Hello again! I'm back. I'm sorry for taking so long; I must admit, I'm spending WAY too much time playing Smash Bros. Please tell me I'm not the only one...

But anyway, here's another chapter for you. Kind of a shorter chapter, but don't worry... the next chapter will be great, I promise!

Chapter 8: Heart of Gold

Aria hustled to her room without glancing at any of the apprentices staring at her. Jay followed with swift footsteps as he wondered what was bothering his partner. He had an idea of what was wrong… but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

She ran to the back of the hallway and threw herself on her bed, burying her head in the straw. She let out a loud wail and sniffled, and she put her paws on her head as if it would block out the world.

Jay crouched down next to her and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey… What's bothering you?" he asked softly.

Aria looked up, and he was not surprised to find that she was crying. Her face was a cherry red and her tail hung low. Tears streamed down her face without any sign of stopping.

"Don't look! I-I… please don't… l-leave me!" Aria wailed.

"No. I'm not leaving you," he replied firmly.

"When d-did you get all… nice? For the past few days, you've been all g-grouchy!" Aria said.

"Look. I'm still confused and scared and overall upset that my head is bigger than my feet, but I still care. I don't know what happened or why I feel this way, but I'm not the Jay I used to be," he said.

"You've only been here for one day… There's no way you can make such a profound change in twenty-four hours!" Aria snapped.

"Like I said, I'm still getting used to things. Expect me to be a bit grouchy, but I'm absolutely not the grumpy old Totodile I was," Jay said.

Aria didn't respond right away. She wiped her eyes and sniffled hard, choking out a few more tears as she did so.

"C'mon. You can tell me what's wrong. I'm your partner," Jay said softly.

"But that's just it! I don't want to look like an idiot in front of you. I know you… you're a rough Pokémon. You tend to judge others by their behaviors, right? And I don't want you to think I'm stupid just because I say or do stuff that's stupid!" Aria gushed.

"I don't think you're stupid!" Jay replied.

"Oh? What about last night? You said you didn't like 'frilly pink cats' like me!" Aria snapped.

"That was last night!"

Jay paused and started to think. Had it really only been one night since he had turned into a Totodile? It seemed like it had happened centuries ago… had he really been a Pokémon for only one day?

Wow. It's only been twenty-four hours, and already I'm starting to change… All this "love and kindness" junk is really starting to rub off on me. Should I be worried?

"I'm sorry. I was upset and grumpy and I didn't know what was going on… If you woke up in a strange land full of strange creatures with no memory, you'd be a bit grouchy too," Jay said.

"Ugh…" Aria buried her head in the straw again, letting out another sob.

"Cheer up. I've only been here for a day, and I don't want to spend another second trying to make you feel better. You're not stupid, you're a great Pokémon, and you're not a coward. So calm down," Jay said brutally.

Aria looked up and spat a bit of straw from her mouth. Her face was still red, but her eyes were mostly dry. Though she looked surprised by Jay's shift in tone, she didn't look hurt.

"Ah… thanks, Jay. You're right; we can't spend all our time moping around. It wastes our energy, and really—do you want to see me sad? No. I don't think so," she said, wiping her damp face.

"That's the spirit," Jay said.

Before either of them could continue their conversation, a bell began to peal. Even though it wasn't very loud, the noise reverberated off the walls and magnified its sound tenfold.

"Dinner's ready! Get your butts in here!" Jay recognized the grouchy voice as Krokorok's low tones; he was not in the least bit thrilled to hear him again.

"That's one grumpy crocodile I don't want on my team," Aria said, giving Jay a playful shove.

"Hurry up, slowpokes! It's first come first serve, and anyone who doesn't show up will go hungry! Get a move on!" Krokorok said.

Jay got up from his crouching position and flung his Explorer Bag off his shoulder. He gave a sideways glance to Aria, who nodded slightly. He was about to make his way to the mess hall when Aria stopped him.

"Hey... uh, I just want to say..." She pawed nervously on the floor, her ears flattening against her head. "Well, it's a bit awkward, but, uh... thank you. Thanks for cheering me up, Jay. You... You're really nice, you know?"

Jay looked down at his feet as embarrassment coursed through him. He didn't know why he felt this way; he just... did. Maybe it was modesty, or maybe it was something else.

"I know, you can be a real grumpy-pants sometimes... and sometimes you're a bit insensitive... but... you... you have a heart of gold. I just know it," Aria completed.

Before Jay could respond, Krokorok screamed at the top of his lungs. "HEY! TEAM RIVER SONG! GET YOUR BUTTS IN HERE NOW!"

