PART II:
The Wigglytuff Guild

"Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies
He don't know, so he chases them away
Someday yet, he'll begin his life again
Whispering hands, gently lead him away..."
-Pearl Jam in "Even Flow"

The sun was setting in the sky of Treasure Town. The colored sky, was welcoming the first of the many stars of the night, and the sun's last rays were still shining over the land, though not for too much longer. Evening had come in Treasure Town, life was ceasing as pokémon everywhere began to relax and end the day. But within each dwelling, there was still life.

One of these dwellings, was a tent in the shape of some pink pokémon. Though the life inside was drawing to a close for the day. Visiting hours were still running, but not for too much longer.

Outside that tent, stood an orange pokémon. The shape of a small lizard, only it stood on two feet, and the lizard's tail was burning with a small fire. It didn't hurt the pokémon none, in fact he depended greatly on the flame to survive. If it were to ever go out, he life would be in danger. It reacted with his emotion, and right now, his mind was racing with emotion. The pokémon looked at the tent, deep in thought.

This was Pyro, a Charmander, age 15. He was a very timid pokémon, who was not very confident. For months now, he had been wanting to do a certain thing, and well, here he was trying to complete that dream. Become a member of the famous Wigglytuff Guild. And here he stood...debating the idea all over again, for the um-teenth time. He began to pace back and forth. "Should I? I mean what if..." Pyro shook his head. "No!" he said to himself. "I won't be put off by this any longer! I told myself today was the day, and I will make it happen! I am not turning back!"

He took one step forward onto a grating in front of the door, and was about to step into the guild, when a sudden voice called out, "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

This scared Pyro so much that it fell backwards. Another voice called out, "What footprint?"

The first voice replied, "Wha- Where did it go? I coulda sworn it looked like a Charmander..."

Pyro backed away quick, still in shock. He got up and breathed in. That was too shocking for him. He took a few more breaths, looked at the tent, then sighed in sadness. He couldn't...

He tried to hold back a few tears, but failed to do so as he felt the courage he had held onto just then...slowly drain out of his body. "I can't..." he simply told himself. "I can't work up the courage to go in after all. I told myself today would be the day! I told myself I would go in and join today! But..."

He looked at a rock dangling from a necklace he wore around his neck. One would look at it and see a normal piece of junk. The rock was nothing significant. Pyro looked at it and sighed. "I thought it would help me. Thought it would help me work up the courage to go in. I guess...I can't go in after all...I just can't do it."

He felt like a coward, and it really felt like someone had just made him collapse in courage. He took one last look at the tent and walked away down the road.

He however was unaware he had been watched the entire time...

Pyro walked down the road and onto the beach. The sun was setting. Off in the distance, a passing storm from the current weather was lighting up the sky. This one would miss Treasure Town. They had been hit last night, but this one would pass.

He walked onto the beach and looked at the sky, and smiled. The sky was filled with bubbles. The last of the setting sun's rays were filling up the sky, reflecting off the water, and off of the bubbles. This was a sight he never minded seeing.

"The weather's so clear right now..." he said breathing in. Off on the rocks, he saw the reason for the bubbles. A few wild Krabby were sitting on the rocks, simply using Bubble, and filling up the sky. Pyro didn't know why they did it, but he certainly didn't mind it at all. They just came out at sundown, and did it. It was always a beautiful sight to him. It was always where he came when he felt sorry for himself. It always made him look up. It uplifted him and cheered him up. He was beginning to think ahead now. Perhaps he'd go back to the guild tomorrow! Perhaps he just needed this sight to know that it wasn't the end of the world that he didn't go in today. He'd go there tomorrow. He'd march up to that gate and walk in.

...

Or perhaps he'd just chicken out as usual...

He sighed and began to walk along the beach.

Then it got his attention. The waves were washing over, something. What was it? Pyro squinted, but couldn't make it out. He walked closer, then slowly began to make out...the body of another pokémon! Someone had either collapsed on the sand, or had been washed ashore!

Pyro ran over to the body. What pokémon was it? He knew he had seen this pokémon around at least once before! The body was orange, and on his back, he had two cream spots. His tail was split at the end, and he had a yellow tube-like collar. He would worry about the identity later, "Hey! Are you okay! Please say something!"

He shook the body, and it groaned. Then it coughed a couple times, letting out what appeared to be seawater. He was laying on his side, but managed to lay back on his back, and open his eyes.

At this sign, Pyro gave a sigh of relief. "You're awake! That's a relief!"

