CHAPTER 9

Once Team Shell Bell and Nidorina woke up, they wasted no time. They stretched and immediately left the dormitory. Wingull was outside, looking around for her teammate when she finally spotted her.

"So that's where you were," Wingull said to Nidorina. "I was worried when I didn't see you in our room this morning."

"Sorry," Nidorina replied. "You were asleep, and I just needed to talk to someone."

"It's okay," Wingull replied. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, too."

Seconds later, Vulpix and Buizel emerged from their own room.

"Good. Everyone's here," Vulpix said.

"Remember," said Buizel quietly, "we can't tell anyone about what we're doing." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Let's quickly get some breakfast and head out," said Zorian.

The group headed down for their routine morning meal, trying their best to keep to themselves and not draw any attention as they ate. Things were going pretty smoothly, until…

"Hey, Zorian," said a familiar voice. Everyone turned and noticed Zweilous standing nearby.

"Sorry, bad timing," said Zorian. "I can't train with you today."

"I can see that," said Zweilous's left head. "You have the look of someone who's in a hurry. Might I share a word with you?"

"A quick word, I hope," Zorian responded.

"Of course," said Zweilous's right head. "I can see the urgency on your faces. I won't keep you long."

Zorian stood up and followed Zweilous to a vacant corner of the mess hall.

"Hope they won't be too long," Rylan murmured.

The rest of them quickly finished eating, and by the time they were done, Zorian returned to the table. He put the rest of his breakfast in his explorer bag, then the group left the guild.

Once outside, Nidorina pulled her map out of her own bag and started looking it over.

"So, we're headed south?" Vulpix asked.

"Yeah," Nidorina replied. "I've only been to Blistering Borough once before, so I'm gonna need my map to help us get there. We have to get through the Blistering Sands and look for a town surrounded by a wall."

"Ooh, that sounds interesting," said Vulpix.

"Let's get going, then," said Nidorina. "The sooner we get there, the more time we'll have to look through books."

The Pokémon headed off down the forest path to the south together, passing Floral Meadow and heading further. Rylan and Zorian had not been this way before.

"So, if there's a library," Rylan inquired, "how come no other nearby places have books?"

"The inhabitants of Blistering Borough take pride in the town's collection of knowledge," explained Nidorina, "but the desert is so hot, not many Pokémon like to travel there, so it doesn't see much trade. We should see a lot of Fire, Rock, and Ground-types there, maybe a few other Pokémon of different types, but for the most part, we'll be seeing Pokémon who enjoy the heat."

"Couldn't the Pokémon native to that town just come to us?" asked Buizel.

"They're very secluded," Wingull explained. "They don't allow just anyone inside, and they don't leave except to gather resources or discover more knowledge to document."

"That's one reason why I think their library is a good place to look," said Nidorina. "The town is quite safe, and members of the guild are always allowed inside."

Before long, the group had reached the edge of Blistering Sands. Everyone except Vulpix was already beginning to sweat.

"Mmm!" Vulpix hummed happily. "This feels good!"

"Maybe for you," Wingull said, fanning herself off.

"Here, I brought these," Nidorina said, pulling some shawls out of her bag. "You can use these to keep the Sun off." She distributed most of them among everyone except Vulpix, then kept one for herself.

Everyone then headed off into the desert together, the ones with shawls hoisting them over their heads for protection. Since Nidorina could not do that, she wrapped part of the shawl around her neck and draped the rest over her head.

Vulpix skipped along happily as the group trekked through the hot sand.

"Someone's happy," Rylan said, smiling as he noticed Vulpix.

"This weather is perfect!" Vulpix exclaimed. "I could just stay out here all day!"

"There'll be time for enjoyment after this mess is over," said Zorian. "For now, we need to focus on our assignment."

"Oh, boo," Vulpix responded.

"Maybe she's got the right idea," Rylan suggested. "We've barely gotten started, and we've been so stressed already. Maybe finding fun in this assignment will help keep our spirits up."

"Well, I don't see anything fun right now," said Zorian. "Let's just get to the town."

The journey through the desert seemed to take quite some time. There had been no sightings of the town since they started. It became obvious why nobody wanted to travel out here.

Feeling a little tired from the heat, Rylan accidentally bumped into Buizel as they walked, causing Buizel to stumble a little.

"Oh, sorry!" Rylan said. "Sorry about that, Bui-"

"D- touch me…" Buizel snapped under his breath, moving away from Rylan. Vulpix frowned, having seen and heard what just happened.

After what felt like an hour or so of walking, a large wall could be spotted in the distance.

"There it is!" Nidoran exclaimed. "Just over there! Can you guys go faster?"

"For a moment, I think," said Zorian.

"Me, too," said Wingull.

"Alright, let's try to pick up the pace," Nidorina suggested.

The Pokémon hastened their strides, using what energy they had spared from walking, and started to slow down once more as they got near the entrance to the town. The wall just got larger and larger from their perspective as they got closer.

"That thing's massive," said Rylan, looking up at the giant structure. It appeared to be round in shape. Perhaps it surrounded the town in a complete circle.

As they approached the entrance gate, a Claydol awaited them there.

"Hold," Claydol said as the group of Pokémon reached the entrance. "Please identify yourselves and state your business."

Everyone held up their Silver Rank badges where Claydol could see them.

"We are all representatives from Aggron's Exploration Guild," Nidorina said. "We're here to visit the library in the hopes of finding information that would assist us in a task we've been assigned by the Guildmaster."

"Very well," said Claydol. "Enter."

Claydol moved aside to allow the others to pass. Everyone entered except Team StarStruck.

"If I may," Vulpix said, "I'd like to speak with Buizel first,"

"Okay, but don't be long," said Zorian. "We're gonna need all pairs of eyes in the library."

"Right," said Vulpix. As the others headed into town, she turned to look at her teammate.

"I heard what you said to Rylan," Vulpix said. "I had hoped by now you'd be over this already. You two cooperated just fine during the incident with Slowking."

"Just because I decided to cooperate with him doesn't mean I suddenly like him," said Buizel. "He did something to me that can't be taken back or amended with an apology. The scar on my body is nothing compared to what he did to me inside, but it's a constant reminder of what happened, a reminder I'll never be able to get rid of. I can't forgive Rylan."

"Please, try," said Vulpix. "I can't watch my best friend wither away like this, be miserable all the time. If you could just let it go-"

"You make it sound so simple," Buizel interrupted, "but it's not. And I'm not going to apologize for how I am."

Vulpix sighed disappointedly, then the two of them entered town.

A bustling marketplace greeted the Pokémon as they made their way inside. It was very reminiscent of Riverwood Town. Rylan took a moment to look around, letting the excitement of this new place calm his nerves.

"We should totally shop here sometime," he said. "They've got some stuff here I've never seen before."

"Excuse me," Nidorina called out. A Dwebble she was facing turned around to look back at her.

"Yes?" asked Dwebble.

"Would you happen to know where the library is?" Nidorina asked.

Dwebble pointed southward. "It'll be at the other end of town," he explained. "Right by the south end of the wall."

"Thanks," replied Nidorina. Everyone walked down the central pathway of the big town until they reached a large building at the end of the path. Everyone looked up at it, feeling in awe of its sheer size.

"This must be the place," said Nidorina. "Let's go in."