I woke that morning with a stretch and a yawn. My tail shook as I tried to get my bearings from my nightly slumber. I slowly opened my eyes, seeing my muzzle pop out in front of me, alongside the cave I slept in. Light shined in through the entrance, the deeper parts still rather dark due to the caves entrance being overshadowed. Now more focused, I started to pull myself up off of the leaves I used to keep me comfortable. I then started to slowly walk, my stubby feet making footsteps echo through the cave as I left. I walked out to the same opening I had been so used to seeing; just a small cave, out in the middle of the woods, surrounded by trees taller than I could ever dream to be.
I started to look around and sniffed the air, making sure that there was nothing nearby to disturb my morning routine. From what I could tell, things seemed clear. I then continued on, slowly walking down the incline I used to get to my cave. I needed to go ahead and check my usual rounds, making sure to get enough food to last the day.
I walked over to the usual tree I start with. The marks I made in the past still laid in place in the tree's bark, arrows pointing in the directions to my usual locations. I'd start with my closest spot. It was a small lake; usually doesn't have much to get from it, but it's a good place to get going for the day.
I followed my usual trail, making sure I don't lose my footing or lose the direction I'm walking in. By now, I had learned the area rather well, so it wasn't often I got lost, but better to be safe than to be sorry. I kept following until I came across my usual lake, and as I walked up to it, I sat near the shore trying to catch breakfast.
With little issue, I was able to get my claws on a small fish. Since I was hungry, I decided to start eating it then and there. Once that was done, I went for another, and another, until I was satisfied for the time being. I didn't want to clear out the pond, so I decided to head back and go to the next one.
After traveling back, I went back to the tree I had cut into. I followed the next arrow, which would lead be to a much larger lake, but the fish there were much harder to catch. I don't know what it was, but the ones there were much faster, and even if I swam after them, they were going to give me a hard time.
My trek there was a bit longer than the last, but since my hunger for the time being had been satisfied, it was no issue. I finally was able to come across the lake. This one didn't really have any areas I could just reach my hand in, I would have to swim if I wanted to catch the ones here. I got to a good spot to jump in, the fish here were smart, so when I started I would have to move fast, otherwise they would be too fast for me to catch.
I looked in the water to see the fish; swimming like normal, paying no mind to me. I backed up a few paces, and with a quick sprint, I lept off the ledge, diving into the water. The chase was on. The fish began to swim in circles, not able to understand what had just happened. I set my sights on one who didn't have the right mind to move away from the area. I swam at a quick pace, keeping up my movements even after it had realized that I was here. It was too late, however, as I was going too fast for him to even have enough time to pick up speed.
Suddenly, I gave myself one last burst of speed, opening my jaws and latching on to my prey. It started struggling, moving its body erratically to try and free itself. But I didn't dare let it go. I was going to get my meal. As soon as I felt the resistance start to die down, I swam up, trying to get myself out of the water. The fish I had was still struggling, but not able to muster up as much strength as he could before.
Before I knew it, I shot my head out of the water, the fish still latched between my jaws. I swam up the edge and grabbed on, pulling myself over. I didn't dare let the fish go. I've had them do escape acts on me before, and I wouldn't allow them to do it again. Once I was able to sit myself down, I once again had a meal that would keep me full for the rest of the day.
After my meal, I slowly lifted myself up. Now that I was full, I would easily be able to do the rest of the tasks I had planned for the day. I started to once again walk back to my tree. The next lake I knew of was the biggest reward, but the hardest to achieve. It was a running stream, the fish would jump from the small waterfalls. The hard part about it was that they were always constantly moving forward, and the water was shallow enough where they could effectively swim, but I couldn't.
I got to the stream fairly easily, and it didn't take long at all. There were the fish, just like usual, hopping down the stream, getting from point A to point B. I walked up to the water, near one of the small waterfalls. I'd have to prepare myself for this. I got myself into position. As soon as I saw an opportunity, I shot my jaws forward, missing the fish I had tried to go for. I tried again, and ultimately ended up with the same result.
It was no surprise here, as out of all the lakes, I was here the longest. But the fish here were the biggest of the bunch, so I didn't mind waiting. I kept trying, and failing, and tried some more, then failed more. Then, I was about to give it another attempt, and while I expected to fail, it wasn't for the reason that I thought it would be.
"Hello!"
I then heard a young voice yell from behind me. My train of thought had been broken, and the voice was loud enough to spook me into jumping up, and falling face first into the water. I sat there for a moment, annoyed with whoever this was. Hearing a voice from outside the water, I presumed they were the one who just scared me.
I lifted my head from the water, looking behind me to see who and what it was that scared me. It was… a small black canine? Of course I could tell it was a Pokemon, but I just never had seen one before. It was a black fox with a fairly big mane of black fur around his neck. The top of his head had a tuft of hair, tipped with red at the very top. His tail swished behind him as he looked at me. I also noticed a scarf with a black and white pattern, and he was carrying a small bag around his waist.
"Uh… sorry, I didn't mean to do that, are you okay?" The fox asked.
"Ugh, then what did you mean to do? I was kinda in the middle of something…" I questioned, maybe a bit too harshly, cause his ears drooped when I said that.
"Uh, I'm really sorry... I was just trying to see if you knew this area well?" The Pokemon replied, trying to be careful with his words.
