I looked up at the Wigglytuff shaped tent, it was rather intimidating if I'm being honest. He said some of the most famous teams trained there like Team A.C.T, Team Dagger, and Team Charm; although, I don't know either of them. Thunder had said something about standing on a grate in order to get in, and that there were terrifying voices hidden deep underground.
"I'll go first." He said it with confidence, but I could see the fear in his eyes.
"I'm right behind you Thunder, don't forget I'm next," I joked. With a sigh, he stepped onto the grate.
"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" a high pitched voice squealed.
"WHO'S FOOTPRINT!" a louder one demanded.
"The footprint is Shinx's. It belongs to Shinx!" It went silent for a moment, leaving Thunder trembling with fear.
"...You may ENTER!" the loud voice boomed. "Someone else is with YOU! SEND THEM UP NOW!" I flinched at the harsh tone.
"Me?" I wasn't too confident either, but Thunder was able to do it so I should too. And were those voices really coming from below the grate?
"Hey, you!" The voice demanded, snapping me out of my trance. "Get on the grate NOW!"
"Y-you should hurry up, Nate," Thunder added. I looked away embarrassed, then hesitantly stepped onto the grate. Here goes...
It was a weird feeling at first, being on the grate. My paws almost fit through the holes, making me wonder what would happen in I had fallen down. What's down there? I peered into the hole, only to see nothing but a pitch black void.
"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"
"WHO'S FOOTPRINT!" I really don't like this security system...
"The footprint is... The footprint... Um..." the other voice trailed off.
"Sentry, what's the matter? Identify the footprint NOW!" The loud voice demanded, seeming pretty mad this time.
"The footprint is... Possibly Zorua's? Maybe Zorua's!"
"What do you mean MAYBE!" he screamed.
Thunder and I exchanged glances, wondering just what the delay was. Is there something wrong with my footprint?
"It's just that... Zorua usually travel in packs with Zoroark! And well... They don't come here often," the other voice admitted.
"Ugh! That's pretty crumby, isn't it? Tell me, sentry, your job is to read the footprints, right?" I couldn't hear the other answer. "Right, so now look up there and tell me who's footprint it is!" It went silent for a moment before the squeaky voice spoke up.
"I don't know what I don't know Exploud," he replied. Thunder blinked, fully able to hear them from where he was.
"Are they... Are they arguing?" I leaned down trying to hear, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
"It sounds like it to me," I muttered.
"Sorry for the WAIT," he said after a while. "While it's TRUE that Zoura aren't COMMON around here... You don't seem to be bad. That sounds fine to ME! YOU MAY ENTER!" As soon as he was done saying this, the bars to the tent suddenly slid up, finally allowing us access.
"Wow! I'm so nervous!" Thunder exclaimed. He let out a long breath to calm himself down. "I'm glad we're going in though."
The inside was decently sized, but there were footprints and claw marks everywhere. Grass and moss grew all over the walls and sandy floor. There was a huge arrow, bigger than both me and Thunder combined, that pointed to a ladder that went deep underground. "W-whoa! There's a hatch that leads underground here!" he exclaimed. He stared down the hole uncertainly. "D-do we really have to go down there?" I rolled my eyes, slightly annoyed at his cowardly act.
"I'll go first if you want." It was hard climbing down when you don't have hands, and I was a little scared to dig my claws in, for the ladder looked so fragile. When we finally did get down, we were astonished by all the commotion.
Pokemon of all kinds were in the large room, either talking to each other or mulling over what to take off the bulletin board. A Sunflora and Bidoof were doing just this, but the Bidoof looked frightened the entire time. Another bulletin board was on the far left, where a Salandit ripped off a paper. There was another ladder next to the one we came down that seemed to go deeper, but I wasn't too concerned with it. It was rather loud in there too, due to all the chitchat.
"So this is Wigglytuff's Guild," he whispered. He walked forwards, captured in awe by the room. "I never thought I would be able to see it!"
