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Chapter 5

Valor and Vendetta

As soon as the sunlight poured into the room through the makeshift window, the start of Terron's new life working for the Special Tasks Fellowship began– but not quite in a way he would have preferred.

"Arise, children," a familiar voice called loudly. "You have had enough rest."

Terron slowly awoke from his slumber to find that he was staring at the Ninetales he had seen last night by the doorway. Unlike that time, though, the Ninetales was very much awake with no signs of fatigue.

"You're Éclair," Terron said her, suddenly remembering her name.

"Yes, we met yesterday," the Ninetales spoke in a more powerful and noble than the one she had used the previous night. "Though, my introductions were insufficient and lackluster due to my fatigue. That is why I would like to try once again to introduce myself to you and your friend as soon as she awakens."

Not long after Éclair spoke those words, Zekra stirred in her sleep. Her eyes opened slowly before she glanced over at the Ninetales.

"Ah, you are awake young Zorua," Éclair said. "Did you rest well?"

"Not really," Zekra answered wearily. "I don't really feel like I slept at all."

Zekra's eyes then darted around the room for a brief second, hesitating, before she looked back at the Ninetales with a puzzled expression.

"Hey where's Len? And King?" Zekra asked. "Weren't they here last night?"

Terron noticed that she was right; the two who had brought him and Zekra into the room were no longer around. In fact, it appeared as though they had never been in this room at all. He found that to be rather odd since the room was was their bedroom after all.

"Len and King awoke an hour ago," Éclair stated. "They often awaken an hour or earlier before the dawn of each day to prepare for the rest of that day. Such is the way of all members of our team."

"Oh, I see," Zekra said.

"Yes. Now that you children are awake, I believe I should properly introduce myself," the Ninetales said. "My name is Éclair. I am the second member of the team organized by the Luxray you know as Len. What are your names, children? Who might you be?"

"Uhhhh, Zekra," Zekra replied.

"Terron," Terron answered simply.

"Zekra, you say?" Éclair pondered out loud. "What a lovely name for a Zorua. And you Terron... pardon me for asking, but what are you? I don't believe I recognize your species."

"Oh. I'm... a Cubone," Terron answered with some reluctance. "I just don't have a helmet. I... lost it."

"Such a pity. I have heard that Cubone prize their skulls as their most valuable possessions. Losing one is the same as losing their family members to them."

Terron didn't say anything to the remark.

"Hopefully a new helmet will come to you, however," Éclair then said optimistically. "It assists with your species' style of combat quite efficiently and will be very valuable once you start completing missions for us. But enough chatter. I believe you two are supposed to be registered today. Is this correct?"

"Yep!" Zekra said happily. "We're ready to join you guys and become a team!"

"Wonderful," Éclair smiled. "Your enthusiasm is a sight to see. Come, children; Len awaits your presence."

Terron and Zekra sluggishly got up from the warm and comfortable rug before making their way to Éclair. The three exited the room together and walked up the stairs to the much higher areas of the base. Despite dawn having come only a few moments ago, the inside of the base was quite bright and more than enough light filled the area. All of the candles that had been lit were blown out now, and rather recently at that, for wet wax dripped down the candles' sides.

Yet despite the differences from how the base looked at night, one thing was still the same; nobody was awake.

"Hey, when does everybody else get up?" Terron asked curiously as he noted all of the closed doors.

"Mid-morning," Éclair answered. "Many of our teams carry out their work until late into the night. Also, the businesses in town are not open until mid-morning, thus it encourages our members to rest until they most necessarily must. Fatigue has much influence on them, but I do not hold that against them."

Terron nodded silently. The trio continued to navigate through the tree until Éclair brought the children back to the room they had been in the previous night. The Ninetales gently tapped her paw against the wooden door a few times.

"I have brought the new recruits," she spoke. "They are ready for you."

"Thank you." Len's voice said humbly from the other side. "Bring them in if you may."

The Ninetales pushed the door open and ushered Terron and Zekra inside the room. Once they entered, Terron saw that this room was an office. There were several cabinets throughout the entire room, all shut tightly and locked. Strange footprints marked each cabinet, though it was used more for a symbol rather than accidentally being there from someone stepping on it. At the other side of the room was Len, standing behind a counter. He smiled once he saw the three come in.

