I suppose I should continue this, since people actually seem to want to read it. Many, many thanks for the reviews, Guest and beanboy21, and apologies to you and those who have favorited and or followed this for the length between updates, I just... Don't have a very good life. Anyways, I'll stop rambling now, hope you enjoy the chapter.

"Hey, what happened to that ratty old hat of yours? You made such a fuss about bringing it with you, and you're not even wearing it?"

"...What?"

Wil struggled to open his eyes, his eyelids feeling as if they had fifty pound weights on each of them. That voice... He had heard it somewhere before... As his lids finally parted, Wil was enveloped in a strange, familiar sense.

"...Oh no, not this place again..."

He let out a groan and reshut his eyes. He was back in... Wait, where was he back in? A strange, swirling rainbow vortex...? Why on Earth was this place familiar to him...?

"What do you mean, 'not this place again'? You mean to tell me you didn't enjoy our first little question and answer session?"

"God no!" Wil shot back at the disembodied voice. "I don't want to answer any more dumb questions about toilet hands and alien invasions!"

"Oh, quit whining, you don't have to answer anymore questions." the voice responded dismissively. "I just wanted to make sure you were still sane, that last one didn't even make it through the first day, it was... Well, it sure wasn't what I had in mind when I chose her, that's for sure!"

"What... What the hell are you talking about?" Wil asked in utter confusion, feeling as if the voice was talking more to itself than to him.

"Never you mind, it's nothing for you to be concerned about." the voice said quickly. "You're still here, and you're not babbling incoherently about wanting to go home, so that's all that matters."

"Wait..." Wil said slowly, struggling to wrap his head around what the voice was going on about. "Who are you? What is this place? And what the hell am I doing here?"

"Stop asking questions, you'll only confuse yourself more." the voice responded dismissively. "And again, don't worry about any of this, this is just a little check up for my own benefit, you probably aren't even going to remember any of this once you wake up."

"Wait, what? Once I wake up? This is a dream...?"

"As far as you know, it is!"

Wil's brain fizzled. He certainly felt detached enough to be dreaming, but...

"Well, everything seems to be working as planned this time, thank heavens. Not insane, didn't get mauled, and discovered by the correct Pokemon, although I suppose someone else must have found you first and taken that silly hat. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say."

"Again with the hat?" Wil said in annoyance. "What in the world are you-"

"Right, right, forget I ever mentioned it." the voice responded, talking over Wil with much the same amount of irritation in its voice. "With my luck, you'll probably end up finding it eventually anyways... Regardless, I don't need to hang around any longer, so don't worry, chances are you won't have to deal with me again for a very long time. At least, I should hope not, because if I messed up and chose poorly AGAIN, then I don't even..."

Wil's eyes suddenly shot open in immediate realization as his previous memories of the strange place came flooding back into his mind.

"Wait, YOU'RE the one who-"

"Whoops, time to go! Have fun fixing things!"

"STOP!" Wil cried out, shutting his eyes and shielding his face with his arm as everything around him suddenly began to turn a blinding white. "TELL ME WHY I'M-"

"Wil?"

Wil struggled to open his eyes, his eyelids feeling as if they now had hundred pound weights on each of them. When he finally got them open, he was greeted by Braixen's confused face. "Nmgnhgh...?" he mumbled incoherently, smiling groggily back at her.

Braixen blinked, momentarily attempting to decipher Wil's mumbles. She quickly shook her head, realizing what a dumb idea that was. "...I... Have no idea what you just said, but... It's time to get up, Wil."

Wil let out an agitated groan at the sound of one of his least favorite phrases in the English language. "...Didn't we just go to sleep...?"

"Haha, no." Braixen said flatly, folding her arms. "Come on, the longer you laze about, the harder it'll be to wake up. And you're gonna need to be wide awake if we're going to take the detective's guild test today!"

"Hearing these things only makes me want to stay in bed longer, you know..." Wil muttered irritably. Nevertheless, he forced himself up into a sitting position, then slowly got up on his feet. As he attempted a stretch, his body painfully reminded him just how badly it was hurting the night before, and informed him that it wouldn't be letting up any time soon. "Oh, god... My everything is still killing me..."

"Yeah, mine too." Braixen said with a sigh. as she instinctively rubbed a sore spot at the mention of it. "But I'm used to it by now, and I'm sure you'll get used to it soon enough as well."

"'Soon enough' is never soon enough..." Wil bemoaned, as he cracked his spine into place with a whimper. His stomach, not wanting to be forgotten, let out a loud growl to remind him it was still hurting alongside everything else. "Urgh... I don't suppose there's anything left for breakfast?"

"Not unless you like twigs." Braixen replied, handing Wil a small stick from the pile of them she had in the corner of the room.

Wil screwed up his face as he apprehensively sniffed the stick, and then against his better judgment, tentatively touched his tongue against the side of it. "...I... I think I'll pass..."

Sighing, Braixen accepted the stick back from Wil and then stuck it in her own mouth, taking a bite from it as if it were a candy bar. A nasty, wood and dirt flavored candy bar. "Yeah, the kids don't like them either... I suppose it's an acquired taste, but... Well, there's not really going to be much else to eat around here if today doesn't go well."

Wil looked queasily back at Braixen as she finished off the twig. "...At least it's satiated my appetite in some manner... Killed it dead, actually."

"Say, Wil, not to change this wonderful subject, but what in the world were you dreaming about?" Braixen asked curiously, as she bent down to scoop up an armful of twigs which Wil assumed was going to be everyone's not-so-hearty breakfast. "You were mumbling something about toilets and aliens and a hat, and you looked... Really confused."

