After delivering the kids back to Espeon, the trio made their way back to the guild.

Leon found himself staring at Mayor Ninetales as Piers and Raihan gave him the rundown. Half of the events, he had not been there for, the explanation of how Snowcap going missing led to them having to trek through that bug infested forest. Apparently, being accompanied by a fox with hayfever did not make that any easier. Raihan had evolved into theatrics as he explained the dynamaxed mega-evolved Beedrill, with all the energy of an announcer as his stubby legs flailed in his attempt to mimic the entire battle. Unfortunately, he had no tail to mimic certain tactics.

"A mega-evolved Beedrill got caught in the dynamax energy… I never thought a Pokemon could be affected by both phenomena simultaneously," Ninetales mumbled, silver paw rubbing at his jaw. "This is certainly a first! And this is where the three of you reunited, hm?"

"That's right, I didn't think it'd be in the middle of combat though." Piers sighed. "Even with more of us, I think that's the hardest dynamax enemy we've fought so far. I don't think Raihan and I would have handled it by ourselves, heck, even with the type advantage I think Leon struggled. Good thing he's evolved, but I think we need to do that too…"

Ninetales chuckled. "Unfortunately, the only way you'll do that is if you keep training. But hey, if you spend your time helping our clients here, you might get there quicker. Some of the particularly wealthy clients have given our members Golden Seeds in the past~"

"What the heck does a Golden Seed do?" Raihan tilted his head. "Could you sell it to buy rare candies?"

"I'm not sure why you would want to eat raw sweets, but a golden seed bumps you up 5 levels. They're very rare to come by, but they help when you have ridiculous level requirements to reach, huh?" Ninetales frowned. "Imagine being a Larvesta, you'd be stuck as a larva for all your life if you don't fight enough to get 58 level ups."

"That sounds horrible," Piers deadpanned, glancing at Leon then nudging him. "Hey, why are you spacing out?"

Leon found the words but did not take the time to think whether blurting them out was such a good idea. "Are you some kind of mutant shiny or are you just old?"

Piers flew into a coughing fit as Raihan started cackling, Ninetales staring silently at Leon. "Jeez man, you can't just say things like that!" Raihan roared as Piers tried to recover.

"Lee, why- How did you- Why did you think saying that was a good idea?!"

Leon grinned sheepishly as Ninetales gave a quiet chuckle. "That was certainly bold of you. I'm afraid though I'd like to pretend I'm some form of unique specimen, the years haven't been very kind to me. Unlike Flaaffy, he's just as old as me but you wouldn't know it," he grumbled. "Fluffs and I have been on many adventures together, however he's still not reached his final stage yet although we're both above the 50s… It's rather puzzling."

"You're over level 50?" Piers mumbled as Leon put on another thinking face. If something else brash came out, he swore he wasn't going to protect him if Ninetales decided he had enough of his shit already. "How long did it take you to reach that, if you don't mind me asking?"

He furrowed his brow. "Arceus, it was such a long time ago. We've been retired for twice the time we've adventured. We started when we were around your age, had our battles, then Fluffs started training under Headmaster Falinks in learning how to run a guild as I settled down with my family. Can't go running off into danger when you're raising children, hm? But I think it was… 3 years?" As the trio gawked at him, he chuckled. "We swore off using any joy seeds or golden seeds we came across, we wanted to get there through our own determination… We would have finished at least a year sooner if we let ourselves break into our stash."

"That's still a while," Raihan half-grumbled half-whined as he hung his head. "If we want to hurry up and get back to our world, we'll need to learn to be strong enough to not struggle against a fucking Beedrill."

Ninetales grinned. "Well then, the best way to do that would be to join our guild, hm?"

Once again, they stared at him. "Is that something we can do? We don't even know how long we'll be here, we don't even live here." Piers looked at his friends. "Would we even be able to apply?"

"All you have to do is talk to Flaaffy about it, Headmaster Falinks is still not back but he can help you fill in your application and send it off to him. If you live here, then you'll get your own shared quarters and as long as you take the time to help clients out, that's your rent covered." The old fox hummed. "I'm sure Flaaffy would be able to help you train, too. You'd just need to sign up to this guild as an adventuring team. Fancy name and all."

"If it gets us out of the clinic, it's probably worth considering…" Raihan lightly stomped the ground. "We could have a think about it. Do you have anything to say about it, Lee?"

