The duo turned a corner and, sure enough, the street they turned onto was packed with Pokémon. Lyra could see rows of vendors on the side of the street, peddling everything from fruits to sunglasses. Seph started to shuffle and slip his way through the crowd, occasionally shouting "Excuse me!" or "Coming through!". Lyra ran after him, trying to stay close to her lifeline. The two of them had to focus to make sure they didn't get trampled by the feet of larger mons.

The market was a little overwhelming for Lyra. There were so many people here, with bodies and forms that she'd never seen before.

It was a little disorienting to see a duck holding a celery stick argue about the price of berries with a mouse-thing who was sitting behind a stand. Or to see a horse sell a bag full of goods to a big monkey with a flame on his head. Or to see-

Wait a second.

Wait.

The monkey.

That's Infernape. Without a doubt.

He's here. In this crowd. A mere few feet away from her.

Lyra immediately started to feel anxious. She was trapped in this crowd. If Infernape saw her there would be nowhere for her to hide. He would stroll over, pick her up, and do whatever he was planning to do to her before she leaped off a cliff. Her stomach started to twist into knots. The crowd was loud. Way too loud. They screamed into her ears. They were going to crush her in the horde. She needed to get out of here. Right now. Or something horrible was going to happen.

She poked Seph in the back with her hoof.

"H-hey Seph? Can we speed it up? Please? I'm getting a little worried. I don't know if I can stay out here for much longer."

Seph turned to face Lyra. His face looked uncharacteristically serious. Solemn, even. He placed a paw on Lyra's shoulder.

"Of course. Just stay right behind me, okay? And don't slow down. We're gonna go really fast."

Before Lyra could eke out a response, Seph turned and began to run through the crowd. He jumped and side-stepped and occasionally shoved his way through the throng, never slowing down for a second. He occasionally turned his head to make sure Lyra was following. She was, but perhaps not as gracefully as Seph was leading. He continued to pathfind through the crowd.

"Over here Lyra! Through this door!" Seph shouted as he dodged off to the left of the road, pulling open the door to a building. He held the door open for Lyra as she rushed through. He stepped through, then gingerly closed the door behind him.

Lyra stood in place, looking around with frightened eyes. This building was quiet. The racket outside could barely be heard. The windows were tinted. Infernape wouldn't be able to see her. She was safe now. Maybe.

"Lyra! Are you alright?"

Seph put a soothing hand on the back of the Mareep as she caught her breath.

"I, I think… Yeah, I'm okay. Whew. Th-that's never happened to me before. At least from what I can remember. That felt awful."

"Well, it's over now." Seph reassured Lyra. "Let's take a seat over there. You can get something to drink and when we're ready we can talk about the plan."

Lyra looked around the room and realized that they were standing in a café. Booths lined the window of the café, facing the street. An owl-thing stood behind the counter, wearing a green apron. There was a hand-written menu above the counter that was in that same footprint language from earlier that Lyra couldn't read.

"Something to drink. Yeah. That sounds nice." Lyra followed Seph to a booth and hopped up onto the seat. It was a bit of a struggle for the newly-quadrupedal Mareep. Still, she managed to hop into the booth, and sat down on the comfortable upholstery.

The owl Pokémon walked over to where they were seated.

"Good afternoon, folks. What can I get started for you?" She asked.

"Hi Mrs. Noctowl!" Seph replied. "I'll take a passho juice to start, and she'll have- actually, give us one second."

Seph picked up a menu and held it between himself and Noctowl, like the world's worst vision screen.

"Lyra!" Seph whispered, "Do you know what coffee and juice are? I was gonna get you a coffee so you could wake up a little bit but I figured I should check with you first."

Lyra whispered her response, even though she was fairly certain Noctowl could still hear them. "I remember those words, but I don't remember what they actually taste like… I guess I'll try a coffee."

