(ACE) The LAVERRE Team

Grimsley watched in silence for a bit as the group conversed. He sat quietly for the most part, listening to Nisha as the Liepard purred softly, the slight vibrations from the feline's side calming both herself and her Trainer into a tranquil silence. Shyama was laying against his side, the puppy's eyes darting back and forth as they looked around the room. The Elite Trainer had to chuckle to himself as he carefully petted the small pup, earning a quiet bark of content from the Houndrunt.

"Somebody help, they're complimenting me and I don't know what to do!" Looking up, Grimsley smiled as he watched the Umbreon interact with the others in the group. It was rare now, for him to find such a well-established group. From the sounds of it, they had only met the previous night, yet they had a bond stronger than some trainers he knew shared with their pokemon. He didn't want to think about what probably happened to cause such a tight-knit group in a matter of hours. It wasn't necessary.

"Do you wanna go, Nisha~?" The dark feline looked back at Grimsley, arching one eyebrow at him for a moment, a silent question passing between them. Will you be okay here on your own? Grimsley nodded to her, smiling as he did so to show his partner that he was sincere. Nisha rolled her eyes turning to rub her face against Grimsley's hand before the feline turned around and trotted towards the exit, stopping just beside the Spectreon, Kaneki.

"I'm still hungry, can you get me something to eat?" The innocence of the small child was something that both made Grimsley happy, but also slightly sad. It was rare to see such joy within a child nowadays. Even Shyama, who he found within an alleyway, was still as happy as could be, despite the situation. It must be a child thing, to see the light within such dark times.

As Plant, the small Snivy got up to join the ones who were going outside, Grimsley waved a goodbye to the group, getting a responding wave of a tail from Nisha, who turned to follow the others outside. "We'll be back real soon!" With a chuckle, Grimsley turned his attention back inside, where Hide, Conan, Verglas, Shyama and himself stayed back. In a way, Grimsley was glad that Hide had decided to stay back. The relationship that the Riolu had with the Spectreon was intriguing. Grimsley was sure there was something more than just a friendship there, with how the two acted, but there were also times there where he really wasn't sure.

"Hide? Can you play hide and seek with me?" Letting his attention fall to the small Eevee once more, Grimsley smiled as he watched the small normal type approached Hide, who kneeled slightly to get onto eye-level with the Eevee, a grin spreading on the Fighting Type's muzzle. Looking down at Shyama, Grimsley nudged the Houndrunt forwards slightly, silently telling the pup to go approach them. Perhaps if he could get Shyama to play with the others, then she would stop being so energetic at times. Honestly, it was difficult taking care of a small puppy in an apocalypse. There were so many dangers, things that could harm Shyama, and him, that letting her go out and play was something that he just couldn't do. So of course, if he got the chance to do it here, with this group, he would jump on it.

"Heck yeah, we can. I gotta warn ya, I'm pretty good at hide-and-seek! But stay inside, okay? Do you wanna seek first?" With a light chuckle, Grimsley watched as Shyama got to her paws, trotting over to Hide and Conan with a wagging tail, her bright eyes shining as the Houndrunt approached the two pokemon. "Anyone want to play hide-and-seek with us?" The puppy lept at this chance, stopping just beside the two and bouncing lightly in place.

”Oh! Oh! Me! Can I play with you? I love hide and seek!” The puppy said happily, her ears flopping forwards slightly as the Houndrunt raced around the two once, skidding to a stop just before she ran into Conan's side. Grimsley laughed lightly at the fire pup's antics, rolling his eyes in amusement. It was never boring to travel with someone as energetic as Shyama, that was for sure.

"How nice is Kaneki, Hide?" Conan's question almost caught Grimsley off guard as he looked to the small Eevee kit, then to Hide. He was also wondering that question himself. Sure the Spectreon was their ghostly protector, but in honesty, they didn't know much about the Ghost. He referenced dying, so Grimsley assumed that to become what he is, he must have died, but the trauma from that, just what had id done to them? Sure they weren't just the same as before they had died, right?

"Well, he can be scary, at times, but that's only when he's protecting me or others from something even scarier. He's a very nice guy. He's protective, and takes things a bit too personally, but he's a really, really nice guy. You'd like him if you get to know him." Well, he couldn't deny that. Kaneki had already proved to be a good leader, and he made sure to never undermine the others. Grimsley admired how even though he took charge, he never once undermined Alirah's rule, making sure to confirm everything with the pastel Umbreon. It was something that the Elite Trainer could observe, and appreciate in the Spectreon.

"If he's ever getting really scary, just remember that he's only like that to protect you. He hates seeing his friends hurt." Grimsley's smile dipped for a second as he thought. Really scary? What could he mean by that? Was there more to their ghostly protection than he let on? Honestly, he would not be surprised. The inner workings of that ghost's mind was an enigma.

"What other Pokemon.. do you have?" Blinking, Grimsley had to search a minute to find Verglas, his mind bouncing back after his moment of thought. The Snover was asking him a question, about his team. Grimsley smiled at the ice and grass type.

”Well, I have a full team of six. Shyama is the small Houndrunt, over there,” he motioned to the Houndrunt that was happily bouncing around Hide, before continuing. ”Nisha is my partner, so she's usually always out of her pokeball. My other four team mates consist of Bisharp, Skuntank, Krookodile and Greninja.” He said, listing them off on his fingers. ”We're a pretty tight knit group, so we should be able to help you in your quest, whatever that issue may be.” He said with a smile. ”Speaking of, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is it that you need my help with?”

Stepping into the morning sunlight was a completely different experience with Ali's heart back in her chest. No miracle had happened, life was not magically improved - but the sun came up. An easily-overlooked, yet important part of their world hadn't given up yet, and the Umbreon wouldn't either. She would force herself to carry on for those lost and the ones remaining by her side.

"Where are we going?" The momentary holdback in the Grass-type's voice drew Alirah's attention; right as she began to ask if something was the matter, her pelt twitched in surprise. "Just over to the cafe. There's bound to be food there, so we should be fine to just walk over, grab some food and water, and come back." Kaneki casually gestured to their destination with a gaseous tail as he (re?)appeared. Alirah puffed her cheeks out and padded haughtily, though the façade was short lived with a very terribly stifled snicker breaking her antics. Even more amusing is that outside of her mind, the notion probably seemed unprovoked. She was just mad that he could ninja better than her.

She cleared the lump in her throat, walking alongside the others like she had grown up ten years in an instant. "Yeah, we rationed the non-perishables like the end--" She paused. "... of the world. Anyways, we generally only took a little of the canned food as we needed it and there's like three bags of kibble left. Two are still sealed and stuff." She edged closer to the side of the wooden bridge, looking over the side at her reflection in the pond. Alirah gasped quietly when her paw didn't find placing, the wooden panels missing from a few areas including that one. "As for water, there's some in the Pokémon Center, but I dunno if that's worth it unless we don't have a choice." She continued, nonchalantly hopping over the gaps in the bridge. "I sure as heck don't wanna visit again any time soon."

((OoC: I'm gonna go ahead and end it here so we don't move too fast, yeah? If anyone wants to enter the Café, feel free but please remember it's pretty jacked up at the moment. Only one bag of food is still sealed while the other two are torn up and spilled everywhere. There's still a small amount of other types of food around but they might need to scavenge for them. My Jolteon, Taima, is responsible. Not even in RP yet and she's screwing them over. \o/))

The Snivy's tail twitched and he stretched his neck, tilting his head downward slightly while keeping his eyes forward. If the sunlight continued to improve, unlike the day before, he could easily bypass this meal of 'protein' and 'granola' for lovely photosynthesis. Peaking up at the sky Plant's brow furrowed. There were a few worrying clouds and rain often spanned more than one day. Still, he relished the soft sunlight as it was and let his face relax slightly. "Just over to the cafe. There's bound to be food there, so we should be fine to just walk over, grab some food and water, and come back." The Spectreon answered him coolly. Looking off toward the building in question the Snivy was half eased, half disappointed by how close it was. The thought of going back to their previous shelter so soon sent mites through his scales. But.. Verglas shouldn't be alone.

Filling his chest with air Plant pushed the thought away. He needed to stop worrying so much! He was getting fresh air and food with Pokemon that, for once, didn't want one of them dead. Take the opportunity, dumb dumb! Suddenly the Umbreon huffed and tromped forward, taking even more of the head of the group. Had he annoyed her? "Yeah, we rationed the non-perishables like the end--" We? How long had these Pokemon been together in this place? "... of the world. Anyways, we generally only took a little of the canned food as we needed it and there's like three bags of kibble left. Two are still sealed and stuff." Kibble? The Snivy's hands curled into tiny balls. What were all these things that other Pokemon ate? So far none of their names sounded particularly appealing. Not that that was a fair way to judge. "What are kibble?" He decided to ask. Sure, he'd find out soon enough, but it couldn't hurt.

The group passed by a small bridge that Plant couldn't recall seeing before. Which side of town had he come in from again? Probably not this one I guess. As they walked over its broken slats the water below gave a small splash and caught his attention. In its shimmering surface Plant saw the almost foreign reflection of his green and tan face. There was a sunken look to his eyes, a darkness beneath them that he had often seen on other Pokemon's faces. When he noticed it a while back on his own face he fretted, but nothing seemed to make it go away. When had he changed...? The water churned and, with a silent sigh, he keeps walking, turning his face away from the pond without another thought on it.

The Umbreon continued, stepping lightly over the bridge, "As for water, there's some in the Pokémon Center, but I dunno if that's worth it unless we don't have a choice." The air still had a damp, refreshing feeling from the previous days rain. Though puddles and mud were everywhere there was bound to be fresh water hanging about that they could collect instead. "I sure as heck don't wanna visit again any time soon." Plant looked at the pink Pokemon wearily. She didn't want to go back? Did something happen? If there was something dangerous there then water was definitely not worth it when there were other options. "I'm not thirsty." He mentions lightly, looking at the other two dark types. Did they know something he didn't?

