To celebrate Marker's evolution, the tenth floor stayed up into the late hours of the night. Courses for the first six months had come to a close; all that remained was to study for their first exploration. Even so, everyone agreed that reading old tomes was possible while tired.

Upright squeezed in four hours of sleep before a claw nudged him. He yawned, stretching out his hind legs.

"Morning, Upright," commander Austere said.

The quilava doubled his efforts to stand up. "A-Ah... morning, commander."

"You've something on your chest."

His wound from Pep had scabbed over the night. With a few rubs at the fur, the flakes fell away into his bed. "It's from my tolerance training."

"I suppose the wound feels nice. A memory of a course you'll need not take again."

Half-true: if Upright performed poorly on his exploration, Regal could deem him unready in any number of his courses. That included Tolerating Pain – an idea that iced his veins. "I'm more anxious than… no, I'm just exhausted. Marker evolved, so we stayed up late." The mightyena slept. His old spot next to Doggy no longer sufficed. Again and again he shoved the growlithe away with his giant hind-leg.

Austere smiled. "Good for him. So, are you too tired to see Amory's latest invention?"

The smug charmander had him cornered. Upright couldn't turn down these invitations, which came every week. Considering he had sacrificed the vocation for the virtue of tooth and claw, it was his sole chance to use them and Amory knew it. "I… gah. Of course I want to see."

Austere became slightly giddy. "I've never seen an infiltrator on such a short leash."

Upright snapped his teeth lazily. He'd never dream of doing so to a commander like Tairé or Steel. But the nonviolent vocations had easygoing commanders. Researchers, toolkits and cartographers – he was chummy with all of them, and a part of him questioned whether his past had anything to do with it.

"If you're done posturing, we must leave. The Timestop closes in fifteen minutes."

Upright padded forward, yet stopped. Yikes, he thought, I almost forgot.

He nudged Doggy awake.

"No," his friend grunted. "Why'd you poke me, you…" the growlithe mumbled an unsavory word.

"Doggy," he whispered. "I'm going out. Remember to let Pep in." Even now, the sylveon chose to sleep on the roof of the dormitories.

Doggy swore to chuck Upright out of the tower. This meant, at least, that the growlithe heard him.

"The custodian allows her to do that?" Austere asked.

"Unless one of us climbed after her, there's nothing we can do," Upright replied.

