Chapter 2: The New Guild Recruits
Our two future adventurers hurried back to the top of the mountain where the guild was standing. They stopped right before the grill on the ground.
"That's the guild. That's where we're gonna form our own exploration team. We're gonna train hard and become first-grade explorers in no time!" The meowth explained, excited.
The meowth went on the grill first and stood there.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A familiar voice loudly ordered.
This time, the meowth was much less scared than the first time but still jumped a bit when he heard the voice that loud.
"Hello again, Meowth, have you already changed your mind?" The voice asked.
"Actually, I found someone willing to form an exploration team with me." Meowth answered.
"If that's the case, you can go ahead and let your friend stand on the grill." The voice replied.
Meowth moved forward by the gate while the new pokemon walked on the grill. The latter halted his walk on it.
"Alright, stand right there. Let's see… A cyndaquil, eh? I've never seen or heard of you before." The voice pointed out.
"I found him washed ashore and he helped me teach a lesson to some troublemakers. I thought I could bring him here for the moment while he recovers his memory." Meowth said.
"Well, I guess I can let you in but you'll have to talk to our guildmaster about it." The voice concluded.
The gate opened and the two pokemons entered the tent. Inside, they found a ladder going down inside the cliff, a similar trait Meowth's house shared with the guild. They went down the ladder to the next floor where some pokemon where waiting for them. Once on the floor, a chatot approached them.
"Good afternoon, children, I am Chatot, the guildmaster's assistant. If you ever need to report anything, seek my aid. I heard you wanted to form an exploration team, is that correct?" The chatot greeted.
Meowth happily nodded.
"Excellent! We're always looking for new recruits to explore this whole new continent. Before we register you two, would you like a little tour of our establishment?" Chatot proposed.
The two newcomers nodded and the chatot began his tour. They approached some boards near the entrance.
"The left one is for rescues, explorations and deliveries. Those are the missions students usually prefer to do for how easy and simple they are. The right one has bounties. Sometimes, a pokemon becomes an outlaw and is wanted by justice which is why we have this board. Explorers can help authorities with the bounties." Chatot explained.
Meowth was impressed. To think he would soon go on missions excited him. The group went down another level. The new level was more of a huge room for the purpose of giving a resting place for tired explorers. A few students, four of them, were resting.
"Gather up, students! We have some new recruits today." Chatot announced.
The students approached the group. A bidoof and a corphish formed one duo while a sunflora and a loudred formed another one.
"Howdy! I'm Bidoof from the Water Continent." The bidoof greeted.
"Hey hey! I'm Corphish from the water continent too." The corphish saluted.
"Oh my gosh! Hi! I'm Sunflora and I did all the decorations in the guild. I'm from the Air Continent." The sunflora anxiously said.
"HI! I'M LOUDRED, THE ONE WHO WORKS THE SPEAKERS AROUND! I'M ALSO FROM THE AIR CONTINENT!" The loudred shouted.
"Students, those two are new students for the guild. Treat them nicely. Children, I present you Bidoof and Corphish. They are beginners just like you and joined a week ago. Over there, they are Sunflora and Loudred. They are more advanced and nearly ready to pass the test to become independent explorers and graduate from the guild." Chatot said.
The trio went to the left of the ladder leading into a corridor with many doors.
"These are the bedrooms where you can stay while you work for the guild." Chatot said.
The cyndaquil looked at his friend who was shaking like a leaf and had a big grin on his face. He could tell his friend was overjoyed. They group returned to the big room and went across into another room, this time a kitchen where a chimeco and a dugtrio was.
"Children, this is Chimeco, the guild steward, and Dugtrio, the sentry. Chimeco cooks for the students while Dugrtio checks anyone that enters the guild. He was the one who checked you two." Chatot explained.
The two new students said hello to the adults and followed the chatot back upstairs. They went to a room near the ladder. It led to an office where a wigglytuff was sat behind a desk playing with papers. It made paper airplanes and threw them all over the office. It suddenly stopped when pokemons entered the room.
"Yay! New friends!" The wigglytuff exclaimed.
"Who's this one fooling around with paper?" Meowth asked.
The remark angered Chatot while the wigglytuff giggled. The chatot immediately pinched Meowth on the cheek.
"This is the guildmaster! Show some respect at least!" Chatot scolded.
The wigglytuff did not appreciate seeing someone being hurt. He went to the aid of Meowth and slapped Chatot in the face.
