Team Petal-Purr
Summer Festival Intermission
The Last Road to Capim Town
Blossom and Shelby sat together on the Houndoom family's living room floor, an expansive room that encompassed most of their home. Their feet were kept clean by the fancy woven rugs that lined the ground beneath them, forming a sort of carpet over the dirt surface.
They had their packs open in front of them, sorting through items and swapping them back and forth between each other to create more space. Heidi could be heard from the other room, rummaging around as she collected her things. She was taking a long time to get ready and the two were itching to get back on the road.
As they waited, Heidi's little brother Hubert was rolling around on the floor nearby, repeatedly bringing them his toys and asking if they wanted to play with him.
Each time Blossom softly rebuffed him, telling him they were busy and that they would come back to play with him another day. Shelby simply scowled at him and said nothing; she had taken a disliking to the playful young boy for reasons she couldn't seem to articulate.
At last, Heidi finally reappeared with a set of light brown saddlebags slung around her back with a harness. She had bright yellow flowers tucked in her left ear and carried a small parcel in her jaws. She trotted over to join the girls and gently placed the parcel down in front of them. Hubert ran up to sniff it and Heidi threw her paws over it protectively.
"I want to show you guys something."
Heidi uncovers the parcel and begins to unwrap the brown paper tenderly with her teeth.
"What is it?" Shelby asks as the sisters both lean in for a closer look at the wrapping.
"Something special. I found it myself." The young Houndour smiles down at her treasure, pawing at the paper to reveal it.
A large piece of jaw bone, about the size of Heidi's paw, with two flat teeth still in their sockets. It was cracked and dirty, looking as if it could crumble into dust at the lightest touch.
"Why is it special?"
Blossom sniffs it and looks at it closely. She hadn't seen many bones in her lifetime, but this one didn't seem to look much different.
"Because I don't know what it is."
Heidi replies, nosing the bone back into the paper and tying the string around the package.
"I dig up bones all the time. I know every kind of Pokemon that's ever lived near Firestone. None of them have teeth like this, not even a Machamp. I know, he let me check."
At this point, the girls looked at her strangely and she had to stop and explain that her mother works closely with a Machamp, smelting and forming metal, and he was on good terms with the family.
"So you want to bring that bone to Capim Town and find out what it is?"
Blossom asks, having to interrupt Heidi as she went on about her family and how she came to find the bone.
Heidi nodded.
"There's a big library there, I bet they have books about bones and fossils and all kinds of Pokemon."
She paused for a second, looking over her shoulder to make sure Hubert wasn't listening, then whispered to them.
"And I want to see the Clover Guild, too."
"Who?" Shelby perked up at the mention of a guild. She'd always wanted to start her own guild, but had never seen one in real life.
"It's a big group that lives in the town. I've heard all sorts of stories..." Heidi spoke quietly, as if she were embarrassed to be bringing it up.
"Ooh! What kind of stories?"
The Skitty leaned in even closer until they were almost nose to nose. The houndour blushed and looked away.
"Just silly stuff. It's probably not true, but everybody says it now. It's a guild where there's Pokemon that used to be humans."
Blossom turned her head quizically at the statement, unsure of what to make of it.
"Used to be? So they're not anymore? What happened to them?"
"I don't know. I've never met one. That's just what they say. I don't think it's really real."
"It could be real." Shelby looks at her sister, who seems unsure. "Our dad said he saw a real human once when he was young."
"He only said that, that doesn't mean he really did. Dad tells stories all the time." Blossom rolled her eyes. She had never believed most of her father's fantastical tall tales.
"How could you not believe your own father?!" Shelby gasped dramatically, only half serious. "Don't you trust him?"
"I don't believe he really beat a Raikou in a fight either." The Bulbasaur smiled and stuck out her tongue.
The sun was fully visible in the sky by the time the three were fully packed and ready to go. Standing on the top of a large sweeping hill, they could see the edge of the bay cutting into the shore that stood no more than half a day's walk away from them.
Further down the beach, the small trail opened up onto a sort of road paved with light coloured stone. This was the road that would lead them along the shoreline all the way to Capim Town, which could be seen off in the distance.
Heidi's goodbye to her family had been much less emotional than Blossom and Shelby's. Nobody shed any tears, though Hubert whined sadly and begged his sister to come home soon. Her two older brothers had woken and left for work before the sun was up, but both left gifts for Heidi and notes wishing her well.
Her mother seemed to have great confidence in her daughter's ability to manage in the town without her. She only nuzzled her head and told her.
"You will do good. Papa will be glad for you."
Shelby was the one to take the lead, challenging the others to a race down the hill. She took off at lightning speed, but Heidi was quick to overtake her and won the race to the treeline below.
