Chapter 2

Yes, she had a glimmer of hope in her eye…

"Well, uh, if you didn't hear me earlier, I'm Rito."

"Rito. Nice name."

Then it was dusk, and an awkward silence ensued. A Krabby then proceeded to sidestep right into my leg, somehow knocking me completely to the ground. I grumbled at it as it quickly sidestepped away in embarrassment, then feeling an absence in the small pouch at my side, started glancing around frantically. "Where is it? Where's my Relic Fragment?!"

"This?" I heard from behind me. Ivy was standing right next to a rough rock that almost reached our torsos. I gave a sigh of relief, starting to try and put it back in my bag, before Ivy stuck her leg out.

"Hold on," she said. I obliged, and she looked closely at it, with a kind of interest only I ever had. To everyone else, it was just a rock. "What is it?" Ivy asked, looking up at me curiously.

"That," I said proudly, finally catching the ear of someone who actually cared about my treasure. "is my Relic Fragment. It looks like a big rock, but…" I nudged it with my nose, flipping over to reveal a flat, intricately decorated side. Ivy "oohed" in approval, so I continued, "I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's something valuable. It's my dream to be on an exploration team and discover its secret!" Once again, I was interrupted from putting my precious away by another question.

"What's an exploration team?"

My jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I lost my memory?"

Woops. Right.

"Oh, yeah... So, an exploration team finds treasures, and new lands, and saves Pokémon...it's astounding!" I was surprised that upon hearing my words, there was a sparkle in her eye. Did it get her excited too? Before she could say anything, though, I tripped again...no, wait, I hadn't even been moving! I heard Ivy gasp as I stood up, and right away two Pokémon were in my face. They had knocked me to the ground, and I could already tell they were bad news.

"Ha-ha, this guy is a wimp, huh Zubat?"

"You said it Koffing. His friend is too scared to help either!"

I could see, out of the corner of my eye, Ivy, frozen with fear. She looked the way I felt. However, I just had to keep cool. Keep calm, I told myself.

"Wh-what do you want?" I nearly cried.

"Woah-ho!" Koffing replied. "We already got what we wanted!" What?

And then I saw it. While Koffing replied to me, Zubat picked up my Relic Fragment!

I could see that Ivy looked angrier now then scared, but seemed indecisive. As for me, I simply couldn't move. My sole treasure was being stolen in front of my eyes, and I couldn't do anything about it!

"Woah-ho-ho! If you want to do anything about it, wimp, then come and catch us!" Then they bolted into a nearby cavern.

After they disappeared, all my air left my lungs, and I collapsed to the ground, trying to keep from crying. "Oh, no. What am I going to do? That Relic Fragment means everything to me!" I moaned. This really, really sucked, big time. Ivy walked over to me. I looked up at her, the mix of anger and fear written across her face. We felt one and the same about this.

It popped out of my mouth without me thinking it. "Uh, Ivy? Do you think you could help me...get that back?"

Ivy looked unsure, then seemed to resolve her decision internally. "I can tell you loved it, and you helped me, so...yes," she said, clearly trying to be confident. I cheered nervously. "Let's go!" I said, surprising myself with my confident voice. Ivy nodded, and we ran after the punks into Beach Cave.

As soon as we entered, we found ourselves in a small cavern three branching paths. I turned to make sure I could still bolt for the exit, but when I didn't see it. I took a deep breath.

"Ivy, meet the mystery dungeon. Mystery dungeon, meet a human-turned Pokemon with amnesia who is helping out a Shinx she barely knows."

Ivy gave a confused giggle. "What's a mystery dungeon?"

I hesitantly started down a passage to the right. There was not room for us to go side-by-side, so Ivy followed me as I gave my little speech. "A mystery dungeon is a crazy place. Their layout is different every time, and you can find lots of items and treasure at the end! However, due to time being screwed up, lots of bad Pokemon have been appearing in these dungeons lately."

"Time being screwed up?"

"Yes," I replied as I jumped over a puddle and emerged into another small cavern, Ivy following suit. "Time is being screw-OW!" I rubbed my side where a small stone had smacked into it, both Ivy and I turning towards the source. At the other end of the chamber, a Shellos stood with a naughty smirk on its face, preparing to launch another stone.

"That's not nice…!" Ivy muttered just loud enough for me to hear. Although she was quiet, anger was evident in both her face and tone.

I began to tremble. "Look out, Ivy…I think we're gonna have to fight." She looked at me hesitantly, then gave a sigh of resignation.

