Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 : ThunderStorm at Sea

"W-WHOA! Wh-wh-what!?"

"A-Are you OK?!"

"No! Hang on! Just a little longer!"

"N-No! I'm sorry...I c-cant...hold on!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Vulpix yawned. The Vulpix woke up in the morning, but she was still exhausted, she did not sleep well. There was a heavy thunderstorm last night, and the open cliff she lived on didn't help with the noise. She decided to just go back to sleep immediately after.

On the beach however, someone else did not have a better experience. A lone Ralts was lying on the beach, unconscious. Her head was using a rock like a pillow and she was getting baked in the bright sun.

"GAAH!" she immediately woke up from the shock of the cold sea waves splashing on her. Ralts immediately backpedaled, scrambling as far away from the sea as possible. Or at least she tried. She couldn't feel her limbs, so she ended up awkwardly rolling away a little distance. Her head didn't help matters, with green hair allowing her to barely see anything and a killer headache. Even after the cold awakening, she immediately felt dizzy and exhausted and ended up passing out again.

Ralts woke up after in the evening. The sky was a bright pink and orange, with the sun setting in the horizon. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to look around her surroundings.

"Ok...where am I?" She looked around, however something green was blocking the majority of her vision.

"W-what the-?! What the heck? Why is my hair green?" she exclaimed in surprise. She lifted the hair out of her eyes and looked at her arm. It was white. She gasped and looked down. White again. She started to freak out a little, but calmed down quickly.

"No...calm down Hazel...panicking won't solve anything" she whispered to herself while taking a deep breath. She tried to get up, however her spinning head, cramps and new body caused her to sit right back down.

She got a better look at her body. Her body was completely white, with green hair and some kind of horns on the front and back of her head. After pausing for a moment, she recognized those descriptions.

'I'm...a Ralts?! Why?! I am supposed to be a human for crying out loud.' she thought to herself, silently panicking. However, for some reason there was a twinge of excitement.

'I'm...a Pokemon! This is, a little cool actually! Sure, I may be the size of 2 pencil cases stacked on top of each other, but maybe I can use moves and abilities. Maybe I'm more resilient too.' she thought to herself, grinning a little. 'Although it sucks that my family and friends won't recognize me. Wait, who ARE my friends and family?' her grin vanished.

'Ok, rewind. My name is Hazel, I'm a Ralts, somehow, I'm 15 and have some form of amnesia. I don't know what the heck happened and how I got here. Great, my life is going excellent. As if it wasn't going downhill already.'

'Well, no point in staying here. I'll just - Geh!" she grunted as she tried to get up, but couldn't. She body was still sore from whatever happened, not too mention she was in a different body.

'Welp, then I'll just sit here and contemplate my life choices. If I uh, had any...'

Hazel looked around. She was on a beach, and it was dusk. Turning her head towards the sea, she gasped. The setting sun reflected in the waves and the orange and pink sky were gorgeous. The sunlight was gently reflecting off of the many bubbles swaying in the wind. All her worries faded as she continued to bathe in the sunset. 'So...gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen something like this...'

"Alright, I got this..." Vulpix muttered to herself. She was in front of a big tent with the shape of a Wigglytuff at the top. Right in front of Vulpix was a wooden grate covering a dark hole. There were also two giant torches next to the tent. She always wanted to join the Wigglytuff Guild, but her nerves always got the better of her. 'Not this time', she swore to herself.

Vulpix stepped on the grate. Almost immediately, a voice shouted up at her, scaring the daylights out of her.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is Vulpix! The footprint is Vulpix!"

"OH ARCEUS WHAT IN THE WORLD WHO SAID THAT!" Vulpix yelped and immediately stepped off the grate. Luckily, nothing happened and she let out a sign of relief. She then calmed down and sulked.

'That was WAY too scary. Who thought that was a good idea?' she thought to herself with a sad expression on her face.

'I really need to take a breather. All these nerves and jumpscares are way too much for me. I should unwind at the beach. I thought my Relic Fragment would help me with my nerves...Oh well, I'll come back a little later' she sulked internally.

As she walked away, she tripped on a patch of grass. The Relic Fragment around her neck, which was attached by a string, detached from her neck and rolled away a small distance near a bush.

"O-Oh, my Relic Fragment..." she mumbled loudly. She picked it put and retied it around her neck with the help of her tails.

She walked away towards the beach. When she was down at the crossroads, 2 Pokemon hiding in the bush emerged. One was a blue bat like Pokemon with no eyes and an open mouth, a Zubat, while the other was like a purple balloon, emitting some sort of toxic gas out of him which kept him afloat, a Koffing.

"Heh-heh, seems like that wimp had something good around her neck. May fetch a pretty Poke." Zubat laughed, grinning wildly.

"You sure? It was just a rock with a weird pattern from what I saw."

"Well, either way, I just want to mess with someone for once. I'm still annoyed about our unsuccessful treasure hunt on Mt Bristle." Zubat sighed in annoyance. They searched all over the mountain for the rumored treasure, but they left empty-handed and covered in scratches.

"Whoa-ho, let's follow her quickly then. We may lose her if we don't hurry." Koffing snickered.

Zubat and Koffing both nodded, before both floated off towards her general direction.

As Vulpix headed for the beach, she saw a bunch of familiar Krabby crawl out. As they usually did, they started blowing out bubbles into the sky. Vulpix approached the waves and sat down, watching the marvelous view of the pink and orange sky, with the sun setting in the horizon with the bubbles reflecting all those colors.

'This view never gets old. I guess the Krabby also agree.' Vulpix thought blissfully. She continued to marvel at the view for a while, sinking into the moment.

'Coming here is always uplifting...Huh?' She noticed something white and green from the corner of her eyes. As she approached, she realized it was actually a Pokemon. The Pokemon was sitting against a wall and their eyes seemed to be glued to the sunset. 'Can't really blame them, the sunset is very pretty...Maybe I should say hello...? Never seen anyone like them anywhere near town...'

Ralts was too preoccupied with the view to notice an approaching Vulpix.

"U-Um, hello..." a voice said.

Ralts immediately flinched and jolted up to look at the Vulpix. The Vulpix was red, with a string necklace and a small pouch at her side. Her eyes were pure brown and they had 5 tails. From her voice, she sounded around 15 years old, maybe a little older.

As soon as the Ralts flinched, the Vulpix also flinched slightly, clearly not expecting such a reaction.

"W-Whoa- is s-something wrong?" The Vulpix asked panickly.

"O-O-Oh, I-I'm sorry, didn't notice y-you there..." Hazel stammered. She was startled by the Vulpix, not too mention she was horrible at talking to others.

"W-Well, okay then..." Vulpix paused a little, taking a good look at Hazel. She noticed some small scrapes on her. "Are you alright?" She asked, concern clouding her face and eyes.

"W-Well...My h-head hurts, and s-so does my b-body..." Ralts winced, trying to stand up again, since Vulpix basically towered over her.

"O-Oh dear! Are you alright? Here, eat these. Please." Vulpix hurriedly reached into her little pouch and pulled out a blue berry and a small seed. Seeing the confused look on Ralts, Vulpix explained ; "The berry is an Oran Berry, and the seed is a Heal Seed. They should make you feel better." Vulpix smiled warmly.

Ralts ate the tiny seed and nimble on the Oran berry. Almost immediately, she felt way better. She still felt unnatural, due to her now small body, but her headache and cramps were almost completely gone.

"Whoa...T-Thank you f-for that!" Ralts exclaimed. She tried standing up again, and was successful, but she had trouble balancing herself. 'Lucky that I'm a Ralts, at least I walk on 2 legs, probably shouldn't take too long to get use to this...', Ralts thought to herself. As she stood awkwardly, prompting a weird look from Vulpix. Seeing this, Ralts immediately sheepishly laughed it off, stammering "Hehe...I-I guess I-I'm still slightly d-dizzy...hehe...".

Changing the subject, Ralts asked "S-So do you just carry a-around an...an O-Oran berry and Heal s-seed around?".

"Oh, well its just that recently bad Pokemon have been showing up more frequently, so you never know when you can get attacked. I mean, just recently a Teddiursa and Ursaring were walking to Treasure Town, when Teddiursa stepped on a Toxic Spike, placed in the middle of the road on purpose apparently. Teddiursa had to be carried to town and was barely conscious from the poison. It was...messy to say the least" Vulpix explained. 'I guess it makes sense, you can never be too cautious' Ralts thought.

"By the way...w-what's your n-name, I didn't a-ask you before..." Ralts asked sheepishly, clearly embarrassed about not minding her manners.

"Oh right! My name is Vulpix, but others call me Kit. You can call me Kit if you want." Kit smiled.

"W-Well my n-name is ..." Ralts thought about it for a second. She wasn't sure if 'Hazel' was a common name, and she didn't want to tell someone to be suspicious of her true nature. Who knows what could happen if a human-turned Pokemon was found. "T-The n-names just R-Ralts"

"Well, nice to meet you Ralts. Can you remember what happened to you?" Kit said through a concerned smile.

"N-No...I cant s-seem to r-remember...Huh?" Ralts peeked around Kit. She saw 2 Pokemon approaching. Her heart started racing. She was very awkward around others, not too mention their emotions were very, ill-natured, in a way. 'Wait w-what?! I cant really make out their expressions from this distance, how can I tell how they feel?!'.

"Hello ladies." The Zubat snickered with a evil-looking grin. Hazel's eyes narrowed. There was something untrustworthy about them. They were clearly scheming something bad.

"Who are you...?" Vulpix asked.

"The name's are Koffing and Zubat" Zubat introduced themselves with a grin.

"I d-don't mean to b-be rude, but w-what do you t-two want, exactly?" Ralts frowned. Kit turned back to Ralts worriedly. Ralts were some Pokemon known for sensing others emotions. Not too mention her unnatural hostility seemingly coming out of nowhere. Clearly she must have sensed something in these two, however she wasn't really sure.

"What's wrong with just talking to others? We just want a friendly chat." Koffing's eyes narrowed, however he continued to smile. 'Uh-huh, right, of course. I'm betting these guys will try to mess with us.' Ralts rolled her eyes.

"Well, can I help you with something?" Kit asked. Koffing and Zubat shot each other a glance, and grinned.

"Heh-heh, well, we noticed you have a pretty little necklace. Can we get a closer look?" Zubat snickered. Kit shot a look at Ralts, and after seeing her frowning face, she declined. "No, sorry, I dont want it to be stolen." Kit's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

After another quick glance between the two Poison types, they pounced on Kit. Even though she was somewhat wary of them, she did not expect them to pounce on her. Koffing tackled her, causing her to fall to the ground. Zubat grabbed the necklace with his mouth and ripped it off her neck. All this happened so quickly, Ralts was left stunned.

After Kit picked herself up, she glared at her assailants. "H-Hey, what was that about?! Give my necklace back!" She growled.

Zubat and Koffing cackled. Zubat's wings started glowing and Koffing puffed out more toxic gas. Intimidated, Kit backed away and whimpered quietly. "Whoa-ho! And what are you gonna do? That's right, nothing! We are just going to waltz out of here and get away with it. Why don't you go home and play with your dolls, whoa-ho!" Koffing chuckled, before he and Zubat headed towards a nearby cave.

They were stopped by the Ralts. "W-What's w-wrong with you? Who g-goes around m-mugging r-random peo...Pokemon?" Ralts said firmly, although her awkwardness and stutter made her seem less serious.

"Heh-heh, will you look at that? A shortie is more brave. But you're so small though, just try to catch us!" Zubat teased, as he and Koffing simply floated above her. 'Did they just call me a shortie?! Aw hell no, NO one calls me short and gets away with it!'

Hazel turned to the Vulpix, and paused. Even though Kit's face was turned away from her, she could feel how she felt. Frustration, fear, sadness.

"H-Hey, are y-you alright...?" She asked worriedly.

"T-That's my personal t-treasure...it means everything to me..." She calmed down and turned to Ralts with a more serious expression, but still with tears in her eyes. "Can you please help me get it back?".

"I-I don't know...I s-still don't know w-what is h-happening, not t-too mention h-how to fight...But then a-again, they c-called me s-short, and no one c-calls me short. S-So I'll t-try to h-help you out..."

Kit's face lit up. "Oh thank you! Let's go quickly! And don't worry, I'll try to tell you about moves!"

"A-Alright, l-let's go!"

As they entered the cave, it started out normal enough. The cave was like a dark hallway. However, after walking a short distance, it opened up and they entered a big room. When they entered the room and walked to the middle or it, the entrance behind them vanished. Ralts was very confused and started to grow worried, however Vulpix mumbled "A mystery dungeon...".

"A-A what?"

"It seems this cave is a mystery dungeon." After a confused look from Ralts, Kit elaborated. "Mystery dungeons, from what I know, are weird places. Once you enter, you cant really leave until you either find an Escape Orb or you reach the end. What's also weird about them is that they give healing properties, which is neat." Kit added with a shrug as they both started walking towards another hallway.

"Huh, i-interesting. S-So do we just s-search the entire place f-for those two jerks?"

"Hmm, well, I'm not sure. I think it would be best to go to the end first. If they are at the end, we can corner them, and if not, then we can re-enter and search again. If we re-search the floors then by that time they definitely should be at the end. I hate to admit it, but those two are quite strong. They should be at the end." Kit thought out loud.

"Wait, t-there are floors in t-these places?"

"Yeah, these places are weird. There are also wild Pokemon here, and the layout changes every time you enter them. But you can also find money and items."

"O-Oh, so I g-guess we have to fight o-other Pokemon..." Ralts sweated a little. She didn't realize they had to fight other Pokemon.

"You said you don't know how to fight, right?" Kit asked.

"U-Um, yeah..." Ralts answered sheepishly. She was still working on walking normally (at least, as normally as a Ralts can), there is no way she can use moves yet.

"Hmm, you're a Psychic type, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, why don't you try focusing on the ground? You may know something kind of Psychic move..."

Hazel decided she may as well give it a try. Looking at the ground in front of her, she raised her arm in front of her. She just stared at the ground in front of her. Okay...this is awkward. How am I supposed to do this? I think the move I can use is Confusion-'

The instant she thought the word 'Confusion', her vision briefly became pink. The spot on the ground she was staring at suddenly exploded a little, throwing sand up.

Hazel's jaw dropped. 'W-What?! Is it THAT simple?! All I did was stare at the ground and think 'Confusion'. How does this even work?'

"That wasn't hard, right?" Vulpix chuckled.

As they progressed through the dungeon, they entered another room. In it was a sleeping Shellos and peculiar stairs in the corner of the room. The Shellos woke up and glared at them.

"U-Um, that Shellos i-is glaring at u-us..." Ralts said nervously.

Suddenly, the Shellos charged. Both Kit and Ralts flinched as back away a little. Aiming for Kit, the Shellos shot a Water Gun at her. Being a super-effective move against her, she yelped and stumbled a little.

Hazel angrily growled at Shellos. Shellos seemed slightly intimidated, and was clearly more wary of both of them. Shellos tackled Hazel, however surprisingly it didn't hurt that much. Clearly the Shellos was holding back his attacks slightly. Hazel glared at Shellos, extending her arm forward and after a slight pause, shot a Confusion at Shellos. Shellos stumbled a little before collapsing. Then suddenly, he just, vanished into thin air. 'W-What the-?! Where'd that Shellos go?!'

Turning to Kit, Ralts worriedly asked "H-Hey...you okay? That Water Gun seemed to h-hurt you a lot...".

"Oh I'm fine, don't worry, as scary as that was, it didn't hurt too much. But that was quite impressive, how you dealt with that Shellos. You seem like a natural." Kit said sheepishly.

"T-That's good to hear...But uh, w-what happened to t-that Shellos? Shellos just, v-vanished into thin air..." Confusion was traced all over her voice.

"Well, I'm not sure myself, but like I said, mystery dungeons are weird. Apparently, if you faint in dungeons, you get kicked out of it. My guess is that the Shellos must have been kicked out as well. To where, I don't know."

"Oh, well, okay. I-I guess we shouldn't w-worry about it. We do have t-two Poison types to beat" Ralts grinned a little, cracking her knuckles.

"Yeah...I guess we should go through those stairs, it'll take us farther into the dungeon." Kit said nervously. Clearly she wasn't confident about the upcoming fight.

Kit and Ralts approached the end of the dungeon. When they reached the end, Ralts felt this weird feeling. Whatever injuries, hunger or exhaustion she felt were gone. It was as if nothing happened.

"K-Kit, is it j-just me, or do you feel almost refreshed?" Ralts turned to Kit with wonder in her voice.

"Yeah, I do. I'm willing to bet it's the dungeons effects." Kit chuckled.

They noticed 2 figures floating in the distance. One was a bat and the other was like a balloon. No doubt about it ; Koffing and Zubat were ahead.

Their backs were turned to both of them. They approached and stopped a few meters away from them. Hazel could feel Kit's fear and uncertainty about the inevitable fight that was about to happen. After a reassured look and nod from Ralts, Kit stepped forward angrily.

"Uhm...Hey!" She called out sternly.

Both Poison types turned around. However after seeing their new guests, they both grinned.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our old friend and the shortie"

'I swear, if he calls me a shortie one more time, I'm skinning them alive'

"Give me...G-Give me back my necklace! Please, it means everything to me!" Kit yelled at them

Both Zubat and Koffing exploded in a fit of laughter. "Whoa-ho-ho! It means EVERYTHING to you?! That's just sad. Who puts all their self-worth into a ROCK?!" Koffing laughed.

"Heh-heh, we probably SHOULD sell it. It may not be worth a lot, but clearly it could be healthy to you. You got way too attached to your 'Relic Fragment'." Zubat chuckled.

"W-Why? And h-how do you know what I call it?" Kit exclaimed.

"Remember when you tripped near that bush? We were in it, heh-heh!"

Ralts suddenly giggled. When all attention was turned to her, she immediately stopped, however she spoke up. "S-So, you guys just, hid in a b-bush, and sat there all day waiting for s-someone to come?"

Koffing and Zubat paused. "Okay, we wanted to enter the guild, but before we could, that wimp walked up. So we ducked into a bush and waited for her to leave, but then we say that rock and thought we could mess with her." Koffing explained with irritation lined in his voice.

"...Why t-though?"

"Look, we came back from a failed treasure hunt, give us a break! Now, are you gonna leave us alone or are we going to rumble?!"

"Well Ralts, I-I guess we are going to need to fight."

"Whoa-ho, bring it on then!"

Zubat started the fight of strong by immediately swooping on Hazel. She didn't react quickly enough though, so Zubat managed to bite her arm. She shrieked in pain and tried to fight him off, but she felts as if her energy was getting drained. 'T-This must be Leech Life...Smart move, but a dumb one too. With Zubat latched on her arm, she was able to focus on him and after a moment of glaring, fired a Confusion. Zubat immediately let go of her arm and flapped around frantically. He must have been either confused or struggling to regain control, either way Hazel did not care. Zubat was close to the ground, so she tackled him and cause him to collapse. He didn't move. 'That was...surprisingly easy. Must have taken a lot of damage from Confusion.' With that, she turned her attention to Koffing. Even though she felt weak and her arm was unbearable, she ran in to help Kit.

Speaking of which, Kit was busy fighting Koffing. As Hazel shrieked from the Leech Life, she flinched and turned her attention to her. Koffing took advantage of that by firing a Poison Gas, and hence the name, poisoning her. After coughing a little, Kit took a deep breath in and fired an Ember at the Koffing. It collided with him and burned a part of his skin. Infuriated, Koffing charged at Kit, hitting her with a tackle. However, barely a moment later, he froze and collapsed.

Ralts was able to sneak behind him and hit him with Confusion, knocking him unconscious as well.

With the battle won, both girls let out a sign of relief.

"That was...slightly scary" Kit huffed out. "Are you sure you didn't fight before? Cause that was pretty impressive for someone with no fighting experience"

"W-Well, all I did was use Confusion twice...besides, m-maybe I'm just a natural." Ralts answered sheepishly.

Kit chuckled a little bit. But then suddenly she became pale and coughed, pain being evident. Ralts panicked a little and asked if she was okay, but Kit assured her she was alright. "I-I'm fine, it's just poison. I'm sure as soon as we leave the dungeon, it will wear off. Let's just collect my necklace and go before those two wake up."

With that, they took the necklace off of Zubat's unconscious body and stumbled out of the dungeon.

Just like when they entered the pit of the dungeon, when they returned to the entrance of Beach Cave, Ralts felt a lot better. Granted her arm still slightly stung from being bitten, and she felt exhausted, but she definitely felt better. Kit's poison also wore off.

"I cant thank you enough for your help...I don't know what I would have done without you." Kit said with tears in her eyes.

"H-Hey, it's no problem, really. I'm just happy to help." Ralts answered happily.

Kit took off her necklace and put it in front of her. "Here's what they stole. This is what I call a 'Relic Fragment', I called it that because of the pattern on it. Here." She pointed to the middle of the rock.

Ralts picked it up to get a better look at the pattern. There was something strangely familiar about it, but she didn't know what it was. The pattern was quite weird, but also pretty in a way. There was a circle in the middle of it, and surrounding it were feather like patterns, with four lines stretching out away from the middle.

She placed the rock back on the ground and continued to stare at it. Kit, not noticing her reaction, started rambling. "I called it a Relic Fragment because I want to discover if this rock means something. I've always loved ancient treasure, discovering new places veiled in darkness and mysteries, relics with deep histories...It's all so excited for me! Wouldn't you agree?" She looked up to Ralts.

Ralts noticed and snapped out of her thoughts. "O-Oh, yeah, it does sound nice...".

"I'm sure there is a lot more to my Relic Fragment. I want to learn more about it. Which is why I wanted to join Wigglytuff's Guild."

"Wigglytuff's...Guild? A guild for what?" Ralts asked curiously.

"Don't you know? Wigglytuff's Guild is the most famous Exploration guild. Exploration Teams go there to train." Kit explained.

"Ohhh...interesting. Zubat and Koffing did mention a guild. I believe y-you went there?"

"Y-Yeah, I did...but, I chickened out. It was just so, so nerve racking. Not too mention that yelling that always catches me off guard, even though I know it's coming." Kit mumbled. Ralts was able to feel the embarrassment and anger coming from Kit.

"Well, that aside, I want to ask you something, Ralts." Kit said rather matter-of-factly. It caught Hazel off guard. "O-Oh, really, what is it?"

"Do...Do you want to form an Exploration team with me?"

"I-I mean, s-sure, but why me? You met me a couple hours ago, and you already trust m-me THAT much?" Hazel stammered.

"Because I feel so much more confident around you. I probably wouldn't have the courage to stand up to those jerks without you. Besides, I'm sure you feel the same way" Kit added with a chuckle.

"How do you know?"

"When I met you, you stuttered about three times every sentence. Now you don't stutter so much when talking to me." Kit smiled.

Hazel blushed a little. " I g-guess I just got used to being around you..."

Kit looked back at the setting sun. It was further into the horizon now.

"Well, do you want to go to Wigglytuff's guild right now? It's not super late, I'm sure they'll let us in."

"Sure, it's not like I have nothing to lose" Ralts replied with a shrug.

With that, they both left the beach.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 : The Guild's Newest Recruits

Hazel and Kit were standing in front of a Wigglytuff - shaped tent. There was a big rock gate at the entrance, as well as a wooden grate on the ground.

"Here we are, Wigglytuff's Guild. I cant wait to go in and register for a Team. I'm sure we'll make a great Team together." Kit said, her smile growing with every word. She was clearly very excited to join.

"I-Isn't this tent a little...too s-small to be an entire guild?" Ralts asked.

"I'm sure there's more to it inside. It's a little exciting to find out what it looks like. Especially when we can form a Team."

"As e-excited as I am, there is s-something a little...creepy about this..." Hazel was staring at the Wigglytuff shape at the top of the tent. 'Some part of me feels like this is some sort of cult. Those giant torches are not helping'.

"Yeah, I guess you're kinda right...but looks aren't everything." Kit replied with a shrug.

"So, how d-do we enter? T-There's a giant gate blocking us..."

"Well, we're supposed to step on that wooden grate on the ground...But it always scares the daylights out of me. There is a shouting voice, and I KNOW it's coming but it always startles me..." Kit replied in a slight tone of embarrassment.

"T-This is a Guild, I'm sure nothing bad will happen." Ralts shrugged.

"I guess you're right...I suppose I'll should step on the grate first..." Kit replied hesitantly.

She slowly approached the grate, and after staring down the hole, she stepped on it. Almost immediately, a loud voice suddenly shouted up from inside the hole.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is Vulpix's! The footprint is Vulpix's!"

"Isn't that the SAME Vulpix that ran off EARLIER today?"

"I guess so."

One voice sounded younger than the other. Kit turned her head back to Ralts. Her expression was a mix of embarrassment and silent terror. She was clearly baffled by everything that was happening.

"Alright, you may ENTER the Guild! However, BEFORE you do, get you friend do STEP on the grate as WELL!"

Kit's face lit up, clearly thankful she didn't have to step on the grate any longer. Even though her fur and tails stood up, all her fear almost vanished, save for a couple of nerves.

She turned to Ralts. "Well, I guess they meant you. Nothing really happened to me, so you should be fine."

Ralts frowned a little. 'This is definitely a weird security system, but if it works, it works.'. She stepped on the grate and flinched a little as the same voice started shouting again.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"T-The footprint is...uhm...The f-footprint is..."

"Sentry? Sentry?! Diglett, what's wrong?"

"Uhhh...The footprint is...Maybe Ralts's! Maybe Ralts's!"

"What?! MAYBE?!"

"W-Well, you don't see any Ralts around here..."

"Isn't Sentry Duty your JOB?! You're supposed to ACCURATELY identity footprints!"

"Well...I don't know what I don't know!"

Hazel and Kit shot each other uncomfortable looks. They clearly didn't know what to do about the arguing, and neither had the confidence to speak up. Suddenly, the older voice addressed them again, slightly startling both of them.

"Sorry to make you WAIT! Even though you DON'T see any Ralt's around here, you don't SEEM bad. Alright, good enough. You may ENTER!"

'Wait, what? I don't SEEM bad? They just assumed I was not planning to cause trouble? What an amazing security system. Although this IS a guild, I guess no one would have the balls to attack it.'

With that, the stone gate slowly opened, clearly being incredibly heavy.

"Ohhh...I'm so nervous and excited at the same time...My heart is beating out of my chest."

"W-Well, let's go in before you faint from all those nerves." Ralts giggled a little.

Entering the tent, both girls found a surprising sight. There were two big boards. One of them on the right was a arrow pointing down, while the board on the left seemed to have what looked like a list of ten rules. Ralts couldn't read any of it, but the letters looked like different footprints.

In between both boards was a ladder going down underground. The ladder was slightly slanted forward. The hatch was incredibly big, clearly fit for Pokemon of all sizes could fit through.

Shooting each other another glance, they climbed down the ladder. Or in Kit's case, walked down backwards. Clearly the slanted ladder was made for Pokemon like Vulpix, who walk on all fours, to be able to go up or down easier.

The room they climbed down to was quite the sight. Hazel expected the underground rooms to be dark, only illuminated by fire. There were open windows on the walls somehow, illuminating the room with natural sunlight. Behind them was a second slanted ladder, going further down below. On the walls were two more bill boards, which were a little empty but had some posters. There were other Pokemon in the room in groups. One was made out of a Swellow and Wurmple, another were a Bidoof and Sunflora, looking at the billboard at the right.

"Whoa...so this is Wigglytuff's guild. It's so lively, despite the late hour. I wonder if all these Pokemon are Exploration teams!" Kit gasped with wonder.

"Excuse me, where you two the ones who just entered?"a voice chirped behind them.

They turned around and saw a parrot-like Pokemon, a Chatot. He was a little taller than Ralts, and slightly shorter than Vulpix. His head was shaped like a Eighth note and his wings were blue.

"Y-Yes, we are. My name is Kit and this is Ralts" Kit introduced the both of them. Ralts just gave a little wave.

"The name's Chatot. I am the Guildmaster's right-hand Pokemon! Now...what can I help you with?" Chatot sang.

"We would like to train at the guild to become an Exploration Team!" Kit answered confidently.

Chatot looked a little taken aback. 'It's rare to see two adolescences try to join the guild! I'm not sure if they're ready for the training.' Chatot thought. "A-Are you two sure you want to join? Not to discourage you, but the training is difficult..." He sighed.

"We know, but we really want to form a Team!" Kit said.

"Well, since you made up your mind, I suppose I can register you into the Guild!" Chatot smiled and his tail started swaying back and forth. 'Oh my god, he's like a metronome!' Hazel tried her best to not giggle, but she did break a little smile.

"Follow me then!" Chatot started to hop away. Kit and Ralts followed him down the second ladder.

The second underground floor of the guild almost had the same layout, except there were two hallways opposite from each other all the way at the back. On the right wall, there was a closed door with a red design on it. On the left was a weird stone stand. There was a Croagunk in it with a large cauldron. The insides of it was filled with some purple liquid. Hazel decided not to question the identity of said liquid.

Chatot led them to the front of the door. The door was next to a big, open window.

"U-Uhm...Mr. Chatot, s-sir." Ralts called shyly.

"What is it Ralts?"

"I-Is the guild built a-along the side of a cliff?" She asked, looking at the window.

Chatot nodded. "Yes, we did build it along a cliff. That way natural sunlight can enter the guild, so we wouldn't have to rely on fire as much. Fire isn't that effective at lighting big rooms and it can also be dangerous if it spurs out of control."

"Ah...I see. T-That is quite smart..." Ralts mumbled, while nodding approvingly.

"Now, back on topic, we are outside of Guildmaster Wigglytuff's chamber. I shall warn you now, on no account, and I repeat, on no account should you be discourteous towards the Guildmaster. Understood?" He said very sternly.

Both Kit and Ralts swiftly nodded.

Chatot turned back to the door and knocked on it. "Guildmaster! It's me, Chatot! I'm coming in."

Chatot opened and held the door for both Ralts and Kit. Both of them mumbled thanks to Chatot and stood before the Guildmaster, who currently had his back turned to them.

"Guildmaster! I have brought you two Pokemon who wish to register at the guild as apprentices."

Wigglytuff did not even budge.

"Uhm...Guildmaster...? Are you listening?" Chatot asked worriedly.

Moments passed and Wigglytuff did not move. Chatot decided to approach him, as if to wake him up. Suddenly, Wigglytuff spun around quickly, startling both girls.

"Hiya! My name is Wigglytuff and I am the Guildmaster!" Wigglytuff introduced himself with a big smile. Both Kit and Ralts were absolutely baffled. 'For a fricken GUILDMASTER, I thought he'd be more...serious. But he seems like a big softie with a heart of gold' Ralts thought while staring at Wigglytuff in disbelief.

"O-Oh, uhm, my name is Kit, and this here is Ralts" Kit introduced them again.

"You two want to make a Team, riiight? Then let's get you two signed up! You have to register your team name first!" Wigglytuff's smile widened.

"Oh, a Team name? We haven't really thought of that...Have any ideas Ralts?"

'An official team name...uhhh...let's see, the main reason Kit wants to be here is because of her...!' Hazel suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, Kit. I-I have an idea." Everyone in the room turned their attention to Hazel. She did not like the sudden attention, but she continued nonetheless. "How a-about 'Team Relic'?"

"'Team Relic'...Oh, as in my Relic Fragment, right?". Ralts nodded. "'Team Relic'...I like it." Kit turned to Wigglytuff. "Our team name is 'Team Relic'".

"Alrighty, then it's settled. I'll register your team as 'Relic'!" Wigglytuff turned around pulled out a piece of paper. After a minute of writing, he turned around. "Alright, you're all registered! YOOM-TAH!" Wigglytuff jumped up into the air once.

"Congratulations! From now on, you two are now an official Exploration Team apprenticing under the Wigglytuff Guild!" He stated in a excited tone. 'That simple? I thought we would have to sign some documents, but I guess that works too.', Ralts mentally shrugged.

"Now, as a new team, your team shall receive a Pokemon Exploration Team Kit. You will find some amazing things inside it! Open it, open it!"

Hazel opened the box with Kit watching. Inside the Team kit were several items. There was a Exploration Badge, a Wonder Map and a Treasure Bag. Peering inside the bag, there were 2 ribbons. One was pure white in the shape of a bow, while the other was pink. The pink bow seemed to give off this feeling of special power. But Hazel was more interested in the bow.

Picking the bow up, she asked "H-Hey...what's this-". Suddenly, the bow started glowing, startling Ralts. Before she could drop the bow or do anything, the bow changed colors. It went from a pure white to a vivid pink. 'Woah...what a pretty shade of pink...'.

Looking up at Wigglytuff and Chatot for answers, she noticed both of them shooting each other a shocked look. "Uhm...I-Is everything okay...?" she asked, snapping both of them out of their thoughts.

"O-Oh, it's nothing. Really. That bow you're holding is called an Aura Bow. It changes colors depending on the holders Aura." Chatot quickly changed the subject.

"Aura?" Ralts questioned.

"Aura is a little complicated to explain. The simplest way to explained it is that Aura is similar to your spirit." Chatot explained. Then turning back to the bag, he pointed to the second ribbon. "This is a Special Band. It raises your Special Attack, it would be very useful for Psychic types like you, Ralts."

Wigglytuff then picked up the Exploration Kit. "This badge here is your official team identification. But it's more special than you think. It changes colors as you climb up the Ranks and you can use it to send yourself or another Pokemon to the guild. And this is a Wonder Map! It's a map filled with wonders! And finally, your Treasure Bag lets you carry lots of treasure and items. Not too mention you'll get a bigger bag the further up the Ranks you climb!"

Kit listened to all this in wonder. "I-I, I don't know what to say! Thank you so much! We'll do our best!"

"Do your best to train! YOOM-TAH!"

As they left the chamber, Chatot led them to the back hallway at the right side of the room. As they passed, they saw other Pokemon entering the lower level. When the group saw Chatot leading them to the back, they started whispering in excitement between each other.

Chatot continued leading them down the narrow hallway. In the hallway, there were two other rooms on either side of the walls. They walked past them and to the very end.

"This will be your room while working for us" Chatot stated.

The room wasn't half bad. It was spacious, with two straw beds and a window. There were vines hanging down from the ceiling and small patches of grass. Despite having nothing but two beds, the room didn't feel too empty.

"Great, we get a room to ourselves!" Kit laughed, clearly pretty happy.

"You'll start your training first thing tomorrow. It's still not too late, so I recommend getting acquainted with other fellow apprentices. Ralts, I would recommend talking to Chimecho. She's also a Psychic type, so if you want to train your powers, she can help you with that. I usually stand in front of the Guildmaster's room, so if you need any help, feel free to ask!" With that, Chatot flew out of the room and down the hallway.

Kit turned to Ralts, "I wonder what our training will be like...I'm so giddy inside" Kit said with a little giggle at the end. Ralts could feel her excitement, fading nerves and small amount of uncertainty.

"Chatot mention a Pokemon c-called...Chimecho, right?"

"Yeah, he did. Do you think you want to talk to her now?" Kit inquired.

"Of course I d-do. I'm still an amateur when i-it comes to using moves." 'And also running.' Hazel thought sarcastically. She got somewhat used to walking, but when Kit and Ralts raced each other to the guild, she almost immediately collapsed.

"Well, we may as well introduce ourselves to the other apprentices. I'm sure they would like to meet us" Kit suggested.

Kit and Ralts walked back into the big room. There were Pokemon simply hanging around and talking to each other. As they approached some of the groups, the Pokemon smiled and waved at them.

"Oh my gosh! You two must be the newest recruits, right? Right?" A Pokemon that looked a lot like a sunflower, a Sunflora, pressed.

"COOL down, Sunflora! You might SCARE the wittle wecruits." A purple Pokemon, a Loudred, teased them in a baby voice. He must have been one of the sentries, since his voice and manner of speaking were familiar.

Hazel was about to scream at him for calling her 'wittle', but she caught herself just in time. She didn't know how long either of them will stay at the guild, so getting on his bad side immediately may not be a good idea. She simply laughed sheepishly, although the Loudred may have caught her momentary irritation.

"Hey-hey, they just joined ten minutes ago. Save the teasing for later, hey-hey!" The orange lobster-like Pokemon, a Corphish, told Loudred.

"Well, my name is Kit. I'm glad to meet you" Kit interrupted, trying to stop any possible bickering.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Kit!" A very small mole, a Diglett, spoke up, clearly catching what Kit was intending to do. The Diglett was the one who was in sentry duty, shouting out the identities of footprint's. "And who's your friend here?" Diglett turned his attention to Ralts.

Everyone in the group turned their attention to her. She tried to speak up, but she stiffened. Hazel silently cursed Diglett for causing everyone to turn to her. She had trouble talking to one Pokemon, and she was just getting used to Kit, but now suddenly she had to talk to four. She shot a pleading gaze at Kit, but Kit gave her a reassured look.

Ralts exhaled and inhaled. She tried her best to not stutter, but she introduced herself with a squeaky voice. "W-W-Well...m-my name i-is...Ralts...". She shot a look at Kit, and she gave her a pleased nod.

