Gnasher Task: Operation Scissor Grabbers - Part 1

Bisharp wandered into Tao Village in his usual cheerful demeanor, which contrasted rather noticeably from those of most everyone else in the village. Sure, half of everyone's teams were still gone (although some had mysteriously returned, to their joy) and things didn't seem like they were going to get better, especially considering how the rest of them only received letters from their missing teammates from the past. But Bisharp had high hopes and confidence that HIS missing partner, Ralts, would one day return safely. For he had Tori the Pawniard with him, the girl he had grown to love more than anyone else, sitting on his shoulder. As long as she was with him, he could wait forever for Ralts if he had to.

On the other hand, Tori didn't worry much for Bandit's welfare, she had long since picked up the fact he was a seasoned character; he knew how to survive in this harsh world. The only thing that worried her was the details that linked Bandit and Ralts; While Tori’s letter from her ghostly partner gave subtleties of his motives, Bisharp’s letter from Ralts made it clear that the person Bandit intended to “keep an eye on” was none other than the emotion ferret herself, Ralts.

As far as the Pawniard was concerned, the mischievous ghost was sure to treat her boyfriend’s sensitive partner no different than the ghost had treated Tori... she could only feel sorry for the poor girl, to have to deal with someone as devilish and deceitful as Bandit. He was sure to cause her a miserable time or the worst days of her life. It was a fair bet… right?

Either way, they could do nothing about it, at least while they were in the now; Bandit and Ralts were stuck in the past, literally.

“No Dice? No chance. No need sweat’n over things ya can’t control, baby girl~” these words suddenly echoed from the corner of Tori’s conscience as if by cue, no doubt the voice of her father; the enigmatic fool who had an obvious affair with Lady Luck in his life. Begrudgingly, she quickly brushed the voice off. True, she, Bisharp, no one in their time for that matter, could do anything about Bandit and Ralts, including the rest of the Pokémon trapped in the past. Whether Ralts was to be tormented by the purple ghost, whether someone else intervened, or whether by some ridiculous miracle Ralts happens to somehow slap manners into the dirty floating rag; whatever the odds were, only time would reveal the outcome.

At any rate, in the present time Bisharp had come into Tao on a whim, maybe to get some shopping done, hang out at the Spinda Cafe for a bite, chat it up with Amy and Rigley for a bit (when they weren't glaring at him for kicking back and doing nothing to help them), whatever.

Tori had eagerly insisted on accompanying him before he could have even asked her to, in the moment he had mentioned himself heading out to town. She loved spending time with Bisharp, and the cheerful smile on the face of a grinch couldn’t have been more convincing; anyone who had known her before would hardly recognize her now, and it was all thanks to Bisharp who had made this change possible.

Though Tori was not the only one that had undergone a small transformation of sorts, she had caused a considerable extent of change in Bisharp as well. From a self-centered hotshot to a compassionate young man was an admirable alteration. Though no one is sure who had triggered whom to change first, there was one thing that was certain: their love and respect for one another fed each other other’s growth and was only continuing to do so.

Don’t get me wrong, though, the journey was anything but easy. With the many trials and hardships that had come their way, the barrage of things that had forced them to plummet rock-bottom before finding their way back to the top in triumph, everything that had passed between them since Mission 7’s end was an entire adventure on its own; a great series of stories to be saved for another time.

They had just gotten to the fountain in the middle of town when they noticed a strange new bulletin board erected near all the other major bulletins. What was most noticeable, of course, was how this new board had attracted an unusually large crowd of Pokémon to chatter excitedly before it. "Hmm..." he quirked an eyebrow, "This is new," he casually remarked to Tori who had already stood herself up and was carefully scanning over towards the curious sight from Bisharp’s shoulder.

The tip of her knifed arm steadily placed itself on her chin. "No doubt. It’s big, it covered in writing, and it’s in the center of attention. It obviously must have some importance. Why don’t we take a look too?" Without waiting for a reply, she hopped off Bisharp's shoulder and disappearing into the gathered mass towards the bulletin board, curious as anyone else to what the new object was all about.

Bisharp sighed. There went Tori again. He could never seem to keep her in one place for long, but then again, that's just the way she was. She just wasn't the kind of person who needed babysitting all the time (far from it, in fact), and part of the reason why he respected her so much. He carefully made his way past several of the Pokémon gathered around until he stood where Tori was. He found her craning her neck, trying to read all the papers that were up so high. At the same time, however, the board was also rather short for him in comparison; and considering how he was one of the tallest Pokémon in the crowd anyway, he really didn't blame the board itself for having been built in the size that suits the average height of everyone in Tao.

He read the top of the board; “Tasks” it was titled, and there were many sheets of paper strewn across its surface, which he briefly skimmed through a few. Apparently, they were all little errands; small jobs compared to the usual work and none of them paid nearly as well either; but on the plus side, they were much easier work than what normal missions would issue. He sighed in boredom, these little itty bitty things weren't worth his time. He was considering leaving, at least until he heard Tori trying to read one of the papers aloud.

