Chapter 27: Setting the Stage

A few days before the Rexianta Festival…

It is said that in the heart of the Veiled Continent lies an ancient civilization. Searching for it would require a ‘mon to go deep in the depths of a stony gorge— past jungle, past wildmon, past mystery dungeons— until they found the decrepit structures of the old society sitting at the bottom.

Once there, they could glimpse upon the crumbled and cracked stone, where pokémon used to live, work, and play before disaster struck. The only things that resided there now? Dust and moss. Adventurers or travelers hoping to recover remnants of the bygone era would be hard pressed to find anything.

By now, most could deduce that going to such a place would be a waste of time and effort.

And yet…

In perhaps one of the few stone huts retaining its shape, a lone pokémon meditated in the corner. The shadows concealed their entire frame, leaving their lithe white legs the only part exposed to the trickles of sunlight.

Each breath they took came in set intervals of five seconds. In… and out. In… and out. Eventually the pokémon whispered, “I hope you have found peace.”

Off in the distance, a faint clop–clop, clop–clop of shoes tapped against the rocky ground. The footsteps drew nearer to the hut until it was right outside the triangular window. The source of the sound placed their entire face in it.

“Minne,” the pokémon in the hut simply stated, eyes still closed.

The Mr. Rime tipped his hat, swinging his ice cane with a free hand. “Madam. Tis’ a captivating spot you’ve chosen today. Feeling nostalgic?”

The pokémon inside the hut let the words hang for a few moments. “…No. It’s hard to feel nostalgic for days long since passed.”

“Is that not the definition of nostalgia? A longing for those days since passed?”

“I wasn’t aware you became a dictionary. Why have you come?” the feminine pokémon questioned, sighing while leaning forward slightly. Her short, white snout was partially illuminated by the light, as well as a sphere of green around her neck.

“Ah, righto. Kaiyo Town’s Rexianta Festival is upon us once again.”

“Another year already?”

“Touché. Tis’ the time the townsmon gather together and celebrate with nary a care in the world. What shall I impart to them this year?”

The pokémon in the hut breathed out. “Tell them change rides on the winds, and to not fear it. They will be stronger for it.”

Minne came around, performing a quick four step dance in the doorway. “Hoho, vague and cryptic, just the way I like it.”

Another sigh passed over the figure. “Anything else? Or is that all you’re here for?”

“I do have one more thing to note,” he reported, leaning on his cane. “Have Orbeetle or Sling contacted you?”

“I heard from them a couple of days ago. They’re on their way back to base. I presume they’ve made an advancement in their research.”

“Then you are also aware of the threat rising to uncovering us?”

The pokémon inside clicked her tongue. “I had thought what I did was enough. I gave her a second chance…” Silence occupied the air as she gazed at something in the shade. Then, she made a decision. “Bring this with you.” She psychically passed over a scarf to Minne. “Say you received this message from me. You figure out the rest.”

Minne held it with both hands, accepting the item as if it were being gifted to him. He met the other pokémon’s piercing blue gaze. “As you wish, my fair Empress.”

---

Litleo couldn’t help but focus on the brown fur weaving in and out of the crowd.

Ezera’s jaw dropped. “What’s Roca doing here?”

She was asking herself that same question. What would bring Roca to Kaiyo Town, if not a piece of information about her brother? Voluntarily stopping by to join the festival would be too much of a coincidence.

“Who is she?” Dewott signed, unfortunately out of the loop.

“She’s Rockruff’s twin sister…” Ezera paused to let that sink in. “We haven’t seen her since we told her Rockruff went missing. She uh, attacked us- or Litleo, specifically. We didn’t leave on great terms,” he explained, nervously laughing.

Dewott blinked, raising both eyebrows all the way up. “That’s… fun.“

“Do we say hi to her?” Ezera asked, rubbing his fingers together.

Litleo bit her bottom lip. Would she be hostile now, inside a town no less? The last thing Roca said to them was that she never wanted to see them again. ‘But what if she’s found something we haven’t?‘ Litleo shook her head. ‘Like she’d share it with us.‘

If they approached, Roca would likely shun them or run away. On the off chance she didn’t do that, Litleo could try and tell her what new info they found out, but that wasn’t anything concrete. All she knew was that they were attacked, taken someplace that Orbeetle and Sling knew, and interrogated by some more unknown pokémon.

The only solid fact she could tell Roca was that she was human.

That would go over just great.

“I want to tail her,” Litleo decided, breaking into a brisk walk.