"Whatever we can to get your treasure back," Ivy said confidently, starting towards the Shellos. I blinked in surprise, an expression quickly replaced with one of delight. Nobody had ever showed such interest in me before. I ran up alongside Ivy, and we stared down the Shellos. The tension was thick…and then Ivy launched herself at Shellos, who was knocked back with a surprised look on its face and a big bruise on its neck.

"Ivy!" I gasped in surprise.

"Think of your treasure!" Ivy called, not taking her eyes off Shellos. It got up slowly, and with a death glare on its face, let out a high-pitched call. A Corsola emerged from the entrance Ivy and I had come through, and a Kabuto came from the one nearest Shellos. I gulped, and tried to use a move-any move. My face suddenly had a mind of its own, and I leered at the bruised Shellos, who cowered a bit. Ivy backed up a bit until all three of our foes were in her vision, then let out a surprisingly scary growl, and they all hesitated before launching into attack of their own.

Bubbles and water flew from Shellos and Corsola. They targeted Ivy, so I jumped in front of her, just in time to protect her from the last of the watery attacks. She seemed mostly unfazed, just wet, and I had a little sting in my side. However, that was a minor feeling. I was doing it! Exploring like I had wanted to my whole life! And it was exhilarating!

At that moment I learned that daydreaming was a bad choice during a battle. Kabuto launched itself into my side, and as I fell, my eyes narrowed. It. Was. On!

I'm not quite sure what happened after that. I do remember the satisfying feeling of knocking a sucker clean out. It felt good to be strong! To not be a…baby…

After Ivy tackled Corsola into unconsciousness, a small blue berry bounced out of its grasp. Ivy reached down to nibble it, but I ran over frantically.

"No, no! Don't eat it!" Ivy flinched visibly right before taking a bite, glancing at me nervously. I panted. "That's…an Oran Berry. If we get really hurt, THEN we can eat it."

Ivy picked it up and carried it with the very tip of the leaf on her head. Then she giggled sadly. "We're not already hurt?" she asked, showing an impressive bruise on her right foreleg. I winced.

"Well, we can go to my house and fix it up…" I started, a bit disappointed. To my surprise, Ivy laughed, a small, airy giggle.

"I'm not stopping now," she said firmly, despite the quietness that seemed to be her definitive manner of speaking. I grinned.

"If you're going, I'm going."

We seemed to grow years based off that very first battle. Our stroll was more confident, even as we got deeper, even as the area got dank and damp. The Pokemon we face were not nearly as strong as the first we had faced, and were easily taken out by Ivy and I combined. It was sort of strange, in a way. Having strength felt amazing, no doubt, but it felt even better to have a partner, regardless of having just met her. I couldn't figure out why, but every so often when one of us finished off an attacker, or smiled reassuringly at the other, I got Butterfree in my tummy.

Then, we reached the bottom. Zubat and Koffing were there, hanging out in the dead end. They rose from a position along the pit's wall, looking at each other in disbelief and then at us with a smirk.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Looks like Wimpy and company actually tracked us down!"

"Heh-heh-heh! Guess we got to teach 'em a lesson, eh, Koffing?"

"My thoughts exactly!"

And suddenly, an intimidating growl from Ivy interrupted Koffing and Zubat's dialogue. I marveled. She had some sort of innate talent at exploring and fighting. What I wouldn't give for that!

"K-kh…" Koffing stuttered, glaring at Ivy. "You insolent little twerp! You can't mess with Team Skull like that!" Koffing gave off a big black cloud of smoke, right at Ivy, who started to cough and turned a sickly green. My leering gaze turned on her attacker, but Zubat knocked me to the ground while I wasn't looking.

"Heh! Looks like we were worried for nothing, Koffing! Let's get 'em!" Zubat scoffed. Koffing gave off that creepy laugh, and my blood began to boil. I stood up slowly, and then hurled myself through the air, smack on top of Koffing with a Tackle that hit him hard. When I backed off, I saw another shape flying through the air- it was Ivy, using my exact technique to throw herself on top of Koffing and finishing my job. We exchanged a grin- and then Ivy fell to the floor in a coughing fit. Zubat's worried look went to one of pleasure.

"Looks like Koffing's poison gas did a num—"

"Oh shut up already!" I exclaimed angrily, throwing my side into Zubat and knocking him out of the air. When Ivy appeared by my side, though, I nearly jumped in surprise.

"Ivy, aren't you…?"

She responded with a wink, unfurling her now empty leaf. "I'll be fine for a bit!"

And with our combined forces, we proceeded to completely obliterate Zubat. With both of our foes barely able to stay conscious, Ivy and I stepped back, panting but grinning.