"Well, it is very nice to meet you, Ralts. My name is Sunflora, I'm sure we'll be good friends" Sunflora told her in a gentle voice. 'I can't tell if she's genuinely THAT gentle, or if my pitiful introduction made me seem more like a child.'

Before Loudred could tease either Ralts of her, she asked the group ; "Have you guys seen a Chimecho around here? Ralts would like to meet her."

"Hey-hey, Chimecho should be on the first floor! She runs a recruitment stand in the right corner, I doubt you'd miss her, hey-hey!" Corphish answered.

In a move that surprised Kit, Ralts spoke up and thanked Corphish, "T-Thanks a lot...Appreciate i-it..." She thanked while gazing at Kit. Even though they recently met, she felt more confident around the Vulpix.

"Looks like SOMEONE is working on their CONFIDENCE!" Loudred responded, giving Ralts a playful and weak little nudge with his arm. Ralts chuckled sheepishly. 'Loudred seems a lot like an older brother...what if I had an older brother as a human?'

"Well, it was very nice to meet all of you. I hope we can get along in the future, but we should probably introduce ourselves to the remaining recruits before it gets too dark!" Kit said.

Going up to the first floor, the crowd from before seemed to have cleared, save for a couple of Pokemon. Just like Corphish mentioned, there was a stand in the corner of the room. In it was a ribbon like Pokemon with a bell on her head. She must have been Chimecho. She was currently talking to a small beaver, a Bidoof, about something. As they approached, Bidoof noticed them and quickly ran up to them.

"By golly! You must be the new recruits?" The Bidoof asked in a frankly, very goofy voice. After both girls nodded, Bidoof seemed to be overjoyed. "Aw shucks! I'm so happy! I'm glad to have members junior to me! Before you two signed in, I was the newest rookie myself! My name's Bidoof, and I...I..." Bidoof started tearing up.

"O-Oh, is everything alright?" Kit asked panickly, clearly not expecting someone to start tearing up.

"I'm just fine, by golly! I'm just...so happy..." Bidoof said while wiping away his tears.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. My name is Kit and here's Ralts"

'Why didn't you introduce me when we met the other recruits?' Ralts practically demanded.

"Oh hi there. Seems like Bidoof got incredibly emotional, hehe" Chimecho giggled a little.

"Hi there, you must be Chimecho, right?" Kit asked.

"Yep, that's me." She ringed the bell on her head a little, creating a pleasing sound. "Chatot must have told you about me, right?"

"Yeah, he did. How did you know?"

"I'm a Psychic type, I know everything." Chimecho giggled. "But jokes aside, that just seems like a thing he'd do. He tries to partner same type Pokemon together for training, so he must want me to train Ralts here, riiiight?" She leaned closer to Ralts. She seemed quite mischievous and fun to be around.

"Y-Yeah...I w-want to learn h-how to u-use Psychic m-moves b-better..." Ralts mumbled loudly.

"Sure, I'd love to do that. Psychic is one of those more difficult types to master, due to how much variety there is. If you want, tomorrow, we can go to the beach and I can teach you the basics"

Ralts's eyes lit up. "I-I'd love to. T-Thank you!"

"No problemo!" Chimecho smiled.

At that moment, Chatot climbed up the stairs and told them they should get some rest. After brief good-nights, both girls returned to their assigned rooms.

Both girls were lying in their beds. The straw beds were surprisingly more comfortable than Ralts thought they would be.

"Well, today was quite hectic, wasn't it?"

"N-No kidding. That w-was probably the most e-eventful evening of my life."

"By the way, Ralts. I haven't asked you this yet, but where exactly do you come from. You don't seem like you're around here" Kit inquired.

Ralts hesitated a little. She wasn't sure what to say, but she decided she may as well tell the truth.

"W-Well...I'm not sure myself...I-I can't seem to remember m-much about myself...Like w-where I come from...Who my family or f-friends are..."

Kit paused. After pondering for a moment, she said "Well, I did find you on the beach in pain. Maybe you got attacked by someone and hit on the head a little too hard. I'm sure you'll get your memories back though!"

"I hope so..."

Kit suddenly giggled a little. "Your stuttering improved, you barely stutter now. You just need to work on talking to groups of Pokemon"

"Ya don't say..." Ralts mumbled sarcastically.

Kit yawned and stretched her body and tails out. "Well, I'm quite tired. We should get some sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow. Good night, Ralts." With that, she lowered herself in a sleeping position and promptly fell asleep.

Ralts laid down in bed and promptly fell asleep as well. Today was incredibly eventful, and she doubted tomorrow would any different.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2.5 : The Guild's Newest Recruits

"UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING! WAKE UP!"

'My poor ears...I think they're bleeding...Something is ringing...I think I'm dying...'

Both Kit and Ralts were still lying in bed, preoccupied with their ears.

"WHY are you still ASLEEP?! You'll be LATE on your FIRST DAY!" Loudred thankfully lowered his voice, but only a little.

"M-My ears...Was that r-really necessary?". Vulpix asked while still being dazed. However Loudred already left the room.

Ralts and Kit both slowly stood up. After snapping out of their daze, Kit suddenly flinched a little.

"Oh RIGHT! We going the guild yesterday, we may be late to something!"

"W-What...? I can't h-hear you" Ralts's ears were still ringing, she couldn't hear Kit very well.

"No time to explain!" Kit grabbed Ralts's arm with one of her tails and both of them quickly stumbled out of the room and down the hallway.

When they entered the main room, all the other apprentices were already lined up, with Chatot up front, a little off to the side.

"W-We're sorry if we're late" Kit apologized.

"Don't worry, you're not late, however it's recommended that you line up earlier, got it?" Chatot said, with a small amount of sternness in his voice.

"Yes s-sir" Kit said, still a little dazed.

Sunflora turned to Loudred with a stern look on her face. "Oh my gosh, Loudred! Did you use Hyper Voice to wake them up?!"

"I'm SIMPLY celebrating their first DAY at the guild!" Loudred simply shrugged, as if he didn't try to blast off their eardrums.

Chatot turned to Loudred. "Try to keep your voice down. You're so ridiculously loud!"

Sunflora rolled her eyes (even though they are closed) and let out an exasperated sigh. "I apologize for Loudred, it seems he loves to mess with rookies." She told Kit and Ralts.

Before either of them could respond, Wigglytuff walked out of the door. Chatot turned to Wigglytuff.

"Good morning, Guildmaster! Please address the crew!"

Wigglytuff did not respond. He didn't budge a single millimetre.

"Uhh...Guildmaster?" Chatot asked.

"Zzzz...Zzzzz...Snorfle..."

'Oh, my, god. How is he sleeping while STANDING and keeping his eyes open?! Didn't he JUST walk forward? WOW he's a quick sleeper.' Ralts was absolutely baffled.

The apprentices started whispering between each other ; "Wow, Guildmaster never ceases to amaze me.", "Eek! His eyes are wide open!"

Chatot looked uncomfortable and thought about what he should do.

"Uhh...Thank you, Guildmaster, for your...words of wisdom." Turning back to the recruits, he announced. "Alright, time for our morning cheers! Altogether now!"

'Oh god, morning cheers? I hope I'm not forced to do this every day...not too mention I don't even know what to say...' Hazel started feeling embarrassed.

Everyone started the cheers "A ONE, A TWO ... AND A ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR!"

"ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK!"

"TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY!"

"THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"

"Alright Pokemon! Time for work!" Chatot said, his tail swinging rhythmically throughout the entire cheer.

"HOORAY!"

Both Diglett and a Dugtrio dug underground as everyone else left. Kit and Ralts however seemed lost. 'This...is awkward...what now?' Ralts looked at Chatot for assurance.

Chatot, catching her desperate gaze, turned to them. "You too, come with me now!" Chatot turned around and flew to the ladder and up the hatch.

Shooting each other a glance, Kit and Ralts followed him up the ladder. Kit was a little slower than Ralts, so she waited at the top of the ladder for her.

They spotted Chatot near the left bulletin board and walked in front of him.

"What's this board?"

"This here is the Job bulletin board. You can pick a Job posted here and do the completed task written on it. There are three different types of job : Escort, Rescue and Items. Escort and Rescue are pretty self-explanatory, however both jobs can be intertwined. Items are jobs were you either deliver a specific item or find one."

Raising her hand, Ralts asked, "A-Are there d-different d-difficulties between t-the jobs?"

Chatot nodded, although Ralts could feel his very slight annoyance. "Yes, Escort jobs tend to be the hardest, mainly due to the escort in question being quite...weak compared to the Pokemon in dungeons." Chatot clearly tried to find a nicer word other than 'weak', but couldn't think of anything.

"Now, all jobs will take place in Mystery Dungeons. I'll assume both of you know what a Mystery Dungeon is?"

Kit and Ralts both nodded. "Yeah, I do know about Mystery Dungeons at a basic level."

"Kit e-explained everything t-to me, but I don't know h-how those d-dungeons do that...c-changing layouts every time...kick f-fainted Pokemon out...it's v-very m-mysterious..." 'Hence the name' Ralts added a in a sarcastic way.

"Well, researchers have been investigating this Dungeon phenomenon and believe it's cause due to a time distortion. There is also a correlation between bad Pokemon and this distortion, but it's still being investigated more."

'How does any of this make sense?! Time, as in minutes and seconds, is distorting Dungeons and Pokemon, and also causing an increase in criminal activity? Correlation does not always mean causation. I wonder if there is a way to fix this distortion...Geh!" Hazel suddenly felt a searing pain in her head, similar to yesterday's.

Both Chatot and Kit turned to her with concerned looks on their faces. Ralts immediately dismissed both of them and quickly replied, "O-Oh, s-sorry...hehe...guess m-my head hurts f-from Loudred...hehe" Ralts said very awkwardly.

Kit did not fully believe her excuse, however Chatot decided to ignore it after a slight moment of hesitation. "Well...like I said, more bad Pokemon have been popping up, so we get a lot more requests on both boards."

Chatot turned around and fluttered in front of the board. After examining it for a minute, he plucked on of the piece of papers. "Today, as part of your training, you'll have to do this job. It should be easy enough, even for beginners like you two." He handed the piece of paper to Hazel.

Hazel looked down at the paper and just stared at it nervously. She could not understand on word written on it. Luckily Kit appeared next to her, curious about the paper herself. She gently took it from Hazel's hands and read it out loud for all three of them. 'Bless you Kit.'

"'Hello, my name is Spoink! An outlaw took my pearl away, but it managed to slip out of their grasp. It tumbled down to the bottom of Drenched Bluff. Please, kind reader, please find that pearl for me! Without it, I bounce all over the place and have almost no control over it! That pearl is life itself to me! Rewards are listed below.'" She finished reading.

"Wait a minute, so this is a fetch quest?" Kit clearly seemed disappointed. "I would rather do something more exciting! Like finding treasure! Or exploring unknown areas!"

"W-Well, we g-gotta start s-somewhere... P-Plus, this p-pearl is really i-important to this Pokemon! W-We should help them!" Ralts commented.

"Listen to your partner, Kit! She has a point!" Chatot said in a loud and stern voice. Kit slightly flinched back, not expecting Chatot to suddenly snap like that.

"Being an Explorer isn't specifically JUST about discoveries and what not! It's also about helping others! Besides, you two are rookies! Exploring unknown territories isn't part of your Rank! You need experience, or else you won't get far as a Team!" Chatot continued in a stern voice. "Now, the Dungeon for this mission is as easy as can be. When you faint in a Dungeon, you'll lose most of your items AND money. So picking a Dungeon your level is important if you don't want to lose your items. Got it?"

"Okay, okay, I get it..." Kit mumbled.

"Well, if you understood everything, you should get going. Drenched Bluff is a little down the left road in the Crossroads. You should see a sign when you get near it."

"Got it, thank you. Let's go Ralts".

As they walked down the stairs, Ralts noticed the Town again. She wanted to go there yesterday but Kit insisted that they should go to the Guild fast, since it was getting dark.

"Hey Kit. W-What's that town o-over there?"

"That there is Treasure Town. I believe that the shops run under the Wigglytuff Guild. It's a useful place for Explorers, but townsfolk do live there."

"Can we go there n-now?" Ralts eagerly exclaimed. 'A town run by Pokemon...Never would have thought of that! Even from a distance it looks amazing!'

"Well...as much as I would like to give you a tour...we do have a job right now. Plus, we can't really do anything there either. We barely have any money to buy things. Besides, it would be best if we can back to the Guild quickly. You wanted to train with Chimecho, right?"

"W-well yeah...but I do wanna go see the Town though..." Ralts frowned. As much of a point as Kit had, she still really wanted to see the town.

"It's not like the town will vanish or fly away if you don't visit right now. We can always go tomorrow." Kit chuckled a little at her own joke.

"Fine..."

Both of them went down the left road (left from the Guild's perspective). As they passed through the path, they saw a sign a little off the road. The paint looked faded, but it still looked readable, at least for Kit.

"D-Dreeenched...Bluuuff..." Kit read the sign slowly, having trouble reading the faded paint.

"Seems l-like that path leads to our destination"

They walked down the wooded path. It was a little narrow, due to all the tree branches sticking out. After a while, the trees decreased in numbers and the ground started to darken.

At long last, they reached a cave. There were massive and smooth boulders around the entrance. Some were pilled on top of each other, and they were covered by thick moss.

"I believe this Dungeon has 7 floors. Well, technically 6, since the 7th is the clearing. We should be careful."

Before entering, both girls equipped both their bows. Ralts tied her Fuchsia Bow around her waist gently in a bow, while Kit tied the Special Band around her neck with the help of her tails.

As they entered the cave, it seemed a lot like Beach Cave. It was a long, narrow hallway until they reached a room. When they entered, the path behind them vanished.

Drenched Bluff looked a lot like Beach Cave, but the colors of the wall and ground looked different. There was water all over the place.

"Great...another dark, cold and wet dungeon...this should be fun." Kit grumbled. As a Fire-type, she hated water and Water-types in general with a passion. She didn't hate them as in, she thinks all of them shouldn't exist, she just hated the Type advantage aspect of it. If Beach Cave taught her anything, it's that this type of environment seemed absolutely perfect for Water-types.

Surprisingly though, the dungeon didn't actually have a lot of Water-types. It only had one in fact, Shellos. However, the other Pokemon were part Rock. Usually, Fire-types also struggle against Rock-types, however both of them, Anorith and Lileep, were part Bug and Grass, two types Fire could easily beat.

Hazel was getting used to her Psychic powers. However, she was getting mentally drained, literally. The more she used Confusion, the weaker they got, and the more her head started to ache.

Even with renewed moves from Max Elixirs, the Pokemon here were definitely tougher and could tank her Confusion's. Hazel felt like before, she got lucky with the enemies in Beach Cave. Other than that though, they didn't face too much trouble.

Thankfully, the dungeon was way shorter than both of the girls thought. They didn't run into much trouble in the dungeon, despite the type disadvantage they had. As they entered the final level of the dungeon, they both felt the refreshing feeling again. They no longer felt hungry or tired.

The depths of Drenched Bluff was beautiful. Still dark and cold, but still beautiful. At the back of the room there was a big stone water basin, with water flowing from the bottom. Small streams were flowing down the stair like rocks down into small puddles, which themselves went further downwards. The stones themselves were very smooth and flawless.

In front of the basin was a small, shining, pink pearl. Despite the lack of sunlight, it was shimmering.

"T-This must be Spoink's pearl!" Ralts exclaimed.

"Great, let's get out of here as soon as possible. It's so...wet here. I hate it here." Kit huffed out.

Ralts and Kit were merrily walking down the path back to the crossroads. Hazel was actually almost skipping, but she only skipped every few steps.

"You seem very cheery" Kit chuckled. She was clearly very happy as well.

"W-Well, we just finished out first ever mission! I thought you would be happier" Ralts also chuckled.

"I guess you're right"

Both girls giggled together for a second, still continuing to walk back. Ralts felt how cheery and merry Kit was inside. She couldn't help but feel the same way, even though her feelings were more restrained.

"I know I've said this yesterday, but your stutter improved a lot. But you could still work on it a little."

"L-Like I said, I guess I got more used to being around you".

Suddenly, Ralts completely stopped. She quickly turned to stare at a trees, eyeing it suspiciously. After a moment, Kit heard a noise. It was as if someone was quickly fleeing into the forest. Kit started to feel scared, even though whatever, or whoever, was currently fleeing.

"Run." Ralts said bluntly.

"W-What?" Kit was not expecting such a blunt response.

"Don't think. Just run!"

Without skipping a beat, both girls started to run to the crossroads. Ralts was slower, as she was still stumbling while running. Though she was at least running, since yesterday she feel face first into the ground when both of them raced to the guild.

When they reached the crossroads, they felt safe enough and stopped for a breather.

"That was...very weird and scary." Kit huffed.

"Huff...y-yeah..." Ralts was breathing way harder than Kit was. She was basically sprinting as fast as she could just to keep up with Kit.

"Huff...How did you know about that Pokemon hiding behind that tree?"

After taking a deep breath and steadying her breathing and heartbeat, Ralts responded. "I don't really k-know...I just felt, this, malicious feeling coming f-from the trees. I guess I was right..."

"What do you mean, malicious? Specifically, I mean"

"T-The presence was hard to feel...but I felt like that P-Pokemon wanted to do something to us...probably pounce and rob us. I guess it w-was a good thing we sprinted here...haha"

"We should probably report that to Chatot, just in case."

Both of them stumbled to the guild.

When they returned to the guild, Chatot seemed to be waiting for them at the board. He seemed very pleased when they presented him with the pearl. However, his face turned into a worried expression when they told him what happened when they were returning to the guild.

"Hmm...I believe the Job request DID mention an outlaw taking his pearl...I guess it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to assume that would be the same outlaw."

"W-What?!" Kit's face paled.

"Ralts, you said that you couldn't sense that Pokemon very well, correct?"

Ralts nodded.

"Then that Pokemon should be another Psychic type. The only Pokemon capable of blocking out Psychic types are other Psychic's. But clearly they dropped their guard. Psychic Pokemon have to put in an effort to block out senses." Chatot continued.

"So, what now? Will Officer Magnezone get involved?" Kit questioned. 'Officer? Guess there's a police force out here as well.'

Chatot opened his beak, but promptly closed it. He pondered for a moment before answering. "Well, seeing as how the Pokemon didn't do anything to you specifically, and they fled almost immediately, then I doubt Magnezone will really do anything about it. The Pokemon is long gone, and Magnezone is already overworked."

"W-Well, I guess it makes sense, but I still don't really know how to feel about this" Kit still seemed nervous.

"In the mean time, I should probably call over the rightful owner of the pearl. You two probably want to relax after the ordeal. Plus, I believe that Ralts wants to train with Chimecho, right?"

Ralts nodded, again.

With that, Chatot picked up the pearl and flew up the hatch, leaving the guild. Kit said she wanted to check something in Treasure Town, and before Ralts could follow, Chimecho called for her.

After some banter, both Psychic types headed towards the beach.

"Alrighty, Ralts, can you show me how you use Confusion? Aim it at...this rock." Chimecho guided Ralts to a random rock on the beach.

Ralts nodded and raised her arm up slightly. After a moment, the rock rolled away a little distance. Other than that, it looked untouched.

Chimecho immediately saw her issue. "How blunt do you want me to be with you?"

Ralts simply shrugged. "Y-You're the teacher here, y-you can be a-as blunt a-as you want"

"You're doing this all wrong! Confusion is a lot stronger than whatever that was, plus more versatile!"

"If i-it works, i-it works." Ralts simply said.

Chimecho ignored that statement and continued. "What you're doing is simply momentarily focusing to blast the enemy, or in this case a rock. You should try keeping that focus on longer, so that way you could dish out WAY more damage. Like this." Chimecho used her own Confusion on the same rock again. It rolled around a little, but a second later, it exploded. Not only was her Confusion a lot quicker, but it completely shattered the rock.

"Woah..." Ralts stared at the remains in awe. It didn't even look like Chimecho put in any effort.

"Hehe...See? That was way better, wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-Yeah, no kidding!"

"You should probably try on another rock. I'll repeat this again, but instead of momentarily focusing and releasing your focus, keep it longer and don't drop it as soon as you see the rock reacts." Chimecho pointed to another rock, similar in size to the previous one.

Ralts stared and focused on the rock. After thinking 'Confusion', the rock started shaking a little.

Suddenly, Chimencho managed to sneak behind Ralts and shouted "BOO!". Ralts immediately lost focus and screamed, hopping away from Chimecho, tripping on the rock she tried to destroy.

Chimecho giggled. "Another thing you want to work on is not losing said focus. Lots of Pokemon know how Psychic-type Pokemon attack, so they will try to make you lose focus. You should work on spatial awareness more too!"

Ralts rolled her eyes and focused on the rock again. It started rolling a little, but Ralts kept her focus. A second later, it exploded.

Chimecho clapped, in a celebratory way. "Nice, nice! You seem like a natural! Though the attack could be a little quicker, but you'll get used to it!"

"W-What did you mean w-when you s-said Psychic m-moves are versatile?" Ralts remembered what she mentioned earlier.

"Psychic moves aren't always about blasting things with your mind. You could sense others around you, but other Psychic-types and Dark-types are immune to this sense, although Psychic-types need to focus to hid their sense. You can also use float stuff, teleport and read and control minds! Possibilities are virtually endless."

"W-Woah...Are Psychic-types r-really that p-powerful?"

"Hehe, not necessarily! You could do all that stuff, but things like long-distance teleportation and mind control and that type of stuff is very, very complex! Will probably give you a giant headache for a month, even if you do it unsuccessfully. I can only teleport from here to Wigglytuff's Guild, and that distance isn't that big! Also you can't do anything to Dark-types, their minds are too difficult to penetrate." Chimecho chuckled a little.

"Ohh...h-how do you t-teleport?"

"It's a little more complicated...you kind of have to imagine where you want to teleport and then focus. The longer the distance, the more focus and energy is required. Or if you want to do like, a sneak attack, you have to focus on a spot a certain distance away." Chimecho explained.

"C-Can I try?"

"Yes, yes, of course! I did just give you an explanation, so just try-huh? Chatot?" Chimecho called out his name before he even flew nearby. Ralts couldn't even sense him from this distance, only sensing him when he was standing near them.

"Well well, you two seem to be training hard!" Chatot chirped. "How's Ralts doing?"

"Ralts's a quick learner! Her moves are a little stale, but she's already improving".

"You two should return to the guild. Chimecho, you should prepare dinner, it's your turn today! And Ralts, Spoink's at the guild, he would like to give you the mission rewards personally."

"Well then, see ya at the guild, Ralts and Chatot!" With that, Chimecho quickly flashed pink and vanished into thin air.

"I simply cannot thank you enough!" In front of Kit and Ralts was standing a gray, pig-like Pokemon. He had pink cheeks and his long spiral tail kept making him bounce. On top of his head was his pearl, propped neatly, and somehow staying on.

"My pearl is super important to me. Without it, I just bounce all over the place with almost no control!" Spoink's body was indeed covered with small bruises and scraps, but they thankfully didn't look serious.

"But now, that nightmare is finally over! You have my sincerest thanks!"

Spoink approached Ralts and pulled out three bottles. Then, he pulled out a small bag that jingled a little. Ralts assumed that the bag was filled with coins.

"These here are Protein, Calcium and Iron. And this bag has 2,000 Poke in there!" Spoink explained.

Kit eyes widened with surprised. "Wow, those are incredibly precious! All of this is for us?!" She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Of course, of course! This is nothing compared to the value of my pearl. I just get going now!" Spoink started to bounce away. Suddenly, Ralts remembered something.

"W-Wait! Mr. S-Spoink!"

"Hm? What is it?"

Ralts pulled out the job request from her Treasure Bag. "I-I believe y-you m-mentioned an outlaw...c-could you t-tell me w-what happened?"

"O-Oh, right, about that..." Spoink pondered for a little, before replying, "I was bouncing home...it's a little way from Treasure Town. Then, my vision started to blur. Something yanked the pearl off my head. I-I saw someone in front of me, and I just decided to launch myself. I tackled the Pokemon, but I'm not sure what happened next. I believe the pearl must have rolled away, but then... I passed out. That outlaw must have used Hypnosis, but thankfully that move isn't as effective on Psychic-types, so it took longer for it to take effect, and I woke up quickly."

'A Psychic type that knows Hypnosis...doesn't leave a lot of room. I believe most Psychic-types know Hypnosis...I could be wrong though.' Ralts pondered.

"Well, the matter was already reported to Officer Magnezone, although from Spoink's description, he doesn't have a lot of room to work with." Chatot replied.

"Yes, well, sorry for breaking the mood, but thank you a lot again. I should get going though. I need to get home to patch myself up."

With that, Spoink bounced towards the ladder. He skillfully bounced up every couple rungs.

When Spoink was fully gone from the guild, Kit exhaled.

"Well...at least the day's over now. On the plus side, we got 2,000 Poke! That's a lot! At this rate, we'll become rich!"

"Right, about the money. Ralts, please hand over the bag, if you will." Chatot hopped over to Ralts.

Ralts reluctantly handed the small bag of coins to Chatot. Chatot hopped away a little and turned around. He opened the pouch and after a minute, he handed it back to Ralts. Kit and Ralts peeked inside the bag, and the amount of coins seemed significantly smaller.

"What?! We only keep 200 Poke?! That doesn't seem fair!" Kit protested.

"Well, that's the guild's rules! You'll have to accept that." Chatot retorted back.

'Welp, this is capitalism in a nutshell. Still, 90% seems way too unfair. There has to be a good reason for this nonsense.'

"M-Mr. Chatot, sir?"

"What is it Ralts? Also, you can drop the formalities. Just call me Chatot."

"Okay, C-Chatot. I u-understand the g-guild has the right to t-take a portion of t-the reward money, h-however d-doesn't it seem l-like taking 90 p-percent is a little...much?" Ralts said, trying to sound as professional as possible.

"Well, there are multiple reasons why the amount is so high. When you entered the guild and asked to join, we didn't ask much of you, right?"

Both Ralts and Kit nodded.

"Your training is basically free, along with a room of your own and food on the table as well, offered by the guild. However, due to this, the guild has to spend money, so a way to collect dues from recruits is by taking a portion of reward money. But we only collect the money. We let you keep items found in dungeons, as well as the items given as rewards. But that's not all! We also fund Treasure Town, allowing the community to grow and prosper."

"W-Well, that m-make a lot of s-sense, actually..."

"There's also a final reason that's not necessarily related to anything. As Kit mentioned, 2,000 Poke is a lot of money, and that you could become rich with a couple more missions. Before, we didn't have such a high tax. We've had previous Pokemon come into the guild, ask for training, and then a week or so later, leave with a lot of money collected. This guild and it's training are serious! We want to recruit Pokemon who are serious about being an Exploration team! So we usually collect such a high amount from beginning Teams to see if they're serious."

"Will our pay increase as we climb the ranks?" Kit asked hopefully.

"Yes yes, of course it will. Every couple ranks, we'll decrease the tax. But for now, it will stay as 90 percent! That's the guild's rules!"

"As much as this sucks, I understand where this is coming from." Kit grumbled.

After a delicious dinner courtesy of Chimecho, both girls were sitting in bed their room.

"Today was very hectic, wasn't it? Even though it was a bummer that most of your money was taken, getting thanked by Spoink was the best part of today!"

"Yeah, i-it was. I-It felt really nice. But i-it always seems like the day drags on."

"Yeah it does. I have a theory that Mystery Dungeons makes the day go by slower. Anyways, what did Chimecho teach you?" Kit chuckled.

"T-That Psychic-types are too p-powerful for their own good." Ralts said sarcastically.

"No kidding. If I could chose my typing, I would have loved to be a Psychic-type. I mean, what can a Fire-type do? Control fire? Psychic-types can do that, and so much more! It's insane. But I guess it's no use complaining." Kit ranted a little.

After a moment of silence, Kit spoke up again. "Ralts, I have a question."

"Go on..."

"Can you show me your eyes?"

"H-Huh?" Hazel was a little taken aback. She didn't really want to show Kit her eyes, because she knew she still had hazel eyes, whereas any normal Ralts would have pink ones.

"W-Well you see, I know that Ralts's and the entire evolution line have pink eyes. But whenever we are in dungeons, or talking to someone bigger than you, no offense, I notice that the color of your eyes are...a little weird. So, I thought that maybe, I could get a better look? If you don't mind..." Kit said sheepishly.

Hazel was starting to get worried. Unfortunately for her, Kit knew exactly what she feared. But Hazel knew that Kit would find out about her eyes sooner or later, and it would seem weird if she was so reluctant to show her eyes, since technically, from Kit's perspective, she had nothing to hide.

Slowly, Ralts shifted the hair out of her eyes and looked at Kit. Kit took a good look and seemed a little taken aback.

"Wow, your eyes are so pretty. Their brown and a little blue! How can you even see through your hair?" Kit seemed surprisingly cheerful about that.

"Y-Yeah, they are, thanks. A-And my hair isn't as t-thick as you think. Hey d-do you want to g-go to sleep now? I-I'm quite tired from C-Chimecho's training a-and stuff." Hazel desperately changed the subject. She did not know if Pokemon traits like eye color were passed down, and she begged that Kit wouldn't question things.

"...Well, okay, if you want, I'll keep your eye color a little secret between each other. You don't see brown eyed Ralts anywhere!" Kit giggled a little, but Hazel could tell that she was a little confused at her sudden change of conversation.

"Good night Ralts. We should try to wake up early, so that our eardrums aren't blasted again."

With that, both Hazel and Kit fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 : Screams and Visions

"UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!"

Loudred once again woke them up again. Waking up recruits seemed to be his routine, as it was his third time doing it. His voice was still ridiculously loud though, leaving both girls dazed.

"Uh...Good morning, Ralts..."

"G-Good morning..."

They were able to quickly to snap out of their daze and quickly go to the next room. Loudred seemed to have woken them up a little earlier, since this time they were in the room before everyone else.

"AND...THREE! SMILES TO GO MILES!". Ralts and Kit were still mumbling the entire morning cheers, since they still weren't really comfortable yelling it out.

"Okay Pokemon! Time to get to work!"

"HOORAY" Both girls sheepishly put they're arms up.

With that, all the guild members scattered out around the guild. Most went to the top floor, while others went to the other side of the room. Before either girls could react, Chatot called them over.

"You two, follow me to the floor above and to the right. I'll explain the next part of your training!" With that said, he flew out of the room again. Both girls shot each other a look and followed him.

All three of them were standing in front of another bulletin boards, only the posters seemed a little different. There were pictures at the top with a list at the bottom that was too small for either Kit or Ralts to see properly.

"Today, for the second part of your training, you'll do the jobs listed over on this board."

Kit approached the board a little and after staring at the nearest poster, she gasped and stepped back. "T-Those aren't outlaws, are they?!". Both girls shot each other a glance. Despite the training and advice from Chimecho, she still didn't feel confident about her powers.

"Yes, these Pokemon here are outlaws. They all have bounties on their heads for crimes they committed. As I mentioned three days ago, bad Pokemon have been popping up more and more, and Officer Magnezone is finding it hard to keep up. So now the Guild is helping with the capture of outlaws."

"Just like the missions on the other board, there are different ranks to outlaws. Criminals out there come in all shades of badness. Some are completely wicked to the core, while others are merely petty thieves. So you've got evil to naughty...and everything in between! So we'll find you a petty thief that I doubt will give you much trouble." Chatot explained.

"Um...You say some are weak...But they're still bad Pokemon. I-I'm not sure if I can face up to any of them!"

"D-Don't worry Kit, I'll be there! I'm s-sure everything w-will be fine! Besides, w-we've already b-beat up t-two of 'em. R-Remember Koffing a-and Zubat? Besides, we've b-been training f-for three days now." Ralts gave her a reassuring look and a little fist pump in the air.

"That's the spirit, Ralts!" Chatot chirped. "However, it would be helpful if you prepared to confront an outlaw with the proper items. Some outlaws will try to run from you the moment you show yourselves, while others lure out Explorers into Monster Houses! I'll explain what those are in a little while. In the meantime..."

Chatot turned to the ladder and yelled down the hatch. "Hey! Bidoof! Come here! I have a job for you!".

Hazel heard a distant "Yup yup!" and barely ten seconds later, Bidoof emerged from the hatch.

"Ah, Bidoof! I want to give the new recruits a tour around here and town!" Turning back to Kit and Ralts. "I'll assume you're acquainted?" All three of them nodded. "Then I'll leave all of you to it! I want you to listen to what he has to say!" With that, he flew out of the room and down the hatch.

"Well, I'll show you around her and Treasure Town, by golly!" He turned to the ladder, "Follow me!"

All three of them descended down below.

"First things first! That over there is Croagunk... But to tell y'all the truth, I don't have any idea what he's up to... He always seems to be fiddling around with that big cauldron behind him. Whenever I ask about it, he just chuckles darkly. It's all a mystery to me! Yup yup! Then over at the back, to the left is the mess hall and the to the right, you'll find the crew rooms. And over there next to us leads to the Guildmaster's Chamber!" Bidoof explained.

"Um, did you guys already know all this, by golly?" Bidoof asked sheepishly.

"Well, yes, but we didn't know about whatever Croagunk is doing. We don't mind the explanation." Kit said.

"Okay, I just didn't want to take up your time by explaining everything, yup yup! I'll guide you both around outside then!"

With that, Bidoof led Kit and Ralts outside of the guild.

Ralts was incredibly ecstatic inside when they finally entered the town she was so curious about. Treasure Town looked way better than Ralts predicted. Almost immediately upon entry, there was a stand that was shaped as a Duskull, with a Duskull behind the desk.

As soon as Hazel saw the Duskull, a feeling passed through her as she stared into it's single bright, red eye. That feeling was a mix of fear, hatred, and just anxiety in general. Even though she just momentarily glanced at Duskull's eye, she felt like she already wanted to run away and leave.

Luckily for Hazel's nerves, Bidoof ignored Duskull and led both girls to the middle of the town. 'I should just ignore that Duskull. Still, why did I start to panic internally when I looked at his eye...Do I know him or something? I should forget about this. I finally get to explore the town!', with that mental note, her mood lifted as she started to smile and look around her like a child wanting to see everything at the same time while not knowing what to check out first.

"This is the main square of Treasure Town!" Bidoof said, waving a paw around for emphasis. 

Treasure Town was probably the most cheerful and lively area Hazel entered yet. There were multiple stands around town that resembled the Pokemon running them. Chansey, Electivire and Marowak. Hazel found this to be a little bit funny but also pretty creative. The stands were bright and expertly made. There were patches of grass and flowers around town, only adding to the liveliness of the town. The street was also bustling with different Pokemon and Exploration team, all of them cheerfully chatting with each other. Hazel was looking at almost every direction. 

"Oh, I can tell you a lot about Town too! I live right next to it after all!" Kit spoke up.

"Well, then go for it, yup yup! I'm not actually from around here, so I guess it would be best if you answered all this for me, by golly!" Bidoof explained with a shrug at the end.

"Alright then, to start..." Kit pointed to the Duskull stand behind them. Ralts turned towards it, but still avoided Duskull's gaze. "That there is the Duskull Bank! We can store our money there. I know the owner seems a little...creepy, but he's super polite actually!"

Then she turned to the stand further ahead. It was yellow and looked like the head of a Electivire. "And that over there is the Electivire Link Shop. I believe you can link moves, which is basically using two moves at the same time, but it makes you more hungry. However he seems to be away right now..." Kit frowned.

"Up ahead is the Kecleon Market, it's probably the most useful stall here. And there is also the Kangaskhan Storage and Xatu Appraisal. There's also minor stalls, but I don't really know what they do. But other than that, that should do it for Treasure Town."

"You sure know a lot, yes sirree! That's good to know! Well, the tour is over, so come find me when you're all ready to go. I'll give you a helping hand with selecting the right outlaw for you." Bidoof smiled.

"Thank you Bidoof, you've been really nice to us!" Kit returned the smile.

"G-Golly, you're embarrassing me! Aw, shucks..." Bidoof blushed, his entire face turning pink. Realizing he's blushing, he blushed harder, clearly he was trying not to blush but couldn't stop. "I-I'll be waiting at the guild's upper underground floor for you."

With that, he scurried away.

Kit turned to Ralts. "Okay, we should go to Kecleon Market. Even though we don't have much money, we should still check things out. We could find some good items." Both of them only had 600 Poke.

After Ralts basically looked at every corner of Treasure Town, they finally approached the Kecleon Market. As the name suggests, the stall was ran by two Kecleon, except one of them was purple. 'I don't think that's a shiny Pokemon...I wonder what that's all about. I think he's changing his color, but wouldn't that require some form of energy? If he was born that way, that means it wouldn't be too far of a stretch that my unnatural Ralts eyes are just different.' Ralts pondered.

"Ah, customers! Hi there Kit, it's been a while. We usually see you everyday, but we didn't see you for two days. And looks like you have a friend too! A Ralts by the looks of it! What a rare sight, Ralts's are usually shy and you don't usually see any!" The green Kecleon greeted.

