PokeMorphisis

Main Building,

Heading to Guild Veteran Christie's office.

There was such a loud crowd outside, but it wasn't hard to guess who it was for. Actually, that's who I was headed to see right now. There had always been a lot of respect for Christie, not just because of her current position but because of her past. She accumulated the third most rescues on the leaderboard, 7th in solo rescues! Solo rescues were the hardest ones to come by. Despite those big accomplishments, her charisma was what shined the most. In each and every save she has accomplished, clients would always express their love for the patience she had with her clients. Eventually, she retired and everyone was upset to see her go, another legend off into the sunset.

That was, until the Guild Master felt the power he held was growing too heavy for him to handle himself which led to the branching out of his power and authority over the guild.

What would happen if I were to cease to exist one day? I am getting older after all, who will step up after me?

The Guild Master was the headline for months after that. People were starting to lose hope in the Guild and their operations, and with the growing rumor of The Rouges emerging back from the shadows, panic to the public was brought. Soon after that, he split his authority to three different legends in the guild to give a message to squash out any remaining flames of that terrorist organization.

Among those three individuals was of course, Christie. Another was my dear best friend Lizardon. He and I go way back, way before our guild days…

And I was proud to call the both of them my former teammates.

Now…to reveal this final member of the Guild Veterans…let's just take a good guess here, aye?

I made it to Christie's office. Lightly, I tapped on the wooden door and waited for that Lopunny to swing the door open. It had been a while since I've last seen her or Lizardon, since I was on a business trip for a few weeks. Small and gentle footsteps creeped towards the door, the doorknob turning and the door being pulled open.

"Sorry, I am on my lunch break right now can't ta-, Nova!" Two soft fuzzy arms reached around my back and pulled me in for her signature hug, always resulting in me getting shoved into that pudgy tummy of hers. There was a height difference between us. Her being the daughter of an Alpha Lopunny made her twice the normal height of a Lopunny, standing at six foot, absolutely towering over my five foot stature.

"My most favorite Lucario in the world…"

"Mmmff…"

Before she broke the hug I felt her hand sneak its way to the back of my head and push me in deeper into her abdomen. These meetings between my face and her breadbasket were nothing new to me, but this sudden forwardness from her definitely caught me off guard. I wasn't complaining though. The contact came to an end, and before I had the chance to properly greet her she was already walking back into her office.

"As I was gonna say~," I took a step but my body wobbled and I ended up tripping into the office, my tail coincidentally closing the door behind me. "AS…I was gonna say, how have you been, Bun-Bun? It's been a minute!"

"You don't need to remind me, these last few weeks have been torturous without my snuggle buddy~," she reached the top of a drawer and nabbed a Lucario plushie that rested next to a Lopunny and Charizard plushie. Just how she squeezed me, she squeezed the doll, warmly nuzzling it.

"Snuggle buddy? Last I remember us doing that was when we were in our early 20's…"

"Oh, is that correct? My mind must be playing tricks on me…," she scoffed and hid most of her face behind the Lucario doll, her eyes twinkling and batting suggestively.

I had noticed prior to my business trip Christie acting rather…needy. And not just towards anyone, just me. But this was on another level! I know we had some fun in our rescue days, but that was so long ago. It's not that I didn't have feelings for her, I actually somewhat fell in love with her back then, but we're in higher positions now, and we don't ever have time for stuff like this anymore.

"On other topics," I started, attempting to change the subject. "How have the teams been under your watch these weeks I've been gone?"

"Well, things HAVE been kind of uneventful. Besides still trying to solve this entire mystery surrounding these 'humans' showing up here as pokemon, there really hasn't been much happening." There was a sudden shift from her serious face back to being dreamy eyed.

"Though, now that you're here, under my watch~," she threw the Lucario doll into her chair, landing flat on its back. With a sway of her hips, she eclipsed the poor doll and plopped her fat bottom right on the chair. Now THAT, caused something in me to stir.

