Libraries are Supposed to be Quiet Places

It was a quiet day in Grassveil, just as it typically was. Sure, there were the occasional crimes and thefts committed out in the open on rare occasions, but the police force seemed more than capable of taking care of it. As a result, Jet never really bothered himself with any of the negative aspects of Grassveil. Expecting a utopia out of anywhere one could imagine would be nothing but a fool's dream in his opinion. There would always be selfish individuals wanting something for themselves and who wouldn't care about stepping on others to get what they wanted. While there were kind and just Pokémon that existed, so too did their shadows and nemeses.

Jet stopped his strange thought processes at that. He had never noticed that he had a habit of getting ahead of himself in his thoughts and sometimes finding himself thinking about a completely new topic. Instead, he shook his head and tried to focus himself on what he was doing here and now. He stood at the entrance to a large library looking inside almost excitedly. The sign that displayed above the doorway read "Grassveil Library." Jet had discovered this building on one of his leisurely strolls through the town and had made a mental note to come check it out. He did enjoy a little bit of light reading now and again, as he felt that it helped to keep his mind and attention sharp. And that was really his only redeeming quality after all, unless he counted his personality. Although even he himself had to admit the lameness of something like that.

Jet finally stepped out of the sunlight of the outdoors and into the library's building. He took a quick look around ascertaining just what the library looked like from the inside. As expected of a library, there were a lot of books on shelves lining the walls and lining the center and sides of the room. There were also many large tables lying around with chairs planted all around them. At the present moment, the library seemed somewhat empty. There were only a few Pokémon sitting around, reading books and there were a couple lined up checking books out at a nearby desk. Jet quickly started making his way into the library, purposely trying to stray away from the groups of individuals dotting around. He would rather try to avoid any potential confrontations if it were at all possible.

Finally, Jet found himself in a history section of the Library. This had caught his attention because he did not really know much about the world outside of his old marshland home and what little he knew about the Guild. Reading up on the past of the world would be a great place to start. He browsed the collection for a short while; his eyes scanned the covers of each book one by one. He gave an annoyed glance as he took note of a few of the books being clearly out of order. He quickly switched them around to put them where they rightfully belonged before continuing on.

The only downside is...where could he possibly start? Some of these books seemed incredibly vague, so he flipped one open and skimmed through it for a moment before returning it, figuring that it wasn't really what he had been hoping for. The biggest problem with this being that he wasn't even sure what exactly he was hoping to find. Something that really interested him or caught his attention he supposed, but what could that be...?

And so, Jet simply stood there, flipping through book after book in a bookshelf near two empty tables that were somewhat near the entrance, yet farther away then the other occasional groups of Pokémon nearby. "Isn't there anything here...?" he couldn't help but murmur quietly to himself.

Aedus dragged his foot out of the gooey mire, snorting in disgust as the mud clung to his leg and stuck between his claws. He growled under his breath before moving on, his feet getting muddier as he traversed through the swampy mess. "Why would Moltres even live in a place like this?" Aedus muttered to himself. But he had to investigate every lead he found, otherwise he would never find Moltres and reclaim the lost Magma Stone to his people.

He looked across the swamp and sighed. "This is going to take a while," he groaned to himself, and kept walking. "At least it's warm here," he commented to himself as he walked. It was true. Despite his reservations about the cold, the swamp was surprisingly warm.

Eventually, after many hours of walking, he reached the end of the swamp and stood disappointed in front of an old shack that was dilapidated and collapsed in on itself. This was not the beautiful castle of marble he was told about! Disgusted, Aedus kicked the edge of the shack. There was a rumbling sound, and suddenly he was buried under the remains of the -now- fully collapsed shack. He grunted in pain and anger, and then the shack was on fire as flames poured out of his elongated snout.

He groaned and pushed the flaming wood off of him, and pushed himself to his feet, shaking himself to let the shaves of wood fall to the ground. "I am totally getting out of here!" he growled to himself.

He slogged his way through the swamp again, now almost completely caked with mud. He finally got out of the swamp, and emerged onto a road that looked like it was used often. Aedus looked around. He certainly didn't want to be seen covered in dirt, mud, and wood shavings by any peasants that came along -or worse, other royalty!

He looked down at himself, and thought. How could he clean himself if there was no magma baths near? Perhaps... he started blowing fire onto himself, burning away the wood chips and cracking the mud. He began brushing himself off, and within a few minutes, he was completely clean again. He grinned, feeling better than ever.

Then he set off down the road, falling to all fours, as he found his balance better with four legs than two. Eventually he came to a rather large town. At the entrance was a bulletin board announcing that he was entering Grassveil Town.

