Hello, could we get a paramedic here?

Kale was jubliant.
Ecstatic.
Excessively giddy, even.

He was so giddy that he didn't take notice of the stares that were directed his way, as he pranced about on the streets of Grassveil Town, whooping and clapping his paws together. "The guild," he kept saying, his voice interrupted by his bouts of laughter, "I got into the guild!"

Indeed, the Sandshrew was so drunk on happiness that he paid no attention to his partner Ditrysia, who was hovering a few feet behind him. The Butterfree's head was lowered and her antennae drooping, as though she was trying to shrink in on herself. "Kale," she whispered, her eyes roaming about the lines of merchant stalls, "could you calm down? You're making a scene."

"I got in, I got in!"

Ditrysia sighed, forlorn. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Nightshade fluttered through the town, hovering above the many stalls, wondering what she should do to pass the time. She spotted the embarrassed looking Butterfree and swooped down towards her.

The sound of flapping wings caught Ditrysia's attention. Flinching back a little, she lifted her eyes until the swooping Murkrow entered her vision. "Eep!" she yelped, and moved sideways, her wings beating furiously to avoid what she perceived to be a threat. "K-Kale, help!"

But no help came. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the Sandshrew quite a distance away from her, still dancing down the street and singing praises to himself. Ditrysia would have groaned, if her breath hadn't just caught in her throat with fear.

"Its okay." cawed the Murkrow, "Im, Nightshade.. you just looked like you didnt want to be there, so i wondered if i could help with anything. I didnt mean to scare you..."
Nightshade landed on the paved pathway and folded her wings, waiting to see weather or not the Butterfree would trust her.

"Oh, uh, alright then." Ditrysia nodded, a jerky movement that showed that her nerves were still on edge. "And... I don't really think you could help me with my problem, really. It's just a case of an overecstactic partner." She took a glance down the road, to where Kale was whooping for joy. With a startled flap of her wings, she realized that Kale was starting to become a speck in the distance -- and if that wasn't bad enough, he was also starting to get swallowed up in the throng of merchants and consumers.

"I, er, I really should go catch up to him," she said quickly, dipping her head in apology to the Murkrow.

"I could always speak to him for you..." she suggested, following the Butterfree. It wasn't every day that something interesting happened in her life.

Ditrysia would have smiled, but her mandibles didn't permit such an expression. Instead, she lifted her entennae to express her gratitude. "That would be lovely, thank you," she said. Then she paused, considering. "Then again... maybe Kale wouldn't listen to you. And are you sure you want to do this? I wouldn't want to impose."

"Its okay.. I dont mind helping out."
The Murkrow smiled, then took off again, landing gracefully in front of the Sandshrew. "You're Kale right?" she asked, just to be sure.

Ditrysia's eyes were nearly shining with gratitude. "Thank you," she called as the Murkrow took off. She hovered where she was for a moment, until she realized that she should have followed Nightshade. Kale was her partner, after all. With a furious beating of her wings, she took off after the bird Pokemon.

Kale paused in his dancing -- what else could he do, with a Murkrow suddenly blocking his path? "Yeah," he said, warily. How did this Pokemon know his name? "What's it to you? I don't know you... do I?"

"Not really.. But you do now... Im Nightshade." The Murkrow did a short sort of bow before chuckling. "I noticed your partner, the Butterfree I met over there," she nodded back where she had just come from, "looking slightly embarassed by your actions... I didnt think you'd noticed, so I came to point it out..." she cawed. Nightshade didnt want to hurt Kale's feelings or anything, just make him realise that he should consider his partner a bit more.

(( I don't think Ditrysia's ever given Nightshade her name, but whatever. xD ))

Kale raised his eyebrows when the Murkrow chuckled. So what, was this bird here to make fun of him or something? He'd never met a Murkrow before, but that seemed a very real possibility. Still, the Sandshrew let her talk on, grimacing as she explained her reason to interrupt his merrymaking.

"Well, if Ditri doesn't want to be seen with me doing what I want, then she can go back home or to the guild or go shopping or something. Nothing's stopping her." Forcing himself to flatten his expression, he shrugged. "I mean, like, it's not like we have to be together all the time, y'know? And who are you to butt into strangers' business like that?"

