Gotta make a little small talk!

Silver was walking at a rather brisk pace ahead of the Vulpix. The Sneasel had her hands behind her head as she hummed a tune. She didn’t seem concerned with him much at all. She wasn’t even really paying attention to the path before her. She was just… around. 

The Vulpix behind her wore a frown on his maw as he regarded the Sneasel. His golden fur was still damp from the bath he took. In addition, his fur was rather messy. The Vulpix had no means of combing and brushing it, so it drooped and curved down into a neat bun that most Vulpix had.

That alone was enough to drive the former human to slight irritation. He wasn’t a damn Vulpix, that was for sure. He refused to let his fur look like he was just another one amongst the crowd. Volo raised chin as he tried to adjust his fur as he walked. The process was a painful one. Each step he poked at his hair, pulling strands down so that they rested beside his head in large clumps.

Volo grunted as his hair refused to cooperate the way he wanted. It hurt the way he was trying to style it. Yelling out by pricking him with needles to get him to stop. The Vulpix released a hiss, “This is only *one* reason why humans are superior.” He grumbled under his breath. 

Volo kept picking at his hair, trying to get a balance between comfort and the hair he knew he had. The hair he had when he was physically a human. Anything to maintain his status as such, as a superior being above those pathetic Pokémon around him. 

Volo took a brief moment to stop picking at his hair and around the area in which they walked. The paths they walked across were made up of mostly dirt, grass was nowhere in sight until someone stepped off the path and towards the trees surrounding them. Scattered rocks lined the path on either side, as if making an attempt at marking where each end was. 

The trees around them were a deep evergreen in color, and they faded to a brighter green in several different areas on each leaf. They all wavered slightly from several random gusts of wind. The air smelled like wet grass in the morning, alightly soothing and nice to lean back and relax with. 

To Volo, however. It wasn’t something he found comfort in. It reminded him of home. Of the human world. The nature was more potent and evident in his nose. His nose would twitch as he looked away and towards Silver. He felt… betrayed. The sense of the serenity of nature reminded him of the human world, and with it smelling more fresh and lush than normal.

It annoyed and infuriated him. The fact that this world waved the scent of superiority in front of his face. The scent of home. It made the Vulpix angry. He scoffed quietly and went back to fixing his hair.

“What’s up, Keo? Finally, I’m taking your self care seriously, I see.” She remarked, watching him pick at his fur in slight amusement. She turned around and began walking backward, staring him down as she did so.

Volo huffed and raised his chin, looking off into the woods again. He bit his inner cheek as he responded, “My hair looks like something a lesser would have. I am merely fixing it.” 

“By lesser do you mean almost every Vulpix ever?” Silver asked, rolling her eyes playfully. She waved a paw in front of her before messing with her own furry head, maneuvering her fur so that it hung to one side of her head, spiked downwards, “Your hair isn’t supposed to hang on your face unless you let it grow out. Silver pointed out, “You really must’ve wanted it long before you lost your memories, huh?” 

“My hair. Is part of my given superiority as a human!” Volo scoffed in return, shaking his head, “I don’t have curls up here like any other Vulpix. I have my bun. I don’t have hair that runs down to my forehead. I have my specially brushed and groomed style to represent and respect the almighty one.” Volo somehow raised chin some more and closed his eyes, “And you?” He gestured to her without opening his eyes, “You just have spiky and lazy hair that any ‘mon could merely brush aside. As they want long hair but don’t want to put in the effort to style it.” 

Silver blinked at him before snickering, “Oh my. Look at you flex your expertise!” Silver lowered herself down to his eye level, pursing her lips as she did so, “Leeeemme guess. You aspired to be some sort of barber or stylist before you went crazy and started hailing Arceus?”

Volo dropped his chin and glared at her, “Excuse me?” He stepped towards her, baring his teeth, “Are you insinuating what I think you are?” 

“Ooooorrrr. Whoever ditched you where I found you may have bonked your head too hard. Making you delusional thanks to all the human stories, paired with the memory loss.” Silver theorized, placing her non-hip holding paw to her chin. 

