Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon
Leader Sabrina: But remember, when you do own it…..
Me: Yes Sabrina, you'll get to rule the world.
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for me to update. So many distractions lately….well, here's the next chapter in our story and hopefully the updates will come sooner from now on!
And now we present….Chapter 12!
Chapter 12-Maps and Guardians
Froslass reappeared in her cave and collapsed, relived to have gotten away. Sneasel had appeared beside her, still out cold. She thought to herself as she lay on the frozen ground, about what to do next. Plan B failed miserably. The Master isn't going to like that. And Sneasel's a weakling. To get knocked out so fast.. Too bad for her. After a few moments Froslass pulled herself off the ground and floated into the air.
I have to tell the Master about that other team. He'll want to know about that Charmander. Before she could do anything, a dark figure appeared before her. "M-master!" She stammered, surprised that he had come to her cave again.
"Froslass, what have you to report?" He asked.
"We could not take out the humans, or get that Grass Coronet. However, I did find out something of importance."
"It had better be good," Darkrai growled. "Or you won't survive to see my flawless plan unfold."
"It is good," Froslass said. "A different team came to help out Mitsumi and those others. The Charmander on that team…..was a human!"
"Human?" Darkrai asked, and then he cackled evilly. "Thank you for finding that out Froslass. Knowing that is most helpful." He then disappeared. Froslass dropped to the ground and sighed in relief.
Just outside of Wigglytuff's Exploration guild, Team Quest and Pikachu had been freed from the ice that had binded them. Pikachu stood there shivering. The Charmander and Piplup that had helped them out were standing around him.
"You sure you're alright?" The Charmander asked.
"F-f-fine!" Pikachu said, teeth chattering. "I-I'm ffffine." He was still shivering hard, but otherwise seemed alright.
"Well," Mitsumi said. "If everyone's alright, I think we should get on with this." She looked to the Piplup that stood beside Pikachu and that other Charmander. It poked at its partner.
"Blaze," he said. "I think she wants the item!"
"Oh yeah," Blaze said. From a large brown bag he had been carrying the entire time, he pulled out a sapphire blue harmonica. On the top of it there was a raindrop shape that was a lighter blue. He handed the item to Mitsumi. "The Aquamonica."
"Thank you," Mitsumi said, accepting the item. "And thank you for helping us." Realizing that she hadn't introduced them to Team Adventure, Mitsumi turned to them. "Sorry, but I forgot to tell you guys. This Charmander and Piplup are the special team that was sent to retrieve the underwater treasure known as the Aquamonica. The Charmander's name is Blaze, and Wave is the Piplup's name. Their team name is Team Aquablaze."
"HEY!" Jones said, glaring at Pikachu. "Everyone says our names are odd! What about theirs?"
Pikachu shrugged. "Those are normal names for Pokemon. Tem, Lara, and Jones, on the other hand, aren't really names that you hear around these parts."
Lara walked up to stand beside Blaze. He was taller than her by a few inches. "I feel tiny now."
Blaze laughed. "You're not tiny. You're almost as tall as I am. Back in my w….." Wave jumped up from behind him and covered his mouth.
"What were you saying?" Tem asked, perplexed by Wave's actions. Blaze struggled for a moment and finally pulled Wave's hands away from his mouth.
"I….um….nothing. Anyways, Wave and I have to be going now. There's um…..important special mission business to attend to" He took a paper from his bag and handed it to Mitsumi. "Could you file the report for us?" She nodded. "Thank you Mitsumi. See you later!"
"Hey wait!" Lara said. "You were going to tell us how you can swim without your tail flame going out!"
Blaze and Wave were already bolting down the stairs as she said this. "Don't worry!" Blaze called back. "This won't be the last time we meet!"
When Team Aquablaze left, Mitsumi turned to the others. "Now it's time for the hard part of this mission. We'll have to go see Guildmaster Wigglytuff. He's supposed to have a map for us."
"A map?" Lara asked. "For what?"
"You'll see!" Piplup said. Mitsumi led them into the guild. When they entered they had to climb down a ladder to the guild's first sublevel. Team Adventure was amazed at how many Pokemon had gathered in that one place. All of them seemed to be fixated on the boards on either side of the room. They would look at them, and then run up the ladder out holding a paper in their hands.
"What are they doing?" Tem asked.
"Accepting missions," Mitsumi answered. "Things work a little differently here than they do at the Rescue Federation. On the right side of the room, there's the Outlaw Notice Board. The Exploration Federation works closely with the police force, so we go after their wanted criminals sometimes. On the left side of the room is the normal Job notice board. Over there we can take rescue missions, or other exploration related missions." Beside the Outlaw board was a Pokémon behind a stone desk. When it noticed Mitsumi it floated over to them.
There was a gentle ringing sound as it approached. Mitsumi knew the blue Pokemon with the yellow bell on its head. "Hi Chimeco. Something wrong?"
"No," Chimeco answered. "I only wanted to tell you that Chikorita has been itching to go on an assignment with you. She's asked if you would add her to your active team list for today."
"Go ahead and sign her on." Mitsumi said. "We could use some more help I guess. Where is she right now?"
"She went to the dining room."
"If she comes by tell her that we'll meet her here. We have to speak to the Guildmaster."
"Alright," Chimeco said. He floated back to his desk and an odd bell sounded.
"What was that?" Jones asked, becoming alarmed.
