Brr! I am FREEZING! I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I am cold. The weather here is so up and down! (I kind of got a brain freeze... THAT'S WHY I'M SO LATE ON UPDATING)

Either way, I'm here again. Yeah... I hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 14: Preparations

The week leading up to the expedition was very exciting.

Jay and Aria worked as hard as possible, taking challenging tasks and not mouthing off to anyone. The rain poured on them most of the week, but Jay didn't let the rain get in his way of exploring.

They began stocking up on items as well. The Kecleons, knowing the guild was going to have an expedition, gave the apprentices discounts on useful items. The two also took time to open a savings account at Weavile's Bank; they had accumulated quite a bit of money and they were starting to feel weighed down by the heavy coins.

They also took time to know Kangaskhan and her child. Kangaskhan was very nice and held a bit of an accent, and she didn't hesitate to store all their useless items.

"Thanks, sweetie! Come again soon, you hear?" she said as Jay walked off into the rain.

"We will! Thanks again!" Aria said, waving goodbye to the brown Pokémon.

The guild members were also trying as hard as they could. Even Magby wasn't getting swamped down; many times, he went outside into the rain. He'd often run back in and shiver and shake himself off, but as the week went on, this became less frequent. One time, he had stayed outside for a whole thirty minutes—a record for the young Fire type.

The evenings were particularly exciting. Jay eagerly conversed with his other apprentices before and during dinner, and as such, he got to know them really well. Other than Magby, Nidorino seemed particularly nice; his strange skin didn't seem to alter his personality.

"Yeah… I'd never make fun of anyone based on how they look. I've been made fun of so much and I'd never want to sentence anyone to that kind of teasing." Nidorino smiled. "You're a good friend, Jay. You really seem to get me…"

Jay smiled. "Y'know, you and I aren't really different. We're both blue, we're both kind of strange… and we're both awesome!"

"Aww, thanks!" Nidorino's blue skin got a tinge of rosy pink.

By the end of the week, his fellow apprentices were like family. A strange, loud, rowdy, awesome family.

The last day was particularly charged. Nobody could stop talking about the expedition, which would begin tomorrow. In an attempt to gain the Guildmaster's attention, Jay and Aria decided to take a particularly difficult challenge: defeat a criminal Tauros and retrieve a Rawst Berry he had stolen.

Unfortunately, this proved to be impossible; Tauros was incredibly strong, and after Aria got rammed in the stomach, they had to retreat back to the guild.

"She's not in any danger, luckily… but she did get hit pretty hard. Just give her an Oran Berry and a good night's sleep, and she'll be fine…" Flygon said as she looked over Aria's scraped and bruised body.

"Ugh… Would you please stop talking about me like I'm some science experiment? I can hear everything you're saying, you know! Just 'cause I was rammed by some stupid bull doesn't mean I'm deaf!" Aria snapped.

Flygon laughed, and even Jay smiled. "If you somehow did go deaf… well, all I'm saying is that'd be a load of bull," he said.

Aria laughed, wincing in pain as she did so. "You crack me up, Jay… just like that Tauros cracked my bones!" she said.

"Okay, enough jokes… I'd say it's almost time for dinner. You do want to eat, don't you?" Flygon said.

"Oh, you don't even know. I'm starving! Trying to turn a bull into mincemeat can really work up an appetite!" Jay said, rubbing his stomach.

"If we did turn him into mincemeat, we'd be able to eat right afterwards…" Aria pointed out.

The two walked out of the Guildmaster's chamber and into the bustling main room. Most of the guild members were already there… but so was Krokorok.

Jay tried to avoid Krokorok's gaze, but it was very hard to—it felt like Krokorok's beady black eyes were following him everywhere. Aria's tail poofed up and she instinctively inched closer to Jay. She too tried not to look at Krokorok.

But it didn't work.

"Come over here a moment, Team River Song," Krokorok drawled.

Jay sighed. What have we done now? he thought angrily. He glanced at Aria, who looked just as displeased as he was, but they didn't say anything as they approached the croc.

"Yes, sir?" Jay asked, trying to sound as kind as possible.

"Don't worry; you haven't done anything wrong. I'm just here to tell you something… You are going on the expedition tomorrow," Krokorok said bitterly.

Jay felt a rush of excitement. He was going on the expedition! He wanted to jump up and celebrate, but he didn't. Krokorok still wasn't finished, and either way, it would've been rude to brag to the others, who were milling around quietly.