"Hm? I know it a bit, but why are you here if you don't know the area?" I asked.
"Well, I'm kinda on a mission right now. I'm having to find some berries that are in the area, and I was gonna see if you knew where I could find some?" The fox mentioned.
So he was just out here for berries? Not what I expected, but I didn't really mind, "Well… I know a few areas, but I can't travel far from here. My home is nearby, and I don't want to get lost," I said.
"Wait… you're really gonna help me?" He asked.
His response confused me, "Um, yeah? I mean, that's why you asked right?" I cocked an eyebrow, staring at him. This kid seemed off.
"Well uh, thanks! So, I guess you're leading then?" He tilted his head, awaiting for a reply.
"Yep, just follow me, I know where to go," I said, gesturing for the small fox to follow.
I started walking, checking back a few times to make sure he was keeping up with me. I got a better look at what he was wearing. I would guess that the scarf he was wearing is just something he liked to have, but then there was the case of the bag. I had seen other Pokemon carry bags in the past, but this one felt almost professionally made, as if it seemed better than most I've seen before now.
"Say uh, where did you get that bag from?" I asked.
"Oh, the guild gave it to me when I joined," the canine said.
"Guild?" I could have sworn I've heard of guild before, but never went out of my way to learn what it was.
"Yeah, I'm a trainee there, which is why I'm out here," the canine stated, matter of factly.
I felt kind of stupid at this point. I feel like this guild was something I should have known about for as long as I've been around, but I needed to focus right now. I was here trying to help him get berries. Thankfully, we made it to one of the berry patches I knew in the area. I never really bothered eating berries, as I prefered fish.
"Ah, here we go!" The canine ran up past me. He used his nose to open the bag he had strapped on his waist, and started to pluck the berries from the bush I had led him to. He made sure not to ruin them as he moved them into his bag.
While he did that, my curiosity grew on where exactly he was from, and the guild he was supposedly from. I've never really met anyone personally who was from a guild, just heard of them. I was curious, so curiosity got the better of me.
"Hey so, you said you work at a guild? I don't see you guys often, so why'd you come out here today?" I questioned.
"Well, they said something about this area being a possible good place to get berries, so they sent me out here to check it out." The canine replied.
"They sent you alone out here? Isn't that dangerous?" I asked.
"Well, there's no rumours or anything bad about this area being dangerous, so they didn't really think sending me for berries was a bad call," he said. "You said you live out here, right?"
"Yeah I do. The lake I was just at is one of my fishing grounds. Did you guys actually think no one was out here?" I asked.
"Yeah actually, I don't think they thought anyone lived out here. They certainly didn't mention a Totodile being out here, so I guess they didn't know." He said.
"Oh? So you know what I am?" I asked.
"Of course, that was part of the training. We had to be able to identify Pokemon, plus it's hard to forget what a Totodile looks like," he answered.
"Well alright then… Well yeah, this area isn't too populated I would say, but it's home to me," I said.
"Oh okay, I'm sorry. I'll definitely let the guild know someone already lives in the area. But, is it still alright if I take some berries?" He tilted his head questionably.
"I don't mind at all. I don't really eat berries anyway." I waved an arm, signalling him that it was alright.
"Perfect! Thanks for the help. I'll be heading out now though. Take care!" The small fox said, and was about to head off. But, I had a nagging feeling in the back of my head. I just had to ask him one more thing.
"Say, um…?" I hesitated, not really knowing how to ask this without feeling like it was going to be stupid.
"Yeah, what is it?" He looked back, waiting for a response.
I gave a huff, "What's a guild?"
The canine cocked his head at my question, I guess it did sound stupid.
"Like, I've heard of them before, and you said you were a trainee, but I didn't know what they were," I said.
"Oh! That's what you mean. Well uh, the guild is basically like a job, and I take tasks such as collecting berries each day, and others quite similar to that. I'm only allowed to take up small tasks right now though," he started to explain.
"Oh yeah… you did say you were on a mission, I should have put that together," I said, slightly annoyed with myself.
"No, it's okay. There's more to it than just missions, though. You can get training like I said before, not to mention getting to live there, and they feed you every night," he said.
My mind just realized what he had just said, and the gears started turning. He just said he does simple jobs such as getting berries, and he gets shelter and free food in return? This sounds too good to be true. While it did sound too good, why would it be a lie. I had never heard of anything like this about the guilds, nor much at all. But this... He just said he gets shelter, and free food every night from doing odd tasks.
I didn't hate my home. I had a good system here, but it's not like I haven't had any trouble getting food in the past-
"Hey uh, you okay? You're just standing there." The canine's voice broke through my train of thought, and I realized he was right; I had just been standing there.
"Oh... Uh sorry, I was just thinking about something," I said.
"What was it?" He asked.
I gave a huff, trying to buy time while I thought this through. I didn't hate my home, not at all. But I also didn't like the chance that I could go hungry depending on the situation. Plus, I have gotten into scuffles with other Pokemon over food. But what I'm hearing is a way to do odd jobs, and get food every single night.
You know what? If anything, I want to check this place out. Even if I didn't like what I saw, if what this kid's saying is true, then maybe it could be an opportunity for something truly great.
I eventually smiled.
"Alright, I've decided!" I exclaimed.
"Decided on what?" The creature looked at me in a confused manner.
