Chapter 9: On the Road We Go!

After their close battle against Fane the Bisharp, Alice, & Riley – while carrying the still unconscious Eric, were led all the way back to Crescent Grove Village, where the Bisharp was put in a secluded tent to be interrogated in private at a later time. In the meantime, the trio were brought back to Olga, the kind Chansey who at first was surprised at first to see them all injured, but was happy to see that they were back alive. And after the trio had their wounds treated, the trio were all together in the healing hut while Olga had left to go get some more supplies, leaving them alone, & it would be at this point that the Eevee would begin to stir. “Oh! Hey, there he is! Wakey wakey buddy!” Riley greets Eric with a smile, lightly waving a hand in front of his eyes for Eric to focus in.

Groaning quietly, Eric slowly sits up & looks around. “What happened…? Where is…” Eric trails off mid-sentence, recognizing that this was in fact the healing hut in the village. He had a bit of a pensive look on his face, but upon seeing Riley & Alice, the both of them having expressions of relief on their faces, Eric could not help but smile at the both of them. “Is everything okay?” He asks, glancing between the both of them.

“Oh yeah, we’re fine. But what about you though?” Riley asks, leaning a bit closer to examine Eric. “After the fight with Fane-that Bisharp, you just passed right out.” He says while Alice nods in addition.

“Umm, I think I’m okay. Did I uhh, did I act weird?” Eric nervously inquires, now shying away from Riley a bit.

“You kidding!? You were a beast man! I didn’t know you knew the move shadow ball! And protect too!” Riley exclaims, giving Eric a hearty bump on the side.

Eric was relieved at Riley’s seemingly positive reaction, but there was a slight issue with what he said. Did he know the move shadow ball? And protect as well? For as long as Eric could remember, all he knew was the move, swift, & it was not even that powerful – according to Marco at the very least. He wonders to himself as Riley was joyously recounting the fight the trio had gone through, the sudden transformation of Eric’s whole demeanor during that final moment, & how they managed to defeat Fane. Though as Eric pondered to himself, he noticed that Alice was rather quiet, simply staring at him with a seemingly blank expression on her face. It put Eric off a bit… That is until Riley would ask for the Absol’s input. “…Don’t you think so too Alice?” Riley asks, still riding the high of their victory.

“Huh? Oh uhh, yeah. I’m glad we won, but…” Alice was somewhat quiet, much to Riley’s slight disappointment.

“Aww, what’s wrong? You’re not really happy, are you? Were you hoping for more?” Riley asks.

“No it’s not that!” Alice quickly replies, shooting a look at Riley. “Look, I’m just thinking, but don’t you think this whole thing is odd? Or at least, something about Eric is odd?” She then shifts her gaze back to Eric. “Look, I’m not saying something’s wrong, or bad with you, it’s just… strange. Eric, do you-”

Cutting Alice off, the trio would suddenly hear a few knocks at the door before a figure familiar only to Alice would step inside. “Ahh, Alice there you are! And our guests as well.”

It was Reigan Noivern, the elder of Crescent Grove Village & adoptive father to Alice. Upon his arrival, Alice quickly bolts up from her lying position, straightening right up.

“Oh! Elder! It’s good to see you.” Alice regards the Noivern with a firm look at first, though it breaks into a smile as Reigan approaches.

“I am glad to see that you have returned safely. I never would have imagined you had to do battle with someone like that.” Reigan says while he gently puts a hand on the top of Alice’s head.

“Well, I didn’t face that Bisharp alone. These two helped me, & they did remarkably well.” Alice replies, gesturing to Eric & Riley who both nod & wave respectively.

“Is that so?” Reigan looks at the two of them, then gives a smile in return. “Well then in that case, you both have my gratitude for assisting my daughter.” Reigan says before giving them both a small bow.

“Oh! Uhh, it’s no big deal.” Eric replies with a little shrug, looking somewhat nervous. “…Wait, did you say daughter?” He asks quizzically, followed by a slight head tilt.

“Indeed, Alice is my daughter. Though we are not related by blood, I still treat her as if she were my own.” Reigan says with a proud look in his eyes. “And she is even going to succeed my positions as both Elder of the village, & as one of the hand-mons to our Lady Cresselia, and she has been getting stronger and wiser by the day.”

At those words however, Alice could not help but look away, a look of uncertainty was on her face despite the praises that Reigan was singing of her. “E-Elder-I mean… Father, I….” Alice raises a paw, to which Reigan turns his head back down to her, having quickly noticed the change in the Absol’s mood. Riley had clocked it as well, but said nothing as Reigan began to speak again.

