Back-to-School Blues

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Mission Description:

Phosphor hadn't really been expecting any of the missions available to newbies like him would be anything special. Pick up a lost item, maybe escort a couple to the Luvdisc Lochan. That was the type of thing he was expecting. And he wasn't complaining about that! It was honest work. It was just that when he saw a mission where he could actually make a difference... of course he'd jumped to it. He was regretting it now, though. He hoped he was ready for something like this. The more he thought about it, the more he'd worked himself up, until the tension was tangible in the air and he swallowed his pride. He'd ended up begging asking a more experienced guild member for help. Better safe than sorry, right?

He hoped he was ready for this. He could usually sense pokemon before they arrived, with their emotions intruding into the Ralts' mind. But this time, they were in sync, and Phosphor had no warning before the client finally poked her head out from the other side of the school gates. He wasn't sure whether the ball of worry in his mind was hers or his or both. He offered a polite wave, feeling a bit unsure as to how he could reassure her. He was the guild member. He'd have to figure it out.

"Hey there." He managed a bit awkwardly, hoping she couldn't tell how unsure of himself he felt.  "My name's Phosphor, and I'm the leader of Team Daybreak." He offered the shiny badge for the Fennekin to inspect, an awed smile crossing her face as she observed the winged badge.

"Woah." The girl stared at the badge for a long while. She was impressed and daunted, but... a little bit set at ease. "You're a guild 'mon. You're really here!" She squeaked, her tail wagging as she spoke.

"'course we came." Phosphor said with a small smile, patting the fire type on the head. "'Another guild pokemon's on her way to help, too. She's real strong and smart, so you've got nothing to worry about." He didn't exactly consider himself either of those things, but at least he knew his limits and asked for help, right? If nothing else, another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt.

"C'mon, doesn't mean anything if you're with the guild or not." Phosphor shot back, offering a faint smile. "You helped, so you deserve a reward. Simple as that." He probably would have felt a bit weird about it if he was in the Honedge's position. And even now, he wasn't really sure how to say it in a way that made sense - he had never been the most articulate. He had tried, though. Maybe that counted for something.

Seeing nods across their party to the Honedge's question, Phosphor took a deep breath and rapped on the door. "Just a moment!" A faint voice came from the other side of the wall, followed by the sound of quite heavy-sounding footsteps. Eventually it creaked open, and the large face of an Aurorus stared back, her neck hunched awkwardly to fit through the door. "Welcome home, Albion. Are these some friends of yours?"

"No." Clover muttered helpfully, and the mother's face fell, somewhat, though she tried to hide it. Caspian was shifting nervously in place, unsure as to what he could say, while Albion was looking at the ground in shame.

Phosphor cleared his throat. "I'm afraid there's something we need to discuss, ma'am. My name is Phosphor, and I'm from the Grassveil guild." The surprise was unavoidable, unfortunately. ... how did Phosphor do this? He honestly wasn't sure... all he could do was put on a brave face and hope he didn't mess anything up. "We need to talk about your son's behavior. He's been causing a lot of distress to a fellow student."

"... oh." The mother stiffened, managing a nod before turning her back. "Well, um... feel free to come inside. I'll fetch his father. Would any of you like some tea? We have pecha, aspear, oran... perhaps some others. If there's anything you like, I'll check the cupboard for it."

Tatsu certainly understood Phosphor's reasoning for splitting the reward, even to a non-guild member - he had really just been trying to be politely grateful. But well, it seemed everyone else was fine with entering the house now. As the conversation between Phosphor and the Amaura - Albion's - mother went on, Tatsu wondered what to say. He had been thinking about explaining the exact situation about the stalking, but he supposed that if Albion's father wasn't around, that could wait until he was there. Phosphor might want to explain it too, especially as he was the one who had originally taken the guild mission.

And then came the offer of tea. Tatsu didn't really have a preference between the varieties mentioned, but he was fine with the general idea. "I would like Oran tea, please," he said.

"Honey! There are some guild pokemon here, please come downstairs." The mother called, and a shifting from the upstairs heralded the presence of another pokemon. Hopefully it wasn't- oh, god, he was huge. A Haxorus lumbered awkwardly downstairs, being quite cautious so his horn wouldn't scrape the ceiling. Phosphor wasn't expecting this to come to blows or anything, but if it did, then these parents could easily kick him out. It felt weird, supposedly being the figure of authority. He felt so small in comparison. Hell, these two couldn't comfortably fit in their own house.

"That's, uh- no thanks. I'm not thirsty." Clover muttered, and Albion didn't respond either. The Aurorus gently nudged the cupboards open, and Phosphor could see a few different varieties of tea. He, uh... had never had tea, honestly, but it seemed rude to decline. Especially when the tension was so thick in the air, the worry so palpable, that he could feel it through his horn. It was giving him a headache.

This was a stressful enough situation to just handle his own emotions, nevermind everyone else. Stupid horn. It wasn't for the first time that he wished he'd been born another species - something less pathetically weak, for starters. "I'll take Aspear." He was too stuck in his own head to remember in time that Aspear berries didn't taste very good, but it would be too awkward to decline now. He kind of had an image to uphold.

"I'll have pecha, please!" Caspian chimed, shamelessly going for the sweetest option. Phosphor definitely wasn't jealous of the kid. Definitely not.

"Aspear here, too, please." The Haxorus rumbled softly. Phosphor felt like he was supposed to be making small talk, to try and lighten the mood before things got serious, but... how? "Do take a seat." The father nodded, motioning for the group to sit around the table. There weren't enough chairs, mind, and the Haxorus ended up kneeling on the floor, though he still easily dwarfed the rest of their group.

The family table clearly wasn't designed for this number of pokemon, and Phosphor found himself a tad closer to everyone else than he would have liked to be. He shifted awkwardly in his seat before forcing himself to still, allowing himself a quiet exhale to try and calm his nerves. It didn't really work.

He felt like he should say something, but... what? He hadn't been in this situation before. He would say that he was always on the other side of it, but that wasn't strictly true, either. His parents had never been there in meeting like this. How were they even supposed to go? He didn't end up saying anything until the tea was finished, and the Aurorus carefully ferried over each cup, one by one, dutifully ending up with a hot cup in front of everyone.

The anxiety was thick in the room, and Phosphor found himself staring down into his cup. "So, what brings you here?" The mother asked, her voice as calm as it could be, given how anxious he could tell she was.

"Thank you," Tatsu said before taking sips of his Oran tea. How? Just assume he did.

However, it was easy for him to tell there was an anxious atmosphere. When the mother asked her question, Tatsu had been expecting Phosphor to answer. But the way the Ralts was looking... was that going to happen? Perhaps, Tatsu thought, I should. Or at least start.

"So, Clover - the Fennekin here - believed that she was being stalked by another Pokémon each day she walked back from school, and she sent a request to the guild for someone to escort her. Phosphor was the one who came to meet her. I myself am not actually a part of the guild - I was going through town and just so happened to be near her school at that moment. Clover noticed me, and Phosphor came to ask me what I was doing. When I came closer, though, she realized that I was not the stalker. The two ended up explaining the situation to me, and though a stranger, I considered it my duty to offer assistance, which they accepted," Tatsu began explaining.

"We traveled together for some time, meeting Caspian - the Sylveon - along the way. We had thought he might be the stalker, but it turned out that he was innocent; the path to his house just overlapped to some degree with the path to Clover's house. The real stalker was your son. He was following us, Clover recognized him, and he could not give a good reason for why. We got him to admit that he was the one who had been stalking her every day. He claimed that he just liked Clover, but his behavior greatly distressed her and made her feel unsafe to the point where the guild was involved."

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