Sol would suffer through her dehibilitating injuries, pushing through the pain on a wave of burning rage, to rise up and take vegence until the world was covered in an ocean of blood, and only then would her anger be quenched. At least, that's what she told Chimecho whenever she came in to check on the wounded Riolu. How else was Sol supposed to amuse herself, confined to bed as she was?
The look on Chimecho's face the first time Sol had said that... She had been sitting cross legged and straight backed on her bed, staring resolutely out the window. She'd been going for the 'betrayed warrior filled with a cold rage about to dedicate their life to revenge' look, and she liked to think she'd nailed it. Chimecho sure looked weirded out, but then Sol had ruined it all by bursting into laughter, which brought tears to her eyes both out of mirth and pain as the laughter irritated her injuries.
It wasn't nearly as fun the next few times, but it became something of a ritual. And Sol was angry, but perhaps frustrated would be more accurate. She hadn't had her staff long enough to become attached to it, but that was the annoying part. After less than a quarter of a day in Sol's possesion, the oak staff had been reduced to ash. What, did all wild
Pokémon have something against her owning anything nice?
And what happened to Eevee? Suddenly, he was off talking with Dusknoir during all his free time after quickly checking in with Sol. She tried asking what they were doing, but all she ever got was some vague answer followed by a whole lot of star struck rambling about how great Dusknoir was. Once, out of the blue, Eevee asked Sol if they should try asking him if he had ever heard of a human turning into a Pokémon before. He knew so much, why not that?
Sol had expressly told Eevee that if he told anyone, she'd hang him upside down over the edge of Sharpedo Bluff. That shut him up quick, though an uncomfortable, guilty expression settled over his face. Sol could only assume Dusknoir had already been told. She'd let Eevee think she didn't know for the time being, let the guilt stew in his mind a while longer. It may have been a mean thing to do, but Eevee shouldn't have betrayed her trust like that, knowing full well she didn't want people to know, and Sol never claimed to be a nice person. She was well aware she could be a bitch at times.
Sol crossed her arms behind her head as she lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She was covered in bandages covered in a layer of a poultice made from Oran berries. Chimecho had been worried about the possibility of infection ("Do you have any idea how many bacteria live in an Electrike's mouth!?" was her response to Sol's objections) and now the room stank with the smell of the berries. While not an unpleasant scent, it was getting overpowering. What was the point of having a sensitive Pokémon nose? It only caused Sol grief and had yet to be useful in the slightest.
It was all healing quickly and without complication, but 'quickly' wasn't fast enough for Sol. She was going out of her mind with boredom, and the injuries itched. Chimecho had threatened to tie Sol's hands behind her back if she was caught scratching again. Sol didn't believe her. The Chimecho got Loudred to sit on her while she tied the knots. It only lasted for about twenty minutes, but Sol got the point. No scratching.
So, boredom. Not much Sol could do about that. Read a book? That was stress on a page and she didn't feel like struggling to decipher the complex code that was footprint runes. Her ego had already taken enough hits after getting the snot kicked out of her by Manectric. Cards? Had enough of that the first fifty times. Singing at the top of her lungs for no reason at all? Not unless she wanted the angry mob to descend again. Work out a plan for world domination? No, that would probably entail going back to Amp Plains to learn that sun off switch trick.
Sol flipped over onto her stomach. What to do, what to do. She wasn't allowed to leave the guild. With her temporary limp, caused by a certain Electrike chomping down on her calf, a stroll didn't sound all that appealing at the moment, anyway.
A walk around the guild, though, would probably be all right. Chimecho shouldn't through a fit at that, as she had been doing with just about everything else Sol had been trying to do to amuse herself. Why wasn't she allowed to set up an elaborate trap to get Loudred? He was always trying to prank Sol and no one seemed to care about that. Maybe because it always ended with him getting punched.
The main room was all but deserted, everyone out on jobs or assignments, except for Croagunk who was busy with that cauldron of his doing... whatever. It was a giant bowl, how much maintainance could it possibly need?
There was a thump, a pop, a yelp then a crash from the Guildmaster's quarters. Sol hesitated before going to investigate. When it came to weird noises in the guild, you had to be careful. It could be anything, most likely something you do not want to see (cough, Bidoof doing yoga, cough). Curiousity, along with sticking her nose where it didn't belong, was one of Sol's more prominent traits, however, and it would not let anything rest.
Thankfully, Sol found nothing pshycologically scarring behind the doors. Instead, much to her surprise, the room looked to be in the process of being decorated for a party. Tables were set up with a tablecloaths decorated with pictures of bows and balloons. Multicoloured streamers and banners hung from the ceiling while inflated balloons floated in the air, held down with weights wrapped in bright, silvery foil. Wigglytuff sat on the remains of a broken table, a ruptured balloon at his feet. Source of noise: Discovered.
"What's all this?" Sol asked.
"Shushhhhh!"
Wigglytuff jumped up and ran over to the door. He stuck his head out, looked around, then slammed them shut.
"You have to be quiet! He can't find out!"
"Who can't find out about what?"
"Chatot! He thinks I don't remember, but I remember everything! Nothing gets by me!"
"Ok, I think I need some more information. Unless, of course, it's something I don't wanna know about. Then, I'll just leave."
