Mission 6

Mission 6 Part of Arc 2 ← Mission 5, Arc 1 Event 6 Part 1 → Release Date Apr 12th, 2012 End Date Jul 8th, 2012 Associated stories Successor Well of Memories The Summoning The Illusion The Dates Fight and Flight Reprieve Spiritual Malaise Red or Black Narrator The Question The Appraising Rewards 1 Accessory voucher Tao Village rebuilt Links Rescuers Merchants Rogues

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Prologue

Rescuers

Hi!!

Let me just take this chance to tell y’all that Mike’s a lil buttface and ran back home to Mom!! Or that’s what Mr. Fresnel told me, anyway. I’d believe it if I were you, he prolly knows what he’s talkin about, being a super cool music guy and all.

...except that he keeps not giving me my freakin triangle! It’s really annoying!! When you see him I think you should bug him lots. Don’t tell him I told you to. I mean it. I’ll make you pay if you do!

OK whatever! Oh yeah, I got a mission for y’all. Me ‘n Winston are gonna go lookin around for Pokemon who got lost and stuff during the blizzard. Kay? Help us out! We can’t let Pokemon just sit around lost and cryin for their mommas. Winston does enough crying as it is, we don’t need no more of that!

Ummmm... gosh darnit, I don’t know what’s supposed to go in a letter! So I think that’s it.

Bye!
-Maple, the best Rescuer

Um, hi! You might not know me, I’m new here. But... I’m a rescuer just like you! Really!

I hope I can be helpful to you all and do some real work here. Um, so please tell me if I’m doing a bad job! I don’t... I don’t wanna be a liability here. Especially not when I just got here!

I’m sorry, I’m probably being too insecure, aren’t I? It’s just, this is kind of overwhelming. I’ve never been part of a group this big! So please bear with me while I sort out my feelings.

I know this has been a really tough time for you all, but I have to ask you to help Maple and me with this rescue effort! I mean, please. It’s okay if you say no. It’s not like I’m trying to force you into anything scary here! That wouldn’t be right. But there are still pokemon who ran off or got lost in the blizzard that are alone and scared too! And they probably need help. So I’m going with Maple to help them, and I think you should too!

And... And furthermore! I think some of those pokemon could be helping others too. They might need a gentle push in the right direction from an experienced Rescuer, like the one I got. We could use all the help we can get, you know?

So, for the experienced teams among you, now would be a fine time to recruit another member! That’s what Fresnel says. He says it’s okay.

Anyway, that’s all I really wanted to say. I’m really happy to be a part of your guild! Overjoyed, even! I want to do a lot of good things for Tao, and help everyone feel safe. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Peace out!

- Winston

Greetings, Rescuers.

This is my first time addressing such a large number of people at one time, so please bear with me. I, ah… Well I realize some of you may not know who I am! I never have formally introduced myself, have I? My name is Fresnel, and I’m going to be helping out with this guild.

Er… well. I guess “helping” isn’t a very accurate way to describe my role at this point. You see, Mike seemed to think this was a convenient time to take it upon himself to up and leave Tao to go to… what’s it called? Gambitville? I never have been that far north. Anyway, I presume he failed to mention this to most, if not all of you, thus leaving me to be the one to bear the news. He said he needs to get… advice.

From his mother! I call bull. But whatever. It doesn’t matter why he’s gone. What matters is he’s not here. And I guess that makes me the leader of the Rescuer Guild now, since there’s really no one else to step up and take his place. Haha, talk about coming in at the wrong time!

…

I uhh… Sorry, that was uncalled for. I can’t let these things get to my head like everyone else has. It seems the recent disaster has left everyone’s faculties scrambled and I just can’t afford to fall to the same fate.

I’ve just assisted in the battle against a Legendary dragon to protect a village I haven’t lived in for any more than a few weeks. And now with Mike’s… noble departure, I have a good third of its populace looking up to me for guidance. I bear no ill will against any of you, so… You know, as a matter of fact I haven’t even met most of you! I’ve never been in such a role before so it may take some time to find my footing, so please bear with me.

I want to be seen as a symbol of guidance for the Rescuers, so I’m going to do my best to ensure that you can all confide in me. I know that you all need someone like that now more than ever, especially since this is the second time one of your leaders has disappeared without a word. I won’t let that number reach three.

Ah, actually! I should let you all know that I am going to depart to my hometown, Steel City, for a short time. See, Steel City is the home of a family of very reputable construction workers. I think it would do well to have a bit of professional assistance to help us renovate Tao, don’t you?

Oh, and I almost forgot! A very gracious Kecleon by the name of Anana has been ever so kind as to donate a, well, a large sum of money to put towards fixing the treehouse! And it seems like there may be plenty of money left over too! Are you excited? I know I am.

Anyway, while I’m out, you are all going to naturally be looking for work, yes? I’m aware of a few people who are actually in need of some extra hands at the moment. First and foremost, I believe Maple said something about going out to look for any Pokemon who may have gotten lost in the blizzard. It certainly wasn’t easy to see in all that snow so now that it’s cleared up, I imagine there are probably more than a few Pokemon out there who found themselves not quite where they expected to be. Oh! And I believe Winston is going with her. Yes, the Whimsicott from the tailor’s place. I don’t quite know why he’s not with them anymore, but he’s going to be helping us out. He’s a little flighty though, so try not to scare him off, okay?

Hmm… what else? Oh, yes! Miss Michelle is in need of some help down at Merlot’s castle, I hear. She is no doubt exhausted, and caring for children and eggs by her lonesome is no way to remedy that. Why don’t some of you go help her out? Who knows, she may let you take one of those eggs off her hands! Perhaps if you’ve completed one mission, you might find some success requesting an egg to add to your team. There are likely babies running rampant over there too, so if you have completed two missions and Miss Michelle is okay with it, you can adopt one of them and recruit them into your team instead!

Now that I mention it, it does sound like an excellent idea to recruit some new members into our guild. Goodness knows we need the help, and I imagine it’d lift many of your spirits to have a new teammate, no? Unfortunately, I’m going to have to restrict these privileges to the more experienced teams. Like I said, I don’t exactly have much experience in the Being In Charge of a Whole Lot of Pokemon department, so if you’ve completed at least three missions, I will trust your judgment and allow you to recruit a member from, well, anywhere I guess! If you’ve completed four missions, your new member may even have been evolved once already. I trust your experience and loyalty to the Rescuers thus far will aid you in making a wise decision.

I… think that’s all for now. Although I do remember seeing… Ah yes, here it is! Miss Anana left me a letter and mentioned something along the lines of travelling and paid work? If any of you have some spare time and are interested in that sort of thing, you should check it out! It’d be the least we can do to repay her for her generosity! I’ve attached a copy of her letter to this one for more details. I’m sure it explains it better than I did, haha.

Anyway, if I’m not mistaken, that should be all that needs to be discussed. I trust you will all work your hardest to see Tao better than ever before! I’ll see you all soon!

-Fresnel ♪

Hello, hello!

I know that very few of you know me, but I’ve got a job that pays well if you’d like to take a break from being poor and homeless out in your little village! As it turns out, one of my star performers at the King’s Rock Casino has fallen ill. I’ve taken great pains to ensure her well being, but that has, unfortunately, left her partner one short. Maybe you’ve been out here and seen it, maybe not. In any case, perhaps one of you has enough talent to replace her for a few shows! After all, how can we draw in a crowd with one of the two main stars unwell?

