Chapter 25 - Oh, it's you

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"… Ace? Are you listening to me?" asked Servine.

I suddenly snapped awake, realizing that I had moved from the doctor's to a nesh-looking café. We were sitting outside of the café on a modest sized table that was wide enough to fit five Pokémon on the smaller size with a wide umbrella in the middle to block out the sun for us.

I took a look around and found a couple of other tables in this area with Pokémon sitting around enjoying some tea while some even sported some smart looking outfits. There was an Audino wearing a maid's outfit balancing a tray filled with small cakes on it while wearing a warm smile walking over towards a table that sat a Mime Jr, and a Mawile.

"Ace? Helloooo?" Scorbunny asked while waving his small paw in front of me.

I blinked a couple of times, furrowing my brows. "Yeah, I'm here." I moved his annoying waving paw away from me. "Wait, what were we talking about? Actually, when did we get here?"

"After you had your check up, we waited for the others to return and decided to have a small tea break. We are figuring out what to do next," Vulpix answered.

"What happened there?" Sneasel asked. "I've seen you space out before like when Vulpix talks about books or when Scorbunny talks about his favorite trees, but not to the point where you forget where you are, or even walking for that matter."

I thought for a second about how to respond. "I… the doctor diagnosed me, and told me that I should be fine."

"Is that all that happened?" Servine asked this time.

"No. I may have freaked and lashed out."

"You lashed out?"

"It wasn't Ace's fault, the two Haunters did suddenly grab him. I would've freaked just the same," Vulpix cut in in my defense.

"Yeah, but not everyone goes into full-on survival mode. I felt like my life was on the line, and I'm not even exaggerating," I mumbled.

Sneasel laid down her cup, and cleared her throat. "Do you… want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not really. At least, not now. I need to get my thoughts together."

Scorbunny laid his arm on my head and started to pet me. "Well, don't worry, we are here for you! Aren't we, gang?"

Servine, Sneasel and Vulpix all smiled fondly and nodded. A small warm, fuzzy feeling filled me deep inside my core. That warm comforting feeling was ruined by Scorbunny's petting, to which I grabbed his hand with my vine.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm afraid it's time to remove that hand of yours," I jested, with a slight tint of seriousness.

"Nooo! I'm sorry! That's my favorite hand!" Scorbunny tried but failed to free himself. He looked to the others for help.

"Rest in peace, Scorbunny," Sneasel dismissed when he looked towards her.

"And it was such a nice hand too," Vulpix sulked. Scorbunny snapped his attention to Vulpix, the worry in his eyes intensifying. Then like a stiff machine he slowly cranked his head over towards his last chance.

"Tough luck, fluff butt," Servine said with a mournful tone.

"Well, let's get started." I put on the evilest grin I could while slightly tightening my grip on Scorbunny's hand. Scorbunny started to thrash around more until he stopped completely, then fainted on the table. Whoops.

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After a long conversation about insisting that I take it easy- to which I refused- we finally made our way towards our client.

While we were walking, Servine had told us that we were to look for a grand-looking building with a large gate at the front. The key part to tell this building apart from the others is, apparently, a plaque of a zaprock with a large silver ring around it resting above the mailbox.

"So, we are looking for a pompous place with a rich snob as our client? Great, I love snobs," I complained.

"You know, Ace, you might want to keep those thoughts to yourself. At least while in public. We don't want the local Pokémon to think ill of us," Vulpix warned.

"Psssh, I doubt that they even noticed my comments with how he is right now."

I pointed to my left to where I knew Sneasel was. She was carrying Scorbunny who had his head leaned back with his tongue sticking out while making very loud snoring noises. Every once and a while I swear I could hear him mumbling something about his hand.

Vulpix raised an eyebrow at me. "Who's fault do you think that is?"

"I don't want to say it's mine, but I will admit that I may have had something to do with it."

With Vulpix giving me a defeated look and Sneasel's refusal for assistance saying that she was fine, we arrived at a very ritzy area of town.

Instead of neat buildings lining up against each other, these buildings were vastly spread apart with huge gates and yards acting as buffers with a mansion as the crown piece for each. The locals here were very different from the Pokémon before and gave off a real sense of familiarity with how they dressed.

