I'm not gonna put disclaimers on the rest of the chapters. It should be enough to be in the first one since the disclaimer is not going to change throughout the story.

Chapter 2 – The New Guild Recruits

"Well, here we are.", Spark said as the two reached the top of the stairs where the guild was located at.

The guild was a small tent. It's top half was shaped like wigglytuff, a pink, round Pokémon with long pointy ears and short arms and legs, white belly and a pink tuft of fur on it's head. The bottom half was yellow and it had red symbols going around it, that by the shape reminded the fur tuft on wigglytuff's head. The entrance to the gate was blocked off by a metal gate. On both sides of the tent there were big torches, totems describing various different Pokémon, trees, logs tied together in 'X' shape and yellow-and-red banners describing wigglytuff's face. Everything was laid on both sides of the path symmetrically. Jun couldn't help but to think that the ears on the banner looked more like angry eyebrows, which may have been unintended.

"Looks pretty small. Are you sure we're in the right place?", Jun asked half seriously.

"Yes. I have never been inside the guild, but there has to be more to it than what you can see.", Spark replied. Upon walking closer they noticed a wooden grate on the ground in front of the entrance.

"What's up with thar grate?", the riolu asked while pointing at it.

"I think they identify visitors that way.", the shinx said. "Although, I'm not sure how they can tell apart different visitors of same species."

"Well, let's just step on it then.", Jun said thinking that it would be so much easier to have a regular door. "You wanna go first?"

"I guess.", Spark said, stepping on the grate. Suddenly Jun and Spark could hear two other Pokémon talking somewhere below them. Jun couldn't hear them properly because he was standing further away. He didn't even think about what they were saying. He knew he would hear them when it was his turn.

"Alright, your turn.", the shinx said stepping of the grate.

As soon as Jun stepped on the grate he heard the voices again, clearlier this time.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint is it?"

"The footprint is, um... Riolu's?"

"What? You are not sure?"

To Jun it sounded like they were now arguing so he didn't even pay attention to what they were saying. His attention was brought back to them as soon as the other one spoke up.

"Sorry to keep you waiting"

Soon after the gate to the tent opened up. They walked in the tent noticing that it was mostly empty. There was a ladder going down in the middle. The ladder was special because unlike most ladders, it's steps spiraled around the ladder, making them seem they were more like stairs. The inside of the tent was decorated with the same banners that were outside. Jun and Spark quickly looked at each other before going down the ladder.

They arrived to a large open room with many different kinds of pokemon all over the room. There were two bulletin boards in the room. One on each side of the ladder.

"Well, we're in now. I'm guessing We'll have to find Wigglytuff next.", the shinx said looking around the room. Jun was just about to suggest going down one more level when a small bird Pokémon climbed up the ladder and hopped over to them. It had blue wings, black head that was shaped like eighth note and black tail that looked like a metronome, yellow chest and legs, green stomach and a pink beak.

"The two of you were the ones who just arrived, right?", the bird Pokémon asked looking at Spark and Jun. "I am Chatot, the Guildmaster's assistant. What might your business be with us?"

"We were thinking about joining the guild.", Spark said.

"What? Really?", the chatot asked a bit surprised. "You look pretty young. Are you sure you can handle the training? Especially you.", he said looking over to Jun. "You don't seem to be in very good shape compared to most riolu based of you bad posture."

Spark was looking at Jun curiously. He hadn't even paid attention to it, but Chatot had a point, Jun's posture was worse than an average riolu's, not by much anyway.

"We'll never know if I don't try.", the riolu said slightly annoyed by the bird Pokémon's words. He thought that his posture may be caused by either not begin fully accustomed to riolu's body, or his posture begin like that when he was a human.

"Very well, then. Follow me.", Chatot said and hopped over to the ladder leading down, Jun and Spark following behind. They arrived to a room slightly larger than the previous one. There were several corridors leading out of the room, unlike the last one. Chatot led them to a closed door to their left.

"This is the Guildmaster Wigglytuff's room.", Chatot stated. "There is no need to be formal. Just make sure you show no disrespect."

They both nodded to the bird Pokémon, who then proceeds to knock on the door. After a few seconds, a "Come in!" could be heard on the other side of the door. Chatot opens the door and signals Jun and Spark to follow him.

