Adrian's New Team: Part 1

Adrian found himself alone in his room and trying to solve a weird knock-off Rubik's Cube the Kecleon Brothers sold to him. It was made of wood and very crudely painted, but it served its function. While Adrian knew how to solve these, he lacked any of the needed dexterity to really do anything with the cube besides gnawing on it with his teeth.

It was around this time, with the sun beginning to set and shadows coating the guild, that someone opened the door to Adrian’s dorm. A vileplume walked in on the sight of Adrian chewing a piece of painted wood in the middle of his room.

“Uh… are you playing with a chew toy?” The vileplume asked with a confused look.

Adrian immediately spit the Rubik's Cube out of his mouth. “Fuck no! It’s a Rubik's Cube. I’m trying to solve it!”

“I don’t think they make those for quadrupedal pokémon…” The vileplume muttered.

“Fuck off! This was a lot easier when I had hands!” Adrian shouted aggressively.

“I’m sorry! I wasn’t- I just thought…” He stuttered nervously.

“Why the hell are you even in here? This is my fucking room,” Adrian inquired.

“I-I was sent by the guildmaster! He gave me a letter, wanted me to deliver it to you. It looks like he wants you to form a team,” The vileplume explained.

“Really? He knows how well I get along with everyone here by now, and I made it clear to him and everyone else here. I don’t want a team!” Adrian yelled at the poor vileplume.

He started to shake a little, and he said, “I’m sorry, but he’s not doing it to make you mad. He just thinks you’re a bit of a waste doing jobs by yourself,”

Adrian growled intensely at that comment.

“I didn’t mean to say it like that! Look- I need to get back with the others. Details are in this letter he sent! Meet us in the lounge when you’ve calmed down,”

And with that, the vileplume dropped a slip of paper and scurried off as fast as he could. Adrian was really pissed, but there wasn’t really anything he could do but chew that Rubik's Cube until it snapped. He picked himself up off the ground and went over to the paper slip with one of his front paws.

Adrian,
I understand you’ve been having trouble making friends in the guild. I’m very sorry to hear that. Believe me, I know how difficult it can be to work with these people sometimes. Unfortunately, I’m gonna need you to start getting some work done. I’ve set you up with a group of pokémon who also recently signed up to the guild. One of them is Vileplume, the one who delivered this letter to you. One of them was human, and he’s also an eeveelution. Hopefully you’ll get along with that knowledge. You’re currently designated as the leader due to your brief experience as a rescue worker before joining us.

Best of luck, Lliam

And now he was being forced to lead a group of newcomers. Things just couldn’t get any better. Adrian groaned, and thought about the situation for a bit. How bad could this really be? The guildmaster wrote him a letter personally. It was short, yeah, but at least it showed he cared a bit about his situation. Maybe this new team wouldn’t be so bad.

Adrian decided to just dive into this. He left his room and went up to the lounge, looking for his group. He only really knew one of the members, and got a vague idea of what another would look like. While searching through the small crowd, his eyes met with a sylveon that was wearing some kind of pink skirt around its waist. It was also searching the room, but, when it saw Adrian, it immediately ran up to him.

“Hey there, handsome!” It said in a high-pitched voice, clearly trying to be cute. “What’s a little ol' bre like you looking around here for?”

“The letter said you were a dude, but it didn’t say you were a faggot,” Adrian coldly remarked. Any optimism he held towards his team was immediately extinguished.

The high pitch the sylveon used remained. “Don’t get mad at me for being the way I want to be! At least I’m wearing a smile on my face, unlike you.”

“Whatever,” Adrian scoffed. “Where’s the rest of the team?”

“Hmph. No fun,” the sylveon grumbled. He led Adrian over to an area in the lounge with a few pillows scattered on the ground. Sitting on two of the pillows was Vileplume and a bellossom.

“Hi there!” The bellossom enthusiastically greeted Adrian as he approached.