"Well, if it isn't our new addition to the Fellowship," Len said in a pleased tone. "How were they for you, Éclair?"

"They were enjoyable company," the Ninetales answered. "They will make fine members."

"Ah, I see," Len said with a nod. "Well then, since you're here, let's get started on your registration. Come over here so we can start that."

Terron and Zekra walked over to the other side of the room until they were at the desk. It was quite taller than them, so they had to stand a few feet away from the desk so that they could see Len. They anxiously waited to see what they were supposed to do. Len took out pieces of paper from cabinets behind him with a small amount of trouble since he didn't have any hands. Éclair chuckled at the sight of seeing him having trouble.

"Gah, almost wish I didn't have to take Emdox's shift right now," Len complained as he finally managed to bring a sheet of paper to the table. "It really makes me see the value of hands."

"Emdox?" Terron asked, catching those words despite them being in a mutter. "Who's that?"

"He is another member of my team who has the task of keeping information for the Fellowship organized," Len stated. "He registers practically everything from here. New teams, new members, jobs you've completed, you name it, it's all here somewhere in paper. However, today he had to go run an important errand for us since the members of our team who usually take care of that are on a different errand. And they won't be back for another month or two. So, I'm running registration while King is taking care of my position."

"You guys sure do a lot of work," Terron said flatly.

"Yes, it's all part of the job. But I don't mind it," Len replied. "Anyway, back to your team registration. First thing's first. What do you want to call your team?"

"A team name?" Zekra asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, we have to be able to identity your team somehow," Len answered. "While your 'team' is only at two members right now, it could grow to have more members. Thus, we need to be able to know who works for who in order to prevent confusion. Your team name can be anything... though don't do something ridiculous. Please."

Zekra stared at Len for a moment of confusion before giving a slow nod and brought her thoughtful gaze to the ground.

A team name? Terron thought, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and searching through his mind in desperation for an awesome-sounding name. Well, this is pretty sudden. Can I even come up with something cool so quickly? Hmm. Ah, I know what to do.

"What's your team's name?" Terron then asked Len, figuring that would help spring up ideas. "I mean, even if you guys are the leaders, do you call yourselves by a certain name?"

"Team Valor," Éclair answered before Len could say so.

Terron turned toward the Ninetales. A puzzled expression creased across his face.

"Valor?" he repeated.

"Yes, Valor," Éclair said again. "Named after what gives each of us strength to fight against an unstoppable enemy. It is not a word that many Pokémon use. Most of the time, it is called Courage or Bravery. Even pluckiness. But the valor we named ourselves after, that is the courage of fighting for a noble cause. Our valor does not fight just for us, but for others as well. Now what will your name be? What word shall represent your team so that, when others look upon you, they shall think of you as the embodiment of that particular word?"

Terron glanced over at Zekra and saw that an idea was slowly forming in her mind. He would have liked to create a name for the team himself, but since Zekra seemed to have a better idea, he'd let her have the honor of naming their team. After all, the name of Len's team didn't spark any ideas as he had hoped.

"Team... ... ... Vendetta," Zekra said after the idea had fully formed in her mind.

"... ... ... Vendetta," Len said in a plain voice.

Terron looked over at Len to see that he was letting the name sink into his thoughts. Though Terron wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, he thought he saw a quick spark of something flicker in the Luxray's eyes. Like what happens when one reaches an epiphany of a question they've longed to have answered. However, it had passed so quickly that the Cubone questioned if he had imagined it or not.

"How does that sound, Terron?" Zekra asked him. "You think it's good?"

Terron quickly brought his attention to his companion before nodding in reply. It had a powerful ring to it, and also represented them... well, Zekra anyway. But still, it was a name Terron liked and wanted to stick with.

"Len," Éclair said in a bit louder of a voice than what might have been necessary.

Len blinked.

"Oh, yes, right," Len rambled, awkwardly writing on the paper by using his claws that were dipped in ink. "Maybe King should have taken this shift even if he hates paperwork... but okay, Team Vendetta. A fine name I must say. Now we have just two more things left. Who will be the leader of your team?"

Terron was very sure that Zekra was going to proclaim herself as the leader, so he prepared to volunteer her as the leader as well.

"He can be the leader," Zekra said as she pointed to Terron before the Cubone could speak his mind.

"Really?" Terron asked in disbelief, turning his head to her. "You don't want to?"

