When I first ever played Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time I got pikachu as my player character and I chose Squirtle as my partner. My player character has changed over the years as I have changed, although I've gotten shinx before.
"Okay," Sean laughed, pushing Rai off him. It was nice to see the shinx smile again. "Should we go to the guild now?"
Rai paused his manic hopping and frowned thoughtfully. He glanced up at the sky where the stars were showing and shook his head. "No. It's too late for it today, the guild would be closed. Come on, I have a small place we can stay at."
He followed the shinx, wincing every third step as the pain was reminding him he was still rather bruised. They reached a crossroads that sent a stab of nostalgia through Sean's heart.
To the left was naught but a rock, but a future café would make their start there. To the right was a track leading off into mystery and adventure with a watering hole for the thirsty pokémon. Straight forwards were a slope that quickly turned into steps, hewn out of the ground itself and walked many times. To the left was where Rai was heading, towards Treasure Town.
Under his breath, Sean began humming the tune to Treasure Town, having heard it enough for it to be etched into his memory.
"Da-da-dun dun, dun, dun, dun daadada."
Treasure Town was nothing like Sean could have prepared. Seeing it first hand was one thing, but even with foreknowledge he wasn't anticipating how big it was.
They walked for five minutes before Duskull's Bank even came into view, no duskull manning the bank at this time of night.
It amused him that the bank was still shaped like a duskull though.
"What are you humming?" Rai asked after they passed the bank.
"Oh… just something that popped into my head," Sean answered, smiling like a loon.
"Well, this is Treasure Town." Rai paused to sweep a paw in a wide circle. "Definitely the best town in the land. Way better than Capim Town. There's everything a pokémon needs here, explorer or not." Rai smiled, he did love Treasure Town.
"Looks like a great place," Sean commented. "You've lived here your whole life?"
The question was innocent, conversational, he didn't intend on Rai flinching at it.
"W-well…" he mumbled something under his breath and Sean decided to back off.
"Do you live in town now?" he asked, moving past whatever wound he had just poked at.
"Not quite," Rai answered easily. "I'm on the outskirts of town, on the other side. It's going to take us a bit to reach Sharpedo Bluff."
"Sounds like a lovely place."
"It's a home." Rai shrugged. "Come on, we're both sore and tired."
The rest of the walk passed in silence. Several times Sean tried to gather the nerve to say something, but Rai had gotten very quiet and was looking firmly ahead. He gathered the shinx wasn't in the mood to talk.
Instead, Sean took in the sights of a place he knew so well yet had no true idea of what it was like. He saw shops he recognised, as well as buildings he didn't. They passed over a small, rickety, bridge and through a marketplace and further still.
He took a glance at Kangaskhan Storage, closed of course, but he did have some strange Silver Bow that he was still carrying from the beach.
It took nearly half an hour to pass through town, with them being slowed down by injuries, before they reached the cliffside.
"Here we go," Rai said, giving Sean a tired smile. "Home sweet home." Sean noted that there were no leaves covering the entranceway to Rai's home and they descended into a cosy spot.
Cosy was about as nice as Sean could say about it. Cramped was a better word, not that he'd say such a thing out loud.
For one pokémon like a shinx it fitted, for two the space was being pushed.
"Take some straw off the pile," Rai said as he moved to the small drinking well that took up most of the room. After almost dunking his head in the water and just inhaling the water, Rai pulled his head out with a gasp and caught his breath. "Feel free to have a drink too."
Sean quietly took a small amount of the bedding from Rai's pile and set it up like a pillow. Rai gave him an unimpressed look, gathered some straw in his mouth, and dunked more on his pile.
"This is your bed," Sean argued, but Rai was already slumping down onto his pile.
Swallowing he realised his throat was parched and moved to the well. The germaphobe in him was highly disinterested in drinking anything that had a shinx head in it, but the part that wanted water overruled it and he drank deeply.
Once he was done Rai was asleep.
Feeling excessively guilty for reasons he couldn't quite fathom, Sean laid down on his pile. Despite his exhaustion he couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning, he just tried to get comfortable. Eventually curling up like a cat seemed most pleasant and so he tried to just relax.
Nothing seemed to help much and there was the matter of the item he had picked up off the beach. A silver bow, it radiated something that eased some of Sean's nerves.
It was difficult to sleep though. His new, much better, feline eyes could see in the dark much better than his old glasses-needing human eyes. He could see Rai shivering, not out of cold though.
