Trash will just come in on the waves. Anything we do today is replaced tomorrow. It'll multiply if we just ignore it."
"Well… There's not much we can really do about that," Minccino said defeatedly. "It's not even just the ocean. Misery Woods messes things up too."
"What's Misery Woods?"
"This place… sort of the back end of Pawalmtry Forest, it's-"
"What's Pawalmtry Forest?"
"...Wow, you were more lost than I thought if you didn't even know the name of the forest you got lost in," Minccino remarked. "Even worse is that you're walking literally right next to it."
"Oh, you mean the forest over there?" Joey pointed behind him towards the trees next to the sand.
"Yeah, that's right! Anyway, Misery Woods is sort of an extension of it. It's really dangerous, so the Club is never assigned there, but the place really needs it. It's filled to the brim with most of the trash that accumulates in the forest. Whenever the dungeon shifts, some trash gets spat out all over Pawalmtry, and a bit of it ends up here."
"What do you mean, shift?" Joey asked.
"Ugh… Joey, I'm sorry but I just can't explain everything. Just ask somebody else later, okay? All you need to know is that Asulaguah's stuck between a geodude and a hard place, and there's not much of a way to clean out all of the trash."
"No, there has to be… some way, or something… Somebody's gotta spread the message across the world. Giant posters saying 'Asulaguah Beach is in danger, and YOU could fix it!'"
"Ha, that's the kind of spirit I like to see! But those posters need to be mass-produced, and that's wasted resources too. Improperly disposed waste is something everybody causes at least once in their life. It just isn't something one person's gonna stop, Joey."
"Well, you wanna clean all this up, too. That's already more than one person, right?"
Minccino giggled at Joey's innocent response. "Your heart's in the right place, Joey. You're gonna do great at this job."
"I'll try my best…" Joey continued staring at the glimmering waters. It was such a gorgeous site, yet none could telegraph its intention to bring wrath upon beaches such as the one they had attempted to cleanse. Behind them was a colony of wood that seemed to have just as strong of an alibi, but it littered upon this sand as well. His satchel wasn't large enough to save Asulaguah Beach, but he hoped someday that he would have a chance to return with a bigger one that could.
Mathew paced forward mindlessly through the sand, inattentive to the landscape that his comrades behind him had been discussing. He was so sick of working at the job already that nothing, not even the sight of filth, could get him active at it for the rest of the day. His mind was filled with more concern over the threats that had now been implicated into his daily workday. Infinite questions shrouded his mind in frustration. Who decided it was ethical to fight these more animal-like caricatures? Why was it that these creatures had to exist? And, most importantly, why the hell was he letting his acquaintances drag him into it?
Mathew pulled his head out of the pale colors below to look to the brilliant blues and whites to his left. It struck the memory of his drive in this world, the initialed hope that was etched around the scars of his soul. His skull was twisted forward and then presented with the coastal town that, for the time being, was home. He decided then that he could no longer wait for it to appear; he must find it himself.
His longing for the promised land of safety survived silently through the payment for his penance, then into the journey up the winding cliff back into the confines of the shambing home. His tired pair of blue and yellow friends promptly plopped into their nests, hoping for a short nap, while his grey companion immediately prepared to enter his room to vanish for a time.
"Hey, wait," Mathew said.
Meowth stopped and glanced back at the cubone with that cold stare. "Hm?"
"Do you, uh…" Mathew knew that he needed Meowth as a guide through the town if he was going to find a lead. He was the first immediate coworker that was an actual local to the town… At least, he believed that to be so. Perhaps he could tell him about the situation and hopefully convince him to help him look around? Though not in front of the others while they're trying to nap; that would be annoying. "Want to go out to lunch or something? I'll pay and everything."
Meowth fully turned around his body. "Sure. Give me a moment to store my medical supplies."
"Cool," Mathew said just before Meowth went back into his room. "Do either one of you want to go as well?"
"Uh… Not really," Jermy said, slightly rising up from his nest to indicate his consciousness. "I'm good. I'll grab myself a snack later. I prefer big dinners…"
Joey began snoring, making his answer clear.
"Okay then," Mathew said.
It was then that Meowth left his room with two free hands.
"Are you ready to go, Meowth?" Mathew asked.
"Mmhmm," Meowth responded.
