JFought
Sloooowly writing...
Summary: "The quiet will be good for you," the guild said, before transferring Alfred against his will to work as a guide in a neighboring rural kingdom. Moving from the city to the boonies is the definition of downgrade, or so he thinks. But even small towns have tricks up their sleeves; maybe this place isn't quite as backwards as he thinks it is.
Evening on the 10th day, Month of Lux, 1802.
The wind whistled through the plains, rustling through tightly-packed grasses and the leaves of stray trees. The flapping of wings overhead signified the return of birds from the south, calling noisily to each other as they spoke of new destinations and speculated about the weather. The wheels of a passenger carriage creaked as they rumbled down the dirt path, joined by the steady stomping of a zebstrika’s hooves, and the crushing of stray rocks underneath, and the groaning of wood straining against metal, and the bumping of cargo jostling in the back, and the tapping of an audino’s claws on the carriage door as he hung out the window staring boredly at the sight of precisely nothing.
Damn it was quiet.
Alfred pushed away from the window with a defeated sigh. That was it: boredom had won. He had thought he brought enough books to last a journey. Apparently not, said his last one, making taunting rustling noises as the movement of the carriage shifted it against the fabric of the seat. His destination was supposed to be signaled by a large mesa called the Giant’s Grave, and it was definitely there, but the thing was massive! It had appeared over the horizon hours ago now! The sun was setting!
The audino adjusted his loose-fitting emerald vest and sprawled out across the seat, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the city he left behind. It’ll be good for you, they said. It’s so much quieter, out in the Palkia-shunned boonies. What did the guild know? He could’ve been working as a guide in the biggest guild branch of the east, instead of a small, backwater kingdom like Farbroad…
The sound of wings flapping close traveled through the roof, and their braviary scout called out. “Hey! We’re almost there!”
Alfred bolted upright and rushed to the window to look out and ahead. Right there in the distance, close to the mesa’s base, he could barely make out a collection of silhouettes that could only have been buildings, coupled with a tower that poked above them. No walls for fortification; it must’ve been Harmonia all right.
The zebstrika pulling the cart threw a look back. “Maybe now you’ll stop complaining!”
That was uncalled for. Alfred leaned sideways on the windowsill and shot his own look back. “I didn’t complain that much.”
Mr. Coachmon put his attention back on the road and laughed. “Sure, sure, city boy.”
He heard the scout snicker as he flew ahead. Annoyance flashed across the audino’s face. Rude way to treat a client. But he decided to let it slide. The joy of seeing civilization again was more than what a few cheap jabs could ruin.
It was several minutes spent passing scattered plots of farmland before the watchtower came into proper view. The watchog at its top looked down upon them as they passed by. Alfred figured their job must’ve been hard, as all they guarded was a flimsy wooden picket fence separating the town from its outskirts. And on the other side were some of the shabbiest wooden buildings he had ever seen: a doorless shack of worn planks built right next to the entrance gate. The braviary scout spoke to the pyroar gatekeepers, and soon they were on the other side standing right in front of their poor excuse for a guard outpost.
“And we’re here!”
By then, Alfred had already gathered his things into the bookbag hanging over his shoulder, so all that was left for him was to jump out the carriage and walk around to grab his suitcase from the trunk. He also made sure to grab a silver coin from his wallet. He rubbed it in his paw as he walked up to the coach, then flipped it up into the air and snatched it with flair and a suave smile. “A tip,” he said, as he smoothly slotted it into the small jar attached to the zebstrika’s harness.
The coach only snorted, and as he left him behind Alfred could only shrug. Okay then.
The town outskirts were sparse. The single dirt path ahead snaked through bends in the earth and had Alfred passing by round buildings seemingly made of cloth -- yurts, he remembered they were called. They were humble in size, though as if to make up for that, they were also decorated in various colors and patterns, themed around the pokémon whose likenesses were stitched into the roofs: litleo, blitzle, eevee, mareep... All spread out to leave plenty of open, grassy spaces. At this time of evening, with the sky shifting to warmer hues, it looked quiet, barely a soul in sight outside the occasional grazer. But to Alfred’s ears, he could hear the signs of activity from inside their yurts: preparing for supper, talking about their days, the wrestling of children on patches of grass hidden from view…
The audino hit the side of his head. Dooon’t get distracted. You got one goal here.
As he followed the path deeper into town, cloth buildings were steadily replaced by more permanent wooden ones, though even here they were still painted in the patterns of various pokémon. Kinda tacky. It was a tad noisier this far in, colorful buildings packed a little tighter and wide streets busied by pokémon hurrying to finish their routines. And when the road changed to cobbled stone, that was when he knew he was in Harmonia proper.
The capital of the kingdom of Farbroad, but one would never know it standing in his position. It was really only capital by default, being the one permanent settlement across the entire small territory. Nomadic pokémon would use this town as a home base of sorts: a center for meetings and whatever meager trade the kingdom saw. The town’s major landmark rested over the rooftops, the giant of a mesa stretching endlessly tall and endlessly wide to hide the southeast sky behind its girth. With how close it looked, Alfred bet he could walk to it if he really wanted to.
But it wasn’t the only thing in the distance. Alfred finally noticed it while admiring the mesa: the tall figure of a water tower, peaking tall above the buildings to the south. I don't recall seeing that in my research. Does this town have running water? It would be a welcome surprise, though also a strangely major thing to miss…
As he followed the directions he had memorized, the world slowly grew louder. Something was happening on a street somewhere. Pokémon talking, chattering, squawking, calling, barking, shouting over… prices? Alfred found himself rubbing one of his feelers with his free paw, his claws digging into the scarred, raw flesh and sending sharp jolts of distraction that made him shiver. I-it’s not that loud. This is nothing, I’ve just been traveling on silent roads all day…
Wait, where am I?
He blinked, stopped moving, then turned to his right, and the Guild Center was right there in front of him. And behind him was the road leading directly into the market. Oh. No wonder it’s so loud. He squeezed his feeler tighter. I’ll have to get used to that then.
Alfred took a step back and placed his suitcase down so he could frame the narrow building squashed between its neighbors in his paws. Three stories, check. A sign bearing the guild’s bouffalant-head emblem, check. The doorway seemed kind of small though. Not prohibitively so, but there was no way a rhydon could fit through that. Guess there’s not a lot of big pokémon around these parts.
He pushed the door open and entered; somehow, the lobby managed to be even narrower on the inside. A good quarter of the space was partitioned off by the reception desk that he’d be working at from now on, leaving a quarter for the entryway and the remaining half for the request board and the staircase up. With the window caught in the building’s own evening shadow, everything was cast in a dim light. Alfred shut the door behind him and had to stifle a cough as the stuffy air quickly settled in.
It was quiet, save for the muffled sounds of the market and a slight shuffling coming from the ceiling. He had a feeling he knew who that was, but forget that. His attention was caught on the desk. His desk.
Alfred couldn’t help running a paw across the wooden surface as he rounded the corner and put himself behind it. It was a mess: whoever worked here last didn’t bother to keep it neat for him. Blank request papers littered the desk haphazardly, some brushing dangerously close to a lit candle and another placed on top of the inkwell. What wasn’t on the desk was loosely jammed into drawers spilling their excess onto the floor, and the cabinets against the wall were in no better state, some drawers stacked too high to close and all unlabeled. Perhaps the concept of proper organization was too much to expect from a nominal guild branch in the middle of nowhere.
At least he had the window to himself. He put his suitcase down and checked for a latch, and luckily enough. Course, with the market right there, I’m choosing between peace and fresh air.
