Chapter 28: Curtain Falls

Since they had some time to spare before Minne arrived, Team Rebound decided to grab a bite to eat to refill their energy. Beyond that, it just wouldn’t be right to stay in a festival without trying some of the food. So out of the potential dishes and beverages that came around once a year, they settled on— dessert.

Ezera blew on the flaky Oran Berry pastry he bought, settling against a building’s wall that let the rest of his team watch Kaiyo Town’s north entrance. The warm crust seeped through the napkin he held it in, threatening to burn his fingers if he held it on one side for too long. After some failed attempts to fold the napkin over, he ended up juggling it between his hands.

“How is it?” Dewott signed, holding his own pastry with his mouth.

“Can’t eat it yet cause it wants to make my hands suffer first,” Ezera replied mid-toss.

Litleo licked the crumbs of her pastry off her lips. “If you drop it I’m not buying you another.”

“If I drop it I’ll just eat your- wait, you finished it already?”

“We could probably eat a second one by the time you decide to eat yours,” she nonchalantly responded.

“It’s hot!” Ezera whined. “Isn’t it hot for you, Dewott?”

Dewott answered by biting off half his pastry. He grinned, bits of crumbs falling to the ground.

How Ezera envied fire-types and their higher tolerance for eating hot food… On second thought, how did that explain Dewott?

Determined not to let his friends theoretically eat a second pastry, Ezera took a small bite out of his. Some of the cream filling oozed out, as a combination of blueberry and grape flavors flooded his taste buds. Barring the burns he was probably inflicting on his tongue, it was pretty good.

Roca strolled over to where they were gathered. “I can’t believe there was a line for water. Hmph, I could’ve died of dehydration before it was my turn.”

Ezera shared a bemused glance with Dewott while Litleo sighed. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat from here?”

“I’m not touching towner food,” Roca stated, rolling out a plain Sitrus Berry from her sack. She munched away at it as nobly as she could.

‘Still don’t get why or what she needs to prove by acting like this…‘ he thought. “Now that we’ve pretty much guaranteed seeing Minne,” Ezera said, balling up his napkin, “do you plan on just interrogating him as soon as he shows up?”

Roca swallowed before answering. “I think… I’ll wait a bit. I want to know what he’s like first.”

“What does that mean? You’re going to make small talk?” Litleo asked.

“You can. I’ll be listening.”

Litleo leaned back and frowned. “We’re doing most of the work here, you could be a little more active. You want to be the ‘mon to ask the question, don’t you?”

“You agreed to helping me, not the other way around,” Roca reminded, pointing her paw in an accusing manner. She returned to eating her berry.

A long exhale left through Litleo’s nose as she looked at Ezera and Dewott. She muttered a quiet, “I can’t stand her.”

Dewott gave a comforting glance in return, motioning between him and Ezera, then swiping the side of his head. “We know.“

“Let’s assume he’s not cooperative, what then?” Litleo went on.

“I can try and make him cooperative,” Roca replied, finishing off her food.

“Uh- what?” Ezera instantly said. He stood straight, crossing his arms. ‘Make him’ didn’t sound the least bit peaceful. “If getting him to be cooperative means fighting, we’re gonna have to stop you right there. We aren’t letting you try to beat him up.”

“Why not? You said you wanted Ruffers safe,” Roca directed to Litleo.

“I do, but the townsmon value Minne too much. We’re supposed to keep him safe, there’ll be too much backlash if they find a single scratch on him,” Litleo argued. “And I have a feeling he can hold himself in a fight.”

Roca searched for a suitable counter argument, mouth hanging open. Finding none, her ears flopped downward. “…’Kay, then I’ll accept whatever it is Minne has to say, even if it might end up being nothing at all.” She turned to face the fences, setting her gaze strictly ahead to watch for the Mr. Rime.

‘I hope he does have something,‘ Ezera thought, fiddling with his hands. The anticipation was getting to him, sitting in his chest and making him energetic enough to go on an outlaw mission. It wasn’t even his friend missing technically speaking, but since Litleo was invested, he was invested too. And he wanted that investment to pay off— Litleo deserved something nice from fate.

The minutes ticked by, and the four pokémon spoke little as they waited for the expected guest. Could he have gotten held up? It was entirely plausible. Ezera was ready to voice his concern when a blue bipedal figure sauntered up to the fenced entrance.

“That’s him,” Litleo stated, tail sticking out.