Pushing the thought away Plant looks for any pooled water that isn't standing, but instead his eyes fall on the dilapidated building they had been heading to. Unlike his home that didn't get much rainfall these structures had been heavily beaten by the elements. Under the smell of rain the town held the scent of mold and showed it in massive mushroom population that was everywhere. The building looked too worn, too battered to hold anything.. desirable. "Are you sure there is food in there?" He asks worriedly, running one hand across the side of the Cafe. Its wooden beams flaked under even his light touch. "It doesn't look too good, or safe.. and I could tell you which of the mushrooms around here are safe to eat."


”Well, I have a full team of six. Shyama is the small Houndrunt, over there,” The tiny pup had been there before but the Snover had paid no attention to it. It didn't look like it would be much help to him. ”Nisha is my partner, so she's usually always out of her pokeball. My other four team mates consist of Bisharp, Skuntank, Krookodile and Greninja.” While he only recognized some of the names they were all pretty powerful Pokemon, and the others didn't sound weak either. The gears in the Snover's mind start to turn. Grimsley must be a respectable trainer of great power to carry so many strong Pokemon. A crawling sensation alike to tingles creeps over his skin. What amazing luck to of run into him!

”We're a pretty tight knit group, so we should be able to help you in your quest, whatever that issue may be.” Yes, yes! A small light returns to Verglas' dark red eyes. Soon his trainer would be returned to him, his mission would be over, and things could return to how they were. A slow inhale rattles the tree's body and his gaze falls toward the bouncing puppy. Would they be able to withstand the cold? Neither the cat nor the pup seemed overly bulky. There are others. He had a full team. He had those that could. The breathe leaves his body though its effects did not matter.

”Speaking of, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is it that you need my help with?” Verglas' red gaze shifts back toward the man before taking a slow blink. How long had it been since he set out, since he last saw her? While everything else was a haze the details shined brightly in the snowstorm of his mind. "My trainer and I were, attacked." His words come slow with odd pauses as the scene replays across his eyes. "Mightyena came high, in the mountains. They don't go that high. I fought them off but she got trapped by the snow." How long had he sat on that ledge, waiting for help? The look on her face never changed, the position of her hand didn't falter. His stiff arms begin to move with his words, the closest thing he can get to emotion. "She needs help! I went to find help, and you I have found."

Grimsley chuckled lightly as he watched Shyama bound up to Conan and Hide, blinking slightly in surprise as the small puppy ran into the Eevee's side. "Oof" The Elite Trainer went to move, but he settled when he noticed that neither the Houndrunt, nor the Eevee were harmed from the collision, and so he re-assumed his previous position of leaning against the wall. The Elite Trainer's eyes stayed glued on the snover, though more out of concern for the duel type than because they were undead. How long had they been like this? It was awful to think that even after all this time, there were undead and infected were still out there, with some shred of sanity, just looking for a way to get back to normal.

But there isn't a normal anymore. Any sense of normalcy was lost when this epidemic started. Grimsley thought, movement catching his eye as he looked to the side to see Hide hide within a pile of clothing off to his left. Shyama looked around for a quick hiding spot, and after a few unsuccessful seconds, the Houndrunt ran over to Grimsley, tunneling under his scarf and hiding within the folds of the fabric. The trainer simply chuckled and helped to finish covering the puppy with the pale cream fabric so that it didn't look as obvious.

"I can start counting when you both are ready." Looking up at Conan, Grimsley looked around to see if anyone else was hiding, before looking back at the Eevee.

”They've both hidden now.” Grimsley mused, looking over at Verglas as the Snover began to speak, answering his previous question.

"My trainer and I were, attacked." Attacked? Grimsley frowned lightly, his ice blue eyes looking at the Snover, taking closer look at the bandages the the green cloth. "Mightyena came high, in the mountains. They don't go that high. I fought them off but she got trapped by the snow." Oh dear. If they had been trapped recently, then he might be able to help, but if Verglas's trainer had been trapped for a long period of time... Then chances he couldn't help. Sure, he was familiar with helping people who had been covered in snow, or have had severe frostbite, but there comes a time when you just can't save them.

Opelucid was a harsh reminder of that.

"She needs help! I went to find help, and you I have found." But there was so much hope in the Snover's voice, Grimsley couldn't just go back on his word. He said he would help, and he's not going to turn around and say no, not after this Snover has gone through so much just to find a human. He sighed lightly.

”How long has your trainer been trapped? There's a finite time in which a human can be frozen for before it becomes...” He trailed off, trying to find the right words to explain to Verglas that his trainer might be beyond saving. ”... Impossible to wake them back up.” He finished, hoping that he didn't anger the Snover. ”That's not to say I won't try. I said I would help you, and I plan on keeping my word.”

The city, no matter the circumstance, always had a mysterious charm to it. Alirah slowed and nearly fell behind more than once as the expense for looking in awe at everything she had seen many times before. Her childish curiosity would likely never die even as she, herself, did.
She trotted akin to a show Rapidash back to Plant's side. "I'm not thirsty." Alirah couldn't hold back a laugh as Plant shared her sentiments exactly. Tapering the slightly high-pitched noise into a smile, she agreed, "Me neither! We got so much rain, I don't think I'll ever want a drink again!" She tilted her head side-to-side in thought, "Although, I think I'll have to have one every once in a while. Mammals are made of a fair amount of water, right? I'm afraid if I don't, I might just disappear~" She held that silly smile even as her attention was drawn to the clock built over the Gym. No matter how much she thought about it, she could never figure out a reason why it had thirteen numbers. Maybe it was a thing back when the clock was created, she didn't know, humans could be odd with their designs sometimes...
The poofy Umbreon, absentmindedly ignoring the oddity of the shape in the window, checked ahead for the Café as though it could've gotten up and fled during the storm. She looked back to the clock and over the face of the building, noticing something different about the second floor window but not paying any specific thought to it.

While the Café had already began falling into disrepair, the storm reduced it to another broken shack in the city as pieces of the structure littered the surrounding ground. Ali's mood saddened a little at a staple of her life being in such sad condition, but... It's... It was just another building...
"Are you sure there is food in there?" Plant's hand brushed the outer wall of the Café, small pieces of Ali's memories peeling off and dropping to the mud. This was the building they fled to the night everything changed. "It doesn't look too good, or safe.. and I could tell you which of the mushrooms around here are safe to eat."
Alirah swished her tail beside her, dragging her curly fur across the splintery wood and chipping it off as well. "It's certainly seen better days, but there should be some food still, I promise," she smiled, flicking her tail back behind her. "We should probably move what's left back to the Boutique, you guys think?"

"But what I really want to know," she began in a poorly-acted musical voice, standing on her hind legs much like a human in such a play would and poking a mushroom sprouting by the door with a hind paw, "is how people eat these! I've never tried one, are they good?" Ali asked, dropping the theatrical voice in favor of that curiosity again. "Can I try this one-- Aah!"
It was obviously harder to get back down than up as the Umbreon attempted to plop onto all-fours and stumbled, tripping backwards and crashing into the Café door. It swung inwards and she landed flat on her back, winded from the impact. She would never mock a cat in a tree again, that stuff was serious. "Owowowow... That wasn't my most elegant ever..." She wheezed, trying to restore air into her poor lungs.

"I'm alright. S-sorry, I didn't mean to do that..." She stammered, instantly regretting how lightly she had been taking the entire situation. That blunder could've turned out very tragic in a myriad of ways, but for once... it hadn't. Now back on all four feet, she brightened her ivory rings to cut through the darkness in the Café. "We kept this place pretty secure I think. But... Can we check anyways?"
Alirah illuminated the room sort of like a living LED light. The Café wasn't extraordinary architecturally and the furniture had been moved out of the way early into the Epidemic to lessen the odds of something successfully ambushing anyone who may had entered.

"Food's in here."

If things had been as expected, that would not have fit with the entire theme of this city.

Ali's jaw fell open as she angled her forehead ring to light up the kitchen. It was nothing like they'd left it last time! The bags of food were carelessly torn open and the contents strewn across the floor, with the glass jars of food and plates stored on the shelves now shattered amongst the spilled kibble. "T-this isn't what I brought you guys here for..." She gave an exasperated sigh, her angry frown staying for only a moment despite all of her organized canned goods tossed about and some unidentifiable without labels. "It wouldn't have bothered me if they took something. But they came in here and destroyed what was kinda obviously supplies for those living here..." Ali picked up a can in her teeth, placing it by the door they had entered. "I am so sorry... I thought I had something better to offer everyone."

((OoC - Feel free to grab anything your character would like. Also... Wanna be silly? Pick some ingredients - it doesn't matter what they are, let's see where this goes! - because we're gonna try to cook a decent meal in RP hehe. We're gonna need mushrooms too! I actually got this idea from Plant<3))

The air was so.. busy. The scent of rain sat on top of everything else but there was mud, grass, mushrooms, rotten wood, leaf mold, water, trees..! Everything tasted so fresh and alive, a stark contrast to the usual scents of rot, blood, and death that seemed to coat the world. All that rain had really worked wonders. "Me neither! We got so much rain, I don't think I'll ever want a drink again!" The poofy Umbreon mused. "Although, I think I'll have to have one every once in a while. Mammals are made of a fair amount of water, right? I'm afraid if I don't, I might just disappear~" Plant tilted his head at her, perplexed. He was a plant so he needed lots and lots of water. Did these 'mammals' need just as much? Why would you disappear?