Aria looked suspicious. She narrowed her eyes and bent her knees as if she was ready to pounce at any moment. After a few tense seconds, she spoke up.

"Why are you telling us this? The announcements are supposed to be made tomorrow!" she asked.

"I am telling you this because I have something to say about it…" Krokorok continued.

Jay's stomach dropped. "W-what is it?" he asked. He didn't want to sound nervous in front of Krokorok, but he couldn't hide the tremor in his voice.

"While I tried to argue that your performance was… less than satisfactory, Guildmaster Flygon overthrew me. She said that you two were still new to the guild and that you shouldn't be blamed for what you've done. I still don't agree with her and believe that you should stay here for upkeeping… but she doesn't want to hear another word about it," Krokorok said.

A surge of anger flashed through Jay, but it was quickly replaced by confusion. "Thanks for the vote of 'confidence'… but why exactly are you telling us this?" he asked.

"I am simply informing you that you won't be able to get away with this for much longer. Flygon may be giving you special treatment for now, but she won't always be around to baby you. Keep that in mind," Krokorok said.

He sounded like he was ready to finish the conversation, but Jay wasn't. His anger came back once more, and he couldn't keep it in this time: he finally snapped.

"What's up with you?! You're always after us! What did we ever do wrong? We're just trying to be good explorers! I… I just don't get it! What's up?!" Jay cried.

Krokorok responded quickly and loudly. "Don't you ever speak like that to me again, young man! I will not tolerate that!" he roared.

A few heads turned to the source of the commotion, but Jay didn't care. He was too angry to care. "I'm sorry if we did something bad, but that doesn't give you the right to always be on our case!" he retorted.

"Jay! Stop! I don't want to risk it—" Aria cried.

Krokorok opened his mouth to blurt out a reply, but he paused. He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes before slumping forward. Jay backed away instinctively, but when he responded, he didn't seem angry.

"I'm sorry, Team River Song."

Jay was even more surprised. He had never expected Krokorok to apologize for anything, but here he was… and he didn't seem to be sarcastic or sneering. No… he was sincerely sorry.

"What…?" Aria asked.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I… if only you knew everything that was going on…"

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Jay pressed.

Krokorok stiffened, regaining his usual stuffy posture and sultry frown. "That doesn't matter now. You're here, and you're going to go on the expedition tomorrow. That's all that matters…" His voice was back to its normal rough tones.

"I still have no idea what you're talking about. What's going on?" Jay asked.

"Forget it… just go eat dinner. This conversation never happened…" Krokorok seemed on the verge of tears.

Jay and Aria took one last glance at the tall croc before turning around. They had no sooner done that when Krokorok announced dinner was ready. The guild stampeded into the mess hall for one final feast before the expedition.

XxX

Jay and Aria waddled back to their room, feeling full and happy. They had stuffed themselves silly that evening and participated in many conversations. Jay had heard several rumors about Dew Island; some claimed it was haunted, while others claimed there was a hidden village there.

"I heard that there are a lot of Fighting type Pokémon train in and around Hearth Mountain. Some even think that they guard treasure!" Nidorino said.

"I sure hope we can find treasure there… that is, if I get to go…" Magby said.

"Chill, little dude. You'll get to go! I know I probably won't. I got into a scuffle with Cranidos… aah, that was not one of my finer moments there…" Nidorino added.

Jay still couldn't help but wonder about Krokorok's temporary change in demeanor, but the ore he thought about it, the more his head hurt. He decided to give up, and as he and Aria ventured into their room, he was suddenly struck with a sense of extreme euphoria.

He sat down on his bed and grinned, his eyes widening. "I can't believe it… we're going on the expedition tomorrow!" he squealed.

"I know! It's gonna be so much fun! I mean, I've been on one expedition before, and that was pretty fun, but it was also kinda boring, because we never found anything… But this'll be awesome! I can't wait… I don't know if I can sleep!" Aria said happily.

"I wonder who else will be going…" Jay pondered.

"I know Minun's going to stay behind… Plusle and Minun switch every other expedition. Minun went last time, so now he's gonna stay here while Plusle goes with us. Or maybe they'll both stay here… but usually, one goes while the other stays. They're really good guards," Aria said.

"That makes sense, I guess. And I think I heard Nidorino saying that he got into a fight with Cranidos, so maybe they're gonna stay behind…" Jay speculated.

"But let's not focus on who's staying behind! We're going, and that's great… But don't shove it in everyone else's face!" Aria cautioned.

"I won't, I won't, don't worry…" Jay said offhandedly.