"...What?" Wil said in utter bewilderment.

"Yeah, you looked just like that. actually." Braixen said bemusedly.

"I... Have no idea what you're talking about." Wil exclaimed, shaking his head. "I don't even remember having any dreams, last thing I remember was you having to... Uh, w-well, let's continue to not ever talk about that ever again for the rest of forever. But yeah, that's the last thing I remember before waking up just now. I was zonked."

"Hmm... That's odd." Braixen said, before shrugging her shoulders. "But oh well. Guess it must not have been anything meaningful if you can't remember it."

"Yeah, guess not." Wil said with a shrug of his own. "But man, I wish I did remember it now, toilets and aliens and hats, all together in one place? What million dollar movie idea did I just miss out on?"

The rest of the morning went by fairly eventlessly, as it was spent mainly at the breakfast table, where Wil sat out as Braixen and the kids enjoyed (forced down) a nutritious (unfilling), delicious (horrifying) meal of twigs and leaves. Once that was done, Braixen and Wil said their goodbyes to the children, and once Braixen ensured them that they'd be back soon enough with some real food, the duo hit the road, heading down the path that Wil had seen the night before all lit up like a Christmas tree.

"See, look, the kids are already getting used to you." Braixen stated as the two walked casually down the quiet little dirt path.

"Ha, that's a good one." Wil said dryly. "They went out of their way to completely ignore me and avoid me entirely. They still won't even let me say 'hi' to any of them."

"No, that's progress." Braixen insisted. "They'd still be glaring and sneering at anyone else by this point, I think they actually already might not completely hate you since you gave me your dinner last night."

"Oh, uh... Swell." Wil responded, clearly not as well-versed on the childrens' intricate levels of scorn as Braixen was. He quickly realized that there were probably better times to be worrying about his social acceptance amongst children, however. "Er, so where are we going, anyhow? I know you said we would head into town, but... Well, I didn't know Pokemon had towns, to be honest."

"Huh? Why wouldn't we?" Braixen asked, giving Wil an odd look.

"Well, it's just..." Wil scratched his head awkwardly as he struggled to find a polite way to phrase his response. "...I had no idea Pokemon conversed like this with one another, or knew of human conventions like adoption and currency and the like, I thought those were distinctly human things. Like, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't know most Pokemon were intelligent enough to behave in such a manner. You're animals and monsters and all that, we can't converse with you except in extremely rare cases, and we keep you as pets and the like in Pokeballs... To think that you all have a society and social system so similar to our own, it's... Unexpected, to say the least."

"I... Don't really know how to respond to that." Braixen said with a small shrug after a moment's contemplation, having taken it remarkably better than Wil had anticipated her to. "I guess Pokemon must act differently in areas that actually have humans and trainers and such. The Pokemon around here have ALWAYS acted like this since at least Mama Kangaskhan's time, but I think I know what you mean, since we get all of your TV shows and stuff and the Pokemon on them are noticeably... Different from us. I don't think they're any less intelligent than us, they just have a different way of living... Regardless, it's probably one of those things like the Mystery Dungeons that you just shouldn't think too much about, the answer's probably out there somewhere, but I doubt it's of any importance to us."

"I guess so..." Wil muttered, though his curiosity was nonetheless still gnawing at him.

"But anyways, to answer your original question, we're going to Relic City, the biggest 'civilized' Pokemon settlement for miles around." Braixen stated, drawing Wil's attention away from his nagging thoughts. "Civilized, of course, as opposed to the ones who lost their minds living in the Mystery Dungeons."

"Relic City, huh?" Wil remarked, remembering what Braixen had said the night before about typical Pokemon naming traditions. "Lemme guess, it's built atop the ruins of some sort of ancient and mysterious civilization or something, right?"

"Er, you could say that..." Braixen replied slowly. "You'll see for yourself soon enough, it should be appearing on the horizon any moment now."

"That's certainly not a strange response at all." Wil said sarcastically in reply to the odd phrasing that Braixen had used. "Though, I can't imagine why you would... Oh."

Wil got his answer immediately, and it was not at all what he was expecting, as the tops of archaic, crumbling skyscrapers began to appear in the distance. As the two continued on their way, more of the city's skyline began to reveal itself to Wil, and the scene it displayed reminded him of something out of some sort of post-apocalyptic disaster movie. While certainly not a metropolis, Relic City appeared to have been at one time a sprawling, bustling human city, but now... All of the buildings, large and small, appeared to be in severe disrepair, most of them crumbling and missing huge chunks of their exteriors, if not just outright destroyed altogether. Not only that, but nature seemed to have taken its course on the city as well in the many years since it had presumably been inhabited by humans, as all manner of plant life looked to have overrun the city, and the term 'urban jungle' had never seemed like a more appropriate description for a place to Wil in his life. He was left literally speechless as he surveyed the ruined city, involuntarily stopping in place somewhere along the way as the surreal sight before him captured his attention entirely.

