Hey, guys! Sorry for the lateness; had a lot of stuff going on. Hopefully I'll be able to update by Christmas day. I'm on winter break (WOOT) and so I'll be able to commit more time to writing. Yay~

But enough about that. Let's get to the story! I've got an extra long chapter for y'all, and I hope you like it!

Chapter 5: The Guild and Her Crew

"Good morning, my friends! Today's a new day! Get out of bed and give a hip, hip hooray!"

The sweet singsong voice brought Jay out of his dreamless slumber. He rubbed his eyes and groaned, glad that he was finally out of his incredibly weird dream.

It's my mom… she's trying to wake me up… I'm safe in bed, I haven't drowned, and I haven't turned into a weird blue crocodile… Jay reassured himself.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyheads! Get yourselves out of your beds!"

It was the singsong voice again. It seemed to be getting more irritated. Jay groaned, wishing his mom wasn't so insistent on waking him up. He just wanted five more minutes… it was the summer time, and he deserved to sleep in…

"If you continue to doze and sleep, surely others will start to weep!"

Jay felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him asleep. He groaned and opened his eyes, blinking the sleep out of his face. Everything was blurry and his eyes could barely stay open.

He blinked hard and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and when he lifted his eyelids, his vision had been cleared. Much to his surprise and confusion, he saw the face of a pink cat hovering above him, and he knew at once that his dream was still not over.

"Urgh… Do I have to? I'm tired!" Jay grumbled, hiding his disappointment under grouchiness. He still wasn't used to his new life as a Totodile, and the sight of Aria still surprised him.

"Of course! You don't wanna miss the first day on the job, do you?" Aria asked.

"I don't even get a day to rest?" Jay groaned.

"Nope! If you come back from your mission early enough, you can have some downtime at the guild. But not now! We've got to get up, up, up so we can eat breakfast and do our daily cheer!"

This was the unfamiliar voice, the one that had sang him awake. It was distinctly female and sounded like a slightly lower-pitched Aria.

Jay groaned and sat up, rubbing his head and blinking hard. His room hadn't changed a bit, other than the fact that Aria had woken up. He got off his bed of straw and mumbled his complaints, but he abruptly stopped when he saw what was standing in front of him.

Its main body was light blue and looked like some sort of bird, with a long neck, a beak, a long tail, and claws. It was floating a few inches off the ground. Its wings were covered in a fluffy white cotton.

"Who are you and why are you covered in fluff?" Jay asked.

"I'm Altaria, the guild's alarm clock! I wake up the other apprentices by singing sweet songs! And I'm guessing you're the new apprentice Flygon told us about?" Altaria asked.

"Yeah! He's my partner now. We're officially an exploration team!" Aria squealed.

"Oh, congratulations! I knew you'd become great explorers someday!" Altaria said happily. She floated forward, a smile on her face, and before Jay could do anything, she enveloped the team in a huge hug.

Once he got over the shock of suddenly being smothered, he smiled. Altaria's fluffy wings were soft and warm. It reminded him of being wrapped in warm sheets—or being wrapped in a motherly hug.

Altaria finally backed off. "Wow… I'm so proud of you!" she said.

"Thanks!" Aria said, puffing her chest up proudly.

"Anyway, I'll be off. The other guild members are still snoozing away, and we can't have them sleeping on the job, can we?" Before she left, Altaria patted Aria on the head and beamed at Jay. "See you two at breakfast!"

Jay turned to Aria, who was still looking incredibly proud of herself. "She sure was friendly with you…" he noted.

"Yeah. Altaria's a really good friend of mine. When I first came here, she took me under her wing… literally. She seems to be especially fond of hugs…" Aria smiled. Jay found himself smiling back.

"So she sings to wake us up? Sounds more like she'd sing us back to sleep…" Jay noted.

"Yeah… If you don't wake up, she'll eventually resort to screaming in your ear, which is no fun, but hopefully we'll never get to that… hopefully," Aria said. She looked around, her tail twitching nervously. "Anyway, we should get going. The Guildmaster doesn't like it when we're late to breakfast."