Oh, the girl who’s sick? Her name’s Dee. That’s not so important, though! As long as you have some pep in your step, you’re good to go. Please try to be attractive for the crowd. Hugh, her partner, will fill you in on the details. He’s a Kadabra with a knack for magic tricks like no other. Don’t think it’s just normal psychic powers, no! It’s not, no, it’s really not. Psychic powers simply do not work in our casino, making his feats incredible. Don’t ask how, we won’t tell~!

Ah, right. Let me just mention that it wouldn’t be wise to gamble away your earnings at the casino. You don’t want to owe! You’d probably never return to Tao. Just a friendly warning!

-Your One Bay Merchant, Anana

MISSIONS
MAIN MISSION

Maple and Winston are on the hunt for any stray Pokemon that got lost during the chaos of Sorbet’s rampage. Please help them out! Who knows, maybe there’s someone waiting to be recruited? Or maybe one of Missy’s babies got lost?

SIDE MISSIONS

Missy needs help to ensure that Pokemon in her charge don’t cause too much chaos in Merlot’s castle. No one wants to push the limits of her good grace. Please see to it that they don’t get in the way of cooking or cleaning or anything at all which could enrage Merlot.

Anana has left a letter with Fresnel for any team interested in making some money at the King’s Rock Casino. Dee, the partner of Hugh, has fallen ill and cannot perform in their regular magic shows. Please substitute for her in order to make sure the show continues to attract visitors.

MISSION OBJECTIVES
MAIN MISSION
-Find Winston and Maple
-Rescue any missing Pokemon

SIDE MISSIONS
1)- Seek out Missy at Merlot’s castle
- Help her out by watching the young ones in her care

2)- Head to Alomomola City
-Enter King’s Rock Casino, show letter to gain access backstage
-Perform a show with Hugh in place of Dee
-Retrieve sizeable cash reward from Anana

RULES FOR RECRUITING

Events do not count at all toward getting any egg or recruit.

If you have finished NO Missions, you get no opportunity.
If you have finished ONE Mission, you may adopt an egg from Missy (see egg journal)
If you have finished TWO Missions, you may adopt a baby Pokemon from Missy OR an egg. (see egg journal)
If you have finished THREE Missions, you may recruit a basic Pokemon of any type from the wild, OR either of the two above options.
If you have finished FOUR Missions, you may recruit a Pokemon of any type from the wild, and that Pokemon may have evolved once, OR any one of the above options.

Rogues

Hmm.. Where to start? You have all performed admirably, and for that, I am glad. To tell you all the truth, I was halfway expecting to deal with the Heatran in the tunnels myself! I decided to have faith in those under my employment, though, so I went ahead and waited to see the outcome. You all did not let me down! I will not ask how you accomplished such a task, for things like that do not matter. I am only interested in results, and I was given them.

I am also proud to know that some of you were able to get along quite nicely with your fellow Pokemon, even though they were not affiliated with our Guild! Never be so headstrong in your ideals that you’re unwilling to cooperate with others who do not share them. I shall be informing Michael and PK that their guild members performed exceedingly well during their trials in my escape tunnel. They are most likely aware that this is the case, but it’s important to verbally communicate. That’s something I haven’t really done before. I deemed it unnecessary

The castle is nice, isn’t it? I used to live there. For a while, anyway. That’s not where I’m originally from, though. I’m sure of it. I would much like to stay there and fraternize, but I’m afraid that such an act would not be met with.. enthusiasm.

The owner of that castle has a fearsome reputation, and while I wouldn’t say it is falsely given, I will say that you are all safe there. This time, anyway.

I almost forgot! Since nearly every Pokemon from Tao Village and the surrounding areas are now with you in the castle, why not try to convince some of them to join our cause? No better time than now, don’t you think? Let’s see.. If you’ve completed say, four missions for me, I think you’ll be more than able to recruit a Pokemon who has already evolved once. If you’ve completed.. Three missions, I think you’ll have more luck with recruiting a normal stage Pokemon.

Two missions, hm, you will be able to adopt a baby from Missy. She’ll be very appreciative of you taking some of them off of her hands. Probably. It’s not really necessary to tell her what guild we’re from now, is it? If this is your first mission completed with us, I’m sure she’ll have an egg you can look after.

Better than nothing, don’t you think? For those of you who are brand new, and have yet to complete any missions for us, you actually do receive nothing. That’s just how it goes, I’m afraid! You’ll get more once you put in more for our guild.

Well, enough of that. Let’s get down to business! I’m sure all of you are feeling a bit restless from the lack of official guidance.

It has come to my attention that there is an abundance of work for my friends Chex and Ivory! An overabundance of work, actually. It seems that Sorbet’s romp through Tao has left the Trubbish’s Dump a bit exposed. While this would not normally be a problem, it seems that there are items of interest inside that turn this into a problem. Hopefully you all realize the nature of these items, given Ivory’s current career. This task should not be a hard one, but it is an important one! Assist Chex and Ivory in any way you can. There are too many items for Chex and Ivory to take to the boneyard by themselves, so they will be needing a great deal of help with transporting them.

Ah yes! One other thing. It seems Gunpowder has given Dmitri the task of helping that.. overly friendly Dragonair with something. You’ll have to ask one of them for details.

I believe that I have nothing more to say. There’s this pressing feeling that there’s not much time left, but why? I cannot say. Time isn’t even real, you know! We made it up! Something will happen, though. I’m sure of it. I can’t wait to find out! I haven’t felt this happy since.. a long time ago.

Time! It always comes down to that, one way or the other.

Do you know how it feels to merely exist, searching for a purpose blindly in the dark? It’s not a pleasant experience, I can assure you. All this time I’ve known that something was in that dark, if I could only grab it and follow it to the end. I have grabbed it now, and I will see the path it takes me on soon enough.

Ahoy mateys,

I'm sure ye've all noticed, but in case ya were sleepin' the whole time, the village is in.. a bit of a mess. By a bit, of course I be meanin' completely DESTROYED. Ya can thank our lovely merchant head PK for all this.

I heard that Shroomsworth boy left her 'cause of it, or summin'. Har har! That's what she gets, eh? ... Anyway, my point bein', since the village is in a state of disrepair, if ya don't get me letter, well.. I'll understand. Maybe.

... Har. I jest. If ya don't get it, ye better be lookin' for new work.

Oh, right. Speakin' of the village in a mess.. I imagine most of ye be without a place t' stay. Merlot has offered her castle to those in need. I know, I know, ye've all heard rumors 'bout how she's a psycho and a perv, but hear me out. I talked to her, and she seems.. like a psycho and a perv, but a good one, I gotta say! I like her, and you have to like what I say, ya? Har.

... Real talk, though, ya can all stay with her and she don' mind. She probably won't put a maid outfit on ye, either. Unless you're a dragon. Maybe. I left without one, but she seemed t' respect me. She does ask, though, that since there's so many people stayin', that we send SOME help t' the kitchen. I've already forced-- I mean, asked Dmitri to help wit' that, but I'm gonna have t' ask some of you t' help him out. The more, the merrier! We could all use some really good food.

