Three Strangers Sweep the Grounds

By Kiyo-Anon

Lliam nods, saying, "Yes, humans! I'm sure you've heard the rumors."

Cassie squints at Kiyo contemptuously, "Why, of course we did. We all did. Didn't we, Kiyo?"

He coughs, and looks away from Cassie. "Yeah, well, we heard lots of things. You wouldn't mind explaining the, uh, human situation in simple terms, would you?"

"Ehhh…" Lliam shrugs, "Better now than never. Firstly, Bean made you both aware that he's human, right?"

Kiyo and Cassie look at each other, with Bean on Cassie's shoulder. The bird nods confidently, which prompts Kiyo to nod. Cassie quickly catches on, and follows suit with a smile, "Obviously we knew that! Duh!"

The three strangers could thank their refined poker faces for hiding the utter confusion shared between all three, as Lliam seems to buy their explanation without alarm. Of course, as far as they’re aware, Lliam has a formidable poker face of his own, so the three stay on guard. The guildmaster continues, "Furthermore, you've probably heard that this guild is obsessed with human history, and we love to roleplay as humans, right?"

The three strangers give non-committal grunts of affirmation.

"Well, seeing as how you're already in league with a human, I'll let you in on a tiny secret; we're all humans for real! This guild is absolutely FILLED!" Lliam spreads his arms wide, exaggerating his speech, "...with humans. Like me~!"

"That explains the odd drawings," Kiyo grimaces, "And the smell. Non-humans are allowed in too, right?"

Lliam gives a 'thumbs' up and a happy little smile, "Of course! Many of the humans have native Pokemon partners. We only keep our 'humanity' a secret because certain parties are, ehehe... Unfriendly towards humans."

"I can't imagine why," Kiyo says with more sarcasm than intended, "So, we need to meet the others?"

Lliam hums, "Erm, well, you should. I'm sure you will. I'm not going to introduce you like school children or anything, but I'd recommend making an effort to, eh, socialize. Especially Bean! How long has it been since you've spoken to another human?"

Bean simply shrugs, and stands silent for a few seconds. Lliam tilts his head, not entirely sure how to digest that, so Cassie explains, "Bean's missing a ton of his memory. I dunno how much he'd have to gossip about."

A knowing smile creeps onto the guildmaster’s face.

"Ah… I see. No worries, we have enough shitposters as is." He shrugs, “In that case, I suppose there’s no rush. If you don’t need a room, and you don’t need any special accommodations…”

The guildmaster glances between the three strangers, who are staring at him blankly as though awaiting orders, and a woefully empty hopper labeled ‘blank team forms’. In the excitement of introducing new recruits, he’d almost forgotten the Clover Guild’s recent entry into the exploration federation, which required more stringent documentation than he’d like. He sighs, slumped exhaustedly. “I’ll have to draw up your registration papers before you can take on proper jobs… And KFC will need to make more badges… But I’d really rather do that tomorrow… I’m sooooo tired of all this paperwork… I wanna take a nap~…”

Kiyo raises an eyebrow, and Lliam jumps, “Erm…! Did I say that last part out loud? F-forget it!”

With a hopeful grin, he leans forward, “Hey, you said you’d be willing to do some cleaning, right? Well, I've got a small favor to ask. Simply put, our common areas are in need of some attention. While I'm getting your paperwork ready, would you mind doing a sweep of the first floor open area? That's the spot our visitors have to see…"

Cassie's expression lights up as she gets an idea, and puts her claws on her hips, proudly, “Just that floor? That’s nothing!! We'll clean up all the common rooms, the library, and the basement too!!”

With looks of suppressed anger and confusion respectively, Kiyo and Bean slowly turn their heads towards Cassie. Alternatively Lliam beams. “Why, that would be a tremendous help~! I'm amazed by your enthusiasm! There’s a broom closet with some cleaning supplies on the second floor. I'm sure the contents will be useful."

The guildmaster scratches his chin for a moment, wondering if anything's been left unsaid. His check comes back empty. "I think we're just about done here. Do you three have any more questions?”

Kiyo, without any malice in his voice, says, “Yeah, but not for you. We’ll get it cleaned up, no problem… Sir.”

Lliam nods gratefully, and slumps back into his chair behind the desk, exhausted, “Alright! Thanks, and have fun meeting your new guildmates~!”

The three exit, careful to shut the door firmly behind them. They pace inwards, examining the third floor common room. It's fairly dusty, though far less so than the lower levels, and various footprints can be seen faintly upon the wooden floor. Still, for a common room, there's a distinct lack of comfortable looking furniture. The few wooden chairs and tables there are to be found are displaced.

They'll have their work cut out, and speaking of…

Before Kiyo can question Cassie, she holds up a claw, grinning. “Sorry for roping you guys into our chores. It sucks how we’ll have to sweep every inch of this guild before we can officially join.”

Slowly, Kiyo and Bean come to understand the implication of her tactic. It’s the perfect cover for their illicit activities; they’ve got an excuse to explore the entire premises with reckless abandon, an excuse given by the guildmaster no less. As long as they’ve got a broom in hand, they’re safe.

With a grin, Kiyo nods. “Yeah. That does suck.”

Bean chirps his approval into Cassie's ear. She beams, "Why, thank you Bean!" Her smile slowly droops as Bean continues speaking, "…Y-yes I'll be sweeping too!"

Reinvigorated, the three slip down the stairs and onto the second floor.

Compared to the third, this common room looks as though it was hit by a hurricane. Sheets of paper with crude drawings and strange literature are stacked or spread across the floor and nailed to the walls. A trail of green paint criss-crosses the floor into tiny sections. Some guild members have supplies haphazardly stacked outside their lodgings. Worst of all, the couch, a luxurious commodity to most, is covered in dubious stains and half-hearted patchwork repairs. It’s been taken for granted, no doubt.

Cassie holds back tears, “That poor couch… Let’s do this floor last.”

