"You have to be faster!" Anubis was standing in the corridor.
Craw growled. "I am trying my best!" He barely dodged the Bullet Punch of the Scizor and the next attack was already flying towards him. This time it was the Hitmonchan with a Mach Punch. Craw growled as he wasn't able to dodge this time and nearly puked as the punch hit him right into the guts. He stumbled back and barely dodged a Fake Out from the Lopunny just to run into the Poliwrath's Double Slap.
"OK. A little break."
Craw panted rubbing some of his body parts that were hurting. "Damn..." He took off the blindfold.
Anubis sighed. "You are getting better but not even slightly good enough."
Craw sighed. "Yeah I know..." He sat down and drank some water."
Anubis sighed. "Maybe it wan't a good idea for training as long as your arm isn't recovered..."
Craw looked at his arm. "No... That's not the problem... I am just not good enough with using my aura sense yet... I have to get much better..."
Anubis nodded. "Then we should continue with aura training."
Craw sighed and nodded.
Anubis looked to the other four that helped with the training. "Thank you for your help. You can go now."
Craw waited till they had left. "Don't they wonder why you are training me so much?"
Anubis shook his head. "They are all members of the leader teams. They know there is something special about you but don't know what. But that is fine."
Craw nodded.
Anubis sighed. "OK. When you feel better then let's meditate."
Craw nodded and drank some more water before he sat down cross-legged.
Anubis sat down as well cross legged and together they started meditating.
Craw sighed and took some deep breaths.
Anubis on his side seemed to be very calm. "You should start to enhance your vision. If you are able to see the whole city without getting dizzy you also should be able to use your aura sense in fight without any problem. You will be able to use your Aura Sphere without much thinking about it then."
Craw nodded and concentrated on his aura.

Ariela sighed and looked around. "We will have a job interview day tomorrow. If you want to join the team then come to us tomorrow. We won't take any presents or something else. Now let us eat please."
The crowd around them scattered and started discussing.
Kathrin who had tried to hid behind Brighton sighed nervously. "I hate this..."
Brighton grinned and nuzzled her making her squeak. "Well we are the best team of the exams and even before we were quiet popular already."
Kathrin looked to him a bit embarrassed. "It doesn't change that I hate it."
Damion chuckled. "Yeah especially since you are the prince that everyone wants to be friends with."
Kathrin sighed.
Ariela smiled. "In future there will be many eyes set onto us. You should get used to it."
Brighton smiled and took Kathrin's paw. "Don't worry. I know how to manage Pokémon like these."
Kathrin nodded a bit blushed.
Ariela smiled and finished eating. "If you are finished I would like to talk with you all. With Craw and Fletcher too. We have to decide what we want as addition for the team."
Brighton nodded. "Yeah. Also I have some ideas for the job interviews."
Ariela smiled and nodded.
They stood up and went to their rooms.
Fletcher was sitting in the dining room pecking some seeds while he looked at a book from time to time.
Brighton smiled. "You learned how to read really quickly."
Fletcher nodded. "I had to. I have to learn more."
Brighton smiled. "You know that you aren't forced to do anything don't you? You can do whatever you enjoy to do."
Fletcher looked to him tilting his head. "I have to be better to earn the honor to stay here."
Ariela giggled. "You don't need to worry. We would never kick you out just because you don't know something." She softly stroked his head and he chirped. She smiled as she saw that he seemed to be much more confident now and didn't flinch anymore if someone lese than Craw touched him. "You are part of our team and our friend."
The Fletchling's eyes widened. "Friend? I never had friends... Back then... We didn't need any friends... We only had the swarm."
Ariela smiled. "Now you have a whole bunch of friends." She looked to him.
He looked down. "Thank you..." He squeaked nervously. "What is this? Why is everything blurry now?"
Ariela looked to him. "That are tears."
Fletcher looked to her confused. "I am crying? Why am I crying?" He seemed to be worried.
Brighton smiled. "That are tears of joy. You are so happy that you are crying."
Fletcher looked to them surprised. "That is... I don't know how to feel about this."
Kathrin smiled. "I know what you mean."
Ariela giggled. "Well I will go and take Craw from his training. I hope he didn't overdo it again. He still isn't fully recovered." She turned to go.
Brighton smiled and nodded. "I will prepare some papers."