“Um-” Ezera matched her speed. “Why not just confront her? We’ll look worse in her eyes if she catches us.”

“Worse than we already look? Besides, you know she’ll openly curse us if we straight up go to her.”

“You really think she’d still be that mad at us?”

“You’re naive if you think otherwise,” Litleo said, halting behind a donphan as Roca looked their way. Ezera and Dewott copied her, to which the donphan noticed and gave them a perturbed glare before moving away.

Litleo paid them no mind, still focused on Roca. It was clear the rockruff didn’t come to shop. She spared the wares and food no attention, instead seemingly keeping her head tilted upward, as if trying to find something higher. There was also a… jitteriness to her movements.

‘What could she be looking for?‘ Litleo wondered. If they could distract Roca and ‘accidentally’ run into her, that at least would give them a chance to speak. “What if Dewott tried talking to her?”

Her two teammates turned their heads, confusion written on their faces.

“What for?” Ezera said.

“That way we can create an excuse to run into her. We’ll say we were looking for you, Dewott,”

“This is the type of stuff I’d see in a movie,” Ezera commented, frowning. “You’re afraid of talking to her, huh?”

“Assuming I was, why don’t you go talk to her then?” Litleo retorted, momentarily taking her eyes off Roca to glare at Ezera.

“I’m not the one wanting to tail her.”

“I’ll do it,” Dewott interrupted, pointing to himself and moving both paws in a horizontal circle.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Ezera assured.

“It’s okay. Chatting should be nothing.“

“Thanks, Dewott,” Litleo acknowledged with a nod.

Ezera sighed, placing a hand on his hip. “You owe him.”

Litleo rolled her eyes, but made a mental note that she’d do something for him later down the line. “Make sure you turn on your Linkbead so we can hear you.”

Dewott gave the equivalent of a thumbs up and turned on the Linkbead. Roca had started walking again, so he ran to catch up. When he got close enough, he tapped Roca’s shoulder before briefly waving. “Sorry to bother you, but are you lost?“

“Ah!” Roca hopped away in fright, looking Dewott up and down with mixed fear and confusion.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.“

“That badge…” Her face soured. “You’re with the guild.”

“That’s right.“

Roca dusted off the sack hanging to her side. “I’m great, not lost at all, ‘kay? You can move along,” she said in the least convincing way possible.

“Your body language tells me otherwise,” Dewott signed, moving a paw left to right and raising his shoulders.

Roca’s expression faltered. “Maybe I am a little lost, but I definitely don’t need the guild’s help for simple things like directions.”

“Dewott! There you are,” Ezera exclaimed, waving as he approached with Litleo. He feigned surprise seeing Roca.

The rockruff was more concerned with eyeing Litleo. “Oh, it’s you… It’s just my luck I’d run into you here,” she spat, although the venom she tried to put into it didn’t sound particularly convincing on account of the nervous shake in her voice.

“Nice to see you again too,” Litleo replied, keeping her breathing in check.

“I don’t have anything to say to you.” Roca started to divert into an alley, but Litleo stayed right behind her.

“Then I’m right to assume you haven’t found anything?”

Roca paused. Her ears and tail pointed straight up, confirming the answer. “What- what’s it matter to you?” she deflected.

“What are you doing in Kaiyo Town?” Litleo deflected back, advancing another step.

Roca also advanced one step. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked you first.”

“I actually asked you first b-“

“Can we just chill on the hostility for a moment?” Ezera interjected, holding a hand out in each of their directions.

Roca sat down, pointing her snout up. “I heard there was a pokémon that appears at the end of this stupid festival.”

“Minne? The Mr. Rime?”

“Whatever their name is. They claim to know Calyrex. I’m going to ask them about my brother.”

Litleo’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought of that. If it was true Mr. Rime had connections to Calyrex, it made sense to use them to get some answers. Yet, there was also the chance they were a fraud. “What makes you think they’ll answer you? Or tell you the truth, assuming they do know anything?”

“I don’t need your input,” Roca said, avoiding eye contact.

‘She really knows how to get on my damn nerves…‘ Litleo thought, exhaling slowly. “Look, we both want the same thing. I just want to help you and make up for what happened before.”

“Why, because you’re feeling guilty? Good. You should be.”

Even with her weakened inner fire, it burned inside Litleo intensely. A significant part of her wanted to tell Roca to shove it right where-

Some more breaths and a concerned look from Ezera stopped that. Unfortunately, retaliating wasn’t helpful for either of them, especially in town. “Do you even have a plan on how you’re going to ask him? There’s thousands of other pokémon probably dying to ask him their own stuff,” Litleo argued.

