All in a Day's Work

1.



Jaime coughed, leaned out the window of the tenement into the brisk morning air, and spat down to the grass below. He had been recovering from a mild bout of cold since their meeting with Callahan several days prior, and these actions had been frequent over the course of the last few days, though they were now growing less frequent. The bottom of Nat's eye twitched up for a second in its equivalent of a grimace.

“I know you're not feeling well, but there are rooms for that. I'm not going to deal with the situation if you spit on someone's head by accident.”

“You told me that already, Nat,” the Nidoran replied, rolling his eyes. “I'm feeling better today, though.”

“That's good to hear.” Jaime had long ago stopped asking Nat how it was, because although Nat appreciated the formal demonstration of concern, it deemed it unnecessary in most scenarios. Its circuitry hardly failed, and its charging schedule was completely regular, much unlike Jaime's. The Nidoran would consume berries whenever he felt like it, while Nat would run a current through exactly two berries, twice a day: 9:00 P.M. and 2:30 A.M. It would then enter sleep mode and process them for five and a half hours, which meant that it was awake from approximately 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. every day.

Jaime would often pretend to go to sleep and stay up later than Nat, but the Magnemite would always be able to tell the following morning when Jaime was tired until about noon. It considered that punishment enough, and would always remind him in the evening of what they were planning to do the following morning to convince him to go to sleep and be ready for it. Normally this didn't consist of much, but last night, Nat had a lot to say.

It was their first day as a Rescuers' team, and they wanted to do as much as they could because Nat's savings were starting to run low; it had checked the task board and seen nothing that yielded money, but one of the great things about being a rescuer or a merchant was that the reward could be negotiated. People found various ways of showing their gratitude, and it was startlingly frequent for the reward for a mission to change from some material object to a meal with the client. This was most likely because recent events with Sorbet (which Jaime didn't know much about, since he had come from out of town) had made money and food difficult to come by for a significant portion of the population.

As things were, most people in guilds made do with what they had, but the members of Kinetic found that with everyone so involved in the fiasco with the letters, they would likely not be getting guild provisions until sometime early the next month. Neither of them felt personally invested in the letters, either, and they thought that their time would be better spent elsewhere.

Today, “elsewhere” meant just about everywhere in Tao. They would first be dealing with tasks that were posted for any guild, and then moving on to those specifically for members of the Rescuers' Guild. Their first stop would be Happy Treasure Time, a strange-looking little shop near their edge of town. A Diglett had requested help digging up a treasure chest of some kind, and while there was no reward of points, they would obtain an artifact of some kind. They didn't know exactly what this meant, but from the description Nat had a sense that whatever it was would help them with the later tasks. Something about letting them use a move they couldn't normally. Afterwards they would meet with the Patrat Patrol and deliver a letter to the Rogues' Guild for them.

When they reached the building, shaped like a Diglett, the client himself was outside. They approached him and his face lit up.

“Ore! Ore, come out here! We have visitors!” He turned to the two Rescuers. “Welcome, welcome. I am Nugget. Are you here to help dig?” The Pokémon's accent was strange. It put Nat off a little, but Jaime giggled.

“Yup! We can help you! Right, Nat?” He looked at his partner, smiling. Nat looked at the ground, then back up to Nugget.

“Is there any metal in this chest we're digging up?”

“Metal? No, no metal. Wood, artifacts. No metal.” Nugget looked at Jaime, and Jaime looked at Nat questioningly. Nat sighed.

“I cannot help you. I don't have any moves that would help dig, and my Magnet Pull will be useless if there's no metal. Jaime, you don't know Dig, but you know Helping Hand, and that's amazing for just about any Rescuers' job. Tell you what– I know you didn't really want to go near the Rogues' Guild, so how about you help these two while I go see about delivering that letter? We can meet back by the fountain for lunch.” A Sigilyph, most likely the one Nugget had called Ore, drifted out from the building.

Jaime grinned from ear to ear. “Sure! I'll bet we'll become great friends, too, right?” He looked at the Diglett expectantly. He turned to the Sigilyph and murmured something that sounded like it was in a different language and then turned back to Jaime.

“I look for artifacts, not friends. Ore says she will be your friend.”

Jaime could tell that Nat would have frowned a little. It said, “Well, I suppose I'll be off then. I'll see you later, okay Jaime?”

“Sure thing. Stay safe.” It was sort of a joke, since this was what Nat always told Jaime. The Nidoran was far younger and not well-suited for combat, but still, he was somewhat worried given that the Rogues' Guild leader had Ground as a part of his typing. Nat floated off across the bridge; Jaime looked back at Ore, who floated there without a word. Jaime couldn't read her like he could read Nat, but he got the sense that she did want to be friendly. She gave off a hopeful, positive vibe.

