Chapter Three: Max

"You know, this isn't too bad once you get used to it," Max murmured to himself, swishing his tail and flapping his wings experimentally. "But archen are extinct, aren't they? Except for those that scientists manage to revive, at least. And I'm a human… Aren't I? Hmm… If only this headache would go away, maybe I'd be able to figure things out…"

He twisted his neck and examined his body more closely. But he was just the same as when he'd woken up just a few minutes ago; it was all definitely there, and it was all definitively not human. He could feel where feathers stuck into his body, he could sense the ground beneath his taloned feet, and he was – annoyingly enough – unable to see anything directly in front of him, due to his giant red beak and the placement of his eyes. Funnily enough, that was the most unsettling part of waking up in a strange place with a strange body. Well, that and the headache, but that at least was slowly going away. Unlike the headache, his eyes weren't about to adjust themselves to the front of his face – erm, beak – anytime soon, as far as he could tell.

Max was fairly surprised at how calmly he was taking things. Sure, he knew he was a laid-back sort of person, but this was different than anything he'd even heard of in real life. He knew he ought to be freaking out, but somehow he just couldn't. In fact…

"I wonder if I can fly? How awesome would that be!" he said aloud, looking closely at the long blue flight feathers that budded from only half of his wings. "Archen were supposed to be mainly land-bound, but… Might as well give it a shot. Can't hurt."

Looking for a good place to test his skills or lack thereof, he truly examined his surroundings for the first time. He was standing on the ground in a stunning forest filled with giant trees, which seemed all the larger due to his own small size. Some shafts of emerald light burst through the thick canopy to light the dim understory, for which Max was truly grateful; even with that little light, it was still a somewhat creepy, unusually silent place.

In truth, the creepiness might have come from the trees, which were quite unlike any that Max had seen before. The canopy was the only place where leaves grew. Aside from way up there, the trunks and branches were completely bare. Moreover, the branches didn't even end. The thick limbs of wood and bark simply extended and twisted through the air until they met up with another branch or trunk, at which point they fused together. It created a strange effect, almost like a three-dimensional spider web that could ensnare anyone who wandered into the forest.

For a tiny and confused human-turned-archen such as himself, it seemed a less than welcoming place.

Still, he tried not to let the atmosphere of the place bother him as his eyes locked onto one of the branches, a knotted slab of wood that was wider than he was long. It hung in the air just a couple feet above his head.

"Ah-ha! A perfect target for my first flight," he said, his tail weaving back and forth in anticipation. "Prepare yourself, branch, for I shall conquer you!"

Max hunkered down, his knees bending exactly the opposite way from what he was used to. Then he leapt into the air, pumping his wings as he launched towards the branch and easily reached his destination. More than reach it, in fact; his sharp claws had to scrabble for purchase as he nearly overshot the branch.

"Wow! Definitely couldn't jump that high as a human! Relatively speaking, at least," he said, amazed. Though with some disappointment, he realized that it really had been little more than a great jump, not an actual flight. His wings had done next to nothing. His powerful legs had done all the work.

He sighed. "Guess I am more of a running pokémon than anything… Darn. But maybe I just need practice!"

Max locked onto another nearby branch and tried again, this time using a little less umph in his legs as he brought his wings down as powerfully as he could manage. Again he reached his intended landing point, only to realize that his wings still hadn't done much. They supplemented his jumping and gave him a little extra boost, nothing more.

Still, he wasn't one to give up so easily. Especially when something as cool as flying was at stake. His determination was also somewhat motivated by the fact that he was confused, he had nowhere to go, and he had a headache. All of those factors combined made him very lazy and less than willing to want to confront the real issue at hand. So for a time, he let himself enjoy his new archen body as he frantically flapped and hopped and ran through the branches which, the more he got used to them, the more he liked them for how easily they allowed for movement off of the ground. They were big enough to walk on and close enough together to move from one to another. Absolutely perfect for an archen such as himself.

Under other circumstances, he might have enjoyed himself all day, just trying to figure out how he could possibly force his stubby wings to gift him with flight. As it was, though, he could only ignore his problems for so long.