Yes, almost every Pokémon here were wearing clothes, really giving off a Victorian-British sense of style. Their dresses were usually odd shaped to fit the frame of the Pokémon, while the gents had a smart looking suit that too looked a bit odd unless it was on something with two legs. Add some toxic lead paint for that white mask they went for and they would complete the look.

"Does any Pokémon get the feeling that we are being stared at?" Vulpix asked as she slunk closer to the ground.

"Yeah, I kinda feel out of place being here," Sneasel remarked as she looked side to side towards the locals with a bit of a frown.

I noticed their stares, I just didn't care. "Well, I don't. As long as they stay out of my way, then I don't really care."

"I would say that I would admire your confidence, Ace," Servine said, "If you didn't look the way you do right now."

"She has a point," Sneasel said with a smile "You do look like a gross Dusclops."

I looked over myself, taking note of the scum, dirt, and bandages that were all over me. "Dayum. Guess I could've gone with a bath."

Vulpix chuckled. "It's not that bad," she beamed as she brushed up against me. "Gives you a really mysterious feeling about you, you know? Like, what happened to that Pokémon? He must be tough."

I smiled. "Thanks. At least one of my teammates is nice to me."

Servine shrugged. "Ah, you will be fine. Anyways, I think this is the place." Servine then walked towards the mailbox that was built into the gate. We all gathered around her, looking at the plaque.

Taking a look at the plaque I was able to actually get a look at what a zaprock actually looked like since it was coloured. The rock was an octahedron- kind of like an eight-sided die- with it being a white crystal with a blue bit inside it with a lightning bolt resting at the core. The zaprock was surrounded by a silver ring, and on that ring it had plastered the word, 'Founder.'

"So, do we just walk in? Like what do we do?" Sneasel asked as she checked the gate out.

"For one, I think you should wake up Scorbunny before we decide," I suggested.

"Ah, good point." Sneasel let go of Scorbunny's legs, letting him fall back and onto the ground with a loud thud. If Pokémon weren't naturally tough, then I would've freaked out a bit since he landed on his face, but of course he was fine, if not a bit confused.

"Wha-?! Where am I?" Scorbunny asked while frantically looking left to right from the dirt. He then looked to his right hand, the one I had grabbed earlier. "Phew. Glad to see I still have you, righty."

"Look alive, fluff butt, you and your friends are about to meet your client. A rich and important one by the looks of it, so best behavior, okay?"

"I have no clue about what you mean, but okay!" Scorbunny quickly jumped up and saluted.

"Wait, are you not coming with us?" Vulpix asked with a confused frown.

Servine crossed her vines in front of her chest. "Nothing gets past you, does it? Be glad to have that cute little smarty on your team, Ace." Servine winked. "But, to answer your question: no. This is the end of the line for me. My task was to get you all to your job safe and sound, and, well besides for that little teleport hiccup, I think I did a pretty good job," Service boasted.

"What?! You are leaving?" Scorbunny suddenly cried out. He went to tackle-hug Servine when Sneasel clotheslined him with an outstretched arm.

Servine let out a short breath. "Phew, thanks for the save, Sneasel. Now, Scorbunny, I'm not leaving ZapRock. Not yet, anyways. I have a job to do here myself. I'm just not coming with you guys on your quest. I'll still be around if you have any questions, need help, or just want to hang out in your free time."

"Oh. Okay, can we hang out later today then? And tomorrow?"

"Of course. I'll be staying at the same place as you guys, so, good luck and see you all later. Bye-bye."

We all waved to Servine who gave me the quest notice since I had my trusty bag on me, and said our goodbyes for now. We waited for a short time until Servine was gone then looked towards the gate.

"It feels different without her," Scorbunny sulked.

"It hasn't even been a minute yet, Scorbunny," Sneasel replied.

"I know, and it hurts so much already." Scorbunny clutched at his heart in exaggerated pain while Sneasel just rolled her eyes.

Vulpix- who had been studying the yard we could see through the picket gate- turned to me. "So, what do we do now?" she asked.

I approached the gate, and used my vine to open it. "We go inside of course."

"Oh, right."

Inside the property, it was nothing but immaculate. A long white path stretched all the way until it curved around a magnificent-looking fountain about halfway, with two Dratinis circling around themselves to make a heart shape while their eyes were closed. I couldn't spot a single blemish on this path or the fountain as we passed it. If I had a camera, I would've had one hell of a photo shoot in front of this thing.

