VGS2's notes: Oh, I completely forgot to say it, last chapter... but there's a new poll on my profile!

The topic is 'which Mystery Dungeon games have you played/watched (like in a let's play, or whatever)?' Go give it a look-see! Even if you've never played any of the games, I'd still like to hear about it, so no excuses, you. XP

Anyways, my dear reader... boop, boop de boop, enjoy your chapter! :P

Last time: Whimsicott got her ass stolen from!


Chapter Eight: The Outlaw's Punishment


Buneary continued to watch in horror as the yellow fox pokémon that had stolen from Whimsicott ran away. It was rapidly approaching the sloped pathway that led up to the top of the steep hill Buneary, Yamask, Corsola and Snorlax were standing on.

The rabbit was frankly horrified. A live daylight robbery! How absolutely horrible!

Paws held to her mouth, she couldn't stop shaking. Oh, man... what should she do? Should she help? It was a real, honest to goodness criminal!

Was this really the sort of thing those 'Water Rock Gang' members had wanted to do? She'd just fought them with the mentality of fighting a regular monster house, but... ohh, if she'd known they actually had been planning to rob her, and hadn't just been blowing hot air, she might've completely locked up in fright.

Looking at the others, she was surprised to see that nobody else - maybe save for Yamask - was nervous at all. In fact, they seemed exasperated, even. Huh?

"Oh dear..." Snorlax mumbled, frowning with paws on hips. "That mienfoo has no idea who it stole from..."

"For sure..." Corsola agreed with a bemused breath.

Buneary gave them a questioning glance. What an ominous statement. What did they mean, exactly...?

The 'mienfoo' quickly started climbing the pathway as it reached it. It hadn't seemed to have noticed Buneary and the others, yet.

Yamask suddenly took off down the steep hill, flying toward the outlaw still a fair distance away. "It's alright, I'll stop him!" he shouted, preparing an attack.

The mienfoo suddenly stopped, glancing upwards in apparent shock. Frantically looking around for a short while, it leapt off the pathway and awkwardly scrambled across the grassy hill.

"That won't work, you outlaw!" Yamask shouted, flying diagonally downward to meet it.

While watching him, Buneary took a breath and mentally prepared herself to go down and help, somehow. She was afraid, but... Yamask had the right idea. They just couldn't let this outlaw escape with Whimsicott's scarf!

The wisp finally got close enough to the mienfoo to launch many Will-O-Wisp balls at it. "Give it back!" he yelled, still audible, even from such a distance.

The fiery balls quickly drifted towards the mienfoo, who was moving too slow to get away.

Before they reached the fox, leaves suddenly showered down from the sky, tearing up the hill in front of the mienfoo. Stumbling backwards in surprise, the fox lost its footing and tumbled down the hill, narrowly avoiding Yamask's attack.

Yamask yelped and flew backwards several feet, looking up at the sky.

Buneary jumped. What in the...? She followed the leaves and saw Whimsicott hovering high in the air. She looked livid.

"How dare you, you filthy outlaw!" she yelled in a very feminine, yet boisterous voice, conjuring swirling wind in both hands. She brought them both together and fired many huge blades of wind, flying backwards from the force of them.

They crashed into the mienfoo and exploded into a violent burst of wind, swirling around to cut the fox with sharp gusts. The wind formed into a tornado and blew the outlaw high into the sky, making it drop the scarf.

A silver pattern reminding Buneary of the moon appeared behind Whimsicott. The girl brought her hands in front of her, forming a swirling pink vortex which drew in energy from her surroundings.

"In the name of justice... here's your punishment!" she screamed with a stylish twirl and a kick to the vortex. It unleashed a humongous beam of light far bigger than she was.

The mienfoo had only a second to scream before it was utterly engulfed.

Buneary watched the attack trail across the sky in absolute shock and awe, as it bathed everything in pink. Holy moly...

The giant laser dissipated, but left no mienfoo in its wake. Looking around, Buneary barely saw a scorched fox sailing over the horizon.

She blinked in sheer disbelief at what she'd just seen. Looking at the others, she saw Snorlax looking very exasperated and Corsola looking very pleased. Yamask, who was still on the hillside, stared up at the sky in what seemed to be just as much shock as Buneary was feeling.

"That's our Whimsicott~" Corsola chimed.

"I thought I told her to take it easy on the outlaws..." Snorlax mumbled with a sigh. "Hard to send 'em off to jail when they end up half a continent away."

Buneary shivered. Oh dear, she'd hate to get on that girl's bad side...

Whimsicott let out a heavy breath, barely audible with Buneary's hearing. She quickly drifted down to a more even part of the hill, landing on her bottom and visibly panting.

"It's just like my Whimsicott to wear herself out with one outlaw," Corsola said with a light giggle.

"She did use a lot of moves at once, huh?" Buneary asked.

"Yep!" Corsola started down the pathway leading to town. "She'll be needing a nice elixir before we get going."

Buneary nodded before following closely. The pathway was rather narrow, so she stayed behind the coral, and sensed Snorlax following behind, all single file.

Before they could get close enough to easily catch Whimsicott's attention, Yamask floated down to pick up the sheep's scarf. He held it out to her. "H-Hey, um... are you alright?" he asked.

Whimsicott gasped and recoiled away from him. "Yamask!?" she yelled. She reached below her fluff-covered neck to cover her chest with her hands and turned away, still looking at him. "Oh no you don't, you pervert! I know your game!" she retorted, looking... fearful? No, maybe just angry.

Yamask's hand snapped back in shock, making him drop the scarf. "N-No, I'm not a...!" He flew a fair distance back and held his hands up submissively. "I-I'm sorry, I won't do anything!"

Buneary paused a moment in shock, eyes wide. Uh oh... she was starting to see why Yamask had been so worried about talking to her.

"Ah... shoulda figured this would happen," Corsola mumbled, running down the path.

Buneary followed closely behind, hoping things would turn out okay.

Close enough for Buneary to see her glaring, Whimsicott responded with a curt nod. "Y-You'd better believe it!" she shouted, grabbing her scarf. "If you even think about it, I'll-!"

"Hey, Whimsicott! Cool down, girl!" Corsola called out as she got further down the path.

Whimsicott jolted and looked up at the coral. "Corsola! There you are!" she cried, seeming to ease up.

Corsola gestured for Whimsicott to come closer. The sheep complied by hopping into the air and flying towards her, coming close enough for Corsola to hug her around the waist.

"Hey~" the coral chimed.

