Layne was sleeping. He was a bit cold, and trembling. He never got any decent sleep anymore. In fact, he was beginning to think it was normal. No. It couldn't be normal. Not everyone had some crazy psycho who yelled all night, fought with someone constantly, then brought the battle to the sleeper. Layne hated this life. Layne didn't think he used to live this life though. But did he? What was life like? Who knew? They were at it again. Yelling about usual BS problems.

That was when one banged on his door. "Get up! Get the hell up!"

"Go away! Leave me alone! I don't want any part of this!" Layne shouted.

"Get up! I will make you get up!"

"Come one, don't go there, man!"

"HEY!" the voice said at least 10 times louder, "HEY! GET UP! RISE AND SHINE!"

Layne's head throbbed. That was a voice unlike he had ever heard before in his life. So loud, Layne could have sworn he felt his ears start to slightly bleed.

The voice shouted again, "WHY, are you STILL SLEEPING? WAKE! UP!"

Layne stirred and managed to feel his ears.

He heard Pyro groan, "My poor ears..."

"Oh, snap OUT of it!" the voice yelled. Layne managed to open his eyes and see a purple pokémon, with rather weird ears, and one big mouth standing there.

Layne managed to say, "Will you please tone it down?"

"No I will not!" he said! "I'm Loudred, and I'm a fellow apprentice! I understand you're both NEW! And You'll be SORRY if you're late for morning briefing!" he said, "So MOVE IT! Guildmaster Wigglytuff has a BIG TEMPER! If you make him lose it..." Loudred simply cringed at the idea. Layne managed to sit up, and rub his eyes. "I don't even WANT to picture it! So, I'm NOT about to get in trouble because a few rookie apprentices are late! SO GET YOUR BUTTS IN GEAR!" And with that, he left.

Layne fell back down and stared at the ceiling. Pyro wasn't fully awake yet and managed to say, "My ears...Did you hear what he said? Something about getting ready for..."

"Yeah," Layne said, "Some morning briefing thing, or something. Good morning by the way."

Pyro jumped up. "Oh my gosh! Why did we forget? We're apprentices now!"

Layne looked at Pyro and slowly got up, "You mean you forgot? I don't see what the big rush is."

"Look! If Loudred was that insistent on waking us, then we overslept! Come on!"

Layne cursed at himself, and ran with Pyro down the hall. They ran past the other guild member rooms and into the main room, where everyone was assembling outside Wigglytuff's door. That certainly woke Layne up somewhat. In the room were about 10 other pokémon not including Pyro and Layne. Layne saw a few members from last night, including the rather short-tempered Buizel. But upon entering the room, Loudred saw them and shouted, "You're LATE, rookies!"

Chatot, who was also in the room, scolded him immediately. "Hush! That voice is ridiculously loud!"

That shut up Loudred, and shut him up good. Had Layne not still been groggy, he probably would have had to fight to hold back laughter. Chatot looked in the room and nodded. "We all seem to be present. Very well. Let us conduct our morning address." With that, he turned to the Guildmaster's door and called, "Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance, and awaits your presence!"

It took a few seconds, but the doors to Wigglytuff's chamber opened, and he stepped out. Layne took a second look at him. Wigglytuff looked more tired than everyone in the room. Chatot smiled, "We await your morning address, Guildmaster."

Layne leaned in on Pyro, "If you ask me, it would seem that Chatot seems to give more orders than Wigglytuff would."

Wigglytuff did not say a thing. Layne was half expecting some morning motivation speech, but heard nothing. In fact, he listened in closely, and could have sworn he heard the Guildmaster...snoring. Layne simply thought to himself, "This guy calls himself a Guildmaster?" Other voices however rose in amazement.

"Guildmaster Wigglytuff never ceases to amaze me!"

"I know, right?"

"He looks like he's wide awake!"

"Oh my gosh, his eyes are wide open, but he's fast asleep!"

