Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Shadows of Ganderosa

Chapter 5

The Feeling of Rapture


The tower's interior was pretty nice, considering how the outside court was. It was a circular room with a flight of stairs at the back. There were no windows, so the only source of light were torches along the stone walls. The floor was a kind of wool. I think it's carpet. It felt good under Dillan's feet. There were banners hanging along the left and right walls. They had a symbol of a scowling dragonite's skull with spears on either side of it. They intersected and made a sideways cross below the head. There were two desks along the left wall. Only one had a pokemon stationed. The other was empty.

The pokemon at the desk was a quadruped with different layers of fur edging its way along the head to the tail. The fur looked wavy. It was brown and white. The creature had a muzzle and a black mask covering its eyes. His front paws were on the table. Hazel approached the pokemon, who was occupied with some writing.

"Hey Ziggy!" Hazel said.

The zigzagoon glanced up from the paper work. He had one look at Hazel before he frowned. He looked back at his papers and said, "Oh... You again..." His tone sounded as if he was droning on with his day.

"Hey," Hazel told him, as she leaned on the table. "don't be like that."

"I'm going to as long as you call me 'Ziggy'." he said without so much s a glance to Hazel.

"Fine... Um," Hazel started to go pink. She had an embarrassed kind of grin on her face. "I seem to have forgotten your name."

"Go figure... You would think after all the times you'd been here, you could at LEAST remember my name... It's Hans. Now, have you come up with a team name yet?"

"Uh..."

He finally looked up from his work and met Hazel's eyes. "Well?"

"Maybe?" Hazel said with a shrug.

"Well then, what's the name?"

Hazel glanced at Dillan with a pleading expression, then Ryan.

"Wait." Dillan said to Hazel. "You want us to come up with a name? Right now?" Hazel proceeded to slap her palm to her forehead. Ryan nudged Dillan's leg. For a little guy, Ryan hit hard when he wanted to. He felt a dull pain in his leg. "What I mean to say," he told the zigzagoon. "is that Hazel wanted us to come up with a name and... we have one!"

"We have?" Ryan asked. Dillan nudged Ryan a little with his foot. He didn't want to use too much force for fear of Ryan becoming the first living Soccer Ball. "I mean, of course we have." Ryan said with a nervous glance at Dillan.

My turn to say something... Dillan supposed. "We have decided to call ourselves..."

There was a long pause. Hans continued to stare on with a face that said, "I don't have anything better to do".

"Team Type." Dillan finished.

Emotion finally lit up zigzagoon's face. He looked amused. That made Dillan smile for a few seconds. Hans then proceeded to laugh aloud. "THAT'S ONE OF THE WORST NAMES YET!"

Dillan would have kicked the guy if Hazel hadn't stepped in front of him.

"Wow Hazel!" Hans said as he whipped a tear from his eye. "I really needed that! Hope that was a joke, cause if it isn't, your lack of wits would kill ya before any pokemon did!" He laughed even harder.

"Well I for one think it's a great name!" Ryan said defiantly as he leapt on the desk.

"Well ya better think of a new one, 'cause I ain't approving it unless your whole team agrees and I'm positive Hazel doesn't like it. Then again, what do I know! She's already applied for the guild two times with some names that were just as bad as that!"

Hazel didn't move. Ryan turned around and saw Hazel's face. He then whipped back to face Hans and said, "At least it's not as lame as Ziggy!"

Hans continued to laugh, ignoring Ryan's comment.. "You should call yourselves the B-Team! Cause that's all you're gonna be! The losers!"

Hazel darted around, nudged Dillan on the shoulder, then flew out the door. Dillan felt a fire growing in his chest, clawing at his throat. He assumed his anger was getting to him. That theory left his mind quickly as he felt his chest literally getting hot.

"What's wrong with you?!" Ryan yelled at the raccoon.

Hans' fit was leaving him as he took a deep breath. He was still smiling when he went back to his work.

"Come on, Dillan." Ryan said with a scowl pointed at the Zigzagoon. Hans was still smiling. Ryan looked at Dillan as he told him, "We're too good for this loser."

Dillan wasn't feeling too good. The fire was coming up his throat. He felt like throwing up. A few embers escaped his mouth. One fell onto the carpet, which started to smoke. Ryan saw it and jumped on top of the smoking spot. Another ember drifted to Hans' work. The furry pokemon was so wrapped up, he didn't realize his papers had started to smoke. Dillan took a big involuntary gulp when he saw the embers. His gulp had stopped the heat from getting any farther. Hans was surprised to see his papers catch on fire.

