Silent Screams and Ice Cream

It had been an emotional rollercoaster - after Julian arrived in Grassveil with her new friend, so many pokemon suddenly joined the group, all wanting new friendships and a tour of the town. However, this all turned for the worst when an adorable, yet kinda airheaded(from Julie's perspective at least) Jigglypuff, joined. This put Julie's new friend on edge, and for as hard as she tried to help, her own emotional state was thrown out of whack as she spoke out of turn and Yigo seemed to turn on everyone, being especially aggressive towards the Jigglypuff before running...

Since then, things had calmed down. Julian was exceptionally tired, though when was she not? Emotionally tired, at least - she was drained from the crying and the anger and the frustration, she could barely feel relieved or happy now that things calmed. And now as a small new issue arose, she was getting a headache from the awkwardness and anxiousness. In general, she just wanted food.
She only had 100 Poke if she remembered, yet she couldn't find it... Oh no.
Trucy, one of the companions who joined them shortly before her falling out with Yigo, outright admit she was broke. And Alki really didn't seem okay with it, but just didn't want to upset anyone...

Julian was overwhelmingly trying to make up for Alki's attitude, forcing a bright smile on her own chubby face as she nodded, "Yes! This is okay, it's perfect. Thank you- I just wish I could have helped out..." She looked away, trying to keep the smile up, only chuckling to release the awkwardness. It didn't really work.
"You're... really nice to do all this. Thank you."

Trucy’s first experiences in Grassveil were... well, she certainly wasn’t expecting all of the twists and turns that had occurred, but she pressed on with her friends she had met. These friends were Julian, a Zangoose, and Alki, a Jigglypuff, who was also a guild member! Trucy has finally found her in for Grassveil’s Guild, and she couldn’t be more excited to join the ranks. However, there were more important matters to be handled... What were we going to have to eat? She hadn’t even realized how hungry she was, but Alki knew exactly what she wanted... Dessert! Trucy has no problems with the location, so the group set out to the stall. It was only then when she realized a dire miscalculation... she had no money for herself, and now she had to ask the others, whom she had just met to pay for her, she felt rude for asking for help, but here was no other choice... Alki lent a hand, though she didn’t seem to be very thrilled about the idea of paying for someone else...

”Thank you Alki, and yes this place seems great! I’m a bit of a stranger to Desert foods, but trying something new seems fun! She weakly smiled, she was still embarrassed that she made herself out to be some sort of freeloader in front of her first two Grassveil friends, she knew that she would have to make it up to both of them, some how...

This whole experience had turned into a very unpleasant one very quickly. Alki had seen Yigo, a friend, or... At least someone who she had thought of as a friend... And wanted to catch up. But her old friend had had no intention of allowing that to occur. Instead, he... Well, the whole thing had been a blur, honestly, because at the end of the day, when she got down to it, only one fact remained: for some reason, one of her oldest friends hated her now.

And now she was stuck with a bunch of new strangers who seemed pretty friendly. But she didn't want company... She wouldn't even want to be around Darcy, let alone these new people. She'd have trouble with them when if she were in a good mood, and those moods were so rare now...

"Your food is ready, ma'am,~"

Alki jumped at the sudden noise. She'd been quite lost in her own thoughts, and if the others had spoken to her at all, she had not heard and she had not responded. The Jigglypuff brought the plate of pancakes to her two companions in silence, and pulled up a chair to sit with them. She was paying, after all. She couldn't just leave, even if she wanted to... And Arceus knew, that was all she wanted. Her eyes glazed over as she became lost in her own thoughts again. She wasn't very hungry anyways...

Julian still couldn't brush off the uncomfortable feelings radiating off Mada. Something told her there was more to it than just Yigo being awful. She just wanted to be alone, it wasn't because she was sad or upset - they'd done everything they could to cheer her up, except for leaving her alone.
Julian sighed, looking down at her pancakes - she couldn't help but smile at the cute Pikachu shape they were given, with fruits placed at the cheeks and eyes, lots of syrup. It looked amazing - she couldn't refuse it, even if she felt horrible taking the nice Jiggkypuff's money now. It'd be even more insulting to have wasted it - plus, she couldn't ignore her belly growling at the sight of something so amazing looking. She took a bite, and smiled softly, trying to forget about all the current sadness.
But it was still pretty hard.

After a bit, she thought to herself, taking into account everything, then looking to Trucy. Julian's somber expression after eating something so sweet may come off as confusing.
She couldn't pull Trucy away to talk to her, it'd feel like they were abandoning Alki. Even if she wanted to be alone, she didn't want to leave without telling her - plus, both still had no clue where the Guild was, but they certainly didn't need a tour to learn about the place.

