THWACK!

Lexxi’s tail swiftly swings against the back of a Surskit, sending it skitting across the water and back against a wall, fainting and floating upon the surface of the water. With a satisfied smile, her tail goes back to its normal, unpuffed state. She glances over to Rickety, who’s staring down at the Wonder Map. “We should be getting closer to our client, right?”

Rickety briefly glances over to Lexxi and nods, gaze returning back down to the map. “I think so, lemme just double check to make sure.” He reaches back into the backpack, pulling out another sheet of paper he’d torn off from the bulletin board. “…Floor Eight. Yeah, this is the place.”

“Great! Let’s keep moving!” Stashing the map and paper away, the two continue to make their way further into the dungeon, peering around every corner for any territorial Pokemon that might be lurking around. None of the Pokemon here seemed too strong, but one could never know for sure. Living through a Monster House changes you.

As Lexxi picks up a Blast Seed from the ground and stashes it into the backpack, she takes a glance at Rickety. “You holding up okay?”

“Huh?” Rickety glances down back at her. “Oh, yeah! I’m doing alright. I’m back in the zone, heheh.~” He reaches his arms above his head, stretching his body out a little. “Morning might’ve been a little rough, but I’m fine. A little worried about what they’re gonna try to do to us next? Maybe a little, but I’m not gonna let it get to me.”

Lexxi smiles and nods understandingly to Rickety, the two continuing to wander further into the dungeon. It isn’t much long after they see a Sylveon tucked away into a corner, hiding himself from the rest of the Pokemon in the dungeon.

He looks up at his saviors, eyes lighting up as he dashes on over towards them. He looks a little rugged, his fur matted with dirt along with a few stones still clinging to his fur from a bit of dampness. “Oh thank goodness you finally came! It feels like I’ve been stuck in this place for days! Can you get me out of here? Please?”

“Of course!” Lexxi nods eagerly. “Just one second. Rickety, the badge?”

Rickety nods in response, reaching into the backpack and pulling out their Explorers Badge, holding it out in front to the Sylveon.

The Sylveon’s expression, once filled with joy and relief, quickly turns into that of confusion. “…What are you doing? Aren’t you guys supposed to- WAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!” His arms and legs flail wildly as a yellow beam of light shoots down into the cave and surrounds him, quickly lifting him up and teleporting straight out of the dungeon.

Lexxi and Rickety smile as they watch the Sylveon ascend, glancing to each other. “Job well done?”

“Job well done!”

---

“The Sylveon stood a bit uneasily in front of the bulletin board as he watched Lexxi and Rickety climbed down the ladder to the guild. He tries to stand tall and elegantly, but his nervous demeanor seems to prevent him from keeping himself composed for too long. He clears his throat, chuckling a little. “Well! That was certainly the second most traumatic experience of my life. But you did follow through.”

He shuffles in place a little bit, reaching underneath his bow to pull a few things out. “This is all I really have, lost most of my things wandering around in the cave. Know it’s not much, but I wish I could give you more for what you’ve done.”

Rickety chuckles softly. “Hey, you don’t need to worry about it too much. We’re just doing what we do best.”

“Of course! I’m incredibly grateful, but… Hmmm…” His eyebrows furrow, tapping a paw against his chin before he glances back up at the duo. “The two of you don’t have any more jobs to do for the evening, do you?”

Lexxi shakes her head in response. “Nope, you’re our last client for the day.”

The Sylveon smiles, muffling a nervous little laugh to himself. “Ah! Then, if it’s not too much to ask, perhaps I can treat you to a night out? There’s a place that opened up not too far from this guild and I’d love to take you there as thanks!”

Rickety and Lexxi pause, looking to each other. “Dinner’s not gonna be for a while, right?” Lexxi asks.

“Shouldn’t be for a couple more hours, at least. I think we might be able to make it back in time.”

The two of them turn back to Sylveon and smile, nodding in response. “Sure!” Rickety says. “We wouldn’t mind at all!”

The Sylveon’s ribbons flutter happily. “Wonderful!~” He hops back over to the ladder and begins to climb up. “Follow me! It’s not too far away.”