If ya can't cook, I still got some good news for ya. Chex be needin' some help with cleanin' up the village. All the fightin' caused a lot of buildings to be knocked t' pieces, Trubbish dump not excluded. It's makin' the town stink summin' foul; I can smell it from me cave! Be sure to get it nice and clean, ya? If ye find any bodies, well.. I'm sure Chex'll handle 'em too. Yar har har! I'm so funny, ain't I?!

But seriously. I ain't heard of anyone dead yet from this whole mess, but do keep yer eyes open. If ya find anyone, do let either Devonshire or I know and we'll see to it that the family be notified. Or whatever. Look, I just do as I'm told, see? Anyway.

I can understand if the smell of rotting flesh makes ya want to gag, and if it does, yer a big baby, I say, but we've also got one last thing fer ya t' do. An old associate of mine by the name of Anana dropped by with a letter; summin' about travelling. Might be a good experience fer some o' ya. I've attached a copy of it. Despite her bein' the sister o' that nasty witch PK, we can trust her, since I say so, and ya can trust me. Right?

And don't bother tellin' me if yer gone. I got bigger things t' worry about.

That about covers it, methinks! Keep it real, mateys. Keep it real.

-Gunpowder

Hi


What my boy Dmitri is sayin’ is that there ain’t enough food for all of us in this place, and we’ve been tasked with the most honorable task of findin’ enough for that little fellow who I have been told, with no uncertainty, isn’ a snake. Dunno how a fellow like him cooks, with lack of limbs n’ everythin’. There should be a load of vegetables in Tao Ranch, but we gotta get ‘em quick, as there’s sure to be scavengers n’ other unfortunate folk who’d be tryin to get ‘em as well.

Anythin’ else, Dmitri?


Hello, hello!

I know that very few of you know me, but I’ve got a job that pays well if you’d like to take a break from being poor and homeless out in your little village! As it turns out, one of my star performers at the King’s Rock Casino has fallen ill. I’ve taken great pains to ensure her well being, but that has, unfortunately, left her partner one short. Maybe you’ve been out here and seen it, maybe not. In any case, perhaps one of you has enough talent to replace her for a few shows! After all, how can we draw in a crowd with one of the two main stars unwell?

Oh, the girl who’s sick? Her name’s Dee. That’s not so important, though! As long as you have some pep in your step, you’re good to go. Please try to be attractive for the crowd. Hugh, her partner, will fill you in on the details. He’s a Kadabra with a knack for magic tricks like no other. Don’t think it’s just normal psychic powers, no! It’s not, no, it’s really not. Psychic powers simply do not work in our casino, making his feats incredible. Don’t ask how, we won’t tell~!

Ah, right. Let me just mention that it wouldn’t be wise to gamble away your earnings at the casino. You don’t want to owe! You’d probably never return to Tao. Just a friendly warning!

-Your One Bay Merchant, Anana

MISSIONS
MAIN MISSION

Ivory and Chex need help transporting certain decaying items to the Boneyard. Devonshire says that It’s simply too much for them to haul alone, and it won’t do any good to have the dump making the entire village smell like rotting bodies, and so, he wishes for you to aid his friends.

SIDE MISSIONS

Gunpowder has volunteered Dmitri to... volunteer for Soba to collect food items! Dmitri thinks that most of what’s needed can be found at the wrecked Tao Ranch. Probably no one’s going to complain if you take as much as you can from there to feed the village... best to avoid the ranchers just in case...

Anana has left a letter with Gunpowder detailing that she has paid work at the King’s Rock Casino. The work seems to involve being a substitute for a Lopunny named Dee in Hugh’s magic show performance. Hugh’s partner Nie is still well.

MISSION OBJECTIVES
MAIN MISSION
-Find Chex/Ivory
-Remove select items from the dump
-Take to Boneyard

SIDE MISSIONS
1) - Find Dmitri
-Accompany him in finding the items he needs
-Return to Soba
-Help cook in the kitchen

2) -Head to Alomomola City
-Enter King’s Rock Casino, show letter to gain access backstage
-Perform a show with Hugh in place of Dee
-Retrieve sizeable cash reward from Anana

RULES FOR RECRUITING

Events do not count at all toward getting any egg or recruit.

If you have finished NO Missions, you get no opportunity.
If you have finished ONE Mission, you may adopt an egg from Missy (see egg journal)
If you have finished TWO Missions, you may adopt a baby Pokemon from Missy OR an egg. (see egg journal)
If you have finished THREE Missions, you may recruit a basic Pokemon of any type from the wild, OR either of the two above options.
If you have finished FOUR Missions, you may recruit a Pokemon of any type from the wild, and that Pokemon may have evolved once, OR any one of the above options.

Merchants

Hi, everyone.

I don’t really know how to begin this. The current state of the village probably says a lot, I have no doubt. I don’t know what to really tell any of you. I just... don’t.

Well, okay... I do know one thing. We’re going to get through this, all right? We’re gonna make some changes around here. We’re gonna work hard and hopefully we should... we should be able to make it better than it was before. The village, I mean. I know a lot of your houses got smashed, but a decent amount of you still have an intact home. Those without a place to stay should know that Merlot is offering rooms at her castle.

Actually I feel that mentioning this is kind of redundant because you’re probably reading this while staying at a room in the castle. Whatever...

Anyway, I have recently, uh, come into the timely possession of some, well, extra funds. There’s an anonymous donator, and that’s all you need to know should anyone ask or care.

...This means we’ll be able to add more buildings and, you know, do some more interesting things with this wreck of a village. I want to pay someone to divert water from Tao Lake down around here. I estimate it’ll take us two to three months to finish everything up if we’re working ‘round the clock. That’s a conservative estimate, but we’ll see.

Um. We have a new assistant helper; some of you may recognize Malt if you’ve ever been out to the ranch. He’s going to be keeping track of finances and other crap I don’t want to be thinking about right now. This should allow me to oversee everything else and make sure arrangements for new buildings and owners should go smoothly.

Speaking of things I don’t want to manage, I lost all the paperwork for the teams, but a fellow stepped in to deal with all that for me, too. I guess he’s going to manage all the paperwork for all the guilds. Have you seen him at all? His name was... Callahan? Yeah, I think that was it. That guy really, really seems to like paperwork. Good on him I guess? I’d really rather not bother with all that if I don’t have to. Please stop by my hut when you get the chance and redo the papers for your team. I’m giving him a small section of the building to stay in.

I’m not going to lie. It’s really hard to want to keep going. Really, really hard. Pokemon have come, and... gone... and it’s enough to make me want to hit the road, too. Ehh... I guess it’s better to have you all know that than to pretend otherwise. Don’t worry, anyway. I’m in this for the long run, for better or worse.

Hmm. Oh, I guess I should mention some new visitors we have who are most likely here to stay for a while. Uh... let’s see... If any of you know Master Foo (and you should), well, his grandpa showed up. Not entirely sure what that guy plans to do, but he mumbled something about moves. I’ll let Foo sort that out.

Who else... oh, a couple of booksellers from Alomomola City have shown up. I know how many of you are mostly illiterate and don’t care about things like this letter, let alone books, so... Oh, there’s also been this other fellow who showed up from Prosphora’s-- er, I guess most of you probably don’t know who that is. It’s not that important. I don’t even really know what he does, but there’s an Archeops who’s showed up in his name. He’s setting up a little missionary for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.

