A/N: Hi, guys! Gonna be getting back into writing PMD stories. Took a good chunk of the other night designing a whole new guild based loosely on the team from my current save file of Explorers of Sky. I made a new fictional town, separate from Treasure Town and my own fan-made Mountain Pass Town. I'll do my best to describe where everything is, but I would advise referring to the Wonder Map from Explorers of Sky to get a sense for where everything is.

Chapter 1: Lady Lost in Time

I could feel it. I couldn't think of a time when I didn't feel it. Everyone's eyes on me. It was alright. It wasn't like I was the kind of Pokémon you'd see around these parts, or really anywhere anymore. I crossed my long arms, trying to feign interest in the job board in front of me. It was hard to focus, trying to convince myself to normalize the strange looks I was getting from the other explorers.

"Lady? Lady!" a small, peppy voice called out to me. I looked down and to my right to see the bright smile of a small orange being. It was none other than Pawl the Pawmi, one of my fellow guild members. He looked at me confusedly and concernedly, but also cheerfully. "Are you daydreaming? C'mon, silly, you could probably pull off any of these jobs."

Lady was the name given to me by the guildmaster the day she saved my life. She and her team found my body frozen on Blizzard Island and thawed me out. They told me they were an exploration team, said something about the Exploration Team Federation and how they were going to open a guild in the northeast of the mainland. I didn't understand a lot of it at first, but Guildmaster Cait immediately offered to take me in and let me join the guild. She was so kind and had this unique charisma. Something about the Flareon just made me want to follow her, and now I'm an explorer. I was the only Sneasler explorer I knew of, so there was definitely something commendable to be said for that.

"You're right, Pawl," I replied, grinning from the Pawmi's optimism. "There's just not many item retrieval jobs today."

"Then go for a rescue," Pawl suggested.

I gasped and stammered at him, "D-don't you think someone in need of a rescue would be scared of me?" My eyes wandered around, catching side-eye glances from explorers visiting the guild. The other guild members were great, but Pokémon I didn't know and who didn't know me looked at my stature and my claws with trepidation.

"Lady, I think any Pokémon in need of a rescue would be happy to see a new face and not a dungeon local," Pawl remarked, his tone going a bit flat. "Especially if they looked really strong and agile."

"Can't argue with that," I mumbled. It was easy to see that he was trying to imply I was built to rescue other Pokémon, but what really struck me was that anyone in need would be happy to have a helping claw. It was a perspective I hadn't really considered. My eyes darted around the rescue missions before settling on the one at eye-level. Headline was one word.

'Help!'

Plucking the job from the board, I read on.

'Dear reader,

Please save me! I can't find my way out. I have no idea where I am, and I'm scared. If you're reading this, please come find me. I can't get free. The Pokémon here are strong and I have no idea what I'm up against. I'm not familiar with this jungle, and the deeper I go, the stranger the terrain gets.

-Misdreavus'

My eyes widened. That was definitely Mystery Jungle, and deep into it from the mention of strange terrain. The line where the Pokémon signed off caught my eye, so I studied the signature. Very curious… I was no writing expert by any metric, but some of the ink seemed like it was applied more heavily, like the pen tip or quill tip lingered in certain places. I wanted to chalk it up to hesitancy, but who could be hesitant to write their own name in a plea for help? Something seemed off, but the plea for help seemed genuine enough. Moreover, nothing would be answered just by sitting around.

"This one," I decided, neatly folding the paperwork between my claws. "So, Pawl, what does the master have you on today?"

"I'm on jobs, too, but not anywhere as dangerous as the jungle. I'm sure Guildmaster Cait can find someone to pair with you, though," Pawl answered somewhat meekly. We were all told two things about Mystery Jungle: it was exceptionally fun if you were prepared, and it was exceptionally dangerous if you weren't. The master's team knew it well.