Whimsicott happily hugged back. She broke it off to point at Yamask accusingly. "B-But watch out! He's-"

"No, no! Yamask's a good guy, don't worry!" Corsola reassured. "We were dungeoning together today, and he's saved me and the others so much! He's not a bad guy~"

Yamask shot her a grateful look before nodding quickly at Whimsicott. "Y-Yeah!" he said.

Whimsicott stared at her. She looked back at Yamask, who flinched in response. "... Reaaaally?" she asked him. "No funny biz'?"

He rapidly shook his head. "N-No! No funny biz- Uh, business!" he replied quickly. "Not now or even in the dun... geon." He paused for a second, as if something had come to mind. He began to sweat with a nervous smile. "Er... y-yeah, none at all!"

Whimsicott continued to stare at him. She huffed out a loud, relenting sigh. "Alright. You're good for now, buster, but I'm watching you...!" she replied, pointing her hand at her eyes and then at him.

He wiped the sweat from his face. "Phew. Uh... th-thanks. I think..."

Seeing everything from where she was on the slope, Buneary let out a relieved breath. Thank goodness for Corsola!

Whimsicott gave a curt nod - inadvertently shaking off some loose white dust and bits of fluff - and looked back at Corsola, suddenly all smiles. "So, Corsola! I came looking for you, but Donphan said-" she started, stopping as she glanced Buneary's way with a look of surprise.

Realizing that Whimsicott was looking straight at her, Buneary gave her a bashful smile. "Um... hi!" she said with a small wave.

Whimsicott gave a friendly smile in return. "Ooh, so, you must be the newbie Donphan talked about?" she asked, floating closer to the rabbit. When close enough, she gave a friendly wink. "Hi! Nice to meet you!"

Buneary's smile relaxed. "You too!"

Corsola giggled joyfully. "D'aww, you're both getting along so well already~" she cooed. She indicated towards Buneary. "This is Wallflower Buneary! She's so precious, isn't she?"

Buneary cringed. Oh, yeah... she'd forgotten she'd told Corsola her title.

"Ooh, not bad at all~!" Whimsicott praised. "She's sure gotta be precious with that sort of title~"

"Wallflower? Er..." Yamask mumbled, seemingly getting it and making Buneary embarrassed.

"I can sorta see it..." Snorlax mumbled quietly from nearby, having caught up at last.

Trying her best to ignore them and avoid a blush forming, Buneary smiled at Whimsicott. "Th-Thanks...!" she replied.

"So, did you catch our team name?" Whimsicott asked. Floating above Corsola, she puffed out her chest. "We're Team Cuties! No other team is more adorable than we are!"

"Got that right!" Corsola added, balancing on a front leg and a back leg while holding her hands high.

"Oh, okay!" Buneary replied happily, finding their little display charming. "It really suits you two~"

Corsola stopped posing with a small giggle. "Thanks, Buneary~"

Whimsicott gave a proud-sounding huff, complete with a confident head nod. She put her hands to her hips. "Me, though... I'm Punishment Whimsicott!"

"And I'm still Cheerleader Corsola," Corsola added in amusement.

"Yep! The greatest at cheering and the greatest at punishing outlaws, working together!"

"No kidding..." Buneary muttered. Both titles were certainly well deserved.

"Do you have to punish them so hard, though? Y-Yeesh..." Yamask retorted, now a fair distance away.

Whimsicott shot him a frown. "Well, you wouldn't understand, being a pervert, would ya?" she retorted, making him flinch. "It begins at using Smelling Salts on me, and stealing my fierce band... then it moves onto worse and worse stuff. Next thing we know, that mienshao or whatever could become a renegade." Her grip on the red scarf in her hand visibly tightened. "All outlaws are scum, so they deserve whatever happens to 'em. Every last one."

"Um... o-okay," Yamask replied meekly.

"... She's not a big fan of 'em," Corsola muttered to Buneary, smile now very sheepish.

"Y-Yeah..." Buneary replied, taking the hint. It was very sad that Whimsicott had so much hate for other pokémon... but, after all of Buneary's experiences with outlaws today, she couldn't exactly blame the sheep too much.

Buneary paused. Wait, that word again. A 'renegade'. It kept being used so specifically that it made her very curious.

"Hey, if you're quite done scaring our new recruit, Whimsicott..." Snorlax chided, "we were just on our way back to the guild. Up for joining us?"

"No can do, Snorlax," Whimsicott replied, seemingly brightening up. She patted her bag. "Got errands to run and scummy outlaws to take care of." She looked at Corsola. "Right, Corsola?"

Corsola nodded at her with a cheery reply of, "Right, Whimsicott!" She faced the others. "Well, it's been a blast, but I guess I'd better get myself going, huh?"

"So soon after travelling with us?" Snorlax asked.

"Yeah, Corsola..." Yamask added, "you should rest up, right?"

"Naww, it'll be fine!" Corsola replied, waving her hands dismissively. "After all, Whimsicott's the heavy duty, and I'm the backup!"

"Yep! My super precious backup~" Whimsicott agreed, making Corsola grin gleefully.

"Aww, you're more than backup, Corsola," Buneary interjected. She smiled. "I thought you did real well!"

"Yeah! And you kicked Aegislash's butt at the end!" Yamask added excitedly. "I wish I could've seen it!"

Corsola giggled, seeming a bit bashful at the high praise. "Aww, well, shucks, you sure know how to charm someone, you two, don't ya? Thanks~" She did a quick pose. "Well... now that I know I might actually be helpful for more than just cheering... I might just try doing more as Miss Backup from now on."

"Oh, that's the spirit, Corsola!" Snorlax praised.

"Lemmie know how that goes, tonight!" Buneary said eagerly.

"You bet'cha, Buneary~" Corsola replied.

The group exchanged some more farewells, before letting Corsola and Whimsicott head off to do their business. As they got a fair distance away, Buneary could hear them start up another conversation.

"So, how'd adventuring through the bluff go, anyway?" Whimsicott asked, quickly floating down the steep hill, next to the slope. "Sounded pretty cray-cray!"

"Oh, boy, where to begin..." Corsola mumbled as she jogged along. "Well...!"

Their conversation continued, but a breath from Yamask caught Buneary's attention.

"Well, that went well," he said, wiping his brow. "I wasn't blown into next week this time, so that's something!"

"She's a bit gung ho, isn't she?" Buneary agreed.

"No doubt about it..." Snorlax said with a sigh.

She nodded. She paused, wondering how to phrase the question that had been bugging her for a while. "Say, um... what's a 'renegade', exactly?"

