Always Audacity

Chapter VIII - Opportunities

Aidan's room was pretty compact, only being about three square metres across. Luckily, it was more than big enough to fit the two fairly small Pokémon with room to spare. There wasn't much in it, just a pair of beds mounted low down on opposite sides of the room with a shelf that built in above them along with a draw underneath. A trio of cushions had been tossed into the far corner, alongside a duo of wooden lockers were built into the wall. A single window, mounted directly above them, offered a view of the outside world.

The Froakie pulled himself onto one of the beds, "Sorry if it's not much to look at, but I kinda wanted a more private room."

"Eh, it's fine." Sam replied, sitting down on the remaining bed. "Still comfy enough for me."

Aidan chuckled at that, "Sorry."

"About what?" Sam replied with a frown.

The blue frog looked away for a moment, eyes flicking back. "Well, I used to live on the Sand Continent… my family's kinda rich. I still kinda forget not everyone has got a room that's six times the size of this all to themselves."

Rich kid huh?

Sam sat up a little bit more, "Well, I can see why someone would be jealous, but we don't really control where we grow up. You seem kind enough so why should it matter?"

"Some people can… you know… get kinda jealous." Aidan replied, turning back towards him. "The Sand Continent is pretty dry… you know, being in the name and all. So my family made a living by getting all sorts of reservoirs and channels filled up with water. Us water types are pretty good at that, and we need the water more than most so… yeah, they made a lot of Poke from that."

"Nothing wrong with doing hard work and helping people in the process." Sam said.

Aidan flashed a little grin, "Thanks. So where are you from?"

"I'm from-" Sam fell silent, feeling his ears dip as the location didn't come forward in his mind. "Actually… I don't really know." He said with a shrug, "Kinda lost my memory of it."

"Huh… I can understand that."

"Ah, there you are!"

The Butterfree Jack was now floating in the doorway, "I wondered where you got off to." His head drifted towards the frog, "Hi Aidan, you've offered a space for Sam here?"

"Yep, figured he needed a place to crash." Aidan replied with a wink.

"If you don't mind." Sam added, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I just caught something that needed dealing with and…"

"Oh don't fret about it!" Jack buzzed happily with a wave of his little arm. "Aidan was one of the guys I had in mind. I'll need to head back out to the Tree now I've got Kyle sorted with his mom, so I'll let Rex know you are settled in. Just be ready in case you need to give any more details on those bandits?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, sure thing."

With a bob of his head, Jack flew on back out and closed the door behind him. Aidan meanwhile narrowed his eyes, the fingers tapping the fabric of his bed. Sam pulled a frown, "What's up?"

"Huh?" he said, jerking up. "Oh, I was just thinking about those bandits? One of them was a Swampert right?"

"Yeah? What about it?" Sam questioned; a little bit defensive as one hand clenched. Aidan merely puffed out a little bit of air, "Just glad that guy got caught. Last I heard he was stealing a lot of supplies of the caravans."

The Scorbunny relaxed, "Well… I just hope the bastard stays locked up." He growled, leaning back onto his own bed. "So, what brings you all the way out here then Aidan? Wanted to be the rebellious one?"

A quiet laugh rang out from across the room, "Heh, that's part of it! But I also wanted to get onto the trials over here."

Sam cast a confused look over at him, and the Froakie could only wince. "Ah, yeah. Trials for the new Exploration Teams. Figured I might as well take advantage of the opportunities before they dry up. Years ago, near enough anyone could form a Team, but now prospective teams have to actually go through tests for a Guild, or selected by a Society. It's mainly making sure everyone is the best of the best."

Sam smiled, Exploration Teams, huh? Well, if there are bunch of new islands showing up, no wonder people want to jump on that. "Definitely can't blame you, if it's all as hyped up to be."

"Oh, it is." Aidan replied, "It ain't easy, and the early teams had to go through hell and back."

"Disasters and all that." Sam said almost lazily.

"Err… yeah, the first round of disasters."