"Well, I think you'd make a good leader," Zekra explained with a nervous smile. "I don't think I'd do so well at it anyway. I'm not too good at all that leader stuff. So, you should be the one who gets the say in things since you're probably better at being a leader than I am."

Terron stared at the Zorua and heard her give a quiet laugh of anxiety. He still didn't understand why she thought he would make a better leader, as he barely even knew anything in the world he was in now, but he didn't feel like questioning Zekra.

"I suppose that's fine," Terron replied, getting over the shock of the decision.

Once he had recorded their names and filled out the forms, he awkwardly fumbled with his paws to fold them up neatly. After some measure of success, he carefully bit down on the collection of papers and carried them to a nearby file cabinet, dropping them into the archives and locking them up.

"Now that you've been registered to our association, we have one last item of business to take care of," Len said to Terron and Zekra. "We have to mark you to let others know that you're associated with us."

"Mark us? What do you mean by that?" Zekra asked curiously.

Rather than answer, Len approached them. For a moment, he ominously stared down upon Zekra's form, then lightly placed his front paw upon her forehead. The Zorua winced, holding her breath in confusion.

"Normally, Emdox has a different technique with our marks and we'd wait for him to return, but because you are of the dark type, you have to be marked in a different way," Len said plainly. "Don't worry, though; you won't feel a thing."

Before Zekra could ask what the Luxray was talking about, a surge of electricity throbbed from his paw and streamed into her forehead. For a few moments, the currents of yellow energy danced through Zekra's fur. Terron watched in horror as his companion thumped to the floor, her legs limp and useless. Her eyes remained open, if only partially though, showing she was still conscious.

"Zekra!" Terron cried. "What did you do to her?!"

"Paralyzed her," Len answered calmly. "Don't worry, though, she's perfectly fine. She just can't move or feel anything."

Terron was about to say more and started making his way toward the Zorua, but Éclair stopped him with a paw and shook her head in disagreement. Terron, though unwilling, stayed where he was. He watched as the Luxray turned over one of Zekra's paws so that it was faced upward, standing on it and holding it in place. He lifted his other paw, and there was a soft yet startling sound as his sharpened claws slid into view. Terron squinted at them; they werered.

Terron bit down upon his tongue in revulsion as the Luxray began digging his claws into the pads of the Zoura's paw. He clenched his fists, trying with all his might to trust the old warrior and resist the urge to rescue her from the assault.

However, as his claws went into the pad of Zekra's paw, no blood was drawn. Terron watched in fascination; he imagined that Zekra would have some kind of reaction, but she could only lay limply upon the floor and witness whatever it was that Len was doing to her. She didn't seem to be in any sort of pain.

A minute or so passed before Len finally released Zekra's paw.

He returned to his desk for a moment, producing something from a drawer. It was a round, red berry, still hanging from a vine. Terron recognized this sort of fruit; he had eaten some before, when he had traveled through the groves. Gently, the Luxray opened Zekra's mouth and helped her to chew and swallow the fruit. Only a few seconds later, Zekra seemed to gasp for breath, regaining her mobility.

Terron sighed in relief at seeing that his friend was okay and unharmed.

"She bears the mark now," Len stated to Terron. "Now we just have to wait until Emdox gets back from his errand later tonight and then we can give you the mark. Once that's done, you two can start going on missions for us."

"Where's the mark on you guys?" Terron asked curiously, not spotting any strange brands on Len and Éclair.

Shrugging, Len and Éclair flipped over their right paws at the same time and showed them to Terron. Etched into the black pads on their paws was a marking that resembled that of a four-pointed star with three lines crossing through the star and intersecting in the middle. On the intersection point of the lines was a single circle. The symbol resembled that of branding marks, though it seemed far less painful. Each of their marks were of a different color however due to the coloring of their fur. Éclair's took the shade of brilliant gold while Len's took on a more electric yellow color that matched the shading of his own yellow fur.

"These are Emdox's way of the marks. The one I most prefer," Len said as he set his paw down. "However, I don't think mine are too bad. They don't show through the fur as easily through those that don't have pads on their paws, but it's just as permanent. Though mine do take a few days for the wound to heal to make the mark look like this..."

