Donjon Mystère: Realized

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When Shinx left Zorua to go into the Wigglytuff Guild, he thought it was reasonable that it was going to take a while. He couldn't take all day trying to help one person, and besides; she would most likely ask a hundred and one questions before she leaves. It might cause her to get in trouble, but by then he would be waiting at the bottom of the steps to the Guild. So, after doubling back to the beach and taking a breather to himself, then taking a small walk through town to say hello to Kangaskhan and have a sip of her tea, Shinx returned to sit next to the water hole and wait.

When he got bored during the afternoon, he told himself that Zorua must really like asking questions.

When the afternoon turned later, he took a quick walk through the market and got himself a late lunch, then returned to wait. It was strange why it was taking so long, but maybe there was some kind of problem she had? Maybe it turned out they knew who she was, and they're taking the time to tell her as much as they can.

A worried part of him wondered if she was an outlaw, but he shook that thought away. She was too kind to be an outlaw, and even so she wasn't very dangerous looking. She had a hard time trying to run for a minute straight, for legends sake!

It was when the sky started to shift colors, with worry biting at him, when he heard a polite clearing of a throat behind him. When he turned around, he saw a sunflora and corphish pair.

A pair he recognized.

"Oh, hi!" He cursed silently at the high-pitched tone he used. So uncool. "Uh, um, w-what do you want, E-Explorers?"

"Hey hey, little Shinx," It's hard to tell the expression on Corphish's shelled face, but he points a claw at the water hole behind him. "We just need a drink from a long day. Do you mind, hey hey?"

If he moved out of the way any faster, he would be using a Quick Attack. "S-sorry! I'm sorry, it's just- I was waiting for a while."

As Corphish went to get a drink, Sunflora brought forth a smile that her kind is known for. "Waiting? Are you waiting for something to happen?"

He shakes his head, with such force that he almost makes his head dizzy. "N-no! Um, no. Someone I brought to the Guild is asking for help up there, and I said I'd wait for them to finish."

He looks back up the stairs. "They've been up there for a while, though…"

When he looks back, Sunflora's smile seems a little strange. "What?"

He feels like he's been saying that word too much lately.

The smile on the living flower becomes even more strange. "Gosh, now that you mention it, there was a strange pokémon who walked into the guild before I left."

He perks up. "Did they look like a white, fluffy zorua? Weird tail and hair plume?" He waves a paw above his head. "Kind of drifts like there's a light breeze?"

Sunflora's smile turns apologetic. "Oh… well, yes I did see that zorua, but…"

She looks back down the road, the smile gone and replaced with a thoughtful frown. The fact that she could frown shocked Shinx a little. "Oh gosh, that's bad."

"Bad?" Shinx feels his face fall. "What's bad? Why did you say 'bad' like that?"

She looks back to him. "So, um, what would you do if I said 'Zorua left a bit before noon and might be loose in town,' because Zorua left a bit before noon and might be loose in town."

Shinx's face falls further. "Oh no."

Corphish, who finished with the water hole, looked at the two of them in confusion. "Hey hey, what's going on?"

"Corphish, remember that strange-looking zorua - the white one - from this morning?"

"The one you said had a mental breakdown in the street even earlier in the morning?"

"Yes, that one."

"What about her?"

"Shinx missed her and now she's loose in town."

"Why is that a problem?"

"She had, under supervision, almost committed a taboo twice in one morning."

A slow blink from Corphish.

"...hey hey, I don't want to sound rude, but maybe this isn't-" A sharp look from Sunflora and a quick glance to Shinx from Corphish passes. "-the best time? I mean, hey hey, we just finished a mission and we're tired. It's not like someone will die if she walks the street for half a day."

Sunflora narrows her eyes at his sudden shift, but nods. "You're right, I'm sorry." She looks back to Shinx, face once again apologetic. "Sorry, but if she stays missing until tomorrow, you can come to the Guild and let someone know."

With that excuse given to him, the two explorers leave Shinx to his own devices.

Shinx, in a small corner of his mind not filled with guilty panic, wonders what he's done in his life to deserve this.

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The home that Litleo calls his own is somehow worse than Shinx's, but she feels as if that isn't a very high bar to jump, seeing how every house is… quaint.

Yes. Quaint. Let's go with that.