"Do not hurt friends!" The guildmaster simply said.
"Yes, guildmaster…" Chatot apologized.
"Apologize to them!"
"Yes, guilmaster…"
Chatot apologised to the meowth who forgave him.
"But yes, this is the guildmaster. He is very special." The chatot said back.
"Hello, friends! What brings you here?" The guildmaster asked.
"We would like to form a team." Meowth explained.
"Alright, do you have a name for your team?"
"I thought of team Pokepals."
"Such a delightful name. Welcome aboard, friends, and may your days at the guild be full of joy and adventure."
"Thank you, guildmaster. Now, since it is getting late, I will escort you two to your room." Chatot concluded.
The group went back to the bedrooms. Chatot gave them the room at the end of the corridor. It was a small room with two piles of hay on the ground and a circular window that gave a sigh of the sea. The two new members lied down in the piles of hay.
"What's your name? I never thought to ask you this when we first met." Meowth asked to his new friend.
The cyndaquil looked at his friend but did not say anything. He just raised his shoulders.
"You don't remember? How about I call you Cyndaquil?" Meowth proposed.
The cyndaquil tilted his head sideway.
"Well, you're a cyndaquil and everyone here is referred by their specie." Meowth pointed out.
The cyndaquil nodded. They both fell asleep. Meowth dreamt of all the adventures he would get into with his new friend, the many friends he would make on his journey…
"IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP, EVERYONE!" A voice shouted.
The voice was partially muffled. Meowth and Cyndaquil woke up, dizzy, and they slowly regained their sense and looked around. They noticed the speaker above the doorway. Loudred did say he was the announcer of the guild. They both stood up and headed to the main room. Everyone else was already here especially Loudred who gave an intimidating gaze at the new recruits.
"You're late." Loudred whispered.
Even his whisper was a bit loud for one as if he was talking normally. Chatot heard the remark and went to see him.
"Loudred, it is not your duty to scold students. If you deem someone needs to be scolded, you report it to me." Chatot said.
"Yes, Chatot." Loudred quietly sighed.
Chatot then returned in front of the crowd.
"Alright, students, remind me of the three fundamental rules of our establishment. Rule one…" Chatot started.
"DON'T SHIRK WORK!" The crowd yelled.
"Correct. You are here to help people so do not, in any way, neglect them. Remember that, students. Rule two…"
"RUN AWAY AND PAY!"
"That is also correct. If you fail to complete your mission, you will have to pay for the consequences. Rule three…"
"SMILES GO FOR MILES!"
"Excellent. Do not underestimate the thanks you get from your client. They will then speak highly of you and you will be renown more and more by the minute. They are counting on you to help them. Now, go pick your missions on the board." Chatot concluded.
All the students left the main room and went upstairs. Meowth and Cyndaquil were amazed by the speech. Chatot then went to his office and came back with a box he presented to the newcomers.
"Children, I would like you two to have this welcome present from the guild." Chatot brought up.
Chatot opened the box and the newcomers took the freedom to take everything inside. There were two badges shaped like eggs with wings.
"Those are your rescue badges. Wear them on you to show the world you are certified explorers from an official guild. You may use them to help anyone stuck inside a mystery dungeon and send them somewhere safe or you may perform an emergency exit at a price. This penalty does not apply if you are on the last floor of a mystery dungeon. Always keep these with you, children." Chatot explained.
The children even found sidepacks inside. They wore them around their body and put their badge on them.
"Those are presents from the best tailors of the Air Continent. You can store anything you find on your adventures or stock up at the shops in town to prepare for your next adventure. Now, follow me at the boards. I will…" Chatot started explaining.
"May I beg your pardon?" A new voice spoke.
The trio was so focused with the box they did not even notice the presence of another visitor until he spoke up. This new visitor was wearing a black cloth with hood covering nearly all his body. Only his yellow eyes were visible. The visitor was quite tall, even taller than Chatot. He stood there quietly. His presence made Cyndaquil uncomfortable.
"Aaah! I haven't seen you before. Sorry for ignoring you, sir, I was teaching those new students over here." Chatot apologised.
The stranger looked at the newcomers. He stared for a moment at the cyndaquil and looked back at Chatot. Though he spoke in a very calm and polite manner, Cyndaquil was worried.
"So, what is your business here, sir?" Chatot asked.
