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Description
Chapter 2

It took the whole of the morning and quite a bit of the afternoon to reach Alomomola Bay with only one quick stop for lunch (some fresh apples). Sissy hadn't been to the beach in a long time and sort of remembered being here once before. It might have been before she met Champ, but as her memory was foggy of that time, she couldn't say. Either way, the bay was beautiful and serene in the fading daylight. Light dazzled brilliantly on the ocean's waters.

She had heard around that Alomomola Bay was nothing compared to the city portion, but she had a hard time believing that. The bay had a few decent shops and buildings that looked utterly bizarre (what, no Poke shaped buildings?) and Pokemon seemed to be bustling about at a good pace. It was amazingly hot here, a little too hot with her poncho on. There were a good many Pokemon strolling around the beach having a grand, old time. Sissy wanted to join them, but she had a job to do. The sooner it was done, the sooner she could leave and have fun.

The King's Rock Casino, which was where this supposed magic show was taking place, wasn't a hard building to find. Crazy signs were pointing to it everywhere and it was a very large building. Pokemon ran in and out of the entrance in dazzled excitement, laughing, talking, and grumbling amongst themselves. Sissy entered and found herself overwhelmed by the immense amount of games, Pokemon, food, and noise. It was like a constant party. It was a little shocking to encounter at first. She didn't know what to think.

Sissy meandered past roulette wheels, cafe tables and all sorts of games until she found a bar. She had never been to a bar before. It dawned on her just how inexperienced she was in the world.

"Um, hello?" She asked. At the counter, a gleeful looking Clefairy turned around. She looked like she was preparing a tray of food.

"Yes? Hello! Welcome to the Casino! Would you like some to try our fresh Pecha berry slush or a cool Mago Margarita?" The Clefairy asked.

It was then Sissy noticed how parched she was after walking for so long. "Can I just have some water?" She asked.

The smile on the Clefairy faltered for a split second before turning right around to a joyous smile. "Of course! We have all sorts of flavors. How about strawberry or Bluk?"

After insisting she just wanted some regular water and leaving the Clefairy looking a little disappointed, Sissy asked about the letter. The Clefairy pointed her to a room with an empty stage with a large purplish curtain behind it and told her to look for Hugh. Sissy did so, taking off her poncho and folding it in her arms as she went.

The stage was pretty large and surrounded on all three sides by chairs so guest could look at it in all angles. Without the lights and people however, it seemed dull and lifeless. Perhaps even a bit sad. Behind the curtain seemed to be a whole different aspect of the stage. Though the stage itself was neat and clean, behind it was just the opposite. Piles of boxes, clothing racks, costumes, props, strange tools, everything was littered about in confused messes. Some Pokemon were shifting a few boxes around and trying to get things orderly. One pair of Pokemon in particular looked especially familiar to Sissy.

"Carol? Dayton?" She asked, coming up to them. The Zangoose didn't even so much as look at her, while the Ghastly swiveled gently around in the air to greet her.
"Sissy! Hi! What're you doing here?" She asked.

"I was just about to ask you that." Sissy replied.

"We're helping out Hugh of course! Though I didn't imagine there'd be so many Pokemon wanting to help besides us. Dayton has his work cut out for him though. He's having him move these boxes." She giggled.

"I didn't realize the Rogues had this same mission." Sissy mumbled as Carol continued to blather away about how Hugh assigned her to help with some of his tricks. Being a ghost type apparently would give him a wider variety of moves.

"Carol," Sissy said after letting Carol have at it for a minute or two, "where is Hugh? I came here to help him too."

Carol then redirected her to yet another room off to the side a bit. It was pretty big and red with a large star right in the center. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and waited. It creaked open a bit.

"Yes?" Came a man's voice. Then the door was thrown open wider. "Oh, another enthusiast? Come to apply for something?" This must've been Hugh. Sissy heard he was a Kadabra, but wasn't expecting him to be clothed so extravagantly. He was chuckling down at her. "I'm afraid you're a bit late. I've had my fair fill of patrons to support the entire year."

Sissy's heart fell at this news. So she had come all this way for nothing, even after deciding she'd rather be back with Champ. Now she was stuck in a town overnight she knew nothing about and without even a place to stay. Who knew how many criminals lurked about the place at night. Her past traumas haunted her even more so now.

Her disappointment must have shown on her face because the Kadabra drew her inside and looked her over.