The noise above traveled towards the staircase, and Alfred turned his head to catch the heliolisk right as he appeared at the bottom with his frill flared in surprise. “Oh, you’re-!”
“The new guide. Hey there.” Alfred put on his best smile and stepped forward to offer a paw. “Name’s Alfred, from-”
“You’re early!”
Alfred’s arm slacked. “Huh?”
The heliolisk walked up and pushed the confused audino aside, staring at the disorganized mess with dismay. “I was supposed to get this all cleaned up before ya got here!” He growled at one of the cabinet drawers and gave it a hard shove, but it didn’t budge. “Dialga’s a *****…”
Rude. Alfred cleared his throat and held his paw more assertively. “Hello?”
“Yeah, I see ya.” The lizard dismissively pushed his paw down as he turned to face him. “Helios, Guildmaster of Farbroad’s Traveler’s Guild. And you’re the new guy the Yagoran branch sent. Alfred, you said?”
Alfred pulled back his rejected paw and rubbed it against his vest. “Yeah… Nice to meet you.” He’s the boss, don’t say anything you’d regret.
Helios’ face brightened up. “Well nice to meetcha too!” Then with no warning he lurched forward, and Alfred almost recoiled as the guildmaster suddenly got very close. There was a scrutinizing glint in his eye as he practically coiled around the audino, examining him like an inspector checking for structural faults. “Audino ain’t too unfamiliar to the ‘mon around here. I bet you’d fit.”
Needles rolled across Alfred’s fur. “Could you give me a second to breathe here?”
The guildmaster responded by patting his shoulder. “Right, you seem tired.” Then mercifully broke away to give some space. “Long journey?”
Alfred’s posture slumped with relief, only for the new topic to draw out an exhausted sigh. “You could say that. The weather wasn’t too bad, but that last stretch took forever.”
“If only it took a little longer, I’d have this place up and ready for ya.” Helios glanced at the mess again just to shrug it off. “Eh, it’s not like I’d be putting ya to work today anyway. How’re ya liking town so far?”
What's there to like? Alfred thought through his actual response more carefully than that. “I only just arrived, but so far I’d say it’s… rustic. Hard to believe it’s the capital.”
“Oh I’m sure it’s nothin’ like your northern cities,” Helios replied, not looking too bothered. “But you’ll learn to love it once you get to know it more. Speaking of, they did prepare ya to take the job, right? Done all your research?”
Right. A guide needed to know everything there was to know about the land surrounding their town, and Alfred didn’t make that journey to come unprepared. He allowed some confidence to creep into his smile as he patted his bookbag. “What do you think I filled this with?”
Helios sauntered up to him and leaned on his shoulder. “Oh I’m sure you know a lot, but being a guide’s about more than that.” His tail came to rest on Alfred’s other shoulder, pointing at the door. “Your job is to intimately understand the needs and desires of every ‘mon who walks through that door. To know ‘em all on a personal level, so that you can solve their problems before we even need to get an adventurer on it.”
It was cute of him to try and be all inspiring. Alfred shrugged off his tail with a sheepish smile. “Trust me, I can handle it. You got the assessment my mentor sent you, right?”
The heliolisk scoffed as he stepped away, waving it off. “Yeah, and it was all glowing praise, but that ain’t the point,” he tried to clarify. The slightest hint of a continuation escaped his throat, but he cut it off with a shrug. “Ah, you’ll get it eventually. The work does that to ya.”
I’m sure it’s not that complicated. He nodded along anyway. “I bet it does; I’m not worried at any rate.”
Brushing off that exchange, Alfred picked up his suitcase and looked around for any sign that the building was larger than it seemed. “So, where am I staying? Are the lodgings upstairs?”
Helios shook his head. “Nah, buildin’s too small for that. Take a right from here and you’ll find our lodge, can’t miss it. I already got you a room all set up, just tell ‘em I sent ya. Oh, and-” He opened one of the lower cabinet drawers, the only one with a label: ‘Badges.’ Then picked out a golden piece and held it out to him. “Take this too.”
Alfred took it and examined it closely. It was a round shape with upward-turned horns jutting out the sides, like the head of a bouffalant. The Gold Giant Badge. I’ll be giving these out from now on.
He slipped it into his vest pocket. “Thanks.”
“That’s the last badge I’ll ever grant,” Helios remarked with a wink. “Now I gotta go back up top and finish takin’ care of some things. Any questions before you go?”
“Nothing important,” Alfred said, though now that he mentioned it. “Actually, I’m curious. What happened to the last guide?”
Helios’ frill began to glow with pride. “You’re lookin’ at ‘im!”
“Oh, congrats.” Alfred tilted his head. “But then what happened to the last guildmaster?”
With shifty eyes, the current guildmaster leaned in close to whisper. “We don’t talk about that.”
Wha- Alfred returned a deadpan look. “You’re messing with me.”
Helios snickered, pat Alfred on the shoulder, then guffawed as he walked away to return upstairs, his laughter a sharp knife to the audino’s ears.
Alone again, though Alfred could still hear the guildmaster chuckling to himself through the ceiling. Working for him sounds like it’ll be a pain, he thought, rubbing a feeler. How long will they keep me here? Surely this can’t be permanent.
In the back of his mind, he knew that was just wishful thinking. But what else did he have to cling to? He took one last glance at the mess of papers, sighed, and once again ran his paw over the desk as he made his way back to the door. It’ll be good for you, repeated those words. I bet it will…
Cool air rushed in as he opened the door. The din of the market had subsided; the day was almost over. And looking out at the shoddy town, he hesitated. Only one thing was on his mind.
Does the lodge have running water…?
---
11th day, Month of Lux, 1802.
By Palkia’s mercy, it did.
When Alfred returned to the Guild Center the following morning, the mess Helios swore he meant to clean was still there. How nice of him. At least he had a clear set of tasks for his first day.
Most of the time, work as a guide was simple. Keep track of requests put up by the townsmon, so that you can give advice to adventurers when they take them. From his experience in the city, activity usually spiked in the mornings, and kept steady throughout the day. Helios already briefed him on the requests left over from yesterday, so he was ready for whatever the town could throw at him.
…Which ended up not being much. One pokémon had visited in the hour since opening, a luxio, and only to put up a request. Since he couldn’t write, Alfred wrote it up himself, placed it on the board, and nothing had happened since. So, he filled his downtime working on organization instead.
With sunlight filtering through the window, the lobby didn’t seem so cramped anymore. If he just ignored the guildmaster’s poor organizational skills, it was actually fairly clean, and the space around the board looked just enough for a few pokémon to regroup, if they didn’t want to use the dedicated meeting room on the second floor. The different atmosphere also caused Alfred to notice a couple details he hadn’t yesterday. One was that there was no news board. The other was what could only be described as a wooden post.
It was just… there, jammed in the corner, right next to the board, jutting from the floor to about his own height. Easy to miss in the evening dim due to its dark color and bark texture, but at this time of day it stuck out like a cheri in a barrel of oran berries. It looked as if someone took a log and stuck it there, and as to why, he couldn't fathom. Helios wasn’t around, so Alfred made a mental note to ask about it later and tried to ignore its presence in the meantime.
The first adventurer to come in that day was an emolga. Alfred didn’t notice him at first, too preoccupied placing labels, at least until his visitor’s shrill voice pounded his ears. “Who’re you?!”
Alfred winced, then turned around and peered over his desk to see an electric rodent glaring daggers at him below. He tried to put on a smile.
“Hey there. I’m the new guide.” He tapped his guild badge, now pinned to his vest. “Name’s Alfred.”
The emolga tilted his head. “Who?”
I just told you- Alfred bit his tongue. “I’m not from around here? I arrived in town yesterday evening.”
