"Hey Gwen? Gweeeen. GWEN!"

"AH!" I almost take off vertically, Skitty is leaning against my bed with a big goofy grin. "Got your sleep? Well up and at 'em recruit! It's time to get down to business." I grab my bag—not about to part with the one link to my past—and follow her through the door.

"Alright, follow me!" Bridges, ladders, a descent, you get the idea by now. We're heading to…to what I think Lurantis described as 'debriefing,' whatever that is.

I'm lost in my own thoughts when I realize we've reached the ground again. Skitty heads towards a pair of trees furthest from the entrance, moss creeping up their massive trunks. A collection of vines dangles from above, forming a curtain. "I've waiting so long to go in there…" Skitty says with a sigh. "In…?" "The Explorers Lounge! Only proper teams are allowed in, but now we are one! C'mon!" Skitty pulls the vines apart, revealing a passageway carved between the trees. The passage looks very old; the edges of the carvings have all been smoothed over by the trees' continued growth.

We emerge on the other side into a large open field, surrounded by tall hedges with all colors of flowers in bloom. A small fountain stands in the center, bringing the peaceful sound of burbling water to the clearing. Not quite what I'd call a lounge; it's more like a beautiful, well-tended garden. Several other pokemon are milling about by a small stage.

"Hiya!" Skitty calls out. "Skitty!" A small pair rush over. "Congrats on starting your team. Hi! I'm Flittle! And this is Clobbopus" "Hi, I'm Gwen, nice to meet you" I smile. "Howdy Gwen, good there's someone to keep ol' Skitty under control! Heh" Clobbopus smirks "Oh you're one to talk, remind me, who was it that tried to prank professor Sigilyph?" "Well it didn't amount to much did it?" He leans to me, conspiratorially "turns out a Whoopee cushion doesn't work too well on a teacher that just floats there!" I can't help but laugh, although their easy chit chat reminds me I'm still just an outsider. Still, they seem to be trying to make me feel welcome, which is definitely appreciated.

"Skitty! Welcome to the life of exploring!" An ariados calls out trailed by a scolipede. "I'm Ariados, leader of Team Toxic, and this is my partner, Scolipede" (The same Scolipede who fell off a bridge? Well Skitty did say he was ok…). "Oh no! Gwen, I forgot, we need to come up with a team name before—" "welcome new explorers!" The Lurantis careens as she flies down from above the hedge and lands daintily on stage. "Quick, we gotta think of a name" Skitty whispers to me. "Skitty, Gwen, please step forward to receive your badges and present your official team name." Approaching the stage, an idea for a name pops into my head. Maybe if Skitty can't think of anything…

"Now, what will your team be called?"

"Uhm…well we were thinking of….uh…" Skitty looks at me, hopefully.

"How about…Team Starburst?"

"Team Starburst?"

"Well, the Exploration Society seems like a central light to the surrounding areas, a beacon that can be called on in times of need….and as we explore, we can spread our messages of friendship and justice, radiating outwards…like a starburst!" My impromptu speech comes of its own volition, almost like its being spoken through me. I'm suddenly self conscious, "of course, if you don't like—" "Gwen, I love it! Team Starburst it is!"

"Perfect, you're registered as Team Starburst! And here are your badges!" Lurantis hands us a pair of badges, a golden token with an 'EC' emblazoned on the front, and a red ribbon attacked on the back. "With these, you can be recognized as official members of the Exploration Society!" A few cheers come from the crowd.

"Now then! Enough festivities! On to work! Starting with Team Starburst!" Lurantis hands us a list "You may be great explorers now, but the fact remains that Skitty didn't collect any berries yesterday, so today it will suffice if you do that." "Oh" Skitty looks a little dejected, and to be honest, I was expecting something a little more exciting too. "Don't look so down! With the proper supply of berries, we'll be right as rain to do more extensive explorations! Of you go!" Lurantis waves us off.

"So, I wasn't seeing many berries in the forest yesterday," Skitty says as we leave the Exploration Center, "I was thinking we could try the Sunny Meadow, off to the east….hey, what's happening over there?" "Huh?" Skitty's looking over to a group pokemon talking. "Grumpig's chief of police, but I don't recognize those two…" she indicates, referring to the phantump and audino giving what looks like an impassioned statement. "Let's go investigate." "But…aren't we supposed to be collecting berries?" I ask, I can't help but feeling a step behind in everything. "Weeeell, yeah, but Master Lurantis encourages an inquisitive spirit! Plus, if it's something nearby, we could gather berries while investigating a lead!" While not fully convinced, I am curious about the conversation, especially after the phantump started crying. Guess I'm also an 'inquisitive spirit.'

"Hello Chief Grumpig, we're from the Exploration Center, is there anything we can help you with today?" "You're explorers?" The phantump sniffles, "we were just telling the policeman about some—some trouble we got in" he's starts crying and buried his face in his companion's front. "My apologies, we're Audino and Phantump, and we had a little run-in with some crooks." "Vicious bandits by the sound of 'em" the chief interjects, "I was just getting a statement from this charming pair, sounds like they ran into a real bad bunch!" "Oh? What happened?" Skitty asks. "We were coming from the—from the desert off to the north" "Windswept Desert" Audino offers "mmhmm, and we were attacked by a group of criminals!" Phantump's eyes are watering "Three of them! A dragalge, a serperior, and a rotom!" "We've let the police know, but if you could spread the word to the…Exploration Center? We would be very grateful" Audino says while taking Phantump's hand "You can count on us!" Skitty says. "Thank you dear," Audino says, "come now, let's find a place to stay" "I'm sure the Center would take you, it's that collection of trees at the end of town, check for the doorway between the extra large roots. You can't miss it!" Skitty says. "Thank you so much, let's run along now" Audino says, pulling Phantump along.

"Wow, what a rotten bunch to attack a pair like that! Gwen! We've gotta check the Windswept Desert for anything!" "Some good berries, out there in the desert?" I say raising an eyebrow "well…we'll see what we can pick up along the way, but this is important! We can't just do nothing!" I can see her mind is made up, so off to the Windswept Desert we go!