03 - 08
"Wow..." the Eevee breathes out as he and the Nickit walk through the bustling street of the upper parts of the city.
Streamers and banners of every color attached on strings blow in the early afternoon wind, their vibrant colors creating an atmosphere that makes the many Pokemon in the busy street feel more alive and cheery, their smiles and excitement and lively conversations mixing with the salty seaside city air. Stalls line up the streets, with many Pokemon checking out the various items the merchants are displaying.
"It's almost like I'm in a different city," the Eevee adds.
"I know!" the Nickit agrees. "Everything looks amazing!" She looks up at him. "Doesn't it look amazing?"
He smiles down at her. "Yeah, it sure is."
"It's just sad that we can't get to enjoy the festival," Plu says as she looks ahead, a hint of sadness in her voice.
The Eevee frowns at that.
"But oh well. Nothing we can do about it."
For such a young Pokemon, he finds her way of thinking a bit too mature for her age.
He blinks. "Hey, Plu."
She looks up at him with a smile. "Hm?"
"How old are you?"
She blinks. "Huh? I'm almost three years old. Why?"
Three? And she's already going to school that early? Or maybe age is different for Pokemon, or maybe different in every species of Pokemon?
"What about you?" she suddenly asks. "How old are you, big bro?"
Big bro? Maybe he can get used to that. He shrugs and gives her a teasing smile. "Guess."
She frowns at him. "No fair!"
He sticks his tongue out at her.
She pouts at him.
He chuckles and ruffles her head, and chuckles even more as she swats his paw away.
"Meanie!" she cries out, and sticks her tongue out at him.
"No you!"
She pouts at him once again, but then blinks as she recognizes the street they are in. The Nickit looks ahead and smiles. "Oh, there's the school!"
He looks ahead and blinks, and sees a large and wide gate. "Huh, I've seen that in passing."
Standing in front of the opened gates, the two look inside the large and wide area of the school's greeny grounds, with trees here and there where a few Pokemon are relaxing under their shade. The two walk on the cobblestone pathway, trees and bushes bordering it, heading towards the very tall and very large castle-looking structure Plu calls her school, without the pointy tower rooftops.
"That's your school?"
"Yep."
He lets out a low whistle. "Damn. Looks like a castle."
"What's a castle?" she asks, blinking curiously at him.
"Er..." He awkwardly smiles at her. "I'll uh, tell you later." He looks ahead. "For now, let's get you registered." A pause. "I mean, enrolled."
She chuckles at his silly mistake. "I'm going to school, big bro, not applying as a rescuer." She smiles at him. "Maybe someday, when I grow older!" She suddenly frowns at him. "And you still haven't told me how old you are."
He playfully boops her nose. "I told you to guess, didn't I?"
She pouts, and playfully tries to bite his paw, which he immediately retracts with a yelp.
He frowns at the chuckling Nickit. "Boo you."
She winks at him. "No you."
He blinks, and smiles. "Hey, you caught on fast!" He quickly ruffles her head, annoying her to no end. "You make your big brother proud!"
They finally reach the school, and enter through the large opened double doors, where inside they see a small number of Pokemon lining in front of the registrar's office.
"Looks like a few parents had the same idea," he remarks as he falls in line behind two chatting Leafeons. He blinks at the bored-looking Eevee beside them, who is sitting on the floor and lets out a yawn. He quietly moves behind the bored Pokemon, and silently sits down, mentally comparing their heights. Nodding in satisfaction, he quickly returns beside the Nickit, who regards him with a look of bewilderment.
"What was that about?" she asks him.
He shrugs. "Just confirming if I'm an adult or not, which I found out just now that I really am."
She tilts her head in confusion. "Huh?"
He glares up at the ceiling. "Your father will be eating his words tonight!"
"That'll be a sight to see," a familiar voice suddenly says from behind them.
The duo look back and see a blue-ringed Umbreon.
He adjusts his glasses and nods. "Greetings."
"Oh!" Plu suddenly says, nodding in return. "Good afternoon, Mister Obandech."
