01 - 09
Emerging from the tarped cart, an Eevee lands on the grassy backyard of the restaurant, stretches and yawns, and rubs the sleep off of his eyes.
"Damn," he mumbles to himself as he ignores his stomach growling. "That was a good sleep." He yawns again, blinks off the remaining sleep off of his eyes and stares at the sleepy morning sky. "Mmm... Still too early, but whatever."
He yawns once or twice, or probably a couple more times as he approaches the merchant's stall.
"Good morning, lad," the Keckleon greets the sleepy Eevee, and chuckles. "Still worn out, I see."
Another yawn.
"Many thanks for the—"
The Eevee throws a few coins on his counter. "For the pouch."
The merchant frowns at him. "Lad, one does not pay for a gift they have received."
"Right," the Eevee sleepily nods his head. "And I don't like owing people. Take it or throw it."
With a defeated sigh, the Keckleon collects the coins. "You are a weird Pokémon, lad."
"Better get used to it," the Eevee says as he studies the merchant's wares. "Hm... You don't have any bags for sale?"
"Do you mean just a regular bag or a rescuer's bag?"
The Eevee blinks at him. "Uh... Is there, like, a difference?"
"Mhmm," the Keckleon nods his head as he starts wiping his wares with a piece of cloth. "A rescue team's bag is sturdier, and can store more items than it physically can, and the number of items you can put in it will increase the higher your rank is."
The Eevee mumbles something to himself.
The Keckleon can only hear the word "game" from him, but he doesn't really think much of it as he continues: "And a regular bag, is, well, just a regular bag. You can get different looks for it to your liking."
"The rescue bag seems more practical," the Eevee says. "How much is it though?"
The merchant blinks at him. "Did you not get one for your team? It is free for any Pokémon who wants to start a rescue team."
"Huh, really?" The Eevee sits down and puts a paw on his chin. "Hm... I probably will return to a dungeon sooner or later, so I might as well get one."
"Wait, lad... You mean to tell me you are not a rescuer?" the merchant asks in surprise. "My goodness! So you went to a mystery dungeon as you are right now?!"
"I lived, didn't I?" He sighs. "Barely anyway, but it won't happen again." He stands on all four. "So how can I become a rescuer?"
The merchant blinks at him and frowns. "You...only want to be one just so you can get a bag, don't you?"
"Hey, why not, right?"
"Lad, being a rescuer is a big responsibility," the merchant educates him. "Rescuers help other Pokémon in need."
The Eevee blinks at him. "So, I qualify then?"
"I..." the merchant blinks a confused blink. "...don't see how?"
The Eevee shrugs. "You needed help yesterday. And so did the Miltank, so..."
The merchant frowns at him. "Lad, that is totally different from what rescuers do."
"How so?" The Eevee shakes his head. "Rescuers help other Pokémon. I did just that. And I'm assuming these rescuers get rewarded for their efforts, right?" He shows him his two coin pouches.
The merchant sighs. "You're something else, lad. I give you that." He smiles a strained smile at him. "But if you're set on becoming one, who am I to stop you? More rescuers mean more business for me!"
The Eevee rolls his eyes with an amused smirk.
The merchant then points east. "Near the eastern gate is where the rescuer's guild is located, lad. You cannot miss it."
"Thanks."
With a nod, the Eevee starts his journey towards the eastern side of the upper city, but as the sun starts to poke out from the horizon, his stomach reminds him of something more important, so with a roll of his eyes, he makes a beeline towards the restaurant.
"O-oh," the Nickit blushes as the Eevee enters the restaurant. "G-good morning, and w-w-we-welcome to..." she trails off.
The Eevee jumps on a chair and studies the menu on the table. He frowns as the timid waitress slowly approaches him. "Hm... I still have no clue what to pick..." He places the menu down and smiles a small smile at the blushing dark-type. "Just get me something you think is good. And water."
