"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" cried a desperate voice. Her fear was tangible within the Aura Pokémon that gave his all to defend her, his energy surging out of control. When she was scared, he had no choice but to be confident, and he was absolutely valiant. All the emotions shared by it and its partner reverberated through the orb he launched at his opponent. Effortlessly, it tossed the glowing ball to the side. It was far too strong for the both of them to so much as scratch. This was to be the end. Not one of them could see a thing, and all went silent.

The hour was late, and yet Aurora woke with a start, heart racing, breath shallow. She held her paws to her heaving chest until she had soothed herself. Her fur was drenched in a cold sweat. She felt as if she had almost drowned. She turned her head to her side; Shadow was fast asleep. It was only a dream, she was safe here in her home, but still her mind raced. She rose shakily to her feet, setting out for a walk to settle her thoughts. The snow was thick on the ground, she had nothing more than her short fur to keep warm, and a set of footprints started just outside her door. Had someone left in the night? She followed them to Diamondfrost.

The town was quiet at night. It had only just occurred to her that Aurora was alone. She had never visited Diamondfrost on her father's orders, but she felt the lifelessness regardless. There were countless stone houses with their curtains drawn, and the wooden counters typically occupied by merchants and traders were entirely abandoned.

"And I can have it?" inquired a distant voice. Aurora quickly detected its owner, a trembling white and yellow Meowstic. Before it stood a familiar Houndoom. Aurora quickly ducked behind an empty counter, watching the deal conspire in secret. She knew the risk of letting Igneous catching her in Diamondfrost at night, but the curiosity overwhelmed her. What was he doing out in Diamondfrost, of all Pokémon?

"For a price," he grumbled in response. Aurora noticed he held a tan fabric strap in his mouth. Was that her bag? "For a thousand Poké, you can have all the berries in this bag."

"A thousand?" repeated the little Meowstic. "I- I don't- Please, sir, I need these to help my partner. Eight hundred is all I have. Please, I'll do anything."

"Tough," Igneous snorted, "I need a thousand Poké, not eight hundred and a sob story. What'll it be?" Aurora had seen enough. She satisfied her curiosity, and suddenly her fear was overwhelmed by absolute disgust. She dashed forward, cloaked in bright white light, colliding into Igneous's side. The impact flung the bag from his jaw, spilling berries across the cobble street. Aurora nodded to the wide-eyed Psychic Pokémon, who gathered as many Oran berries as her arms could carry and fled.

Igneous regained his balance, locking eyes with her and unleashing Flamethrower at her feet, all without speaking a word. She jumped to avoid the attack, her palms glowing bright red-orange, landing Force Palm on the Houndoom as she fell. A shockwave ran through his body. "You think I don't recognize you?" he snarled, fighting his paralysis. Aurora gulped, freezing up. "You think I'm afraid of a ch-child like you? What kind of weakling do you take me for? A-answer me!"

Aurora took a deep breath. "I'm done letting you starve me!" she shouted. Igneous shivered.

"H-hush up, kid! You trying to get the both of us caught?" snapped Igneous. "You know what they'd do to Pokémon like us out here! Haven't I taught you anything?"

Aurora ignored him entirely. She was no fighting match for Igneous, and had but one tactic to defend herself. "I won't let you starve Shadow and I any longer!" Lights came on in nearby houses. Igneous rushed his breath.

"I- I knew you'd be more trouble than you were worth. I sh-should'a left you out in the woods, never took you in." He turned tail and staggered home, abandoning Aurora. She was far too tired to give chase. Her body was still shaking, her short fur standing on edge. For a moment, all she could will herself to do was watch the trees to make sure he wasn't coming back.

"There she is!" cheered a bright voice, and a Braixen scooped her up and lifted her into the air.

"Wh-wha?" was all she could choke out.

"You saved Mocha! And Mocha saved me! So thank you!" exclaimed the Braixen. Aurora's ears rang from the sheer volume of her voice.

"Sorry about Amber." Mocha shot Aurora a sympathetic gaze, and Aurora looked down to her and smiled. With a sigh, the Braixen let Aurora go. "Anyway, thanks for standing up for me. Is there any way I can repay you?" Mocha held out the eight hundred Poké she had offered up previously.

Aurora shook her head, pushing the money back to its owner. "Keep it. I don't need it." She noticed an orange cloth wrapped around the Pokémon's wrist, fastened with a strange pin with winglike extensions. Fascinated by it, she couldn't help but ask, "What is the pin on your wrist for?"

"What does she want?" asked Amber, fixed curiously on her partner. Their eyes met, and she nodded briefly, beaming. "Oh, the Explorer's Badge! We're a Rescue Team. Together, Mocha and I make up Team Solar Flare!" She took off her own cloth and unfurled it to display a white circular symbol with a burst coming out of one side. "Cool right?"

"Are you part of a guild?" asked Aurora. She knew she'd have to find someplace new to stay, and she recalled Shadow had always wanted to join a guild. Her eyes widened before she even got a response. "Shadow!" she cried, hastening for her bag. "I have to go, uh, could you two come with me?"

Mocha nodded to her teammate, and, although absolutely perplexed, accompanied Aurora back to her cabin. She flung the door wide open. "Shadow, wake up!" bellowed Aurora. He had been right where he was when Aurora left and Igneous wasn't anywhere to be seen; Aurora sighed out her tension. He snapped awake, jerking his head to face her.

"Aurora! What's wrong?" Shadow wailed, bounding up to her. "Do I need to put on an illusion?"

Aurora shook her head, putting her arms around him, consoling him. "We have to get out of here," she informed him, and turned back to Mocha. "You two are part of a guild, right? Could you take us there?"