"Perhaps we can rewind a bit…and talk about what you promised me before you had left?" Her ass pushed into the chair, making it thump against the wall. Her arms stretched onto the table, using her hands to support her head. She teasingly wiggled her hips on the chair,

"Wh-what did I say, Chri-Christie?" I had a sneaking suspicion I had an idea of what she was referring to…I was hoping she would have forgotten. I only mentioned it so she could let go of me at the airport.

She thumped her head on the desk and giggled, creeping me out a little.

"Don't act coy now~, you know exactly what I'm referring to~." She stood up from her chair, revealing the plush crush right into the indentation her donk left behind on the cushion of the chair. I had never seen this side of her before. At this point I didn't know what to feel, it was sort of attractive…but also intimidating.

Thock Thock Thock

Saved by the door. Hallelujah!

Before she answered the door she grabbed onto my hip and pulled me in towards her, keeping a tight grip on me as she did.

"Consider that skull of yours lucky, Pup~"

While keeping me close, she pulled the door open to reveal my best friend in the whole wide world, Lizardon. He was holding a box with some bakery's logo on the side, grinning ear to ear, which quickly turned into an "o".

"Bro?"

"Bro."

"Bro?!"

I didn't even get to finish nodding, he pulled me out of Christie's arms and held me close.

"Hey! You can't just take him from me!"

"Greetings and goodbye, Christie! Unfortunately, little bro has somewhere to be, wink, perhaps we can eat this cake together some other time!" With a powerful swoop of his wings, we were off the ground.

"Grrr! You better hope I don't pick up your scent today, Lizardon…" Christie was trying so hard to put on an angry face but her bunny features prevented the face from being threatening at all, quite the opposite actually.

"Thank you buddy…"

And in a blink of the eye, we were out of the main building…

"I don't even know how to fight in this body! Let alone use moves! What do you mean I have to join a team? Isn't there an alternative?"

"Relax! It's not as bad as you think it is! And you won't necessarily be fighting anyone…yet. Though it's recommended that you at least know how to use the base of your element." The awoken Andy waved his hands in a frenzy in the air. I know he was trying to calm me but it only agitated me.

"Can you guys take this elsewhere? You're misaligning my chakra…" Mystique complained.

And so we did. We followed the Herdier around till we reached a few mats surrounding a fire pit under a tree.

We all sat in silence, though everyone was giving me an expectant look like they were waiting for me to freak out again. Why shouldn't I be freaking out, I had every reason to! I was still trying to figure out how I transformed into this, and now I'm being pushed into joining a team? Worst of all…it seemed like all I knew about myself was my name and nothing else.

"So…let me run down how this is going to work," all our attention went to Pachoro, who was fidgeting around a knot on the mat he was lying on. Eventually he just ripped it off, leaving a hole that he just placed a paw over to hide. "In order to fulfil satisfaction for that nights err…let's just keep it at victims, even if you were the one that was attacked. As I was saying, in order to give closure to this case and the victims, though not convicted through court, you are being placed on probation under this campus's supervision. If you are to fail to become part of this administration in the next twenty-four hours, your case will be reopened and you will be tried in court. Any objections?"

"Jeez…talk about a mouthful…" Without even looking up from her phone, Audi voiced her thoughts.

So…this really was the only option I had. How was I gonna join a team? Is my team going to be selected at random? Or do I make my own? Well, at least it was better than having to rot in prison. Guess it wouldn't hurt…after all, I'm pretty much homeless right now…

Sighing, I just accepted it. "Alright, I heard you, but…must I join a team or do I make my own?" As I said this it was like a lightbulb turned on in Shelby's cranium. She gathered Andy and Audi in a huddle, leaving me and Pachoro confused. They talked for a minute, ending the huddle with a nod.

"What was that about guys?" Pachoro asked before I had the chance to.

"So…we were thinking," Shelby could barely contain her excitement to tell us, her paws balled up and moving around like she was playing maracas.

