Chapter 6 - A Day in the Guild

"So, how does this sound?"

Ziggy lifted his head and regarded Sparks' smiling face, a touch of dreariness in the Buizel's eyes. Ziggy had felt so depressed the previous night that he had fallen asleep early. As a result, he was now awake quite early in the morning. On the surface he seemed better, by a little bit if nothing else.

"Why don't I take you on a little tour of our guild?" Sparks continued, "I'll be your tour guide. I can show you around the building and tell you how some things work around here. You won't have to meet anyone, and you don't have to talk to anybody if you don't want to. As far as talking goes, it'll be just you and me for now."

"Uhh…" Ziggy considered the request for a moment. Sparks was again banking on Ziggy's curiosity for their organization. He hoped that if he could warm Ziggy up to the guild's altruistic intentions and quell those lingering doubts in the Buizel's mind, they could then move onto more socially-oriented challenges.

After a moment, Ziggy looked up at him and asked, "Do I…still get breakfast?"

Sparks laughed and nodded. "Of course, of course. The guild eats breakfast, and then the day begins! We can just eat here, but don't take too long. The first thing I want to share with you is the morning briefing."


One breakfast later, this time brought to the room by Sparks himself, the Raichu had managed to coax Ziggy out of the room once more. This was done on the promise that Ziggy could hide behind his larger frame whenever he wanted to.

Once the clock chimed 9am, Sparks led Ziggy back out into the common room. The rising sun was shining through the windows, filling the whole room with a gentle orange glow. The long table was devoid of Pokémon, though there were plenty of remnants of this morning's breakfast waiting to be cleaned up. Rather, all of the Pokémon in the room were gathered around the whiteboard situated at the far end, with Carmen standing next to it.

At first, Ziggy was frightened and immediately darted behind Sparks. It was easy to see why, though, as all 12 members of the active team were there. Everybody that Ziggy had already met was there; Kona, Terry, Rico, Kandice, Javier, Liz and Danika. Also standing there were Lupe the Vulpix - who Ziggy had indirectly met during his first visit - Jules the Sylveon, Shay the Yamper, Tora the Pigeot and Akash the Deerling.

These were the 12 members of the guild who worked every day, besides holidays and the occasional day off. When somebody colloquially mentioned the 'Radiant City Guild', it usually referred to Carmen and these 12.

The Braixen was already speaking to them, so Sparks kept to a respectable distance so he could quietly speak to Ziggy without interrupting her. "That's the morning briefing," he explained, "Every morning after breakfast, the team gathers together to talk about what they're going to do for the day. That's when Carmen will give out special assignments, if she has any, and she'll ask for updates on jobs and requests that are still in-progress."

"…Lupe, a client from the south side wants to hire somebody to escort them across town," Carmen said, addressing the Vulpix, "They're moving something valuable between homes and it's large enough that they can't exactly be discrete about it. Can you handle a bit of bodyguard duty?"

Lupe sat up straight and nodded. "Consider it done!"

"Good. They don't anticipate problems, but they want to make absolutely sure. Usually just the sight of the badge is enough to deter petty crime anyway." Carmen cleared her throat and moved a sticky note from one area of the board to another. "Danika, you've got your assignment…Javier you're still working with that disabled client…I do believe that is everything, so the rest of you can hit the request board."

A number of heads in the group nodded, including Terry, Rico and Kona.

"Alright, then!" Carmen proclaimed, "Let's do some good, today!"

"Yes, Guildmaster!" the other 12 chanted in unison.

"Make Radiant City proud, everybody!"

With that, the whole group began to disperse, save for Carmen who remained at the board for the time being. Most of the group immediately headed for the door that lead out to the main hall, though a few started heading back to their dorm rooms, likely to pick up something they needed. A few of the guildmembers took notice of Sparks at this time and said a quick hello.

Sparks glanced back at Ziggy, who was predictably hiding himself halfway behind the Raichu's body. Ziggy was at least watching the guildmembers as they got to work, but would noticeably avert his eyes if someone looked right at him.

"Now everybody's off to help make the city a better place," Sparks said, continuing his explanation, "We use that board to help keep track of ongoing jobs. Wouldn't want to forget somebody and leave them behind. Today it was just the 12 core members of the active team, but sometimes other guildmembers will be at the morning briefing if they have nothing else to do for the day, or are looking for their next assignment."

The two stood there for a moment and watched the crowd disperse. Thankfully, nobody came up to talk to them as they were all pretty focused on their own work. Ziggy seemed somewhat content to watch from a distance.

"What about Carmen…?"

