PMD: Questing For Respect Chapter 30: The Small Issue, a pokémon fanfic

Sausage note: WHAT DO YOU MEAN 9 MONTHS!? FUCK ME, A BABY COULD BE BORN IN THAT FUCKING TIME! AGHHHHH!

Last time: Buneary went to a perpetually sunny dungeon, and of course, tomfoolery happened! Thankfully, Buneary learned how to use Swift better!

Chapter Thirty: The Small Issue

It was now Wednesday, and Buneary was beaming excitedly as she walked up the stairs into the notice board room. She'd been doing a load of missions over the week, and her confidence was doing good!

She'd been learning the ropes more and more, so now Grumpig and Maractus were more comfortable taking her deeper into dungeons than they had been going before.

They'd also been taking along more missions to do at once in each dungeon, much like the time they'd gone to Hidden Cave. On one floor, they'd rescue a pokémon, on another, they'd find a missing item and, on another, they'd rescue someone's lost child. All in all, Buneary found it to be a very enlightening and enjoyable experience, getting into the bigger leagues. She was finally getting a taste of what being an explorer was all about!

Still, she had a long way to go. Despite all the missions she'd been on lately, they'd only been E-rank ones, at most. So she didn't quite feel like she had the power to take on the world just yet. She was getting there slowly but surely, though! Her teammates had started stepping aside more often to let her do more of the fighting herself, so things were going to get better for her, she could just feel it!

Before they arrived at the notice board, Grumpig slowed down with a contemplative look on her face.

"What's up, Grumpig?" Maractus asked. "I know myself a 'Grumpig's thinking hard' face when I see one!"

Grumpig huffed amusedly and paused for a second longer before looking down toward Buneary. "Hey, Buneary, what do you think about taking on an outlaw?" she asked.

Buneary froze, her eyes widening as she looked up at her. "An outlaw?" she asked.

"Yep, and I don't mean a mere hooligan, either. I mean the real thing!"

Maractus gasped. "Ohh, an outlaw? Do you think she's ready?" she asked. "It's sure trickier than finding some crummy berry or whatever!"

"Yeah, she is, for sure," Grumpig replied, looking at her. "I mean, she handled that annoying gang in Deep Ocean Tunnel fairly well." She turned her gaze back to Buneary. "You'll be fine, won't you?"

Buneary blinked a couple of times, then shook herself out of it. "Gosh, I... I guess," she mumbled. It was true, she'd had a fair amount of run-ins with some questionable types over the week. Hooligans, wild pokémon, and generally unpleasant people... However, she hadn't actively gone seeking for someone to arrest, yet! Was she up to the task?

"I have faith in you!" Grumpig reassured. "Besides, I was getting a little bored of rescue missions, if I'm honest. Haven't caught a decent outlaw in ages, save for the before-mentioned bozos working for that noivern."

"I guess so!" Maractus replied. "We'll get rusty if we don't watch ourselves!"

Buneary stalled, thinking it through. Maybe... this would be a good opportunity for her. After all, she had vowed to try and be tougher on criminals. Heck, maybe it would even be sort of fun! She did enjoy a good battle, even if she wouldn't exactly call herself 'good' yet.

She slowly nodded. "... Yeah. Yeah, sure!" she replied eagerly. "I'd love to catch an outlaw!"

"You sure, kid?" Grumpig asked.

Buneary nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, for sure!"

The pig smiled. "Cool."

"Well, okay. If you're sure~" Maractus added.

Grumpig led them over to the other bulletin board. The one that was exclusively for outlaw-based missions. Thankfully, they'd walked past the scary purple and spiky board reserved for renegades - which seemed to be empty, leaving the rabbit doubly as thankful - and were now walking towards the outlaw board.

Buneary felt so much awe that her eyes were likely sparkling. She'd done so many missions from the job bulletin board, but she'd never been able to so much as look at the outlaw notice board. Not properly, anyway.

This was it. The next step up to being a great explorer! She could feel it!

Gazing up at it in equal parts wonder and anticipation, she saw the many notices tapered to the board. She saw the faces of many different pokémon, as many of the notices had pictures on them. Many seemed to be sketched by an artist with startling precision. Perhaps by a smeargle, if she had to hazard a guess. However, some notices had 'photos', instead. Some wondrous invention that she'd learned about from her teammates the other day, where a realistic, perfect replica of an instant in time can be captured on a piece of paper via a camera. She was learning of so many interesting, miraculous things lately! It was so amazing!

"So, which one shall we do?" Maractus asked excitedly, bounding up and down and making her usual distinct rattles as her large chest bounced with her.

"Hmm..." Grumpig murmured. "Someone not too tough..."

"Ooh!" someone said from behind Buneary. "So, you're taking on some outlaws, huh?"

Looking, the rabbit saw Whimsicott float over to them, wearing a red scarf on her head, fashioned into a bow and covered in yellow 'explosion' patterns. She was closely followed by Corsola, who had a flag strapped to her bag. One with a multicolored, confetti-like pattern. Her cheering flag, if Buneary remembered right.

"Hey, Team Cuties!" she greeted eagerly.

They responded back with their own greetings, while Grumpig and Maractus responded with theirs.

"You guessed it, Whimsicott!" Maractus chimed. "Buneary's entering the big leagues now! She'll be dragging a villain back with us before the day's over~!"

"That's what I like to hear!" Whimsicott said, floating over to stand beside Buneary. She gripped both of Buneary's paws and gave them a cheerful squeeze. "Well, good luck!"

Buneary smiled at her. "Thanks!" she replied. "I hope I won't need it too much~"

Whimsicott giggled and let go of her paws. "You won't~"

"Y'know, we captured an outlaw yesterday, too!" Corsola said, walking over to stand next to Buneary's other side.

"Yeah, I saw," Grumpig responded. "Nothing out of the ordinary with you guys, though, eh?"

"That's where you're wrong~" Corsola replied. "It's outta the ordinary because I managed to put up a fight for once!"

"Yeah, she really did!" Whimsicott said, giving Corsola a proud smile. "She put up quite a fight, that outlaw, but Corsola came through and whooped her one!"

The coral beamed brightly. "I usually faint at least twice a fight against outlaws, so this is a new venture for me!"

Buneary tried to avoid looking too flummoxed as Corsola mentioned the thing about fainting so much. Instead, she beamed. "Uh... y-yeah! You did a good job restraining her, it sounds like!" she praised.

Corsola giggled. "Thanks!" she replied.

"Nothing Team Cuties couldn't handle!" Whimsicott added with a feminine pose, which Corsola copied.

Buneary giggled, herself. It was great to see them making such progress! "Yeah!" she agreed.

"Right, well speaking of outlaws, it's time for us to go nab one!" Whimsicott said. "See you later, Buneary~"

"Buh-bye, Buneary~! You can beat that outlaw, I know it~!" Corsola added with an energetic wave. She giggled. "Just remember to use The Bounce on 'em!"

Buneary giggled. Oh yeah, she remembered that! "Yeah, I will, thanks! Bye~" she replied.

Grumpig and Maractus said their own goodbyes as the girls left for the stairs, apparently already having a mission to do.

The pig let out a breath and turned back to the outlaw notice board. "Sucks for whatever outlaw they're going after," she said. "He'll be in for a trouncing, that's for-... Oh, here's a good one."

Grumpig pulled a poster off the board. Maractus hopped closer and took a look.

"Hmm... Pushy Eevee, huh?" the cactus said. She took on a slightly grander tone as she continued. "'Don't let appearances fool you! He's a bully and a thief! Please help with this investigation!'" Her voice went back to normal. "He was last seen in Tiny Meadow, and the reward's five hundred poké! Not too shabby~!"

Grumpig nodded. "It's a request straight from Officer Magnezone, so it's clearly someone who's been causing problems for a while," she said.

"He sounds pretty mean, for sure," Buneary agreed. "You think we should chase after this pokémon?"

"You bet. But it's up to you. He's a bit tough, at four stars, but...!"

Buneary's eyes widened. "Oh, sugar, how tough is that?"

"It's about a C-raaank~!" Maractus sang.

"It's equivalent to one, yeah," Grumpig added. "Outlaws get star ranks instead of letter ranks, but it's pretty much the same as a C."

Buneary's eyes widened to the point of bulging and her jaw dropped. "Rank C? We're doing a rank C?" she asked in disbelief. "How tough is that!?"

"Same as those guys who wanted to see our titties!" Maractus chimed.

Buneary stared, hardly able to believe it. Her first official C-rank mission, so to speak! And it would be one where she'd be arresting an outlaw! "G-Gee, that tough, huh?"

Grumpig smiled at her. "Sure, kid. I think you've proven you're ready for it."

"It... won't be too dangerous, right?" Buneary glanced at the spiky board. "He won't do anything super nasty, or...?"

"Hey, the ranking only tells you how tough the outlaws will be, not how terrible they are as people."

"Yeah!" Maractus piped in. "You could have evil renegades worth one star, 'cos they're super easy to beat, or slightly naughty nine star hooligans, who Dialga himself couldn't win against~"

"Right. So what do you think, Buneary?"

Buneary thought about it for all of a few seconds before excitement bubbled within her. Well, if it wasn't going to get anyone killed, then...! "Yes! Yes! I wanna do the four stars mission!" she eagerly replied. She cleared her throat, face warming. "Um... it's a good opportunity!"