---

The duo are very reasonably confused when they only travel a short distance from the guild, to the point where they’re still basically on the front lawn just before the steps. Just beside the path to the beach lay a massive hole in the ground with a stairway leading down underground.

“Now I know first impressions might seem a bit… Strange.” The Sylveon chuckles nervously, his ribbons flitting around a bit. “But I promise it’s much more inviting on the inside than it is on the out! They just, haven’t worked out all the specifics yet, heheh.” He begins walking down the steps, gesturing for Rickety and Lexxi to follow him down.

The two look at each other and shrug, making their way down with Sylveon. “I knew you said this place was new, but I didn’t think it was that new.” Rickety says, keeping against the wall to keep himself from tumbling down. “I’ve never seen this before.”

“We have been fairly busy the last couple of days and had a lot going on, maybe we just never noticed it before.” Lexxi adds, humming to herself as she carefully walks down.

“Aaaaaaannddd… Here we are!~” As the Sylveon pushes open the door, the two are greeted with a humble little cafe. It’s not the most populated establishment, but the aroma is sweet and welcoming, the dim lighting gives it a warm, comfy feeling, and the few Pokemon who are there all seem to be enjoying themselves as they chat amongst each other.

The wooden floor has little spiral patterns decorated across, little banners and tapestries all hung up across the walls accompanied by the occasional greenery to liven the place up. Two corners, two desks, one helmed by a Spinda, various jars of juice nd shelves of fruit behind them, and the other by a Wynaut and a Wobbufet, decorated with many of the same things, but also seems to be accompanied by some tickets nestled to the side.

The Spinda waves them down, swaying side to side as they do so. “Ah, Sage! Welcome back! Are those your friends?”

The Sylveon eagerly nods his head as he leads them over to one of the tables, all sitting themselves down. “They helped me a great deal today and I wanna pay them back in any way I can!”

“That’s excellent! I’ll be with you all in just a moment.~”

Rickety’s nose twitches as he sniffs at the air, getting himself nice and comfortable in his seat. “Smells really good in here… What is that?” He sniffs again, scrunching his muzzle up. “Every time I think I’ve got something I keep picking up on something else.”

“Now that you mention it,” Lexxi’s tail twitches slightly as she glances around too, trying to find a good source of the smell. “Yeah, I keep picking up on a bunch of different things too. Wouldn’t be able to point them out, though.”

Spinda’s body sways as they walk up to the table, idly swishing back and forth as they speak. “That’s because we blend plenty of things up to make delicious drinks out of them! I’m sure you’ve come across plenty of loot in dungeons, such as berries or gummis!~ Or even basic items like Apples, which we can turn into apple juice, but I much prefer the more experimental drinks!~ They’re such a joy to make.~”

Rickety’s eyebrows furrow in thought, tapping a paw against his chin. Setting the backpack down next to him, he reaches inside, digging through a couple of things before eventually digging out the Blast Seed that he and Lexxi had picked up earlier. “Hmmmmm…” He squints at it for a good while before turning to face Lexxi. “Do I dare?”

Lexxi looks at the seed, then back to Rickety. Her lips curl up into a big, dumb little kitty grin as she nods. “Absolutely, yes.”

The Riolu chuckles softly, holding the seed out to Spinda. “Will this work? There’s no limits or restrictions on what we ask for, right?”

“As long as it can be consumed, I can turn it into a drink.~” Spinda giggles to themselves as they take the seed. “I’ll be right back, thank you!~” They sway on back to their counter and begin to prep the drink.

_{“I am so gonna die.”} Rickety mutters to himself, smiling nervously as he keeps glancing back at the counter.

Lexxi, meanwhile, turns to face Sage, ears perked forward. “You and Spinda seem pretty acquainted with each other! You been friends for a long time?”

“Sorta?” Sage shrugs a bit, leaning forward over the table a little. “I was part of their marketing team for the place. Our relationship was strictly professional for a while, but the longer we spent together, the closer we grew!” His voice perks up. “They wanted to build a nice little establishment for explorers to rest at after a long day of work, a cafe of “Hopes and Dreams,” they called it.”

He chuckles softly as he glances back over to Spinda’s counter, who’s shaking a mixer around in their hands, spinning around with all the passion in the world. “I’m not quite sure what exactly they meant by that, but they’re determined to help this place grow into something even greater! It’s really inspiring, in all honesty.”

