Hey, guys! Guess what day it is? Guess what day it is?!

No, it's not hump day, though I wish it was. But today is the one-year anniversary of The Outbreak! It's amazing that in one year, I've come from one little chapter to an 85 chapter epic... I couldn't have done that without your constant help!

But all that aside, I'd like to present another chapter in my story. I hope you like it~

Chapter 4: Team River Song

"Aria?"

The rough voice of Krokorok woke the Skitty from her semi consciousness. She was just on the edge of falling asleep on her straw bed in her room when Krokorok woke her up.

She groaned and rolled over on her bed, pawing at her eyes and moaning her complaints. "Urgh… It can't be time to wake up now, can it?" she muttered.

"The Guildmaster has requested your appearance. You are to go straight to her and not ask any questions. Do you understand?" Krokorok said, his voice sounding dull and monotonous. Aria was vaguely reminded of a robot.

Despite his orders not to ask questions, she had to divert all her energy into keeping her mouth shut. What could the Guildmaster want from her now? Surely she wasn't in trouble… was she?

Maybe it's about the Totodile…?

"If you want to go to bed sooner, you'll follow me without question," Krokorok said, his voice steely and firm.

Aria moaned. "Well, when you put it that way…" she mumbled under her breath.

She got to her feet and blinked her eyes open, her vision adjusting to the semidarkness of her room. Her bed of straw and grass was sitting in the middle, and a thin layer of moss served as "carpet" of sorts. The room was lit by the dying fires of the torches on the wall.

Aria had grown used to this room. Although it was small, it was home… much better than some of her previous accommodations.

"Now!" Krokorok demanded.

Aria scuttled out of her room and into the dimly lit hallway.

Several tunnels branched off from the hallway here. Her fellow apprentices slept in some of the other rooms, but with Krokorok's outburst, some had woken up.

"Hey! What's the big deal?!"

This voice was probably Altaria's—although she was incredibly nice and had a good singing voice, she hated when people disturbed her sleep.

"We're trying to sleep in here!"

This was undoubtedly Cranidos, who was quick-tempered and irritable but a softie at heart. Aria had heard that Cranidos would sometimes go on rampages if he didn't get enough sleep… and his temper tantrums had been responsible for many injuries.

Krokorok ignored their complaints and continued to stride forward to the Guildmaster's chamber, mumbling something about "sleepless whelps". Aria ran forward to keep up with his strides.

They finally arrived at Flygon's chamber. The wooden door that separated the room from the rest of the guild was framed in light that made Aria's eyes ache. Krokorok ignored her discomfort and opened the door.

The room was brightly lit by two large tiki torches. Guildmaster Flygon was hovering a few inches off the mossy ground, which was covered with a woven mat. A pile of straw was shoved into the corner, and a few treasure chests and burlap sacks were piled near the back.

In the middle of the room was the same Totodile from earlier. He was awake but still looked like a zombie; his head was hanging down and his arms were limp. His mouth was slightly agape, and his eyes were closed.

Flygon seemed to be whispering something to him, but Aria couldn't make out the words. She was quite confused—why would the Guildmaster want her in here?

"See? Here they are now!" Flygon put in.

The Totodile looked up at the new arrivals. Looking closely, Aria could see dark bags under his eyes. When he spotted the Skitty, his head rolled up, letting out a sigh.

"Ugh… Seriously? A pink cat?" he moaned.

Aria was shocked and disgraced. Her tail twitched angrily and her eyes narrowed. She bared her fangs and prepared to pounce.

I'm gonna teach you a lesson, mister… You're gonna pay for saying that!

Krokorok grabbed her tail, and Aria realized she was slowly stalking towards the Totodile. Although his claws dug into her fragile skin, she was grateful that he had stopped her. Although she was angry at the Totodile, she didn't want to go so far as to hurt him.

"I don't know what this 'exploration team' is, but I do not want to be part of this. Especially if my 'partner' is a frilly pink cat… Ooh, I hope you don't get your fur wet, little kitty…" the Totodile said grouchily.

"Don't be so mean, Jay!" Flygon cried.

"Just because I'm a 'frilly pink cat' doesn't mean I can't kick butt!" Aria added.

Jay pouted but didn't continue to bully Aria.

