Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon series or any of the Pokémon created by them. I don't own the terms they made either. They are owned by Nintendo, Gamefreak, and others.
Sorry this chapter took so long I needed to be rescued from a mystery dungeon.
Thinking will be in italics.
"Akuma, wake up. Hey pull you wings in you look like you crash landed." Luca said as he shook my sleeping body.
"Five more minutes I groaned as I pulled my wings over my body to block out Luca's voice like a blanket.
"Loudred's going to wake you if you don't get up, and help me explain everything to the whole guild."Luca said dismissively, and smirked as I jumped up fully alert and my wings spread open.
"That's not funny and I'm not looking forward to explaining last night's fight, or your brother's message." I said stretching out my wings following my body.
"Come on and let's say good morning to everyone, and then we will have to fulfill your promise to explain why I was unconscious last night to the whole guild." Luca said opening the door of our room, and extending his paw towards me with a smile.
"Fine, but I want a gift as payment for doing this." I said trying to stifle a yawn, as I followed Luca to the guild's morning address area. When Luca and I took our usual spots near the back of the group we were given a few questioning glances, but nobody dared directly confront us with their questions.
"Everyone attention, after the morning address we will have Luca and Akuma explain what happened last night to prevent them having to repeat the story multiple times, and without further ado let's begin the mourning address. Chatot finished his announcement with a gesture over the crowd in front of him. We began our synchronized shout:
"One! Don't shirk work!"
"Two! Run away and pay!"
"Three! Smiles go for miles!"
Once the mourning chant was over the crowd separated forming a walkway from Luca and I to the front of the crowd. Luca took the lead and trotted up to Chatot with me shuffling forward not to far behind him.
Luca seemed eager to get through his explanation of events and had a to force a serious expression as he turned to face our guildmates.
"Last night during my birthday party we had a… visitor that happens to be extremely greedy, and he happens to also be my older brother, Alexris." Luca explained angrily, but calmed himself before continuing his explanation. "When Akuma and I joined the guild I sent a letter to my father asking him to help me find Akuma's parents, but he sent my older brother to help with my request." Luca said glancing at me.
"I went with Luca to answer the door for his brother and we got attacked by him. During the attack Luca was knocked unconscious, and I fought off his brother." Luca cringed as I mentioned fighting his brother alone, but seemed relieved I hadn't been hurt.
"Before Alexris left he said my parents were worried about me, and that he would be waiting for his chance to get the reward for returning me to them. He called me a prince, too, but I think it was nothing." I finished the explanation deciding against telling everyone he would be back in one week.
I'll tell Luca more later. I thought to myself as I looked at the crowd absorb the new information.
"What if it is true and you are a prince? Would you still want to be an explorer, Akuma?" Sunflora shouted causing the stares in the room to shift from anxious to worried, and Luca gave me a genuinely scared glance before looking back towards the crowd.
"I… I… don't know." I said trying my best to tell everyone the truth, I couldn't say for sure that I wouldn't leave the guild to stay with my family or maybe my parents wouldn't allow me to be an explorer to begin with.
"Everyone we will continue on with our work, but to be on the safe side we will have Akuma stay here in the guild and work sentry duty until we find Luca's brother Alexris. Now everyone is dismissed." Chatot said waving for everyone to leave.
Diglett approached Luca and I as Chatot walked the practically sleeping Wigglytuff back into the guild master's office.
"Luca, since your partner can't leave the guild I was wondering if now would be a good time for me to teach you that skill for your birthday. I will have the time after Akuma takes my post as sentry for a while." Diglett explained as he lead Luca to the stairs.
"Hey Akuma, come over here, so I can explain your new job to you! Loudred shouted without thinking about poor Chimecho who just happened to be passing by him, and now was making a somewhat dizzied path towards the cafeteria.
"I'll be right over Loudred!" I yelled trying my best to non verbally say he was too loud for someone inside a building. It didn't work he just gave me a confused look and pointed to the hole behind him then crossed his arms as he waited impatiently for me to run over to him.
"You rang." I said once I got near enough to be heard at a normal volume, but covered my ears as he opened his mouth to reply. Loudred again gave me a quizzical look before grabbing my paws and lowered them as he talked to me at a much quieter volume than his usual eardrum destroying one.
"Since we will be working together for a while I'm going to say this once, if you mess up this simple job your kingdom will be ruled by an idiot. All you have to do is identify the pokemon that stands on that grate above you at the end of this alcove." Loudred said gesturing towards a ladder inside the hole.
"Is there light down here?" I said climbing down the ladder.
"Nope. You will just have to feel your way through until you can see the light from the grate above you." Loudred explained making sure his voice didn't sound any further away as I reach the bottom of the ladder. I turned around to see that the alcove was darker than I had first thought was possible.
I can't only image a black hole has more light in it. I thought as I used my aura to give me an idea of what the room looked like with light in it.
My aura revealed that the small room I was in was hardly big enough to take two or three steps in a single direction without hitting a wall face first, there was also a small table beside the ladder I had descended. There was a hallway barely big enough for me to walk through, and at the other side of the hallway was another small room, both of which had no objects inside them.