"Hi Kecleon! Sorry for not stopping by. I actually joined the guild, and Ralts here is part of my Team!" Kit explained. Clearly the shop owners were familiar with most of the Treasure Town folk.

"Good for you, Kit! And no need to apologize. We're more than happy for you. We have all the supplies for Exploration Teams, so we're happy to do business with you!"

Both Kecleon then turned to Ralts. "I'll assume you're new around these parts?". Ralts simply nodded. "Then we should introduce ourselves. You can simply call me Kecleon, and as for my brother", the green Kecleon turned to the purple one, "You can just call him Leon. That way names won't get confusing. I sell general items, like berries and seeds, while..."

Leon took over. "While I sell Orbs and TM's! My wares are a little more expensive, but don't let that discourage you from looking at my them."

"O-Oh...I see." Ratls simply nodded.

"Anyways, enough chat. What can I do for you ladies?".

With that, both of them started looking over their stock. The TM's in stock were very tempting, with moves such as Psychic and Calm Mind, however they were way too expensive. Even if they were to sell every last item they had, it wouldn't even come close to the amount needed for one. With the money they had, they managed to buy an Oran Berry, two Chesto Berries and a Heal Seed, leaving them with a remaining 240 Poke.

Before either of them can say goodbyes and leave, both girls heard a distant "Misters Kecleon!". The voice sounded quite young. Turning to the voice, both girls and Kecleon saw two little kids trotting up to the stall. Well, the taller one was. The smaller one was bouncing. The kids were a Marill and Azurill. Azurill was dragging behind him a bag that was attached to a ball, which was connected to his body by a small, zigzag tail.

"Ah! Little Marill and Azurill! Welcome, my young friends!" Kecleon piped up happily.

"Hi Misters Kecleon! Are we interrupting anything?" Marill asked, glancing at Kit and Ralts momentarily.

"No, it's fine. We just finished shopping, so you're not interrupting anything." Kit answered for the Kecleon brothers.

"Oh, okay, thank you." Marill said with a small bow.

"Well, what may we do for you two?" Leon cheerfully said. Clearly they were quite fond of the young brothers and Ralts understood completely. 'They're too cute'

"We'd like to buy some apples. Is that alright?" Azurill shyly asked. Ralts felt like she had a heart attack when she heard his cute voice.

"Of course it's alright! How much do you boys need?" Kecleon asked.

"We'd like three apples please!" Marill dug into the bag attached to Azurill, took out 75 Poke and placed it on the counter.

"Coming right up!" Kecleon swept the coins under the counter with his arms and reached into the crate beside him, pulling out four apples and putting them on the counter. Noticing this, Azurill immediately said "O-Oh, sir, we only asked for three apples, but you took out four!". 'They're so precious! So moral and polite. Ah, the innocence of youth.' Ralts felt herself starting to blush a little.

"Oh, don't worry, consider the fourth Apple as a little gift from myself and Leon. You two are here, helping your mother, and we think you deserve a little extra!" Kecleon winked at the end.

Azurill was absolutely delighted and cheered, "Yay! Thank you Mr. Kecleon and Mr. Leon!". Azurill started to twirl on the spot.

"Oh, Azurill! Stop, the bag could-"

Before Azurill could heed Marill's warning, the bag attached to his tail got loose and was sent hurling directly at Hazel. Hazel didn't react in time and flinched. The bag wasn't too heavy, but it did cause her to trip when the bag collided with her. Other than that, she wasn't hurt in any way, although she was more concerned about the apples inside.

Azurill gleeful expression instantly turned into one of horror. Without skipping a beat, he immediately bounced up to her. "O-Oh, I'm so sorry Miss! I didn't mean to hurt you! Are you alright?! I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do for you?! Are you hurt?! I didn't mean-"

Although a little overwhelmed by his sudden outburst of questions, she chuckled and shook her head. "No, no, i-it's alright! I'm p-perfectly fine! No hard feelings! See?". She stood up and spun around on the spot.

That did not improve Azurill's mood. With a look of guilt, he mumbled out "I-I'm still sorry for hurling my bag at you...".

"I-It's alright, really!" Ralts started to panic a little. Azurill looked like he was about to start crying any second now. Marill stepped in and patted Azurill on the head. "Azurill, it's alright. Miss...uhm, she said it's alright. You already apologized.".

Glancing down at the bag, an idea popped into her head. "Hey, w-wanna see something cool?". Both brothers immediately looked up, clearly incredibly curious about what she was planning. Even Azurill looked a little better.

Seeing there's no way out of this, Ralts focused on the bag. Then, much to both brothers dismay, she threw the bag up. As it started to fall, it glowed pink and suddenly stopped. Ralts controlled the bag to fly around. Although its movement were very dull and robotic in a way, Azurill was captivated by this. That seemed to have lifted their moods.

"Wow! That was cool! How can you do that?!" Azurill giggled.

Ralts shrugged. "I just c-can". She dropped the bag into her arms as she lost focus.

Marill approached and stretched out his stubby arm. "May we have our bag back?"

Ralts nodded and handed it back. Marill took it and tied the bag on Azurill's tail again. "Try not to launch the bag again, alright?".

"Why don't you carry the bag then?" Azurill mumbled.

"You said you'll carry the bag this time, you can't take that back." Marill mumbled back.

"Well, don't you two need to go home?" Kit stepped in, trying to stop any possible bickering.

"You can say hello to Azumarill for us, alright?" Kecleon also stepped in, although he was slightly chuckling from the brothers antics.

"Well, alright, bye Misters Kecleon and Miss...?" Azurill paused, realizing he doesn't know either of their names.

"I'm Kit, and this here is Ralts." Kit introduced both of them.

"Okay, thank you and sorry again, Miss Ralts." Azurill turned to Ralts and looked straight up at her. After a moment, he said, "Your eyes are so pretty!", with a glimmer in his eyes.

'Oh, I guess he noticed them easier, he is looking under my hair. I hope he doesn't start a rumor, I should-'. Before Ralts could stop him, Marill stepped in. "Come on Azurill, we should hurry home, alright?" and started to lead him away.

"But what about our Water Float?" Ralts could hear barely out of earshot. With that, they went further into Treasure Town and out of view.

"Those two are so cute!" Kit commented.

"Absolutely, b-but where's t-their mother? She's Azumarill, r-right?" Ralts questioned. 'Their mother seems to trust them a lot to let them wander in town alone. I guess as long Azurill is with Marill, it's fine, I guess.'

"Yes, their mother is Azumarill. She's sick right now, so both of them are helping her out with groceries. Don't worry about her, she just feels tired and weak, so she can't use too much energy." Leon added, noticing both their concerned looks.

"Oh, well, I hope she gets better!" Kit said. Seeing as how they have to hurry, she turned to Ralts. "We should get going back to the guild. Bidoof is waiting, and we should store our money at the bank."

'Oh god, Duskull Bank.'

As soon as Ralts and Kit were approaching the guild, Ralts felt a presence. Normally, she wouldn't pay any attention, since she can already feel the presence of every Pokemon in town. However, this one was familiar. Turning her head to its source, she saw a tall, yellow-brown Pokemon. A Drowzee. And said Drowzee was talking to both little brothers they saw five minutes ago. He also had a bag, which was clearly worn and nearly empty.

'A Drowzee, talking to two kids, definitely not creepy...Not too mention, he seems way too familiar, even though this is the first time seeing him. Something seems wrong about this. Hopefully I'm not being paranoid.' She decided to focus on the trio. Both brothers had a mix of happiness and confusion, while the Drowzee seemed malicious. Before she could let that sink in fully, the Drowzee immediately noticed her from the corner of his narrow eye, and her focus was lost. 'Okay, yeah, something is wrong here.' She shot Kit and glance and they both silently agreed to eavesdrop a little.

"Mount Bristle? Why would it be there? We never really walked near there..." Marill asked.

"I'm not sure myself, but it is where I last saw it." Drowzee shrugged.

"Marill, we already searched everywhere, and we didn't check Mount Bristle yet. So maybe it could be there!" Azurill said, clearly being quite happy.

Marill was contemplating his options. After a moment of thinking, he responded, "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to check, but I don't think either of us could go in there.".

"If you want, I can easily escort the both of you. Mount Bristle isn't necessarily dangerous, but it wouldn't be safe for two kids to simply enter!" Drowzee offered with a gentle smile.

"Really?!" Both brothers said simultaneously.

"Yes, yes, of course!"

"But...we don't really have a lot of money." Marill said with a sad look.

"Don't worry, no payment required for such an easy task" Drowzee dismissed with a passive air about him.

Azurill and Marill looked absolutely delighted, although Marill was a little more restricted. "Yaaay!" Azurill hopped around a little. "Thank you!", Marill thanked with a little bow.

"Please! It's nothing." Drowzee replied, scratching the back of his neck as if embarrassed, although Hazel caught a momentary grin before it faded.

Right before Kit and Ralts were about to walk by, Azurill noticed them and shouted out; "Oh! Hi Miss Kit and Ralts!". Naturally, both girls had to join the conversation. As soon as they approached, Ralts noticed that Drowzee was shooting them apprehensive looks.

"Hi, what's up?" Kit asked.

Hazel was glaring at Drowzee. Despite his kind gesture and appearance, she did not trust him one bit. Chatot mentioned that Psychic-types could hide their presence when they put in an effort. She couldn't feel anything from the Psychic-types. She could sense everyone around her, and she wasn't even trying. Not too mention the familiar presence before and the momentary grin.

"We lost an important item, a Water Float. We really need it, but we can't find it anywhere. Then Mr. Drowzee came along...And he says he has seen our lost item on Mount Bristle! He even offered to help us look for it. We're so happy about this!" Marill smiled.

"Yeah! That's great for you!" Kit commented.

"Anyways, Mr. Drowzee and I should get going." Marill said.

"What about me?" Azurill suddenly exclaimed and stopped bouncing.

"Azurill, you should go home."

"Why?! I wanna come too!" Azurill protested.

"I'm perfectly able to protect the both of you at the same time. You don't have to worry about your brother getting hurt!" Drowzee also stepped in.

"Well, even then, Azurill's too young to be going in places like Mount Bristle. I don't want to risk Azurill getting hurt in any way. Besides, I think it would be best anyways. If it's just the two of us, then we wouldn't be slowed down and it would be easier to escort only one Pokemon, right?".

Drowzee paused. Hazel caught a momentary look of annoyance in his eyes before it was replaced with a smile. "Well, I suppose it would be better. I can't argue with that logic." Drowzee chuckled.

Azurill was not taking that comment better. "But Marill...I can perfectly take care of myself!"

"Well, you can take our Apples home. And you can also check on Mom, alright? Maybe you can help her make a berry pie!"

"Fine...But now you owe me!"

"Actually, technically, you owe me, cause I'm keeping you safe!" Marill snickered. Azurill shot him an annoyed look and was about to say something, but luckily Drowzee stepped in and stopped the bickering, "Let us be on our way to begin our search, shall we?".

"Alright, we should get going!" Marill agreed.

"Bye, Miss Kit and Miss Ralts!" Azurill waved with his tail goodbye, since he didn't have any arms.

"B-Be careful you t-, Hey!" Hazel suddenly stumbled back. Drowzee seemed to have bumped into her, whether on purpose of accident, she wasn't sure.

"Whoops! Excuse me!" Drowzee apologized, but Hazel didn't buy it. His voice was dripping with barely contained sarcasm. Before she could reply back, he already turned his back on her and was following the brothers.

"That Drowzee seems pretty nice."

"Key w-word, seems. I don't trust him one bit." Ralts hissed out as Kit helped her up.

"Why not?"

"His presence f-felt, familiar. S-Similar to the one y-yesterday when we were w-walking back from Drenched Bluff. Not t-too mention his apprehensive l-look when we joined the conversation. His apology h-had sarcasm in it as well. S-Something is definitely wrong here..." Ralts ranted.

Kit was saying something, but Hazel didn't hear anything. Her vision was starting to black out. Her head started to hurt, and she felt herself losing balance. 'M-My head...w-what is happening? What did that Drowzee do?'.

Suddenly, the world around her vanished into a dark void. Then Hazel found herself in a mountainous area. Looking around her, her gaze fell upon two Pokemon. One was tall and yellow-brown, while the second was blue and tiny. 'Is that...Azurill and Drowzee? Why is he looming over Azurill?'.

"I told you already, I'll take you back to your brother when you're done! What is so hard about what I'm asking?!" Drowzee growled, glaring down the cowering Azurill.

"I-I don't w-want t-to! P-Please! P-Please let m-me g-go!" Azurill was barely able to say anything through his sobs.

"Does it look like I'm giving you a choice?! All I'm asking is one simple favor! Don't you know that you're supposed to listen to what adults tell you to do, you brat?! If you continue with this behavior, things will start to get painful for you!" Drowzee yelled at him.

Azurill's tears increased tenfold, as his sobs turned into wails. "H-h-h-HEEEEEEEEELP! P-P-PLEASE! MARI-

"Hey! Hey, Ralts! You alive? Helloooo?" That voice sounded a lot more clear.

As soon as she heard it, her vision blacked out again. Hazel immediately snapped out of whatever that vision was and was Kit's paw waving in her eyes. She jumped back a little and frantically looked around her. She was back in Treasure Town.

"Are you okay Ralts? You zoned out." Kit explained.

"K-Kit! Where's that d-damn Drowzee and those brothers?!" Ralts exclaimed. Her sudden yelling caught Kit off guard and also jumped back.

"O-Oh, uhm, all three of them left a while ago. Drowzee bumped into you, then I said something, and then you zoned out. I tried-"

"W-We need to follow them!"

"Why? Is something wrong?"

Ralts looked around them. Treasure Town was filled with Pokemon, and some of them were shooting them looks. "I-I'll tell you a-at the crossroads." With that, she basically dragged Kit to the crossroads, past the Duskull Bank Kit wished to visit.

"What's wrong Ralts? You seem incredibly worried..."

"Okay, I-I'm going to sound insane, but hear me out. When that Drowzee bumped into me, I had a vision. I-I saw Drowzee threatening Azurill to do something, and then he screamed. M-My vision was cut out by you." Ralts said seriously.

Kit paused. Her emotions were jumping all over the place. She opened her mouth to say something, and closed it again. After a while, she just said, "Uhm, sorry? For... cutting off your vision?".

Hazel just shot her a dumbfounded look. "I-I just told you about a possible kidnapping, a-and you're more concerned about cutting off my vision?!"

"L-Look, I just...I don't know how to respond. It's not like I don't trust you or anything, but it just sounds...weird. I mean, if Drowzee really is an outlaw, like you say he is, Treasure Town is filled with Exploration Teams and witnesses. He would have to be either incredibly gutsy or foolish to try and kidnap two kids, no less even enter in the first place. Besides, I dunno about you, but I didn't get any sense that he would possibly hurt either of them. He seemed quite sincere."

"I-In my vision, I only saw Azurill. C-Clearly Drowzee wants only him. Don't you find i-it weird that when Marill t-told Azurill to go home, Drowzee immediately fought a-against it?" Ralts pointed out.

"I just, I don't know what to do...We are supposed to head back to the guild, but at the same time, if what you're saying is true then..." Kit didn't bother to finish that sentence.

"What if...Y-You go back to the guild, w-while I follow Drowzee and m-make sure he doesn't try anything?"

"Then how will we regroup? No offense, but I don't think you could take down someone as big as Drowzee. You'll be at a Type-disadvantage. I mean, so will he, but still. And I don't think you can teleport yet."

Hazel was placed in a very difficult position. On one hand, she couldn't just ignore a possible kidnapping. On the other, they had to return to the guild, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face Drowzee.

"Look, how about this. How about we return to the guild and tell Chatot or Chimecho about your vision and about Drowzee? We know where he's heading, so if anything happens, we can tell Officer Magnezone." Kit suggested, although Ralts could tell she's unsure herself.

In a huff, Ralts reluctantly agreed with Kit. With that, they both headed back to the guild, completely forgetting about Duskull Bank.

When they entered the guild, they were greeted by Bidoof standing in front of the Outlaw Bulletin Board.

"Hi Bidoof, sorry if we took too long! We, uh, got held back." Kit said sheepishly.

"No, no, it's fine, by golly!"

"B-Bidoof, d-do you know where C-Chatot or Chimecho i-is? We need t-to talk to them r-right now". Hazel was in quite the hurry.

"Hmm...Sorry, but Chatot is talking with the Guildmaster, while I'm not sure where Chimecho is!" Bidoof said. 'How convenient. When I need two important Pokemon, they're suddenly busy. I swear to god, I'll never forgive myself if anything happens.' Hazel was growing annoyed and inpatient.

"But if you need Chatot quickly, then his talk shouldn't be that long!" Bidoof quickly added, noticing her impatient look. "Well, do you want to look at the board for now?".

"Fine, I suppose." Kit turned to the board.

Before either of the trio could do anything, they suddenly heard shouting from what seemed to be from behind the board. "Stand clear! Updating listings! Stand clear! Updating listings!". Then suddenly, a small earthquake started. Then, the board violently flipped over, revealing the empty back of it.

"Yikes! W-What?! What's going on?!" Kit yelled, quickly backing up.

"The data's being updated."

"Updated? How quickly were the posters taken?"

"Many Exploration Teams come to the guild. Anyways, as you saw, the panels are on revolving panels. Dugtrio is responsible for updating them, however he can be, a little over the top with rookies. He did that to me, yup yup!" Bidoof chuckled a little at the end.

"Update complete! Stand clear! Update complete! Stand clear!"

"That was quick." Kit noted.

With another small earthquake, the panel violently flipped again. Both girls flinched a little, despite being ready for it.

"Yes sirree! I can help you pick out the right outlaw!" Bidoof turned back to the duo, expecting them to at least nod.

However, neither of them were listening. Kit looked pale and was shaking, as if she is seeing a ghost and was to terrified to do anything, and Ralts had an expression of horror and pure anger.

They were staring at a specific poster, on the top left, with a certain face on it.

Drowzee.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3.5 : Screams and Visions

Something inside of Hazel snapped when she saw Drowzee's wanted poster. She never felt this type of anger. It was anger directed at him, and also herself. 'I had, all the warning signs in the world, and yet I still let those two kids walk of with this disgusting...'. She couldn't even finish that internal sentence.

Ripping the poster off the board with her powers, she shoved it at Kit and hissed out, "Read it!"

"W-Why?" Kit still looked pale.

"Just do it! This better not be the same Drowzee from Treasure Town!" she almost cursed.

Kit immediately took the poster and straightened it out. "Drowzee, A-rank outlaw, bounty is 3,000, wanted for ; theft, assault and multiple attempted kidnappings. Most recent area spotted at is-" Kit suddenly stopped and looked straight at Ralts. "MOUNT BRISTLE!". The sighting was only updated yesterday, but despite that, it was more than enough to confirm it's the same Drowzee from Treasure Town.

"HOW CAN AN A-RANK OUTLAW WANDER ON THE STREETS OF TREASURE TOWN?!" Ralts yelled out.

"WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME?!" Kit yelled back, her anger being very clear.

After taking a momentary pause to unsuccessfully calm down, she turned to Bidoof, who slightly flinched when he saw her furious expression. "Bidoof, tell anyone and everyone in this guild and Officer Magnezone that we are taking on this outlaw!" She shoved the poster in Bidoof face, and after a few seconds, she continued. "This trash took two kids with him to Mount Bristle, and we are going to stop him!".

"But Ralts, h-he's an A-rank. You two are not prepared-" Bidoof said in a meek voice, but was interrupted by a screaming Ralts.

"WE KNOW!". Again, Ralts calmed herself down slightly. "Even if we don't catch him, we need to make sure those kids are safe. We'll try to stall him for the authorities and make sure he doesn't teleport!".

"RALTS THERE'S NO TIME TO WASTE! LET'S GO!" She snatched the poster out of Ralts's hands and shoved it into her Treasure Bag. Then with the help of her tails, she shoved Ralts onto her back and sprinted up the ladder.

Bidoof was just left there, alone and stunned.

Kit dashed past Treasure Town and sprinted down the crossroads. After a quick check of the Wonder Map, Kit sprinted towards Mount Bristle. Hazel was quite impressed at her speed, even with her weighing her down. She was also impressed with her in general. In the morning, she didn't even want to face an outlaw, yet here, all her fear was gone, and they were going to face off against an A-Rank outlaw, someone who is way out of their league.

"Do you w-want me to get off?" Ralts said after two minutes of awkward silence and fury.

"No, no, you stay on. You're surprisingly light and this way is much faster." Kit didn't even seem out of breath. Hazel couldn't fight that logic. She was still slightly stumbling when running.

They sped down the road, past the sign with the faint 'Drenched Bluff' on it. After a little while, the road started breaking off into branching paths. Some quick glances showed little wooden shacks, and Hazel was even able to see Spoink in front of one of them, but he quickly disappeared out of her gaze. 'Huh, houses. Well, shacks to be more specific. This shouldn't be that surprising though. I mean, there was an entire town.'

After 30 minutes of just running, with a couple quick breaks and Wonder Map checks in between, the ground started to change from a grassy path to solid stone, with a big mountain looming before them.

Ralts hopped off and looked around. The rock and ground formation was quite similar to that vision.

"I think w-we're here. This is Mount Bristle, right?" Ralts turned back to Kit, who was already checking the map.

"Yes...has to be. Oh, I hope Drowzee is here...if he knows how to teleport, god knows where he could be..." Kit panted.

As they approached what seemed to be the entrance to a Mystery Dungeon, Hazel felt a presence. Someone's here...are they hiding behind that rock?'

"Kit, someone's here, h-hiding behind that rock..." Ralts pointed out.

After a quick glance between both of them, Kit shouted out. "Hey! Who's there?! You can come out!". That shout was only met with silence.

Ralts decided to go check out what was going on herself, with Kit close behind her, looking a little worried and scared.

Peeking around the rock, both girls gasped in shock. It was Marill, slightly bruised but sleeping peacefully, as if nothing was wrong. From his uncomfortable looking position, it looks like he was either tossed behind the rock or fell over. Neither option seemed good.

Ralts carefully dragged him out from behind the rock and propped him up against it. She tried to rouse him any way she could, shaking his body and shouting his name, but he didn't even flinch. "T-This has to be Hypnosis...otherwise he would have a-awoken ten times by now..." Ralts thought out loud.

Digging into her bag, she reluctantly pulled out a Chesto Berry. "Well, as much as I'd like to save the Chesto Berries, this should immediately wake him up. We can't leave him here."

"W-Why are you reluctant?" Ralts asked as she took the berry and started to tear some small pieces off.

"Well, I heard from rumors that Drowzee, the species, are natural experts with hypnotic powers. I would bet that he would try to put us to sleep, so having Chesto Berries would be more than helpful, if not critical for this mission."

"Well, makes sense..." She mumbled out as she feed the small bits to Marill.

Almost immediately, Marill started to stir. Clearly still a little sleepy, he slowly opened his eyes as he mumbled, "Ow...W-Where...", rubbing his bruises. Then he suddenly jumped to his feet and frantically started to look around. "A-Azurill?!" He shouted and tried to walk, but he tripped and fell on the hard ground.

"Easy there Marill...We're here to help." Kit said in a gentle voice, while helping the mouse up.

"Y-You two...You're from Treasure Town! Are you Explorers?!" He looked at both of them with pleading eyes.

After a quick nod from the duo, Marill's eyes started to form tears. "P-Please, you gotta save Azurill! Please help him! I'll give you anything!" Marill frantically pleaded, clearly starting to panic.

"Don't worry, we will! Just calm down, please. Could you tell us what happened to you?" Kit asked with concern in her voice. Clearly finding him unconscious and bruised was not a good sign.

After a moment, Marill sat down against the rock and started to explain in a wavy voice. "W-Well, what happened was..."

The trio of Marill, Azurill and Drowzee were walking down the grassy path. They had just walked past the familiar 'Drenched Bluff' sign. Marill never really understood why it was so low quality. He would see Exploration Teams go in and out of there all the time, and the words on the sign were barely readable.

As they walked past all the branching paths with little houses at the end of them, barely visible, they stopped in front of a specific path. There was no house visible, but there was a pond further ahead. Their home.

"Well, Azurill, you know where to go" Marill looked at his brother, not noticing Drowzee quickly pull out a seed, quickly and quietly devouring it.

"Alright, bye big brother and Mr. Drowzee!" He waved his tail goodbye, or at least tried to, since his bag was tied to the ball on his tail. He turned around.

The instant Azurill's back was turned, Drowzee reached forward and roughly grasped both Marill and Azurill's tails. All they could do is yelp in surprise as their vision started to blur, a wave of pink and dizziness washing over them, as they felt their bodies being yanked off the ground.

As the dizziness stopped, Marill felt himself get kicked in the stomach. He cried out in pain as he bounced off the hard ground. When he heard a cry from Azurill, he could only watch in horror as Azurill collapsed on the ground, with Drowzee crouching down in front of him.

Drowzee stood up and turned his sneering face towards Marill. "Wow, I didn't even kick you that hard, yet you flew quite the distance. That Violent Seed sure does wonders...", he chuckled darkly.

Shakily getting up, some of Marill's fear turned into anger. "W-What did you do to my brother?!", he screamed.

"Relax, I didn't hurt him. He's just taking a little nap. Although he may sleep for much longer, thanks to that seed...". He started to walk towards Marill.

With all his anger directed at Drowzee, Marill prepared an attack. Unfortunately, Drowzee somehow predicted that, as he swiftly pulled out another seed and hurled it at Marill. Marill flinched, and tried to jump out of the way, but the seed collided with the ground right next to him and exploded into sparks. Those sparks completely paralyzed Marill and he fell to the ground, unable to move or attack.

"W-Why, why are you doing this?!" Luckily, his voice wasn't that affected, so he was able to squeak out some words.

"I need to borrow your brother for a little while. All I want him to do is just get me some treasure. As soon as he's done, I'll give him back to you. I can't promise he'll come back unharmed though. As for you, I can't have you ratting me out to Officer Magnezone, now can I?" he chuckled again.

"Although, I do have a deal for you." he continued more seriously, carefully propping Marill up in a sitting position. Stun Seeds do wear off with physical contact, but unfortunately for Marill, it didn't wear off.

"W-What?"

"The last thing I want is Azurill throwing a tantrum and whining about you not being there. So, if you come along and tell your brother to listen to me and keep him in check, I can guarantee both of you will be unharmed and safe. I'll even give you a small cut of the treasure! How does that sound?"

Marill didn't buy it. 'He's a criminal, he took us away, he won't keep his promise'.

"N-No! We're not thieves! I won't let you use Azurill like this!" Marill hissed out, trying everything he could to move unsuccessfully.

"So you'd rather risk your brother getting hurt? I'm offering you a very good deal right here. You guarantee your brother's safety, and you get treasure too." Drowzee's eyes narrowed, but he still kept his calm tone.

Marill paused. His deal did sound very promising, but his frustration got the better of him. "You're lying! You only want me so that I don't get help! You lied before, I won't trust you! Leave us alone!"

Drowzee sighed and frowned. "Fine. I've been very reasonable with you. But since you insist on being stubborn, then I'll just leave you here. I can't have you getting Exploration Teams, so you'll just take a little nap."

He crouched down to Marill's level and extended a hand forward, which started to glow along with his eyes. He started to circle his finger around, with pink energy trailing behind it. Marill tried to struggle or even scream as extreme exhaustion started to wash over him. His eyelids started to droop and his vision blurred, yet his eyes were still fixated on Drowzee's finger. He desperately tried to close his eyes or even look away, yet it was just...so...mesmerizing.

"That's right...relax...you'll see your brother soon..." Drowzee said in a soothing yet incredibly condescending tone, trying to further lull Marill to sleep.

With that, Marill became fully unconscious and fell on his side, the effects of the Stun Seed now completely gone.

Drowzee grabbed Marill's tail and looked around. He found a large collection of rocks nearby. 'That should do. No one passing by would find him. That Violent Seed will probably make him sleep for an entire day or two.' he thought to himself while dragging Marill to the rocks by his tail. Marill winced a little, but other than that he kept sleeping.

After lazily tossing Marill's body behind the rocks, he turned his gaze to Azurill, who was slightly curled up and was sleeping silently. Carefully picking him up, he held the sleeping Azurill in his arms. He stared at the child as his instinct demanded that he at least look at what the kid was dreaming about. 'So young...and sleeping so peacefully too. Surely his dreams would taste amazing...No, not right now. I'll have time later.' He tore his eyes off Azurill as he headed into the dungeon, a little too weak to teleport again.

"A-And then I-I...I blacked out...and then I w-woke with y-you two..." Marill finished, with tears dripping out of his eyes. Ralts and Kit listen to his short story with a mix of surprise and fury.

"I know he's an outlaw, but that's the lowest anyone could ever stoop. As a fellow Psychic type, I'm ashamed for him." Ralts was fuming. It took all of her self restraint to not immediately dash into the dungeon with the full intent of making Drowzee pay.

Marill tears increased. "M-Maybe I should h-have listened to him...at least A-Azurill would be safe..." Marill hiccuped. His arms were covering his eyes and face as if he were ashamed.

"Don't worry Marill, you did the right thing. I doubt Drowzee would keep his end of the deal." Kit tried to reassure Marill, but he wasn't convinced. "B-But Azurill's in danger b-because of me!"

"Did you grab Azurill's tail and teleport?" Ralts asked bluntly. Marill shook his head. "Did you knock out Azurill?" Again, Marill shook his head. "None of this is your fault. It's that...jerks fault." Ralts had to pause a little, she did not want to curse in front of a young adolescence.

"Marill, can you go back to Treasure Town and go to the guild and Officer Magnezone? We'll go after Drowzee and make sure we bring Azurill back safely." Kit asked with urgency in her voice.

"I-I'll try...just, please bring Azurill safely." With tears still in his eyes, he stumbled back down the road.

"Come on, Kit. We have a child to save and an outlaw to kill."

"W-We aren't supposed to-"

"I know, but I'm just saying, we'll beat him so hard that he'll wish for death."

Mount Bristle was a weird dungeon. Hazel expected the place to be filled with rock or ground types, but there was a lot of variety. There were Poison-types that Hazel easily took care of, while Kit struggled a little with the Geodudes. But other than the Starly's, they were making quick progress, mainly cause they were rushing through the dungeon without talking a lot.

After a couple of deadly silent floors, Kit spoke up. "Your stutter is gone."

"H-Huh?" Ralts wasn't expecting to have a conversation.

"When you were talking to Marill, your stutter was gone."

"Oh, I guess I'm just so livid at almost everyone that I don't really care about talking to others."

"You're...mad at everyone? I can understand you're mad at me, but even Marill?"

"I'm just...mad at myself for letting this happen despite the countless warning signs. I'm mad at you for also ignoring them. I'm mad at Drowzee for obvious reasons. I'm mad at the guild and Treasure Town for not noticing an A-rank outlaw waltzing around town. But...I don't really blame the brothers. They didn't do anything to deserve this, which just makes me more mad at everyone cause now, Azurill is in grave danger and Marill is stressed as all hell." Ralts ranted while walking quickly through the dungeon.

After calming herself down a little, she turned back to Kit. "D-Don't get me wrong, I don't blame you for any of this. If I were you, I'd probably also do the same thing."

"It's fine, I understand. You have every right to feel this way. And honestly, I feel the same way too, about everything. Minus being mad at you, you were in the right for everything."

After an awkward moment of silence, Kit asked one more question. "Why, exactly, do you stutter?"

"I...I never really talked to a lot of Pokemon in the past. So I'm not used to having a conversation with strangers. Plus, I'm always nervous that I may say something wrong, but I-I still talk quickly out of habit. But right now, like I said, I don't care what I say, what's important is saving Azurill." Even though Hazel was suffering from amnesia, she still knew why she stuttered a lot.

"Right, we need to focus on the dungeon and getting to the top."

After a little while, Hazel managed to find piles of rocks, Geo Peddles, and even some Iron Thorns. 'These could be useful for bashing Drowzee's head in or stabbing him.'

After defeating more enemies, they entered a room and found it to be filled with enemies. Though that wouldn't have really been a challenge, both girls were low on health, so a couple of hits could mean they get knocked out.

"A-Alright, calm down and try not to get hit..." Kit reminded herself and Ralts.

'A couple more hits and we're out. They attack so fast though, it makes it hard to dodge...Wait, doesn't Ralts learn a move that helps with evasion? Double Team, I think. I should probably give it a try...though I might seem like a complete idiot.'

She started to hop around while focusing on areas of the ground. After a couple of hops and baffled looks from Kit, she felt herself become lighter and more agile. A Spinarak shot a String Shot and Ralts was able to dodge it with ease.

With her increased evasiveness, she was barely scraped as she knocked out all the wild Pokemon.

"Wow, you know Double Team?!" Kit gasped in wonder.

"Yeah, I g-guess..." She panted a little.

"This will be amazing against Drowzee! He won't be able to touch you if you use this multiple times!"

With the reminder of their target, they hurried through the dungeon.

Drowzee just arrived at the peak. He was a bit slower than yesterday, due to those Starly's using Quick Attack from a distance. They didn't hurt him that much and he could easily take care of those Starly, but he was carrying a sleeping child in his arms, and said child was sometimes the target. However, other than that, none of the wild Pokemon posed any threat to him. 'Those Violent Seeds sure are powerful. The dungeon couldn't snap him out of that powerful Hypnosis.'

As per usual, he was completely healed by the dungeons exit.

Azurill yawned as he started to wake up. Despite the effects of Hypnosis now being completely gone, he was still a little tired. "M-Marill...?" he mumbled quietly and wearily as he opened his eyes and looked around. After a moment, he realized he was being carried, and started to shift around. Drowzee placed his free hand on Azurill's head, calming him down.

"M-Mr. Drowzee...? Where...where am I?" he looked around as Drowzee crouched down and placed him on the ground, near a wall. They were in a big, open room that was littered with boulders along the walls of the peak. Behind him was a tall wall, with a small crack in it.

"We're at the peak of Mount Bristle." Drowzee answered bluntly.

"But...my brother told me to go home. A-And where is Marill?" He asked with a worried expression.

"Your brother is at the bottom of the mountain. He's fine, don't worry." His voice was soft and soothing to Azurill, but he heard a condescending tone hidden in his voice.

Despite the soft voice, Azurill started to grow worried. "B-But why isn't he here?! A-And...what happened? I was a-about to go home, and then everything was pink and then I..."

Drowzee paused. If he told the truth, Azurill would undoubtedly be scared, and he already looked like his eyes would water soon. But then again, Azurill was remembering what happened. So he decided to just get to the point. He could always use Hypnosis to 'calm' him down and he had a couple of Chesto Berries just for this purpose.

"Look, kid, your brother got in my way, so I had to deal with him. He's simply sleeping at the bottom of the mountain, he's not hurt." He added quickly, seeing the look of fear and confusion on Azurill's face. "As for what happened to you, well, I couldn't let you go home, so I carried you here while you took a little nap."

"W-What?! W-Why?!" He squeaked out as he started to tremble slightly.

"Look behind you. At that hole in the wall."

Azurill looked behind him and noticed said hole. It was scarcely a foot tall, however he could easily fit through there. "Rumor has it that there's a trove of thief treasure behind that wall. But, as you can see, I'm much too big to fit in that hole. That's why I need you to go in there and bring back anything you find in there." Drowzee grinned darkly at the end.

"B-But...I don't wanna go in there..." Azurill mumbled out.

"And why not? This is a very easy task, even for someone like you." Drowzee's eyes narrowed slightly as his tone harbored a tone of annoyance.

"I-It's dark in there..."

"Please, spare me the childish excuses. Nothing will happen to you." Drowzee rolled his eyes as he approached Azurill. Azurill backed away until his back hit the wall. He flinched as tears formed in his eyes.

"B-But that's stealing! And y-you'll leave me in t-there!"

"I promise, I'll bring you back to Marill as soon as you get the treasure. Now, the sooner you do this, the sooner you'll be back home." Drowzee started to glare down the little Pokemon, becoming more annoyed with him.

Azurill was trembling as tears raced down his face. "I-I want my b-big brother!". Out of desperation, he attacked Drowzee with Splash. It didn't do anything to Drowzee, but it let him bounce behind him. With his path clear, he stared to sprint away as fast as he possibly could.

"Get back here, you brat!" Drowzee shot him a frustrated look as he raised up his arm and his eyes started to glow. Azurill's body glowed in the same pink light before he was yanked off the ground and thrown right back in front of the hole, hitting the hard ground. Azurill immediately scurried as far away from Drowzee until his back hit a corner of a boulder.

"I told you already, I'll take you back to your brother when you're done! What is so hard about what I'm asking?!" Drowzee growled, glaring down the cowering Azurill.

"I-I don't w-want t-to! P-Please! P-Please let m-me g-go!" Azurill was barely able to say anything through his sobs.

"Does it look like I'm giving you a choice?! All I'm asking is one simple favor! Don't you know that you're supposed to listen to what adults tell you to do, you brat?! If you continue with this behavior, things will start to get painful for you!" Drowzee yelled at him.

