There's a First Time for Everything

Having walked the journey from Shadowhue Forest to Grassveil Ket strolled into the city eyes out for Yooka. He had lost track of her since she had blitzed out of Shadowhue in a state of slight panic. The whole walk had left Ket wondering what caused the sudden outburst and subsequent flight. But it wasn’t of any importance to him now. She said to meet by the guild and that was what he was going to do. Well partially, he planned to stay as far as possible away from the guild. Maybe he’d find her before even getting close to the guild but that was unlikely.

As he walked deeper and deeper into Grassveil he slowly regained his bearings on it’s layout. It had been a while since he’d stepped foot here, he’d always prefer staying out of towns. Sure they had their charms it was easy to hide, stores pretty much every other corner, comfort, poke for the taking off some poor sods. But unlike the outdoors bigger towns tended to have guilds and a police of some sort. He couldn’t stomach the idea of authorities practically breathing down his neck. Speaking of guilds where was it? He might of been here before but he definitely never bothered to stop by the guild, for obvious reasons.

Ket figured he might ask someone and was about to till he caught sight of someone from the corners of his eyes. He spotted what he assumed to be an explorer doing their shopping for the day. Hopefully they would lead him right to the guild, it was getting late and the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. Ket walked over to another store pretending to browse the goods offered. As soon as the explorer began to leave he made his move despite the protest of the shopkeeper. Who was throwing prices enough prices at him to make his head go numb from simple annoyance.

He followed behind blending in with the other pokemon behind them. The explorer lead him throughout the city until exiting by the Northern exit. The amount of pokemon thinned until Ket was forced to slip into the shadows cast by the setting sun. The scene almost like the forest he had been in earlier. He didn’t have to keep this up for long however because at last he found his goal, the Grassveil Guild. He watched as his query walked into the guild. Looking around for a suitable resting ground he finally settled on a flat patch of dirt and sat down. He figured he might as well keep comfortable as he glued his eyes to the entrance to the guild. He had no intention of going towards the entrance or being spotted.

With the free time as he waited for Yooka Ket as he often does let his mind wander. He had managed to find himself doing many things recently he thought himself never doing. Working with a guild member and finding himself within an arm's distance of a guild. Well there’s a first time for everything. To think he was doing it all for some poke. He thought over what he would do with it. He’d probably buy some food maybe some other things and pocket the rest, although it was never a good idea to travel with too much poke. He sat like this, mind drifting as he waited for the familiar kecleon to appear.

((OOC: I'm waiting on Mada, as she pretty much needs to be in the thread for Yooka to do really much of anything otherthan freaking out that she couldn't hold her end of a deal... which she actually HATES that she can't do anything about. Ket's going to have a fun and confusing time throughout this thread. I hope.))

This was just another lucky day. The mission ended up successful despite her being just a bit late. She went over to the minun and told him everything before going to the Plusle Client. She even gave the toys to him and told him to act like he didn't know that they already met or that the toys were missing. The look on the Minun's face was priceless. Since Yooka went to the Minun fist and handed the toys to the Minun, the Plusle Client was practically freaking out to Yooka. However she told him that she put them back for him. Making it seem like nothing was out of the ordinary and the Minun played along.

The client still gave the reward and Yooka was now with a bag full of items. She did say she was giving them to someone, but he wasn't outside or inside the Guild when she headed off. However, she did go quick and that someone did say they havent been in Grassveil for quite some time. Yooka decided to wait, but she didn't wait at the entrance to the Guild itself.

Sitting on a roof at the opposite side of the entrance, Yooka noticed the Zangoose following someone else. Yooka didn't take mind on that other peep. She jumped down and started following him in much the same manner. Sure, he was good at stealth, but she's practically a ninja or well... not trying but trying to be. Or maybe more of a spy... She does get into places she shouldn't for rather important information. Either way she's been handling his type and better for quite some time. Her natural ability to cloak makes this ridiculously easy aslong as she remembers to hide her much smaller belly pattern.

With the knowledge of the Outlaw board, Ket is in no danger of being dragged off upon being spotted. Pff, why not give him a scare? Yooka smirked as she just walked on over to him from behind when he started to what looks to be, getting distracted, "You there. State your business." She could barely hold a laugh as she was smirking. Holding over her shoulder the bag of items and standing in the open with a slack stance. "You do know your fine. There's no need to really hide here, not with me around. Especially since I did invite you and Faye the Guildmaster is actually more friendly than I first thought. Actually, this place is more of a homeless shelter and I'd rather be somewhere else but I'm pretty much leeching off the place. Heheh."