The feeling of guilt and sympathy lasted until he finally fell into a fitful sleep.
#################################################################################################
Waking up was most unpleasant for Sean.
The injuries from yesterday's unfortunate twist of events were ringing hard, the awful throbbing pain being what roused Sean.
Groaning, he rolled over, off his little patch of straw, and onto hard and cold ground. His heart thumped a little as he opened his eyes, taking into view the low roof of the small home.
"Okay. Confirmed. I'm really somehow in the Mystery Dungeon world," Sean thought to himself as he tried to gather the energy the get up.
Finding the will to do so was even harder, but he slowly realised that he was the only person in the room. Suddenly fearful of being left alone he shot right to his feet, only staggered once, and made his way outside. He was still holding onto the bow he had picked up, it was crumpled from his grip now, but he was not planning on letting the soothing feeling go just yet.
"Ah, Sean," Rai said brightly, trotting over to him. Sean paused and blinked, it seemed that his panic was nothing but foolishness. "I'm glad you're up, we should get to the guild bright and early if we want to go on an adventure today!"
Balanced on the shinx's head was a small wooden plate, on top of which were two apples. Sean salivated at the sight as his stomach gave a harsh rumble.
He grimaced at the feeling of his stomach rolling as well, the memories of the stench still haunted him. The apple was too delectable to pass up, however, and he accepted one of them from Rai.
He had it bitten to the core in three bites. After a moment of deliberation, he ate the core as well. After swallowing he had to ask. "What do they make the apples with here!" he exclaimed. "I've had apples before and they were all… average at best. That was wonderful."
"The Kecleon Brothers harvest them from dungeons, apparently," Rai said in between bites. "It's a fact that anything gained from a dungeon is top notch. Better to lure pokémon in a guess." He swallowed and shook his head. "Ah… I like early days, gets the heart pumping right from the get-go. So, you ready?"
Sean noticed that Rai was adamantly avoiding looking directly at him, but he caught a glimpse of the shinx's eyes anyway. They were red and puffy. He was sure his eyes were little better.
"You might be a morning person," Sean said before falling into step with Rai. "I like a sleep-in. But I suppose today is just too important to sleep away."
"Mm." Rai hummed.
They entered Treasure Town, it was quite early, but still much livelier than the previous night. For one, there were actual pokémon around.
Sean couldn't help but smile widely as he took in the many fantastic creatures, beings he had only known to be fictional, but now here and real in the flesh.
Metal too, a magnezone was floating around as well. "I wonder if that's Officer Magnezone?" Sean wondered to himself, but he wasn't sure how to phrase the question without seeming too knowing.
A large kangaskhan was now manning her shop and Rai felt the obligation to explain as they walked. "That's Kangaskhan Storage, she'll store and protect any item we leave with her. She's apparently never misplaced a single item, however big or small."
Kangaskhan gave a cheery wave as they passed, which the pair returned. Not too far past that was where the market properly begun.
Sean took a much closer look than he had the previous night. Where he had only ever known the Kecleon Market to be the only real store, now he could see several booths and shops pulled up like a shanty neighbourhood. A few were manned, most were not.
"Over there." Rai nodded in their direction. "Is mostly a big swapping joint or place where adventures might sell items they wouldn't sell elsewhere. That's the Kecleon Market, hi guys!" Rai spoke up sharply, causing Sean to wince.
"Good morning again young Shinx," the green kecleon on the left said.
"And to your friend as well," the purple kecleon greeted.
Sean gave a silent wave as they passed.
"They are the main pair to buy and sell stuff. I got the apples from them earlier. They are apparently really strong, that's how they get most of their items."
They continued walking, Rai getting twitchier as they approached the guild. Past the bridge and in the main town, the Wigglytuff Guild could be just seen from where they were. A big pink blotch against the blue sky.
No other shop was open at this hour; however, the bank was.
"Good morning Duskull." Rai gave a nervous smile. Sean swallowed meekly as well. It was one thing to know about Ghost type pokémon. Another to see one first hand.
Duskull didn't look so far removed from the depiction Sean knew it as, but the way its body constantly moved and rippled, yet didn't go anywhere, was creepy. The one red orb bouncing between empty eye-sockets was not pleasant to look at either.
"Hello," Sean said right after Rai.