"Good… Now, this is Aria. Aria, this is Jay. Jay was once a human, but somehow, he turned into a Pokém—" Flygon began.

"Don't tell her about that!" Jay cried. "Nobody needs to know that I'm different!"

"—he turned into a Pokémon. We don't know why, but we have a feeling that we could get some leads if he becomes part of an exploration team…" Flygon continued, smiling at Aria.

Jay deflated. He slumped forward again, clenching his teeth tight together. He looked resentful at the Guildmaster—like he was barely resisting the urge to bite her. But beneath the anger was fear and sadness.

Jay found himself on the edge of tears. It was like everything was going wrong for him… Now some stupid Technicolor cat knew that he was once a human. He imagined himself being made fun of, being referred to as "the human-turned-Pokémon" like he was an attraction at a zoo.

No…

Aria was the exact opposite of Jay. At the words "exploration team", she had jumped up into the air and let out a squeal of happiness. She had dreamed of becoming an explorer ever since she had enrolled in the guild, but nobody was willing to be her partner. Now she could finally be a true explorer… even if her partner was a bit grouchy.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I can finally become an explorer!" Aria squeaked.

Jay covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to reveal emotion as the Skitty celebrated. He felt like taking a nosedive into the river again, letting himself be washed away. Anything was better than this…

"Hey… What's wrong?"

Jay looked up and was surprised to find Aria right next to him, concern in her squinty eyes. He then realized he had been silently crying.

He wiped a tear away from his eyes and tried to think of a rebuke to say, but he was at a loss for words. As he stared at Aria's face, all his anger melted away, leaving only sadness.

"I just wanna go home," he said simply. He could barely choke out the words, as his sadness had left him with a cough. It was true: he did want to go home, wherever home was. He wanted to escape this cruel world and go back home and live a normal life, free from strange creatures and distractions like guilds and exploration teams.

Aria patted his shoulder. The gesture was quite unexpected, and Jay found himself jerk away at her touch. But then he stopped, realizing that all he wanted was for someone to care about him.

Looking at Aria's concerned face, he realized that even though she had only said a few sentences to him, she truly cared about him.

"I understand. I totally know how you feel. Ever since that day, I've wanted to go home too…" she said, patting him on the shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Jay asked as he wiped tears from his eyes and sniffed.

Aria looked surprised. She put her paw over her mouth and turned red, and Jay had the idea that she was hiding something from him.

Big surprise… everyone's hiding something from me…

"It's… nothing. I'll tell you later," Aria said hastily.

"What do you say? Would you like to become an explorer with Aria?" Flygon asked.

Three pairs of eyes stared intently at Jay. He began to sweat, threatening to crack under the pressure. It was amazing that only a few minutes ago, he was angry at Aria just because she was pink. Now he was sad—although it didn't seem like much, Aria was his best friend in the mad world he was stuck in.

He pondered his decisions. He could refuse and spend his life roaming the unfamiliar land, looking for solutions. He didn't have any place to sleep, no stable roof over his head, no reliable source of food and water. And who knows what other dangers could await him in the outside world?

Or he could join a team with a mood-swinging Skitty. Earlier, Flygon explained to him that they were in an explorer guild—budding explorers would stay with her until they graduated. Every day, he'd get breakfast and dinner, and he'd have a comfortable place to sleep at night. He'd be able to make friends with the apprentices, and he'd be able to search for answers with a reliable buddy on his side.

Even though "exploring" didn't sound like his thing, he had made up his mind.

"I'm in."

What happened next was unexpected for everybody; Aria tackled him over and began licking his face like an excited dog. "Oh—thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! You don't know how long I've been looking forward to this—I've wanted to form an exploration team for so long, but I've never been able to find a partner, and now that you're here, I can finally do it! We can find treasure and become famous and bring you back home and—"

"Okay… Okay, Aria, I get it," Jay said, swatting at the Skitty with his hands. "Seriously—get off. I'm only doing this because I get a stable roof over my head, okay?"

Aria finally got off Jay. Her face was flushed with an excitement Jay had never thought was possible. She still looked like she wanted to hug Jay.

