Unto the structure of the Firstborn's making, the Lord of Space wove a tapestry, which the Lord of Time set in motion. Thus did the Three work to the will of the Original One, and into this work fell the Shadow.

Looking upon this new reality, the Original One found it empty, and so brought forth the next of His children.

I awoke to a mind-shattering cacophony of sound, a deafening screech that blasted me awake the moment it began. Covering my ears in a desperate attempt to block out the noise, I was left wondering how such a horrible sound could possibly form words.

"Rise and shine, comrades! It's another glorious day in Torterra's Guild!"

Through half-opened eyes, I watched as Artemis rose from her nearby bed and stumbled towards the door, her expression a mix of drowsiness and bloodlust. In the entrance to her room stood the blue and white form of a swellow, its meticulously preened feathers a sharp contrast to Artemis' unkempt fur.

"Swellow," she began, rubbing sleep out of her eyes with a paw, "I didn't get back to the Guild until late last night. I am very tired, and really don't appreciate being disturbed, especially by someone who knows I'm not required to attend the morning meeting. So, give me one good reason not to knock you senseless and toss you in the lake."

"Always one for the team spirit, Absol," the swellow replied, his expression completely unchanged. "Rest assured, we are all very much aware of your… special circumstances. Morning brief was nearly an hour ago."

"Then why, exactly, are you bothering me?" she asked, glaring intently at the bird.

"Our illustrious Guildmaster has requested your presence in the infirmary. I was volunteered to wake you." Seemingly satisfied at the explanation, the swellow turned and strode briskly out of the room without another word.

Artemis sighed and slumped against a nearby wall, eyes closed in exhaustion. "I swear, one of these days I'm going to kill that bird." Cracking open a single red eye, she glanced in my direction. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, Artemis," I answered, grinning slightly. "Nice hair, by the way." Her normally sleek fur was matted and frayed, with a few pieces of straw bedding mixed in for good measure. It was an amusing sight, only slightly lessened by the murderous glare aimed in my direction.

"Do not push me right now, Darkrai," she said, stumbling over to the water basin. "I'm tired, I had to share my room with a nutcase last night, and now I'm getting dragged out of bed by that annoying swellow. It won't end well for you."

"What, me torment you while you're stressed?" I asked, running a hand through my own tangled mess of hair. "Sounds a little too close to poetic justice for my liking. It'd just be cruel."

If looks could kill…

The Guild's infirmary was located on the second highest floor, directly beneath the Guildmaster's chambers. It was an impressive room that took up more than a third the tree's width, its curved inner wall lined with shelves containing a variety of dried herbs, powders, and other medicines I couldn't begin to identify. In the center of the room stood Guildmaster Torterra and a rather excited looking audino clutching a notepad.

"Artemis, Darkrai, excellent timing," the Guildmaster greeted us as we entered. "My apologies on the rude awakening, but I thought it best if we begin work as soon as possible. I trust Swellow wasn't too troublesome?"

"No more than usual, Guildmaster," Artemis replied. "I'm sure we can settle our differences with a friendly chat later."

"Ah." Guildmaster Torterra smiled knowingly. "Well, try not to leave any marks."

"No promises." Artemis grinned. "So, what did you need us for?"

"Well, I was just-" the Guildmaster began.

"Telling me all about your friend here," the audino blurted, rushing towards us. "Yes, yes, thank you Guildmaster, always a pleasure, happy to help." After eyeing me intently for a moment, the audino began furiously scribbling on her notepad, absentmindedly chewing on one of her long feelers as she did so. "Dark type, obviously, fairly high level - mid fifties, if I had to guess - though I can't say I'm familiar with your species, which is surprising. Still, this opens up some interesting possibilities. There are a few experiments I'd like to-"

This time, it was the Guildmaster's turn to interrupt. "Audino! Your first priority is doing what you can to assist our guest. You may indulge your curiosity later."

"Yes, of course, Guildmaster," the audino continued, eyes still fixed on her notepad. Glancing back at me, she added "though I will need to run a few basic tests, of course. Just to assist in the treatment."