Large bushes in the shape of Pokémon doing poses were placed close towards the edge of the mansion, while the lawn looked like not a single bit of grass was out of place. Whoever was maintaining these plants and lawn was a master at its job, needless to say.

We arrived at the front of this two story building. Like all the buildings this one was white with baby blue trimmings. The roof was the same color as the trimmings, but coming from the roof around the middle of the house was a yellow lightning bolt pattern that ran down and towards the left.

I approached the small set of stairs that leads towards the large wooden front door. Without wasting time, I grabbed one of two door knockers, being the one at the top of this tall door.

"Wait, shouldn't we plan for what to say?" Vulpix asked.

"Hmm, on the one vine you have a point, but on the other-" I then raised the door knocker and bashed it against the door.

Knock knock knock.

"Ha, nice," Sneasel snickered. Vulpix shot her a quick glare then focused back up to the door when it started to creak open. When the door finally opened, it revealed a large giant of a Pokémon, a huge lad, a real unit of a Pangoro. This extremely imposing Pokémon stood at the door and I swear I could hear his muscles flex from where I was standing.

"Yes? How can I help you today,…sir," the grizzly Pangoro asked in a very deep and opposingly slow way.

"Woah. Someone's been eating his veggies." The Pangoro just stood there with a still, unamused face. "Uh right guess you are the strong silent type. Well, we are here because we were asked to help with a quest or task or something. I have the quest in my backpack, just a sec. Vulpix can you- Vulpix?"

When I turned to look at where Vulpix was, she was gone. In fact, both Sneasel and Scorbunny were also gone.

"Are you all serious? Oi, get your butts out from where you all are hiding from!" I called out to my hidden 'friends.' Scorbunny was the first to reveal his head from a large pillar, just down from the stairs.

"B-b-b-but he's so b-b-big," Scorbunny stammered while clearly shaking.

Sneasel was the next to reveal herself by her head appearing above Scorbunny's. "D-don't be so s-silly, Scorbunny. He-he's not scary at all." Sneasel lied while very clearly scared from the large bear.

"Oh, please." I turned my head towards the Pangoro who raised his eyebrow at me. "Look, he's just a harmless teddy bear. I bet he wouldn't hurt you since it would be bad for his paycheck. Now get out here now, or I will drag you out."

Sneasel and Scorbunny both looked to each other, then to the bear then towards me. When they locked eyes with me and spied my vines just itching to get let loose, they suddenly got out from their hiding spot. They then gathered behind me, using me as a Bulbasaur shield.

"Now get the quest notice out from my bag," I ordered.

Sneasel complied and got the quest out and handed it to my waiting vine. I then passed the quest paper to the surprisingly patient Pangoro. He then grabbed it and started to read over it and then nodded when he was satisfied.

"It seems that you were telling the truth. Now, please enter and wait in the room to the right, while I fetch the master of this mansion," Pangoro gestured inside the mansion towards said room.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Thanks! Oh, one second." I looked over to the fountain and stretched my vines out all the way towards it. There was something that wasn't there before, a set of orange fluffy tails poking out from the side. Like a snake catching its prey, my vines struck and snatched up a flailing Vulpix. "Now that's good fishing," I said with my best fisherman accent.

"Ace! Let me go!" Vulpix yelled while continuing to squirm about.

"Oh, she's a fighter."

I reeled in my catch of the day, turned towards the door and walked inside with my catch still in the air still kicking around while telling me to let her go.

"Excuse me, good sir," I said to the butler bear while I passed him. Vulpix then spied the giant bear who gave her a confused look. Vulpix then started to hyperventilate and passed out. Ah, whoops. Again.

"Well, let's go, Scorbunny. I don't want to end up like her," Servine said now filled with some courage.

"Yeah, okay," Scorbunny agreed, he too filled with sudden courage.

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"Vulpix, time to wake up, sleepy head," I said to Vulpix who was lying asleep next to me on these very comfy couches.

I gotta say, these baby blue, leathery couches really went together with the paintings that lined the walls, along with the small- yet tasteful amount- bits of furniture that were placed around with pottery on top of it. Some had flowers in them, while others were just nice vases. The only thing we would need would be a nice tea set that would rest on this nice-looking, glass table that sat in between the other couches.