Yooka was disappointed by one thing though... She couldn't find Alki anywhere in the Guild. The little Igglybuff was no where to be seen. However she did see Alki's sister with Darcy. A bit odd but who's to question Darcy. She's friendly to everything. ...Everything... Yooka hasn't been with either Darcy or Alki for too long. The last time she was with both of them she just dyed her body color purple but she has long since removed that color. She was back to Kecleon Green.

Alki wondered just how dumb she would look if someone were to pass by her room. For now, she had the room entirely to herself. The jigglypuff was going to take advantage of this. Practice made perfect, after all, and while she couldn't exactly practice a move like flamethrower in secret, hidden power was much easier to keep, well, hidden. Especially if she was alone. The girl smiled, a red feather sticking out from behind her ear. This practice was not meant for the guild. She had snuffed out all of the candles in her room. Only one in the furthest corner remained alight. The furniture of the room was in all sorts of curious spots: a table in the center of the room, a chest to it's right, and the Skitty's bed to the left. This was certainly not a visually pleasing arrangement, by any stretch of the imagination, but for Alki's purposes, it would do just fine.

More important than the furniture was the objects on top of it. Orbs and stones that cast nice, long shadows across the floor, and up the walls. The whole room was cast in light and shadow. She was pleased with herself. Dark type. That was her. When she had acquired the tm, she expected her hidden power to be something a bit less heavy. After all, she was a literal pink, fluffy balloon. The balloon Pokemon. The dark balloon Pokemon. At this thought, the girl let out a giggle, although it was not without it's nervousness. Suppose Darcy found out that she was a dark type? Would she be happy with her? After all, she was sure that Darcy expected more... light-hearted things from her. Alki's mouth twisted into a frown as she crouched in front of the shadows, eager to start practicing. That'd take her mind off of these thoughts. "Why did it have to know about it..." She mumbled to herself. The thieves, of course. That was the reason she'd gotten that typing! An occupation that was shrouded in darkness, in tricks and gadgets. She began to move the shadows on the ground. The alternative was even less pleasant. If not her occupation, then that left her personality. She was a bit shy, sure. She made screw ups. Big ones, if her interaction with Sova had been any indication. But dark?!

She shook her head, focusing instead on the shadows before her. Long and solid, the lone candle in the corner of the room providing all the light she needed for her self-taught lesson. Movement: the key to almost all moves. What good was her move if she couldn't properly control it? She had been so eager to weaponize this new move, with knives and orbs and all sorts of unrealistic things. What good was a knife if she couldn't cut with it, let alone swing it?
Alki scoffed. Only one of the many embarrassing things she'd done while in that Petilil's company...

The girl twisted the shadows around,forming new shapes, forms, connecting them and wiggling them. Actually holding the shadows seemed beyond her. For the time being, she'd have to content herself with moving them. It's not like their movement was particularly fluid either, she had a lot more work to do. She'd stay for the time being, practice a little more. Hopefully, Darcy wouldn't come in. She didn't feel like explaining herself to the Skitty very much. It was pleasant to be alone, especially after all the chaos she'd been through before she'd left for the Chateau.

[OOC: First off, I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to post. I'll try and be regular with this thread now. Alki will leave the guild and join y'all next post.]

Ket had started to grow bored waiting as his mind went on down to thoughts which he couldn’t figure out how he had ended up on. What caught him of guard was when someone popped up behind him. He quickly spun around to see who it was ready to dash just in case. His worries were quelled as he identified Yooka who had shown up behind him. Seeing this he relaxed and lowered his guard as she reassured him he was fine being around the guild. Although he mostly dismissed it, he liked to be safe even if it was to an extreme. He raised an eyebrow on the last quip she made equating the guild to a homeless shelter.

His eyes however found themselves locked onto the bag on her back and he couldn’t help but let a small smile form on his lips. Bingo, he’d eat tonight. “Sorry to sound rude here but mind if I ask what my share of this reward is?” After saying this he realized he sounded like a real prick but he kept his silence anyways. Damage was already done, why apologise right? Ket looked around slightly expecting someone as Yooka had said she needed to ask someone for permission to tell that secret. Since Yooka had promised it as a reward for helping completing the job his interest in this secret had grown, a lot more than he thought it would of. Sure he’d take the physical reward first any day but whatever this private information was he couldn’t deny it had grabbed his interest. He hoped that the secret wasn’t something minuscule or he was being played in a practical joke, that would make the outcome of this exchange slightly embarrassing.

