Lazy Days

Vanilla yawned lazily as she sat in the lowest branch of one of the many trees in Pecha forest. She kicked back, humming lazily as she tossed a blue ribbon between her paws. The ribbon held a large amount of significance to her, so she kept it with her always. She smiled to herself, she hadn't told Rayo anything. It was her secret to keep, all to herself.

After the long journey she had taken by herself to Pricklemist Hill, she needed time to relax. The memory of Gingin, the Charmeleon, the Charmander, and... Well someone else, still lingered in her mind. She wasn't afraid, as she remembered the promise. He would protect her, especially from Gingin, the crazed Monferno. She sighed to herself and closed her eyes for a moment as she leaned against the tree. It was a cloudy day, cool, but she knew rain would come sooner or later despite the calm weather going on right now. Her ears twitched as she heard something nearby. She put the ribbon in her satchel and scanned the surrounding area for any danger. And here I wanted to relax... She thought with a sigh. Whatever it was, she'd take care of it.

Rayo lokked around for Van on the forest floor, "Now where did she get too?" he asked himself. It seemed that Van always disappeired when he needed her. The Joltik thought that he may have forn another Pokemon they could hustle.

Alex was walking through the forest to find his team, nibbling on an apple he stole.

Alex was one of the only fraxures ever, so people don't get in his way when the catch him stealing, which they ever do! so naturally the next heist would be a snitch.

He saw his friends lounging in the tree and tossed the apple at Vanilla, "C'mon, we have only a week for this gig, lets get started"

Vanilla sighed. The Fraxure, new to their team had disturbed her resting yet again. Her sweet memories now clouded with the newer bitter ones as she caught the apple he had taken a bite out of. "You can uh... Keep the Apple." She said while scaling down the tree and handing it to Alex. "I was just about the rest and now you want to steal something..." She complained in a low voice with a displeased expression.

Rayo sighed, "Cut it out you guys. Alex you were supposed to look for a Pokemon for us to hustle. Van's right she need to rest in order for this to work. Mind the Electro Web." he said to his two partners. He had just put in the finishing touchs of his web.

"You know what, i'm willing to forgive everything if we pulls off this once in a life time heist" alex grinned a crooked smile

"And what exactly IS our once in a lifetime heist?" Vanilla asked while preening her tail. She had appreciated Rayo's comment about her needing to rest, but knowing him he probably meant her laying on the ground pretending to be knocked out as a damsel-in-distress act. Or something along those lines. She mused to herself as she waited for the explanation.

"What if i told you i know where the treasure room of king gyrados is?" He chirped while smiling

"With our little thunder-tick here it should be no problem hehe." He was honestly full of content and was hoping they would go along

"Hey! I'm not going anywhere near a Gyradous. I'll literaly be squashed like a bug! Have you seen those things on a rampage? let me tell you: it's not pretty." Rayo said to the Fraxure. He turned to Van, "You really should get some rest Van. I can hear you screaming something about a Monferno in yer sleep." the Joltik pointed out.

"i distract him, you get behind him and zap him! it's litterally that easy, hit him hard enough he'll be out cold, then me and van will raid the stash." Alex was started to use a annoyed/calm tone

Vanilla's eyed widened. "A Gyarados? You kidding me? Tangling with that thing is a whole other story. I say leave that for the brave adventurers. If anything I'd rather let them have the treasure than let myself get eaten by a giant sea monster. You know those things can apparently FLY too? I'm not messing with those. No way!" She said while putting her paws up as if to indicate a no. "At least not until Rayo evolves into a Galvantula. That way he won't be so easy to squish at least. Besides, you yourself said it's the king. Meaning it'll be bigger AND stronger."

"What do you mean, "Untill Rayo is a Galvantula"? Who said that I wanted to evolve? Besides I'm not gonna tangle with a high level Gyarados just for some lute. The awnser is no." Rayo said adjusting his hat. "I'm not messing with that monstrosaty even if I evolve. I'd say we just stick at where we are for now and takle the more stronger Pokemon later."

"The heist of the century and you guys say "no?" Guess im more of a bandit than you two are" He shuffled and looked at his feet, than got an idea.