He was happy to see that there was a library at the town. He immediately headed for it after quickly eating some berries in his pack. He opened the door and padded in, looking around, carefully keeping his flame tongue inside his mouth. He was in heaven as he trotted through the tall shelves, examining several books along the way.

Eventually he found his way to the back of the library, where a buizel was browsing the very shelves Aedus had been searching for. In the buizel's hand was a book on ancient fire pokemon. "Hey, you! The buizel holding that fire pokemon book!" Aedus announced pointedly, louder than he needed to, but he didn't care as he stood onto two legs, drawing himself up so that he towered more than two feet above the water-type. "Hand that book over, you water-type! I need that book to help me on my quest!" Aedus boasted proudly, puffing out his chest importantly. He assumed the water pokemon would give him the book immediately, being used to servants who fetched everything for him. Even the fact that it was a water-type didn't phase the arrogant fire-type, who was normally wary of all things water. He stood much taller than the buizel and was likely much stronger as well. Besides, the pokemon looked weak and almost scared of the pokemon around the library. He was likely a push-over, which worked well with Aedus.

Jet had just started flipping through a rather intriguing book on mythological and rare Fire-type Pokémon supposedly found and/or seen in the general region before. Well, what better way to start learning than to start with a book about the area's mythology and legends? Such legends often spoke volumes about the country's history...or so he understood it, anyway. He was slightly confused as to why the author had decided to specify Fire-types, but he shrugged it off, considering the possibility that there were simply more Fire-type legendary or mythological Pokémon than other types...at least in this area. Whatever the case, he was certain that the author, whoever it may be, must have had some kind of reason for it. So he didn't let it bother him much. Soon, he closed the book to look at its cover. There was a particularly strange-looking Pokémon on the front with a V-like crest on its forehead. Whatever this Pokémon was, it didn't seem all that impressive. It actually looked kind of cute with its-

Suddenly, a loud voice shouted at him, causing him to jump cleanly out of his skin and fur. Jet hesitated, not even sure that he should dare turn around and see just what was calling out to him. And in such a loud, demanding tone as well for somebody standing in the middle of a library. However, he knew that not facing the source of the voice wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he slowly turned around, book now tucked neatly under his arm. He almost immediately regretted this decision as he was faced directly with a rather large, bulkier Pokémon than himself. It stood at easily twice his own height and was practically glaring down at him. "Th...this...book?" he asked, not able to keep his voice from stammering in his sudden fear. He reached up to show the cover to him...but it was no longer in his paws. He had dropped it the moment his eyes had risen to see the newcomer.

Realizing this, Jet quickly scooped the book back into his arms. "S-sorry, b-but I was...erm...k-kind of looking at it first...." he mumbled, his voice only slightly audible as he looked down and away, trying to avoid eye contact with such an intimidating Pokémon. He seemed to practically be shrinking under the Heatmor's gaze. "B-but if you'll, erm...g-give me a little bit with it, I-I'm sure I'll be f-finished with it soon a-and then you can see it...." His shaking voice wasn't likely doing him many favors in proving Aedus' thoughts about him wrong. In fact, a bit of threatening or perhaps simply a little bit of force would be enough to cause him to yield....

The buizel stiffened. His back was ridged, and his spots seemed to get darker for a moment. Then he turned around to look at Aedus, and dropped the book when he saw the towering fire-type. A grin twitched at the corners of Aedus' mouth. This was too easy.

"Th...this...book?" the buizel stammered, looking down at the fallen book. He quickly picked it up. "S-sorry, b-but I was...erm...k-kind of looking at it first...." the pokemon mumbled. Aedus snorted impatiently. Why was this pokemon not immediately giving in to his demands? It was starting to slightly annoy him. "B-but if you'll, erm...g-give me a little bit with it, I-I'm sure I'll be f-finished with it soon a-and then you can see it...."

Aedus glowered at the water-type pokemon. How dare he stand up to him, Prince Aedus of the Southern Heatmor Kingdom?! He was a prince! No-one dared go up against a prince! Yet this tiny squirt of a pokemon thought he could? Aedus lifted his head higher, looking down at the buizel with narrowed eyes.

"You have no idea who I am, little water-type, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt... this time. I am Prince Aedus of the Southern Heatmor Kingdoms, and I demand you lend me that book for my research, as it is of the utmost importance that I seek the information contained in those pages. Fail to comply with my demands, and you might find yourself in a very.... uncomfortable... situation." With the last words, his flame tongue flickered out of his elongated snout threateningly. He glowered down at the buizel expectantly.

