04 - 07

A closed door is pushed open, if only slightly, and is then followed by a frowning beak poking inside. "What's taking you so long?" the bird yells, his voice bouncing around the tiled room.

"J-just a minute!" a female voice answers back from inside a stall.

"Well, hurry up!" the bird shouts back, his angry voice resonating inside. With a huff, the beak retreats back, letting the door close.

A small chuckle echoes inside the room. Shaking her head, the white Vulpix looks back at her smiling reflection on the comfort room's mirror. She tilts her head and lifts a paw to fix her already-perfect head curls.

A flushing of a toilet, a stall door pulls open, and out comes a sighing Rattata. "I swear to Arceus," she mumbles as she walks toward the faucets. "I'm not eating in that place ever again."

"Bad food?" the white Vulpix suddenly asks.

"Worst food of my life," the Rattata grumbles as she washes her paws. "Don't ever visit Olusa's Corner Stone Cafe unless you have a strong stomach."

The Vulpix gives her a strained smile. "Er... I'll keep that in mind."

The Rattata shakes her head and then looks at the ice-type. "Sorry about my friend," she tells her with an apologetic smile. "He's real impatient sometimes."

"It's no problem."

Now that she's having a good look at her, she can't help but notice how ... good looking the fox is. "Wow," she breathes out. And then a knowing smirk. "Lucky guy."

A small hint of a blush burns through the white Vulpix's cheeks. "T-thanks."

"Gonna do the deed?"

The blush intensifies a bit. "N-no. Um, maybe?"

"Ah," the Rattata says with a knowing nod. "First date. Been there, but daaamn, girl." She smiles at the shy Vulpix. "You're gonna kill him just by your good looks alone!"

The blush has consumed her entire face now, making the rodent chuckle. After a few more words of encouragement, she steps out of the room and turns toward the frowning Taillow.

"Arceus above!" the bird yells as he flaps his wings, going airborn. "The food wasn't that bad!"

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, for you, maybe!" she retorts as the bird lands on her back. "What was their food made out of anyway? Bugs?!"

"I wouldn't have invited you if that was the case!"

The duo continue their back and forth as they enter the main lobby of the guild, the two getting more and more heated.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, okay?" the Taillow finally gives up and sighs. "My bad. I keep forgetting that you have a sensitive stomach."

"Nah," the Rattata says with a shake of her head. "It's my fault, too. I should have known better, cuz y'know..." She shrugs. "My body and all that." She looks back, smiling at him. "You looked really excited, and I was roped into the moment, y'know?"

Frowning, he suddenly pecks her snout, making her yelp in pain. "So it WAS your fault after all!"

The purple rat growls. "Why I outta—!"

"Hush," a male voice silences them.

The pair turn towards the source and find themselves under the cold stare of a certain blue-ringed Umbreon. They gulp and clam up.

A second of two later, the Umbreon looks around. "Nothing to see here."

And the onlookers go on with their lives.

Sensing the many eyes no longer on them, the duo let out a sigh of relief.

"I suggest you both not to make a scene," he tells them before the dark-type excuses himself and heads toward the stairs.

"Brr," the Taillow shivers. "I really hate that guy."

The duo resume their walk through the light stream of Pokemon walking around the lobby, passing by a waiting Delcatty by the entrance.

"Wow..." the Rattata suddenly says in awe, staring at the long line of Pokemon in the hallway up ahead.

The Taillow lets out a low whistle. "Damn. So many teams really want to try out this whole expedition thing, huh?"

The duo continue to converse about the expedition as they work their way towards the library on the second floor. Entering the room filled with many shelves and books, the Rattata stops and blinks.

"Sky, look," the Rattata whispers as she stops, staring at an Eevee seated by the window, his attention on a book he's reading. "You think we can recruit him?"

Sky frowns, and sighs. "Fay, really? You're still hung up on this?"

"Oh, com'on..." she starts, looking over her shoulder to look at the frowning bird. "We need a third member."

"It doesn't need to be an Eevee, Fay."

"B-but..."

"Quit it," the bird grunts with a glare. "We can check the list of Pokemon we can recruit with the Bellossom later."

She pouts.

"Stop that. That's not gonna work."

Her eyes start to water, her pouty mouth start to quiver.

His eye twitches. "F-Fay...!"

She starts to sniff.

He slaps a feathery wing to his face. "Ugh... Fine. We can try recruiting him."

"Yay...!" the purple rodent quietly squees.

Another sigh escapes the bird's beak as his Rattata ride approaches the studious normal-type.

"Should we smile?" the Rattata whispers.

