Chapter 5

I was fast asleep, in a dream the involved me, Chatot and lots of cookies. I'm not going to tell you the whole story, though. Now you have something to think about the next time you're bored.

All of a sudden, I was awoken by thunder. Wait...that's not right. More like thunderous screaming. I had some things to say to this guy- how do you scream so loud? And furthermore...I'M SLEEPING HERE!

"Nngh..." I groaned, rolling onto my back. I was face to face with a Loudred.

"Wake UP! It's MORNING!" he shouted. He had been the second voice under the grate yesterday. He must be a guild Pokémon.

"Five more minutes, mommy..." Ivy muttered from the bed next to me, pulling more grass over herself. Loudred yelled again, and I covered my ears as Ivy jumped out of bed, startled.

"I'm not going to be late because YOU two LOONS slept in!" Loudred said, rushing away. Though still dizzy, I jumped up in realization.

"WE SLEPT TOO LATE!" I exclaimed, and dragged the sleepy Ivy through the corridor. All the guild members were assembled in front of the Guildmaster's room. We slipped into their formation.

Chatot announced, "Ahem! It seems everyone has finally arrived. Guildmaster, you may come out now!"
There was an awkward silence, and then Wigglytuff burst out of his room, startling Ivy, who was half asleep.

"Yoomtah! What're the rules of explorers, everyone?"

We listened as the guild chanted,
"1. Don't shirk work!
2. Run away and pay!
3. Smiles go for miles!"
Guildmaster Wigglytuff exclaimed to the enthusiastic guild members, "Alright, let's have a great day of exploring!"

"HOORAY!"

As the guild members scattered, Chatot came up to us. "Have you all seen the Bulletin Board?"

"Bulletin Board?" I asked. Then I remembered the crowded boards with the request for help on it. "Is that where we get our missions?"

"Yes, exactly! ~" Chatot sang. "This makes explaining simpler for me. Shall we go check out the boards?"

"Sounds good!" I chirped, Ivy simply nodding. We followed Chatot up the ladder, to a board on the right of the ladder. It was much less crowded up here than it had been yesterday, most likely because it was early morning.

Chatot said, "Let's see here...ah, this looks good! A Spoink lost its pearl in a bluff. Can you find it?"

"Uh...uh..." I stuttered. God, I was such a wimp! It was just getting a pearl...why was I so nervous?

"Are you okay, Rito?" Ivy asked me quietly. Sometimes I could forget she was there, she was so quiet.

"Y...yeah..." I said, trying to build up my confidence. "I...I think so..."

I saw Chatot give me a strange look, and stuck my tongue out at him when he turned back to the board, earning a giggle from Ivy. "Will you please be serious?" Chatot said, turning back to us as I stopped sticking my tongue out. I discreetly rolled my eyes at him as he read from the paper, "My name is Spoink. I lost my pearl at a nearby bluff, but the Pokémon there are too tough for me! I so love my pearl, please get it back, it is at the bottom of Drenched Bluff. Thank you!"

Ivy smiled and nodded. "Sounds good to me."

I nodded nervously. "Right, yeah, good..." And, with me trembling like crazy, we headed to Drenched Bluff.

Before I knew it, we were in the wet bluff. It was filled with water-type Pokémon, which Ivy and I both had an advantage over. I even learned Thundershock! Ivy learned a mere Growl. Despite my superior move set, Ivy led the way, knocking out most of our enemies. We collected more Blast Seeds and Oran Berries, along with status-healing berries like Cheri Berries and Pecha Berries. Ivy boosted all her stats with the Pink Bow Wigglytuff gave us, and we found a Special Band for me. As we got deeper, I grew a couple more levels, flaunting my Special Band proudly.

It had seemed to be perhaps just a mere hour by the time we got to the end, though it had to be more. We looked around in the soggy rock, when Ivy called to me, "Rito! Over here!"

I walked over to her to find a beautiful pink pearl glistening in a puddle. I picked it up and put it in a separate compartment of the Treasure Bag. "Well, let's go back."

We used our badge to send us to the beginning of the dungeon, and started to walk back to the Guild. I watched Ivy, who was right now my closest friend, despite having met her yesterday. She was so calm and collected. Right then and there, I decided that our friendship had to be built on trust. So...

"Ivy?"

"Hmm?"

"I know I said this before, but now I mean it."

"Mean what?"

"I believe that you are a human turned Pokémon and that you lost your memory. I also believe you are my friend that I can trust."

She was silent for a moment, then turned to me and gave me a simple smile, then continued walking. But to me...that smile meant the world.