Chapter 2

The New Guild Recruits

Piplup and Chimchar, now the leaders of the newly formed Team Poképals, had arrived in front of the pink Pokémon shaped entrance made on a tent. Chimchar begun to describe to Piplup what this particular place was…

"This is Wigglytuff's Guild. To form an exploration team, you need to register your team here, then you have to train until you become a first-rate team." Chimchar was still creeping out from the sight of the entrance. "But for some reason, I still find something a little odd about this place."

Piplup had reassured his partner by encouraging him with the following statement. "Don't worry, Chimchar! You're with me now. Let's try to get in!"

"Thanks, Piplup! You're right, I have to be brave and get inside."

Chimchar took a few steps to get on the grate again, and once more, he jumped up in fear because of the familiar voices examining his footprints.

"Pokémon detected!" said one voice.

"Whose footprint?" said another.

"It belongs to a Chimchar!"

"Hang in there, Chimchar! Keep being strong!" encouraged Piplup. Chimchar listened to those words and waited for entry.

"…You may ENTER!" said one voice after a few moments. "I hear someone's with ya! Get him to stand up THERE!"

Chimchar got off the grate, stood next to the entrance, and turned to Piplup. "That's you, Piplup! Stand on the grate so you can enter as well!"

Piplup decided to ponder about the grate before he could get on it.

So this grate is here so that no one can fall through. It looks strange, though. It might tickle my feet, or-

The voice from within the guild snapped him out of his thought.

"Hey, you! Stranger! Get on the GRATE!"

Piplup went on the grate and the two voices examined his footprints.

"Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint?"

"It belongs to a..." One inspector was, for some reason, having a tough time examining Piplup's footprint.

"What's the matter, sentry Diglett?! Why can't you examine it?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it belongs to a… Piplup! Maybe a Piplup!"

"What?! MAYBE?!"

"That's because it's not a footprint that you'd normally see around here," answered Diglett.

"UGH! That's pretty crummy!" the other unknown sentry angrily replied. "Checking the footprints of visiting Pokémon is your JOB, isn't it?!"

"Yes, but I just don't know what I don't know."

Piplup and Chimchar grew dumbfounded of the conversation below them.

"Are they… arguing?" said Chimchar.

"…Sorry to make you WAIT." the still unknown second sentry said. "It's TRUE that you don't see any Piplup in these parts, but you don't SEEM to be bad, so that's good enough for us. You may ENTER!"

The gate finally went up and opened for both Piplup and Chimchar. The latter once more being startled by the sudden opening.

"Yikes! I'm so nervous and jittery! But I'm glad we're finally allowed in. My heart's still pounding though..."

"Calm down, Chimchar," Piplup assured his partner. "Let's go in. I'll be right behind you."

The Poképals went inside to find a ladder going downward.

"There's a hatch that leads underground here!" Chimchar exclaimed.

The two climbed down the ladder, and were amazed by the sight of the next room below. All kinds of Pokémon were there, most of them having a conversation, or some just looking at some boards for various reasons. Chimchar took in the sight and was amazed.

"So this is Wigglytuff's Guild! With this many Pokémon, I must think that they're all on exploration teams!"

Just then, a voice snapped them back to reality.

"Excuse me!"

The voice came from another ladder lead down to another floor. It belonged to a parrot-like Pokémon, which had a music note-shaped head. He went towards them to examine them closely.

"It was you two that just came in right?"

"Y-yup!" Chimchar shyly answered.

"I'm Chatot!" the parrot Pokémon revealed his name. "I'm the Pokémon in the know around these parts! I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right-hand Pokémon! Now, shoo! Leave the premises! We have no time for salespeople or silly surveys. Off you go, if you please!"

"Uh, no! That's not why we're here!" replied Chimchar. "We wanna form an exploration team, and that's why we came. We want to be trained!"

"Wh-what?!" Chatot seemed surprised by this statement. "It's rare to see kids like you who want to apprentice at the guild, especially given how hard our training is!" He had a face of unsure confidence about Piplup and Chimchar. "Surely the steady stream of Pokémon that run away from our rigorous training proves how true that is!"

