[@Ninian] [@Bright_Ops]

[color=#FFCCCC][h1][b]Hat[/b][/h1][/color]

[i]Valiant Village, Main street, midday[/i]

On top of the tower, there were various telescopes, binoculars, and all sorts of similar equipment. Hat supposed this was the town’s local stargazing place, but it was also pretty good for looking at the layout of the town. There were many different strange buildings here. 

Some buildings were brightly colored, others were decorated in an obvious theme. One such building was obviously a kecleon shop. Hat noted its location- She didn’t want to get too close to it if she could help it. 

Eventually, though, she saw what looked to be the guild. It was a couple of larger buildings, only distinguishable from the rest by the obvious training equipment along the outside. The Pokemon there moved in small groups. Teams, obviously. Looks like she’d found her target.

However, despite knowing what it looked like, Hat had absolutely no idea how to approach it and learn more about it. She supposed she could try and sneak around it, to get a closer look, but given how many Pokemon were there, it would be risky, and hard to explain if she got caught. 

If she was feeling particularly bold, she could even try to go in directly, under the premise of looking to join the guild. She had no such intention, obviously, guilds tended to take far, far too much of their member’s earnings for her liking. 

Suddenly, she noticed something. Along one of the little walls of the tower, there were various posters. Most of them were promotional, advertising products or jobs, but there were a few that most certainly weren’t.

Wanted posters. There were a few nasty-looking Pokemon on it, a Beedrill, a Scizor, a Jinx. They all had some serious cash listed under their names, the Scizor especially. Hat briefly considered trying to catch one, but immediately threw the idea away. There was no way she could beat monsters like these. 

Perhaps, though, if she were to “help” with the capture of one, the townspeople would give her a share of the reward. If not, at the very least she’d gain a lot of respect. Nobody would expect a criminal to help catch another criminal, right? 

She considered the idea. She hadn’t actually seen a single one of these wanted Pokemon, but she could just as easily pretend she did. The mountainous forest she’d gone through on her way over was relatively thick, but could certainly house a Beedrill or Scizor inside. All she had to do was go to the guild, and say she spotted one of them on her way over from Misty Town. Easy.

If things went sour, she could also use the chance to quickly take what she could from the guild, too. After all, who’d be left behind, defending the place, if there was a nearby dangerous criminal? 

Hat decided that this was her best option. If she could gain the respect of the townspeople like this, it’d be much easier to slip in and lie low. Much, much easier. 

Hat climbed down from the tower. She knew where the guild was, but she still needed to make certain of it. She couldn’t be going and babbling to some random farmer about how Grease the Beedrill was nearby and dangerous, she had to go and babble about that to the guild. 

She looked around. There were plenty of people to ask, so she decided to ask the least busy-looking person, a Mawile petting an Eevee down near the water. The Mawile looked strong- Maybe it was a member of the guild.

Hat made her way over. Upon a closer look, the Eevee was even fluffier than expected. The Mawile was definitely not. When she was close enough to hear that they were actually talking to each other, she hesitated. They hadn’t noticed her yet, and she didn’t want to make a poor impression. 

Of course, she did need to know exactly where the guild was. She waited for a pause in their conversation, then spoke up. 

“Hey, you two,” she said, “Either of you know where the guild is?”

She never did like her voice. It was very high-pitched, which tended to clash with her gruff Sneasel-esque accent comically. She couldn’t get rid of either half, no matter how much her ex-teammates had laughed about it. She hoped these two wouldn’t.