Working “Together”

Deep in the forest, a large cluster or tents of varying sizes were set up. A salazzle wearing a belt holding several small vials, and an inteleon wearing a tattered, dull beige cloak slowly walked up to a dark red tent that was the largest on the entire site. Behind the two, a tied up croagunk was being dragged by the inteleon.

“Come on! I don’t know what happened to-” 

“Will you shut up?! Giving me a damn headache… ” Bella said, the salazzle rubbing the sides of her head. “ I didn’t realize you guys were so whiny. ”

As the two reptiles approached the tent, they glanced at each other before the inteleon spoke up. “Master Scorch.” Brine said, kneeling down. The tent opened as the emboar stepped outside. The inteleon looked up at Scorch, before the pig gestured for him to stand. 

“ Well? ” 

Brine threw the croagunk fowads. “Tell him…” 

The croagunk looked up at Scorch. “ Well… Everyone else got caught… Except for Crash… ” 

 

Scorch let out a low groan before slowly turning around and walking to a nearby tree. The emboar groaned as his fist ignited before striking the tree. “ Idiots… ”

The two reptiles stepped backwards and glanced at each other. “ Umm… Scorch…? ” Bella said, raising a finger. The emboar quickly turned around and glared at the two before Brine and Bella quickly backed away into one of the nearby tents.

“Scorch really needs to learn to cool it.” The salazzle said, removing her belt. 

“Belladonna, it’s best not to speak ill of Scorch at times like this… But yes, I suppose he does… ” 

The salazzle rolled her eyes. “I told you to call me Bella.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with your full name.” 

“Yeah, but Bella sounds sexier.” She said, striking a little pose.

 

The tent soon opened up as a garchomp wearing a metal cuff with a lock around his neck stormed inside. “ And where have you been…? ” Brine asked. 

“I… got distracted… ” Hunter said with his head down.

Bella sighed. “You know, if you weren’t my boyfriend I’d slap you. How many times have we been over this?” 

“ Well, you’re welcome to try… ” The garchomp said, in his best attempt at a seductive tone. 

Brine stood up and began to walk out of the tent. “Where are you going?” Bella asked. 

“To do my job first off. And besides, the two of you clearly wish to take this further. And I do not want, or need to see that.” The inteleon said as he walked off. 

“ Killjoy… ”

---

 

“Is it just me, or is everyone staring…?” Crash asked, while he, Cinder, and Char sat at a table outside a cafe. Cinder looked around as pokemon from the few other tables quickly looked away when she glanced at them. 

“ Yeah, it’s almost like we’re dining with a criminal who caused a massive scene in the town square yesterday… ” Cinder said, looking back down at her food. 

Crash rolled his eyes and stood up. “Yes, I know I’m very interesting! Thank you!” He said, the other pokemon quickly looking away. 

“I hate him so much…” Cinder thought as she sank down in embarrassment. 

As the three left, Cinder decided to go to the guild after all. The vulpix needed something to get her mind off of what happened at the cafe. The walk there was a mostly quiet and awkward one, with Cinder mumbling profanities the whole way there. She soon stopped in front of the massive tree housing the guild, before sighing as a realization hit her. “I’m gonna have to take him on jobs too…”

 

Cinder and Crash stood in front of the main floor’s job board, the vulpix looking over the several postings and wanted posters lining the board. Crash peered over at Cinder and looked at the shiny, green, egg shaped badge with wings that was pinned to her scarf. “So, you’re bronze rank huh?” 

Cinder glanced over at the scraggy. “What? I know things.” Crash said. “So I really have to come…?” He said looking back up at the board. 

“ Unfortunately yes… I can’t let you out of my sight, remember…” Cinder groaned as she reached up to get a job off the board. “Let’s go.” 

“And where exactly are we going…?” Crash asked, not bothering to hide the suspicion in his voice. 

“Windswept Plateau.” Said Cinder before turning to walk away. 

“Great… Nice and out in the open…” Crash said to himself. “It’s not like I’m potentially being hunted or anything…” He said, following the vulpix.

---

 

“So how come you don’t have a real partner?” Crash asked as the two walked down a dirt road through the woods. Cinder didn’t acknowledge the scraggy and kept walking. 

“What about one of those bags? Do I get one?” Still nothing. “You still haven’t told me what we’re doing out here.” Crash said, sounding kind of annoyed. 