Chatot ignored the voices, and looked to Wigglytuff. "Thank you, Guildmaster..we all value your...words of wisdom..."

Layne popped his neck, as Wigglytuff let out a bit of a snort at Chatot's words. Chatot turned to the pokémon and flapped his wings once. "Okay, pokémon. Take your Guildmaster's words to heart! And finally, let us not forget our morning cheers!"

Layne looked around, "Morning cheers?'

Chatot chirped. "All together now! One, two, one, two, three!"

At the sound of three, everyone in the room, except for Layne and Pyro rose their hands in a fist and cried out in a loud unison, "One! Don't shirk work! Two! Run away and pay! Three! Smiles go for miles!"

Layne didn't know how to react. He didn't know if that was uplifting, or if it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard in his life. Pyro tried his best to keep up with the cheer, but Layne clearly was unmotivated by it. Chatot then spoke up, "Okay! Let's start our work!"

With that, everyone cheered, and walked away in different directions, to do different tasks. Layne and Pyro stood there. Layne looked at Pyro. "Well? What do we do?"

As if Chatot had heard, he flew over. "A bit confused on how to start the day are we? No worries at all! Just follow me!"

They followed Chatot up to the first underground floor. "You are both just beginners, so we'll start you off, with a simple assignment." He lead them to a large bulletin board, filled with various papers. "This bulletin board is filled with various job requests, from pokémon from different regions of the land. You're both aware of the rise in criminal activity, correct?"

Pyro nodded, "It's because the flow of time is getting messed up and wreaking havoc, right?"

At the words time, Layne's mind almost tried to go into overdrive. Layne didn't know why, but tried to get something out of it. Pyro and Chatot kept talking as Layne tried to remember anything, ANYTHING of his past. They said time was getting messed up. What did they mean? Time, like hours and minutes, or something related? What was going on?

"Layne!" Pyro called. Layne looked up, he had not been aware of his sudden outburst of thought.

"Sorry, just a minor brain wave I guess."

Chatot cleared it's throat, "As I was saying, let's get a job for you both. Perhaps, this one will do?"

Chatot handed a piece of paper to Layne who read aloud. "'Hello, my name is Spoink. My precious pearl, which is my most valued possession was stolen from me by an outlaw. That pearl is life itself to me! I can't settle down with every minute that passes when we are separated. But lately, I heard that it was spotted! It is said to be on some rocky bluff, but the terrain is reported unsafe. I am scared to go and get my pearl. I'd very much appreciate the readers help in retrieving my pearl. I am begging you. Spoink.' Shouldn't be a problem." Layne said.

"Hold on." Pyro said. "Are you telling me, that our first mission, is to simply go fetch some item someone just dropped?" he said a bit unpleasantly. "There's got to be something with more of an adventure behind it!"

Layne sighed, "Pyro...baby steps..." he mumbled.

Pyro just continued, "I'd much rather explore unknown places, and look for treasure! Things in that area!"

Chatot showed huge dislike to Pyro's response. "Hush!" This scared Pyro quiet. "Every explorer pays his or her dues! Like it or not. Now, the pokémon's waiting. I'd suggest you get on with the job."

"We'll get right on it," Layne said, pulling Pyro with him.

Pyro began to walk with him, and Layne started to chuckle a bit. "Hidden lands and treasure..."

Pyro looked at Layne. "What's so wrong with that?"

"I just find it funny," Layne began, "That you expected the first mission to be something along those lines."

Pyro sighed and said, "Let's just get this over with."

They first made a quick stop to their room to grab their things, as few as they were. Pyro put on his scarf, and Layne put his goggles back on his head. "Do you think these things really work?" Layne asked, in a skeptical way.

Pyro shrugged. "I've heard they do. The pokémon who made them know what they're doing. It wouldn't surprise me."

Layne sighed as he adjusted the goggles on his head. "I don't feel anymore enhanced. Perhaps it's normal. I don't know." Layne said. "I'll be waiting outside.