"You really should stop making Pokémon faint, Ace," Sneasel said on the opposite couch that mirrored this one. There was one more couch at the head that surrounded the glass table.

I gave her a small glare then returned to waking up Vulpix. I prodded her a couple times, making her stir slowly awake.

"What? Where am I?" mumbled Vulpix.

"We are in the rich guy's lounge room," I replied. Vulpix slowly started to rise into a sitting position while thinking.

"I-I recall a huge monster- wait, you dragged me in here, didn't you? Right past that terrifying monster." Vulpix glared at me.

"I think you are exaggerating. Sure, he may be big, but come on, he's just a butler doing his job. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, you know."

"That's rich coming from you," Sneasel snarked.

"You have a point, but I'm still not happy with you," Vulpix sulked. Seeing Vulpix upset, I started to feel kinda bad.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dragged you in like that. Oh, I know, I'll brush your fur later to make up for it. It's been a while since I've done that now," I offered.

"I guess that would be fine." Vulpix raised her snout as if acting like she barely liked my proposal of a fine fur brushing, but her wagging tails betrayed her true thoughts. I smiled at her antics.

"Wait, you brush her fur?" Sneasel asked.

"Yeah. Usually after a mission, especially when her fur gets all dirty. Why do you ask?" I asked, looking back towards Sneasel.

"Vulpixs are extremely selective about who can brush their furs. Some Vulpixs won't even let their parents brush their furs."

"Oh really?" I looked back towards a blushing Vulpix. I stood up on the couch then proceeded to do my best bow. It was a bit awkward since I hadn't bowed in my four legged form yet. "You do me the finest honor of allowing a mere peasant like me to brush one's fur as soft and fluffy as yours. Please, allow me the privilege of continuing to do so in the future."

Scorbunny and Sneasel started to snicker. Vulpix looked towards me with a not too impressed look and shot a small bit of ember at me. I flinched, taking in the very small ember at my right cheek.

"Ah, thank you, my lady, for that gift. May I have another?" I smiled, even though that did hurt.

Scorbunny and Sneasel were belly laughing at this point.

Vulpix let out a deep sigh, then smiled. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I'm glad to see you all have made yourselves at home," a new, aged man's voice announced from the entrance of the guest room.

Sneasel and Scorbunny suddenly snapped silent from their laughing fit, and looked to the floor a bit shaken.

Before I could see who was talking, the new character was walking behind the couch that Sneasel and Scorbunny were sitting on. The only thing I could see from the character was what looked to be a fluffy, blue and white tail bobbing up and down as it made its way towards the last couch.

Vulpix in the meantime looked like she had seen a demon or something and was now snuggled up really close to me, shaking like a leaf. I raised an eyebrow when I spied why- it was the large butler standing at the door, menacingly like.

The groaning of leather, a soft smack, then a moan came from the other couch. Taking a look, it was the new character: a Pachirisu. This Pachirisu was wearing a pair of glasses while sporting a smart little, dark-blue suit that covered his top half without the pants.

"I always loved these couches," the elderly Pachirisu commented. "Did you know that I had these imported, and commissioned to be as comfortable as possible?" The Pachirisu gave a warm smile that unfortunately didn't do anything to help ease the discomfort of my allies.

I gave a small whistle. "Imported? That must have cost a fortune. No wonder though, these things are really comfy. You know, if you weren't our client, I might have staged a heist to steal these couches," I replied with a smile.

A soft yet menacing growl erupted from the door. Vulpix and Scorbunny both looked like they were going to wet themselves, when a deep laughter erupted from the elderly Pachirisu.

"Hahahah! I see it's true, you really do say crazy things! Hahaha," the elderly Pachirisu said. When he finished up, he looked to his butler who was still standing at the entrance of the doorway. "Eugene, fetch our guests some tea, but use the good, expensive stuff."

The butler Pangoro, apparently named Eugene, gave a proper bow, "as you request, Master." He turned around then made his way towards wherever tea lives in this place.

At first I was curious as to this Pangoro having a name when something else made its way to the front of my curiosity list. "Wait, you make that sound like you know of me?" I asked.

"Well, I did ask for you, Vulpix, and Scorbunny personally to help with this task, afterall. I don't believe I know of you though, miss."