Noctowl was already writing down Lyra's order with her talon when Seph put down the menu to announce the decision to her. "She'll take a coffee! Sugar and cream on the side, please! Oh, and we'll get two veggie wraps and two waters, please!"

"Got it. That'll be out in just a few minutes. Oh, and before I forget, here's your stuff from yesterday, Seph. But don't expect my café to act as a storage unit for ya in the future, understood?" She placed a small white tote bag onto the table and walked off.

"Understood Mrs. Noctowl! Thank you for the help!" Seph began to rifle through his bag as he spoke.

Seph started to pull out some objects from his bag and organize them on the table top. While he was getting prepared, Lyra took this as an opportunity to say something.

"Hey, Seph?"

"Yeah?" He replied, not looking up from his work. He was excited to lay everything out so Lyra could see his plan.

"Thank you. Seriously. I don't know if there's anything I can do to thank you enough for what you did. I was having… I don't know, maybe a panic attack, and you got me out of there without even thinking twice. That was so kind of you. I really appreciate it."

Seph blushed as he continued to look down and fidget with his belongings. "C'mon, it was no problem. We're partners right now, right? We gotta look out for each other. I was just looking out for you, same way you'd look out for me. So don't worry about it. Now, check this out!"

The Buizel picked up a cylindrical container and pulled out a map. He unrolled the map and placed it flat on the table, facing Lyra.

Lyra saw that same glint in Seph's eyes again when he began to explain the map. "This is a map of the Inner Sea of Mirrors. The area outside this map is the Outer Sea of Mirrors, which isn't very well documented. That's where most guild expeditions take place. But we don't care about the Outer Sea right now: we just care about this! The southeast part of the Inner Sea."

Seph tapped a part of the map with his finger, drawing Lyra's attention.

"3 weeks ago, Zoroarks' flagship, the Wayfinder , was spotted off the coast of Marton Island. 2 weeks ago , it was spotted near Shelmet's Fort. Those are both islands in this Southeast quadrant. Now, the last time any of Zoroark's ships were seen outside of this quadrant was two months ago. So, that makes me think the guild is somewhere in this Southeast patch of ocean."

Lyra nodded along, paying close attention to what Seph was saying. This was like some big logic puzzle. She loved puzzles.

Seph continued on. "Now, the Wayfinder is a fast ship, and I've never seen it in person, so I don't know what its travel speed is. But, I know that Marton Island to Shelmet's Fort takes less than a week of travel. Probably only 3 days of sailing- 4 days tops if you have a bad boat. It's not a week long trip. So, our theory is that the Wayfinder stopped somewhere else along the way before heading to Shelmet's. But, nobody reported any sightings of the ship during that week of travel. Which means-"

"Wherever they went during that week had no witnesses!" Lyra cut off Seph due to her excitement. "It's a secret location. So it's probably where their guild is!"

"Exactly! And, guess what island is only a couple days away from Marton Island, and is large enough to hide a boat in?"

"Perrin Island!"

"Right! So that's why we think the guild is here somewhere. I started my search earlier today, but I haven't found it yet.

"Well, where have you looked? What strategy have you been using to search? Do you know what it looks like? Ooh, what if it's hidden in plain sight? Could it be somewhere in Belleview?"

Seph laughed. "I knew you would be good at this! Check this out." He pulled another map out of another cylinder and put it on top of the other one. This map appeared to be of a single island.

"This is a map of just Perrin Island. Before I caught you today-"

"Thank you for that again, by the way."

"No problem! Before I caught you, I was swimming along the side of the island, to see if I could find a trace of the guild. I reckon the guild has to be close to the shore, seeing as they have ships they need to keep in harbor. But, I didn't see anything, so we can rule out this stretch of coastline. Everything from Belleview to… What's the name of that landmark? I can't read it upside down."

Seph traced a quill over the map as he spoke, poking the name he wanted Lyra to say. It was written in that same footprint language.

There was no hope for Lyra to understand it. God bless her though, she still tried.

