Author notes:

So guys… it's been a while hasn't it. Like nine months. Sorry about the wait! I really am. I really have no excuses for taking so long, but I hope you enjoy the chapter. I also have some news regarding the fic in the future.

Also for some info that can't really be said in the story: Hisuian Pokemon are still alive in this world like how fossil Pokémon still are and Charizards name has been changed from Sodom to Adam.

"…this one is from when I visited Noe Town," Charizard pointed to an inked sketch of a layered misty town made of angular buildings and long staircases imprinted upon a page.

Chimera scooched their butt closer to Charizards side to view the navy journal.

The art was scratchy and the line work was light but it was able to hold the image of a layered, breezy town.

"Oh, wow!" Chimera nodded in approval.

It had been a couple hours since Chimera had made the plan with team Parallel. After they snuck out of the showers Charizard came up to them unexpectedly, giving them a short shock. He was surprisingly quite stealthy. The purpose of his visit was to take Chimera into the observatory under the orders of Guild Master Avery. She wanted to try to hide them away from the main area to prevent a release of their image to the city who would roam the lower parts of the guild as clients. It was recommended for them to stay inside the observatory due to its owner not being here at the moment and it was the largest enclosed space inside the guild. So for now they sat upon their nest of pastel pillows trying to pass the time with their guard.

Episode 4:2

Burning Down The House

"That one was from three weeks ago and this one…" the slim dragon flipped over to another page. Found inside the parchment flaps was a drawing of Chimera asleep on a bed covered with sheets.

"Wow, when did you draw this!" Chimera got a bit flustered. It was a really nice drawing of them, how could they not be a bit embarrassed?

It even seems to do me a few favors… I look better there than in real life.

"I drew it when you were inside the medical room. I was waiting for you to wake up so I kind of needed something to do to pass the time and you're definitely a unique inspiration."

"You flatter me," they nervously chuckle, not entirely sure if the unique part was an intentional insult or some kind of compliment. He's nice - from what they can tell - so it's probably the latter.

"Eh, I don't think I did that great of a job on this one," he clapped the book shut. "The anatomy was a bit off since that was the first time I ever saw you. I know I can do better."

"I still think it's nice."

"Most people say that," he stared down at the red cover of his sketchbook. He looked downtrodden. Chimera couldn't tell why. Did they say something off? They were complimenting him so he should be happy, but if that was true then he wouldn't look like that.

"Is something wrong?" They tried to put their talon on his cloaked shoulder but he recoiled.

"No, nothing is wrong. You shouldn't worry, it doesn't matter," he placed his sketchbook back in his bag.

It didn't feel that way but if that was what he said then Chimera should listen. It's not like they have any superior knowledge. They followed his orders and stuffed this moment in the back of their mind.

"So, uh… what do you do here?" A plastered smile returned to their face. "If I may ask, what's your job?"

"Nothing much really. I'm just the all around helper guy here. If something needs to be done, I do it. It's just that despite being a place I once dreamed of being in, for me it's kind of boring. The most fun I really have is going out to deliver a letter or something and traveling."

"Do you explore a lot?"

"Whenever I can, which isn't often. Last place I was in was Noe Town but I was only there for a bit," Charizard scratched at the space between his claws. "You're friends with Adrian, right?"

"Adrian? Who's that- oh. Yeah I'm friends with Zoroark," Chimera nodded. "Wait, you called her by name! Are you two close?"

"Kind of. Adrian comes from Noe Town. I met her when I was visiting there along with her Eevee friend."

"That's nice to know, but how come you didn't call Eevee by name?"

"Eh, he was a lot more standoffish than Adrian. She was actually pretty quick to get me to call her by name despite the fact that I only knew her for a bit. Although I presume that's fair considering, The incident," he made claw quotes as he spoke.

"Huh?" Chimera shot up. What was this about? It must be interesting if he said it in italics. "Pardon me, but what is this incident about?"

"You're asking about the incident, eh?" Charizard said the word incident as if he was a child trying to tell a secret.

"...yes?" They tilted their head in confusion.

Charizard got his face close to Chime's face and held a hand to the side of his mouth trying to block off further movement of noise. He looked over his shoulder to nowhere and whispered, "well, let me tell you something. The incident-"

BOOM! As Charizard tried to regale his story he was cut off as the door burst open.

"Mmp!" Chimera shook. They brought their eyes right over to the door where they found a certain duo. They waved, "oh, hello Team Parallel."

Standing proudly in the doorway was Eevee illuminated by the light spilling from behind him. Zoroark was also there, walking up the stairs.

They both entered the room as Charizard straightened himself up from falling off their pile of cushions. "What was that crash?" Charizard asked.

"I have achieved innovation!" Eevee cheered.

"Oh?" Chimera was particularly confused, more so than usual.

