Sausage note: Wow, what's this!? Another chapter already!? Wooooooo! :D
... Alright, sorry, I'm joshing ya. This is just a result of me splitting one long-ass chapter into two short-ish ones. I'm sorry. D:
That said... there IS some extra shit at the end of the chapter that I was gonna put into the next one... so scroll down and check it out! If you don't, you'll get confused next chappie, so don't say I didn't warn ya, chum. XP
Last time: Buneary got some free shit, and a magical talking pony decided she wanted to bone the sneasler.
Chapter Fifteen: The Tail-End Of Town
"So, um... where to next?" Buneary asked, now standing outside of Gramps' Gifts with the others.
Thankfully recovered from his earlier embarrassment, Sneasel stroked his chin. "Hmm... hard to say. I know there's at least one more, but..." he muttered.
"Oh, I think I know!" Gourgeist said excitedly. "It'll be the store those two lasses own. Th' one you got yer cape from!"
Sneasel clicked his claws together. "Bingo! That'll be it!"
"Uh... cape?" Buneary asked.
Sneasel gestured in a way that allowed his wide scarf to billow behind him in the wind. "Indeed! Thanks to the combined efforts of Hipster Furfrou and her friend, Styles Skitty... my zen scarf was upgraded to a stylish, heroic zen cape!"
Buneary looked at his scarf in intrigue. Or rather, his 'cape'. Oh, so it was some special clothing? She wouldn't know, because nobody on her island wore any clothes. No need when they had natural coverings from birth that kept them modest. Maybe save for the faint bump in certain obvious places.
"Guess we're going there next, then," Salandit said. She cringed. "Urghh... I hope Furfrou doesn't try and sell me one of her... awful clothes, again...!"
"Hey, no need for rudeness, Salandit," Sneasel chided. "Her clothes are... They're very..." He paused awkwardly. "... They're just not to everyone's taste."
"I sorta like her clothes..." Ponytale said happily. "If I had to wear clothes, I'd choose hers..."
"Somehow, I'll believe it," Sneasel said in amusement.
"Huh? But... you said she made your scarf, so..." Buneary asked, confused, "you like her clothes, but don't at the same time, Sneasel...?"
"It's... a bit complicated," Sneasel started. He started walking along the beach, prompting Buneary and the others to follow. "I suppose I'd better explain a little now, though. You see, Furfrou is an undoubtable master at sewing, and everything that comes with the trade. But... um..."
"'er clothes are a bit of an eyesore, for sure," Gourgeist finished. He chuckled. "They're more colorful than our Lilligant's green'ouse!"
Sneasel chuckled. "Yes... but her friend, Skitty, has excellent fashion sense, as you can plainly see!" he added, allowing his cape to billow again. "I believe she often gives Furfrou guidance when it comes to sketching out commissions!"
"Wow... is your cape, like... alive, or something?" Ponytale asked, in awe of it.
"No, it's, a... clever use of Icy Wind," Sneasel explained somewhat sheepishly as his cape flopped against his back uselessly.
"Oh, that's what it is!?" Salandit exclaimed. She frowned. "I thought I was going crazy, seeing it billow with... y'know, nothing to billow it!"
"Eheh, sorry, Salandit..." Sneasel apologized.
"I... guess I understand, now. Heehee, um, about Furfrou's clothes, anyway," Buneary said, scratching her ear. "But I'm sure they're not all bad, right? I like colorful things~"
"Well..." he mumbled, "... you'll see in a minute. Either way, just humor her, won't you, please?"
"Oh, it'll be okay, I'm sure~"
All sorts of harsh colors assaulted Buneary's eyes when she stepped into 'Hip 'n' Trendy', the large building owned by Furfrou and Skitty. Many kinds of clothes and headwear were perched on stands littered about the store floor... and almost all of them hurt to look at. The ones that didn't still had strange patterns that messed with the rabbit's mind.
Buneary blinked rapidly to recover her vision. Oof... okay, she should have trusted Sneasel more. Not to be mean, but if this was what clothes were normally like, she could understand why pokémon never wore them!
The others seemed just as put off, either choosing to avoid looking, or with very bewildered and pained expressions. It was clear they felt the same.
Having enough of that, Buneary looked elsewhere. Thankfully, aside from the clothes, the store itself was rather nice. The floor was coated in a lush, red carpet which felt good under her feet, and the walls were painted in a very clean white. It was a stark contrast to what was on display. More of Skitty's design work? Considering what it might have looked like if Furfrou had been the one to design it... maybe.
Off to the side, Buneary could see an area reserved for dungeon-wear, such as scarves, bands, ribbons and glasses. On the other side was another room surrounded by mirrors. Inside were two pokémon, completely oblivious to their guests while deep in a conversation with their backs turned away, sitting on cushions.
"Y'know, on that note, I've always-a wondered..." the girly, accented skitty said, somehow sheering off a chunk of the other pokémon's white fur with her glowing tail, "how do they stay in the air, anyway? I thought water was-a heavy!"
"Why, is it not obvious, mon cher?" the rather womanly, if not more accented, pokémon asked. Furfrou, if Buneary had to guess. "Clouds are 'eld up by le Earth's magnets, which makes them float!"
