Always Audacity

Chapter IX - By the way, how do I fireball?

The office had been hollowed out at the top of the Guild section of the Tree more recently than most, but it had been given a much more careful touch nonetheless. It was actually a two-tier room with a short set of stone stairs connecting the two together. All the walls were lined with a combination of cabin logs running horizontally and metal support beams set vertically. The lower floor had a selection of cabinets containing what appeared to be a few odds and trinkets against the walls. A few rocks and crystals, a miniature telescope, goblets, a few images etched onto canvas… even a photograph of all things were contained inside. At the centre of that level was a pair of couches facing each other with a table in between, both made of a fairly basic fabric. The upper level was much the same, only the cabinets had been replaced by bookshelves and the sofas replaced with one large wooden desk and chairs, and further past them, a large window overlooking Robinswood from above.

Rex sighed as he leaned back into his high-backed chair, rubbing his fist carefully. "I'm getting too old for this…" he uttered, keeping his eyes shut. "Esper, I know you are there."

One side of the upper tier was partly hidden in shadow by a set of curtains, and with a rustle of cloth, a Meowstic emerged in front of the Blaziken. It's mostly white fur contrasted with the red and yellow eyes she possessed. She let out a slight little grin, swiping back a tuff of blue fur on her head. "Sorry, I just figured I'd get here early."

"How long have you been here?"

"Only five minutes, judging from what you have been doing for the last ten."

Rex let out an amused huff, "I know Authur was singing his praises about you, but you never cease to surprise me."

Esper flashed a little wink as she sat down, "Well, tricking a brainwashed mastermind into thinking I had betrayed my actual friends as a kid during an world ending event did have it's perks."

"You're still a teenager." Rex pointed out.

"I'm eighteen." She replied, rolling her eyes. "Besides, I found pulling that trick off kind of neat." She gazed down at the Blaziken rubbing his wrist. On cue, Rex ceased. "I'm fine, I only had to punch Greg once to get him to calm down. He's tenacious that Swampert, I'll give him that." He leaned onto the desk, "I'm guessing you have kept an eye on our new guest?"

"Always. One way or another."

"And what do you think?"

"The amnesia sounds familiar… but it's not the first time we've had a Pokémon suffer that." She gave a relaxed shrug, "I sensed some confusion but there was nothing malicious. A little bit of wounded pride at worse."

The Guild master scratched underneath his beak, "Hmm… it didn't seem like he knew how to use Ember of all things… that might be the source of it."

"Especially with that amnesia." Esper confirmed, "But I don't think we have to worry about him. I've already heard from Jack that Sam is settling in with Aidan."

"The rich kid from Sand? Well, he seems to have a decent head on his shoulders. More than his family at least."

"They're businessfolk, there is always something quiet going on behind the scenes."

"Well, you're not wrong there." Rex lifted himself back up to his feet and stepped up to the window, looking over the town below. "Let's just keep an eye on him, from a distance."

"Jack can keep checking over him, though getting the whole of Team Spirit involved wouldn't be a bad idea."

Rex shook his head, "He's already been through a lot, we'll hold back on that for now. Let him get settled in. He should be fine in the short term anyway."

"Of course." Esper replied with a little purr, "By the way-"

Rex sighed, raising an arm up to stop her, "Let me guess, you pre-empted me on the mail."

Something flopped onto the table behind him, "Sorry." She said with a slight tease in her voice, "Didn't want the old man to tire himself out."

Unable to stop himself, Rex could only let a short, but hearty laugh ring out as he turned and picked up the envelope on the table. "I'm not that old yet Esper." He rolled one shoulder as he began to open the package. "You know, when I took up the guild master post for Robinswood, I thought it would be a nice, quiet job before retiring and looking after the kid."

Esper flicked an ear over, "Not what you were expecting?"

He could only snort in response, "Don't get me wrong, getting to run off on a mission once in a while never gets old. And managing the teams and that behind the scenes? Always an honour. But…" he let loose a moan as he rubbed his head, "The paperwork is ridiculous, as is the politics. And I didn't plan on going out that often. Especially with the resurgence in disasters, I didn't think I would have to deal with that again."