The air seemed to grow immediately awkward as Yamask and Snorlax exchanged worried glances with each other, then at her.

Buneary felt herself begin to sweat. "I-If you don't mind me asking, that is..."

Yamask fidgeted with his mask. "Umm... you really don't know?" he asked.

"It... doesn't sound good, whatever it is..."

Snorlax sighed. "Well... you know what an outlaw is, I'll bet. Right?" he asked.

She paused, wondering how to answer that. As the Water Rock Gang, that mienfoo and maybe even Marowisp came to mind, she nodded slowly. "Um... I never met one until today, but... I guess I get the gist of 'em."

Snorlax scratched his chin. "You never met one? Even though you were a part of a... squad, was it?" he asked.

"The wild pokémon were pretty hyper, and sometimes a bit grumpy... but we never had anything like those types on our island..."

Snorlax huffed in amusement. "Pretty peaceful place, then." He let out a breath. "Urf... Okay, well... renegade pokémon are... that, but quite a bit worse."

She tilted her head. "Worse?"

"Yeah!" Yamask said with a frown, as if even thinking about them was enough to get him riled up. "Th-They do all sorts of stuff! Like mu-!"

"A-Ah, ah, ahh, wait, Yamask," Snorlax interrupted, sheepishly waving his paws to shush him. "Let's, uh... not make Buneary any more nervous than she needs to be."

Yamask's frown turned awkward. "O-Oh, er... sorry."

Buneary let out a shaky breath. Oh dear... Snorlax's efforts to avoid flaring up her nerves was just making them worse, anyway. What was with all the vagueness?

"It's alright," Snorlax said to Yamask before offering Buneary a reassuring smile. "Anyway, don't worry about that sort of thing, Miss! Renegades are so rare that I guarantee you'll never meet one. Besides, if any renegade missions did show up, me and Donphan will deal with them! Same goes for any high ranking teams that fancy their luck! So no worries, right? Eheh."

"R-Right..." Buneary mumbled. She wanted to find that reassuring, but...

"A-Anyway, how about we head off back to base, now?" he said hurriedly.

Buneary and Yamask agreed and headed down the slope, allowing Snorlax to follow behind.

Upon leaving the slope and moving onto the beach, Buneary's tension eased up somewhat, as she felt the pleasant sensation of the warm sand under her toes. It was an amazing feeling after being in such a cold, wet cave for so long. The sunshine above only helped to make her feel so much better.

All the same, she still had one more question to ask. Even if they didn't want to tell her what renegades were. "Why... do outlaws even exist?" she asked.

"Huh? Why?" Yamask asked.

"Yeah. Everyone has some good in them, right? They can't be bad through and through, so surely they're not truly outlaws?"

"That's a nice outlook on things, Miss," Snorlax replied. He let out a breath through his nostrils. "Well, you're not all wrong, but there's still some with more bad than good, sad to say."

Buneary's extended ear drooped. "Aww, but why would that be?"

He shrugged. "No one knows for sure, but there's been theories. Some blame the meteor that Team Unity stopped... some blame time and space being all messed up that, well.. me and Donphan stopped."

"The Bittercold's always blamed, too!" Yamask added. "Y'know, that evil crystal snowflake... thing The Angels all stopped."

Snorlax nodded. "Yep! Oh, and there's that whole Dark Matter business The Happy Go-Luckies dealt with, too." He mulled something over before continuing. "Now that I think about it... they say some stuff happened in the PokéPark, too, some years back. As if everything else wasn't bad enough."

"So... no one knows, you mean?" Buneary asked them.

"Pretty much, yeah. Maybe it's even all of 'em, one after the other. So it's no wonder outlaws have gotten so bad in the last ten years."

She paused to take everything in. "Well, that's pretty bad, but... pokémon were only going bad because of those things, right?" She smiled hopefully. "Now that all of those things have been dealt with, there's no reason for anyone to get any worse, right? I think the good of pokémon will pull through eventually~"

Snorlax and Yamask stared at her. Yamask took on a look of pure awe, while Snorlax snorted out a laugh.

"That's such an inspiring speech, Buneary!" Yamask praised. "It's the sort of thing Angelic Axew and Hope Snivy would've said, back in Paradise."

Snorlax grinned. "It was sort of corny enough to sound like those girls..." he teased.

Buneary felt her face heat up from bashfulness. "Um... eheh, well, y'know..." she mumbled.

"Well, either way," Snorlax said, calming down, "all jokes aside, it's a good way to be thinking, Miss. You should always try to keep that innocence about you."

She nodded eagerly. "I'll try!" she replied.

As they walked along again, she blinked. Wait... innocence? He didn't think she was childish, did he?

... In fact, Donphan had called her 'little one' earlier, hadn't she? Aww, did everyone think of her as childish?

Buneary pouted to herself. Darn it all... it was because her bosom was a little smaller than average, wasn't it? It wasn't her fault that it made her look a little bit kiddy!

A kakuna suddenly jumped in front of her while she was lost in her thoughts. "Hey," it said somewhat forcefully.

She nearly jumped a foot in the air. "Wahh!" she squealed, stumbling backwards. She barely caught herself before she could fall over, and stared at the pokémon. "Er, h-hi...?" she said, nervous.

The kakuna huffed in... amusement, maybe? "And here I thought those big ears would be good for hearing with. Did you miss me calling?" he asked. His voice - smooth, yet somewhat quiet and monotone - was definitely masculine.

"Oh, s-sorry, sir! I was distracted," she apologized.

The kakuna huffed again. "Had a hunch."

"W-What did you want me for, sorry?"

He indicated in the direction Buneary had been walking. "Watch your step, won't you?"

Buneary worriedly looked in the same direction, wondering if she'd done something wrong. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, though. Aside from Yamask and Snorlax being a fair distance down the beach, having apparently taken the lead while she'd been distracted.

"Um... what for, sorry?" Buneary asked.

The kakuna huffed again and pointed at the floor in Buneary's path with a pincer. Something Buneary didn't even know his species had. "Don't care much for flowers, huh?"

Buneary looked at where he was pointing and saw a simple blue flower poking out of the sand. There was nothing remarkable about it, but there was absolutely nothing else he could be referring to.

"Oh... is this yours?" she asked, pointing at it.

"Nope. But it's important to look after nature, you know?" the kakuna replied, retracting his pincer.

She stared at him briefly in surprise, before giving an apologetic look. "Oh! Er, sorry!" she apologized. "I never even thought about it..."

"No worries."

"I'll look out a bit more from now on."

