Sausage note: Oh God, what did they do to Dawn.
Seriously, she acts like she lost her mind at some point! And they turned Piplup suicidally stupid, for some reason! Did they lobotomise both of them, or something!?
On that note, we didn't see any of her other pokémon (except for Togekiss... in a flashback). I'm pissed about that, too, of course... but honestly, I'm also relieved that they didn't bother to ruin them, too. That's the sad state of affairs that we're in right now with that shitty show.
Y'know, I'm starting to believe the headcanon of the original creator of the show (Kanto-era), in which Ash Ketchum's adventures are all in his head. That would explain why reality has been slowly breaking down around the lad. He's in a dying dream, like he's Isaac, or something. XP
Calling it. Last region takes place in a constantly changing void, where Ash encounters all of his memories flashing before his eyes. At the end, he'll have to fight the champion: his own delirious mind.
Then he dies of suffocation in a toy chest, and I cheer. XP
Anyway, time for something that isn't garbage! Enjoy yourself, dear reader!
Last time: Buneary learned some things she wasn't ready for and probably triggered lotsa readers, making me more unpopular than usual!
Chapter Twelve: The Fallout Crowd
With nothing better to do since Team Swarm and Slugma had left the Bulletin Floor, Buneary had gone around putting the mission requests back on the notice board. Without a team, or any idea of what she could accomplish right now, she didn't think it would be a good idea to hoard them.
Afterwards, she had spent the better part of the last few minutes looking over the notice boards, just to get a feel for them. Unlike back in her hometown - where all the mission requests were messily bundled onto one board - this guild was rather tidy in how it handled its mission requests.
There was one board dedicated to rescue missions... one board dedicated to request missions... one board dedicated to outlaw missions... one board dedicated to 'guildmate missions', whatever those were... and, well, there was the board. The one best not spoken about.
While glancing over the outlaw board, she couldn't help but wonder if the others would be alright. She hadn't even mentioned the floor she'd encountered the Water-Rock gang on. Would they even find them?
Darn it. Oh well... they were seasoned explorers, so she would place her faith in them to find those villains.
Looking over the boards, she felt a little bit intimidated. What sort of explorer did she even want to be, anyway? After Swadloon's explanation, she wasn't sure at all. Maybe after a while of trying everything, she would find a preference?
She went over her choices, if for no other reason than to pass the time. A slightly squeaky voice from the floor above stole her attention away, however.
"-an't believe this. Aghh, he's a pest!" the voice said, coming closer. "Why can't he be more like his gosh darned brother?"
She tilted her head towards where the voice had come from. Huh, who could that be? She didn't recognize whoever it was.
Hoping to introduce herself, she hopped up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she spotted a blue bird pokémon walking down the hallway towards her. It was dragging along a cart with a large bag on it, muttering to itself with a frown and not paying attention to its surroundings.
The bag it was carting along had the insignia of a golden pelipper holding some mail in its feet, so Buneary assumed this bag held the guild's mail. Maybe the mission requests, too, if she had to guess.
... Wait... thinking back to the chore board, she thought she recognized this pokémon. 'Hobby Ducklett', right? His completely flat chest and somewhat masculine features suggested male. He also seemed a bit grumpy, so she wondered if she should even talk to him, or just leave him be.
Before she could decide one way or the other, though, Ducklett noticed her with a start. "Bwah!" he yelled, splaying his wings and flinging his cart's handle away by accident. He blinked several times. "Oh, uh... you're new."
"Y-Yep!" she replied, a little startled herself. "Sorry, um... I'm Buneary. Wallflower Buneary."
Regaining his composure, he smiled. "Ah, well... Hobby Ducklett. Pleased to meet ya."
She smiled back, glad that his mood hadn't affected his attitude. "Same~"
He scratched his beak with a wing. "Wait... thinking about it, I saw you this morning, didn't I? The newbie Snorlax was showing around."
Oh, yeah... the hall had been really bustling at the time, and she'd been rather nervous, so she hadn't been able to pick out any faces... but some pokémon may have recognized her from her first entry into the guild.
Well, that made this easier, she supposed. "Yeah, that's me!" she replied.
He nodded in confirmation. "Neat. You'll like it here, for sure." He let out a breath. "Say, uh... you haven't seen a rufflet around, have ya?"
She paused to think. While trying to put a picture to that name, she remembered the chore board, again. She'd never noticed anyone similar to the 'Rufflet' on that board, so... "Um... no, sorry."
He clicked his tongue. "Rats... Well, thanks, anyway." He groaned. "My friend Braviary asked me to bring the kid along with me to this guild... but he's a bit of a brat. Thinks chores are 'below him'. He's gonna get his day's pay docked, for sure."
She pulled a face. "Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."
He waved a wing dismissively. "Nahhh, it's not your problem, don't worry. He's just lucky Deino's team decided to hang back to help out with things." He shrugged. "Not that Deino would have complained much doing it himself, anyway, but still."
"Oh, fair enough. How nice of them!"
"Yeah, they're pretty cool. They're outside somewhere right now, if you wanna go say hi." His eyes widened. "Oh, I totally forgot! Snorlax told me to go look for ya and say that he's gone off to Treasure Town to do something real quick."
"Oh, okay! Thanks for telling me."
He grinned happily. "No problem. Heh, definitely glad we bumped into each other, now!"
"Same!" She paused with a light frown. "Dang, though... I'm a bit stuck on what I should do while I wait for him."
He gave her a look of sympathy. "I know that feel. I always get bored so easily, it's torturous." He perked up. "Hey, but you know, you're new, yeah? Why not go exploring the village?"
She looked at him in intrigue. "Explore the village?"
"Right. Go around and get a feel for things, and stuff! I'll tell Snorlax where you are, when he shows back up."
She tapped a paw against her chin. "Well... it's an idea, huh?" She frowned lightly. "A bit intimidating on my own, though..."
"Nah, you'll be fine, trust me. Heck, you'll love the place! It's real relaxed and pleasant, but has a super interesting, bustling vibe about it, too. Reminds me of Post Town, where I lived for a long time."
"Oh, okay," she replied, smiling in anticipation. Okay, she was convinced! She was going to live here from now on, after all, so she had to get used to everything as quickly as possible.
Ducklett went back to his cart and picked the handle up off the ground. "Well, it's been cool, but I've gotta get back to work. Rufflet might wanna be a lazy butt, but not me!"
She giggled. "Okay. See ya, Ducklett!"
Ducklett started toward the stairs, tugging his cart along with him. "Catch ya!"
The duck waddled away, seeming a bit cheerier than he'd been earlier.
After he disappeared down the spiraling stairs, she turned towards the direction he'd come from. The guild's exit.
She gave herself a determined nod and hopped towards it.
Buneary watched the door to the guild slowly close behind her. Her last ticket back to the comfort of familiarity.
She gave a shuddering breath and turned to face the village. She saw dozens of colorful buildings dotted around, and lots of pokémon going about their lives. There was plenty to explore, and many faces to meet everywhere she looked.
Well... here went nothing! She stepped forwards.
... She stopped. How was she even going to do this? She didn't exactly have a plan in mind, or anything...
Well... maybe she should say hi to some of the locals? She looked around for someone to talk to.
As she looked, however, her nerves began to flare up. Ohh... it was a lot easier said than done, wasn't it? She didn't know the first thing to say to random people on the street. It was a lot different to chatting with fellow guildmates. What if she annoyed them while they were trying to go about their day, or something?
She sighed. Oh well, it was okay... she could go and talk to some of the store owners, at least. She would definitely have to in the future, unlike random strangers on the street, so that made sense, right?
She started toward one of the buildings at random. A pretty pink one, shaped like a chansey. Was this one of those Chansey Daycares she'd heard about from Elder Slowking? Apparently, because wild pokémon could be rather irresponsible in many ways, these sorts of places often wound up having to take in a lot of eggs each year. All of which would be shipped away to Wellware Island, or to orphanages, or to trustworthy couples who wanted one of their own.
When she drew close to the side of the building, her mind started buzzing with uncertainties. What would she say, exactly? The chansey would be expecting business, not a random conversation!
She stopped and stared at the building contemplatively. She couldn't exactly just ask to browse, either, because she definitely didn't want to adopt anything. Besides, who goes window shopping for babies? Ahh, she was in a dilemma...
She stood around considering her choices for a while, until a heavy fog suddenly collected in the air in front of her. Huh, was the weather getting worse?
A big gray, purple, and dark red figure abruptly dropped out of the fog and landed on the sand in front of her, scaring her half to death. Her other half nearly followed suit when she came face to face with a strange pokémon baring sharp, purple fangs and glaring at her with piercing, yellow eyes.
"You!" it spat in a gravelly voice. It stood over her on two legs, looking ready to fight. "What suspicious things are you doing in this place where children reside...!?"