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2.



When they arrived at the cavern, Nugget led them in. Jaime had been talking a lot to Ore, who hadn't replied once but had simply floated along, paying mindful attention.

“Ore will go find the chest now. We will follow her.”

“Ooh, is it going to be like magic?” Jaime asked excitedly, rolling around a little. He still called any abilities he didn't understand, like Nat's Magnet Pull and a lot of psychic abilities, magic. Nugget smiled a little.

“I think it is like magic. Come, we will go dig now.” Ore had stopped next to a wall and was floating still, pointing at a particular point in the floor with one of her lower wings. Nugget moved over to the right spot and said, “Here, there is hard rock. I can dig through, but slowly. Can you help here?” Jaime grinned.

“Yup! I'm ready when you are!”

Nugget began to burrow, and Jaime cleared out the debris before jumping into the pit headfirst and slamming into the rock with his horn and cracking it.  

“Ouch,” he giggled. Ore began to lift the cracked pieces out with her psychic powers while Nugget dug some of them up. Once they were past the hard rock, it was no difficult task for Jaime and Nugget to clear away the rest of the dirt on top of the chest and for Ore to lift it up and open it.

“You look through the chest now, and take one artifact for pay,” Nugget said. Jaime walked over, excited to have found his first buried treasure, and eyed the contents with wonder. Even though they looked ordinary to him, they were important simply because they had been buried in a chest. There was something that looked like the tail of a Ninetales and a stick with a really pretty gem on top. They looked beautiful, but how would he or Nat carry either of them? There was also little disk that looked like it had belonged to a Hypno, an old cowbell, a beautiful red sphere with a few brown smudges on it, a tube that looked like it had ointment or something in it… Jaime considered the orb for a moment. If they cleaned it, it might be really pretty. He reached over and rolled it towards himself, in the process shifting the fox tail and revealing a rusting metal flute.

“Wow!” Jaime remarked as the flute caught his eye. He reached in and took it out, caressing it in his left paw. He sat back on his haunches and positioned his right paw over the finger holes, taken by the aesthetically psychedelic shape. When he moved his mouth closer, however, Nugget interrupted him.

“No, Jaime, you don't play that near people!” He sounded frightened.

“Why not?” Jaime set it down, disappointed.

“It is very, very loud. Most Pokémon do not like to hear it when they are close to it,” he explained.

“But there isn't anyone else near this cave! It's really far out of town,” the Nidoran noted.

“We are still here,” Nugget pointed out, somewhat annoyed. Ore floated over and looked at him. Nugget murmured something, and then said, “Ore says you can play when we go outside. She will plug our ears.”

“Does she even have ears?” Jaime giggled.

“She will use magic for herself.” Jaime gaped, and Ore looked happy as she started to shine for a moment.

“Wowee! You can do that? Why doesn't it work on us?”

“She can only use it for herself,” Nugget explained as they walked outside, Ore floating the treasure chest and flute along behind them. They stopped and Ore set the chest down, focusing instead on some nearby foliage. She plucked some leaves and rolled them, stuffing them with grass and some dandelion fluff from the weeds nearby. They floated into the ears of the Diglett and Nidoran, and Jaime asked excitedly, “Do I get to play now?”

Much to his surprise, he couldn't even hear his own voice. He gleefully picked up the flute, licked his lips, and blew a single screeching note. It was loud even with his ears fluffed, but he realized he had been blowing very hard. He tried again, this time somewhat softer. The sound was more musical now, though still extremely loud. It wasn't quite so raspy. After trying out a few of the different finger hole combinations, he had gotten the hang of it and picked out the tune of “Mareep was a Little Lamb”.

“Heehee! That's fun!” he said, taking the fluff out of his ears. “I'm glad I picked that one. I just hope Nat lets me use it.” Nugget shook the leaves from his own ears and remarked, “Probably don't use it in town. Too many people. Find a place further away, like this.” They headed back to Tao, and wouldn't get back until just after noon.

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3.



Meanwhile, Nat had picked up the letter from the Patrat Patrol and was delivering it to the Rogue's Guild. I'm truly glad they have a door now, it thought. I cannot imagine the pains I would have had to go to in order to find some secret entrances. It's difficult enough balancing this letter on my magnets. It hadn't fallen off yet, but Nat didn't know what it would do if the letter fell, and so thought it best to simply not let that happen. When it arrived at the Law Firm, it carefully knocked on the door with its free magnet.