"Oh uh right sorry, spaced out again. I have a favor to ask," I said.
"Really? What is it?" He asked.
"You said you worked at a guild, would it be possible for you to take me there?" I asked.
That was apparently not a good idea to ask, 'cause the canine's expression changed to smile wildly. He suddenly just became happy, and I mean really happy.
"YES YES YES!" He jumped out of excitement. "You could even join! We could be teammates! We could go-" I raised both arms, cutting him off short.
"Woah woah, slow down! I haven't even decided on anything! I just want to see what it was like first, and I don't even know if I'll join yet! Calm down," I said, trying to calm him down.
I noticed his excitement immediately die down, his expression seemingly becoming slightly upset by my choice of words. However, it quickly changed to a small smile. "That's okay! Don't worry, I can lead you there! Just trust me though, you'll love the place!"
"Well, I want to take your word for it, because it does sound like a nice place." I replied.
He nodded, but then looked down, "Oh, I just realized. Did I ever ask your name?"
I just realized too, I hadn't asked him either, "I don't think either of us did, actually. I'm Dax."
"I'm Zen!" The black canine yipped.
"Zen, eh… good to meet you," I smiled.
"Good to meet you too, now come on! I gotta get these berries back and show you the place!" He said, running in circles around me.
"I don't see a reason in rushing," I chuckled, watching him run excitedly.
"Oh uh… haha, sorry, well alright, just follow me. It will take us a little bit though. I hope you don't mind," he said.
"Not at all. Lead the way," I gestured with an arm.
He seemed to calm down a little and nodded. Looks like he listened to what I asked him to do. I motioned for him to start leading, and he led me out of the forest and onto a trail. In case things didn't go well, I left a mark on a tree near the trail to find ourselves if we ever get lost.
During the walk, Zen began asking me questions, "Hey so, you said you lived out in those woods. Where did you live?"
"In a cave," I replied.
"A cave? Why a cave?" he asked.
"I don't know, I thought it was cool. It has this like, rock formation over it that shaded the sun so I could sleep," I explained.
"Huh, that sounds like a lucky find," he said.
"I would say it is!" I replied with pride in my tone.
"But uh, you said not many Pokemon live around the area. Doesn't it get lonely?" He asked.
"Uh… well, it's not that bad. I've met some Pokemon in the past, and I visit my parents from time to time. Besides, I've just been used to doing things on my own, so I guess it's peaceful." I stated thoughtfully.
"Huh, I guess some see it differently, I suppose," Zen said.
That line confused me, "Wait, what?"
"Oh it's nothing. But uh, question; if you did want to join the guild, you know there are plenty of other people, right? Don't you think it would be cool to have people to talk to every morning and stuff?" He asked expectantly.
"I mean, I guess so. I never really thought of it before," I replied.
I can't really say I wasn't curious. It's just ever since I moved out from my parents' home, I've just been on my own, and it's how I was used to it. The main thing to me was being able to not really worry about food anymore, but he said there would be others there, which should of been obvious to me, but still I never really thought of it.
"So well, what do you think of it?" Zen asked, seemingly awaiting for a reply.
"Well… If anything, it could be a new experience. I'll just have to see," I said.
"Well… I think you'll love it! Trust me, it's awesome," he grinned cheekily.
There it was again, this kid seemed really excited. I didn't really understand why he was though. I mean, I only said I wanted to see what the place was like, but he seemed to just go off the rails with excitement when I said that. I didn't really know what for, but he seemed just really eager. In an attempt to calm him down, I tried to change the topic to what they eat there.
"So yeah, the meals and stuff are pretty filling, they usually make sure you have enough to last you until dinner the next day, and they usually serve both fish and fruit, so everyone stays full," Zen explained.
"Well that's good, berries just aren't my type of meal," I said.
"I feel like I like fish better, but still find berries good too," he replied, sharing his opinion.
"I guess that makes sense," I was walking forward as I noticed down the trail a set of steps, I looked up to see… woah…
"Haha," Zen noticed my shock, chuckling at my reaction. "I didn't want to ruin that surprise if you hadn't seen it yet."
"How the heck… do you even make something like that?!" I asked in confusion.
What I was seeing was beyond anything I had imagined something being built. At first glance, it was a giant tree, and when I say giant, this thing overshadowed this entire area of the forest. It felt unreal. I had seen tall trees before, but this completely out beat everything. On top of it being large, on second glance I saw structures around it. Pathways. What I assumed were houses, and Pokemon, I could see either flying or walking on those pathways. I saw houses hanging from the branches, it was like an entire town was built onto the sides of the tree.
"How… how do you, even?!" I asked in awe.
"No idea, really and truly. My reaction was about the same as yours. Come on though, you want to head up there right?" Zen asked.
"Wait what!? We can't fly! How do you expect us to get up there!?" I said yelling.
"Relax, Dax. It's fine, I promise. Trust me, they thought of everything," he said back to me.
I just gave a sigh and decided to keep moving. Kinda too late to stop now. We walked up the staircase to where I saw the base of the tree. We walked up to the massive base of the tree, where a large door blocked our path. What was weird was the door was like built into the tree, with a small staircase in front of it. My guess was to do their best to keep the tree as intact as possible, but still it freaks me out to even think about what it took to build this place.
