Hello, I just wanted to say a couple of things first. First of all, the first chapter has been edited. A few new thing have been added so you should really check it out. Also, I will be replying to reviews in the review section so that they will be out of the way. If you have any questions, please check there to see if it has already been answered. Please enjoy the new chapter.
Riolu and Xaira climbed up the stairs that led to Wigglytuff's Guild.
"Here we are," Riolu stated when they reached the top. Xaira stared at the building before her. It certainly was strange looking. The building was rather large and shaped like a Wigglytuff. A gate blocked the entrance. In front of the gate was a hole that was covered up by a grate.
"This is Wigglytuff's Guild," Riolu explained. "To form an exploration team, you need to register your team here. Then you have to train until you become a first-rate exploration team." Riolu stared at the building for a moment before shuddering.
"Y-y-yikes!" he stuttered. Xaira stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was having second thoughts.
"Isn't there something just a little odd about this place?" he asked. Xaira tilted her head and examined the building once more.
"I don't believe so," she replied, "Other than the shape of building itself, of course." Riolu gulped. He shook his head, mumbling something that Xaira couldn't hear. She noticed that he shot quick glances at her as he did. Slowly, he stepped up to the small grate. Taking a deep breath, he stood on top of it.
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" a voice suddenly shouted. Riolu cried in alarm, but stood his ground.
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" another voice asked.
"The footprint is Riolu's! The footprint is Riolu's!" the first voice replied.
"You may ENTER!" the second voice shouted, "Someone's with you! So get that stranger to stand up THERE!"
"He probably meant you, Xaira," Riolu stated, stepping off of the grate. Xaira stared at the grate for a moment.
(It looks very sturdy, and the worst it could do was tickle my feet, but it is still quite odd.) She thought as she stared.
"Hey! Stranger! Get on the GRATE!" Xaira was jolted out of her thoughts. She ran to the grate, standing on it.
"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"
"The footprint is…Um…" the voice trailed off.
"What's the matter? Sentry?" the second voice asked. For a moment, it was silent. "What's wrong, sentry Diglett?"
"Umm err," the first voice, muttered, "The footprint is… Maybe Eevee's! Maybe Eevee's!"
"What!?" the second voice exclaimed, "MAYBE!?" Riolu and Xaira exchanged glances as they listened to the two strange Pokémon argue.
"What?" Riolu muttered, "Are they arguing?"
"It seems that way," Xaira replied.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," one of the voices spoke up, "It's TRUE that you don't see any Eevee in these parts…But you don't SEEM to be bad…." The voice trailed off for a moment, as if in thought. "OK good enough! ENTER!" No sooner than he had said this, the iron gate opened, slightly shaking the ground as it did.
"Yikes!" Riolu exclaimed, "I'm so nervous! So jittery! But I'm glad we're finally allowed in. My heart's pounding though."
"We should probably get moving," Xaira said, stepping off of the grate, "We don't want them to close the gate on us."
"Ok," Riolu replied, "Let's go in." Xaira nodded. The room they entered was small, and had a floor made of dirt. Red banners hung in various areas, and a sign stood near a hole in the ground. Sticking out from the hole was a ladder that looked like it was crafted with four-legged Pokémon in mind.
"There's a hatch that leads underground here!" Riolu exclaimed.
"I've noticed," Xaira responded as she carefully climbed down the ladder, Riolu following close behind her.
"Wow!" Riolu exclaimed once we reached the floor below. Xaira glanced around as they walked towards the center of the room. This room was much larger than the first. The floor appeared to be covered with moss and grass. The stone walls, aside from the occasional vines and clumps of moss, were bare on three sides. She took note of the windows on either side of the room, which she decided were the source of the plentiful light in the area. On one side of the room, she noticed sheets of paper hanging together in two different areas. Several Pokémon stood near them, examining the papers and talking amongst themselves.
"So this is Wigglytuff''s Guild!" Riolu exclaimed, looking around the room, starry-eyed. "So many Pokémon! I wonder if they're all on exploration teams."
"I would assume that that is the case," Xaira replied, glancing at the Pokémon in the room. If you asked her, these Pokémon were rather unremarkable. None of them looked too tough. However, Xaira supposed that it would be unwise to judge solely on appearances.
