"Don't worry about it Zach. Seems to me like you can see just fine without your—what were they called? Glalie's?"
Zach gave his new friend a small exasperated glare as he padded along beside him. Yeah…he'd really be upset without walking around with two big, mean-ass Ice Pokémon on his face…
Zach quietly whimpered, still upset and feeling melancholy at his possible realization that he may never see that Pikachu or his stolen glasses again.
The late afternoon sun beat down in heavy, bright rays above the two Pokémon as they made a quick trek up a dirt road that vaguely reminded Zach of the one that Pikachu took, which didn't help his mood any. But the burning heat rising from the ground under his new pink pads was slowly lessening to a dull degree; and that welcoming realization was beginning to help him in getting out of his slump as he decided to occupy his mind with other matters. Like the feeling of a slight breeze on his fur and vivid scent of clean crisp air in his nostrils, or the glittering patches of healthy grass along the dusty dirt path; you didn't get much of that with the constant activity of civilians, trainers and tourists, and heavy industrialization in Saffron City. This…nature was all so new to Zach, considering he'd yet to venture out of Saffron with the exception of studying maps and his quick trek through Vermillion City on his way to board the S.S. Aqua.
He didn't get the chance to enjoy the sights…all he could remember vaguely was the bright colors and the ocean. But he hardly missed the pollution, grudge of the alleyways, exhaust fumes or indiscreet sounds of gambling, somewhat drunken happiness, and heated sex through hotel windows or the occasional crack-head…although the like were familiar to him growing up an orphan in his hometown…
But Zach had a dream; he wanted to be a trainer, a Champion. He wanted to venture out into the world and capture Pokémon and battle. He wanted badges and exciting stories and traveling companions that he could have fun with and encourage and fantasize with about banging hot female Gym Leaders—when he was old enough of course. The latter idea was just a passing thought that he'd got from the older orphans and runaways in his human life.
Bottom line though, being a Pokémon himself didn't exactly help. Although, he liked what his new…transformation—he couldn't exactly call it a life, could he? He was pretty sure he didn't die—offered him. So spending time with Ridge and accompanying the Poochyena in his aspiring dream of becoming an explorer would be a fun pastime while he got the feel of his new perspective; Zach had to blink a few times to get out of thoughts when he realized that Ridge had continued speaking to him again.
"Ok look, after we join the Guild and become apprentices, we'll go out, find that Pikachu, and make the bitch give you back your glaciers ok? So for now, just forget about her and show so enthusiasm! We're about to join the Wigglytuff Guild!" Ridge leaped in front of Zach, causing him to pause and look at the Poochyena face to face.
Zach sighed, having nearly forgotten about the Electric Pokémon before Ridge reminded him and drew his ears back flat against his head as he looked up at his slightly taller friend. He didn't have much faith in their search, but at Ridge's toothy grin and bright garnet irises looking at him imploringly, he accepted. "Ok…"
"YES!" Ridge bounced around on his paws for a few seconds before excitedly running ahead. "Now come on! We're almost there!"
Zach flinched at Ridge's sudden outburst and scrambled after him, cursing him for making him run—or more so quickly stumble—after him. He'd just got the hang of walking! It was a lot more complicated now that he had to do it on four legs!
Wigglytuff Guild
"Here it is."
Zach grimaced and cast a quick glance at the Poochyena. "What…the hell is it?"
Zach had to crane his neck upward to take in the…entirety of whatever the hell he and Ridge just came upon. The top of this structure looked like a huge Wigglytuff-shaped tent complete with eyes, ears, and chubby pink arms from where he stood; but at the bottom were the sides of a beige tent designed with odd pale orange insignia. The tent-like structure was being held in place by thick wooden stakes. In front of it was a large wooden grate encircled with gray stones; flowers and statuesque black torches full of charred but thick chunks of wood.
"This is the Wigglytuff Guild, Zach." Ridge stated, noticing Zach's curious and slightly startled look as the Eevee glanced around, taking in his surroundings. "This is where Pokémon come to become apprentices!" Ridge yipped excitedly and sprinted forward to stand on the grate, spinning in a couple circles and nearly dancing on his paws as he waited for something to happen. Zach approached but stood off on the side as he waited with his friend. Ridge stood there for a few moments; his tail wagging eagerly with his toothy grin unwavering.
A few more long moments of silence passed.
Zach blinked.
Ridge's grin twitched as he glanced over at Zach, almost embarrassed.
