ToT Intermission 1- Babysitting problems

Intermission 1 Curry's task
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It had only been a couple days since the whole fiasco with Vander and the Braixen bandit- Vander had sent the small Fennekin a note. It was clear she was a part of the guilds whether she wanted to be or not. With a sigh Peach walked on- the small bag’s buckles clacking against each other as she walked. She was traveling to whatever the guilds needed help with- she saw a bunch of people seemingly playing in dirt and she wore a confused look on her face. “Hi are you part of the guilds?” Someone spoke from behind her and with a jump and a yelp Peach turned around to see a Lopunny.

 

“Y-yes…”

 

“Perfect! You see I have a few things I need to take care of- but my little tyke can’t be left alone… but um…” She paused and took a closer look at the Fennekin. “… Do you have a partner or anything?”

 

“N-no I don’t- I-I’m sorry.”

 

Curry smirks at Peaches answer. “A loner huh? Well I think I would feel a bit more at ease if you had some help! Get some friends then come to my booth, don’t take too long or I’ll find some other mon who can baby sit.”

 

Peach looked overwhelmed as the Lopunny shook her paw to seal the deal and then walked off. The freckled fox mumbles anxiously as she leaves the area as well. She didn’t have any friends- how was she supposed to show up with something she doesn’t have? Peach looks over at the crowd of Pokemon- swallowing a pit of anxiety before deciding to venture in and find a willing Pokemon who would help.

 

A loud bang is heard , which is followed by a puff of smoke. A black and red fox by the name of Ian is fighting against a guild leader of all things. Well, Addy isn't exactly a guild leader, more like the chief reporter in Tabira. Close enough. The dark purple matter of a dark pulse attack misses it's mark again as the flying reporter dodged. Ian gives off a sarcastic comment before giving a face so contorted that it looked like the move scared his own self. Our shiny flying rodent gives our fox friend an equally sarcastic comment before swirling an air slash his way. Even when slowed, the emolga is fast and the move barely misses him. The ball of blue air hits a wide eyed fennekin, sending whips of dust into the air. The two rivals rush to her side to help, glaring at each other all the while.

"Are you okay, Miss?!" says Ian, who was basically screaming.

"She's not hearing impaired, stupid. Right?" asks Addy as he brushes his bow free of dirt. This comment earns a laugh and a cheeky grin from Faye, a pichu who was sitting on the sidelines of the battle.

"Y-yes... I'm f-fine." stutters the spotted fox, her bluish eyes gleaming. "And n-no, I'm not hearing i-impaired."

"I'm so very sorry for my partner's deplorable behavior." apologizes Faye as she walk over to the red fox. She gives Ian a look.

" 'For my partner's deplorable behavior?!' Excuse me, I didn't hit her in the face with an air slash!" yells Ian, looking specifically at Addy. Addy growls at Ian but leaves after being called over by Topaz, his Simisear leader. Something about children?

Faye taps the fennekin, unknown to her that her name was Peach. "Are you sure you're okay? Ian's voice is known for making 'mons deaf." asks Faye with a smile.

"Hey!" Ian pouts before trotting over to his mouse partner.

Peach looked about ready to fall over but quickly answered with "I-I'm fine." to the seemingly polite Pichu. With a quick shake to get any extra dirt off her face She looked down- she wasn't used to being around Pokemon shorter than her.

"Is there anything we can do to repay you for my partners little accident?" The Pichu asked- if he could Ian would be burning holes in the back of her head with a glare like his.

"I-I'm..." Peach started- her plan was to apologize but then she thought of something. "A-actually- if-if you could, I-I do need h-help... W-with something-" She asked- it was clear to see on her face she was not very comfortable asking for it in the first place. "Ah- though, i-if you're busy i-it's fine- I-I was asked to babysit some-someones kid..." The freckled fox looked everywhere but the Pokemon she was talking to, curling her hair between her paws- a habit of hers.

"Kids?" questions Faye, her nose turning up. She stood in wonder. should she or not? Too bad for her since Ian interrupted her thought process.

"Sure! We can totally help!" chirps Ian quite loudly.

Faye's ears prick up, as if she had misheard. "Who said you could respond?! I'm the leader of this team, I make the decisions!" barks the electric mouse. You see, she doesn't like sharing authority. In other words, she is bossy.

Ian's ears fall flat on his head and he mumbles something incoherent before being quiet. Faye notices how Peach is kind of shaking. She quickly lowers her voice and gives Peach a sheepish smile.

"So yeah. We can help you out!" says a slightly tired Faye. It would help if she didn't yell so much.

Peach gave a nervous smile. "Th-thank you!" She glances at the mumbling Zorua before focusing on the Pichu once more. What was she supposed to ask? She wasn't good with this whole talking to others thing. "Oh-oh um- c-can I ask you for y-your names?" She looks at the floor once more before adding "If that's OK..." to the end of her question.

 

"My name's Ian!" the zorua yells.

Faye facepaws and groans out her answer. "Faith... The name's Faith, but please call me Faye." The pichu's ears flick back up to scan the area to make sure no one heard, as if it were top secret information. Once she was reassured that no one had eavesdropped, she relaxes.