"Appreciated. That Whimsicott could learn a thing or two."

She looked at him questioningly. "... She could?"

He seemed to frown slightly. "Yep. She seemed all too happy to tear up the hillside, just then..."

She cringed lightly. "Oh, um... I-I guess so... I don't think she did it on purpose, though."

His eyes went neutral. "Well, probably." He tilted his head. "What's your name?"

"Oh, Buneary!" She paused before continuing. "... Wallflower Buneary."

"Wallflower Buneary..." He huffed. "Not the most flattering title of all time, is it? But it's nice."

She pulled a face. "Thanks..." Well, she'd made this bed, so now she had to sleep in it, she guessed...

In a way, sticking to this title - even if she wasn't very fond of it - was a good idea. It would make it all the more satisfying when people recognized her for more impressive feats, and started calling her something much more respectable!

"They call me something cheekier, if it makes you feel any better," the kakuna continued. "Treehugging Kakuna. No guesses to why."

Buneary's eyes lit up. "That's cheeky? It makes you sound really caring, Kakuna!"

Kakuna huffed again, though his eyes were clearly lit up in amusement this time. "Caring? That's a new one."

She gave him a confused look. "It is? That's the first thing I thought of, though."

"Heh. Says a lot about you."

She smiled, deciding to take that as a compliment. "Th-Thanks!" She glanced towards Snorlax and Yamask. They were already at the entrance to the guild a long distance away, looking in her direction.

Her eyes widened when she realized she was holding them up. "Oh, sorry, but I'd better go!" she said, pointing towards them. "I'm keeping Mr. Snorlax and Yamask waiting!"

Kakuna looked off in their direction. "Ah, joining the guild? Guess I'll see you tonight, then."

She looked at him in surprise. "Oh, you're in the guild, too?"

He nodded. "Yep. Team Nurture, with Octillery and Slugma."

She smiled. "Ooh, that's-" Her eyes widened at a realization. Octillery? Oh, earlier, he'd been talking about a kakuna from his team! Was this him? "Oh, Kakuna, I met Octillery in Drenched Bluff, actually! We went all the way through to the final floor, and he told me to tell you he's gonna be a little late getting back."

He raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "Huh, what're the odds?" His face went neutral and he huffed again. "Well, thanks for telling. Hope he didn't give you too much of a fright."

Buneary smiled sheepishly. "A little..." She smiled more naturally. "He's nice once you get used to him, though."

His eyes briefly went wide. "Nice?"

"Yeah, so we're friends, now~" She blinked. "... I think."

A small pause went by, until his eyes seemed to light up. "Heh, good. He's been worried that no one likes him, lately, so that oughta keep him happy for a while."

"H-He has?" she asked, shocked.

His eyes went neutral. "Yup. He's too stubborn to admit it, though, so I wouldn't bother asking."

She frowned sadly. "Aww... but he's such a nice, generous sort, though. I like him!"

"Cool," he replied, eyes lit up again. "You know, you're an interesting one to talk to, Buneary. At dinner, come pay us a visit if you've got time, okay?"

She smiled at the invitation. "Oh, of course!" she replied with a nod.

He nodded back. "Good." He turned towards the giant hill that made up Drenched Bluff. "See ya, then. Snorlax and Yamask are waiting, right? And I think I'll be paying Octillery a visit."

"Okay! See you, then, Kakuna!"

The cocoon gave her another nod and began hopping away, towards the bluff.

Buneary stared after him. Boy, he'd sure been a cool cucumber.

She began quickly hopping towards the others, who were waiting in front of the donphan-shaped guild's trunk, where the door was. She was very careful not to step on any flowers as she went.

Going over the conversation she'd just had, she realized that Octillery's team was 'Team Nurture'.

She smiled to herself. No wonder he'd kept making comments about nature and the environment. Oh, how cute~


Buneary caught up with Yamask and Snorlax just in time for the door to the guild to start rolling down.

"H-Hey! Sorry, I was caught up!" Buneary said as she stopped next to them.

"So we saw!" Snorlax replied. "Had fun talking to Kakuna?"

"Yep! He's nice~"

"Er, he is?" Yamask asked, scratching his head. "It always feels like he's being sarcastic whenever I talk to him..."

"He sure comes across that way..." Snorlax replied. He shook his head. "He isn't, though. He's just really... cool-headed, I guess you could say." He chuckled. "Octillery's exact opposite, y'know?"

Yamask let out a small chuckle. "Well... if you say so," he said with a shrug.

A short while passed until the door opened up enough for Buneary to see over the top of it. She was met with a very stern gaze coming her way from the guildmaster herself.

Trembling, Buneary shrunk under Donphan's glare. Oh, goodness, w-what had she done? Ohhh, she felt her nerves coming back full force.

The elephant's gaze softened after a brief pause to be replaced with a sheepish look. "Ah, did I look a bit stern, there?" she asked. "Um... apologies."

Buneary blinked a few times. Oh... was this what Snorlax had meant by saying that she could come across as scary? "Um... i-it's okay, Miss Donphan," she replied, trying to smile reassuringly.

Snorlax snorted out a laugh. "You just never change, do you, Guildm- um, Donphan?" he joked.

Donphan pouted lightly. "... Quiet, you," she chided, making Snorlax chuckle again. Her pout dropped as she turned to give Buneary a small smile and nod in greeting. "Hello, um..." she started, stalling with what looked like a small cringe, "... little one."

Buneary paused at the odd response. Er... was it her, or was the air feeling vaguely awkward all of a sudden?

Trying to ignore the bizarre feeling, she gave a small wave. "H-Hello! We're, um... we're back from the bluff~"

Donphan closed her eyes as if to steel herself before replying. "Yes, um... excellent. How did it go?"

"It was really crazy..." Yamask replied with a tired sigh.

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. "Oh, Yamask, I hadn't seen you, there." Her gaze turned curious. "Had you gone with them?"

"Yeah! Corsola and Octillery were with us, too, but they left a bit ago."

"Hm, okay."

"They helped me out so much~" Buneary praised. "Yamask, too, of course!"

"That so?" Donphan asked. "I'm glad to hear it."

Yamask smiled sheepishly while waving his hands dismissively. "Well... I didn't do much of the work," he replied. "I wanted to, but... I've still got a long way to go, eheh."

"What!?" Buneary yelped. She gave him a disapproving frown. "No way, Yamask, you were great!"

