Chapter 5! I've made an effort here to reduce the 'filler' aspect that leads up to the next major plot point by doing some stuff with a few characters in and out of the guild. To that end, this entire chapter will be told from other characters points of view!

I've never written something like this before, so let's hope it goes well.

As the night-time guardian of the guild, and impediment of anyone wanting to sneak away in the dead of night, Chatot was always the first to awaken.

Eye's slowly sharpening from squints, he yawned out loud for a moment. It was the only time he'd allow himself to appear so common or average, when no one else was around.

Trilling slightly, he hummed a small song to himself to brighten his day and made his way down the levels of the guild.

His morning routine was always the same. Regime and order was the bedrock of civilisation, in Chatot's own opinion, and never saw fit to deviate from his way of starting the day.

"Guildmaster?" the bird pokémon called as he arrived at the large doors that heralded the personal chambers of Wigglytuff. "It is Chatot. I am entering."

He knew that he didn't really need to call out his presence. Wigglytuff was simultaneously far too informal to care and wouldn't hear him regardless. No matter what, however, it was his routine.

Pushing the doors open with a flourish, Chatot let himself bask in the memories of every apprentice the guild had ever trained. All of them, bar none, had been impressed with his capacity to open the doors so easily. Chatot would never show it in front of everyone, but he was quite proud of his power.

Hopping in, he moved past the unfortunate clutter that littered the Guildmaster's greeting area and to the end of the room where a small door laid, easily missed when Wigglytuff was in attendance.

Smiling to himself as he took in the chaos of the room, Chatot gave a gentle knock with his beak on the door. "Wigglytuff?" he asked, quietly. This was the only time he'd refer to his friend by anything less than an honorary title. It would do no good for the apprentices to believe they could speak to the Guildmaster so casually, so it was restricted to privacy. "It is Chatot. May I enter?"

His only response was a tremendous snore, so Chatot waited a moment, repeated his earlier action, and entered the room.

To those who knew Wigglytuff, which wasn't as many as one may think, Chatot was sure they would expect the Guildmaster's private quarters to be a similar reflection of his personality that his greeting room was.

Chatot was proud, although he would never reveal as such, to know he was one of the few who knew the truth.

Perhaps, actually, those beliefs would not be false. Wigglytuff's bedroom was more in-line with his personality that people would realise. It was neat and almost spartan in its bareness.

No treasures, no knickknacks or items strewn about. No food pieces or silly drawings. Wigglytuff's room was the same as the rest of the rooms in the guild. It had a bed and a window. A nice bed for sure, actual thatched straw, and a window with a curtain, but far more modest than anyone would expect of Wigglytuff.

Besides Chatot of course, but he'd never tell.

"Wigglytuff?" Chatot asked as he peaked into the room. Wigglytuff was as asleep as normal, laying on his side and snoring lightly. Shaking his head and ruffling his feathers, Chatot hopped into the room and then onto Wigglytuff.

"Wakey, wakey sleepy head," Chatot sung, as he always did to rouse Wigglytuff, always the same song, always as embarrassing as the first time. "It's time to rouse up from your bed. There are bits and bobs to find awake. And lots of friendly friends to make."

As soon as the last word passed his beak, Wigglytuff sprung up and sent Chatot into the wall. "Friendly friends!" Wigglytuff cheered and quickly peeled Chatot off the wall to give him a hug. "Thank you for singing my wake-up song," Wigglytuff said cheerfully, he knew that Chatot liked it when things happened as they usually did.

"My pleasure sir," Chatot said dutifully. In all honesty, he really didn't mind singing Wigglytuff to sleep every night or awake every morning. It was their routine, and he liked it.

As Wigglytuff carried him out into his greeting room, Chatot pried himself from the unusually strong grip of this particular wigglytuff and asked a question. This was something a little out of routine, but it was important enough that asking it now was appropriate. Chatot was nothing if not flexible, something he was sure of.

"Have you put anymore thought into the expedition?"