“Hello? Delivery for Mr. Gunpowder?” After having said that, Nat wondered if it should have said “captain” instead of “Mr.” Oh well. Not much to be done now.

After a few moments, the door opened and a Larvitar stepped out, rubbing her head. “Hey! I've been sorting the mail. I'll take that for you,” she said, reaching out to take the letter. Nat pulled back.

“I'm terribly sorry, I was given explicit instructions to deliver it personally and make certain it was read to him. Would you be able to direct me to where I might find him, or otherwise send him here so that I could read it?”

At first, she had looked surprised and annoyed, but upon hearing the explanation she nodded understandingly. “Sure thing, lemme get him for you. Just wait here a bit, could be a while. He's probably real busy.”  She flashed Nat a smile and shut the door behind herself, leaving it to wait outside for about fifteen minutes. During that time, the Magnemite observed the village from this corner. It was somewhat peaceful, being secluded and in the shade of the Rescuers' Guild's tree.

Suddenly, the door to the Law Firm swung open and a Gabite with a pirate hat lumbered out, turning to look at Nat.

“Yarr! What be the message ye be deliverin', ya bucket o' bolts?”

Nat faltered, shivered at the massive presence before it, but managed to keep its vocal processes running smoothly. “Ah, you must be Gunpowder. This letter is from the Patrat Patrol, and it is quite urg–”

“Argh! Them fuzz balls again? What they be wantin' this time? Nothin' about a guild member bein' 'detained,' er nothin', I should hope?”

“Not from what I understand,” Nat remarked.

“Hah! Good! Ye know what they say, no news is good news, an' I don't want no news 'bout that stuff 'till it's delivered. Now, what was it ye had ta tell me?”

The Magnemite thought that perhaps Gunpowder was saying a little more than he should have been. However, it was indubitably best to simply move on and finish the task at hand.

“They said it had to do with their pay. If you would be so kind as to open it, I could read it for you.”

“Arr! Sounds important.” Gunpowder reached down, broke the letter's seal, and held up the paper in front of Nat's eye.

Dear Devonshire, or Whom it May Concern:

As you know, our payroll is marked due on each quarter of the fiscal year. While you were prepaid for the first quarter, the second quarter ended on the Thirty-First of December. This letter marks several weeks since our payroll is overdue, and we would like to inquire about its timely delivery. We are starting to encounter financial difficulty and would thoroughly appreciate a hasty response. Feel free to have the letter carrier send us a message back.

Sincerely,
Patrat Patrol, HQ.

Gunpowder's eyes had glazed over. When Nat stopped talking, he scratched his head and inquired, “Sooo, yarr… What's it mean?”

Nat blinked. “Their payment is several weeks overdue. They want to know when they will be receiving it. They said you could send me back with a reply.”

“Well why didn't you just say so?” He turned and yelled inside. “Simon! Get out here!” The Larvitar poked her head out again.

“Sir, it's Siphon. I'm a girl,” she replied, quite visibly irritated.

“Sure. Can ye find me letters from the Patrol? I need to know how much we owe 'em.”

Her voice relaxed a bit as she headed back in. “Yeah, one sec.” There was a sound of rummaging. Gunpowder tapped his foot impatiently.

“Hurry it up in there, Sofie!”

“SIPHON!”

Gunpowder turned back to Nat. “Sorry about her,” he said. “New ones can cause some trouble.” Siphon called out again.

“Hey, Gunpowder? I found it. You might wanna come take a look at this…”

By the time everything had been sorted out at the Rogues' Guild, Nat returned to the Patrat Patrol Headquarters with the reply that they would need three days' time to gather the funds. Scout, the Patrat who had given Nat the letter and instructions, thanked it heartily and said that if there was anything he could do to help it, he would normally be more than willing, but as things were they were kind of swamped.

“Well, would you have time for lunch? I know times are hard, but maybe if we chipped in we could get something small to split,” Nat suggested. “My partner Jaime could join us. We were going to meet by the fountain.”

“Hey, that's actually a swell idea!” Scout laughed. “I'll see you there around noon.”

Since there was still plenty of time left before noon, Nat decided to check out the next task on Kinetic's list for the day: a new assistant for the tailor's shop was needed.  It was only just across Tao Village Square (which was really more of a circle, and though it understood the term's etymology the usage still bothered Nat), so it floated on over. Although it seemed like a long-term job, there was no harm in checking out the conditions and requirements. The village was somewhat lively that day. Most of the letters had already been passed out, and now friends were meeting up and chatting, comforting each other with conversations of how they thought their team members were doing. It was really calming, and gave the town an atmosphere that, while solemn and almost sad, was also peaceful and hopeful.