(I guess I didn’t realize that we were sort of lacking in that way, but he convinced me that it’d be a great addition to the village. I would’ve argued more, but he had a good sum of money, and that’s the truth.)

There was more, I’m sure of it-- oh! I wanted to set up some communal living spaces nearby. Hmm... Oh ah! Of course, I forgot to mention it, but Fresnel actually brought some professional construction workers out here. They’re from Steel City, actually! I’ve never been there, but I’ve seen it from the outside. It looks like a crazy fantastical place. Maybe one day some of you will get a chance to check it out. I’ll have to remember to thank Fresnel later or something, though I’m pretty sure he only brought them here to make the busted treehouse really awesome. No, wait, that doesn’t make sense... You wouldn’t need a ton of workers just to fix a treehouse... huh. I guess there’s not going to be much in the way of rescuing if there’s no village to go along with it, maybe? Whatever.

Oh yeah, speaking of rescuing, I heard that Mike ran off like a little baby. Seems like everyone wants to run away these days! And see that? That’s what I’m NOT doing. I’m NOT doing that! I’m here to stay! I am, I AM!

Uh... hmm... thinking, thinking...

OH! Right! New teammates! It’s important to me that you guys keep your morale up. I know how amazingly hard that can be, trust me.

This is one of the most important times to stick together, to be a team, to have a partner, for someone to have your back, to not abandon the other just bec--

Er.

What I’m trying to get at is, I know some of you have been around for a while and you might be feeling a little bogged down by this situation. Therefore, if you’ve helped out for at least three Missions (events don’t count), then I’m fine with you recruiting help from wherever you can find it. I’ll begrudgingly trust your judgment in bringing in another Merchant teammate from somewhere, someplace. If you’ve fully completed at least four Missions (events don’t count), then I’m even okay if the recruit you find has evolved once already. If you’ve only helped out for two Missions, then you can adopt a baby from Missy. If you’ve helped out for one Mission, you can get an egg from her. If you’re a new recruit yourself, tough luck! You need to prove yourself first before you get anything!

Oh, did you know? I got one of those construction workers to lift up the fountain and take it away and uh, there was no piping underneath it. I completely did not notice this before but... they told me there were supposed to be pipes or something. There was nothing, just a large gray stone slab. I wanted to put a new fountain there, so we did, and I figured we’d put piping in later. But uh... I don’t get it at all, but we put up that ice sculpture of Sorbet in the center, and it just... started... working. Kind of spooky, but now we have a nevermeltice fountain which just works somehow!

I don’t get it, and I don’t really care. I love that fountain so I won’t question it. I don’t think there’s a single more peaceful place in town. Sitting around in that nice, cool water, it’s probably the best. It’s calm, so calm! I-- I love it!

…

Haven’t you all heard the story by now? Sorbet’s gone... It’s really warm out now because of that, but, he’s gone. Sad as that is, I’m happy from the bottom of my heart that there’s a memento of him, at least. I don’t think I’d even have admitted something like that a week ago... ha...

...

Let’s try to make things peaceful in his memory, all right? Let’s really give it our best shot. I’m so worn down, I’m not sure how much more I can really take. I know you guys have got to be feeling similar at the moment.

Anyway I hav- oh yeah, I forgot. Those construction workers, Champ. Co or whatever, they agreed to take away some of the price of fixing things in exchange for some lumber from the woods around us. And why not? A lot of the felled trees would be perfect for them, don’t you think? I asked why they couldn’t just use those trees to fix things, and they told me the wood hasn’t dried yet and so it would warp and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t care to listen to. So, that’s out. But they’ll take away trees for us.

On that note...

Uh... okay so, has anyone else noticed how the forest is kind of DYING? It looked okay for a couple of days, but the leaves are all falling off, and all the bushes look like they’re just sort of not living anymore. Dead. Yeah. I don’t really know what to do about that! Malt’s already set up some plans to till land near us, to just go ahead and move the usable ranch land next to the village. And why not? I guess we’re kind of merging the village and the ranch, anyway. We’re gonna expand it as well. I am sort of excited about that.

What else, what else... Oh, I guess that about wraps it up. Come see me if you want to help the construction workers, or go see Malt if you want to find out what to do as far as tallying damages goes. Or tilling the ranch.

Oh, yeah. My sister left a letter behind for anyone who wants to take up a job for some cash. I think she left this same one with each guild. I’ll include it just in case one of you wants to make some money in between helping out around here.

And I guess that’s it.

Don’t slack off! -PK

My fellow Merchants, hello! It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it; a few might’ve run into me here and there, but I haven’t seen most of you since you helped return my dear sister Ovaltine to the Ranch, for which I am still greatly indebted to all of you. While it’s got little to do with the current goings-on, I give to you once again my sincere thanks.

From upbeat to down, I’m afraid that things are just rolling down a hill out of control faster than a tripped Golem. In fact, I really, really don’t even want to let these words leave my mouth, but you’ve all got a right to know...

Shroomsworth is no longer a member of the Merchant’s Guild, in either proxy or station. He is no longer a Guild Leader.

Now, while that utterly kills me, and you have no idea how much I look up to Green and PK here - I just can’t give you much more information than that. As you’ve likely noticed, PK’s gone all-black on us, and she’s a good bit more volatile than usual; I did my absolute best, but for a second there the Merchant’s Guild was hanging on by a thread and you guys almost came back to absolutely nothing.

Keep your noses - or otherwise - straight ahead in your own business and for goodness’ sake, do -not- mention him around PK. Don’t. I’d say something like “I don’t want to have to put my horns to good use,” but I think she’d take care of you before I could even get myself into stance, hahaha!

Okay, getting way out of hand here. I’m going to be a temporary aid for the Merchant’s Guild at this time, so it’s my job to talk about some of the pressing matters at hand and how exactly you can help us here. For those who haven’t met me before - Greetings, I’m Malt, Manager of Tao Ranch, Skilled Accountant and Golden Miltank. Just remember that I’m a Mister, not a Missus, and I’m positive that we’ll all get along perfectly. Otherwise... ABACUS CHOP!

As I’m sure PK’s mentioned, we’ve got some construction workers from Steel City coming in thanks to the help of a certain bescarfed Ampharos named Fresnel, and that is absolutely perfect for us! You’ll rarely find workers with that kind of moxie about rebuilding or repairing, trust me - and for that matter, in case you didn’t hear or guess, Tao Ranch has just about been completely destroyed. Thankfully some of the milk was preserved by the snow, but most of the crops and Iceburg’s fruit are beyond redemption... either totally dead or barely edible outside of anything stored. The Blizzard completely and utterly wrecked the land there too, some of it’s even outright split open... we could certainly reuse the land, but even though I’m an Accountant I know my soil and earth quality and a heavy portion of it is nearly entirely unusable!

Anyways, so basically you can look forward to brand new remodelings of your favorite dives in town. Especially the Cafe - Vertigo is especially helping out in that case. Instead of just rebuilding it in the smaller area it inhabited, they’re expanding out in every direction! It’s enough to get me pumped and I hardly hang around places like that...