"Most sincere greetings to you both," came Duskull's voice, breathy and amused all at the same time. "Feel free to come by any time, Duskull's Bank is your most worthy of stops."
They both gave nods and hurried on their way.
"Hoo." Rai breathed once they were clear. "Duskull's definitely good at what he does, keeping your money safe, but he gives me the heebie jeebies."
"I can see why." Sean rubbed an arm, wincing as he was reminded how bruised he was under the fur. "But I'll trust you."
"So that's Treasure Town, a bit nicer in the daytime." Rai gave a smile, he still wasn't looking directly at Sean. "In an hour or so there'll be Exploration Teams all over it. I only saw Team Ebony, but they don't seem to sleep at all."
"The shuppet and, uh… what was the bird?" Sean had seen the pair whispering comparatively on the way in. He couldn't quite remember off the top of his head what the non-Ghost member of the team was.
"Murkrow," Rai answered. "She's nice. She gets a bit fixated on things though."
"I see." Sean did. He could remember them vaguely.
As they arrived on the crossroads, Rai paused. He took a breath and continued onwards, wearing a fierce expression too determined for Sean to try and question.
"So, what do we do when we get there?" Sean asked, hoping to break the silence.
"We gotta stand on the grate and get our footprints checked."
This, Sean had to question. "How come?" He never really understood how it worked.
"The guild keeps a track of all known wanted pokémon in the area. If someone wants to get in, they gotta be cleared and if they are suspicious the guild will know by their footprint."
"Sounds like you've done your research," Sean joked, but again got a negative response from Rai.
Cringing slightly and turning away, the shinx admitted. "I've wanted to join them for… well… years. Every time I've tried to get the nerve to do it, I've lost it soon enough. Once I even made it inside, but when Chatot asked me what I was doing I made up a story about losing an item and wanting an explorer to find it for me… damn I'm… ugh."
"Well now you've got me!" Sean grinned, strongly hoping he'd manage a fluke and get the good reaction for a second time. "We're in this together. Tell you what, I'll grab you by the tail if you try and run."
Rai gave him a perturbed glance and Sean inwardly cursed some excessively foul language. "I don't mean… like… um…" He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head; the words were gone and if he kept on chattering he'd start saying some highly inappropriate things.
"Thanks," Rai said, snapping Sean out of his funk. The shinx smiled and looked at him for the first time that day. "Glad to know I can… thanks."
Sean nodded, perhaps too desperately, and wisely didn't put his foot in his mouth any further.
They had reached the guild.
The giant Wigglytuff built into an entranceway was horrifying. The empty eyes, paint chipping, the weird totems in front of it. It looked threatening. "Perhaps," Sean reasoned as he and Rai stood frozen. "That's the point."
"You ready?" Sean asked, forcing his eyes away from the yawning chasm of wigglytuff and to the grate that laid like a trap before it.
"No," Rai answered honestly. "But I wasn't ready to lose my Relic Fragment either."
Stepping forward, avoiding the pained expression on Sean's face at the reminder, Rai stepped forward to the grate.
The holes were far too wide for him to stand on it, so instead he reached a paw forward and laid it over the hole.
There was a moment of nothing long enough for Sean to wonder if the guild was still asleep.
"Pokémon detected!" A sharp, high, voice declared, causing Sean to jump and Rai to fluff up. "Pokémon detected!"
"Who's footprint?" A voice that could only be described as intense boomed. "Who's footprint?" Thankfully the owner of the voice wasn't shouting. Yet.
"The footprint is shinx! The footprint is shinx!"
Rai waited as the sentries took a moment to consider the list of suspected outlaws. Apparently shinx was not one of the suspicious pokémon and the guild's gate opened.
"You may enter."
Rai breathed in and out several times very quickly. He was shivering like a leaf in the wind and Sean had to physically move him out of the way. The shinx was heavy too, or at least heavier than he was.
Once he was clear, Rai began to calm down and watched as Sean stepped forward.
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" Hearing that for the third and fourth time reminded Sean of the pokémon detective movie he probably would never see now.
"Who's footprint? Who's footprint?"
"The footprint is… meowth. The footprint is Meowth!" Diglett's voice raised a pitch there, causing Sean to frown and look down curiously. He couldn't see Diglett, but he was sure Diglett could see him.
"Meowth huh? What's your business HERE?"
