Adrian's New Team

Forming the Team

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.

The Journey

Vileplume, Bellossom, and Enny all waited by the stone bridge. The sun was starting to set, and Capim town was starting to get dark. There wasn’t too much they could really do while waiting for Adrian, so they decided to pass the time with some idle conversation.

“So, Enny,” Bellossom started. “What was your human life like?”

“Honestly, not that interesting,” Enny said, humbly. His voice wasn’t as high-pitched as the night before. “I lived with my mom and worked retail before all this.”

“Hey, so did we!” Vileplume said. “Well, minus the retail part.”

“Did you two grow up around here?” Enny asked.

“Yeah, we did!” Bellossom cheered. “This town has been our home since we were born!”

“Our mother used to run a small café years back,” Vileplume explained. “She ended up retiring a little after Bell was born because she wanted to focus more on us.”

“That’s so sweet of her. What about your dad?” Enny asked. “What does he do?”

“Oh, he-”

“Adrian!” Bellossom shouted, interrupting Vileplume.

The umbreon slowly approached the group with a rolled up paper in his mouth. He dropped it on the ground in front of everyone. “Can anyone here besides me read a map?” He asked, caring little about the prior conversation.

“I know how,” Vileplume said.

“Great. That means you’re navigating. I’m not carrying that in my mouth the whole time.”

“Adrian!” Bellossom called, trying to get his attention. “We got supplies!”

Adrian looked over at her. “What all did you guys get?”

She excitedly began listing everything the group had purchased in town, including all the different kinds of rations, medicinal berries, and one stun seed. “…and I got this little defense scarf, just like the one you got!” Bellossom said while presenting the white scarf around her neck.

Adrian stared at her scarf with a jaded look in his eyes. “Defense scarves have grey spots on the corners. You bought a nullify band,” he noted.

“Wow!” She exclaimed. “What does it do?”

“It makes your ability stop functioning,” Adrian commented apathetically. He then moved past her towards the other side of the bridge.

Bellossom started to tear up silently, feeling humiliated. She took her scarf off, and Vileplume moved in closer to console her.

“Alright, we’re sticking to the roads,” Adrian explained. “The path I marked should keep us clear of any mystery dungeons besides the one we’re traveling to. Don’t instigate any fights with wild Pokémon unless you have to. We can take time to rest, but I want us to keep moving at a consistent pace. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Enny mocked, bringing back his high-pitched voice.

Adrian scowled slightly at Enny before turning around and leaving the town. The rest of the team followed suit.

---

The following days were filled with plenty of talk between Vileplume, Bellossom, and Enny. Vileplume and Bellossom told Enny a lot of fun things about the Pokémon world, as well as stories from their childhood. Enny told them some fun things about the human world, and things he used to do as a human. Adrian, however, didn’t respond to any questions unless they were related to the road they were traveling on. He didn’t even look back when his name was mentioned.

Early on in the journey, Adrian pulled Vileplume aside to a nearby lake. He explained that he wanted to show him something.

Once they approached the coast of the lake, Adrian asked, “Do you have your sister's nullify band on you?”

“Um, I think so,” Vileplume replied.

“Hand it over. I need it for something,” Adrian ordered.

Vileplume reached into his bag and pulled out the white scarf. “Here. You know, you didn't have to be so rude to her. She was really excited when she bought that, and you made her feel stupid.”

Adrian took the band and tore it in half. He seemingly ignored Vileplume’s lecture, instead focusing on tying the scrap from the band around a glass jar with his teeth and one of his front paws. His dexterity was surprisingly good, but he still fumbled with it frequently.

“What are you doing with that band?” Vileplume asked.

Adrian finished tying the scrap. “Normally you can’t drink lake water because it sits around and collects dirt and grime,” he explained. “This fabric should act as a filter, so all that enters the jar is clean water. Any fabric would do, really.” He handed the finished jar to Vileplume.

Vileplume took the jar, a little confused at first. He brought it down to the water, filled it, and pulled it back out. Sure enough, the water inside remained relatively clear, while the fabric kept out most of the muck.

“Wow… that’s actually pretty useful,” Vileplume commented.

“Her purchase wasn't completely stupid,” Adrian stated before walking back towards the road. Vileplume sealed up and packed away the jar before running after Adrian.

---

The chatter between the group continued along the journey. Enny and Bellossom got along really well with each other. Vileplume was still paying attention and talking to them, but he kept noticing Adrian’s silence.

Everything in the group was able to contribute some of their skills to their travel. Vileplume and Bellossom would occasionally forage together. The stuff they found kept the group from burning through rations too quickly. Adrian’s eyes were better adjusted to darkness, which enabled him to guide the group better.