Wigglytuff was humming under his breath and didn't seem to hear the question, continuing his own daily routine. Stretching, getting limber, testing his voice, but Chatot knew the Guildmaster was of a keen mind and was considering his answer carefully.

"Dunno," Wigglytuff responded, swinging into his chair with a laugh. "I think it'd be cool to search for Fogbound Lake or find what's at the end of the Sand Dune of Spirits. What do you think Chatot?"

"I think your decision will be the best for the guild," Chatot said, fluffing his feathers up. "But if you want my opinion, the mystery of the lake feels more compelling. We don't know much of anything there, the Sand Dune of Spirits, however, has its own mysteries, but we know much more about it currently."

"Mmm," Wigglytuff hummed again and began singing a little ditty under his breath. Chatot nodded, knowing the Guildmaster's mind was hard at work again. He would never presume to know truly what the Guildmaster was thinking about, such an idea was better left discarded.

"The apprentices should be rousing themselves soon," Chatot noted and looked to the door. "If I may be excused to prepare for the daily assignment?"

"Of course, Chatot," Wigglytuff said brightly. "Take all the time you need." With that he went back to humming and Chatot made his way out of the room.

Chatot didn't need much time to consider what he would brief the guild on, there was nothing particularly different from a normal day, he just had to wait for one tell-tale sign before he could really begin finding his words.

"HEY! WAKE UP EVERYONE!"

There it was. Even from the distance he had from the apprentice's rooms, Chatot cringed. Loudred was the best the guild had ever had when it came to the apprentices all arriving at the correct time, even if he had to be painful on the ears to do it.

Quickly the apprentices shuffled into the room. Loudred was unaffected by his own volume, so he was fine. Bidoof and Corphish were clearly dizzy from being in the immediate pathway of the bellow. Croagunk too stepped a little gingerly, Chatot knew only he and the Guildmaster were sharp enough to catch the tell the stoic frog gave.

Sunflora and Chimecho arrived after them, both yawning and Sunflora rubbing both of their eyes. Chatot nodded, it was always nice to see inclusiveness, Sunflora and Chimecho were friends and the Grass pokémon never made an issue of Chimecho not having any digits to rub her own eyes with. Camaraderie was greatly valued in the Wigglytuff Guild.

Diglett and Dugtrio appeared from the ground. The father and son having their own designated area of the guild to sleep in, to prevent them from tunnelling too much and damaging the structural integrity of the guild.

Lastly the newest pair of apprentices arrived. Chatot couldn't fault them for being last, still growing used to the strict training of the guild and being the farthest from the hub of the guild. Farthest from Loudred as well.

Still, as long as they arrived on time he'd never need to have words on being tardy.

Nodding as he counted everyone as having arrived, Chatot flourished a wing and announced the Guildmaster.

Corphish did his best to smile and nod along as Chatot waffled on and on and on about whatever disaster he decided was relevant for the day.

He was pretty sure Chatot was rambling on about shows or circuses or serial killers due to his constant wild expressions and flapping of wings.

It's not that he didn't want to listen, it was just that Loudred tended to leave his, Bidoof's and maybe Croagunk's ears ringing for the first half hour of the day. Sometimes longer if he was in a mood.

And maybe he didn't want to listen. Chatot would go on for hours if you let him. Thankfully he only flapped and fluffed about for about five more minutes before stopping. Everyone began to speak so he quickly added his voice into the new morning cheer that they now had to do and Wigglytuff returned to his room.

Whether the Guildmaster was awake or not was hotly debated between the apprentices. One thing they could agree on was that he could get away with it if he was.

His hearing began to return beyond the ringing to see he had asked the newbies to stay back for the moment, everyone else departed. They had been in the guild long enough that, unless they were stopped for a special task, their jobs were clear.

Loudred and Diglett usually guarded the guild. Sometimes one of them would have other matters to attend to that day and someone else would pitch in, not often though. It baffled Corphish how strong Loudred was regardless. He barely trained or battled or explored yet was without a doubt one of the strong apprentices.

