So, I have a question at my author's note at the bottom.

I also have to thank Miner7365 for two things, one for the utterly tremendous review they left going into multiple facets of the story and giving me some good and bad to consider, the second is that reading their review and responding to it gave me an idea for this chapter.

"Ahem, one last item before we commence with the day's activities."

The next day had come, and Sean and Rai were rather miserable. It hadn't been difficult to wake up, their stomachs growling, but getting up was another story entirely. Still, they trudged down to the guild assembly as Chatot had been getting ready.

"Tomorrow, or the day after, or perhaps in several days' time," Chatot said, holding everyone's attention firmly. "We plan to announce the members of the expedition party."

"Wow!" Chimecho cheered.

"By golly," Bidoof said. "The members are finally going to be picked!"

"Meh-heh-heh, who do you think is going to be picked?"

"Woah-ho-ho. Can't wait."

"Everyone, this is your last chance to make a good impression on the Guildmaster. Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen." Chatot nodded, giving the apprentices a moment to chatter amongst themselves. "All right, everyone. Let's get down to work as usual!"

"HOORAY!"

Everyone dispersed, Team Skull wandering off, with several of the other apprentices meandering as casually as they could towards the mess hall.

"Hungry," Rai whined, nose nearly pressing into the ground in his misery.

"Ah, you two," Chatot said, gesturing for them to come up to him. "Two things I wanted to say. The first, take jobs on the bulletin boards today, your choice. The second." With this Chatot adopted a somewhat guilty expression. Shuffling slightly, his eyes slid off them before he chastised himself to meet their eyes. "Last night was almost a travesty."

Rai cringed while Sean did his best to smooth the curled expression that was creeping over his face. "Almost," Chatot said again, emphasising the word. "While you two DID fail in your task to obtain Perfect Apples from Apple Woods, you still went above and beyond to acquire an apple through other means. So, before you begin your allocated jobs today I believe you have some friends looking out for you."

He gestured a wing towards the mess hall and the pair turned, Rai frowning in curiosity with Sean's dawning expression of remembrance.

Bidoof squeaked when he realised they had been spotted.

"Come over you three," Chatot said, voice almost smug with their reaction. "And Chimecho," he said to the head poking out of the mess hall. "You may bring the full plate out, there is no need for deception."

Slowly, almost guiltily, and certainly warily, most of the apprentices emerged from various spots they had hidden out of sight, or where standing to look casual.

Only Dugtrio wasn't there, already at work doing his task.

Chimecho floated out, a pair of plates hovering in her psychic grip, stacked with food. Bidoof and Sunflora also stepped forward, shooting Chimecho a surprised glance.

"You got them food from the larder?" Bidoof asked.

"Yeah," Chimecho admitted, embarrassed. "When Chatot and I inspected it, I thought I managed to sneak some stuff without him realising."

"Oh my gosh, Bidoof and I snuck some food off our plates to give them!"

Rai was blushing now and smiling widely, Sean unable to hold back a grin himself. It was heartening to know the others had their backs, Chatot too it seemed.

"It would be amiss of me to turn a blind eye to thievery and food stashing," Chatot said sharply, causing everyone to flinch. "But just this once there will be no punishment due to the motive involved. I am proud that you apprentices have such tight bonds."

He waved a wing at Sean and Rai who took it as permission to gorge. Once they were done, which took a very short time, Sean worried he may have eaten too quickly. He only hiccupped thrice thankfully.

"Now get to work!" Chatot said, shooing everyone. "There are jobs to do and pokémon to assist. Get going."

He made sure to stare them down as the apprentices scattered, but once everyone was gone, and neither Loudred or Croagunk were in eyeshot, he let himself smile.

"Hey, is it just me or has Chatot started calling us by our names?" Sean asked as they left the guild.

Rai gave him an odd look, opened his mouth to respond, frowned, and closed his mouth. "Yeah actually. Weird, I didn't even notice."

"Cool, I'm not going mad then." Sean smiled, happy he was validated. Then he remembered. "That's not a problem is it? It doesn't bother me, but…"

"Nah, I'm okay with it," Rai answered as they began to descend. "Probably would have been better if he asked, but we call each other by name all the time so everyone's probably gotten used to it."

"Sounds about right." Sean nodded. "Woah!"

Sean and Rai had barely entered Treasure Town before they were accosted.

"You two," Skuntank growled, voice low. "Come with me."

Koffing and Zubat flanked him, but they were in Treasure Town now and Rai was feeling bold. "Give me back my treasure."

Sean stepped closer to Rai as the shinx and skuntank stared each other down. Eventually, Skuntank scoffed and turned away. "See you later."

Rai blinked, Koffing and Zubat shared a confused look, but Skuntank was already exiting the town.

"Wait?" Zubat said. "Weren't we…?" Skuntank was already leaving.

"Boss wait up!"

The pair of Poison-type pokémon quickly hurried after their leader and the air was cleansed of their presence.

"That was… weird," Sean said, it seemed like the entire moment had occurred and resolved with no reasoning. He also couldn't remember that happening, which bothered him

"Did I mess something up?" Sean fretted as Rai slowly pulled him away and back into line with him. "Don't tell me the apple is going to mess everything up!"

While Sean worried about things that may never be, Rai did his best to go back to happy.

"Just forget about those three," he advised upon realising Sean was distracted. "They're not anything but trouble for us."

"I'm amazed you are so chipper this morning," Sean said, rubbing his jaw. It amazed him how fast pokémon recovered from brutal beatdowns, even now he only had a distant ache in his head and neck from Skuntank pounding him over the face yesterday.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Rai asked brightly. "The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, and our teammates are all amazing!"

"Heh." Sean smiled at Rai's exuberance but couldn't help but feel happier simply being close to it. "They are pretty awesome. Team Skull's going to be our 'teammates' on the expedition though."

Rai cringed and then cringed again. "I like the optimism!" he said, reminding Sean that technically they hadn't been chosen yet. "And don't remind me. I wish they'd just disappear or something."

"Without your treasure?"

