Chapter 8: Adventure & Sleeping
A new day in Brunhild rose, though Ash and Pikachu were with Touya, Linze, Elze, Yae and Hildegard in the city. "I've been dying for some action," Ash sighed.
("Same with me,") Pikachu added.
"You two certainly want to earn your keep," Linze teased. "You didn't want to stay cooped up in the mansion."
"Well, we don't really like staying in one place for a long time," Ash admitted.
"Yeah, you're not one who sits around and does nothing," Elze agreed. "How does it feel going on your first job?"
"Let me get there before I can answer," Ash refused. They entered the Adventures' Guild. They saw the jobs on a board pinned up.
"There are a lot of tough jobs on the board," Hildegard noticed.
("That's for sure,") Pikachu agreed. Touya lifted a poster.
"Here's a job for cleaning out slimes," he offered. The girls gawked as they turned angrily to Touya.
"NOT A CHANCE!" they shouted. Touya jumped in fear.
"They still remember their clothes being eaten," Kohaku mewed. Ash sighed while Pikachu looked. He found a flier with a goblin sketch.
("How about that one?") he pointed out. Everyone turned to Pikachu before looking to the leaflet. Hildegard removed the leaflet from the board.
"This one?" she guessed. Pikachu confirmed with a squeak. "It's a goblin hunt after they stole a magical item that was meant for the Eight Bears Weapon Shop." Elze punched her open hand.
"Perfect!" she wished. "I've been wanting to bash something in for a while!"
"Oh yeah!" grinned Ash. "So, do we report to the shop about accepting the job?"
"First, the job advisor," Yae pointed out. "Then, Barral." After getting the details, Touya rented a carriage before heading out. Ash and Linze sat on one side inside the carriage as Elze, Hildegard and Pikachu sat on the other side. Touya and Yae guided the carriage from outside on a seat.
"According to Barral," Linze reviewed. "The convoy were shipping several tools and one magical item known as Wrist Wings. They were attacked by goblins which they defended themselves the best they could. However, they were ambushed and got out with as much of the weapons and armor they could save, but the Wrist Wings are a different item altogether."
"Could these Wrist Wings give any of the goblins the ability to use Wind Magic?" guessed Ash. "Heck, do these goblins have affinities like most of us?"
"That remains unclear at this point," Hildegard shrugged. "Only when we get there, will we know if these goblins have what we're after." Soon enough, the carriage began to slow down to a stop. Touya and Yae saw a horde of green goblins in brown fatigues strewn. Their faces were scribbled on.
"I think we're too late," she studied. "It looks like a blitzkrieg out here." Everyone exited the carriage and saw the strewn goblins.
"What… happened?" wondered Linze. They cautiously approached what looked like a massacre.
"It's not bad enough that they were wiped out," Elze voiced. "They're marked… I know they're the bad guys, but this is crossing lines of dignity."
"I don't know," Kohaku doubted. "If this was a battlefield, the area is completely clean of blood." The humans seemed puzzled to the information.
"That's a really good point," Yae believed. Linze pondered about what caused the deaths of these goblins. Touya approached one goblin. "Touya, be careful!" Touya reached and looked closely at the goblin.
"Well?" wondered Elze. Touya turned to Ash and the girls.
"They're asleep," he concluded. Everyone collapsed hilariously to the discovery.
"You mean to tell us that they're snoozing!?" gawked Elze.
"I know, right?" agreed Touya. "It does explain the lack of bruising, let alone bloodshed. Still, what's with these markings?" Ash and the girls looked at the other goblins who slept and had strange markings on it.
("Jigglypuff's been busy,") Pikachu observed.
"I know, someone powerful was here," Linze believed. "No doubt someone who has similar Null Magic like Touya." Hildegard felt there was something missing.
"Not that you're wrong, but why are their faces covered in ink?" she brought up. That's when Yae saw something on one goblin: a pair of silver gauntlets with wings protruding from the sides.
"Guys, I found it!" she awed. "The Wrist Wings!" Everyone came over to Yae and the goblin. Lifting the arm, Touya examined the gauntlet.
"This is it," he confirmed as he slipped the gauntlets off of the goblin. "But now, it doesn't make sense. If they were after the Wrist Wings, why go through all of this trouble to put the Null Magic Sleep on them and mark their faces without doing anything else?" Elze turned to Ash who looked disturbed.
"You know something, right?" she questioned. Ash didn't look to Elze, but he nodded to her curiosity. "Wait, you do!? Spill it!" Everyone turned to Ash as he approached.
"You see, when that lightning bolt got me, Team Rocket and Pikachu," he started. "There was a wild Pokémon that was with us." He brought the Dex out and showed Jigglypuff on it. Elze took the device and hit the button.
