Arc One: Mystery
Chapter Four: The Guildmaster and the Guild
Well, I didn't think I'd return to the dark abyss so fast, yet here we are, or I am, because you know, I'm all alone in this void.
I don't know when I came to, but all I know is I'm here...and...well...
...
...
...
*Sigh*
Man, this is really boring. Maybe it's time to think about what has been going on today? You know, just to recap on everything that's has happen in the span of a couple hours.
Lets see, I woke up in here, then almost drowned in the sea, but I was saved by a Lapras, landed on the beach, tripped on my face, went up to see a tent in the shape of a Wigglytuff, went to a forest to eat apples, met Lucas, fought a Zoroark, and I became a living fireball.
...
Which now that I think about it, what was up with that? Raboots aren't supposed to cover themselves with fire unless it's a move, in fact, I don't remember a Fire-Type being able to do that at all? Does it have anything to do with me changing into a Pokemon? Why does all of this have to be so confusing?
I start to pull my ears. Why me? What did I do to get in this mess? Why can't I remember everything and just be on my way.
"WHY AM I HERE?!" I yell into the black emptiness. Wow, I screamed to the darkness like if I'm going to get an answer. I begin to cry. I really am all alone in this world, aren't I? No memories, no friends, no...anything. I'm depressed. I'm doomed. I'm never going to leave this world. I'm...dead. I'm going to die.
I look back at the dark abyss. "You did this to me." I scream. "WHY DID YOU BRING ME HERE?!...please...I just want to know something, anything...please?" Really, I just did it again. What did I think was going to happen. It's not like it's going to...what's that?
I squint my eyes. At the far edge of the void, I see something. A little ball of yellow light. I soon realize that the ball is either expanding or approaching me. Before I know it, the ball got closer to me and proceeds to spin around me like if it's playing. That ball...feels familiar...is it a part of me? A memory? Or maybe a friend perhaps?
I reach my hand out to grab it, but it shifts to the side away from me. I try to use my right foot but it maneuvers past it and flies around me once more.
You know, for it being a figment of my imagination, it sure knows how to get on my nerves. But isn't that a good thing? That means that I remember...whatever this thing is supposed to be.
"Don't worry little...thing. I don't bite." I say as I reach my palm out to the glowing object. The sphere stopped. It looks like it's trying to figure out what it should do.
"If you know something about me, then can you tell me, please?" I try to look as nonthreatening as possible. This thing didn't just appear to mess with me. It has to be conneted to me somehow. I can feel it.
The thing slowly comes nearer. "That's it. I only want to be your friend." I say. Even if it is a ball of light, it seems to have a mind of it's own.
But then the orb does something unexpected: It comes right up in front of my face. I then feel tiny arms come out from the sphere, and they start to wipe my tears away. I'm caught off gurad, but is it working, is it befriending me?
As the orb moves away from me, my ears pick a very, VERY faint voice from the light. "It's ok, don't worry, I'll help you, and in turn, you can help me." I freeze. Was that a memory or did that just happened now?
But what ever it's trying to do, it's working. I feel a lot calmer than I did before. I wave my hand out to the glowing orb.
"Sure, I'll help you, just...can you give me something, please?" The ball does little flips, but it does decide to come back. Slowly it lands on my hand, but then I hear something very NOT faint.
"GGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The orb explodes and releases a deafening scream that is still ringing in my ear. WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?! As for what happened, well, it was like looking straight at the sun. The yellow light blinded me so bad that my eyes feel like they're on fire. Tears form to cool down the pain I'm having.
As soon as I open my watery eyes, however, I see that the orb is no where to be seen.
"And the light has lefted the building. Great." I say to myself, "Just when things were looking up." My ears start to perk up again. I hear voices again, but this feels like it's all...coming from...
I find myself covered in white light as I'm taken away from the black darkness.
I wake up in a cold sweat. I'm no longer in the dark realm. Instead, I'm in some sort of cave-like room. I panic and start to look around, with one question in my head: Where am I?
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down." I hear a female voice coming from the left side of the room. I turn and see a tanish Pokemon with a huge black ponytail. Wait, that isn't a ponytail, that's a...mouth.
Meaning that she's..a Mawile.
"It's ok. You're fine. You're just resting here at the Guild." She says with a smile on both ends. It's weird to see a Mawile up close, but it's a lot small then I thought it would be. The top of her head is just as tall as my head.
"What happened?" I ask her. She smiles again, answering with, "You and your friend fainted at Apple Woods. The Guildmaster's daughter said that you two protected her from a hostile Zoroark."