He smiled, feeling his stomach rumble. Without any further conversation, he turned around and sprinted down the hallway, Aria following jauntily behind.

XxX

Dinner was a very bright event. All their fellow apprentices were sharing stories about their days. Jay caught snippets of some conversations and could figure that most of the Pokémon here were very advanced.

They received congratulations from everyone in the room; even Krokorok stopped by to personally congratulate them on their first day, though he still couldn't hide his distaste for the explorers.
"Hopefully we won't have to hold your hands any longer after this…" Krokorok mumbled.

Jay took the moment to reach out and get to know some of his apprentices better. Whimsicott and Altaria were an exploration team, and they dubbed themselves "Team Fluffy".

"We wanted to name ourselves 'Team Fluffle Puff', but we figured that was too long," Whimsicott said.

"But it's okay! You can't deny that Team Fluffy is a cute name too!" Altaria squealed.

Jay nodded and tried to smile, but it looked more grudging than anything. "Team Fluffy" was, in his opinion, a terrible name for a team, but he didn't say anything. Whimsicott and Altaria seemed like very nice Pokémon—and he couldn't deny that their team name certainly fit them.

Afterwards, he talked to the strange blue Nidorino. He seemed nice but rather sensitive about his skin color.

"I'm what folks call a 'shiny Pokémon'. Sometimes, a Pokémon will be born with a different skin color than normal. It's very rare," Nidorino said.

"You sound sad…" Jay said.

"Yeah… I came here because I was looking for acceptance. Nobody really wanted to be my friend; they just poked fun at me. They called me a freak. Seriously, do I look like a freak to you?" Nidorino said, looking down at his plate.

"I'm sure you're just as capable as any other Pokémon out there," Jay said.

Nidorino smiled. "That's got to be the nicest thing I've heard today. Thanks, bud," he said.

The rest of dinner passed by with little conversation; Jay was too busy eating to talk much. As he looked around at all the talking and laughing Pokémon, he felt… happy. It was like he was at home, surrounded by brothers and sisters. They were all nice in their own unique way.

Jay loved it. It was like he had finally home.

XxX

The first day at the guild was coming to an end. Someone had extinguished most of the torches, save for a few in the hallways. Pokémon were returning to their bedrooms, bidding each other good night.

Aria and Jay returned to their room and curled up on their beds, but despite Jay's exhaustion, he couldn't go to sleep. He just kept tossing and turning, occasionally letting out a small moan.

After about half an hour of restlessness, Aria finally spoke up.

"What's wrong? Can't get to sleep?" she whispered.

"Yeah…" Jay whispered. He tried to hide his mild surprise that Aria was still awake; the previous night, she had fallen asleep almost right away.

"Me too. I just can't stop thinking about Haxorus's Guild…" she replied.

I thought so! Ever since we got out of that stupid forest, she's been all moody…

"Oh yeah. That…" he prompted.

Aria turned over. "I'll tell you later!" she said.

"You said that earlier… and now's later. So can you please tell me?" he pressed.

"No!" Aria hissed as loud as she dared.

"It's not gonna do you any good to keep secrets. I know that all too well…"

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, wondering if he should tell the guild about his human life. Although the guild members wouldn't tease him, he didn't want anyone worrying over him or going out of their way to help him.

He just wanted to be normal.

"Let's just say that Haxorus and I… we've had some questionable encounters. He wouldn't be too happy to see me again. Plus, why would you want to see a bunch of dirty criminals?! I heard they haven't washed up in ages," she said.

Her tone of voice told him that this conversation was over.

"Yeah… I get that. Sorry for being so pushy earlier," Jay said.

"Sorry for being so secretive. You're right; keeping secrets is never a good idea, especially if you're on a team with someone as stubborn as you," Aria said. Jay could just see a hint of a smile on her face.

He laughed lightly. "Heh… you're funny. I can tell we'll be a great exploration team, even if I'm all grumpy and you're all secretive," he said.

He waited for a response, but Aria had already fallen asleep on her bed of straw.

XxX

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

Although Jay had only heard the voice a few times before, he instantly recognized it as Altaria's trilling voice. He smiled; she had a beautiful singing voice.

Jay yawned and struggled out of bed, ready to begin his second day as an explorer. Aria was already up and standing on her bed, stretching and twitching her tail. Altaria was standing in the doorway, looking very pleased as the explorers roused.

"Wonderful, friends! You're up real fast! Let's get to breakfast; that food won't last!" Altaria trilled, spinning in place and waving her fluffy arms.

"See you there, Altaria!" Aria said with a grin.

The bird twittered a few more notes and turned around, fluttering away to wake the other apprentices. Jay watched as she rounded a corner and began singing her song again.

