Chapter 4

Evolution and the Guild

That night…

"Why do you think we were turned into Pokémon?" Ryou asked, staring into the fire.

"I don't know" Bakura said, as Yami concentrated.

"What's Yami doing?" Bakura asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Yami's species is called 'Riolu' and they have to power to sense other's aura" Ryou explained, almost asleep. "Yami did this the first night we were in unfamiliar territory, he uses it to keep watch for any other Pokémon coming our way" he yawned, falling asleep beside Bakura.

"Aura, huh? I wonder what my aura looks like" he asked, not expecting a reply.

"Black"

"Huh?"

"Your aura is black" Yami said, his ears suddenly dropping down beside him.

"What does black aura mean?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know" Yami said.

"What do you mean? You don't know?"

"Well, I'm still learning things about my species and unfortunately, there wasn't a Riolu or Lucario at the base so I don't really know much" Yami said. "Mabye it's because you're a yami though."

"What's a Lucario?" Bakura asked.

"Do you know about 'evolution'? Yami asked, looking a little surprised.

"No."

"Evolution is a sudden change in form of a Pokémon."

"You mean Pokémon can change forms?" Bakura asked.

"Yes" Yami said, continuing, "Evolution can occur in Pokémon for several different reasons, the most common of which is gaining enough battle experience."

"You mean that I might be able to evolve?" Bakura asked.

"Yes," Yami said, growing annoyed. "There are many other factors that can determine if, when, and into what, different Pokémon will evolve. For example, some evolutions will only occur if the Pokémon has a certain item; at a certain time of day;or if the Pokémon is a certain gender."

"Do I need an item?" Bakura asked.

"Yes, you will need a fire stone to evolve" Yami said.

"What does a Fire stone look like?" Bakura asked, a smirk beginning to show on his face.

"I don't know, they didn't have a book on evolution at the base, I only found out when someone in the base came back from a mission, saying that they couldn't evolve" Yami snapped.

"Sorry" Bakura said, feeling sleepy now, I got one more question.

"What is it?" Yami asked.

"What is Ryou's aura?"

Yami blinked before replying, "White, like new fallen snow."

"Well we're here, so where's the guild?" Bakura asked as they sat around a basin full of water the next day.

"Roserade said that the guild was near Treasure Town" Yami muttered, trying to use his aura but something kept blocking it.

"Hey, there's someone, maybe they know" Ryou said, getting up.

"It's better than nothing" Bakura said as he and Yami followed behind.

The Pokémon that Ryou had seen was a yellow mouse with a thunderbolt shaped tail, red cheeks and black tipped narrow triangle ears.

After explained who they were, the Pokemon guided them up some steps and they were currently facing a building shaped like a Wigglytuff.

"This is the Wigglytuff Guild," he spoke in almost a monotone.

Yami whispered to Ryou, "Doesn't this place seem just a bit odd...?"

The Pikachu picked up his feet and headed towards the grate. Breathing deeply, he stood perfectly still, almost to the point of turning himself into a perfect statue impersonation.

"Pokémon Detected! Pokémon Detected!"

Forget about what I said earlier, I became startled. Instead of struggling around like last time, I forced my feet to hold onto the wooden grate. There was nothing that would make me fall this time.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is Yugi's! The footprint is Yugi's!"

Yami's breath caught in this throat, 'Yugi?'

The screechy voice died down and Yugi pulled his feet from the grate and breathed calmly.

"HEY WHAT GIVES?" he yelled down the hole as the gate didn't open.

"You may ENTER!" Ryou flew up about three inches into the air, "Someone's with YOU! Get that stranger up HERE!"

Ryou recovered from shock and Yami on to the grate.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" The voice called up to us.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is...the f-footprint is...uh.."

"Diglett?" I heard the loud voice ask the scratchy one, "Sentry? SENTRY?"

"Uh...um..." The other voice got quiet, "Maybe Riolu's! Maybe Riolu's!"

I heard someone yell out in rage. I presumed it was the other voice, "WHAT? Maybe? Identifying footprints, it's your job, right Diglett?"