Roca resisted the urge to bolt. She composed herself and strutted forward. “I am dignified, I am dignified…”

They walked toward the Mr. Rime, who stuck his ice cane down, both hands placed firmly atop the curved handle. His yellow eyes focused on their team, except it was hard to tell which of them he was focusing on. “Bonjour and warm greetings, guild members.”

Ezera snuck a glance to Roca to see if she’d correct him, but her mouth stayed firmly clamped shut. “Hiya, you’re Minne, right?”

“Touché. I take it the main escort team is unavailable?”

“Yup, we’re taking their place today.”

“I see…” The green plume in Minne’s hat bobbed as he nodded. “I’m glad the guild is taking an active role around town. Tis’ best we not dally, there is much I have to see.” Minne lifted up his cane with one finger, letting it dangle by the handle as he walked off.

Ezera quickly frowned, noticing a detail on the cane. Etched into the center of the ice was a circle being pierced by a trident. ‘What the heck does that mean?‘

The four pokémon began to follow, only to jolt to a halt when Minne pointed a finger to the sky. “Ah! Before we venture too far, I must grab a bite to eat. I’m starved.”

“There’s plenty of options here,” Litleo said, jerking her head. “Take your pick.”

Unfortunately, before he could choose, a few passerbys noticed the famed festival speaker.

“Is that Minne?!” a carnivine squealed.

“It is! He’s here!” a komala exclaimed.

“Minne, will I find love this year?”

The shouting attracted others to the scene, and it wasn’t long until more piled around the five pokémon.

“Okay, back up!” Litleo shouted, huffing a flash of fire. The crowd of onlookers backed away with startled murmurs. “Save your nonsense for tomorrow, or do you want bad luck for the coming year?”

While the crowd didn’t totally disperse, they stayed at a respectable distance and continued to stare.

“Ugh, they’re going to be like this the whole time, huh?” Litleo narrowed her eyes at the crowd as if that’d make them go away.

“As long as they don’t rush us, we should be okay,” Dewott signed, making an ‘X’ with his arms and curving them inward.

Roca shrunk at the many eyes in her direction, even though the attention wasn’t exactly on her. She kept her head low and inched closer to their group. “Too bad we can’t ignore them completely.”

“Out of the many years I’ve done this, they’ve nary thrown a pebble. They’re eager, but docile.” Minne twirled to his left, holding his cane horizontally. “Ah, I have found what I will eat.”

The Mr. Rime got in line to the stall, and luckily the pokémon ahead of him either didn’t know or didn’t care about his status. Either way, it saved Team Rebound the hassle of watching out for more ‘mon that might harass Minne.

Once Minne bought his food, they were off. Ezera didn’t understand what exactly he was checking, but hopefully it was more important than it looked. His surveying was more akin to a tourist going sightseeing, minus the odd comments Minne made to himself such as: “They’ll need to refurbish this area” or, “Not enough vegetation here.”

Coincidentally, that also happened to be all the comments the group was making. Ezera, Litleo, and Dewott couldn’t chatter like they normally could, and Roca was intent on making them warm Minne up.

Midway through their inspection of the recreational part of town, Ezera summoned enough courage to speak to the ‘mon— they weren’t going to be able to ask anything if they kept walking like strangers. Plus, Minne didn’t seem to be a bad guy. “Uh, ‘scuse me Minne, can I ask you something?”

“Go right ahead, monsieur,” Minne answered.

“What’s the carving on your cane mean?”

“This?” Minne gripped the end of the cane, and extended it to Ezera so he could see it clearer. “It resembles Calyrex.” His shoes clopped against the pavement as he started a simple tap dance. “Their kind’s appearance had rather large heads.”

“Really? The drawing we saw didn’t make it look that big.”

“Tis’ a detail lost to time. I would not expect scholars to worry over it.” Minne continued practicing his tap dance, going ahead.

“Huh. Decent guy so far, what do you think?” Ezera whispered.

“I’ll withhold my judgment until Roca talks to him,” Litleo said, eyeing Minne. “I’m not ruling out that he’s fake.”

“Typical Litleo.”

“Sure, typical Ezera.”

The herd of townsmon on their heels dwindled as they traveled place to place. Apparently trailing a pseudo celebrity got boring after a while. They inspected the last spot Minne wanted to see, and he bid the team take him to town hall next, where the Mr. Rime suddenly stopped them on the brick path.

“I don’t need Calyrex to tell me your group is hiding something. What bothers you, monsieurs and madams?” he questioned, sounding curious.