Roca shifted about. “I’ll figure it out. I’ll make sure he notices me.”

“Basically you strolled in here without any plan?”

Roca deigned not to answer that.

“Just admit you’re in unfamiliar territory. You may not like it, but we can get you a shot at speaking with Minne.”

“…You would do that?” Roca said, squinting.

“We do kinda owe you for helping us finish that commission,” Ezera remarked.

Roca said nothing for a few moments. She studied the ground, then looked at Litleo. “Getting help from the guild even though I can’t stand you… You better not be lying to me again.”

“I have more integrity than that, geez,” Litleo responded, scoffing.

“Since it’s my idea, I get to ask the question for Minne, okay?” A reluctant nod from Litleo prompted her to go on. “Now, what’s your plan?”

“Obviously it’ll involve getting in touch with somemon who works with Minne. I assume there’s townsmon who coordinate his arrival,” Litleo explained.

“Reuniclus or Rapidash could tell us who,” Dewott signed, holding out two digits before clasping his paws together. “They have connections.“

“Shall we head back and ask Reuniclus then?” Ezera suggested, gripping the satchel and beginning to set off.

“I- including me?” Roca asked, tail freezing.

Litleo glanced back, following after Ezera and Dewott. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“No… I’ve just been getting too many stares from you towners. I don’t want to be here another second.”

‘She’s not as hardened as she likes to paint herself.‘ “The guild isn’t like that.”

“Ruffers said something similar… Let that be the one thing he was right about,” Roca said, plodding onward.

Litleo ignored the jab, deciding to focus on the fact that Roca didn’t outright reject their offer. It meant either she was slightly amenable and could potentially lead to more down the line, or she simply wanted to use them to find Rockruff quicker. If that was the case, Litleo wouldn’t have any issues using her back.

“If you think about it, Roca’s kinda similar to you,” Ezera muttered, loud enough for her and Dewott to hear.

“What? No she’s not. Not even close,” Litleo replied, frowning at the comparison. “She’s ten times worse than me.”

Dewott raised an eyebrow, and Litleo knew he agreed with Ezera.

“You sure about that? I think you’d get along well if the whole Rugged Crags thing didn’t go down,” Ezera said.

Litleo’s retort faded as she pondered that. Since the start, Roca had acted a bit like an annoying princess. Would they be friends if things weren’t screwed up? “Pretty sure. What similarities do we share exactly?”

“You’re both prickly, see the worst in everyone, and stubborn as hell. That’s like a match made in heaven.”

Litleo’s mouth hung open at Ezera’s bluntness. She knew she was bad, but him saying it like that made it seem like she had no decent qualities whatsoever. Although, she never gave Ezera much evidence to prove otherwise. Being guarded was basically her motto. Litleo’s mind drifted to how she was with Rockruff before he disappeared– A little less cold and ‘prickly,’ but still the same old wary girl… Was she like that as a human too? Probably. The question that came now was, would she be able to change? Should she change?

“Also, what you said about making up for before, do you actually feel that way?” Ezera asked, meeting her gaze.

“I suppose. It was my fault for not telling them sooner. Who knows, maybe he’d be here if I wasn’t so caught up with myself,” Litleo said, staring straight ahead. Saying it hurt, but it was the truth.

“…I don’t think it would’ve changed anything.” Ezera leaned in and nudged her shoulder. “At the very least, we know you’ve got a good heart, even if your way of showing it is weird. Maybe Roca’s the same.” He sped up his pace, leaving her with his sudden compliment.

Litleo, on the other hand, slowed down. Where did that come from? And didn’t that make it the third time she’d heard something similar from him before? She was offered no chance to ask as he continued ahead, seemingly aware that she wanted him to elaborate, but teasingly denying that answer. Fine. Maybe she didn’t need to know.

Soon enough they reached the town plaza, and then their stall where Reuniclus and Helin were engaged in a heated debate. As Ezera approached, Helin jumped on top of the counter to point at him.

“Ezera!” she exclaimed, her frills expanding to their full length. “You’re a sensible ‘mon. Please tell Riu here that it’s ridiculous to expect expert penmanship when we have thousands of pokémon and Poké coming in.”

Ezera stammered trying to figure out if he should engage. “Uh- wait, what’s happening first of all?”