"It says, uh, hm… Starts with a B… Or maybe an M… Probably an M. Give me just a second. I-it clearly says, uh, that this is definitely, er, a place called-"

"You can't read Footprint Runes."

"I can't read Footprint Runes." Lyra admitted.

"That's okay!" Seph said reassuringly. "That makes sense actually. I mean, if I was in a far-away land, I bet I wouldn't understand their language either! When we get to the guild, maybe we can ask somebody if they can teach you how to read Runes!"

"That might be a good idea… Oh! Actually, on the topic of Footprint Runes, I saw some writing earlier today that maybe you can translate. I don't know what it means, but I still remember the symbols. Here, hand me that quill and I can write it out for you."

Seph stuck out the quill, already dipped in ink, for Lyra to grab.

It was at this moment when Lyra realized that Mareeps do not have opposable thumbs.

This would prove to be a problem.

She contemplated her options for a moment, before shamefully stretching out her neck and biting down on the top of the quill. She held the instrument squarely in her mouth.

"Thith feelth ridiculouth."

With her self-respect in shambles, Lyra began gingerly writing out the symbols she saw on a piece of paper Seph placed in front of her. Her mouth-writing was sloppy, but she was surprised it was still legible.

When she was down she spat out the quill, letting it fall to the table.

"Bleh. That felt weird."

Seph took back the quill and wiped it on the outside of his bag before putting it away. "Well, you did great!" He announced. "Those are totally Runes! That says… Lemme see… 'Torches: 800 count. Light Orbs: 100 count.' I'm, uh, not really sure what that has to do with anything, but there you go!"

"To be honest, I'm not sure what it has to do with anything, either." Lyra replied.

Lyra paused for a moment. Maybe it did have to with something. That writing has to be related to whatever Infernape was doing.

She had to decide if she could trust Seph with the whole truth of where she saw that paper. He might not trust someone who got on the wrong side of such a strong Pokémon. Who knows what sort of danger Infernape could actually pose to Lyra, or anybody she allies with?

Hang on a second. This is Seph . He saved her life and got her out of an anxiety attack within 2 hours of each other. He is likely the most trustworthy person on this planet. Just tell him, Lyra.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "Before I fell off that cliff, that note was written on a paper that was burning in a fire. There was a whole bunch of papers, all being burned. There was this guy that tried to chase me off when I looked at it. Infernape. Then I freaked out, ran away, and fell off a cliff. You know the rest."

Seph's eyes were wide. "Infernape? You said his name was Infernape?"

Lyra avoided eye contact with Seph, opting to look down at the maps instead. She was worried she did something horribly wrong. "Yeah, he said I should call him Infernape."

Seph stood up in the booth, too excited to sit. "Lyra, Infernape is Zoroark's second in command! He's like, the second best person you could have ran into!"

Lyra's eyes went wide, too. "Oh my God. He accused me of being a spy. And he's a guild officer. They're gonna kill me if I go into their guild."

"A spy? That's crazy! You're not a spy! What kind of spy would jump off a cliff with no way of surviving? There's no way he would think you're a spy after that!"

Lyra's mind kept spinning. "But you caught me. And he probably saw that catch. I bet he thinks that was our plan, and we're both spies, working together."

The smile dropped off of the Buizel's face. "Oh. Yeah. He probably would think that, wouldn't he?"

His smile was not gone for long, though.

"Well, we'll just have to convince him that there's no way we could be spies!" Seph exclaimed, placing a paw down on the table. "We'll work twice as hard as everyone else and do whatever they ask of us, so that they know we're being honest!"

Lyra couldn't help but crack a smile at Seph's plan. She was still nervous about how the guild would react to her, but dreading over that would be useless right now. She'll cross that bridge when she gets there. "Heh, okay. We'll figure out how to win them over when we get there. We still need to find the guild, first."

Suddenly, an idea rushed over Lyra.