He pushed the thought away. Too many people disappeared and thinking about it wouldn't bring them back. It wouldn't bring her back. Plant's tiny fingers brushed over a patch of moss that was climbing the wooden surface. It was soft and lush, a makeshift cover for the buildings disrepair. Not like stone at all. His stone home turned to dirt and rubble while this place got covered by itself. "It's certainly seen better days, but there should be some food still, I promise. We should probably move what's left back to the Boutique, you guys think?" Plant took his hand away from the beam. Compared to the other building this one wasn't looking so good. If they left the food it could attract attention, or just simply rot if water got in. "We should probably take it." He concluded, realizing that meant being stuck in their shelter..

"But what I really want to know," He quickly shook it off, or at least tried to, when Alirah starting poking at one of the mushrooms. "Is how people eat these! I've never tried one, are they good?" Taking a closer look at the mushroom she was prodding Plant shook his head, "Uh, that one would make you si-" he started when she fell and crashed through the door. Rushing after her he was relieved see she was alright and remained quiet as she brightened her rings and room around them. It was, strange. As they headed further in the Snivy felt a disturbance to the air.. Compared to outside there was something almost malicious about this place. It.. this didn't feel right. "Food's in here." There was an audible gasp.

The room was an absolute mess. Someone, no, something had been here. Something had been looking for something, like it had crashed threw the room and the 'kibbles' were just a casualty. The food [or at least he guessed the tiny stones were food] had been torn open but it didn't even look like that was the goal. Tasted, tested, but not what was desired. "T-this isn't what I brought you guys here for..." Plant doesn't leave the doorway. What sick creature would do this? Even the monsters didn't destroy like this; they always had goals. "I am so sorry... I thought I had something better to offer everyone." His tiny fingers gripped and worked at the edges of his sleeves. His breath quickened, unable to find comfort in anything. It hadn't been long but his time away from Verglas was already taking its toll.

Small shakes started to rattle through him. "I-its not your fault," he muttered softly before heading back out of the building. Some of that food was probably salvageable but he could barely tell what of it was food in the first place. I'd be useless. Stepping outside he takes in the sweet smell to the air to calm himself. Something about these buildings was just setting off so many alarm bells in his head.We still need food though. Keeping his eyes wide open the Snivy walked around the Cafe looking for anything edible. There were tons of different mushrooms, and he wouldn't have to go back inside to get them. Hopefully, some were edible. The large, red and white ones were poisonous, the spindly ones were too small for everyone else, the orange ones were toxic..

There was a large, very dead tree nearby, its branches bare and bark peeling. Tottering over to it Plant could see what he was looking for before he could reach them. The large veiny caps of morels and the flat yellowish ones of honey fungus, both very tasty and edible. He plucked all he could carry, going as far as using his vines as a makeshift basket to accompany his short arms. Bumbling his way back to the others he hoped they were successful in recovering some food from the Cafe while also being open minded to his find. When their pelts came back into view he gripped the mushrooms a bit tighter, and nervously mewled, "I found safe ones. They're tasty, too." His eyes dart anxiously to the floor. "That is.. if you want to try them."


There was something in the humans face Verglas swore he recognized, like regret or reservation. It was the same face others gave him when offering help to Plant. To him, it was just another form of disappointment. ”How long has your trainer been trapped? There's a finite time in which a human can be frozen for before it becomes...” "How... long?" The words dribble from his mouth. How long had he been sitting on the slope with her? How long had it taken to get down the mountain? How long had he spent traveling with Plant? How long did he walk and search and find the human he needed? How long would it be before they got to her again and he would once again be in her arms?? ”... Impossible to wake them back up.” "She needs help." He repeated adamantly. ”That's not to say I won't try. I said I would help you, and I plan on keeping my word.”

He had no perception of this amount of time. For his species time moved slowly. Cold weather made for poor and slow growth, and his certainly had been stunted from unnatural habitat. His six rings had taken a while to come through but even then he was hardly more than a child. Hardly any headway toward evolution, toward strength. His mind blurs and the image of his trainers face comes up again, the same as always. "Not long," he rumbled, trying to find some point of reference. "She still has time." Who knows how much she had but she had to have some. If they hurried it would be okay. Things would be okay.

Quietly following the group, Kaneki cast one of his eyes towards the liepard that walked alongside them, his instincts telling him to keep away from the powerful Dark Type. They had a type advantage over him, and they no doubt had a higher level. Unless they truly proved themselves trustworthy, Kaneki doubted that he would ever fully trust the feline. With a quick glance to the Liepard, Kaneki trotted forwards so that he was back to walking alongside Alirah.

"I'm not thirsty." He rarely got thirsty anymore. Since dying, his need for certain substances had diminished. He of course, always drank or ate whenever Hide would, just so that he wouldn't worry his beau, but he never got any sustenance from it, really. Just a little bit of energy. He heaved a sigh and kept walking. No need to reminisce on the past now.

"Me neither! We got so much rain, I don't think I'll ever want a drink again!" Looking back at Alirah with a low chuckle, the Spectreon shook his head at the Umbreon's antics. Never drink again? She'd die of thirst. "Although, I think I'll have to have one every once in awhile. Mammals are made of a fair amount of water, right? I'm afraid if I don't, I might just disappear~" He chuckled once more, moving to stroll beside Ali with all the grace of a cat.

"I'm a ghost, and If I don't keep myself healthy, I'd disappear, but I don't think that's how it works for those that are still living. I think you'd just shrivel up. We can't have that beautiful pink coat going grey now, can we?" He mused, a slight purr rumbling in his chest as the Spectreon kept walking towards the cafe. His twin red tails brushed lightly against the ground as he walked, bi-colored eyes darting across the roads, looking for any danger around the area.

"Are you sure there is food in there?" Switching his gaze to the cafe, Kaneki had to admit that the building had seen better days. Paint was peeling off the walls, and the building itself looked to be in serious disrepair. Perhaps risking another trip to the Pokemon Center would have been worth it after all. "It doesn't look too good, or safe.. and I could tell you which of the mushrooms around here are safe to eat." He had to agree with Plant. Moving up to the door, Kaneki looked around the perimeter of the building, disappearing into the longer grass for a moment as he checked round behind the building.

Once he gave it the all-clear, Kaneki returned to the group. "I don't smell any immediate danger, so we're good to enter." He said quietly, sitting down under a window and scratching at his chin with a back paw. "It's certainly seen better days, but there should be some food still, I promise," With a toothy grin, Kaneki couldn't help but to chuckle. "Probably a good thing. You and Hide have stomachs louder than an angry Beartic."

With another, more louder chuckle, Kaneki fought back a yawn as he watched the group from where he sat. "We should probably move what's left back to the Boutique, you guys think?" With a quick nod, Kaneki confirmed his thoughts afterwards, "sounds like a plan."

He watched in puzzled amusement as Alirah pushed herself up onto two paws, beginning to talking a high-end posh accent which wa so obviously exaggerated. "But what I really want to know," The Spectreon watched with a bemused expression as Alirah prodded at one of the nearby mushrooms with a hind paw. The Spectreon was practically counting the moments until she fell over. "Is how people eat these! I've never tried one, are they good?" With a quickly squashed laugh, Kaneki moved over to enter the cafe, his ear twitching as he heard what Alirah was saying. "Can I try this one-- Aah!"

Quickly jumping backwards to avoid getting crushed underneath the pastel Umbreon, Kaneki watched in a mixture of severe amusement and worry as Alirah literally crashed through the door. "Are you alright, Ali?"

"Owowowow... That wasn't my most elegant ever..." With a quiet snort, Kaneki trotted over to Alirah, looking down at her with worry - and a twinge of amusement. "I'm alright. S-sorry, I didn't mean to do that..." Rolling his eyes, Kaneki continued into the cafe, stopping a few meters into the building to wait for the others to catch up. "We kept this place pretty secure I think. But... Can we check anyways?" With a nod, Kaneki started moving into the building, looking behind him as Alirah's rings lit up the room like a neon light from the city.

"Food's in here." Following after Alirah, Kaneki prepped a Detect, his red eye glowing slightly as he looked around, his muscles tensed as he ducked around a corner, eyes sweeping around as he looked in the room. Something felt wrong, forcing the fur along his spine to spike upwards. He started pretty badly when Alirah gasped lightly, making him stiffen as he whipped around, eye blazing as he looked around for the danger. "T-this isn't what I brought you guys here for..."

Sucking in a deep breath, Kaneki silently berated himself for being so jumpy, biting his lip as he stalked into the room, meticulously scanning the room for anything of danger. "It wouldn't have bothered me if they took something. But they came in here and destroyed what was kinda obviously supplies for those living here..." With a light growl, Kaneki began pacing around the room, stepping around the torn open bags and jumping over the kibble that lay scattered over the floor. The light growl grew deeper the more Kaneki scoped around, his tails beginning to lash as he swept his eyes over the entire area, a light red glow following his red eye as his Detect worked on overtime.

"Asshole." He finally said, his growl still present, even as he stalked back over to the group. "I don't care who they think they are, I am not letting them near us. Not after this damn stunt." With a irritated snarl, Kaneki jumped up onto a nearby countertop, searching through the open shelves underneath for anything tinned. Perhaps there was still some hope.

"I am so sorry... I thought I had something better to offer everyone." Looking up from where he was digging through the shelves. His growl diminished to a low sigh. "It's not your fault, Alirah. It's the ass who decided the ransack this place's fault. We'll just have to search for some tins or something. Grimsley should be able to open them." He said, resuming his searching in the shelf.

The Spectreon's ear twitched as he heard Plant leave, looking up from where he stood - a can of tinned diced Tamato Berries in his jaws as he looked to where the small starter walked off to. Jumping off the counter, he walked over to the door, relieved when he saw the starter return with an armful of mushrooms. "I found safe ones. They're tasty, too."

Placing the tin in his mouth down on the ground, the Spectreon grinned at Plant. "That is.. if you want to try them."