When his wings finally became sore from all the exertion, he took a break and sprawled out at the base of one of the branches at the point where it joined with the upright tree that it had either originated from or melded with. The sun had passed its zenith by then, making the forest somewhat darker than before.

"At least the headache went away," he said in an undertone, pleased to hear his own voice yet again. His wasn't the only voice he'd heard today, though; he'd seen and heard other pokémon as he traveled through the forest via the branches. Like him, they had been able to talk; but other than a friendly return of a shouted out hello, Max didn't speak to them. Turning into a pokémon was one thing; hearing a bunch of different pokémon talk was nearly as surprising, at least for Max, and he was afraid that he'd make a fool of himself if he tried speaking to them for long. "But how did I get here in the first place? And why am I a pokémon?"

For the first time, Max tried to remember back to his human life, searching for anything that could help him answer the mystery. Only one memory came to mind. In his mind's eye, he felt a building shaking, he heard people screaming, and he saw smoke billowing as flames licked upward… He was swept away by a panicked crowd. He knew he needed to go back. He needed to fight the crowd and go back to where he had been. He had to. But…

No! he shouted in his head as he squeezed his eyes shut, stopping the memory before it could go any farther. His headache had returned suddenly, more forcefully than ever. No! Why? There's only one thing that I've ever wanted to forget, only one thing that I've tried to forget for years! Why is that the only thing I can remember? No! I can't think about it. I won't! No no no no-

"No!"

Max jerked upright at the sound. That last no hadn't been a thought, nor had it been his voice; it had sounded like a little girl. And she had sounded scared. He listened carefully and, in another moment, the voice came again:

"No! Leave my momma alone, you meanies!"

"Sweetie, get away!" another female voice shouted. "Momma will handle this!"

Yet another voice – this one lower and more threatening – said, "Maybe you'll get the picture if we attack your little girl instead… hehe."

By the time the little girl's frightened scream rang out in response, Max was already on his feet and racing through the branches, using his newfound ability for jumping and running to his advantage. He found himself moving more quickly than he ever had as a human as he darted through the branches, becoming nothing more then a blur of brightly colored feathers and scales.

In no time, he found himself at the scene he had heard, and he took in the situation in as quickly as he could. There was a bellossom lying at the base of a tree, fairly badly injured but still conscious; a little ways a way, a young oddish was being chased by two very irritated beedrill. As Max watched, he saw the little oddish stumble and fall, tumbling face-first to the ground. The beedrill were still coming full speed, though. There was no way the oddish would get up in time to avoid the beedrill's lance-like appendages, that much was clear.

Max didn't even think before opening his beak and shouting, "Oi, bug-brains! Leave that oddish alone!"

The two beedrill wheeled in midair and looked around for a moment before finally glancing upward and spying Max at his perch in the branches. "You got a problem, pipsqueak?" one of the beedrill challenged. "We're just settling our debts. Stay out of our business, or you'll be messing with the business ends of stingers? Ya' hear?"

Max's heart beat faster as righteous anger flared up inside him. "Yeah, I hear you loud and clear, and all I'm hearing is that you're a pair of bullies!" Max shouted. "No matter what these two owe you, there's no reason you should take your anger out on anyone, much less a kid!"

The kid in question was crying now, tears streaming down her scared face as she tried unsuccessfully to hold back her sobs.

"Shut it!" the other beedrill shouted down at the oddish before turning back to Max and saying, "Oh yeah? Want us to take our anger out on you instead?"

"Just try me, you overgrown weedle!" Max shouted back, too late realizing that the only skills he currently had as a pokémon were running and jumping. That wouldn't be nearly enough to fight off two beedrill.

"With pleasure!" the beedrill shouted in unison as they zoomed upwards, darting through the web of branches towards their new target.

All Max's courage quite suddenly left him. "Shoot!" he said as he spun and fled, running as fast as he could down the branch he was on. What was I thinking? I can't take on two beedrill! They're gonna slaughter me!

Fear lent him speed, though, and at first he outpaced the beedrill despite the fact that he, unlike them, was limited to traveling only where there were branches to support him. He flapped his wings as he went, trying to boost his speed even further.

