A maiden's quest for love... and paper.

Grovyle’s eyes glistened, ocean blue, illuminated by the golden light of the setting sun. The romantic scenery they found themselves in made his heart race, as his eyes shyly met Dusknoir’s gaze.

“Grovyle…” Dusknoir’s voice was a whisper, a crystal tear running down his face. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to say…”

“D-Dusknoir…” Grovyle’s voice stuttered, overwhelmed by the feeling. “M-me too… I have always…”

The pen met the end of the page. Maggie quickly reached for another sheet, hoping to resume writing before the moment escapes her. Yet, the paper pile has run out.

The horror.

No, this cannot be. She frantically dug through the already filled sheets of paper – surely, she must have at least one clean paper sheet mixed in somewhere there, oh god, this cannot be happening, not now, not like this…

Collapsing on the floor in despair, frantically kicking stubby little Swadloon feet, she gave voice to frustration. Through the heavy streams of tears flowing down her face, loud wailing left her mouth. All the buildup, the romantic tension, the romantic scenery prepared just for confession, and for what!

Grovyle will never make his feelings known now.

She wiped face into her leaves, ignoring whatever snot stains this might leave on her cloak. Things cannot be left like this, not at all. She has to find a solution. Did she store some paper away, maybe…?
Despite the frantic search of her messy room (involving throwing things off shelves and making an even bigger mess) the realization finally set. There’s no paper. Unless…

Her eyes drifted to the now half-buried guild chronicle she was working on. With her godly writing skills, it only made sense that she was entrusted with the function of keeping records of the guild's activity. And the activity of its members. Oh, she made extra effort writing down some of these…
But is it worth risking her job to borrow an empty page from the book?

She reluctantly gave up on the idea. Grovyle and Dusknoir’s love was larger than life, but not larger than free access to housing and gummies. Mmm, gummies…That’s it. It’s time to go… Shopping.

A shiver ran down her spine – or, exoskeleton? – at the mere thought. Going outside… In this heat… Getting all sweaty and uncomfortable… Being out there with other people– er, Pokemon… Oh, the very idea made her cry again. Won’t someone come to rescue her from this fate?

She stopped her dramatic whining for a moment, listening in on the door. Alas, no savior has appeared. Giving up, and with a dramatic sigh she finally made her way outdoors. She will buy herself gummies to compensate… So many gummies… Oh, her stomach rumbled all of a sudden. Hopefully no one's heard that. Maybe she should have gotten a snack before leaving. It’s been a good hour since she last ate, after all…

Maggie snuck unnoticed through the guild grounds. This is just a simple quest. Go to town, buy paper, buy gummies, and avoid unnecessary social interaction. Sounds easy enough, she told herself, steeling her resolve and stepping outside.

The power of a thousand suns hit her, the air dryer than Magma Cavern. The ground itself seemed ablaze, each step burning her fragile little feet. This is unbecoming, she decided. A cute maiden like her shouldn’t be forced to do such a strenuous activity! It should be like in her fanfiction – a handsome man should come and save her from this awful fate!

Exhausted from the long walk and heat, she collapsed 10 meters from the guild’s entrance.

She waited, very patiently, even though the ground was very hot and not really a comfortable spot to await a rescue. She should have collapsed on the grass instead, but moving now would ruin her dramatic act. How awful. Still, surely, a handsome guy is sure to come rescue her any moment now. A hot pokemon like Lucario… Or a mysterious one like Grovyle… A manly Incineroar… Or a…

Well, nobody was showing up. She finally got up, resigned to her fate of needing to walk all the way to the town by herself. It was worth a shot, though. Getting herself dusty was a small price for finding a handsome and mysterious true love at a first sight. Maybe it’ll work next time.

The walk to the town was long (10 minutes at a leisurely pace) and tedious (the sun was too hot and she was sweating like crazy).

Was walking always this hard? Oh man, she probably put on more weight… But the gummies were the only joy in life, really! It wasn’t her fault her metabolism sucked. It was just not fair. She was turned into the worst possible pokemon. She should have been something cuter, and more graceful, and naturally slim. Like Alolan Vulpix! That’s what she would pick for herself. That’s why in her story of “Marvelous adventures of Vulpix-chan!” she wrote herself as one. The Vulpix was the best explorer and prettiest girl and smartest writer and everyone loved her amazing writing talent and all the boys liked her, except for her partner Lucario who never realized her feelings for him… Not until the mysterious Grovyle showed up, and then she had to choose if her love for her loyal partner Lucario is greater than the mysterious allure of Grovyle…

Of course, she chose Lucario, because Grovyle had secret feelings for Dusknoir all along!

Truth be told, her life hasn’t really changed much since she ended up here. Back when she was human, it was more or less the same. Cooped up in her room, eating chocolate and showcasing her amazing writing talent on AO3. For all her dreams of being transported into another world, this was rather disappointing. Clearly, the lack of change was because she wasn’t turned into a cool strong pokemon. After all, how was she supposed to explore anything when a mere Pidgey was a threat to her existence? Life has dealt her a bad hand, it’s not her fault!

Ah, at last. The town market. Way too crowded for her liking, but the salvation was near.

“P-paper.” She mumbled. “And g-gummies… At least 30…”

The vendor Kecleon stared at her, then proceeded to ask uncomfortable questions. “How much paper?” “What grain?” “I didn’t catch that, come again?” “Would you like a bag for these gummies?”

She could feel the stares of everyone in the queue judging her. Ugh. What a nightmare. It’s none of their business how many gummies she gets.
Unimportant. After all, the exploration was a success! Paper has been acquired!

She walked back much more cheerful than before, munching on her gummies and hugging the fresh batch of paper. Somehow the sun and sweat weren’t as bad when her mouth was full of delicious goodness. She even allowed her eyes to dart around, searching for romantic gossip in the town. She witnessed a few exchanged glances, and a couple of definitely romantic whispers. Oh, gathering new material always filled her with excitement! She needs to get back and get writing as soon as possible.

She basically storms through the guild.

“Have you updated the chronicle with the recent logs yet-”

Unimportant! Maggie completely ignored the question, dashing all the way back to her room, shutting the door shut and locking it behind her. Her home, her haven, her lair. With a blissful smile, she stuffed her mouth full of gummies, and picked up the pen again. It took a lot of hard work, but at last, she could resume her creative process!

“I have always loved you, Dusknoir…”

The pen ran out of ink.