A Day in the Life

As the rays of sunlight moved over Allistair’s face, the Mienshao turned over in his bed while pulling his blankets over his head. Having requested the day off a few days prior, Allistair was determined to spend as much of the day in bed as possible. That is until his pointed snout poked out of the blankets, catching a whiff of something savory in the air. 

 

“I suppose I’m getting up then,” he thought before rising out of bed with exaggerated effort. 

 

Catching his reflection in a nearby mirror, Allistair scowled as he patted down his fur. Not going anywhere wasn’t an excuse to not attempt to look his best. Somewhat satisfied, it then hit the Mienshao just how cold his room was. As much as he loved his family’s manor, the old building tended to be a bit drafty during the colder months. Turning to the side, Allistair opened his closet door and pulled out one of his many extravagant violet robes, putting it on before his stomach reminded him why he got out of bed in the first place. 

 

Finally emerging from his room, he made what he felt was an arduous trip though the hall, and down the stairs to one of the dining areas where his teammates were about to eat breakfast. 

 

There was a clear scowl on his face as his pace picked up. “Pancakes? And you started eating without me?!”

The Sawsbuck at the side of the table sighed. “You told us yesterday not to wake you up. And you even wrote us a note explicitly saying not to wake you.” 

 

Allistair pouted. “Pancakes are the one exception, and you know that!” 

Elm raised a brow. “Wait, wha-” 

 

“I see what this is about,” Allistair continued. “You’re still mad about the other day! When I let the journalist come with us!” 

 

Without saying a word, the white and brown deer raised a furry white hoof to the table and pushed his uneaten plate towards his team’s leader. To which the Mienshao promptly scooped up before walking away.

 

“Why’d you even invite them along anyway?” the Staraptor on the other side of the table said with his beak full of food. 

 

This earned the brown and white bird a slight glare from Allistair, prompting him to swallow. “Like everyone knows we’re the best team in the guild, right?” 

“That’s exactly why,” Allistair said in a condescending manner, sticking a fork in his pancakes and cutting them. 

 

“I’ve told you before, it’s all about publicity.”

… … …

 

“It’s all about publicity, and you can never have too much!” Allistair beamed as he held his paws together. 

 

“This feels like a bad idea,” Elm remarked as he followed the Mienshao. 

 

“Well it doesn’t matter what you think, because Mothe-” Allistair caught himself before clearing his throat. 

“ Guildmaster Raine told me to do something to make the guild look good,” the Mienshao said, crossing his arms. “Apparently there’s been reports of ‘toxic behavior’ throughout the guild, and it’s creating some bad PR.” 

 

“And doing this is the only way we’ll get that day off approved?” Roark asked, the Staraptor flying low to the ground beside his teammates. 

“I wouldn’t worry,” dismissed Allistair. “Those dolts at the Stonehaven Gazette will do anything for a story, and anything with my face on it is bound to sell.” 

 

Elm only sighed and shook his head, having grown all too used to the Mienshao’s vanity. 

 

After a short walk through the lively streets of Stonehaven, the trio arrived at what Allistair would consider a small, brick house that had seen better days. Outside it stood two pokemon, a Smeargle and a Heliolisk. The two were clearly in the middle of a disagreement, the former ranting while the latter stood with their arms crossed as they looked away.

 

“It’s not my fault there’s nothing going on,” the shivering Heilolisk said. “Now let me inside.” 

“Not ‘til you come back with a story, Cyrus!” the Smeargle demanded, pointing his paintbrush-like tail towards the yellow and black lizard. 

 

“Like I said, there’s nothing happening up here. What am I supposed to do, lie?” 

 

An inquisitive look soon appeared on the Smeargle’s face as he began to quickly calm down.

The Heliolisk facepalmed. “ Oh for fuck-   It was a rhetorical question!” 

“Just get out there!” the Smeargle ordered before slamming the door in their face. 

 

“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation Cyrus,” Allistair pompously said as he approached the Heliolisk. 

 

The lizard looked down and sighed. “For the third time Allistair, I’m not gonna ghost write your autobiography.” 

The Mienshao huffed as his teammates started giving him strange looks. “That’s not why I’m here,” he said while crossing his arms.

 

Quickly changing his demeanor to something more friendly, Allistair held out a paw. “How would you like to tag along with us for the day and possibly do a story?” 