Rickety briefly glances back at Sage, arching an eyebrow. “…Getting stuck in a mystery dungeon so you could treat your saviors to a free night wouldn’t happen to be part of the marketing strategy, would it?”

Sage’s eyes widen in shock. “Oh, goodness no!” He frantically shakes his head back and forth, fervently denying any part of it. “That’s completely unrelated! I’m a freelancer, see? I thought I’d taken a job for a photo shoot in the newly discovered Waterfall Cave, but it wound up being a trap to mug me! I didn’t get hurt by them, but it doesn’t help I lost most of my belongings in the cave anyway.”

“Were they an outlaw?” Lexxi tilts her head. “We could go after them if you want us to.”

Sage shakes his head. “No no no, you don’t need to worry yourself about that. They tried to give chase to me, but in the middle of being chased they just… Vanished.” He shrugs. “Poof, gone, like they never existed in the first place. I don’t know if something happened to them or whatever, but I haven’t seen them since.”

Rickety and Lexxi share a knowing glance with each other.

“Your drink is done!~” Spinda sways on over to their table and sets down the glass, the liquid a surprisingly vibrant orange color, bubbly fizz pooling at the top of the drink. “Is there anything else you’d like?~”

“Oh- No, thank you!” Rickety smiles, Spinda nodding and making their way back over to their counter. He brushes his hair out of his face for this one, gotta be prepared and all. He picks up the drink and examines it closely. His paws are shaking a little as he holds the glass, squinting. He lifts the glass up to his snout, taking a sniff. It has a strangely smoky smell, but… Not necessarily in a bad way?

His muzzle still scrunches up, just from the fact he’s caught off guard. Drinks aren’t supposed to smell like charcoal, even if it’s a very pleasant charcoal. He glances up at Lexxi and Sage, who are both staring him down, though Lexxi seems more concerned for Rickety’s wellbeing than Sage does. His eyes glance back down at the surface of the drink, watching it fizz and bubble.

“Welp.” He takes a deep breath, raising the glass up a bit further to his muzzle. “See you all in the next life.” He raises the glass up to his lips, scrunches his eyes shut to steel himself for what he was about to experience, and then slowly takes a sip.

…

What?

Rickety’s expression turns to confusion, then his muzzle scrunches up again. “Oh jeez-” He winces as he sets the drink back down. “Ecch!” His whole face practically folds in on itself as he recoils and sets the drink down, paws curling against the floor. “Sweet Arceus that’s strong.” Rickety shakes his head back and forth just to try to push through it. “Hoogh, that isn’t what I was expecting at all.”

Lexxi gives a bemused smile, muffling a giggle to herself. “Well, you haven’t blown up yet, so that’s a good sign at least. What’s it like?”

“Hold on, gimme a moment I gotta-” He coughs a little, shaking his head a little more before he’s fully composed again. “I gotta mentally prepare myself.” Against his better judgement, he goes in for another sip, eyebrows furrowing as he lets it sit in his mouth for a bit before swallowing. “It’s REALLY bitter, it just hits you with this intense like, earthy, smoky flavor?”

He shakes his head again, just trying to push through it. “It lingers in your mouth that’s the thing, it just- there’s almost like this crackling that you get like when you bite into a Blast Seed? But it’s very faint here.” He stares at the drink again, humming to himself. _{“…Now that I think about it,”} He lifts the glass up to his muzzle again, taking another sip.

“…Once you get used to it, though, it’s kinda nice?” He says, sounding surprised even of himself. He chuckles softly. “Like that’s not bad at all! I think I might actually finish the whole thing, it’s really good when you get over the initial kick!”

Sage muffles a laugh to himself. “Spinda’s amazing at what they do, aren’t they? I might not completely understand them, but they really seem to put a lot of care into this place.”

Lexxi giggles softly, glancing back at the other counter. Hmm… “What about that over there? That doesn’t look like a juice station.”

“Oh, that? That’s the Recycling Shop!” Sage explains, ribbons swishing. “Spinda noticed that a lot of explorers tend to throw away items that they don’t need when their storage is too full, and felt it seemed kinda wasteful to just get rid of them. Yeah, a lot of explorers need space to make room for things they need, but other Pokemon could use those items too! So they made a little game out of it. Explorers trade in items they don’t need, they get something else in return or try their chance at a prize ticket!~”

Lexxi’s ears flick. Now that does sound interesting. She peers into the bag, rummaging around through all the different items they’ve stored. There’s a lot of orbs in there, orbs of all kinds. She doesn’t even remember collecting some of these, how long have they been in there?

“We’re not planning on using any of these, are we, Rickety?” Lexxi asks as she starts pulling some out of the bag.

Rickety shrugs. “Eh, I don’t even know what half of ’em do. Go ahead.”

Smiling and nodding, Lexxi grabs a bundle of orbs with her tail and hauls them off to the Recycle Shop, plopping them down on the counter. “I’d like to recycle these orbs for a prize ticket, please!”

“Thank you very much!~” The Whynaut goes ahead and scoops all the orbs down with him. “Would you like to redeem your card for a prize now?”

“Mmhm!~”

“Alright, here we go.~” The Wynaut laughs softly, hoisting three colored cards onto the counter. “What’ll it be? Red, blue, or yellow?~”

“Hmmmmm…” This will probably be the most important choice Lexxi ever makes in her life, so she has to consider this extremely carefully.

Red? No, red means scary, don’t pick red.

Blue seems like a nice color- But Rickety is also blue, will he think she’s biased for going with that color? _{Or even think of it as something else?}

No, too embarrassing. Yellow, though…

“I’ll go with yellow, feeling pretty yellow today.”

“Okay, yellow, got it!” He places the other two cards away and hands them over to Wobbufet, who seems to examine the card closely. “So, is it a win? Is it not?”

The Wobbufet glances briefly at the Wynaut, then back down at the card.

“…So, is it a win, or is it not?”

Wobbufet glances at the Wynaut again, then back down at the card once more.

Wynaut leans in closely. “Oh, don’t tell me. Is it a…” Pause for dramatic effect. “Big win?”

“…Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat’s right!”

CRASH!!!

The wall bursts open, sending rubble and debris skidding across the cafe floor, loud enough to startle everyone in the whole cafe.

“OH YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”

A Ludicolo comes sliding out, followed by a group of Bellosom. They, along with the other employees at the cafe, begin dancing as music begins to play. _{Where is that music even coming from?}

Rickety, back at the table, is staring just as dumbfoundedly as everyone else, his expression what could only be described as confused bewilderment. “That’s… Cool, I think! Do they always do this?”

“Only for big wins!” Sage chimes. “It’s an extra special occasion because this is the first big win a customer has had since the place opened! Your friend oughta feel proud of herself right now.~”

Once all the celebration and commotion has settled down, the Ludicolo and Bellosom give their bows and head back into their hole in the wall.

“Uhh… The wall is still-“

“Don’t worry about it.”

After Lexxi is done gawking at the display she just saw, she turns back to Wynaut. “I must congratulate you, why not? Here’s your big-win prize!~” He slides a white gummi over the counter to Lexxi. “Thank you, and come again!~”

_{“All that for a gummi…”} Lexxi picks up the gummi and works her way around the rubble cluttered floor, making her way over to Spinda’s counter. “I’ll guess I turn in my prize for a drink.”

“Of course.~ I’ll be right back with you in a bit.~”

Lexxi makes her way back over to the table, sitting down with an exasperated sigh. “You know, as odd as this place is, I’ve had a good time here.”

Rickety nods. “Yeah! Honestly, now that I think about it, we haven’t really had time to sit down and take is easy since we joined the guild, have we?” He chuckles, finishing off the last of his drink. “Almost forgot how it felt to just relax for a little while. It’s been a pretty fun night, all things considered.”

Sage’s ears perk up. “So you’re considering coming back?”

Lexxi smiles and nods. “If we have time to, yeah.”

“Oh!- Uhh, just one more thing, you both know that you’ll find mimic items sometimes, right?”

“Yeah.” Rickety nods. “What about it?”

Sage gives a nervous smile. “…You don’t wanna blend them here, that’s all I’ll say, heheh…”