Chapter Text
Chapter 1-1: El Torre de Estrellitas, el inicio
“You can get all your stuff back after the questioning.” The voice was rough, itchy like sandpaper as it cut the surrounding air for dominance and not much else. It was attached to a Gumshoos, his voice doing more to impose his presence than the rest of his body, which kept itself distanced a few feet away, his head dead-on with his eyes and their horizontal pupils aiming downward to catch the eyes of the smaller Pokemon. “Protocol, you know?”
“What about my bag?” One of the sitting Pokemon, an Archen, voiced his frustration with more force than his senior, with a screech to his words that sounded almost as if his throat wasn't capable of handling his cadence. Each over-exaggerated movement of his mouth to speak revealed his small teeth which seemed to shine, especially in comparison to his body mostly hidden by an oversized cloak clearly meant for a larger Pokemon. “And my mask, you can’t just take my mask!”
“Cease at once, Cadet Adrian,” the Tinkatink to his right commanded, her voice being pushed under by itself and coming back up more sharp, almost like a softer version of the Gumshoos’ voice. “It's a rudimentary procedure, and we must show our unalloyed respect for their procedures.”
“Don’t start with those big words on me,” the Archen screeched. “Also, don’t tell them my name, Seva.”
The one named Seva just threw the other a smirk. “I must stay professional and educated if I want to succinctly command my men. Understand the subtleties of war, my friend.”
“Markcus has got to stop letting you watch all of those old human war movies.”
“This is an excellent paradigm for why I was chosen for Commander.”
Adrian just gave her a glare initially. “Don't–”
“Can you two not start?” The third Pokemon, a Nymble, spoke over the Rock-type, tilting his downward facing head slightly in the direction of the quarreling duo. Much of his upper body past his head was covered by a black scarf, one that openly wore its signs of usage with the patches of replacement fabric in several places down to the garment’s resting place on his front legs.
“Don't butt in, Adujo,” Adrian retaliated, mimicking the smaller Pokemon’s motion, his eyes and brows not having the energy to realign themselves with the bird's attitude.
“Well, no need to ask your names then,” the Gumshoos cut in, his arms folded as he leaned against the room's large desk, clearly made to account for a large Pokemon as its splinterless wood and possibly stainless steel almost carried their scent across the room.
Adujo's head lowered further as he slouched, revealing the marking of a bell on his left folded leg. “Good going, Adry.”
“Don't call me–”
“I apologize for these two,” Seva took control again. “This interaction will not create a future contingency, mister…”
“Hein,” the Gumshoos nodded, his golden brown hair still masking his eyes. “Balkenlux Gumshoos Hein.”
“Sir Hein. We are grateful for your hospitality, and I pray an allyship will sprout from this night.” The Fairy type sat more forward with a bent posture in her chair, reaching out a three-digit hand towards the older Pokemon. A smirk bounced to life with a glint in her eyes.
The mongoose Pokemon first took it with just a glance, raising his head and bringing his eyes into view just a bit more. Then… nothing, as the three just continued to stare at the Tinkatink, one with an indecipherable look and the other with infallible embarrassment. The Gumshoos came forward, lowering his right clawed paw to shake her hand, a single shake. He stepped back to his original spot half-leaning on the desk.
“Anyway,” Hein nodded with his head held a little lower than before, “you'll get your stuff back after questioning. You're technically guests together, but you know how it is, don't you all?”
“Enforcing a more strict but still loose protocol for security reasons,” the more eager young Pokemon added on. “Quite effective, literally and metaphorically. I'm presuming you and your men have secret means to detect potential threats, like a Psychic-type who will evaluate our minds at some point to determine our true intentions. I can guarantee you that we are here for the sole purpose of entertainment.” This long-winded reply got intensified stares from her allies on her right.
“What about her,” the adult Pokemon said, pointing a lazy claw past Seva.
Further away from everyone else was a Shuppet, staring at the floor with emotions that could've been anywhere from misplaced excitement to anxiety to boredom. Her species’ signature unicorn horn stuck out from her head, phasing through the helmet that had seen its fair share of use with several scratches, scuffs, and discolorations that made it appear older than its user. The helmet only remained out of her head by a thin, shadowy arm that was surrounded in purple mist, sprouting from under her body next to a similarly uncanny arm gripping some blank tags. The peach-colored paint on the wall behind her was just barely visible, through her seeming close to a very dark bluish-orange. Her eyes had a tri pattern of yellow-purple-blue, contrasting heavily with her blue-gray “skin”, or whatever the fabric like flesh she was made of was covered in as it swayed slightly like a blanket.
“Why would she not be represented in the ensemble,” the so-called leader answered, presenting another cheek-to-cheek smile. “That’s Uny, but she prefers to float rather than sit.”
This last sentence prompted the Gumshoos to finally turn his side, aiming his arm for the mess of papers behind him. A glance of his linear eyes downward towards them, his sharpened claws shifted through them. He pushed short stacks along, pausing to read the header of several of them for a short time. The colliding and movement of documents making a rapid flipping sound somehow overpowered the faint celebration just outside, spreading the sawdust-mixed dampness with furthered intensity. Soon, he paused on one in particular. Even from a distance, the burning-hot red emblem at the top on this document stood out. Separating it from the rest, the man named Hein quickly got to writing on it, the contents of which can only be inferred from his occasional glances at the young squad.
“Okay, I got that down. Now, what is your original hometown?”
…
A whole hour, a whole fricking hour!” Adrian screeched, his scratchy growls racing down the hallway after him, rolling off the wooden walls with nothing to stop its dead ahead stride. “That guy had no sense of time!” Atop his head now resided a strange head mask, one that seemed like a mix of a Dragonite and Dragalge with its thin, elongated snout and small eyes that almost seemed to glimmer.
“Hold your tongue, Adrian,” Seva voiced, tightening the grip on her azure hammer, the small weapon that nearly resembled a mallet with its lack of width tapping rhythmically against her leg as she walked. Like the Archen, she also now had headgear. It was a helmet, seemingly made of bronze, that closely resembled the gear of old that the humans used to use, with its curved opening that gave its owner visibility, and what looked like a small broom on top. “Hesitate to cavil about their protocol, we have more pressing matters.” She spoke with a less harsh voice but still had to force additional volume against the nearby streets of Ducommar Town below, which was creating enough noise to fill a theater.
“Who knows if we’ll even have time,” the Rock-type continued growling with a sniffle. The clawing in his throat was reduced to shivers but he kept on speaking. “And you didn’t ask about security.” He was met immediately, not by Seva's retorts, but by a blue blur nearly knocking him by the stomach to the floor.
“I don’t want to make it seem like I'm giving you penance or impunity but you run off with your words,” she finally added, as the bird Pokemon stumbled back. “And those details are not for this town's ears.”
“Seva, look around.” The Dual type stood behind Seva, holding out his right wing and hovering it before the rest of the hallway. It was a kind of vacancy that would almost indicate that a place was abandoned. The first few doors were left wide open, offering easy access to their Pokemon-less interiors. Each door led to a different part of the town's guild, all of areas less glamorized. One was for legal matters seemingly, with the mountains and mountains of papers within practically carving a pathway to every corner of its walls, enough to press the scent of the desks out into the hallway and not helping with the dampness that flew out into the air. On its left was a kitchen, with pots, pans, bowls, and several utensils naturally scattered across the room, as if an entire group had cooked in it and just left. On the right was an office, with desk, bulletins, cabinets for multiple people, and several random items like a very used dart board, a cup housing at least a dozen pens, and… a bed. “You could rob this place blind while screeching like an Aerodactyl and be fine.”