But he quickly began to flag. The beedrill noticed and sped up as they taunted, "What? Bird had his wings clipped? Too bad, you coward! You're gonna wish you never laid eyes on the beedrill brothers!"

"Um, can't we just talk this out?" Max gasped as he continued to run, desperate to try to save himself.

"As if!" the two beedrill shouted back.

Their voices came from right behind him this time and, all of a sudden, Max felt the spike of one of the bugs' stingers stick him in the back, breaking through the feathers and skin right next to his wing. He squawked in pain as the blow knocked him off of his current branch; he only barely managed to open his wings in time to land on a branch below him. A second or two slower, and the crash might have been enough to knock him out right there and then.

"Nice poison jab, brother!" one of the beedrill said.

The other buzzed happily. "It was nothin'. Now let's finish off that bird off once and for all!"

Max was already on his feet and running again, his fear washing away any pain as he pushed himself harder than ever. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a tree with a hollow in its trunk, just big enough that he thought he'd be able to squeeze in. There were no good branches to get to it, but Max didn't have time to weigh his options. The beedrill would catch him again any second, and then it would be all over. In his desperation, he jumped off of his branch, propelling himself as far horizontally as he could in order to reach the somewhat distant trunk. He pumped his wings frantically and, by some miracle, managed to crash into the hollow space, bruising himself up badly in the process.

But that didn't matter. He was alive.

For the moment.

Suddenly, one of the stingers of the beedrill plunged itself through the opening, grazing one of Max's wings. He cried out in pain and stuffed himself as far away as he could manage from the opening.

"Come on out, you little featherhead!"

"We ain't gonna kill you or nothin'. Just rough you up a bit for acting like a tough guy. You can either come out now and face our poison jabs or stay in there as we start firing off pin missiles. Pick your poison!"

The other beedrill chuckled. "Good one, brother. Pick your poison… hehe."

Max's little body heaved as he tried to catch his breath, though his heart kept racing. He was trapped, and there was nothing he could do.

No no no no no! I need to run! Let me out of here! He looked around his hollow desperately, but there was no escape route other than the way he had come in.

"We'll give you another minute, kid, and then you're dead!" one of the beedrill called.

I'm a pokémon, right? Maybe I can… no. There's no way I can take those guys on, even if I knew how to actually do an attack! I have to run! I have to get out of here, now! If I can just work up the courage to burst out, maybe I'll be able to put some distance between them and me before they realize what's happened!

He scrunched his eyes shut and desperately tried to work up that courage.

"Ten seconds!" one of the beedrill shouted.

Come on, just move!

"Nine!" the other beedrill said, taking his turn to call out the number.

I just have to run out! It's not that hard!

"Eight!"

The archen took a timid step forward, his eyes still closed.

"Seven!"

He stepped back again, ashamed of himself and afraid for his life.

"Six!"

It's just like that time! I'm too much of a fraidy-meowth to save anyone, even myself!

"Seven!"

His heart pounded harder than ever, and his wounds throbbed.

"Six!" The beedrill were counting together now, speeding up impatiently with each passing number.

If only I could… I only…

"Five!"

I just have to be brave!

"Four!"

He tensed, preparing to attack. Still, he kept his eyes closed.

"Three!"

He stayed tense but frozen, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Two!"

I too afraid to even look at my opponent! I'm such a failure!

"One!"

Fear surged within him as every nerve in his body cried out for him to do something, anything, to avoid what was about to happen.

"Zero! Time's up, you little-"

Max wasn't quite sure what happened next. He felt a power rise up inside him, fueled by his desperation. It was a power that started in his bones and seemed to radiate out to every bit of his body, and it carried with it a feeling of age and strength. He felt it burst forward out of him right when the beedrill was cut off, and he heard both beedrill cry out momentarily in surprise. In another moment, he heard two thumps come from the ground below him.

Only then did he open his eyes and peek out of the hollow to see the two beedrill lying on the ground many feet below him, both completely knocked out.

"Wow mister! You took out both of them with one attack! That's amazing!"

Max shifted his gaze to see the oddish running up towards the base of the tree, with her mother following right behind.