Volo bared his teeth, “Are you saying I’m not a human!?” Volo snapped, baring his teeth at her. His tails began to stiffen angrily behind him, as he felt a low rumble escape his throat. A growl. It almost felt right. Natural… Instinctual. He immediately stopped his growling and looked away. Almost disgusted at himself. 

“I could answer those in two different ways~” She tilted her head slightly more, paw on her hip. Her hair bobbed from side to side with her head movements, “Well. What are your guesses first, Oh ‘former human, prophet of Arceus?” She asked mockingly. 

“… You don’t think I’m human, do you?” Volo asked, opening and closing his mouth. The self disgust was still painfully evident on his face. He finally tore his gaze away from Silver, “Why?”

“I mean. Come on. Would you believe some random Vulpix that looks like they had self-esteem issues so badly they dyed themselves gold, changing their fur color and then their style and hair to stand out more. The same Pokémon who also proclaims to be a Prophet of THE ARCEUS, who can’t remember their past with no memories, claiming to be human and superior to any and all Pokémon in every sense of the word?” She ranted on, in a joyful and carefree tone, only a small hint of annoyance petered through her voice. 

Volo blinked at her. The Vulpix didn’t know how to respond immediately. He honestly agreed with such… but for completely different reasons. He nodded in return, “Anyone claiming to be Arceus’ prophet must be insane,” He huffed, looking away, “Or just trying to manipulate others.” He snorted. 

Silver grinned, “Yes. Exactly.” The Sneasel stood upright again and sighed, a paw on her cheek, “So you see why you’re so skeptical? Why I find it hard to believe yo-”

Volo nodded in agreement, “I mean. It’d be pretty obvious to discern and figure out if they’re lying,” Volo hummed, “They aren’t me. They can’t be Arceus’s prophet because I am.” He snorted, raising his chin, “And the almighty one would tell me if he had other prophets.”

Silver stared at him, pained at his response. The Sneasel took a deep breath and sighed, “You know what? Fair enough. Subject change mister prophet.” Silver lowered her head down and immediately placed a paw to his chest, digging into his collar of fur he had around his neck.

“What are you doing? Hands off me.” The Vulpix sneered, stepping away from the Sneasel and trotting ahead of her. His eyes were narrowed as he went, “We’re supposed to be walking. Not talking.”

“What’s wrong with sharing a little small talk with the Prophet of Arceus?” She replied, giving him a smug look. She waved a hand in an arc in front of her, “C’mon. Can’t satiate a lesser one’s curiosity?” 

Volo released a snort, “And why should I even bother with a lesser being such as yourself?” He replied, his eyes half closed as he regarded her. His tails folded over one another as he stared at her. 

“Well. As the Prophet of Arceus. I’d expect you to want to indoctrinate others to his cause,” Silver replied, striding towards him. She waggled her finger in front of his face, boinking his nose after a moment, “And Pokémon join you if you are respectful and respectable. Small talk is an easy way to build trust!”

Volo just stared at her boredly, “Alright… but why would I want to talk with lesser beings?” Volo remarked, rolling his eyes, “Because that’s how I’ll get followers? The Almighty one wou-”

Silver groaned and grabbed Volo’s head with one paw, immediately silencing him and tugging at something in his collar with the other, “Alright! Small talk time!~” She pulled out a silver pendant and raised it up, waving it in front of his face, “What is this, and why are you hiding it?”

Volo blinked at her and then at his pendant. The Vulpix opened his maw for a moment before swiping it away from her paw, “Shut up.” He snorted as he walked away from her and back down the path. Volo didn’t pay any mind to Silver as he walked away, letting his pendant dangle over his chest.