"Nothing. Chimeco's just letting Chikorita know that she can come with us today," Mitsumi said. "Let's get to the guild master now. Come this way." She led her partner and Team Adventure over to the ladder beside the one they had used to enter. This one led down to the guild's second sublevel. There were less Pokemon around this area. In the left corner a blue Pokemon with orange cheeks named Croagunk was sitting behind a large cauldron.
"What's he doing?" Lara asked. She watched him throw a blue and yellow card into the mixture and then some kind of a claw. He waited a few seconds, and then pulled out a very long fang.
"He's doing an item swap," Piplup explained. He combines certain special items together to make better ones. His services are very useful around here."
"Come on!" Mitsumi said. "We gotta get that map and get going." She pointed to a door in the right corner of the room. "That's the guild master's chamber." They walked up to the door and Mitsumi knocked loudly in case the guild master happened to have fallen asleep. He fell asleep on the job quite often, most of the time with his eyes still open.
A small, parrot-like bird Pokemon answered the door. "Ah, Mitsumi. Just one moment. The Guildmaster is out right now. I'll get your map for you." He closed the door. After a few seconds it sounded as if a lot of glasses had been broken inside of the room.
"OOOWWWCH!," Came the Pokémon's voice from within. "YEOWW! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?!" Then there was silence again.
"Wow," Tem said. "What's he doing in there?" He got closer to the door and was about to open it when Mitsumi grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Don't! You DO NOT want to go into that room when the Guildmaster is out."
"Why not?," Lara asked. "There's nothing wrong with going in, is there?" As if on cue there was another sound from within the room.
"Oh no….," Came the terrified voice inside. "NOOO! SQUAK! AAAH!" The sound that was heard in that room was heard by everyone else in the guild. It was as if an Avalanche had just taken place inside of the small room. A few seconds later, the Pokemon opened the door. He looked battered and bruised. He held his head with one wing and held the map in the other. "Here…..take map." He handed it to Mitsumi.
"Thank you Chatot."
"Up!" Chatot said, sounding rather dazed. "Or Welcome!" He closed the door slightly before passing out.
"Seriously, what is with that room?" Lara asked Mitsumi as she led them back towards the ladder to the first sublevel.
Mitsumi turned to Piplup, figuring that her partner may be able to explain it a bit better than she could. "Well," Piplup began. "Whenever Wigglytuff goes away, he makes sure to keep important items in his room protected against burglars. It's kind of silly since we're all here usually, and if anyone broke in, we could stop them. What Wigglytuff does, is he sets a lot of traps around the item he wants to keep guarded. In this case, it was the map. When Chatot's in charge he'll usually warn him about his trap. I guess he didn't this time. He can be very forgetful at times."
"Oh….," Lara said. "Weird. So, what's the map for again?"
"The Guildmaster's not here now, so I'll file Team Aquablaze's report later. Let's pick up Chikorita get out of here for now, then I'll explain about the map," Mitsumi said.
"Alright," Team Adventure agreed.
In a grassy patch near a sandy beach close to the Exploration guild sat Blaze and Wave.
"You almost let it slip!" Wave said in a scolding voice. "Alakazam said not to let anyone know! If you do, then you can't come here anymore!"
"I know," Blaze said, looking away. "I didn't mean to, it's just, I don't know. I guess I got carried away."
"You can't get carried away like that," Wave said softly. "If that secret gets out, I never get to see you again."
"I know," Blaze said. "Why do you keep reminding me?"
"You're my friend," Wave answered. "Actually, I'd say that you're my best friend here."
"Well," Blaze said, turning toward Wave. "You're pretty much my only friend here or on the other side. I don't really talk to that many people." He laid back in the grass and looked up at the sky, making sure as he did so that his tail was a few inches off the ground. "Okay, maybe I do have a friend or two over there. Still, you're my best friend."
"Do any of them know?" Wave asked, also lying back in the grass.
"No," Blaze answered. "They would never believe me."
"Oh…..," Wave said, then deciding that maybe it was time to change the subject. "What do you think about that team Mitsumi's helping out?"
Blaze closed his eyes for a moment. "I feel kind of bad about ditching them. We didn't have a mission. We could've stayed to help."
"Alakazam said….."
"I know. Let them do it on their own. Still, what if they have to face the other Guardians?"
"They couldn't be too hard," Wave said, sitting up. "We beat Kyogre without much trouble."
"But that's us. They couldn't even handle Froslass. The Guardians are way more powerful than that."
"Well, in honesty, Mitsumi and Piplup are on about the same level as us. They didn't do very well against Froslass either."
"Froslass caught them by surprise," Blaze said. "They could've done better. But those others, they may not have been able to do so well. From the reports, they just started out a couple of days ago."
"Then what qualifies them to go on that mission?"
"I don't know," Blaze said, standing. "I guess Mitsumi thinks there's something special about them. Where'd you say they were going first?"
"Mt. Avalanche….," Wave answered. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason," Blaze said, walking off in the general direction of the mountain.
"HEY! Wait!" Wave yelled after him. "Alakazam said for us to….."
"We're not interfering," Blaze said. "I'm just wanna go watch, that's all. If they do have to face a Guardian, I wanna see how they do. Aren't you curious as to why Team Quest chose them to come along on the mission?"
"I don't really understand why Team Adventure was chosen over a more advanced team."
"Then come on!" Blaze said. "Let's go." He walked forward, and Wave followed. He could not resist the urge to see what made this team of rookies so special either.
That's the end of Chapter 12! More to come, hopefully soon! If you have any questions or comments about the story thus far, feel free to send them to me!