Ezera hid his shock by pretending to cough. They couldn’t have been that obvious, right? On his fourth cough, he motioned with his hand for Roca to go.

“I have… a question I wanted you to answer,” Roca said, putting some authority into her tone. “You say you can speak to Calyrex. Can you ask them to help me find my brother?”

Minne gazed at Roca, not blinking. He smoothed out his mustache, all while tapping his cane down in a rhythm. “Tell me, madam, why should I do that for you?”

Roca’s tail lowered between her legs. “I… because…”

“Because you are in need? Everymon is in need, you are no exception.”

Roca flinched. Her entire body lost the fake confidence, deflating to the floor. “…Because he deserves better. And I want to show-” She shook her head, trying to dispel the tears gathering. “He matters to me… and some others too.”

Ezera could’ve sworn Roca’s eyes flicked to Litleo for less than a second.

“Madam, as touching as that is, I cannot help you find your brother.”

Ezera’s first reaction was to glance at Litleo. She bit her lip, but nothing else. ‘I guess she was right to prepare for the worst.‘

“However,” Minne added, “do not fret. Calyrex only speaks to me when it is time. Ask me again tomorrow when the event is held, and I may hold a different answer for you then,” he soothed, twirling his cane.

‘Are you- what is it with pokémon and fake outs?‘ Ezera inwardly groaned.

Roca didn’t seem to enjoy it either, frowning but perking up again. “‘Kay, I will.”

“By the way, what is your name?”

“Roca.”

Minne proceeded to say her name multiple times. “Roca, Roca, Roca. A fine name.” He bowed, doing a quick dance for them. “Thank you for the escort. I can handle myself from here.”

“Uh, okay, take care!” Ezera exclaimed as Minne walked away.

Dewott turned his paws outward, before dropping an arm on top of the other. “It’s done. The big day is tomorrow.“

“Yeah, and I ain’t standing here waiting for it, I’m beat. Guild work sucks,” Roca said. “I’ll meet you at the same spot again tomorrow.”

“Don’t forget it’s happening early in the morning,” Ezera said, hand on his satchel. “Oh, and before you go, did you enjoy being part of our team?”

Roca hummed for a moment. “I can see why Ruffers would like it, but it’s not for me.” She let that be her parting words as she ran off.

“Doesn’t exactly answer my question, but I’ll take that as a yes. Are we going back to the guild?”

Litleo pushed Ezera the opposite way of town hall. “Yes, because if I have to see another townsmon today, I’ll go insane.”

---

That night as Team Rebound got ready for bed, Litleo’s thoughts prevented her from feeling exhausted enough to lie down. She kicked at her pillow hoping it would tire her out enough to get at least a few hours of sleep.

Ezera paused the Rock-Paper-Scissors game he was showing to Dewott. The two approached her, staring down at the pillow she persisted in kicking.

“Did your pillow offend you?” Ezera joked, cracking his knuckles. “We can teach him a lesson.”

“It’s not like me to think so much about something. Ugh, I want to take out my brain sometimes,” Litleo ignored, finally sitting down and exhaling upward.

“What are you thinking about?” Dewott signed.

“Tomorrow. I don’t know, it feels silly. Minne doesn’t seem to be any different from us. I can’t decide if he’s a crazy fanatic of Calyrex or telling the truth.”

Dewott held up two digits and grabbed them with his other paw. “He could be both.“

“…He could.” Litleo noticed Ezera staring at her. “What?”

Ezera tugged at his scarf. He only did this when he was going to ask something deep, serious, or personal. Litleo liked none of those options.

“Will you be okay if, um, Minne gives an answer you’re not looking for?” he said.

Litleo knew what he was implying. The worst outcome, the one thing she actively blocked out of her mind every single moment. If Rockruff… Damn, even in her own head she couldn’t think it.

She supposed that was the one part of her that stayed hopeful no matter what. The rest of her could hate the world and everymon in it, but that belief would stay untouched and unfettered. He was missing, and Litleo would find him. “I’m… not sure. Doesn’t matter though, if you do something stupid enough, that’ll distract me.”

“Ha, well, stupid plan coming right up. I know what we’re doing tonight.” Ezera walked around their quarters, grabbing his and Dewott’s pillows. He threw them down next to Litleo’s, creating a triangle. “I call this a group sleep.”

“A group… sleep?” Litleo repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Yep. I say we should do this from now on whenever one of us is feeling stressed. And no, before you ask, it’s not just because I liked it when we did it during our camp night out.”

