Chapter 1-3

End of the First Day

Eventually, Luke got up, crawling out of the pit before holding out a paw to help Kon out.

Kon looked back at Zubat and Koffing as he was pulled out.

"Don't worry, they're still alive." Luke responded, knowing pretty much what he was thinking. He glanced around before going over to a shellos hole, looking in. "Ah, here we go."

Kon just looked on confused as the pikachu pulled out two blue berries that weren't exactly blueberries. Said confusion intensified as Luke left some gold coins in the hole before tossing the berries down in the pit near the two thieves.

He voiced his thoughts. "Why are you doing that?"

"Well, they're hurt." Luke gave a weak smile. "They stole from me but I can't really hate them."

Luke started walking off. "My mom once told me the best way to turn an enemy into a friend is to extend your hand."

Kon just had a contemplative look on what could be seen on his face as he started to follow.

Back in the pit, the two poison type pokemon carefully waited for the two others to get far enough away before getting up.

"Heh-heh heh." Zubat nervously laughed as he picked up the berry. "We sure got lucky, huh?"

"Yeah." Koffing confirmed before eating his own berry before looking to the rapidly decomposing corpse. "Zubat, we gotta tell the boss about 'em."

"I know, but that charmander was really…" Zubat shuddered. "Hope we don't run into him at night."

[hr]

"Aw, the krabby have all gone in." Luke noted out loud, silently mourning the fact that the bubbles have all been popped.

Kon momentarily winced, trying to get used to the light after being in a cave for what felt like an hour.

Luke turned around. "Kon, can I ask you a question?"

Kon just nodded in response.

"Can you remember anything before waking up on this beach beside your name? Like where you were born at or where you learned to fight?"

Kon opened his mouth to respond and stopped with a sudden horror. He desperately tried to remember anything beyond his name and a few facts.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. Like someone had come along with a giant eraser and cleaned his head out.

"No. I-I can't." And like that, he went from horror to anger.

"Well, there's a lot of pokemon out there, some we're really just discovering due to the efforts of Exploration Teams and Rescue Teams. Maybe one of them took your memories?" Luke suggested, not really seeing the charmander's face real well but guessing he was getting furious due to his tail flame having grown to half of the fire type's size.

"What I'm trying to say is, do you want to form an Exploration Team with me so we can find your memories?" Luke held up his paw.

Kon stared at the yellow furred paw, mind partially muddled by his anger. "Why? I thought you were horrified by what I did with that dome pokemon?"

"Kabuto." Luke filled in for him. "And yeah, I still am. But…I understand why you did it. You were trying to protect me and you just reacted like a human would have on instinct. And, those instincts did help save Koffing and Zubat and put that poor shellos out of his or her agony..."

Luke shuffled his feet. "Basically, I think we could be really effective partners!"

Kon had time to calm down during that talk and realize a few important facts. For one, Luke was the only person/pokemon he knew right now, other than the two thieves. For another, he had no idea where he was and where to go. Going off alone was tantamount to suicide so he really had no choice.

Kon grabbed Luke's paw and shook it. "I accept."

Luke practically lit up, thought Kon could feel tingly due to the sudden static coming off the pikachu. "Thank you!"

Luke let go and pointed north east. "Wigglytuff's Guild is up there. We got there first to become an apprentice Explorer Team. Let's go, to get your memories back." The pikachu jumped in the air, throwing a fist before taking off. In his haste, he forgot that Kon was still not as fast as him.

Cursing, the charmander started to follow, but took his own pace.

[hr]

"This is it, Wigglytuff's Exploration Guild." Luke's voice was filled with pride, mostly to mask his fear of stepping on the identification grate. "I've actually met Wigglytuff once before. Just... be patient with him."

"Is his head as big as this tent?" Kon had to ask, thinking about how the tent must have to look like the guild leader.

"No. He's not that much bigger than us." Luke looked back to the grate and gulped. 'Calm down. I need to be brave.'

