Sausage note: I'm on a roll! It didn't take me a century to upload another- Actually no, fuck it. Almost every fic these days self-deprecates on how often they post chapters. You ever notice that? XP
If you're someone like that, then stop worrying so much! People don't mind waiting a bit for more content (unless they're buggers)! Try thinking happier thoughts! A positive mind is a healthy mind, as they say. I mean, I'm not saying you should never have negative thoughts, because it's impossible, let's be honest... but y'know, just trying is a step in the right direction, isn't it?
In any case, a while back, there's some stuff I added near the end of chapters 5 & 6 you might wanna read if you haven't seen it yet, just so something in this chapter makes more sense! ... But that said, let's be honest. If my prodding hasn't worked yet, I doubt it'll work now. XD
Aww, feck it, I'll just give you a quick synopsis.
At the end of chappie 5: Bradley beat up two explorers until they fainted.
At the end of chappie 6: Ben forced Bradley to cop a feel of one of them before the mouse quickly got fed up and warped them away with a wand, to Ben's displeasure.
Alrighty, now you know or remember, on with the show!
Last time: Buneary met two more of her heroes and then wished she hadn't. Also, mayhem on the mountain with a mouse!
Chapter Eighteen: The Newest Nebula
Buneary followed Snorlax and Donphan down the stone stairs leading underground, into Spinda's Café. The second she entered the place, warm air brushed across her fur, and a beautiful aroma filled her nostrils. If she hadn't eaten earlier, then she just knew it would have immediately made her hungry. She couldn't blame the team they were looking for, for hanging around in this place. It was heavenly~
She looked around as they got to the bottom of the stairs and entered the room proper. The walls and floor were all wooden, with swirly patterns etched into the floor. Potted plants lined the ground around the walls, which themselves were utterly coated in lines of red ribbons.
Wooden tables were strewn across the place, with pokémon enjoying all sorts of different, colorful drinks. The whole set up gave the place an atmosphere as warm as she currently felt.
At the other end of the room were two different stands. One was shaped like the top of a spinda's head, with all sorts of barrels, shelves of ingredients, jugs of colorful liquids, and kitchenware scattered about within. Also, it was appropriately being manned by a gleeful spinda, wobbling to and fro while shaking a small metal container.
On the other stand, shaped like a wynaut's head, were far less things. Just a female wobbuffet and a wynaut with a boyish face manning a counter, with a low-hanging entrance leading deeper into another room. Whatever was going on over there was anyone's guess.
"Aha! Yep, should've figured," Snorlax suddenly said, pointing forwards in a general direction.
Buneary looked in the direction his claw was pointing. The first thing she saw, slouched on a chair while sipping something fizzy, was... Death Threat Octillery!?
... Wait, no. This octillery had a noticeable bosom. Definitely not the octillery she knew. Had a very similar face, though...
Looking past her, and the mr. mime seated on a different table, Buneary saw what looked like the two girls in question: a grumpig and a grass-type of some description. They were talking amongst themselves about something while sipping drinks, completely unaware of their guildmaster's presence. Was it them? Were they the team Donphan and Snorlax had been alluding to all this time?
... Actually, thinking about it, Snorlax and even Aegislash had mentioned someone called Sasspot Grumpig. This had to be her!
As Donphan and Snorlax wandered closer, Buneary joined suit. When she was close enough, she could actually hear what the two girls were talking about.
"... It's just because he's a cactus like you, isn't it?" Grumpig asked with a dry air of amusement to her voice.
"Nawww, silly~" the other girl giggled bubbly with a wave of her strangely spiky hand. "There's far more to him than that! Like, an ocean's worth!"
Grumpig huffed out a snicker. "Go on, then. Gimmie a list."
"Oh, wellllll...!" The other girl tilted her head from side to side, allowing her large spiky ears tipped with flowers to sway. "... He's cool!"
Grumpig's grin grew. "... That's a puddle's worth, Maractus. Where's the rest of this ocean I was promised?"
'Maractus' giggled heartily. "It's sort of part of an ocean!"
Grumpig chuckled along. "Right." She leaned backwards in her chair to stretch, even cracking her back in the process. "Anyway, let's get these drinks finished so we can wrap up the shopping list."
Maractus stirred her green drink with her straw. "What do we have left to get?"
Slouching, Grumpig rested her head in her hand. "Hmm... might need to fetch that list out to help us recollect."
Maractus giggled again. "Grumpig used one of her nerdy words~!"
Grumpig huffed out a puff of air, visibly going slightly red in the face. "... Quiet, you."
Getting close enough, Donphan cleared her throat. "Need a hand remembering?" she asked somewhat sassily.
Both girls snapped to attention immediately, turning to face the elephant in surprise.
"H-Holy-!?" Grumpig started, eyes wide.
"Oh! Hello, there!" Maractus said, eyes just as wide.
Calming down with a huff, Grumpig frowned and put a hand to her hip. "Ugh, what's the deal, guildmaster?"
"Sorry, girls, but we were wanting you for something," Snorlax said, still grinning in amusement from Donphan's cheeky moment. "Looked all around, but of course, you were shirking work here, weren't you?"
"... Just taking a breather," Grumpig retorted with a small cringe.
"What did you want us for, guys?" Maractus asked. She put a hand to her mouth with a worried frown. "Did we do something wrong?"
"Not at all," Donphan responded, shaking her head. "Not unless there's something you did that I don't know about, yet."
"Good, so you didn't find the body," Grumpig said with a joking smirk, getting amusement out of Maractus and Snorlax.
Even Buneary giggled. These girls sure seemed like a nice, fun duo. It was reassuring.
Donphan let out a sharp, humored breath through her trunk. "... I'll let it pass for now." She indicated towards Buneary, who straightened anxiously in response. "This is our new recruit, Wallflower Buneary."
Both Pokemon looked at the rabbit, who shrunk under their gaze. "H-Hello, you two!" Buneary greeted with a small wave.
"At the moment, she doesn't have an exploration team of her own, so I wondered if she'd be allowed to join yours."
Maractus's face instantly lit up. "A new member?" she asked excitedly. "Oh, of course! I love making new friends!" She hopped out of her chair and, before Buneary could even get a proper look at her features, dashed forwards in a near lunge. Grabbing her, she lifted her off the ground into a tight hug. "Hello, new friend~!"
"Argh!" Buneary screamed, the spikes on Maractus's arms and the needles in her skin digging into her skin, and the side of her face. "S-S-Spiky...!"
Grumpig sighed, a hand on her face. After a moment, she removed it and smiled. "Sure, why not," she said. "More the merrier."
Donphan let out a relieved-sounding breath. "Thank you." She shuffled about, perhaps turning towards Buneary, though it was hard for the rabbit to tell, what with her face full of Maractus. "Team Nebula are fairly experienced explorers, having been with us since the last 'generation', so to speak," Donphan explained. "They're also very reliable, friendly and accepting."
"Ack...! G-Great...!" Buneary barely managed to squeak out. She might have been more enthusiastic if the hug she was being given wasn't so flipping painful. "Ow, ow, ow..."
"'Kay, Maractus, stop trying to kill her, alright?" Grumpig retorted, poking the cactus in the ribs and wincing after.
"Oops!" Maractus replied. "Sorry~"
Relief instantly washed over Buneary as the cactus apparently retracted her spikes, causing the pain to stop. She still had to do an awkward reach around with her ear to nurse her sore spots, though. Oof... well, at least she was friendly...?
"Make sure to take it easy with her, you two," Donphan lectured. "She has some experience already, but all the same, she's brand new to the guild and may need easing into things."
"Yeah!" Snorlax added. "We wouldn't want her biting off more than she can chew!" He let out an awkward chuckle before swallowing and whispering. "... Again..." under his breath.
As Donphan scoldingly nudged him in the arm with her trunk, Buneary pouted. Did they have to make her sound so delicate? Tsk...
"We will," Grumpig replied. "Right, Maractus?"