Using detective skills to rival the greatest Pokemon sleuths ever born, the three locate the janitor’s closet. The door is covered in cobwebs, and blocked by two parts of a broken table. They move the table’s remains aside and swing the door open, assaulting themselves with a wave of dust.

The closet has three brooms, two dustpans, a mop, a box of garbage bags, a few candles, a barrel of lantern oil, a bundle of felt cloth, an unmarked diary written in an unknown language, a jar half-way filled with a strange yellowish liquid, and a flowy black-and-white maid dress.

Kiyo flinches back. “What the hell? Why is that here?”

Alternatively, Cassie giggles, “Oh, wow! Finders keepers!”

She reaches for the garment, but Kiyo steps between her and the closet. “No, Cassie! You don’t know where that thing’s been!”

Cassie freezes, and glances between the dress and Kiyo a few times, creating a goofy and very private mental image to enjoy. Then, she retracts her hand and crosses her arms, blushing, “Oh, come on, I wasn’t actually gonna take it. …Yet. Maybe later. To have it cleaned! For a costume party, or something. I dunno!”

Kiyo and Bean give her equally unconvinced stares.

“L-look, it’s fine clothing! Clothing is expensive! It doesn’t matter so much the, uh, implications of it. And this is good quality too! We could make a real quick buck takin’ this!”

“We can’t just… take whatever we want from the guild! As far as we know, that dumb dress is cleaning equipment,” Kiyo fake coughs, checking for any eavesdroppers, “Besides… That’d be stealing, Cassie. And we don’t do that, right?”

She sighs. “Yeah. I guess not.”

Resigned to leave the unscrupulous garment, Cassie picks up two brooms and two garbage bags, and makes way for the first floor lobby. Midway to the stairs, the three strangers note the presence of another Pokemon; a Mareep walks past them without a word, as though lost in thought. Cassie goes as far as to stop and stare as he passes, with beaming eyes and a fluttering heart. Kiyo sighs.

“Cassie-”

She twists and interrupts him, a total change in demeanor, “I know! I know. It's just… He looked soooo soft! Softer than you, maybe!”

“I don't doubt that… I’m not soft at all,” he mumbles to himself. Then, he shakes his blush away, “C’mon, Cassie. You gotta reel it in. This is out of hand.”

“Not yet, it isn’t! I didn’t even grab him!”

Bean flutters onto Cassie’s head and whispers to her solemn judgment and a worried prediction. She droops. “What do you mean ‘he wouldn’t appreciate being molested’? I’m sure most Pokemon appreciate a nice pat on the head here and there… Wait… Molested!? That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?!”

Kiyo rolls his eyes, “That’s the definition of the word. You need to be friendly with them first.”

“I know that! It’s not my fault we dash from town to town so often, we can’t make long-term friends with anybody!” Crocodile tears form in her eyes. “I mean, I’m practically in withdrawal! All these cute Pokemon we pass by day in, day out, and they never get the attention they deserve! It's an injustice, I tell you!”

Bean whispers a compromise.

“Well, yeah, I guess that’s true… Fine! I’ll at least ask their name first.”

Bean whispers again, this time decidedly not a compromise.

Cassie groans, “...And get permission… I guess! But you two are prudes! Cuddle prudes!”

Instead of responding, Kiyo graciously corrals Cassie down the stairs, and onto the first floor lobby.

Although the first floor appears less ‘lived in’ than the second, it certainly sees more foot traffic. Dust and dirt from the outside sully the floor. The job board is almost overflowing with requests, some fallen to the floor like litter. Half eaten food, including a berry with a suspicious cylindrical hole, is scattered about without care. Papers of all kinds cover a hefty percentage of the floor. The three strangers share a grimace.

“Okay. Let’s get this over with. I’ll start sweeping this first floor. Bean, you can stick with me. Cassie… Why don’t you start cleaning the basement?”

Kiyo delegates Cassie to the basement for two reasons. First of all, Cassie is an extremely capable excavator. If by some miracle the roots of the tree aren’t too thick to dig through, and assuming the target is located underground, it will be child’s play for her to build a tunnel downwards. Alternatively, if there’s an actual route straight to the basement, Cassie should have no trouble accessing it. Lastly… As far as Kiyo’s concerned, the fewer Pokemon Cassie gets to harass, the better they’ll fare at keeping a low profile.

Cassie, to her credit, seems to understand the appeal of sending her downstairs, so she salutes with a smile, “Aye ay- Er-, I mean… Sure thing, Kiyo! And don't forget to use your customer service face!”

He rolls his eyes.

As Cassie trots down the stairs, one broom in hand, Bean hops beside Kiyo and relays his expectations for the basement’s future cleanliness, after Cassie’s done with it: not very. Kiyo nods, then contradicts himself, “I’m sure she’ll do a great job. Now, let's get started on this lobby… It’s so filthy, I almost want to clean it.”

The two start by picking up the loose trash off the floor and dumping it into a singular pile. At first, it's easy to relegate scattered objects to the dump, like old newspapers, torn envelopes, and empty beer bottles, but soon Kiyo and Bean face confusion. A huge number of papers, as they'd noticed before, are covered in odd runes and weird drawings. It's staggeringly difficult to discern if there's value in them, or if they're refuse.

One such drawing seems to depict a lamed, scrawny Chatot walking to the right, head hung with a forlorn expression. Meanwhile, a staggeringly muscular rendition of a bipedal Phanpy stands tall and proud, facing towards the pathetic bird and holding a molotov cocktail.

Kiyo tilts his head, "What the fuck am I looking at? Is this a… foreign propaganda poster?"

Bean, after a moment of studying the art, attempts to mimic the rightmost figure's posture, flexing his wings.

Kiyo chuckles. "Not bad."

After due consideration, Kiyo pushes a small square table against the wall and lays the unusual poster flat atop. He and Bean then split up and collect all such works of art, creating quite the assortment.