“Adry's right,” Adujo nodded, raising his head partly. “They haven't even gotten out the last of the firewood for the Tower of Stardust.”
“Or El Torre de Estrellitas,” Uny quietly interjected.
“Torre of Estrellitas, huh? You know Southern Civil-Nexum?”
“The posters,” Uny corrected, adjusting her helmet. “Posters had it.”
“Fascinating,” Seva said with a snap of her fingers. “Astute observation, Uny. They accounted for a wide gamut, sure, but all the way to Vieo? Does this town have the capacity?”
“Eh, it's easier now when everyone isn't freezing their asses off,” Adrian nodded, stepping to one of the ‘windows’ and peering out.
Down below was a packed street, numerous Pokemon walking and talking and running about. There was a Houndoom with a Pansage and Magby practicing with fire in one street corner, catching the angered attention of a passerby Ferrothorn and Doublade. A group of six or so Pawniard stood close behind, all wearing differently colored scarves or armbands, discussed with one another. A Chespin and Fennekin duo played atop one of the rooftops of the town’s many buildings, not far from a snuggling Nidorina and Whimsicott duo. Back on the street, a Politoed was doing water-related tricks for a small crowd of baby Pokemon, just around the corner from a Marill selling frozen ice; there were a band of Water type and Ghost type musicians playing music for a small group dancing to a 1-2-3 step rhythm or completely freestyle. There were dozens of Pokemon in the street, of several different types but notably mostly of the same size, spreading out in 4 directions across seemingly endless cobblestone roads all the way to the entrance to Ducommar Town, its gates wide open for the festival. It had to be one of the best views of the entrance, given that the guild, with its size and numerous rooms and floors, was the tallest structure in the town (regardless of if it paled in comparison to even the meekest attempts by humans).
“Jeez, it wasn't this full when we got here,” the Archen grumbled, resting his wings on the stone slab as he peered out at the crowd.
“A lot of people our age too,” Adujo added, hopping onto Adrian's head.
“Hopefully you all comprehend the need for urgency and secrecy. As easily as we can hide things in the crowd, any unwanted attention will be a call to the gallows for us.”
“Calm it, Seva, we're not no Binge Explorers or Guild Ordination Destinators. What's the harm of some dumb young mer–”
Like before, the masked Pokemon was met by the quick discipline of a miniature hammer, this time narrowly avoiding Adujo. “You run off at the mouth too much, my fellow warrior-in-training.”
“Arceus, you'll be a pain when you're a Tinkaton,” the bird muttered under his breath in-between struggling coughs.
“These issues will cease by then,” the leader of the squad said with a formal grin.
Adujo rolled his eyes at this continued back-and-forth, focusing his attention back on the people down below. “Hey, that guy looks familiar…” This sentence pulled the trio over like a magnet.
“What are you insinuating,” the Fairy type said, tightening her grip on her hammer.
“Look over there, by the Lombre and Mawile,” the Bug type explained, pointing a foot in the general direction.
The spot he pointed to was cluttered with several passing Pokemon, mostly in duo or full groups, their attention on their sights around them or each other. But right in the middle of that clutter was a pair of purple ears. Pointy like his fangs and floppy like a Lopunny, they seemed almost translucent as the face of a Jolteon appeared partly through his ears. As the crowd shuffled and changed in shape, it became clear that these ears belonged to a Haunter, particularly a Haunter with longer, flowing spikes and maroon colored eyes compared to the norm of his species. In one of his large disembodied hands were papers, messy and high in quantity as his other hand realigned the occasional slumping or slipping piece and his eyes scanning their contents with random glances upward, his mouth running off without pause. Just as notable as his hair-like spikes was the white beret in the tuft of ‘hair’ that rested between his large ears, sticking out against the rest of his plum-colored appearance.
“Yeah, you're right, I swear I've seen that guy somewhere,” the louder member said half to himself, making goggles of his wings. “Especially that look in his eyes.”
“I share your sentiment. But who–”
“Hey, Uny, ain't that Yuen,” the smallest Pokemon interrupted, turning to the Shuppet, who had just been silently watching. Continuing the trend of his words seeming to have considerable strength, the Ghost type shot back, her helmet almost flying off of her head. It trembled in her grasp as her tri-color eyes rattled in their metaphorical sockets and her cloth-like body rippled even more harshly against the light wind of the early spring's night.
“Y-Yuen,” was all the less contributory Pokemon could say, her mouth fighting to stay open.
“Yeah, the actor you were telling us about. Ain't that him?”
The fleshless Pokemon swallowed a lump in the throat she didn't have, floating forward to peek out at the alleged Haunter. She can feel 6 eyes focusing in on her face, prompting sparse wobbles of the aged helmet. Then, she leaned forward hastily. The patterns in her eyes surged with bewildered glowing.
She moved back, nodding off to the street. “Yes,” she affirmed with shaky pronunciation. When the trio stuck to extended silence, she finally turned her eyes to them. “Uh, th-th-tha.. tha-that.. the Haunter you see is Yuen. Tora Haunter Yuen, h-h-h-he.. he.. Yuen’s an actor, y'know, of theater and that stuff. I-I.. You guys saw a picture of him, that I-I-I.. that came from a show tha-that he, Yuen, was in. It was ‘A Cruel Attract.’ Uh, it's an older story but he was one of the main characters in the revival that began in Northern Vieo. Y-Y-Yue-Yuen, uh, is good at emotional range, so, uh…” She eventually just stopped speaking.
“Aw great, she's got a stutter,” Adrian groaned, staring back at the street first.
“Watch your words, Adrian,” Seva warned, casting a glare in his direction. “Where Uny fails in consistent communication, she excels in her paranormal capabilities, of which she won't be bogged down by your quotidian attitude.”
“Yeah yeah,” the bird further lamented. He shook his head again, now with greater mobility all of a sudden. He looked away to find an explanation, to quickly see that Adujo was gone. He jumped from the realization. “Annnnnnnnd Adujo's gone.” This caught the attention of the other two, who quickly looked up to Adrian's head to verify that the Nymble had disappeared. Eyes darted all around the guild building's second floor; the floor, the vacant rooms, even the upper and lower floor to the best of their ability. However, the smallest member was nowhere to be seen.
“Where could he have gone,” Seva still dashed her eyes around.
“Maybe a strong Pokemon–”
“Uny, who's snatching anyone in plain sight of like a hundred Pokemon, that was rhetorical.” That response shut the Ghost up incredibly fast.
“Let's check the floor above first,” the weapon-welding Pokemon proposed.
Following Seva, the three approached the stairs at the end of the hall, the line leader staring up through the stairwell. She began to ascend the stairs.
“Hey guys!” It was Adujo, that familiar deep, gravely voice that sounded almost unfamiliar at such a volume. Adrian's head shot in the direction of the call, turning his head every which way to find its location. The Ghost and Commander followed suit. All three looked out at the street, greeted again by the sea of different Pokemon, almost resembling one of those guessing game picture books that Dion would have. A repeated call for his teammates powered their search. Adrian leaned over the edge of the stone slab to get a closer look, narrowly avoiding the strings of amateurly done illustrations hung from building to building in the area.