Maractus giggled, rocking Buneary from side to the side. "Of course!" she replied. "We'll look after our new friend. That's a promise~!"
"Very well," Donphan said. "Thanks, you two."
Grumpig sighed again. "You can let her go now," she said, poking Maractus in the ribs again. This time without a wince.
"Okay~!" the cactus replied, dropping Buneary.
Stumbling onto her bum, the rabbit slowly picked herself up with a small, awkward smile. "Eheh... ow..." she muttered, nursing her sore, fluffy bottom. Taking a step back, she took a good look at her two new friends.
Grumpig, who was still sitting in the chair, had an appropriately cool look about her, despite being admittedly fairly chubby. She looked quite different to another grumpig Buneary had known from Radiant Garden, back on her island. Also unlike Grumping Grumpig, she was clearly a girl, sporting a fairly big bosom which the other grumpig obviously lacked.
Maractus seemed to be a one legged, rabbit-like cactus with a sunny disposition, and- ... Holy legends! Was her chest supposed to be so humongous!?
Seriously, it was bigger than the cactus' head, which was about the same size Buneary was! Good gravy...! It was so big, it even seemed like her natural coverings had trouble keeping it concealed! No wonder that hug had been so constricting!
Buneary very briefly glanced down at her own chest with a sad pout. This was so depressing.
"Well, kid, good to meet'cha," Grumpig started. She indicated towards herself with a thumb. "They call me Sasspot Grumpig, because of my rampant sarcasm and dry wits." She pointed towards her teammate. "This here is Big Fun Maractus. They call her that because of her very, very large..." She cleared her throat and smirked, "... personality."
"That, and my huge, huge titties! Heeheehee~" Maractus gleefully finished, putting her hands behind her head and shaking them about for emphasis. Buneary could swear she heard a rattling sound as they moved.
Grumpig snorted. "... Something like that, too, yeah."
"I, um... I see!" Buneary said with a giggle, despite her chest grievances. Well, when Maractus was that cheery, she supposed she couldn't stay jealous and grumpy for too long.
"Good to see you girls already hitting it off so well!" Snorlax said happily. "I can tell Donphan made the perfect choice."
"Hooray~!" Maractus cheered, hopping around in a small dance.
"Yep," Donphan added, replying to Snorlax's statement with a small smile. She turned to Buneary. "Well, congratulations, Buneary. You're now an official member of the guild."
She stared at her for a moment, blinking, before it finally sank in. Wow, it had finally happened... She was in the guild! Officially!
She beamed from ear to ear. She hadn't known how good it would feel to hear those words, but it was the happiest she'd felt all day! "Oh, thank you, thank you!" she cried, jumping over to hug her leg. Realizing what she'd just done, she jumped away again, feeling very embarrassed. "Um... for letting me join, y'know..."
Everyone laughed or chuckled, Donphan included. Buneary felt her face heat up like a raging fire. Oopsie...
"That's... okay," Donphan replied. "Glad you're so happy about it."
"Heehee, um... just a little," Buneary replied bashfully. Swallowing down her awkwardness, she eagerly pumped both of her paws and tried again. "Thanks for this! I won't let you down, Team Destiny! I'll be the best explorer I can be!" she promised, feeling more confident than ever as she talked.
"Heh, I'm sure you will," Donphan replied, smiling.
"Welp, all's well that ends well!" Snorlax said cheerily. "We'll leave you three to get to know each other."
"Right. And don't worry about the shopping. Just give me the list, and I'll get everything that's left to get."
"Appreciated, Donphan," Grumpig replied happily. She tore open a small hole in the top of her rubbery bosom coverings and pulled out a sheet of paper before handing it over. She didn't seem to care too much about the light cleavage left behind. "Everything not crossed out is the stuff we didn't get, yet. Naturally."
"Naturally. Alright, thanks," Donphan replied, taking it with her trunk. She looked at it with a light raise of the eyebrow, flicked it a few times, then put it into the folds of her trunk, where her forehead was. "I'll get this done, then it's toilet duty for me."
"Huuuh?" Maractus retorted, exaggeratedly tilting her head. "I thought Banette was our toilet gal, today!"
"... She was." Donphan briefly glanced in Buneary's direction, pulled a face, and looked back at Maractus. "... But she's not anymore."
Buneary frowned in confusion. Huh? What was that all about?
"... There's a story behind this somewhere, isn't there?" Grumpig asked sassily.
"Perhaps... but that's a story for me alone."
"And, uh... maybe me, if I ask nicely enough," Snorlax added, shrugging in confusion.
"Uh..." Buneary started, "as long as it's not something I did-"
"No," Donphan interjected suddenly, catching her off guard. The elephant blinked a few times, cleared her throat, and gave a wave with her trunk. "Don't worry yourselves about anything. Just have a good time, okay? Guildmaster's orders."
"Uh, a-aye aye, ma'am!" Buneary replied, saluting.
"Got'cha, Guildmaster," Grumpig said with a huff and a cheeky, half-hearted salute.
"It'll be the greatest time, don't you worry~" Maractus sang, happily hopping about.
Buneary smiled at her two new teammates. She could tell, this would be a good time, wouldn't it?
Noctowl sighed irritably while wandering the damn spiky mountain. He was still outside on one of the gigantic blades poking out of Mt. Bristle, and he hadn't come closer to finding that shitty special band. He was starting to wonder if this was a waste of time.
Tsk, well... at least he didn't have to look in every nook and cranny. As soon as he came close enough to his goal, his badge would light up appropriately to clue him in. It seemed simple enough, but it stopped him from simply flying high above the dungeon to make things easier. Not unless he wanted to try seeking it out with his vision alone, like an idiot.
He was about to call it quits and go down a floor to the next mountain blade... but paused when the button on his badge began to slowly pulse. Noticing it, he grinned. Oh, finally, some progress. Maybe he'd find the stupid thing before the end of the day after all.
He took off into the air, prepared to look around more intricately for that band.
"Huh... that's the place with those Angel girls, right?" Oricorio asked, slowly flying up to the mountain's next 'blade'. He grinned. "I heard they were kinda hot!"
Flying with him, Togetic rolled her eyes at him. Honestly, was there anything else that guy talked about, other than girls? "No, not that 'Paradise!' I came from one in another world!"
He shook his head in a double take. "Another world!? You're kiddin' me!"
"No way! I had to come through a portal, and-"
A sudden flash from Togetic's chest caught her attention. When she looked, she saw the shiny gray button on her badge slowly pulsing with light.
She beamed in delight. "Oh, sweet~! The special band must be close!"
Oricorio looked at her in surprise. "Huh? How'd you know?" he asked.
She tapped her badge. "This! When we're near an objective, it flashes! And it flashes faster and faster the closer you get, until an explorer finds it!"
"Really? Man, that's pretty crazy! How does it even work?" He frowned, as if in thought. "... Hey, and y'know, it sounded like that stunky we're looking for found the thing already. So shouldn't it be, like... 'found' already?"
Togetic blinked. She sighed and put her paws on her hips. "Now, Oricorio... there's one major rule for every explorer out there!"
"Huh? What sorta rule?"
Togetic winked at him. "Don't question anything~"
He blinked. He pulled a face. "... That's a dumb rule."
She giggled. "Well, I'm just kidding~" She shrugged. "I dunno, there's a lot of things that are just sort of weird about this job." She clapped her paws together and smiled dreamily. "But isn't it so romantically magical~? All these fantastical things we just can't explain, and yet it just works! It's like a fantasy novel!"
He huffed out a disbelieved chuckle. "Romantic? What's that even mean? I'll bet there's something that makes it tick! Not just some weird magic."
She frowned at him. "Ohhh, you are such a boy!"
He chuckled properly. "Well, whatever. Hey, tell me more about explorer stuff! I won't lie, this whole adventure got me all interested."
She beamed. "Really? Oh, absolutely!"
As they reached the next blade up, and even as they explored it, she began to tell him everything she could think of. Even with the odd teasing joke he made, he seemed very interested, making her happier and happier.