All of a sudden, Zen walked over to these like, I don't know what you would call them, it's almost like a weirdly shaped hole, connected to a pipe that leads up the tree. He jumped up to reach one of them.
"Hello!" he screamed into the thing.
I heard a female's voice through the intercom, "Uh, yes hello? Wait…." The female paused for a moment, "Zen?! You're back already? I thought finding the berries in that area would take a bit longer!"
"Well, I did too…" He replied truthfully. "But thankfully, I had the help of the forest resident, Dax!" He said to the woman on the intercom.
"Dax…? OH! You mean the Totodile with you, right? Why did you bring him back here?" The lady exclaimed in surprise.
That made me realize that she could see me, but from where exactly? That was a bit spooky, but I guess it makes sense that they can see who's at the gate.
"He said he wanted to check the place out. He's never seen a guild before!" Zen said, which I still felt stupid that I didn't know what it was.
"He's never seen one!? Well bring him up, we'll give him the grand tour if he's interested!" The woman on the intercom said enthusiastically.
The talking stopped, and Zen hopped down from the talking thing.
"So... who was that?" I asked confusingly.
"That was Rudy, she's like our gate keeper; and she's really kind!" The fox replied, but then whispered, "Just don't make her mad, everyone who did that regretted it."
What… what does he mean by that?
Suddenly, the door started to open. The giant double parted door opened outward, and Zen and I took a step back as to making sure we don't get in its way. As it opened I saw a figure waiting in the doorway. I think I remembered seeing this species of Pokemon before. It was rather tall, had a bird like appearance, stood on two talons, while also having tan-colored feathers covering it's chest, and the back of its head hanging down. It seemed to have a bright blue scarf wrapped around it's right arm.
It spoke, sounding exactly like the voice I heard on the intercom.
"Hey there Zen! Good to see you got back," Rudy smiled, greeting the small fox.
"Hey Rudy, I got the berries in my bad like you said!" He said opening the bag for her.
She came over to him and reached inside, getting the berries. She smiled and I noticed the happy expression she held on her face. The task Zen had taken had been well done.
"Great work Zen, glad that you were able to get them, and you made a friend!" she said.
"Well uh actually, we just met. I don't exactly know if we're friends yet," I said.
That seemed to down Zen a little, but he became quickly upbeat again, "Yeah it's no worries, it's kinda hard to say we're friends just yet, we only just met!"
"Ah yes, sorry of me to assume, that does seem rather fast, in any case. Zen here said you helped him, and your name would be?" Rudy asked.
"My name is Dax, and you're Rudy?" I asked.
"Yep yep, that's right," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," I replied.
"Well, as Zen said here, you've never seen a guild before, and I assume you don't really know what we do here either. Is that right?" she questioned kindly.
"Well Zen gave me a bit of a rundown, but I don't know everything," I said.
"Ah, that makes sense. Well, come on then. No reason to not show you around, just follow me, come along as well Zen," Rudy assured.
Zen and I followed as we were led up a path of stairs, leading up to the walkways I saw earlier. These things were large, with guard rails to make sure people don't fall, and enough space to give most Pokemon a space to walk.
"Well, I think the first thing to explain is what a guild is. Basically here at Acacia Guild, we give out services to many different Pokemon via missions. You know how Zen here brought those berries?" I nodded my head, and she continued. "That was a mission given to him by us, so we could know where new food sources are located. While that was a mission assigned by us, there are plenty of other missions assigned by Pokemon through requests, and they can vary in requirement of skill, what is done, the works. When a mission is completed, gold is usually payment for the service," Rudy explained.
"So basically, Pokemon, or the guild itself, give out missions, and then they are completed and rewarded as such?" I asked.
"That's the short version of it, but the minor details aren't that crazy or important in the long run. However, I must warn you; when you work for a guild like us, we have a fee on completed missions, so you won't be able to keep much of the money," Rudy went on to explain.
"Wait really? Why's that?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Zen actually had the answer, "Trust me, I had the same question, but it's like this: they feed us, give us shelter, train us, and take care of us if we ever get hurt or sick. So, since we never have to worry about things like that, it's like us giving back to them."
"Oh! Oh ok, yeah I think that makes sense. But you did say you get some money in return, correct?" I asked.
"It's not a lot, but it wouldn't be fair if you didn't get something in return." She responds, before continuing. "Oh, and another thing, we don't do the fee on stuff that you sell, just on the rewards from missions." Rudy explained.
"Sell?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"Yep, we have a lot of traders, shops and services here. Let me introduce to you what's on the first floor here," Rudy motioned for us to follow her with a wave of a claw.
She explained how this first area, was mainly shops, we walked up to these two stands, one with a small blue mouse, and another with a red one.
"Hey there you two," Rudy said.
"Heya Rudy!" The two said in unison, but then looked at one another angrily. What was that about?
"Heya, so Cole, Jade," she motioned to the blue, then red one respectively, "We have a guest here, I'm showing him the ropes around here, so why don't you explain your shops."
"Okay I'll start!" the blue one said, "My name's Cole, and my shop is the one where you can buy berries, and other food items that you might need for long journeys!"
"And I'm Jade! My shop is where you buy medicinal items, and other sorts of tools that could help you on missions," the red one said.
"Tools as in?" I questioned.
"Well like, let's say if you have to collect fish, I have nets and things that could help make the job easier," she explained.