"Fire!" He shouted as he threw himself backwards and landed on his spine. "Fire! Someone put it out!" Dillan just watched as the flames engulfed the paper. As soon as the paperwork was incinerated, the fire died, leaving scorch marks on the table along with a pile of ash.

The zigzagoon got back on the table and stared at the ashes. "Hours of hard work... Ruined." Hans sat there in anguish as he grabbed at the ashes. Dillan just stood there, looking at the miserable pokemon as he tried hopelessly to put his work back together. "What in the name of Arceus happened to it..." Dillan took that as the queue to leave.

When he got to the door, he heard laughing coming from where he had stood. Ryan was on the table, pointing to the ashes.

"That's what you get!" Ryan said as he fell backwards to the floor in a fit of laughter. "I'm starting to like the name 'B-Team' after all!" Ryan said to Hans as he just sat there, transfixed on the mess Dillan had caused. "Because you sir, just got 'Burned'!" He put some sarcastic emphasis in the word "Burn". Dillan chuckled to himself. It was a lame joke, but that's what made it funny. He exited the room before Hans blew up from Ryan's joke.


He walked through the courtyard. The pokemon who were there before had departed, leaving the courtyard empty. The only exceptions were he and Hazel, who he found crying on the stairs. Her tail-flame fluctuated rapidly. He could hear her crying.

"Hazel?" He asked with a concerned look. "You doing ok?"

Hazel didn't answer him. She just sat there. Dillan walked to the stairs and sat next to her. She then stopped and turned away from him.

"What do you want?" She asked, though Dillan could tell that she sounded as though she was going to break down again.

"I wanted to make sure you were ok. That furry jerk had no right to say those things."

"Well, he's right!"

"No he isn't."

Hazel now looked at him and shouted, "Yes he is! He's right about everything! I'm a loser! That's why no one wants to be a team with me!" She stood up. Tears were gushing down her face. "It's always the same! I meet them and try to be as nice as I can and when it really counts, they always leave me on my own to join some higher ranking team!"

Dillan wanted to tell her it wasn't true, but he didn't know what to say. He saw her damp face was shaking with hatred.

"Is that what you think we'll do?" Ryan asked. He was on the fountain. He obviously jumped up there so he could be at eye level with Hazel. "You think we'll leave?"

"Why not?" she asked. She turned to face Ryan and walked closer. Her voice was shaky. "Everyone else does. Plus, you two have a better reason to walk out. Dillan with his amnesia and you... You- you don't even like me!"

"Who said that?" Ryan said with a little harshness in his tone. Dillan wasn't sure that was the way to talk to Hazel at this point in time, but he didn't voice his opinion.

"Well..." Hazel just stood there, thinking.

"I'll tell you who. No one. I may have found you a bit rude this morning, but I can't judge people that quickly. Especially you!"

"What makes me any different?"

"You helped me, that's why! I might have still been in a coma if it weren't for you!"

Hazel didn't speak. She just stood there staring at Ryan.

"Now, I may have been on the fence about joining this team at first, but then I realized I owed it to myself to make it even between us! I'm not going to simply throw out those feelings because of some silly argument we had at a diner! I think Dillan agrees with me!"

Hazel looked back to Dillan. She still had tears in her eyes, but they weren't streaming down her face. She looked stunned.

"Of course I agree." Dillan chimed in.

"Now then," Ryan went on. Hazel looked at him. "Are you gonna sit around and mope about something me and Dillan aren't gonna do, or are you gonna go up to that furry paperweight and lead this team!"

"Ryan..." Hazel said. "Thank you!" She leapt at Ryan and hugged him. Ryan had lost his stern expression due to the sudden embrace. He had a look of shock as Hazel started crying. His cheeks started to turn orange.

"Uh," Ryan said, dumbfounded. "Are you crying from being sad, or are those tears from happiness?"

Hazel stopped the embrace and wiped her tears away. "The latter." She said through the sadness still present in his voice.

"Bravo!" A hearty voice came from the stairs on Dillan's left. "Bravo! That was an excellent speech!"

Dillan looked at the pokemon that stood next to him. It was a quadruped. His voice told them he was male. He had a blue body with long, blue fur that covered his legs, though you could still make out the little paws concealed in his shadow. The creature's face was tan. He had a muzzle along with a pair of tall, pointed ears. He had a massive moustache that trailed along the floor at his sides. His eyes were crinkled in a warm smile

"Are you trying to be rude?" Ryan asked. A hint of anger tinted his voice as he spoke. At this point, Hazel let go of Ryan and turned to the new pokemon.