… No, I didn’t get hired to do advertising for the new Cafe. Do not test the patience of the Temp Miltank, dear Merchants.

There’s still a lot of things that need to be done, though. We’ve got damage estimates on everything from buildings to roads and land alike... those things are way tougher than they seem, even with everybody helping out. Ever had to cleanup a pigsty? Now imagine it’s amidst the hustle and bustle of a rebuilding town and you also have a strict set of rules to follow regarding such. PK and I will take care of the core paperwork and permits though, so don’t stress too much about all that, no reason to go making yourself sick. My mighty abacus is an aid to all fellow number crunchers!

Ah yes, there’s another announcement I’ve got here, and I daresay you might hear a little excitement in my voice regarding it... Tao Ranch will be relocated and rebuilt very close to and merged with the Merchant’s Guild! PK and I have discussed the matter at hand very thoroughly, and with a generous amount of thought on my part I have deemed it in the best interests for the Ranch and all those who work in it to make the subsequent move. Of course, that does mean we’re going to have to relocate not only the stored and preserved goods at the old Tao, there’s still a checklist from my horns to my feet in length in necessities.

All this, happening so fast... you’d almost swear everything since the start of the Blizzard was a dream, huh?

… and I’d give it all away if it’d mean Green was back with PK again.

Ugh, I’m really sorry. This silly ol’ cow has had some really long nights as of late and I haven’t worked this hard since I accidentally took orders beyond our projected output one year, hahaha... Ahem. My personal mistakes and embarrassment notwithstanding, I’ve got a little something extra here that a very particular... someone gave to me, and you very well might be interested in if you’re looking to make some extra cash. First though, let me recap the things that we’re looking to have you get done for us, the village, and the good of the Guild.

Alright. First off PK and I would very much like you to confer with some of the shop and proprietary owners of property in the area and take a look at any new blueprints as well as the damage done to the original structure, be it frames, windows, basements, plumbing, the whole nine yards - remember that pipes are very fickle things, especially when it comes to freezing temperatures(and for goodness’s sake don’t try fixing things yourselves!). With that information, make an estimation of costs for repair and remodeling said buildings, and be absolutely sure not to leave out the fact that we also need road maintenance and the new fountain.

I understand that the trees of the village being wrecked, especially for fellow grass-types, is something you’re going to want to address immediately... but please bear with us here, as we’ve already got plans in motion to handle them after the Village is restored otherwise. While buildings and the like are certainly important for the livelihood of the village, one must not forget just how beautiful the place was pre-Blizzard and I’m almost entirely certain that everyone is looking forward to seeing it in all of its former glory... and then taking it one step further and turning it into a place where we’re more than proud to live in! As long as we work together and display exceptional patience, I’m sure that it will all come to pass eventually.

There’s also helping out with the Tao Ranch issue. While there’s still a good amount of stock left behind as I mentioned before, and I’d like you to travel there and recover as much of it as possible. We’ve got a few repaired wagons you can use, and if one breaks down there’s probably a lot of scrap left over at Tao Ranch to repair it. There’s also the matter of the land at the relocation area... it needs to be cleaned up and prepared, but don’t think it’s just a solo job, as we’ve got the crew of Tao Ranch to help us out with that, and while it’s not quite my authority to affirm this, I believe you can join forces with another Merchant team in order to speed the process along much faster. However, you’ll have to talk to PK in order to affirm your eligibility regarding such.

Lastly, there’s the issue of the extra cash that I mentioned. Did I draw your attention by the mention of a lucrative job offer? Good. It’s actually a letter, and PK probably mentioned it - I’ll go into detail, though. It’s basically an on-completion payment job from a -very- wealthy contractor, a mission at the King’s Rock Casino for all interested parties therein. However, inquiring minds as to the details of the Mission will have to actually make the trip to speak with the organizers in person, as the letter displays little else aside the location, the payment, and that it’s a job - we’ve got a self-contained economic bubble here, so it could be worth it to ride the wave... on the other hand, statistically speaking a Casino is nothing more than an establishment with the grandest Fool’s Tax in the world, and in my opinion definitely not worth doing anything at. All the lights, the sounds, the hustle and bustle, seeing other Pokemon win big... it’s a dangerous place, and I greatly, desperately urge any Merchants who go there to keep their head straight remember that a Casino is a Mathematical Sinkhole.

That about covers the entirety of it all, and thank you greatly for reading it all the way through. I... I know I’m not as good a Merchant as PK... and I’m definitely not the kind of outstanding Pokemon than Shroomsworth is. I’m just a Miltank with ambitious dreams with a knack for math who loves the Merchant’s Guild with all my being. So please, if Green being gone leaves you with a nasty taste in your mouth and has you thinking, “You’ll never replace him, Cow!”, I urge you to deal with me for now. I’m certain that he’ll come back eventually, and when that happens, you guys’ll be one big happy family together and I’ll go back to daydreaming at Tao Ranch.

... I got sappy again. My apologies, Merchants. Keep a stiff upper lip and remember - Prerogative, Pride, Profit! Find the will and the way, stand tall amidst the crowd, and pull in the profit with your experience and skill! No slacking off, stay safe in all that you do, and thank you for sticking with the Merchant’s Guild in its time of need!

Hello Merchants!

I've never wrote a letter before! I always wanted to, because I've been learning to write good and stuff. I already knew a little bit, but Miss Michelle helped a lot! Anyway... Miss PK said I could write a big guild letter about whatever I want, and to act like I'm talking to friends to make it easier. She's really smart.

So hi! My name is Rhodes. I haven't met a lot of you, but Miss PK says that up until Sorbet broke everything, you all made her a lot of... doe. I don't know how to spell that, sorry. She says that means you're all really cool, and she likes that you do that, so thank you!

Mr. Shroomsworth liked that too, but he left. I think something really bad happened, because Miss PK won't talk about it. Maybe it's a good idea not to talk about him to her, so be careful. She can punch you really hard. I'll try to find him, so don't worry, okay? Just try to focus on making the village all fixed-up!

Also, don't worry about the ghost in the tailor hut. He's actually really good at tailor stuff! He did a really cool thing with my scarf, that maybe some of you already saw. Don't worry if he says some things that are kind of mean. He... isn't a bad guy. He just had a really hard time with something. Maybe you can get him to do something good with your scarf too, or other stuff you wear.

I think that's all for now... thank you for reading my letter!

Your Friend, Rhodes

Hello, hello!

I know that very few of you know me, but I’ve got a job that pays well if you’d like to take a break from being poor and homeless out in your little village! As it turns out, one of my star performers at the King’s Rock Casino has fallen ill. I’ve taken great pains to ensure her well being, but that has, unfortunately, left her partner one short. Maybe you’ve been out here and seen it, maybe not. In any case, perhaps one of you has enough talent to replace her for a few shows! After all, how can we draw in a crowd with one of the two main stars unwell?

Oh, the girl who’s sick? Her name’s Dee. That’s not so important, though! As long as you have some pep in your step, you’re good to go. Please try to be attractive for the crowd. Hugh, her partner, will fill you in on the details. He’s a Kadabra with a knack for magic tricks like no other. Don’t think it’s just normal psychic powers, no! It’s not, no, it’s really not. Psychic powers simply do not work in our casino, making his feats incredible. Don’t ask how, we won’t tell~!

