Chimera never liked getting up. More often than naught, mornings consisted of being shocked out of bed and trying to maintain his balance as he stumbled out the door, taking along whatever amalgamation of items from his pantry that could be called a breakfast. For these reasons and more, the blue lizard tucked soundly under a thick layer of blankets lay racked with fear.
It should still be early, shouldn't it? I still have time, could probably keep my eyes closed for five more minutes. But...that would mean being awoken by whoever they hired as a knocker upper. Uh..why does this have to be so hard?
With seemingly no other option, Chimera waited, cringing internally at the thought of a creature able to exacerbate the exact pitch of his alarm clock that would make his blood boil. What vocalized in its place, however, brought back memories of happier times: various notes strung together to form a soothing tune, one he presumed sweet enough to wake up even a snorlax, followed by a voice emanating from below.
"Rise and shine Chimera, time for a knew day."
The process of rising upward from the pillow came to the Bagon much easier, a peak over the bunk bed rails revealing an orange raichu with flute in hand, holding a tranquil grin.
"I take it you're not a morning person?" Argon asked.
"Well, if you're asking whether I get up in the morning," Chimera replied with a chuckle, "then I am, if you're asking whether I enjoy it...that's a different story." Despite the view of Argon growing blurrier with every rub of his eyes, he drew a quick gasp as a white mug behind her rose from the desk, seemingly of its own fruition. Slowly, it began to levitate towards him, being bordered by a thin, pink layer of light. Glancing back at Argon to see her eyes closed in concentration, Chimera held out his hand for the cup, the contents shaking ever so lightly before he was able to grab hold.
"I brewed you some tea," said Argon, eyes opening as she sighed in relief, "always thought it helped me wake up in the morning."
Chimera lowered his head to drink, olfactory senses taking in the cup's herby smell as he lamented that the closest thing he drank to tea in his old life contained enough caffeine to keep a slakoth active.
"So," Argon asked expectantly, "what do you think?"
He shuddered, sweet tooth revolting after being invaded by a decidedly bitter liquid, "This...tastes like crap."
Argon sheepishly turned away, resuming eye contact with the Bagon moments later to see that he had raised the mug to his mouth and was chugging the rest of its contents.
"It's...an acquired taste," he continued, holding his hand to his throat to conceal a gag reflex, "I appreciate you showing me it. In a couple more weeks, who knows? I might like it."
A few brief seconds followed until Argon was unable to contain herself at the display, giggling towards the floor as she motioned the Bagon out of bed.
"You don't have to keep drinking it for my sake Chimera...come on, we should probably get going now."
With no recourse, Chimera jumped out of the bunk bed to follow Argon out of the apartment, briefly noting to himself that this was the most awake he had felt during this hour in years.
Immediately upon exiting, the darkness obscuring Faire from the night before was lost, causing a deep gasp to escape Chimera's mouth. Directly across the apartment complex was a monumentous building, adorned with red brick shingles and limestone walls that left the Bagon unable to decide whether it looked more like a mansion or a fortress. The structure's impressive size cast a long shadow over the tiled courtyard that lead to it's entrance, white marble columns supporting the dozens of intricate windows that adorned the front side. The red and white pallet was broken only by a large, green shield placed on the building's highest point, three golden engraved letters spanning the shield diagonally to spell the acronym WFG.
"I-Uh, I assume that's the guild hall," Chimera inquired, eyes still glued to the building.
"Yeah, pretty extravagant, isn't it?" Argon replied. "Only the higher level teams get housing there, rest of the space is used for administrative stuff or whatnot." With not a care in the world, Argon motioned Chimera to follow her, periodically having to redirect his attention back towards the city streets as they walked.
Before long, the duo were at the marble entrance, Argon about to open the doors before feeling a knife-like arm outstretch from the crowd behind her. She jumped back, Chimera realizing the culprit to be cricket-like creature, curled black feelers on its face embellished by a cocked hat and thick green coat.
"You're the Raichu...uh...Argon was it? My name is Gryllus, Cornet rank of the WFG army division. You can play the flute, correct?"
