The Arenoak prison was located in the far northern part of the region. It was large, a bit too large for its own good even. Made for housing hundred of dastardly Pokemon, but only contained about a dozen at a time. The building was made out of very neatly cut stone bricks, and surrounded with large steel fences. The inside housed many cells with some being custom designed to keep certain types of Pokemon better contained.
It was late at night and one such Pokemon, a certain Krokorok, was scratching the muddy wall. His cell consisted of the tightest packed dirt mixed with cement to prevent him from digging his way out. He let out a massive groan as his sore body stood up, and walked over to the bars to grip them tightly and stare out into the empty halls. He banged his head against them, letting out an even louder groan. It was pretty much the only thing he could do.
"Oh quit being a baby." A voice called from behind.
The Krokorok turned around, and saw a cloaked figure. A Scrafty wearing a covert cloak was standing there with his arms crossed and looking very upset. The Krokorok let out a breath of relief, followed by an angry scowl and crossing of his arms.
"Finally... What took you so long?" He huffed.
"I have more important things to do than getting you out of jail. Again." The Scrafty's voice was low, sounding calm yet with a distinct feeling of anger lingering on every word.
"How'd you even get in?" The Krokorok continued talking, "And what are you wearing? Did you get promoted?"
"I also don't need answer questions from you. Instead, I want to know what happened to your sorry tail."
The Krokorok groaned, then recalled how he ended up in jail. He mentioned the sack of gold, the baby Pokemon, and getting beaten up by two troublesome brats.
"Who and what were they?" Said the Scrafty.
"A Ralts and a Chespin." Krokorok answered, "Why do you even want to know?"
"Cuz' those two just defeated a Bisharp, one of the King's men, who was grabbing the sack you lost. "
The Krokorok let out a chuckle, "Eh, what else is new? Those henchmen couldn't steal candy from a Pichu."
"At least we know now to keep them in our sights."
"So you getting me out now?" The Krokorok tapped his foot.
"I'm not." The Scrafty growled.
"What do you mean you're not?!" Krokorok growled back.
"You lost an important assest, and your behavior has been... unacceptable." The Scrafty pulled out an orb from under his cloak. It was a light blue, and seemed to hum when he held it. "Order from the boss."
The Krokorok's eyes widened, tears forming on their edges. "H-Hang on!" He got on his knees and clasped his hands together, "I-I'll make up for it!"
"I doubt that." He leaned forwards, "Also... the boss told me to tell you you're his least favorite."
"P-P-Please, have mercy!"
"This is a mercy." The Scrafty clenched the ball tightly, and lobbed it right at the Krokorok. In a flash, the Pokemon was instantly turned into an apple. The item plopped onto the ground and rolled towards the Scrafty, who picked it up and crammed it under his cloak. Down the hall, the sound of an approaching Magnezone could be heard.
"That's my cue to leave." He whispered to himself, taking out a very strange orb that resembled a Ghastly's face with its eyes closed. With a squeeze, he disappeared in a small puff of smoke.
The Magnezone floated up to the bars, looking inside the now empty cell. He didn't notice or hear a thing, and kept floating on by...
*RIIIIING*
Row's eyes slowly opened, the light from the sun hurting and blurring his vision. He twitched, but found he couldn't move as something heavy was gently biting his side. He turned his head to see...
"Chester?"
The Chespin was fast asleep, mumbling incoherently about marshmallows as he hung on and kept nibbling on the Ralts. Row tapped his on the cheek to wake him up, which he did with a groan. "Huh?" Chester opened his eyes, seeing Row. He paused, then noticed what he was doing. With a gasp, he released his grip on his friend and fell backwards off the bed. He landing on his back with a thud, and another groan of pain.
"Are you ok?" Row asked, hiding a giggle.
"Yeah... Sorry about that. I was dreaming about a marshmallow field and-." The Chespin pulled himself up and did a stretch. "Big day today huh?" He tried to change the subject.
Row nodded, "A whole ceremony... Probably nothing too special." Row pulled himself out of bed, wiping off the saliva left behind Chester. "Think it'll be just like when we got our name?"
"Mhm!" Chester grinned as he hopped over to the kitchen to retrieve a nice red apple for breakfast. He tossed Row another apple, to which he promptly gulped it down all in one piece. "Do you seriously not realize how you eat?" Chester asked.
