Chapter 3 – The First Client.
Charo led Ashton and Seren along a long corridor. Either side of them were several rooms with names and numbers on them.
"You two shall be staying in this room here," Charo explained, pointing a wing towards the last room of the corridor. There was only the number 10 imprinted on it in silver-coloured paint. There was a small slot with a blank sheet of paper inserted in it. "Write your names and team name on there when you get the chance, okay?" he continued, "Go in, and see how you like it." He pushed open the door.
"Wait, I'm SHARING a room with a GUY?" Seren exclaimed, "He might be a perv!"
"Seren, shut up," Ashton groaned, giving her a weak punch in the side. She grunted and glanced around the room.
On the opposite side of the room was a large window with a great view of the sea behind it. In front of the window were two small beds, and in-between them, there was a small bedside table. She shrugged.
"It'll do," she muttered, jumping onto the bed nearest to her, bouncing up and down twice before landing with a creak of springs.
"Just come and give these to me once you've filled them in," Charo said, placing two sets of forms and two pens on the bedside table, before he hopped out of the room.
Ashton jumped up onto the bed opposite her and glanced over the forms. He grabbed a pen to start filling his out, before he noticed that Seren was staring blankly at the sheet, pupils wide.
"You do know how to read, don't you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow lightly.
"Of course!" Seren snapped, "It's just that...I don't understand this writing..."
He sighed and lifted himself up next to her. "Want me to help you?"
"O-okay..."
He smiled and nodded. "Right, well, that part asks for your full name," he said, pointing at the first line, "Remember how to write?"
"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, quickly scribbling Seren on the dotted line then paused.
"You said full?" she said.
"Yes, of course," he replied with a brisk nod.
"Uh-um...I don't have a last name..."
"Well, just make one up then!"
"That's lying," she murmured, chewing the top of her pen.
"Just write, I dunno, Smith or something!" he groaned, "Anything!"
She blinked innocently and wrote Smith next to her name.
"Okay, now, that asks for your age and birth-date," he said, pointing to the next field,"Do you remember that?"
"Yes, I do." She wrote 12, April 18th on the sheet.
"You're only TWELVE?" he cried. "How old did you think I was?" she asked, blinking.
"Like, I dunno, at least fourteen, like me!"
"YOU'RE fourteen?" she laughed, "Woah!"
She gave him a quick but hard jab in the chest. "You're SHORT."
Ashton grunted and pointed to the next line. "Okay, gender. Well, that's easy."
Seren snorted and wrote Female on the line.
He nodded his head and helped her read through the rest of it.
After a while, he happened to glance at the clock on the bedside table and gasped.
"Oh my God!" he cried, "It's ten to twelve!" She frowned and glanced over.
"Oh, indeed it is," she said. She paused and yawned loudly. "God, I am knackered."
"Ew..."
"No, knackered, you creep..."
Seren snorted and pushed Ashton off of her bed. "Sleepy-times now," she yawned, burrowing deep under the covers and almost instantly falling asleep, snoring. Ashton grunted and jumped into his bed. He yawned. He hadn't realised how eventful his day had been.
First I meet Seren, then we battle those crooks, and now...finally...I've joined the Guild...
A smile crept across his lips and he rolled onto his side, staring at the large lump in the bed that was Seren.
Thanks bud...
"HEY, YOU LAZY LAYABOUTS! WAKE UP! GUILDMISSTRESS IS GONNA BE MAA-AAD!"
Ashton leapt from his bed, eyes wide. "Wh-what the hell?" he groaned, covering his ears. A grunt came from the bed next-door.
"Five more minutes," Seren muttered, kicking her feet, "Just five more minutes..."
"Well, at least you're awake, new guy!" the loud, harsh voice cried. He saw a Loudred standing by their door, his arms folded.
"I'm Layton," he growled, "I'm also your alarm clock. Now, get that lardy Munchlax up and get ready!" He stormed out of the room, head held high.
Ashton frowned and glanced at the clock. It was already nine.
"Seren!" he cried, "Wake up! We've slept in!"
"We have?" Seren groaned, opening one eye and wincing at the sudden harsh light, "Oh...that's nice..."
"Uh, not nice!" he cried, "C'mon girl, we gotta get going!" He jumped from bed and grabbed her paw, dragging her from her bed.
"Warmth!" she said, reaching out a paw towards her bed, "Must...have...my...warmth back!"
"SHUT UP AND JUST WALK!" Ashton snapped, giving a tug at her arm.
"FINE," she snapped back, starting to run, dragging Ashton along the floor, "I'LL RUN!"
When the two finally reached the end of the corridor, they saw all eyes were on them. Seren was bright red in the face, her chest heaving. Ashton lay on the floor, dazed and confused.