Wow, she was super lucky indeed! And she could tell they were set to get even luckier, still!
Buneary smiled pleasantly while she sat on a tall stool, next to Maractus and Grumpig, who were also seated.
She didn't know why... but she had a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest, like she'd been here with these girls all her life... and yet she'd only known them for the past ten minutes, or so. Was this what they called fate? Or was she just fitting in that well? Maybe she was just being silly.
"So, Buneary..." Grumpig started, "here's the part where we all get ourselves acquainted, right?"
"My favorite part~" Maractus chimed.
"Heehee, uh, cool!" Buneary replied. She racked her brain for something to break the ice with. "So... why do you call yourselves Team... uh..."
Grumpig snorted. "Nebula. Space word."
"Ohh, very fancy!"
"Yup!" Maractus chimed. "Thoughhhh, to be honest, I wanted us to be called Team Dance! ... But Grumpig didn't like it, because she's a meanie fun killer." She let out a giggle. "Maybe everyone shoulda called her Fun Killer Grumpig!"
Grumpig snorted out a huff with a sassy look, but said nothing else.
"So, instead of that, we went with a super nerdy name!" Maractus continued. She pulled a gleeful pose. "Team Nebula!"
"... That's not nerdy," Grumpig retorted.
"Yes it iiiiis~ We could've been Team Star, or Team Constellation, or... Team Space, or-"
"Tsk. Now who's the fun killer?" Grumpig interrupted, making Maractus giggle again.
Buneary smiled at their antics. She knew some best friends when she saw them! Gosh, she hoped that didn't make her a third wheel, though...
Realizing that, she decided to add something to the conversation to avoid getting left out. "Um... what is a nebula?"
"It refers to special clouds of dust, gas and other astronomical stuff in space," Grumpig explained.
"Oh! That sounds really pretty~"
"Sure is. If you've ever watched the sky at night, you've probably seen it for yourself."
"We love doing it every night we can~" Maractus sang. She blinked. "Uh... wait, that sounded weird, didn't it?" She laughed loudly. "Whoopsie!"
Buneary tried not to giggle, despite Grumpig's laughter. "I-I got'cha, I think," she said.
"Good job Hoopa's not listening, though, huh?" the pig joked.
"Yeah..." Buneary replied with a sheepish chuckle. After the events from earlier, she could hazard a guess at the sort of thing he might say.
"Heeheehee~! Aaanyways," Maractus continued, "I meant stargazing! We love astronomy stuff, so we go out every night we can to watch the stars!"
"And now you know about it, you've gotta join us," Grumpig said with a smirk.
"Teehee, well... sounds like a fun time, so maybe!" Buneary replied.
Maractus let out a long, drawn out sigh while idly stirring the last of her drink with her straw. "Still wish we called ourselves Team Dance, though...! Totally missed opportunity!"
Grumpig huffed while pulling a face. "Only one of us dances, Maractus," she retorted.
"That's not true~!" The cactus held her arms up and shook her body from side to side in a small, seated dance. Her giant bosom swayed along almost hypnotically to a soft rattling sound. "You sure know how to bust a move with the best of 'em! Heeheehee~!"
Rolling her eyes, Grumpig looked at Buneary and indicated towards Maractus with a thumb. "Doesn't know what she's talking about, this weirdo. Don't listen."
Buneary giggled softly before trying to imagine exactly what Maractus had meant. She pictured Grumpig doing a similar goofy dance, making her giggle even more.
"Hey! Don't picture it, either," Grumpig chided, reaching over to lightly tap her on the head.
"Wah! I-I didn't!" Buneary quickly said.
"Sure, sure..."
"My, aren't you girls having fun~?" another girl's voice joined in.
Somewhat relieved by the distraction, Buneary turned to see... another buneary! She was gleefully smiling up at everyone on the table, winking in an extremely feminine way. "Is there anything I can get you~?"
"Ah, speaking of bunearys," Grumpig joked, leaning back in her chair. "Sure! Fetch us another random beverage with a gold gummi in it, won't you, please?"
Buneary - that is, Wallflower Buneary, not that she really needed to remind herself - cringed at the sound of gold gummis. Good job Sneasel wasn't here...
"I'd love to~!" the buneary chimed with an overly girly pose. Looking at her like this, Wallflower Buneary felt a big pang of jealousy. This buneary was extremely pretty, and had a pretty big bosom for her size, too. So, so lucky...
"I'm still drinking mine, Pretty Buneary!" Maractus chimed gleefully. She looked thoughtful for a second before waving her hand dismissively. "Aww, but what the heck? Another grass shake, please~! Your husband makes amazing drinks!"
Buneary's inner jealousy grew. They even called her Pretty Buneary!? So, so, so lucky!
'Pretty Buneary' gave an extremely feminine giggle. "He sure does~ I'm so lucky to have him~"
"I'm sure he thinks the same thing about you every night, huh?" Grumpig joked.
"Grumpiiiig! Naughtyyyy!" Maractus said scoldingly, despite being clearly amused.
Pretty Buneary giggled flirtatiously and winked. "Oh, you'd better believe he does~! Heehee~" she said with a pose and a shake of the hips.
The girls reacted in amusement, though Wallflower Buneary couldn't help but pout. She wished she could get a boy to like her that easily, if only for a bit of an ego boost. Sadly, unless she ever acted the same way as her mother, that was unlikely...
"Anyway, that's a naughty story for another time~" Pretty Buneary joked. She looked at Wallflower Buneary. "How about you, fellow buneary~? Want a drink~?"
"I, um... I'm not sure if I have enough money..." Wallflower Buneary replied, tapping her paws together.
"It's free, if you bring your own ingredient to use~" Pretty Buneary chimed.
Wallflower Buneary perked up. "Oh! Well, um... are cookies a good ingredient...?"
Grumpig laughed. "Cookies in a drink. Really, kid?"
Buneary pouted at her. "That's all I've got, though..." And what did she mean 'kid'?
Pretty Buneary giggled. "Well, it's a new one, but okay, no worries~!"
Though still slightly embarrassed, Wallflower Buneary thanked her and handed over a few of the chocolate chip cookies she'd brought over from Wildfire Village. Grumpig and Maractus also handed over some poké, allowing the other buneary to strut over to her husband.
After a short pause, Grumpig broke the silence. "Hey, kid... I don't know what about, but you're jealous, right?" she asked jokingly.
Buneary looked at her in shock. "W-What!? Why do you think-?" she started, stopping to slap her paws over her mouth and look at the other buneary. Thankfully, she was paying too much attention to nuzzling her wobbly husband to be listening in. Something Wallflower Buneary knew she could do at this distance.
Lowering her voice to a whisper, Buneary continued. "Uh, w-what makes you think I'm jealous?"
Grumpig snorted in amusement. "You acting suspicious, kid, that's what."
Maractus giggled heartily. "Grumpiiiig! Don't badger Bunearyyyy! She can be as jealous as she likes!" she chided.
"... I'm not jealous," Buneary mumbled, pouting.
Grumpig laughed. "Sure, sure. Look, kid, if it's just because she's as pretty as her namesake sugges-" She stopped when Maractus gave her an impish smile. Letting out an exasperated huff, she continued. "I mean, her being overly pretty and flirty isn't a reason to get jealous. You look pretty cute, yourself."
Buneary stared at her. "Uh... cute?"
"Sure! You're really feminine... you're clearly fashion conscious, deliberately leaving the top part of your fluff puffy, for style... the shaven part of your fluff shows off your... uh... 'nicely shaped lower body', shall we say."
"Gosh... you think?" Buneary asked, getting bashful from all the physical praise. She couldn't say she'd heard any of that before. She wasn't quite sure what was so 'nicely shaped' about her lower body, but that was nice to hear, too!
"Yup!" Grumpig grinned. "Hell, I'm sure lots of guys have looked at you, and thought, 'What I wouldn't do to spend some time in her bedroom'."