"Well, I didn't lie..." Braixen said to Wil, once she had realized he had suddenly stopped and backtracked to his location. "This is what I meant when I said that humans used to live here. Nowadays, though, it's populated entirely by Pokemon. Most of the buildings, especially the taller ones, are completely ruined and uninhabitable, but there's a small area in the center of the city that's still mostly intact, and that's where a lot of Pokemon around here live and congregate. They've done a pretty good job of keeping the area safe and in good repair, at least compared to the rest of the city. There are various shops scattered about, mostly selling essentials like food and adventuring items like TMs and orbs, but there are also some other, odder specialty shops that would probably be easier to just show you in person rather than in words. Other than that, there's a bank, where you can store both your money and items for safekeeping, and a cafe/bar, which is where a lot of Pokemon go to unwind after a long day of adventuring. And obviously, there's the city's centerpiece, the guild, or precinct, as it's more commonly called around these parts. There are, of course, numerous other buildings that Pokemon live in, but I doubt we'll ever have the need to visit any of them."

"...Jeez..." Wil finally muttered after a good half a minute of silence. He was still unable to say much of anything else, but noticing the slightly impatient look on Braixen's face, he realized that he probably shouldn't be dawdling any further, and the two started on their way once again, albeit much more tentatively now in Wil's case. He couldn't quite figure out why, but the sight of such a large city in a state like the one in front of him made Wil feel a considerable amount of unease. Perhaps it had something to do with his status as a human, as Braixen didn't seem bothered by it at all...

A few minutes later, as they entered the city proper, the feeling of unease grew even stronger inside of Wil, as the sight up close was even more odd and unnatural than it was from afar. From a distance, it had appeared to Wil as if the city had been the site of some sort of war or bombing of some sort, which was bad enough, but up close, Wil realized that the city itself didn't really look 'damaged' at all, certainly not enough for it to have been a war zone. Sure, most of the buildings and streets were falling apart, but that seemed to simply be the result of several decades worth of neglect, disrepair, and mother nature taking its course more than anything else. There were still rusted and decrepit vehicles, faded advertisements, and all other manner of a past human presence all over the place, and if anything, it appeared as if the people who had previously occupied the city had just... Vanished. Wil shuddered at the thought, and quickly went to put it out of his mind.

"Well, here we are, Relic City." Braixen announced once they had arrived, thankfully giving Wil a much needed distraction. "The town square's just a bit further down this way. Don't worry, it's a lot more livelier there than it is here, most of the time no one ever bothers to venture out any further from there since there's pretty much no reason to hang around in these spooky outskirts."

"Spooky is right..." Wil muttered, a chill running down his spine as he stared down the barren, desolate streets they passed, not another Pokemon in sight, not even the sounds of any, just the haunting, whistling tune of the wind blowing through the narrow roads and the many broken windows of the buildings that lined them. It was not an atmosphere that Wil was fond of at all, and so he began to pick up the pace once more in hopes that Braixen would do the same and lead him somewhere that had another living soul or two around. Quicken the pace she did, and soon enough, the eerie silence was broken by the quickly growing chatter of voices, and as Braixen led Wil under a small archway, which was adorned with roughly made letters in the same odd script that was above Braixen's house, it was as if she had led Wil into an entirely different world.

The town square, in complete parallel to the desecrated cityscape that loomed just outside it on all sides, was an incredibly lively, bustling place filled to the brim with Pokemon of all shapes, sizes, and species. They moved to and fro, going about their days in much the same way that humans generally would in a big city, a sight that Wil felt he shouldn't have been as surprised about as he was to see at that point. Alongside that, the buildings in the town square were, as Braixen stated, in a much better state than those outside of it, with some of them looking probably exactly the same in quality as they did when it was a human city. Moreover, though, Wil was amazed to see the abundance of greenery that dotted the square, which in stark contrast to the wild, overgrown stuff that coated the outer city, was beautifully maintained and cultivated, blending in seemingly perfectly with the urban locale to provide a strange, unique hybrid setting that Wil wouldn't have ever imagined seeing in his wildest dreams. It was almost more like a park that happened to have a city built inside it, the more he thought about it. Heck, there was even a small, man made lake in the center of the square, filled with happily frolicking water types whom Wil didn't want to even try to hazard a guess as to how they arrived in such a walled off location.

"Holy sh... -uppet..." marveled Wil, gawking at pretty much everything he layed his eyes upon.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Braixen mused. "I mean, I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you humans are used to, but it's nice and cozy for us, at least."

"Are you kiddin'?" Wil remarked, shaking his head at Braixen's assessment. "This place is AWESOME! This is like somethin' out of a video game!"

"...A what?" Braixen asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion at the bizarre combination of words that was 'video game'. She quickly shook her head however before Wil could respond. "Er, nevermind, you can tell me about it later. We need to focus on the task at hand right now."

"Oh... Right..." Wil muttered back, his expression drooping as he remembered why they were there in the first place. "Any chance you could show me around the place first before we go torture ourselves?"

"Oh, come on, it's not gonna be THAT bad..." Braixen stated, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head at Wil disapprovingly, before adding quietly under her breath, "...P-Probably... Hngh, but I guess it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to give you a quick tour of all the hotspots beforehand..."

"Aw yeah, now that's more like it!" Wil said with a big grin. "Lead the way, Brai!"

"If you insist..." Braixen replied, sighing slightly, as she wasn't too keen on being a tour guide. Nevertheless, she began to make her way towards a small group of buildings, Wil following close behind her like an overly excited puppy visiting a new park for the first time.

"Alright, this building here is the Sawk & Throh Convenience Store." Braixen stated, motioning to the small corner store the two had stopped in front of. It looked like any other old convenience store to Wil, to the point where it even still had a functioning, spinning sign in front of it, although whatever company logo had adorned it before was now completely obscured by large, messy painted images of a Sawk's and a Throh's face on each side respectively. Through the shiny, sparkling windows of the storefront, Wil could see the place was pretty packed for a store of its size, though at least half of the Pokemon inside appeared to be Kecleons for some odd reason.

