A suspicious musu

You enter the pub. The place is a little run-down and poorly lit, but honestly, it could have been much worse.

Most of the customers are sitting at their tables drinking quietly while you and the girls approach the counter, where the bartender is lazily enjoying a beer himself.

“Hello sir, we need some information” you say as you sit at the counter.

“And why should I give information to outsiders?” the scary-looking man asks while glaring at you suspiciously.

“This... perhaps could loosen your tongue?” you say as you place a small sack of coins on the counter.

“Mmh... I guess I could tell you something” he mutters while quickly taking the money.

“We are interested in a certain deal... we need to speak with someone named Rash” you explain.

“...The table at the end of the pub. The hooded girl. And don’t cause any trouble” he warns.

You nod before heading toward the back of the room with the girls. Just like the bartender said, a hooded figure is sitting alone at one of the last tables.

You all sit down in front of her.

“I got told that you are Rash” you say.

“Well well... shomebody finally came for my offer” the girl says smugly.

Now that you can see her better, you notice she is a Rattata musu.

Aside from the hooded cape covering her upper body, the rest of her clothes look completely random and mismatched. She wears a striped scarf despite the mild weather, one sleeve of her oversized jacket is missing, her belt is tied crookedly around her waist, and she has different socks under a pair of worn boots. It almost looks like she simply grabbed whatever clothes she could find and threw them together without caring how they matched.

She also wears an eyepatch over her left eye.

“Yesh, I am Rash. Master at getting intel and great at finding whatever people need” she says proudly. “I guessh you came for my offer.”

“Interesting. We heard you recovered some valuable goods, though we would need proof before discussing business” you say carefully

“Obviously I have the real goods hidden, but I made picturessh,” she says before pulling out a small magical device that projects images into the air.

The pictures clearly show the stolen materials Giovanni mentioned: magical gems, energy cores, and components used to power specialized machinery.

“Seems like it’s everything Giovanni described,” Midori whispers.

“Now...” Rash leans forward. “Do you have the money?”

You pull a heavy pouch full of coins from your bag and shake it slightly so she can hear the metallic sound.

“Nice” Rash grins. “Then I’ll askh you to follow me. Though first I gotta make sure you aren’t hiding any weapons.”

She quickly checks the three of you for visible weapons, but luckily none of you actually need to carry yours physically.

“You’re clean. Very well, let’sh go.”

You leave the pub and follow her deeper into the slums.

At first, Rash leads you through relatively populated streets, but the further you go, the more confusing the path becomes. She guides you through narrow alleys, hidden passages between buildings, abandoned courtyards, and even through holes in old fences.

At some point Marine quietly leans toward you.

“There’s no way I could ever remember this route,” she whispers.

“That’sh the point,” Rash says proudly without even turning around. “People who survive here need to know how to disappear.”

As you keep walking, the group slowly starts talking with her.

“So you sell stolen goods often?” Midori asks cautiously.

“Not alwaysh stolen” Rash shrugs. “Sometimesh I just find things. Sometimes people pay me to recover stuff. Sometimes people drop thingsh and I happen to be nearby.” She grins innocently.

“So basically you steal” Marine says.

“Only when necessary!” Rash replies dramatically before laughing. “The slums are rough, shell-girl. People here survive however they can.”

Despite her suspicious job, you begin to realize she doesn’t seem particularly cruel or malicious. She’s cheeky and constantly teasing people, but most of her behavior feels more like someone trying to survive while pretending to be tougher than she really is.

“You know” Rash says while walking backward for a moment, “you three are weirdly polite for rich outsiders.”

“We’re not rich” Marine immediately protests.

“You literally carry around bags full of money.”

“That’s mission money” you sigh.

“Still rich.”

At another point, Rash casually jumps onto a wall, walks across it to avoid a muddy alley, and lands perfectly on the other side.

“Careful where you step” she warns. “Some placesh around here are dangeroush at night.”

“You actually know this place really well” you comment.

“Of course I do. Thish place is home.”

After nearly an hour of walking through the maze-like district, you finally arrive at a hidden abandoned square.

There, among piles of junk and scrap metal, stands what can only be described as a makeshift refuge built from discarded wood, cloth, old furniture, and pieces of broken wagons.