"You were thinking." Audi spoke, again without looking up from her phone.

"We'll take you in! You can be our fourth member! I promise we'll take good care of you! We'll be good friends in no time!" Shelby triumphantly stuck out her chest and smiled to herself. Is she always this prideful?

"Hmm, I was about to suggest that but you beat me to it. Alright well, I'm just a cop and don't control the entire process so my job here is done. I'll be seeing you little rascals later." Pachoro got up and bowed, leaving the campfire.

"He…he knows he's only four years older than us right? Why's he referring to us like we're kids?" Andy shook his head in disbelief.

"So, you guys are going to take me just like that? I mean we've only known each other for a day so, you know…"

Andy patted my back, followed by Shelby's paw settling on my scruff. I was caught by surprise by a light smack from a small hand to my rear. Guess there was nowhere else to place a hand, Audi just wanted to feel included…

"Don't worry about it dude, it would be weird if we didn't accept an ex-human like us!" Andy added, the red pouches on his face sparkling with small jolts of electricity.

"Heh…well if you say so." Well, I guess if the opportunity was there, why not take it? Besides, out of everyone in this campus these guys I knew the…wait, wuh-wah-what? Did I hear Andy correctly? "Hey…what do you mean, 'like us'."

There was a collective stare between the three of them, but then the focus shifted to only Shelby, then back to me. "Shelby didn't mention it to you yesterday?" Andy blurted, shaking his head in disappointment. "It was the entire reason you're here with us right now, and the reason why you're not in deep shit. Shelby, you brought out Alex to show him around so this demonic rabbit could pummel me, and you didn't mention it once to him?"

"Hah…well, you see that was the plan, but I was alerted that our new A.R.C devices were here and you just know I was super-duper excited to see them!" Even now just thinking about them made Shelby want to break it down in front of everyone passing by, her excitement seeping through her sparkly eyes and jazz hands.

"Well, that is certainly something you'd completely forget everything else about. Where are they anyway?" Andy questioned.

"I think it's better we explain to Alex what you said," Shelby started. "Basically, we're in the same predicament as you. Actually, a lot more than just us four are in the same crisis. Have you heard the news of all these odd events of people who didn't exist before pop up at random?"

I shook my head.

"Oh right, of course you haven't, you were practically born yesterday," Shelby sat back down on the mat she had been previously sitting on. "According to the police and this very own guild's statistics, for about a year now people have been popping up at random in this city and this city only oddly enough. These occurrences would happen at different times each month, about 4-5 people each four weeks, though recently it has been at a slower rate. One similarity all shared was that every single one of those people had something related; and that was remembrance to their past life as a human."

That was a mouthful and a lot of information to take in, but I understood the gist of it. Guess I was probably included in that group of people considering the fact that I couldn't remember anything past yesterday. But…if the telepath we just talked to couldn't find anything about me, then how come it worked for Shelby?

"I was actually her first subject and the reason she works here. When she read my mind that day, she looked into my mind and although a little warped, she was shocked to see the truth. She had never seen a world where humans ruled the world and pokemon were basically pets."

That was what she said back at the apartment. Why wasn't it the same for me then? What unfortunance must I have for her to have nothing on me?

"How come Mystique's telepathy worked on you, Shelby…but not for me? How can it be that I can't remember my own memories? Was I ever human?" I was starting to grow frustrated.

"Well, I did tell you yesterday that our nurse ran a scan on you. The way she was talking about the scan was like if you had a near death experience! How hard did that Jolteon hit you?" Shelby questioned with a raised eyebrow, tilting her head and crossing her arms.

"I…don't remember? Being hit by a Jolteon? Is that what happened when you found me?" I tried to remember what she mentioned but…nothing.

"Damn dude…how hard did he hit you for you to be forgetting something that recent? Do we need to keep you with the nurse?" Audi said.

Perhaps that is probably why.