"This place is everyone's one stop shop for the essentials, assuming you can afford them these days." Braixen continued, letting out a small sigh. "I mean, at least we won't have to worry about not being able to afford anything from them if everything goes well today. But um, yeah, assuming we make it through in one piece, we'll probably end up stopping here more than anywhere else in town besides the precinct, since it's a pretty vital place for all the Detective Teams around here. They carry everything you need for adventures, from food, to orbs, and even gummis and TMs on rare occasions."

"Sounds like a swell place, but... What's with all the Kecleons?" Wil asked, the question nagging on his mind too much to let slide.

"Huh?" Braixen looked confused for a moment, before she glanced into the store and noticed what Wil was talking about. "Oh, those are their employees, from what I can tell. Kecleons are apparently super adept at finding things laying around in Mystery Dungeons, or so I've heard at least. I figure the owners must employ a small army of them, with how well stocked they seem to be at any and all times. But anyways, we'll have time to visit them later, let's move on, shall we?"

Nodding in agreement, Wil followed Braixen a short ways down the street to the next building on the block.

"This is the Seismitoad Protection Service, an odd name for what is basically the town's storage system and bank." Braixen explained, glancing over at the rather unassuming building. "The guy who runs this place is... Well, shady, to say the least... But as far as I know, his services are totally legit, and free of charge to boot, so I don't think we'd have anything to worry about storing all of our unneeded crap and excess money here."

"Excess money?" Wil repeated. "Is... Is this job REALLY gonna be that lucrative?"

"Er, no, far from it." Braixen said, shaking her head. "By excess money, I meant any money we happen to have on us before we go off to a Mystery Dungeon. You see, one of the strange properties of MD's is that, in the event that you happen to faint while in one, any money and items you have on you will, ahem, 'mysteriously vanish' by the time another team has come to rescue you, if you're even lucky enough for that to happen. So it's just basic common sense amongst all Detective Teams to lock all your stuff up before venturing out, lest you happen to get in over your head."

"Oh..." Wil muttered. "But why not just leave everything at your house?"

"I don't want to put the kids in any unnecessary danger, on the off-chance anyone were to find out we had money or other goodies stored there." Braixen explained, to which Wil nodded in understanding. "But anyways, let's continue."

And so, Braixen led Wil all around the square, stopping at any location she felt was worth pointing out. There was a strange business run by a Ditto that Braixen explained to Wil would link two or more moves together for a small fee, something that she knew Wil wouldn't be able to understand at all at this point and so completely glossed over, telling him they'd come back there later when he was more used to being a Pokemon. There was also a fortune telling shop owned by a Mismagius, and despite not being a Psychic type, her predictions were usually spookily accurate, or at least, so went the word about town that Braixen had picked up on. She hadn't ever had the money to spend on something so superfluous firsthand, of course. Another place she had showed him was what appeared to be an old Pokemon Gym that had been converted into a fighting dojo of some sort, which Braixen suggested would actually probably be a good place for the two to visit later, if their bodies were still working by that point, so that Wil could get more used to fighting in his new body. Perhaps the most interesting place, however, at least to Wil, was what Braixen had described as the town's watering hole and primary get together spot, an excessively large and already packed juice bar called the Purple Pikachu. Contrary to its title, it was neither owned nor operated by a Pikachu of any sort, let alone a purple one, Apparently, the place had the name since back when the city was populated by humans, and everyone found the name to be so bizarre and ridiculous that they kept it that way.

Nevertheless, amidst all the excitement and wonder Wil was feeling exploring the square, he couldn't help but notice the odd looks he and Braixen seemed to be getting from those around them as they passed, some of them going so far as to stop what they were doing completely to focus solely on the duo and murmur amongst themselves about them. It was an unwanted and uncomfortable attention, and one that Braixen felt as well.

"Is uh, there a reason why everyone's looking at us like we're walkin' around naked?" Wil whispered in concern to Braixen, before inwardly smacking himself once he remembered that they were both technically naked. "Er, well, let me rephrase that, is there a reason why everyone is staring at us like we're wearing clothes?"

"Well, for a combination of reasons, I'd wager." Braixen whispered back, the duo walking awkwardly close and in step with once another just so they could hear the other one without anyone else being able to. "For you, I'd imagine because you have no flame on your tail, and you literally must look like a dead 'Mon walking to them. As for myself, well, that's likely because I'm 'affectionately' known around town as 'that creepy orphan girl from the house at the crossroads who chews on trees'. To be fair, I was starving, had nothing else on hand to eat, and I had no idea anyone would be walking past at that moment, let alone an entire group. At least it was an oak, they're a lot easier to digest than most barks."

"O-Oh..." Wil muttered back, Braixen's explanation doing little to relieve his unease.

"Don't worry about any of that, though." Braixen said back. "We're not the only weirdos in this town, I'm sure. Once everyone gets used to seeing us, the stares and chatter should die right down... In theory. Oh, but anyways, that about concludes the tour, I'm afraid. Just about every other building around here is just residential housing, so the only place left to go is the precinct. Aren't you excited?"

"...I'll just say yes so I don't hurt your feelings." Wil whimpered in response.

"Oh my, how noble of you." Braixen replied dryly, rolling her eyes before grabbing Wil by the wrist and dragging him to their final destination.