Grumpig chuckled. "Clearly. Well, alright, then."

Maractus giggled. "Awww!" she said, wrapping an arm around the pig, making her wince. "You made her so happy, Grumpig!"

Buneary's face warmed even more and she pouted a little bit. Did she always have to be babied like this?

"Heh, I guess so," Grumpig said, hopefully replying to Maractus and not Buneary's thoughts. She slipped free of the cactus's arm. "Okay, let's get ourselves ready and head over to Tiny Meadow. It's only a mile away or so, so it won't take us long to get there."

"We could even walk there~" Maractus said. She grinned and prodded the pig in the belly. "Legends know you should get more exercising in, missy~"

"Oi," Grumpig huffed, flicking the cactus' arm away.

Buneary giggled at their antics. "Well, I wouldn't mind a decent walk, at least," she said. "Whatever makes us stronger, right?"

Grumpig huffed again, though in a more positive manner than before. "Well, you're not wrong. Alright, we'll walk."

"Woo!" Maractus chimed, reflecting Buneary's thoughts.

Sitting on a large rock in a field, Comic Book Pawmi was reading the first pages of his favorite superhero comic book, Power Investigators. He shuddered in excitement. Oh, this was going to be so epic!

Last issue, the superheroes - Aura Pearl Riolu, Wing Flail Archen, Silver Zangoose and Muscle Man Toxtricity - were planning on fighting their rival team, The Star Riders, headed by Violet Mind Meowstic.

The winner would get to continue investigating the crimes of the mysterious masked weavile. Holy legends, he couldn't freaking wait to see what might happen this issue!

He turned another page. The sound of footsteps against the grass nearby made him yelp in surprise. "Whoa! Who's there!?" he said, twisting to face the person.

It was... an eevee. A boy, judging by his masculine features, and the jagged pattern on his brown and cream tail.

The fox walked closer, smirking. "Hey. Got the time?" he asked in a cocky tone, almost sounding like he was holding back laughter, for some reason.

"Uh... I dunno..." Pawmi replied. He glanced at the sky, taking note of the sun's position. "If... you compare the angle of the sun to the axis of the Earth, then maybe it's-"

The eevee yanked his comic away and snickered. "It's time to gimmie your stuff, nerd!" He tucked the comic under his fluffy collar and held a paw out. "Hand it all over!"

"Hey!" Pawmi shouted, hopping off his rock. He stumbled onto his front on landing, but stood up again, frowning. "Y-You give that back!"

"'You give that back, nyeeh!'" the eevee parroted him mockingly. He turned around and shook his butt at him. "Suck my butt, fatty!"

Pawmi growled and rubbed his large belly. "Sh-Shut up!" he whined angrily, feeling hurt. Where was this big jerk getting off on being a... a jerk!?

The eevee laughed heartily and strolled towards him cockily. "And what if I don't, huh? Huh?" He lightly headbutted Pawmi, sending him stumbling back into the rock.

"You... Y-You big jerky... jerk!" Pawmi held his paw out and let out a Thunder Shock.

The constant stream of electricity missed the fox, who deftly dodged out of the way. Pawmi turned his electricity stream in his direction, but the fox hopped over it.

Growling, Pawmi took a second to calculate the exact trajectory that the eevee would dodge in if he kept going in the same direction as before.

He got ready to turn his beam in that direction, but his electricity fizzled out as he got super tired. He collapsed onto his knees, panting. Aww man... he hated exerting himself...!

The eevee laughed. "Wow, that's it? Man, you're just a little piss boy crybaby, ain't'cha?"

"No, I'm not...!" Pawmi whined.

The eevee laughed again and ran towards the rock. He grabbed Pawmi's bag of snacks that the marmot had left there and started running.

Pawmi gasped, and stumbled to his feet. "G-Get back here...!" he shouted, running after him. After several seconds, he slowed to a stop, winded. Oh, he hated exercise...!

He kept watching the stupid jerk, who didn't slow one bit as he ran into a huge, overturned tree log.

Pawmi gritted his teeth and fell to his fours, running on them to pick up the pace. Did that eevee really think he could hide in there?

Panting, he reached the log that was much larger than he was a minute later and peered inside. He jumped when he saw nothing inside. No eevee, none of his stuff... Nothing!

He started to panic. No! But... his comic book! His snacks! Where'd that guy taken them away to!?

He collapsed to his knees. "Nooooooo!" he yelled.

Buneary frowned sympathetically as she listened to Pawmi's story. "Aww, that must've been rough," she said.

"Yeah..." Pawmi sniffled.

"Did you... have to scream to the heavens like that, though?" Grumpig asked with an amused huff.

"Yeah! That was my favorite comic!" He went watery eyed. "Who knows how long it'll take for me to get another copy? I'm screwed, I tells ya!"

She huffed again. "Damn."

"Well, no worries, kiddo!" Maractus chimed. "We wanted to nab that eevee, anyway, so we'll get your stuff while we're at it!"

Pawmi glanced up at her in adoration. "R-Really...?"

"Yep~! And if you're not here, we'll send it away to Honchkrow's Lost And Found over in Noe Town for you to collect!"

Grumpig looked down at Buneary. "That's where the guild sends all stolen and missing stuff, if you're wondering. She takes care of it until the owner comes over to collect it," she explained.

"That's good to hear!" Buneary replied. It was reassuring to know that the owners wouldn't lose their things forever~ Not that she knew where Noe Town was, but...

"Thank you so much!" Pawmi replied, throwing his arms in the air in joy. He pointed towards the overturned, hollow log. "I, uh... don't know how, but he disappeared in there, like I said!"

The girls moved over to the log and peered inside. It was big enough for all three of them to comfortably walk inside, if they wanted to, but it didn't seem like there was a point. The eevee was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you sure he went in here?" Buneary asked. "It's, uh... empty."

"He did! He definitely did!" Pawmi replied.

"But... where could he have gone?" she replied, looking around. Aside from the log, it was nothing but pleasant fields all around the meadow, with the occasional small patch of wild flowers, tree or rock dotted about. The grass was somewhat long, but certainly not enough to hide in, or anything...

"Walk through the log. You'll find out," Grumpig replied, her voice hiding amusement.

Buneary tilted her head. The pig's coyness mixed with a light giggle from Maractus made the rabbit a bit confused. Was there a trick to this log, or something? "Well, uh... okay!"

She began down the log, not sure what to expect. The sound of footsteps followed her, letting her know that her teammates were following her.

As she walked, something suddenly occurred to Buneary. "Hmm... wait a second, didn't the poster say that Pushy Eevee was in some place called 'Tiny Meadow'?" she asked.

"Yup! And we're there right now~" Maractus said, giggling.

Buneary did a double take and glanced back at them. "We are!? But this doesn't feel like a dungeon at all!"

"Why do you think it's called 'Tiny Meadow'?" Grumpig sassed playfully. "It's a midget dungeon."

"Huh... and here I thought they were all pretty big..." Buneary muttered. She was suddenly surprised when she saw Pawmi tailing the group.

"So that's why that eevee escaped!" he exclaimed, catching the attention of the others. "It's a dungeon!"

"Oh, are you following us, Pawmi?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah! I wanna save my comic from that jerk!"

Grumpig sighed. "Well, you guessed it, kid. He's gone hiding in the dungeon. But you should stay here, where it's safe," she said.

"Yeah! We'll get that comic back!" Maractus chimed.

"But I need to save it as soon as possible!" Pawmi retorted. His eyes watered and his voice went blubbery. "I-It's my favorite comic, y'know! And if he's done anything to it... I-I...!"

Frowning sadly, Buneary hopped over to him and put a paw on his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay! We'll find that comic thing of yours! I promise!" she promised.

He wiped his eyes with his thick arm. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"And if you really wanna come with," Grumpig started, "just make it an escort mission, and I guess you can tag along, sure. Just stay behind us and let us do the heavy lifting."

He nodded eagerly. "Y-Yeah! Okay!" He tapped his fingers together. "I just hope we're in time..."

Buneary let out a breath. What a terrible way to treat a poor kid like him. He seemed like he was only just scraping the end of his teenage years, and yet that eevee had been so terrible to him for no reason. It was...

"Hey, Pawmi!" Maractus chimed, the prickles on her arm briefly being caught on her boomerang-patterned scarf as she pulled a cheerful gesture. "Why don't'cha tell us about that comic of yours to cheer up?"

"Yeah!" Buneary agreed. "Tell us about your favorite character! Um, it has characters, right?"

His eyes lit up. "Oh, oh, it sure does! Well, my favorite character is Wing Flail Archen," he started. "I like him because he's always super duper insecure, yet he always tries to do his best! It's so inspiring! Like this one time, when they were in this monster house, and-" He continued on excitedly, his earlier depressive state forgotten.

"Pft. Hoo boy..." Grumpig muttered quietly as Pawmi continued to ramble.

"Hush, Grumpig," Maractus quietly chided with a giggle, bopping her on the arm.

Buneary giggled along. Well, it would keep the air lively as they went through the place.

Still walking with the others, Buneary's brows furrowed as she looked around. The big log they were inside hadn't looked all that long, and yet... they were still walking through it, several minutes later. What was up with that?