The only reason why she says that it's worse is the condition of some other houses in… in his neighborhood? Are there neighborhoods in this town or do they section it off differently? It really isn't much of a neighborhood anymore, seeing how the houses around his don't show any obvious signs of life for years. It's not a crumbling ruin by any means, but they're definitely abandoned. Why Litleo wants to live here, it's beyond her: it's practically a ghost town in this part of Treasure Town.

Every place has their dark spots. This is one of them.

It seems okay, at least. Nothing looks broken beyond belief.

Most likely because this is a safe town. There's little to no sign of war damage, and the people are generally happy and - dare you say - helpful. There's no outside factor for why nobody lives here.

She stands there, looking over the lost houses. Despite the bustle of people earlier, the lack of others around here is jarring.

"Hey!" She looks back to see Litleo glaring at her, basket of groceries at his paws. "You're just going to stand in the road or what?"

She almost asks about the houses around them, but she decides to save it for later.

Preferably sooner, though. A more normal question would help usher in the broader things you're missing.

"Just thought I saw something." She shrugs and walks up to him, where he stands in an open doorway.

Said open doorway entered into a hollowed-out tree. That's another reason why she called it quaint, but that's neither here nor there.

A treehouse. The feeling is amused. A child's dream home.

He gives a quick glance around, but dismisses her excuse. "It'd be obvious if there was anyone. Why; are you scared that I led you into a trap or something?"

The thought hadn't crossed her mind, but now that it was, this was a good opportunity to get jumped. "No, but there could be a hooligan out there, performing hooliganism."

He gives her an odd look, but says nothing and pads inside. She follows in, casting one last glance at the empty buildings surrounding the only one that's inhabited. The way she's doing it, it's as if she expects a ghost to start drifting out of one of them. Then, with one last look at the weather-worn home across from Litleo's own dwelling - a treehouse - she steps inside.

As she walks in, the door shuts behind her at the same time she barely hears the sound of claws on packed earth. Looking down shows said earth, being the only kind of flooring throughout the room. And, just like Shinx's home, there is only one room. There is sparse furnishing, with no appliances in sight and a small handful of candles here and there. Some look to be half-used, while a cluster of them are fresh. Oddly enough, unlike Shinx's place, there is a bed in the corner.

It looks straw-stuffed, just like the straw piles that you and Shinx used.

On top of the bed is a blanket, which lays partly folded as if the one using it got up and didn't bother fixing the bed. Seeing how young Litleo is, it makes sense to be a bit messy.

In fact… The feeling interjects again. Quite a few things are not very well organized. Vague piles of stuff yet to be used, things tossed to where they're supposed to go, the bed not being fixed, all of it makes your skin itch. You really want to fix it.

She feels her left paw twitch in answer. It lifts up slightly, and she feels her jaw clench slightly as if she's about to chew something. But as soon as she catches the involuntary motions, they stop. She feels like she needs to say something or else her paws will twitch themselves off her body.

"Your place sucks dick, kid."

…why, in the ever-living fuck, did you say that?

I don't know! She almost puts a paw over her mouth, but nothing will bring those words out of Litleo's ears and back into her maw. It was an instinct to swear when stressed. Why am I stressed? I shouldn't be stressed!

Then stop being stressed! Just chILL THE FUCK OUT, WOMAN!

To her horror, her everlasting horror that is fucking something up so royally in front of a stranger she's trying to do good by, Litleo freezes. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turns his head to look at her. There is no disbelief in his face, but the deadpan look towards her says he isn't impressed.

Quick, say something to fix this!

Like what?!

Compliment about the character of the place, I don't know!

More words spilled out of her mouth, voice turning panicked. "T-that was a compliment! I meant it in a good way."

Litleo still says nothing, but the look becomes stronger, somehow.

…you're actually hopeless. If the feeling could sigh, she's pretty sure it would. You're on your own; there's no more ideas to give if you won't listen to yourself.

Her own instincts and subconscious mind leaving her, she stands there, staring at a cat capable of turning parts of his body into fire and, quite possibly, can breathe the fire at her. He did threaten to set her on fire, after all. As a last-ditch effort, she tries an expression on him. Her lips try to curl into a grin of sorts, but the awkward energy within her converts the smile into something that does not convey apologies and 'please do not burn me's. She's about to abort it, but it's too late: The Expression is firmly on her face, and she can't help but imagine she's trying to express how much pain she's in for fucking up so badly.