“Surely you see the value in making it neat, Helin. Just look at this!” Reuniclus grabbed a paper she was levitating and pulled it to her face. “Where are the capitals? What do these columns mean? Why, I don’t even know if this is a number at all!”

“That’s why it’s for me!” Helin leapt up to snatch it but Reuniclus swiftly spun around. “Give me the stupid thing!”

“This won’t do. I have to fix this at once- Oh, who could this be?” Reuniclus asked, as she finally picked up on Roca’s presence. “You bear a striking resemblance to-“

“The name’s Roca. I’m his sister,” she cut off.

Reuniclus blinked a couple times before recomposing herself. “I was not aware he had a sibling. What brings you to Kaiyo Town?”

“She wants to speak to Minne. She’s going to ask him if he has clues where Rockruff is,” Litleo answered, earning a frown from Roca. “We were hoping you knew how to talk to him.”

“Is that so? He is not a ‘mon that can be easily contacted.”

“I don’t care. I’m reaching him with or without your du- um, help,” Roca stated, gulping.

“Curious,” Reuniclus commented, tone implying she picked up on that correction. She hovered in slow circles around the rockruff. “Then it’s a good thing I’m choosing to help. Rapidash is more acquainted with those who might know Minne. I will ask her to reach out to them and see if they have work that needs doing. Gaining their favor should get you close to Minne.”

“Can you do it now?” Litleo asked.

“I can ask, but Rapidash will likely have an answer by tomorrow.” Reuniclus’ eyes went blue as she contacted the Vicemaster.

Roca’s tail shot up. “Tomorrow?! I’m not sitting on my ass waiting for that.”

“It’s the most sure fire way you get to meet Minne.”

“Don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Helin added, pointing to her own orange eyes, “the town doesn’t like us wildmon. You won’t get close by yourself.”

A whine escaped Roca. “I don’t want to stay here,” she murmured, ears flattening on her head.

“What was that?” Reuniclus asked, ending her psychic connection.

“Nothing… When will Minne get here?”

“The festival is set to end in two days. That means he should arrive tomorrow, and then speak to the public on the last day.”

“Is doing a favor for the townsmon really gonna help us see Minne?” Ezera wondered, raising his brow.

“We technically don’t need to. We could see him on the street for all we care,” Litleo answered. She waited for some stufful to pass by before resuming. “We just need a chance to talk with him. Who cares about the townsmon’s approval?”

Ezera crossed his arms, his mouth tilting downward. “But what if that’s illegal? Preferably I’d like to not be hated by people.”

She flicked her tail as if to toss his comment away. “Illegal? Please, he’s a regular pokémon, not a saint or a legendary.”

“What can we do in the meantime?” Dewott signed.

“As it stands, business appears to be picking up again…” Reuniclus twirled a Persim in the air as she thought. “Ezera, Dewott, I must ask you to stay. Litleo, since Roca is visiting, why not take her around-“

“No way!” Litleo and Roca shouted at the same time. They exchanged shocked glances and turned away from each other.

“…It was merely a suggestion,” Reuniclus soothed, putting her hands up at the sudden outburst.

“Yeah no, I’m off to look for a place to stay,” Roca said.

“Like an inn?”

“No way, I’m not staying in a place surrounded by towners. I’ll go somewhere out of the boundaries.” Roca picked herself up and looked around. “Just where is the exit from here…?”

As tempting as it was to let Roca agonize over finding it, Litleo figured this would be a good opportunity to talk alone with her. Ezera also picked up on this, and reassured her with a silent nod. “I can walk you there,” Litleo offered.

Roca hesitated, then motioned her head for Litleo to lead. “Whatever. Take the fastest route, ‘kay?”

They set off against the flow of pokémon trickling through the street. Instead of walking side by side, Roca opted to remain behind Litleo, making it difficult to initiate a conversation. Coincidentally enough, a wave of lethargy washed over Litleo a few minutes in, and she found herself short of breath in an instant.

“Ugh… hold on,” Litleo panted, stepping to the side.

“What’s wrong with you?” Roca commented. “Are you sick?” she said, preemptively covering her nose.

“Got into trouble a few days ago. I’m still recovering.”

Roca scoffed, putting her paw down. “This is why I always tell Ruffers this job ain’t worth it…”

Now finally having caught her breath, Litleo started walking once more. “I can almost agree with you on that.”

That caught Roca’s attention. The rockruff kept up with her stride this time, battling between wanting to ask but not wanting to seem interested. “How can you agree with me if you work in it?”

