"You got everything you need in your bag Tamao?"

"Yes Inari, I've even triple-checked."

"I'm just making sure, I don't want there to be any hiccups while we're there."

"We'll be fine, now come on. Our ride's waiting outside."

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"Ah Tamao, Inari. This is Maggie, she'll be your ride to Taviki!" Ignis shouted when he saw the two exit the guild. Maggie was a Mudbray that looked to be middle-aged.

They were going to be moving in luxury it appeared with them having a whole carriage to themselves, there was a window on each side with a door at the back. It was a simple rectangular shape with a sloped roof that would ensure any rain that fell would run off the roof.

As Tamao and Inari entered the carriage they immediately took note of the very comfortable-looking chairs that sat side-by-side on the far wall. Next was the rug, it was a simple honeycomb design with red and black colors. Then there was the coffee table in the center of the large room with a couch, beside the couch sat a chest and then there were 2 beds.

"This is the life," Inari said as she set her bag on one of the beds.

"You said it."

"You two settled in back there?" Maggie asked from the front.

"Yup, we're good to go."

"Alright, we should arrive in Taviki by tomorrow night. So get comfortable, it's gonna be a long trip." With that Maggie began pulling the carriage at a steady slow pace.

"So, what do you want to do to pass the time?" Inari asked Tamao as she sat on the couch.

"I don't know, there's not much for us to do in here... You just wanna chill on the couch for a bit and wait for an idea to pop up."

"Sure."

As they sat there in silence Tamao caught himself glancing over at Inari, he had never truly taken time to admire her appearance. She obviously spent a lot of time making her fur look nice, heck Tamao might even go as far as to say she looks beautiful...

Realizing what he was just thinking his pupils dilated in realization, I have a crush on Inari... don't I? Can't say it wouldn't be nice to have a mate one day, but there's also a strong chance I could die in the somewhat near future. Also would prefer to not have any distractions from my end goal, but I can't save this world alone. Heck three of us weren't even enough to even remotely help Zocarive. But also having someone you can lean on when things are calm would be nice. Though who am I kidding, she definitely isn't interested in me.

As Tamao continued his mind war, Inari was getting tired from the boredom of the ride in the carriage and began drifting off to sleep sitting up. Then by the power of some twisted entity, she ended up leaning against Tamao's shoulder to use as a makeshift pillow.

Well... This is quite an unfortunate situation for me, isn't it? I can't move since that would be plain rude... I might as well get some sleep too, yeah... That should clear my mind.

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Awaking to the gentle bumps of the carriage going down the road Inari opened her eyes yawning and stretching before feeling something furry both above and under her head. Looking over she saw Tamao sleeping with his head on hers, she then noticed her head was on his shoulder.

Thankfully with her red fur, her blush was concealed but that didn't make it any less awkward for her. What the heck happened? I was getting tired and fell asleep... but how did I end up in this position?

Looking at the window across the carriage Inari noticed that it was dawn, which meant she had slept all of yesterday away. Who knew Tamao's fur was that comfortable? Not to mention he's cute when he sleeps, but after all he's been through he probably doesn't want to be in a relationship so I shouldn't get my hopes up. But one can dream.

Several hours passed and in that time the two of them had been playing some games, more specifically they had played lots of games of chess. Neither of them was particularly good at chess, but that meant the games were more exciting and stressful since they would lose pieces a lot.

Thankfully for both of them, they had been informed by Maggie that they were arriving in Taviki, the long trip was ending and they were excited to be in a new place. Granted it was for research but hey, it could be lots of fun.

As Maggie pulled the carriage up to the stairs of the town hall Inari and Tamao grabbed their bags and exited out the front. They were greeted by a marshy environment with water that looked greener than broccoli. There were several homes and shops in the square, and not much else. There was a water mill likely for energy and there were several places where the water appeared to be higher than it normally was based on the way the roads and walkways were built.

Walking up the stairs and entering the fairly small town hall Inari and Tamao were greeted by a Gardevoir sitting at the front desk. "Welcome to Taviki, I am Millie. what can I do for you today?"

"Uh, hi... We're Team Heuristic we're from Ignis the Arcanine's guild, we were sent here to help you guys out with a problem the village is having." Tamao responded smiling.

"Ah yes, we've been expecting your arrival. Right this way." Millie then stood up and walked down a long hallway with pictures of elderly Pokemon, they appeared to be former mayors based on the name plates below their pictures and the years they were in charge.