The precinct, besides being smack dab in the very middle of the square, also seemed to be nearly as gargantuan around as some of the skyscrapers looming overhead were in height, making it very hard to miss. Rather than the police looking building that Wil was expecting, it was quite obvious that the building was some sort of town hall in its past life, as its wide, stretching steps led up to tall, powerful looking pillars that encircled the entire structure, and Wil couldn't help but consider its old school stone and marble architecture out of place amongst the far more advanced and modern buildings that surrounded it. Nonetheless, it seemed to be a much busier place than anywhere else in the square by far, as many different groups of Pokemon hurried in and out of the front doors like clockwork, some of them accompanied by less than willing charges.

"Are you sure this place is even safe?" Wil asked warily, as they climbed the precinct's many steps, being passed by a Scizor and Breloom dragging a bound and particularly unhinged looking Granbull behind them.

"About as safe as anywhere else, really." Braixen replied. "Don't worry, the jail's way underground, and they have a bunch of horribly strong Pokemon guarding it at all times, or so they say at least. Also, this place is crawling with Detective Teams at any given time, so if any criminal were to try something funny, they'd be overpowered and taken care of in a hurry."

"...Hngh, if you say so..." Wil muttered back, still incredibly leery about all the horrifying criminal sorts that were being herded into the building.

"I do say so, so don't stress so much about it." Braixen said, as the duo reached the top of the steps. "Alright, let's do this, Wil! I... I know this is nerve wracking, but we've gotta at least LOOK like we mean business, okay? Otherwise, no one's going to take us seriously, and we won't even be allowed to take the exam."

"Okay..." Wil said, taking a deep breath and putting on his best game face, Braixen doing the same. "Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose..."

With that, the duo pushed open the large, bronze double doors in front of them in unison, taking their first steps into what they soon realized was an absolutely chaotic madhouse. Voices and cries rang out all around them, and as the doors closed shut behind the two with a dull thud, the noise began to echo even more, causing a messy cacophony of sounds that made it hard for Wil and Braixen to even think, let alone try to speak.

"Jeez!" Wil cried out, as he narrowly sidestepped out of the way to avoid a group of Houndoom that were in such a hurry to get out the door that they nearly bowled him and Braixen over. He scowled at them in anger as the disappeared down the steps into the busy square. "Real freakin' courteous, you dickbags! Shoot, you okay, Brai?!"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" Braixen shouted back, as she scrambled over to the corner of the room Wil had stumbled into, eager to get out of the way of the door. "G-Goodness, I had no idea this place was so... Hectic!"

"I uh, take it that means you don't know where we should go to take the exam or whatever, then?" Wil questioned, as the two made their way over to a slightly quieter corner of the room so they wouldn't have to yell to communicate with each other.

Braixen put her hand to her mouth and glanced around the large, packed lobby, trying to make out much of anything amongst the throngs of Pokemon. "Um... Oh! That's right! The few times I came here when I was young with Mama, there was a help desk where people could go to ask questions! Of course, that was years ago, and I don't quite remember this place being so... Er, 'lively' back then... But surely they must still have it around here somewhere!"

Digging deep into her memory, Braixen led Wil in the direction that she thought the help desk had been before. Thankfully, her memory hadn't failed her.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Braixen exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief as she and Wil reached the clearly marked help desk. Staffing the desk was a rather disinterested looking Clefable, who had a cheek resting on its hand as it lazily eyed a magazine that was on the desk in front of it. Walking up to the desk, Braixen cleared her throat to try and get the Clefable's attention. Getting no reaction, she decided to speak up instead. "Um, excuse me..."

The Clefable's gaze drifted upwards from the magazine to Braixen, the same lazy, uncaring expression etched on its face.

"Take a number." the Clefable said dully, before returning her gaze to the magazine.

"P-Pardon...?" Braixen asked, confused by the Clefable's words.

Looking back up in annoyance, the Clefable rolled her eyes and pointed with disdain to a small machine to the side of her desk that had a small ticket sticking out of it. "You gotta pick a number, we'll call you when its your turn."

"O-Oh, okay..." Braixen said nervously, caught off guard by the Clefable's rather unhelpful attitude.

"Ooh, let me pull it! I love pulling things!" Wil said in excitement, as he rushed over to the machine and drew a ticket from it with far more enthusiasm than one should have in such a situation. Glancing at the ticket, his eyes lit up. "Oh boy, we're number 1111! My lucky number is 11, and that's like two of them combined! I can already tell this is a sign of good fortune for us, Brai!"

"Congratulations." the Clefable said, rolling her eyes once again. "We're currently on number 64. Hope you didn't have anything planned for today."

Wil's face dropped, as did his 'lucky' ticket.

"O-Oh dear..." Braixen stuttered, trying to keep her composure. "Um, b-but ma'am, we just wanted to know where to go to take the Detective Team exam."

Glancing back at the duo, the Clefable raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You two? A Detective Team?"

"Y-Yes..." Braixen replied, trying to appear confident. "What's so funny about it?"

"Nothin', just that you two look like you wouldn't be able to make it through this precinct in one piece, let alone the entrance exam." the Clefable answered bemusedly.

"Oh, and how would you know what we're capable of?" Braixen said in annoyance. "Looks can be deceiving, you know!"

"Yeah, but not that deceiving." the Clefable stated. "But oh well, if you two really want to put yourselves through it, then be my guest, it'll be your funerals." Stepping out from behind her desk, the Clefable walked around to the other side where Wil and Braixen were and led them a short ways down to a door that had something printed on it in the same odd script that Wil couldn't understand. "You're gonna wanna go through here and speak with the Chief, you can't miss him, he'll be the one ranting and raving and screaming at the top of his lungs about something or other. But anyways, best of luck, and try not to actually die, that never looks good on our records."