Chimecho would go start attending to her stations. The medical bay, the food stocks, the team designs, she was very much the friendly helper of the guild and rarely did jobs in dungeons.

Dugtrio would probably stare out at the sea all day, it was all he seemed to do nowadays. Corphish could emphasize with him, being the only Water type pokémon in the guild, he missed the feel of the ocean some days. But one can only be asked the exact same question about water so many times before you start getting annoyed, and Dugtrio had long since passed that level.

They mostly just did the polite nod greeting nowadays.

Bidoof and Sunflora joined him as they entered the middle level of the guild. Bidoof immediately going for the normal job listings, and as Sunflora was chatting his ear off, difficult to do after a Loudred incident, she followed him.

Corphish decided he was feeling daring this day and scuttled over to the outlaw notice board instead. There wasn't much point in making a choice now, as Dugtrio still had his daily job to do, but he was fine to wait.

Chimecho came floating up before long and she smiled and said something too him, but she spoke far too softly to hear at the moment so Corphish gave his usual reply. "Hey-hey how you doing today?"

Chimecho seemed to understand, it was hard not to when you lived across from Loudred and moved off to Bidoof and Sunflora.

Corphish's hearing was almost back to normal levels when the newbies entered. Little Shinx, so meek yet determined, Corphish was very glad he had finally joined the guild. They were all rooting for him, it was hard not to know of the shinx's ambitions when he had lived in the area so long.

Even Chatot had been looking forward to him gathering the nerve. Corphish knew the bird would never admit it, but he had seen a sparkle in his eye and a chipper ring to his tone when he told everyone Shinx had finally joined the guild.

The other one though…

Meowth, Corphish refused to think of his name, was friendly enough. Maybe too friendly, considering what happened yesterday.

He wasn't one to judge, not at all, but he wasn't the most comfortable with- "Oh they're heading my way. They are HEADING to ME!"

Corphish did his absolute best to appear casual, unconcerned, unjudging. Chatot would flip out tremendously if anyone treated the meowth differently for what he was. Or what lifestyle he chose to live. The bird was too concerned with being all-inclusive in Corphish's opinion.

Not judging others on the surface is one thing, it's great really. But blindly looking past how they may be acting on the excuse that it is normal for that kind of pokémon is another.

Everyone knew of Ekans. No one dared to speak of him either.

"Can we speak to you?"

It was the meowth speaking, and Corphish couldn't say no even if he was wishing he was still deaf.

"Hey-hey, what can I do for you?" That sounded right. That sounded like something he'd say if he was fine.

"About yesterday," Meowth said. Corphish would not call him Sean, even in his subconscious. "I just wanted to clear up any misunderstanding."

"No misunderstanding at all," Corphish said, clicking his pincers as that is normal corphish behaviour. "And no judgement from me either, you hear? Hey-hey."

The overuse of 'hey' would become more prevalent the more uncomfortable or nervous or stressed he was. Corphish couldn't help it, just as much as Loudred couldn't help bellowing everything he said.

"No there really was." Meowth was speaking louder this time, attracting attention from everyone, but he did seem really quite insistent so Corphish decided to listen instead of nod along. "I didn't know what saying m-my name would actually mean." He was turning away from Corphish, something the crustacean was thankful for, to address everyone else at the same time. "See I've… I've actually lost my memory."

Immediately the meowth cringed and Corphish could see why. The way he said it, the words he said, good grief they were the thinnest excuse he'd ever seen.

Still, Meowth pushed through his own realisation of what he sounded like. "I'm serious. R-Shinx found me on the beach, unconscious, and all I remember is my name."

That didn't seem like the truth. Or, at least to Corphish, not the whole truth. His eyes met Bidoof's and there was a silent moment of deliberation. Sunflora joined in on it too and they all came to a decision.

"Hey-hey, that sounds terrible."

"Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine how terrible it'd be to lose my memory!"

