Chapter 10: The ETFA

“So, you three wish to be explorers, do ya?” Talius the Pidgeot asks, eyeing the trio one by one.

“Umm… Y-Yes?” Eric replies, looking rather sheepish. Riley looked composed while Alice had a somewhat firm gaze on her face. Talius regards the three of them after a moment of pause, though his gaze rests on Eric as he narrows his eyes slightly while responding, “Hm, are you asking me, or telling me?”

“I’m um…” Eric fidgets in place before Riley takes a step forward.

“We’re telling you we want to form an explorer team. Why else would we be here?” Riley asks, crossing his arms while staring up at the Pidgeot.

Talius chuckles a bit. “Hmph. At least you’ve got some moxie in you.” He says under his breath. “Alright then, so you do. Then let me ask ya this. Why do you all want to be explorers, hm?”

At this, the trio all look at each other. And they all thought the same thing: ‘Did we actually share why we wanted to be explorers to each other?’ Sure they each had their reasons for being explorers, but they never exactly stated them clearly as far as they remembered. They all look at one another, waiting to see who would go first. Riley was tempted to speak first, but something in his head was filling him with doubts & anxieties about how these new friends of his would react to his reason. Something in him just wanted to keep it as close to the chest as he could. He couldn’t bring himself to just up & say it.

Alice felt somewhat similarly. She had never brought up the fact that she joined up with Eric & Riley just to find her missing mother. Would they react harshly for what she felt would be considered by some a selfish reason?

As for Eric, he looked like he was going to say something but Marco was quick to toss in his two poké on the matter, interrupting his train of thought. “Well kid? Say something!”

Eric closes his eyes in thought. “Hey, I’m going to. Just relax and gimme a second to think…” He whispers quietly, though Riley & Alice both look over to the Eevee, the both of them having overheard his whispering.

“Uh, were you gonna say something Eric?” Riley asks, adjusting his glasses slightly.

“Y-Yeah! Just uhh well…” Eric pauses, sweating somewhat as Talius stares down at the three of them expectantly. “Okay, so you see…” Eric takes a deep breath. “So, my dad, he was the leader of an explorer team of his own before he met my mom. And he told my sister and me all sorts of cool stories of his explorer team days. And I um, I got really inspired!” Eric explains, now taking a step forward to better look up at Talius. “I want to be able to do great things like my dad did! Um, that’s a reason on why I want to be an explorer!” Eric finishes looking rather proud as he mentioned his father.

Talius raises an eyebrow slightly at Eric.

“Ohh is that so? Now I’m curious…” The Pidgeot goes & grabs Eric’s registration form, glancing it over. His eyes then widen upon recognizing one of the names written. “Flint Flareon is your father?” He then asks, looking back down at Eric.

“Yes sir.” Eric replies with a nod of his head.

“My my, where has the time gone? I remember your father actually.” Talius chuckles softly while setting the paper back down. “When I was but a strapping young Pidgeotto intern working for the previous Handler in this building, I saw your father and his team get formed here. Hahaha, how charming.” Talius lets out a hearty chuckle while Eric looks surprised.

“Wow really!? Man I wish my dad told me about you then. I’d have been way less nervous coming in here!” Eric remarks, now laughing a bit as well.

“Ohh think nothing of it. I’ve been told that I had a rather stern looking resting face even as an intern! But that did seem to really attract the ladies around here.” A rather sly grin appears on the Pidgeot’s face as he speaks. He then clears his throat & looks back to Riley & Alice. “But that aside, what about you two? I’ve yet to hear what you two have to say.” Talius then asks, his gaze turning back to the other two.

“Oh us!? Well…” Riley sweats a tiny bit down his back, but then gives a side-eye to Eric. “Actually it’s funny Eric says all that, it’s just that when he told me about why he wanted to start his team I was just so inspired too! I felt just this desire to want to help him succeed, you know?” The lie came out faster than Riley wanted to take it back, but it was too late now. And Talius looked a bit intrigued at first at the Riolu’s statement.

