Shade and Mizuchi spent the rest of the day in Mizuchi's home.
Of course, Mizuchi knew that this wasn't her home. It was Cocoa's, and the Chesnaught had been kind enough to let her stay here. Now, though, Mizuchi felt odd here. It was as if she expected Cocoa to rush downstairs the moment the door opened, even though Mizuchi witnessed her friend's death that very day.
"Nice place you got here," Shade commented, looking around at the kitchen that the front door led into. Mizuchi smiled, but said nothing as she emptied the three apples that she'd bought from the Kecleon brothers into a wardrobe-like structure on the wall. It already had various dairy and meat products, though was notably lacking in fruit.
Mizuchi closed the food storage, turning back towards Shade. "So… you're free to do as you want until lunch. I'm not the best cook, just so you know, but I'll do my best."
Shade nodded, floating through a doorway into a small room. There were two couches forming a 90-degree angle around a dark wood table. On this table were two stacks of paper. One was entirely filled with blank sheets, but the other had writing. It was all in the same footprint writing as the book of legends, but now that Shade had a chance to look at it without the shock of a new script in her way, she saw that it didn't seem to have any sort of punctuation- or even spaces. It was just a bunch of endless blocks of footprints with the occasional line through some parts.
To the left of the room, there was a flight of stairs that led upstairs. Her curiosity led her up them, into a hallway. There were two rooms that it led into, one on each side of the hall. On the wall between them, there was a window looking outside.
Is this… the entire town? I can see everything in town from here!
"Lunch is ready!" Mizuchi called from downstairs. Shade rushed to the kitchen, where the smell of cooked meat and fresh apples waited.
The Dreepy stared at the plate in front of her. "What… what kind of meat is this?" she asked, suddenly realizing something.
Mizuchi chuckled. "It's pork. What else would it be?"
"You sure it's pork and not Pignite?"
The Sobble stared at her. "Pignite? We do have animals here. And farms and everything. We're not barbarians! Arceus, that's a gruesome thought."
Shade sighed with relief, before devouring the pork. It was a wonderful taste, and the Dreepy realized how hungry she'd been.
Mizuchi watched her scarf down all the food in about two minutes. "Wow, you must have been starving. Do you… want any more?"
"No, I'm good. Better than good. That was delicious!" Shade laughed, her stomach finally satisfied.
That night, Claymore practiced in Lobster's dojo.
The Crabrawler was a formidable opponent, although Claymore already had him close to the wall. His blade-like claws slashed at Lobster's hide, before reaching to grab him. The Crabrawler blocked him, pushing the Pawniard away.
"Go, Clay!" Amphibian cheered from outside the arena. "You can do it! Show Lobster why you're called the King of Battle!"
Claymore ran at the Crabrawler, enveloping his claws in a dark energy. Lobster tried to jump out of the way, but the Pawniard managed to use Night Slash on him. The Crabrawler countered with a punch, sending Claymore backwards a couple feet.
The Pawniard jumped up into the air, reaching downwards while extending his claws at Lobster's back. They dug into the Crabrawler's thick armor, as Amphibian both winced and cheered. "Looks like that hurts! Yeah, that- oh, he's bleeding. He's bleeding! Medic!" The Salandit rushed into the lobby of the dojo, looking for a healer.
"Well done," Lobster coughed, cringing as he felt his own blood trickling down his back. "King of Battle indeed."
"I am only here because I must be prepared for tomorrow. I believe you know of the Guild's entrance tests tomorrow?" The Crabrawler nodded, and Claymore continued, "I have been put in charge of the battle test. Guildmaster Insight wanted me to ask you if we could use the dojo for the morning."
Lobster nodded. "Of course, Claymore. Anything for you and the Guildmaster."
"Excellent. We will come by tomorrow morning. It should not take long." As the Pawniard left the arena, Amphibian returned with a Cottonee, who didn't seem to have a gender.
"Where- Arceus, what happened to him?" they asked, staring at Lobster.
Claymore responded, "He will be fine as long as you do your job. I tried to avoid any vital organs."