Sparks glanced back upon hearing Ziggy's tiny voice. "She works herself to the bone, that crazy girl," he said with a chuckle, "Right now she's probably trying to figure out just how many responsibilities she can stack on her plate today. She does jobs just like the rest of the guild, but she usually has to stay here in headquarters to do them, just in case she's needed for 'guildmaster stuff'. That's all on top of overseeing everybody else and stepping in if one of our guildmembers needs help."

"Gosh…"

"She's smart, though. She's a workaholic, but she knows when to take a break. It was no surprise when she became the next guildmaster. Everybody could see how strong her dedication and work ethic were."

After a few more minutes, only Carmen and the two of them remained in the room. Carmen looked like she had her head in the clouds, thinking about too many things at once, so Sparks didn't plan on bothering her.

"Let's go see the request board, now," he said to Ziggy, "I'll tell you how all that stuff works."

"Uh…Okay…"

He started to lead Ziggy towards the spot in question. Halfway across the room, though, he paused and realized a potential flaw in this plan. "Ah, Ziggy?" he spoke up, "The request board is…outside."

"Outs-"

Ziggy's eyes opened wide and he looked up at Sparks with a worried expression. Sparks had expected him to panic at the mere mention of the public outdoors, but there had to be some conflicting thoughts there. Ziggy didn't want to be outside where Pokémon could see him, but outside was basically all he knew. He'd lived pretty much his whole life outside.

"Well…" Sparks spoke up, hoping to interrupt Ziggy's conflicted train of thought, "It's out on the grounds out the front door. It's still inside those hedges, if you remember those. But don't worry. At this time of the day, nobody's gonna be out there except guild members. I promise."

"Uhh…"

"If you see somebody else out there, you can run back indoors if you really need to."

Ziggy considered the proposition for a moment, and eventually gave Sparks a timid little nod. Sparks felt like a parent leading a cub into a spooky haunted house, as Ziggy began to trail very closely behind him.

Sparks led Ziggy out into the main hall, where a few other guild members were going up and down the stairs, and then walked over to the main front doors of the building. He opened one of them up, letting bright sunlight shine through. Ziggy immediately winced and covered his eyes from the harsh glare. "Looks like a warm one today," the Raichu commented.

He then stepped out onto what was essentially the building's front lawn. It was a square-shaped area surrounded on three sides by hedges. A stone path led from the front door right to the gate at the opposite end, which was currently closed and locked. To the left and right of the path were well-kept green lawns, and a few flowers were growing at the base of the hedges.

Sparks glanced behind him and saw that Ziggy was hovering at the doorframe. He gave the Buizel an encouraging nod, and then started to walk towards the next stop on this little tour.

Over to the side, just a few steps off the stone path and about halfway between the front doors and the gate, was a large wooden board. The front face of it was covered from top to bottom with papers, posters and flyers of all sizes and colours, attached with tacks, staples, or even just tape. Five of the previously-seen guildmembers, including Terry, Rico and Kona, were gathered around the board and studying its contents.

"Yup! That's the request board, over there," Sparks announced.

The Raichu felt a presence at his side, and glanced over his shoulder to see that Ziggy was nestled safely in his shadow. He was still squinting and seemed irritated by the unseasonably bright sunlight. Sparks recalled that Ziggy probably spent a lot of his time avoiding the sun and hiding in the shadows.

"I…heard some others say that name before…" Ziggy mumbled.

Sparks nodded. "The request board is what guildmembers go to if they don't have a specific assignment from Carmen. Let me tell you how this works. As I explained to you, our guild's mission is to help Pokémon wherever help is needed. If a Pokémon needs our help, they have two options.

"Option one is to write up their request and put it up on the request board. This is totally free; anybody can come in here and tack up a request for help with anything they need. Moving furniture, cubsitting, volunteer work, all sorts of stuff. Guildmembers can then go to the board, select a request, and do it! But see, that's the thing. Because it's free to just make any request, clients understand that there's no obligation for any of our alumni to accept this request. But, of course, we try to do as many of them as we can.

"Option two, on the other paw, is to pay us a fee to hire us specifically. That'll guarantee that their request for help will be completed, and the money is then used to help fund our services. That's when Carmen will specifically assign someone to the client. Sometimes somebody from the active team, and sometimes one of our other members."

"Mm…" Ziggy nodded in understanding, but said nothing more.

The two stood there beside the door for a while, watching as some of the guildmembers picked out requests from the board. Kona had just pulled off a blue sheet of paper with a picture of a Pokémon on the front, and was now quickly making his way back inside. Terry and Rico were working together, trying to decide which request to go with. They weren't arguing, but they weren't exactly agreeing on one either.

After quite a bit of silence from his companion, Sparks turned back and asked, "You doin' all right?"