"It's a cream puff?" she guessed.
"JIGGLYPUFF, THE BALLOON POKÉMON," it computed. "LARGE CROWDS THAT SURROUND JIGGLYPUFF ARE PRONE TO FALL ASLEEP WHEN IT INFLATES ITS BODY AND SINGS." The girls saw Jigglypuff's picture and cooed at it.
"And I thought Pikachu was adorable!" awed Linze.
"I know, I can't wait to pick one up for myself," Yae cooed.
"Yumina and Sue would also have fun with it," Touya believed. Suddenly, groans. The cooing stopped before they turned to see the goblins waking up. They saw their marked faces and gasped. Their yellow teeth shown while they scowled at their faces literally marked.
"Something tells me," Hildegard gulped. "These goblins are going to believe we did that to their faces." The goblins turned to the humans and hissed in anger.
"I don't think they're willing to talk about a resolution," Linze trembled. The goblins charged as Touya pulled out a black gun with a blade attached under the barrel. Elze brought out large red and gold metallic gauntlets as Linze brought her wand out and Hildegard with a large broad sword. Touya tossed the Wrist Wings to Ash.
"Put those on!" he ordered. No choice, Ash wore the Wrist Wings. The goblins charged with daggers, bone clubs and axes.
"Is Touya holding a gun?" he gulped.
"Later!" irked Hildegard. "Let's get these guys!" Touya fired bullets made of crystal at the goblins, striking them in the head and the chest. Blood seeped from the struck goblins who fell. More goblins came after Ash.
"Let's see this in the works!" he grinned as he cocked his arms back. "Come forth, Lightning! Pure Sparking Javelin: Thunder Spear!" A lightning bolt struck the Wrist Wings before he cocked his arm back. He chucked the spear which nailed a goblin on the large pointy ear. It caused lightning to disperse in a short area, but it got several goblins who fell.
"Boost!" shouted Elze. A flash of light briefly swirled around Elze before punching the ground. It caused the earth to bounce out of the ground, catching the goblins and uplifting them off-balance.
"My turn!" voiced Linze. "Come forth, Water! Ballistic Bubbles: Bubble Bomb!" Bubbles formed and trapped the goblins. "Use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu cheered before unleashing Thunderbolt, electrocuting the goblins. They fell as Hildegard dispatched the rest of them. The goblins were back on the ground, their blood staining the grass.
"Well, I thought we'd get in, get out before the goblins knew what happened," Elze shrugged.
"It would've been easier for all of us," Yae agreed. "Oh well… At least there's going to be a few less goblins to worry about." Ash removed the Wrist Wings.
"And we have a powerful magical item that Barral will love," he added. "Let's head back and report it." Touya nodded before they led the rest back to the carriage before Jigglypuff came out of hiding. Seeing Ash and Pikachu, she followed them and boarded the carriage before the horses pulled. They reached back into the city where they dropped the carriage off, its use fulfilled. They reached a store with a bear's head having an "8" on the forehead where Barral was given the Wrist Wings.
"Thank you," a burly brunette man welcomed. He had similar facial hair like Tristwin, except for it being brown. He wore a navy blue apron over a blue shirt. "So, these are the Wrist Wings that were being delivered to a specialist on the other side of the country."
"At least we got them to stop those goblins when they attack," Yae explained.
"That may be," the burly may nodded. "Still, it's odd that someone would use the Null Magic to send those goblins into dreamland and leave."
"At least they won't bother travelers again, Barral," Hildegard excused.
"That's true," Barral agreed. "In any case, here's your reward." He handed Touya a small satchel of coins.
"Thanks," he praised. "Say, is there a chance you can make brass knuckles?" Everyone looked to Touya with dumbfounded faces.
"Brass… knuckles?" repeated Barral. Bringing out his smart phone, Touya saw something that astounded him.
"Oh, this would be better," he realized as he showed a finger-less glove with steel over the knuckles of the hand. He showed Barral the glove.
"Oh, that's a unique weapon," he awed. "But don't you think Elze has powerful gauntlets already?"
"No, not for Elze," Touya corrected. "For Ash. I think a weapon for him will help out on future jobs." Barral seemed interested.
"Kid, let me see your hands," he ordered. Ash presented his hands to Barral while Yae held Pikachu. Barral took measurements before nodding. He presented a leather glove to Ash before he slipped it on. There, he slit the knuckles and where the fingers were. "Okay, I may need three days. I'll have one glove ready for a test fit." Touya nodded before his crew left for the Guild. There, he worked on a poster with "WANTED" on the top.