Huh? Sam sat back up, frowning. "This stuff… has happened before…"

"Yeah. There was a bunch of natural disasters over fifteen years ago, similar to what is happening now apparently. But other stuff happened before and after that as well. The last big crisis was around… six years ago now?"

The Scorbunny felt a shiver run down his spine, "So… these disasters has happened over the last 16 years?"

"A bit longer than that actually but yeah, although it's not just disasters. Last time round the world pretty much nearly died."

"H-How…"

"The planet nearly got thrown into the sun." Aidan said without a shred of hesitation. "Yeah, that was pretty shitty. I mean, friends getting turned to stone? Not exactly my fondest mem-h-hey, are you okay?"

Sam blinked, "H-Huh?"

"You're… shaking quite a bit."

Sam looked down to find his arms were shivering uncontrollably, and even his feet were beginning to twitch. "S-Sorry." He replied, taking in a deep gasp of breath. "I… I just didn't think things were this bad."

Aidan leaned forward a little bit, eyes flicking across the Scorbunny's body… only to spring back up with a big grin on his face, "Hey, don't worry about it. These disasters aren't as bad as those fifteen years ago, and they have just been on and off for the last year. Sure, they can be pretty nasty, but it's not the worse we've had to deal with."

Letting out a shaky sigh, the former human forced his limbs to still. A part of him wanted to trust Aidan, take his word as gospel. But seeing Rex's… tired remark about them… he was wary to write them off.

"By the way." Aidan started again, "Do you have any plans yourself? I mean, even with amnesia you've got to be have some ideas in mind."

"Honestly?" Sam said, "I'm not sure. I don't even know how I got here." He rubbed his eyes, trying to ponder what he could do.

"You know… there is a rule saying that all Pokémon have to be part of a team if they want to join a Guild. They can't work alone." Aidan explained, leaning forward a little bit. "I was going to try and join up with another team but… if you want, we can, you know… team up."

Sam flicked an ear to one side, nibbling on his lip. Wait… is Aidan asking me to join him? On an exploration team?

"I mean, you jumped in when Alice was being an ass. And you seem like you can hold your own. I mean, you survived against that Swampert. Not many unevolved Pokémon never mind fire-types could do that. With us working together, hell, maybe we can go up against the likes of ACT or Charm or something. And help a few people out on the way too." Flashing another smile, Aidan extended a hand out.

Sam didn't move, his mind already spinning. This is kinda out of the blue isn't it?! I mean, he's literally just recruiting me to join a team on the spot! Exploring is one thing but dealing with crooks… The Scorbunny stiffened, feeling a shudder run across his body again. It's gonna be dangerous, I barely managed to survive out there last time…

The hand pulled back, "Well… you… did get hurt out there. Sorry, I shouldn't had asked so-"

"Sure."

The Froakie blinked, tongue hanging in the air almost comically as the word died. "W-What?"

Sam flicked an ear as he rubbed his hands together. "Sure, why not." He said warmly, "If I don't chances are I'll end up stuck… I don't know, working a shop or something. That'd be boring as hell!"

That and… well… I've got a feeling that if I join an Exploration Team, I might get a better idea of what happened to me. Might jog my memory I guess."

"Well, great!" Aidan cheered, "But, are you sure? No guarantee we can get on the team roster."

"Just gotta give it our best shot then." Sam replied, sticking out his hand, "So, give it a go?"

Aidan winked, "You've gotcha 'self a deal!" he said, happily slapping the hand hard enough to send a throb running up his arm. "No need to worry about naming the team yet, let's just get a head start first."

"Sounds good." Sam nodded, "Might as well focus on getting that-"

His words teetered off as the realisation slammed into his gut. Yeah… the moves… His face must have twisted too, given the Froakie's grimace. "Dude… you okay? You're not having second thoughts now, right?"

Sam shook his head, "Oh- nope, not that… Aidan… this is kinda embarrassing but… can you… err… teach me something?"