The next day, May and Serena were on track for another task. Though, they were still getting used to their morning routine.
"UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!" The ear-splitting voice of the Guild's unofficial alarm clock tore the two human girls out of their slumber. "Ugh...good morning May..." Serena got up and put her shoes and headband on as May went over to the newly built bathroom to wash her face. Within a few minutes, both girls were ready to assemble in front of Wigglytuff with the rest of the apprentices.
"AND... THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"
"OK, Pokemon! Time to get to work! "
"HOORAY!" As the other Pokemon went off to their usual posts, Team CrimsonVelvet contemplated their next move. "Are we going to do this every day Serena?"
"I think so. But hey, I think it's fun!"
"Hmm, maybe. But it'd be great to get a break every once in a while."
"Oh please, it's only your third day here in the Guild. Don't tell me you ladies are already tired of it." The girls were interrupted by the voice of a musical bird coming up to them. "Nevertheless, it seems you're still wandering around lost and unaware of what duties you should fulfill. Come with me." Chatot flew up to the Bulletin Board room as the girls followed him up the ladder.
The girls saw Chatot standing near the bulletin board on the opposite side of the room from where they had gotten their job yesterday. "Yesterday we had you ladies do a job from the bulletin board on the left side of the room. Today, we'll have you do a job listed on this side. If you're wondering how this is different from the other board, take a closer look! " May and Serena looked at the board and saw pictures of several Pokemon.
"Oh, look, May! There are posters up here that show a variety of Pokemon! Wow, they all look pretty cool! Are they famous explorers?"
May was less positive. "I don't know, Serena. These don't really look like explorers and these drawings look like the kinds you would make for a wanted poster. Who are these Pokémon, Chatot?"
"Very good intuition, May. The Pokemon posted here... are outlaws. They're all shady characters. And they're wanted for committing crimes. So there are bounties on their heads. In other words, there is a cash reward if you capture one. There are so many aggressive Pokemon around these days that everyone's finding it hard to keep up with the problem."
Serena seemed disappointed. "Aw, I thought we were gonna go out and make some friends. But wait, wouldn't it be dangerous for us to go out and fight an outlaw?" Serena didn't want to consider the potential of an outlaw Pokemon being even more inclined to grope her. May seemed to detect what her partner felt and gently tapped her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."
"I hate to interrupt your display of affection but there's no need to be concerned." Chatot ruffled his feathers. "The bad Pokemon out there come in all shades of badness! Some of those Pokemon are completely wicked, through and through... But there are also bad Pokemon who are merely petty thieves. So you've got evil to naughty... and everything in between! So I'm sure we can avoid giving you a job catching a super bad Pokemon... Now look over these posters, then pick a Pokemon that looks weak enough for you to bring to justice! Hee-heeeee! " Chatot tried to encourage the girls, who were still unsure.
May and Serena looked through the posters, each containing descriptions of the outlaw Pokemon in question, their crime, and its behavior. "Vile Victreebel wanted for trying to eat others." Serena shivered at the idea of being captured by a Victreebel and forced into its maw. "Nope. Gang of Ariados wanted for entrapping travelers." A mental image of herself and May caught in a spider web while menacingly being approached by several giant spiders emerged in her mind. "NO WAY!" She grabbed another leaflet. "Odious Cradily captures female Pokemon as slaves with help from friends." Ew no, if this one does that to female Pokemon, who knows what he'd do to us? May also didn't have much luck. "Sleazy Octillery wanted for lewd crimes. Licentious Tentacruel causes trouble in forest." Thinking of herself and Serena being groped and held in tentacles and at the mercy of invertebrates that would've had no respect for her modesty made her skin crawl. There seemed to be an unusually high number of invertebrate or cephalopod Pokemon among the outlaws, much to the girls' chagrin. "Omastar Brothers wanted for serious crimes, including-" "AH! Not so fast!" Chatot flew up and grabbed the flier out of May's hands. "This job is far too difficult for you. And the Omastar Brothers are a pair I wouldn't send any apprentice to apprehend." The musical bird spoke in a much more serious manner than usual. Given how the Guildmaster and I barely survived, who knows what those thugs would do to these girls, especially since they're humans and considered attractive by many Pokemon? "UGH! None of these options seem safe!" May complained.
"It's all part of your training. You'll work through it, I'm sure! But I suppose you do need to be prepared to confront a tough opponent... So I'll have someone give you a tour of the facilities. Hey! Bidoof! Bidoof?!" A quadrupedal brown rodent quickly rushed up the ladder and approached everyone.
"Huff-puff-huff... You called?" He spoke in a nervous tone.