Aria skipped to the tunnel that led away from their room, but before she started down the hallway, she stopped herself. "Oh! I almost forgot…"

She turned around and walked back to her straw bed, ignoring the confused look Jay was giving her. Next to her bed was a burlap bag with a long leather sash. Jay hadn't noticed it last night—in the dim light, he had assumed it was just a rock.

"This is an Explorer Bag. We need it to store treasure and items. We won't get very far without it, especially not on our first day…" she explained.

Jay picked up the bag, turning it over in his hands. It was rather light and was torn in a few places, but it still looked relatively new. He could feel round objects in the bag and hear slight jingles—was it possible that Aria had money in the bag?

"What are you waiting for? Put it on! You're the leader now, so you get to wear the Explorer Bag. Plus, I can't really pick it up myself… I've always needed help putting it on my shoulders…" Aria said.

"Wait… Who said I was the leader? You know this place like the back of your hand! You should be the one leading us around!" Jay protested.

"Please don't loiter, because if you do, Guildmaster Flygon will punish you!"

Altaria's singing voice filtered down the hall. It was obvious that she was talking to Team River Song, as nobody else could be seen in the hall. Aria nervously glanced down the hall and at her feet, but then she looked back up.

"We'll worry about that later. For now, let's just go!" she said.

For once, Jay didn't argue with his new partner. As she raced down the hall, he followed her, the Explorer Bag swinging at his side.

On their way to the main room, Jay noticed that the torches had been rekindled, so they shone brighter than last night, when they only dimly glowed. It seemed to simulate daylight, as there were no windows to tell what time it was.

I wonder who's in charge of keeping these things going…

Jay looked around and saw that there were several side rooms. In each room, two or three Pokémon were waking up to Altaria's songs. They eyed Jay with some interest, but Jay averted his eyes, not wanting to make a fuss.

"And here we are! The main room!" Aria announced.

Jay looked up from the ground and looked around. They were in a very tall room; the ceiling was at least seven feet tall. There was a ladder that was going up; presumably to a higher level. To the right of the ladder was a wooden door that led to the Guildmaster's chamber.

To the left of the ladder, another hallway branched off into a long, narrow room. In the light of the torches, Jay could see a wooden table built in the center of the room. Several Pokémon, including Krokorok and Flygon, were sitting down around the table, eating apples or berries.

"That's the mess hall," Aria said. "Every day, we get breakfast and dinner, unless we're bad… Trust me, you do not want to anger the Guildmaster. She may seem nice, but if we're super bad, she'll take your dinner privileges away for a week!"

Jay's stomach rumbled, and he figured that he would not anger Flygon. He hadn't eaten since he appeared in the world, and he did not want to miss out on a single meal.

"Oh man… I am starving!" he said ravenously.

"Well, what are you waiting for? C'mon in!" Aria said, dashing towards the mess hall.

Jay ran over to her, walking as fast as he could with his heavy head and lanky feet. He was still getting used to walking, but he didn't mind. As he got closer to the mess hall, he could smell the sweet scent of apples.

He almost stumbled as he plodded into the room, but he quickly regained his footing. He smiled a sheepish grin as he looked at the other Pokémon.

Other than Flygon, Krokorok, and Aria, most of the Pokémon took a while to recognize. There was a small dinosaur-like creature with a domed head and short arms who was shoveling food into its mouth. A pale red Pokémon sat near the end of the table, glancing nervously from side to side. It had small arms and a vaguely humanoid appearance.

He was rather intimidated by the prospect of meeting new Pokémon; he had barely known Aria for a day and now he had to meet others. Before either of the Pokémon could speak, Jay's mind made a connection: the dinosaur was named Cranidos and the red creature was named Magby.

"'Ey! Who's the newbie over there with Miss Aria?" Cranidos barked.

"That's Jay. He's a new apprentice. He's formed an exploration team with Aria," Krokorok said shortly as he scarfed down an apple.

"We'll have a proper introduction ceremony after breakfast. It's always exciting to get a new Pokémon in the guild!" Flygon said, clapping her hands together.

Cranidos laughed, his chuckle a harsh, rough bark. "Heh. Look at him. Looks like he can barely walk!" he sneered.