"…I see. Let's hurry to the Timestop."

~~~O~~~

Despite six months flying by, the R&D warehouse looked the same, including the same amounts of clutter and shelves. It was cleaner than usual – often a result of Amory recycling useless relics, which still had energy but served no further purpose to anyone. These relics were burned in a furnace of Austere's making. This furnace's flame bathed the warehouse in an orange light. Inside, Upright saw plastic dolls and a cindering box. Several packs of cards spilled from the box's remains.

Austere took one look and gasped. "Commander Amory, you've burnt our packs of multicolor cards!" He exclaimed.

The cinccino crossed his arms and snarled a little. "Uh-huh. That's what you both get for cheating."

Upright put a paw on the furnace, and used the other to express his distress by waving it around. "Cheating? We never cheated!"

"Really? You expect me to believe I had to 'draw four' nine times in a row?"

Commander Eatzle snickered."I may have repainted my hand. If anything, blame your inability to see a counterfeit."

"You repainted them on the spot?" Amory asked, appalled. "That's, uh, fairly talented. Also: never enter my warehouse again."

Everyone had a good laugh. Ra, the serperior Upright had first met on the Timestop, and Tally, the sentret who survived with him, were working today. So was Jash, a vigoroth in the opposite dorm, even so his required time in the warehouse effectively ended yesterday.

"Commander Amory, we should inform them about the other cards," Ra suggested.

"It's unrelated to the invention, but you are right," the cinccino said. "While the multicolored cards weren't anything beyond functional, the other decks we have our incredibly potent."

"Which ones are these again?"

"The ones we use to play poker. With the four shapes."

"And excellently drawn humans," Eatzle added.

"Who said you were allowed to speak? Anyway, they have an incredibly rare quality to them. One we've never had the chance to explore. I think their metaphysical layer… is uh..." the commander stopped in the middle of an explanation, a rare occasion. "I now realize this is leading to an offensive conclusion."

His eyes turned to Austere. The charmander was seething. "I have an idea of what you discovered."

Amory turned toward the furnace. "I… yes. The cards are connected to luck. Sorry, Austere. It's been so long, it slipped my mind."

"I recommend you burn all of them." Austere seemed on the verge of becoming livid. "I can't believe I played with them without knowing... if it's no difference to you, I'll wait outside for your 'invention.'"

"Austere, wait-"

The charmander briskly walked out. Upright followed him with a baffled stare. Since he met him, Upright had never seen the charmander so flustered.

Amory shook his head. "I'm an idiot."

"What happened?" Upright asked. Amory only shook his head again, and Eatzle came forward to talk with him.

"It happened before any of us worked here," Ra whispered, lowering her head to Upright's ear. "The last commander and Austere ran an experiment with luck."

"luck? As in I found poké on the ground sort of luck?"

"A special one, apparently. Whatever kind, it was a disaster. Austere isn't able to evolve. But you didn't hear that from me, Killer."

U-Unable to evolve? Upright always thought about the reason. The fact that experimenting with something as insignificant as luck startled him. What happens to a pokémon who is unable to evolve?

Finally, Upright settled on a reply. "Stop calling me Killer," he whispered back. The serperior found his vocation ironic, considering how he reacted to the bandit's attack at the Timestop. Luckily, there hadn't been any other attacks.

Ra chuckled and pecked him. Amory started up again. His grin appeared forced, but it slowly eased into something believable.

"O-Okay," he said. "You must all wonder what I have to show you. Well, if you'd please turn your attention to the tarp beside us..."

Upright spotted the tarp. It covered up a curious mound.

"For a long time," Amory said, "I've endeavored in the field of human locomotion – basically, the strange things they use to travel. Compared to our buggies and carts, we've a lot to learn." Several heads in the audience nodded. Upright abstained; he wasn't interested in comparisons between pokémon and humans. He knew just enough of both, now, to assume they were too different. Too different, at least, for one to function entirely like the other.

The sound of the tarp being torn away roused the quilava. He blinked, gazing on as Amory revealed a wheeled box. It was far sleeker than a buggy – smaller, too – and it had enough room for a pokémon of Amory or Upright's size. Pokémon like Ra wouldn't fit in the plastic-covered pocket.

Amory shoved the tarp out of his way. "Today, we've gotten a little closer." He closed in, too excited to keep his paws off his toy. "This is a mover."

I know what it really is, Upright thought. Amory rediscovered the go-kart.

"The scrap parts for the casing were brought to me by our teams at the Initiative. For a long time, I had the whirr-part lying around. Reconnecting them was rough. So was finding the right charge."