With that, the Clefable went back to her post, leaving the duo staring blankly at the door in front of them.

"...Is it too late to-"

"Yes." Braixen said emphatically, opening the door and dragging Wil through it before he had a chance to object. Contrary to the main lobby, the hallway they were now standing in was much more quiet and peaceful, something the two were both grateful for as they made their way down it to the main room at the other end, which was much more sparsely populated than the lobby was as well.

Alas, such peace never lasts.

"DAMN IT ALL, KROOK! I'M GETTING SICK AND FRIGGIN' TIRED OF CLEANING UP YOUR MESSES! WHEN ARE YOU GONNA LEARN TO DO THINGS BY THE BOOK?!"

"That'll be the Chief, then." Wil grimaced, as the two caught sight of perhaps the most inappropriate Pokemon imaginable for such an angry voice to belong to, a Togekiss, chewing out a particularly imposing looking Krookodile. A Snorlax and Leavanny stood at their sides respectively, though neither of them seemed interested in getting involved in the 'conversation'.

"Same time the criminals do, Chief." the Krookodile replied, grinning wildly at the Togekiss, a sight that only served to infuriate the so-called Happiness Pokemon even further.

"THAT'S A BULLCRAP ANSWER, AND YOU KNOW IT IS, KROOK!" the Chief bellowed, though for all the unbridled rage that his face and tone displayed, it didn't seem to be affecting the Krookodile very much, if at all. Realizing this, the Chief decided to turn his attention to the Leavanny instead. "We don't have a place here for renegades who don't play by the rules! This is the last freaking straw, Krook! Anny, if you don't talk some sense into that thickheaded partner of yours, then you can both kiss your Detective's Badges goodbye! And you know I don't wanna have to do that to you, Anny, but your numbskull of a partner leaves me no choice anymore."

"Aw, don't drag Anny into this, Chief." Krook began, before the Leavanny stepped in front of him and shook her head.

"I know, Chief." Anny responded calmly. "Don't worry, Krook understands how serious you are this time, he won't do anything so stupid ever again. Will you, Krook?"

"Gah, no, of course not..." Krook growled, folding his arms and scowling.

"Somehow, I don't believe you." the Chief proclaimed, shaking his head at Krook.

"Jeez, I'm sorry, okay?!" Krook said in aggravation. "For cripes sake, what more do you want from me?!"

The Chief narrowed his eyes at Krook. "...You don't want me to answer that question, Krook. You really don't."

"Say, uh, why don't we all just calm down and go get something to eat, huh?" the Snorlax interjected nervously, trying to break the tension that filled the room.

"...You know, that's a good idea, S." the Chief said after a moment, an absolutely vile, Grinch-like grin spreading across his face. "In fact, that can be the start of your punishment for this last little transgression of yours, Krook. Why don't you go out and get us all a nice big lunch? Your treat, of course."

Krook snarled back at the Chief. "Lunch?! Do I look like a friggin' errand boy to you?! Forget it, I ain't getting you crap!"

"That wasn't a suggestion, Krook." the Chief replied. "Either you get out there and get us all something to eat, or you and Anny are fired on the spot!"

Looking from the Chief to Anny, Krook stamped his foot in frustration, then turned around and stormed away, Wil and Braixen instinctively getting out of his way before made his way closer to them. "Of all the lousy, no-good, stinkin', rotten..." Krook muttered as he stomped past the duo, making sure to slam the door as hard as he could on the way out.

The Chief, realizing that everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing to watch his and Krook's latest battle with interest, scowled and barked out at all of them, "ALRIGHT, SHOWTIME'S OVER, GET BACK TO WORK, YOU NOSY BUMS!"

In an instant, everyone else in the room hurriedly scrambled back to their own business, much to all of their chagrins.

"Th-That's the boss around here...?" Wil gulped, not at all looking forward to having to interact with such an angry beast.

"Oh, I'm... I'm sure he can't be too bad..." Braixen stated, though the confidence behind the statement wasn't exactly unwavering. "Well, no time like the present..."

Before they could change their minds, Braixen began to make her way over to where the Togekiss was, Wil following behind against his better judgment.

"...Anyways, sorry again, Chief, I know Krook gets on your nerves, but you know he always means well." the duo overheard the Leavanny say mid-sentence as they got within hearing distance now that they weren't all shouting.

"Yeah, yeah." the Chief muttered back. "He may mean well, but he still can't do half the crap he does and not expect there to be repercussions. I can get where he's coming from, but still, he can't just-"

"Um, T, I think we got company." mumbled the Snorlax, pointing in the direction of Wil and Braixen as the made their way to the Chief's desk.

"Oh, hi there!" Anny said, smiling warmly at the two of them. "What brings you kids here?"

"Yes, what does bring you kids here?" the Chief repeated, in a much less happy tone than Anny. "I swear, if that Clefable let another group of children sneak in here, I'm gonna-"

"N-N-No, she... She let us in, sir." Braixen explained, trying to steel her nerves in the presence of such an intimidating Pokemon. "We're um, here to take the Detective's Exam, sir, we'd like to form a Detective Team, Wil and I."

The Chief, rather than respond immediately, spent a good minute just staring blankly at the two of them, trying to determine if he had heard what he thought he had just heard come out of Braixen's mouth.

"...Hey, that's great! We're always looking to get more Detective Teams around here, especially in these dark times!" the Snorlax said after a moment, trying to break up the awkward silence once he realized the Togekiss likely wasn't going to anytime soon. "...Uh, aren't we, T?"