She took another bite, struggling to swallow now, she hadn't even gotten much into the pancake and she had lost her appetite. She needed to know if Mada would be okay.

So she just sighed, then came out with what she needed to say, "You... don't want our company, do you...?"
She felt her heart sink, her ears lowering softly as she tried to fight through her words. It was just too much for her to say, it felt wrong, but she couldn't have a clear conscience without it.
"Personally, I don't mind skipping the tour if you just show us where the guild is - I'm sure we can learn our way around the time just being in the Guild. Sorry if we-", she had to stop herself there, remembering she didn't tell Trucy and to not include her in case she felt differently, "-I, bothered you at all by sticking around like this." She wasn't ready for more emotions, she just couldn't bottle it in like that though.

Trucy sat down with the others, raring to go and eat, but her excitement to finally eat quickly dissipated when Alki sat down with the Pancakes she had preserved for the group in complete and utter silence. Something obviously plaqued her mind, and it was up to both Julian and her to figure out what was on her mind. “Alki, is something wro-”

“You... don’t want our company, do you...?”
Trucy was shocked by Julian’s conclusion, but when she thought about the Jigglypuff’s actions up until this point, it all made too much sense... Her not talking to us when she brought the food to the table, her weak smiles, and how she wanted to push Julian and her away from her, saying she was “Bad luck”...

“Alki, if you truly want to be left alone, then I will respect your wishes, Like Julie said, you can forget about the tour, heck, I can probably fly around and find the guild for Julie and I. I’m sure that we can settle in just fine by ourselves.” The Fletchling said begrudgingly. “And be honest with yourself, I don’t want you forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do.”

Alki's eyes widened as the Zangoose correctly called her out. She didn't want their company, no, not really, but... was it that obvious? Alki forced out a rather loud laugh that vaguely sounded like an animal in pain. Her gaze flickered between the two, forcing on a rather hammy imitation of an actual smile. "N-No! No, I don't think that at all! I'd... I'd love to stay with you guys..." As if to prove her point, she pulled the plate of pancakes closer to her, and tore a piece off, before filling her mouth with it. Her already exaggerated smile grew even wider as she chewed it.

She really did want to leave... but she didn't want to make them feel bad. What if they thought it was their fault? And... what if they thought she was mean too? What if they ended up hating her too? She didn't want any more people to hate her, but, of course, they probably already did... Alki swallowed the piece of pancake as she  nodded emphatically to the two. "W-We can finish the tour! I feel fine!"

"Y-You guys really didn't bother me at all..."

Julie knew it was all a lie, and that's what hurt the most. After everything, all that happened today... within the past month even, she was tired of people who faked it. She thought Yigo was a friend - he turned on her. Her own father disowned her...

She nodded slowly, took a very deep breath, and speaking in a shallow, somewhat somber tone, the chubby zangoose said "...alright." then continued eating her Pikachu pancakes.
Her breathing was heavy and aggressive, yet as she realized this she tried to quiet it down.
Alki isn't a friend. She can't hide herself behind fake smiles. Julie knew better than to believe her dishonest expressions.
The zangoose held back her riding upset, taking it all out on the pancake.

Trucy looked at the others with a troubled look, Alki was trying her best to convince the group that she was still willing to take the tour. Julie, on the other hand, seemed like she wasn’t having it, only replying to the Jigglypuff with a shallow “alright”. The Fletchling looked down at her untouched plate of pancakes and thought about what she could do to help remedy the situation. While thinking, She took a good bite from her Pancake, and was immediately met with it’s divine taste, It gave her the energy to speak up!

“Alright, If the tour is still a go, then let’s get a plan going! We should at the very least make a route around Grassveil, making sure that we hit any points of interest along the way!” The inspired Fletchling said. “Alright! Now where should we go from here? Alki, any ideas?” As soon as she finished her sentence, she went right back to her pancakes, it looks like the tiny robin Pokémon found a new favorite food!

Alki nibbled at her pancake, registering vaguely the Zangoose's barely audible words. Had she upset her? She hoped not, but it was quite likely that she had, knowing her. Alki kicked her feet together less than gently, quietly berating herself inside her mind as she wore a fake smile to show to the others. Alki wanted to leave, she really did, but that'd just make matters worse. It'd be better to get this tour over and done with as quickly as possible. She left her pancakes alone, her appetite soured. If somebody else wanted them, they could have it. She deserved to go hungry after everything she'd caused... "I'm not really hungry." She said simply, explaining herself despite nobody is asking.

"As for the tour..." She said, her stuttering gone as she consciously attempted to stop it. Happy people didn't stutter. She shouldn't stutter... She paused in thought, forgetting her previous idea before it suddenly came back to her, amidst a lot of other emotions. "I-I guess the Police Station is close by..." She said, pushing her plate away as she said it.

