PMDU: Cactus Field Tasks [Placeholder]

“Wooooo!” Sparkz cheered, his stubby paws clinging to the rim of the enormous hat as it’s owner galloped along on all fours. “C’mon Lucas! Keep up!”

Several yards behind the Furret and Joltik, the tall lean Kirlia was panting, appearing heavily exhausted. “I-I’ll be right there!” He called back between heavy pants. “Just… Just give me a minute…” Lucas didn’t have the volume for his last sentence to be heard by the pair as he collapsed to his knees.

The ponytailed mon was already low on energy, there’s no way he’d catch up to his friend and Monty before reaching the Cactus Fields. He just didn’t have the stamina. He looked onward as his fellow Explorers grew smaller in the distance when suddenly a fit of laughter snatched his attention.

Turning his head back, he flinched when he saw the all to familiar Sableye riding atop his companion. “Oh dear…” He whispered to himself.

“Heya buddy!” Soul exclaimed, his gem eyes seeming to be gazing down at Lucas, though without pupils one could not be too certain. “You thinkin’ of passing out from the heat? At least make yerself a cozy grave, eh?”

“Soul…” The Amaura scolded in a harsh whisper, craning his head behind him to give the ghost an disapproving glance before looking down at the Kirlia, his expression becoming charismatic. “What I believe he meant to say was, do you need a lift? I wouldn’t mind carrying both of you to the meeting grounds.”

Lucas gave Blu a timid smile, but nodded. Having never ridden another pokemon before, he was a bit nervous as he climbed up upon the Amaura’s back, seating himself in front of the ghost. The vantage point was much different then he was accustomed to and the experience was something else.

The Kirlia didn’t have much time marvel at the view when a sudden shiver ran up his spine, turning to look back at the ghost who’d tapped him on the shoulder.

Soul stifled a giggled at the physics type’s reaction. “Ey, Just wanted ta have lil chit-chat. Figured it’d help since yer friend’s ditched ya.”

“They… didn’t ditch me…” Lucas responded, turning to look back up ahead. “I just didn’t have enough energy to keep up.”

“Then… Why didn’t you tell em, ey?” The Sableye countered. “I’m sure they’d have stopped if you told em…”

There was a long pause with no response as Lucas turned his head away from Soul. “Ooooh~ I see…” The imp remarked with a smirk. “Looks like we gots a little jellymon here, don’t we?”

“W-what? Jealous? I-I’m not jealous!” Lucas retorted, only resulting in a fit of chuckles from the ghost.

“Oh no, you’re toooootally jealous of your lil buddies new pal.”

“And how would YOU know that?” The Kirlia questioned.

The Sableye grinned, “Personal experience.” He responded. “How bout you hang out with us fer today? We can talk about this some more.”

“Mmh…” Lucas’ face contorted, unsure how he liked the idea…

-----

Lucas sighed, after having attended three different briefings, the psychic type was relieved to be in a comfortable environment, helping fellow guild members prepare food for the nights party. Blu and Soul were helping prepare for the nights activities, setting up plates, cups, and decorations, while Lucas and a brown colored Sableye —he vaguely remembered helping during a previous task named Alexander— worked in the kitchen sharing small conversation with one another.

“S-so, um… what exactly is it that you’re doing?” Lucas asked, glancing over at the concoction the Sableye was working on.

“Ah, well see. Sherman has requested our guild assist in creating Tequila for them. There are only a certain amount of ingredients we are allowed to use. I figured since Luke also needed assistance in the kitchen for tonights bon fire, I could knock out two birds with one stone.”

“A-and… The guild is… Okay with that?” Lucas responded, raising a brow questioningly.

“Well, to a degree. They don’t want their teams to consume too much otherwise we can’t work. My partner Vannessa and I still need to collect cactus samples. I’m sure there are other teams that will be doing the same. Besides, my companion is too young for such beverages, so I shall be concocting a non-alcoholic version with similar effects.”

“Huh… W-well uh… Good luck on that, I-I guess.” The Kirlia replied.

“Thank you…” Alexander replied kindly. “Now, I hope this isn’t too forward, but would you care to sample what I’ve created so far?” He asked. “Just to be sure that it works”.

“U-uh…” The Kirlia hesitated. He wasn’t one to drink, and this pokemon hadn’t quite perfected their concoction just yet. Lucas wasn’t too sure he wanted to be the subject to test a potentially alcoholic beverage. However, he didn’t want to be rude. “I-I um… I-I suppose.” He replied, uncertainly.

“Splendid!” The shiny Sableye exclaimed, pouring a small portion of his creation into a cup and handed it to the taller mon.

Lucas was a bit uneasy about the situation, but lifted the glass up and took a sip. He chocked slightly on the bitter taste it left in his mouth, wiping a small amount of spit from his mouth.

“Are you alright?” The ghost asked sympathetically. Lucas nodded, trying in vain to get the taste to leave his mouth. “I do apologize, this is my first time—”

“Oh my gosh I feel amazing!” Lucas exclaimed. “I-I feel like I run a marathon right now—no! TWO marathons!” The Kirlia quickly turned back to his work, lifting a hand up as it gained a light pink glow. Suddenly several more cooking pots, pans, and other cooking ingredients floated in, quickly being placed down and worked on simultaneously. With fast, expert-like precision, the food was prepared much faster than expected, leaving the Kirlia to marvel at his progress.

“Haha! Well that’s done!” Lucas concluded looking at the jaw opened Sableye beside him. “Hey, can I get a little more of that? I agreed with Soul and Blu that we’d help each other out with our guild stuff and I think another swig of that would helps us get the job done faster.”

“Hmm… I don’t know… How are you feeling, are you lightheaded? ...Dizzy? Do you feel any symptoms of confusion?” The Sableye asked, uncertainty in his voice.

“Nah! I feel great! I just—Oooh…” Lucas suddenly felt a pang of dizziness pass through him, his vision blurring as he stumbled to stay on his feet.

Reacting quickly, Alexander grabbed onto the Kirlia’s waste before they could topple over. “Ah… It appears I have not quite created the beverage I wanted… I suggest you take a minute to recover while your friends handle their guild’s objectives.”

“Agh… Yeah… I guess so…” Lucas concluded. “I’ll just… I’ll just go let Luke know… we’re done with the food fer now an… And tell Soul ta pick me up… laters…”