How do you guys like the new version of this story? I had some technical difficulties at first, but I think everything's fine now.
Plutodragon- Yeah, I can make her appear every now and again.
Thank you BeowulfNinja for the OC, I will implement him into a future chapter.
"Finally!" the fake zorua exclaimed, taking a big step forward. "I didn't ever think I'd see a real zorua." It sat in front us, its tail wagging furiously. Does my tail do that? I couldn't help but stare at the zorua sitting in front of me, suddenly feeling a wave of uncertainty shoot throughout my body. "Hey, when you evolve do make sure to come see me; I haven't seen a zoroark either." Within a moment, the zorua in front of me dissolved, turning back into the pink blob.
Momentarily, a feeling of loss swept through me. I couldn't understand why though, it was just a ditto. Maybe I'm sick? ...Can pokemon even get sick?
"Nate?" Thunder started, only to be cut off by Ditto.
"I didn't give any introductions." The ditto raised his arm, if you could call it an arm, and waved. "I'm Ditto, the master of this Dojo!" It jiggled around, keeping that big goofy smile the entire time. "Ah, my friend Wigglytuff sent apprentices to see me! Now, who are you?"
"...I'm Nate, and this is Thunder. We're Team Abyss."
"So you know Wigglytuff?" Thunder asked, sending me a worried glance.
"Of course! I trained with him many years ago, that's why I can do this." Again, like before, its body began to phase until an eerily looking Wigglytuff starred back at us. "It took a lot of time to master this form."
"Wow... You really look like-"
"A carbon copy?" he interrupted. With a smirk, it turned back into a ditto. "All dittos can do it. We can turn into the pokemon we're looking at, that exact pokemon." He turned to me. "It's not unlike your species, Zorua." My species?
"Have you met many Zorua?"
"Of course, he's staring right at me!" He laughed, turning back into a Zorua. Yeah, very funny. "Now, all jokes aside, are you new to Treasure Town? I'm quite famous around here."
"I've lived here for over a month, and Nate had only been here for a few days," Thunder explained. "I know you train pokemon now that Marowak left at least, that's what the locals told me."
"Yes, that's correct. After Marowak left, I thought I'd be a good contender for the part. I can, after all, transform into any pokemon I can remember!" Really?
"But I thought that ditto's couldn't turn back into the pokemon unless they see them?" Thunder asked. Ditto let out a joyous laugh, even a tear fell from its eye.
"Most dittos have to lay eyes on a pokemon to transform into one. If a normal ditto wanted to turn into a shinx, they'd have to be looking at them. After that, no matter how much they remember, they can't do it. That; however, does not apply to certain dittos."
"What? That doesn't make any sense," I stated.
"Oh, but you see, it's not natural. Long ago, humans tried to create a certain pokemon, a clone." H-huh? "However, the plan failed and the result was genetically mutated dittos. These dittos were not normal and could do strange things, such as being able to reproduce with other dittos. I happen to be a descendant from one of those failed experiments."
"F-failed experiments? Humans..." Again, humans are the bad guy. ...Was I like that?
"Yes, humans did that a very long time ago. It's not a bad thing though, I benefit from it!" ...I'm not sure being a failed experiment is something you should be happy about. And what about the Ditto they did experiment on? ...What pokemon were they trying to clone? "Aside from that, are you two here to train? The dungeons are closed for the moment, due to the damage, but I don't mind training you."
"Dungeon? What do you mean?"
"Hmm?" Ditto moved backward, folding his arms behind his back. "Deep underground lies multiple types of dungeons, one per type of pokemon. Let's say that Zorua here wants to get better at fighting bug types, there would be a bug type dungeon he could train in."
"Oh, so they're like mystery dungeons?" I asked.
"Not exactly. The pokemon down there are not feral, and no money or items can be found down there. Every pokemon is a paid individual or another exploration team training. In fact, I make you store all your items away before you enter." So it's about raw power. That could be useful. I don't want to rely on items to win a fight. "If you two want to earn some extra money, feel free to stop by when my dojo is completed."
"We're not here to train. Our mission for the day is to go around Treasure Town and help fix the damage from the storm, but...not many places need fixing. Excadrill and Timbur seem to have done a good enough job already," Thunder meowed.
"Is that so? Then I'm sorry to say I can't help you. Excadrill has to finish the dungeons and he doesn't want anyone going down there." Chatot's not going to be happy with that. "He won't even let me down there."
"O-oh, thanks anyway, Ditto."
"There's nothing that can be done, my friends. Don't let Chatot's harsh words get you down, no repairs are a good thing!" I guess he's right.
I tried to feel comforted by Ditto's words, but nothing was going to make me feel good about Chatot's inevitable tongue-lashing.