"That's perfect. Since the food here looks to be ransacked by that ass earlier, I'm sure we'd all be happy to try some. They look nice - and smell it too!" he gave Plant a sincere smile, picking the tin back up and heading back over to Alirah, to see how her food collection was going. "We should probably also get something like water as well, in case we need it. There should be bottles here somewhere, right?"

---

Hide placed his paws over his muzzle, biting his lip as he stilled his breathing to only a few shallow breaths so that he didn't give away his position. From where he was buried in the clothing, he could see Conan from where he was, watching as the Eevee quickly announced, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Ready or not here I come!"

His chocolate eyes followed Conan as the Eevee paced over his his hiding spot, staying around for a moment before walking off. A shuffle within the human's scarf alerted the seeker to Shyama's presence, allowing the Houndrunt to be found. Hide snickered lightly, trying extra hard to stay quiet, even as Conan cried out cheerfully, "found you!"

"Huh, I wonder where Hide went?" Oh yes indeed. Where did he go? Hide giggled quietly to himself, staying extra still when Conan moved back to his hiding place, searching through it more carefully.

Alas, his win was not to be, as Conan pounced on the pile with a gleeful cry. "Found you!"

With a huff of air, Hide sat up from in the pile, a huge grin on his face. "Drat! I thought I did a really good job! You've got eyes like a Braviary, huh?" Hide laughed, getting out of the pile and moving over to the center of the room once more. "So, who's seeking next? Me, or Shyama?"

Grimsely listened in to the small Eevee's speech, his icy gaze settling on the small kit for a few seconds, a smile crawling up his face. He watched silently, looking out the door where the others had left from. He felt exposed, without his partner here with him, but that was only from years of only having the Liepard as his single traveling companion. He had been with the feline for almost his entire life. He honestly couldn't remember much of his past before he met Nisha. Spinning dials, and flashing lights were all that came to mind.

With a deep sigh, Grimsley lifted his eyes back from Conan, shifting to the bundle of bleached white fabric where Shyama was hiding. He could tell that the poor pup would be found rather quickly, but he wasn't going to ruin her chances. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Ready or not here I come!" With a quiet laugh, Grimsley opened his bag, getting out a pencil and his notebook, writing down a few notes about the events that had progressed over the time that he had met this group.

It had become habit for him to write short simple lines detailing that day. It was a habit that Nisha had gotten him into after his... Relapse. His mouth twitched into a frown as he recalled the events that led up to that dark few months. He had really dropped the ball on his team there. Drapion, Scrafty, Sharpedo... He shook his head lightly, trying to chase those thoughts away. He shouldn't be thinking of that. Not now. He has his team, he can't fail them again. He wont fail them again.

"Found you!" A light squeak from Shyama brought Grimsley back to the present, his eyes snapping down to see Shyama crawl out from in his scarf. He chuckled as the Houndrunt huffed out a small puff of smoke, receiving a small pat on the head from Grimsley. ”Don't worry Shyama. I think you did really well.” He praised, scribbling down a few more notes in his book before closing it and placing it back into his bag so that he could observe Shyama and Conan try and find Hide.

"Huh, I wonder where Hide went?" The Elite Trainer's eyes immediately moved over to the basket that the Riolu was hiding in, chuckling and rolling his eyes as he looked back at the two younger pokemon. He watched Shyama make a show of sniffing around, trying to 'find' Hide, when Grimsley could tell the small pup knew exactly where Hide was hiding, having seen the Riolu hide in the basket before the game had even started.

"Found you!" Looking up suddenly, he eyes flicked towards where Conan had pounced on the clothing pile, effectively rendering the Riou caught. "Drat! I thought I did a really good job! You've got eyes like a Braviary, huh?" The Elite Trainer couldn't help but chuckle, a small smile on his face as he watched them begin to converse.

"How... long?" Grimsley blinked, immediately switching his attention back to Verglas, listening to the Snover's words attentively. The more information he could get, the better chances there were of him actually being able to help this poor Pokemon be reunited with their trainer.

"She needs help." With a determined nod, Grimsley acknowledged the Snover's words, a silent confirmation that even if it were impossible, he would still try."Not long," That was a relief. If it hadn't been that long since their trainer had been frozen, they might still have a chance.

Something in the back of Grimsley's mind nagged at him, telling him that something wasn't right. He heeded the warning, throwing the nagging behind him for a few moments."She still has time." Placing his palm on his cheek, Grimsley set his elbow on his knee, tapping a finger on his cheek for a moment as he thought.

”Do you remember the surrounding buildings, or any landmarks that could help me locate your trainer? The faster I'd be able to find them, the quicker I can save them. Shyama is a fire type, so she'd be able to help warm them up after we find them.” His voice was quiet, his eyes never leaving Verglas's red ones. ”I don't suppose you know any nearby town names, that were close by when you left your trainer, do you?”

Alirah's tiny claws dug micro-trenches in dirtiness of the floor. Every thought violently contradicted the next as she tried to give the last soul here the benefit of the doubt, and a millisecond later she was at the angriest she'd been in a while. Not even a direct Thunder Wave to her body was as aggravating as someone destroying what she could give to her friends. She'd spent so long being taken care of, the one shot she had to return that care was ruined by someone throwing what she bitterly assumed a drunken party in the apocalypse.

"I-its not your fault," ... Huh? She moved her head just a bit, her rings pulse slowing until they finally gave a consistent glow. Plant's voice offered her a symbolic exit to her brooding which she gratefully walked through. The sound of items sliding across the shelves painfully higher than the tips of Ali’s ears ceased and the Spectreon offered his own, "It's not your fault, Alirah. It's the ass who decided the ransack this place's fault. We'll just have to search for some tins or something. Grimsley should be able to open them." Her said ears dipped down in silent thanks before Kaneki moved back to the shelf, continuing his search for food and Ali joining like they were in a Goodwill looking for VHSes without the tape strung out.

The Snivy moved back for the exit, Alirah perking up from nosing at the floor for anything uncanned. She made a gesture to follow him, but her paws relaxed and placed themselves still as the very best scout had checked the area around the Café already. Speaking of that scout, he was looking down with a tin can in his mouth - the moment Ali’s eyes connected, she forced air out of her nose so awkwardly that she made a strange vibrating noise from her face in an attempt not to laugh out loud.
The Umbreon strode to the back wall, headbutting a wooden stool ever closer to the emergency exit. With the height from the seat, she pressed a single paw against the horizontal bar door-handle, standing like a cat on a fence with three paws squished too close.
With a hard shove, she unlocked the door handle at the expense of her balance. Alirah dug her claws into the stool and yelped as it shifted a little, deciding to abandon ship (seat?) to the floor before she was defeated by gravity once again.

She pushed the back exit open wide, letting a humid breeze in and more importantly, she allowed more sounds to them. The last thing they needed was a repeat of last night, and by God she would make sure no one else was lost.

But today would be a good day. A good time.

Ali inspected a ground-level cabinet, carefully deducing with her detective-level wit whether it was safe to check or not. She had no clue claustrophobia was actually a thing, but she knew for sure that tiny spaces were scary. The top of the cabinet was a good half a foot higher than her ears though, so if she crawled, she would probably be okay… Oh, and leave her tail out. That way, if she got trapped, they could pull her from death’s embrace within the-- okay, even she had to snicker at that over-dramatization. Her tail wouldn’t had fit anyways.

“Slept in all my clothes like I didn’t care,” Ali chirped, starting quietly and getting louder and more harmonious with each word, “hopped into a cab, take me anywhere~” She paused, finding a small square block in plastic packaging. Poking it a little as she tried to recall the next lyrics, she picked up the package and it’s doppelganger block. Pushing the cabinet door beside her open, she weaved out of there looking like an Arbok with kudos to her tail.
"I found safe ones. They're tasty, too." Alirah bounded to the sound of Plant’s voice - she had to see what he found. She was so curious about these mushroom things, it was becoming a personal objective to try one!… And she was really, really, really hungry now. "That is.. if you want to try them."

“I wvant toh!” She cried, the plastic wrappers crinkling in her teeth and fighting for dominance over which of them would be heard. She finally spat them out and looked at the printed image. The blue package had the text “Ramen noodle soup” and “Oriental flavor” written in fancy human letters that looked alien to Ali, but judging by the package’s design, she assumed they were some kind of weird hair soup things. She huffed. That was kind of disappointing.
"We should probably also get something like water as well, in case we need it. There should be bottles here somewhere, right?" Oh, please God, no. Alirah spun in place, sitting herself atop the packages of noodles in utter shame as she faced the ghostly cat with a forced contemplative look. “U-uh, yeah, good idea! We shall go find the water, and I sincerely hope all the food I‘ve collected doesn‘t mysteriously fall out of existence while we do so, now lets go!”

Water could be a cruel thing, Ali decided. It could sweep you down a road in the middle of the night, or hide from you like the plague so your fur could inevitably turn gray and make you look like a cranky old Stoutland who chose to yell ‘get off my lawn,’ instead of help people avoid the purple Pokémon.
Pushing that analogy completely out of mind, Alirah was preparing to accept that none was left here. “This thing here,” she nudged the side of the recycle bin with her nose, rattling the contents and making the plastic squeak for assurance, “has lots of bottles in it I think, but I‘m not sure if there‘s any water in any of them. I‘m too short to actually look…” Her tail slapped the ground absentmindedly. If they just tipped it, they might spill whatever water could be left. Someone with… height…

“N-Nisha?” Alirah called, bashfully crumpling a little shorter. Star struck would’ve been the best way to describe her feelings towards the Liepard. “Will you help us, pretty-please? And um…” The pastel fox mulled for a minute, deciding for or against just saying nevermind. “If we have a minute and you don’t mind… do you have any other stories about you and Grim…?”