"I would like to register myself as an independent explorer." The stranger answered."
"Well, this is usually for those who have at least a year of experience in the domain and are adults since you need to pass an incredibly hard test. However, judging by your voice and if you insist, I will prepare the test for you."
"Yes please, that would be great of you."
"That is settled. Wait for me at the crossroad down the hill. I will send those two on a mission then I will organize your test." Chatot ended.
The stranger nodded and left the room via the ladder. The others also took the ladder but only went to the other floor above unlike the stranger who completely left the guild. Chatot led the two new students at the board on the left. Before they could look at it, a bell rang.
"Oh no. The explorers are back." Chatot whispered.
He then took the children to a corner and watched as the room suddenly filled with many pokemons who quickly gathered around the boards. Some of them were even stepping on others to get the best missions. A few seconds later, the wave returned upstairs and the room went instantly quiet again.
"As you can see, we have many explorers contributing to map the newly named Grass Continent." Chatot chanted as if nothing ever happened.
They returned to the left board. Only one mission was left on it. Chatot took the paper off the board and examined it.
"Well, at least, they did not leave a really tough one for you children but I wished your first day would be a bit more exciting than that." Chatot sighed as he lent the paper to the new recruits.
Meowth and Cyndaquil read the paper. They were impressed with how much information there was on the mission:
Client: Spoink
Location: Drenched Bluff (7th floor)
Difficulty: E
Reward: 1000 pokes
Description: I lost my pearl there. Please, find it quickly. I'm weakening by the minute.
Behind, Chatot gasped when he read the paper with the new students.
"By Arceus! Everyone overlooked that mission for the low reward while a spoink is dying!" Chatot furiously exclaimed.
"Excuse me but I do not understand." Meowth said, unsure of what was going on.
"Ah, forgive my reaction but this is serious. A spoink's pearl is like his heart. If he loses it he will die soon. You have to hurry, children. Your client is counting on you. To get to the Drenched Bluff, you must exit the town from the east at the crossroad then head south. Now go!" Chatot quickly order.
The new recruits immediately left the guild and followed Chatot's indication. Before they left the town, they saw the cloaked stranger next to the well filling a small canister. The stranger saw them.
"Where are you going?" The stranger asked.
"Sorry, no time to talk!" Meowth replied.
They left town but cyndaquil kept looking at the stranger until he could no longer see him. They arrived at the Drenched Bluff. They entered the place and felt the same weird feeling like the one when they entered the Beach Cave. The Drenched Bluff was a maze of cave-like corridors surrounded by its green-brown rocky walls and light blue sandy floor. A few underground lakes were also present in this mystery dungeon. They ventured through the corridors and rooms. With their new bag, they could pick up the items that were found in the dungeon. Those items were either apples, gummis, berries or seeds. They encounter an anorith. Cyndaquil looked at Meowth and pointed him.
"You want me to take on him one on one?" Meowth asked, nervous.
Cyndaquil nodded. Meowth moved ahead and thought of something to beat the anorith. He snapped his fingers and…
"SCRATCH!" He shouted as he used his claws to attack the anorith.
The wild pokemon barely flinched. It hurt Meowth more than it hurt its opponent. Meowth grabbed his hand in pain and looked back at his friend. The latter opened his mouth and pointed his mouth. He wanted Meowth to bite the anorith? Meowth was not sure at first. He got himself hurt by scratching the wild pokemon and biting it seemed to be a worse idea. Nonetheless, Meowth decided to give it a try. If his friend showed him to and fought much better than Meowth, maybe he knew much more about combat than Meowth did.
"BITE!" Meowth shouted as he used his fangs this time to attack the anorith.
This time, he did not feel pain while biting it, not only that but he also defeated his first opponent in his life. He looked back at his friend and let out a hurrah to celebrate his small exploit. They pressed onward and reached a dead end where a much bigger pokemon was, facing away from the explorers. It was an armaldo and he just found a small pink pearl and decided to examine it. They hoped they would not have to fight that right now.
"A pearl like that must be one of those spoinks usually wields on their head. I hope it's not that or a spoink is in great danger." The armaldo said to himself.
The pokemon did not seem to be aggressive. It was calm. It slightly reassured Team Pokepals. When the two explorers approached him, still being cautious, the armaldo turned around and looked at them.
"Ah! Hello there, children! What brings you there? It's a dangerous place for children like you." The armaldo commented.