“Do you ever shut up?!” Snapped Cinder. 

“I might if you tell me what-” 

“It’s a bounty mission, and we’re looking for a bisharp. Happy!? ” 

“And what crawled up your multi-tailed ass?” 

“You!” 

Crash then started to snicker, and as he did so Cinder’s eyes widened as she quickly realized what she had just said. “ This is gonna be a long day… ” She said, sighing and walking away. Crash followed the vulpix, continuing to laugh. 

 

As the forest started to clear up a bit, the two pokemon stopped and looked up at the wide, flat-topped terrain that rose above the surrounding land. “Alright, this says they’ve set up on the twelfth floor of the dungeon.” Cinder said looking at the description of the job. “Try not to get in the way, alright.” 

“ If you’re insinuating that I can’t fight… ” 

“Just shut up and follow me.”

---

 

Windswept Plateau: Floor 1

 

The two began to navigate the stony paths that twisted though the many trees and bushes that lined the ground. Cinder remained mostly silent while Crash kept trying to talk to her. As much as the vulpix tried to ignore him. He just would not. Stop. Talking.

“For the love of Arseus, shut up!” Cinder yelled, turning around. 

“Look, I’m just trying to kill time here. We’ve been on this floor for a while.” Crash said, gesturing to the surrounding area. “You need to- Oh hey, I think I see the stairs.” 

“ Great… ” Cinder said tiredly.

 

Windswept Plateau: Floor 11

 

“You know, it feels weird being on this side…” Crash said as he continued to follow Cinder. “Never thought I’d-” Before he could finish, Cinder turned around and shoved him to the side before blowing a stream of fire from her mouth. The flamethrower attack hitting a heracross, who soon retaliated with brick break. Cinder jumped out of the way as a flame consumed Crash’s fist. 

The scraggy lunged at the blue bug with his arm reared back. But the heracross bent down and caught the scraggy in the gap in it’s horn, tossing him aside. Landing near Cinder, Crash had an idea. He looked at his still lit hand, and then at the vulpix. “Hey!” 

“What!” But just as she said that, Crash slammed his fiery fist into her side. Cinder felt a sudden rush of energy flow through her body. Catching on to what Crash was doing, she used flamethrower once again. But this time the stream of fire seemed to be stronger. As the heracross fell, Cinder turned to Crash and sighed. 

 

“That… was actually kind of clever…” 

“ Well I’m not all good looks you know… ” Crash said in a smug tone. Causing Cinder to roll her eyes. 

“Just don’t do stuff like that again… We both know that dungeon ‘mons aren’t exactly all right in the head. And I’ll be responsible if something happens to you.” 

“ No promises… ”

 

Windswept Plateau: Floor 12

 

“Well… It would seem some explorers finally found us…” A bisharp said to a group of four pawniard positioned in front of him. “Show them what we do to those who interfere with our affairs!” The small pokemon clad in red and black armor charged forwards, letting loose some kind of battle cry. 

“Formation Alpha!” The bisharp yelled. The pawniard split up and surrounded the two, pointing their bladed arms at them. 

As the four pawniard lunged towards Crash and Cinder, the scraggy reached into Cinder’s bag and pulled out a petrify orb. “How did he know that was in my-… Oh, right…” The vulpix thought as she watched the pawniard freeze in place. The two then proceeded to attack them, Crash hitting one with brick break and Cinder with flamethrower. 

 

The other two immobilized pawniard were soon dealt with in the same manner. Seeing this, the bisharp shook his head and began to walk over. “ Useless, the lot of you… ” He said to himself.”

“Oh, so you’re actually gonna fight us now that you’ve run out of friends to hide behind?” Cinder said, glaring at the bisharp. 

“Silence child!” The bisharp said, as a wave of dark energy left his hand. Crash and Cinder both jumped out of the way, avoiding his dark pulse attack. But with the two now seperated, the bisharp closed his eyes as an aura resembling swords surrounded him. 

 

“He’s gonna attack!” Cinder yelled, as the bisharp turned towards Crash. The scraggy reached into the pouch of skin around his waist, pulling out a violent seed. 

“Dammit, what else did he take out of my bag?” Cinder thought.