Leave it to Ezera for his insane ideas. Litleo sighed, letting a tiny smile form. “Fine, I suppose I can give up my personal space for one night.”

“Sorry, I think I’ll be saying I’m stressed every night,” Dewott signed, grinning.

“Hey, me too! Guess you’ll be stuck here, Litleo,” Ezera added, mockingly shrugging.

“You guys are such dorks.” The lights went out, and the three of them settled down in their snuggled position for the night.

They were dorks, but at least they were her dorks.

---

The following morning, it was time. The main event of the festival had arrived. The guild members assembled outside, including those who typically stayed behind like Indeedee, Watchog, and Applin. Everymon was going, no exceptions, the Guildmaster decreed.

Daybreak hadn’t arrived yet, leaving the soft glow of Luminous Orbs as their source of light in the dusky courtyard. Litleo shifted her stance, the cold grass grounding her senses as Sirfetch’d rode Rapidash to the front of the guild members. She was ready as she’d ever be, managing to catch a few hours of rest in the end.

Ezera on the contrary, looked fully alert. He mumbled something to himself, stretching his arms to warm up. Dewott was rubbing his paws together and kept his face hidden underneath his scarf.

Although she didn’t like to admit it, Litleo could feel their anxiousness, hers included. Minne’s response would alter what they’d do in the future, for better or for worse. And if it was anything in the latter category… A slight shiver traveled down to her tail.

“Adventurers, today is the final day of the Rexianta Festival. You should be aware this is when Minne delivers his wisdom to the public. We’ll be attending as a formality, but keep your eyes peeled for unruly ‘mon, capiche?” Sirfetch’d announced. The guild members would’ve given a much more enthusiastic yes were they not awake so early. The Guildmaster accepted the half-asleep confirmation and directed his leek to Kaiyo Town’s direction. “Onwards!”

The mass of footsteps on grass and gravel rumbled in Team Rebound’s ears for the majority of the trek. Upon reaching the town’s grounds, the guild discovered the nearby plains transformed into a commons area. A stage and two lines of blue burning torches had been set up across the land, creating a box for spectators to come in and watch. Set up on the actual stage was a giant brazier, currently unlit. Minne and a few councilmon, among which Duraludon was present, sat in a row on stage right.

The guild members picked a spot to settle about half the distance from the stage, since a decent amount of townsmon were there before them. Litleo stood on her hindlegs to locate Roca. Hopefully she could find them in this mess.

“Psst, how can there be so many ‘mon coming to see this dude?” Roca’s voice whispered to Litleo’s right.

She turned, glimpsing Roca nervously pad toward Team Rebound. Of course, that meant the nearby guild members muttered whispers about this Rockruff lookalike. Litleo opted to ignore it; they could explain later.

“He’s the whole point of the festival, of course pokémon want to see him. Aren’t you glad you joined up with us now? There’d be no way he’d see you otherwise,” Litleo replied, yawning.

“Hmph…”

“Makes you wonder though, does someone else take his place when he grows too old to do this?” Ezera said. “Cause then Calyrex would have to pick another speaker, if it is true they’re alive.”

“We can leave that for the world to find out,” Dewott signed, putting his paw forward and molding a sphere.

In the span of fifteen minutes, the pokémon present grew larger and larger, until eventually the commons area was jam packed. Litleo barely had a foot of space from Ezera. ‘Geez, this is more than I was expecting.‘

Minne rose from his seat, striding to the front of the brazier. “Bonjour and warm greetings, good ‘mon of Kaiyo Town. As you all know, Calyrex built this town for you, and out of respect for the humans that once came before. From what I have surveyed, it pleases me to say that they would be proud of the current state of Kaiyo Town.”

Cheers and applause aroused from the townsmon. Duraludon took this cue to come forth.

“Thank you, Minne. We are always working hard in maintaining the legacy Calyrex left for us.” He pumped his bulky arm in the air, then let it hang. “I’d like to…”

‘Working hard? What a joke,‘ Litleo thought, tuning out the spiel Duraludon started. She just wanted to skip to the reason they were here, which sadly seemed to have to wait. She focused on Minne instead. Perhaps now she could get a better read on his trustworthiness.

Minne was busy fixing his hat and staring away into the horizon. His posture? Calm and collected. His face? Although covered by the mustache, neutral. That seemed to be signs of being the real deal.

‘He has done this before though, I can’t rule out him being a good liar…‘ Crap, this stress was screwing up her judgment.

