"What are you doing? Stop! Stop that living fossil!" the chief screamed.

"I am a Kleavor, you overgrown pieces of scrap metal!"

Memories flashed through Mantis' head as he continued his quest. In particular, the time when he single handedly decimated an entire clan of Bisharp, at the cost of the gift Sigil gave him.

"So your name is Razor. I will make you pay for this. But first, I will destroy your family." I picked up my massive bat wings, muttering an apology to Sigil.

The Bisharp looked around at the carnage that I caused. "It seems you already have," he sneered, preparing to strike back.

"Maaantiiis!" Sigil's voice called out of the rock. "Aaare you theeere?"

"Yes. Do you have Orc's report?" the Kleavor replied.

The voice chuckled. "Dooo I eeeveeer. She says thaaat sheee's aaalreaaady paaassed the fiiirst test. As iiif we eveeer doubteeed heeer!"

Speak for yourself, he thought.

"But… theeere's sooomethiiing else…"

Mantis flinched. "Come again?"

Sigil chuckled. "Sheee claaaims that theeere's a raaather… giiifted triooo…"

"Gifted trio?" the Kleavor asked. "Who might they be? I might want to pay them a visit when I stop in town…"

"Shade, Milkweed, and Mizuchi."

The three Pokemon whose names Insight called out tensed up. The room's silence spread into their heads, blanking their thoughts and forcing their focus onto the Guildmaster.

"Well… why don't you three come take a look?"

Confused, they did as they were told, stepping up to the front of the room. They took a look at the tests.

The first one in the stack was Shade's. Written in red ink on the top was:

5% - FAIL

"Uh oh," the Dreepy said in sync with Mizuchi.

Guildmaster Insight shook her head. "Just wait," she replied, turning the page. Next was Milkweed's test, with:

98% - PASS

Without any reaction from anyone, the Xatu flipped to Mizuchi's test. At the top, there was a more desperate, confused scrawling:

63% - PASS

"You see, normally Shade's abysmally terrible score would offset most better scores. However, Milkweed's near ace brought the average score back above the regulation." The Guildmaster chuckled. "You three got lucky."

Shade glanced at the test. "Wait. You mean we're in?"

"What else would I mean?" Insight handed the tests to Mizuchi, who was the only one out of them with opposable thumbs.

The room remained silent as the trio processed their results. When they finally realized that yes, they passed, and yes, they did indeed get lucky, they once again broke into fits of laughter, having to leave the room while the Guildmaster gave out the rest of the results.

"We did it! We did it!" Mizuchi chanted, waving the tests around in the air.

Shade flopped onto the floor. "Just… give me a moment to realize how dumb I am… whew."

Milkweed floated down beside her. "Don't say that," they comforted the Dreepy. "You have your own skills. We just don't know what they are."

"That's right," Mizuchi said, sitting down on Shade's other side. "Besides, what Pokemon might consider intelligent, humans might not."

"Well, at least we passed that test. There's still two more to go, so we shouldn't be too relieved," Shade said. She floated back into the air, followed by Milkweed.

"That's right," the Sobble sighed. "I wonder what we're doing next."

The next thing the remaining Pokemon knew, they were being walked through town for the battle test. After a few minutes of walking the crowded streets of Spotlight Town, they wound up at a building that looked half underground.

In front of the stairs that led down to the door, there was a Crabrawler speaking with a Lucario and a Monferno. "Sorry, but we're closed this morning. Maybe come back once the Guild's done their entrance exams." He glanced over at the Xatu leading the potential future members of her Guild through the town. "Speak of Giratina, there they are! Insight, I'm glad you're here. I've already had to explain today's events to seven different groups."

"I apologize, Lobster. Amphibian had a bit of difficulty locating the intelligence tests. Is Claymore here?" she asked.

"He's… been practicing." Lobster chuckled and opened the door. "What, did you think the King of Battle would just stand still all morning and wait for you?"

Insight sighed. "What do you mean by 'practicing'? He hasn't destroyed the supports again, has he?"

The Crabrawler shook his head. "That was one time, Insight. Besides, he was getting over a rather traumatic part of his life."

The Xatu nodded, leading the Pokemon behind her down into the building. The door led them onto a balcony over an arena, where a Pawniard was throwing wooden boards in the air and slashing them in half.

"Claymore!" the Guildmaster called, and Shade realized that this was the same Pawniard who was at the door when Mizuchi took her to the Guild's library.

He looked up at the Xatu, and nodded. "Good to finally see you," he said, putting what was left of the boards off to the side.

"Now, you will each be called down to battle Claymore," Guildmaster Insight explained. Several Pokemon began talking nervously.

"But he's the King of Battle! None of us are going to win, are we?" a Gumshoos asked.

The Xatu chuckled. "Exactly. You will be judged by how long it takes for him to bring you to the ground. You'll need skill, tactics, and endurance to pass this test. First up, how about our lucky ones over here?" She pointed at Milkweed in particular, prompting them to timidly leave the crowd to go down the stairs.

"Good luck to you, Cottonee," Claymore said with a nod. "Do you need a weapon?"

Milkweed shook their head. "I'll be fine… maybe. Just try not to hit anything vital."

The Pawniard nodded, preparing to fight. Raising his claw in the air, he made eye contact with the Cottonee before running straight at them. They ducked down to avoid the blade, clearly thinking of how to react.

"What are you planning?" Claymore muttered before raising his claws above his foe's head. He knew he had no chance of winning with a Night Slash, considering the fact that they would resist the attack.

He would need to avoid any form of dark energy. He had to resort to other moves.

From the balcony, Shade and Mizuchi watched as the Pawniard backed up from Milkweed.

"What's he doing?" Shade whispered as Claymore began to move his arms in an almost dance-like way.

Mizuchi gasped. "I've seen him do something like this before," she replied. "He called it Swords Dance."

Sure enough, two shining, ethereal swords appeared above Claymore, helping him as he slashed away at the Cottonee. "Have you given up yet?" he shouted. "Or will you keep fighting?"

"I…" Milkweed stuttered. I could just fall down right now. That would be the smart thing to do, and I wouldn't get hurt any more.

"Where does your strength come from?" the Pawniard continued. "Is its voice loud enough for you to hear it over your doubts? Can you feel it through your fear?"

The Cottonee looked up. "...I can't. I'm… scared…"

With those words, they fell onto the ground.