"Yup-yup, sounds like quite a pickle for a pokémon to fall into."

Everyone gave each other a discrete look. There, they weren't dismissing Meowth's claims, nor where they necessarily agreeing to what he said. Time would tell.

At the very least Meowth relaxed. "Thank you, and I'm sorry for freaking you all out. I'm still learning all this stuff. Again, I guess."

"Hey-hey, it's fine. We'll forget about it, leave it in the past."

"Yeah." Meowth nodded. "And, uh, don't tell anyone I said my name please? I can only imagine how awful it'd be if I got a reputation because of it."

Corphish nodded, he had no intention on every letting it get so much to his thoughts let alone to his mouth. Bidoof also nodded, although his verbal response was a bit shaky.

Sunflora though.

"Oh… gosh…" she was going red, impressive for a plant. She quickly recovered though. "You don't have a thing to fear! I promise I'll say nothing of this to anyone."

Corphish wasn't sure if pressing a claw to his face would be appropriate, it might give it away, but Meowth's expression gave him the get-go.

"You… you didn't tell anyone, already did you?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

"I… uh… oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh. My. GOSH!" Sunflora seemed to come apart and freaked out. "I'm so, so, so, so-so-so-so sorry. I thought that's why you told me, because everyone knows I'm the town gossip, they come to me, Sunflora, for all the latest news and guild gossip so I told them, and they probably told others and them others and oh my gosh I thought that's what you wanted! To spread the word. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH!"

Screaming she ran out of the guild, repeating her tic for everyone to hear.

Meowth just stood there, frozen as if he was hit with an Ice Beam attack. Shinx was similarly frozen, Bidoof slunk away.

Corphish sighed, it came to him to return them to reality.

A quick double pinch had them yelping and then growling at him, but he clicked his pincers again and they quietened. Looking at Meowth, Corphish could see the mix of horror and humiliation and decided that it really had been an accident. He wasn't sure about no amnesia, but he could believe that Meowth really had been just trying to be friendly.

"There is just one thing you can do now, hey-hey," he said, receiving a dead-eyed glance from Meowth.

"Crawl under a rock and die?" he muttered.

"No." Corphish was a little disturbed at the response. "You're going to have to prove to everyone that you are more than the local night-mate."

"BUT I'M NOT IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Meowth shrieked, comparable levels to Loudred impressively enough.

"Shh. It's something you're going to have to live with now, hey-hey," Corphish advised, he knew he was the best for the job when it came to blunt truths and plain advice. "Turn em down when they come to you, explain why, and prove yourself. It's all you can do now."

"Can't Sunflora just tell them the truth?" he muttered, wearing an impressively disgusted expression.

"She will," Corphish confirmed. "But it won't be enough. Plenty won't believe, especially if she says it's because of amnesia. Some may even think it's the move too…"

Groaning, Meowth rubbed his face with his paw, almost poking himself with a claw in the process. "Fine. Let's just get a job and be done with this horrible day."

Shinx, who was being quiet as ever, nodded and stuck close to Meowth. Corphish nodded to the pair behind their backs. They seemed good together, if that meowth got Shinx to join up and stay, Corphish wouldn't care about any doings or dealings the meowth might do. Shinx deserved a good partner, and if Meowth was that partner than everyone would respect that.

Scuttling back to the outlaw notice board, he saw that Dugtrio had done his job and began sorting through them, picking a nasty Lumineon he could bring to justice. And if he was able to go swimming in the process? All the better.

Litleo was fuming.

Enough so that actual sparks were popping off his mane as it burst into flames every few seconds. The idea. The mere concept that Shinx could beat him? Laughable.

It was a joke, all the battle they had, until the meowth decided to grow a spine. Even then, he was easily creaming the basic cat until it hit him in the face with a Sleep Seed.

The type of cowardly move he should have expected, what meowth would ever fight head-on-head without something hidden in its paw?

The pair had embarrassed him terribly. Not only beating in in a battle, but even dragged him back to town. Him? He was no outlaw, they didn't even seem to think of Officer Magnezone, no they brought him back because they were too noble to leave him in the dungeon.