Kaneki had to chuckle as he saw Alirah bound up with two packets of dried food in her mouth. It was a funny sight, to him. He was so used to seeing Hide pick things up with his paws, that seeing the pastel Umbreon try to carry the two packaged food items. “U-uh, yeah, good idea! We shall go find the water, and I sincerely hope all the food I‘ve collected doesn‘t mysteriously fall out of existence while we do so, now lets go!” Kaneki didn't miss the dreaded tone that Alirah spoke in, and honestly, he shared the same sentiment. There had been plenty of water, but he did know, that they would need something to drink, rain or not.

With a light huff, Kaneki picked up the two packages that Alirah had set down, putting them beside the tin he had found earlier. Even with Plant's mushrooms, they certainly needed more food than this. With a begrudging sigh, Kaneki returned to the shelves, searching each one for any more food. “This thing here,” glancing down from the shelf he was searching, his eyes were drawn to the bin that Alirah had nudged with her nose. From his perch, he couldn't see in the bin, only the very top of the rim, so he wasn't much use in this case, so he just listened as Alirah continued,“has lots of bottles in it I think, but I‘m not sure if there‘s any water in any of them. I‘m too short to actually look…”

Kaneki grit his teeth, but he had to admit that he was probably too short to see into the bin as well. That left only the trainer's pokemon. Glancing over at the Liepard, the Spectreon's eyes narrowed slightly. He would put up with them, for Alirah's sake, but that didn't mean that he had to like them. He had a healthy respect and caution around Dark Types, even more so since the Liepard was most definitely at least double his level. “N-Nisha?” The awe in Alirah's voice was something that while he was happy to hear it, Kaneki just couldn't understand why she would be in awe of the Elite Pokemon. “Will you help us, pretty-please? And um…” Finally, the Spectreon begrudgingly gave in and returned to searching the shelf, keeping an ear out on the conversation. “If we have a minute and you don’t mind… do you have any other stories about you and Grim…?”

Now that intrigued him. What stories did Nisha have about Grimsley? Poking his head up, Kaneki hummed quietly in thought. "I'm also intrigued. What stories do you have about your trainer?"

---

Hide grinned as he watched Conan try and pick between who would seek next. Both of them should be difficult, since he could see Auras, and Shyama was a dog pokemon, so she had a great sense of smell. That of course, wasn't to disclude Hide's own sense of smell. He was a canine, after all.

"Hide, you're it." The Riolu grinned, sitting down and placing his paws over his eyes, closing them for good measure. "Ten, nine, eight..." Hide began counting down slowly, his ears perked up as he listened for any sounds that could give him a clue where the others were hiding.

"Ready!" One ear flicked towards where Conan's voice came from, taking a quick note before he listened in to see where Shyama was going to hide. "Five, four, three..." He continued counting the last bit in his head, waiting until everyone was hidden before he started seeking where they had hid.

When he received no answer from Verglas, Grimsley returned his attention to Shyama, Conan and Hide. He assumed that the Snover just needed more time to think about their answer, so he would wait. In his mind, he was sure something was amiss with the undead's story, however he was not about to just abandon the duel types hopes like that. If they had been searching for as long as they seem to have been, he was not about to let them down just because he was too cautious and actually indirectly caused the death of their trainer by not helping when he could.

If it turned out that he couldn't save them, well...

He'd just have to cross that bridge when he came across it. He hoped to god that it wouldn't come to that. Who knew how Verglas might react. With a light sigh, Grimsley returned to watching the other pokemon play. "Hide, you're it." With an amused chuckle Grimsley looked at the small group. A Riou's ability to sense auras was no where near the same as a Lucario's, but it was still a major advantage to have. Idly, Grimsley wondered if Hide would use it or not whilst looking for the other two.

He watched as Hide put his paws over his eyes and began counting, keeping those large ears perked for any noise. Grimsley grinned lightly as he observed. That was a smart move, using his ears to help pinpoint the general area that the other two were hiding at. Perhaps he had practice with this sort of thing before?

"Ten, nine, eight..." Grimsley watched in silence as Shyama went looking for a place to hide, jumping up onto a pile of boxes and clambering up onto the top of a shelf where she could hide behind a pile of clothes. Looking away from the pup, Grimsley scanned the area to find where Conan had hid, only to find that the kit had already hidden somewhere he couldn't see them.

"Ready!" Looking over at the sofa, Grimsley noticed that Hide's ears twitched towards the sound too. He glanced up at Shyama, before giving the pup a thumbs up. ”Shyama's hidden too.” He said, waiting to see how Hide would find these two. Idly, he wondered how Nisha was going with that other group with their food collecting. They had been gone for a bit now. He wasn't worried, he knew that they could all take care of themselves.

---

Nisha was quietly watching from the sidelines, picking through the food, and rolling a few sealed tins over to a small pile of three tins that she had found over the course of her search. The Liepard's bright green eyes searched through everything, picking around spilt kibble and even finding a few sealed packets of dried herbs. Carefully picking them up, Nisha stepped out from where she was searching and began rolling the tins over tow the door where Kaneki stood, rolling each  one with a simple bat of her paw as she held the herbs in her mouth.

“This thing here,” There was a soft clatter, and Nisha dropped her bundle to look, her emerald gaze falling on Alirah as the Umbreon nudged a bin, making the contents creak. The Liepard's ears flicked upwards as she listened to what the Umbreon had to say. “Has lots of bottles in it I think, but I‘m not sure if there‘s any water in any of them. I‘m too short to actually look…” Looking around, the Liepard realized that she was probably the only one who was tall enough to see into it. Was this how Grimsley felt whenever people asked him to get something that was too tall for them to reach?

“N-Nisha?” With a quiet hum of affirmation, Nisha turned her attention to the star-struck Umbreon. “Will you help us, pretty-please? And um…” Walking over to Alirah, Nisha sat herself down next to the pastel fox, looking down at the small Umbreon as she waited for her to finish.

“If we have a minute and you don’t mind… do you have any other stories about you and Grim…?” With a light chuckle, Nisha nodded, standing up and moving over to the bin. She was tall enough to see into it, but for added measure, she reared up onto her hind legs and placed her paws on the rim of the bin to look inside.

"I'm also intrigued. What stories do you have about your trainer?" Flicking her ears, Nisha looked over to the Spectreon with a puzzled expression. The ghost had been nothing but cautious of her since she joined them. While she knew his precautions her justified, was she really that interesting to listen to?

The Liepard chuckled. ”Alright. Another story, huh? Well, I can think of a few...” She thought for a moment as she resumed checking the bin. Some of the bottles had water in them, from what she could see, but most of them were empty. ”There was this one trainer who challenged us, all cocky, and thinking he would with with his really powerful team.” She started, reaching a paw into the bin to try and shift some of the bottles out of the way to check the ones underneath. ”And so, he comes in, and swears black and blue that he was going to be the Champion, and that we were the last one he needed to defeat.”

Nisha chuckled lightly. ”Anyway, he challenges us, and so of course Grimsley accepted. He sends out this fighting type, I think it was a hitmonchan. So, he sends out his pokemon, who by this stage was looking a little tired, but of course, it still was definitely going to hit hard. So, Grimsley sends out Krookodile. Now, Krook's a powerhouse. She can take hits and roll with them. As soon as this trainer sees Krook, he withdraws his pokemon and throws out this Vaporeon.”

Aha! There was a full water bottle at the bottom of the bin. Nisha gingerly reached a paw down to try and dig it up to the top as she continued, ”Krook's weak to water, but Grimsley knew that we could take 'em, so he plans with me. He signals to Krook' for her to use Crunch, and then to switch out. Now, the other trainer doesn't know that Grimsley doesn't like to talk much during battle. He used hand signals for us. It keeps his opponents in the dark, and we have the upper hand.” She smiled fondly at the memory, continuing her story with a light sigh.

”So Krook' attacks first and gets in this good bite on the Vaporeon's tail, before switching out so that I could enter the fight. I jump in there and dodge a powerful Hydro Pump, and hit 'em with Play Rough. Their Vaporeon goes down, and they switch out to that hitmonchan. Turns out, this guy defeated the others with only these two pokemon. How, I still don't know.” She dug the bottle up and carefully rolled out out of the bin and onto the floor.

”Anyway, the other trainer sends out his last pokemon and they go right for the hit on me. Let me tell you, a direct Focus Punch to the side is not a pleasant feeling.” Nisha chuckled lightly. ”So I get 'em back. They went to hit me again, but this time I was ready for it, and I gave them a direct Sucker Punch. The hitmonchan flinched from the hit, too. After that, all it took was a strong Play Rough and a well placed Night Slash.” With a quiet purr, Nisha found another full bottle and started rolling that one up to the top of the bin. ”I think we bruised the guy's ego, since he ran from the room pretty fast after that.”

”Alright. Another story, huh? Well, I can think of a few...” Nisha probed through the bin with ease in conjunction with the pastel fox shuffling closer to her ghostly guardian for what Ali would absolutely shamelessly call story time. Someone else could call it reminiscing of better times, or the chronicles of an Elite Pokémon. But no, this was story time by Alirah's phrasing.
”There was this one trainer who challenged us, all cocky, and thinking he would with with his really powerful team.” Oooh. The scene was already forming an image in the Umbreon's eyes, though the Trainer's image continued to morph. ”And so, he comes in, and swears black and blue that he was going to be the Champion, and that we were the last one he needed to defeat.” Eventually Alirah's construct of the Trainer took the form of the very first human to show her affection, with the life in his eyes that faded into nonexistence long before she left him.