“What is it Alice? Ohhh, right.” Quickly recalling their talk from before, Reigan kneels down more to Alice. “You’re still uncertain, aren’t you?” He asks & Alice nods quietly.

“I just…” Alice trails off, trying to find the words to say, though as she looked up at Reigan, she could see the caring in the Noivern’s eyes. It was clear that Reigan fully intended to take Alice’s feelings into consideration, which in turn filled Alice with the courage to say what was on her mind. “…I just don’t feel ready yet. I don’t feel like I’ve learned all I can really learn to be a truly great asset to the clan. There’s only so much I can learn in these woods alone. Do you get what I’m trying to say?” Alice asks.

Reigan thinks for a moment, rubbing his chin as he does. “I do understand Alice, but as of right now, I’m just not sure how I could-”

“Oh hey! I uhh, I have an idea!”

Reigan, Alice, & Riley at once, all turn their gazes to Eric, who had spoken up suddenly. “Umm, Alice, what if you joined up with Riley and me? We’re gonna start an explorer team! Maybe that could give you the experience you need? I mean, it’s just… I thought that…” As Eric trailed off bit by bit, he started getting more & more self conscious as all eyes were on him. “S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you off Mr. Elder sir…”

Reigan cocks an eyebrow at the Eevee, then glances at Alice once more, chuckling to himself. “My my. He seems to be determined. What do you think of his little proposition Alice?”

“Well…” Alice ponders to herself for a moment. Taking another look at Eric & Riley, she couldn’t help but see the both of them slightly differently now that she had taken the time to really do things with them. Riley was still quite the energetic one, optimistic & appearing to be quite loyal. She felt she could connect with him in some ways, & his fighting style was certainly unique, the way he practically danced along the battlefield to avoid getting hit & quickly striking back in turn.

Eric however, he seemed to be an odd one. Shy on confidence, but she swore she could see something else in him, something strange… something that made her anxious for a reason she could not explain. And yet despite all of that, she found it all coalesced into one word: Potential. He has potential, & a lot of it. That, & the strange way he just changed to someone completely different during the fight, but that was something she could figure out in the future.

After thinking for so long, Alice looks back up to Reigan. “I think I would like that.” She replies before looking back to the pair. “I would be happy to join your team Eric. Riley.”

“Oh really? Well, okay that’s fair. I get you’re busy and-HUH?” Eric looked dumbfounded at first while Riley’s smile widened. “Wait really?” Eric asks, to which Alice nods in return.

“Aww hell yeah! Our team just got a new member!” Riley cheers before he goes to hug Eric, who practically falls over from the sudden impact.

Alice couldn’t help but laugh at the two before looking back to Reigan.

“So, is this truly okay with you? I don’t know how long I will be gone for.” Alice spoke while Eric was busy pulling himself off of Riley.

“Don’t worry Alice, I honestly had a feeling that this was happening someday, but before you just shuffle on out, may I at least speak to you in private before you go?” Reigan asks. Alice nods her head.

“Sure, that’s fine.” Alice turns to Eric & Riley once more. “Well, in that case, you two will have to excuse me a bit. I need to have a private word. Why don’t we meet at the entrance & we’ll be on our way afterward?”

“Okay! Sure.” Eric nods as the Noivern & Absol then take their leave. Eric then turns to Riley, who was still positively beaming.

“Dude this is awesome! We’re gonna have our third member and our team isn’t even official yet!” Riley exclaims cheerfully. “Aren’t you excited!?”

“Y-Yeah I am. But, I’m a little surprised. I didn’t think Alice was actually gonna say yes.” Eric remarks with a bashful look.

“Bah what’re you so worried about? Alice is great! We literally fought alongside her. Of course she was gonna join! Not only that, but we seem to have opened up a great opportunity for her! So it’s a win-win!” Riley says, finishing his sentence with two little air jabs for emphasis.

“Well, even so, I wouldn’t want to let Alice down or anything.” Eric replies, looking somewhat nervous again.

“Then we just gotta double time it now to Ballistine City! We got this!” Riley fist pumps & hops off the bed. “Come on buddy! Let’s get going!” He pirouettes once, then gracefully leaps out the door of the hut, leaving Eric all alone.

Eric sighs to himself as he had watched Riley make his exit. Though his thoughts to himself were quickly cut off as he glanced down at his shadow, & the weirdly placed cerulean eye that was there…. Wait a moment… Eric blinked twice & it was suddenly gone. “Uhh, Marco?”

“What’s up kid? You noticed a little something?” Marco asks in a somewhat teasing manner.

