Once the group sans Old Man & Jumbo had fled the room with varying levels of eagerness and Old Man Moon had flopped down with the Morpeko sitting on the table before him, Yuzu cleared her throat.
“So, looks like we’re good to go on the Gym front. Shall we have a celebratory drink or just call it a night?” she asked calmly causing the rest of the room to devolve into chaos. Gastron, Hughes, and Conrad began shouting at the not-quite-smirking Yuzu, rapidly reddening in the face. Nuna used the opportunity to slip her flask back out of her coat while Armand kept trying to wave a series of documents. Old Man, Aisha, and Isaac, meanwhile, were snickering quietly to themselves at the chaos. Lastly, the three pokemon seated at the table were content to rest quietly while the humans bickered amongst themselves, though, in Minty’s case, it was possible she just hadn’t been paying attention in the first place.
Only once she had finished tipping back the last of her flask’s contents did Nuna finally look over towards her partner with a meaningful glance. Her Honchkrow’s harrowing screech drowned out the shouting, leaving everyone in the room wincing. A few angry glances shot her way, but she just shrugged them off. Ultimately, it was Old Man Moon that spoke first.
“Ya’know, Yuzu,” he huffed. “If you just wanted to make sure the boy was right in the head before signing off on this, you coulda just asked me. I wouldn’t have brought him back if he wasn’t.”
The woman in question burst out into a loud guffaw at the comment. “Oh, Old Man, I love the boy, but the idea of him being right in the head was gutted, dismembered, and burnt to hell years ago. And as for asking you, Bo could have walked in juggling Voltorbs and you’d swear he was fine. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t take a quick peek before agreeing to this plan of yours. He barely looked alive the last time I saw him if you’ll recall.”
“Hmph,” huffed Gastron angrily while glaring at Yuzu. The man slammed his hands down on the table in front of him to make sure the others were paying attention. “Quit acting like the rest of us are here to make sure that lunatic doesn’t have a boo-boo, witch. That was never the issue.”
“You do recall he was missing his hands the last time we saw him, yes?” she asked back mildly.
“They grew back, big whoop,” he snarked back. “We’re here because you, Moon, are hell-bent on screwing us all in order to fulfill some stupid Gym fantasy. I’ve sunk way too much money into this village for you to just throw it all away on a whim.”
“Was that why I came here? And here I thought I came to check on a possible new investment. Thank Arceus,” Aisha spoke up in a biting tone even though her composed smile stayed fixed in place. “I’d have been so confused without you, Gastron.”
The man’s face uncharacteristically shifted and flushed at her not-so-subtle rebuke, but any retort was stalled as Conrad coughed politely into his hand. “I think Gastron simply meant to imply that several of us do have concerns, Aisha. Your own personal interests might not be affected, but I will remind you that you’re representing Carmine Village as a whole currently. Hosting a Gym within the village will virtually guarantee perpetual external interference within our community.
League sanctions will force us to put in new infrastructure and businesses will flock to capitalize on the trainer surges that will inevitably appear around the region’s new gyms. PokeMart alone would put numerous locals out of business within months. From what you’ve told us so far, Keanu, the Moon clan has once again already poured a ridiculous amount of funds into this project. Funds which you might have to recoup, again. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect an explanation from Old Man Moon regarding what exactly his intentions and plans are. You might technically have final say here, Keanu, but you know we can make this difficult for you.”
“I’m going to need an actual explanation too, Old Man,” Nuna wearily sighed. “I wasn’t joking about not needing the extra workload. The law in Carmine Village is upheld precisely because everyone in Carmine Village gets how it works. Keeping the system running smoothly with a bunch of trainers running amok and the League leaning over our shoulders is going to be more work than it’s worth.”
“And don’t think we don’t notice that they,” Gastron again interjected angrily while waving his hand towards the three pokemon seated at the table. “Seem to have already gotten an explanation.”
Twinkle and Minty remained unfazed by the man’s outburst, but the gnarled Shiftry let out an elongated snarl while looking down his nose at Gastron, much to the man’s irritation. “You know I don’t understand a thing you say, you old twig.” In response, the grass type simply sneered and held up one of his leaved fans. The two outer leaves quickly folded down, leaving the central leaf proudly raised towards the loud human with unmistakable meaning.