Rai sighed. "I kind of think they don't have it anymore. Koffing and Zubat said they were going to sell it. They probably wouldn't have come back if they still had it."

Sean's mind slid briefly to the Rainbow Stoneship before he shook his head. "Nope. We have to find your treasure! If they don't have it, maybe we can find out who they sold it to?"

"And how are we going to do that?" Rai asked, expression flat. "They crushed us just yesterday, and I really don't think they are going to be talking on the expedition."

"Don't make me be the optimistic one," Sean said, frowning at Rai. "I'm the one who's supposed to be looking on the bad side of things and you tell me everything will work out! This is all backwards and it's freaking me out!"

Rai laughed at him, causing the meowth to scoff in mock-outrage. "We'll find it again," he said as sternly as he could. "We have to."

"Why do you care so much?" Rai cocked his head at him. "It was my treasure after all."

Sean flushed slightly, once again thanking fur covering his face. "Well, you know, you're my friend and it was, is, really important to you. I think. So what friend would I be if I didn't think it was important?"

Rai smiled softly and averted his eyes. "Th-thanks. That means a lot to me."

Sean grew uncomfortable himself. He didn't enjoy emotional displays in private, let alone in the middle of Treasure Town where pokémon could hear them. "No worries. Let's just get to work."

"Right."

Rai's energy returned, and he zipped through Treasure Town, speaking quickly to shopkeepers and other residents with a smile on his face.

It felt like they'd barely entered the town before they were already passing Duskull Bank on the way out.

"Collect many riches out there you two!" Duskull called as they passed, receiving a friendly wave as they passed by.

"So today we've got the Waterfall Cave to go back through," Rai chatted as they walked. They briefly stopped when Spinda staggered in their path, giving a wave to three separate spaces that none of them occupied.

"Keep an eye on this place," Spinda said, circling where a large rock laid dormant. "I've got biiiig plans for this place. You'll see, it'll be a wonderful place. So magnificently magnificent…" His voice, as dizzy as his walk, was still pleasant to hear as he wandered off.

"Two pokémon in the dungeon," Sean said as he looked through the pair of jobs Rai had chosen for the day. "How did two pokémon get lost in the Waterfall Cave at the same time?"

"Dunno," Rai answered, giving a tail flick. "Don't think they know each other either."

They walked past the crossroads and on the way towards the wilds. Both members of Team Ion glanced in the direction of the house Litleo owned, but neither commentated on Sean's lack of a bow.

For about twelve seconds.

"We'll need to get you a new bow," Rai said, pointedly not looking left anymore. "What kind I don't know. Maybe a Defence Scarf like me?" He proudly jutted his chest forward, perhaps adding a centimetre more scarf Sean could see.

"I don't know." Sean rubbed his jaw in thought. "I don't think I can pull off the cute look as well as you do."

Rai's pride immediately turned to outrage. "I'm. Not. CUTE!" he yelled and leaped on Sean. "I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!"

Sean laughed, pushing Rai off him before running forward. On all fours. "Saying that isn't helping," he chuckled, trying to put as much space between him and the shinx as possible.

As Rai knew Quick Attack, this was a futile endeavour.

After pinning him again, and making him agree Rai was not cute, Rai let him up and Sean brushed the twigs and leaves off him.

"Don't know why you even bother," Rai said airily.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You still haven't' bathed yourself," Rai said, screwing his nose up. "And now I smell like you."

"I'm NOT licking myself," Sean replied. "Humans do NOT do that to clean."

"Well what do they do?"

"Bathe! In water. Running water, a shower. Or a bath, you wouldn't have showers here."

Rai cocked his head, Sean had to bite his tongue or else he'd call him cute again. "What's a shower?"

Sean frowned and tried to think. "Um… a room where you stand, and water falls down on you? But nicer than that."

"Sounds really weird," Rai said. "But baths could be done. There is a hot spring not to far. Maybe after we complete the job, we can go there?"

Sean's heart leaped into his throat. "YES!" he shouted, before realising just how loud he was. "Yes. That sounds great. Really great. Amazingly great."

On the inside he chastised himself. "Hot spring. DUH! I was literally thinking about it the first time we went in the Waterfall Cave. How did I forget? Ugh, it'll be so nice to be clean again…"

"Sounds like a plan then," Rai said, swallowing an amused smile at just how happy the human-turned-meowth became at the notion of getting clean. "We better get going then."

"Sounds good." Sean nodded.

"Not 'great'?" Rai teased, unable to help himself. Sean smiled eventually after trying to hold a dark expression at the teasing.

"Just a minute you two!"

Only for both of their expressions to turn sour at the familiar voice.

They spun on the direction the voice came from, behind them, and tensed as Zubat came flapping up to them.

"Finally," Zubat moaned. "You know how hard it is to find someone when you have no eyes? Luckily I can smell you just fine." Sean blushed embarrassed at the jab as Rai stepped forward.

"What do YOU want?" he snarled, not wanting to deal with this. "Trying to distract us so that the other two goons can sneak up on us?"

Sean was already looking around, keeping a close vigil on any potential areas Skuntank or Koffing could come out of.

"Look," Zubat said. "They don't know I'm here. They think I just doubled back to look over a job I thought was interesting." Under his breath he added. "And I don't have eyes so what do they even think…? Whatever. I'm here because I want to talk to you two."

"I'm not interested in talking to you," Rai snapped back. "So, unless you're here to give me back my Relic Fragment, get lost!"

Zubat sighed, briefly covering his face with a wing before it went back to flapping in the air. "Look, I get that thing is important to you," he said, making Rai growl. "But I AM here to talk to you about it. Boss wanted to earlier, but you really don't like us."

"Can you guess why?" Sean said, equally as done with this entire situation.

"Yeah, yeah, we're jerks, bullies, bad guys. Whatever. I've heard it all before. If the two of you would get over yourselves and listen to me, you might learn something you need to know."

Sean and Rai exchanged a look. Neither was prepared for Zubat to appear so suddenly, nor to be claiming to just want to talk. Sean nodded slightly, and Rai turned back to Zubat.

"Alright fine," he said. "What do you have to say?"

