One dungeon down, fifty something more to go...

Chapter 3: Wigglytuff's Guild

"Bleah! That was the dumbest idea EVER!" Jade spat once we got out of the cave. I was right about the beach being outside of the cave, and we had to swim for it. I was okay at it. But poor Jade… She couldn't really swim. She just flailed about, splashing me and making a big scene. It's a miracle that she didn't lose her Relic Fragment.

"Sorry! It was the only way that we could get out! Unless you want to stay in that cave forever—" I said.

"And I'd almost rather stay in there!" Jade snapped.

"Hey! You made it! That's an achievement!"
"Barely! I had to doggie-paddle!"

"Let's finish arguing later. Now… you owe me some explanations. What did you want to ask me before Koffing and Zubat butted in?"

Jade's expression hardened. "Um… okay. So, do you know what we just did, right? We explored a dungeon. Well… Do you see that cliff behind you?" she said.

A cliff? I didn't notice a cliff when I first woke up on the beach. Then again, I suppose the shock of getting turned into a Pokémon can really make you less observant. But now I could see it clearly: a huge cliff with a staircase leading to the top.

"Yeah? Well, on top of it, there is a guild called Wigglytuff's Guild. Members of the guild do what we did: they go into dungeons and help out Pokémon and stuff like that."

"Why are you bugging me about it?" I asked.

I almost instantly regretted saying it. Jade smiled.

"See, we have to have at least two members to enroll in the guild! I'm not brave enough to go in there myself! And you seem very brave. So…"

I grimaced. I knew what was coming.

"I want you… to make a contract with me so we could form an exploration team!" she said grandly.

"Wait. I have to sign a contract?" I asked.

"Oh, no. I lied about that. It's an in-joke. But in all seriousness, will you form an exploration team with me?"

What? She's just trying to recruit me out of the blue? What should I do? Refuse? I thought. I pondered about what I should do for a minute. Then I asked Jade a question.

"Now hang on. You said we had to go through dungeons like that on a daily basis if we enroll the guild? We got injured a lot in that dungeon alone! If we have to do that day after day… So why do you want to do that?" I said. In answer, Jade pulled out her Relic Fragment.

"This is my Relic Fragment. It's my dearest treasure. It gives me courage, and hope, and stuff like that. But this Fragment is also very mysterious to me," she said, running her hand over its surface.

"See the pattern etched onto this? It's really weird," she said.

I looked at it and saw what she meant. Carved on the Fragment was a very odd and complex pattern.

"That is weird… Where did you get this?" I said.

"Well… That's that thing. I don't remember. And because of that, I was thinking that if I were to join the guild, I may be able to solve this mystery!" Jade said.

I was silent, absorbing the information. Then I began to think. But not about Jade. About myself.

I may be able to solve this mystery! Jade had said.

Solve this mystery… Solve this mystery about myself! I can find out why I became a Pokémon and who I was before! Maybe… I thought. I had made up my mind.

"Okay, Jade. I'll form an exploration team with you," I said.

Jade's eyes widened. She smiled. And she knocked me over with a huge hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Oh my Arceus, this is so exciting! How can I ever thank you…" Jade squealed.

"You can thank me by getting off me," I groaned.

"Oh… right…" Jade said meekly.

She lugged herself up and began to run toward the cliff, not checking to see if I was following her.

Once we got to the top of the cliff, I saw a huge structure. Coming closer, I realized that the structure was a huge… tent. I don't know what else to call it. Sure, it was a tent, yellow in color with orange markings on the side. But the top was truly bizarre. It was pink, with two pink "ears" like rabbit ears sticking up. On its "face" were two "eyes" and a mouth in a wide smile. In short, it looked like a giant pink bunny.

Right by the tent, two totem poles with faces of Pokémon stood. Two torches blazed in front of the totem poles. And right in front of us, an extremely unsafe-looking metal grate was embedded in the ground.

Jade stopped in front of the grate and took out her Relic Fragment. She held the fragment close to her heart and took deep breaths, as if trying to calm herself down. Then she looked back at me, trembling fiercely, and said, "I'll go first, okay?"
Before I could respond, she stepped on the metal grate.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" a tiny voice squeaked.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" a much louder voice boomed.

