Cactus Fields - Toxic Gems

PART ONE:

Jewel and Flick slumped against a boulder outside the Thirsty Cacturne. In front and around them, other teams bustled to set up tents and organize watches. Jewel stared emptily ahead while Flick absentmindedly drew circles on the dusty ground with his tail.

After a few minutes of silence, Flick spoke up, halfheartedly. "Should we help out?"

Jewel shrugged. "They don't need us."

Flick resumed drawing circle in the sand.

A voice suddenly hissed behind them. "Hunters. Come here."

Jewel and Flick both twisted around; a figure hovered in the shadows. Two narrow eyes glinted at them. Flick glanced questioningly at Jewel, whose eyes could see much better in the dark of night. Jewel turned to face away from the figure, sagging back against the rock again.

"It's the politician," said Jewel, completely disinterested. Another hiss, this one angry, came from behind them. Flick looked back toward Reuben.

"What do you want?"

Reuben's eyes narrowed even more. "I want to speak to you both. I have... an offer that may interest you." He paused for a moment, and his voice became brisker. "If you are uninterested, then I shall simply have to find someone else who wants this gem."

At his last word, Jewel immediately perked up. He peeked another look at Reuben. The Mienshao had pulled out a stone that he now held up. Veins of gold shone on the stone's dark surface. The Sableye gazed at it in awe.

"Jewel," said Flick, eyeing his friend, "Just wait a-"

"What's the offer?" Jewel asked Reuben, his eyes not moving from the gem.

Reuben smiled. "You two get that Swoobat Solstice and Flint thrown out of the only decent room in this dump, and in return, I will give you this priceless gem."

"If it's priceless why would you give it to us?" asked Flick. Reuben shrugged in response.

"I have other gems. Besides, it does not befit someone of my station to spend the night in a tent."

"All we have to do is get them thrown out?" Jewel couldn't take his eyes off the gemstone.

Flick cast a slightly annoyed look at his friend. "You're just going to let him order us around?"

"Oh come on," Jewel whispered to Flick. "We're getting something out of it, aren't we? And besides, what've we got to lose? No one needs to know we did anything - I bet Mr. Politician here doesn't want anyone finding out he hired us."

Flick thought for a moment. Then, he nodded. Jewel glanced back at Reuben, who watched them closely.

"Get them thrown out," instructed the Mienshao. "But don't damage the room -  and don't get caught. Once it's done, then I'll give you the reward."

"Deal," Jewel told him. Reuben nodded slowly and then slipped away back into the shadows. Jewel and Flick exchanged a glance and then melted away into the shadows after the Mienshao, sneaking quietly into the Thirsty Cacturne.

An hour later, Jewel and Flick crouched in the shadows in a hallway, arguing about the best way to get Solstice and Flint kicked out of their room. Jewel favored the idea of causing a ruckus and blaming it on the pair, while Flint advocated for simply making them so uncomfortable that they would decide to move out of the room on their own. Suddenly, in the midst of their argument, they heard footsteps approaching and went silent at once.

"You go get the sticks and stones," whispered a voice, "and I'll keep an eye on the stairs, to make sure no one else goes up there." Two figures crept along the corridor. Jewel squinted at them, making out a Venipede and a Quilava.

"You think that gems really worth it?" asked the Venipede. The Quilava shrugged.

"It might be. It's not like we've got a lot to lose, either way."  

They disappeared around the bend in the hallway. Flick glared after them.

"They're going up to Solstice and Flint's room," he hissed to Jewel. "I bet Reuben made them the same offer he made us."

Jewel frowned. "Do you think he's got more than one of those stones?"

"I don't know," murmured Flick, "but I doubt he's that generous."

"This is just great," replied Jewel, scowling. "You heard that Quilava - she's going to be guarding the stairs. I doubt they want to share their prize - I sure don't."

"So, what's our plan now?"

Jewel thought for a moment. "They're not in there yet - that Venipede was going to collect stuff for them to use... What we'll do is go around and sneak you in through the window."

They moved stealthily around to the window. When they reached it, they discovered that the window didn't open from the outside.

"What window does?" Jewel pointed out. Using Flick's pin missiles, they were able to pry the window panes open enough for the Skorupi to slip through into the room. Jewel carefully lowered a small sack of supplies into the room after him.

As Flick carefully opened the bag in the shadows, Jewel stepped back away from the window. Turning, he suddenly found himself face to face with the young Sandshrew, Kite. The two Pokemon stared at each other.