Litleo laughed at that. A noble meowth. Noble shinx for that matter. The only noble around here was Litleo himself.

It just added insult to, very literal, injury. They brought him to Chimecho who basically just gave him a common Oran Berry and then threw him out of the guild. Not like he wanted to stay there anyway but having to drag himself home was a little harder on him then he would have liked.

Didn't help all the pokémon giving him dirty looks. Him. Litleo. For what? Using a powerful item that deserved to be used? Needed really. That Fire Blast was better for no other pokémon than he himself, Charmander should have thanked him for at least using it. It certainly made him stronger, and they couldn't take the move from him now.

Still. There was a blow to his pride that needed to be sated. So, he waited, early in the day despite his injuries, for the pair to emerge.

The annoying Sunflora and stupid Bidoof exited first, the flower seemingly distressed about something. That was something amusing at least.

Thankfully he didn't have to wait long for the pair to emerge. Meowth looking most dissatisfied with the day, good, and Shinx seeming like himself. Meek and quiet. Also good, but could be better.

He waited until they had stepped past the bush he hid himself in and began descending the annoyingly long steps down to the crossroads.

Now was his time. He considered pouncing, tackling them down the stairs, that'd teach them a lesson. But Litleo rethought it when he noted that he'd fall as well, and he wasn't fully recovered from yesterday. His ribs still hurt, and fire was not the easiest to channel.

So instead he followed, stalking them quietly as they walked in silence. There seemed to be an awkward air about them, that was interesting.

"Trouble in paradise?" he couldn't help but say. It alerted them to his presence, but it was too good to pass up saying.

"YOU!" Shinx growled, switching from meek to fierce in an instant. It was almost impressive. "What are you doing here?"

Litleo noted how Meowth took a careful and measured step back, leaving Shinx slightly closer to him in case of attack. Coward, just as he knew already.

"Just wanted a chat," Litleo said. He wasn't lying either, it'd be idiocy to actually attack them here. That'd get him branded as an outlaw for certain.

"We don't want to talk to you," Shinx said and Litleo looked to Meowth.

"We? Or are you putting words in Meowth's mouth here?" He smirked as it immediately caused a reaction, Shinx's fierceness crumbled like the mask of sand it was and he glanced worriedly to Meowth.

"That's not true is it?" he asked, all adorably concerned he may offend someone. "I haven't been talking for you, have I?"

"Uh…" Meowth hesitated, perfect. He quickly said. "A little, but nothing I wouldn't say anyway!" Shinx mulled the words over, but Litleo could see that the damage had been done. He wouldn't be talking much today, but this shame wasn't enough.

"So Meowth was it?" he asked, stepping closer and smiling as the pair took a step back. "Walk with me. I want to talk."

Litleo stepped past them, tail pointed and proud, and stepped a few steps down before pausing to look up. "Really? You're going to be this rude when I've come just wanting to talk?"

Meowth was hesitating. Whether it was an act or if he was genuinely concerned about being rude was up to opinion. Either way, he glanced to Shinx before shaking his head. "Whatever you want to talk about you can talk with both of us."

Litleo found it cute, really. Meowth gave himself a little nod, clearly satisfied that he'd said the correct thing to minimize whatever harm he thought could be caused. Litleo was far too intelligent for this pair, either going with him would hurt Shinx's precious feelings, or saying this in front of him would hurt. Either way, he'd leave this conversation feeling better.

"Just wanted to give you a little warning is all," Litleo said, cupping a paw to his mouth as if this was a secret. Meowth narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to Shinx. "Just about Shinx here. He's got a few issues is all and I don't want to see a fellow feline hurt."

Meowth was now frowning in confusion, doubt. Perfect. Shinx was, of course, experiencing a much more amusing reaction. A combination of anger and terror and he tried to say something. Litleo spoke over him with his far stronger voice.