Zoroark spoke, "Here, let me translate for him - I'm too short to open doors so I decided to slam into them."

"It works," Eevee said.

"As long as it's a push," Charizard commented.

"If Adrian throws me at one then I can break through pulls."

Chimera raised a claw to their mouth, "break them open, you mean?"

"Through."

"O-oh."

Zoroark chuckled, "I'm not going to use you as a battering ram. We have Gogoats for that."

Eevee reconsidered his thoughts, "Yeah, thinking about it it wouldn't be that good. You wouldn't be that good at throwing me. You got twig arms. Charizard is probably stronger."

"WUAH! I am very strong, pal!"

"I think that's enough," Charizard interrupted. "What brings you two here? Last I heard from you two are in the middle of patrol. You even made a whole big show out of it"

Zoroark scratched her neck, "eeeerrough… I kind of wanted to forget about that. Yeah, we were on patrol duty but -"

"I achieved innovation," Eevee interrupted.

"That's not the phrase of the day, stop that. Let me translate for him again - I tricked some other team to watch our route for us and ran away."

"One of them has two heads, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"You forced Team Twice to cover you?!?" Charizard said exasperated. "Dang, Zweilous definitely won't be happy when you get back. It's not good to get on his bad side."

"Which one?" Eevee asked.

"His left, the right head is a lot nicer," Charizard answered. "Speaking on returning, when are you gonna do that? It's not good to leave a post for too long, especially with you ditching the dragon behind."

Zoroark nervously smiles, "we'll go… after we get Chime? You're good with that right Chime?"

Everyone's heads turned up to Chime in anticipation for an answer.

As it turned out they had been so preoccupied with Charizard that they actually forgot about if they wanna go into town. Chimera bit the inside of their cheek. They did want to go out but to disrespect the orders of someone who so graciously brought them into her own building wouldn't it seem disrespectful or even ungrateful? They didn't want to seem rude. Of course that would only happen if someone witnessed and outed them to Guild Master Avery and right now the only person who could do that is Charizard.

Chimera tilted their head to Charizard with a pleading smile asking for his choice.

The message was clear. Charizard shrugged, "sure. I don't really care."

"If that's what he says then I'll be good to go."

"Huh!" Popped Zoroark. "I really thought it would take a lot more convincing to get you to let them come, Adam."

Charizard shrugged, "eh, I heard you guys talking about your plan while I was looking for Chimera."

"YOU ALREADY KNEW!!!" Eevee yelped.

"Yeah, I could hear you even though the door was closed."

"And you didn't plan on stopping us?" Adrian's face swapped from a confused look to a grin. All of a sudden Zoroark lightly elbowed the dragon, "Maybe because we're such good friends?"

Charizard laughed, "because I knew you guys would've tried to take them away even if I said no. Also, yes, we are friends."

Zoroark beamed.

"Well if that's it then let's start going," Eevee proposed.

Chimera hopped down from their pile of pillows and stretched. A question popped into mind, "oh, Charizard, what'll you do when I'm not here?"

"I'll probably have to stick over here to make sure nobody gets suspicious that I'm not around you, but it's fine."

"Very well," Chimera faced the door. "Thank you very much. See you soon."

As they walked forward they were stopped again by Charizard, "wait! I almost forgot."

"Really?" Eevee said under his breath

"If you're going out to town you might wanna get something, here," Charizard took out a small jingling bag and tossed it to Chimera. They caught a small bit of the bag with their mouth but it was pretty much hanging out. "It's around 300 Poké. Not that much but it'll get something."

Charizard made a wave, "that's it. Stay safe, try not to get into trouble, and be back in two hours. See you!"

Chimera dropped the bag into their talons and said with a smile, "thank you very much. Goodbye!"

As the three walked out into the main area Chimera passed an Eevee shaped dent in the door.

"So… Do you think you have a good idea yet?" Zoroark asked.

Chimera nervously was flipping through a encyclopedia on every Pokémon, careful to not tear a page with their talons, "I- I'm still thinking. Maybe I should look through it again."

"You know if you're having such a hard time choosing you could always let your good friend-" Eevee tried to imitate making two thumbs ups pointing back at him but due to the fact he has no thumbs it meant nothing, "your buddy ol' pal of seventy two hours, Natha- Eevee, to choose."

"I think that'll be good," Chimera carefully handed the heavy book to Eevee's outstretched paws. When it landed in his paw pads he almost fell over due to the weight.

"Ooooof, this Bulbapedia thing is heavy," he held the sides of the book and looked through it. "Hmmmmmmm… AHA! I got it, the perfect choice for you!"

Eevee let go of the book and it plopped onto the bench to reveal a page with "Salamence" plastered atop an entry.

"Nathan…" Zoroark looked down at the book and back to him. "THIS IS EXACTLY IT!"