Azurill's tears increased tenfold, as his sobs turned into wails. "H-h-h-HEEEEEEEEELP! P-P-PLEASE! MARI-"

Drowzee suddenly pounced on top of Azurill, pinning him against the wall and using his hand to cover his mouth, muffling his voice. "Shut up, you runt! How about you take a little nap to calm down? I'm sick of your tantrums!" His eyes glowed pink again as he prepared to fire a blast at Azurill. Desperately, Azurill started to struggle and tried to scream, but he felt his energy being drained as his eyes closed, causing him to fall asleep again.

Seeing the tyke unconscious again, Drowzee let out an exasperated sigh as he started digging though his bag and pulled out a Chesto Berry. But before he could do anything, something hit him. Flinching and dropping the berry, he quickly turned around and saw two Pokemon run into the clearing.

"Stop right there, Drowzee!"

Kit and Ralts arrived at the peak. Like usual, they were completely healed. Good thing too, because they heard Azurill shrill cry for help. Flinching, they ran into the open peak and were greeted by Drowzee putting Azurill right back to sleep.

Furious, Ralts dug into her Treasure Bag and pulled out a Geo Pebble. Then, after focusing on it, sent it flying directly at Drowzee as fast as possible. It hit his back and caused him to flinch, dropping the berry he was holding.

"Stop right there, Drowzee!" Kit called out at the top of her voice.

Drowzee quickly turned around with a look of shock and mild annoyance. "You two?! How'd you find this place?".

"You can thank Marill for that, you creep! We're also an Exploration Team, Team Relic!" Ralts glared at him. If looks could kill, Drowzee would be have died five times already.

"Of course the Pokemon who finds me here is an Exploration Team...Still, you two have no idea what you're about to get into. How about you two go home? I don't have time to deal with you." Drowzee growled in annoyance.

"Like we'd leave Azurill with the likes of you! We won't let you treat him like this! We're going to apprehend you!" Kit also started shooting daggers at Drowzee. However, Hazel started to get worried, since she felt Kit's fear start to rise at a fast rate.

"Really? Do you think you can really arrest me?". A grin slid across his face as he leered at Kit. "You seem like a rookie to me, you're shaking in fear..."

Tearing her eyes off Drowzee, Hazel saw Kit was trembling. She was still glaring at Drowzee, but her fear was present in her eyes.

"I really should have attacked you three days ago! You two are nothing but rookies. I doubt you faced an outlaw before." Drowzee laughed.

"So it WAS you! Were you just hiding behind a tree all day?" Ralts shot back.

"I wasn't hiding for THAT long! I was looking for someone small enough. Believe me, I wouldn't have brought that brat here if I had someone else. Anyways, enough talk. You two can either leave, or be beaten badly. Although..." Drowzee paused as he eyed Ralts and glanced back at a hole in the wall.

Instantly knowing what Drowzee would say next, Hazel cut him off. "Don't even think about it. I'm not going in there! Why would I help someone who kidnapped a small child and threatened them?! Use your Psychic powers, you dumb imbecile!"

Drowzee laughed at that. "You of all Pokemon should know that is not how Psychic powers work. You have to actually SEE the object you plan on controlling!" He paused and shot Ralts a confused look. "Although, how did you know about the threats? You only arrived when I used Hypnosis..."

"M-Mountains e-echo!" She quickly tensed up slightly and blurted out that answer.

Luckily Kit, although still nervous, spoke up "We are NOT backing out of this!"

"Alright, you two asked for this!"

Drowzee started the fight off by leaping forward. Despite his large form, he was quite agile. Not really a surprise though, he was an A-rank outlaw. Using Confusion, he blasted the ground between both of them, sending them flying in separate directions. Before Ralts could react, he tackled her, separating them even further. Although, when she got up, she felt a little more rejuvenated.

Drowzee turned his attention to Kit and used Confusion. She collapsed and writhed in pain. Furious, Ralts sprinted forward awkwardly and her instincts made her pull out an Iron Thorn. She then stabbed Drowzee in his left leg, causing him to lose focus and yelp. The Iron Thorn was quite small and short, so it didn't cause too much damage to him. Kit then quickly got up and pounced. She cloaked herself in Dark energy and tackled Drowzee, sending him stumbling back.

"Iron Thorns aren't for stabbing, but if it works, it works. I'll hold him off and you can hide Azurill somewhere safe." Kit quickly blurted out while Drowzee pulled out the broken Iron Thorn out of his leg.

Not giving him a chance to recover, Kit launched herself at Drowzee with the same Dark energy. Unfortunately for her, Drowzee somehow predicted this, as he jumped out of the way, barely avoiding her attack. 'H-How?! Feint Attack ALWAYS hits! He didn't even use Double Team or anything!' she thought in disbelief as Drowzee quickly counter-attacked with a Pound.

"You can thank Forewarn for that!" Drowzee snarled as his eyes shone white and he used Disable on Kit. Kit tensed up, her attempt to use Ember causing her to cough out smoke.

Meanwhile, Hazel was on the other side of the area, near a wall and an unconscious Azurill. Her quick attempt to rouse him failed, and checking him over he didn't seem to be too injured, but she saw some small scrapes and a big bruise on his back. Grimacing slightly, she gently picked Azurill up and hid him behind some rocks, providing perfect protection against any possible stray attacks.

Turning her attention back to the battle, she saw Kit shaking violently while coughing out smoke, with Drowzee preparing to use Confusion. She instantly pulled out another Iron Thorn, and after focusing on it, sent it flying into Drowzee's back, causing him to lose focus again.

"You sure are annoying..." He growled as he pulled out the broken thorn out of his back. With a little blood trickling out of his left leg and back, he pulled out an Oran Berry and quickly devoured it. Whatever injury both girls inflicted on him were completely gone.

Luckily, Kit recovered from her paralysis and managed to hit him with an Ember. Ralts pulled out a Sleep Seed they found along the way, and after a quick warning to Kit, she hurled it at Drowzee while Kit leaped back. Noticing this, Drowzee caught the seed in his hand, and after a quick glance at what it was, he ate it like it was nothing.

"Ironic, you tried to put a Hypnosis Pokemon to sleep." Drowzee chuckled. 'Great, he has both Insomnia AND Forewarn. No wonder he resisted arrest for this long.' Hazel frowned.

Kit tried to hit Drowzee with a Tail Whip to lower his Defense, but Drowzee leapt out of the way at the last second and used Pound on Kit again. While she was down, he prepared to use Hypnosis. Hazel leapt in front of Kit without thinking and prepared to take the blast. 'Apart from stabbing Drowzee, I'm somewhat useless in this fight. Besides, Spoink said that Hypnosis shouldn't last as long on me.' She felt a pink wave wash over her, but surprisingly, she didn't feel exhausted in the slightest. After dumbfounded looks from everyone, it suddenly clicked for Hazel. 'Of course! Trace! Good thing I copied his Insomnia ability.'

"Of course you copied my Insomnia ability... You're an annoying pest." Drowzee grumbled in annoyance.

Ralts shot a Confusion at him. He didn't seem to take too much damage from that, but he did flinch slightly. Using this opportunity, Ralts leapt to the side as Kit blasted him with an Ember.

"Kit, try not to hit him with Physical attacks, or else he'll just counter attack!" Ralts said, realizing his pattern of attacks.

"Uh, got it!" Kit nodded as she blasted Drowzee with Ember again.

Both girls were merciless with their attacks, switching back in forth and not giving Drowzee a second to focus. Although Hazel's Confusion barely scratched him, Kit was able to burn him quite well. With each attack, Drowzee grew more and more irritated, until he jumped back and shot a Confusion at Ralts. Ralts got a taste of her own medicine as her thoughts jumped around, causing the world around her to spin and blur. 'I...I c-confision...confution...' she desperately tried to get a hold of her thoughts while stumbling around. Kit quickly threw her a Heal Seed, but right as she did, Drowzee pounced on top of her. He fired a blast of Hypnosis at her, and she was asleep in seconds. He then used Confusion on Kit, just to keep her unconscious longer.

With that, he turned his attention to a stumbling and confused Ralts, and chuckled as she kept tripping and falling to the ground. He placed his foot on her and pinned her to the ground. "It's a shame that you copied my Insomnia ability, because now I'm going to need to knock you out the hard way. At least both of you will be out of here, and I'll be able to finish what I started." He grabbed one of her horns and Hazel yelped. Clearly those horns were more sensitive to pain, but at least that snapped her out of her confused state.

Ralts started to struggle, but Drowzee pressed down with his foot and gripped her horn tighter, causing her to tense up and freeze. 'Come on...I can beat this guy...I just need to get out of his grasp...I need Kit's bag!' She focused on Kit's bag as if trying to bring it closer to her. But then, after a flash of pink, she left herself being yanked off the ground and found herself on top of Kit and her bag. 'Huh...I-I teleported! That was...weird. But this is no time to think about that!' She dug into the bag and pulled out the largest Geo Pebble she could find.

Turning her attention back to Drowzee, she found him digging into his own bag. 'Crap! I need to knock him out NOW!'. Suddenly getting an idea, she focused just above Drowzee's shoulder. After being yanked off the ground again, she found herself standing on his shoulder. Before he could react and shake her off, she slammed the Geo Pebble right on Drowzee's skull. He grunted and stumbled slightly, then collapsed, unconscious.

Ralts quickly ran over to Kit and shoved bits of Chesto Berry into her mouth. She instantly woke up and stumbled around weakly. "Geh...My head..."

"Y-You alright? Drowzee used Confusion on you while you were asleep."

"T-That explains it...Where's...Azurill?" She mumbled out sleepily.

"He's over there." Hazel pointed to a cluster of rocks. "I hid him in such a way that Drowzee wouldn't hope to pull him out of there if we were defeated. Good thing too, cause knowing him, he'd take Azurill and pull him in a hostage situation."

Ralts handed her an Oran Berry. "I'll wake Azurill up."

Hazel ran over to the cluster of rocks and slid inside. Azurill was sleeping peacefully, slightly curled up. She gently picked him up and he slightly shifted in her arms, as if he wanted to struggle. She carried him back to Kit.

Kit, now feeling a lot better, pulled out a Chesto Berry. After a silent glance, Ralts propped Azurill up as Kit fed him the berry. Azurill woke up after a moment and after feeling someone holding him, he started struggling. "L-Lemme...!" He looked up and saw both of them. "M-Miss Kit...Miss Ralts?"

"It's alright, we're here to rescue you. You're brother is quite worried about you!" Kit smiled gently.

"I-Is he alright? When will I see him? A-And what about Mr. Drowzee?" He looked around, looking around to see where Drowzee is, worried he may scare him again.

"He's knocked out, he can't hurt you anymore." Kit whispered gently. "We'll take you home right away, but could you wait a little? We need to finish up some things, alright?" Azurill nodded.

Both Ralts and Kit headed over to the unconscious Drowzee. Ralts prodded him roughly at his side, but he didn't even move. Clearly, he'll be out for awhile. Frowning, Ralts turned to Kit. "So...what do we do about him?"

"Uh...I'm not sure actually. I think Marill and the guild may have called Officer Magnezone. But, we may need to drag him to the base of the mountain, but he looks way too heavy for both of us. Could you use your Psychic powers to lift him up?" Kit also frowned.

"I...I dunno. I used up all my Psychic powers. Plus, teleporting is not f-fun..." Ralts scratched her head. She had a big headache after the fight.

"Wait, you can teleport?! That's so cool! Anyways, he'll be down of a while, so now what? I want to bring Azurill back home, but we can't leave Drowzee here, we need to hand him in."

Before either of them could do anything, multiple Pokemon burst onto the peak. Chatot was there, as well as two Magnemite and a Magnezone. Almost immediately, Chatot flew in front of both girls, while Magenzone and one Magnemite levitated to Drowzee. The final Magnemite levitated over to Azurill, and asked him basic questions and asked for a short testimony.

"You two! Why didn't you tell me about the outlaw?!" Chatot was frantically flapping his wings with a angry and shocked expression of his face.

"W-We wanted to, but we were told you were in a meeting, a-and we kinda panicked when we saw the Wanted Poster" Ralts just shrugged.

After sighing in exasperation, he continued. "This situation was serious! You should have told me, regardless if I'm talking with the Guildmaster! I understand rushing out to rescue a child from an outlaw, but Drowzee is a A-rank! He was WAY out of your league! I'm amazed you even beat him!" Chatot scolded them.

"We're sorry Chatot. But..." Kit tried to explain, but Chatot simply shook his head.

"Well, no point apologizing. You somehow beat him and rescued Azurill, so you completed the mission. But in case something like this happens, and hopefully it doesn't, inform me about the situation first. Got it?"

"Alright, noted." Ralts replied bluntly.

The Magnemite that was talking to Azurill joined the other one that held Drowzee up in a magnetic field. With that, Officer Magnezone left his side and levitated over to the trio. "ZZZT! Thanks to you, we have been able to capture a wanted outlaw! ZZZT! We owe you great thanks for your cooperation! ZZZT! Drowzee was trickier to capture. ZZZT!" He replied in an incredibly monotone voice, however his eyes showed some form of respect and appreciation.

"It's no problem, really! We're happy to help!" Kit saluted.

"M-Makes sense t-that Drowzee was more t-tricky to capture, with his abilities and m-moves." Hazel was slightly intimidated by the big Pokemon looking down at her.

"ZZZT! We will send the reward to your guild. Thank you again! ZZZT! We have to escort the outlaw away. Now, if you'll excuse us, have a good day! ZZZT!" With that, Officer Magnezone turned to Drowzee, who was conscious enough after getting zapped weakly by both Magnemite. "ZZZT! You're under arrest for all your previous charges, as well as a kidnapping charge! Resistance is useless! ZZZT! Now come with us! ZZZT!"

"Darnit..." Drowzee mumbled out quietly. Unfortunately for him, Hazel heard that.

"'Darnit', really?! Is that all you have to say for yourself?!" Ralts suddenly snapped at him, causing him to flinch a little. Noticing all eyes were on her, she calmed down a little before just saying "I couldn't imagine anyone going as low as you. Hope to never see you again."

They were sitting around a small round table with small cups of Oran Berry tea. After Officer Magnezone took Drowzee away to god knows where, Chatot left for the Guild while both girls escorted Azurill home. Apparently Marill went home by Chatot's request. After arriving at a pond with a small little house near it, they entered it and met Azurill's mother, Azumarill. Despite her fragile and tired physique, she fixed them up some tea while Marill was practically crushing Azurill in a hug while crying his already puffy eyes out. After every calmed down a little, both girls explained to Azumarill what exactly happened while Marill was avoiding everyone's gaze, as if ashamed.

"I can't thank you too enough for saving both my sons" Azumarill thanked them with a weak smile. She had bags under her eyes.

"But they didn't really do anything for me...A-And I didn't help Azurill at all..." Marill mumbled out.

"That's not true Marill! Thanks to you, we were able to track down Azurill faster, as well as knowing Drowzee's main move!" Kit turned to Marill and gave him a gentle smile. That at least lifted his mood slightly, as he raised his head and sipped on some tea.

"Is there any way we can repay you?" Azumarill asked.

"No, no, it's fine. No payment required! Really!" Kit waved her paws sheepishly.

"But I wanna give you something! You saved me, you have to take something!" Azurill hopped off his small stool and bounced into the next room. After a moment of searching, he carried some Apples. "Would you like some?" Azurill hopped back onto the stool and pushed both Apples towards both girls.

After small chuckling, everyone were merrily talking with each other. Kit had to basically drag Ralts out of the house when it started to darken outside. With a couple of berry pie slices in bag as a goodbye gift from Azumarill, both girls headed to the Guild.

"Well, like I said, I'm amazed you were able to beat Drowzee. Psychic-types are particularly trickier to capture. I've gotten the bounty from Officer Magnezone for the captured outlaw! Here's your share for the job! Since you two did an outstanding job, your cut will be larger!" He said with a very pleased look and tone.

Chatot handed them a bag of coins. Peering inside, there was 600 Poke inside. Chatot also handed them another Treasure Bag, but this one was much larger!

"Wow, that's about ten percent more from yesterday!" Kit exclaimed.

"Well, tomorrow, it'll be back to ten percent, however you managed to catch an outlaw and pull off a rescue at the same time! Now, I'll have to go, but we expect just as much effort tomorrow! Hee-hee!" With that, he hopped down the ladder.

"Well, we managed to rescue Azurill. And it was all thanks to you, Ralts!" She said more seriously.

"Hey, it's wasn't a-all me! You were amazing against Drowzee!"

"Well, you managed to figure out his pattern of attacks! And thanks to those visions you had, we learned about Azurill's trouble in advance."

"W-Well, thank you! But...those visions...they were completely unprompted. I wonder h-how I managed to do that...?" She thought out loud.

Suddenly, Hazel's headache slightly worsened. "Nghhh..." She rubbed her forehead, trying to soothe the pain. "O-Oh, are you alright?!" Kit asked worried.

"I-I'm fine...I think I over-exerted myself...from that fight..." Ralts mumbled.

"Well, how about we go eat and then go to bed early." Kit suggested, and Ralts nodded.

After some dinner, although they didn't eat a lot, since they ate at Azumarill's place, they were lying in bed. Hazel still had that headache, so she was was still awake from the stinging.

"You know, I just realized, you didn't use Double Team at all during the fight." Kit giggled slightly.

"O-Oh, I forgot. I was so used to just blasting everything with Confusion that Double Team flew out of my mind."

"Well, makes sense, I guess."

"Say, Ralts, why did you yell at me to read the poster?" Kit asked a little more seriously.

"O-Oh...um..." Not quickly coming up with a lie quickly enough, she decided to just tell the truth. "T-This will be a bit embarrassing...but I don't know how to...read." She answered slowly.

"What?! Really? How come?" Kit exclaimed in disbelief.

"I, I dunno." She answered bluntly.

"Well, if you want, I can teach you. Although I'm no teacher, so it may not work out." Kit offered.

"Yes, sure! I'd love that! A-Although, for now, you can read the posters for now."

"Of course, sure"

Immediately after that, it started to rain outside. Then, after a minute, the rain intensified and a storm started brewing. They heard a loud thunder outside. Kit ran up to the window.

"Wow, that lightning's intense!" She exclaimed as Hazel heard another thunder outside.

After a moment, Kit jolted up slightly and turned to Ralts "Hold on! You know the night before we met, Ralts? It was storming that night."

"Really...? Interesting..."

"So, can you still remember anything from the night before we met?"

'Hmm...Well, there was a storm apparently...and then, I heard...a scream! Someone telling me to hold on...But that's all I can remember...God, I hate amnesia.'

Seeing her frowning face, Kit responded "Well, try to remember a little at a time, alright?"

Kit walked over to her bed and yawned. "Well, we should try to get some sleep. We need to wake up early if we don't want Loudred to blast our eardrums."

The storm still raged on, with loud thunderstorms and pouring rain.

"Listen, Kit, are you still awake?" Hazel asked sleepily.

"Y-Yeah, I am now."

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to wake you up!" She whispered.

"It's fine, is something wrong?"

"I've been think about what Chatot said. About bad Pokemon and time being distorted. But I don't understand how time itself can be damaged. Do you know anything about it?" Ralts wasn't expecting answers, but surprisingly, Kit had one. "Well, I heard that it's because Time Gears are somehow involved."

'Time Gears...I swear upon my soul I know about those...but I don't know why.'

"What are Time Gears exactly?"

"These are only rumors, but I heard that Time Gears are found in different areas. Like in forests, lakes, and there was even a rumor one is located inside a volcano! Time Gears keep the flow of time flowing properly in its region. If the are removed...I would guess that time would stop in said areas. Everyone has long been certain that some kind of disaster would strike if they're removed." Kit whispered.

"Ohh...I see...thanks, but we should get some sleep now. My headache is h-helping with that..."

With that, both girls began to fall asleep.

Somewhere deep in the woods, someone was dashing past all the trees at a fast pace. They ignored the cold rain splashing on their skin as they leapt forward towards some kind of light source. It was easy to see in the dark night.

Hopping over to it, they stopped in front of it and started at it, admiring its beauty, before pushing those thoughts out of their head.

"I've finally found it! The first Time Gear!"

They hopped over to the Time Gear, and after a small pause to prepare themselves, snatched it out of the air and started to leap away, exiting the forest in record time.

Looking behind them, they saw how in a small amount of time, the entire area turned into a lifeless grey. Any life from the forest was sucked out, as the leaves and rain drops froze in mid air, un-moving.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 : The Duty of Sentries and Lounging About

"UP AND 'EM-Oh, what's THIS?!"

Loudred waltz into both girls room to do his usual routine, however he found both of them already semi-awake and chatting with each other. Despite their talking last night and the loud but short thunderstorm, they were already exhausted from their outlaw fight, so they slept quite well.

"Will you LOOK at THAT! You two WOKE up yourselves! That's NEW!" Loudred commented, as if impressed. Before either of them could comment, Loudred left with a "TRY not to be LATE!"

Both girls and all the other apprentices took their usual spots for the morning cheers, however this time, Chatot looked a lot more grim and Wigglytuff less cheerful. He even looked awake for a change.

After a moment of silence, Chatot cleared his throat. "Everyone, listen up. I have a very important announcement to make. Far to the northeast, there lies a place named Treeshroud Forest..."

Hazel slightly flinched for some reason. Luckily no one else noticed her reaction. 'Treeshroud Forest...Why do I know that name?! I'm getting some serious deja vu from this...That flinch was almost automatic...'

"Last night, time has completely stopped in said forest." Chatot continued, with his voice becoming even grimmer.

This time, it was everyone else's turn to flinch. "Huh?!", "Eek! What did you say?!", "You're saying time stopped?! Hey, hey, hey!" Corphish's voice was the loudest.

"Yes, that's correct...Time has come to a complete standstill in Treeshroud Forest. Everything inside the forest completely froze. Wind doesn't flow and the clouds above are motionless. Pokemon living there and Exploration Teams unfortunate enough to be in the forest are also frozen, like statues..." Chatot's voice trailed off, his sadness and fury visible in his face.

Chatot's explanation left everyone absolutely stunned for what felt like minutes, until Sunflora finally spoke up. "Was...was a Time Gear located there? Did someone actually do the unthinkable?!"

"Yes, unfortunately, someone was foolish enough to steal the Time Gear located at the heart of the forest."

"I don't GET it, though! Why would ANYONE take a Time Gear?!" Loudred seemed particularly furious about this. His loud voice was louder than usual, causing the three Pokemon in front of him, Bidoof, Sunflora and Chimecho, to wince as they covered their ears. "Do you have to be so loud, Loudred?!" Sunflora shot at Loudred with a annoyed look on her face.

Loudred looked like he was about to shoot something back, but luckily Chatot stopped the bickering. "Quiet everyone! Now, I understand the anger and confusion, however Officer Magnezone has already started an investigation. It's hard to believe that anyone would dare steal a Time Gear. But if one Time Gear can be stolen, then others may also be in danger. The officer asked to be notified immediately if we notice any suspicious characters. So keep that in mind, let us know if you notice anything. For now, leave the investigation to Officer Magnezone. He's still early in the investigation, and we don't have any leads."

"Alright, that is all. Despite the grim news, here's to another busy day of work!" Chatot chirped.

"HOORAY!" Everyone chanted, however it was a lot more low energy and not as cheery. Despite that, Chatot simply nodded and everyone walked out to do their jobs. Hazel and Kit assumed that Chatot would ask for more bulliten jobs, so they also started leaving the room.

Suddenly, Loudred shouted across the room. "HEY! YOU TWO!" Loudred rushed over to them. "We need your help with something today!"

Loudred lead them over to the hole with vines poking out of it. It was near the mess hall and Croagunk's stall. "Diglett, I BROUGHT them!"

"Thank you, Loudred." Diglett said calmly.

Loudred turned to them again. "Today, you'll be doing sentry duty!"

"Sorry, I'm usually the one doing sentry duty. However my father gave me his duty of updating the boards. That's why I have to ask you two. Please do the job for me." Diglett requested sheepishly.

"Where'd Dugtrio go?" Kit asked.

"I...I dunno. He left before I could ask. But he said that I'm only doing his duty only for today. And, I guess it'll be good experience for you..." He said even more sheepishly.

"Well, that's alright. But I'm not sure if we can identify footprints well..." Kit frowned.

"Oh, we do have a book with footprints of Pokemon in it! You can use it as a reference. I'll be back in a minute." With that, Diglett vanished underground.

"NOW, while he's gone, I'll TELL you the details! Climb down this HOLE and stand guard. THEN, when someone STEPS on the grate, YOU'LL identify the footprint of the Pokemon. Then I'll EVALUATE if they can ENTER." Loudred summarized. 'EVALUATE...right, right. You just assumed I was trustworthy...Why does this system exist?'

Diglett popped out of the ground again, holding a book in his claws. "Here, sorry for the wait. Here's the book. Also, I should note. Some Teams here are regulars, so they'll just say their Team name, so they are automatically in. However, some Pokemon can be new comers, so you'll have to identify those. Anyways, I need to go update the boards." With that, he popped back underground.

"You just have to inspect the footprint and tell me who the Pokemon is. Understood?"

After stumbling in the dark and standing under the grate, they spent the entire day under it. Some footprints were tough to figure out, however the day seemed to roll by. After identifying multiple footprints, with a couple hiccups, Loudred called them up. "Alright! That'll do it! Now get back here!"

"You've worked an honest day, you three!" Hazel, Kit and Loudred were lined up in front of Chatot, waiting for their review.

After looking over a piece of paper, Chatot frowned slightly and handed the piece of paper to Loudred. "Well, your results are good. A couple of mistakes, but for your first time, not bad. But try harder next time, alright? I'll expect perfect results next time." With that, he flew away.

Loudred turned to them with a plain look on his face. "WELL, at least you didn't FAIL. If you DID, all THREE of us would go without DINNER" He added with a shrug and left into his room.

After a moment of silence, Kit spoke up. "Do you...want to train with Chimecho? You can ask about your visions."

"Oh, right! S-Sure, I guess. And also..." She leaned into her ear. "Can y-you promise not to tell anyone, for now at least?" Ralts whispered.

"Sure, but I'm not sure why though..."

"Just...please?" Ralts pleaded. She wasn't sure if Pokemon having visions and headaches is normal, and if it isn't, then she might be lead into trouble.

"Alright, I will."

"By the way...W-Where'll you be while I train with Chimecho?"

"Oh, I'll be at the dojo in Treasure Town. Since no one at the guild is a Fire-type, apart from me, Chatot recommended the Dojo to me, while you were with Chimecho the first time." Kit explained.

"Ohh...Makes sense. Anyways, I'll go with Chimecho now."

With that, Hazel headed upstairs. Apart from Chimecho and one Team, no one was around. "Hiya Ralts!" Chimecho noticed her and waved at her. Naturally, Ralts approached her stall.

"A-Are you free today...? For t-the beach and training a-and stuff..." Ralts sheepishly asked. She didn't want to bother her or waste Chimecho's time.

"Yes, yes, of course I am! Let's go, I've been meaning to teach you more stuff"

With that, both of them headed to the beach.

"So...I know it's been a couple of days since last time...But do you remember how we left the conversation off with teleportation?"

After pondering for a moment, Ralts remembered and nodded.

"Well from personal experience, teleportation, even short distance ones, are incredibly useful. You can get yourself and your partner out of tough situations, or..." Her voice trailed as she suddenly vanished. After not even a second, she reappeared behind Ralts with a loud "BOO!". Hazel yelped and jumped back slightly.

"Haha, you're even easier to scare than Sunflora!" Chimecho giggled a little.

"Are you a P-Psychic or a Ghost-type?" Ralts mumbled, a little annoyed but giggling a little herself.

"Hehe, I'm just proving a point. You can ambush or catch someone off guard by teleporting like this. Although don't use it too much. It drains your energy quickly, so use it as last resort." Chimecho explained. "So, I already explained how to do it, so try to teleport...near that rock over there!"

Before Chimecho could say anything more, Ralts was already there. Chimecho blinked. She was not expecting Ralts to be there this quickly. "Alright, you seem like a natural."

"I-I did this yesterday, twice actually. W-When I fought that outlaw..." Ralts explained with a shrug.

"Well, good job! Seems like you caught on quick, even due to the short explanation." Chimecho shrugged. "Well, for now, you can try levitation multiple small rocks."

"Uhm...Chimecho...I have a-a question..." Ralts said with pauses. She wasn't quite prepared to ask the question.

"Go ahead." Chimecho smiled and gazed at her.

"Can Psychic-types have visions of the f-future?" Ralts blurted out. She expected Chimecho to laugh and say yes, or ask why she's asking. Instead, Chimecho opened her mouth, and closed it. She pondered for a moment before she finally came up with a response. "Uh, kinda...it depends"

"Depends?" Ralts tilted her head.

"Psychic-types like Xatu can see the future and past, but only after intense meditation. Pokemon with Forewarn can't necessarily see the future, but they can predict attacks ahead of time and dodge accordingly. I even heard rumors that Absol can somewhat predict the future, but it only applies to natural disasters. Same somewhat applies to Gardevoir, but it also applies when protecting someone else, so the rumors say. But other than that, not really." Chimecho ended with a small frown.

'Oh, alright. Then whatever those visions were are not normal. Great. Hopefully she doesn't ask why-'

"By the way, why'd you ask?"

'God dammit.' "Uhh...well...I thought about F-Future Sight, a-and an idea popped into my head...hehe..." Ralts mumbled out awkwardly, laughing sheepishly.

Chimecho raised one of her brows and just responded with a "Alright, I guess..."

After a couple more days of training and doing missions, both girls chose some missions to Mount Bristle.

"Say...I've been thinking, Kit. I remember D-Drowzee mentioned treasure at the peak of it. Wanna check it out?" Ralts suggested. The treasure was in a small hole that Kit may not be able to crawl through, but she probably could.

"...Ehhhh...I'm not sure...If the treasure belongs to someone, then we may be in trouble with them...But I guess if we only check it out, then I guess it'll be fine. We won't take anything though." Kit added at the end.

"Alright, lets go then..."

They walked to the crossroads and into Treasure Town for a quick check of the Kecleon Shop, as well as to drop off some money into Duskull Bank.

"Hello Kit and Ralts! How're you two? It's been awhile since we saw you. Last time we talked, you two were taking on an outlaw. I'm still amazed how you took on an A-rank so early into your career. Anyways, enough talk, how may we help you?" Kecleon greeted and praised with a warm smile.

"Hello, we're here to buy two Oran Berries and a Max Elixir." Kit pulled out some money, 350 Poke exactly.

"Yes, yes, here you go. We'll give you an extra berry. Consider it as 'thank you' for rescuing little Azurill!" He pulled out three Oran Berries and a Max Elixir. "T-Thanks!" Ralts exclaimed. 'How generous!'

Putting the items into their bags, they were about to walk away when a certain Marill walked up to the shop. Azurill was no where to be seen.

"Ah, Marill, welcome! How've you been? I think this is the first time I've ever seen you without your brother." Kecleon greeted. Clearly he was the talker between him and his brother Leon.

"Uh, hi Misters Kecleon. Azurill didn't really want to come with me again. He's still a little down about what happened. Do you have any White or Blue Gummies? Those always cheer him up." Marill explained with a little sad look in his eyes. 'Poor Azurill...Being kidnapped is not a fun experience, as far as I know, but Azurill is so young. Hope he feels better soon. If I see that damn Drowzee again...'

"Well, we only have one White Gummi in stock, but don't worry, we'll have more in stock soon!" Kecleon answered sheepishly.

"Alright, then may I buy the White Gummi? As well as two Apples." He pulled out all his money, 840 Poke.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for the purchase!" Kecleon pulled out the Gummi and Apples.

"Thank you Misters Kecleon!" He took the items and put them in his draw-string bag. He bowed at both brothers. He then turned to both girls, as if he just noticed them standing there. "And hi Team Relic! How are you two?" He smiled warmly, all the sadness gone in his eyes.

"We're fine, thank you. How about you and your brother?" Kit smiled back.

"I'm fine, and so is Azurill, I guess. He doesn't really want to go to Treasure Town anymore. I keep telling him that this won't happen to him anymore and that it's safe, but he still refuses. I'm hoping the Gummi will cheer him up." He added at the end with a small smile.

"W-Well, that's nice. Say hi from us to Azurill, alright? We need to do our missions" Ralts smiled warmly.

"Yes, of course! It was nice to see you two again! Mom says you're always welcome to come over if you want. Good luck on those missions!" Marill waved goodbye as both girls walked out of town and into the crossroads.

When reaching the watering hole, they pulled out their badge and Wonder Map, and after selecting Mount Bristle, their badge glowed and teleported. As they felt the hard ground, they looked up at Mount Bristle.

"Uhhhh, doing that is always slightly disorienting..." Kit shook her head to snap out of her daze.

Both of them entered Mount Bristle and the exit behind them disappeared.

After completing all their missions and rescuing multiple Pokemon such as Lotad and Shinx, they entered the peak of the mountain once more. It looked almost untouched, with rock littering the peak.

"Alright, you said you're curious about the treasure, I'm not in this, if you get in trouble I'm not associated with you." Kit said in a monotone voice as she sat down and leaned on a rock near the entrance.

"I know, I'm not taking anything, just checking..." Ralts rolled her eyes as she approached the hole. It was just a little smaller than her, she figured she can easily crawl through. She took a deep breath and got on her knees.

Crawling through the hole was a little awkward. It was dark and there wasn't really any spare room. There were some small rocks that scraped her a bit, but other than that, she made slow but steady progress.

After about a minute, she saw some light up ahead. It was incredibly faint so it was barely noticeable. It would also flicker ever once in a while, like fire.

'Should I continue...? If there's a lit fire, someone COULD be there. But I don't hear or sense anyone. I guess I can just peak in there.' Hazel decided to got further in towards the light like a moth.

After about a minute of crawling, she arrived at the exit. Exiting the hole, she found quite the unexpected sight. It was a semi small, cozy room, with a lit fireplace dead set in the middle of the room. There was no exit to this room, but Hazel spotted a small crack in a wall, which illuminated in natural sunlight. 'I guess the main entrance is blocked with a boulder. No wonder no one found the actual entrance to this hideout, Mount Bristle is full of indistinguishable boulders.'

Lining the walls were all sorts of items. One corner had three big straw beds, similar to the ones at the guild. Some of the walls and ceiling were reinforced with planks of wood, which made Hazel a little worried. There was a bunch of crates with different things poking out of it. One crate had a bunch of maps in it, some old and unreadable. Another had some items and colorful scarves. Hazel even found a big closed treasure chest.

'As impressive as this is, I should leave. A hideout like this is not what I expected. Last thing I need is to be caught and arrested for breaking and entering, I guess. No point in staying here, I'll just...Wait, I sense someone! I'm outta here, I never existed!' She ran over to the small hole in the wall and crawled through once more. She crawled through far in, but stopped just before she would go beyond earshot. She heard a big boulder big picked up and dropped, before she heard it being dragged. Hazel figured that the boulder blocking the entrance was moved.

Although Hazel only sensed one person, or Pokemon in this case, she heard three voices. One of them was rough and aggressive, while the other was smooth and hissing all their words. Both of those voices were male, while the last one was a female voice. The voice sounded cold and commanding.

"Lady Weavile, from what I heard, it ssssseemssss like rumorsssss about our hideout hasssss sssspread!" One of the voices hissed.

"And? So what if it did? We hide our hideout well enough, and all our treasure is secured in our chest, which only I can open. Besides, who would actually be brave enough to steal from us, Team AWD?" 'Lady Weavile' chortled. 'Team...AWD?! HA, what type of Team name is that? At least ours is an actual word, and it makes sense.' She almost let out a small giggle, but she stopped herself, to not give away her position.

"Well, I did hear about how this rookie team fought some outlaw who apparently kidnapped an Azurill and brought them here. My guess that outlaw wanted the kid to crawl through that hole in the wall. Quite fitting for a rat." The rough voice commented. Hazel got a little offended on behalf of Azurill for the 'rat' insult.

"I guess when you put it that way, you're right. We should cover those holes up. Arbok, move some crates around to cover that up, while Drapion and I are going to the peak. I believe that's where the entrance is. Hopefully, this rumor will be be gone soon. Don't want that pesky Team Charm going for another treasure hunt on this mountain." Weavile left out an annoyed sigh and she and Drapion got up. 'Ohhh, no wonder they chose Team 'AWD' as a name. Arbok, Weavile and Drapion. Kinda lazy, but ehh, can't really blame them.'

Figuring Hazel heard enough, and seeing as Kit was still on the peak, she decided to just go back. But since her shoulders, knees and arms were sore, she decided to just teleport again. Thinking about the mountains peak, she focused for a little longer and felt herself somehow getting yanked off the ground, which she found funny, since the small space provided very little wiggle room.

She found her body being warmed by natural sunlight again. She perked up when she heard Kit yelp in surprise. She teleported near Kit, which caught her off guard.

"Jeez...Please don't scare me like that. Did you find anything in there?"