When Nat approached the door of the shop it heard some yelling inside. “Are ya dumb or somethin'?! I said ultramarine, not cerulean!” The Magnemite let itself into the building to see Gnasher, the Banette who now ran the tailor's shop, holding a needle and shouting at a Cyndaquil and a Torchic. The bird was holding a foot-square piece of fabric which, according to Nat's wavelength perception, was definitely cerulean. It quietly floated over to the fabric shelves and used both of its magnets to carefully grasp a similar square that was exactly ultramarine. Gnasher spun around as he finished berating his newfound assistants.

“And you! Whaddaya think you're doin'?” Nat blinked at the outburst and replied, “Getting you the fabric you wanted.” Gnasher looked at the square. Though he still frowned, his eyes were round now and not the furious semi-ellipses they had been. Taking the fabric from the Magnemite and carefully watching it as it floated, he said, “Now something, like, sunflower…”

“Something the color of sunflowers, or something sunflower yellow? Most sunflowers are actually Cornn yellow,” Nat replied calmly. Gnasher grinned.

“You'll do.” Turning back to the others, he snapped, “And you two, you can scram. You're done here.”

“A-are you going to file the task point for us?” the Cyndaquil asked nervously.

“Nah, just go root through the dumpsters out back or somethin'. Take what you want, if you can really find somethin' you can put up with.” He shook his head, as though ashamed of the old stock the shop used to carry, before adding, “And don't set anything on fire!” Turning back to Nat, he said, “But now we're movin' on! Chop-chop, sunflower yellow!”

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4.



Scout tapped his paw impatiently, glancing up at the sun. It was a quarter past noon at this point. They should be here by now, he thought worriedly. If they took long enough, they might have wasted more time than they saved him by delivering the letter. He considered revoking the task point before shaking his head. Nah, they did a good job. That'd just be mean. He looked up as a Nidoran wearing a green bandanna on its back stumbled towards him, fumbling with a rusty-looking metal flute, and walked over and picked it up for the kid.

“Here, lemme help you with that,” he said, smiling. The Nidoran looked up and smiled broadly.

“Thanks, mister! Say, have you seen a Magnemite around here? It's not too big, but it's reeeeeally shiny!” Scout cocked his head at an angle.

“Naw, I haven't, but that sounds a lot like a guy I'm waiting for. Are you Jaime, by chance?”

“Yeah! How'd you know? Do you know Nat?”

“Yeah, he actually invited me out to lunch with you. I don't know what he had in mind, but he's pretty late…” As the words were spoken, Nat arrived, looking somewhat flustered.

“Hello, I'm terribly sorry that I'm late. I was visiting the tailor's shop and looking into helping Gnasher… He's been working me nonstop since I got there! I only got out because I offered to get him something to eat. In fact, he gave me extra money and told me to get something for myself. He seems to be doing very well, what with the monopoly on accessories and all… As such, to apologize for my unforeseen tardiness, I'd like to offer to pay for the both of you, whatever you want.”

Scout's ears shot up. “Naw, I couldn't let you do that! I already said we'd split, so that's what we'll do.” Nat would have smiled if he could.

“I'm not quite sure you appreciate how much extra the Banette gave me.” The coins on Nat's magnet detached and floated in front of him. Scout visually appraised them, his eyes growing wider.

“Well, alright, if you insist…” The group headed over to PK's shop and looked at the selection of berries. Scout wound up with four Aspears, which Nat happily fried for him. Jaime got a Qualot berry, which they could now afford, but Jaime still couldn't finish it. They decided he'd save the leftovers for dinner. Nat got several Rawst berries for Gnasher and quickly headed back to the shop to deliver them, saying that Jaime should go to the Rescuers' treehouse and talk to Fresnel about playing with Maple for the afternoon. When Jaime asked why, it said that Fresnel had been busy recently and needed some time away from the needy Stunky to work.

“Besides, I think you two would get along well! I'll meet you here later; I've got to get back to the shop!” It took the flute with it, using its Magnet Pull to effortlessly keep the instrument on its right magnet while it floated away.

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5.



When Fresnel heard that Jaime was there to play with Maple, he sighed with relief. “Oh! Thank goodness! I'm so glad someone can finally watch her for me. I have so much I need to get done, so much paperwork to take care of, as if there weren't enough on my mind already with that letter… Maple, there's someone here to play with you!” The Stunky poked her head up from behind the arm of a chair, eyes sagging somewhat.