"Hey Seph," she asked, "if Infernape was burning all those papers, then they were probably connected to the guild, right?"

"Well, yeah, probably!" Seph responded.

Lyra continued to explain her reasoning, excitement slowly building with each word. "That writing you translated mentioned a bunch of torches, right? What if it was a receipt or an inventory count for the guild? But, why would Zoroark's Guild need 800 torches unless they're constantly in the dark?"

Seph frowned. He didn't quite understand where Lyra was coming from.

"I don't follow." He admitted.

"Seph, are there any caves on this island? Caves large enough for a guild to fit in?" Lyra asked, looking at the map.

Seph now understood where Lyra was coming from.

"Oh shit! That's genius, Lyra! That would totally explain why they need all those torches! I think there's an old cave system somewhere on this side of the island- I remember Mr. Torkoal telling me something about an old mine… hmm…"

He scratched his chin, trying to recall anything about his conversation about the caves.

As he was lost in thought, Noctowl flew over to their table, grasping a tray in one of her claws.

"Here's your food, folks." Noctowl announced, placing down the tray. "Anything else I can do for you right now?"

Seph looked up at Noctowl. "Yeah, actually! Mrs. Noctowl, do you know if there's any caves here on Perrin Island?"

Noctowl was a little surprised by the request. "Caves? Well, I doubt you'll be able to enter it, but there used to be a mining operation just 20 minutes East of here. The cave's been blocked off since the mine went dry." She looked down at the map on the table, and poked a specific point with a talon. "The old entrance is right here, on the coast. I'd be careful though, kids: abandoned places like that one can be mighty dangerous. You might want to think twice before checking it out."

Lyra wanted to object to being called a kid, but she realized she had no idea how old she was. She didn't feel like a kid, though.

"I promise we'll be careful, Mrs. Noctowl." Seph said. "All we need to do is look inside, and then we can leave if nothing's there. Thank you so much for your help!"

Noctowl shrugged "Well alright then. Take care, you two. Especially you, Seph." She walked back to the kitchen, leaving Lyra and Seph at the table.

Seph took a big sip of his juice. "Ah. This place's juice is the best. So, I think we've got ourselves a lead, Lyra! We'll go check out that cave once we're done here."

"Sounds good.", Lyra replied.

She was too preoccupied with another mini identity crisis to form a longer reply. She was staring down at the cup of coffee on the table. It looked exactly like how coffee should. She had no memory to cross-reference this, but she somehow knew that this was exactly what coffee looks like on Earth. It was the right shade of brown. It smelled right. It was warm, like how coffee should be. It felt right. She still couldn't recall the taste, though. Or if she even liked coffee.

That wasn't what was bothering her, however.

What was bothering her was the realization of how she would have to drink the coffee. She had no hands. She couldn't pick up the cup. She would have to resort to another method.

She slowly bent her head down, and licked at the coffee like a dog.

Her face was beet-red. This was somehow more embarrassing than the quill debacle.

Nobody else in the café seemed to find this strange. Seph calmly watched her drink it and waited so he could ask her if she liked the coffee. Lyra supposed this was normal behavior for quadrupedal Pokémon.

That made it even more miserable, somehow.

To make matters worse, she didn't even like the coffee. It tasted bitter and unpleasant. She made a fool of herself for something that was not remotely worth the cost.

It took everything Lyra had to swallow the sip of coffee she took, rather than spit it back into the mug. She managed it, then sat back down, pushing the cup away from her.

She would have to drink from the water cup to wash out the taste. Damnit.

At least the veggie wrap was less of a fiasco. If she leaned back in the booth, she could hold the wrap inbetween her front paws and take bites like a normal human. The wrap tasted pretty good, too.

After carefully navigating through her meal, she relaxed and waiting for Seph to finish his food. It didn't take long, the way he wolfed down his food and drink.

"Alright Lyra, ready to rock?" Seph asked, slamming his now-empty cup onto the table.

