Peaking above the stone staircase was the building I had visited oh so many times in a different world. The Wigglytuff-shaped entrance eclipsed the setting sun, giving it an ethereal glow. Before the barred entrance was a circular grid. Alex took a deep breath.
"We have to stand on that grid. You know, so they can confirm our identity before entering the guild. Make sure we're no one dangerous." I nodded. I expected him to step up to the grid, but he hesitated. He kept looking at it like it was going to jump up and attack him at any second. Taking the chance, I strode up to the grid and stepped over it. He looked at me half in shock and half like he was upset that he wasn't the first to step on it. I grinned back at him.
"Pokemon alert! Pokemon alert!" A shrill voice spoke from below me. "The Pokemon is… the Pokemon is…"
"WHAT'S WRONG DIGLETT? SPIT IT OUT!" I resisted the urge to cover my ears, even though the sound was coming from far beneath me. That must've been Loudred. I guess they would have a hard time identifying me. I looked back at Alex with a sheepish look. He just shrugged, probably still peeved about earlier.
"It's… Eevee? I think."
"YOU THINK?! YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS JOB FOR HOW MANY YEARS NOW?!" I don't think I would ever get used to that screaming voice.
"I'm sorry, but we never see Eevee in these parts. Anyway, you're clear to enter once the Pokemon behind you steps up." I looked back at Alex. He still looked hesitant.
"Need me to hold your hand?" I teased. He shot me a look and mumbled something under his breath, taking my place on the grate.
"Pokemon alert! Pokemon alert! The Pokemon is Riolu! You two may enter." The bars blocking the entrance slowly inched upwards until the entrance was clear. I grimaced thinking what would happen if they closed while you were in the doorway.
"How come they had a hard time identifying me and not you? Are Eevee really that rare around here?" He nodded.
"You're actually the first Eevee I've seen, to be honest. Though, somehow you look different than I expected…" he trailed off. Was he referring to the fact that I was shiny? Did he not know?
"Guess the textbooks didn't prepare you for how stunningly gorgeous I am." He scowled, cheeks bright red.
"Whatever. Riolu aren't really common around here either, but, well," he looked away, "...I may have been here on a couple of occasions." He probably had tried to form a rescue team and backed out before he could complete the process. I just nodded. We started for the entrance. The inside was stark - only a ladder leading down surrounded by a dirt floor. How would I even climb a ladder? The animations in the game weren't so amazing as to accurately show how I would climb a ladder with no hands. My apprehension must've shown, because Alex spoke up with a mocking voice. "What's wrong? Need me to carry you?" I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Hah, you wish! I'm a ladder climbing PRO." To emphasize my point, I strode towards the ladder and wrapped my legs around a rung, slowly inching myself down. Alex climbed down above me. After a little bit of struggle, the first floor of the underground guild became visible. The room spread out in a semicircle, two bounty boards on each side of the ladder. A couple of teams were talking amongst themselves, and immediately stopped when they saw me climbing down. They fixed their eyes on me with such intensity, I accidentally missed a rung and went toppling down, landing with a soft "oomph." Alex just looked at me with an uninterested glance. If attention wasn't on me before, it definitely was now. I stood up, shaking the dirt off. "What are you guys looking at? In my opinion, that was a far more efficient way of coming down a ladder." They let out a collective chuckle and returned to their conversations. I let out a sigh. Could've been worse for a first introduction. Alex finished descending the boring way. "So, what now? Is there a receptionist somewhere?"
"Well, you might not like this, but registration is another floor down. We're gonna have to go back down the ladder." I let out a groan. Who knew the most difficult thing in this world would be the ladders? I was beginning to miss my hands. "If you grab onto my shoulders, I can carry you down. It's easier for me, anyway." I studied his face. He didn't seem to be kidding, and he was probably right that it would be easier.
"...fine. But I don't owe you anything, got it?!" He pointed his back towards me, motioning for me to grab on. I wrapped my front two legs around his shoulders, and my back two around his legs. I felt my face flush slightly at the intimate contact. In my previous life, I hadn't gotten close to any boy that wasn't family. He slowly descended the ladder so as to not drop me, and after much less effort than before, we reached the bottom floor. I hopped off his back onto solid ground. He was facing away from me, but I could tell that his face was a little flushed too. "So, what now? Don't tell me there's more ladders, please. I've had enough for one day."