"Excuse me," a voice called from the other side of the room, breaking Xaira out of her thoughts. Riolu almost jumped out of his skin. Xaira glanced to the side. Standing near the ladder was a green and blue Pokémon with a black head. He hopped up to the duo. As he did, Xaira noticed that he carried an air of authority.
"It was you two who just came in right?" he asked, examining the both of us. With the way he carried himself and the way he spoke, Xaira assumed that he was an important Pokémon in this place.
"Y-yes!" Riolu stuttered, suddenly standing straight.
"I'm Chatot!" the new Pokémon said. His voice had a cheery tone to it, "I'm the Pokémon in the know around these parts! I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right hand Pokémon!"
"Right hand Pokémon?" Xaira repeated, "Then you must know-"
"Now, shoo!" Chatot interrupted, "Leave the premises!"
"But we-" Xaira began.
"We have no time for salespeople or silly surveys!"
"But-"
"Off you go, if you please!" Chatot continued, completely ignoring Xaira's protests. She huffed.
"N-no! That's not why we're here!" Riolu exclaimed rather quickly," We want to form an exploration team. That's why we're here!"
"W-What?! Exploration team?" Chatot exclaimed. He turned so that he was not facing the duo.
"It's rare to see a kid like this want to apprentice at the guild," he muttered to himself seemingly completely unaware that Riolu and Xaira could hear him, "Surely the steady stream of Pokémon that run away from our rigorous training proves how true that is!"
"Excuse me," Riolu said, swallowing nervously and shifting his feet, "Is the exploration training really that severe?"
"What?!" Chatot exclaimed, quickly turning around and plastering on an entirely too friendly smile. "Well…No, no, no! It's not true in the slightest! Our training program for exploration teams is as easy as can be!"
"Are you sure about that?" Xaira muttered. Chatot didn't seem to hear her.
"Well, well, well!" Chatot exclaimed, "I wish you had told me up front that you wanted to be an exploration team!" He laughed, but it was obviously fake.
"I would have if you didn't interrupt me," Xaira muttered.
"His attitude certainly changed, didn't it?" Riolu whispered.
"A complete one-eighty," Xaira replied, "Pretty suspicious if you ask me."
"Ok," Chatot said, interrupting the conversation, "Let's get your team signed up right away. Follow me!" He hopped over to a ladder that lead deeper underground. Riolu and Xaira exchanged glances. Chatot turned around, staring at the two for a moment.
"Oh," he said, "Anything wrong? Come on! Over here! Quickly please!" Xaira could hear subtle annoyance in his otherwise cheery tone. Quickly, Riolu and Xaira followed him down the ladder. The floor below was larger than the previous one. Xaira quickly made note of the various exits in the room, wondering where they lead.
"This is the guild's second underground floor," Chatot explained as he led them to the far right side of the room, "This is mainly where the apprentices work. Team registration is this way." They stopped at a wooden door with an odd red symbol painted on it.
"Wow!" Riolu exclaimed, rushing to a nearby window, "We're two floors under the ground, but you can still see outside!"
"Oh please," Chatot snapped, "Hush now!" Riolu jumped and turned around. "The guild is built into the side of a cliff," Chatot explained as if he was speaking to a toddler, "It's only natural that you would be able to see outside."
"Oh," Riolu said quietly, looking down to hide his embarrassed blush. He walked back over to Xaira, who quietly chuckled.
"Now," Chatot said, "here we are at Guildmaster Wigglytuff's chamber. On no account…I repeat, on no account should you be discourteous to our Guildmaster." With that, he knocked on the wooden door. "Guildmaster! It's Chatot! I'm coming in!" The door opened, and Chatot led Riolu and Xaira inside the room. It was about the size of the first room in Riolu and Xaira had seen, if not slightly bigger. Like that first room, banners hung on the walls. Xaira noticed two torches on opposite sides of the room. A treasure chest sat against the wall, wide open with it's contents spilling out. Xaira's gaze focused on the room's center. There, standing on a mat, was a bright pink Pokémon, his back turned.
"Guildmaster!" Chatot called, "I present to you two Pokémon who wish to join our guild as apprentices." The Pokémon didn't move. Chatot shifted awkwardly.
"Guildmaster," Chatot said, "um…Guildmaster?" Riolu opened his mouth to comment. Suddenly, the pink Pokémon spun around.
"Hiya!" he said in a cheerful voice. Riolu cried out in alarm and jumped back. Xaira simply stared in shock.
