-Chapter 11: The Big Day-

-Vulcan's POV-

After waking up the next day, we reported for the morning briefing. Chatot spoke up after the morning cheers, "Tomorrow, or the day after, or perhaps in several days' time… We plan to announce the members of the expedition party."

We all cheered, and I saw Team Skull sneaking glances at Connor and I. If we get picked… We need to be ready to fight them again.

"Everyone, this is your last chance to make an impression. Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen. All right, everyone. Let's get down to work as usual!"
"HOORAY!"

After everyone left, Chatot told us to carry on doing jobs listed upstairs.

Before we left, Croagunk called us over, explaining that his swap shop was open for business. We asked what it was, and he explained about rare items and how he puts them in his swap cauldron to switch them with items that other pokemon are offering. It sounded neat, but we didn't have any rare items right now, so we told him that we'd give him a visit when we found anything.

As if that news update weren't enough, we also heard an announcement from Spinda's Café about 'Project P'. Apparently, the cafe used items that were recycled to search for new dungeons. When they found one, they notified everybody that came in, then they can take anything that they find from the new dungeon that they don't want to the recycle shop. Then, the entire process repeats in a sort-of cycle.

We grabbed a few missions yesterday for Waterfall cave, and now that we made regular visits, Connor used ancient power to split the water and make a path, so we didn't have to jump through the waterfall every time. We met up with Atlas and Vincent, and we tackled those easily. These missions were getting pretty easy, and I wanted to find some new, tougher dungeons, but so far that's all that has been cropping up on the boards.

Over the next few days, we started training up and doing six or seven missions at once every day. You could say we were try-harding, but hey, Connor and I wanted to get picked for this thing.

Atlas learned revenge, in which he basically waited for the opponent to attack, then after he was hit, knocked them to the floor with a punch to the face.

Connor learned ice beam with a TM that we found in the field; It covered his weakness to grass, and Atlas' weakness to flying.

Vincent went and copied Skuntank's night slash without us knowing, and we found out when he OH-KO'd a Chingling outlaw. There seemed to be a lot of Chingling outlaws, now that I think about it.

We didn't really do any of the 'running away' outlaw missions, because none of us were really made for speed; Vincent maybe could pull it off, but we haven't found an enemy with Agility yet, so no luck.

Anywho, after dinner a couple nights after the Apple Woods run-in, Chatot announced that the expedition members were going to be announced at tomorrow's briefing.

That night, I told Connor that I thought we had a pretty solid chance at getting picked, but the other members had seniority, so we just had to wait and find out.

-?'s POV-

"Surely that guardian couldn't expect me to be fooled by its tricks… This is too easy. Another Time Gear! This is the second one… I must have them all…"

-Connor's POV-

I honestly don't think any of the apprentices got a good night's sleep last night. It was evident on everybody's faces, and primarily by the fact that Loudred didn't wake us up for a change, which meant that he must have been really tired too.

We were all pumped up by the excitement of who was going to be picked for the expedition, and Chatot started off the morning pretty well. "Ahem! Now then, I shall announce the expedition members at this time." He turned to Wigglytuff, "Guildmaster, the memo, if you please."

Wigglytuff handed him a sheet of paper, and Chatot held it in his wings, "The chosen members are written on this memo. Now, step forth if your name is called."

This is it… Will we get picked?

Vulcan's tail glowed bright yellow, hinting his nervousness, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. We both nodded to each other as Chatot started, "Without further ado, I will announce those that have been chosen. Our first member… Loudred!"
Loudred jumped up, "Y-yes! I DID IT!" He walked up, and turned, "But if you really think about it, it's only NATURAL that I would get picked! WOOHOOO!"
I heard Sunflora murmur, "Says you…" Before Chatot went on.

"Next up… Corphish!"

He cheered with a bunch of 'hey's before letting out a sigh of relief and standing next to Loudred.