"Yeah, kinda. It was like a thieves hideout, with maps and a treasure chest inside. B-But it belonged to some Team called AWD, and as stupid as the name is, t-they seemed shady, so we shouldn't get on their bad side" Ralts explained.

"Well, alright, good plan." Kit looked up at the sky. "Wanna call it a day?"

"Sure."

"Kit, I've been meaning to ask you something"

Both girls were lying in bed. It was already somewhat late and they were both still awake.

"Go ahead" Kit said bluntly.

"Why's your name Kit?"

"Oh, that. Well, it's more of a nickname for me. My name, like you, is my species name, Vulpix. But I kinda wanted to have something that stands out more. So I use Kit as my name. But if you're wondering why Kit specifically, well..." She sat up, and Hazel followed suite. "I heard that in Human legends, Vulpix such as myself were referred to as Kitsune's. I think it means fox, or something similar. So I chose Kit, as a short version of that."

"Oh really..." Hazel whispered. 'Okay, so Humans are a thing of the past...But for the days I've spent here, I've heard absolutely nothing about them. Are they extinct or something...? That's...sad.

"I read about that in a book that Xatu let me borrow." She added at the end, not noticing Ralts's slightly grim and sad look on her face.

Hazel perked up a bit. 'Maybe if I read that book, it could tell me more about Humans...Like if they're all apparently extinct, then how the heck to I have Human memories and a name. What if I hit my head too hard on the beach?' "I'm interested in that book a bit...Can I ask X-Xatu to borrow it?"

"Yeah, I guess you could...But I still have no idea where he is. He does sometimes leave during this time, but not for this long. I guess you'll have to wait." She ended with a shrug.

"Great..." She said, slightly annoyed. 'I swear, every time I need something or someone, they're conveniently gone. Oh well, I guess I wouldn't even be able to read that book anyways.'

"By the way, Kit, do you know about Team AWD or Team...Charm?" Hazel asked.

"Oh, yeah, I do! Team Charm are an incredibly famous Exploration Team who mainly focus on treasure hunting. Their one of the only Teams that reached Master Rank. Lopunny, the pretty one, she's the leader of the group and she's also quite agile. Gardevoir is the elegant brains and Medicham is the powerful brawn. They're a really cool Team, and they have quite the following!" Kit happily explained, and Hazel could tell she admired them greatly. "As for Team AWD...I don't really know much about them, expect for the fact that they are a band of thieves and they are well known for being violent. Apparently both Team's have a bit of history between them."

"How can violent thieves be under an Exploration Team name? Don't you have to go to a guild to acquire such a title?"

"I'm...not sure, actually. We should ask Chatot tomorrow."

"I guess we will...Anyways, we should go to bed now...it's pretty late." Ralts yawned.

"We already are sitting on them though" Kit snickered.

"You get what I mean."

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 : Waterfalls and Secrets

Hazel woke up. She stretched her body and rubbed her eyes, as well as tied her Fuchsia Bow around her waist. Right as she was about to wake up Kit, Loudred walked in. Both of them entered a momentary staring contest, until he finally shouted, "SOMEONE'S AN EARLY BIRD!" This caused Kit to immediately wake up.

"You're pretty c-consistent with your r-routine...Guess I-I got used to it." Hazel just shrugged, ignoring the startled Kit.

"ALRIGHT, then I GUESS I won't wake you UP anymore!" Loudred, for some reason, felt a little offended about this.

After a confused pause, Hazel just said, "U-Uh...Sorry for w-waking up naturally?"

"Eh, it's FINE, I guess. I've been DOING this ever since I JOINED the GUILD. I guess it's WEIRD not to do this ANYMORE." Loudred sighed.

"T-There's nothing stopping you f-from waking us up..."

"Fine, I GUESS I'll continue DOING this. YOU two should get READY for our morning ATTENDANCE." With that, Loudred turned around and stormed off.

"AND THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"

"Alright Pokemon, it's time for another day of work!"

"HOORAY!"

Hazel and Kit followed the other apprentices as they left the room, not expecting Chatot to stop them.

"Ah you two! Come here, I have an assignment for you!" Chatot chirped.

Both girls lined up in front of him without question.

"You've become quite good at your work. I'm still impressed with your capture of Drowzee, that was very admirable. So, today, you will finally be assigned a mission worthy of a proper Exploration team!"

Both girls perked up at that. They expected Chatot to send them to the Kecleon Market to check for supplies, but this was different. They were finally going to have an actual Exploration mission. 'Still...If we have to explore or investigate a completely new area, wouldn't it be better to send a proper Exploration team there? Not that I'm complaining, but I thought it would make more sense...'

Kit seemed absolutely ecstatic about this, however she slightly restrained herself. "Really?! Yay, finally!"

"Now, let me see your Wonder Map"

Hazel quickly dug into her Treasure Bag, pulled out the neatly folded map, and handed it to Chatot. He unfolded it and pointed to Treasure Town.

"Here is Treasure Town..." He shifted his claw over to a different area of the map. It looked like a waterfall, with it's river connected to Treasure Town. "And here is where you will explore."

"A...w-waterfall?" Ralts asked.

"Yes. By all appearances, it's just an ordinary waterfall. But we've received information, in the form of rumors, that the waterfall may have more too it than it first seems. And that's where you come in. I want you two to investigate the waterfall and determine what's there. Any questions?"

"What if...t-there's nothing there?" Hazel asked. 'I can see that this is probably not the hardest mission ever...However, I'm not sure why he would send us there. There isn't a strong lead and Kit's weak to water. Sending Corphish would make more sense, since he's a Water-type.'

"If there's nothing there then, it would be unfortunate, but understandable. We don't have a strong lead, so not finding anything can happen. However that does not mean you can slack off." Chatot shrugged.

"Well, if you don't have anymore questions, then I'll leave you two to thoroughly investigate the waterfall!" Chatot continued, shooting Hazel glances. 'Aaaaalright, he's looking at me weird...What's that about?'

Kit, meanwhile, didn't notice those glances and started to shake. Chatot noticed and turned to Kit "Hmm? What's wrong? You're shivering..." Looking at her eyes, tears were prickling, but refusing to fall. "Are you alright?!" Chatot panicked slightly and flapped his wings before settling down.

"Y-Yes...I'm fine. I'm okay. It's just...so overwhelming. This will be the first time we get to do a real job as an exploration team! Oh, I feel like I'm going to burst from excitement!" Despite the ecstatic look on her face, her tears kept coming.

"I thought you were breaking down from another W-Water filled dungeon" Hazel giggled at her own joke.

Ignoring that comment will a eye roll, she wiped her tears and exclaimed "Let's do our best Ralts!"

With a nod, both of them headed out of the guild.

Team Relic were heading for Treasure Town, to stock up on supplies and deposit money. They stopped by the Kecleon Shop to see what's in stock.

"Welcome, Team Relic? How may we help you..." Kecleon's gaze fell on Kit. "Uh, are you alright Kit? Your eyes look red and puffy...Were you crying?"

Kit, a bit flustered, quickly rubbed her eyes, getting rid of any excess tears. "Uh, I'm fine I'm fine, really! It's just today we were given a proper, official mission!"

Both brothers smiled and clapped a little. "Well, congratulations! Good to see you two finally get a proper mission. You two deserve it!"

"Now, what can we do for you?" Leon asked.

Looking over their wares, Kecleon had a bunch of berries and seeds, however both girls already had a couple of Sleep and Stun Seeds, and since this wasn't an outlaw mission, where they do use those items, they didn't need anything from Kecleon. However Leon had some very enticing TM's, such as Calm Mind and Flamethrower, both of which were way too expensive and they wouldn't hope to come close to the price, even if they sold everything.

"You know Ralts, I don't think you need Calm Mind." Kit was grinning.

"Oh? Why?" Ralts was also grinning, picking up on the joke she's about to say.

"You're probably one of the calmest Pokemon I know. Apart from two times, I don't think you were ever really mad, and even then, you quickly calmed down." Kit giggled at the end.

"Guess you have a p-point, hehe."

"So, apart from those two TM's, do you have anything else in stock, Leon?" Kit turned to the purple brother.

"Yes, I do have an Escape Orb and a Rollcall Orb." Leon said semi bluntly.

"Rollcall Orb...W-What does that do?"

"Rollcall Orb's are quite useful. Sometimes you can get separated in a dungeon, and most of the time it doesn't end well. So a Rollcall Orb will summon teammates to the Pokemon who used the orb." Leon explained.

"Hmm...I guess it wouldn't hurt to buy it, only costs 150. Wanna buy it, Kit?"

"Sure" Kit shrugged as she pulled out coins worth 150 Poke and placed it on the wooden counter. "One Rollcall Orb please."

Leon dropped the coins under the counter, pulled out the orb and carefully handed the orb to Ralts. Orb's can be incredibly fragile, as breaking them is how you use the orb.

"Thank you for your partnership! We wish you luck on your mission!" Both brothers said at the same time as Team Relic waved goodbye and headed down the crossroads.

"Guildmaster Wigglytuff! It's me, Chatot. I'm coming in!" Chatot announced while knocking on his door. After a second, he opened it and entered the chamber.

"Ah, Chatot! Did you send our friendly-friends on their new mission?" Wigglytuff greeted with a wave.

Chatot nodded. "Yes, I have. Kit seemed to be particularly excited, while that Ralts...I think she's suspicious of their mission. Are you sure this isn't too early?" Chatot asked, with concern in his voice.

"Don't worry Chatot! They have already proven to be exceptional for a rookie team!" Wigglytuff didn't seem to be worried in the slightly.

"I understand the point of the mission, however are you really sure it will work? And who's to say that Ralts even has the ability?"

"Bidoof reported that both of them looked for you and Chimecho when they were looking for an outlaw. Plus, their reaction to the outlaw seemed like they already knew about that Drowzee. My bet is that Ralts used her ability and saw Drowzee, then looked for you or Chimecho for answers." Wigglytuff suggested.

"I can understand that, but then why didn't they tell us anything after the capture? Or why didn't they chase the outlaw immediately afterwards having the mission?" Chatot criticized.

"Would you believe me if I suddenly said I have visions? Besides, I think that they want to keep that ability as a secret. We should respect their choice, for their own good." Wigglytuff said.

After a 30 minute walk along the river, they were standing on a ledge in front of a big waterfall. The water was falling down incredibly hard, and water droplets were being carried by the wind.

Kit tried to approach the waterfall closer, but the water droplets were too much for her, and after only a couple steps forward, she backed down, her fur slightly drenched.

"So this is the waterfall that supposedly has a secret...Yet how am I supposed to figure it out if I can't even approach it?" She muttered to herself as she shook the water droplets off her.

"What would even be the secret here..." Hazel started to look around, until something caught her attention. It was a hint of bright neon orange, so it was easy to spot. Approaching the orange color, she found a pile of rocks. Behind some of them, she found a ribbon tied to a smaller rock.

She untied it and examined the ribbon. 'Why is there a ribbon here? Was it placed here on purpose? I think it was, it was tied to a rock. But why here? Huh-' "G-Gehhhh..." She groaned as she held an arm on her head, trying to somehow soothe the oncoming pain. "Huh, Ralts, you okay?" Hazel could barely hear Kit's concerned voice as her vision started to blur and black out.

Hazel opened her eyes and blinked. She was standing on the exact spot where she felt like she was passing out, except this time she wasn't holding the ribbon.

Looking behind her, she gasped. It was a Wigglytuff. He was holding a neon orange ribbon and was looking around. Then he turned to the rocks and skipped towards it, without a care in the world.

Seeing as the Wigglytuff was heading directly towards her, she decided to move out of the way, however both of them brush against each other. Although they would have, except Hazel's body just phased through Wigglytuff, as if he were a ghost.

The Wigglytuff finished tying the ribbon. With that, he just sprinted towards the waterfall and jumped through.

Hazel felt herself get yanked off the ground, and moments later he found herself in a dark, blue cave. It was cold, but the light from one end of the cave barely illuminated it. After a second, the Wigglytuff that just jumped through the waterfall tumbled out into the cave, soaked. He stood up, and after looking around, he went ahead, further into the cave.

"...R...Ra...Ralts! Ralts! Are you alright?!"

Ralts opened her eyes. She was propped up against a rock, with Kit in front of her, worry visible in her eyes.

"Oh thank goodness! You just collapsed suddenly and I was yelling your name for about a minute, and I was considering teleporting back to the guild, but it seems like you're alright!" Kit said, incredibly relieved.

Hazel simply nodded and looked at the waterfall. 'That Wigglytuff...That has to be the Guildmaster! But then why would he send us on a mission here?! Hmm...I want to tell Kit about this, but I don't want to hurt her feelings. She almost broke down this morning in anticipation. I guess a harmless little lie wouldn't hurt.' "Uh, Kit, I have something t-to tell you..."

"What is it? Are you not feeling well? Do you want to return to the guild?" Kit assumed.

"No, no, I'm fine, really. It's just...remember that time, when Drowzee bumped into me, a-and I said I had a vision?"

After a small moment of silence, Kit's eyes widened. "You...had another one?!"

"Y-Yeah...This time, I saw..." Hazel paused to properly formulate her half lie. "I saw this...silhouette, of a Pokemon, and they jumped into the waterfall. Then, my perspective shift to inside a cave. I think there might be a cave behind the waterfall!"

Another moment of silence passed by, until Kit simply turned her head to the side, confused. "Alright...but what are we supposed to do with that information? I mean, neither of us can jump through a waterfall, especially not me. Besides, that doesn't really explain the ribbon." Her gaze shifted to the orange ribbon. Hazel silently cursed in her head. She forgot about said ribbon.

"W-Well, I'm not sure about the ribbon either, but what's important right now is figuring out how to get inside that cave!" Ralts changed the subject.

"Well, I know, but you aren't seriously suggesting jumping through the waterfall, right? I mean, if we absolutely have to, then we can do it together, but we could end up injuring ourselves. I mean, I can barely stand near the water fall, and the water is falling down incredibly quickly."

"I understand you don't like water. However, that silhouette that I saw jumped through the water and came to the other side almost unscathed. So I guess, if we jump through incredibly quickly, we might not get hurt that much?" Ralts added with a unsure voice.

"Are you sure...? I mean, why can't you teleport us inside this cave then?" Kit gazed at the waterfall, her eyes scrutinizing it.

"I don't think I can...I might be able to teleport there, but I don't know if I can take you with me. If we are going to jump through the waterfall, then I think it would be fair to do it together."

"Would it? If we enter a Mystery dungeon, we'll both be weak." Kit said bluntly.

"We have Oran Berries, it should heal us up if we get injured" Ralts shrugged.

"Oran Berries don't heal broken bones though." Kit shot back.

Both of them just stood there in silence for a minute, reviewing their options. On one hand, jumping into a waterfall is a ridiculous idea. On the other, they didn't know any other way to enter the cave, and that vision showed that jumping through is an option. Suddenly, an idea popped into Hazel's head.

"Oh! I know! H-How about I teleport behind the waterfall, and use the Rollcall Orb?" She eagerly suggested while also pulling out the orb.

"Oh...yeah, that could work! It wouldn't hurt to try, I guess."

With that, Hazel concentrated. She envisioned that same dark, cold cave behind the waterfall and focused. After a moment, she felt herself get yanked off the ground and appear in the same cave. She stumbled a little, since teleporting usually leaves her slightly dazed, but she made sure not to drop the orb.

After a quick glance around the room and confirming she's at the right place, she raised the orb over her head and smashed it on the ground. It broke into a bunch of piece, and the orb lost it's small glow. 'Always feels cool to do that'

Hazel heard a very quiet yelp, since the waterfall was drowning out the noise. After a second later, Kit reappeared next to her in a yellow flash.

"Sheesh...you could have at least given me a warning..." Kit mumbled, a little dazed.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just I thought you wouldn't hear me since the waterfall is quite loud." Ralts apologized quickly.

"Eh, it's fine, at least we're here without a scratch on." Kit looked around her and her ears dropped. "Great, ANOTHER dark, dank cave that will probably be full of Water-types...Why does this world hate me?"

"I'm sure this will be the last one, if not then this world has too much water."

Waterfall Cave, at least that's what Hazel called it, was almost like a copy of Beach Cave and Drenched Bluff. Long, rock walls, with patches of water on the ground sprinkled in. The cave would be colder and darker the further in they advanced. Needless to say, Kit was not enjoying herself.

"At least there are Tangela here, I guess I'm not completely useless..." Kit mumbled to herself as she used Ember on a Tangela.

Kit was incredibly annoyed by this dungeon. Psyduck would use Water Sport often, weakening her strongest Fire-type move. Even more annoying was the dungeon Weather condition. Somehow, it kept raining, making Kit even weaker and more paranoid. A couple Water-type moves and she's done. 'I can understand different weather conditions in dungeon, but we're inside of a dark cave, how is it raining here?'

Hazel may be a Psychic-type, but that doesn't mean that Water-type moves didn't hurt. Due to the Rain and Water Sport, moves like Water Gun hurt a lot more. Any more and she feels like her skin would be hosed off. Not too mention all that water would slow her down, due to how cold and stiff her body felt.

"How're you feeling Kit?" Both of them stopped, to heal up and also try to shake all the water off them. They were both completely drenched and smelled a little bad, due to the Grimer's attacking them.

"I hate this. I'm cold, wet and smell bad. I'm stressed cause two Bubblebeam's and I'm done. Why are all our missions in Water based dungeons?" She complained loudly.

"Well, there IS Mount Bristle..."

"Tell that to the Starly's living there."

Seeing more Pokemon approaching them, they decided to immediately head for the stairs.

Finally, after a long time, they reached the end. It was incredibly hard to see, since there was no sunlight.

"Uh, Hazel, try using a Luminous Orb." Kit suggested.

"Alright." Hazel carefully took out their Luminous Orb they found and cracked it. Smashing it on the ground is the equivalent of a flash grenade, it will only brightly light up the room, blinding anyone who looks at the orb, before it will fade and plunge the room in darkness again. By cracking it, all the energy inside the Orb will slowly seep out.

As soon as Hazel cracked the Orb, both girls gasped. The room was filled with brightly colored gems, all of which gleamed in the light. There was a particularly huge, pink gem at the back of the room. Hazel looked around the room. 'If I were a Sableye, I would probably want to live 's dark and filled with gems, basically all a Sableye needs to survive. Dunno why I thought about that...'

"Wow...These gems were worth the hypothermia...Look over there! It's a gigantic gem!" Kit said while hurrying over to the back wall. "This is an incredible treasure! Everyone will be amazed if we bring this back! We're rich, just like that!" Kit was laughing in pure glee.

"We would put the Kecleon brother's out of business if we attempted to sell that!" Hazel laughed.

Kit eagerly ran up to the giant gem and tried to pull it out. The gem, not surprisingly, didn't even budge. It seemed to be glued to the wall, and even then, a giant gem like that could crush anyone.

"Urghhh...! It's really stuck!" Kit turned to Ralts. "Can you help me?"

Ralts nodded and quickly moved over to the giant gem. Try as they might, the gem wouldn't budge. "Dangit, how are we gonna bring this gem with us?"

Ralts looked around her. "I understand it's tempting to take the biggest gem with us, however we are currently surrounded by a bunch of them. Why not just bring a couple small ones with us? It may not be as impressive, but it'll get the point across." Hazel suggested.

During Hazel's entire suggestion, Kit was scrutinizing the gem, as if looking for any hidden secrets. Looking carefully at the corners of the gem, she noticed that there was an incredibly small space between the gem and the wall. An idea popped in her head, and she decided to instead of pulling the gem, to push it in.

Kit pushed the gem, and there was a very quick 'click' sound, as if Kit just pushed a button.

Not even five seconds later, the earth started to shake violently. Kit slowly backed away from the gem with a confused and horrified look. "W-Wha...?" Both girls turned to each other, realizing one thing ; they just triggered a trap.

The ground shook more violently as both of them heard a noise coming from their left. The loud noise sounded like a tidal wave.

"OKAY WE'RE LEAVING!" Both of them yelled as they sprinted to the exit.

They didn't make it, as the giant tidal wave of water was too quick for them, and they got swept in the wave. Both girls tried to latch on each other, as to not get separated by the wave, but that proved to be impossible, as they were ripped apart and separated.

As Hazel struggled to breathe, or much less stop getting spun around like clothes in a washing machine, she could see some light. A second later, both girls were on top of a geyser. Clearly the rushing water came out of some hole in the ceiling, and due to the immense power, they were launched in the air. The last thing Hazel saw before she passed out was Kit getting launched in the opposite direction.

Hazel opened her eyes. Apart from her green hair, she was completely dry. Her body was completely sore but warm. She was lying on a straw bed and had a blanket on top of her. Looking around her, she could see that it was in the evening, however the sun was still up.

Slowly pushing her body up with her sore arms, she got a better look around her. The walls surrounding her were wooden logs, and nearby were three more straw beds, each bigger than the other.

Before she could process any of this information, she saw something blue enter her field of vision. Turning to it, she smiled as she recognized the little Pokemon. It was Azurill, shyly peaking around the corner, checking up on her.

Seeing as Ralts was moving and conscious again, Azurill said while bouncing away; "Mom, Marill, Miss Ralts is awake!"

Hazel tried to get up, but her sore body failed her and she just ended up sitting on the bed. After a minute, Azumarill entered the room. She looked a lot better than last time, as she no longer looked weak and tired. "Nice to see you're awake, Ralts. How're you feeling?" She said in a gentle smile, as she brought in a cup of Oran Berry tea.

"A little sore, but well enough." Ralts shrugged as she accepted the tea. Taking small sips, the tea was definitely making her body feel better.

"Glad to hear it!"

Suddenly, Azurill bounced into the room and up to Ralts. "You fell out of the sky and into our pond!"

"Really?" Ralts said, while also trying to repress a small giggle. Azumarill was trying to shoo Azurill out of the room, while saying in a quiet voice "Ralts needs some space, alright? You can talk to her later," but he wouldn't budge.

"Yeah!" Azurill quickly bounced around his mother, as if wanting desperately to be part of the conversation. "Me and Marill were hanging out by the pond, when you just fell out of the sky and into the pond! Marill had to take you out of there, and you weren't so heavy to carry. You slept for hours! We were really worried, you wouldn't wake up for hours." Azurill said quickly, as if expecting his mother to pick him up and take him out of the room, however Azumarill either gave up trying to get him to leave or just allowed him to stay.

Ralts was able to process all that, and just nodded, but then she remembered something crucial. "Wait! Was Kit nearby?! The Vulpix?!" She asked loudly and desperately.

Unfortunately, Azumarill shook her head. "No, my boys only found you. Your friend was nowhere to be seen. We were wondering where she is though, since both of you are part of the same team."

All Ralts could do was sigh and hope that Kit was not too far away from her. She was interrupted by her stomach growling, which prompted Azumarill to ask her if she was hungry and invite her for dinner. Soon Ralts and both brothers, as well as Azumarill were sitting around a table, eating some berries.

"Miss Ralts, why exactly did you fall out of the sky?" Azurill asked while eating some berries.

Ralts set down her cup of tea and explained, "Well, Kit and I, we got a mission to investigate a waterfall. We found that behind the rushing water, there was a hidden cave. At the end of the dungeon, there was a bunch of gems all over the room, however there was a particularly giant one on the back wall. Apparently if you push that gem, it triggers a trap, which causes a bunch of water to flow out and wash anyone away. We found that part out the hard way. Then I was pushed out of the cave in a gyeser of sorts and...I guess I landed in your pond." Ralts ended her tale with a shrug.

"Goodness, good thing you did then!" Azumarill exclaimed. "Who knows what could have happened to you. If Marill and Azurill hadn't found you, you could have drowned!"

"Or a bad guy could have taken you..." Marill mumbled.

"Well, I didn't, so I guess that's all that matters."Ralts sipped her tea. She looked out the window again. It was starting to get dark, but from where she was, she can get back to the guild fairly quickly.

"I suppose you should head back to the guild then. I'm sure you'll meet Kit there. And send our regards to her." Azumarill said, as if reading her thoughts.

"Aww, she's leaving already? I wanted Miss Ralts to stay longer." Azurill whined in a quiet voice.

"I promise, I'll be around Treasure Town, so you will see me again. Also, you can just call me Ralts, no need for formalities." Ralts scratched the back of her head, a little embarrassed at being called 'Miss'. 'I may be older than Azurill, but being called 'Miss' makes me feel old. I mean, I'm still fifteen, so I'm not THAT old.'

"Alright, M- I mean, Ralts." Azurill nodded.

Hazel got up to leave, but not before remembering something. 'Hold on, apart from Kit, Azurill knows about my eyes...Should I ask him not to say anything about them? Why am I so self conscious about them...You know what, why not? I'll just say that I don't like people talking about them.'

"Oh, uh, Azurill." Azurill perked up at the sound of his name. "Is it alright if I talk to you for a sec?"

"Uhm, sure!" Azurill hopped over to Ralts and they both went outside. "What is it, Ralts?"

"You know how my eyes are...different?"

"Mhm, yep! Their pretty!"

"Can you please not tell anyone about them?" Ralts asked semi seriously.

"Uhm, sure, I can keep it a secret! But, why?" Azurill tilted his head curiously.

"It's just...I don't want others to know about them. Normally, Ralts eyes are supposed to be pink, but, well, mine are different. Just...it can be a secret between the both of us, alright?" She said in a over-exaggerated secretive voice, and gave Azurill a little wink.

Azurill giggled a little and nodded. "Yeah, it can be a secret!"

"Great, now, I should hurry to the guild now, but we will see each other again!" Ralts gave Azurill small head pats, which Azurill greatly enjoyed.

Using her badge, Hazel quickly found herself on the second under ground floor of the guild. Almost as soon as she appeared, Chatot flew over to her and frantically flapped his wings about. "R-RALTS?!"

"H-Hi!" Hazel said quickly, as Chatot caught her off guard.

"Where were you?! Kit was found earlier today by Corphish, but you were gone for hours!" Chatot scolded her in an angry tone, but Hazel didn't hear him. All she heard was 'Kit was found earlier today.' Her heart almost stopped out of relief.

"Sorry Chatot, it's just-" Ralts was about to explain, but was interrupted by a screaming Chatot, who yelled "I'm not done yet!"

What followed was a ten minute scolding from Chatot, about how she shouldn't have been separated from her partner ('I'd like to see you try to stay near Wigglytuff in that flood'), how she should have called the guild for any help, and how she should have arrived at the guild sooner.

Luckily, after a while, Kit came out of their room, and after both of them made eye contact, Kit ran up to Ralts, pulling her into a big hug.

"Oh, Ralts! Where were you?! I was so worried! I was found in a river by Corphish, and he said you were nowhere to be seen and I thought you got lost and stuff!" Kit was crushing her while Chatot rolled his eyes.

"I landed in Marill and Azurill's pond. Luckily they took me in and healed me, so there's that." Ralts said as she gently pushed Kit off her.

After a sigh from Chatot, he said, "Well, since the both of you are here, then you may as well give me your report on the mission. Knowing what you'd been through, I'm expecting great results."

What followed was another ten minute report about everything, minus the vision and orange ribbon. Though the story made it seem like they already knew about the cave all along, what got Chatot's attention was the end of their report, particularly about the big room full of gems.

"Hmm. Let me see if I've got this all straight. Behind the waterfall, there is a cave, and in the deepest part of the cave, there is a gigantic gem. When you pushed on the gem, it triggered a trap of some kind, and Ralts was flushed off to some kind strangers house, while Kit to some river near Treasure Town?" Throughout the entire explanation, both girls were nodding through every line.

"Yes...Although it's really disappointing that we couldn't bring the gem back..." Kit hung her head a little low, with a sad look on her face.

"No, no, no! Emphatically, no! This is a major discovery! No one knew about the cave behind the waterfall!"

"Really?! We made a discovery!" Kit was beyond happy.

While Hazel wanted to celebrate with Kit, she was still incredibly confused. 'But what about that vision...That shadow, that was Guildmaster Wigglytuff! So then why would the Guildmaster give us the mission, if he was already went there? I should confirm this with Chatot, but I don't want to ruin Kit's mood.'

"Your waterfall discovery is just amazing! The Guildmaster must be told!" Chatot chirrped, quite pleased with both of them. "Why don't the two of you go to the mess hall for now? We do have some left overs left."

"Yeah, I guess we can do that. Let's go Ralts." Kit started to lead the way.

"O-Oh, I have to uh, quickly double check something. I won't be long."

Kit paused for a second, before just shrugging. "Well, alright. I'll be waiting in the mess hall." With that, Kit left.

"Uh, Chatot. Can I ask you something?" Ralts turned to Chatot.

"Hmm, what is it Ralts?"

Ralts dug into her Treasure Bag and pulled out the orange ribbon from earlier today, although it was quite wet. Chatot momentarily glanced at the ribbon, before turning to Ralts with a confused look. "What is this, exactly?"

"Is it alright if you give this to Guildmaster Wigglytuff, and ask him if he went to the cave before."

Chatot seemed momentarily shocked, before said shock disappeared. "And may I ask why?"

"I...I think Guildmaster Wigglytuff may have been at that waterfall before"

The shock from before came back as Chatot started flapping his wings frantically. "No, no no! Emphatically no! That's inconceivable! If that were so, the Guildmaster wouldn't have ordered you to investigate the waterfall in the first place, right?"

"Just, please? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to just, confirm it, right?" Ralts asked again, ignoring Chatot's question.

Chatot calmed down and just sighed. "Fine, since you insist, I will confirm it with the Guildmaster...stay here for a while. Oh, and can I borrow the ribbon?" Ralts handed him the ribbon without a second thought.

"Hmm...But why would she want to spoil her own discovery? How strange..." Chatot turned around and muttered to himself, before hopping away towards the Guildmaster's chamber.

Ralts stood there, patiently, for what seemed like two minutes. Kit decided to search for her and found Ralts in front of the Guildmaster's door.

"Uh, what's up?" Kit asked.

"Kit, you know how I had that vision? I want to confirm if the Wigglytuff in the vision is the same as the Guildmaster."

"Hmm...well, alright, I guess. Hopefully he says no though." Kit muttered.

After another minute, Chatot hopped out of the chamber, the ribbon now gone.

"S-So how'd it go?" Ralts asked curiously.

"When I asked the Guildmaster, he mulled over it a bit. And then he said..."Oh, memories! Sweet memories! YOOM...TAH!"" Chatot answered, mimicking Wigglytuff's voice perfectly. Anyone listening without knowing who is talking might have confused Chatot for Wigglytuff.

"Then he danced around a little, before saying "Yes, yes! That ribbon is actually mine! I did go there once!"" Chatot mimicked again. "So to sum it up, Ralts's suspicion was correct. Guildmaster has been there before."

"Oh...okay. That's kind of disappointing...We really thought we'd discovered a new place." Kit sighed sadly. "I wish Wigglytuff had told us that right from the start..."

"The Guildmaster can be...u-uh, erratic at times...Even I can't quite fathom what goes on in his head." Ralts raised an eyebrow. She may not be good at detecting lies, but that small pause and stutter seemed rather suspicious. Or maybe he was just searching for the right word. "Well, that's too bad for you." Chatot quickly changed the subject. "Nevertheless, you gave it your best effort and found the waterfall's secret, so don't feel too bad. I shall expect just as much effort tomorrow!"

With that, Chatot hopped back into the chamber.

After some dinner, although Hazel didn't eat too much, both girls were in their room again. Kit seemed to be staring out the window.

"Today was exhausting...We should go to sleep early." Hazel yawned and stretched.

"Yeah...We went through a lot today. Getting flushed out of the cave was painful and scary. But other than that, and the dungeon, it was quite fun for me! Sure, there was that huge letdown, but we solved a secret all on our own! And this was out first ever exploration!" Kit sighed, but still seemed quite happy.

"It made me realize that I made the right decision, joining the guild. It's fun, rewarding, and challenging, in a good way. Maybe at this rate, I'll solve the secret of my Relic Fragment!" Kit pointed at her Relic Fragment, hanging from her neck on a necklace.

"And one more thing...I'd like to thank you Ralts!" Kit turned to Ralts, who perked up.

"H-Huh? For what?"

"I feel so much stronger and confident around you! It's thanks to you I can go on missions to dangerous dungeons. I mean, without you, I might have gotten my Relic Fragment stolen! So just, thank you for always having my back." Kit smiled at the end.

After a small pause, Kit perked up, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Oh right! I was thinking about your visions."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I noticed that whenever you get those visions, or at least when you zone out, you always seem to be touching something."

"Come to think of it...you're right! I had my first vision when that Drowzee bumped into me, and then today's, I picked up that ribbon!" Ralts exclaimed, but then frowned. "But...I feel like there's more to it. When Drowzee bumped into me, I was already pretty suspicious of him, and I knew something was off, but I wanted to know why specifically... But today, when I picked up that ribbon...I was wondering why it was there, and who tied it down." Ralts continued on, a little lost in thought.

"So that means, if you touch something, and you want to know why something is off, then you could get a vision!" Kit realized. "And there's more! That vision of Azurill, that was in the future, but this time, your vision was from the past! This is an incredible special ability!" Kit's eyes widened with both shock and wonder. "This can be super useful, and not just for exploring! Imagine if you could see how humans disappeared, or if the guild will have an important event!"

"H-Hey now, having visions isn't really pleasant. You wouldn't want me to pass out every five minutes, now would you?" Even though she said that bashfully, one line stuck with her the most. '"Imagine if you could see how humans disappeared,"... So that means humans really are instinct... Or maybe just in hiding, who knows... I'll be optimistic and just say that they are so good at hiding, no Pokemon has found them yet...'

Before either of them could say anything else, Chatot hopped into the room. "Hey, you two! The Guildmaster wants to see you two right away."

"Guildmaster, I've brought you Team Relic." Chatot introduced them.

Wigglytuff's back was turned towards them. He didn't move a single muscle, despite what Chatot said.

"Guildmaster...Guildmaster?" Chatot called out, trying to get his attention.

Again, he didn't move. And then suddenly, he swiftly turned around with a loud "Hiya!" Both girls jumped a little, startled.

"Your team went through a lot today! Yes, a lot-lot! And all of that is being watched by me! You've been exceptional the entire time! Now, I should tell you why I brought you here." He said the last sentence semi-seriously, although he still kept up his goofy facade. "We're planning on mounting an expedition soon!"

Kit gasped in wonder. "An expedition?!"

"Yes. The expedition will be someplace really far away. It's much harder than exploring nearby areas. That's why we carefully choose which guild members go on the expedition." Chatot continued for Wigglytuff, before he took over again. "Normally, we would never consider rookies for the expedition, because they may not be as prepared of experienced. But you two are an exception. We decided to include you on the list of candidates for the expedition!"

"R-Really?!" Kit's eyes gleamed even brighter in wonder, as if her dream is coming true. Ralts can feel the pure glee in Kit's eyes, and she can't help but feel the same way.

"Now now! You haven't actually been chosen yet. We are simply telling you that you are being considered under new circumstances. You still have a chance to not get chosen, so don't think that you can just slake off." Chatot said sternly.

"I'm sure you can do it! Just give it your all everyday!" Wigglytuff cheered them on, however.

"Right!" Both girls said simultaneously.

"One more thing. Chatot gave me a pretty orange ribbon, and you found it, Ralts! How did you know it was mine?" Wigglytuff turned his head to the side curiously like a small child.

"O-Oh! Uhhh...I-I found some W-Wigglytuff shaped footprints near it, a-and I just assumed it was you, since y-you're the only Wigglytuff I know!" Ralts quickly thought of a lie. 'I must be getting better at lying. But I'm worried all these lies will come back around and backfire. I shouldn't be digging too deep of a grave.'

Chatot raised one of his brows, clearly incredibly skeptical about Ralts's response. Their mediocre performance on sentry duty proved that. However, Wigglytuff nodded. "Alrighty then! It's getting late, and both of you have to get up early in the morning. So goodnight!" He waved goodbye as both girls left the room.

"Kit, I've been wondering" Both girls were lying in bed again.

"Mm? What is it Ralts?" Kit opened one of her eyes to look at her.

"Where did you find your Relic Fragment?"

Kit perked up suddenly at that question. After contemplating for what felt like a minute, she sighed. "Well...I found it on the beach one day...After getting beat up by an outlaw..." She said sadly.

"W-What?!" Ralts said loudly, before dropping her voice back down. She didn't want to wake any of the other guildmembers up, and luckily, no one did. "What happened?"

"Well..."

Kit was walking down the road, back to Treasure Town. She wanted to explore Drenched Bluff, but she didn't go too far and was knocked out. She was cold and wet, but as a Fire-type, she merely heated her own body temperature and was drying herself. Suddenly, she heard a scream up ahead.

Running over to the scream while hiding in the trees, she gasped at what she was witnessing. It was a Haunter, and he was standing over a Shinx.

"Come one now...Hand over that money! Don't make me lose my patience!" The Haunter swiped his claw right in front of the Shinx's face. Any closer and he could was clawed his face off. The Shinx shivered and shrunk back, trying desperately to scurry as far away as possible.

Kit was watching all of this in horror. She wanted to run, but deep down she knew if she did, she would never forgive herself for abandoning someone in need. The Haunter looked like he was already losing his patience, so getting help was also out of the question.

