Gina and Soren rose from their beds and headed out of their room, having been woken up early courtesy of Loudred. It was another regular morning for them and the guild, but something made Gina's fur prickle when she saw Chatot smiling. Sure, he was usually smiling, but there was something different about this time.

"What's gotten into him?" Gina wondered aloud. "He seems happier than he usually does."

"Yeah," Soren agreed. "His smile is normally forced. This time he seems genuinely happy."

"Maybe Wigglytuff is giving him the day off?" she suggested.

"Could be. We'll probably find out in a few seconds."

Chatot waved his wings for attention. "Everyone! I have an important announcement to make before we begin work." When the voices gradually quieted, Chatot continued, "Today, we will be receiving new allies!"

I guess that's what he's so happy about, Gina thought. I wonder who they are?

Curious whispers spread through the crowd. Gina exchanged a glance with Soren. He shrugged, clearly just as intrigued as she was.

Chatot turned to the ladder leading down to the floor. "Hey! You all may come down now!"

At that instant, a horrid smell filled the room. Everyone's voices rose in shock.

"Eek! What is that odor?!" Sunflora shrieked.

"It smells awful!" Loudred yelled.

Bidoof looked around guiltily. "Yup, that stench sure is foul..." he muttered.

Gina held her nose and coughed, her throat soon becoming sore. She remembered exactly who could make such an atrocious stench, and she tensed her muscles. It's them! She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping it was all just a dream and she would wake up soon.

When she opened her eyes, her heart sank as she realized it was real. Down the ladder came three familiar Poison-type Pokemon, smug grins spread across their faces. They stood in front of the group, the two smaller ones flanking their leader.

"Woah-ho, I'm Koffing!" said the one on the leader's left side.

"Heh, the name's Zubat!" the one of the right said. "Glad to meet you!"

"I'm the leader of Team Skull," the one in the center concluded. "My name is Skuntank. Remember it." Flashing a smirk in Team Diamond's direction, he added, "Especially you two!"

Chatot noticed the exchange and looked at them with interest. "Oh? Are you already acquainted with each other?" He grinned. "That certainly makes things much easier to explain, then! I hope you all get along well!"

Gina snorted. "Yeah, that'll happen," she muttered under her breath.

"So, are these guys actually JOINING us as apprentices?" Loudred asked.

Chatot shook his head. "The Guildmaster and I have agreed that they will simply be joining us for the expedition. As I said earlier, they will be treated with hospitality and kindness."

"Wait, what?!" Soren gasped. "They're coming along with us?"

Chatot narrowed his eyes with confusion. "Why do you sound so shocked?"

"It's nothing, Chatot, sir," Skuntank chuckled. "That one there always overreacts to everything, no matter how small a deal."

Chatot's glance flickered from Skuntank to Soren, then he shrugged. "Very well, then." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, we have decided that having this trio take part in the expedition will assist us. However, if we began working together right away, it would be impossible to truly coordinate teamwork. Therefore, they will also be living with us for several days. They will be bunking in the spare room that we have down the hall."

Loudred folded his arms across his chest. "Doesn't he think something stinks about this?" he whispered. "Literally?"

Sunflora scowled. "Ew, how can the Guildmaster stand this?"

Bidoof nodded in agreement. "I hope this expedition ends soon, yup yup!"

Chatot smiled, happy to see everyone understood the situation. "All right, everyone. Let's get down to work!"

The crew exchanged uneasy glances, before muttering in unison, "... Hooray."

Chatot frowned. "Oh? What's this?" he asked. "Where is your usual enthusiasm?"

Amber groaned from beside Gina. "You must be kidding! This stinks!" she snapped. "How in Arceus' name can you expect us to be cheerful when-"

She was cut off as the guild began to tremble. "Wh-what's going on?" she demanded, a tone of fear in her voice.

Gina glanced at Wigglytuff. His eyes were squeezed shut in concentration, and his hands were curled up into fists. "Yoom..." she heard him mutter. "Yoom..."