"Next is… Oh, what's this? Well, what a surprise! The next member is Bidoof!"
Bidoof looked surprised, "Really? Really and truly?! Golly… Me?! I'm going on an expedition?!" He started quivering, and when Chatot asked him to step forward, he said that he couldn't move due to his being overwhelmed.

"So be it. We'll ignore it and move on. Next we have Sunflora and Chimecho!" They both walked forward, and Chatot finished up, "Erm… Yes, and there we have the expedition party members!"

Awww. Oh, well. Guess it can't be helped.
Vulcan's shoulders dropped, and I bumped him jokingly, "We'll get 'em next time, Vulcan. We did our best."
Chatot caught our attention again, "So, that's it for the expedition members… Erm.. What's this?"
He held the paper closer to his beak and tilted it slightly, saying something about proper writing, and he went on, "Erm… It appears that there are more expedition members. The others are… Diglett, Dugtrio, and Croagunk. Oh, and Connor and Vulcan!"

I shook my head, "Whaaat…"
Vulcan's tail flame burned a passionate orange while he leapt into the air, "Yes! We made it!"
"That is all. Wait a second… What?!"
He examined the paper again, and turned to Wigglytuff, "Guildmaster, this list seems to include every member of the guild!"
Wigglytuff kept a grin, "Yup! That's right!"
Chatot walked up, "Then… It seems that the whole selection process was meaningless. Moreover, if we were all to go, we would be leaving the guild completely unattended! Are you sure it will be alright to leave with no one to keep an eye on the Guild?"
"It's fine, Chatot. We'll lock up properly."

Skuntank walked up, "Guildmaster, I also have some misgivings. Do you think perhaps we have too many members for an expedition?"

I glared at him, although he didn't pay any attention to me, That little…

Wigglytuff put a hand on his nonexistent chin in thought, "Hmm… When a friend asks something like that, I have to wonder why…"
"I mean, first of all, why does everybody have to go? What's the point in having everyone participate?"

Wigglytuff grinned, and looked at him like the answer was as clear as day, "Huh?! Of course there's a point! That is… If everyone went, then it would be more fun!"

Skuntank's jaw practically hit the floor, "Huh?!"
I stifled a laugh, and Wigglytuff continued, "We'll be noisy and excited and having lots of fun! I started thinking about it, and it made me so excited I couldn't sleep!" He turned to the apprentices, "So that's how it is, everyone! We're all going on the expedition, and it will be fun, fun, fun! Let's all do our best!"

"HOORAY!"

Once things quieted down, Chatot seemed kind of annoyed, "Urrgh… Well, that's settled. Fine. Let me explain the schedule. Right after this, I will hold a briefing on the expedition. As such, the chosen members, (That is, everyone)... Each of you should get prepared to embark on the expedition. Let me remind you that this is a guild-exclusive expedition. You may not bring along non-guild members of your teams. As such, you will not be able to add members during our expedition. They simply aren't allowed to join. Keep that in mind while making preparations! When you are fully prepared, you should return here. Then inform me of your readiness. That is all. Dismissed!"
After Wigglytuff left, Vulcan and I gathered in a circle with the rest of the apprentices. Sunflora started, "I could scream, I'm so happy! Everyone's going on the expedition!"

Chimecho chimed in, "Our Guildmaster has done it again. I'm so shocked, I'm tingling!"

I nodded, "I had my doubts, as well as Vulcan, but I'm glad to be along for the ride!"
Corphish said a few 'hey hey's, and Bidoof sniffled, "By golly, I'm so mighty happy that they're even letting me go on this expedition! Oh, but it's not just me, everyone gets to go! Sniff… It's like I'm dreaming… It's making me feel mighty emotional…"

Dugtrio looked over, his three heads alternating speaking, "It's no dream."

"This is really happening."
"Anyway, since we're all going, it means that we're all going to be put to the test as well."
"That's why I would like to propose that all of us apprentices work as one."
Then all three heads said in unison, "Let's make this expedition a success!"
Sunflora jumped, "Yippee! That's the spirit!"
Loudred shouted, "YEAH! THAT'S the spirit!"

