Lieutenant Luther Lucario can be seen sitting in his office, at his desk, reviewing paperwork that requires his attention. He is interrupted when one of the guards enters with a salute and greeting. “At ease, Soldier,” the lieutenant orders. The trooper relaxes their arm. “What’s going on?”
“Sir, I have a female pokemon requesting to speak with you,” the warrior states. “She claims to be an important figure from Heroto.”
“Send her in.” The soldier nods and disappears. Several seconds later, the lucario manages a smile upon witnessing the appearance of this said pokemon. “Ah, Mayor Azumarill! Please, come in!”
“Hello, Lieutenant,” says Mary. “Please excuse me if I’m bothering you from something important.”
“No, you aren’t! You just made my paperwork duties much more interesting. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Just visiting and seeing how your newest recruit’s doing.”
“Newest recruit? Which one? We get many that come in.”
“I’m talking about Zach. It’s been a couple of months since he left for training. Just wanted to see how you were treating him.”
“Ah! Come to do a wellness check?” Luther changes his expression to being serious. “Well, if you must know, Team Rescuers were right… The runt riolu is nothing but trouble and has caused many issues at the base; countless mistakes, bothering his peers, accidents nearing fatalities, and much more… In fact, he will be dishonorably discharged and sent back to the misfits. He has no future here, or in being in a guild, whatsoever.”
Mary’s eyes widen with her ‘o’-shaped mouth covered. “Oh my Arceus! You can’t be serious…!”
Luther smiles. “And that is why you should not believe everything you just heard from me.” The azumarill stands in silence.
“Listen, Luther… I-”
“I’m joking!” he interrupts, near laughing. “You didn’t think that’s what really happened, did you? If it were so, wouldn’t you have received a written report? You are one to fool easily.”
“W-what…?”
“I was only messing with you. Zach’s been incredible the past couple of months! Exceled basic training, became likeable among his squad and other soldiers, incredible at combat and listening to orders, even showed an eagerness to do more! He’s become a star soldier around here; one of the best recruits we’ve ever trained. Team Rescuers and the guild academy made a huge mistake by refusing him and kicking him out. In fact, I don’t know why they banned him to begin with.”
“Arecus damn it, Luther…” Mary puts her paw on her chest. “Don’t do that! You nearly had me worried there!”
He lets out a chuckle. “Sorry… But, you have to have fun once in a while. Can’t take everything serious all the time.”
“How can I with Team Rescuers being a pain in my ass and all the administrative shit I do…?”
“I get it; life’s a bitch. But sometimes, you just need to let go and live a little. That’s what I told the riolu when he started here.”
“Is it okay if you take me to him?”
“Of course.” The lucario gets out of his chair. “Right this way.” As he leads the water pokemon out of his office, he’s stopped in place by another water pokemon. “What the…? Uh, can I help you?”
“Betty, what are you doing here…?” Mary asks. “Did you follow me here?”
“Kind of,” Betty says. “I wanted to know how Zach was doing. Thought I’d come by and say ‘hello.’”
“This is a military base, not an elder housing complex,” Luther states. “We don’t allow general walk-in visitation onto the base.”
“Sorry, Sir,” Betty claims. “I just wanted to see how Zach was doing… I worry about him…”
“You must care for him a lot.”
“Not in the way you think… He’s just a friend… A good friend, I will note…”
“I will make an exception for now… However, you are to inform us ahead of time.”
“Yes, Sir…”
“Right… This way, Ladies.” The lucario leads the two pokemon outside and onto the grounds of the base. Many soldiers watch and whistle as they pass by, mostly excited to see the brionne on the premises. “You’re quite a big name around here, Brionne. Guess they have no problem with you being here.”
“What makes you think that, Sir?” she asks, sarcastically.
“Just a guess,” he responds, sarcastically, back. “Even a past star shines bright.” The lucario and girls approach a group of soldiers wearing grey, metal helmets and donning uniforms, which are a hybrid of Kevlar and metal armor. Among them is the riolu in the blue bandana. Upon noticing the high-ranking official, the group freeze and perform a salute. “At ease,” orders the lieutenant, causing them to relax their stances. “Private Zach the Riolu, you have visitors.”
Zach mouth bends into a smile. “Mayor Azumarill, Betty, it’s so good to see you both!”
“Ooh, look at you,” Betty comments. “Pokemon in uniform. Never thought I’d see the day you’d serve as a protector.”
“How have you been holding up, Zach?” asks the mayor. “The others treat you well?”