The pokémon on the ground tried to sit up, but failed, but managed to rub his eyes. "What happened? Where am I?"

Pyro said, "Well, you're on Treasure Town's beach. As for what happened, I was hoping you could tell me."

The pokémon on the ground groaned, and tried to sit up, with very little success.

"Easy now." Pyro said. "It's obvious you've been through a lot. Try to relax."

"I feel...so weak."

"Just relax, and maybe the strength will return to you...Buizel!" That was the species the lizard pokémon encountered. This guy was a Buizel!

But at the word 'Buizel' the Buizel opened his eyes. "Buizel?" he asked, finally managing to sit up by holding his back up behind him. "Why did you call me that? That's not my name."

Pyro shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't know you had a name. I just assumed your name was Buizel."

The Buizel looked at him. "Why would you assume that?"

Pyro looked a bit confused. "...Well...you are one."

"What?" the Buizel said maybe offering a small smile, but not easily seen, "I don't even know what a Buizel is. I'm a human."

Pyro frowned. "What? Human? Okaaay, but you look 100% like a normal buizel to me."

The Buizel held out his hands, "Look do these...look like..."

The Buizel had just seen his hands for the first time. They were Buizel's paws to Pyro, but this guy looked like he'd never seen them before in his life. He looked at his arms, and felt his chest. "What the..." he felt his face, and discovered his split-end tail. He then looked frantically around and spotted a tidal pool nearby, and he looked in. The face of a Buizel, looked at the face of a Buizel in the pool.

At that sight, he fell backward again. "How?" he shouted in either fear, panic, surprise or a combination. "How did this happen to me?"

Pyro came over, "Settle down. You're acting a little odd. Is this some kind of joke?"

The Buizel looked over. "Odd? Last time I checked, I was in a human body! I don't know what you are, but what if you were to wake up in the body of a- a-!' the Buizel almost shouted in sheer frustration.

Pyro held his hands up, "Okay! Sheesh! Nice to see you okay, you're welcome!" he said in sarcasm.

The Buizel, sighed and rubbed his head. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just...I'm kind of freaking out right now. Whether or not you choose to believe my story, is not my concern."

Pyro smiled, and said, "Don't worry about it. And to answer your earlier question, I'm a Charmander, but my name is Pyro. Glad to meet you, and to be honest, I'm glad you are okay. But are you really telling me the truth? Are you really, a human?"

The Buizel shrugged and said, "I don't know what else to tell you."

"Well, perhaps I can help you a little. Can you remember how you wound up here?" Pyro asked.

"How I wound up here?" The Buizel said. He pondered for a moment, and sighed. "You know what? I can't remember anything."

Pyro smiled and said, "Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure it will all come back to you in time. Take baby steps, Buizel. It will come back."

"That...that's not my name." the Buizel said. "Please stop calling me that."

Pyro nodded, and said, "Well, what is your name then? Do you remember?"

"My name..." The Buizel looked in thought. "My name...Layne. My name is Layne."

"Layne?" Pyro asked, then nodded, smiling. "Okay, Layne. Well you don't seem like a bad pokémon at least."

Layne gave him a questioning look.

"No no! Not to say you were bad in any way. Sorry, I don't mean to seem doubting. You see, there's been a rise in criminal activity among pokémon recently for unknown reasons, and-"

Layne had stopped listening, because behind him were running two other pokémon, and before Layne could give a warning, one charged right into Pyro, knocking him right into the ground, and into the still rather weakened Layne. Pyro's necklace snapped and fell into the sand.

The pokémon who had done the damage, an orb of floating, and foul smelling gas drifting around it's body gave a laugh and said, "Please pardon me. I should really watch where I go."

The other pokémon, a bat-like blue pokémon laughed and said, "Yeah, Koffing. Watch out where you go in the future!"

Pyro turned in a rage. "What the heck was that for?"

The two pokémon, however, ignored Pyro, and had their eyes set on the stone he had dropped. The bat pokémon said, "Hey Koffing, look what the guy dropped! Looks kind of, valuable."

The pokémon known as Koffing looked at him and nodded, "You can say that again, Zubat." he chuckled. "Let me just grab it."

Pyro looked at the rock in the sand, and said, "Hey! Wait now! That's my personal-"

Koffing looked up, "Oh, it's yours? Then by all means, please come over and take it from me."

Layne was a bit annoyed. He stood up and said, "Hey, piss off! Give him his...rock back, and go mess with someone else."

The one, called Zubat looked over to Layne and said, "You stay out of this, weasel! If he wants his little pebble back so badly, let him come and get it himself."

