Sticky Paws

Prima was trotting through the sleeping quarters when she stopped and sniffed around. A faint hint of a sweet aroma... The scent of an Oran berry! She peeked into a doorway, then another.. And then in the third she saw the round, blue, berry sitting by itself next to a journal. She smiled to herself with twinkling green eyes and looked at the inside of the room.. Nobody here... It's mine! She thought and inched over to the berry, grabbing it with glee and dashing out of the room clumsily, only to bump into a Spiky Eared Pichu. "Ooomf!" She said and dropped the berry.

The Pichu blinked and got back to her feet. "Hello!" she grinned cheerfully, seeming to ignore the fact that the shiny Purrloin had just bumped into her.

Dorren went back to his room and noticed that the berry was missing. he ran down the hall to find a purlion on the floor and a small pichu tumbled over. he grabbed his berry. "witch one of you stole this?!" he said, holding it in one hand and gesturing to it with his other. if anyone would have eaten the berry...

"Why would I steal a berry?" asked Pepper, turning her attention away from Prima and towards the Smeargle "I don't even need them because I hardly ever go exploring with anyone anymore."
She sighed as she daydreamed about exploring near the Frozen Stream again. Last time she went there, she had spend a lot of the time sliding across the ice.... but it was still pretty fun, and even the team she had joined up to explore with that day had eventually joined her.
She chuckled at the memory then glanced back to the Purrloin, wondering why anyone would steal a berry in the first place.

Prima scrambled onto her paws and shook her head. "That berry..? I took it yes.. I-I'm sorry... I couldn't resist." She looked down her paws. "I just.. Really like berries. I'm sorry." She pawed absentmindedly at the ground while waiting for the Smeargle to yell at her.

"you are so stupid. do you actually know what this berry is? it's fermented. you would be both drunk and sick to your stomach if you ate it." Dorren yelled to the purlion. though the berry wasn't fermented it was packed with an extremely potent sedative, one bite and you'd be out for days, but he wasn't going to tell these brats that. he was angry, but at the same time he felt sorry that he almost caused someone to eat that berry, as well as the fact that he was yelling at the culprit, how odd. he got another oran berry out of his pack and without looking back threw it at the purlions feet. "eat that one instead." Dorren said, quick to try and get away from what he just did.

The Spiky Eared Pichu blinked. One moment the Smeargle was yelling at her, the next he was giving her a different Oran Berry. Pepper shrugged, maybe she would never understand some pokemon.

Prima flinched at the insults and sank down slightly. She blinked a few times as she felt a few tears well up and rubbed an eye with her paw. "I was just.. Hungry. I didn't mean to.." She felt ashamed at her kleptomaniac tendencies and shut her eyes for a moment, only to open them as she felt something bump against her paws. It was another berry. I don't deserve this.. She thought to herself. She looked up at the Smeargle. "I.. I don't deserve this. Really I don't!"

Dorren stopped and bit his lip, why did this girl have to make this so hard. "no, you don't, but you should take what you get... and i'm not taking that berry back." Dorren said, walking away again. why hadn't he just taken the berry and left the Purrloin crying. what was wrong with him?

Pepper watched Dorren start to walk away again then turned back to the Purrloin. "He's right you know... in a way. It doesn't matter whether you deserve something or not, you should accept a gift."

Prima sniffed and idly rolled the berry back and forth. "I know.. I know.. But I was so awful back there. I'm in the Guild now. I'm making a bad name for them already!"

And worse yet I'm living up to the standards of a bad Purrloin! She thought to herself. "I need to do something for him. That was so selfish and bratty of me.." She was having a hard time accepting the gift after being spoiled by her parents for so long. Do I look selfish for accepting this? Will I look bad for not accepting it? If I accept it will I look like a brat..?

"It'll be fine!" smiled the Spiky Eared Pichu, "Even if you've done something bad now, you can make up for it later!"

She twitched her ears as the Purrloin said about doing something for Dorren, "You could always offer to join him on an exploration? That way, if you find any berries, you could always give them to him in return."

"An exploration..? Maybe.." She pondered on the words of the Spiky Eared Pichu for a moment. "Just the two of us though?" She stood up to look down the hallway he had vanished into, idly rolling the berry between her paws.

"Well... if you don't object. I'd like to come with you as well. I haven't been exploring with other pokemon in ages!" she laughed awkwardly, "But we can sort that out later. You should catch up to him."

Prima looked at the Pichu. "Okay.." She nodded and turned to run after Dorren. Her paws pattered across the ground as she dashed forward, looking for the Smeargle.

The Pichu watched her run off and stood in thought for a few seconds before dashing after her, running on all fours.

Dorren was opening the door to his room when he heard the sound of paws on the floor. oh arceus, what does this girl want now? Dorren thought to himself, as he closed the door and turned around. " what do you want this time?" Dorren said, sighing.

Prima halted, her paws skidding slightly across the ground and stood up on two paws. "We should go on an exploration!" She said shakily. "I want to thank you for the berry..." She tried to seem confident in herself, but she still felt guilty about her stupid actions. No! I'm going to do this!

Dorren was stunned for a second. he didn't know what to think, then all the pieces fell into place. this purlion would be the death of him. he couldn't let his teammates know about the berry unless he had an edge, something that made it ok for him to give it away... like bluffing himself into an exploration with her. it would do well to quell any suspicions as to his motives and the motives of his team, he knew he had to do it, or everything would fall apart. after a moment of silence Dorren turned to the purlion and put on his best act.

"sure, i can come with you." Dorren said, not too enthusiastically, just enough so that his earlier behavior would be dismissed as a bit of grumpiness. hopefully he could slide into a friendly demeanor after a while and no one would notice, it would give his team a good reputation and ensure their stay at the guild. just act like a goody two shoes and they won't bat an eye at you.