He looked at her in confusion. "Huh? I didn't do much of note, though." Excitement flashed in his eyes. "Not you and the others, though! You all really kicked butt in all our fights! Especially with that pokémon tower you came up with!" He frowned sadly and rubbed his arm. "I sort of just... kept being rash and getting into fights I couldn't win. Oh, and panicking. Lots of panicking."

Buneary's frown turned sad. "B-But you still tried to help, and-" She stopped when she heard Donphan chuckling lightly. Looking over, she saw an amused look on the elephant's face.

"Hm. You know, Yamask, you reminded me of Snorlax, just then," Donphan explained. "Over a decade ago, when he and I weren't evolved, yet."

Yamask looked confused again. "R-Really? Me?"

She nodded. "You're rash, you're a bit awkward, you get nervous easily... you're very clumsy, and luck is rarely on your side." She stalled. "... Debatably."

"... That's supposed to make me feel better?" Yamask asked, seeming equal parts upset and flummoxed.

She murmured out a short chuckle and continued. "In spite of your flaws, however, I've heard you have a strong sense of justice, and the need to throw yourself into helping others, even when it's ill-advised. You're also excitable, talkative and friendly, so making friends comes naturally to you." She pointed her trunk at Snorlax. "He was the exact same way, you know? You'll make a fine explorer."

Buneary looked at her in awe. Wow... she'd described him perfectly! Gosh, she was so sagely~

Yamask seemed pretty surprised at the elephant's words. Soon, though, his face lit up with a big smile.

Snorlax spoke up before he could respond. "I figured you'd say something embarrassing about me like that, Donphan..." he said, blushing with an awkward smile. It quickly became natural as he turned to Yamask. "She's right, though. You can't be a pro overnight, so there'll be losses here and there. All you can do is just keep fighting the good fight, and you'll get there!" His smile went back to being bashful. "Besides, if I had to be honest... you're probably at a better stage right now than I was, back when I started out. Eheh..."

"Oh, well... g-gosh, thanks!" Yamask replied, blushing and looking bashful. He pumped his fists determinedly. "Well... I'll keep improving a-and doing my best!"

"Good. I'm glad," Donphan replied with a pleased nod.

Buneary beamed at them. Wow, she definitely had to take pointers, just in case she ever found herself having to comfort someone.

Donphan turned to face the hallway leading further into the guild. "Okay, now off you two go. I want to go over how well the expedition went with Snorlax." She looked the two of them over and snorted out a chuckle. "... Not to mention, I'll imagine you'll both want to take a shower or something."

Buneary's eyes widened and she looked herself over. She was still covered in moss, mud and patches of messy, damp fur. Quickly glancing at Yamask, who was also checking himself over, she noticed that he was a little sooty. It was hard to notice, due to his pitch black skin, but it was evident enough when she paid attention.

Turning back to Donphan, she scuffed her foot against the floor, face heating. "Um... we got into a little bit of a fight, or two..." she mumbled, embarrassed.

"Heh, clearly," Donphan replied. "No worries, though. That's the very reason we had the showers installed."

"Fair enough." She paused as something dawned on her. Something that sent an unpleasant shiver up her spine. Oh no... those horrible cold showers. She was destined to go through that horrible experience again. Right after she'd gotten used to being away from the coldness of the bluff, too...

She had to hold back a fearful frown. Ohh, she really wasn't looking forward to it.

Yamask didn't seem the least bit worried, however, as he eagerly floated down the hallway. "Yeah, sounds good. Um, let's go, Buneary!" he called to her.

"Um, r-right!" she called back, following after him.

"See ya in a bit!" Snorlax said to them. "We'll call ya when we're finished!"

"Okay! See you soon!" Buneary replied.

"Oh, just a second," Donphan said. Stopping, Buneary turned around to see her holding the rabbit's bag out for her to grab. "Here's your... belongings." She looked off to the side for some reason. "... I made sure nobody looked inside, for the record."

Buneary blinked. Mentally shrugging, she smiled and hopped towards her. "Thanks, Miss Donphan~" she said, grabbing it and slinging it over her shoulder.

With that, she followed Yamask down the building's 'trunk', towards the large, spiraling stairs at the end of the hallway.

Before she reached them, she heard Donphan say something to Snorlax. "Oh, by the way... did Maximum Golurk find you? He came knocking, earlier, and I may have accidentally let your whereabouts slip..." she mumbled, sounding somewhat guilty.

"Ohh, now everything makes sense..." Snorlax muttered. "He sure did find us. Him and the rest of Team Specter, at that."

"Oh dear..." There was a pause. "... All of them were on the same mission together?"

"Yeah, looking for a dough seed. Nothing too impressive."

"... Hm, how rare... How did things turn out?"

"Oh, well...!"

Buneary stopped eavesdropping as she started down the spiral staircase. She sure hoped that whatever tale he told her wouldn't make her sound too pathetic.


Buneary let out a shaky breath as she continued descending down the spiraling staircase of the guild. She was still mentally preparing herself to be ready for when that horrible cold water would hit her fur and nearly kill her.

"Huh? You okay, Buneary?" Yamask asked, floating down the stairs by her side.

"Oh, I'm... just not looking forward to the cold shower," Buneary replied, following up with another shaky breath.

He tilted his head. "You take cold showers you don't like?"

"Not usually, but... there doesn't seem to be anything else warmer to take in this place, so..."

He looked confused. "Huh? But... you can heat the water, though."

She stopped in place, staring at him, dumbfounded. "... You can?"

"Yeah! There's a stove you can shove wood into, and when you burn it, it heats the water for the shower."

She continued to stare. Instead of feeling dumbfounded, she now just felt plain dumb. "... Oh..." she mumbled, pulling her lips tight in embarrassment.

Yamask chuckled. "It's not all that obvious, so... yeah." He cleared his throat. "Luckily, I have a fire move, but without it... er, I think they have some burn seeds stored away in some box, somewhere. That should do it."

"Okay, then... thanks."

She continued down the stairs, until she was on the floor where the guildmaster's room was. She was about to keep going down to the final floor, but stopped when she saw some movement in her peripheral vision. Looking, she saw an umbreon and a banette just outside of the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"Oh, hey, it's Team Shadow," Yamask said. He raised a hand, as if ready to greet them... but faltered with a concerned frown. "Er... uh oh."

"I can't believe you ate my last aspear berry!" the umbreon yelled in a gruff, masculine voice, his nostrils flaring. "I needed that for the next dungeon! Frosty Grotto's frigging cold!"

"We'll, I'm sorry!" the banette retorted in a boyish, yet distinctly feminine voice. She animatedly waved her arms around in irritation as she floated in front of him. "I can't help it if I'm suddenly starving in the middle of the night!"