“Really? Oh, hi. I've been so bored.” She looked as though she had been crying. “I'm Maple. What's your name?”

“I'm Jaime,” the Nidoran smiled. “Wanna go outside? There's probably more to do out there than in here.”

Maple laughed. “Sure. It was really nice when they fixed it all up but I got tired of exploring after a few days.” She followed Jaime outside and stretched, falling over forwards and doing a somersault before landing suddenly on her stomach. “So whaddaya wanna do?”

“Well, we could play tag?”

“No, tag's no fun with two people! How about hide-and-seek?”

Jaime frowned a little. “I bet you're really good at that, and Fresnel will get mad at me if I don't know where you are…”

“Ha! You're right, you'd never find me. Well, you could just hide and I could seek?”

Jaime thought for a second and said, “That should work.”

“Alright! I'll count to ten!” She covered her eyes. “One, two, three, four, five…”

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6.



When Nat arrived back at the shop, Gnasher was ordering around an Abra and a Taillow. The Banette himself was sitting on a stool furiously cutting fabric, sewing, and yelling out colors and sizes. “Half a foot of cyan, three inches of teal…” The Taillow was flying around pecking spots on the racks, after which a piece of cloth would float out and over to the Banette– apparently the Abra's doing, although she looked like she was sleeping against the wall. Nat imitated the sound of clearing a throat.

“I have your berries, Gnasher.”

“Oh, hey, you. These guys are a lot faster than you. They've only mixed up the colors once and they're not fumbling around with magnets. You can put the berries on the counter and scram.”

“Do you mind if I look out back, then?”

“Nah, go ahead. Two feet of lavender, two inches of maroon…”

The voice faded as Nat moved further away, setting the berries down and exiting through the back door. There was a lot of scrapped fabric piled there; it looked as though no one had come through to collect it in a while. Among the scraps were a few finished accessories, mostly strange hats and visors. I can see why they were scrapped, Nat thought. However, it noticed something interesting poking out and pinched the fabric between its magnets to pull out. It was a plain, neat red cloak with black on the inside. It had seen others like it, but this one had a slightly smaller collar. At first Nat thought it was unfinished, but the seam was bound properly on top.

Well, it's not bad, but maybe it just wasn't good enough for Gnasher, thought the Magnemite. Anyway, Jaime would probably like it instead of that bandanna. It's about his size. Nat floated back through the shop, fabrics still flying everywhere. The Banette didn't seem happy, but he was hard at work and not angry at all. That was more than could be said for when Nat had been helping him. He glanced up and smiled at the cloak.

“The one thing out there that's half-decent. Ya got good taste, kid, but I don't think it'll look all that great on a Magnemite,” he remarked before looking back down at his sewing. “Don't have any dye left, either.”

“It's for a friend, a Nidoran,” it explained as it walked out. Gnasher paused once more, but only for a second this time as he said, “Yeah, I could see that. 'Specially a girl.” In fact, Nat had no fashion sense at all; it simply had the good fortune of knowing its colors well and of having chosen this cloak. However, it wasn't one to question a compliment or a lucky happenstance, and so took the compliment and left Gnasher's impression of itself as it was.

As soon as Nat was about to float out of the front door, it heard a crash from back near the dumpsters. Gnasher groaned.

“Oh, for the love of– Hey, Magnemite! Wanna check what that was for me? I don’t wanna lose focus.” Nat headed back to the dumpsters again to find a Stunky and a Nidoran in a heap of old accessories and discarded fabric by an overturned dumpster, giggling. They looked over when they saw him.

“Hey, Nat! Maple and I were playing and decided we'd head over and see if we could find you. She wanted to meet you.” Jaime flashed a lopsided grin as an old hat slid down onto his head and covered one of his eyes. Maple giggled and rolled out of the pile.

“Having fun?” Nat asked somewhat blandly. It was still trying to figure out why they had decided to flip a dumpster as opposed to walking in the front door. Latching onto the dumpster, the Magnemite began to flip it upright again.

“Yeah, Maple found me every time! I didn't know anyone could be that good at hide-and-seek!”

“I can never beat any Riolu or Kecleon. I stopped playing with them a while ago since they're no fun,” Maple lectured Jaime. “If any Riolu or Kecleon ask you to play Hide-and-Seek you should say, 'No way!'” Jaime's eyes widened a bit.

“I'll make sure to do that.” He jumped as the dumpster thudded behind them again.

