Chapter 3: Festive Town

“Wow,” Vix said, her eyes wide, “this must be the biggest city in the world!”

I chuckled at that. I knew that there were cities on other continents that were much bigger. Treasure Town on the Grass Continent, and Lively Town on the Water Continent to name a few. But to a Vulpix who had only ever seen isolated groups of one or two Pokemon at a time, the chaos of Festive Town would impress her.

It was just barely afternoon. We hadn’t even gotten up any earlier that morning either. We had saved so much time in the dungeon this time around and we had Vix to thank for it.

I’d honestly have to call it an Arceus given gift. I had lead us through the first floor, and it hadn’t gone well. It was a complete disaster, and I am fairly certain that I had found every dead end in that Dungeon. At one point, Vix had stopped in the middle of a crossroads.

“Shouldn’t it be a right here?” she asked. Eve and I glanced at each other.

“Let’s go this way. If it’s a dead end we will try to the right.” We continued along until, of course, we hit a dead end. We backtracked until we reached the crossroads once again “So right, was it?” I asked Vix sheepishly. We started off that way, and surprisingly we ran right into the stone platform. 

On the next floor, I was still leading, but anytime Vix chimed in I made sure to take her advice. This time we cleared the floor in only five minutes. From then on I just let Vix lead. She seemed hesitant at first, but as we continued to clear floors in only a few minutes she became more confident. She was even so focused on her task that she hadn’t noticed that her den was gone.

Once we left the Dungeon, Eve took the lead again. She lead us down the mountain,  through the foothills that made up most of the coast, and into the largest city on the continent. Festive Town.

It had the usual hustle and bustle that all large towns had. Pokemon of all shapes and sizes rushed past us and occasionally bumped into us; although after Vix got pricked by a distracted Roselia and had to be healed with Eve’s Morning Sun move, we tried to be more careful. 

I was in awe of the sheer variety of creatures wandering around town. There were plenty of bipeds like Blaziken or Hypno, plenty of quadrupeds like Growlithe and Bayleef, and even some stranger ones like Munna, Ditto, and even a Carnivine. Above us Pidgeys, Fearows, and Pellipers flitted from rooftop to rooftop. I briefly wondered how larger Pokèmon, like Onyx, find houses as one slithered by us. Eve retreated behind me until after it had passed.

The west side of the city turned out to be the market district, which explained why there were so many Pokemon out and about. Apparently both the northern and southern sections of the town were residential areas, leaving the eastern end open for office buildings, restaurants, and of course the Expedition Society HQ.

“There it is!” Eve shouted excitedly. “The Flame Continent HQ for the Expedition Society! I never thought I’d see it!” 

I was a bit surprised that despite the crowds on the street, this seemed to be the one place without many people. While other stores saw droves of Pokèmon moving in and out the place in front of us looked dead and uninviting. The tall stone walls of the tower and the twisted stem of the telescope stretching from the domed roof gave the place a foreboding presence.

Above us a giant winged badge with a letter “E” inscribed on it hung over thick oak double doors. “Are we sure that we are in the right place? Other people aren’t going in there.”

For some reason I had a hollow pit in my stomach. Something about the look or feel of the building gave me a bad vibe. Two days ago I had offhandedly called the society a cult. Now I was starting to wonder.

“Well, of course nobody is going in. Only members or new recruits need to visit the office. Anyone who wants or needs help will appear in the connection orb.” Eve looked at me, and a flash of concern crossed her face. “Are you okay, Slink?”

I was embarrassed by my paranoia, but I ended up saying, “Yeah, I’m good.”

Eve pushed through the heavy front door and into the huge lobby. The floors were thick smooth stone. White marble columns lined the walls holding up the domed ceiling capped with a huge glass skylight. A huge flight of stairs lead from the center of the room and disappeared into the depths of the huge building. There were a few comfortable chairs lining the walls, I assume for customers to wait. 

Eve spotted a Kadabra sitting behind a counter in the corner reading a thick book. She walked confidently up to him.

“Hello,” she said, “we would like to join the Expedition Society!”

Without looking up the Kadabra pushed a clipboard over the counter and grumbled. “Fill this out. I will help you in one moment.”

Eve didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t reach the clipboard much less write on it. She stood there looking awkward for a moment before coughing and saying, “Er… a little help please.”

