Hero and Partner

Tipper left a note in the Deposit Box outside the shop for Torneko when he got back. He explained Quagsire’s offer and his conditions for agreeing to a sale of his plot of badlands for whenever the elder Kecleon got the chance to read it. He ducked behind the shop’s counter afterwards and then carried on with running the General Store for the day. Or at least Tipper tried to. The whole day, he kept finding himself fumbling greetings or farewells or little tasks around the shop as his mind kept drifting to Quagsire’s plot and idle daydreams of the sort of place he and his parents would build there, which lingered on well into the evening.

Those thoughts faded a bit with sleep, and the next day, Tipper was up bright and early in front of the Deposit Box by the shop to gather the day’s additions for its inventory. It was the normal mix of Seeds, Orbs, and other knick-knacks, except today, mixed in among them, there was a simple envelope.

“Huh?” Tipper murmured. “That’s new…”

Tipper took the envelope and noticed his father’s name and clawprint on it. His eyes briefly flashed in excitement as he opened it up, eager to see what was inside.

“… Oh.”

His eagerness quickly withered once he began reading. His face progressively fell as his eyes ran back and forth along the lines of written Footprint Runes.

It was a response from his father saying that while Quagsire’s plot sounded like a good deal, 100,000 Poké was more money than he could commit to on such short notice. Additionally, he would be away from Post Town too frequently and too subject to relocating with their jobs at Kecleon Market to agree to Quagsire’s preconditions in good conscience.

Tipper stared at the letter for a brief moment, before he lowered his arms and shook his head with a disappointed sigh.

“I should’ve figured Dad would’ve said ‘no’.”

He tucked the letter away in his personal satchel and finished gathering the day’s wares before pulling the lid of the Deposit Box shut with a loud thud. He turned and started making his way to the shop’s entrance, when he heard someone approaching and quietly humming. He glanced over, and saw it was Quagsire, making his way along down the lane… much earlier than he’d remembered seeing him around town in the past.

“Oh? You’re up early today, Quagsire.”

“Mm-hmm. I actually accepted an offer for my plot the other day,” the Water-type explained. “I’m expecting to meet the buyer for the final transaction later this morning.”

Tipper fought back a sigh at Quagsire’s reply. He knew that his father had already nixed the idea, but it still stung a bit knowing that such an opportunity had just slipped through his claws. Even so, a part of him couldn’t help but wonder how close he and his father would have been to having a chance to buy the patch of badlands for themselves.

“I… understand,” the Kecleon said. “Though out of curiosity, what was the final closing price?”

“50,000 Poké.”

Tipper’s jaw dropped at the answer. Surely Quagsire had misspoke, or else he was tugging his tail. Quagsire had been adamant that he’d gotten multiple competing offers alongside the one from the day before, how on earth would his price drop?

“W-Wait, but that’s half as much as the offer that that Ampharos gave you!” Tipper exclaimed.

“It is, yes. But I did want someone who would be more, hmm, invested in the way the land would interact with Post Town,” Quagsire insisted. “The buyer I accepted the offer from was the one who I thought would do the best job at that.”

A part of Tipper wanted to scream inside. He knew full well that he and his father could’ve swung 50,000 Poké if they were given time to get it together. He briefly saw that his scales had turned a bluish hue and hastily fought it back as he forced a smile over his face.

“I… suppose whoever you sold it to must’ve been someone you really trusted,” Tipper sighed. “Is it someone that I know from around town?”

“No, they’re a newcomer like you. Just a bit younger,” Quagsire replied. “Though from what they told me about what they wanted to do with the land, I’m sure you’ll be seeing each other quite a bit.”

Tipper sighed and made his way to the shop’s entrance with a low sigh.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.”

He made his way through the entrance and behind the counter, and turned down the road to see Quagsire slipping past the gate. He hung his head with a low sigh and turned to open up the backroom. There was no sense crying over spilled Moomoo Milk, and he supposed that one way or another, he’d find out soon enough who this mystery buyer of Quagsire’s was.

“Thanks for your business. Come back anytime!”

Tipper waved farewell as a Ducklett drifted off from his shop and turned back to tend to his shelves. He was a little surprised that Rampardos still hadn’t gotten his shop fixed up yet, though he supposed he should enjoy the quiet while it lasted. According to the Box Buster, he’d made good on the suggestion to seek out help from Noe Town to repair his shop, and was expecting to be able to reopen it soon enough with his Box Busting resuming “safely outdoors” in the future.

Tipper took out an Escape Orb from the backroom to replace the one that the Ducklett had just bought as the Kecleon’s mind drifted back to his encounter with Quagsire earlier in the morning. It was still a bit disappointing knowing that things fell through, but the more he thought things over, the more he realized that Quagsire was probably right about him and his family not being the best candidates to take over his plot.

After all, they’d come out here to Post Town in the first place on relatively short notice thanks to their assignments through Kecleon Market. And he and Dad didn’t really need to worry about longer-term accommodations until Mom caught up with them.

Who knew? Maybe whoever Quagsire sold his land to would have stories of their own to tell him about wherever they originally hailed from.

“What’re you doing?!”

Tipper turned his head and looked out at the square where his Ducklett customer and Roggenrola were there, trading piercing glares with each other and seemingly on the verge of coming to blows.

“You just hit me on purpose, didn’t you?!” the Roggenrola snapped. “That hurt, you oaf!”

“All I did was brush you with my beak!” the Ducklett protested. “What’s the big deal?!”

Tipper pinched his brow and muttered under his breath. Stars, another fight in the square? Those were always bad for business, and worst of all was the way how everyone else nearby would just stare and shrug the matter off if it didn’t involve them… like they were doing right now.

“Don’t go throwing a fit over every little bump!”

Roggenrola and the Ducklett mutually harrumphed at each other and drifted their separate ways as the square slowly returned to normal. Tipper supposed that all was well that ended well, since at least he wouldn’t have to worry about business getting disrupted too badly today. He made his way back into the stockroom as pattering footsteps passed by. The Kecleon glanced up as Quagsire beelined for the Swanna House, tilting his head after him puzzledly.

“That’s strange. Quagsire’s not usually in a rush like that,” Tipper mused to himself. “Did something happen with that buyer he was supposed to meet?”

“Quagsire has gone off to find a carpenter for us, so… I guess we ought to use this time to look around town, huh?”

Tipper turned back to the square just in time to see a Tepig and Axew wander out into the middle of it. Both looked like they weren’t from around here, but the Tepig in particular looked mesmerized as the Fire-type’s eyes darted about his surroundings.

“Whoa, just look at this place!” the Tepig cried. “I didn’t know that you all had towns like this!”

Tipper wasn’t sure what to make of that comment, but he was guessing that those two must’ve been the Pokémon who bought Quagsire’s plot. Something about them seemed… different from the Pokémon that he normally ran into around Post Town. They obviously were a bit out of the loop, but with the way they were in awe over the sights of this little town, there was some sort of infectious optimism about them. They kinda reminded him a bit of that Riolu and Eevee pair who visited the shop a few days ago.

Tipper watched as the two turned and began to make their way up to the shop. He stiffened up and hurriedly composed himself, straightening himself to attention as the pair drew near and approached the counter. Right, first impressions, those were always important.

“Welcome to the Kecleon Shop! How can I help you?”

Especially since he just had this weird hunch that Quagsire was onto something and that he’d be seeing these two around his shop quite a bit.