“Umm, yes? Was that.. Was that your eye-AHH!” Eric yelps when all of a sudden, the eye he would always see in that dark void within his subconscious mind suddenly materializes within his own shadow. The eye narrows as if attached to a sneering face as Marco’s laughter echoed in Eric’s mind. “H-How are you doing that?” Eric asks in disbelief.

“Bah, nevermind how I’m doing this kid. Just be glad I can do it at all. But I know now that I’m getting stronger.” Marco replies in a rather smug tone.

Eric lets out a small grunt as he looks away from the eye. “Actually, now that you’ve decided to start doing this, lemme ask you something.” He says before looking back toward the eye now in his shadow. “I remember some stuff happening during that fight with the Bisharp, but before he attacked me, I blacked out. You said some things in my mind, but it was all a blur. Did you do something to me?” He asks, looking somewhat concerned.

“Yeah, I took control of your body.” Marco replies curtly.

Eric was at a loss for a moment, then his eyes slowly went wide with shock. “You did what!? Took control of my body!? How!? Why!?” He demands, staring down sharply at the eye.

“Well it was actually pretty easy, kid. All I had to do was simply put you to sleep. I think I mentioned that to you prior to me doing exactly that actually.” Marco says simply. “Clearly that fight was too much for you to handle, so I just had to step in. So you can thank me anytime.”

“Thank you!?” Eric asks in disbelief.

“You’re welcome, kid.” Marco replies, much to Eric’s chagrin.

“No, I’m not thanking you! Why would you do that!?” Eric fires back. “Why would you just go and take over my body?! That’s not okay!”

“Because if I didn’t, you would have had your head lopped off! That’s why!” Marco retaliates. “You made some big talk about how you were gonna go all out or whatever, and what do you do? Ya just start screaming. You hardly fought at all!”

As much as Eric wanted to refute Marco’s claims, looking back, he was right. Throughout their time in those woods, it was Riley & Alice who spent the majority of the time fighting. His expression lowers as he sighs. “Ahh there’s the look. I’m right, aren’t I?” Marco adds snidely.

Eric huffs, turning his head away from the eye. “I don’t care if you’re right or not. Just don’t take control of my body again.” At that, Eric hops off the bed & makes his way outside, ignoring Marco & promptly finishing the conversation to now focus on finding Riley.

Marco however, was far from finished but seeing as how Eric refused to talk to him further, he just scoffs as the eye fades away from Eric’s shadow.

Back at the Elder’s tent, Alice sat patiently with Reigan as he seemed deep in thought.

“So, you’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” The Noivern asks, eyeing Alice inquisitively, to which she nods her head.

“Yes. I would like to go. It will be a good opportunity for me I feel.” Alice says, a look of growing determination in her eyes.

“Hmm, and I suspect you giving yourself more worldly experience is not the only reason, isn’t that right?” Reigan asks, to which Alice’s expression hardens some. “You also want to find your mother, right?”

Alice nods her head once more. “I know she’s out there somewhere. I just… I don’t know where. And I think those two, Eric & Riley can help me find her. I just have that feeling, you know what I mean?”

Reigan nods his head at that. “Of course, that makes sense to me. To be honest with you Alice, I was waiting for the time you would come out and say you were leaving to go find your mother, but as I was waiting, I was only growing more and more anxious. Anxious at the thought of you being all alone out in the world.” Reigan explains, a look of worry was on his face, but it changed to one of relief soon after.

“But now that these two, Eric and Riley have come, they put my mind at ease, knowing that with your traveling, you won’t be alone.”

Alice looked like she was going to say something at first, but she waits until Reigan finishes before smiling up at the Noivern. “Well, I guess we’re both fortunate indeed that those two showed up when they did. I’ll have new friends to travel with, and you’ll have peace of mind for my well-being.”

Reigan smiles back, then goes over & gives Alice a hug. “Stay safe Alice. I wish you the very best on your journey. And just know, that home is never too far away.” Reigan says as Alice returns the hug.

“Thank you Father. I’ll be back soon. And I’ll be sure to share with you and everyone else the things I’ve seen and learned.” Alice replies while she begins to make her way back outside.

Eventually, the trio would reconvene at the entrance to Crescent Grove Village.

“Alright, are we ready for this?” Alice asks, looking between Eric & Riley who both nod their heads.

“Yeah! We’re going to Ballistine City now. Just need to finally leave this forest.” Eric replies. “Oh wait! One more thing Alice. We have something for you.” He quickly adds, while looking to Riley.

Alice tilts her head slightly as Riley reaches into the bag & pulls out a bandana with a playful flourish. “Ta da! A bandana just for you!” Riley says excitedly. “So we can all be identified as a team!”