Face going warm, Buneary put her paws to her cheeks. "Eep! That's such a crass thing to think, though...!" Still, it sure did help bump her ego up a bit!
Grumpig laughed again. "Hey, I'm only saying it how it is. Not all boys are gonna catcall ya, but there's definitely a market."
"Tsk! Very naughty Grumpiiiiig!" Maractus scolded, though still in her usual cheery manner. "Speaking of 'catcalling', I think that Glameow must have rubbed off on youuu!"
Grumpig snorted. "He wishes."
Buneary tilted her head. Glameow? She'd known a glameow from Radiant Garden, once, but she had the feeling that wasn't who they were talking about.
Seeming to notice her head tilt, Grumpig continued. "He's an old member of the guild, like us."
"Ohh, okay!" Buneary replied. "Will I meet him?"
"Maybe, but not today you won't. He and his teammate, Purrloin, left before they graduated."
"Aw, that's a shame... Why'd they go?"
Grumpig let out a long huff from her nose while frowning hesitantly. "Well... things got awkward in the guild a few years back. Quite a few of us left."
"Yeah..." Maractus added sadly. "Poor, poor Blitzle... Things took forever to cheer up after what happened."
Buneary frowned worriedly. Blitzle was the pokémon that had been attacked by renegades once upon a time, right? According to Rush Swadloon, anyway. "Um... w-what happened to him?" she asked, fearing the answer.
Grumpig stalled, clearly thinking of how to word things. "Ah... well, she..."
"No, no, no! No more sad times!" Maractus interrupted. She downed her drink and beamed, shaking her body around to a musical rattle. "Now's the time for happiness and bondiiing~!"
Grumpig huffed and smiled. "Yeah. Right."
"Um... okay?" Buneary replied. Okay, clearly whatever had happened to poor Blitzle was not for sensitive souls, like hers. Maybe she'd just leave it at that...
Maractus gasped excitedly. "You know what we should do?" she asked just as excitedly.
"Something that involves sitting and relaxing, I hope," Grumpig said.
"The opposite! We should go on an adventure in Beach Cave~!"
Grumpig put a hand to her face with a groan. "Welp. There goes my optimism," she sassed, grinning. "Oh well, sure. We'll get our drinks and go. You up for it, Buneary?"
The rabbit looked at them worriedly. "Oh, I dunno... I already went through Drenched Bluff with some others, and that was hectic enough as is..." she murmured.
"You did, huh? Well, don't worry. Beach Cave is one of the shortest, easiest dungeons ever. We'll be in and out before you even know it!"
"Yeah!" Maractus added, nodding energetically. "And we're pretty strong gals, y'know! We'll send the bad guys packing~"
"Welllll..." Buneary replied, thinking about it. Letting out a breath, she nodded. "... Alright then! I guess if we're on the same team, we should adventure whenever we can, huh?"
"Huh~!" Maractus parroted in singsong. "It's settled, then! To the beach cave called Beach Cave~"
Grumpig snorted. "I wonder what bright spark called it that? Well, whatever." She raised her voice and waved her hand, clearly trying to catch Pretty Buneary's attention. "Hey, Pretty Buneary!"
"Don't worry, I heard you~!" the other rabbit replied, standing near some other customers. "I'll fix you up some flasks to take with you~"
"Hey, thanks!"
"No problem~" Pretty Buneary turned back to the pachirisu lady she'd been talking to. "So, how do you like my ears rolled up~? Don't you just love them~?"
"They sure are special, alright!" the pachirisu replied.
Wallflower Buneary paused. As she realized that the other buneary had probably been listening in the whole time, her faced warmed yet again. Oh, for crud's sake...
"Wow... everything's, like... so spiky..." Ponytale murmured, looking around at her surroundings.
"Oh, did you... only just come to realize that, Ponytale?" Sneasel asked her, still riding on top of her back. He would have gotten off already, but she'd seemed so excited to have him on top, so to speak, that he just couldn't say no.
Besides, having a personal steed was rather good for the ego, he had to admit. He felt just like a valiant knight!
"Yeah, I guess so..." she replied to his question.
He tried to smile through his bemusement. "My... you must have been having quite the daydream to have missed them up to floor three..." he said, looking around at the spiky walls and ceilings making up the cavern they were exploring. She couldn't possibly have missed all this right?
She angled her head to look back at him. "Oh... I guess so." She giggled in her usual airy manner while he shook his head in exasperation. "I guess I was just too busy thinking about something to really think about it..."
"Oh? What sort of thing?"
"Like... I thought it hurt when boys, like... hit their ballsacks... but you're pressing yours against my back with no problems..."
Sneasel spluttered from shock and embarrassment. "Why did your mind go there?"
"Well, I can sort of feel it..." She turned to face forwards again. "It's soft and warm...~"
His embarrassment worsened. The saddest thing about the whole ordeal was that he knew she wasn't even trying to be crass, so he couldn't even bring himself to feel mad. "... Please don't say stuff like that in public, Ponytale."
"Oh... sorry..."
"Haha, it's okay..." he mumbled, trying not to give the conversation too much thought. "In any case, please don't worry yourself! I'm... stable enough to not be uncomfortable."
"Oh, okay! I guess your... butt is absorbing most of the... you know. Pain."
His embarrassment worsened even further. Oh, good gracious, was she going out of her way to visualize all the private areas of his body using her back? It was starting to feel like it!
"B-By the way, Ponytale!" he cut in before she could continue. He shuffled around cautiously as he thought of a topic change. "Um... why did you choose the moves you chose, may I ask?"
"Ah, I just like helping people. So I want to be a good doctor, like Mom is. Even though I'm not very good at it..."
"I'm... fairly sure you're already on track to surpass her," he replied sheepishly, meaning every word.
"Nooo, I don't think so... I keep trying to read books to get better, but they make me sleepy... so I just daydream about things.. but then hours pass, and I didn't get to learn anything..."
"Hmm, I see..." he replied, somewhat sympathetic. He'd always been more fond of grand fantasy tales and dramatic history recounts, himself. Pure non-fiction had its place, but it wasn't terribly exciting.
He smiled. "Well, it matters not how much you can study! Wanting to help other pokémon is always a noble goal!" He put a claw to his chest in a grand display. "It is why I have dedicated myself to being a rescuer!"
"Wow... that's my noble Sneasel...~" she chimed.
"Eheh, um... absolutely!" he replied. Oh dear, she was still crushing on him just as hard as before, it seemed.
He shook the thought away as he eyed up the room they'd entered. It was a very tall, cylindrical room utterly filled with jagged rocks jutting out from the walls. They came out at various shapes and sizes, making travelling upwards seem possible for a nimble pokémon.
"Say, Ponytale... do you think it would be possible for you to make your way up there, rock to rock? We could get up to floor seven in a flash if we made it."
"Oh, of course, Sneasel...!" she replied, leaning forward with her backside in the air while eyeing up a protruding spike.
"Thank you!" he replied, leaning with her and wrapping his arms around her neck.
Using her surprisingly strong legs, she kicked herself off the ground to sail upwards, eventually landing on the spike without too much issue. Turning around, she prepared herself to do the same again.
While she set about doing that, Sneasel's mind went back to the issue of the pony's random crush. In all fairness, she was certainly easy on the eyes, despite her general airheadedness and the bluk berry stain on her face.
That said, he preferred his women to be much more... Oh, what was Shining Sales Sneasel like, again? ... Yes, sassy and confident! Obviously, he wasn't only interested in her looks! Even if she was rather stunning.
He grinned to himself as the other sneasel came to mind. He snapped to attention when he noticed a nearby ledge leading elsewhere, opposite the spike they were on. "Oh! Over there, Ponytale! Into that entrance there!" he said, pointing towards it. "This should be close enough to the floor we need!"
"Sure thing, Sneasel...!" she replied, gearing up for another leap. As she took to the air, a startling bright red light flashed on the ledge in front of them.
Yelping in shock, Ponytale flailed about, throwing off her entire jump.