Skitty tilted her head, as if to ponder it. "Huh... maybe? Nyaa, but I dunno... clouds aren't-a made of iron..."
"It's a property of water mixing with electricity, mon cher. It's le science~"
Skitty's head lifted. "Oh, okay!" She giggled. "And wasn't 'mon cher' for the bellos?"
Furfrou spluttered, as if caught off-guard. "O-Oh, yes! Oui, I knew, mon... cherry."
Skitty giggled again. "Nyaa... you mean 'ma chérie'?"
"O-Oh, oui, oui! You passed le test."
Buneary giggled to herself. What a strange duo.
Looking around, she noticed Salandit scratching her head in confusion... Gourgeist squinting at some clothes while grimacing, seemingly not listening... Ponytale staring at the ceiling while muttering to herself about clouds and electricity... and Sneasel offering the rabbit a sheepish grin and light shrug.
Letting out a breath, the weasel softly cleared his throat, catching the attention of Skitty and Furfrou. "Why, hello, ladies! Or should that be 'ma chères', if my French is correct?"
"Nyaa, that was it!" Skitty said with a short happy hop. "'Mon cher' for the bellos, 'ma chère' for-a the bellas, like us!"
"Yes, that's right," he agreed. "And, um... that 'chérie' business is for a lover, I believe."
Skitty and Furfrou stared at each other for a second before laughing.
"Whoops! Didn't even-a notice," Skitty said. "Nyaa, how awkward."
"Oh, I did, ma chère! I jus' wanted you to save face," Furfrou said hastily.
"How do you know so much French?" Salandit quietly asked Sneasel.
"Learning bits and pieces of a romantic language has its perks, Salandit," he replied, grinning. "Believe me...!"
Salandit pulled a face. "Oh brother..."
Buneary smiled in amusement. Well, considering how he'd acted towards Shining Sales Sneasel, that certainly made sense for him...
Ponytale giggled. "Oh my... Sneasel's trying to learn fancy languages to serenade me, now...~" she chimed, putting a hoof to her reddened cheek. "That's cute...~"
"If you say so, Ponytale..." Sneasel said, sighing quietly in bemusement. Why he didn't just blatantly tell her that she was mistaken was beyond Buneary. Maybe he was just too polite...
"Ohonhon, well, c'est la vie!" Furfrou said. She got up from the cushion she was sitting on to face everyone.
Finally able to get a good look at her, Buneary took note of her features. She appeared to be some kind of attractive dog, though she was unique, to say the least. She had thin, black fur covering her face, but the rest of her body was coated in lots and lots of white, fluffy fur. That said, parts of her thicker fur were bright green in key, oddly cylindrical places.
"What may we mademoiselles do for you, my 'andsome friend?" the dog continued, fluttering her eyelashes at Sneasel.
"Haha, you flatter me, Furfrou," he replied. He gestured grandly to Buneary. "This is my friend, Buneary! She has recently joined our fair guild, and would like to meet you!"
"Oh! So a new fellow guild-a member!" Skitty said, running up to the rabbit. "Ciao, Buneary! We used to be in Donphan's Guild, too, you know!"
Buneary gasped excitedly. "Wow, really?" she asked.
"Oui, ma chère!" Furfrou responded. She pulled a flamboyant pose. "Le 'ip 'n' Trendy~! That was our team name!"
"Si! We even named our-a store after it!" Skitty added, gesturing around herself. "Nobody's as hip and trendy as our team, or our business~!"
"Oui~!"
"Okay! How nice!" Buneary said happily. She guessed that made her and them guildmates, then, in a way!
Salandit looked confused. "Er... then why do you have this store, instead of doing some... y'know. Exploring?" she asked.
"Oh, we still do explore and do some missions," Furfrou explained. "'owever, after we graduated, we thought it would be fun to start up le fashion business!"
"Si, si! We love-a the fashion as much as we love adventure!" Skitty added. She stood on her hind legs to show off a strange, gray square resting against her chest, attached via a pink string around her neck. The square had a metal rectangle on the top, and a metal disc in the middle. "By the way, I'm a barber, so I'll give-a your fur a nice trim with-a my Cut HM~"
"Oh, okay! I like having my fluff trimmed so that might be nice~" Buneary replied. Well, that was if she decided not to let it grow, considering this village was colder than her old home...
"Er... what's a Cut HM?" Salandit asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, I know that one, I think..." Ponytale piped up. "It's, like... a TM, but you don't have to learn anything to use it... You just, like... hold it, and, uh..." Her head heavily tilted to the side, allowing her hair to trail the carpet, "then you use Cut, or... er, a different move the HM says... even if you can't do it, normally... and yeah. Good times..." She righted her head, frowning sadly. "... Oh no... I explained it badly, didn't I...?"
"N-No, you did okay," Sneasel said, waving his paws reassuringly. "We get it. Right?"
"Uh... s-sure...?" Salandit replied, awkwardly rubbing her arm.
Buneary forced a smile. "Of course! Yeah..." she lied.
Ponytale beamed widely. "Yay~" she sang.
Skitty giggled. She blinked and scratched her head with the dangling bits on her tail. "Hmm... what does HM even-a stand for?" she asked.
"Mon amie, it stands for ''elpful Move'," Furfrou explained, nodding sagely.