Chatot gasped. "No! The Guildmaster... The Guildmaster's rage is building! If he gets angry, it will be utterly horrific!"

"What do we do?" Sunflora shrieked.

"Everyone! Please, even if it hurts, be cheerful!" Chatot forced himself into a calmer state. "Alright everyone! Time to get to work!"

Too scared to do anything else, the guild members played along. "Hooray!"

The tremors stopped immediately, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Gina looked beside her, and she noticed that Jasper seemed he would faint at any second.

The group dispersed, leaving only Team Skull, Team Diamond, Chatot, Amber and Jasper in the room. Skuntank snickered. "Glad to have met you all!" Raising an eyebrow at Amber, he added, "Especially you. Chaw-haw!"

Amber rolled her eyes and turned to Jasper. "Come on, we have work to do." She waked away, Jasper following her up the ladder.

Skuntank nodded to his teammates. "We should be going, too. Come on, boys!"

Koffing nodded, floating after his leader. Zubat followed as well, turning around only to say, "See you later, you two! Heh-heh!"

As soon as they were out of sight, Soren sighed. "Well, that just happened."

"I can't believe this!" Gina's tail twitched in annoyance. "How could the Guildmaster have let those guys in?"

"If you are all done talking..." They jumped at the sound of Chatot's voice. They looked up from their conversation to see him standing in front of them. "I want you two to take jobs from the bulletin boards as usual today. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," they said in unison before ascending the ladder upstairs.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Gina tried to reassure her partner. "They didn't seem as mean as they were when we first met them. Maybe they've decided to change?"

"I hope that's true," Soren said, scanning over the posted jobs. He pointed at one. "How does this one sound? It has a good enough reward."

Gina examined the sheet of paper. "Okay, let's do it. We have to make sure we get chosen for the expedition, so let's stop focusing on Team Skull and do our best!"

Soren chuckled at his partner's enthusiasm. "Right!"

~o~o~o~o~

Later that night after dinner, Team Skull was settling into their room.

"Did you see the looks on those losers' faces when they saw us coming into the guild?" Zubat snickered. "It was priceless!"

"Especially that Eevee!" Koffing added. "Hers was the most hilarious!"

Another bout of laughter rang out between them. Zubat lowered his voice. "I know we just had dinner, but I think I could go for some more food."

"Yeah, my belly'll never get filled on grub like that," Koffing agreed. He turned to Skuntank. "Hey, Chief! Think we can get more food?"

"Keep your voice down!" Skuntank hissed. "The guild chumps have all finally gone off to bed." He got up from his bed and stood in the entrance of their room. "Come on. Let's go find it now."

"Find what?" Zubat asked.

"What do you think? The guild's food supply." He chuckled to himself. "Once we find that, we can give ourselves the feast we deserve!"

"Woah-ho! Good thinking, Chief!" Koffing said.

Zubat nodded. "Only our Chief could come up with something like that!" He flew over to Skuntank. "Let's get to it!"

~o~o~o~o~

Gina gagged as she and Soren passed Team Skull's room the next morning. "How can anyone stand this stench?" she wheezed.

"They probably can't," Soren said. "They just don't want to say anything in case Wigglytuff gets angry again."

They joined the rest of the guild for their morning cheers. When they finished, Chatot called them over, a very slight tone of urgency in his voice.

"What's wrong, Chatot?" Soren asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, but I have a different task for you two today." He cleared his throat. "Today, it will be your duty to replenish the larder."

Gina raised an eyebrow. "Larder? What's that?"

"Food. I inspected the food stock this morning before you all woke up." Chatot gulped. "There has been a drastic shortage in food, and worst of all we're all out of Perfect Apples."

"What are Perfect Apples?" Gina asked.

"They are very big and very delicious apples, hence the name 'Perfect'. There's more to that, however; they are also the Guildmaster's favorite food. If the Guildmaster found out there were no more Perfect Apples, he would..." Chatot trailed off, his voice shaking. "H-he would..."

