Lost Cause

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Each step was made with hesitance, but he was fairly certain that this path was the safest. The only problem was that it was a guaranteed safety. His eyes darted about to and fro with a growing sense of dread and anxiety. He was alone, out in the open, in the place he'd last seen Voix. For all he knew the damned Zoroark lived here and yet he was coming back. It made his skin crawl and fur stand. He honestly looked adorably fluffy more so than terrifying. He swallowed his fears as he stepped along, uncertainty kept him from making much progress.

He came with the intent of collecting some items, a sack strapped around his side. The light crystal blue necklace dangled from his neck as he walked on all four legs. It was much more comfortable this way. It kept his stomach less exposed, far easier to run from danger as well. Zadira needed more items though. Not only for his own protection, but to hopefully sell them to the local merchant back at Grassveil, maybe an explorer or two. The debt he needed to pay was big and the lawyer made it perfectly clear what would happen if he couldn't keep on his payments.

It was understandable, considering the pachirisu saved what was essentially the rest of his life, but the lawyer's expectations were brutal. He could either pay up or he was going right back to where he was found.

Mocha: [Energy: 2 + 1 (Page) = 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 1 + 1 (Page) = 2]
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Maxie suddenly looked dejected. Then it shifted to mild irritation. ”What kind of price?” She was asking the gardevoir, but she was glaring at the steelix—seeming to forget the fact that he was many, many, many times her size and strength. She should have known all of this was too good to be true.

Mocha groaned at the mention of a price. She hoped it was something weird and unexpected and not just money. Not because she wanted something more interesting—although she kind of did—but because she knew they didn’t have much in the way of money. In fact, she knew they didn’t have any money; Maxie had money. Mocha had literal pocket change. And Zadira? If she understood his situation and how economics work, he had negative money.

Mocha’s mirror sidled up to her double, arms crossed, an almost amused expression drawn on her face. She didn’t seem at all concerned about the new roadblock. She glanced at Zadira, and could tell immediately that he was assessing the new situation and that he didn’t like it. But he wasn’t saying anything. ”Say what’s on your mind, Blue,” she casually and quietly commanded.

Mocha glared at her copy, as if she had committed some horrible crime by daring to speak to Zadira. The was unphased by this.

Sana wasn't blind to the immeasurable disappointment to the group. Still, it didn't seem to phase her much. "A favor for a favor," she explained simply. The gardevoir glanced over to the children at play not too far off. As she did so, she stood up from her spot. "Some of the locals around have consistently come down and tried to do something nasty with the children. I have to wait here for their parents to come pick them up, so I can't exactly leave. If you could convince them to stop harassing us at least for the rest of today and tell them we'll find somewhere else to meet up that's out of their territory, that would be swell...if they're even capable of being reasoned with." The gardevoir sighed, "I'm utterly exhausted and I can't fend them off on my own for much longer. I'll even go as far as to heal you up before you head out and then again after you return...Just get them to stop trying to eat the children."

"Awww, why didn't y'just come find me, Nina?" The steelix cooed with sarcasm, that went ignored as the psychic focused on the much smaller group of pokemon.

"Say what's on your mind, Blue," the other Mocha commanded.

It wasn't the real Mocha, yet on impulse, Z obeyed due to the more demanding nature of the tone, "This is all too good to be true, there's obviously some illusion at work, why are we trusting some random steelix and a gardevoir, why are we trusting a copy that just appears out of nowhere like that's possible, why is everyone so convinced that this is all actually capable of happening, there's no way she would like me like that, Voix is trying to make me look crazy and creepy, Voix is around here somewhere and there's nothing I can do about it, I still don't feel like everything's right with Maxie even though she apologized, I don't understand why, I don't understand any of this, I want to go back to Grassveil, i need to get Roi's real journal and prove this is all some fake illusion master scheme, I sound like a conspiracy theorist, am I conspiracy theorist, Mocha needs proper medical attention, a heal pulse would only do so much, and-a-and-..." he ran out of breath. His voice was low and quiet, so as to not disturb the conversation between Maxie and the gardevoir. He didn't even quite realize that he'd said so much to a clone of Mocha rather than Mocha, his gaze instead focused on the ground below him.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Mocha turned on her double, no longer glaring, but staring daggers at her. She mouthed the words “You told him anyway?!” demanding an explanation. Her counterpart, in turn, shrugged.