“Just because I work in it doesn’t mean I have to like it. What, you think all these townsmon like their jobs too?”

“I- Never thought about that… Then you stick with it because of Ruffers?”

“Him and a few others.” ‘That mostly being Ezera and Dewott,‘ she thought. It took a while, but after some time, those three were the most comfortable pokémon she could be around.

“That’s strong enough to make you stay?” Roca said, unintentionally getting closer to Litleo.

“I don’t see the need to have another reason,” Litleo replied. “The difficulty of the commissions is fun too, but I’d quit if, say…” She faltered as Ezera’s name was about to leave her lips. Not only would Roca probably assume she ‘replaced’ Rockruff, it also made Litleo herself question what she’d do if Ezera left… Back to the topic at hand. “Ruffers did.”

“Did he ever tell you he’d quit if you did?”

Litleo swerved to avoid running into a dodrio. “That doesn’t sound like him. He loves being in the guild.”

“Apparently less than being around you. I don’t get it.”

The noisy festivities bridged the gap in their ensuing silence. Litleo was about to bring up the main thing she wanted to discuss, but Roca beat her to the punch with something else instead.

“It’s so busy everywhere. The settlement has noise but nothing like this. At least they give you respect too. Here it’s all cold stares and judgment for breathing,” she pointed out, keeping her ears and tail lowered.

“Aren’t you exaggerating? Most of the ‘mon we’ve passed by haven’t given us a second glance.”

“You weren’t born wild, you wouldn’t understand.”

Litleo didn’t respond, now that she knew she was something else entirely.

“So, you figured out I have nothing on my brother. Are you any better, or are you still just as clueless?” Roca continued, giving her a sideways glance.

“It’s… complicated. My memory is still spotty,” Litleo answered. Inside, she was this close to hiding the truth again. But if she wanted to be serious about helping Roca, at least she could tell a half truth. “We were captured during a commission. That’s all I remember so far.”

“How are you here if you were captured?”

“Believe me, I’d like to know that too.”

“You’re still clueless. Maybe Ruffers escaped too…” A shadow crossed over Roca’s face, no doubt thinking about the worst case scenario. It vanished upon spotting the fences that indicated the edge of town. “Finally!” She sprinted to the opening and somehow seemed looser once through. “It feels so much damn nicer out here.”

At this point, it was clear there’d be no bridging the rift between them. Nevertheless, Litleo steadied herself for what she wanted to say. “Look, I walked with you because I wanted to make something clear.” She looked Roca square in the eye. “You can hate me, curse me, wish me gone, but at the end of the day, I just want to see Ruffers safe. As long as I know he’s okay. And even if he hates me at the end of all this, I’ll be fine with that. You won’t ever have to see me again.”

“…He wouldn’t hate you. He can’t hate anymon. It’s impossible for him,” Roca remarked, wistfully smiling. She looked elsewhere into the horizon.

“Yeah, I suppose he wouldn’t,” Litleo agreed after a moment, looking to the sky.

“But,” Roca continued, turning to her again, “I’m not my brother. I still hate you and your guild. Don’t think your words will instantly fix what you failed at.”

“That wasn’t my intent anyway. Like I said, I needed you to know we want the same thing.”

“I got it now.” Roca scratched her ear with a hind leg. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow. You won’t need to look for me.”

“See you then,” Litleo acknowledged.

Roca hastily departed, going off the path until she vanished over the crest of a hill. Litleo sighed, shaking out her body. When did she become much of a talker? ‘Only have one ‘mon to blame for that.‘

She really hoped this would work.

---

Litleo returned to the guild’s stall, and stayed there as the team closed out the rest of the day. The next morning after announcements, Team Rebound left for Kaiyo Town with Rapidash accompanying them. The Vicemaster had successfully set up a meeting with a townsmon, but held off on explaining all the details until Roca was present.

Litleo was quiet as they made the trek, intent on letting Ezera and Dewott chat up ahead. Similarly, Rapidash seemed to be deep in her thoughts too, evident by her complexion shifting from neutral, to focused, to pensive, to neutral again.

“Rapidash, what do you think about Minne?” Litleo asked.

The Vicemaster glanced down to Litleo. “He is an odd sort. Truthfully, I see little value in what he does, but tradition is important to honor.”

“You don’t think he’ll have anything helpful to say in our case, huh?”

Rapidash gave a small smile. “Sorry, dear. It’s not my intent to discourage you. You already know my stance on what I believe would be most helpful.”