"What are you doing here?" Meowth asked while pointing the pink pearl the armaldo was holding.
"Me? I was taking a walk in this mystery dungeon to gather some supplies for myself. I stumbled across this pearl here. Were you after this?"
"Yeah so…"
Cyndaquil grabbed Meowth's shoulder and showed him the mission request. This gave meowth the idea to take the sheet and show it to the armaldo.
"We were sent here on behalf of a client to retrieve a pink pearl." Meowth explained while showing his badge.
It was then that the armaldo just noticed the badges the children were wearing on their bag.
"Oh! You are from the guild. In that case, the pearl is yours. Make haste as I fear the worse for your client. Once you return in town, please send my regards to the guildmaster. Tell him that it's from his mentor. He'll understand." The armaldo said as he gave the pearl to the children.
With their first mission done, the children waved goodbye at the nice passerby and used their badges to return to town. Once there, they went back inside the guild where their client was waiting. His skin tone became lighter while he was struggling to breathe. The explorers handed their client the pearl. The latter put it on his head and started slowing bouncing. It bounced faster and faster. Its skin tone slowly returned to normal. It was back alive and kicking. The client thanked his two saviors and gave them their reward as promised before leaving the guild. Nearby, Bidoof and Corphish just saw the small scenery and went to see the new recruits.
"Hey hey! You did your first mission, guys! Congrats!" Corphish.
"Job well done! Ye should go see the guildmaster since it's yer first job. He's gonna hook ye up some stuff for your days at the guild." Bidoof said.
The new recruits headed to the guildmaster's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in, friends!" Wigglytuff's voice welcomed.
The new recruits entered the office to see Wigglytuff folding some sheets of paper to make origamis, the cloaked stranger sat on a chair, and Chatot behind the desk examining some papers. Chatot seemed baffled about the papers. He looked at the stranger.
"Well, that's a first time in our career, the first perfect score to be ever registered. It seems like I have to do some tweakings to my test. Anyway, following you passing the test, you are now an wanderer. With this title, you may perform independent explorations without having to ever take a mission on the boards. We however recommend you to still take missions to help contributing with the guild." Chatot announced to the stranger.
Chatot then gave a diamond badge to the stranger and the latter stood up and left. He passed by the two new recruits and briefly looked at the cyndaquil before vanishing to the floor above. The two students sat on the chairs in front of the desks.
"Ah, children, you returned! Congratulations on your first mission! May you show me your reward?" Chatot said.
Meowth pulled the thousand pokes they received from the client and put them on the desk.
"Ah! It's quite a big reward for you children. Let me explain how things work at the guild: Whenever you receive a monetary reward from either a client or a bounty, a quarter of the reward is mandatorily given to the guild. This allows you to pay for your membership and your right to take missions from the boards. You may also donate an additional quarter of your reward to rent a bed and another one for the food access." Chatot explained.
The two children thought about how much they wanted to donate to the guild. It was a first time for Meowth to get more than enough pokes. Usually, he would only get a hundred, just enough to get food. This time however, even if he donated the maximum amount, he would still get to keep some pokes. He looked at his friend who just nodded with a smile. He looked back at Chatot and…
"I'll donate the maximum!" Meowth declared.
"Well, that settles it. You may now freely use a bed and get access to food at the guild. Thank you for your donation. Your contribution will improve our services for future explorers." Chatot thanked.
After their meeting with the advisor, they went to the dining room to get a nutritious meal of berries and bread. Afterward, they left for the bedrooms where they took the same room as yesterday. They lied in their hay piles but did not sleep yet. Meowth was still concerned about his friend's past.
"Cyndaquil… Do you think someone out there is looking for you?" Meowth whispered, lying down in his pile of hay.
Cyndaquil looked at him and nodded.
"I hope your friend does not worry too much. Maybe if we can help more people, we'll get your friend's attention and you two will reunite soon." Meowth proposed.
Cyndaquil smiled at his new friend and hugged him. He first thought Meowth was selfish for bringing him into this explorer thing but, after seeing his friend in action and listening to him, he came to realization this new friend wanted what was best for him whether it was to reunite with old friends or make new friends.
"I have so many pokes. I'm not even sure what to buy with them. At least it'll allow us to browse the more expensive wares at the shops." Meowth whispered.
The two new recruits fell asleep. Meowth wished good night to Cyndaquil. Their first day of work was now at an end.