 

The Heliolisk looked at him with a deadpan gaze. “You’re just lucky I need this.”

---

 

In front of the Stonehaven Guild, Allistair and the others walked down the stone path leading towards it. The stately, palace-like structure loomed over them as they got closer. Walking through the massive entrance, a large amount of pokemon of all shapes and sizes could be seen standing around the guild’s massive foyer. In its center however stood a large stone statue of a Mienshao, the guild’s founder and first leader. Guildmaster Cenric. 

Glancing between Allistair and the statue, Cyrus could certainly see a resemblance. “No wonder he had such a big head,” he thought. “Probably sees himself whenever he looks at that thing…”  

 

Following Allistair and company towards a job board off to the side of the room, the Heliolisk already regretted tagging along once the Mienshao opened his mouth. All he could do now was try to tune out the monologue as he thought of something to write.

 

“And while I believe not just anyone could be an effective guild pokemon, I also believe that the guild’s willingness to allow those from several walks of life to try makes this place special.” Allistair then cupped his paws together and stared at the Heliolisk. 

“Did you get all of that?” 

 

Cyrus pretended to white in his notebook and nodded. “So what kind of jobs does your team normally do?” 

 

Rorak raised his wing. “Well normally we just go around and patrol the cit-” 

“Outlaw missions of course,” Allistair loudly interrupted as he side-eyed the Staraptor. 

 

“We wouldn’t mind you possibly coming along either… As long you’re capable of battling on your own that is,” Allistair said as he dismissively waved a paw. “I can’t have you slowing us down after all.” 

 

Cyrus opened up the dark gray frill around his neck as sparks of electricity flowed around its dark yellow protrusions. “I’ve been in my fair share of fights. You have nothing to worry about.”

As it closed, Cyrus couldn’t help but notice how Allistair had flinched at the sight of his open frill. Catching himself doing this as well, the Mienshao cleared his throat and stepped towards the job board. 

 

Elm trotted up to his side and raised a hoof. “Maybe we should choose-” 

“I just happen to have one on hand,” Allistair cut in, pulling a paper out of his bag.

 

Reading it, the Sawsbuck raised a brow and stared at his leader with a bewildered look. “Are you sure you want this one? It looks-” 

 

Crossing his arms, the Mienshao glared at his teammate with a stare so sharp it could slice through iron. 

“Very well then,” Elm said as his gaze trailed off to the side.

 

“I can already feel this was a bad idea,” Cyrus thought, putting his notebook away in his bag. “The things I do for a story…”

---

 

Approaching the entrance to a cave, Allistair stared down into the darkness. In the hours leading up to this, the Mienshao had been talking up his team’s previous escapades. However this had mostly been to take his mind off the impending trip into Jagged Hollow. The cave was known to be a decently challenging dungeon on its own, but because of this, a number of criminals tended to use it as a temporary hideout. 

“Merton the Rainbringer,” Allistair thought as he scanned over the job before rolling it up and placing it in his bag. 

 

There was a brief pause as everyone stared at the Mienshao, waiting for him to lead. 

“Well what are you waiting for, Elm? Lead the way,” he said as he flicked his paw towards the large hole. 

 

The Sawsbuck rolled his eyes and shook his head before walking inside.

“Delegation,” Allistair said to Cyrus as he and Roark followed Elm. “It’s all part of our team’s strategy.” 

 

“Right,” the Heliolisk responded. 

 

Upon following the team of explorers into the cave, he was surprised by how oddly bright it was inside. Cyrus was more than prepared to illuminate his frill to light the way through the dungeon, though he had a feeling Allistair probably would have demanded he do it regardless.

---

 

As the minutes turned into hours, the trek through the cave continued. And despite his teammates doing most of the heavy lifting, Allistair was more than ready to call it quits and leave the cave. Falling sediment and a particular encounter with a dirt dwelling dungeon pokemon had already done a number on his fur and vest. But leaving the job incomplete with a journalist present would without a doubt tarnish his image, so the Mienshao begrudgingly pressed on.

 

Eventually in the depths of the cave, the four pokemon came across an underground spring. However there was no sign of their target. Pulling out the mission paper, Allistair glared at it. “A Seismitoad should not be this hard to find,” he complained. “Roark!”