‘At this rate, letting her read my mind does sound like the only option we have left. But if Minne doesn’t have anything to say, and my mind doesn’t reveal anything either, what do we do?‘ Litleo breathed out a tiny fire, expelling the thoughts. If it came to it, she had no shortage of pokémon to turn to for ideas. ‘Maybe I can take something from Ezera’s book and be a little hopeful.‘ Litleo went up to join the conversation since there was a ways to go before reaching town.

When they did arrive, Roca kept her word, already waiting for them outside Kaiyo Town. She laid flat on the ground as her tail occasionally thumped the grass. Once she noticed the guild members approaching, she sat up and plodded over. “I hope you have good news.”

“Roca, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Rapidash greeted, bowing her head. “I am Rapidash, Vicemaster of the guild. I’m sorry this isn’t under happier circumstances.”

“You don’t have to be sorry if we can just find my brother,” Roca mumbled. “So?”

“I do bring good tidings. The councilmon in charge of Minne’s arrival has a personal favor that needs to be done. They have agreed to consider letting you meet him, but to assure they stick to their word and you are alone with Minne, I am enacting a second plan.”

“Which is…?” Litleo started.

“Something that will stick between me and the Guildmaster. Trust me when I say it is better you do not know.”

Ezera tilted his head, scratching the bottom of his tusk. “When you put it like that it sounds super… shady?”

“I simply have a personal stake in getting back at the council. Plus, it might work to get them to realize the importance of our organization.” Rapidash cleared her throat and stepped back so she could view the four of them. “For these intents and purposes, Roca, if anymon asks about your status in the guild, you are trialing under Ezera’s team. The councilmon, Greedent, will be expecting you at his private residence. His home is somewhere before the plaza, recognizable by the green flag hanging next to the door. As you finish his task, Sirftech’d and I will work on our plan.”

“How will we know you’ve done your part?” Dewott signed.

“You will know, don’t worry.”

‘Again with the crypticness,‘ Litleo thought. It didn’t matter much, though. The Vicemaster probably wouldn’t throw them into a life threatening scenario without warning.

“With that note, I will see you all tomorrow. Good luck, dears,” Rapidash stated, trotting into town.

“Uh, well, unofficially welcome aboard to Team Rebound,” Ezera said to Roca, straightening his scarf.

“I can only imagine what Pop would say to me right now,” she griped, eating a berry out of her sack. “If this is what it takes, I can stand it for a day.”

“Not that I’m qualified to say anything, but I think this could be helpful for you to see what your brother liked in the guild.” He gave a passing glance, examining her contemplation, then shrugged. “Anyway, we’ve got a councilmon to meet.”

Ezera put himself at the front as they went into town. Litleo and Dewott put Roca between them, in case she still had reservations about townsmon scrutinizing her. Their search for the councilmon’s home did not take long, and soon enough they were knocking on the cedar door.

Greedent swung it open on the third knock, his portly body filling the entire frame. “I was told there’d be a team, but yours be quite full, ain’t it?”

“More of us means the job gets done faster! And we’re pretty good too,” Ezera replied, hands on his hips. He grinned for extra effect, and Litleo wanted to gag at how fake that sounded, but Greedent seemed to buy it.

“Of course, of course. Come inside.” Greedent turned his back and motioned to the living room situated to the left of the door. “Make yourselves comfortable right there. I need to check the kitchen.”

Team Rebound’s noses tingled at the cinnamon scent hanging in the home. They gingerly plopped onto the brown linen sofa. An oval rug was placed in the center of the living room, dividing the sofa and two armchairs across from it. On the left wall, a mantle displaying small trophies caught glints of the light coming in from the window.

Roca cautiously came in, frowning and inspecting the decor. She hesitated before the furniture.

“What… is this?” she said.

“You’ve never seen a sofa before?” Ezera asked, making himself comfortable.

“A so-fuh? How would I? I’ve avoided towns all my life.”

Dewott patted to his right. “Sit with us. They’re very comfortable.“

Roca jumped up next to him, surprised by how cushy the sofa felt. She bounced on it a couple times in muted delight. Litleo held in her snort, knowing that if she let it out Roca would probably summon a rock pillar on the spot.

Greedent reentered the living room carrying a large box as Roca prodded the cushion repeatedly. “Gotta make sure I don’t burn the dessert for date night- Is everything alright in here?”

Roca stiffened, quickly fixing herself to a more dignified posture.

“Er, yep. What is it you need us for?” Ezera said, having to hold in his own laugh.