“…May our future be blessed by their graces once again,” Duraludon said at last.

Minne took center stage again. At the same time, small streaks of sunlight scattered over the hills. Orange merged with blue to create a rich painting of the sunrise, with the Mr. Rime standing tall as the centerpiece. “Now, we have a chance to communicate with the spirits of Calyrex.”

A florges came on stage, carrying a gray flower with three leaves and three petals. The brazier came to life in the same dark blue flames as the torches, eating the flower whole. Minne inhaled, closing his eyes.

“‘Change rides on the winds, but you should not fear it. You will be stronger for it.’ That is Calyrex’s message for the year,” he proclaimed. “I now open the floor for your questions.”

For the first few seconds, no ‘mon raised their hand or paws. Then, hundreds shot up all around. Surprisingly there was no shouting. They seemed to understand that silence would be needed if they wanted to hear a response.

Minne randomly called on pokémon in the crowd. “You, cherubi! What is it you wish to ask?”

“Will harvests be good this year?” the cherubi squeaked.

Minne closed his eyes again. “Yes, Calyrex predicts there will be plenty.” He scanned for another pokémon. “There, raticate! What is it you wish to ask?”

“Is it true dat da dynamaxes are nothin’ to worry about?” the raticate queried.

“Ah, that is not so simple. The spirits say they are a cause of concern, but not alarm. It will resolve itself.”

‘That sounds suspicious…‘ Litleo pondered. ‘If they’re being solved it’s cause we’re involved.‘

The better part of an hour passed and it appeared that Roca’s question would be lost to the void. Roca raised her paw several times, but was glossed over or ignored. Litleo’s mane heated up thinking Minne had forgotten what he told them yesterday.

Roca growled, getting up. “I hate townsmon…”

“Hold on hold on,” Ezera calmed, pointing. “Listen.”

“Before I end, there was a question from a ‘mon in the audience I must address. She was helpful yesterday, and I must repay it. Roca was her name.” Minne searched for her, and waved his hand up after spotting her. “Madam, if you would kindly restate your problem so I and the spirits of Calyrex may hear it?”

Roca squirmed at the attention. She angled her snout towards the sky, projecting as loud as she could. “My brother is missing, has been missing for months. Do you know anything that could tell me where he is?”

“Tis’ a grave matter you face. Allow me to communicate with their spirits.” He closed his eyes, touching his thumb to each finger in order. His cane became wrapped in Psychic energy, a blue hum surrounding it as it floated higher in the air.

Litleo felt a hand land on her shoulder. She didn’t have to turn to know it belonged to Ezera. No matter the answer, she had support. Friends. She… was ready.

The flames on the torches flickered as the wind blew. Minne’s cane levitated calmly in place. Then, it clattered to the stage floor. Was that a good sign?

He bowed his head. “My deepest apologies, madam. I could not gather anyth-” A gasp hit him the next second, and he clutched his chest tightly. “Ah, hoho! I’ve- I’ve received a vision from the spirits of Calyrex! The culprit… the culprit lies within your ranks.” Minne touched his top hat with one hand, holding out the other to the audience.

Litleo’s fur prickled all over. Culprit? What culprit?

“Calyrex wants to show us something,” he gravely stated.

A bright flash blinded everyone the next moment. Litleo audibly growled, thinking it was just a well timed Flash, yet when her vision cleared, she witnessed a wide eyed Minne holding a tattered, pale orange scarf.

A single Shadow Claw trailed upwards inside Litleo, rending her stomach, then moving to her chest, until it wrapped its cold fingers around her heart. The town and the wind ruffling her fur faded away. Her focus remained on that tattered cloth. She recognized that. She recognized that anywhere.

Dangling from Minne’s fingers… was Rockruff’s scarf.

“Yes, right here, the letters of T, A, and R! I sense it! Calyrex is telling me…” Minne continued.

Every muscle and nerve constricted within Litleo. Her breaths became shallow, as if she was waiting on her deathbed for that final breath. In slow motion, the eyes of her guildmates turned to her.

Then Roca.

Then Ezera and Dewott.

It wasn’t. It couldn’t.

“No,” Litleo barely whispered. ‘No. No. Nonono-‘

“The reason you cannot find him is because…”

‘Nonohe’slyingyou’relyingpleaseI’mnotready-‘

“He is dead,” Mr. Rime announced, his accusatory yellow eyes and finger singling her out from the crowd.

“Litleo killed Rockruff.”

---

End of Arc 2: Fickle Flames of Friendship