It was then that Terron noticed Zekra slowly making her way over to them. She was very sluggish in her walking as if she had just woken up from a long slumber, but nonetheless didn't seem to have a hard time moving. Once she came over to Terron, she smiled before allowing him to see her mark. It was in the same shape and style as Len and Éclair's mark, but it seemed to lack the marking of the circle where the lines intersected. Her marking still had the appearance of a scar, but if what Len said was true, then it would look more like their mark in a while.

"Well, while you two wait for Emdox so he can do the mark for you Terron," Len started to say, "I suppose Éclair can show you your new rooms. Éclair, if you would."

"I shall," the Ninetales replied before walking toward the door. "This way, children."

Terron and Zekra waved goodbye to Len before leaving the room with the nine-tailed creature.

"Your room is in another tree," Éclair stated. "Just as ours room is, your room resides high above others. Allow me to direct you to it."

The three exited the current tree before going into the one next to it. Once they entered inside, Terron and Zekra saw that had a slightly different structure when compared to the other two they had been in. This particular tree was meant for holding bedrooms as was very apparent by the numerous rooms attached to the walls. In fact, the whole tree seemed to be dedicated entirely to housing Pokémon. Unlike the tree that held many of Team Valor's services, this one seemed to offer none. As Éclair explained to them along the way, the entire tree was meant to be a resting area.

Eventually, after cimbing up numerous staircases, the three came to a room towards the very top. It may have been the highest room in the entire tree.

"This is your new room. Team Vendetta's room," Éclair said with a smile before opening the door for the two.

Terron and Zekra walked inside and saw exactly what their new bedroom was like. It had a similar design to that of Len's master bedroom, and it was approximately the same size, if only a tiny bit smaller. A few empty hooks hung on the walls and a single barren shelf lined the wall as well. There was even a large hole in the wall to serve as a window, just like the other room. However, unlike the other room, this one didn't have a rug to sleep on. There were instead two piles of hay neatly set on the floor. They were a bit larger than necessary, but that was probably because the room might have been expected for larger Pokémon. The two wandered inside as they looked around everywhere, taking in the feeling that this room really was theirs.

"Do you like the room?" Éclair asked.

"Yeah! It's great!" Zekra said happily. "It feels a little empty though without having any stuff like you guys did."

"Your room will soon fill with all sorts of valuables," Éclair smiled. "As soon as you start performing missions, you will have many items to fill the space in your room."

"Alright, thank you!" Zekra replied before sitting down in one of the hay beds.

"It was a pleasure," the Ninetales said. "Emdox should return in six hours, so take this time to explore the rest of the base, or take the time to rest. We expect that once you have both been marked, you will do missions starting tomorrow."

"Already?" Terron asked.

"Yes, despite being children, we expect you to be able to perform your necessary jobs as soon as possible," Éclair stated. "You may find the errands you must do at the base of the main tree on the Bulletin Board. That is, the tree we left moments ago. Once you have completed your mission, you will report it to Emdox so that he may keep record of it. And you will do this every day of your time here unless otherwise instructed. However, only one mission is required per day. Some missions may require you to be gone for numerous days, but those are exceptions. You are free to accomplish more than one mission per day though should it work to your schedule."

Terron and Zekra nodded slowly, memorizing everything the Ninetales had just said. Once she had seen their sign of acknowledgement, she turned toward away.

"I must go now; there are several tasks I must complete," Éclair said. "I will see you two again in the future. Remember what I said, and if you ever require my attention, you know where to find me. I wish you children luck on the path you have chosen to take with us."

And with that, the Ninetales left the two alone in their new room.

Terron and Zekra began to wander the rest of the base a short while later, curious to know what the rest of the place looked like. The two at the moment found themselves walking along the odd bridges which allowed more passages into the other trees from high up. Despite the bridges being the branches of the very tree, the walkway held firm and showed no signs of breaking.

However, that didn't prevent Terron from glancing downward as they walked along the branch. The two were so high up and slipping off the tree seemed ridiculously easily.

"Why aren't there any kind of safety ropes on these branches?" Terron wondered. "The branches are thick… but I don't think that's going to stop anyone from falling off."

"Why would anyone fall off, though?" Zekra then asked. "There's plenty of room and there isn't even a breeze out. You'd only fall off if you keep looking down."