When all is done, Kiyo and Bean sigh a breath of relief. As it turns out, the majority of the Guild's clutter was made up of these images. With those organized, all that's left is to sweep and mop the floor.

Kiyo isn't happy to admit, his tails have already done half the job picking up dirt and dust. He's a bit of a walking broom, with how they drag on the ground, but there’s not much to be done, unless he wants to waltz around tails raised like a fucking harlot.

Kiyo grimaces at the thought. "Yuck. …they've got showers at the inn, right?"

Bean shrugs. Probably not.

"Fucking fantastic. Whatever, let's just get this done."

Kiyo hops up on two legs and straightens a few of his tails towards the ground to balance himself. Then, broom in hand, he begins to sweep the floor’s dust and dirt towards the guild’s entrance. Bean hops to an opposite corner and uses his wings to brush the dust in a similar manner.

The two work diligently, and thankfully, without distraction. Besides the muffled chatter emanating from behind the closed cafeteria doors, there’s no sign of anyone nearby. Kiyo takes the opportunity to check underneath all the furniture, and around the walls for any hidden switches. As expected, he finds nothing.

Bean happens across the job board and takes a pause in his cleaning to further examine it. It’s packed full, with a lot of open jobs not yet fulfilled. Some of them are time-sensitive, it seems. Is the guild understaffed? Or are outlaws growing in number faster than their competition? If everyone’s in peril, what does that say for the balance of the world? Does such a balance even exist in the first place? Are the good and evil deeds of all Pokemon summed in any sort of global karma? Or is this world truly just ruled by the laws of nature? Perhaps such laws of nature existed some time before, but Pokemon society rejects many of these laws, as does any organized civilization. Did Pokemon create society themselves? Or did the so-called ‘humans’ introduce it? Is the concept of society itself nothing more than a foreign disease brought into the pure world of Pokemon by humans?

Speaking of humans, Bean recalls how the flamboyant cat from earlier described him as one, but how could that be true? Sure, he’s missing a few memories, but nothing within his thoughts leads him to believe he’s human. Even then, if he had at some time been human, what is left of his humanity? A person is defined by the sum of their memories and how they internally and externally react to stimuli; that is, essentially, their personality, or more abstractly, their soul. Remove such a soul from its mortal host and fasten it elsewhere; the ‘person’ still lives, and assuming they retain the abilities of their original host, they will continue to live and develop their personality and soul. As such, a human made into a Pokemon would still be human, in the sense that they act as a human and have some human memories.

However, Bean has no human memories, and as far as he’s aware, he does not act as a human. Most of his mannerisms are simple emulations of his two beloved comrades’, and the differences are more easily explained by his physical form and circumstantial chance than by a lingering human personality. To that end, Bean has no idea what would constitute human behavior in the first place. Therefore, he is not a human, regardless of his past.

…However, the potential for human memories to return in the future muddies things. Right now, he feels decidedly not human, but in the future that could change. He stores potential to ‘become’ human unlike any Pokemon, unless a Pokemon could have false human memories injected, but do false memories even qualify a human? If they don't, does it really mean a damn thing to be human anyways?

Bean shakes his head. This is too much philosophy, and it doesn’t really matter to him. What does matter is the wonderfully overflowing job board. Taking rescues could improve the team’s relations with the guild while simultaneously helping out a few Pokemon in need. Not to mention, their private room at the Blue Claw Inn isn’t going to pay for itself.

It’s an idea, Bean thinks. Maybe he’ll bring it up to the group later.

The relative peace and quiet is smashed suddenly, as the dining hall doors fling open. A sneasel exits into the lobby with a content smile and a confident stride. She's headed towards the stairs, but she stops in place before Kiyo, taking note of the broom in his hand. She hums, surprised.

“Huh. Did Lliam finally hire a maid? It'll be nice to have you around, miss…”

Kiyo stops sweeping and gives the Sneasel a side-eyed glare to kill. “Wrong on both accounts. Try again.”

"Oh," the Sneasel smirks, "Just a particularly dainty janitor then?"

"So close!" he deadpans, lifting the broom over his shoulder, "One more guess before you get broomed."

At first, it looks like she's going to dig deeper at Kiyo, but instead, she raises her claws in a slight apology, though her expression remains. "Alright. You're not a janitor. New recruit?"

Kiyo lowers his weapon and allows his glare to ease up slightly. "That's right, and this new recruit doesn't care to be fucked with."

"Hah! You're funny."

A tiny bee pokemon pokes its head out from atop the sneasel.

"Sneasel! You don't need to escalate this…"

"Why not? Just 'cuz he's girly like you I can't poke fun at him?"

"It's not that! I just don't want to get smacked with a dirty broom."

"I would have caught it!"

The ribombee huffs, as though he's both used to and tired of the Sneasel's sass. After a breath he puts on an apologetic smile and waves to Kiyo.

"Sorry about her. She means well, I promise! I'm Booker, and she's Sneasel. Welcome to the guild!"

Kiyo suddenly realizes his massive lapse in foresight; he forgot to use his 'customer service face', despite Cassie's reminder. It's usually one of his most effective tools, pretending to be friendly and gaining the trust of others. Most pokemon seem to fall for it, but it's as stark as putting on a separate personality. He's already revealed his true asshole agenda go these two, so there's no going back. He groans internally.

"Uh huh. I'm Kiyo. 'Nice' to meet you."

Having noticed his comrade in conversation, Bean wings in from behind and plops himself on Kiyo’s head, who flinches slightly. “Oh, uh, that’s Bean. He’s with me, but he doesn’t talk much.”

Booker greets the bird with due enthusiasm, "Hi Bean! It's nice to meet you!"

Bean looks at Booker and flips a wing up, a fair equivalent to his greeting. Sneasel looks at the bird with curiosity, "Why doesn't he talk? Is he mute?"

Kiyo shrugs. "He can talk if he wants. He just doesn't have much to say."

Bean shrugs directly at Sneasel, who hums.