Leon shook his head. "I'm a tad lost, but I'll work it out. I was thinking about Flaaffy though… Do you think he swallowed an Everstone?"

Ninetales tilted his head. "A what-stone?"

"We have these special stones in our world where if a Pokemon uses it, it stops them from evolving. Don't you guys have anything like that?" Piers mumbled, prompting him to shake his head.

"Not really, I guess if someone doesn't want to evolve they just… Don't let themselves evolve. It takes energy, but its not like they have to do it daily, as long as they don't keep going out into combat, eh?" Ninetales frowned. "I wonder if there's a reason he wouldn't let himself evolve, he's always dodged the topic when I've asked. Though we're such good friends…"

"Maybe you're not as good-" Piers' deadpan response was drowned out by Raihan's exclamation.

"Wait- Wait. You're friends? I was getting gay uncle vibes from you two!"

Piers facepalmed.

Fortunately, the mayor did not get any form of tsundere-flustered like Flaaffy would have no doubt reacted from the little they knew about him, instead he chuckled and shook his head. "You wouldn't be the first. Let's not dwell on that though."

Smooth way of sailing past that awkward shouting. Ignoring the love lives of strangers that had nothing to do with him however, Piers remembered back when they met. Flaaffy had certainly seemed eager to evolve, maybe he was trying to do something like learn a move before evolving or something… Did Flaaffy learn any moves Ampharos couldn't? His mind was pulling up short. "Right… Anyhow, I guess the guild folk should know to watch out for mega evolved kaijus… Did you learn anything that could help us, by the way? Like anything more about those wormhole things or…"

Ninetales shook his head. "Not right now, sorry. I'm trying to read up on some old history books, but my duties have been slowing the process, I'm afraid. I got a message from Blissey this morning asking if I could make up a law to stop child and adolescent Pokemon from leaving the village past 9pm on pain of death. I assume it's because of last night, right?"

The trio stared wide-eyed at each other.

"Holy shit, Blissey," Raihan whispered as Leon shuddered.

"I barely know this lady and I'm already terrified of her."

Ninetales laughed. "Anyhow, I'll tell you as soon as I find something. For now though, you should think about joining the guild. Just don't tell anyone you're human, alright? You never know who will freak out."

They nodded and after some small talk, left the old fox to his own devices. However, as soon as they closed the door, they were greeted by a Blaziken towering over them. Leon awkwardly looked up from their chest tuff, his tail flame almost extinguishing as he tensed.

"So, human, huh?" Right before them was the guild administrator, Yuri. Piers and Raihan exchanged panicked glances as Leon sweated. Until that moment, he had not known that was possible.

"Uh… Hey!" Raihan chirped, though he knew if he was capable of sweating like Leon, he would be dead. "Were you eavesdropping on us? That's not very polite!"

Yuri crossed her arms. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I was simply checking on the mayor. I should have known there was something weird about you two when we first met."

"We can explain," Piers mumbled, fur prickling as her deep voice sounded.

"Come with me."

The three of them timidly followed her. And remembering their introduction with her being the Blaziken vaporising the guild door with a flaming kick, Piers and Raihan shivered.

The bulk of the long journey was taken in complete silence.

They had soon realised that trying to ask Yuri where they were going was futile, left trying to work it out by themselves. Piers glanced back up the hill, where fortunately the door to the guild hadn't needed destroying so far today thanks to Leon turning into something bipedal whilst not losing his hands. Albeit the claws instead of proper fingers were still a little awkward. The point was that they did not end up with Raihan swallowing a door handle again.

Now they were back in the main village and Yuri did not appear to have any intention of stopping right now even after passing the main residential area. Any earlier attempts at trying to entertain themselves with small talk had resulted in an irritated glare from the oversized chicken, rendering him with no method but playing 'I Spy' with himself. Understandable for a village, it seemed like he rarely saw any new faces whilst they were out and about, mostly travellers passing by. That only made it more confusing however that they had a whole guild, whose member population was probably triple of that of the village folk. If it wasn't for that towering guild on the nearby hill, Vulpine Village would very much seem like the type of place Pokemon moved to for retirement or settling down.

Right now he spied the two children still playing by Espeon's hut. How he missed the carefree days before he had to worry about bills.

A slight breeze hit them and he noticed Leon shiver. His friend was no pussy about the weather back home, however as a fire type he seemed more sensitive. Piers had no room to even try to tease him about it as he found himself tripping up and faceplanting on the steps Yuri hadn't warned them about. "Ouch! You could have said something!"