"Really!?!" Eevee looked genuinely surprised. "Thought you were going to just say no or something-"

"This is exactly the perfect disguise for Chime! A large dragon that will definitely catch some stray eyes! You're a genius!" Zoroark spread her arms out in amazement.

"That's the most praise anyone has ever given me in my entire life. You're being sarcastic aren't you."

"I-it is? T-that kind of sounds a bit sad," Chimera commented.

In the exact same astounded tone Zoroark responded to Eevee, "YES."

"Oh, well," he shrugged. "That's just your opinion though, what really matters is Chimera's. What's your thoughts?"

"No… Bad???" Was Chimera's best answer.

"Not to sound harsh, but I think that was expected," Zoroark added.

"Well, dragons are cool so, whatever."

The crew had returned back into the shower room and been sitting on a bench scouring the book taken from the archive trying to find a good disguise for Chimera to use. Unfortunately, Chimera was too indecisive and no one else had any good ideas.

Chimera grinded their teeth, "hrrr… okay! I think I'm done with this so I'm just gonna find something and that'll be it!"

They closed the book, then flipped to a random page and stuck their talon into whatever page they landed on, carefully, "this is it! This is the one! Final decision!" They held their eyes closed as they made their determination.

Zoroark and Eevee leaned in from the sides.

"You chose Arceus?" They both yelped.

Peeking an eye open they realized that spread across the right page of the open book was an entry with a white quadrupedal Pokémon with a spiked golden ring around its abdomen, Arceus, "is that bad?"

"Yeah," Zoroark was astounded out of over a thousand Pokémon Chimera was somehow able to get Arceus, the creator of all, "yeah, I think Arceus kinda sucks."

"Literal God doesn't suck. Blasphemy!" Nathan joked.

Despite barely knowing what a God is or the importance of this Pokémon Chimera had to agree. Its ring did look familiar though.

Chimera pointed over to the left page, "if that's true then I think this would be a better choice."

Inscribed into the papyrus page was the biography and study of two similar canine Pokémon, one of white mane with black stripes and the other of darkened clouds and stone: Arcanine and Ash Arcanine.

"You made an actual choice?" Eevee asked. "Oh my god, finally."

"Yeah, I think this'll work," Zoroark nodded excitedly. "They're quadrupedal and roughly the same size as you so this is actually a great fit! Here, stand up and get to the mirror."

Chimera approached the glass and saw their own golden eyes staring back at them. They flinched. They still weren't used to their own appearance. It was weird and unnerving like a doll that was too realistic. They brought their eyes back to Zoroark who was standing to their side with the Bulbapedia.

"Is there anything I need to do? Or-" Chimera was cut off by Zoroarks fingers snapping together. "Oh? What was that?"

"I made the illusion. It was as simple as a snap!" Zoroark said. "Check the mirror!"

They quickly turned around and what they were staring at was someone else. Reflected in the light of the mirror were the sky blue eyes of an Ashen Arcanine.

Chimera brought their talons, or rather more appropriately paws, to the side of their face.

"Ouch!" Chimera accidentally pricked themself with their own claws. Their look was all just a veil covering their reality behind it, they could still very much feel themself underneath it. "This is… this is very nice! Thank you very much, Zoroark."

"No, sweat!" Zoroark folded the Bulbapedia into her bag. "Now that this is done let's get out. I don't wanna keep Team Twice waiting. With your new cover it's going to be a breeze to sneak out."

"People come in and out all the time, just try to avoid bumping into people cause the illusion might break," Eevee guided.

Chimera nodded.

The lobby was fairly full. Many teams stood around the Guild either talking with clients, checking maps, or talking about the stories of their day, and none of them batted Chimera an eye as they entered in with Team Parallel. A few people may have glanced in their direction but they all looked away shortly instead of examining them, trying to deduce something about the oddity that is Chimera. This is what happens with normal Pokémon, right? No stares? No, strange looks?

Chimera awkwardly shuffled around as they were sandwiched between Eevee and Zoroark who were trying to create a wall to prevent anyone from coming in contact with them. Although if they really thought about it Eevee wouldn't have helped much if someone rushed into them. Their Salvarsan was currently off at the moment and was hidden inside Zoroark's bag.

As they made it to the door they passed by the Meowstic who sat by the door at her desk. She gave a friendly wave to Zoroark and Eevee who both smiled back but she raised an eyebrow when she noticed Chimera. Her speculative look sent a shiver down Chimera's spine as they tried to give a wobbly grin.

Why is she looking at me like that!? Does she see through the illusion? Is something off?

Whatever Meowstic may have thought at that moment and the paranoid fears that filled through Chimera's mind she said nothing with her face soon returning to a smile. Chimera let out a relieved sigh and brought their eyes back to the exit. Chimera for the first time saw Lively City as they entered the outside.