Then, a flash of bluish-gray, and the Archen almost fell down two stories to find the glimpse. In the middle of the cluster was Adujo. He just barely peered out from the crowd on an obscured platform, shaking a leg to urge the others to come over. With haste, the following allied Pokemon complied, making their way down the stairs and out into the street, paying no mind to the several mid-stage Pokemon relaxing and conversing all around the front entrance. The loud murmurs from behind had escalated to drilling rumblings of sound, the conversations of hundreds of different people colliding and mashing together. Mixes of multiple different dialects and even the rare instance of Southern Civil-Nexum distracted from the moving of the sensation of dampness to the earth. The trio shuffled through the crowd, Uny poking above the height of a lot of them as they moved dead ahead for their Nymble companion who had lived up to his species’ reputation.
Then, the same flash of bluish-gray, and the Bug type was within their sights. Moving closer, and Uny floated to be in-between the other two, having a higher eye line that let her see Adujo first… sitting on the shifting hand of Tora Haunter Yuen, stopping the Ghost dead in her tracks. Adujo lowered his head as his eyes met hers, spotting the shocked Pokemon a grin.
“Guess who I found,” he sang as the Flying type and Fairy type caught up, both sharing a sliver of Uny's frozen surprise. “This is the guy, right, Uny?”
The horned Pokemon could do nothing to hide herself as her wobbly pupil patterns stood in place of words. The Haunter looked up at her. Those eyes, with their warm presence, equally capable of great affection and anger, stared back, filled with a distant but equally fulfilling pleasure. The pointed ears, equally sharp and yet appearing as soft as silk, stood up like antennae to the sky, a striking disposition in contrast to his smooth back spikes, flowing like the stream in a serene waterfall, leading down to his tail like end and leading the eyes back up to his face, undisturbed and perfected beyond belief. He
“Uny!” Seva called out, the yell knocking the phantom Pokemon out of her thoughts and almost to the ground. Uny snapped back to reality, looking back around her and ending up back at the fellow Ghost type.
“He said he'll get a picture with ya,” the Nymble nodded with a smile. The Shuppet again could only nod. Hopping off of Yuen's hand, the Nymble nodded his head in his direction for his floating friend, urging her to move forward. As she did, Adrian reached into the group's bag and handed it to the Bug type, completely unwilling to do the honor. With the help of his tucked away legs, Adujo balanced the camera on his head (with Seva holding it steady) before the Pokemon besides the Haunter could even prepare herself. A quick flash of white, and it was over. The fan’s shadowy arms dropped, and their owner quickly realized that they had been raised the entire time. The actor flashed her another grin.
“Heard you're a big fan of me!”
Uny could only stare back.
“Are you here for the show?”
She just nodded quickly.
“I'm flattered. Hope my performance was worth coming all this way,” he continued with a peace sign. ‘He's so friendly…’ “Y'know, when the war's over, maybe I'll be able to tour in more places. Hey, maybe they'll do a revival of ‘Midnight Dawn,’ and I'll actually act good this time!” ‘What’s he talking about, that was a million times better than all my stuff at Zap's…’
“I'm excited,” the smaller Ghost type finally murmured.
“That's great to hear! Actually, you know what?” His eyes approached the helmet, and before he could open his mouth again, the young fan was always holding up an old marker. Finding a grip around the chew marks, the Haunter grabbed it from her and put his signature on her helmet, the aged white ink hardening under the slightly wet headgear.
There was some silence as the performer returned the marker, and Uny could barely keep eye contact. Her eyes were spiraling. Some more silence, and the larger Ghost type clapped his three-digit hands together.
“Well,” he grinned, “I'll be off for the show, hopefully I'll see you then!” And like that, he was off. The Shuppet let back in a breath that she didn't need. The only thing she could do is continually tap her helmet, checking for any pain.
“What was that,” she murmured in confusion, barely audible in the crowd.
“Well, it said he’d be performing here on one of those flyers you have,” Adujo nodded. “Not that you really hid any of those flyers,” he mumbled. He hopped back onto Adrian’s dragon helmet, having a much better look at the festival-goers. “Hey, you got an autograph!”
“You run off a lot for a guy who can barely reach my neck in height,” the Archen steered the conversation with an unserious growl. “And jeez, everyone here’s so loud, can’t hear a thing!” He raised up his wings, forcing additional space for himself and making a nearby Scyther move out of the way with a sharp glare. A second one came his way from his Tinkatink friend.
“The front entrance is full, what an astounding revelation,” she mouthed off, rolling her eyes with a rare sight of attitude. “Cease.” She walked ahead, disappearing into the river of Pokemon. Several meters away, the familiar helmet with a bristled top reappeared above most of the heads, in the company of the Marill stand. The Fairy type no longer was as she entered the series of moving Pokemon. The commotion continued on for what felt like several minutes until a tinkle of gold flashed for a split second and the helmet returned to the audience. An air of nickel, and the Commander appeared. Both her hands were occupied now, the right with her familiar hammer, but now the left gripped a map, with the most minor damage as if it had been lightly used or recently printed. She lifted up her left arm, holding the map up to Uny.
“You’re our paranormal eyes, Cadet Uny,” she proclaimed with a light smile. “You’ll be our eyes in the sky now.”
“Oh, so she gets two jobs now,” Adrian joked. “Didn’t know you played favorites.”
The Fairy type chuckled. “You’re quick to accuse, aren’t you?”
“And you’re quick to question. But why must we discuss this between just us two? Uny.” The bird looked up, pointing a wing to the Pokemon of discussion. “You decide this.”
“Shouldn’t this be a conversation between us women then, Adrian?”
“You know she wouldn’t say a thing out here otherwise.” He looked back up, an amused grin on his face. “All eyes on you then, Uny.”
“Why’s it always that,” the Shuppet mumbled with a hint of annoyance. “You can’t even hear me here, can’t we go somewhere else to talk this out?” Neither one gave a response. “Yeah, I’m fine with map duty.”
The Dual type looked back down, his satisfied smile showing off his few dagger-like teeth. “So it’s settled. Where next, O Great Leader?”
“O Great Leader? Please, I can’t guarantee that level of tutelage, but you can do what you like.”
“Do you know this place’s layout,” Adujo cut in-between the duo’s renewed bickering. The Tinkatink turned her head, giving the Nymble a glance out of the corner of her eye.
“That we are here to discover,” she nodded, adjusting her helmet, its apparent bronze shining proudly under the many streetlights that lined Ducommar Town's streets. “There's still 3 hours until the Tower of Stardust is lit. Remember, it stays lit for the entire night, but the town is gathered for 10 minutes in its vicinity, which will be just enough time.”
The Pokemon closest to her lowered his wings. “One debriefing is enough for you? For the love of Mew, we're going to get slaughtered, aren't we?”
“With all four of us? I couldn't dream of failure befalling us tonight. A quintessential element of war is to know how to utilize weaknesses. But my distraction is preduring now. Heh, it seems as though I've picked up your inclinations. Regardless, let us continue on. We have a lot to see. Should anything happen, we rendezvous back at the guild.”