Though surprised himself, Sneasel acted quickly. He leapt off Ponytale and, with the help of Quick Attack, zipped downwards to land on another protruding spike lower down.
He yelled in pain when he slid on landing and hit the bed of spikes against the wall. Groaning, he pushed past the pain and leapt back up, grabbing Ponytale in his arms. Because he grabbed her from the front, he accidentally got a face full of her chest, but he tried to ignore it as he sailed over to an exposed spike.
After a rough landing on the spike, no thanks to not being able to see properly, he set her down. "Phew... are you okay, Ponytale?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm fine, thank you..." she replied. She giggled airily, face reddening. "You put your face in my boobs... Does that, like... mean we're going up a step...?"
The heat of embarrassment climbed to his cheeks. "N-No! Not at all!"
She murmured in thought. "Yeah... I suppose it's a bit soon for that..."
He let out a breath, though he did his best to put on a smile. Oh, she had enough quirkiness for days, it seemed. He found it admittedly charming, though he most certainly wished that her crush was directed just about anywhere else...
"Um, you hit those spikes pretty bad, so let me help...!" she said, allowing her horn to glow. A beam of pink light poured out from the tip, causing the various bruises he had on him to fade away.
"Ah, thank you," he replied, relieved as the pain rapidly faded from his body. Again, he was fairly sure she made a better doctor than her mother already.
As she worked her magic on him, he considered saying something about her crush, again, but Ponytale gasped in alarm before he could. "Oh! That bird is unconscious...!" she exclaimed, cutting off her move to jump over to the ledge.
"W-What?" Sneasel said, looking over. Indeed, a large pokémon was in place where the red light had been, earlier. And here he'd thought it had been a trap of some kind!
Instead, on the ledge was a staraptor, horribly bruised and clearly out for the count. His face was oddly lumpy, though the weasel wasn't entirely sure if that was related or not.
Leaping over to join Ponytale, he stopped next to her to investigate the poor pokémon. A man, from the look of his masculine features. Oh dear... considering he'd teleported over while unconscious, he must have 'died' in the dungeon, somehow. So to speak, anyway. Such a thing would teleport him to safety before any mortality could occur.
Ponytale frowned rather worriedly. "Ohh, I should... like, help him... but I don't have any reviver seeds..."
Crossing his arms, Sneasel stared at the fainted staraptor, his concern growing. "Oh... could you not use your healing moves for him?" he asked hopefully.
"Hmm, I don't think so... He's all fainted, so it won't give him his energy, or anything."
He felt his brows furrow and his throat begin to dry. "Why is... that?"
"Ah, uh... all pokémon, are, like... made up of this type energy... stuff. It protects us from really bad damage, so we don't get injured much or anything. But when you faint, it all goes away, so you get all weak and uh... you know, you die, easier. I think..."
"Really?" he asked, eyes widening in intrigue. He'd never quite known that, so that was actually rather interesting! Clearly she'd learned something from those books!
"Yeah... and healing stuff like oran berries won't work as well, until the energy, er... comes back, I suppose."
"Hm, okay." He absently poked his arm with a claw in intrigue, wondering how he could be made of energy, flesh and blood, all at once. "I suppose that's why it takes a long time for a pokémon to recover from that, then." He cringed. "Unless a reviver seed is used, naturally..."
"Yeah, that and the tiny ones do the trick. If not, he has to, like... get better on his own, until his life energy stuff comes back..." She tilted her head before shaking it. "No, I said 'type energy', last time. Uh... I guess it's sorta both, though..." She tilted her again in the opposite direction. "... Or was it?"
Sneasel mentally clicked his tongue. Tsk, blast! He had no other option, then. Reviver seeds could be so rare and expensive, though. Even the tiny ones...
That said... he could just leave the staraptor. He would eventually recover on his own, right? So...
He looked at Ponytale. Seeing her worried expression made him shake his head and frown to himself. No! He was more valiant than this! Although the seeds were expensive, this was important!
He reached into his treasure bag and brought out a reviver seed. Gulping, he cracked it and spread the dust that erupted outwards over the unconscious pokémon. A bright glow briefly followed, and the staraptor's wounds healed, confirming that it had worked.
"Yaaay...~" Ponytale sang cheerily. "Thank you, Snea-"
The staraptor shot up immediately, startling them both. His expression was completely neutral.
"... No breast," he said in a low monotone. He angled his gaze towards Ponytale. "... This breast just fine. Starly baby will be happy belly."
Sneasel stared with wide eyes. "... What?"
Walking down a rocky pathway leading to Treasure Town's beach, Buneary let out a delighted murmur. Oh, the cookie hot chocolate she'd been given was a treat~! That sure showed everyone never to underestimate the power of cookies!
Looking to her teammates, she saw Grumpig and Maractus enjoying their own drinks just as much as they moved along. It was a bit worrying seeing Maractus hop along on her one foot, while trying to drink from her flask without spilling... but she seemed to be handing it well enough, anyway.
"Mmm~ Tastes like nature!" Maractus chimed, taking a break from sipping her grass gummi smoothie.
Grumpig shrugged. "Not the biggest fan of the taste of nature, myself. I prefer..." She shook her flask, making the gold gummi soda fizz up, "... whatever this is. The taste of the mind? Eh."
Maractus giggled at the joke, though Buneary didn't quite get it. She made a mental note to try and learn more about gummis some time down the line. She knew that they were a special sort of candy one could find in mystery dungeons, based off pokémon types... but she knew heck all about them, otherwise.
She shivered lightly, wondering if there was a gummi she would hate as much as Sneasel hated gold gummis. She sure hoped not.
"So, kid," Grumpig started, "Donphan said you have some experience. How much are we talking about?"
Buneary swallowed her cookie drink. "Oh, uh, I don't know..." she replied, "my brother and the rest of the adventure squad I was in usually sorted everything out, so I sort of just... hung out, in the back." She sighed. "Away from most of the problems."
"Huh, okay..." Grumpig let out an amused huff. "Not something I'd complain about, personally."
"Grumpiiig! It's no fun letting everyone do everything for you!" Maractus chided.
"I'll say..." Buneary muttered.
"Heh, naw, I'm just kidding," Grumpig said, waving them off. She sipped some of her drink before continuing. "What rank were you? We're up to platinum rank, now."
Buneary gasped in awe. "Platinum? You mean we're all platinum? Gosh, our squad was only at silver!"
"Haha, huh, well, congrats, kid! You bumped up a few ranks, I guess!"
"Wooow~"
Maractus giggled into her drink. "Well, we'd be much higher if Grumpig wasn't such a laaaazy bones~"
"... Easy missions are relaxing, shut it," Grumpig grumbled, face reddening. Maractus giggled again in response.
Buneary smiled in amusement before going back to her drink.
Gosh, it really was amazing how easy it was to jump up the ranks, just by having the right friends! She supposed that most teams wouldn't be too willing to take on what was practically a rookie, like her, so she'd lucked out tremendously!
... Though, she had wanted to climb the ranks herself, just for the feeling of fulfillment it would have given her.
Oh well... beggars couldn't be choosers!
She managed to get a few more sips of her drink in before she saw a fair amount of sand a small distance away, right next to the sea.
Her eyes brightened. Ohh, this was it! The beach where Donphan and Snorlax had met! No krabbys spouting bubbles, though, disappointingly. Maybe it had to be dusk, first, like in the book.
Stepping onto the warm sand, Buneary felt immense relaxation wash over her. It increased tenfold when she heard some pleasant music playing somewhere. Ahh... this with her hot drink in paw was an absolute delight. It felt like nothing could ruin this lovely feeling.
A delighted shriek from Maractus completely shattered her relaxation into tiny pieces. "Oh my legends~! It's Blues Cacturne!" she shouted.
Hearing that, Buneary looked around until she saw him: a cacturne lounging against one of the large rocks strewn across the beach. He was relaxing with a musical instrument in hand, strumming its strings with his thorns to a calming tune without any apparent cares in the world. So he was the source of that pleasant music, was he?