Prior to founding the Amazon Guild—a name I still don't fully grasp—the guildmaster and her team were tasked with finding the Seven Treasures scattered across the continent after they rescued a member of the Exploration Team Federation. They'd actually saved him not far from where they found me, but far sooner than that venture. The opportunity to explore dungeons like Mystery Jungle was their reward. Trying to fathom all they had done for the sake of helping other Pokémon only steeled my resolve.

A fire burned in my eyes. I assured the little Pawmi, "I've got this, Pawl. It's sweet of you to worry, but I've got this. I'm a Fighting- and Poison-type. Nimble, precise, and durable. Even long-range Grass-type attacks won't hurt me much."

Pawl smiled, jesting, "Someone's proud of her power."

"A-and what if I am?" I stammered. What not to be proud of?

"Mm. Good luck out there," he replied simply, giving me a thumbs-up. I nodded graciously. Turning from the board, I took note of some of my fellow guild members. Clefable had just opened her team assembly. Brixy the Braixen and Carn the Nickit were perusing the Outlaw Notice Board, I guessed trying to figure out which outlaw would be easiest to apprehend with dazzling tricks.

I flashed them a brief smile, trying to be friendly and hope some of the outsiders just looking for work would mind their staring. The other Pokémon quickly looked away. Brixy, meanwhile, took notice of me and beamed brightly. Adjusting the broad brim of her witch's hat, she skipped over with her sparkling scarlet eyes. Carn kept a laser focus on the Notice Board. He had a specialty for swiping back stolen items from outlaws. I didn't know the details, but supposedly Carn was a former pickpocket. At first, it didn't make sense for someone specializing in covert tactics to partner up with someone like Brixy who was known for flashy tricks and flair, but then Cait explained how pickpockets tended to work in teams and use diversionary tactics. It certainly was a way to make the most of his skills.

Granted, I didn't care one way or the other about the Exploration Team Federation and its regulations. Master Cait saved me, so if she had an idea, it was gold as far as I was concerned. Brixy stood close to me, eyeing my curiously with a big smile. "Sooo…? You pick a good job?"

"Mm, yeah. Solid rank, relatively local, good type match up," I replied simply, keeping quiet about how something felt off about this job. For all I knew, I might have just been antsy. Still, the way the letter was written, seemingly in a rush only for the signature at the end being wildly inconsistent was strange.

"Sounds like you've got a handle on it! Good luck out there!" the vulpine sorceress Pokémon exclaimed. I gave her a nod, and, with a nonchalant wave, I left the guild.

The Amazon Explorers Guild was built in Leboa Town, a small settlement close to the northern coast of the Grass Continent, with the peninsula that held Happy Outlook being off to the east and the island where the mysterious Destiny Tower was just across the strait to the north. It didn't have the advantage of highlands or mountains as a natural defense from the northern shore, so a lot of the buildings in town were built much sturdier than the tent-centric Treasure Town. We had cliffs, certainly, but not nearly as high as those along the western coast of the continent. Many of the buildings around were built with bricks of heavy stone, some having extra reinforcements. The guild hall was no exception.

I strode out of the guild with my Treasure Bag slung over my shoulder, a Fuchsia Bow tied to the base of my feather ear, which fluttered in the breeze. I turned back to look at the guild hall, the beautiful brick and mortar building looking nothing like this world had ever seen before.

It wasn't like a tower, no, but it was grand for a settlement building. It was almost like a small castle of sorts, with a spire in the middle that topped it off and a flag marked by a symbol that looked like the letter 'A' at a glance, but a closer inspection would reveal that it consisted of an Eevee tail and a Chikorita leaf meeting tip-to-tip with an Explorer Badge across them. I had never known the founders in their pre-evolved forms, but it felt appropriate that the ones who started it all represented themselves.

It resembled something out of fable, but so did I. There had to be more Pokémon from my era out there. After all, there were Pokémon from even further back in time. Still, it felt like I stood out for all the wrong reasons… The guild was my safe place. It was home. The master and her team gave me everything when I found myself in the world with nothing.