”I’m helping, promise,” she said to herself, quietly.

”How is anything you’re doing helping?” Mocha hissed back.

The copy thought about just how weird the current situation was. The fact that two of them, basically identical in every way that mattered, could have such unique ideas and perspectives. She thought she was helping, but her scarf-wearing clone didn’t. Of course she was helping. She was saying the things that she’d normally be too concerned about silly things to say. And she just got Zadira to vent some of his thoughts, which he clearly needed. And now she’d get to help them deal with this problem of Sana’s.

”Listen Z, sometimes you just gotta trust strangers. We’re—or I guess, you two—“ she gestured to the two zangoose, ”Are practically strangers, really.”

”Stop talking!”

Maxie, who was considering the details of the mission presented by the gardevoir, glanced back at the trio of zangoose at the sudden outburst. She turned back to Sana. ”Yeah, sure, whatever. Just a few questions. What exactly are we dealing with? Number, species? And,” she turned to the steelix. ”Are you actually going to help with this or are you going to sit here and watch what happens?”

"Absols. Three. All three of them are fairly powerful. I've been able to keep them at bay with Moonblasts, but it's getting a little tiring." And by tiring, she meant that she was growing weak. It was only a matter of time before the predators won. The gardevoir looked up to the steelix, who contemplated Maxie's question for himself.

The steelix looked down, then to the zangoose, "I think I'll just sit back and watch the show. It'll be fun to see what you all can get up to!" Chevy gave another hearty laugh in response.

That's right. They were practically strangers. That was another reason why it was practically impossible for Mocha to like him in such a way. Why would she like a total stranger-especially one that's done nothing but cause trouble and will do nothing but cause trouble in the future. His thoughts raced on as his heart sunk, weighted with anxiety and worry. He didn't respond to copy-mocha. Trusting strangers was a terrible idea in this sort of situation.

As social as he typically was, or at least some attempt at it, this was probably the worst possible time to look at some strangers and ask for help.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Absol. Dark types. Maxie could handle some absol, surely. Maybe if the zangoose were all healed up they could even help. Of course, they’d be trying to deal with the issue without a fight. She really didn’t want another fight. She was sure the others didn’t, either.

”Great,” she announced after the steelix finished. She hadn’t counted on him—that would make things far too easy. She wished the mightyena twins had come with them now. ”Heal up my friends, point us in the direction, we’ll see what we can do.”

”Maxie’s making decisions for us again,” the Mocha mirror stated to the other two zangoose.

”Yeah, she does that,” the real one responded, a bit of irritation clear in her voice, though whether it was from Maxie or the other her was not clear. She looked at Zadira. She wanted to say something to him but she had no idea what to say. There probably wasn’t anything she could say, really, that would help. So she said nothing.

The gardevoir's gaze hovered over the small group. She hesitated, her mind put to work as she contemplated what exactly to do-as if it wasn't as simple as the mawile thought. "You and you, go with Chevy," she pointed to Zadira and Maxie respectively. "You and you, stay here," she pointed to Mocha and her copy. "Trust me, it's for the best," The gardevoir provided no more explanation to what she said, instead opting to wave her hand at the injured Mocha and Zadira. A pulse of energy flowed from the fae as a warm healing wave collided with the zangoose.

Zadira could feel his tired body begin to wake up a little. A new flow of energy enabled him to stand up a little straighter, but it didn't exactly cure the mental fatigue. He looked up, at last, to the gardevoir as it instructed that he and Maxie go to deal with the absol...without Mocha, "Wh-What...?" he spoke quietly, but the gardevoir seemed uninterested in her explanation.

"Go on, I did the thing, now you do yours."

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Well, that did make things different. But Maxie was already far too done with all of this to care. ”Yeah, okay. Sure. Come on Zadira.”

”What? Why?” Mocha wasn’t sure if she was upset at the idea of being seperated from Zadira, or the fact that she was being told she wouldn’t get to participate in whatever it was Maxie and Zadira were apparently going to do.