“Mind if I also ask if you got that secret on you? Call me intrigued by this.” Hopefully he’d have this all figured out by night. He was planning on sleeping inside tonight. It’d be a nice change of pace from the soggy ground he’d become use to.

Meanwhile, in Yooka's head. Her little 'scare the Zangoose' plan didn't go the way she pictured. It was like he was expecting this, in more ways than one. Curious. His speedy thoughts came as a surprise aswell. Just a look at the bag gave him the question of what's his. "what? This?" She raised the bag an inch off her shoulder before plopping it back down. "Pff, all of it."

Now she got curious even more. He seemed more eager in the bag's content than anything else on her. She was wearing two different and pretty rare ribbons wrapped over both hands, a lunar ribbon and solar ribbon. Aswell as the hardened defence scarf. It was wrapped not around her neck but around her chest, upper back, and under the shoulders. It's cut at the ridges so it surrounds them, with the extra length on both ends hanging loosely like twin capes near her shoulders, except she tucks the two loose ends between the ridges to keep them from flapping annoyingly. Her Guild bag was practically clipped to the scarf preventing it from unfolding itself.

She tossed the double-hand-sized bag to the Zangoose. "I only took half the poke rounded up to the nearest hundred from the reward but the rest of it is all in there. It's not much considering things but that was a big one for it's rank." Despite the moderate length of time between them in the forest to now, the Zangoose reminded her of the secret only Alki could give... and she couldn't find Alki. The answer Yooka managed to respond to that question with, was a break from eye contact and a slight audible growl to herself before looking back at the Guild's entrance and after a few seconds loudly mumbling, "I couldn't find that timid Igglybuff. She must be out somewhere, Maybe at Yigo's...? But I don't have time to head outside Grassveil again and be back before Dinner. nngh." or maybe she's out doing something with the someone else. Yooka really wanted to know what everyone was doing know-a-days. Things were different and those changes will definitely change her schedule in ways she doesn't like but has to grow used to.

She coughed, "Er, It's going to take me longer than I thought... I don't really need the reward, so I'm giving you pretty much all of it. If you want, we can go in and see if there's any mission, or reward, you may surprisingly enjoy, or need. I do see rather odd requests every now and then that question the Guild's actual motives. I mean they aren't exactly the authority... I do see those that are lazy, or not fit to be in a Guild, but there are surprisingly alot of things they can get away with that most normal peeps can't because of a simple piece of paper. However, I don't want to stay in too long as I should check to see if the Igglybuff is with one of her friends."

Alki’s practice had not been nearly as satisfactory as she had hoped. The candle in the corner seemed to be burning down, it’s flames dying out. She’d practiced unifying the shadows quite extensively. They could stay together on the ground, at least, but what was the purpose of shadows on the floor? It didn’t serve any purpose whatsoever. All it did was give her a darker surface to walk on. It didn’t help her overcome her bright, pink visibility problem. Shadows on the floor served no purpose in a fight. It didn’t help her as a thief, and it didn’t help her as a guild-mon. Right now, this move served next to no practical purpose. She’d have to practice more.

The girl let out an exasperated breath, watching as the candle’s flame finally died out. She’d forgotten heal pulse for this. Dark type didn’t seem too bad a hidden power, but she was just so bad at it! Not to mention Darcy could feel conflicted, knowing her teammate had gotten a dark typing. Alki reminded herself that she should move the practice materials back to their proper spots. It wouldn’t do any good to have Darcy find their room like this.

The girl began to push the furniture back into its spot, grunting and struggling. Why did they have to be so heavy? After a few minutes of struggle, the jigglypuff emerged victorious over the wooden structures. In the darkness, all she could think about were the shadows she now had control over. Very little control, right now, but with a little… a lot more practice, the investment would come in handy. A thief who could move shadows. Sure, she was a bright pink ball, but for all her short-comings as a Pokemon, the move could help her overcome them. All she needed to do was practice.

The jigglypuff looked over her room, making sure everything was in place. She could light the candles later, if Darcy asked. It was rather dark, but for now, she was tired. Practicing for so long took its toll, and Alki was noticeably exhausted. Exhausted, but satisfied. She hadn’t made a lot of practice, but some was better than none. She could be proud of her progress. She had to be… she wasn’t a joke! Not pathetic or any of that! Her face grew somber as she recalled her experience with Sova. His anger had been justified but at the same time, she found herself wanting to prove to that Glaceon that he was wrong about her. All she had to do was keep a secret.