"...Listen, I'm a busy man, I don't have time to help you little brats with your game of pretend, so why don't you just run on home to mommy and daddy before you get in a REAL Detective Team's way, huh?" the Chief said dismissively after another moment of silence, waving the two off towards the door.

"W-What?!" Braixen cried in shock. "W-Wait, no, we're not playing pretend! We really DO want to take the exam and become a Detective Team! Don't we, Wil?"

"Er, well, one of the two, anyways..." Wil muttered, causing Braixen to elbow him in the ribs. "Ow, jeez, I mean, yeah, yeah, we do, Mister, uh, Togekiss, sir. Scout's honor!"

"Aw, why don't you give 'em a chance, Chief?" the Anny said, giving the duo a look of compassion. "Look how earnest they are! When was the last time you saw anyone so young look so determined to join the Detective's Guild?"

"Never, but frankly, that's more likely than not solely because they have no idea what it is they're trying to get themselves into." the Chief responded, still staring at the duo with a look of skepticism and heavy scrutiny. "Why in Arceus' name are you two so bound and determined to form a Detective Team for? There ain't nothin' fun or glamorous about it, despite any stories you may've heard about it from your parents."

"I know, sir. We realize how difficult it is." Braixen began. "My um, mother was a Detective, so I know all about how grueling and dangerous the job is."

"You had a parent in this line of work, and you still want to join?" the Chief said incredulously. "Didn't she teach you any common sense? And what about your little pal there, why the hell does HE want to do this for?"

"Um, I, uh, well..." Wil started, fumbling over everything he tried to say. "...I'll uh, just let Braixen explain it..."

"Um, yes, well..." Braixen cleared her throat, her nerves beginning to get the best of her.

"Don't be so nervous, dears, just calm yourselves." Anny said sweetly. "Don't let the Chief intimidate you, just say what you've got to say, okay?"

"Um, a-alright..." Braixen said, as she glanced over to Wil, who nodded back to her. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and began her explanation. "Okay, I'll try to keep it short. My name is Braixen, and this is my friend, Wil. I'm an orphan, and he's... Well, let's just say he's an orphan too. Besides the two of us, we also have six other, younger orphaned kids to take care of, and none of them are old enough to fend for themselves. As I'm sure you're well aware of, there has been less and less food left in any of the forests and whatnot in this area due to... Whatever it is that's causing it to stop growing, and as a result, we not only have nothing for ourselves to eat, we also have nothing for them to eat, and it's gotten to the point where I don't think there's enough food left to forage to last another week, sir. I know how brutal being part of a Detective Team is, but I feel we have no choice anymore, we have no other viable means of acquiring food or the money for food, and if we don't do this, then we'll all end up starving to death. So please, sir, could we at the very least take the Detective's Exam? If we fail, then we fail, but at the very least, I'd like to be able to tell the kids that we tried."

"Oh, you poor dears..." Anny cried, looking at them with sorrow, then turning her gaze to the Chief. "Oh, Chief, you're not gonna deny them after that, are you?"

"Come on, T, what could it hurt?" Snorlax added.

After another uncomfortable and altogether too long silence, the Chief spoke up, though the question he asked was not at all one Braixen or anyone else was expecting.

"...Humor me, what was your mother's name, girl?"

"H-Huh?" Braixen stuttered, caught off guard by the odd question. "Um, she was a Kangaskhan, sir. She use to run the orphanage at the crossroads outside of town, and she usually worked on her own."

"...Dear lord, one of her's..." the Chief muttered to himself, trailing off and seemingly forgetting where he was for a moment. Finally, he snapped back to attention, directing a sharp gaze at Braixen and Wil. "Alright, if you were raised by her, then maybe you do have what it takes to make it... But I'm not so sure about your buddy there. He doesn't look too strong. I mean, dang, his tail isn't even lit, what the hell is up with that? Shouldn't you be dead right now, kid?"

"Uh... I dunno, probably." Wil said, shrugging his shoulders, unsure of how to actually answer that, his response drawing stifled laughter from Anny and Snorlax. "But um, I know I don't look like much, sir, but I swear to you, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help Braixen and her kids out, even if it means putting myself through excruciating pain and danger. I'd be kinda homeless right now if not for her, so I pretty much owe it to her."

Anny clasped her hands together and squealed. "Aw... That's so precious!"

"Anny, will you please?" the Chief reprimanded, not a fan of Anny's cooing. "Now, that's all well and good for you to say those things, kid, but it's another thing entirely for you to actually do them. Tell me, just how much do you know about being part of a Detective Team?"

"Well..." Wil cast a nervous, sideways glance at Braixen before letting his shoulders slump and sighing. "...Not that much, to be honest. I... Have amnesia, so to speak, so I don't really know or remember much of anything. I know that they were formed to help other Pokemon in need, and to stop criminal scum and all that. I know they go into Mystery Dungeons more often than not to deal with these tasks, and that in of itself is dangerous enough. I know that they're called Rescue Teams or Exploration Teams elsewhere, but for whatever reason there's some sort of cop motif going on here. And lastly, I know that whatever this exam thing is, it sounds absolutely horrifying, but again, I'm prepared for the worst, no matter how bad that 'worst' is."