"Ah, Bidoof! These are the new recruits that just joined us, they are called Team CrimsonVelvet. Take them and show them around the town and then help them choose an outlaw mission. " Chatot turned to the girls. "Ladies, this is Bidoof. He's one of your fellow apprentices. I want you to pay attention to what Bidoof has to say and follow his orders. Off you go! " Chatot then went back down to the main chamber.
"Yes sirree! By golly, I'll do just that! Yup yup!" Bidoof called out as his superior went away. He then turned to face May and Serena. "Howdy. My name's Bidoof! I'm a fellow r-r-r-rookie..." His speech was cut short as he looked upon Team CrimsonVelvet. The girls looked upon him with kind smiles, as they also proceeded to introduce themselves. "My name is May." "And I'm Serena." But Bidoof might as well have been witnessing a Glare attack from an Arbok. Gee whiz. They're so beautiful! I've never imagined what humans would look like but by golly I didn't expect that they'd be so pleasant to the eyes.
"Uh..Bidoof? Are you ok?" Hearing May say his name broke him out of trance. "Aw, shucks, sorry about that." Bidoof quickly made up an excuse. "I'm glad to have members junior to me! I'm almost overcome with joy right now... I might just blubber with happiness! Before you all signed on, I was the most recent rookie..." When I asked Jirachi for a pal or two to show around, I didn't think he'd send a couple of human ladies, especially not ladies this pretty... "Anyways, I might as well show you around. Are you already familiar with Treasure Town and everything in the Guild itself?" Bidoof shook himself out of thoughts and got composed.
"Well, I've been here for several years but May just arrived a few days ago so a tour of Treasure Town would be great, since even I don't know everything there. We already met almost everyone else in the Guild so we know what's going on here." Serena jovially responded.
"Well, I'd best show you around town then. Come with me, please."
The three of them went outside. They quickly reached a crossroad. "Whelp, we just came down from the Guild itself. Straight ahead is the path to the Beach while Treasure Town is to the right and in the opposite direction is the way out of town. And next to us is a watering hole where sometimes exploration teams gather before going out...but you already knew all iof that didn't you, ladies?" I probably sound so boring right now. Yup yup.
"Oh it's fine. We're grateful that you're trying to be helpful." Serena kindly responded, with May nodding in agreement. Both could tell Bidoof was just trying to impress them.
"Golly that's great. Now let's head into town."
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The trio ended up in the main square of Treasure Town.
"This here is the main square of Treasure Town, though I reckon y'all ladies might be more familiar with it already."
"Well, not really..."
"Oh, I can tell you about Treasure Town, May. You see, this town was set up to service Exploration Teams and thus the economy revolves mainly around helping them. Over there," She pointed at a stand with large treasure chests overflowing with Poke and a black ghost floating in between the chests. "-is Duskull bank, where we can save our money. That empty space there," She pointed at a yellow stand that resembled an Electivire that stood opposite a pink stand resembling a Chansey. "-is Electivire Link shop, and Chansey Day Care right across. Though it looks like both Electivire and Chansey are gone today. I've never been to either so I don't know what they offer. Do you know, Bidoof?"
Bidoof froze at the question. "W-w-w-w-well...I've also never used them before. B-b-b-but, I know they do something to help Exploration Teams, and that Electivire links moves, whatever that means." Golly they must think I'm so dumb right now.
"I see, well I guess we'll find out later when they're here. Is there any other useful shop we should know about, Bidoof?"
The rodent flushed as May looked his way. "O-o-of course! Follow me!" The rodent led the girls to the western side of town. There were three large stands with one of them modeled after a Xatu but empty, another shaped like a Kangaskhan and occupied by the eponymous Pokemon, and another that was occupied by two multicolored reptiles. Bidoof resumed his exposition. "This here's the Kecleon Mart where you can buy and sell items and there's the Kangaskhan Storage where you can make sure your items won't be lost." He gestured to the Kecleon Mart. "In case you're curious, the purple one isn't shiny; he just wants to be that color, yup yup."
"Yeah, if I remember correctly, the amount of items you can store and the quality of items at the Kecleon Mart all depend on your exploration rank." Serena added, but May didn't like the vibe she got from the Kecleons. They seem like they'll be aggressive and cheap. Wouldn't surprise me if they go find cheap items in dungeons and resell them at high prices. "You sure know a lot, yes sirree! And that's good to know! All right, then. Come find me when you're ready to go. I'll give you a helping hand with selecting the right outlaw for you." Bidoof headed back to the town's center. Both girls smiled at him. "Thank you, Bidoof. You've been really nice." "We really liked having you around." The rodent could only blush in response "G-golly, you're embarrassing me! Aw, shucks...I'll be waiting at the guild's upper underground floor for you." He walked away much more quickly than he expected. Dang it Jirachi! You had to deliver two absolute goddesses as my pals! Not sure if this is a blessing or a curse.