"Hey, I don't HAVE to say this," Zubat snapped. "I'm doing it out of the kindness of my heart." He ignored the twin snorts of amusement that came from the pair. "Not long after we hocked that rock with the weird picture, there have been pokémon around, coming up to us, and asking really weird questions."

Sean frowned, and Rai looked baffled and Zubat turned from left to right. "None of them mentioned the rock exactly, but asked stuff about patterns, symbols, treasures, stuff like that. Weird stuff that seemed too specific to be coincidental."

"Who?" Sean asked.

"Heck if I know," Zubat answered. "Boss wouldn't talk about it. The most I knew was one sableye, everyone else was just stuff boss talked about afterwards."

Sean and Rai exchanged another look, much more concerned this time. "Why were they asking about my treasure? If they even were," Rai asked.

"I don't know okay?" Zubat snapped angrily. "All I know is that there were a lot of weird questions. 'Was it destroyed'? 'Who had it before'? 'Where did you get it'? Boss wouldn't talk about it, but if he was going to ask YOU about it, then there must be something off about it all. Boss always knows when a buyer is off or suspicious in some way."

"Takes one to know one," Rai muttered, Zubat again pretended he hadn't heard that.

"Fine. I don't know what you're talking about," Rai said, turning away. "And I really doubt it was about my Relic Fragment. I know you three are thieves of more than just my treasure, you probably just have a reputation that these pokémon followed."

Sean hesitated longer than Rai, glancing between him and Zubat. "Why would you even warn us of this?" he asked, not wanting this opportunity to just go.

"Team Skull aren't a bunch of sappy good-doers," Zubat snapped, turning away himself. "But when something is skeeving out the boss enough for him to try and give you guys a warning, then I know it's worse than it sounds. Just… be careful, alright?"

"Alright," Sean answered as he nodded. "Thank you," he added, more out of politeness than anything, but Zubat still looked surprised.

"Heh-heh-heh, whatever. See you at dinner, this conversation never happened."

Sean and Rai walked in solid silence for a few minutes, going over what Zubat had said. It was Rai who broke the silence. "So, I was thinking maybe a Joy Ribbon for you?" he said lightly. "Because you get smacked around so much in dungeons, those things make you even stronger for going through that kind of stuff!"

"Sounds good," Sean agreed, absentmindedly feeling where he used to wear his Silver Bow. "Anything that'll help."

Skuntank coughed pitifully as he tried to breathe. His legs burned as he did his best to stand, managing to pull himself onto all fours. He gasped as he was kicked in the side and crashed back down on the ground.

"B-boss," Koffing cried. "Ugh." He could barely float, bruises littered his lumpy skin. Zubat was completely unconscious.

Koffing put everything he had into moving and began floating to Skuntank's side. "Boss!"

He cringed as the green blade of their assailant turned to him.

"Stop," Skuntank demanded, freezing both pokémon. "Koffing, go. Zubat!" he barked, repeating the bat's name thrice before he stirred. "Get up and get lost. Both of you."

Skuntank pulled himself to his feet again, mouth burning with flames and he breathed a near inferno at their enemy.

Grovyle, the assailant, artfully dodged out of the way, before running a circle around Skuntank until he could fire no longer. Zubat and Koffing were gone, having taken Skuntank's orders and fled while they had the chance.

"It seems you do have some honour," Grovyle said as he came to a stop. Skuntank was gasping for breath now, unable to hold himself steady. Grovyle waited until Skuntank's strength left him and he slumped back on the ground. "Covering for those two."

"What do you want?" Skuntank growled, glaring at Grovyle even as the world seemed to spin.

"Three things," Grovyle answered, stepping closer. The claws on one hand glinted dangerously as he reached Skuntank. "The first you can't give me, the second you seem unable to give me. The third." Grovyle reached down and grabbed Skuntank's head, lifting it up as the deadly pokémon groaned. "You already know."

"Why do you care about what some stupid guild does?" Skuntank asked, forelegs scrabbling to gain purchase as he tried to pull back from Grovyle. "Why attack us over it? What is it worth to you?"

"I'm not interested in questions, Skuntank," Grovyle said, letting go of Skuntank and letting his head slump back down. Skuntank grunted softly as he was freed. "Only your cooperation. Write what I say, do not come back, and you may go join your teammates."

"Fine." Skuntank relented, waiting for Grovyle to grab the items out of the bag he wore.

"Write it steadily and exactly as I say," Grovyle said and Skuntank grunted.

Once he was done, taking a nerve-wracking time with how long it took to be careful, Grovyle took the letter. "Thank you Skuntank. Now leave. And take my advice," he said as Skuntank began to drag himself off. "Don't speak of this to anyone. We'll know."

Skuntank sneered at him, but a small glint of fear still shone in his eyes. Skuntank quickly left and Grovyle sighed; it hadn't been his desire to have to be so rough, but he had to be sure Team Skull would leave without any risks.

He looked over what Skuntank had written one more time to be sure, before stashing it carefully in his Treasure Bag. He looked west, the direction that Treasure Town laid, it was time to pay a certain famous guild a visit.

"I'm just saying it might be a bit difficult to carry both of them around if they're injured."

Sean and Rai's feet echoed constantly through the Waterfall Cave, splashing loudly on the wet floor.

They both avoided the water channels that existed in the dungeon. Rai still couldn't swim, and Sean hoped that he'd never have to swim through a dungeon again.

Part of him had an aversion to water. He blamed the species he now was.

After two hours of searching, they found nothing.

Rai, not to be dissuaded, took them to the last room, turned around, exited the dungeon, then they went through it again.

The second go-around ended up being equally fruitless as the first.

Still, smiling fixatedly with one eye twitching, Rai brought them through it again. It was exhausting at that point. Thankfully few of the enemy pokémon attacked them, many still being beaten or dissuaded from attacking earlier.

"What did the requests say again?" Rai asked wildly. "Are we even in the right place?"

Sean dug the pair of requests out of the Treasure Bag and read them out.