"Nya-ha! Makes sense~"
Buneary nodded along in understanding. She noticed Sneasel frowning unsurely, though.
"Um... I'm not sure-" he started.
"Now then!" Furfrou accidentally interrupted, doing a large flamboyant leap towards the clothing stands. She did a twirl and gestured towards them. "Be'old! The store's pride and joy... my fashionable clothing~!"
She'd already seen them on the way in, but just to be polite, Buneary gave her clothes another look. Squinting, this time.
"Oh, yes! It's certainly lovely, isn't it, everyone?" Sneasel asked urgingly.
"Y-Yes! Very, um... creative!" Buneary agreed quickly.
"Uh... yeah...!" Salandit also agreed, looking like she was trying to subtly shield her eyes.
"Wow... makes my eyes tingle..." Ponytale muttered in a daze.
"Ohh, 'eck, I can't see!" Gourgeist exclaimed from above, sounding a bit panicked.
Everyone looked up and saw him floating around aimlessly, rubbing at his eyes with his hair. The ceiling wasn't too high, so he kept bonking against it, then the floor, and even some of the stands, knocking the latter over.
"Oh, dear, I thought you were being rather quiet," Sneasel said, frowning worriedly. "You were over here, weren't you?"
"W-What happened!? Who hurt you!?" Salandit shouted, worried.
"I think I've been starin' at our Furfrou's clothes for too long!" Gourgeist explained. "I got carried away, 'n'... oh, what a bloody mess!"
Buneary's eyes widened. Oh no... why had he said that? She looked at Furfrou, expecting her to be ticked off, or upset.
She seemed ecstatic, instead. "Ohonhon, oh, sacré bleu~! 'e's been dazzled by the beauty of my wonderful clothes! 'ow magnifique~!"
"Nyaa, fantastico~" Skitty praised, even though her smile seemed more exasperated than Buneary would have expected.
After a pause, the rabbit mentally shrugged. Well... whatever worked?
"Hey... is, like... Gourgeist a cloud?" Ponytale asked curiously. "If he is, there sure are a lot of magnets in here, I suppose..."
Skitty laughed. Stalling, she looked curious, herself. "... Wait, are there? Where do you get magnets?" she asked.
"A Kecleon Market, ma chère," Furfrou explained, not looking away from Gourgeist's antics.
"Huh? We never bought any, though... unless we did while we were drunk, once? I like getting drunk and buying things, so maybe!"
"Ohonhon, per'aps!"
"Eheh, well, all the same, we had better rescue him..." Sneasel replied sheepishly. Sighing, he pointed to the pumpkin. "Salandit, give me a hand from the ceiling, won't you, please?"
"Oh man. Uh, s-sure," Salandit replied, heading towards the nearest wall. She put her hands on it, then one of her legs, and finally, the other leg. Somehow not falling off, she proceeded to quickly scale up the wall, the softest of popping noises indicating that she were sticking to it as if her limbs were made of glue.
Buneary stared in amazement, especially as the lizard crawled up to the ceiling and began crawling upside down across that, too. Was that how she'd hidden under the pier, earlier?
Before Salandit could make it to Gourgeist, Skitty walked over to Buneary, smile going more natural than it had been before. "Um... you can buy Furfrou's-a clothes... or if you want something custom made, just-a tell us what you like, and we'll measure you up and-a get you something nice stitched up in two shakes of my skitty tail~" She poked her bum in the air and quickly shook it, waving her long tail to and fro.
"Teehee! Well, okay," Buneary replied happily. It was a relief to know she had options that wouldn't blind others... but she would probably just stick to going without wearing any. Especially since Klutz made her unable to get any benefits from scarves and such, anyway...
Looking at Skitty, something grisly suddenly occurred to the rabbit. "Say, um... Skitty, you don't know any... perrserkers, do you...?" she asked, gulping in anticipation.
Skitty's head tilted. "Nyaa? I don't follow..." She gasped excitedly. "Ohh, wait, is that a pun? Are we-a calling each other puns? Ooh, puns are so fun! Let-a me try one!" She giggled to herself. "Hey, that-a rhymed, didn't it! Well, rhymes are fun, too!" Her face scrunched up in thought again. "Uhh, a pun, though... Hmm..." She went to pondering again until another giggle escaped. "Hairhare? Because you're a hare who's-a so hairy?"
Buneary laughed, half at Skitty's rambles, and half in relief. Well, at least Skitty wasn't the same one that had been abducted by pirates.
"Ohonhonhon, trés bien as always, senpai!" Furfrou interjected merrily, having apparently been listening. She stalled. "... Wait..."
Buneary let out a big breath as they stepped out of the store. Well, that had been an adventure... Thankfully, they'd eventually saved Gourgeist and avoided buying any of Furfrou's clothing without upsetting her, or anything like that.
Buneary turned to Sneasel, wondering where he was going to take everyone next. However, eyebrow raised, he stopped to tap a claw against his chin in thought. "Hmm... you know, Buneary..." he started.
"What's up, Sneasel?" she asked.
"Are ya thinkin' about where we should be 'eadin' next?" Gourgeist asked him.
"That's the thing, Gourgeist... I think we're done with our tour!" Sneasel explained. "Aside from Rapidash Express, that is... but Buneary, you mentioned that you'd already met the one that usually comes to Venture Village, right?"