She found herself outside of the guild soon enough. She knew that she should probably just forget about that whole encounter, dismiss it as a poor first impression. For some reason, that was a very difficult thing to do. Why it weighed on her so much, she didn’t know, but she found herself more and more frustrated by the guild. If not for Darcy, she would’ve left, joined Synd’r and spent time with her. But Darcy was a guild-mon. So Alki would be too.

Standing at the entrance, the girl surveyed the Pokemon before her. Most were strangers, who didn't give her more than a passing glance. She was thankful for that. One kecleon, however, stood out to the girl. A very familiar one.

“Yooka!” She called out, adjusting the bright blue bow on her head as she walked towards the kecleon. They'd never spoken too much, but Yooka had been the first Pokemon she'd met in Grassveil. What sort of Pokemon would she be if she didn't at least greet her? “Hello!” She said, curtsying in front of the taller Pokemon. “I've changed a bit. What do you think?” She said, spinning in front of Yooka, showing off her new form, all too well aware that there wasn't much to show.

All of the bag? Well that was nice. His mind raced with what the rewards could be as he caught the bag thrown by Yooka. Peering inside he caught sight of what he was there for, that being poke. He didn’t mind her taking most of the poke, she really didn’t have to offer him any of it after all. He’d bother with counting it later he had to see what else he got first. Sticking his paw into the bag he began to rummage around to see what he got. First he pulled out an oran berry, always nice to have. He put the Oran berry back into the bag as he pulled two Pecha berries. Talk about useless, having immunity kind of negated the need for Pecha berries. He was about to make a snide remark before remembering he’d already come off as enough of prick. The Pecha berry didn’t warrant that kind of response anyways, they were part of the reward nothing Yooka could of done about that. He pulled out the last object from the bag which turned out to be a Trap Scarf.

Not a bad haul for what equated to a stroll through the woods. Yeah Yooka was right when she said she was leeching off the place yeesh. He began to untie the red scarf he was currently wearing while listening to Yooka. What he got was the break of eye contact and a growl. Usually not a good sign in a conversation. He finished untying his scarf and was putting on the Trap Scarf when Yooka told him she couldn’t find an Igglybuff. Ket assumed the Igglybuff was the one holding onto the secret. He was done tying the Trap scarf and was putting his old scarf back over it when Yooka suggested that he do a guild mission. He was almost tempted to do so considering what he had just gotten for gathering a couple of lost toys, literal child’s play. However his past experiences and his principals were going to force him to decline the offer.

Sure as Yooka as said they weren’t exactly and authority but they still were a authority regardless of how flimsy the term authority might of fit in the context. He might of just done a guild mission but walking in there himself and actually accepting a mission, he couldn’t do it. His name would be official associated with the Guild then right? Giving the guild a slight look of disdain he looked back to Yooka. “I appreciate the offer I really do but I’ll have to decline it. I can’t directly associate myself with the guild like that. It’s not because of my dubious previous profession either. Its uh.” Ket paused for a second formulating his response. “Look we all have something from our pasts we hide. I’m surprised I’ve given you such much about me as it is but there is something else I just can’t tell you.”

He awkwardly looked down to the ground as he tried to find something else to say. “I can help you look for this Igglybuff you need to find. Might as well help you get the rest of my reward right? So wha-” He was cut off as an Igglybuff calling Yooka’s name came bounding over. Job done he guessed as he watched the Igglybuff spin in front of them a blue bow whirling on her head. He looked over to Yooka seeing what her response would be to the sudden appearance of who he assumed was the Igglybuff she was looking for.

When Ket paused to think, Yooka finally registered what he was saying, and both perked up and blinked questioningly. "Eh--?" Before she could question it, he added more which just caused her to focus her attention on his words, making her smirk and give off a long, low murr. He's not the only one with dark secrets that shouldn't be said. She has worse than what Alki knows and done stuff some would consider impossible to live through. When he looked down at the ground she felt the urge to jump him and force him to say it but held back because of where they were.

Also, when he said he'd help look, he inexplicably summoned a familiar character. However, when Yooka looked at the pokemon she got massively confused. The Jigglypuff joined them and it knew her name, it wasn't until the Jigglypuff said that they've changed a bit did she connect the dots. Yooka shook her head and took a step back.