"Help, my daughter Cherubi has disappeared. She said she wanted to visit the Waterfall Cave and I let her because of the type advantage, but she hasn't returned. I feel terrible, but I'm not fast enough to get there quickly. Please someone save her ~ Cherrim."

"She should be here," Rai said. "What about the other one?"

"So, my sort of rival has been gone for a while. He's been acting a bit weird, but I heard him mutter about that new dungeon, Waterfall Cave, lately and I think he might have gone there. Can someone check, just to see if he's alright? Help him if he needs help ~ Clauncher."

"Ugh. Let's keep looking."

They spent nearly four hours going through the dungeon, combing each aspect of it that they could, using moves to try and get them to respond, and Sean even swam through some murky water into multiple dead ends.

"This is bullshit!" Sean swore as they found no cherubi or floatzel yet again. "And I don't swear often!"

"I don't know what 'bullshit' means," Rai snapped. "But if it's a swear word then I'll say it too!"

"Tauros-shit then!"

"Ah!"

"AH!"

After screaming at the walls, they broke into weary laughter. "This is just madness," Sean said. "Doing this over and over and expecting something different. It's late, I'm tired, you must be exhausted. Can't we just go home?"

"Eh… one more look," Rai groaned. "We can't disappoint the guild. Not when the expedition is this close."

Sean only groaned in reply.

One more search, yielded no results.

"That's it," Sean snapped, grabbing Rai by the tail and began dragging him along. "Chatot will understand, we went through this damn place a thousand times and no one is here. Maybe they found a way out, and so. Are. We."

Rai didn't resist and quickly walked on his own power. "This sucks," he moaned. "We can't be looking bad at this point."

"The Perfect Apple will be enough," Sean said. "That looked good for us. Chatot was relieved, he'll probably think of us when thinking about the expedition, and Wigglytuff definitely will."

"…Alright."

They entered the final room, and Rai sighed in relief and turned to leave.

"Wait," Sean said, stopping him in his tracks. "We haven't actually gone into the last room. Didn't Loudred yell something about some big gem? What if that's still here?"

"And if we get it!" Rai squeaked, dashing forward. "It'll look SO good."

Sean watched in disbelief as the shinx found reserves of energy to run with, before slowly moving after him at a sedate walk.

"Holy moly look at this place?" Rai called from up ahead, Sean hastened his walk slightly.

Even his weary attitude was blown away by the gem room. Glinting stones glimmered from every surface, being lit by means Sean would never understand. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, and much more shone from every angle and he was momentarily blinded with a sheer desire of WANT.

"Look at that thing!" Rai called, his voice snapping Sean out of the fit of avarice that was consuming him. Only to draw him in all the further when he set his eyes on the master gem.

A gigantic pink stone. He wasn't sure what kind it was, a light ruby, rose quarts, whatever it was didn't matter as he was drawn in by its shimmering glory.

Rai's words melted away into an inaudible chatter as Sean stepped closer. Thought had left him, all he could see was the gem and his own visage reflected in it.

Rai was still talking, voice muffled to Sean's ears, growing slightly concerned in pitch when Sean stepped up right to the stone. He wasn't thinking, thinking was a foreign concept to him now. He hugged the stone, and it moved in with a click.

That click suddenly returned Sean's wits and he blinked a few times as a new rushing sound began to fill his ears. "Oh." Was all he managed to say before a tidal wave was upon them.

Sean enjoyed swimming as a human. One of the only sports he enjoyed. He had swum in pools and creeks, water holes and sculpted lap-courses. He had been in deep water several times, falling off a boat, diving too far into a waterhole, been caught in a rip and dragged out into the ocean.

Rai, however, had not. He did not know how to swim with anything more than instincts.

While Sean scrambled in the water to find some purchase to kick off from, Rai flailed and only managed to wiggle in place.

Eyes stinging, Sean opened them to spot the dark shape that was Rai in the dark caves water way. He tried to swim closer to him, but the pull of the rapids and the burning in his lungs made it exceptionally difficult.

He saw Rai's terrified expression for a brief moment and doubled his attempts, slowing his own pull to let Rai come to him.

He reached out a paw, grabbed Rai, and lost his grip. Without taking the time to curse his three fingered, stubby paws, Sean tried again, extending the claws and snaring Rai's fur. He felt skin and grabbed with his other paw, claws digging into Rai's scruff and drawing blood. He had him.

Rai writhed against him, but his panicked eyes fell on him and realised it was Sean. He stopped fighting him and let Sean pull them upwards, up until their heads broke the top of the water. They both breathed in deeply and desperately before the water pulled them under again.

Sean refused to let Rai go, cutting him multiple times, as they came up for air before being dragged down. After what seemed like an age, but actually took a mere ten minutes, they were blasted upwards and into open air.

"BRACE!" Sean screamed as they fell, clutching onto Rai in terror and simply hoping they landed safely.

Hitting the water from their height, and into a shallow pool, was not among Sean's favourite experiences in life. He actually rated it rather low on the list. Thankfully a pokémon's body was much tougher than a human's and was less prone to the effects of physics. After resurfacing, they were shaken, but relatively fine.

"Oh my, that was quite a fall." A laboured, yet still strong, voice said. Neither Sean nor Rai paid it much attention, merely floating in place as they tried to remember how to pokémon again.

"What…?" Was all Rai managed to say.

"Not fun," Sean agreed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm not looking forward to swimming again. Or ever."

"Yeah."

Blinking, they began to resurface to the realm of the aware and looked around. They were seated in a pleasantly warm hot spring, with a few pokémon staring at them.

Sean's adrenaline-infused mind didn't quite register who was what, but Rai at least recognised someone.

"Teddiursa?" he asked, slowly spinning until he was no longer floating on his back but standing on all fours. "What are you doing… here? Where are we? Wait."

"You are at the hot spring," the voice from earlier said, drawing their attention. Standing on a raised element of the heated rock, was a torkoal. "Now are you alright? That was quite a fall."

"Two in one day," another pokémon, a mankey, said. "Well, two events. Four pokémon."

"Well this is what we were talking about before," Rai said, completely coming too. "Wow. We're at the Hot Springs? This place is ages from Waterfall Cave!"