"Go on," Soren said expectantly. "If there were no more Perfect Apples, what would Wigglytuff do?"

"He... The Guildmaster would..." Chatot was silent, his eyes staring at the ground, as though he was seeing a terrifying event happen before his eyes. When he spoke again, he was no longer stammering. "... Yes, that's what would happen."

"That didn't make any sense," Gina pointed out, tilting her head to the side. "You didn't even-"

Chatot ignored her. "That is why I beg of you two to go to Apple Woods and retrieve some Perfect Apples."

"Where's Apple Woods?" Soren pulled the Wonder Map out of the Treasure Bag and unfolded it. "I don't think we've ever been there..."
Chatot hopped up to them and pointed with his wing to a small wooded area roughly at the center of the map. "Right over here, beside Oran Forest."

Soren nodded and put the map away.

"Now I understand this may seem like a simple errand, but this is a crucial task," Chatot warned. "After all, this is about the Guildmaster's..." He shuddered again, not bothering to explain. "So please, don't fail!"

Gina still felt confused about what had just happened, but she shrugged. "Alright!" She bounded over to the ladder. "C'mon, Soren! Let's get this done!"

As Soren followed his partner out of the guild, they didn't notice that Team Skull was watching them from afar, sly grins spread across their faces.

"Well, looks like they'll be out foraging for food," Koffing commented.

"All because we feasted last night," Skuntank chortled. "A thankless task, thanks to us!"

"Heh-heh! Let's mess with them!" Zubat said.

~o~o~o~o~

Apple Woods was, as the name suggested, plentiful with apples. They were hanging off of nearly every tree in sight. Soren guessed that no Pokemon would go hungry here any time soon.

"Gonna pick some apples!" Gina sang loudly as they explored the forest. "Gonna pick us some apples so we can go on the expedition!"

"Gina, that doesn't even rhyme," Soren said. "And will you keep your voice down? We don't want to attract any more enemies than we already have."

"Oh yeah? Give me something that does rhyme with apple," she challenged.

Soren groaned. "Look, Gina, we don't have time for this. As you said in your song, we're doing this so that Chatot can see we can go on the expedition, and so that we can hopefully eat tonight."

"So you don't have anything that rhymes with apple?" Gina asked, completely missing the point.

"There are probably a bunch of words that rhyme with apple, but for now we need to-" He halted as they entered a clearing. "Ah! We must have reached the deepest part of the woods already." An enormous tree in the center of the clearing caught his attention. The largest apples he'd ever seen were hanging off the branches. "That must be the Perfect Apples."

"Wow! They're huge! And shiny!" Gina squealed. "I wonder what they taste like!"

"We can't eat them," Soren pointed out. "They're for Wigglytuff, remember?"

Gina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know." They walked closer to the tree. It was much taller up close, and Gina had to tilt her head far back just to see the top. "So how to we get them?"

"Chaw-haw! Easily done, sweetheart!"

Gina jumped back at the sound of the voice. "Who's there?" she demanded. "Show yourself!"

The leaves in the tree rustled, and the branches parted as Skuntank, Koffing and Zubat emerged and leapt down to ground. Skuntank's mouth was curved into a grin. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"You guys?" Soren gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"We've been having ourselves a picnic of Perfect Apples! You kept us waiting so long, I stuffed myself!" Koffing laughed, not bothering to stifle a burp.

"You say you ate all the Perfect Apples, but there's still some left on the tree," Soren observed. "Come on, Gina. We're going to knock these guys out and take those Perfect Apples!"

"Knock us out?" Zubat asked with feigned innocence. "How cold of you!"

"After all, we were only going to offer our help on your mission!" Skuntank added.

Gina's ears pricked. "What?"