"The footprint is Chikorita's! The footprint is Chikorita's!" the quiet voice said.

There was a pause. I heard someone sigh, and some hurried discussion. Jade was drenched in sweat and shaking like crazy. She looked back at me and squeaked.

"Eep! I-I'm scared!" she said. But despite her nervousness, she stayed on the grate.

"SO. You have the NERVE to come back here? This guild is only for the BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE! NOT YOU CHICKENS!" the loud voice roared.

"I'm-I'm not a chicken!" Jade said back in a tremulous voice.

"Since WHEN did you decide to be BRAVE ALL OF A SUDDEN?!" the voice spat in outrage.

I walked up to the grate. "It's probably because I'm here!" I called down.

There was a silence. Then…

"Is that voice your friend?" the voice said, now much calmer.

"Yeah! And he wants to come in too!" Jade said, now much more confident.

"…Alright. Tell him to step on the grate," it said.

"Right!" Jade said, leaping off the grate. She let out a sigh of relief.

I stepped on the cold metal grate. Almost instantly the tiny voice began to yell again.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" it said.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" the loud one demanded.

"The footprint is… the footprint… is…" The voice trailed off.

There was another pause. Jade looked at me.

"Um… what's… going on?" she said.

"DIGLETT?! DO YOU NOT KNOW THE FOOTPRINT?!" the loud voice yelled suddenly.

"Sorry, Loudred! Um… I think it's… um… The footprint is… Maybe Riolu's! Maybe Riolu's!" the tiny voice (which must've been Diglett's) said a bit desperately.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, MAYBE?!" the loud voice (which was probably Loudred's) boomed.

"Um… I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just… you don't see many Riolus around here…" Diglett said quickly.

"That's true…" Loudred said thoughtfully.

There was another pause. Jade shifted uncomfortably.

"Um… should we leave?" she said, looking devastated.

But then there was a loud sigh, and Loudred said, "I'm probably going to regret this but… you may enter."

Jade broke into a grin. "Yay, Emile! We can go in! Exploration team, here we come!" she said. She raced into the tent, and I had no choice but to follow her.

The interior of the tent was small; only containing two signs, a knitted wall mural and a ladder leading down into the ground. Jade flew down the ladder faster than you can say "Pokémon". I followed her down and emerged in a huge room.

Another ladder was embedded in the ground next to us. It probably led down to another sublevel, but that wasn't the interesting part.

We were in a huge hollowed out area with soft grass at our feet. All around us, Pokémon of all shapes, sizes and color bustled about, running errands, talking with other Pokémon, or staring at one of two enormous corkboards posted on opposite walls. A few windows had been planted into the walls.

Jade ran up to one of the windows. I followed her up to it.

"Whoa! Even though this place is underground, we can still see outside!" Jade said giddily.

"This guild is built into the side of a cliff. So of course it'd be natural to see outside." The voice startled me. I turned around and saw a multicolored parrot thing, a Chatot, behind us.

"Um… yeah…" Jade muttered.

"Anyway! I am Chatot, the Head of Intelligence around here. And now I must ask you to shoo!" he said.

Jade looked up suddenly, looking as though Chatot had said something horrible. "SHOO?! What do you mean?!" she cried.

"We don't want any silly salespeople or stupid survey takers around here. We simply do not have time for that," Chatot said calmly.

"But we don't—" Jade began. But Chatot interrupted her.

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" he said.

"But—"

"Shoo! Now! Or I will alert the Guildmaster!"

"We're not salespeople! We want to form an exploration team!" I interjected firmly.

Chatot finally shut his beak. "Hm? You want to form an exploration team?"

"Yeah. Or, at least, that's the plan," I said.

Chatot tilted his head thoughtfully. "Ah, are you sure you want to join us? We have a very strict training program. We've had many teams try to run away in the past. But they can't," he said darkly.

That should've terrified me. But I held my ground. "I don't care how strict your training is. We want to form an exploration team."

"That's right!" Jade agreed.

Chatot looked at us for a moment. Then he began to laugh. "Ha ha! Who said our training was strict? Certainly not me! Hee! Hee hee! Now, c'mon! Let's get you guys registered!" he said cheerfully.