”Nope. No. We’re doing this, and then we’re coming back, and then we’re leaving. No ifs ands or buts. I am so fed up with this place I will do basically anything to get out of here at this point. Besides, I told Zadira not to let me out of his sight, so he has to come.”

”Yeah, and maybe while they’re off together they can finally settle whatever it is going on between them. It’s like a bonding exercise.”

”Yes. Exactly. Thank you Mocha.”

”She’s not me!”

”Yes I am.”
”She kinda is.”

”Now let’s go, Z.”

Mocha turned to Zadira, to see how he responded to the mawile’s orders. On the one hand, she didn’t want to cause any trouble, and she wanted to leave, but she was afraid for Zadira to leave her reach—afraid for both of them.

He wasn't sure about this. It was clear that Zadira was a mere breath away from refusal. He didn't want to leave Mocha's side-the real Mocha's. He would have preferred if they all went, seeing as there was safety in numbers. Not only that, but if things got rough, then it was likely that he was going to be entirely useless again.

Zadira's lips sealed themselves shut out of pure fear. The ferret looked over to Mocha, then the gardevoir. The way the psychic looked at him, it seemed almost...accusatory in a way. A fresh wave of guilt over nothing in particular spawned. What he was ashamed of, he had no idea, but the gardevoir certainly made it seem like he did something.

Hesitant steps forward indicated that he would follow Maxie. The gardevoir pointed them further up the mountain, where they would surely find the Absol, prepping for their next assault on the weary gardevoir and the children.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Maxie was… Honestly surprised at how easy that was. ”Excellent. Onwards and forwards. Take care of yourself, Mocha.” And with that, Maxie was off, already running through potential approaches to the upcoming situation.

Her natural inclination was to attempt to start a dialogue, and assuming that was successful, try and convince the other party to do whatever it was she needed them to be convinced to do—and if that attempt at dialogue failed, making the first strike. But this time, she was going to be more persistent. She was preparing herself for a fight, but really hoping she wouldn’t have to.

Once she was a fair distance from the other group, she asked the one question she had for Zadira. ”So, Z. If things go bad and we have to fight, what can you do?”

…

Mocha was… Honestly surprised at how easy that was. She watched as Zadira followed Maxie. She was a little… Disappointed? She wasn’t sure what exactly it was, but she didn’t quite like how Zadira left without complaint. She told herself that this was probably for the best.

”This is probably for the best.”

Right. She was still here. ”I would like to know why you think splitting us up like this is right,” the zangoose requested of the gardevoir, her voice a blend of genuine curiosity and mild resentment.

His mind raced as he followed Maxie, each step hesitant. Every few steps, he'd think about turning back and just asking that the mawile come with him, but that wasn't going to work. He hated this. He hated that he hated Maxie. She'd apologized and yet things still didn't feel right. He kept his head down as they traveled. Part of him hoped they would just stay quiet, but another part of him wanted to come up with some sort of plan.

Maxie seemed to have the same idea as his more intelligent half. What could he do? Well, there was the obvious thing. "Uh...bait?" he responded. That's usually what he was assigned during his final few missions with Breakout. It usually resulted in him being injured, but hey, that's what reviver seeds were for...right?

----

The gardevoir glanced over to the duo that spoke to her as Chevy followed the other two out. She huffed, "Reasons." After her ever-so-elaborate explanation, she looked back to the children at play.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Bait? No, that wasn’t going to work. For one, she didn’t like any plan that involved using someone as bait. ”We’re not using you as bait. Ever. If things go bad, and you find yourself unable to fight…” What? What was he supposed to do? Sana must have not realised the mistake of sending Zadira with this group. Maybe she should have said something about it. ”Just keep yourself safe.”

She briefly considered telling him to just run, or to just stay behind here, but those both sounded a bit too insulting. At least by telling him to keep himself safe she sounded concerned about him, rather than critical of his reliability. At least the steelix was coming with them. Maybe he could scare them off through a show of strength alone.

…

”So… You wanna talk?”