... Okay, no, it was stranger than that. It had been so gradual that she hadn't noticed it before, but the walls and the ceiling of the log were getting further and further away from her!

She looked at the others. They didn't seem to mind much, though it was hard to tell if it was because they were uncaring, or if they were being distracted by Pawmi's chatter about his comic thing.

Buneary shook her head dismissively. She must've just been seeing things.

Another minute or so passed until Buneary and the gang were finally out of the tree log, which by now was massive around them. It almost looked like they were exiting an especially big cave!

The rabbit looked around, wondering if the eevee was going to be outside, somewhere. She was startled by how different the place looked all of a sudden. It was greenery as far as the eye could see, all of it much larger than they were!

"Wah! Why're we in some rainforest, now!?" she squealed in shock.

"W-Whoa! What happened around here!?" Pawmi shouted, just as shocked. "It's all big and... plant-y! And jungle-y, too!"

Grumpig chuckled as she came out of the log cave. Maractus was giggling along, too. "Look around, you'll figure it out," the pig said.

Buneary looked around even more, taking note of the place. Large, green, flat trees with no leaves had sprouted absolutely everywhere! Many were bent at the top, while many others were straightened out, as if reaching for the sky.

She continued looking. She was nearly floored by the sight of an utterly humongous tree. Seriously, it extended all the way to the sky, and was thicker than her guild was wide! Including the guild's 'trunk'!

"Jeez, did that log take use to another dimension!?" Pawmi exclaimed.

"Heh, nothing that extreme," Grumpig said.

"Not here in Tiiiny Meadow~!" Maractus said in a knowing tone.

Buneary's eyes went wide. "No way... is that it?" she asked, putting her paws to her cheeks. "Are we tiny!?"

Grumpig clicked her tongue and gave Maractus a playfully sassy look. "Aww, now look. You went and gave the game away," she said.

Maractus giggled again. "Whoopsie...! Well, now ya know~" she said, sticking her tongue out playfully.

Buneary and Pawmi gasped.

"Whoa! That's utterly inconceivable and crazy!" Pawmi shouted. "And a bit impossible, too!"

"Nothing's impossible in a mystery dungeon, kid," Grumpig replied, smirking. "Stick with us, and you'll find out there's more magic than any comic you've ever indulged in."

He stared at her. "That's... very impossible!"

Letting out a big breath, Buneary nodded. "With all the sights I've seen over the past week, I'll believe it! Jeez, and all just because of mysteriosity? Really?" she asked.

"You got it," Grumpig replied.

"Y'know, Daddy had this legend that he always told me before bed!" Maractus said. "He said there were these magical 'Tapu' legendaries that come from the magical land of, uh..." She blinked, putting her hands to her somewhat wide hips in thought. "... Okay, I don't remember eeeverything he said... but he told me that when the Tapus died a long, long, looong time ago, their spirits became one with the land, and formed all the dungeons we know about today!"

Grumpig huffed. "Yeah, I vaguely recall him saying something like that. Something about how each Tapu's spirit wanted to challenge or help explorers in their own ways, or some such twaddle."

"Wow! Is that really true?" Buneary asked in complete awe.

Grumpig shrugged. "Who knows? Though after the adventures our guildmasters have had to persevere, anything's possible."

Buneary lightly rocked on her heels in excitement. "True~!"

"No way! It's scientifically impossible!" Pawmi retorted, brows knitted incredulously. "Ghosts aren't real!" He gulped. "Th-They're not!"

The rabbit pulled a face. Way to take the romantic wind out of her sails...

Grumpig huffed amusedly. "For someone who likes superheroes so much, that's a pretty bold claim to make," she sassed, readjusting the red ribbon on her arm, which was fastened to a golden, pawprint-shaped brooch.

"Y-Yeah, but... superheroes aren't real! I-I want them to be, but..."

"Don't'cha worry, kiddo!" Maractus chimed, winking at him. "We'll show ya some real superheroes~! Now let's get moving, before that eevee guy gets away!"

The others agreed, and they set off through the jungle of green trees, which Buneary guessed was actually blades of 'giant' grass.

"Real superheroes... No, there's no way...!" Pawmi muttered to himself as he smoothed out the puffy tuft of orange fur that came out of his head.

Buneary balled her paws. She didn't know anything about these 'superheroes'... but she'd try her best to help convince him that explorers could be just as heroic!

She didn't know if she could find a way to convince him of those 'Tapus' though. Maybe she would ask around back at the guild, if she remembered.

It was an extremely surreal experience. If earlier today, someone had told Buneary she'd be smaller than a poké coin and traveling in a world far bigger than she was, she would've looked at them funny. Yet here she was, pushing past tufts of grass that were even bigger than all of her group combined! Crazy!

Grumpig hopped backwards onto her backside and used her springy tail to bounce herself high onto a boulder-sized pebble. She looked around from the top of it at their surroundings in contemplation.

"See him anywhere?" Buneary called up.

Grumpig stayed quiet for a few seconds as she looked around. Eventually, she shrugged. "Nope," she called back. She hopped back down, kicking up some dirt as she landed. "It's pretty hard to see through all the plants."

Buneary let out a breath. "Darn."

"Maaan, maybe we shoulda looked for him when we were still big," Maractus suggested.

"Yeah, no thanks," Grumpig retorted. "I don't feel like sifting through a meadow's worth of grass just to find one flea-sized pipsqueak. Better off just matching his size and looking for him."

"Ohh, but this place is so big and jungle-y!" Pawmi complained. "We'll never find him like this!"

"Not with that attitude, we won't," Grumpig sassed.

"Y-Yeah, let's stay positive!" Buneary said eagerly, patting Pawmi on the back.

"I'll... try..." he replied unsurely.

The group set off again.

The journey for the past several minutes had been an adventure in its own right. They pushed through blades of grass that would've normally been smaller than Buneary's toes... They hopped over cracks in the earth that Buneary wouldn't normally notice... They even had to clamber over a twig that, normally, Buneary might've stepped on by accident. The situation never ceased to be both amazing and very strange, indeed.

After climbing up a large hill - which in reality, was probably smaller than Buneary's feet - the group came across a large field of flowers. And, of course, she did mean large. If it weren't for the 'hill' she and the others had climbed, the flowers would've easily dwarfed them. It was like gazing down at a small, colorful forest!

Buneary was so pleased to be standing where she was. The flowers' orange, red, white and yellow petals were pretty enough as it was, but when as big as they were, it was like gazing into the prettiest woods she'd ever seen in her life!

She beamed, enamored by the sight. "It's so gorgeous!" she said.

"Y-Yeah... I guess so..." Pawmi panted, still winded by the short climb up this 'hill'.

"Yaaay~!" Maractus suddenly cheered. She hopped off the hill and started bounding along the tops of the flowers' petals, which easily supported her weight. "I love Tiny Meadow! It's so green and pretty and wonderful~!"

"It's alright," Grumpig replied, smirking.

Seeing Maractus enjoying herself so much, Buneary couldn't resist. She gleefully leaped off the hill to hop along the tops of the flowers, chasing after Maractus. "Wait for me~" she called out.

"Nuh-uh~!" Maractus sang back. "Last one there's a teeny, tiny egg~!"

Buneary giggled. She didn't quite know where 'there' was, but she didn't mind a small challenge! Uh, so to speak!

"Hoo boy..." she heard Grumpig mutter. "Can't wait to follow them over there."

"Oh, jeez...!" Pawmi said in agreement.

Buneary felt a little guilty at hearing them, but she couldn't stop halfway through her pursuit! Spring-boarding off the petals of the flowers, she made many high jumps. She nearly bumped into a couple of staravias as she went, however, who had been flying low.

"Oh, great. Explorers," the staravia boy with tired eyes and a larger circle pattern on his head said dryly.

"Yeah, we've gotta beat 'em up for messing up our flight! C'mon!" the more energetic staravia girl with a smaller head circle and somewhat large breasts replied eagerly, not even sounding annoyed.

The other staravia let out a groan. "Joy..."

"I'll say..." Buneary mumbled, stopping to face them. Did wild pokémon just like finding excuses to fight explorers, or what?

The girl staravia flapped her wings heartily as they glowed a bright red color. The gusts of wind that followed glowed a similar harsh hue as they warped the air.

Uh oh, that was Heat Wave, right? Buneary hopped away, leaping from petal to petal as she tried to avoid the oncoming wave of heat. A quick glance behind made her cringe as she saw the petals lightly shrivel and crinkle when they were hit by the red hot air chasing her.

She squealed when she mis-hopped and landed on the very tip of a petal, falling through. She fell for a few seconds before landing on something that made a high-pitched shriek. Shocked and winded by the fall, Buneary looked up in time to meet the eyes of a girafarig, who looked back at her with wide, frightened, feminine eyes.

Realizing she was on the girl's back, Buneary blinked. "Uh... s-sorry?" she said.

The giraffe let loose a high-pitched scream and started to sprint away.

Gripping onto the pink fins on her back for dear life, Buneary gave a shrill yelp of her own. Out of the fire and into the volcano, as always...!

A sharp pain in her backside made her yelp turn into a full-on pained yell. Owww! What the heck!?

She twisted her head around and saw that the head on the end of the girafarig's tail had clamped its teeth onto her bum. It hurt like all heck, and was making her regret everything.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the staravia girl from before broke through the canopy of flowers above. She eyed up Buneary and the girafarig.