Zach blinked again, and his form slackened in growing boredom as even longer moments of silence continued on when he heard a loud, obnoxious, and throaty sound coming from inside the Guild behind thick metal bars. Zach squinted his eyes as he peered through the metal bars, but all he could make out was a silhouette with a somewhat boxy shape, a massive gaping mouth, and two round ears on the end of short stalks. The silhouette was leaning back in a leisurely position, and from the loud and throaty sound and its relaxed form it wasn't hard to determine whatever it was, was asleep.
Ridge tensed and began bristling impatiently, but instead of turning his attention to what Zach was staring at he glared down into the grate and howled: "HEELLOO!"
"Oh, um!—POKEMON DETECTED! POKEMON DETECTED!"
The sharp-cry made Zach's ears perk up and the sleeping figure leap to its stubby feet where in the sunlight Zach noticed were indigo-colored. "Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"
"The footprint is Poochyenas'! The footprint is Poochyenas'!"
"What the hell took you guys so long?" Ridge snarled angrily.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention—" A voice from below began to say but the silhouette with stubby, indigo-colored feet interjected very loudly, "Hey, watch it! I'm sure you weren't standing there for longer than a minute!"
"And? I shouldn't have been standing here for longer than a few seconds!" Ridge challenged. And then it became a shouting match…
"WHY DON'T YOU SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT GOES ON BEHIND THIS DAMN GATE! IT'S A LOT HARDER THAN IT LOOKS!"
"CLEARLY NOT SINCE YOUR LAZY ASS WAS SITTING THERE SLEEPING! IF YOU HAD BEEN DOING YOUR JOB THEN WE WOULDN'T BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION!"
"DAMN IT I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU DO MY JOB YOU LOUSY MUTT!"
"I BET I COULD AND BETTER THAN YOU PANSY!"
The silhouette—who Zach had long since figured out was a Loudred due to his ringing eardrums—visibly seethed. The Loudred clenched its fists at its sides and rapidly stomped its feet into the ground, "OOH! …SHUT UP!"
"YOU SHUT UP!"
"YOU SHUT UP!"
"BITCH YOU SHUT UP!"
"BOTH OF YOU BE QUUIIEETT!" The voice from below cried out, echoing out over both Ridge and the Loudred and making Zach wonder if the grate was deeper than it looked. "Poochyena! Who's the other Pokémon with you?"
Ridge continued to glare into the Wigglytuff Guild, and Zach thought for a moment that he might actually see the Loudred inside, but other than his fierce stare, furrowed brow, and frowned up expression he gave no other indication. "He's my friend, Zach."
Feeling that he would need to be identified as well, Zach stepped forward and had to lightly nudge Ridge aside so he could stand fully on the wooden grate.
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"
Silence…
"Loudred?"
A loud sigh came from behind the gate as Loudred crossed his arms. "Whose footprint?..." he answered begrudgingly.
"The footprint is um…Eevees'… I think? Eevee's I think!"
"Wha—you think? Why don't you know sentry Diglett?"
"Well…we haven't had many Eevee around here before…I'm confident though that he is. Despite the fur and all…"
"Hmph!" Loudred stepped more into the light to which he was visibly seen; and now that Ridge knew who the source of the voice behind the gate came from…and who he had called a bitch; a low growl rumbled in his throat. Loudred however showed no further vociferous signs of his anger and said, "Well…these guys look alright…I'll let'em in."
Zach noticed Loudred staring at him for a few moments, his eyes curious as he examined him, before walking out of view. I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of those…Zach thought before the quick metallic cranking of the metal gate opening shown that they were able to enter. Zach glanced at Ridge and gave him a sharp prod in his flank to get him to stop growling. As they walked into the Guild and with the Loudred nowhere in sight, Zach noticed there was the beginning of a ladder constructed of thick bamboo, tied firmly together by vine leading into a hole in the ground with flat stones encircling it. And sign off to the side that Zach hadn't even bothered to read…
Ridge glanced at Zach before leading the way.
First Floor
As Zach made his final careful steps off of the bamboo ladder his fur bristled in surprise when he and Ridge were in a small, grassy clearing. He wasn't sure what they were going to find but it certainly wasn't this. He also noticed with a glance that there was another bamboo ladder leading into a deeper level of the clearing as well.
Zach followed closely behind Ridge as the two of them padded into the center of the small clearing. Zach wasn't surprised by the multitude of Pokémon in the clearing considering it was a guild; but what did pleasantly surprise him was the large diversity of them all.