"Excuse me, Chatot," replied Piplup, "is the exploration team training that severe?"

"Huh?! No! Not at all!" Chatot replied, quickly correcting himself. "It's not true in the slightest! Our training program for exploration teams is as easy as can be!" He later bore a smile, with a little bit of embarrassment showing on his face. "Well, well, well! I wish you had told me up front that you wanted to be an exploration team! Hee-heeee!"

Team Poképals sweat-dropped, surprised by Chatot's sudden attitude adjustment.

"Anyway, if you want your team to get signed up right away, follow me!"

The two followed him down the ladder to the right towards the guild's second underground floor. He continued his conversation with them.

"This floor here is mainly where the apprentices work." Chatot then pointed Piplup and Chimchar to the left. "Team registration is this way. Please come along."

They followed him, but Chimchar got distracted and saw a window viewing the outside of the guild. He was amazed.

"Wow! Even though we're two floors underground, you can still see the outside of the guild from here!"

"Oh, please! Hush now!" replied Chatot a little angrily, but he calmed down and continued. "The guild is built into the side of a cliff. It's only natural that you would be able to see outside." He pointed Team Poképals back toward the door that was now in front of them. "Now, here we are at the guildmaster's chamber. On no account should you ever be discourteous to him." He turned toward the door and called to the guildmaster. "Guildmaster, it's me, Chatot! I'm coming in!" He opened the door and the three went in.

Inside the guildmaster's chamber stood a pink Pokémon, presumably Wigglytuff. Chatot stood aside from Piplup and Chimchar so that they can be introduced to the guildmaster.

"Guildmaster!" Chatot said. "I present to you two Pokémon who wish to join our guild as apprentices."

For a few odd moments, Wigglytuff didn't turn around.

"Guildmaster, um, Guildmaster?"

The pink Pokémon suddenly turned around, startling both Piplup and Chimchar!

"Hiya!" he finally said, greeting both of them. "I'm Wigglytuff, the guildmaster of my guild! If you wanted to form an exploration team, we can get it done now! First we must register your team's name. What will it be?"

Chimchar turned to Piplup. "So do you remember what our team's name will be, Piplup?"

"Sure!" he answered. He later answered to Wigglytuff. "We'll go as Team Poképals!"

"All settled, then! I'll register your team as Poképals. Gimme a sec..." He wrote the name on a piece of paper. "...and YOOM-TAH! Just like that, you are now an official exploration team!" He held out a yellow box in front of the officially formed Team Poképals, and placed it on the ground. "I present to you with this in commemoration, a Pokémon Exploration Team Kit!"

"A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit?" replied Chimchar.

"Yup. It's what every exploration team needs," answered Wigglytuff. "Open it up to see what's inside."

The little fire monkey opened it up to see that there was an explorer badge inside, along with a map and a bag!

"All right!" he exclaimed. "There are all sorts of great items in here!"

"That badge is your explorer badge! It's your official team identification! The map is called a Wonder Map, which will reveal locations as you explore! Finally, the bag that you will carry is called a Treasure Bag. It lets you carry items you find in dungeons. Your successes as an exploration team can lead to a wider space for your bag. It's very wonderful, isn't it? Go on, have a peek inside it!"

Chimchar opened the Treasure Bag up to find that there was a white scarf with black dots on it, along with a red ribbon with white polka dots on it.

"The white scarf is called a Defense Scarf," Wigglytuff described. "It protects you from physical attacks by weakening its damage level. The red ribbon is called a Joy Ribbon, which helps you get stronger overtime. These are special items, which will help you on your adventures!"

"Thanks so much!" exclaimed Chimchar. "We'll do our best!"

"Right. Just remember that you're only apprenticing right now. Keep that in mind and do your best to train!"

"We will!" answered Piplup.

"Let's give it our all, Piplup!" said Chimchar with a big smile.

The two new apprentices put one of their hands with another to build a cheer.

"One, two, three!" They raised their hands into the air and said, "Team Poképals, ready for action!"

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Wigglytuff. "Now follow Chatot, please. He wants to show you to your room."