He briefly choked on air, as if her answer left him completely gobsmacked. "Oh, you greedy little-!"

She smacked her forehead against his. "Hey, watch it, bub!"

He pushed back with equal force. "No way! I trusted you with it, you punk!"

"You're the schmuck who can't be assed putting it away in your own bag!"

"It's filled with grimy food!"

"And whose fault is that, huh!?"

The umbreon gave a sharp intake of air through his bared teeth. He removed his forehead from hers and turned away with a loud huff. "Oh, screw you! Just for that, you have to buy the next batch!"

She crossed her arms and turned in the opposite direction to him. "Only if you stop being a tard for once in your life and empty out your stupid bag!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Buneary could only stare at the two pokémon, left completely speechless by the confrontation. Legends almighty...

"Let's, er... leave 'em to it," Yamask said, cringing awkwardly as he continued down the stairs at a quick pace.

"Y-Yeah..." she replied sadly, following after him. Oh dear... she'd seen her fair share of arguments, before - especially after the incident involving her whole village falling out over some special 'amazing chocolate' - but she was still unhappy to see pokémon having such a shouting match. Teammates, too, of all things!

"Hey, don't worry too much..." Yamask said reassuringly, apparently seeing her frown, "I heard they've always been like this since they were little." He gave a somewhat large shrug. "But I still keep finding them playing 'binoculars hide-and-seek', so I guess they're still friends? I dunno..."

"Huh... well, that's something, I guess?" She rubbed her chin in thought. "... Thinking about it, back in Wildfire Village... I guess Arguments Floatzel was always sort of like that with Gossip Farfetch'd. Whenever Floatzel came up for a visit, that is."

"Alright. Yeesh, I don't think I'd like having a friend like that. It would drive me sort of crazy!"

She giggled and nodded. "It wouldn't be easy, that's for sure..."

On reaching the final floor, Buneary made a move for the bathroom. When she realized Yamask wasn't following her, she looked back at him and saw all the piles of wood blocks tucked in an alcove under the stairs.

Oh... so that's why they'd been there. Fuel for heating the showers. Well, fair enough! She would make extra special sure to remember. Her future showers depended on it!

Wanting to help Yamask - who had grabbed a load of wood blocks - she hopped towards the wood and grabbed a small bundle, herself. They fit in her arms easily enough, allowing her to carry them down the hallway that made up the bathroom.


Buneary let out a long, relaxed sigh as hot, steaming water washed over her body from the holes in the ceiling. Oh, this was definitely a vast improvement to the bluff~ She could imagine herself spending ages in this place!

Using the scrubber she'd retrieved from her bag, which was currently across the room from her, she was happily scrubbing away the grime that had gathered on her fur and fluff throughout the journey. It dribbled down from her body, to the floor, and finally into the drain, along with the suds from the soapy leaves she was using with the scrubber.

Floating nearby, Yamask was using a soapy leaf to wash up, himself. Because they were both covered up, she didn't really mind sharing the shower with him. It was a public one, after all. If she'd wanted a more personal wash, she could have gone into the large cubicle against the wall, under the same shower.

Reacting to her happy sigh, he smiled at her. "It's really nice, huh?" he asked.

"You can say that again~" Buneary replied.

He let out a small chuckle and continued washing himself down. After a short while, he held his mask up and started cleaning that, too. He paused briefly with a thoughtful look, and glanced back at her. "Say... what you were saying before, Buneary..."

She tilted her head. "Huh?"

"Um, about outlaws, I mean... You said they're all good on the inside, right?"

She gave a peppy nod. "Definitely!"

"Oh, well... what makes you think that? Is it because your homeland was super peaceful?"

She nodded again, but stalled in thought. "Well... yeah, but there's a little more to it. I like to read a lot about the heroes of the world, you see... and it's always the same tale in the end!"

"Oh? What tale's that?"

"Well... the bad guys always seem horrible and irredeemable all throughout the story... but then, right near the end, it's always revealed that they weren't evil, and were just misunderstood! Or that they were being brainwashed, or... or that they were bad, but then they felt really bad about being bad, afterwards!"

Yamask murmured in thought, as if taking what she'd said in. "Well... that's true enough, I guess!"

"How about you, Yamask? Didn't you say you came from Paradise in the Mist Continent?"

"Sort of... My dad worked in Post Town, which is sorta near Redland Reaches, where our house was."

"Okay! Well, wasn't it said that the Mist Continent had a humongous problem with crimes, and that everyone constantly felt hopeless and depressed?"

He nodded. "Oh, for sure!" He frowned in thought while putting his mask back on his tail. "Well... saying that, it started dying down before I was even old enough to really acknowledge anything like that... but I still remember hearing it from people."

She nodded gleefully. "Yeah, exactly! When The Angels destroyed the Bittercold, it stopped drowning the whole continent in sorrow, and things went super happy afterwards, right? That's a sure sign that pokémon are good at heart. Even criminals~"

He beamed brightly with clenched fists. "Wow, that's so wholesome, Buneary! I don't think I know anyone who'd say stuff like that with so much conviction! Especially after pokémon like Marowisp, who took your chest fur and-!" He spread his arms out dramatically. He paused immediately afterwards with widened eyes and turned away, barely hiding a bright blush. "Er, um, w-well, you know. Y-Yeah..." he mumbled awkwardly.

She grimaced, face going about as hot as the water raining down on her. "W-Well, um, yeah..." she replied, subconsciously covering her chest. "All that said, I think some pokémon are still a bit mean, but you know." She smiled again. "I still don't believe any evil pokémon exist. I'm sure they all have their own reasons for doing the bad things they do, y'know?"

"R-Right!" he replied, looking back at her despite his blush. "So there's always the option for redemption, right?"

"Absolutely~ With a little time and patience, I think anyone on the planet can pull through and become good~"


Bradley was hunched over in pain. His whole body ached and stung.

Even so... he knew he wasn't finished. He still had more training to do.

Training to make up for his mess up with the stunky.

A green, bladed tail entered his vision, coming toward him. It slashed his face, sending him tumbling backwards.

He crashed against the wall and felt many sharp pains course through his back. Slumping to the ground, he looked to see the wall of stone spikes he'd been slammed into. It was the same as the many other spike-covered walls that made up the dungeon he was in. Painful.

His attacker walked up to him on his fours. He was panting heavily with a more odd than usual smile plastered across his face. "Oh dear, little monster," Ben said, "did we... maybe overdo it with... the training?"