Wigglytuff was waiting for them at the other end of the room standing on a red carpet. On both sides of the carpet, there was a big torch. One of the corned had all sorts of items neatly placed there. Chatot leads the two in the middle of the room and steps aside himself. "Guildmaster, these two would like to join the guild as apprentices."

"Wonderful! I am Wigglytuff, the Guildmaster.", the pink Pokémon said as he took out paper and a feather pen. "Tell me friends, what are your names?"

"My name is Spark.", the shinx started. "And this is Jun."

Wigglytuff mumbled something to himself as he wrote down their names on the paper. Then he lifted his gaze back to the two Pokémon. "And what would you like your team name to be."

"What could be a good name for our team?", Spark asked as he turned to Jun.

"I was hoping you could come up with something.", Jun sighed.

"Hmm... How about 'Team Light'?", the shinx suggested. "Both lightning and aura radiate light, so It would be something to fit for both of us."

"That'll do, I guess.", the riolu said, not having any better ideas himself. He knew that riolus and lucarios could use a power called aura, but didn't know how. He knew he had to learn it at some point.

"Alright then.", Wigglytuff chimes in. "You'll be registered as 'Team Light'."

Then he walks over to the corner of the room and picks up a box among the other stuff and gives it to Jun and Spark. "This box contains all you'll need to get started."

Jun opens the box. The first thing he notices is a bag that can be used to hold items during explorations. The next thing in the box was a pair of badges. Chatot explained that those badges were their identification of begin an exploration team. The last thing in the box was a paper scroll. Jun opened it up and it turned out to be a map. There was a text 'Grass Continent' written on it. He closed the map put it in the bag. He noticed that the back was not empty. There were two scarves inside. Ignoring them for now he turned to look Wigglytuff and Chatot to see what they'll say next.

"Next I'll be showing you your room.", Chatot said, leading the two of them out of the room. They walked to the left corridor and all the way to the end of it, stopping in front of a door. "This will be your room. You'll be living here while you are under our training."

"Your training will start tomorrow, so you can spend the rest of today how you wish.", he continued. "If you plan going outside, just make sure you're back by dinner."

Then the bird Pokémon hops away leaving the Jun and Spark alone for the time begin. They opened the door to their room and stepped inside. The room was a simple circular room with two hay beds and a window.

"What should we do?", Spark asked looking over to Jun. "It's still early afternoon so we got plenty of time."

"I don't know, but...", Jun started as he opened the bag. "There were two scarves in the bag. Which one do you want?"

He pulled the two scarves out of the bag. The other one was crimson red Attack Scarf, while the other one was emerald green Defense Scarf.

"I guess I'll take the green one.", the shinx said.

What?", Spark said with a straight face as Jun handed the green scarf to him. "Do you expect me to be able to put the scarf on my own? My front legs are not that flexible."

Jun sighed as he walked closer to Spark to tie the scarf around his neck. "Don't expect me to do this every day."

"I won't, but thanks anyway", Spark replied giving him a smile.

"So, what are we gonna do for the rest of today?", the riolu asked as he tied his scarf around his neck.

"How about we take a walk around the town. I can tell you more about the shops and other services available there while we're at it.", Spark suggested.

"Why not. It's not like I have anything else to do anyway.", Jun replied. They walked through the town while Jun listened to Spark's explanation on the different shops and services. There was a bank, dojo, daycare, link shop, general store, appraisal and storage. There were tenst all around the town and according to Spark, there is also a small library further down one of the paths. It didn't take long for them to walk through the small town, so they decided to go just hang out at the Sharpedu Bluff until they had to return to the guild.

"It's getting late.", the shinx said lookin at the setting sun and then turning to Jun. "I guess we should head back to the guild."

The riolu just nodded to this and they both started making their way back through the town. Just as they climbed ladder down to the second underground level of the guild, Chimecho, a Pokémon that resembles a wind chime, came over to announce that the dinner is ready. The Chimecho had a round white body with a red line going around it's head. It had a yellow appendage on it's head, yellow eyes and a flat tail looking extension hanging from the bottom, which lower half was red. Everyone, except for Jun and Spark, rushed to the right hallway. They entered a room with a long wooden table with plates with fruits and berries placed ready for everyone. The two of them got quiet a bit of stares from the other apprentices for begin the 'new guys'. Jun especially felt a bit uncomfortable having so many eyes follow him at once. As the two of them took places by the table, Chatot and the Guildmaster entered the room and signed the other to start eating. During the dinner Spark joined to the conversation with the other apprentices and introduced his and Jun's team to them. Jun on the other hand didn't have anything particular to say, so stayed silent throughtout most of the dinner.

