*BING BING BONG*
Chester let out a sigh as he stopped sweeping the floor of the school office. He propped up the broom he was holding and said goodbye to Mrs. Zee on the way out, almost forgetting his pay for the day. He passed by the parents of Rocky and Lilly as he left the school area, and they stopped him to deliver their thanks. Many tears of joy were shed, and Chester couldn't help but feel amazingly proud. They gave him some small chocolates as a gift, and walked on home. Chester smiled, munching on the treat and moving on home.
When he got to the square leading to his house however, he took notice of a distinct sound of electricity zapping in the sky. Within seconds, an Emolga wearing a blue postman's cap appeared a mere two inches away from his face.
"Helloareyouachespin?" He said, his voice sounding as if it was on fast forward.
Chester stammered, "Uh... yes?"
The emolga shoved an envelope into his hands, "Okherethanksbye!" And just as quickly as he arrived he zipped off. Emolga mail delivery? Chester knew it was a thing, but he never knew it was that fast... And now he had an envelope in his hands. On its back was a wax seal, cast in blue and bearing a pattern just like the badges those Pokemon he met yesterday were wearing.
Wait...
He turned the envelope over, and on its front was an address:
Sacred Strength Explorers Guild HQ Vairfew City
His jaw dropped and his eyes teared up. With his body shaking, he ran off towards home ready to show it to his friend.
Row delivered another punch to the wooden training dummy; one that was set up inside Chester's house. A sheet of ice formed on it, before breaking off into icey dust. He stared down at his hands, clutching as if to make sure they still worked. He starting rooting through his mind for any other move he might know. He clutched his right hand into a fist, focusing on whatever popped into his head. With a thrust, he punched the dummy, causing sparks to form on impact. He gasped, looking back down at his hand. That... was amazing...
But before he could ruminate on that, the front door burst open with a kick from Chester. "YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!" He screamed. Before Row could even ask, an envelope was shoved right into his face. He took it from his excited partner and read the front.
"Sacred Strength..." He muttered the rest, then looked up at Chester, "Is this-"
"Open it! I-I'm too nervous!" Chester said, shaking.
Row shrugged, tearing open the envelope. Inside was a simple letter, stamped with the same symbol as the wax seal on the back.
"W-What does it say?" Chester clutched his hands together.
"To whom it may concern." Row started reading, "We have taken notice of your actions and request a meeting as soon as you have received this letter. Meaning please come to our location immediately. Sincerely, Mister Messa."
Row blinked, "They want us to visit?"
Chester's eyes shrunk, "T-T-T-T-They..."
"Chester." Row walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Calm yourself."
Chester took a deep breath, over and over, "Ok... I'm good."
They both nodded. If they wanted them to come now, then they would do just that. With the letter in hand, they walked off towards Uncle Jack's taxi service.
Said taxi service consisted of a Donphan; who was not Uncle Jack but one of his many sons. He worked alongside his family to transport Pokemon across the region. Though for some reason there was only one son working near the town, possibly budget related. A sign on his side said his name was "Buford", and he was lying down munching on some mystery nuts. Row watched as Chester counted up his pocket change and gave it to the big Pokemon. He grabbed the cash, counted...
Row's attention was drawn to the shop via a very loud zapping sound. When he looked, he saw the Delibird Bandy smacking his robot with a very upset expression on his face. With curiosity and a desire to assist taking hold, he walked over.
Bandy continued smacking the machine, grumbling to himself many harsh words. Row gently tapped the counter to grab his attention.
"Excuse me, are you ok?" He asked.
Bandy groaned, "Yeah, not Bundy though." He patted the robot, "He's been acting funny this morning. Nothing I've done seems to be working." He grumbled loudly a bunch of angry nonsense before smacking the robot hard.
Row scratched his chin, "Can I try something?"
Bandy shrugged, "Sure, why not."
Row hopped up on the counter to get a good look at the robot. He looked like the Delibird beside him, but made up of bronze and copper. His body was also painted, but in a very lazy manner of slapping red and white paint all over to make it look somewhat Delibird colored. More importantly, there was a nice big spot on his chest that seemed to directly lead to its insides. Row furrowed his brow, and focused onto his hand. With a thrust, he punched the spot with a fist of thunder.