May and Serena went over to Kangaskhan. The motherly storage owner was happy to store the girls' prizes from their earlier mission and seemed to pay no attention to the fact that they were humans. The stand next to hers however, didn't seem as egalitarian. "Welcome to the Kecleon Mart! How may I help...you?" The green Kecleon seemed less enthusiastic upon seeing who the newest customers were. "My my, I knew there was a human girl around these parts but I didn't think we'd see another one. Brother have you seen this other human before?" He gestured to May, as the purple one responded. "Not at all. Hmm, I wonder if humans are coming back. I hope they don't end up replacing us. But then again, humans are weak compared to Pokemon. I don't think they can." "You're right, Brother. Not sure what these two want."
"Um..." Serena interrupted. "We'd like to see what you're selling. We're an exploration team." The brothers seemed shocked. "WHAT! Humans are now being allowed to form exploration teams?! I knew Wigglytuff was ditzy, but I thought he was a ditzy genius, not a ditz." "I agree, Brother. Humans, forming an exploration team. I'm sure the best they could do is steal from me when I set up shop in a dungeon and use their human trickery to defeat me when no Pokemon can." Serena frowned while May just glared at them. "Hey! We said we're an exploration team! Are you actually gonna let us buy something or not? And why do you even need to set up a shop in a dungeon?" The brothers realized they didn't want to start a scene and begrudgingly let the girls check out their merchandise. I swear if I ever see you two in a dungeon I'll give you a Trawl Orb on purpose and trick you into using it so I can unleash my wrath on you. The green one thought to himself.
Neither Serena and May were in the mood to let the brothers get any of their money after their display of rudeness. And upon seeing that the green one had nothing of interest besides some gummis while the purple one only had overpriced TMs and a few orbs, they decided not to buy anything. "Thanks! Please come again!" The brothers said in a clearly fake cheery voice. Team CrimsonVelvet turned to leave when they saw two blue rodents walking their way. "Misters Kecleon!" Both Serena and May couldn't help but coo at the two small rodents as they approached, and the Kecleon Brothers who were just being so rude also couldn't help showing a soft spot. "Ah, little Marill and Azurill, Welcome, my young friends! "
"Hello. May I buy an Apple?" Azurill said as he handed the green one some money. "Oh, most certainly!" "Thank you, Misters Kecleon!" Marill responded as he accepted a bag from the green one. "No, thank you, my young friends! You are to be admired! "
"Aw, they're so cute!" May couldn't help but be charmed by the scene. "I agree!" As Serena gushed, the green Kecleon responded in a surly manner. "Oh those adorable children are brothers. Lately, their poor mother has fallen sick. So those youngsters come and do the shopping for her. It's quite remarkable. Though very young, they've stepped up and taken charge. " May and Serena gushed even more. And unlike some customers they at least belong here. *What was that?" Kecleon straightened up in shock as he saw May glaring at him. "Oh! Nothing!" The purple one admonished his brother in a hushed voice. "You need to stop thinking out loud, Brother." Team CrimsonVelvet couldn't believe how rude they were being. But before they could further admonish them they saw Azurill and Marill rushing back. "Misters Kecleon!" Everyone calmed down as they saw the young boys come back. "Oh, something wrong?" "Yes, we only paid for one apple but there was two!" "Oh, yes... That, young friends, is a gift from me and my brother. Please, share it among yourselves and do enjoy." Marill beamed. "Thank you Misters Kecleon!" "It is my pleasure."
As the pair walked back, Azurill slipped and dropped an apple, which rolled towards May. May picked it up and handed it over to the boy. "Here you go." "W-we're sorry to bother you. Thank you so much." "Aww, you're so polite!"
But as May handed over the apple, she felt her head start getting heavy. What's going on? Why am I getting dizzy?! Before she knew it, everything went black for a second until a great white flash appeared before her eyes. She heard a voice scream: "H-h-h...HELP!"
Next thing she knew she was back where she was, handing over the apple to Azurill. What was that? I'm sure I heard a shout for help just now... "Uh, miss? Is something the matter?" Azurill looked at May with concern. Feeling flustered, May quickly handed the apple to the boy. "No, nothing at all!" The blue rodent in front of her didn't seem convinced but he heard his brother calling and decided to catch up. "Yup! I'm coming! Wait up!" Marill came back and guided Azurill back. "We're done with our shopping... Now we gotta look for an item we've lost! Let's get going."