Jay felt rage course through his body when he heard this statement. He wanted to attack Cranidos, bite his head off, do something to teach him not to sass him. Aria looked the same way—although her eyes were squinted, Jay could practically see anger flaring up in them.

Jay stalked over to the dinosaur, his hands in fists. "You take that back, mister," he said threateningly. "It looks like you've got a pretty hard head, but if I get my chompers on you, I'm not sure it'll hold up for long…" he said, baring his sharp teeth.

Cranidos faltered, flinching at the idea of being assaulted by Jay. He quickly regained his attitude, his mouth curling into a frown. "Sorry. Just didn't get a good rest last night… Someone kept on waking me up," he said with a bit less venom.

Krokorok suddenly became incredibly interested by his plate of food. He didn't meet Cranidos's eyes.

"I'm not really a bad guy, ya know. Just get a bit grumpy when someone disturbs my sleep. Sorry." He smiled, offering his hand to Jay. "It's always nice to meet a new face 'round these parts. I hope we can be friends someday."

Jay shook his hand, but he still felt angry at how Cranidos had insulted him. He smiled as he found truth to his insult; he could barely walk.

Gah… I'll never get over having a giant head.

"You can sit over there by Magby. He's the newest member of the crew—er, second newest member. He's a bit strange, but real nice. And he doesn't get cranky if ya wake him up," Cranidos said, gesturing to Magby.

Magby did look a bit strange; he was cowering in his seat, nibbling on a pink berry. His eyes widened as Jay and Aria approached him.

Jay sat down next to the small Pokémon, and Aria sat down next to Jay. In front of Jay was a plate of apples and berries. His stomach rumbled as he looked at the colorful assortment.

"Chow time!" he said to himself.

He grabbed a pink berry and shoved it into his mouth, barely bothering to chew. The berry tasted sweet, and the pulpy juices ran down his throat and into his stomach. Eager for more, he grabbed another berry and shoved it into his mouth.

The berries were surprisingly filling, and after only a few bites, his stomach was no longer rumbling for food. They all had their own unique flavor—the pink berries on his plate were sweet, while the red berries were spicy. The yellow berries were sour, the baby blue berries were bitter, and the apples were tart and juicy.

"I guess you weren't very hungry…" Aria said with a smile. She had barely made a dent in her fruit salad, but Jay had almost finished his plate.

"Not anymore," Jay said as he wiped his mouth.

"I'm so glad you like our spread! You'll need the full belly if you want to have a good time exploring," Flygon said happily.

Jay frowned. He had been so distracted by eating that he had almost forgotten that the day had just begun. He still had a long day ahead of him…

"Don't worry… The first day's the hardest, buy far… It'll only get easier from here," Magby piped up.

Jay turned his attention to his neighbor. He hadn't paid him any mind; he was so busy eating that he had barely noticed his fellow apprentice.

"Thanks for the reassurances, Magby. I must say… I'm still kind of nervous about exploring. I mean, isn't it dangerous out there?" Jay said, trying to make conversation with the small Pokémon.

"Oh, it is pretty dangerous, especially to me… but it's also fun, if you get right down to it! You'll be able to see all sorts of cool places, you can help Pokémon, you can find all sorts of treasure… Trust me, exploring is awesome!" Magby said.

"Yeah! And it's even more fun with a partner," Aria said, smiling at Jay.

"Well, to be honest, I kind of envy you… I've always wanted to be a part of an exploration team… I don't like to be alone, especially when I'm out exploring in the wild…" Magby said, turning a berry around in his hand.

"I'm sure someone'll want to become an explorer someday. I just know it!" Aria said, patting Magby on his head.

Jay looked around, familiarizing himself with the other Pokémon around him. Altaria was floating next to a Whimsicott, who was a large cotton ball with a brown body and happy face. Two small yellow Pokémon were chatting excitedly, and Jay recognized them as Plusle and Minun.