The robot sparked and shook, then stopped. Within a few seconds, he came back to life. Bandy gasped, "Woah, that actually worked! Thanks!"
Row smirked, "No problem." He was impressed with himself and his discovering of these weird elementally powered punches. Though they only added to the mountain of questions about himself. He was taken out of his thinking by a question for the Delibird, "You build him yourself?"
Bandy nodded, "Mhm! I made him with uh... er..." He rubbed the back of his head, "Ok I'm not good at explaining things, so let's say it took a long time and the idea came to me in a dream."
Row tilted his head, "A dream?"
"Yeah, where I met a cool robot version of myself! He was shiny and kind of creepy! He spoke to me, but I heard nothing and then I woke up and started building Bundy here."
"That's... cool?"
Before he could think about the possible meaning of that dream, Row heard Chester yell from behind him.
"Row come on!"
Row waved goodbye to the Delibird, and walked back to the Donphan. Buford had equipped a golden bell on his head and hitched a wooden wagon with an open top onto his back that contained a couple of seats. The two hopped in and Buford rang the bell on his head.
One minute later, and the Donphan ran forwards at a blistering speed. Row, unprepared for the sudden burst of speed, found himself getting thrown back in his seat. Chester chuckled, "Yeah, these rides can be pretty fast!"
"Now you tell me!" Row sighed, stabilizing himself before he fell over completely. "Your idea of smooth is a weird one."
He looked up, seeing the tree canopy quickly disperse and fully reveal the blue sky above. Not a cloud in sight.
"What's the city like?" He asked, turning to look at the Chespin sitting across from him.
"Big!" Chester raised his arms up for emphasis, "Lots of shops, apartments, and big facility places. Stuff like a daycare and a flew market." He paused, trying to think of some interesting details. He then sighed, "My ma and pa used to live there before moving to the town when they had me. Sold a bunch of melons they grew themselves." He smiled to himself, and Row could sense that sense of sadness he felt when they first met.
Maybe it was time to ask.
"What happened to them?" Row said.
Chester went silent. After a minute he finally spoke up, "They're gone." He paused again before hastily adding "I-I don't mean they're dead they- Forget it, it's too complicated."
"Sorry." Row looked away, his gaze going to the floor.
"It's fine."
They then remained silent for the rest of the trip.
Vairfew City was, indeed, lots of shops, apartments, and facilities. Tall buildings dotted the sides of the roads, which unlike the dirt and stones of before was smoot and flat. Pokemon of all kinds walked the sides; visiting the stores and doing their daily things.
Buford finally came to a stop at a hub of many Donphans, and the guys hopped off. Row quickly walked away with Chester following behind as he took in the sights on foot. He was wowed by the change in scenery up close like this. Though there wasn't much time to really enjoy it, since they had to go to that HQ. Speaking of...
"Where is it?" Row asked, looking around as he walked down the roadside.
"...I dunno." Chester admitted, "I haven't been here that often to remember where anything is."
"Maybe they got a sign up front." Row's head darted around as he walked passed building after building.
And while his gaze was elsewhere, he ended up hitting his head against a low hanging sign. A throbbing pain radiated as he grunted, rubbing the sore spot where the sign made impact. Chester quickly came to his side and read what he ran into.
"Sacred Strength Explorers Guild." His eyes widened, "Oh hey, here it is!"
Row shook the pain off, "Ugh, at least we didn't have to search for long."
He looked up to examine the building. It turned out to be very different compared to the cleaner buildings around it that were made of smooth stone. This building was made of raw logs, albeit polished so to look cleaner than a log should. It was two stories tall, with a window looking out from up top and a roof made of long flowing leaves. Windows also adorned the sides of the front door, which was a big imposing wooden one with large knobs made of rocks. Row saw it as a bit humble.
"Hey, why is it dark inside?" Chester said, peering into one of the windows.
Row peered into the other one, and indeed it was dark enough that one could barely see inside even with the sunlight.