Ah, right. Let me just mention that it wouldn’t be wise to gamble away your earnings at the casino. You don’t want to owe! You’d probably never return to Tao. Just a friendly warning!

-Your One Bay Merchant, Anana

MISSIONS
MAIN MISSION

PK and Malt are arranging for the rebuilding of Tao Village. Fresnel has brought in some professionals from Champ. Co to aid in making sure the buildings, old and new alike, are structurally sound. Before this can be done, Malt needs help in estimating the cost of the damages a final time, and the village itself needs to be cleaned up. The rebuilding effort is expected to take 2-3 months.

SIDE MISSIONS

Tao Ranch is getting a giant overhaul and is moving closer to the village, since most of the farmland got destroyed anyway. Help the ranchers out in tilling the land and building new structures.

Anana has left Malt with a letter for paid work out in Alomomola Bay at the King’s Rock Casino. PK has no comments (best not to ask further) except that it’s a chance to make money and is fairly simple. Dee is sick and her partner Hugh needs a substitute to take place alongside him and Nie in his magic shows.

MISSION OBJECTIVES
MAIN MISSION
-Find Malt, estimate damages alongside him
-Clean the village
-Assist the construction workers in the fixing and building of structures

SIDE MISSIONS
1)- Fetch the ranchers from the castle
-Till the new farmland near the village
-Help build new farm buildings

2)- Head to Alomomola City
-Enter King’s Rock Casino, show letter to gain access backstage
-Perform a show with Hugh in place of Dee
-Retrieve sizeable cash reward from Anana

RULES FOR RECRUITING

Events do not count at all toward getting any egg or recruit.

If you have finished NO Missions, you get no opportunity.
If you have finished ONE Mission, you may adopt an egg from Missy (see egg journal)
If you have finished TWO Missions, you may adopt a baby Pokemon from Missy OR an egg. (see egg journal)
If you have finished THREE Missions, you may recruit a basic Pokemon of any type from the wild, OR either of the two above options.
If you have finished FOUR Missions, you may recruit a Pokemon of any type from the wild, and that Pokemon may have evolved once, OR any one of the above options.

Epilogue

Two figures were heading toward their destination of Tao Village, a Charmander wearing a peculiar hat, and a Seviper with a small white cloth. From their attire, one would assume that they originated from Gambitville, and that was so.

These two were on a trek back to the village hand in hand-- well, together, at least, toting a couple of bags.

"Oh, are you sure you're fine with letting me occupy your Rescuer's Guild, Michael?" The Seviper asked.

"Yeah, of course, Opal! We're... you know, together! We slept closely together in the week over at mom's house, and... well, it's nice. I-- Kheh... I really like you, you know?" Mike looked down at the ground as he walked, his face partially turning a red color that was more intense than his usual scales.

"Haha! You get a little silly with you 'you knows' a lot, Mike! It's fine, I like you a lot too, it's just I don't want to feel like a useless guest who's scrounging around... lord knows I did plenty of that with Donahue..."

"Kheh--! Don't be silly Opal! Donahue was fine with you, plus you keep beating yourself up over nothing! You make really cool jewelry, and I'm sure PK wouldn't bat an eye over THESE!" Mike held up one of the bags he carried high above the ground. "So... it'll be fine. Plus, I want your company... your late night hugs are... um, they feel nice, even if it hurts a lot... Kheh..."

"Haha, you still call those hugs! That's silly! You're very silly, Mike!" Opal laughed as Mike's face began to turn even redder.

"Is that?! Oyyyyyyyyy! It's been a long time!" An unknown voice boomed out from the sky, startling the two of them in their trek. As Mike looked up and saw a familiar face.

"Barty?! Is that you?! What are you doing here!!" Mike shouted up to the capped Drifblim that was floating overhead.

"Yeah, who else would it be?! I'm just as surprised to see you going back to Tao Village, Mike! Now are you gonna stay home this time?!"

Mike was surprised to hear the word 'home' used in such a context. "Kheh, of course!! I'm going home to Tao Village, and I'm staying there! So are you gonna give us a lift?"

"Er... well, I'm too busy toting a napping passenger here to handle you two! But I'll go ahead of you guys to tell the news!! So I'll catch you later!!! Bye!!!!" Barty shouted more and more as he floated off into the distance to ensure that the two of them heard his words at the expense of the now awake and furious passenger.

"That... who was that, Michael?" Opal turned to look at Mike with a puzzled look.

"Oh that, that was Barty! He's the Tao Village flight transportation, so to say. Kheh-heh... that's right, I have so much to tell you about the place! You're gonna love how friendly it is. Waaaay better than Gambitville, for sure... and..." Mike continued to talk as the two of them walked toward their destination in high spirits.

As they passed the reconstructed Tao Ranch, Mike noticed how big it had become, and it was just a small sample of what was to come in his return. Then he noticed unfamiliar business in what appeared to be the edge of the rebuilt Tao Village. So many new buildings would prompt Mike to consider that they might've gotten lost if it weren't for the iconic Kecleon Merchant Hut being noticed. They were back home alright, but it was a brand new home for Opal, and Mike couldn't help but somewhat feel the same.

"Haha, wow, it looks like a lot has happened since I left. I guess this means there's a lot of stuff to do now, eh Opal?"

"Y-yeah..."

"What's wrong? Oh, you must be tired huh... Well, let's see if there's any occupancy somewhere..." Mike looked around, searching for any rebuilt houses that could offer temporary vacancies.

"I'm fine, really... but, Michael, didn't you say that your headquarters used to be a treehouse?"

"Hmm? Well yeah, but--"

"Well, look over there, isn't that it?" Opal pointed toward a grand tree with a wooden rampway that spiraled upward to a giant treehouse that was adorned with a peculiar lighthouse-looking ornament.

"What the kheh...?" Mike was astonished to see it not only rebuilt, but more ravishing and luxurious as well. It was a godsend to have such an amazing building be your headquarters as well as your home, but Mike felt that it was all thanks to someone who would make him equally regret it. "Kheh... heh, wow. So she really outdid it this time, what else is she looking for?"

"Hmm? What are you talking about Michael?"

"Huh? Oh! It's just, this is definitely PK's work, but hey! Doesn't it look great? Let's go inside at least and you can take a break!"

"Oh, okay..." Opal slithered to follow Mike as he approached the revived treehouse.

As Mike climbed up, he noticed familiar faces. Yes, many of the Rescuer guild members he remembered were around and saw his face with a surprise. "Well, if there's Rescuers around, then this is definitely our treehouse, alright..." Mike thought as the guild members rushed to speak with Mike. He was busy, but he had assured them that he definitely returned back to Tao Village with no intention to leave again and they all left to spread the cheerful news.

"Hee...! You're awfully popular, Michael!" Opal giggled.

"Ah, well... you know! I guess I shouldn't have really taken my absence for granted... well, let's go!" Mike walked on ahead and opened the door to let himself and Opal into the headquarters.

It was fantastic, much bigger than what he and Chill were used to, and with more furnishings to boot!

"Wow... this, must've cost a lot, huh?" Mike looked around the inside the treehouse so he could familiarize himself with his new settings, but then he realized he was forgetting something. "Oh! Uh, Opal, you should take a rest on that... um... weird looking chair."