"A bit? Not just 'a bit', I completely didn't recognize you!" She looked at Ket for a second before switching back to Alki. "No wonder I couldn't find you for so long... It wasn't just today that I was looking for you, you know. I've been away for so long I haven't been able to hear any news. Also, look..."

She unclipped her bag and spun it around so the front could be seen. Instead of a grey badge, there was a white one. A red feather could be seen pinned behind it aswell as a miniature belt holding a locked max elixer and a locked bottle of crushed lum berry. "I've been doing quite a bit to get prepared for a personal journey... but I am now of the white rank. I also am curious as to what you've been doing, without Darcy. I figure you were doing something for her but I know more than you think but I just don't know the why. I don't mind not knowing it but I must insist if you could say something." Yooka was too distracted in her own thoughts to pay attention to Alki. but something felt off, She wasn't nearly as timid, or really, scared of new peeps. Yooka was thinking of scaring the info out of her but after that impression, she now has to find out by getting her trust... Again, but with Ket present.

Alki found herself smiling up at Yooka. The two had never been particularly close, per se, but Yooka had still been the first one to show her kindness, even if she hadn’t stuck around long at all. Her first day in Grassveil wasn’t one she was about to forget any time soon, and Alki still felt grateful that she had the good luck to run into the Kecleon. Alki nodded enthusiastically. Evolution wasn’t exactly a huge deal for her species. After all, she’d learned that as far as Pokemon species went, jigglypuff were actually rather far on the weak side. She’d gotten a bit taller, she’d gotten ears, and in her opinion, she seemed at least a bit more grown-up. As grown up as a pink balloon could be, anyways. That was enough for her. She was a better pokemon now, and evolution showed that.

“Yep! I’m a jigglypuff now!” She beamed excitedly, nodding at the Kecleon’s words. Alki fell silent and payed attention to the rest of the Kecleon’s speech. Yooka had been looking for her? What for? Alki considered the Kecleon in front of her. She knew the Kecleon was a guild-member, but she hadn’t seen much of Yooka at the guild in… quite a while, actually. No, this didn’t seem to be guild business. Although she was more than happy to show off the new badge she’d gotten. White was a level up from her own grey badge. Maybe she’d get her own soon enough. “Good job, Yooka!” She said, staring at the badge rather than her. She was a bad guild-member, but she could still get to White rank! She should talk to Darcy about that sometime.

Something else caught her attention though… the white badge was impressive. The red feather was some coincidence, though. Alki shot a sideways glance at the Zangoose who accompanied Yooka. A red feather. Just like hers. “That’s a pretty feather, Yooka.” She said, stroking the ear upon which her own feather was nestled. She’d seen hers, right? A new species was much more obvious than a new accessory, maybe. She’d just draw attention to it. She continued to stroke her ear, slowly and carelessly as she continued to speak. “I have one a lot like it. Where’d you get it?”

Yooka seemed to be asking what she was up to. Had Darcy sent Yooka to check on her? After the whole fiasco with Sova, and the things she’d said… maybe Darcy wanted to check on her. Try and give her space, like she’d asked, but at the same time… Darcy wouldn’t drop it. She’d said that too loud. She should’ve known better. “Oh? Me and Darcy? We’re doing fine. Just… you know. Gonna do some guild work sooner or later. Although… personally, I’ve gotten a new hobby.” Alki lowered her hand from her ear, smiling up at Yooka. If she was with Synd’r as well, then she’d understand. Alki had given her plenty of hints.

Now it was the Zangoose’s turn. Alki turned to face him, and outstretched a hand. “Alki. Nice to meet you.” She said, a curt smile following her words. She didn’t know this pokemon. She’d gotten a tad more confident since her outing with Pterra. That didn’t mean she was comfortable with new people, not by any stretch of the imagination. Especially after her encounter with the Glaceon. Everyone there had been new to her. Everyone there had hated her. So why take the risk? Brevity: The soul of wit, and a lifesaver for Alki. As a final courtesy, she added: “What’s your name?”