"Oh, here we go..." Grumpig muttered, grinning.
While they wandered past the chilled out cactus, the much more energetic cactus frantically waved his way while giggling with an obvious blush. "Hiii~! Hi, Cacturne~! Yooo hooo~!" she practically squealed.
Still playing his melody, Cacturne glanced up at her and the others. Grinning, he reached up to the brim of his 'hat' and tipped it with a nod, before going back to casually playing his instrument.
Maractus squealed again. "Ohh, hooray! Acknowledgement~" she sang, rapidly hopping up and down and making her bosom sway around like crazy.
"Sorry about Juliet, here," Grumpig said to him, no less amused than before. "As you were."
He didn't say anything aside from smirking wider.
Man... Buneary had the feeling that if he'd directed all that charm her way, she would have gone utterly red in the face!
When they got further away, she decided to say something about him. "He's certainly a cool customer, huh?"
"Heeheehee, yeahhhh~!" Maractus replied dreamily.
"No kidding," Grumpig replied. She stuck a thumb in Maractus' direction. "... The real reason she wants to get bent over by him is because he's a cactus, though. She's stereotypical enough for it."
Buneary accidentally let a laugh escape. Maractus, instead, gasped sharply. "Grumpiiiig! Ohh, you're being so naughty today!" she said, playfully batting her on the head. Even though her bopping was light, Grumpig winced all the same. "Aaaaanyways...! It's not juuuust because he's a cactus."
Grumpig rubbed her head. "Heh, yeah, it's because he's a cool cactus."
"Bingo~!"
"Pfft! Oyyy..."
Buneary slowly shook her head at their antics, though definitely not in disapproval. Ohh, those two... At least Maractus didn't have to worry about not getting her romantic feelings across. She could only wonder how Cacturne felt about things, though.
"Hey," a rather baritone voice from behind them called out calmly.
The three girls turned around to face the voice. A second later, an oran berry flew towards Maractus, who hastily grabbed it with her free hand before it could fall.
They looked up to see Cacturne give them a small one-handed salute before going back to calmly playing his instrument.
By Buneary's guess, Maractus' excited squealing could probably be heard by everyone in Beach Cave as they entered. Not that she could tell anymore, having rolled up both ears to avoid a headache.
Well... she was happy for Maractus, at least!
Glamour Stunky groaned as she slowly staggered along the spike-laden grounds of Mt. Bristle. Goodness, she really wasn't having a good day at all.
After finishing her mission yesterday, she would never have camped here for the night if she'd known she was to be assaulted by that wretched pikachu. He may have been handsome, but there was no excuse for stealing all her stuff, separating her from her teammate, Services Spiritomb, and fondling her while she'd been unconscious! That was her assumption, in any case, considering she'd had one of her breasts uncovered by the time she'd awoken.
To make matters worse, a wild nidoran had seen her at such an indecent moment! Thankfully, the dear had been kind enough to find her a tiny reviver seed... but she still felt mortified. Ohhh...!
She took a breath to compose herself. Oh, well... once she found Spiritomb, the two of them would perhaps go home, then decide upon a plan in order to take care of that dastardly pikachu. Perhaps, with enough persuasion, she could entice Team Shadow to come help them take him down. As much as she loathed working with Mannish Banette...
Ughh, she could just picture Banette calling her an arse face again, just like in their childhood.
She huffed haughtily. That little... madam should count herself lucky that Stunky considered it unladylike to spray. Because she most certainly would have done a thousand times over.
She let out a long sigh. Oh, her thoughts were getting so horrible and uncouth. Clearly, this whole situation was making her far too grumpy for her own good. She needed to calm herself.
Sitting down on her rump, she took a good look at her surroundings to take her mind off things. She was currently outside, on one of the many gargantuan, blade-like spikes sprouting from the side of the mountain. One of the tallest ones, in fact. The weather above was clear, sunny and very pleasant indeed. It caused her fur to lightly shimmer with a pretty, red hue.
She continued looking around. Unlike the other blades of the mountain, the tall, hedge-like rows of spikes seemed to be more spread out than usual, allowing for lots of space in-between. A fair amount of thorny trees were also present, as well as some small ponds dotted about. It was almost as if this floor actually had a bit of nature to it.
She smiled to herself. Well, if nothing else, one had to enjoy the small things in life. She sure loved the outdoors, even in such a rough, prickly place!
She listened closely, hoping to hear the sounds of nature. Instead, however, she heard the sounds of conflict.
"Hm?" she murmured aloud, getting up to wander over in curiosity.
When she rounded a corner of a spike hedge, she saw something completely unexpected a small distance away: Valiant Sneasel galloping around on top of the village doctor's daughter, using her as a steed. At the same time, a staraptor was trying to ram into the two of them with powerful tackles of various kinds.
Stunky stared in surprise. What on Earth...?
As the staraptor crashed into them at full force while coated in an almost holy light - something they'd barely managed to avoid, thanks to a Protect shield - Stunky snapped to attention. Well, no matter what was going on, she most certainly had to help those two darlings!
Normally, she wouldn't mind just hopping into the fray. However, she was still rather weak. Tiny reviver seeds restored a pokémon from fainting, but they weren't very good for getting back to good health, with. She would have to use a bit of ingenuity this time round, it seemed!
She looked around for anything usable. She noticed no items, but a strange patch of ground nearby caught her eye.
She spat a weak ball of Acid Spray at it. A large, rectangular panel appeared on impact. A trap, one larger than usual.
She wandered closer to look at the panel. It had a picture of some sort of coal monster, with burning tar surrounding its feet.
Ahh, yes! This must have been some sort of tar trap! That gave her an idea!
Without hesitation, she flung herself onto the trap. With a click, a thick, black liquid sprayed out from some nozzles, covering her from head to toe. After several seconds, the trap stopped its assault as it nosily splintered underfoot.
She had to shake her head to clear the strong smelling, viscous liquid from her eyes. Ickk... well, her radiant fur wasn't very radiant anymore, that much was for sure. A nice thorough shower with some expensive shampoo was needed tonight!
For now, though, she slowly made her way over towards the fight still waging on. She needed to find just the right moment to make her move...
While riding on the pony - who was frantically running around, trying to avoid being hit by the various tackles coming both their ways - Sneasel was unleashing a large torrent of Icy Wind at the staraptor.
Unfazed, the large bird pushed through it without a care in the world. His wings glowed a bright gold as he lunged straight at the retreating duo.
"Oh, legends, Ponytale, leap!" Sneasel yelled, looking at the attack coming up from behind them.
"Right away, Sneasel...!" 'Ponytale' replied, jumping somewhat high into the air.
The staraptor harmlessly passed underneath, missing both of them. While still in the air with Ponytale, Sneasel leapt off her back and - glowing with energy - zipped through the air to land on the bird's back.
"There is fighter without good breast for dinner on back," the staraptor said in a deep monotone, using some of the worst English Stunky had ever heard in her life. Also, what was that about a breast?
"Here is something else for dinner, instead!" Sneasel exclaimed, a black aura beginning to coat him. A use of Nasty Plot, perhaps? Stunky remembered that it was a move her big brother had used in the past.
Not finished, Sneasel unleashed a full blast of darkness-laced Icy Wind into the staraptor's back. The bird yelled out a pained grunt in response, the ligaments to his wings beginning to visibly frost over with dark ice.
Just as soon as Stunky wondered if she'd coated herself in tar for nothing, a rather bright, destructive glow enveloped the staraptor. He lunged downward, toward the ground.
On crashing, there was an explosion of energy. Sneasel was flung high into the air, yelling.
"Ah! Sneasel!" Ponytale shouted out worriedly.
Stunky's eyes widened. Oh no, that had been a Giga Impact! Even being near the point of impact was a painful affair when it came to that move!