"Sorry we took so long," she muttered, dragging him into the back of the line.
"Well, finally!" Layton exclaimed, "What took you so long?"
"Layton!" Charo cried, "That's quite enough! There is no need to shout at them, they are new, after all."
Seren smirked and stuck her tongue out at Layton.
"I saw that," Charo said, a sharp tone in his voice. Seren let out a small ihumph/i and picked Ashton up to his feet.
"Right, now that that's over," he said, "Guild mistress?" He pushed his glasses up the rim of his beak and turned to Willow, who was grinning in an absent minded fashion at them all.
A sweatdrop rolled down Charo's face. "Willow!" he hissed, "Willow!"
Willow glanced at him, shaking her head. "Yes?" she said, blinking.
Seren nudged Ashton in the ribs and twirled her claw beside her head. He nodded, an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, whatever," Charo muttered, turning back to face everyone, "Well, might as well get the motto underway with."
"Motto?" Seren whispered, "What...kind of motto?"
"Well I don't know, do I?" Ashton hissed, jabbing her in the stomach, "Just, listen!"
"ONE!" Charo cawed, leaping in the air.
"Don't shirk at work!" the Guild yelled.
"TWO!"
"Run away and pay!"
"AND THREE!"
"Smiles go for miles!"
"Alright then! Get to work!"
The Guild let out a cheer and ran off to do whatever jobs they needed to do.
Seren and Ashton glanced at each other, slightly dumbstruck at what just happened.
"Hey, what DID just happen then?" Seren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No clue, but I suppose we'll just have to live with it," Ashton muttered, lowering his ears.
"AH! You two!"
Charo hopped over, smiling. "So, how was your first night here?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Great, thanks," Ashton said, "Uh, want me to get the forms?"
"That'd be nice." The Pikachu nodded and scrambled back to their room.
"So," Charo said, "Seren, wasn't it?"
"Uh, yeah," Seren said, blinking, "Wha'?"
"Well, as leader of Team DoomBiskit, I have these for you!"
WH-when was I made leader? Seren thought, eyes darting around, Ehh...oh well, gotta live with it, I suppose...
Charo handed her a tan messenger bag. "Look inside," he said, his smile growing wider.
She opened the back and looked inside. In the bag there was a bright purple ribbon, a neon green one, a small dark green bracelet-type thing, a large sheet of paper and two small pin badges.
"A Purple and Green Ribbon, a Power Band, a map and your Exploration Team Badges!" Charo exclaimed, folding his wings, "Impressive, no?"
Seren got out the Purple Ribbon and ran in gently through her claws."I-It's beautiful!" she gasped, stroking it across her cheek, "An-and so soft!"
"Yes, it's all very nice isn't it?" he chuckled, smiling.
"Here you are sir!" Ashton said, arriving back, "All forms, ready~!"
"Good, good." Charo nodded and started to walk off, then quickly paused. "Oh, wait. You need your first assignment...Follow me!" He jumped up into the air and flew off towards the stairs.
The two followed quickly.
"Right, here you go," Charo said, pointing to a large cork board on the wall, "This is the Missions Board." His eyes scanned around the wall, and give a brisk nod of the head when he found a job. "Ah-ha! Here's one!" he cried, shoving it into Seren's paws.
She and Ashton read over it.
Hello Guild Members.
A case of misfortune has befallen upon my daughter – she has lost something very important to her.
It's a bright pink scarf (Seren noted that there was something scribbled out before the word scarf) - a Pecha Scarf? - And she thinks she's lost it somewhere along Drenched Bluff.
I urge you to find it quickly, as it is very important to her.
Thank you.
There was a name scribbled out along the bottom of the page, and replaced with the name July Delcatty.
"It's quite a simple mission," Charo said, "So; it should bring you too much trouble!"
"Right sir!" Ashton cried, giving him a salute," We'll try our very hardest and best!"
"Good." He strolled away, head held high.
"Come on Seren, this'll be great!" Ashton exclaimed, turning on his heel and grinning at her.
"Yeah, um, yeah," Seren muttered, twitching up her muzzle in a puzzled fashion.
"Quit acting so glum Seren," he replied, as they walked out the Guild, "This is our first mission, and I wanna make a good impression. It's like, the first day of a new job...well, it is technically."
"I know, but we're just getting some scarf for some lil' kid, it's not like we've solving a murder or something!" she replied, with a flick of her ears.
"We get paid." She grunted half-heartedly.
"In food as well as cash which can pay for even more food..." he added slowly.
Her head shot up, eyes twinkling. "WELL COME ON LET'S GET GOIN!" she yelled, dragging him down the cross roads to their mission destination.
"We're... – pant - here!" she gasped, massaging her belly, "Aww great, more stomach cramp..."