"No," the Stoutland said with a little joy in his voice. "not at all! I'm just glad to have a new team that's kind to it's members joining the guild!"

Hazel's face grew into a wide smile. "Guildmaster Lawrence!" Hazel's voice was filled with enthusiasm.

Lawrence's smile grew a little wider. "You must be Hazel!" He said. "Hans has told me much about you!"

Hazel's smile faded into a pout.

"What did the little weasel say?" Ryan asked. He still had some anger in his voice.

"Oh," Lawrence said, his expression still the same. "Lots of things. Mainly about how much you want to join the guild. Even when your team had left you, you would still come back, just as determined."

Hazel's face lightened up again. "Really?" she asked.

"Mm... more or less."

"Sorry." Dillan interrupted, alerting the group to his presence. "I'm confused. Who are you?"

Lawrence smiled at him. "My name is Lawrence Staudt! I'm the Guildmaster of the area. I also work at the hospital. You've already met my apprentice, Anna. But, let's not dawdle around with this simple conversation. I hear you and your friend want to join Hazel's team. Why don't we go inside and sort things out with Hans?"

The Guildmaster departed towards the door. Hazel ran after Lawrence. Ryan and Dillan joined them.


Hans was still at the desk. He had a new pile of paperwork he was filling out. He didn't look up, even though the opening of the door made a lot of creaking.

Lawrence stood a few feet from the table, leaving a lot of space for Hazel, Ryan, and Dillan to stand.

Once they were at the desk, Hazel spoke up. "Ziggy," Lawrence giggled in the back, obviously amused from the nickname. "We want to apply for the Guild."

Hans, without looking up, said, "Not right now! Your big mouthed friend has already caused me enough of a hassle without dealing with your persistent nonsense. So, why don't you take your 'B-Team' somewhere else?"

"That's not a very good attitude, Hans." Lawrence said with his cheery tone.

Hans looked up from his work and found Lawrence standing at the back of the group. He leapt a few inches off the ground and said, "G-Guildmaster Staudt!" His voice overflowed with worry. "I-I-I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow?!"

"Yes," he said. "I decided to come home early to check up on the guild! You sure have kept the tower in good order."

"W-W-Well, I try." Hans gave a nervous laugh.

"Now then. You've already met our new recruits-"

"R-Recruits?!" Hans said with shock and awe on his face. "They haven't even passed the fighting exam?!"

"I believe we do not have to worry. They seem to be doing fine with each other."

Hazel's face was full of joy. Dillan smirked when he saw she was feeling better.

"W-Well, they can't join without a team name, and they still don't have one!" Hans said defiantly.

"Well, I have an idea." Lawrence said. "How about Team Rapture?"

"Sounds cool," Dillan began. "But what does 'Rapture' mean?"

"Rapture," Lawrence started. "Is a feeling of intense joy. I think it fits with your group because you, Dillan," He looked to Ryan. "And especially you, Ryan, tried to cheer up your friend. As a result of the kind words that were said, you all got a feeling of rapture, or at least that's what I saw."

Dillan looked on at his team. Rapture... I like it. Has a nice ring to it. "What do you guys think?" Dillan asked. "I think it's cool."

"Me, too." Ryan agreed.

"Sounds fantastic to me!" Hazel said.

"Then it's settled!" The Guildmaster exclaimed. "Hans, if you would please..."

It took a few seconds for Hans to process what had just been said. He stared absentmindedly at Team Rapture and the Guildmaster. His face was one of shock.

"Hans?" Lawrence asked. He got no response. "Ziggy?"

That snapped Hans out of his hypnotized state. He then jumped off the desk and slowly walked to the second one, where he threw the front of his body onto the surface.

Team Rapture walked towards the zigzagoon. Hans had pulled three pieces of paper out from under the table. He then put three pieces of sharp coal in front of the pokemon. "Fill out the application, and then sign at the bottom..." Hans said with his usual emotionless voice. He put a small bowl of ink on the table as well.

Hazel stood at the right corner area of the table, Dillan stood at the middle, and Ryan hopped onto the left side. Dillan then proceeded to read the paper in front of him. It droned on about boring legal things like, "The Guild is not held responsible for any items you lose on expeditions". He skipped most of that stuff and went to the bottom where it said "Sign Here". He looked at Hazel as she put her index finger into the ink. She then proceeded to stamp the paper. Dillan did the same with his claw on his own piece.