This time the Kadabra looked up. He looked wildly around the room for a moment before finally leaning down over the counter. “Oh, quadrupeds. I can help.” He pulled the clipboard back over the table and began to write. “Names?”

“I’m Eve, he’s Slink, and she is Vix.”

The Kadabra scribbled on the paper. “Ages?”

“I’m seventeen, Slink is eighteen, and Vix is… er seven I think.”

“Nine,” Vix corrected rolling her eyes.

The Kadabra raised an eyebrow at me, but he moved on quickly. “Team name?”

Eve looked back at me. “I don’t have any ideas. What do you think?

I thought about it for a moment, but nothing jumped to mind. I was just about to say so when I had an idea. “How about ‘Mindflare’ or ‘Mindfire’. It fits. You are Psychic, Vix is Fire, and I’m both. It just works.”

“I like ‘Mindfire’,” Eve smiled.

“Team Mindfire it is.” The Kadabra said. “Alright, team symbol?”

“What?” Eve and I looked at each other.

“It’s new. We found that having a symbol helps the paperwork and it allows more people to recognize you.”

I saw that Eve was lost in thought. I tried thinking too, but I didn’t know. Every design I thought of was either too simple, too complex, or was stupid.

I was just about to give up when it happened again. It was almost like a second voice whispering in my head. 

Quickly I projected the design in my head into the air. It was almost circular, but then again it looked kind of like a bird. It’s body was a small trapezoidal nub at the base of the circle. The left wing was perfectly round and smooth ending in a sharp square edge. On the right was a jagged, yet flowing wing that almost met the other at the top of the circle. I sensed that something should fit within the circle, but I couldn’t think of what. 

 

“Slink, I love it. Good idea!” Eve smiled as my projection slowly turned in the air. I watched as the Kadabra quickly yet carefully drew the symbol on his form.

“Okay final decision.” The Kadabra looked at us. “Team leader?”

“Of course it’s Eve!” I said.

“Of course it’s Slink!” Eve said at the same time.

Eve and I just stared at each other. “This was your goal from the start.” I said. “You knew where to go, and you packed supplies. You should be the leader.”

Eve shook her head. “You led us through the Dungeon, you fought and protected me, you convinced Vix to join us, and you came up with the team name and symbol. It should be you.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Vix asked sarcastically.

“Shut up, Vix,” Eve and I said at almost the same time.

The Kadabra looked almost amused. “I guess you both could be co-leaders if you want.”

Eve and I met eyes again. She shrugged and nodded. “Sure. We could do that.”

The Kadabra noted that down and then looked back over the form. He made a few more notes, and then reached below the desk and got another sheet of paper and a towel. He took a bottle of ink and poured a small black puddle onto the extra paper. He handed the ink and the towel down to us. “I just need a mark from both leaders and then I can submit this form.”

I placed my front left paw into the ink and then firmly pressed it against the paper. Eve did the same. 

The Kadabra smoothly grabbed the form, curled it into a tube and slipped it into an envelope. He then stood, and concentrated. His body began to glow pink, and shimmer. With a brilliant blue-pink flash he vanished. Eve and I exchanged glances. A few moments later, a pink cloud of energy appeared where the Kadabra had been. With another blinding flash of light, the Kadabra appeared once again. He sat down at his desk like nothing had happened.

“I gave it to the administrators of the Society over on the Water continent.” He said as if teleporting a continent away was perfectly normal. “They will review it and hopefully approve it within the next two to three days. You kids have a place to stay?”

“What do you mean?” Eve asked. “Don’t we get to live here?” 

The Kadabra shook his head. “Only solo applicants are able to live here in the dorms. You guys will need to find a house or apartment or something.”

“Umm,” I began, about to explain that we had no idea where to start when the Kadabra interrupted me.

“Look old Gloom about six blocks to the north rents out apartments for reasonable prices. He will help you out.” He smiled at us. “Good luck.”

“Thank you for helping us,” I told the Kadabra as we left the building.

“How much money do we have?” I asked Eve before we could get too far. 

Eve looked in her bag for a moment and then smiled at me. “I have 5,000P. We will be fine.”

---

“Small apartments are 2,000P a month, medium apartments are 5,000P a month, and large ones are 7,000P a month.”

I was shocked by the price. I mean I had lived in a rather large house with my family for the last eight years, and it had only cost 210,000P. Of course that was a house out in the country. I guess city life would be more expensive.