The four continued to move through the crowd, the three on the ground barely poking above the sea of faces. Adujo stood high, staring out at the scenery. Few Pokemon rose above the rest: notably some older Pokemon like a Charizard strutting with a guild badge and scarf on her person and walking with an excess of pride, and Furret who stayed solitary and still in the shifting filled streets, periodically using a camera, with its signature bulky and heavy size. Further away were a Ludicolo giving a piggyback ride to 3 Lotad, and… Balkenlux Gumshoos Hein, staring off into the distance and whistling to himself as he approached the nearest restaurant. He left his guild scarf and badge back at home presumably, wearing just a fitted cap. He eyed down the other shops with an impatient look in his eyes. With some more glance about and mouthed “ah”’s, he disappeared through the front doors of Simi Sizzling Salutations.
“Hey, let’s go there,” Adujo announced to the others, holding out a leg to point. The others eventually brought their sights on the restaurant.
“DJ, we will die waiting in that line,” Adrian protested, pointing a wing in a similar manner to the line that had formed outside of the establishment, bending around the corner and being the only part of the crowd not constantly shifting, at least when a sneaky Zorua or other young Pokemon wasn’t infiltrating the middle or front of it.
“You’re just impatient.”
***
It was good thinking bringing all of their savings, because the four Pokemon felt like unlucky gamblers as they scrolled through the town festival, traversing its many streets and countless stands and shops lined with shopkeepers and workers more than eager to keep business going in the wake of such a financial opportunity. Clothes, exploration items, food, novelty goods, and countless others were a dime a dozen during the Festival of the Flame. Stop by Pignite's Plentiful Plants, a shop selling countless plants and items for Grass types. No, better yet, go to Visible Visions, the bookstore with all of the hottest books of the year, and even the complete collection of Cielux Plantar Penny, the most famous author among young adults with her thrilling tales of adventure and romance and fantasy; if you're that picky, Poppy Politoed’s Palooza was a one-stop-shop, having a little bit of everything, although it was currently being run by his daughter and son, as the owner himself was marketing his store by the entrance. In front, a lot of the stores weren't at complete capacity, with at least one tired employee out at different sections of the town, doing whatever they could to attract attention to their spot. Not just street corners weren't safe, with so-called ‘Market Men’ being anywhere the eye could see: in doorways, on rooftops not far from festival-goers, near restaurants, even within buildings of residence, holding signs and calling out to passerby alongside relaxing residents. It wasn’t like they weren’t effective: Adujo and Geo, with their higher elevation, noticed a couple of Pokemon, particularly the newly familiar Gumshoos, stopping by quite a few of the shops being advertised. There wasn't a single spot in the entire town that could avoid the feeling of celebration, seemingly every place in a 6 mile radius to the Tower of Stardust. Even age-locked places like bars had little seats left, with the attendance of the festival bringing in as much Pokemon as Ducommar’s population. Ironically, the places with the most space were on the outskirts of town and the branches of forest throughout, having a little less light than everywhere else.
The quintet had just arrived back at the guild after a night of dining and merriment; Uny and Adujo had just recently arrived from Yuen's latest performance in ‘Gate of Zorua: Year 128’, and their blank stares at the now hardened soil combined with their quiet mumblings and nodding summed up their thoughts close enough. It took a lot of pestering from Seva to Uny specifically to speak up about the play; Adrian didn’t particularly seem interested, dragging the now overflowing bag behind him through the moderately soft dirt.
“It was great,” was the first thing that could be heard from the Shuppet as she lightly grinned, the newly found energy in her evaluation and wobbly smile betraying her short response. She gripped her tags and the map in one hand. The tags were now signed, written onto thin burnt wood by the main performers of the play and taking clear precedent over the now heavily annotated and marked tool of navigation.
“Oh yeah, it was really good,” the Nymble said with a raised head of bliss. “I gotta watch out for more stuff from Quartzlux Mandibuzz Ena, she was so cool as Explorer Two-Hundred and Five.”
“And r-r-rem-re-remember the part with Arceman and the Mystery Dungeon patrol,” Uny excitedly forced out, turning to him.
“Dude, I can't believe that was so early on too, it threw me completely off.”
“Then there was the d-de, t-t-t-the, the part wi-wi–everything with the Gate of Zorua itself–” the Ghost began before quickly shaking her head. “Wait, no, spoilers,” she explained through a puckered mouth. “But yeah, it was crazy. Simon Lewis III was the best character.”
“Eh, Raven is right there.”
“Yeah, well n-not l-l, Simon was awesome.”
“You just say that because he's played by Yuen,” the Bug type teased.
“He's ju-j-just a really interesting character,” Uny stubbornly disagreed.
“You should see more Quartzlux Duraludon Alexandra. Actually, you seemed to focus more when she was on stage. I know you're a fan.”
“Don't make it sound too interesting, I'm just dying with anticipation over here,” the Archen sarcastically cackled, a wing to his head. “Help me, Arceus, I just can't take it.”
“You sure do fancy theatrics all the same, don't you, Adrian,” Seva smirked, throwing him a temporary glance from the corner of her eye.
“The action's the best part of them, at least those parts look almost not fake.”
“The characters are so good, but you do you,” the floating Pokemon tilted her head.
“Next festival, you're coming with, Adrian,” Adujo promised. He entered the building now, hopping over to the Archen and sitting by his feet with an expectant glare. After the taller Pokemon shot him one in return, he pulled out the bag, rummaging for and soon handing him his scarf. Even with the neckwear on, the Nymble had to bend his head down to continue pursuing this seemingly irremovable scratch.
“You’ll need the whole Viators to drag me to one of those long as crap shows,” the Rock type refused.
“You're no fun, what were you and Seva even doing that whole time?”
“Scouting out the area, which was hard when someone had the map instead of us!”
“Adrian, we were filling out that bag like the Bittercold had returned,” Seva plainly corrected. “And you were particularly enthusiastic,” she continued, patting the bag that served as damning evidence. “Were you not the one who stressed urgency?”
“What about–”
“Everything I have pursued tonight was for a purpose. It'd be irresponsible to lighten up at times like now.”
“Glad you're still showing maturity, Seva.” The voice, gruff and filled with bass like sandpaper, traveled to the ears of Adrian and Seva with a paralyzing spell that planted them into the earth. Gumshoos Hein stepped into last of all, his high but not quite intimidating stature making him stand out in front of the sprinkles of light. “I was exploring the festival, and I managed to catch the end of the play these two were watching. It's admirable to see kids your age so interested in these things, Home of Arceus knows those kids were few and far between when I was your age.” Past the friendly and encouraging words of the Guild member lay a half-dormant strength, spilling through as he mentioned Uny and Adujo.
“Oh, hi, Mr. Hein,” Seva greeted the older Pokemon. She rested her hammer on her shoulder as she gave a mild wave. “You come to view the Tower of Stardust from here?”
The Normal type gave a hearty chuckle that filled the room. “Definitely. Well, that and I predicted that some kids would have the same idea as me, and I can’t trust so many of you alone.” He passed the other three as he approached the desk; he seemed to pause on its every detail. Eventually he turned his head slightly upward, now paying attention to the lamp hoisted on the wall. Behind its glass sat a small rectangle of wax, several dried protrusions running down his height indicating its continued use. Now, however, the almost invisible cold block just sat in the small glass box. With a snap of his fingers, a young flame sprouted forward, aimed at the candle wick. Within seconds, the fire had come to life on the candle, spreading a yellowish glow to most of the life with a deceptively long range in its warmth.