"Well, allow me to educate you a little more on what it means to be one of us, and why exactly we have this whole 'cop motif' going on." the Chief began, looking Wil square in the eye with an intensity that made Wil afraid to break eye contact, even by blinking. "You see, the reason we call ourselves Detectives around here, and why we call this place a precinct instead of a guild, is because this area is far too dangerous and lawless for a mere Rescuer or Explorer to handle. This ain't no fun and games like it may be elsewhere. For us, being a Detective is life or death, we don't go out to find treasure, or to make friends, we go out to bring criminals to justice, stop kidnappings, and on much rarer occasions, retrieve a person's valuables. No matter what it is, it always involves some sort of villain. In other areas, there isn't nearly so much criminal activity, so the main focus is, well, on rescuing lost Pokemon, or merely exploring. Sure, they have criminal notice boards too, but our ENTIRE notice board is almost nothing but wanted posters. It seems for every good Pokemon left around here, there's another five that have turned to a life of crime, and it's the way the land is these days that's causing it. It's been getting steadily worse as the years have gone by, and since this latest crisis with the food, it's only grown more rampant, as unfortunately, most Pokemon would rather just take the easy way out rather than try to make an honest living like you two. It's a tough life kid, I ain't gonna lie to you about that, and it sure enough ain't for everyone. You've gotta be absolutely CERTAIN that you're willing to risk your life every day for random strangers, and for the good of Pokemonity, with little to no recognition and usually even less rewards. Are you still sure you wanna do this?"

Finally breaking his gaze from the Chief, Wil gulped hard and turned to look at Braixen. After a moment to gather himself, he turned back to the Chief and nodded firmly, a rare look of total seriousness on his face. "Yes sir, I'm sure. I made a promise to my friend, that I'd help her with anything she needed, and I'm not one to break a promise. If I can help out others in the process, then that's just an added bonus."

The Chief gazed long and hard at the two Pokemon that stood in front of him, neither of their expressions wavering anymore as they stood resolute with one another. Finally, after what seemed like forever to the two, he cracked a small grin, something that apparently shocked Anny and Snorlax enough to elicit gasps.

"Alright, what the hell." he said with a chuckle. "I don't know why, but for some reason I'm feeling generous today. I'll let you kids take the exam."

Braixen's face absolutely lit up with the news. Wil's, not so much.

"Oh, thank you sir, thank you so much!" Braixen cried.

"Heh, first time I've ever seen anyone so happy to take the exam." Snorlax remarked in amusement to the Chief, as Braixen literally jumped for joy, and was in the process of trying to coax Wil into doing the same. "Heck, first time I've ever seen anyone happy at ALL to take it."

"Yeah, well, somethin' tells me they ain't gonna be too happy by the end of it." the Chief said back wryly.

"Alright, so um, what exactly does this exam entail?" Wil asked, once Braixen realized her plan to get him to jump with her was futile. "I get the feeling it isn't written or oral by any means."

"Haha, no." the Chief replied, shaking his head. "Think of it more as a field exam. As in, if you wanna become a Detective Team, then you're gonna have to go out there and prove it, by tackling something that only a Detective Team would."

"Y-You mean, you're gonna send us on a mission?" Braixen asked, slightly taken aback by this development.

"That's right." the Chief nodded in response. "No better way to test your mettle than by actually doing the thing you're testing for, after all. Of course, it'll be as low level a mission as we have, and certain precautions will be made, as well as a key... Difference."

"Oh boy." Wil moaned. "It's never good when someone trails off before finishing their sentence like that."

"Ah, shut it, kid." the Chief chided. "It ain't nothin' bad, and it's actually for your benefits. Like all Detective Teams, you'll each be given a Detective's Badge, which is the most important part of any Detective's inventory. With it, you can instantly warp yourselves or any other willing Pokemon out of a Mystery Dungeon at any time, should things get too hairy for you. Of course, if you were to use them for that purpose in the exam, I don't think you'd be ahold of them for very long. Besides that, you'll also be given a collapsible carrying case for any items you wanna bring in or happen to find along the way. A very handy item, and they cost a fortune, so pray you never lose yours should you pass and get one. Finally, since you're a couple of newbies, I'm of course not going to send you out there on your own. No, you'll be assigned another, more experienced Detective Team to follow you, show you the ropes, make sure you don't get in over your heads, and most importantly, grade you, and find out if you're actually cut out to be a Detective Team in the first place."

"Don't worry, we all have to do it when we first join." Anny exclaimed. "As long as you know how to handle yourselves properly, you'll have no worries about passing."

"Er, you mean like, fighting and stuff...?" Wil asked tentatively.

"Well, of course, that's the main thing Detective Teams do, after all." the Chief replied. "What did you think, we went out there and just hugged it out with all those batpoop crazy Pokemon and criminals in the Mystery Dungeons?"

"N-No, that's not what I... Er, forget it, I was just... Making sure." Wil mumbled, slumping downwards for a variety of reasons.

"Um, well, that sounds acceptable, but when will we start?" Braixen asked, casting a worried glance at her partner but not letting her apprehensions show. "And when will we meet our, er, chaperones?"

"About that, what I was planning was-"

Before the Chief could finish, the door to the offices burst open, and the same surly Krookodile from earlier came barging in, stomping back up to the Chief's desk carrying a couple bags of some steaming, semi-delicious smelling substance.

"Alright, here's your damn lunch." Krook spat, plopping the soggy bags down on the Chief's desk with disdain. Looking back at the Chief, he bowed in a mock curtsy, speaking back up with words drenched in sarcasm. "Is there anything else I can do for you, your majesty?"

Suddenly, the same, Grinchy expression fell across the Chief's face.

"...Well, actually, as a matter of fact..."