The two of them swiftly descended back into the town, in search of a quaint little place to get some food. Mathew let Meowth lead the way into the streets, in search of a place to fill their souls with nourishment. The grey cat lead the cubone to a quaint facility a few houses east of Kalmwa'er Resort. Above the entryway and the windows exposing the interior, a fancy-looking sign read "Silvalla's: We Bring Ingredients Together to Make Masterpieces!" Meowth directed him inside, in which they were quickly seated at a circular table with a typical somber atmosphere.
"So…" Mathew tried to begin as they waited for their waitress to arrive. "How was the job for you today?"
"Good. What do you need from me?"
"Woah, wait, slow down. What do you mean?"
"You and I both know that a stranger only buys another stranger a meal if they need a favor from them."
"O-Oh." Mathew already couldn't look Meowth in the eyes. He had already read him like a book. "Well… Yes, I do need a bit of help."
"Hm?"
"See, I've been looking for this person. I had been hoping to find them here and, well, I've had no luck. Since you've lived in this town for a while, I was hoping you'd…"
"You were hoping I could help you find a lead."
"Yes, yes!" Mathew's beamed with a small inkling of hope. "What I know about them is, um… It's hard to explai-"
"Wait. I never said I was able to help you."
"...What?"
"I can barely tell you five major locations in this town, much less everyone who lives in it. I'm not going to be of any help to you."
"Oh goddamnit, of course," Mathew muttered. "Of course nothing beneficial came from this."
"Why are you upset with me?" Meowth asked.
"I'm not upset with you!" Mathew exclaimed, his fists balling up, about to strike the table… followed by a searing feeling inside of his hand. He opened his hand back up, realising that the sharp claw on his thumb had prodded his palm. "...Sorry," he said, realising his unfairness towards Meowth for flaring up. "It's just… I didn't come here for this."
"Silvalla's?"
"No, I mean Kalmwa'er and the Club and everything. Okay, so - there's this guy: D.E. - that's his initials... he promised me a new life, or job opportunity - whatever it is. But I'm here and it's all the same. Working at a job that I don't care about… Working with people that I don't know… Trying to wrap my head around these feelings that I still can't fix."
"So you hate the town?"
"No, it's an alright place, quite beautiful, actually. It's just not what I dealt with months of crap to get to, you know?"
"Huh..." Meowth sounded, looking at Mathew curiously before shifting his attention to the decor around them.
"...Sorry for the tangent. It probably was annoying to listen through my problems."
"No, it wasn't. D.E. includes a surname, so they probably weren't born in this town, by the way."
"Oh. I guess that's a bit of a lead, actually. Thanks."
The conversation was cut off by a spherical green hedgehog-esque creature timidly approaching the table the two pokémon were stationed. "D-drinks?" the quilladin asked while setting two menus on the table.
"Uh, just water, please," Mathew said.
"Water," Meowth followed up.
"'Kay," said the quilladin before heading off to fetch the drinks.
"So… anything else interesting to talk about?" Mathew asked.
Meowth shrugged.
Mathew leaned onto one side of the table, propping his elongated head up with his hand. "Um… What are you going to get?"
"Garlic bread."
"Neat." Mathew browsed the menu set upon the table. "Oh! That spaghetti looks good, I'll go with that."
"Okay."
The two of them sat in a prolonged silence until the quilladin returned with their glasses of water. "Here, and here!" He set them upon the table, then asked for their orders. In mere seconds, they returned to the uncomfortable wait.
"Not much of a speaker?" Mathew asked.
"...No."
"I see. I guess you could say that the cat's got your tongue? Ha!"
Meowth buried his head into his right paw. "I don't like cat puns."
"Oh. That's a shame. I'll stop if you want."
"Really?" Meowth brought his paw back to the table.
"Eh, my jokes are lame anyway. I've driven my friends insane with puns many times before, so I know the limit on it."
"Thank you."
"Oh, it's nothing, really."
Soon, their lunches arrived on fancy plates. The food looked well prepared and smelled thoroughly appetizing. The two pokémon ate quietly and swiftly and soon departed - after Mathew paid for the meal, of course. They returned to their quiet musings within the little house on the hill. Neither of them had made a friend that day, but perhaps… perhaps this was a start.