“You also provide festival security,” the other Pokemon in the exchange questioned.
“Oh no, this ain’t on the job, there’s already other guild members for that. Remember, kids, you act up and you get stuck watching half-empty street corners while everyone else has a front row ticket for the fire.” The Explorer added, pointing at the Tinkatink. “You seem the type to understand responsibility, so you probably understand.”
“Well, discipline is important, or paramount I should say, to proper development,” she noted with a thumbs up.
“You kids sure are mature,” Hein observed with a look over of the four young Pokemon. He approached the stairwell, beginning to scale its few, uneven stone steps. “Well, what are you kids waiting for, the fire’s to be lit soon.” He continued up the stairs, soon disappearing from view. “And go ahead of me,” he called from the second floor, “I’ll be lighting the rest of the candles on my way up.”
Seva looked back at her teammates for a quick second, the gleam from earlier being replaced with dull, dark highlights, and her free hand slumped in place. “We're in the heart of the mission now,” she whispered to them. “Adujo, Adrian, Uny, don’t let hesitation or worry take over your hearts and minds for even a second,” she warned, her words now having a more natural wobble, and every syllable and consonant was no longer overly emphasized; her voice was even a bit higher now. With that, she started up the stairs after the mongoose Pokemon.
Adrian followed suit soon after. Adujo looked at Uny and him before hopping towards the bird. Uny was the last to ascend to the ceiling. They passed the second floor, the hallway they had just traveled down a few hours ago somehow looking even more desolate in the dark. The Gumshoos could be seen at the end of the hall, peering into the open doors while igniting the other candles in the hall, before disappearing into the second furthest one. The Shuppet floated further up the stairs, still keeping her eyes on the tall Pokemon, who seemed to tower even over her floating height. She looked to the window, greeted by the world of thin, spindly trees that surrounded the town for miles, shutting out the rest of the world save for the looming mountains.
She should’ve stayed back with the Viking Viators. Three, it’s not too hard to account for three people in an operation like this, but it’s the fourth and after that complicates things. Maybe their alibis would be better. Why did Adujo keep doing stuff with her, why did Seva insist on her importance to the mission, what importance? What about when things actually depended on her, what then after she mucks up everything? At least Adrian was honest--
“Something on your mind, Uny?” The ghost shot up, hitting her helmet against the ceiling. With a stifled groan of pain, she was ripped out of her train of thought. It was Hein, having returned from his detour.
“Oh, uh, no, everything’s fine--” The Shuppet began before a spot of blue tore her out of focus once again. Looking down, she was met by an unfamiliar sight: in the Gumshoos’ right hand was gripped a navy blue-purple collage of hair, and looking further down it could be seen that it belonged to a Drizzile, his head lowered closer to the floor by the grip on his hair as he fidgeted and shook. His webbed digits slid around in an attempt to break free of the adult’s grasp, desperately rubbing it on his hand and leaving a progressively shining hand. He kept spreading water to the Gumshoos’ hand before the other let go. With a mild bounce, the Water type immediately backed away with a stomp. The chameleon Pokemon slumped before jumping back up, keeping a purposeful distance. He planted his feet in the wooden tiles and glared at Hein confrontationally.
“The hell’s your problem,” he yelled, holding a hand to the back of his head. “I said I’m coming to get my stuff, so keep your nosey ass out of my problems!”
The Gumshoos shifted his foot along the cream-colored floor, turning an eye to the lizard. “That didn’t seem like your room you were in.” His voice seemed to cut into the onlooker's flesh.
“You know Kel loves to steal, that Duduo asshole! I swear, the next time I see that guy, I’m making it in the news!”
“Making an explicit threat in my presence? You got some confidence in you, I’ll give you that.”
“What do I care, you never realize shit around here! Who designs a guild this small anyway, it has to be spread out down the block!”
“I wonder why your rank has yet to move in months…”
“Because who comes out here anyway?! All this dump has are teenagers and explorers a step away from retirement!” The Drizzile walks past the Normal type, a fierce glare boiling his surrounding presence. He walked past Uny and out of sight, storming away. His stomps echoed through the floor, traveling quite a distance until finally lightening up and disappearing.
It was just the Shuppet and the Gumshoos now. The taller Pokemon suppressed a growl in his mouth, unclenching his claws. He looked up at her.
“Apologies for that,” he started, the roughness of his voice softening. He brushed off his claws with a washcloth that seemed to come out of nowhere. “For all the festivities this year, there’s also a lot of hostility. You’ve ever been to Cielux?”
The helmet-wearing Pokemon shook her head. Multiple steps of feet could be heard upstairs, alongside indiscernible conversations that mixed with all other outdoor sound.
“Oh. You probably don’t know, but a lot of our guild members are out for now. They started leaving during the guild construction plans,” he explained, stuffing his washcloth back into his pocket. “This place is technically incomplete, and believe me, these kids let me know it.”
Uny listened, keeping eye contact with Hein as he talked on. Her helmet seemed to be unable to be unable to rest on her head properly. The Gumshoos took note of the teenager’s stare.
“You can go join everyone else already, I’m just rambling. It happens, believe me, even my own daughter used to get after me for it.” He turned away, bringing an irritated claw to the small space between his nose and hair. “At least then I know she listened.”
The Ghost type nodded, gripping her tags further. “W-wh-wha-w-what happened?”
The guild member looked back from the corner of his obscured eyes, removing his hand from his face and slightly turning back. “She left the village a year ago, with a Charmeleon friend of hers.” The Shuppet nodded. “She was 20 then. I know she’s an adult but still, traveling with just one other person is risky. You might not know the case of that Cinderace Willis Bens in New Post to understand.”
“I do.”
The Normal type grinned. “You know the proper steps when travelling in the North?”
The only response was silence. You know all this other stuff, but not what matters?
“Got it,” the older Pokemon noted. “You’re still a Ghost type, so navigating the night should be at least a little easier for you. You can see in the dark, right?”
Initially there was just silence. Uny swallowed a lump in the throat she didn’t have. “I’ve tried.”
He nodded. “At least you’re not alone. The four of you: great for defense, but I can’t imagine you could sneak through a crowd easily. Anything requiring stealth becomes a nightmare when there’s more than 3.” He approached the stairs, walking past Uny as he continued to talk, Uny following close behind. The third floor was similarly empty, and as well as the fourth floor, with the only thing to note being Hein’s repeated use of what seemed to be a Fire type move to light the candles. He didn’t bother to check the rooms on those two, mainly walking dead ahead and back. The shuffling of feet and continued conversation got closer, their words becoming clearer as if one had begun to lift their paws off of their ears. The quieter Pokemon floated slowly by, her eyes lingering behind her.
While the first two floors seemed small for an official guild (save for the cafeteria on the first floor), the upper two floors appeared to open up considerably despite occupying the same amount of space. The third floor had mainly desks and chairs, alluding it to being the main area for paperwork and official matters. The fourth floor had some items of maintenance, like brooms, toolboxes for different purposes and professions, and even cans of paint peered out of mostly closed doors, giving fleeting looks into their interiors. Here, the next flight of stairs to the ceiling wasn't immediately up, but rather down the hall. The Gumshoos was already halfway across the floor, passing the small stands of materials for exploration and other guild necessities resting underneath homemade, customized roofs against the left side of the room, the only room to not have glassless windows in that area. ‘These guys aren't just explorers, they’re also really good at building,’ the now sole Pokemon pondered. ‘Guess the world doesn't have much use for those who can do neither…’ With little incentive to catch up, she drifted slowly across.