"However..." He started. "You are a pretty, little Buneary. I've only had a few of those Pokemon offer to help and none of them have been female. You'd be a nice replacement for Dee on the stage."

Sissy's heart skipped a beat. "Yes," he said. "I think you'd look nice out there. Alright, you got lucky today. Come on back so I can show you the ropes."

Never in her life had she been so happy to be a girl... Okay, she was often happy about that, as her Attract move would hardly have the same effect. But never had she been so happy she was a Buneary. It was practically the same thing.

~~~~~

Finding out what he was afraid of was the easy part. Now came the hard part, actually acting on it. It seemed easy enough. All he had to do was offer to watch the little, flying furball and follow him around the room for a while. He didn't even have to touch him. It'd be super easy. Then why was it so hard for him to even ask?

You're being stupid, Champ told himself. It's just a little Woobat. What are they known for? Hugging people. Oh yeah, that's sure scary.

But every time Missy passed him by in the room, he couldn't muster up any nerve to ask. It was as though his mouth clamped shut on him. Every nerve in his body would freeze and his moment would pass. Before he knew it, evening came and went and nighttime was drawing near.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the little ones to go to bed!" Missy called out. Most of the room, that is, all the children, groaned and whined and complained. The rest of the room, or all the adults, heaved huge sighs of relief. All except Champ who felt as though his opportunities had passed.

He helped to settle the children and round them up in their sleeping mats. All of the children and caretakers quieted so they could listen to Missy tell a bedtime story for the whole of the room. Champ remembered fondly that this was a tradition of Missy's ever since he was small. She told a story of how a brave Pokemon from a faraway land came to help two warring clans find peace. He had heard it before, but it was still one of his favorites. After she was finished, it was time for the kids to turn out the lights and go to bed. This was almost never the outcome. Children would always stay up far past bedtime giggling to one another beneath the covers. He had done it himself when he was small. Champ helped to quiet any stragglers and troublemakers, even singing a lullaby to a frightened Cleffa.

Upon his way out, he saw the tiny Woobat baby with his nose stuck to the wall, snoring oddly. After asking about that to Missy, who amusingly told him all Woobats slept with their noses suctioned to walls, he left remembering how he still hadn't asked to watch him. It bothered him all the way to his own bed, though it wasn't nearly late enough to actually fall asleep. He didn't feel like doing much else. Usually this time of night, he and Sissy would talk, or play cards together (they liked playing Crazy Eights), or, more recently, train to evolve. But Sissy wasn't here. And by now he was sorely starting to miss her. Sure, she could be a miserable pain in the tail, but she was his partner. And his best friend.

It was hard getting to sleep. It was already hard enough ever since they started living in Merlot's Castle because all they had to sleep on were blankets and, if they were lucky, old mats. But he eventually got to sleep. He dreamt of giant, killer cotton balls trying to eat him while Missy was telling his favorite bedtime story and Sissy was watching from afar trying to use Attract on it, but it wouldn't work. He woke up after Sissy stormed off because she was angry he was wearing her favorite bow and wouldn't give it to her.
While still in that half asleep place, Champ wondered where Sissy had gone and when she'd be back. Then he remembered that she had left the castle entirely and tried desperately to remember why she had been angry and why he had been irritated. He couldn't remember.

After a quick breakfast thanks to the mysterious caterer that he had never seen (whom he had heard was a Dragonair), he marched right back over to the Nursery. No use in going back to Master Foo, since he said training would be useless now. Besides, he was feeling much more confident today about the Woobat thing for some reason.

He was careful in opening the door this time, holding it firmly so if the little whelp tried to escape again, he was ready to close it on him. There were no Woobat attacks today though, which he was ever grateful about. In fact, there was no sign anywhere of the baby. It was a little hard to miss, what with the constant jittering and wails. In fact, many of the caretakers weren't around. Even Missy wasn't doing her usual bustling about.

"Where is everyone?" He asked a Magnemite caretaker who was having a hard time with two baby Squirtles. As an answer, Missy burst through the doors ranting and followed by a trail of two or three more caretakers.

"I can't believe that incompetent Bulbasaur!! I'm never letting him work here again!! I'll give him such a horrible review, he won't even be able to work at the dump!!" She cried, stomping all the way to the incubators. Everyone made way for her, knowing she was in no mood to be trifled with. Champ followed the group of caretakers, having a pretty good idea of what was going on, but unwilling to say anything at the moment.

"Ma'am, it wasn't his fault," a brave Caterpie began, "no one thought he could have escaped while we were eating breakfast. All the kids usually stay put for that meal."

"Yes, but he could have closed the door fully, hm?" Missy retorted as she began to turn the eggs. It looked as though she was in the middle of it before she was interrupted by the disappearance of the Woobat and was just now getting to finish it.

"And we can't have the whole room looking for him," she continued, "no one would be able to take care of the rest of the children. Oh, hello Champ dear."

A few of the other caretakers glanced his way as blush seeped up through his cheeks. "Lost the Woobat, huh?" He said to ease the attention off himself.

"Yes." Missy retorted back. "And we've searched the immediate area, but he's nowhere to be found. I can't believe he would have gotten so far. This castle's huge!! We can't go searching all over for him!"

The other Pokemon didn't know what to say to that. Champ noticed there were only about five of them today which was hardly enough to satisfy the whole of the room. It was no wonder Missy was so upset. The uproar of babies was getting out of hand, they couldn't be spread thin like that.

"Alright," Missy began, "two of you just continue looking for him. If you can't find him, start asking around. There's nothing much else we can do at this point. He's... a smart little one. He'll find his way back once he gets hungry..."