Layne fought the urge to argue and simply crossed his arms. "Fair enough." He looked at Pyro. Pyro wasn't moving. Layne looked and said, "Oh come on, man. Are you really gonna take that BS from them?"

Koffing and Zubat laughed. "What's the matter? Too scared to come and get it back?" Koffing asked. "What a wuss. Come on, Zubat, let's get out of here."

The passed with one more, "See you around, chicken." before disappearing into a nearby cave.

Pyro sighed sadly. "That was my personal treasure. It means the world to me. It's the one thing, that-"

Layne interrupted. "Then why didn't you stand up to them? Why didn't you tell them to 'shove off,' and take it back from them?"

"What?" Pyro asked. "I- I can't do that!" He sighed. "Now they have it, and now...I just don't know what to do anymore."

Layne shrugged, and was about to say something, when Pyro shook his head, and said. "No! I've got to get it back! I'm wasting time! Layne, please, can I get you to help me?"

Layne looked at Pyro, "Wait, what now?"

"Please, I can't be wasting time!"

"Look," Layne said, "As much fun as that sounds, I have better things to do."

"Layne! That's my precious treasure. If it disappeared...I'm not much of a fighter."

"So I noticed."

"Please! I need your help!"

"Pyro, you need to listen to me. I don't know if you forgot, but I can't remember anything about my life. I need to figure out who I am exactly. A name doesn't really help me. And I also need to find out why I became this pokémon."

Pyro shouted, "You don't need a memory to help me out here! Please, I know this is difficult, but I need your help. I don't have the confidence to stand up for myself."

"Yeah, you may want to work on that." Layne said, about to leave.

"Please, Layne! Perhaps with you, I can find that confidence!"

Layne stopped. He sighed. This Charmander was persistent, that was for sure. He sighed, and said, "Fine. I will help you get your treasure back."

"R-really?"

"Did I stutter?" Layne asked, "But why don't you stand up to yourself? I mean, they just bashed you in your face. Yet, you did nothing. Not even a 'please stop that.' Why?"

Pyro sighed sadly, and simply said, "I don't know. I never had the confidence to stand up for myself. I've tried time and time again to make myself do certain things, and it never works."

Layne crossed his arms and popped his neck. "Well, perhaps we can work on that right now."

"Right now? But my-"

"Yes." Layne interrupted. "Right now. If I'm going to help you, I am gonna make something stick in your head. Now, when we go after them, I want you to tell them you want your...treasure back. It's not that hard to do. And it is the first of your many baby steps you will take to gaining confidence in yourself."

Pyro looked unsure, but nodded. "Okay, I'll try."

Layne shook his head. "No. Don't try. Just do it. There's no point in just trying."

There was a moment that passed, then Pyro nodded. "Okay. I'll do it. Let's go."

Layne followed the Charmander into the cave. It wasn't that big of a cave and the Koffing and Zubat were found rather fast. Koffing, upon seeing them turned to Zubat, and said, "Hey, the big chicken is back, and he brought his friend."

Zubat laughed, "What did the chicken need some company assisting him through the dark?"

Layne popped his neck, and crossed his arms. He then looked at Pyro with the look of "go on, say it."

Pyro saw this, and swallowed hard. Finally with some difficulty, he stepped forward, and said, "You stole something from me. Please give me back my treasure! It means everything to me!"

Koffing nearly coughed in joy, "Treasure? Zubat he just called it a treasure! Do you think this thing may be valuable as a sell? Maybe worth more than we thought!"

Layne was smelling something coming, that he didn't wish to ensure, but if it had to be, things could get a little aggressive here.

Zubat looked at Koffing, "Then that would be even more of a reason not to give it back!"

Pyro shouted, "What? Come on! Please give me back my treasure!"

"Or what?" Zubat asked. You gonna call upon your weasel friend over there for help?"

Layne popped his neck again, "Watch it, pal." he said. Layne was in no mood for insults or smart talk from wannabe punks.

Koffing simply said, "What an attitude. If you want your precious pebble back, come and take it."

Before Pyro could say anything, Koffing and Zubat charged. Pyro, managed to spew forth some fire from his mouth in a small ember attack, Layne on the other hand was attacked by Zubat, Layne just jumped up, and brought a hard kick down on the Zubat. The Zubat got knocked down, Layne brought his fist down hard into the Zubat's head. The Zubat barely offered any fight whatsoever, and was down after a few punches and kicks.