"Oh, I am Sneasel. I'm partnered up with this numbskull," Sneasel said, pointing a claw at Scorbunny, seemingly a bit more relaxed now.

"And I am Albert. I was the one who has requested both of your team's help and the owner of this house. From very high recommendation, might I add. You in particular, Ace."

I felt a chill run up my spine for some reason. I know that I call myself Ace since it's my name and all, but every stranger I have met so far has called me Bulbasaur.

"Wait, you even know his name?" Vulpix asked while I was thinking.

"Well, my daughter has spoken very highly of him. Although she did mention some of his more 'quirky' ways of talking, I guess that part is true, so it stands to believe your other characteristics should be prevalent too."

"Daughter?" I said, perplexed. "Wait you mean that you are the father of-"

"Sorry I'm late!" a very, very familiar sounding Pokémon yelled from the doorway.

All eyes shot towards the voice.

At the doorway stood the butler Eugene who was walking in with a silver cart of objects on it while a smaller Pachirisu stood on his right shoulder. The smaller Pachirisu's eyes sparkled as her smile widened when she spied us all sitting here.

"Ah! You all made it!" Pachirisu screeched with joy. Eugene stretched out his right arm towards the floor, allowing Pachirisu run down his arm and towards the floor.

Scorbunny and Vulpix who at first were intimidated by Eugene, quickly forgot about that and just as quickly got up from their seats, leaving Sneasel and I both confused about what was going on.

Scorbunny was first to arrive and gave Pachirisu a big hug, followed by Vulpix.

"Hi, Scorbunny! I still see you love hugs as always."

Scorbunny ended his hug. "Of course! Hugs are so nice and make me feel nice." Scorbunny smiled while jumping in place.

Pachirisu gave Scorbunny a nod then gave Vulpix a hug to which she returned one gleefully. "Wow, your fur is even more fluffy than before! Not that you were one for letting me touch it in the first place."

"Haha, well things are different now. I feel more comfortable and confident, especially around friends."

Pachirisu then looked towards me, then back at Vulpix with a cheeky looking smile. Pachirisu then leaned in close to Vulpix's ear then whispered something. Vulpix suddenly jumped back slightly. "What!? N-no." Vulpix looked towards me shyfully, to which I tilted my head in confusion.

Pachirisu facepalmed. "I see. You dog you. I'm rooting for you!" Pachirisu patted Vulpix on her shoulder then made her way towards me.

I finally hopped down from my seat and met her halfway.

"It's good to see you again," Pachirisu said with a smile.

I stood there and looked past her.

"Um, how have you been?" Pachirisu asked again, this time a bit unsure.

I continued to look past her, barely able to contain a smile or laughter.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!" Pachirisu huffed.

I finally locked eyes with her. "That's a weird way to start a conversation," I said with a smile.

"I- You!" Pachirisu's angry expression melted into a smile. "Haaaaaa, I see you haven't changed."

"No, I've changed." She looked at me confused. I then suddenly grabbed Pachirisu with my vines and pulled her into a hug. "I enjoy a good hug now. It's good to see you again, Pachirisu."

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After we caught up a little, and introduced Sneasel to Pachirisu, we all sat back down in our spots, with Pachirisu taking a seat next to me, with Vulpix on my left. Eugene laid out a nice splay of small cakes with cups of tea on the table.

We were all unsure on how to proceed, when Scorbunny was first to react by happily taking a cake and hatefully drinking his tea.

Since Scorbunny broke the ice, Sneasel then grabbed a cup for herself taking in a sip. Her eyes lit up, and almost spat it out. "Youch, that's hot. But really, really good."

I ignored Sneasel, taking in great notice of Scorbunny chugging his boiling hot tea. "Scorbunny, mate, how are you able to scull hot tea like that? Doesn't that hurt?" I asked.

Scorbunny placed his tea down with a raised eyebrow and tea dripping from his chin. "What do you mean?" Scorbunny asked.

"Ace, he is a fire type. He literally spits fire, and lights his hand in the stuff. Would you be confused if a water type could breathe in water?" Sneasel replied.

"I'd be surprised if you could breathe in air after I smacked you up," I snarked. Sneasel smiled while the others chuckled.

"That's not a nice thing to say, especially to a friend," Vulpix chastised.