"Oh... Michael, that's a chaise lounge. Even I know that!" Opal laid the bag hanging from her tail blade 'hilt' to rest and coiled herself up on top of the red futon. "Ah~ This feels great after walking for two days. My body's sooo sore."

"As if you could 'walk' without legs!" Mike placed the two other bags he had carried all this way right next to the bag Opal held.

"Oh, haha! Sorry Michael, but when everyone says 'walk,' you kind of pick that up!"

"Ah.. yeah, you don't see much snakes around... Well, I'm gonna go look if I can see if the others are around. Be right back." Mike walked off into various rooms of the treehouse to find... anyone. In his search, he discovered that the new treehouse contained a dining room, paired with a rudimentary kitchen, a bathing room, and various rooms that were equipped with the standard bed and desk, possibly reserved for guests or clients. But as he delved further and further, he started smelling a familiar scent.

"Maple...? Yeah, that's her, but... eugh." It was disgustingly more pungent than what Maple naturally exuded in her adorable stature, which meant that she must've sprayed something or someone, and if she did so, then she was in a terrible mood. Mike felt like he had to go where the awful smell became stronger and stronger, even if it began to give him a headache, he had to go see what's wrong with her. Finally, he arrived at the door where the source of Maple's foul aura was being housed and opened it without knocking.

"Maple!! Are you here?! Are you okay?!"

Maple peeked up. “What? Oh... it’s you.”

"Yeah... it's me, hi. How are you doing? You... stink. Something bad happened?"

“Uh, duh?” She furrowed her brow. “Lots of bad things have happened since you’ve been gone? Like Rhodes is a really big jerk, and Sandy’s being weird, and I don’t know why you’re even asking! If you cared you wouldn’t have left anyway!”

"Ugh, really? Kheh, well..." Mike placed a claw behind his shoulders and scratched as he looked at Maple. "I know, it's my bad, and I'm sorry too! But I had a lot of trouble on my mind and I had to go talk to mom."

“Yeah. Right. I’m sure.” She rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

"Ugh, come on Maple..." Mike looked up to the ceiling. "Look, it's fine. It'll all be fine now. I'm back on my feet, and I'm ready to go make amends, too. Okay, how about we start with you first? Obviously you did something to Sandy and Rhodes, so let's go apologize to them!" Mike edged closer to Maple.

“Don’t you TOUCH ME!” she shrieked. “I don’t wanna talk to EITHER of them! Or YOU for that matter!”

"Fine. Fine. I get it. You're really mad. Okay. I'll leave you be for the moment, but when I come back, we're bathing. Hey, at least I've got something of yours that mom wanted me to give you!"

“I don’t CARE about that stupid toy, and you can’t make me do anything. AT ALL!” Maple promptly got up and ran off to another section of the treehouse. Hiding from Mike was a good pastime when she was particularly angry at the world.

"Well... so much for that-- shoot! I forgot to ask her if she's seen Fresnel anywhere! ...oh well. Maybe later tonight, after I cook her some pancakes she'll soften up. But eh, now I have to deal with Sandy and Maple. What a bother..." Mike sighed loudly and walked back to where Opal was. She was all coiled up on the futon, still, but with her eyes closed.

"Opal, I found Maple, but she's a little moody at the moment, so I can't really introduce you to her at the moment, sorry."

"Oh... Huah~" Opal opened her eyes and yawned. "Sorry. I'm so tired from that walk, I think I want to nap for a bit anyways..."

"Ah, that's fine! Sorry for waking you, Opal." Mike walked up to the bags and opened them up, checking it's contents. "...yeah, this is the one. Okay." He closed it up and lifted it up with him.

"...ah, is it time, Michael?" She knew what Mike was about to do, after all, he had planned to go to this 'PK,' to introduce her work and get her situated to do business, but she had other means in plan. "Mike, you can give them to her. You should pay off the debt this treehouse has, so it's rightfully yours."

Mike was stunned at what Opal just said. "What?! I was only going to show her, but...!"

"Shh shh, Michael, it's alright. You earned those, remember? It's payment for the excavation job!"

"I...!"

"Sssshhhh it'sss... oopsss!" Opal's lisp happened yet again in error as she tried to re-enunciate herself. "Ahem! It's okay, Michael. I really don't mind!"

"T-thanks, Opal!" Mike turned around and took one step until...

"...do be truthful to PK, including your feelings as well."

...Mike stuttered in his steps and almost tripped after hearing that. "Wh-what?!"

"Look, it's pretty easy to tell you have feelings for PK as well! But don't let me get in the way of that. I'd die if I was an actual cause of that, so don't worry about me, really! I'm not jealous, in fact, it's cute!"

Those words were like daggers digging themselves into his heart, he couldn't believe Opal could be such a merciful murderer... if they were actual daggers, that is. But the merciful status still held true, and he was entirely grateful for Opal's position in this matter. "I- I will! I'll be back, okay?! And we'll go out and have dinner too, with Fresnel and Maple. To celebrate, because I'm not gonna lose this one!"

Opal could only giggle at Mike's sudden burst of confidence. "Hee! That's good, I'm starving. Plus... if we could have time together, tonight we can..."

Mike's heart skipped a beat, he very well knew what Opal was insinuating, and he was overjoyed to hear that. "...yeah! Okay!! I'm all fired up, I'm gonna go now, bye!!" Mike continued with a dash towards the door and left.

Opal sighed as she was dead on with Mike once more. "Hah... he's so easy to get. Oh well, I could use the excitement tonight as well." Opal shut her eyes and went back to rest for the night's meal and tango.

Mike walked his way toward the familiar Kecleon-themed hut, with thoughts about the night. As he did, he could hear the murmuring of the many Tao Village residents as they saw him. He kept his focus on them as he walked... for far too long, though, as he bumped into somebody who was well endowed.

"Oof! Hey.. is that.. Malt?" Mike noticed the brown colored Miltank that he had accidentally assaulted. It was hard to not mistake such a rare sight for someone else. "Why are you here?"

“Er.. I work here. You’ve been gone a while, huh?”

"You work here now? That's... great? Haha... I didn't know you were into this sort of stuff! Well, I kinda need to hurry back to my Rescuing Duty, so I need to know where PK is. Do you know?"

“Oh, yeah, PK... she’s in her office. But, uh... do you really need to see her? I mean, she’s kind of busy lately, and when it’s not about work, she’s prone to, um, well, you know.” Malt had an upset expression plastered across his face that was as easy to notice the brown on his body.

"Well, I'm a customer, so she'll make time for me!" Mike walked past Malt, and turned around to walk backwards for a bit in order to say... "Thanks, I hope you do okay!" And with that, he went inside the hut and straight to the door that had 'Office' emblazoned on it. This was it. He had to do it, but he could feel his tail flame, confidence, and practically everything else of him shrink while he was in front of the door.

Knock knock, as his knuckled claw beat on the door. And it opened to reveal a rather expectant Kecleon whose facial expression shifted into a multitude of colors until it finally settled on black disappointment. Woah, that was a neat little color show for a welcome back, huh?

“What, you’re not...what are you doing here? What do you want?” PK exclaimed.