She gazed back, unable to respond, "Uh...yes—"
No sooner had she responded was a uniform mimicking the Krikitune's shoved into her hands, on top sitting a thin, wooden instrument.
"The military band's flutist just passed out from heat exhaustion, we're marching off in five minutes, and I was informed by the leader of the WFG that you were the only one who could take his place." With this, the Krikitune grabbed hold of Argon's hand, ushering her toward a thin, green line of Pokemon barely visible over a large hill.
Chimera was just about to run after the Krikitune in protest when he heard a voice call out through the crowd, "I'll take care of this. Just...wait for me until I get back!" His flabbergasted expression refusing to go away, Chimera planted himself on the circular brick bench of a courtyard fountain in silence, mulling over if this was a regular occurrence for the Raichu.
As the seconds waiting outside the guild hall faded into minutes, he found that the butterflies scattering tumultuously in his stomach had dwindled into what could only be called boredom. With little else to do, he occupied himself analyzing the various Pokemon moving in and out of the guild in a seemingly unending line. More often than not, a passerby would notice his wandering gaze, only to either return to their indifferent glare, or break eye contact and quicken pace. One Pokemon, however, did not fit this description. Ambling out of the crowd was a large, giraffe-like creature, body split down the middle between black and yellow spots, back side protruding a ball and chain like tail with a roguish smile. A look of panic lit up Chimera's face after seeing the tail return his gaze and the rest of the creature turn around to approach him.
"Hello, old chum!" The Girafarig greeted. "Waiting for something I presume?"
"Uh...for someone," Chimera replied, "might be a little while until they come back."
"Well, I can see why you'd be anxious, most new members of the WFG are when on their first mission."
The Bagon's face twisted into a scowl, "How did you—"
"The badge," the Girafarig interjected, pointing a hoof at the green and yellow shield pinned to Chimera's backpack, "only new recruits wear this badge, and I'd like to believe I'm on good terms with all of the previous members."
"I was just going out for a game of hoops," he continued, "seeing as how you have got a bit of a wait ahead of you, care to join old chum?"
Chimera stared onward, racking his brain for any indication of what 'hoops' was. Eventually, analysis and reasoning provided the answer memory couldn't: laying atop the Girafarig was a cloth bag, open end revealing various sized wooden mallets and solid colored spheres. Tracing the direction the Girafarig was pointing, Chimera spotted a large, open, field endowed with several U-shaped gates plunged downward into the grass.
Oh...croquet...guess somethings never change. I do have nothing better to do, and I should be able to see if Argon comes back from over there...
"Sure," Chimera replied, arm outstretched expectantly for a mallet, "Why not? And your name is?"
"Excellent! Name's Binair, pleasures all mine."
As Chimera and Binair took their positions at the beginning of the double diamond of hoops that made up the game field, a short mallet and blue ball levitated from the Girafarig's pack toward Chimera,
"The blue ball goes first, care to start the game off old chum?" Binair asked.
Chimera squinted at the Girafarig, "I presume that this is a game were going first is advantageous?"
"...In a way..." he replied, "you will just have to find out."
With a sigh, Chimera sat the blue orb next to a colored stick dug into the ground in front of the two starting wickets. It took more than a few seconds to find how his hands could hold onto the mallet in the fashion least awkward, the Bagon sarcastically wishing he had taken up golf in his old life. After a few practice tests of the mallet, he swung, the blue orb tumbling toward the first hoop to barely pass through it.
"Great shot old chum! You've gone through the first wicket, that gives you an extra swing."
Chimera re-positioned himself, cringing as the sun hidden under one of the many palm trees surrounding the field revealed itself. Surveying the rest of the field now seemed almost impossible to the blue lizard, constantly having to shift his vision back down to the blue orb for fear of causing damage to his eyes. His next swing came much less easy, veering to the left and stopping just before the second wicket.
"That's your turn," Binair called out, Chimera noting that atop the Girafarig's head now sat a large pith helmet.