"Oh, legends, help me!" Buneary squealed, cowering.
"Ohh, you will need legends to help you if the eggs are harmed in any way...!"
"I-I'm not harming anything, I swear, I'm sorry!"
"Hmm...!" The figure fell onto its fours and brought its face very close to her. Its head moved around erratically as it investigated her thoroughly, even sniffing at her occasionally.
Trembling, Buneary was petrified in fear. Legends, what a terrifying pokémon!
Watching it carefully, the rabbit saw several of its features. It was over twice her size... it had purple markings around its eyes... it had a humongous bushel of purple fur adorning its head, trailing all the way down its back and ending in a yellow band... and a notable bosom, hidden under a giant plume of maroon fur making up its chest and shoulders.
... It was a girl!?
"Hmmm...!" the pokémon murmured, tilting her head. Though still gravelly, Buneary could sort of make out a feminine tone in the pokémon's voice now, if she concentrated. "... Alright. Maybe you're at a satisfactory level of suspicious..." she said, standing up again.
"Th-Th-That's good?" Buneary stammered.
"However!" the pokémon snapped, startling her. "Only combat can truly prove your innocence!" She took up a fighting stance. "Prepare yourself, suspicious stranger!"
Buneary shrieked again. Oh no, oh no, oh no!
Panicking, she held her paws up in the best fighting pose she could manage on such short notice.
"Waaaaaait, wait, wait, wait a sec...!" a voice cried from somewhere.
Buneary's gaze snapped in its direction just in time to see a black and yellow pokémon run toward them on all fours. It skidded in the sand to stop in-between them and turned to face the scary pokémon. Only able to see its backend, Buneary couldn't tell what it was easily.
"Wifeyyyy~?" he asked, his masculine voice strangely jovial despite the situation. Extremely jovial. "Why're you picking on the cute bunny rabbit~?"
Taking this as a sign she was being saved, Buneary cowered behind her large, unexpected savior. Goodness, she had no idea why someone would marry such a terrifying woman, but she really appreciated it right now!
"The rabbit stranger was eying the Daycare Center in suspicious ways..." the scary pokémon replied. "If I hadn't intervened, who knows what may have happened to the eggs, my loveliest?"
Her apparent husband laughed heartily. "Whaaaat? This little bunny gal?" he asked, turning to face Buneary. "She's cute as a button and just as harmless, I'll bet!"
Now able to get a good look at his features, Buneary tried to decide what he was. He was a cat or dog-like pokémon, with black and yellow fur and a beaming smile that stretched so far it contorted his eyes into a squint.
... Wait, no, he was a luxio, wasn't he? A yellow one, though?
She suddenly noticed a glint from his fur as the sun caught it, cluing her in. Oh, of course! A shiny pokémon, just like Golurk!
Realizing that she hadn't spoken for several seconds, Buneary tried to smile at the lion. She couldn't stop it from quivering nervously, but she tried. "Y-Y-Yeah! I-I just wanted to explore, because I'm n-new!" she stammered.
"Yeah, see?" the luxio said to the other pokémon. "No threats here, Zoroark, my love~!"
"Well..." the 'zoroark' replied, turning to Buneary, who cowered under her terrifying glare, "if it is as you and my beloved lovely says, then I shall leave you be... for now." She performed a back-flip and disappeared into a sudden, small cloud of fog.
Buneary breathed a humongous sigh of relief. Oh, holy Arceus, she'd thought her life was going to end there and then! Why did everyone have it out for her so much today?
"That wife of mine sure is a rascal, huh?" the luxio asked with a chuckle, looking back at her with the same beaming smile as before.
"Um... th-that's one way of putting it..." Buneary mumbled. "D-Did I really look that suspicious?"
The luxio chuckled again. "Naww! Zoroark just has trust issues. Lots of 'em, even!"
She pulled a face. "You're telling me..."
Though he still had a smile on his face, his eyebrows creased in a somewhat sad way. "Hope you don't hold it 'gainst her, though. She's had a rough life since she was just a lil' babe, y'see, so she gets really defensive when kiddies are involved."
Buneary frowned sadly. "Aww, really? Well... I guess that makes sense. Sorry..."
He brightened up again. "Haha! S'alright~! Oh, guess I should say who we are, huh?" He jumped and did a back-flip to land on one of his back legs, looking rather bipedal as he did. "Name's Sunshine Luxio!" He hopped to his other foot. "And the wifey's Death Glare Zoroark! We're an indy team called Team Shine!"
Buneary gave a light chuckle. She could certainly see how they'd earned those names. "Okay, then~ I'm, um... Wallflower Buneary! Uh, no team yet!"
He landed back on all fours. "Cool~! You've got a cute name, haven't ya? Hahaha~!"
"Th-Thanks!" Oh dear. She really hoped that name didn't stick forever.
"Well, I'd love to stay and flap my gums... but me and my wife were just about to get off over to Berry Forest in the Air Continent! Gotta go find ourselves some special berries!"
She smiled in interest. "Ooh, special? Special how?"
"Welllll, they say there's a special berry that can bump up the chance of having kids by a whole metric ton! We're gonna get 'em and try 'em out tonight!"
"Oh, well, okay! That makes... sense..." The implications of what he'd said hit her in the face like a geopebble. She couldn't stop herself from imagining it, even though the image of him with her was... bizarre. "Well... b-best of luck!" she said with a slowly warming face.
Zoroark appeared out of thin air to land next to Luxio, her face far redder than it had been previously. "Stop! Th-That is not a thing that should be spoken out loud, my love! You have embarrassed me!" she complained.
Buneary immediately went on edge again. Sh-She'd been listening the whole time!?
Luxio just rubbed the back of his head, blushing lightly himself. "Haha, oh, right. Whoopsie-daisy, sorry~!" he apologized.
"Aghh, oh my Arceus...!" Zoroark grumbled. She ran away rather quickly.
"Eheh... yeah, better get going, myself!" He sprinted in Zoroark's direction. "Later, Buneary~!"
"Um... bye!" Buneary called out, waving. When they were far enough away, she let out a breath. Gosh, that had been an event...
She frowned sadly to herself. Yeesh... after that, her confidence in exploring this place had plummeted like a rock. What if she agitated even more villagers into attacking her out of the blue!?
She sighed and decided to glance around at the rest of the town. Aside from the daycare, she could see several more buildings which resembled pokémon, somewhat. She had no idea what was what, though. She couldn't even see a kecleon store, or anything like that. She didn't know why, but most towns apparently had stores run by a kecleon or two. Even Wildfire Village had one, too. Where exactly was she supposed to buy stuff!?
Ugh... yeah, her motivation was definitely taking a hit from all of this. Maybe she should just wander back to the guild and wait there for a while.
She was about to do just that... but she heard the faint sounds of some ruckus at the front of the daycare.
Curious, she hopped to the side of the building to investigate. Peeking around the side, she saw a large group of pokémon by the sea, playing in a really big rectangle drawn into the sand. They seemed to be playing with a ball, kicking it back and forth in what seemed like an attempt to get it around each other.
Oh, were these some of the daycare's kids, playing a game together? Hm... though maybe not. They looked a little bit too old to be kids. Maybe they were just some villagers playing a game.
As the game waged on, she couldn't help but watch in intrigue. Ooh, she'd never seen this sort of ball game before. Interesting!
Currently, a white and orange rabbit was running around, keeping the ball ahead of him with kicks. It was being chased by a skorupi, grinning cockily while in pursuit.
"Give it up, Scorbunny!" the skorupi yelled in a really boyish, if not slightly squeaky, voice. "That ball's comin' home to me!"
'Scorbunny' frowned determinedly. "Yeah? Well, call me a homewrecker, then!" He yelled back in an equally boyish, if not slightly croaky, voice. He kicked the ball in the air and back-flipped. He kicked it again, sending it sailing over the skorupi's head. "Get it, Togetic!"
The skorupi stopped and watched the ball fly over him, shocked. "Aww crud!"
"W-Wait, what?" the well-groomed togetic in question bawked from a fair distance away, sounding very feminine. She gasped loudly at the rapidly approaching ball and began freaking out. "Bahhh!?" She ducked under it, allowing it to go past.
The skorupi laughed. "Well, alright, guess that works out!"
Scorbunny spluttered in disbelief and angrily stomped his foot. "Oh, c'mon! What was that all about, huh?" he shouted in Togetic's direction.
"I told you not to go for the head!" the bird snapped back.
He huffed in annoyance and put his arms behind his head. "Why? It's not like a big hit to the head's gonna make you look any worse...!" he replied sassily.
She stomped repeatedly in irritation. "Ohhh...! Scorbunny, you are such a boy!"