"Huh. Fair enough," she waves a hand to gesture across the room, "Welcome to the guild!... I was gonna joke about how it's a dump, but it doesn't look as bad as usual. I'm guessing that's your fault?"

Kiyo does his best to appreciate Sneasel's compliment, "Yeah, well, don't get used to it. We're only cleaning on the Guildmaster's orders."

"Lliam asked you to clean?" she asks with disbelief.

"...It’s more like, our other partner volunteered on our behalf."

"Oh, you have a second partner?" asks Booker.

Bean nods. Kiyo would nod, but he doesn't want to throw Bean off, so instead, he speaks, "Yeah. Right now she's cleaning up the basement, no doubt working her ass off..."

A few minutes in the past, Cassie stands in the basement of the guild with a broom held in two claws. She looks at the vast expanse of shelves, crates, boxes, bins, jars, bottles, bags, sacks, and receptacles, all of which are full of different items and accessories deemed 'worth storing' by the guild, lit by small lanterns affixed to the occasional support beam. The organization is downright methodological, with all the containers labeled in clear and simple terms, with a billboard nailed to the wall where guildmons can report missing items or needed supplies. While the main common room was covered in dust and dirt, the storage room seems to have been swept recently. It's clear someone passionate is responsible for keeping this area neat and tidy.

Cassie stares forward, and blinks. She sweeps once, sending a tiny cloud of dust to her left. Then, she releases the broom, and it clatters to the ground.

She slaps her hands together and wipes a nonexistent bead of sweat from her brow.

"Phew! Time for a break."

It's evident to Cassie that she's almost certainly alone. There are odd lights (and smells) coming from beneath the alchemy room's door, but it's been labeled "DO NOT ENTER, SOMETHING DEVIOUS IS BREWING", so she figures it'll remain closed. It's late enough to assume there won't be any teams restocking their supplies, and hopefully, no one else attempting to organize. Thus, she's in a perfect position to snoop around.

A quick walk around gives her the basic layout of the storage room. There's a ramp leading to the outside world with forgiving steepness for whoever may pull a cart, alongside a sectioned-off garage, where such carts might be repaired. Opposite the garage is a hallway forking to either cold food storage or regular food storage, with a staircase leading up. Cassie can hear the washing of dishes above.

Lastly, across from the spiral staircase which descends into the storage room exists a hallway, which connects to the previously mentioned alchemy lab, a seemingly abandoned "footprint checking" room, and a suspicious locked door.

She ponders it for a moment.

Hmm….

What if it really is that easy…?

Cassie turns and looks down the hallway. There's nobody there. She waits a minute. Still nobody.

She shrugs, and sticks her claws in the door's lock.

One floor above, Booker gasps, "The whole basement on her own? She sounds like a hard worker…"

"She sure is," Kiyo says dispassionately, "and speaking of hard work, we'd better get back to it."

Booker asks, "How much do you have left to clean?"

This brings Kiyo to a pause. “Uh… The rest of this floor, and the two floors above us. And the library. Nothing much. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

He’s worriedly expecting them to ask to help clean. Manual labor, even as tedious as his current endeavor, is not something Kiyo struggles with. Maintaining friendly relationships with do-gooders, on the other hand…

“You know,” Booker smiles earnestly, “We don’t have anything else planned for tonight. We should give Kiyo and Bean a hand!”

Fucking fantastic, he thinks to himself.

Sneasel groans, but it belies her determined expression, “Alright, fine. I know you’d pester me if I didn’t help, even though this mess ain’t mine in the first place. Where can I get a broom?”

Bean whispers his condolences to Kiyo, then looks to Sneasel and points a wing through the roof of the first floor, right into the janitor’s closet. Kiyo sighs, “If you’re sure you want to help, Bean says there’s a broom closet upstairs, uh, where he’s pointing. Grab a dust pan too, I guess.”

Sneasel runs off towards the closet with Booker in tow, leaving Kiyo and Bean in the half-swept common room. He laments his position lightly, but he has a feeling the two would have offered to help Cassie instead if not him, which would have been catastrophic.

Bean whispers again, reminding him that it’s less grunt work for the two of them. Kiyo begrudgingly agrees.

Sneasel returns with a broom, as well as a vexed look about her, no doubt related to the strange contents of the closet. Booker is attempting to reassure her, despite looking a bit pale himself, “I-it wasn’t anything, Sneasel. Don’t worry about it, really!”

She shrugs, unconvinced but too uncaring to pry the information from Booker. Then, she plants the soft side of her broom to the floor and inspects the area for filth to defeat. Finding some, she smirks at Kiyo, “Alright! Let’s get this done!”

He nods, and the four begin working. Right off the bat, Kiyo notices that Sneasel is much faster with the broom than he is. Despite having practice standing up, he’s still a quadruped forcing himself into a bipedal stance. His steps are slower and more awkward, and wrapping his forepaws around a broomstick is a bit of a pain. Sneasel’s faster on her feet, her grip on the stick is much more firm, and her sweeping motions are broader. Quietly, he grumbles, pushing away jealousy.

The two of them make quick work of the first floor. When it’s time for the dust pile to go, they sweep it into the dustpan. Booker, using a large feather from who-knows-what-Pokemon, sweeps the annoying edge bit of dirt that didn’t quite make it into the dustpan the rest of the way, much to the relief of the others.

Just a few minutes after they’d started, they were finished. Sneasel claps the dust off her hands, “Phew! With the four of us, that was nothing!”

Despite feeling relieved by Sneasel's efficiency, Kiyo rolls his eyes, “Don't pop the champagne yet. We haven't even mopped. Look, those fucking green lines are still everywhere."

Sneasel's expression droops, "Oh, right. Honestly I was prepared to just live with 'em."

Booker nods, leaning on his feather, "We can get water from the shower… It won't run out, will it?"