"But if you already have food, then you could just use the strength you get from them to collect the fish," Cole interjected.
Jade started to get a little heated, "BUUTTTT if you had the tools then why bother with the food, you waste less energy that way!"
"But who needs a tool when just regaining your strength from food helps you do-" Cole was abruptly cut off by Rudy.
"Guys, save it for later, I've still got to show him the rest of the place," She spoke with a stern tone in her voice.
The two gave a huff, "Fine!"
Rudy motioned for us to walk off, and we left the two angry mice to their work.
"So... anyone gonna explain that?" I asked.
"Those two have been rivals in selling items for years, and that's just how they've always been," Rudy explained.
"Doesn't that hurt their businesses?" I scratched my chin questionably.
"Surprisingly, no. Outside of their rivalry, they've never done anything to make their buyers distrust them," Rudy explained.
"Well, I guess that's a good thing," I nodded, seeming to approve with her statement.
The next thing we arrived at was this, purple Pokemon with gems for eyes.
"Hello there Rudyyyy, how's it goingggg?" The creature said in a slow, almost melodical voice.
"Hello to you as well, Sly. How are you today?" she asked.
"I'm fineeee, thank you. Who might this new youngster beee?" He said looking at me.
"This would be Dax, he's getting to check the place out," she said.
"Ahhh, well let me introduce as to what I do. I'm a banker, and if you ever feel like you might lose your money that's on hand, then I'll be sure to neverrrr let it disappear. As long as your money is in my hands, I can promiseeee you, I'll never let anything happen to itttt," the creature said, elongating some letters within some words.
"You… you make sure money doesn't go away?" I asked, slightly hesitantly.
"Yep! Sly is an awesome banker. I usually keep money I make with him, I've never had a day where he hasn't been able to give me my money back. He's also got another service though," Zen explained.
"He's rightttt, if you ever come across any gemssss, I'll be sure to give a you a niceeee payment for themmmm," Sly said, smiling at the thought of gems.
"You buy gems?" I asked.
"Yessss, they are my favoriteeeee thing to eat," he said.
Ok, it's official; this guy was simply weird.
"Sly's got a diet for gems, so he makes sure if anyone finds any, he'll be sure to pay you greatly for them," Rudy said.
"Well, alright then…" I said still really freaked out.
"I hope you enjoyyy the rest of the tour, little oneeee," Sly said as we waved goodbye to him.
We continued up to the next set of stairs, where we were on the next floor of the tree. Being up this high felt crazy to me, I've never been in a place like this. It's absolutely wonderful. While some of the people here felt really… quirky? This place was beautiful.
The next floor seemed a bit different from the last. I noticed there were like, not really any shops this time around, there were other Pokemon in groups. Some were those that I think I could recognize; a Charmeleon, a Jolteon, and one I didn't recognize which was a green snake-like thing. I've seen snake-like Pokemon, but not any of this kind. All three of them seemed to have been wearing a scarf around their necks. They were orange, green, and turquoise respectively.
It also seems like they were looking at these sorts of boards, with a bunch of different pieces of paper on them.
"What are those?" I asked.
"Those are the mission requests. Usually we have a delivery Pokemon come in with requests, and you'd basically look on the board and see jobs that are available each day. These are some of the jobs I was telling you about," Zen explained.
"Oh, so that's how that works, interesting. So, are they like, updated every day?" I asked.
"Yep! Sure are," Zen replied.
"And who are they?" I asked.
"The Charmeleon is Ryder, the Jolteon is Sparky, and the Servine there is Monty," Zen said.
"Oh, you know them?" I asked.
"We aren't close, we've only worked together on some jobs but that's about it. Their team name is The Forces of Nature," Zen said.
"Huh… neat, so I guess they are picking out a job?" I asked.
"Yep, that's right," Rudy nodded her head.
The team picked out a flier, and walked down the stairs without really paying mind to us, Rudy told them good luck and they just moved on.
"I guess they're heading out to do a request then?" I questioned as I watched them disappear.
"Yep, that's right, it's as simple as that. Usually the people who make the requests will head over here to make the payment," Rudy explained.
"Wait, Rudy I just realized something. I know we're talking about all of this, but what's your role here?" I asked.
"Ah, yeah, good question. I'm basically the gatekeeper, and I keep watch to see who's at the door, and make sure no one comes in. I have the guild leader watching over it while I give you guys the tour," she explained.
"Oh, that's neat," I said.
"Ain't it!" Zen said.
I just nodded.
We headed to the next floor, which seemed to have two main areas. First things first is I saw like, a huge area with a few tables close together. I had a feeling what this was.
"So, is this where you get the meals every night?" I asked hoping that what Zen said was true.
"Yep that's right! Every night, every Pokemon come here to get their dinner. We keep storage locked up, so no midnight snacks are allowed. Thankfully, the best part is that everyone gets a choice; you like berries, you get berries. You like fish, you get fish. It's as simple as that! Oh, and another thing, the chef here is yours truly," Rudy said.
"So, we get to eat dinner every night, no matter what?" I asked.
"Yep, so long as nothing happens to the storage room. That's the plan," she nodded her head.
"That's amazing," I said.
"Well, that's what you get rewarded when you give money earned from your missions. It wouldn't be fair if we didn't do so," Rudy said.
