PMD: The Unlikely Prophet; A Quest to End the Civil War (For CrystalLip)

[Sardonyx]

Rina pushed herself to a straight position again once the fear of falling had subsided and she managed to catch her breath. She managed to keep herself up on her toes. She had heard Eve's warning as she was about to fall. She was grateful that the girl she just met was worried enough to express concerns, or help her to begin with.

She paused to hear Eevee's question, and decided to answer truthfully to the best of her ability, at least for this one thing. "I...don't know...I just woke up in the forest...I don't remember much..." she said. Once she finished speaking and was able to focus on one thing again. She began to take steps forward once more.

A bead of sweat fell down her fur as she managed to make it a little further than the first few times without a stumble...maybe she finally had this down pat....until she finally tripped on a root that was sticking out from the ground and she began to fall forward again. 'Ahh...!"

*Splat*

Rina's back was to her as she answered. "I...don't know...I just woke up in the forest...I don't remember much..." she said, sounding meek and unsure to Eve's ears. This confession threw Eve for a loop. A Pokemon not remembering their past? Eve had never run into someone that couldn't remember such important information. This was a level up from "where'd I set down that pouch" or "where was the meeting place, again?" Eve's heart went out to Rina. He wondered how scary it would be to wake up in the woods and not know how he got to be there.

With that in mind, Eve pondered over what Rina planned to do once they got to town. Was she heading to Gallin town because it was significant to her memory? No, that wasn't right. Rina had never even heard of Gallin town or even Fire Country. Absentmindedly, Eevee pondered these critical questions, making it a point to keep an eye on Rina. "Hey, watch out for that roo-" He began to say, having spotted the root almost straight away. Pokemon with the adventurers' spirit like him tended to come into these woods and had trained themselves over the years to spot hazards such as bad branches or trip roots.

Springing into action, Eevee managed to make it so Rina fell onto his back instead of the ground for once. He held in a grunt from the impact. Thankfully, she wasn't heavy at all. In fact, Eve would say she was too light for a Riolu. "You okay?" Eve asked, peering over his shoulder at her.

[Sardonyx]

Rina gave a small 'oof' as she felt herself bend at the abdomen upon impact. But the crash didn't come from the ground and her snout wasn't in blinding pain from the fall. In fact, what she fell upon was rather soft and fluffy. She couldn't tell at first because her eyes had closed as she braced for a hard impact.

"You okay?"

That was when Rina opened her eyes and found herself bent over the back of her companion, Eve looking over her shoulder to meet her gaze. Rina was rather surprised...not that Eve would try to catch her, but the fact that she was able to do so. She was fast, and strong enough to hold her up for such a small pokemon.

But now she went to answer the normal type's question as everything finally registered. "Y-yeah...thanks for the help but...I-I'm sorry..." she mumbled. "I didn't mean to be so much trouble...I haven't been able to walk straight since I woke up..." she admitted.

"Y-yeah...thanks for the help but...I-I'm sorry..." she mumbled. "I didn't mean to be so much trouble...I haven't been able to walk straight since I woke up..." she admitted. Eve thought he could hear her frustrations and worries in her tone, which was thicker than it moments ago. Eve gave Rina a wide, genuine grin. It was so powerful that even Eve's eyes were bright and shining with care and compassion.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I'm going to be an explorer soon and these are the types of things that explorers do." Eevee told Rina. "So you just relax and let me help you." Eve commanded, confidently. Shifting Rina a bit so he was more comfortable, Eve then pressed onward, his little pink-padded paws taking them out of the woods. As they passed tree after tree, they would occasionally be greeted by one of the residents of the forest (Pidove, Purloin, and Sewaddle were the most common). The residents seemed to know Eve very well and mostly gave enthusiastic greetings.

Some of the nosier pokemon seemed interested in Rina and would try to "interrogate" them. Eevee firmly ignored them as to be considerate of Rina. The blockade of trees eventually gave way to a dirt trail and wide open plains. "Well, we're out of the forest." Eevee said, happily. In the distance, a city-like structure could be seen with expertly crafted stone walls protecting it from unsavory characters. Treading down the dirt path, Eevee spoke to the Pokemon on his back.

"Are you still awake?" He asked, not looking over his shoulder as he came up to the gate. "We're at Gallin Town."