Alirah leaned to the side, idly raising her paw to swat at the air beside Kaneki's face. He had seemed less than comfortable with Nisha's presence when they left; but Ali was a great judge of character! She'd only been wrong once in her life, but that was years ago and she was sure Nisha was nice. The Umbree gave a tiny-toothed grin as her massive tail waggled behind her. ”Anyway, he challenges us, and so of course Grimsley accepted. He sends out this fighting type, I think it was a hitmonchan. So, he sends out his pokemon, who by this stage was looking a little tired, but of course, it still was definitely going to hit hard. So, Grimsley sends out Krookodile. Now, Krook's a powerhouse. She can take hits and roll with them. As soon as this trainer sees Krook, he withdraws his pokemon and throws out this Vaporeon.”

The lithe Liepard extended her paw towards the bottom of the bin, moving to bring the item of interest higher. ”Krook's weak to water, but Grimsley knew that we could take 'em, so he plans with me. He signals to Krook' for her to use Crunch, and then to switch out. Now, the other trainer doesn't know that Grimsley doesn't like to talk much during battle. He used hand signals for us. It keeps his opponents in the dark, and we have the upper hand.” Alirah made a captivated 'oooh' sound.
”So Krook' attacks first and gets in this good bite on the Vaporeon's tail, before switching out so that I could enter the fight. I jump in there and dodge a powerful Hydro Pump, and hit 'em with Play Rough. Their Vaporeon goes down, and they switch out to that hitmonchan. Turns out, this guy defeated the others with only these two pokemon. How, I still don't know.” Wait, there were four members of the Elite Four, right? How many Pokemon did each of them use-- even if just one, the Trainer was still outnumbered. Ali smiled just slightly as she continued to imagine this Trainer as Korei. Maybe it could've been him in a different universe. Maybe there, she could've still been with him.

”Anyway, the other trainer sends out his last pokemon and they go right for the hit on me. Let me tell you, a direct Focus Punch to the side is not a pleasant feeling.” Nisha had a bit of amusement towards that detail. How, Alirah didn't know. She certainly wouldn't look back on being punched and laugh. She would probably be reminded to find Eevee-sized armor, because that would probably be a decent fit. Evolution did next to nothing for the pink furball, she swore.
”So I get 'em back. They went to hit me again, but this time I was ready for it, and I gave them a direct Sucker Punch. The hitmonchan flinched from the hit, too. After that, all it took was a strong Play Rough and a well placed Night Slash.”
"Ohhhh!" Alirah cried, sounding much like a spectator at a verbal brawl in a park. "Get wrecked!" Her Trainer was a teenage boy, what did you expect her to say...?
”I think we bruised the guy's ego, since he ran from the room pretty fast after that.”

With a snort-laugh, the Umbreon dipped her head in confirmation, "Oh yeah, once your pride, or ego, or any type of self-confidence--" She broke into a fit of giggles. "--gets hurt, that takes longer to heal than it does to grow bangs. I can confirm that, haha."

Plant found himself zoning as they listened to the Liepard's story. It wasn't that it wasn't interesting, no, he just.. didn't quite understand. The way Verglas explained it humans were defenseless and needed Pokemon to protect them. They were curious creatures who explored but had no real power of their own. They kept the Pokemon close by as friends, paladins, and in exchange they were treated like family, almost like their children. Like Violet had treated him. But.. in the Liepard's story they were not protecting the trainer, they were not fighting a real danger. They are just fighting each other.. Why would the humans just pit their friends and protectors against one another? Did they want to see them get hurt? Did they want to see them fight?

Can't the humans just argue with each other? If they weren't very strong didn't it make more sense for them to fight their own species? At least it would be evenly matched, at least they weren't sacrificing another. Instead they made their friends, their children attack and harm one another.. a knot clenched tight in the Snivy's abdomen. ”So I get 'em back. They went to hit me again, but this time I was ready for it, and I gave them a direct Sucker Punch. The hitmonchan flinched from the hit, too. After that, all it took was a strong Play Rough and a well placed Night Slash.” It was.. relentless. These Pokemon were not predators. They weren't putting anyone in immediate danger. Why would she attack so harshly?? "Ohhhh! Get wrecked!" The Umbreon cheered and Plant thought he would be sick.

The mushrooms felt heavy in his grasp, more like stones than fungi. Swallowing roughly Plant shook his head side to side ever so slightly. "Why..?" He whispered, voice starting to shake, "W-why would you fight? Y-you're supposed to be protectors, friends! NOT weapons." Pushing his shoulders inward the grass type tries to angle his arms to feel for his necklace but all he manages to do is slightly smush the mushrooms. This wasn't right. These Pokemon weren't right. Why were they so happy about vicious fighting?? His jaw trembles and tears threaten to dip from his saucer-wide eyes. Taking trembling steps backward the youth quickly considers bolting back to the Boutique. Verglas was alone with the human, alone with a man who attacked for sport. "Th-tha-that's not r-right.."


”Do you remember the surrounding buildings, or any landmarks that could help me locate your trainer? The faster I'd be able to find them, the quicker I can save them. Shyama is a fire type, so she'd be able to help warm them up after we find them.” Warm? Yes, yes he had what he needed, he truly was what he needed! Landmarks though. The spot had been a jagged rock that broke above a cliff-side. By now the rocky slope had long since been frozen over and snowed on. Erosion, avalanches, and fresh snow piles would never look the same as they once did. Snow for so many seasons would create a whole new world..

A single word whispers out of him like frost on the breeze. "....Snow." Endless amounts of snow, above, below, and all around them. "An abyss of snow. Like.. walking in the clouds." On harsh days puffy snow clouds would billow across the slopes, like their peak was a castle in the sky. "A cliff face.. above the forest, in the expanse." Their little cabin was too far away to see, and most plants were little blips far and few between. It was just the rocky face of the mountain that would be covered or have a new configuration of snow on it by now.

”I don't suppose you know any nearby town names, that were close by when you left your trainer, do you?” Tilting his head, or more himself, to the side the Snover lifts one hand to his jaw in deep thought. It was always 'his mountain' and nothing more. The girl often said something about the closest town, or the forest far below, but those things had long since left him. The father, however, said them so often that thin traces of the names lingered. "High in the mountains, where the trees are so thin.. We live above of what you call.. Mamoswine Road." 'Take the Mamoswine up,' he would say. 'They can move the material' he would argue. He never did get them. He never would. Verglas' deep red eyes bug a little wider and he whispers, "She's waiting for me." Something pulses deep in his chest. He was running out of time.

Kaneki sighs as Nisha began to search the bin, checking the tins that the Liepard had rolled over to sit with him. Along with the herbs, the noodles, Plant's mushrooms and the Tamato tin he had found, it looked like Nisha had added a tin of flavored stock and two tins of Pokefood to their pile.

”Alright. Another story, huh? Well, I can think of a few...” With a quiet snort, Kankei tuned out of the story, relatively uninterested. Whatever the Liepard had to say, it wouldn't change his views. They were a trainer's pokemon. They hurt others for the sick and twisted thrill of it. He loathed them.

”There was this one trainer who challenged us, all cocky, and thinking he would with with his really powerful team.” Already, Kaneki's tails were beginning to lash. Was she really going to recount a time when they had attacked and beaten an innocent pokemon? He growled quietly. ”And so, he comes in, and swears black and blue that he was going to be the Champion, and that we were the last one he needed to defeat.” While Kaneki hated mindless fighting, he hated self-entitled pricks more. So he decided to half tune into what was being said.

”Anyway, he challenges us, and so of course Grimsley accepted. He sends out this fighting type, I think it was a hitmonchan. So, he sends out his pokemon, who by this stage was looking a little tired, but of course, it still was definitely going to hit hard. So, Grimsley sends out Krookodile. Now, Krook's a powerhouse. She can take hits and roll with them. As soon as this trainer sees Krook, he withdraws his pokemon and throws out this Vaporeon.” The thought of a fighting type immediately makes him think of Jason. Kaneki's blood boiled at the thought of that dead bastard, and his eyes narrowed to a dangerous glare. He wasn't enjoying this story, at all.

”Krook's weak to water, but Grimsley knew that we could take 'em, so he plans with me. He signals to Krook' for her to use Crunch, and then to switch out. Now, the other trainer doesn't know that Grimsley doesn't like to talk much during battle. He used hand signals for us. It keeps his opponents in the dark, and we have the upper hand.” Deceit. That was a human's specialty. To lie, trick and otherwise confuse others to hide their true intentions. Suddenly, Kaneki felt very wrong. He shouldn't have left that human alone with Hide, Verglas and Conan. What if they tried to attack them? He wanted to go, to run back to his beau, but the fact that Alirah and Plant were still here with that Liepard, that's what kept him here.

”So Krook' attacks first and gets in this good bite on the Vaporeon's tail, before switching out so that I could enter the fight. I jump in there and dodge a powerful Hydro Pump, and hit 'em with Play Rough. Their Vaporeon goes down, and they switch out to that hitmonchan. Turns out, this guy defeated the others with only these two pokemon. How, I still don't know.” He's painfully reminded of how the fights in the ring would work. How he would be thrown into a fight, beaten mercilessly, and then fed only meager scraps for losing. Kaneki didn't even notice when his claws began to slowly tear the wrapping off the outer coating of a tin of Pokefood.

”Anyway, the other trainer sends out his last pokemon and they go right for the hit on me. Let me tell you, a direct Focus Punch to the side is not a pleasant feeling.” Kaneki snorted loudly. "Getting fucking punched by a psychopath isn't pleasant either, but I don't brag about it." He hissed, his red eye glowing in his calm rage. Honestly, he didn't know if the Liepard had heard him or not, and frankly, he didn't care.

”So I get 'em back. They went to hit me again, but this time I was ready for it, and I gave them a direct Sucker Punch. The hitmonchan flinched from the hit, too. After that, all it took was a strong Play Rough and a well placed Night Slash.” With a snort of anger, Kaneki looked away, gritting his teeth to stop from shooting an unpleasant remark at the cat.