Kathrin looked to him. "I will help you."
The three left leaving Damion and Fletcher alone.
Damion smiled. "They are good Pokémon."
Fletcher nodded and looked to him. "You aren't as happy as normally."
Damion looked to him surprised. "What?"
Fletcher rubbed his head on his wings carefully to wipe away his tears. "You seem to be worried about something."
Damion sighed. "Yeah... Maybe... I don't know..." He stretched. "You know... Everyone is so caring with each other... And everyone seems to be so good friends with each other..."
Fletcher looked to him. "You feel like if you are not really part of the team?"
Damion sighed. "I always come last... I don't really know... I feel like if everyone is more important than I am."
Fletcher tilted his head. "Hmm... So you feel like if you are the fifth wheel?"
Damion sighed and nodded.
Fletcher shook his head. "You are important too. You are part of the team too like I am. Craw is the most important of the group that is clear. And now that Brighton and Kathrin are a pair it is easy to feel left out but they care for you too."
Damion sighed. "Maybe... I am not sure about that."
Fletcher looked to him with a serious face. "When you have a mate you will feel much better too. Also we will get a new team member soon. We will get more and some are better friends with each other than others but we will never be alone."
Damion nodded. "Yeah..."

Craw scratched his arm and sighed. "How many more?"
Ariela slapped his hand. "Stop scratching."
Brighton chuckled. "211 more to go."
Craw sighed. "How about we make a lunch break?"
Kathrin shrugged. "Nothing against it."
Ariela looked to them. "No. We wanted to get this done today."
Damion nodded. "Yeah. If you want I can make some food."
Craw looked to him. "That would be nice Damion... I need something to eat..."
Brighton sighed. "The next is Gina. A Snover."
Craw nodded. "So ice and grass type. That sounds interesting."
Ariela sighed. "Yeah but also brings problems... Their ability is snow warning what means that they automatically start a hailstorm whenever they enter a battle. Everyone who isn't an ice type get's damaged."
Craw sighed. "Like with sandstorm..." He sighed. "Let her in."
Fletcher nodded and opened the door.
A Snover entered smiling. "I know I know. I am amazing right?"
Damion looked to Craw. "Uhm..."
Craw looked to her. "Seriously?"
Ariela shrugged. "What is your move set Gina?"
Gina grinned. "Leafage, Razor Leaf, Powder Snow and Avalanche."
Brighton looked to her. "Hmm... A strong move set but they are all area moves... If you don't watch out with them you could hit your team members with them."
She shrugged. "I don't care. If they are in my way it's their own fault."
Craw glanced at her. "That's not really a good team spirit." He wrote something down. "What are you good at?"
She looked to him proudly. "I am the best explorer and fighter of the rookies."
Fletcher looked to her serious. "I think he meant what other abilities. Beside exploring and fighting."
She glanced at the Fletchling. "Who asked for your opinion birdo?"
Craw growled. "You better watch your tongue. We don't like these type of behavior here."
She flinched and looked to him nervous. "Sorry..."
Craw looked to her. "He was right. I want to know what else you can do."
She shrugged. "Why should I need to do something else? I am good at exploring and fighting."
Craw pointed to the others of his team. "Everyone of us is doing their jobs and everyone contributes something to the daily work. Brighton for example is the main negotiator of the group. Ariela is our medic and trader. Kathrin is our main strategist. Damion is translating ancient languages and takes care for our item storage. Fletcher is our messenger and scout and I am the team leader and do the daily paperwork. Everyone has special abilities of their own and we are not only searching for someone who can fight but someone who is a real addition to the team. Someone who can do something that we are maybe missing still."
She shrugged. "I don't need something like that. I am the best. Others can do that stuff for me."
Craw sighed. "Thank you for your time. You can go."
She looked to him. "When can I start?"
Craw glanced to her. "We didn't decide yet who we will take in."
She grinned. "Then decide now. I mean it is a waste of time to interview the others if the best is already here."
Craw looked to her with a serious face. "You want us to decide now? If you want it this way then be it." He looked to Brighton.
Brighton shook his head. "No. Skill alone doesn't make a good team member."
Ariela sighed. "I am sorry but I have the same opinion here."
Fletcher tilted his head. "She is too dangerous for her team members so no."
Kathrin shrugged. "I don't like how she thinks she is the best. Sure, to aim for the best is something we all should do but thinking you are perfect is taurosshit."