Without reacting to The Expression, he keeps up the look. "You're lucky I'm into that."

Then, without another word, he shuts the door, picks up the basket and sets it on one of the only tables in the entire dwelling, then prowls over to his bed and flops onto it.

…wait, did you not fuck it up? The feeling feels shocked. How?

I don't know how, things just happen around me and I want an explanation!

Outwardly, she feels The Expression fall, but she never takes her eyes off of Litleo. He lays down there, looking right back at her and seeming to be bored out of his mind. She doesn't want to trust that placid demeanor, but the feeling is very much out of sorts so she can't really tell at the moment. A small, tiny, itty bitty part of her wants to just stand there and fade away from this situation. Hell, she'll take the weird in-between that she first experienced over this. She doesn't like being the ant in this situation.

Seeing how the awkward minute passes by in silence without her disappearing, she dredges up her volition to say something comprehensive. "So… question time?"

"I just saw you…" He starts slowly. "Have an entire silent conversation with yourself." The cat waves a paw in her direction. "Made all the faces and everything."

She unconsciously puts a paw up to her face, feeling vague pulls of an uncomfortable tug on her muzzled lips. She feels it stretch back into a grimace as she realizes this. "Oh. Yeah, I'm just talking to myself. In, like, my head."

His face is carefully blank.

Wow, The feeling says. This kid is good. You can't tell if he thinks you're insane or not. Give a medal to whoever taught him.

After a few seconds, he says "Okay." in a bland voice, then stretches. "Sure, whatever, ask your questions."

Remember; start small and normal.

"So…" She takes a look back outside the door. "What happened to the hood?"

"You mean the other houses? Eh," He shrugged. "I don't know, but nobody wants to live here anymore, so I don't have to deal with neighbors."

She feels her brows furrow, sending another glance back. "And let all of that space go to waste? Seems… lazy."

He shrugs. "From what I can tell, there's plenty of space to go around. I certainly don't care about being alone."

He speaks the truth. What he might not be saying is that others might not want to be around him. Less people around to get on his case, essentially.

Well, the kid doesn't make it easy for himself. What he does to Shinx certainly doesn't earn him any points.

Also the truth.

Outwardly, she sits down while she digests the information. At some point, her paw went up to her mouth, a small claw just inside her mouth. She suddenly has the strong urge to bite it, but pulls out the claw before she could do that.

Bigger question, but not too big. "So I've heard 'dungeons' about three times already, but I have a feeling there's more to it than it sounds."

He raises a brow at her. "What do you know about dungeons? I don't want to spend all day talking about them."

"Literally nothing. Wait," She waves the paw that's in front of her face. "I know there's treasure in them and that they can kill people. But what is a dungeon?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Litleo groans. "Okay, I'll give you the abridged version of what a dungeon is: they're places throughout the world filled with feral pokémon and items that appear for no reason. They're made with layers, so each floor goes deeper into the dungeon, until you reach the end where there's something worth going through the dungeon for."

The wall of information made her feel like she only just opened her eyes. Even more questions sprout from that one, so she decides to ask. "'Feral' pokémon?"

He blinks. "You don't-" He stops, then levels her a long look. "Are you wild or something?"

He says that as if it might explain your lack of understanding. It's as if these 'Feral Pokèmon' and 'Dungeons' are common knowledge, with being 'Wild' would explain why you don't know these things.

"I don't know, but you're the second person to ask me that." She then tilts her head to the side. "Although I am comfortable with civilization, so probably not. Anyways…"

The lion picks up her tone and sighs. "They're mindless pokémon. They're from dungeons, wander around and live on instinct, and some 'mons hunt them for meat. Seeing how the dungeons just make an endless amount of them, it is its own trade or whatever."

Mmm. The feeling hums. Meat. You could go for a steak; medium rare, with a béarnaise sauce and some wine.

…the hell is a 'béarnaise'?

Something that makes your mouth water, that's what. Treat yourself with one, and soon.

Later. She rebukes.

She mulls over the information, before noticing a strange consistency. "You said an endless amount of ferals, right?" He nods, so she keeps going. "And that items of some kind just show up; are they endless, too?"

