Author's Note:

*That awkward moment when Chatot is supposed to say "Cover your ears" but none of your characters have ears.*
Something that always bothered me about PMD is that the player's past never has any effect on who they are or what they do. Let's face it, we all know Brandon's backstory from the game, and it is not an ideal place to grow up. So I've been trying to make his personality fit his past a bit more than the original game did (though I'm starting to wish I gave him a different name. He's supposed to be one of my characters, not actually me)

"What do you mean you didn't retrieve any perfect apples?" Chatot screeched when we reported our failure at Apple Woods.

"We tried our best, but-" I began to explain before Chatot cut me off.

"No excuses! I warned you this morning that you could not fail today's mission," he scolded. "If you can't appreciate the weight of your mistake, then I'll just have to show you. I have to report this to the Guildmaster, and you two are coming with me. This way, now."

Chatot began down the ladder to the guild's lower floor, and Brandon and I followed behind him. It seemed to me like Chatot was blowing this out of proportion, and I could see that Brandon was just as frustrated as I was. We were ambushed by the team Chatot recruited, and somehow that was our fault? That wasn't fair. Hopefully Wigglytuff wouldn't be too upset.

We reached Wigglytuff's door, and Chatot let himself in with us following quietly behind him. "Guildmaster? I brought Team Strength. They will be reporting to you directly today," he said when we reached the center of the room.

The change in procedures didn't faze Wigglytuff though. "Oh, goodie! It's great when my friends are proud of their work. What is it you wanted to tell me?"

His cheerful personality briefly put me at ease until I remembered just what our report was. "Um, right," I began nervously, "well, we went to Apple Woods to collect perfect apples today…"

"Oh, I love perfect apples!" Wigglytuff cut in. "Why, I don't know what I'd do without them. How many did you find?"

That increasing enthusiasm only made finishing my explanation harder. I looked to Brandon for help, but he was even more worried than me, and he rarely spoke around Chatot anyway. "We didn't actually… find any…" I concluded hesitantly.

To my relief and Brandon's discomfort, Wigglytuff maintained his usual optimism. "That's alright, nobody wins every time. Don't feel blue, don't feel blue!" he assured us. Turning to Chatot he asked, "What about the other perfect apples?"

"Oh right, those…" Chatot responded, now caught in the same situation as us. "Well, about the other apples, our entire stock kind of… um… disappeared last night and… you see… we only sent one team to collect more, which means, you know… the number of perfect apples in the guild would be… zero."

Wigglytuff stared blankly forward for a moment before simply responding, "Oh." The response seemed to relax Brandon a bit, but Chatot remained frantic.

"So that means," he explained, "you will have to… go without perfect apples tonight." As Chatot finished talking the stress of his explanation became too much for him. He burst out into nervous laughter while the rest of us stood around awkwardly, waiting to see how Wigglytuff would react.

There was a short moment of silence as Wigglytuff processed what Chatot said. "No perfect apples?" he questioned. When none of us responded, he closed his eyes and turned around.

"Oh no…" Chatot said quietly. "Both of you, brace yourselves. This is going to be very loud."

Before I had time to question it, Wigglytuff began to cry, unleashing a deafening Hyper Voice as he did so. The sudden noise surprised me, and I turned away, holding my head in my flippers. Beside me Chatot was doing the same with his wings while Brandon was using vines. Just when I thought my head would explode, I heard a voice from the entrance of the room.

"Excuse me, but we would like to deliver a perfect apple," I recognized the voice as Skuntank's and immediately felt anger welling up within me.

Wigglytuff quieted down as Team Skull entered the room. "A perfect apple?" he repeated in surprise before bouncing back to his usual cheerful self. "Why, thank you friends! You really got this just for me?"

"Of course!" Skuntank answered. "Consider it a token of our friendship. We had to repay you for your hospitality somehow."

"Thank you for that," Chatot said. "Your considerate actions have helped us more than you know." He then addressed us, "You two, show some gratitude. Were it not for Team Skull, we'd be facing the Guildmaster's wrath."

We stayed quiet. That apple was supposed to be ours. They stole it from us, yet we were supposed to thank them for their actions? Not happening.

Chatot was persistent though. "Well? Out with it. They helped you, so show some appreciation."

I still refused to speak, but Brandon gave in, perhaps just wanting to leave as soon as possible. In his anger, however, he made a simple mistake. "Thank you…" he said quietly in Knownun.

"Yeah, thanks," I said quickly in an attempt to cover it up.

It didn't work. Chatot noticed Brandon's slip up and decided to question it. "Any particular reason you answered in Knownun instead of Pokesh, Brandon?" The question caught Brandon off guard, and he was quiet as he searched for an appropriate answer. "Well?"