The Guildmaster signed deeply. "Just try not to go overboard." Turning to Artemis and me, she continued "Artemis, I'd like you to come with me. There are some matters we must discuss, last night's mission among them. Darkrai, I will leave you in Doctor Audino's capable hands. She will do what she can to assist you. Meet us in my office when you are done-"

"Excellent!" the audino shrieked. "I've always wanted to try my hand at treating amnesia! There was a fairly famous case a few years back, and it gave me some ideas I've been dying to try out - I just don't know where to start! Come with me at once!" With that, the audino seized my arm and dragged me towards the rear of the infirmary.

What followed was an extremely… thorough medical examination, the details of which I'd rather not remember. Simply put, it involved far too much poking and prodding in far too many places for my comfort. After several hours of powders, elixirs, and an alarmingly large assortment of needles, I felt as though I'd been trampled by a horde of particularly angry nidoking.

The audino, meanwhile, was busy pacing frantically around the room. "It. Doesn't. Make. Sense!" she screamed, a sound that only made my already-pounding headache worse. "I've been working on some of these mixtures for years! Any one of them should've restored your memory in an instant!" Fuming quietly, the audino ripped another page off her notepad and threw it to a nearby wastebasket.

"Well, I… appreciate the effort," I said, rising shakily from the infirmary bed I'd collapsed into after the audino's first attempts. "Though I think it's probably best if I go catch up with-"

"Sit!" the doctor snapped. I sat. "There's one more thing I want to try."

I pressed my hand against my forehead and sighed. "As long as it's not more of that purple sludge."

For the second time that morning, I found myself on the receiving end of a potentially-lethal glare. "No, I'm not trying the muk extract again. Even if it should've worked, three times is enough evidence for me." Rummaging through a nearby cabinet, the doctor fished out a small glass phial filled with a clear liquid. As she shoved it into my hands, I noticed it glowed with a faint inner light. This did little to ease my concerns.

I eyed the phial suspiciously. "It's just water" the audino explained. "Drink it."

"Water doesn't glow." I pointed out.

"It does when it's from a luminous spring," she replied. When this didn't convince me to down the strange glowing liquid on the spot, the audino sighed deeply. "Right, you wouldn't know what those are, would you? Luminous springs are crucial to the evolution of non-feral pokémon like you and me. Nobody knows quite why, but their water is charged with some sort of power that allows the evolutionary process to take place. In small amounts, it can be used to purge harmful energy from the body. Normally, I wouldn't even consider this, since the nearest functional spring is an ocean away and that kind of injury is incredibly rare, but…" she shrugged. "I really have no idea what's wrong with you, and this is pretty much the only thing I haven't tried yet."

"So you're just guessing at this point," I stated, then sighed in defeat. "Might as well get this over with." Pulling the small cork from the bottle's end, I downed the still-glowing water in a single gulp.

Of course, I blacked out immediately.

"It is impossible. You are mistaken."

"I would not so easily forget the signs of his influence. He is involved, though in what way I do not know."

"I struck him down myself! He cannot possibly have retained even a fraction of his power! Something else must be at work here!"

"Do you really believe you succeeded where so many others failed? Are you so arrogant that you assume the Shadow would be so easily broken, brother?"

"Is it arrogance to state the obvious? I watched as the forces of the cosmos tore him apart! He is gone, and even if he somehow survived unscathed, this is beyond him! It is not-"

"Stop. Do you feel that?"

"What are you… no. That is not possible."

"He is listening."

I noticed a few things as I regained consciousness. First, I was curled into a ball and floating in the center of the Guild's infirmary. Second, I had reflexively raised an aura of energy around myself at some point, which was currently keeping me aloft. Lastly, it looked as though some sort of small explosion had ripped through the room, leaving shattered vials, straw bedding, and a very startled looking audino scattered throughout the room. I was at the center of the blast.

Releasing my hold on the energy around me, I collapsed to the ground in utter exhaustion. I needed to calm down, gather my thoughts, and figure out what had just happened and what those voices had been. My brilliant plan was, of course, cut short by an excited screech from the audino.

"That was incredible!" she screamed, lunging towards her nearby notepad. "Whatever caused your amnesia seems to violently react to the energy of a luminous spring! I've never seen anything like it!"

"You're… enjoying this?" I asked between panicked breaths, bewildered by both the voices I'd heard and the audino's excitement at my nearly leveling her infirmary.