I walked through the hallway and into the small room which like the first room was impossible to leisurely walk around in, but above it was the grate in front of the guild entrance.
Wow this feels like a prison cell. I could see why this job isn't for everyone.
"Hey Akuma did you get under the grate yet?" Loudred asked quietly, knowing his voice would intensify as it echoed down the hole.
"Yeah I'm under it, so my job is to identify the pokemon by their feet right?" I asked Loudred for confirmation.
"Yes, your highness." Loudred replied.
"Stop that." I said sounding slightly annoyed.
"Stop what? His prince-ship." Loudred said hinting at his sarcastic tone.
"Fine be that way Loudred I'll get you soon enough." I said with a pout, as I sat down and looked up to the grate waiting for the first pokemon to come by.
Just my luck the first pokemon I have to identify has no feet to speak of. I'll try my aura vision I guess. I thought as I forced the aura in my eyes to strengthen.
I couldn't see the coloring of the pokemon but I could tell what it's outline was like, so I went with it and made a guess at which pokemon.
The figure had an oval like body with a sphere attached to each side, and sticking out of the spheres were magnets from the looks of it.
"Hey Loudred, the pokemon at the grate is Magnezone." I shouted to Loudred.
"Okay thanks I'll go open the door for him, your highness." Loudred replied quickly and ran up to the door of the guild mumbling some sly comment.
While he was away I laid down on the floor of the small room, and was surprised to find the ground was made of a cushion like dirt.
If he doesn't stop with that highness business we are going to have to fight, soon. Though this isn't such a bad job if you have the abilities needed to handle it, but man this can be boring. If I start to feel tired I'll just exercise my wings a bit.
"I'm back your highness and you surprise me with your ability to guess correctly try it for the next commoner that comes by." Loudred said raising his voice so that it sounded like someone shout at me from a few feet away.
"Bite me Loudred, I asked you to stop with that your highness and prince-ship stuff." I replied trying to mimic his volume.
"I'm sorry, but bite isn't in my current move set because I have yet to learn it." Loudred said sarcastically.
I'll get you good one of these days Loudred, but until then I'll do this new job. I thought as a pokemon stepped on the grate.
Seven or so pokemon came and went through the guild before Loudred climbed down the ladder to have lunch with me under the grate, during what he called the slow hours where almost no pokemon came to or left the guild. What I gathered from his explanation is that it was the same time everyday, so it must have been a little while after noon.
"Because this is your first day I'll let you drink this," Loudred said handing me what appeared to be a cup a greenish silver concoction and continued, "but tomorrow we play fire-water-grass for it."
I looked at the cup suspiciously then back at Loudred. I sat the drink down beside me and thanked him for it after taking another bite of my salad.
I don't think I've tried any type of meat since I've gained consciousness. I thought as I finished eating the last apple slice covered in a sweet berry dressing.
"What is this anyway?" I ask after I drank some of the greenish silver concoction, though tasting it was hard enough when it tasted like someone threw sugar into dark coffee and didn't even mix it. Loudred laughed to himself as I put the cup down quickly and forced myself to swallow the amount I had already drank.
"That is a drink I had Croagunk and Chimecho work together to make a while back, I call it the 'Awakened drink' it basically prevents the pokemon who drinks it from sleep. Now that you know how it taste I should let you know tomorrow the winner get to choose how much of it you drink." Loudred explained quickly.
I gave Loudred an angry glare as I forced the rest of it through my teen when I felt something round enter my mouth, and spit it out immediately. Loudred smiled devilishly as I examined the small sphere, it was big enough to choke me but the silver color of it made me curious.
"That thing forms whenever you leave the drink alone long enough, but don't worry it's edible and has the same effect as the drink. The thing about it…" Loudred stopped and watched in disbelief, as I ate the candy like sphere which to my surprise had a spicy and sour taste to it.
"What was that effect you were going to say?" I asked Loudred as my vision suddenly became warped colors appeared reversed and the bottom half of my vision became inverted so that it was like a reflection of the top. I closed my eyes then rubbed them lightly, and when I opened them again everything was normal.
"What in the world was that?" I shouted at Loudred as he stretched out his hands to me.
"Akuma, stay calm. That is there for the person who doesn't drink it. I call 'night lok', and it causes intensely horrific hallucinations. They also become more frequent as your heart rate increases." Loudred explain trying his best to calm me down.
"How did you think that it was a good idea to give that to a ten year old, Loudred?" I asked taking a menacing step towards him.
"Wait Akuma just calm down they'll wear off soon enough." Loudred as he backed away from me.
"Loudred I'll keep this between the two of us if I get your dinner tonight." I said giving Loudred a evil smile. He swallowed hard as he nodded his agreement.
Sorry this chapter took so long I fainted in the mystery dungeon called distraction and it took a while for that rescue team to find me.
Enjoy the chapter, review, ask questions and farewell explorers i'm sorry to say but i'll be on hiatus for a while.