Luke stepped onto the grate and tensed up as soon as the voices started.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is Pikachu's! The footprint is Pikachu's!"

The pikachu felt like bolting but he could also feel Kon's eyes on him.

"... You may ENTER!" Luke jumped slightly at the last word being shouted louder than normal. "Someone's with you, so get that stranger to stand up THERE!"

Luke scampered off before looking to Kon. "Pretty sure they're talking about you, Kon."

Kon just rolled his eyes, unseen by even the legendary pokemon who watches over us all, as he stepped onto the grate.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is...The footprint is...Um..."

"What's the matter?! Sentry! Sentry Diglett?! What's wrong?"

"Umm...Er...The footprint is...maybe charmander's! Maybe charmander's!"

"What?! MAYBE?!"

"It's not a footprint you normally see around here…" Diglett weakly defended. "And there's something odd about them…"

"UGH! That's pretty crummy!"

Kon facepalmed as the sentries kept talking.

"Are they really arguing?" Luke had to ask while the argument died down.

"...Sorry to make you WAIT." The two topside pokemon looked back to the grate. "It's true you don't SEE many charmander around here but you don't SEEM to be bad… Good enough! ENTER!"

As if on cue, the iron gate keeping them from entering slide down, spooking Luke. "Yikes!"

Luke shuddered before walking in, followed by Kon. Then Luke was stopped by the ladder going down. Luke started thinking of the best way get on the ladder, which went on two seconds longer than Kon had patience.

Kon simply pushed the electric rodent.

"Ah?" Then Luke fell with a scream that didn't last longer than a second before he his the floor.

Kon came down the normal way, to an irritated looking partner.

"Why'd you push me down?! I could have been hurt!"

"You took too long." Was the dry response before looking around at the different pokemon.

And he wasn't really impressed. There was a sunflower, a beaver thing, an acorn, two birds, a caterpillar, and a ladybug. It was diverse but…not really what someone would think an explorer would be.

Luke was just rubbing his head as the two walked deeper in the room and even though he was ill at Kon, the frustration was overcome by wonder. Briefly, he thought about if all the pokemon in were on exploration teams.

"Excuse me!" The two's thoughts were cut off by a brightly colored pokemon approaching from the ladder going even lower. "It was you two that just came in right?"

"Y-yes sir!" Luke exclaimed, Kon just nodding.

"I'm Chatot, right-hand pokemon to Guildmaster Wigglytuff!" He chirped, chest filling with pride. "Now shoo! We have no time for salespeople or silly surveys."

Kon really wanted to tie Chatot's beak shut.

Thankfully, Luke spoke up before Kon could speak something that would certainly get them kicked out. "No! That's not why we're here! We came to form an exploration team!"

This seemed to knock the air out of Chatot. "Really? And exploration team?"

Then the bird turned around to mutter negative things about how hard the training was and how many pokemon ran away from how vigorous the training was.

"We can still hear you." Kon's voice was as dry as a desert.

"My mom never told me the training was that bad…" Luke tilted his head, wondering if his mom lied to him. "Is it really that bad?"

"Gah!" Chatot turned back around, flailing his wings. "It's not true in the slightest! Our training program for exploration teams is easy as can be!"

Chatot took a second to calm down. "Well, well, well! I wish you had told me up front that you had wanted to be an exploration team! Hee-heeee!"

Kon's hand was twitching while Luke deadpanned. "He changed attitudes pretty quickly…"

Chatot spun around. "Ok! Let's get your team signed up right away. Follow me!" Then the bird hopped over to the ladder, Kon taking the middle.

Kon looked up when he was at the bottom, seeing Luke take his time coming down with his tail hanging there. Then Kon made a decision to make Luke come down faster. One he would swiftly regret.

He grabbed Luke's tail.

Approximately two seconds later, Kon was twitching on the ground from the electrical shock, Luke landing on him. "A-at least I-I had a s-semi-soft l-landing this t-time." Luke stuttered, seeming just as shocked as Kon.