"Yeah!" Buneary replied. She remembered her well. Yesterday, she'd hitched a ride from Orphan Saver Walrein to go to the Sand Continent, and then caught a ride on a lapras to get to the Grass Continent.
After sleeping at a hotel, she'd gotten a ride from Dash Crash Rapidash, who was part of a family business that took pokémon from town to town on the continent.
Squinting into the distance, she couldn't see her by her post. A set of stairs with carriages dotted around it, below a signpost shaped like a rapidash's face.
"Well, thank Palkia for that," Salandit said. "That rapidash makes me fear for my life every time I ride with her."
"I like Rapidash..." Ponytale said, smiling in amusement. "She makes me laugh..."
"There's nothing funny about her! You... just have pony bias!"
"Oh, I do? Well... maybe a bit... I like being a horse thing..."
"Hah! I knew it!" Salandit's face scrunched up in displeasure. "Urghhh, why is it that even the girls in this town scare me so much?"
Buneary frowned sympathetically. She sort of understood what she meant, calling Rapidash scary...
Buneary slowly, and very timidly, walked across one of the many big, sloped bridges connecting the humongous trees of Capim Town.
While she was going downwards, closer to the lower parts of the town, she couldn't bring herself to look anywhere lower than where she was. If she did, she would risk seeing exactly just how high up she was! She could hear the crashing of waterfalls below her, too, which really wasn't helping!
Shivering in fright, she looked around at the town surrounding her, instead, hoping to calm her nerves. A fair distance away, she could see the hotel she'd spent the night in. The top half of one of the trees towering over the town, hollowed out with windows showing the outside world.
On one of the huge trees to her other side, level with the bridge she was on, she could see a large pool of water making up the middle of it. Because none of the trees had any leaves topping them, she could even see a sharpedo swimming about in it, unfazed by how high up it was. Brave shark.
One of the other trees had a pink, wigglytuff-shaped tent perched on top, behind a big sign saying 'Under Construction'. Huh... wasn't Prodigy Wigglytuff's guild over in Treasure Town? Was she mistaken? It didn't quite fit the description of the one in her book, though... Oh well. Must have been a homage, or something.
Another tree, one that was vaguely crooked, had a croagunk waiting behind a shoddy stall on it. Behind his counter was a large cauldron, something unknown brewing within. How strange.
Nearly bumping into a large-chested blaziken - who was whimsically muttering to herself about delivering fiery knee kicks to a pangoro, for reasons only known to her - Buneary sighed and focused on her steps again. Gosh, this place was so different to home. It was really intimidating...
Thankfully, according to the lapras she'd caught a ride on, Venture Village was on a nice, flat beach, not unlike Tempest Beach back home. Maybe it would be a little easier on her poor heart over there? Here was hoping... After all, she really wanted to join the guild founded by her heroes, Team Destiny.
Either way, she would just have to be brave!
Once at the bottom of the bridge, she went across one more bridge - thankfully, a level one made of stone - before ending up on the side of a cliff. From there, she was out of town, with normal fields as far as the eye could see.
Letting out a relieved breath, she pulled out a map from her bag. She'd gotten it from the hotel, so she hoped it was up to date.
It labeled many dungeons on the continent... several small settlements dotted about... and, most importantly, some major towns and villages. Looking for her current location, Capim Town, she eventually found the familiar tree-filled valley next to the ocean...
Elsewhere, on the cliffs somewhere a few miles away to the south, was Treasure Town... Somewhere far to the east, hidden within the mountains, was Shaymin Village... and on a beach several miles further south of Treasure Town was her destination.
She frowned apprehensively at the map. Yeesh! Despite being so close to where she was on the map, it was still going to take her a few hours to get down to Donphan's Guild! Thank goodness she'd woken up so early in the morning...
She looked around, trying to decide which direction to go in. Maybe if she went in the direction of the sea, and just followed the shore...?
She started towards it, but stopped when she heard something rapidly and noisily approaching. Huh? Extending her ear to hear better, she looked in the direction of the noise. She saw a huge cloud of dust being kicked up by something approaching at an extremely rapid pace.
"Make way, make way! Get outta the wayyyyyyyy!" the approaching pokémon shrieked. It looked like a white, fiery horse with a horn on its head, limbs flailing as it ran onwards uncontrollably.
Before Buneary could tell what was going on, the horse barged into her, kicking her hard enough to send her flying backwards.
Screaming, the rabbit tumbled through the air, over the cliff, and even into the sky. Eventually, she crashed into a pool of water.
Floating underwater, she groaned in pain. Oww... that horse sure was strong...!
She suddenly felt something under her, lifting her up. A second later, she surfaced.
Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she looked down to see her savior. "Hey, um..." she started, "thanks for-"
She saw that she was sitting on the nose of the sharpedo from earlier. It looked up at her, flashing her a grin with its extremely sharp teeth.
She shrieked again and leapt off it. Tumbling, she hit the ground hard. She lay there, dazed. Ouch...
"Oh, jeez! You okay?" the sharpedo asked in a soft, masculine voice, nudging his head onto land to check her over.
