8: And They Were Roommates (III)

Ichi – Pikachu

 

I could feel my body burning electricity as I lapped around Post Town. It was like this big boost of energy invigorating me. It was a little prickly, not unlike getting jolted by static. I love that kind of feeling. 

Sparks crackled around my cheeks as I skittered down the street on all fours. “Woo!” I cheered as I raced past Post Town’s stores. There were fewer ‘mon roaming around thanks to a layer of fog surrounding the town after the rainfall, so I didn’t have to worry about bumping into anyone. It’s not like it was that hard to see, and I was pretty sure I knew my way around. 

I zoomed past the notice board and the town gate, and I could hear the sound of papers flying. I sprinted even faster straight down the path to what would soon be my Pokémon Paradise.

If you couldn’t tell, I love to run. Zooming at high speeds, letting the wind blow against my fur as I let my paws take me wherever… It makes me feel free, y’know? Free from my anxieties, my troubles, my responsibilities… just about anything! Great exercise, too!

 

I panted as I made my way to my plot of land. Standing on my hind legs, I shook off beads of sweat from my fur. “…imma need a bath after this,” I laughed before staring out at the dry, empty area in front of me.

…wait. Empty? The place was just how we left it this morning—two makeshift nests beside a used campfire. I walked further in, thinking he was obscured by the mist. No dice—no Machoke in sight. No sign of him, either—No construction tools, no building materials, no groundwork laid out, no… I don’t know what else. What do carpenters have when they build buildings, anyway?

I huffed. Normally I wouldn’t be so peeved over the fact that the carpenter hadn’t even started yet—after all, we just paid the guy today. But he did promise to begin work on it ASAP. And he did say it’d be done in a week—that sounds incredibly fast for a house, so I’d expect at least something already complete. Like, just a part of it. 

I’m not expecting it to be complete today! I just thought there’d be some kind of visible progress… I thought to myself. I shelled out fifteen grand for this! I’d expect at least some diligence!

“…Ehh, I’m sounding just as entitled as Mom,” I groaned. “I… I guess it’s fine! Maybe by ‘today’, he meant tonight!” I thump-thump-thumped my foot. My anxiety was starting to get the better of me. “…maybe I’ll pay him a visit.” I sprinted back the way I came, all the way back to Post Town.

As soon as I arrived, I knocked on his door. “Mr. Machoke! Erm… It’s Ichi, the Pikachu from earlier today! Are you home?” No response. I rapped the door even harder. “Hello??” 

I frowned. “Come on, open up,” I mumbled, fiddling with the doorknob. To my surprise, the door clicked open. “It’s unlocked?” My ears perked up as I quickly looked around to see if anyone was looking. …This is a dumb idea, I thought as I creaked the door open even further and peeked my head inside. 

The lights were off, but his house looked as pristine as it was earlier… well, of course. It had only been less than a day, of course the house wouldn’t have changed. Other than the fact that it was deserted—it was like no one had lived in it in the first place.

I gulped. “…you gotta be kidding me.” Letting myself in, I ran around the house in search of my money. “You gotta be fucking kidding me!” I yelled as I rummaged through every single cabinet this guy had in his house. Was it even his in the first place?

I busted open the door to Machoke’s bedroom. It too was empty, including the drawers. “No, no, nononono!” Electricity crackled around my cheeks as I started freaking out. “This can’t be happening. No way. No way!”

I clenched my fist, mourning the loss of my fifteen grand. “…there’s… there’s no way we got scammed! There’s just no way!” My heart was pounding. “Crap… what do I do, what do I do ??” My eyes darted around the room again in desperation. I realized that if I stayed here any longer, things would get even worse—I could get caught for trespassing! So I made a run for it, bolting back to our hotel room as fast as my limbs could take me. 

For once, running did nothing to soothe my anxiety. Ironically it sped it up, if anything.

 

---

 

“…We got tricked! Machoke’s gone!” My paws were incredibly twitchy as I screamed.

“Woah, woah, chill!” Rei’s eyes narrowed as he put a hand in front of me. “What do you mean, he’s gone?”

“He just dipped! He fled town with the cash after we left! I can’t find him anywhere!” I threw my hands up. “I checked the plot, he wasn’t there. So I ran over to his house, and he wasn’t their either! It- it was like he never lived there in the first place!”

“Uh… How do you know that?” He looked at me as he put down some pad of paper on the desk. “…Ichi are you telling me you broke into his house? ”

“Look, the door was already unlocked, okay! I was curious!” I tried to defend myself.

“What the fuck Ichi??” Rei yelled. “You idiot, you can’t just waltz into somebody’s house like that! What if somebody saw?”
“That doesn’t matter!” I shouted back. “I just lost fifteen thousand Poké from that scam!” I paced around the room. “Fifteen grand… do you know how much that is??”

“Yes, that sounds like a lot!”

“No shit, because it is!” I growled.

Rei glared at me. “Look, your only option is to just cut your losses. Face it—that money isn’t gonna come back anytime soon.”