"Are you working on a wanted poster?" asked Ash as he and Linze came over.
"And another Null spell to see," Touya smiled as he had his hand over the poster. A circle appeared from the palm and spun. "Drawing…" Suddenly, Team Rocket emerged from the poster. "There!" Ash awed the spell used. "Drawing allows me to create an image from my memory. Luckily, since the engagement with Team Rocket was just recently, it was easy for me to use the Null magic. Now, I'm wondering what the reward should be." Linze pondered on the amount.
"They've chased Ash far beyond his world," she surveyed. "They've been up to no good. If I had to wager, five silver coins would be sufficient." Ash wondered to the price.
"Five silver?" he repeated. "Recalling Touya's explanation on this world's currency, and using the one country he brought up, that's only $500. That's an insult to those three guys who do a lot of mechanical work and fail every time." Touya awed the added detail.
"Oh, they do that?" he thought. He pondered on the price. "Okay, five gold coins each with an extra five if the whole set's caught." Ash nodded in agreement to the increased price.
"20 gold, huh? That's much better." After the poster was made, it was hung on the board. After that, the group returned to the mansion. Yumina, Sue and Renne were the first to greet them.
"Welcome back, everyone," Renne voiced as the other girls stayed behind.
"How was Ash's first job?" asked Yumina.
"He did exceptionally well," Touya praised. "It was kinda funny at first seeing all those goblins asleep and marked by some ink."
"Of course, we could've been slime-hunting to probably give Ash a peepshow," Elze sneered. Touya gulped before nervously laughing and itching the back of his head.
"Come on, Elze," he sighed. "I was thinking of something easy."
"Oh, easy for someone," Linze scoffed. Pikachu palmed his shaking head.
("Such a bad boy…") he squeaked lowly. Ash crossed his arms.
"What are we going to do with him?" he muttered.
("What a crowd!") voiced Jigglypuff. Everyone heard before turning. There was Jigglypuff who somehow joined the troupe back to the mansion. Ash and Pikachu jumped in shock as the others awed and cooed the Balloon Pokémon.
"It's Jigglypuff!" cheered Linze. The girls came over to meet and hold Jigglypuff.
"My goodness!" awed Leen as she petted the fluff of hair. "Linze, how do you know this creature?"
"Ash showed us," Linze replied.
"Are you saying that this is a Pokémon?" awed Sue.
"Yes," Linze confirmed.
"I just want to hold it!" she cooed. They cuddled and kissed Jigglypuff while Ash and Pikachu looked on in deep concern.
"Is Jigglypuff holding a microphone?" guessed Touya. That's when Jigglypuff raised the microphone and began to sing. The soothing and comforting song lulled everyone around. They fell to sleep while Jigglypuff continued to sing. She stopped when she saw everyone around sawing logs. She inflated her body in anger. She undid the head of the microphone, revealing a marker pen. About a few minutes later, everyone started to rise.
"What just happened?" groaned Leen. Her face had been marked with devil horns on the temples with "sinking" cheeks.
"I don't know," Lucia mulled, her face having "wrinkles." Looking at each other, they screamed and pointed at each other.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!?" they shouted. Others gawked as they pointed at the others.
"What in the world!" gasped Linze, her face having teardrops. Elze and Yumina scowled, Elze having her face be drawn with a goatee and an "eye-patch" while Yumina sported "sunglasses" with a "scars" on a cheek.
"MY FACE!" they cried. Some of the others laughed to the ordeal with Sue having stars on her face.
"This is quite a reaction!" she giggled. Touya had a bigger goatee with bags under his eyes while Ash had eyes on his eyelids.
"Someone clarify what just happened," Hildegard demanded, her face having a "scar" over her left eye and right cheek.
"This happens when Jigglypuff sings to a crowd," Ash sighed as Lucia cleaned up his face before Touya's. Pikachu had clouds drawn over his body.
"I don't believe she's aware that she's singing lullabies," Linze believed as she cleaned up her face.
"Great, we listen to her sing, and she marks us because she doesn't realize what she's doing?" mulled Yumina.
"She is one touchy creature, that's for sure," Renne whimpered, her face having balloons over her eyes. "But Ash, why didn't you tell us about it?"
"Well, it's not really mine," Ash shrugged. "Jigglypuff's a wild Pokémon." Touya soon realized Jigglypuff's goal.
"Looks like she's on a never-ending journey to find someone who can listen to her, huh?" he believed. "It would be easier for her if we teach her what her song does."
"Maybe," Sue smiled. "But she would be a tough one to deal with." Sighs flustered everyone as their cleanups followed a Pokémon finding someone who could not fall asleep from her song.
TO BE CONTINUED...