"No, no, no! Now that you're here, you can help! It's the guild's birthday!"
"The guild's... birthday?"
"Yes! It's the day I first started the guild... well, we first started the guild. Chatot and I. I like exploring, he likes 'structure' and 'organization' and 'sucking all the fun out of everything'. So, we built the guild!"
"So it's the anniversary of the guild's opening?"
"If that means birthday, sure! Now I need help with these balloons! They're evil and keep popping, but everyone loves big balls of air for some reason!"
Sol manned the gas tank, inflating the balloons while Wigglytuff tied them with ribbons and attached them to weights.
"So... Why is this such a big secret, then?"
"Well, really this day is for Chatot, and there's never any other time I get to surprise him. In a good way, I mean. A way that doesn't get him mad at me."
"What do you mean, this day is for Chatot?"
"Without him, I never would have gotten the guild running! So this day wouldn't exist without him, and no one ever gives him the credit he deserves. I just like to show my appreciation of all his hard work, even if he is a meanie some times."
Ok, this was new. From what Sol had seen, Chatot was pretty much useless. No, worse then useless, a parasitic leech feeding on the guild. Though that was based pretty much solely on their first few meetings... and she never had so much as asked what his job actually was... and she never did give him a second chance...
No, there was no way Chatot had been useful, let alone fundamental, in the forming of the guild. Sol could picture it now, Chatot singing a looping series of complaints into Wigglytuff's ear and constantly wanting to give up while the illustrious Guildmaster built his dream single handedly.
"A party sounds fun, at any rate," Sol said. "It'll be a good way to raise people's spirits with things going so wrong out there with the Time Gears and everything."
"Yes. Just be careful around the buffet table."
"Umm... Why?"
"Because of the gross ninja."
"Do I want to know what that is?"
"The gross ninja. When something looks yummy, but it is definately not. Like one time, someone brought this nacho dip, with sour cream, green peppers, salsa and other good stuff. I happily skipped over, unaware of the impending tragedy, took a big bite, then... BAM! Mouthful of disgusting! Instead of good, old, reliable salsa that everyone loves, somebody decided to switch it up and use seafood sauce instead! That should be reserved for shrimp platters, not ruining dips! Then I had to spend the night listening to people go on about how 'creative' and 'inventive' and 'not a disgrace to all foods everywhere' it was! And now, whenever I go to party and there's nacho dip, I always have to ask if they used salsa and everyone looks at me like I'm an idiot and say 'Of course it's salsa! What else would it be?' Seafood sauce, of course!"
Wow. Wigglytuff could teach Sol a thing or two about angry rants.
The decorations were soon all set up. The Guildmaster's quarters was filled with a vivid collection of colours, the balloons swaying slightly in the breeze coming in from the window. All that was left was the food, which would be brought later by the party guests from town. None of the apprentices had been told until after they left that morning in an attempt to make sure it remained a secret from Chatot. It was starting to look more and more like a surprise birthday party. Assuming Pokémon had birthdays. If they did, would they be called hatchdays, since they came from eggs?
"So much for a big surprise," Wigglytuff sighed quite suddenly, though Sol had no idea where the sudden drop in mood had come from. "I guess I'll have to settle for a small surprise."
Wigglytuff turned to face the mildly confused Riolu.
"Remember, Sol.." He suddenly began to wave his arms above his head and walk backwards, dragging his feet along the floor. "BEWARE THE NACHO DIP! OOOHHH!"
The 'Ooohh'ing continued until Wigglytuff backed into a closet and closed the door. Sol, more confused then ever, just stood dumbly in the center of the room. The door to the main room suddenly opened, startling Sol, and Chatot strolled in.
"Guildmaster, I think was should discuss-"
He stopped in his tracks, taking in the abundance of balloons and party decorations while his mouth hung open.
"SURPRISE!" Wigglytuff screamed and jumped from the closet, throwing handfuls of tinsel into the air.
"Guildmaster, what is..." Chatot stammered.
"It was supposed to be a surprise, but you came early! And Sol was so looking forward to throwing you a party!"
"Sol... Sol did this?!" Chatot looked around at it all in disbelief before his eyes landed on the Riolu.
"Yep! She thought it'd be nice to show just how much we all appreciate what you do! Came up with it all by herself! Now, later, when the real party starts, you have to promise to act surprised!"
"I... Of course, Guildmaster... I will see you all... then, I suppose..."
Chatot cast another glance at Sol, his face filled with such a variety of emotions that it was impossible to clearly guess at what he was thinking. He then left the room.
"Ok, what was that about? What happened to the guild's 'birthday'?"
"Oh, that. That's another three months away, and we don't really do anything for it. I just wanted you two to stop being meanies to each other and start being friends! You two got off on the wrong foot, and neither of you will let it go! Friends are so much better then enemies."
"That... was borderline diabolical."
"If that's code for smart, then yeah! See ya at the party! Oh, and be sure to bring an entree!"
Wigglytuff skipped from the room. It was then Sol realized that there was so much more than meets the eye when it came to the Guildmaster. There comes a point where madness and genius blurred, and right smack dab in the middle was where Wigglytuff resided. Sol wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse about having him as her Guildmaster.