“Oh.” Something caused his expression to soften. Satisfaction, maybe, except the skepticism in his glare didn’t fade. “Well don’t mind me then.” And then he scampered off to the board.
While the emolga wasn’t looking, Alfred allowed his emotions to contort his face. The hell is his problem?! He had to keep it reigned in though. His visitor was too short to reach the board, so this was the part where he would have to weather his glares and help him out.
Except, to Alfred’s surprise, the emolga wasn’t heading for the board. He was heading for the post. Without hesitation, he climbed up its length and jumped off to cling to the board, where he began climbing around, looking at requests.
Alfred was dumbfounded. The post… is for him. It was such a simple thing, and made perfect sense, yet he’d never seen anything like it before.
It wasn’t long before the emolga adventurer picked out his request and glided over to the desk with it in his mouth. He placed it down in front of him and crossed his tiny arms. “Well? Whaddya know about this one?”
Alfred squeezed a feeler and shocked himself to attention. “Right, that one came in this morning…”
---
About halfway through the day, just around noon, Alfred had a strange encounter.
He could hear it from his desk: something rolling, bumping, and rattling against the cobble street outside, coupled with tiny grunts and breaths. Feeling concerned, he was about to abandon his paperwork and check it out when it suddenly stopped at the front entrance.
A light scratching at the door signaled an eevee pushing it open so that it swung on its hinges and hit the wall with a *thunk!* The eevee paid it no mind, too busy pulling a tiny, creaky wagon carrying a rattling box. She barely threw him a glance until finally it was out of the entryway, where she quickly abandoned it to jump right onto the desk.
She stared at Alfred with large, innocent eyes. “Hi.”
Alfred recoiled somewhat. “Hey…” His eyes drifted to the door, still open and allowing outside noise in. “Can you close the door?”
In reply, the eevee dropped her ears, whined and took a step forward. “Can you help me?”
Completely ignored. Whose kit is this? It wasn’t really his job to help others directly, but she seemed distressed. He rubbed a feeler. And it’ll give me the chance to close that door.
Alfred took a deep breath, allowed the calm to wash over him, and put on a rehearsed soft smile. “Sure I can. What’s your name?”
The eevee’s distress faded as if the question had distracted her. She sat down and answered. “Vee. I’m…” Something seemed to confuse her, her attention wandered to the paper on the desk. And to Alfred’s horror, she placed both paws on it and scratched. “One-”
“No!” Alfred paws shot forward to catch hers before she could do any more damage. Vee jolted, but her focus didn’t waver. She placed her free paw on top of Alfred’s and continued.
“Two… Three!” she exclaimed. “I’m three years old!” With that, she sat on her haunches, tail wagging with content and looking pleased with herself.
Alfred drew back and sighed. “Okay Vee, where are your parents?”
Vee whined and looked down at her paws. “Uncle Espio said he’s busy today, so I can’t ask him.”
That’s not what I asked. Maybe she didn’t have parents? Though, she was an eevee. Farbroad’s royal family was supposed to consist of them and their evolutions: was she part of it? I can’t imagine a royal kid would just be wandering around…
For now, he figured it didn’t matter. “What do you need help with?”
“My box is broken,” she said, looking forlornly at the box in her wagon.
It didn’t look broken, but he decided to humor her anyway. “Lemme see…”
Alfred rounded the desk and approached the wagon (after closing the door, of course). The box inside was made of polished wood panels, with a handle on one side and a crank riddled with teeth marks on the other. It didn’t look like it opened.
Vee jumped off the desk and reared up to place her paws on the wagon’s edge. “The handle won’t turn anymore,” she said.
She means the crank. Alfred turned it clockwise and immediately felt resistance. And he could hear it too: something was caught in there. Thinking to lift it for a better feel, he grasped the handle and grunted when it barely lifted with nothing more than a rumbling sound. “What the…?”
Okay, so this time he grabbed the handle and the crank. Some more effort got the box off the wagon and pressing into his arms, punctuated by the sound of several objects rolling around. He almost lost his balance trying to carry its surprising weight. “Wh-what’s in this thing?”
“I put my rocks in there,” Vee stated matter-of-factly.
I’m doing this for rocks? With a grunt of effort he hauled it onto his desk. Okay then, first let’s figure out what’s going on…
Alfred grabbed a feeler and pressed it against the box. First, he tried rotating the crank clockwise again. He could hear the resistance now: the crank turned something inside, pushed a piece of metal into another piece of metal, and that second piece must’ve been caught on a pebble somehow. He rotated it counterclockwise and met no resistance. That’s gotta be right then. Though it was odd. He could feel something else in there too, beyond just rocks.
Regardless, he had a good feel for how the pebble must’ve gotten stuck. With two thumps, he flipped it upside down, the rocks clattering along with it. Vee was on the desk now, watching with fascination. Can’t disappoint my audience.
He tried picking it up and hitting a corner against the desk. Instead, it was too heavy and he dropped it on its edge. Vee jolted and whined. “You broke it!”
“It’s not broken!” Alfred tried to assure. He felt the box with a feeler again and shook it a bit to create some vibration. And with luck, he couldn’t hear the trapped pebble anymore. Now to hope it really isn’t broken.
He carefully flipped it rightside-up, so that when the rocks tumbled they didn’t hit the mechanism. And then he placed his paw on the crank. “I think that fixed it,” he declared. And then he tested it with a quick turn-
*POP!*
“SHIT!”
The audino stumbled backwards and fell on his own tail. The cotton head of an impidimp jeered down at him, swaying on the spring released from the open box. Vee had been shocked into a defensive posture, her tail raised and fur on end. “Shit!”
Horror dawned on him. “D-don’t repeat that!”
---
A bit of tail-rubbing and desperate pleading later, and the box was once again in its wagon. “Don’t put your rock collection in there,” Alfred sternly told Vee. “Or it might get stuck again.”
“But then where do I put my rocks?” she whined.
“Why don’t you keep them in the wagon? You’re already pulling it everywhere.”
“But…” The eevee glanced at her wagon, and her tail waved as if in thought. Then: “I’ll ask Uncle Espio!” she exclaimed. “He always knows what to do!”
Is Espio her guardian or something? Didn’t matter, she was almost out of his fur. He leaned down to pat her head. “Well you go do that. And do not say the secret word around him, got it?”
Vee nodded with a serious shine in her eyes. “It’s a secret!” She bounded over to the wagon’s handle and hesitated, then abruptly faced him and bowed her head. “Thank you mister!”
Alfred smiled and scratched a growing, funny feeling off his chest. “You’re welcome.” And with that, she pulled her wagon around and out the door.
His smile immediately dropped and he sighed with relief. Hell of a distraction… Alfred figured the best thing to do was try and forget any of it happened. Maybe he could play dumb if an angry ‘Espio’ confronted him about his language.
Still though… A crank that turned a metal spool with a tooth that pushed a latch to release a wound spring. He’d never seen a toy like that before. Maybe she was royal. After all, it had to have been imported. It was inconceivable something like that could’ve been made here of all places.
Something to think about. Later, anyway. Alfred closed the door and got back to work.
---
With time, more adventurers found their way to the Guild Center. It turned out that mornings were just less active here. “Cuz mornins are when our local adventurers are at their most busy,” Helios had explained. Most of them were tied to various traveling caravans, so oftentimes they had other obligations to fill. “Sometimes we’ll get a traveler or two comin’ here to earn our badge though, and trust me, you can bet their face’ll be the first you see every day!”