"But what if you lose your balance or trip?" Terron asked. "I mean, I feel like I'm going to trip and fall off the edge…"

"A lot of Pokémon have great balance," Zekra stated. "We have to or else we'd get into a lot of trouble during battles. Plus, nobody trips… unless you're incredibly exhausted or practically dying."

Despite the Zorua's words, Terron still felt uneasy about walking across the bridge. However, he kept his words to himself and tried to keep his focus off the ground.

"Hey, when you got paralyzed, did it hurt?" Terron asked. "I mean, Len basically dug his claws into you foot…"

"Well, I didn't get hurt physically by the claws," Zekra replied. "I thought I was going to hurt, but I didn't feel a thing. But that didn't matter too much anyway since I really wanted to get out of there, but I couldn't move. That was painful in its own special way."

Zekra grimaced.

"I kept trying to move, but my body wouldn't listen!" Zekra cried. "I couldn't even talk! It was horrible with being not being able to get away or even ask what you guys were doing! Ugh! I never want to get paralyzed again!"

"Hopefully that doesn't happen to me," Terron said as he nervously played with his hands. "I'm supposed to get marked by a different Pokémon, but I don't know if it's in a different way as well. Hopefully it is since what you went through sounds like torture."

"No, being trapped in your thoughts is a wonderful experience," Zekra muttered sarcastically.

"Tch whatever," Terron scoffed. "I'll just get over it somehow. Not like I have a choice. But, why do we have to get marked? Isn't there a simpler way to tell we belong to the Fellowship?"

"Maybe they do this so that they can tell right away if we're members," Zekra suggested. "I mean, we could have badges I suppose… but then we might lose them. Maybe they do this so that you never lose your Fellowship identity."

"Suppose so," the Cubone shrugged. "Still seems like a pretty drastic way to make you a member. They could have at least made it seem less like an assault and more of a ceremony or whatever…"

"Well the important thing is that we're members now," Zekra stated. "So, I guess we shouldn't dwell too much on the reasoning for these marks. I mean, it's kinda cool, so I'm not complaining. Except for how they put this thing on me!"

As the two continued to make their way forward, it was then that a group of three Pokémon came out of the tree the two were headed for; a Vaporeon, Kirlia, and Pupitar.

The trio seemed to be in a hurry and scurried down the bridge. They quickly passed by the children, but the Pupitar accidentally bumped into Terron as it went by. Thanks to the speed and mass of the Pokémon, the Cubone stumbled backwards. He tried to balance himself back out, but was quick to find that he no longer had a footing on the tree.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Terron saw the ground grow closer and closer to him. His eyes grew dry from the falling, but he didn't dare close them. He attempted to land on some branches, but he wasn't able to control his plummet. Even if he managed to steer himself toward one branch, it was too small and would fall apart the second the Cubone touched it.

Just when the ground was only seconds away, Terron felt something latch onto his back. Immediately, his falling ceased and he came to an immediate stop a few feet off the ground.

Terron looked up to find that a silky strand had attached to his back and held him firm. His eyes followed the source of the silk to find a certain Ariados towards the peak of the tree; Garter. The silk that prevented Terron from dying was connected to the spider's mouth. Terron felt himself hoisted up by the one strand despite how impossible that seemed and lowered onto the branch he had originally fallen from. The Pupitar and the others were no longer on the branch, though Zekra was still there and smiling in relief.

The Ariados then made his way down the tree to where Terron was. He removed the silk from Terron.

"Seems that I managed to catch you in time," Garter said. "Do you have any broken bones or injuries of any sort?"

"No, I'm fine," Terron said awkwardly. "Just trying to calm my heart down. But what are you doing here? You're Garter… right? Len was mentioning you, but he didn't say much about you."

Terron took a step back.

"You're not going to kidnap us again, are you?" he then asked wearily.

"No, of course not," Garter assured. "I don't have any intentions of doing so. But, like you said before, I'm Garter. I'm a member of Len's team here at the Fellowship. I've been here for about a decade. I'm the one who makes sure no one suspicious enters here."

"Then how come you kidnapped us?" Zekra then asked. "We weren't around here."

"Because you two had information that we wanted," Garter explained. "We needed that information in a more descriptive form, but you two wouldn't come with me when I asked. So, I had no choice but to take you two by force."

The Ariados let out a melancholy sigh.