On the far end of the table was a quadruped Pokémon with a long horn. It was a light blue, but when Jay looked close enough, he could see what looked like sparkles on its skin. He recognized it as a Nidorino, but somehow, he knew that Nidorinos weren't supposed to be blue…

The Pokémon ate and ate, and as they gradually cleared off their plates, they began to file out of the room. Magby eventually ate his last berry and smiled, leaving the room with a happy "See you guys later!"
"So what do we do when we're finished eating?" Jay asked.

"We go to the main room and do our daily cheer. If there are any announcements to make, Flygon or Krokorok will make them. But today's a special day—whenever there are new members, we do an initiation ceremony. It's nothing big… we just do a cheer, introduce ourselves… it's really cool," Aria explained as she finished off her apple.

Jay's stomach churned at the idea of being presented and called out in front of an audience. The pleasantly cool room suddenly seemed to heat up. He could almost see all the eyes watching him, hanging onto every word…

"C'mon! Let's go! They're waiting for us!" Aria said, placing the apple core on the plate. She dashed off to the entrance to the mess hall and ran into the main room, cheering for Jay to follow.

The Totodile had to gain his composure before he followed her. He didn't want anyone to know about his past and his time as a human… He had a feeling that he'd be teased and poked and prodded and laughed at, like some sort of animal at a zoo…

Relax. It's gonna be fine. I'll just tell Flygon to not present me as a human-turned-Pokémon…

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying not to think about the Pokémon waiting outside. Ignoring the fluttering in his stomach, he walked to the main room and rejoined Aria.

The Pokémon were gathered in the center of the room, milling around and talking amongst themselves. Flygon and Krokorok were at the front of the crowd, talking quietly to themselves. Upon seeing Jay next to Aria, Flygon perked up and smiled.

"May I have your attention please?" Flygon said, clearing her throat and winking at Jay.

The talking stopped, and all eyes fell on the Guildmaster and her assistant. Jay swallowed hard and tried not to look scared.

Once the last of the chattering died down, Flygon continued. "Thank you! Now, before we do our daily cheer, I have a very special announcement to make!" she said.

Aria nudged Jay, and when the Totodile looked at her, he found that she was beaming, her pointed teeth shining. He tried to return the smile, but he felt more awkward than happy.

"Now, as some of you already know, a new member has enrolled in our fine guild. It is truly an honor to have him choose this guild out of all the other guilds out there… Jay the Totodile! Can you please come up here?" Flygon said, raising her voice as she completed her sentence.

"That's your cue!" Aria said, pushing Jay forward. He yelped and stumbled as the crowd parted in front of him. There were a few snickers as Jay tried to regain his footing, but Jay didn't stop; he waddled up to Flygon, ignoring the stares he was getting from everyone else.

He made his way up to the dragon, who greeted him with a smile and a wink. He turned around to face the crowd and swallowed hard… everyone was staring at him.

He could feel sweat starting to drip down on his forehead. His breathing shortened and his hands became fidgety; his heart began to hammer, faster and faster as his eyes widened. The faces of the crowd were not aggressive; rather curious, in fact, but Jay still felt like he was getting silently judged by his fellow apprentices.

"Jay is rather new to this region, so I hope you'll all give him a warm welcome and answer his questions if he has any. I can tell he'll be a great explorer someday!" Flygon said.

Jay cringed, half-expecting the guild members to burst out into laughter as they saw him acting like such a fool. He bit down in anxiety, accidentally opening small wounds in his lip, but the tiny stabs of pain were nothing compared to the writhing of his stomach…

The silence seemed to drag on for eternity. Jay was almost certain that everyone was about to boo him away from the guild… but then they started cheering.

He opened his eyes and scanned the crowd, quite shocked by their sudden outburst. Magby was jumping up and down near the back, chanting Jay's name. Plusle and Minun were twirling around, clapping their hands and sending out sparks as they did so. Even Cranidos was clapping.

Jay's heart soared. He hadn't expected such a warm reaction from such a foreign crowd. But looking at all the smiling faces of the guild's apprentices, he found himself smiling too.

Once the cheering died down, Flygon continued with her announcements.