"He's known as a really unreliable pokémon in these parts. Can never muster courage to stand up for himself and tends to drag anyone who feels sorry for him down until they get rid of him. You seem like a good pokémon, but you're only going to get yourself hurt with this pity. That's all, I'm going to walk through the Apple Woods for the day."

With that Litleo turned around and began walking off. He didn't need to remain there to savour the response, although he wanted to. Such pettiness was beyond him, he revealed the truth and hopefully Meowth would take this advice. If it made him feel good, that was just a by-product of it all.

Swellow was having an off day.

This would have bothered him just on principal, but worse of all he couldn't figure out why. Wurmple had been acting strangely around him ever since they decided to make an exploration team together.

Was it because they were hobbyists? Neither member of Team Tasty thought they were quite cut out for Wigglytuff's Guild, nor the infamous taxing of the rewards the apprentices went through.

So, they would go out together, each day, sometimes just to explore randomly, sometimes they'd take a job. They only had done one outlaw task, and one was enough for both of them.

The day was shining, but not too hot, everyone was pleased with the weather, it should be a great day for spending time with a friend and helping others.

Except Wurmple was so twitchy around him.

The only time he brightened up was when another pokémon, or better yet another team, came up to talk to them. Swellow didn't like to think about it, but he was beginning to get worried that Wurmple regretted teaming up with him.

Would he be happier on another team?

Swellow was quite happy with their little two-pokémon team. He loved exploring with Wurmple. The little Bug type was so meek, but when it came to battle he was almost comically strong. He used String Shot like it was an art, combining it into brutally hard Tackle's or a slamming Poison Sting. He had beaten many enemies Swellow had no idea on what to do.

He was his most valuable partner and he didn't want to lose him.

So, when a pair of pokémon approached them, Swellow tried to keep the conversation civil. Wurmple relaxed when someone else came up to them, so if it was just a social thing then he'd feed that hunger.

"Those are some good words," Swellow thought. "I should remember them to reassure Wurmple later."

The pair were the newcomers to the Wigglytuff Guild, although everyone knew Shinx. The meowth was someone new, Swellow had seen him around yesterday but they hadn't spoken.

Wurmple and Meowth immediately began a discussion, speaking lowly and privately. Whatever they wanted to talk about, it seemed perhaps it wasn't Swellow's business?

Shinx though. He'd seen Shinx happier than ever just yesterday, still beaming off finally joining the guild. Today though, today he looked very unhappy.

It seems misery would have company on this beautiful, terrible, day.

"What's eating you?" Swellow asked, perhaps a little too loudly as he noticed Wurmple flinch.

"Oh, nothing." Shinx's expression immediately brightened up. Way too obvious.

"Come on Shinx, you really are a bad liar." It was true, the meek thing was terrible at being dishonest, probably in fear it'd upset someone. Swellow thought he was a little too worried about other pokémon's thoughts and feelings, it was easier to go with the wind in his mind.

"I… just had a bad start to the day," Shinx admitted, scuffing the ground with one of his back legs. "On two different accounts. Bad news, then Litleo showed up and said some mean things."

Ah Litleo. The Fire type cub pokémon had been in the area for a while. A few years or so. And he really did seem to love antagonizing Shinx, feline pokémon issues maybe?

"Maybe you should challenge him to a battle?" Was Swellow's suggestion. Things tended to be worked out in a battle, win or lose. If anything, it might help raise Litleo's respect of Shinx.

"I battled him yesterday," Shinx said, mouth pulling into a grimace. "He stole Charmander's Fire Blast TM and used it. Sh-Meowth and I had to fight him in the Oran Forest to get it back."

"Did you win?" Swellow cocked his head, he hadn't heard no gossip about Litleo becoming a thief. Sunflora might be a little distracted perhaps.

"Yes!" Shinx insisted. "He was tough but Meowth and I took him down. I think it's just made him hate me more though."

He was looking down and Swellow wasn't sure what to do. He had exhausted his wisdom with the battle suggestion.