Missy sniffed a little, and Champ knew her long enough to know she was holding back tears. She always got so worried, but even he knew this wasn't a very good place to get lost in. The Bulbasaur immediately offered to help look as if trying to prove to Missy he wasn't worthless. Missy consented (after much persuasion) and started giving assignments to everyone else.

"Champ, you help me with these eggs, dear" She said, still meticulously turning them.

"No!!" He shouted, surprising himself and everyone else. Missy looked a little hurt and confused. He blushed wildly once again. "I-I mean... no please. I want to help look for the Woobat too."

Missy's expression changed to one of concern. "Oh. I... okay, I just thought..." He could have sworn her eyes darted down to his scar, but it must have been his imagination. "Alright, go on ahead," she said and whispered afterwards, "keep an eye out for that Bulbasaur, he's giving me anxiety."

Champ nodded sympathetically and followed the Bulbasaur out, totally disbelieving he actually offered to help and feeling much less confident about his decision.

><><><><

Team FluffMuscles: [link]

Team Danger: [link]

First: [link]
Previous: [link]
Next: [link]

Description
Chapter 2

It took the whole of the morning and quite a bit of the afternoon to reach Alomomola Bay with only one quick stop for lunch (some fresh apples). Sissy hadn't been to the beach in a long time and sort of remembered being here once before. It might have been before she met Champ, but as her memory was foggy of that time, she couldn't say. Either way, the bay was beautiful and serene in the fading daylight. Light dazzled brilliantly on the ocean's waters.

She had heard around that Alomomola Bay was nothing compared to the city portion, but she had a hard time believing that. The bay had a few decent shops and buildings that looked utterly bizarre (what, no Poke shaped buildings?) and Pokemon seemed to be bustling about at a good pace. It was amazingly hot here, a little too hot with her poncho on. There were a good many Pokemon strolling around the beach having a grand, old time. Sissy wanted to join them, but she had a job to do. The sooner it was done, the sooner she could leave and have fun.

The King's Rock Casino, which was where this supposed magic show was taking place, wasn't a hard building to find. Crazy signs were pointing to it everywhere and it was a very large building. Pokemon ran in and out of the entrance in dazzled excitement, laughing, talking, and grumbling amongst themselves. Sissy entered and found herself overwhelmed by the immense amount of games, Pokemon, food, and noise. It was like a constant party. It was a little shocking to encounter at first. She didn't know what to think.

Sissy meandered past roulette wheels, cafe tables and all sorts of games until she found a bar. She had never been to a bar before. It dawned on her just how inexperienced she was in the world.

"Um, hello?" She asked. At the counter, a gleeful looking Clefairy turned around. She looked like she was preparing a tray of food.

"Yes? Hello! Welcome to the Casino! Would you like some to try our fresh Pecha berry slush or a cool Mago Margarita?" The Clefairy asked.

It was then Sissy noticed how parched she was after walking for so long. "Can I just have some water?" She asked.

The smile on the Clefairy faltered for a split second before turning right around to a joyous smile. "Of course! We have all sorts of flavors. How about strawberry or Bluk?"

After insisting she just wanted some regular water and leaving the Clefairy looking a little disappointed, Sissy asked about the letter. The Clefairy pointed her to a room with an empty stage with a large purplish curtain behind it and told her to look for Hugh. Sissy did so, taking off her poncho and folding it in her arms as she went.

The stage was pretty large and surrounded on all three sides by chairs so guest could look at it in all angles. Without the lights and people however, it seemed dull and lifeless. Perhaps even a bit sad. Behind the curtain seemed to be a whole different aspect of the stage. Though the stage itself was neat and clean, behind it was just the opposite. Piles of boxes, clothing racks, costumes, props, strange tools, everything was littered about in confused messes. Some Pokemon were shifting a few boxes around and trying to get things orderly. One pair of Pokemon in particular looked especially familiar to Sissy.

"Carol? Dayton?" She asked, coming up to them. The Zangoose didn't even so much as look at her, while the Ghastly swiveled gently around in the air to greet her.
"Sissy! Hi! What're you doing here?" She asked.

"I was just about to ask you that." Sissy replied.

"We're helping out Hugh of course! Though I didn't imagine there'd be so many Pokemon wanting to help besides us. Dayton has his work cut out for him though. He's having him move these boxes." She giggled.

"I didn't realize the Rogues had this same mission." Sissy mumbled as Carol continued to blather away about how Hugh assigned her to help with some of his tricks. Being a ghost type apparently would give him a wider variety of moves.

"Carol," Sissy said after letting Carol have at it for a minute or two, "where is Hugh? I came here to help him too."

Carol then redirected her to yet another room off to the side a bit. It was pretty big and red with a large star right in the center. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and waited. It creaked open a bit.

"Yes?" Came a man's voice. Then the door was thrown open wider. "Oh, another enthusiast? Come to apply for something?" This must've been Hugh. Sissy heard he was a Kadabra, but wasn't expecting him to be clothed so extravagantly. He was chuckling down at her. "I'm afraid you're a bit late. I've had my fair fill of patrons to support the entire year."

Sissy's heart fell at this news. So she had come all this way for nothing, even after deciding she'd rather be back with Champ. Now she was stuck in a town overnight she knew nothing about and without even a place to stay. Who knew how many criminals lurked about the place at night. Her past traumas haunted her even more so now.

Her disappointment must have shown on her face because the Kadabra drew her inside and looked her over.

"However..." He started. "You are a pretty, little Buneary. I've only had a few of those Pokemon offer to help and none of them have been female. You'd be a nice replacement for Dee on the stage."

Sissy's heart skipped a beat. "Yes," he said. "I think you'd look nice out there. Alright, you got lucky today. Come on back so I can show you the ropes."

Never in her life had she been so happy to be a girl... Okay, she was often happy about that, as her Attract move would hardly have the same effect. But never had she been so happy she was a Buneary. It was practically the same thing.