Piplup and Chimchar did as they were told, and they, along with Chatot, left the guildmaster's chamber.


Team Poképals followed Chatot to a hallway on the left, and straight beyond the two rooms that occupied it. The third room was in front of them, containing two straw beds for the new apprentices.

"Great!" Chimchar excitedly exclaimed, occupying one bed, while Piplup occupied another. "We get beds!"

"You will live here while you work for us," said Chatot. "Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow, so be sure to rise early and start living up to our code! Get to sleep early when you can, and try not to stay up too late!" He left the team alone for the night.


Some time later, the moon shone above the dark blue sky, outside the room of Team Poképals. Piplup and Chimchar were now laying down in their respective beds, with the latter wanting to review over the events that occurred today.

"Are you still awake, Piplup?"

"Yep, Chimchar. What is it?"

"My heart's been racing all day today over every little thing, but I'm very glad I finally made myself come here. I thought Wigglytuff would be scary, but he seems pretty friendly. We're gonna experience all sorts of things starting tomorrow, but I'm not scared. In fact, it's the other way around. I'm super excited about the adventures we'll face!"

"Me too, Chimchar. Me too..."

"*yawn* I'm getting sleepy. Let's give it our all, starting tomorrow. Good night, Piplup."

Chimchar went to sleep, but Piplup stayed awake, pondering about what has happened so far…

Ha… Now I'm suddenly apprenticing at the guild… But I have to admit, it's pretty exciting to be in an exploration team, and it's fun to be friends with Chimchar. However, I also came here to figure out who I am, what my real name is, how I turned into a Pokémon, and how I wound up unconscious on that beach. He was finally getting tired as well. I better just put all of those questions to rest for now. We have work to do starting tomorrow, and if I focus on that, everything should eventually become clear. I'm sure I'll get to the bottom of this in time.

Piplup closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreaming about the excitement that he and Chimchar will have tomorrow.


The next morning, Team Poképals had an abrupt awakening to the sound of an ear-deafening loud voice!

"HEY THERE! RISE AND SHINE!"

Piplup still had his eyes closed and was dazed by the voice, slowly trying to wake up.

Ugh, my head is pounding! He thought. What a ridiculously loud voice! It almost blasted my eardrums!

He opened his eyes to a sight of a purple Pokémon, with speaker-like shaped ears. Just as he was about to yell at him and Chimchar to get up once more, Piplup covered partly covered his ears.

"Why are ya still ASLEEP?! WAKE UP!"

"Owww… my poor ears..." said Chimchar weakly.

"C'mon, Chimchar! Snap OUT of it already! Your partner's already UP!" The yelling purple Pokémon introduced then himself. "I'm Loudred, a fellow apprentice! If you're late for our morning briefing, you'll be SORRY, so MOVE it!. Guildmaster Wigglytuff's got a BIG temper, and if you make him lose it, YOWEEE! That would be one very scary scene indeed!"

Loudred shook in fear of his sentences said by himself about Wigglytuff. "I've got goosebumps just thinking about it! YEESH!" He gathered himself and continued, "So ANYWAY, I'm not about to get in trouble because you rookies got up LATE! SO GET IT IN GEAR!" He walked away, much to the relief of Piplup and Chimchar.

"Urk! My ears are still ringing," said Chimchar as he slowly got up, dazed from Loudred's loud voice. "What did he say? Something about getting ready?"

"Yes, he did," Piplup answered.

Chimchar shook off the dizziness from this realization and replied, "That's right! We signed up as apprentices here, so that means… Oh no! We totally overslept! Let's hurry, Piplup!" He grabbed one of his partner's hands (or flippers in this case), along with their Treasure Bag, Wonder Map and explorer badge inside the bag, and quickly ran to the central room where a morning gathering was taking place with all the other guild members.

Loudred was relieved that the two newest members made it, but was still angry. "You're LATE, rookies!"

Chatot took exception to the unnecessary loud tone and treatment and said, "Hush! Your voice is ridiculously loud!" Loudred could only growl in dissatisfaction.