With a small nod, the Nickit then quickly dashes toward the kitchen, leaving the Eevee shaking his head and studying the menu.
The waking sun's soft light illuminates the gloomy room of a restless Shinx. Sighing for the umpteenth time, the yellow Shinx finally rolls out of his bed with a groan.
"Damn it," he grumbles as he slowly walks toward his small bathroom. He looks at his disheveled reflection on the mirror with a frown, and sighs. "I look like shit."
He turns the shower on and sits under it, letting the warm water rain down on him and run down his fur. With closed eyes, he lets out another sigh, his ears drooping.
Shaking his head, he opens his eyes, grabs his soap and starts scrubbing himself. Minutes later, he turns off the shower and starts toweling himself dry. "Another day, another day..." he whispers to himself as he ignores the loud breaking noise from next door. "And there they go again," he sighs as he grooms himself, ignoring the loud argument his neighbors are having.
Satisfied with how he looks, he nods to himself, grabs his coin pouch and heads out of his apartment, ignoring the annoyed rentees on the same floor he's in.
He stands on the cobblestone street outside his apartment building, looking left and then right, contemplating.
"I should just wait for her in the guild, but," with a shrug, he heads west. "What the heck, I'll just go get her and then we'll head to the guild together." He takes a breath to push away the growing nervousness inside him. "We're friends, so there's nothing wrong with me walking with her, right?"
An Eevee blinks and stares at the yellow Shinx passing him by. With a shrug, he continues on his way, going through the Pokémon traffic walking on the street.
Minutes later, he sees a very large and distinct building in the distance. From the looks of it, the building is built from a different material compared to most of the buildings he has seen in the city so far.
"That must be it," he says to himself as he approaches the large building, and indeed it is the guild as he stands in front of the large sign standing right before the wide steps leading up to the wide open entrance of the large building. "Wow," he says in awe as a trio of large Pokémon walk down the steps, talking among themselves.
"You must be really excited to finally return home, huh?" asks a Beartic.
The Pangoro laughs as the trio passes by the Eevee. "And scared. We're supposed to be back yesterday! My wife's going to kill me!"
"Can't be helped," says the Machamp. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hitting the massage parlor before I go home."
"Gonna avail their special service again?"
"Shut up!"
The other two laugh as the Eevee walks up the steps. Entering the large building's entryway, he stands to the side, looking around, and noticing a large number of boards on the walls of the large hall-like room, where numerous Pokémon of different shapes and sizes gather around.
"May I help you?" a Kirlia asks, surprising the Eevee who quickly turns around to face her.
"Holy shit! I didn't even notice you there."
The Kirlia bows her head. "My apologies; it was not my intention to surprise you."
The Eevee composes himself. "Well, uh, at least you're polite about it. Anyway, I'm here to...apply? Is that the right word to use?"
"Apply for what, if I may ask?"
"...I wanna form a rescue team."
"Ah," the Kirlia says, lighting up. "Allow me to escort you to."
She bows her head and gestures for him to follow her. She walks toward the eastern hallway, with the Eevee following her.
"Here we are," she announces as she stands beside an opened door. She turns back to the Eevee and bows her head. "Is there anything else you'd like me to assist you with?"
The Eevee is starting to get weirded out by how posh she is. "Er, I'm good, thanks."
With one last bow, she walks back to the main hallway.
"Weird girl," he mumbles under his breath before shaking his head. Looking inside the room, he sees rows of tables with busy Pokémon doing paperwork.
A Bellossom sitting by the nearest table notices him. "Hello?" she calls, catching his attention. "Is there something you need?"
"Yeah," he says as he approaches her. "I'd like to form a rescue team."
"Ah, right," she frowns. "Please have a seat."
The Eevee sits on the chair opposite of her.
"Do you have the necessary paperwork?"
The Eevee blinks. "I..."