"However, Jay is not an ordinary apprentice of mine. He has had the fortune of meeting Aria the Skitty, who is quite skilled in explorations. After a brief talk with me and Krokorok, they have finally reached an agreement: they want to form an exploration team!"

More cheers from the audience. Aria skipped up to the front of the crowd and stood by Jay, smiling and blowing kisses and overall being a bit hammy. Even Krokorok was clapping, although it looked like rather grudging.

What's this guy's deal? He's really cranky for some reason… Jay thought.

But he found it hard to focus on the one less-than-happy Pokémon. He turned to the smiling crowd and finally began to enjoy his time in the limelight.

Before he knew it, the cheering had died down and the crowd was growing restless. Flygon murmured something to Krokorok, and he nodded, climbing up the ladder.

"Jay and Aria are now Team River Song, and I can tell they will perform admirably with their daily tasks!" Flygon completed.

A few more cheers erupted from the audience, but Jay could tell that the crowd was getting impatient. This was especially so with Cranidos, who seemed to be on the edge of screaming. He paced in place and looked rather irritated, shooting Flygon a nasty glance.

"That is all in the way of announcements… Before I dismiss you, let's sing our daily cheer!" Flygon beamed.

Cranidos groaned, but the rest of the guild happily took up cheer.

"At Flygon's Guild, we are all friends! We'll work and play up to our ends! We're brave and strong and faithful too; three cheers for us! Woo woo woo!" the guild chorused.

As Jay didn't know the words to the chant, he did nothing but watch in mild amusement. It was hard to take Cranidos seriously when he was singing about being friends with everyone; although he looked a bit embarrassed, he didn't look angry or resentful.

"Now, here's to another great day of exploring!" Flygon cheered.

"WOOHOO!" the guild cried.

The assembly broke up. Pokémon began to mill around; some climbed up the ladder, while others talked idly to each other. Magby waved with one hand as he climbed up the ladder, and Aria waved back, cheekily grinning.

Jay exhaled, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his chest. It had certainly gone better than expected; he hadn't embarrassed himself in front of the whole guild. And, of course, he was eternally grateful to Flygon for not mentioning his time as a human.

But there was still a strange feeling nagging at him… it felt like he had swallowed a live snake that was wriggling inside his stomach. He felt queasy and rather dizzy, but he couldn't pinpoint why.

"Whoa there, boy. Don't fall down on me. I may be strong, but I don't think I can hold you if you fell… Especially after eating all those berries," Aria said teasingly.

"Hey! Are you calling me fat?!" Jay cried indignantly. He tried to intimidate Aria by looking down on her, but he felt the weight of his long snout pulling down on him, and he nearly fell over. Aria giggled.

"Lighten up, man. Take a joke! I'm not calling you fat. If you want fat, go on down to the Snorlax Guild… Now, those guys are fat!" Aria said.

Jay was about to respond with a witty comment, but before he could, Flygon flew in between the two bantering teammates.

"C'mon, Team River Song! There's no time for chitchat! There's exploring to be done! We need to show Jay around this place, and we need to find you a suitable job. You can talk later!" she said.

"Yes! We didn't sign up as explorers just so we can sit around and talk! Let's get going!" Aria said, bouncing up and down as she thought about her first day as a member of an exploration team.

Jay's stomach dropped. In the past hour, he had almost gotten into a fight with Cranidos and flipped out about embarrassing himself in front of the guild. And he hadn't even begun exploring.

This is going to be a long day…

"Follow me, Jay. We'll give you a complete tour of our wonderful guild!" Flygon said, hovering by the ladder. Aria scampered towards the ladder, bobbing in excitement and gesturing for him to join them.

"Oh, okay…" he mumbled.

He walked to the ladder, which looked rather unstable. It was nothing more than a long pole stuck in the ground with wooden rungs tied at regular intervals. Jay shuddered; he did not want to lose his balance and fall down.

"Don't worry if it looks unstable. It's perfectly safe! Just don't let go and you'll be fine!" Aria said, noticing Jay's reluctance to climb the ladder.

As if to prove her point, she began the climb, putting one paw in front of the other as she scaled the rungs of the ladder. Jay took a moment to collect himself and followed suit, watching her tail dangle just above his head. He had a strange urge to swat at it, but he didn't want to let go of the rungs of the ladder. Plus, Aria probably wouldn't like it.