"Look, Staravia! She's practically a sitting duck!" she yelled, pointing a talon towards her excitedly.

"Go get her, then, and let's wrap this up..." the tired staravia boy grumbled.

The staravia girl's beak glowed with energy and she flew towards Buneary, rapidly jabbing at the air as she came closer. "Here's my Fury Attack!"

Clenching her teeth to dull the pain, Buneary prepared her ears for a Dizzy Punch. If she couldn't dodge, she could at least try and block...!

Grumpig suddenly came in from above and kicked the bird in the head, interrupting her attack and sending her tumbling for a second. Grumpig followed up by blasting a small laser from her head pearl, which knocked the staravia out of the sky with a pained squawk.

"Damnit," the other staravia sighed, looking towards his fallen partner.

Letting the energy in her ears dissipate, Buneary looked up at the pig, grateful for the assistance. She was surprised to see that Grumpig was still floating, and even seemed somewhat transparent.

Seeing that her golden brooch was glowing, Buneary suddenly realized that it was Grumpig's ribbon. The 'phase ribbon', as she'd called it.

Actually, she remembered Salandit mentioning something about a phase ribbon that made her 'go ghost'. Buneary guessed that she'd finally figured out what the salamander had meant back then.

The staravia man, looking as listless as ever, surrounded himself in a yellow vortex of energy. "Guess this Take Down should do it..." he muttered, shooting towards Grumpig at insane speeds, destroying any flower stems he crashed into en route.

The pig was startled into a defensive pose, but the bird went straight through her and crashed right into the dirt. There was a small explosion of yellow energy, leaving the bird bruised and slightly smoldered.

"Ow..." he grumbled loudly.

"Right, normal-type," Grumpig said, smirking.

Buneary was relieved. This must've been a ghost-type thing, right?

She realized she was starting to rapidly leave the scene a bit too much because of the girafarig, so she tried to pry the sharp teeth of the tail off her cream-colored rump.

"Ow, ow, ow...!" Buneary whimpered while trying to pry its jaw open. It sure was a strong little thing...!

She yelped as the girafarig made a sudden swerve to avoid an oncoming flower stem, and then another. The motion caused more pain in her poor derriere. Ugh...!

"No, tail, no! Let go! Let go of the pokémon!" the girafarig rambled in a scared, shrill voice. "It's touching me! It's touching meeee...!"

Buneary pouted. "That's why you want him to stop biting me?" she complained.

Nonetheless, the tail actually let go. Feeling massive relief, Buneary hopped off the giraffe at once, making a shaky landing as she did. She glanced at her behind and noticed a bruised ring that covered her poor bum. Ow...! She was lucky that hadn't torn her covers, or anything.

She looked at the giraffe, who'd calmed down a large deal. Now stopped, she looked over at Buneary with flustered, apologetic eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, little pokémon! I didn't m-mean to do that!" She gave a huffy frown. "You... You didn't need to hop on my back, though! That was very rude! And scary!"

Buneary was flabbergasted. 'Scary'? Her? She pouted. "Hey, what do you mean...?"

The girafarig stopped frowning to shyly dig a hoof into the dirt. "I-I'm sorry! I-I can't touch pokémon. They scare-"

A rustling from above made Buneary look up. She hopped backwards in surprise as something orange fell through the colorful ceiling of flower petals, landing directly on the girafarig.

"Oww..." Pawmi grumbled, sitting upright on her back while rubbing his head. "How'd you guys make it look so easy, hopping on those flowers? I couldn't-"

The girafarig turned her head to stare at the rodent, wide-eyed. "Oh, dear God, another pokémon is on me! Help! Heelllp!" she shrieked, setting off running again.

"Wh-Whoa, hold on!" Pawmi shouted, holding onto her. "Waaaiiit!"

The two pokémon disappeared behind some flower stems.

Grumpig groaned, floating into a landing nearby. "That's just peachy," she complained. "Guess we'll have to try and track him down, later."

"Poor Pawmi..." Buneary sighed. She giggled at her unintentional pun. 'Poor Paw-mi,' indeed.

A sudden rustle and a shower of petals made Buneary squeal out a yelp. She spun around only to be faced with Maractus, who had fallen from the canopy of flowers above.

"Oh, here you guys are!" she announced eagerly. "Why're you taking the long route? It's much faster up there!"

"Ran into some trouble," Grumpig replied.

"Yeah," Buneary added. "There was a-"

The staravia man from before suddenly rammed into Maractus, surrounded in a swirling, yellow vortex of energy. It seemed to continuously hurt her as she was pushed back with a pained grunt.

Buneary frowned. Darn it all! They sure were persistent!

The energy surrounding the staravia exploded harshly all of a sudden, sending them both flying in opposite directions, singed.

"Son of a-! Ow!" Maractus complained loudly as she hit the ground and rolled backwards onto her bum.

On crashing against the floor, the staravia wrapped himself in a veil of glowing feathers, becoming less bruised up as he did. A healing move?

"There'll be more, probably..." he said apathetically.

Buneary hopped towards him. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" she retorted. She wasn't going to let him get another chance to use Take Down!

"Careful, Buneary, he has Reckless!" Grumpig warned. "His moves that also hurt him are more explosive than on average!"

"Okay, I'll watch out!" Buneary called back, preparing a Dizzy Punch. She noticed the other staravia out of the corner of her eye, who was flying her way with a glowing beak.

"You should watch out for me, next! Woooo!" the staravia shouted.

Buneary prepared to punch her out of the sky. She was thrown off her feet by a heavy rumble. It didn't stop, and only grew stronger by the second. She could swear that she heard a loud, strange thumping noise in the air, too. Almost like some sort of weird music.

The tired staravia seemed to notice it, too, but the girl one continued charging towards Buneary, undeterred. Thankfully, Grumpig had already taken to the air again, and flew down to kick her hard enough to send her to the floor. The pig stopped being translucent and allowed gravity to carry her down, letting her land on the bird with both feet.

"Ackk! Holy... moly!" the squashed bird cried out. She rapidly flapped her wings, which glowed orange.

The air visibly wavered and glowed bright as heat engulfed the immediate area, including Grumpig. She didn't even flinch, though.

"Nice try, pest," she remarked, reaching down and grabbing the bird by the neck, who squawked in response. Grumpig held her up and fired up a Power Gem from her head pearl, straight into the face of the bird.

The staravia was launched with a yell into the distance, smashing through several flower stems and leaving bird-shaped holes in them. Well, that was one down, Buneary guessed.

"Arceus damnit," the remaining staravia grumbled. With a flap of his wings, he was in the air again, seeming much less injured than before. "I'll avenge her, I guess."

Buneary frowned and tried to hop to her feet. She fell over again as the rumbling continued. She flinched as heavy sounds rang out all throughout the tiny jungle, coming from some unknown source. "Jeez Louise, what's causing all the tremors!?" she shouted out.

Maractus cried out as she barely avoided stumbling over, herself. "Not it!" she replied, looking around in surprise.

Grumpig's body rocked with the quakes, keeping her mostly upright. Maybe it was because of her ability, Own Tempo, which she'd talked about, once. It didn't stop her from flinching, though. "And what's with that loud as hell commotion?" she said, looking all around.

"Whatever, ignore it," the staravia said apathetically. He took a breath and spread his wings. An extremely intimidating aura surrounded him out of nowhere.

Just seeing it was enough to make Buneary's insides churn with anxiety. Yeesh, what was this, all of a sudden!? It was making her think twice about rushing toward him!

Even Maractus gulped, taking on a defensive stance after. Grumpig just shrugged and polished her pearl.

"Won't work on me, kid," she called out, preparing a Psybeam.

The staravia's completely apathetic expression didn't change. "Oh," he muttered. He dodged as the beam of psychic circles fired by her came his way. He couldn't dodge as the attack was redirected, catching him before he could get away.

"Oww..." he complained. Some of the psychic circles seemed to hover over his head, like a strange, purple halo, and his wing flaps seemed to become erratic. "Oop. I feel weird." He surrounded himself in feathers, using that healing move again. "Shit, wrong one."

"Bingo," Grumpig said with a smirk, stopping her attack. She looked Buneary's way. "He's all yours, Buneary! Quick, while he's still confused!"

"S-Sure!" Buneary called back, managing to stay upright long enough to hop forwards. If she kept her hops brief, maybe the shaking floor wouldn't throw her off so much!

Taking note of where he was, she leaped high in the air with Bounce, even going past the canopy of flower petals. She looked around to get her bearings, and... and... Huh!?

Her eyes widened in horror. It... It was humongous! Gargantuan!

She freaked out at the sight. Holy moly, it was-!

Doodle Tinkatuff let out a big sigh as she trudged through the grassy meadow, readjusting her metal backpack with her beautiful hammer attached.

... This dungeon was dumb. It didn't get her creative juices flowing at all! And yet, there was... something about this place. She could feel it! She was an expert at unraveling the inner beauty of dungeons, so she knew there was a beauty to it that she had yet to unravel!

No... this dungeon was not dumb. It was only a surface level dumb. She knew it deep within the complex structure that was her heart.

She glanced off to the side and groaned loudly when she saw her partner, Complacent Shieldon, goofing off and wandering in a random direction.