"Of course," answered Mocha. She held out her Explorer's Badge, and gestured for Amber to do the same. "Put a paw on our badges, and you'll warp back to the guild with us."

Shadow's eyes sparkled. "Really?" he asked. "How does that wo- whoa!" he exclaimed. Aurora felt it too, the sense of floating off the ground, of her surroundings crumbling away from beneath her. When their environment materialized around them once more, they were at a shabby, pyramid-shaped brick building. Two windows were lit with torches on either side to resemble a pair of burning eyes, and four black spikes jutted from the ground at each corner like pillars. The entrance was wide open, no gates to keep anyone in or out.

"Our badges are affiliated with Duskrock guild, so we can use them to warp rescued Pokémon to the guild as well as warp ourselves to job request sites. Cool, huh?" Mocha explained.

"That's so cool!" answered Shadow, wagging his tail vigorously. "Do we get our own?" Aurora smiled. She couldn't recall the last time she'd seen him so excited.

"Are they gonna stay with us?" Amber asked, staring eagerly at Mocha.

The Meowstic sighed, looking to Aurora. "I guess I should get the two of you enrolled, yeah?" She nodded to Amber and urged Aurora and Shadow to follow them inside.

"Obsidian! Micah! We're back! And we've got new recruits!" Amber hollered, knocking on the door before her. The guild felt small, and Aurora noticed only a ladder leading to a lower level occupied the little room.

A Midday Lycanroc greeted her, "Good to see the two of you back. We were worried with how late you two had been on that rescue mission."

Following him was a Midnight Lycanroc, yawning, "So how'd it go?"

"Well, about that," Mocha muttered, "Amber ended up fainting, and we had to abandon the mission. But we brought back two new recruits! Obsidian, this is Aurora and Shadow, they'd like to join the guild."

The Midnight Lycanroc turned his glowing red eyes to the Riolu and Zorua, pondering something. Aurora glanced at Shadow, who was visibly thrilled to even be considered for a guild, but she couldn't help but feeling like she was being sized up. He sighed, "Fair enough, come with me." He then turned to his chambers, a small room in the back of the guild. Micah followed him, urging them to do the same.

"So, a new rescue team, I have it? The two of you have never been explorers before?" Obsidian asked.

Aurora nodded. "We'd like to sign up to form one, though."

"And your names? Mocha said the two of you are Aurora and Shadow, right?"

"Yeah, that's us!" answered Shadow. "I'm Shadow, and she's Aurora."

"Thanks, and do you have any ideas for a team name?" Obsidian asked, "Or do you need some time to think of something?"

Aurora and Shadow faced each other. "Do you have any ideas?" offered Shadow. "I don't have anything."

"How about Team North Star?" Aurora suggested. "Since we're from the North and we're explorers?"

"That's great! Team North Star it is!" decided Shadow, smiling proudly. Aurora grinned.

Obsidian scrawled their name down on a tattered sheet of paper. Micah spoke up, "And lastly, you'll need a symbol to represent your team. I'll be printing it onto fabric for the two of you and any new teammates that join your team. You can even pick the color of fabric if you'd like."

"Would a gold star work? With a violet scarf?" Aurora asked.

Micah smiled warmly. "That works just fine. I'll have those prepared for you tomorrow. Until then, I'll show you two to your rooms. Obsidian, can you handle the rest on your own?" The Midnight Lycanroc nodded, gesturing with his paw for the other three to leave. Micah shut the door behind them, leading Aurora and Shadow to the lower level.

"Please try not to mind Obsidian too much, he's just tired," Micah reasoned. "He usually sleeps through the day, and since it's almost morning, he was about to doze off before you arrived. It's nothing you did. I promise he's much more lively when he's rested."

"Do we get our badges yet?" asked Shadow. "Are we gonna be exploring soon?"

Micah chuckled. "You'll get your badges when I'm done with your scarves, don't worry. You'll be out and exploring in no time." Micah cleared his throat. "Anyway, the tour. Right now, we're in the Main Hall, where everyone meets up in the mornings before setting off on their daily work. You'll see the bulletin boards around you are covered in job requests, and they're updated daily, so there's always something to do. To the left, you'll see the Dining Hall, where everyone eats breakfast in the morning and dinner when they get back from exploring. We've got a Pikachu in there who prepares all the food for everyone, he also doubles as the medic for the guild. If anyone gets seriously hurt on an exploration, he takes care of them. Finally, to your right are the bedrooms. If you follow me, I can show you to yours."

Micah led the two to a tiny room, even smaller than the upper level of the guild, occupied only by two piles of soft hay. "You can go ahead and take today to rest up, you'll be getting to work tomorrow. Though, I would suggest the two of you attend morning announcements in an hour or so."

"Thank you," Aurora sighed, collapsing into one of the hay piles.

"Yeah, Micah, thank you so much!" squealed Shadow, climbing into the other.

"Anytime!" Micah offered. "Always feel free to come to me if you have any other questions. You know where to find me!" Micah left their room for his office, and Shadow let out a pleased sigh.

"Can you believe it, Aurora? The two of us are in a real guild, on a real rescue team! I always hoped this day would come, but I never even dreamed it would!" Shadow rambled, and, as much as Aurora wanted to share in their achievement, she was restless. She wondered how long Igneous had starved Shadow before she came along, if Crimson knew anything about it, and, above all, what he needed the money for. Aurora's stomach turned when she imagined the profit he turned from letting his family go hungry. The only thing she was certain of was that she could never bring herself to tell Shadow. She was lucky enough that he hadn't asked about it. "Aren't you excited? Tomorrow we'll be going on our very first mission. I don't know how you can be sleeping, I can hardly wait!"

Aurora wished she could sleep.