“Is that so?” Talius glances over at Eric, looking him over. “Heh. I can see why. This young Eevee, he’s got that mien his father had when I first saw him here. It may not be front and center now, but I just know that confidence to be a great leader is deep in there.”

“Really?” Eric & Marco both ask, the former in intrigue, the latter in disbelief, but of course only Eric could hear Marco, much to his chagrin.

“Of course! Like I said, it’s in there somewhere. You just gotta be able to bring it out!” Talius gives an assuring smile, then he looks to Alice. “Now how about you?”

Alice, who had been sitting quietly, jumps a tiny bit with the focus now suddenly on her. She couldn’t understand why she was so anxious with this Pidgeot asking such a simple question, but she had to give an answer. She couldn’t bring herself to piggy-back off of Riley’s answer as she didn’t want to seem disingenuous, so she went with what she felt was the next best thing. “Well, I have my own personal reasons actually. These two helped me, and I guess you could say I’m returning the favor.” Alice states, looking toward Eric & Riley with a small smile. “I’m also eager to see the region as a whole, learn all sorts of things, and meet all sorts of other pokemon.”

“Hm, very well then.” Talius seemed satisfied with the answer as far as Alice could tell. “It seems you three- while rather green looking, I can see that you all seem willing and committed. Alright then.” Giving a nod of approval, Talius would slip the sheets of paper into a folder, then pull out a slightly smaller folder from within a drawer on his desk. “Now then, allow me to explain what will entail next. You see,” Talius clears his throat as he then begins.
“In order for any Explorer Team to be recognized as a legitimate one, the members involved must undergo three competency missions. Each of them are tailored to what the main categories of job requests you will primarily handle when it comes to performing Explorer Team jobs.” Talius then opens up the smaller folder, revealing three other slips of paper that he spreads out on the table, each of them having some details written on them. “The three main categories of Explorer Team jobs that you would have your pick of consist of the following: Survey and explore requests,” He points to the left-most sheet that was labeled ‘SE’ & beneath it there were details regarding an area that was reported to be unfamiliar territory to someone by the name of T. “Search and rescue requests,” He then points to the middle sheet labeled ‘SR’ along with details of a missing Spinda. “And finally, we have Outlaw hunt requests.” He points to the right-most paper that was labeled ‘OH’ & below it, there were details of a Salandit pickpocket that was going around snatching up valuables from travelers on the highroad. “Any questions so far?” Talius asks & Riley raises a paw.

“Uh yeah so, what happens if, say there’s an outlaw that’s in unfamiliar territory slinking around?” He asks, looking between the three papers. “Is it considered an SE request, or an OH request?”

“Actually it would be considered both.” Talius replies. “That’s part of the reason we have the labels in place. If an outlaw were to be hiding out in unfamiliar territory, then the client would have the request marked as a SE-OH request. Or if someone had gone missing in an unfamiliar location, then the request would be marked as a SE-SR request, or SR-SE if you want to get technical on priorities.” He adds the last part of his explanation with a shrug.

“Okay, so may I ask this then?” Eric asks. “How often are there requests with all three of those labels?”

Talius thinks for a moment. “In truth, there have not been that many. Mainly due to the fact that a request would need to meet certain requirements to have more than one label- these requirements that I do not need to go super in depth into, so I won’t. But that aside, here is what you will need to do,” Talius then takes the three sheets of paper & holds them up. “Your task, or rather tasks, are to complete these three missions to determine your capabilities and see if you are actually qualified to become an explorer team. And you are free to tackle these missions in whatever order you may wish.”

Eric, Riley & Alice all examine the sheets one by one, taking in all the details that each one had. The survey and explore- SE request appeared simple: “I am in need of a group to go out and examine a location of which I am unfamiliar with. I wish to know of any unique flora that may be growing there as well. -Tony Kecleon.” Eric reads off the first request.

