"So, you're the one that stole from Innovan last night, correct?" The Elekid, Edison Sault, looked back at the two. One was eagerly following behind, and the other was more reluctant to follow.

"Word gets around fast, huh?" Dice asked with a chuckle. "It's a big town. Didn't expect people to know the day after."

"Oh, no, so far the paper hasn't said anything about the theft. It's just that I know Innovan personally. I invest in his inventions. I give him money to continue his works, and he gives me a part of his profits." Trying to keep his classy image, Edison adjusted his black bow tie. "As soon as you were arrested, he contacted me. He thought I should know."

"Wait, you get part of his profits?" The thief asked with a tilted head. "You must be rich! Why are you still working here?"

"I am only saving up my money," the assistant said. "I can't spend it all or be wasteful with it. This job provides a steady source of income, and my bosses are some of the greatest in Dualsa, so I'm staying."

Dice nodded and opened his mouth to say something else, but Sashy interjected with his own question, blurting in the middle of the sentence.

"Wait, you're a thief?" the cactus pokemon asked, turning to the other with a curious stare. "I didn't know that! Actually...I don't even know your name." He then let out an awkward chuckle.

"Oh, right. We didn't really meet, did we?" Those guild leaders did just push Dice upon this poor kid. He must have no idea what he's getting into. "The name's Dice. I already heard your name's Sashy, and yeah, I guess you could call me a thief. Only reason why I'm here, really."

"Oh, okay…" Sashy's eyes trailed off to the side, not looking as enthusiastic as before now that he figured out his partner's background. He quickly smiled again and looked back at Dice. "Well, don't worry! A year or two in the guild and you'll never want to steal from a pokemon ever again!"

Dice chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure that'll happen." He held back the urge to roll his eyes before looking back at Sault. "So...Edison, where're we going first?"

"That's Edison Sault to you, sir," the electric type said, not bothering to look back at the other two. "Only those very close to me call me Edison. Now, to answer your question, we're going to the dining room. Showing you where you'll be eating."

"Oh, dinner. Nice." Dice nodded and patted a paw to his stomach. "I haven't eaten much today. Been a few hours since I've eaten. When is dinner?"

"In a couple more hours. You'll just have to wait. We don't have early meals, so you can't have any small meals until then."

Dice, even though he had a rather disappointed look on his face, nodded once more and soon after the group fell silent as they continued walking. A minute or two later, Dice felt a sharp prick on his arm. He winced and looked at Sashy, who had apparently poked him with his spikes.

Sashy smiled at him, waved, and opened his other hand, which held an Oran berry, with only a few small holes in it where Sashy's spikes had penetrated the surface of the berry. He offered it to Dice with a wide smile.

"Oh, thanks," Dice muttered before picking up the berry and taking a bite. He was surprised by how tasty the berry was. Very sweet and juicy. Sure, he was more of a carnivore, but he could accept eating a berry every now and then, and he was too hungry to refuse anyways. Did these come from the guild? If so, then he couldn't wait until it was actually dinner time. The food here was hopefully just as tasty.

"Here we are," the Elekid said after a couple more minutes. Dice, who had finished his berry a while ago, looked up and noticed the room they had entered.

It was a gigantic room, and it looked like it took up most of the space around here. Most of this building probably consisted of the dining room, and the other half...most likely consisted of bedrooms for the members. Maybe one meeting room, but that's probably it.

The room was long. So long, in fact, that Dice could barely see the Pokemon on the other side of the room. There were many other entrances to the room, and pokemon came and left as they pleased. In the middle of the room, there was a giant table that went from one end of the room to the other, and placed on the table were salt shakers and other utensils for eating. Thinking of this entire room being filled to the brim with pokemon was a tad bit overwhelming, and Dice was wondering how chaotic lunch was going to be.

"This is the dining room," said the electric-type. "Though, you probably figured that out upon entering. We have a large staff of chefs and waiters that cook and prepare the table day in and day out. They will serve you and give you what you need. I suggest you be polite to them. Most of the staff don't take kindly to rudeness at the dinner table. Just remember your manners, and you should be fine."

Dice nodded, still very impressed by the size of the room. "Yeah, okay...understandable." He looked back at Edison Sault and shook his head. "How big is this place, anyways?"