Fwoosh

Up above a large shadow flew overhead, eclipsing all those underneath. A quick glimpse at the shadow revealed to me an orange creature with large wings and a tail. Oddly, hanging on to that same creature was a biped blue dog.

"Oh hey, neat! That's exactly who we needed for the next step!" Shelby cupped her paws around her mouth and prepared to bellow into the sky. And with a deep breath…

"MR. LIZARDON AND MASTER NOVA! WE NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE!" She clapped her hands together, dropping them to her sides.

The creature in the sky came to an abrupt halt, the wind around it in a powerful swoop causing chaos to its surroundings. By doing this it caused the passenger it was holding on to, to fling from their grip and come spiralling towards the brick of a building. A loud SPLAT rang through our ears as the blue figure collided with the solid wall, the area soon filled with sympathetic oohs and ahs. Slowly, the Lucario peeled out from the crater it left behind and met the ground with a thud.

"Way to go Shelby…" Audi shook her head, pulling her phone back out from her fluff.

"Try screaming louder. I don't think he heard you…" Andy cracked.

"Nova!" Lizardon, the Charizard Shelby just called out to, swooped down to the Lucario's side and stared with wide eyes at his downed friend. "Are y-you okay dude?"

Us four and everyone in the vicinity made their way towards the damage.

"H-hah…just like old times. Even till this day you turn me into decorations on solid surfaces! Yes! I am okay." To confirm, he shakily started to stand and dust himself off, all while adorning a warm smile.

"AH~! MASTER NOVA~!"

"YOU'RE SO HAWT~"

"MARRY ME PLEASE~!"

"WHO HURT YOU?"

"FORGET CHRISTIE, LOOK AT ME~!"

The ground shook with the tremor of a thousand feet. Before we had the chance to get to the Lucario, he was surrounded by a bunch of screeching and fangirling pokemon. Lizardon had been pushed far from Nova, struggling to get back on his feet as he continued to be trampled by the mob that couldn't contain themselves. It was so chaotic, a Fennekin had been launched spiralling high into the air. Fortunately, there was no rescuing needed, for a heroic Houndoom caught it midair and landed on all fours.

Surprisingly, the Lucario was handling the mob very well, saluting his fans with glee. "Now now, calm down before any of you get injured! I'm not going anywhere!" He started taking pictures with a couple of his fans, even hugging at times.

"Either he's actually into it, or just doesn't know how to say no to anyone…," Audi chimed in.

In the sea of fangirls, Lizardon's pointy head poked out wheezing for air. Shelby started to wave her arms, hoping he'd notice. Eventually his sight fell on us and he slowly but surely crawled his way towards us, a foot striking his body every now and there. Despite all his bruises, the mighty Charizard pushed up into two feet, mimicking his friend's beaming smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but before his throat and lungs could produce a word, he remembered…what had caused the first domino to fall and tumble the rest. His smile slowly twisted into a frown, his arms crossing.

"Oh missy miss Shelly-Shells Shelby…you wouldn't happen to be the mastermind behind all this chaos?" Lizardon's foot tapped steadily on the ground.

Shelby didn't cower, but instead put her waving hands to her sides, resting them on her hips and puffing out her chest. She suspensefully looked up to the sky…making of most serious of serious faces that could ever be serious in the world of seriousness in a world where the king of serious ruled and she was the queen. Her beauty, grace, wistfulness, all bathed in sunlight as the world stirred with chaos, awaiting her glorious answer…

"Yes." Not once did her stance crack. Not once did she stutter. A queen always stood unbothered.

Perplexion was struck all over the Charizard. No…perhaps it was fear. She just held so much power in that pose.

"Sigh…what is it that you wanted…that caused all this mess…." The defeated Charizard slouched, letting his arms almost drape against the grassy ground.

"Well, you see," without even asking or giving me a warning, my feet gave their goodbyes to the warm, silky blades of grass, and welcomed back the plushiness of Shelby's paws as I was lifted to the air and held by her hip. "My new buddy here wants to join a team, and we're inviting~. Only problem is that he was practically born yesterday, so his control over his element is as good as a pile of bricks! Fortunately, we're generous enough to help~!"