Astonished by the view, the only thing that could come from their mouth as their talons for the first time stepped onto the stone of the city walk was a quiet, "wow…"

Buildings colored in pinks and warm colors followed bustling sandstone streets that reached down to the beach and the shining azure waters was what made up the municipality. The Guild stood atop a hill that rises high above the other houses and stores allowing for the beautiful sight. Below the Guild was a large circular space filled with Pokémon of all walks of life, stalls, and stores that rounded the town center. Farther away at the sandy beaches were wooden docks filled with ships coming from all over the planet.

Lively City was the center of the world. A stop for ships reaching from continent to continent. A melting pot molded by the people that came and went who left their prints permanently on the clay.

"That's the same kind of look I had when I first saw Lively City, too," Zoroark nodded as she saw Chimera's face in awe. "I've never seen such a large place."

"I've seen bigger," Eevee added.

"You have?" Chimera couldn't have imagined such a large community of people. It would truly be a feat to have a place much larger than here.

"Oumf!" Chimera's words hit Eevee in the stomach, as he realizes his mistake. "Uh, you know what I think I'm just biased."

Despite their curiosity, Chimera decided to stay respectful.

The group of three went down the stairs all the way down to the shopping area, Chimera constantly turning their head side to side akin to their own tail which was wagging. The world was a sight to behold and they were going to take it all in.

Previously leading the trio forward Zoroark turned round to them. Taking the role of tour guide Zoroark spoke, "welcome to Lively City! This place is a coastal town so there's always a flow of people from all of the continents. This is the City Centre. It's filled with a bunch of shops and stands that sell a whole array of stuff."

Many stores had glass panes showing off their merchandise to spectators, jackets, scarves, and many other articles of clothing were shown under a sign reading "Sew Great!" While there were an abundance of shops there was also a cafe left of the Guild and a variety of stands. One was held by a pair of Kecleons, another was a mystical violet tent with a Hatterene, and so much more. It almost felt overwhelming to Chimera, especially with the noises and smells coming from every direction.

"We aren't going to stay here long because we still gotta go back to do our jobs," Eevee pouted. "We will be heading to a smaller cafe away from here before we go."

The duo began to walk down a pathway to the left but as they began to leave a yelp and a crash sounded from behind. Chimera looked back.

What seemed like a berry stand taken care of by a Lilligant had one of its berry baskets splayed across the pavement. A Tropius right next to it had his head lowered in shame and was saying something to the Lillgant as she walked round the stand to regather her items. A Kadabra quickly came by to help her pick up the berries.

Oh, how unfortunate. At least she has someone to help- huh? Chimera noticed something was rolling to them. It was one of the berries from the basket. Chimera picked it up carefully with one claw and examined it. They didn't know what it was but it was green, in circular shape, and was split into four sections with a tiny flat bump on the top and bottom of the berry.

"Hey, Chimera!" Eevee called. The two had walked a small distance off before noticing Chimera wasn't with them.

"Ack! Sorry!" Chimera apologized. Unsure what to do with the berry they placed it into the coin pouch Charizard had given them which was hanging around their neck.

They returned back to the two and they all began to travel down a pathway to the left of the marketplace. After a short walk down the road on the right side of it was found a cozy building right next to an alleyway with a hanging sign in a swirly and cute font; The Trevenants Tree.

The group entered.

On the outside it was a quaint organic shop with filled flower beds lining the long windows above. The inside was also pretty similar. Built with light wood it complemented the dark green leaves and vines that grew from hanging potted plants above, the look reminded them of a canopy of leaves. Some probably could have mistaken it for a nursery if it wasn't for the smell of peppermint tea and baked goods wafting through the air.

It was a fairly spacious area with plenty of tables with flowers in the middle and chairs to accompany guests but despite the space there were only a few Pokemon inhabiting the place, seven to be exact. Supposedly a Guild team of two seated in a corner, three Pokémon scattered around the tables, and one last person waiting at a counter.

On the other side of the entrance was a large rectangular hole that stood as a counter and a door right by side of it. A Phantump was floating around the counter playing with a wooden spinning top that looked like a dancing Kirlia before noticing the group and perking up.

"Hi, Hi, Hi! It's you!" She greeted, floating around Zoroark fast as if she was a moon and Zoroark a planet. "Zorie, Zorie, Zorie, let's play! Papa, got me a new toy!"

"Hehe, why don't you calm down?" Zoroark chuckled as Phantump settled and landed back onto the counter. "We're not gonna stay here for long, so I can't play with you. I'm sorry," Zoroark patted Phantumps head with an apologetic smile.

"Aw… really?" Phantump seemed to deflate, like all her excitement got drained from her.

"Don't worry, next time we can, okay?"

Phantump beamed, "Really, Really, Really!"

"Of course!"