Chimecho finished, "Let's do our best, everyone!"
We all cheered once, and went to pack up. After explaining the gist of what happened to Atlas and Vincent, we took them off active duty and went to the storage, packing a few big apples, three reviver seeds, and a few orbs in case of monster houses. I hadn't seen one, but I received a warning about them from Vincent a couple days ago while we were training; It's where maybe ten to fifteen pokemon drop from the ceiling and ambush you. He said a petrify orb would be best, but a spurn orb worked about the same.

Anywho, after that, we were walking back, and a Gallade called to us, "Hey, Vulcan!"
I recognized him as the one from Team Core, and Vulcan ran over, "What's up Seth?"
"There's a rescue mission. We've got three pokemon in trouble; Normally we'd do it ourselves, but we're all busy with another investigation into a pokemon mafia group. Think you two can do it?"
I nodded, and Vulcan spoke up, "Sure! We got done packing up relatively early."
Seth grabbed onto us, "I can teleport you there. Hold on." I felt like we were floating in air for a moment before we came to an overhang on a ravine. I looked down, and there were two teams, it looked like. A Tyranitar, Galvantula, and Grovyle against a Seviper, Haxorus, Banette and Klinklang. The latter team seemed to be winning, and I turned to Seth, "Whose butts do we kick?"
He replied, "The group of four. Team Virus. They're outlaws that pose as an exploration team. Well, technically they are an exploration team, but… Yeah. I think you get it."
I turned to Vulcan, "Who's that remind you of?"

He simply chuckled, "Check it out… I learned a couple new moves from TMs we found… I want to try something. Float me over the ravine with ancient power."

I complied, and he used smokescreen, bellowing out a massive black cloud in the middle of the sky. Seth teleported away, and I rode the boulder into the middle of the cloud. Vulcan began spinning, and a massive column of fire shot straight down into the ground.

I brought us down inside the cyclone of fire, and threw the boulders around me as we descended.

We landed on the ground, and the vortex vanished. I used Ice ball to roll forward and crash into the Banette who was chaining down the Grovyle, and the chains vanished from around him. He leapt up, and I paused, an unfamiliar feeling falling over me… Do I know him?

The Haxorus almost used dual chop on me, but Vulcan parried with dragon claw, and knocked the dragon back with a well-placed kick. He turned to me, "Come on! Focus!"

The Seviper tried to use poison fang, but I jammed a stick into its mouth, propping it open. It tried to shake the stick out, and even attempted to move it with his tail, and I pinned him to the ground with ancient power.

Vulcan laughed, "Alright! I didn't know if that would work! How did you know what I was doing?"
I shook my head, "Not the time, Vulcan." The entire team was down, and I gathered them all into one group, "You're under arrest by Team Firestorm!"
The Galvantula zapped the Seviper before muttering something, and I held up my badge, "We're here to rescue you. We can handle them. Are you alright?"

They nodded, when suddenly the Seviper hissed, "Think again."
He slithered around Vulcan and used poison fang on his neck.

I willed the earth to rise up, but the entire team was already booking it out of there. I turned back to Vulcan, and the Seviper shouted back, "Your choice, hero! Save your partner, or give chase to us?"

I growled, but noticed that Vulcan wasn't moving. I sprinted to him, "Hey, don't die on me. We worked too hard for you to die here."

The Grovyle handed me a pecha berry, and I quickly broke it open and drizzled the juice over the wound. He grunted in pain, his tail flame burning a dull black color, and I fed him a heal seed. He gasped, then looked around, "They ran away?"
I nodded, "Yeah... You're my primary concern right now."
The Tyranitar stood up, being almost eight feet tall, "Ugh… That Haxorus…"
The Galvantula leapt onto him, "Bruh, she just spammed Dragon Dance! Ain't nothing you could have done to beat her after that."
I turned to them after setting Vulcan down, "I'm the leader of Team Firestorm. Are any of you injured?"
The Tyranitar grunted, a piece of his stone skin chipping off, but he smiled, "I'm fine. Thanks for the concern."

