Last time on Explorers of Prehistory...
The Umbreon Tribe allied itself with Kramzak of the Desert, who even now is transporting his armies into Umbreon land so that they can destroy the Espeon army! Meanwhile, Bonehead and Bessie arrived at the fort of the Gardevoir Guild, and they now plan on joining it!
What will happen next? Find out now!
New OCs this chapter, so special thanks to Twilight the Moon Spirit, Freak666Chaos, Mew Mew Pachirisu, and... Uh... Someone... Sorry, I forgot who owns Scout the Patrat! If someone remembers, or if the owner is reading, please tell me that the OC is yours! Sorry!
The guild's entrance was quite eerie to two Pokemon who had never been inside caves before in their lives. The stone walls were nearly invisible, illuminated only by the lights of the torches. Bonehead and Bessie walked through the cave and up to the gate, keeping quiet. Neither were feeling very confident, and only their held hands kept them from fleeing.
They didn't take long to reach the gate - they had hurried through as quickly as they could. Then, they saw her, standing alone by the gate.
She was a tall Pokemon, with black skin and a pink face. Strange hair flowed from her head, and her eyes were dull and lifeless. She had a pretty face, marred by a few scars, and a full pair of lips. In her hands was a wooden staff. Bessie had heard of such a Pokemon before: they were called Gothitelle, powerful Psychic types that were related to the Gardevoir line.
The Gothitelle was standing in front of a large, stone gate. "She must be the guard..." Bessie whispered to Bonehead.
"Do we ask her to let us in?" Bonehead asked, nervously.
"We came this far..." Bessie said with a nod.
The two friends, hand in hand, slowly approached the Gothitelle. Bessie opened her mouth to say hello, when...
"Who goes there?!"
The Gothitelle's staff found itself pointed directly at Bessie's throat. The Buneary swallowed nervously; the end of that stick looked sharp... "Uh... Uh..."
"What is your name? Stop stuttering, child, and get on with it!" the Gothitelle ordered, her voice flat and cold, as emotionless as a freezing day.
"I'm Bessie..." Bessie said, slowly. "This is my friend, Bonehead. And, uh..."
"We'd like to join the guild!" Bonehead said, trying to sound brave.
The Gothitelle sighed. "Of course you do. Leave, now. You are too young and too frightened."
"We are not!" Bonehead said.
"B-but... We came all this way..." Bessie said. "Can't we talk to Ms. Sting and ask if we could join?"
"You know that our guildmaster is absent?"
"Y-Yeah, Duro told us," Bonehead explained. "He brought us here."
The Gothitelle sighed. "If Duro vouches for you, then I have no choice..." She turned away. "Very well. Come with me."
A pale glow burst from her eyes, and the stone doors slid open slowly. Light burst into the cave, startling the girls, who had to cover their eyes. The Gothitelle, without any hesitation, walked out into the sun. "Follow me."
Bonehead and Bessie swiftly followed, their eyes getting used to the sunlight again. As they followed the Gothitelle, they were taken aback very quickly at the size of the guild.
The Gardevoir Guild HQ was a fortress, made during the Desert Wars ages ago to help protect Dragonite City. It thankfully never saw military use, and when the Guild was founded it became their base of operations. The fortress walls surrounded dozens of small cabins, each about the size of Bessie's former home on Tiny Island. Each cabin had a flag with a name written in footprin ruins, along with a symbol for the team that lived their.
"It's huge..." Bonehead said.
"Yeah..." Bessie said. "That big building in the middle must be where all the imporant work gets done!" she said, pointing to the tower in the center of the fort. "It must be where the guildmaster lives! It looks like a castle..."
"Keep up!" the Gothitelle ordered, continuing on her way.
Bessie and Bonehead picked up the pace, swiftly following her as she led them to the tower, leading them past several cabins. They read the names of the cabins as they walked past them: "Team Vampire," "Team Rose," "Team Leaf," "Team Mummy," "Team Berserker,"... The list went on and on. However, some cabins had no names on them, and seemed to be empty - with any luck, they would inhabit one of those cabins one day.
The tower drew closer and closer, and very soon they were directly in front of the center of the a massive network of explorers. From atop the towers they could see Ninjask flying to and fro, carrying messages to other parts of the world. The Gothitelle silently led them to the gate of the fort.
"W-we're here..." Bessie said, nervously.
The Gothitelle walked up to the gate. "Open," she said.