"That is where you came from?" Torkoal gasped. "That is quite a distance. We all saw you be launched with water; how did you not drown?"

"Sean pulled us both up," Rai said happily, pointing right at Sean. "Saved my life! Thanks so much."

"It's nothing," Sean said, blushing. "You would have done the exact same thing."

"But I don't know how to swim." Rai chirped before grimacing. "Although, ow. Your claws are really sharp."

He turned his head, trying to see the back of his neck, and giving Sean a direct shot at the blood.

"Oh dear," Torkoal gasped. "Young pokémon, those wounds are not light ones. You should stay here for a time, soak in the waters. There are healing powers here, it will likely help that wound."

"Good idea." Rai nodded, sinking just enough to cover his neck. "Ah… and hey, we were going to come here anyway! What luck huh Sean?"

Sean didn't respond.

"Sean? Oh, heh."

Sean was blissfully scrubbing himself down. Once Torkoal told Rai to stay put to deal with the scratches, Sean had realised he was in clean water and was taking this opportunity to the fullest.

It felt wonderful to get clean again. And it didn't come with hairballs either.

They remained in the hot springs for nearly half an hour before the topic of why they were here came up again.

"And we just couldn't find either of them!" Rai grumbled from the edge of the water. He bounced back from nearly drowning quite quickly, but he still wasn't keen on going too far. "I have no idea. You didn't see a cherubi or floatzel pop out of the sky, did you?" Rai chuckled, but no one joined in.

"Uh, yes," Teddiursa answered, after the moment nearly turned awkward. Both Sean and Rai's eyes snapped wide and they turned their attention solely on Teddiursa. "Only about half an hour before you two did."

Rai bolted up as Sean waded closer. "Are you serious?" Rai gasped as Sean said.

"They were together?"

"Yeah." Teddiursa nodded, looking a little uncomfortable. "And I don't know why. Cherubi's my friend, but I've never seen her with any floatzel before."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Teddiursa's companion, Ursaring, asked.

Teddiursa sank in slightly, embarrassed. "I, uh… didn't want to make a scene. Cherubi seemed a bit dazed, I didn't know if I should say anything or not."

Sean and Rai exchanged a glance, the same conclusion coming to mind as they began to worry. "What direction did they go?" Sean asked, hoping Teddiursa would say towards Treasure Town.

"That way." The little bear pokémon pointed, and Sean saw Rai's face drop. That wasn't towards Treasure Town.

"We have to go," Rai said, splashing out of the water. "Now!"

"Right," Sean said, splashing to his side. He scooped up the Treasure Bag from where he placed it and they raced off, ignoring Torkoal and Ursaring calling after them.

"This can't be as bad as I'm thinking?" Sean asked as they ran. "Right? Pokémon are all happy go lucky, sunshine and friendship. They're not like…" Yet as Sean said it, Drowzee came to mind. Weepinbell came to mind. Darkrai came to mind.

"Let's just hope we aren't too late," Rai said, and they spoke no longer as they sprinted.

With an hour lead, neither was sure they'd be able to even catch up to floatzel and cherubi, but they had to try. If only for peace of mind.

Rai slowed for a period to examine some tracks, made with a heavy foot with webbing. "These are floatzel tracks," he said, and they were off again.

They sprinted, then ran, then walked, and sprinted again. They reached a split in the road, and Sean immediately took them to the left. Rai called after him but followed soon enough anyway. He couldn't explain why, but stopping was not an option, and he had to find floatzel.

They sprinted, then ran, then sprinted again, before Sean slowed them to a walk. He was breathing too hard to stop for words, but both of them muffled themselves regardless as they walked up to a clearing.

"Do you have it?"

"Right here."

Peering out from behind a tree, Sean's eyes narrowed. He spotted two pokémon. A staraptor and a floatzel. And the floatzel was holding a sack that moved.

"I want to see-" Staraptor's demands would go unheard as Sean and Rai emerged from the trees, breathing hard and scowling deeply.

"Is this a set-up?" Staraptor squawked furiously, but Floatzel hissed and stepped back himself.

"I have no idea who those two are," he said, narrowing his eyes. "What are you two doing here?"

"What is in that bag," Sean said, voice low and dripping with malice.

"None of your business," Floatzel snapped back. The bag, or the pokémon inside the bag, quickly squealed.

"HELP ME!"

The terrified scream sent both member's of Team Ion straight into action. Sean went first, rushing forward in pure fury.

Floatzel tossed the bag to the side as Staraptor squawked and flapped into the air. A Thundershock from Rai nearly knocked him out of the sky, while Sean slammed into Floatzel's belly while lashing out with his claws.

A thin white line, yet no blood, was drawn on Floatzel before he responded, striking Sean as he was knocked back with a ring of water. The Water Pulse dazed him badly as it knocked him even further, but he shook the effects off fast enough to avoid a second one.

Judging him to be an easier target, Staraptor swooped down with a foot outstretched. Sean didn't have the ability to evade a second time and received a stunningly powerful kick to the chest. He felt it in a heartbeat, Staraptor moving so fast to strike him multiple times with feet, wings, and beak.

"So that's what a super effective move feels like." Briefly flitted through Sean's mind as he was knocked back. The attack was devastating, but left Staraptor in a position to be attacked by an even more furious Rai and he pushed every ounce of Power into his Thundershock.

Rai used Thunderbolt.

Staraptor was blown back, jerking in agony as he crashed into Floatzel and both tumbled down in a twitching pile of electrified limbs.

Rai rushed to Sean's side, but the meowth was already getting up. "DOWN!" he shouted, leaping to tackle Rai out of the way of a speeding floatzel.

Floatzel, wrapped in a wreath of water, bounced off a tree and came around for a second shot. Rai charged forward, summoning the same power he had earlier and used a second Thunderbolt. Floatzel howled in pain, but he was merely a distraction.

Staraptor came at Rai from behind, aiming for a healing wound on his neck. Sean leaped in the way and took a second Close Combat attack to the chest. This time, however, he grabbed Staraptor's other foot and refused to let go even as the deadly Flying-type battered him with his wings.