Besides telling stories to Bellossom, Enny picked up any flowers he saw that were interesting. He placed most of them on his bow ties and his skirt. The rest he gave to Bellossom and Vileplume for decorating their satchels.

Just as the group was about to reach Labyrinth Cave, Vileplume suggested that they make a camp and relax for a bit. It was just a little while before twilight, so Enny volunteered to make a fire. When the fire started crackling, and the light slowly started showing in the sky, the group lied down and started talking. Enny explained the plot of a human story to Bellossom.

“Human stories are so wonderful, Enny!” Bellossom marveled. “I wish I could see one of those books someday!”

“Trust me, I will make sure you see a shoujo manga someday,” Enny promised.

Vileplume wasn’t too engaged in the discussion. He was busy looking at Adrian. Adrian had been sitting at the fire by everyone, but all he was doing was staring into the flames.

“Hey, Adrian?”

Adrian glanced up towards Vileplume.

“What was your life like as a human?” He asked, trying to pull him into the conversation.

Adrian stared at him for a moment, not really saying anything.

“You’ve barely said anything during this journey at all. Come on… do you have a family?” Vileplume questioned.

Enny and Bellossom paused their discussion and looked over at Adrian. He continued staring at Vileplume for a moment, but then he shifted his gaze back to the fire.

“I had a father and a younger sister. My mother passed when I was young, and I don’t remember her very well,” he said solemnly.

Vileplume got quiet for a moment. His sister spoke up, trying to lighten the mood. “Um… do you like your sister?”

Adrian looked over at her. “She was a constant pain in the ass, got me in trouble with my dad, and we had nothing in common.”

Bellossom backed down as well.

“Yeah, I actually understand you a bit. My dad left when I was young,” Enny said, trying to empathize with Adrian.

“Yeah, I knew that the second you walked up to me in the lounge,” Adrian replied, turning to look at Enny.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Enny asked.

“It means you’re just another fag with a predictable sob story,” Adrian remarked coldly.

Bellossom started to sob. Vileplume glared at Adrian. “Adrian, don't say that.”

Enny and Adrian both ignored him, now getting at it with each other. “You’re just projecting your own fears onto me! So sad that you can’t be as happy as me, aren’t you?” Enny laughed.

“People like you never had happiness to begin with. Just a bunch of pathetic little boys crying out for daddy’s belt,” Adrian proclaimed with seething hatred.

“Guys, quit the fighting!” Vileplume tried to interject.

“I bet you wish you could be as cute as I could! There’s a reason you’re an umbreon, I’m sure,” Enny smirked.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Adrian growled intensely.

“Come on. You know, umbreon’s the most popular eeveelution in more ways than its design,” Enny said with a giggle.

“I’ll know what your fucking entrails look like!” Adrian roared. He stood up. The rings on his body glowed brightly, and his eyes burned brighter than the campfire.

“You’re not the tough guy you keep acting like! You’re just a sweet wittle bwe,” Enny mocked, standing up and putting on a girly voice again.

“ENOUGH!” Vileplume shouted. He shot a bluish-purple powder into the air, and it landed on Adrian and Enny.

The two eeveelutions hit the ground simultaneously, falling asleep instantly. Bellossom continued to sob, and Vileplume sat beside her. He looked at the two unconscious humans before him and breathed deeply. He and his sister slowly fell asleep as the sun rose over the horizon and the fire slowly simmered.

Labyrinth Cave

Everyone woke up the following afternoon separately. First, Bellossom woke up, who woke up her brother Vileplume. Enny woke up a little while after. All of them waited for Adrian, who woke up a half hour after Enny. Vileplume approached Adrian when he awoke and pulled him aside.

“Hey, we need to talk about last night,” he said while walking to a small clearing off the side of the road.

“Okay,” Adrian responded.

“Don’t you think you went a little off the rails with Enny?” Vileplume asked.

Adrian thought for a bit before replying, “Maybe a little.”

“A little?” Vileplume questioned, stunned by the answer. “You were ready to fight him last night over… nothing! You really think that’s not a lot?”

“Hey, I was just getting across my honest feelings towards him. He was the one who felt it was necessary to mock me.”

“Adrian, he was trying to relate to you. To be nice to you,” Vileplume lectured. “He wanted you to know he gets what it’s like to have lost a parent.”

“I never asked for his pity,” Adrian said.

“Still, that was way too much! You’re supposed to be our team leader, supposed to keep us together.” Vileplume said.

“When exactly did I volunteer to lead you guys?” Adrian asked.