Still, the work wasn’t tough. Even at the peak of activity, it couldn’t compare to the environment Alfred had trained in. By the time the sun began its downward journey, there were only a couple requests left on the board, not that many got put up in the first place. The only inconvenience was having to light a few candles in the middle of the afternoon to keep the place well lit. He could imagine that getting annoying.
But he could put that out of mind for now, because it was time to break for the evening and let Helios cover until closing time, and Alfred had some plans in mind. He heard about a nice bar in town -- the only bar in town, the Giant’s Horn. Rumor said they imported everything, so it’d be expensive, but he brought plenty of silver with him. And maybe I can find a taste of home there…
The audino made sure to chart his course to avoid the market. The ‘scenic’ route took him through a shoddy side street of small shacks and little activity. It all put his city instincts on alert. His research had told him that crime wasn’t a big problem in Harmonia, but it paid to be careful.
*hsss*
Snake?! Alfred jolted, stopped, and turned his head towards the noise.
The front door of one of the larger buildings was wide open, and a luxray was walking out. She gave him a strange look, then went on her way.
Alfred’s eyes were frozen on her until she left, and he couldn’t help but shiver. Luxray sure are intimidating…
Another long *hiss* took his attention. But when he looked this time, all he saw was an empty doorway, its door calmly swinging to a close.
Huh? He didn’t see anything that could have made that hissing sound. And while he knew of doors rigged to close themselves, something felt off about this one.
Alfred shook his head and continued walking. There was probably some good explanation for it. And I can’t be seen gawking here.
After that distraction, it wasn’t long before he made it to the bar: a fairly sizable building with a wine glass sign and a big set of double doors. The only set of double doors he’d seen so far, actually. Alfred could hear murmurings of activity coming from inside. Doesn’t sound too busy… He chalked that up to this being a small town and entered.
It wasn’t busy: he could count the patrons, all four of them, making noise at a table in the corner. Alfred tried his absolute hardest not to eavesdrop on them, keeping focus on the tall counter where a rhydon stood polishing a glass. With confidence, he walked right up and hopped onto a stool so he could see her properly. “Slow evening, huh?”
The rhydon barkeep looked up from her polishing as if she had just noticed him. “Oh! ‘Scuse me.” She placed her glass and rag down on the granite countertop. “Nah, not many drinkers in Harmonia, as you can imagine.” A gesture with her horn towards the group. “But I’m converting ‘em. Slowly.”
Alfred chuckled. “Sounds rough. Luckily for you I do drink, though I’m not downing anything harder than wine, sorry to say.”
“I’d be surprised if someone your size could,” she replied, with a bit more levity and a small smile that faltered with curiosity. She pushed a menu towards him and asked: “I’ve never seen you around. Where you from?”
“Ebeld, so quite a ways north.” Alfred checked his options and caught his eye on something. “Mt. Kagora?”
The barkeep pulled the menu away with a grin. “Rastort. Looks like we’re both Yagoran.”
Without even asking to confirm, she had already moved to the back counter to begin mixing his drink. Alfred felt a little concerned as to what he had accidentally ordered, but hell, he could probably take it. He was just glad to meet someone from the same kingdom.
The rhydon continued the conversation as she worked. “So you’re from the city, then? What’s your name?”
“Alfred.”
“Hm. You can call me Rhys. Not a very ‘Yagoran’ name, I know, but I figured I’d change it to match local customs, since I live here now.”
“Local customs…” He’d read about it of course. Pokémon in Farbroad fashioned their names from their species. Apparently the custom used to be commonplace everywhere, until newer traditions replaced them over time. “Maybe I should start calling myself ‘Dino,’ then,” he joked.
“Alfred’s a good name, you should keep it.” Rhys shook her metal shaker, then turned around, poured its contents into a glass, and handed it to him. “There. Despite the name, Mt. Kagora’s a light drink. You’ll be fine.”
Alfred grabbed it with both paws. The cocktail was a light orange in color, and when he took a sip…
His brow furrowed, and he put the glass down. “It tastes like rocks.” It was impressive.
The rhydon tilted her head. “Is that a problem?”
Alfred lifted the glass with a sheepish smile. “I-I meant it tastes like home.” He took another, reluctant sip. Can’t be too picky…
Before long, the two found themselves swapping stories of how they came to be here. Rhys had moved in three years ago. She once worked for a bar in her old town, and unlike him, she had come here on purpose to escape the stress.
“Wasn’t it hard?” Alfred asked. “I can’t imagine you took a carriage.”
“No, I walked all right. And it was tough.” Her gaze diverted slightly. “Still can be.”
Something occurred to him right then, about this town compared to those in Yagora. “I couldn’t help noticing it. This town isn’t built for pokémon your size. The doors are too small.”
He could hear her tail drag against the floorboards. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”
“Part of it? Where do you even live?”
“I have a place big enough for me on the outskirts,” she answered. “It’s not much, but it’s comfortable enough for my purposes.”
A strong pang of sympathy washed over Alfred. “But you can’t be okay with just that?”
Rhys shrugged it off. “Hey, we all make sacrifices, don’t we?”
A sudden round of shouting from the other patrons caused Alfred to wince and clutch a feeler. “I suppose…”
Unbothered, she continued. “I still have access to everything I need, and this business makes enough to survive, if only barely.” She turned her gaze to the window. “And besides, I like it here. It’s quiet, the locals are kind, and we’re isolated from all the politics going on elsewhere. We get no news out here except rumors, and I find I prefer it that way.” She let out a grunt of discontent. “You just can’t find that kinda calm in Yagora anymore.”
It shocked Alfred to hear that. He expected her perspective to be something he could relate to, and yet here he really didn’t understand what she longed for at all. It all sounded like too much trouble for too little gain. At least his stint here had a point.
He took a couple seconds to stare into his glass and ruminate. “Well, if you ever need anything from the guild, just tap on the window. It opens, and I work right there, so I can put up anything you need.”
The rhydon’s eyes widened. “Huh, really?” she said, as if that were the first time anyone had told her. “Thanks. I’ll see if I can think of anything.”
Alfred lifted his glass and smiled. “No problem. It’s my job.”
After finishing his drink, he made sure to pay in full. And with a light head and lighter wallet, he soon was on his way back to the Guild Center to see an end to his first day of work. His thoughts kept going back to that conversation. Maybe there was something about this town he was missing.
When he opened the door into the center, he found Helios panicking at a clean and organized workspace. The guildmaster gave him a look of pure distress. “Wh-what happened to my desk?!”
Alfred was unamused. “I made it comprehensible.”
---
(continued in next post)
This was my entry in the Thousand Roads 2024 One-Shot Contest: “Mundane but Magical.” The theme was “daily life in the Pokémon world.” You can see the results thread here, which includes author interviews for most of the contestants, including my own. This story was part of the “Eevee Flight,” and won first place.
Oooohh boy. This one-shot was a trip. I’m not even sure what to put in the foreword. I hope you like it, I guess? I have a lot more to say in the Author’s Notes for this one, I think.
This is the “author’s cut” version of the story, with an added scene and some of the issues with the original fixed. This makes it different from the version in the zine (the original “uncut” version that restores all the content and prose I cut in order to get the story down to 10k). Ultimately I found I didn’t have the energy to expand the story too much, and, well, people liked it as it was already, so ^^;. Though really, I decided that the story didn’t actually need that much more to reach something approaching its full potential. It might still not reach that, but regardless, I really hope you like it. I think that’s all I can ever hope for.
Also, while this isn't my longest one-shot, it is definitely on the longer side. You'll find the end of most scenes here work well as stopping points, so don't be afraid to use them!
Changes from the contest version:
Oooohh boy. This one-shot was a trip. I’m not even sure what to put in the foreword. I hope you like it, I guess? I have a lot more to say in the Author’s Notes for this one, I think.