"Why would we do that? Let's just get Wooper to spray it down, or something," Sneasel barks, turning and scanning the open guild hall for anyone appropriate. She staggers forward in alarm when she sees a certain otter tip-toeing past.

Caught like a deer in the headlights, Gus freezes mid-step. He'd been quietly approaching the stairs, finished with dinner. He looks between the four pokemon, who now stare at him expectantly, with a nerve-wracked expression.

"Uh… Hi guys! How's it going?"

“You!” Sneasel scowls, stomping forward, “Don't think you're getting away so easily!"

As Sneasel approaches Gus with unclear intent, his eyes go wide and he waves his arms around in surrender, "Wai-wai-wai-wait! No-no-no-no-no!"

Kiyo and Bean watch from the side, clearly missing a chunk of history between the two. Booker seems a tad nervous, yet not surprised; perhaps more calm than one would expect.

Instead of mauling the otter to death, Sneasel stops before him, and puts a blunt-side claw on his shoulder, pulling him in, "You left me for dead on the docks! Coward!"

"It was pointless to stay!" He pleads, "Why pay two bails? Besides, Toge ditched too!"

"I'll give him a piece of my mind later. Right now, it's your turn!" She glances back to her custodial comrades, "Luckily for you, I know exactly how you can start to make up for betraying me."

Gus grimaces. "I'm guessing it has to do with cleaning?"

She nods. "Yup. Kiyo and Bean here are brand new, and we're gonna help 'em clean up. More specifically, you're gonna spray down the floors and mop up."

“Okay, fine! D-do you have a bucket? I can grab water from the lake…”

Sneasel scoffs, “Come on, Gus! Just use water gun. I don’t think we even have a bucket.”

Gus looks to the floor, bashfully, "Oh… Sorry guys… I haven't figured out how to do that yet."

Kiyo, a fair distance back, chuckles. When Sneasel and Booker don't join in, he tilts his head at Gus. "Wait. He's serious? This guy can't use fucking water gun?"

Bean notices that Booker looks like he's trying to disappear, for some reason.

Sneasel crosses her arms, "Don't be a jerk. He used to be human, it's not his fault." Gus looks at her sheepishly, and she adds, "What?! It's hardly a secret!"

Kiyo looks between Gus and Sneasel with disbelief. "Hell no."

He paces forward and confronts Gus directly, with a striking glare so fierce it looks out of place on his body, "Shooting water is the most basic shit for a water type. There's no way you can't do it. When's the last time you tried?"

"I dunno, a while ago, I guess," Gus mutters, backing up into the wall before Kiyo runs him over, "I tried but couldn't figure it out."

"Have you ever spit? Do that, but open your throat instead of closing it."

Gus, unsure, looks over to Booker and Sneasel, who shrug, not attempting to stop him. He nods, puts on a determined face, and positions himself to spray the center of the room, though Kiyo stays by his side impatiently. He gestures his head forward and opens his mouth wide, hoping for the best.

A few awkward seconds go by, with everyone looking at Gus expectantly, but nothing comes from his mouth. His determination slowly falters.

“Aww, man… I guess I’m not at a high enough level… That’s too bad-”

Kiyo smacks Gus on the back of the head before he can waste any more time with an excuse.

“Don’t even think about it! Stop goofing around and put the pressure on the inside of your mouth.”

Gus rubs his neck. The smack didn’t really hurt, but it was a surprise nonetheless. Begrudgingly, he follows the instructions; Now it looks like he's being forced to kiss something he'd rather not.

Kiyo can hardly stand to watch, "Not a smooch! Open your damn mouth."

He's annoyed, but does as Kiyo asks, closing his eyes and gathering his focus.

Lo and behold, a thick stream of bubbly water erupts from Gus' mouth, along with an odd gargling sound. It's cut off quickly when Gus staggers in surprise and snaps his mouth shut, a surprised smile forming on his face.

"W-woah! That felt… Kind of like throwing up, but it didn't burn at all. Super weird… I thought it was gonna go up my nose, but it didn't."

Booker beams, "You did it, Gus! That was great!"

Sneasel, afflicted by his adorable enthusiasm, sports a sly smirk.

"Look at that! I guess you'll be helping us out after all!"

Bean leans over from atop Kiyo's cap and gives Gus, who's still a bit giddy, a feathery pat on the back.

The celebrations go on for a few more seconds, which to Kiyo, is a bit of an overreaction. Gus takes on mopping with a spring in his step. Not wanting to sit on their ass and watch, the others decide to get a headstart on the second floor, with Gus agreeing to move upstairs once his work below is complete. As the four enter the second-floor common room, Kiyo groans openly.

"I forgot about all these weird drawings. Let's gather 'em up, I guess."

Since most of the papers are larger than he is by a few magnitudes, Booker leaves it to the others to collect and stack the papers from the floor into a desk beside the wall. It's an impressively tall stack.

Kiyo quirks an eyebrow, "Say, you two have been here a while, right? What's the deal with these papers?"

Sneasel replies, "From what I've heard, they're 'posts', an important part of human culture. Apparently, that's how they shared thoughts and ideas," She stands herself up straighter and prouder, with an air of uncertain sarcasm, "The brightest human philosophers and scientists used posts to debate and discuss matters of utmost importance!"

Kiyo and Bean glance at the top 'post' on the stack, a drawing of a cyndaquil drooling over a skiddo's rear.

"Uh huh."

Booker buries his face in his hands. Sneasel chuckles, "Well, that's what they keep telling me, anyways."

The odd affair of the ‘posts’ aside, the four resume normal operations with minimal chatter. It’s a comfortable silence, thankfully, and neither Kiyo nor Bean are willing to interrupt it, leaving thoughts to wander. Without slacking on his end of the sweeping, Bean observes the other pair with overpowering curiosity. Booker is going into corners and underneath furniture to bring the dust and dirt into the open, and Sneasel sweeps the larger open areas with great care not to disrupt her partner. It’s surprising how well the two coordinate, especially considering how greatly they differ in personality.