"Y-yeah…Kinda…" Ziggy replied, "The gate's closed…so…"

"Yup," Sparks explained, "Our gates are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week…except for 15 minutes every morning, when the guild looks at the request board. We do that so citizens don't all rush in and mob our alumni. Y'know, corner them and try to pressure them into taking their request. We want everything to be fair and even here, after all."

"Mhm…"

Rico started to laugh at something, and Terry gave him a playful swat on the head. Jules had picked out a job, but he went to stand by the gate instead of heading back inside. Looked like he already had everything he needed for the day and was just waiting for Carmen to open the gate again.

"Boy, it looks like it's actually gonna be a nice, sunny day," Sparks commented, "It's autumn, so I figured those kinds of days were gone for a while…"

Ziggy just responded with a noise that sort of sounded like a grumble.

Sparks looked back at him. "You don't like the bright sun?" he asked.

"Not really…"

"Well, that's okay." Sparks wanted to say that the sun made his fur shine quite nicely, which was an honest statement, but he knew that would just be a bad idea. Ziggy's unique fur colour was perfect to catch the sunlight and bask in it.

"Ah, well here comes Terry and Rico. Wanna say hi?"

Indeed, the Riolu and Eevee had finally picked out a request and were now jovially heading back to their rooms. They both had big smiles on their faces, looking like they were ready to conquer the day.

"Find something exciting?" Sparks asked as they passed by.

"We're gonna go pick berries in the park!" Terry answered with a cheer.

"So, no," Rico added, "But there's gonna be another dungeoneering one up there some time this week! I just know it! I feel it in my bones!"

"I still can't believe Carmen let us take that one," Terry commented.

"Well, I mean, you did a great job for your first cave exploration!" Sparks said, "And those don't come up very often anymore, so it's good to grab 'em when they show up!"

"Eh, it's fine," Rico said, "The park's cool to hang out in too."

"The park up on the hill by the east side?"

"Yeah. Gusty Glade Park. I used to climb rocks there when I was a cub!"

"Hi, Ziggy!" Terry spoke up.

Sparks felt the Buizel twitch behind him, and looked back expecting to see Ziggy ducking behind him. Ziggy had just started slightly, though. "Hi…" he replied meekly.

"How're you doing?" Terry asked, "Having fun hanging out with Sparks?"

"Umm…Y-yeah." Sparks smiled at that remark.

"He's the best at what he does! So, you can trust him to help you with whatever you need. He helped train me when I first joined!"

"Yeah, me too," Rico added.

"He did…?" Ziggy asked.

"Oh yeah! He's always around HQ helping everybody out. You don't even have to ask him; he'll just do it!"

"Hey, c'mon now…" Sparks said with a chuckle.

"I wish I could've been here when you were on the active team, Sparks. It woulda been great to work alongside you!"

"Well, go bug Carmen and I'm sure she'll find all of the most boring and embarrassing stories from that time of my life, haha!"

"C'mon, Terr! We gotta go," Rico politely interrupted, "They're paying extra if we get more than 50! We can totally do that!"

"Ah, you're right!" Terry said with a nod, "We'll talk to you guys later, okay? We gotta get going if we're still planning to stop and eat lunch at noon!"

"We'll be surrounded by edible berries the whole time!" Rico retorted.

"Yes, but the ones we eat don't count, ya knucklehead!"

"Fine! Shoot me down with your precious 'logic'!"

The two continued to playfully banter with one another as they departed and headed towards the gate, standing next to Jules.

"Carmen comes out after the 15-minute period is over and opens the gate," Sparks explained, "Though she's been thinking about getting an extra alumni-only door installed, just like the one on the side of the building."

Ziggy was quiet for a moment as the two watched the rest of the alumni pick out a request, but then said, "I…I don't…"

"Hm?" Sparks said, turning his full attention to the Buizel.

"I don't get it…"

"Don't get what?"

"I thought…I thought you said those requests on that board were free…"

Sparks nodded. "They are," he stated. It took a moment for the realization to hit him. "Oh! Because Rico said 'pay extra', right? Yeah, that's gratuity."

"Huh?"

"Y'know, tips. Money or stuff that clients give out to say 'thank you'. It's not explicitly required, but pretty much everybody does it, even if sometimes it's just a couple berries or something. Yeah, we usually get a little something when we finish a request, and then half of that goes back to the guild."

Ziggy gave him a confused look. "Half…?"

"Well, half if it's money. Not other stuff. That's the guild's share, it helps with our finances." He then laughed and added, "It's a really good deal, though. Years ago, it used to be ninety percent went back to the guild and guildmembers only got chump change! Thank heavens we don't live in that world anymore!"

"Oh, really…?"

"Yeah. We're funded by the government now, but that only covers so much. Taking a cut of gratuities helps to keep things running smoothly."

"I guess…that makes sense."

