Chapter 20 - Emergence

"Get back here!"

"You glutton!"

"We need to eat too!"

Basing my expectations off of what I had heard of this place, I had expected to emerge upon a scene of immaculate professionalism and propositional commotion. But instead, my first impression went a little like this...

The initial room of entry boasted spaciousness, with plenty of room for commerce and communion. The stillness present here almost seemed out of place when we walked in, as I had expected someone, anyone, to be waiting here. Did we perhaps come at a bad time?

In a way, it made the reassurances we had just been sharing a bit anti-climactic, or at the very least mistimed. Looking for signs of life, we scanned the room and saw two wide hallways to either side that I assumed spanned the whole compound. Down each of the corridors I caught a glimpse of what looked like a mess hall, and I even thought I saw some living spaces as well. What stood out to me the most was what was imbedded in the center of the giant room's floor: a hexagon with a circle sticking out on each vertex. The resemblance to the Society Gadget sitting in my bag was an obvious one to notice, and was another sign that we were in the right place.

Like all of the buildings outside, the inside of the headquarters was aesthetically designed to please the eye. The walls were constructed from materials of stone and wood that far surpassed the archaic construction of where we had been before. It was all so polished and neat and homey. Nothing was overdone, and yet everything was accounted for.

"Anyone home?" Leah announced our presence to the first floor, glancing down either hall for signs of a response.

There was none. However, her ears had twitched after her call had finished its brief echo, and she pointed her nose toward the staircase across the room and pursed her maw. "I thought I heard voices up those stairs." She began walking towards it, all the hesitation from a moment ago cast aside. "Let's expedite!"

I wanted to stop and question her, since it probably wasn't the best idea to just go poking around without anyone knowing we were here. The last thing I wanted was to leave a first impression of irresponsibility and impoliteness, and after how far we'd come to present ourselves as worthy. But, to do that we had to introduce ourselves somehow, and we didn't have the daylight to sit around in this first floor lobby waiting for someone to pass by.

The staircase extended from the back of the first floor lobby up to somewhere unspecified, stretching across the middle of the back wall for several meters. With a shrug and a prayer, I followed my partner up the steps to arrive at a scene that was anything but what I was expecting.

Again, I knew next to nothing of where we were and who commandeered the prestige that was supposedly diluted into the air of this building. If anything, I expected to meet Pokemon along the lines of hard-nosed and down to business, perhaps even to the point of self-indulgence. Another directionless fantasy I conjured had involved a bunch of quiet individuals drawing maps and reading books, not really exploring any more than sitting inside and studying a spectrum of sciences. The idle mind of a two-day journey couldn't help but design images of the approaching destination, even if most of the walk was pumped with adrenaline or plagued with fatigue.

But no. Reality had a funny way of, in a manner of natural nonchalance, one-upping your routine desperation to get a true glimpse of the future. The scene that we witnessed upon ascending to the second floor served as a pretty good example.

We had arrived into a circular room similar to the last, the only difference being the meeting table of the same shape in the center. Sitting on the table was easily the strangest-looking device I had ever seen. It was light blue, taking up most of the center of the table, and it was made entirely of holographic light. I would've been a bit more more curious about it if not for the distraction of a more imminent scene playing out between my arriving party and the odd contraption.

Several Pokemon stood facing away from us and toward the table, where one pink Pokemon with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth hovered against it with an innocently terrified look on her face. They had the pink Pokemon cornered, and none of her opposition looked all too pleased with her.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled at all of them. "I won't do it again!"

"How many times are you going to say that whenever you eat all of our food?" one of the angry Pokemon, a bird with a variation of brightly-colored feathers, howled back.

"You even ate the reviver seeds! Who does that?!" another Pokemon followed up with an explicitly loud squeak as she took a step forward - clearly a leader among them. The voice was decidedly feminine, and it belonged to one of the tiniest Pokemon I'd ever seen.

Compared to some of the beasts me and Leah had seen thus far, it was determined that the both of us weren't very large and mighty with all species considered, yet here I stood at least two and a half times the height that the mouse in front of me did. I might've been amused by this if not for the earsplitting screech she wielded that had the volume to echo through the entire compound.

But a loud mouth mattered little in a dungeon. Would this really be who we could potentially be working with? I hadn't seen any headstrong and buffed-up Pokemon march through yet, so it looked like we might have a decent chance after all. Hell, it didn't even look like some of these Pokemon were much older than Leah and I anyway. I might not have even identified them as explorers if not for the badges they wore, which looked exactly like ours.