Taking a deep breath in, she charged out of the tree, and used Ember on the Haunter. To her luck, she managed to burn him, however the Haunter barely flinched from the fire ball. Kit landed in front of the Haunter, shielding the Shinx. The Shinx immediately took this opportunity to run.

"Well, well, will you look at that? A little kid has come to the rescue! Clearly no one taught you that you should mind your own business. Normally, I would let you run away, but since my target ran away, well, seems like I'll need to take a little payback."

Almost immediately, the Haunter swing his claw down across her body, the claw glowing in dark purple energy. Even though it only left scrapes on her body, her insides seemed to be burning. She bit on her tongue so that she doesn't scream, but even then she let out a whimper.

She staggered and fell on the ground, unable to move. The Haunter towered over her, laughing menacingly.

"GAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! REALLY?! THAT'S IT?! YOU ARE LESS THAN WORTHLESS! SERIOUSLY, WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU JUMPED OUT THE TREES?!"

He simply picked up her body like it was nothing. She wanted to burn the creeps face off, but the inside of her body refused to summon even an ounce of fire.

"Did you really think you stood ANY chance against ME?! Seriously, I didn't even hit you THAT hard, and you've already turned into a pile of fur! And even a pile of fur is more threatening than you! You really thought you could be a hero? I'll bet you wish to join the guild of Explorers, right? Why not forget about it, you are nothing more than a burden!" Haunter then tossed her body aside, and checked his wound. Somehow, that Vulpix managed to burn him, and his burn wound hurt more and more by the second. At this rate he'll faint from the burn.

"Humph! I would finish you off, but you're not worth the trouble. You're not worth anything!" With that, he just lazily tossed her aside and then vanished into thin air with a low hum.

Despite the pain easing, she just lied there. The words that Haunter said, they hurt more than that Shadow Claw. Before she knew it. her body started shaking uncontrollably, and her vision blurred. She was crying. Weeping even. Some part of her knew those words were true. She would be worthless in a guild.

She picked herself up and dragged herself over to the beach, which seemed to be forever away. The Crabby had already come out, blowing bubbles into the sky. As gorgeous as the view was, she paid no mind to it.

After dragging herself over to her usual spot, her tears increased ten fold. She just sat there, crying. 'Maybe he's right, maybe I'm just worthless. Why did I think I can even join a guild? I got taken out by a slap.'

From the corner of her vision, she saw something wash up to the shore near her. Deciding to check it out, she shakily made her way up to the object. It was just a simple stone, and before she could dismiss it, something happened. It flashed in this blue light, and a strange pattern formed on the surface of it. She stared at the stone with awe, she'd never seen something like this in her life. It was so mysterious, and she was dying to know more.

'What...is this? That was so weird and cool at the same time! Who knows what mysteries it has! Imagine if I were to solve all of them!' She then quickly dismissed those thoughts. 'Who am I kidding...I won't be able to do it! I should just give this to some guild Team, they'll have a better chance at this. I couldn't even defend myself today.'

Glancing back at the stone, more thoughts surfaced in her mind. 'I should...find a partner. I may not be able to do this alone. I could have had a shot at that Haunter...I'm missing the point though. I was trying to protect someone, not beat up an outlaw! And I did! That Shinx may not have escaped unscathed without me. That's right, I should just forget what that Haunter said! Everyone starts out at the bottom of the barrel!'

With her renewed confidence, she picked up the stone and headed back home, to Sharpedo Bluff.

"...And then I headed home, with the intentions of finding a partner. Then I met you a week later, and you know the rest." Kit finished, looking a lot more positive.

"Oh...jeez, that was...both sad, infuriating, and...inspirational, in a way." Hazel stammered, she wasn't sure how to respond.

Kit giggled at that. "I know...there was a lot of shifting emotions there...Welp, bedtime story's over! I'm exhausted and I feel like collapsing right now."

"Oh, right, yeah we should rest up."

With that, they fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 : Toxic Team Rivalry

"Before we do our morning cheers, I have an announcement to make!" Chatot said. "There is a lake, far to the east. Many aspects of that lake remain mysterious, and as such, we hope to unravel those mysteries. And so," Chatot increased the pitch of his voice, highlighting the most important part, "our guild is planning to mount an expedition for the first time in a while!"

The instant Chatot finished talking, everyone started to get excited and talking between each other. "An expedition, you say?! Yes sirree!", "Oh my gosh! It's been so long since we went on an expedition!"

"But...That means YOU'RE going to be PICKING members for the EXPEDITION from ALL of us again, right?" Loudred spoke up.

"Precisely!" Chatot answered, and when he did, everyone quieted down. "We will depart in several days. Over these next few days, we will choose the most worthy apprentices. The chosen members will form the expedition party. As such, all your hard work will be kept track of and thoroughly examined. So, everyone, work hard so that you may be chosen!"

Once again, everyone started chatting between themselves. "Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!", "Yup yup! I've yet to go on an expedition! I would surely love to go this time!", "Let's WORK at it and get PICKED as MEMBERS!", "Meh heh heh, good luck with that." Croagunk snickered menacingly.

"All right, everyone! It's back to work as usual"

"HOORAY!"

As all the apprentices left the floor, Chatot turned to Team Relic. "You two, you can simply do Bulletin Board and Outlaw Notice Board for now." Team Relic nodded and left the floor too.

Both girls were on the first floor, where all the boards are. Most of the apprentices were chatting between each other, talking excitedly about the expedition, and predicting who could be picked.

"Hey hey, do you think Loudred will get picked?" Corphish said.

"Oh my gosh, no way! He's WAY too reckless! Last time we did a mission, he charged into the dungeon without any preparation or worry. We both got knocked out!" Sunflora ranted, but then formed a frown on her face. "Though, I'll admit that, he's pretty strong...He helped me with those Haunter's, and despite his strongest moves not even affecting them, both of us beat them! So, I'm not too sure if he will be picked..."

"Well, we all know you'll get picked, hey hey! You're amazing at exploring!" Corphish praised.

"T-Thank you! But that doesn't mean I can simply do nothing, I still have to work hard!" Sunflora said, almost in a heroic way.

Kit suddenly approached both of them. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but did you say you faced a Haunter?"

"Hm? Oh, hi Kit! And no problem. Anyways, yes, I did. While you were given that mission to explore a waterfall, I was tasked with taking down an outlaw. Sometimes, Officer Magnezone will ask specific guild members to take down certain outlaws, so I was given the task of taking down the 'Invincible Haunter'." Sunflora chuckled when saying the outlaw's alias. "Why do you ask?"

"O-Oh, uh, I was just curious!" Kit stammered.

Sunflora looked a little skeptical, but she then just smiled. "Well, alright then!"

Throughout the conversation, Hazel felt two Pokemon enter the guild. Normally, she wouldn't pay any more attention to this, however this presence felt way too familiar. Looking behind her, she saw the two Pokemon near the Job Bulletin board. One was a bat and the other almost like a balloon. 'Oh my god...Not again...'

"Welp, Ralts and I have to do Board missions, so good luck with today Sunflora!" Kit finished with a smile and started to drag Ralts over to the board where Koffing and Zubat were.

Kit only took three steps before she noticed the two Poison-types. "Huh...Those two..."

Koffing managed to see them in the corner of his eyes, and after a couple of awkward seconds, whispered something to Zubat and both of them turned to face Team Relic.

"Hey! You two?!" Koffing exclaimed.

"What on earth are you two doing at the guild?" Zubat followed.

"I can ask you the same thing, you thieves! You tried to rob me!" Kit retorted, her eyes burning with anger.

"Whoa-ho-ho! I'll have you know that we're an Exploration Team too! We're just checking the Job Bulletin Board, that's all." Koffing said with a sneer.

"An Exploration Team? Really?" Ralts sneered back, putting an arm on her hip and giving them a skeptical look.

"Heh-heh, that's right! Though we don't always operate...by the book." Zubat said, either ignoring Ralts's look or was too dense to notice it. "Now why would a wimp and a shortie be here?" Zubat said. That remark made Ralts angry inside, but she hid it well, knowing full well the jerk would continue to irritate her if they see a negative reaction.

"We're also an Exploration Team, Team Relic. We're staying at the guild to train to be a proper one in the future." Kit answered, looking a little sad due to that insult.

Koffing and Zubat shot each other baffled looks. "Whaaaaaat?!" "You want to become a real-deal Exploration Team member?!" Zubat asked baffled.

After shooting each other another look, both of them suddenly grabbed Kit and after a quick "Come with us for a second." Ralts was about to instinctively use Confusion on both of them, however she didn't want to risk hitting Kit, and also fighting in the guild is strictly prohibited. And since there were multiple guild members in the back, she figured she could call them over in case anything happened. However that did not stop her from hissing a "What on earth are you doing?!" Both of them ignored her and dragged Kit over to a wall, near the Bulletin Board.

"Now, I'll just be straight with you..." Koffing started as he shoved Kit further ahead. "...you should just forget about being on an Exploration Team!"

"W-What?! Why?!" Kit stammered.

"Well, you're timid. You get scared easily. A scaredy-cat like that can't cut it on an Exploration Team."

"W-Well, it's true that I'm timid...But-" She pushed herself away from Koffing and Zubat and towards Ralts. "But that's why I'm training at the guild! So I can overcome my own shortcomings!"

Koffing and Zubat just exploded into fits of laughter, like what she said was the most hilarious thing they've ever heard. "Well, effort only takes you so far. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to talent. Pure talent." Zubat said, quieting down his laughter.

"HA! You're one to talk!" Ralts stepped in, surprising everyone. She was quite quiet, so everyone forgot she was standing there. "You say you're an Exploration Team, but you two lost to us the same day we met! What kind of talent do you have? Go on, say it!"

Both of them glared at Ralts, while Kit looked a little surprised.

"Whoa-ho-ho! We didn't have chief with us that time!" Koffing retorted.

"Oh, Chief? S-So you're admitting that you're useless without someone dragging you around?" Ralts grinned as she said that.

Koffing ignored that, however his eyes momentarily flashed with anger. "Our Exploration Team, Team Skull, has three members."

"Our Chief is incredibly talented." Zubat continued.

"To put it bluntly, he's brutally tough." Koffing followed, as if this were a rehearsed speech.

"If he were here, he'd snap all of you like a twig."

After a moment, Koffing perked up slightly. "Whoa-ho-ho! Speaking of Chief, I can smell him coming right now!"

As weird as the statement as, he was right. The air, despite already being slightly polluted by Koffing, was gradually turning worse and worse by the second. Ralts could tell someone was approaching the guild, but she could not sense them with her Psychic abilities. 'Probably a Dark-type then, great.' She thought sarcastically.

After a couple more seconds, the 'Chief' descended from the slanted ladder. He was completely covered in fur and had beige strip. A Skuntank. Ralts had to stop herself from gagging from the horrendous smell.

Both Skuntank and Ralts came face to face, with the Dark-type towering over her.

"Move! Out of the way!" Skuntank barked at her. Before she could even move a muscle, he released a toxic gas, which clouded and surrounded Ralts. Ralts, not being prepared for this, started coughing , her lungs tensing up and burning, since she unfortunately inhaled some of the toxic gas. Her eyes were tearing up as she desperately gasped for any trace of fresh air. Eventually, her legs gave out on her due to her spinning head, and she fell on the ground. Luckily at that moment, the toxic gas seemed to disappear, however traces of the awful smell still lingered in the air. 'Arceus...what was THAT?! I don't think I've ever smelled something this bad. Jeez...my poor lungs...' She thought to herself as she coughed.

The entire time, Skuntank watched her slowly suffocate with a sneer on his face, as if he got revenge on a long time enemy, despite the fact that this was their first meeting. Kit seemed to be absolutely shocked and frozen, her legs glued to the ground.

Thankfully, Sunflora and Corphish, who were silent observers the whole time, rushed over to her. Corphish checked up on her while Sunflora started yelling at Skuntank. "Oh my gosh! What on earth are you doing!? Don't you know that attacking others is strictly prohibited at the guild?! Ralts did absolutely nothing to you! Who do you think you are?!"

"HA! What are you gonna do, flower? Yell at me some more?" Skuntank sneered even more.

Chatot ended up hopping up the ladder and onto the floor above to check out the ruckus. "What's going on here?"

"This Skuntank just attacked Ralts unprovoked!" Sunflora almost screamed.

"Skuntank did WHAT?!" Chatot shot daggers at Skuntank.

At this point, Skuntank looked incredibly uncomfortable at the situation at hand. Zubat leaned in closer to him and whispered "Maybe we should run?"

Without hesitation, Skuntank blurted out "Yes" and both him and Zubat bolted up the ladder, with Koffing following close behind.

Corphish looked like he was about to bolt after them, however Chatot turned him down immediately. "Don't follow them." He said sternly.

"Hey, hey! But Chatot...they attacked Ralts. Shouldn't we catch them?" Corphish inquired.

"Though it is true, there's no point in following them. That would be a waste of time. They will be blacklisted from this guild, however apart from the assault, there is no proof of previous assaults. As such, even if we turned them in to Officer Magnezone, they'll just get a fine for their little act." Chatot said, though Ralts could tell he was angry on the inside.

"Anyways, to more important matters..." He huffed before hopping over to Ralts, who got up into a sitting position. "Are you alright? I can give you a day off in case you need to rest."

As tempting as the day off was, she remembered there was an expedition. And since Ralts and Kit were being considered despite being rookies, she decided it would be better to act tough. "N-No, I'm fine, I'm fine. As horrendous as the smell was, I'm not hurt physically. I'll be fine, promise." She insisted as she got up, however her voice cracked at some points, due to her lungs still slightly burning.

"Well, that's good to hear. If you say you're alright, then I suggest everyone gets back to work." He said was his voice slightly increased in pitch, to indicate that he's talking to everyone.

After a few moments, everyone had already scattered to do their jobs, as if nothing just happened. Although Sunflora and Corphish shot Ralts concerned looks, they eventually went to the Outlaw Notice Board.

"Ralts...I'm...I'm sorry..." Kit said, solemnly and slowly.

"For what?"

"I...I couldn't bring myself to stand up to you...And you got attacked because of it..." Kit said with an even sadder look on her face.

"O-Oh, don't say that! None of this is your fault, really! I-I..." Ralts stuttered, she wasn't sure how to console Kit, and nothing she said seemed to have worked.

"Look, how about we focus on the expedition for now? Those jerks said that we can't join, so why don't we prove them wrong?!" Ralts cheered, hoping it woud cheer up Kit. And it did.

"Y-You're right! I can't let that Team Skull get to me! I'll get picked for the expedition and prove that I am strong!" Kit cheered as well.

With that, both girls started to giggle between themselves as they picked multiple jobs from the board.

Team Relic was working double time with missions and training for the next following days. Chimecho remarked how much Ralts improved with her Psychic abilities, and Kit was teaching Ralts how to read. Progress was slow, but noticeable. They did sentry duty and did a lot better, even impressing Chatot. Kit would always try to pick missions for Mount Bristle, since it's the place least filled with Water-types, but that didn't mean they didn't visit those dungeons. Thanks to their badge, they were able to teleport to the dungeons in the blind of an eye.

Treasure Town seemed particularly cheery in these few days, not that it wasn't in the past. After only one day of the expedition being announced, the townsfolk were already discussing who would get picked. Sunflora, Loudred and both Kit and Ralts were quite the popular candidates, however the other apprentices were still part of the debates and rumors.

"There's no way Sunflora and Loudred wouldn't get picked; both of them are incredibly competent and exceptional as Explorers!", "Makes sense, they're both some of the oldest apprentices, especially Loudred.", "Didn't he fail the graduation exam?", "I heard the graduation exam is stupidly hard, but I'm sure he'll manage in the future." Team Relic managed to overhear both Teddiursa and Ursaring debating between themselves.

"Ah, Team Relic! Good day to you two!" Kecleon greeted them merrily.

"I've heard there's an expedition coming up! Are you two working to get picked? I heard new apprentices aren't allowed on expeditions." Leon asked.

"Yes, we are! Chatot told us that we are being considered on the list of candidates!" Kit said excitedly.

"Ah, I see! I do hope you two get picked! With how much you're working, that effort surely HAS to pay off!" Leon exclaimed.

After a couple more day of doing jobs, they got called up by Chatot after a morning cheer.

"Ah, you two! I have a task for you" Chatot chirped. Both girls automatically walked and lined up in front of him.

"Your task today is to obtain Perfect Apples from Apple Woods in order to replenish the larder." Chatot stated.

"We inspected the larder this morning. However, the guild's food stock has dropped sharply all of a sudden." Chatot continued, before dropping the pitch of his voice into a whisper and leaned closer to Team Relic. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff seems to have raided the larder last night."

Clearing his throat, his voice returned to normal again. "Furthermore, our entire stock of Perfect Apples has disappeared. That was the only item to get completely cleaned out." He stated with an awkward tone.

"P-Perfect Apples?" Ralts asked, tilting her head sideways a bit.

"They're very big and very delicious Apples, that are most commonly found at the heart of Apple Woods. However, they are also the Guildmaster's favorite food! If there were no Perfect Apples, the Guildmaster would...um..." Chatot started to sweat a little, and Ralts could tell, even without using her powers, that he was internally freaking out about whatever Wigglytuff would do. 'What could Wigglytuff possibly do to make Chatot panic so much? Summon Giratina?' As tempting as it was to ask, Ralts decided it was a question for another time. She doubted Chatot would even answer, since he seems so on edge right now.

"Well...Something would happen, and that's why I'm begging you two to get some Perfect Apples." Chatot finished.

"Well, sure, we'll go get some. You can count on us! Although, may I ask, what would..." Kit's voice trailed off as she shot Ralts a side-ways glance, but Ralts shook her head. "Erm...Nevermind. W-We'll just go prepare now."

Chatot seemed incredibly relieved by that. "Good! Now, I'll remind you that Perfect Apples can be found deep in Apple Woods. I trust that you won't fail, since this job is incredibly crucial!"

"You can count on us, Chatot!" Kit nodded.

After a quick stop at Kangaskhan's storage to refill some items, they finally started to head down the crossroads and towards the woods. Unbeknownst to them, a certain Dark-Poison-type was watching them from the bushes, and after a while him and his teammates followed them.

"So this is Apple Woods..." Kit grinned as she looked around her. They were standing at the entrance on a worn beige path. Clearly this forest was visited often. True to it's name, apples of all sizes and ripeness were attached to the trees overhead.

"FINALLY! No more water!" Kit exclaimed happily, and Hazel shared those feelings. She was already sick of all the damp, cold and dark caves they had to explore, and she couldn't imagine how Kit felt about it, having a natural weakness to all that water.

"Try not to burn the forest down. We still need some Apples to collect" Ralts laughed and reminded her while pointing to their extra bag Chatot gave them, specifically for this mission.

"Yes, I know, I'm just so happy and giddy that I finally get to relax for once" Kit said as she laughed along.

They both headed into the dungeon, unbeknownst that a certain Team was following them.

Apple Woods was a complete breeze. No one stood a chance against Kit and her super-effective Ember. Even though the bug type Pokemon slightly concerned Hazel, since of their type advantage, Kit burned them before they could even lay a claw on her. Not only that, but some of the Grass-type Pokemon here were Poison-types, which Hazel was able to easily dispatch of.

Without even breaking a sweat, they reached the end of Apple Woods in no time.

In the center of the clearing they were standing at, there was a huge tree at the far back. There were some big Apples visible on the outside, but a lot less than expected. Nonetheless, they finally reached their destination.

"Those must be Perfect Apples..." Kit muttered. "How will we get them down? Can you maybe use your Psychic powers?" Kit asked as she turned to Ralts.

"Hmm...I'm not sure...I think they're too far away for me to bring them down. I guess we'll have to d-do this the good ol' fashion way." Ralts said, stretching her body in preparation of climbing the tree.

"Are you gonna be okay? I'll give you a lift."

"I'll be fine. We only need 10, I believe. They should fit in the extra bag."

Right as Kit and Hazel approached the tree, they heard a rough voice barking at them. "Chaw-haw-haw! There you are, finally!"

"Who said that?!" Kit yelped, although she already knew the answer.

Suddenly, Skuntank, Zubat and Koffing dropped down from the tree, blocking the girls from it.

"Y-You three?!" Ralts stammered, absolutely baffled. 'I understand how Zubat and Koffing could have gotten on the tree, they can levitate of course. But Skuntank?! How did he manage to climb the tree?!'

"Chaw-haw-haw! Team Skull, at your service!" Skuntank bowed as he introduced themselves. Hazel really wished they'd stop with the stupid laughs.

"Heh-heh. It's wimpy and shorty. You arrived way quicker than expected." Zubat said.

"Still, we've been having a picnic of Perfect Apples while waiting for you two to show up!" Koffing stated.

Hazel groaned and put her hand on her face in annoyance. "Kit, let's just knock them out, get the stuff we need and get out."

"Knock us out? How very rude of you!" Skuntank said. "Why, I was even going to offer my help for your mission. I assume you're her for the Perfect Apples, correct?"

Ralts huffed. "We don't need your help, thank you very much. We are capable of doing this ourselves." Ralts said, however Skuntank ignored her.

Skuntank approached the tree, and after stepping back a few paces, rammed himself face first into the thick trunk to the tree. Ralts was going to giggle were it not for the entire tree shaking from the impact. As much as Hazel hated to admit it, his physical strength was incredibly impressive. After running into the tree once more, almost all the remaining Perfect Apples fell on the ground.

"See? What'd I tell you?" He said while moving back to his former position. "Go on, scoop them up and scuttle back to the guild. Chaw-haw-haw!" He laughed.

Kit and Ralts shot each other annoyed and angry looks. With the way Team Skull was laughing, it was clear as day that they planned on knocking them out when their backs are turned.

"Hm? What's the matter? Aren't you going to pick them up? And after I was so nice and helped you out! Chaw-haw-haw!" Skuntank chortled.

"If you're going to pull another one of your dirty tricks, at least be more sneaky about it! Who do you think you're fooling?!" Kit yelled angrily.

The member of Team Skull seemed genuinely shocked at Kit's statement. They all turned to each other. "Color me surprised! They didn't fall for it at all!" Zubat stated. "Aww, how boring." Koffing whined.

Kit looked even angrier when they said that.

"Chaw-haw-haw. It's a little disappointing you didn't fall for our little act...But oh well. What are you gonna do about it?"

"The only thing we can! We're going to knock you out cause frankly, you're annoying." Ralts sneered.

"Well now, aren't we feeling peppy today!" Skuntank sneered back. "What are you gonna do to me, girly? Your strongest moves are useless against me! And your wimpy friend shook like a leaf too!"

Hazel was about to shoot back something sarcastic, however before she could, Kit started talking. "I-It's true that that time...I did back down. But I won't lose again! Right here, w-we are unrestricted by rules! I-I won't back down to you creeps!"

"So be it. My teammates are itching for a rematch. So recognition of your courage, we'll give you the fight you desperately want!" Skuntank declared loudly, starting the fight.

"Kit! You take Skuntank and I'll take the other two. Also only use Ember!" Hazel quickly blurted. As much as she hated to admit it, Skuntank was right. Her strongest move, Confusion, would do nothing again Skuntank. However Koffing and Zubat should drop like flies at her attacks.

"On it!" Kit also seems to have understood Ralts's predicament.

Kit swiftly shot an Ember towards Skuntank, causing him to flinch. She quickly jumped between Skuntank and Ralts, covering her. He was already trying to get to Ralts, since she's an easy target and the biggest threat to Koffing and Zubat.

Kit glared at Skuntank, however after checking for any burns, which he didn't have, he started to tower over Kit, trying his best to intimidate her. She shuddered slightly, but refocused and shot another Ember at him.

Skuntank, seeing as how that wouldn't work anymore, used Smokescreen and surrounded the area around her, hoping to throw her off and cause her to miss. He lunged him and managed to hit her with Slash. He heard a shriek and assumed that Kit was weak, and even if she managed to stay up she wouldn't hope to hit him. However, his hopes were dashed when she lunged at him, cloaked in darkness. Even though Feint Attack didn't deal too much damage, he still didn't expect such a direct and accurate hit.

Meanwhile, Ralts was busy facing off both of Zubat and Koffing. Koffing was the heavy hitter, slow but deals massive damage, while Zubat was agile and chipped away at her.

Zubat, almost immediately, flew down and used Leech Life on her arm, the same arm he bit back in Beach Cave. It hurt a lot more than last time. Ralts was about to grab his ear to hold him in place to use Confusion, however Koffing cloaked himself in dark energy and hit her with Assurance. Ralts screamed in pain from the super-effective move. She was not expecting that.

Zubat used that opportunity to throw her by her arm. She skidded on the ground slightly and saw her arm was bleeding. Despite that, she seemed mostly fine.

Zubat immediately swooped down on her again, but this time she was ready. She grabbed one of his tails and slammed him on the ground while pressing her foot down on him. With him planted on the ground, she swiftly shot a rushed Confusion, before she leapt to the side to avoid Koffing's Assurance. Even though the Confusion wasn't as powerful as before, it left Zubat confused and he mistook a tree for his enemy. With Zubat temporarily out of the fight, she turned her full attention to Koffing.

Koffing yelled after his stumbling partner. "Zubat, the opponent is behind you!" But that ended up being his biggest mistake, as he left himself vulnerable for Ralts's Confusion.

As he tried to regain his mid-air balance from the Confusion, Zubat rammed right into him at full speed, mistaking him for the Ralts. They both tumbled on the ground, Koffing now on the ground and Zubat still confused and unable to regain his balance. Ralts decided to finish them off with multiple Confusion, two for each. After that, they stayed down and Ralts suddenly remembered something.

Kit, now with the Smokescreen gone, lunged at Skuntank with another Ember. Unfortunately for her, Skuntank managed to hit her directly with a Poison Gas, causing Kit to start coughing desperately. She couldn't use Ember anymore due to the coughing. Skuntank used this opportunity to hit her directly with a Slash. He managed to hit her just right for devastating damage.

Though the critical Slash didn't necessarily take her out, the poison did. Her lack of oxygen and painful poison coursing in her body caused her to lose balance and collapse, slowly draining her power until she couldn't stay conscious any longer and passed out.

Now that Kit was no longer a problem, he turned his full attention to Ralts. Though she managed to knock out both Koffing and Zubat, she had her back turned and looked like she was just about to turn her attention to him. Thinking quickly, he lunged in with a Sucker Punch, nailing her directly on the head. Being already weaken from her injuries, as well as a Super-Effective move aimed directly at her head, Ralts didn't even have time to scream in pain. She was sent flying and knocked out.

Hazel slowly opened her eyes, regaining consciousness. She immediately shut them and winced in pain. She had a sore arm and the worst headache she probably ever had. Clearly being punched on the head with a super-effective move caused it.

She looked over to her partner and saw that she wasn't in any better conditions. Though she wasn't punch on the head, she had a big slash mark on her body and her face was pale with purple blushed, one of the signs of poison. Though poison from attacks don't kill the Pokemon afflicted, it does keep them unconscious until it naturally wears off and losses its potency.

Wincing some more, she forced her body off the ground and waddled over to the bag she hid, just in case they lost so that they wouldn't have all their items stolen. She pulled out a Pecha Berry and a couple Oran Berries. She scarfed down one Oran Berry and immediately felt better. Her head still hurt, but felt a lot better than before. Walking slightly awkwardly towards Kit, she tore a piece off the Pecha Berry and squeezed all the juice out into her mouth. After she finished, Kit started to stir and wake up.

"R-Ralts...?" Kit started, but Ralts cut her off by shaking her head and giving her the berry with a harsh "Eat." Kit hastily ate it and managed to stand by, the big cut on her body starting to close. It was almost completely gone, say for a barely noticeable scratch which looked invisible against her red and orange fur.

"Urf...We both got knocked out..." Kit lamented, before she perked up and frantically looked around. "Oh! What happened to the Perfect Apples?!" She looked at the tree which originally had them, however almost every Apple was gone, save for some very unripe ones.

"Hehe...Don't worry, I-I got use covered." Ralts snickered.

Before Kit could question it, Ralts walked up to the tree and went behind it. There was a small hole in said tree. Peering inside it, Ralts saw three Perfect Apples she managed to hide. She knew that Team Skull would steal all of them to make them fail their mission, so Ralts quickly took three, since that was the maximum she could carry, and quickly stuffed them inside after she defeated Koffing and Zubat. She just returned from the hole and was about to face off against Skuntank, however he managed to completely catch her off guard and Sucker Punch her in the noggin.

"Perfect Apples!" Kit exclaimed when she saw Ralts carry them.

"I figured they would try to steal all the Perfect Apples when they knock us out, so I hid a few. Luckily, they missed that spot. And hey, we didn't fail our mission. We didn't really succeed, since Chatot asked for a full bag, but we didn't fail!"

"Well, nice quick thinking! Anyways, we should go back, we don't have anything more to do here and I don't want to fight Team Skull again." Kit huffed out as she approached Ralts. She pulled out her badge, and after holding it above her head, they both got teleported to the guild.

"Well, as unsatisfied as I am with your work, you did bring back Perfect Apples. So for the rest of the day, you can do whatever you want." Chatot said in a monotone voice.

When Team Relic arrived at the guild, they presented their pitiful three Perfect Apples to Chatot, who scolded them for their pitiful yet successful performance. However, after an explanation of what transpired, Chatot calmed down and took their report, however was still disappointed at their work despite the fact that it was almost out of their control.

Deciding they already did enough for today, Team Relic simply enjoyed their dinner and went straight to bed.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 : Expedition Preparation

"One last item...Tomorrow, or the day after...Or perhaps in several days' time...We plan to announce the members of the expedition party!" Chatot announced.

That immediately got everyone talking excitedly. Though there was an air of nervousness present, it was overshadowed by the excitement and curiosity of who would get picked. "Wow!", "By golly, the members are finally gonna be picked!", "Oh my gosh! It will be so fun!"

"Everyone, this is your last chance to make an impression. Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen." Chatot concluded, silencing everyone. "All right, everyone. Let's get down to work as usual."

"HOORAY!" Everyone shouted, concluding the morning announcements.

Ralts and Kit were still working hard, taking multiple missions at once and completing all of them in one dungeon. Despite the hard and tiring work, at least the rewards of the missions were quite big. Not too mention they were most likely giving themselves a better impression, since their less than impressive mission at Apple Woods disappointing Chatot, despite it not being their fault.

Near the guild, a new place opened called Spinda's Cafe. After all those missions, Kit and Hazel would go to the Cafe to order a drink and relax.

After all those missions at (thankfully for Kit) Apple Woods, Kit and Hazel were in their room, after their dinner and time being not too late.

"Oh, Ralts, I said I'd teach you to read! I know there's an expedition soon, but I could teach you some basics..." Kit said.

"O-Oh, sure, I'd love that!" Hazel stammered.

"Alright, I should tell you about the basics."

Kit pulled out two pieces of paper, both with different handwriting. The first one had those footprint ruins that Hazel could not understand. However the second piece of paper had letters on them that looked similar to Unown. Squinting a little, she swore that she could read some of the letters, though some took her second to recognize because of the weird format.

"So on this paper, there are footprint runes. It's the most common way to read and write. The second one though, those are Unown Runes. They're a bit weird, but people do read them, even though they're uncommon. I actually heard that humans used to write in something similar to Unown runes, which is pretty cool." Kit looked up from the papers to Ralts and saw her staring at the paper with the Unown Runes. "Oh? Anything wrong?"

"I-I...I think I can read the Unown Runes!" Hazel said excitedly.

"Wow, really?! Then I guess you're not completely illiterate, no offense. Though it is weird that you can only read Unown runes..."

"How come?"

"Like I said, Unown runes are more uncommon. Most, if not all Pokemon learn footprint ruins first. But I guess things are different from where you come from." Kit said, then paused. "Speaking of that... Did you remember where you lived before your amnesia?"

"Um, no. But I'm sure I'll remember eventually!" Ralts swiftly added, while Kit was writing something using one of her tails.

"Well, if you say so. Say, read this" She said as she held up the paper.

Ralts squinted her eyes as she examined the paper. Even though she could understand Unown ruins, she still had a little trouble clearly reading them. After a couple seconds, she said "Uhm... Does it say... 'Can you... read this'?"

"Hehe, yeah that's what it says. Though you should practice reading Unown ruins, since your response was a bit slow. Or maybe you need glasses?" Kit suggested.

"Y-Yeah, I guess I need to get used to it more. Don't worry, I could read it fine, I just had a hard time actually understanding the letters." Ralts said.

"I believe that Kecleon sell books, I'm sure there will be some in Unown runes. We could buy some after the expedition."

"Yeah, we should. Maybe it could help me remember some stuff..." Hazel mumbled.

Chimecho rang the bell on her head, creating a soothing, high-pitched sound. "Everyone! It's time for dinner!"

Everyone, after a day of heard work, were excited to finally have dinner. "Yeah!" Everyone said simultaneously, except Chimecho, Chatot and Ralts. Ralts was just too tired to voice anything.

"I propose we race on who eats the fastest!" Loudred announced. Ralts was about to object, but everyone, except Sunflora, looked excited. 'As dangerous as this can be, I shouldn't ruin the mood. May as well participate, though I'll have to be careful not to choke.'

"Let's get..." Everyone said, as a countdown for the race.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Chatot cut everyone off. "Everyone! Hold up!"

Everyone almost immediately quieted down, as to not disappoint Chatot.

"Ahem!" He cleared his throat. "Before we begin dinner tonight, I wish to make an announcement."

That got everyone excited once more, although everyone kept their composure.

"I'm sure the selection of the expedition members has been on everyone's minds." Chatot continued. "Our Guildmaster has made the final decisions on who will be picked for the party."

Some of the guild members flinched out of surprise. However, soon everyone started to cheer. "By golly, it's finally settled!" Bidoof exclaimed.

"The members will be announced at tomorrow's morning briefing!" Chatot said. "Now, sorry to have kept you waiting. Feel free to eat dinner!" He concluded.

With that, everyone restarted their countdown. "Let's...EAT!"

Almost everyone, except for Sunflora, Chimecho and Team Relic started to stuff food into their mouths. Loudred had an unfortunate advantage over everyone because of his naturally large mouth, so he ended up finishing first. Bidoof surprisingly came in second, and Diglett finished last.

Everyone stayed at the table, chatting between themselves excitedly about the expedition and theories on where they would go. Chatot had to usher all of them out of the mess hall when it started getting late.

"Can't believe that tomorrow they'll announce the members of the expedition. Felt like it was yesterday when it was announced." Kit said, half-yawning as they entered their room.

"I-I'm both nervous and excited at the same time." Hazel added.

"Same, though I'm more on the nervous side." Kit mumbled. Hazel knew that was true, since she could feel how nervous she felt. "How come?" Hazel asked.

"W-Well, I know that we technically didn't fail that Apple Woods mission, but we did disappoint Chatot. Which is infuriating, cause it's not our fault the apples got stolen!"

"I'm sure Chatot understands. He can be strict, but it's not like he's dense. Besides, we did an average of four jobs per day, that hard work has to pay off, though I don't want to jinx it." Though Hazel didn't particularly like Chatot, he did treat everyone somewhat fairly. It depended on his mood most of the time.

"Y-Yeah, you're right. Besides, even if we don't get picked, it's not the end of the world. Someone will have to stay behind, so if it's us then so be it." Kit said after pausing for a second, though Hazel was skeptical about that statement.

"Anyways, we should go to bed, we'll need to rise up early. Good night." Kit said as she lied in bed. After about a minute of silence, she was already asleep.

Hazel did feel tired, however her thoughts were keeping her awake. 'I dunno...We worked very hard. If we don't get chosen, I feel like Kit would be crushed. I know she's probably staying positive for the both of us, but still. I should keep my hopes up and stay positive though. I know we'll get picked for the expedition.' She reassured herself, then she thought of something else. 'Who knows, maybe that vision ability thing I have will be useful...I should still keep it a secret though, everyone would think I'm a nut job. Anyways, enough mental conversations, I should sleep now.' With that, Hazel started to drift off.

Meanwhile, in a jungle, someone was dashing in the trees, skillfully hopping and swinging from the branches and vines. They were moving so quickly that they even impressed themselves.

As they swiftly moved in the trees, said trees started to thin out. Knowing they were close, they hopped back onto the trail and kept all of their momentum. After a minute or so, the trees were no longer visible, replaced only by boulders and a gravel clearing. At the far end of it was a cave entrance.

They swiftly fought through the dungeon and managed to avoid the Aggron and Lairon's living there. When they reached a fork in the cave, they hesitated for a moment before jumping straight at the seemingly hard, rock wall. But of course, it was merely a very convincing illusion.

Going in deeper, they finally arrived at the deepest room of the cave. The guardian of this place was nowhere in sight though. 'Strange, however knowing who the guardian is, this is probably a trick to set the stage' they thought to themselves. They took a couple steps forward before the ground started to rumble, confirming their suspicion.