This is the “author’s cut” version of the story, with an added scene and some of the issues with the original fixed. This makes it different from the version in the zine (the original “uncut” version that restores all the content and prose I cut in order to get the story down to 10k). Ultimately I found I didn’t have the energy to expand the story too much, and, well, people liked it as it was already, so ^^;. Though really, I decided that the story didn’t actually need that much more to reach something approaching its full potential. It might still not reach that, but regardless, I really hope you like it. I think that’s all I can ever hope for.
Also, while this isn't my longest one-shot, it is definitely on the longer side. You'll find the end of most scenes here work well as stopping points, so don't be afraid to use them!
Changes from the contest version:
- This is built on top the uncut draft I submitted for the zine, meaning all of the changes there apply here too. This means several restored scenes (arrival scene, pole scene, vee scene, lamp scene), a ton of restored prose, and restored worldbuilding. You can see the differences as early as before the sneak peak cutoff used in the contest results thread! I cannot understate just how much 1.2k is.
- A new scene was added (technically two) to help flesh out some of the weak spots I didn't have room to fill. It was part of the original plan for the fic, but had to be cut during writing due of the encroaching word limit. Now it's here, and so the one-shot is now properly complete.
- Many scenes were either tweaked or expanded, for the purposes of addressing judge feedback and working better with the new stuff.
- I applied Liber's calendar system to the fic, so it now includes dates to mark the passage of time.
- Some minor changes to the prose to include just a bit more detail.
Engineering Harmony
Word Count: 13.9k
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Word Count: 13.9k
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Evening on the 10th day, Month of Lux, 1802.
The wind whistled through the plains, rustling through tightly-packed grasses and the leaves of stray trees. The flapping of wings overhead signified the return of birds from the south, calling noisily to each other as they spoke of new destinations and speculated about the weather. The wheels of a passenger carriage creaked as they rumbled down the dirt path, joined by the steady stomping of a zebstrika’s hooves, and the crushing of stray rocks underneath, and the groaning of wood straining against metal, and the bumping of cargo jostling in the back, and the tapping of an audino’s claws on the carriage door as he hung out the window staring boredly at the sight of precisely nothing.
Damn it was quiet.
Alfred pushed away from the window with a defeated sigh. That was it: boredom had won. He had thought he brought enough books to last a journey. Apparently not, said his last one, making taunting rustling noises as the movement of the carriage shifted it against the fabric of the seat. His destination was supposed to be signaled by a large mesa called the Giant’s Grave, and it was definitely there, but the thing was massive! It had appeared over the horizon hours ago now! The sun was setting!
The audino adjusted his loose-fitting emerald vest and sprawled out across the seat, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the city he left behind. It’ll be good for you, they said. It’s so much quieter, out in the Palkia-shunned boonies. What did the guild know? He could’ve been working as a guide in the biggest guild branch of the east, instead of a small, backwater kingdom like Farbroad…
The sound of wings flapping close traveled through the roof, and their braviary scout called out. “Hey! We’re almost there!”
Alfred bolted upright and rushed to the window to look out and ahead. Right there in the distance, close to the mesa’s base, he could barely make out a collection of silhouettes that could only have been buildings, coupled with a tower that poked above them. No walls for fortification; it must’ve been Harmonia all right.
The zebstrika pulling the cart threw a look back. “Maybe now you’ll stop complaining!”
That was uncalled for. Alfred leaned sideways on the windowsill and shot his own look back. “I didn’t complain that much.”
Mr. Coachmon put his attention back on the road and laughed. “Sure, sure, city boy.”
He heard the scout snicker as he flew ahead. Annoyance flashed across the audino’s face. Rude way to treat a client. But he decided to let it slide. The joy of seeing civilization again was more than what a few cheap jabs could ruin.
It was several minutes spent passing scattered plots of farmland before the watchtower came into proper view. The watchog at its top looked down upon them as they passed by. Alfred figured their job must’ve been hard, as all they guarded was a flimsy wooden picket fence separating the town from its outskirts. And on the other side were some of the shabbiest wooden buildings he had ever seen: a doorless shack of worn planks built right next to the entrance gate. The braviary scout spoke to the pyroar gatekeepers, and soon they were on the other side standing right in front of their poor excuse for a guard outpost.
“And we’re here!”
By then, Alfred had already gathered his things into the bookbag hanging over his shoulder, so all that was left for him was to jump out the carriage and walk around to grab his suitcase from the trunk. He also made sure to grab a silver coin from his wallet. He rubbed it in his paw as he walked up to the coach, then flipped it up into the air and snatched it with flair and a suave smile. “A tip,” he said, as he smoothly slotted it into the small jar attached to the zebstrika’s harness.
The coach only snorted, and as he left him behind Alfred could only shrug. Okay then.
The town outskirts were sparse. The single dirt path ahead snaked through bends in the earth and had Alfred passing by round buildings seemingly made of cloth -- yurts, he remembered they were called. They were humble in size, though as if to make up for that, they were also decorated in various colors and patterns, themed around the pokémon whose likenesses were stitched into the roofs: litleo, blitzle, eevee, mareep... All spread out to leave plenty of open, grassy spaces. At this time of evening, with the sky shifting to warmer hues, it looked quiet, barely a soul in sight outside the occasional grazer. But to Alfred’s ears, he could hear the signs of activity from inside their yurts: preparing for supper, talking about their days, the wrestling of children on patches of grass hidden from view…
The audino hit the side of his head. Dooon’t get distracted. You got one goal here.
As he followed the path deeper into town, cloth buildings were steadily replaced by more permanent wooden ones, though even here they were still painted in the patterns of various pokémon. Kinda tacky. It was a tad noisier this far in, colorful buildings packed a little tighter and wide streets busied by pokémon hurrying to finish their routines. And when the road changed to cobbled stone, that was when he knew he was in Harmonia proper.
The capital of the kingdom of Farbroad, but one would never know it standing in his position. It was really only capital by default, being the one permanent settlement across the entire small territory. Nomadic pokémon would use this town as a home base of sorts: a center for meetings and whatever meager trade the kingdom saw. The town’s major landmark rested over the rooftops, the giant of a mesa stretching endlessly tall and endlessly wide to hide the southeast sky behind its girth. With how close it looked, Alfred bet he could walk to it if he really wanted to.
But it wasn’t the only thing in the distance. Alfred finally noticed it while admiring the mesa: the tall figure of a water tower, peaking tall above the buildings to the south. I don't recall seeing that in my research. Does this town have running water? It would be a welcome surprise, though also a strangely major thing to miss…
As he followed the directions he had memorized, the world slowly grew louder. Something was happening on a street somewhere. Pokémon talking, chattering, squawking, calling, barking, shouting over… prices? Alfred found himself rubbing one of his feelers with his free paw, his claws digging into the scarred, raw flesh and sending sharp jolts of distraction that made him shiver. I-it’s not that loud. This is nothing, I’ve just been traveling on silent roads all day…
Wait, where am I?
He blinked, stopped moving, then turned to his right, and the Guild Center was right there in front of him. And behind him was the road leading directly into the market. Oh. No wonder it’s so loud. He squeezed his feeler tighter. I’ll have to get used to that then.
Alfred took a step back and placed his suitcase down so he could frame the narrow building squashed between its neighbors in his paws. Three stories, check. A sign bearing the guild’s bouffalant-head emblem, check. The doorway seemed kind of small though. Not prohibitively so, but there was no way a rhydon could fit through that. Guess there’s not a lot of big pokémon around these parts.