After taking a bite, Crash felt a rush of power surge through his body. Cinder once again used flamethrower, this time aiming at the bisharp’s feet which caused him to stagger backwards trying to avoid the fire. Crash used this opening to run up to his assailant, striking the bisharp in the head with brick break. 

 

The two walked up to the fallen pokemon, looking down at the bisharp. Cinder then glanced up at Crash. “You need to stop taking stuff out of my bag.” 

“I’m sorry, who beat him again? ” 

“Alright then tough guy, go round up the rest of them.” Cinder said, pointing to the four pawniard. 

“ And I’m doing that because…? ” 

“Because you have hands, and can tie knots faster than I can.” The vulpix said before taking a rope out of her bag, tossing it at Crash.

---

 

When Cinder and Crash later returned to the guild, Vernal came up to the pair requesting to speak with the scraggy. The two went upstairs, while Cinder sat down trying to decide what to do while she waited.

“Okay Crash.” Vernal said as he and the scraggy sat in the decidueye’s office. “Let’s start slow. How about you start telling me what you know about Brine.” 

“Look, I barely ever spoke to the guy. I don’t know shi- … much… ” Crash said. During the last bit of which he sank down as Vernal gave him a look. “…Brine hates everybody and keeps to himself a lot.” 

“What about the way he fights?” 

“Never seen him fight… Practice maybe, but not fight… But I don’t think I’ve ever seen him miss either…”

---

 

Brine made his way back to Team Raiders’ camp. Clad in his beige cloak, he scanned his surroundings to make sure he wasn’t being followed. The inteleon soon saw something moving around the nearby bushes, and in a small tree. He sighed and lowered his cloak’s hood. “You’re either very brave, or very stupid to follow me out here… … …Yes, the both of you… ”  

 

A breloom sprang from the bushes, and a swellow dove down from the tree. “Guess the jig’s up then, huh?” The breloom said, turning to his partner. 

“ …You two aren’t explorers… ” Brine said, glaring at the two. 

“Well hey, money’s money right?” The swellow said, smirking as they prepared to attack. “And you seem to be worth quite a bit.” 

“This is so annoying… One stupid mistake, and suddenly my face is everywhere…” Brine thought. 

 

The swellow rushed forwards with aerial ace, but Brine jumped backwards as a duplicate of himself stood in his place. As the bird hit his substitute, Brine quickly jumped into a nearby tree. “What are you waiting for! Go after him!” The breloom yelled. The swellow shook his head and flew into the tree. 

 

“Fools…” Brine thought as he stuck out his hand, firing a beam of cold energy at his flying adversary. 

The breloom watched as his partner’s wing became encased in ice. The swellow soon crashed to the ground, hitting their head and frozen wing hard against a tree. 

“ Dammit… ” The breloom groaned, before launching several green orbs up into the trees. After a few seconds, the cloak wearing inteleon soon dropped to the ground. The breloom slowly walked up to them, poking the blue lizard with his foot… Before feeling what felt like a finger press against the back of his head… 

 

The dazed swellow slowly looked up to see Brine standing over their lifeless partner. Brine turned to face the bird as they tried to use the last of their energy to crawl away. 

“ Pokemon like you two really annoy me… ” The inteleon said. “ You see a large reward, and fail to take into consideration exactly who you’re dealing with… But no matter how annoying, leaving you in this state, unable to fly again would just be cruel… ”

 

As Brine later approached the camp, he removed his cloak and slowly walked towards his team’s tent. But the closer he got, the more he could smell a sweet scent lingering in the air. Brine sighed before burying his nose in his discarded cloak. “Those two better not have…”  

Opaque pink fumes spilled out of the tent as it opened up. Bella tiredly made her way out, followed by Hunter poking out his head. The garchomp seemed to be in a dazed state and was blankly staring at the salazzle. 

Brine just stood and glared at his two partners. “ Why…? Why must you do this in the tent we are forced to share…? ”

---

 

Cinder plopped down on her straw bed the moment she got back to her treehouse. “Finally… quiet… and alone…” The vulpix thought as she closed her eyes. Cinder had just come back from dropping Crash off the guild, as Vernal had wanted to speak with the scraggy again. 

“I kinda wonder what they’re talking about back there… Probably team raiders stuff…” Cinder thought as she began to drift off… 

 

The door to Vernal’s office opened, and Char watched Crash step out onto the wooden deck. As he looked out, Crash could see all that he could of Timberglade that wasn’t obstructed by trees. “So, where’s little miss powder keg…?” Crash said as he noticed Char, who seemed to be waiting for him.