Eventually, they reached the end of the hallway where there was a large door, Millie then opened the door and gestured for them to follow her inside.

Inside Tamao noticed a Swampert sitting at a desk with an expression of pure stress. "Sir, the team you requested is here."

Tamao could feel the relief that washed over the Swampert. "Thank you, Millie, you may go."

With a nod, Millie exited and the Swampert turned to Inari and Tamao. "So let's get started with introductions, I am Lako the mayor of Taviki. What are your names?"

"I am Tamao, and this is my partner Inari."

"Nice to meet you both, I do wish it was under nicer circumstances. But I'm afraid Taviki is in dire straits right now. Ya see we are experiencing about three times the amount of rainfall we usually experience. This has caused several roofs to cave in on Pokemon's homes, I was hoping you two may be able to get to the root cause of this or at least find out if this weather will be long-lasting so we can reinforce homes and create better infrastructure to prevent floods. And if you could assist in other areas that would be greatly appreciated, There is a hotel a little bit down the street with a room reserved for the two of you so you can rest. Any questions?"

Tamao turned to Inari who shook her head. "Not at this moment, we'll go ahead and look around the village to get a feel for where everything is and go from there."

"Wonderful, I hope you both enjoy your stay as much as you can. And uh, don't drink any of the water that isn't filtered, all the extra rainfall has caused some minerals to infect the water and make anyone that drinks it sick. We developed better filters over the years but do beware that there is a possibility of getting sick from the water."

"Good to know," Inari responded with a shudder.

As they began walking out Tamao suddenly had an idea. "Are there archives somewhere here?"

"Why of course, why do you ask?"

"Would it be okay if we looked through them tomorrow? I think it could give us an idea of what may be causing this if my suspicions are correct."

"Go right ahead, you'll enter into the town hall the same way you did today but take a left and there'll be a sign that says 'archives', it's hard to miss."

"Thank you for your hospitality Lako."

"Of course. Have a good rest of your day, and thank you again for helping us."

When they were finally out of the town hall they began walking down the surprisingly busy streets. When they reached the hotel they entered and saw a Umbreon sitting at the counter, he appeared to be spinning a coin on the counter out of boredom.

As the bell attached to the door rang the Umbreon's ears perked up and a glint of excitement was in his eyes.

"Are you two from the guild?"

"Yes, we are," Tamao responded as he saw Inari looking at the interior of the hotel.

It had an old rustic look to it in what seemed like a waiting area or simply somewhere the guests could relax. A blue and red rug carpet covered the floor. The most modern-looking part of the hotel was the area where food was prepared. Other than that it was pretty empty.

"Oh, what a relief, I was getting worried no one was coming to help us. I'm Nick, I own the hotel, but as you can probably guess. All the flooding makes this place a not-so-attractive tourist destination. But with help from the guild, I'm sure things will start going better, now follow me to your room."

Nick then got up and began walking towards a staircase off to the side. Inari and Tamao quickly followed not wanting to get left behind.

They passed several wooden doors with different numbers on them, they eventually reached the end of a hallway and Nick stopped and grabbed the keys he was holding. Inserting them into the lock they heard a click and the door opened, Nick then turned to them and handed them a pair of keys.

"This is room sixteen, breakfast is served from six to eleven. I hope you enjoy your stay with us here at Taviki Hotels."

With that, Nick turned and went back to the counter to play with his coin again. Inari and Tamao entered the room shutting the door behind them, scanning the room Tamao saw a bathroom to his left with a mirror to his right, there were two fairly large beds and a desk sitting in the corner. There was also an old TV hanging on the wall, this surprised Tamao, to say the least. Did they get channels all the way out here?

"So, what do you want to do for food?" Inari asked Tamao as she set her bag on the far bed.

"You just want to go to a local diner?"

"That sounds good, here there's a pamphlet with some restaurants listed."

As they scanned the list they saw one stick out, "Morestead Diner, interesting name. You wanna go there Tamao?"

"Sure, what have we got to lose?"

"Our stomachs." Inari chuckled at her joke as Tamao groaned.

As they exited the hotel they made a left on the main street and headed towards the diner, which was on the outskirts of the village. As they were walking Tamao got the feeling they were being watched, glancing around he heard a bush rustle to his right.