~~~~~

Finding out what he was afraid of was the easy part. Now came the hard part, actually acting on it. It seemed easy enough. All he had to do was offer to watch the little, flying furball and follow him around the room for a while. He didn't even have to touch him. It'd be super easy. Then why was it so hard for him to even ask?

You're being stupid, Champ told himself. It's just a little Woobat. What are they known for? Hugging people. Oh yeah, that's sure scary.

But every time Missy passed him by in the room, he couldn't muster up any nerve to ask. It was as though his mouth clamped shut on him. Every nerve in his body would freeze and his moment would pass. Before he knew it, evening came and went and nighttime was drawing near.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the little ones to go to bed!" Missy called out. Most of the room, that is, all the children, groaned and whined and complained. The rest of the room, or all the adults, heaved huge sighs of relief. All except Champ who felt as though his opportunities had passed.

He helped to settle the children and round them up in their sleeping mats. All of the children and caretakers quieted so they could listen to Missy tell a bedtime story for the whole of the room. Champ remembered fondly that this was a tradition of Missy's ever since he was small. She told a story of how a brave Pokemon from a faraway land came to help two warring clans find peace. He had heard it before, but it was still one of his favorites. After she was finished, it was time for the kids to turn out the lights and go to bed. This was almost never the outcome. Children would always stay up far past bedtime giggling to one another beneath the covers. He had done it himself when he was small. Champ helped to quiet any stragglers and troublemakers, even singing a lullaby to a frightened Cleffa.