"No fair! I always win!" Shelby yowled as she skidded to a halt and waited for Blossom to catch up. The small Bulbasaur struggled to keep her speed up when travelling downhill, scared of tipping over and rolling too fast to stop herself.
"What's not fair is winning all the time." Blossom huffed at her sister, who scowled back.
"It is if you're the fastest!" She boasted.
"But you're not the fastest anymore!" Blossom teased, causing Shelby to growl under her breath.
"Please don't fight!" Heidi slunk in between them, trying to distract the sisters from their bickering. "We can all walk together. I don't want to be the fastest."
The Houndour looked at them sadly and Blossom took a moment to comfort her.
"It's ok. We weren't really fighting."
"I was, kinda." Shelby steps in line with the other two and they all walked at a similar pace. There was no more arguing for the rest of the trip and soon the conversation revolved solely around Capim Town and the strange guild that had set up there.
By the time night had fallen, Team Petal-Purr had made it to the outskirts of the town. They decided to camp for the night on a hill overlooking the tall round buildings of the city, giving them a good view of the place they would soon be stepping into for the first time.
They sat together and watched the dancing lights illuminate the streets below, spotting Pokemon darting around to finish their business before retiring to their homes.
"It's the biggest place I've ever seen..."
Blossom could scarcely believe what she was seeing, the massive cityscape sprawling wider than she ever thought possible. The countless streets looked cold and hostile in the dark of the evening and even Shelby looked nervous as she gazed over them.
"They're really going to have a festival in there? Where would they find the room? It looks so cramped together." The Skitty thought to herself, out loud.
"I'm not sure. I've never been to a festival here before." Heidi began to reminisce. "Last time I was here, I saw someone singing on a stage. It was giant, maybe they'll have it there."
"Are you sure it's for everyone?" Blossom asked. "You said the Guild is hosting it, what if you have to be in the Guild to get in?"
"No it's definitely for everyone." Heidi reassures her. "The flyer I saw said they're trying to raise money to fix up the Inn. We have to pay, but everybody is allowed to go."
"That's nice of them. I hope it's not too expensive to get in." Shelby mused.
"I hope the Inn isn't too broken to stay in. We were going to sleep there tomorrow." Blossom added, looking over the town and failing to find any buildings that looked damaged.
"We could ask the Guild. Guilds always have extra places for teams to sleep in. We're a Rescue Team."
Shelby had been thinking about the Clover Guild a lot since she had heard more about it, very intrigued by the claims that seemed to be made about the Pokemon that lived there.
"But we're not a real one. We don't even have badges." Blossom sighed, hoping to let her sister down gently. "Plus you usually have to join a Guild to be able to stay there."
"Who says we couldn't join them? I think we'd be good 'Guild-ers'!"
Shelby smiled brightly, confidently believing her own hype. "And I bet if anybody knows how to get a Moonstone, it's a human."
Listening to her, Heidi hesitated, but finally asked the question that had been on her mind since they had left that morning.
"How come you believe humans are real?"
The young Skitty scoffed at the question.
"I know they're real. My dad told me, like I said."
"But Blossom said your dad makes stuff up. How do you know for sure?"
At this, Shelby pondered for a moment, before answering.
"I guess I don't really know for sure. But I think it would be exciting if they were!"
Looking between the two of them, Heidi put her head down closer to them and whispered.
"I believe they're real, too."
Shelby and Heidi both smiled at each other before turning to look at Blossom expectantly. She didn't look as thrilled as they did.
"I don't know if I believe it, I'd have to meet one and talk to them."
"Oh we're definitely going to meet them!" Shelby announced. "I have to find out for sure!"
"I wonder if they'd let us take on a rescue mission from their board." Blossom wondered. "Human or not, I don't want them to think we're lazy."
"But don't you want to go to the festival with me? You'll miss it if you go on a mission."
Heidi looked upset, her ears drooping and her pupils growing large. The Bulbasaur pressed her head against the little black dog, who leant in to nuzzle her back.
"I don't mean right away. If the Guild is putting on the festival, they'll probably be too busy to talk to us at all. We should wait until its over to go there."
"We need you with us, Heidi. I want you to show me all the shops." Shelby sat on her other side and the three cuddled in close to each other.
"I'd like to see the docks." Blossom added. "And you should show us that big stage you saw."
"It's a beautiful stage. I always dreamed one day I would sing on it."
Heidi's tail wagged as she sat squeezed between her two new friends. She'd never admitted that to anyone before, but it felt nice to say. A girl can dream.
The team huddled together and talked quietly until they could no longer keep their heads up. The serene quiet of the night soon sent all three of them drifting off to sleep, cuddled up in a big pile.
The Next Day