"Y-your name is very pretty- ah I mean-" The freckled fox looks away, flustered. "Oh- u-um my na-name's Peach- like Pecha w-with the 'a' between th-the... N-nevermind."

Ian seemed to quietly chuckle at the girls failed sentence. "Don't worry- I think we got it!"

"Don't be rude!"

The way the two seemed to bicker confused her- she thought all members of the same team were friends, but she didn't question the two.

"So where to Peach?" Faye asked.

It was then Peach realized she didn't know where Curry's tent was located. "Oh-oh.... Oh no..." Stupid stupid stupid, she couldn't believe she didn't even ask for directions. "Sh-she- she was a fortune teller- I-I think. I-I'm so sorry...." She didn't really know- the Lopunny's outfit just seemed to scream something along those lines.

The two teammates pondered over who Peach was talking about. A fortuneteller. A fortuneteller? A fortuneteller! Curry! She was talking about Curry! The pair argue over who found out first and after it was settled that Ian had won, the two dragged Peach to Curry's place of business. Charming Fortunes was it's name and telling fortunes was it's game! Ian and Faye plop Peach in front of the lopunny, but after a mouthful of stuttering they move her to the side and Faye does the talking.

"I still find it had that you're the fortuneteller here. I feel like a mismagius would fit your role better." says Faye. She honestly wasn't trying to be rude.

Curry looks at Faye blankly before scanning the room. She notices Peach, but Ian hastily jumps in the way.

"She's very shy." he says. "We want to know if we could babysit your Chili while you're cleaning and stuff."

"Oh, so these are the ones you've brought to help, I see! Haven't I seen you two somewhere?" questions Curry as she bends over to inspect Faye and Ian. "Oh yes! You're the one who played a prank on the Scholars and you're the one who ended up struck with him as a partner!" replies Curry as she points to Ian and then Faye.

The two partners mouths fall open as the stammer for words to say. Now they're starting to sound like Peach. Chili gives them a look of disgust.

"So you're Scholars, huh?" questions the buneary like her mother as her eyes narrow.

"Don't place me with those nerds!" retaliates Ian.

"Wow. She already hates me. I would've hoped it would've taken me a bit more effort for her to dislike me but what can you do, right?" says Faye a bit too casually.

Curry flinched at Faye's comment. The look on her face asked why she's trust her child in the safety of children themselves, well technically teenagers but who's counting? She was especially wary of the pichu. The blank look on her face was... unsettling. What has she gone through?

The sound of a voice snaps her out of her daze.

 

Peach looked at the Buneary- who had her arms crossed as she pouted. When the little thing turned to stare back at the fox- she swore she could hear 'wimp' through the kids awful glare.

Curry was her saving grace pulling back her daughters attention for a kiss goodbye before leaving to clean her families humble home. After that there was a long pause of awkward silence- Chili turning back to pout and puff out her cheeks.

"You guys are lame, wish my mom got cool babysitters-"

"Hey!" Ian interjected. "You haven't even spent five minutes with us!"

"I know lame-o's when I see em!" Chili stuck out her tongue to add insult to injury. And in a flash the Zorua was chasing the child around the tent, Faye had her face in both of her hands mumbling things like "Oh my god." and "What is wrong with you."

While Peach just watched awkwardly-as the two chased each other around the small tent. Taking one last look at Chili- and then it popped into her head.

Oh- she's like her youngest sister back at home!

But by the time she had thought of something the two had ran straight out of the tent.

"I-w-wait- Ian!"

Well this was going just fine, wasn't it?

 

"Ian you nut!" screams Faye as she chases them outside. Well, this is just grand. Not.

Peach runs after them, leaving the tent wide open for just about anyone to go into. Outside, she's greeted with the sight- or rather the sound- of a hyper voice attack. After nearly getting their eardrums blown out, Faye and Ian combine their scratch and thunder shock attacks to make a thunder scratch! The move is bit shaky, but it still works well and if it's a fight Chili wants, then a fight she'll get!

Peach shakes her head, ears still ringing from the hyper voice. he stammers some incoherent words before flailing herself across the street that was being used as an arena.

The fox watched in awe at the sidelines of the makeshift arena that had been made. The two partners were really getting into it- but Peach covered her eyes, fighting was not something she was fond of.

Punches, dodges, it was quite the show.

Peach looked at Chili- to see how the poor kid was handling all this, she blinked in astonishment as she saw the rabbit smile. Chili was enjoying the fight. "O-oh gosh..." Well that was great- that the kid was enjoying it but should they really be fighting in the middle of town?

"l-look you guys-" a crowed was amassing- and an uneasiness settled in the pit of her stomach. "we-we shouldn't really b-be fighting here!"

And then Chili punched her square in the nose. She slid backward and hit her head on the ground. she just kind of laid there- clutching her nose and and groaning from the pain.

"I didn't mean to hit her! You dodged!" Chili spoke- nervousness made her voice crack.

