There's a certain sense of relief you have when there are no chains shackling you. The weight that's been lifted makes you feel as light as a Tranquill feather. Four hundred twenty pokédollars is being offered to be taken off my chest? Who wouldn't fall for that?

A cynical Tristan Babineaux for one. At the very least, he would weigh his options, do solid research, and check with current publications.

(Especially while referring to himself in the third person.)

"Are you, yknow, sure?" Cilan asks me. My finger interlock as they hold up my head at my chin. My elbows rest on the bar counter as I focus silently, eyes closed, as if I'm meditating. I know for a fact I wouldn't be doing anything as meaninglessly cool as meditation. Cilan smiles at my outward appearance of focus.

"Err...nice pose you've got going there," he comments as I open an eye. I see he's grinning to himself happily as he probably thinks he's clever. It is already eight closing in on nine p.m. the day after my encounter with the girl. With my acting, I definitely would call it a...foreign exchange.

"Yes...I've been developing it for awhile now," I lie, muttering to him sarcastically. In all seriousness, I consider the proposal Cress described to me prior as plausible. It's a mixture of the factors of curiosity and desperation—admittedly more the latter in my opinion.

"So you're, um, actually going to take us up on proposal? I didn't think I'd ever see the day. Tristan taking the initiative," Cilan smiles eagerly. I can't help but agree with the bartender. I am a person who lost his motivation a long time ago. And this sudden surge of initiative I'm taking? It's rather uncharacteristic of me.

"Not like I have much of a choice..." I say to him. In my eyes, it's a sink or swim with my enormous debt looming over me. Even as I try to deny it outright, I know that me taking the first step in anything like this would amaze those who only knew my recent side. It amazes me. It amazes Cilan. I can't imagine my former self's reaction if he saw this.

"Well, um, Tristan...Cress already told you. We want you to help us help people. We bartenders try our best to, yknow, soothe the restless souls that walk in for a drink. And we hope you, er, helping people in your own way will help yourself," Cilan awkwardly explains once more. I wave him off, already knowing much too many details of what I need to do. In fact, it seems as though he's leaving out some details that Cress oh so helpfully provided previously. As I look back at Cilan clad in his bartender uniform, I just hope I won't have to wear something similar or be on the same side of the counter as any of the three brothers.

"Sounds like a load of Tauros crap," I say to him. My eyes dart somewhere else, anywhere else, other than at Cilan. I hear him laugh softly again. Now that I think about it, he really laughs a lot at what I say. Maybe I should just become a comedian.

"I understand your skepticism," Cilan nods as he pulls a clean white towel taut in his hands. "But you have to remember one thing Tristan..."

"I really have no other choice, right?" I finish for him. I curse to myself. Of course I have no other choice. This restaurant is basically a lifeline to my existence. It provides food and drinks and sometimes shelter. I'm in debt here and in my apartment rent. Taking even one of those away could make my life easier.

But is the risk involved now worth the reward?

"I'm glad you, yknow, understand. Shall we introduce you to, er, your partner before we get started?" Cilan asks me with a smile. His crisp uniform gives me a sour taste in my mouth. His cleanliness he's managed to make with this situation astounds me. How is he able to wrap this all up so well?

"Sure, whatever," I say to him. "As long as it gets this day done faster."

Cilan motions towards the Striaton Restaurant next door, which is connected through a doorless hall to my left. Anyone can easily walk through that hall to get from the bar to the restaurant and back. I assume that Cilan, Chili, and Cress also utilize the path when serving customers that migrate from one part of the building to the other.

I pull my tired self up, my muscles aching with my shifts in posture, and slowly walk towards the hall. My gait teeters back and forth as my back hunches over. It is probably one of the more pitiful and unhealthy walks anyone would experience. Fitting for me, I suppose.

"Ah, one thing Tristan. Umm, before I forget," Cilan says to me, stopping me from proceeding further. I look up at him with a raised eyebrow in confusion. What now? is my first thought.