The door opened behind them, causing them both to look back.

"Ah, here's Carmen to open the gate now. The day begins!" He then glanced down at Ziggy and said, "I'm guessing you want to go back inside now?"

The Buizel, now looking quite nervous all of a sudden, nodded eagerly.

"All right," he said with an understanding nod, "But we're gonna work on this soon."


"You sure you're all right? We don't have to do this today if you don't want to…"

After the day had passed somewhat unceremoniously, with Sparks and Ziggy simply spending the hours either in the Buizel's room or quietly in the empty common room, it was now dinnertime. After a bit of discussion, Sparks had managed to convince Ziggy to join him and the others at the common room table for the meal.

While breakfast was a quick-and-done affair so that everybody could get to work, dinner was a bigger deal. It was the main social event of the day, and the entire active team usually spent at least an hour eating and just being in each other's company.

Sparks was still testing the waters with Ziggy. The poor Buizel had spent ninety percent of his life avoiding all social interaction entirely, and so Sparks was still trying to see how he behaved in slightly different social situations. Sparks hoped that this could help him come up with a better plan of attack when it came to helping Ziggy better himself.

On the surface, it appeared that Ziggy was just an extremely antisocial Pokémon with severe anxiety issues. Of course, Sparks knew it ran much deeper than this. There were issues with trust, self-image and optimism. Ziggy not only viewed himself as a 'freak', but as a thief and a criminal. Sparks wanted to show Ziggy that nobody here cared about his appearance or his past, and that he could, in fact, be welcome to sit with the others at the dinner table and share the same food. Sparks also hoped that this larger, but not too large, gathering would facilitate an environment where he didn't have to speak, as there would be plenty of conversation going around already.

"Mmmm…" Ziggy moaned softly, twiddling his paws while the two of them stood in his room.

"I don't wanna pressure you, but I assure you that everything will be fine. Only guildmembers will be at the table. Most of them you've already met, and I'll introduce you to the rest. I know you might not believe it, but I know you can do this."

"…Sparks?"

"Yes?"

"…I don't like this…"

Sparks frowned. "You haven't even given it a try yet."

"N-no…" Ziggy said, shaking his head, "I'll…I mean, I'll still give it a try…If you're there, then I'll…try it." He then sighed and frowned. "But I don't like it…"

"Can you tell me why not?"

Ziggy bit his lip, looking stressed out simply from the question alone. "I…don't like when Pokémon are looking at me…"

"Mm…" Sparks murmured as he nodded in understanding, "I get that. But, Ziggy, you know that everybody looks at everybody else. It's not like if you go out there, all 13 sets of eyes will be focused solely on you."

For a moment, Ziggy looked pessimistic. "In here, maybe, but…"

Sparks resisted the urge to sigh. He knew full well that if Ziggy were to walk into a room in any other building in Radiant City, then all eyes certainly would be on him. "Well, you're 'in here' now," Sparks said, "So just focus on that. One thing at a time. Just remember, I'm not asking you to suddenly start trusting the whole world. Just trust us, okay?"

To say that Ziggy looked 'okay' would be the biggest lie ever told, but at least the Buizel was starting to push himself just a little bit. After a few more shared deep breaths, Sparks led him back out to the common room. All members of the active team besides Liz were already seated at the table, chatting with each other and eagerly awaiting dinner. A few of them waved at Sparks or silently acknowledged him with a nod. There was space at the end of the table on one side for Sparks and Ziggy to sit next to each other, so that's where they went. Ziggy followed silently behind him, nervously casting his glance between the large amount of Pokémon in the room.

Again, Sparks thought about things from Ziggy's perspective. Living in the shadows and hiding from the public eye, being seen by a single Pokémon would normally be a cause for alarm in his past life. Now he was being seen by 12, soon to be 14. Ziggy wasn't running away, though, so Sparks had to commend him for that.

The Raichu took his seat first. He purposefully chose the spot at the very end of the table, so that Ziggy could sit beside him but also be seated next to another guildmember. Ziggy looked up at Sparks nervously, like a cub being led out onto a diving board for the first time, and then anxiously walked over to the open spot. He glanced at Sparks one more time, and then looked over at the other Pokémon he would be seated next to.

Jules was already engrossed in a conversation with Kandice, who was sitting on his other side, so at first he didn't even notice that Sparks and Ziggy had arrived. The Buizel carefully crept towards the bench and quickly slipped into the seat like he was trying to avoid being spotted. Jules was one of the Pokémon on the active team that Ziggy hadn't met yet, so he was still a 'stranger' to him. Predictably, Ziggy was looking up at the Sylveon with big, nervous eyes. Sparks shifted himself a little closer to Ziggy, deciding to grant him a little security blanket.