“Very much so,” Zach responds. “I was nervous when I first stepped foot here two months ago, but after a while, I found it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Some of my squad mates even helped me through it. My previous knowledge from Team Rescuers and from reading about guild stuff helped me ace everything. The others took me in like I was one of their own. I’ve been made an honorary soldier and I’m liked by everyone here.”
“Zach,” begins another riolu in uniform. “Why didn’t you tell us you knew the famous Betty the Brionne?! If we’d known sooner she was coming, would’ve been more prepared.”
“Wasn’t expecting anyone to come visit me, to be honest,” Zach tells him. “It’s quite a surprise. I appreciate the check-in.”
“So, does this mean you won’t be returning to me at the office?” asks Azumarill. “As well as not returning to Misfit Manor?”
“Actually, Zach WILL be returning to Misfit Manor and Heroto,” utters Luther. The two water pokemon face him. “He, his squad, and many others have been assigned to provide extra security in that sector by the request of the high council. With tensions heating in and around the area, we have been called to send reinforcements in case of conflict.”
“I… wasn’t informed of that,” states the mayor. “Was it because of the attacks on the Misfit Manor?”
“I cannot disclose everything to you out here. I will tell you later. Either way, we have orders by the high council, and that means we have a job to do.”
“Understood.”
“Guess that means you’re stuck with us for a while, right, Zachy?” asks Betty.
“Don’t call me ‘Zachy,’ around here,” states the riolu in the blue bandana. “It’s not very professional.”
“Oh, my apologies,” she says, sarcastically. “Forgive me, Private Zach, Sir!”
Mary tugs on the lucario’s paw. “Lieutenant, can I speak to you privately for a minute? I want you to tell me about the issues you mentioned.” Luther nods and walks with her away from the group.
“I guess I’ll be seeing you back in Heroto then, yes?” Betty continues.
“Were you not standing here when Lieutenant told you we were going to be stationed there?” Zach asks.
“Oh, well, excuse me, then!” She smiles. “You’ve got jokes, and you’re learning. I like that.”
“Thanks. But yes, we will be heading there. So, you’ll see me around.”
“Hey… When you come back, mind meeting up with me?”
“What’s this about?”
“Nothing… Just want to take you out to the tavern sometime.” The other soldiers all spurt a “Oooh,” and smile, poking fun. “Oh, knock it off, Boys.”
“We’ll see,” Zach answers with a smile. “Not going there to hang out with friends, primarily; I’m heading back there because we have a job to do.”
“Understood. I’m just glad to see you again. I and the other misfits will be happy when you come back. I’ll see you around.”
“Thanks. You, too, Betty.” He salutes to her, but the brionne grabs him and pulls him in for a hug. Zach doesn’t hesitate, yet stands there.
Betty pushes herself away. “See you around, Soldier!” She then proceeds toward her cousin.
“Damn, Zach,” says a turtwig of his unit. “You’re so lucky!”
Zach turns to him. “What do you mean?”
“Didn’t know were with Betty the Brionne, ‘the Harmony of Heroto.’ The rest of us are jealous on how you can get a pokemon like that.”
“Stop it, it’s not like that… Betty and I are just good friends. She and I were in the circus together… And, I guess you could say we’ve been friends ever since… more or less.”
“Hey,” starts the other riolu. “If you’re not with her, you think maybe I could have a chance with her?”
“Keep dreaming, Han,” Zach tells him. “Betty’s not easy to impress. You want to be close to her, you have work really hard to get her to even pay attention to you.”
“Yet, out of all the pokemon, she’s close with you? I find that hard to believe.”
“What can I say? We don’t pick our friends, they pick us.”
“Why you?” asks the pikachu across from him. “What made you and Betty become good friends?”
Zach lets out a sigh. “Things have happened… That’s all I’ll say.”
“Heads up!” spurts the turtwig. “Sarge’s coming this way!” The soldiers greet their squad leader, an emboar, with a salute before relaxing their stances.
“At ease!” utters the emboar. “Deployment’s happening soon. You all ready?” They all respond with “Sir, Yes, Sir,” before being ordered to report to the barracks. All but Zach, who is ordered by the sergeant to remain for a word. “Private, I just want no trouble from you when we head there. I understand this is your old hometown, and it may be difficult for you.”
“Yes, Sir,” responds Zach. “I’m aware. I have no intention to dwell on the past. I am more focused at the task ahead of me.”
“Well, good… That’s good. I just hope there won’t be any issues when we are stationed there with the rest of the company.”
“There won’t be any issues, Sir.”