In a flash of light, a Heatran stood in their way. "You who is trespassing upon my domain, leave at once and I might spare you!" The Heatran roared in a deep voice. Their heart almost skipped a beat, though the true identity of the Heatran kept him from hesitating.

Almost immediately, the Heatran, sensing that the intruder would not leave, charged. However, the intruder dug into the ground and was instantly gone. Heatran stopped, however that was a mistake, as the intruder almost immediately reappeared, chunks of ground and rock flying everywhere. It was a Ground-type move, a move that a Fire-Steel type like him couldn't handle.

Suddenly, as the Heatran slumped to the ground, his body started to melt, before it glowed in a bright light. When they opened their eyes, they saw a Ditto on the ground, barely conscious.

"I must apologize, however there is a Time Gear I need to take. You're too injured, so don't push yourself. If you try to stop me, I will knock you out, so I recommend you try and run." They said, glancing at the Ditto from the corner of their eyes. As soon as they were done, they started to turn towards the very end of the cave, which was illuminated by a soft neon green glow.

However, something tugged at there arm. Looking down, there were blue vines wrapped around it, not too tightly due to weakness. Turning their full attention back, the Ditto Transformed into a Tangela and was using his vines.

"W-Why...?" the Ditto, or in this case the Tangela wheezed out.

"I don't have time to go into detail, however that Time Gear is necessary for my mission. Now," they cut the vines attached to them with their leaf appendages, "I'll be taking that Time Gear. Try not to get paralyzed."

The Ditto, shakily standing up, said "D-Does this... have something t-to do with..." The Ditto said something that shocked them. Their eyes widened. This Ditto knew about their mission. They simply nodded with a "Yes, that's exactly why I need the Time Gears."

The Ditto paused. Then, after a second, he released them. "...You may take it...I won't tell anyone."

"I-I...I cannot thank you enough. Here," they dug into their bag and tossed the Ditto an Oran Berry. "Eat this. I suggest you leave immediately."

"...I will...I'll teleport you..." The Ditto Transformed into an Alakazam and waited in the room as they went to the next.

They gazed up at the Time Gear. 'Finally...The second Time Gear. Three more to go.'

They reached out at the Time Gear, and after a moment to prepare, they snatched the Time Gear out of the air and dashed out of the room as it started to shake. They ran up to the Alakazam, and both of them teleported out of there.

"Ahem, now then, I shall announce the expedition members." Chatot announced.

Everyone was up and early today, most nervous. Chatot hopped over to Wigglytuff, who was holding a piece of paper.

"Guildmaster, the memo please." He said politely and professionally. Wigglytuff handed him a piece of paper with what looked like semi-neat handwriting.

As if to extend the suspense in the room, Chatot held the memo over his head as if in triumph. "The chosen members are written on this memo. Step to the front if your name is called." 'Way to point out the obvious.' Hazel thought.

The members started to mutter between themselves. "Ooh my gosh...It's finally happening!" "My heart's a-pounding, by golly."

Chatot loudly cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention again. "Now, for our first member..." Everyone held their breathe. "Loudred!"

"Yes! YES! I DID IT!" Loudred bellowed while pumping his fist in the air. He quickly regained his composure and walked up to the front nonchalantly. "When you THINK about it, it's only NATURAL I would get PICKED!" He said smugly.

"Says you..." Sunflora mumbled quietly, though Hazel picked that up.

"Next up is...Corphish!"

"Hey, hey! I got picked!" Corphish sounded surprised. He went up to the front with Loudred, and they both did a short handshake of sorts.

"Next up is...Bidoof!" Chatot sounded genuinely surprised with a hint of being dumbfounded by that.

"W-What?! R-Really and truly?!" Bidoof sounded more surprised than Chatot. "A-Are you sure...?" He couldn't even believe his own ears.

"Yes, I'm sure Bidoof. Congratulations!" Chatot confirmed.

"G-Golly...I'm so overwhelmed...I can't even move!" His eyes were already tearing up from pure joy.

"Well, alright, you can stay there." Chatot said as he turned his head back to the memo. "Next we have Sunflora and Chimecho!"

"Eeek! Oh my gosh, we got picked!" Sunflora exclaimed, turning to Chimecho. They both rushed to the front as they said to each other "Girl Power!" Loudred and Corphish rolled their eyes, but didn't say anything.

Chatot squinted at the memo, trying to read something small. 'There's something scribbled on the margins of this memo...The Guildmaster's writing is quite messy...'

"Erm...We have more members. The others are... Diglett, Dugtrio, Croagunk, Ralts and Vulpix!"

Everyone perked up. They thought they would get left out, but that makes the entire guild!

"That seems to be all...Wait, WHAT?!" Chatot squawked. "G-Guildmaster...This list includes every member of the guild!"

"Yup! What's wrong with that?" Wigglytuff said cheerfully.

"But then that makes the whole selection process was meaningless!" Chatot said. "Moreover, if we were to all go, we would leave the guild completely unattended!"

"It'll be fine, we'll lock up the guild properly." Wigglytuff said nonchalantly. "Besides, expeditions are supposed to be fun!"

"...Very well..." He flattened his ruffled feathers. "Now, I'll announce the schedule. Tomorrow, we'll wake up earlier than usual. Today, you will have time to relax and prepare. Make sure you double check everything, we won't return to the guild in a while. That is all." He concluded as he and the guildmaster went into his room.

All the guild members gathered in a circle excitedly.

"Oh my gosh! I could scream, I'm so happy! Everyone is going on the expedition!" Sunflora squealed excitedly.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised, this is typical Guildmaster Wigglytuff behavior. Probably should have expected that." Chimecho giggled.

"I-I'm so glad we got picked! I thought we wouldn't!" Kit said joyfully, tears starting to brim in her eyes and threatening to fall.

Bidoof had the same face as Kit, though his tears were far more noticeable. "Sniff... By golly, I'm mighty happy that they're even letting me go on this her expedition...!" He sniffled. "A-And everyone gets to go too! This has to be a dream. It's making me feel mighty emotional..." He rambled on.

"Bidoof, want me to slap you awake?" Loudred jokingly said, before he started to grin devilishly.

"It's no dream. This is really happening Bidoof." Dugtrio huffed out with a slightly annoyed tone, but still looked happy. "Now back on topic, we should prepare for the expedition. And then we will make this expedition a success!"

"Yippee! That's the spirit!" Sunflora cheered.

"We WILL solve whatever MYSTERY on the EXPEDITION!" Loudred also cheered.

Everyone cheered and started to talk between themselves. Eventually the group had to break up to prepare, so all that was left were Kit and Hazel at the guild.

"I-I'm so happy! I thought we wouldn't get picked, but we did!" Kit was still overjoyed.

"W-Want to go to Spinda's Cafe and get a drink in the evening?"

"Yeah, sure, I found a Red Gummi too, so that would be good!"

Kit and Hazel went on a shopping spree in Treasure Town, using almost three thousand Poke at Kecleon's shop.

"Thank you for your partnership! We wish you luck on the expedition!" Leon said as they exchanged Poke for a Petrify Orb and a Luminous Orb.

"O-Oh, before I forget, what books do you h-have in stock?" Ralts perked up as she remembered her talk with Kit.

"Well, we do have a couple, but by the time you come back we should have more in stock." Kecleon said.

"Do you have any i-in Unown runes?" Ralts pressed.

Kecleon paused. "Well, of course we do, though those books are typically a little more rare. We don't have any as of now, however there is a high chance we will have one when you return."

"Okay, thank you."

Team Relic checked over their bag once more. They have about five Oran Berries, two Reviver Seeds and Max Elixir, as well as orbs and Hazel's trusty Fuchsia Bow.

They stopped at the SPinda Cafe, and Kit ordered a drink made out of her Red Gummi, while Ralts ordered a drink made out of a Pecha Berry. Pecha Berries are quite sweet, so they are Ralts' favorite.

After a toast between them and double checking their items once more, they headed back to the guild to rest.

The next morning, Loudred woke everyone up especially earlier in the morning. However everyone was wide awake from anticipation.

Chatot called out everyone's names for morning attendance, and after confirming everyone was present, he muttered "All accounted for, it appears."

"Alright, let me explain the details of the expedition." He continued, raising his voice. "Our objective is to explore Fogbound Lake. It is said to be located far to the east. However, the lake is perpetually enshrouded by a dense fog. As such, its actual existence has never been confirmed... However it is rumored that a treasure of exquisite beauty is hidden there!"

Everyone perked up by that, especially Kit. "Wow! Treasure?! We're going on a treasure hunt!" She gasped in wonder, eyes practically glimmering. "This is so exciting!"

"Yup! It will be fun, fun, fun!" Wigglytuff sang.

"Back on topic... Everyone please open your Wonder Maps." He said. Almost immediately, everyone opened their Wonder Map's. "First off... Fogbound Lake is located around South-East, in the uncharted part of the map, on the right of the mountains. As you know, the distance between the lake and the guild is massive and treacherous. Therefore, we will encamp at the foot of the mountains near the woods. That will serve as our base."

"Onto more important news... If we were to travel all at once in a single group, our mobility would be restricted. Our strategy is to split up into several groups to travel to the base camp. Now, you will be divided into groups. The first group will be Sunflora, Loudred, Chimecho and Croagunk."

The four recruits shot each other looks and nodded, however when Sunflora and Loudred made eye contact, they glared at each other for a second before sheepishly averting their gazes.

"You guys better NOT hold me BACK!" Loudred said, breaking the tension.

"You're one to talk!" Sunflora retorted.

"The next group is Dugtrio, Diglett and Corphish." Chatot interrupted to prevent any bickering.

"Are you certain we'd make a good team? Putting two Ground-types together wouldn't work in our favor." Dugtrio said, and Hazel agreed with him (them?). 'Not a good match-up. They're screwed if they encounter a Grass-type.'

"Though you are correct, the Guildmaster and I created the team's based off of your relationships. It could end badly if everyone is in disagreements with each other. Besides, the mountains that we'll cross are mainly populated by Rock-types, so it is unlikely that you'll face any Grass-types." Chatot explained. 'That's...Actually pretty smart. Loudred and Sunflora do get along, even if they pretend to hate each other.' Hazel thought.

"Understood." Dugtrio nodded in agreement.

"The final group will consist of Bidoof, Ralts and Kit." Chatot continued.

All three of them shot each other looks of understanding. 'Not a bad match up. I can handle Fighting-types for Bidoof, and Bidoof knows Water Gun, so that covers Kit.' Hazel thought.

"The Guildmaster and I shall travel as a pair-" Chatot started, however was cut off by Wigglytuff. "Awwwww?! I have to go with Chatot?! That's so boooooring!" Wigglytuff whined.

"Please don't be difficult. This is a key element to our strategy." Chatot stammered. The fact that he stood up to Wigglytuff was surprising, but understandable. 'Though Chatot treats him with a lot of respect, they seem to be good friends...'

"...Meanie." Wigglytuff pouted.

"A-Anyways, everyone! Let's get to it and move out!" Chatot stated.

"HOORAY!" Everyone cheered.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: The Guild's Big Expedition

The entire guild set out of the guild together as one group at first. However, when the outskirts of the tall and rocky mountains became visible, the group began to split off. Kit, Hazel, and Bidoof decided to go near the coast, and so they split up from the group with the promise of reuniting at the base camp.

Staying near the coast was simple enough since they walked along the cliffs with the ocean in view. The view was quite simple, yet gorgeous. Calm waves would gently wash against the cliff, light seafoam forming. The sky was clear with a bright sun and no clouds visible to obscure the light. Hazel continued to take in the view of almost every chance she got. 'I don't know why I'm so obsessed with this view, but it's so pretty. Sure, it's just blue with another version of blue on top, but still...'

As the trio followed along with the cliffs, they soon found themselves approaching the entrance to a cave at the base of a mountain around the clear afternoon. Despite the warm and cheery calmness of the beaming sun, Hazel noticed that Bidoof seemed a bit down and tense.

"H-Hey, Bidoof." Ralts said to get his attention.

"What is it?" He asked somewhat nonchalantly, barely looking behind him as he walked. Hazel noticed a small flinch though. 'He might have spaced out...'

"I noticed that you're feeling a bit...down. Is something the matter?"

"Yup yup, I'm alright! I-It's just...this is my first expedition! I'm mighty nervous, by golly!" Bidoof stammered, fully turning around to face Ralts.

"Well, so are we. Don't worry, that goes for us too." Kit added. "We're all beginners here, except me and Ralts are a little less experienced. But I'm sure things will work out if we just do our best."

That seemed to lift his spirit, as Bidoof felt a lot better at the fact that he wasn't the only beginner. He nodded with a brave face. "Yes sirree. Even though I reckon the path ahead will be rough, we have each other's backs, yup yup!"

"Alright, let's check the Map to make sure we are at the correct location." Kit said as she pulled out the map from her bag.

After Kit looked over it, which involved her turning the page to the side, she said "Ok so, I believe this is our location." She pointed to a section of the map with square-like cliffs, which looked similar to the ones surrounding them. "And we need to reach this forest here, where the base camp is." She pointed to a forest.

"I would suggest going to this mountain here first, Mt. Horn. We should try to reach the base of it because there could be ice types at the peak." She continued, pointing to a mountain with snow at the top. "Do you guys agree with me?"

"Yup yup! I agree with that!" Bidoof nodded enthusiastically.

"That makes the most amount of sense...Good job Kit! You're acting like a true leader right now." Hazel praised. Kit blushed a little and smiled "T-thanks a lot!"

Deciding to leave the conversation at that and to not make things awkward, she walked towards a cave entrance. Bidoof joined her afterward, while Hazel stood behind a little. 'She seems like a natural-born leader. It must be the excitement from the expedition bringing it out. Amazing to think that this is the same Kit who was too timid to join the guild, glad to know she's growing in her confidence...' Hazel thought to herself, but she snapped out of her daze when Kit exclaimed.

"Oh, there are two paths in this Mystery Dungeon!"

"Really? Now that is mighty vexing." Bidoof commented.

"So, how would we choose which direction to go?"

"W-Well...I would suggest going to the left. The mountain we're trying to reach is to the left of our location. I'd say it's a safe bet. And if it's wrong, then the process of elimination will give us the right path." Hazel suggested.

"That...makes a lot of sense. Yeah, we should take the left path then." Kit agreed and Bidoof merely nodded.

After double-checking their supplies, Hazel refastened the Fuchsia Bow around her waist, and headed into the Mystery Dungeon.

Entering the damp and dark rocky dungeon, and much to Kit's dismay, it was filled with nothing but Water-Types like Wingull and Spheal. There were even a couple of huge and bulky Gastrodon. Hazel and Bidoof had to take out most of them with Confusion and Tackle, since Kit wouldn't be effective. 'I really need to invest in Grass-type or Electric-type moves... The amount of Water-types we're encountering is getting ridiculous at this point.'

After advancing only five floors, they suddenly found a light source. "There! Light! We must be out of the dungeon!" Kit cheered.

But when they exited the cave, they found themselves at an awfully familiar location, with tall, flat cliffs near the seaside.

"W-Wait, we're back here?!" Kit stammered, surprised.

"Seems like the path looped back...Great." Hazel mumbled to herself, tone dripping with sarcasm. The position of the sun, which she learned from Kit helped determine the time of day, was already approaching the evening. 'Great, at this rate we'll get to that mountain destination by night.'

"Well...On the bright side, we now know where we have to go, right?" Kit said with an awkward smile.

"I think that we will need to camp outside for tonight, I-I don't think we'd be able to reach the base today," Hazel added, then frowned. "Although, it is kind of my fault for this mess, so um... apologies."

"By golly, don't apologize. There was no way you could have known the right direction, yup yup!" Bidoof said.

"Bidoof's right, it's nothing to apologize for." Kit said with a comforting smile, causing Hazel to just chuckle a little awkwardly.

After going through the correct dungeon Craggy Coast with a little more difficulty, particularly for Kit, they finally reached the base of Mt. Horn. It was quite barren, with beige square-like rocks surrounding them. In the blue distance, more mountains could be seen, standing tall and mighty.

Just like Hazel predicted, they reached the mountain by sundown. Though the sky looked gorgeous with the orange and magenta gradient, it was pretty dim outside and it would get darker.

"Well...We finally reached the base of Mt. Horn. Unfortunately, it's getting dark. We'll reach the base camp by sunrise if we continue through the night." Kit mumbled out, fatigue tracing her voice.

"At least we're here, by golly. Plus, I'm pretty hungry myself." Bidoof huffed. Craggy Coast proved to be quite a challenge.

"I agree... Resting up w-would be great..." Hazel stammered while rubbing her aching head. Hazel had to do most of the attacking with her Confusion's, so much so that she had to drink a Max Elixir to continue her onslaught. It did leave her with a pretty dizzying headache after getting through the dungeon.

"Alright, then we should set up a campfire."

After ten minutes of searching for and collecting dead branches and then lighting them on fire courtesy of Kit, they finally settled around the campfire. They sat in awkward silence until Kit decided to break the ice.

"So... The expedition so far, even with the minor setback, I'd say it's going well!" Kit said slowly, but with an excited tone. Even with the excited tone, they once again fell into silence.

This time, Bidoof managed to speak up. "Why don't we tell each other about ourselves?" He suggested.

"I-I...suppose that could work." Hazel stammered. 'What good can I say when I have amnesia? What, that my name is Hazel?'

"What brought you to the guild Bidoof?" Kit started.

"Oh, it was always my dream to be the best explorer there ever was!" Bidoof said with a hint of pride in his voice. But even with the cheerfulness, he frowned and his face fell after a couple of seconds. "Though... I know I have to work very hard for that goal. Harder than anyone really, by golly..." He sighed at the end.

"Well, being the best explorer ever is a very daunting goal, but it's admirable that you're chasing it." Kit said somewhat awkwardly.

"Yes sirree, I am still working incredibly hard. I learned that I have to earn that title, instead of simply wishing for it." He seemingly blurted out. 'Well, that is common sense, but he made it seem like he could have wished for that title.'

"M-May I ask something weird? You made it sound like you had a chance to wish for something, is that what you meant?" Hazel asked nervously.

Bidoof's eyes widened momentarily, but he relaxed and sighed. "Yes sirree, I did. I know it sounds crazy, and this is mainly a guild story, but since you guys are members of the guild, I suppose you ought to know, by golly. I trust you with this secret."

Both members of Team Relic nodded simultaneously and inched slightly forward, their attention now fully on Bidoof.

It was like any normal day. The weather was clear and morale at the guild was high. Everyone was cheerful... except for Bidoof. Recently, he's been feeling rather anxious and downcast. He's been botching everything up recently, whether it was giving Loudred a Doom Seed instead of a Reviver Seed, or eating the entire stock of Perfect Apples from the larder.

'But I'm not giving up, by golly! I didn't leave home and travel a long distance to feel sorry for myself, no sirree!' He exclaimed internally, trying to cheer himself up again.

"AND THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" He cheered alongside everyone else at the guild. "Alright, everyone! Get to work!" Chatot said.

As Bidoof started to leave, Chatot stopped him. "Hey, Bidoof! Come here for a minute."

"Y-Yes! What is it?" Bidoof stammered a little. He was surprised that Chatot called him, however, some part of him could already perceive what Chatot had to say.

"I have a small assignment for you today!" Chatot chirped. Bidoof sighed internally, trying his best to not let his face fall. "I want you to go to the Kecleon market and find out how many Oran Berries they have in stock."

Bidoof's face was subconsciously saddened. This was the fourth time this week he had to go to the Kecleon market. Not that he was complaining much, the Kecleon's are very friendly folks, but he was always treated as the errand boy of the guild.

Chatot noticed Bidoof's mood shift. "Is something the matter? You're always doing errands like these, this is nothing too difficult." He commented, saying it like it was the most obvious fact in the world. Bidoof felt a dull pang in his body from Chatot's remark.

"That's the thing though, I'm the one who's always doing the errands. I really want to get exploration assignments, yup yup..."

Chatot paused at that, averting his gaze in thought. After thinking over how he would phrase his sentence, he turned back to Bidoof and said : "Bidoof, you shouldn't be so impatient and jump to missions that you aren't prepared for. It would pain me to send you on a mission you would fail. I will admit, you do mess up on some occasions, but one day for sure you'll be able to do exploration assignments. Everyone starts somewhere after all."

Bidoof internally shrugged. 'Well shucks, at least he tried his best to not be direct about this...'

"Welp, if patience is rewarded, then I'm gonna work hard, yup yup!" Bidoof forced himself to lift his mood.

"That's the spirit! Now, I would suggest getting on the job" Chatot chirped.

Bidoof reached the Kecleon stall, but not before talking with almost everyone in town. Treasure Town was definitely a new experience for him, since he lived with his dear mother and two younger siblings at their dam at a remote lake. He still vividly remembered the first time he entered Treasure Town, and he probably never would have left were it not for his guild errand.

He approached the stall and both Kecleon turned their attention to him. "Well hello there Bidoof! Working hard as ever I see. Are you here to check up on our stock?" Kecleon greeted cheerfully.

"Howdy! Yes I am." Bidoof said with a little less energy than normal.

Thankfully, neither Kecleon noticed this. Leon seemed slightly disappointed, but tried not to show it. "Well, what have you come to check on? Would it be Reviver Seeds?"

"Oran Berries. Hopefully it's not a bother to you, yup yup..." Bidoof said, a little sheepishly at the end.

"No no. It's no bother at all." Kecleon said, before turning around and heading into the back of the shop. "Oran Berries... Oran Berries... We have four in stock as of now, but we'll get a delivery in a couple days." Kecleon sang.

"Four of them. Alright, thanks a bunch!" Bidoof said.

"No problem at all! Do your best at work as always!" Both Kecleon said together.

For some reason, Bidoof cringed at that, averting his gaze to the ground.

"...Oh? Is something the matter?" Kecleon said, concern tracing his words.

"Well n-no!" Bidoof lied, his voice sounding frantic. He himself knew he was a terrible liar, but he felt horrible about lying to the Kecleon's. Not to mention he felt bad for bottling up all these emotions. If he was going to talk about this to anyone, it may as well be the Kecleon's. "...Actually, there IS something else, but it has nothing to do with shopping. It's just a personal problem, by golly..."

"Oh, what kind of problem?" Leon asked.

"It's okay to talk about it." Kecleon encouraged.

"It just...the truth is that no matter what I do... I always seem to mess something up, no matter how simple tasks are. I constantly make mistakes. I really want to be an Explorer like all the other apprentices in the guild, but how can I do that if I only keep doing small errands?" Bidoof confessed.

After a brief moment of silence, Leon pipped up. "Well, if you want to do proper guild work... Then getting stronger would be a start."

"And how would I do that?" Bidoof almost snapped. Loudred has been training him as of late, but Bidoof, as always, kept messing everything up. Plus, they may be the same type, but their fighting styles are completely different. Loudred preferred to use special moves, while Bidoof was more of a physical fighter.

"Well... Getting stronger moves would help. Not that I want to turn this situation into a sales pitch, but a TM can help you learn a new move in seconds." Leon continued. Kecleon shot him a semi-dirty look, but kept quiet. Leon went behind the store, and after a couple moments, he came back with a shiny disk.

"What was the TM?" Hazel asked. She desperately wanted new moves, so any TM's would spark her interest.

"It was... It was Hidden Power." Bidoof said.

"Oh, Hidden Power!" Hazel pipped up. 'It's a very weird move... The typing is based on a Pokemon's personality, and I think emotions play some role too...I think. Hopefully my Hidden Power type isn't Psychic, if I even get the move.'

"Yup, it's a mighty strong move. And it's very unique!" Bidoof added, before continuing his story.

'Hidden Power...That sounds mighty useful, and strong! If I learn Hidden Power, then I could be more useful... And my guild members may appreciate me more too... Then I can finally make progress in becoming an Explorer.' Bidoof thought to himself solemnly.

"Uhm, as interested as I am, how much does it actually cost?" Bidoof asked.

Leon failed to hide his smirk, excited to finally sell one of his own wares. "I would be about 6,500 Poke. But I'm willing to bargain the price. I know that it's a high price, but TMs are very expensive, not to mention rare."

Bidoof gaped. That was very expensive, but he could afford it. He had around 7,000 Poke to be exact. However, that money was one that his mother gave him personally when he was ready to leave the dam. She always knew he had a dream to become an Explorer ever since he was little, so she saved up whatever money they managed to make, little by little over many years. He swore to himself that he would only ever use it for absolute emergencies, and that he would repay her for always supporting him, even though he was a bit of a crybaby.

"Thank you f-for the kind offer, but I think I'll pass, for now." Bidoof stammered a little, feeling a bit guilty for declining. 'As tempting as the offer is, I shouldn't buy the move yet. Maybe I should work on my emotions first. If I'm going to get stronger, I need to stop being a crybaby!'

"Is that so... " Leon looked a little dismayed, before pipping himself up. "Well, that's fine! Just know that I always have a Hidden Power TM available at the shop, so if you change your mind at any time, you can always come back!"

"Yup yup, thank you for your time! And thank you for listening. Have a nice day!" Bidoof said, forcing himself to pipe up. Some part of him felt both glad and guilty to have finally escaped that conversation.

As Bidoof turned around to walk away, something caught his eye. Or rather someone.

A Pokemon was barreling down the road like their life depended on it. They were snow white, with a brown bottom half and long, dark green claws, as well as dark green spikes on their back and a same colored tail. They would be intimidating were it not for their small, soft, beady eyes. A Snover.

Said Snover stopped near the Kecleon stall, catching his breath while frantically looking around. Snover and Bidoof made eye contact, and stared at each other for what seemed like minutes.

Eventually, the Snover quickly ran up to Bidoof and stuffed something beige into his Treasure Bag. "Please hold onto this! Don't lose it and please don't tell anyone!" The Snover whispered loudly, his words just barely comprehensible for his frantic and quick talking. Then without another word, the Snover scampered off, stumbling due to fatigue yet still pretty agile.

By the time Snover was gone, Bidoof was still processing everything that happened. 'Wha... What just...'

His thoughts were interrupted by two more Pokemon sprinting down the road. Or rather one was, while the other one was gliding. The first Pokemon was a dark, cerulean blue with a dark white head, while the other was a bright pinkish lavender color, with dark aqua blue wings. A Bagon and a Gligar.

Both of them slowed down near the bridge, panting heavily. "Damnit, we may have lost him!" The Gligar hissed.

"I-If we're lucky, he should be at the Bluff" The Bagon wheezed out.

After both regained their breath, they approached Bidoof, who flinched momentarily. He hated to admit it, but he was a little intimidated by them, but he stuffed that fear down. 'I'm an Explorer! I shouldn't be scared!'

"Hey! We're in a hurry here, but tell us ; have you seen someone running through here?!" Bagon barked.

Any thought or sentence Bidoof was about to utter completely vanished at that moment, leaving him speechless. The voice of that pleading Snover rang in his head again. "W-Well...uh" Bidoof stammered, currently at a loss for words.

"We don't have all day here!" Gligar shouted.

"Uhhewentthatway!" Bidoof blurted out swiftly, slightly pointing at the direction of the bluff. Bidoof internally slapped himself.

"Told you he'd be at the Bluff!" Bidoof heard the Bagon hiss at his partner as they raced down the road without another word to Bidoof.

He prayed that Snover would be alright.

Bidoof was trying his best to fall asleep. Loudred, as always, was snoring loudly in his sleep. Bidoof was amazed that Corphish could sleep through all of this every night. Though considering Corphish joined the guild around the same time as Loudred a couple years prior, then he probably got used to it by now.

With nothing better to do, Bidoof pulled out the sheet of paper that was stuffed into his bag by that Snover. It was beige, clearly colored by age. It was neatly folded, with only a couple of creases from being stuffed into Bidoof's treasure bag. Opening it up, Biddof could faintly make out outlines. 'This looks like...An old map.'

Taking a closer look, Bidoof could somewhat make out a red mark on the map, with a name at the top. 'Uhh...S-Starr...Ca-ave... Star Cave! By golly, this has to be some sort of old treasure map. But I wonder what is so special about this 'Star Cave'? It certainly sounds enticing...'

'Golly, now I'm excited. I won't be able to sleep like this, yup yup! I need to rise up for training tomorrow...If I will even get any. Shucks.' Bidoof internally thought. He decided to try to sleep anyway, not before whispering "Good night, y'all..." to his fellow guild members. It took a while to fall asleep though, due to Loudred's loud snoring.

"HEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY! BIDOOOOF! GET UP ALREADY!" Loudred screamed, amplifying his voice with Hyper Voice.

Bidoof jolted awake, though he was still very groggy. He stayed up way into the night, no thanks to Loudred and that map. He was still terribly exhausted from his lack of sleep, even with the loud and rude awakening.

"BIDOOOF! UP ALREADYYYY! YOU'LL BE LAATE! ALSO YOU LOOK HORRIBLE!" Loudred continued to bellow, though his voice was laced with the slightest amount of concern at his last comment.

"Maybe i-if you didn't snore so loudly..." Bidoof mumbled out, not bothering to finish the sentence. Loudred rolled his eyes and prodded Bidoof roughly, but not too much. He finally left the room with a "YOU'LL BE LATE!"

"...Y-Yup..." Bidoof reluctantly pushed himself off the ground and walked out of his room. As he stood in line, waiting for the morning cheers, his mind began to wonder again. 'So much for a new day... I wonder what that 'Star Cave' is...Maybe Chatot knows... What if it's a cave full of treasure? Is that why those goons were chasing that Snover? Why would Snover have something like that? He didn't look like an Explorer. Neither do I, but still...Golly, this is so confusing.'

"AND THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" Everyone chanted. Bidoof, caught off guard, flinched a little before he too raised his paw in the air, albeit way later than everyone else. When everyone filed out of the room, Bidoof was left standing there awkwardly. He was still mustering the courage to ask Chatot about the cave.

Chatot seemed to notice his stiff stance and turned to him with a slightly worried and confused look. "Mm? Is something wrong, Bidoof? You have assignments to do, you know!"

Deciding it was now or never, Bidoof steeled up and faced Chatot. "...Chatot, you know a lot of stuff, right?"

"Of course I do! I am the Guild's encyclopedia after all! Hee hee!" Chatot sang, pride practically dripping from his tone. His tail was slightly swaying rhythmically behind him, but Chatot pushed down the impulse. "Is there something you wanted to ask me? Go ahead and ask. But do try to keep it brief, I am busy today."

Bidoof swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, and after a brief moment, he blurted out "ChatotdoyouknowanythingaboutStarCave?"

Thankfully, Chatot managed to understand that jumble of words, but it did take him a couple moments to process them. "Star Cave... Hmm... Yes, I think I've heard of it. But it's all mainly just rumors and speculations."

"Huh?! Really?!"

"Yes, really. From what I've gathered, Star Cave is a mythical place, but nobody knows where it actually is. It is said through a legend that's been passed down for generations, and mind you it may have been marred by time, however it is said that an incredibly rare Pokemon named Jirachi lies deep within a cave in slumber. It is said that anyone who can manage to wake Jirachi will have a wish granted."

"A-A wish?! Like any type of wish?" Bidoof blurted out, shocked. He quickly apologized for interrupting, but Chatot didn't seem to mind that much.

"Well, it depends. Since this is a very old legend, it is said that Jirachi only wakes for a week after a millenia, while others claim that those who sing a song with 'a pure voice' can wake Jirachi. Some sources claim Jirachi can only grant one wish, while others say that they can grant multiple wishes if they're written on... a note? The point is, no one truly knows exactly how Jirachi's powers work, but all of them correlate back to the fact that Jirachi is a wish-granting Pokemon." Chatot finished, his voice sounding incredibly professional throughout the entire lecture.

"A wish granting Pokemon..." Bidoof mumbled with a smile sliding on his face. 'If I could find Jirachi...Then maybe I could wish to be the greatest explorer ever! Or I could be rich! That would help Mama, and I could repay her for everything, yup yup! And I have a map to Star Cave too! I'm the only one who knows where Star Cave is! This is so cool and awesome! I'm so happy, I could burst!'

Chatot, noticing the smile appearing on his face, knew exactly what Bidoof was thinking about. "I already said that nobody knows where the cave is, didn't I?" Bidoof still ignored him. "Hey." Chatot sang.

That caused Bidoof to snap out of it. "H-Huh?!"

"You spaced out there for a while. And you were smiling to yourself. Were you thinking about Star Cave?" Chatot remarked bluntly.

"O-Oh! I'm fine! Nothin's wrong! Nope! Nope! Nope! Nothin' at all! No sirree!" Bidoof blurted out, then mentally slapped himself. He knew he was a horrible liar, and he clearly just gave himself away.

Chatot tilted his head to the side, unconvinced. "Tell me, why did you ask me about the cave anyhow?" Bidoof internally slapped himself again. He should've just kept his mouth shut. Of course Bidoof would ask about something like this.

"W-Well...I..." Bidoof said as slowly as possible, praying for some miracle to happen to get him out of this situation.

Somehow, Bidoof's prayers were answered, as Loudred, his savior, bellowed from across the room. "HEEEEEEY! BIDOOOOOF!"

"H-Huh?"

"You've GOT a VISITOR!"

'A visitor? For me? Since when?' Bidoof thought to himself. The guild barely ever had any visitors, and even when they did come, it was certainly never for him. Bidoof hurried over to Loudred, wanting to get as far away from Chatot as possible.

"The VISITOR is waiting for you OUTSIDE! Hurry UP and GREET them!"

As Bidoof exited the tent on the up-most floor, he noticed a familiar Pokemon pacing around the entrance, clearly waiting for him. Bidoof almost immediately recognized them. It was the same Snover from yesterday.

Snover noticed him from the corner of his eyes and turned to him, a little surprised. "O-Oh!"

"It's you! From yesterday!" Bidoof said.

"Y-Yes, that would be me. Nice to meet you. M-My name is Snover, and I'm sorry for t-the trouble yesterday." Snover apologized shyly, before bowing. Bidoof felt a bit awkward, not used to being apologized to so profusely. Something Bidoof noticed were the scraps and bruises on Snover. Most of them were thankfully minor, but some of them were bandaged. Bidoof remembered that those weren't there yesterday.

"It's alright...But what happened to you? And what about those scary Pokemon that were chasing you...?" Bidoof felt like he was connecting the dots, but he didn't want to believe that it could be true.

"Y-Yes, I'm okay. These are just minor wounds." Snover said, rubbing the back of his head.

"B-But...I did have a b-bit of a scary encounter..."

"W-What happened?!"

"Well...After we, uh, met, I tried my best to run a-away... But Bagon and Gligar caught up to me..."

Snover was panting. He thankfully managed to pass his precious map to some random bystander without Bagon and Gligar noticing. He prayed that whoever he handed the map off to was at least somewhat trustworthy and lived near Treasure Town.

However, he was still in a very bad position. He was now cornered at a cliff, Sharpedo Bluff to be more specific. The weather was very clear, and the Bluff had many Bagon and Gligar could easily catch up to him at any moment. The only reason they didn't so far was because he used Icy Wind on both of them, and luckily that slowed them down tremendously.

Still, he could see both of them quickly catching up to him. He tried to run ahead further, but he was way too tired, not to mention cornered at a cliff.

Almost right as Snover turned around, Bagon ran up to his side and roughly grasped his arm. "Ha! Finally caught you!" He cheered celebratorily.

"You really ran for it! Gwah ha ha!" Gligar laughed, though those laughs were more like exhausted wheezes.

"O-Ow! L-Let me go!" Snover started to struggle, trying to yank his arm out of Bagon's grasp. Bagon simply growled, baring his fangs. Red embers started to flare out, threatening to burn out at any moment. Snover instantly froze. As a dual Grass-Ice type, Fire was easily his strongest weakness.

"If I see even the smallest snowflake around here, you know what will happen." Bagon threatened in a low voice, leaning his face closer to Snover, who instinctively leaned back. "Now," Bagon straightened up, voice back to normal, "We'll let you go, but first, you of all Pokemon should know what we're here for..."

Before Snover could even utter a word, Gligar ripped Snover's bag off him, destroying some of the fabric. Snover flinched and tried to turn around, but a sharp, warning squeeze from Bagon made him stop.

After Gligar dumped all the contents on the ground, he gasped as he started to frantically search over the small pile of items. "Not here?! The map's not here!"

Bagon wiped his head in Gligar's direction. "WHAT?! HOW?!" After a moment, Bagon turned his head to Snover, who once again flinched at the burning glare sent in his direction. "Y-YOU! Where'd you stash the map?!" He barked, more flames sprouting out of his mouth.

"I...I don't k-know..." Snover stammered, trembling with fear.

"LIAR!" Gligar yelled, bringing his claws back. They started to shine in a light green before slashing Snover with a Fury Cutter. Snover screamed from the Super-effective move and he was sent to the rough, rock ground of the cliff.

"Geh... N-No matter what..." The clouds above the trio started to darken at a fast pace. Both Bagon and Gligar's eyes widened as the area around them started to rapidly drop in temperature. "What you do...I-I won't tell you where it is!" Snover screamed at the end, concentrating his power. White specs fluttered from above them, then they increased in size and rained down at Bagon and Gligar. Both of them cried at the Powder Snow, especially Gligar due to immense weakness to Ice.