He started pushing it to Hans when the pokemon said to him, "You need to fill out the back..."

Dillan dragged the paper to himself, being careful not to tear it with his claw. He then tried to flip it. Even when he got his claw under the page, he didn't have a grip on it.

Ryan flipped Dillan's page for him when he realized he was having trouble.

"Thanks." Dillan said to the Pachirisu.

"We're on a team now," Ryan pointed out. "That's what we do, help each other."

"Weren't we a team before?" Dillan asked with a playful tone.

Ryan smiled at him, and then put his attention back into the page.

Dillan went back to it as well. His eyes caught a sentence that was in bold letters. It read, "Do you swear allegiance to the King of Ganderosa?" He stamped it with his claw. The small dot that was made stood out. It was small enough to be mistaken as a drip that fell from the tip of his claw. It probably doesn't matter. He skimmed the rest of the paper and signed at the bottom. When he was done, he dragged it across the table to Hans, who was already rolling up Hazel's paper. Ryan finished seconds later.

When Hans was done, he put them all into a folder and wrote "Team Rapture" on the front. Hazel couldn't have looked happier. All of them walked to Lawrence, who still had a joyful expression on his face.

"Well," Lawrence began. "congratulations are in order, recruits! However, I must say that it's been a long journey from Jarondai and I'm beat. Come and see me tomorrow and I'll tell you where you'll be stationed." Lawrence turned to leave. Just then, a look of remembrance dawned on him. He looked back at the group. "One more thing. Anna will be expecting Dillan and Ryan at the office. She wanted Dillan to stay for one more night so she could monitor his ankle. Ryan," He looked at the pachirisu. "She specifically asked me to send you as well. She was wondering if you would help her with some more paper work."

"Thank you, sir!" Ryan said. Dillan nodded.

Team Rapture thanked the stoutland for all he had done. He simply bowed and made his way to the stairs, leaving the three of them alone with Hans.

Hans watched as The Guildmaster went upstairs. Once he was out of sight, Hans turned towards the new recruits. He scowled at them and said, "Well Hazel, you finally found a team that wanted to stick with you. I would congratulate you, but my paws are tired from all the paperwork your friend burned. Now, if you'll kindly leave... You know what? On second thought, I don't care how you leave, as long as you're out that door. Good day!" With that, he walked over to the first desk and returned to his work.

Team Rapture departed the building, each one of them filled with pride knowing they had accomplished their first task as a team.


Once outside, Hazel ran to the stairs and shouted at the town below, "Here we come, Ganderosa! Team Rapture is here and there's no holding us back now!" Dillan and Ryan walked to meet their friend.

"Hazel," Dillan started. "What did Guildmaster Lawrence mean by 'stationed'?"

"You see," Hazel said. "When you first join a guild, you have to be moved to a different settlement. The settlement you are moved to differs according to which one needs your team the most."

"Will we be positioned in Fericia?" He asked.

"I don't know." She answered. "Honestly, I hope we get to be in Alka. To be near the ice islands would be amazing!"

Dillan shuddered at the thought. The idea of being in a freezing archipelago made the Gabite grimace.

"What's wrong, Dillan?" Hazel asked when she saw his face.

"I don't know why," he started. "But I really don't like the idea of being in a freezing area. It makes me shudder, literally."

Ryan started laughing. Dillan looked at him with confusion.

"Why are you laughing?" He asked Ryan.

"It's because I'd never even considered your weaknesses before." Ryan said with a grin. "See, pokemon are divided into classes based on their strengths and weaknesses. We call these classes 'types'. In some cases like mine, pokemon have a single type. I'm a Pachirisu, an electric type. I'm strong against water types, but weak against ground types. In other cases, pokemon have two types. It can be an edge in a battle, or it can make you extremely vulnerable, for instance: You're a gabite, a ground and dragon type pokemon. Because you're a ground type, you're strong against electric types like me. However, because you're both a ground AND a dragon type, you're extremely vulnerable against ice types. That's probably why you don't like thinking about going to an ice island."

The information spun in Dillan's head like a top. It was a lot of information to take into account.

"Don't worry about it." Hazel said with a playful punch to Dillan's arm. "I'll make a list for you later, that way you can tell what type of pokemon to watch out for."