He walked outside the room, to see coming up a ramp from the guild member room hall, the female Buizel walking up. They met eyes, and the tension rose. Layne sighed and said, "Look, I want to make amends. I'm sorry that I bumped into you last night. I will watch where I go, from now on." He said it in a bit of annoyance, mainly because he didn't see how this Buizel could get so angry in the first place over the incident.

The other Buizel looked at him, with an annoyed look. "Apology accepted. Now please, leave me alone."

Layne was a bit annoyed still and followed her, "Now, come on. I mean I fail to see why this whole thing upset you as it did. Give me a clue here."

The Buizel turned around and said, "Look, please leave me alone. You're bugging me."

Layne backed off and held his hands (paws) up. "Okay, okay, sheesh, Buizel. Sorry I even brought up this whole deal."

"I am too." she said. "And my name is Autumn."

"You're Autumn? I was wondering who that was ever since the sentry confused me with-"

"Yeah, well now you know, now bug off." she said walking away.

Layne sighed and watched her walk away.

Pyro came up to him. "Thought you were gonna wait outside."

Layne sighed. "I ran into her again."

"The buizel?"

"Her name is Autumn. And she's still a bit moody. I just tried to make amends, and well that went great..." Layne said with sarcasm.

Pyro thought about his words. "Perhaps we should focus on the task at hand. We'll worry about...Autumn later."

Layne breathed and said, "...yeah..."

About an hour later, they stood outside the rocky bluff indicated in the letter. Pyro looked around and said, "Well here we are. Who knows where Spoink's pearl is."

Layne sighed. "I will say one thing. If one's going to post a 'please find my pearl' ad, on the bulletin board, they better be ready for disappointment. Pearls are so dang small, you can't really expect to find one if you lose it."

"Spoinks pearls are actually very large." Pyro said heading down the path, Layne in tow. "If we spot it, we won't be here much longer."

"Okay," Layne said, a bit confused, but went with it.

"This is our first task for the Guild." Pyro said, "Let's give it our all."

"Amen to that," Layne said with a bit of a shrug.

As they walked on Pyro looked at Layne. "You don't seem to be too enthusiastic about this. What's on your mind?"

Layne shook his head. "Same thing since this morning."

"Is that Buizel really taking up that much of your mind?"

"What does she want from me? I offered an apology to a thing that wasn't so big to begin with. She obviously wasn't too thrilled with that either. I just don't understand, what she wants from me."

"Layne, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked this Buizel."

"Autumn? I wouldn't mind being friends, but she obviously wants nothing to do with me." He sighed. "Perhaps I should just stop talking to her. If she wants nothing to do with me, that's not my problem."

They continued through the rocky bluff with little to no conversation. They really didn't run into many problems, other than the fact that whoever dropped the Pearl here, dropped it in too big a place. Layne sat down near a small waterfall, and massaged his feet. He was indeed feeling a bit better, but his body still felt as if some of it was weak. Layne had several theories as to why he felt so weak, but couldn't come up with anything that he wanted to believe. There were a few pokémon that offered them fight, but Layne and Pyro were able to fight them off considerably well, considering the pokémon simply attacked due to territorial or fearful reasons.

"Whoever asked us to do this..." Layne said, "Better be grateful. I understand we have dues to pay, but when I agreed to do this, I didn't expect to be hosting a Lost and Found search and rescue thing."

Pyro spoke up, "Layne, I didn't think this would be our first assignment."

Layne sighed and said quietly, "Yeah you were expecting hidden troves of gold and silver."

Pyro sighed. "It's getting late. I'd hope to be done by now."

Layne shook his head. "To be honest, I did not expect us to be that lucky. It's a pearl." He reached into the nearby stream and pulled out a rock without looking. "One doesn't just go into the wilderness in search of one pearl, and say, 'look'!" he said holding up the rock. "'I found you missing pearl!'"