"Um... t-… tak. taki... take? Take the ssss-... stuff? Tow the um... squ- scott? Nee-air Toe laki, no- um. Toe Lake. what-ch uht far the fuss...?"

Bisharp couldn't help but laugh before quickly covering his mouth, hoping he wouldn't offend Tori. "W-well...you got pretty close-" He covered his mouth again, trying very hard to muffle the incredibly wide smile on his face. But it was too late; the Pawniard’s face was burned to the red shade of a Tamato berry. She was half-hoping to impress Bisharp and show him that his teaching efforts really were helping her become literate, but her bold eagerness had once again backfired harshly on her. To her misfortune, it wasn’t just Bisharp; half of the crowd had noticed her hilarious mistake and were laughing at her. She would’ve shouted right out in anger and sliced a few of them, but she knew she would only get herself in a hefty amount of unneeded trouble if she reacted on that. So instead, she gave the inconsiderate part of the crowd a cold glare before then shrinking back behind Bisharp's leg, sorely bruised in her pride.

Bisharp glared at the rude mass and shouted, "Hey, shut up! I'm willing to bet half of you are still LEARNING how to read!" which actually did get them all to shut up pretty quick (for hey, it was a legit fact). When things settled down a bit more, he turned to Tori. "It actually says 'Take "the stuff" to "the spot" near Tao Lake. Watch out for "the fuzz". Arr.' ” He explained, putting on a Gunpowder impression in his voice. The desert shark probably wrote this after all, knowing him. “Oh hey, there's even a little map he drew!" Bisharp smiled at how even one of their leaders had a hard time writing.

He always wondered where Devonshire was off to nowadays; this was the final proof that the Sableye really did disappear into the past along with everyone else, and that only Gunpowder was left, since he wrote both of the tasks for the Rogues. Still feeling rather uninterested, his eyes looked down to the tasks marked with "Whoever" and "Whoever 2." Nope. He didn't need any more assistance with his attacks, and the rest of those looked boring...until he saw an unusual footnote underneath the one for Gnasher the Banette needing a replacement for his assistant.

"Yo guys, here's a secret," it was written. "Some old accessories from Missions 1-5 that you can no longer get might still be in the trash in Gnasher’s shop! Sssh...don't tell anyone!" Bisharp then suddenly had a flashback to the time in Mission 6; when he realized that he would look really cool with some Danger Shades over his eyes. But he never got a chance to get any since Gnasher disposed of them along with all the other accessories when he took over the shop, claiming they were a bunch of gaudy fashion disasters. And the main reason it never occurred to Bisharp how cool he would look in them was because of former Rescuer leader, Chill the Minccinno, who would always wear those, and thus, made Bisharp think they were only for Rescuers. But now that Chill was long gone, hey? What was to stop him from pilfering some for himself? A huge grin spread over his face as he stared intently at that task. Maybe he could convince Tori to help him out with this.

Obviously, she was not ready to read, despite the polite encouragement Bisharp gave which made the experience feel less bad. Yeah, she was pretty close... Oh well, she quietly listened to Bisharp mumble reading the task until he suddenly got real quiet. Curious as to what was going on, she quietly walked in front of him and looked up at his face... Oh dear... he was getting that excited look in his eyes, the one she was familiar with when someone had a really "grand" idea... this reminded her of part of the other reason why she insisted on coming with Bisharp, to make sure he didn’t get himself into any trouble. "Bisharp?" She asked with a slightly suspicious tone, though trying to make it sound more curious than suspicious, "What's going through that intriguing mind of yours~?" a grin crept up her lips with how playful she had finished her sentence.

He looked down at her and asked, still with that grin on his face, "Tori...have you ever wondered what it was like to go into..." He paused for effect. "...the FASHION business?" He considered telling her about his plan, but wasn't sure if she'd approve of stealing anything, even if it was for "the poor" like him. He also had to admit it felt a bit strange; this playful plan going through his mind. But at the same time, the three most fashionable people he knew, Chikorita, Ralts, and Psyme had all also been teleported into the past, thus leaving him as the sole fashionable member among all his friends, given the awesomeness of how his long, black scarf blew in the wind. Hey, as long as it made him look cool and didn't get in the way of battle, he was willing to experiment with whatever could enhance said coolness.

Upon the strange question, she had no doubts at all that he was up to something, but decided to play along... for now. ".... No.... I haven't... though I'm sure my sister Katana has... are you planning to go shopping or something...?" He was hiding something, she could feel it; but it was difficult to think of Bisharp as a deceiving crook, loving him too much to even consider such character. But knowing how much trouble he tended to get himself into, the least she could imagine as was a kid with big unrealistic fantasies that he would innocently get into heaps of trouble for. She was going to try her best to keep his head out of the clouds. "You know, if you need help, I'll be more than willing to help out" she smiled confidently at him. "Though... I don't know if I have great tastes about fashion... do you?" It was kind of a dumb question, but it made it evident that she clearly didn't seem to have a conscience between good and bad fashion, if she couldn't recognize that Bisharp was indeed fashionable with his scarf.