The Galvantula scuttled up to me, "How'd you get here so fast? We didn't send out an invite for a rescue party."

I smiled warmly, "You ask a lot of questions. My name is on a need to know basis only, and as for how we knew… Do you know Seth? From Team Core?"

The Grovyle nodded, and I saw some strange markings on his arms… They looked somewhat familiar, and we made eye contact for a moment before he nodded, "Yeah; I know him."
"Well, he told us that you were in trouble, so here we are."
Tyranitar looked around, "You came from Treasure Town?"
I nodded, "Yeah… Well, we're done here. Good to see that you're alright. Have a good day."
I held up my badge, and Vulcan and I were whisked back to the Guild.

Vulcan stood up, rubbing his neck, the two puncture wounds from the Seviper's fangs making a nasty mark, "Why didn't you tell them your name?"
I looked around, and walked to the mission floor, making sure we were alone, "I think I know that Grovyle… From somewhere… And those other two."

He shook his head, "But you didn't tell them your name?"
I shrugged, "If I know them… That means that they must have known me at some point, right? I don't know if they're friends or foes, and since I have amnesia, there's no way to know for sure."

He nodded, somewhat satisfied with that answer, and we walked back down to the briefing room.

After everybody else filed in, Chatot began the briefing.

"Let me explain about this expedition. First, the objective: exploration of Fogbound Lake. It's a lake that is said to be located far to the east. However, it is perpetually enshrouded by a dense fog. As such, it's actual existence has never been confirmed… It is merely the foggy mirage of a spot that lives to this day on rumor alone. It is also rumored… That a treasure of exquisite beauty is hidden there."

I was excited now, "Awesome! A treasure hunt! This is gonna be a blast!"

Wigglytuff laughed, "Yup! It will be fun, fun, fun!"

Chatot went on, "Everyone, open up your wonder maps, please. He held up his own while we all pulled out ours, and pointed to a cloud-covered portion of the map near a forest, "This is where Fogbound Lake is said to be. As an uncharted territory, the area is shown under a cloud cover. Then he drew a line to Treasure Town, "Our guild is here. As you can see, the lake is a considerable distance from the guild. Therefore, we will encamp at the foot of the highlands here. That will serve as our base camp," He finished by pointing to the forest near the cloud cover.

He rolled up the map, "Now… If we were to travel all at once in a single group to the base camp, our mobility would be restricted. The strategy is to split up into several groups to travel to the base camp. I will announce those groups now. The first group is Loudred, Sunflora, Diglett and Croagunk."
Loudred jumped up, "You guys! You'd better NOT hold me back!" Sunflora replied, "You're one to talk!"

Ignoring them, Chatot went on, "The next group is Chimecho, Dugtrio and Corphish."
Dugtrio perked up, "We're a pretty solid group!"
Chimecho jingled, "I promise to try my best!"
Corphish spoke up, "Hey, hey, likewise!"
"Erm… Let's see… The Guildmaster and I shall travel as a pair… That is acceptable, yes?"
Wigglytuff pouted, "Awwww?! I have to go with Chatot? That's so booooring!"
Chatot groaned, "Please Guildmaster, don't be difficult. This is a key element of our strategy."
"...Meanie."

Shaking his head, Chatot went on, "Our guests, Team Skull should travel independent of us as their own group."

"Understood! Chaw-haw-haw!"

And the final group is Connor, Vulcan, and Bidoof."

Bidoof turned to us, "We're in the same group! I hope I can keep up. Yup yup!"

Vulcan nodded, "Same to you, Bidoof."

"Well then… Everyone! Let's get to it and move out!"

"HOORAY!"

We all filed out, and began our trek.