The Koffing was being held at bay by Pyro, but wasn't really in a losing area. At least Pyro knew how to fight somewhat, but Layne jumped over delivering a kick to Koffing. Pyro stood back and watched Layne deliver a punch and kick in rhythm as Koffing dodged and sometimes even attacked back, but finally, after a series of punches, Layne had him pinned against the wall. Layne was hardly breaking a sweat. Layne finally said as he held Koffing against the cavern wall, "The stone. Where is it?"

Koffing, who was in some pain finally said, "Easy man, it's right there, on the ground! We didn't damage it or nothing!"

Pyro ran over and claimed it quick, and then Layne released Koffing from the wall, and Koffing fell to the ground in pain. Layne stretched his arms forward to the ground and breathed. Koffing floated away from Layne toward Zubat, who was also starting to get up. Koffing and Zubat did not look at all pleased. "You'll be sorry for that!" Zubat said in anger.

Koffing nodded, "Yeah! We just went easy on you!"

Layne stepped forward, "Are you saying you want some more?"

Zubat went back a little and Koffing just said, "Just remember, that your victory here was a fluke! Next time, it won't be so easy!"

Layne shook his head, "Stop making excuses and beat it already!"

Koffing and Zubat then left the cave rather fast. Layne finally relaxed and sat down. Pyro walked to Layne in awe and said, "That was amazing! Where did you learn to do that?"

Layne looked at Pyro, before rubbing his arms which were now cramping up on him. This body apparently was not in the mood yet for anymore fighting. Layne shook his head, "I don't know...I just did it. I didn't even know I could do that."

As they walked out of the cave together, Pyro was also asking, "Why didn't you use any of your moves?"

"Moves?" Layne asked.

Pyro smiled, "You know, like Water Gun!"

"Water Gun?" Layne asked, "You're losing me, man."

"Well, you told me you were a human, I'll admit, I didn't really believe you. But The more and more I look at you and listen to you, you act more different than any other pokémon I have ever seen."

"Is that a bad thing?" Layne asked.

"No, I mean, do you even know how to access your moves?" Pyro asked, stopping.

Layne stopped and looked at him, shaking his head, "No. I mean, remember, I didn't even know what a...Beazil thing was."-"

"Buizel?"

"Yeah, Buizel...until a few minutes ago. Do you think I can somehow access these powers you pokémon have?"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Pyro said, giving it some thought, "But why don't you try right now?"

"How do you access them?"

"I usually just think about doing a move, like Ember, and with enough thought and control, I do it. Why don't you try something, like Water Gun? It's an attack where you spray a large amount of water from your mouth"

Layne blinked, and shrugged. "Water from the mouth? Weird, but might as well try." He thought of what a Water Gun would look like, then took a deep breath, and blew hard. Nothing.

Pyro looked a little unimpressed, which wouldn't surprise Layne, but then he said, "I think you're trying too hard. It doesn't take much effort, you just think to yourself, and you tell the move what you want it to do."

"It's strange." Layne said.

"What?"

Layne shrugged, "I just can't help but feel I've heard that somewhere before." Layne said. He closed his eyes, and focused again. He began to feel a little strange, and felt something coming up his throat. Be exhaled and out came a torrent of water. Layne stopped it immediately, and nearly inhaled some of the water, had it not disappeared so fast. "Whoa! That was weird." Layne said.

Pyro smiled. "You did it! That was one impressive Water Gun."

"That was a Water Gun?" Layne asked.

Pyro nodded, "Though, I don't know any other moves you would know. You'll learn through time, I suppose. By the way, thanks."

"Thanks for what?" Layne asked.

"Helping me get my treasure back." Pyro said. "I never would have got it back had you not agreed to help me, Layne."

Layne smiled. "The guys were jerks. I do however, still go by what I said earlier. It is important that you learn to take a stand, Pyro." Layne actually was thinking to himself. He had only helped because he had happened to have been there in the first place. Was it the right thing? Should he have let Pyro worry about it himself?

Probably not. Layne still had morals he guessed. Pyro was clearly grateful for his help. It felt good to be appreciated. For some reason, Layne felt as if...he had not felt much of it before in life.

Pyro nodded. "I will learn."

Layne then looked at the snapped necklace Pyro held. "I don't mean to sound critical or anything, but what is so special about that rock?"

Pyro looked at the rock in his hand. "To be honest, I'm not too sure. I found it laying on the ground one day while just wandering around. I think it's a Relic Fragment."

Layne gave a confused look. "A Relic Fragment?"