"Good morning, Aria," he said, turning to his partner.

"Hey. Finally got to sleep, I see," Aria noted.

"Yeah. Kind of fitful, though… I could've sworn I had a dream about something, but I don't remember it now…" Jay said, rubbing his head.

"Ahh, that happens to me a lot. I hate it," Aria said.

"Are you feeling better?" Jay asked.

Aria twitched her tail nervously and her ears flattened, but she remained calm as she answered. "I'm fine. Thanks for helping me," she said.

"No problem. But keep in mind… I'm always here for you if you need someone to talk to," Jay said, looking rather uncomfortable as he did so. He still wasn't used to the whole "helping others" business and he wanted to do the best he could to help his friend… but he didn't want to sound creepy, either.

"Thanks." Aria turned to the tunnel leading into the main room, not looking into Jay's eyes as she did so. "Let's get going. I'm hungry!" she said.

She strutted down the tunnel, her tail held jauntily high. Jay grabbed his Explorer Bag and followed her, trying desperately to fit the strap over his large head.

XxX

Breakfast was nothing special. He conversed with a few more of his acquaintances; this time, he talked to Plusle and Minun. They revealed they were a part of a team, "Team Thunderwave", but they didn't do much exploring.

"We mainly just guard the guild from intruders and the like. If we see someone we don't know, we slam the door on them!" Plusle said perkily.

"And if things get really ugly, we fight… but we never like to hurt others!" Minun added.

As Jay finished his breakfast, he couldn't help but notice Flygon and Krokorok were eyeing him and Aria. They didn't seem upset or angry; they just seemed… curious. Occasionally, Flygon would whisper something to Krokorok, but her words couldn't be heard over the chatter of Pokémon.

Aria didn't notice them, or if she did, she just didn't care. But Jay found himself glancing to his side quite a bit and flinching away when he saw them staring at him.

Near the end of dinner, Krokorok left the room, giving one last glance to Aria, who was munching on a sky blue Rawst berry.

When everyone else was finished with their breakfast, they began to file out of the mess hall, returning to the main room to do their cheer. Jay and Aria followed suit, walking into the main room and lining up with their other apprentices.

Jay joined in with the cheer this time; though he still didn't know most of the words, he tried his best to mumble along. He tried to look happy and peppy, but he just didn't feel it—the chant was rather childish in his opinion, going on about friends and happiness and stuff.

"Okay, apprentices! You know what to do! Let's make this day a great one!" Flygon said after the Pokémon had finished their daily cheer.

"WOOHOO!" everyone chorused. Aria jumped up in the air and grinned her wide smile, showing off her sharp feline teeth.

After that, the other Pokémon dispersed to their jobs. Most of them climbed up the ladder, but Magby and Nidorino stayed behind. Cranidos gave Aria a wink as he climbed to the second floor. Aria retched.

"Ugh… That creep! I swear, he totally has a crush on me. I mean, I'm flattered, but still… yuck!" she said.

Jay couldn't really say anything on the matter, but all the same, he nodded.

"Ah, you two!"

Flygon had noticed the idling explorers and floated over to them, a wide smile on her face. "Hello again! How was breakfast?" she prompted.

"Pretty good. I feel ready to tackle whatever challenge we have!" Aria said.

"That's great!" Flygon smiled. Aria beamed back at her, while Jay's mouth tugged at a grin. "Oh, that reminds me… I'd like to ask a favor of you, if it wouldn't be too much trouble…" she added.

"Great… now we have to be your little errand runners," Jay mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Flygon's voice held an edge of warning. Aria flashed a dire look at him, and even though no words were spoken, Jay knew enough to keep his mouth shut.

Several tense moments passed, and he didn't speak a word. Eventually, Flygon's harsh glare relaxed. "Oh, I must be hearing things again. My apologies," she said lightly.

"So what do we have to do?" Aria prompted.

"It's simple, really. All you have to do is run to the Kecleon Shop and ask for a package—I ordered something from them a while ago, and it should be in by now. Plus, you'll get to give Jay a tour of Trader's Village!" Flygon explained.

"Trader's Village? What's that?" Jay asked.

"You'll see soon enough." Flygon winked. "Once you get back, you'll be able to go exploring. Sound like a plan?"

Jay wanted to protest, but before he could even open his mouth, Aria piped "Sounds great!" And before he knew it, he was being dragged up the ladder and out of the guild.

Jay figured it would be a simple task: get a package, return it to the Guildmaster, and go exploring. But as luck would have it, he couldn't have been more wrong.

XxX

Cliffhanger! Oh noes!

Sorry if this chapter was a bit rushed, but I hope you like it, and don't forget to review!