Buneary flinched. Yeesh... certainly not the best of friends. Not unless they were like Umbreon and Banette, she supposed...
"Well, if you two are going to quarrel..." a sneasel started in a grand, masculine voice, placing a foot onto the ball. Smirking, he allowed the wide black and white piece of cloth tied around his neck to blow in the wind behind him, "I suppose that means this belongs to me, now!"
A chansey - perhaps the one who owned the daycare - rushed toward him from the side. "Not a chance, Sneasel! Give it here, right now!" she retorted in a feminine, yet boisterous voice.
"I'm afraid not, Chansey!" Sneasel replied. He kicked the ball high into the air and leapt after it, sailing over Chansey. When high enough, he flipped forwards and slammed his heel onto the ball. It was sent flying down at a mildly concerned-looking black and blue dinosaur pokémon.
Chansey stopped to put her paws to her face in worry. "Oh no! Deino, quick! Stop that ball!"
"Uh... I'll try, I guess," he replied back, voice deep and relaxed despite the situation. He hopped up and slammed his forehead into the ball. The recoil sent him reeling backwards, but he'd managed to deflect the ball, sending it rolling away from the two posts he seemed to be protecting.
"Aww yeah!" a male-looking red monkey with a fiery motif about him shouted, voice very energetic and hot blooded. "Way past awesome, Deino!"
Deino picked himself up and smiled at the monkey. "Heh. Thanks, Pansear," he replied.
"Too soon for celebrations," a noctowl said in a smooth, arrogant tone. Flying across the sand, he corrected himself to slam a talon into the ball. "Stop that!"
It sailed past Deino, who could do nothing but watch it go by in surprise. "... Whoops," he muttered.
"Aww yeah~! Kickass!" the skorupi sang, flailing his claw-tipped tail excitedly. "Now we're ahead!"
Half of the pokémon on the field cheered while the other half gave dejected responses.
Buneary nearly felt like cheering, herself. Wow, even just watching this game was pretty fun, whatever it was!
"Ooh, that was a right ol' belter of a kick, now, wasn't it?" a strange pokémon wearing a pumpkin with a scary, glowing face praised from the opposite end of the field. Buneary could tell he was a man from his heavily accented masculine voice, which oddly reminded her of the farm. "You must be a pro, fer sure!"
"I could not have said it better myself, Gourgeist!" the sneasel praised, having landed back on the sand. "That follow up to my offense was indeed brilliant, Noctowl!"
"Aye, definitely!"
The noctowl huffed with a proud smirk on his beak. "Naturally." He lifted a black block attached to his neck via a string. Looking through it, he quickly aimed it in the general direction of Deino and the ball. The block produced a flash of light, surprising Buneary. What the heck could that be for?
"... You didn't want me to pose, right?" Deino asked calmly, now standing.
Noctowl let his black block fall to his chest with a huff. "No. I want it to look as natural as possible, so don't do that."
Deino smiled softly. "Oh. 'Kay."
Buneary frowned in confusion. No, really, what was that black box for? Why did Deino have to pose, but not really? How odd.
"What do ya even need a picture of that for?" Scorbunny asked irritably. "Why not a picture of us winning, huh?"
Noctowl huffed again and gave him a sassy side-glance. "Who'd want a picture of that? One with a rookie who's not even a proper explorer?"
Scorbunny visibly gritted his teeth. "Oh, shut up with that! I don't need a dumb badge to explore!"
Noctowl held a shrug. "If you wanna keep being an unrecognized hobo all your life, then sure."
"Beats being a stuck up-"
"Hey, hey, cut it out, you guys!" a penguin with a giant ice cube for a head shouted, quickly waddling in-between them. "Let's all get a- W-Whoa!" He tripped on his own flippers and collapsed onto Scorbunny. Being only half his size, the rabbit was instantly flattened.
Chansey yelped in shock. "Eiscue, you block head, you squashed Scorbunny!" she chastised.
"Whoops..." Eiscue replied, getting off Scorbunny. "Uh... you okay down there?"
"Yeah... just peachy..." Scorbunny mumbled.
Buneary pulled a face. Oh dear... pokémon sure did enjoy getting into fights an awful lot around here, didn't they? Not just the physical kinds, either...
Well... as long as they didn't start falling out over chocolate, like back on her island that one time, she supposed it could be worse.
She watched Chansey pick Scorbunny up by one of his feet and dust him off upside-down. Being a few feet taller, she managed it fairly well.
"Oh dear... poor Scorbunny..." Buneary heard a gentle, feminine voice say from somewhere close by. "They're so mean to him, sometimes."
"It'sh shooorta dishurved!" somebody else said, sounding like it was eating something. It audibly swallowed its food before continuing in a far more feminine, cheery voice. "He's a really big brute, sometimes, so it's no wonder karma keeps hitting him square in the face!"
"Nooo, don't say that..." the other pokémon replied in a pouty voice, "Scorbunny is a very nice pokémon, so he doesn't deserve that sort of treatment."
"Nice?" the other voice replied in surprise. She giggled, her tone turning sassy. "Not the word I woulda used...!"
Very curious as to who was talking, Buneary slowly sidled around the building until she could see them. She saw a girly butterfly with pretty pink wings, and a somewhat chubby, busty squirrel sitting on seats in front of the daycare. They were having a bite to eat at a table filled with small cakes and berries as they watched the ball game.
"And what word would you have used?" the butterfly asked, her gentle voice sounding as unimpressed as she looked.
The squirrel grinned. "Well...! Abrasive? Aggressive? Confrontational? ... A jerk?" she asked.
"Skwovet, I can hear ya, you know..." Scorbunny responded dryly, standing next to Chansey.
"O-Oh no!" the butterfly replied with a loud gasp, face red.
"Yeah, he can hear you," Chansey added. She smirked, "so you should probably say something meaner."
The squirrel, or 'Skwovet', giggled. "Yeahh, maybe~!"
Scorbunny frowned at Chansey. "Hey! Whazzat supposed to mean!?" He started kicking her in the side.
Chansey yelped. "Ow! Marathon Scorbunny!" she yelled. She repeatedly stomped on his head, leading to a strange exchange of kicks between the two of them.
Everyone watched them with varying levels of awkwardness.
"Oh, c'mon, I just stopped an argument, already!" Eiscue whined, slapping his flippers against his giant ice cube-shaped head in bemusement.
"Heh... maybe we should just leave 'em to it," Deino said with a small smirk.
Sneasel sighed with crossed arms. "I fear you may be right, Deino... The day will long be over before those two even consider stopping," he said.
"Aye, they're a right bunch'a rascals, t' be sure," the pumpkin, 'Gourgeist', added, smiling pleasantly. "They do brighten up the ol' place, though!"
"Haha, awesome way of looking at it, dude!" the flaming monkey replied cheerily. "S'pretty fun, huh?"
"Heh, yeah," Deino replied.
The togetic gave them a very strange look while grooming her feathers. "You guys enjoy their arguments!?" she asked.
"Oh, fer sure!" Gourgeist replied. "S'very fun to watch 'em go at it."
"Fun!? You guys make no sense!"
The noctowl audibly clicked his tongue in what sounded like amusement. He looked off to the side and locked eyes with Buneary, his own widening.
She sank back in surprise. O-Oh dear, she'd gotten so caught up in the conversation that she'd forgotten they might see her! W-What would they think of her eavesdropping? Not the same as Zoroark, she hoped!
The noctowl raised an eyebrow and casually indicated towards her. "Hey, who's that?" he asked.
Everyone let out curious murmurs and followed his wing. Buneary's breath caught in her throat as everyone stared straight at her.
She gulped and, choking back the instinct to hide behind the building, gave a nervous wave. "H-H-Hello?" she stammered.
"Oh! If it isn't our newest recruit!" Sneasel said, beaming.
Gourgeist beamed just as brightly. "Ooh, grand! We'd been lookin' up and down the 'ouses for ya, lass!" he said.
"Heh, he is not wrong. We had been wondering where you had gotten off to!"
"O-Oh, you have?" Buneary asked. Gosh, how had they known about her? Enough to want to track her down, even?
Sneasel gave a firm nod. "Definitely! We saw-"
A loud clatter interrupted him and brought everyone's attention to the front of the daycare. Skwovet seemed to have dropped a berry to bring her paws up to her cheeks in wonderment. "Oh, legends, she's so cuuuuuuute~!"
she squealed. She jumped out of her chair and lunged towards Buneary.
The rabbit yelped in surprise and hopped backwards. Skwovet crashed into the sand right where she'd been.
Everyone stared at her as she lay lifelessly flopped onto the sand.
"... Is..." Noctowl started, sounding worried, "is she... oka-?"