"I'm Wigglytuff!" the Pokémon said with a large smile. "I'm the guild's Guildmaster! You want to form an exploration team?" Riolu and Xaira simply nodded, too stunned for words. "Then, let's go for it! First we must register your exploration team's name! What is you team's name?"
"Oh," Riolu said, "Our team's name?" He looked at Xaira and muttered, "We didn't think of that. So what do you think would be a great name for us, Xaira?"
"You're kind of putting me on the spot here," Xaira muttered, attempting to think of a good name.
"I certainly can't think of anything," Riolu replied. Suddenly, an idea came to Xaira.
"Vatonage," she said.
"Vatonage!?" Riolu repeated, "Team Vatonage!" He nodded. "Yeah! That's a good name! It suits us!" Wigglytuff smiled.
"All settled then! I'll register your team as Vatonage! Registering! Registering!" he sang. Riolu and Xaira gave each other confused glances. "All registered," Wigglytuff said after a few moments. "YOOM…TAH!" he shouted jumping up in the air. Riolu and Xaira both jumped back. Xaira looked around quickly. She could have sworn that she saw bright flashes of light. No one else seemed to notice or care.
"Congratulations!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, "From now on, you're an official exploration team! I present you with this in commemoration: a Pokémon Exploration Team Kit!" He placed a large, yellow chest on the ground in front of the two.
"A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit?" Riolu repeated.
"Yup," Wigglytuff said with a nod, "It's what every exploration team needs. Quick open it up." Riolu did so. Inside the chest was a map, a bag, and some round, white badges with wings on the sides.
"Yeah!" Riolu exclaimed, "There are all sorts of great things in here!
"That's your explorer badge, your team identification. And there's your Wonder Map, a wonder of convenience! Finally, there's a Treasure Bag. It lets you carry items. It's a very wonderful bag!" Riolu peered inside the bag, pulling out two items. One was a white ribbon, and the other was a grey colored cloth. As Riolu held the white ribbon, it slowly turned bright blue.
"This is-" Riolu trailed off, examining the ribbon.
"Those two items are special," Wigglytuff explained, "I'm sure they will help you on your adventures!"
"Th-thank you!" Riolu exclaimed, clutching the items close to him. "We'll do our best!"
"Yup," Wigglytuff said, "But you're only apprenticing right now. So do your best to train!"
"We will," Riolu said, overcome with joy. "Let's always do our best, Xaira!" Xaira nodded with a grin. This Pokémon's enthusiasm certainly was infectious.
"Now," Chatot said, "Let's see about sleeping arrangements, shall we?" He led Riolu and Xaira out of the room and down a long hallway.
"This is your room!" Chatot chirped as they entered the room at the very end. Xaira glanced around. It wasn't very large and was very simple. There was a window and two piles of straw, but not much else.
"Great! We get beds!" Riolu exclaimed, claiming the pile of straw closest to the entrance. As he sat down on it, he placed the Treasure Bag to the side. Xaira walked over to the other pile of straw and sat down. It was more comfortable than it looked, certainly better than the cold, stone floor.
"You will live here while you work with us," Chatot said, "Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow! So rise early and start living up to our code! Don't stay up late, and get to sleep early tonight! That is all." With that, he left the room. Xaira glanced at Riolu, who was examining what he got from the Treasure bag.
"Aren't these cool?" he asked. "This," he said, holding up the grey cloth "Is a Zinc Band. It raises special defense." Xaira watched as he folded the cloth in a circular shape and placed it around his arm. "And this," he said, picking up the blue ribbon, "Is what is known as an Aura Ribbon. When you touch it, it changes to the color of your aura. Not only that: it makes you stronger when you wear it!" He placed the ribbon in front of Xaira. "Go on!" Riolu said, "Touch it!" She placed her paw on the ribbon. Slowly, the blue ribbon's color changed to a blueish mint green.
"That's facinating," Xaira said.
"You can have it," Riolu said, "Your aura color is pretty!"
"How do I wear it?" Xaira asked. Riolu grabbed the ribbon and tied it into a bow near Xaira's left ear.
"There you go!" Riolu said with a cheerful smile.
"Thank you," Xaira said with a nod. She glanced at the window and noticed it was quite dark out. Riolu glanced at the window as well.