"Might as well," the Taillow responses with a shrug.

The duo approach the normal-type with their bestest of smiles...

...which creeps the Eevee out the moment he takes notice of them. "...the fuck do you two want?"

The Taillow flinches. "So much for a good first impression."

The Rattata coughs a few times in the hopes to redeeming their bad entrance. "Uh, hi!" she greets the frowning Eevee with a more normal-looking smile this time. "I'm Fay!"

The Taillow on the purple rodent's back extends a wing to grab the Eevee's attention. "I'm Sky, and we're the TLC!" He leans forward and winks. "That's Team Love and Care."

The Eevee arches a non-existent eyebrow. "Horrible team name." Ignoring their hurt looks, he blinks and realizes what's going on. "Are you two trying to recruit me?"

"Yep," the Taillow quickly says with a nod. "We, uh, figured we could use another team member after, well..." His smile falters. "...after we realized we needed a third member."

The Eevee blinks.

The Rattata chuckles quietly. "We, uh, love exploring and helping out other Pokemon, but," she frowns, "we find it really hard to do with just the two of us."

"And we're wondering if you'd want to join our team," the Taillow says. "That is, unless you're already in a team...?"

The Eevee frowns, eyeing his reflection on the smooth silver surface of their badges. "Not interested," he tells them as he returns to his book. "Now please leave me alone."

The Rattata's ears droop. "Oh, sorry to bother you then..." Head hanging low, she slowly turns around and walks away.

"...well, that went well," the Taillow remarks. Shaking his head, he gently pats his partner's head with a feathery wing. "Hey, we at least tried, right?"

She slightly nods.

"Right. So cheer up," he says, ruffling his feathers. "Now let's do a little research on that dungeon we're about to go to, and then we can go see Bellossom."

The morning sun continues its morning climb in the morning sky, shining its morning rays on the seaside city basking under its morning glory.

Three Pokemon are climbing up the wide steps toward the tall and grand guild building. One of them notices two familiar figures seated on one of the steps. Waving his two companions goodbye as they head inside the guild, the Sentret makes a beeline towards his two other friends.

"Hey, guys," the Sentret greets the duo.

"Linik, hey!" the Cyndaquil greets him back with a big smile. "Vixie's in the washroom, getting ready for your..." she pauses for dramatic effect as her smile morphs into a sly one. "...special day."

A fierce blush burns through the normal-type's cheeks, making his two friends burst into laughter. "O-oh, but we don't have anything planned—" he chokes on his words after noticing a very familiar orange figure smiling back at him. "Oh, uh... H-hi, Skarm," he greets the Buizel with a very awkward smile and a very shaky wave of his paw. "Long time no see."

"You're looking as fine as ever, love," the Buizel says with a wink.

The Shinx and the Cyndaquil look at the Buizel sitting beside them, and then at the Sentret, and then at each other.

The Sentret awkwardly looks at the Shinx as he scratches his head. "She, uh, is that friend I told you about, who works at the docks."

The fire-type tilts her head. "Did you two went out for a while or something?"

"Something like that," the Buizel quickly says, smiling slyly at the blushing Sentret. "You could say we had plenty a great time with exploring each other's—"

Linik groans. "Skarm, please don't—"

"Are you two still seeing each other?" the Shinx suddenly interjects, frowning at the normal-type.

The Sentret frantically shakes his paws and head. "No no no! Not anymore, I swear! I promise!"

"Calm down, love," the Buizel says, chuckling. She then turns to the frowning Shinx. "I was mostly teasing."

"Mostly, huh?" the fire-type repeats, throwing a smirk at the frowning normal-type.

The Buizel chuckles, and shakes her head. "No, Linik and I never became official, but there have been many cold nights when the alcohol freely flows and the body—"

"Please don't finish that sentence," Linik groans.

"I dunno," the fire-type says with a smirk. "I'm starting to like how poetic she sounds."

The Shinx rolls his eyes. "Of course you do."

"Hush, you."

Ignoring his girlfriend for a moment, the Shinx throws a frown towards the blushing Sentret and suddenly punches his shoulder. "And you never told me this, why?"

Stunned for a bit, he shakes his head and glares at his friend. "What? I did tell you but you were busy with Cindy back then!"

"Are you telling me we could have had a foursome way back then?!"

"Why are you realizing this now?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

As they continue shouting nonsense, the Cyndaquil groans and plants a paw on her face. "Boys..."

"Um..." a new voice reaches the two females' ears.

The white Vulpix stares curiously at the two arguing friends.

