A/N

Thanks for reviewing, Farla!

And, on the topic of reviews; The review response doc for Verge Uprising will now just serve as review responses for my stories in general.

This chapter probably should have just been part of the first chapter instead, however I got excited and impatient! I think I've also had a harder time writing longer chapters in general, lately, judging by the length of Verge Uprising's thirty-fourth chapter.

Snute found her teeth grating together as she observed the glameow before her. Aundei displayed an unrivaled eagerness as he led his new partner down the hallway.

The ninetales let her eyes drift about lazily. Accompanying the black walls were more rectangular lights, in contrast to the rounded ones she'd seen on the way in. What really caught her eye was the ceiling.

Drop tiles.

She felt a smirk crawl onto her features. She noted the detail for later.

The smile left her face with a shrill gasp as the ninetales stumbled forward and tripped.

She felt a high grunt escape her throat as her face impacted the ground. Her hind-legs remained standing, but the front half of her body hadn't been so lucky. She felt her ears perk as a nasally voice spoke up.

"Hey!" called the voice. "Watch where you're walkin', will ya'?"

Snute blinked a few times. Aundei had turned back to eye the fallen ninetales with concern, before glancing behind her. The glameow's face seemed to light up.

Snute slowly rose back to her paws, turning around with a slight growl. She fixed her wrathful gaze upon a small meowth, staring back up at her with an unamused expression. He held his paws on his hips, tapping one foot.

"Maybe watch whose way you're in, next time," came the ninetales' icy voice.

The meowth grinned.

"Fair enough."

Aundei soon came up beside Snute, eliciting a short growl from the larger fox. She stepped aside to put more distance between herself and the glameow.

"Greetings, Funny!" Aundei cheered. He held out a paw excitedly.

With a roll of his eyes and a fond grin, the meowth reached out to shake it lightly.

"'Sup, Au'." The meowth's gaze turned back to the snarling ninetales, who had opted to look away from the pair. "What's with grumpy pants?" He found himself smirking at the way her muzzle wrinkled at the nickname.

Aundei pulled Snute into a side-long hug, lightly nuzzling his cheek against hers. The growling only increased in volume.

"This is Silly!" Aundei explained as he was kicked down onto his side. He kept smiling, seemingly unaware of the violence which had befallen him. He picked himself up easily. "She's the latest member in our fair guild, and I have joined her team!"

The meowth blinked in surprise.

"Oh, that so?" He gave a smile, turning to Snute. She looked down on him. He could tell that it was figurative just as much as it was literal. He reached out a paw to shake.

"Well, well, hey there'! The name's Inuviele, but everyone calls me Inu. What's yours, big bongos?" Inu was sure to give a waggle of his eyebrows for good measure, fully intent on pissing off the ninetales. Judging by the visible, cool air beginning to pool around her paws, he could tell it worked flawlessly.

"Shut up about my 'big bongos' before I suffocate you with them." Her eyes narrowed into a sneer.

Inu gave out a small chuckle, letting his paw lower with a smirk.

"Pleasure to meet you, too, Silly."

"Why, you little...!"

Inu jumped out of the way with a yelp as a large paw swung toward his head.

"Yikes!"

Aundei gave a chipper grin.

"Now, now, Funny. Don't tease her too much, okay? Silly here is a bit of a..." He looked left, then right, before leaning in with a paw covering his muzzle. "Sourpuss!" He whispered it, though judging by Snute's disappointed sigh it was evidently audible.

"I bet it is," Inu agreed with a sage nod.

Snute seemed to silently fume, whilst Aundei's head fell into a tilt.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Inu waved a paw dismissively.

"Meh. You'll get it when you're older."

Aundei resumed smiling.

"Okay! Well, we've gotta get going, Funny. Lotsa' things to show to Silly. Catch you around!"

"Laters," Inu's dismissive wave turned to one of departure, as he turned to continue the way he'd been walking.

Aundei looked to the still grumpy Snute with a smile as he turned to continue down the hallway. She reluctantly fell into step beside him.

"Quite the cast of colorful characters, we've got here," Snute snidely sneered.

Aundei nodded.

"Uh-huh! I'm blue, and white! And you're..." He squinted, glancing up and down the ninetales' body. She seemed to scoff in offense, moving her flowing tails to cover her form. "You seem to be white and blue! We match!"

Snute shook her head, snorting.