My friend...LUCAS! WHERE IS- I feel something hit me on my side, and I think I know who that is.
"You're ok! Ha, ha." Lucas says as he laughs and hugs me. Nice to see you too, Lucas.
He then backs off as the Mawile prepares to speak to me. "Both of you weren't anything an Oran Berry couldn't fix, but you, Raboot, should try not to push yourself too hard. You aura was very tired."
She then turned toward the room's exit. "I promised the Guildmaster that I'd tell her when both of you woke up. I hope I'll see you again." She waves her hand as she exits the room.
Now the only Pokemon that are in the room is Lucas and me, and the former is staring at me with his two sparkling eyes. I'm getting a sence of deja vu.
Lucas started to walk towards me. "So what happened when I blacked out? You really did take him down? Where is he?" Lucas started to spitball a ton of questions at me, and I'm not ready for them just yet. "Slow down, please. You're going to give me a headache."
The Emanation Pokemon then stops. "Sorry...but what did happened? I need to know."
I think to myself for a moment. What's the best way to phrase what happened after he fainted?
...
...
...
I shrug my shoulders. "I don't really know. It felt like someone was giving me some exta power. I then used Flamethrower to take out the Zoroark, and well, here we are."
His eyes sparkle even more. "Someone giving you power?! That's awesome!"
"Hello, you two." A voice calls from the hallway. We both turn our heads to the voice and see the same Wigglytuff and Alolan Vulpix from before, but this time they're joined by a small bird holding a rather large board and a pencil. It has blue wings, yellow claws and a yellow...bib thing? It also has a green stomach, and has a black head and tail. It's head is in the shape of an eighth note, and the tail looks like a metronome.
A Chatot.
The Wigglytuff continues with her speech. "It nice to see that both of you are doing well. Did Crush treat you well?"
I smile. "The Mawile, yeah she did a good job." I then look over to Lucas, who is staring start at the Balloon Pokemon. Something tells me that "Guildmasters" are a big deal.
"You're-you're...YOU'RE GUILDMASTER WIGGLYTUFF!?" Lucas' tail wags so fast that it would probably hurt someone if it made contact with them. "I-I-I don't know what to say. You're a legend. You're awesome. You're...so pink."
The Wigglytuff smiles. "Thank you for you're complements, dear. Yes, I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff. It's nice to meet you both. What are your names?"
"M-my name is Lucas, and the Raboot is Red!" Lucas says.
The Guildmaster responds with, "Nice to meet you, Lucas and Red. The Chatot's name is Ray. He's my assistant. And the Vulpix is my lovly daughter, Eve."
"Aww." I think to myself. "That's a cute name."
"Eve. Aren't you going to say something?" Wigglytuff says, looking down to the Fox Pokemon. The White Vulpix slowly takes some steps towards us. She then looks at me and Lucas. "Th-thank you f-for saving m-me." She manges to say, but barely. Poor thing. She still has to be in shock after what happened. Wait, how long have I been asleep for?
"Thank you, dear. You can go back to the kitchen to finish clean up." The Alolan Vulpix walks across the room toward the exit. I notice that her leg is all wrapped up. I hate seeing cute Pokemon getting hurt. "Please forgive her. Eve isn't too talkative." The Chatot says, "Rest assured that she is very grateful for your act of kindness."
"It was no biggie, but Red was the one who talk me into it. He's the one you should really thank."
I blush from his comment and start stuttering. "It was nothing-OOF!" The Wigglytuff hugs me before I can finish talking, and for being the Balloon Pokemon, she is quite strong!
"Thank you for rescuing my sweet little angel! We were making our way through the forest when we got attacked by two Pokemon, Eve panicked and ran away and I couldn't get to her because of the Pokemon. I may be a Guildmaster, but even Arceus has trouble with fighting sometimes." She then lets go of me and then hugs Lucas. I chuckle. Now it's HIS turn.
After she hugs him for long enough, she returns to Ray's side, who is still writing on his board. "The two of you were very brave to fight off that Zoroark." The Chatot said. "That one you faced is known as Scar, and he's one of the worst criminals we've had to deal with." The Chatot then sighed, stateing, "But then again Dark-Types are always an issue along with Ghosts and Poison, don't you agree?"
Dark-Types an issue? Ya, I guess that makes sense. Most of them do look very threatening. The Wigglytuff takes a short bow. "Both of you are deeply in my debt. You two are free to stay here for the night if you like to stay. It's almost nighttime, anyways." She then turns around and starts to head out, but then she stops in her tracks and turns back and looks at the two of us.