Jet flinched underneath Aedus' powerful, intimidating gaze. shrinking even further. He was quiet for the moment, not even sure what to say from here. As the Heatmor started explaining more about himself, Jet's eyes found themselves looking down once again, this time at the book in his paws. But what really got his attention was not the fact that Aedus was claiming to be a prince of some kind, but the last sentence. His eyes widened slightly again with the clear threat being put onto his shoulders. If he didn't hand over the library book, was he...going to get hurt or something? That was certainly the last thing Jet had expected to happen upon the visit to the library today. But what could he do? He knew that standing up against the Heatmor wasn't going to do him much good. He could tell just from looking at him who the superior Pokémon was. He even took a surprised step back when he saw the flame tongue come out of the Heatmor's mouth, scaring him for a moment.

Finally, Jet returned his gaze to the book in his paws before hesitantly lifting it up, presenting it toward the much larger Pokémon. Holding onto and reading one library book was certainly not worth getting himself beaten up. "I-I'm sorry, P-Prince Aedus...." he murmured, actually going so far as to allow himself to drop to one knee in a small bow as he held it up in front of himself. He wanted to please the Heatmor as much as he could so that, perhaps, he could get him to leave and he could return to looking for another book. "...I-I'll hand this over. J-just please...d-don't hurt me...."

Jet hoped that this would be the end of it. However, he knew that his luck was never that good....

Aedus smirked at the water-type's obvious fear in the face of his threat. He always knew when to give a little push, when to pull back a little, to get the right reaction out of pokemon. Aedus considered himself a master manipulator, if he did say so himself. The buizel took a look at the library book for a moment before offering it up to Aedus.

"I-I'm sorry, P-Prince Aedus...." the water-type murmured, dropping to one knee in a small bow as he held it up in front of himself. Aedus felt a small glow of pride in his heart. No one had ever bowed to him like that before! Those were reserved for his father, the King! Aedus felt that he was one step closer to proving himself and earning the right to be King by this small victory. He cared not that he had had to force the buizel to show respect by threats. "...I-I'll hand this over. J-just please...d-don't hurt me...." The water-type stammered.

Aedus had to stop himself from laughing out loud. Had the little fool really thought that Aedus would challenge him to a battle? Aedus knew very well what the sea weasel could do to him if he was sufficiently motivated. Aedus repressed a shudder at the thought of 30 mile-an-hour water blasting into his water-sensitive skin.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Aedus snorted, grabbing the book from the buizel. "Why don't you make yourself useful and find more books on ancient fire pokemon? You could help me on my quest, you know," Aedus said suddenly, a glint entering his eye. "Imagine -if you helped me on my quest, you would earn the respect of all the Heatmor tribes who answer to the Royal Family! It's not so hard, what I'm going to do, anyway," he said off-handedly, trying to coax the water-type into deciding to help him. He was used to servants, and being without them really reeked. Aedus didn't know how the peasant pokemon could stand doing things for themselves! Why do for yourself what you can get others to do for you, anyway? That's what Aedus' father had always taught him.

Aedus' father didn't agree with him going on this quest, actually. His father thought that Aedus was wasting his time looking for such an elusive object that had been lost for many long years. His father thought that he should be concentrating on learning how to be the King and looking for a Mate to be his Queen or Consort. But Aedus wasn't interested in finding a mate yet, and Aedus didn't want to be just a king -he wanted his people to respect him! Aedus thought that once he brought back the Magma Stone, everyone would HAVE to respect him then.

Aedus looked at the book in his hands. This book might lead him one step closer to the Magma Stone. He set it on a table nearby and opened it up to the Table of Contents, looking for familiar names. He noticed Moltres right away, but it took a little longer to find Heatran. He flipped to Heatran's page first.


The page went on more about Heatran's physiology, it's known powers and moves, and rumored powers and moves. Aedus did not find a mention of the Magma Stone, and he flipped the pages in disgust to the Moltres entry.


Again, Aedus found no mention of where it lived currently, nor did the book mention the Magma Stone. Aedus clenched his claws together, and they chinked and scraped loudly in the quiet library.

(Note: heya sorry for disappearing. Beginning of summer was hectic and Haley wouldn't get off her computer to let me post. x. x sorry)

Jet was somewhat relieved when the Heatmor simply took the book from his paws and claimed that he had no intention to cause harm in any way. Well...yet, at least. But hopefully, he could keep it that way. The last thing he needed was to get beaten down in the middle of town where everybody could see how weak he was. Obviously, this Prince Aedus was a Fire-type Pokémon of some kind, so losing a fight as a Water-type would probably be far more humiliating than he would like. Plus, he had had enough beatings to last him his entire life in his personal opinion, and he was not looking forward to getting more than his fair share of pummeling.