Straight ahead was the last flight of stairs. Rather than be submitted to darkness, these steps stood under the affection of the moon, that pale blue light that was so dim and unhelpful even on the floors with direct access to it was intensified, gleaming a thousand-fold on the unsymmetrical stone slabs united up and out of sight. Every flaw and imperfection, every missed straight line and every imbalance or lack of alignment with the next step, they all came through with a blinding clarity now, even in ways the sun or any flame ever could. The cerulean warmth embraced it, letting its natural state have a lone spotlight in the night.
Uny popped her head out from underneath, getting her first feeling of the night air again; in just a few minutes, it had become more crisp and softer, the light breeze from before giving just a bit more force to the spring winds. Before she could focus on what was in front of her, the Shuppet caught a whiff of her surroundings through the light air constantly blowing through now. It had a hint of dampness to it. While the ground had mostly dried from the rain in the morning by this time, the textured stone of the guild's ceiling had retained some puddles of the early drizzle, the air not having been warm enough to christen it into steam.
A few meters away, several silhouettes stood or sat against the colorful lights of the city, the source of the shifting and talking that had traveled down multiple floors. A few were familiar: Adrian and Seva were sitting side by side, Adujo now resting on the latter's head for once, and Hein was standing off to the side, doing a quick look around of the street below; it was steep drop from here, one maybe only a Chespin's shell could survive unscathed. However, past the Drizzile, curled up by himself and angrily mouthing off to himself as he faced the stars in the opposite direction, everyone else was completely unfamiliar. A Scrafty was closest, wearing a black cap and overly long shed skin, his hood almost reaching to his waist. A few feet away, a Vileplume with an oversized bag, sagging behind her, sat alongside a Quilladin, who seemed to wear multiple oversized scarves to match. There were a few baby Pokemon, like a Munchlax who had a Riolu on her shoulders. One of the Pawniard from earlier was a part of the small crowd as well, the one resting sunglasses on his head blade.
The ghost floated ahead, approaching her teammates from behind, drifting above in-between the three as she got her first look at the sight. Despite being quite a distance away, the guild had an impressive view of the town, its towering presence over the other buildings giving it a leg up in visibility. The stores, the Market Men, the mix of cobblestone and grass terrain, here it all was laid out; it was almost like a maze from here, its bending and intertwining roads wearing their human influence on their sleeve. And, far off enough to lose any smaller detail, was the town center, unique for the amount of space without any monuments or objects blocking the wide area. Now, possibly hundreds of Pokemon were gathered, all of them tiny dots with the most slight variation of color or size. They spilled out of the town center, watching from nearby streets, inside stores, even watching upon rooftops like the group at the guild; a Litten could be seen from the building just below where Uny was watching peering out of one of the windows. Any one person could disappear in the several crowds spread out across the town.
Seva was first to notice her. “Oh, Uny, you've arrived,” she grinned at her with a calm lowering of her head, bringing Adujo's attention over to her as well. “Come, watch besides us,” she urged as she moved a bit to the right, offering some room. The Shuppet, hesitating, eventually lowered down to Seva's eye line, finally on the same level of her teammates. Seva nodded. Her breath smelled of a slight sweetness that brought Liechi Berries to mind. “Comfortable,” she further added in questioning, a bit of the formal pleasantries in her voice from earlier softened.
The more distant Pokemon threw a quick nod which seemed to satisfy the Tinkatink enough. She stole a glance from beyond Uny to the left and horizontally to the right before settling back on the town square, the other Pokemon trying to follow her eyes in slight surprise.
All the way at the end facing the street, the familiar Gumshoos gave one final lookover of the street, before turning to the common area of interest, still with a stance that didn't inspire much intimidation. He walked with a short stop after every step, his movements lingering slightly.
“Did ya notice anything,” Adrian whispered to Uny, being met with a meek head shake and a frown. “Well, be Ms. Sherlock Holmes some other time, anyone can see you staring.” He inched closer, raising his wing from under his cloak. “Remember,” he murmured now, “always do it from the corner of your eye, and pretend like you're doing something else. Also, you're making me suspicious too, and this is the most important part.” He was treated to an even meeker nod before he turned back to what he was doing.
The Shuppet adjusted herself several times, taking quick looks up at the sky as she stretched her fleshless scrawny arms. They extended to unnatural lengths in the meanwhile, twisting to crack the nonexistent bones within them. She didn't bother to push them back to their original lengths, letting them rest close together over the edge of the building as they absentmindedly pressed lightly against the hard stone. Then it hit her. She quickly leaned over to Seva and Adujo, raising a shadowy hand to her mouth.
The chatter out in the streets traveled even to the group on the edge of town, such as a young Cleffa who could be heard in one of the buildings below, peering his head out of the window as he urged his grandmother to hurry up.
“Well, it's almost time,” the tallest Pokemon announced, taking one final look at the street before approaching the other edge, standing a few feet away from the Munchlax and Riolu, his arms folded before him.
In the town, one sole dot could be seen moving through the crowd, the other dots moving out of their way as the central figure approached the middle of the town square. Uny tilted her head closer to the ground, focusing on the figure until the colors in her eyes blended and began to hurt. The Pokemon was tall and lean, and had a pinch of green, but that was still really all that could be determined.
“For anyone joining in now,” a voice began from below, his voice being loud and clear due to only being a floor below, “we're at the time of truth for the 45th Festival of the Flame, this year coming from the tiny but mighty Ducommar Town from the edge of Western Balkenlux. Don't count these guys out though, they've managed a turnout of over a thousand. I know Seven Turns is mighty jealous right now, considering they're still getting a boost from the capital, but hey, what would I know?” The Shuppet looked down. Just within sight was a window on the third floor’s middle room. There was light in the room now, and the stark shine it reflected on the building presented two fuzzy silhouettes. The one on the left seemed restless, presumably the one speaking.
He paused. “For our pals who couldn't pop in to see the event up and personal, allow me, your favorite news host Buneary Benny, and Felin, the Magic Meowth who's the reason why I'm not replaced with a Loudred, to take you to the front from your windowsill!” A faint chuckle away from the ‘microphone’ but not out of hearing range from a floor up rang out, followed by a bonk and an “ow!”. “Anyway.. down there in the middle is the always reliable Nero, the Gallade who even in his old age continues to serve us with undying loyalty! Ya think our friends down in Ol’ Zero Zone could take a hint, but maybe that plucky new king and queen they've enlisted, Iñigo and Julieta, could be good news!” He could be heard telling Felin something along the lines of “I'm not a Humboldt, no military's listening to some guy from Ducommar.”
“Here now, you can see him saying the sacred prayer. Everyone listen on in silence.” All that could be heard from the announcing duo was the light wind.
“Father, who rules us from above
The creator, keeping watch over His children
We ask now, as we have before
To bring bread to our mouths, to bring music to our ears, to bring smiles to our faces, and to bring warmth to our hearts
We are yours and only yours, and in everlasting love, we will dedicate our lives to you and ourselves as you have asked of us
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for preserving us in such dark times
We keep you, O Arceus, in our minds and in our souls until our final days.