Another nod, expression slipping back into boredom. "Yeah, but only a few show up every floor. If you don't use anything you pick up, you could leave with a small bag of berries, elixirs, seeds…" He trails off into a yawn - one just as eldritch as Shinx's - then looks at her. "I'm not going to list off everything you could find, but whatever you find in a dungeon is going to be worth something."

The feeling comes up, an urge of wanting to frown making her lips twitch. You have no idea what most of that is. And what's this about berries selling for a lot?

While she does want to know, she feels a more important question on her tongue. "Why?"

He frowns at her. "'Why' what?"

"Why do these dungeons have an infinite number of hostile, mindless pokémon, a bunch of expensive stuff littering the floor, all of that and it just happens for free?" She shakes her head. "There's no way it doesn't come from somewhere. Something can't just come from nothing."

Except you. The feeling whispers.

She ignores it.

The fire cat casually shrugs one shoulder. "Don't know what to tell you, then. It's a fact of life that dungeons do that, and I do not care to know more."

Hmm.

What're you humming about?

He was right about one thing: these dungeons really are a mystery. There's no telling what you will find inside of one, what with the skills you have.

…what skills?

Isn't it obvious? The feeling feels surprised. The ability to deduce details about others, your sharp eyes catching evidence of many-a-story in the scars that the laws of physics left on the world, the ridiculous amount of questions you ask about others, even the need for order in the world! It all comes down to one thing…

…

She waits for the feeling to finish.

She waits some more.

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"...uh." Litleo looks at the freaky Zorua across from him, who suddenly froze for no reason. "You didn't have a stroke or something, did you?"

Litleo really, really didn't want to deal with someone having a stroke in his den. Normally he wouldn't deal with anyone in his den at all, but the giant stack of food on his sole table made this twist in fate possible.

He honestly has no clue what to do with all of that food.

She shakes her head, the motion like a statue coming to life to do one jerky motion. "I'm waiting."

"..."

Litleo is starting to regret making this deal, even if it got him more groceries than he knows what to do with.

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…are you going to tell me?

No, you have to ask "What could it possibly be?"

…what could it possibly be?

You're Dick Mullen's long lost daughter.

She waits for the feeling to elaborate. When it doesn't, she deflates slightly. Who the hell is Dick Mullen?

I'm so glad you asked. The feeling preens. All of this, you could say, investigating, has stirred something up from the ruins of your memory, and that is Dick Mullen! He is a detective, who solves crime and chases down sequence-killers with his great detecting skills and unorthodox strategies that baffle criminals.

That… actually sounds really cool.

It's because he really is cool. Just about as cool as he is fake.

What?! Why is he fake if I'm his long lost daughter?

That is because every memory of him is printed into a book. He's a fictional detective, who solves fictional crimes and, get this, is a work of fiction. As to why he is your long lost father… She gets the impression of a shrug. I jumped the gun, there.

Just like Dick Mullen did in Dick Mullen and the Lost Identity, where he was the loosest of cannons in his sudden bout of amnesia… She silently curses.

Exactly! And the best part was that looseness was exactly what that cannon needed to solve the case. And your body and mind is at peak amnesia-induced loose cannon material. Which means…

…which means I can solve the mystery behind these dungeons?

Say it with more confidence, detective!

I can- no, I WILL solve the mystery behind these dungeons!

Now shout it to the heavens, let them know that you will rock this town sideways with how hard you're about to solve this case! Say it like you're the pagan Goddess of Detecting!

"I WILL SOLVE THE MYSTERY BEHIND THESE DUNGEONS!" She screams.

It was about then that she pulled herself back into reality, where she's been standing absolutely still for over two minutes and staring off into space. The kid across the room exchanged his bemused look for a surprised one, standing up as if she's about to attack with just the volume of her voice. His hair even sends a small puff of sparks into the air.

Then he registered her words. "What."

He couldn't even make it sound like a question.

She loses some of the wind in her sails, but still explains with a bit of determination. "I might have just remembered what my job is and was let down on a father figure I never had."

"...and?"

"Well, my father isn't Dick Mullen, so that's a bit of a letdown." She feels her head tilt to the side- a very detective-like tilt, she notices. "But on the bright side I am a detective. I think."