"What are you doing?" asked Kite, her blue eyes confused as she blinked at Jewel.

"Just - checking. on things," said Jewel, haltingly. The Sandshrew started to frown, and he quickly added, "What are you doing?"

Kite looked beyond him, through the window. "I wanted to make sure... It was - that guy - " Her eyes filled with tears, to Jewel's horror.

"Don't - don't cry," he urged her, casting his eyes around, looking for help or inspiration.

Kite sniffed. "I'm sorry. But he - Reuben - he's trying to get them thrown out! And we... we got that room for them! It was supposed to be special. And he wants to embarrass them, and it's just not fair." A few tears leaked out of her eyes, sliding down her face.

Jewel stared at her, aghast. His stomach turned hollow. In his mind's eye, he saw the gem Reuben had offered them. The dark, shiny stone intercrossed with gold. Slowly, Jewel let out a sigh. He hesitated, and then stretched out an arm. His claws hovered centimeters from the Sandshrew's head. She blinked at him, and his claws brushed her chin.

"Don't worry," he tried to encourage her. "Reuben's not going to succeed. My friend, Flick, and I - we're actually here to stop him." Jewel let his arm fall back to his side. "We, uh, have a plan. But it might get messy.  So, you should go." Jewel met Kite's eyes and saw a stubbornness in them. "Really - uh - you should go get Robin. Tell him... tell him we caught hunters helping Reuben."

A smile crept across Kite's face. "Thank you. Thank you so much." The Sandshrew threw her arms around Jewel, hugging him tight for a second. Then, she turned, running back down the stairs. Jewel, watching her go, leaned back against the wall. He rubbed his eyes. "I cannot believe I'm doing this," he muttered to himself. Then, he peeked back through the window.

Flick was making his move, crawling across the floor toward the bed. His heart thumped; Jewel waved frantically through the window, willing Flick to look up. A foot away from the bed, the Skorupi did. Flick froze, frowning at his friend. Jewel drew his claw across his throat, shaking his head. Flick hesitated, and then the door began to creak open.

In a flash, Flick was across the room to the window sill. As the door opened all the way, and two shadowy figures crept inside, Flick slid open the latch on the window and dropped outside to land by Jewel.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Flick wanted to know.

Jewel kept his eyes locked on the figures in the room while he hurriedly whispered an explanation to his friend. "I changed my mind; I don't think we should do this."

"What? Why?"

"That Sandshrew was here. What's her name. Kite. I sent her to go get Robin."

Flick eyed his friend. "You changed your mind? Just like that?"

"She was crying, okay?" retorted Jewel, "Besides, why do you care so much? You didn't want to help Reuben in the first place."

Flick looked back through the window as well. "Do you have a plan for stopping them?"  

Jewel hesitated. "No plan. No time for one. We just have to do it."

He pushed the window back open and they both slipped into the room. Flick scuttled around the room, sticking to the shadows. Jewel blended into the darkness, his eyes glowing dimly. He snuck up behind the Venipede while Flick approached the Quilava. Jewel used a feint attack to appear directly in front of the Venipede at the same moment Flick fired a series of pin missiles at the Quilava, knocking the bag of trap materials out of her grasp. The Venipede pulled back instinctively while the Quilava whirled around, lunging at Flick. Jumping out of the way, Flick scuttled across the floor back toward the window as Jewel feinted away from the Venipede, forming a shadow ball in his hands. The Venipede fired several toxic spikes at Jewel, who nimbly dodged them.

Flick swiped at the Quilava with a silent night slash, but she dodged it. The Venipede closed in on Jewel, who kept rolling the shadow ball in his hands as he backed away, toward the window. Grinning manically, the Venipede charged at Jewel. Jewel jumped back and up, pushing open the window, and at just that moment, the door opened.

Instantly, the Venipede and Quilava dove past Jewel and Flick and out the window. The Sableye and Skorupi both tried to hide in the shadows, but a frowning Banette was suddenly next to them. Looking both Jewel and Flick in the eyes, Robin pointed at the door. Exchanging a quick look, Jewel and Flick slipped out of the room. Kite, the Sandshrew, waited nervously in the hallway. Robin followed them out of the room a minute later, shutting the door securely behind him.

"Did it work?" Kite asked Jewel. "Did you stop them?"

"They left," Jewel told her.

She sighed in relief, and Robin smiled at her. "Kite. Why don't you go get some rest? I assure you, I've got the majority of my hunters looking out for Flint and Solstice."