"Well, that's why you took me on remember?" Esper said, pushing herself out of the seat. "Without me, you would be neck deep in parchment before the end of the week."

"You're not wrong on that." Rex chuckled, finally opening the letter and scanning through its contents. But then the humour disappeared from his face, his eyes narrowing as his beak clicked. Esper crossed her arms, her ears twitching just a little bit. "I don't have to be psychic to see something's wrong. What is it?"

Stiffly, Rex handed the letter back over to Esper. As she scanned the document though, her eyes began to widen, red pupils narrowing into finer slits. "No… all that-"

"Why bother sending it otherwise?" Rex said woodenly as the Meowstic scanned it all again. "As a result of this, reorganisation…" she shook her head for a second, scanning the letter a third time. "They... they're actually doing it?"

"Yes." Rex replied with a sigh, eyes shutting. "I didn't think the day would come."

The pebble bounced off the tree with a harmless ping, flying back off into the grass. "Oh come on!" Sam cursed, booting another stone away. This time, it merely flew off into a bush and out of sight.

"Damn." Aidan uttered, face blushing. "I didn't think you were this bad!"

The Scorbunny groaned, "Thanks for the support."

Sam and Aidan were behind the barracks. Whilst there was a dedicated training round being built elsewhere around Robinswoood, there wasn't exactly anywhere else ideal to get some practice in. Besides, according to Aidan a good few Pokémon just resorted to trying things in their back yards or… well, behind the barrack buildings.

"Maybe you are just overthinking it?" Aidan mused, his bubbly mane hanging down to one side. "It's normally supposed to b-ugh!" Groaning, the Froakie rubbed his head, eyes and lips squeezed tight. Sam's eyes widened, "Hey, mate? A-Are you okay?" he asked, placing one hand on the frog's shoulder.

"I'm fine!" he gasped, shaking his head before steadying himself. "Just a headache." He turned back to Sam, a sheepish smile on his face. "I'm was going to say that normally using powers is some kind of instinct."

Sam could only growl a response. "I-I just-grr!" he clenched one fist tight. "I managed to use an Ember… I think it was anyway. All I did was kick a pebble and it caught fire, that was it!"

"Okay okay." Aidan said, motioning with his hands. "We don't need another Alice running around."

"Well, I doubt I could be, especially when she nearly punched my head off!" he snapped before letting out a heavy sigh, "Sorry, but if I can't figure out how to do this kind of stuff, I'll just end up ruining your chances…"

"Eh, don't worry. We'll figure it out. Besides, you could be paired up with Alice or some other loudmouth who will love to scream in your face all day."

Unable to stop it rising up, Sam let out a little chuckle. "Fair point." But then the thought settled in, "Actually… what is Alice's problem anyway? When did she turn into a badass?"

…

"Not that kind of badass, I mean like bad-ass. With a hole on the end."

Sam could tell Aidan wanted to laugh at that, but the chuckle died on his lips. "Honestly? I don't know. I've only heard rumours. Some about how she's cursed."

"Huh." Sam replied, the Scorbunny rubbing the back of his head, "I know there's a move called that, but… I don't think that's how it works."

"It doesn't." Aidan confirmed, "But most I've spoken to have said she has always been a bit… outspoken. She's tried to push people around left and right, often breathing down their necks… getting into fights…." He shook his head, "Honestly? I don't know about much on this 'cursed' nonsense, but she's just a selfish bitch, I don't really see her doing much to actually, you know, help people."

Cursed? Fights? Sam could only tap the back of his head with a single finger, I mean, rumours are just that. Rumours. But even so… eh… probably best to just be careful around her. "Right, well, hopefully she won't try and beat my head in again." He looked down at the small pile of pebbles that he had been using as, for the lack of a better word, ammo. "Although another hit might do a little bit to help."

Aidan frowned, eyes flicking upwards towards the treetops. "Hmm… the Scorbunny family has organs that flare up… they can heat things up via friction…" he clicked his fingers, "Maybe we're doing this all wrong. You're trying to will Ember to work, right?"