Bradley groaned, but said nothing. He didn't have the energy. To be honest, he'd probably gone faint, already. He couldn't move.

... Not that there was really much of a point, anyway.

Ben stared at him for a short while. He allowed his tail to dim. "Actually, thinking about it..." Ben continued, his smile going soft, yet... intense, like it usually was, "I'd say that's about as much training as you deserve." His smile flickered. "... for now, anyway."

Bradley let out a drawn out huff. Good...

Ben reached into his bag and brought out a tiny reviver seed. "Here you are. You'll need this, right?" He cracked it in his paw and threw its glimmering particles at Bradley.

They washed over him, making his injuries stop hurting instantly. He staggered to his feet and brushed off the dust coating his fur with a long breath.

"I hope you appreciate my kindness..." Ben said, leering down at him intently. "Pokémon aren't supposed to be kind to each other, you know. But for you, I made a special exception, didn't I~?"

"... I guess," Bradley mumbled, reaching behind his head to readjust the cover band around his ponytail. The one Ben had insisted he wore 'just in case'. "Thanks..."

"You're welcome~" Ben replied. He turned around and walked away. "Now, we still have a lot to do, today, so come along." He shuddered, almost like an involuntary shiver had gone up his spine. "... Those horrible pokémon aren't going to punish themselves, are they?"

Bradley's head dipped. "No..." He slowly followed behind.


Bradley had listlessly followed behind Ben for some random amount of time, with his bag slung around his shoulder. They'd gone through most of the dungeon, having travelled through several tunnels and large openings.

Aside from watching for the random spikes jutting out of the floor, Bradley couldn't bring himself to pay attention to any of the scenery, though. He didn't really feel like it...

Eventually, Ben started up a slope within a narrow tunnel. He made the briefest of pauses to check on Bradley before going up, no words spoken. His usual, pleasant smile never left his face.

Letting out a breath, Bradley followed him. The narrow tunnel continued upwards at a large bend, its walls coated in clusters of huge, sharp spikes. He had to be careful as he traveled.

After a short while, he could see sunshine. A sign that the final floor was approaching.

He continued onwards, but stopped when he nearly bumped into Ben, who was standing near the end of the slope.

"Wait, hold up," Ben said, using his tail to block the way forward. "I see a pokémon~"

Bradley felt something cold in his stomach at that. He swallowed back the feeling and peeked over the taller pokémon's tail.

Over the last stretch of slope which was in the way, Bradley could just about make out a large clearing, with bright blue skies above. A machop was roaming around a short distance away, looking between a cluster of spikes jutting out of the ground.

"Stay~" Ben ordered. His usual smile stretched as he wandered up the pathway.

Ben sighed through his nose and backtracked slightly to stay out of sight. Unable to see them, he listened out for what would happen.

"Hello, fellow pokémon~!" Ben greeted, his voice becoming much more soft and whimsical than it usually was.

"Huh? Oh, hey, guy," the machop replied in a voice that suggested male. He didn't sound hostile. "What can I do you for?"

"Oh, I was just wondering what you were up to~ Care to explain?"

"Well, not much. Heard there was a hole filled with treasure somewhere 'round here, but it's not an easy find."

"Oh, how interesting~ I hope you're not too motivated by greed, like..." He took a notable intake of breath, "... most pokémon..."

"... Huh?"

Ben laughed. "... Just kidding~!"

"... Oh, um, right," the machop replied with a chuckle. It sounded somewhat awkward, yet dismissive. "Anyway, nope, not too much. Just thought it'd make a cool present for my girlfriend." He chuckled again, sounding a bit more sincere. "So I guess it's more motivated by generosity, huh? Haha!"

Ben laughed again. "I suppose so~! Anyway, I had better be off. Good luck~"

"See ya, buddy! Say, what did you say your title was? Mine's Coach Machop."

"Hm? Oh, charmed~" Ben replied with a giggle. "They call me Smiles Leafeon~"

"Heh, well, sure suits ya, huh?"

"Yup~ I'm sure yours does, too."

"Sure does! I like helping the kids in my neck of the woods toughen up. Makes 'em happy and gives my girlfriend another reason to like me. A win-win, for sure!"

"Hmm, very cute. Well, be seeing you~!"

"'Kay. Catch ya!"

Bradley heard the sound of Ben's footsteps as he presumably walked away. They stopped abruptly. "Oh, incidentally... I'd be careful, if I were you."

"Huh?" the machop asked. "What's up?"

"I've heard tell that an angry, horrible little pikachu is wandering around, attacking people and robbing them blind. You'd better be on your guard~"

Bradley clenched his eyes shut and inhaled deeply.

The machop gasped at Ben's warning. "Oh! Okay, I'd better had, then. Thanks, pal!" he said.

"Don't mention it~" Ben said, before the footsteps continued.

With a shaky exhale, Bradley opened his eyes and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do next.


The machop Ben had been talking to just fifteen minutes ago was laid out in front of Bradley, unconscious. His body twitched from the Thunder Wave Bradley had used on him, but aside from that, he was unmoving.

Something in Bradley's chest ached, but he tried to ignore it.

Ben was next to the machop, investigating him. He was smiling as usual, but his eyes held disgust. "... What an unpleasant pocket monster that beast was," he complained.

Bradley sighed and looked at him.

"Did you hear him speak with those faux pleasantries?" Ben continued. "I can only imagine what horrible thoughts were really in his mind. What he truly wanted to say."

Bradley looked back at the machop. He felt his ears dip more than they usually did.

"Oh, and how rich..." Ben continued, "saying he wasn't being selfish, when truly, he wanted his precious 'treasure' so he could exchange it for sexual favors with that 'girlfriend' of his. Same reason he likes training children to be more violent, I'd imagine." He huffed through his nostrils, smile cracking. "I'd expect nothing less from our horrible pocket-sized kind."

Bradley looked at the ground, conflicting thoughts racing through his mind. Clenching his eyes shut, he willed them away. Thinking about it was too painful...

"Oh well, it doesn't matter now," Ben continued.

Bradley looked at him, again. His eyes widened when he saw the older pokémon's smile widen in a strange way. The same strange way it had done earlier, after Bradley had fainted a stunky and a ghost-type.

Ben shuddered, and his breathing grew heavy and audible. "The nasty little thing won't be fornicating with anything anytime soon, that's for sure. Not now that it's like this." His breathing grew heavy. "H-Hehe...!"

Bradley frowned uncomfortably. "You're... acting weird, again," he said.