He regretted saying the last right after it exited his mouth, but he couldn't take it back now. Flinching inwardly, he wondered what it felt like to have your eyes pecked out by a very angry bird.

His imagination didn't make it seem pleasant.

[Ahhh shhh. Nightshade can be psychic for a second XD. I'll edit it to that Butterfree or summin. XD]

"I am only a concerned citizen. And from the looks of it, she wants to be here." replied Nightshade. Luckily for Kale, she wasnt angered easily. "She is your partner, that means that you two should have a strong bond, or friendship. You should respect the fact that she feels embarassed and at least consider her veiws."

(( Lol, psychic Murkrow. xD ))

Kale rolled his eyes, unwilling to listen to the Murkrow's prattling. "We just met, actually." He waved a paw idly behind him, where Ditrysia had just landed, panting. "Not like we've known each other for years. But whatever; if it'll stop your lectures, then I'll stop being happy." With an upset grimace, the Sandshrew turned to his partner and muttered a nearly incoherent apology.

The Murkrow watched the Sandshrew go. She smiled at Ditrysia, then hopped away, flapping her wings so that she could cover more distance per flap. She stopped in front of Tobi's shop and realized that he wasn't there. She shrugged and carried on, deciding she would have to ask if there was any work here or else she'd run out of money.

After making sure the Murkrow was well out of earshot, Kale shot Ditrysia a furious glare. "Did you really have to ask someone else to tell me to stop?" he hissed, his voice low so as to avoid others eavesdropping. "You and your little Murkrow friend made a scene!"

"I didn't ask," the Butterfree shot back, though her argument was halfhearted and she shrunk back at the biting tone in her partner's voice. "Nightshade offered. And you..." She hesitated, looked away, and continued in a soft voice: "And you had already made a scene before that. You were attracting a lot of attention..."

Kale would have bristled, if he had fur. "Well, I'm sorry for being happy!" he shot back hotly, his voice raising into nearly a shout. "I'm sorry for wanting to celebrate our getting into the guild! I guess I should go and punish myself now. Because apparently, I deserve it." With a very audible sniff, Kale twisted on the balls of his feet and stomped off, pushing through the crowd without paying attention to the shouts of protest that came out of his doing so.

Ditrysia stood where she was, staring at the place where the Sandshrew had been. "I didn't..." She trailed off, and blinked. "I didn't mean to offend you..."

Nightshade glanced back and saw the Sandshrew stomping away. She sighed. They obviously didn't have very good chemistry as a team, but who was she to say that? She stopped in front of a Torchic that was selling Gummies. She smiled and bought a Brown Gummi, and Green Gummi and a Black Gummi.

She hoped that they wouldn't react badly to her gifts, but hopped back over to Ditrysia, chewing on her Black Gummi. She finished the Gummi, then looked up at the hovering Butterfree.
"Sorry... I saw Kale stomping away...." she trailed off.... but then carried on the conversation, "I didn't catch your name earlier.... but oh well, I bought these.." She revealed the green and brown gummies she had bought. "Tell Kale I didn't mean to interfere. I just thought it would make things better for both of you."

Ditrysia had just been about to fly off in search of Kale when she heard the telltale sound of wings flapping, and looked up at the sky. There was Nightshade, coming to a landing beside her once again. This time though, she noticed, there was a Gummi in her beak.

When Nightshade talked her piece, Ditrysia's expression changed from one of surprise to one of gratitude. "Thank you very much," she said softly, taking the Gummis, "but you really don't need to apologize. It really is my fault for not talking to him earlier. I'm just not very comfortable around him yet, I guess." She blinked and looked down at the two Gummis. "I'll pass your message onto him though. Well, that is, if I can find him." She looked down the street again, Kale nowhere in sight. "It's crowded here today. It's probably not possible to find my partner in here right now. Maybe we could just... talk for now? Unless, that is, you have something to do." She cocked her head in inquiry.

"I don't mind talking." she smiled, "And i could always try and spot Kale from the air afterwards...."
She tucked her wings behind her back with slight jerky movements, like that of a normal bird. "So what is your name... I heard Kale call you Ditri...."