The search and rescue- the SR request seemed fairly clear cut as well: “Please help! My companion Barrie Spinda has been missing for some time now and I have not heard from him at all. Last I saw him he was on the outskirts of the city smelling the wildflowers. When found, please bring him back to the city. -Gertrude Ludicolo.” Riley reads off the second request ending with a small hm.

The outlaw hunt- the OH request seemed fairly simple upon first glance as well. “Wanted: Thistle Salandit, a crook who has been seen prowling the Ballistine Highroad mugging travelers and absconding with their money and other such valuables. -Sheriff’s Deputy Zircon Magneton” Alice reads off the third request, furrowing her brow with a look of concern. “Wait, we came to this city from that same Highroad!” Alice says in shock. “We could have been mugged then!”

“Wait… you’re right!” Eric jumps at that, looking at Alice in shock. “How did we miss a Salandit on the way from the forest!?”

“I didn’t sense any hostile auras on our way here.” Riley remarks with a shrug.

“Well, you three must be lucky. Either that, or this crook was already robbing someone else at the time. Either way, these will be your tasks to complete. You’re free to complete them in any order you wish, all you must do is meet with the clients listed at the bottom of each request, then report back here once you’re done.” Talius explains as he puts each request in the folder, then hands the folder to Riley. “Any further questions?”

“Two actually!” Riley says as he then puts the folder in the bag. “One, are we in any particular time limit or crunch for these? And two, how long have these requests of yours been around?”

“Well one, you’re not in that much of a rush for time, but just know that the real time constraints you may have are either from the clients patience, the outlaws patience if they decide to move elsewhere and never get brought into custody, or how long the missing pokemon might have before they succumb to whatever grisly fate might befall them should they be left alone for too long out there. And two, that is for me to know, and for you to find out when you speak with the clients.” Talius explains, then Eric raises a paw. “Yes?”

“Umm, where are we supposed to find the clients?” Eric asks.

“Any details you need in that regard are on the request sheets themselves.” Talius replied curtly while looking up at the clock. “Hm… goodness it’s starting to get late.” He remarks to himself then looks back at the trio. “Is there anything else?”

“No. I don’t believe so…” Eric then replies.

“Well then get going! The sun might very well already be setting by now!” Talius waves a wing, prompting the group to gather themselves & fully exit the ETFA building.

Once the trio had gotten back outside, Riley goes & pulls the job requests out of the bag & looks them over once more. “Hmm, alright then, so how do we wanna do this? The outlaw hunt first? We could get the crook outta the way quick before anything else.” Riley suggests, looking at the others.

“Umm, do you think we could save the outlaw hunt for last? I-I’m still not really used to fighting.” Eric admits meekly.

“Wait really? Why not?” Riley asks, surprised. “I mean, you did alright fighting that Bisharp back in the forest. What, can’t tap into that other side of you or whatever that was?” He lets out a small chuckle at that, to which Eric just frowns & looks away. “Ah, oh…” Noticing Eric’s expression unchanged, Riley frowns a bit as well. “Sorry, didn’t mean to upset you buddy. I was just asking a question.”

“Look, lets just save the outlaw hunt for last, alright?” Alice then chimes in. “Honestly, I think it would be better for us to do the survey mission first. It’ll help give us some familiarity with our surroundings. And if we’re lucky, we could just find the other pokemon we need to find while we’re already out and about.”

Riley rubs his chin in thought, then looks toward Eric. “Alright, what do you think about that?” He asks Eric.

“Oh, I think that would be doable, or I guess better. I’d rather we do the easier sounding stuff first.” Eric replies.

Alice would nod her head in additional agreement & with that, the trio would go on to meet with their first client; the first among the three competency missions they have been assigned.