"Yay!" She spun in place.

Far behind the counter a deep voice called out from the kitchen, "Matcha, stay on track."

"Oops! Sorry, sorry, sorry, Dad!" Phantump looked and said back. "So, so, so what would you like?"

"Just what I usually get, please," Zoroark said.

Phantump tilted her head in smiling confusion.

"Ice tea and a bagel."

Right nearby the counter was what seemed like a small staircase that Eevee climbed up on, "the sweetest thing you got!"

Phantump nodded, "yep! Yep! Yep! That's…" She did some counting in her head. "That's four hundred fifty Poké- oh? You have a friend!"

Phantump turned her head to Chimera only having just realized them now. They waved unsure on what to do.

"Watcha want!"

Chimera froze up. Were they supposed to choose something? Choose from what? And what would they get? Would they have to pay for it? Did they have enough for whatever they wanted?

A tap knocked them out from their thoughts. "There's a menu up there. Just get anything you like, we'll pay. My treat," Zoroark was next to them and pointed above the counter.

Chimera felt very silly now, "oh, haha! Sorry."

Chimera looked up for something to get.

They froze once again. There were too many options. They barely even understood what any of the things on the menu were. What is chai? What is coffee? What is matcha? Wasn't that the name of the Phantump? And if they chose something without knowing and didn't like it they would be wasting Zoroarks money. They couldn't just do something so rash when they're using Team Parallel's wallet!

"Nathan, they froze up, what do I do?!" Zoroark asked.

"I dunno, just choose something that you think they'll like! Which could be anything, now that I think about it."

"Saffron spiced tea and a jam croissant?" She guessed.

"Kay, 'Kay, 'Kay! That's five hundred forty Poké then!" Phantump said. "Dad'll bring it to you… when he does."

"Thank you, Phantump," Zoroark said as she knocked on the side of Chimera's head. She had to join Eevee on the stool to reach the top of them.

"Huwah? Wha- sorry what's going on?" Chimera asked, regaining their focus.

Eevee hopped off of the squeezed space of the stool and began to walk over to a table, "Adrian already got something for you."

They embarrassed themself, once again. They really do seem like they're making a fool out of themself, "oh… apologies."

"It's fine! I just hope that you'll like the food," Zoroark said.

Right next to the entrance they sat at a table where the light from the afternoon sun shone upon them. Chimera sat on the floor with the table reaching up to their chest, the sunlight pouring onto their back, Zoroark placed herself on a sturdy wooden chair, and Eevee was set in a highchair that Zoroark needed to lift him into.

Chimera tapped their claws atop the table. They were quite curious about Zoroark and Eevee. They were the first people they really talked to, (disregarding their incident with August) and yet they barely knew anything about them while the two practically knew everything about them.

Chimera spoke once they all got seated, "so, who are you guys?"

"Huh? What do you mean? We're Team Parallel," Eevee said.

"Oh, no, no, no," Chimera shook their head, not realizing that they had accidentally stolen Phantump's speech pattern. "I-I know who you are, I just don't really know anything about you. Like, how did you two meet, why did you make a team, are you in a relationship, just things like that?"

Zoroark and Eevee burst out laughing.

"HAH! Dating? That's hilarious!" Zoroark wheezed.

"PFFF! Haha! No," Eevee chuckled.

Was that the only thing they heard me say?

"I can't imagine Eevee and I being in a relationship in the slightest."

"Yeah, absolutely. Plus she isn't my type at all."

Zoroark brought her hand to her chest and spoke sarcastically, "really? I'm soooooo hurt. I'm such an amazing, great, and incredibly humble person, how could I not be your type? And if I'm not, then what is your type?"

"A-" Eevee opened his mouth and froze in place. "Uh… no one? I don't know? Nevermind, it doesn't matter."

"I thought your type was normal?" Chimera asked.

"No, I- oh…" Eevee giggled. "Chimera, it also means the type of people someone likes. Not like magic stuff or whatever that is."

"I… didn't know that."

"Huh, do you only really know the basics of language? Not like slang and stuff?" Zoroark tapped the side of her head. "Anyways, sure we could answer some of your questions! Whatcha got?"

"Oh, um, how did you two meet?" Chimera fiddled with their claws.

Speaking as if he rehearsed it Eevee answered, "me and Zoroark were childhood friends in a small town in the Mist Continent. That's really just it."

"Oh, was it Noe Town?"

Zoroark hastily answered for him, "yeah…! That's where me and Eevee met! H-how did you know that?"

"Charizard mentioned that he met you two there. Also something about an incident-"

Despite not having a drink Zoroark spat it out in surprise, "PHHFFFFK! Aghfk!" She coughed as if she was choking on something, which she wasn't. "HE TOLD YOU THAT!"

Eevee wasn't doing anything, he was just laughing.