Aria rolled over on her bed. "Ah, I'm so tired, but I can't go to sleep… You can try, but I'm gonna be up all night! I'm just so excited… ooh, I just can't sit still!" Her tail twitched back and forth and she wiggled her paws up in the air.

"Yeah… I don't know about you, but I'm tired. Plus, I'll need the energy for tomorrow. You don't want to be plum tired for the expedition, do you? I'm going to bed. Good night," Jay said.

"Good night, I guess. See you in the morning!"

Jay closed his eyes and smiled, excitement fluttering in his chest. In only a few hours' time, they were going to be searching for treasure with the rest of his friends. He tried not to focus on this, knowing he'd keep himself up for the rest of the night if he did. After a few minutes, he finally drifted to sleep.

XxX

"Hello, my friends! Today's a new day! Let's eat and find out who's exploring today!"

Altaria's voice roused Jay from his sleep. His eyes shot open and his heart pounded in excitement—the day of the expedition was finally here.

He hadn't had the greatest sleep; even though he nodded off without too much issue, he had woken up several times in the night. As such, he was still somewhat tired, but his happiness won over, and he sprang from his bed with a grin.

"Good morning, Altaria!" he said happily.

"Wow! That's a new record! You must've woken up in about three seconds! Most other days, you're all grouchy and tired!" Altaria said, nodding in respect.

"Don't get used to it. I'm just super excited… I can't wait!" Jay said.

"Who isn't?" Aria had finally woken up, and though she too looked tired, she held her tail up jauntily in the air.

"I'm thrilled, too! It stinks that we have to wait through breakfast before we can hear who's going…" Altaria said. She clapped her fluffy wings together and opened her mouth, trilling out a happy tune. "Anyway, I'm off to wake everyone else. See you at breakfast!" She floated away, and Jay could still hear her happily humming to herself.

"Let's go! I'm hungry!" Aria said impatiently as she tugged on Jay's tail.

He grabbed his Explorer Bag and waddled to breakfast as Aria bounded along behind him.

Breakfast was noisy and rowdy. Everyone hurried through their meals, eager to hear who was going on the expedition. Aria was talking almost nonstop to him, chatting about their last expedition and the thrills it brought.

"We went to Swirling Desert and found a hidden temple there—it was awesome! There was a lot of treasure there, but we couldn't bring anything back. We think it was rigged… we thought the castle would collapse on us if we removed the treasure. But we did find a lot of other items—a lot of Poké and berries. You'd never think we'd find berries in the middle of the desert, but still…"

Eventually, Jay just tuned her out and focused on scarfing his food down.

It felt like forever, but breakfast finally ended. The apprentices scrambled out of the mess hall and lined up in the main room, waiting in rapt silence for Krokorok and the Guildmaster to announce the names of the lucky explorers.

"Now, I know you're all undoubtedly excited to get going, but when I call your name, I want you to come up here and stand in a line. I do not want you to brag if you are chosen or mope if you aren't! That is unsportsmanlike behavior and it will not be tolerated here!" Flygon said.

"Yeah yeah, just get to the point already!" Cranidos murmured impatiently.

Flygon ignored him. "Ahem… Let's begin, shall we?" Krokorok handed her a folded piece of paper. She unfolded the paper and scanned over it, and after a brief moment, she began reading off it. "The first explorer to be joining us… Altaria!" she said.

Altaria smiled and floated up to join Flygon. She didn't say anything as she took her place next to the dragon.

"Next up… Whimsicott!"

Whimsicott joined Altaria and Flygon and grinned, giving her partner a high five.

"Next up is… Magby!"

Magby seemed to freeze in place. A quick examination revealed that his jaw had dropped open and his eyes had widened to the size of berries. He was utterly shocked that he had been chosen.

"C'mon up here, Magby! Let's go!" Flygon said encouragingly.

He took tiny, trembling steps as he made his way to the Guildmaster. When he reached her, he let out a squeak and brushed away a tear.

"Next up is… Aria!"

Aria tried to look surprised that she had gotten picked. She let out a squeal and skipped up to the front of the room, twitching her tail excitedly. Jay winked at her, and she winked back.

"What team is complete without the other? Jay, come on up!" Flygon announced.

Jay had known he was going on the expedition for quite some time, but he was still barely able to contain his excitement as he took shaky steps to join his partner. Aria gave him a toothy grin which he quickly returned.

"And last but certainly not least… Plusle!"