Apparently giving up, Brandon simply answered in Pokesh, "It's my first language."

"But you are fluent in Pokesh, aren't you?" Chatot pressed. Once again Brandon hesitated. "Evidently not, then."

"Now friends, this is no time for fighting! I have my perfect apple, so everything is great," Wigglytuff interrupted. "Now then, you are all dismissed. Thank you, friends!"

Skuntank led his team out of the room, smirking the whole time. He knew how much trouble he caused us, and he loved it. Worse yet, there was nothing we could do about it. He beat us today, but there was no way he could get away with that sort of thing forever.

Chatot then led me and Brandon out of the room to finish our meeting. "Now then, you saw how disastrous your failure today was. As punishment, you two will go without dinner tonight."

"What?" I interrupted, "that's not fair!"

"Hush now!" Chatot shot back. "You failed an important mission. Your punishment could be much more severe. That is all for you Crest. As for Brandon, I will have to discuss that with the Guildmaster. For now, you are both dismissed."

Well, that was certainly a mess. Team Strength has never failed a mission before, and that alone would cause them some grief. But then Chatot insisted they see me directly, and that left me in a tight spot. I did my best to let them know it's okay to fail occasionally while keeping my true composure a secret, but it seemed to do more harm than good.

Then there was the matter of Team Skull. I knew those three did not get along well with the guild members, but Brandon seemed especially distasteful of them. And where did they get a perfect apple? Did they somehow know the guild had run out? It was suspicious that our stock disappeared after they joined us, almost as if they had eaten the apples themselves, but without hard evidence to support my suspicions I couldn't kick them out. There had to be something I could do though…

I noticed that Team Strength was absent from dinner. If I had to guess, that was Chatot's punishment for their failed mission. He really didn't understand how to train new recruits; his punishments were far too harsh. Luckily I wasn't the only one who thought so, because I saw several guild members put some food aside instead of eating it. I think I'll just turn a blind eye to that.

Back in my chamber, Chatot and I were discussing the day's events. "Excluding Team Strength, all recruits' field missions were successful today," Chatot summarized. "But I think the topic deserves some attention. What do you suggest we do about their failure?"

"Chatot, you've already done enough. There's no need to be so strict with our newest recruits," I explained.

"And what about Brandon speaking Knownun? Surely you don't intend to overlook that," he continued.

"I do," I answered, "and I expect you to too. He is working hard just like everyone else. He'll learn on his own."

"I can't say I agree with it," Chatot responded, "but if you don't want to do anything about it, I'll follow. What about your expedition preparations?"

That was a good question. I had the exploration team finalized this morning, but after everything that happened today I may need to reconsider my choices. "I've almost decided who will go. What about you?"

"All our supplies are ready to go, as soon as I know who is and isn't going I can finish my preparations," Chatot answered.

"In that case, you're dismissed. See you in the morning Chatot," I said. With our meeting done Chatot left the room.

I looked over the list of expedition members again. Normally I wouldn't let Chatot's actions affect my decision, but after Team Strength wasn't at dinner everyone knew about their failure today. That meant I'd need some kind of explanation for choosing Crest for the expedition. He had to go, but he also couldn't be chosen over anyone else. What was I supposed to do?

As I pondered over my list there was a knock on my door. "Come in, friend!"

I looked toward the entrance and was surprised to see Brandon. His usually contemplative expression was missing, and in its place was a mixture of nervousness, indecision, regret, and even a bit of fear. Come to think of it, this was the first time I could clearly read him.

"Um, Guildmaster?" he said awkwardly in Pokesh.

"You can use Knownun if that's easier for you," I assured him.

He seemed to relax after that. "So, you've dropped the act?" he asked, this time in Knownun.

"I think we both know you've figured me out. Why else would you be here?" I reasoned. "Besides, I owe you an apology."

Brandon appeared confused by that. "For what?"

"Lots of things, actually," I explained. "Most importantly what happened today. I should have revealed myself earlier, Chatot was out of line. And there's the matter of your training. Out of everything you've done here, I think there's only been one day where something didn't go wrong."

"I did notice something was off, but rarely anything too bad," he reasoned. "But now I'm curious: which day went right?"

"Well, you know the outlaw mission was too difficult. The Waterfall Cave exploration was set up to test your team's independence and skills as explorers, but you found help, so that was a bust too. That just leaves your first mission. Oh, and your training day at the dojo," I noticed Brandon's expression fell when I mentioned the dojo. "Unless something happened I don't know about."

"That actually relates to what I wanted to talk about. I assume you know that Team Skull and I don't get along," he paused for a moment before asking, "have you ever wondered why that is?"