 

"Ooooo!" says Faye as she runs up to Peach. "Nice punch, kid." The mouse repeatedly asks Peach if she's okay as she taps her nose to make sure it isn't broken. While the two are occupied, Ian drags Chili to Theo's store where he's greeted by his nemesis, Addy. The two glare at each other, Chili looking back and forth between the two as if she were expecting a fight in the middle of the store. Peach tiptoes into the market and Faye zips past her to chew Ian out for running away. Addy chuckles at Ian, enjoying his misfortune. The shiny emolga gives Faye and Peach a slip of paper from his notebook, gives Ian a look, and then leaves.

"What's that?" questions Chili as she snatches the paper from Peach.

"It's a piece of paper," says Faye in a matter of fact tone. Chili gives her a blank face before she answers, "It says something about missing children."

"All the more reason you need to watch me more carefully," replies Chili as she shoves the slip into Peach's paw.

 

“M-missing kids? I h-had no id-idea something s-so serious was happening…” She took a nervous glance at Chili- the girl was kicking a pebble absent mindedly making up her own game.

 

In the wake of calm- Peach breathed out, as if expelling all the hitting and craziness that had just taken place. What should she do?

 

It was then she remembered a little charm her mother had taught her- nothing more than a relaxant. A quick chant of words and a blue glow surrounded the fox, the energy coming off her in small wisps- if it had been any other spell she might have been bombarded with questions- she had heard of some of the bad reputations witches held in Tabira.

 

"Was that a will-o-wisp attack?! It looks so pretty!" says Faye as she admires the soft blue glow. The mouse let's off a few sparks, also blue in color. They then cause her fur to puff up with static electricity, the pale currents dancing on her body as she tried to emulate the fox. Her fur then completely explodes until she's pretty much a small puffball. The rest of the group howls in laughter, Ian being especially loud.

 

Peach giggled at the sight. “Oh- no no i- it’s just a little s-spell my mo-mom taught me…” She mumbled- she was still not all that comfortable speaking out about magic. She then tried to find Chili- where- where was that rabbit?

 

Oh no.

 

“Ch-Chili! Chili!” She called out, but no Buneary responded. Peach ran in a panic, not looking to see if Ian or Faye were following, she shouldn’t of taken her eyes of her- stupid- stupid- stupid!

 

“Peach!”

 

Was that Curry?

 

The fox skidded to a stop. “O-oh gosh- Curry I-I didn’t mean t-“

 

“Hey Freckles! You’re not as lame as I thought!” Chili seemed to pop out from behind her mother.

 

And then her partners caught up- crashing and tumbling over Peach, or maybe it was just Ian, she couldn't really tell.

 

Peach shakes herself free of the dirt that imprisoned her, then turned around to see Faye hitting Ian repeatedly while scolding him.

"Excuse me Curry. I'm currently beating my partner to a pulp. Chili was very well behaved today though. Good parenting I see," says Faye as she misses Ian's face.

W-w-why are y-you hitting, I-Ian?" questions Peach, the look of worry from earlier still not gone.

"Remember when we left Charming Fortunes? Guess who left the door wide open?!"

Well, Peach was the last one to leave, but that not mandatory information.

Curry lets out a chuckle at the scene. “Well although I would of preferred a less violent way for my little tyke to expend all her energy, Thanks for showing her a good time.” While saying that, she gave Chili a nice fur messing pat on the head, who didn’t appreciate the show of affection.

 

“Now come, I can’t let you leave unrewarded!”

 

They were waiting outside the tent- that surprisingly wasn’t ransacked- just a little shaken up from the chase that went on in the inside of the fortune-telling tent. There’s grunts and the sound of objects hitting others before an “Aha!” was exclaimed from the rabbit. She walked out the tent, shaking something that had caught on her foot. She gives a look at the three- she was going to let the mess slide for now.

 

Curry drops a different charm in each of their hands. “I make these little things in my spare time now and again- they should protect you from poison and whatnot for a while but they don’t do much more than that.”

 

Peach looked at the simple thing in awe- she didn’t see necklaces much- even if this really wasn’t one. “o-oh, th- it’s lovely thank y-you!” She slipped it on right away before shaking hands with Curry who went on her way. The fox looked over to the two Pokemon to see how they felt about their’s.

 

The dark typed fox looks at his charm with green eyes. He proceeds to sniff it before turning to Faye. "What is it?"

 

"It's a charm. It reminds me of those witches I read of in fantasy books." replies Faye as she tries to figure out how to wear it. She settles on slipping it around her neck, while Ian sticks it in his puffy hair like a barrette.

 

The two teammates turn to Peach before hugging her. Ian squeezes a bit too tight which makes Faye accidentally shock the group of 'mons and the two foxes fall to the floor slightly twitching.

 

Peach had never really enjoyed hugs, but she needed to show appreciation somehow, and even as the small Pichu zapped her she still tried to smile- though she did shy away from any touching after. "U-um- thank you- s-so much for h-helping me through this- um-"

 

"Don't mention it really!" Ian proclaimed giving a genuine smile.

 

Then there was a pause of silence- before they said their goodbyes. Peach glanced one more time before making her way back to her home.

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Peach (c)
Faye and Ian (c)