The pendant looked rather plain. It was shaped like a teardrop, mid fall. It was a dark gray with a hint of light blue mixed in. It was on a gray, almost white string that was hidden rather well underneath his fluffy spiky collar. It seemed to have a marking on its front. Of an odd symbol. A circle with a triangle at its core. At each corner of the triangle was another circle. The final circle on the outside had four points going diagonal at each end in four colors. Red, blue, pink, and green. The three inner circles were colored the prior three. 

Silver had gotten a good look at it. Well, a good enough look at it to get the colors right at the least. She immediately pressed on after him and walked to his side, “Aww. C’moooon~ Keoooo,” The Sneasel rested her head on her paw as she stared at him, “Just a little small talk?” She tilted her head, “You do owe me for not throwing you into a river… and offering you to come with me…”

Volo groaned in return and sighed, glancing back at her, “No. I don’t owe you anything.” He snorted in return, “Arceus doesn’t you or I anything. You merely did what was correct for you to do.” Volo responded, “However. It would be selfish of I to completely disregard your… aid, but considering you’ve been less than hospitable with me…” Volo squinted at her, “I don’t think I’ll humor your attempts at even trying to converse with I.” 

Silver laughed, “Well.” The Sneasel immediately clasped a paw on his back, “If we’re gonna play like that.” She smiled at him, her eyes closed as her face appeared to be full of joy, “Then how about I knock you out and leave you where I found you?” 

Volo blinked at her, “Really? You’d just abandon me after offering to guide me to town?” He frowned at her, “What gives?”

“Didn’t you also say that I was your best bet at seeing Arceus?” She lowered herself down, both her paws on her hips, “I won’t be able to get you there if we don’t… you know. Get along.” 

Volo released a sigh and shook his head. The Vulpix glanced at his pendant. He paused and lifted the pendant upwards to stare at it. His gaze didn’t leave it as he stared at it. A hint of… sadness in his eyes before it was quickly replaced with annoyance, “Fine. Ask your damn questions.” 

Silver placed a finger to the corner of her mouth, thinking for a few moments once again, “Well. What is it? It looks like an Oval stone that you’ve carved and sanded and polished.” She observed, tilted her head at it.

“It’s an Everstone,” He replied rather flatly. His tails shifted to one side, curling around his hips and back legs as they continued to walk again, “… we carved it down into a shape I found interesting.”

“We?” Silver leaned forward, her eyebrow raised. The Sneasel seemed oddly curious, leaning in to listen closely to the Vulpix, “Who is ‘we’? You and someone else? So you do have memories-”

“Before you ask. I… can’t remember who else was with me,” Volo sighed, shaking his head. The Vulpix shook his head once again, “Anything else? Can we stop now?” 

“No!” Silver bapped him on the head, making the Vulpix recoil in return. The Sneasel waved a paw in front of his face, “What’s it mean? What are the markings on the front? Where’d you get it? Why an Everstone?” 

Volo shook his head, “I can’t give many details… my memories are gone via my lord Arceus’s wish,” He raised his chin, “I choose not to question why he would be rid of my superior intellect and intel. It is not my place.”

Silver sweat slightly and wiped her cheek with a claw ”Yikes. This guy really is kind of nuts…” Silver scratched at her scar again, ”… Crazy enough to actually be human.” Silver’s thoughts hummed, her scratching slowed, “Then tell me what you can. Why an everstone?”

“To be honest, I really don’t remember,” Volo snorted in return, waving his paw through the air as if to make a visual of the memories escaping him, “Something about… remembering my clan?” He shook his head, “The almighty one ensured I forgot for a reason. I will not dive into such fantasies.”

Silver sighed, “Oh come on. They aren’t fantasies,” The fighting type rubbed the back of her head, “If you have those memories. Then talk about them. Don’t limit yourself just because you think that’s what Arceus would want.”

“I do not wish to risk that.” The Vulpix replied, shrugging in return. He looked at Silver for a few moments and scoffed, “I can’t believe such disrespect on Arceus’s name.” He huffed, “This is why the distortion world awaits you.”

“And you as well~. We did say we’ve gotta head there to see god.” She pointed out, crossing her arms, “And we can’t do that if you are so goodie goodie with Arceus.”