The Cottonee floated down to the Crabrawler, using Fairy-type magic to seal the wound on Lobster's back. After he was healed, they had a conversation. Claymore and Amphibian didn't try to listen, but they couldn't help but hear the words "entrance tests" from the Cottonee.
Lobster nodded and said, "Well, you'd better go to sleep. Good luck, Milkweed."
The next morning, the lobby of Insight's Guild was flooded with Pokemon.
Shade and Mizuchi tried to maneuver through the crowd, but there was a Snorlax in the way who had decided to take a nap on the floor until the Guildmaster kicked off the tests.
"Great," Shade sighed. She began to lift above the Snorlax, but Mizuchi grabbed her tail.
"Are you crazy? Pokemon don't like it when you climb over them! Do you know what it feels like to be hovered over?" Mizuchi whispered.
"Do you?" the Dreepy countered.
Mizuchi nodded. "Don't ask. It's like a bunch of spiders crawling all over you, but cold spiders. Like, spiders made of ice."
Shade shuddered. Doesn't sound pleasant, she thought.
"Attention, Pokemon," Guildmaster Insight's voice called from the front of the room. "It is almost time to begin." The Snorlax in front of Shade and Mizuchi became surrounded by an indigo aura for a second, before waking up.
The Xatu sighed with relief. "Excellent." Snorlax were quite notorious for their tendency to sleep where it was least convenient for everyone else, and for their… rather deep slumbers.
"Now, Pokemon, you are here to join the Guild. However, your reasons for joining may vary. Some of you, I found, and discovered a hidden talent within you. Some came for your own reasons. But all of you have a chance at joining this fine Guild." Insight gestured towards a board on the wall. "There will be three tests: the intelligence test, the battle test, and the survival test. If you fail once, you are out."
The crowd began to whisper comments to each other. Mizuchi turned to Shade and said, "We might fail? What will we do if we fail?"
Shade had no clue of what would happen. She just shook her head, hoping it wouldn't happen. If this Guild can help me get answers to who I am, I'll do whatever it takes to get in.
"Silence!" Insight shouted, getting the crowd's attention back. "Pay attention for five more minutes! Now, you should all have a partner. You and your partner's scores will be considered for your group. If your average score is lower than the regulation, you will fail. Some motivation for those of you who aren't doing this just for yourselves, hmm?" She turned her eyes straight to Mizuchi, who quietly took one step backwards.
Arceus, she's looking at me. She knows I wouldn't give it my all if it weren't for this. All I want is for Shade to succeed. And now I guess I have to as well.
The Xatu chuckled, having gained a small amount of information simply from the look on the Sobble's face, no need for mind reading. That was a skill she'd had to learn in a town that seemed to find it rude when you listened to their thoughts.
"Now, we will begin with the intelligence tests. Follow…"
"Wait! Wait!"
A Cottonee barreled through the doors, coughing after running from the other side of town. "I'm here! I'm… I'm not late, right?"
Insight shook her head, flying over to them. "No, but you were very close. The Guild does not accept tardy Turtwig." She tried to avoid groaning, seeing the pain in the Cottonee's eyes. "You don't have a partner, anyway."
"I'll join a group, then! Please… I need to join the Guild. I need to learn how to be a better Pokemon. I need to save my family, friends, and everyone else back in Dewdrop City." Their words obviously left a mark, as Insight visibly cringed.
"What's Dewdrop City?" Shade whispered.
Mizuchi answered with a grunt of pain, before giving actual words. "It used to be the capital of Riopse. Now it's in ruins because of those monsters."
The Guildmaster sighed. "All right. Mizuchi! Dreepy!"
"Shade," the Dreepy corrected, floating up behind Insight. Mizuchi followed, looking at the Cottonee. They had fluffier cotton than what was typical, at least from what she could tell from looking.
The Xatu nodded to acknowledge Shade's comment, before asking the Cottonee, "What is your name?
"I'm Milkweed," they replied, glancing at the Sobble behind Insight.
"You will be a team. Now, everyone, follow me." The Guildmaster flew back to the front of the room, leading the crowd through a doorway.