Shade found herself looking at something that would be better described as a city than a town.
The wooden gate opened to reveal a labyrinth of stone buildings, with towers dotted about every ten feet through this massive civilization. One tower in particular, on the opposite side of town, rose above the rest, and Shade couldn't help but feel like she was being watched by whoever- or whatever- may have lived up there.
"Enter quickly," Sheath told the Dreepy and her new Sobble friend. "I must close this gate soon."
Mizuchi dragged Shade through the gate, saying, "I've got some things to show you." They walked through the lively streets, passing various Pokemon that seemed to have come from all over…
"Mizuchi," the Dreepy asked. "What country, or region or whatever, is this?"
The Sobble looked confused. "What's a country? Is that a…"
"Human thing?" she replied. Mizuchi nodded. Shade simply said, "I'll explain later."
"Right. Uh, this continent is called Riopse. There were kingdoms hundreds of years ago, but now everything here is ruled by King Falcon."
Shade chuckled. "Everything?"
"Well, he's a descendant of Moltres… or so everyone says. The ancient Moltrian rulers- oh, we're here!"
The duo had arrived at the town square. Merchants had set up stalls in a nearby park, and Pokemon socialized on the cobblestone, leaving very little room to walk. Mizuchi and Shade walked into the park, which smelled strangely of the sea, and they stopped at a green tent.
"Coin?" the Sobble called. "I've brought a new customer!"
Out of the tent came a Kecleon, whose scales were a vibrant shade of green matching the tent. As he walked out, he brought with him the scent of various fruits. He tilted his head curiously at Shade the moment he saw her.
"A Dreepy?" he asked. "Curious… we don't get many of you around these parts. Even for a port town like our fine Spotlight. Where might you be from?"
Shade didn't know how to respond to that. She certainly had no clue who this Kecleon was, let alone what he might do with the knowledge that she had no memories.
Luckily, Mizuchi seemed to have figured something out. "I'm pretty sure she's from just outside of town. As bad an idea as that sounds. Anyway, got any apples?"
Coin turned his attention to the Sobble, while still keeping an eye on Shade- literally, as one of his eyes remained fixed on the Dreepy while the other turned towards Mizuchi. "Far too many," he replied. "My brother… well, come see for yourself."
The Kecleon led him into the tent, revealing an interior partially covered with apples of all sizes. The table they were supposed to be on was nearly buried, and whatever vessel held them was nowhere to be seen. Beside it stood a purple Kecleon, looking panicked at this predicament. "Coin! For the last time, I can't do this alone! Help- oh, customers!" he shouted, beginning to pick up apples without any idea of where to put them.
"Where… where did these come from?" Mizuchi asked.
Coin sighed. "We had some traders come in from the west. I believe you know the family of Appletun that visit every now and then?"
The Sobble nodded. "The farmers from Nidraj, right?"
"Yes, them… so they had quite the bountiful harvest this season… and now we don't know what to do with all these apples except sell them. How much room does Cocoa have in her food storage?"
Mizuchi flinched at the name of her friend. Upon noticing her silence, the Kecleon said, "Is something the matter?"
"Cocoa… is gone."
The tent went silent. When someone spoke again, it was the purple Kecleon in the corner. "My condolences. Cocoa was a fine storyteller, not to mention a wonderful Pokemon. We'll miss her."
"Yeah… we all will. How much for one of those big apples?"
After that awkward visit to the Kecleon brothers, the rest of the trip went rather smoothly. Mizuchi explained that this park was a market for traveling merchants, except the Kecleon, who bought things that the others didn't manage to sell, then did so themselves.
"Now that the shopping's done, I want to show you the Guild." She brought Shade to a building not far from the massive tower that the Dreepy had spotted earlier. This building, though only one story tall, had impressive art etched into the stone walls outside, depicting battles between- or against- legendaries.
Mizuchi knocked on the door, and a Pawniard opened it. "Hey, Clay," the Sobble said, much to his chagrin.
"My name is Claymore! Only Amphibian gets to call me Clay!"
"Sorry," Mizuchi apologized.
The Pawniard sighed. "You are here for the library, I- who is that?" he asked, noticing the Dreepy behind her.
"Shade," she introduced herself. When Claymore didn't react, she continued, "A friend of Mizuchi's."
He nodded slowly. "Right," she said, opening the door. "I am watching you, ghost. And if I don't, it will be my fellow Guild members."
Mizuchi sighed, "Ignore him. He's always like that towards new Pokemon." She led the Dreepy down a flight of stairs, entering a room lit solely by torches. Creating a maze in addition to serving their typical purpose were bookshelves. Thousands of bookshelves, with millions of books on them.
"Getting tired of all the mazes," Shade noted, remembering how lost she was while her friend led her through the city streets.
Mizuchi shrugged. "It's sort of part of our culture. Regigigas is a prominent figure in our religion. You do know… oh, right." She ran into the labyrinth of books, and came back ten minutes later with a thick tome that she barely managed to lift. The cover was a deep brown color, and the title read, in gold letters:
ANCIENT ARTICEAN LEGENDS
"Articean?" Shade asked.
Mizuchi nodded. "Artice's one of those ancient kingdoms I was talking about earlier. Named for Articuno. Now, let's see if we can find…" She began looking through the pages, at one point muttering about her much easier this would have been had there just been a table of contents.
About fifteen minutes later, she found a page titled "Regigigas' Labyrinth".
The first thing Shade noticed was the artwork of the colossal white golem brutally squeezing an Ambipom to death. "You worship this guy?"
"Worship it?" Mizuchi laughed. "No! Its story is just a significant one. If you mention legends, this is pretty much the first thing that pops into someone's mind. Read it, if you don't mind…"
The Dreepy looked at the text, but found it unintelligible. It was just a bunch of foot-resembling marks. "What is this?"
"What, footprint runes? You can't read them? You read the other words just fine." Mizuchi turned the book back in her direction. "Most Pokemon have trouble reading that. I guess you're different. I mean, you're a human. This got awkward."
"It's fine," Shade replied.
The Sobble read her the story of an Ambipom who had been accused of stealing from a rich Glaceon. As punishment, he was put into a maze where a powerful legendary was said to live. In the end, he was caught by Regigigas, and almost got killed before the real criminal was put into the maze. Confused, Regigigas tried to kill them both, but the Ambipom luckily escaped with his life.
"That's… intense," Shade commented.
Mizuchi responded with a chuckle. "Going back to it after all these years, I can't believe they tell this to kids in daycare centers."
The Dreepy's eyes went blank. "They what?!" she shouted, ignoring all library protocol. Thankfully, no one else seemed to be here at the moment, but Mizuchi still shushed her just in case.
Of course, the sound of footsteps came down the stairs. The duo found themselves looking at a very worried Xatu, whose feathers were puffed up a bit. "Mizuchi… who's this, and why's she shouting in the library?"
"Guildmaster! Uh, this is Shade. She's a friend. I was just reading her some legends." Mizuchi's tail curled even closer to her body.
The Xatu looked at the Dreepy. "There's a fire in you. I can tell. You've got passion. Would you like to join the Guild?"
Shade glanced at Mizuchi. The Sobble whispered, "It's an honor to work for Insight's Guild. I'd say yes."
The Dreepy nodded. The Guildmaster smiled, saying, "Entrance tests begin tomorrow. I'd tell you to find a partner, but it seems you've already done so."
"Me?" the Sobble asked, her voice almost becoming a whisper.
Guildmaster Insight never changed the tone in her voice. "Why not? I think it'd be good for you." She looked back towards Shade. "See you tomorrow."