Buneary blinked. Oh... he was friendly. "Um... y-yeah, thanks..." she replied, face warming from her shrieking.
"Alright! That's good!" he replied in relief, thankfully seeming to take it in stride. "Sorry to scare you. I guess it's because people keep mistaking me for the bully of the sea." He frowned contemplatively. "Not too sure if I really can be called a bully, though..."
"I-It's okay! You're definitely not! Eheh..." she responded shyly.
He smiled. "Hey, thanks! Anyway, I've gotta train to punish some barboach who keeps bullying my friends over in the Cape of Wonders! Later!"
"Um, bye! G-Good luck!"
The sharpedo went back below water, presumably to train some more.
Buneary wiped her brow, cleaning it of sweat and some water. Ohh, she really wished her brother was here. He was far more confident than she was...
Getting up, she let out a breath and shook her head, shaking off more water. No! She had to be independent of her brother, now! If she wanted to be a good explorer, she had to break free from the adventure squad! Even if it would be tricky...
She looked around, looking for another bridge to get back to the entrance of the town. Oh no... that horse pokémon - a rapidash, right? - had knocked her pretty far up. Darn it...
As if on cue, that same rapidash was running up one of the bridges leading up to the tree Buneary was on. It seemed a bit panicked, frantically looking around.
On spotting Buneary, it gasped and ran up the bridge leading to her. Buneary could tell she was clearly female as she approached, by her feminine figure and notable chest. "Ohhh, are you the one I charged into!?" she worriedly exclaimed in a high pitched, screechy voice that hurt Buneary's ears. She stopped in front of the rabbit and profusely bowed apologetically. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't tell my friends, or they'll dock my pay again! I'm sorry!"
"I-I-It's okay!" Buneary stammered, waving her paws to try and calm the horse. "W-What even happened?"
The rapidash stood up. She rapidly looked in several directions one after the other with a hoof to her chin as she quickly rambled. "Well! I was running along, ready to maybe grab another passenger to take to Venture Village... but then I needed to desperately powder my nose in some bushes - which was awful, mind you! I'm never holding it in ever again - Um, so then I realized I was past my deadline, so I rushed faster and faster, and then I hit a stray pebble, and, ahahaha, the rest is history! Um..." She began bowing profusely again. "Sorry! So sorry!"
Buneary's head was spinning from that ramble. Yeesh, she spoke as fast as she ran! "I-It's okay! It's still okay!" she tried to reassure. She paused. "Wait... do you take people to Venture Village? Is that what you said?"
"Oh, yes, I do, I do!" the rapidash replied happily. "I work for Rapidash Express, you see!"
"Rapidash Express...?"
"That's right! Ohh, here's where I explain our grand history, right? Well!" She cleared her throat and took a regal stance. "The rapidash clan, which has existed for generations, decided to band together, and-" She interrupted herself with a loud gasp and pointed excitedly at something. "Wooooaaah! You have huge muscles!" She charged past Buneary, nearly knocking into her again.
Yelping, Buneary looked towards the horse. She was giddily poking away at a rhyhorn's arms with her hoof while giggling loudly. "You're so buff! Ohh, I can hardly stand it!"
Frowning nervously, the rhyhorn whined skittishly. "B-But I'm not strong. I'm not even cut out to be an explorer, or nothing..." he mumbled.
"Ohh, I disagree!" Wriggling her rump excitedly, she carried on poking, still giggling away to herself.
... Maybe Buneary would walk, after all...
Buneary's brows furrowed at the memory. In the end, Rapidash had convinced her to take a free ride to Venture Village as an apology for the incident... but it had been scarier than she would've liked. That horse sure enjoyed going fast, despite saying that she was 'slightly clumsy'...
"Well then!" Sneasel started, snapping her out of her small daydream. "I suppose that concludes our fine tour!"
"I guess so!" Buneary said, smiling.
"'ooray!" Gourgeist sang, raising his hair arms in celebration.
"Oh, so I avoided that angry chansey?" Salandit asked. She let out a huge breath of relief. "Well, that's one less heart attack to worry about..."
"Aww, over already?" Ponytale said. She frowned sadly. "Dang... no more hanging around Sneasel..."
"... And the others, right?" Sneasel asked, sounding nervous.
"Well, yeah... but you like me, so mostly you."
He gulped. "Ah..."
Buneary pulled a face. Oh dear... poor Sneasel. Cute as this was, he was really between a rock-type and a hard place, wasn't he?
While wondering if she could say anything to help at all, she suddenly felt rather warm. Whew... was the weather picking up? Well, she wasn't about to complain!
"Oh, it's okay, lass!" Gourgeist said to Ponytale reassuringly, wiping away at his forehead as he started to sweat. "You can spend time with our Sneasel some other time, eh?"
She brightened up. "I guess so! Yay...~" she said joyfully.
Sneasel let out a breath. "Um... you know, Ponytale... not to be mean, but there's the... distinct chance I'm not... I don't-"
"Excuse me. You five," a gruff, yet gentle voice said from behind the group.
Everyone turned toward whoever had spoken. Buneary was startled when she saw a big, rocky pokémon slightly bigger than Gourgeist tower above her. He was black, had a reptilian face, and had a huge tower of fiery rocks sprouting out of his back.