Volo rolled his eyes, “I’m sure just being around you is enough.” He replied, glancing around the forest again, “Move on already. Are you done?” He demanded. 

“Nope! Back to the Everstone. You mentioned a clan. I assume you were a part of it,” She placed a claw under his chin, “Do you remember anything about the clan?”

“… That it no longer existed.” Volo’s face fell as he looked at his paws, “Gone. Just like that,” He shook his head, “An Everstone though… ahahaha-” The Vulpix’s tone turned to a manic one. Almost excitedly putting his memories together, “It’s all a blur. I can’t exactly remember it. But an Everstone symbolizes forever… something about forever preservation.” 

Silver blinked at the Vulpix, and with one poke, the crazed look in his eyes faded, “So it’s like a means of never letting your clan die. That’s kind of adorable,” She grinned and rubbed his head and grinned at him, “Anyway moving on,” She cleared her throat, “What’s with the markings? The colors? The shapes? What do they mean?” 

A groan was Volo’s response, “I do not know! I have no memories!” He shook his head again, “I mentally just… can’t.” He sighed, “Everything I do is for Arceus. It has to do something with him.”

“Well it seems to have belonged to you before you-” Silver began to ask. 

“It did.” Volo interrupted, picking it up again in his paw. He stared at it again for several moments, just… focusing on it. The Vulpix sighed and let it drop again, “It was mine as a human. I carried it everywhere. That’s all I remember.” He explained to Silver. 

“Why’d you keep it?” Silver asked, thinking for a moment, her claws scratching at her scars again, “Well. I suppose a better question I should ask is how you kept it. If you are, in fact, a human, it’s kind of weird if this pendant stayed with you between worlds.” 

Volo gritted his teeth, “How many times do I have to say. ARCEUS. Did not grant me my memories of my decision. He deemed them unnecessary,” The Vulpix released a huff, “As a result. I do not know why I still have this pendant, but I assure you. It is mine and rather important to me and my quest to ensure Arceus’s wishes and morals are restored across the land. The superior morals and ideas. That is it.” 

Silver giggled, “Well. It’s important to your sense of fashion too. It looks interesting,” She commented, pushing herself upright, placing her paws behind her head as she walked, “Really throws the ‘lost prophet’ look together.”

Volo grit his teeth in annoyance, “I am not lost! Nor am I crazy! Because I know you are thinking such a horrid thing because you can’t think anything else about me!”

“Self conscious much?” Silver replied, releasing an amused sigh, “And no. I don’t think your completely crazy.” She replied, “Anyways. Last question.”

The Vulpix sneered, raising his chin. His tails wagged behind him in irritation. Doing small flips as they wagged lopsided like, leaning more to one way than the other at every given wag. His gaze fell on her face, and he released a sigh, “… What?”

“I should say questions, as in multiple. Buuuuut it’s really just one,” She poked the pendant around his neck, “Why do you think Arceus let you keep that? Why not let you keep anything else from your human life? If you are human, that is.”

Volo released another huff and stared down at his pendant, “Why would I question the almighty one’s wishes?” He asked, frowning at her, walking onwards again, “His reasoning is that I, as his prophet, deserve such-” 

“No. You idiot.” Silver groaned and shook her head. The Sneasel gestured upwards and around them, “I’m not asking you to question them. Merely think why Arceus found it necessary that you carry that.” She pointed out, a smile reappearing on her face, “Simple really.”

“This is just paraphrasing an older question.” Volo pointed out, shaking his head at her. He grumbled, closing his eyes and began to think. The duo fell silent. The noise around them being from their footsteps and from the rustling of leaves from the trees above them. The air was slowly getting cooler, that Volo could tell. The sun must be going down.

“… Well,” Volo released a cough and grunted, “I can only assume Almighty Sinnoh wished for me to remember my birthplace. Where I began to hail him,” He spoke, his tone rather quiet and low, “A way to remember my superior life. As something to look towards to guide me into bettering this world.” Volo mused, his tails doing arcs and flips behind him, “In short. Arceus and his esteemed will allowed me to keep this item as a means of remembering my human life.”