"Well, at least I call it that." Pyro said. "I've always been a fan of legends and lore, and I get excited when I hear about tales of the past. Can't you feel the same way?"

Layne shrugged, "I don't think I ever gave it much thought."

Pyro's eyes lit up, "Oh, hidden troves full of treasure, and strange relics lost in time! Uncharted territories, veiled in darkness, and new lands, just waiting to be discovered! Such places when I hear of them, excite me on the inside. They could be full of gold and other treasure! And who could forget history? Wouldn't it be amazing to make such discoveries?"

Layne looked at Pyro as he stared across the ocean. He really was into this.

Pyro continued, "It's what I always dream of. So when I found the Relic Fragment, well, yeah at first I thought of it as old junk myself. But then I took a closer look. And found this."

Pyro turned it in a way that revealed some strange design or pattern. "See that? That inscription."

Layne nodded. He had not seen a pattern of such design before, to his memory at least.

"There's got to be some story behind it. For all we know, it could be the key to legendary places! Full of adventure! That's what I feel whenever I hold it. The mystery of this fragment, I want to solve it someday! Which is why I wish to join an Exploration Team."

"Exploration Team?" Layne asked.

"Well, they are people who go to such places, and have the greatest of adventures. Earlier, I tried to join an exploration team as an apprentice..."

Pyro stopped talking for a moment. Layne motioned for him to continue, "Well, how did it go?"

"Well...I chickened out, and ran from the guild."

Layne sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" he thought to himself.

Pyro changed the subject. "But what about you now, Layne? What are you going to do now? Your memory is gone, and you're a human in a Buizel's body."

"Don't remind me." Layne said, annoyed looking at his paws again.

"Do you have any place to go?" Pyro asked.

Layne sighed.

Pyro saw this and said, "Layne, you've showed me a lot today. I know you want to figure out the mystery of why you became like this, but perhaps I can help. Would you, be willing to form an exploration team with me?"

"An exploration team?" Layne said in shock.

"Yes. I'm convinced that with you, we can be effective in solving the mysteries of you, and perhaps, even more. So, will you? Please?"

Layne was in shock. Pyro was trying to recruit him out of the blue! And Layne still had very little clue as to what an Exploration Team really was.

"Uh...I...No. I can't."

"Wh-why? Having you there with me as we fought those two off, Layne, I felt really brave. I can't help but feel, that if you're with me, Layne, I can do anything! I see that you're not any ordinary Buizel, Layne. A pokémon of your caliber would surely become a first-class explorer, Layne."

"That's just it thought, Pyro." Layne said sitting down. "I'm not a pokémon."

"I know, Layne. You are human, but for now, you have the body of a pokémon, and you have no idea how to use it. We can greatly benefit off of each other, Layne! So please. I'm begging you Layne. Please form a team with me..."

Layne sighed. He looked at Pyro. "You know, you really got a way of getting what you want."

Pyro took that a bit on the wrong side. "I don't mean to sound like a-"

Layne held up a hand, "You're misunderstanding me. You have explained every reason to me of why I should. And lets face it, the pros outweigh the cons apparently. I have no place to go, no idea where to start looking for my answers, and no clue of how certain things work here. I guess...it won't hurt to form a team with you for now."

Pyro's eyes lit up as Layne stood up. "R-really?"

Layne offered a small smile. "And perhaps, you're right. Perhaps we will find out who I am, by doing this. Consider this, a done deal."

"You'll form an Exploration Team with me? Oh, thank you, Layne!"

Layne was a bit uncomfortable in a few areas with this decision, but he was sure his questioning spirit would get used to this. "Uh, no problem..." he simply said.

Pro laughed, "Oh come now, Layne. This will be great! We'll be a great combination! Together, we can and will make this work!"

Layne shrugged, and said, "Okay, so we're an Exploration Team now. Where do you wanna go explore first?"

Pyro said, "Oh Layne, it's not that simple. First thing we gotta do is go sign up as apprentices over at Wigglytuff's Guild."

"A guild?"

"Yeah. Wigglytuff is a very famous explorer."

"You never mentioned a guild, but I guess it makes sense."

"There is where we'll train to become a first-class Exploration Team. I've heard that the training can be very tough, but I'm sure we can do it! So let's give it our best shot!"

Layne sighed. There was no turning back now. And there was something in the back of his mind telling him there was something more important to be doing. He sighed and put that thought aside. He was now officially partners with Pyro. And though the little guy could be a bit energetic, Layne couldn't help but feel, there was something about him, that was unique. A part of him...that made him a bit happy in areas, he had not been made happy before.