"However, I know that doing so wasn't right," Garter then said. "I apologize for my actions. I'll try to find a way to make up for it. I'll promise though that you won't be kidnapped by the Fellowship again. Since you are a team now from what Len told me, there wouldn't be a reason for us to do it."

"Well, I think I can forgive you," Terron said. "And, you saved my life after all. I think that's a good enough reason to accept your apology."

"Thanks," Garter said with a smile. "I wish you two luck on your future missions."

The Ariados then climbed back up the tree to the spot he had originally been sitting in. With the conversation done, Zekra and Terron made their way to the other side of the bridge.

They entered inside the new tree to find its inside structure was a mess hall. While it was mostly empty now save for a few early risers, it was very clear that every platform here was meant to serve as an eating area. A few tables were spread around the various heights of the tree as well as a few chairs and mats. Zekra and Terron peered downward to the very bottom and saw that there was a small line in front of what looked like a serving area. Behind the counter where all the Pokémon lined up to, there was a Wigglytuff giving out meals to whoever was next in line. Behind the Wigglytuff there was a door, where various Pokémon would go in and out of and sometimes give the meals to the Wigglytuff. It could be assumed that behind that door was the kitchen where everything was made.

"Huh, looks like they're serving breakfast," Zekra stated. "You want to get something to eat?"

"Yeah, I could use some food," Terron replied. "I wonder if we have to pay for it, though. I mean, we don't have anything to pay with."

"Only one way to find out I suppose," Zekra shrugged.

They walked down all the stairs that lead to the cafeteria and managed to arrive minutes later. The two got in line behind a sleepy-eyed Flaaffy and after waiting for a time, managed to acquire their meals. Thankfully for them, the meals served here were free, so their lack of money no longer concerned them. Terron carried both of their food items to a table where they then started to eat.

Terron looked down at his meal, which was a strange mix of fruits he had never seen before.

"What exactly is this?" Terron asked.

"Berries, I think," Zekra answered. "Don't know what kind, though. Guess you'll have to eat them to find out."

Terron cautiously picked up a pink, curved berry with a white tip before taking a bite out of it. It was sickeningly sweet and, while Terron liked the sensation it gave him, he was eager to try another berry out of the pile. Zekra appeared to be eating seasoned and cooked pieces of meat.

Meat of some unknown Pokémon.

Terron felt incredibly disgusted and was about to leave the table, but he was interrupted by two Pokémon. An Arcanine and Azumarill came toward the table, the Azumarill sitting on the top of the Arcanine's massive head. The large dog took a seat in front of the two children. It dropped a large slab of meat dangling from its mouth onto the table with a loud THUMP! and the Azumarill simply munched on an apple in its paws while staying in its spot on the Arcanine.

They smiled pleasantly at Terron and Zekra.

"Hey, you two wouldn't happen to be the new recruits for the Fellowship, would you?" the Arcanine asked. "We heard someone mention something about two children joining, and we were curious to know if that was true."

"Yeah, we are," Zekra said brightly. "We just joined today. We're Team Vendetta."

The Arcanine and Azumarill stopped chewing on their food and seemed frozen in place. Though there weren't any hints of emotion to show what the two were thinking, it was easy to feel the awkward tension. Terron stared at the two oddly, attempting to understand their reactions.

"Sooo, where did you guys hear we joined the Fellowship?" Zekra then asked.

The two strangers loosened up and started to eat again. They weren't as cheerful as they had been earlier, but at least the two no longer seemed to be giving off that strange vibe.

"Oh, we heard from Len," the Azumarill answered. "We're his team mates, so the whole team knows the latest news about what's going on around here."

"I see," Zekra said with a nod. "Yeah, we met a few of your other team members already. King, Éclair, and Garter were their names."

"How lucky for you," the Azumarill cheered. "But, I suppose we'll introduce ourselves. I'm Rayne, and this is Bane."

"And what are your names?" Bane then asked. "I don't believe Len told us what they were."

"My name's Zekra," Zekra replied. "And this is Terron. He's the leader of our team."

"Hmmm, fine names I say," Bane stated. "I can tell you two will make fine recruits. Under your name, I think one day you two might become quite notable in Fellowship history."

"Thanks!" the Zorua said cheerily. "We'll try to live up to that idea, right Terron?"

"Yeah, we will," Terron replied.