“Mmhmmmm…” Silver hummed in return, patting the Vulpix on the back. She merely gave him a smile, “Sure buddy. Let’s believe that,” She removed her hand from his back before he could bark at her, “Hm. There’s a split in the path ahead,” She glanced ahead. We’ll talk more later, Keo.”

Volo groaned and shook his head, “That’s if I want to talk to a lower like you.” 

“Remember. I can easily just up and leave you here.” Silver responded, clasping her claws together and giving the ‘ayaya’ face to him again.

The Vulpix released a frustrated sigh, “… Fine. But you better not get me lost.” He lashes his tails behind him at the Sneasel.

“Oh Keo.” She stopped, turning to look at him with a grin, pointing to herself with a claw, “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Silver took the lead, walking ahead of Volo once again as the path seemed to split in two ways, “Alright. Keo! The left path leads back home. The right takes you to some port town. Or whatever.” She shrugged, “I didn’t pay attention to geography.” 

Volo rolled his eyes, “Of course you didn’t,” He grumbled, ignoring the fact that Pokémon taught it as a subject as well, “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.” He looked away from her.

“What did I say, Keo?” She looked back at him with a smirk. Her hair waved slightly as she moved her head, “Don’t worry about it. We’ll both end up in the distortion world by the end of things anyway.”

The Vulpix sighed again and released an annoyed grumble. Not bothering to give the Sneasel a response this time as they walked. 

The path they decided to go down only led to thicker and more lush underbrush. More plants, flowers, and bushes lined the path, then much larger herbs and bushes, and so on were deeper into the treeline. The grass was a darker yet more vibrant green as if moisturized. More forgery leaned into the paths center. Of which, Silver slashed anything in her way aside. 

The Sneasel led the way for a few more minutes. Her paws raised to relax behind  her head again. The silence seemed to get to her as she kept glancing back at Volo. Silver finally shook her head and popped a question, “Now Why don’t you ask me questions?” 

Volo blinked at her, “And why would I do that?” He asked her, his frown deepening. The Vulpix didn’t seem too keen on asking the Sneasel anything. Volo didn’t want to ask her anything. She was a Pokémon. How intricate could her life really be? What could she share that Volo didn’t already have some sort of idea of what it could be? 

“Dude.” Silver laughed at him before rustling his head and hair, raising his chin to look up at him, “Aren’t you following me? To a place you’ve never been? To meet a Pokémon and do things you’ve never done before? Pretty sure you might want to get to know this place before going around preaching Arceus’ word to the world.” Silver jested, making a fair amount of actual and genuine points.

Volo scoffed, “To think. I’d have to ask a lesser one for information.” He hissed to himself, biting the inside of his mouth crossly, “Fine. Tell me all there is you deem necessary to know about this village.” 

“It’s more of a town, haha,” Silver remarked, crossing her arms over her chest, “It’s rather large. Not enough to be a city by any means, but definitely not your everyday village. About twice the size of the town we just left.” She explained.

“Soldiers from… Platyna were stationed there,” Volo snorted to her, looking away crossly, “Useless pathetic Pokémon. No help.” He grumbled crossly.

“Bilbao Village had been the centerpiece of wartime and post wartime assaults for years on end.” Silver informed him, scratching at the scar on her cheek again, “The soldiers have been stationed there for a while. Recently. They’ve bumped the numbers up due to several bandit attacks, thieving and pillaging the village, stealing from homes and the shopping district,” Silver released a sigh, “Things over there are complicated. They’ve got no real guild either.”

The Vulpix blinked in slight surprise. He didn’t really put things together immediately last time, but now things were beginning to click, “Guild? You Pokémon have systems?” He seemed completely shocked to hear the mention of a guild. 