"Aww come on Dedenne, don't act like they were wasted. They were delicious!" the pink cotton-candy-looking creature beamed, drawing my attention back to the scene of conflict. It was as if see had missed the little orange mouse's exponential increase in irritation, and took it as a compliment instead.

"We need those for dungeons you glutton!" a orange Pokemon with a large yellow ring enveloping his yelled. "And they don't even taste good, they're bitter as hell!"

"I'm just not as picky as you guys," the pink glutton shot back in a taunting manner. "You should work on having more taste."

Mistake. This nimble gibe went and activated Dedenne's trap card, and the bite-sized rodent absolutely lost it. "That's it!" the little orange mouse squealed, causing us all to go silent and stare. She glared daggers at the one who apprently ate all of their food, and allowed electricity to spark from her cheeks in an aggressive declaration intended to back up her loud vocals. "We've all had enough of you Swirlix! You're going to-"

The mouse paused before her seething roast could carry out, as we all saw Swirlix begin to lose balance out of nowhere. Before anyone could say anything, she was lying on the floor. Her tongue hung out the side the her eyes were closed.

"Too... hungry..." she whimpered. "I need... more food... Can't move..."

Everyone was dumbfounded. Even me and Leah were, and we hardly even knew what was going on.

"What?!" the mouse squeaked. "W-wake the hell up! How is that even... Ugh! You- you need to get us more food now!"

No luck. The Swirlix had fallen asleep on the stone cold floor, right in the middle of getting an earful. She wasn't faking it either; she really was out like a light. I could help but be reminded of the aftermath of a particular night spent chasing ghosts, followed up with a lecture that only I had to hear at the time. I could, with some amusement, sympathize with the frustration that the Pokemon in front of me were feeling with this revelation.

"Ah, crap," the bird sighed. "Now what?"

"I don't know," the brown and gray bunny whimpered. "I'm dying of hunger over here. I didn't even eat breakfast, and now this happens?"

"Bruh, I can barely even move," the orange weasel mumbled barely over his own growling stomach. "I don't even-"

Leah's voice cut into the mix. "We'll get you food!"

They all turned to look at us, not even having realized we were there until she had finally spoken up. Without even bothering to question who we were,!the brown bunny instead answered, "You will?"

"Uh..." I stammered, before shooting my partner a questioning glance. She nodded at me affirmatively. I looked back at the group of hungry Pokemon and improvised. "S-sure we will. We'll be... right back."

They all looked at each other, and either shrugged or hesitantly nodded their approval. Without wasting another moment, Leah and I turned to go back downstairs. We rushed out of the building in silence that was bound by subjection, only breaking it when we reached the evening outdoors.

"What just happened?" I tossed the question at Leah as we started making our way toward the center of town. "Why exactly are we getting them food if we don't know them?"

"This could be our chance!" Leah said excitedly. "What better way to make a good first impression than delivering food to the hungry?"

I wanted to argue, but then realized she actually had a pretty good point. There weren't many better ways to win someone over than getting them food. So I simply shrugged. This might not be too convenient for an already limited pocketbook, but it could be exactly what we needed. We'd been taking risks this whole time just to get right here, so there was no use stopping now.

"I saw a Kecleon shop earlier," I said while jogging along, my stiffened foot marginally protesting at the quickened pace. "We don't need to overdo it, just a few apples and berries should be fine."

"Couldn't we hit up one of those fancy places?" Leah suggested as we crossed over into the square. "I can smell dinner from here, mmm..."

I looked over at the cafe, and then at a couple other places on the bottom end of town. They all looked packed with customers, probably a common thing to happen at this time of early evening. "It'll take forever, and it's probably way more expensive than we can afford at the moment."

"You're no fun," Leah pouted. Even as she said it, however, she was already leading the way to the Kecleon shop at the edge of the square.

We walked up to find a green Kecleon and a purple Kecleon finishing up with a customer. I could've sworn that they looked exactly like the two Kecleon at Serene Village. The resemblance was unquestionable. An odd species, Kecleon were.

"Hello," Leah greeted in a voice somewhat broken by panting from the mad dash to the stand. "Do you have food for sale?"

"Food machine broke," the purple Kecleon replied in disinterest without bothering to look up. A few seconds of silence passed before the two shopkeepers suddenly began cackling hysterically, not making it any less awkward for Leah and I.

"Heh heh... Sorry, sorry, old joke," the green one finally said after collecting himself to some extent. Briefly clearing his throat, he resumed his professional posture. "Er- yes, we have a full stock of food. What will it be for you?"

"We'll have..." I hesitated and glanced at Leah, who just shrugged. On a whim I just decided to be modest with it. "Uh... a half dozen perfect apples. Lets see, those two baskets of fruit look good. A-and those loaves of bread. Those six reviver seeds you have... And..."