The parrot Pokémon gazed at the members to see if every member was present for the briefing to start the day. He answered, "Everyone seems to be present. Very well then, let us conduct our morning address." He turned to Wigglytuff's chamber door. "Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance!"

Wigglytuff opened the door and came out of his chamber. Chatot continued, "Thank you, guildmaster! Please address the crew."

Even though Wigglytuff appeared to be awake, he was snoring with his eyes wide open! The apprentices decided to have a quiet chat about him.

"Psst! Wigglytuff never ceases to amaze me!" said one voice.

"Yeah, you got that right!" said another.

"Yup, looks like he's wide awake!"

"Eek! Even though his eyes are wide open, he's fast asleep!"

"Thank you, sir!" said Chatot, while the guild members now silenced themselves. "We all value your… words of wisdom!" He turned to the members to address them further. "OK, Pokémon! Take our guildmaster's words of wisdom to heart, and begin our morning cheers! All together now..."

The guild, except for Team Poképals, said the follwing in unison, "A one, two, A one-two-three! One! Don't shirk work! Two! Run away and pay! Three! Smiles go for miles!"

Chatot wrapped it up by saying, "OK, everyone, get to work!"

"Hooray!" said the members, again excluding Piplup and Chimchar, who still had no idea of what to do next. The guild's members then dispersed from the morning meeting, leaving the two new explorers still unsure about their own next move.

"Ummm, what should we do now, Piplup?" said Chimchar.

"Maybe we should put on those two items we got from last night," answered Piplup.

Chimchar nodded in agreement, and grabbed a Defense Scarf within their Treasure Bag to put on around his neck, along with the necklace holding the Relic Fragment. Piplup grabbed the Joy Ribbon and put it on his chest.

"I see you two are trying to get ready," Chatot replied from afar. "Follow me for your assignment today."

Piplup and Chimchar listened and followed Chatot up the ladder. Once they got up one floor, the parrot went right and the two followed until he stopped in front of a yellow bulletin board. He turned in front of them to continue his speech.

"You're just beginners, so we'll have you start off with this assignment." He turned to the board in front of them. "This board that you see in front right now is called the job bulletin board. Pokémon from various regions post job requests here." He turned back to both Piplup and Chimchar. "You're aware that bad Pokémon are cropping up in greater numbers, right?"

"Yup," answered Chimchar. "Because the flow of time is getting messed up. It's wreaking havoc, and that's why lots of bad Pokémon are appearing!"

"The flow of time is getting messed up?" questioned Piplup, turning to both Chimchar and Chatot. "You're saying time, as in hours and minutes?" Both nodded in agreement, and Piplup continued. "And because of that, more and more bad Pokémon are popping up?" They nodded again, causing Piplup to get panicked somewhat. "What's going on here?!"

"Calm down, Piplup," Chimchar assured. "I'm sure Chatot has a further reasonable explanation."

"Precisely," Chatot exclaimed. "Time getting out of whack has caused an outbreak of bad Pokémon. Perhaps because of all that, we have noticed an increase in the number of jobs, and in addition, but unknown if time's influence has to do with this, there has also been a mass outbreak of… mystery dungeons."

"Mystery dungeons?!" exclaimed Piplup, but he gathered himself and realized something. "Wait, that's right! Chimchar and I were in one yesterday in a cave near the beach! He explained it to me once I first entered it!"

"Exactly, Piplup!" Chimchar replied. "That's when we got my Relic Fragment back then! That place where we found it was, of course, a mystery dungeon. These dungeons change each time you go into one. They have different layouts and items every time you enter, but if you faint in the middle of a dungeon, you'll lost half of your money and items, and finally get kicked right out. They're very strange places, but every time you go inside one, there are always new things to discover! They really are fantastic places to go exploring!"

"Well," Chatot proudly exclaimed, "you're quite informed, aren't you? This will make things much easier for me to explain! Jobs all take place in mystery dungeons, as well!" He turned back to the job bulletin board. "So, let's look for a job that you should perform."

He browsed through the various papers that had job descriptions until he found one suitable for Team Poképals and took one off the board. He turned back to them and gave it to Chimchar. "Maybe this will do!"