"Still the same dummy from before," Pachirisu smiled. "Should I zap you like old times for being rude?" Pachirisu's hands started to spark.

"Yeah? Try it, shorty. I've been on multiple missions now, I think I can take a few small zippy zaps from you," I replied. Pachirisu stood up and butted heads with me.

After a second of two, a deep laughter erupted from the father Pachirisu. "I'm glad to see you all getting along with my daughter. Did you know that she didn't really have any friends? Oh, it fills my heart with joy to see her happy like this."

"D-dad!" Pachirisu yelled bashfully.

Albert gave a smile that flattened out. He grabbed his tea and took a good long sip. With a satisfied sigh, he spoke. "Now, I'm sure you all are curious as to what I would like you all to do."

"Oh, hell yeah we are!" I replied with enthusiasm.

"Yeah ,finally! This mystery is killing me," Sneasel said.

"Well, come on old timer, lay out those sweet quest details. Don't forget the mention of a reward at the end."

"I'm sorry about those two," Vulpix apologized.

"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear. With what I heard from Pachirisu from her time in that dreadful mine, I can look past a bit of cheek. Besides, he reminds me a bit of when I was younger. Now, with seriousness, I would like you all to help find a precious item, one that was stolen by some wicked thieves: a necklace."

"A necklace?" Scorbunny asked. "Was it a pretty one like my mum's? She loved wearing flower necklaces that I would make for her." Scorbunny then smiled dumbly.

"Why yes, my fine fellow, it is a very pretty necklace. One that belonged to my wife who sadly…" Albert paused, letting a silence fall over the room. Pachirisu hung her head low with a sad frown. "…is no longer with us."

"Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that, my condolences," Vulpix said respectfully.

"Thank you, my dear. She fell ill and sadly no amount of money, doctors, or anything I could do could find a cure for what she had. She passed away in her sleep."

Pachirisu hopped up from her spot and ran over towards her father, giving him a hug. After a second Pachirisu broke the hug, but stayed there to sit by her father.

"Thank you, daughter. That necklace was precious to my wife, and her mother before her and her mother before. That necklace has been passed down from daughter to daughter for generations and I would have that tradition continued by having it returned so that I could pass it on to my own daughter. It's sadly one of the few possessions my wife owned."

"Uh, not to be rude, but did she not like buying stuff?" I asked.

"How much do you know of ZapRock?"

"Nothing. I'm not from this land and have only been here for a couple months at best."

"Oh? I might have to ask you about your land at a later date, but to keep things short, this town used to be on the poorer end not seven years ago. We hit a gold mine so-to-say when me and a couple of others partnered up and aided a foreign inventor in creating stable zaprocks. He surprisingly gave up all his ownership of zaprocks to us, leading us to have an abundance of sudden wealth, to create this very town you are in now. My wife passed away before my major fortune came in. If I had more money when my wife fell ill, then maybe she would be here today."

"It sounds like you really loved her," Vulpix said.

A small tear ran down Albert's check. "I still do. So that is why it is very important to us that you all find that necklace."

"I'm all for a good story, but why us? This sounds very important and we are all just a bunch of rookies," Sneasel said with her arms crossed.

"Because my daughter spoke so highly of those three, especially Ace."

"What? I haven't done anything," I said.

"I heard that you stood up for my daughter and defended her from bullies most wicked in heart, gave her courage with your defiant nature to those who hurt you, and saved her from a fate most wicked when she was falling behind on her work. You have my deepest respect, especially from what I heard those wicked Pokémon loved to do behind closed doors."

A sudden flash of those tools Machoke used on me rushed through my mind. I quickly shook it off, and placed my paw on Vulpix's for comfort.

"If I may ask, what keeps you going? What drives you? Most would have been broken from such an experience."

I pondered the thought, then looked at each of my friends. "To be honest, them" I gestured to my friends. "Especially Vulpix. If it wasn't for them, then I doubt I could keep moving forward."

"And that is why I believe you all to be perfect. While true you lack experience, friendship and unity easily triumphs hatred and greed. Add a hefty reward behind you all and I know you all can go far. Besides, this is also the best and most convenient way to get you out here to announce that as a reward for saving my daughter from monsters, Ace, you will be getting a special reward whether you succeed or not. I would've liked it to be ready by now, but unfortunately it isn't, so I ask for your patience."

"Uh, thanks anyway," I said.