Mr. Gloom’s building was a squat three story building that  took up the whole side of the block. It was essentially three long hallways stacked on top of one another with a wide staircase in the center and another on either end. Mr. Gloom’s desk sat in the center of the bottom floor.

“Can we see a small apartment?” Eve asked. I stayed quiet and let her talk. It was her money, and I certainly wasn’t going to tell her how to spend it.

“Sure,” the Gloom said grabbing an enormous ring of keys from the desk and waddling down the hallway to the right. 

We followed him down the hall until he stopped and unlocked a thick wooden door. Vix was the first one in, ducking between the Gloom’s legs and into the apartment. Coincidentally she was also the first out of the apartment. 

“Nope!” She said as she passed by us. Eve rolled her eyes at the young Vulpix and walked in with me close behind her. 

My first impression was to agree with Vix. It wasn’t a very big apartment. The first room we walked into was a combination living room and kitchen, each blurring into the other. It didn’t look enough like either to be considered normal. There was a small couch (really more of a loveseat), a TV and a small table, but there wasn’t much else. 

In the back of the room two doors ran along the wall. One led to a tiny bathroom with barely enough room for the toilet, a bathtub, and a sink. The other led into a bedroom with two beds. I didn’t say anything, but I really didn’t like it. If anyone else joined our team we wouldn’t have enough rooms or beds. And that was even accounting for the fact that one of us would almost certainly be sleeping on the couch every night. But for the here and now it would work. Again I left it up to Eve since she had the money.

“Mr. Gloom, sir, could we see a medium apartment.” Eve obviously was thinking the same way as me. 

“Absolutely, and don’t call me Mr. Gloom. My name is Gregory, alright?”

He locked the door behind us before leading us back into the main lobby and up a set of stairs. We wandered down another hallway and stopped before an identical looking door. 

This time Vix wasn’t so eager to go in. She followed closely behind me as we entered. Already it was much better. 

The main room was larger than the entire last apartment and it drew a thicker line between the living room and kitchen areas. There were two bedrooms in this one and both had two beds. A slightly larger bathroom was squeezed between the bedrooms. 

Eve pulled me aside in one of the bedrooms as Vix and Gregory moved to explore the main room. “I’d like your opinion before we decide this.”

I paused, weighing my words carefully. “I think a small apartment will work,” I said slowly, “but if we gain any more teammates then we won’t be able to fit. I honestly like the medium apartment more…” I cringed as Eve raised an eyebrow at me. “I am worried about the price.” I added quickly.

Eve smiled. “I feel the same way. I don’t really want to live my life worrying about whether we will have enough money. Will we make enough through the Expedition Society?” Eve sounded nervous and that bothered me. I was used to her at least acting confident even when she was unsure.

“We could always ask Gregory about how much Society members make?” I suggested.

Eve seemed to relax a little. “Why didn’t I think of that? Thanks Slink.”

When we asked Gregory he just laughed at us. “You’ll be fine. Even the worst Expedition Society teams bring in at least 500P a week.”

“That’s only 2,000P a month,” Eve argued. “We’d still need another 3,000P a month just to break even!”

“I said the worst teams bring in 500P a week.” Gregory eyed us approvingly. “Even by just looking at you I can tell that you’ll be a great team. They can bring in as little as 1,000P a week.”

Eve blushed and tried to protest. “But-“

“-And if you aren’t that good you can always sell objects that you come across in dungeons. Or you could work odd jobs of you need more. Slink, you are a Fennekin right?”

“Yes,” I replied nervously.

“When I first opened this building I hired a Delphox to enchant the doors to be unbreakable. I’m no expert, but everyone told me 1,000P per door was a fair price. After everything he did for me I ended up giving Flare 2,000P for every door. If you can do something similar then you could make plenty of money.”

I had stopped listening after Flare. Could it be? “You said Flare right?!” 

“Hmmm,” he said, “er yes Flare that was the Delphox’s name.”

“Is something wrong Slink?” Eve asked. 

“Flare is my father…” I whispered.

“Flare is your father!” Gregory exclaimed excitedly. “So he did become mates with that Braixen he told me about.”

“Mystic,” I muttered numbly.

“Mystic! That was her name. Huh, small world. Oh I’m happy for him. So how’s your old man doing?”

I couldn’t speak. Even here away from it all I couldn’t escape the memories. I felt the box in my head trying to break open. 