They stood there, looking out at the town below the hill. Dillan thought about what had happened in the last few hours.

"We still have half the day left." Dillan pointed out. "What do we do now?"

"Well," Hazel said. "We could go into town and visit the shops for gear."

"Sounds good to me." Dillan said.

"Wait a second." Ryan said. His friends looked at him. "We don't have any money. How do you guys expect to pay for the gear?"

"Well," Hazel started. "I did say my dad owned a berry farm outside of town." She reached into her bad and pulled out sack of coins. They rattled together as she threw it into the air and caught it several times. "He gave me some money to spend once I joined a team."

Ryan looked at the sack of coins. He then said, "Alright! That settles it. Let's get some gear!"


Team Rapture walked down the flooded, main street. Hazel was at the front, followed by Ryan, then Dillan. There were shops all around them selling an assortment of items. Potions, berries, food, and gear. Hazel had her eyes at the roofs, looking for the ones that were colored green. After her eyes narrowed, she looked left to find a shop that sold neckwear. She led the team to the desk, where a big, blue pokemon stood.

It was a bipedal pokemon. It had a giant shell that wrapped around it's back. It's arms were long, blue fins. It had a small head, considering how big the rest of it's body was. The tortoise was about six feet tall.

"Hullo there!" the carracosta called. "Care for a ruby necklace? It's the latest fashion! Only 10,000 pokes!"

Ten-thousand?! What the heck?!

"No thanks!" Hazel said with a smile. "We were hoping to find some scarves or bandannas."

"Let's see here..." Carracosta turned around and pulled a dresser out from the back of a room. "Take your pick!"

He opened the dresser doors and revealed an assortment of scarves and bandannas hanging on hooks that laced the back of the wooden box. They came in a variety of colors. Green, yellow, blue, red, purple, you name it. There were different designs for each one as well. One had a moon. Another had a star. There was also one with a yellow stripe going down the middle.

"How about that one?" Ryan asked as he pointed to the one on the far left. It was a purple band that had white strokes on it to make an image of a sun.

"Ah." Carracosta said as he followed Ryan's eyes to the purple cloth. "Good choice! That one there's called a Dart Brace! It boosts your speed in battle!"

"Are there scarves that come in that design?" Hazel asked. Her face was full of anticipation.

"As a matter of fact," Carracosta said. "There is! We also have a bandanna!"

"How much are they?" Dillan asked.

"The arm brace is five-hundred, the bandanna is six, and the scarf is one thousand. Depending on the ability it gives the user, the price goes up."

"Why the increase in cash for the scarf?" Ryan asked skeptically.

"Well," The carracosta began, unfazed by the question. "Besides the added effect it grants the user, they keep your neck warm."

"That doesn't sound like a good reason." Dillan pointed out.

"Take it or leave it," carracosta said blatantly. "'cause I ain't changing the price."

"We'll think about it." Hazel told Carracosta with a cheery tone. "Do you have a bandanna that helps keep the wearer warm in colder climates?"

"I sure do." Carracosta pointed to a bandanna that had the same pattern as the band from earlier. "It's called a Sun Cloth!"

"And a scarf that weakens water attacks?" Hazel asked.

"Not with the same design." Carracosta told her. "Though I do have one that boosts fire attacks, a Heat Scarf."

"Well," Hazel started. "We'll take the Heat Scarf, the Sun Cloth, and the Dart Brace, please!"

Carracosta reached for the items, each with the same pattern. He then set them on the counter and started thinking. "It'll cost ya about... Twenty-seven thousand pokes!"

"Twenty-seven thousand?!" Dillan said with force.

"I know, right?" Hazel said with a smile. "We'll take them!"

"One second there, little lady." Carracosta stopped her. "You're all on an Exploration Team, right?"

"What's it matter?" Ryan asked. He raised an eyebrow.

"Well," Carracosta went on. "It's my duty as a citizen of Jerrica to make sure this place is taken care of. I'm gonna lower the price to twenty-five, then lower it even further because they all have the same design! That makes it about twenty-four thousand pokes."

"That's still a bit much for a little gear..." Dillan said slowly.

"We'll take it anyways!" Hazel said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a sack of coins. She then proceeded to emptying the bag. Each poke she removed was about one-thousand pokes each. Her sack was just about empty when she finished. Carracosta reached out and grabbed the coins. He then proceeded to count them one by one.

"Thank you miss!" He said as he handed over the gear. "Have a nice day!" He then proceeded to shut the dresser and put it back in it's original space.