”Nope.” Mocha sat herself down on the ground. Her back was feeling significantly better now. She felt as though she could sprint without little repercussions again. She felt like she should be with Maxie and Zadira, backing them up if they did get into a fight. Knowing Maxie, they probably would.

”So what are you gonna do when you get back to Grassveil? Are you going to join the guild?”

”I said I didn’t want to talk to you.”

”Yeah but you’re going to be thinking this whole conversation anyway, why not have it out loud?”

Because that was weird. ”... I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no idea.”

Keep himself safe. That...well, he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Maxie seemed concern, but the sunken feeling in his chest made it impossible to feel any amount of touched or gratitude. If he were walking on two legs at the moment, he'd be scratching his claws against each other. Fortunately it was easier to stop the habit when he was on all four legs.

What was worse, he couldn't even promise that he'd be able to keep himself safe. He froze back when the hostile steelix attacked. No matter how much resolve he steeled himself behind, he knew it was just going to happen again. He didn't respond to Maxie. She was a capable explorer-she'd be able to take care of herself against these ruffians. It was just a matter of whether he'd get in the way or not...right?

----

"Sounds like a good time to get your act together," The gardevoir butted in suddenly, "There's no better friend than yourself and psychologically speaking, talking to a physical other being is often more effective and impactful than hashing it out in your head." Her gaze was kept on the children, seated on a rock, legs and arms crossed as if she didn't want to participate in this conversation in the first place. Still, she glanced over to the two, "Your uncertainty is giving me a headache."

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Three fairly powerful absol. She had an advantage in typing, and a disadvantage in numbers. Well, sort of. Technically speaking there were three of them, but she was very hesitant to count Zaidra, and she didn’t know whether or not she could count on Chevy. If she could, then he probably counted as more than one, right?

”Chevy, you ever deal with the local absol before?” Maybe he had some useful insight into who exactly it was they were dealing with.

…

”I’m not sure I’d consider myself a friend of mine,” Mocha rebutted.

”Wow, I’m hurt,” her double said in a clearly sarcastic tone, placing a paw on her chest in a dramatic fashion. ”She’s a psychic type, right? So she probably knows what she’s talking about. So you should probably listen to her and talk.”

”What do I even talk about?”

”Well… What are we doing? Like, why’d we leave the tribe?”

”Adventure! To Explore, to discover. To do something with my life that isn’t just constant, pointless rivalries with some seviper.”

”Then why not join the guild?”

”... I don’t know.”

”Yes you do.”

”Then so do you!”

”You’re right. It’s because you’ve already decided you don’t like the guild.”

"Ha! No," the steelix's ever expansive knowledge was put proudly on display. The mawile might as well have considered herself alone with how little the steelix planned to intervene. "We've got uh...a sort of mutual silent agreement goin on. I don't fucks with them and they don't fucks with me."

Zadira concentrated on the ground in front of them as they walked. Almost automatically, he spoke up, "The absol in this area are territorial," A little obvious, but he continued, "There's a big tribe, but there's little offshoots here and there. The ones that gather in this area are the social outcasts. They weren't ever really tolerated in the main line, so they gather up here and away from the tribe to do whatever it is that wasn't liked...typically excessive violence."

Where did he learn this exactly? Books with a side of personal experience.

----

"What don't you like about the guild?" the Gardevoir's monotone voice cut in again, as if she felt obligated to ask yet didn't truly care about the answer either way.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Good. Good. The superweapon that was a steelix was going to be a neutral party, and Maxie was going up against three excessively violent absol alone. That was fine. Everything was going to be fine. She had a type advantage. That was all she needed. Her strengths and resistances were her allies. It was still going to be three on three.

”This mountain is going to be my grave, huh.”

…

Why was she being psychoanalyzed here? ”I don’t know, maybe the guild isn’t really the problem. It’s the people. It’s...”

”Roi. It’s Roi.”

”Yes. It’s Roi. And, maybe a little bit of Maxie—which you are NOT telling her,” she pointed at her mirror. ”I want to travel and explore and adventure but I don’t want all the business-y-ness that comes with the guild. The missions and the leaders and all that. I want to help people, but because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s the job.”