Damion looked to her nervous. "Yeah... I think we should search for someone else..."
Craw looked to her. "You heard them."
She looked to him. "You are the team leader. I don't care for what they think. You are the one to decide."
Craw growled angrily. "You didn't really listen right? We are a team. We are searching for team members not for someone to just fight for us. Someone who doesn't give a shit about their team members doesn't fit into our team. We can't need someone as egoistic as you are. You can go now. Please close the door behind yourself."
The Snover blushed embarrassed and angry. "That's not the last time you heard of me!" She then stormed out screaming some insults.
Craw sighed and shook his head. "Who is the next on the list?"
Brighton looked at his list. "Max. A Shinx."
Craw looked at Brighton with curiosity. "Oh... Another electric type?"
Brighton nodded. "Yeah. I mean it could be good to have a second one if we are so many. Then we can send two teams to two jobs."
Craw nodded. "Yeah. Sounds like a good idea. Also they can see in the dark like if it is day if I remember right."
Damion nodded. "Yeah. That would be good when you aren't there. Till now you are the only one of the team who can see in full darkness."
Craw nodded. "Let him in Fletcher."
Fletcher nodded and opened the door letting the Shinx into the room.
The boy seemed to be pretty young.
Craw lifted an eyebrow. "You are Max? May I ask you how old you are?"
Mac smiled and looked to him. "I am nearly 13!"
Craw sighed. "I thought we made it clear... I am sorry but we want our team members to be at least 14..."
The Shinx sighed and looked down embarrassed. "I thought you maybe would do an exception..."
Craw shook his head. "I am sorry but no."
He sighed. "OK... You are so cool... I hoped to get part of your team..."
Craw sighed again. "Don't give up hope yet. We will surely need more team members in future. When you are 14 you can try your luck again. If you didn't find a team till then of course. Train more and think about what else skills you have that can help the team."
The Shinx widely smiled and nodded. "I will!"
Craw nodded. "I am sure we will meet again. Thank you for your time."
Max smiled and nodded leaving again.
Craw looked to Brighton. "Who is the next?"
Brighton looked at his list. "A Fennekin named Hoshi."
Craw tilted his head. "A fire type... That could be very interesting... Let her in Fletcher."
The Fennekin seemed to be very nervous but also very excited. "H-Hello!" Her eyes were green and she had a yellow star shaped anomaly in her right eye making it look like if she had a star in her eye.
Craw smiled calmly. "You are Hoshi? You don't need to be so nervous."
Hoshi nodded. "OK."
Craw looked to her. "So tell us a bit about yourself. What is your move set and what other skills do you have?"
The Fennekin took a deep breath. "Well... I know Flame Charge, Psybeam, Light Screen and Flamethrower but what do you mean with other skills?"
Fletcher looked to her calmly. "He wants to know what other things you can do besides fighting and exploring. Like do you have any special knowledge or skills that can help us with explorations or daily work?"
She shrugged. "I can cook if that helps. I often help out in the canteen if they need help... Also I know some little things about herbs."
Ariela smiled. "I actually could need help with that."
Craw nodded and wrote everything down.
Kathrin looked to her. "How old are you?"
She smiled. "I am 17."
Craw nodded. "What about your experience with explorations? Did you do many explorations already?"
She nodded. "I help two bronze rank teams from time to time."
Craw nodded and wrote everything down. He learned that rookie ranked explorers either worked in one of the big rookie teams that never ranked up but worked as training team where many rookies gathered together and formed own teams to rank up to bronze or temporary worked together for doing jobs together or they were lone wolves that worked as help for other teams from time to time. Mostly those lone wolves worked for bronze teams as help on missions and got the chance to proof themselves to get part of the bronze teams at some point. Rookie ranked Pokémon didn't had own teams. They were more like a pool of recruits for existing bronze or higher ranked teams.
Brighton smiled. "Tell us a bit about yourself. Why did you become an explorer? Do you have any hobbies?"
She tilted her head a bit confused. "Well... I don't know why you have to know that but sure... As I was still a little kit I was living with my family further in the north. There was a dungeon not far from my home and one day I got lost in there as I was playing hide and seek with friends. A team saved me back then and I thought they were so cool! I wanted to become an explorer myself and wanted to save others too." She smiled. "And my hobbies are... Well I have many hobbies to be honest. But my favorite hobbies are drawing, magic, growing plants and cooking of course. Also I love to run. Sometimes I spend my afternoons with running trying to break my own records."