“Would you two help me get this stuff back in here?” Nat set down the cloak on the side and finished, “Except that. That's for you, Jaime.” The Nidoran's eyes widened yet again and he started jumping around.

“Really? That's for me? That's awesome! Did you get that here? How much was it? Can I try it on now?” He sprinted over and undid his bandanna with his teeth, grabbing the cloak and struggling to put it on. Nat sighed and took it off of Jaime's back.

“Hold still for a second.” It began to tie the bandanna around Jaime again, but this time like a neck-tight scarf. It threaded the two ends of fabric through a loop on the end of the flute, which it then detached from itself, and finished tying the knot so that Jaime wore the flute as a necklace. Then it proceeded to tie the cloak onto the Nidoran, smoothing down the collar. Jaime immediately popped it again. Maple was looking curiously at the flute.

“Do you play the flute?” she asked, curious and eager as always to add to her band. “Fresnel and me play instruments too! I have a triangle and Fresnel, well, he has a bunch of things but he mostly plays that lute thing–”

“Lute? What's a lute?” Jaime cocked his head as Nat began refilling the dumpster with fabric.

“It's got strings and he pulls at them and they make music. No one else really knows how to do it, but I have a triangle I can play! Sorbet taught me how to use it!”

Nat's attention was drawn to this last comment. “You knew the dragon?”

“Yeah, we were really good friends. I was sad when he had to go. He was kinda scary that day though…” Maple's expression got darker. “And Mikey left after that, too…”

Nat interjected as soon as he could, sensing that her mood was worsening. “Would you want to play for us? We could go and get your instrument when we're done here.” Maple blinked.

“Yeah, that would be cool.” They started filling the dumpster again. When they finished, Jaime started smiling about his new cloak again.

“Maple, isn't this cool? I'm like a superhero!” He dashed up on top of the dumpster and leaped off with a “Rawr!” Maple started giggling and Nat rolled its eye.

“Should we go get your instrument, then?” it asked Maple.

“Okay. I'll bet Fresnel's busy, but he might let you borrow one of his instruments too. Like the drum, maybe.” Nat buzzed happily and replied, “I can play the drums. I don't use drumsticks, but I can use my magnets to bounce metal in time.” It seemed pleased by this ability, even though it didn't seem to make sense to Maple or Jaime. The two were looking at each other, confused and almost giggling between themselves at how ridiculous it sounded. However, trotting towards the Rescuers' Guild, they forgot almost immediately and started chasing each other, Nat sighing and struggling to keep up.

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7.



While they were walking, Jaime asked Maple, “So, where should we play together?”

“How about that awesome Gazebo near the Southeast end of town?” At this, Nat stopped dead in its tracks.

“Jaime, wasn't that–”

The Nidoran nodded. “Yeah, there's a gang of Sunkern there. We wanted to see about clearing that out, right?”

Nat shook its head. “I have no idea how we could–” but Jaime cut it off as his eyes lit up.

“I have an idea! You go on and get the instruments with Fresnel. I'll go over and deal with them. They'll be gone by the time you get there, I promise!”

Nat blinked. “You sure?”

“Positive,” Jaime grinned.

“Alright… Stay safe.”

“Can I go with Jaime?” Maple cut in. “That sounds like a lot more fun!” Nat shook its head and Jaime shouted, “Nope! You should go with Nat.”
“We need you to ask Fresnel for the instruments, anyway,” Nat explained. Maple frowned, “Right. Okay, let's go then! Jaime, I'll see you soon! Then you can play your flute for me and I can play my triangle for you!” The Nidoran laughed. “You'll hear the flute before you get back. Just listen for it.” Nat and Maple were confused, but they continued on their way anyway, leaving Jaime to deal with the Sunkern.

When they arrived and climbed into the treehouse, Fresnel was busy as usual, sorting paperwork. He saw the two come in and sighed, “Hello, Maple. Um, are you done playing outside then?”

“No, we were just wondering if we could borrow your drum to play some music. I don't wanna hang around this boring place.” At this Fresnel's expression became visibly more relieved, even if only a little.

“Very well, then. You know where it is.” Maple ran into another room and came back rolling a drum slightly bigger than herself.

“Here, I've got it,” Nat said, lifting the drum with its magnets and beginning its descent to the bottom of the tree. “Thank you, Mr. Fresnel!”