“Enough,” the Old Man barked out before any further arguments could start, though a few of the rooms occupants noticed a sparkle of laughter in his eyes at the possibility. “Grandfather and Twinkle understand why we need the Gym because I discussed it with them decades ago and the reasoning hasn’t changed. And Minty, well, Minty I’ve decided to wage war against the peanut butter industry. We strike at dawn. Any thoughts?”
“Clef, clef,” the small fairy nodded agreeably without looking up from her fiddling.
Old Man nodded sharply in response before looking back at Gastron with a shrug. “See, Minty just doesn’t care. There’s no backroom deals going on Gastron.”
“Gee thanks,” the man sneered. “Doesn’t seem to change the fact that you already have three votes on your side going into this.”
“Because they agree with the idea and their opinions matter just as much as yours,” Yuzu stated with an edge of warning in her voice.
“I wasn’t implying that they weren’t,” he growled back. “It just strikes me that this decision seems to largely impact humans, not them. You lot will crawl out of your graves to protect their forest and caves with or without a Gym. It sort of seems like “their opinions” here are to just agree with Moon.”
“Thank you for your input–”
“Oh, can we fuck off with all this pansy, polite shit,” Hughes suddenly snarled, no longer able to keep quiet. “Why the fuck are we talking about this like it’s something we need to vote on? This is Carmine Village. We don’t need voting, we don’t need Gyms, we don’t need the League, and we sure as fuck do not need any more outsiders!”
The man spat the words venomously towards the room while leveling a vicious glare towards Gastron & Aisha. “I told you this when you and Teppei first tried this nonsense and nearly sunk us. I sure as fuck told you this when you brought the money grubbing Ekans and backstabbing Jynx in and now we can’t get rid of them.”
The words had barely left his mouth before the room chilled alarmingly. A palpable malice pressed down on all present, causing quite a few to wince in discomfort. One of them being Gastron who, though visibly angry at Hughes’ words, had fallen silent as the aura surrounding Aisha raged across the room. Her small smile remained the same as always, but a few observant eyes noticed her shadow growing ominously behind her. Though a cold sweat had broken out across Hughes’ forehead, he glared angrily back at her.
“Enough,” the quiet, tired voice was accompanied by an overbearing weight that forced all present to heed it. Old Man Moon hadn’t moved an inch from his seat, but nevertheless, his presence seemed loom over the room for a brief moment. When it vanished, everyone breathed a sigh of relief but still waited quietly for his next words. “I might be old, but I actually do remember those conversations Hughes. I also remember ignoring you said cause I disagreed with it and still do. I’ve got zero hesitations about either Gastron or Aisha and you’d best remember it before calling family members of mine ‘outsiders’ again. I’ve also got zero hesitations about having a Gym here in Carmine Village. Now, I’m interested in all of your thoughts, but I think we can move on from you now. Isaac, you haven’t said anything.”
The scarred man in question hummed quietly towards himself for a moment before jutting his chin towards Aisha. “What new investment?” The words wheezed out of him hoarsely. The question was short & slightly vague, but those present didn’t bat an eye. Aisha leaned forward to answer, her voice once more calm and cloying.
“On a personal front, having a Gym in the area represents some unique opportunities for me and my Chansies. The older girls might be retired, but they still like dipping their toes back into the medical field every once and a while after all. And I assume Rainbow would be appreciative of our services.
Really though, I find that Gyms represent a rather fundamental investment for the village as a whole. Throughout history, there’s only one commodity that doesn’t lose value no matter what; power.” Her final word seemed to echo around the room accompanied by a slightly sinister grin as she sat back.
Isaac’s face gave nothing away as he mulled over her answer before turning to the Old Man.
“Teppei failed.”
“Bo’s stronger.”
“He ran.”
“He came back. Teppei didn’t.” Isaac absorbed the slightly aggrieved words for several seconds before simply nodding.
“Fair,” he croaked. “Send him over to me soon. Kid looks fricking homeless, Old Man.”
A few faces scowled at the scarred man’s seeming agreement even as a few others chuckled. Nonetheless, Old Man Moon simply smiled before turning to his right. “Armand, looks like you’re the last one. Anything to add?”