The Sandshrew nodded and, with a wave and a goodnight, she left. Robin turned to the hunters. "Thank you for sending Kite to get me - and for not taking Reuben up on his offer."

There was a strange, almost knowing glint in Robin's eyes that made Jewel suspect Robin knew they hadn't originally been there to keep watch. Jewel shrugged, Flick murmured, "no problem."

"Here." Robin pulled a coin from the folds of his hood, tossing it to them. Jewel caught it and turned the odd coin over in his hand; unlike most star coins, it had an engraving of - Cuffin?

"That's a swindler's coin," said Robin. "And, I'll be sure it's noted that Toxic Gems receives a merit. I suggest you two get some rest as well."

Jewel and Flick nodded and left, examining the unusual coin as they did.


PART TWO:
The next morning, Jewel and Flick relaxed outside their tent when Cassidy walked by. The Buizel passed the two hunters, then paused and turned back to them.

"Hey, you guys busy today?" Cassidy asked.

Jewel and Flick looked up at him in surprise and shook their heads. Cassidy glanced around and leaned in closer.

"I've been putting a group together. We're goin' ta go out, hunt down those Ruffians, and run 'em off. All guilds welcome, but you have to keep it a secret. Want in?"

"Yeah," said Flick instantly, although Jewel hesitated. "It sounds fun," the Skorupi said to his friend. Jewel hesitated a moment longer and then shrugged.

"Why not? When are we leaving?"

Cassidy grinned. "Sneak outta camp in about an hour and meet at a clump of rocks about half a mile west of here. Make sure no one sees you leave." With a wink, the Buizel turned and strode away.

An hour later, Jewel and Flick had snuck away from the camp and were walking west through the desert. After a few minutes, they saw the clump of rocks up ahead. At least a dozen pokemon were already gathered there. Cassidy stood in the middle of the group. Looking around, Jewel and Flick saw a mixture of Hunters, Explorers and Researchers.

The group walked for several miles before halting again. Cassidy went ahead with a couple of explorers in order to scout out the area and determine how many ruffians there were. While waiting, Flick noticed a series of footprints that separated from the rest and headed east. He nudged Jewel and pointed them out.

The pair went over to investigate.

"It's a pretty light trail," commented Jewel.

Flick frowned. "How do you know about tracking?"

Jewel shrugged. "I don't know much - but look, there are a couple footprints. I think if there were a lot of them it'd be more obvious. What do you think?"

Flick surveyed the trail. "I guess it doesn't seem like more than two." He glanced back at the main group, none of whom had noticed them moving away. "Should we tell someone?"

"Come on," Jewel scoffed. "We can handle two ruffians." His eyes glinted mischievously. "Let's do it ourselves - it'll be more fun that way."

Flick smiled knowingly. "Other people can be fun too, you know." But he followed Jewel as they started following the trail.

As they successfully kept on the trail of the two rogue ruffians, the two friends became increasingly proud of their newfound tracking abilities. Finally, the trail ended next to another outcropping of rocks. Jewel and Flick snuck up onto the rocks, preparing to jump the ruffians.

They crouched just outside. "On my count," Jewel whispered to Flick. "Three, two, one - now!"

They leapt over the rocks into a clearing full of ruffians. There were at least 8 Ruffians waiting there. In the brief moment of surprise both groups experienced, the realization hit both Jewel and Flick that the ones they had followed must have been returning to this second, large group of ruffians.

The Ruffians surged forward, surrounding Jewel and Flick, who fell back beside each other.

"Now what?" Flick asked Jewel, his eyes darting around the area. "There are too many of them!"

Jewel gritted his teeth. "We have to try to get away." He hurled a shadow ball at a ruffian, hitting him, but another one sprang forward. Flick began firing pin missiles, but when he knocked two ruffians back, another two ran forward, attacking.

A sudden screech sounded and a Hawlucha swooped down from the sky. Gavina landed beside Jewel and Flick, expertly knocking a pair of ruffians aside. "Get out of here!" She shouted to the hunters, who instantly obeyed. Jewel and Flick scrambled up onto the rocks. Once there, they turned back. Jewel hurtled another shadow ball at the ruffians; Flick shot another pin missile. Gavina leapt into the air. Jewel and Flick jumped back down to the other side of the rocks and took off, sprinting into the desert. They ran for nearly a mile before they collapsed onto the ground.