He was able to hold him for nearly ten whole seconds, but it was long enough for Rai to turn back on them. Once Staraptor flung Sean off, Rai electrocuted him again.

Sean rolled to a stop, right by the tossed bag, and weakly tried to crawl over to it. From the inside he could hear crying, and the bag was still moving. "Are you okay?" he whispered, reaching the clasp of the bag. He managed to open it, the sounds of battle causing him to flinch, and a cherubi rolled out.

"Are you here to save me?" she whispered, and Sean nodded. Cherubi sobbed and scooted closer. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine," he answered, feeling a wave of emotion cross over him. Her voice, it sounded terrifyingly like his niece.

"Where's my mommy?" she whimpered, flinching back as a clap of electricity spooked her. Sean turned back to the battle, Rai was doing well to fight them, but he couldn't continue alone for very long.

"I want my mommy," Cherubi cried again. "I want my gacko. I want my gacko."

Sean's heart clenched painfully as Cherubi continued to cry. "She's a little child," he thought as he got to his feet. His claws on his right paw unsheathed as Sean's thoughts turned darker. "A child, and what were they going to do with her?" His claws began dripping with purplish darkness as Sean's mind went clear.

Sean's other paw extended its claws as the cold hatred gripped his heart, channelling powers he had no idea of. Both claws were gripped with vantablack darkness as the darkness began to extend, shaping into triple sabres each that extended far beyond his claws.

"MONSTERS!" He roared and burst forward with speed unprecedented with Sean. Rai briefly saw him coming and shocked Floatzel, giving Sean his target.

Staraptor screeched in pain as Sean's blades cut into his wing, through flesh, and nearly severing bone. His other paw came around as Staraptor flapped back and delivered a brutal slash from his face to his chest.

"SCREW THIS!" Staraptor shrieked and flapped out of reach, quickly making his way up and away as fast as his injured wing could carry him. Sean hissed after him, but the problem was not yet dealt with.

"Watch out!" Rai yelled, not in time to spare Sean from being struck in the back of the head. He fell to the ground as Cherubi cried out again, witnessing the underhanded blow.

Rai's own temper snapped, moving from explosive rage to steely rage and he unleashed the thunderstorm on Floatzel, blowing him back into a tree, then through the tree. The large tree crashed down, burning thanks to the electricity, as Floatzel completely lost consciousness.

Rai breathed heavily, having expended far more energy and Power than he ever thought this day would take. He quickly came to Sean's side, but Sean growled. "Cherubi?" And Rai quickly rushed to her side as well.

"Hey, hey, hey," Rai soothed, trying to calm the crying pokémon. "It's alright. It's fine. You're safe now. You're safe now. Hear me? Say it after me. I'm safe now."

"I-I'm safe now."

"I'm safe now."

"I…I'm safe now."

"I'm safe now."

"I'm safe now."

"You're okay now," Rai said, curling an arm carefully around her. It wasn't easy, being a large berry, but Cherubi seemed to appreciate it all the same.

"What happened here?"

Sean's overprotective instincts flared again when an unknown voice entered the clearing, and he was up again with black sabres on his right arm.

Ursaring quickly raised his hands. "Woah, woah, woah." Teddiursa peaked around Ursaring's legs and Sean blinked, recognising them as Not-Enemy. "Teddiursa and I came after you after Teddiursa convinced me something was wrong with Floatzel."

"Floatzel took Cherubi," Rai answered before glancing down at Cherubi. "Right?"

"Y-yeah," she answered, relaxing slightly now that it was safe. "I was exploring the new place, Waterfall Cave, and he was so nice and friendly, offering to help me around, and then wanted me to meet his friend. He seemed so nice, he promised he would take me back home right after."

Ursaring's expression turned dark and he stomped his way to where Floatzel lay.

"I'm glad you're alright," Teddiursa said, rushing over to hug Cherubi. "I thought Floatzel seemed wrong, I'm so sorry I didn't say anything earlier. Can you forgive me?"

"Teddiursa also pointed the way to where Floatzel had gone," Rai said, smiling at the upset bear. "If it wasn't for him, I'm not sure we would have made it in time."

Cherubi didn't speak, she just pressed into Teddiursa's hug and they both began to cry. Rai stepped back, letting them cry together, and waited by them as Sean came over.

"I think Ursaring's going to carry Floatzel back to Treasure Town with us," he said, pointing to where Ursaring now had the criminal slung over a shoulder.

"You two are exhausted and can't be leaving this criminal here, free," Ursaring snarled, but made an effort to speak softer when Cherubi flinched. "So, I'll carry the lowlife for you."

"Thanks."

"Thank you."

Arriving back in Treasure Town was interesting. Cherrim had been pacing nervously around the entrance to Treasure Town, keeping an eye on the guild and the crossroads, and upon spotting her daughter, immediately rushed over crying in relief.

"Oh, my cherubi, my cherubi," she cried, leaves opening enough to embrace her daughter. "What happened?" she asked, repeating the question more forcefully when Cherubi burst into tears and she spotted Floatzel being carried like a sack.

"This lowlife tried to kidnap her," Ursaring growled, causing Cherrim to softly say.

"No."

"I'm sorry miss," Rai said, stepping closer. "He did and tried to sell her to a staraptor out far beyond the hot springs."

"Cherubi?" Cherrim asked, glancing down at her daughter, hoping this was just a lie.

Cherubi burst into tears again, pressing against her mother. "I'm so sorry. I was so scared, I didn't know what was happening, and he seemed so nice, and he said he'd take me back, but he didn't."

Cherrim began to cry herself, pressing against her daughter. Rai shared a look with Sean before looking back to Cherrim. "Miss we are going to contact Officer Magnezone right away," he said, nodding to Ursaring to continue walking up to the guild with Teddiursa by his side. "He'll be in a lot of trouble for this."

Cherrim stopped crying long enough to start, before staring at the back of Ursaring, and the unconscious face of Floatzel. "That's…?"

Her bud began to glow as she softly pushed Cherubi to the side. "Put him down, I will finish this myself." She began to charge a Solar Beam, even in the dying light of dusk her will would gather all the power she needed.