He pushed the door open and entered; somehow, the lobby managed to be even narrower on the inside. A good quarter of the space was partitioned off by the reception desk that he’d be working at from now on, leaving a quarter for the entryway and the remaining half for the request board and the staircase up. With the window caught in the building’s own evening shadow, everything was cast in a dim light. Alfred shut the door behind him and had to stifle a cough as the stuffy air quickly settled in.
It was quiet, save for the muffled sounds of the market and a slight shuffling coming from the ceiling. He had a feeling he knew who that was, but forget that. His attention was caught on the desk. His desk.
Alfred couldn’t help running a paw across the wooden surface as he rounded the corner and put himself behind it. It was a mess: whoever worked here last didn’t bother to keep it neat for him. Blank request papers littered the desk haphazardly, some brushing dangerously close to a lit candle and another placed on top of the inkwell. What wasn’t on the desk was loosely jammed into drawers spilling their excess onto the floor, and the cabinets against the wall were in no better state, some drawers stacked too high to close and all unlabeled. Perhaps the concept of proper organization was too much to expect from a nominal guild branch in the middle of nowhere.
At least he had the window to himself. He put his suitcase down and checked for a latch, and luckily enough. Course, with the market right there, I’m choosing between peace and fresh air.
The noise above traveled towards the staircase, and Alfred turned his head to catch the heliolisk right as he appeared at the bottom with his frill flared in surprise. “Oh, you’re-!”
“The new guide. Hey there.” Alfred put on his best smile and stepped forward to offer a paw. “Name’s Alfred, from-”
“You’re early!”
Alfred’s arm slacked. “Huh?”
The heliolisk walked up and pushed the confused audino aside, staring at the disorganized mess with dismay. “I was supposed to get this all cleaned up before ya got here!” He growled at one of the cabinet drawers and gave it a hard shove, but it didn’t budge. “Dialga’s a *****…”
Rude. Alfred cleared his throat and held his paw more assertively. “Hello?”
“Yeah, I see ya.” The lizard dismissively pushed his paw down as he turned to face him. “Helios, Guildmaster of Farbroad’s Traveler’s Guild. And you’re the new guy the Yagoran branch sent. Alfred, you said?”
Alfred pulled back his rejected paw and rubbed it against his vest. “Yeah… Nice to meet you.” He’s the boss, don’t say anything you’d regret.
Helios’ face brightened up. “Well nice to meetcha too!” Then with no warning he lurched forward, and Alfred almost recoiled as the guildmaster suddenly got very close. There was a scrutinizing glint in his eye as he practically coiled around the audino, examining him like an inspector checking for structural faults. “Audino ain’t too unfamiliar to the ‘mon around here. I bet you’d fit.”
Needles rolled across Alfred’s fur. “Could you give me a second to breathe here?”
The guildmaster responded by patting his shoulder. “Right, you seem tired.” Then mercifully broke away to give some space. “Long journey?”
Alfred’s posture slumped with relief, only for the new topic to draw out an exhausted sigh. “You could say that. The weather wasn’t too bad, but that last stretch took forever.”
“If only it took a little longer, I’d have this place up and ready for ya.” Helios glanced at the mess again just to shrug it off. “Eh, it’s not like I’d be putting ya to work today anyway. How’re ya liking town so far?”
What's there to like? Alfred thought through his actual response more carefully than that. “I only just arrived, but so far I’d say it’s… rustic. Hard to believe it’s the capital.”
“Oh I’m sure it’s nothin’ like your northern cities,” Helios replied, not looking too bothered. “But you’ll learn to love it once you get to know it more. Speaking of, they did prepare ya to take the job, right? Done all your research?”
Right. A guide needed to know everything there was to know about the land surrounding their town, and Alfred didn’t make that journey to come unprepared. He allowed some confidence to creep into his smile as he patted his bookbag. “What do you think I filled this with?”
Helios sauntered up to him and leaned on his shoulder. “Oh I’m sure you know a lot, but being a guide’s about more than that.” His tail came to rest on Alfred’s other shoulder, pointing at the door. “Your job is to intimately understand the needs and desires of every ‘mon who walks through that door. To know ‘em all on a personal level, so that you can solve their problems before we even need to get an adventurer on it.”
It was cute of him to try and be all inspiring. Alfred shrugged off his tail with a sheepish smile. “Trust me, I can handle it. You got the assessment my mentor sent you, right?”
The heliolisk scoffed as he stepped away, waving it off. “Yeah, and it was all glowing praise, but that ain’t the point,” he tried to clarify. The slightest hint of a continuation escaped his throat, but he cut it off with a shrug. “Ah, you’ll get it eventually. The work does that to ya.”
I’m sure it’s not that complicated. He nodded along anyway. “I bet it does; I’m not worried at any rate.”
Brushing off that exchange, Alfred picked up his suitcase and looked around for any sign that the building was larger than it seemed. “So, where am I staying? Are the lodgings upstairs?”
Helios shook his head. “Nah, buildin’s too small for that. Take a right from here and you’ll find our lodge, can’t miss it. I already got you a room all set up, just tell ‘em I sent ya. Oh, and-” He opened one of the lower cabinet drawers, the only one with a label: ‘Badges.’ Then picked out a golden piece and held it out to him. “Take this too.”
Alfred took it and examined it closely. It was a round shape with upward-turned horns jutting out the sides, like the head of a bouffalant. The Gold Giant Badge. I’ll be giving these out from now on.
He slipped it into his vest pocket. “Thanks.”
“That’s the last badge I’ll ever grant,” Helios remarked with a wink. “Now I gotta go back up top and finish takin’ care of some things. Any questions before you go?”
“Nothing important,” Alfred said, though now that he mentioned it. “Actually, I’m curious. What happened to the last guide?”
Helios’ frill began to glow with pride. “You’re lookin’ at ‘im!”
“Oh, congrats.” Alfred tilted his head. “But then what happened to the last guildmaster?”
With shifty eyes, the current guildmaster leaned in close to whisper. “We don’t talk about that.”
Wha- Alfred returned a deadpan look. “You’re messing with me.”
Helios snickered, pat Alfred on the shoulder, then guffawed as he walked away to return upstairs, his laughter a sharp knife to the audino’s ears.
Alone again, though Alfred could still hear the guildmaster chuckling to himself through the ceiling. Working for him sounds like it’ll be a pain, he thought, rubbing a feeler. How long will they keep me here? Surely this can’t be permanent.
In the back of his mind, he knew that was just wishful thinking. But what else did he have to cling to? He took one last glance at the mess of papers, sighed, and once again ran his paw over the desk as he made his way back to the door. It’ll be good for you, repeated those words. I bet it will…
Cool air rushed in as he opened the door. The din of the market had subsided; the day was almost over. And looking out at the shoddy town, he hesitated. Only one thing was on his mind.
Does the lodge have running water…?
---
11th day, Month of Lux, 1802.
By Palkia’s mercy, it did.
When Alfred returned to the Guild Center the following morning, the mess Helios swore he meant to clean was still there. How nice of him. At least he had a clear set of tasks for his first day.
Most of the time, work as a guide was simple. Keep track of requests put up by the townsmon, so that you can give advice to adventurers when they take them. From his experience in the city, activity usually spiked in the mornings, and kept steady throughout the day. Helios already briefed him on the requests left over from yesterday, so he was ready for whatever the town could throw at him.
…Which ended up not being much. One pokémon had visited in the hour since opening, a luxio, and only to put up a request. Since he couldn’t write, Alfred wrote it up himself, placed it on the board, and nothing had happened since. So, he filled his downtime working on organization instead.