"Oh, um, really, it was nothing," Max said as he perched in the entrance to his hollow, his voice trembling nearly as much as his body. He forced himself to calm down as much as possible before jumping down to the ground, flapping his wings to slow and guide his descent. When he landed near the oddish and the bellossom, he added, "I don't even know how I did it."

The bellossom smiled. "Whether you knew how to do it or not, that was quite the ancientpower attack. I can't thank you enough for saving both me and my child."

"Really, it was nothing," Max repeated. He didn't want to be seen as a hero. He didn't deserve it. He would never deserve it. Even if things had turned out okay in the end, all he'd done was jump into something without thinking, then run from responsibility at the first opportunity. "Are you doing all right, Ma'am?" Max asked, trying to divert attention from himself. "You looked pretty beat up earlier, if you don't mind me saying."

The bellossom nodded. "A little synthesis and I was as good as new… Though I can't say the same about you. Looks like you've been hurt trying to help us. I can't apologize enough."

"No, no, don't apologize!" Max said. "I didn't do much, but I was glad to help!"

"Are you from the guild, Mister Archen?" the oddish suddenly spoke up. "Guild members are the only pokémon I know who stand up to pokémon like beedrill! And you're more powerful than all the guildmembers I've met!"

The archen tilted his feathered head, confused. "Guild? Sorry, but… I'm new around here. Very new. What's a guild?"

"It's a place where the most awesome pokémon ever all come together to beat up bad pokémon!" the oddish said, the leaves of her head perking up with enthusiasm. "I'm gonna join up one day so that I can help 'em, too!"

For some reason, the idea of this guild immediately appealed to Max. I guess I always have liked big groups, Max thought to himself. And if they go around helping pokémon like I just did, then maybe they can help me become less of a coward. Maybe… Maybe that's why that day is the only one I can remember. Maybe that's why I ended up here, as a pokémon. Maybe I'm supposed to join this guild so that I can finally make up for that dreadful day.

"Can just anyone join this guild?" Max asked, directing the question to the bellossom. He noticed suddenly that he was still trembling and that his wounds were pounding more than ever, but he tried to ignore that as he continued, "I mean, I sort of don't have a place to go to, and it sounds like the sort of thing I'd like to be a part of."

"Anyone can join," the bellossom affirmed. "And I think you'd be perfect for it, Archen, what with the way you jumped in without hesitation to help the two of us."

Max tried to deny the compliment, but the bellossom had already turned to her daughter. "Sweetie, why don't you show Archen to the guild? It looks like he'll need some treatment anyway, regardless of whether he chooses to stay there or not."

"Oh? And what are you going to do?" Max asked.

"I'll stay here with the beedrill," the bellossom said.

"But-"

"They're nice pokémon, usually," Bellossom said. "And they'll be more reasonable when they wake up. They were nice enough to let us have some berries earlier in the year, when the berry trees weren't growing well in our part of Woven Forest. But the weather's been so chilly lately that no berries are growing anywhere, so the beedrill got understandably desperate. They have a whole clan of younger weedle and kakuna to look after, you know. And then there was that fire off in Emerald Forest… I think that scared everyone in the land, especially us forest-dwellers. With stuff like that happening all the time, they probably just panicked."

Max scowled a bit. "They didn't look all that panicked to me…" he muttered.

Bellossom laughed. "They like to battle just as much as any pokémon, I suppose. Anyway, those wounds really are looking bad; I really must insist you make your way to the guild right away. Sweetie?"

"I'm on it, momma!" the oddish said. "Just follow me, Mister Archen!"

Archen glanced back at his wounds momentarily; both the graze on his wing and the deeper jab at his back were still seeping blood, making his feathers all sticky. Getting treatment sooner rather than later was probably a good call, so he started off after the oddish. "It was nice to meet you, Bellossom!" he shouted back as he left, hoping that 'Bellossom' was the right way to address her. "I hope the beedrill are a bit more sympathetic this time around!"

Bellossom simply waved him on, so he turned his attention back to following the oddish. He quickly found that his head was pounding again and his body was still shaking. He guessed this was probably due to the pain.

If this is what pokémon have to go through every time they battle, I'm glad I never put them through it, he said, fairly certain that he had never been a trainer as a human, though he couldn't remember for sure.