"Do you know any of the teams here?" I asked. Thunder shrugged, flicking his tail in acknowledgment.
"Well, I only know a few, but that's because I haven't lived in Treasure Town long." He turned, pointing to a Swellow and Wurmple, who looked slightly uncomfortable at being around the predator. "They're Team Tasty, and that team over there-" he paused, pointing towards the Slowpoke and Slakoth. "That's Team Slacker! There's a few more I know, but they don't seem to be here at the moment." I nodded, glancing at the Salandit.
"And Who's Team is she in?" I asked. He looked at her in confusion, then shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, but there's a lot of teams I don't know yet."
"Excuse me!" Our conversation was cut short by an annoyed voice. We looked behind us, noticing a colorful bird hop towards us, unable to use his wings indoors. "Was it you two that just entered?"
"Y-Yes!" Thunder answered.
The small bird smiled, extending his wing our and placing it in front of his chest, he leaned down probably trying to make a polite bow. I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I should bow too. But I really don't know how a pokemon like me should bow...
"I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff's personal right-hand pokemon!" That being said, he began to make shoo motions with his wings. "Now shoo! Leave this premise! The Guild has no time for salespeople or silly surveys! Now shoo, off you go!" he squawked.
"H-hey! That's not why we're here!" I yelled, slightly offended with the Chatot.
"Yeah, that's right!" the electric type added. "We're here to start an exploration team!" Chatot's jaw dropped while the rest of his body froze.
"Wh-what?! Exploration team?" He turned, facing away from us. "It's rare to see kids this young want to form a team, especially with how hard our training is... Surely the steady stream of pokemon fleeing our rigorous training proves how tough it is!"
"Excuse me," I sighed, noticing Thunder's shocked look. The bird glanced over his shoulder, an annoyed look on his face. "Is the training here really that severe?" Chatot flinched, not realizing that we heard everything he said.
"What? well, n-no! No, no, no, no! It's simply not true! Our exploration training is easy! In fact, any pokemon could pass them!" He thrashed his wings in an attempt to emphasize his statement, but it just wasn't helping with what he had said earlier. That's...not what you said.
Shifting to a much more cheerful mood, his musical note, and his tail wagged happily. "Well, well, well, I wish you said this up front!" I turned to Thunder, who looked just as shocked as I did.
"His mood certainly changed fast," he said. I nodded. Seriously, I hope he isn't always like this.
"Well, we'll get your team signed up quickly! Now come on, follow me!" he stated, heading back towards the ladder. He looked back at us, noticing we hadn't moved. "Oh, anything wrong? Come on! Over here!" I sighed, unsure if we made the right choice.
"Well, we better get moving. It's too late to turn back now," I said.
...
The Salandit on the other side of the room stared down the ladder that Chatot took new recruits. She debated whether or not to go down and follow them.
"What are you doing?" Bidoof asked. She glanced at him and shrugged. The Sunflora spoke up next, fully aware of what was going through her mind.
"Just go ask them, they seem relatively new," she added.
"The Shinx seems weak," the Salandit hissed. She stood back on her hind legs, still debating whether or not to go.
"Well, we haven't had any new members in a long time, and you are the only one that stayed."
"Didn't Chatot say one pokemon couldn't form a team? I'm pretty sure he did, yup yup!" Bidoof added, earning a harsh glare from Salandit.
"I didn't ask for your opinion Bidoof," she growled. She rolled her eyes and scurried down the ladder, but it was really to evade their questions.
I do want to form a team. The Salandit thought to herself. The salandit paused mid-decent in the ladder, contemplating the decision.
"No, they're too weak." She nodded to herself then continued on her way. "I will not waste my time on them."
"Wait here. I must announce your arrival to the Guildmaster." With that, Chatot entered the door.
"Oh... Oh, Nate! I'm just so excited!" Thunder exclaimed, his tail thrashing happily. "I've been waiting for this moment for months!"