She pauses for a second, only to get a sparkle in her eye. "Then in the morning, if you want to that is, both of you will be allowed to take a test to join the guild free of cost."
"I'm sorry, what?" I think to myself.
"I'M SORRY, WHAT?! Y-Y-YOU WILL ALLOW US TO TAKE THE GUILD TEST!?" Lucas screams at the top of his lungs. He then stops and turns to me. "Well, if you don't want to do it, Red, then I won't force you to. What do you say?"
My head's spinning. This is crazy!? I just woke up, and now I can join a guild. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A GUILD IS! IS THAT EVEN A WORD?!
"I...I need time to think about it. I hope that's fine with you." I say, trying to look as calm as possible.
"That ok. Take as much time as you need." The Wigglytuff says. "Tomorrow morning you'll inform me if you want to take the test or not. Until then, you two should get some rest." She then looked down at the Chatot. "Ray, can you give them some apples?"
"Um...Sure thing, Guildmaster." He says as he places a blue bag on the ground containing four apples. "Have a good night. I'll see you in the morning." The Guildmaster says as she and Ray leave the room. While they are out of eye sight, my ears are able to hear the Chatot talk to the Guildmaster in a worried tone. But I can't make out the words.
Lucas then turns at me and looks down to the ground. "Look, I'm sorry you got all messed up in all of this." Lucas says. "I really want to join the Guild. It's my dream. But you have a home, and it wouldn't be right if I took you away from it."
I don't say anything back to him. I do have a home, but it's out there...somewhere. I then remember the cold reality of my life, and it hits me like a bus. I don't know anything about myself. Other than that ball of light, I'm clueless. I'm a wreck here. I don't know a thing about this world. How am I supposed to remember everything when I don't know ANYTHING?! This isn't a nightmare, through. This is life, and I'm...lost...
"Hey, don't cry. What did I say?" I'm crying? I shake my head. You know what, I don't care what he thinks about this. All this stress is killing me. I continue to tear up. It's the only way to make me feel better. I need to let this out.
Lucas is just sitting there, confused. He stares at me for a while, trying to think what made me cry. "You do have a home...right?"
I say nothing.
"Did something happen to you?"
"...*sniff*..."
He then pauses for a moment. "You...you don't remember anything, do you?" I convince myself to respond. It's the least I can do.
"...ya...I woke up in the ocean today and...I..."
I let myself loose. "I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING! I DON'T KNOW WHAT ANYTHING IS! I CAN'T...GAHHHHHHHH!" I fall onto my face. This is all too much for me. I don't want to live my life like this. Living in fear. I want to be free from this pain, but it'll just come back.
"Red, listen to me." I hear the Rilo say, but I ignore him. Sorry, but I need to cry all of this out.
"LISTEN TO ME!" He screams.
I stop crying. Now he's got my attention. "Look, you just took down a Zoroark like it was...well, not nothing, but you did a great job. You were the only one that wanted to do it in the first place. I was going to leave and get help, but you had no fear. You did it anyways. Sure, you didn't know who he was, but just looking at him would scare most Pokemon, including me. I was terrified." He then stood up and walked in front of me. "I know we just met, but I feel like we belong together. Look, you helped me get to my dream, and now I want to help you remember everything you forgot." He held his hand out. "We already make a great team." He says with a large grin. "We can help more Pokemon, you can help me be braver, and I can help you remember everything. What do you say?"
He only gave me one option, but it's the only one that makes sense. It'd be foolish if I was to walk away from all of this and move on. I have a chance to remember my past, not to mention a place to call home. And Lucas does make a good friend. Guess I forgot about him. He does cares for me. Who am I to turn down an offer like this?
"Sure, but you'll have to be my guide if you don't mind." I say as I shake his hand. He lights up after I accept his proposal. He didn't want it any other way.
"Sure, I don't mind. If it's what it takes to be your friend, then I'll do it."
"So, what is a Guild?" I ask.
He stops. "You're...that clueless, huh?" He sighs. "Ok, what was I supposed to expect? A Guild is a place where Pokemon make rescue teams and then they go out to help other Pokemon by delivering food to them, escorting them through areas, or finding a criminal and bringing him to justice. It's kind of like a big club."
"I think I was saved by a team while I was in the ocean." I say.
"Yeah, that might have been a-wait a minute, you woke up in the ocean?!" I yells.