I thought for a moment. "I recall seeing Chimecho give you and Sunflora extra pecha berries after they showed up, but I take it there's more to it than that." Brandon was still hesitant. Whatever he wanted to say must be pretty serious. "Don't feel the need to hide things from me. If you have concerns, let me hear them."

That was enough to break his silence. "It's just that I know what I'm about to say is a pretty big accusation. I ran into Koffing and Zubat before joining the guild. They attacked me and stole something from Crest, a stone he wears as a necklace. We only got it back because they sold it to Kecleon. Then, on the day I went to the dojo, Skuntank attacked me in the guild. Chimecho had to give me a reviver seed and some pecha berries to heal."

That was a lot to take in. Sure, I had my suspicions about those three since they joined us at the guild, and I knew most of the guild members didn't like them, but Chatot insisted they would be a big help on the expedition. He was so sure that they were good pokemon. "What about today?" I asked. "Did they attack you in Apple Woods?"

Brandon nodded. "They knocked us out and took all of the perfect apples. There was nothing we could do against them."

"They set you up, that's for sure," I concluded. "I suspect they are the ones responsible for the apples disappearing in the first place. Unfortunately, we lack evidence to hold against them. Without proof of what they did, I can't kick them out."

"But you do believe me, right?" he asked.

"Of course, I never wanted to work with them in the first place. Letting them into the guild was Chatot's idea," I assured him. "I'll think of some way to get rid of them, so don't worry about that. Instead, let's talk. I assume you have as many questions for me as I have for you?"

By now Brandon had relaxed and was talking openly with me. "That depends on how many questions you have. I'm afraid I won't have answers for all of them."

I guess he's still hiding something then. "In that case I'll start by asking for your opinion. Remember the expedition that's coming up? I have the list of who is going on it right here. Now, I'll be strait with you: you aren't on it. You never were, but Crest is." I stopped for a moment to gauge his reaction. "So here is the question: after what happened today, how do you think the other guildmembers would respond to Crest going on the expedition? Specifically, how do you think those who were not picked will react?"

Brandon didn't appear too surprised that he wasn't picked, but I could tell he didn't expect me to choose Crest. Regardless, he thought for a moment before giving his answer. "I don't think they will think much of it. From what I can tell, you have a bit of a reputation for being… unpredictable," he reasoned, "and if you need to give them an explanation you could simply pin today's failure on me, since I'm not going anyway."

"You'd really be okay with that?" At first Brandon's answer seemed selfless, but on closer inspection I found it was a purely logical argument. If there was emotion behind his suggestion, he hid it well.

"It's not like it changes anything," he explained. "Nobody expected me to go on the expedition anyway. They would all think Crest just got lucky."

Another logical argument. It's almost like he has no emotion at all. If this is how Brandon thinks, then it's no surprise he figured me out so quickly. "Okay, new question. Out of everyone in the guild, only three of you have ever seen through my cheerful persona. Out of those three, you saw through it the fastest. What clued you in? Was it the missions designed to improve Crest's confidence?"

"Well… partially," Brandon began, once again hesitant. "It certainly helped, but the actual reason is something I wanted to ask you about. I don't know why, but sometimes I have visions of the past or future when I touch things. I don't know what exactly causes the visions and I can't control when I have them, but I saw you exploring Waterfall Cave."

A Chikorita having visions? That raised at least as many questions as it answered. "That explains it, you can't hide much from a psychic."

"Do you know anything about my visions?" he asked, finally sounding invested in the conversation.

"Nothing," I answered simply, "if anyone would know anything, it would be you, or someone who knows you." His expression fell at my response, and I instinctively asked, "Don't you have anyone like that?"

"I don't know," Brandon replied, "I lost my memory shortly before joining the guild. The few visions I've had are all I have to go on."

"You lost all of your memory?" I questioned as I began to think, "but you remembered your name. Are sure there's nothing else?"

He thought deeply before responding, almost as if he didn't trust whatever he remembered. Instead of answering my question, he asked one of his own. "Do you know what a human is?"

"A…" I began before realizing that the word did not exist in Pokesh. "A human?" I tried the word in Knownun. "I've never heard of it. Does it have something to do with your memory?"

"Yeah," Brandon answered as he struggled to explain, "a human is… well, kind of like a Machop, but bigger, and not a Fighting type. Actually, it has no type at all because… it's not a pokemon. My only memory is that, before I lost my memory, I was a human."

Brandon waited nervously for my response, but I didn't know what to say. Non-pokemon monsters supposedly used to exist, but they were all long extinct, and all monsters had types. Brandon's description of a human was unlike anything I have ever known. Still, he didn't seem like he was lying, and it did explain his strange name and mannerisms.