Sean flinched at the sudden raise in volume, it nearly knocked him back from the sheer loudness. He glanced back to Rai, hoping to see some sort of understanding there. But Rai was looking just as confused as he did.
"Um… I'm here with Rai to join the guild," he called, trying to decide whether he should speak down or forward.
"Hmm…" there was a moment of, thankfully, silent deliberation."Alright, come in. But no funny business." The guild gate remained open and Sean exchanged a glance with Rai before stepping off the grate and moving forward.
"I wonder what that's about?" Rai asked as they stepped into the mouth of the building, the gate clanking shut behind them. Sean was relieved to see that, rather than a ladder to climb, there was a steep incline heading down in a spiral to the next level. He had been wondering how Rai was going to climb a ladder without hands or opposable digits.
Walking down to the second floor brought back another wave of nostalgia in Sean. Seeing the Wigglytuff Guild from such a different angle was strange, but even then, he felt at home inside its walls.
Several pokémon were up and about, looking over a pair of notice boards.
Sean found himself grinning widely again as he recognised each pokémon. Bidoof and Sunflora were looking over the job notice board while Corphish was glancing over the outlaw notice board. He spotted Chimecho giving Corphish advice as he did so.
The pair received a glance or two from the pokémon, but no one approached. Sean was sure Sunflora didn't even notice them come in, already used to how loud Loudred could be.
"Ah hello there," a voice chirped up from behind them. Sean turned, with Rai stiffly turning with him, to find a colourful bird having stepped up from the floor below them. "I am Chatot, Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right hand pokémon."
"Hello," Sean replied, Rai did not make a peep. "I'm Sean and-"
"May I ask what your business is here?" Chatot asked, cutting over Sean. His words were polite, but his tone was somewhat irked by their appearance.
Rai simply stared in silence, leaving Sean to quickly speak for the both of them. "We'd like to join as explorers!" he said, grinning widely.
It was funny how quickly Chatot's demeanour changed. Moving from a guarded and professional guise to a flappy and delighted one.
"Indeed? A new pair of pokémon who wish to become explorers?" Chatot rubbed his beak with a chin, seemingly speaking his mind out loud. "It IS uncommon for a pair of younglings to want to apprentice at our guild… the training regime is known to be very difficult, considering the steady stream of pokémon who have run away. Could they handle it?"
"I-is the training really that difficult?" Rai asked, finding his voice again.
"Hmm?" Chatot asked before flapping up in a flurry again. "Oh no-no-no! Not at all. Our training is as easy as can be!" He gave a laugh. "Well, well, well. I do wish you had mentioned your wish to be an Exploration Team at the grate, we may have avoided some awkwardness there. Hee, hee."
"His attitude really can change quickly?" Sean thought to himself. "And I did say we wanted to join at the grate."
"Come along now," Chatot said, motioning them to follow him. "Let's get you signed up post haste with the Guildmaster."
Sean quickly followed, reaching the second slope down before realising Rai was having difficulty following. "Um… Rai?"
Rai was shivering again and wearing an expression Sean could only call petrified. "No Stun Seeds around," Sean said, coming to Rai's side and pushing him gently. "Come on, we gotta go. Don't want Chatot to think we're lazy."
Rai began to move, and they descended to the second level. Chatot was waiting for them with an air of impatience. "Come now, chop, chop. We cannot leave the Guildmaster waiting."
Sean was able to quickly glance around, spotting the edge of Croagunk's Swap Shop and also saw Loudred. He gave a wave to the fellow Normal type pokémon, but received a suspicious glare in response.
Chatot took them to the left and to a pair of impressive doors. The morning light was crossing into their eyes and Rai made a low, impressed sound. "Wow. We're two floors underground and we can see the sky."
"Hush now," Chatot snapped. "The guild is built into the side of a cliff. It's only natural one could see the outside." He turned back to the doors and hesitated. "Now," Chatot said. "We are to see the Guildmaster. Behave yourselves around him. Do not speak unless spoken to. And on now account. I repeat, on NO account, should you be discourteous to our Guildmaster."
With that he called out. "Guildmaster? Chatot is entering with guests." And pushed the doors open.
Sean was silently a little impressed. The doors were much bigger than Chatot but he pushed them open like they were made of straw.
They entered a rather quirky room. It was beautiful at a first glance. Fresh flowers being set in pots. Light streaming in from two windows. Gorgeous drapes made by the best weavers around.