It didn't take long before Jules finished his conversation and finally took notice of his two new companions. "Heyyy, Sparky!" he said, "They finally let you out of the dungeon?"

Sparks chuckled. It had been quite a few days since he and the Sylveon had had a chance to speak to each other, and he was likely referring to Sparks having been working with Danika for so long. "Something like that, yeah."

"Well, you should know the outside world has changed a lot since your incarceration. The whole planet is now controlled by a single Caterpie who rules with an iron fist…"

"Shocking," Sparks replied with a wry smile, "Good thing I have you around, because the newspapers didn't even bother covering that."

Jules snickered, wearing his classic smug grin that was a touch cocky, but still friendly and playful. He briefly regarded Ziggy and then said to Sparks, "I figured she'd give you a reward for your hard work, but isn't a son a bit much?"

"Jules, be nice," Sparks said in a calm but warning tone.

"Aw, I'm just playin' around," he said with another chuckle, and then fully turned his attention towards Ziggy. "Hey there, the name's Jules."

Ziggy looked more confused than anything. "Um…J-Jewel…?"

"Heh…Pretty close, I guess. But no, it's 'Jules'."

"S-sorry…"

"You can think of me as a jewel though, if ya want. I know I have that certain…'shimmer'."

Ziggy looked confused, and then turned back to give Sparks a confused look as well.

"Yes, yes," Sparks said with a roll of his eyes, "You shine like a diamond in the rough, and all that jazz. What else is new?"

"You mean besides your new son?"

"Jules…"

"Hey, it's no big deal! He looks like he's pretty clever! You musta raised him good over the course of three days. They grow up so fast, don't they?"

Ziggy was looking back and forth between the two Pokémon, still looking quite confused.

"Psst…" Jules whispered as he tapped Ziggy's shoulder, "That was a compliment."

The Buizel looked up at the Sylveon once more, blinked a few times, and then sputtered, "O-oh, what? Huh? …C-clever?"

"Yeah, dude," Jules replied with a chuckle, "That's a good head on those shoulders, I can tell. I'm guessin' you could probably easily give someone the runaround. You've probably already done so for big Spark boy over there, am I right?"

"Wh-what…?"

"Well, to be fair," Sparks interjected, "Ziggy nearly gave me the slip when we first met. He's really fast. I might've lost track of him if he hadn't run into the fields."

Ziggy's head whipped back to Sparks once more. A strange mixture of emotions was written in his expression. There was remorse that Sparks was bringing up the sordid circumstances of their meeting, but also a bit of humble pride perhaps.

"Yeah," Sparks continued, "I haven't known him for too long, but I think he's pretty smart. I mean, it's been a long time since chasing somebody left me that out of breath…"

Jules immediately started snickering, causing both the Raichu and Buizel to look at him.

"What?" Sparks asked.

"You know what you said," Jules said between snickers, a wily sort of grin on his face.

"Wh…- Oh. Oh, har. I see."

"'It's been a while', huh?"

Sparks sighed and rolled his eyes. "Grow up, Jules."

"Growing up is overrated!"

Then, an excited voice suddenly cut its way across the table. "Hey! Hey! It's the new guy!"

Sparks and Ziggy both looked up at the source of the voice, and ended up looking at Shay. The Yamper was seated across from them at the table, sandwiched between Akash and Lupe. His front paws were up on the table and his little tail was wagging like crazy.

"Hi! Ziggy, right?" he said with a big smile.

"Uhh…" Ziggy blurted out, "Ye- Uh…Hi?"

"Hiii! It's nice to meet you! I'm Shay!"

Ziggy was already shrinking back a little. Sparks gave Shay a silent look to try to get him to tone it down a little, though he knew it was likely in vain.

"Yeah, that's Shay," Sparks said to the unnerved Buizel, "Though his name sounds like 'shy', he's anything but."

"You look like fun!" Shay chirped, "D'you like games? What kinda games do you play?"

"Uhh…I…I dunno…" Ziggy murmured. Sparks frowned for a moment, wondering if Ziggy had ever played a 'game' of any sort in his life before.

"Oh, we gotta play some games sometime! Let's get together and hang out!"

"Wha…? Uh, I…" Ziggy sputtered.

"Relax, Ziggy," Sparks cut in, "Shay's brain runs on coffee. He's really, really friendly. He just has a lot of energy."

Ziggy visibly gulped. "Uh huh…"

"What about tag?" Shay spoke up again, "I heard Sparks say you're fast, so you're probably good at tag!"

"Tag…?"

"I'm pretty good at frisbee myself! I love playing that! But I love tag too! Oooh, I can already tell this'll be fun! You and I are g-"

Shay's nonstop babbling was suddenly silenced as a paw clamped down over his muzzle. "Come on, now. Reel it in, puppy."