Eve took pity on me. “Gregory, you couldn’t have known, but Slink’s parents were killed recently-“

“By who?! When?! You are a member of the Society! You could send a team to bring the murderers to justice!”

“-but he doesn’t want to talk about it.” Eve finished lamely. 

“Oh. I’m sorry boy. Your father was a good man and a friend.” Gregory looked like he wanted to say more, but he bit his lip. 

“Mr. Gregory we will take the medium room. Could you leave us for a moment to… er settle in?” Eve looked pointedly at Gregory.

“Yes, of course. I’ll send you a statement tomorrow with your final bill and the building rules. I’ll see myself out then.” Gregory toddled quickly for the door stopping just long enough to place the keys on the kitchen table.

Vix and Eve glanced at each other and at me. I was too shocked to notice. Finally Eve said, “Well it is getting late. We might as well go to bed. Should we do girls in one room and-“

“Dibs on my own room!” Vix shouted sprinting to the right bedroom. “See you two in the morning!” She threw the door open and slammed it shut just as quickly.

Eve opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it. 

“Well I guess I have the couch and you have the bedroom…” I tried before Eve started shaking her head.

“Nonsense. There are two beds. Besides we are the team leaders. We may have to stay up later at night in order to do work or something, or we might want to go to bed early. Having our own room makes sense.” Eve smiled. “Come on, I’ll even let you chose your bed.”

---

The next morning I woke up in the bed closest to the door. I could tell that it was just barely morning, as grey light barely filled the room. Eve snored softly in the other bed and I wondered what time it was. I wasn’t used to being the first one up.

I stretched and yawned before realizing that I was hungry. Then it occurred to me that we didn’t have any food. Sure we had a few more berries in Eve’s bag, but when we had put them our new refrigerator last night they hadn’t looked too good. Several of them were shriveled. One Lum berry she had we had to throw out because it was molding. 

Quietly I moved over to the desk that stood at the foot of the two beds and hopped on top. Eve’s bag way laying on its side where she had tossed it the night before. I poked my nose into it and rooted around until I found a small leather pouch that I could hang from my neck. I opened another pocket and silently filled it with money. I counted out 100P and put everything else back.

Before I left, I jotted a quick not to Vix and Eve about where I was going. I grabbed the keys off the table and barely managed to lock the door behind me.

The building was empty this early in the morning. Even Gregory wasn’t at his desk. I hoped that my key would let me back in the front door if it was locked. I retraced our steps from yesterday, passing by the dark and dormant Expedition HQ and into the Market District. 

There were nowhere near as many people in the market this morning. But every stall was open, so I got started. The first thing that I did, was find a stall that sold leather messenger bags like Eve’s. I figured that I couldn’t carry all of our groceries by myself, and besides it always helped to have a spare.

Ten minutes later and 20P poorer I walked out with a completely pitch black bag. I planned on having our team symbol stamped onto it eventually.

It took me a few hours to get all of the shopping done, but I did it with 1P to spare. In that time the sun had peeked up over the mountains, and more Pokemon had come out onto the streets. Here and there I caught snippets of conversations but nothing really caught my attention. That is…

“…heard they attacked another village… kidnapped anyone who was shiny… everyone else disappeared…

I stopped in my tracks and strained my ears just to catch another word. “…the Hatred strike again…

I turned quickly toward where an Arcanine and an Absol were talking. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but overhear, you were talking about team Hatred.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but my heart rate was rising and I couldn’t keep my voice low. “Where is this village that was attacked? What do you know about team Hatred?

The two older Pokèmon turned to me. “I don’t know,” the Absol said, “I just heard it from a buddy of mine in the Expedition Society.

“Who is he?” I asked. I knew my breath was coming hard and fast at this point, but I wasn’t sure if I could stop it. “Maybe I could talk to them and…?” 

“Look kid, none of us know anything. Why do you care so much?” I could tell the Arcanine was trying to calm me down, but I didn’t want to calm down.

I was about to shout another question. I was about to make these two understand, but then I heard another familiar voice. “Slink?”

I whirled around and came face to face with Eve. “Slink? Are you okay? Who are these two?”

I turned back to the the Arcanine and Absol, but they had wandered off towards the market. Every now and then they looked back at me with expressions of fear.

I sighed. “Hey, Eve. They mentioned something about…” I froze. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get Eve involved in this. I cast about for something to tell her,” …Lake Ogon, where I used to live. I was asking them about it.” 