Bean tilts his head. Maybe they have more in common than is immediately visible. Or, perhaps, what they say about opposites is true.

Out the corner of his eye, Bean spots two pokemon ascending the staircase; A red-coated vulpix and a shinx. With a startling excitement, the shinx looks right past Bean, at Kiyo, who has his eyes on the floor.

"No way. Nick! He looks just like you! …Kinda."

Kiyo’s ears perk immediately, and he turns to face the intruders directly. His immediate reaction is to scare the two off with threats or mean looks, but Cassie’s wise voice echoes in his head,

“Kiyo! Remember to use your customer service face!”

I already fucked that up. I can’t suddenly start acting completely different in front of Sneasel and Booker.

Cassie’s voice in his head groans, “Welp, sucks to be you. You’ll have to find a way to be nice to those two anyways, they haven’t done anything wrong. Plus, that’s a Vulpix. Isn’t he, like, your brother?”

No! …Kinda? In an abstract way, I fucking guess- Shut up!

Kiyo reprimands his own imagination for correctly emulating the sass Cassie would have in this situation. Bean looks at him confused. Meanwhile, the two new arrivals approach in a friendly manner. Kiyo, to his credit, doesn’t attempt to scare them away.

Nick smiles awkwardly, "Hi there. I'm Nick, and this is Amelia."

Amelia does a polite nod, subtly looking at Kiyo’s hat.

"I'm Kiyo. That’s Bean. The fletchling.” On cue, Bean skips forward to the side of Kiyo and flaps his wing up to wave. “He doesn’t talk much.”

Nick and Bean stare at each other for a moment, extending the silence. Nick attempts to decipher any sort of intention within those deep, black eyes, but he draws blank. “I see. I’m guessing you’re both new to the guild?”

Kiyo nods. “Yeah. We’ve got another, though. She’s cleaning the basement while we clean here.”

“Say, Kiyo, that hat is awesome,” Amelia interjects, “Nick! You should try it on!”

Kiyo rolls his eyes, and thanks Arceus that Cassie’s not around to tell him ‘you’re welcome!’ Nick glances at Kiyo expectantly, “Well, perhaps. Kiyo, would you mind if I wore your hat for a moment?”

Kiyo shrugs, and slips it off his head, which causes his ears to flop up in a humorous way. He presents the garment to Nick. “Be my guest.”

Nick fumbles to grasp the hat with his paws, but finds his grip and pushes it down onto his head. His ears slip into place naturally, and secure the hat firmly onto his head. He notes to himself how oddly cold it is. He can’t see himself, but judging by Amelia’s beaming smile, it must look rather good on him.

“You have no idea how good you look with that hat, Nick!!!” She gushes, turning to Kiyo, “Can he try the vest next?”

Kiyo nearly accepts, until he remembers the entire purpose of his disguise; to hide the fresh, condemning scar on his chest. He sputters a sarcastic excuse, “Actually, I… Uh… I get cold without my vest…”

Bean silently laughs into his wing, and Kiyo flushes. Normally he lies as easily as he breathes, but something about these guild members is making his sense for deception go haywire.

Thankfully, instead of questioning him on his inane excuse, Nick asks, “Say, Kiyo. Your fur is white, but you’re a vulpix, correct?”

Kiyo pauses, “...Right. You must be human. Well, uh…. It depends on who you ask. Back home I’m a keokeo, but most call me an 'ice vulpix' or something similar. We’re like… a related species. We’re both foxes, as you can see, and we’ve got similar abilities, but I’m ice-type, and you’re fire-type.”

Nick pales, “You’re ice type? I’m not, uh, going to harm you by standing so close, am I? You won’t melt?”

Kiyo can't help but grin with amusement, “I should be fine unless you start flaming me down. And, I don’t melt. Worst case scenario, I condensate.”

“I’m happy to hear that. …You are travelers?” Nick says.

“Yeah. We’ve been all over the place," Kiyo starts, with Bean gazing down at him, perhaps as a reminder not to share too much information. He thinks to himself, in the way Bean somehow usually understands, yeah yeah, I got it, and continues, "You two are explorers, or something, right? I'd imagine you've been around too."

Nick chuckles nervously, "I wouldn't say that. We mostly stick to this continent. I'm still getting the hang of battling."

Amelia lights up, "Say, Kiyo! Maybe you and Nick should train together sometime! I bet you could give him a few pointers."

The red fox nods. "I'll admit, I'm curious about your fighting style, but perhaps this is not the time…"

Nick stares past Kiyo and Bean bashfully. The two turn to see what's caught his eye. There, Sneasel and Booker stand toe tapping to portray impatience, broom and feather in hand respectively. Their expressions are comically exaggerated frowns, although Booker in particular looks as though he’s just barely holding in laughter.

"Uh…"

Bean takes off like a light and joins Sneasel and Booker, mimicking their pose. Kiyo feigns a gasp.

"Traitor!" He shoots sarcastically, "Right. Maybe another time. We're cleaning up the guild for Lliam, and I’ve been slacking."

Nick nods, "I saw, earlier. It's remarkable how you stand on two feet. Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"Oh, yeah. It sucks, but there's not really a better way. Most tools are made with upright-standing Pokemon in mind. That's just how things are."

Speaking of, Kiyo steps back up, broom in hand, and demonstrates his balance. He makes a point to start sweeping again, lightly glaring towards Booker and Sneasel, who are appeased.

Nick seems to understand the exchange. “Right. I suppose we should let you work in peace, but I hope you’ll consider training with us someday.”

“Yeah, that could be fun,” Kiyo says, before he realizes what he’s saying, “See you later… I guess.”

Amelia and Nick bow politely in farewell and exit, assumedly towards their room, or some other unknown obligation they must fill. Kiyo, on the other hand, finds himself shocked at his behavior.