"Months!" He said he wasn't here for long! Just what is his perception of time? "Yeah... I have to admit, I'm excited too." But it was more nervousness than anything. From what he told me about Wigglytuff, we might just be in for a hard time.
"Wow, come and see this Nate!" Thunder said. He looking out a window with a fantastic view. "We're two levels underground and we can still see outside!" It is pretty cool.
We could see a large grove just outside the window, along with a few mountains in the far distance.
"Well, it does look like we're on the edge of a cliff." I looked down, not seeing a mountainside beneath us. We must be on an angle.
"Oh," Thunder mumbled, his ears drooping. "I guess that's true, but it's still a nice view!" I shrugged, stepping away from the window.
"Why isn't there any glass?" I asked.
"What?" Thunder flicked his tail, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "Nate, what are you talking about?" D-do they not have glass here?
"Alright! The Guildmaster is ready, come over here!" Chatot yelled. I glanced at the bird, then looked back at the window. That's so strange.
"Alright, are you ready Nate?" Huh? Thunder was a few steps ahead of me, but I noticed that he was trembling. Am I ready?
"Yeah," I replied, choosing not to mention my thoughts.
"Hurry up you two! I don't want to keep the Guildmaster waiting!" The two of us walked over to the angry bird, who had feathers flying everywhere due to his excessive flapping.
"Sorry, we're ready now."
"Well, then... On no account, I repeat no account should you be discourteous to our Guildmaster!" With that, he opened the door revealing the Guildmaster. "Guildmaster, it's me Chatot! I present to you the new recruits...and Toxic!" The Wigglytuff didn't turn around, in fact, he didn't seem at all phased by our appearance. "Guildmaster? ...Guildmaster?"
"Hiya!" Within a moment, the Guildmaster spun around. "I'm Wiggytuff! I'm this guild's master!" he shouted. He spun around again, this time, he did a little dance. "You want to form an exploration team?" he asked. Neither of us answered, still too shocked. This is the Guildmaster? I mean, I guess he seems nice...
"Y-yes!" Thunder finally answered. The Guildmaster's grin widened.
"Then we'll get you started right away! First, you'll need a team name!" Thunder and I exchanged surprised glances. It should have been obvious to us, but we never thought about out the team name.
"Um..." Why didn't we think of a name before?
"Err... How about you decide, Nate?" Thunder suggested.
"Me?" I had no clue what to name an exploration team! "Well, um... How about Team..." What would sound cool? I closed my eyes, trying to think of the team names from before. Team Slacker, Team Tasty, Team Dagger, Team A.C.T...what does that mean?
"Hurry it up!" I flinched at Chatot's high pitched squeak.
"How about..." Those sound boring. Hmm... Maybe... I-I got it! "How about Team Abyss?"
"Team Abyss it is!" Wigglytuff exclaimed.
The Guildmaster grabbed a clipboard and pencil and began scribbling. "And...there! Completely registered!" He spun around again, this time opening his mouth with a light coming out of it. "YOOM...TAH!"
A shockwave blew from his mouth, completely knocking us off our feet. "Congratulations! From now on, you are an exploration team! I present you with this in commemoration!" He practically threw a bag at us, containing three badges, and a map.
"Here, I have more items for you two!" Chatot came forwards holding two bows. "This is a Pecha scarf," he said, holding up the purple-pink scarf. "And this," he held up a green bow. "Is called a green bow; they will help you on your journey."
"T-thank you!" Thunder said, tears threatening to fall. "I can't believe we're a full team!"
"Just remember," Wigglytuff chimed in. "You're just apprentices, remember to train hard! One day you'll be a full-fledged exploration team!"
"Let's remember to do our best Nate!" I nodded. Right, this is it!
"Right," Toxic started. Chatot told her to show us to our room, which we would be sharing, for the moment, with Toxic. She was the salandit we saw earlier, apparently, she works part-time for the guild and doesn't actually have an exploration team. Chatot said she would be moved into Treasure town soon though since she's not really a member.