The Old Man’s eldest son sighed irritably as he removed his glasses to rub his hand against his head, as though fighting off a headache. Shuffling around a few of the documents before him for a few seconds, he finally huffed a put upon sigh before looking up. “It’s a bad idea, Father. I know it’s been a dream of yours, but it’s simply not logical. The benefits, even taking into account the symbolic ‘power’ Aisha mentioned aren’t nearly enough to justify the costs.
Now, I have outlined several other ways we can better integrate Carmine Village into the Indigo region with far more opportunities for profit and long-term benefit. Given the village’s current resources, we actually have a significant amount of leverage to negotiate if we’d give the League concessions on things like our current autonomy and certain bans.
For instance, even if we just returned patrol rights to the Ranger Union and accepted one or two of the outstanding offers for a state sponsored mining company to construct a site on the mountain, we could easily maneuver people into positions within certain League departments & oversight committees. From there, we can work to stimulate tourism and attract profitable partnerships for the village. Admittedly, a few of the existing local businesses might lose out, but the long term effects for the village as a whole would be enormous if we can finally stop isolating ourselves from the rest of the region.
I still have some contacts myself if we want to get the ball rolling. And, given the current political climate, we might even be able to convince the League to refund the entrance fee you paid in exchange for officially withdrawing from the tournament. I have written down a few of the proposals in detail if you’re interested?”
Looking around at the rest of the room with a faint hint of hope, the man was met with silence as the others gathered stared back at him. When Hughes finally moved to turn to the Old Man, Armand simply slumped back down with a resigned sigh.
“The fuck is wrong with you Old Man?” the grizzled fisherman barked caustically. “Did you not drop your kids enough or something? Cause that’s how they grow spines. Something that apparently every last one of your boys never did.”
“Hey,” Old Man Moon spat back defensively. “I dropped them all plenty and you know it. You were there that harvest festival when my wife nearly gutted me the first time I mistook A for Jumbo and threw him up that tree.”
“Morpeko-peek,” Jumbo snarled in agreement.
“Can we please not discuss that story now, or ever?” Armand asked wearily as he started rubbing at his head again. “I’ll just take it as my proposals being ignored? Again?
Looking perhaps a touch guilty, Old Man Moon coughed and stroked his beard. “Err, my point was that you were raised just fine, Armand.”
“I’m sorry,” interjected Conrad. “But does that mean you actually are considering this?”
“You’d better not be,” spat Gastron. “That shit’s a worse idea than the Gym. The League’s already screwing us. Giving them anything is just asking for them to take advantage of us.”
“Shiftreee,” growled out Grandfather as well with an angry grimace though the elderly Clefable across from him remained calm.
“Peace,” soothed Yuzu icily, quieting the room. “That is not what we’re suggesting.” She punctuated the statement with an apologetic glance towards Armand before shooting a meaningful look at the Old Man. Meeting her gaze, he nodded decisively before leaning forward. Ingrained instincts caused the other council people to sit at attention.
“I appreciate all of you being honest with me, but I do want to be clear,” he started quietly. “I’ve got no intention whatsoever for Carmine Village to ever be folded into the League. I don’t want a Gym for some family dream, or for money, or even for power. Honestly, if I had my way, Carmine Village would never have been a part of the Indigo region in the first place. We’d have just been us, exactly as we want to be, without needing to heed anyone else’s petty power games. Unfortunately, unlike you Hughes, I realized a long time ago that that’s not something we can have.”
As the others watched, a different form seemed to settle over the Old Man; one younger, stronger, & angrier. A man from a time far more violent and darker. “Carmine Village and Mt. Moon are special, something our ancestors realized when they first came here. We counted our blessings and tried to keep to ourselves, but the world wouldn’t leave us alone. We fought and bled in their wars in exchange for power & acceptance, but the world forgot within a decade. We played their political games and they took advantage of us because they could. Right now, we’re leveraging what resources we have to keep them at bay, but it’s only a matter of time until that’s not enough either. Throughout the history of Carmine Village and the Moon Clan, only one thing has truly worked to give us the freedom we want. Fear.”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Pausing in his speech, Keanu Moon seemed to grow larger in his chair as he breathed in. “It is time for the world to remember why they should be afraid of what lurks in the dark. Time for them to remember what it is to stand between us and what we hold dear. The Rising Pillars Tournament, a regionally recognized Gym, and most importantly, Rainbow Moon are exactly what we need to remind them of that.”
