A heavy, suffocating weight on my chest caused me to wake up and for a moment, I was wondering where I was. There was only darkness around me and it took a moment to put the memories of the last night together.

Claire and I had been having dinner and happily toasting with the local wine, until we were… tipsy. Or maybe even a little drunk. Or, maybe even a little more than a little drunk, at least in Clarie’s case. Getting back to the Centre, despite it only being a couple hundred metres, had been a challenge, having to make sure Claire didn’t fall over but we had made it, and back to our room. But why was Claire lying on my chest, fast asleep?

Pushing her away, I somehow managed to get out from under her, without dumping her on the floor. Just for that, I was truly proud of myself.

Walking into the bathroom, I suddenly regretted my choice of not throwing her off the bed. Before using me as a pillow, a certain someone had lost the contents on her stomach, some of it even making it into the toilet. The rest, not so much…

For a moment, I considered leaving it for her to clean up, but given her state, I decided that it had to be done and the sooner, the better. Opening the window, to let the sour smell out, I dressed in some simple clothes and raided the supply-closet, before getting to work, silently muttering curses as I cleaned up. The Journey of the great Pokémon-Master, starting with cleaning the toilet. What a Legend…

Once I was done, and Claire was still snoring away on my bed, I decided to follow the grumbling of my stomach and get breakfast. When I walked past the counter, the attendant called out to me.

“Excuse me, are you Dani?” he asked, a bit of a frown on his face.

“I am. What do you need?” I stepped up, curious what was going on.

“There’s a message here, from the Gym. Your task has been decided.” he told me.

“I see. Thank you for the information.” I gave him a nod and continued on my way, leaving the Centre to grab a bite to eat. Luckily, a nearby shop was selling some tasty pancakes, filled with berries and cream, to go along with some tea, that I could eat while walking to the Gym.

The Gym was still rather empty, given that it was rather early in the morning, but to me, that only meant I didn’t need to wait, until the attendant had time for me.

“Good Morning, my name is Dani and I applied for a Badge-task yesterday.” I told her, getting a nod and greeting in response.

After a moment of looking through paper, she looked back up.

“The task says there’s someone working with you, a Claire?” she asked, a bit of a frown on her face.

“There is, does she need to be here, too? Or can I accept the task, before kicking her out of bed?” there might have been a bit of a malicious undertone in my voice, as a perfect revenge for the bed and bathroom-incidents began to unfold in my mind. Either way, the attendant looked a little perturbed.

“No, as long as you applied together, only one is needed to receive the task. Though if the task is failed, both of you will be penalised and if there is an attempt of cheating the system, by completing a task for another, punishment can be levied.” the attendant warned me, making me nod in acceptance.

“I don’t plan to do the task on my own.” I replied, the earlier smile growing just a little wider. No, I didn’t plan to do the task on my own, I planned to drag her with me, kicking and screaming if necessary. Or, more likely, whining and vomiting, but after the way I had been awakened, I was just fine with that.

“Aaanyway, the task for you this time, is to investigate the newly appeared swamp between Twinleaf and Sandgem. Given past experience, it is highly likely that a colony of Bidoof gathered and built a dam. If that is the case, you are tasked with the dam’s destruction, so that the water can return to its previous flow.” the attendant explained, her smile a little strained around the edges. I nodded along, amused that the problem we had reported yesterday, was now handed to us, to solve. Crossing the swampy ground had been a pain, so I was happy that something was done, even if it was us doing the something.

“Just to ascertain a few things, the Bidoof won’t be needlessly harmed by the destruction of their dam? Losing offspring or their habitat, or something along those lines?” I asked, remembering the tests Cynthia had given me, some of the described tasks had been traps, accomplishing them would have harmed Pokémon and people alike. Sometimes, good intentions could produce horrible outcomes.

“They won’t be harmed. While they look similar to beavers, they aren’t and we really have no idea why they act like them at times. Pokémon being Pokémon, I guess.” she explained with a shrug.

“Good to know.” I nodded, before continuing, “Do you happen to know how many Bidoof commonly form a colony? Different numbers require a different approach and all that. In addition, how solid are their dams?” I continued asking, trying to make sure that I had all necessary information to make an informed decision. Recklessly accepting a task beyond our abilities would not do.

“While we assume it is a colony, dams have been built by individual Bidoof in the past. Finding a colony with more than ten Bidoof is extremely rare, four to six is common.” she replied, before adding, “Their dam’s are only made of wood, so a Tackle or a similar physical attack will easily be able to destroy it. Really, finding it and disposing of the Bidoof are the problems.” she assured me and after a moment of mental calculus, I decided that it was within our ability.

“We will undertake your task.” I nodded, presenting my League-card once again.

“Be safe out there.” she wished me, after putting the appropriate mark down.

Walking back out, I decided that we could get there tomorrow afternoon, if we headed out during the morning. That way, we would be able to deal with the dam and head back, getting back to town in three days. Otherwise, we would lose a whole day and while it wasn’t like I had somewhere to be,wasting time was not on my agenda.

Walking into the Centre, I waited until the attendant had a moment and stepped up.

“Excuse me, I might need to resort to slightly extreme measures to wake my companion. Will it be a problem if, say, a Pokémon unleashes a Growl to wake her?” I asked, my most polite smile on my face.

“Please don’t.” he replied, his voice serious. “While there are places for mock-battles that allow active Pokémon-ability usage, the rooms are not among them.”

“I see. Too bad, I guess I’ll have to do that the old fashioned way.” I nodded, before walking away, towards the room we had been assigned.

Opening it, I could hear Claire’s snoring and for a moment, I almost felt bad about what I was about to do. But then, I remembered kneeling on the hard, bathroom-floor, scrubbing off the remains of her dinner last night and the bad feeling vanished as if it had bever been there in the first place.

Stepping up, I started to quietly whisper into Claire’s ear, softly entreating her to get up.

When that didn’t help, I gently shook her shoulder, only to have my hand swatted aside.

Having tried the nice way, I stepped back, taking a deep breath.

“WAKE UP!” I shouted, trying to direct my voice directly into her ears.

The effect was just as I had imagined and my earlier wish to have pushed her out of bed came true, without ever having to touch her.

When I shouted, she tried to jump up, only to tangle her legs in the sheets, cutting her jump short and causing her to flop around like a fish out of water until she landed on the ground with a painful-sounding thump.

As she was lying there, on the ground, her arms wrapped around her head, she sounded very much like she was in serious pain, to the point that I began to feel bad. Maybe I had overdone things.

“You should get up and take a shower. After your vomiting last night, I can’t imagine you feel too hot.” I told her, getting a groan of protest in response. Hopefully, she’d learn the lesson that getting drunk was bad, I had no desire to clean up her vomit ever again.