The plan here isn't to make friends. The plan is to swipe the treasure and abscond, yet Kiyo, at some level, genuinely wants to help this Vulpix train. It must be the intrinsic sense of brotherhood he feels for his fire-type counterpart which almost, almost makes him wish he could stay a little longer. It's an odd feeling, like an instinct long since sealed away, left to rust and decay.

Oh well. For better or for worse, staying to make friends isn't really an option.

Speaking of friends, Bean returns to Kiyo’s side. He looks up to the fox with a sagely, knowing stare.

Kiyo sighs, “Yeah, yeah. I know. Don’t worry about it. It should be fine.”

Bean nods. He didn’t really doubt it.

Gus makes a timely return, looking a bit tired. He looks across the room, much cleaner than before, but still covered with plenty of green lines. “Uh… Have there always been so many of these?”

Sneasel nods, “Yup. You’re just noticing more, now that you’re the one cleaning.”

Booker leans down from Sneasel’s crown, noticing how tuckered out Gus appears. “How are you holding up, Gus? Um… Do you need a drink? Or a break?”

Gus smirks, but shakes his head, “Thanks, but I’m alright. I feel… Kinda like I’m finally getting some exercise, if that makes sense. It’s good.”

Booker smiles, “That’s good to hear. Still, please don’t overwork yourself.”

Gus nods and resolutely plants his mop on the ground, surveying the room to plan his approach. Once the four sweepers corral the last of the debris into a garbage bag, he gets to work swiping away the mysterious green lines painted onto the floor. His water gun is a tad bit delayed still, but he’s already getting the hang of controlling it, remarkably.

The others continue on. As Kiyo, Cassie, and Bean had found earlier, the third floor is much cleaner than what lies beneath. Thankfully, no disastrous events seem to have occurred since then which may have possibly changed that.

“This doesn’t look too bad,” Booker notes, “Are… are we almost done? All that’s left is this room and the library, right?”

“Yup, and the faster we get finished, the faster we can hit the fuckin’ hay.”

Sneasel twirls her broom around, then enters a firm stance to pump herself up for a few more minutes of boring custodial work. “Alright! Let’s get this over with!”

Kiyo copies her motion, with a decidedly less enthused expression, “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get it done.”

The four begin their work dutifully. Booker and Sneasel chat to each other lightly, and Kiyo and Bean do much the same. It’s simple re-organizing and sweeping; in fact, Gus might not even need to mop this floor. Perhaps the same will be true of the library.

At the same time, in a different place, a certain sandshrew reaches her destination. Far below the guildhall, a lonely room had grown a magnificent blanket of dust. Cassie relishes being the first to disrupt it.

The shrew had already passed a verifiable maze of oddities, but the inner machinations of the guild are not her concern. Instead, well underneath a set of secret doors, passageways, tricks, and traps so elaborate she questions her very position in space, Cassie reaches what must be the end of the line.

The anticipation is agonizing. After all, this secret location allegedly holds a treasure so valuable, the Dread of the Seas himself sailed two months between forts and islands, performing every manner of injustice along the way, just to hold the map for said treasure in his claws. It’s all the more tragic (or hilarious) then, that he’d never actually seen the map. Just Cassie’s fake, and by the time he’d realized it was so, his ship was rigged to explode and their getaway fish was on her way. Give or take a few… major complications, it went smoothly, and now, after following the map’s cryptic instructions, she’s nearing the ‘X’.

The chamber is lit by handy orange-glowing mushrooms. The floors are chiseled in gray stone brick. Eight time-worn columns, so tall they rise into darkness, form a clear path. Cassie walks forward, still wary of traps. Somewhere in these depths is the treasure of a lifetime.

Cassie squints.

At the end of the chamber, there is a mural plastered on the wall like a mirage might decorate the horizon. Upon it, in simple terms, is a hardy Sandslash, a striking white Ninetales, and a distinct Talonflame, uniting to possess the one thing they want most.

Cassie frowns. It’s a nice sentiment, but it’s not exactly… tangible.

She checks the map once more. The damn thing is already covered in stupid riddles, most of which have already been solved, but perhaps there’s one she missed…

Cassie slaps her forehead. There it is, one last set of instructions. She looks to her sides, and as predicted by the map, there are two podiums, each with a unique inscription and an empty glass bowl. Cassie spends a moment to commit both to memory, and sighs.

There’s no point lingering here. She’ll have to come back once this last puzzle is solved. The room itself is too fragile to risk excavating; in fact, for all she knows, the treasure could be the room itself, which would be disappointing. Her only choice is to solve the riddle and acquire the necessary items, which could drastically extend their time at the guild.

She shrugs. Whatever it takes.

Careful not to trigger any previously avoided traps, Cassie retraces her steps and leaves the depths. Going backwards is somewhat faster than moving forwards; she’d already taken the liberty of disabling most of the traps, not that any of them seemed threatening in the first place. The main hassle had been puzzle doors; brain-teasers plastered upon heavy stone doors with contraptions to enter their solution. These doors would have been practically impossible to open without her handy-dandy map. Unfortunately, Cassie finds the door locks can’t be reset, so any puzzle enthusiasts, particularly Bean, won’t have a chance to solve it.

It is a tragedy.

In time, the corridors stop looking like dungeons and start looking like a more regular basement. Cassie doesn’t have a particularly powerful sense of smell, but still, she’s relieved as the air gradually becomes less stale and more fresh. It’s warmer as well, closer to the surface. Best of all, there’s no sign anyone’s been following her; no additional footprints in the dust, and the doors she’s used haven’t been touched since she passed through. How fortunate!

Reaching the top of the stairs, Cassie peeks out the door she originally broke into. Not only is the basement silent, there’s no visual sign of anyone either, so she silently steps out, closes the door, and using her claws, deftly locks the door, as it had been before she barged in.

Cassie creeps down the hall, and finds her broom is lying on the floor exactly as she left it.

She picks the broom up. It’s… still just a broom.

She stands awkwardly for a moment, then sweeps a single sweep.

“Cassie!”