"And a big basket of chesto berries!" Leah piped cheerfully.

Rolling my eyes, I chided her. "This food isn't for us, remember?"

Chesto berries were Leah's absolute favorite, and every time we ate she'd prioritize obtaining them over all else. She craved them so much that I'd once overheard her bickering with her Pops about growing some in his fields, which to her unabridged irritation, didn't pan out too well (there was no way Carracosta would allow for his erratic daughter to have access to such an abundant source of caffeine). They could keep you awake and bouncing around if you ate a few of them, which obviously went hand-in-hand with Leah's typical everyday attitude. I had been thinking after we woke up as late as we did this morning that she probably wanted some for the road. Perhaps this had been the drug she was on when we first met?

"Aw, come on. You know I need that stuff to live," she pleaded, as if she knew what I was thinking and wanted to ride its wake.

I made a face at her to which she stuck out her tongue, and finally shook my head and sighed in acquiescence. "Fine, fine. It's your money too, I guess. Just try not to eat them all tonight."

Her ears perked up and she cheerfully threw on a big smile. "You're the best!"

"Alrighty then," the purple Kecleon said. "That'll be five-thousand, eight-hundred, aaand thirty Poké."

I paled. We only had a little over six-thousand, and we were about to spend nearly all of it on food for Pokemon we didn't even know. Clearly we needed to rethink-

"We'll take it!" Leah exclaimed. She handed them six large gold coins, and they promptly thanked us for it as the purple amphibian dropped a few specks of silver into her paws as change.

I could only stand and shake my head slightly, praying that this whole Society thing would work out and this money wouldn't end up being wasted. Otherwise we wouldn't have a place to sleep tonight. Then again, it wasn't like I thought six G's could net much along the lines of luxury anyway, certainly not in a populated place like this. Still, it beat not having any money at all by a mile.

"Say..." the green Kecleon spoke up as we were about to head back. "I've never seen you two around here before. New to the area?"

"Yes," I nodded. "We're travelers. Never been here before."

"Ah, I see!" acknowledged the purple Kecleon. "How are you enjoying Lively Town?"

"It's great!" Leah and I answered in unison. It was no surprise that Leah had spoken up so quickly, but here I didn't hesitate to admit it either. I hadnt been here for an hour and, mishap in the alley aside, I was already appreciating the reapings of such a well-oiled community.

"That's great to hear!" the green one replied with an amused chuckle. "Well, if you decide to stick around, we're here all day." He stuck out his arm, and we each shook his hand enthusiastically. "I'm Kecleon, but you may call me Mr. Kek." We shook hands with the purple one as well, who smiled and said nothing, and then went on our way.

We ran back to the compound as fast as our exhausted bodies would permit with the added weight of the food. I held up the baskets of apples and seeds with a vine carrying each, while Leah gripped the basket of chesto berries in her mouth. There were quite a few Pokemon out and about at this time, but not so many that we couldn't skirt through them without any trouble.

Primitive buffet in tow, we arrived at the Society's headquarters a second time. This time around there was no hesitation from us at the doorstep, bursting through and scrambling up the stairs where the unidentified group of hungry Pokemon were idling restlessly.

That Swirlix girl was still passed out on the floor, snoozing away. I had to stifle a laugh when I saw that someone, presumably one of the starving Pokemon who were chasing her, had drawn all over her fluffy face with some kind of black marker. How funny was that! These Pokemon clearly took safeguarding their food seriously, even against each other. It was such a territorial and yet lighthearted gesture at the same time.

The brightly-colored bird squawked happily when he saw us. "You actually got food! Buizel here thought you were just gonna bail."

"Hey, how could I have possibly known?" the orange Pokemon with the inflatable neck ring argued his comrade.

I didn't hesitate to hand them the two baskets I was carrying, turning to my partner before finishing the handoff. Not to any astonishment of mine, she was eyeing her own selection of berries longingly, and it took a light jab at her ribs for her to come to her senses and reluctantly hand it over to a near-drooling Dedenne. Not, however, before pocketing a pawful of the chesto berries into her own little knapsack that she had slung over her shoulder that she had been using to hold her stock of chewing twigs. I didn't say anything about it, since it really was our food and I was hoping we'd end up keeping a little anyway in case we had to spend the night on the streets. Then again, I estimated Leah would probably inhale the berries before the sun had set, so the issue of longevity wouldn't really be solved no matter what happened after this. I turned out to be the only one who saw her do it, as the strange group before us was far too enamored by the goods that we had bestowed on them to pay us any mind. Temporarily ignoring the gravity of the situation, I audibly scowled at her pettiness in a jovial tone, and she flashed me a sheepish grin in response.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" the brown and gray bunny exclaimed. "Let's eat before we all starve to damn death!"