"Hardly. Your blue is darker than mine.

Aundei's smile dropped.

"Oh, bummer... I guess you're right."

The pair continued on in silence. Snute found herself thinking.

The HQ seemed huge from the outside, she reasoned. Surely, she would only need to be shown what was absolutely necessary? She decided to voice the query.

"Glameow?" Snute ventured.

Aundei turned to look up to her, smiling once more. The ninetales, however, only looked forward, leaving his gaze ignored.

"What's up, Silly?"

The ninetales' claws began to dig into the carpet as she moved.

"What all are you showing me to?"

"Hum..." Aundei looked up to the ceiling, giving weighty consideration to his options. "Well... You've already seen the lounge, and I think the Guildmaster's office will be easy to find since it's right at the front..." He walked in silence for a few moments more. "Well, I suppose I should just show you the bare necessities! The Cafeteria, the gym, and our room! You'll get a map later, which will show you everything else."

Snute raised an eyebrow.

"It will show me everything else, implying that it will exclude what you're showing me now?"

Aundei shook his head.

"No, not at all! I just figured it would be good to get you some first-paw experience, aye? And, of course, a good meal in your tummy!"

Snute looked down, a grin on her muzzle.

"Well... Food is always appreciated," she thought to herself.

"I see," Snute nodded, voice keeping level.

"Icy," Aundei snorted, barely containing a giggle.

Snute shook her head, only just barely resisting the urge to partake in self-harm.

As the ninetales and glameow duo strolled through a large set of double doors, the former of the two took a glance around.

The cafeteria appeared to be quite large, Snute had noted. Upon taking some quick measurements in her head, she'd concluded it to have roughly fifty-percent of the Lounge's total area, though in more of a rectangular shape.

Various pokémon sat at tables and bustled about, most ignoring the two, though some stopping to wave at Aundei or send a curious glance toward Snute.

Much to the ninetales' annoyance, each of those waves had her companion stop to wave back with a smile. She'd say it slowed their progress to a slugma's pace, if the one she'd seen hadn't just slithered right on ahead of them.

After the ninth stop, Snute had finally had enough.

"Glameow!" she growled with a stomp.

Aundei flinched, though kept smiling as he looked up at her.

"What is the matter?"

"Can we please keep it movin'?"

The glameow gave a nod.

"Apologies! Let us proceed!"

"Hmph."

The white tiled floor felt soothingly cold beneath Snute's paws as they advanced toward the back of the room.

A counter soon came into view, lined with various assortments of foods either beneath heat lamps, in containers surrounded by ice, or left at room temperature. Behind said counter was a bibarel in a stained white apron. She turned to give the pair a beaming grin, which Aundei returned. Snute only sneered.

"Why do all of these freaks smile all of the time?" Snute thought, with a shake of her head. Her features softened. "Well... If she's gonna give me food, she can't be all bad, right?"

As the two stopped before the counter, the bibarel gave a polite bow, which Aundei returned.

"Good afternoon to you, Bouncy!"

With a large grin, the water-type gave a short giggle.

"Why, hello, sugar-plum!" cheered the bibarel. Her gaze soon shifted to Snute, who simply held a steely gaze. "Who's this pretty young lady y've got with ya'?"

Snute felt the glameow nudge at her leg. She lifted a foreleg with a growl, refusing to step forward.

"...I'm Snute," she said simply, looking away with a blush.

"Well, howdy there, Snute!" The bibarel leaned over the counter to vigorously shake Snute's raised paw, much to the ninetales' bemusement. "I'm Yei!"

Snute feigned a smile, barely masking the grimace she felt coming on.

"Great," the ninetales insisted. "Well, Ms. Yei, I'd appreciate some grub."

Yei gave a hearty laugh.

"Oh, ya' don't gotta use them fancy titles, sugar-plum! Makes me feel old!" With another snicker, she gestured to a stack of styrofoam plates. "Get y'self one a' those, m'kay? I'll serve ya' up the good stuff, then."

Snute and Aundei both took a tray each in their maws. The former set her's on the counter, while the latter chuckled to himself as he flexed his jaw in such a way as to make the tray shift in a levering motion.

"Well, Bouncy," Aundei had finally set his tray down, placing his paws up on the side of the counter. "Tell us about your day!"

Snute rolled her eyes.

Yei seemed delighted, all too eager to take up the offer.