Minun embraced Plusle. "Have fun, sis! Tell me all about it when you return, okay?" he said.

"Don't worry, little bro. I'll bring back lots of treasure for you! You can count on it!" Plusle said, patting the young Pokémon on the head. Minun swatted her away as if he was embarrassed, but he smiled as his sister joined the Pokémon at the front.

Minun didn't look the least bit sad that he wasn't chosen. Cranidos and Nidorino, on the other hand, did look a little bitter that they weren't going, but they still forced a smile.

"Great! Now that we have all that taken care of… Let's go over the procedures!"

The guild groaned; Jay guessed that most of them knew the drill by then. Flygon ignored this collective moan and continued to talk.

"For those of you who are going on the expedition, we're going to give you some time to prepare. You are free to visit Trader's Village and run any last-minute errands—I believe the Kecleons are giving out free Heal Seeds to anyone who asks. Even if you aren't going on the expedition, it might be a good idea to run some errands. You'll be stuck in here for quite a while, and I'd hate for anyone to be hungry," Flygon explained.

Jay glanced at Nidorino and Cranidos and saw they were eyeing each other suspiciously. Minun took a few steps back.

"And one more thing… If I come back here and see that you've demolished the place, there are going to be consequences. You are to keep up with the guild while we're gone, not mess it up. Also, Minun… you know the drill. Don't open the door for any reasons. Anyone with a job request for us can give it to you… yada yada. You should be fine," Flygon cautioned.

"Don't worry, Guildmaster. I'll keep them in check. You will not be disappointed!" Minun said.

Flygon beamed. "I'm glad to see you're ready to guard the guild! Now, enough chatter. You know the drill—get your stuff and come back here when you're done!" she said.

"YEAH!" This cheer was the loudest Jay had ever heard; he had to cover his ears. The group dispersed and began going about their duties.

Magby was crying in a corner, but he had a smile on his face. Altaria was cheering him up, while Plusle and Whimsicott were chatting happily. Nidorino and Cranidos looked bittersweet; they both stopped to congratulate Jay and Aria, but the jealousy was still there.

"I guess I can't blame anyone but myself… I was the one who picked a fight with Cranidos," Nidorino said offhandedly.

"And now look where you landed us. Nice job breaking it, Nido," Cranidos scoffed.

"Don't call me that," Nidorino replied.

"I can call you whatever I want to!" Cranidos roared.

"Er… we'll be over there. You guys can work it out without looking like doofuses in front of us…" Aria grabbed Jay's hand and led him to the ladder.

Trader's Village was busier than ever. The skies had cleared, and the sun was shining brightly. The air was cool, and all around, Pokémon were briskly walking around, chatting with the shopkeepers.

The Kecleons were noisy as ever, advertising their wares in loud voices. Whimsicott and Altaria spent several minutes at the counter, shoveling berries into their bag. Magby was waiting impatiently in line with a handful of gold coins.

There were just as many unfamiliar Pokémon as well. One wagon was being run by a small gray Pokémon that Jay recognized as a Castform. When approached, Castform warned about a coming heat wave that might interfere with expedition.

"Don't ask me how I know it, because I have no idea. But if you want, I can sell you an item that can help keep you cool," Castform said.

"Nah, we're good. Thanks for the offer, though!" Aria said kindly.

As the two walked away from Castform's wagon, Jay couldn't help but voice his opinion about the world of Pokémon. "You guys are weird. I mean… you've got Pokémon that can spit water, Pokémon that can predict the weather, Pokémon that can fly…" he said.

"We never really thought of it as weird. It's just kind of a way of life," Aria replied nonchalantly. She glanced around and lowered her voice as she asked the next question. "Don't you have humans that can fly?"

"No, and that's why it's so weird for me. If you were turned into a human, you'd be pretty surprised too…" Jay mused.

"I wonder… why were you turned into a Pokémon? Is that, like, a normal thing in your world?" Aria whispered.

"I don't think so… gah, why do you have to ask me questions like this? I don't really know much about the human world… not anymore, that is." Jay clutched his head.

"Sorry," Aria said, and it sounded like she really meant it.

"Whatever. Let's get back to the guild. I wanna get this party started!" Jay pumped his fist into the air and grinned.

"I'll race ya!" Aria said playfully.

"Oh, you're on!" Jay said, cracking his knuckles.

The two darted off to the guild, adrenaline and happiness coursing through their body.

XxX

"I win!"

"No, I won! I reached the guild first!"

"Yeah, but I reached the bottom of the ladder first! I won!"