"What place? The room or the building itself?" Edison turned to them with a small grin on his face, as if he was waiting for the question to arise just so he could talk some more. "Because, you see-"

"This room is only a small part of a huuuuge building!" Sashy hopped into the air, becoming visibly excited just by talking about the guild. "The surface floor of this place is kind of small. We have the dining room, a room where we train for going out on quests, a few bedrooms for some of the Pokemon, and a huge garden that's just before the guildmasters room! It may look small on the outside, but we've managed to make it huge on the inside with the help of some really, really powerful psychic types and others! The bottom floors, underground, hold a bunch of other bedrooms and stuff. It's really cool!"

The Elekid blinked and looked at Sashy, who realized he had interrupted the assistant and let out a nervous chuckle in response. "Yes, thank you, Sashy, but I think you should leave the explaining to me in the near future."

"Uh...yes, sir." Sashy nodded and gave the assistant a quick salute, even it if wasn't necessary.

Edison nodded and cleared his throat. "Well, this is the dining room. Let's go to the training room now."

"How long have you two been here?" Dice asked as they left the dining room.

"Well, I've been working for the guild for at least three years now. I took the job so I could make an impact on society. Sashy...how long have you been here?"

"Uh...almost three years, actually." The Maractus hopped up and down as he followed the Elekid . How much energy did this kid have? "I joined some time after you were hired. A few months, I think? I don't know, but I still remember when you were first starting out!"

"Oh, yes, and those were fun times, weren't they?" The Elekid shook his head and continued walking. It seemed like reminiscing about his first years here wasn't his favorite thing to do. "We've been here a while, to answer your question."

"Wow, that is a long time," Dice muttered before shaking his head. How long was he going to stay here? He already forgot how long the department wanted him to stay. Less than ten, he knew that. "And you haven't been able to do anything, kid?"

"Well, not exactly," the cactus shrugged as they continued moving. He took a moment to say hello to a passing Absol and Lampent before looking back at Dice. "I've been able to do a few small things in Strikelm, like help the police and stuff. I'm actually friends with some of the officers, but...I've never been able to go outside the city. I haven't had a partner, and I've been having an empty bed in my room ever since I've joined the guild. But now you're here, so that's all going to change now!"

"Yeah, aren't you lucky?" the Sneasel grinned and held back a chuckle. This kid was really excited to be working for the guild. Dice couldn't say he understood why, though. "Well, now we can go outside the city and help people, I guess. Bet you're happy about that."

The Maractus nodded as Edison stopped and looked back at them. "We're here," the electric type said.

This room was...not as big as the dining room, though that was understandable, considering how big the dining room was. Not as many people could fit in here, he was sure of that.

There were a few training items in the room. One of them was a rock wall, which a Geodude was trying to get to the top of. Off in the distance, against the left wall, were a few targets, and a ways away from those targets were piles of stone. Testing accuracy, Dice assumed. There were also many punching bags which all different kinds of pokemon were using, and in the middle, a Hitmontop and Raticate were engaged in battle on some sort of fighting ring, and they were really going at it.

"Got a lot of training equipment, huh?" The thief asked as he crossed his arms, still taking a good look around the room. "And I'm guessing you have some people to make sure the pokemon are getting in shape?"

"Well, yes. We have one for every field of fighting. One to focus on your endurance and how to defend yourself, another helps you with your reflexes and how to be more agile, and so on and so forth. More often than not, though, guildmaster Magnus comes in and watches over the training. He even engages some of the members in battle."

Dice chuckled. "That old bug likes to fight, I'm guessing?"

"Old bug!" Sashy practically gasped in surprised, staring at Dice with widened eyes. "He is not an old bug! He is a respectable bug! He and Soara are very famous in some parts of the world."

"I'm sure they are," Dice said with a shake of his head as he looked around. Can't make a joke around here, can he?

Sashy frowned and looked around the guild before smiling once more and grabbing Dice's hand, causing the Sneasel to yelp from the sudden pricks of the cactus hand. "I have to introduce you to someone!"

And just like that, the Sneasel was dragged away from the Elekid assistant and towards a Lucario that was busy with one of the punching bags. "Lucca! Lucca!" Sashy shouted, trying to get the fighting type's attention.