There were also a pair of treasure chests busted open and sprawled off to the side. Pink was the dominating colour of the room, except for splashes of green and orange, and Wigglytuff was there.
The big balloon pokémon was not facing them and was standing unnaturally still. Chatot took this in complete stride and hopped over to his side. "Guildmaster?" he asked. "I present to you the two pokémon who wish to join your guild as apprentices."
Wigglytuff didn't respond.
Rai was frozen almost as still as Wigglytuff and Sean was trying desperately to think of names.
"Guildmaster?"
"HIYA!"
Wigglytuff spun around on them, startling everyone in the room. His voice was exactly as Sean had imagined from the peppy, constantly cheerful, quirky wigglytuff he knew from the games.
"I'm Wigglytuff." He introduced himself. "I'm the guilds Guildmaster. You want to form an exploration team?" He didn't wait for their response, instead opening his arms like he wished to hug them. "Then, let's GO FOR IT! YOOM TAH!"
Visible sound waves blasted from him, streaming over Sean and Rai like a gale-force wind. Strangely the Hyper Voice didn't hurt, simply ruffled their fur a bit.
Another effect it had was snapping Rai completely out of his funk. Blinking rapidly, he leaned on Sean to steady his limbs, most of them having locked up from how tense he had been.
"First, we have to register your teams name," Wigglytuff said, oblivious to the stunned expressions he was facing. "So, tell me your teams name?"
"Team name?" Rai repeated, latching onto the last words as he blinked his way back to reality. "Oh shoot! I knew I'd forget something!"
With his voice bordering on near hysterical, Sean quickly jumped in with the only name he'd been able to come up with. "Team Ion," he blurted.
"Team… Ion?" Rai asked, relaxing immensely now that they had something to save face with.
"Y-yep," Sean stuttered briefly, feeling everyone eyes on him. "It has something to do with electricity, I think, so I thought it'd be perfect."
Rai gazed at him. "What about you?"
"The only other name I thought of was ThunderClaw, and that sounds a bit… much."
To that, Rai agreed.
"All settled then!" Wigglytuff cheered. "I'll register your team name as Team Ion. Registering," he sang. "Registering… registered. YOOM TAH!" He nearly blew them away again, but his delighted nature was making Sean and Rai smile.
"Congratulations!" Wigglytuff applauded. "From now on, you two are an official Exploration Team! I present you this in commemoration. A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit." With that he pulled out a box from somewhere. Sean blinked, one moment Wigglytuff's paws were empty, then he had something in them.
Chalking it up to Fairy type nonsense, he stepped forward. Rai joining him moments after.
"Wait. Is he a Fairy type?" Sean wondered, but was snapped out if it when the box opened magically.
"A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit?" Rai asked as they peered in.
"Yep," Wigglytuff answered. "It has everything an explorer might need. Quick, grab it all out."
With Wigglytuff nearly vibrating with excitement, Sean did the honours. He was the one with more prehensile paws after all.
"A badge," he said, pulling everything out.
"Two," Rai noted, as a second badge fell out of the pile Sean held.
"A map." Sean unrolled it, noticing a highly detailed map of the Grass Continent.
"A Treasure Bag!" Rai gasped, clutching onto it like it was a lifesaving medicine. "I've always wanted one. These things cost a fortune!"
"Your badges will be your official guild identification," Wigglytuff explained. "The Wonder Map is a wonderful tool to have. And the Treasure Bag to hold all the brilliant goodies you find in your adventures. Now look inside, open it up!"
Rai did so, finding a pair of cloth items. He dug them out as Chatot made a slight disbelieving noise.
"That one's a Special Band, it'll make your Power moves stronger." Wigglytuff pointed to the scarf-like azure cloth. "The other one isn't complete just yet. I saw you had that Silver Bow," he said to Sean, who started as he realised Wigglytuff had spotted the bow he was still holding onto. "But you have no way to wear it. If you hand it over, I can combine it with the Silver Band to make you something awesome!"
Sean hesitated for just a brief moment before rationalising that Wigglytuff was perfectly trustworthy. He pawed over the bow and the band to the balloon pokémon.
"Lalala," Wigglytuff sang as he twirled around. Each time he spun, and Sean got a look at what he was doing he had made progress. He spun nearly fifteen times before stopping. "Ooh. Dizzy…" Wigglytuff wobbled a bit but didn't fall down. "Here you go. A super nifty bow to wear. It'll do wooonderful thiiings." He handed it over before falling back.