“Sir!” the Staraptor said as he saluted with his wing. 

Allistair sighed. “What are you doing?” 

 

“You said to act more professional while Cyrus was here, didn’t you?” 

“…Whatever, just go fly around and see if you can find anything.” 

 

“Yes sir, Allistair sir!” Roark said before quickly taking off. 

The Mienshao shook his head. “Idiot…”

 

As Roark flew over the body of water, he intently looked over the blue surface only to find no activity. Elm and Cyrus watched from the water’s edge, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Allistair however sat down on a rock further away as he ‘supervised’.

 

Circling over the water again, a few ripples caught Roark’s attention. “Hey guys! I think there’s-” 

A forceful blast of water shot up at the bird before he could finish, nearly sending him spiraling down. Quickly righting himself, Roark looked down to see a group of pokemon rising up from the water. Gastrodons, Quagsires, and Marshstomp trailed behind a massive Seismitoad, the blue amphibian confidently breaching the surface as his land dwelling adversaries backed away. 

 

“Hey, watch it!” the bird yelled.

 

Allistair shakily stood up as they approached. However before he could do anything, he felt something wet wrap around his body. Getting pulled off the ground, the Mienshao began to panic, flailing around until he looked up at what had grabbed him. A Greninja on the roof of the cave had their long, dexterous tongue wrapped around his upper torso.  

 

“Release me this ints-” The tongue covered Allistair’s mouth before he could finish, and the Greninja then gave their leader a signal with his hands as the two watched the group of water pokemon advance.

 

“Really didn’t think I’d the guild would be up my ass this soon,” Merton croaked, annoyed by his newfound company. “Especially such a well renowned team.” 

 

A green energy flowed through Elm’s antlers as he ground his hoof into the stone below. “It is the name of the Stonehaven guild, surrender yourself or-” 

“Take this you slimy mire dweller!” Roark interrupted, swooping down at Merton with Aerial Ace. 

 

Swinging around, the Seismitoad used Poison Jab, coating his arm in a viscous, purple aura. It missed as the Staraptor dove around his fist. However was hit in the back by an Ice Beam attack from a Gastrodon in the water. 

As Roark hit the ground next to him, Elm used Bullet Seed at the gang of water types. But as he spat the volley of energized seeds, most of them dove under the water as Merton blocked them with Poison Jab. “Alistair! We need-” 

 

“I’m afraid your friend’s a bit tied up at the moment,” the Sesmitoad said as he held out his hand. 

 

Turning back, Elm and Cyrus saw Allistair being held at knife-point by a Greninja’s watery blade. The Mienshao writhed around as the blue frog’s tongue was coiled around his torso. On his face however was not the expression of someone trying to fight back, but rather that of someone who was in dire need of rescue. 

 

Pulling himself up, Roark angrily raised a wing. “What the hell was that you bastard?! You said you wouldn’t hit that hard!” 

 

Hearing this, Cyrus and Elm glanced at each other. “What’s he talking about?” the Heliolisk asked. 

 

Realizing what he had said, Roark quickly placed a wing over his beak. 

 

“How ‘bout your we let your brave leader explain,” Merton loudly answered with a smug grin. 

With that, the Greninja pressed his blade of water closer to Alistair’s neck.”Y-You wouldn’t dare-” he said with false bravado before the tip made contact with his neck. 

 

“I-I hired them to pose as villains!” 

 

“You what?!” Elm and Cyrus exclaimed.

“Six thousand poké,” Merton said. “But the boss thinks we can make several times that from ransoming one of Stonehaven’s ‘best’ teams.” 

 

“R-Ransome…” Allistiar muttered. 

The Greninja nodded, his mouth curling into a devious smile. 

 

“So if I were you guys, I’d settle down. Or the prissy Mienshao gets it,” Merton threatened. 

 

Cyrus began to evaluate his surroundings. “Okay… Okay, Dry Skin ability makes me immune to their water based attacks,” he thought. “But most of these bastards are ground types… Shit.”

 

As the water pokemon began to circle around them, there was a fiery look in Roark’s eyes. He twisted his head to the side, popping his neck as he prepared to fight. 

Faster than his companions could react to, the Staraptor darted for Merton, his talons outstretched as he screamed and used Whirlwind, violently fapping his wings and knocking back the surrounding pokemon. He then zipped up in the air, using Aerial Ace while upside-down.