"No, no more ladders. The second-in-charge, Chatot, should be around here somewhere." As if summoned, said Chatot appeared out of the doorway that I knew led to the guildmaster's room. He approached us with an irritated look, barely even looking at us.
"If you're selling anything, we don't want it. Now shoo!" He sounded irritated, too. Eesh.
"The only thing we're selling is a rockin' rescue team service." Clearly my words caught his attention, as he turned to look at me for the first time. His irritated expression quickly evaporated into curiosity as he studied me. To be honest, it was a little bit unnerving. "Is something wrong?" He quickly snapped out of his stupor and began to flap his wings. He looked flustered.
"O-Oh! My apologies. Truthfully, you're the first shiny Pokemon I've seen, in all my years of exploration. And an Eevee, at that. Quite a rarity around these parts. Anyway, you said you wanted to form a rescue team? Come come, follow me." He disappeared into the guildmaster's room. Alex and I shared a look that said, "what a weirdo." We followed shortly after, ducking underneath a grass-woven door into the guildmaster's room. The guildmaster, Wigglytuff, sat in the center of the room idly playing with a ripe looking apple. He didn't seem to notice that we'd entered yet. "Guildmaster! Guildmaster! These two are here to register as a team." This caught his attention, as he looked up from the apple he was playing with. Unlike Chatot, he didn't give me a second glance.
"Friends, friends! You are here to register? What shall your team name be?" Oh, boy. I had completely forgotten. I was never good at choosing names. It took me hours just to decide a name, and unfortunately this time I didn't have a textbox that I could wait at until I had decided. I glanced unhelpfully at Alex, who looked eager to say something.
"C-Can I choose? I've actually had a name in mind for awhile now…" He was rubbing his paws again. The presence of the two most important people in the guild was probably making him nervous.
"I'm glad you said that, because I have absolutely no clue." That brightened his expression noticeably.
"T-Then, our team name is Team Sunrise!" He managed to get out the last words with a surprising amount of force. He glanced over at me for my approval.
"Team Sunrise… I like it." The nervousness in his expression settled as we shared a grin.
"Team Sunrise! Registering… YOOM TAH!" A bright flash of light filled the room, then disappeared a second later. It was quite disorienting to experience. "Done! Chatot, please fetch my new friends their gear." Chatot grumbled something about overwork and disappeared towards the back of the room. He emerged with wings full of various items. He threw them down unceremoniously at our feet.
"Each of you get badges, treasure bags equipped with a couple of items, and special scarves tailored to your energy."
"Our energy?" Chatot looked annoyed at my question. I guess the wonder of seeing a shiny Eevee had already worn off.
"I don't know how it works." That was unhelpful. I looked down at my scarf. It was a muted pink. Isn't that a little stereotypical…? Alex's was a deep blue color. Honestly, his looked cooler. I slipped the scarf around my neck and watched as Alex did the same. Somehow with the scarf on, I felt a little bit stronger, whatever that meant. "In addition to that, you will get a wonder map that will expand as you explore new areas. Be careful not to lose it, because you will not be getting a second one." I unscrolled the map. As expected, most of it was covered with a strange fog, except for the area around Treasure Town and Beach Cave. Alex peaked over, but he seemed pretty in the know about these things already. "Follow me, I will show you to the dorms. Your training will begin tomorrow." Chatot briskly walked out, leaving us half-running to catch up. He went down a long hallway at the east side of the floor and veered right at the end. I took in the room. It looked somewhat similar to what I had expected. Two straw beds, a window at the back of the room. You could see the ocean from it. The sun had set, leaving the outside dark. There was also a bookshelf in the room, but it was pretty sparse. Other than that, the room was completely unremarkable. "This will be your room. The bathroom is outside to the right. Do not wake up late tomorrow." He left the room not even seconds after.
"Jeez, he seems pretty high strung." I prodded the bed with my paw. Would this even be comfortable?