Skwovet sprung to her feet and got in Buneary's face, startling her again. "Hello, I'm Skwovet, and oooooooooh you're just so adorable~!" she squealed excitedly. She wiggled around in what seemed like pure ecstasy, causing her tail, her puffed out cheeks and the large lump on her chest to bounce around like crazy. "Join my team, pleeeeeeease~!"
Sweating, Buneary took a step back. "U-Um... I-I don't know..."
"Skwoveeeeet!" the butterfly screeched loudly, flying closer. Her scowl was painted red with a heavy blush. "You're embarrassing me! Stop it!"
Buneary held her paws over her extended ear. Ouch! She sure had a pair of lungs on her, yeesh...
"Owww, do ya have to screech, Vivillon...?" Skwovet complained, both paws over her ears.
"Yes! She definitely won't join us if you scare her away..." 'Vivillon' chided.
"I'm afraid it matters not," Sneasel said, coming closer with a grimace on his face, no doubt from the screeching. It went away as a slight grin appeared on his lips. "Buneary decided to join our fair guild, so you're a bit late to the punch."
"Haha, yeah, so hands off, Skwovet! She's ours!" Skorupi added, grinning.
The squirrel gave a dismayed gasp. "Nooooo, really!?" She went teary eyed. "Awww, but she's so cute, though...!"
"Uh... s-sorry...?" Buneary mumbled, not really sure what to say. Well, if nothing, she appreciated the compliment. Even if being called 'cute' did make her feel a bit kiddy...
"Umm... no worries, Skwovet," Togetic said, walking closer with a sheepish smile. "There'll be other cute pokémon to join your team someday."
"If she doesn't scare them away first, sure," Scorbunny sassily piped in, coming closer.
Skwovet huffed angrily and frowned at him. "Zip it, Scorbunny!" she snapped.
The white rabbit grinned with a snort of amusement. He turned his attention to Buneary, smile turning friendly. "So you're new here, huh? Heya, Buneary! I'm Marathon Scorbunny!"
"O-Oh, hello!" Buneary replied, not expecting him to be so friendly after everything she'd seen. She smiled back. "I'm Wallflower Buneary!"
"Haha, awesome! Nice to meet'cha!"
"Awesome's right!" Pansear shouted, landing next to them from the air. "Yo! I'm Awesome Pansear!"
"H-Hi!" Buneary replied, startled from his entrance. "Nice to..." She blinked. "... Wait. Awesome Pansear?"
The monkey gave a toothy grin. "Yeah, you bet'cha!" He smugly pointed to himself with his thumb. "Leader of Team Awesome! The best explorers there ever were or will be!"
"Aww yeah, better believe it!" Skorupi said, running to his side with a cocky grin. He flexed the muscles on his tail, which bulged impressively. "With Awesome Pansear, Chill Deino and me, Strength Skorupi... no team's gonna beat us at anything!"
"Yup," Deino said, calmly strolling closer while smiling placidly. "Glad to meet ya."
"Oh, uh... awesome!" Buneary replied. So, this was Deino's team, was it? Well... they certainly had spirit, that's for sure. "Glad to meet you guys, too~"
"Hey, you three, your ego's showing...!" Chansey said dryly, coming up behind them.
Skorupi turned to face her. "Hey, you make it sound like that's a bad thing!" he retorted, cocky grin as strong as ever.
Chansey made a strange strangled noise and took some shaky steps away from him. "W-Well..." She cleared her throat and grumpily crossed her arms. "Just... don't get a swollen head, is all I'm saying."
Skorupi frowned at her. "Oh, c'mon! Why am I always the one you freak out at? What'd I do!?" he complained.
"I told you, Skorupi! Bugs bug me out, and you're a bug!"
"Hey, I'm a scorpion pokémon! No way we're bugs!"
"You're bug-type, Mister Strength Skorupi!"
Buneary stared at them with a concerned frown while their fight continued. Oh dear, why did arguments always start whenever she tried to do anything...?
Scorbunny slung an arm around her shoulders, giving her a start. "Hey, don't mind Triple C, Bun-o," he reassured. "Speaking of bugs, she's just always got one up her huge butt."
Buneary cringed and glanced at Chansey. She was preoccupied with arguing with Skorupi, thank goodness. "Um... your words, not mine..." Buneary muttered with a sheepish smile. She blinked. "Wait... Triple C? Is that... Chansey's title?"
"Hah, sorta!" He removed his arm to cockily put a paw to his hip. "We call her Callously Cruel Chansey, 'cause she's a bitch."
"Oh, I... see," Buneary mumbled in response. Yeesh... they were both sort of callous, if she had to be honest.
"What the-?" Chansey said, turning to face the white rabbit. She growled and pulled an egg out of her pouch. "That's Cute Carer Chansey, Scorbunny!" She threw it aggressively. "And you're the bitch, not me!"
Scorbunny gave a panicked yell. The egg almost hit him, but was cut in two by something dark-green that whizzed past. It left a small explosion in its wake, hitting no one.
Buneary blinked. Goodness... she sure hoped that egg wasn't one of the ones Chansey had been looking after.
Looking to the side, she saw Sneasel in a crouched position, as if he was getting up from a landing. Oh, had he saved Scorbunny? How cool!
It was odd, though... seeing him up close, she got a good look at his dark-green fur, which... wasn't a color she was used to seeing on a sneasel. Another shiny? He didn't seem like one, though...
The weasel let out a breath and turned around to look between Chansey and Scorbunny. He awkwardly waved his paws in an effort to calm them. "N-Now, now, settle down, my friends. We don't want poor Buneary to get the wrong impression of us, am I right?" he tried to reason.
"Say that to her..." Scorbunny mumbled, crossing his arms with an exaggerated pout.
Chansey huffed at him in annoyance. She sighed afterwards and looked apologetic. "Yeah, you're right, Sneasel..." she said. She looked towards Buneary with a surprisingly friendly smile, considering how she'd been acting earlier. "Hi! So you're new, are you?"
Buneary smiled back, pleased at her newfound pleasant demeanor. "Oh, hello! Yes, I am~" she replied.
"How lovely! Well, nice to meet you!" She did a quick twirl into a girly pose. "I'm Cute Carer Chansey, and I own the daycare~!"
"Thought it was 'Callous Carer' Chansey..." Skorupi mumbled dryly, cleaning out his ear with a spike on his tail. His eyes widened when Chansey turned around, presumably to shoot him a glare. "... Y'know... just saying!" he continued, shrugging nervously.
She held her gaze before turning back to Buneary, smiling just as pleasantly as before. "Anyway, any eggs you find, I'll take them off your hands!"
"I'll... keep that in mind," Buneary replied, trying not to pull a face. Admittedly, she wasn't entirely sure if the kids would survive before being given away, considering how this girl was. Maybe it would be okay, though. Maybe...
She noticed Vivillon edging closer to Scorbunny in an almost shy sort of manner. When close enough, she asked,
"Um... are you okay, Scorbunny?"
With her back to Buneary, it was easier for the brown rabbit to see the pattern on her wings. Pink with green tips and flower patterns decorating the end. It was really cute!
"Uh... yeah, thanks, Vivvy," Scorbunny replied, looking a bit perplexed. Getting up, he grinned with a nod towards Sneasel. "Hey, on that note... thanks, Sneez!"
"Do not mention it, my friend!" Sneasel replied, looking rather proud of himself.
Vivvillon lightly pouted for some reason. "Uh... y-yeah," she mumbled.
"To be honest, I think you should've let it hit him," Togetic said, flying close-by while shrugging exaggeratedly. "It would teach him a lesson for calling Chansey such rude things!"
"Hear, hear!" Skwovet agreed, giggling.
Scorbunny stuck his tongue out at them and blew a raspberry.
"Hey, you guys, quit it!" Eiscue said, waddling over. He sounded annoyed, yet his expression was completely neutral. "We should be introducing ourselves, not tormenting Scorbunny!" He turned towards Buneary. "Oh, and on that note... " He stuck out a flipper dramatically, "what's shakin'? I'm Switch Flip Eiscue!" he greeted eagerly.
"Oh, hello!" Buneary greeted back. "Gosh, your title's really cool~"
"Thanks! I got that title 'cos of my Ice Face, which I can take off and put back on whenever I want! Cool, huh?"
Her head jolted back in surprise. T-Take off? What on Earth did he...?
... Wait. Actually, she just noticed that his head was transparent! And inside, she could see a much smaller, round head. Gosh, what an odd sort of pokémon he was...
Noctowl slowly flew into a landing next to Eiscue from the air. "Last I checked, people call you that because you're gung-ho one second, and completely scatterbrained the next," he replied to the penguin coolly. "It's pretty basic."
A look of shock appeared on Eiscue's smaller head. "What? That's not why at all!" He turned to the others. "Right? Riiight?"