With sunlight filtering through the window, the lobby didn’t seem so cramped anymore. If he just ignored the guildmaster’s poor organizational skills, it was actually fairly clean, and the space around the board looked just enough for a few pokémon to regroup, if they didn’t want to use the dedicated meeting room on the second floor. The different atmosphere also caused Alfred to notice a couple details he hadn’t yesterday. One was that there was no news board. The other was what could only be described as a wooden post.
It was just… there, jammed in the corner, right next to the board, jutting from the floor to about his own height. Easy to miss in the evening dim due to its dark color and bark texture, but at this time of day it stuck out like a cheri in a barrel of oran berries. It looked as if someone took a log and stuck it there, and as to why, he couldn't fathom. Helios wasn’t around, so Alfred made a mental note to ask about it later and tried to ignore its presence in the meantime.
The first adventurer to come in that day was an emolga. Alfred didn’t notice him at first, too preoccupied placing labels, at least until his visitor’s shrill voice pounded his ears. “Who’re you?!”
Alfred winced, then turned around and peered over his desk to see an electric rodent glaring daggers at him below. He tried to put on a smile.
“Hey there. I’m the new guide.” He tapped his guild badge, now pinned to his vest. “Name’s Alfred.”
The emolga tilted his head. “Who?”
I just told you- Alfred bit his tongue. “I’m not from around here? I arrived in town yesterday evening.”
“Oh.” Something caused his expression to soften. Satisfaction, maybe, except the skepticism in his glare didn’t fade. “Well don’t mind me then.” And then he scampered off to the board.
While the emolga wasn’t looking, Alfred allowed his emotions to contort his face. The hell is his problem?! He had to keep it reigned in though. His visitor was too short to reach the board, so this was the part where he would have to weather his glares and help him out.
Except, to Alfred’s surprise, the emolga wasn’t heading for the board. He was heading for the post. Without hesitation, he climbed up its length and jumped off to cling to the board, where he began climbing around, looking at requests.
Alfred was dumbfounded. The post… is for him. It was such a simple thing, and made perfect sense, yet he’d never seen anything like it before.
It wasn’t long before the emolga adventurer picked out his request and glided over to the desk with it in his mouth. He placed it down in front of him and crossed his tiny arms. “Well? Whaddya know about this one?”
Alfred squeezed a feeler and shocked himself to attention. “Right, that one came in this morning…”
---
About halfway through the day, just around noon, Alfred had a strange encounter.
He could hear it from his desk: something rolling, bumping, and rattling against the cobble street outside, coupled with tiny grunts and breaths. Feeling concerned, he was about to abandon his paperwork and check it out when it suddenly stopped at the front entrance.
A light scratching at the door signaled an eevee pushing it open so that it swung on its hinges and hit the wall with a *thunk!* The eevee paid it no mind, too busy pulling a tiny, creaky wagon carrying a rattling box. She barely threw him a glance until finally it was out of the entryway, where she quickly abandoned it to jump right onto the desk.
She stared at Alfred with large, innocent eyes. “Hi.”
Alfred recoiled somewhat. “Hey…” His eyes drifted to the door, still open and allowing outside noise in. “Can you close the door?”
In reply, the eevee dropped her ears, whined and took a step forward. “Can you help me?”
Completely ignored. Whose kit is this? It wasn’t really his job to help others directly, but she seemed distressed. He rubbed a feeler. And it’ll give me the chance to close that door.
Alfred took a deep breath, allowed the calm to wash over him, and put on a rehearsed soft smile. “Sure I can. What’s your name?”
The eevee’s distress faded as if the question had distracted her. She sat down and answered. “Vee. I’m…” Something seemed to confuse her, her attention wandered to the paper on the desk. And to Alfred’s horror, she placed both paws on it and scratched. “One-”
“No!” Alfred paws shot forward to catch hers before she could do any more damage. Vee jolted, but her focus didn’t waver. She placed her free paw on top of Alfred’s and continued.
“Two… Three!” she exclaimed. “I’m three years old!” With that, she sat on her haunches, tail wagging with content and looking pleased with herself.
Alfred drew back and sighed. “Okay Vee, where are your parents?”
Vee whined and looked down at her paws. “Uncle Espio said he’s busy today, so I can’t ask him.”
That’s not what I asked. Maybe she didn’t have parents? Though, she was an eevee. Farbroad’s royal family was supposed to consist of them and their evolutions: was she part of it? I can’t imagine a royal kid would just be wandering around…
For now, he figured it didn’t matter. “What do you need help with?”
“My box is broken,” she said, looking forlornly at the box in her wagon.
It didn’t look broken, but he decided to humor her anyway. “Lemme see…”
Alfred rounded the desk and approached the wagon (after closing the door, of course). The box inside was made of polished wood panels, with a handle on one side and a crank riddled with teeth marks on the other. It didn’t look like it opened.
Vee jumped off the desk and reared up to place her paws on the wagon’s edge. “The handle won’t turn anymore,” she said.
She means the crank. Alfred turned it clockwise and immediately felt resistance. And he could hear it too: something was caught in there. Thinking to lift it for a better feel, he grasped the handle and grunted when it barely lifted with nothing more than a rumbling sound. “What the…?”
Okay, so this time he grabbed the handle and the crank. Some more effort got the box off the wagon and pressing into his arms, punctuated by the sound of several objects rolling around. He almost lost his balance trying to carry its surprising weight. “Wh-what’s in this thing?”
“I put my rocks in there,” Vee stated matter-of-factly.
I’m doing this for rocks? With a grunt of effort he hauled it onto his desk. Okay then, first let’s figure out what’s going on…
Alfred grabbed a feeler and pressed it against the box. First, he tried rotating the crank clockwise again. He could hear the resistance now: the crank turned something inside, pushed a piece of metal into another piece of metal, and that second piece must’ve been caught on a pebble somehow. He rotated it counterclockwise and met no resistance. That’s gotta be right then. Though it was odd. He could feel something else in there too, beyond just rocks.
Regardless, he had a good feel for how the pebble must’ve gotten stuck. With two thumps, he flipped it upside down, the rocks clattering along with it. Vee was on the desk now, watching with fascination. Can’t disappoint my audience.
He tried picking it up and hitting a corner against the desk. Instead, it was too heavy and he dropped it on its edge. Vee jolted and whined. “You broke it!”
“It’s not broken!” Alfred tried to assure. He felt the box with a feeler again and shook it a bit to create some vibration. And with luck, he couldn’t hear the trapped pebble anymore. Now to hope it really isn’t broken.
He carefully flipped it rightside-up, so that when the rocks tumbled they didn’t hit the mechanism. And then he placed his paw on the crank. “I think that fixed it,” he declared. And then he tested it with a quick turn-
*POP!*
“SHIT!”
The audino stumbled backwards and fell on his own tail. The cotton head of an impidimp jeered down at him, swaying on the spring released from the open box. Vee had been shocked into a defensive posture, her tail raised and fur on end. “Shit!”
Horror dawned on him. “D-don’t repeat that!”
---
A bit of tail-rubbing and desperate pleading later, and the box was once again in its wagon. “Don’t put your rock collection in there,” Alfred sternly told Vee. “Or it might get stuck again.”
“But then where do I put my rocks?” she whined.
“Why don’t you keep them in the wagon? You’re already pulling it everywhere.”
“But…” The eevee glanced at her wagon, and her tail waved as if in thought. Then: “I’ll ask Uncle Espio!” she exclaimed. “He always knows what to do!”
Is Espio her guardian or something? Didn’t matter, she was almost out of his fur. He leaned down to pat her head. “Well you go do that. And do not say the secret word around him, got it?”
Vee nodded with a serious shine in her eyes. “It’s a secret!” She bounded over to the wagon’s handle and hesitated, then abruptly faced him and bowed her head. “Thank you mister!”