"I'm going to go take a shower. Are you good here for a bit?" I nodded, and he left for the bathroom. For the first time since I entered this world, I was alone. And of course, with nothing better to do, I started to think. I had died, and by some insane twist of events, I was now a Pokemon, in a world that I had explored once in a game, with all my memories. I made a new friend, but I lied to him about my memories. I felt a little guilty, but what else was I supposed to do? There's no way I could explain everything, even if I wanted to. I sighed, gazing out the window into the night sky. Stars packed every inch of the sky. As a human, the night skies I had looked up at had hardly any stars. Stupid humans and their stupid light pollution… just look at what they were missing out on! Seeing the stars in the sky, the waves crashing gently against the cliff… somehow I felt like everything would be okay. I frowned. I wondered how he was doing… Did he escape? Did he make it out? I guess I would never know. I continued looking out the window for a bit before turning around and examining the bookshelf. There were a couple informational books about mystery dungeons and the like. Probably nothing I didn't already know. I picked a random book off the shelf and idly flipped through it. After a little while I heard footsteps enter the room. Alex looked like he just went through the dry cleaner. His fur was all puffed up. He had a pleasant expression on his face, so he probably didn't feel self conscious about it.
"Dude, you look hilarious with your fur all puffed up like that."
"Oh yeah? Let's see you after you shower, which, by the way, you should probably do. You stink."
"Hey! You can't call a lady stinky, didn't your mother teach you any manners!" I pushed off the floor with my paws, pouncing on him. We both fell to the ground like on the beach. We tussled for a little bit before he pushed off me, dusting himself off.
"I just showered and I'm already dirty… did you have to do that?" He continued to brush off his body.
"Of course I had to do that, to teach you a lesson." He grumbled something unpleasant under his breath. "Speaking of, does this place have baths?" He looked confused for a moment.
"Yeah, they have a big shared bath. Why?"
"Wanna go in with me? We both got dirty, after all…" His movement completely stopped, a spot of red appearing on his cheeks. Was he still worked up from our little brawl? He wrung his paws together.
"S-Sure. Let's go." I followed him as he led me out of the room and into the bathrooms. There were rooms for girls and boys showers, and a separate room that led into a large bath. A couple of Pokemon lazed towards the back of the bath, but for the most part it was generally empty. I got a running start and leaped into the bath, causing a small slash where I landed. My feet hit the bottom, but my head was still above water level. Some Pokemon gave me a nasty look at the commotion I made, to which I guiltily dipped my head. I turned around, seeing Alex still standing at the entrance.
"Well? Gonna hop in? Or actually, I don't recommend you literally hop. Speaking from experience, some of these Pokemon don't appreciate that." He rolled his eyes and gently entered the bath. The water came up to about 3/4ths up his torso. Must be nice standing on two legs.
"Of course they don't appreciate that. The baths are supposed to be a place for relaxation. It's not a swimming pool." He sat down on a bench under the water and closed his eyes. Relaxation, huh? I closed my eyes and let the feeling of the hot water fill my body. The water was making my fur feel heavy. I doubted I could swim very well with such a thick coat. The room was silent except for the steady flow of water into the bath. Thoughts seeped into my head like the water in the bath. Frankly, I had so much to think about that I didn't even know where to start. First of all, there was this unbelievably ridiculous situation that I was in. Was this reincarnation? The afterlife? Or was a special circumstance made for me? In the games, the human was sent back to their world, but I don't think that would happen in this case. Was I going to have to leave after I saved the world? If I left, where would I go? Would I come back, like in the games? I thought about my Riolu companion. We hadn't known each other for long, but… I wanted to stay. He treated me with unconditional kindness, even when I was lying to him about my amnesia… I felt a pang of guilt. It was for the best that he didn't know, I tried to convince myself. It wasn't a malicious lie. And then there was the whole matter of the life I left behind. I didn't even have time to process events there before I was sent into a whole nother world. What was to come, anyway? Would it be exactly like the games? Or could I somehow change it with my erratic behavior? Was Grovyle going to come? I didn't remember helping him out at any point, so maybe he wouldn't…? I sighed into the water, causing bubbles to rise to the surface. All I had was questions, but no answers. The only thing I could do was play along for now and see how things go. I entertained a couple of more thoughts in the comfort of the hot water when suddenly someone poked me right on the head. My eyes shot open to Alex standing over me.
"Hello? Anyone home?"
"No. Come back later."
"You've been sitting there with your eyes closed for about an hour now." An hour?! I looked around. All the Pokemon that had been in the bath disappeared, leaving only us two.