 

Bolting straight for Allistair, the Staraptor twisted over and used Steel Wing. A brilliant sheen spread over his wing as it just barely the Mienshao and clipped his captor. The Greninja was forced to release the explorer as he jumped back, drawing a pair of blades made from water.

 

A mix of fear and rage coursed through Allistair as he scrambled away. He then watched from a distance as Roark and the greninja clashed, swiping at each other with their blades and claws. 

He then slipped behind some rocks, his heart racing as he poked up his head to look at the spring. Elm and Cyrus had beaten back a few of the water types by themselves, repeatedly dodging attacks before countering with their own. But Merton proved more resilient, as every time he saw an opening he would try to strike. 

 

Cyrus blocked the first with Dragon Tail, coating the whip-like appendage with a green, scaly aura before swinging it at one of the other water types. 

 

Merton then used Poison Jab once more, this time towards Elm. But much to the Seismitoad’s surprise, his fist slammed into a sudden wall of light. “The hell-” 

 

He soon stumbled as a surge of energy burst in his side. Turning to see where the rouge attack came from, Merton saw two cyan orbs hurtling his way. 

Elm recognized these as Allistair’s Light Screen and Aura Sphere, and while he was glad the Mienshao had begun to help, a serious talk was in order once this was over.

 

Using Horn Leech, Elm quickly thrusted his antlers into Merton’s chest and drained most of his stamina. Seeing as their team’s heavy hitter was losing, the remaining weaker water types started to grow less confident. As they began to scatter, they were each met with more strikes from Allistair’s Aura Sphere, knocking them out as Merton dropped to his knees. 

“Well… It took you two long enough,” Allistair said as he walked over, putting on an air of importance. 

 

“Is he always like this?” Merton asked before the Mienshao quickly slammed his paw into his stomach with Force Palm, making the Seismitoad crumple over in pain. 

“I don’t want to hear another word out of you. You worthless, mire-dwelling- ” 

 

“Ah!” Allistair flinched as the limp and unconscious body of the Greninja fell at his feet as a heaving, bloodied Roark stood over them. 

 

“So turns out this guy’s the leader of-” he paused upon seeing his leader staring him down. “Is now a bad time?”

 

Elm stamped his hoof on the ground and leaned towards Allistair. “You hired criminals to pretend to-” the Sawsbuck stopped mid-sentence, blinking as he tried to process what he had done. 

“Roark’s the one who found them!” the Mienshao argued. “How was I supposed to know?!”

 

Turning towards the Staraptor, the other three pokemon stared at him. “If that’s the case… Where exactly did you find them?” Cyrus asked. 

 

“Well…” Roark said as he began to think. 

“I wanted them to be convincing, so I asked around Lower Stonehaven where the toughest ‘mons hang around. Got a few nasty looks and some answers that I can’t remember, but I found myself at some place called the Black Flame Taven and handed out a job notice that Alistair wrot-” Roark then stopped as he noticed the Mienshao glaring at him with utter disdain.

 

Cyrus facepalmed. “The Black Flame Taven is a spot where petty thieves tend to meet up. Tried to do a piece on it once, but- Never mind… ” 

 

The Mienshao stuck up his nose and began to walk away. “Well start restraining them. And when we get back, we can have a serious talk about you two allowing those mongrels to capture me.”

… … …

 

As Allistair kept talking over the next dozen or so minutes, he hadn’t noticed the Staraptor was long gone. Elm would have said something, but he was too busy eating his replacement breakfast of assorted berries. And Allistair did hate it when others talked with their mouths full after all.

 

“And they all just stood there like a bunch of-” the Mienshao stopped himself before turning towards Elm. “Where’s Roark?” 

Swallowing, the Sawsbuck tilted his head. “He left to fly a few laps around the manor. 

 

“He could have at least said something,” Allistair grumbled. 

Elm then raised a brow. “He did.”

 

The insulted Mienshao scowled and raised his paw. “Well this is the first I’ve heard of him doing this.” 

“He’s been doing it ever since you told him his winter plumage made him look fat,” Elm retorted. 

 

“Is he still on that?” Allitstair questioned as he rolled his eyes. “I only said as much so he would stop eating all of my bread.”