Maple followed it down, but stopped halfway. Nat, too, paused to listen, and then proceeded to say, “Oh, dear.” From across the square they heard a tune: loud, obnoxious, high-pitched, metallic, grating, and– barely– musical. It didn't stop as they approached; Maple plugged her ears and Nat turned off its audio receivers. When they arrived at the Gazebo, the sound stopped and they saw Jaime in the middle, proudly holding his flute, bandanna plugging his ears. The two rushed over.

“Is that your flute?!” Maple asked incredulously. “It's horrible!” Jaime grinned as he retied the scarf-flute-necklace Nat had arranged earlier.

“I know! Look!” He gestured to the bridge, across which a crowd of Sunkern were furiously running, moaning in agony. Maple cocked her head.

“So your flute sounds horrible? Why did you get it then?” Jaime shrugged at the question.

“I dunno. I like it. It's just really loud, is all. I got it from a Diglett for helping him out.” Maple laughed, “He must not like you, Jaime.” Suddenly, a Swellow moving too fast for anyone to see properly banked through the entrance and came to rest on one of the railings of the Gazebo.

“Hey, guys. I heard that playing, and it was NOT awesome. I doubt those guys'll be coming back anytime soon.” She shook her head. “I'm the one who asked someone to get rid of those guys. You did awesome! So, thanks. I'll go tell Zaru to file a point for you. What's your guys' team name?”

“Kinetic. Who's Zaru?” Nat asked curiously.

“Cute little guy. Helps run the new task system. I owe him for that. You, too! I'll stop by later if you're still here. Stay awesome!” With that, the Swellow leapt off of the rail into a barrel roll before launching herself out of the entrance with a single flap of her wings.

“Who was that?” asked Maple, seeming irritated by the pretentious rudeness of the visitor to fly in and out without even introducing herself.

“I dunno,” replied Jaime, still gaping at the entrance, “but whoever she was, she was pretty awesome.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8.



Cyclone flew out to Callahan's, filed the report, and began flying back to the Pidove Post for her next mailing assignment. After all, as awesome as it was that the Sunkern were now gone from the Awesome Gazebo, she needed to get back to her job. On her way over, she passed back by the Gazebo again to check on those awesome guys who had helped her out. She dove towards the entrance, but then heard some interesting percussion coming from it. She luffed, rolled to the left, and began circling clockwise around the Gazebo.

These guys are really awesome at making music, she thought, grinning. I wish I could stay and listen to them longer. The Magnemite was drumming, bouncing small dull shards of metal on the drum, and the Stunky was playing a triangle that had a beautiful, pure sound. The Nidoran just sat on the side, grinning and laughing and watching.

A few seconds later, she arrived at the post office, picked up her letters, and flew off to the Tenements, her head still bobbing in time with what the kids from Team Kinetic had been playing. She pulled up next to the tenements and started pecking, window by window, and delivering mail to each room. In some rooms the denizens were busy; in most, however, they were either arguing over living space or bored as heck. Not awesome. In those apartments, she dropped off the mail before saying something along the lines of, “Hey! If you wanna get out for a while there's a few Pokémon playing some music near that awesome gazebo. You should go listen.”

When she was done delivering her mail, she flew back over to the post office, dropped off her bag, and then returned to the gazebo, nesting on top as she loved to. No more Sunkern pestering her; they had been replaced with awesome music from the Magnemite and the Stunky below. A crowd of sorts had gathered around them, and were listening intently as the Stunky kept a steady rhythm on the beautiful triangle and the Magnemite riffed with ease on the drum, layering polyrhythms like nobody's business. A few stray cheers arose from the crowd, and soon they were clapping along. As usual, they couldn't keep time worth anything and sped up pretty fast. However, the Magnemite just kept up with them, and the Stunky followed suit. Looked like they actually knew what they were doing, and they were pretty awesome at it.

All in all, thought Cyclone, it's been a pretty awesome day.

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9.



They were about ready to head back to the Rescuers' Guild. Maple and Nat were both overcome with glee for having been recognized for their musical talents. When they left, the crowd gradually dispersed, though some of them would stay there late into the night talking about the concert and other things. Jaime followed Nat and Maple to the tree, running around them in circles.

"You guys were great! You're famous! Everyone knows who you are! People should pay money to see you!"

Nat laughed, "No. Music is the property of no one, and should be enjoyed by all. If I ever became a professional musician, I would play for free." Jaime looked confused.

"But then how would you make any money? How would you eat?"

"That's why I'm not a musician," Nat replied, blinking, although Jaime could tell it was intended as a wink.

"Well, you can be in my band anytime you want!" Maple chirped happily, scrambling up to the door of the Guild. Nat rolled the drum in the door as she opened it.