"That's alright, they are probably the members from Roserade's guild" a third voice said, "Let them in."

"Fine." The second voice groaned angrily.

"Very trusting, aren't they?" Bakura whispered.

They heard a cranking noise, and then felt the ground shake. The large steel door was slowly cranking its way open. Yami, Ryou and Bakura stood there in shock. There was no way for a robber or anyone to get through that huge steel door without permission first. As it cranked up fully, without looking at them, Yugi stepped inside. In the tiny tent, there were wooden ladders that lead into the ground.

I walked over to it and I carefully climbed down it, Yugi, was already on the next floor down.

As we climbed into the room, a distinct lighting system made the room bright. Many different Pokémon flooded the room, astonishing me. I felt my jaw drop in an awestruck smile. So this was the guild. Now the final step was to meet Wigglytuff and the rest of the guild.

"Welcome" a brightly coloured bird that had a head similar to a music note as well as a tail like a metronome. It had brightly coloured blue wings, a yellow 'bib' and a green stomach. It also had a white collar. It greeted them as they reached the lowest floor.

"Hi Chatot" Yugi muttered, slinking away.

Chatot acted as if he hadn't heard him and asked, "Are you the team that Roserade sent?"

"Yes" Yami answered, watching Yugi slink away, frowning.

"Well then! Follow me!" Chatot hopping over to a door and said, "Guild master! It's Chatot! I'm coming in!"

Pulling the doors open, Chatot walked us inside and sat up on a perch nearby a pink figure with long ears. Sven and I shuffled into the room and onto the rug before both of them. Chatot looked from us to the Guild master.

"Guild master? The team from Roserade..." Wigglytuff didn't turn around, "Guild master? Um, Guild master...?"

"HIYA!" The pink blob yelled in a happy-go-lucky tone, making everyone fall over from sheer shock.

Chatot was off of the bird perch and on the ground, "Guild master, I told you not to do that ever again!"

The Wigglytuff turned and smiled at him, "Chatot!"

"Y-yes, Guild master?" Chatot hobbled onto the post.

"Let's welcome the new team!"

Yami wanted to groan in frustration. Wigglytuff retrieved a box from the back of the room and placed it in front of us.

"There you go!" He merrily danced, "All you need to be temporarily part of this guild!"

Yami opened the box and pulled out a few items: A larger version bag that hung around his body and three rescue badges. Yami looked up from the box and at Wigglytuff.

"Now, do you know how long you will be with us?" Wigglytuff asked us with a smile.

"Um...no?" Ryou answered back, as Bakura examined the badges.

"That's ok, Team name?" Wigglytuff asked us with a smile.

"We're Team Icefire" Yami answered proudly

The Guild master saluted us, "All right!" He smiled cheerily, "Registering! ~"

Suddenly, he drew in a huge breath. Oh no, Yami didn't like the sound of this and quickly covered his ears... He released a screaming voice that shook the entire building at its foundations. Ryou felt himself shaking as he struggled to block out the noise from his over-sensitive Eevee ears. It felt horrible. And then it suddenly stopped.

"All registered! ~" Wigglytuff danced around in a circle, balancing a large apple on his head.

Chatot got up from his dazed position on the post and shakily trudged over to us, "Alright, I'll take you to your room."

"Oh, we almost forgot" Yami said, pulling out the apples that Roserade had given to him. "From Roserade" he said, giving them to Wigglytuff.

"Yay, Perfect apples" he cheered, and began to dance even faster.

They followed Chatot out the door and began to walk down another corridor and to a small but cozy room. There were six simply made beds in the centre, but that was about it. Bakura crawled on top of one and collapsed. I heard Ryou follow his lead.

"You will be sharing this room with one of our other teams, but they are out on a mission at the moment, so I will introduce you tomorrow" he said, hoping out of the room.

"Alright, tomorrow you guys start, so be ready!" Yami said, falling asleep on another one of the beds.

Yami felt his body get heavy as I closed my eyes. Finally, he could get some sleep after this hectic day. He heard Bakura grumble something and he lifted an ear in response. "Let's do well tomorrow.