The ladder was actually fairly short, and in only a minute, they had arrived on the first sublevel.

The first level was smaller than the second one, with no hallways or side rooms. Another ladder had been built next to the ladder leading down. Jay could see sunlight streaming in from above.

Aside from Aria and Flygon, many other Pokémon bustled about, talking to each other or doing jobs. Magby was igniting the torches that were mounted on the wall; he would take a deep breath, and when he exhaled, a small stream of embers flew from his mouth. When the embers hit the torches, they would bloom to life and light up the room.

"This is the first floor. While it isn't as big as our living quarters downstairs, it is just as important," Flygon explained.

She turned to her right and gestured for her apprentices to follow her. Jay rounded the corner and found htat the Guildmaster was looking at a corkboard on the wall. Many notes had been tacked up on the corkboard; on some, the writing was too messy to read, but others were legible.

"What's this?" Jay asked.

"This is the Job Board. If a Pokémon needs help, they can write a request for an explorer to help them. Every day, our apprentices take these tasks on. It's really quite beneficial to both sides: apprentices can learn the ins and outs of exploring while helping others," Flygon explained.

Jay got on his tiptoes and began skimming over the jobs. They were all more or less the same: some Pokémon had lost an item and required help, while others were looking for a lost friend. Some just wanted to explore.

"So you're saying that our training is taking these jobs?" Jay asked dubiously.

"Unless you have other tasks to do around the guild, yes," Flygon explained.

"Yeah, it's not as fun as looking for hidden treasure, but if we're helping others…" Aria said.

Helping… This job is all about helping other Pokémon…

He had been nervous about exploring ever since he had first woken up to Altaria's song. He thought that he and Aria were going to look for buried treasure or explore uncharted areas… While that wasn't necessarily his cup of tea, it certainly sounded better than helping.

Honestly… These guys must be lazier than lazy. They need an exploration team to help them find their own stuff?! Why can't they get off their butts and do it themselves?!

"Exactly!" Flygon said, interrupting Jay's pessimistic thoughts. "What you guys are doing is very brave. Not all Pokémon are willing to venture into mystery dungeons alone…" she mused.

"Great… another foreign word. What's a mystery dungeon?" Jay grumbled.

Aria shot a sideways glance at Flygon, who nodded curtly. Aria turned back to Jay and took a deep breath, and the Totodile prepared for a lengthy explanation.

"I'm gonna explain this in one go, so listen up… Mystery dungeons are weird places. They're different every time you enter them, so it's hard to make a secure map of them. Some may have natural dangers, like lava or dangerous terrain, but the real threat are the wild Pokémon there. They could attack you, but you can retaliate back. Sometimes, you can find items or treasure in dungeons, but they're very rare…" Aria said.

Jay's head spun, having to take in so much information in so little time. He could understand that mystery dungeons changed and that they were very confusing places… but what was all this about attacking wild Pokémon? And how would he retaliate in case of an attack—would he bite them?

"You look a bit confused there, buddy. Don't worry. It's hard for anyone to explain mystery dungeons. It's easier to just get out there and see them for yourself," Flygon said with a smile.

"Yeah! So what are we waiting for? Let's pick a job and get out there!" Aria said, hopping up and down with excitement.

She began to peruse the board, looking for a suitable job, but Flygon interrupted her by putting a clawed hand in front of her. "I think I should pick a job for you… I just don't want Jay to be overwhelmed on the first day. Nothing against either of you…" she said.

"Oh… I understand…" Aria said, though she looked rather sad that she couldn't choose.

"Well, enough loitering around. Let's get you guys a job!" Flygon said cheerily.

XxX

I wanted to model Flygon's Guild after Wigglytuff's Guild, so if you're having trouble imagining what the guild looks like, just think of Wigglytuff's Guild-BUT WITH FLYGON!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to review! And if I don't get to updating before the 25th, merry Christmas! (Or happy Hanukkah, or whatever else you celebrate. Hope your holidays are great!)