"Shieldon! Must you go off in random directions?" she criticized. "We will not find a good place to strum my creativity if you roam off Arceus knows where!"

"S'alright, Tinkasis," Shieldon responded in his usual gruff yet smooth, overly relaxed voice. His black glasses - specially shaped to resemble 'aviator sunglasses' with a metallic blue frame - clacked against the black shield that covered his face. "We're here to chill out, not stress out, maaan...~"

She rolled her eyes. He was always so lax all the time! It was no wonder he was always getting lost! He was lucky she greatly cared for his well being, or she would slam her hammer on his head. Not particularly because she was angry, or anything, but because that was the only way he'd vaguely feel it.

She looked around as she walked, looking for inspiration somewhere. Anywhere!

Her gaze landed on the huge hollow log nearby. She stared at it. Her eyes widened.

"Eu... Eureka! That's it! I can feel it!" she shouted excitedly. "This log! It's brimming with inspiration! I can't explain it, but I can feel the complexities of the dungeon flowing through it, like waves on the ocean! Oh, it's amazing!"

"That's totally groovy, Tinkasis!" Shieldon responded eagerly. He pulled his 'boombox' out of his treasure bag and placed it on the floor. "That's the most normal-lookin' log I've ever seen, and that's rad, maaan...~"

She glanced over to frown at him. "No, it is more than normal. It is the most amazing thing in the whole dungeon!"

He stared at the log for a moment before shrugging. "Can't say I see it... but if you're feelin' its gnarly energy, man, then I'm down with it...~" He pressed a button on the boombox, and it suddenly came to life with his 'funky disco beats' as he called them, even though she thought they were mediocre, at best. He stood up on his hind legs and started dancing to the strange sounds emanating from his gaudy contraption. He didn't seem to care how his strange moves looked, even as he went over some flowers nearby, trampling them underfoot.

She shook her head in exasperation and went about taking off her backpack and taking out her art kit. She didn't have any metal to sculpt with today, but a nice painting would easily suffice!

After quickly setting up her canvas, she took out her art stencil, her paintbrush, and her floppy 'artist hat' that she forgot the name of. She flopped it onto her head, resting it on her pigtail.

She faced the log. Alright... go time!

She ignored the dancing dinosaur in the corner of her vision, and started painting. Naturally, she used black for the sky, for it represented a lack of vision. Something she felt from not being able to find the heart of the dungeon...

Buneary screamed at the giant creature in front of her, who was prancing around the flower fields in a crazy, energetic dance. He was massive! Lord Arceus almighty, you could build a whole town on his back!

No... she was tiny! Of course! This really put things into perspective!

Seemingly not noticing her, he swung one of his front legs her way all of a sudden. She instinctively used Bounce again, managing a second jump, albeit a much shorter one than before. He caught her foot, making her tumble through the air.

"Aghh!" she squealed, trying to correct herself in the air. She harshly smacked against the giant's black, dome-shaped, metal head. She laid plastered against it, groaning. Oww...! Maybe they should've put up a sign saying 'please don't dance here until we're finished exploring', or something to that effect...

"Hey," a bored voice called out from below.

Buneary looked down and saw the staravia flying her way. He still had Grumpig's circles hovering above his head, and he was flying so erratically that it almost looked like he was flying sideways.

"I started this thing, so I'd better finish it," he continued.

"Wha...? Do you not see the giant pokémon!?" Buneary shouted back, completely flummoxed.

The staravia stopped in place to glance at the giant pokémon in question. "... Huh. Yeah, I guess that's-"

The giant's limb swung downwards, hitting the bird at full force. He squawked in his apathetic voice as he flew down, crashing against the earth with enough force to fill the miniature jungle below with plumes of dust. The giant followed up by stomping on the bird repeatedly while dancing.

Buneary stared in horror. Ohhh sugar, sugar, that could've been her!

She barely saw the mangled body of the bird turn into a red light and beam away as the dungeon prevented his potential death, sending him somewhere else. Thank Arceus.

She screamed out as the giant's head dipped and rose in a steady rhythm, freaking her out and making her feel queasy. Urp...! There was still a chance of a squashing!

She felt herself start to slide off the metal. She grabbed hold of the guy's shiny 'eyebrow', which also seemed to be a part of his metal face. She just about managed to get enough of a footing to kick off with Bounce, sending her into the air.

She went high and, with a flip, went over his rounded metal face. She grabbed his back and held onto his rough, amber-colored skin for dear life, waiting for a good time to let go as he jostled around.

She cringed at the strange, loud music filling the air. She wondered if it actually was really loud, or if it just seemed loud, because she was small. Maybe both.

While she pondered, she heard a voice call out from somewhere. Glancing around, she noticed a pink, bipedal pokémon with a head of light-pink hair, and a two-toothed mouth. She was sitting a fair distance away, painting something. Also, like the pokémon Buneary was riding, she was huge, too.

"Shieldon!" the pink pokémon called out in a somewhat haughty voice. "Why must you dance with so much energy in my peripheral vision?" she scolded while putting an odd amount of emphasis on random words, Buneary couldn't help but notice. "It is terribly distracting!"

"My bad, Tinkasis!" the giant pokémon - or Shieldon, apparently - replied in a cool yet gravely voice. Buneary would have found it attractive, if not for how terrified she was of being crushed to death by him. "I'll keep it on the low 'till you're past the concentrating part. That cool?"

"I would appreciate it! Thank you!" 'Tinkasis' replied.

As promised, Shieldon went onto his fours and kept his dancing calm, slowly bobbing up and down to the beat of his strange music.

Buneary let out a big breath as she found herself able to stay on his back, stable. She was even able to sit down despite the constant bobbing. Flipping heck... she wondered if the local pokémon had to put up with these shenanigans often.

After a short while, she saw Grumpig floating over in her ghostly fashion from before. She was carrying Maractus, who waved to Buneary vigorously as they floated closer.

Buneary smiled and waved back. She was glad they'd avoided the rampaging giant! She wouldn't have been happy if they'd needed peeling off the floor...

Sitting on Shieldon's humongous back next to Grumpig and Maractus, Buneary listened in awe as Grumpig explained what her scarf actually did.

Ghost-types could float in the air and go through walls - as well as avoid normal-type moves if they went translucent - and the scarf allowed Grumpig to do the exact same.

Still, their abilities could make them very hungry if they used them for too long, and Grumpig was no exception. She was currently gnawing through a huge apple she'd taken out of her treasure bag for this exact scenario. One that had, thankfully, shrunken with them.

Buneary was very impressed such incredible magical items like phase ribbons could exist, but she couldn't help but pout, anyway. Must've been nice, being able to use such cool scarves...

"So, Grumpig," Maractus started, "what're we doing about Pawmi? He ran off on a wild pokémon, right?"

Grumpig stopped eating the apple nearly as big as her head to look at Maractus. "Uhh... dun' know," she replied. She swallowed the apple piece in her mouth. "I suppose we'll see what we locate first from up here. Either our runaway client, or the guy our runaway client wants us to beat up."

"I hope we find them before they find each other," Buneary said worriedly.

Grumpig huffed. "Kid'll be fine. It's not like we're chasing down the 'grandmaster of all things bad', or anything, like our guildmasters had to."

Buneary's eyes widened. "Oh dear, he sounded bad! Who's that?"

Grumpig huffed again, this time with more amusement. "Wigglytuff."

Buneary's rolled ear sprang up in shock. "WHAT!?"

Maractus laughed heartily. "Grumpiiig...! Are you spreading fibs?" she chided.

Grumpig laughed, too. "Well, it's technically true, right?"

"Heehee, stiiiill...!"

Buneary blinked. She didn't really get the joke, but she pouted all the same. "A-Am I being teased? Ohh...!" she complained.

Grumpig let out another small laugh. "Don't worry about it, there's context, I promise. Ask Team Destiny about it."

Buneary let out a huff through her nose. "Okay..." Even though they'd probably tease her, too...

A loud, male voice filled the air. It was different to Shieldon's and the 'tinkatuff's'. "Oh, what is zis? What're you doin' 'ere?" the voice said. It sounded brash and 'foreign', for lack of a better word.

Buneary looked towards the noise and saw what appeared to be a blue bug pokémon in a full suit of armor, of which one piece reminded her of a magcargo shell. He looked like the knights in stories she'd once read to her brother, a while back. He also had no legs and just seemed to float, though with no apparent means of doing so.

"Huh, a French knight, eh?" Shieldon said in amusement. "Ooh la la~"

"'ey, shut up, bitch!" the bug complained, irritation all across his face despite his smirk. "Ah thought ah'd be all alone to practice my fencing... but you little fucknuts 'ad to be 'ere, didn't you?"

"Hey, man, chill out," Shieldon replied, looking his way. "If you're trainin', I don't mind groovin' way outta your way, you dig?"

"As if!" the tinkatuff retorted, scowling their way. "I would prefer my art to not be interrupted by such... such..." She gasped in delight. "Brutality! Yes, that is what I was missing!" She went back to painting, though what, Buneary couldn't see from where she was.

"So you're not budging, yes?" the bug asked, holding one of his two sharp, striped sticks in the shieldon's direction. He made a poking motion with it. "In zat case, ah'm gonna pierce a new 'ole in your asses!"

The tinkatuff groaned loudly. "Shieldon, can you get rid of him, please?"