"Ohhhh!" Kaneki was appalled that Alirah found that story enjoyable. Nothing about that was enjoyable. He glared at the wall opposite the Liepard, a quiet growl rumbling in his chest. "Get wrecked!"

”I think we bruised the guy's ego, since he ran from the room pretty fast after that.” He would've rather the cat tell a story where her precious trainer got beaten in a fight. That would've been more interesting in his eyes. "Oh yeah, once your pride, or ego, or any type of self-confidence--" Kaneki only sighed at Alirah's giggling. He didn't understand how it was funny. It was cruel, and unnecessary. "--gets hurt, that takes longer to heal than it does to grow bangs. I can confirm that, haha."

With a snort, Kaneki lifted his paw away from the tin, only mildly surprised when the paper wrapping came with it.

"Why..?" Looking over at Plant, Kaneki was pleased to see that the Snivy shared his views on the story.

"W-why would you fight? Y-you're supposed to be protectors, friends! NOT weapons." With a nod, Kaneki stood up, grabbing the two water bottles that Nisha had retrieved and put them with the tins, herbs and noodles. "Th-tha-that's not r-right.."

He turned to glare at Nisha, baring his teeth lightly at her. "I bet your fighting was so much fun. Lucky you, pampered with love after each win and only a disappointed sigh at each loss. I bet you're fed properly every day, aren't you?" Finally, his frustrations were making themselves known as he turned and stalked right up to the Liepard. "It must be nice, to have been in fights where you could rest easy knowing that you weren't going to die in the next one, or that you were going to get fed, regardless of whether to lost or won." He didn't care if he was weaker than this cat. He was so done, he wasn't even going to bother with precautions.

"I bet your master was so proud of you when you won that battle, huh? I bet your master gave you praises, and kindness. I bet your master never beat you, or threw you into a cage, or starved you because you didn't fucking win." With a lash of his tails, Kaneki began to circle the cat. "You trainer owned pokemon are all the same. just pets who think that fighting each other is fun. You can say that your useless regulations, and rules protect you from serious harm, but what about the fuckers like me, who are thrown into illegal fucking rings and are pitted to fight to the death?" He snarled, stalking away from the Liepard and back over to Plant.

"C'mon Plant. We should get away from the fight-loving cat. Since they seem to buddy up so much. I'll come back for anything we can't take now in a moment." He said, giving Alirah a narrowed glare. He didn't like being so harsh to the poor Umbreon, but his patience was wearing thin, and since Alirah looked up to the Liepard so much, they could be buddy-buddy together for all he cared. Kaneki bent down to grab the tin of Tamato Berries, picking up the herbs with it and beginning to move back to the Boutique.

---

"Ready or not, here I come!" Hide uncovered his eyes, blinking for a moment as his eyes readjusted to the light of the boutique. He looked around, and smirked when he didn't immediately spot anyone. So they were going to play it hard then?

Placing his paws together, he craned his ears to listen for the other two, pacing over to where he had heard Conan call from earlier. He got a few steps towards the couch before he closed his eyes and let the aura sensors on his head rise slightly. He could see Conan's aura, but not Shyama's. With a slight grin, he figured that the put was either hiding around Grimsley again, or was up higher. Smart move. He moved forwards towards Conan's spot, letting his eyes open and his sensors drop. He poked his head around the couch, poking Conan lightly on the nose. "Found ya."

Now, where could that little puppy be?

Hide turned and started looking for Shyama, checking under things and looking around the top shelves for the crafty Houndrunt. It looked like the small pup was really going to give him a run for his money in this round of the game.

The last thing the pastel fox wanted was to upset anyone. But as with nearly everything wrong in her life, it was never intentional, it just sort of happened out of lack of consideration before she acted. She was very childish in that regard, only stopping to think of what she'd done after she had caused a problem.
"Why..?" Plant's troubled tone was nearly missed by the overly-enthusiastic Umbreon until she turned to playfully ask why what? But before she got the question-answering-a-question out, her mind processed how badly she had upset him. "W-why would you fight? Y-you're supposed to be protectors, friends! NOT weapons."

Alirah was silent for just a moment, knowing all too well the feeling of messing up and unfortunately, also the feeling of not knowing how to fix it. "P-Pl-Plant, we a-are friends, we-I-I nev-- uh.. Umm..." She kneaded her paws nervously as she stuttered over her own words. "I'm not-I'm not-- I never hurt anyone - in fact I was the one to get hurt!" She realized just a moment too late how bad that sounded too. The Grass-type's eyes were shiny with building tears; Ali lowered her head until her neck literally hurt, flattening her ears in silent guilt. Plant juddered back from her, "Th-tha-that's not r-right.."
... I'm not bad...

"I bet your fighting was so much fun. Lucky you, pampered with love after each win and only a disappointed sigh at each loss. I bet you're fed properly every day, aren't you?" Kaneki lashed at the Liepard as he strode threateningly towards her. Despite being the cause of the problem, the Umbreon wasn't going to get between them. If they fought, she didn't want to add Kaneki to the list of those she loved that hurt her in the end. "It must be nice, to have been in fights where you could rest easy knowing that you weren't going to die in the next one, or that you were going to get fed, regardless of whether to lost or won." He continued.

"I bet your master was so proud of you when you won that battle, huh? I bet your master gave you praises, and kindness. I bet your master never beat you, or threw you into a cage, or starved you because you didn't fucking win." Kaneki paced circles around Nisha, whipping his ghostly tails aggravatedly. Redecided, Alirah slunk into the fray and placed herself beside Nisha. While holding herself with much cowardly submission, she pleaded to the ghost cat: "Please don't do this..."

"You trainer owned pokemon are all the same. just pets who think that fighting each other is fun. You can say that your useless regulations, and rules protect you from serious harm, but what about the fuckers like me, who are thrown into illegal fucking rings and are pitted to fight to the death?" He snapped viciously, whether or not Alirah was included in the "Trainer owned" comment was for debate. Kaneki moved with the same gait back to Plant, ushering the Snivy with him, "C'mon Plant. We should get away from the fight-loving cat. Since they seem to buddy up so much. I'll come back for anything we can't take now in a moment." If there were any possibility she wouldn't have realized she were included as an object of his anger, it was destroyed as Kaneki looked back at her, giving a glare that she never imagined her ghost-buddy would. She stared back hollowly before diverting her eyes to fiddle with a piece of kibble on the floor, pretending she hadn't noticed despite having kept her eyes trained on him for several seconds.

Alirah kept completely quiet and dared not to move for a undefined amount of time. She didn't really think about it, it could've been anywhere between thirty seconds to five minutes. When she finally spoke, it was nothing more than a whisper forced to be audible enough for the Liepard to hear her; "Hey, Nisha... You uh, can go back to the Boutique if you want. I... forgot something in the cabinet." Alirah stood up, offering a fake smile to her, "I'll meet you back at the Boutique as soon as I find it."

The Umbreon's tail tip swept over the floor behind her. "Don't worry, I've lived here a long time and done a lot of trips here. I'll be alright."
She hopped onto a box and then the counter, scratching the cabinet open.

Plant's chest was tight as he took hard, quick breathes. While it was clear Kaneki shared his feelings, or something of the like, Alirah was another story. The rough chewing out left her cowering, a clear division made between the four Pokemon. Was she siding with the Liepard, with the bloodshed? Was she... one of them? That.. no, no she was too perky to be.. right? But she got so excited.. Why else would she enjoy such a cruel tale? Plant swallowed roughly and took a sidestep behind Kaneki. He didn't want to think about this anymore. And clearly, neither did the Spectreon. "C'mon Plant. We should get away from the fight-loving cat. Since they seem to buddy up so much. I'll come back for anything we can't take now in a moment."

With one more weary glance at the pastel Umbreon Plant hurried out of the decrepit building. He couldn't wait to get back to Verglas and confirm that Grimsley hadn't hurt a single fiber of his being. He wouldn't. But he must of enjoyed the brawls as much as Nisha did. That only made sense. He promised! Could he trust the human though? Did his word mean anything? The Snivy's steps quicken, the Spectreon's presence forgotten. I shouldn't have left him. His necklace bops weakly against his chest with each step. What if he- Shaking the bad thoughts away the grass type stumbles, his short feet tripping up on the broken slates of the bridge. Without his arms to balance himself he twists and turns, thrusting his tail and shifting his vine-full to barely manage staying upright. "Woah," he gasps, eyes wide as he regains his composure and continues pushing forward. He didn't have time to trip; Verglas needed him!


Verglas' eyes stared blankly while visions of old crossed over them. The girl throwing her climbing rope and securing it to the stones before climbing up. Running through the snow after her and sitting out building a snow Snorlax together. Fighting off any hungry, opportunistic Pokemon that dared to attack. Having a snowball fight against one another. Stopping for lunch and the sweet taste of freshly baked Oran beard... "Oran.. beard." He mumbled to himself, recalling the name of the delicious treat. He would kill to have it once again.

Slowly, his gaze ticks to the side, his trance finally broken from Grimsley's face as it falls upon the other moving shapes in the room. The Riolu, Hide or something, shifted and moved while looking for the other Pokemon with the Eevee at his heels. He hadn't had a good meal in ages. Oran bread always had that dark complexion to it. Would their blood give the same taste? Verglas' stubbing feet work the ground, turning his body so that he may follow the other Pokemon with his eyes. Their fur was the right color for the undertones as well.. Hunger knotted deep in his stomach, an unending yearning that he had only momentarily forgotten due to the human. Plant had wandered off. He did not need to watch. He did not need to know.

Kaneki turned and left the cafe, trailing a little behind Plant as the Snivy sped on forwards. Checking the path for anything that could be seen as danger. As he walked, the Spectreon's thoughts began to swirl and fester. He kept Plant in his sights, though the Snivy wasn't exactly his focus at that moment.