"Thank you, Maple! I truly appreciate it. I hope you have a good evening. Feel free to come play with Jaime again tomorrow if you feel like it! We're in the tenements; our window is on the third floor, the corner closest to the village."

"Alright! If I feel like it I'll see you tomorrow then, Jaime!" She waved arbye* and Jaime waved back.

"Bye, Maple!" When she shut the door, Nat and Jaime descended to the bottom of the tree. Jaime was starting to get tired, and it was getting pretty dark out.

"Hey, Nat? Was there anything we didn't get done today?"

The Magnemite thought carefully through its mental list. "Well, we didn't get to visit Master Foo's. But we need someone to help us with that. We could take care of it tomorrow."

"Why not just ask them?" Jaime said, gesturing towards a Ninetales and a Totodile who were making their way back towards the tenements. "We could get it out of the way now. Then we wouldn't have anything to worry about until February."

"Well, alright," Nat grimaced, knowing that it would be at a type disadvantage with the form the match-up seemed to be taking. At least they'll probably agree, though, it thought. No one wants to go into a sparring match at a disadvantage. It floated up to them and Jaime followed close behind.

"Excuse me, miss." The Ninetales looked over.

"What?"

"We were wondering if you'd perhaps accompany us to Master Foo's Dojo for a sparring match. As you might have heard, Master Shao has wanted to see moves with particular effects, which my partner and I happen to be able to perform."

Her eyes narrowed. "What's in it for us?"

"You get the experience of defeating us in combat. It's not often that such opportunities arise in town, you know."

"We're Rogues. We can go do that anywhere–" She paused as the Totodile tugged at her leg.

"Mama, I wanna try!" she pouted. The Ninetales sighed.

"If we do this, will you promise to be a good girl and go to bed tonight when mommy's out?"

The Totodile nodded vigorously and the Ninetales turned back to the Magnemite.

"Looks like you're on. Good luck getting a move in though."

They arrived at the Dojo as Master Shao was about to close for the night and managed to set up one last match in front of him. He sat back as they set up facing each other, took fighting stances, and waited for the command. Shao counted down. "Three... Two... One... Begin!"

Immediately the Ninetales erupted in flame. The whole Dojo was filled with looping fire, all of which broadly circled around the Magnemite before condensing to the single point where it was-

had been? It had rolled out of the way, and was following the Ninetales closely with both its eye and its magnets. None of the flames had hit it; the Ninetales' right eye twitched.

"What."

Meanwhile, Jaime had been concentrating really hard trying to pull off a trick his dad had shown him ages ago. When he opened his eyes, the Totodile was holding her head in pain.

"Momma? Where's the-" The Totodile cut herself off, trying to spurt boiling water at the Nidoran but accidentally making herself spin in circles. She fell into the puddles and yelled.

Shao smirked, apparently satisfied. "Confusion. One of the most basic ways to inflict the status, and yet no one has shown it to me yet. Perhaps they are as forgetful as I am, or only believe in using powerful moves."

The Ninetales looked over and yelled, "Anima!" Her expression flashed from furious to shocked, then back to furious as she stared at the Nidoran, her shadow growing larger. Jaime cowered first, but then began swaying as the shadows surrounded him. They seemed to wrap around him, caress him, stroke him. The fox's eyes flashed purple as she commanded, "Sleep." Immediately, the Nidoran fell to the ground, eyes closed. Looking back at the Magnemite when she realized there were some flashes of light among her shadows, the Ninetales saw the Magnemite, seemingly serene, encased in lightning and pointing its magnets at her.

Suddenly the electricity began to spark towards her. Anticipating the strike, she leapt into the air, but the currents curved to follow her. Shao smiled again.

"And a Lock-On in conjunction with Zap Cannon. I haven't seen that trick used in a while! Well done, well done." Anima growled in response and this time spewed scalding water at the Dojo master, who yelped and ducked as it struck the wall behind him. He then started laughing. The Totodile spun around and glared at the Magnemite viciously. It hesitated.

"I- er-"

Fwoosh! While it was distracted, the Ninetales had unleashed another Inferno, which this time struck Nat square in the eye. It rolled over backwards, tried to lift itself up, and then fainted. The fox coughed, then spat on the ground. "I'm sick of this. And I'm hungry. Come on, Anima. Let's go home." The Totodile nodded, running into a wall before shaking her head and running after the Ninetales out of the door.

Shao sighed. I suppose these two can stay the night. Oh well; it will give me the chance to make them a nice breakfast! I haven't cooked in a while. "Foo!" he called. "We have some guests who need attending to."