"It's getting late," Riolu said. "We should get to sleep." Xaira attempted to lie down, but it was hard to get comfortable with her new tail, and she shifted constantly. Eventually, she found that curling up into a ball was the most comfort she can get. Xaira attempted to relax in order to fall asleep, but it was rather difficult to do so as she felt rather restless.
"Oh, are you still awake, Xaira?" Riolu asked after a while. Xaira mumbled a yes. Riolu sighed before continuing. "My heart's been racing all day today about every little thing. But I'm glad I finally made myself come here. I thought Wigglytuff would be scary, but he seems pretty friendly. We're going to experience all sorts of things starting tomorrow, but honestly, I'm not very scared. In fact, I'm super excited about the adventures we'll face!" Xaira heard him yawn, "I'm feeling a little sleepy…Let's give it our all tomorrow. OK, Xaira. Good night."
"Good night," Xaira mumbled back, deep in thought.
(Today was eventful. First, I wake up with no memories, and now I'm suddenly apprenticing at the guild…I have to admit, it's pretty exciting to be in an exploration team, but first thing's first: Who am I? How did I turn into a Pokémon? How did I end up unconscious on that beach?" Xaira yawned, feeling exhaustion overtake her. "Well, thinking about it won't help right now. I'd better focus on the guild's work for now…If I do that, well, everything should become clear eventually…I'll surely get to the bottom of this in time.) Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, trying to ignore the sudden odd feeling of dread that swept over her.
"HEY! HEY THERE! RISE AND SHINE!" A loud shout jolted Xaira and Riolu out of their sleep. The loud noise hurt Xaira's sensitive ears and gave her a slight headache.
"Why are you still ASLEEP? WAKE UP!" the voice shouted. Xaira groaned in annoyance as she opened her eyes.
"My poor ears," Riolu grumbled as he did the same.
"Come on! Snap OUT of it!" the voice exclaimed. Xaira could have sworn that she had heard that voice before. "I'm Loudred! And I'm a fellow apprentice! If you're late for our morning briefing, you'll be SORRY! So MOVE it!" Xaira stood up, still groggy.
"Guildmaster Wigglytuff has got a BIG temper. If you make him lose it…" Loudred shuddered, "That would be one scary scene! I've got goosebumps just thinking about it! So ANYWAY…I'm not about to get in trouble just because you rookies got up LATE! SO GET IT IN GEAR!" With that, Loudred left the room.
"My ears are still ringing," Riolu said as he sat up. "What did he say? Something about being late?" There was a brief pause. "Oh, no! we totally overslept!" Scrambling to their feet, Xaira and Riolu rushed out of the room. They ran down the hallway until they reached the central chamber. It seemed that the other apprentices were already gathered.
"You're LATE rookies!" Loudred exclaimed as they took their places with the others. Xaira shot him a glare. After all, it wasn't her falt that she wasn't yet used to the schedule around here yet.
"Hush!" Chatot snapped, "Your voice is ridiculously loud!" Chatot looked over the group of Pokémon. "Everyone seems to be present," he said, "Very well. Let us conduct our morning address. Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance!" With that, Wigglytuff stepped out of his room.
"Thank you Guildmaster!" Chatot said, "Please address the crew." Wigglyytuff was silent for a few moments. He just stared off to space. The room was deadly silent. After a few moments, he unleashed a mighty snore, causing Riolu to jump. Murmurs filled the room.
"I'm impressed," Xaira whispered to Riolu, a smug smile forming on her face.
"Thank you sir! We all value your…" Chatot trailed of, thinking of something to say, "words of wisdom!" Xaira held back a snort. "OK, Pokemon! Take our Guildmaster's words to heart! Finnally, let's not forget our morning cheers! All together now!"
"A ONE, A TWO, A ONE-TWO-THREE!" the apprentices, with the exception of Riolu and Xaira shouted, "ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK! TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY! THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"
"OK, Pokémon," Chatot said, "Get to work!"
"HOORAY!" the apprentices shouted before walking off to do their various duties.
"Um," Riolu whispered to Xaira, "What do we do?" Xaira shrugged.
"You're asking me?" she asked.
"Hey," Chatot said, noticing them. "You shouldn't just be wandering around there. You two come here." Chatot lead the duo up the ladder and to a bulletin board that hung on the wall.
"You're just beginners," Chatot said, "We'll have you start out with this assignment." Chatot pulled a piece of paper off of the board. "This is the Job Bulletin Board. Pokémon from various regions post job requests here. You are aware that bad Pokémon are cropping up in greater numbers right?"