"Miss no!" Rai cried, jumping to her side. "Let the authorities deal with this!"

"He tried to take my daughter," Cherrim replied, still charging. "I'm not going to just let him go."

"Miss what he has coming to him will be worse than just a Solar Beam!" Rai tried to appeal to that area.

"I'm not intending on 'just' a Solar Beam."

"Miss!" Rai scrambled for a purchase. It was difficult to try and defend Floatzel, a big part of him felt this was entirely justified, but he wouldn't stand by to murder.

"Your daughter needs you right now." Sean's voice cut across the situation, and Cherrim hesitated. She glanced to the side, where Cherubi was still crying, but now looking desperately to her mother. Cherrim's bud slowly closed.

"Make sure he is punished," she said softly, brushing a leaf alongside Cherubi. "I'll be in at the morning to properly thank you. For now, I just want to be with my daughter."

She quickly left, and the pair sighed in relief. They nodded to Teddiursa, who had been glancing back worriedly, before following them up to the guild.

It would be an interesting meeting with the authorities. That was to be certain.

The day was done. The jobs completed. The outlaws given over to the authorities. The apprentices had all gathered for dinner.

There was a problem though.

"Where the HELL is Team Skull?" Loudred yelled, causing everyone to cringe from the volume. Everyone was standing awkwardly near the entrance to the mess hall, by the sentry post and waiting for Diglett to give Loudred the word.

"Indeed, this is most uncouth of them," Chatot grumbled, that was the most he'd give in support of this.

"What could be keeping such a… strong team like them I wonder?" Bidoof questioned, not really expecting an answer.

"Oh my gosh I'm so hungry," Sunflora moaned, laying about over everyone, fainting by Loudred's side the most.

"It isn't like them to be so late to a meal," Chimecho said, floating worriedly. She was just as hungry as everyone else, and had even prepared the meal, and was feeling even worse about it.

"Oooh Chatot," Wigglytuff moaned, holding his belly. "Just one Perfect Apple? Please?"

"I'm sorry Guildmaster." Chatot shook his head. "You have to wait with everyone else. That is your own rule."

"Rules are stupid," Wigglytuff grumped, sitting down in a huff. Chatot looked away from him uneasily, for once wishing for Team Skull's appearance.

"What is taking them so long?" Rai muttered. He didn't want to see them by any means, but this was odd behaviour.

Bidoof looked around at the annoyance and building frustration and decided to try and help. "Uh... anyone up for a knock-knock joke?"

Sunflora sighed and waved a leaf. "Go for it."

"Knock-knock?"

"Who's there?" Dugtrio muttered.

"Snow!"

Rai quirked his mouth. He felt like he'd heard this one before. "Snow who?" he asked. Corphish nodded to him.

"Snow laughing manner!"

Wigglytuff laughed. A few others smiled, but that was it.

"Pokémon detected!" Diglett squeaked excitedly and everyone perked up. "Pokémon… detected?" The change in his tone sent everyone back on edge.

"Who IS IT?" Loudred demanded.

"The footprint is Grovyle. The footprint is Grovyle."

Everyone groaned, some more audibly than others. Sean didn't groan, not in the least.

"Grovyle huh?" Loudred muttered, disappointed. He glanced to his helper sheet of outlaws and rolled his eyes. He stomped up the guild to the top floor. Normally no one would be able to hear someone from the lowest floor, except perhaps the keen-ears Chatot. Loudred, however, was loud.

"What do you WANT?" he demanded at the gate. "The guild is CLOSED for the day."

Grovyle smiled genially on the other side and held out a hand. "I have a letter for the Guildmaster from someone called Skuntank. He said it was important, so I thought I'd come right away."

Loudred jerked back on the mention of Skuntank and nodded. "Alright fine. Come in." He opened the gate, letting Loudred through before slamming it shut again. "Everyone's down on the lowest floor, WAITING for Skuntank and his cronies. This better be good."

In a bad mood, Loudred led Grovyle down to the lowest level to where everyone was waiting.

Sean, feeling panic grip his very soul, did his best to hide behind Rai without looking like he was hiding. Grovyle's eyes drifted over the whole guild, taking in the curious expressions shot his way, before landing on Wigglytuff.

"I take it you are Guildmaster Wigglytuff," Grovyle said and Sunflora and Chimecho immediately swooned at the voice. Even Rai and Sean shivered slightly, and Sean's mind immediately went places.

Wigglytuff, with a new person around, and being directly addressed, bounced right up onto his feet and immediately clamped onto Grovyle, startling him. "I am Wigglytuff!" He beamed, shaking Grovyle's entire arm. "It is nice to meet you friendly friend!"

Sean had to smother a laugh at the sheer look of bafflement that Grovyle was sporting. He covered it up very quickly, though, and smiled. "It is nice to meet you myself. I have heard a great deal about you Guildmaster, although I wished to have met you under better times."

Wigglytuff's smile dimmed slightly as Grovyle pulled himself free. "I ran across a fellow calling himself Skuntank of Team Skull." He handed out the letter he was holding. "He seemed to be in a considerable rush, having spotted me simply going about my day and demanding that I bring this to Guildmaster Wigglytuff of Treasure Town after scribbling in it for a minute. He gave copious amounts of a strange laughter as well but left before I could exactly ask much of him."

Wigglytuff took the letter and opened it, reading out in a loud voice. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff, I regret to inform you that I and my team have received a letter of poor news. My sister has grown very sick and I have to leave immediately…" he trailed off, reading the rest of it in silence. "Oh."

Wigglytuff turned the letter over once, twice, thrice, before sighing. "They aren't coming on the expedition."

The entire guild needed to bite their tongues to prevent a cheer from breaking out. However, as Wigglytuff's misery, the need to quell it disappeared entirely.

"Sir," Chatot said softly, laying a wing on Wigglytuff's back. "I am sorry. We all are." He said that a little sharply, turning to give a fierce look to the guild, but they needed no threat to agree with him.

"Yup-yup, this is terrible by golly."