"Guildmaster!" Chatot gasped, horrified at the embarrassing moment. "GUILDMASTER!"
Wigglytuff bounced right back onto his feet with a wide grin. "HIYA!"
"Thank you," Rai said, and Sean repeated his thanks. "We'll do our best to make the guild proud."
"Yep," Wigglytuff said simply. "But you're only apprenticing right now. So, do your best… to train that is.
"We will." Rai nodded, determination replacing all previous trepidation. "Right Sean?"
"Right."
"Come with me you two," Chatot said, injecting himself back into the conversation. "I'll show you to your rooms."
"Have fun." Wigglytuff waved.
"Thank you," Sean and Rai chorused as the doors closed behind them.
"Come," Chatot said, hopping his way past the window and to a corridor. "The guilds apprentices rooms are this way."
"We get rooms!" Rai squealed under his breath, hurrying to catch up with Chatot.
Sean grinned and raced after him, but not without glancing back and seeing Croagunk and Loudred staring at him.
Chatot led them past a pair of rooms on either side of the corridor and to the last one. "Here is where you'll stay during your training here." They entered into a basic room. Having a pair of equally sized beds off straw and a window. It was somewhat roomier than Rai's place, but only due to the lack of a water fountain.
They stepped onto their beds, feeling them as Chatot continued. "You'll live here while you work for us. Things will start getting busy tomorrow so make sure you go to bed early tonight. Rise early to start living up to our code. That is all." With that, Chatot turned around and began hopping his way out.
"Wait," Sean called out, causing the bird to pause and glance back.
"Yes?"
Now that things had calmed down, Rai was no longer shivering in a half-panic attack and Sean was able to think clearly again, he noticed something rather pertinent to the time.
They had stayed the night at Rai's instead of joining the guild. It hadn't occurred to Sean at the time, but they were supposed to have their first mission today.
"Is it possible we can have a job to do?" Sean asked, trying to speak as coolly and naturally as possible. No hint of desperation or pleading no sir.
Chatot's left eye quirked at him as if he was raising a non-existent eyebrow. He heard it alright. "Eagerness is a good sign, but just use today to prepare. Maybe introduce yourself to your fellow apprentices. There is no need to be hasty." Shaking his head, he continued hopping away. "The youth of today…" he muttered under his breath, falling out of hearing range soon enough.
Sean swallowed and glanced to Rai. He was looking much livelier than he had been earlier, a smile was spreading over his face.
"I did it," he whispered, joy beaming his face like no amount of sunlight could. "I DID IT!"
Despite his own misgivings of screwing everything up ever, Sean couldn't help but grin wildly as Rai danced around the room. "I'm an officer explorer now. I didn't run away like a coward. I did it, I did it, I did it!"
He finished hopping around and turned to Sean, beaming smile still in place. "It's all thanks to you. Thank you, thank you!" He pounced on Sean and gave him a lick on the koban, the coin on his forehead, before freezing and leaping hard enough off him that the wind was knocked out of Sean.
"I'm so sorry!" Rai gasped before hiding his face in his paws. "I got to excited. I shouldn't have licked you."
Sean pulled himself to his feet. Being pounced on was not a feeling he particularly enjoyed, thankfully Rai had tackled him into one of the beds, so the fall wasn't painful. The shinx's tongue was somewhat staticky though and his forehead felt very strange.
Rubbing the koban, and fully realising he had a bit of metal now fused into his head, Sean gave a smile. "Heh, it's fine," he said bashfully. "Maybe a bit of warning next time."
Rai peaked out from his paws and saw Sean was unbothered. Sighing in relief he propped himself up. "Sorry. I sometimes act without thinking, I can be pretty hasty at times."
Sean waved him off. "Stop apologising, I'm not mad, or bothered. As long as you don't electrocute me too bad I'm sure I'll live."
Smiling now, Rai stepped forward. "Well, you heard what Chatot said." Flicking his tail, Rai looked back to him. "Let's introduce ourselves to the other members of the guild."
"Look who's all confident now," Sean teased as they went, Rai grinned but the smile was somewhat tight.
"I can't be a coward all the time," he said, causing Sean to frown when he looked away.
"I wish he'd stop calling himself a coward," Sean thought. He wanted to say it out loud, but it seemed too personal for someone to say after knowing another for a day. "He's not the coward here, really."