A resounding "Yeah!" echoed through the entire group, as they collected the baskets and began running down a hallway. The fancy-colored bird Pokemon turned around and waved at us to follow.

That's a good sign, we're getting invited to eat with them.

We all went over to the mess hall, where the food was dumped onto plates and served up within seconds. Everyone started cramming food into their mouths and allowing the consummation to continue unhinged, pausing to swallow once every blue moon. Before diving into her own serving, the tiny Dedenne put the reviver seeds off to the side, probably to store them somewhere else later where they could uphold their high value instead of being used for cooking of all things - the nerve of that Swirlix!

While all of this occurred, Leah and I did what we could to blend it by grabbing a few apples and joining in. I hadn't really realized just how hungry I was until now, considering how we had elected to skip lunch after eating such a late breakfast. I found myself digging into the feast almost as ruthlessly as the Society members that we'd bought it all for. Leah went to work on the chesto berries, and crammed in a couple of apples and nuts as well to complete the meal. Any soul who didn't have their face deep into the food was conversing obnoxiously with each other, enjoying the prospect of each other's company. I noticed that the Swirlix whose gluttony had apparently led to all of this, had entered the room under the radar and snatched a seat for herself before anyone could object. By the time she was noticed, her face was too deep in a basket of peaches for anyone to contest her presence, for there was no way she was leaving once the food we brought got married to her taste buds.

Leah, who was usually talkative and energetic when big meals came along, sat close beside me and barely ever chatted with anyone but me. I did the same, still unaccustomed to the surrounding influence of Pokemon that supposedly held such a relevant position in society. A couple of them, the bunny and the bird, asked for our names and where we were from. This kind of basic small talk just about made up the conversation we engaged with this group during the meal.

Deciding it would be best to start filling my belly before most of the food disappeared, I started off with a couple of sweet peaches that I had never tasted before, and almost cringed at the deliciously high sugar concentration. Finishing those in no time, I decided I'd try some of the apples, which unlike a lot of the food, was actually familiar to my tastes. When I bit into one, however, I noticed right away the difference between this batch and the ones that would be served back further into the mainland. The Lively Town apples, for one, looked a lot nicer than the ones that we had been taught to pick from apple trees back at the village school. One might expect to find a blemish or two on every other apple when they were unbridled in exposed nature. The ones that I held now, however, looked almost artificial, probably grown in a controlled environment like an private orchard. They were smoother, and bigger, and shinier. Still, biting into one left an absence of taste that couldn't be replicated through unnatural means. These were well grown and appealing to the eye, but they didn't quite match the taste of the ones that came right off the branch.

I really hadn't expected so much to change on the way here, and yet even the damned apples were different in some egregious fashion. The people, the architecture, the landscape, the atmosphere, and now the food? Some nuances were undeniably positive, but others I wasn't so sure about. Sure, this journey had been absolutely necessary to keep the village uninvolved with all of my otherworldly problems, but that didn't mean I had to like it. So far I wasn't really sure how I felt about our progress, and I could only guess that this journey's final verdict would all depend on how things worked out here at the Expedition Society. We would either be here or not be here.

My presentiment was forcefully cast to the back of my focus by the sound of silverware tapping against glass five times, cutting off the voices and loud chewing of everyone in the room. The long-eared bunny Pokemon, whose name I found out was Bunnelby, was standing on the table holding a glass and fork up and looking around to make sure he had everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone settle down!" He looked over at me and Leah, and everyone shifted their gaze to match his. We both fidgeted nervously in our seats under the gravity of their stares, unbeknownst to them that their impression of us could determine where we would be sleeping tonight. "I'd like to give a toast to the two kids that filled out bellies on this fine evening!"

"Ayyy!" the rest of the Pokemon cheered, clinking their glasses together and almost spilling some of their liquid in the process.

"Seriously, thank you guys," Dedenne said. The giddy smile she wore now bore no traces of the outrage she had exhibited not long ago in the other room. The mood swing from the tiny Pokemon caught me off guard, as she was now bouncing with positive energy.

"Yeah, you two know how to feed a starving Pokemon!" The voice was Swirlix's, and the general mood instantly went sour as she was shot hellish stares from all angles.

The once-delighted electric mouse in front of us whirled around, her mood swapping right back to infuriation in a blink of an eye. "You're the whole reason we were starving in the first place!" she shrilled. "It should've been you out there instead of these two, but instead you decided to take a nap on the floor!"