Keanu grinned fiercely as he finished his declaration and a contemplative silence settled over the room. As he watched, one by one, from Hughes to even Minty, savage smiles rose over his friends and comrades’ faces. Slowly, Aisha was the first one to lean forward with a burning light in her eyes.
“You know, Old Man,” she drawled coyly. “If all you wanted was to put the fear of Arceus in people, you could have just told us. I’d be happy to help with that.”
The others didn’t speak up to agree with her, but for once, none of them moved to contradict her either. Each of them simply looked towards the patriarch of the Moon clan with resolved expressions. The Old Man smiled internally. Despite any differences, at least it looked like the rest of the village’s leaders could agree with that line of thinking.
“Thank you, all of you. Grandfather, Twinkle, Yuzu, you know what to do. Aisha, we’d be happy to have your Chansies help, especially if Sarge can spare a hand. Gastron, I’ll make sure you get the contracts for constructing the Center and any new buildings we’ll need to handle the influx of trainers. Conrad, you’ve got my word that we’ll keep PokeMart out of here, so make sure everyone has their Ducklett’s in a row otherwise. Nuna, fuck what the League thinks. Just keep things running the way they’ve always been and Bo & I will back you. Hughes, I’ll fuck off and leave you alone as much I can. Isaac, I’ll send the boy over to you soon. Armand, I know this wasn’t what you were thinking, but I trust you to do your best to keep things running. We’ll definitely need you considering I’m not real sure how we’re paying village taxes until we get the reward money back.”
Casting one final look around the room and seeing the assorted hungry grins, Old Man Moon let his own smile break free.
“Let’s get to work.”
*
Bo hummed softly as the slightly smaller group spilled back out onto the deserted street. “Hey, I know I’m the one that should know best, but that was weird, right?”
“Little bit, Skittles, little bit,” Carter nodded indulgently. “We’re going to make that tomorrow’s problem though. I assume we’re heading towards the enclosed area up ahead?” He queried with a head jerk towards where the Moon clan compound sat atop one of the small hills within the valley.
“That’s us,” Bo agreed before spinning around to walk backwards. Seeing as how busy they’d all be in the next few months, it wouldn’t hurt to give Dani & Carter a short load down. “Carmine Village is pretty small, maybe two thousand people at most, so it’s easy to figure out. Way down to the south is the waste disposal site where the Grimers and Koffings are bred. There’s enough space between it and the rest of the village to keep the smell down as well as bring it closer to Pewter. Up north and towards the bottom of the mountain, there’s some streams and an inlet connecting to the ocean where most of the fishermen live. Nice guys really, once you get to know them, but they’re a bit closed off from the rest of the village due to the distance.
Closer southwest, you’ve got farmlands. Most families out that way keep a small herd of Mareep, Miltank, and Skiddo, or rely on Nuzleaf & Diglett to nurture the soil for crop growing. The little area in the southeast is mostly workshops and the power plant. Areas a little louder, but we’ve actually got some pretty gifted craftsman living here. Wellus even still makes apricorn balls, if any of you are interested.”
“Really?” Carter questioned with an interested look in his eyes.
“Yeah, you in the market for a new ball?”
“No, but I always liked the process & history behind apricorn balls, you know? Reese is going to need a set of balls when he starts his journey, and it might be fun for him to get some handmade ones. There’s just something about using a tool that you know someone put in the work to make as good as possible rather than a tool stamped out by the dozen on the factory line.” Carter mused aloud.
“You mean like the Premier Balls?” asked Dani drolly with a sidelong look, causing Carter to scoff in distaste. His reaction caused Alice to look between the two with a confused glance.
“What’s wrong with Premier Balls? Aren’t they just like, shiny Pokeballs made for promos?”
“Exactly!” Carter huffed with exaggeration while Apollo snarled lightly. “There’s literally nothing special about them. They’re just colored slightly differently, and I’d bet you just about anything that wasn’t even intentional. Some moron accidentally switches up the paint canisters one day and all of sudden we’re supposed to act like it’s something amazing.”