Then he flew (literally) down the other ladder.

We looked at each other. "Man, what a mood swing…" I said. Then we followed him.

Chatot was standing in front of a pink door when we got down the ladder. "You are about to meet Wigglytuff, the Guildmaster. He can be a bit… odd at times, but he's got a nasty temper," he warned.

"Yeah, okay! I just want to get registered!" Jade said impatiently.

"Okay." And Chatot opened the door.

We walked into a cozy, warm room that smelled like herbs and burning incenses. Two torches stood beside a knit rug, and a huge mural like the one we saw earlier was tacked up on the back wall.

Standing on the rug was a Wigglytuff: a pink bunny thing that resembled the face on the tent upstairs. Wigglytuff stood completely still like a statue, and he didn't give any indication that he had seen us enter.

"Er…Guildmaster?" Chatot said uncomfortably.

Suddenly, Wigglytuff smiled and struck a strange pose. "Hiya!" he said cheerfully. "I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff! And who are you friendly friends?"

Jade glanced at me with a puzzled look on her face.

He sounds like a little kid. How did he become a Guildmaster? was all I could think.

"Um… I'm Emile… and this is Jade," I introduced.

"They want to form an exploration team," Chatot explained.

"Exploration team! Yay! Okay, what's your team name?" Wigglytuff said with a wide smile.

"Team name? Oh, I didn't think of that…Do you know of a good team name?" Jade said, looking at me.

"Nope. I'm blank," I said.

But I began to think.

Hmm… a team name…

"How about Team Poképals?" Wigglytuff suggested.

"No! That's too cheerful! I want to be something epic, like Team Diamond or Team Daybreak!" Jade said.

"Why don't we name our team Team Diamond or Team Daybreak?" I asked.

"It doesn't fit us," Jade said simply.

For the next few minutes we bounced ideas off of each other. Wigglytuff kept making cutesy names (Team Fluffy! Team Friends!) and Chatot suggested nerdy names, (Team Calculus!) but we just couldn't decide.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, Jade screamed.

"Emile! Your hand is on fire!" she yelled.

I looked down, and sure enough, both of my hands had a light blue fire surrounding them.

"Ahhhh! Wha-what IS this?!" I screamed, waving my hand about. Chatot chuckled.

"Emile, that is your 'aura'. All Pokémon have it, but you Riolus have the ability to control aura. Sometimes, when your emotions run high, like when you're angry, your aura will show. Experienced Riolus can do all sorts of things with aura," Chatot explained.

That's strange. I have aura. And… wait.

Aura…

"Team Aura!" Jade and I said simultaneously.

"Team Aura? Okay! Registering… yoom… TAH!" Wigglytuff said. He beamed at us. "Okay, friendly friends! From now on, you'll be known as Team Aura!"

"Cool!" Jade said.

"Oh, wait! Really quick…" Wigglytuff turned around, and when he turned back to face us, he had a worn treasure chest in his hands. He set the chest down. "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!" he said.

We looked at the chest for a second. Then we did the only logical thing to do if you find a chest: we opened it.

Inside we found a brown sash made of worn leather. "That's your Treasure Bag! If you find items in dungeons, you'll put them in this bag. It can only hold sixteen items now. But as you progress up your explorer team ranks, you'll be able to hold more items," Chatot said.

"Ranks?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that for now. Say… why don't you open up the sash? There may be something in it," Chatot said.

I unfastened the sash and found a blue bandana, an old looking map, and four white badges. I took them out one by one and put them on the ground.

"Those badges are Explorer Badges! They signify your status as an exploration team. Also, if you are at the end of a dungeon and touch them, you will return to the guild!" Chatot explained as we pinned them on.

"But why are there four badges? Our team only has two members," I said.

"You'll see…" Chatot said slyly.

Jade picked up the blue bandana and examined it. "Ah, that's a Power Band! Wear it in a dungeon and your attacks do more damage!" Chatot said.

I looked at the map, which was old and worn, as if other exploration teams before us had used it. "That's your Wonder Map! Whenever you find a new location, it will be recorded on this map!" the Music Note Pokémon explained.