A stone slab slid away from the gate, revealing a pair of piercing red eyes staring down at them. "Meh-heh-heh!" a sly voice chuckled. "If it isn't Amelia? Ooh, and new recruits, how delicious!"
"Open the gate, Pharaoh," Amelia ordered, crossing her arms. "There recruits need to be evaluated."
"Meh-heh-heh!" the voice said. "Anything for you, dear. Gold! Nugget! Open the gate!"
"Wah-hah-hah!"
"Mua-hah-hah!"
With two boisterous laughs, the stone gate slid open, revealing the tall, golden form of a Cofagrigus, flanked by two Yamask. "Meh-heh-heh," the Cofagrigus laughed. "Welcome to the guild, newbies. I am Pharaoh, your superior explorer. These are my underlings, Gold and Nugget."
"Wah-hah-hah!" chortled Gold.
"Mua-hah-hah!" Nugget chuckled.
"They clearly don't have much to say," Amerlia said. "Pharaoh, take them to Sting for their testing."
"Meh-heh-heh!" Pharoah said. "Sorry, but no can do! I'm on gate keeping duty, remember?"
"Yes, I know," Amelia said. "You were placed here after you terrified Clover again."
"It's not my fault my charm makes me intimidating," Pharoah said, feigning a humble voice. "Still, we all know how scary the guildmaster can be when she's angry, and she will be back soon. Hmmm..." he said, thoughtfully.
Out of the corner of his eye, farther down the hall, he caught sight of a brown-furred creature walking down the hall. "Aha! Scout!" he shouted.
The creature, a Patrat, turned around with a surprised look on his face. "W-Wha...?!"
"Come. Here," Pharoah ordered, gesturing to him with two of his shadowy hands.
Scout swallowed as he scurried over. "Uh-huh, yeah?" he asked.
"These two children are new recruits," Pharoah said, gesturing to Bessie and Bonehead. "They are in need of a guide to take them to Sting for their testing. You're gonna do it."
"Me?!" Scout said, surprised.
"Oh, relax," Amelia said. "You just have to take them to Sting, that's all."
"We can trust you to do that... right?" Pharoah asked.
Scout nodded, saluting. "S-s-sure!" he said. "Y-you can count on me!"
"Mmmmhmmyesss..." Pharoah said. (Author's Note: Vincent Price "Mmmhmyesss..." for the win!)
"Uh..." Scout said. "Hi... There..."
"Hello!" both Bonehead and Bessie said in unison.
Scout swallowed nervously. "Uh... I'm Scout and I'll be your guide today! Come on in."
"Thanks!" The girls hurried in side of the guild. "Thanks, Ms. Amelia!" Bonehead shouted.
Amelia turned away and waved, before silently walking off again.
"Well..." Pharoah muttered. "She's as friendly as always. Meh-heh-heh."
"Mua-hah-hah," Nugget agreed.
Pharoah turned to Scout and the girls. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked. "Get a move on!"
Scout nodded. "Y-yessir!" he said. "Let's go!" The chipmunk-like Pokemon scurried down the hallway, Bessie and Bonehead in swift pursuit.
"So, you're really joining the guild?" Scout asked as he lead the girls up the stairs.
"Yeah, we are!" Bonehead said, feeling determined.
"You're in the guild too, right?" Bessie asked, wondering how he got into the guild. Amelia had said that they were too scared to join the guild, so why was this guy allowed in?
"Yup!" Scout said, proudly. "I've been in the guild for five years now!"
"Wow," Bonehead said, quite impressed. "That is a while..."
"It is..." Scout admitted. "But I'm gonna... Oh, here we are!"
They had reached the top of the tower, and sure enough, there it was. A large stone door, not quite as large as the one as the entrance to the tower, with the words "Guildmaster's Office" painted in red foot-print ruins above it, lay before them.
Bessie felt nervousness setting back in her heart. Sure, this Sting was only the Guildmaster's secretary, but she was still their direct link to the Guildmaster. If they didn't make a very good impression...
"Well, here we are," Scout announced. "Aren't you going in?" he asked, noting Bessie's hesitation.
"Uh, well, yeah, we are," Bessie said, nervously. "It's just..."
"You're afraid you won't get in?" Scout asked.
Bonehead blinked, surprised. "How do you...?"
Scout laughed. "Almost every team that's ever come up here has been worried about that!" he said. "Don't worry about it! I mean, if they let me in, they're sure to let you in!"