"I thought you'd be paying attention to your surroundings," Yuri droned, with a voice he now picked up as less antisocial, more tired. "We're almost there."

Though they had been in the village for a few days now, Piers and Raihan had never noticed this little footpath leading out to steps that extended into a beach. How there was a beach hidden behind the village, he would have never guessed. Nothing about the area had screamed that it was on the edge of the land, with mystery dungeons to every side but this side that they had not even known was accessible.

It was a peaceful beach, with pale gold sand that had some strangely shaped footprints and the sea joining it so calm that it could hardly be heard without straining. He finally laid eyes on their destination as Yuri quietly guided them over to it. A hut that looked a little worn yet, trying to look around at the back, was more sizable than he initially realised.

"Be on your best behaviour or I'm dropkicking you into the sea," she murmured gruffly as her claw rested against the door. An empty threat no doubt, however all three of them still found themselves shuddering. "I'm home."

Those words left her beak with a surprising softness as she opened the door and stepped inside, the trio meekly following behind her. It was immediately apparent before they saw the other tenant that the humble hut was furnished for two, some straw beds in a room that in passing seemed to double both as a lounge and bedroom with a little table that had a few flowers resting on top.

Raihan jumped back as, as soon as they entered the kitchen area, someone ambushed Yuri. Maybe 'ambushed' was the incorrect word, but he had never seen a Swampert wearing an apron before, let alone hugging someone. What a bulky Pokemon they were, however their weight did not seem to bother Yuri as she gently patted their back in her attempt to return the gesture. "Yuri, you're back! I thought you weren't going to be back until dinner!"

"That was the plan, but plans change. My assistant's taken over so I can have the rest of the day off, hm?" Her tone was still gruff, that seemed to be an inevitability whenever dealing with Yuri, however the aura she gave off was not the same one that seemed to intimidate the other guild folk.

Swampert nodded, grinning. "Oh, so you pawned the rest of your work onto Skeptile, poor guy!"

"Raffe, you pronounce it 'Scep-tile'," she murmured as Raihan tilted his head.

"Who's this? Your Missus?"

Piers sighed. "Rai, what did I tell you about assu-"

"Yes, this is my wife Rafaela."

The raccoon facepalmed. "Never mind."

Leon laughed, noticing Raihan's prideful grin. "Nice to meet you. You didn't drag us out all this way to just brag about your bird, did you?"

"Do Swamperts look like birds to you?" Yuri deadpanned, prompting her partner to giggle.

"Yu, I think you're taking things too literally again~ Are you three from the guild?"

Piers scratched his furry cheek. "Not really, but we were there… Talking to the mayor… Then this crazy woman came up to us all scary and said with that deep voice, 'come with me'. We couldn't say no to that, could we?"

At the stormy look her spouse gave them, Rafaela continued to laugh. "I see why you brought these guys, they're certainly unique, hm?"

"You could say that again," Yuri grumbled, stiffly nodding towards the hallway. "I wanted to talk to these lot away from the guild folk. You don't mind if I take them into our room, right?"

Rafaela nodded with a hum. "Of course, I'll come with you after I've done this, if you don't mind~"

Raihan craned his head up, trying to see the makeshift counter that the Swampert had propped herself in front of. "What are you doing, anyway? It smells like something's cooking."

"I was just making myself some grilled fish, I got a flint to ignite a fire then I put it out with a Hydro Pump after I'm done," she chirped, Leon felt his whole body shiver.

"A Hydro Pump? Isn't that a bit much? Sounds like you could destroy the wall if you're not careful!"

"These walls were made to withstand anything, I've thrown a few Blaze Kicks at them and nothing's happened." As the former humans stared at her wide eyed, she slipped past them and into the other room. "Come on, we have business."

The trio silently watched her go then gave Rafaela identical panicked stares, she shrugged and bit into her freshly charred fish. There was no point trying to further delay their fates.

They gulped and followed the giant chicken.

Due to there only being two beds serving as chairs, the lads settled for sitting on the floor peering across the table at the two lady Pokemon.

Or more specifically, Piers strained to stare over the table that seemed to be just the right size that he was left otherwise staring under it at Yuri's crossed legs.

"Are you alright there?" Rafaela asked, her speech muffled by the fish still barely dangling out of her mouth. Such a small fish, he had expected to disappear in a few bites, but the Swampert were certainly bent on enjoying it.