"So, uh, what does it do?" Eatzle asked. "It looks easier to pull than a buggy..."

"Oh! A volunteer!"

"I-I never-"

Amory grabbed Eatzle's paw and brought him over to the vehicle. After a short wrestling-match, the cinccino had shoved the smeargle right into the driver's seat. "This vehicle doesn't need pullers. It moves all on its own – no need to rest. Commander Eatzle, if you would press the button in front of you?"

He did. The go-kart came to life, causing its driver to yelp.

"Lghtly push down the plate underneath your paws. And I mean lightly."

"You know I hate things like this," Eatzle moaned. "What's to become of me, when I press the plate?"

Despite his complaint, he slowly applied pressure to the pedal. The vehicle jolted forward at first, then started to roll along. The commander looked around, thoroughly impressed.

"It moved!" Ra exclaimed. "No one's pushing it!"

"I want to chase it," Tally said.

Jash yawned with some urgency, not wanting to draw his eyes away for long.

Upright couldn't believe Amory repaired the go-kart. Perhaps his dream of creating an airplane wasn't too far off. The cinccino was beside himself; with a large smile on his face, Amory helped Eatzle drive the go-kart outside of the warehouse.

Austere, looking out over the water, got quite the scare from the engine-noise. He struck up to his feet and circled the go-kart – it took him a moment to pretend he was inspecting it.

"So." He scratched at the front with a claw. "it moves on its own?"

"Y-Yeah!" Amory said.

Several pokémon touring the dock caught on to the noise. They weren't as enthused. Several even hollered at it as if it was a threat.

Austere nodded. "I am interested. Do you have more engines?"

"Quite a few. There was another kind, with pipes that spewed nasty smog."

"I'll buy this model and the engines for a ten-thousand poké."

Upright didn't quite understand what he heard. A h-hunded… how on Pokéarth does Austere have that much money?

Amory seemed perturbed as well, for another reason. "I've done all I could with this vehicle… but Austere, I'd give them to you for free."

"I'm buying these relics for personal use. As such, I must pay a price like any citizen."

"I know, but- gah! You always do this when you're angry."

The charmander turned away. "I want to pay a fair price."

Eatzle stepped out of the go-kart, retreating. Ra and Tally did the same.

"Back up, Killer," Ra whispered.

"How was I supposed to know what Luck feels like?!" Amory shouted. "You won't share the results with me!"

"You knew what those cards held. You were hoping I'd notice and become curious."

"What? First of all: never. Second of all: give me the stupid results."

Austere's voice never rose above a shout, and it didn't now, yet Upright felt the air become kinetic. With the noise of the engine still churning, it became unbearable. "It was a failure. Results. Shared."

The cinccino groaned. "Let me help you, you moron."

"Maybe I've never been happier this way."

"Right. You're so happy, Austere."

Eatzle tried to grab their attention. "You two…."

"Yes, I am so happy."

"Commanders," Eatzle said.

"I'm about to lead a scrapper's investigation on you. One with claws and teeth."

The charmander huffed. "Go ahead. Don't doubt me. I'll scratch back.

"Commanders!" Eatzle cried. The two stopped for a moment, turning to the cartographer. "There's, uh, the head guard is here." He pointed at the grovyle, who had stealthily made his way into the group of pokémon.

"Yes, I am," Daté told them. Upright's chest tightened up. He held his breath as the grovyle inspected the go-kart. After some befuddlement, Daté pressed the engine button and turned it off. "This doesn't get turned on in public. It's scaring everyone."

Amory nodded. "Of course, commander Daté. We apologize."

"And keep your scraps private, while you're at it. The moment one adventurer claws another, my job becomes a thousand times harder. Respect for the Initiative in Pathen is abysmal as it is. And in the rest of the Territory… how close are the recruits to their sabbatical?"

"I'm not sure," Amory said. "Upright?"

The quilava looked around for a hero. Jash certainly wasn't going to jump in. He remembered his training: don't get cowed. "We have our first exploration this week. And then we have a break."

The way the grovyle pretended to be a stranger, surprisingly, disturbed Upright more than if he dropped subtle hints. "Good. I have my own volunteers in mind. But I need able bodies to access them. See you soon, newbies." He left, already gesturing at the crowd of bothered pokémon.

Why does he need adventurers to reign in these 'volunteers?' Upright wondered. Worse was the dread: he didn't want to work with Daté. He'd gone six months without sticking a paw into the grovyle's business. From what he heard, though, there wasn't anything suspicious about the head guard.

Amory gave him an off look, likely curious about Upright's reaction. The cinccino was always suspicious. Unlike his treatment of Austere, however, he never decided to unearth Upright's secrets.

"I think it's time we disperse," Austere said. "Thank you for showing me your invention, commander Amory. I'll be back with the money later."

The researcher sighed. "Thank you, everyone..."