Bessie managed to giggle, just a bit. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed. "T-thanks," she said. "Well..." she said to Bonehead. "Let's go in."
Bonehead nodded. "Gotcha!"
The two shoved the stone doors open, and stepped into the office.
The office was clean and organized; books were placed neatly on their shelves, and the floors were freshly swept. A large map of the entire empire was painted on the right wall, and on the left wall, a large, unlit fireplace. In the back of the room, by a large window, was a desk, and sitting behind the desk was a large, bee-like Pokemon with bright red eyes and a dark, honey colored body. She was skimming through a pile of papers, ignorant to their entry, as she listened to a small creature that looked a lot like Amelia talk unhappily about the current state of things.
"It's not fair! Why can't we do anything about it?!" the Gothorita demanded, crossing her arms.
"Mmmhmmm..." the Vespiquen answered, not really paying attention.
"We should write a letter to the Emperor!" the Gothorita shouted. "We need to tell him how stupid he's being, not helping where help is needed!"
"Mmmhmm..."
"Are you even listening?"
"Mmmmhmmm..."
"...Okay then, I'm going to go to the pantry and eat all the perfect apples!"
"Mmmhmmm..."
"And then I'm going to take your diary and mail it to Bla-!"
The Vespiquen looked up. "Y-you'll do no such thing!" she snapped. She finally noticed Bonehead and Bessie. "Oh, my..." she said, pushing the papers aside. "Uh, Rainbow," she whispered to the Gothorita, "why didn't you tell me we had guests?!"
"I didn't know we had them!" the Gothorita whispered back.
"Uh... Hi," Bonehead said, deciding to make a good impression. "I'm Bonehead and this is Bessie! We came to try and join the guild."
"Oh... Oh, I mean, happy to have you!" the Vespiquen said. "My name is Sting! I'm the Guildmaster's Secretary. She left me in charge of managing affairs while she is out on a mission!" She flitted over to the two children, looking over them. "Hmmmm... Hmmmmm..." she murmered to herself, thoughtfully.
"Hi hi!" the Gothorita said. "I'm Rainbow! I'm an explorer here, too!"
"Hi!" Bonehead said, in a friendly tone.
"So can we join?" Bessie asked, feeling impatient. She didn't like the way that Sting was looking at them - it was the same way that Amelia and Pharoah had regarded them - just dumb kids. It annoyed her to no end.
"Well..." Sting muttered, buzzing away with her hands folded behind her back. "You are quite young... Younger than most who try to join the guild... Granted, you are not the youngest - Gold and Nugget are both younger than you two probably are, but they have Pharoah watching over them..."
"We can take care of ourselves!" Bessie said.
Sting buzzed back to her chair and folded her arms. "I don't know..." she said. "Look, being an explorer isn't all fame and fortune, you know! It's hard work - and it can be very dangerous! Are you two really ready to put your lives on the line?"
Bessie nodded, very determined. "I am!" she said. "I want to find out what's causing all of these natural disasters! And... And if I can't join the guild, than I'll go out and find out on my own!"
"And I'll go with her!" Bonehead said, despite being surprised with her friend's dramatic proclamation.
Sting slowly nodded. "Hmm... Very well... You can take the... trial..."
Rainbow gasped. "N-no!" she said. "They're too young for the trial!"
Bonehead swallowed. What was the trial?
"If they think that they're brave enough," Sting told Rainbow, "then they should have no problem." She looked down at the two girls. "Alright, then, if you want to join the guild, you need to take a special test! I'll take you to the fighting dojo on the base. Kelgo will see if you're really fit for guild duties..."
"K-Kelgo?" Bessie said, her voice cracking. "Who's Kelgo?"
Rainbow shook her head sadly and made a slashing gesture across her throat.
Bessie and Bonehead wordlessly followed Sting as she lead them away.
They didn't feel so brave now.
Author's Note:
Looks like we got to see the inside of the guild and some of the explorers. Amelia belongs to Twilight-The Moon Spirit, and she'll be playing a major role in this story. Pharoah and his goons are the property of me. I wanted to include a Cofagrigus in a story because, frankly, it's probably my favorite Ghost-type. Weird, isn't it? Rainbow belongs to Mew Mew Pachirisu, and as I mentioned before, I forgot who Scout belongs to and I could not find his owner - that's why this chapter took longer than I hoped it would. Sorry.
Anyways, tune in next time for Bessie and Bonehead vs Kelgo!