Kon made a mental note to never pull Luke's tail ever again. The canned laughter of the nearby frog pokemon cemented the note in his mind.

Chatot had a wing to his face, muttering about how this was the third worst way someone learned not to pull an electric type's tail. Then the bird took out a red berry. "Do you need a Cheri Berry for your paralysis."

"No, I've walked off worse." Kon proceeded to shove Luke off him and shakily get up. "Like having my intestines torn out."

Kon just paused, ignoring the fact that Chatot didn't seem to believe him. He wondered why he said that but couldn't remember it. Only that he wasn't lying.

What had he done in the past to get his guts ripped out?

Luke looked at him worriedly before following Chatot, Kon following not far behind.

At the door, Chatot looked to them. "This is Guildmaster Wigglytuff's Office."

Then he took on a serious tone. "On no account… I repeat, on no account should you be discourteous to our Guildmaster."

Luke and Kon both nodded.

Chatot turned to the door. "Guildmaster! It's Chatot! I'm coming in!" The he pushed the door open and the three entered to see the Guildmaster facing away from them. He seemed to be messing with something.

"Guildmaster!" Chatot moved to his side. "I present two pokemon who wish to join our guild as apprentices."

The fairy type spun around, a massive smile on his face. "Hiya!"

Luke would later lie and say that he didn't jump in shock. "I'm Wigglytuff! I'm the Guildmaster of the guild! You want to form an exploration team?"

Both pokemon nodded, Luke mostly from shock and Kon from indescribable feelings, leaning more towards contempt.

"Then, let's go for it!" He cheered, handing them some papers with some parts to write in and a piece of charcoal. "First, we must register your exploration team's name!"

At this, Luke froze up. He had thought of cool names in the past, having imagined this day coming but the fact it was happening now made all the cool names drain away. All that was left was the name he made as a pichu while playing with some old friends. 'Pokepals.'

Honestly, the name sounded kinda dull now that he was older and he looked over desperately at Kon.

The charmander just let the word slip out, even though he didn't know where exactly it came from in his head. "Crusaders."

Luke practically jumped on the name as he finished the paperwork for him and Kon. "Yeah! We're going to be Team Crusaders!" Never mind the fact that Luke didn't know what the word meant.

"All settled, then!" Wigglytuff took the paperwork from them. "I'll register your team as Crusaders."

He filled out the rest, humming before… "YOOM...TAH!" He tossed them in the air, for Chatot to fly up and grab. Kon just raised an invisible eyebrow.

"Congratulations! From now on, you're and official exploration team!" Wiggytuff spun around, suddenly holding a large box, a layer of dust on it. "I present you both with this in commemoration."

He placed the box down, with Luke opening it. "Oh wow!"

Kon looked in from the other side and was less impressed. To him, it was just a map, a pair of badges, and a messenger bag.

"There's so much good stuff!" Luke took out one of the badges, holding it up.

"That's your Explorer Badge, used for official team identification and emergency teleportation of others." Wigglytuff explained before motioning to the bag. "Also, have a peek inside your bag."

Kon blinked and opened the bag to see a weird band and a dark blue half cape with a bow as the clasp. He still wondered why Luke was so excited over clothes, seeing the pikachu pull out the half cape with a gasp and flourish before slipping it on.

"Those two items are very special, as we give some to all our new apprentices." Chatot explained. "Though, the half-cape is something new we started importing from overseas."

"Thank you!" Luke's eyes were sparkling, attaching his badge to the center of the bow. Kon copied him and attached it to his fur scarf. "We'll do our best!"

"Yup! But you're only apprenticing right now." Wigglytuff reminded them. "So do your best...to train!"

"Yes sir!" Luke grabbed the bag and the map before turning to Kon. "Let's do our best, Kon!"

Kon just nodded back before Chatot led them off.

Wigglytuff waited for the door to close before turning around and starting to write a letter.