"Of course! There's some form of previously unknown energy at work here! Just imagine how much we could learn from the interaction!" Scribbling furiously on her notepad, she continued "of course, this calls for further testing. If we tried a larger dose of luminous water-"

"No!" I shouted, only to be surprised to hear another voice join my reply. Turning to the door, I saw the blob-like form of the Guildmaster's reuniclus assistant floating in the entryway.

"Audino, you will do no such thing!" he said, drifting over towards us. "I don't know what you just did, but I'm certain any half-decent psychic could sense the force of that blast halfway across the region!"

"But-" the audino began, ears flattened against her skull.

"No. This is a reckless and irresponsible experiment that poses a clear threat to the well-being of every pokémon under our protection. While I value your medical expertise, I cannot in good conscience allow you to endanger the entire village for the sake of your own curiosity." Turning to me, the reuniclus added "I am sorry that the esteemed doctor's inquisitiveness has brought you harm. I assure you, she meant no ill will."

"It's alright," I said, rising shakily to my feet. "She was only trying to help. I think."

"Yes, well, I think she's done quite enough helping for today." Looking to the audino, he added "don't you agree, doctor?"

"Fine," the audino huffed. "I guess we can stop for now. But I expect him back here first thing tomorrow!"

"We'll see." Floating towards the exit, the reuniclus motioned for me to follow. "Darkrai, come with me, please. The Guildmaster is ready to speak with you." I stumbled out of the infirmary as fast as my legs would carry me, happy for an excuse to leave the cursed place.

As we made our way up the central ramp, the reuniclus drifted ahead, seemingly deep in thought. We soon arrived at the door to the Guildmaster's room, which the blob-like pokémon shoved open with a wave of his hand and a small burst of telekinetic force. Artemis and the Guildmaster were seated in front of her dais, hunched over a large map spread out on the ground before them. They both looked up at us as we entered.

"Glad to see you're still standing, Darkrai," the Guildmaster said, smiling gently. To the reuniclus, she asked "I trust the damage wasn't too severe, Reuniclus?"

"No more than usual," he sighed. "I'll make arrangements to restock the infirmary again. By your leave, Guildmaster."

"See to it." The reuniclus bobbed downward in a quick bow, then vanished in a flash of light. Guildmaster Torterra shook her head in disapproval. "I'm sorry Audino was unable to help you. Eccentric though she may be, her medical expertise is second to none. It's not often that she fails."

"So… I'm really out of luck then," I said. No sense trying to beat around the bush.

"I wouldn't be so sure," the Guildmaster replied. "The answers to our problems often come from strange sources. Artemis tells me you were attacked by Zoroark. Is this correct?"

I blinked in surprise at the sudden shift in topic. "No, that's right. He tried to hide behind an illusion, but it fell apart when he took a beating. I don't see what this has to do with my amnesia, though."

Artemis stepped forward. "Darkrai, I've been tracking this guy for months. He's careful, never lets his victims see his face. We only caught on to him because Reuniclus happened to be checking supplies in a warehouse he raided - illusions don't really work against a psychic - and that was pure luck. He always hits his targets when they're at their weakest, always runs when there's a fight. Attacking us outright, especially when he knows I'm after him, just isn't his style."

"What are you getting at?" I asked, already suspecting the absol's conclusion.

"He's after you," Artemis stated flatly. "He knew where you'd be, when you'd be there, and planned to capture you alive. I think it's safe to assume he has something to do with your amnesia. So, if we want to find out what happened to you, all we have to do is track him down and ask him."

"You just said you've been after him for months," I pointed out. "What makes you think you can just catch him now?"

"What, you think I've just been lounging around, waiting for him to show up?" she replied. "I'm the best bandit hunter in the Guild. I know what I'm doing."

"Zoroark hasn't been able to steal many supplies since we noticed his presence," the Guildmaster explained. "He's resorted to collecting food and basic supplies from the local outlaws as a sort of tribute. When we found this out, Artemis had the idea to start running night raids on the bandit hideouts, make sure they can't keep supplying him." The Guildmaster motioned to the nearby map, which was covered in dozens of small red X marks. "She's been fairly successful so far."