Litleo pulls a strange face, as if he just licked a lemon and wanted to laugh at the same time. "Did you just say someone's name, and that name is Dick?"

She gives him an affronted look. "You don't know who Dick Mullen is?"

"I'm not sure if you know this," He says slowly. "But people who tend to just give out their name tend to be whores."

Fucking wreck his shit with facts and logic.

She agrees. "Okay, two things I need to clarify. One: this naming system of yours is stupid and you should feel bad for following it. Two: Dick Mullen is a fictional character of a book series by the same name. Hence why I was super sad that I wasn't his daughter." She lowers her voice. "Detective Mullen could've been a fantastic name for professional use, damnit."

Litleo's face is blank. "...okay."

He is not okay with this, but he also really, really wants to laugh at you. The incredulousness of you wanting to say your name to others so plainly is keeping him in check.

"Okay." He repeats. Then he has a small laugh. "Well, now I'm disappointed that there isn't someone out there with the name Dick, but having two names is even weirder."

…does he not know? The feeling takes a moment to sort itself out. It doesn't look like it, no.

Even she has to blink. "You mean a surname?"

Now he looks at her strangely. "Sir name? Is that, what, an extra name for guys where you're from?"

"No, it's like…" She takes a moment to use a different word. "A family name. Last name? The one you have that you share with your parents and use in professional settings. Like, first name is Dick, last name is Mullen; hence being called Detective Mullen." She feels the urge to chew on a claw come up again. "Did your parents not do last names or something?"

Something in his face shifts, but then he's shaking his head and the look is gone. "I'm pretty sure it's not a thing anywhere on the Grass Continent, I can tell you that much."

That was a flash of emotion, and a very strong one at that.

Is the 'name' talking too much?

No, it's not that. He was fine with it so far, if a bit excited to learn that someone's name is Dick.

What was the emotion?

Bitterness. Anger. Sorrow. The same song that sings in your own past. The same as many others before you, and many more to come. That way lies nothing but bitter ash in his mouth, one he's not letting out in spite of the burning.

With that said, she tries to end this line of questions. "Well in either case, I do have the skills and mindset of a detective."

Litleo almost looks like he wants to ask how she knows, then stops himself and forcibly chooses to ask something else. "How do you know that?"

"I've been silently psychoanalyzing and visually calculating every single person I've talked to and every detail in the environment, ever since the moment I woke up on the beach next to this town and walked into it. My brain has not shut off for about seventeen hours."

Now the fire cat has no idea what to say to that. She seems to have that effect on two-thirds of all felines she's met.

Suddenly, she's aware that she only asked one question and had somehow ended up far from where she wanted to go. "Uh, sorry about the tangent, by the way. Had a moment."

"...I could see that."

Try for one more question. You've taken up enough of his time as is.

"I have one more question, for now."

He shrugs. "Go for it."

His shoulders sag slightly at your words. He is unbelievably relieved.

While she thinks over what to ask, her eyes trail over the den. After a moment, she turns her gaze to Litleo. A moment longer, it goes up to his little mohawk.

She stares.

Then she points. "Why did your hair set on fire, earlier?"

He stares at her.

She stares back, unblinking.

Ah. The feeling comments. There goes his relief.

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The next hour was absolute pain for the fox and the cat. For different reasons, sure, but still.

Litleo told her about two major things: Types and Moves. The first thing Litleo told her was that he's a Fire/Normal type, which allows him to do a variety of both Fire type moves and Normal ones. At her blank look, he then had to tell her about what kinds of Type Elements there are. There are eighteen of them, and every pokémon has one or two types to their species, in which Litleo told her that Zorua are Dark types.

She wasn't sure what that meant, and when she asked that he said that he wasn't one so stop asking for fuck's sake.

Then came Moves, and now she is acutely aware of the living flamethrower in front of her. And about every single walking disaster living in Treasure Town, every other town, possible 'wild pokémon' between towns, and the ferals in the dungeons. She also felt incredibly stupid for wanting to go into said dungeons where there are creatures walking around with a thirst for blood and an itchy trigger finger on their strange elemental magics.

Then, after her panic attack settled, she realized something. "I'm a pokémon."

"...yes." Litleo's voice is dry. "Congratulations on finding that out."