There were teams of every type and region, but the uniqueness of it all was how every one of them continued on as if neither had any advantage over the other. Grass-type's were chatting with Flying-type's, a few Bug Pokémon were playing around the feet of a Ponyta, a Psyduck was sitting idly by while a Aron and Shieldon sparred, and off to the side and near the end of the clearing an Aipom and Spinda were attempting to stay hidden behind a large low sign for some reason. The Spinda squatted between the Aipom's legs and teasingly swished her hips in front of the Aipoms' lower abdomen. The Aipom's wide grin grew wider in bliss while he eagerly grabbed the Spinda and positioned himself at her—
Zach quickly turned away from the scene and stared straight ahead, flattening his ears. "What's wrong Zach?" Ridge asked, noticing his friend tense up.
Zach smirked and was about to show him when a slightly musical yet annoying chirping reached his ears.
"Hello there! My name is Chatot, and I'm the one you can come to for with any questions about the Guild. How may I help you?"
Zach and Ridge turned their attention forward when a friendly Chatot hopped toward them. Ridge's tail began to wag excitedly, "Hi, I'm Ridge and this is my friend Zach." Ridge tapped Zach's shoulder with his bushy tail, "We're here too—
"Let me just inform you that the Wigglytuff Guild does not accept any illegally obtained items, eggs, maps, or information." Chatot interjected almost automatically as he held up his wing, with a single feather pointing upward like an index finger. "We are not interested in or have time for any silly surveys, salespeople, and do not allow any soliciting or loitering on the premises—
"What? No—wait! We're not here for any of that stuff! We're here to become apprentices and form an exploration team." Ridge barked, and not too soon because for a while back there, Zach vaguely thought Chatot was going to mention something about DVDs…
"Oh! But you're a Dark-type Pokémon…the both of you are interested in joining the Guild?" Chatot asked warily as he narrowed his eyes at Ridge. Zach felt a spark of anger as his fur began to bristle beside Ridge, picking up on Chatot's tone. What was he trying to say? So what if Ridge was a Dark-type? You didn't see anyone prattling on about how the Chatot was an annoying, noisy, weak ass, Flying-type that could hardly sing…
"Well…yeah. Are you saying that I can't join?" Ridge growled as he glared at Chatot, daring him to say otherwise. Zach glanced at Ridge, silently letting the Poochyena know that if he couldn't, then Zach wouldn't either…
The Chatot turned his back to the two of them, somewhat in his own zone and talking to them at the same time. "It's rare to see kids like you wanting to join the Guild. Especially given how intensive and arduous the training can be! It's no wonder why a steady stream of the Pokémon that join, run away or start individual teams, are evidence to that. But oh-ho! The teams that do stay are certainly strong because of it! And come out better Pokémon in the end as well! Some of the many morals we teach are honesty, teamwork, restraint," Chatot glanced over his shoulder at Ridge when he said that before turning back to…the wall? "And determination among other things!"
Ridge stared at Chatot for a moment while he rambled on before turning to Zach. "I knew this wouldn't be that easy, but my grandfather never said anything about the training being that severe…"
"Oh, no, no!" Chatot whipped around, flapping his wings frantically in his surprise. "Our training isn't nearly as harsh as it sounds! There will be some work but other than that it's easy as can be!" Chatot quickly reassured. "I wish you had told me upfront that you two wanted to form an exploration team! Heee-hee-hee!" Chatot laughed heartily.
I…Is this bird bi-polar or something? He's so flippant… Zach thought as he tilted his head to the side whilst a bead of sweat dropped down the side of Ridge's head as he glanced around to see if anyone was watching this odd display.
"Now, now, follow me! You must first register your team and meet the Guild Master!" Chatot squawked eagerly as hopped ahead of them and toward the bamboo ladder sloping downward to the next level. Ridge took the first step forward, his garnet irises glancing back uncertainly at Zach before he obediently padded after the Chatot. Zach flicked his ears warily as he trailed after his friend. Ok…what the hell were they getting themselves into?
Finally! We've made it to the Guild! Woot!
Also, I'd like to warn that this story will have more…darker themes and elements along the way. It won't be so vulgar to where someone will snitch and I have to bump up to M section, but it'll stay light enough to be kept in the T section. With a bit of the cursing and hints to what's going on in the current and past chapters, as I'm sure you wonderful readers noticed; I'd still like to say there will be some more mature occurrences… but not too early on. It'll all fall together naturally and it'll still be a fun fic but not quite the classic PMD. Also, I'd like to note that it won't be written in accordance with game. Actually, it'll just have most of the key characters and such! ^^D
Ok, now that that brief precaution was down, I'd like to thank you for reading! Review please!
~Graywind