"So where do you come from, Mister Archen?" the oddish asked, snapping Max out of his reverie.

"Um… A long way away."

"A long way away?" the oddish asked excitedly. "Then you probably know different stories than my mother! Can you tell me one of them? I love stories."

The little oddish looked so happy at the prospect of the story that Max felt bad that he couldn't oblige. "I don't remember any stories. Sorry."

"Oh," the oddish said before quickly brightening back up. "Then I'll tell you the stories that my mommy told me, okay?"

Max's ears were ringing now in addition to all his other aches and pains, but he ignored it as best he could. "Go for it."

"Okay, um, there's always Reshiram and Zekrom!" Oddish said. "I guess it's not much of a story… But everyone says that they fly above the land all the time, keeping the Spirit of the land in balance. And they're super cool and super strong, too! But no one has seen them in a long time, so I don't think they really exist. But it'd be cool if they did, right?"

"Yeah, definitely," Max replied, surprised to find that he was familiar with these two pokémon. He couldn't remember specifics, but he knew that they were mythical beings in the world where he came from.

The oddish's leaves drooped slightly as she continued moving forward. "Guess that wasn't very good for a story… I know! There's the story of Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus! The three of them were said to fly around the land and keep the weather in check, and warn pokémon if there was a storm or something that they couldn't manage to hold back. But one day, they disappeared, and everyone panicked because it was like the whole world went out of control! So you know what happened?"

"What?" Max asked distantly, only half paying attention. His vision was starting to black out at the edges, and he found that his thoughts were becoming muddled. Have I lost too much blood or something? The wounds didn't seem this bad…

Ignorant of Max's problem, Oddish continued, "The Four Warriors of Justice came, of course! They started helping pokémon and eventually, they founded the guilds. The one that we're going to is the Southern Guild, founded by Virizion. I guess the Four Warriors disappeared a while back, but their guilds are still there and going strong while helping pokémon. In fact, looks like we're here!"

They emerged from the forest to find themselves quite suddenly on a vast flat plain, its surface dotted with roots that ranged from small half-buried ones to others that were wider than Max's wingspan and that twisted out of the ground into fantastic shapes. At the center of this knotted plain, four trees stood at four points of an imaginary square. Though they weren't all that much taller than the gigantic trees Max had woken up among, they were easily three times thicker than even the thickest tree he had seen in Woven Forest. Unlike the trees of Woven Forest, these ones had no branches whatsoever except at the very top, where leaves suddenly flared out like the hair on a bouffalant's head. It was there at the very top that the four trees connected via their voluminous canopies, seemingly interweaving in a way that was not at all unlike the lower branches of Woven Forest.

Max stood there in a daze, admiring it for a long time not because of the awe it inspired in him, but because he felt about ready to pass out.

"Um, Mister Archen? Are you okay?" the oddish asked, finally realizing that something was wrong.

Max tried to answer in the affirmative, but only a mumble came out of his beak before his vision went completely black, his ears rang loudly enough to tune out an exploud, and his now unconscious body fell to the ground.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Hey, Rose, looks like he's waking up!"

Max forced his eyes open to see the pokémon that had just spoken, a luxio. The electric-type grinned as soon as he saw that Max was looking at him and said, "Do you know that you walked all the way here from Woven Forest while you were both wounded and poisoned? That takes strength, kid."

"Oh, shoo for a moment, won't you Luxio?" the audino said as she roughly pushed him aside. With a mischievous smile, she added, "It's obvious that you're besotted with him, but the poor dear needs some space."

"Rose, be serious!" Luxio said, his hackles rising defensively, though he had a slight grin on his own face; though he'd been the butt of the joke, he obviously still found it amusing. "I just want to be the first pokémon to speak to the archen who came out of nowhere and completely knocked out two beedrill with one attack. That's someone to admire, if I'm any judge of it."

"Oh, no, you have it all wrong!" Max protested as he sat up from his little bed of leaves and found that, though his body was not entirely free of aches and pains, at least the headache and tunnel-vision and ear-ringing was gone. "I didn't-"

"Look what you've done now, Luxio!" Rose said, the antennae-like feelers on her audino ears tensing angrily. "Getting my patient all riled up right when he wakes up! Now, dearie, do sit back and relax," she said to Max. "I've treated the poison, and your wounds are already starting to heal, but you still ought to take it easy for a bit. I'm Rose, and I treat pokémon here at the Southern Guild. Are you feeling better?"