Every other guest in the tea house glanced at all of them, before quickly turning their heads. The screaming was starting to get heavily annoying for the Pokémon who just wanted a nice place to sit and relax from the busy streets.

Chimera noticed and gave one of them an embarrassed smile and a mouthed out sorry. They returned their face back to their friends, "he didn't actually tell me anything at all. He was about to but then you entered the room."

All of the tenseness from Zoroark suddenly dissipated as she melted into her chair, slumping, "by Articuno's three tail feathers, thank goodness."

Eevee finished his cackling fit, "hah… you should really know. It's hilarious-"

"Nathan, if you tell them that the next day you're going to find all your fur has gone missing."

In a rare occurrence, Eevee held his tongue.

"… I assume you aren't going to tell me what it is, are you?" Chimera asked.

"It's the one thing I won't tell you," Zoroark crossed her arms.

"I guess I have to move onto something you will then. How come you two joined the Guild?"

"Oh, that's a bit personal actually. "I-I don't really want to talk about it. But if you want to know-" Zoroark twirled a strand of hair around her finger. She was staring at it, as if distracted. "I'm… looking for someone. The Guild is connected all over the world and I'm sure that somewhere I would be able to find him."

"Oops, looks like you were wrong. That's another thing you won't tell them," Eevee snickered.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever…"

"Eevee, if I may ask, did you join because you also wanted to help search with Zoroark or was it something else?" Chimera said.

"Nah," he answered, nonchalantly. "Or well, I did want to help, but I got my own reasons."

"That is?"

"I'm gonna be the very best. Like no one ever was," Eevee said without a single bone of doubt in his body.

Chimera paused, "…at what?"

"At this Guild thing! I'm going to be great. I'm going to be known as one of the best members, rescuers, explorers, whatever it is, I'm going to be the best. No more silver, only gold medals for me!" Eevee grinned.

"That's a great aspiration! But, what makes you so sure?" Chimera tilted their head.

"Let's just say that ever since I got here - heads!" Eevee flipped a gold coin he stored from the mane around his neck. It was gold, meaning it was worth one hundred Poké. It spun in the air and it fell down into his paw and he covered it with the other. "Fortune has been on my side."

Eevee slowly slid his paw away to reveal the coin had landed with the P side up, "Let's go! It worked!"

It's nice to see him enthusiastic about this, but why? And also what does he mean by heads? It's a P?

Chimera felt like they needed to say something, but they didn't know what. They looked to Zoroark for anything but the sound of hard thumps against the wooden floor grabbed their attention.

A large tree creature with four legs breaking out of the trunk like roots and a ghostly black form connecting the shape together approaches the group holding a large tray. He lowers it down and begins to place them all upon the table one by one. He was a Trevenant.

"Apologies for the delay," he spoke in a deep voice, that can only be compared to the sound of the groan a tree makes when it falls. "Here, you go."

The whole group gave quick thank yous. He responded with a nod towards each. Chimera stared at him in his vibrant red eye as he nodded. It was a plain look of thanks. But it lacked something that they've seen in almost everyone when they first lay their eyes on them: disgust.

Everyone had it. Everyone's first reaction was disgust. No matter how soon it changed to pity or confusion or fear they saw what people felt when they locked eyes. But in this moment they lost such an extreme emotion.

Zoroark collected a glass filled with an amber liquid and a plate with a circular food on it, Eevee took a cup that seemed to be entirely filled with honey, and in the middle of the table was a mug and a plate holding a crispy crescent containing a ruby jam.

Zoroark took a sip of her drink, "huh? Those are for you Chimera."

"Oh, I didn't know," with their sharp talons they take the two items.

The mug was nicely made, only in shape. Around the rims and the bottom of the mug were splotches of a bright yellow while in the middle of the pattern was a royal purple that acted as a backdrop for red and black dots that littered the cup. It didn't look very good and there were tons of drips that were made when someone used too much paint and the excess poured down. It was almost like a child had made it. Probably Phantump. Inside the mug held a warm translucent blood orange tea that steam flew from, and from the reflection of the tea they saw their own reflection. But it wasn't really theirs was it?

Well, not exactly, of course it was theirs! If it wasn't then who was staring back at them? It's just that they had almost forgotten that they were wearing an illusion. The fact had returned when Trevenant nodded to them. Which was wrong, though. He wasn't nodding to Chimera. He was nodding to the veil. In fact everyone who had seen them, was looking to the veil. The veil of an unremarkable dog. If they were actually seeing them they wouldn't have acted that way, they would've stared at them, they would've whispered, they would've been confused. But wasn't that the purpose of an illusion? To fool everyone around you? It was a truth that slipped their mind. Right now to everyone else they weren't Chimera, they were just another background character in their day. And it felt good.

If this was how everyone else was living then they were missing out.