Skuntank chuckled. He walked closer and drew Gina to him with his paw, feeling amused at the sight of Soren clenching his hands into fists. "You were wondering how you could get the Perfect Apples, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Nothing could be easier. Watch." Skuntank left Gina's side and to the left of the tree. He backed up, narrowing his eyes. Then, he charged forward and rammed the trunk, causing the tree to shake wildly. He did it again, this time shaking down five Perfect Apples.

Gina smiled. "Wow! That was cool!"

Skuntank grinned, moving to stand beside his teammates again. "See? What did I tell you? It couldn't be easier. Now go on. Pick up those Perfect Apples and scuttle back to the guild."

He and his teammates were snickering amongst themselves, but Gina took no notice. "Will do! Thanks, Skuntank!" She was about to move forward, but Soren blocked her path with one outstretched arm. "Hey, what gives?" she whispered.

"Yes, what's wrong, Soren?" Skuntank said smoothly. "Aren't you going to pick them up? After I offered to help you out, too!"

Soren stepped in front of her, eyeing Team Skull with disgust. "First, you make that move on my partner," he said, glaring at Skuntank. "Then you try to trick us into taking those Perfect Apples just so that you can make a surprise attack on us? You're not going to fool us that easily!"

"Soren, what are you-" Gina stopped herself as she heard shocked gasps coming from Team Skull. They huddled together, whispering, and Gina angled her ears so she could hear.

"Color me surprised! He didn't fall for it at all!" Zubat whispered.

"Aw, how boring is that?" Koffing snickered.

"I knew it," Soren growled. "You only did that so you could knock us out, huh?"

"It's a shame you didn't fall for our little act," Skuntank said. "Turns out, you're more clever than you look. Then again, it's not like you'll do anything about it."

"You guys really haven't changed..." Gina muttered. She dug her paws into the earth, eyes flaring with rage. "You scumbags! I should've known!"

Skuntank laughed. "Language, Gina! Weren't you taught better?" With a sly smirk, he added. "So, what're you gonna do about it?"

Gina stepped forward threateningly. "Simple. We'll knock your team out and take those Perfect Apples!"

"Yeah!" Soren came to stand next to her. "You won't beat us this time!"

"Well, aren't we feeling peppy today!" Skuntank goaded. "When we first met, you were shaking like a leaf!"

Soren gulped. "I may have been scared, but it won't happen again! I'm not backing down now!"

Skuntank snorted. "So be it. In honor of your courage, we'll be glad to take you losers on, fair and square!"

Skuntank and Koffing moved in front of them, and Zubat flitted off to the side.

"Careful, Gina!" Soren said, not letting his guard down. "They're going to try something. We have to be ready!"

Gina nodded. "Right!"

Skuntank let out a hoarse laugh. "Let's see if you can take this attack. Koffing and I will use...our noxious gas combo!" Koffing and Skuntank simultaneously released a Smog attack directly at Gina and Soren.

Soren and Gina gasped, and shut their eyes, taking the full force of the attack.

A little while later, Gina opened her eyes again, gagging and shaking out her fur. "Ugh, that was awful..."

"Gina... You okay?" Soren heaved himself to his feet, his legs shaking. "What a bunch of jerks."

Another Pokemon groaned nearby. Gina turned in the direction of the sound and saw Zubat lying at the roots of the tree. The Poison-type got up, looking from side to side. He gasped. "They left without me!" He beat his wings quickly and fled from the clearing.

"Well, at least we're okay," Soren said. Looking back at the base of the tree, he gasped. "The Perfect Apples! They're all gone! They must have eaten them all!"

"There have to be some left around here somewhere!" Gina sniffed around the clearing, hoping to catch a whiff of any Perfect Apples. To her dismay, she could only smell the regular Apples.

"Forget it." The Riolu let out a defeated sigh. "We'll just have to go back to the guild and tell Chatot what happened." Turning around, he gestured with his hand for Gina to follow.

"Chatot will understand what happened," Gina tried to cheer her partner up. "He has to. I mean, everyone makes mistakes, right?"