Eve raised an eyebrow at me, but didn’t ask any questions. I did feel bad for lying, but I also wasn’t about to open up. Not yet. “I was headed to HQ this morning,” she said after a pause, “I wanted to ask that Kadabra a few questions about our application.”

“Are you feeling a little antsy?” I asked.

“You know why it’s a big deal Slink. We can barely pay the rent as is, and we won’t have a job at the Expedition Society for a few more days. We need to be smart with our money.” She glared at me. “I wish that you would have woken me up before you came shopping. And did you really need a new bag?”

“Whoa,” I protested, “we needed everything that I bought. And I couldn’t get it back to the apartment without a bag.” 

Eve sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped but still.”

“I get it,” I said, “and I’m sorry that I didn’t wake you up before I took your money.”

“Wait a minute, you did take my money didn’t you…?” Thankfully we arrived at HQ’s front doors right at that moment so I didn’t have to answer.

A bell happily jingled as we entered the lobby. The Kadabra was still sitting behind his desk reading a book. A brown paper package was sitting on the desk, and there was a black symbol on it, but I couldn’t see it very clearly. The psychic type looked up as we entered, and he perked up excitedly. 

“Well if it isn’t Team Mindfire. You know, I was just about to come see you guys.” He leaned forward and pushed the package over the desk. Eve and I exchanged a glance before she reached out and levitated the package down to us. 

“Are you kidding?” Eve said excitedly. Stamped across the front of the brown paper was our team symbol.

“You are officially part of the Expedition Society,” the Kadabra said with a smile. “It was one of the quickest responses I’ve ever seen. I hear that one of the the board members over on the Water Continent gave you guys his personal recommendation.”

“Who?” Eve asked looking completely bewildered. I was on the same page. I knew that my father had grown up over on the Water Continent, but I had never been there. Who would give me a recommendation? 

The Kadabra shrugged. “I hear it was one of their most esteemed retired members. He’s an old Lucario named Phoenix. Do either of you know him?

I shrugged. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“Oh, well,” the Kadabra said. “He obviously believes in you guys. You guys can come back later and we can get you started on your first assignment!”

Eve and I stumbled out of there simply stupefied. It didn’t completely solve our financial problems, but it was a start. 

We didn’t speak to each other all the way home. We wandered in the door and nodded to Mr. Gloom as we passed his desk. “Slink, Eve! Hey, one second guys.” We paused as he slid a piece of paper across the desk. “”Here is your contract for the apartment. Y’all  just have to sign at the bottom. Hey, I’m sorry if I embarrassed or hurt you yesterday.”

“It’s fine,” I said dismissively. Eve grabbed the paper and was about to slip it into her bag when something must have caught her eye. “Sir, I think you made a mistake. You only charged us 30,000P for the year. That is only slightly more than the price for a small room. We are in a medium apartment.”

“I see no mistake. I see a favor I’m doing for my friend’s kid.”

I almost panicked. “Sir, I cannot accept this. My parents taught me to never accept charity.”

Gregory laughed. “This ain’t charity. I’m just paying back a debt. Remember how I was going to pay your dad 2,000P for each door he charmed? Well I didn’t have the 60,000P he deserved. I had just opened the place after all. Our solution was that I would let him or any of his family stay for a reduced price in any of my rooms.” He looked at me seriously. “I still gotta make money, but I also have 60,000P to give you. By my math you can stay in your current place for two years at 30,000P a year. Sound good?”

I nodded softly before Eve and I headed up the stairs to the apartment. I still couldn’t believe our luck. I was extremely conscious of the package in my bag, and the letter in Eve’s. Who knew what else today would bring?

I opened the door, but Vix didn’t even look up. She was lying splayed out on the couch staring enraptured at the TV. I was a little surprised that she was watching the news. Then I realized that it was her first time seeing a TV. Any of the tiny people in the magic window box would have her hypnotized. As we walked in Slowpoke was just starting his weather forecast.

Eve set her bag down on the table, and then practically ripped my bag away from me to get at the package inside. “Oh, hey guys. What’s going on?”

“We got accepted into the Expedition Society,” Eve babbled excitedly as she ripped into the package. “We get to go on missions today!”

Vix raised an eyebrow at me. I could only shrug. 

“And now breaking news from the Scale Mountains-” Meowth was cut off in his news report as Vix shut the TV off. 

“Alright I’m bored. Are we going on an adventure?”