Hazel then proceeded to distribute the gear among the group. She took the scarf, Ryan got the brace, and Dillan got the bandanna. Hazel then put the scarf around her neck. It was a short scarf that wrapped around once and was tied off in the back. Ryan slipped the band on his left arm. He made sure the icon was pointed outwards so it would show. Dillan put on the bandanna. He didn't feel any different. It sat on his neck and came down into a point. It was short enough as to not cover his sapphire. They all looked at their new accessories.

"Hey Hazel." Dillan said.

"What is it?" Hazel asked.

"How do these 'attributes' work?"

"Well, the ones like mine and Ryan only affect us in battle. Ryan gets faster, while my fire attacks get stronger. I got that bandanna specifically for you because I'm positive we're gonna visit a cold place eventually and you can't stand the cold. Your bandanna will make sure you don't feel the icy temperature."

"Thanks Hazel!" Dillan said. Hazel responded by smiling.

"Ryan, Dillan," Hazel addressed. "I've got some more stuff to take care of at my place. I probably won't see you guys until tomorrow. You two should go back to the hospital and see if Anna needs some help."

"Take care." Ryan said with a smile. Dillan nodded in agreement.

"You too!" Hazel said as she turned to face the crowd of pokemon.

With that, they parted.


The next day came from right around the corner. Dillan and Ryan got up, thanked Anna for taking care of their wounds, and were off.

They met Hazel outside the guild, staring at the statue of King Maxamillian Armadine.

"Hazel!" Dillan shouted when they were at the top of the steps. Hazel looked around at them. She smiled. Ryan and Dillan walked forwards.

"What took you guys so long?" She asked.

"How long were you waiting?" Dillan asked.

Hazel shrugged. She turned back towards the statue.

"He was a great ruler." she said.

"What made him so great?" Dillan asked.

"Well, a lot of things. He's the reason Exploration Teams exist.

"Hey." Ryan interrupted. "Shouldn't we go see Guildmaster Staudt?"

"You're right." Hazel said.. "He's probably been waiting as long as I was; if not longer."

Dillan wasn't happy that Ryan had said anything. I wanted to learn a little more about Ganderosa's history...

Even though he had these thoughts, he didn't say anything. He just walked with the group, feeling this wasn't the time to interject. The group walked across the courtyard and into the guild.


Hans was once again at his desk. He had an even bigger stack of papers next to his head, as he scribbled on the sheet of paper he was already working on.

Without looking up from the stack, he said, "The Guildmaster is in his room, up the stairs." he sounded irritated. "Do NOT bother me right now."

"Thanks Ziggy!" Hazel said with a giggle. She ran towards the stairs before he could protest, her teammates hot on her heels.

Once they got to the top of the stairs, there was a small lobby-like area. At the end of the lobby were a set of metal doors with knockers on it, like you would see in medieval times.

Ryan walked to the door. He looked up at the knockers. They were a foot higher than he could reach. Hazel stifled a laugh as she watched Ryan jump up and down, trying to grab the knocker. Dillan started walking over to help, when Ryan held out a paw in his direction.

"I need to figure this out on my own." Ryan said with a serious tone.

Ryan looked around. He then took a step back from the door. He faced the right wall, then the door. His face grew into a smirk, his buck-teeth protruding from his lower lip. He ran at the right wall at an angle. He jumped at the wall, landed on it, then jumped off of that to the door knocker. He grabbed it and held on, hanging there. He then pushed the ring away from the door with his feet and let go, falling to the floor. The knocker flew towards the door and made a light knock on the door. It was barely audible. Ryan's cheeks puffed up. He then ran at the door and kicked it with his foot.

There was a sound like a "bang" on the door. It was barely louder than the knock. Ryan fell backwards into a sitting position. He grabbed at his toes as they started to swell. Both Dillan and Hazel let out a little laugh. When Dillan saw Ryan's face turn on him, he tried to recover with a cough. It wasn't very convincing.

"Fine!" Ryan said loudly. He was very irritated. "I'm short AND weak! Laugh if you want, but my pride will remain intact!" With that, he stood up and turned away from his team.

Dillan felt bad for laughing. He really doesn't like to feel short.

"Ryan." Dillan started. "Sorry. We shouldn't have laughed. Can you forgive us?"

Ryan didn't answer.

"Please?" Hazel added.

"Fine." Ryan said harshly. "Can we just move on?"