"You didn't say anything about climbing down the ladder! You just said whoever got to the guild first won!"

Jay and Aria had reached the main room and were now playfully bickering over the results of their "race". They were both out of breath, but nothing could spoil their good moods—the expedition was almost ready to launch off.

"Man, you two are out of breath!" Altaria noted.

"Gee, thank you, Captain Obvious," Aria said sarcastically.

"Don't waste your energy now. We still have a long journey ahead of us! We just have to wait for Plusle and Magby to come back here…" Whimsicott said wisely.

"If I had a Poké for every time I heard that, I'd be rich," Aria said.

Altaria laughed. "It's good to know you still have your sarcastic side," she said.

Before they could talk any more, Magby waddled down the ladder. He appeared breathless and exhausted, and Jay couldn't help but wonder what had made him so tired. He took a few steps towards the center of the room and collapsed.

Jay was by his side almost immediately. "Whoa, dude! What's up?" he asked.

"Plusle…" Magby gasped. "We were… playing tag… man, she's fast…"

As if on cue, the tiny yellow Pokémon began climbing down the ladder. Once she reached the bottom, she zipped towards Magby and lightly tapped him on the shoulder with a playful giggle.

There was a sharp sound like a zap, and Magby sat straight up, letting loose a small yelp of pain. Plusle began to laugh uncontrollably. "Oops!" she said in between bouts of giggles.

"Hey! That wasn't nice!" Magby shouted indignantly.

Aria shook her head. "You guys are crazy…" she said, but she smiled all the same.

"You're like family. An incredibly dysfunctional family, but still family all the same," Jay said.

"Aww, thanks! I'm glad you like it in here. But don't worry; we won't embarrass you or give you nighttime kisses… unless you really want that!" Whimsicott said.

Before they could talk more, the door to Flygon's corridor opened. The green dragon and the tan crocodile entered the main room and stood before the crowd. All the chattering fell silent.

"Thank you!" Flygon said. "Are all of you ready for the expedition?"

"YEAH!" the crowd chorused.

"Get on with it!" Aria hissed.

"Great! Before we shove off, I want to give you all an idea of what's going to happen today. Yes, I know you're all dying to go—" Flygon had to stop her speech and shush the crowd; protests were starting to break out—"but I want you to know where we're going before we go out there and get lost. Is that clear?"

Not really, Jay thought.

"Thank you! Now, obviously, Dew Island is, well, an island. It's surrounded by water, and obviously, we can't all swim. So what'll we do? Well, good news! One of our close clients has volunteered to ferry us across Wavy Sea. We should be at Dew Island in a few hours at the most!" Flygon explained.

"Who will our 'ferry' be…?" Aria wondered aloud.

"Once we get to Dew Island, we're going to take a quick trek through Coral Jungle. No, it doesn't have coral growing in it—I don't know why they named it that. Don't ask. Once we get through Coral Jungle and find a suitable spot, we'll set up camp. We should be getting close to Hearth Mountain by then. The next day… well, we'll see what's happening then!" Flygon explained.

"Yeah, that's cool and all, but can we just go now?" Aria said impatiently.

"Of course! I'm very sorry for keeping you for so long—I just wanted to review the rules for safety and stuff. It's time to shove off!" Flygon said.

"YAHOO!" the guild cheered.

"Let's get this party started!" Jay cried.

There was a bit of a stampede going up the ladder, but Jay and Aria managed to squeeze up to the second floor. Nidorino and Cranidos paused their bickering to give them a jaunty wave goodbye.

They climbed the second ladder and exited the guild. Flygon stopped and glanced up, making sure that Minun was at his post. The small yellow rodent gave Flygon a salute goodbye, and he turned around and began cranking the door shut. An iron portcullis slammed shut, and the guild was secured.

Flygon took the lead with Krokorok right beside her. Everyone else lumped together; Magby stuck by Jay and Aria while nervously glancing at Plusle. Flygon turned around once more to address the crowd.

"Are you ready for some fun?!" she asked.

"YEAH!" the guild screamed.

"Well, let's go!"

Jay felt excitement coursing through him as he began to march along with his friends. He finally felt like he was part of the guild.

XxX

Yay! Team River Song's going on the expedition! (Then again, would you expect anything less? These are the main characters we're talking about... of course they're going! Yeah... kind of Mary Sue-ish, but it'd be boring to have Jay and Aria sitting around while everyone else goes exploring.)

Either way, I hope you like this chapter. Don't forget to review! :)