After Jun and Spark were done eating, they returned to their room to get ready to sleep. Jun dropped the bag next to the door and laid down on his bed. He didn't really feel sleepy yet, but he had to try anyway, who knows how early they'll have to wake up tomorrow.

Jun doesn't know how long he has been awake since he tried to sleep, but it felt like eternity. He was anxious about tomorrow which was the most likely cause for him not begin able to fall asleep. He looked over to Spark and it seemed like he had fallen asleep already. He looked so peaceful while sleeping. Jun closed his eyes once more trying to get some sleep.

"It's morning! Time to get up!"

Jun and Spark woke up to the loud noise from the hallway. It was Loudred, one of the apprentices who they met at dinner yesterday. Soon after the door opened and he was standing in the doorway. He had a purple body, a big bouth that covered most of it's body with one tooth on each corner and yellow lips. His arms and legs were short and he had circular ears with black and pink rings on the inside.

"You're up. Great! The morning assembly will be shortly, so don't be late.", the Loudred said with a relatively high volume level that he concidered normal. Then he left the room.

"Are you ready to go?", Spark asked.

"I guess so.", Jun said not sounding very confident.

"You okay? Feeling nervous?", the shinx asked as they walked towards the door.

"A bit I guess. I just don't know what to expect. You never really told me what we exactly do here.", Jun said as he picked up their bag by the door and put it over his shoulder.

"Oh... Well, mainly we help other Pokémon in need, but occasionally do explore unknown territory.", the shinx explained. "You still decided to form the team even though you didn't know where you were getting into?", he added in a bit surprised tone.

"Well, it's not like I have anything else to do.", the riolu stated. "Remember; I have amnesia. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do or where I was supposed to be. At least I have something to do if nothing else."

Spark still wanted to say something, but they had arrived to the morning assembly by then so he decided to just drop the subject. They took places in the back row. Jun was grateful that Spark didn't want in the front. No one can see him in the back row except for Chatot and Wigglytuff.

"Looks like everyone is here.", said Chatot as he looked through the group. "Alright. Time to get to work!"

"Hooray!"

And with that the other apprentices were off. Jun and Spark walked over to Chatot to ask for what to do next.

"Alright you two.", the bird Pokémon started as they approached him. "I'll show you what you'll be doing today. Follow me."

Chatot led them up the ladder to the bulletin board on the right side of the first underground floor.

"On this board you'll find job offers left by other Pokémon. The jobs can range anywhere from item delivery to rescues missions.", Chatot explained. "All of these jobs are within areas where hostile Pokémon lurk. That's why other Pokémon ask for our help."

"Jun, that cave we went to get my Relic Fragment back was one of those kinds of areas.", Spark said as he turned to the riolu. "The Pokémon there are not particularly strong, so they left us alone because they didn't see attacking us worth it."

"Is it normal for other Pokémon to be hostile?", Jun asked.

"Yes, although not in as high numbers as they are nowadays.", Chatot replied. "We believe it has something to do with the recent inchidents of time going crazy."

Jun was not sure what he meant by 'time going crazy', but he decided to not question any further. The word 'recent' already told him that it's something that he should know. Even though he did have amnesia, he wanted to stand out as little as possible. He could always ask Spark later.

"Anyway, I'll choose a job that'll be suitable for you two.", Chatot continued and turned around to look through the board. "This one should do."

Jun took the job offer Chatot handed to him. After reading through it, he said "So, we're going to need to find a pearl Spoink lost somewhere in Drenched Bluff..."

"Yes. Now open your map and I'll show you where the Drenched Bluff is.", the bird Pokémon said. Jun opened the Treasure Bag and took out the map and opened it on the floor.

"There.", Chatot said as he pointed a location on the map no far to the south-east from Treasure Town.