"Ah, you two. Are you already done?" Done? That almost took us the whole day.
We ended up staying with Ditto for a while longer. Initially, his deminer was unsettling, but I couldn't help but feel intrigued by him. He was telling us about how he was traveling the world to see all the pokemon. When he heard that Marowak was leaving and looking for a replacement master for the dojo, Ditto thought he would be a perfect fit.
"There wasn't much we could do, Excadrill seems to have done a good job," Thunder mewed.
"Yes, they have the most adequate team for the job," he mumbled. ...What? Chatot's eyes were narrowed, and his gaze was plastered to the floor. "I suppose that is a good thing."
"Chatot-"
"Hmm? Sorry, I am thinking of something of great importance." Chatot sighed and shook his head. "Well, there is no point in sending you two out again; there is not enough time."
"What should we do then?"
"Are you two familiar with the other guild members?"
"Like the other apprentices? We know Team Thunderpunch, Team Leviathan-"
"No, I mean members like Loudres, Chimecho, Audino." I've seen them around, but I don't think we ever met them.
"I see them during Morning Rolecall, but I don't think we ever met them. What do they do here?" I asked. Chatot paused, seemingly not knowing how to reply, but his hesitance was brief. Immeaditly after his earlier mood seemed to switch.
"WHAT!" he squawked. "You've been here for a week and you still don't know the most important members!" He flapped his wings wildly, causing a few of his feathers to go flying in all sorts of directions. Wow...
"Err... Sorry Chatot, we just haven't had the-"
"Forget it!" He let out a long sigh and stopped thrashing his wings. "That's what you will do. Go at once, and meet the other guild members!" With that said, Chatot turned with a grumble and hopped towards the Guildmaster's room.
"W-wow, we really made him mad," Thunder stammered. Did we? I watched as Chatot paced in front of Wigglytuff's room. His feathers were ruffled, and his beak was contorted in such a strange way.
"I don't think we made him mad, look at him." Thunder flicked an ear in confusion, before turning to look at Chatot.
"He does look nervous..."
"Yeah, and he was muttering something before; when we first talked to him." He said he was thinking about something of great importance. "Something's bothering him, but I don't know what."
"Maybe it's about the expedition?" Thunder asked. It could be. "Well, in any case, we better do what he asked. I don't want to make him even angrier."
I looked around, noticing a creepy looking stand in the corner of the room. I had seen it before and Croagunk, the owner, but we never had the chance to see what it was. "Coragunk's stand? We can go there first."
"Hello," I greeted, being the first one to walk up to the large stand. Croagunk didn't seem to be phased by my presence. "...I've been meaning to ask you, what is your shop?"
"Meh-heh... Meh-heh-heh." Okay, that's creepy. "Who me? My shop?"
"Y-yeah," Thunder said. I glanced at him, noticing the fearful look in his eyes. He really is scared of everything.
"You two are not skilled enough to use my shop. Meh-heh-heh..." It almost seemed like Croagunk wasn't alive by the way he talked, he didn't even move.
"Not skilled enough? What do you mean?" That in itself was pretty offensive, we had been through a lot lately, so I couldn't imagine not being skilled enough to use his shop.
"C-can we know w-what you do then?"
"Meh-heh... Visit Xatu's shop first."
We tried to get another answer out of him, but he wouldn't talk. He just sat staring out into space, the only part of him moving was his cheeks, which inflated and deflated at some slow pace. He has to be the most...weird pokemon I've met yet.
"O-okay then," Thunder started, "Audino owns a clinic here. I heard about it when we first arrived, it's below ground, so we can't visit it."
"Why not?" Thunder tilted his head.
"Remember, Chatot said apprentices aren't allowed deep underground." I thought that was referring to sleeping quarters. "We'll have to meet Audino another day." But then we can't complete this task. ...Why would Chatot give us an uncomplete mission? ...I guess he was stressed out, but still. "I saw a stand on the second floor, I think Chimecho owns it."
As we passed the job boards, I was nearly tempted to take one, but Chatot would have our heads if I did. Doing this, running around to meet other pe-pokemon, just wasn't interesting to me. I liked going out on adventures with Thunder, except for battling other pokemon feral or not. I don't think I could ever get used to it.
"Chimecho's Assembly?"
"Hmm?" I looked up to see Chimecho floating just above us. "Oh, Nate and Thunder, what a pleasant surprise! I was wondering when you would come to see me."
"Hello, Chimecho," Thunder replied. "We wanted to know what your shop was."
Chimecho was another one of those pokemon I liked. He was polite and kind, one of the few pokemon in this guild. He cooked everyone's dinner, and he ran a little shop here. Compared to the other guild members, I felt like we could rely on Chimecho.