The Yamper glanced over to his left towards Lupe, the Vulpix's paw still on his muzzle. "Whuf?"

"You're gonna scare him away, Shay," Lupe said in a gentle voice, "Tone it down a little, okay?"

Shay glanced back at Ziggy for a moment, and then nodded. Lupe finally removed her paw, and Shay gave Ziggy an apologetic look. "Sorry," he said, "I just love meeting new friends! I hope we can be friends, Ziggy."

"Um… I-it's okay," Ziggy replied slowly, accepting the Yamper's apology but still seeming a bit unsettled.

Shay deflated a little, looking a touch remorseful, but then turned and directed his attention elsewhere. Sparks knew the Yamper well enough to know that it wouldn't be more than 15 seconds before something else brought a smile to his face.

"Hi, Ziggy. My name's Lupe."

Ziggy looked back to the Vulpix and saw that she was leaning over the table, extending her paw towards him. He hesitated nervously for a moment and glanced up at Sparks, who gave him an encouraging nod. A moment later, he slowly reached out and shook Lupe's paw. "H-hi…"

Lupe smiled sweetly. "I can tell this must be a bit overwhelming," she said, "I don't like crowds either. I've gotten used to being around all of these Pokémon, but if there's a lot of Pokémon all around I get a bit nervous sometimes…"

"You do…?" Ziggy replied.

"Mhm," she said with a nod, "It can be hard sometimes, I know. We all have something like that. A fear or a weakness that can weigh you down, but you just gotta take it slow. One step at a time, one day at a time."

"Umm… I…" Ziggy spoke quietly, "I'm, uh…"

Lupe shook her head. "It's okay, don't worry about it. You've got Sparks there with you. Just try to relax if you can and enjoy dinner. You've had Liz's food before, right? You know it's really good."

Sparks smiled. Lupe was a very compassionate Pokémon who could always easily pick up on the problems of others. She was a very helpful Pokémon and was easy to talk to, so Sparks hoped that Ziggy and her could get to know one another. Being friends with her might be beneficial for him.

"Thanks…" Ziggy said after fidgeting for a moment.

"You're welcome!" Lupe replied with a friendly grin, "And it was nice to meet you."

Ziggy glanced up at Sparks, who gave the Buizel an encouraging smile. "You haven't met Akash yet," he said, gesturing to the Deerling.

Akash had been distracted by something, but perked up upon hearing his name. "Hm? Oh yes, hello!" he said, "I'm Akash."

"Hi…" Ziggy replied.

Akash smiled. His coat was a slightly muted orange colour, reflecting the autumn season. It had always been Sparks' favourite colour for Akash, though he knew the Deerling certainly didn't agree.

"He's fairly new to the guild. I think his one year anniversary was just a couple months ago. Is that right?"

"Yup," Akash said, nodding, "It's been a lot of fun so far. Definitely lots of ups and downs." He paused for a moment and then chuckled softly. "Sparks, stop lookin' at me like that. What're you expecting, a big speech? I'm just me, haha!"

"Don't sell yourself short," Sparks replied, "You're a high achiever for somebody your age."

"Oh stop. It's not a contest." After he and Sparks chuckled some more, he looked at Ziggy again and said, "Well anyway, it's nice to meet you. I bet you're gettin' sick of hearing that, haha… Feel free to chat with me any time you want."

"Um…O-okay…"

"Is that everybody?" Sparks said a moment later, "Did I introduce you to…No, you haven't met Tora yet. She's all the way at the other end of the table, though. Maybe another time."

Everyone nearby then started to fall into their own conversations with those around them. Dinner was always a very lively time where everybody excitedly talked about their day. Sparks himself struck up a conversation with Lupe about the job she had been tasked with.

Carmen arrived at the table after a short while, looking as worn out as she usually did at this time of day. Carmen's timing was always perfect at dinner, because only a minute later Liz burst through the door carrying an amount of plates that should have been physically impossible. She was met with a resounding cheer. Dinner had been served.

The daily ritual of stuffing one's face with delicious food began. Liz laid out her array of culinary delights for everybody to sample and enjoy. It was never more than a modest sampling of food, but Liz somehow had the ability to make it look bigger and grander than it really was. She too joined everybody at the table, and then the whole team was there.

As dinner went on, the conversations continued and the laughter was plentiful. Everybody seemed to be in a good mood, which meant that everybody had done a good job at whatever they had been doing.

Everyone was talking to one another, but nobody was saying much to Ziggy. The Buizel had been momentarily mesmerized by the gracious offering of delicious free food, as usual. But once he had taken a plateful, he had gone right back into his shell as he slowly, cautiously ate his dinner.