Julie was about finished with her pancakes when Trucy started hers, and was tempted to have Alki's after she refused them, though she tried to hold back, still upset with the pink Pokemon's attitude.
After a bit she subconsciously started taking some bites as her focus drifted to the tour - at this point, the quicker to the guild, the better.

"Alright, sounds like a plan to me.", she responded, covering her mouth as she just realized she had a mouth full of delicious pancake, and swallowed.
"I'll be ready when you guys are, just tell me."

She continued digging into the pancakes, enjoying the distraction from Trucy's depressive state.

Seems like things were starting to get a move on! With the Alki finally making her decision on where the group should head to first, the young fletching looked up from her plate of Pancakes, “The Police Station is our first stop? Alrighty then, We should be ready to head out soon, right?” She said as she looked at her companions plates. Julie’s plate was basically empty, as expected, and Alki’s, while not nearly as cleaned off as Julie’s, was to be expected, due to the Jigglypuff sudden loss of appetite.

Trucy continued to look at the Jigglypuff’s now isolated plate, “If you’re not hungry for those pancakes, should one of us take them? I’d hate for you to waste money on barely touched food...” She kept her eyes on the plate of pancakes and thought, wasn’t Alki hungry not that long ago? She never outwardly said so, but the Fletchling couldn’t help but feel that the Jigglypuff’s loss of appetite came off as a bit forced...

Alki was relieved to see the Zangoose taking a bite out of her left-over Pancake. Arceus knew that she wasn't going to eat that anymore... it tasted too good for her. She didn't deserve something like that, and she was relieved to see that somebody who did was eating it. The smaller Pokemon looked over at the other two, before abruptly rising out of her chair at Trucy's suggestion. "Yeah. I'm ready." The sooner she got this out of the way, the sooner she could go to sleep and feel miserable by herself. Why she kept being forced to be sociable was beyond her. This was the last thing she'd ever want to be doing on a day like this...

"Oh. Uh. Sure. Yeah, I guess one of you guys can have it. Sure." She said, making a conscious effort to control her stutter. Perhaps her voice sounded different as a result. She didn't care in the slightest. Alki began to shuffle impatiently as she waited for one of the deserving Pokemon to take it. "Just let me know when." She said, before clamming up.

Julie was already half-way done with it once Trucy had asked if someone should eat it, stopping as she caught herself. Gladly, the Jigglypuff was complete my fine with it. Didn't change the fact that she felt a little awkward over-indulging around them...
Besides, she said she'd be ready when they are. Why isn't she ready then? But can't let good pancakes go to waste.
Trying to do so quickly, and at the same time not look like a munchlax as a result, put her a bit on edge. She proceeded to leave the table and stand beside the Jigglypuff, signifying she truly was ready. She had a light blush - clearly she didn't feel so hot about eating so much pancake so quickly. She didn't even notice another falter in Alki's voice. She smiled sheepishly, now on all fours by the Jigglypuff, "Alright, you ready Trucy?"

She had never felt so self-conscious about her weight before then. And they didn't even seem to notice... This moment, in all her awkwardness, would haunt her for nights. She smiled, but secretly she was seething through her fangs.

Trucy, still lost in thought, forced herself to tear her gaze from the now finished plate of pancakes, and towards her two companions. She couldn’t help but notice Julie’s light blush, her white fur making it stand out just a bit more. Trucy was concerned, was something plaguing the Zangoose’s mind or something? She should probably ask her later, when they get around to the guild. The tiny robin thought.

Just then, Julie called out to the Fletchling, asking if she was ready to set out, “Oh! Uh... yeah!” She said, as she took her last bite of her pancake, before flying towards the duo in a bit of a hurry. She didn’t want to be the only one not ready for a long while. “Alright, if we’re all ready, then let’s set out.” The young Fletchling said with a tinge of enthusiasm. All she could really think about was finally getting to the guild, the thought obviously made her excited, but also a bit... uneasy.

"Oh. Ok." Alki said, beginning to walk off in the general direction of the police station. Why on earth did they need a guide anyways? She could just run on ahead and ditch them, and she was sure that they'd be fine... But then that wouldn't be very nice... they'd hate her even more... They wanted to join the guild, didn't they? What if they beat her up at some point in the future... She could be a tour guide! Just walk around and talk about stuff, right?

The jigglypuff maneuvered through the crowds of people as she rushed on ahead, quite unaware of her comparative speed. She just wanted to get to the police station as quickly as possible. The sooner she got there, the sooner the first part of this silly tour was over, and the sooner she could head home and lie on the floor and feel like garbage for the rest of the day...

"Ok." She finally said, coming to a stop near the police station, not bothering to see where the people she was supposed to be guiding were. "This is the police station. They dump outlaws here..."