The Eevee blinks. "I thought your name was Obie?"
The Umbreon throws a glare at him before he 'adjusts' his glasses once more. "I take it that you're here to enroll Plu for this year's semester, yes?"
"That's the plan, yeah," the Eevee replies. "What about you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm a teacher here," the Umbreon calmly replies.
"Really? I thought you work with that Mew in the library."
Obandech manages a small smile. "I help my wife from time to time during the school break. In any case," he says, and bows. "I'll be taking my leave."
Plu waves him goodbye as the Umbreon walks toward the large double doors. She then looks up at the Eevee. "Wow. You know about one of my teachers, too!"
"Well, he was in the guild's library."
She nods. "So he's a rescuer, too? That's so cool!"
He smiles at her. "Tell you what. After we're done here, I'll take you to the guild."
Her eyes start to twinkle. "Whoa... R-really?!"
"Sure!" He then raises a paw in front of his mouth. "Just don't tell your parents."
"I wont!" she replies. "You're the best bad brother ever!"
He chuckles, then blinks. "...wait."
"Here we are," the Eevee says as they arrive outside the guild.
"Wow..." Plu manages to say as her sparkling eyes marvel at the wondrous building before her.
He looks down at her and blinks. "...huh. I just realized how tall these steps are."
"I can manage!" Plu says. She jumps up the first step, and then another. She looks back and smiles at him. "See?"
"Hey!"
The duo blink and turn towards the voice.
A Charmeleon from up the entrance of the guild is waving at them. "Hey! Eevee, hey!" He quickly walks down the steps, smiling all the way. "I can't believe it!" he says as he reaches them. "I finally see you again!"
"Uuhhh..." the Eevee blinks. "Who are you?"
The Charmeleon lets out a laugh, ignorant of the curious looks he's getting from passersby. "Dude! It's me!" he says, and winks.
The Eevee tilts his head. "Uh, sorry. I don't remember meeting a Charmeleon."
A hurtful frown graces the fire-type's face. "Dude! Stop! You're hurting my poor heart!"
The Eevee frowns at him. "And you're wasting our time." He looks at the confused dark-type. "Plu, just ignore him and let's go."
"Aww, dude," the Charmeleon says as he grabs the Eevee's shoulder, stopping him. "Don't be like that!"
"Let go of me."
The Charmeleon quickly lets go of him and raises his two claws up in surrender. "Okay! Sorry! But don't you really remember me?" He smiles. "We met in passing a few days ago!"
The Eevee glares at him. "Look, I've got no time for this, so leave us alone."
The Charmeleon sighs. "Alright, alright." He quickly rummages through his sling bag. "But before you go, here," he says as he takes out a piece of paper and hands it to the Eevee. "It's my address," he says with a wink.
The Eevee frowns at him. "...I'm starting to remember you now, and no, I'm still not interested." He then walks up the stairs to the entrance.
Plu nods an apology to the dejected Charmeleon and quickly tries to catch up to the angry Eevee. "So um, who was he?" she asks as they enter the guild.
He sighs and shakes his head. "Just someone I met in passing."
She frowns at him. "You were really mean to him."
"Well, he was annoying me."
"But it looked like he just wanted to be friends with you."
He frowns at her, sighs and pats her head, smiling a little. "You're still young," he says. "You'll understand once you're older."
She is still frowning at him. "Promise you'll talk to him in a not-meanie way next time."
He blinks at her. "Er... Why would I do that?"
"Just promise!" she says and pouts.
He rolls his eyes. "Sheesh, fine, fine." He sighs and gestures a cross over his chest. "I promise." He smiles and suddenly ruffles her head. "Since when did my little sister became so bossy, huh?"
She growls, tries to bite his retreating paw, and sticks her tongue out at him.
He boops her nose. "Well anyway," he starts as he looks around the main room. "This here is where rescuers, and explorers, check and see the available missions which are posted on the boards."