It was okay that nobody was talking to him. The point that Sparks was trying to make was that no-one was going to suddenly stand up on the table, point at Ziggy and shout 'What's with your fur?!' Sparks had hoped that it would relax him even just a little but, unfortunately, that didn't seem to be happening.

Nobody was staring at his fur, but Ziggy was silently waiting for it to happen.

At one point, Sparks glanced over at his quiet companion. He saw that Ziggy had filled his plate with some Razz Berries, a few slices of Sitrus, a scoop of rice and a bun. It wasn't a lot, compared to everybody else's plates. In Ziggy's eyes, there was a difference between being handed free food, and taking free food, even if it was open and up for grabs. It probably reminded him of his days of stealing food.

"You want anything else?" Sparks asked him, leaning in so he could speak softly.

Ziggy nervously glanced up at him, and then silently shook his head.

"Are you sure?"

"This's fine…"

Sparks nodded and accepted the Buizel's response. At least he wasn't starving himself or anything. He watched for a moment as Ziggy reached out and grabbed the bun. He was about to take a bite of it, but he then looked over at Lupe and Javier, who were also eating buns. Ziggy noticed that Lupe's was covered in butter, and Javier was using a butterknife to apply some to his own.

Ziggy glanced back down at his own bun, and then looked over at the plate of butter, which was sitting on the table just within his reach. There were a bunch of butterknives sitting next to it for anybody to use. It took the nervous Buizel a moment, but he eventually worked up the courage to sit up straighter so he could reach the butter, and started reach out towards the butterknives.

"How are things going, Sparks?" Lupe asked from across the table.

Sparks turned to her and replied, "Pretty good, all things considered."

"You let me know if you need my help with anything…"

The Raichu nodded. Lupe was known around the guild for being good with cubs. Ziggy wasn't exactly a cub, but her gentle nature could be helpful all the same. "I will. Thank you."

A sharp cry suddenly erupted from next to him, causing Sparks and most everybody nearby to turn and look at Ziggy. The Buizel was wincing, sucking in a few short breaths through his teeth, and clutching one of his paws close to his chest.

"Ziggy? What…?" Sparks' gaze was drawn to the table, where there was a perfectly-formed trail of little red dots leading from the butter plate back towards where Ziggy was sitting. The biggest of these red splotches was right next to the butter plate, and laying next to it haphazardly was a knife.

Not a butterknife, a knife.

"Oh, crap… Ziggy, are you okay?" Sparks asked, turning back to the Buizel. It was easy to piece together what had happened; Ziggy had picked up the wrong utensil and had then likely cut himself with it by accident.

"I-it's fine…" Ziggy murmured.

"Are you sure? Here, let me look at it."

"I'm fine, I'm fine…" Ziggy insisted. The Buizel wasn't looking at Sparks anymore. The room had gone noticeably quiet, and Sparks realized something rather unfortunate. The one thing he had promised wouldn't happen to Ziggy was indeed happening.

Every set of eyes in the room was on him.

"Ziggy, you're bleeding…" Sparks said to him in a calming voice.

"I know…"

"Are you sure you're all right? It looks like you nicked yourself pretty bad…"

Ziggy just continued to sit there, clutching his paw tightly against his chest. Although there remained a noticeable wince in his expression, Ziggy didn't react much further than that. It struck Sparks as strange how calm and collected Ziggy was, only seeming to be stressed out by the fact that everyone was looking at him.

"Here, let me see it please."

Sparks and Ziggy both turned around to find Kandice standing behind them. She had gotten out of her seat and moved behind them without either of them noticing.

"It's fine, I'm okay…" Ziggy muttered, withering even more in his seat under the gaze of the tall Audino.

"Come on, now," Kandice replied kindly but firmly, "Just let me look at it. I promise I won't hurt you."

Ziggy nervously glanced over at Sparks, who gave him an encouraging nod, and then finally relented and held his paw out towards Kandice. Sparks immediately winced when he did. The Buizel had sliced the side of his paw rather deeply, leaving a small but definitely noticeable gash. A few trickles of blood were still leaking out of it. Just looking at it was all Sparks needed to see that it stung pretty badly.

"Oh dear…" Kandice spoke as she gingerly held his paw to examine the wound, "That doesn't look terribly pleasant. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. Still, though, we should get this cleaned and bandaged up."

"H-huh…?"

"Come on, let's go," Kandice insisted, "My nurse's office is just through the main hall, remember? It's better to be safe than sorry, and this'll only take a couple of minutes to treat. If we go now, you can get back before your rice even gets cold!"

Ziggy didn't respond. He just wordlessly sat there, staring up at Kandice with big, wide eyes.

"C'mon, buddy," Sparks said, "I'll go with you. You'll be fine."