~o~o~o~o~

"You what?!" Chatot shrieked. "You say you've failed?!" He flew frantically around the room. "This is terrible! Oh, what am I going to do? What am I going to do?!"

Gina gave Soren an awkward grin. "He's taking it well, don't you think?"

Soren turned to Chatot. "Sir, you have to listen. There was nothing we could do. You see, Team Skull-"

"Shush! I don't want to hear any excuses!" he snapped.

Soren winced, letting his arms hang loose at his sides.

"I'm afraid you've left me with no choice," Chatot continued. "For the time being, you'll go without dinner tonight!"

"What?!" Gina gasped. "But that's not fair!"

"You failed to complete an important task," he retorted. "Your punishment could be much more severe!" Chatot did a few deep breaths before speaking again. "I must go and speak to the Guildmaster about this. Surely upon hearing my report, he'll..."

Chatot started shrieking again, flapping his wings like mad. He stopped himself and glared once again at Team Diamond. "I will discuss this with the Guildmaster after dinner," he explained. "You two will accompany me. If I had to face the Guildmaster's wrath on my own, well, that would hardly be fair. Therefore, you will come with me as I do so! And that's an order!"

Chatot whirled around and descended the ladder in a huff.

Soren sighed. "Looks like Chatot didn't understand, after all."

"Guess not." Gina hung her head. "We won't even get to eat tonight! After today, I was looking forward to getting something to eat..."

"We put all of our food in Kangaskhan Storage before we came back here, too," he added. "So eating after we go to see Wigglytuff is completely out of the question."

A bell sounded from downstairs. "Looks like it's time for dinner," Gina remarked. She headed for the ladder. "We better go to the mess hall."

"But we aren't allowed to eat," Soren pointed out.

"Maybe we'll get offered food?" she suggested hopefully.

When they arrived, Chatot pointed a wing to the far side of the room, signaling for them to sit and be quiet while the rest of them ate.

Soren's spirit fell as he watched the guild members eat in front of them. He felt his stomach growl, and he found himself flinching away from the stares of the others. Amber and Jasper looked especially intent on them. Amber whispered something in Jasper's ear, and he stared at her incredulously with shining eyes.

She's probably talking about how pathetic we are, Soren guessed. We weren't even able to complete a task that simple!

Gina put a paw on his hand. "It'll be okay, don't worry," she assured him with a halfhearted grin.

Soren returned the smile, hoping his partner was right.

~o~o~o~o~

Chatot led them into the Guildmaster's room after dinner as promised. Wigglytuff's back was facing them, and when they approached, he spun around. "Hi! You brought Perfect Apples for me, didn't you? Thank you so much!"

Chatot cleared his throat. "Erm... I apologize for this, Guildmaster. It's hard to say this, but..."

"Oh? Is something wrong?" Wigglytuff asked.

"Well, truth be told, Guildmaster, these apprentices... Well, they failed in their mission to bring back any Perfect Apples," he explained. "S-so in other words..."

"It's okay!" The Guildmaster turned to Gina and Soren with a smile. "I understand. It's totally all right! Not everyone wins all the time! Don't feel blue!" He looked at Chatot expectantly. "So, where are the other Perfect Apples?"

Gina's blood ran cold. He thinks there's more?

Chatot gulped. "As I just explained, sir, these two failed. So in other words, the amount of Perfect Apples harvested would be...zero."

Wigglytuff's smile weakened, and the happy gleam in his eyes faded. "Oh."

"That means, Guildmaster, you will have to make do without Perfect Apples for a while." A short chuckle emitted from his beak. "Yep, that's what it means!" Chatot went into a laughing fit, as though he were losing his sanity from simply standing there.

Soren and Gina exchanged a confused glance. This visit was getting weirder by the second.

Chatot's laughter died down, and he stared at the Guildmaster. His eyes widened. "Um, Guildmaster? Guildmaster?"

Soren and Gina directed their attention to Wigglytuff, whose lips trembled and eyes watered. Tiny sobs came from his mouth.