"Good morning, Lady! Off to another item finder job?" a deep, jolly voice cheerily asked.

Looking up towards the source of the voice and using one of my large claws to shield my eyes from the sun, I met the smiling face of the guild's gatekeeper, Stonjourner. A Pokémon who was almost as mysterious as the dungeons we explored, Stonjourner was a stalwart and proud member of the guild. The living arch relished his duty to protect us during operating hours.

"No, Stonjourner. Believe it or not, I'm off to Mystery Jungle for a rescue," I told him, the combination of words feeling so foreign even from my own mouth.

"Ah, nice. Always good to broaden your horizons," Stonjourner remarked. If he felt any sense of shock, he certainly wasn't showing it. Sunny side up as usual. "Good luck out there."

With a chuckle, I replied, "Thanks, big guy." After giving him a friendly wave, I was on my way into town.

I trudged into town, dreading being out in public for very long. I wanted to get my preparations down as quickly as possible and get onto the mission. Besides, time was of the essence when it came to a rescue mission. Past the ever-aromatic Lilligant Café, I stopped at Coin Hunter's Bank. The business was a sort of hybrid between a small house and a hut, meant to resemble a giant treasure chest. A small, red treasure chest sat behind the stand, and I eyed it carefully. I called out, "Oi, Gimmighoul. You up yet?"

"Coming!" squeaked a muffled voice from inside the chest. The lid popped open, revealing a heap of gold coins and a gray creature with bold beady eyes sat among the gold like it was a bath. "Ah, Lady the Sneasler. Come to make a deposit?"

"A withdrawal. I've got a pretty urgent job I need to prepare for, and the chump change I have on me isn't going to cut it," I explained, refraining from rolling my eyes at how hopeful the coin collector sounded at the prospect of a deposit.

"Ah, I gotcha. Let me just check your balance," Gimmighoul responded compliantly before diving into the plethora of gold. Upon resurfacing, they held up a piece of paper and told me, "Alrighty. Your current balance is 3,600 Poké. How much would you like to take?"

3,600? Not bad, all things considered. "Let's go with a nice clean 1,000," I replied. Using what I could only describe as some unseeable force, the little gold-grubbing ghoul whirled the chest around and hopped unceremoniously into the treasure-like building. The optics of how this plan ran were baffling, but also very amusing.

"Here ya go!" Gimmighoul exclaimed and tossed a bag of Poké onto the stand table.

"Thank you, Gimmighoul," I graciously said in a singsong voice, that bit of amusement being a pillar of my morning. With a bit more pep in my step now, I made my way over to the Kecleon Market. The wares would be out of my budget even if I emptied my account, so I hoped there were reasonably priced goods in the regular shop.

"Welcome to our shop!" the brothers greeted me as I approached. I staggered back in shock, and they backed up in turn.

"Hey, uh…you got any Reviver Seeds?" I asked, trying to steady my nerves.

"We have two today," the green Kecleon with the blue belly stripe answered quickly. "Would you like both?"

"Mm, I can only afford one, sorry. I'll take the one, an Oran Berry and two apples, please," I requested. The green Kecleon rushed to get the items together, and the purple one rung me up.

"Altogether, that's 900 Poké," he informed me. I gave him 900 of the thousand-some-odd Poké I had. He gave me the items and I was on my way.

The local townsfolk were out and about. Spheal was rolling around, advertising for whoever paid him today. Clodsire was sitting in the shade. Vileplume was walking into Lilligant Café. Corsola was coming into town from the port. Kricketune was singing in the town square. There were other faces I hadn't seen, but I hadn't thought much of it. I barely knew any of them. Whenever I passed someone by, sometimes I'd get a nod, other times I'd get an odd stare. Whatever. What I needed to focus on was getting to the jungle and finding Misdreavus.