What kind of fish was that? He could not even start to identify it, it certainly did not look like any Pokemon he knew. "I'm fine… I just can't see shit," he grumbled, prompting Raihan to snort.

"Just get on my shell. Maybe one day you'll be tall enough to look over a foot high table."

Piers stuck his middle claw up at him and Leon laughed. "Guys, come on. You should behave yourself in front of women. Why did you call us over here exactly, Yuri?"

The Blaziken watched the Zigzagoon reluctantly scramble onto the Trapinch's shell, clearing her throat. "Right. These three aren't regular Pokemon, actually, Raffe. They're humans."

"Do you have to blurt that out for everyone to hear?" Raihan yelped as Rafaela glanced them over then giggled.

"Ah, that explains a lot. How did you lot end up here? Sent to stop a meteor or thrown back in time from the future?"

Leon tilted his head. "Excuse me, what? You seem… Weirdly calm about this."

"Oh right, we forgot to tell you about the 'heroes' Mayor Ninetales told us about on our first day here," Piers deadpanned. "Apparently there were four other humans like us that ended up turning into Pokemon. I think he said one of them time-travelled. Four humans across four continents… I don't remember what they are exactly, though."

Yuri crossed her arms. "The one you're thinking of right now is the hero of the Grass Continent, AKA the one we're on now, Vulpix. The village was created in her honour but no one's seen her in years... The other three heroes were summoned from different worlds to save this place from calamity…. Our world sure is a magnet for danger."

"And one of those calamities was a meteor? Reminds me of what nearly happened to Hoenn back home." Raihan chuckled. "It would have been nice if we had a hero brought from another world to stop Rose from almost destroying our home because of Eternatus…" He felt Piers swat him, tilting his head to see Leon next to him had tensed up. "Lee, are you alright?"

"I'm peachy," he responded with a sheepish whimper, despite the fact his claws were now digging into the table. Fortunately, neither of the residents seemed enraged by this act. Instead, they looked rather concerned.

He heard Piers grumble in his ear. "Rai, I thought we agreed never to speak the word 'Eternatus' around Lee again."

Right. They had even avoided mentioning the Pokemon by name when trying to fill Leon in about the spontaneous dynamaxing that had plagued the area. If he had palms, he would have brought them to his face. Instead he gave a quiet mumble. "Sorry… Oh… Anyhow, guess we can't deny we're humans," he added a little louder, flashing an awkward grin.

"It sounds like you three have been through the wringer too." Rafaela's brow furrowed as her attention lingered on Leon before coughing. "Do you want me to get either of you three a cup of coffee or something?"

Doing such a thing with those big hands of hers sounded difficult, but Piers wouldn't voice that, shaking his head. "I'm good. Do either of you two?" They echoed him and he turned his stare to Yuri. "Alright… We should get this over with, hmm? Why did you call three strangers to your home? Do you need our help, Yuri?"

She shook her head. "Nothing like that, I rather thought that you could use my help. You seem to be in quite a similar situation to me, after all."

The trio went quiet, glancing at each other. Then Leon found the strength to speak again. "What do you mean by that? You couldn't mean you used to be human too, right?" he spoke in a lilted voice, a smile plastered on his face. It swiftly fell off as she nodded. "Wait- What?!"

"You're one of the heroes, aren't you?" Raihan tilted his head. "I swore Mayor Ninetales said one was a Torchic…"

"That is correct. I came from another world but I remember nothing about my life as a human and honestly, I don't mind it." Yuri turned her head towards her partner, a small smile on her face. "Raffe was the first person I saw when I woke up in the Air Continent and since then, this world has always been my home." Rafaela giggled and Yuri's gaze lingered before as though suddenly remembering they had company, she tore it away and coughed. "We went through some right insanity in our youth, but ultimately it turned out that I was brought here to help prevent the world from ending via meteorite. Lot to put on a 14 year old girl…"

"But it worked out, hm?" The Swampert was practically radiating sunshine, her cheek patches tinted red. Strangely enough, the spikes flushed with them. "We started off saving a Caterpie… Then fighting legendary birds… On the run when all our old friends tried to kill us… Fought Groudon…"

Piers tilted his head. "Excuse me, your friends tried to do what?"