"There-there," he said, patting Shinx with a wing. "Whatever he said can't be that bad. And even if it was, you've still got your partner here!"

Meowth was still chatting with Wurmple and they both perked up when he pointed the wing to them. "So, no need to worry!"

"Yeah… thanks." Swellow wasn't sure if he really helped, but Shinx didn't sound quite as despondent as earlier. Satisfied with his good deed for the day, he waited until Shinx and Meowth had left them to hop over to Wurmple.

"I'm feeling hungry today," he said brightly, thinking of the dungeon Shinx had mentioned. "We should go to the Oran Forest! Or even Apple Woods. Which do you feel like today?"

"O-Oran," Wurmple said. He was all stuttery and twitchy again. It did concern Swellow, but just talking to Wurmple made his day feel brighter, he could only hope that his own communication helped Wurmple.

"Well let's go! Lunch isn't going to wait for us."

Wurmple joined in on his whoop with a much less enthusiastic yay, but it was something and they were off.

Pidgey's day was a bad one currently.

Yesterday hadn't been much better. The day before that she thought was the worst, it was the day she realised she couldn't get through Mt. Bristle.

Today, however, was a new low. She was so hungry. She really hoped Oddish had put out a notice for her by now or was coming to get her herself.

She was sure a wing was broken. A stupid crazy machop had Karate Chopped her out of nowhere and now she couldn't fly. All the starly roosting in this dungeon only made it worse, they could still fly.

She had given up on crying, it was a useless endeavour by now, and just focused on trying to get to the top. She wouldn't even look for the legendary treasure if that was the price, she just wanted to get out of the dungeon alive.

"-nother thing, he's an asshole. I know he's an asshole, you know he's an asshole, he's just angry because we beat him."

Pidgey felt hope sore into her heart.

"This isn't like the conversation we had on who's the most useless. He's right, others have tried to help me before, but they always had to leave eventually."

She immediately began yelling out, those were definitely at least a pair of adventurers. Maybe even there for her. "Hey? HEY? HELP ME PLEASE."

"I'm not going to leave. Where would I even- what was that?"

"I think. Pidgey?"

Relief almost brought her to tears as she replied. "Yes. Please help me."

The scurrying of limbs grew closer and closer and eventually a head poked into the small room she had been resting in. It was a shinx, he was quickly followed by a meowth.

"We're Team Ion, we're here to rescue you," Shinx said brightly and Pidgey did start crying from relief. She didn't even care it was a pair of feline pokémon, they were here to help, they wouldn't eat her. Especially not the shinx she knew of, assuming this was him.

They placed her in the Treasure Bag they had as fortunate members of Wigglytuff's Guild and moved with all haste to the top. Pidgey fell asleep halfway through, exhausted from her struggles up to this point.

She fell asleep to the tense conversation the pair had continued after making sure she was alright.

It was an interesting dream that's for sure.

Chatot was perturbed.

Something was off with the apprentices and he couldn't fathom what it was. Even with his keen ear and intelligent grasp on social politics, he couldn't quite be sure.

Sunflora wasn't talking. That was strange in of itself.

Bidoof was blushing each time he glanced to the right.

Corphish was there as always.

Loudred and Diglett had acted perfectly normal throughout the day, and Chimecho herself seemed fine.

The Guildmaster was the Guildmaster, nothing different to say there.

Croagunk was smiling in a vaguely unsettling way, but that was also common, so he was sure that wasn't the problem.

Shinx and Meowth. He had a feeling they were the guilty party here. Meowth seemed irritated today, acting perfectly polite, too polite, and quite distant from anyone who tried to talk to him. Which wasn't really anyone. Chatot disapproved, he thought better of the apprentices to judge on appearances, but perhaps Meowth had done something?

No. Chatot wouldn't consider it, just because he was a meowth didn't mean he was up to something or the problem maker.

Although Shinx didn't seem the type himself.

He wasn't sure what had happened, and clever questions didn't seem to be his pathway in considering that no one was talking.