She saw that the staraptor was lying in a large crater, okay despite the steam pouring off of him. Though he was looking Ponytale's way - as the pony ran toward Sneasel with her horn glowing - the bird seemed like he was struggling to move for the moment. Stunky supposed that it must have been a side effect of the move, much like with Hyper Beam.
... Wait! This was her chance! Dredging up some courage, she sprinted towards the bird on her shaky, sticky legs. For good measure, she gathered some energy within herself, which would surely help for what she had planned.
When at the edge of the crater, she leapt onto the large bird in the middle of it, who reacted in surprise.
"... This milk is not milk," the staraptor said, looking at the tar now running down his shoulders. "It is black milk of grime."
Not caring to understand what he'd meant, Stunky charged some hot energy in her throat. "No, darling, it's your doom!" she shouted, unleashing an adequately powered Flamethrower from her mouth.
She and the staraptor immediately burst into a ferocious fireball, which engulfed the both of them. While the staraptor yelled in pain, she shrieked along just as loudly, half in agony and half in a battle cry.
Seconds later, as she felt herself faint, the energy she'd gathered in her body was released all at once as a powerful explosion, thanks to Aftermath.
For just a split second before everything went black, she wondered if she'd surpassed Sneasel's teammate, Big Bang Gourgeist, for raw explosive potential.
Maybe.
Beach Cave was dark and damp. Not nearly as dark and damp as Drenched Bluff, but still so much more than Buneary would have expected. She'd been hoping for sunshine and tropical shores, but instead, it wasn't the kind of place that she would like to live. Not one bit!
Still, it was pleasantly sandy underfoot, and the copious clusters of rock formations and small rock pools dotted around were pretty, if not sort of obstructing. Plus, there was also something soothing about being able to hear the soft roar of waves in the distance. So maybe this place wasn't the worst.
"Y'know, it's been months since the last time we came here, huh?" Maractus said, energetically hopping ahead of the duo. She and the others had already finished their drinks and put the flasks away into their bags, so she was free to hop as she pleased.
"Hm. I forgot how wet this place is," Grumpig said next to Buneary, pulling a face at the water dripping from the ceiling.
"Oh, I was just thinking about how wet it was!" Buneary replied, surprised. She paused, slight horror creeping through her spine. "You, um... can't read minds, can you? With your psychic powers?"
Grumpig grinned at her. "Heh, why? Afraid I'll see something I shouldn't?"
"N-No!" Buneary retorted quickly, sweating.
Grumpig laughed and shook her head. "Naw, I'm not that sort of psychic-type. Can't do that."
Buneary let out a breath, which she hoped was subtle. "Uh... okay, that's good." Giving a light shake of the head, she went back on topic. "Yeah, I like it better when it's more dry, and not soggy, like this..."
"I like it!" Maractus said cheerily, holding her hand up to catch a falling droplet of water from the ceiling.
Grumpig snorted in amusement. "You would. You're a grass-type. And a cactus, at that."
"Wellll, I guess so! I-" Maractus suddenly paused. "Uh-oh! There's a pokémon approaching!"
Right on cue, a kabuto rounded the corner of some rock formations, glaring at them. "Hey! You guys are explorers!" he shouted.
As Grumpig prepared herself, Buneary's heart skipped a beat. Oh, dear... After today especially, she knew first-hand that a lot of wild pokémon were far too territorial. Especially when it came to explorers, for some reason. It seemed that this place was no different, despite how 'small and easy' it was.
She was starting to wonder if the pokémon back on Wellware Island were actually more mean than 'hyper', despite what Elder Slowking had said.
... Maybe it was actually the other way around in these dungeons? Hopefully.
Before she could decide, the kabuto lunged at Maractus without warning. "This Scratch attack is for you!" he yelled.
Maractus dodged out of the way with a stylish twirling hop, causing the kabuto to land in-between Buneary and Grumpig. On landing, the grass-type quickly built up a bright, gloopy ball of green energy in front of her mouth, which visibly drew in energy from the algae and seaweed across the rocks.
"Protect the newbiiiiie!" she cried, shooting it towards the kabuto. On impact, it exploded with a powerful burst of green goo, launching the strange bug away to crash into some rocks. He didn't move again, afterwards.
Maractus giggled. "Yay!" she cheered, flailing her arms in the air in celebration, allowing her huge chest to sway.
"Wow..." Buneary said, impressed. "You knocked him out like it was nothing!"
Grumpig huffed in amusement. "Don't be too impressed. The wild pokémon in Beach Cave don't seem to work out, much. They're rather easy to deal with."
"Yeah!" Maractus added with a giggle. "And I think that was, like... super duper effective, too!"
"Well... I still thought it was cool," Buneary mumbled. It would have taken her at least a bit of time.
"Heh. Anyway, come on," Grumpig said, walking again, "let's keep going."
"Okay," Buneary replied, feeling just a little bit out of her element as she followed closely behind. She wouldn't be a burden on this team, would she?
Well, she would just have to work twice as hard to keep up!
Bradley gripped his belly, having just materialized from teleporting. Ugh... he didn't like teleporting at all.
Looking around, he saw that he was in a small, secluded cave embedded in the mountain, which was serving as their 'base'. The stuff they'd stolen from the stunky and spiritomb, as well as a few other wild pokémon along the way, was still here, strewn uncaringly on the floor.
He looked down at his feet. The metallic podium he was standing on - the progress device - was completely frazzled. The remote in his paw was similarly frazzled. Clearly, they'd served their purpose of allowing him to teleport back at will just the once.
Huffing, he mentally went over what he had to do, next. He had to find that togetic and noctowl and either convince them to leave... or knock them out and leave them somewhere other explorers would find them. Somewhere Ben wouldn't find them.
Taking a shaky breath, he walked towards the exit of the small cavern. Thankfully, the fox would likely be on one of the lower floors, looking for stuff to collect. That's what he'd said he'd be doing, anyway. He wouldn't be back for a while.
The second he left the cavern, he nearly bumped into another pokémon, who was headed toward it.
Bradley stared in shock. A noctowl. The one Eiscue had mentioned, he guessed.
"Oh... hi," Snapshot Noctowl said, looking straight down at him.
"... Hey," Bradley replied, craning his neck to look up at him.
"... Hostile?"
"... Uh..." Bradley looked back into the cavern, contemplating what to say and do. He looked back at the owl. "... No, but... you here for the special band?"
Noctowl's eyes widened. "... And you know about that how?"
"... Eiscue. I met him below. He told me to tell you that there's a..." He took a slow breath, "... a horrible little monster here, stealing people's stuff and maiming them for shits and giggles. He has the special band, and he's not worth dealing with."
Noctowl frowned at him incredulously. "... Hm. That's not how he'd phrase it."
"Paraphrased. You should leave, before he finds you. The monster."
Noctowl stalled a second before shaking his head. "Not a chance. I'll deal with whoever this 'monster' is." He took a camera out of his bag, quickly snapped a picture of the cave - presumably one including Bradley - and put it away again before advancing inwards.
The mouse let out a frustrated groan. "No, don't, the monster's gonna get you." He went over the sentence in his head and cringed at how silly it sounded. Damn it, he'd made it sound like a boogey man was going to pop out from under a bed, or something.
Noctowl turned to him and grinned cockily. "Pft, more like I'm gonna get that 'monster'." He huffed arrogantly. "He doesn't know who he's dealing with."
Bradley felt a pit in his stomach. Aghh, he was no good at this! It was looking like he was going to have to resort to violence again. Why did he always have to resort to violence...
"I hope I finally find an emera in here," a girl's voice from somewhere nearby said. "There's nothing more exciting than putting it in my looplet and seeing what happens!"
"... Are you even speaking English anymore?" a boy responded in amusement.
"Huh? Togetic?" Noctowl called out, looking back at the entrance in surprise. "What're you doing up here?"
The pit in Bradley's stomach grew deeper. Oh, great... the gang was all here. He didn't remember Eiscue mentioning another boy in his team, though. Had he forgotten?
"Noctowl?" the girl responded. Likely Lady Luck Togetic, from an educated guess. "Well, we know where the band is! It's being guarded by some nasty criminal!"