Jewel and Flick leaned against each other, panting for breath. Seconds later,  Gavina landed in front of them. She glared at the two hunters. "Where's Cassidy?" She demanded.

Jewel and Flick quickly glanced at each other and then looked back at her. Jewel spoke first, adopting an air of confusion, "What do you mean where's Cassidy?"

She glowered at him. "Don't try to tell me you two came up with this brilliant idea and decided to hunt down a gang of ruffians all by yourselves. I'm not dumb; I know this must have been Cassidy's idea and that somewhere he and who knows how many other idiots are trying to find more Ruffians to fight."

Jewel kept his face blank. Flick, trying to copy Jewel's confusion, replied, "We don't know what you mean."

Gavina's glare pierced him. Flick faltered. "We don't know where Cassidy is. Really."

"Hmph. Fine. In that case, you have both been extremely careless on your own. Both of you are to return to camp immediately, and if you - ahem - happen to remember where Cassidy is - tell me or another guild leader. In the meantime, you can expect to receive a strike."

With that, Gavina took off again, winging her way back to loop around where they had come from. Jewel sighed. "That could have gone better."

"Now we've got a strike to balance out our two merits," Flick commented as they began walking back to camp.

Jewel grinned. "And to think I was starting to worry we were getting too good."


PART THREE:

A couple hours later, Jewel and Flick were back at the camp, once more growing bored.

"If only something else exciting would happen," commented Flick. Jewel sat up, glancing around.

"We could make something exciting happen," suggested the Sableye. Flick sighed. "Not exactly what I had in mind."

Jewel leaned back again while Flick gazed around the camp. He spotted a lot of people moving around the kitchen area. "We could cook."

Jewel stared at Flick. "Cook?"

"Yeah. I mean, if we're not doing anything else, we might as well cook. Maybe we'll get to eat some of the food before the barbecue starts." Flick started toward the kitchen, saying over his shoulder. "I'm going. You can do what you like."

Jewel considered this for a minute and then rose and joined Flick. "All right. I guess I'm in."

They joined the groups of Pokemon already preparing recipes for the barbecue. One team of Explorers who were cooking gave the hunters a couple of recipes to follow. For the rest of the afternoon and the early evening, Jewel and Flick helped cook several dishes. When the barbecue finally started, they carried out a pie they had made, setting it with the other dishes.

Jewel dished out a slice of the pie onto his own plate before he and Flick went off to find a place to sit and eat. As they finished eating, Jewel turned to Flick.

"Do you want to take a turn patrolling?"

Flick thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, sure."

They went to go sign up for a patrol shift. They spent the hour before it eating more food. Right before they went to start their patrol, a Maractus came up to them.

"Excuse me!"

"Hi," Flick greeted her. Jewel just watched her.

The Maractus smiled back at Flick. "Hi! My name's Aisha. I was just talking to your guild leader, and Robin said I could trust you with this."

Jewel's curiosity was piqued. "With what?"

"I know you're about to go on patrol - do you know what a sigilyph is?"
They both nodded and she continued. "Great - well, if you see one flying around, don't approach it. Just watch it until it flies away. And then, later, if you did see one, can you tell me?"

Jewel and Flick both blinked, surprised by the request. Flick recovered first and nodded, smiling at her again. "We'll definitely do that."

She beamed back at him. "Thanks!" She left them, and they headed out onto patrol.

"I wonder what that's about," said Jewel as they began their walk around the camp. Flick shrugged. "No idea."

Patrolling was, in all honesty, kind of boring. No one tried to invade camp (or to leave it). Jewel and Flick watched the night, listening to the sounds of the barbecue behind them. For most of their shift, nothing happened. Then, Jewel spotted something colorful in the sky. He nudged Flick and pointed at it.

"Do you see that?" He asked in a hushed voice. Flick scanned the sky and then saw it too.

"Is that a Sigilyph?"

They watched as the object in the sky spiraled closer. It was a Sigilyph. The pokemon flew pretty close to the camp, making both Jewel and Flick nervous, before it began spiraling back out. A few minutes later, it had once again disappeared into the desert night.

Once their patrol ended, Jewel and Flick went searching through the crowd for Aisha. They found her and told her about the Sigilyph. She thanked them and gave them a petroglyph shard. They rejoined the barbecue and, after another couple hours, went to bed. For the rest of the night, Jewel studied both the petroglyph shard and the swindler's coin, intrigued by the two unusual artifacts.