"Wow. I guess time really flies when you're contemplating the Universe." He started up the stairs out of the bath, shaking the water off his fur. I had to look away to dodge the pellets of water headed towards me.
"Sounds deep." He grabbed a towel off a rack and vigorously dried his fur. "You were thinking about how you got here, right? Sorry, this must be hard on you." I followed him out of the bath, shaking off my own fur.
"Eh, that's life. Sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of bed, and sometimes you wake up in a different world as a different species without any of your memories." He still looked sympathetic despite my attempts at shaking off his concern. I grabbed a towel off the rack. Now, how to dry myself? Curse these feet. I laid the towel on the floor and attempted to roll myself in it.
"Want me to dry you?" Alex had finished drying himself and reverted to his poofy state. I nodded. He picked up my towel and vigorously rubbed my fur. I had to widen my stance so I didn't fall over.
"Oi! Yer gonna make me go overboard, me laddie!" He gave me a strange look, but resumed a little more gently. After I was sufficiently dried, he threw the towel in the wash bin. Even without seeing myself, I could tell that my fur was puffed up in the exact same way I had made fun of earlier.
"Huh? Emilia? Where'd you go? All I see is this ball of yarn here." I batted his side with a paw, and he laughed.
"Well this ball of yarn is ready to go on full attack mode if you don't shut up." I felt the weight of my thoughts lighten with my laughs. Regardless of what had happened, and what will happen, right now I was safe and comfortable, and had a friend to share my time with. We exited the bathroom and returned to our room. Night had fully set in, leaving the room completely dark except for the light of a little lamp on the side of the room. I tentatively laid down on my straw bed, testing the comfort of it. After fully settling in, I could honestly say that it wasn't that bad. Not as good as a bed, but definitely better than the floor. Alex settled in on the bed next to mine. He pulled out a pad of paper as well as a pen from his backpack and started writing something. "What are you doing?" He clicked his pen shut and looked up from his paper.
"I'm writing to my family. They've been wanting me to join the guild for forever now!" I hated the pang of jealousy that I felt when he mentioned his family.
"So you have a family?" He looked at me questioningly.
"Well, of course I have a family. Who doesn't?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake. He clamped a hand over his mouth as if it would retract the words he spoke. "Sorry… I wasn't thinking."
"Eh, don't worry about it." He still looked guilty, so I added, "really, I mean it. Tell me about your family." The look of remorse lingered but he spoke.
"Well, my dad's a Lucario like me, but my mother is a Ninetails. I also have an older brother named Leon. He already evolved into Lucario, like my dad." As he launched into his description of his family, he slowly started to look less guilty. "Actually, they're all explorers. My parents met in the guild, and were a pretty famous duo back in their day. They retired to have us, though. Leon is also a renowned explorer. He's already Platinum rank!" I nodded. Platinum rank was pretty impressive, actually. "Part of the reason I wanted to join the guild was to live up to his and my parent's fame, though they wouldn't care if I chose to do something other than being part of a rescue team." I smiled genuinely. It was nice to see him so excited talking about his family. They must really love him.
"Sounds like a lot to live up to."
"Yeah, but with you, I think we can even exceed them! Or at least, I get that feeling…" Wow, since when was he this confident? I nodded.
"Where do they live?"
"They live in Dewdrop Town, which is northeast of Treasure Town. Dewdrop Town is a lot bigger than Treasure Town. I came here to join the guild here, but mostly because I wanted to have an adventure of my own." Interesting, the world was already starting to diverge from the one I knew. He suddenly got nervous and started to rub his paws together. "If you were okay with it… I'd like to introduce you to them sometime. Y'know, if you're okay with it." He looked up at me hopefully.
"Of course I'm okay with it, dummy!" His face lit up with joy. "Plus, I bet they have a ton of embarrassing stories about you. Can't miss that!" He blushed a little and turned away with a pout.
"S-Shut up! I'm gonna tell them to DEFINITELY not tell you anything!" I collapsed onto my bed laughing. After the laughter died down and he stopped assuring me that I was definitely not going to hear any stories about him, he returned to writing his letter. Our conversation left me feeling a little bit melancholic about my own family. I hoped my brother was okay… I turned to my side. I didn't realize how tired I was until I had finally settled down. I guess a day of fighting and waking up in a new world as a new being will do that to ya.