“Carter sort of knows the guy who’s credited for ‘creating’ the Premier Ball,” Bo helped explain upon seeing Alice’s still bewildered expression. “The guy’s son, Eri-, Mitchi-, Dipli-, whatever the fuck his name is, is a leach who lives off the royalties from the idea, total ass. The only good thing the mooch ever gave the world is Carter’s son, Reese, but he spends even less time with him than I do.”
“Ahh,” Alice hissed understandingly while shooting an understanding glance at Carter. Personally, Bo was all in favor of the jerk never spending time around Reese or Emma. Carter was more than enough of a parent and partner on his own. He knew Carter felt the same, but the bigger man still wanted to knock some sense into the deadbeat on sheer principal. He was weird like that. For example, no matter how often Dani or Bo offered to get rid of the guy, Carter turned them down out of the same principle. It always confused Bo (it wasn’t like hogtying and stowing the asshole in a cargo container headed for Orre was guaranteed to kill him after all) but he was content as long as Carter was. In an effort to take his friend’s mind off of what’s-his-name, Bo quickly waved his hand wildly towards the street cutting through the center of the village.
“Moving on, the power plant in that area is really more of a monitoring hub for a series of geothermal pumps and tiny solar panels built into most homes. This village is actually built on top of a pretty large cavern system within Mt. Moon that serves as a habitat for a large number of Numel & Slugma."
"Quick sidebar," Carter interrupted. "This entire village is built on top of a cave full of fire types known for violent eruptions?"
"Oh, it's fine," Bo assured him casually. "The Moon clan makes sure to look after them and keep them happy in exchange for them letting us use the heat they give off. We've got a longstanding agreement with the herd and send frequent patrols to check in with their alpha. They let us know if anyone is about to erupt or needs to blow off some steam. Anyways, we are currently walking through mostly residential areas where villagers without farmland to worry about built their homes, but we just left what passes for the village’s shopping district. Most storefronts like the bar, the general store, the apothecary, and others are lined up along that main street.”
“Is that where we’re getting you actual clothes instead of your thrift store hippy chic?” asked Dani whose innocent tone did nothing to hide her smirk.
“Very funny. And yes, Isaac’s shop is there too. I still don’t see what’s wrong with what I’m wearing though.”
“I can come up with another list if you want,” she suggested eagerly.
“…Fine I’ll go the shop, but Carter’s coming too.”
“Huh, why do I have to go,” Carter asked with a raised brow, causing Dani to turn to him.
“He does have a point big guy, unless you’re going back to the leather clad, cue-ball look.”
Carter actually seemed to consider it for a second while running his hand over the light blue hair he’d let grow back out since he retired, before shaking his head. “Nah, might as well leave that look in the past. I was never all that fond of it anyway.”
Dani laughed joyously and hip-checked Alice lightly eliciting a startled look from her and a hiss from the Persian slinking along next to her. “Alright kid, looks like we got two toys to dress up. You in?”
“Uhh,” the teenager hemmed while shooting her gaze back and forth around the group. “Sure. Do I have to get new clothes too, or something, though?”
“You can if you want,” Bo answered her with a light shrug. Checking over his shoulder, he smiled at seeing they were almost at their destination. By his feet, he could feel Baron perking up at a familiar presence. “You’ll find that most trainers at higher levels try to go for at least some kind of distinctive look though it’s not iron-clad. Really,” he said while not so subtly casting his voice towards his two friends. “Most trainers just dress in ways they find comfortable and the suits them.”
“You can’t wear the bathrobe Skittles.”
“If you’ve got to wear a robe, at least get a decent one. You look kind of like a scarecrow, man.”
Bo rolled his eyes at his friends’ words but was at least relieved to see a flash of a grin cross Alice’s face at the interplay. ‘Good,’ he thought to himself. ‘She’s already starting to feel more comfortable around us. All we’ll need is a few team building activities and she’ll feel right at home.’ Making a private note to himself for them to teach her the knife game, Bo happily spun around to finally face his old home.
“Putting aside your two’s crippling lack of comfortable fashion, welcome to the Moon family compound,” he said while waving an arm dramatically. Stretched out before them was a squat wall spanning far out to either side of them. The wall itself probably didn’t deserve to much gravitas, composed of an amalgam of material smacked together at random intervals. Stretches of stone faded into patches of weathered wood and tangled briars. Some of the stone remained a dull grey concrete while others were an ashy black and appeared melted. Random portions of the wall seemed to be torn out at sporadic intervals, allowing just about anyone to pass through it as they pleased. Centered before them as the main entrance, was what appeared to be a gaping hole gouged into the wall. Lying just a little beyond it was dark, wooden manor.
Dani whistled in amused appreciation while looking at it and even Carter’s eyes widened despite having been here before. “That seems a lot more… burnt than the last time I saw it,” he said carefully.
“Excellent observation, Mr. Rosen,” an enigmatic sounding quiet voice said suddenly from behind the group, causing them all, even Wtich, to jump in surprise. Despite his surprise though, Bo was already cackling with laughter as he spun around alongside the others. Without pausing in his spin, Bo deftly reached out and scooped up the slim form behind them before proceeding to twirl them around, eliciting a high squeal of surprise of their own. “Eeek! Down! Bad Moon! Down!”
“Faster? You got it,” Bo cheered gleefully as the figure started urging him on with enthusiastically swung head pats from above. He laughed uproariously as he started to spin himself and his captive around faster while staggering about. The squirming figure only shrieked louder as he tottered over a few uneven patches of dirt here and there. “I know, I know. I missed you to– woah!”
Apparently having had enough of the game, the held aloft vict-*ahem person twisted acrobatically in Bo’s grips. Bucking out of his hands, they planted one small hand onto his shoulder, holding themselves balanced atop his shoulders before pushing off firmly. Bo finally spilled merrily onto the ground while the slim form flipped adroitly through the air to land with a huff. Catching their breath and turning to face him, familiar vulpine features framed by red hair, though blushing much harder than Bo had ever recalled Yuzu doing, glowered down at him with a pout. Waving a finger aggressively at him, the young woman completely abandoned any attempts at sounding mysterious, the familiar Unovan twang she’d picked up filling her words. “Alright, that’s it bub. Off with the head for ya.”
“Thanks Suzu. Finally feels like I’m actually home now,” Bo smiled widely at the young woman who flushed further at his non-repentance though still found herself smiling. Rolling her eyes with a huff, she ultimately reached down to yank Bo off the ground.
“Fine, ya get one more year, ya goof. Though I swear to Arceus if ya try to tickle me again…”
“Zuzu?”
Dani’s voice caused the two friends to suddenly look up, remembering that they weren’t alone. Over half a dozen pairs of eyes were looking at them with varying expressions of confusion. Dani, Carter & their partners especially looked startled while staring at her. Even Baron and Angel were peering at her closely, though Bo supposed it had been a while since they’d seen her. Despite blushing further at remembering other people had just seen Bo’s antics, the young woman coughed before answering Dani’s questioning tone. “Ahem. Not quite. I’m Suzu, not Zuzu.”
“Ahh,” Dani nodded in understanding before her face turned confused again. “Nope, still confused.”
"Hat-hatterene-rene," whispered Witch.
"Witch agrees," Dani translated. "You look & feel just like Zuzu."
“Right,” Bo agreed happily while Suzu sighed.
“Who’s Zuzu?” Alice asked hesitantly while shooting nervous looks at them again. Bo held in a chuckle as he realized she must have only knowingly met Suzu before now.
“Zuzu’s my Zoroark. She can be kind of shy so it’s not a surprise you haven’t met her yet,” Bo answered though his friends still looked confused. “Remember when I first caught Zuzu in Unova? I told you that she just reminded me so much of someone that I named her after them, right? Well this is Suzu Kahale, my oldest friend after Baron. She and I used to drive Yuzu crazy running all over the mountain when we were little. Suzu, this is Dani, Witch, Brute, Carter, & Apollo.”
“Good to finally meet ya’all. As for this,” Suzu said while waving a hand briefly over her face. “Zuzu took a liking to me and apparently disguises herself as me whenever she takes a human form. I’ve decided to take it as a compliment. We actually get along pretty well, too.”