"Out again, Eve? Croak." A large, blue frog chided, teasingly. "And you brought a friend...Go on in." Seismitoad was the self-proclaimed protector of Gallin town. However, both the walls and the Seismitoad family were mostly for show as the town was a hub for trade and activity, which is why the lumbering giant wasn't too concerned over Rina's presence, even if he did seem curious as to why Eve was carrying a pretty young girl who seemed battered up. There were actually four Seismitoad, all of whom stood at each of the four gates (located in the south, north, west, and east of town) from dawn to dusk every single day. If one wanted to know who had come in and who had gone out, they were generally good Pokemon to go to. Of course, Eve and Pokemon younger than him knew plenty of ways to leave the town without leaving through the gates.

Passing through and into town, one would be met with the sight of merchants packing up their items and late-evening shoppers heading home, family in tow. "Gallin Town is a busy town." Eve informed as he walked down the road. He passed through the busy commercial district and stopped at a high traffic path that would lead to either the housing district (although most Pokemon that ran shops also had their house built in) and the shopping district. There was also a third path that ran down the middle.

"Rina, what do you plan to do?" He asked of the girl on his back.

[Sardonyx]

Rina's eyes widened slightly as she saw Eve grin and told her of her dream to become and explorer. She should just relax and let her take care of the trip to town.

It was almost as if his body glistened as he gave such powerful words. She was moved enough not to attempt to get up and try again. It took quite a bit of internal struggling for her to come to that decision though. She didn't want to have to rely on Eve for something as simple as getting around. It made her so flustered that she couldn't do something as simple as walking.

Nonetheless, she merely gave a soft nod and didn't respond further as she took her time in adjusting her position so that she was comfortable over Eve's back, almost forcing herself into a sitting position as to save herself a little dignity. She moved slowly as to make sure her weight remained easily distributed as to not put too much pressure of the little one carrying her.

The trip back was a rather interesting one as the two didn't say much to each other for Rina didn't want to have a conversation at the moment, but she took the time to pay attention to some of the pokemon they passed. Most were thankfully friendly, others were rather nosy, but the Riolu remained quiet as Eve drifted clear to ignore them.

When the dense amount of trees subsided into plains, Rina was a little sad. The sight of the forest was rather compared to the new grassy plains. "Y-yeah....i-it looks like we're pretty close..." she said softly as she looked ahead to see the stone walls as a sign of civilization.

Without the forest sightings or surrounding pokemon to keep her mind busy, Rina began to give into small boredom and began to doze off almost, that was until they finally made it to the gate. Her response to when the girl carrying her asked if she was awake or not was a small mumble that turned into a gasp as she saw the Seismitoad towering over the two small cubs.

The huge stone walls and large guards said enough that this town was definitely something, but on the inside it was a sight for Rina. She would have never thought of a huge almost human like civilization for Pokemon, an actual pokemon city! Multiple merchants were to trying to sell to oncoming buyers. There was so much traffic with a huge diversity of Pokemon, that the Riolu's eyes kept drifting to different sights in amazement. "Wowww...."

"Rina, what do you plan to do?"

Rina's attention was immediately grasped upon by Eve's question as soon as they stopped. "Oh...! I-I..." first she slowly stood uneasily on her toes and took a deep breath before looking at Eve. "Well...we're here but...I-I dunno...I don't even know what's here..." she was pretty clueless on what to do.

It then just occurred to her now that there trip was really over. Eve would have to go his separate way and she would have to find something to do in this new form all on her own. It made her almost shake visibly as she became increasingly more nervous on what do. She didn't know if there would be as many pokemon as friendly as Eve who could help out. Especially when she couldn't really explain her story, the other girl who helped her didn't even know the brunt and she still must have thought that she might have a screw loose.

Now the fear began to settle, as the strange feeling began to return. "I...I dunno what to do, t-to be honest..." she mumbled as she looked around to try and gather an idea on how to help herself.

Rina seemed completely blindsided by his question and as she fumbled to answer- resulting in the confession that she had no idea what to do, Eve realized that Rina probably hadn't even given it any thought. Placing himself in her fur, he figured that he would have been distracted by-what would seem-a whole new world. Eve titled his head, taking on an expression of concentration. "You don't know, huh?" He parroted, thoughtfully. At this point, Eve felt obligated to make sure Rina found a place to sleep for the night at the very least. After hearing her story and knowing that she was having a difficult time due to her injuries, Eve found it difficult to just let her figure it out on her own (she would probably collapse before making it down the end of this street!). This led to a conundrum, though. While Eve would love to invite her to his house, they were pressed for room as it was and...well, he didn't really enjoying it when people met his family.