"Wonderful," Rayne said with a smile. "With that kind of mindset, you can accomplish so much. As much as we'd like to keep chatting though, we have to get going since we have work to do. But, we'll see you two again sometime!"

"Oh, okay," Zekra said. "Well, see you later!"

Bane and Rayne finished up their meals and got to their feet. The two then left as Terron and Zekra watched them go. Once they were gone, the children finished up their meal in mostly silence before they too left to continue exploring.

Several hours later, Terron and Zekra came back to their room after having explored more of the base. They tried to find any more notable places within the entire network of trees, and while they did discover a meeting hall for all of the members to assemble to for conferences, they hadn't found much else too worthy of importance. All of the other trees were simply bedroom holders. Yet exploring each and every tree had been time consuming for the two as well as very tiring. By the time they had found their own room after some confusion, they nearly collapsed in their beds from all the exhaustion. Despite how tired they were though from all the climbing and the late hour in the night, Zekra was still very excited about being able to join the Fellowship.

"I can't believe we've managed to join," Zekra said happily as she looked over at Terron. "It's incredible! We get our own room, free food, and we get to go on adventures every day!"

"I'll admit this place seems pretty nice," Terron admitted as he lay on his back in the hay. "But we haven't gone on any missions yet. We don't know if those will be any good. The way Éclair was describing it, it almost sounded like a chore."

"I'm sure it'll be fun," Zekra said. "Don't ruin it! But what time do you want to wake up tomorrow for our mission?"

"Hmmm, probably in the middle of the morning," Terron answered. "That'd give us some decent sleep time and most of the day will be available to do for the mission. How do we know when to wake up though? Do you guys have any sort of way of keeping time?"

"Oh don't worry," Zekra said confidently. "I've got that covered. Leave getting up at the right time all to me."

It was then that someone began knocking on their door. Moments later, a Xatu opened the door and came flying in rather than walking. It landed on the floor in front of the two and then tucked its wings in front of its body to form a vest of feathers. In its beak, held by a strap, was a large messenger bag of sorts that bore the sigil that was scarred into Zekra's paw.

"Well, well, if it isn't our new team. Team Vendetta, if I remember correctly," the Xatu beamed before stopping in front of the two. "A Zorua and a Cubone. Zekra and Terron."

"Ummmm who exactly are you?" Terron asked oddly. "And how do you know our names?"

"Oh, that's right. You two haven't met me yet," the Xatu replied. "My name is Emdox. I'm the one who registers Pokémon here in this particular Fellowship. Or at least usually. Len registered you two since I was gone today. But, he left me with one last task to do for you; marking you, Terron. And giving you this bag. But that can wait. We'll focus on the mark first."

"Yeah, that's right," Terron said in realization. "But, how do you plan on marking me?"

"Well hold out your hand so I can see it," Emdox instructed rather than answering the question. "I presume that's where you want your mark as opposed to your feet."

"Well that depends," Terron said cautiously. "How are you going to put this mark on me?"

"In a completely painless and claw-less fashion," Emdox assured.

Terron reluctantly held out his paw toward the Xatu. Suddenly, he felt some unknown presence connect with his mind and could feel it searching for something within there. Terron cringed and squirmed as the uncomfortable feeling of having something alien in his mind overcame him.

"Don't worry. This will only take one second," Emdox assured.

Terron grumbled a bit, but otherwise remained still. Terron watched as the Xatu squinted his eyes in concentration. Terron felt the mental presence connect with something in his mind not long after and take complete control of it. Terron was about to yell from the strange sort of mental panic it gave him, but it was then that he noticed something unusual was happening to his hand. In the middle of his palm the flesh slowly began to change to a white shade. It started out as a small dot that was barely noticeable, but then it started to grow. It grew into various lines that spread all over his hand as if an invisible marker were drawing on his palm. They ran in various directions, some crossing over others as a certain image began to form on Terron's palm.

The Mark of the Aurora Town Fellowship. It, just like Zekra's, lacked the circle at the connection of lines, but it was still the symbol.

Once the sign had fully formed onto Terron's hand, Emdox finally broke off the connection. The Cubone sighed in relief at knowing that his mind wasn't being invaded anymore.

"There we go," Emdox said. "You've been marked."

"How did you do that?" Terron asked in wonder as he touched the marking to find that it felt just like the rest of his skin.