The Lucario suddenly turned around. Noticing his friend, he smiled. "Oh, hi!" greeted the canine-like pokemon, waving a paw at the two. Sashy let go of Dice's arm and jumped at the Lucario, who responded by hugging the cactus pokemon.

"I got a new partner!" Sashy could barely hold his excitement and was practically screaming at Lucca. "He's right there." Sashy pointed to Dice, who was just wondering how the Lucario could stand hugging a cactus.

"Oh!" Lucca then put the Maractus down and walked over to the Sneasel. "I'm Lucca! It's nice to meet you!"

"Uh, yeah, it's nice to meet you t-" Before Dice could finish his sentence, the Lucario picked him up and pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tightly. "Ow! Okay, watch your strength there, buddy."

"Oh, sorry." Lucca loosened his grip slightly and patted Dice on the head before putting him down. "So you're Sashy's partner? You're going to have a great partner, then! Sashy's one of the best people I know to be a part of a rescue team."

"Oh, heh, thanks, Lucca." A faint blush spread across the plant pokemon's face as he looked back at Dice. "We were just showing Dice here around the guild, just to get him settled in."

"Yes, and I think we're just about done here." Edison had by now walked over to the group of three, not looking very pleased about being abandoned. "Now, you know the basics, and I'm sure Sashy here can take you everywhere else, right?"

"That's right!"

"Good, so, I think I'll be leaving you to your own devices. I will see you at dinner. Have fun."

Sashy was just about to wave the Elekid goodbye, but then he had gotten a wonderful idea. "Oh! Edison! Edison Sault! Why don't you spar with us?"

The electric type blinked and turned around, raising what would be an eyebrow, if he had one. "Excuse me? No, I can't do that. I have work I should be doing. I am a busy pokemon, I'll have you know."

"Oh, come on, I'm sure it won't take that long," Dice said, crossing his arms as he did so. There was a smug grin on his face. "I'm sure beating someone like you wouldn't take that long."

Edison turned to Dice and narrowed his eyes just slightly. "What are you implying, criminal?" he asked. "Are you saying I'd be unable to fight?"

"I'm just saying that if you're so classy, you probably wouldn't even throw a punch, let alone win a battle." Dice chuckled. "That's why you're running away, huh? Guess I can't blame you, though. Being an assistant, you probably have a lot of excuses to use."

"Dice!" exclaimed the Sneasel's partner. "You can't just talk to him like that!"

"Sashy, I'll take care of this." Edison then took a step closer to the Sneasel, not looking amused in the slightest. "I'll have you know that I found myself as a training partner to guild leader Magnus himself, and I also helped him teach the members of the guild a few tricks. I know how to attack, and I know how to dodge."

"Oh, really?" Dice shook his head. "I find that hard to believe, Eddy. How about you prove it? Or are you too busy?"

There was silence among the two for what felt like a long time, both pokemon just staring at each other. Edison sighed and shook his head. "Later," he said. "I have no time for it now. Perhaps tomorrow, though. Tomorrow is going to be a big training day, so you can look forward to that."

"Oh, I definitely will," the Sneasel said as the Elekid began to walk away. He waved to the electric-type. "See you tomorrow then, Eddy."

Sashy frowned and moved to the Sneasel. He shook his head, showing his disapproval. "You really shouldn't talk to Edison like that," he said. "He works really hard to make sure the guild is in good shape. You should respect him."

"Hey, I'm just trying to have some fun." Dice shrugged before looking to the exit of the room. "So...you want to show me around the place a bit more?"

"Oh, yeah, I should probably do that," he said before turning to the Lucario. "Okay, good bye, Lucca, I gotta take this guy around the guild."

"Okay, goodbye!" The Lucario waved at them before turning around and kicking the punching bag, sending it flying towards the wall.

Sashy nodded and grabbed the Sneasel's arm once more before running towards the exit, ready to give his own version of the tour, and Dice just prepared himself for what would happen next in this crazy place.

Getting back into the swing of things! School's started up again, so hopefully I can supply you with some chapters once again. Typing may be a bit more difficult since I won't have much time to do it in school, but that just gives me more of a reason to do it at home, which would be a good thing. I hope you enjoy this, though! Until next time! See ya!