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There were times Grunt A really hated the rain in Po Town. There were the usual inconveniences, yeah, like the leaks and slippery walkways. But the main downside? Constant storms. Which meant getting used to the crashing noise of lightning, eventually, and not having an excuse to be huddled up like a scared lil Grubbin in the dead of night. He was a big, bad member of the biggest, baddest gang in Alola! What was he doin’ having nightmares about some spooky hotel back in Canalave?!
It was the dead of night, too…sure as hell wasn’t going to be anyone else up at this point, and still way too early to try waiting it out ‘til morning. Getting back to sleep seemed like a pipe dream, though, with all the creaks and groans the Shady House was making. That…thing back in Canalave, it started hanging around the hotel after it was abandoned, right? What if one of ‘em moved into the Shady House before Team Skull moved in??
Alright, so he definitely wasn’t staying put in bed, then. Making his way around a couple other still sleeping Grunts as quietly as he could, Grunt A slipped out into the hallway. Messing with big sis Plumeria’s beauty sleep was its own category of death wish, but their boy Guzma was usually pretty chill about nightmares, rough exterior aside. Still, kinda embarrassing – at least to Grunt A – so he was glad the halls were empty while on his way.
…scratch that, mostly empty. A soft sound was all the warning he got before a trio of Grunts showed up on the stairs behind him, making him jump near outta his skin. Two of them were almost his age, he figured, assuring their lil newbie third that Boss would help. Hoping to distract from how startled he’d been, he started talking. “Y-yo! What’re you doin’ out here?”
One of the older ones snapped her attention over to him immediately. “Gonna go see the boss, what’s it to ya?” The other older Grunt was quick to give him a once-over, too. “What are YOU doin’ here?”
“...uhhhh….” Well, okay, shit, there went his plan of getting to Boss undetected. Time to improvise. “Mannin’ the halls, yo! Ain’t no bad shit gonna get to Team Skull with me bein’ hall monitor!”
“I never knew we had a hall monitor?”
“Tch, shows what you know! I only come out at night!” Grunt A puffed out his chest, trying to project a cool image.
Of course, that was instantly deflated, and by none other than the newbie, too. “But I see you at lunch every day?”
“Well! Monitor gotta eat, too!” It was a weak save, but it seemed to do the trick – for the newbie, at least. The older two were obviously still skeptical. Now that he could get a better look at them, he could identify Grunt M as the one that had responded first, and Grunt Z as the other. As for the newbie…Grunt L, maybe? Shit, he hadn’t been keeping up with the newer ones. Coming back to his senses, he realized he should probably, y’know stop standing around like some weirdo blocking their path. Clearing his throat, he started up again. “So you’re on ya way to see the boss, huh? Guess I gotta lead ya there myself. No tellin’ what spooky shit might be creepin’ these halls at night!”
Grunt L cringed at the comment, not needing more reasons to be nervous right then, prompting Grunt M to come to the rescue. “Knock it off! We know there ain’t nuthin’ more scary here than Goli goin’ after Pokébeans!”
“Shows what you know!” Grunt A scoffed. “Back in Canalave, we had this Pokémon that’d creep ’round durin’ the night, striking on the eve of a new moon. And you’d always know it’s around, too! When it’s near, every dream ya have gets turned into a nightmare!” The girls shuddered, huddling a bit closer together. “And if it ever gets ya…” Grunt A leaned in close, lowering his voice to optimize the horror. “Ya fall dead asleep! And ya never wake back up.”
“S-shut up yo!” Grunt M chastised, all three of them clinging together at that point.
Grunt L eeked quietly, already looking around, paranoid. “C-could that Pokemon come to Po Town?”
Grunt A stood up straight again, copying Grunt L’s surveying almost casually. “It’s a long way to Sinnoh from here. Maybe it can’t…or maybe it’s already here.” Thanks to the perpetual storm outside, lightning struck right then, highlighting the moment perfectly – and the large silhouette now standing before the Grunts. It’s amazing their collective screams didn’t wake up half the Shady House.
“Th’ fuck’s goin on here?” An all-too familiar voice cut through the screaming.
Guzma had issues with insomnia – anyone with eyes could pick up on the bags under his own. This had just been another night dealing with it, going down from his room to get a midnight snack, only to stumble across the little group of campers instead. The girls peeked out from behind their hands – or from behind one of the taller Grunts, in Grunt L’s case – and immediately descended upon their Boss once they recognized him, crying about scary spook Pokémon lurking around the house.
“Woah woah woah! Th’ fuck–?” Aight, well, he’d been thinking Tapu Cocoa, but looks like he was getting two arms full of upset Grunts instead. All three of them were talking at once, making it so that he could figure out heads or tails of what they were going on about, ’til he spotted Grunt A nervously standing off to the side. Once the Skull Leader got his arms free again, he crossed them over his chest, waiting for an explanation from the Grunts. He already knew what’d happened – he just wanted to hear it himself, is all. “So, who’s gonna spill it?”
Sheepishly, Grunt L hid behind her taller compatriots again. Grunt M spoke up, mentioning that the younger Grunt had gotten scared because of a nightmare, so she and Grunt Z had been bringing her to see the Boss himself. “Then Mr. HALL MONITOR here starts tellin’ his stupid scary stories!”
“They ain’t stories! They real! I saw it happen, yo!”
The kids started bickering again, much to their Boss’ dismay. He sure as hell was not willing to deal with this at Arceus-knows-when in the AM. “Aight, enough a’ that! Y’all wanna wake up the whole house?”
That got them to quiet down, the unspoken threat of a disturbed Plumeria hanging heavy in the air. It did nothing to abate their fear or nervousness, unfortunately. Guzma gave a heavy sigh, knowing none of them were going to want to go back to their rooms tonight, before grudgingly leading the way back to his own room. He stopped Grunt A at the door, though, sending the girls on in first. “Just gotta have a talk with the Hall Monitor, here.”
Guzma shut the door, leaning on it as he turned to level Grunt A with “the look.” The Grunt in question squirmed for about a full minute – a new record, definitely – before fessing up. “Uh, h-had a nightmare, Boss… ’Bout that Pokémon.”
The Skull Leader rolled his eyes, sighing again as he dragged the kid into the room as well. “C’mon, brat.”
“What’s HE doing here?” Grunt Z piped up, already having burrowed into the bed.
“Hall monitor gotta be ‘round ta keep watch, don’t ‘e?” Guzma supplied, covering for the scared boy before motioning for the girls to scoot over. With some maneuvering to avoid squishing anyone, he got himself set in bed, the Grunts quickly piling on top of him.
“Good night, Boss!”
“Night, brats.” The kids dozed off quickly, leaving Guzma just laying there in the impromptu cuddle pile, thinking. Something seemed off…
A few minutes later, Golisopod decided to pop out of its Pokéball, chirring curiously at the mound on the bed before flopping down to join the Skull pile. Guzma hummed to himself from where he was now squished – that’s what had been missing.
Just another night in Shady house.
FIN