Once Binair was at the starting point, a large mallet at his side levitated towards the red orb now beside the colored stick. With a flick of his mind, the Girafarig sent the end of the mallet towards the orb, directing it in a straight line past the first wicket, sideswiping the blue orb before careening through the second.
"That's three extra swings for me," Binair called out toward the bewildered Bagon.
"How...how does that—"
"One for the first wicket, another for the second, and a third for hitting your ball," Binair interjected, "a pretty good shot if I do say so myself."
Chimera found himself at a loss for words, retreating towards the palm tree's shade to hopefully hide his look of indignation.
The rest of the game passed by quickly for Chimera, sunlight growing ever more oppressive as the Girafarig maintained a steep lead. Just as Chimera felt like he was making progress as his blue sphere drew closer to passing through final hoop, it was knocked towards the other end of the field on Binair's turn, drawing a maddening roar from the blue lizard as he threw his mallet to the grass.
"Frustrated, old chum?" Binair asked, the two white horns on his head growing a vibrant pink as the Chimera's mallet was lifted from the ground towards him.
"I...yes, yes I am, it isn't fair that I have to use these," Chimera replied, holding his stubby blue arms up, "while you can use your goddamn telekinesis on the mallet!"
Binair gave a quick chuckle, "Well, would you rather I hold it with my mouth? I was born with the ability, is it not natural that I use it?"
"Not when it puts you at an inequitable advantage," he shot back. "You might as well just play with other psyche types if they're the only ones with a fair chance."
"A decent point, old chum," said the Girafarig, "however, I believe you fail to consider the world we live in."
He continued, "Take, for instance, if I were to play a game against that fine gentlemen over there."
Chimera glanced where Binair was pointing, spotting a large, orangutan-like, Pokemon with a purple cloak.
"Oranguru are extremely intelligent Pokemon, that one over there would be able to calculate the exact pressure the ball must be hit and the exact angle to achieve the most efficient route. I would have no chance, had I not used the advantages you just described."
"But you're not playing against an Oranguru, you're playing against me," Chimera replied. "Why even bother playing if you know you're going to win? Kind of defeats the whole purpose of a sport."
"To...teach," The Girafarig slowly replied, "teach a lesson, old chum, one that those just joining the guild such as yourself could use. You know the theory of the human universe, do you not? Were one species dominates the world and has made a sport of battling Pokemon such as us?"
Chimera bit his lip, "I'm...familiar with the concept, yes."
"Consider this, why do we not tell of worlds with girafarigs or alakazhams as the dominate species? They would certainly be more intelligent, as welling as being able manipulate objects more efficiently than any appendages could."
Before Chimera could think of an answer, he continued, "The answer, old chum, lies in their drive. The humans of that universe were not content to stay where they where and coexist like any alakazham would. They pushed on, taking whatever suited their fancy, inventing ways control creatures with ten times their own mental or physical power."
"What's your point?" Chimera inquired, "You've said a lot, but we still are just playing croquet."
"My point, old chum, is that the world follows harsher rules than a game of hoops, and you're bound to encounter other Pokemon who are stronger and faster than you on your journey. I've spent a long time studying scientific theories on the human universe, and I've found that if you emulate them, if you keep that same inventiveness and desire for more, you'll end up with the destiny you've always wanted. Consider that, when we play croquet again."
Chimera's mind was lost trying to find a counterargument, finding relief only when his eyes spotted a familiar Raichu approaching from an end of the field. Even from a distance, Chimera could she that marching had left her racked with sweat, Argon's face conveying a simple message: I'm not doing that again.
"Argon!"
Chimera jumped, surprised to see that Binair was the one calling out to her. "Fancy seeing you here, you'll be heading out soon, I presume?"
"Yeah," she replied in between deep breaths, "going on a short mission with my new partner over there, had to help some of the soldiers first, though."
His curiosity peeked, Chimera piped in, "I take it you two know each other?"
"Well, of course," she replied dismissively, "he's my boss."
Chimera's head shot towards the Girafarig, demanding an explanation.
"Guess the game is up," Binair said with a heavy grin, happy to oblige, "before you stands the founder and current presider of the Western Faire Guild."