Artemis laughed. "He can't keep this up forever. He'll be running low on supplies by now, and if his attack last night is any indication, he's desperate to capture you. He'll have to make a move soon, and that's when I'll get him."

Guildmaster Torterra nodded. "Yes, and I expect you'll have a much easier time of it now that Darkrai will be joining you."

"What?" Artemis and I both cried in unison.

"Guildmaster," Artemis began, her voice strangely frantic, "you know I don't-"

"I am perfectly aware of your concerns, Artemis," the Guildmaster interrupted. "However, my decision stands. Darkrai will be joining Team Exile as its newest member-"

"I'm not taking on another teammate!" Aretmis shouted, then cringed, realizing a moment too late what she had done.

Guildmaster Torterra rose slowly to her feet. Drawing herself up to full height, she filled the room with her sheer physical presence. "Artemis," she began, her slow, normally gentle voice filled with carefully-controlled anger, "you are a member of this Guild. You make use of its facilities and act on its authority. You will do as I say, whether you like it or not, so long as that continues to be the case. Do I make myself clear?"

I'm fairly certain Artemis actually shrank under the force of the Guildmaster's reprimand. "Yes, Guildmaster." she answered, eyes closed in defeat.

The Guildmaster stood silently for a moment, staring down at the absol, before placing a single enormous foreleg on her shoulder. When she spoke again, she did so in a quiet voice, mixed with equal parts concern and weariness. "I know this is hard for you, Artemis, but I'm doing this as much for your sake as Darkrai's. I need you to trust me."

Artemis didn't reply, and instead simply stood breathing deeply for several long minutes. Eventually, she seemed to work up the courage to face the Guildmaster again. "Alright, Guildmaster. I… I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"You are forgiven," the Guildmaster replied, her gentle smile returning once more. "I'd be lying if I claimed my decisions were always received without complaint."

I stepped forward. "Excuse me, but I don't think I'm ok with this either," I began, careful to avoid arousing the Guildmaster's anger, "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything you've done for me so far, and I'm incredibly thankful for your help, but I don't have any idea what this team you're talking about is, let alone why I'm being signed up for it. I didn't come here to be drafted into some army."

The Guildmaster laughed softly. "What is it, exactly, you think we do? Don't answer that." She shook her head. "Darkrai, I can't force you to join this Guild. You came here seeking help, and are free to leave as you choose. But if you do, you'll still have no memory of who you are or where you came from, no money for food or shelter, no family or friends to fall back on…" The Guildmaster let her sentence trail off.

I stood, arms folded, and considered my situation. The Guildmaster was right; I had no plan, nowhere to go, and still didn't know what had happened to me. I sighed. "Well, when you put it like that, how can I refuse?"

Guildmaster Torterra smiled broadly. "I thought you'd see it my way. This Guild and its teams exist to better the lives of pokémon however they may - be that by helping those in need, capturing dangerous outlaws, or simply discovering more about the world. If you want to find out who you are, Darkrai, then I know of no better way than to help us do just that."

"And, if I do figure out some way to regain my memory, I can leave whenever I like?" I asked.

Guildmaster Torterra nodded. "Of course. Every member of this Guild is here because they choose to be."

After a moment's hesitation, I made my decision. "Alright, I'll join. But if I see anyone worshiping statues of you, I'm out."

"Don't worry, the cult worship is optional." Chuckling softly, the Guildmaster slowly scaled her dais. Turning to face us, she stamped a single foot down, and the entire tree seemed to resonate with the blow. "It is settled, then. By the authority of the Exploration Team Federation, I hereby declare Darkrai a member of Team Exile of Torterra's Guild, and bestow on him all the powers and obligations that entails. Artemis, as team leader, you will be fully responsible for the training and instruction of your newest member. Additionally, I expect you to hold your Team to the highest standards of this Guild - no more night missions, no more special exemptions. You will operate as a normal team in every regard, beginning immediately." The Guildmaster glanced out the window behind her. "It seems the day is still young. I expect you to be ready to depart for your first assignment within the hour. Quartermaster Galvantula will supply you with any equipment you need. Any questions?"

"Just one," Artemis said, a malicious grin spreading across her face. "Does this mean he has to wear the scarf?"