“Easy for you to say! It’s not your cash!” I gritted my teeth and marched towards the door. “…so help me Mew, I’m gonna track that guy down and get my money back!” 

As I turned around, Rei suddenly got out of his chair, almost knocking it down. “Ichi!” He tried to grab my arm, but I easily swatted his hands away. “Ichi, listen!” the Snivy hissed. “Do you even know where to look?”

“Nope. Not at all. But I’m gonna try! It’s only been a couple hours, he couldn’t have gone that far!”

“Ichi, this is a stupid idea. Isn’t there a police station or something? Can’t we just ask them to look for us? ‘Cause this really seems like too much work…” He sighed. “Especially when odds are, Machoke’s nowhere to be found and that money is just lost.”

“You’re telling me to just give up?!”

“For now, yeah… besides, what could we do? Even if we find him, he’s definitely not gonna just give up the cash.”

“We’re gonna fight him, obviously!” 

“Hell no!” Rei shook his head. “Did you even see how buff that guy looked?? He could crush us down to a pulp easily. He’s even bigger than that Gurdurr from earlier! It’s too risky!”

My ears drooped. I guess he’s right… We’re probably nowhere near as strong as Machoke. “…should we really be leaving this up to the local sheriff?”

“…yeah! They could probably do something , right? At least, something more than either of us could.”

I reluctantly agreed. “If you say so…” I thumped my foot repeatedly again. 

 

---

That was two days ago. So far, we’ve gotten no word from the authorities. Officer Magnezone put up an outlaw mission for rescuers to pick up, but no one has any clue as to where Machoke went. So much for them being able to do something. Honestly, it’s like the police here don’t give a shit at all. Like, I get it, the rescuers have essentially taken their jobs here in the Mist. I can get not wanting to put the effort into an already unprofitable occupation! But can’t they at least be more organized than this?? The police back home in the Air are nothing like this—If anything, the rescuers work for them !

…then again, we couldn’t really give Magnezone any evidence aside from our word, so I can see why they wouldn’t take us so seriously…

I dropped my head down on the table as I stared at my remaining Poké spilt out. I didn’t even have any energy to run around at this point—that’s how sad I was. Out of boredom, I zapped one of the gold coins and let the little jolt of energy jump between each piece. My mom, a Raichu, loved to show me and my siblings fun little tricks with electricity, and I picked up a couple of them. The little spark sporadically split itself among the coins, scattering and fizzling out.

Look on the bright side, Ichi! You still have, what, eighty thousand left? At least it wasn’t a total loss… Think of this as a learning experience! I tried to comfort myself in my head.

“Oi. Ichi. You good?” Rei asked me from his bed. He’d been sitting down all day, doodling on some notepad he found. “It’s weird seeing you listless like that, heh.”

“…of course I’m not ‘good’, Rei. My money’s still missing!” I complained.

“You gotta let go, man. It was you who got yourself scammed, after all.”

“Y-you got tricked too, y’know! You were quick to point out that Gurdurr’s was one, but you didn’t even bat an eye with this guy!”

“…fair point.” He rolled his eyes. 

I started to get jittery again, anxiously leaning back on my chair. “Holy shit I didn’t account for this at all, Rei! I-I can’t even find a legit carpenter! How the hell am I supposed to get Paradise built?!”

“…you hungry? I know a lotta people act hysterical when they haven’t had anything to eat.” He hopped up from his nest, ignoring my cries.

My stomach growled. “…a little, yeah. Thirsty too… I need a drink.”

“You look like you’re in the mood for a beer,” the Snivy tried to joke. “…I dunno, I’ve never even touched alcohol before.”

“Yeah, clearly. I’m not much of a drinker myself, though… I’m more in the mood for lemonade, or something refreshing like that.”

“…then why did you ask me what my favorite alcoholic beverage was the other day?”

“I-I dunno… a lot of the ‘mon I’ve met on the road, they love to drink.”

“Well for starters, you met me in a forest, not a road,” he scoffed.

“Haha… you’re right,” I chuckled. “Alright, we can head down to the restaurant if you want…”

“Cool. It was getting hot in this stuffy room anyway, I really want some iced tea right now…” Rei yawned as he stumbled towards the door. “…or iced coffee.”

“…you put ice in your coffee?? I’ve never heard of that in my life.”

“Hold up, you don’t? ” The Snivy looked back at me in repulsion. “Oh my god, you are missing out .”

“How does that even taste good? I mean, I don’t drink coffee anymore but I’ve always enjoyed it hot! Drinking hot coffee was like one of the best things to wake up to!”

Rei shook his head. “Uncultured,” he scoffed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

My vision darted across the tavern as we sat at a table near the counter, waiting for our drinks to arrive. Rei specifically asked for a glass of coffee with ice and a bunch of sugar in it (which elicited a strange look from the waiter), whereas I just ordered some lemonade and a slice of Pecha pie. 

I peeked into my sack of Poké for what I think was the twelfth time today. Normally I only check it five or six times a day but I’ve been really on edge lately. Even though it’s right in my paws, I began to fear that it’d be snatched right from under my nose. 

I glanced at the Grass-type across from me. He was still scribbling—he brought the paper with him.