"Oh my gosh, Guildmaster I'm so sorry!"

"Hey-hey, I was kind of looking forward to working with them if they had the Guildmaster's approval."

Wigglytuff sniffled once but brightened at the support. "It cannot be helped," he said calmly, not smiling but not completely down either. "It is important to be there for friends and family, I cannot blame Skuntank for having to leave."

"I am pleased," Grovyle said, regaining Wigglytuff's attention. "Skuntank did seem rather upset from what I saw. I wish there was something I could do to make up for bringing this letter of bad news, but…"

"Oh, but you can!" Wigglytuff went hyper again and clamped back onto Grovyle, causing the same look of sheer bafflement. "Skuntank said you seemed really strong in the letter and said you should take his place! We're going on an expedition soon, to Fogbound Lake, it's going to be fun, and exciting, and mysterious, and fun, fun, fun! Will you join us? Will you? Will you? Will you?"

Grovyle's expression of astonished bafflement didn't need to be faked at how quick of a turn of events that took. "I, uh." He blinked before regaining his calm. "I would be honoured to lend my assistance to the great Wigglytuff Guild. I do not think I can fill the void of having lost Team Skull, but perhaps I can make up for it regardless."

"YES!" Wigglytuff cheered, grabbing Grovyle in a bearhug. Grovyle's expression turned to a brief moment of panic, but it was missed completely when Wigglytuff tossed him in the air.

"Three cheers for Grovyle!"

The guild cheered each time until Wigglytuff finally let Grovyle down.

"I… had best be going," he said, catching his breath and backing away. "I should not intrude any further on your time." He bowed his head and glanced around to all the apprentices. Sean held his breath as Grovyle's eyes passed over him and he swore they stopped for a moment.

"If you'll forgive the intrusion, I'll see you tomorrow," Grovyle said.

"Of course, of course!" Wigglytuff cheered. "We need to get to know our new friend first!"

"Yes," Chatot agreed, going along with Wigglytuff's madness. "We will add a day or two onto the date of leaving to accommodate this new arrival. So, we'll expect to see you bright and early Grovyle."

"I am an early riser," Grovyle assured, giving a charming smile. "Again, I'll be honoured to work with you. I think I'll need a night to process this."

"We have beds here!" Wigglytuff immediately said. "My room, and Team Ion has space in their room too!"

Grovyle glanced to Sean and Rai for a brief moment before shaking his head. "No, no. That is more than alright, I have already organised my bed for the night."

"Aww," Wigglytuff moaned, but perked up right after. "Alright! We'll see you tomorrow friendly friend!"

"Indeed." Grovyle nodded. "I look forward to it."

And then, as quickly as he arrived, he was gone.

Wigglytuff hummed a merry tune as everyone surged into the mess hall. Already spirits were raised greatly with this news. Chatot forewent his planned announcement before dinner and just had everyone dig in.

Afterwards, the guild had gone to bed in higher spirits. Wigglytuff may have still been disappointed Team Skull was gone, but the allure of a new friend was too great to leave him too upset.

The apprentices all shared pleased goodnights and went to bed happily. Team Skull was gone, and a new, honest, pokémon had taken their place.

One pokémon, however, was not so relieved.

"I can't say I'll miss those three," Rai said as he curled up on his bed.

"Mm."

"It sucks I won't be able to learn anything more about what they did to my treasure, but I doubt they would have said anything anyway. At least now they're gone, and I can relax again."

"Sounds good."

"Goodnight Sean."

"Night Rai."

Rai was happy. But Sean was not.

"Ahhhhh…" he screamed on the inside, desperately trying to hold it in so he wouldn't freak Rai out. As that would cause questions he couldn't answer. "What is going on? WHAT IS GOING ON? Why is Grovyle here? That wasn't supposed to happen. He looked at me. He looked right at me and stared. Just for a moment. I bet no one else noticed, but I did. Does he know? How would he know? I haven't even seen him, have I?"

Panicking further, he went deeper. "Oh my god. Oh. My. GOD. Wait. Wait. Could I have told him the truth during the part of the future I don't remember? Would I? I don't know. Maybe? I don't remember. Would I have told him? The situation was pretty serious. Is that enough? Did I tell him where I would end up? But why wouldn't he have come for me sooner? Or… wait, I would have told him I would lose my memory, right? Ah. But. But. BUT. What's going on? I don't know. I WOULD have told him not to come here, so why the hell is he here. WHY THE HELL IS HE HERE?"

These were questions Sean couldn't answer. Everything up to this point had been handled fairly well, no severe differences in the story he was expecting.

This. This however, Sean had never seen coming. But as much as he wanted to sleep and just let this be a nightmare, the reality was irrefutable.

Grovyle was joining the expedition.

HA! WHO WAS EXPECTING THAT!?

But so, the next chapter, the start of the expedition, but we have a guest Sean never would have seen coming.

Also. Some talking from me below. An explanation and a question.

So, I think I'll address Floatzel, Cherubi, and Staraptor. What was going on was very dark, very… twisted for a cutesy setting like pokémon. I felt unsure about writing it, but reasoned that pokémon, even the Mystery Dungeon series, is actually quite dark itself. The world itself has an optimistic, positive, theme too it, but many isolated elements of the world are quite twisted. I thought I'd use that here. I don't think it's out of character for the setting. The night-mate thing up there, that probably is, but that is because it is a societal thing that is a bit hmm. But Floatzel? Isolated incidents do happen. Darkrai tries to get you to commit suicide, Dusknoir attempts to have you executed on camera, terrible things do happen, but in singular incidents, not setting-wide. I hope that makes sense for why I used that scene.

So, a thing I've been considering. The little name scandal I did earlier in chapter 4 with the 'night-mate' thing. It maaaay have been too much of a thing to do. It wasn't planned, it actually only came to me as I was writing the scene, and I thought it'd be funny. But instead it's awkward to both read and write. So, I'm asking if you think I should go through and edit that whole thing out? I'm happy to do so, since I don't have a beta I have to rely on people reviewing to learn what does and doesn't work and I'm thinking this thing doesn't work.

I hope you've enjoyed.