"... Then before we knew it, we were fighting a mega-evolved Rayquaza to get him to destroy the meteor because the daft sod wouldn't look up~ We eventually decided to come here to retire… But Yuri's a workaholic who can't be off her feet for long." Rafaela gave her wife a mock glare as she scratched her beak. "I guess if she wasn't working all the time though, you wouldn't have met."

Leon chuckled. "Guess it all works out, then! But how do you think you can help us, Yuri?"

She stared out the window, prompting him to notice the perfect view of the sea. The beach was certainly a nice option for retirement… Not so appealing when he was trapped in a fire type's body, however. Did Yuri never have to worry about flooding? "The idea is that I was brought to this world for a reason. Have you three ever considered that maybe you were taken here for a reason, too?"

A comfortable silence washed over them, as the three of them reflected. "You have a point, I don't think some kind of deity would drag us over here just for a laugh," Raihan murmured as Leon brought his claw to his jaw.

"If the world's been in danger so often that new heroes are brought in…Are we really here to be heroes too?!"

The way his friend's eyes were shining, Piers wondered if he had completely forgotten his past attempts in their human lives to take the hero role and protect others. When he could still move so energetically, maybe there wasn't a permanent physical reminder pulling him away from that light anymore. Yet when he considered the common pattern, the dread was unignorable. "The dynamax phenomenon doesn't sound like it could be a global disaster, but it's certainly dangerous for the Pokemon around here… So maybe we were summoned to take care of this mess. Is it really possible then that we could calm enough dynamax Pokemon and we'd be able to go home?"

"It could be that simple, it could be deeper than you think. But I recommend you join the guild so you can better prepare to help Pokemon in need that could fall victim to these berserk fellows possessed by dynamax energy. The door will open its way up to you eventually." Yuri shook her head. "You'd have to submit your request to join through Flaaffy but it would ultimately be me who helps you with the registration. I'm also in charge of processing jobs so I could keep a look out for specific missions where this phenomenon is reported. Do be good boys though and take other Pokemon's requests. Even if it ultimately doesn't assist your goal, it's important to be kind."

"I guess the guild really is the way to go," Raihan chirped. "I'm in if you guys are!"

Leon vocalised his own agreement as Piers nodded, analysing his thoughts. Finding their way home when they had the guild's assistance would be all that quicker no doubt, adding in the benefit of no longer having to take up a room at the clinic. Even if they found themselves to be initially barking up the wrong tree, the experience would help them be stronger for whatever the universe decided to throw at them next. "Then it's settled. We'll find Flaaffy and get our application sorted. Fingers crossed, it'd only be a matter of time then that we realise what's going on."

As they left, a thought slammed into Piers' mind and he pulled Yuri aside, telling his friends to go ahead without him.

"I have a question, real quick. Is it true that you've met Jirachi before?"

She nodded, watching Leon help Raihan navigate his way back up the stairs with those stubby legs of his. "That's correct, were you considering tracking him down?" He nodded and she sighed. "Forget it. The way you are right now, you would struggle to navigate Star Cave if it's anything like the hellhole I ventured through. 99 floors of hell, just for a bunch of vitamins. I thought when I asked to get stronger he'd allow me to mega-evolve at will but no, he gave me so much iron it would kill an anaemic!"

"Sheesh, I don't envy you," he whispered, flinching at the high-pitched squawk. "Do you think that would be a possibility later on though, if we can't find our way home? Would Jirachi be able to whizz us back?"

"I'm afraid Jirachi simply wouldn't listen to you. If he knows you have a destiny to fulfil, he wouldn't interfere with it." She shrugged. "Though I assume if you three manage to get to your final evolutions and still haven't worked out what the heck you're doing, it could be worth searching for him to see if he could point you in the right direction. Until then, don't think about it. You'd just get knocked out. A lot."

He shivered and glanced over to see his friends now waiting at the top of the steps. "Right. Thanks for the advice anyway. I guess we'll see you whenever our request gets accepted."

As he made to leave, her gruff voice stopped him. "Piers. I know you might be in a hurry, but don't go rushing ahead. That's a surefire way to get yourself in trouble."

Piers furrowed his brow as he thought about the life waiting for him. The thought of making Marnie worry any longer stung, yet it was better than getting himself killed. "I'm not the type to rush, I wouldn't worry about me."

She watched as he zigzagged his way back to his friends then stepped back inside. Laying eyes on her partner's soft expression, she let herself shed the tears.

"Please. Don't end up like Mika."