This seemed to snap him out of his reverie somewhat. "Uhh…Okay…" he said unsurely.

While Kandice helped Ziggy stand up, Sparks took a moment to give everybody else at the table a meaningful look. They were all staring at the poor Buizel, but it was out of concern for his wellbeing. Still, though, Sparks tried to silently tell all of them to knock it off. Most of the team took the hint and went back to quiet conversations with each other, now that they had seen Ziggy would be taken care of.

Kandice, meanwhile, started to lead Ziggy towards the door to the front hall with Sparks following behind them. She had relinquished his paw, and he had gone back to holding it against his chest. As they walked, Sparks started to wonder just how much experience Ziggy had with dinnerware and cutlery. After all, a butterknife and an actual knife didn't look all that much alike.

Before long, the three of them had made it to Kandice's little first aid room hidden behind the grand staircase. It was a tad cozy, but it was well-stocked. Kandice indicated for Ziggy to take a seat in one of the chairs, which he did.

Ziggy still hadn't said a word since he had left the table. He was looking a touch nervous, but there was another emotion that Sparks couldn't quite identify.

"Here, give me your paw for a moment," Kandice said. Ziggy gingerly held out his injured paw, and Kandice held it delicately with one of her own. In her other paw, she held a damp cloth with some soap on it. She was going to clean the wound, which would probably sting a fair bit.

Ziggy winced as Kandice dabbed the cloth on his injury, but nothing more. "You're being very brave about this, Ziggy," Kandice commented.

"It's…fine…" Ziggy murmured.

Sparks sat nearby and silently watched as Kandice disinfected, cleaned and finally bandaged the wound. It was a small injury so just a tiny strip of bandage was all that was needed. Afterwards, it looked like Ziggy was wearing a white wristband.

"There! All done," Kandice said with a bright smile, her wonderful bedside manner showing through.

Ziggy simply held up his bandaged paw and stared at it for a moment. He just sat there in a reverie for a few seconds, and then finally shifted his gaze over to Kandice. The Audino continued to smile warmly, and Ziggy was silent for a few more moments.

"Th…Thank you…" he whispered.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Kandice replied, "That's what I'm here for!"

Ziggy sat there silently, blinking a few times, and continued to stare. "I…I…" he stammered, "…Thank you…"

"Ziggy?" Sparks spoke up.

"Thank you…"

He then surprised the both of them by suddenly leaning forward and giving Kandice a hug. His paws barely fit around her larger frame but he hugged her nonetheless.

"Oh my!" Kandice exclaimed, "You're very welcome, sweetie."

Ziggy didn't say anything else. Instead, he started to cry.

"Ziggy? Sweetheart? What's wrong?" Kandice asked.

Before they knew it, the Buizel then hopped off the chair and rushed over to Sparks, giving him a hug as well. Sparks could see Ziggy's tears now, and he could feel the Buizel quivering softly in his grasp. "Thank you…" he muttered once again.

A couple minutes passed while Sparks just hugged the poor Buizel, gently patting his back. Kandice stood off to the side awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Sparks was still processing what had just happened and was trying to understand what had made Ziggy so upset.

Then, he realized that wasn't the case at all.

"Ziggy?" he spoke up. The Buizel lifted his head to look up at him, sniffling a little. "I think I see what's happening here. Does this sound right? You told me before that some bad Pokémon once lured you in with the promise of food and then…did horrible things to you."

Kandice gasped softly, covering her mouth with her paw.

"But…" Sparks continued, "No-one has done anything like this for you before, have they?" He reached down and gently held up Ziggy's bandaged paw.

Recognition seemed to appear in Kandice's eyes as well.

Ziggy didn't say anything, but his expression alone told Sparks that he was correct. Ziggy wasn't upset; he was simply overcome with emotion. Kandice's simple act of first aid was the final domino that needed to fall for Ziggy to believe that the Rescue Society truly was going to help him. Ziggy had been tricked before with food and shelter, but it was likely no-one had ever given him care like this before.

"Ziggy," he spoke up once more, "While you're here, within these walls, we will take care of you. We will help you. That's the simple truth of it. Ziggy, we're here for you."

"Thank you all…s-so much…" Ziggy whispered.

"Heh… Don't mention it, buddy. Don't mention it."


"Excuse me, everyone!"

The clamour at the dining table quickly dissipated as all members of the active team stopped what they were doing and looked over towards the doorway. Sparks was standing there, with Kandice behind him.

In front of the two of them stood a young Buizel, looking incredibly shy but definitely less nervous than he had appeared before.

"Um…" he said, his voice echoing slightly through the silent room, "H-hi, everybody…"

Sparks gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"I'm…I'm Ziggy."