Jet remained on his knee at Aedus' feet until the Heatmor had moved away and retreated to a nearby table to start reading through the book. Upon hearing the Heatmor's request, he knew that he didn't want to reject. He certainly didn't want to get on this Pokémon's bad side, no matter what it took; especially if he was truly a prince. "S-sure...." he murmured lowly, rising to his feet again. "B-but I'm...erm...n-not sure I should go with you anywhere. I...I think I would just get in your way." As he spoke, he returned to the shelves to do exactly what he had been ordered to do, being absurdly obedient to a stranger. If one didn't know the two or hear them, they would probably think that he was already this Heatmor's servant.

Soon, Jet had three more books in his arms. All three were relatively thick and he had to use both paws to carry them in front of him. With the books in arm, he stepped toward the Heatmor's table. "B-besides..." he murmured. "I-I'd...really like to stay here in Grassveil if I can...." Hopefully, his choice in the matter actually counted for something. As he arrived at the table, he placed the books down beside Aedus. He spread them out on the table and pointed to each one in turn. "A-anyway, here's an encyclopedia on ancient Pokémon that I found.... And this one here is a book on ancient legends and mythos in the area.... A-and I noticed that you took an interest in Moltres for some reason, s-so I also grabbed this more modern book here on the five Legendary Bird Pokémon. M-maybe you can find something on Moltres in here for what you're looking for...?" He tried to be as helpful to the Fire-type as he could. Perhaps if he stayed on his good side, he would simply let him go.... That was his plan, anyway.

"S-sure...." the buizel's soft, scared voice broke through Aedus' reading concentration. "B-but I'm...erm...n-not sure I should go with you anywhere. I...I think I would just get in your way." The buizel moved away then. Aedus looked up distractedly, but he was pleased to see that the water-type was actually following his instructions. Aedus returned to his reading.

Aedus was soon finished reading, with nothing to show for it. The buizel soon came back, his arms full of thick tomes.

"B-besides..." he murmured, continuing on his last point. "I-I'd...really like to stay here in Grassveil if I can.... A-anyway, here's an encyclopedia on ancient Pokémon that I found.... And this one here is a book on ancient legends and mythos in the area.... A-and I noticed that you took an interest in Moltres for some reason, s-so I also grabbed this more modern book here on the five Legendary Bird Pokémon. M-maybe you can find something on Moltres in here for what you're looking for...?" the water-type stammered out.

Aedus looked at the water-type interestedly. Why was the pokemon so afraid of him, anyway? Even the most idiot of pokemon had to know that the buizel held the advantage here. Sure, Aedus was larger than the sea weasel, but he was a fire type, and fire did not mix well with water, everyone knew that. "Why do you cower before me as you do?" Aedus asked bluntly, subtlety not being his strong suit. "You're a water type. You could easily knock me out, surely you know this. If you traveled with me, you'd cover my weaknesses pretty well. I wouldn't call that slowing me down."

Aedus looked down at the books. "I am looking for Moltres. I need to find it and convince it to give me back the Magma Stone that is sacred to the Heatmor Tribes.

Jet herd Aedus' question and hesitated, unsure if he should even bother replying or not. If he did reply to him, then it would probably highlight his own weakness and only serve to solidify his own subservient position even further. On the other hand, he could perhaps work with what the Heatmor had given him. If he did that, then perhaps he could become the dominant one in this situation and manage to squirm his way out of this predicament he found himself in. Then again, would he have the backbone to do it, even if he wanted to try? He wasn't sure that he wanted to get wrapped up in some grand adventure like this when he still had yet to even get together with his own teammates to create a team at the Guild...but at the same time, this Heatmor was really...REALLY big compared to him.

Jet finally gulped audibly and let out a small sigh. He looked back up at the Heatmor, deciding that it was best to be honest rather than to try to get out of this through trickery. That never got him anywhere anyway. "...W-well...I-I may have an advantage in battle over you," he murmured lowly, just audibly for Aedus to hear him. "But th-that doesn't change the fact that I don't fight much...a-and I'm...kind of weak. S-so even if I'm at an advantage, I would p-probably still lose to you if you wanted to fight." He then gave a small, embarrassed smile, hoping to brush that last comment under the rug quickly. "S-so yeah, I-I really don't think I'd be much help to you..."

But, he had to admit, the quest that this Heatmor was going for sounded rather interesting.... "A Magma Stone, huh...?" he repeated. "S-sorry, I don't...know anything about it. N-never even heard of it...."