Row just looked confused.
"Never mind." Chester shrugged, crunching down on the apple in his hand. "Oh, and don't forget to get the scarves and bags!"
"Way ahead of you." Row grabbed the items off a nearby tiny table. He paused, noticing that one of the bags was a little bit heavy. He shook it around a little, hearing the telltale sign of pages flapping around. Guess Chester really wanted to read something on the trip to HQ.
*Knock knock*
"Hello?" The voice of Mrs. Zee could be heard on the other side of the door. Row gasped, and ran over to open it. And there she was, the Ampharous brightly smiling and holding an envelope.
"Mrs. Zee!" Chester grinned as he walked over, "How's stuff?"
"Wonderful! Rocky's been taking your place and he's doing great." Mrs. Zee grinned.
"Nothing bad's been happening right? No one's been entering the forest?"
"Ah, actually..." She paused, "Seems like a lot of Pokemon around here are either losing their stuff or somehow wandering into the place. One of the teams at that explorer place keeps going in and coming out a lot these past few days. Uh, I believe one of them is a Charcadet?"
Chester nodded, "Yeah that's Team Buster... Did anyone from the class get lost in there?"
"Thankfully no." Mrs. Zee gasped, "Oh yes, Rocky wanted me to give this to you." She handed the letter over to the Chespin. It was a nice clear white, and a very sloppily put on wax seal covered its back. "Well as much as I would love to chat further, I have to go and get everything ready. Big test coming up!" And with a wave goodbye, she left the house. Chester looked over the envelope in his hands.
"You'll have to read it later." Row said, "We gotta go."
Chester placed the envelope on the tiny table and grabbed his bag and scarf.
"Ready?" Row gave a slight smile.
"Y-Yeah!" Chester shivered in excitement. Finally, his dreams were truly becoming a reality...
Chester and Row stood in Mr. Messa's office. Outside, the shuffling and muttering from the other teams could be heard from downstairs. The Palafin, in hero form no less, was polishing a pair of medals ready to be handed down to the two intrepid heroes.
Chester suddenly let out a massive sigh, slightly spooking Row. "Sorry," Chester said, "Nerves are getting to me."
Row bit his lip, "Same..."
"You two will be fine!" The Palafin grinned, finishing up his polishing. "Now, you two go first. I'll be following behind."
They both nodded and exited the office. With strides of confidence they walked along the edge of the big hole in the floor, staring down at the teams below. Behind them stood Mr. Messa, carrying their badges. They all stopped in front of the teams.
"Everyone." Mr. Messa stepped forwards, grinning widely. "I'm happy to announce our newest team have made the next big step into becoming a true member of our wonderful guild!" He held up the badges, their shining blue surfaces gleaming in the light. With an exaggerated gesture, he handed them off to the two Pokemon beside him. A minor amount of applause came from Team Trouble, and a rather friendly chuckle from Falina.
"So what happens now?" Row asked.
"Oh, that's all I had..." Mr. Messa rubbed the back of his head, "I uh... had this whole big speech planned but Miss Daisy told me to wrap this up quickly. So..." He turned to the small crowd below, "Dismissed!"
Row shrugged and looked over at Chester, who was cradling the badge like it was a priceless treasure. Which to be fair, it pretty much was.
"OK boys, Miss Daisy also told to me give you the very quick rundown of how things work around here." Mr. Messa crouched down and pointed to a big board down at the first floor, "That there is where all the jobs are listed. Take up to three assigned to a specific dungeon and head out as soon as possible." He then held up his finger in front of the team, "Now, we here work on a star ranking system for our teams; one to five. I think you can guess where you're starting at." The two nodded. "Good. Now, on top of determining how serious a job is, the star system also limits where one can explore."
He suddenly took on a far more serious expression with the tone to match, "In addition... there are special dungeons we call 'Places of Power'. That cave you entered as part of your trial is one such place. You may only enter these places with our explicit permission, otherwise they are completely off limits. They are dangerous and we suspect the Strange Ones are currently investigating them, and thus are under our direct supervision. Understand?"
Row and Chester nodded rapidly.
Mr. Messa perked up, his jovial tone returning. "Good!" He smiled. He stood up and did a dramatic pose with his arms flexing upwards, "Now get out there and make Sacred Strength proud!"