"Your own fault," he growled, "Anyways, I've never seen someone so, uh, large run so fast!"
"You can call me fat, dumb-ass, I don't care!" she stated, raising an eyebrow at him, "I'm fat, I gotta deal with it!"
"Oh, right, it's just that most girls I've gone out with take it into quite an offence when I call them fat," he chuckled, "I'm telling ya', you don't know HOW many girls have ended it with me 'coz their butt DID look big in it!"
Seren glanced at him, her cheek turning bright pink. "How-how many girls have you gone out with them?" she asked, tweaking with her bandana nervously.
"Oh, only about, four," he replied casually, "I'm sure you've had-"
He paused and glanced at her. Her cheeks were still bright red and she turned away.
"Right, well, um, we should just keep going," she said, her voice breaking into a high pitched tone, "You know, find that...scarf..."
His ears twitched. "Yeah, of course..."
The two walked through the many long corridors in silence for a few hours, until Seren finally spoke up again.
"I mean, yeah, of course I've had boyfriends!" she cried, "What kind of girl my age hasn't had a boyfriend?"
"Seren, relax, my first girlfriend wasn't until I was thirteen," he sighed, raising an eyebrow, "Also, a lot of people haven't been in a relationship by your age!"
"Oh, what do you know?" she said, flicking her paw, "How can you have four girlfriends in three years?"
He stopped and stared at her. "Do the math."
She frowned and counted off on her claws. "Ohhhh..."
"There you go," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He paused and glanced over his shoulder.
"You...get the feeling we're being watched?" he whispered, staring down one of the corridors.
"Not really," she replied with a yawn, "Can we just get this over with?"
"Ching-ling-ling-ling~!"
The Chingling pounced out of the corridor and towards Ashton, its bell chiming lightly. Ashton growled and aimed a Thunderbolt at it. It hit and the Chingling backed away slightly.
Okay, that scared it off he thought, turning...
Only to be grabbed in a tight Wrap attack by another two Chingling.
"Seren!" he choked, "He-help me!"
She turned and blinked. iThey're hurting him/i she thought, furrowing her brow, iNo way am I letting them get away with it!/i
She charged towards the two Chingling and punched them away. The three Pokémon grouped together, whispering.
"Gee, thanks Seren," Ashton cried, rubbing his neck, "Those things sure have a grip!"
"I bet they do," Seren muttered, cracking her knuckles, before raising her voice at them, "Hey! You three! Scram, will ya', or I'll do a lot more than just punch ya'!"
The three Chingling turned around and glared at her. She raised an eyebrow.
"I'm serious," she chuckled. They edged towards her. "Too late!" she barked, using Metronome.
She leapt into the air, aiming deep purple blobs at them. The three screeched loudly and ran off, still screeching. She landed back down again and cracked her knuckles.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" she exclaimed suddenly, twirling on her heel, "Omigosh Ashton, didya see that?" Huh? Didya?"
Ashton nodded nervously. "Uh, yes, I did Ser," he said slowly, "Come on, let's get going."
Another few hours passed, until finally...
"Look, there it is!" Ashton cried, pointing in the distance, "The Pecha Scarf!"
He ran over and grabbed it in his teeth. Seren waddled over and snorted. "This is what we're looking for?" she cried, staring at the small piece of pink cloth in disgust, "God...you be glad it's pretty."
She glanced back the way they'd come from. "Do we have to trek ALL the way BACK?" she groaned.
"No," he sighed, grabbing the two Exploration Team Badges, "These'll teleport us back."
He pressed a small button on his badge and instantly vanished in a glow of yellow light. Seren yelped and did the same.
"Oh my GOSH! THANK YOU~! NYA~!"
The small female Skitty chirped happily as her older sister, an Absol, tied the pink scarf around her neck. The Absol turned and stared at the two with ice blue eyes. Unlike most Absol, she was dark grey with slightly lighter grey fur. She bowed her head gratefully.
"Thank you," she said, "My sister, Tilly, is thankful. Tilly, what do you say?"
"Thank you! Nya~!" The Skitty, Tilly, grinned at Team DoomBiskit. "Mommy couldn't be here, 'coz she had to –" She paused as her sister, Hope, gave her a shooting glance from the corner of her eye.
"She, uh, had some business to attend to," she mumbled, twitching her tail.
"Well, we're glad we could help!" Ashton exclaimed, smiling sweetly down at Tilly, "We're also glad you got your scarf back!"
"Nyaa," she purred in reply. Seren sneered at the Kitten Pokémon and turned to Hope.
"I was told of a payment?" she asked, her voice low.
"Seren!" he hissed, flicking her in the ribs. She barely felt it.
"No, the fat one is right," Hope stated calmly, "We said there'd be a reward, and here one is."
She pushed a large cloth bag towards them.
