ToT | The Diplomatic Deal | Chapter 2

    Barrels of water hit the hard, earthy floor. Pokémon scramble to fight the venomous snake. David and Mavis can't hold Vander and Kassi back any longer as guild members slip and slide in the fresh mud. It was a real mess.

    Ian's body is thrown into the ground. Unlike he imagined, Bermuda doesn't smell. Wait... this isn't Bermuda. It's Straberri. She has her face planted in the dirt next to Ian. She threw her entire weight onto him, to get him to move. 

    "What just happened?" Ian thinks. He looks over to Straberri in confusion. "I was sure I was gonna get eaten alive by that snake. Straberri must've saved me," he thinks out loud. "Thanks Straberri!" yells Ian. The purloin looks up at him blushing. Thankfully her face is covered in dirt, so he couldn't see it. Not that he would notice... He's so oblivious. The zorua helps the purrloin up and rushes in to battle.

    "Wait! I'm gonna help!" yells Straberri, her face as red as her name implies.

    "You stay over there! I don't need a pretty girl like you to get hurt!"

    I don't think it's possible for her face to get any redder. Ian was just saying that out of the kindness of his heart. He may constantly get in trouble, but he has manners... at least when it comes to girls anyway. Faye and Margret don't count.

    Starberri still insists on fighting, so she joins Ian and the rest of the trackers. Even with the whole group, it was hard to take the seviper down. A few 'mons got poisoned and Ian doesn't have his first aid kit.

    "Great. Faye took that from me too!" says Ian. His voice sounded sour.

    Now that the battle was won, everyone turned to Ian. I mean, it is his fault for getting them caught. At least no one's dead... Actually, let's not say that so soon. Vander then orders everyone to go back to getting water. Ian thanks Straberri again before leaving to complete his task.
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    "Okay. That'll work," says Faye. She was sweating from the heat and a little bit from nervousness. She had no idea how she did it, but she did! She made a compromise with Kapon! She's never been under so much pressure before. It didn't go as expected, but at least she came up with something. To be honest, she went in there and totally winged it. Her charm and nasty plot attack may have chipped in also. The pichu walks from the booth with a small smile on her face.

    "I hope Margret and Ian are finished with their tasks. By the end of the day, I want to help Chandra with that stone," says Faye to herself. The pichu follows her map through the hot desert in hopes of finding where she started from. She then mentally facepaws at her stupidity. "How could I go and not give Ian and Margret maps?! I'm so dumb! Hopefully Vander and Menthe will lead them in the right direction."

    Faye sighs a sigh of relief when she reaches the shade of the rock from earlier. There is a town nearby, but there isn't any shade and there isn't much water in the town either, so the rock stays. The electric mouse closes her eyes to sleep, but little does she know that someone's watching her.
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    "You put the tablet in like so... and ta-da!" exclaims Menthe. "That's all you do!" The mucky water didn't appear to be getting any clearer.

    "Are you sure this works, Menthe?" questions Margret.

    "But of course! It just takes a while, that's all!"

    "So we just have to fill these with water and put tablets in them? Piece of cake!" says Salsa.

    "I actually have something else for the two of you. You seem fit to make these tablets."

    "Menthe, that's not a good idea and you know that. Bossa might contaminate them!"

    Bossa just puffs out a cloud of smoke as a response.

    "Why is he here?" thinks Margret, quite annoyed.

    "I'm sure he won't," replies Menthe, taking the cigar from his beak. Margret stifles a giggle. 

    Margret goes to help Sinclair. She was loading barrels of disgusting water on her back. Margret chooses to give the aggron a hand by taking two barrels off her back with her vines. This surprises her, but she shortly regains her composure.

    "Heh. Once I'm done with this, I'll be paid royally and then I can leave this deadbeat team. Faye really is a dunce," murmurs Margret as she pops the tops of the barrels off to throw tablets into them. "But until that time comes, I'll have to keep this act up." She keeps this up for hours until she's too tired. She thanks Menthe for giving her directions, and then leaves. Once she reaches the town closest to the rock, she finds the Artisan guild's tent and falls asleep.