"It's still awesome!" I grinned, and then looked over at the other area. "What's that other place over there?" I pointed to the other path from the staircase.
I saw two doors that led into the tree, one was bigger than the other, having a bit more built to it.
"Ah, the smaller one there is our guild master's office, and past that, is the building made for Mucosa, our nurse," Rudy said, "Let's go meet her."
We walked over to the bigger building, and entered inside. There, I saw two small Pokemon near where we just entered. I believe they were an Eevee, and a Cleffa. On the table I saw a much larger Pokemon that I didn't recall ever seeing, and an Azurill. The larger Pokemon was putting bandages on the smaller one's head.
I happened to notice something; the four Pokemon within the nursing area were also adorning a scarf around each of their necks. The Eevee had a white scarf, the Cleffa had a light red one, and the Azurill had a pink one. Then, the large Pokemon's was a mint color, and it also appeared to be wet and sticking to their skin. How strange.
"Alright Lazuli, can you please promise me that after this you'll be more careful when bouncing? I don't want to see you get hurt from it," the larger one said in a feminine voice.
"B-but, it's so much fun though!" Lazuli whined in a very young masculine voice.
"I know it's fun, but you need to be more careful, okay? Fun isn't worth it if you keep getting hurt," she said.
"Oh, okay…" Lazuli said disappointed.
"Now go on you, little scamp. Be safe, and also have fun, okay?" the larger pokemon said smiling.
Lazuli got up happily and ran to the other two Pokemon here, asking him if he was okay and stuff. They ran out without giving much mind to us it seemed. The bigger Pokemon took notice of us.
"Oh hey there, Rudy, Zen and… who might this be?" she asked.
"Mucosa, this is Dax,. He's here checking out the place, and it's his first time seeing a guild," Rudy said.
"OH! Oh my gosh, that's amazing! So, I guess he's here to see my station then?" Mucosa said.
She bent down to look at me, "Hey there, it's nice to meet you Dax. I'm Mucosa."
"Hey Mucosa, it's nice to meet you too. So uh, I don't mean this to be rude but what Pokemon are you?" I asked.
"Ah, you've never seen a Goodra before?" She chuckled, not taking any offense. "That's what I am, but I'm also a shiny Goodra." She stated, gesturing to her own body.
She was covered yellow for most of her body, goo seeming to be secreting from her body, which I found really strange. But she seemed really nice.
"What do you mean by shiny?" I asked this, because I've never heard the term before.
"Ah, it's nothing special. Just a term for being off-colored. My species are usually white in color, but I'm yellow, as you can see. It's rather rare, 1 in 8192, in fact. It's understandable that you've never heard of it before," she said.
"I found it cool as well!" Zen said to me.
That gave a laugh out of Mucosa, "Yes, it is pretty cool, isn't it?"
"So uh, Mucosa, what is it that you do here?" I asked curious.
"Ah it's simple. I'm the nurse here, and I treat wounds that any of you have while on missions," she said.
"So, you heal people? How's that work?" I asked.
"Well, besides keeping things bandaged, I've learned of ways to make medicinal herbs and cures from any medical conditions, with the use of my goo and other materials," she said, smiling proudly.
"From… your goo?" I asked now losing curiosity and moving straight to confusion.
"Well, it's not just the goo. The goo helps create the medicine, but it alone isn't enough to make the medicine out of. It'll keep wounds from getting infected by keeping the wound covered while it heals, so you don't have to worry about things getting worse or them taking too long," she said, "Also, the goo doesn't hurt, I promise."
"Well… if you say so, haha," I said nervously.
"It's okay, don't worry. No one believes it the first time I tell them, I get it completely," she said.
"Well, I thought I might have said something wrong," I said.
"Not at all! Don't worry about it," she said with a smile.
"If you say so," I said back.
"Well, in any case, Zen, it's good to see you made a friend," she said.
"Actually, we aren't friends just yet. We just met today," Zen said this time, to my surprise. He beat me to it.
"Oh! Sorry about that, I didn't realize. Well, in any case, I hope you enjoy the rest of the tour, and I'm guessing you're here cause you are interested in joining. Please know we'd be happy to have you!" Mucosa said.
I felt as if she was being a bit too nice, and I didn't really know how to reply, "Uh, thank you!"
"Not a problem at all, you all have fun now!" she said.
We told her our goodbyes and headed out. We didn't stop by the guildmasters office yet, due to him being on watch duty while Rudy was giving me this tour. We headed past the cafeteria to the next staircase, and from what Rudy said, this was the last floor. This area was wrapped around the entire trunk of this tree, and on this floor was what appeared to be houses. One was built into the trunk of the tree, two of them hanged and supported by beams near the edge, and the rest were placed on the bases of the platforms.
"What's this?" I asked.
"This is where everyone, including myself, live. These are our houses that are built for us," Rudy explained.
"You all get houses?" I asked.
"Some of us share, such like the teams, and Mucosa and the guild master live together. So yeah, more or less," Rudy explained.
"So, I'd get to live in one too?" I asked.
"That's the idea, yes, but we'd have to talk to the guildmaster to get all of that set up," she explained.
"So wait, Zen you live here too?" I asked.
"Yep! I sure do!" he said.
"So, where's your team at?" I asked.
He seemed to be a bit shocked by the question, and laughed, "I uh… haha, I don't have a team."
"Wait, what?" I asked.