Dillan and Hazel looked at each other. What more can we do?

Since Hazel had hands, she went up to knock on the door. She swung the knocker back and forth three times. There were three, echoing "Bang"s.

"Hans!" the unmistakable, cheery voice of Lawrence rang out through the door. "Are you done already?"

"No, sir!" Dillan shouted. "It's Team Rapture! You wanted us?"

There was a loud "Thud' coming from inside of the room, along with the sound of claws scratching wood. There was another "Bang" then a "Crash", followed by a sigh of defeat.

"Sir?" Dillan called through the door. "Are you alright?"

"What?" Lawrence shouted. "Oh. Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Do come in! And mind the mess!"

Hazel looked like laughing, but she didn't. She must not want to laugh at her Guildmaster.

Hazel pushed on the door. Her face tightened into a grimace. The door slowly opened.

The interior of the room was covered in crumpled paper. There was a desk in the right side of the room. There was no chair. An easel was tipped on the floor, along with a puddle of glass and paint. There was also an unmade bed with sheets thrown about. Lawrence was standing in the middle of the room.

"Sorry..." the stoutland said. His paws were stained red. "I forgot you were coming over..."

Ryan picked up one of the papers. He unfolded it. His expression lightened up a bit as he looked at whatever was on the paper. He showed the piece to Lawrence. "This your art?"

There was a big, red smear on the front of a beautiful sky. There was a pokemon on it with big, red wings stretching out from a light blue body. The rest of the pokemon hadn't been created.

"A failed attempt." Guildmaster Staudt's expression was still cheery.

"What was it?" Hazel asked. "The pokemon, I mean."

"That is," Lawrence began, "or was going to be, a pokemon called Salamence."

"The dragon?" Ryan asked.

"Yes! I'm glad you know your stuff. Now then, enough about my personal hobbies. Let's get down to business. You three are here to be assigned, correct?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"Looks like there's still enough brain in my old head after all!" Lawrence started laughing heartily.

"Guildmaster, sir..." Ryan urged.

"Oh, yes. Now then, Team Rapture will be assigned to the town of Palando, in the Alka territory."

Hazel's face lit up at those words.

"But first," Lawrence continued. "I need you three to travel to Kerroshia Castle."

Ryan looked worried. "W-Why Kerroshia?"

"I have a package that I was suppose to give to the Guildmaster of Kerroshia during my time in Jarondai. The thing is," His face started looking embarrassed. "I forgot to give it to her."

Team Rapture all looked on in shock.

"You mean to say," Dillan began. "You want us to deliver a package to the Guildmaster in Kerroshia Castle, and then want us to go on to the Alka territory where we'll be stationed?"

"Exactly." Lawrence grinned.

"But, that's in another region entirely!" Ryan added.

"Think of it as a test." the Guildmaster went on. "To get there, you will need to go through Void Canyon, a Mystery Dungeon."

"A Mystery Whatzit?" Dillan asked.

"Mystery Dungeon." Hazel corrected.

"Don't tell me you don't know what a Mystery Dungeon is." Lawrence said.

"Sorry, sir," Dillan started. "but I have amnesia."

"Oh?" Lawrence asked. His voice peeked with interest. "Do tell."

"Well... I can't remember anything past two days ago... I'm not sure how it happened."

Ryan's face dropped into a scowl. "Sir, there's something we should have told you yesterday. See, me and Dillan were captured along the road between Harrier Town and Lake Town by a group of nuzleaf."

Lawrence's face fell into a look of concern. "Go on."

"I don't know why we were taken," Ryan continued. "Only that we were..."

The Guildmaster sat there for a few seconds in thought. The room was quiet.

"Hans!" The Guildmaster yelled through the open door. The sound of feet could be heard bounding up the stairs. Hans appeared at the doorway with a look of worry.

"Yes sir?" Hans asked.

"Stay there." Lawrence said in a stern voice. "Wait for me." He then turned his gaze back to Team Rapture. "Is there anything else?"

"No, sir." Ryan said.

Lawrence went over to the side of the bed and picked up a small package. It was as big as Ryan's head. He handed it to Hazel and said, "Let this be your test of strength. You didn't get one yesterday because I thought you wouldn't need one. Hans has convinced me otherwise. We must continue our tradition; though, since you are already a team, I can't give you the regular test. Deliver the package to the Guildmaster of Kerroshia and you will be an official Exploration Team."