Going through the city, the trio would go on toward their first destination as detailed on the survey & explore request. It would be relatively quick & easy to find their first client, a Kecleon by the name of Tony who runs a local items shop. Going in, the Kecleon would go on to explain in further detail that he wants either a documented list, or actual samples of the local flora that is growing in a lake in a nearby wooded glade a short distance away from the city’s outskirts. When asked (by Riley no less) on why he couldn’t just do it himself, Tony curtly retorts that he has a shop to run! He can’t just abandon his post to go pick some flowers, or weeds, or whatever it was he thinks was out there. Riley gives a look of growing incredulity at that, trying to poke more holes in the shopkeeper’s logic, but would get slowly pushed out with Alice while Eric made the enthusiastic proclamation that his team would work hard to bring back loads of samples of all sorts of stuff.

“Look I’m just saying, why doesn’t he just go out himself when he’s closed up shop for the day or something?” Riley asks as they start heading out of the city. At this point, Riley had opted to give the bag to Eric, as he had requested prior to their exiting the city.

“Because Riley, didn’t you hear that Kecleon? He was pretty clear about running that store twenty four/seven.” Alice replied curtly. “And besides, it’s our mission to do this for him. He wants to know what’s out there, so we’ll get the things we need to show him. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Yeah, and he even gave us directions to get there.” Eric adds, pointing his tail at the smaller scrap of paper Riley was holding.

“…” Riley was silent for the moment as he looked over the paper. He wore a slightly annoyed look on his face while briefly adjusting his glasses & afterwards, he let out a single grunt in response. “I wasn’t gonna say this in the shop, you’d think a shopkeeper would have neater handwriting?” He grumbles as they make their way out of the city proper & are now back on the Balistine Highroad. “I mean seriously, does that say “take a left at the road’s bend”, or “take a loft at the raads bond “?” Riley then asks, holding the paper over for Alice, then Eric to both read. Alice had no particular reaction for the most part as she was more focused on just moving along.

“Uhh…” Upon looking at the paper, Eric’s ears flattened to his head as indeed, the Kecleon’s writing was quite difficult to look at. “Look, I think as long as we get the gist of it it should be fine.” Eric then shakes his head & continues onward, pulling a little bit ahead of the others.

The trio continue to talk amongst one another as they head off in the direction indicated. And after deducing the directions as indeed taking a left at the road’s bend, they would find themselves walking a good distance off the beaten path. And after what felt like ages of walking – when in reality it was only a few more minutes, the trio would at last find themselves in a forested glade, & after traversing the forest terrain, they would gaze upon a large lake with a large pale gray stone jutting out of its center. The surface of the lake had a thin veil of mist gently hovering over it & it appeared to swirl ever so slowly around the large gray stone.

“Ugh finally!” Riley throws his hands up in exasperation as he approaches the lake with Eric & Alice. “I thought we would never find this thing.” He remarks dryly while Eric sets the bag down in a nearby spot.

“Great, now we can get to work with our first job.” Alice replies as she looks around, taking note of the various bushes & flowers that occupied the area.

After determining what was around, Riley, Eric & Alice all get to work gathering as much of the notable pieces of fauna as they could get their collective paws on. Though throughout the process, Riley seemed to work slower than the other two. Something that Alice notices first.

“Hey, everything alright?” Alice asks after setting down a small pile of small pecha berries on the ground.

“Oh me? Yeah everything’s good. I just er… have some things on my mind is all.” Riley replies, shrugging his shoulders.

“Care to share?” Alice asks plainly.

Riley seems to hesitate for a moment as his eyes shift over toward Eric, who was currently locked in a tug of war against a clump of bushes that was holding a berry he wanted to grab, his little fangs having bitten down on some vines that were giving him some trouble. “Umm… well how do I put it…” Riley then turns back to Alice. “It’s just that, well…” It looked as though something was nagging at the back of Riley’s head. The Riolu knew what it was, but something in him kept trying to tell him not to worry, or bring it up.

“It’s about Eric, isn’t it?” Alice asks, snapping Riley out from his internal struggle.