"Inside you should find your payment of 1500 Poké, a few Berries and a Defence Band," she continued, "Now, we must leave." She glanced down at Tilly. "Come sister, we have to buy the groceries for Mother."
"Okay!" Tilly meowed, "Bye Ashton! Bye Seren! Nya~!"
Once the two had left the room, Ashton turned to Seren.
"1500 Poké?" he whispered, "That's a lot of money! Especially for what we did!"
"Who cares, we have a load of cash!" she cried, "And food. FREE FOOD." She let out a happy sigh and held her belly. "I could get used to this job."
"Not quite yet!"
She groaned and blinked at Charo. "What?" she moaned, "You're not gonna take my food away?"
"Not your food, no," Charo laughed, wiping his glasses with his wing, "But some of your money – I suppose that would cover the costs of the payment of food though."
"...iwhat/i?" she hissed, edging closer to him, "You're telling me you're taking our money? Our GIFT? Our PAYMENT?"
"Well, it's Guild policy!" Charo squawked, with a slight shiver. He was getting quite intimidated by the three foot three tall Munchlax that was standing over him, baring her fangs. "Everyone has a certain amount of their money taken to pay for the costs of their well-being and feeding and such!"
Seren stepped back. "So...it technically comes back to us anyway?"
"Y-yes!"
iWhatever keeps you from killing me,/i he thought, with a nervous grin. "Right, so the total sum you know have is..."
He grabbed out some of the coins and threw the remainder back.
"150 Poké?" Ashton cried, before groaning, "Urg, dear Dialga, why?"
"Oh well, I think we could buy another one of them slap-up meals at the cafe!" Seren giggled.
"Which reminds me," Charo said, "Dinner is served."
He flew off downstairs.
"Dinner?" Seren squealed, running after him. Ashton twitched his ears.
"That is the fastest I've seen her run," he muttered, scampering after them.
"So, you're the new Guild recruits, huh?"
A young female Sunflora in around her early twenties sat beside Seren, who nodded.
"Man, who made this food?" she cried, drooling.
"Allaw," the Sunflora said, "She's the best cook around."
"Oh, quit it Sally," a Chimeco giggled, her cheeks flushed a pale pink as she placed a large bowl of soup on the middle of the table.
"Well, it's true!" Sally cried, "So, what're your names?" She turned back to Seren, who was already gulping down her soup greedily. She grimaced slightly and glanced at Ashton who sighed.
"This thing is Seren," he said, "And I'm Ashton."
"I'm not a thing!" Seren cried, soup dripping from her maw. He simply shook his head at her.
"I'm assuming you're Sally, yes?"
Sally gave a brisk nod. "Yes," she said, "That's Ben."
She pointed a leaf at a Bidoof across the table from her. "He's my partner for most missions, unfortunately," she added, in a hushed voice, "Say hello Ben!"
"Hm?" Ben glanced up and smiled. "Well howdy!" he cried, "It's so nice to have some new members here at the Guild, yup-yup!"
"Ain't you cheerful?" Seren muttered into her bowl, licking her lips, "Can I have some more?"
"I think you've had more than your fair share Ser," Ashton growled, flicking her, "Now, just quit moaning."
"Aww, don't be so hard on her!" Ben said sympathetically, "I know what some friends can be like when it comes to food, I can tell ya'."
"Eh," was the only reply.
Meanwhile...
"Not much further now Tilly," Hope whispered, leaping up onto a rock and glancing down on her sister. The Skitty scrabbled her way up, panting. "You okay?"
"Yeah, fine, nya," Tilly panted, giving herself a quick shake.
The two leaped up more of the fallen rocks until they finally reached a cave. Outside sat a second Skitty.
This one was older than Tilly, around eleven years old. Unlike most Skitty who have no visible eyes, this Skitty had large bright pink ones, which shone in the pale evening light.
"Well?" she asked, head cocking to one side. The small bell on her lilac collar tinkered.
"The team found it!" Tilly mewed, "They were very nice!"
"What Pokémon were they?" the second Skitty asked, giving Tilly a friendly lick on the forehead.
"A Munchlax and a Pikachu," Hope said, "Team DoomBiskit, I think it was."
The Skitty's ears shot up. "DoomBiskit?" she whispered, "Where have I heard that name before?"
"Can't be," a deep, gruff voice growled. The muscular male Munchlax stepped outside and stared at the three females. He was taller than most Munchlax, his large body covered in scars.
"She didn't come here," he hissed. The Skitty stared at him and shook her head.
"I never said she had," she said, walking inside. Tilly and Hope followed suit, leaving the Munchlax by himself. He glared down at the valley below and shook his head.
"She didn't come here!" he cried, clawing the ground before storming back inside, "But they definitely did..."