The Scorbunny nodded back as Aidan hopped back over, "Then how about feeling it?"

Sam could only jerk back, "What?" he questioned, feeling his throat tighten.

"No, seriously, it's a good idea. How did you feel like when you used Ember the first time?"

Shaking his head, Sam nevertheless leaned back and closed his eyes. He tried to look back at that moment, when the Pidgey came diving down towards Rex. "I… I was desperate…" he whispered. "Why?" Aidan questioned softly.

"Rex was about to get attacked from behind… after seeing the bodies… I… I…" His chest immediately clenched, the image of that dead Pikachu flashing across his vision. Eyes snapping open, Sam backed up, his breath quickening. "No no… I can't do this."

"Yes you can!" Aidan urged, a soft hand settling onto his shoulder. "You can do this."

"I can't! I can't keep them out of my head!" Sam snapped, shaking the hand free. "I should have been able to do something more!"

"You were angry?" the Froakie questioned.

"I was! I was scared shitless; I saw that damn Pidgey come back in! I didn't want those bastards to hurt anyone else!" His face burned in a mixture of rage and grief, his feet quivered and his chest began to heat up. "And I didn't want to feel so bloody worthless!" Roaring, he booted another pebble with a flash of light, the stone ignited. Sam could only gasp as the Ember shot across the clearing and struck one of the trees, glowing bark splintering away as the fireball burnt its way in.

As it faded away, Sam blinked, staring at the smoking dent left in the side of the tree, his heart pumping hard. "How… how did I…"

Aidan chuckled next to him, "Of course. Emotions."

"Huh?"

"Scorbunnies and their evolutions rely on emotions to pump them up, plus a little bit of friction to get that spark." The Froakie explained. "What did you feel then?"

Hesitating, Sam closed his eyes, trying to retreat back inwards, "I… I felt warm all over… like something was burning in me…"

"Good." Aidan stated, more assertive now. "Focus on that. Think about something that happened to you, feel that emotion, let it heat you up."

Nodding, Sam focused again, But what memory can I use? I can't just use that anger all the time… maybe I can use… happiness? He nearly shook his head at that, his body stiffening. No… that's a stupid idea… unless…

Taking in a breath, his body relaxed. He rolled the memories through his mind, soaking in the details. Sam recalled those emotions he felt, as it happened. The good and the bad.

And slowly… his face and feet warmed up again, and his chest flared up.

His eyes snapped open, and eying a stone that was lying on its own, he flicked it up and onto his foot. As it darkened, he started to kick it. Not away from him, but up in the air in front of him, every little touch from his foot or knee causing a little flicker of flame to flow around it until finally, a tiny little fireball was being juggled between his feet. He smiled as he caught Aidan's mouth dropping in surprise, his chest burning up, as if his very core was on fire. Powering him on. He booted it up once more, but instead of kicking it again, he snapped his hand out and grabbed hold of it. The heat flared up in his fingers, and immediately dissipated. Releasing his grasp, all that was left was a charred little stone.

"Okay dude, that was awesome!" Aidan exclaimed, eyes sparkling. "How did you do that? What did you use?"

A little voice in the corner of Sam's mind wanted to brag about it, but he held back, and merely pulled a little smile. "It was just…" he let out a soft sigh before looking over to the Froakie. "Just thinking about folks welcoming me here, you included." Feeling his face heat up again, Sam's ears dropped a bit. "That felt… just nice."

Aidan flashed a grin as he clapped the Scorbunny's back. "Either way, good to see you getting to grips with those powers again." He did a mock fist pump, "Looks like we can-"

A deep rumble echoed through the trees, Sam wincing as his ears recoiled from the sound. "The hell!". He grabbed onto his ears and yanked them down, trying to blot out the noise jabbing at his ear drums. Luckily, a couple of seconds later, the rumble faded away. "The town horn…" Aidan said with a hint of realisation, "Not often they sound that, come on, we better get over to the square."

Groaning, Sam released the ears even if was still a faint ringing in them, "What's going on?"

"Just a town meeting." Aidan confirmed happily, "Nothing to worry about!"

…

As it turned out. It was something to worry about.