Craw nodded. "Sounds good so far." He writes everything down. "OK. We will have more interviews and I can't promise anything but we will make some jobs the next days with promising candidates to decide who to take as new team member. We will message you then."
She widely smiled and nodded. "Thank you!"
Craw smiled. "Thanks for your time. Please close the door behind yourself."
She nodded and left.
Craw sighed. "208 more to go... Who is the next Brighton?"

The job interviews went on till into the next day. At dinner time of the second day they were finally done and had chosen 30 possible members.
Brighton looked at the list. "My favorite till now is the Deino. Rex."
Fletcher shivered. "Yeah he seems to be good but somehow I get strange feelings about him... I always had the feeling like if he stared at me like if I was his food..."
Craw chuckled. "We will decide about them after going with him on a job. I personally liked Hoshi the Fennekin the most. She is pretty friendly, seems to have a good heart and she knows how to cook. Having a cook in the team would be great!"
Ariela giggled. "Well I like her too. She could help me with her knowledge about herbs. I am lacking a bit in that topic. Together we can for sure make some good medicines."
The others nodded.
Craw sighed. "OK... We are done for today." He handed the list of the possible members to Brighton. "Please write the messages to them that they are in the second round tomorrow. And post a notification for the others on the rookie board that we chose the Pokémon for the second round and that we thank them for the huge interest..."
Brighton nodded. "OK."
Craw stretched himself. "Now I am hungry... I think it's not a very good idea to go to the canteen today... They will swarm us and will want to know who made it... Would someone please go and bring the rest of the team some food?"
Damion nodded. "I will do that."
Craw smiled. "Thank you very much Damion."
Damion smiled. "No problem." He left.
Fletcher tilted his head. "At least he seems to feel better."
Craw looked to him confused. "What do you mean?"
Fletcher looked to Craw. "He feels a bit left out. I mean I can understand what he feels. You four are always busy and now that Brighton and Kathrin are a pair you four rarely spend time with us two anymore."
Kathrin widely blushed as she heard the Fletcher speaking so openly about this. "W-Who said Brighton and I are a pair?"
Fletcher looked to her confused. "Well you two act like one... I thought that was clear that you are a pair... If you are not I am sorry."
Craw waved his paw. "That doesn't matter right now. Fletcher I am sorry if we made you two feel left out..."
Fletcher tilted his head. "I am fine. I can understand that. You four are pairs. You want to spend much time with each other and share a deeper bond witch each other. Also you are closer friends with each other than with me or Damion. So it is just logical that you spend more time with each other than with us."
Craw shook his head. "I wish you two would have said something. Yes Ariela and I are a pair but that doesn't mean we want to spend less time with you two..."
Ariela nodded. "He is right. You two are our friends. If you have any worries you should tell us."
Brighton nodded.
Kathrin sighed. "We really should do something together... Something as team... Like a little vacation or something like that."
Craw nodded. "That is a wonderful idea. How about we make that as surprise for Damion? A vacation to the beach? He will surely love that."
The others nodded.
Craw smiled. "OK. But don't tell Damion about it. It is a surprise for him!"
The others grinned and nodded.

Craw sighed and looked at the jobs. He was a bit nervous since he was surrounded by a group of Pokémon that seemed to see him as a hero or a superstar. He picked one of the jobs and read through it. "Hmm..."
Damion pushed his way through some Pokémon. "Hey. I got a good one." He gave the sheet to Craw.
Craw looked at it. It was a rescue mission in a nearby dungeon. The dungeon level wasn't that high but a bit more challenging than the training dungeon. "Seems good. We will take that and this one." He gave the two sheets to Damion.
Damion looked to the other sheet. "An escort mission. Yeah that looks like a good one."
Craw looked to him. "Then let's go back."
Damion nodded. "Please let us through!"
The other Pokémon around them created a corridor for them to leave.
Craw sighed. "We have to prepare at other times... Now there are too many Pokémon... Maybe at late evening or early morning... Then we don't have to push ourselves through such a crowd..."
Damion nodded. "Are you sure you want me to help you decide what dungeons we do?"