Stopping he scanned the treeline trying to see if there was someone on the edge of it. Suddenly he felt something shove him off balance, then he felt his bag slip off his shoulder.

"AH!" Tamao exclaimed as he landed in the dirt.

"Are you okay Tamao?" Inari asked in a panic seeing her teammate fall to the ground.

"Someone just stole our bag! Come on!" Tamao shouted at her giving chase to the thief.

"Wait what?" Inari asked as she ran after him.

Tamao didn't give her a response as he picked up his pace, just barely able to see a red tuft of fur on the culprit's head in the limited light. The chase lasted longer than Tamao liked as a cave came into sight, the Pokemon, which he was able to identify as a Zorua ran into the cave without so much as glancing back at Tamao. Stopping outside the cave, huffing and puffing, he waited for Inari to catch up

Eventually, she reached him, almost as exhausted as he was. "Come on, the little bugger went in here."

"Um, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No, but that bag has all our equipment in it, and our money."

"Why do you have to make such a good point." Inari whimpered as they entered the cave entrance.

A short way in they saw a fork in the cave where there were two different tunnels. Taking a second to calm himself Tamao tried to tap into any energy he had to read the paths, unfortunately, something was interfering with him. He didn't know what could be causing it, but whatever it was was giving him a headache.

"Let's go down the left tunnel," Tamao told Inari who nodded.

It was damp and dark in the cave, walking against the wall was the only way for them to know if they were going anywhere. He could hear a stream of water in the distance and see a dim light in the far distance.

Speeding up to reach it Tamao peered around a corner and saw a large opening in the cave, light was coming in from a hole in the ceiling of the cave and there was a stream in the middle of the large cavern. Looking around he saw the Zorua set their bag on a wooden table before trying to open it, seeing as there was only a Zorua in the visible area and there were no other exits he decided to confront the Zorua.

"HEY!" Tamao shouted as he walked around the corner.

The Zorua obviously heard him as it lifted its head, the fear emanating from the small Pokemon was almost enough to make Tamao feel bad... almost.

"That's my bag, what do you think you're doing?"

"U-u-uh.. N-n-noth-ing..." The Zorua responded, stuttering in fear.

Tamao suddenly felt bad for shouting as based on the Zorua's voice it was a young girl. As he walked more into the cavern, Tamao saw lots of bags lying on the ground. It was obvious they weren't the only ones the Zorua had robbed.

Tamao began to connect a few dots and a thought quickly crossed his mind. She's like me.

Calming himself, Tamao signaled for Inari to stay where she was. "Where are your parents?"

Tamao could see tears form in the Zorua's eyes as she glanced at the ground. "They've b-been d-dead for a l-long t-time..."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tamao responded looking at the ground.

"I-I was s-sent to an o-or-orph-anage, b-but n-n-no o-o-one w-w-wanted m-m-me s-so I-I r-ran a-a-away..." The Zorua was bawling at this point. Tamao was on the verge of tears himself.

Walking over to comfort them Tamao hugged the Zorua. "I've experienced something similar, I know how you feel. I stole from people after losing my parents too, I'll tell you what. If you'd like, I could adopt you."

Inari, who was listening from around the corner felt her eyes become the size of saucers in surprise.

"R-r-really? E-even a-a-af-ter I s-stole f-fr-from y-you?"

"Yes, everyone deserves a second chance, or in this case a first chance. Come on, my teammate is waiting for me around the corner, we're currently doing a job but once we get back to our guild I'll look into getting all the paperwork taken care of. Does that sound good?"

"Y-y-yeah..."

"What's your name?"

"I-it's Ayla"

"Ayla, that's a beautiful name. Are you alright to walk, or do you want me to carry you?"

"I-I C-can w-walk."

Smiling at the fact Ayla had calmed down Tamao led the way back into the cave with his bag back on his shoulder.

"Hey Tamao, I uh, saw a strange light coming from a crack in the wall... You want to check it out?" Inari asked when she saw Tamao.

"Sure, shouldn't take long."

With Inari leading the way the three walked towards a small crack in the cave wall that appeared like it was glowing. With a deep breath, Tamao stepped inside and saw another cavern. But this one was lit with torches instead of natural light.

As he looked around he saw something glowing from the middle of the cavern, getting a closer look he saw a stone tablet sitting on a pedestal.

"I knew following you would lead me right to it."