"My pleasure!" Shieldon said eagerly, hopping from foot to foot on his fours. "Alright, then, garlic toast, let's boogie~"

Buneary frowned worriedly. Oh dear, that didn't sound good.

"Uh oh! That escavalier's out for blood, Grumpig!" Maractus said, a worried frown forming. "Think we should worry?"

"It's gonna be a bumpy ride, that's for sure," Grumpig sighed, throwing her half-eaten apple back into her bag. "Okay, let's get behind this guy's shield, girls. We'll just get trodden on if we get off."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Buneary said, hopping to her feet. She barely made it two hops before the 'escavalier' appeared to Shieldon's side with an impressive speed. He stabbed with a glowing pincer.

Buneary had to do a high hop to avoid it. "Wahh!" she screamed. Holy sugar, that would have launched her into the next continent! And not in one piece, either!

She glanced down. The other girls had dodged it, and Shieldon had performed a low crouch, letting the pincer go overhead. Actually, no, Buneary remembered something called a 'lance' from the knight stories. Were his pincers sort of like those?

"Ouch, man, that's not cool," Shieldon complained, though with a tone that suggested he wasn't too concerned. He repeatedly tapped his metal shield with one of his hooves, sending out blue shockwaves that sailed through the air.

When Buneary was hit by them as she fell, she was assaulted by a horrible warbling, dinging noise that she swore was bouncing around in her ears. She tightly rolled up both of her ears and cringed hard from the headache it caused. Aghh...!

Pushed backwards by the force of the giant shockwave, she had to kick her feet outwards to try and correct herself and land back on his back. She saw the other girls cringing heavily as they quickly made for the dinosaur's shield head.

"Ow, ow, ow, I hate Metal Sound!" Maractus complained, her spiky ears drooping to block it out.

"You and me both," Grumpig agreed, blocking her ears with her hands.

Agreeing, Buneary rushed over to hide with them. She glanced and saw the escavalier shouting explicits in his strange accent while backing away. Shieldon was taking the opportunity to also back away and prepare himself for a counterattack.

"Don't get too far away, baby," Shieldon said, stomping both feet into the ground. "Party's just started~"

Buneary was flung into the air from the force. "Wahh!" she squealed.

She felt a psychic force grip her before she could fall off his back. She felt herself be dragged over to Grumpig, whose pearl was glowing. She was hiding behind Shieldon's shield head along with Maractus.

"You're safe, kid," the pig said.

"Thanks..." Buneary mumbled, her ego no bigger than before. She had a feeling that when she was back to normal size, that might not grow back with her...

She looked around and saw what appeared to be a big, transparent dome surrounding the makeshift arena, trapping both Shieldon and the escavalier in. The wall was coated in red Xs, and stopped before reaching the tinkatuff.

"Zat is fine... I don't wish to run away from a fuckwit like you!" the escavalier said, pointing a lance at the dinosaur. "Engarde, loser!"

Peering through an 'eyehole' opening in Shieldon's mask, Buneary watched as the bug rushed towards them at lightning-fast speeds and thrust a lance forwards, which crackled with olive-green electricity. The rabbit yelped as Shieldon's head lurched to an angle to meet the attack with his shield head.

The bug tried to rapidly stab with his lance, which only succeeded in filling the air with a constant clacking, as Shieldon's head made the attempt completely ineffective.

Buneary noticed Shieldon pull something out of his bag. A strange, plastic case with what appeared to be royal blue tape inside, wrapped around two holes punctured into it. It glowed in his grasp before turning gray and lifeless.

"What did he use?" Buneary asked, hoping it wouldn't be something that she wouldn't like.

"Looked like a HR," Grumpig explained. "They let you use any move, but just once. Can't keep the move, either, like with TRs."

"Oh, okay..." Goodness, there were so many terms and items to remember. She hoped there was a book on them to read, or she was going to mix something up one of these days.

Oh well. Maybe she would do better at remembering when her head didn't have that annoying ringing in her ears from that Metal Sound, earlier. Ugh...!

A harsh orb of light built up in front of Shieldon's mouth, growing larger by the second. The escavalier backed away defensively in response, though Shieldon's magical barricade stopped him from getting too far away.

Suddenly, Shieldon's head lurched up, making Buneary squeal as she had to hold on to his scaly skin. She noticed the orb of energy fire into the air, climbing at an extremely rapid pace.

"Honhonhon! Are you stupid, dumbass? You missed!" the escavalier boasted.

"If you wanna believe it, escar-dude, then sure," Shieldon replied, unfazed as he looked back at his attacker, making Buneary yelp again as she was jerked downwards. Oh, her poor nerves...!

The escavalier scoffed and went back on the offensive, slowly circling Shieldon to look for an opening.

The dinosaur matched his movements, keeping his shield head between him and the attacker.

"Why'd he fire that orb of...?" Buneary started, stopping when she saw Maractus and Grumpig bracing for impact. "... Huh?"

"Head down, kid," Grumpig said.

"It's gonna get bumpy~" Maractus added, giggling somewhat sheepishly.

Buneary's face fell. It fell even further when she heard something explosive high above.

Aww, heck...

"Whoa, whoa, hey!" Pawmi shouted, trying to get the girafarig he was riding to calm down and listen to him. Her tail tried to snap at him again, so he yowled loudly and tried to push it away with his foot. "C-Cut it out, will ya!?"

"I can't, I can't, I'm touching a pokémoooon! Eeeek!!" the girafarig shrieked, her head flailing.

"Oh, that's the problem!? But... you are a-!"

The girafarig stumbled on a collapsed blade of grass. They both shrieked as she sprawled to the floor, and he fell off her back.

He groaned as he picked himself up from the dirt. "Oww... everything hurts, and sucks, and... a-and hurts..." he complained, rubbing his leg pitifully.

"That's what I want to say..." the girafarig whined. She gasped and scrambled up to her feet. "Wait! Oh no! I-I'm sorry, little pokémon!" she apologized profusely. She carefully approached with an outstretched hoof, stumbling and nearly falling again as she did. When she got too close to him, she gave a shrill yelp and rapidly backed up again. "E-Er, are you okay? Over there?"

Pawmi blinked. "Wow, you really are scared of me, huh?" He pushed himself up to his feet. "But why? You're a pokémon, too, ain't'cha?"

The color seemed to drain from the girafarig's face. "N-No, no, no way! I-I only look like one! Don't ask me why, but..." She rapidly shook her head. "No, I'm not a pokémon! I'm not!"

He looked at her as if she had two heads. Uh... three heads! "That's crazy, then what are ya?" he asked incredulously.

"I-I'm a person! A human! I'm not... this!" she insisted, looking down at herself as she spoke.

He nearly fell over backwards in his shock. "A human!?" Okay, now he knew she was crazy! He'd heard people say weird stuff like humans were mythical creatures from another world... or even that they lived somewhere secret in this world... but now they were turning into pokémon, too!? "No way, Girafarig! There's no way you're a human! That's scientifically impossible and all sorts of weird!"

She let out an aghast breath and gave a really pouty frown. "I-I'm telling the truth! I'm human! I don't want to be a pokémon!" she shouted. Her frown became a really upset one. "I-I am, I am! I was... I was running... and my brother was ahead of me, but..." She clenched her eyes shut, her frown becoming concentrated, like she was trying hard to think. Tears seemed to form in her eyes. "... Why can't I remember!? What's going on!?"

"H-Hey, uh... calm down?" Pawmi said, completely floored by her reaction. He held out a paw and moved closer.

Opening her eyes again, she shrieked in response when she saw him approach and cowered away behind a piece of wood that was bigger than she was. Her tail snapped at him, clearly not as scared as she was.

He frowned in worry. "J-Jeez, I'm sorry!" he apologized. Man... maybe she was one of those human things. She sure was acting weird enough for it...

Either way, this girl really needed help and stuff. He sure didn't know what to do about it, though...

Wait, he had an idea, actually! "Uh... I'll ask my frie- Uh, well, my... explorer girl gang... people for advice, or something!" he suggested, pumping a fist in determination. "They'll know what to do!"

"Explorer girl... huh?" the girafarig muttered, looking back at him. "What does that... mean?"

His face went hot from her reaction to his phrasing. "Uh, w-well... don't worry about that! Look, just come with me, and I'll help ya! Well, someone will!"

She stood up, looking at him hopefully. "Y-You will?"

"Yeah! Just... ya know, follow. From a lil' distance."

She beamed. "Oh, o-okay, thank you!"

He nodded, pleased that he was getting somewhere with her. "Yeah, you're welcome! Let's go!" He wandered in the direction he'd last seen the others. Right now, he and the girafarig were right next to that super humongous tree. Leaves, exposed roots and pieces of tree bark were all over the place, and they towered over the two pokémon. It was sorta intimidating...

His eyes widened. Wait, he'd forgotten to introduce himself! "Oh, and they call me Comic Book Pawmi!" he said to her, walking around a 'giant' leaf.

He glanced back to see her following along at a short distance. "Oh, okay? You don't have a name?" she asked, sounding confused.

He looked at her in surprise. "Huh? Name?"

"Yeah! For instance, I'm, um... I... I don't know..." she replied, starting to sound upset again.

He quickly shook his paws reassuringly. "Th-That's okay! I'll just call ya, uh... Scared Girafarig!"