With thoughts circling around cowardice, Sean considered what meeting the Wigglytuff Apprentices was going to be like. He had seen, or heard, everyone he knew from the games on the way in, barring Dugtrio.
They exited into the guilds second floor and found that they had a small crowd waiting for them.
"Oh my gosh!" A voice only Sunflora could make squealed out in delight.
Rai and Sean had only moments to prepare themselves before they were swarmed by their guildmates. With only Croagunk, Diglett and Dugtrio abstaining from the apprentices, everyone wanted to clamber over them.
The image of various monsters rampaging towards him evoked a sense of primal fear in Sean and it was him who froze up under the attention. Rai was all bashful smiles and quiet introductions while Sean tried to reboot.
"And this is… Meowth," Rai finished introducing himself and noticed Sean hadn't said anything. Hearing Rai introduce him as Meowth managed to bring Sean back to the world of the living and he blinked a few times to clear his vision.
"Ah, hello," he said, flushing under the fur from having frozen up. He did a mental countdown and reminded himself he was good at surface socialising.
Reaching out a paw to Sunflora he gave a grin. "I'm a meowth as you can see, but I'm happy for everyone here to call me-" Before he could finish introducing himself, Sunflora took his paw in her leaf-like limb and shook his whole body with impressive strength.
"Oh my gosh!" She repeated. "I'm so totally delighted to meet you. You're both so cute! I'm Sunflora, this is Bidoof, that's Corphish." She continued pointing everyone out and Sean nodded and said hello to everyone she pointed out.
"Skulking over in the corner is Croakunk." Bidoof and Loudred stepped out of the way to let Sean and Rai spot Croagunk, who gave a lazy wave from his perch.
"Our main sentry is Diglett, he's the one who read your footprints. And his dad is somewhere… uh…"
"The sea by-golly," Bidoof said, speaking up. "That old-fella is always looking out over the waves whenever he gets a chance, yup-yup."
"The sea then. He's Dugtrio by the way," Sunflora finished and squeezed Sean's cheeks before stepping back with a giggle.
Sean ignored the cheek-squeezing as the other's approached.
"I'm Loudred, I'm one of the main sentries for the guild." Despite being pointed out by Sunflora, the others had decided it was only polite to introduce themselves. "There's no one better in the guild than me to come to for advice on outlaws. I know 'em all. GREAT to meet you." He rattled Sean's arm worse than Sunflora had, Sean guessed it was some tough-guy thing.
"Nice to meet you," Rai said smiling.
"Yeah," Sean agreed. "You seem strong." This time he did massage his arm.
Loudred puffed up proudly. "But of course! I'm the strongest apprentice here!"
"Second strongest!" Sunflora called out.
"FIRST STRONGEST!" Loudred roared back and the two fell into an argument.
"Hey-hey I'm Corphish." The crustacean pokémon shook a paw each with his pincers, taking great care not to crush them. "Ignore those two." He had to speak loudly over Loudred. "Croagunk is actually the strongest but don't say that around them."
"Yup-yup," Bidoof agreed, stepping up to them. "Those two can get pretty competitive by golly. Oh, where's my manners? I'm Bidoof. I was the most recent apprentice before you two showed up. By golly it makes me so happy to see some newcomers."
Sniffling slightly, he let himself be pulled back by Chimecho, who floated up as the last member of the mob. "It is great to meet the two of you," she positively sang. "I am Chimecho. I am the chef of the guild and I also manage the Exploration Teams in general. If there are any questions you may have, feel free to ask."
"Thanks for the offer." Rai smiled.
"We just might have to. Chatot said we go on a job tomorrow." Sean tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He couldn't help but think about Spoink. The first mission the team ever took was firmly planted in his mind. As well as the events of the next day.
A stab of nervousness went through him at that and Sean wondered how he was going to handle what was to come.
"Well good luck," Chimecho said. "I'll see you at dinnertime." She floated off, leaving the pair with Bidoof and Corphish.
"By the way," Corphish started. "Well done Shinx. I was always rooting for you to join the guild!"
"Yup-yup, always knew you could make it," Bidoof agreed.
"Ah… don't embarrass me." Rai blushed.
"Seriously though, we're happy to have you here," Corphish continued. "I know you'll be an amazing adventurer. Just like your mother and father."