Oh god she's humiliating me again…if this is to occur one more time I'll make sure to go back to that Jolteon Shelby mentioned land make sure he fries me until every atom in my body is burned into a crisp…

…And just for good measure, throw my ashes into the sea to wash away the shame.

"Uhh are you sure he agreed? By the looks of it, that face says he wants to file a restraining order." Lizardon pointed a thumb in my direction and shook his head.

"Oh, oh right. Yes, I did want to. As long as I am no longer being held like this or I will file a restraining order…" I felt her paws squeeze at me a little bit, a giggle juggling in her mouth.

"That's fair. Shelby, put the little puppy dow-"

"I AM NOT A LITTLE PUPPY!"

The Charizard was visibly beyond flustered at this point.

"A-Alright! Let's get to the training grounds!" He turned his back to us and leaned down. "Hop on my back will you? This'll be much quicker than having to walk on foot."

Stepping up first on his back was Shelby, followed by me and then Audi. Andy was last to hop on. After only a few seconds on his back, the realisation came to me that I had nothing else to hold on to other than Shelby. I was NOT about to do that. I simply sat on my hind, like a good…nevermind.

"Hey, what about Master Nova?" Andy asked.

"He can handle it, you know it! Now, hold on tight! Although I can catch you if you fall, I'd rather not get lectured by the Guild Master!"

With a single, violent flap of both of his wings he propelled himself high in the sky. My heart was nearly ripped out of my chest, that shit had me spooked.

"Watch those paws mister~!" It hadn't occurred to me that my paws had reached out and connected to some round squishy lumps that were right on her chest. My face quickly reddened, my paws going down to her abdomen.

"S-sorry!"

"Our turn?" Andy snickered, the Pikachu holding out his hands in front of the Buneary from behind her.

Audi in response gave a subtle thrust with her hips towards Andy, the Pikachu's heart stopping for a second. "You can try, but as a trade you'll be rodent pizza on the floor."

No words were formed in response.

From up here, I could see the entire campus. Surrounding the main building was this entire structure of brick and windows and doors in a big U shape. Right outside of the U shape structure to its right was probably the apartment we had walked out of earlier, but there were more of those buildings around the campus.

As I continued to look down below at the campus, a familiar feeling danced in my head.

Back on the ground, right now.

"Can't believe I have to save your butts everytime…," Diablo's imp like tail curled tightly around Edith's own, the Fennekin all sprawled out being dragged across the ground collecting dirt and blades of grass on her previously lucious fur.

"Gffh! Ptwuah! One day you'll be mine to climb on…," her eyes refused to take their sights off of the top of the Lucario's head, which was the only thing visible from her view through the crowd.

pant

Pant

Pant

"Wheeze. B-boss! There…you are…huff. What happened?" Out of breath, Buck arrived to his friend's side, though short-winded from that small jog.

"Just little ol' Edith here decided to run like the rest of them to check out some dork. You really embarrassed me there you dolt!" Diablo tightened his grip on Edith's tail, though not exactly expecting the Fennekin to groan and whimper rather softly.

"He's anything but a dork…you're just mad you'll never be him!" Edith snickered.

Black fumes exhaled out of the holes on the Houndoom's face, some of the smoke being inhaled by the poor Patrat that was still trying to catch their breath, causing him to hack and kneel towards a different direction.

"I'll be WAY better than that damn idiot! And when I do pass him I'll make sure he knows just how inferior he is to me!" Diablo was devilishly grinning, causing some people standing by to move away from the trio.

Diablo's interest turned to where a Charizard stood, talking with…those dorks plus that wimpy looking Zorua from earlier. What could they possibly need from Lizardon? That Zorua is stuck to them like glue, unless…of course. I loosened the coil around Edith's tail and made my way towards the group of dorks. I stopped before I got too close, but was still close enough to hear details of their conversation. A few minutes later, they all hopped up on the Charizard's back and within seconds were gone. I wasn't there for the entire conversation but I heard what I needed to know.