“Oh! Great, thank you.” Alice smiles at that as Riley would go ahead & tie the bandana around her neck, nice & snug. “So, to Ballistine City then?” She asks.

“Aye. That’s been our intended destination since coming here.” Riley replies.

“Okay, gotcha. I know the way, so just follow me.” At that, Alice turns to the entrance & raises a paw up toward it. The armband she wears begins to glow as the vines recede, opening the path back outside. Alice takes the lead in making their way out of the forest, going past the lake, through some patches of underbrush & stepping over large roots until eventually, they would find the main path once more.

And after what would be about an hour of traveling, the trio would finally come to a forest clearing, & would be greeted with the afternoon sun still shining brightly in the sky. Eric & Riley both let out sighs of relief while Alice looks around. “Alright, we’re on the Ballistine Highroad now. Just gotta keep following this road here to get to the city.” Alice says, pointing down the road.

And with that, Eric & Riley, with their new soon to be teammate Alice, were on their way. Their traveling now would prove to be a much more relaxing one as they made their ways down the road, taking in the rather pleasant scenery around them, such as beautiful oak trees, tall hills with flowers growing all along them, sprawling fields of tall grass. There were even larger masses of land that would plateau into some sheer cliffs at the end. The group’s traveling would be filled with some idle chatter here & there – the trio sharing various brief details about themselves, such as Eric showing surprise upon Riley mentioning that he knows how to cook. And Alice shared that she had a particular knack for stargazing & cloud watching. Though Alice would also give a rather incredulous look as Eric shared his talent on playing the piano, but after he explained how he uses the move Swift to aid in pressing the many piano keys, Alice came to understand, albeit still with some degree of skepticism.

“Hey look! That must be it over there!” Riley pipes up after about another hour or so of them all walking. He points forward to see a small cluster of tall buildings in the distance. And sure enough, getting closer the group would see that indeed they had finally made it to Ballistine City.

“Ugghh finally! I thought we would never see the end of this road!” Eric sighs as he had been bringing up the rear on the tail end of this bout of traveling.

Heading into the city proper, it was clear straight from the get-go, that this was a place vastly different in size & scale than the previous towns & villages that the group was normally privy to. The buildings & houses were bigger, the stands that sold various trinkets, berries & other such items were not even stands, they were shops of their very own. And there was clearly a lot more foot traffic. Additionally, every single building that the group would look at, they noticed one thing in particular: Each & every building had a set of very intricately made balusters, made from either a type of wood or stone & decorated with either fancy carvings, gemstones & jewels, or both. Alice & Riley both looked amazed at everything they were seeing. Eric however…. Looked rather overwhelmed. “So big…” Eric murmurs quietly.

“Alrighty then! Made it to the city!” Riley proclaims with a clap of his hands. “Now then, which way to get our team official?” He asks, turning to Eric. “Uhh, you good buddy?” He asks, noticing that Eric was shaking a bit.

“Huh!? Oh! Um… I uhh, I’m sorry.” Eric stammers. “It’s just, I’ve never been to a city like this before. It’s a little much. I’ll be fine though! I can get used to this!”

Riley couldn’t help but clock the slight hesitation in Eric’s words, along with the sense of unease in his friend’s aura, but he elects not to comment for now. “Right, well my first question is still pending. Should we like, I dunno, split up & try to figure it out? Or should we just stick together?” Riley asks with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Why don’t we stick together? If we split up, it’ll be a whole other episode to try and find each other again even after we find the necessary place.” Alice says, looking around at all the other Pokemon walking around them.

The group nods in agreement – Eric more so than the other two & they begin walking throughout the busy city streets. Fortunately after a few minutes of asking around, they would be pointed to the direction of a building referred to as the Explorer Teams Formation Agency (or ETFA for short), situated on the western side of the city. It was the go to spot for anyone looking to start up an explorer team & all one would have to do is apply there directly, as far as the group had come to learn from their time spent asking around. Alice couldn’t help but wonder for a moment on just how seemingly scattered the group appeared to be. One would think that doing something as important as forming an explorer team would lead to more preparation, but it appeared to her that that was not the case. However, any further thoughts on that particular matter would have to wait as the group soon arrives at the ETFA building.

Going up the steps – they happen to have some beautifully carved oak balusters – with the tops having carvings of what the group assumed were explorer team badges on them. Eric looks at them, then glances down at his bandana. The thought of it being adorned with a badge like that began to excite him though he was quickly broken from his thoughts upon hearing Riley speak up.