Most of the others responded with various levels of half-hearted agreement, while the ones who didn't looked sheepish or amused.
Eiscue stared at them. He slapped his flippers against his ice block in dismay. "Noooo, really!?" he screeched.
"Haha, yeah, sorry, dude," Pansear said, rubbing the back of his head. "Me and my team are awesome, but you got us beat, there!"
Eiscue gave a wail of despair and flopped to the floor. "Darn it...! I was so sure I sounded cool, too...!"
Buneary pulled a face. He was certainly... dramatic.
Sneasel chuckled awkwardly and moved over to pat him on the back comfortingly. "Eheh, um... it's quite alright, Eiscue. It is a fine name, all the same!" he said reassuringly.
"Yeah, I like it a lot!" Buneary agreed.
Eiscue paused. He sprang to his feet and put his flippers to his side. "Yeah, you're right! My title's great!" he said confidently.
"Eiscue, you're really something else," Togetic said with a giggle. She twirled into position in front of Buneary. "Buneary, heya~! I'm Laaaady Luck Togetic!" She held a paw up. "High five!"
"Hee-hee, okay!" Buneary replied. She raised her paw and clapped it against Togetic's. "So, um... are you very lucky?"
"Why don't we find out?" Togetic said with a wink. She reached behind one of the large spike-like formations on her head and pulled out a poké coin. It had emerald-colored studs embedded on the rim, meaning it was worth about five poké. "So what'll it be? Heads or tails?"
Buneary's eyes widened. "H-Huh? Um, w-what do you mean, sorry?"
"Hey, don't worry, Buneary! You only have to pick one. I'll do the rest!"
"Um, okay, uh... t-tails?"
"Okay, then, I'll take heads! Cooooooin toss~!" The colorful bird grandly threw her coin upwards. It went spinning high into the air until coming down to land on the sand with a soft thud.
Still not really sure what was going on, Buneary glanced down at it. It was facing downwards, showing off the number '5' ingrained on the back.
Apparently that was a bad thing, because Togetic's face fell upon seeing it. "Wah! Oh no, tails!"
"Umm... y-yippee, I think!" Buneary replied. Had she won?
Togetic's shoulders slumped. "Ohh... I used my lucky coin, and everything..."
"Uh... sorry?"
The bird brightened up again. "Oh well, no worries! Next time we play, I'll win, for sure!" She winked. "In fact, how about next time we make a bet out of it? Much more exciting that way!"
"Um... maybe!" As long as they didn't bet anything too high, anyway. Betting on something you're clueless about seemed a bit silly.
"Sweet! Y'know, it sure is nice to meet a pleasant rabbit for once! One who's as cute as a button, too~"
"Um, thanks...?" Buneary replied.
"Hey, what're you talkin' about, Togetic!?" Scorbunny demanded. "You don't think I'm cute?"
"Not even a little bit, Scorbunny~" Togetic teased. "You're a grumpy ol' hare, and she's a sweet, innocent little bunny~"
"Hey, screw you!" Scorbunny complained.
Buneary pouted. "... I'm an adult, you know..." she mumbled. Why did everyone always treat her in such a kiddy way?
"... You are?" Togetic asked. "Oh... I knew that."
Buneary's pout deepened. For crying out loud...
Hearing laughter come from some of the others in the group reminded her that she was still the center of attention. Getting somewhat self-conscious, especially after a comment like that, she quickly glanced around. She paused when she saw Noctowl's groin a short distance away.
Trying her best not to admire the view, she looked up at the surprisingly tall bird towering over her to see him aiming his small black box at her. "W-What are-?" she started.
His black box suddenly flashed a light in her face, making her shriek and cower. When a few moments of feeling no pain passed, she looked up to see him giving her a perplexed look, his black box slack against his chest.
"... I was only taking a picture with my camera," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I want to put together an album of my journey to become an elite explorer."
"A... picture? Um... oh," she replied, rubbing her eyes. She felt her face heat up when she heard chuckles from some of the crowd. Darn it. She wasn't entirely sure what he'd meant with this 'camera' and 'album' business, but still, he could have warned her, first...
"Mmhm. In any case, I'm Snapshot Noctowl. Part of Wigglytuff's Guild, and on Team Birdbrain, same as Togetic and Eiscue."
"N-Nice to meet you!" she replied, pushing her embarrassment aside.
He smirked lightly. "Likewise."
"I came up with the team name~" Eiscue boasted.
"He did," Noctowl agreed. "It's... more appropriate for them than it is me."
"Aww, thanks!" Eiscue said, beaming.
"What!?" Togetic snapped. She stopped attempting to pick up her coin to glare daggers at Noctowl. "Well, excuse you, your rudeness! What about me is bird-brained!?"
Eiscue blinked. "... Wait, was he insulting me, or something?"
Apparently ignoring him, the owl huffed with a somewhat arrogant smirk. "Basing your entire moveset off luck-based moves isn't exactly what I'd call smart," he criticized.
"It's fun, thank you very much!" Togetic argued back. "More fun than those overly complicated strategies of yours!"
He frowned. "We are not discussing that, again."
"Oh yes we-"
Skwovet leapt over her with a flip, landing in front with a pose and making the bird leap backwards, squealing in fright. "We interrupt this argument to bring you..." Skwovet started. She twirled into another pose, doing a v-sign with her fingers. "Expeditioooon Skwovet!"
Buneary giggled. Well, that was one way to stop a fight.
"And I'm her partner~" Vivillon chimed in, flying above her. The scales on her wings seemed to be flaking, somewhat worryingly. "Vivillon~ My title?" She spun around and harshly spread her wings, sending those same scales flying everywhere. "Ta-daaaaa~!"
... Wait, was that her title, or...?
Noticing something, Buneary's thoughts stopped and she stared in awe. Wow... the butterfly's wings had completely transformed! Before, they'd been pink and flowery. Now, they were blue on the bottom and red and yellow on the top. In fact, the pattern sort of resembled a setting sun on an ocean horizon. "Wow, that's so gorgeous..." she mumbled.
Vivillon giggled. "Why, thank you~! I've been practicing, you know!"
"It shows!"
"Heh, that's the, uh..." Scorbunny started in amusement. He scratched the side of his head, seemingly thinking about something. Eventually, though, he clicked his fingers. "... Yeah, that's The Exhibitionists for ya!"
"Heehee, oka-" Buneary did a double take. "... Exhibitionists?"
"W-What!?" Vivillon shrieked, face somehow going pale and red at the same time.
Skwovet nodded, seeming to ignore her. "Yep! Hey, I'll show ya why we're called that one of these days, if we ever bump into each other in a dungeon, or something!" she said.
Buneary pictured what that would entail and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. "Um... we'll... see," she replied quietly.
Skwovet's smile started to grow, and she took on a very cutesy look. "... And the offer's still available if you wanna ditch Donphan and join us-"
"No, no, no, wait a second, please!" Vivillon squealed, rapidly shaking her head. "We're not exhibitionists! We're 'The Expeditionists'!"
Buneary blinked a few times. After a short while, it clicked. "Ohh, so... like the Expedition Society in Lively Town?" she asked.
Vivillon nodded just as rapidly as she'd shaken her head. "Yes, yes, that's right! You got it!"
"Well, duh, what else would it be?" Skwovet asked, looking completely lost.
"Huh, well, this whole time..." Skorupi started, "I thought you two went around dungeons in the buf-"
"A-Anyway, my friends," Sneasel interrupted, looking like he was unsuccessfully trying his hardest not to look flustered, "I believe it is our turn to introduce ourselves!"
"Y-Yes, please!" Vivillon begged, face going even redder from embarrassment.
Togetic giggled at Sneasel. "Knowing you, I'll bet you've been looking forward to it a lot, huh?" she teased with a wink.
He smiled sheepishly. "... I will admit that I am fond of big entrances, so perhaps a little..." He grinned, voice turning grander by the second. "So on that note... it is very nice to meet you, Buneary! I..." He spread an arm outward, causing the wide scarf behind him to billow in the wind, "... am Valiant Sneasel! Founder of Team Valiant!"
Buneary gasped lightly. "Ooh, I've heard about you from some of the others!" she said eagerly.
His grin brightened a little more. "Ah, I see!" He chuckled. "I suppose my reputation precedes me~ I can only hope they are saying good things!"
Remembering Corsola's mention of him, she nodded. "I'd definitely say so!" The coral hadn't been wrong, either. He was quite handsome~ Certainly an improvement over Tricky Sneasel, and that notorious mischievous smirk of his.
His grin grew. "Great to hear! Oh, but I am not alone on my team!" He made a gesture and aimed it around. "Please, say hello to my... um... Huh?" He scratched his head and looked around in confusion. "G... Gourgeist? Where have you gotten off to?"