They both moved away from the windows and stood in front of the door.
"Maybe no one's here right now?" Row shrugged.
"You're psychic type right? Can you tell if there's anyone in there?"
"I... don't think I can. I just feel emotions."
Chester looked at him confused, then let out a gasp of understanding. "Right, you're a Ralts. Ralts do that..."
*CREAAAAAK*
The door before them opened up slowly, spooking the both of them. Chester stepped forwards first, peeking inside. He gestured for Row to follow, which he reluctantly did. With the addition of more sunlight, Row could get a decent look at what the inside of the building looked like. He was standing in a reception area, with a big desk up front with two doors leading somewhere on each side. A spiral staircase was on the left wall, leading up to the second floor. The second floor had a big square hole in the middle, giving a look to the floor below. Looking up, Row could make out the top of another door, though this one didn't seem wooden like all the others. There also seemed to be some kind of big light that was turned off.
While they taking in their surroundings, the door behind them suddenly closed and the windows shuttered leaving them in darkness. The darkness was soon broken by a very bright light, nearly blinding them.
Then, from the floor above, a big figure jumped down and landed facing away from the two.
"I have been through many seas and lands. I have saved the weak and beaten the strong. I have seen many and yet still live for more. I am..."
He turned around dramatically, revealing a hero form Palafin with tremendous musculature.
"Aquatic Avenger!"
Beside him another figure landed from above. A lot leaner and smaller.
"I've weaved, I've protected, and I'll continue to do so!"
She twirled around, revealing a Leavanny wearing a pointy silk mask over her eyes.
"I am Web Mother!"
The two pose dramatically, flexing side by side.
"We are the leaders of Sacred Strength!" They cheer.
...
The two guys were dead silent.
Chester stared with his jaw opened wide into the biggest smile in the world. The stars in his eyes beamed with such intensity it could be seen from space.
Row just stared, wondering if this was in fact the real world.
The two heroes before them stopped posing and stood upright. The 'Aquatic Avenger' pointed to them, "Now, are you two the one who saved those baby Pokemon from that evildoer?"
Chester snapped to respond, "Yes sir!"
"May I ask why?"
Chester paused. He pumped his arms to his sides and clenched his fists, "I-I felt like I had to! I-It's been my dream to get stronger and become an explorer! I wanna protect everyone!"
The Palafin rubbed his chin, "I see..." He then crossed his arms, his tone becoming more serious, "Can you really save everyone though? There will be times where you can't be there, or will end up in a no-win scenario. Would you be ready for that?"
Chester's expression and mood dropped, "I..."
Row broke out of his stupor to stare at Chester and his obvious struggling to answer. His bottomless optimism and hope was forming cracks, even after their success from yesterday. It was true though, would he be ready if anything bad happened? Row took only a few seconds to ponder, but then the image of the smiling Riolu and Budew flashed in his mind giving him the answer he needed. He raised his white arm in front of his ally while taking a single step forwards.
"He-" He started, before clearing his throat to change his response. "We might not be ready. We might not be able to protect everyone. But... seeing the smiles of those we can save will make it all worthwhile."
The Palafin closed his eyes, humming to himself. He opened them up wide as a big grin appeared on his face and his voice took on an even more jovial tone than before. "I'll take it!" He said, "You two must be good friends huh?"
"We met two days ago."
The Leavanny stepped up, looking very excited. "That's adorable!" She turned to her partner, "Shall we ask?"
The Palafin pointed at them again, "Would you two like to join our guild?"
...
Chester's eyes went from big to small as his jaw almost detached from his face, "Wh-wh-wh- You mean-"
"I mean it! Of course you and us will have to fill out a lot of paperwork and sign you in aaaannnd put you through a bit of a test first." The Aquatic Avenger tapped his arms, "It's a lot of work but well worth it!"
*THUD*
The Chespin fainted, a look of pure bliss on his face.
A dead silence filled the room as they all looked at him.
"Is he ok?" The Leavanny asked.
Row shrugged, a slight smirk on his face. "I think that's his way of saying yes."