"Yup. Because the flow of time is getting messed up. It's wreaking havoc right? Which is why lots of bad Pokémon are appearing!" Riolu remarked.
"The flow of time is getting messed up? Time? As in hours and minutes?" Xaira asked. (Why does that sound so familiar?)
"Precisely," Chatot replied. 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. In addition and its unknown if this is because of time's influence. There has also been a mass outbreak of mystery dungeons."
"Mystery dungeons?" Xaira repeated, "I recognize that name, but I can't place it."
"You know how we got my Relic Fragment back yesterday?" Riolu asked, "The place where we found it was a mystery dungeon. A mystery dungeon's layout changes every time you enter it. The items found even change! If you faint, you lose half your money and items and get kicked right out. They are strange places. But it's not all bad. Each time you enter one, there's more to explore, and new things to discover!"
"Well, you're quite informed aren't you?" Chatot asked with a smile, "That makes things easier to explain! Here's your first job!" Chatot handed the sheet of paper to Riolu.
"Oh, really? Let's read it!" Riolu exclaimed before reading the letter.
Hello! My name is Spoink! An outlaw has run off with my most prized possession. My precious pearl! That pearl is life itself to me! I just can't seem to settle down if that pearl isn't in its proper place atop my head! But I've heard my pearl has been sighted! It is reported to be on a rocky bluff. But this bluff has been reported extremely unsafe! I could never go somewhere so frightening! Oh friendly readers, would you be kind enough to go to the bluff and get my pearl? I beg your help, exploration team members!
-Spoink
As Riolu read, Xaira glanced over his shoulder to read along, but much to her disappointment and frustration, she could barely make out a single word.
"Wait a second…" Riolu said, examining the letter again, visibly agitated, "We're going to fetch an item that someone dropped? I'd rather do something that's more of an adventure. I'd rather look for treasure or explore unknown places. Things like that!"
"It doesn't sound like our problem anyway," Xaira added.
"Hush!" Chatot scolded.
"Yikes!" Riolu exclaimed, taking a step back. Xaira didn't even flinch.
"It's important that you rookies pay your dues!" Chatot exclaimed, "And it would interest you two to know that a Spoink's pearl is his or her source of psychic power. Without it, they grow weak, which is a dangerous thing to happen to you these days! So with that in mind,I suggest you get on with the job!" Riolu gulped. Xaira sighed.
"Let's go Riolu," she said, "Between the two of us, we should finish this up pretty fast." Riolu nodded, and the duo set off towards the bluff.
The bluff certainly was rocky as Spoink's letter described. Pools of water were spread out everywhere. Xaira thought it to have a strange beauty about it. She noticed that Riolu looked less than impressed. It was obvious that he was very nervous about the upcoming job.
"This must be the bluff's entrance," Riolu said as he glanced around, "It sounds like a seriously dangerous place. We should be careful. Let's do our best, Xaira." Xaira nodded and glanced at Riolu, who was trembling.
"Calm yourself, Riolu," she said as they entered the dungeon, "If you get too nervous, aggressive Pokémon will take notice, and mark you as an easy target."
"How do you know that?"" Riolu asked.
"Isn't that an easy conclusion to make?" Xaira asked as they turned a corner.
"I guess," Riolu said with a shrug.
"Alright then," Xaira said, glancing around to ensure that no one was following them, "Let's hurry this up. I don't want to be here longer than I have to." The journey through the bluff was surprisingly easy for the duo. Xaira wasn't the strongest, but she made up for it by using the various items scattered throughout the dungeon. Riolu did slightly better in battle than she did, much to her annoyance.
"Seriously, Xaira," Riolu said as the duo walked into the next area, "Tricking that Anorith into activating a Blast Seed? That was brilliant!"
"I know," Xaira replied with a grin. "You showed promise yourself. You really saved me back there when that Chingling had me wrapped. Although, you would do better if you would put all your strength into your attacks. I could tell you were holding back a little." Riolu stared at the ground.
"I know," he said, "It's just-"
"What's that?" Xaira interrupted, noticing something sparkle a few feet away from her. She and Riolu rushed to the object to investigate. Upon getting a closer look, Xaira realized that the object was a pink pearl.
"This must be Spoink's pearl! " Riolu exclaimed, picking it up, "Let's hurry back with it!"
