A Totodile-ly Unexpected Meeting

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Usually the Pond was filled with an assortment of all kinds of Pokémon...usually young ones, but sometimes older Pokémon come by when they just want to enjoy themselves. At least, this was what Jet had come to discover based on the few days of study he had done while laying low in Grassveil Town since his arrival. This was the type of thing that Jet usually enjoyed doing...sitting by and relaxing, watching what the other Pokémon enjoy doing. He was once even approached by a young Pokémon and asked to play...to which he naturally agreed. It was very difficult to say "no" to the face of an innocent Shinx child.

Today, however, the Small Pond was unusually quiet and empty...and that was exactly what had landed him in this situation.

"I-I'm sorry, but it was all I could manage without going too far out...." Jet the Buizel murmured, having just handed over a few small berries that he had managed to scrounge up from the nearby area to another Buizel.

This second Buizel was about a head taller than himself, had a scar across his right cheek, and the defining icing on the cake for Jet was the fact that he was definitely a bit bulkier. "Did I ask for excuses?" the bigger Buizel asked, scowling down at Jet. Then, without even hesitating or waiting for an answer, he continued."No. What I asked of you was to go get me a decent meal and that in return, I'd forget that I found you all the way out here. But no...instead you bring me this slop!" With that, he plopped the miserable excuse for food into his mouth and ate them right there and then, swallowing it almost as quickly as it went in.

"Y-yeah, I know, b-but the trees around here don't grow berries or anything a-and I don't have the money to-" Jet stammered, starting to feel smaller and smaller as the conversation continued. Oh how he wished there were more Pokémon around right now. This bigger Buizel probably wouldn't be willing to confront him like this if there had been a crowd.

"I don't care what your excuses are!" the other Buizel replied with a growl. Then suddenly, without hesitation he raised his paw, curled it like a fist and threw it toward the side of the smaller Buizel's face.

Jet let out a small yelp as the punch connected solidly with his face. He had been unprepared to be struck like that and ended up on the ground on his stomach at the larger Buizel's feet, with a red mark on his cheek where he had been punched.

"Now then," the bulky Buizel growled, lifting a foot and planting it firmly onto Jet's back, pinning the poor, scrawnier Buizel to the ground. "I guess if you're not going to be forthcoming with the food or some other goods, then I'm just gonna have to take you with me. Maybe you'll do me some good elsewhere. I know for sure that I could always use a good punching bag to test out new moves with if absolutely nothing else." He then smirked, clearly enjoying tormenting Jet and pressed his foot down harder onto Jet's back. "Whaddaya think, huh? Pretty brilliant idea, right?"

"P-please, Neal, just...leave me alone...!" Jet begged, not even bothering to struggle at this point. He knew that that would be a pointless endeavor and would probably only lead to more pain on his part. "I-I'll give it another try, just...just give me more time to do it.... I-I'll be working at the Guild soon with a friend, s-so I'll be able to make some money to get you what you want...."

The larger Buizel, Neal, looked down at the runt cowering under his foot. He considered him for a moment, but his expression was very difficult to read. It just seemed like he was staring down at him, mulling the offer over.

Jet could only hope that this last bid would be enough to convince him. Otherwise, he'd be in some rather big trouble. Or maybe he would get lucky enough for another Pokémon to stumble across them and help him out. But he certainly wasn't going to press his luck on that one. All he could do for now was look upward at Neal with a fearful expression.

The Totodile's exaggerated expression, gestures and actions all together could not cause Jet to do anything more than simply smile in amusement for a few moments. The more he watched the Totodile, the more helpful and nicer he seemed to be. Perhaps he was a little bit on the overexcited, hyper side of things, but he might be able to say the same thing about one of his other companions from before. Plus...this Totodile had just shown such superior strength and battle prowess. Surely he could learn a thing or two from him during this little adventure. Or at least, so he hoped. If nothing else, he could at least try to help the Totodile fight whatever came their way.

"H-heheh," Jet chuckled somewhat lowly in an embarrassed manner. He had never heard somebody be this excited about him tagging along with them before. It was actually quite a nice feeling...although he didn't actually know how to really cope with it. So instead of simply taking the compliment he stood there awkwardly and rubbed his right arm with his left nervously. Honestly, he might have even preferred it if the Totodile had simply accepted his company and done nothing more about it. Now he felt like he had an obligation to be good enough to meet his expectations....

When the Totodile retrieved the map he had thrown aside and came rushing back with it, Jet held his ground rather than shrink back like his instincts told him to. It was clear by this point that the Totodile did not plan to hurt him...or at the very least, not right here. He watched the Totodile unfurl the map and attempt to smooth out the creases and folds to the best of his ability before holding it out to show him. He had to stop himself from chuckling again when he realized that the map was being shown to him upside-down. It would probably not do him well to embarrass the Totodile...so instead, he tried to tilt his head to look at it. But as expected, that didn't work and only served to make things more confusing to look at.

"H-here, m-maybe you could let me see it...?" Jet asked, reaching out to take the map from the Totodile's grasp. If he could get his own paws on the map, he would try to subtly turn it around the right way and look at it again.

"...It would seem that the Coral Forests is just beyond Rainfall Town...." Jet murmured to himself as he examined the map closely. "I actually passed Rainfall Town on my way here, since I once lived in the marshlands. It's a few days' walk from here if I'm not mistaken...and if the Forests are just past that in the sea, it should be simple to find once we get to that point." He then looked over at Tom. "S-so yeah, I should be able to show you the way easily enough." An observant Totodile might have beena ble to tell that Jet's stutter had been absent while he examined the map. He had always been more confident in his examination and reasoning skills than in his inter-Pokémon conversational skills.

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