Mike sighed upon hearing that. "Yeah, it's still the... same? PK, why are you still black? Are you sick??"

“...” PK glared into his eyes with such vigor that it felt like she was burning her latent anger into his soul. “I’m just fine, thanks. Did you have business here or not? There’s about a million things I could be doing--and would rather be doing-- besides talking to you.”

But I...! was what went in Mike's mind before he switched rails to actual speech as he pulled the bag closer to his chest. "H-hey! That's not nice! And you should treat me better than that because I'm at least a customer with a lot of money right here! So let's make a deal or two."

PK took a good glimpse at his bag, and then made a decision that Mike believed was business-like. “A lotta money, huh? What type of deal are you trying to pull off, then?”

Okay! That's the first step, and now the second step! "Well... this is pretty heavy, so will you let me in your office?"

“Mmmm... fine." PK stepped closer to Mike. "But let me take a peek first. Gotta make sure you’re not wasting my time. Time’s money and all that jazz.”

Yes! The second step! Good! "Okay, look at this!" He reached into the bag and pulled out a large and fantastic emerald from it. "How's that for money? Think I can have an audience with now, YOUR MAJESTY?" "Kheh heh... that's a good one, oughta use that line some more!"

She stared at the large emerald with a rather calm expression. “All right, looks real enough. I’ll have to check them up close for myself too. Now, what exactly are you hoping to... buy? With all those?” She walked into her own office.

Mike had to trail behind her with disappointment in his head as he wondered if that emerald was a bad first impression. He looked for somewhere to sit at, to be customary, and found small wooden chairs for him to situate himself. Not bad. But he had to step up his game, now. "Okay here, look at these." Mike pulled out more and more gems from the bag, with a color choice that avoided green. That was the unlucky color already set in his mind. They were not all smooth like the emerald, but at least he placed them in an arrange for PK to feast her eyes on. "Sorry these are so rough, me and Opal couldn't really cut all of these so fancily, but wait until you see her work!"

“Opal?”

"Aha... Opal... she... ahahaha..." Mike couldn't help but try to laugh to cover up his inner conflict. Argh, that's right. I never considered what PK would actually think about Opal... ah...

PK seemed to notice that he actually liked Opal, and she seemed to become mad at that fact. Mike became nervous. Urgh, did I blow it already?!

“Oh... I see. Whatever. Are you going to buy something or are you messing with me?”

Mike felt like he was losing the deal already, but she mentioned the word 'buy,' so it was still salvageable, right? "Ah!! Sorry. Okay, look. First off, I wanna say that I brought Opal with me from Gambitville to take up residence with me in Tao Village... thing is, I know that "residence" isn't really ours, and it's just on loan from you." "Well, I promised to return victorious, so!!" "So, the first deal is this." Mike emptied the bag of all it's gems on top of PK's table. "All of this to pay off the treehouse." Yeah, how's that?!

PK seemed to get all wide-eyed, but she maintained a straight face as the silence brooded. Then, she tapped her claws along the desk as she looked at the wall for a bit.

“Hmm. What gave you the impression that’d be enough? Have you taken a good look at the treehouse anyway? Have you even seen all its furnishings, do you even know how labor-intensive it was? Did you even see the lighthouse on top? Do you even know how expensive that was to install?”

Blow after blow was striking down Mike at his core as PK went on and on. What...?

“Well?”

"Th-- That can't be! Here, you didn't see everything here, look at these!" Mike pointed his claw to a specific gem on the table. "Are you familiar with the utility rocks? How about this?! Seen a chargestone before???"

“I’m familiar with all manners of stones, idiot! But do you have any idea how hard it was to build on that tree? It got really smashed up during... you know. I’m afraid these just won’t cut it.” PK turned away, and Mike knew he already wounded her with the remembrance of Sorbet.

Great... I really blew it, I guess it's time for the 'trump card.' Mike sighed as he walked up to PK and placed his claw on her shoulder. "I'm... I guess I got too ahead of myself again. I... I didn't think this wouldn't be enough. I'm sorry, but I'll do whatever you want. I mean... yeah, anything. What do you want?"

“Anything... do you mean that, Mikey-boy?”

Yup, it's working, just as I expected. And I was looking forward to having the night with Opal... "I.. I, I... guess... even that, if that's what you're asking. Opa-- I guess... she'd be okay with it too! Anything for the Rescuers, you know..."

PK finally started laughing, almost heinously. This was it, her goal had arrived, and her haggle had come to fruition.

"What... PK, this is really scary. Is there really more to you than... that?"

PK turned around to face Mike with a maniacal look that knocked him off his feet to the ground. And then, after all the build up, she dealt her fatal blow, a smile. “You dumbass! Fresnel already paid for the whole thing out of his own pocket! You don’t owe me anything but the insurance each month. And even then, he’s paid a year in advance, so you don’t even have to worry about your forgetfulness for a while!”

Mike was flabbergasted, nothing could really formulate in his mind. "...I... All that... tension. Kheh... is that so?"

“Yup. Turns out you did waste my time after all, huh? Now get your sorry ass outta here.”

Just then, a thought sparked in Mike's mind. He had never thought of doing this, but he just had to try it. "...no."

“Excuse me?”

"I can't. This... this has been in my heart."

PK was baffled, as she should have been.

“What? Stop babbling-”

"I mean!! This!!" Mike stepped forward and grabbed PK by the arms, initiating what seemed to be a deep kiss in the way the two could actually execute. PK seemed to feel entirely frozen in what the scant few seconds felt like an eternity, and so did Mike. In fact, Mike's heart felt like it was going to burst from fulfilling what it had desired him to do, and then began conveying the thoughts to take the step even further. Mike bought into the false claims his heart was whispering to him and thought that maybe now would be the best time to-- Well, be shoved away from PK by her own hands. Darn.

“What the HELL Mike?! Get OUT OF HERE!" PK shoved him right out of her office and then slammed the door shut.

Mike couldn't believe what he had done, but his blood was ignited from the act that he couldn't care less if he... oh, the gems were left in her office! Another ruse by PK that he couldn't help but laugh at. "HAHAHA That was worth all those gems! You can keep them!"

PK then opened the door in response to his shout and dropped the bag full of gems on the ground beside him.

In that split second, his mind immediately connected the pattern of what was to ensue, and before the final part of PK's 3 second act could play out, he had responded. "KHEH, I FOr-- WAIT!!" Mike stuck his foot to where the door would close, and had his foot smashed in order to prevent its complete closure. "OWWWWWWW"

“WHAT more do you WANT?!” She yelled, while sporting a color similar to him.

"Look!" Mike haplessly tossed a handful of gems and the precious 'gift' that Syrup entrusted him to give to PK. "Opal does more than just gems! She's an expert jeweler too! Keep those, and show it to Shroomsworth too! I'm sure he can see business from Opal more than a mile away. And that drink... it's for you to keep. But, if you don't like it... I guess you can give it to him too if he fancies a hard tea."

PK reverted back to her newly standarizard black color. “Yeah. No. That won’t be happening. Thanks anyway, but..." PK looked around anxiously. "Just stop it. I’m really sick and tired of people making fun of me. Just tired of it.” Those words stung Mike as he felt he unexpectedly hurt her on a personal level, and jerked his swelling foot away from the door leaving her to close it... and then lock it.