She smugly nodded back, “Mmhm! We’ve got plenty of guilds scattered around the country, quietly rivaling one another all the while,” She smiled, “I’m a part of one. My trip out to Bilbao was a solo mission to deliver something, a package and letter,” She explained, “Anyway. Bilbao’s guild is more of a rehab center. Barely any members genuinely join it, so to get members, they force ex-convicts, thieves, and ‘mon denied from other guilds to go there, learn. It’s not in a very good place.”

Volo rolled his eyes, “Sounds like something Pokémon would do,” He snorted, “More humane than expected, but still. As expected, you throw your weak and evil into a pot to let them rot and coil together.” 

“You took that both the right and wrong way simultaneously,” Silver said, almost impressed with him. She shrugged and then continued, “Anyway. Back where I reside. The town is called Shoa Lu. It’s rather quaint if I do say so myself. Much better than the mountain town I grew up in, Dūn Pao.” She explained, “There. I’m a semi-solo worker at the Oneiroi Guild.” 

“Semi-solo?” Volo blinked at her, raising an eyebrow her way, “Do you have any idea how dumb that sounds?” He snorted to her, raising his chin, “No. Scratch that. You’re a Pokémon. Idiocy is a given.” 

“Well. That’s what I am. A semi-solo worker.” She shrugged in return, “We have several Pokémon who aren’t in teams, and while we all could form one. We all agree we’re better off on different teams,” Silver grinned and placed her hands on her hips, “Sort of friendly rivalry thing.”

“Arceus as my witness, you and all of them are idiots,” He grumbled in return, rolling his eyes. The Vulpix raised a paw as he spoke, “Why not just join together to form a super team? Wouldn’t that be better for you all?”

Silver gave a hardy laugh, “Of course it would, but that isn’t what we want, Keo,” She replied, her gaze went back to the path ahead briefly, “We have a path for us, dreams and hopes of one day looking at each other as rival teams. We can’t be ganging up when we want to compete. Think of it as our paths not being destined to stay intertwined.” 

Volo snorted and looked away, “Yuh huh… but paths tend to meander, and it is perfectly likely to wander from the path,” He replied, his tone bitter, “Whether one likes it or not.” 

“Yyyeeeaaaaahh but if I had never gone down this path, you’d most likely be in a moat about now.” Silver pointed out smugly, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Arceus would never of let that happen to me,” Volo hissed in return, clicking his teeth and shaking his head, “He’d ensure I’d end up in capable hands.” He snorted. 

Silver rolled her eyes now, “I’m sure you would’ve ended up somewhere gorgeous,” She replied sarcastically, waving her law through the air, “Like a beach or mountain valley.” 

A snort was Volo’s response, “Go on with your idiotic explanation already.” He didn’t find Silver’s sarcasm funny, merely grumbling and looking away.

“Oh right. Back home. Shoa Lu rests comfortably above a valley, and atop a rather steep hill,” The Sneasel explained, “To its North, the many valleys, caves, and waterholes reside, the path going steep down. To the East, a rather gentle slope where there are many pine and lush leafy forests. It’s where I went and where we’re returning through. Obviously, that is where Bilbao is.” She giggled, “To the West, there are open hilly fields, several paths splitting from that point and diving in all directions. Though. We mostly use it to get to Taffe Jian is. It’s a rather large city mostly known for its mercenary systems and market,” Silver glanced at Volo to make sure he was still listening, “And finally. To its South, the steep and snowy mountains. This is where Dūn Pao is. Somewhere mixed between snowy caves and snowy peaks. It’s rather large only because it is rather expansive.”

Volo yawned, “Cool. Are you done?” He looked at her with bored eyes. The Vulpix’s ears were still perked. He had been listening, but it didn’t seem like he was open on showing such a thing, “Or do I have to sit through more?” 

“I can make you sit through more?” Silver faked a gasp and hid her face behind her paw, “Oh my! An invitation to rant more to a Pokémon who doesn’t care!” She celebrated, raising her paws in the air as she sarcastically cheered. The Sneasel then just shrugged, “I dunno. Have any more questions for me?”