Buneary stared at him in awe. Gosh... speaking of rock-types.
"I need to ask you something, if you don't mind," he continued.
Salandit shrieked. "Oh, lord Dialga! A giant man outta nowhere!" she wailed, rushing behind the others to hide.
"... Uh...?" the rock-type murmured, perplexed.
"S-Salandit!" Sneasel stammered admonishingly. "No need for- ... Uh oh."
A wave of pink pheromones wafted into the air from where Salandit was. Neither of the boys seemed especially affected, due to their scarves, and there were no villagers nearby... but Buneary immediately grew concerned when she saw the pink cloud go towards the rock-type.
"H-Hey, look out!" she shouted, hopping up and down while waving frantically. "Don't breathe that in!"
The rock-type frowned and leapt into the air a short distance. Sticking his glowing foot outwards, he rapidly twirled around in place, becoming a blur in the air. He blew the gas away with the force of his spinning alone, remaining unharmed.
Buneary stared in amazement. How was he doing that when he was so big!?
She hopped out of the way with a yelp when some small, red-hot rocks fell off his back while he spun. They sizzled loudly against the sand until cooling, leaving scorch marks where they lay.
They only made things worse as Salandit screeched harder at the fiery rocks falling around her, causing her to release more pheromones from her flaming tail. The rock-type kept spinning, keeping himself safe, but his actions were creating the world's worst vicious cycle.
"O-Oh, don't'cha worry, none, everyone! I know what to do!" Gourgeist said, charging a move.
Buneary's nerves immediately flared up at that. "No, no, no, d-don't do that!" she cried out.
"Gourgeist, not again!" Sneasel added panickingly. "The last thing we need is another- ... Huh?"
He stopped to look around as a heavy pink, sparkling mist appeared at his feet, different to the one coming from Salandit. The rock-type, having just landed with a loud thud, looked at it with confusion. He seemed too perplexed for the sparkly mist to be his doing.
Buneary was startled when that same mist spread around her, engulfing her because she was smaller than everyone else. The mist continued onwards, enveloping everyone in the vicinity.
The thicker it grew, the more... relaxed Buneary began to feel. Almost like she'd never been worried to begin with. Ahh, what a nice feeling...
Everyone else started to calm down, too. Gourgeist, Salandit and the rock-type included, even stopping their antics as they relaxed.
"Whew... just in time...~" Ponytale said. Looking at her, Buneary saw her just finishing on using a move to smile airily at the group.
"Ahh..." Salandit sighed, flopped onto her front. "I'm probably being drugged, but I'm too relaxed to care..."
"What was I doin' again?" Gourgeist mumbled, floating lazily.
"Wow, what... move was that...?" Buneary asked, light-headed from how relaxed she was.
"Misty Terrain..." Ponytale replied. "It relaxes everyone, and stops bad conditions from... er, being bad."
"Aah... just in the nick of time, then..." Sneasel replied with a deep, relaxed breath. "Thank you kindly, Ponytale."
Ponytale beamed. "Happy to help, Sneasel...~"
"Hm. I guess that answers one question I had," the rock-type murmured. He seemed more collected than the others were right now, despite the Misty Terrain. "Indeed, there are warriors in this town."
"Uh... warriors?" Buneary asked, trying to shake off her growing headrush.
The rock-type nodded. "Hm. Using moves at the first sign of danger is a promising sign. Do you five belong to a place called 'Donphan's Guild'?"
"Yes, um... some of us..." Sneasel responded. He shook his head. "Sorry, could we continue this once the, uh... terrain goes away?"
"Sure. I'll even speed up the process." The rock-type leapt into the air and spun around at ludicrous speeds again, completely dispelling the pink cloud.
The second it disappeared, Buneary's head felt completely clear again. "Oh... thanks, sir!" she said.
The rock-type landed in the sand with a large thud. He smiled. "That's okay. Sorry for, um... being intimidating, I guess," he replied.
"Aww... I was enjoying that..." Salandit whined.
"Ooh bloody 'ell..." Gourgeist mumbled. "That was just like when I tried eating them strange, small mushrooms I once found back on the farm."
"Oh dear... what a day," Sneasel said, pulling quite the face. He let out a breath and looked back at the rock-type. "Um, in any case... yes, sir! We are indeed a part of Donphan's glorious guild!" He proudly tapped his claw against the front of his chest.
Looking, Buneary saw a familiar badge on the weasel, seemingly holding his cape together. With its black 'wings', it went with his cape so well that Buneary hadn't even noticed it yet.
"I see. Good... then I have arrived at the right village," the rock-type replied. "Before anything else, I have another question... Are there more fighters, such as yourselves?"
"Um... we're not a fighter's guild, if that's what you're asking," Sneasel replied.
"We've got a right load o' tough buggers in our Donphan's guild, though," Gourgeist added.
"Ain't that the truth..." Salandit added, cringing at some thought or another.
"Hm. That's fine, then," the rock-type responded. "A guild that prides itself on its fighters alone... everyone who joins will almost certainly learn the same tried and true fighting styles." He shook his head dismissively and clenched a fist. "No, what I want to see is variety. The path to true strength lies in experience and knowledge... not just strength."
"Um... are you asking for a fight, or... something?" Buneary asked worriedly. His muscles, attractive as they were, made him look stronger than even Aegislash was...