“Oi! Come on buddy, let’s get a move on! Sun’s starting to go down now & all that!”

Eric quickly nods & pads up the steps as he, Alice, then Riley all go inside.

Stepping into the ETFA building, the trio would see that it was a very long building. The floors were made of very smoothed down wood that didn’t creak when anyone stepped on it. There were already some Pokemon that were in lines that were talking with other Pokemon that stood behind cubicle desks. After a bit of waiting, the trio would come face to face with a Girafarig, a giraffe pokemon who’s most notable feature being that it had a face on its tail, which was currently facing them.

“HELLO! WE’LL BE RIGHT WITH YOU!”

The smaller head of the Girafarig spoke in a very loud, gravely tone of voice, making Eric & the others jump. They also heard a sigh from the main head of the Girafarig as they of course were privy to the very vocal voice of their other half.

Moments later, the Girafarig turns, its main head now facing the group with a somewhat exasperated, but still welcoming smile. “Hello. Hello. My name is Marjorie, and welcome to the Explorer Team Formation Agency.” The Girafarig says as she looks to Eric, then Riley, then Alice, who all introduce themselves in turn.

“So, I presume you three are here to form an explorer team?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Eric replies while nodding his head.

“Wonderful. In that case, here you go.” Marjorie says as she uses psychic to hand them all some sheets of paper. “Please fill out these forms, and once you’re all done, come and see me.”

The trio nods & each takes the slips of paper, looking them over. “Uhh, what are these for anyway?” Riley asks, eyeing the paper incredulously.

“Why that is the registration form of course.” Marjorie replies. She would then go on to explain the general process of how one would go about forming a team. Said process would consist of the Pokemon in question giving their names, place of birth, related family members, as well as any clan association & how many members would be a part of the team. If there were to be any new members that join after the teams initial formation, that process would be simple enough as to just go to any other ETFA building & acquiring additional team badges at no extra cost.

After the form in question is filled out, the team would then be lead on for what would be referred to as “Competency Missions”.

“What are these competency missions exactly?” Eric asks while he fills out his form.

“Well, the handler downstairs will explain that to you.” Marjorie replies.

“Wait, so is this place a guild? Or what?” Riley then asks.

“No no, the ETFA is a separate organization tailored to all explorer teams. You see, when an explorer team is first formed, they first start out as a freelance team by default. But you have the options to either stay as a freelance team, or join any one of the exploration guilds that we have on our list to become a guild team.” Marjorie explains. “You also have your choice of simply looking to join any guild you may find on your travels if you don’t happen to come across any on our list or anything like that.”

“Huh, alright then.” Riley looks to the others. “So how about it, gang? Are we gonna be a freelance team?”

“Yeah. I figured we start out as a freelance team, then maybe see about joining a guild.” Eric says. “Alice, is that fine with you?”

“Hm? Ohh yeah. Yeah that’s fine.” Alice nods at that, though she seemed lost in thought while in the midst of her filling out her form.

“You good Alice?” Riley then asks, noticing Alice’s pausing in her writing.

“Oh! Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry. Just finishing up here.” Alice replies, quickly getting back to writing.

Once they all had finished, the Girafarig looks everything over, then gives a satisfied nod. “Wonderful. Now, I’ll have these sent to the handler & if you will follow me as well, I’ll bring you to them.”

“THIS WAY PLEASE!” The second, smaller head of the Girafarig screeches at the trio as Marjorie makes her way toward a door on the side of the main lobby, heading down a flight of stairs, with the trio following after her.

Going down, the group would find themselves now in a corridor made of hard stone. The sounds of papers moving, Pokemon chattering & whatnot can be heard from multiple doors that line both sides of this passageway. Marjorie comes up to a door at the very end of the hall with the word ‘Handler’ engraved in the middle of it. “Alright, here is the Handlers office.” Marjorie says as she then raises a hoof & knocks on the door.

“Sir! I have some new folks here who want to form a team!” She says. Then, a stern sounding voice could be heard from the other side.

“Bring them in!”

Eric, Alice & Riley look at each other briefly before Marjorie opens the door. “Alright, good luck you three.” She says as they all head inside.

Stepping into the room with the door closing behind them, the trio would find themselves in a surprisingly large room. The far left wall had bookshelves filled with all sorts of books. The right wall had a small fireplace with a giant map of presumably the Stratos Region written on it. And at the opposite end, sat a Pidgeot, wearing a fancy looking suit, looking over some papers, before turning their attention to the trio.

“Hm, curious. Welcome to the ETFA. My name is Talius, and I am the handler here.” The Pidgeot says. “So, you want to become explorers?”