"I was just... hungry that's all..." she giggled back.

Dedenne rolled her eyes in disgust, about to rip apart Swirlix's excuse, when Bunnelby interrupted her. "Anyway, anyway! Now that we've got that out of the way..." he continued while still standing on the table. "If you don't mind me asking, why were you two here beforehand? Were you here for a tour?"

I shook my head in the negative. "Not quite." My voice came out as professional and courteous as I could make it in my tired state. "We came for a different reason."

Builzel hopped out of his chair out of nowhere, slamming his fist on the table and glaring at us. "No!" he yelled across the room as loud as he could. "For the last time, stop trying to sell us those damn spinner-things for the mentally disabled! They aren't even cool!"

"Chill out Buizel, that might not be why they're here," the bright-colored bird chided. Then he turned to us and narrowed his eyes. "That- that isn't why you're here, right?"

"We're here because we want to join the Expedition Society!" Leah exclaimed.

I had planned to work my way to that part nice and easy, but I supposed diving in headfirst wouldn't hurt either. It probably wouldn't have made much difference in the long run anyway, so I played the enthusiasm card along with her and nodded my head twice as a follow up.

If they had food in their mouths at the time, they would've spit it all out judging by the looks of surprise on their faces.

"Well, that definitely is a different reason, I guess..." Dedenne mumbled after smacking her lips.

"Listen..." Buizel began and then paused, as if unsure how to properly choose his next string of words. "We do appreciate the food and all. You really came through with that. But... we can't just let you join out of nowhere."

It was the answer that I had been anticipating all day, and yet it still sent an ice-cold shiver of dread down my spine.

"Kids can't join the Expedition Society," Bunnelby said, looking a bit crestfallen. "Even though you two seem capable, the rules are the rules. By the looks of you two, you'll need to come back in at least a year or two if you want to try out."

"And even then," the Dedenne squeaked above him. "The chief would have to accept you. And he almost never accepts anyone from the mob of traveling Pokemon who come along every now and then asking to join. I'm sorry."

The worries of before were now squeezing back into focus, and I had to look at the floor to hide the distress in my eyes. Did it all end here, because of some stupid age rule that held us captive on the whim of ineligibility? Was this journey a big waste of time after all? Did I just abandon the only home I've ever had to be turned down right here?

This couldn't be happening.

Leah wasn't about to take no for an answer, immediately opening her mouth in protest.

"Look, we might be a bit younger than we'd need to be, but we still want to try! Let us at least have a chance to prove we can do it!"

"Okay!" The reply belonged to Swirlix, who had crumbs all over her drawn-on body from a ravenous assault on the food we brought. Everyone glared at her as soon as she said it.

"It's not up to you!" the multi-colored bird, who identified himself earlier as Archen, squawked at her. He still seemed angry about the food, although judging by the dirty looks Swirlix was getting, it was pretty easy to tell that they all shared the affliction.

"Last time I checked, you aren't the chief Swirlix," Bunnelby added with his eyes narrowed.

"I know," she replied with the same cheerful tone of unsettling indifference. "I just feel like that's something the chief would say, that's all."

Dedenne spoke up to argue. "That doesn't make any sense, though. It was the chief who decided not to let kids join in the first-"

"Hold on."

The voice wasn't mine, and it wasn't Leah's either. It came from behind us, where a gray and white Pokemon stood at the doorway.

"Mincinno! You're back early!" Bunnelby exclaimed. "How'd the expedition go?"

The Mincinno threw his bag down by the wall, and then made his way over to lean casually on the table. He looked like he'd just been hiking through a shitstorm of sand and dirt, the stuff changing his naturally white fur to a dark gray with a deeper hint of black and brown. His eyes told of a long day's worth of troubles. Perhaps it was more like a week's, or a month's. And here I was thinking I was tired.

"Take a guess," he sighed, his hardened voice doing well to fit his unkempt state. "Our source wasn't accurate at all, and we ended up crawling through the god-forsaken desert with nothing to show for it but clay and sand."

Everyone began to converse amongst themselves about whatever this big disappointment was, when the Mincinno waved his hands and called out to silence them.

"Hey, y'all just listen for a sec! I'll give you details later if you want, but right now we have something else to address that's more important." He walked over to me and Leah, and after looking us over for a moment, turned back towards the rest of the Pokemon. "We need to let these two join."

Another diffusion of shock coursed through the room, enticing more widening eyes and the gagging sounds of nearly spit-out food.

"What makes you say that?!" Buizel challenged fiercely after narrowly gulping down the roll he almost spit out. "You just now got back! You don't even know them!"