“…Hey, where’d you get that notepad from?” I asked. Second best way to combat worries? Small talk. Great way to pass the time.

“It was on the desk. I guess they just give this stuff out for free,” he shrugged, his eyes still glued to the pad.

“…you drawing something?”

Rei tilted the paper slightly more towards himself so that I couldn’t see. “…yeah.”

“Oh come on, don’t be shy… what is it?”

He stayed silent for a couple seconds before giving in and turning it around. It looked like a really tall and thin figure, almost like a bipedal ‘mon such as Gardevoir, but with longer hair, a black cap with a fire symbol on it, and strange garments. They looked like they were holding some kinda long stick, and had a little ghost accompanying them. 

“It’s… neat!” I smiled. “Uh… what am I looking at here?”

“A character from an anime… not that you’d know what that is.”

“Uh, yeah, I don’t. Can you speak in terms a ‘mon like me would get?” I chuckled sheepishly.

“…a human, basically. A crappily drawn, cartoonish human at that.” He quickly turned the notepad back to the other side. “I’ve been trying to draw her from memory, but my other attempts have been just as bad, haha… especially with these flimsy and shaky leaves for hands.”

“Hey, you seem like you could make a pretty good artist, Rei!” I grinned. “Better than what I can draw, heh.”

“…thanks,” he mumbled.

“Hey, think you could draw more humans? I’m curious as to what they look like.”

“…I could try.”

 

I could hear the bell hanging by the door chime. Looking to the door, my eyes widened as I instantly recognized the trio that had walked in. 

Gurdurr’s eyes met mine from across the room, and he and his two Timburr apprentices made their way towards our table.

“…ah shit, here we go again,” Rei mumbled as he saw them approach. He looked at me and whispered, “What should we do?”

What are they doing here?! And why are they coming for us?! I froze up, and all I could do was stare.

“Mr. Pikachu. Mr. Snivy. Mind if we have a little chat?” His cold baritone voice sent chills down my spine.

“Um…” I gulped. “…yes? We… we’re a little busy right now,” I lied.

“It’ll be quick,” he reassured us. What’s gonna be quick?? I tried to keep a straight face, hiding my fear. But to our surprise, the three of them hung their heads. “…we are deeply sorry for driving you two away with our… deceptive practices.” Gurdurr was oddly formal, as if he was genuinely sorry. “…we’re willing to build that house for you, free of charge.”

“Y-yeah! We really mean it!” one of the Timburr piped up.

I gasped, smiling. “Are you serious?!” My hopes washed away my fears. Maybe things are looking up for us!

“…I don’t buy it,” Rei muttered, narrowing his eyes. “What’s with the sudden change of heart?”

Gurdurr sighed. “…to be frank, we were caught by a group of rescuers. They let us go, but one of them showed us the error of our ways. So we decided to become honest-to-Arceus carpenters again.”

“Again? So you guys used to be actual carpenters at one point?”

“An injury prevented me from working, and it got a lot harder to make ends meet,” he explained. “…in any case, consider our offer as an apology. We hope that you use our services again in the future, Pikachu.” He extended his hand, and I gladly shook it.

“I-I can’t believe this… t-thanks a million, Mr. Gurdurr!”

“Ichi what the fuck. This is… way too convenient! Too good to be true.” The Snivy tried to talk me down again.

“Oh come on!” I looked at Rei. “We got nothing more to lose—they’re offering it for free! This is such a good opportunity for us, and with such good timing too!”

“…ugh, if you say so… don’t blame me if shit goes wrong.” He shrugged.

“…we wholly understand if you two doubt us.” Gurdurr crossed his arms.

“Yeah, not like we did a great job at hiding it,” the other Timburr scowled.

“See? Even they acknowledge it.” Rei pointed at them.

“I don’t doubt you guys, though! You wouldn’t just go outta your way to do this if you weren’t sincere ‘bout it,” I told the trio. “You’re really gonna build us a house, right?”

“That’s right. It might take… two or three, give or take. Sorry, it’ll be a while… I’m rather rusty.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” The waiting game continues… I was kinda bummed—it meant I’d have to splurge even more cash on a room at Swanna House. I wanna start making money already! My funds are slowly depleting…

“It’s a deal, then.” Gurdurr nodded his head. “We’ll be starting tomorrow mornin’. Pleasure doing business with ya.” And just like that, they headed right back out.

 

“…we did it, Rei. Finally. Finally, a house! We’ll have a real roof over our heads!” I cheered.

“Oi, don’t celebrate just yet. They haven’t even started… and we don’t know if they’ll start.”

I ignored Rei’s negative comments. “If they really have become legit carpenters… you know what this means?”

“What?”

“We can hire them to build Paradise!!”

“…” Rei just shook his head and returned to drawing.

I pouted. “You’re no fun.” He just doesn’t get it. This has gotta be some amazing luck, getting a great opportunity like this! Of course I’m gonna take it. What risks could there be?

…for real though, it’s crazy how they did a 180 like that in a matter of days. Those rescuers he mentioned really must be something.