"You could say that...now, um...as for..." He scanned the area before grabbing her with both hands, quickly made his way through the crowd, and carried as fast as he could to the building shaped like a Leavanny head, quickly hiding behind it so no one could see them, before he set her down on the ground.

"Wha— hey!" Had circumstances been different where Bisharp was a stranger kidnapping her, she would of fought back and sliced him in the face. But again, this was her lover; as super obviously fishy as his actions here were, there was no way she was going to consider hurt Bisharp... at least not without an explanation first. "What are you do—" but it was then what they were doing clicked... were they about to attempt snatching goods from the clothes store? Back in Giant Chasm, it would have made complete sense and no one would criticize, though here in Tao Region, it was a completely different story. "Hey" she whispered, "come on, if you're trying to steal from that place, we have vouchers, remember? So why are we trying to snatch anything from this place if we can buy it?" She wasn't necessarily objecting to stealing anything, she was just trying to find an explanation for why they were doing something the hard way when they could do the same thing a more peaceful way, though of course she didn't know about the whole hidden note under Gnasher's task.

Bisharp froze. Apparently, she had already figured out what he was trying to do without him even saying anything about it, in some sort of way. He calmed himself down and explained, "Well, yeah, I know that! That's what vouchers are for, after all. The thing is..." He had to pause for breath. "There's this...certain accessory...that I didn't realize would make me look 100% cooler than I am now until we were all stuck at that demonic castle. It's this cool pair of black shades that go over my eyes like this." He gestured with his hands to approximate how big they were. "And then when I finally get back to town, here's this ghost guy who's thrown away that and pretty much everything else! I was SO mad! I thought I'd lost it forever! But now..." He lowered himself and whispered in Tori's ear, "There was this note below that task saying that maybe those cool-looking shades might still be in the trash somewhere in this shop. I was hoping that maybe, if I—or we—got to help Gnasher out with his accessories, maybe I could dig them up in there or something without him noticing." He sighed, turning away from her. "I know, I know. It probably sounds stupid and childish, and maybe I don't really need it. But...how will I know if I don't try?"

She smiled, a little too late to contain her giggle; she had seen someone before wearing a pair of large black glasses over their face, and imagining Bisharp wearing those things was a really adorably silly imagine in her head. "I see..." giggling a final time, "you're so cute sometimes, you know? Alright. I'll help you out. So here's the plan: we both go in to offer help, right? On the job, one of us will watch out for Gnasher while the other searches though the trash. We'll take turns watching and searching, right? Now there's only one last problem... do either of us know how to make accessories?"

Suddenly, they would hear a loud crackling of doors being forced open followed by irritated voices and a thud of tossed Pokémon. "TIME and QUALITY are the TOP priorities here! You two are TOO SLOPPY for this job, now BEAT IT!" Gnasher slammed the doors shut before two irked-looking Pokémon, "Sheesh, what a crank..." one of them grumbled. "Yeah, no wonder no one sent him any letters, come on, there are easier jobs on the board..." Tori and Bisharp watched as the miscellaneous team went about their way... perhaps this job was going to be tougher than they were bargaining for... but if this was going to make Bisharp happy, should they pull it off, it was going to be worth all the sweat and frustration they were sure to go through.

As Bisharp watched Gnasher throw the miscellaneous team out, he suddenly felt intimidated by how much harder this operation would be than he thought it would. But to hear Tori agree to help him out and even call him cute made him feel better that at least she had his back here. He started to think hard. "Yeah...I dunno if I ever paid enough attention to how they do it, but I think I might be able to wing it. I know for sure that Rigley's mom is the best at it, but she's not here anymore. And Amy and Chikorita also have a bit of experience here, but since Chikorita's gone too, that leaves only Amy..." He groaned, really wishing he didn't have to resort to the little Jigglypuff all the time. "What do you think, Tori? Should we both try to wing it ourselves, or should we have Amy distract Gnasher for us?"

Tori thought about it, the idea of getting experienced help like Amy sounded like a good plan, but at the same time, trying to drag someone as busy as Amy into becoming an important asset was just degrading in pride. It reminded her too much of how her dad would ask favors from his friends, especially Victor, and almost always succeed in convincing them into helping despite their initial reluctance. Nope, she was definitely not going to let her, or Bisharp, for that matter, lower themselves to her dad's lowly level of disgrace. "... Nah, let's wing this thing. How hard can making clothes be? There's no danger of being eaten or killed or anything, right? Now let's go." She walked on up through the front door of the shop already to approach Gnasher at the front counter.

Before he knew it, Tori was already opening the door and striding through the front entrance. "H-hey, wait up!" he said, stumbling after her, trying to put up a brave front. But he was feeling much better, both in not having to bother Amy after all, and in the fact that, indeed, it's not like they were going to get eaten or killed. Better yet, if Tori was as arguable with Gnasher as he observed her to be with everyone else that wasn't him; he might even be able to search for the Danger Shades then.

To be continued...