Rudy spoke up, "Zen here was our most recent member, and since we hadn't gotten any new members signing up as of late, we don't really have a team we can put him on."
"I mean, what about the others?" I asked.
"It's different. Those aren't trainee's. The idea is that trainee's can team up so then after a few missions, they'll be full members of the guild. But, if they are already on a team, they are full members, not being trained. So, if a person is teamed up with non-trainee's, then they aren't really trainee's. It's a very weird rule, but it's what we feel needs to be done so a trainee doesn't take something on too early," Rudy explained.
"So, in conclusion, Zen doesn't have a team?" I asked.
"That is correct," Rudy said.
"Hey, it's okay though! I'm sure more members will drop by for us to both form our own teams!" Zen said, still smiling anyway. He remained optimistic.
Wait, was this why Zen was so excited when I said I would join? Was he trying to get me to join his team?
"Well uh, yeah, well this is the last floor right? What's next?" I asked.
"You still have to meet the guild master," Rudy said, "He's waiting at my usual post, so he'll take over from here alright?"
"Okay, thanks for the tour Rudy!" I smiled, appreciating the time she had given.
"Yeah thanks again," Zen said.
"My pleasure, you two," she said back.
We walked back down to the second floor, walking around the the other side, and I noticed a very peculiar Pokemon watching over the ledge. Rudy walked over and seemed to tell him something, but it was inaudible for me. The dragon-looking creature flew over; blue body, with black scruffy fur around his neck and arms, and some magenta-colored fur on top of his head, belly and undertail. This dragon wore a green scarf, but the strange part was that it wore three.
Then, I realized… they have three heads!?
"Hello, Hey, H-hi..." the three heads said simultaneously, but in different ways, to my surprise.
"Uh, hello? You… three?" I asked in confusion on what I was looking at.
"Yeah, technically we're three, but we're all named the same, we are Pythagoras," The middle head said. I was guessing this was the head who is in control.
"Pythagoras… So are you three the guildmaster?" I asked.
"Yes we are, who else would we freakin' be, ye-yeah we are…" the three heads all said something different, this was gonna get confusing fast.
"So Zen, would you mind doing something for us?" the middle head said.
"Oh uh, yeah what is it?" he asked.
"Would you mind if we were to speak alone with Dax here? It would be better if we got to talk to him alone just like we did when you first joined," they said.
"Oh uh…" he seemed a bit concerned if he should let the large dragon do that.
"Hey, don't worry, I can talk to you afterwards, okay?" I don't know why I really said that, maybe it was to reassure him.
"Oh! Uh yeah!" Zen said, nodding his head. He then ran off to one of the other areas.
"So, I heard from Rudy, your name is Dax?" Pythagoras said.
"Uh yeah, I am. What's up to where you needed Zen to leave?" I asked.
The head to my left spoke up, "Cause he can be pretty annoying at time-" the middle head bit the one on his right arm.
"Quiet, that is not the reason I told him to leave! Zen can be quick to get excited, so just to keep him from getting too (italics) excited, it would be best to discuss whether your decision will be to join the guild, or not. Rudy gave me the rundown of it all." He explained.
"Ah okay, well yeah, when I heard about it from Zen, it sounded interesting," I explained.
"Interesting how?" he asked, wanting more information.
"Well I… I more or less just liked the idea that I wouldn't have to hunt for food," I explained.
"That's… your only reason?" he cocked his head to the side. It seems like he hasn't gotten the information he truly needed.
"I mean, I don't hate hunting, but if I guarantee I can eat every single night without fail, then I'll take it," I said.
"This is a first, I've never heard anyone give this reasoning for joining a guild before," he said, stunned by my answer.
"Wait, really? No one else has joined due to being hungry?" I asked.
"Not exactly in your case, no," he said. What did he mean by not exactly?
"So, I guess I should go over some rules and things. If you decide to join, you'll be given a place to sleep, and starting out, you'll be a trainee. You'll get all of the necessary equipment for your missions, just like the other members," he said.
"Rudy mentioned something about teams, and how you can't exactly team up with someone who isn't a trainee," I said.
"Ah yes, you are allowed to work alone if you so like, or you can join up with other trainees and form a team, and the only other trainee-" I finished his sentence.
"It's Zen, right?" I asked.
"That is correct, now the question is, do you want to work alone, or do you want to work with him and form a team?" he said.
"Does that really matter?" I asked.
"It's required to know, so yes, you'll either be a team leader, or join an already existing member's team, however by being a leader you won't exactly have any teammates, until another person joins, and you'd be required to handle organizing and other things, so it's up to you what you want to do here," he said.
I thought over my options here. Be a team leader, or join an already existing leader, by default is Zen. Being a team leader could be cool, and while I am good at organizing and such with my morning routine, I realized however I did not have enough experience with the people here, or the people in general to lead others. Zen listened when I asked something but that's different, I can't exactly lead here. I thought about joining Zen, but I still don't really know him, like, I've known him for not even an hour or two, I don't have a good sense of time, but it's barely been a day, was that really the right call?
But then and there, I realized something. When I even mentioned the fact that I wanted to see this place, Zen was the happiest I've ever seen a person with a stranger. It was almost comical, until I realized that he wasn't being funny. He was genuinely just that excited. I thought it over again, and while I don't know Zen that much yet, I also don't know enough about the guild.