How could he be so stupid? He knew he couldn't trust the human. What if when he got back, Hide was gone, and Verglas was dead? If his pet acted like this, who knew what the human was like. God I'm an idiot. He growled lowly to himself, looking back at the cafe for a few seconds. I'm sorry Alirah. His thoughts were quiet, only a few simple words as he stared at the cafe. The Spectreon turned to continue walking back to the boutique. I just needed to get away from that cat.

He trotted forwards to catch up to Plant, his eyes widening as he saw the small Snivy nearly trip forwards. The ghost was about to lurch forwards, almost dropping his mouthful so that he could help the small grass type, but breathed a sigh as Plant righted himself and kept going. Trotting along behind the Snivy, Kaneki was glad that with only himself and Plant wandering, it didn't take as long to get back to the boutique, and soon the building was coming into view just ip ahead.

Kaneki increased his pace so that he was beside Plant, his legs easily carrying him forwards as he soon moved towards the boutique at a fast trot.

God he hoped everyone was okay.

---

Hide looked around the room, humming quietly as he kept looking for the small puppy. He honestly was puzzled. Surely the Houndrunt hadn't just disappeared. He looked over at Grimsley, tilting his head to the side, however the human was still conversing with Verglas. He didn't believe that the human would have cheated by recalling Shyama for the game, so he just had to get better at finding people.

"I wonder if Alirah and Kaneki is bringing something back soon, my tummy is talking." Hide chuckled, closing his eyes and trying to use his aura sensors to find Shyama again, however he quickly dropped them and ran to the door as he detected a familiar presence.

Game forgotten, Hide looked outside to see Kaneki coming back with Plant, smiling widely. "Kaneki! Welcome back!" He waved to the Spectreon, heading out to help out his beau with the items he was carrying. "Where's Nisha and Alirah?" He looked behind the ghost, trying to spot them behind him.

"Back at the cafe. Hide, are you alright? Is everyone okay?"

The Riolu gave Kaneki an odd look, before nodding. "Yeah dude, everyone's alright. We were just playing hide and seek." He gestured inside, holding the bag and can in his arms as he walked back inside.

"And Grimsley? He didn't pull any tricks on you? On anyone? Everyone's alright?" The tone in his beau's voice was worrying, and so Hide stopped, setting the items down and turning so that he could take the ghost's face in his paws, nuzzling his nose with his own.

"Kaneki, calm down. We're all fine. Grimsley was just talking with Verglas, trying to figure out how he could help the guy. What's going on?" He drew back, looking up at Kaneki's mis-matched eyes. The Spectreon sighed.

"Sorry, just... Bad feelings. There's still more to get at the cafe. We got a few bits of food." The Spectreon turned to head back, but was stopped by Hide's paw on his shoulder.

"'Neki, wait a sec. Let me go put this stuff inside and I'll come with you, to help with carrying more stuff. You can tell me about what's gotten you so upset, okay?" He picked up the herbs and tin, looking at the ghost, who sighed, but sat down, looking back at him with a smile.

"Okay, Hide. Don't take too long."

"....Snow."

Grimsley blinked, switching his attention back to the Snover. Perhaps they had only needed a moment to think. Grimsley hummed lightly. Snow, huh? Probably near a mountain, or in a cold area. He knew of several around Unova, and maybe a few in Kalos. Wherever it was, obviously it had to be somewhere in Kalos, since he doubted that Verglas had come all the way from another Region.

"An abyss of snow. Like.. walking in the clouds." Okay, so a lot of snow then. The only places like that were near the mountains, so Grimsley began thinking of where the mountain range in Kalos got the most snow. "A cliff face.. above the forest, in the expanse." So, a cliff, lots of snow and above a forest. There probably weren't many places like that around. "High in the mountains, where the trees are so thin.. We live above of what you call.. Mamoswine Road." Finally, a name. Grimsley smiled gratefully at the Snover. He knew where Mamoswine Road was. He had seen a map a few days ago, telling him where the road wa located. Now the only issue was how far it was from here.

"She's waiting for me." The Elite Trainer nodded, looking out the door and into the morning light. He would need to get up and stretch soon. All this sitting wasn't going to do his muscles any good.

”After the others come back from gathering food and my team has been fed, I think we'll be ready to go, granted, that is if Kaneki doesn't need my help. I know you need to find your trainer, and I promise that, we will, but I don't just want to leave if someone could beiin danger here.” He said gently, looking to the side as it seemed that the other pokemon in the Boutique continued their own game.

"Ready or not, here I come!" He watched in mild amusement as the Riolu got up and started looking around, casting a quick glance upwards to see that Shyama had moved to hide in the shelving above where he was seated. Grimsley chuckled lightly, looking back down to see Hide concentrating on finding the others through what looked like his aura sense. He thought at first, that maybe that was a bit cheatsy, but after a moment more of thinking, Grimsley only shrugged lightly and rested an elbow on his knee, putting his chin in the palm of his hand as he watched the Riolu peek around the couch to find Conan. "Found ya."

With a muffled snicker, Grimsley watched as Hide began to search for Shyama, with the Riolu searching both high and low for the fire pup. Grimsley idly wondered if Shyama was purposely hiding in the high spots because she knew of any difficulties the Riolu might have. The thought made Grimsley chuckle. He would not be surprised, honestly.

"I wonder if Alirah and Kaneki is bringing something back soon, my tummy is talking."

Looking up, Grimsley watched the two pokemon continue their search for Shyama, glancing towards the door when he heard the sound of something nearing the boutique. Hid seemed tohave sensed it as well, since the Riolu brightened up immediately and raced to the door. "Kaneki! Welcome back!" Were they back already? Grimsley watched as Hide ran to greet the Spectreon and the party, looking behind them for something Grimsley couldn't see. "Where's Nisha and Alirah?" That got his attention. Wasn't his partner meant to stay with them for protection, and to lend a hand? What had happened that made them stay back? "Back at the cafe. Hide, are you alright? Is everyone okay?" The elite trainer let out a slow breath, trying to calm down. His partner was fine, just back at the cafe.

"Yeah dude, everyone's alright. We were just playing hide and seek." He silently listened to the two talk, looking up as he noticed Shyama had emerged from her hiding spot to see the commotion. "And Grimsley? He didn't pull any tricks on you? On anyone? Everyone's alright?" What had happened in the span of them being away? Grimsley felt alienated, as though he wasn't welcome anymore. "Kaneki, calm down. We're all fine. Grimsley was just talking with Verglas, trying to figure out how he could help the guy. What's going on?" That's a question that he'd like to know the answer to as well. What happened to make the Spectreon this weary?

"Sorry, just... Bad feelings. There's still more to get at the cafe. We got a few bits of food." There was a pressure on his shoulder, and Grimsley looked to see that Shyama had jumped from a lower shelf and was now standing atop his left shoulder. He raised a hand and gave the puppy a gentle pat. "'Neki, wait a sec. Let me go put this stuff inside and I'll come with you, to help with carrying more stuff. You can tell me about what's gotten you so upset, okay?"

Grimsley sighed quietly, watching as Hide returned inside with a tin and a bag of herbs. He gave them a bemused look. What on earth did they find at that cafe that required herbs and a tin of... Tamato berries?

Alirah’s ear moved to and fro for the Liepard’s pawsteps exiting the Café. She‘s gone, the Umbreon sighed heavily. She’d really screwed it up this time, hadn’t she? Despite a slightly-less-than-rational claustrophobia, the Umbreon nosed through garbage in the cabinet for something. She wasn’t lying when she said she had forgotten something, but she didn’t specify what it was. She didn’t specify she knew what it was, but she promised something for Conan and the last thing she would do is fail him too.

The search was thus far in vain, empty wrappers with molded food remnants on it falling delicately to the floor en masse through the ajar cabinet doors. Alirah sighed annoyedly and brushed her tail over the entirely of the trash, sweeping it all into the floor.

Almost intricately placed, a jar sat behind an empty box surrounded by more wrappers. Alirah inspected the container and deemed it must’ve been peanut butter. Well… it wasn’t filling, but she’d always been fond of it.
She gripped the plastic lid with her canine teeth, emerging from the cabinet and starting across it for the floor. … What do I do when I get back? She paused, her toes bent over the edge of the granite counter. I scared Plant, and Kaneki doesn‘t like Trainer owned Pokémon… The Spectreon said he would return for the rest of the food though. She supposed she could just leave the jar where he would notice it… good enough. Hopefully Conan would know she kept her word.

With a bound off the perch, her front paws met the floor and skidded, splaying in opposite directions and dropping her chest to slam into the floor. The sound of glass shattering and a loud yelp broke the silence, but it quickly enveloped the room once again.

The pastel fox rolled her eyes upwards, heart dropping a bit at the jar of peanut butter, broken into a million shards ahead of her and coating the floor. … Well… I should‘ve expected that, I guess... Her claws sheathed as she traced the missing pieces of flooring with her toes. “’Cuz every time I think I’m gonna be alright, I’m just setting myself up to fall again.” No pun intended. “Even trying to not be myself is a waste of time. What, did I honestly believe act like you’re worth something and you will be, would actually work? I tried and it was for nothing-- miracles do not exist, and trying to be a friend is just me denying that I’ll be alone eventually…”

Or dead.

Her musings quieted to the constant self-loathing in her mind that was completely normal for her. She slipped into a cupboard and closed it behind her, wandering through the complete darkness and bumping into metal pots and pans.
A very large soup pot lay on it’s side in the blackness, just the right size for her to back into and lay down on top of her tail.

I‘m not going back.

((OoC - I have permission to write that Nisha left. Also, I think I completely forgot to mention, but we’re in a different Café than Shuu and Sade were in lol.))