“Hey Umbreon! I see you’ve met Enny, already,” Vileplume noted.

“I have a name, and it’s Adrian. I’m not native,” Adrian sniped with a scowl on his face. “Please tell me the bellossom’s not the second trap in our group.”

The bellossom and Vileplume were both visibly confused. The sylveon, Enny, just giggled.

“A what?” The bellossom asked innocently.

“Um… Adrian… this is my younger sister,” Vileplume explained. “And sorry about the name thing. The whole ‘human’ thing is still a little weird to me. We weren’t told about it until we joined the guild.”

Adrian sighed. “Don’t worry about it too much. This is weird for me too. I imagine it is for everyone.”

“Not that weird for me!” Enny piped up. “I can make it weirder, though.”

“Holy fuck, does every one of you have to be the most insufferable freak alive?!” Adrian yelled at Enny.

Bellossom started crying the moment Adrian raised his voice.

“Adrian! Please don’t yell. It upsets her,” Vileplume pleaded.

Adrian took a deep breath, and he lowered his voice. “He’s worse than the cyndaquil.”

“I’m not that bad!” Enny argued.

Bellossom got herself back together, but still sniveled a bit occasionally. Vileplume rested his stubby around her to console her. Adrian straightened himself, took another deep breath, and sat down on one of the pillows across from Vileplume. Enny took a seat beside Adrian, keeping a bit of distance to avoid provoking another response.

“Okay, I’m gonna relax,” Adrian said slowly. “Now, we’re just together right now for one job. Do we know what job we’re doing yet?”

“Yeah, we do, actually,” Vileplume said. “The meowstic gave me a job, told me to explain it to the rest of you. We’re supposed to find a special gem that a geodude threw into a cave. Apparently it was a family heirloom, and the golems, geodude’s parents, are paying a small fortune to get it back.”

“Another fucking toy quest…” Adrian muttered under his breath. “Alright, where’s this 'special gem' at? I’m assuming it’s a mystery dungeon if they didn’t go get it themselves.”

“Yeah, it’s fallen deep into Labyrinth Cave. 7th floor apparently,” Vileplume explained.

“How far did he fuckin’ throw it? I’m more impressed than anything else,” Adrian fumed.

“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy,” Vileplume chuckled. “Still, a job’s a job. This one could honestly be worse. They say there’s a gabite on the last floor that-”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve heard already,” Adrian interrupted abruptly. “Labyrinth Cave isn’t nearby. We’re gonna have to bring a lot of food for the trip. Who’s getting the supplies?”

“I can make a stop in the morning and get us everything we need!” Enny volunteered.

“Okay, that’s actually another thing. We’re gonna need our sleep schedules in order, so we can work together. I can’t sleep at night anymore, so you’re all gonna have to adapt to that.”

“Viley and I can work with that,” Bellossom assured. “We’re already awake pretty late at night.”

“I’ll need someone to stay up with, though…” Enny flirted. “Maybe a certain darkie would take the honor?”

“You get anywhere near me at night, and I’ll break your fucking legs,” Adrian threatened Enny.

“Not a problem in the day though?” Enny smirked.

“Enny, stop provoking him!” Vileplume scolded.

“Look! Buy the fucking groceries in the afternoon, and we’ll leave by sunset!” Adrian ordered Enny. “Bellossom and Vileplume, you can go with him. Make sure we have enough food for the trip and supplies for the dungeon. I’m going to look at some maps tonight, and I’ll get a path figured out tomorrow afternoon. Is everything clear?”

“Yes, Addy,” Bellossom answered, trying to be sweet.

“Don’t call me that,” Adrian snapped. “I’m gonna go. You all do whatever it is you’re gonna do for the rest of the night, but be ready by sunset tomorrow.”

Adrian got up and left the lounge. The group looked at him as they left, then turned back to each other and began chatting normally again. Adrian looked back for a moment, some strange thought going through his head. He considered saying something to them, but instead he just sighed and headed back towards his room.