"OK then, let's read it!" Chimchar said. He read from the job's description. "'Hello, my name is Spoink! An outlaw has run off with my most prized possession: my precious pearl! It's life itself, to me at least! I just can't seem to settle down if that pearl isn't in its proper place atop my head, but I've heard it has been sighted! It's said to be on a rocky bluff, on its seventh floor below the surface of the entrance, but that bluff is reported to be extremely unsafe. I could never go somewhere so frightening as that place! Oh friendly readers, would you be so kind as to go to the bluff and get my pearl? I beg your help, exploration team members!' - Spoink"

Chimchar realized something about the job. "Wait a minute..." He suddenly got angry. "We're gonna fetch an item that someone dropped?! I'd rather do something that's more of an adventure, like looking for treasure or exploring unknown places! Stuff like that!"

Chatot got more angry at Chimchar's unacceptable approach and attitude, and snapped, "Hush!", surprising the fire monkey. The parrot went on, "It's important that you rookies pay your dues! Now pay close attention! I'll repeat the warnings again to make sure they stick in your memory! You'll be forced out of a dungeon and sent back here if either of you faints, and you'll lose half of your money and items, so you'd best be careful in there!" He calmed down and concluded, "If you've understood all of that, I suggest you get on with the job!" He flew out of sight from the two, leaving them alone on the floor.

Chimchar could only sigh in disappointment, but Piplup put a flipper on him and smiled to reassure his partner. "C'mon, buddy! It's just a simple job for us. I'm sure there will be a reward for completing it!"

"Well, all right then, Piplup," Chimchar replied. "Thanks for cheering me up! Let's go then!" The two went up the left ladder, out of the guild, and toward the location of the bluff where Spoink's pearl was located.


Upon arriving at the bluff, the entrance was drenched with wet dirt and rocks, as Team Poképals came near the opening to the dungeon itself. Chimchar turned to Piplup for a brief chat.

"This must be the bluff's entrance. Spoink said that his pearl was on the seventh floor below the bluff. It's supposed to be a dangerous place, so let's be careful, and do our best, Piplup!"

"Gotcha, Chimchar!" cried Piplup. "By the look of this cave, I'll help you out if there are any Pokémon that are disadvantageous to you." Chimchar nodded at his partner's warning, and the two made their way inside.

Indeed, there were many water-type Pokémon that were dangerous to Chimchar, as they would be super effective to bring him down in a hurry. Piplup took the lead so that he, and most importantly Chimchar, could get through the dungeon unscathed, and obtain Spoink's missing pearl. He picked up various items to put in their Treasure Bag along the way, which Chimchar explained Piplup about their various effects, and Poké, this world's currency for money. Team Poképals battled several times on the six floors and gained several points of experience to get stronger for future endeavors, while Piplup, thanks to his Joy Ribbon, was gaining more than Chimchar, making his partner a little jealous along the way.

"Hey, no fair!" Chimchar playfully teased. "You seem to be two levels stronger than me now since you have that ribbon on you, though."

Piplup couldn't help but have a little laugh from both of those comments. "At least you're not down and out with that Defense Scarf you have on ya!" he replied with a playful tone.

Both of them continued down the Drenched Bluff until they reached the seventh floor. They were in front of a mini fountain that sprayed water out of it, but more importantly, were looking at a shiny object just below it.

"This has to be Spoink's pearl!" exclaimed Chimchar.

"Let's get back to the guild with it, then!" replied Piplup. The two grabbed the pearl, and used their explorer badge to teleport back to the entrance. Upon arriving there, they traveled back to Wigglytuff's Guild to complete today's assignment.


Team Poképals went inside the guild and into the floor where the bulletin boards were to be greeted by Chatot, and Spoink, a gray pig-like Pokémon that had a spring-like tail to bounce constantly. He looked tired and hardly bounced without his pearl, but once the new team put it back on his head, he was full of energy again.

