The Garchomp behind the desk had seemed a bit put off by Diana’s appearance, making the dancer question whether the entire establishment was safe for her patronage. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the liberty of picking and choosing where she wanted to stay. It was either stay and bear through such treatment, or go outside and be soaked to the bone.
Nevertheless, the receptionist had gone back to see if they carried any pouches for purchase. Service was service, so the Ekans would be glad to leave a tip for the young girl. Diana knew enough about herself to know she’d even leave a tip for bad service.
With a small sigh, she stood up straight and looked around the Inn, choosing to ignore the Charizard that was still frozen in place with his challenging expression. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a familiar figure. One that she’d noticed earlier but didn’t have enough time to really think twice about. In an instant, however, the person vanished in the crowd and lost what little attention she’d initially chosen to give.
Taking a deep breath, she was alerted when the Garchomp girl had returned with a pouch. Diana hastily stored the chunk of gold inside of it. Her coins were left on the counter, which would be enough to cover the pouch, the room, and gratuity.
With obvious hesitation, the garchomp slid a key across the counter toward Diana, which the serpent graciously accepted. With a smile, she turned to leave to her room. She couldn’t help but look around and notice a few pairs of eyes on her. An Aerodactyl and a Vaporeon, both female, were watching her. Occasionally they would glance over toward Rex with concern.
Diana hoped they weren’t his friends, otherwise, there’d likely be a bit more trouble in her future.
Little did she know that ‘trouble’ was perhaps an understatement.
***
The Aerodactyl stood in the doorway to Diana’s room, supporting Rex, who was holding his head and looking a bit dazed. Meanwhile the Vaporeon had the serpent pinned to the ground, her face (which was more Pokemon than human) contorted into a snarl.
“We’re going to tear you limb from limb!” the water-type hissed.
“Enough, Hylidae!” the Aerodactyl barked, “I said to rough her up. We don’t need a murder on our hands.” The Vaporeon looked over her shoulder, then back to Diana. With a huff and a scowl, she heaved herself off of the Ekans.
“Fine, but I still think we’d be in the right if we killed her. It’s self-defense since she used an attack on Rex!”
Diana took this opportunity to sit up. She had scratch marks on various parts of her body, one of the most painful ones being on her arm. Waves of pain throbbed from it with every movement.
“Remember what we’ve done here, worm,” the Aerodactyl said, “for it’ll be much worse if we see you harming one of our friends, or anyone, using your special attacks.”
The sturdy woman turned and looked at Rex, who had finally recovered enough to glare at Diana. He pointed at her sternly,“yeah, and if you--”
“Shut up, Rex,” said the Aerodactyl, “your mouth gets you in more trouble than it’s worth. If you can’t even handle yourself against an Ekans, then you’re barely a Charizard.”
Rex ducked his head, his eyes softening at her words.
From what Diana had seen thus far, it was clear who held the highest status of their little clique. Part of her wanted to catch this Aerodactyl’s name, but another part simply wanted them to leave faster.
“Come on, you two. I think we’ve gotten enough payback for tonight. I have somewhere else in mind that we can stay.” With that, the trio left one by one. The last one, of course, being Hylidae, who lingered a moment longer to glare at the Ekans before slowly exiting.
Diana rose to her feet and sat down on her bed, not caring at the moment that the door to her room was wide open. She let out a relieved sigh and reached down beneath the wooden frame, withdrawing the pouch holding her large chunk of gold.
“At least they seem to have forgotten about this. I don’t think I would’ve been able to stop three of them,” Diana murmured to herself.
Her eyes fixed on the wound on her arm. She lightly touched it, then winced and hissed at the burning pain. It was clear she’d need to see a doctor soon, lest her wounds get infected. For now, though, she simply needed a to breathe in the silence around her.