I woke up with a start. Panic gripped my heart. Where was I? What was I doing? Who am I? My eyes darted around the room wildly as if searching for answers. My vision landed on my partner sleeping peacefully next to me. Memories of everything that happened yesterday came back to me, and the panic slowly ebbed away. I tried to take deep breaths to calm my pounding heart. What time was it? Did time even exist here? The sun was only just rising, so it was probably early in the day. I didn't want to wake Alex, but I didn't quite want to go back to sleep after that experience. I took one last glance back at my sleeping partner, and headed out to explore the guild a little. I looked around the bottom floor, inspecting the hole that was for sentry duty and the shop that Croagunk managed.
"Ah, you're up early. Good, perhaps you will be spared from Loudred's wake-up call." I jumped a little hearing a voice behind me. It was Chatot, emerging from the same hallway I had just come from myself. He didn't pay much attention to me, fiddling with a stack of papers in his wings.
"Chatot? Can I ask you a question?" He barely looked up at me before looking back at his papers.
"I suppose I can entertain a question. I am the brain of the guild, you know." I remained silent for a moment while thinking how to pose my question.
"What do you know about humans?" He stopped ruffling through his papers and looked up at me. He gave me a curious look, similar to how he looked at me when we first encountered each other.
"Not many Pokemon know about humans. Some records exist of them existing before our time, but many dismiss these as merely a myth. There is little to no evidence supporting their existence. In every record that exists, humans are portrayed to be creatures capable of and willing to do feats of great destruction. Why do you ask?" I thought about his answer for a bit. Had humans existed here? If so, had I maybe gone forward in time? Though, that wouldn't explain why I already knew what was going to happen for the most part. Regardless, the message is that humans do not exist any longer in this world. Plus, it didn't seem like humans had a flattering reputation in this world. I guessed it would be best to keep quiet about my situation. I should be happy enough that Alex accepted me.
"Just curious. Thanks, Chatot." He returned to his papers. He wove off my thank you, but I could tell that he was pleased to be recognized for his knowledge. I trotted back to my room, leaving Chatot alone. When I got back, Alex was still sleeping soundly. Looks like neither my entrance or exit was enough to wake him. I thought about him and his family, and how happy he looked when he was telling me about them. A sudden feeling of loneliness overcame me. I missed my brother. I laid down on my straw bed once again. Would I ever feel the comfort of a normal bed again? Not that I felt it much in my life as a human, anyway. I sighed. Dark thoughts started culminating in my head again. After a while, Alex stirred next to me. He sat up with a yawn.
"Emilia? You're up already?" He asked sleepily.
"I got up a little bit ago." He looked at me with a grin, seemingly more awake now.
"Still, yesterday really happened, didn't it? We formed a real rescue team!" I nodded with a smile. As excited as he was, it felt difficult to match his energy. The darkness still lingered around in my mind like a cloud over my head. Before we had a chance to say anything more, Loudred came in.
"UP AND- OH, YOU TWO ARE ALREADY AWAKE. NICE TO MEET YOU, I'M LOUDRED." I mumbled a "nice to meet you too," but my head was spinning from how ridiculously loud his voice was. It looked like Alex was having trouble too. "ANYWAY, IT'S TIME FOR THE MORNING CHEER." With that, he exited. I rubbed my head, trying to clear his voice from my head.
"We should probably go…?" I asked Alex.
"Yeah, there's a morning briefing before everyone goes out and does their jobs. It'll only be a moment. Plus, this will be our chance to meet the other guild members officially." I didn't really feel in the mood to meet other Pokemon, but I followed Alex out regardless. When we got to the meeting, the rest of the guild members were already there. They didn't seem to notice us as we walked in. All attention was directed towards the front, where Chatot and Wigglytuff stood.
"Ahem, before our briefing today, I'd like to introduce our two newest recruits. Emilia, Alex, step up please!" Oh, boy. I looked over to Alex to see how he felt about it. He was wringing his paws. Clearly not great. Seeing that he wasn't moving, I nudged him up to the front, the crowd of members making way for us. Now in front of the crowd, Alex seemed to clam up even more. Jeez, and I wasn't even feeling up for this today…
"Hi everyone! We're Team Sunrise. Just so you know, we plan to be famous explorers some day, right Alex?" I nudged him strongly in the side.