Pyro gave Layne a look of surprise. Layne saw this and asked, "What? I mean isn't it true-"

"Layne," Pyro said, "Look in your hand, and tell me what you see."

"A rock." Layne said without looking, as he brought the rock down, and took a look at it. "A big...pink...shiny rock..." He looked at Pyro who was starting to smile. He then said, "There is no way my luck is this good..."

Pyro lit up, "That's go to be it!"

"I guess," Layne said, "But...that was too easy!"

Pyro asked, "Why are you complaining?"

Layne shrugged. "To be honest, I really don't care. We found the silly thing, let's get back with it."

As they walked back, they talked some about how incredibly lucky they had been. Strangely, Layne thought it easier to find their way out of the buff than in, but perhaps that was just him looking forward to some more rest perhaps very soon.

Upon entering the guild, they encountered Chatot, and reported their success. At this, Chatot chirped in glee and called out, "Spoink! Your pearl has been recovered."

At that, Layne turned around. Had they called in the Spoink before they had returned? Who knew? But the Spoink bounced rapidly over to their location. "They found it?"

Layne looked at the Pearl. "This it?"

Spoink's eyes glimmered. "It is! Th-thank you! I missed it so much!"

"I guess I can understand, but why?" Layne asked, before being nudged by both Pyro and Chatot.

Spoink looked at Layne, "It needs to be propped on my head. I couldn't settle down without it. And well...I went crazy without it."

"That would explain the bumps and bruises on her body..." Layne thought to himself, shrugging.

"But thank to you both, that nightmare is over!" Spoink said. "Please accept this reward to show my appreciation." She walked, or bounced over to Pyro and gave him a small sack, which was filled with what appeared to be money.

Pyro's eyes lit in joy. "Wow! You're giving us this much?"

"Why, yes." Spoink said. "That is nothing compared to my pearl's value to me. Farewell." And with that, Spoink left the room and went for the guild exit.

Pyro looked over to Layne. "Layne! Just like that, we just got rich!"

Layne wasn't so sure Pyro should celebrate just yet. Because Chatot came over.

"Well done, team!" he said, "Now, if you wouldn't mind, please hand over the money."

Layne chuckled, as he saw something like this coming. He knew there was a catch. There always was. Pyro on the other hand was flabbergasted. "What? Why?" he asked.

"Chatot explained, "Most money earned from jobs goes to the Guildmaster, you see. It helps fund our Guild and it's activity. Now don't you worry, you do get a percentage of the money still. Here you go." Chatot handed Pyro a little bit of the money, which didn't seem to satisfy Pyro that much.

"We only keep that much? That doesn't seem so fair, Chatot."

Chatot shrugged, "It's the Guild's rule. Take it or leave it."

Pyro was about to say something when Layne came over and covered his mouth. "We'll take it, Chatot." And he dragged Pyro from Chatot. Pyro was a bit annoyed with that, and asked, "What was that for, Layne? Spoink gave us that money by hand. I don't see why so much of it has to go to the Guild."

Layne sighed, "Pyro, just drop it. This is your dream. Nothing in life comes so easy."

It was then that Autumn entered the room and spotted Layne and Pyro. Layne met eyes and looked at Pyro. "Here we go."

She walked by but stopped and said, "So you managed your first task. I guess you'll fit in the Guild after all." she said with a bit of sarcasm.

Layne on the other hand crossed his arms, and said, "I'll take that as a compliment, as opposed from what else I've been given."

Autumn looked at Layne with a bit of an angered look, "And just what's THAT supposed to mean?"

Layne popped his neck. "I think you know what it means, Autumn."

"You've got some guts. Wanna see where they take you?" she asked.

Layne's eyes widened a bit, "Is that a challenge? You can't be serious, Autumn."

"Oh, it is, Buizel. And I very much am serious."