"That's great!" He laughed, making a slight ringing sound, before making us sign our names onto a slip of paper. I still don't understand how they have paper but not glass... "Have you two ever wanted to have another member on your team?"
"Another member? We can do that?" I flicked an ear at Thunder's response. I think we're fine the way we are.
Thunder and I worked fine together, so I couldn't imagine having another member. I didn't want to tell anyone about my secret either, having Thunder know is one thing, but I don't know how anyone else might react. It would be for the best that everyone thinks I'm a zorua.
"Of course, you can have pokemon join your team here." Thunder turned to me with a grin.
"If there were more then two of us, then I'm sure that would help us in dungeons!"
"Well then, you need to start recruiting members," Chimecho said. I'm not so sure...
"Oh? But how do we start?" Thunder asked. Chimecho laughed, then floated closer to us.
"You could ask anyone now to join your team, of course. You have to then file with me, but there is another, time-consuming, way." Time-consuming? "Sometimes, when battling in Mystery Dungeons, you'll encounter feral pokemon. You defeat them, then go on your way."
"But, Chimecho, this just sounds like an ordinary mission," Thunder remarked. Chimecho nodded.
"Yes, but when you defeat these feral pokemon you may gain their approval." H-huh?
"B-but they're feral! You can't reason with them, or anything!" I barked. Chimecho laughed.
"That is a reason why it is so time-consuming. It's rare, but every time you knock out a feral pokemon, you could gain their approval. That means they will no longer attack you; however, that does not mean they will join your team." Chimecho showed us a few gummies, then swiftly put them away.
"They may not be feral anymore, but they are not sane. Audino was taken liberty in helping these poor fellows. They need gummies, to get smart, so they can be re-integrated into society. Audino, with payment, of course, provides this treatment. Then, they are provided with education and will finally be allowed to join your team."
"That sounds like a lot of work," I stated. Chimecho nodded happily.
"It is, but think of how wonderful that is for the feral pokemon. This is especially nice for those who have fallen into the state of despair. There is one more way to have new members, but this is the least common one. Sometimes you will be rewarded with an egg; although, I think child abandonment is cruel." C-child abandonment?! "The team is then left to raise the egg so they could become a team member, but this way is flawed."
"I..don't want to hear anymore," Thunder said. "We'll try to stay away from this method."
"Sorry to disturb you," Chimecho sighed. "But you can now have members joining your team. Any number of pokemon can become a member, but only four pokemon at once can be on your main team."
I guess more members could be useful, but I think the two of us are fine. I glanced at Thunder who talked happily with Chimecho. From what it sounds like, Shinx live in large groups, so it must be more comfortable for him if we had more members. ...I guess if wants another member I won't stop him.
"Well then! Let's head down to dinner, you two can help me prepare it."
I collapsed onto my nest with a groan. I don't know how he does that every day! Chimecho had to have some kind of super training to do that. Thunder and I could hardly keep up with him.
"I'm beat," Thunder meowed, curling up into his own nest. "Cooking really wore me out, we never did that in my clan." Really?
"What did you do?" Thunder raised a brow.
"We're predators, Nate. We ate pokemon as we caught them." ... "Although, I prefer cooked meat to raw meat. It has a much better taste." That doesn't bother him? I mean, I ate meat before, but now it's starting to creep me out.
"I see..."
Would I ever get used to this world? The fighting, the adventuring, no humans, and now being a predator. What could have possibly happened to send someone like me into this world? I'm not special, nor do I deserve it. I feel wrong.
I rolled over in my nest, finally getting used to the feeling of hay poking into my pelt. Am I really a human, or am I just crazy? What if this is al some sort of... I sighed. No. I can't think like that. I believe I was a human before, I had to be. I looked at Thunder, who was already asleep in his nest, with a sigh.
"I better get some sleep too." With that being said, I lied my head on my paws and let myself drift into sleep.
A little later into the night a new pokemon wandered along the dusty paths. The pokemon tilted and stumbled, and almost fell a few times before looking around his surroundings.
"Am I here yet?" The pokemon asked himself. He stumbled over, walking in such an odd manner until he reached a mound on dirt on the corner of the intersection. "This must be the place, yes?"
He reached down, playing with the mound, before picking a clump on dirt up. The pokemon watched at the dirt sifted and fell between his fingers, with a laugh, the pokemon threw the bag he had been carrying down.
"This is! This is the perfect spot!" Reaching into the bag, the pokemon pulled out a small sign and some bright yellow tape. "Oh, I can't wait!"
He shoved the sign into the dirt, having to lift his body off the ground to do so, and wrapped an accessive amount of tape in the area.
With a proud nod, the pokemon tipped and waddled down the path, going back the way he came.