Volo scoffed and looked away once again, “What is it exactly you do?” He asked her, frowning, “You work in a ‘guild’ and yet here you are on mail duty? Aren’t guilds supposed to be protectors? Or something?” 

Silver nodded, “That’s exactly what we are… and more!” The Sneasel giggled and tapped the egg-shaped badge on her scarf, “We’re more general helpers and chore runners,” She explained with a hint of pride, “We buy and sell wares, we deliver packages and items, we rescue Pokémon. We are very general workers. At least in my guild.” 

The Vulpix didn’t respond immediately. His gaze didn’t quite meet Silver’s as he trotted alongside her. He seemed deep in thought, his tails curled inwards, ears lowered, a frown evident on his face. He squinted slightly as the forest around them began to darken, and the hue slipping through the treeline filtered to an orange. 

Silver smirked and brushed herself off, “Shoa Lu is rather open to outsiders as well, Dūn Pao prefers to keep things inside. So outsiders are less welcome,” She rubbed the back of her head, “Either way. We aren’t going there, back onto Shoa Lu,” She cleared her throat, “In the Oneiroi Guild. My friends and I tend to… rotate. Sometimes we travel in twos, and threes of on our own. All five of us, all aspiring to rival the other, as I’ve said already. So. Sometimes. We join up for missions, and if you want to stick with me. You’ll be working there.”

“You’re joking. Right?” The Vulpix’s eyes were half closed, his tails raised, and his posture straight. He looked tired, at least a little bit. “Me? Working at a guild? Who do you take me for?” Volo demanded. 

Silver shrugged, “Well. You said you wanted to stick with me,” She replied, poking her badge with a claw, making a quiet ‘clack’. The Sneasel stopped her walk and glanced up at the skies above them, “Or well, needed to stick with me. The guild is your only hope of doing that.”

Volo hissed, looking away, “Of course. I must work for those lower than me,” His tone was dark and irritated. His eyes were staring at the dirt path below, scowling at it, “What? You don’t have any place suitable for Arceus’s prophet?” 

Silver laughed again, “Nope! No one would believe you anyway.” She replied, bapping at his tails as she walked to the edge of the path, “They aren’t the most… open to the idea of prophets,” She decided to say, taking a knee and plopping her bag down beside her, “Now. It’s getting late. The sun is just about down, and it’s best we don’t travel at night.,” She picked her badge off her scarf and set it onto her bag. 

“Why?” The Vulpix asked, trotting towards Silver and stopping by her bags side, “What’s so dangerous about traveling at night? Wouldn’t it be safer because most wild Pokémon would be asleep?” His gaze went towards the brush around them, “We’re a group. One wild won’t attack one sentient Pokémon and a human.” He looked up at the sky, noting at the fading orange and manifesting black.  

She shook her head, “I’m worried about different things,” She took some sort of pack. It was a small stand, black and stony in looks. It didn’t stand any taller than Volo’s forelegs, stopping just below where his necklace hung. There were several runes embedded into the sides of the stand. The shapes on the side were odd lettering. Volo didn’t quite understand at first glance. They weren’t Unown, nor were they any sort of foot runes he’d seen at Bilbao, and yet it was painstakingly familiar to him. At the top, it curved inwards almost like a bowl, with an egg shape indent of some sort at the bottom of the bowl. 

Silver took her badge from her bag and held it in her paw, “Those different things won’t do us any harm anyway, so long as I got my badge and this baby.” She explained to Volo, setting her badge into the crevice in the bowl.

The moment she placed her badge down into the indent. The stand seemed to ignite. The runes and markings glowing a bright blue, slowly the glowing worked its way down the stand, the markings glowing brighter and brighter before from the top of the bowl, a faint blue sort of arch formed over the bowl. Then another crossed into it, all until it formed a blue bubble formed above the bowl. 

Volo blinked at it, “What is this?” He glanced at Silver in confusion, “What is it doing?” He lowered his front half down and crept around in, “Why-?”