“Ah yesh... home sweet home” Rash says proudly.

“You have... a nice place, I guess” you say carefully.

“Thanks. I’ll go grab the goods. Wait here” she says before disappearing inside.

A few minutes pass.

Then suddenly you hear Rash scream.

Instinctively, you rush toward the refuge.

“What’s happening, Rash?!” you shout.

You move aside the curtain at the entrance—

—but the moment you do, a knife suddenly slashes toward your throat.

You barely manage to jump back in time, raising your arm instinctively. The blade strikes the magical coat Katy made for you, and the enchantment absorbs most of the impact.

The attacker steps out of the refuge.... It’s Rash.

She holds the knife tightly while strange dark energy surges around her body.

“W-what are you doing, Rash?!” Marine yells.

“I’m shorry...” Rash mutters painfully. “But they won’t free me from thish thing unlessh I do thish...”

Her expression twists in pain as she removes the eyepatch covering her left eye.

The eye underneath is completely black, overflowing with the same dark energy you saw in the monsters from before.

“...Who did this to you?” you ask while getting into position.

“I... don’t have much time left to explain...” she says before suddenly lowering herself like a wild beast.

Then she moves.

She circles around your group at incredible speed, darting unpredictably through the square. Sometimes she moves so quickly that you struggle to keep track of her.

Finally, she lunges toward you with the knife aimed directly at your chest—

—but in that exact moment you summon the weapon created by the bond you have with Marine.

You tried summoning it during your free days, but this is the first time you use it in combat.

A medium-sized circular shield forms around your left arm, resembling the shell of a Squirtle, while a strange revolver-like weapon materializes in your right hand. Instead of bullets, condensed water magic gathers inside its chamber and you can shoot it while controlling it's power.

Rash’s blade crashes against your shield.

You immediately shove her backward.

Before you can fire, she resumes her frantic movements, making herself difficult to target.

You take a deep breath and focus on the sounds around you instead of following her movements with your eyes.

The moment you hear her slow down to launch another attack—

—you spin and fire.

A blast of compressed water shoots forward and strikes her legs, knocking her violently onto the ground.

The hit isn’t powerful enough to seriously injure her, but it completely breaks her momentum.

Rash tries to get back up, but you quickly fire several smaller shots in succession, hitting her shoulders and stomach and pinning her down.

At the same moment, Midori summons thick vines from the ground that wrap around Rash’s body and restrain her completely.

You cautiously approach the struggling girl.

“Who did this to you, Rash?” you ask again.

“I can’t tell you...” she mutters weakly. “But you’re in danger... you should just leave me here... it’s over for me anyway...”

The black energy around her eye slowly spreads further across her skin.

“What is this energy?” Midori asks worriedly.

“I don’t know...” Rash whispers painfully. “They captured me... **** this power into me... and said they would cure me only if I obeyed...”

“Pitiful. Truly pitiful.”

A woman’s voice suddenly echoes through the square.

“Yup. She completely failed her mission.” a second voice says.

“We’ll just have to handle these people ourselves.” a third voice says.

You all turn upward.

Three figures stand on the roof of one of the surrounding buildings.

One human and two musus.

“Who are you?” you ask.

The three figures jump down simultaneously, landing in front of you.

Now illuminated by the moonlight, you can finally see them clearly.

All three wear matching dark adventurer uniforms marked with the red “R” symbol of Clan Rocket.

The human woman steps forward first. She carries a lance and has long, impressive purple hair along with a confident smirk.

“We are an elite **** squad of Clan Rocket,” she announces dramatically. “And we are here to take your head, Erik Scarlett. I am Jessie, the Snake Fang!”

Beside her stands a Koffing, a type of musu that can control toxic gases. Her home too has the 'R' painted on it

“I am Kumo, the Queen of Gases!” she declares proudly.

On the other side, there's a Meowth musu, a species known for being agile treasure hunters.

“And I am Kitty, the Quickest Paw in Kanto.”

The three girls suddenly strike exaggerated poses together.

“And now surrender... or prepare to die!”

You stare at them for a few seconds in complete silence.

Marine slowly leans toward you.

“...Are they serious?”