"Actually Buizel, my team arrived back from the Sand Continent over two hours ago," the Mincinno stiffly corrected the water-type. "We stopped by Mr. Mime's Muffins to grab a bite to eat, which is where the other two are still at. I decided to come back ahead of them to let y'all know we were back, when I saw these two hobble into the square. They went and saved a young child from Krookodile's dumb lackey not even ten minutes into their visit."

Dedenne's eyes widened, and her voice grew a pitch softer. "Wait, what?" She turned to us expectantly, thoroughly looking us from head to toe with renewed interest. "Leah and... Sage, was it? Could you detail what happened?"

Leah took the opportunity to explain. "Sage here saw a Treecko getting taken advantage of by that Kroko-jerk, and we..."

"They knocked him on his ass!" Mincinno interrupted, a mixture of revered approval and unabridged arrogance in his voice as he drove his fist into his open palm. "No hesitation from either of them, at any point. Not even with the Snivy's limp. That's the kind of guts we need here if we're gonna get anything done and solve this crisis."

"Last I checked, you aren't the chief either Mincinno," Bunnelby quipped at him, making him fold his arms and frown. "Even if they did do something like that, it comes down to the chief's decision, and the chief said that kids can't join the Society. Especially not in such stressful times. And plus, we aren't even supposed to talk about-"

"Did someone say stressful times?"

The sound originating from down the hall indicated that we'd be seeing another new face, and yet the voice that belonged to it was incredibly familiar.

It sounded like my prediction was right after all, as if that clumsy bastard hadn't already made it obvious that late night on the hill.

"Hello, I'm ba-a-a-ack!" Ampharos declared joyously as he skipped into the room, stumbling a bit on his way in.

Walking elegantly at his side was a much shorter Pokemon with what looked like a giant venus flytrap on the back of her head, made entirely of metal. It was facing away from us, however, as the strange feminine Pokemon stared curiously at me and Leah with analyzing red eyes filtered trough a complimenting pair of black glasses. Right away she gave off a mysterious air of authority. Her steely gaze set me on edge a bit, but it didn't seem to be one intended to produce harm, so I shoved the presumptive inquiry aside.

"Chief!" the Pokemon behind me cheered when he entered the room.

"Everyone!" Ampharos cheered back at them. He saw me and Leah right away, and opened his mouth to acknowledge our arrival, when he suddenly noticed Mincinno leaning against the table with his arms folded. "Oh... Mincinno? You're back quite early. And judging by the look on your face, not for good reason."

"You said it, chief," he mumbled, staring sideways at the floor.

"We'll discuss it tomorrow." That was all Ampharos said of the matter, before turning his full attention to me and Leah and putting on a bright smile. "I see Team Prism has gone the distance after all! How are you two enjoying Lively Town so far?"

Leah gave an enthusiastic answer for both of us. "It's all so great! The buildings are great, the location is great! And the food!"

"Ooh, you and I are gonna get along well!" Swirlix giggled.

"They haven't been accepted yet, Swirlix!" Dedenne hissed a little too loudly, allowing everyone to hear.

Ampharos furrowed his brow, his lighthearted attitude becoming focused and serious in a moment's notice. "Accepted? Might someone explain?"

"Well, you see..." I stammered, trying not to crumble under the immense pressure that came with Ampharos's impression of us, at least as far as competency went. "...we came all this way not just to see Lively Town, but to join the Expedition Society too. We figured out by now that you're the head of this group, and we wanted to come see you about it."

I wanted to add to it to make it more appealing, maybe by mentioning the Beeheeyem or spicing our resolve with a bit of heart-rubbing persuasion. Instead I was forced to realize how stupid it all looked; two slightly underaged travelers, ungroomed and faces drooping with exhaustion from things that these professionals probably shrugged aside daily, one with a poorly-wrapped leg and a limp to go with it. That's why when Ampharos began to laugh heartily at my feeble request, I wasn't surprised one bit. I was expecting as much.

"Why, of course you two can join!" he laughed, his serious attitude fading away as quickly as it was braced. "Dedenne, if you would go show them thei-"

"WHAT?!"

The exclamation came from almost everybody in the room at the same time, myself included. Only Leah and Mincinno broke the pattern, the former overwhelmed by the electric-types words and unable to speak or move as she processed the statement, and the latter shooting the rest of them a grin that said 'I told you so'.

"B-but chief, kids aren't allowed to join the Society!" Dedenne gasped.

Ampharos brandished a genuinely confused expression when he heard this, his brow furrowing once again and his entire demeanor following suit. "Is this true?" he asked, rubbing the orb on his forehead. "What discrimination! Who could've thought to enforce a troublesome regulation?"

