"Thank you very much!" Eevee said with an expression of pure joy.
They were now back on the beach outside the cave. The sunning was beginning to set, turning the sky a beautiful pink and the water a bright gold.
"Here's what they stole," Eevee said as he placed the stone object on the ground.
As Sol looked at the item, she couldn't help but think We went through all that for this? Sure, it had an interesting pattern inscribed on the top, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be copied, maybe onto something lighter and less awkward to carry than a chunk of rock.
"This is a relic fragment… Well, at least that's what I started calling it… But this relic fragment, it's my precious treasure. You see, I've always liked legends and lore…"
Ah, now it makes sense, Sol thought as Eevee talked with stars in his eyes about exploring and far away places. It's more to him than just something pretty to look at. It signifies all he aspires to but could never do.
"I want to solve the mystery of my relic fragment! So earlier, I tried joining an exploration team as an apprentice, but…" Eevee looked out across the water, avoiding Sol's gaze. "I was too cowardly… What about you, Sol? What are you going to do now? You lost your memory, and you somehow transformed into a Pokémon… Do you have any place to stay?"
That was something Sol hadn't thought of. She had been completely focused on the present, she hadn't planned on the future. If she had a past, friends, a home, she couldn't recall it now.
"If not, can I ask a huge favor? Would you form an exploration team with me? I think we could make a good exploration team together, Sol. So will you do that with me? Please?"
Sol was shocked by the sudden question. Eevee barely knew Sol, yet wanted to form a team with her? It was true, she had no where to go, but it just seemed so… convenient. Sol quickly brushed her suspicions aside. She highly doubted anyone would patrol the beach hoping from some amnesia suffering human-turned-Pokémon to recruit.
Eevee seemed an all right person, if a bit naïve. He was skilled enough to be an asset. Sol had nothing to lose, and she could always quit later on.
She nodded and the small Pokémon's expression instantly brightened.
"Thank you! We're going to be a great combination! Let's make this work. First, we need to go to Wigglytuff's place and sign up as apprentices. That's where we can get the training to become a proper exploration team. I think the training will be very tough… so let's give it our best, Sol!"
Eevee happily skipped up the path leading away from the beach. Sol sighed and followed, wondering how long it would be before Eevee's constant enthusiasm drove her insane.
Wigglytuff's guild stood on a cliff overlooking the sea, the setting sun a luminous backdrop. Flames crackled in iron bowls on either side of the entrance, and it would have been an impressive sight if the building itself hadn't looked completely ridiculous.
It was shaped like an oversized pink Pokémon, probably Wigglytuff. Despite the comical appearance, Eevee looked absolutely terrified. It took all the courage he could muster simply to stand on the wooden grate in front of the building's entrance.
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" called a voice from beneath the grate.
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" came a second voice, unnecessarily loud.
"The footprint is Eevee's! The footprint is Eevee's!"
By this point, Eevee was shaking, but to his credit didn't bolt. Courage is not the absence of fear but the will to press on despite it, came a thought unbidden to Sol's mind. She frowned. Where had that come from?
"You may ENTER! Someone's with you! So get that stranger to stand up THERE!"
Ignoring the question of why they bothered with footprints when they could see to tell how many people there were, Sol calmly stepped onto the grate.
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"
Sol suppressed a sigh. Did they really need to go through all that again?
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"
"The footprint is… The footprint is… Um… Maybe Riolu's! Maybe Riolu's!"
There was a short pause followed by the sound of bickering that drifted up from somewhere beneath the grate. Sol looked over at Eevee, who simply shrugged.
"Sorry to make you WAIT! It's true you don't see many Riolu around these parts… You may ENTER!"
As if I wouldn't stick out enough already, Sol thought as the gate rumbled open. Not only am I a human turned Pokémon, that Pokémon just had to be rare.
Chatot was a dick. Everything the colorful bird Pokémon said in that annoying sing-song voice of his spoke of his oh-so superior attitude and he looked down on Sol as if she were something he had scrapped off his boots (if Pokémon wore boots, that is). The guild master must have been soft in the head to have appointed this self-centered jerk second in command, Sol thought.
And as it turned out, she was right.
"Hiya! I'm Wigglytuff!" The pink Pokémon gleefully said. "I'm the guild's Guildmaster! You want to form an exploration team? Then, let's go for it!"
Sol cast a sidelong look at Wigglytuff. She wasn't sure whether his bubbly nature was endearing or annoying. Still, if he managed to become the head of a guild, there must be more than what meets the eye.
He did a little dance around the room before stopping in front of Eevee and Sol.
OK then, a lot more.
"First we must register your exploration team's name!"
"Oh? Our team name? I didn't think about that," Eevee said sheepishly. "So what do you think would be a good name for us, Sol?"
"Wanderers."
The name was out before she could even think about it. She wasn't sure where it had come from, but it just sounded… right.
"All settled then! I'll register your team as Wanderers. Registering! Registering!" Wigglytuff sang while not doing anything that remotely resembled any form of registering. "YOOM TAH!" He jumped into the air. "Congratulations! From now on, you're an official exploration team!"