"I…" Her mouth felt dry, but she still tried to lick her lips. "I can do those things. I can, like, shoot Dark attacks or whatever, right?"

"Some of them are melee, too."

"Yeah, right, whatever- but I can do that." She sits back further on her haunches and holds up both paws to examine them. "That's an unbelievable amount of awesome that I can't put into words, kid. Okay," She sits up, putting paws to the ground. "Time to figure out how to do that."

She turns around and takes two steps to the door, then stops. She turns around to Litleo, a small grin on her face. "Wanna watch me learn how to shoot huge fucking Dark lasers?"

"That's… not how it works?" He looks incredibly bewildered.

"It will be, once I finish my training montage. Imaging the lasers, Litleo." Her voice turns into a stage whisper. "The power that's inside."

"You're going to get arrested for that. You can't use moves in town limits."

"The beach isn't within the town limits." She didn't actually know if it was. "I can shoot big lasers there. You can't stop me, but you can observe the magnificence."

"Okay, let me rephrase that: you can't shoot 'big lasers' or whatever. Everyone starts small, and it isn't very impressive."

"Okay, consider the following: fuck you, big laser go pew."

His left eye twitches as he glares at her. "You won't do it, you crazy bitch."

The eye twitch suppressed a laugh. He seems to be the type to make those kinds of jokes.

She just grins right back. "Bitch be crazy and shoot big lasers, kid. You're gonna weep when I do it."

He does another growl of frustration - which is starting to get less and less intimidating as time goes on - and jumps off of his bed. "Okay, fine! I'll go watch you be an absolute failure and laugh at your stupid face failing, how's that sound?"

"Sounds like you want to watch a winner win, if you ask me."

The groan of frustration is music to her ears. "Okay, that it- get the fuck out of my house so I can watch you fuck up for the rest of the day." He then gives her a savage grin. "Not a bad idea, getting some entertainment for the rest of the day. It'd be better if it wasn't you, though; you're not my type."

"..." She looks back to the door, then down at herself, then back to him. "Kid, I'm too old for you, anyways."

"...I know, that's not what I mea-"

"Like, I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to be your mother, kit-kat."

"Will you just stop talking!"

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Shinx has had an awful evening.

He must've combed through most of Treasure Town and hasn't seen a single sign of Zorua anywhere. There was a moment where he thought he had a lead (he overheard the Kecleon Brothers talking about a weird Zorua in poor health they helped) but it turned out to be someone else visiting from out of town for family. He has absolutely no clue how she managed to stay hidden from him, seeing how she made it a point to be the complete opposite of a zorua's stereotype and be extremely visible by everyone while asking a hundred and one questions to anyone willing to talk to her.

He then shakes his head in self-admonishment for thinking about stereotypes. It's rude to do that.

By the time the sun started to set, Shinx had no choice but to give up. He can't see well in the dark as well as other feline pokémon can, he's tired, he's hungry and he decided to put the Guild member's advice to heart. Treasure Town is a friendly place, so Zorua isn't in any danger as long as she's still inside said town. She would probably not have a great night of rest - if she even needs to sleep - but she won't starve just yet or be accosted by outlaws and have who-knows-what happen to her when Shinx could've kept looking for her-

He stops on the path back to his home, breathing in once, twice, then sighing. He looks down the fork in the dirt road, where one leads to home and the other leading to the other path to the beach. He could go to the beach and try to relax for a bit, but by the time he does it would be dark and home is on a cliff.

Besides, it would probably be in poor taste if he went to go and relax while Zorua is still missing. It wouldn't settle well in his conscience, so he shakes his head and continues on to his home. Tomorrow, he will go to the Guild and ask for help in searching for Zorua- if she doesn't somehow show up before then. For all he knows, she will just end up wandering back to his home in the middle of the night, asking to stay the night again. If she does do that, he's going to give her some grief for making him waste his day looking for her.

He can almost hear her yell of sorrow for leaving him, which seems about right: she does seem to get emotional about such things. At least, Shinx thinks as much.

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Patrat watches everything. Therefore, he knows everything. At least, he's one of the first 'mons that catches sight of something fishy going on in Treasure Town.