Chatot sent them to bed and waited until everyone had entered their rooms.

It was uncouth of him to do this, but no one would find out. As his place of sleeping was on the top floor, no one would expect him to be elsewhere in the guild.

He carefully walked, not hopped, to the doors that contained the apprentice's rooms. Listening in on the male's rooms was pointless, and the female's rooms made him uncomfortable with the act.

He knew he'd receive nothing from them anyway. The third room was his destination.

Pressing his head carefully to the door, Chatot listened intently. To his satisfaction, he could hear voices. The pair remaining up to talk was somewhat irresponsible, but Chatot wouldn't put them down for it as long as their work ethic was undisturbed.

"Rai, why does this bother you so much?" Came the meowth's voice and immediately Chatot felt uncomfortable. He'd already learned something that is given only to trustees.

"I don't know Sean. It's just every day I seem to be getting reminders about being a burden." And there it was to somehow render Chatot feeling even worse. Now he had two names that he must never let them know he knew. He wanted to pull away, but it was too late now. He may as well learn more.

"I'm sorry." Meowth, no Sean, seemed to take a moment to build a breath or bravery to say his next words. "Do you really think you're this fragile? Because you're not. Who cares what Litleo, or Corphish, or ME says."

"Words can hurt!"

"I… I know. I'm sorry. I'm just hating that every day something happens to make you miserable. I like you, you know. I hate that it's normally me who does it."

"It's just…" there was a long moment of silence, almost enough to make Chatot believe the conversation was over. "Just losing my Relic Fragment. It was everything to me, it was the only thing I had, and I just put so much of myself into it. Without I feel so much less secure, any confidence I manage to build gets knocked out of me. I don't know what I'm going to do without it. It's been only a few days and I'm this, heh, 'fragile'."

"Rai, I'm sorry. I didn't mean fragile."

"It's true though. I'm brittle, I'm breaking down every time someone says something that reminds me even a little about my past."

Chatot held himself against the door, waiting, wondering if anything else was going to be said. He was concerned, greatly, about Rai. He knew nothing of some 'Relic Fragment' but if it was important perhaps he could help find something to replace it or bolster Rai's confidence.

Actually, that last thought gave him an idea.

"I can't let this beat me," Rai said suddenly, recapturing Chatot's attention. "This is it. This is my declaration. I'm going to stop being so weak and fragile, I'm going to stop letting everything get to me so easily. I'm an apprentice in the Wigglytuff Guild! I won't let them down. I won't let you down Sean. This is it. I'm just going to have to learn to live without it."

"I'll be there for you all the time," Sean responded. "You don't have to be strong every day. When you're not, I can be the strong one. Er, emotionally at least. You're way stronger than I am everywhere else."

"I don't think you're as weak as you think you are," Rai responded, an edge of teasing entering his voice. Chatot smiled and pulled away from the door. Whatever was going on probably wasn't because of them, there might be other issues.

Still, he was proud. If the apprentices could all be so honest with themselves and vow to better themselves, he'd be a proud chatot. He'd never tell them that, of course, but he would be proud nonetheless.

For now, he had work to do. Shinx, Rai, whatever needed a confidence boost. Something to show the guild was believing in them both, something they could handle, but still be important.

He'd stay up the rest of the night pouring over maps and rumours if he had too.

Chatot was the night-time guardian of the guild, but more importantly, he was the guardian of the apprentices.

He would not fail them.

So, this chapter is a bit shorter than the last two, the shortest chapter overall. But not by much, just a couple hundred words.

This was fun though. Using a sort of second-person pov to tell the story of this chapter. I think it went alright? As this chapter's events were effectively going to be filler, I think this is a much more interesting way of showing it. Rai and Sean were still the centrepiece of the chapter, but their day was told through others.

I likely won't do this kind of chapter very often, takes a bit out of me to channel so many different characters, but I think it was enjoyable and I hope you enjoyed it too. Next chapter though, I have another little twist in the works ;D