"Whoa-ho-ho...err...we better make a break for it, Zubat!" Koffing exclaimed in a panic. Zubat nodded and hastily dropped my Relic Fragment, and then before you could say "Retreat", they were gone.

Exhausted, I picked up my Relic Fragment. Ivy giggled, and I turned to her. "Thanks for helping me," I said, embarrassed, as I put the Relic Fragment away.

She shook her head. "You were great," she said. Was that...admiration? Did she really believe I was better than her?

"You know you were way better than me, right? For a human, you sure know how to battle!" Ivy laughed, and started heading forward through the next door. To our surprise, we found that it was a cliff that curled to the opposite side of the cave we had entered on, with a small jump onto the sand.

"Wow," I mumbled, looking at the cliff we had jumped from. From here, it looked like a small cliff that really didn't lead to anywhere. Nobody would know it was the exit, and besides, it was behind the large cave, the opening being left end of the beach. After a five minute walk, which was mostly heavy breathing, we found ourselves on the beach where we had started.

Once we were out on the beach again, I stopped Ivy. "Ivy? Could you look at me, please?"

Ivy turned curiously to meet my eyes. "Yes, Rito?"

I smiled through my exhaustion. "I just wanted to say…thanks. I don't think I could have done it without you…" Ivy shook her head, smiling gently.

"I'm just glad you got your treasure back. I was just giving a little assistance."

"Well, it meant a lot to me." And it did. "So, what now? Do you wanna stay at my place for the night?"

Ivy pondered this thought, then sighed and looked at the ground. "Sounds fun, I guess, but after that I'll have to leave…I wish I had at least some of my memory…" She sighed again.

I don't know what came over me. I personally think it might have been that my treasure was back at my side, or maybe it was the rush I was still feeling. What it probably was, though, was the kinship Ivy and I almost immediately had.

Whatever the case, I blurted out, "Would you like to start an exploration team with me?"

She looked up at me, and I saw the same sparkle in her eye when I had told her about exploration teams before. "Can…can we do that? How does one become an exploration team?"

I grinned at her. "We start by becoming apprentices at an exploration guild," I told her. "And I know the perfect place."

*******
"We're here."

I waited for Ivy to climb the last few steps. She was tired from the uphill hike, but I had traversed these steps so many times to try and join the Guild that it was simple for me. I took a deep breath as she took in the surroundings.

I started to speak. "Scary, isn't i—"

"Wow…cool!" Ivy exclaimed softly. I blinked. She was taking in the surroundings with great enthusiasm, as though it were the most fascinating place in the world. And it just might have been, to her.

"Yeah…uhm." A drop of sweat rolled off my cheek. "Well, it's kinda scary. I tried to join many times, but there's especially icky part…"

Ivy almost stepped on the grate before turning to look at me. Another sweat drop from me. "What's the…icky part?" Ivy repeated hesitantly. I shuddered.

"I'll show you." After a couple deep breaths, I focused on the grate, Ivy watching with confusion. There was someone watching now. I had to be strong.

In the nighttime air, the fiery torches gave me long shadows as I stepped onto the grating.

"POKEMON ALERT! POKÉMON ALERT!" a voice yelled from under me, just like last time. It took my whole being to not jump, run away, and hide at home.

Another voice yelled, "Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

The first voice screamed back, "The footprint is Shinx! The footprint is Shinx!"

I heard nothing for a few moments, and turned to Ivy, who looked genuinely surprised. I was about to make a sly comment when the second voice yelled up to me, "Hey, you! WE know you got a friend! Have them step on the GRATE!" I moved over, and Ivy cautiously stepped on the grate, flinching when the voice yelled up the same words.

"POKÉMON ALERT! POKÉMON ALERT!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

Ivy whimpered at the loud voices that were probably damaging her eardrums. But something was said that didn't seem quite right.

"Uh...the footprint is uh...Chikorita, maybe?"

"What do you mean, MAYBE? It's your job to know the footprints of the Pokémon, RIGHT?"

"Well, uh yeah, but...Chikorita aren't very common around here..."

"...Whatever. Alright, they sound good enough! Open the gate!"

The gate that represented Wiggly's mouth on the teepee groaned as it opened upward. I shrugged at Ivy as explanation for the footprint confusion, but I was actually trembling feverishly. Could I actually be joining the guild? Wigglytuff's Guild? It was like a dream…an exciting but scary one!

Ivy knew what was going on. I could see it on her face. But I really noticed it when she put a leg across my shoulder, giving me a comforting look. Anyone else, and I might've been even more nervous. But Ivy's gentle smile calmed me down. We went inside the dark teepee, just barely able to make out the ladder we promptly descended down.