Vileplume didn't answer that.

“You're the only person in the guild I can even tolerate being around. As for Enny? I'm hoping that the dungeon pokemon eat him alive.”

“Well, you made my sister cry. How does that make you feel?” Vileplume asked.

Adrian stopped his ranting for a moment and his expression changed. Vileplume couldn't really figure out what Adrian was thinking, but he seemed bothered. Adrian shook his head.

“Tell me how that's my fault? I didn't yell at her,” Adrian questioned.

“She hates the fighting, and you started it,” Vileplume answered. “If you controlled yourself a bit more, she wouldn't have gotten upset.”

“If you guys just kept me out of your conversation, none of that would've happened,” Adrian replied. He then turned around and started heading back towards the road. “Labyrinth Cave isn't far now. We can get there before the sun sets. Then we’ll all be free to disassociate from each other.”

---

The group reconvened and started moving towards the cave. No conversation this time. The air was full of tension from the argument during the last sunrise. Eventually they reached the entrance of the dungeon.

Adrian ordered everyone to sort out the supplies they had for the dungeon. Besides rations, the group had a pile of geo pebbles, four oran berries, two pecha berries, and a single stun seed.

The group divided the supplies between each other. Vileplume took two oran berries, Enny took a pecha and an oran berry, Bellossom got an oran berry and the geo pebbles, and Adrian took the stun seed and a pecha berry. With everyone set and ready, the group went into the dungeon, Adrian taking the lead.

The cave was dark and very difficult to see in. Everyone's eyes had slowly been adjusting to darkness over the past week, however. That, and Adrian kept his rings glowing as bright as he could to provide some light. Enny started calling him the “Torch Bre” to Vileplume and Bellossom, which got a couple of chuckles out of them.

The wild pokemon in the dungeon weren't too much of a hassle for the group, but sometimes they would sneak up on them and get a few strikes in before being dealt with. On the third floor, right after the group got down the cavern’s stairs, a nidorino pounced on Bellossom. It got a few bits in before Enny shot it off with a use of his Disarming Voice. Vileplume rushed over to her quickly.

“Bell!” He cried. “Are you hurt?”

He pulled out one of his oran berries and gave it to her. She took a small bite from it and tried to swallow it, but she ended up coughing it back up along with a dark purple ooze coming from her mouth.

“Dammit, Enny, she's poisoned! Where’s your pecha berry?” Vileplume asked.

“I-I used it on the last floor!” Enny answered.

Vileplume started to panic until Adrian approached. He held a pecha berry in his mouth and set it down in Bellossom’s hands. She quickly grabbed it and ate it, so quickly, Vileplume had to stop her from choking. She then finished the oran berry.

Bellossom looked up at Adrian and thanked him. Adrian scoffed and moved away towards another tunnel. The rest of the team got up and followed him.

---

In the 5th floor of the dungeon, the group found themselves caught in a battle with a pack of wild pokemon led by a machop. Enny shot off more of his Disarming Voices and tried to keep attention on him. Vileplume and Bellossom used a combination of stun spores and sleep powders on the pack, doing their best to avoid being hit. Adrian jumped in and out of the pack, disrupting any formations and picking off the weaker and stunned pokemon.

After all the pokemon were either downed, or fled, the group checked up with each other to make sure nobody was hurt badly. Adrian was the only exception, as he just paced around and waited for everyone to be done. Enny watched him pace around for a while until he saw some pebbles land on the ground beside him. Adrian didn't seem to notice, but when Enny looked up, he saw a set of stalactites slowly crumbling.

Enny quickly shot out his ribbons and grabbed Adrian, pulling him away from the spot he was walking and landing right on top of Enny.

“What the fuck do you think you’re-” Adrian began to yell. He was cut off by the sound of a set of stalactites piercing the ground.

The whole team was still and silent for a moment until Enny giggled. “My ribbons can feel how grateful you are,” he whispered in his girly voice.

Adrian pushed the ribbons off of him and got up immediately. He didn't say a word to Enny.

---

On their way out of the sixth floor, Bellossom stumbled on an orb. She asked, “What kind of orb is this?”

Vileplume and Enny weren't sure, as they were unfamiliar with orbs. Adrian took a closer look at it. It was dark with a small light that kind of looked like a star trapped inside the glass. He said, “It’s an escape orb. Should get us out of the dungeon if we use it.”

Bellossom marveled at the shiny orb before storing it in her bag. Vileplume got curious, though. “How are you so good at identifying stuff from our world, but Enny isn’t? If they were in your world, wouldn't they be common knowledge?” He asked.