Lyra looked out the window they were sitting next to. Most of the crowd had dispersed, and Infernape was nowhere in sight. It seemed mostly safe.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's go find Zoroark's guild."

"That's the spirit!" Seph shouted, sliding out of the booth, bag slung over shoulder and map in hand. "We're gonna go find that guild, right now!"

A few minutes later, the two of them were once again walking along the rocky shoreline. The grassy cliffs above them gave partial shade as they moved along the white rocks, salt water occasionally spraying their feet.

"Hey, Seph?" Lyra asked, walking alongside the Buizel.

"Yeah?"

"One thing that confuses me a little bit… When you caught me, there was this… I guess it was a wave that caught our fall. But it wasn't a normal wave. It came out of nowhere. It was like the water rose to meet us. What was that all about?"

Seph's ears perked up as he walked. "Oh! That's a really good question actually! That was a move that I know. I'm guessing you don't know what moves are?"

"Not in this context, no."

"Cool! So moves are like special powers and attacks that Pokémon have. Different Pokémon are able to learn different moves. So, for example, I'm a water type Pokémon, so as I train and get stronger, most of the moves I can learn will be water type moves. Things like shooting out water blasts and stuff like that! You'll learn mostly electric moves, since Mareep is an electric type. I don't know what moves you already know, and you probably don't either, so we'll ask the guild when we get there!"

"...So moves are magic spells? You use a move and you can summon a wave out of nowhere?"

Seph had to think about that one. "Uh, kinda, I guess? They are a little bit like magic when I think about it. But some of them aren't! There's a move I know called Tackle where I just hit someone as hard as I can. I wouldn't really call that magic. But, uh, yeah, maybe some moves are like magic! That's a cool way to think about it! We're like wizards!"

Lyra laughed at his joke. It was so dumb. "Well, you don't look like a wizard. Or act like one!"

Seph was laughing too, now. "What? Am I not the very image of magical wisdom?"

"Seph, I have amnesia and I know that you're not a wizard! You couldn't fool anybody!"

"You dare question my power? Witness the strength of a mighty wizard!" Seph raised his arms above his head as he shouted, and a small wave rose up from the ocean beside them. It harmlessly splashed down over Seph and Lyra, soaking both of them.

Both of them were in a laughing fit now.

"Seph! Oh my God! I'll get you back for that one!" Lyra nudged him with her shoulder.

"Oh, I'm counting on it!"

The two of them kept walking across the rocks, now laughing, joking, and pushing each other as they went.

A Wingull soared above the buildings of Belleview, flying over the crowds of Pokémon shopping and socializing in the markets below. They came to a descent as they spied the building they were looking for, and hopped through the front door.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Noctowl." The Wingull announced, hopping over to the counter of the restaurant.

Noctowl looked up from her work to see the Wingull reach for a letter from the little bag slung over their body. She gave them a polite greeting. "Good afternoon, Alex. Lovely weather we're having, huh?"

Alex placed the letter on the counter. "Sure is, ma'am." they replied. "Just have one letter for you today. Any outgoing mail this time, ma'am?"

Noctowl paused for a moment, and rotated its head around to make sure the dining room was empty. "I do have one thing for you, honey." She said, in a quieter tone. "You're heading to the guild next, right? Could you let them know that's there's two mons looking for them? I know they don't like unexpected visitors. It's two little guys, Mareep and Buizel."

Alex the Wingull saluted Noctowl with one of their wings. "Sure thing, ma'am! I'll fly right over and let Guildmaster Zoroark know. Have a great day!"

With that, Alex hopped back out of the restaurant and started flying East along the coast.

They thought they were really starting to get a hang of this whole mail delivery thing. They were finally able to remember where everyone's homes were without having to check the map, so that was a relief. And, they remembered the way to the Exploration Guild now!

They remembered most of the way, at least.

Was it a left at the third tree stump or the fourth?