The whole "adventure team" thing was turning out great. Team Lotus was earning a bunch of coins, items, and other rewards. It had only been a week, and they'd already completed several quests.
"Okay, team, let's try this one." Lotus pointed at a flyer near the bottom of the board. "Says here that this Bitbot needs help reassembling itself. We can do that, right?"
Kira nodded. "Your plant magic can probably do the job."
"Alright, let's head out! It should be down that way." He led Kira and Aroura through the town. As they were leaving, another pair walked up to the board, eyeing the same flyer.
"Those losers think they can take all the credit, huh?" one of them sneered, his wispy orange tail flicking in annoyance. "Well, they've got bad things coming for them."
His companion balled up his fists. "Team Flash's gonna have to free them of their labor... through force. Let's take 'em down, Jal."
And the pair drifted away.
________
"All fixed!" Lotus's vines retracted from the small screws.
"This feels so much better! Thank you!" Bert the Bitbot, who'd placed the order, beamed at them and ran off to fetch their reward.
Kira sat down. "Man, why are all the easy quests so rewarding? Some of these are fairly simple tasks. I feel like the other Pets are overpaying." Aroura nodded in agreement.
"Well, when that 'simple task' is impossible because of your typing, or your physical traits..." Lotus shrugged. "You're a lot more grateful for the help."
"I guess that makes sense." Her ears twitched. Something felt wrong.
Burt came rushing back with some coins. "Here you go. Thanks again, Lotus!"
"You're welcome! My teammates and I are happy to help." The Sproot took the coin bag in his beak and carried it outside.
As the trio were walking back to their home, Kira slowed suddenly, her fur puffing up. "Hey, guys... does something feel-"
A red blur jumped out of the bushes, tackling her and cutting her off. She found herself face-to-face with a Scovile. His leafy frills were flared out, and wisps of smoke drifted from between his bared teeth. As Lotus and Aroura gasped in shock, a chubbier white figure appeared, snatching the coins and darting away.
Lotus shook his head and glared at them. "Jal! Whis! I should have known you'd do something like this. Let her go!"
"And why should we?" Jal returned the furious gaze, refusing to let Kira up. "You've been taking all the quests. We're just trying to free some up for little Teams like ours. And if that means taking yours out of commission, well..." He raised a clawed forepaw, ready to strike. "...I don't mind that at all."
Aroura charged forward, preparing a Comet attack. However, Whis stopped her with a Nip to the tail. Enraged, Lotus used Bramble Chain, but it did minimal damage to the chubby Rukus.
Jal turned back to Kira. "Time to pay for that beach incident, hairball."
Kira, panicking, flailed. Jal struggled to keep her down, and eventually was thrown off. She stood up and went after Whis, hitting him with a Scratch.
"OW!" The Ice Pet released Aroura and growled at the trio. "You'll never beat me! All of you are weaker!"
"Doesn't mean we can't try!" shouted Lotus, using Beak to knock him away. Kira prepared to follow up his attack, but saw Jal sneaking up on them. She whipped around to face him... and felt a new power within her.
A ball of swirling leaves manifested above her and flew towards the angered Scovile, striking him hard. He flew back from the impact and struggled to get back up.
Before she could process what had happened, she heard a shout. "Don't even THINK about coming back!" Lotus snapped as Whis flew away. His buddy hurried after him. Aroura watched them leave, contempt in her eyes, and went to pick up the bag of coins.
Lotus turned to Kira. "Hey, you alright?"
"Yeah... just..." She sat down. The new move had left her breathless. "I think I learned another attack. There was this... huge ball of leaves... and..."
"That was Leaf Storm," her friend replied. "Which means you've gotten a lot stronger!"
"I have? Uh... thanks!"
"Let's head home and take a break. Those jerks used up a lot of our energy."