Kiyo, looking around suspiciously, descends the stairs into the basement.

"Are you alone down here?"

She grins, and Bean flies onto her head. "As far as I'm aware, yeah. Are y'all done up top? I'm finished down here."

Kiyo nods. "Yeah. We had some help, I’ll introduce you later. Did you… Notice anything odd?"

Obvious subtext understood, Cassie shrugs, "Yes and no. I'll tell you about it tonight. How about we head back to the inn and get some grub?"

Bean covers half her view with a feathery thumbs-up from above. Kiyo yawns, “Works for me. Let’s get out of here before we meet anyone else. I can only act decent for so long.”

Cassie leads the three strangers outside, using the utility ramp connected to the basement. The exterior of the guild is as quaint as it had been before; even more so as the day comes closer to ending. She embraces the sunset’s warmth with open arms and sighs contentedly. Kiyo steps a bit away from his friends and shakes himself off, hurling bits of dust everywhere. Once that’s done, he rejoins his friends as they begin marching down the dirt road towards Capim town proper.

“Cassie, was there a shower at the inn? Or a river on the way?”

She hums, starting down the path away from the guild, “Maybe? I dunno. Why?”

“There’s fucking… Gross stuff in my fur. That place was a mess. I can freeze it out but I need water.”

“Gotcha! I’ll keep my eyes peeled!”

She immediately scans her surroundings, dutifully. Bean, still perched atop her head, whispers a reminder into Cassie’s ear, and she perks up.

“That’s right! Damn! I forgot to buy a new brush at the boutique. Sorry, Kiyo.”

He looks at her blankly, then shrugs. “Eh. I forgot too. It’s not a big deal, I don’t really need a brush anyways.”

Cassie rolls her eyes, “I know you’re willing to spend hours licking your tails, but we won’t always have that kind of time. Besides!” Her demeanor turns playful, “I like to help! It’s relaxing! And soft!”

Kiyo sighs, “I still think it’s a waste of money, but I know there’s no point in trying to argue.”

“Great! I’m glad we’re on the same page. I’ll pick one up tomorrow.”

Kiyo and Bean look at each other, sharing slight confusion. Kiyo glances around, checking for eavesdroppers. Content that they’re alone, he asks, “Tomorrow? …Before we leave?”

Cassie nods, checking for any tag-alongs as well, “Yeah, about that. We might be here a while. There’s a…” She leans closer to the fox, and Bean huddles down as well to hear her whisper, “I found it, but there’s one more thing. We need two items, I think. And they’re rare. Like, ancient-artifact rare. I’ll wait until we aren’t out in the open to explain more, but you get the idea.”

Bean nods. Kiyo looks disappointed beyond belief. “Great. So, what, we’re just gonna stick around at the guild until we’ve solved the puzzle?”

Cassie shrugs, “Unless you’d rather give up?”

“Tsk. Fuck no. It’s just… You know,” Kiyo glances back towards the guild, now a tiny stump in the distance, “We can’t keep up the act forever, can we? What happens if they get wise?”

Bean jumps ship off Cassie’s head and onto Kiyo’s, reassuring him by recounting the friendly disposition of those they’d met today.

Kiyo hums, “I guess that’s true. They didn’t seem particularly… Suspecting. ‘Least, not the ones we met. They were all too damn nice. Even that sneasel.”

Cassie cheers, “Aw, you say that like it’s a bad thing! I for one am very happy to have joined a guild bursting full of friendly Pokemon. And friendly humans, apparently. We’ve got so many friends to make! And hug!”

Kiyo stops, “Oh damn, that reminds me. Bean, you never told me you were a human. Was that cat full of it?”

Bean sheepishly hops off Kiyo’s head and lands in front of his two partners, so they may witness his explanation at the same time. He shrugs, and shakes his head in an apology of sorts. Kiyo and Cassie understand the bird’s intention; he’s not really sure, but it’s news to him either way.

Cassie shrugs, “Yeah, I figured you didn’t know. What’s the deal with humans anyways? I haven’t heard about ‘em since I was a kid. Aren’t they just… Pokemon with memory loss?”

“No, Cassie, that’s an amnesiac. I’m pretty fucking certain humans are just immigrants from a far away bum-fuck nowhere continent.”

She nods sagely, “That makes sense! I remember hearing that humans always wash up on the beach or fall from the sky. Their transportation infrastructure must suck.”

Bean tilts his head.

He hops over to Cassie, who leans down and points her ear towards the bird. He relays a number of instances within the past year where individual Pokemon have spoken of humans as folklore; non-Pokemon beasts from a different planet entirely. Many have played important, albeit vague roles in Pokemon history. Human technology is said to be treasured by many, and highly sought after by collectors. It becomes clear to Cassie that Bean is worried about being a human, and what it might imply.

Kiyo, with one of his massive ears tilted in to eavesdrop on the two, grumbles. “Huh. I guess I don’t really pay attention to history shit.”

Cassie gets up and shrugs, “Hey, don’t look at me. I didn’t go to school. Folklore this, folklore that. We met humans today, didn’t we? They don’t seem dangerous to me.”

Kiyo scoffs. “No, not at all.”

“Great! All that’s left to say is,” Cassie gently picks up Bean with her claws cupped, “We wouldn’t care if humans were the devil spawn of Giratina itself. Human or not, you’re still stuck with us. Right Kiyo?”

He rolls his eyes. “Obviously! That was never up for debate.”

Bean jumps from Cassie’s claws onto her shoulder, and wraps his wings around her neck in a quick, light hug. Then, he hops right onto Kiyo’s back, and pats the fox on his cap, who smiles.

Cassie coos, “Aww…! I love it when you two get along.”

Bean pauses, so he and Kiyo can trade looks of utter confusion. “Cassie, we always get along.”

She giggles. “I know! I always love it.”

They groan.

The three, still strangers to the Clover Guild, in a way, continue down the dirt road towards Capim Town proper.