I made my way back to the two other members of Team Havoc and past them, with a new masterplan.

"Hey…what are you looking so evil for? Diablo? Where are we going?" Edith shook herself off and caught up to my side, Buck dittoing.

"You'll see, kekekeke…"

I am not sure why we needed to get on this oversized lizard's back that had the ability to fly…the stadium was just a walk away from campus.

Anyways we were now on foot and making our way inside. I was told by Lizardon that I would be put through a course with other recruits trying out for a spot on a team, but my spot on this team was most likely already mine since it was done through invitation. I was initially worried because well…I had yet to try my abilities, let alone know how to use them, but Lizardon bent the rule a bit to allow Shelby to join me and help me through the course. It would have been unfair for me to do it alone anyway, as the majority of other people trying out most likely already had control of their abilities. I would also be facing current members of the guild, though it'd be completely unknown to me who was and who wasn't.

It was kind of them to allow me to join their team, but…

"Hey…what's y'alls team name?" It hadn't crossed my mind until now. All teams must have names, right? How dare they invite me without giving me a title for their team…

"It's a pretty silly name! Given by an even sillier Pikachu…care to tell, Andy?" Shelby poked at the Pikachu's cheek.

It was as if a kid was presented with a candy bar. Little jolts of electricity ran all over his body, the Pikachu snickering to himself and rubbing his hands together. It was strange how his fur didn't puff up, but being an electric type most likely prevented that.

"Kay! So one day we were just sittin' pretty in the kitchen of our apartment waiting for Shels' to finish preparing the ravioli she promised to make for us during an exploration mission. And that's when it crossed my mind. Now…the girls HATED my pitch for our team's title. Why would we be called after a food? Others would laugh at us! Oh I was so, so defeated…," Andy abruptly stopped walking and dramatically fell to his knees, clutching at his chest where his heart would be. Audi shook her head, Shelby just simply rolled her eyes unamused. Lizardon seemed to be trying to remember the event. Personally I thought he sold the act pretty well!

Then, with a determined face and balled up fist, he stood back up and tilted his forehead close to the closed fist. With that same closed fist he used it to point at the two girls, smirking while at it. "I didn't let them stop me! The next morning, right at the break of dawn before they woke up I ran to Lizardon's office and now we are…Team Ravioli!" Finally, the Pikachu triumphantly crossed his arms.

"And you wonder why I have to keep you in check from time to time…," Audi scoffed.

"Or perhaps you just enjoy being physical and rough with me as much as possible~" Andy teased.

Audi froze for a second, her face turning oh so red so fast. "Sh-shut up! That is not why you rodent! Keep annoying me and you'll find out once we get back to the apartment…," her face continued to glow red as we approached a pair of sliding doors.

"It was a pretty silly name and yes we did get teased about it by other teams, but it only made us work harder so those other teams could eat their words! So I say it's not too bad of a name…" Shelby nodded her head multiple times, giving a thumbs up.

I had to agree, though the name was silly and immature, if you have good work ethic and give it your all, there's a higher chance of respect to come your way.

We made it past the sliding doors of the stadium and into the inside. Inside, it was bustling with pokemon of all shapes and sizes, many wearing a grey wristband but some wore colored bands which were probably the current members Lizardon mentioned. Facing the entrance were a few concession stands, each serving a different food or snack and one in particular to the far left appearing to be a sports bar. To my right next to the entrance was an escalator going up to the higher levels and to my left, another escalator going down from the higher level. I was so distracted by everything that was going on that I was being left behind.

"Okay, follow me just for a liiiiiittle longer and I'll let Shelby take over for me." And so we did. We followed the Charizard through a hallway that seemed to never end. Perhaps it wrapped all around the stadium. He cut a sharp left to another hallway that led down a flight of stairs, the sound of a crowd emitting deeper into the hall. At the end of the stairs was a Wigglytuff sitting behind a white plastic table. The Wigglytuff looked like it was on the verge of passing out, their eyes struggling to stay open for more than a second.