"Is that not to your liking?"

"What? Oh, no, I'm thrilled at getting cool loot, but I don't feel like I deserve the praise."

"Well, you do. As a father, it is the least I can offer." Albert then clapped his paws together. "Alright, let's get down to grittier details of that necklace's last known location."

You know, money can get you alot in this world, just like my old one. When Albert found out that his daughter was kidnapped, he spent a huge amount of wealth to develop an information train of sorts to find her. After our guild dismantled and freed us from the mine, Albert's information network disbanded since he didn't need it anymore.

Why is this important? Well, from what Albert claims is a reliable source- a good friend from that information train- gave him a tip that his necklace was last seen in the paws of two Pokémon as a gesture of good will. By good will, I mean Albert paid a large sum for the information.

Albert then explained the details of the two individuals that the source was able to get. One was a large creature that wore a large cape and had a large scar on its left hand when it had the necklace. The Pokémon then apparently changes its shape to a smaller creature, but that scar remained when it did so.

The other was more of whispers about a large creature with a yellow star on its head that had been interested in purchasing expensive items like jewelry. Not much else was said besides that it is most likely a leader of a gang.

"The Pokémon with the star was whispered to be set up in the lower town while the shapeshifter was last seen in the upper part. I'm sorry that I can't offer more information," Albert finished.

"Well, at least it's something," Sneasel frowned.

"So, we have to find one of two creatures: one with a star on its head, and the other a shapeshifter? This is going to be an interesting quest," I said. I tried to envision a Pokémon that could possibly fit both descriptions. While the star fella had me running in circles, the shapeshifter gave me a couple of ideas.

"How are we supposed to find some Pokémon that fits that description?" Vulpix asked. "Ace, do you have any strange ideas like you normally do?"

"Yeah, what should we do?" Scorbunny said this time.

"Why are you all asking me?" I replied.

"Because you already have an idea, don't you?" Vulpix said with a smile.

"Well, I guess I do. Alright, fine. With a town this big, there is sure to be a black market of sorts. A place where Pokémon would sell shady things, right? We just need to find that area for more information about where that gang leader would be."

"And the shapeshifter?" Sneasel asked.

"Well it's obvious, right? It's a Ditto. We just have to keep an eye out for a Pokémon with a scar and a strange set of eyes. Imagine plain dots for eyes and bingo, it's a Ditto."

"Well then, guess we have some leads to follow," Vulpix said.

"We call dibs on following the Ditto's in upper," I quickly called out.

"Hey, wait! That's not fair! We should draw straws or something," Sneasel complained.

"Sneasel, be fair, he did call dibs. We just have to suck it up and search for this black market, for dibs is a sacred ritual that must be taken seriously. Besides, it shouldn't be too hard. I mean, it's a market painted black, it should stand out easily," Scorbunny confidently said.

"You idiot. The black market is just a name! It isn't literally a market painted black."

"Then why is it called a 'black market' then if it isn't?"

"I don't know! Maybe something about it being shady?

While those two continued their discussion, Vulpix leaned over towards me. "Wait, so you think we should split up?" she asked.

"Of course. It's the most reliable way to find things after all. Besides, we have our buddies and can relay information back at the inn we are staying at," I answered.

"But what if we get into fights?"

"I'm sure it will be fine. With Sneasel with Scorbunny and me with you, we have enough kindness and gruffness to handle most situations. We just don't pick a fight with a large crowd until we are all together."

"I guess that doesn't sound too bad if we try to talk our way through instead of fighting it out."

"That's what you are for and if it gets to it, I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt you."

"Hehe, my hero."

"I aim to please. Alright, it's settled: Vulpix and I will search for this Ditto in upper, while Scorbunny and Sneasel will search lower for any signs of a black market. Any questions?" I announced it to the whole group.

"I'm still upset about not getting a choice about where I'm searching," Sneasel winged.

"That's not a question."

"Can I have more tea? That was really good!" Scorbunny asked.

"Of course you may," Albert said. He gestured to his butler who then poured an extra cup for Scorbunny.

"Yay!"

I spied my cup that was still sitting there and decided to try the tea. I gave it a sip and instantly went back for another. It was a really good, lemony flavored tea that hit just right for me. "Alright team, after this second tea break, we leave."

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End Chapter 25