"H-Huh?" He snapped out of his daze. Laughter filled the crowd.
"We look forward to working with you all!" I dipped my head slightly in a bow. The rest of the members responded, and I dragged Alex to the back of the crowd again. Even though it wasn't the best introduction, I thought it went pretty well. Alex looked dazed again. "Dude, you totally clammed up back there! Don't you know how important making a good impression is?" He was rubbing his paws together again.
"S-Sorry… I'm not good in front of crowds." I sighed. It's not like I didn't understand, but I would've at least appreciated some comment.
"It's fine, our response was mostly positive anyway." I turned back towards the front of the room.
"With that complete, it's time for our morning cheer!" He rambled something about how smiles go for miles, and the guild cheered back. "Now get to work! Bidoof, Alex, Emilia, stay behind for a second." Alex looked surprised.
"It's probably just for some orientation stuff. Don't worry about it." I whispered to him. He nodded. The crowd dispersed to go do their own things, leaving just me, Alex, Bidoof, and Chatot.
"You two aren't really familiar with Treasure Town, are you?" We shook our heads. "Excellent. Bidoof, take them on a tour of Treasure Town, and then help them choose a mission that fits their skill level." Bidoof looked so overjoyed I thought he might cry for a moment.
"M-Me? By golly, I don't know what to say…" I knew that he was excited to be someone's senior for once, so I decided to humor him a little.
"It's reassuring to have a senior member help us out! We're in your hands, Bidoof." He looked like he was going to pass out.
"O-Of course! Let's get going then! I'll wait for y'all outside the guild." He scampered up the ladder with such speed I had no choice but to be impressed. I should learn from him. I looked at Alex. He still hadn't said a word this entire time.
"It looks like you two are taken care of, so I'll leave you to it." Chatot disappeared somewhere muttering something about guild funds.
"You gonna talk like, ever?" As much as I tried not to, I felt myself getting a little annoyed. I was already in a bad mood, and this wasn't helping.
"Sorry… this is all happening really quick. I'll make an effort." I immediately felt bad for being annoyed. He really was trying. "Let's go meet Bidoof. Do you need help up the ladder again?" He shot me a sly grin. I rolled my eyes. I take it back, I don't feel bad for being annoyed.
"If Bidoof can do it, so can I." I marched over to the ladder and started climbing up. Climbing up was significantly easier than climbing down, but even still I was climbing fairly slowly. Alex trailed behind me, ready to catch me if I fell. After a bit of struggle, I reached the top, grunting with effort. "Stupid ladders… even the dungeons have stairs." Alex laughed and stepped through the exit. As promised, Bidoof was waiting for us outside.
"There y'all are! I'll show you into Treasure Town, follow me!" He took off, us a few steps behind. He started humming some tune that I recognized as the music that played in Wish Cave. Guess he really had gone there. Though actually, why would music play in dungeons here? Wouldn't that be weird? I didn't hear any music in Beach Cave…
"Have you been to Treasure Town before?" I whispered to Alex.
"I've briefly gone, but I'm not familiar with most of the stuff there." The route to Treasure Town was exactly what I expected it to be. But man, I must say, 2D graphics just don't do the place justice. Treasure Town was a bustling marketplace filled with vastly different Pokemon. A giant Charizard talked to a tiny little Zangoose like it was nothing. Pokemon exchanged currency for goods at stalls, talking excitedly amongst one another. A palpable sense of community ran through the entire place. As I looked in awe, Bidoof turned to face us.
"Welcome to Treasure Town y'all! Treasure Town is notorious for its marketplace and the variety of vendors here." I looked around, noting that there were indeed many more vendors than I had expected. Sure there was Kecleon, Kangeskhan, Duskull and the like, but there was also a stall that sold handwoven scarves created by the Braxien knitting in the back, a Salamance that sold ornate looking accessories that glinted in the sunlight, a Slurpuff selling freshly baked goods from which a heavenly aroma wafted, and so many more. I couldn't help but be filled with a sense of wonder, despite the bad mood I started the day with. I looked at Alex to see if he shared my wonder. He looked happy, but the neutral look in his eyes indicated that he wasn't quite impressed.
"Isn't it amazing?" A little awe crept into my voice. He laughed a little.