"Oh, 'ey up, Sneasel, I'm over 'ere!" the pumpkin responded from elsewhere.
Everyone turned their heads in his direction. He was still happily standing in front of the two posts embedded in the sand, waving to them from where he was.
"Gourgeist, what the heck are ya doin' back there?" Scorbunny called over to him.
"Yeah, Buneary's over here!" Chansey added. "You're not gonna come say hi?"
"Well, I'd love to, but ya told me to guard the goal," Gourgeist replied, smiling innocently.
Sneasel gave a soft sigh, though his smile remained. "Gourgeist, we're not playing right now!" he called over to him. "You may come say hi, if it pleases you!"
Gourgeist's smile brightened."Oh! Fair play, then! I'll be right over!" A strange puddle of ghostly energy formed under his feet. He fell through it, like the floor wasn't even there.
Buneary's eyes widened. Gosh, what move had he just used?
Before she could even guess, another ghostly portal appeared in the air above them. Gourgeist fell through and crashed in the sand, sending a load of it spraying into the air. Almost everyone reacted in surprise or displeasure, especially Togetic, who began freaking out.
"Bahhh! No, no, no, no, noooo! Not all over my feathers!" she screamed. She hastily began to clean herself off with a brush she'd apparently had on hand.
"Ughh, Gourgeist, you big oaf...!" Chansey groaned, brushing sand off the egg in her pouch, which she must have produced while Buneary hadn't been watching.
The rabbit blinked. How did chanseys produce eggs? If it was the normal way, then that was... awkward.
"Oh, sorry, everyone," Gourgeist apologized. "Don't know me own strength. Uh, me landing strength, any'ow."
"Dude, it was an awesome landing!" Pansear praised, not seeming to care about his new sand coat. "Ten outta ten!"
"Heh, yeah," Deino agreed, shaking sand from his black hair.
"Well, at least he didn't explode this time..." Noctowl said, brushing some sand off his chest.
Buneary stopped shaking sand off herself to stare at him, brows creased in concern. Huh!? Had she... heard that right?
Sneasel just chuckled, albeit rather awkwardly. "I-It's okay, Gourgeist! Uh..." he started. Grinning again, he turned towards Buneary, and grandly gestured towards the pumpkin. "Buneary, meet my friend, partner and little brother-figure: Grower Gourgeist!"
Buneary looked up at the pumpkin. Goodness, 'little' brother? He was huge! He was almost as tall as Snorlax and Noctowl, at about three or four times her size, even! It was no wonder he'd made such a huge crash... "H-Hello there!" she greeted him.
Smiling widely, Gourgeist went over to her, took hold of her paw with his long hair, and gave it a firm shake. A really firm shake. Ouch...!
"Nice t' meet'cha, Buneary!" he greeted. He let go, allowing her aching arm to go slack. "Aye, I'm Grower Gourgeist. I can grow almost any type o' berry, fruit or veggie you want!"
Rubbing her arm, Buneary forced back a wince to smile back. "O-Oh, that sounds cool! Are you a farmer?" she asked.
"Aye, lass! Well... sorta. Me family owns a berry farm over in Pumpkaboo Forest, so I learned me a few tricks of th' trade over time."
"Ooh, okay!"
Sneasel crossed his arms and nodded. "Said family took me under their wing when I was a child with nowhere else to go... hence our familial connection, which is stronger than any steel!" he boasted.
"Aye, definitely!" Gourgeist added. "Our Sneasel's been with us for years, now!"
"Aww, that's sweet," Buneary cooed. Well, it seemed that Octillery hadn't lied about Sneasel being an orphan. It lined up with what she was hearing now well enough.
"... Coulda sworn people call him 'Big Bang Gourgeist," Skorupi mumbled, scratching his head with his tail.
Hearing that, Sneasel grimaced. "Um... I suppose in some circles, they... call him that," he muttered.
"Yeah, it's 'cos you like to blow up, don't'cha, Gourgeist?" Skwovet said.
The pumpkin nodded, the big smile on his lips and on his belly unwavering. "Right'cha are, Skwovet! If an enemy pokémon gives me team any bother, I give 'em a good Explosion to send the wee buggers packin'. Does the job good 'n' proper!" he replied.
Yeesh... Buneary was starting to see what Noctowl had meant. If she ever found herself travelling together with Gourgeist, she'd have to watch herself...
"Geez, ain't it kinda painful...?" Scorbunny asked, perplexed.
"Oh, don't worry none, Scorbunny," Gourgeist replied. "I usually remember to give th' ol' heads up before I explode."
Scorbunny frowned. "That's not what I meant! How many times a day do you knock yourself out with that move?"
"Ooh, right. Well, I dunno... just a few!"
"Several times per trip..." Sneasel corrected, sighing in spite of his tired smile. He shook his head. "B-But that is okay! It gives me an excellent excuse to stock up on reviver seeds! Both tiny and big!" He huffed lightly and began to mumble quietly. "And an especially excellent excuse to visit her. Heh..."
... Buneary was really curious, but seeming like the only one who had heard him, she stayed quiet. She noticed Scorbunny chuckle with a knowing smirk, though.
"Oh dear, aren't those expensive, though?" Vivillon asked Sneasel.
The weasel's smile remained, though Buneary noticed some beads of sweat begin to build on his face. "Eheh, well, money is not an object, I... assure you!" He cleared his throat and turned towards Buneary in a grandiose manner. "Anyway... I would say that about does it for introductions! Welcome to our fair guild, Buneary!"
"And welcome to the village, too!" Chansey added. "It's good to meet ya!"
Everyone let out various mutterings of agreement.
Buneary could feel herself going bashful. "Th-Thanks, everyone. Glad to meet all of you, too~!" she said, beaming despite herself. "Does everyone who come here get this kind of welcome wagon?"
"Huh... guess not!" Scorbunny said with a chuckle. "But you know, it ain't often we all get to show off at once, so why not?"
Togetic giggled. "Consider yourself a special guest of honor, Buneary~" she joked.
Buneary giggled back. "Well, I do feel special, so thanks!" she replied.
"Heh, well, ain't that sweet?" Eiscue said, smiling behind his ice block. He tilted his head. "What now, though? We gonna go back to playing soccer?"
"Better believe it! C'mon, guys!" Scorbunny said, gesturing towards the field.
Almost everyone started moving towards the large rectangle etched into the sand near the sea, save for Skwovet and Vivillon, who left for their seats by the daycare.
Buneary just stayed where she was, however. What should she do? She was sure everyone here wouldn't mind if she joined in, but she didn't know the first thing about this 'soccer'! Not to mention, she was still interested in exploring the village...
"Please feel free to play without me, my friends," Sneasel said, waving the others off. "I wish to speak to Buneary some more!"
"Oh, yeah!" Gourgeist added. "I wouldn't mind 'avin' a gas with the lass, meself!"
Buneary looked at them in surprise. Oh? What did they want to talk about?
"Haha, 'kay! You do you, you two!" Scorbunny called back, snickering after his rhyme. He gave a simple wave back. "See ya, Sneez! Geist-o!" He turned to Buneary. "You too, Bun-o!"
"Oh, yeah, bye~" Buneary replied, surprised at being addressed.
Sneasel gave him a quick salute. "Until next time, Scorbunny!" he said.
"Tata, lad!" Gourgeist added.
Scorbunny nodded and ran off to join the others.
Sneasel let out a small satisfied sigh and turned back to Buneary with a friendly grin. "So, Buneary! As I was about to say, before Skwovet's, uh... 'dynamic introduction', earlier... Gourgeist and I have actually been waiting to talk to since this morning!"
"Oh, aye!" Gourgeist added. "We went lookin' about all mornin', but we didn't see ya."
"Ah, okay. Um... sorry," Buneary replied, feeling a little guilty.
"It is okay, Buneary!" Sneasel reassured. "I am curious, though... where were you hiding away all this time?"
"I went on a little adventure with Snorlax, Corsola and Octillery in Drenched Bluff." She chuckled sheepishly. "It... took a little longer than it was supposed to."
"Ahh, that would explain it! Okay, then." His smile changed into a grimace. "Um... I do hope that Octillery's, uh... 'behavior' didn't upset you too much in any way."
She tilted her head. "Oh? Um, not at all. I thought he was a really nice guy!"
Sneasel's eyes widened. "Is that so? I... am admittedly surprised. He does not often get along with others, likely because he is a bit too fond of speaking his mind." He exhaled through his nose. "For example... I believe he thinks that sneasels, such as I, are well known for being greedy, sneaky, and for crossing their arms a lot, too." He briefly covered his mouth to cough. "R-Rather assumptious, to be sure..."
"Ah..." While he had a point, she didn't want to mention that Tricky Sneasel had been exactly like that...