The others nodded hesitantly with various sounds of polite understanding, though Witch & Brute still looked skeptical. The hairy troll eventually raised one of his large hands slightly while letting out a questioning snarl.
“No, ya may not poke me to check,” Suzu responded dryly before Witch or Dani could translate. Turning to the others, she shrugged lightly at their raised eyebrows. “It comes up a lot.”
“Fair enough,” Dani shrugs while giving Brute a comforting pat on the back. Witch’s tendril of hair still wiggled slightly, though.
“So, ya were interested in the wall Carter?” Suzu asked, apparently resolved to change the topic.
“Yeah,” he answered with a shrug while looking at the wall once again. “Last time I was here, there was basically just a plain concrete wall topped with barbed wire.”
“Thought that might be the case,” Suzu chuckled, a feral grin starting to spread across her face. “Last time you were here would have been when the Moon clan lost the compound. That stone wall was actually installed by the new tenants when they took it. We never bothered to rebuild once we took it back. Old Man Moon always said that it sent the right vibe this way.”
As one, Carter, Dani, & their partners tilted their heads to once more take it in before nodding.
“I like it,” Carter stated simply.
Bo laughed happily at his answer. “Let’s get going then.”
*
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“No! Live Lavender does not buy, sell, or trade in souls. We are very clear on that in our advertisement & bylaws,” The man said in a now panicked tone. “Let’s take a step back. You can get a less comprehensive plan for just your head. Are you really that attached to your head? Please do not hang up!”click*
“Dammit,” Doma Hawthorn sighed as the line went dead before slumping back in his chair. Around him, a few heads with dreary expressions matching his leaned around cubicle walls to shoot commiserating nods before returning to their own calls. It was always that same damn clause that got prospective customers skittish. It was so much easier when they didn’t notice.
Rubbing at the near permanent bags under his eyes, Doma eventually sat up once more to make another call when his personal phone started ringing. Peaking at it hesitantly, Doma groaned at the caller ID. He really didn’t want to speak with Agatha… ever really but now was an especially bad time. Sure, he was technically supposed to be prepping for the Indigo Pillars Tournament and getting to know the team that would be supporting him, but he was way too swamped today. He was behind on his premium payments after all. If he didn’t rake in enough commissions soon, he’d owe the company that leg down payment.
Letting the call go to voice mail, Doma sighed once again before cracking his knuckles. “Old witch will understand,” he muttered to himself. “Besides, if she didn’t want work getting in the way, she could have given me an extension.”
Any hesitance over not answering his company’s majority shareholder’s call gone, Doma leaned forward to scoop up his work phone. He jerked back though, when that phone too started ringing. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he ultimately answered it, fearing that Agatha’s craggy voice would soon come over the line.
“Hello, this Doma from Live Lavender Insurance. How can we help you achieve a better afterlife today?”
“Hah hah,” breathed a voice heavily in response. Doma perked up in response. The voice clearly wasn’t Agatha’s, but could it possible by a customer calling him? That almost never happened. “Who is this? I can’t see what number I dialed.”
“This is your friendly Live Lavender Insurance representative, Doma. I’d be happy to help you with your insurance needs.”
“What, Lavender? Never mind. Listen carefully, I managed to get away from them but I only have a few minutes. My name is Cecil Zarus. Some people grabbed me outside of Driftveil in Unova. I managed to take out one of them, but the others swarmed me. I don’t know who they are or where they took me or how long they’ve kept me here, but I’m low on water and won’t last long. I need you to get me help.”
Doma straightened up at the words. This was it. This was his time. “Don’t you worry, Mr. Zarus, we here at Live Lavender are always here to help. Let’s talk about what insurance policies you qualify for.”
“I don’t need insurance, I need help. I’m dying here.”
“Facing your mortality is a struggle for everyone sir,” Doma reassured him. “But realizations such as that are the perfect time to re-evaluate your current life insurance policy.”
“Just please call Keanu Moon. He’s the mayor of Carmine Village.”
“Is that who you’d like to designate as your policy’s beneficiary?”
“If I buy a fucking insurance policy will you call for help, already?”
“Immediately, yes.”
“…Do you have any plans that cover multiple funerals?”
“...Funny story about funeral arrangements. How do you feel about ghosts?”