From uncertainty to infinity to eternity to finality,
Amen.”
A few seconds of silence followed. “And with that settled, Sir Nero can light the flame, and bring in the final part of the celebration!”
On cue, the town's leader stepped forth, raising a hand towards the firewood. A thousand Pokemon watched on with awe as Nero lowered his head. Silence permeated the town, the wind serving as the only sign of life for miles. Then, a flash of white. The horizon erupted into a sea of red and oranges and yellows for just a moment, flooding the vision of everyone in the area. Then, as if in a trance, the beam of red spun, twisting into a vertical pillar towards the sky. It fizzled out far past the height of the mountains. The inferno of colors sparkled and gleamed before settling down, slowly compressing itself in both directions and materializing as a rainbow fire, thousands of tiny births of light endlessly sprinkling themselves across the vicinity and downwards, harmlessly reaching the awe-struck Pokemon in the town square. The Tower of Stardust had finally been lit.
An eruption of cheers burst from the town center, cascading through the streets to either entrance. In the streets, the dozens of Pokemon situated on rooftops joining in on the excitement. The Vileplume and Quilladin were seen sharing a kiss and the Munchlax and Riolu stared on in silent awe, the two young baby Pokemon seemingly unable to express their joy. The Gumshoos, from a distance, could be seen taking a swig of a glass, its berry-blue contents not having to illustrate their origins judging from his loose smile. The Shuppet rose from where she was sitting, unable to look away. The Viators, hell, not even Zap's had rivaled a spectacle like this. She took a quick glance at the street before looking back. People were gathering in the street, and in the minutes following the lighting the crowd that gathered around the fire parted ways, heading every which way in the town into different stores and buildings. They dodged a bullet having gone to eat earlier. A Smeargle could be heard yelling from a few hundred stones down yelling something about the drinks being on the house, being answered with more cheers. The air was electrified that night; Uny could even feel a familiar arm pull her in, and her helmet almost completely slid through her body from the nerves.
“Who’s staying here,” Hein asked to the small group gathered on the guild roof. “Because I’ll be joining anyone entering the town. With everyone going into restaurants and homes soon, the streets will be extra crowded so we have to stick together.”
“We gotta go,” the Munchlax jumped off with elation, almost dropping the Steel type on her shoulders. The two ran up to the stairs, only taking a quick glance before rushing down to the ground. Their frantic footsteps echoing for quite a while in their descent.
The Scrafty rose to his foot. “Sure, I'll join in. You're tipsy anyway, Hein.”
The Gumshoos chuckled. “A single glass, at my age? Well, at you're helping out.”
The Shuppet was next to rise, approaching the stairs with speed. “I-I-I h-ha-hav-have to go.” She turned to everyone else. “I think I forgot someone from earlier, my helmet tag,” she explained, pointing to her helmet which now lacked the scratched insignia. “I can use my senses to find it. Excuse me for a moment.” She zoomed off down the stairs and out of sight before anyone could respond.
Now, she was alone in the hallway, taking momentary glances around her. She put her signed tags under her helmet. Closest to her was the only room that hadn't been vacant for hours. She focused on the door, taking in its wooden frame, before giving it a knock. Immediately after, a loud thud could be heard, and a quick yelp. Some shuffling and subdued muttering, and the door swung wide open. It was the Buneary doing the earlier broadcast, Benny, who seemed to have had better days. His brown fur was all messy and puffed out as if he had just woken up, a far cry from the typical image of his species. He gave Uny a suspicious glare, the faux microphone with its handmade indents and ridges to simulate the real deal showing up even in his shadow. A bright lamp from within lit up the entire room even in the night, its tangerine warmth looming deep into the hall against the tempest of midnight.
“Uuuuh, hi,” she said, dragging the lows of her words and hesitating to raise her artificial limb.
“You's a festive-goer,” he interrogated, still trying to shake the tiredness out of his body.
“You could saaaaaay that,” the Ghost stretched her pronunciation even further. The lagomorph Pokemon nodded, stretching his back as he listened. “Are you tireeeeed?”
“Yep, this job is gonna make a cooked cat outta me,” the taller Pokemon confirmed. “I gotta bounce one of these days, maybe when the world ain't falling apart.” He lazily spoke, his force going into cracking his neck and doing so without breaking a sweat. ‘Wasn't this guy just going off at the top of his lungs over the speaker?’
Uny waited for if Benny was going to say anything more, only being met by the rabbit's continued self-wakeup calls. “Well, sorry to ask,” she went back on topic, squishing her language back to their natural lengths. “But I was wondering if there was something you could do for me.”
This caught the lagomorph’s attention. “A favor, ay?” The phantom nodded, tilting her head slightly. “What cha turning ya head for,” he asked, emulating her behavior, prompting her to return hers back to its original rotation. “You don't sound too serious about dis.”
“Please hear me out, I know…” She drifted off.
“You know what?”
“...Can you give me a tour of the second floor?” The limbless Pokemon avoided eye contact now. Benny stood more straight, his lazy look focusing now as he observed. ‘He has to be suspicious of me.’
“And now why in the Distortion Hell should I do that?”
‘Distortion Hell?’
“Ya focusing?”
‘You just asked? Well, I probably look pretty stupid right now.’
“...Hey, I didn’ say that I wouldn'.” He paused. The unkept Buneary looked upward, crossing his arms and resting his head on his right paw, in deep thought. He stole a few glances at Uny and the ceiling back and forth continuously. “Why?”
“I-I-I-The reason is to look around… and I think I lost something on that floor.”
“How long ago, I wanna test somethin’.”
“It was a-a-arou-aro– it happened kinda 4 hours ago. I-i-it was when my friends and I were registering our stay.”
“What do they call ya?”
“Uny,” she responded blankly.
The messy Buneary resumed his thinking once more, looking back into the room, his eyes seemingly set on the desk within just in front of the window, revealing the relatively small size of the room. He continued like this for several seconds, not even tapping his foot in contemplation. He finally looked back, looking at Uny eye to eye. Then, without warning, he leaned in, removing a paw from its folded position to hold it against the side of his face. “You wanna make a trade,” he began again, whispering an air that had seen the consumption of a lot of berries recently.
The Shuppet didn't answer, simply giving him an inconclusive stare. To push it further, she angled her mouth weirdly, also resembling one of those old human artist's works as her features approached one another. Benny wasn't very pleased to see this.
“Don't play dumbass with me,” he simply stated. ‘Okay, too pushy.’
“How much,” Uny plainly questioned.
“Oh, money? Ya think I care that much about money,” the furry Pokemon asked rhetorically. “That means squat to me.”
“So what then?”
“...Gimme a sec.” The announcer went back into the room. He could be seen grabbing the first sheet of paper and writing utensil he could find, hastily writing something down on it. As he did, he leaned over the table. Out in the main area, footsteps strengthened in intensity, as the unintelligible conversation above stabilized and pieced itself together. The stairs to the roof let out miniature thuds, as several Pokemon seemed to be descending. Finally, out came Hein, the first to walk as he kept on dead ahead. He took precaution, taking extra long to reach the ground as the rest followed behind. First, it was Adrian, who immediately met eye-to-eye with Uny, giving her a quick nod even if his eyes didn't share the same enthusiasm. Behind him was Seva and Adujo, who both gave her nods with a bit more trust, Seva especially showing her faith. Followed by the Munchlax and Riolu duo who were incredibly ecstatic, and the Drizzile at a distance, they descended the stairs and out of sight. Their footsteps and excited murmurs fizzled out as they were out of sight, but not out of mind.