Gligar, who was previously levitating off the ground, slumped down, just barely conscious. Bagon held him up, however his own body was shaking as well, from both the cold and strain in his body.

Bagon shot him a deathly glare. "D-Don't think y-you got away with this!" He hissed, before he pulled out what appeared to be a Warp Orb. Both Bagon and Gligar vanished, and Snover sighed in relief, not realizing he was holding his breath. The weather turned back to normal.

"...And t-then I put in a report. T-Today, I asked around town about a Bidoof, and e-everyone said it was most likely you, s-so that's why I'm here now..." Snover finished his tale.

"Eek! That sounds mighty scary!" Bidoof gasped, completely shocked by what transpired. He began to feel a lump forming in his throat, feeling incredibly guilty about giving away where Snover ran off to.

"Y-Yeah...It was... B-But I could've e-easily handled them myself even before g-going into town. T-They are weak to Ice-type moves, which I... can use. I apologize for d-dragging you into this." Snover stammered, a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, by golly. I'm glad that you're alright." Bidoof said. "Though I will ask, that map you um, gave me, is it really a map to Star Cave."

"Yes." Snover said, dropping his voice. "That map, that is called The Ancient Map, is sort of like a-a family heirloom. A-As you probably know, Star Cave is h-home to Jirachi, a wish granting Pokemon. Bagon and Gligar r-really want to make a wish, which is why they chased me. I didn't w-want the map to fall into the wrong hands, and w-when I saw you, I thought you looked pretty trustworthy, which is w-why I handed it to you." Snover explained.

"Shucks, imagine what those two would have wished for..." Bidoof thought out loud.

"B-Bidoof, I know we just m-met, but... I have a request to make..." Snover mumbled, dropping his gaze to the ground and shifting around a little. "Would you...Would you a-accompany me to Star Cave?"

Bidoof was very surprised. "What? You want ME to come with you?!"

"Y-Yeah. I really want to meet Jirachi an-and make a wish and stuff, but I'm n-not strong enough to make it far by myself. So I was hoping you would come with me, Bidoof! I-If that's okay by you. You just seem really dependable, a-and kind." Snover stammered. "I-I really hope that I'm not b-bothering you..." Snover finished meekly.

"No, no! Not at all, yup yup!" Bidoof shook his head with a happy face.

"R-Really?" Snover exclaimed with bright eyes. "YAY! I'm so happy! I'm sure your wish will be wonderful!"

"Although there is a small problem, by golly..." Bidoof said, expression saddening a little. "I still have guild training to do. I'll ask for time off today, and then tomorrow we can head out."

"O-Oh, I see. It's no problem then. We can just meet up tomorrow at the cross-roads then." Snover said with a bit of an awkward face. But Bidoof could have sworn he saw disappointment cross his face for a moment.

"Will you be alright, cause those scary Pokemon could..." Bidoof started, but Snover shook his head.

"I'll be fine...h-hopefully. I'll just rent out a room at the inn in Treasure Town. H-Hopefully they don't find me again. B-But even if they do, I can defend myself. Officer Magnezone gave me permission to use attacks in Treasure Town if needed, though not Powder Snow."

Bidoof nodded in understanding. Though it is not exactly illegal to use moves in Treasure Town for self-defense, it can create problems with Officer Magnezone, especially if said moves could hurt multiple Pokemon, like Powder Snow. Snover used that move just barely on the outskirts of Treasure Town, meaning he wasn't in any particular legal trouble.

"A-Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow then?" Snover said.

"Yup yup, see you!"

Chapter Text

The next day, after the morning cheers, Bidoof went up to Chatot and asked for the days off, sort of anxious however.

"You want to take time off from guild training?" Chatot repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup, just a couple days." Bidoof answered blankly.

"May I ask about the reason?" Chatot pressed.

"Well...I..." Bidoof paused. He already had an answer, but he still felt terrible about lying, especially to Chatot. Chatot was an expert at detecting lies. "I...wanted to take a bit of a break to take some stuff off my mind. P-Plus I haven't been feeling well." Bidoof internally slapped himself. Of course he had to go with the world's most obvious excuse.

Though Chatot still had a skeptical look on his face, he eventually just nodded slowly. "Alright. Your request for a couple days off is granted. Just don't get in other Pokemon's way."

"Thank you..." Bidoof said, feeling horrible for lying. 'But it had to be done. This way, my dream will come true, and then maybe I won't mess up guild assignments anymore and cause trouble.'

Chatot excused himself as he went into the Guildmaster's chamber, and Bidoof practically sprinted out of the guild. Some guild members gave him a confused glance and Bidoof forced himself to slow down.

Outside the guild, Bidoof descended for the long, stone stairs and saw the dirt crossroads. Like they agreed yesterday, Bidoof saw Snover pacing around slightly.

"Oh, B-Bidoof!" Snover waved at him cheerily. "Nice to see you here!"

"Hi Snover. I hope I didn't keep you waiting." Bidoof said a bit embarrassed.

"No worries, I just got here." Snover said. "But enough about that... A-Are you ready to head out to Star Cave? We should make absolutely sure we prepare before going out exploring. And we might, encounter, Bagon and Gligar again..." Snover said slowly, shuddering at the end.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, by golly!" Bidoof said optimistically.

Snover smiled and chuckled a little. "I'm sure we will..."

Bidoof was half sneaking around town. He dropped by Duskull's bank to drop off most of his money, leaving him with 2,000 Poke. After Bidoof double checked all of his items to make sure he was prepared, plus some extra for Snover, they both finally headed out. Bidoof did have to be careful around Treasure Town however, since he didn't want to be spotted by guild members. He was supposed to be on break. Snover didn't even enter Treasure Town, since he didn't want to encounter Bagon and Gligar, which Bidoof didn't see in town.

Both of them walked on the dirt path in awkward yet vigilant silence.

The road started to darken a little until it stopped, forcing Snover and Bidoof to go off the path and into a ravine. Finally, after a cave was visible in the distance. It was dark, yet oddly enough the rocks were a dark blue.

"Is this it?" Bidoof asked.

"Y-Yeah, should be." Snover answered nervously.

Both of them silently nodded and entered the cave.

The cave was simply gorgeous. Almost every stone wall in the cave radiated a gentle, blue light. The stone walls were slightly filled with small gems that gleamed in the cave, making them look like little stars. Even the water on the ground was radiating light, though it was glowing in a neon green light, complimenting the blue stones well. The ground, though gray, was smooth.

As Bidoof took in the sight, suddenly he noticed the temperature around him drop drastically. He shivered as he felt ice get pelted on him. It was hailing.

"O-Oh, sorry!" Snover quickly apologized, his eyes looking a little panicked and apologetic. "It's my Snow Warning ability. As you can see... It summons hail."

"It's fine, is it possible for you - ACK! - to prevent it further down?" Bidoof yelped halfway through, the hail hurting him.

Snover paused, before he quickly nodded sheepishly. "Y-Yes yes, of course. But for this floor, the hail w-will stay up. Sorry..."

"It's alright, by golly. I brought a bunch of Oran Berries." Bidoof said, not before hissing in pain slightly as his skin got pelted by tiny ice pieces. Bidoof glanced at Snover, seeing his apologetic look on his face, however his eyes looked almost emotionless.

Snover turned out to be way stronger than he seemed, which surprised Bidoof. Bidoof was under the impression that Snover needed an extra teammate to get through the dungeon, but Snover was able to wipe out enemies with his Ice-type moves.

True to his word, Snover suppressed his ability on the next few floors. Though when they were approaching the end of the dungeon, the hail started again. Snover quickly apologized again, however by this time Bidoof already felt his skin sting and the new hail did not help.

Bidoof finally arrived at the end of the dungeon. The stone floor became incredibly smooth with a few crater-like marks on the ground and turned into a dark cerulean blue. There were small, gleaming gems sprinkled all over the room.

Thankfully, Bidoof felt a lot better when he entered the room, however he still felt slightly worned out and chilled with a small stinging feeling all over his body. He stubbornly shrugged it off, since he just arrived at the end of the dungeon.

Bidoof went on ahead while Snover lagged behind, but didn't say anything. The room was dark, so Bidoof just noticed the dead-end when he was standing almost right in front of it.

"Wait, aren't we at the deepest part of Star Cave?" Bidoof said, mainly to himself. "W-Where's... Jirachi?"

Almost as soon as he said Jirachi, Bidoof heard hysterical laughter above him. Looking up, Bidoof sprang backwards as two figures dropped to the ground. The Bagon and Gligar from yesterday.

"H-Huh?!"

They were both still laughing hysterically, and their laughter only got louder with each passing minute. "Heh-heh-heh! You're -heh!- the most gullible Pokemon w-we've -heh!- ever met!" Gligar wheezed, clutching his stomach from how hard he's been laughing.

"Ah...I can't breathe." Bagon said, then he took in a deep breath to force himself to calm down. He then turned to Bidoof with a maniacal smile. "Long time no see!"

"W-Wait, what?!" Bidoof squeaked. "What are you two doing here?! I thought me and Snover were the only ones who knew where Star Cave was!"

Bidoof then heard soft, yet sinister chuckling behind him. Shocked, he turned around to see Snover leering at him. His meek facade was completely gone, and it was as if he was a completely different Pokemon. "I'll just get to the point. This whole thing about Jirachi is fake."

Bidoof was too shocked to even react to that.

"I got this map quite a long time ago. I thought that I could make a wish, imagine that! But when my team, Team Rogue, arrived at this cave all those years ago, we found nothing. This map was fake! But then we got a brilliant idea." Snover continued, going into a monologue.

"We figured, if we can't become rich from asking for a wish..." Bagon chimed in.

"Then we would just lure Pokemon here and rob them!" Gligar finished, as if this was rehearsed.

"What?! How could... Why me?!" Bidoof uttered.

"Please, you're an Explorer, a weak one at that, but an Explorer nonetheless." Snover said, all matter-of-factly. "You would have money from doing missions." Bidoof was about to interject, but Bagon cut off anything he was about to say.

"Plus, you're not from around Treasure Town. Your accent and manner-of-speech means you're from somewhere far away. I'm sure you came to Treasure Town with SOME amounts of money!" Bagon said.

Bidoof shuddered. Though he barely made any money from jobs at the guild, what was true was the large amount of money he had from his mother. However he had deposited 5,000 of that money at Duskull' bank, leaving him with 2,000 as of now. Bidoof knew he could trust Duskull, as no one would dare try to steal from him. Even getting too close to the treasury can make someone forcibly feel dread.

"Believe me Bidoof, I saw that sack of money in your bag, not to mention the money you picked up in the dungeon. We can either do this the easy way, or..." As if on cue, the room darkened and the temperature dropped as frost started to form. Bidoof noticed that Gligar and Bagon were trying to suppress their shivers as they prepared their moves. Flames started to flare out of Bagon's mouth, while Gligar's claws started to glow in a bright, neon green glow.

Bidoof trembled at the sight. "Or we'll have to forcibly bring you down. It's honestly easier for everyone for you to just cooperate. You can leave completely unscathed and we won't have to waste our energy on you." Snover sneered at the end.

Before Bidoof could even respond, Gligar intervened. "Boss, maybe we should just beat him up anyways. I've been itching for a fight!" He cackled.

"Hmm... I suppose we could. You did give me a lot of trouble in the cave." Snover said bluntly. A manic smile started to grow on his face, before he bellowed "GET HIM BOYS!"

Bidoof, with a yelp, just barely jumped out of the way as Gligar leapt at where he once stood. In a panic, Bidoof shot a Water Gun at him. He hissed from the Super-Effective move, but didn't look too hurt by it. However, Bidoof noticed some frost forming around Gligar because of the water freezing over him. Gligar quickly shook it off, but it gave Bidoof an idea.

Bagon, seeing an opportunity, bit down on Bidoof with flame bursting out. He screamed from the burns, but otherwise was fine. His family was part Water-Type, so thankfully the move didn't have as big of an effect on him. Bidoof shook Bagon off and fired another Water Gun, this time trying to maximize the amount of water instead of the damage.

"HA! You call that an attack?!" Bagon mocked him, but his shivering increased drastically. The flames coming from his mouth decreased significantly as well due to the moisture. Snover looked like he was about to use Powder Snow, but paused as he saw both of his drenched teammates.

"Oh, aren't you clever?" Snover said bluntly. "You're trying to get me to freeze the room so that they would freeze as well. Unfortunately for you, I don't exclusively use Ice moves!" Small vines sprouted out of the ground and they wrapped together to form a whistle of sorts. Said whistle then started playing a soft tune, visible pink notes coming out of it. Bidoof gasped ; that was the move Grasswhistle. He knew that because he would go to dungeons with Sunflora on occasions and she was very skilled at it.

Bidoof felt himself getting drowsy before he quickly pressed his paws against his ears. It helped, but Bidoof still felt his drowsiness rising. And unfortunately, with his forepaws pressed firmly over his ears, he had no means of dodging unless it meant falling asleep faster due to the Grasswhistle. Bidoof saw Bagon and Gligar shake off the water on them and slowly encircle him.

"Heh, this honestly almost feels dirty. Oh well, we had our fun, haha!" Snover laughed cruelly while concentrating. Grasswhistle only affected those who he desired to be affected. "Who here wants to finish him off?"

"Allow me." Gligar said sinisterly, his claws starting to glow in that neon green light once again.

Bidoof felt utterly hopeless. With each passing second he felt himself drifting off to sleep. The hail pelting against him did almost nothing to stop him and the low temperature only made him sleepier. 'It's too tough... Someone, any...one...'

Bidoof could have sworn he saw something shine in front of him.

With a war cry of sorts, Gligar pounced on him, almost at full speed. Then he suddenly stopped with a loud dull thud, like he just ran into a glass wall. Gligar slowly slid down the mysterious pink barrier. Everyone stared in shock. Even the Grasswhistle that Snover summoned wilted away as Snover's attention was lost. The situation would have been comical were it not for the context of what was just happening.

Before anyone could process what happened, someone teleported in between Bidoof and Gligar. The Pokemon was white, with a yellow bell on top and a long red ribbon like tail. Bidoof couldn't believe his eyes. It was Chimecho.

"Hiii~ I'm not interrupting anything, right?" Chimecho asked innocently. Which was followed by more silence, until Snover finally recomposed himself.

"Who are you?!" Snover hissed, but still had shock in his words.

Chimecho, using some of her Psychic powers, pulled out an Explorer Badge from her bag. "I'm Chimecho, a Silver Rank at Wigglytuff's Guild." She winked.

"Heh, only a Silver?" Bagon laughed. "Listen here sweetie. You can either leave, or be beaten by us. This guy, " He prodded Bidoof roughly. "isn't worth it."

Chimecho, still in her playfully positive mood, winced in an over-exaggerated way. "Oh, yeah, about that... Bidoof's my fellow apprentice AND friend, so I'm not about to leave him."

"Well then, don't say we didn't warn you! You're outnumbered!" Bagon shouted.

"Yeah, you're right! How could I have not noticed?" Chimecho gasped in shock, though it was still incredibly over-exaggerated. However, then a grin grew on her face. "Why don't we even the odds?"

Before anyone could even react, Chimecho raised her Exploration team badge into the air, which then started to glow brightly. The light engulfed the entire area and Bidoof had to close his eyes.

When he opened them, he saw himself as well as Team Rogue completely surrounded by Wigglytuff, Chatot and all of the other Guild members. Bidoof got up and backed up in between Chimecho and Croagunk. They both gave him a reassured look before going back to glaring at Team Rogue with both contempt and amusement.

Bagon's jaw dropped, before he mumbled ; "You call this evening the odds? You completely stacked them against us."

Unfortunately for him, Chatot overheard him and practically screeched : "You! You ganged up on Bidoof three to one and thought that was fair?!"

"TIME for YOU to get a TASTE of your OWN MEDICINE!" Loudred bellowed. Corphish, who was positioned next to him, winced a tiny bit from the loud voice, while Wigglytuff didn't even flinch.

Snover glared at the rest of the group while Bagon and Gligar panicked a little, before turning back to their leader.

"What do we do?!" Gligar whispered audibly, not bothering to hide his voice through his fear.

"We fight, obviously." Snover hissed, still glaring at everyone in his sight. He was doing a good job at keeping his cool, but his fear and uncertainty was still visible in his eyes.

"Against the famous Wigglytuff guild?!" Bagon clarified incredulously.

"We'll take them on anyway! I hold many type advantages over all of them anyways. Both of you, focus on anyone resistant to me!" Snover declared, readying for battle again.

Bagon and Gligar shot themselves uncertain looks, but got into position anyways.

The temperature around the room once again started to drop rapidly. Thinking quickly, Chimecho created Light Screens for the entire guild. Most of the damage from the Powder Snow were absorbed by the Light Screens, which would have dealt massive damage to Chatot, Sunflora, Diglett and Dugtrio. Even though the attack still hurt, it protected them well enough.

Gligar, seeing an opportunity to attack, pounced on Chimecho while his claws glowed in neon green. He would've landed a Fury Cutter were it not for Chimecho reacting almost at the last time and floated to the side. Gligar ended up crashing into the ground.

Corphish quickly ran over to where Bidoof was. "Dual Water Guns?" He blurted out.

Bidoof quickly nodded and both attacked Gligar, who was still struggling to get up. He screamed as two super effective Water Guns slammed into him, knocking him into a wall. He slumped down it, nearly unconscious.

Snover was currently fighting off both Chatot, Wigglytuff and Croagunk. Snover summoned another Grasswhistle and tried to use it, however Croagunk managed to jump behind him and jabbed him in the back with a Poison Sting. Snover yelped from the super effective move and stumbled right into an Aerial Ace, dealing even more super effective damage and irritating Snover.

"You know, that Ice typing of yours is more of a hindrance for you." Chatot snidded.

Snover didn't bother to respond, instead the temperature around him dropped even further as snowflakes started to form. They got bigger and more frequent. But before he could use Powder Snow at full power, Wigglytuff attacked him with a deafening "YOOM-TAH!". It was so loud that everyone momentarily stopped what they were doing and looked at the source of the voice.

Everyone turned their heads just in time to see Snover get knocked into the stone wall. He hit it so hard that big cracks formed near Snover like a crater. Snover slumped down, gasping for air.

Bagon was so shocked at the sight he did not notice a Razor Leaf shot right at him by Sunflora. It didn't hurt him a lot, but it did send him forward a little, right into Loudred. Loudred then stomped down on him, hard. Bagon shouted in pain.

Loudred and Sunflora both looked at each other, then averted their eyes in pettiness.

"Str..." Gligar choked out. "S-Strong..."

Bagon got up and stumbled away, his steps uneasy. "Boss...W-We can't beat..."

Snover didn't say anything. Chatot flew behind both Bagon and Gligar threateningly. "You two are not going anywhere. You're going to Officer Magnezone's office. Diglett, Dugtrio."

Both of them burrowed underground and reappeared in different locations. Diglett, using his badge, teleported Snover out of the room. Dugtrio appeared in front of Bagon and Gligar. Gligar looked a little defeated while Bagon panicked and tried to run, however the Arena Trap that Dugtrio set up paralysed Bagon. He used his own badge to teleport both of them out.

After they were dealt with, everyone turned to Bidoof with relief in their eyes.

"Are you alright, Bidoof?" Chimecho started.

Bidoof could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "Y-Yeah, it's thanks to you all coming here that I'm alright..." But he then realized something. "But... What are you all doing here?"

"Chatot told us about you acting strangely." Sunflora said with some huffs in between from the previous battle.

Bidoof, with a bit of disappointment towards himself, turned to Chatot. "Was I that obvious?"

Chatot hopped over to Bidoof. "Yes, unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at this situation. I will say, I am a bit hurt that you would lie to me like that, however I am willing to excuse the issue just this once."

Bidoof, feeling even more horrible for lying, bowed his head. "I-I deeply apologize, shucks." He stammered, feeling embarrassed for being called out in front of the whole guild.

"Like I said, I am willing to drop the issue just this once. It isn't like you to lie anyhow. But as to how we found you, I talked with the Guildmaster about your unusual behavior, and we decided to send Chimecho out to follow you. She kept us notified of what you were doing with a mixture of telepathy and the Explorer's badge, and when she realized the Snover you were following was a criminal, she used the badge to teleport all of us here, and you know the rest." Chatot explained, while Chimecho giggled slightly.

"I-Is that so..." Bidoof mumbled in understanding.

"You should have seen Chatot at the guild though," Chimecho budged in, floating closer over to Bidoof. "He was so worried about you." She giggled.

Chatot's professional composure almost dropped immediately. "I-I didn't notify the Guildmaster because I was worried about you... You were acting very strangely, so I thought that perhaps you were deserting the guild, so I had to see for myself!" He all but squawked while flapping his wings.

Everyone else in the room, other than Wigglytuff and Bidoof, started laughing at his reaction.

"Meh-heh-heh! Well put!" Croagunk sniggered, still retaining his quiet nature.

"WELL said! TRULY!" Loudred bellowed.

Taking a deep breath to recomposure himself, Chatot hissed out ; "B-Be quiet!" Dropping his temper, he added ; "As for everyone coming along... At first it was going to be myself and the Guildmaster who Chimecho would teleport, but in the end, everyone wanted to come along."

"Because once we heard you were acting strangely, Bidoof..." Sunflora started.

"We couldn't ignore it." Diglett added in.

"YEAH, you're like the LITTLE BROTHER of the GUILD!" Loudred said, while giving Bidoof a noogie. Bidoof made a noise that was a combination of a wince and a snicker. He found the statement both endearing and a tad ironic. He was the oldest brother between his own siblings, so getting demoted to the youngest in the Guild was a bit funny to him.

This time, it was Wigglytuff's turn to chime in. "We've always been strict teachers in your training, but of course we still care about you, Bidoof. We're just looking out for you, that's all. Don't feel disheartened that you're lagging behind, everyone's different after all! We always help each other!"

Bidoof could feel his eyes tearing up. He figured that the Guildmaster was smart, but he felt like Wigglytuff could read him like a book.

"E-Everyone... I'm sure happy... You all did this just for me... I don't know what to say.." He sniffled. "But... Here I've gone and caused you all trouble again... I just can't seem to do anything right..."

"What? Oh my gosh, that's not true!" Sunflora blurted out. "Nobody could take on an entire band of thieves by themselves. Not even Loudred." She said with a snarky remark. Loudred shot her a glare, but decided to leave the matter.

"HEY, you've GOTTEN much STRONGER! You managed to hold YOUR OWN quite WELL, from what CHIMECHO told US!" Loudred said.

"It's true." Chimecho pipped up. "I will admit, I'm a tad guilty of just watching, but you did quite well against them! Had it not been for Snover using Grasswhistle, you might have actually won!" Chimecho praised.

"If you want, I could teach you on how to resist Grasswhistle and sleep inducing moves." Sunflora muttered with a small snicker. She herself knew that move.

"You're worried about failing, but failing is a natural part of life. That's how the best explorers get to be that way. Failure is nothing to be embarrassed about." Wigglytuff said. "You think Chatot got to his position without his own slip-ups? I can name a bunch of times he messed up spectacularly!" Wigglytuff laughed.

"Guildmaster, I would pay you every Perfect Apple in Apple Woods to hear those stories." Loudred said with a laugh while Chatot glared at him in shock.

"Don't worry, I'll help you." Corphish whispered to Loudred.

"Same here." Croagunk added.

Wigglytuff looked at the trio with mischievous eyes, but not before Bidoof started talking again, preventing him from bargaining with the trio.

"Guildmaster... Everyone... T-Thank you! Thank y-you all! Truly!" Bidoof bowed while sniffling. "I'm sorry for troubling all of you. From now on, I won't be afraid of failure, I'll be patient and do my best!"

"Yeah!" Wigglytuff cheered.

Croagunk looked around him. "Meh-heh! I will say, that band of thieves were pretty second-rate."

"They shouldn't have just given up and gone home the first time they came here! Hey, hey!" Corphish added while carefully eyeing the walls of the room.

"Huh? But there's nothing here." Bidoof said, confused. "Right?"

"Bidoof." Loudred started. "Did you FORGET? We're an EXPLORATION team! There's BOUND to be more to this CAVE then it SEEMS! THAT'S how it ALWAYS WORKS!"

Meanwhile, Guildmaster Wigglytuff seemed to be pacing around a specific area of the room, around the very back wall of the cave. "Hmmm... Probably... Right around here..." He mumbled to himself as he placed his paw on the wall, as if feeling it.

Taking just a small step back, he started to concentrate. The entire room started to shake and Bidoof flinched back a bit. But the small tremors seemingly turned into an earthquake as the room shook even more violently. Knowing what was coming, everyone else in the room braced themselves as Wigglytuff bellowed out : "YOOOOOOOOOOOMMM - TAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

With a bright flash of light, Bidoof heard what seemed to be rocks being smashed in one swift blow. Opening their eyes, everyone in the room saw Wigglytuff standing in front of an open hole in the wall, one that was not there before.

"Th-There's... more to this cave?!" Bidoof gaped. Everyone else however started to cheer.

"All RIGHT! Let's GO!" Loudred yelled, pumping his arms as a stretch.

"We should all think about what we're going to ask for! Hey, hey!"

"Oh my gosh! I'm so excited! I don't know what to wish for!" Sunflora clapped.

"MAYBE you should WISH to DROP all those 'Oh my gosh!'s" Loudred laughed.

"Well maybe YOU should wish for a proper, consistent voice!" Sunflora retorted.

"You two, drop it already! We're about to explore a new dungeon and meet a mythical Pokemon!" Chimecho broke them up.

"Everyone... Wait a moment." Wigglytuff said calmly, raising his right arm to his side as if to block the entry. Everyone calmed down. "It's too bad... But not everyone can go ahead."

"WHAAAAT?!" Everyone cried in unison. Wigglytuff raised up a paw in front of him to signify that he isn't done talking.

"This exploration... This is meant for Bidoof only."

Bidoof's jaw dropped, but Wigglytuff continued.

"You're the one who got the map to this dungeon, and you're the one who's adventured all the way here. That's why... You should go ahead alone, Bidoof." Wigglytuff finished.

"Yeah... When you say it like that..." Corphish mumbled, a bit disappointed.

"That's the way it should be, really." Sunflora shrugged.

Bidoof stared at Wigglytuff incredulously. He was just completely out of the blue given an assignment, and some part of him expected Wigglytuff to laugh and say this was just a joke. But it never came. "I-I don't know what to say... I-I... Thank you, G-Guildmaster, golly."

"Do you best Bidoof! Use your own strength to succeed in this exploration!" Wigglytuff cheered.

"Be sure to tell us all about your exploration when you come back!" Diglett chimed in.

"Do you best! Meh-heh-heh!"

"Thank you, all so much!" Bidoof said as he walked up to the entrance. "Okay then... I'm off, yup yup!"

"One moment please." Chatot chirped. He hopped over to Bidoof and gave him the Treasure Bag that Chatot had worn up until now. "Here, take the items from this Treasure Bag to restock and patch up your wounds." Bidoof nodded and took the bag, practically dumping all of it's contents into his own.

After he was done, he gave everyone an affirmative nod. "Okay, I'm off, for real this time!"

"Do your best!" Two of Dugtrio's three heads cheered, while the third one mumbled out a ; "I really wanted to go..."

"You can do it Bidoof!" Sunflora added.

With that, Bidoof finally advanced further into the cave's dungeon.

The guild shared a bit of a moment of silence, until Corphish broke it.

"There he goes, hey hey..." He sighed. He too wanted to go into the cave, but he knew Bidoof earned this.

"Anyways, Guildmaster. You were cool today, as always." Chimecho said, ignoring Corphish's gloomy comment in favor of trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh? Really?" Wigglytuff turned to her.

"YEAH. Handing over the EXPLORATION to Bidoof was a very GENEROUS gesture." Loudred added. "BECAUSE Jirachi can grant WISHES, you know? SO... You COULD have made a WISH... For, I dunno, ALL the PERFECT APPLES you can eat! HA HA HA!"

"Oh really..." Wigglytuff said, his eyes now fully staring ahead of him, as if deep in thought.

"Of course you'd be that generous!" Sunflora praised.

"His personality and presence... He has such a commanding aura..." Dugtrio's three heads were talking to each other.

"We're all proud to say that we're apprentices in the guild! Hey, hey!" Corphish added.

Wigglytuff throughout all the praise remained as still as a statue. "..." He suddenly turned towards the entrance of the new dungeon. "All right, I'm going in."

Everyone stared in shock, but then Loudred bellowed out ; "EVERYONE! STOP THE GUILDMASTER!"

As Wigglytuff walked towards the entrance, Loudred suddenly tackled him. What ensued was a full out wrestle as everyone but Chimecho tried to hold Wigglytuff off, but his immense strength was almost no match to everyone as he started to struggle past everyone.

"Guildmaster, you can't do that!" Chatot squawked. "Dugtrio, set up an Arena Trap!"

"Gosh damnit Loudred! This is all your fault!" Sunflora shouted while struggling to ensnare Wigglytuff in the vines she summoned.

"Well I'M sorry for bringing UP A SUGGESTION!" Loudred retorted, his voice gaining in pitch as he tried to use Hyper Voice on Wigglytuff to stop him, but to no avail.

While everyone else were struggling, Chimecho just stood on the sidelines watching the tussle with amusement. She knew better than to try to physically match the Guildmaster. "Anyway, the Guildmaster... He's so cool and mischievous..." She started giggling, eventually breaking out in laughter at the sight.

"Ugh! Chimecho! We could really use your Confusion!" Sunflora yelled for her.

"Yes yes, I'm coming!" She rolled her eyes as she used Confusion to levitate Wigglytuff.

If the dungeon beforehand was beautiful, the dungeon Bidoof was in now completely overshadowed it. The cerulean blue walls were darker than the previous dungeon, but that only helped emphasize the bigger and brighter star like reflections of the gems. The once gray rock tiled floor was now a dark sky blue. The dungeon was dark but it didn't feel threatening.

Bidoof was simply in awe. He wished he could bring some of the gems with him, however since they were part of the dungeons layout, they would eventually vanish.

However, the deeper part of the dungeon came with its own difficulties. The Gulpin and Psyduck were easy enough to handle, but soon Lunatone and Bronzong started appearing. The Lunatone's were at least easy enough to handle as they were weak to Bidoof's Watergun, however the Bronzong were a different story.

Unfortunately his Water Gun was running out of waterpower, so he had to resort to his physical moves such as tackling most of the Bronzong. That was not a good strategy, since they were incredibly defensive and their Steel typing made them resistant to his strongest moves.

However, after a little over a couple floors later, he finally arrived at the depth of the dungeon.

Unlike the entire dungeon, the final floor was quite light. There was a giant star engraved into the floor at the center of the room. The floor's color was sky blue and the star-like reflections were even brighter. There was a golden light illuminating the room. The light source came from up above. And in the center of the room, right above the star, was a Pokemon with a head in the shape of a star, with blue markings below their closed eyes and was curled up in the air while levitating.

Bidoof sheepishly and carefully approached the Pokemon. He stood there awkwardly, not sure whether he wanted to disturb them. Fortunately, after a couple seconds, the Pokemon yawned and stirred. Bidoof felt a little guilty about it, thinking he's the cause of the Pokemon waking up.

Despite the Pokemon stirring, they still kept their eyes closed.

"Whoooo's therrrrrre?" They mumbled, yawning again.

"I-I'm Bidoof." He stammered. "A-And might you be... Jirachi?"

"Mmmm? Yeeeaaaah." Jirachi nodded, still keeping their eyes closed.

"You are THE Jirachi?! The wish-granting Pokemon, right?!" Bidoof exclaimed out of happiness.

"Yeeepp, that's somethiiiiiiiinng I can doooooo... Whoooo are yooooou?" Jirachi mumbled.

"I'm Bidoof." He said awkwardly. 'Didn't I already say that?'

"Coooool...I normally granttt wishesssss... But right now, I'm preeeeetty sleeeepy, so I can't really heeelp you. Sorryyyy..."

Bidoof felt his stomach drop in disappointment. But before he could say anything, Jirachi spoke once again.

"Ohhhh, and I usually toss aaaaaaaaand turn in my sleep... Sooo if you're nearby, I will probably aaaaattack you... Sorry if I do..."

Unfortunately for Bidoof, he ended up being too close to Jirachi. Jirachi, wasting almost no time for someone who is half-asleep, started to stars around him. Bidoof recognised the move to be Swift and panicked. He knew the move would never miss, so he just had to get out of the move's range.

He ran backwards as Jirachi fired off the move. The stars shot at him, some of them even curving in the air to get a proper angle to hit him. Luckily, just as they were about to hit him, almost all of them disintegrated. However, Bidoof got scraped by a couple of them. It hurt, a lot.

Bidoof shuddered. Only a couple of Swift stars at their weakest power from a barely awake Jirachi hurt him a lot more than it should've. Although Bidoof did remember that they were a mythical Pokemon.

Clearly fight in close quarters would be detrimental. But unfortunately, close ranged moves were the only moves Bidoof knew.

Luckily Jirachi stopped moving again in favor of zoning out a little. Taking this opportunity, Bidoof dug into his bag for anything he could use. There were a couple of Oran Berries, a Max Elixir, and some other supplies. However what caught his attention was the Totter Seed and a ton of Gravelerock as well as some Iron Thorns.

Taking the Totter Seed, he threw it directly at Jirachi. They didn't seem to bother to dodge it, whether from laziness or indifference. However, when the seed struck them, a cloud of distinct swirling dust rose up. Jirachi started to hold their head in their hands, the confusion starting to kick in. Eventually, they started to sway in middair, trying and struggling to keep themselves upright.

Taking advantage of their tottering, Bidoof ran to the back of the room and started throwing them directly at Jirachi. Some of them missed due to Jirachi moving around constantly, however a couple hit them directly in the forehead.

Jirachi flinched back, holding their head once more due to pain. The look of indifference was no longer there. They sent out another volley of stars. The stars flew towards him, but they disintegrated quickly.

Bidoof continued with his volley of rocks until one last rock finally snapped Jirachi. The entire room started to shake once more and Bidoof started to panic. Jirachi was probably going to use some exclusive move. They are a mythical Pokemon, they probably had a move that could destroy him.

Jirachi was still curled up in himself. Sparkles started to appear around him as a light started to form. Bidoof tensed up, closing his eyes and bracing himself as the trembling intensified.

There was a blinding light and the room stopped shaking. Bidoof felt nothing other than the pleasant heat from the light. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked at Jirachi again.

They were still curled up, but then they stretched and yawned.

"Hah! All right, I'm fully awake now!" They said cheerfully.

Bidoof shuddered again. He couldn't take a hit from Jirachi when they were asleep, it would be even worse now that Jirachi is awake. Jirachi turned their body to him, causing Bidoof to let out a small squeak. Jirachi either ignored it or didn't acknowledge it as they slowly approached Bidoof with a warm smile.

"My name is Jirachi." They bowed. "Um... Who are you?"

Bidoof calmed down. "I'm Bidoof." He said bluntly. 'Golly, how many times do I need to tell him?'

"Bidoof, alright." Jirachi nodded. "You better listen well. I grant wishes to those who manage to wake me up. What is your wish?"

Bidoof panicked. He wasn't expecting to get the wish this quickly. "Golly, I'm not ready for this... umm..."

Jirachi giggled. "You can take your time."

'My wish... I could wish for anything. But my wish... It was always to become the greatest Explorer ever!' He thought. He wanted to ask for that, but no words would come out of mouth.

After giving it some more thought, he realized that this was probably not a good wish. Being the greatest Explorer does sound tempting, but if he's just given that title, then he wouldn't deserve it. It wouldn't be fair to everyone else. He would become great without putting the work for it, and that wasn't fair to anyone working their backs off.

So reconsidering his wish, he told Jirachi ; "I wish... I wish for a buddy who I could teach stuff to."

Finally exiting Star Cave, it was already night-time. Bidoof wanted to teleport to the guild, however he figured he could clear his head on a little walk. Looking up at the sky, he almost gasped.

The sky was almost completely littered with stars. Some of them were incredibly bright, completely overshadowing all the smaller ones. The sky almost looked like a milky way. The sky itself looked purple, with some pink and blue hues hidden between the stars. The stars were so bright they were illuminating the forest around him.

Climbing up on a hill, he decided to just enjoy the view as he dropped his Treasure Bag on the ground.

"And... That should be the end, golly." Bidoof finished.

While Kit was in awe and started peppering Bidoof with questions, Hazel's mind started to wander. 'So his wish was to have partners... Well I guess he got his wish, since the story takes place about a year and a half ago... But wait, so does that mean that that wish could've been the reason why I'm a Ralts? Crazy how a simple wish can have such drastic consequences.'

"Well I guess we know what brought us to the guild, right Ralts?" Kit laughed.

"Uh- Yeah, I-I guess we can thank Bidoof for our chance encounter on the beach." Hazel laughed along, a little caught off guard.

Bidoof looked up. "Golly, the sky is now completely black. We really ought to get some rest for tomorrow."

"Yeah we probably should." Hazel and Kit said at the same time.