"What, have you never seen a - oh, nevermind. If you think this is impressive, wait till you see the one in Dewdrop Town! It's much bigger." The prospect of more of the unknown further excited me. I almost forgot about my bad mood. Bidoof walked us through the market, pointing out some notable shops for adventurers. It looked like the Kecleon bros were still responsible for selling most of the items we would need for mystery dungeons. Currently shopping there was a Maril and Azuril, both barely tall enough to see over the stall. They exchanged kind words with the two running the stand. A strange feeling overcame me. Something about this scene wasn't right. The Maril dropped an apple he was clutching to his chest. I hustled up to it and picked it up, ignoring the strange feeling culminating in me.
"Five second rule, it's still safe to eat! Don't drop it again though, the five second rule can only get you so far." I placed the apple in his arms, and he clutched it tightly. He looked a little confused for a moment but then bowed.
"Thank you missus!" Maril scurried off with Azurill in tow. It was in the distance, but I could just barely make out a Drowzee approaching them… suddenly a flash of nausea overcame me. Azurill's shrill voice in my head screamed, "help!" A dizzying sensation so intense I had to close my eyes overpowered me. I realized that I was witnessing Drowzee kidnap Azurill.
"By golly, are you alright Emilia?" I opened my eyes. Bidoof and Alex were at my side now, looking at me with concerned eyes. I took several deep breaths to steady my heart, the nausea slowly receding.
"Those Pokemon… they're in trouble. They're going to be kidnapped by him." I pointed to the trio engaging in lively conversation in the distance of the marketplace. I looked to Alex, praying that he would believe me. He looked skeptical.
"What are you talking about? They seem to be having a pleasant conversation." My heart sank. I couldn't blame him - nobody would've guessed it from the innocent facade of their conversation. But I knew differently. "You haven't had anything to eat, have you? Bidoof, why don't you show us a great food stall around here." Bidoof looked concerned too, but was happy to have received a request from Alex.
"Sure thing! This stall over here has the best potato croquettes…" Bidoof launched into explanation as we followed him to the stall, his voice barely audible over the lull of the market. I tried my best to pay attention, but I couldn't shake the awful feeling that came over me. Maybe I should've tried a little harder to convince them, we could've stopped it before anything happened… Alex gently nudged my side. He looked concerned again.
"Are you still thinking about the Maril and Azurill?" I nodded slightly. "Don't worry, no one would attempt a kidnapping in the middle of the day in the market. Especially not with guild members stationed around keeping guard." I appreciated his attempt to make me feel better, but it didn't help the sinking feeling in my stomach. I just nodded in response. Finally, we reached the stall. A hardy looking Aggron manning a frier greeted us.
"Bidoof! I would say it's been awhile, but weren't you just here yesterday? And…" The Aggron squinted at the rescue badges pinned to our scarves, "finally some new recruits! Good for you, I know how much you've wanted to be someone's mentor." Bidoof blushed beet red.
"Ricardo! Not in front of them…" Ricardo let out a hearty laugh, and I had to laugh along. Despite the awful feeling in my stomach, it was funny to watch Bidoof get teased a little.
"So? What'll it be?" Bidoof tried his best to strike a confident pose for us, but it looked a little silly in this context.
"Three potato croquettes please!"
"Comin' right up!" Ricardo dropped something into the frier. His movements were surprisingly deft for someone of his size and bulk. He fished the potato croquettes out of the oil and folded them neatly into a paper cone. The smell coming from them was almost enough to distract me from my current predicament. Alex fished into his bag, probably to grab some money to pay with.
"Don't bother y'all, this one's on me. What kind of senior would I be if I didn't treat my juniors every now and then?" I smiled warmly. Damn, I was a sucker for free food.
"Thanks Bidoof, you're the best!" I ran up and wrapped my front two legs around him in a kind of hug. He blushed and rubbed his head awkwardly.
"Aw shucks, it's the least I could do." Ricardo gave Bidoof a nod of approval. He left the three croquettes on the counter, and Bidoof fished out some money and dropped it on the counter. We bid farewell to Ricardo and continued through the market, croquettes in hand, or in mine and Bidoof's cases, in mouth. I sank my teeth into the croquette. The outside was crunchy, but the inside had a soft potato filling. Plus, the tangy sauce on the top was just heavenly. In seconds, I devoured the croquette, throwing out the wrapper in a nearby trash can. I breathed a sigh of satisfaction. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating.