"Oh, you really don't have to," Ditrysia said, startled at the Murkrow's generosity. "Really, I can find Kale myself. I don't want to inconvenience you further." She was about to go on insisting that Nightshade had done enough for her, but the Bird Pokemon's next question turned her words into a gasp. "O-oh! How rude of me!" She lowered her head in embarrasment. "Ditri's just what Kale calls me because he thinks my name is too long. It's Ditrysia. I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier." She bobbed her head in quick apology, her cheeks blushing deep red.

Nightshade smiled, "Its fine. Im sure you were too occupied with the currant events. But i dont mind looking for him, its the least I could do since i seem to have made the situation worse."

"Really though, it's fine. And even though your help didn't turn out the way we both thought it would... well, I'm still grateful. Maybe later Kale will calm down and see the truth in your words." Ditrysia sounded much more confident at the idea than she felt. She hadn't known the Sandshrew for a half a week yet, and she already knew that he would be too stubborn to take anything back, or even think that he had been in the wrong in the first place. Still, Ditrysia forced herself to appear optimistic, even nodding her head vigorously. "And even if I don't find him, I'm sure he'll come back to our room in the guild building when he gets tired. He's still souped up on being accepted to refuse to sleep inside."

And that's true enough, the Butterfree thought, laughing a little. He'll come back even though he knows the Pokemon he's mad at will be there.

The Murkrow smiled, "If you're sure."
She shrugged and glanced up at the guild, "So what made you two create a team together?"

Ditrysia followed Nightshade's eyes, eventually coming to gaze upon the magnificent entrance to the guild. "It's... it's a weird story, actually," she said, hesitant. "I know that most partners team up because they're thick as a forest and trust each other, but I have to admit that Kale and I... we only met up just recently, and decided to create a team afterwards." She drew her face up into a slight grimace, then continued.

"Before I met Kale, I'd always wanted to join the guild and become part of an exploration team, but I didn't think that getting in would be easy without a team first. All the teams I'd seen had Pokemon who were the best of friends, so I didn't want to ask to join any of them and become a third wheel." She blinked and sighed. "Actually, because of that, I was about to try to open a shop as a merchant, but one day I was in this area" -- she indicated the market square -- "and I happened upon a shouting shopkeeper. He was indignant because someone had tacked a poster onto his shop wall without asking, and he was too short to reach it and take it off." She giggled at the memory, a high-pitched, tinkling sound. "I helped him take it off, and happened to glance at it as well. It was advertising an invitation from a certain Kale the Sandshrew to come to his house. He was interested in joining the guild with someone.

"The rest is easy to guess," Ditri said, shrugging. "I went to his house, talked a little, and we went to the guild and signed up as Team Assault. And then Kale came dancing and you came along and... yeah." The Butterfree looked positively abashed. "You know the rest, of course."

Nightshade chuckled, "Maybe if you spend some more time together, you'll get to know each other better. Theres nothing to say that you cant become the closest of friends."

The Murkrow ruffled her jet black feathers, "Ive never really thought about what I want to do with my life. At the moment i seem to get along just fine, but if i dont find some work or something im gonna run out of poke soon enough. I was going to ask the Skitty, Tobi, but he seems to have left..." she sighed, "Do you know of any other shops that would accept someone?"

"That would be nice," Ditri sighed, "but I doubt Kale will be in any mood to get to know each other for awhile. He looked furious, as though he was going to turn the world head over heels in his rage." She shrugged. "But I hope he'll calm down soon. It'd be bad to work with an abrasive partner in a dungeon full of violent Pokemon..."

Hope was the word. As of yet, she didn't know just how long the Sandshrew could hold a grudge, but she was about to find out. The thought made her shudder on the inside.

"Any other shops?" Ditri tilted her head to the side and looked into the distance, thoughtful. "Hmm... can't say I do, actually. I haven't made many merchant friends, and it's not like I go around looking for 'Hiring' signs. But I could keep an eye out for one for you, if you'd like." She turned her large eyes on the Murkrow. "It's the least I could do for everything you've done for me, and I could never ask you to join Team Assault..." she flinched at the prospect; Kale would definitely hate that, and Nightshade would have a Wailord of a time trying to escape his anger.