"Right-o," Gourgeist agreed with Sneasel. "And he's always' eff'in' and blindin' away, that fella." He smiled. "I don't mind, meself, but it sure does give the others a wee ol' fright and an 'alf."
Buneary blinked at the pumpkin, perplexed. "... Uh...?" she murmured.
Sneasel chuckled. "He's referring to Octillery's constant use of bad language," he explained.
"It's very colorful, no doubt," Gourgeist agreed in amusement.
"Ahh, okay," Buneary replied. Well, she couldn't defend Octillery there.
'Effing and blinding' though... what odd lingo. Though with an accent like that, she supposed he would have some odd sayings, here and there.
Seemingly picking up on her ponderings, Sneasel crossed his arms. "Our father - biological, in his case - came from a very rural town in the mountains... so the accent runs deep within the family, you see!" he said.
"Aye!" Gourgeist said with a chuckle. "We're a right bunch'a culchies, us lot."
"I-I see! Makes sense~" Buneary replied. Well... it may have been an odd accent, but it was charming, in a strange way. Even if she didn't quite follow what he meant all the time.
... All his uses of the words 'lad', 'lass' and 'aye' really reminded her of that horrible pirate story, though.
She ignored the involuntary shudder that went up her spine as best she could. Ugh... she would have to train herself not to make the connection. At least he wasn't saying 'yarr', or anything like that.
"Say, Buneary," Sneasel started, catching her attention, "today, Gourgeist and I don't have any rescue missions that we can reasonably tackle without our other teammate... so I was wondering: would you be interested in a quick tour of the village? I shall be your guide!"
Buneary beamed. "Oh, would you?"
"Of course! It is an excellent excuse to learn more about you! Does the idea please you any?"
She bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly. "Yeah, that would be lovely, thanks~"
"Ooh, aye, sounds grand!" Gourgeist said eagerly. "I'll come along, if yer don't mind."
"Hah, splendid!" Sneasel replied. "Let us be on our merry way, then, you two!"
"Sure~" Buneary chimed. She paused. "... Wait, you have another team member?"
Gourgeist nodded heartily. "Yup! Our Salandit, who's back makin' tea. Uh... dinner," he explained.
Her eyes widened. "S-Salandit's on your team?" she asked.
Sneasel looked surprised. "Oh, why yes! Have you met?" he said.
"... Briefly," Buneary mumbled, looking off to the side awkwardly.
A sigh escaped his lips. "... By the sounds of things, you have already become quite acquainted with her..."
She looked back at him. "Y-Yeah... it didn't go well."
Looking apologetic, he nodded in understanding. "Apologies for that. It is not hard to put her on edge. Especially if you happen to be a boy."
"I see..." Well, at least she had a bit of an advantage there...
She blinked and tilted her head. "Huh. Is she... scared of you, in that case?" she continued.
"She's... getting better. She has not been with us long, though, so there are still some bumps in the road to iron out."
"Oh, she used to scream up a right ol' storm when we first got the lass, though," Gourgeist said, amused. "'Specially before we learned 'ow to avoid that pink gassy stuff of 'ers."
Buneary cringed, able to imagine what had happened back then perfectly. Oh dear...
"Aye... Um, yes, I mean," Sneasel replied. He cleared his throat and smiled. "Please do not judge her based on what you've seen too much, though. When she is calm, she is lovely! Really!"
"She 'as a lovely singin' voice, too, she does," Gourgeist added. He smiled nostalgically. "Reminds me of bein' back 'ome on th' farm."
"Haha, ah, yes... those wild pumpkaboos and gourgeists sure did love to sing their haunting songs." Sneasel pulled a face. "All night long, when it was dark..."
... Buneary didn't know how to respond, so she just chuckled lightly. "O-Okay then," she replied awkwardly. She offered them a smile before going back on topic. "Anyway, um... I'll try talking to Salandit later on, then. Maybe she'll be a bit more relaxed by then!"
"Absolutely!" Sneasel replied. He grandly gestured towards the village behind him. "But before that... let us take our grand tour... of Venture Village!" He did a confident fist-pumping motion. "I shall make sure you learn about every nook and cranny of-!" His eyes briefly widened at something on the ground. They sparkled with glee shortly afterwards. "Ooh, why... is that five poké?" He quickly moved over to snatch it up.
Buneary stared at him. Um... that was somewhat abrupt.
Sneasel flipped the coin between his two claws, seeming very pleased indeed. He blinked several times and turned to face Buneary and Gourgeist. "... Uh... that is..." he started.
"Ah, Sneasel, you're so nice!" Gourgeist praised. "Ya found Togetic's ol' lucky coin for 'er!"
"Ahh, okay, I get it!" Buneary chimed. "She forgot it, and you were just excited to return it!"
Sneasel's face remained neutral for a second, until a bright smile spread across it. "Y-Yes! Absolutely!" he replied. He let out a breath. "To... be quite honest, I nearly forgot that it belonged to her." He stood tall in a grand, almost triumphant manner. "But regardless! I knew it must have belonged to someone! And it is my duty to return any and all lost items possible, no matter whether it will earn me a reward or no!"
Buneary was starstruck. Wow... how admirable! He reminded her of The Happy-Go-Luckies so much~
Gourgeist happily, and maybe a little roughly, rubbed Sneasel on the head. "Oh, you'd make our ol' fella proud if 'e 'eard that!" he praised.
Sneasel gave a pained chuckle. "Th-Thank you very much, my brother! I'm... sure he would be!" He ducked under Gourgeist's hand and gestured towards the others, who had gone back to playing their 'soccer'. "Well! I shall go deliver this back to Togetic. Please, wait for me here, won't you?"
"Oh, of course!" Buneary replied.
"Yup! See you in a tick, Sneasel!" Gourgeist added.
The weasel gave a nod and turned to head towards the others, who had since gone back to their game.
Intrigued, Buneary watched what was going on. It currently looked like Eiscue had the ball, though he was surrounded by opponents, bearing down on him and presumably ready to steal the ball.
The rabbit expected him to panic. Instead, however, he took up a look of composure and slammed his flippers against his ice cube. It shattered to pieces, revealing his round, bright blue head.
Everyone surrounding him paused, possibly from surprise and confusion. Using it as an opening, Eiscue kicked the ball as hard as he could. It sailed through an opening in the crowd and drastically curved upwards as it travelled, going high above the group in seconds.
While everyone was distracted by the spectacle, Eiscue leapt over the much shorter Scorbunny and, on landing, slid on his belly over the sand. The ball landed in front of him just in time for him to slide into it headfirst, sending it flying past the two poles Noctowl was now guarding. The owl stared at it in disbelief.
Buneary blinked. Wow... impressive! She could see what everyone had meant about him. Going from a bit clumsy and dopey one second to highly skilled the next. Did it have something to do with smashing his ice cube?
Naturally, Eiscue leapt to his feet and did a celebratory jig. "Yeahhh! See that?" he boasted. He put his flippers to his hips and stuck his chest out proudly. "Did I score a goal, or did I score a goal?"
The crowd didn't join in the celebration, or even act in disappointment. They just stared.
Eventually, Chansey and Scorbunny burst into laughter.
"Yeah... an own goal...!" Chansey said, struggling to keep her giggles together.
Scorbunny's laughs were unrestrained. "Thanks for the point, Ice! You're a pal!" he taunted.
Eiscue gagged on air. "W-What're you guys talking about!?" he exclaimed. He pointed towards the other side of the field. "Our goal is over there, right!?"
Deino, who was still guarding the poles on the other side, snorted. "... Sorry, man," he said in amusement.
Eiscue flopped to the floor in despair. "Nooo, I can't believe I screwed up again!"
Noctowl noisily exhaled through his nostrils. "Well done, Eiscue. Just... well done," he said snarkily.
Togetic slapped a paw over her face. "Darn it, Eiscue! I knew I shouldn't have swapped teams!" she yelled angrily.
"It looked pretty cool, though, you gotta admit," Skorupi said.
"Sure was!" Pansear agreed. He pointed a thumb to himself with a big grin. "Not as awesome as Team Awesome could do it, though!"
Skorupi laughed. "Hell yeah!"
"You're awesome at getting own goals?" Skwovet teased them with a giggle.
A giggle escaped Vivillon which she quickly tried to stop. "S-Skwovet! Don't be mean..." she chastised.
Skorupi's eyes bulged. "W-What? No way!" he retorted.
"... But if we wanted own goals..." Pansear started eagerly, "we'd get 'em all the time! Awesomely!"
Skorupi grinned. "Yeah, yeah! Damn straight!" He paused. "... We still don't, though. That's kinda dumb."
"Nicely saved, you two!" Sneasel replied in amusement as he passed by to approach Togetic.