“Y’see, it’s real simple. I got something I need dropped off at Passimian’s Pub.” Greedent dropped the box at their feet. “I can’t be seen carrying this around, too much traffic with the festival. If you can do that, and convince Passimian to make two of his special drinks, I’ll think about letting you speak to Minne.”

“Why does my gut tell me this won’t be simple at all,” Litleo whispered, hanging her head.

“Now you’re jinxing it for us,” Ezera muttered. He raised his voice again and got off the sofa. “Alright, we’ll knock both of those out for you.”

“Sweet, just come on back when you be done,” Greedent said.

“Okay team, let’s get to work!”

---

“Oh, let me get it!”

Litleo stood by the entrance to the pub as she waited for Ezera to catch up. He pushed open the door, letting Dewott walk in with the box.

Roca took a peek inside the island themed building, then backed away. While not completely noticeable, the same jitteriness they saw in her yesterday had returned. “Why is everything in town so overwhelming?”

“Are you good?” Litleo said, entering as Ezera held open the door.

“No…”

“Do you want to wait out here?”

Roca shook her head and went in, closing her eyes. She brought her paws up to cover the sound of chatter and clinking throughout.

A few of the many patrons observed the newcomers, but quickly became disinterested. Litleo scowled as her paw pads went over sticky parts of the wooden floor, no doubt thanks to the spilled drinks of careless patrons. Glancing back, Ezera almost performed a dance to avoid stepping on all the stains.

Passimian waved the team over, continuing to shake his mixture. “Yo, yo, Litleo Leo! The feisty meister herself, and with friends. I recognize Dewott, but who’re these folks?”

“Hiya, I’m Ezera,” Ezera said, shaking Passimian’s hand.

“Roca. That’s all you need to know,” Roca curtly said.

“Ezera, Roca, what can I do for you?” Passimian asked.

Dewott set the box on the bar counter, heaving a sigh of relief. He rolled out his shoulders and arms before signing, “This box is for you, from Greedent.“

“He got you guys to deliver it this time?”

“This time?” Ezera repeated. He and the others climbed onto the stools to be at eye level with the bartender.

“Yeah, this is a package he sends once a week with his designated courier.”

Litleo tapped the side of the box. It sounded heavy. “What’s in this? Don’t tell me contraband.”

Passimian pulled the box down under the counter. “Ha, nothing of the sort!” He leaned in, cupping one hand over his mouth. “Just some supplies to our local neighbors. Y’know, the wild kind.”

“You- wait, you help wildmon?” Roca asked, jaw dropping.

“I’m a bartender, of course I help wildmon looking for a good drink!” he exclaimed back in his normal volume.

“No, like outside a drink.”

“Life advice? Sure, I give it to them if they ask.”

Apparently getting a memo was not Roca’s area of expertise. Litleo changed the topic to prevent Roca embarrassing herself, and also save Passimian the risk of somemon eavesdropping. “Speaking of drinks, Greedent wants two of your special ones. Do you think you could make that for us?”

Passimian checked his stock, tiptoeing to count the berries on the higher shelves. He dropped down and drummed his fingers on the counter. “For sure, but I don’t have the Hopo berries for it right now. If you can get two for me, I’ll have it done faster than you can say staravia swooped in savagely to save steelix!”

Litleo was beginning to see a pattern here she did not like. She sighed, expecting some manner of merchant they’d need to see next. “Any idea who has the berries?”

“Check with Dolliv, her shop is down some ways from Kecleon. She typically has them.”

“Great… we’ll be back later.”

“Best of luck, champ!”

---

“Can we order some of your Hopo Berries please?” Ezera asked, standing before Dolliv’s store. The merchant’s building was molded in the style of a giant Lum Berry, the green roof looming over their heads as if they were inside the fruit. Further into the store were vines and leaves tacked onto the curved wall.

“That’s an off season purchase, honey. It’ll be three thousand Poké for one,” Dolliv responded, tossing the berry up and down in her leafy hand.

“Three thou- Holy crap, we might as well buy a diamond,” Ezera said, holding a hand to his head in disbelief.

“I barely have two thousand in my bank,” Dewott signed.

“I’m not spending that much for it either, which leaves…” Litleo trailed off. The three looked at Roca, and the rockruff stared at them in response.

“I have seven Poké on me,” she deadpanned.

“Is there something else we can do for you to get two of them?” Litleo asked Dolliv, regretting the words already.