Char sighed and walked up the scraggy. “I thought I’d do her a favor and get you for her.” The ninetales said before their attention turned to the dark green guild scarf tied around his arm. 

“Oh this, Vernal said it could help me blend in a bit more.” 

“ Sometimes I just don’t get him… Anyway, let’s go.”

 

As Char and Crash made their way downstairs, the scraggy noticed very quickly the types of looks the two were getting from some of the other pokemon in the guild. When the silver ninetales entered someone’s line of sight, they’d acknowledge him with a smile, a nod, or combination of the two. But those looks would soon fade once they saw Crash. 

“Well someone’s popular.” Crash said as he leaned in towards the fox, catching a glance at his badge. “Ooh, gold rank… You must be pretty good at this whole explorer thing. ” Char just continued to walk, ignoring the scraggy. 

“ …You got a girlfriend? ” 

Char almost missed a step after hearing the sudden question. “What? No need to get like that, I saw how that one girl looked at you back there… ” 

“ …Is there something wrong with you…? ” 

“Well if there wasn’t I wouldn’t be here now, would I? … Wait… ”  

---

 

“Char…! Cinder…! Don’t come any further…!” 

 

… 

 

“No… No don’t… No, no, no…”

 

Cinder shot up in her bed, and was breathing heavily. She slowly glanced out of the nearby window and groaned, noticing how late in the day it was. “ …Right… Crash… ” The vulpix turned her attention to the door, hearing someone knocking on the other side. She opened it, and saw Crash and Char on the other side. 

“ …Vernal gave him a scarf…? ” The tired vulpix said, looking at her brother. 

“To help me blend in more. You like it? ” 

“…” 

“Well, I’ve gotta get going…” Char said, as he turned around. “I’ll see you later okay.”

As Cinder watched her brother leave, she closed the door and sighed. It was then the vulpix could hear something shifting around behind her. “ Whatever it is you’re doing back there, knock it off. ” 

“ Well, well… What are you doing in a place like this…? ” 

Cinder turned around, almost immediately rushing towards the scraggy. “Put that down!” 

 

That evening, Crash was left to his own devices inside of Cinder’s treehouse. As the vulpix had left to get food for the both of them. The scraggy laid in bed thinking about the exchange the two of them had before she left. 

“You want to stay here?” Cinder asked. 

“What? I’m tired. Besides, you don’t want to be seen with me. Right…? ” 

The vulpix gave Crash a long, suspicion filled glare. “…You better not touch anything.” Cinder said, somewhat frustrated. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, fine. I won’t “ touch ” anything. Just bring me back some of those tamato filled puff things. Pretty sure I saw one of the shops selling them. But I swear, no matter where you get them, they’re always good.” 

Cinder rolled her eyes and left, closing the door behind her. Crash walked up to one of the two straw beds and plopped down on top of it. As he laid there, his eyes began to wander around the treehouse, glancing at all of the shelves and small cabinets that lined the walls. “She didn’t say I couldn’t look around…” Crash thought as he sat up. 

 

After spending a while looking around the treehouse, Crash was starting to get bored. As there was nothing in particular that caught his attention. “Maybe I should’ve gone with her…” The scraggy thought, as he practically threw himself back onto his bed. But it was then that he noticed something under one of the cabinets, a small box. “ Well that’s new… ”

Crash rolled out of bed and crawled across the floor, reaching for the box. After pulling it out from under the wooden cabinet, Crash saw some kind of insignia etched onto the lid of the box. The design almost looked like a stylized flame. “Locked huh…” Crash thought before a sound got his attention. 

 

“Guess this will have to wait…” The scraggy quickly slid the small box back under the cabinet, and rolled onto his back. 

“ Hey… ” Crash said as he watched the door open. 

Cinder tossed a tied up wrapper onto a nearby table and stared at Crash. “What are you doing?” 

“ It’s a new meditative exercise… You should try it, you look stressed. ” 

“…Whatever, your thing’s on the table.” 

Crash sat at the table and undid the wrapper that held several bite sized pastries. “ Yes… ” He said to himself before tossing one into his mouth. 

“Egh, it’s sitrus… …well I guess it’s not that bad… besides, who am I to turn down free stuff…?”