Rai blanched, Bidoof gasped and Corphish choked on his words.
"Uh… uh… hey-HEY what's that over there?" He scuttled off as quickly as his six legs would carry him, Bidoof mumbling something unintelligible before running off himself.
Bidoof glanced back, eyes meeting Sean's for a moment, before he ducked down and ran up to the next level. Sean turned to Rai who was blinking a little too much to be normal.
Swallowing, he decided to take a stab at asking some difficult questions. "So, they ran off in a hurry." Only to default to something safer. "What's that about?" he asked, forcing the subject back to something more uncomfortable.
"Nothing really." Rai shrugged, turning around to walk back to their room. "Nothing to be bothered at least."
Sean heard what wasn't said and wisely decided to listen to it and not press further. He glanced between Rai and the slope leading to the upper level, debating. He quickly decided to stick with Rai, everything was still far to strange and different to consider being alone.
He heard the shinx sigh a little when he caught up and walked with him in silence back to their room. "I'm still really sore from yesterday," Rai admitted once they got to their room. Slumping down on the nearest bed he groaned. "I'm not used to getting pounded like that."
Sean bit his tongue and walked to the second bed. "Have to confess, I'm not used to getting beaten up either. But when we find them…" he trailed off warningly.
Rai rolled over to face him, consternation marring his expression. "Find them?"
"We'll find those Team Skull assholes," Sean stated. Not a doubt lingering in his words. "And we'll get the Relic Fragment back."
Rai blinked at him owlishly for a moment. "Noctowlishly?" Sean thought to himself, before Rai spoke.
"You're a very strange pokémon," he said plainly. Sean gave a chuckle, but Rai's expression was firm. "You told me you were a human… I'm not sure if I believe you, but you don't act like any pokémon I've met before."
"You've only just met me," Sean said. He knew it could be hurting his chances at being believed, but he still had to say it.
"Yeah," Rai agreed before surprising Sean. "Exactly." He smiled slightly before yawning and closing his eyes. "I know we only just woke up, and I'm normally an early riser, but I'm still so tired."
Sean hummed his agreement. "I'm not such an early-delibird, but I don't sleep too easy either."
"Heh," Rai laughed, eyes still closed. "Been here a day and you're already saying stuff like 'early-delibird'."
"Thought it'd make sense," Sean said. He had planned the comment in advance.
"Mm."
They laid in silence for a moment, drifting off, but something occurred to Sean that wouldn't allow him respite until he had answers.
"Rai? You still conscious?"
"…Yeah. That's a weird way of asking if I'm awake though."
"Your name is… Rai, right?"
"Right."
"Mine's Sean. But when you introduced me earlier you said Meowth. And everyone else's names are, well, what they are. Is that the norm? Or do you have a different name for another reason?"
"Nah. We all have names you see. But it's polite to call someone you don't know, or just am acquaintances with, by what they are. It's a privilege thing, something for friends, family and mates to call you by your name."
Sean digested that information for a moment, it made a comforting amount of sense. Still, there was one last thing on his mind.
"You told me your name, and you barely know me."
"You told me yours. Even if you didn't know the significance, you still did. I like to think, though, that we could be friends. Either way, I'm fine if you want to keep calling me Rai… can I call you Sean now that you know?"
"Definitely. Goodnight Rai, and… thanks."
"Goodnight Sean. And thank you. I didn't think I'd ever get to join the Wigglytuff, or any, guild. If I had to lose my Relic Fragment to do it, well… that's just what had to happen."
Rai fell asleep first, setting a trend Sean knew would persist. Sleep did not come to him as easily, though. Rai's last words lingered in his head.
"Yeah… but you weren't supposed to lose it. That's not how the story goes. It didn't need to happen. But we will find it. We have to. Team Skull will turn up eventually, the expedition I think. I gotta make sure that happens…"
Well, well, well. Chapter 2 ended up going a bit differently than I had anticipated. I originally intended on having the second dungeon to be explored in this chapter, but since everything else was going so smoothly I decided to end it here.
This may not have been the most exciting chapter, with a large amount of talking going on here. This'll hopefully be the only chapter like this, other chapters should have the mix of dialogue and action.
But yes. Timeline wise things are already messed up a bit. Normally this day would have the job request to find Spoink's Pearl in the Drenched Bluff. But they joined today. But what does tomorrow bring, a certain predatorial Psychic…