"Well, now that that's settled…" Flygon put in, "you'll need a few things to start off. Aria already has a fairly-stocked Explorer Bag, so you've got that… You'll need your Explorer Badges and a team name… oh, and I have a few extra goodies just for you…"

Flygon turned around to a wooden chest and began rummaging through it, murmuring to herself on occasion. Krokorok lingered near the back of the room like a barely-visible shadow, and Aria was bouncing in place and cheering excitedly.

"What should our team name be? I want it to be something cool! Something that reflects us and what we do! Something that everybody will remember when we become famous!" Aria said happily.

Jay didn't respond right away; he honestly had no idea what to name their team.

He tried to think of a good idea for the team, but the best idea he could come up with was "Team Weirdos"… and he didn't think Aria would like that one.

Meanwhile, Aria was rattling off ideas, and Jay had to admit that most of them sounded pretty cool. But his new partner didn't seem to be satisfied.

"Hmm… Team Chompy? No, I've heard that before… Team Torrent? Nah, I want it to reflect both of us… How about Team Bubbles?" she asked.
"Team Bubbles sounds like a kid's little league soccer team…" Jay replied sourly.

"So that's a no?" Aria asked.

"Yes. No. Whatever. Let's just think of another team name," Jay said.

A few minutes passed without avail; Aria didn't seem to be satisfied with any of her ideas, and Jay couldn't even think of anything creative. Flygon and Krokorok were starting to look impatient; Krokorok started to nod off, yawning and laying his head down on the wall before snapping up again with a snort. Although there were no windows, Jay could surmise that it was rather late at night.

"Team Chew Toy? No—too silly… Hmmm… Something with 'river'…" Aria mumbled.

Suddenly, the Skitty gasped, an apparent revelation sparking her. "Ooh! I got it! Team River Song!" she cried triumphantly.

"'River Song'?" Jay echoed.

"Yeah! You're a Water type Pokémon and you've got water abilities and stuff, and I can sing really well! So Team River Song!" Aria said, jumping up and down in place.

Jay was confused as to what she meant by "Water type", but he couldn't deny that it sounded like a decent team name.

"What're you giving me that look for? Do you have any other bright ideas?" Aria cried. Jay realized a bit too late that he was giving her a confused look that seemed to tell her that he was absolutely disinterested.

"Sorry, sorry… just lost in thought… anyway, that sounds like a cool team name. It's definitely original," Jay said, giving his partner a toothy grin.

"So Team River Song?" Flygon asked.

"Yep!" Aria replied giddily.

Flygon smiled. "Great! From now on, you will be known as Team River Song. I know you'll do great in your explorations ahead!" she said.

Aria squealed in delight, and she looked like she was ready to hug Jay. Jay backed up, worried that she might start licking his face again. He felt a smile on his face and was rather surprised; he felt as though he hadn't smiled in years.

"Now that you're officially an exploration team, you guys will be able to access parts of the guild that you couldn't access before. But it's much too late now—you'll get the full tour tomorrow morning. Don't worry; your first day will be a breeze!" Flygon said happily.

"Ooh, I can't wait for tomorrow! Finally… my dream's coming true! I can't wait to go out and explore and get big rewards and stuff…! It's gonna be so much fun!" Aria cried.

"Yeah… But honestly, I just wanna go to sleep," Jay said, yawning.

"But before you go, I'd like to give you some things that'll help you tomorrow…"

Flygon held out her clawed hands, and within her hands, Jay could see two bandanas, one blue and one red. She also held a small sky blue fruit that could probably be swallowed in one bite. Jay's stomach rumbled, and he only then realized that he hadn't eaten since his transformation.

"Ooh! What are these?" Aria asked as she picked up the red bandana.

"They just like normal ol' bandanas to me," Jay said.

"They may not look like anything special, but they can really help you in your adventures. The red bandana is a Power Band, and it increases your attack power. So if you got into a battle, you'd be able to defeat your enemies faster!" Flygon explained.

"Wait. What? You didn't tell me we had to fight anything!" Jay gasped. He didn't feel like he could handle fighting others—at least, not now. Not when he was still trying to get used to having a giant maw and tiny hands.

"Oh, don't worry. Battling comes easy to most Pokémon. Little Aria's done it, and she hasn't shown signs of wear!" Flygon reassured the Totodile.

Despite her calming words, a sense of dread fluttered in Jay's stomach.