"Oh, it was a mighty fine one, I'd say!" She clasped her hands together, leaning across the counter. She took on a confiding smirk. "I've gotten into a might bit o' naughty business, you see,"

Aundei's mouth formed an "o". His eyes widened, as his non-damaged ear perked up. Snute only sighed miserable as the glameow spoke in reply.

"Naughty business, you say?" he murmured, soon taking on a similarly mischievous grin, lowering his voice. "Do tell, Bouncy!"

Yei gave a small nod. She scooped a clump of pasta noodles onto the two's plates before speaking.

"I helped Zowt pull a prank on Kysen!" she proclaimed with pride.

Aundei's eyes widened, with a small gasp. Snute simply raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Zowt?" queried the ninetales. "Or, Kysen, for that matter."

Aundei turned to give the ninetales a smile. Snute's frown deepened.

"Well, they're two members of this guild!" he explained. "Zowt is our resident prankster, and Kysen's our janitor. You're bound to meet 'em both sooner rather than later."

"Oh, great," Snute muttered. "Pranksters. How mature."

Aundei turned back to Yei.

"Well, what sort of prank is it?"

Yei set her ladle back into the pasta, next taking one out of the tomato sauce. She dripped some of the substance along the ninetales' meal, though curiously seemed to neglect putting any onto Aundei's.

"Well..." the bibarel flushed a bit. "We set up a basket of rubber duckletts above th' door to his room."

"Huh..." Aundei murmured. "Doesn't that have a chance to nail someone else from Team Horizon or Team Homing instead?"

Yei grinned. She carefully laid slices of garlic bread onto the two's plates. This was shortly followed by a helping of corn.

"We let them all in on it," the bibarel clarified. "They won't be fallin' f'r it."

Aundei clasped his paws together.

"I see!"

Snute cleared her throat, taking the two's attention.

"As much as I'd love to hear about more of your riveting day, we've got to get going," grumbled the ninetales.

Aundei took on a guilty frown, nodding.

"Oh, shoot, that's right," he admitted. "I need to show Silly here around the guild!"

Yei's face fell a bit, though she kept her smile. She gave a thumbs-up.

"Aw, that's okay, Au'. I understand. Have a good day, now, sugar-plums!" she waved to the two as they departed.

Aundei gave an enthusiastic wave as well, before turning to follow Snute.

Yei felt her eyes widen a bit.

"Goodness," she muttered, "that newbie's got one fat booty!"

Snute's ears splayed back. She gave a small growl from the barely audible comment.

Aundei and Snute stepped out of the elevator and onto the second floor of the airship. The hallway looked much the same as the ones downstairs, though curiously enough there appeared to be drawings on the wall. Snute couldn't help but glance at the artwork in confusion.

"What's all this crap?"

Aundei looked up, eyes following the ninetales' gaze. He grinned.

"Oh! This is the graffiti hall! We let anyone draw anything they want on the walls, here, given it's not offensive and doesn't cover anything else up."

Snute blinked.

"...You mean to tell me that we're letting pokémon vandalize the headquarters?"

Aundei shook his head, beaming.

"It isn't vandalism, dearest Silly! It's art!"

Snute blinked.

"...On the walls?"

The glameow nodded.

"On the walls!"

"You lot are weird."

"I prefer the term 'creative'!"

Aundei startled Snute by taking a sudden right. She craned her neck to see another large set of double-doors.

"And this is...?" the ninetales ventured.

Aundei waved a paw in a proud manner.

"The gym! Where we train and stuff!"

The two pushed through the doors easily. This time, Snute found her paws on a polished wooden floor. She glanced around, taking in the room.

Exercise equipment of varying specification seemed to line every wall, with a large portion of it being occupied by pokémon. A couple different small courts were set up for various sports games.

The room appeared much larger than the cafeteria to Snute, which elicited a snort from the fox. About one-hundred-fifty percent the size of the lounge. She spoke with a hint of venom.

"Anyone who thinks exercise is more important than food needs to get their priorities straight."

"That so, princess?"

Snute perked up at the new voice, turning to observe its owner. Her pupils contracted upon coming face to face with a burly chest. She took a step back, slowly craning her head to look upwards. An arcanine's face met her own, looking down with a warm smile.

The ninetales soon shook off the intimidation, retaking her scornful expression.

"Yes, it is so," she stated matter-of-factly. She flinched as the fire-type gave a hefty laugh.