"Sir..." Hazel said with a little confusion. "What about our Explorer Badges?"

"You will get those from the Kerroshian Guildmaster once you deliver the package. Now then, off you go. I need to take care of business."

The team thanked the Guildmaster and departed. Hans was still in the room.

"Hans, close the door."

Hans complied to the command. He then said, "Sir, what's wrong?"

"An issue has presented itself. I need you to write a message for me."

Hans went to the desk and threw the crumbled paper off it, scattering them across the floor. He then took a fresh piece of paper from next to the easel and sat it on the table, where he found a piece of coal.

"Ready, sir." He told the Guildmaster.

"Alright, then." Lawrence said. He cleared his throat as if he were about to give a speech. "Dear King Judas the Third. A problem has arisen in my domain, the Kingdom of Fericia."


Team Rapture stopped at the steps leading out of the guild, into the town below.

"Hazel." Dillan began.

"Yeah, Dillan?" She asked.

"What's a Mystery Dungeon?"

She thought about it for a while before saying, "I don't really know how to explain it..."

"I do." Ryan cut in. "You see, a Mystery Dungeon is an area in which time and space are distorted. When you go into one, it looks like a normal pathway. You can't really tell it's a Mystery Dungeon on first glance. The weird thing about them is that the layout of a Mystery Dungeon changes every time you enter. The location is the same, but corridors and passageways shift, creating a new dungeon entirely. That's why it's called a Mystery Dungeon, it's a complete mystery what it looks like once you enter."

That's very confusing, but I think I understand the concept.

"How was it created?" Dillan asked.

"That's another mystery." Ryan said. "No one knows how they came to be."

That's helpful.

"We've talked enough about Mystery Dungeons for now," Hazel said. "let's just focus on where we need to go to get to Kerroshia Castle."

Hazel pulled out a rolled-up, piece of paper. She unraveled it and started staring at whatever was on it. Dillan moved closer to Hazel to get a look at the paper.

It was amazing. At the top, left of the paper was a word that read, "Ganderosa". Ganderosa is a massive island. There were four sections made in the island from rivers that flowed through the land. Dillan guessed these river's served as the boundaries to the four quadrants of Ganderosa. Alka was the top, left quadrant. It had an archipelago of baby blue islands off of it's coast. Ferricia was below Alka. To Fericia's left was the territory of Labensia. Then, there was the desert land of Kerroshia in the top right quadrant. Finally, there was an island at the bottom-left corner of the map named "Jarondai".

Hazel looked down at Ryan. He was looking out at the town with his arms crossed.

"Ryan." Hazel said to the white squirrel. He turned around to face her. Hazel then handed out the map. "Want to be the guide?"

Ryan's face lit up with a grin as he took the map from Hazel. "Thanks." He said as she added a nod. Ryan then went to the map and traced his fingers along roads.

"Alright." He said. "Let's see... To get to Kerroshia, we'll need to go through Void Canyon. But, Thesix town is on the way. If we leave now, we should be able to reach Thesix by mid-day. We can then can go on to Void Canyon, which should put us on the other side of the Thesix Mountain Range. When we get through Void Canyon, we can stop for the night. Sounds good?"

"What about tomorrow?" Dillan asked.

"Tomorrow," Ryan said. "we'll reach Kerroshia. We'll pass through Poltress Town, then move on to Kerroshia Castle, where the Guildmaster should be. Good for ya?"

"Mhm." Dillan responded.

"Hazel?" Ryan asked.

Hazel didn't answer. She looked worried.

"Hazel." Ryan said a little more forcefully.

"Hu-wha?" Hazel snapped out of her trance.

"You good?" Ryan asked.

"Y-yeah. Sure. I'm good."

Ryan wasn't convinced. Neither was Dillan. Nevertheless, Ryan rolled up the map and handed it to Hazel.

"Hazel," Dillan began. "We're a team. You can tell us anything. Well, other than you're really a pink and blue unicorn disguised as a charmeleon. That'd just be weird."

Hazel laughed a little. The concern on her face vanished.

"Dillan," she started. "You are one weird pokemon."

"By the way," Dillan said. "Are we all pokemon? The way I've heard others use that word, I would assume so, but I don't really know."

"Yep." Hazel said with her usual enthusiasm. "We're all pokemon."

"Enough with the life lessons," Ryan interrupted. "We need to get to Thesix."

Hazel looked annoyed by the sudden interruption. Nevertheless, she put the map back into her bag and the three left for Thesix Town.