Upon his way out, he saw the tiny Woobat baby with his nose stuck to the wall, snoring oddly. After asking about that to Missy, who amusingly told him all Woobats slept with their noses suctioned to walls, he left remembering how he still hadn't asked to watch him. It bothered him all the way to his own bed, though it wasn't nearly late enough to actually fall asleep. He didn't feel like doing much else. Usually this time of night, he and Sissy would talk, or play cards together (they liked playing Crazy Eights), or, more recently, train to evolve. But Sissy wasn't here. And by now he was sorely starting to miss her. Sure, she could be a miserable pain in the tail, but she was his partner. And his best friend.

It was hard getting to sleep. It was already hard enough ever since they started living in Merlot's Castle because all they had to sleep on were blankets and, if they were lucky, old mats. But he eventually got to sleep. He dreamt of giant, killer cotton balls trying to eat him while Missy was telling his favorite bedtime story and Sissy was watching from afar trying to use Attract on it, but it wouldn't work. He woke up after Sissy stormed off because she was angry he was wearing her favorite bow and wouldn't give it to her.
While still in that half asleep place, Champ wondered where Sissy had gone and when she'd be back. Then he remembered that she had left the castle entirely and tried desperately to remember why she had been angry and why he had been irritated. He couldn't remember.

After a quick breakfast thanks to the mysterious caterer that he had never seen (whom he had heard was a Dragonair), he marched right back over to the Nursery. No use in going back to Master Foo, since he said training would be useless now. Besides, he was feeling much more confident today about the Woobat thing for some reason.

He was careful in opening the door this time, holding it firmly so if the little whelp tried to escape again, he was ready to close it on him. There were no Woobat attacks today though, which he was ever grateful about. In fact, there was no sign anywhere of the baby. It was a little hard to miss, what with the constant jittering and wails. In fact, many of the caretakers weren't around. Even Missy wasn't doing her usual bustling about.

"Where is everyone?" He asked a Magnemite caretaker who was having a hard time with two baby Squirtles. As an answer, Missy burst through the doors ranting and followed by a trail of two or three more caretakers.

"I can't believe that incompetent Bulbasaur!! I'm never letting him work here again!! I'll give him such a horrible review, he won't even be able to work at the dump!!" She cried, stomping all the way to the incubators. Everyone made way for her, knowing she was in no mood to be trifled with. Champ followed the group of caretakers, having a pretty good idea of what was going on, but unwilling to say anything at the moment.

"Ma'am, it wasn't his fault," a brave Caterpie began, "no one thought he could have escaped while we were eating breakfast. All the kids usually stay put for that meal."

"Yes, but he could have closed the door fully, hm?" Missy retorted as she began to turn the eggs. It looked as though she was in the middle of it before she was interrupted by the disappearance of the Woobat and was just now getting to finish it.

"And we can't have the whole room looking for him," she continued, "no one would be able to take care of the rest of the children. Oh, hello Champ dear."

A few of the other caretakers glanced his way as blush seeped up through his cheeks. "Lost the Woobat, huh?" He said to ease the attention off himself.

"Yes." Missy retorted back. "And we've searched the immediate area, but he's nowhere to be found. I can't believe he would have gotten so far. This castle's huge!! We can't go searching all over for him!"

The other Pokemon didn't know what to say to that. Champ noticed there were only about five of them today which was hardly enough to satisfy the whole of the room. It was no wonder Missy was so upset. The uproar of babies was getting out of hand, they couldn't be spread thin like that.

"Alright," Missy began, "two of you just continue looking for him. If you can't find him, start asking around. There's nothing much else we can do at this point. He's... a smart little one. He'll find his way back once he gets hungry..."

Missy sniffed a little, and Champ knew her long enough to know she was holding back tears. She always got so worried, but even he knew this wasn't a very good place to get lost in. The Bulbasaur immediately offered to help look as if trying to prove to Missy he wasn't worthless. Missy consented (after much persuasion) and started giving assignments to everyone else.

"Champ, you help me with these eggs, dear" She said, still meticulously turning them.

"No!!" He shouted, surprising himself and everyone else. Missy looked a little hurt and confused. He blushed wildly once again. "I-I mean... no please. I want to help look for the Woobat too."

Missy's expression changed to one of concern. "Oh. I... okay, I just thought..." He could have sworn her eyes darted down to his scar, but it must have been his imagination. "Alright, go on ahead," she said and whispered afterwards, "keep an eye out for that Bulbasaur, he's giving me anxiety."

Champ nodded sympathetically and followed the Bulbasaur out, totally disbelieving he actually offered to help and feeling much less confident about his decision.

><><><><

Team FluffMuscles: [link]

Team Danger: [link]

First: [link]
Previous: [link]
Next: [link]