Trial By Fire

Chapter 17

The Grand Master's longhouse was now quiet except the humming of Morra as she swept the house clean. The longhouse not only housed many Pokemon, but it also served as a cafeteria. I noticed that it was the heart of the village. Many Pokemon gathered here to conversate and plan as they chattered till they had to go work again. I watched Morra as she cleaned and noticed something I didn't see before, a stage located on right wall with several stools complete with a long table. I chuckled at the thought of seeing Hopple sitting there, he just didn't seem the type. Hopple was an odd fellow, but I have a feeling he knows what he's doing. Age has to give you something.

"What are you doing staring around! You have a meeting to attend!"

I blinked and scanned the room for Morra. I saw her gazing at me with annoyance with her arms placed on her hips. I stood there thinking of something to say, but all I could do was just make noises of incomplete words.

"I'm going right n-now."

Morra still stood idle with a glare of annoyance on her face. "Then hurry it up!" she barked, "I need to get this place cleaned!"

I pulled my head back and darted around. Morra was rather angry at me for whatever reason. I tapped my fingers and looked at Morra uneasily as I walked towards Hopple's room.

Suddenly Morra's tone changed. "I'm sorry," she said with a bow. "I just take my duties very seriously and I just don't want Pokemon tracking things in here. You have to understand that being the only caretaker of this town is a huge responsibility."

I shook my head in agreement and chuckled awkwardly. "It's fine. If I did everything you did I'd be grumpy all day."

Morra put one hand on her hips and waved at me with the other. "Now run along! I have lots of things to do!"

I smiled and continued my walk towards Hopple's office. Before reaching the doorway, I turned around. "I appreciate what you do," I said sincerely. "I respect your attitude with your duties and I truly respect your works."

Morra blushed and smiled with her eyes tightly closed in a happy position. "Why thank you!" she squeaked. "It's been awhile since someones told me that. But you need to go now. Thank you for the talk!"

I nodded my head and walked through the doorway to find Hopple staring at me behind a desk. "I see you've made friends with Morra. That's a rather difficult thing to do. I didn't expect you to be so charismatic." Hopple tapped his desk then pointed to one of the many stools on the other side of the table. "Take a seat."

"You actually made it," said a voice of sarcasm

I turned to see Raize sitting in a window seal behind the table. She had her legs crossed and her arms behind her head while she gazed out the window. She glanced at me with an unamused look, then preceded to return her focus outside.

"Umm yes." Hopple said with an uneasy chuckle. "Raize is definitely difficult to get along with, but I guarantee she is a loyal and useful Pokemon."

Before I had time to speak, Hopple raised his voice into a lighter tone. "Now! Before we begin, I will have to introduce you to the Masters of 5! And as you may guess, they're 5 of us!" Hopple stood up from his stool and grinned cheerfully. "You've met 4 of us already and I'll have to get you acquainted with the last member." I glared at Hopple and gave him a face of annoyance. Hopple laughed and waved his paws, "No, no! Don't worry. She's quite nice and easy to get along with!"

Suddenly, a Levanny strolled into the room with a welcoming smile. "And that someone is me!"

Hopple turned towards her and grinned widely. "Perfect timing! I'm happy you could make it-" Hopple paused and put his paw to the back of his head and scratched it awkwardly. "How about you tell our guest your name?" he chuckled.

"Ah! Hello!"

I suddenly found my paw being shaken rapidly as the Levanny welcomed me. "Uh hello?" I managed to say through the aggressive pawshakes (or handshakes, or Apendageshake, or.... you know what, you get the point).

"It's very nice to meet you!" she said. "My name is Roseta and I run the clinic with my 3 children!" She then put her arms together and started bouncing up and down rapidly "They're the cutest things!"

Roseta finally realized what she was doing and smiled innocently. "Ah.. Sorry, I just love my children to death. They're the cutest Sewaddles you'll ever see!" With a smile, she strolled to her seat and sat down next to Hopple. There were still 2 empty chairs not counting Raize's, who refused to get out of the window sill. I pointed this out to Hopple.

Suddenly I heard a shout coming from below the table. "Hey! I'm here too! Just.. let me get up!" and with a rapid flutter, Tot came flapping off from the ground and onto the table. He landed and gave a salute. "Tot! Leader of the Intelligence group! I make sure nothing comes in or out unheard of! Nothing escapes my eye!" Tot grinned proudly and puffed his chest up.

"I guess I'm the exception then." I muttered.

"Wha-" Chatot flapped his wings then quickly covered his face with them. He unveiled his face and put his wings back behind his head to reveal a blushing face. "Let's not talk about that." he said with an awkward laugh.

"Alright, alright." Hopple beckoned, lowering his hands to calm everyone down. Tot muttered something and stomped off to his seat beside Hopple. He sat down on a seat stacked with hay, so he could actually see above the table. I chuckled at this, but was quickly cut off as I noticed Tot giving me a stern eye.

Hopple stood from his chair and put his paws together. "We're finally ready to begin!"

"But there's only 4 of you."

Hopple frowned at me. "Yes, but Morra isn't fun to deal with when shes behind on her chores."

I nodded my head in agreement

"So! I'll speed things up!" Hopple said. "You know Roseta's role as the medical specialists, Tot as our eyes in the sky, and Morra as the cook and gardener." Hopple stroked his chin then gazed at Raize with dissatisfaction "And I hope Raize gave you her role." Hopple glared at Raize once more. "And she didn't give you TOO much trouble." Raize shrugged her shoulders and glared back outside the window.

"She did tell me." I said. "She's your general pretty much?"

"Precisely!" Hopple took his seat once more. "Alright then... let's begin"