"Your left foot...we need what's lodged in, er, your shoe," he says to me. My other eyebrow meets with the first, both raised like Skyarrow Bridge raises for the ferries in Castelia City. I lift my left leg to look underneath just to see what in the world he could possibly want. Did I suddenly have value in the crap on my shoe? That's a new one.

"...!" I notice exactly what Cilan wants from me. Lodged in-between one of the shoe's patterned surface underneath...is something shiny.

"I swear..." I say to him. He nods to me as he gets down on one knee and reaches for my shoe. When he finally comes back up, he has a dirty ring in his hand.

"It all made sense when you, yknow, walked in uncomfortably this evening favoring your right foot. Factor in where you went yesterday, I figure you'd, er, still have it on you since you, umm, don't care enough to check the bottoms of your shoes," Cilan says to me. He pulls out a white handkerchief he has in a back pocket and wraps the ring tightly in it. He stashes the cloth in a corner out of sight somewhere. Now that I think about it, he did in fact mention that the man could come back the next day in case the right turned up.

Don't tell me Cress guessed I had it in my shoe ever since yesterday...

As I ignore the possible psychic abilities of the Striaton trio, Cilan shows me the restaurant side of the building. Colored curtains adorn entranceways that pass through halls. Tables and seats for restaurant patrons seem to be in the all of the rooms. Three large circular carpets, one green one with a leaf, one red one with a flame, and one blue one with a water drop, cover the floor in front of each entranceway to the farther rooms. Two statues with what appear to be official Pokémon Gym pedestals stand near a front counter where I assume you are taken to be seated. Now that I analyze the surroundings, this place serves a dual purpose of the Striaton Restaurant as well as its city Gym.

"You guys are so cheap you can't separate your gym from your restaurant?" I comment as Cilan points me towards an empty table in the first room we walked into. I approach the wooden table, which has a wooden seat on opposite sites. He pulls out one of the chairs, which I assume I'm supposed to sit on.

"Your partner shall, er, be here shortly. And so will the details of, yknow, your deal you agreed so hastily to," Cilan nods as he claps his hands together. He then rushes off back in the direction of the bar. I look forward seeing only the wall on the opposite end. Is someone really supposed to meet me here?

"Hello...you must be Tristan?" a voice says from my right. As I turn, my eyes meet a girl. She has long, black hair hanging down straight. Bangs hang over the top half of her forehead. Her deep brown eyes are merely hues away from twilight Darkrai black. A small yet noticeable mole marks a small spot near the bottom left of her lip. She's wearing what appears to be a blue-and-white striped buttoned-down shirt with black jeans covering her from the waist down to her high-tops.

Why does that list of features seem so...familiar?

In that moment, my eyes widen as I realize who she is. The neighbor girl! The one who I played as a foreigner to!

Please Arceus, tell me she doesn't recognize me.

"...uhh yeah haha that's me!" I say, laughing nervously. I scratch the back of my head. I'm flustered by the fact a cruel, comedic twist of fate brought us together. I sweat slightly as I motion towards the chair across from me.

"Sit down! Please, make yourself comfortable!" I say loudly, trying to lodge a memory of what I sound like that would hopefully override any sort of memories that might still be lingering...

"Yes, thank you Tristan," the girl smiles sweetly. It pains my conscious knowing I am blatantly fibbing to this girl. Then again, it also pains my conscious whenever I do a good deed. Perhaps, logically, lying to her is a good deed?

"So...what's your name?" I begin. At the very least, I'd like to know the name of my victim before she has any epiphanies of who I am.

"My name is Thalia Amanda Reynolds. But you're more than welcome to refer to me as Lia." the girl smiles. Thalia seems like a rather refined name for a girl who appears as cheerful as she acts in my eyes. She stares at the table, averting any eye contact. I raise a curious eyebrow. The most logical course of action would be to delve deeper into her details.