Adrian was caught off guard by the simple and innocent question. “I-I… uh,” He stammered. “You didn't recognize it yourself. Some people just aren’t familiar with these things, you know-”

Enny giggled before interrupted with his girly voice. “The big, tough bre likes to play kids games! That's why!”

Bellossom and Vileplume were both confused by that comment. Vileplume was more worried about another fight breaking out, though. He looked at Adrian, expecting to see him pissed off and ready to defuse an argument. Instead, he saw something he didn’t expect.

“Adrian, are you blushing?” Vileplume asked.

Despite the relative darkness of the cave, Adrian’s red face was clearly visible to everyone. That, and his rings got brighter. Bellossom and Enny both giggled, while Adrian passed them without a word and kept moving.

---

At last, the group reached the seventh floor. Hey scoured the caves, looking for the gem they were sent to find. Eventually, they came across a golbat holding a gem in its mouth. When it spotted the group, it quickly ran away.

Adrian and Enny chased after it immediately, while Vileplume and Bellossom tried to keep pace. The group darted through tunnels and several rooms until they came to what looked like a room with a dead end. There were small cracks of light bleeding into the room, the two eeveelutions to clearly see the golbat flying in the middle of the room.

Thinking the chase was over, Adrian ran in and got ready to attack the golbat. When he entered the room, however, he was immediately picked up by a set of large, muscular arms and thrown through a stone pillar on the other side of the room.

Enny came to a screeching halt. Standing before him was a massive Machamp marveling at his handiwork with Adrian. It then looked at Enny. Enny started to use Disarming Voice, but before he could get it off, the machamp threw a karate chop straight into Enny’s throat, sending him straight to the ground in a coughing fit.

“Oh, now this is pathetic,” the machamp laughed. “I'm sitting ‘ere, waiting for one of the guild’s finest to arrest me, and this is all they send? A darkie and a little girly-girl?”

Vileplume and Bellossom finally caught up to see the sight of Enny choking up on the ground.

“And who’s this now?” The machamp laughed harder. He placed a set of hands at his hips. “They sent two little grassies into a cave with no rockies, but full of poison boys? Gonna have to think more about your composition if you wanna take me in, mate.”

“Uh, we’re not here to arrest you?” Vileplume said while Bellossom was visibly shaking. “We're just looking for a gem that a family of gravelers lost here. A golbat took it.”

“A gem, you say? Oi, Golby!” The machamp called out with a snap of his fingers. “What’re these lot talkin’ ‘bout?”

The golbat flew over and dropped the gem into one of the machamp’s hands. It was perfectly cut blue gemstone with a strong reflection visible, even in the dimly lit room.

“My oh my, what a beautiful little thing,” the machamp admired. “Why didn't ya tell me about this thing, fly-boy? Were you thinkin’ you’d keep it for yerself?”

“N-no! I just found it! Honest!” The golbat squeaked.

“Oh, that's a crock a shit if I ever heard one!”

“Hey!” Vileplume interrupted. “Uh… do you think you could just give us the gem, and we’ll call it even?

The machamp looked at the two grass types for a moment. Enny started to get back up, looking like he was about to ready an attack. Machamp swiftly turned around and gave him another throat chop to keep him out of the fight.

“I think I got a better idea,” Machamp said. “I’m gonna keep the gem and bury you two in the ground ‘til you blossom into trees. How's that sound?”

Vileplume and Bellossom got into shaky defensive stances.

“Alright, that's more like it!” Machamp grinned, getting into an offensive stance. “Golby, keep the little lady down, would you?”

“Machamp, that's a dude,” Golbat said.

“Wait, what?” Machamp got out of his stance and looked back at Golbat. “Why’s he wearin’ a skirt, then?”

“I dunno,” Golbat replied. “It's kinda cute, though,”

“What, are you fuckin’ gay?”

“Wh- no! I just think it looks nice on him! Can't I admire a man’s fashion choices?”

“Well not when he’s wearin’ women’s clothes,” Machamp argued

“Why not? I think it’s fine for him to wear that. Nothing gay about it.”

“The fuck? There's absolutely someth- oh, forget it! We’ll talk about this later!”

Machamp leaped at Vileplume and Bellossom and started attacking them. It ended up more like a beating than an actual battle. Machamp used his two sets of arms to punch the brother and sister simultaneously while Enny was on the ground being harassed by Golbat. Bellossom and Vileplume tried to shoot spores and powders at their attacker, but they weren't having any effect besides pissing him off.

Enny still hadn’t regained his voice, so there was nothing he could do to get Golbat off of him. Enny began to lose any hope of his attacker relenting. It was around that point when, suddenly, a bright flash hit the side of Golbat’s head, causing it to freeze up and fall onto the ground. It was petrified.