I rolled my eyes. This has been quite the day, hasn't it. We start talking to each other and eat some apples the Chatot had left for us. It was fun. I tell him everything I know about my life except two things: That I'm a human and that ball of light. I don't know if telling him I'm a human would be a good idea right now. I want to gain his trust first. Besides, humans might not even exist in this world. And the ball of light? That's on its own level. We talk so much that, before we both know it, it starts to get very dark outside.
"Wow, look at the moon." Lucas says. "We should get some sleep now."
I agree. After a day like this, it's time to hit the hay. I get back into my nest and lay down to face the wall.
"Hey Lucas." I say.
"What?"
I smile. "Lets do the test tomorrow. I'd like to join the Guild." And while he doesn't say anything, I can hear his tail hit the ground a few times.
I just made someone's day.
A Charizard walked through a forest. The only light in the pitch black forest was the end of the Charizard's tail. He keeped his head straight as he took one step after another. All the Pokemon paid no attention to the Flame Pokemon as he walked to a rockwall. He then stopped and waited, looking straight at the wall.
Two glowing lights suddenly appeared on the wall and moved over to the Charizard, making eye contact with it.
"...what's...the...password..." The eyes said in a lifeless tone.
The Charizard smiled wickedly as it glowed. "Pain." It responded as its form shifted into a dark, red, scared Zoroark.
"...hello...Scar..." The eyes said as they sank into the wall. Suddenly, the rockwall disappeared, leaving nothing but a pathway leading inside the hidden cave. The Zoroark walks right into it. The sides of the cave had touches that were lit, supposing that this cave was used often.
"Shadow, is everyone here?" Scar sourly said. The two eyes reappeared, only this time coming out of the ground. Its form was...something. It looked like a small chubby human but made entirely out of smoke and shadows.
A Marshadow.
"...yes..." It said as it sank back into the ground. Scar grunted. After what had happened in the forest, he wasn't in a good mood. He then entered a well lit room. Two Pokemon were in the back of it fighting over an apple. One of them was a Gengar, and the other was a Sableye.
"That's mine." The Stableye said.
"Finders keepers." The Gengar said, sticking out his tongue.
"YOU TOOK IT OUT OF MY HANDS!"
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!" The Zoroark couldn't take the two's bickering much longer.
"Well, look who's back." The Gengar said while taking a bite from the apple he stole. The Illusion Fox Pokemon didn't want to say anything. He'd said enough and just wanted to sleep. The Sableye, a little sad about his apple, starts chuckling at the Zoroark, trying to cheer himself up.
"What's the matter, didn't do YOUR end of the bargain?"
The Zoroark stopped. He was running out of patience...again. If they said one more thing he'd-
"Are you going to say something? Where's that Vulpix?!" The Gengar said as he threw the now apple core at the Zoroark. The Zoroark was starting to form veins on his head.
The Gengar smiles. "What's wrong Mr. Mute, can't-"
That was it for him, as he erupted. "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED! OK!" The Gengar and Sableye were caught off guard. Scar does lose his temper at points, but there was something different about this time.
"You lost to a couple of kids, right?" A fourth voice called out from the ceiling. Scar sighed. The three Pokemon then looked up toward the voice. "You read my mind, didn't you?" Scar grunted.
A dark figure then fell from the ceiling, landing perfectly on his feet. The Pokemon is hard to tell what it is exactly it is, as he is wearing a black cloak that makes it impossible to tell what it is. All you could tell is that it sounded male. "That's what happens when you don't say anything." The Pokemon states. "I'll always find out what I want to know."
The Sableye freaks out. "WHAT DID WE TELL YOU ABOUT USING TELEPATHY! IT'S SCARY!" The Pokemon stared straight at the Darkness Pokemon, who cowardly hid behind the Gengar.
The Gengar falls to the ground and starts laughing. "You lost to some kids?! HA! What happened to you? You're not losing your touch, are you?"
The Zoroark was mad. "I!" He paused and walked away from them. "It wasn't like they "defeated" me. There were just kids. It's not like they SHOULD put up a fight. They just...caught me off gurad, that's all."
The cloaked Pokemon turns to Scar. "Still, Shard and Fang did their part and kept the Wigglytuff away. The least you could have done was bring us that Vulpix."
The Zoroark turned to the wall. He then slams the rockwall in front of him, destorying it completly. He then stops for a moment. Shadow then appears from the wall and speaks up.
"...thinking...about...something..." Scar smiled. "Tomorrow, those kids are going to pay for what they did to our plan." He said with his claws dancing in dark energy.
"THEY WILL PAY!"