"Those little guys are so cute, right May? May? Is something wrong?" Turning to the Kalosian, May seemed gloomy. "Did you hear someone scream right now Serena?" "No, why?"
"My, it seems humans keep on hearing things that aren't there." Yes indeed Brother. Guess we don't need to worry about a human takeover of society. They're too crazy to function. Hahaha!"
Both girls glared at the duo as they laughed at them. Serena pulled May back towards the guild. "Let's discuss this somewhere else." But as they headed back to the guild, May couldn't help but wonder. I definitely heard it! That shout I heard... There's no mistaking it... That was Azurill's scream!
"Come on May, let's head back and have Bidoof help us pick our first outlaw mission. Ignore what those jerks said!" As the girls reached the main square of Treasure Town though, they saw the two brothers talking to another Pokemon. One that was yellow and brown and had an unusual snout. Both brothers seemed quite happy to talk to him. May somehow recognized the Pokemon in an instant, and instantly became suspicious. She approached the group and Serena followed. The Kalosian blonde decided to break the ice first. "Um, hi! What's going on here?" Azurill and Marill jovially responded. "Oh! Hi!" "Some time ago, we lost an item that's pretty important to us... We've been looking all over... But we haven't found it yet! Then Mr. Drowzee came along and he says he may have seen our lost item somewhere! He even offered to help us look for it. We're so happy about this!"
May remained suspicious but Serena was happy for the brothers. "Yeah! That's great for you! You're so nice Drowzee." Drowzee was momentarily distracted as he stared at the human girls but quickly adjusted himself. "Oh, please... I'd have to have a cold heart to ignore kids in need! I can't turn a blind eye! Let us be on our way to begin our search!" He couldn't help but stare at the girls as he guided Azurill and Marill away. Maybe I could accidentally touch one of them... He got close to May and for a brief instance, brushed his hand across the girl's exposed belly.
"Whoops, excuse me!" He quickly apologized to disguise his behavior, taking great care that Marill, Azurill, and Serena didn't see what he did. I thought humans would be aggressive but this one is so docile. I managed to get a quick feel and she didn't even flinch. This must be my lucky day!As Drowzee walked away, May started to feel light-headed. "That Drowzee sure is a nice Pokemon, isn't he? I'm impressed. With more and more bad Pokemon around... it's hard to do good deeds." Serena then noticed May holding her head. "May? What's wrong?" May's vision turned pitch black again, before being interrupted by a white flash. This time she saw Drowzee, menacingly approaching Azurill in a rocky area. "If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you!" Azurill, on the verge of tears responded. "H-h-h...HELP!"
"May? May? Are you ok?! This is the second dizzy spell you've had in just 30 minutes." May's vision came back to give her the sight of a concerned Serena. "You're looking awfully grim."
"Serena, can we go somewhere private and talk?"
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"WHAT?!" May was glad she took Serena to the crossroads, and that no one else was there. "You had a dizzy spell? Then you saw Azurill being threatened by Drowzee?! So you want to go rescue Azurill right away? And on top of that Drowzee touched your belly on purpose?!" Serena seemed more upset at the last part. "Well, what you describe does sound like an emergency, but... Well, it's not like I don't trust you, May, but...I just can't believe it! After all, Drowzee seemed to be a sincerely nice Pokémon, didn't he? I watched the three of them go off earlier... They looked like they were having a good time, didn't they?" The Kalosian did seem to get annoyed though. "That being said, he shouldn't have touched you without permission. Though I get that a lot of the males here have a hard time controlling themselves when they see us. But still."
"Serena, Drowzee as a species are dangerous. I don't know how I know but I know they can use Hypnosis to manipulate people and take them away to do who knows what to them."
"Now May, we can't just assume all Drowzee are like that. When I was a little girl, before I got trapped in this world, I visited Kanto where we were warned about a Pokémon known as Hypno, which has a reputation for using Hypnosis to kidnap girls like us."
"Drowzee evolves into Hypno you know."
"Well...yeah. But we can't just assume the worst, like those Kecleon Brothers did of us just because we're humans. For all we know, what you had was a bad daydream because of Drowzee copping a feel."
May considered her partner's words. Was that it...? Just a bad daydream? But come to think of it... That Drowzee didn't seem like a bad Pokémon. "Alright. We ARE just apprentices anyway. Let's go back to the guild and find Bidoof."