"What if we loot the guild bank?" he simply spoke

Vanilla's ears twitched. His mention of robbing the Guild Bank did not sit well with her. She thought of all the strong teams that would be around town while they tried to sneak in. Their names were on the wanted list, that much she knew. And there was another Pokemon delaying her. A significant one at that. "No." She said simply and turned away to climb up a tree. She found a sturdy branch and nestled down in the nook. Her mind raced with worry at even stepping foot into the town.

"No. There are too many strong Pokemon there." Rayo said joining Vanilla. He noticed something odd about her. Ever since she came back with that Blue Ribbon she had been acting strangly. "Is everything ok Vanilla?" he asked her in a gental tone.

"Yeah are you ok?" He asked in a mock tone. "whatever, i'll go make some cash while you sit and talk bout your feelings." he stormed off nd threw his apple on the ground

Vanilla sighed and turned over. "I don't even know why he's on our team." She said and covered her nose with her tail as she curled up. "Don't worry about it Rayo. It's not important. I'll be fine after I get some rest." She lied to the Joltik. Her heart ached a little at the lie. It was a dull ache she would not express opening though, and shut her eyes to fight back any oncoming tears if there were any.

"I don't know that guy's on the team either. Ok Van just know I'm here if you need me. We'll make a hustle on another day." Rayo said letting his partner get some rest. But this isn't over. I can hear you crying in your sleep as well. Crying for someone whoever he is. He better keep an eye out. the Joltik thought.

Vanilla merely nodded and tried to sleep. She was weary from her previous travel, but her mind was still haunted by the previous moments she'd had. The danger and the heartbreak caused her heart to beat fast as she remembered the twisted Monferno and the moments she had shared with Oswald.

Time seemed to pass by, bit by bit as Vanilla stayed curled up there. She didn't move, but went into an almost zen-like state as her mind wandered farther and farther away from the forest they were in. She retraced her life pawstep by pawstep as the day started to stretch out to the evening. Vanilla started to remember all the little scraps of her life she had pushed away. Her family, a group of Minccino who taught their children to steal from the very start. Her older sibling had always been better, while her younger one needed more attention and help. This had left her in the middle, barely getting any attention or recognition for a job well done. She had been jealous, incredibly jealous.

Vanilla had decided to invent her own way of stealing. She would work on her charms instead of her power. She would trick Pokemon into falling for her and take everything they had. There would always be the occasional one she would grow attached to, but she got over it with ease. Except for one past case with a charming Scarfty who had rejected her, much to her surprise. And after that she had decided to never really care during her theft attempts. But now, she was having a harder time than ever hiding her feelings. And it was killing her inside despite how hard she tried to swallow the pain and keep on going.

Rayo sighed as he watched his friend going through a tough time. "That's it! Van follow me I wanna show you something." he told the Minccinno as he crawled down the tree.

Vanilla lifted her head up. Rayo's sudden outburst had caught her attention. "Show me what exactly?" She replied while uncurling her tail and standing up. The quick action had made her a woozy. She wasn't sure if it was the rush to her head from standing up so fast or the fact she was tired, but she balanced herself for a moment and climbed down the tree.

"It's a surprise." Rayo said leading the Minccinno out of the forest. He wanted to show her the medow he found a while back. It was filled with flowers that bloomed only during the night. I can't wait to see the look on her face. he thought.

Vanilla was curious at what he meant by a surprise. She wasn't used to Rayo randomly leading the way without some information on where they were going. "A surprise huh..?" She said while thinking back to the surprise she had seen before from her previous adventure. Vanilla let out a little sigh, but decided to try and be grateful at the fact Rayo was attempting to cheer her up.

Rayo made it to the top of a hill that over looked the medow. To his Disapointment the flowers were not in bloom tonight. "Dang it! I was hoping to show you the flowers Van." Rayo sat slaming his hat to the ground. he realized that he was taking his anger out on his hat, with a small sigh he pick it up and dusted the hat off and put it back on his head.

Vanilla smiled at Rayo as she reached the top of the hill. "It's alright Rayo, a walk was good for me anyways. Besides, it's still a nice night and all." She said while trying to be optimistic. "Listen, I'll be fine a few days, trust me on that. It's probably a phase or something you know?" She said while looking up at the night sky. It was always going to be the same sky she had stared at before, but it would change, and so should she by forgetting the past and moving on. "Maybe they're just a little late tonight?"