"...That would be you, chief," Dedenne flatly informed him.

Ampharos's eyes went wide, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Did I really?"

The Pokemon at his side spoke for the first time in a voice that matched her authoritative demeanor. "Yes," she seemed to almost sigh, as if this kind of miscommunication was commonplace. "That was one of the first rules you made, for safety and maturity reasons. Remember?"

Ampharos considered this for a moment. After scratching his chin and staring at the floor in deafening silence, he cleared his throat and hummed in what might've been remembrance. "Ah, yes. I do believe I recall now, thank you. Well, I must say, such silliness has no place in our Society. Therefore, I now declare that rule to be-"

He struck an incredibly flamboyant pose, sticking his right arm into the air and resting his left on his hip, while pointing his nose up parallel with his extended arm. It was the same pose he'd used back when Leah and I first met him, when he'd called himself the 'Dashing Wonderer'.

"-null and void!" the lighthouse Pokemon loudly finished after basking for an instant in his own splendor.

He dropped the fancy pose and eyed me and my partner. "And thus I propose we accept these two children of Serene Village into our Expedition Society."

"Woah, woah," Bunnelby interrupted. "Chief, do you know these two from anywhere?"

"Why, yes, Bunnelby, I do. We have done some adventuring together, and they have proven to, through the nourishment of their potential, have the qualities necessary to become outstanding explorers."

Buizel, Bunnelby, Dedenne, and Archen all stayed silent.

"Does anyone have any comments on the matter?" Ampharos asked when he saw their slightly bewildered expressions.

"Well, if you know them, and they've proven themselves, then I guess I don't see why we shouldn't let them join." Archen concluded with a light shrug

"Yeah, I agree!" Buizel added. "They've been here only like an hour and they've already covered for Swirlix's stupid food problems, so why not?"

"I do not have problems!" Swirlix shot back. "I just have good taste!"

"A little too much taste," Bunnelby muttered under his breath, making the others snicker.

"Glad to hear!" Ampharos cheered, apparently not catching the snide exchange. He walked over to me and Leah and patted our backs. "Everyone welcome our newest members! Leah and Sage of Serene Village! Be nice to them."

"Good to have you!" Dedenne applauded.

"Hey! Good luck!" Buizel followed up.

"That's what I'm talking about," Mincinno said with a nod of approval.

"Thank you for having us!" Leah cheered with them. "We'll do our absolute best!"

Ampharos scanned the room, taking note of who was and wasn't present. "It still appears like you two don't know most of us very intimately, not to mention you still haven't met the entire roster of members. I would normally have you two take part in our traditional process of introduction and initiation, but it is late, and you two need your sleep. We shall introduce these measures in the morning, when you have regained your strength. I imagine it is already well past your bedtime, no?"

"We don't really have a- uh, I mean..." I stammered. "...Yeah, we probably need sleep."

A lot of sleep.

"Yes, you two do appear more overworked than the last time we met. It must have been a long two days for you two, hmm?"

Neither of us could deny it. The last thing I wanted to do was exhibit any form of weakness in front of the Society members who I would supposedly be working with now, but with bloodshot eyes and a badly twisted ankle, it was kind of impossible not to. More than anything, though, I was just relieved that the journey was finally coming to an end. None of the daytime expeditions that had become a daily routine for Team Prism had ever made me feel so mortal.

Seeing our weary halfhearted nods, Ampharos gestured to the tiny electric mouse once more. "Dedenne, the third room on the right."

"On it, chief."

She lead us away from the mess hall, where I heard the remaining Pokemon call out a round of thanks for the feast we had used all of our money on. Used, but thankfully not wasted.

The room Dedenne led us to was square, with a single window opposite the doorway and two nice feather beds set up a few feet apart. At the right hand side of the room was a large desk, with two seats set up on either end. On the desk was plenty of blank paper, as well as some that had various drawings and sketched maps on their surfaces. There was also a lantern, which Dedenne opened the lid of and sparked to life with a sharp jolt from her cheek-whiskers. She went to hang it from a hook that extended a couple feet down from the ceiling, but stopped when she realized there was no way she could hope to reach that high.

"I got it." I took the lantern with a vine and effortlessly latched it into place, where it hung and gave the entire room bright light.

"Alright, this will be your room. I was using it as an extra personal space beforehand, but the chief had me clear most of my junk out of here just last week," she twitched her whiskers. "Maybe he was expecting you two?"

Maybe he was...? We did tell him we were coming at some point, after all.

She shrugged. "Anyway, you two will share it, if that's alright."