"Let's get going then.", Spark said excitedly as Jun put the map back to the Treasure Bag. The two of them climbed up the ladder above ground and exited the guild. They walked down the stairs to the cross roads.

"We need to go left from here if we want to get to the Drenched Bluff.", the shinx said.

"I hope you know where to go. It could be hard to navigate to an excact location with the map we since it shows the entire contient."

"I know just about where it is."

"Okay, then you probably should take the lead."

"Alright, this is it.", Spark said.

"Let's get looking then."

"By the way. Since you have amnesia, do you know what the pearl looks like?"

"Wasn't it pink and pretty big compared to most pearls?"

"Yeah."

"And I still do seem to have some kind of memories of different specieses of Pokémon."

"That's good. It'll make things easier. Let's go."

At first Jun and Spark didn't see many Pokémon at all, but the deeper into the bluff they went, the more appeared along with some aggressive ones. Jun was attacked by an Anorith, who was quickly taken care of by a Force Palm, a move where the user thrusts the opponent with their palm. Later Jun was sneak attacked by Chingling's Confusion. It was thanks to Spark's quick reactions to use Bite on the Chingling, that Jun didn't get hit by another Confusion.

"Are you okay?", the shinx asked.

"I guess so. Just a bit of a headache.", Jun said holding his head with one hand.

"Let's keep going. It shouldn't be far away by now.", Spark said. The riolu just nodded and the two of them kept going, although a bit slower pace than before. The headache was making it hard for Jun to keep up or concentrate. Fortunately for them, they didn't encounter any agressive Pokémon after that point.

"Look, Jun!", Spark exclaimed. "That must be the pearl."

"Well, let's get it to it's owner.", the riolu said as he picked the pearl up and put in his Treasure Bag. "I don't really feel like getting hit by another Confusion today."

Their way out of the bluff went a bit better than the way in. They only encountered one Shellos on their way out, who ran away frightened after barely dodging a Spark from the shinx.

After returning to the guild, Jun and Spark went down on the first underground floor, where Chatot and Spoink were waiting for them. Spoink was a small and grey pglet looking Pokémon with two pointy ears, pink nose, two arms and a spring like tail.

Jun took the pearl out of his bag and handed it over to the spoink, who then placed it on top of it's head and said "Than you for getting my pearl back. As promised, I'll give you these as a reward."

Spoink placed two bottles and a bag of coins on the ground in front of Jun and Spark. Jun took the bottles in his hands and read the labels on them. One of them was Calcium and the other one was Iron. By the time Jun looked back up, Spoink had already left.

"Alright. Next I'll give you your share of the coins that were given as a reward.", Chatot said as he opened the bag of coins. Then he handed over a pile of coins to Spark, who then counted them.

"We only get to keep tenth of the reward money?", Spark said looking a bit dissapointed.

"Well, you do get to keep all the items. Additionally, you have a room and get a dinner every day while you are apprentices at the guild. I'd say it's reasonable amount.", Chatot said.

Jun and Spark couldn't really do anything about it, not that Jun would care that much. He didn't think he would use much of the money anyway. There didn't seem to be really anything to spend the money in town, except for the general store.

After dinner Jun and Spark returned to their room. They talked a bit before going to sleep, since neither of them felt sleepy yet.

"So, what do you think about our first day?", the shinx asked.

"Getting hit by Confusion aside, it was okay. I think I can get used to something like this."

"In the morning you sounded like you only agreed to this to have something to do."

"Well, that's partially true. I wouldn't do this if I found it too boring. If I'd had to do this alone, then it definetly would be."

"So you at least somewhat enjoy this?"

"Yeah. At least for now 'somewhat enjoy' is the best you can get out of me."

"And why is that?", Spark asked curiously.

"I don't know. I haven't been able to thruly enjoy anything. I don't if it's caused by the amnesia or something from my past that I of course can't remember.", Jun stated.

"Do you think that we'd need to do something about it?"

"Unless it gets worse, I don't think so."

"Okay. Well, I guess we should get some sleep now.", Spark said. The riolu just nodded to this and the both of them laid down on their beds and tried to get some sleep. Just like last night, it took some time for Jun to fall asleep. He wasn't sure what kept him awake this time, but eventually he fell asleep.

Well, that's second chapter. It ended up begin quiet a bit longer than I thought. I hope you enjoyed it.