Ben looked at him in surprise. He cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with an arm. "Oh, don't worry about it~" he reassured, pulling his usual big smile. "I, um..."

Bradley quickly looked him over. His frown deepened when he saw an obvious bulge where the older pokémon's groin was. Contents hidden from view due to fur constraints, but still.

Weird... The last time Ben had been like this, he'd mentioned that it was because he'd found the unconscious stunky attractive. But the stunky had been female that time, and this machop was male, so...

"... Are you into men, now?" Bradley asked, not entirely sure what the answer would be.

"... No," Ben replied with a click of the tongue. He paused for a few seconds. "I'm..." His smile widened slightly. "Yes, I'm just happy to see some justice on this beast."

"... Justice?"

"Precisely~ It's... Um, he's another one of those horrible pokémon that pretend to be nice, but most certainly are not." He stared directly into Bradley's eyes. "... Do you remember why they pretend?"

Bradley turned his gaze away and stayed quiet.

A short while passed. Eventually, Ben spoke again. "... Clearly not...! Well, it's only because they fear going to prison, or being ostracized from society. If every pokémon had their way... if they could do anything they wanted..." Bradley heard the older pokémon's teeth grind. "... Well, let's just say that the poor humans learned about that the hard way, didn't they?"

Bradley let out a long sigh and squeezed his eyes shut. They still stung.

"Well, all that said... let's finish frisking this machop," Ben said. He let out a loud huff. "Hmm, y'know... all this talk about how horrible pokémon are has gotten me all worked up." Bradley heard the low hum of energy. As if Ben had activated his Leaf Blade. "After we're done, maybe we should work it off with some training~!"

Bradley shivered lightly. "... Okay," he mumbled.


TO BE CONTINUED!


Finished: 04/03 (March)/2021

Word count: 8,629

VGS2's sausage notes: Oh dear, who is this mystery grumpy person I definitely didn't name after ravengal's name for Byleth in her Edelgard-ish path in Three Houses!? It's a mystery, woooo...!

... Y'know, I wonder if anybody even reads these author's notes, save for me fun mistakes section? Probably not. I still remember that one time in Spiritual Successor where I acknowledged that Swift missed even though it shouldn't in the games, and somebody still questioned me about it in a review. With that in mind, I bet I could say literally any old tosh in these sausage notes and everyone will be none the wiser!

The main spoiler of this fic is that Buneary's mom, Monferno, is a double agent who works for King Roscoe from Bandits of the Forest, sent to assassinate King Richard from The Ember and the Spark! She'll die, and then Buneary will have to take over, only to get caught by Persian from In Times of Danger, and thrown into her predator sex dungeon! There, she'll befriend Queen Serperior from Smile For Me (who'll appear in that fic eventually), and then lead all the babies from Daycare Mayhem to overthrow the yakuza government run by the evil Dr. Mario from Miracle Murder Cure. Also, something, something, Pikachu!

Such big spoilers I'm dishing out! But you won't see them, so it's fine. As you were, hypothetical citizen. XP

Today's shameless promotion: How My Partner Will Think of Me Eventually

Author: ThePrinceOfPuddles

Universe: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

Main species: A swellow and a wurmple (both from Team Tasty)

Summary: From the author of Wild Pokemon, follow the adventures of Team Tasty, a two-pokemon Exploration Team with a fragile and challenging relationship. When a mission goes horribly awry, they will have to fight to discover whether their partnership can truly last, or whether they were doomed to lose to nature from the start.

Romance: Quite a lot!

Wackiness: Really grounded, though it goes off game logic an extreme amount!

Lewdness: Nope!

Action: A big amount, fueled by game logic!

Grittiness: A good amount involving predatory topics! Expect bloody times, despite the ill-placed K+ rating!

Length: Fairly short to average length!

Bloody Hell, I've never read a fic that bases itself off of game logic so much. It's quite an experience. XD That's not a bad thing, though. There are battles and events that could only take place in a fic like this!

On top of that, the story and the topics it covers are fairly deep, and it has a villain you'll sure remember, I'm sure! Give it a look-see! :P


Fun mistakes of the day:

#1: 'They could just let this outlaw escape!'

(Buneary, you're really shit at enforcing the law, you know that? XD)

#2: "Whimsicortt"

(I think something's wrong with Whimsicott...)

#3: 'Whimsicott jotted'

(Whimsicott's good with a pen. I say when there are, like, four different mistakes related to her down here. XP)

#4: 'Whimsicott stared at her. She looked bad'

(I think Team Cuties is about to break up.)

#5: 'Yamask shoot her'

(As if that wasn't bad enough, Yamask is about to put Corsola on ice. RIP)

#6: '"... Reaaaally?" she asked him. "No funny bus'?"'

(The funny bus is cancelled.)

#7: 'Trying her best to ignore them and avoid a blush from forming, Buneary smilked.'

(Yep, definitely a miltank…)

#8: 'The warmshine above only helped to make her feel so much better.'

(My favourite pony! Or perhaps carebear?)

#9: 'Though her tit eased her tension somewhat,'

(Lmao, I only wanted to mess around with the sentence, but then... XD For feck's sake, there's only one thing this buneary's gonna be remembered for, at this rate. Maybe it's already too late.)

#10: "I want to go over hop"

(Yeah, run the little useless bastard down! After that, go after Hau, who's pretty much the same character, from what I understand. XP)

#11: 'Buneary caught up with Yamask and Snorlax just in time for the door to the guild to start coming down.'

(What a shoddily-built guild. Even the door's collapsing, now!)

#12: 'She was met with a very stern gaze coming her from the guildmaster herself.'

(Oh, what degeneracy have I weaved this time? Nothing good, that's for sure. XD)

#13: '"Y-Yeah..." Buneary replied sadly. Oh dead...'

(C'mon, I know Banette's a ghost, but...)

#14: 'Ben said, leering down at him intently eyes.'

(Ben inTently.)

#15: "Wat, hold up,"

(Sounds like Twitter-speak to me! "Wat, wat, hol' up, hol' up!")

#16: '"Stay~" Ben ordered. His usual smile stretched as he wandered up the pathway.' [Next line] 'Ben sighed through his nose and backtracked slightly to stay out of sight. Unable to see them, he listened out for what would happen.'

(Did Ben just turn Bradley into a Ben? I didn't know this was going to turn into a Weegee situation, but I'm horrified, either way!)

#17: "I've heard tell that an angry, horrible little pikachu is wondering around,'

(How dare he be the thoughtful type!)


Welp, that's me lot for tonight! Tata for now, pals! c: