Half an hour following the carnage they'd caused, Ñako came out of his hotel room's shower with only a towel tied around his waist.
"Oi, guys… you might wanna follow my example and take a bath," he told his Pokemon. "Assuming you want to experience new sensations… such as not smelling."
Most of his Pokemon were sleeping on different parts of the room. Gordolfa the Bulbasaur rested atop a flower pot, Paja the Abra sat with his eyes closed in front of the vanity mirror –not much different than his usual demeanor– and Gligar rested inside his Pokeball, which he'd forgotten next to the toilet of course.
"Mrraaw!"
Meowth, though. He was too busy tearing apart the room to sleep. The sheets, the curtains, the walls, they were all full his signature scratches. Ñako looked at this, opened his mouth, then closed it.
"Eh, whatever. I'm not paying for it."
He then walked toward the service phone and picked it up, waiting until he heard the 'Hello?' from the other side before speaking.
"Garçon! We're gonna need a lot of food and a loooooot of alcohol for the room next door, where Silver and Molly are!"
"Sir, I am not sure of who this Silver is, b–"
"Shut up and bring it! And also a change of clothes, and pretty much everything you could give us for free. Oh, and Pokemon food! It… uh… does my stomach good, yeah."
He hung up before the man had a chance to reply. Then he placed his hands on his hips and took in a deep breath, enjoying the moment.
"Alright, I guess I should tell everyone we're having a party in Silver's room," he muttered to himself. "I'll see if I can think of a way to convince them."
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With her face buried in the pillows, Sabrina found herself faced with an existential dilemma. Fall asleep like she so desperately wanted to or… live, and stuff.
It was funny how in the little time she'd been here the room was already a disaster; clothes hanging from the chair, table and door handle, sheets balled up and thrown to the ground, Pokeballs strewn about everywhere, a crossbow next to her pillow and a quiver full of bolts hanging from the headboard.
For a moment she considered getting some shuteye, but then she realized just how much she wanted to take a shower RIGHT NOW, and so despite her body's protest she got up and did just that.
After a full hygiene session, she put on her reserve shirt and pants and let her wet clothes hang from the window so they'd dry off by tomorrow morning. Then she walked around the bathroom, grabbing every towel, soap, bottle of shampoo and tube of toothpaste she could find, shoving them all inside her backpack.
Once she finished stealing everything of value, she picked up the phone and was about to call to order dinner when she heard a distant knock, and then the muffled sound of Ñako screaming.
"Siegfried, we're going to use words that are very hard to understand in Silver's room!"
Ñako's steps echoed down the hall, and soon Sabrina heard him knock hard on her door, his voice booming through the halls.
"THEY'RE GIVING AWAY MONEY IN SILVER'S ROOM!"
Sabrina rolled her eyes and put the phone down.
In all honesty she had no desire to put herself in the same room as those… people, but if there was any chance of leaving this place without burning it to the ground then someone sensible needed to be there to look after them.
And so she let out a tired sigh, grabbed her shit and walked out into the hallway.
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Silver lay down on his bed, one hand holding onto his scythe while the other held the room's phone close to his ear.
"Yo, waiter! Get us a Neapolitan pizza with half anchovies!"
"But I don't like fish!" Molly yelled out from the couch.
"Tsk, always making things easy, eh?" he muttered with a smile. "Alright, take out the anchovies and put some pineapple in there."
"I'm on a diet!" yelled Molly. "I'd rather a salad."
"Son of a bitch. Hey waiter, on top of the pizza throw in a roasted Goldeen with an Oddish salad, yeah?"
"I want apple juice!"
"Hear that, waiter? Throw some fresh juice in there, all the flavors and colors you got!" Silver paused, then added. "Oh yeah, you got some nachos or something for the pre-game?"
Molly yelled out again. "We also need food for the Pokemon!"
"Fucking critters. Hey waiter, to finish it off bring in a skewered Tauros 'cause the Pokemon are hungry! Alright, later!"
He hung the phone and threw himself up to his feet from the bed, almost skewering the frame behind him with his scythe. He figured he should start dressing himself now that he'd showered.
And so he rested his trusty weapon against the wall while he looked for his clothes. Meanwhile, Pogo and Flancito were flying about the room, chasing each other and giving each other little playful pecks whenever they were caught. It was cute, Silver had to admit, but he really hoped he didn't have to deal with any unexpected Pokemon egg popping up soon.
Then again, Molly might like that.
Once he finished dressing himself, he stood in the middle of the room and aired his concerns.
"…When's the pizza coming?"
But before he could get a response, he heard the walls talk with a voice eerily similar to that of Ñako.
"SILVER WE'RE HAVING A PARTY IN YOU ROOM!"
Silver looked around, confused.
"Is it me or are the walls talking?"
Molly stood up. "Sir, I think they're coming over!"
"… The pizzas?"
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Rhin's face was red like a Scizor, and for once it had nothing to do with his proclivity for embarrassment. He was just trying to climb up the side of a cliff. A cliff high enough that he would certainly drop to his death were his hand to slip.
"Hngghhh! C-come on…"
Finally, after a couple minutes of struggling, he pushed himself with the last of the strength on his legs and emerged atop the platform he'd been trying to climb up to. Both Wolfswift and Charity were already waiting for him up there. The latter giggled and knelt in front of him, hugging her knees.
"Come on, come on! We're so close; I can see the entrance from here!"
"Hgh… Y-yeah, just give me a… a minute."
"Hurry up," said Wolfswift. "You're slowing us down."
Rhin decided not to tell Wolfswift where he could stick his advice, and instead used those few seconds to recover his breath, hands resting on his knees.
"A… are we actually close?" he asked Charity.
Charity scrunched up her nose and looked away. Then she sighed.
"That attitude's not very attractive, you know," she said. "You have to be more confident, Ron! Put some determination in your voice!"
She shot up to her feet before Rhin could even reply, then turned around and pointed in the opposite direction of the cliff, through the small clearing in between the ridges of the mountain.
"There, look!"
Indeed, Rhin could see a depression on the wall in the distance; an entrance to the series of caves that ran through the entirety of the mountain.
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"If we go through the inside of the mountain, then we'll get there a lot faster don't you think? Don't you?"
Rhin let out a breath that was almost a sigh, his shoulders dropping. "She's got a lot of energy, doesn't she?"
A scoff was all the response he got from Wolfswift before he changed the topic.
"Did you forget that we're supposed to meet with the others before heading to the prison?" he asked. "If anything we should go around the cave instead of through it."
"Oh come on, don't be boring Wolfsweets!"
"My name is not–"
But Charity was upon them in a flash, each of her hands grabbing onto theirs as she pulled them along with a huge grin on her face. Rhin felt his heart jump at the sudden touch.
"Where's y'alls adventurous spirit? Let's go!"
Rhin tried to stutter a response, his face tinted a pale red. "E-er, Charity, I think it's better if we–"
"Say no more! Through the mountain it is!"
There were no more arguments from the two men, mostly because they were too busy being dragged forward to be able to say anything.
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The party inside of Silver's room was going well, so well in fact that nothing had been set on fire yet.
Loud rock music boomed through the walls, pulsing like a heartbeat out of the boombox Ñako had procured from Mew knew where. The atmosphere was nice. Food and drink were abundant. Even the least friendly members of the group seemed to be having fun.
Silver, Ñako and Sabrina sat in a circle around the small table in the middle of the room, drinking beer and playing cards, while Molly watched with piqued interest, sipping from a glass full of apple juice. Siegfried ran around the room, trying to keep the newborn Poliwag from stealing all the pizza. Sammy leaned against the nearest wall, arms folded, trying to pretend that her foot wasn't moving up and down with the rhythm of the music. Mycroft, draped in the hotel's fancy bathrobe, was too busy making tea in the room's kitchen to join his companions.
"Oh, by the way," muttered Ñako, looking down at his cards. "Where's V–?"
The door flew open. All eyes in the room turned and saw as Vard strolled forward, raising one palm toward the sky.
"Your leader… has arrived!"
The first thing everyone noticed was that his spherical hair was somewhat crumpled and bent on the side he'd probably lay down on. The second was that he was wearing nothing but a pair of pink underwear. After a moment of awkward silence, the man seemed to notice the former.
"Ah, how careless of me. Fear not, my gentle men, for I have this under control," he declared, raising his hand. "Secret technique of Vard Nº 17! Prehensile Hair!"
He stuck his hand inside his hair and grabbed a short piece of rope, then pulled at it with all his strength. With a 'Pop', his hair immediately poofed outward into its usual spherical shape.
"H-how the fuck did you do that?" Sammy asked, breathless.
"Ah, my candid redhead, explaining one of my techniques to regular people would be like trying to explain algebra to an Ekans."
"R… right."
"Speaking of candid…" Ñako cleared his throat before changing the topic. "My dear Vard, your hair is as lustrous as usual but do you think you could put a shirt on? Or at least a pair of pants."
Silver laughed. "Yo', that's so cool, his boxers match his hair!"
Vard smiled to himself, folding his arms as he struck a pose as though he were thinking over something.
"The truth, my spiky ninja, is that I need to take a bath, but it is not like me to keep my subjects waiting," he explained. "As such, I decided to bless your bathroom with my nakedness. In the meantime, I'll be taking this!"
He walked toward the table and grabbed a slice of pizza before heading for the bathroom. Sabrina's voice caught his attention before he could enter.
"Er… not like I care, but are you going to eat that in the shower?"
Vard looked at Sabrina, then down at the slice of pizza, then up at her again.
"Yes."
He closed the door behind him, and the sound of the shower soon joined that of the rock music as the party went on.
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Once Mycroft finished brewing some tea, he came out of the kitchen and immediately turned up his nose at the sight that met him. Food and empty bottles were strewn about everywhere. Pokemon ran through the room, toppling things over and scratching at the walls. And worst of all, they'd eaten all of the roasted Goldeen.
Barbarians…
However, one more detail caught his attention. Wasn't someone missing? Where was…?
He saw a glimpse of her hat through the window separating the room from the balcony. Muffin was sitting outside, with her back to everyone. She sat still as a corpse, holding her knees tight.
Muffin…
He made his way through the room, politely declining a glass of beer from the smelly ninja, until he reached the window and walked out into the balcony, then closed it behind him. Somehow, Muffin hadn't noticed him yet. She stared out into space gormlessly, eyes full of sadness. Her Meowth slept soundly on her lap.
Mycroft stood there for a moment, thinking. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this?
"Would you like some tea, mademoiselle?"
She blinked in surprise, then turned to look at him with eyes glossy with tears. Stammering, she wiped her cheeks with her sleeve and swallowed down the redness in her cheeks before replying.
"M-Mycroft… yes, thank you."
He handed over the cup of tea that, yes, he had made for himself, but he knew that Muffin probably needed it more than him. While she held the cup and blew air on it to cool the contents, he let himself fall next to her, one hand over his knee.
"Give it a moment to rest. Tea is temperamental; if you drink it right away you'll just burn your tongue."
Muffin smiled laboriously. "Thank you… it already smells amazing."
"That's good to hear."
They sat there for what felt like an entire minute, the sounds of the ruckus and the music behind them seeming to get farther and farther away. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was a pleasant one, one they shared.
After a while, however, Mycroft spoke.
"I understand."
Muffin looked up at him, eyes narrowed.
"I heard from the others what happened today," he explained. "Such an ugly scene. To take a life without even a hint of remorse like Sabrina… and even worse, to be making jokes while spilling all that blood like Ñako did… It's sick."
A strained sound left Muffin's lips. Her eyes grew cloudy again and she looked down, the cup shaking on her hands.
"Silver, too. They're all a bunch of savages. Like bloodthirsty monsters," continued Mycroft. "But you shouldn't let them get into your head. You are better than them."
Muffin shook her head ever so slightly. "N-no, it's not just that. It's just… being there when it all happened, in the middle of a battle to the death, I realized…"
She swallowed. For a moment she said nothing, but then a sad laugh left her mouth.
"… What am I doing here? When I accepted this job, a part of me thought we'd be out here having adventures, meeting new people and Pokemon, like…"
Her expression grew dark.
"Like… trainers. Real trainers, the ones from before… all of this happened. But I think I let my imagination fly a little too out of control, and here I am."
Mycroft shone her a kind smile. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. Do you want to know something?"
"Hm?" She turned to look at him.
"Even if I only accepted this job because of my family, I think deep down… I was looking for the same thing," he said. "So you're not the only naïve idiot in this group."
Despite herself, Muffin couldn't help but mirror the boy's smile.
"I guess I'm not."
They looked away from each other, their gazes getting lost in the dark horizon ahead. The tea had started to go cold in Muffin's hands, but neither of them minded.
"Kanto isn't ready yet. But maybe someday… we could be like them," said Mycroft. "Real trainers, like the ones we watched on T.V when we were young."
Muffin nodded, eyes distant. "I'd like that."
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Ñako was the last one to wake up next morning, pushing away the pizza, empty bottles and sleeping Meowth on top of him before rising to his feet and letting out a big yawn.
"Ahh… is it eight already?"
"It's twelve, Ñako."
Mycroft said that as he entered the room with a handful of freshly washed white towels, which he proceeded to sniff before letting out a pleasured sigh.
"Ah, clean and perfumed. I guess the room service is acceptable."
The rest were scattered around Silver's room, either gathering their stuff or trying to wait out the hangover. Vard stood in the middle of the room, wearing a bathrobe as well as a towel wrapped around his hair.
"Good morning, my subjects! Let us embark on this new day with cheer and positivity!"
Sabrina scoffed, adjusting her hat in front of the mirror. "Can we get coffee first?"
"Did you all know that you snore a lot?" said Sammy from the other extreme of the room.
They finished dressing up and gathering their belongings while Molly and Silver's Pokemon sat back on the couch, watching T.V. It didn't take long before she called out to them, terror in her voice.
"E-everyone, come here! I think you'll want to see this!"
The group gathered around the couch, looking up at the T.V., which showed an interesting piece of news.
"Murder in Cerulean; there are three victims confirmed," Sabrina muttered under her breath. "Shit."
Mycroft took a step back and sighed into his palm. "I knew it."
"Great news! Our legend expands!" yelled Vard.
"B-but… they can't know it was us!" Sammy argued. "Right…?"
At that, Silver walked over to the balcony and looked down, then whistled nervously.
"Well, there are police cars down there, if that answers your question."
Chaos ensued. Everyone started running around the room as fast as they could, grabbing onto their Pokemon and belongings and heading for the door. Siegfried was the first to ask what they were all thinking.
"C-could we get out from the back door?"
Sammy shook her head. "There's no way, they'll definitely follow us."
"I could take my clothes off in front of the police," said Ñako. "Would that help?"
"It's just as the good ninja says!" yelled Vard. "We must create a distraction in order to escape safely!"
Siegfried shook his head. "In what way does Ñako's genitalia mean that?"
Ultimately, however, it was Sabrina who came up with a solution.
"They won't pursue us if they have something even bigger to worry about."
At least half the group shivered at the coldness in Sabrina's voice, and that feeling only exacerbated when they saw that she held a Pokeball in her hand. There was a flash of light, and a moment later her Vulpix materialized before them.
"Rokon, do your thing."
The curtains were burning before she even finished saying that sentence. It didn't take long for the flames to start growing, until they were licking up the ceiling.
Muffin let out a scream as she ran out of the room. "Whyyyyyy!?"
"Tsk! What if someone gets hurt?" asked Siegfried as he did the same.
"Merde! Is it too much to ask to leave ONE town without committing arson!?" Mycroft yelled out.
Yet none of them could stay back and argue, as the entire group soon started running downstairs toward the lobby. Sabrina, Ñako and Silver ran together in the back, a more relaxed look on their faces. As they reached the base floor and saw the back exit in the distance, Silver spoke up.
"Cool hotel."
"Yeah," said Ñako. "We should come back sometime."
"For sure," added Sabrina. "Ah, where are my manners? I should tip the staff for their generosity."
Just as she ran past the receptionist's desk, she took a coin out of her pocket and flicked it toward the poor owner, who was too busy sweating and yelling at the phone for the firefighters to come as soon as possible.
As the door closed behind them, the three stood still for a moment to catch their breath.
"Y'know, if we're all done acting cool and aloof…" said Ñako. "We should probably…"
"Fuck off," finished Sabrina. "Yeah."
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An hour later, the group stood over one of the high hills of Route 4, overlooking the city they'd just left far in the distance while the wind blew and the grass rustled under their feet.
"So how was the thing now?" asked Silver. "We head for Mt. Moon?"
"We should," said Mycroft. "We wasted enough time on Cerulean as it is."
"Huh…"
Ñako muttered to himself, frowning at the horizon.
"Wolf… Wolfsy… the blind one, and that other guy. The one that believed in morality and Santa Claus. We never saw them again. Wonder what happened to them."
He only 'wondered' for a couple more seconds before shrugging and turning around, facing the majestic figure of Mt. Moon in the distance.
"Oh well."