As a miserable loner though, that is something that goes against the unsaid creed. Creating unnecessary bonds just amplifies the pain when you reflect and realize just how desperate you really are for companionship.

I've self-reflected enough that I could be a mirror.

"Okay, Thalia," I say, blatantly ignoring her nickname. Nicknames also fall under unnecessary bonds. She threw a landmine at me right out of the gate. I have to remain vigilant to keep the ideal distance.

"Anyway, I was told I was supposed to help you assist? I'm not sure why...but green-headed man in the bartender suit said I would be helpful or something...?" Thalia explains as she taps the table with her fingers. She looks somewhere else, pondering what I assume Cilan said to her. I wonder if she has some sort of debt to repay to the brothers like I do.

"Sounds about right from what I've been told," I admit to her. I sigh as I realize the trio is keeping most of this more or less under wraps until we start. Are we even starting tonight? I pinch the bridge of my nose with my index finger and thumb in annoyance. This is shaping out to be even more complex than four hundred twenty dollars worth of service.

"I'm glad you guys are acquainted," a voice suddenly says. I turn to my left and see Cilan has returned to our side. He looks at me with a smile and turns to Thalia. He smiles continuously as he claps his hands together once. Is that his way of signalling he's commencing something?

"So, you're...Cilan?" Thalia asks, squinting her eyes at Cilan's nametag. Cilan nods to her, his hands behind his back, bending forward towards her slightly. He then straightens his posture and bows slightly.

"I am Cilan, one of the three brothers that, yknow, run the Striaton City Bar, Gym, and Restaurant," he says as he turns to me. "And we're here today to, er, begin an experience that will hopefully reshape Tristan's life. There will be, um, hardships and humorous moments, I'm sure. But that will, yknow, make it all more fun."

"...great," I manage. I glance over at Thalia who is...in awe?

"Wow! I'm so excited!" she says gleefully. I sigh as I question the sanity of the girl across from me. Cilan is obviously spitting out lyrical phrases that really have nothing to do with what ordeals I'll have to go through. I would have preferred to do it alone...but it appears I have baggage to carry with me a well.

"Well, we officially start tomorrow...so I'll see you both before lunch then. But while we're here, I will start with a debriefing," Cilan states as he looks around. The restaurant is relatively empty save for a handful of employees cleaning. He leans in towards us and glances at each of us—first Thalia then myself. He closes his eyes for a moment, then they shoot open suddenly.

"See, the way this will work is...you two will have to resolve three problems, one assigned by each of us brothers. And then Tristan's debt will be agreed upon by the owners of, yknow, this establishment as repaid in full. Any debt he manages to rack up as of now will, um, not be considered repaid," Cilan explains as he turns to me. He looks down at an empty place setting on the table. He points to it with his right index finger.

"That means you, er, have to watch what you eat. If you eat here anymore, that is," he says to me. He then stands back up straight and smiles sheepishly. He brushes off some invisible dust from his suit as he rubs his chin.

"First one will be assigned by, um...I believe Chili. And it starts tomorrow. Get here, in the restaurant, before lunch, and the problem will be, yknow, debriefed to you two," Cilan says finally. He then looks at the two of us and bows once more.

"Anyway, the bar is still open, so I bid you two adieu. Until tomorrow," he says smoothly, which is kind of out of character for him. He then walks away, leaving as quickly as he came.

Which meant he left Thalia and I alone in an awkward situation at the table. Fantastic job, Cilan. Just fantastic.

"So...umm...I'll be going then. See you tomorrow Tristan..." Thalia says to me, waving. She then stands up, gets out of her chair, and hurries away to the exit. I watch her lazily as she leaves. Before she finally exits, she curtsies with a nonexistent skirt. In the end, she's gone. What a relief.

I want to leave, but I know if I meet her on my way home, she might figure out how we live next door as neighbors in the same apartment. And we don't need that problem arising quite yet.