“Oh! Uhhh yeah! Totally.” Riley replies quickly. “I mean, I couldn’t help but think about our battle with Fane. That… other Eric that came out. Marco, I think his name was?”
Alice nods her head in response to Riley.

“Yeah, I was thinking about that too.” Alice replies, turning her gaze to the Eevee still doing fierce battle with the plants. “I dunno, something about that whole thing seemed off to me…” She remarks quietly.

“In what way?” Riley asks.

“Well, it just had to do with Marco himself. I can’t shake the feeling that something is just… off with him.” Alice explains. “Like, I swear something about him feels weirdly familiar, but I can’t put a claw on what that could be.” She scratches the side of her head for a moment while Riley shrugs his shoulders.

“Familiar?” Riley asks, confused after which he simply shrugs. “Eh, honestly I wouldn’t fret too much.” Riley replies somewhat dismissively. “Marco helped us defeat Fane in the end, so I don’t think he’s malevolent or anything like that. If he was, I’d be way more naturally on guard just by his aura alone. But I only see Eric now and sense his aura. And we know Eric. He’s practically harmless.” The Riolu remarks with a little chuckle.

Alice gives a skeptical look toward Riley in return before letting out a small sigh of her own. “If you say so… he helped us, sure. But I’m still going to be wary for now. I have only just met him after all. And so have you. He just seems… I dunno, rather dangerous to me.” Alice replies. She was about to say something more when all of a sudden, a loud SNAP echoes through the area as Eric suddenly goes tumbling backwards, the vine he had been pulling on finally snapping & the Eevee found himself rolling backward several feet before flopping on his back near the lake’s shoreline.

“Oww….” Eric mutters as he stares up at the tree canopy in a slight daze. His gaze would soon be blocked by the bespectacled visage of Riley, who smiles down at him & helps him back up.

“Man buddy, you were going all out against that vine.” Riley says jokingly. “Find anything good?”

“Hardy har.” Eric says flatly as he shakes himself off. “Well, I thought I found something, but all I got was just these.” He held up the vine as it appeared to have a few small red berries on it.

“Oh! Those are Cheri berries.” Alice remarks as she pads over toward the two. “Those can cure paralysis when eaten. I heard they can also help in making a nice soup stock too.” She adds, to which Riley’s ears perk up.

“Ohh a Cheri berry soup stock!? That sounds awesome! A spicy & smooth broth for a soup. Ohhh now I’m getting hungry…” The Riolu started to rub his belly at the thought of a tasty soup as his stomach began to grumble.

Alice chuckles a bit at Riley before looking back to Eric. “Okay, I think we’ve got enough things here for the Kecleon. Why don’t we head back? Maybe we can find that Spinda along the way too.” She says while looking around for their bag….

“Umm, Eric? Where’d you put the bag?” The Absol then asks, turning to Eric after a brief moment of searching.

“Huh? Uhhh, I put it near that bush over there.” Eric replies, pointing toward a nearby shrub but there was no bag to be seen. After a moment’s pause, the Eevee’s face goes slightly pale. “G-Guys…? Where’s the bag?” Eric then asks, his voice ending in a little squeak.

“Oh no…” Riley’s ears lower while his tail droops in growing realization. “You don’t think we…”

In Eric’s head, he could feel what could only be described simply as the biggest eye roll he could possibly feel in his subconscious. “Wow kid… Just wow. How in the love of Arceus and all that he’s created could you just leave your groups’ bag completely unattended? You do realize your maps, bandanas, and those dumb little flower pressings were all in there right? Are you gonna try to get those back?” Marco asks, but Eric did not answer right away, much to the voices’ growing impatience.
“Hey! Kid! I’m talkin to you! Helloooo?”

As things were gradually beginning to escalate, Riley pulls his glasses off his face & starts to rub the sides of his head. Eric’s expression turned to one of shock & horror while Alice let out a heavy sigh, burying her face in a paw as the realization of their bag was now missing had hit the group one by one, with all the stuff they had just finished collecting now in a small pile with no bag to put them in…