Most days, this watching doesn't lead to much. He sees a few things go on in town that he notices before the gossip comes around, such as the newest item that the Kecleon Brothers had decided to sell at a ridiculously high price, or when that new Wigglytuff Guild member - Bidoof - decides to fail some other task and sulk his way back to the Guild, and many more things.

One big thing - one that even Sunflora, the gossip queen, goes to him for - is new pokémon rolling into town. His house is placed perfectly so that the main road that everyone walks down goes right by his place, so he can see both new faces and old ones returning home. It's practically instinct to take on the role of a watcher - it's what he's good for, being a patrat and all - so he certainly likes to do it as a pastime, mostly. But…

Sometimes, he sees the problem ones roll into town, and he can see it clear as day. Some others would be interested in new faces, but that interest has to be reserved for the good pokémon, not the problems.

The most recent problem for Treasure Town, in his honest opinion, is the white zorua. It didn't seem like much to the naked eye, being all subdued and being guided around almost by the paw by Shinx - a good kid, that shinx - but Patrat knows better. Patrat knows zorua like it and, most importantly, what kind of havoc that they can wreck. Nobody can claim to know that they've met a zorua, which is only half true because of their illusions. You could be talking to a fresh face, but then turn around to find all of the poké on you gone and a red-tipped tail flashing around a corner. That in and of itself is bad enough, but it gets worse.

There's the ones that don't hide their faces and those ones, oh, those ones are the worst kind. They still find a way to hide from you, with pleasant smiles or a sob story, in which Sunflora had told him exactly that! An amnesiac, of all the excuses, and it's not even done well! If it wasn't for the fact that Shinx - such a good shinx, that one - was already wrapped around its digit before she walked into town, he would've told it to turn back and leave this good town alone- Legends, he'd even tell it to go back to Towny Town where it probably came from!

And it got even worse, as time went on. Not long after going to the guild, it went and abandoned Shinx to go straight to the market, where it talked to Litleo - another problem pokémon that he keeps an eye on - and then proceeded to swindle the Kecleon Brothers with yet another lie of theirs! It makes his blood boil, seeing it do that, but he wanted to make sure that he sees everything that it does first, before going to the Wigglytuff Guild in the morning and revealing every cruel deed this zorua has done.

What he could go without was watching it lie to every pokémon that it meets - yes, even Litleo - with that horrid "amnesia" excuse. It went so far as to talk to the fire cat for over an hour in his dwelling, before going out to the beach - he made sure that neither of them noticed him following - while she tried to 'remember' how to use moves. The two spent the rest of the day down there, where the zorua tried its best to not show any moves while Litleo laughed at its falsified inadequacy and incompetence. Even he almost believed that it couldn't perform any moves at all - which is nearly impossible: even children have a grasp on at least one move - but he knows better.

Oh, does he know better, alright.

Then, when it started getting dark, the two went back to the abandoned neighborhood, with the zorua stealing one of the abandoned homes for itself and not coming out for a good, long time.

Only when he was sure that it wouldn't come back out did he consider it a good day keeping an eye out for the good pokémon of Treasure Town. He had gathered enough evidence of the zorua's ne'er-do-well acts and the blatant theft of those items that could have gone to a better, innocent pokémon to give to the Guild tomorrow, bright and early before it can decide to do anything else. It was tiring to do so much watching for the town, having gotten up early today just in time for him to see the zorua, and his attentiveness is failing him.

Speaking of… it really is failing him. His drowsiness seems to multiply, with his eyes drooping down further and further as he makes his way out of the abandoned neighborhood. It's dark out, and his sight isn't made for the dark as well as some other pokémon are. It probably explains how his exhaustion is starting to catch up to him, to the point that he's starting to stumble on his way. He might not even make it home, for how strong it's coming along!

Then he sees something. A flash of fur, moving with the shadows. He sluggishly looks for it, wondering if the zorua has somehow caught him under a move and is planning now to attack him. If it wants to fight, then he would do his best to do good by the good pokémon of this town!

Then he recognizes the pokémon moving out of the shadows and into the moonlight, and he relaxes. It's just another good pokémon of Treasure Town, and a wandering Explorer at that! He's in a good place, away from the zorua and its evil.

He lets his eyes slide close, slumping to the ground as his watch ends. He couldn't even feel the fine slice to his throat or the blood pooling into his lungs, a smile on his face.