She gasped and frowned at him. "Hey! That's not very nice!"

He yelped. "Well... I dunno much about ya, yet! And you sure were scared, so-"

She huffed with a pouty frown. "I... I'm still not going by Scared Girafarig!"

"Uh, uh... Distance? Distance Girafarig?"

Her frown lessened. "Well, I... I guess that's not so bad..."

"It's quite cute, hm...?" another voice joined in. One that was all calm and smug.

Pawmi jolted in surprise. He nearly jumped a foot in the air when he heard Girafarig shriek. What the heck!?

He twisted around to check on her and was shocked to see a seviper standing next to her, getting right into her personal space.

Naturally, she was freaked out immediately. "No, no, not another pokémon!" she yelped, looking ready to run again.

The seviper held his bladed tail near her neck, stopping her in place. "Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, my little human friend," he said with a slimy smirk. He pressed the side of his face up to hers, not caring as his white and yellow striped scarf with an upwards green arrow emblem ticked her neck. "I know some people who would be happy to pay me handsomely if I handed you over...!"

"E-Eeep...!" she squealed, her pupils shrunken to pin pricks.

"H-Hey, let go of her!" Pawmi shouted. He rushed over at him, flailing his paws. "She doesn't wanna get handed over to anyone!"

The seviper huffed in amusement and held his bladed tail out, stopping him by pressing the smooth side against Pawmi's head. The marmot tried to push against him and hit him with his paws, but the seviper kept him away with a quiet chuckle.

"Oh, how cute. Her little boyfriend wants to play hero and keep her safe, hm?" he taunted, his forked tongue slipping out of his mouth for a second. He gave a push with his blade and Pawmi fell backwards onto his butt. "Try again, if you're serious about it."

Pawmi groaned and stumbled to his feet. "Y-Yeah, I will!" he called out, holding out a paw. Electricity poured out of his palm in a steady stream, going straight for the snake.

The seviper casually blocked it with his blade, smirking as he did. It didn't even look like it bothered him as he continued to block it. He kept it up until Pawmi gave up on his assault, panting from exertion. "Projectiles are boring. Come at me like you mean it," the snake insisted in amusement.

Girafarig squeezed her eyes shut and trembled. "Ohhh, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening...!" she repeated over and over. She squealed again as the seviper wrapped his whole body around hers, keeping her in place. "H-Help! Help me, Pawmi!"

Pawmi clenched his fists. "What's your deal, huh?" he demanded. Ugh, if only he was stronger! Pokémon were made up of energy, so if this guy's inner energy was stronger than what Pawmi could dish out... well, then that super sucked!

Well... he had a physical attack! He didn't use it much, but he had it! "T-Take this!" he shouted, rushing over as claws grew out of his fingers. He swiped at the snake with both his paws.

The seviper met the attack with the side of his blade while murmuring out a chuckle. He caught even more Scratch swipes on his blade while barely even moving it. He even lazily rested his head on the floor, all while keeping his body wrapped around Girafarig and blocking Pawmi's attacks.

Pawmi felt himself start to sweat. "Gah... just... j-just get hit, already!" he shouted in frustration.

The seviper murmured out another chuckle. "If you can't even land a strike, then how do you expect me to get 'hit', hm?" he asked smugly. There was a glint in his eye. "My attacks, on the other hand...!"

His tail suddenly shifted to catch Pawmi's claws on the blunt edge of his tail. It lurched upwards, flinging his paw backwards.

Pawmi cried out in surprise. He was surprised again when the seviper suddenly let go of Girafarig and slithered next to his side in a flash to give him a shallow slice on the belly with a thrust of his blade.

Pawmi yelped and grabbed at his sore belly. He felt a sharp pain in his thigh and another in the back of his head. He lashed out with a paw and felt another shallow cut in his leg.

He crumpled onto his fours, hurt all over. He looked at the stinging spots on his body and saw how bruised he was, now. O-Ow...!

"So many open spots!" the seviper taunted, laughing almost maniacally. Appearing in front of Pawmi again, he twisted on the spot and thrust his tail under him. The marmot felt himself be flung into the air by the flat side of the blade, yelling as he went higher.

"P-Pawmi!" Girafarig shouted.

"And that was without using any moves!" the seviper shouted triumphantly, coiling his body and springing into the air towards him.

Pawmi could do nothing but watch as the snake came closer, blade at the ready. D-Darn it... he'd wanted to help... but he was no superhero! What could he even do?

A horrible metallic sound rang out from nowhere, making Pawmi cringe. Huge, visible soundwaves hit the seviper, blasting him away to the side. He tumbled through the air with a confused cry.

What the heck!? Pawmi looked around. Through some exposed roots, he could barely see a bunch of super giant pokémon in the distance. Were they fighting? Thank Arceus these roots were in the way of the soundwaves, or he would've been hit, too!

... Wait. A horrible metallic sound? That sounded like Metal Sound, the move that causes a distracting ringing in the ears. If the seviper had been hit, he might not be able to concentrate his inner energy anymore, so...!

As Pawmi fell, he waved his arms until he flipped around in the right direction. He saw the seviper with his blade stabbed into an exposed root nearby, using it to stay in place while he looked around in alarm. The marmot thrust his paws forward and fired out a stream of electricity at him while he was distracted.

It had just enough range to hit the snake, who cried out while spasming as the Thunder Shock enveloped him.

While he kept his attack going, it felt like Pawmi had some rope-like grip on the Thunder Shock, even though it was made of pure electricity. That... didn't make sense, did it!?

Though... it reminded him of one of his favorite superheroes, Super Silk Wurmple. She could shoot an ultra powerful String Shot from each of her prolegs, and use them to swing around.

He beamed. Yeah! He was gonna do that! He gripped onto his Thunder Shock rope with both paws and used it to swing lower down until he was close enough to the floor to land. He cut off his electricity and, after an accidental flip, landed on his butt. Ow...

"Pawmi!" Girafarig shouted in concern, running closer. "A-Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Pawmi muttered. He looked up at the snake. He looked like he was trying to dislodge himself, but his body looked all ridged. Was he paralyzed? That sure was lucky!

"W-We should get out of here!" Girafarig said. She started to run away, but she looked back and forth between the distance and Pawmi before doubling back. "G-Get on!"

His eyes widened. "Huh? But you're scared of me, and stuff!"

"D-D-Doesn't matter!" She reached for him with a hoof. She shivered hard while grimacing, as if she was about to touch something gross, before closing her eyes and gripping him with her hoof.

She struggled to pick him up, not helped by the fact that hooved pokémon weren't great at grabbing things, even with their flexible hooves. Thankfully - but painfully - her tail reached around and grabbed him with its teeth before flinging him onto her back.

"Ow... thanks..." Pawmi muttered. Jeez, today really wasn't his day, not one bit...

A big wall of energy suddenly appeared behind them, startling both of them into crying out. It separated them from the seviper, who was left on the other side.

"Wah! C'mon, Girafarig, let's get outta here already!" Pawmi called out.

"R-Right! I'm going!" she replied, rushing away.

Pawmi held on tight as she galloped under the tree's roots. He looked back and saw the seviper peeling out of his skin and leaving a dry husk behind shaped like him. He looked their way and effortlessly passed through the barrier as if it wasn't even there as he gave chase.

Pawmi gave a yelp of horror. Oh, jeez! He sure hoped Girafarig could run!

Watching the landscape from a branch on the sole tree in the field, a pokémon - if he could even call himself one - watched as pokémon far larger than he was were battling. A shieldon and an escavalier. Either way, it didn't concern him.

Frowning sternly as he stood on his hind legs with arms crossed, he clicked his tongue. What a waste of time coming here had been. He'd sensed it: answers to the questions that had plagued him all his life were here somewhere. Hiding, either well or in plain view. He hadn't seen jack the whole time he'd been here, though.

Perhaps it was time to go back. He was sure the human back at Unity Square would have a mission for him to complete, for additional funds to fuel his search.

The search... for who he was.

He reached into his bag for an escape orb. As its glassy surface brushed his paws, he felt a familiar sense of 'danger' in his horn.

"Hm?" he murmured curiously, looking around. He faintly saw some commotion happening far, far below. Within the roots of the tree, a pawmi was riding a girafarig. They were being chased by a seviper.

... Tsk. He didn't have time for this.

The pokémon pulled out the escape orb. A crystal orb filled with an inky black, save for the bright core within and the colorful lights dotted throughout.

He stared at it. He huffed and threw it back into his bag, looking back down towards the pokémon far below.

After another pause, he smirked to himself. "... Guess the extra training couldn't hurt," he murmured.

Frowning again, he leapt off the branch and went into a free fall to the lands below. His eyes widened when he saw glowing meteors falling all around him, brimming with immense power. A Draco Meteor which had split off into many.

He landed on one on his fours and pounced off it. He leapt from Draco Meteor to Draco Meteor as he aimed to get ahead of the pokémon below.

Things were set to get interesting.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Finished: 01/02 (Feburary)/2025

Word count: 12,168

VGS2's sausage notes: Fuck me, this one took forever XD I'm so, so sorry for delaying for so long!

Admittedly, I guess I was sort of burnt out! Last year was sort of rough for me, admittedly. The Palworld lawsuit, politics (mostly on my side of the pond, mind. At least you yanks can debate how shit yours are!), personal stuff, (unwisely) trying to write a new project, and etc etc all built together to put me the fuck off writing Questing.