Alfred smiled and scratched a growing, funny feeling off his chest. “You’re welcome.” And with that, she pulled her wagon around and out the door.
His smile immediately dropped and he sighed with relief. Hell of a distraction… Alfred figured the best thing to do was try and forget any of it happened. Maybe he could play dumb if an angry ‘Espio’ confronted him about his language.
Still though… A crank that turned a metal spool with a tooth that pushed a latch to release a wound spring. He’d never seen a toy like that before. Maybe she was royal. After all, it had to have been imported. It was inconceivable something like that could’ve been made here of all places.
Something to think about. Later, anyway. Alfred closed the door and got back to work.
---
With time, more adventurers found their way to the Guild Center. It turned out that mornings were just less active here. “Cuz mornins are when our local adventurers are at their most busy,” Helios had explained. Most of them were tied to various traveling caravans, so oftentimes they had other obligations to fill. “Sometimes we’ll get a traveler or two comin’ here to earn our badge though, and trust me, you can bet their face’ll be the first you see every day!”
Still, the work wasn’t tough. Even at the peak of activity, it couldn’t compare to the environment Alfred had trained in. By the time the sun began its downward journey, there were only a couple requests left on the board, not that many got put up in the first place. The only inconvenience was having to light a few candles in the middle of the afternoon to keep the place well lit. He could imagine that getting annoying.
But he could put that out of mind for now, because it was time to break for the evening and let Helios cover until closing time, and Alfred had some plans in mind. He heard about a nice bar in town -- the only bar in town, the Giant’s Horn. Rumor said they imported everything, so it’d be expensive, but he brought plenty of silver with him. And maybe I can find a taste of home there…
The audino made sure to chart his course to avoid the market. The ‘scenic’ route took him through a shoddy side street of small shacks and little activity. It all put his city instincts on alert. His research had told him that crime wasn’t a big problem in Harmonia, but it paid to be careful.
*hsss*
Snake?! Alfred jolted, stopped, and turned his head towards the noise.
The front door of one of the larger buildings was wide open, and a luxray was walking out. She gave him a strange look, then went on her way.
Alfred’s eyes were frozen on her until she left, and he couldn’t help but shiver. Luxray sure are intimidating…
Another long *hiss* took his attention. But when he looked this time, all he saw was an empty doorway, its door calmly swinging to a close.
Huh? He didn’t see anything that could have made that hissing sound. And while he knew of doors rigged to close themselves, something felt off about this one.
Alfred shook his head and continued walking. There was probably some good explanation for it. And I can’t be seen gawking here.
After that distraction, it wasn’t long before he made it to the bar: a fairly sizable building with a wine glass sign and a big set of double doors. The only set of double doors he’d seen so far, actually. Alfred could hear murmurings of activity coming from inside. Doesn’t sound too busy… He chalked that up to this being a small town and entered.
It wasn’t busy: he could count the patrons, all four of them, making noise at a table in the corner. Alfred tried his absolute hardest not to eavesdrop on them, keeping focus on the tall counter where a rhydon stood polishing a glass. With confidence, he walked right up and hopped onto a stool so he could see her properly. “Slow evening, huh?”
The rhydon barkeep looked up from her polishing as if she had just noticed him. “Oh! ‘Scuse me.” She placed her glass and rag down on the granite countertop. “Nah, not many drinkers in Harmonia, as you can imagine.” A gesture with her horn towards the group. “But I’m converting ‘em. Slowly.”
Alfred chuckled. “Sounds rough. Luckily for you I do drink, though I’m not downing anything harder than wine, sorry to say.”
“I’d be surprised if someone your size could,” she replied, with a bit more levity and a small smile that faltered with curiosity. She pushed a menu towards him and asked: “I’ve never seen you around. Where you from?”
“Ebeld, so quite a ways north.” Alfred checked his options and caught his eye on something. “Mt. Kagora?”
The barkeep pulled the menu away with a grin. “Rastort. Looks like we’re both Yagoran.”
Without even asking to confirm, she had already moved to the back counter to begin mixing his drink. Alfred felt a little concerned as to what he had accidentally ordered, but hell, he could probably take it. He was just glad to meet someone from the same kingdom.
The rhydon continued the conversation as she worked. “So you’re from the city, then? What’s your name?”
“Alfred.”
“Hm. You can call me Rhys. Not a very ‘Yagoran’ name, I know, but I figured I’d change it to match local customs, since I live here now.”
“Local customs…” He’d read about it of course. Pokémon in Farbroad fashioned their names from their species. Apparently the custom used to be commonplace everywhere, until newer traditions replaced them over time. “Maybe I should start calling myself ‘Dino,’ then,” he joked.
“Alfred’s a good name, you should keep it.” Rhys shook her metal shaker, then turned around, poured its contents into a glass, and handed it to him. “There. Despite the name, Mt. Kagora’s a light drink. You’ll be fine.”
Alfred grabbed it with both paws. The cocktail was a light orange in color, and when he took a sip…
His brow furrowed, and he put the glass down. “It tastes like rocks.” It was impressive.
The rhydon tilted her head. “Is that a problem?”
Alfred lifted the glass with a sheepish smile. “I-I meant it tastes like home.” He took another, reluctant sip. Can’t be too picky…
Before long, the two found themselves swapping stories of how they came to be here. Rhys had moved in three years ago. She once worked for a bar in her old town, and unlike him, she had come here on purpose to escape the stress.
“Wasn’t it hard?” Alfred asked. “I can’t imagine you took a carriage.”
“No, I walked all right. And it was tough.” Her gaze diverted slightly. “Still can be.”
Something occurred to him right then, about this town compared to those in Yagora. “I couldn’t help noticing it. This town isn’t built for pokémon your size. The doors are too small.”
He could hear her tail drag against the floorboards. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”
“Part of it? Where do you even live?”
“I have a place big enough for me on the outskirts,” she answered. “It’s not much, but it’s comfortable enough for my purposes.”
A strong pang of sympathy washed over Alfred. “But you can’t be okay with just that?”
Rhys shrugged it off. “Hey, we all make sacrifices, don’t we?”
A sudden round of shouting from the other patrons caused Alfred to wince and clutch a feeler. “I suppose…”
Unbothered, she continued. “I still have access to everything I need, and this business makes enough to survive, if only barely.” She turned her gaze to the window. “And besides, I like it here. It’s quiet, the locals are kind, and we’re isolated from all the politics going on elsewhere. We get no news out here except rumors, and I find I prefer it that way.” She let out a grunt of discontent. “You just can’t find that kinda calm in Yagora anymore.”
It shocked Alfred to hear that. He expected her perspective to be something he could relate to, and yet here he really didn’t understand what she longed for at all. It all sounded like too much trouble for too little gain. At least his stint here had a point.
He took a couple seconds to stare into his glass and ruminate. “Well, if you ever need anything from the guild, just tap on the window. It opens, and I work right there, so I can put up anything you need.”
The rhydon’s eyes widened. “Huh, really?” she said, as if that were the first time anyone had told her. “Thanks. I’ll see if I can think of anything.”
Alfred lifted his glass and smiled. “No problem. It’s my job.”
After finishing his drink, he made sure to pay in full. And with a light head and lighter wallet, he soon was on his way back to the Guild Center to see an end to his first day of work. His thoughts kept going back to that conversation. Maybe there was something about this town he was missing.
When he opened the door into the center, he found Helios panicking at a clean and organized workspace. The guildmaster gave him a look of pure distress. “Wh-what happened to my desk?!”
Alfred was unamused. “I made it comprehensible.”
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(continued in next post)
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