Leah and I glanced at each other a little awkwardly. It did seem a little weird to share a room, but I figured it would be for the best since we would probably be working together a lot more now. I wasn't going to let it distract me.

"It's no big deal," I reassured my new coworker.

Dedenne smiled. "Good to hear! We're all family here at the Expedition Society, am I right?"

Another awkward glance between me and my partner. I thought I caught her cheeks turn a light pink, but it was likely just the glint of the flickering lamp above us.

"Right," Leah answered her, clearing her throat afterwards.

Dedenne continued giving information in a stoic and regulatory tone. "Alright, you two obviously aren't accustomed to our schedule yet, so someone will come in and wake you in the morning when it's time for your day to begin. Probably me. We usually wake at first-light, but you might occasionally find yourself with slow days where you'll get to sleep in a bit. The chief will alert you of the night before... if he remembers to, that is. In case you haven't noticed, he tends to be a bit unorganized at times."

I took it all in and nodded. "Noted. Anything else?"

"Nope," she chirped. "Well, I know you've already heard it a few times now, but... welcome to the Expedition Society! We are all really happy to have you."

Before we could answer, she pulled out some kind of small cylinder from behind her back and pulled the string hanging off of it. A shower of confetti burst out with a loud pop and trickled down through the air. Dedenne giggled, murmuring something about "always wanting to do that", and then scuttled off out the door and down the hall.

Leah and I stood there, confetti resting on our idle shoulders and coating the floor. After about fifteen seconds of silence passed, she finally turned to me and spoke.

"Sage?"

I turned to her. "Leah?"

A few more seconds of silence passed before the two of us, perfectly in sync, fist-pumped the air in triumph.

"We did it!" she exclaimed, her exasperation unable to contain the excitement. "Holy Miltanks, we're actually here!"

"Ha! We really are!" I echoed. "It was all worth it... we made it."

Leah began pacing the room, looking around as if she still couldn't grasp that any of it was real. "I can't believe it... I've always wanted to join the Expedition Society. Everyone always said I couldn't, but..." She turned to me suddenly, running over and giving me a big hug.

"Woah, easy now!" I laughed, almost falling over due to my ankle.

She let go, the smile still on her face. "Thank you. Oh my Arceus, thank you Sage. I seriously couldn't have done this without you."

I nodded and beamed, humbled by her praise. "Neither of us could've. We're a team, and tomorrow, we're gonna put in work and show that we belong." I stuck a hand out, and we each used just about the last of our energy high-fiving.

The relief that hit me as I was so sovereign that I felt like I might pass out into a week long sleep. All of that stress, everything leading up to this point, was going to be worth it after all. It surprised me a little bit just how bad I had wanted this, not just for Leah's sake, but for my own as well. I had always come up with some excuse to our explorations, telling myself that I was only doing temporary work to strengthen myself and get closer to figuring out who I was. I had told myself that joining the Expedition Society would, more than anything, be for furthering my resolve to collect answers.

Now that we had finally reached that goal, I realized how insignificant a lot of that now felt. That kind of goal can be chased with or without the Society, and yet here I had been practically choking on the anticipation. Now that we were here, and Ampharos had done his silly pose and accepted us, I experienced a comfort I had never felt before. One that I never thought I'd be able to feel while trapped in this world - not that I thought 'trapped' was a proper way to describe it anymore anyway.

I didn't know if it was a good thing or not, but the concept of a future where I never became human again nestled itself in the shadow of this overwhelming relief. It was true that the only lead I had on understanding my situation wasn't beneficial to my well-being, to say the least about those damn Beeheyem. If I had truly lost those three through this hike through the mountains, could I really shove these nagging questions aside and just... live? I tried that once, and it all came crashing down on my head. But the circumstances were different this time... could Ampharos's verdict tonight fill the gap and allow me to make the best of what I have and what I am? It was obvious that Leah planned to do so, so why shouldn't I?

I'd worry about it later. Everything could be worried about later now. We were here, and we were safe for the time being. That's all that mattered right at that moment. Even the surreality of the dawn of our next chapter couldn't hold back the divine urge to fall onto the inviting beds laid out side by side for us. Thankfully I had the foresight to take down the lantern and blow it out before doing so, or else I definitely would have been too immobile to care.

"Goodnight Sage," I distantly heard a familiar voice call.

"Goodnight Leah."

Continuous thoughts of my future couldn't hold on as my mind began to slip into another place as soon as I felt the unnaturally soft feathers graze my scales. Only one brief intuition left a mark, before being whisked away with the last of my consciousness:

Could I get used to being a Pokemon...
forever?