"And the other one?" Aria prompted.

"A Special Band. Sometimes, physical attacking isn't a Pokémon's strong point—some Pokémon use other methods of attacking. Some can breathe fire, while others can use their minds to attack… Jay, you can use Water type attacks, if I am not mistaken," Flygon said.

"What's all this 'type' stuff? And why am I a Water type?" Jay asked, now thoroughly confused by all this talk about "types".

"Every Pokémon has a specific type. It's kind of like an… identity. It affects what attacks we can use, our abilities, and our strengths and weaknesses in battle. I'm a Normal type, which means I'm not really that special…" Aria said, looking down at her feet.

"Cheer up. You're plenty special!" Flygon said to the Skitty.

"It'll all make sense tomorrow when you're out in the field. Let's not waste any energy talking about moves and types," Krokorok said.

"And the berry is an Oran Berry. If you're tired or injured, pop one of these guys in, and you'll be good as new in no time!" Flygon explained, holding out the berry.

Jay took the small blue berry in his hands and turned it around. It didn't look like anything special; in fact, it looked like nothing more than a light snack.

Aria took the bandanas and handed them to Jay, who held onto them and turned them around in his hands. Like the Oran Berry, the bandanas didn't look very special. They were slightly tattered and rather dusty.

"And Aria has the Explorer Bag, where you'll keep your items and treasure… I'd say you're all set! Now all you need is a good night's sleep and you'll be ready to face the world tomorrow!" Flygon said perkily. "Aria will show you to your quarters. You'll be sharing a room, but don't worry; you won't have to share beds. And Aria doesn't snore," the Guildmaster added.

Jay was relieved. It would be rather awkward to share a bed with a complete stranger.

"Good night, Guildmaster! I'll see you tomorrow!" Aria said.

"Good night, Team River Song," Flygon said with a smile.

Aria led Jay out of the room and into the world beyond.

It took Jay a moment to get used to the darkness of the guild, but when he did, he was shocked. The entire complex was an underground maze with sprawling tunnels and branching pathways. Wall-mounted torches lit the rooms, but their fire was low. The air was cool and the grass was soft beneath his feet.

I've gotta admit: these guys are smart. I mean, humans have a hard enough time building stuff, and these guys don't even have cranes and bulldozers to help them… Jay thought absently as he stared at his surroundings.

"C'mon, slowpoke! You were complaining about being tired just a second ago!" Aria cried.

It was then that Jay realized that he was staring at the wall as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Which it wasn't.

Jay scurried after Aria, eager to finally find a comfortable place to sleep. After the crazy events of his first day of his new life, he was exhausted and could think of nothing but a bed.

Much to his surprise, he found that his "bed" was nothing more than a pile of straw that Aria hastily fashioned out of her bed, which was also a pile of straw.

"Ugh… That's it? A lousy pile of straw?" Jay grumbled.

"This is what we have. Everyone sleeps on a pile of straw. It's either this or sleeping on the cold hard ground…" Aria said as she curled onto her bed.

Jay grumbled his complaints but sat down on his "bed", and much to his surprise and joy, it was a very comfortable place to sleep. It was a bit itchy, but as he piled straw onto his body, it felt like he was sleeping in a pile of sand.

"Good night, Jay… See you for our first day of exploration!" Aria said.

Jay didn't respond. He was too busy thinking of his predicament to bid good night to Aria.

So in the span of one day, I've been knocked out in a river, woken up as some sort of weird crocodile thing, befriended some frilly pink cat, and now I've been roped into some sort of weird exploration team thing… It has been quite a day…

But despite the thoughts bouncing around in his head, he decided that he could save his pondering for tomorrow. He needed a good night's rest, and it wouldn't come if he was busy thinking about his hectic day.

I may as well give this "explorers" thing a chance… You never know. This could be the key to unlocking the secret to my past…

Jay resolved to not think about his dilemma any more. For now, he needed to focus on sleeping.

He closed his eyes and curled up on his bed, putting his buzzing mind to rest. Sleep came easier than he expected, and in only a few minutes, he had fallen asleep in his bed of straw.

XxX

I really need to stop watching Doctor Who. Team River Song? Ugh... I need to stop making pointless references to other franchises. But I digress.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to review!