Arceus’s sake what had been smoking. Did he really just confuse a Jigglypuff with an Igglybuff. At least both of those pokémmon were in the same family it was better than confusing a dragonite with a caterpie. He wondered what it must of felt to of evolved. He would never get to experience it which he took for a blessing and a curse. Sure evolutions do make pokemon stronger, but it did some weird stuff to some pokémon. Deinos grow two heads over the course of their evolution process. Doduo also grows a head in it’s evolution. Dugtrio, he wasn’t even going to try to comprehend how that worked. That was the mystery for the ages. Oh and of course evolutions made some pokémon just look, for lack of a better word, unbelievably ugly. Which ones fell into that category he kept to himself although fortunately for his own sake and everyone else's that category was small, and also not in current company. Shaking his head clear he watched as the Jigglypuff congratulated Yooka on her rank up to white rank. Whatever that meant, he had no clue what that meant in terms of experience or merit. He wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable person on guild affairs for obvious reasons.

What grabbed his eyes as the conversation continued was the emphasis on the red feather by the Jigglypuff. He glanced suspiciously towards Yooka. They could at least of tried make it less obvious. It could've just been a coincidence but you usually don’t act or speak like that unless you’ve got a secret stashed somewhere. Probably nothing to big though, might be related to the secret he was going to get soon anyways so there was no point to pay to much attention to the feather.

Soon the Jigglypuff turned to him with her hand out. Greeting time already it seemed. Forming a small smile he shook the hand of the Jigglypuff who’s name turned out to be Alki. She of course asked him for his name to which he gave his name. “I’m Ket, nice to meet you as well.” He began to sweat slightly as he noticed he was outnumbered by guild members. Although Yooka was there more for the money than actually being part of the guild. And while he didn’t know Alki’s standing on that topic chances were she wouldn’t be a threat. Still he didn’t enjoy it regardless of how much danger he was really in. You can never be one-hundred percent sure of something. Who knows he might of walked himself into a trap. Fate is sometimes decided by random, ludicrous and ridiculous things. Ah what was he kidding he was probably fine, he should stop being so tense. Might as well break the ice, he asked Alki, “So I’m assuming you know Yooka? How’d you two come to meet?”

((OOC: Whoops, accidently wrote Alki was an Igglybuff, my bad))

Yooka's smirk turned into a straight face, which turned into a look of dissapointment, that quickly merged into annoyed as she had to put a hand to the side of her head in a practical facepalm. Despite the evolution, and the time with the others, she was still way young and inexperienced. Yooka noticed that Ket noticed, Alki is still timid but, surprisingly... if it wasn't for the over-exessive rubbing, Yooka would of thought she was just fond of it. however, the feeling of disappointment also quickly changed to a slight amusement as she watched Ket when the two talked. She recognizes that look. Time for 'scare the Zangoose, take two'

"Wait!" Yooka raised her right hand suddenly and sidestepped to the side of Ket and placed it on his shoulder. "Alki, heh... look at this look." If it wasn't obviously on Ket this set of actions would most likely put him on edge, and/or confuse Alki as to what the heck she's doing. "This, ehem... is the look of someone who doesn't trust any form of Authority. Doesn't this look familiar. I'd like this someone, who's helped me with a rather tough task..." Yooka gave off two laughing coughs as this was getting funny to her. She spent this outburst looking around the area only to notice only one other group of pokemon, too far to hear this next bit and none of them were 'hearing' pokemon. Yooka took a step away from Ket and her voice was like a therapist talking to a patient that was losing it. Not exactly normal and not exactly soothing. "I know your hobby Alki. I personally havent seen any activity outside the Guild. I've been looking for you to find out if there's something I could do, I'm getting bored with just the Guild. Oh, and he doesn't want to be here, or close to, here... or any Guild related thing. Mind if we go somewhere else?"

OOC: Yooka's thoughts exactly @Ket's 'trust'. Yooka doesn't trust anyone either, she just goes with it

OOC:

Alki shook the hand of the Zangoose. Ket was a rather strange name to her. Two hard syllables, with a short ‘E’ jammed in between them. If she was being honest, she didn’t like the name much. It seemed rather harsh, saying it out loud. She did this under her breath, shaking her head even as she did so. It wasn’t right, to judge someone’s name so harshly, even if that was how Alki felt. Thankfully, she wasn’t an honest Pokemon, and what was one extra little lie, to all the lying she’d been doing recently? She stood up slightly on her toes, gazing up at the Zangoose as she slowly placed a smile on her face. “It’s a nice name. Ket.”

Even if it wasn’t true, the jigglypuff felt rather satisfied with the quality of her fib. Whether Ket could tell, or would even call her out on it, remained to be seen. After all, who was she to pass up an opportunity to practice? After all, there were more important things she’d lied about before, and even more important things she’d have to lie about in the future. In the grand scheme of things, whether she liked someone’s name or not didn’t really matter. It was just a name, after all!