She sighs. "You don't. Of course you don't..." She shakes her head as she pulls open one of her drawers and takes out a form. "Since you don't have the required paperwork with you," she starts, sounding like she has said this exact same line countless times, "we can get them for you if you'd like, but it will take us at least a day before we can start with your request of forming a rescue team."
"That...sounds...fine...I...guess?" he replies with uncertainty.
She nods her head, starts writing on the form, and checks a few areas on it. She then places the pen on the form and pushes both to the Eevee. "Please fill out the parts I checked."
He studies the form. "Name... Age... Members..." He blinks, staring at that third word he has read. "...shit."
"You can leave that part blank if you have no members yet, but may I suggest you instead join an existing rescue team?" She pulls another drawer and starts browsing through her folders. "We have a lot of teams that do not have a full team of three."
"No thanks," he quickly says as he slowly fills out the form with 'paw-writing' as he decided to call it. He stops on his tracks as he reaches the parts about his birth. "...what if I'm not from here, and that I...don't...know...w-where and when I was born?"
"You can write 'unknown' if necessary," she automatically replies as she continues on her work.
"Okay," the Eevee quietly says, thinking that his case is probably a lot more common than he has assumed. He continues filling out the form, until he reaches the last part, which to him, is the most difficult part. "Team name..." He leans back. "...shit, I'm gonna be here for a while," he mumbles to himself.
A door opens, and a Cyndaquil emerges from the large apartment. "Oh," she says as she notices the yellow Shinx standing outside the apartment gate and is waving at her. "You didn't have to wait for me, you know."
He shrugs as the fire-type closes the gate behind her. "I can't help but worry about my friend, you know?"
She shakes her head as the duo starts walking. "Or you're just making sure that I'll still be your fuck buddy."
He frowns at her. "You know I don't—"
She playfully punches him on his shoulder. "I'm kidding, Shino." She laughs and shakes her head. "But seriously, thanks for looking out for me."
He smiles at her. "Of course."
"Have you checked on Vixie yet?"
His smile fades. "No, not yet. I thought it'd be better if the two of us visited her at the same time?"
"Then you should have waited for me at the guild, you dumdum!"
He looks away. "I...needed a walk."
"Neighbors still at it?"
'That's a good save,' he thinks to himself. "Yeah, that's part of the reason."
The two fall into silence as they walk through the traffic.
Cindy sighs. "Hey, I..." she trails off.
"Hm?"
She shakes her head. "Nevermind. Better if I'll tell it to the both of you."
He frowns at her. "...You're not going to leave the team, right?"
She says nothing.
"Cindy?"
She sighs. "Later. With Vixie."
He wants say something, but can't think of anything good to say to her.
Consciousness slowly returns to the white Vulpix as she slowly opens her eyes. Feeling the soft warmth of the morning sun's rays, she slowly stirs on the bed, and slowly rubs her neck with a paw.
"Good morning," greets the Chimecho who floats beside her bed, smiling down at her. "I'm glad to see you finally awake, Vixie."
"Hi," she greets her with a small smile. "How...long was I out?"
"Only the entire night, which is honestly surprising." She helps her into a sitting position. "You're one strong individual, Vixie. In all of my medical years, I've never seen anyone recover so quickly from such an injury." She slowly floats away. "I'll be right back with something for you to drink and eat. Don't go anywhere!"
Vixie slowly turns to the windows, looking at the scenery outside: the rooftops of the city buildings, and the vast blue ocean beyond.
She frowns, a paw still on her neck. "I...could have not made it..."
Shino's surprised face flashes into her mind. A shiver run down her body as she recalls the sickeningly painful claws that dug deep into her neck.
"I..."
She recalls how cold she felt as she lay on the ground. Colder than ice.
But somehow comforting.
And it scares her.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. A heavy sigh escapes her mouth.
"So many things I still want to do."
She slowly shakes her head.
"Everything could have ended right there and then."
She reopens her eyes once more, with a determined spark on them.
"...I'm gonna tell him."