Zen does though, and me joining would probably make him happy. I don't know Zen, I don't even think we're friends yet to be honest. But I've never truly seen a person that happy for something so simple, and I can tell ever since I've got here he's been expectant of something, and I guess this was it. I don't think he's a bad guy, not at all. I just haven't gotten to know him enough yet. But in any case, I don't even think I want to go back to my cave after seeing this place. This was too good of an opportunity, and I was gonna need help, and who else better to help than Zen. On the plus side, I think me enlisting in the guild would probably make his day.
Ah, what the hell.
"Alright, I'll join Zen's team," I said.
"Wait, really?" he asked.
"Yeah, really. I want to join, but I don't think I'm anywhere near prepared to handle this stuff on my own, so yes, I'm in. Let's go get Zen and do whatever else needs to be done," I said.
I could see Pythagoras smile from my remark, "Well, alright then, let us go. I hope you can handle it, runt, I'm… so glad…"
Pythagoras motioned for me to follow. We headed upstairs, and I saw at some of the tables, Zen was talking to that Azurill, whose named Lazuli, from earlier. Pythagoras called his name and he came running over.
"Oh hey, so how'd things go?" he asked.
"Well, I'm going to join," I said.
"Wow! That's awesome, you get to have you own team and-" I stopped him.
"Nah, I kinda decided I'm gonna join your team," I said before he could finish.
"Wait what..? You're joining… My team?" He said, tilting his head at me. His eyes grew wide from the shock.
"Yep! I thought about it, and since you know how all this works, I thought working with you would be the best option," I said.
Suddenly he grew that giant smile I saw before and started hopping in circles, "YES YES YES! I have a teammate! I have a teammate!"
"Zen! Let's calm down, we aren't done registering," I said.
His hops stopped, "Oh right! Haha, sorry about that, so uh Pythagoras, does that mean we get our badges?!"
"Yes indeed it does, follow me into my office please," he said.
We headed to his office, and inside was a sort of table, with some sorts of feathers and alongside little jars of stuff. There were some containers in here, a drawing of him and nurse Mucosa on the wall, and a few other nicknacks. He reached into the back and pulled out a small box, and with his smaller heads, opened it and held it up to me. Inside were a bunch of scarfs of different colors.
"This is something we always give to the members. You may choose any color you like," Pythagoras said.
I looked at the different colors and patterns, one similar to the black and white pattern Zen was wearing, but I wanted a different color. I picked out a red one, and wrapped it around my neck.
"That's a nice look!" Zen said.
"It's my favorite color, I hope it does," I said.
"That's not all, you two," Pythagoras said. He went to the back, opened one of the containers, and pulled out two small weirdly shaped badges, and indention in them with a black spot. They were also a nice looking silver color.
"Now then, you two just gotta tell me a team name, then I'll mark the badges with your team name, don't worry I'll make it look nice," he said.
"Uhh…. Oh gosh I didn't think of a name," Zen said.
"You never thought of a name for your team?" I asked.
"I mean, the point of a team is to account for everyone, so I never had any time to think of one!" Zen explained.
"Oh right… that makes sense… Wait Zen, what Pokemon are you?" I asked.
"I'm a Zorua, why do you ask?" he replied
"What typing are you?" I asked back.
"Dark," he said.
I gave it some thought, Water-type, Dark-type…. GOT IT!
"Team Tsunami!" I said with a smile.
Zen smiled, "That's awesome!"
"You really think so?" I asked.
"Yeah I do! That's the best name for this team! Pythagoras, Team Tsunami is our name!"
"Haha, very well," he took one of the feathers, and opened one of the small bottles, dipped the end of the feather in, and then started to do something to the pins. After a minute or so, he presented us the pins, with our team name on them.
I took mine, "This is really cool."
Zen asked Pythagoras to pin his to his scarf, "Thanks! This is awesome isn't it!?"
I fiddled with mine and pinned it to my scarf as well, "Yeah, it is, doesn't feel too heavy either."
"Well then, you two! I officially welcome Team Tsunami to Acacia Guild!" all three of Pythagoras' heads said.
"Thanks!" I said, "Also hey uh, when's dinner?"
"Haha, I had a feeling you'd ask. Don't worry, we're in fact about to start. It's a huge meal, so don't you worry," he said.
"Awesome!" I said.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Zen said.
Zen ran out of the room, and I followed closely behind. When I walked out of the room, I saw Rudy working on setting food, Mucosa and some of the other Pokemon sat around the tables, and Zen waving at me to come on over.
Well, so this is what I was getting into huh? Can't really say it's all I expected it to be, but hey, this could definitely be worth being a part of. Probably in more ways than I could have imagined. But for now, I was ready to sink my teeth into some of this food, I was not going to miss out on this.
I wonder if they give seconds?
(Authors note: I want to thank those who read and support this story, this was a new thing for me to do in this case, and I wanted to start out strong with it. I want to thank those who helped give me ideas here for this, some of the best people I've ever met. Special thanks to Oddball, BlueHairCruse, Dipper, Transcendent, Moonminun, HattedClown, Chissairon, Cozy, Luanastar, Louis, chlooepm, and DegenFloofs for all the help in creation, and for chapter 1 extra thanks to Chlooepm and Degenfloofs for the beta reading. You're all amazing, thank you so much.)