"Good?" Alex asked, still nibbling on his own. I gave him a more genuine smile and nodded. "Good." Bidoof continued walking us through Treasure Town, introducing us to some familiar and some unfamiliar stalls. Treasure Town was much more vast than I had expected, giving it the feel of a real town, which I guess is what it is. The line of stalls came to an end, and Treasure Town opened up into a wide field with a dirt path running through it. The path continued as far as the eye could see, leading towards no obvious destination.
"Bidoof, where does this path lead to?" He looked at me strangely.
"You didn't come through here to get to Treasure Town? That path leads to a couple other towns. In the distance it branches, and you can reach Dewdrop Town and Lively Town from there."
"Ah, well, let's say I arrived here a little non conventionally." Alex let out a nervous chuckle next to me. Bidoof furrowed his eyebrows, but shrugged it off quickly.
"Well, that's Treasure Town for y'all. Shall we return to the guild to pick out a suitable job?" We cheered "yeah!" and started our trek back to the guild, the incident with Maril and Azurill all but forgotten. When we got back to the guild, Bidoof introduced us to the two job boards on the first floor. "This board," he said, pointing a paw to the board on the left, "is for general requests. Things like item retrievals, rescuing a Pokemon, item deliveries, and more go on that board. This board," he pointed to the one on the right, "is for outlaw requests. Bad Pokemon with a warrant for their arrest hide away in dungeons, and it's our job to smoke 'em out. You two seem like some mighty fine Pokemon, let's pick from the outlaw board." Alex bounded over to the board and began excitedly reading all the posts.
"Ooh, which one should we choose? Cranidos? Blitzle?" I walked up to him and began reading the posts. It was difficult to read the characters, but I managed.
"You seem awfully excited when our opponent will be a full blown criminal."
"I can't help it! Exploring new places, discovering lost treasures, chasing down bad guys… doesn't that sound great?" I could honestly do without the last one, but I didn't say anything. A loud alarm blared over the board, causing us to step back in surprise. The board flipped, and the requests were no longer visible.
"Stand back from the boards!" A voice called out from… behind the board? It must be Diglett.
"Every now and then they update the board with new requests. Diglett behind the board there posts the new ones and flips it right back on over." Bidoof said from a little behind us. The alarm blared once more, and the board promptly flipped back. Alex rushed over to the board, scanning through the requests one by one. Suddenly his eyes stopped, locking on a specific request. His smile faded and he began to visibly tremble. I ran over to him.
"Alex? What's wrong?" Wordlessly, he pointed to a piece of paper freshly tacked to the board. A wanted poster for none other than… Drowzee. Wanted for kidnapping an Azurill. My stomach sank. I had been exactly right on the kidnapping. Before Alex could say or do anything more, I snatched the paper from the board and stuffed it in my bag. "We found a request, see you later Bidoof! Thanks for your help today!" Without even waiting for a response, I shoved Alex with my head in the direction of the ladder until he started moving voluntarily. Outside of the guild, we broke into a run towards the job site. Neither of us spoke. Alex looked like he wanted to say something, but was having trouble finding the words. At the crossroads, a nervous looking Maril looked about ready to cry. He saw us coming and a little bit of hope glimmered in his eyes.
"Maril! We're here for your request." I said, slightly out of breath from running. Man, I was not in shape.
"I saw them go this way, follow me!" Maril scampered off with impressive speed for someone his size. The greens and dirt of the path slowly turned into rocky terrain. In the distance I could see a mountain range. That must be where we were heading. We ran all the way to the base of the mountain, where a small gap opened up that led into the mountain.
"Is this… where they went?" I said in between breaths. Alex looked completely fine, if not nervous and slightly conflicted about something. He must have more endurance as a fighting type. The Maril nodded vigorously. He didn't look winded either, and he wasn't even fighting type! Was it really just me? "Then… shall we?" I looked at Alex. He nodded. "Don't worry Maril, we'll have your brother back in no time." I tried to give him a confident smile despite my fatigue. He looked almost ready to cry again, but nodded. And with that, we took our first steps into Mt. Bristle.