The jigglypuff looked up at Ket. She hadn’t even realized she’d lowered her gaze, although she supposed that didn’t really matter. “Yooka? Oh. Yeah, I’ve known her for a while now, but...” The girl hesitated to answer the latter part of his question, but only for a bit. It wasn’t a hard decision, really. She didn’t know this Zangoose at all, and so far, he hadn’t done much to merit an answer to that. “Frankly, I… I don’t want to answer that. The answer is a tad personal.” That was no lie, and Alki chose to focus on Yooka instead, afraid to see how the Zangoose would take her answer.

She tilted her head in wonder as to what Yooka was getting at. The Kecleon still seemed a bit more eccentric than the other pokemon Alki knew. That wasn’t a particularly bad thing, per se, but it certainly made Alki feel more than a bit nervous. It was hard enough to talk with Darcy, or Yigo, or really, anyone else she knew. It was a tad bit easier to guess what they were like, to think of responses to what they might say. Yooka, though, did not allow Alki such a luxury. Her speech built up to those final words: “I know your hobby, Alki.” , and the Jigglypuff felt her already large eyes widen, perking up her ears in disbelief at the words that the Kecleon uttered. How that had happened, Alki had no clue… but how she had found out, she supposed, was of little consequence. Somehow, Yooka knew. Alki felt sick, and as the world around her seemed brighter, louder, more painful, she wondered if she might pass out, but the rest of the Kecleon’s words reminded the girl that it wasn’t quite the end of the world.
 
After all, she wasn’t getting arrested, nor was Yooka’s tone accusatory, exactly, so even if Alki had been found out, it could be a lot worse. She was getting off with nothing more than what amounted to a warning. She just couldn’t screw up again… she wouldn’t get lucky twice in a row.

“S-S-Sure… I mean… I don’t mind. We c-can go wherever you want, j-just… you… um. Y-you don’t mind?” Alki stammered out, unsure of what else to say. Sure, she’d shown Yooka the feather, but she hadn’t expected the Kecleon to just… know. Or say it so bluntly. Never mind that though, what was done was done, so now, all that remained was for Alki to await a response from both of these Pokemon.

Ket finished shaking hands with Alki returning his own hand back to himself. He watched as the Jigglypuff made eye contact with him and as she formulated an answer. Of course, she diverted the answer and refused to answer the question. He sighed mentally to himself, yep everyone has to have a secret these days. Course he was being kinda hypocritical, alright extremely hypocritical if he were completely honest. Regardless he formed a small frown as he watched Alki, thinking to himself what made her meeting with Yooka so personal.

Yooka spoke up drawing both of their attention to her. She quickly made her way over to him placing her hand on his shoulder raising a questioning glance from him. What came next was some awkward coughing and a very strained and equally awkward attempt to convey a hidden message from Yooka to Alki. Just what had he gotten himself into? If it wasn’t clear before these two were hiding something and from the facial expressions and tones he just read he assumed it was something less than legal, or at least something which might expel them from the guild. Not that he really cared much for it but this whole secret thing was getting him more and more interested by the minute. At least Yooka had suggested they move away from the guild. He was very grateful for that. Turning his neck to look at the guild a last time he felt as if a negative presence had been looming over him the whole time. He quickly refocused his eyes to the conversation as if staring at the guild was as harmful as staring at the sun itself.

Having turned back to Alki he noticed her shocked facial expression displayed on her face. He was confused at first thinking he might have missed something Yooka said. However that was quickly cleared up as he listened to the rushed, stuttered and slightly panicked answer from the Jigglypuff. With that two things became eminently clear to him. First this affair could somehow still find a way to become more awkward and  second Alki hadn’t expected Yooka to know something. Whatever she wasn’t prepared to hear was something important. He wasn’t sure what it was but he guessed he’d just have to figure that out.

Feeling slightly bad for Alki who seemed to have been suddenly put under the spotlight he quickly stepped in front of the two and motioned back towards Grassveil Town. “Well about time we got out of this place, guild always creeped me out.” He gave one last disdainful glare towards the cursed building. “One of you two can lead, I don’t know Grassveil that well, We can walk and talk if you want.” He finished and waited for one of them to start off back towards the town. Mentally he was quite proud of that quick intervention, wasn’t usually part of his resume.