Max smiled, or at least tried to; his beak made that a little bit difficult to do. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better. Thanks. But, um… Did I pass out right before I got here or something?" He couldn't quite remember for sure.

"Yes indeed," she confirmed. "That oddish friend of yours ran in to get us, and we managed to help you in. She's already gone back home, but she told us everything that happened before she had to leave."

"She sure did tell us everything!" the luxio said, forcing his way right next to Rose. "Quite impressive, as I said before! Beating two beedrill single-pawed is no easy feat. I'm Luxio, by the way, a solo guild member here with a passion for exploring."

"I'm, uh, Archen," Max said, since this seemed to be the proper way to introduce himself. "But you can call me Max. I've never really gone by anything else. And I was hoping to join the guild here. You know who I need to talk to?"

Luxio flicked his tail happily. "Of course I do! You'll want to talk to the Guildmasters. Just follow me and I'll take you to 'em!"

Max looked to the audino, feeling like he probably needed her permission to leave this infirmary. "Can I leave?"

"Depends. Are you feeling fine?"

"Yes, other than some hurting where I was injured, which is to be expected," he said, looking at the hole in his back which was, to his amazement, already beginning to close up. Guess I've got a pokémon's knack for recovery along with my pokémon body.

"In that case, you're free to go!" Rose said, a bright smile on her face as her blue eyes glistened happily. "Just remember to take it easy!"

"All right then, Mr. Hero-of-the-Day," Luxio said as he walked towards the door. "We're off!"

Max followed Luxio, but didn't let the hero comment go without protest. "Really, I'm no hero. I don't even-"

"Don't be so modest! Facts are facts, and that oddish didn't seem like a liar. You beat two beedrill with one ancientpower attack, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"And you stepped in to help that oddish and her mother when they were both being attacked, even though it had nothing to do with you. Didn't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothin'!" the luxio insisted, his fur sparking happily as he led the way up a staircase that was carved out of wood, just like every hall, floor, and ceiling that Max had seen so far. "That takes power and skill. I may not specialize in battling like a lot of the teams here, but I can appreciate a natural battler when I see him. It's a pleasure to know you."

Max ran up alongside Luxio. "Really, don't get the wrong idea! I'm just a coward. I just ran away from the beedrill until I was trapped. I don't even know how I used ancientpower."

Luxio looked at him closely for a few moments. "I still think you're just being modest," he said. "Even if that's true, you stepped in to help those two. That's a hero if I've ever heard of one. Anyway, no more arguing! I wanna be able to say that I was the first to meet Max the beedrill-battler, and you're going to ruin it if you keep on denying what everyone clearly sees is true."

Max looked down to the ground, his tail dragging behind him. "But it's not true…" he mumbled, lowly enough that Luxio couldn't hear him this time. He wasn't a hero. He hadn't been, not since that day, the only day he could remember from being human. Letting himself be called a hero just seemed like a mockery of what had happened back then, and it made him feel guiltier than ever.

"Anyway, Max, we're here! Guildmaster Mandibuzz, Guildmaster Braviary! I brought that archen with me."

Max looked around and saw that, unlike the stairs and halls and rooms he had just passed through, the room that he had just entered was a massive gathering space with a floor made entirely of tightly-woven but still living branches. Instead of a solid wood ceiling, branches arched above Max from four different trees at the corners of the room, each branch covered with leaves that were bigger than Max himself. Though this created a very solid barrier between the room and the outside for the most part, the branches were tied back at certain places to allow streams of light to filter in.

In the center of the room were two pokémon that Max was familiar with. There was a brightly-colored bird with his feathers all fluffed out to make himself appear larger; he stood taller than Max himself had as a human. No doubt about it – this was a braviary, one of the strongest and rarest pokémon to fly the skies. Next to him was a mandibuzz, one of the most ominous pokémon that Max knew of; she was equally large, with darkly colored feathers, a bald head, and bones decorating her waist and the crown of her head.