He shook his head again. "Not unless you're asking, no. Not today. Instead... I was hoping to begin a business. A dojo of sorts, to be precise."
"Oh... like the one with the marowak, in Treasure Town..." Ponytale said. "Mom had to gallop there to heal someone who was, like... trapped when the ceiling fell down, some time ago..."
Buneary pulled a face. Oh dear, they sure took their training seriously over there, apparently.
"Ah, then you should know the deal," the rock-type responded. "It will be a place for pokémon to come and learn more about the art of fighting... as I learn about it from them, too."
"Oh, okay!" Buneary replied, rather relieved at his mundane, non-violent reasoning. "That sounds really exciting!"
"Well, look at that, my friends!" Sneasel proclaimed to the others happily. "Not only have we toured the town's businesses... but we're witnessing the birth of a new business, as well!"
"Wow... what're the odds?" Salandit remarked, scratching her head, perplexed.
"Not so fast," the rock-type interjected. He crossed his arms sagely. "I've been on a journey of self-discovery for a long time... so I'll need to figure out what to expect from this village before I settle down anywhere."
"Aha, so a reason to stay, is it?" Sneasel said. "Well then, we accept the challenge! What convincing do you need?"
"H-Hey! What's this 'we' business!?" Salandit interjected. "Don't decide things for us!"
"Oh, don't worry, lass!" Gourgeist said reassuringly. "It's just like one'o them rescue missions we do, ain't it?"
"'Atta boy, Gourgeist!" Sneasel praised.
"Well, I'm down for it!" Buneary said eagerly. After all, what was the worst that could happen?
"Sounds fun...~ uh, whatever it is..." Ponytale added.
"Oh no... four to one..." Salandit mumbled. She sighed. "Well, I mean... sure...?"
The rock-type let out a long huff and smiled. "Your encouragement... uh, general encouragement is encouraging in itself." He pulled a strange, light-brown tablet out of a treasure bag on his waist. "Okay, let's do some trials to decide this dojo's fate. It shouldn't take long, but give it your all!"
Everyone, Salandit not included, responded enthusiastically. Helping to start up a business... Buneary couldn't wait to get started!
... She deflated slightly. Well... depending on what the trials were, anyway. Hmm...
"Whew! Man, look how tall it is!" Switch Flip Eiscue said loudly, gesturing to the spiny mountain in the distance. "What a beaut!"
Walking next to him, Snapshot Noctowl sighed in exasperation. "... You're really gonna say that with every single mountain dungeon we get to, aren't you?" he asked, rolling his eyes.
Eiscue looked at him in flustered annoyance. "Oh, what? It is tall!"
"They're all that tall. It's pretty basic stuff."
"It's still cool!"
Lady Luck Togetic shook her head with a groan. Those boys were just too much! "Would you two just knock it off? You're gonna drive me nuts before we've even gotten there!"
"Uh, whoops. Sorry, Togetic..." Eiscue apologized.
"Tsch, whatever," Noctowl grumbled.
"Don't 'whatever' me, mister!" Togetic scolded. She paused a second and giggled. "Besides, I know you're just as excited as Eiscue is! In fact, I'll bet you're so excited, you can't stand it!"
He gave her a flummoxed look. "... Huh? Why would you think that?"
She winked. "Don't think I didn't see you taking pictures of the mountain, earlier! You only do that when something interests you, right?"
He frowned and turned his gaze away, gritting his beak in annoyance. "Well... why wouldn't I be interested? I've never even been here, before!"
"Haha, aww yeah! You're just as impressed!" Eiscue laughed joyfully, flippers on hips. "I knew it!"
"Ugh! You knew nothing, shut up." Noctowl huffed irritably and turned his attention back to the mountain in the distance. "Anyway, do you two remember the plan? Or did you already forget it while trying to come up with lame ways to tease me?"
"What's lame?" Togetic retorted. "And yeah, of course we remember!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Eiscue agreed. "We're gonna use our six trawl orbs I bought at Oodles of Orbs, in Paradise! That'll bring the client's special scarf straight to us!"
Togetic blinked. "... Huh? That wasn't it at all!"
Noctowl stared at the penguin. Though shocked at first, he started to look thoughtful. "No... but... it might actually work, if we use them right," he admitted. He shrugged. "Alright, fine, we'll do that instead. Bring them out, we'll have two each."
Eiscue beamed proudly. "Yeah, right away!" he replied. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out four wonder orbs, two in each flipper.
Remembering the design, Togetic expected the four green orbs to have square spiral patterns floating inside, which swirled inward. When she was given hers, however... she saw nothing but orange orbs with normal, generic spirals inside them.
"Hey, these aren't trawl orbs at all!" she complained.
Eiscue's eyes widened. "Huh? Yeah they are! What else would they be!?" he retorted.
After investigating his own orbs, Noctowl slapped a wing to his face. "... They're legendamned totter orbs," he grumbled.
Eiscue's eyes widened further. "What!?" He stopped to reach into his bag and pull out a book, called 'Pondering Orbs? Not Anymore!'. Everyone stopped next to him as he scanned it for a while.