I thought that was strange though, Chatot seemed to annoyed by our presence earlier, before we became members, so why would he be fine with Toxic? It's not really my problem though, I should just stay out of it.
"Apprentices sleep here, in these quarters." She pointed down the hall, and to each of the rooms. "Each rank you get, you get better rooms and privileges, but only full-fledged teams get to live deep underground." She lead us to the end of the hall into a small room with three nests.
The room itself was small, three nests were inside in a triangle pattern. Roots and vines covered the ceiling and walls, while the floor was covered in loose dirt. A circular window was in the center if the wall, getting the same view as the one outside the Guildmaster's office. "My nest is the one in the back, so you can decide which nest you want or whatever."
"Err... Sorry for asking, but Chatot said there would be dinner here. We haven't eaten anything today," Thunder meowed. Toxic sat up in her nest, strands of hay rolling down her back.
"You've already missed it. You came rather late in the day, you see. We're served exactly when the sun touched the earth after everyone's finished with missions," she explained. Dang... "Perhaps I can see if Chimecho will spare some leftovers." With that, Toxic scurried out of the room.
"I can't believe I finally joined the guild. This is... This is like a dream come true! Don't you think so, Nate?" I walked towards the middle nest with a sigh.
"Sorry Thunder, it's just... Today's been so eventful! I still don't even know what happened to me, who I am, or why I'm a Zorua!" I collapsed onto the nest, not at all liking the how the hay pokes into my fur. "A lot's just happened...you know?" Thunder nodded, curling up in his next.
"Yeah, I understand." He closed his eyes, with a warm smile on his face. "You know, I'm finally glad I made myself come here. We're going to experience all sorts of things starting tomorrow. It scares me a little, but with you, I'll be able to overcome my cowardness."
That wasn't what I meant, but I do understand your feelings. It's pretty exciting to be on an exploration team! It's fun to be friends with Thunder, I just hope he can gain some confidence. I rolled over, finally deciding to rest my head on my paws. But why am I here? How did I become a Zorua?
"Who am I?" I whispered.
I desperately wanted to know this. What if I used to be bad before? What if I did something to deserve becoming a Zorua? I shook my head. I can't be thinking about this right now! I should just focus on training here with Thunder then it should... smooth... Before I knew it, sleep finally overcame me.
*strike*
It was pitch black all around me. Freezing rain pelted my fur while lightning struck dangerously close.
"Don't let go!" a petrified voice screamed.
I looked around, but I couldn't see anyone. Thunder? "Hold on! Just... Just a little longer!" I looked around for the voice, but I couldn't see anything.
*strike*
"I-I can't!" a different voice shrieked, sending a chill down my spine. "I'm slipping!" I could hardly hear their screams over the howling wind.
"Where are you?!" I yelled in a desperate attempt to help. I frantically looked around, not even the lightning could clear it up. "Tell me where you are! I'll help you!"
*strike*
"Waaaaaaaah!" A final scream of terror echoed throughout the area, then...silence.
With a gasp, I leaped from my nest, looking around the room in terror.
"Nate?" I looked at Thunder, who slept soundly in his nest. "What's going on?" I turned to the Salandit, who stared at me intently. Calm down... It was only a dream.
"It... Sorry, it was a nightmare," I rasped. I collapsed back onto my nest, with a sigh.
"Hmm? See to it that you get some sleep," she said without her usual hiss. "We have to be up bright and early." I nodded, just finally being able to calm down.
It felt so... It felt so real. I couldn't keep my mind off it. They sounded terrified, and what happened to that other person? Did he die, or was he just scared? I buried my face into my paws, praying that I could forget about it.
Perhaps this was a sign telling me that I did do something wrong, or warning me something bad was going to happen. It felt too real to be just some nightmare. Anyways, whatever it meant, I would have to be careful from here on out.