"Thank you!" Spoink said, expressing his gratitude. "That pearl must be propped on my head, you see. I missed it so much, I just couldn't settle down without it up there. I ended up boinging and sproinging everywhere until I got tired, and that's why I'm covered in dings and bumps. However, thanks to you, that long nightmare is finally over! You have my sincere thanks!"

He walked over to Piplup and took out four things out of his bag. "I want you guys to have these as your rewards!" Spoink gave Team Poképals a protein, a drink that permanently strengthened physical attacks for one Pokémon, a calcium, another drink to strengthen projectile attacks, an iron, a drink to strengthen a Pokémon defensively, and an incredible amount of two-thousand Poké within a mini-bag!

"Wow!" exclaimed Chimchar as he turned to Piplup. "Look at all those helpful items, Piplup! Not to mention a whopping 2,000 Poké that he gave us!"

"That's right!" Spoink exclaimed. "That money alone is nothing compared to my pearl's value! Enjoy it!" He bounced up the later, humming joyfully as he left the guild. Chimchar still couldn't believe at the amount of money that they've earned from the job alone!

"We're rich, Piplup! We got rich just like that!" Piplup replied to this by wearing a big smile on his face.

"Well done, Team Poképals!" exclaimed Chatot. He went over to Piplup. "Now I must take that money, please!" He suddenly grabbed the bag of Poké from him!

"What?!" Piplup and Chimchar exclaimed in shock.

"Most of the money from jobs goes to our guild, you see," explained Chatot. "Your team's share, I'm afraid, will have to be just 200 Poké."

"That's awful!" replied Chimchar. "Why do we only get to keep that much?"

"It's the guild's rule. Plus, we need it to keep going for the future, so you'll simply just have to accept it!"

Piplup sighed in disappointment. "Awww, man. Well, I guess that can't be helped."

He turned to Chimchar, who was more disappointed than him on only keeping 200 Poké. He put one of his flippers on him to comfort him and said, "Hey, cheer up, pal! We did a very good thing today, and besides, we collected lots of items and money of our own!"

"Yeah, you're right, Piplup," replied Chimchar with a smile. "We have to take all of that as a considerable amount of consolation, and not worry about what just happened to show us up."


Team Poképals and Chatot went down the right ladder where the guild's quarters were situated, and into the central room. Before he left them alone, Chatot told them that supper would soon be ready, so Piplup and Chimchar had a chat with each other, along with the rest of the guild members to introduce themselves, until dinner would be served.

Moments later, a bell rung, and its sound belonged to a floating white and red Pokémon called Chimecho. She had a bell attached atop of her head, and approached the guild members. "Thanks for waiting everyone," she said. "I finished making our dinner, so it's all ready to eat!"

Everyone cheered, and since they were pretty hungry, they rushed to the mess hall to the right from where the ladder was, got to the big wide table, sat down on the either long bench attached to it, and started munching away on the various fruits and gummis that occupied each spot.

After a few moments, the supper had been finished, with various members praising their meal.

"I'm all done eating! That was an excellent meal!"

"I'm stuffed, and now I'm getting sleepy."

"Yep, I'm off to bed now. Good night, gang!"

"Good night!"

Everyone went to their perspective beds on the other side of the floor, and by then, nighttime had arrived.


Team Poképals was still awake, as they sat down on their beds, took off their items to place on a wall, and decided to have a recap of today's action.

"So, Piplup," Chimchar started, "wasn't today hectic?" Piplup nodded, and Chimchar continued, "So much happened!"

"But I'm relieved that our first job was a success," Piplup replied.

"I'm still a little upset that the guild took most of our reward money, but as you said, it can't be helped. Probably just the cost of training, I guess."

"But Spoink thanking us had to be the highlight of our day though! I was so happy!"

Both the pals had a big smile on their achievement for today. They yawned in unison, for they were also getting tired.

"Well, I'm getting sleepy," Chimchar said.

"Me too," Piplup replied.

"Let's get to sleep now, so that we can do the best like we did for tomorrow."

"OK then, Chimchar. Good night."

"Good night, Piplup."

Both of them lay on their beds, closed their eyes, and fell into sleepland. Tomorrow would sure be another exciting day waiting for them.