After a brief read, it fell from his flippers, and he dropped to his knees in despair. "Oh nooooo! I bought the wrong thiiiiing!" he screamed, slapping his flippers to his icy head.
Togetic sighed and gave a heavy, bemused shrug. "Well... no worries. At least we won't have to worry about monster houses if they're all dizzy, I guess..." she reasoned.
"If he doesn't mess up that basic plan, too," Noctowl said, smirking at his own sass.
Eiscue jumped up to his feet, having already recovered from his mess up. "H-Hey, I won't!" he retorted. He grinned. "Especially since I have a backup plan in my-"
Noctowl quickly shook his head with a frown. "No, not again." He started walking once more. "Whatever you're doing, you do it on the bottom floor."
Keeping up with him, Eiscue's eyes furrowed. "Hey, you didn't even let me explain what it is!"
Noctowl huffed and ignored him aloofedly. "Anyway, you know where you're going?" he asked Togetic, who was walking alongside him.
She rolled her eyes at him. Rude as always! "Of course I do!" she replied, huffing. "I'm flying to the middle floors, and you're up top. Right?"
"Glad you paid attention, at least." He looked back at the mountain in the distance. "We'll probably be fine, but stay vigilant. If you mess up, you'll end up getting impaled on spikes, and we'll have to come rescue you."
"Alright!" Eiscue said enthusiastically, already cheered up once again.
"Right back at'cha!" Togetic retorted, putting her hands on her hips. "You'd better not get too arrogant, again, mister!"
Noctowl huffed and fiddled with his camera with a smirk. "Why not? It'll be a basic job for me," he remarked.
"That's exactly what I mean!" Ughh, he was so frustrating!
Oh well, no worries! She was sure there was nothing to fear, over on Mt. Bristle!
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished -
Before split: 02/03 (March)/2022
After split: 14/03 (March)/2022
Word count: 6,693
VGS2's sausage notes: Nearly there, now! One more chapter before Buneary's tour officially ends! For next chapter, expect some action, some... er, more action! And maybe even... a little plot!? It's more likely than you think! (There'll be action with that, too, kek.)
Oh, by the way... congratulations to Dirty98 for achieving review 69! :D *Cheering and thunderous applause .mp3*
Of course, I'm generally very happy for everyone who reviewed (you really rock, mates!) but credit where it's due! XP
Today's shameless promotion: One in a Million
Author: ravengal
Universe: The Pokémon anime (Sinnoh)
Main species: Pikachu (Ash's), Buneary (Dawn's)
Summary: For the longest time, Pikachu has avoided thinking about Buneary's feelings, and whether or not he returns them. Now that Ash's battle with Paul is approaching, however, and a strange festival is being held at Lake Acuity... he may just find the answers he's looking for.
Romance: A whole load! Pikachu's just about ready to go for her, even though he's such an awkward lad!
Wackiness: Quite wacky, just like the show!
Lewdness: None really!
Action: A lot! Dedicated a chapter to a trainer battle, too!
Grittiness: None really!
Length: Medium length!
Now here's a fic I'm sure anime lovers will also love! And one from our ravengal, no less! The author of the original Questing For Respect™!
For those who love a nice amount of awkward humor, lots of bonding, and perhaps even a bit of drama, I think this fic is a great one to recommend! Especially since the battle chapter she added recently (chapter 7) didn't get any reviews at all, except for, uh... some strange comment. O,o (No offense, lad!)
The lack of comments sort of killed her motivation to do any writing lately, so I hope you go give her some love! :P
Fun mistakes of the day:
#1: "You see, Furfrou is an uncountable master at sewing, and stitching,"
(According to spell check, one simply cannot multiply Furfrou by any amount.)
#2: 'Looking around, she saw Salandfit'
(This is Salandit after becoming really healthy, or really sexy. Perhaps both.)
#3: 'The ceiling wasn't too hi,'
(Anti-social ceiling...)
#4: "Ohonhonhon, tré brien as always, senpai!"
(Don't let French Family Guy dog be your senpai. That won't end well! Especially when he goes on the road, hahaha... (That episode's almost a decade old, now. Jesus Christ...))
#5: 'Thankfully, Venture Villager was a nice, flat beach,'
(What a mean thing to say about the player avatar from Animal Crossing... who has a title, I guess.)
#6: 'Once at the bottom of the bridge, she went across some level brides'
(She's glad she crashed the wedding, I guess.)
#7: 'Oh no... that horse pokémon - a rapidash, right? - had knocked her up pretty far.'
(Hope you don't mind having to look after an apparently lesbian horse's child, Pikachu!)
#8: 'I like being a hose thing...'
(*Turns into a likelike and eats Sneasel's shield*)
#9: 'Eiscue lag'
(You need a good ping for your penguin to avoid this.)
#10: "Of curse I do!"
(She has cased over the Pokémon Moon!)
-A mistake from ravengal's before-mentioned PikaBun fic, One in a Million-
#10: "(Yeah! I'll take the next one out, for sure! Cunt on it!)"
(Oh, God, Pikachu... Whatever you're planning to do to Paul's pokémon, please stop at once!)
Well, now that I've given this chappie the snippy snip, it's time to continue my next chapter again. XP Remember, I added a load of shit to the end of this chapter, so don't miss out!
Anyhow... tata for now! :c