~~~0~~~

"Luck?" Doggy asked.

"That's what Amory called it," Upright said. He neglected to mention Austere's role, but there was no way he could leave out everything. His floor-mates gathered around, eager to hear about the new contraption coming from the warehouse.

The growlithe chuckled. "Well, don't expect me to understand luck. I've never needed it. Gah-hoh!"

"Did the cart really move on its own?" Pep asked. "I really wish we had a researcher to explain how that's, er… possible."

I could, Upright thought. But I shouldn't.

Doggy popped up to his feet and paced around anxiously. "Speaking of researchers: they've already announced the teams for our exploration."

The other recruits became panicked. "No way," Acker said. "We haven't heard anything about it."

"They tell leaders. I was supposed to tell you straight away," Doggy explained, "but I… we were all listening to Upright..."

"Waste of space," Tahtib muttered.

Marker padded over to the pangoro. "My ears are bigger now. But you should speak up for everyone."

"I said, change of pace. Things are changing."

Doggy snorted. "Anyway, some of us are moving floors. If the teams work out, they might not be coming back. Barley, you're being moved to leader Jay's team, on floor eight of the other tower."

The sandshrew nodded. "Ah. Jay is nice. I can't complain."

Privately, Pep threw over a sly grin at Hard-day. The totodile jostled about for a split-second. Upright prayed he would be able to do his own happy-dance soon. Doggy looked at him and Lilith. One part of Upright simply wanted to be with his friends. And another… something was off about the other infiltrator. She hardly ever spoke, and when she could participate she observed instead. Maybe that made her a better infiltrator, Upright thought. But we have equal marks. Either one of us can do the job.

"Lilith, you're headed to the same place."

The gothorita seemed relieved. For a brief second, Upright saw her contempt reveal itself. Several pokémon distanced themselves, probably not aware of why.

Tahtib jumped in immediately. "Is that all the departures?"

"Yes, that's all," Doggy replied. "Sad to be in our group still? Poor baby."

"Chill! Acker should be leaving also."

The floor turned to him. The mudkip sprung up in surprise, which only made everyone inch in.

Acker smiled, impressed. "Wow! The commanders wanted to swap me into leader Jay's team, but I begged to stay with my friends. How did you know? Are you psychic?"

"I'm smart. Every year, the East Territory adventurers arrange things so E.T recruits are in the best teams. When their results come back, East Territory sends donations."

"You might have grown up here," Upright spat, suddenly incensed, "but that's just bullshit."

"L-Language, Upright!" Acker cried.

"No way I'm letting anyone ruin this," Upright said. "Doggy doesn't need to be distracted by stuff like that right now."

For once, the pangoro seemed remorseful. "I understand that, idiot. But it's true, and I feel it needs to be brought up. So don't sic the crocodile or the mutt on me just yet. Look: who's our new researcher, scout and underdog?"

Doggy, despite his anger, complied. "Our researcher's name is Mara."

"Poor as the dirt she grew out of - or whatever," Tahtib said.

"She's failing the course on field identification," Upright said, before he could help it. He heard the results sometimes during his visits to Amory. The sunflora was too easy to distract.

"Mara is fun to be around," Pep said.

"Well," Doggy continued, "our scout is Flightly. I remember him from orientation. He's a fighter."

Tahtib tittered. "Look at Acker's face if you want to know who Flightly is."

The mudkip's frown never looked more disparate. "The cheerleaders try to meet as many pokémon as possible, for our courses. And, I m-met Flightly… he hates me. I… he..."

"Don't sweat it, fish. You're as nauseating as usual. It's only because you're East Territory. My dad was complaining about it a month ago, that pidgeotto is cousin to that fearow who attacked the Initiative. Rumor is, he was the reason they knew about the delivery, because that bird was spying."

Upright remembered the fearow's talons entering his back and shuddered.

"So, Doggy. Who's our underdog?" Tahtib asked.

The growlithe's breathing was off. Upright could tell that he was trying to process all of this, and failing miserably. His confidence was totally sapped. "W-We, uh, they told me that for the exercise, we don't need an underdog."

"What?!" Pep cried. "They can't do this!"

"They can, Pep, and they have."

Marker snarled. "I'll go with you. Let's see them try to stop me."

"We're all new," Acker mumbled. "My parents are honorable. I bet they won't make a donation..."

"Unbalanced teams could lead to the weaker ones being hurt," Pep argued. "This is dangerous!"

"No… no!" Doggy barked. "We're not one of the weaker teams! The easiest way to get nipped is to believe that. You hearing me, floor ten?"

"Loud and clear," Upright replied. "They might strip us bare, but we've got each other." And they've got me. Not every team can have an infiltrator. If I offer everything I've got, we can do this.

"No matter what happens, this leader is four-paws-down on this mission. So everyone chin up…" every moment, his vigor weakened. As the gravity hit the growlithe, his tail and ears started to droop. "And, er..."

"Make sure you're ready," Marker finished. "Go, leave. Before I nip you for being lazy."

That wasn't satisfying enough. Floor ten waited for its leader to tell them to study.

Instead, Doggy turned tail. "I've got sleep to catch up on," he muttered, before moving to his bed. "Our exploration is two days from now. So… go study up."

The two explorers departing, Barley and Lilith, also went to pack up their things.

Th sandshrew bowed to them. "My condolences," he said.

Lilith grinned smugly at Upright. "Hope Regal offers a curve," she taunted.

Doggy is falling apart, Upright thought. Pep can't pin down a pokémon, Tahtib detests being near us, and Hard-day refuses to speak. Our cheerleader is at odds with the scout, and our researcher isn't promising. Marker can't come with us… the quilava sighed. And I'm not sure if I can do anything to save us from failing. I could sure go for some luck right now.