Maybe I should ask Zoroark to keep me this way forever…

Chimera took a sip of their tea. Like a cleansing rain the warm water cleared out the grime of their mind. The spiced saffron tea was a warm burst of robust spice that danced and sizzled on their tongue. It both energized and relaxed them, like a massage. They felt like they needed it.

"You're smiling! That means you like it!" Zoroark cheered. Her drink was already halfway done, they didn't realize how much time they spent thinking.

Chimera chuckled to themself, "it's wonderful. Thank you very much for everything, Zoroark."

"You're welcome! I'm just glad you enjoyed it. Now go eat your croissant, you didn't even take a bite yet!"

"Oh, of course," Chimera hastily took a bit out of it. As they did they accidentally made some of the jam squeeze out of the other side and onto their talons. The shell was warm and crisp but when they pressed further they felt the butter soft layered texture along with the slightly sour but sweet Razz berry jam. It was one of the best things they have eaten. They should try to start ranking these things.

They licked their talons clean from the jam.

Out of nowhere Eevee's eyes widened and began rapidly pointing behind Chimera, "don't raise your voice!" He loudly whispered, "just look over there!"

"Is something wrong?" Chimera swiveled their head trying to find what was going on. Nothing seemed to be happening, there was no sort of scene happening outside, no loud ruckus, not anything at all. Until they noticed that peeking from the alleyway next to the cafe was a Houndoom. A Houndoom that they have seen before. He must've been looking for a while as he was quickly sucked back into the alleyway.

"That's the outlaw on that warning poster!" Zoroark murmured, trying her best to keep attention away from them.

"We need to go after him! He's right here it'll be so easy to get him!" Eevee said.

"Should we? It kind of seems dangerous, we should probably go get help," Chimera suggested.

"Are we really just gonna sit and wait here for more people to come when an outlaw is right in our grasp? It's just one guy!" Eevee

"No, it doesn't seem safe, if we don't have a plan-" before Zoroark could finish her sentence Eevee had already leaped out of his chair and began to run out of the restaurant.

"Come on, if we don't go now he might get away!" He said as he opened the cafe door and left. Houndoom was already gone now so it was safe for him to try and approach.

"Nathan!" Zoroark hastily got up. "He already ran into the alleyway. That idiot! Stay behind me, Chimera. If we get into a fight I'll need to protect you. I can't believe he's doing this…!"

She took a fifty Poké coin from her bag, placed it on the table as a tip, and rushed out the door with Chimera stumbling from behind. They hastily thanked Phantump as they left.

Into the alleyway they went. Eevee and the Houndoom seemed to have already disappeared through the twists and turns from between buildings. It wasn't too tight as there was enough space for an Ursaluna to fit through but it was cluttered with the random plant pots and boxes making it hard to chase. There were many two way paths that could lead to entirely different places with the only way to tell which way they went being the disappearing sight of a bushy tail that soon hid behind the cover of walls.

"Maybe try using an illusion on him," Chimera suggested, clumsily following behind. "Make him invisible or something so he doesn't get caught?"

"I can only make an illusion if I can see the target and keep slight focus on it," Zoroark explained as they turned past a corner. "In fact your own illusion is probably growing weaker."

Chimera looked down to their claws as they ran. It was true, they were supposed to see the ashen paws of the fork they had taken but instead they saw talons with a deep green exoskeleton. They quickly looked back up realizing that it wasn't a good idea to look down while running.

Past another corner they found Eevee pressing his side against a wall peeking by it, trying to be sneaky. He hadn't noticed them yet.

Zoroark quickly approached. "What were you thinking!" She spoke quietly in gritted teeth.

Eevee responded with a shush still spying past the edge, "they're talking about something, be quiet!"

Mad but still curious Zoroark peeked past the corner, Chimera copied.

From the turn was a large circular space between the buildings that contained a bench and a towering tree that covered the land with shade. To the opposite, right and left side were more exits and entrances to alleyways, but what was really important was that there were three Pokémon standing across the opening from the trio.

There was the same menacing Houndoom, a huge Baxcalibur, and a quadrupedal figure wearing a purple cloak that protected his entire form from view. He was facing away from them so they couldn't see his face.

"Hrrrrn…" the Baxcalibur growled scratching his head. "We're so close to the safe house! Just which path do we go!"

"You should've brought the map!" The Houndoom barked. "Due to your incompetence we're pretty much going to be stuck running around this maze until sun down! Lady Athena is gonna get out ass and it's going to be all your fault!"

"You're exaggerating, sun down is like eight hours away."

"Who are they?" Chimera asked. "And what about a safe house?"

"No idea, man you should've read that poster," Eevee whispered. "What I'm really interested in is the guy in the cloak. Whoever he is, the fact he has to hide himself like that must mean he's a real freak."