“Hm, there is…”

---

By the time they got to the sixth ‘mon in need of something, Ezera was afraid for Litleo’s sanity. Each pokémon they went to added one more crease to her forehead, and he was sure she was going to have more than a potato chips bag at this rate.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but find the situation rather funny. Just how long and far could this favor chain go?

“If it wasn’t for Passimian, this would prove my point townsmon are needy and untrustworthy,” Roca said while they traveled to their next quarry, a poliwhirl.

“You can’t act like wildmon don’t behave that way either. It’s in everymon’s nature,” Litleo countered. She quickly resumed, cutting off Ezera. “Minus a few exceptions.” She spotted Poliwhirl outside his store and beelined to him, not bothering with formalities and opening with a question that would definitely guarantee friendliness. “What do you need?”

Poliwhirl dropped the crate of stones he was hoisting up. The store’s name, Rocking Stones, was painted above his head. “I’m… sorry? What do I need? You’re the customer-“

“Well we need a Moon Stone, so unless you want to freely hand it over or drop the high price it probably has, what do you want in exchange for it?”

“Sorry about her, we’ve been trying to run errands for multiple pokémon and it’s been, uh, tiring, to say the least,” Ezera excused, nudging her back. Litleo huffed and backed up.

“Getting the runaround isn’t unheard of, I should know, I do it myself.” Poliwhirl dug through the crate and fished out a dusty gray rock. He held it towards Ezera. “I can sell this Moon Stone for one hundred Poké. What do you say?”

Ezera’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly. “Uh, wait, seriously? I mean, sure, we’ll gladly take it, but why?”

“For your partner’s brazenness. I appreciate a gal who knows what she wants.”

“Thanks,” Litleo said as Ezera grabbed it and exchanged it with Poké.

Poliwhirl smiled and disappeared into his shop.

“See? People can surprise you,” Ezera remarked, mockingly waving the Moon Stone in Litleo’s face.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, pushing it away. “You were surprised yourself.”

Dewott turned his paws over one another, then hid his face in his scarf. “I was worried we’d be in an endless loop. Good thing we don’t have to resort to the stealing option.“

Roca, for one, was equal parts relieved and excited. Her eyes shined as she bounced on her paws. “All we need to do is give the stuff to everymon and then it’s off to Minne!”

With new vigor, the team of four sped through the line of pokemon they took favors for, exchanging the items they collected: A Moon Stone for a fancy restaurant ticket, a fancy restaurant ticket for nine Attract TMs, nine Attract TMs for… a limited edition magazine on the best rocks to get a significant other.

They didn’t ask questions.

Finally they got to the most important one: Passimian’s special drinks. With cups in hand, the four headed back to Greedent’s home where the councilmon happily received them, only to have something else bothering him instead.

“What’s wrong?” Ezera said, hoping it wasn’t bad news. He scooted up on the sofa, unable to relax now that there might be a wrench in their plans.

“Oh, it’s just awful!” Greedent cried, hurrying back to the living room after putting away the drinks. “The main escorts for Minne are suddenly unavailable, and the backup, they…”

“Are they unavailable too?”

“They won’t escort until we approve their request to call them ‘Team Apex.'” Greedent thumped his foot repeatedly against the floor. “Now we be left with none! Without escorts, we have no ‘mon to make sure Minne is safe while he surveys the town. And if he can’t survey the town, he can’t do the speech. And we cannot end the festival if there be no speaker!”

The effects of that were lost on Ezera until Litleo poked him. ‘Is this what Rapidash meant? We’re going to escort Minne?‘

“Hello? We’re right here. We can be the escorts,” Litleo volunteered, raising a paw.

Greedent gasped. “You be saviors! Yes, that’ll work! But you have to assure me you won’t bother Minne from his duty. Can’t have him distracted, y’see?”

“No worries,” Ezera said, folding his arms together. “We’re professionals.” That earned a variety of glances from his team, but he waved it aside.

“Minne knows the route, all you do is follow along and keep any crowds at bay. He be scheduled to arrive from the north point of town.”

“Any idea when?” Dewott signed.

“Should be in an hour or two.”

“There’s no harm in going there now then,” Ezera suggested. ‘We can also finalize what exactly we’re doing.‘

Leaping off the couch, Roca rushed outside without them.

“You excited?” Ezera asked Litleo as they got down.

“Not sure that’s the word I’d call it. But… I want to be a little hopeful,” she replied, looking at her paws.

Ezera settled for that reaction. It was a step up from her being annoyingly pessimistic. ‘Answers, here we come.‘