"Well, well! No wonder you've got such a trunk on you, with that kind of attitude!"

The ninetales felt her face heating up in a mixture of embarrassment, outrage, and strangely a bit of pride.

"Why does everyone have to mention my ass?!" she whined with a stomp of her paw.

The arcanine only laughed louder.

"Hey, sorry!" he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Tell ya' what. Come here every day, I'll have all the flub back there turned into pure muscle. How's that sound?"

"It sounds like you'd better shut your mouth," Snute warned.

Aundei gave a light tap to the arcanine's leg, who in turn looked down with a grin.

"Oh, Au'! Didn't see you there, buddy."

The glameow gave a grin.

"Hey there, Jolly!" he chirped. "This is Silly! She's a bit self-conscious about her big booty butt, just so you know! Just be a tad more polite about it!"

The fire-type gave a nod of understanding. Snute did not look quite as pleased.

"I see, I see; my apologies." The arcanine turned to offer Snute a paw-shake. She did not accept it. "My name is Lodiyo! Pleasure to meet ya', Silly."

Snute's fur bristled.

"I'm not silly!" she practically shouted, attracting a few stares from nearby pokémon.

Lodiyo only raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Oh, yeah? What are you, then?"

The ninetales grumbled, looking away.

"I'm Snute."

Lodiyo gave a wide grin.

"D'aw, that's a cute name."

"I will impale you."

Aundei took the ninetales' paw, beginning to sweat a bit nervously as he attempted to pull her away. The paw was soon taken back, then promptly swatted his face. He did not appear to notice he'd been struck.

"C'mon, Snute," Aundei urged, "we should really get going. See you later, Jolly!"

The ninetales gave a small grumble, turning to follow the glameow. Lodiyo gave the two a wave, which Aundei returned.

"I'm knocking his lights out, next time," Snute huffed as they walked out through the gym doors.

Aundei chuckled nervously.

"Uh, maybe don't, please!"

"That's what he gets for making fun of me." The ninetales snorted a small cloud from her nose. "Pray tell, Glameow; why are all of your guildmates so fixated on my ass?"

Aundei gave a small sigh, shaking his head.

"Well, it is quite large! Perhaps you should take Jolly up on his offer?"

"Forget about it!" the ninetales practically shouted. Aundei flinched at her raised voice.

"Ahah, I see!"

Snute followed Aundei past a smaller door than the others they'd gone through, which he'd unlocked with some sort of small device. She trailed the glameow inside, letting the door shut behind her. She glanced about the new room.

The carpet was soft, and a dark blue in color. The walls remained black, just like the hallway. Various sets of furniture occupied the room. A few beds were lined up against the back wall, each with large separators between them and open curtains in front. It strangely reminded her of a hospital room.

The room was filled with all sorts of personal touches, though Snute had elected not to focus on those for the time being. She concluded that the room's size in her new favorite metric of lounge-percentage was roughly forty.

"This our apartment, or whatever?" Snute asked.

Aundei nodded with a hum.

"Mhm! This is the place!" He gestured with a paw to a bed in what appeared to be the farthest corner from the door they'd entered. It had a seperator on one side, and a wall on the other. It had a pink sheet, and a pink privacy curtain in front of the bed to match. Snute found herself grimacing.

"...I hate pink."

Aundei tilted his head.

"Why? It's just a color, Silly!"

"Ugh!"

With a defeated growl, Snute headed over to the bed, flopping down onto its surface. She pulled the curtain closed with a flick of a tail, leaving her enclosed and alone in the small space.

After a moment of just laying there, she slowly rolled into a sitting position. She let her bag slip off onto the floor, with a relieved sigh.

While small, the space was her's, and she appreciated that. Only a little bit of light streamed in through the curtain, leaving the cozy area nice and dim.

Her moment of satisfaction was short-lived, however, as Aundei's voice came from the other side of the wall.

"Well, well, get some rest, Silly! We still have stuff to do, later today!"

The ninetales groaned, falling back onto her bed.

"Like what?" she whined, flailing her legs in the air.

"Well, dinner, for one thing," Aundei responded.

Snute ceased her fit, smiling a bit.

"Ah, yes. Do wake me for that, at least."

"You've got it! Sleep well, Silly!"

Her slowly forming grin fell back into a frown as the obnoxious nickname met her ears. She shook her head, turning over onto her side, not even bothering to respond.