Enny looked to see where the attack came from. He saw, in the shadows, a set of glowing rings and fiery red eyes staring right at him. Enny got the message clearly. He stood up, cleared his throat, and fired off a volley of Disarming Voices. Each one connected with Machamp, who was entirely unprepared for the attack.

He turned to face the sylveon, severely damaged by the attack. He started walking over to attack Enny. Vileplume and Bellossom were able to focus on an attack, though. They charged a power sleep powder together and released it onto Machamp, knocking him out instantly.

Bellossom and Vileplume walked over to Enny. The two of them were bruised from head to toe, but still conscious. Enny was badly scratched. Luckily, Golbat didn't end up poisoning him. Enny turned towards the shadows where he saw Adrian, leading Bellossom and Vileplume to look over as well.

Adrian stumbled out slowly. His whole body was covered in dust and deep gashes that the rocks he landed in left. The glow on his rings had faded. Enny went to his side and used a ribbon to support him. Adrian didn’t push him off. Vileplume came over and gave Adrian his last oran berry, which he nibbled weakly.

Bellossom went over to the sleeping Machamp and took back the gem he had. With everything said and done, she pulled out the escape orb and slammed it into the ground.

In a blinding flash, the group of explorers and the two outlaws were transported to the entrance of the cave. Adrian’s team traveled to a nearby village and had the outlaws detained. Then, they began their journey home.

---

The following week, around sunset, Vileplume, Bellossom, and Enny visited Adrian's room. Adrian lay on a blanket, covered in bandages. Beside him was a broken TM and a solved Rubik's cube.

“Did you figure out what move was on that TM?” Vileplume asked.

“Yeah, actually,” Adrian replied. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, they turned blue and the Rubik's cube started to float beside him. “It teaches Psychic.”

“Kind of an underwhelming reward for being beaten by that Machamp if I’m being honest,” Vileplume complained.

“It was worth it to me. Why are you guys in here, though?” Adrian asked.

“We wanted to tell you! The guild was so impressed with our work, they asked us to remain a team!” Bellossom cheered.

“We also got moved up to ‘normie’ rank for beating the outlaws. Not sure what that means, but I assume it’s a good thing” Vileplume said.

“So I gotta deal with you three for all my future missions?” Adrian grumbled.

“Yup! Our official team name is Team Moonshine!” Enny said.

“Jesus Christ, that’s awful. Tell me something good. What did you guys do with the reward money?” Adrian asked.

“Well we restocked some of our supplies, and I got myself this twist band,” Vileplume said, presenting a braided band he had tied around his arm.

“I got a defense scarf! A real one this time!” Bellossom proudly presented her new scarf.

Enny just stood there and smiled innocently at Adrian.

Adrian glared at Enny. “What did you fucking do?”

Enny answered, “Well, if you must know, I reserved us all a little table at the Blue Claw Inn, and got us dinner and drinks for the night.”

“Why the stupid look then?” Adrian asked.

Enny just started giggling while Vileplume explained. “He started telling everyone at the inn’s bar about how much of a hero you were during our first mission, defeating Golbat and saving his life.”

“And he did it all while pretending to be a girl,” Bellossom added.

“What the fuck?” Adrian groaned. “I'm not going, then.”

“Come on, Addy. It's your celebratory feast!” Enny chimed.

“Fuck off and die,” Adrian growled.

“He’s just messing with you. Come on, it’ll be fun,” Vileplume said.

“I said fuck off!” Adrian roared. “I don't need to get drunk at Blue Claw. I’ve still got wounds from the mission, anyway. I’ll get dinner here,”

The three pokemon looked at each other, then back at Adrian. They all nodded in agreement on something.

“What are you guys-”

Adrian was cut off by a cloud of stun spores, paralyzing his whole body. Enny then went over and, with a bit of help from Vileplume, picked up Adrian. The two carried him out of his room and traveled to the inn for their feast.

After walking about halfway through the town, the paralysis started to wear off and Adrian started struggling to get free. He yelled all sorts of slurs and colorful language towards his teammates, and he even started biting at Enny’s ribbons. They finally dropped him down on the floor of the inn.

“I swear to fucking God,” Adrian continued complaining as he picked himself up off the ground. “You drag me through town like that ever again, and I’ll-”

Adrian was cut short as Bellossom presented a drink to Adrian. A dark gummi shake with a strong smell of alcohol. Adrian picked it up with Psychic and begrudgingly accepted it. He took a long drink from the glass before walking over to the reserved table with his new team.