"Oh, so there is a monster?" Noctowl asked, looking at Bradley in surprise.
"... Yeah...?" Bradley asked, wondering where this was all leading.
"Oh? Someone in there with you?" Togetic asked, appearing from over the cliff edge a short distance away. She was followed by a... yellow cheerleader bird? ... Had Bradley messed up with which one the girl was?
"... Who's that girl?" Noctowl asked, pointing at the cheerleader.
"Girl!?" the cheerleader said with an obvious masculine voice. "I'm not-!"
Togetic shrieked and pointed at Bradley. "Bah, oh no! It's the groping pikachu who stole the band!"
All shocked eyes were now on Bradley, who shrunk back, staring in disbelief. What? How... W-Why would they know about that? Did they mean the stunky Ben had forced him to touch in the tit!?
... Had... Ben told them? But... why would he?
... Did he hate him that much?
He had to ignore the pain in his gut as Togetic shouted out a battle cry and threw a gift box his way. The same sort delibirds used as attacks.
Producing a blade of energy with Brick Break, he swung it to knock the present away. It violently exploded into streamers against the wall, sending spiky rubble flying from the wall.
While everyone was sent scrambling around in a panic, Bradley just steeled himself. Whether he liked it or not... he had to knock these guys out.
For their own good.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished: 07/10 (October)/2022
Word count: 10,464
VGS2's sausage notes: Almost there now! We've almost gotten to the point I wanted to get to two years ago, until real life and having too much fun writing ruined that plan. XD Hope it was a nice feeling seeing Team Nebula again, at least, if you came here from ravengal's version of the fic™!
By the way, I never really stress how much I appreciate all the reviews and comments everyone's been giving me, but it's frigging awesome, so cheers, everyone! Especially since reviews these days are like PMD fics where the characters don't die in one hit to something even vaguely sharp. Fecking rare as all hell. So the fact that I get any reviews at all is really awesome! :D
While I'm on the topic, if you ever want to support anyone who writes stories, or draws pictures, or whatever it is you enjoy seeing, make sure you go support 'em, okay? You don't need to give a massive insightful report on your thoughts on the artist's use of trees to represent ideas, or how each character's actions individually represent a greater ideology and political issue, or any shit like that. Naww, mate, just say some funny comment, or mention something that you thought was cool. That shit's more appreciated than you think, y'know. :P
On the other end of the scale, if you're looking to get a bit more popularity yourself, you should probably go out and read/review other people's fics, and have chats with people whenever possible (Whether that's sending PMs to people who respond back to your reviews, to people who reviewed your shit, or just to people in general, it's all good!)
After all, the social butterfree gets to fuck more pink butterfrees than the quiet ones! (Until ficcers keep trying to drag it back to Ash again, for some reason.)
Tl;dr: Don't be an awkward, anti-social bugger! Keep chatting so we can keep our fandoms alive! :D
Today's shameless promotion: Pikachu's Dare
Author: Carson55
Universe: Pokémon anime (Sinnoh)
Main species: Pikachu (Ash's), Buneary (Dawn's), Aipom (Ash's/Dawn's/O's/Everyone's/No-one's), Piplup (Dawn's)
Summary: Pikachu is forced to do an embarrassing dare by Aipom. How will a certain admirer react to it? Will he find comfort or more humiliation?
Romance: As cute as you'd expect, with classical obliviousness!
Wackiness: Quite wacky!
Lewdness: A little naughty humour!
Action: Said dare involves a cool stunt!
Grittiness: Cheery as they come!
Length: Longish one-shot!
Man, it's been far too long since I've seen a simple, cute, fun-filled PikaBun fic like this! It sure was a nice change of pace, I'll tell ya what!
It was amusing, it was cute, and it was a nice blast to the past. I quite liked it!
It's not exactly a grand story, but fuck it, man, stories are like food, y'know? While everyone wants to make a culinary masterpiece that makes everyone cry tears of joy and emotion... sometimes, just sometimes... you just want a fat, juicy burger and some fecking fries. This was my tasty burger and fries and maybe a pepsi, too. Not the shitty diet one, though. XP
Fun mistakes of the day:
#1: 'Just a female wobbuffet, a wynaut with a boyish face and a low-hanging entrance leading deeper within.'
(The way I worded it made it sound like wynaut had a low-hanging entrance. Whoops... XD Maybe if it was a universe where everyone was nude all the time, and, err, he has a mangina, I guess. O,o)
#2: 'Looking past her, and the Mr. Mime seated on a different table, Pikachu saw what looked like the two girls in question: a grumping and a grass-type of some description.'
(Whoops... well, I guess he's finally here, after eighty years. Huzzah! XD (Also, try and spot the auto-correct Microsoft Word did!)
#3: '"Team Nebula are fairly experienced explorers," Blaziken explained.'
(No, fuck off, old guildmaster! You live in a different PMD fic owned by ravengal, now. XP)
#4: 'Oricorio looked at her in surprise. "Huh? ow'd you know?"'
(Gourgeist, being the ghost-type he is, has finally possessed his first victim!)
#5: 'Buneary smiled pleasantly while she sat on a tall stall,'
(Spinda's gonna get mad if you keep using his Spinda-shaped stall as a chair, guys, c'mon.)
#6: 'She drowned her drink.'
(I didn't actually write this, but for some reason, Microsoft Word seems to think this is correct. There's either an oxymoron or a super impressive feat here, somewhere.)
#7: "Alright. I guess if we're on the same team, wwe"
(Are you becoming a wrestler, Buneary? Are you on Smackdown or Raw? (I'm a complete poser, I only know about wrestling stuff from PS2-era video games. XP))
#8: 'He seemed to be paying a musical instrument.'
(Is he paying it to play itself, or... perhaps it's blood money, for safety from the instrument. O,o He must be in a Rayman stage, or fighting a Mother 3 boss, then. Acceptable if true.)
#9: 'Pure fiction had its place, but it wasn't terribly exciting.'
(Sneasel's a picky one, y'see. He only likes stories if they actually happened. If he ever learns that that Butterfree fudged any details on the biographies he made, he'll immediately give up on his heroes.)
#10: "Yeah... and healing stuff like oran berries won't work as well, until the energy, er... coomes back, I suppose."
(So the pokémon has to 'coome' to get better, is that what you're saying? Oh dear... XD Insert coomer meme here, then, I guess.)
#11: "Hm... I suppose that's why it takes a long time for a pokémoon to recover from that, then."
(... Said a character from Sonic Adventure 2: Pokémon Battle.)
#12: 'and fondling her while unconscious!'
(Somehow, Bradley sleep-fondled Stunky. That's quite impressive.)
#13: 'To make matters worse, a wild nidorina had seen her at such an indecent moment! Thankfully, he'd been kind enough to find her a tiny reviver seed...'
(Welp, three problems here... one: this nidorina is a trap, apparently... two: I meant to say nidorino... and three: in the original one-shot from Comrades involving Stunky, he was a fecking nidoran, instead. What crazy shit happened offscreen on this mountain, anyway? XD)
#14: 'She spat a weak ball of Acid Spray t it.'
(Yeesh... I don't think that staraptor's going to want anything to do with you. O,o
Staraptor: "Finally, I am feed starly baby." *Forces Stunky's nipple into the starly's beak. After a few seconds of soft suckling, the baby melts into a puddle.* Staraptor: "... A shit, this is.")
#15: 'For just a split second before everything went back, she wondered if she'd surpassed Sneasel's teammate, Big Bang Gourgeist, for raw explosive potential.'
(No kidding! Even Gourgeist can't activate Yoshikage Kira's third fucking bomb! :O)
Welp, that'll ducking do it for this peak chapter I yeeted at y'all! Yaasss queen! Slay!
Laterz, my absolute units! The next chapter's drip will be... fire! I promise that it'll hit different!
Until then, keep on slapping, like the goat you are! c:
*Vomits and cringes to death*