Craw nodded. "You are the one who is here for the longest time and know best about the surrounding dungeons. That is a good help at deciding what dungeons we go and to prepare for them."
Damion nodded smiling.
Craw smiled. "Also I have the feeling that just caring for our storage is a bit little of work for you. You are one of the founders of our team after all. You should have a bit more responsibilities too."
Damion smiled seemingly happy about that.
As they came back to their base Craw sat down on the couch. "This fame we got is kinda annoying..."
Brighton chuckled while he read a book. "Now you know why I hate being a prince so much..."
Craw chuckled. "Yeah..."
Ariela sat down next to him. "It is natural that everyone want to be around the best. In nature it means survival."
Fletcher nodded. "That's true."
Craw smiled. "Still... It makes me feel uncomfortable..."
Brighton chuckled. "That you should have thought of before aiming for the top."
Kathrin sighed and sat down next to Brighton. "As long as they let me alone..."
Craw sighed. "However. We have picked two jobs for tomorrow. One rescue and one escort mission."
Damion nodded. "Both are in nearby dungeons. One is in Berry Woods and one is in River Hills."
Ariela looked at the sheets. "They are simple dungeons but they have some strong Pokémon... Seems very good as test for them. How do you want to do this?"
Craw smiled. "Well I thought I would send two Pokémon per job with two rookies. Kathrin are you fit enough to go on a job?"
Kathrin sighed and nodded. "Yeah..."
Craw nodded. "Good. I will send you with Brighton on the rescue mission. You two will hold back and let them do the lead work. I want you to observe how good they do team work. You will help them of course but I want that they show you how good they are."
Brighton and Kathrin nodded.
Craw smiled and looked to Ariela and Damion. "You two will go on the escort mission. I want you to make sure that the client is save but only act if you need to. I want that the two rookies do the main work so they show if they know how to do that."
Ariela smiled and nodded. "That will be no problem."
Craw nodded. "Good. Damion and Kathrin will work out what items you will need for the jobs. Brighton you will notify the rookies. I would like the Fennekin and the Hawchula to River Hills to the escort mission. The rescue mission I would like to send the Phanpy and the Slowpoke."
The others nodded.
Craw sighed. "I will do more training tomorrow. Fletcher I would like you to go to the nursery to get checked up. I want that you get healthy again before you go to a job. If they say it is OK you can gome to me and have some training too." He looked to the Fletchling. "You will need about another week to recover but if you are fit enough for training you can at least train a bit."
Fletcher nodded.
Craw smiled. "Good. I think that should be everything for now."
The others nodded and stood up.
Craw leaned back trying to relax a bit. "I wonder how Anubis is managing all this... I mean he has not only his team and my problems but also the whole guild to manage..."
Ariela smiled and helped him up. "He is used to it. He did that for a very long time now. Also the others help him for sure. Brighton is the second in charge. You should let him do some of the work as well and not do everything yourself."
Craw sighed and nodded. "Yeah... Maybe I should stop trying to do everything myself..."
Ariela smiled. "Then we would have some more time for ourselves as well." She kissed him softly.
Craw smiled. "Yeah." He glanced to Damion who was in the kitchen. "But I really should take some time for Damion and for Fletcher as well..."
Ariela smiled and kissed him. "You can't solve every problem of the world."
He sighed. "I know... But he is my friend... I want to help him... I want to help all of them..."
Ariela smiled and cuddled onto him. "I know. I want to help you too."
Craw kissed her softly. "I thank you my love."
She giggled.
Craw looked to her. "What?"
She smiled and stroked his cheek. "This is the first time you called me this way."
He smiled. "Really?"
She smiled. "Yeah."
He kissed her softly. "Maybe we should find some nick names for each other."
She smiled. "I think that is a good idea."
Kathrin acted like if needed to puke. "Your sweet talk makes me sick."
Ariela took a couch pillow and threw it at her.
Kathrin dodged it and threw it back at her. "Hey. I am just saying what I am thinking. If you two need some time alone then go to your room."
Brighton smiled. "Hey Kathrin. Wanna come with me into my room?" He winked to her.
Kathrin just punched him. "Shut up."
The others chuckled.

Author's note: Another peaceful chapter! Hope you like it. Next time we see how they do the jobs. Let's see how they are doing :D Hope you like my story so far.