"Look, my name is Layne. You don't like me calling you Buizel, so don't call me that."

"Layne, Buizel, whatever. Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?"

Pyro began to look a bit uneasy. "Uhh, Layne? Perhaps you should drop this issue?"

Before Layne could reply to either of them, another guild member called in the room. "Dinner is ready!"

Layne and Autumn stood in the room, eyes locked on each other. Layne breathed and relaxed. "It's not worth it. The whole thing is stupid."

"Whatever..." Autumn said as she entered the mess hall.

Layne looked around. He had not noticed that he and Autumn's little exchange had actually gained some attention of the other guild members. He looked to Pyro, "Thanks...I needed that." Layne then walked for the Guild exit.

Pyro followed Layne a bit worried, "Layne, dinner's ready. Where are you going? You're not leaving, are you? Please-"

Layne chuckled at Pyro. "Relax. Go enjoy your dinner, but...I need some air."

Layne sat on a cliff overlooking the sea, and sighed. The ocean always calmed him. Layne truthfully was starting to get annoyed. He was in a pokémon's body, he was part of a guild that did joke work, and someone already hated his guts for little to no reason at all. On the walk over he had attacked a boulder with an attack he learned that day called "Sonic Boom," and the rock shattered.

To Layne, it didn't seem enough, but it didn't matter right now.

Pyro came up from behind, "Layne, you okay?"

Layne looked behind, and sighed. "I guess. Though I don't know for sure."

Pyro handed Layne a couple apples. "You missed dinner. We were wondering where you went."

Layne sighed as he bit into one of the apples. "If Chatot or Wigglytuff wants to yell at me, I don't care. If I spent one more minute in that Guild after that, I would have exploded. I never thought myself to be so...easily angered. Thanks for the apples, by the way."

Pyro smiled. "We're friends. I'll make sure you don't starve in the night." Layne paused at that comment, but smiled at Pyro, and continued eating. Pyro then said, "I spoke with Loudred a bit about Autumn."

Layne sighed. "Did you now?"

Pyro shrugged. "Well after I saw how you two went at it, I felt I should at least find out a little about her, since she seems to only be aiming at you. She didn't seem to have a problem with me."

"Yeah..." Layne said biting into the apple, not seeing how that was important at all.

Pyro smiled again, "And to be completely honest with you, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Layne looked at Pyro. "What makes you say that?"

"Loudred told me that before you came along, Autumn was one of the older apprentices, at 18 years. No one except Chatot and Wigglytuff were older. I guess she took some pride in that." Pyro said.

"Pride in age?" Layne asked. "So she doesn't like 20 year old apprentices. Especially if they seem to be male counterparts of her species."

Pyro smiled, "Loudred said, it would likely pass. He also said, Autumn is very friendly. She just isn't so used to change. She takes exploring very seriously."

"Seems like you two would work great together."

"She does most of her exploring alone. When she does go with others, she normally goes with someone in the guild."

Layne threw one of the apple cores off the cliff and started on the second apple Pyro had brought. "Look, Pyro, about the money thing-"

"Oh, Layne don't worry about that. I'm satisfied for the day! So much happened today."

Layne shrugged. "I made a very lucky find. I don't see what's so hectic about that, to be honest."

"I'm just glad our first job was successful." Pyro said. Layne had to nod at that and bit into the apple some more. Pyro continued. "I will say, I do wish that we got more of the money, but I guess it's just the cost of training."

"It's the catch. There always is one." Layne said, smiling.

"We were thanked, and that's what matters." Pyro said, smiling also.

Layne finished the second apple. "Look, Pyro, I'm gonna sit out here a few more minutes, then go turn in. I'll see you back at the guild."

"You okay, Layne?" Pyro asked.

Layne smiled and said, "For the first time, I can truthfully say yes to that, Pyro. Stuff's on my mind, yes, but I'll be fine. Thanks for the apples."

Pyro nodded and smiled. "See you inside."