"Man! What a load!" I said. We were about to exit the Guildmaster's chamber when suddenly, out of nowhere, a thought emerged.

Are you sure you got everything out of the bag?

Such a strange thought prompted me to double check the bag. I began to dig around in the bag, and eventually my hand fell upon a piece of cloth. I pulled it out and found that at the very bottom of the bag, a green ribbon lay. The ribbon radiated a slight tingle down my body when I touched it, and it almost seemed to glow.

"Hm… What is that?" Chatot said curiously.

"I don't know…" I admitted.

"Well, if it's in there, it has to be in there for a reason," Chatot said.

"You're right. Maybe if I put it on…"
I tied the ribbon around my neck like a bowtie, and energy surged through my body. I felt as if I could crush a rock. Interesting.

"You two will begin your training tomorrow. But keep in mind: as you are apprentices, you must stick with our training schedule. You can't just go exploring all willy-nilly," Chatot said.

"Right! So you should do your best… to train!" Wigglytuff piped up suddenly.

"Now, dinner should be almost ready. After a long day's work, you'll have some downtime here at the guild. However, you are not permitted to come into the Guildmaster's chamber. So shoo!" And with a wave of his wing, Chatot beckoned us out.

Once we exited Wigglytuff's chamber, we were immediately confronted by one of our new apprentices: a sunflower named Sunflora.

"Oh my gosh! New apprentices? What's your team name?" she squealed.

"Team Aura!" Jade said proudly.

"Really? I'm on Team Edward…" Sunflora's expression turned dreamy.

Jade made a strangled sound next to me. When I turned to face her, she was staring at Sunflora with a look of repulsion on her face.

"Oh really? I'm on Team Jacob!" A new voice butted in on our conversation. I turned and saw a white and pink Chimecho behind us.

Sunflora growled. "Well, at least Edward doesn't have a shirt allergy!" she wailed.

Chimecho turned red. "Let's just finish this argument later! It's dinner time!"

All activity in the guild stopped. Then suddenly a handful of Pokémon all chorused: "HOORAY!" The next thing I knew, we were being stampeded over by our fellow guild members.

"Oof…" I groaned as I sat up.

"I guess its dinner time…" Jade said woozily.

We walked in the direction that our fellow apprentices had stampeded and emerged in a mess hall. All sorts of Pokémon, including Chatot, were eating a tasty meal on a long table. At the end of the table, two untouched meals lay: one for me and one for Jade.

"Dinner time," Jade said with a smile.

We had a very enjoyable dinner. The food was delicious and filling and the Pokémon were nice. During dinner we got acquainted with our other guild members: Sunflora, Chimecho, Loudred, Diglett, Dugtrio, Bidoof, Corphish, and Croagunk. Wigglytuff was there too, but he didn't eat. Instead, he bounced an apple on his head while singing, "Perfect Apple… Perfect Apple…" which was very amusing.

After dinner, Chatot explained that it was time to go to bed. We were shown to our room, which consisted of two piles of straw that were itchy yet strangely comfy.

"Good night! Sleep tight! Don't let the Nincadas bite!" Chatot said. Then he left us alone.

"Whew! What a crazy day!" Jade said.

"Yeah, no kidding…" I said.

"Man, I'm so excited, I can't fall asleep! But we'll need our rest for tomorrow's training," she said.

"Yeah, you're right. So… good night, Jade," I said.

"Good night, Emile," Jade said. She turned over on her bed of straw and tried to go to sleep. I tried to follow suit, but I just… couldn't. My mind was still buzzing from the day's events.

So in one day, I've been turned into a Pokémon, contracted amnesia, washed up on a mysterious beach, retrieved an item, and joined a crazy guild with a pink rabbit as the master. It has been some day, I thought.

I touched the green bow that I tied around my neck. There was no doubt that I looked kind of stupid, but hey, Jade didn't look much better with her blue Power Band.

Alright, Emile. Let's freak out about this tomorrow, I told myself.

I turned over on my bed of straw and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

Tomorrow… I'll begin my job as Team Aura's leader…

XxX

I'm very sorry to anyone who likes Twilight! I didn't mean to offend anyone! Really!