"Th-thank you!" Spoink exclaimed when the return of his pearl, "That pearl must be propped on my head you see! I missed it so much! I just couldn't settle down without it! So I was just boinging and sproinging everywhere! That's why I'm covered in these dings and bumps!"
(I almost would have liked to see that.) Xara thought.
"But thanks to you, that nightmare is over! You have my sincere thanks!"
"You're welcome," Riolu said, "Just be more careful with it in the future!"
"Don't you worry," Spoink replied cheerfully, "I will! Here's your reward!" Spoink handed Riolu a small bag. Riolu peered inside.
"Oh wow!" Riolu exclaimed, "2,000 Poké? All this money for us?"
"Of course!" Spoink replied, "That's nothing compared to my pearl's value!"
"If that's the case, did we just get ripped off?" Xaira whispered to Riolu.
"Farewell!" Spoink called, hopping out of the guild.
"We're rich, Xaira! We got rich just like that!" Riolu exclaimed, holding up the money bag.
"What do we do with it?" Xaira asked, completely confused as to what Riolu was talking about. Riolu gave Xaira an odd look.
"We can go buy something at the shop," Riolu explained, "We could probably afford a TM or-"
"Well done team!" Chatot interrupted, "Now hand that money over if you please!" He promptly snatched the bag from Riolu.
"Huh?" Riolu said, unsure of how to react.
"What are you doing?" Xaira asked.
"Most of the money from the jobs goes to the Guildmaster, you see!" Chatot said, counting the money, "And your team's share of the money comes to this much!" He placed a few gold coins in Riolu's hand.
"Huh? We keep only 200 Poké?" Riolu asked, steaming, "That's awful!"
"I have to agree," Xaira said calmly, "You did nothing to-"
"Well, that's the guild's rule!" Chatot snapped. "You simply have to accept it! If you would have read that signboard on the guild's uppermost floor, you would know that!" With that, Chatot walked away, carrying the money bag with him.
"Funny how he mentions that now," Xaira mumbled.
"That was disappointing," Riolu muttered with a sigh.
"My question's been answered," Xaira said later that day at the guild's lower floor.
"What question?" Riolu asked.
"Why Chatot reacted the way he did yesterday," Xaira replied, "When you questioned the severity of training here, Chatot panicked and assured us that guild training was incredibly easy. He was clearly trying to get us to join to get more of that gold stuff."
"I don't think that's it," Riolu replied.
"I wouldn't put it past him," Xaira replied. Before Riolu could say anything, the sound of a bell rang through the air.
"I finished making dinner! Come on! Dinner's on!" said a light blue Pokémon, Chimecho, as Xaira had "overheard". (Others would say that she was eavesdropping) Everyone cheered and rushed into the dining hall, almost resulting in Xaira and Riolu getting trampled. Dinner was served in a room with a long wooden table. Placed on the table were plates filled with berries apples, and seeds. It was a strange feeling for Xaira, seeing so much food in one place, although she could not think of why. Xaira sat down at the table and glanced around, watching the others eat.
"Come on, Xaira!" Riolu exclaimed as he took a bite out of an Oran Berry. "Eat up! You look like you haven't had a meal in weeks!"
Xaira sighed as she began to nibble at her food. As she ate, the food on her plate would move away from her at times. Eating without apposable thumbs was more difficult than it looked. Holding the food between her paws didn't work out too well, either. She settled for holding the food down with her paws as she ate, ignoring the questioning glances from the other guild members. After dinner, the guild members all headed back to their rooms. Xaira and Riolu were greeted by a few of them on the way. They seemed nice enough, but Xaira decided to keep a distance from them until she could tell that these Pokémon could truly be trusted as Riolu was.
"Listen, Xaira," Riolu said as he relaxed on his bed, "Wasn't today hectic? So much happened. But I'm relieved that our first job turned out to be a success! It was really upsetting how Wigglytuff's Guild took most of the money. But that's just the cost of training, I guess. They do provide food and shelter for us, after all." Xaira scoffed. "But what really made me happy today was getting thanked by Spoink." Riolu yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Let's try our best tomorrow. Good night, Xaira."
"Good night," Xaira whispered. She sighed. The day had been very exhausting. Xaira closed her eyes in attempt to fall asleep, but she was restless. She tossed and turned a few times, attempting to get comfortable, angrily muttering to herself. Eventually, she drifted off into a deep sleep.