Turning around in the same spot, Eve gazed down the shopping district, eyes lighting up as a thought came to him. "Ah, I have an idea. Come on, follow me!" The cute pokemon said and slowly walked down the road- the speed for Rina's benefit. The Eevee's plan was to ask one of his oldest friends, Aipom, to look after her for the night. Eevee would help Rina find a more permanent home tomorrow and he had an idea of where to look...

[Sardonyx]

Rina felt embarrassed. She should have been more prepared for something like this, but unfortunately there was nothing she could do about it now except think of some way for her to survive on her own. Some little girl turned pokemon would not be ready for this at all.

She clenched her fists in inner frustration as she closed her eyes and wondered why the heck she was like this, and why couldn't she remember a single thing other than the figure in her nightmare.

"Come on, follow me..."

Those were the first words that Rina finally picked up from Eve as she finally opened her eyes to see Eve walk away. She was confused...but also curious as to what she had in mind. If she had said something before about a plan she didn't pick it up because of her fear. But now...she was euphoric.

"R-Right..! W-Whoa!" Rina's first instinct was to run after Eve in excitement, having forgotten about her current, disability....

As a result of this she tripped and fell again. Thankfully she managed to catch herself with her hands before her face hit the floor, but instead of picking herself up immediately she just stared at the floor with her cheeks puffed out in a cute pout. "Hnnn..." she groaned.

The sound of a body hitting the dirt, followed by a feminine groan caused Eevee to stop, a foreboding feeling clawing up his gut. "Hnnn..." Eevee pivoted, sweat-dropping at the sight of a pouting Rina on the ground. It was kind of cute, reminding Eve of a little kid. Although, he didn't know how she would feel about that comparison. She seemed to be about his age, maybe a little younger.

Walking up to Rina, he asked. "Do you want me to carry you? You don't want to make your injuries worse." He said, motherly, concerned of her doing just that. Although, this was beginning to worry him a bit. If she wasn't better soon, he might bring her to Chansey and see if the nurse would be willing to treat her (Eve was positive she'd have no problem after seeing Rina's state). In a stroke of boldness, Eevee forewent waiting for approval and swooped under Rina's chest and then stood up, resulting in Rina being on his back again. Then he resumed walking, giving her a bright smile over his shoulder.

Blending into the crowd, Eevee absentmindedly stared at the sky as he walked. The feeling of someone on his back, being dependent on him, felt more nature than he would have expected. Although, he had a feeling he might be more than just a little sore tomorrow.

Arriving in front of a building shaped as the head of an Ambipom, Eve said, "Here we are!"

[Sardonyx]

Rina remained in her pout up until when Eve approached her with her concerns and asked whether or not she wanted to be carried again. At this point, Rina didn't want to be carried, not in front of all of these other pokemon and adamantly shook her head.

"N-No...I think i can try doing it myseeellllf!" Rina's soft speech was halted when Eve swopped under her and lifted her up onto her back, where she lied limp again like a wet towel. Only this time Rina hesitated and squirmed slightly. "S-Stop Eve...I-i can try and walk on my...!" she started only to she the Eevee's bright smile.

She must really want to help her....enough where Rina stopped her struggling and just gave a deep sigh as she submitted to being carried again. This time she didn't shift positions and merely lied on her tummy, staring down at the ground as she felt even more helpless than before.

It was when they stopped that Rina looked up immediately due to feeling the shifting and looked up to where Eve was looking. "Hmm...? What building is this...?" she wondered.

"This is Ambipom's general store." Eevee explained. "She sells apples, seeds, and other important equipment for explorers. General stores are vital for explorers." Despite saying this, it was noticeable that it had a significant lack of traffic compared to other stores. In fact, no one was coming in or out. Eve didn't seem to notice anything odd as he cheerfully walked into the building. "Ms. Ambipom, Aipom, I'm coming in!" The inside of the shop was clean, with polished wooden shelves lined up behind a counter. The shelves had items such as scarfs and rings, although they didn't seem to have enough stuff to fill the shelves completely.