"Dear Rita, Your son just joined today and he loved the cape you got for him. I'm sure it will come in great use for him. And his friend is very unique, like you…"

[hr]

"Ahhh!" Luke laid down on a pile of hay, Chatot coming in with a blanket that resisted burning for Kon. "I can't believe we got our own room!"

"Make sure to relax today, things get busy tomorrow." Chatot chimed in. "So rise early and start living up to our code! So get to sleep early tonight!"

"Yes sir!" Luke cheered, Chatot hopping off.

[hr]

The sun had set and the moon was high, shining in through the window on the pokemon laying on the hay.

"Hey, Kon, you still awake?" Luke whispered, rolling over onto his stomach. Getting no response, Luke started talking again. "I think my heart is finally calming down from everything that happened yesterday. I just… I can't believe I'm walking in my mom's footsteps."

"Oh, you probably don't know. She's kinda like you, ya know. An amnesiac human turned into a pokemon." He explained, looking at the back of the curled up charmander. "I mean, she didn't join an exploration team but she did join a Rescue Team and she was just… I've heard the rumors from the other in Pokemon Square."

"She saved the world by tying a group of swablu together to go up to the stratosphere and force Rayquaza to destroy a meteor. She once swam three days just to defeat Kyogre and take a gem out of his stomach. She went to the core of the planet simply to punch Groudon in face to take on of his teeth. Though, that last one would explain that weird necklace she has."

Kon shifted suddenly, surprising Luke. "Kon?

Then he started to trash wildly. "KON!"

[hr]

Stone.

Stone and flesh.

Stone intertwined with flesh, pulsating and squirming. Eyes and mouths and eyes and mouths gaping and staring.

He felt fear as he fired into the ranks of Cultists, who kept rigid grins, ignoring all pain as they clasped their hands together, swaying as they gave endless, mindless praise to their dark god.

He felt agony as a man with a golden mask, that overflowed with bleeding flesh tore at him with claws that sprouted out of his arms, and it was all he could to to not scream. He flailed, he fired, he stabbed as he and his comrades in arms carved their way through the twisted, unholy areas, with towering statues of black obsidian and spiked gates pouring blood.

There, there! The altar! It radiated unholy energies as they came closer, and he poured the holy mixture onto the last altar and the world around him shook as a roar filled the air for it was the ire of the dark god at it saw them AND IT WAS ANGRY.

[hr]

Luke was desperately shaking Kon, even slapping him at one point. He just wasn't waking up. "Kon! You're having a nightmare!"

Luke made a split second decision and outright shocked Kon.

Kon's eyes shot open and Luke felt his dagger on his neck, a prickle of pain coming from where the cold blade was touching. And Konstantin was just staring at him, eyes only half focused.

"Kon." Luke whispered, holding his breath. "You were having a nightmare and wouldn't wake up. I had to shock you."

It was all tense for a second before the door to their room opened, Kon swiftly taking the dagger off Luke's neck. Chatot peeked in. "I heard screaming."

"It's fine. Kon was just having a nightmare." Luke explained quickly. "He's awake now."

Chatot nodded. "If the nightmares happen again, you should really go to Chimecho for something to let you sleep dreamlessly." Then the bird closed the door.

Luke sat down back on his pile of hay. "Kon, do you want to talk about your nightmare?"

Kon sat up, looking at his shaking claws. "I…it was very vivid. I could feel the claws and the pain." The charmander put a hand to one of the places where he felt had the pain like some phantom thing. And then, with a hesitant voice, he started to explain more and more about what had happened.

[hr]

A/N: Whelp. Things are moving along. Not only do we get a bit of background on Luke but Kon has his first nightmare about the past. Yaaaaaaay~!

Would have had Kon going into more detail but then I realized that we used a lot of words already for this chapter. Zara, your thoughts?

Zaravan

Compared to The Hamlet, the Guild is decidedly...

Less than impressive. Then again, Pokemon don't seem very keen on building solid stone foundations in which they may live.