Well, I'm back, now, bitches! And hopefully for even longer this time, before I crash out again! :D

Incidentally, speaking of that project, check out my AO3 profile for my new edgy PikaBun fic, End Of Days! It's a Choose Your Own Adventure that focuses on romance and grit! Should be fun for alllll the family! :P

Today's shameless promotion: When Sparks Fly

Author: ravengal

Universe: Pokémon Adventures manga

Main species: Pikachu, Pikachu and trainers (Yellow and Red)

Summary: Pika meets Chuchu, and the two immediately take a liking to each other! But perhaps there's more to their stories than meets the eye… From GSC onwards, through the eyes of Red and Yellow's pikachu, as the two mice bond, fall in love… and watch their trainers try to sort out their own awkward relationship.

Romance: Plenty! Multiple ships!

Wackiness: Lots, thanks to quirky character interactions!

Lewdness: Perhaps a little, eventually (considering canon)!

Action: Plenty, thanks to trainer battles!

Grittiness: Some! Has drama here and there!

Length: Looks to be moderately long!

I don't often read fics about anything that's not a pikachu or buneary, but when I do, it's a bloody good one, like this! It's great at teaching you about the manga's events if you've never read before, and even so, it can be read without ever giving a shit about the manga, if you just want some pokémon antics! Highly recommended!

With that said, go bloody drop it a comment, so we can offset all the shitty commissioner scam posts that have been cropping up lately on FFN. XD

Fun mistakes of the day:

1: 'One she'd learned the ropes, the two of them had stepped aside and let her do some of the fighting herself.'
(The oldest of the mistakes, because this one was in the original Questing. XD Whoops.)

2: 'Thankfully, they'd walked past the scary purple and spiky board reserved for renegades board'
(You know it's a bad neighborhood when even the boards are becoming renegades...)

3: 'but Corsola came free '
(Hot!)

4: 'Buneary tried to nook'
("Thanks, much!" *Takes everyone's mortgage money*)

5: "Remember to us The Bounce on 'em!"
(Hot!)

6: "It's a boy"
(Wow... XD I was supposed to type 'about', but a lot of shenanigans took place, apparently, and now Maractus is either describing the outlaw's gender, or is announcing her pregnancy with Cacturne's child. You decide!)

7: "It's a about a C-raaank~!" Maractus sang.
(She's terrified about taking it on, so she stuttered.)

8: "Rank C? We're doing a rank D?" she asked in disbelief.
(I don't blame you for being in disbelief, there.)

9: "Whoa! Who's there!?" he said, twisting to face the rriver.
(It's been so long, I don't even remember what this is supposed to say, so sure, he's facing a double-r river.)

10: 'so sure, he's racing a double-r river.'
(Never mind, I guess he's racing it, instead!)

11: "Well no worries, kiddo!" Maractus chimed. "We wanted to nap"
(I don't know how that's going to help, but okay! Zzz)

12: 'She was nearly floored by the sigh of an utterly humongous tree.'
(Must have been a displeased trevenant, or something!)

13: '"Hoo boy..." she heard Gumpig mutter.'
(The new mascot for Extra spearmint...)

14: 'but the bird went straight through her and crashed right into the dirt. eventually crashing into the dirt.'
(He crashed into it hard enough to come out the other end of the planet and then crash into it again, apparently!)

15 'Even Grumpig was affected by Intimidate, actually fuck, Own Tempo doesn't allow that, lol'
(Kek, whoops. this is why you should always research pokémon before using them, even if you think you know everything!)

16: 'One that had, thankfully, shrunkern with them.'
(When a sunkern enters this dungeon, it evolves into this)

17: 'She flopped which she flopped onto her head,'
(Ouch! Reminds me of when I try to play Twisted Metal 3!)

18: 'While she pondered, she heard a void call out from somewhere.'
(Oh, lord, don't answer its call, Buneary! NOOOOOO! *Buneary disappears without a trace*)

19: 'the escavalier said, pointing a lancer at the dinosaur.'
(He doesn't like doing his own lancing, so he carries around someone who does it for him!)

20: 'Tears seemed to form in her yes'
(Too bad. I like that band.)

20: 'so if this guy's inner energy was too stronger than what Pawmi could dish out…'
(His English is probably too stronger than Pawmi's, too.)

ravengal's Shallow Waters chapter 31 (Reminiscent Reveries)

21: "[You've gone doodoo on you head!]"
(Gross! There's a reason Happiny usually has to wear that diaper thing, I guess...)

22: 'He struggled to rebalance himself as she huffed him tightly'
(Buneary's favourite drug.)

23: 'She shrieked, diving towards warmth and comfort, and slamming her face into Pikachu's face.'
(Ouch! What is this, Difference-Maker?)

ravengal's Shallow Waters chapter 32 (Emotional Enlightenment)

24: 'Pikachu was still in shock, hoe'
(*Oh no you di'nt! *Clicks fingers sassily*)

25: "My, uh... feelings or Misty."
(Damn, he's gotta choose, huh?)

26: 'He glanced around briefly, and his eyes landed on the items in Ash's nads'
(Leave Ash's poor sperms alone, you degenerate!)

27: 'maybe he'd be able to sleep a bitter better, too, now.'
(When you don't have sweet dreams...)

28: 'Those poor peas were being forced to pat now…'
(You lying sack of shit, you will pat for this!)

ravengal's Catching the Waves (Multiple chapters, lol)

29: 'He meat it, too.'
(Don't grind Riolu into meat!)

30: "We're here," Kellyn said. "Where's 'here'?" Dawn asked, her waves confused. "Where I dicked my boat."
(Nights can be lonely on the ocean...)

ravengal's secret project, Once Upon A Love [Name pending]

31: 'He'd given a loud sigh of relief when she'd son'
(The birth of Buneary's little boy brought great joy and comfort!)

32: 'There was even a tint of cheeks on her cheeks'
(Face sitting is illegal in Britain! You're going to jail!)

33: 'She'd asked Flora to let her go. Why? For... persona reasons.'
(Something, something, Joker. (Not the bat one))

ravengal's A Gracious Gift chapter 43 (Recollections)

34: "You based your head on that rock,"
(When Pikachu gets plastic surgery so he can look like Dwayne Johnson.)

35: "(I was fighting... Team Rocket, I think? And they blew me)"
(When Krazyshipping gets out of hand)

ravengal's new pikachu-centric manga fic, When Sparks Fly, which you saw advertised up there, now go read it

36: 'Pika clicked his tongue in milk'
(He's become a cat. Either way, a certain staraptor approves.)

37: 'Chuchu diddled to herself'
(Thanks to the D and G being close to each other, the scene almost went entirely differently. M-Rating immediately! :D)

38: 'Yellow accidentally sets Entei, Raikou and Suicide free'
(Damn. Sounds like she needs a therapist! (These are notes, by the way, look forward to this scene when it happens!)

39: 'Pika looked up to see the snorlax grinning as him'
(Invasion of the body snatching snorlaxes)

40: 'He wasn't sure how the snorlax cold'
(He apparently doesn't have Thick Fat, which might explain it.)

41: 'The pikachu nooded'
(She's very lewd! Though most pikachus are nude, technically, so...)

42: 'The pikachu subconsciously touched the spot on his left ear where the scar used to be. The scar that the Elite Fur had left on him.'
('Fur is murder' indeed...!)

43: '"What's that one, Uncle?" Yellow asked, pooing'
(Yellow plays The Binding Of Isaac and gets the wrong idea.)

44: 'Pika looked up to see her wiping sweat off her brown'
(She hasn't learnt her lesson, as you can see.)

Sunhat Leafeon's Just Take It chapter 16 (Who Needs Saving?)

45: '"Quite curious, indeed," V huffed. He ran his ass through his mane.'
(What did the eevee do, bend his body backwards and comb it with his cheeks?)

- ravengal writes something while waiting for me to get back bonus! -

"Whoa, whoa, hey!" Pawmi shouted, trying to get the girafarig he was riding to calm down and hear him. Her tail tried to snap at him again, so he yowled loudly and tried to push it away with his foot. "C-Cut it out, will ya!?"

Rising from the soil, blending in perfectly with the 'tall' blades of grass, was a leafeon. No, not that leafeon. This grassy fox was wearing a sunhat.

"Did I hear someone yowl?!" he asked excitedly. "That's almost as good as a yap! Or even... a brap!" Rocketing forwards on his crop-dusting powers, spraying nasty brown plant food everywhere, he headed straight for the duo, who were still riding along. "Meowdy!"

- And again, lol -

Pawmi's face went hot. "Uh... don't worry about that! Look, just come with me, and I'll help ya! Well, someone will!"

Girafarig looked at him hopefully. "Y-You will?"

"Yeah! Just... ya know, follow. From a lil' distance."

She beamed. "Great! Then can we finally get to the story of the main shipping?"

He laughed heartily. "Hell no! We've still got fifty more OC introductions to get through! Forward... march!"

She slumped comedically. "Oh... silly me for just wanting them to meet soon..."

"You got that right," her tail replied.

Canned laughter followed the statement, and then everyone exploded and died from the Draco Meteor. The end!

'Ight, that's it. Peace out, my Questers! 😎