"...Should I even ask what's going on?"

"You're better off not knowing," the fire-type tells her.

The Buizel lets out a low whistle as she marvels at the white beauty standing before her. "My oh my, aren't you a breath-taker."

"Just some weirdos being weird at each other," the Eevee says, staring outside the library window.

"Well it sounds like they've stopped," the Mew says as the Eevee looks back at her. "So anyway... Why not you first survey the dungeon?" the Mew suggests.

The Eevee blinks. "Like a trial run?"

She blinks. "Er, no, but... Hm..." She taps her chin, and nods. "Well I guess. Yep."

The Eevee shakes his head, opens his mouth to argue against it, but then thinks about it. "Huh... Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"Of course it isn't." She winks. "I used to be an explorer, too, y'know?"

"A reckless one," the Umbreon quietly adds, earning an angry look from the pink psychic-type.

The Eevee is liking the idea more and more now. He nods to himself. "And if we get lucky enough and reach the end, then maybe I can go back home."

"That's a big if," the Umbreon quietly comments.

The Eevee frowns at him.

The Mew puts the form down and looks at the normal-type. "So when are you planning on going?"

"That's up to Maz's team, but I'm hoping we can head out tomorrow."

The Mew frowns a sad frown. "Aw... So soon?"

The Eevee turns to the window, blinking at the five familiar figures down below. He frowns as he watches the two couples go their separate ways, and the other entering the guild.

He looks back at the couple. "I think their team is capable enough to escort me in this expedition..." A shrug. "And it's just a trial run anyway."

"And what of the matter we have talked about yesterday?" the Umbreon asks.

The normal-type blinks at him. "What about it?"

The dark-type frowns at him.

The Eevee frowns back. "I'll deal with it when I cross that bridge."

The Umbreon shrugs. "Suit yourself." He returns to reading.

"Well anyway," the Mew suddenly says, catching the normal-type's attention. "We don't really have any records of what this dungeon is like, so surveying it should do you and us a favor." She blinks. "I know you said this Maz person's team is strong, but I suggest you lean on the side of caution. The wilds there could be really powerful for all we know."

The Eevee nods his head. "Yeah, I hear you. And my badge isn't active anymore so I can't really rely on it to save my ass."

"But you're the client," the Mew tells him. "So the badges of the teams escorting you will protect you when need be."

The Eevee nods. "Yeah, that's reassuring..."

He's read about it in the handbook at least. He still needs to finish reading it, but thinking about it some more, does he still need to? He's no longer a rescuer, or an explorer.

Although...

"Hey, uh, Oban," the Eevee calls.

"Yes?"

Closing his eyes, the Eevee sighs, his ears drooping. "I need some advice."

The Umbreon stares at him. "...go on."

Reopening his eyes, the Eevee shakes his head. "I can't rely on Maz's team, or anyone really, to protect me all the time especially if things get too crazy in the dungeon or wherever..." He frowns. "I've been practicing but I can't seem to get Swift right."

The couple blinks a curious blink.

"Or any move for that matter." He huffs in frustration, but then wonders why the couple sitting across from him are giving him blank looks. A blink of realization, and the Eevee lets out a groan. "I keep forgetting you guys don't name your attacks."

"Should we?"

"It'd make life easier if you guys did." The Eevee shakes his head. "Anyway, the star-shaped energy attack thingie."

"Oh!" the Mew suddenly exclaims in realization, and nods. "Obie and you can do that." Smiling, she puts a paw on her fluffy chest. "And so can I." Pointing a finger up, she immediately summons a star. "See?"

"Of course you can," the Eevee mumbles under his breath. He then shares with them his troubles in the past week with the move. "Do you think it has something to do with me being, well, not originally a Pokemon?"

The Umbreon shakes his head. "Doubtful. I've not heard of the other two having the same problem."

The Mew blinks at the sighing Eevee. "It's really odd that you can't do it." She puts a paw on her chin, thinking. "Hm... But you can use your badge when it was still activated."

The Eevee nods. "Yeah. I've read the handbook and aside from being powered by the guild itself, it also borrows some of the user's energy to cast it's..." he pauses to find the better words. "...magic stuff."

The Mew chuckles.

Even the Umbreon manages to crack the tiniest hints of a smile. "You have a way with words."

"You guys know what I mean," the Eevee says with a frown.

The dark-type shakes his head. "Your body is most-likely not allowing you to waste its stored energy."

The Eevee arches a non-existent eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Oh! I get it now!" the Mew suddenly exclaims with a big smile. "You're about to evolve!"

A blank blink. "...what?"