He's gonna cry, Gina thought. This isn't going to be pretty.

As Wigglytuff's sniffles grew louder, Chatot gasped. "Oh no..."

The guild shook, and soon the Guildmaster was outright crying. "Waaah... Waaaaaahhh..."

Chatot whipped his head around to Soren and Gina. "Cover your ears!"

"Why?" Gina asked with a tone of urgency. "What's happening?"

"Don't argue!" Chatot snapped. "Just do it! Now!"

Soren did as Chatot instructed, and Gina soon followed, crouching down low to the ground.

Wigglytuff's crying soon became an earsplitting wail, and Gina pressed herself close to Soren's side, praying that it would all soon be over.

Just as they thought they were done for, a calm voice said, "Sorry to disturb you! We've come to deliver a gift!"

Wigglytuff stopped instantly. "Huh?"

Gina and Soren uncovered their ears and turned around. Team Skull was standing in the doorway, with smiles plastered across their faces. Koffing and Zubat entered first, shoving Gina and Soren roughly out of the way. Skuntank walked in and stood in front of the Guildmaster.

"I believe you've been wanting one of these?" he asked, placing a Perfect Apple at Wigglytuff's feet. "We collected some before we came back from exploring today. Take it as a token of our friendship!"

"You got a Perfect Apple just for me?" Wigglytuff asked. "Yay! Thank you, friendly friends! Thank you!"

Chatot smiled and directed his attention to Skuntank. "Thanks to you, we've all been spared a certain catastrophe! Thank you very much!" He glared at Gina and Soren, who were still crouched together. "You two! Quit your cowering and show some respect and appreciation!"

Soren gritted his teeth, his red eyes like flames. "Thank. You."

"Chaw-haw-haw! No need to thank us!" Skuntank said with fake modesty. "After all, your guild has been so generous to us. It's only right that we try to repay you!"

"You are all certainly the most admirable of Pokemon," Chatot said. "If only there were more like you! It will be truly inspiring to embark on an expedition with you all!"

"Oh, no! You will be the ones who inspire us. We look forward to exploring with you all. It's late now, so we'll be off to bed. Until tomorrow!" He turned around, nodded to Koffing and Zubat, and exited the room.

"Thank you!" Wigglytuff called after them. "Friends! Friendly friends!"

When they got back to their room, Zubat looked at Skuntank. "Chief, why'd you bother helping out that chicken? We could have stayed back and watched what happened. That would've been hilarious."

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Koffing put in.

"You're not thinking strategically, you two," Skuntank replied. "Remember why we came here in the first place? The expedition, right? Right now, we need to win Wigglytuff's trust."

Koffing nodded. "I see..."

"Of course, this being a famous guild and all, I was playing it safe at first, but this has been ridiculously easy," he mentioned with a chuckle. "Wigglytuff has been nothing more than a big baby. He's no big deal. I honestly have no clue why everyone's so afraid of him."

A sly grin spread across his face as he went on. "Anyway, if we find a treasure on the expedition..."

"We knock out the guild's crew," Koffing said.

"Then we swipe the treasure and skedaddle on out!" Zubat finished. "Heh-heh! This plan is a sure thing!"

Skuntank snorted. "Naturally! Chaw-haw-haw!"

~o~o~o~o~

Soren was lying on his back in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Skuntank and his crew showed us up twice today," he sighed. "What else will they do?"

"It's a good thing Wigglytuff didn't blow up at us, though," Gina replied. She winced as her stomach growled. "But then again, we didn't even get to eat anything for dinner. I'm so hungry..."

"Yeah, me too." He rolled over on his side. "Staying awake like this won't make anything better. Let's just try to get to sleep, okay?"

"Yeah." Gina curled her tail around her body. "Goodnight Soren."

"Goodnight, Gina," Soren murmured. "Let's keep at it tomorrow." He eventually drifted off to sleep, forcing himself to shove the feeling of hunger and disappointment away.