Plu looks around, finally noticing the many Pokemon around, and indeed, most of them are standing in front of bulletin boards stuck on the walls, looking at the posted papers on them while discussing among themselves. "W-wow..." she breathes out in amazement. "There are so many Pokemon here that I have never seen before!"
"Better get used to it," a Sandslash suddenly says as she passes by.
Plu throws a smile at the spiked mole and her two companions as they head out of the building. "They look really strong!" She looks around. "All of them are!" She looks up at him with a wide smile and glittering eyes. "I can't wait to become a rescuer!"
He smiles at her and pats her head. "Rescuer, huh? Not an explorer?"
"Both!" she chirps.
He chuckles. "We should probably head back," he says.
Plu nods. "Mom will start to wonder why it's taking us so long to return."
"Tell you what," he says. "Let me show you a little bit more of the place, and then we return."
She frowns a worried frown. "But mom might start to worry..."
He smiles at her. "Let's just tell her that so many parents had the same idea she had, too, and the line was super long."
She gasps. "You mean we're gonna lie? To mom?!" She grins. "You're evil, big bro!"
He winks at her, and the two laugh as he leads her to the nearest bulletin board, but then notices the blue-ringed Umbreon walking down the stairs from the second floor of the building. He smiles at him, and then returns his attention to the Nickit has he explains how things work, from what he knows at least.
The Umbreon stops beside him and calls his attention. "If you have a minute?"
The Eevee blinks a curious blink at him. "Uh, why?"
The Umbreon merely shrugs. "Just wanted to have a friendly conversation." He adjusts his glasses. "Nothing more."
He frowns at him.
Obandech turns to the Kirlia. "Please answer any questions the young miss wants to ask."
The Kirlia bows her head and turns her attention to the Nickit, and after receiving a nod of approval from the Eevee, the little dark-type cheerily starts throwing questions as the two adults walk a few paces away.
"Uh, so what's up?" the Eevee asks as they stop beside the stairs.
"Forgive me," the Umbreon says, "but I simply want to satisfy my curiosity."
The Eevee arches a non-existent eyebrow. "Er, okay?"
"Thank you." The Umbreon frowns at him. "I was under the impression that you wish to return to your world," he says calmly. "Was I wrong?"
He frowns back at the dark-type. "Last I checked, that's still on top of my to-do list."
Obandech nods. "And I was also under the impression that you wanted a small number of people to be on the know, yes?"
His eye twitches in annoyance. "Dude, just get to the point already."
The blue-ringed Umbreon closes his eyes and lets out a quiet sigh. Readjusting his glasses, he looks at him with a frown. "Why such a small number?"
The Eevee's having a hard time controlling his temper. Unfortunately, he needs to, as he still needs the Mew's help. "You seem smart." He's failing. "Why not figure that out?"
The Umbreon nods. "I do have an idea as to why." He turns around and starts to leave. "I just hope you know what you're doing."
After glaring at the retreating Umbreon for a few seconds, he closes his eyes and takes a breath to calm himself down.
"Big bro!" the Nickit suddenly calls as she runs toward him. "The lady over there told me a lot!" she tells him with a bright smile.
"Oh?" he smiles at her, his temper instantly dropping.
The Nickit nods enthusiastically. "And she told me how badges work, too!" She looks down at her pink fake badge. "They have energy, and borrows the wearer's energy, or something." She blinks. "I, uh, didn't really understand much."
Chuckling, he then ruffles the fur on her head, making her swat his paw away and pout at him. "Well anyway, we should head back to the restaurant."
Plu nods in agreement, and seem to have a spring on her steps as the two walk side-by-side towards the exit, waving at the Kirlia as they pass her by. "I can't wait to be a rescuer!" she tells him as she smiles at him. "Maybe we can explore some dungeons together, too!"
He chuckles. "Heh, I'm looking forward to it," he says as the duo walk out of the building...
...and he freezes in place as the realization hits him, his pupils turning to pinpricks as he watches the cheery and unaware Nickit walk down the wide steps of the guild.
"...shit."