“What's the deal,” Uny asked apprehensively, dropping the false persona.
“Now, it ain't paper or some item of ‘awesome proportion,’ but something even better.” ‘Is he stalling?’ The Normal type paused for dramatic effect, tapping his arm with his paw for a faux drumroll. “It has to do with the Mega Stone.”
The room drifted around in the Shuppet's sight, the floor seeming to be incredibly close now. Her eyes almost oozed out of their sockets as its colors mashed together.
“What are you talking about?” ‘Shit, waited too long.’
“I told ya, don't play dumbass with me. You know about the Mega Stone that Hein found. I dunno how but I dunno care. Now…” he paused, his eyes locking to Uny's. His folded ear stood up as his dotty eyes gained a surprising intensity. “You can get it if ya want, on two conditions.” The Ghost turned her head up at the bunny. Benny chuckled from her focusing, and continued. “Now, I don't wantcha to have the thing forever. But Guild Ordination Destinators are expected to pop in in the coming days, and I’d rather we don't get caught with our valuables exposed, so you can take it off our hands for a bit when they appear and inspect the place. What ya do with it during that time, I couldn't give a shit. But–” He stopped again, his eyes glaring at the ghost with even more strength despite his rather cute exterior. “I want you to confirm to me that you still have it within a year.”
“A year?”
“Yeah. There's a problem with that?”
“No, but… that's a long time.”
“And that Mega Stone's been collecting dust. You're not getting something like Benjamin's Siege this far from the North.”
“...Are you lying?”
“You gonna go back on your promise?”
‘Knowing me… well, no, it'll be in the Viators’ hands by then, everything'll be fine.’
“I swear it on my mortal body,” Uny swore, avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment for what just left her mouth.
“Yer gonna regret that, kid.”
‘Aren't we the same age? Well, he's more mature…’
“In fact…” The Buneary raised his paws, showing what was in them. A pen with still dripping ink in one paw and a piece of paper, displaying rough-looking text on it, in the other. “Sign it in ink.”
The Shuppet stared at the paper and pen as the other Pokemon gave it to her. The paper had basically the same agreement that he alluded to. Signing it with her shadowy hands, Uny gave back the paper.
“Wepa,” he chuckled, producing a confused stare from the Ghost. “What, I learned it from Felin. Anyway, go on, get the Stone, I'll follow behind you. Ya take anything but the Stone, and I kill ya.” A lookover didn't make Benny seem too intimidating, but the Ghost didn’t have the courage to test that.
She drifted to the stairs, trying to take in a 360-degree look as she descended once again. The third floor was likely unneeded as well, so she went down to her main target, the second floor. Its walls now felt wide and expansive, with each door being spread a mile apart. It had to be here, there was no other way.
‘Guilds in this part of the country have most of the power,’ the searching Pokemon began to ponder, ‘it's been like that since Year 272. They're one of the few things behind theater and war businesses to survive the same as always. If you have to trust someone in a town, it's a Guild leader. That Gumshoos, Hein, he has to be the Guild leader, who else is around to monitor?’
Uny approached the first door, opening it a crack as she took a quick look inside the strangely assorted room, with its bed close to a desk and paperwork, she sighed. Letting go of the helmet and allowing it to phase partly into her body, the Ghost closed her eyes, retracting the shadowy arms into her body and letting her true, limbless form show.
‘This is why Seva assigned you to the mission. Sure, she was insistent on your skills beforehand, but never to this scope. Please, prove her right, have something worth calling your own for once. Be the Ghost you have to be, for her, for Adujo, for Adrian, for them.’
Uny drifted into the room, her mind in a furthering state of diminuendo. Behind her eyelids, her eyes could be seen spiraling in their tri-colored circles through her body. She could feel the Stone in one of the Desk compartments; it wasn't familiar to her but it had a faint hum, like a mother easing her youth into slumber, and it tempted a smile on the Shuppet's face. With a misplaced ease, she moved to the front of the drawer, looking at its wooden and steel components. Within a second, it slid open, revealing… a Shiny Stone. She could feel the lagomorph's eyes on her, not following his gaze for a second. The drawer slowly shut again on command, and Uny left the room, closing the door with a drastic level of carefulness. Onto the next door.
“Can't you tell me where it is,” she asked to the Buneary.
“It’s like an Easter hunt this way, if Felin was right about the humans… and I don't feel like spilling.”
‘It must be top secret for him to not know. Mr. Markcus said that the stone should have a different vibe to everything else. Shoot, why couldn't someone smart like Seva be in charge now?’
Using the same process, the second room was even less fruitful, not even hiding an Evolution Stone along its mountains of paperwork.
The third room was the office from where she had gotten registered with her companions: much more hopeful than the last two. From here, the sole Pokemon wandered silently, the small residue of smoke following behind her strengthening to almost resemble more cloth. Pushing the helmet back up before it drifted through her head to the ground, the tri-color mix of her eyes opened once again, subconsciously moving ahead. Her immediate target was the Gumshoos’ desk, his compartments a complete mystery. Her eyes shuttered again, and she let the helmet slip down slightly.
The first drawer produced nothing useful, and the second as well: just the mist of scattered items and goods. By this point, the Buneary was glaring holes into the side of her face, the Pokemon who was just on the verge of collapse a few minutes earlier now not taking his attention off of the Shuppet. Almost as soon as she focused on this section, a warmth began to subdue a short distance away, its power almost blisteringly potent to the Ghost type.
‘There.’
She moved further west in the room, reaching the second row. A glow reached her senses, that almost overwhelming warmth burned at Uny's body, and tiny flays began to reach at her body. Without a second to spare, she opened up the bottom drawer, and out came a gray orb. As soon as she did, she felt the small flays intensify, dragging themselves across her cloth-like ‘flesh’, their warmth becoming a frost, an almost comforting frost. For a moment, the orb seemed to flash a color the helmet-wearing Pokemon didn't even have time to identify. A misty arm finally outstretched itself again, and the orb was in her hand. It was no longer so intense or hot.
The bunny looked at her with an expectant look. He took a glance at the wall. “April 3rd, Year 281. Remember that I want proof that ya still got the Mega Stone back by April 3rd, 282. Even if life happens, then April 24th, at the latest. Ya better be able to show it to me again.”
The Shuppet nodded several times, not hiding her gratitude. “I can pay you, I swear,” she began, bringing out another arm to reach into her helmet.
“I told ya, I don't want money. This place ain't got anything worth buying already.”
“If you say so.”
A bout of silence filled the room.
“...You just gonna stare at me? Just go before I change my mind.”
The Ghost nodded even again, heading ahead as she headed for the door. Just as she approached it, the Buneary stopped her, holding a palm to push against the helmet which entered her head partly. His glare lightened a bit, no longer seemingly on edge. In fact, his eyes lost quite a bit of the sharp cut they had, with wobbly softened edges taking their place. Uny looked at him, jumping up a bit when he did this. He leaned in closer, raising his other paw to his mouth.
“Take that thing far away from here, as far as you can.”
PART ONE, FIN