"We need to call for help now. We can't stay here much longer without risking being seen," Zoroark determined. She turned around trying to get the other to come along.

Chimera obeyed and tried to turn their head but out of the blue something happened. The figure's head snapped immediately to Chimera and stared them in the eyes. They were locked together as his hateful gilded eyes pierced into Chimera.

Without warning purple ribbon-like shadows emerged from the ground and were tied around Chimera, in a move that could only be described as a Shadow Hold, "Ack!" Chimera tried to claw them off but as they tried and failed they were slowly being dragged forward.

"What! Who goes there!?" The Houndoom demanded as the yelp was squeezed out of Chimera.

Zoroark grabbed onto Chimera trying to pull them back into the alleyway as the two were dragged forward by the ribbons, "come on!"

Eevee latched onto their back leg, trying his best but nothing would work as Chimera was forced into the revealing open space. Once in sight the ribbons evaporated, which would've been great if it wasn't for another problem.

"Someone saw us? Who the hell are you!" Baxcalibur yelped in confusion.

"Hey! I think this is a misunderstanding! We were just passing by!" Zoroark fake smiled, waving her hands. She was trying to seem as friendly as she can but it was difficult as her heart beated in fear. "I don't know what's happening, but I think it would be very nice if we could leave! We could just forget all about this. Nothing happened so it's not like we'd have anything to say!"

"S-she's correct!" Chimera stammered. They were horribly afraid. They weren't sure but they could tell something terrible would happen if they weren't able to get out of this situation.

Houndoom shook his head, "No… no, no, no! You can't escape! You're all Guild members! I saw your badges. We already failed a mission, we can't let it happen again!" With a roar flames began to erupt from the ground in a ring, starting from behind the outlaws blocking off the exits with geysers of fire that were soon coming to encircle and snare them in.

"Fire Spin!" Zoroark was the first to act on the realization of the trap. She couldn't let either of them get hurt, she needed to try and protect them both but the flares were soon approaching. In that time there was only one way to protect at least one of them.

She frantically spun around, picked up Eevee, ran forward, and threw him back into the alleyway with a thud right before the flames engulfed the space between them. She panted as the fire flared before her, "heh… how's that for twig arms."

Yelling loud enough to get her voice across the flames she spoke, "Nathan! Get to the Guild and find people to help us, quickly!"

With a pause Nathan responded, "Y-yeah!" Despite the crackling flames they were able to hear him scamper off through the alley.

Chimera and Zoroark returned their eyes back to the biggest threats. The three criminals who stood across the roaring arena.

With an unbreaking gaze, Houndoom stared at the two, his only focus on the threats to his safety. He said with a rough voice as the fire to the exits behind him and to his left died leaving easy escape routes, "Gelato go chase after the brat. You can't let him get to the Guild."

The Baxcalibur nodded and stomped to the left exit and made his escape past the flames.

"You," Houndoom flicked his head to the figure. "Get into the alley behind me. I'll handle this."

The figure backed up into the back street and dissipated into the shadows. Once done the flames roared to life once again and the arena was set.

"Chimera, you know what's going to happen," Zoroark said as she walked before them and held a hand before Chimera's chest.

"Y-yes," fear was struck into Chimera's very heart. This was going to be another first. "W-we're going t-to have to fight."

"I'll protect you with everything I got! Stay behind me and follow my orders and we can make it out of this!" Zoroark ordered as she stood into a fighting stance.

Houndoom snarled as he heard them speak, "are you done yet? I wanted to be polite but I'm a impatient guy and I get sick of things very easily. Now shut up and let's begin."

Heat surrounded Chimera, not only from the flames but from the burning intensity coming from every participant in the wildfire area except for them. Terror coursed through their veins. They were unsure of the consequences, the risks, the pain that would occur. The only thing Chimera did know was that they were going to have to trust Zoroark.

Regarding the future of this fic:

After this episode is done this version of the fic is done and I'll stop making chapters on this.

Why? Well there were a few mistakes details and things I wanted to completely change about the story and since this is supposedly a mystery I couldn't really do that without basically rewriting the first few chapters (although I didn't like how I did episode 2 and 3 that much)

However I will not stop making the story! I'm planning on writing another version with this just being the old one. I couldn't bear just leaving this one the way it was without finishing the episode and I live this story so much that I'm never giving up on it. Taking months to upload a chapter? Yes. Quitting? Never. Plus on the first episode of the redo I'm planning something special. It will take a while though because it's going to take a lot of work to finish. Also no update schedule you may already tell I suck with those.

Thank you for your patience and major apologies for the delay. Thank you for reading. Love you!

Also I'm not sure if I mentioned this but I have a place where I store all the artwork for the story and little comics. It's on Comicfury under the Name "PMD: Glass Desert Art and Comics" okay see you for real this time