"Oh, well it's simple really... I just told your brain to change some of the melanin in your paw," Emdox answered. "I simply made your mind change the coloring into the shape of the mark and now that message has permanently been fused into your mind. So just like your friend's marking, but less of a scar and more of a naturally occurring sort of way."

"You... took control of my brain? And you made it do things?" Terron asked uneasily.

Terron wasn't quite sure how that was even possible, but something else was bothering him more than logic. A feeling about the idea was what bothered him most. Something about that seemed... unsettling.

"Yes I did," Emdox nodded. "I am a psychic, and many of us psychics can do just that. But have no fear; I never take control of Pokémon's minds unless for good reason. And even then, I don't do anything drastic with it. And don't worry; not all psychics can do what I just did. Only truly talented psychics can take control of your mind. I know you're worried about that."

"I'm not worried," Terron insisted.

"Oh yes you are," Emdox chuckled. "We psychics can also read minds, so you can't ever lie to me without me knowing it. But relax; it's normal to feel worried about others getting into your head. Everyone's susceptible to it, so everyone fears it. Unless, of course, you're a dark type like your friend. I can't get into her mind or even read her thoughts since her kind projects a barrier that blocks off any psychic power."

"So that's why you can't mark me and Len has to instead," Zekra said casually. "Cool… I'm special."

Terron grumbled at the remark of that, not liking how his friend was immune to mind-reading and he wasn't. However, then he remembered that he and Zekra were looking for a psychic to help him. Terron's attitude became more positive and hopeful, but he decided he'd ask Emdox later for his assistance. They were in the middle of something right now anyway.

Emdox then handed the bag he had with him to Terron. Terron opened it up to find that there were a few items inside, namely some kind of map, a small sack filled with a few berries, and a couple of scarves.

"My last item of business to take care of with you two is giving you your supplies and informing you of some necessary things," Emdox said before pointing to the bag. "That there is your field pack, a bag you bring with you on missions so that you might have somewhere to store all of your items during your travels and while in the dungeons. Inside of the bag is the starter kit we give every team that joins us. First, the map. This map gives the location of every Mystery Dungeon and every city in the region of Shiron. Of course, if you want to know more about such places, then you'll need to look that up elsewhere. But nonetheless, this map is probably the most valuable and useful item you'll ever get from us. Please treat it with care."

Terron slowly opened the map and spread it out on the floor for him and Zekra to see. It was quite detailed as Emdox had explained and seemed to give a good description of how the entire land appeared. Unfortunately, it had the strange footprints for where the descriptions for what each dot on the map were.

"What are these footprints?" Terron asked.

"These are footprint runes" Emdox explained in a surprised tone. "Surprised you haven't seen them before. They're our written language."

"Terron wasn't really taught how to write." Zekra suddenly explained. "And he wasn't really exposed to footprint runes either sadly. Though I can read them for us. Right Terron?"

Terron slowly nodded his head while mentally agreeing with Zekra as well so that Emdox would be convinced. Even if it was a lie as to why he couldn't read them, he had to agree with it for now.

"Hmmm, I see," the Xatu mused. "That's a pity. But I suppose your friend will have to be the one to read for you then. Anyway, onto the rest of the items. The smaller bag holds one Pecha, one Rawst, one Cheri, and one Oran berry. It's a minimal amount than you truly need in when going on missions, but it'll suffice until you get more money to buy some. And the last two items, the two scarves in your bag. One is a Pecha Scarf, which protects you from poisoning at all times if you wear it. The other scarf, the Persim Band, prevents enemies from confusing you and making you attack your allies. Both are sufficient items that will greatly help you in your many quests. However, there are far more efficient items that can do greater feats, but you must acquire those on your own.

"The last thing I must tell you of is a bit of a review, but it's useful to remember it. As Éclair has told you, you must do at least one mission per day unless the job takes multiple days where you'll be gone for quite a while. We don't care what mission it is, but as long as you do something posted on the Bulletin Board, you have accomplished your assignment for the day unless otherwise said. Your amount of payment depends on what kind of mission you do, though most of the time we'll pay you thirty percent of what the client offered. The other seventy percent will go to us for funds and such. And that is all. Any questions?"

Terron and Zekra shook their heads.

"Well alright then," Emdox said. "Then you're all set. May your first mission end in a success."