Before the Vulpix could continue with his remark, the stand let out a low rumble. The runes glows fading slightly. Then the bubble atop the stand began to expand up and out, forming some large and semi-transparent shield around the Sneasel and Vulpix, a radius of a few feet on either side of the stand, a beam shooting out from the top of the stand and projecting the blue bubble around them. 

“What is that!?” He demanded, glaring at Silver. His tails lashed behind him, “What is it doing!?” He circled it for a few moments before the aggression faded from his eyes, and he deflated.

Silver smirked, amused at his reaction, and brushed her hair up and back, only for it to immediately fall back to the side of her face, “This will protect us for the night. It’s my ODP.” She informed him, lifting her back back off the ground and digging inside once again, “We unfortunately don’t have any beds or sleeping bags. So the grass will be our bed tonight.” 

“How completely and utterly inhumane. Me? Arceus’ Prophet, sleeping in the dirt? How… abhorrent.” The Vulpix grumbled, glaring at the stand before him. Or well. The ODP. He tilted his head at it, peering into the bowl where Silver’s badge lay, glowing in that same blue light the bubble around them was. Volo watched Silver drop her bag onto the ground and then lay atop it, using her bag as some sort of pillow. 

“Get some rest, Keo. Up and early tomorrow morning. I’ll wake you up, and we’ll get going.” She called to him, not looking up from her position, “We’ll reach Shoa Lu in no time. Maybe another two hours.” Silver rolled over, “Night.” 

Volo stared daggers at her backside, wishing that each dagger he stared plunged into her, “I don’t need her…” He grumbled to himself, turning away from her and trotting to the edge of the bubble, “I know where the village is. I just have to stay on the… path.” He leaned out of the bubble, the field parting slightly so he could look out. As he looked, the Vulpix blinked and paused. Something was… off. It was dark, really, really dark. He felt as though the whole world was just gone and spinning. 

He blinked into the darkness and stepped out of the bubble. The moment Volo placed his paw down onto the dark ground, it seemed to give way beneath him. He felt as though he was struck, and it felt like he had just fallen. Through the ground and into the darkness below himself. 

The instant he fell and lost all feeling beneath him, he released a gasp. Flailing for a moment, closing his eyes tightly. The Vulpix immediately landed on something hard, opening his eyes as he glared around. Only to be laying down on his stomach just outside the bubble. The world of green slowly fading more and more from his vision. Volo frowned, his tails shaking slightly. The Vulpix shook his head, slipping back into the gentle blue glow of the bubble. 

Volo took one last glance at Silver before laying down beside the stand. It was a small struggle at first. Trying to find the correct position to lay in. Each position led to discomfort somewhere. Head on the ground, belly exposed, tails uncomfortable. There was so much. Volo curled inwards,  curling his tails upwards, so he rested in between three and three, acting as both a pillow and a muffler from any outside noise. 

His paws rested just inside his tails as he laid in a little crescent shape. As he got ready for bed, his body continuously growling heavy and sluggish. The Vulpix would send a message to his savior above. 

“Oh Arceus. You have sent me to a place where my loyalty to you will be tested by those around me. Is this a test? Testing my loyalty to you? My ability to help change this world? Make them listen to my superior ideals?” There wasn’t a response. The Vulpix didn’t expect one. Arceus was a very busy ‘mon after all, “I will never wander far from your light. Whatever reasoning you had for sending me here. I will figure it out and complete my task. As your prophet. It is what I should do.” He yawned from under his tails, “… I will not let you down. May my dreams be full of your light, and may the darkness stay at bay. Let the creation flow.” 

He bowed slightly as he closed his eyes. With his prayer finished, it wasn’t much longer until the Prophet of Arceus fell into a deep slumber. 

Despite the turmoil and distrust, despite their clashing ideas and personalities. Neither of them would have guessed that this was the start. The spark of many things, a team that would either help save the world…

Or end up destroying it.