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The pair went returned to Wigglytuff's Guild. On their way, they ran into a large bird and a comparatively small caterpillar as they both emerged from the main entrance, who seemed to be wary of both the human girls and the the bird. The bird was friendly towards the girls. "Hey there, my name is Swellow. Our exploration team is called Team Tasty! That cool name was thought up by my partner Wurmple next to me! What do you think? Cool name, am I right?!" Wurmple seemed to grimace in response. "I heard that there was a new exploration team consisting of humans. Never thought I'd run into them here. That's so cool!" As Swellow and Serena had a cordial conversation, May noticed that Wurmple seemed nervous.
"Is everything ok, Wurmple?" The bug nodded in response. "So tell me, where'd you get the idea for your team name?"
"Excuse me? Why did I pick the name Team Tasty? Well... Er, um... I think that's how my partner will think of me eventually... Y-y-yeesh..." They both turned to Swellow, who was bragging about a successful exploration to Serena. May smiled. "I don't think you need to worry. Swellow seems like a true friend." "But what if we run out of food when we're trapped in a dungeon? I'm sure he'd see me as emergency rations..." May gently tapped Wurmple's back. "I've only known Serena for a few days but we're already the best of friends. And I know that if we were starving in the middle of a dungeon, we wouldn't even think of eating each other. I'm sure you've known Swellow much longer and I doubt he'd even consider that." Wurmple considered the Hoennian's words. "But birds are supposed to eat bugs." "Well, where I come from, Pokémon aren't supposed to talk yet here I am, in a world of talking Pokémon. So I don't think you should have such expectations."
Serena came over and beckoned May to follow her down the ladder. Wurmple seemed happier as he said farewell to May and followed Swellow.
Bidoof patiently waited by the outlaw bulletin board and perked up as he saw May and Serena arrive. "Are you folks all set and ready for some exploring?"
"Yes we are!" Both girls enthusiastically answered.
"Oh, yes sirree! Reckon you all are all ready! Then let's pick ourselves a lawbreaker for you to find. Well, you've got your pick of this sorry bunch of characters."
The selection hadn't changed from earlier in the day, much to Team CrimsonVelvet's chagrin. "Bidoof, why don't you do the choosing since you're our mentor?" Suggested May. "Yeah, just don't choose anyone too scary, we're just beginners after all." Serena winked at the rodent as she said this, causing him to blush and shake. "Sniffle... I never had the duty of showing the ropes to anyone before. And to a pair of voluptuous ladies at that! I told you that before you two signed on, I was the most recent rookie..." He quickly shook his head clear and turned to the board. "Let's see. Eenie, meenie..." But before he could choose a potential target, a siren went off and the room started to shake.
"Stand clear! Updating listings! Stand clear! Updating listings!" May and Serena were alarmed, though Bidoof was calm.
"What's that?"
"What's happening?"
"Oh, the data's getting updated." As Bidoof responded the panel flipped over. "You see, the Outlaw Notice Board and Job Bulletin Board are set up on revolving panels. While the panel is flipped over, a Pokémon named Dugtrio, Diglett's dad, swaps out the old jobs with the new ones. Updating is Dugtrio's duty. He tunnels his way to our guild and does it behind the doesn't get noticed much since he usually does it at night but it's very important. Yup Yup! That's why Dugtrio takes such great pride in his work." The room shook again and the panel flipped back over, with new listings. "Update completed, stand clear!" Dugtrio's voice could be heard from behind the wall. "Yes sirree! The data is updated. The list of outlaws has been refreshed, so let's pick one, ladies."
May went through the new leaflets. None of the outlaws seemed doable for her and Serena. Why are all the outlaws in this world so dangerous? She thought to herself. Serena and Bidoof also perused the leaflets. But then the blonde froze as she held a particular leaflet in her hand. She started to shake, to May and Bidoof's concern. "Serena? Are you ok?" "Gee whiz, is something wrong? Why are you shivering all of a sudden? It's not cold here, after all."
Serena then turned to May with a serious expression on her face. "May..." She showed her partner the leaflet. May gasped in stunned disbelief. The Pokémon on the leaflet was an all too familiar face, one that they had just recently encountered. And the leaflet even said he was wanted for multiple accounts of child abduction. "You were right, May. You were right!" Bidoof was confused. "Wh-what's going on, ladies?" Serena showed him the leaflet. "It's Drowzee! H-he's a wanted criminal! And we just ran into him in Treasure Town talking to two little kids!" She turned to May. "We have to get moving! Azurill will be in danger!" May nodded. "Right!" Both girls run up the ladder, leaving a bewildered Bidoof behind. "Now what's going on? Where are you all off to?"