Gourgeist chuckled, catching Buneary's attention. "Dunno what just went on, but it's still funny, some'ow, eh?" he said.
"Y-Yeah..." she responded. Well... if nothing else, one thing was for certain. Everyone here sure made for a special bunch, all in their own little ways.
She smiled softly. Still, she was glad she'd met them! She was certain she would find plenty of time to hang out with them. Heck, perhaps Skwovet had been right, and they would bump into each other many times during their travels. She sure hoped so~
... Wait... if the book, Time & Darkness, had been correct... wasn't there a rule against 'shirking work' in Wigglytuff's Guild? And here everyone was, playing soccer instead of doing missions.
Oh dear... she hoped they wouldn't find out over there. If the book had been any indication, heads would roll...
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished: 01/08 (August)/2021
Word count: 10,881
VGS2's sausage notes: Y'know, recently, it was football season in the United Nannystate of Britain. Right when I had these guys play soccer, too. Um... I guess that makes this a holiday-based chapter? Sure, whatever works. XD [Insert footie anthem here]
Ah well, hope you liked this bunch of nutters! They'll all show up plenty more times, don't you worry. Especially since some of them are OC submissions! I'll point out which ones are for ya right now :P
Zoroark and Luxio were given to me by Sir Fenith! (Hope you're still reading this, mate. Lol)
Sneasel and Gourgeist were given to me by PokeMaster64! (He didn't say it, but to be honest, he probably wanted Gourgeist to be Texan, just like Big Macintosh from Me Little Pony... but when am I ever gonna get another good opportunity to make a Welsh-ish, Irish-ish, Yorkshire-ish farmer again? XD Forgive me, PM64!)
(On another note, in Super Mystery Dungeon, there actually is a dungeon called Pumpkaboo Forest, in the Mist Continent. So that works out well, eh? XD)
Thanks you guys for making up these OCs for me to use! I'm just sorry it's taken so long to show 'em off. Now that I've almost researched everything I need, things should be a bit quicker moving forward, meaning you'll get to see 'em more often! Huzzah! :D
Today's shameless promotion: The Mystery of the Artifacts
Author: Sir Fenith
Universe: Super Mystery Dungeon
Main species: A pikachu, a buneary and an aipom
Summary: After a tragic event, Louis flees from his hometown, leaving friends and family, to become stronger. However, when he learns that a mysterious group desires to take over the world, he embarks on a perilous quest to stop them. But with the terrible luck he has, just how will he manage it?
Romance: Lots! (Fluffy and fast to get to the point!)
Wackiness: A fair bit! (It takes place in the Super world, after all!)
Lewdness: A bit! (Mostly just their friend joking about, though!)
Action: A good amount!
Grittiness: A fair bit! (The Shadow Knights bring a fair amount of edge to the mix!)
Length: Looks to be pretty long!
Sadly, the author said he's cancelled this one... which is why I'm giving it a shout out, in the hopes that he brings it back some day! XP I quite liked it. It brought in some fun antics and promises of cool adventures! The shipping was quite fluffy, too, which I'm all for!
With some brushing up, it looks like it could be a real awesome read. So please reconsider, Sir Fenith! No pressure, though. It's your stuff at the end of the day, and no one's forcing you. XP
...
... You know, maybe I should take this opportunity to offer some tips on how to increase motivation, for any of you aspiring writers out there who have a hundred ideas, but no drive to speak of. Like me, back in the day. XP
Alright, yeah, here's some tips you can do with as you please! You don't have to follow them, but they might help, ya never know...!
- Don't start your ficcing career with a huge story! Start small and/or simple! (Parodies are an especially good way to build skills, as bad writing can be excused!)
- Plan out the beginning of your story, the middle of your story, the general ending of your story, and some of the more important parts within! (This will reduce the chances of running into a brick wall down the line!)
- If you have writers block, write out a shit draft of what you think you want from the scene. Later, when inspiration strikes, you can come back and change or fix it up later, before posting!
- Mistakes will happen! This is fine, and you're not a shit writer! (Especially since you can always go back and fix things later, like I said!)
- Go crazy and do whatever you want without worrying about what others might think! It's your story, your rules, after all! (For example, they say you have to stick to 'same species as the mother' rules for baby pokémons, but I ain't doing that! And you don't have to either, unless you want to!)
- Write small character bios for your characters, so you know how to flesh them out and handle their personalities in any scene!
- Take critique as an opportunity to improve! (And ignore assholes who try to rudely put you down. You're writing free entertainment for their enjoyment, so they should know better!)
- Think positive thoughts as much as you can! (Being cynical will kill your morale, so don't put yourself down so much!)
- Take plenty of breaks! (Ten minutes of writing, ten minutes of playtime! Or whatever works for you!)
- Exercise, eat a good share of meat and veggies, and drink plenty of water! (Good health promotes good habits and makes you less depressed in general!)
There, hope that helps you guys a little! :P
Fun mistakes of the day:
#1: 'looking back to the chore board, she think she recognized this pokémon.'
(Remembering him used up most of her brain cells, though, leaving none left for grammar. I know that feel.)
#2: "So if you wanna go explore Venture Village, then feel Free."
(Why'd I capitalise it? Now she's being invited to watch an anime about muscular, scantily clad men who go swimming all day and night. (Buneary's favourite anime in other words, hon hon!))
#3: 'A figure abruptly dropped out of the fog and landed in the sand in front of her,'
(All acts of intimidation go out the window when you accidentally fall waist deep into the sand.)
#4: 'Her other half nearly followed suite'
(She'll need a vacation after all the shit she's been through, today.)
#5: 'He jumped and did a black flip'
(Uh oh. Um... make your own jokes, whatever they may be. XD At least I didn't accidentally do a typo when typing 'bigger', again. Imagine if I left that in by accident? Hoo boy...)
#6: 'Yeesh... after that, her confidence in exploring plummeted like a rock.'
(Fic's over, then, I guess. XD)
#7: "thy do brighten up the ol' place"
(Ye olde Gourgeist.)
#8: 'She growled and produced an egg.'
(Wait, produced one? Oh my... guess she was expecting! Too bad she threw it at Scorbunny, only for it to get aborted midair by Sneasel. O,o)
#9: "Yeah, you're right! My title's grreat!"
(Is he Tony the Tiger? Well, I guess if Eiscue made some frosted flakes, it would be appropriate, eh?)
#10: "Here, here!" Skwovet agreed, giggling.
(At least now we know her location.)
#11: 'It had emerald studs embedded on the rim, meaninng it was worth about five pokémon'
(No good fantasy story is without a slave trade of some sort.)
#12: "So shat'll it be? Heads of tails?"
(What? XD Togetic has some strange kinks.)
#13: 'She raised her paw and clapped it against Togetic!'
(Not only did Buneary miss and hit Togetic, but it was apparently very climactic, too! I don't think they'll be friends.)
#14: 'Buneary's yes widened. Gosh, what move had he just used?'
(A really sexy one, apparently!)
#15: 'Gourgeist fell through and cashed in the sand,'
(Silly Gourgeist... you can't pay with that!)
#16: 'It currently looked like Eiscue had the ball, though he was surrounded by opponents, bareing down on him'
(So... they're naked? O,o Looks like things are about to get very hot very quickly!)
#17: 'Eiscue gagged on air. "W-Wat do you meant!?"'
(Ugh, now everyone's speaking in vague Cockney... XD I need some sleep, clearly.)
- More mistakes made/found while researching Super! (Me and ravengal are almost done with it now, so updates might get less sporadic!) -
#18: 'Infernape: *Mad* "Come on Totodile!"'
(Angry sex.)
#19: 'Cleffa: "I like shooting..."'
(Um... uh oh. O,o Because the game gives a preview of what the pokémon will say in a speech bubble above them, we got this fun little admission. Guess it's one way to get through dungeons...)
#20: 'Mr. Fartfetch'd: *Glee* "Hey, Totodile!"'
(Oops... XD I wonder if this was Pancham the bully's secret nickname for his teacher? Along with Tootodile.)
#21: 'Mr. Fatfetch'd'
(That too. XD)
#22: 'Riolu: "I still often fail..."'
(Much like Cleffa, this is what happens when it only displays part of what it says. It tells the truth we've all been thinking. XP)
#23: 'Charmelon:'
(That's it. You've gotta leave. *Kicks him out of the apartment*)
#24: Sawsbuck: "Oh, poor Aramau! Aramau!"
Amaura: "Thank you... for saving me. (My name's Amarua, actually.)"
(Shit. I guess even s/he doesn't know. XD)
Welp, that'll do it for this chappie! Next time, we'll actually get to the tour I wanted to do this chapter, until it got a bit too long... XD Ah well, tata for now, pal! c:
