Arc 1, Chapter 13: Force your Way

Amadeus was back in the training room the next day with Haruhi, practicing his moves as had become routine by now. His ear was still in a tiny bit of pain due to the lingering burn, but it was feeling alright today. Not nearly as bad as yesterday, anyway. He felt a little strong, even. My ability is probably playing a role in that…

 

He gave Haruhi a bit of a wider berth than yesterday, given that she’d probably be practicing with Sunny Day some more, and then sized up the nearby dummy. He tried a few more Sparks and Bites, and by now, he’d gotten just a little bit better at using them both, but it really wasn’t much at the moment. He glanced over at Haruhi, who was capable of producing a fire he could feel from all the way over here. I guess she’s been practicing for a while, but still…

 

“Comparing yourself, are you?” He heard a voice ask, making him jump a little. He whipped around to see Dumas standing right behind him.

 

“You scared me…”

 

“I noticed.”

 

Amadeus looked back over to Haruhi. “It’s just… she’s so much stronger than me.”

 

“Well, she’s been actively training for longer. It only makes sense.”

 

“I know that, but you’d think I’d be a lot stronger by now.”

 

“You are. You just haven’t noticed it much since she’s always been there to compare yourself to.” Dumas fiddled with his Medallion for a moment. “That being said, there is something you could be doing better right now if you wanted to close the gap more easily.”

 

“Which is?”

 

“So far, the overwhelming majority of your improvements have been in the realm of technique. Despite you undertaking more physical activity since coming here, you’re still not all that strong at the moment, are you?”

 

“…That’s true.”

 

“Indeed. So, why not start in the area you’re most lacking? You could benefit from a workout routine.”

 

Amadeus paused. I’ve never actually thought about working out, have I? I mean, I think I did in once in middle school and dropped it after Mom stopped caring, but… “I don’t really know where to start?”

 

Dumas chuckled. “Haha, I thought you’d say that. Come with me…”

 

Dumas led Amadeus to a different section of the training Area he hadn’t paid much attention to previously. Here, there seemed to be a series of weights, pulleys, what could only be some kind of mechanical treadmill, and something that Amadeus recognized as being meant specifically for non-physical strength training.

 

“If you care for my input, I think you should focus on your leg muscles. That type of training promotes your physical attributes, so it’ll give most of your most important attacks a little bit more of an oomph.”

 

“Okay…” Amadeus walked over to a lifting machine and tried fiddling with a pin. Dumas stopped him.

 

“Here is probably good,” He said as he set the pin about three weights down. Amadeus didn’t know exactly how much these things weighed, but he felt a little bit overwhelmed. “Alternate between sides as you pull with your jaw. One hundred reps. Let’s go.”

 

Amadeus was regretting taking Dumas up on this suggestion an hour of strength training later. He was now positively exhausted. He collapsed on the ground after doing this for what felt like ages.

 

“Alright, that’s a pretty good workout. Now up on your feet.”

 

“Just give me a minute…” Amadeus’ whole body was sore now. He did not want to get back up.

 

Dumas sighed. “Alright, you, drink this…” Dumas pulled out a water canister from a place Amadeus couldn’t figure out in the moment, and gave it to him to drink. Amadeus gratefully lapped it all up. The sensation was soothing enough to finally bring him to his feet.

 

“…Can I go home for the day after this?”

 

“You’re required to spend six hours a day in the training room, so technically, no. Nobody would blame you for just hanging around for now, though.”

 

“Great…”

 

Dumas laughed. “Pretty hard to productively fill six hours in here, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, it’s been super repetitive. Not that I mind all that much…”

 

“It’s a nice structure all the same, right?” Dumas agreed. “Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend you do this type of strength training on consecutive days. It’s bad for health, and your body needs time to recover.”

 

“Yay…” Amadeus celebrated weakly. He just wanted to go home and rest for the time being, but now he had to just stand around for the next few hours, waiting for something to happen.

 

“Although, you know,” Dumas began. “If you don’t mind putting in a little bit of extra effort today, I do have something pretty useful to teach you.”

 

Amadeus rubbed his sore legs and jaw. “I mean…”

 

“I’ll have you know that now is a much better time to try this than any other time.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“Good. Now then, I heard you got quite literally grilled by Haruhi when you tried to spar yesterday.”

 

“Yeah, I did.”

 

“Unfortunately, you’re likely to suffer from things like burns and poisoning and frostbite quite frequently when you’re travelling. It’s quite lucky, then, that you have an ability that empowers you should this ever happen to you, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, it is.”

 

“Well, what if you could go even further with this power up?”

 

“…I could be even stronger?”

 

“Not directly. But there is one move in particular that can be an asset when you find yourself in such a situation.” Dumas guided Amadeus to a training dummy nearby. “And you happen to be in a perfect state to learn it. You’re exhausted and are currently recovering from a nasty burn. It’s perfect.”

 

“…And what, exactly, is this move?”

 

“Façade,” Dumas replied. “It’s a normal-type move that converts pain and suffering to power. And you just happen to be in perfect condition to learn it. Mentally and physically exhausted, and…” He came dangerously close to brushing up against Amadeus’ ear with his paw. “…Recovering from a lingering burn.”

 

“I’m guessing that was your plan all along today?”

 

“Oh dear, I’ve been read like a book,” Dumas said with a sarcastic smile. “Correct. I figure it’s better to learn this sooner rather than later. Façade is a terrifyingly powerful move when learned properly. So strong, in fact, that the only physically-inclined move that’s stronger for us as members of the Luxray line is Volt Tackle. In addition to that, not only is that a much harder move to learn, it also takes a severe toll on the user. Façade has no such drawbacks. Only… prerequisites.”

 

“And those prerequisites are?”

 

“The very same ones that trigger your ability. Paralysis, drowsiness, physical exhaustion, illness, poisoning… burns. All of these things will power it up significantly. Otherwise, it’s weaker than even a Spark, which you already know, so don’t go using it while you’re perfectly fine.”

 

“That seems… convenient.”

 

“Hah, I thought the same thing when I first heard about it. But it works, and it’s a move we can learn, so it’ll make quite the difference in a pinch.” He paused. “You know, I didn’t actually have an ideal partner to accidentally discover what my ability was like that. I actually had to put in the effort to really figure out what it was. I’m almost jealous, but that’s a little silly of me to say. Let’s get right on to learning how it works, shall we?”

 

“Okay.” Amadeus was panting from his workout. He could only hope he got this down quickly.

 

“You remember using protect, right? I assume you’ve used it at least once by now.”

 

“I have.” Amadeus summoned a protect barrier to demonstrate.

 

“Well, if you had to describe it right now, how does it feel? Compared to using Electric or Dark type moves, anyway.”

 

“…Vague?” Amadeus responded, a little unsure of how to answer. “Like the vague feeling of being safe, maybe.”

 

“That sounds about right. Normal-type moves in general are like that. The energy they draw from is the most basic, vaguest idea of ‘energy’ there is, which means that some can feel quite different from others as they twist to fulfill some new purpose. That also makes them rather easy to learn, however. Rarely is there some complicated process to using the move, like you might find with certain moves of other types. Just a vague feeling.” He placed a paw on Amadeus’ back.

 

“For Façade,” Dumas continued, “that’s the vague feeling of pain. Now, you do have to be a little bit careful with this, since it’s a little bit similar to using a Dark type move, with that aspect of focusing on something negative. The key difference here is emotion. For Façade, you really have to be careful not to focus on your emotions too much. Otherwise, you might end up with night slash or something like that. Observe.”

 

Dumas rushed at the Dummy, and tackled it with both paws. He seemed to glow slightly as he knocked the dummy off of the stand with his front paws. “Now you try. Remember, don’t use your emotions, just the pain.”

 

Amadeus took a deep breath, and tried to do as Dumas said. Just think about the pain, right? My ear does still sting a little… After a few moments, Amadeus lunged at the dummy, clinging to the vague feeling of the pain. To his shock, he managed to obliterate the thing, knocking it back so hard it broke in a way that was probably not intended, and cracking the wall behind it. “D-did I just…?”

 

“Hah, first try,” Dumas commented. “Being exhausted always works.”

 

“I-I had no idea I could even do something like that…”

 

“It’s intoxicating the first time you get to use it, right?”

 

Amadeus stared at the wreckage, still processing what he just did. “I almost want to keep getting burned so I can keep doing that…”

 

“I would strongly advise against intentionally harming yourself like that. It’s quite bad for your long-term health. Although, if you must, I would recommend a recovery scarf to easily heal yourself. Those cost a pretty penny, though. For now, just keep your priorities in order.”

 

“Okay…” Amadeus said, feeling strangely disappointed. It’s probably for the best, but… Damn, that made me feel strong.

 

 

---

 

 

The next few weeks were, to put it mildly, a total blur. Amadeus had gotten used to a fairly rigid routine of get up, brush teeth and have breakfast, maybe chat with Fudo for a bit, head to the Guild, do a bit of training, and then head home, after maybe going out for some other activity. For the most part, he’d gotten used to this routine, and it’s rigidity was something of a comfort. He’d mostly been talking to Haruhi in the meantime, and it seemed like Akihiro hadn’t really wanted to pressure him anymore. He hadn’t seen Dumas nearly as much for most of it, but that was fine. He felt comfortable in this arrangement.

 

Of course, a sudden shakeup was bound to happen. Just as he and Haruhi were about to head out of the door…

 

“Hey, Amadeus, did you want to—”

 

A buzzing sound.

 

“What is…?” Amadeus wondered, rifling through the bag. It distantly reminded him of how his phone used to buzz back in the future. He pulled out the culprit, or culprits, being the badges they’d been given on their first day. Amadeus had almost forgotten about them, with how long it’d been since they’d received them, despite using them every day to mark their presence in the training room.

 

Fudo, who was nearby, reacted. “Oh, that means you’re got a new assignment. Ask the reception about it, they’ll fill you in.”

 

Amadeus and Haruhi looked at each other.

 

“Dude, do you know what this means?”

 

“We have a new assignment?”

 

“We’re going on a mission for the first time! It’s for real now!” Haruhi looked particularly excited about this. “And we’re getting paid,” She cheekily added.

 

Amadeus didn’t say anything, just nervously laughed. He was feeling a little anxious about suddenly doing something new.

 

“Don’t get too crazy, your first cut’s probably going to be something like 900 poké,” Fudo said, cooling Haruhi’s jets a bit. “You’ll probably only start seeing bigger rewards once you’ve been doing these for a while.”

 

Amadeus turned over the number in his head. “That’s… what? Three rides? Maybe enough for one of the enchanted scarves they had on offer when we last went looking?”

 

Fudo gave them a look. “Protip: don’t talk about getting paid in front of the guys giving you the jobs. They won’t like that.”

 

“Noted,” Amadeus responded.

 

A while later, the Politoed at the front desk gave them a hard stare.

 

“What are you kids here for?”

 

“…We got a change in assignment?” Haruhi asked.

 

“…ID?”

 

Amadeus wordlessly handed her their ID cards. The Politoed looked them over for a while, muttered something about Dumas’ ‘terrible decisions’, and handed them back. “Today, you’ve been assigned to do a mission chosen by the Guild. You are expected to do it properly, and your success is likely to accelerate your consideration as candidates to join a team. Go to the reception at the job boards in the back, and they’ll probably give you your job. Since you’re trainees, I, Midori Politoed, formally give you permission to enter the job boards room. Now scram.”

 

Amadeus and Haruhi quickly did so, with Haruhi seeming particularly eager to just get on over there, almost running. She quickly pushed open the double doors, and entered the room, with Amadeus close behind. Once they were inside, she slowed down a bit, seeming to drink the scene in a little. The room was only slightly smaller than the foyer, with the walls covered in massive boards with flyers pinned all over them. Those must be the job listings… Amadeus thought. Off to the side were a series of platforms similar to what Amadeus had seen in the flyer and teleportation stations around the city. There was yet another desk in the back, this time with a Vanilluxe manning it. Amadeus quickly headed on over.

 

“Hi, we were here because of a change in assignment?”

 

“You two are Amadeus Shinx and Haruhi Fennekin, correct?” The Vanilluxe asked. “My name is Shin Vanilluxe, I’m in charge of giving out these types of assignments. Pleased to meet you. Now then, I think we’ll be waiting for a little while longer. There was one more I was hoping to send along with you two, so we’ll wait for him to show up, then I’ll properly brief you on the job I expect you to do.”

 

“We’re going with someone else?” Amadeus asked.

 

“Teams typically, though not always, consist of three members,” Shin explained. “We’re pairing you two up with a third to prepare you for that.”

 

“What if we don’t like him?” Haruhi asked.

 

“Tough,” Shin replied. “You will like him. I’ve already determined that he’s an excellent match for you two. I anticipate you’ll come to appreciate him.”

 

“…Alright,” Amadeus replied. Hopefully this new guy isn’t a pain in the ass…

 

After a while, a Minccino showed up, and approached them both. He seemed very energetic in his own right, and had a healthy dose of self-confidence in his eyes. At least, as far as Amadeus could tell.

 

“Greetings! Here for that first job I was promised!”

 

Shin sighed. “Haruhi, Amadeus, meet Teru Minccino, who will be accompanying you on your missions for the time being. I decided that he was a good fit for you two since he knows a variety of supportive moves, allowing him to fill a role on your potential team that you did not cover easily. He also joined around the same time you did. You may have seen him around the training room.” Shin then turned to Teru. “Teru, meet Amadeus Shinx and Haruhi Fennekin. They joined at the exact same time, shortly before you did, so they are close with each other. You may recognize them already, but I decided to pair you with them for the reasons I just described.”

 

Teru scratched his chin for a bit. “Aren’t you that Fennekin that keeps making those obnoxiously bright Sunny Days? Seriously, how are they that bright? It’s crazy.” He turned to Amadeus. “Oh yeah, there is usually a Shinx with you, isn’t there?”

 

“It’s okay, you can talk to me directly…” Amadeus grumbled.

 

Teru strolled right up to Amadeus and squished his face. “Hi, my name is Teru, and I’m going to be a valuable member of the team.”

 

Amadeus swatted at him. “Do not do that.”

 

“Okay, okay…”

 

“Children,” Shin said flatly.

 

The trio of trainees turned to Shin attentively.

 

“Good, you’ve cut the nonsense.” He took out a flyer, and held it up for them to see. “You are heading to Jichin no dōkutsu to retrieve a lost item. The item in question is a bracelet that is bright orange, so it should stand out easily against the floor. The client is a Shiny Litleo. The item is believed to be around the third floor. Head over to the flyer and teleportation stations to be teleported there, and radio back when you need to be picked up. Good luck.”

 

“Uh, quick question?” Teru began, raising one of his paws. He apparently preferred to stand on his hind paws. “How’re we gonna take a teleporter with a dark type?”

 

“Shinx are pure electric types, they do not gain a dark type until they evolve into Luxio,” Shin responded dryly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 

“Oh. I didn’t know that…”

 

“Any further questions?”

 

“Nope, none at all…”

 

Barely a minute later, the trio was now standing in a rocky field somewhere. Most likely, Jichin no Dōkutsu was nearby.

 

“In any case, hi. I’m Teru,” He said with a wink. “I just turned sixteen, and I’m from the same district as the Guild itself. My dad works there, so I’m hoping to live up to him! Where are you guys from?”

 

“Out in the boonies. You ever hear of Nōgyō No Machi?” Haruhi asked.

 

“Sure haven’t. You guys must’ve come from pretty far, then.” He scratched his chin, looking around the area. “Obviously had to work harder than I did, yeah?”

 

“…What’s that supposed to mean?” Amadeus asked.

 

“Exactly what it sounds like, dude. My Dad’s practically been preparing me for this all of my life. I’m basically guaranteed to make it. Which means…” He leaned in with a cocky expression. “You guys are set if you stick with me.”

 

“Then it’s settled,” Haruhi declared, all too eager to welcome a total stranger. “We’re keeping him!”

 

“Uh, Haruhi, we haven’t even set foot inside of the mystery dungeon yet.”

 

“Come on, Amadeus, we gotta stick with these old money guys! We’re gonna be famous, remember?”

 

“Okay then, if you’re fine with the dude…”

 

Teru laughed nervously. “You guys do wanna actually be friends, right? I was kinda joking…”

 

“Wait, your Dad isn’t a member?” Haruhi asked. “You didn’t lie just now, did you?”

 

“What?! Of course not! It’s just… I don’t have many friends…”

 

“Oh,” Haruhi responded. “Yeah, sure. You’d better improve our odds of being big shots, though.”

 

“Um, alright, let’s look for this place, shall we?” Teru started walking off. “Pretty sure I’ve been here before, I think I remember where it is…”

 

A few minutes of searching later, they found the entrance to the dungeon. It looked like an ordinary cave entrance at first glance, but there weren’t any other cave entrances around, so this was probably it.

 

“You’re the one with the stupidly bright Sunny Day, right?” Teru said, looking to Haruhi. “Can you be doing that? It gets pretty dark down there.”

 

“My name is Haruhi,” She said, a little annoyed, “But yes, I can do that.” She immediately used Sunny Day as they stepped inside, producing a bright source of light and heat around them. By now, Amadeus had gotten used to it’s weird breathing-enhancing effects, so he welcomed it. It was best to not get in Haruhi’s way, though.

 

“Yeesh, that’s hard to look at,” Teru commented. “Especially now that I’m seeing it up close.”

 

“Obviously, that’s because I’m very strong!” Haruhi said triumphantly. “My flames are the hottest around!”

 

Teru looked away from the miniature sun and rubbed his eyes. “You know, I actually tried to learn Sunny day once. Did not go well for me.”

 

“…Why didn’t you start with something easier?” Haruhi asked. “Like, you know, Ember?”

 

“Minccino can’t learn Ember. Or any other fire-type moves, for that matter. Other than Sunny day.”

 

“Weird…” Amadeus commented.

 

“So. New topic!” Teru said, clapping his paws together. “You guys said you were out in the countryside? Is it really true you don’t have electricity out there?”

 

“Sure is,” Haruhi replied. “I saw electric lighting for the first time on the trip to the city!”

 

Teru looked over to Amadeus. “Not you?”

 

“Oh, uh…” Amadeus said, a little caught off-guard. Crap, what am I gonna tell this guy now? Do I just say nothing? Say I actually did grow up in the country side? Do I—

 

“Both of us,” Haruhi said, clarifying. “We both grew up in the same town. I meant both of us.” Yeah, that seems like a good enough story… Amadeus silently thought to himself.

 

Teru raised an eyebrow. “Okaaaay, cool. Anyway, it must’ve been a shock, huh?”

 

“Oh, totally,” Haruhi responded. “I didn’t even know what to make of it when I first saw it. Honestly, it still feels like some crazy black magic.”

 

“Man, I can’t even imagine growing up without it…” Teru said with a stretch. “How do you see at night?”

 

“With the tools Arceus gave us, obviously,” Haruhi said, adding a puff of flame for effect. “And a good candle. How else?”

 

“I mean, when you put it like that…”

 

The first floor passed without incident. The next floor…

“Dweb!”

 

A feral Dwebble jumped out at them from around a corner. Amadeus, a little panicked, managed to charge up for an attack, only for the poor thing to get absolutely roasted by Haruhi.

 

FWOOOOM!

 

Distantly, Amadeus realized she’d held back massively during their sparring match back then. The Dweble was a smoking corpse pretty quickly.

 

“A-Arceus…” Teru said in shock. “You weren’t joking when you said your flames were strong, were you?”

 

“Yeah, I’m crazy strong. The Sunny Day only makes me stronger, too!”

 

“I wonder how much stronger you could get…” Amadeus wondered aloud.

 

Not long after…

 

FWOOOOM!

 

This time, it seemed like her flames here somehow stronger. Amadeus briefly looked over to Teru to notice that his paws were glowing slightly.

 

“Wanted to contribute this time?”

 

“Oh, I am,” Teru said, gesturing to the faint stream of energy flowing from him to Haruhi. “This is Helping Hand.”

 

“Oh,” Amadeus said. He looked at Teru’s hands for a bit. Does it power up allies? Maybe I could try that…

 

Amadeus thought about the idea of a move like that. It’s probably a normal-type move, right? I should give it a shot. Maybe, the vague idea of supporting is what I need to focus on? He did so, and his paws started to glow slightly. Is it really that easy?

 

It turned out, it really was that easy. The next time Haruhi roasted some poor feral, Amadeus could’ve sworn he saw the walls glowing from the sheer heat imparted on them. Haruhi paused, seemingly needing time to take in what she just did.

 

“…Can you guys stop juicing me up like that? I feel like I’m gonna end up horribly disfiguring one of you if I’m not careful. It’s clearly not needed, anyway.” She continued walking past the burned-up feral.

 

“Got it,” Amadeus responded.

 

Teru turned to Amadeus. “You picked up how to do that move fast, huh?”

 

“Dude, normal type moves are ea— Ow!” Amadeus immediately stopped walking forward when he felt a hot, stinging pain at his paws. The stone floor, apparently, had been affected by Haruhi’s sheer heat.

 

Haruhi turned around. “You okay?”

 

“I-I don’t think we can walk on this…” Teru commented.

 

“Its okay, we’ll just run across it real quick,” Amadeus reassured him.

 

“A-are you sure?” He asked.

 

“I could probably carry you or Amadeus, but not both…” Haruhi said, a little unsure.

 

“I’m just gonna run across…” Without waiting for Haruhi to object, Amadeus quickly made his way across the hot section of ground. It stung a little bit, but that seemed to fade pretty quickly. They stung for a while afterwards, though. That was just fine, as Amadeus sent a Drilbur that tried sneaking up on them flying backwards a while later after it managed to give him a couple of not-too-deep cuts. Façade was pulling it’s weight.

 

“Did you seriously intentionally burn yourself back there just so you could do that?” Haruhi asked.

 

“Maybe,” Amadeus responded, panting heavily. Calm down now, Amadeus, that was bound to happen eventually, you’ll get used to it… “One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand…” He muttered under his breath.

 

“A-Arceus, was that Façade?” Teru asked. “Why the heck are you guys so strong?”

 

“Well, we’ve got Sunny Day and Guts, so we’re working with quite a bit of extra power than normal,” Haruhi pointed out.

 

“B-but you guys can just easily get those things…” Teru shook his head. “I see why they decided to pair me up with you guys, you’re brute force and more brute force…”

 

“I mean, it seems to be working…” Amadeus commented.

 

“Well, I’m sure I’ll get a chance to contribute eventually…” Teru said with a stretch. “Maybe not everything we fight will be easily defeated like that?”

 

For the time being, he was wrong. The rest of the dungeon proceeded similarly, with them finding the bracelet on the third floor as expected and getting out on the fifth. Amadeus inspected the bracelet curiously once they were out of danger. It was mostly orange, but it looked like it had redish crystals embedded on the inside of it.

 

“Well, that was easy,” Teru said enthusiastically. “Wanna grab a bite to eat, guys?”

 

Amadeus turned to him, a little put off by his enthusiasm. “Dude, we just met you.”

 

“Well, we’re gonna be great friends, right? I feel like I’m already friends with Haruhi, I don’t know about you.” He turned to Haruhi. “You know, Haruhi…”

 

“Whatever you’re about to say, stop it.” Haruhi looked almost annoyed. “We’re supposed to be radioing back to the Guild now.”

 

Amadeus started fishing around the bag for their badges, and pulled out his. “Wait, how do we activate these things?” He fumbled with the things for a few seconds before he pressed something and heard a click. After a few seconds, static started and he heard a voice.

 

“Trainee Amadeus, what is your situation?” The voice was clearly that of another person, if a particularly stilted one at that.

 

“Haruhi, Teru, and I just completed a mission in Jichin no dōkutsu. Uh, requesting a teleport home.”

 

A brief pause. Amadeus heard chattering in the background. “Someone’s on their way.” The static cut.

 

“Yeah, I totally knew what I was doing.”

 

“I believe you!” Haruhi said.

 

“You guys are super weird,” Teru commented. “Why’s he so chatty now?”

 

“I… don’t know,” Amadeus admitted.

 

Teru scratched his chin. “How old are you guys, anyway?”

 

“I’m eighteen, he’s seventeen,” Haruhi said quickly. “So we’re older than you, which means we’re smarter than you.”

 

“…That was completely unnecessary,” Teru responded, a little taken aback. “I do wonder why you waited a full year to come here, though…”

 

“That’s perso—”

 

“My mom wouldn’t let us,” Haruhi said before Amadeus had a chance to finish.

 

“…What about your parents, Amadeus?” Teru said, turning to him.

 

“He’s an orphan, he lived with me and my mom,” Haruhi said, not even waiting for Amadeus yet again. Damn Haruhi, if you insist on telling my lies for me…

 

Teru just looked between them for a few seconds before addressing Amadeus again. “Is this a regular thing with you guys?”

 

“I—” Haruhi began.

 

“It is now, I guess!” Amadeus said, exasperated. Seriously, what is with you today, Haruhi?

 

Several seconds of silence followed. “Man, you guys are super weird.”

 

Moments later, they were back in the lobby, and Shin was right next to them.

 

“You three are back. I trust it all went well?”

 

Amadeus presented the bracelet. “It did.”

 

“Excellent. Some of us actually feared that mission may have been too easy for you three, and it seems those fears were confirmed. Very well. Deliver that to the client, and bring the reward back here. We’ll take our cut, and then you’re done for the day. We will know if you do not.”

 

“O-okay…” Amadeus said, a little intimidated. He quickly ran out of the room, and scanned the foyer for their client. Shiny Litleo, shiny Litleo… Soon enough, he spotted one hanging out by the side, and ran over.

 

“Hello, did you need this?” He asked, brandishing the bracelet.

 

“Oh, thank you sir! I don’t know what I’d do without this, it makes me strong!” The Litleo said, snatching it away. “Here’s your reward!” The Litleo ran off quickly, after shoving a sack at Amadeus.

 

“Geez, Amadeus, slow down…” Haruhi commented, running over. “Is the client seriously already gone?”

 

“Looks like it,” Teru said, dismissive.

 

The trio ran back over to the desk in the back of the job boards room, where Shin was waiting. He inspected the contents of the sack briefly, handed over some of the poké and items, and placed the sack behind the counter. “Your cut is about 1400 poké. You can keep the items. As for how you divide it amongst yourselves, I don’t care. You are dismissed. …Maybe visit a healer for those wounds, though. The guys in the training room should be able to patch that up quickly.”

 

One quick trip to the healers residing in the training room later, the trio was walking out of the Guild building.

 

“So uh, how are we planning on splitting this up?” Teru asked. “We gonna split it up three ways, or…”

 

“We’ll take 800, you get 600,” Haruhi said, moving to give Teru his share without waiting to haggle. “Me and Amadeus have been using one purse for both of us, so we get more.

 

Teru paused for a moment, probably running the numbers in his head. “Okay, sure. So, you wanna—”

 

“See you tomorrow!” Haruhi quickly said. “C’mon, Amadeus, let’s go.”

 

“See ya, Teru,” Amadeus said, waving a paw goodbye.

 

“Guys, wait!” Teru nearly shouted.

 

“What is it?” Haruhi asked.

 

“I… wanted to hang out? Maybe get to know you guys a little bit more? Please?”

 

“We’ll hang out in the training room tomorrow,” Haruhi assured him. “Amadeus and I are going home now.”

 

Amadeus felt a bit bad about just leaving Teru hanging like that, but he was reluctant to hang out with Teru as well, so he didn’t object. He followed Haruhi to the nearby station one, where instead of going home…

 

“Hey, since we have a little money now, why don’t we hit up the scarf shop we checked out the other day?” Haruhi suggested. “We’ve got… what? 3000 poké after that job?”

 

“Oh, yeah!” Amadeus said, suddenly remembering. “Take us to 830 Paradise Street, please!”

 

The teleporter, who happened to be a Kadabra, whisked them away to a relatively quiet street somewhere in the city, and right in front of them stood a nifty little shop. The sign read ‘Prosperities’ Discount Scarves’. It was a shop they’d looked at on a recommendation from Fudo, which was run by a friendly-looking Raichu. The important bit was that his scarves were cheap. Nearly half the price of other shops that they’d checked out, in fact.

 

Amadeus quickly counted the money in the bag. 3124 poké exactly. And they’d been eyeing a particular scarf the shop owner had had on offer the last time they’d come.

 

“Welcome to Prosperities’ Discount Scarves!” The storeowner said the second they walked in the door. “What can I do for you?”