"So you're the kid that fought off two beedrill with one attack, huh?" the Braviary said, his manner of speaking making him seem rough and uncouth, though not necessarily unkind. "I like that! That oddish said that you were hoping to join the guild, right?"

"Um, yes… Guildmaster," he said, yet again hoping that he was using the right term of address. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, that is."

"Trouble? Hardly!" the braviary practically shouted, breaking into a hearty chuckle. "We're glad to have a fighter like yerself. Right Dear?"

The Mandibuzz smiled at Max graciously. "Even if you weren't a great fighter, you'd still be more than welcome to join. Are you feeling better, by the way? Rose said that she thought you'd been poisoned."

"Um, yes. I'm fine now," Max said, slightly stunned. Mandibuzz were supposed to be vicious, and braviary were majestic. Instead, this mandibuzz seemed kind and motherly, whereas the braviary was more obnoxious than anything. Guess I can't judge a book by its cover here, huh? Then again, I guess that makes sense; after all, judging me as I look, I doubt anyone could guess I'm not actually a pokémon.

"That's great to hear," said the mandibuzz. "My mate and I are the guildmasters here. It's wonderful to meet you. We really need to leave, or else I'd show you around, Archen. Luxio, would you mind doing the honors?"

The luxio stood a bit taller. "Of course, Guildmaster."

"Glad to hear it. Well, we'd best be off then, right Gale?" Mandibuzz said to her mate.

"Of course, of course, Truvel dear," the braviary said just before opening his wings and taking off, flying up through the high room before vanishing out one of the holes in the ceiling. The mandibuzz took off right after him and followed him out of the room.

Max watched them go, a look of longing on his face. "Wish I could fly like that…" he said, jealous of how easily they cupped the air beneath their wings.

"Huh? Aren't you…" Luxio looked at Max, then corrected what he had been about to say. "Well, guess it would be hard to fly with dinky wings like that. But look on the bright side! When those two hatched, they would've been a vullaby and a rufflet, neither of which can really fly. But you can evolve just like they did, right? Once you're an archeops, no doubt you'll soar just like they do!"

Max brightened considerably. "I never thought of it like that."

"Of course, no one in the entire region has evolved in years, so we'll have to figure out what's wrong with that before you can ever fly," Luxio added.

The feather's on Max's body drooped. "Thanks for getting my hopes up and then crushing them." No evolution? Like an everstone or something? That's the only thing I can think of that can stop evolution.

"Hey, don't let it get you down, bro!" Luxio said. "You'll fly someday. Just hold on to that dream!"

Dream? That's not my dream... I have more important things to focus on. Whether or not it's the reason I'm here as a pokémon, I need to make up for that day. I'll make that my reason for being here. My penance. I was never able to make up for it as a human… Maybe this is my chance.

"Oi, Max! What you doin' standin' around? Get your head out of the clouds! We got a guild to see and pokémon to meet!"

Max looked over to the luxio and grinned as much as his beak could manage.

But even if I'm making up for the past… I don't see why I can't make some friends in the present.

Can anyone think of four fun names for pokémon identical quadruplets? So far, all I can think of is Fee, Fi, Fo, and Fum. Which is actually pretty good, but I'd like to see if anyone can come up with something better. ^_^

Anyway, let's welcome the cowardly and as-of-yet teamless human-turned-archen, Max! He has only one memory of his human life, which for now will stay a secret... hehehe. After this chapter, the loop of characters will begin again with Vulpix, and that is *roughly* how the structure of this fic will stay throughout the story, though there shall be very notable exceptions later on.

Reminder - I am still drawing pictures for each chapter, even if they're not all that great! The links can be found on my profile. I also have a map of this PMD region there, which you're more than welcome to look at if you like having that sort of visual.

Also, I think I'll be putting up very small descriptions of all minor and major characters under the PMD:DoW section of my profile. I'm hoping that things won't get too confusing, but since this is my first time switching between so many characters, I worry that you might forget some pokémon in the shuffle. If this does happen, let me know. Or if I'm doing a good job of avoiding it, also let me know.

Hope you're liking it! If you've got a moment, please review to tell me what you think so far!