The two then glanced at the spot at the table where Roark had just been, a mess of breadcrumbs and an empty jar of Sitrus marmalade sat in his place. 

 

“I swear, some pokemon have no respect for others’ food,” Allistair said, earning a deadpan glare from Elm. “What?” 

 

The Sawsbuck sighed. “It’s nothing…”

 

Soon after, Roark zipped back into the room. A gust of wind followed the Staraptor, blowing crumbs onto both Allistair and the floor. In his talons was a rolled up stack of papers. 

“Check out what I found!” the bird beamed before his leader’s sharp glare forced him to calm down. “Uh… Let me get that, “ Roark said, using his wing to brush off the remnants of his meal. 

 

“This had better be important,” the Mienshao grumbled.

Roark held up the papers and smiled. “It’s the story that Heliolisk from the other day wrote.” 

 

Eyes quickly widening, Allistair snatched the newspaper out of his talons. “Give me that!” he snapped before unfurling it. 

 

“A Day in the Life of Stonehaven’s Top Team,” Allistair read aloud. 

 

Recently I had the opportunity to journey alongside the guildmaster’s star progeny, Allistair and his team elite guild members. The trio are truly unlike any group of explorers that I’ve encountered thus far. That being said, every team of course has their off days, and Team Conquest is no exception.

 

Allistair’s grasp on the newspaper tightened as his eye twitched. “Off day?”

 

There were even points on this venture where I had to step in to assist, but they still managed to rise to the occasion. So dear reader, what you may ask is the secret to the Star of Stonehaven’s success? Well like any team, the reliance on his partners, their unique skills, and the trust they will get him out of any bind he finds himself in. 

 

The power of delegation goes a long way, as his loyal teammates Elm and Roark boldly dive into the situations before them, dare I say even coming to their leader’s rescue. This could especially be said for the team’s most recent mission apprehending Wake and Merton: the Twin Tides, as the latter had managed to slip his way into Stonehaven. The former was about to best Team Conquest’s fearless, allegedly indomitable leader before Roark stepped in to even the odds.

 

‘Yeah, the dude was pretty tough. But I’m not surprised how it ended, you’re looking at the spear of Team Conquest!’ says Roark after I asked about his feelings on the matter. ‘It’s all in a day’s work. And hey, best case is I get a cool scar from this.’

 

‘I feel that overall, the mission could have gone better. An ambush is never an ideal situation.’ Elm said, post-battle. ‘My main hope is that we each learned something from this excursion.’

 

It’s the team that makes the mission in the end, and the city of Stonehaven is lucky to have Team Conquest around.

 

Allistair looked like he was about to explode as he gritted his teeth. But as soon as his anger showed, it quickly vanished as he grew suspiciously calm. Setting the paper on the table, the Mienshao slowly stood up before walking away. 

 

“I’m going for a walk.”

---

 

“You made it sound like I didn’t do anything!” the Mienshao aggressively whispered as he stood over Cyrus’ desk. 

 

“Would you rather I have written about what actually happened?” the Heliolisk asked with a raised brow. 

 

In response, Allistair simply groaned in frustration as he crossed his arms.

“Think about it this way, it makes you seem more relatable to the general public,” Cyrus said with a smug grin. “And I guess it’d be pretty nasty if what actually happened got out.” 

 

Allistair’s eyes grew impossibly wide, before his face shifted into a vicious scowl. “Are you blackmailing me?!” 

“Honestly, that’s for you to decide,” Cyrus said. “I was just planning on holding this over your head.”

 

It was then that Alistair began to do the unthinkable. Shrinking down as he brought his paws near his chest, his eyes started to water as a number of light sniffles filled the air. 

“How can you live with yourself trying to ruin me like this?!” he cried as a stream of tears flowed down his face. 

 

Cyrus was taken aback for a moment before giving a sigh. “It’s disturbing how quickly you and your sister can do that.”

 

Dropping the act, Alistair returned to his prior demeanor and pouted. “If you say anything, I will bury you.” 

“Sure thing. It’ll be our little secret ,” the Heliolisk smugly said, his frill opening halfway as he held out his hand. 

 

Watching Allistair leave in a huff, Cyrus chuckled to himself while leaning back in his chair. 

 

“Wonder if he still wants my help with that autobiography?”