 

Amadeus scanned the scarves he had on offer. And he saw it. A white and blue recovery scarf. “How much for the recovery scarf?” He asked.

 

“That’ll be 3100 poké exactly.”

 

Amadeus turned to Haruhi. “You sure we should get this one? That’s nearly all of our money.”

 

“It’s probably way more useful than the one I wanted for myself,” Haruhi reminded him. “Just think of how often it’ll come in handy to have! Besides, we’ve been holding onto the money mom gave me for this exact reason.”

 

“Alright, if you insist…” Amadeus took in a deep breath. “Alright, we’ll take it!” He handed over the money to the Raichu, who nodded merrily, and handed over the scarf.

 

“It’s yours, my friend! I hope to see your business again sometime soon!”

 

Amadeus quickly tried it on. It was noticeably worn, but it was clearly still in good condition. I bet this guy patches up old scarves he finds and flips them for a profit… He felt an odd wave of comfort as he put the scarf on, presumably it’s effect.

 

“Dude, you look like a proper explorer now…”

 

“Well, I’m not sure if I feel that great about it…” Amadeus stretched. “You’re reminding me of when we first went to Mayumi together…”

 

“Man, that was a while ago…” Haruhi said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “I still thought you were a human back then, too…”

 

“Actually, can we talk about that for a bit when we get home? Well, something related to that, at least.”

 

Haruhi paused. “Oh, sure.”

 

A while later, they were sitting down on the balcony back at the house. The relative privacy of the balcony had made it somewhat of a habitual hangout for Amadeus at this point. The others rarely came up here.

 

“So, what did you want to discuss?” Haruhi asked, seeming genuinely curious.

 

“It’s about this Teru guy, and what we told him.” Amadeus sighed. “Since when were you such a proactive liar?”

 

“They’re easy explanations that make sense with what everyone else thinks about you. It just makes sense.”

 

“We could’ve easily told him it was private.”

 

“That doesn’t make sense, we’re gonna have to get to know him better.”

 

“Why did you keep speaking for me?” Amadeus asked. “It looked super weird.”

 

“That’s not important.”

 

“I would like to be the one telling my own lies…”

 

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

 

“I don’t know, Haruhi, I just… wanted a little bit more of a say on how I told people about my secret?”

 

Haruhi exhaled a little bit of fire. “Fair enough… Although I’m not the only one in this house that knows, Fudo!” She said, turning around. “I’m not that bad of a psychic, I can tell when you’re in there!” She sighed as a brief apology was heard around a corner. “Pretty sure the uncles know by now…”

 

“I still don’t want to share everything with them, though…”

 

“You’re just delaying the inevitable. Sooner or later, we’re gonna have to have that discussion…”

 

Amadeus was starting to feel a little unnerved by the subject. “So, about that bracelet we recovered from the dungeon…”

 

Haruhi gave him a funny look at the sudden change in subject. “…What about it?”

 

“It had a bunch of crystals embedded on the inside of it, and the client said that it made them strong. I was thinking… Maybe it those were Firium crystals?”

 

“What the hell is Firium?” Haruhi asked.

 

Amadeus was genuinely shocked. “Wait, you’ve never heard of Firium? Z crystals?”

 

“…Is that some kind of future technology?”

 

“They’re a natural resource, how have you—” A lightbulb went off in Amadeus’ head, a brief memory from what little history he knew. “Right, those weren’t known about until after the space age…”

 

“What’s this?” Haruhi asked. “You know something I don’t?”

 

“I-I think I do…” Amadeus felt strange. This certainly isn’t the role I’m used to… “Basically, they’re these crystals that have enormous amounts of energy stored in them. It was discovered that they could be used to power up moves into much stronger versions, and people found ways of weaponizing them that all but invalidated using normal moves…” Amadeus shook his head. “I think it was a particularly powerful one that powered the place that I lived? I think it was Ultra, uh… ultra something?”

 

“Great name.”

 

“Shut up…” He said sheepishly. “But yeah, these things are crazy if used correctly.”

 

“You think Dumas has considered bringing that kind of power here?”

 

“Well, I don’t have the knowledge needed to use it…” Amadeus said, staring out at the city. “But maybe, if I was desperate…” The weak lights of the city suddenly felt like they could be so much more. “Just maybe…”