"I don't fully understand your explanation," I admitted, "but I believe you." He relaxed a bit upon hearing that. "Now, I think I've asked enough about you. You have some questions for me, right?"

"I do, actually," Brandon responded, "though I doubt your answers will compare to mine. Why do you always pretend to be silly and incompetent?"

I smiled to myself. That was always the first question. "There are lots of small reasons. It puts friendly pokemon at ease and makes enemies drop their guard. I use that to protect my friends. If anyone tries to attack the guild, they always attack me directly because I'm not perceived as a dangerous target. Never underestimate the value of being underestimated."

"But then why do you act like that around allies?" he continued.

"Consistency. If the guildmembers knew who I really was, then everyone would find out. That's why I rarely reveal myself, even to close friends," I explained. That should lead into his next question…

"Alright then, one last question: Why did you reveal yourself to me?" he asked.

I was pretty sure he already knew why, but I answered anyway. "Because I can't hide it from you. Which is why I need you to promise you won't tell anyone about this."

"I won't," he agreed.

"Good," I concluded. "You know, it's nice to have someone other than Chatot to talk to. Feel free to come by anytime you need help with something. In the meantime, I'll see if I can learn anything about humans or your visions. Now, it's getting pretty late, why don't you get to bed."

As he turned to leave, Brandon appeared much calmer than before. In fact, I think that was the happiest I'd ever seen him. "Thanks, Wigglytuff," he said as he left.

"No problem," I answered back. Now, with that series of revelations out of the way, I had preparations to finalize.

I left the Guildmaster's chamber feeling much more relaxed than when I entered. It was great that I finally confirmed my suspicions, even if I couldn't tell anyone about it, and I got to explain what actually happened today too. We ended up discussing a bit more than I expected, but somehow I knew that was a good thing.

On my way to my room I ran into some of the other guild members. Chimecho, Sunflora, and Bidoof were waiting for me just inside the main hall to the crew rooms. "Oh, there you are Brandon," Chimecho greeted, "We know it's late, but we wanted to give you and Crest something. Do you know where he is?"

"Probably in our room," I answered, slightly confused.

"Why, I reckon that's perfect," Bidoof said.

"Oh my gosh, it is," Sunflora agreed, "let's hurry there now!"

"Wait, what's going on?" I asked, still not sure why everyone was still awake this late.

"You'll see in a moment," Chimecho assured me, "but we really should hurry. We don't want Chatot to see us when he thinks we're asleep."

Deciding not to question it further, I led the group to my room at the end of the hall. Just as I expected, Crest was already there.

"Oh, your finally back," he said when I entered. "You were gone longer than I thought you would be. What is everyone else doing here?"

Sunflora answered for the group, "Well, we noticed that you weren't at dinner, and everyone kinda felt bad about it, so… we thought we'd get you something."

Chimecho hovered forward, levitating two small plates of food with her. "I couldn't take anything from the kitchen after the perfect apples disappeared, but the whole guild snuck away parts of their dinners. We couldn't just leave you hungry."

"Wait, really?" Crest asked in surprise, "Are you sure it's okay? I mean, this is your food, isn't it?"

Looking at the plate in front of me, I could easily see why Crest was so surprised. There was almost as much food as a normal dinner, complete with an apple, some berries, and even a grass gummi. That must have been Sunflora's…

"Of course it's okay," Sunflora assured us. "If Team Skull gets to eat, then so do you!"

"Just don't tell Chatot," Chimecho advised.

"Obviously," I said. "He isn't even happy when you do everything perfectly."

That got a laugh out of everyone. When they quieted down, Crest spoke up, "Seriously, though, thank you. You have no idea how hungry I was!"

"It's Bidoof you should be thanking," Chimecho replied.

"Oh my gosh, that's right! Sharing our food was Bidoof's idea!" Sunflora added.

I didn't expect that. Actually, I don't what I expected from Bidoof; compared to Chimecho and Sunflora I barely knew him. He seemed to be good friends with Crest though. "In that case, thanks Bidoof," I said.

"Golly, don't think nothin' of it, I know what it's like to miss dinner," Bidoof replied. "Besides, I'm just glad to have you guys around. Before you showed up, I was the most recent rookie."

"In any case, we should go to bed, it's already very late," Chimecho suggested. "I can pick up the dishes after tomorrow's morning briefing, so don't worry about that. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight," everyone else replied as they returned to their rooms.

That just left me, Crest, and the small plates of food, which we were eager to eat. As I bit into the grass gummi, I looked over the contents of my plate to find something I hadn't noticed before: half of a perfect apple.