"Yo! Pinky! My man, it's been a while! It'll just be this Zorua right here, Shelby will be his assistant since he has no control of his element yet. Sounds good? Alright! I need to go check on Nova to make sure his fans haven't torn him up yet. See ya!" Without even waiting for a response from the drowsy Wigglytuff, he dashed back out the way we came from.

"Alright, put this on…," he placed two grey bracelets down on the table, one noticeably smaller than the other. He rubbed his stubby hands over his eyes and shook his head. "You, Floragato…you are not to interfere with the course or use your element to attack others. Your only duty is to coach this rookie," he turned his heavy eyes to me. "You, Zorua. Let me just say it how it is. If you are to fail this course, your ticket will be voided for a month and only then will you be able to try again."

"B-but…I don't even know how to use my element yet!"

"Well…that's what she's going to be coaching you for. Any other questions? No? Get out of my sights…"

I'm so doomed. There was no way I wouldn't fail this. Everyone else would have control over their element but me. But, I did have Shelby, and I'm sure she would do everything in her power to help me through this.

"Alright you two, we'll go get the good seats before somebody takes them, goodluck Alex!" Both Andy and Audi turned back towards the stairs, but right before they reached the stairs Andy gave a firm slap to the Buneary's rear, squeezing into that fluffy fluff. Surprisingly…Audi didn't fight it, instead bumping her hip with the Pikachu's and pinching at his side…

"I'm ready, what about you Alex? Let's go!"

The farther we travelled into the hallway, the brighter the light at the end got, the noise of the crowd growing in intensity.

From here, anything could happen…

…

….

…..

"Hey, Pinky…are there any spots left for teams wanting to challenge the rookies?" A big puff of smoke exhaled from the Houndoom.

Earth 1, disclosed location.

After yesterday's events and the newly introduced problem with the missing laptop…I had to act right away. There was a huge risk with that laptop going missing. The possibility of it being destroyed in the destruction of the entire structure was immediately ruled out, no way in hell that the one device that had been put through a rough durability test would be in bits and pieces from an explosion nor melt from the fire.

A new clean up crew had been hired since…well…

This new crew was placed to clean up and collect after the last crew. Charred electronics and bent sheets of metal were the many things recovered last night, but most importantly, the bodies. Besides the bodies of the old crew, there had been roughly 230 bodies recovered, some completely missing limbs or burned to a crisp. All the recovered bodies were ID'd using the little bits of DNA they had, but none of the bodies DNA corresponded with the owner of the missing laptop.

Minerva Flores

Former FBI agent. Her deep connections have always gotten us access to powerful equipment and what had been powering the gateway for the past few months of its operations. She was the one entrusted with the only DT-L laptop made. Her assistance this past year has always been personally appreciated by me, and I couldn't be more thankful for someone who could sweep our mistakes under the rug before the media had the chance to find out.

My train of thought was interrupted by the tapping of approaching footsteps against the cracked concrete in a dark alleyway in the outskirts of Goldenrod City. A young, feminine figure turned the corner, a familiar brown faux scarf adorning her neck.

"Murphy…"

"Jenn."

I had arranged a meeting with Jenn to continue our conversation from yesterday's call. I wanted to hold a private conversation in person, something I haven't done in a big while with her. Jenn accounted for all the financial transactions that went towards the gateway.

She had stopped a few feet in front of me, hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised. Perhaps she was waiting to see who would speak first.

"I don't suppose you chose such a sketchy location at a time like this just for a staring contest."

And that I didn't. I walked past her and did a quick nose around the area and went back to where I previously stood.

"Sorry about that, I really wish I had chosen a better location but we received too much attention yesterday, anywhere else would've caught us too much attention. As for what I wanted to talk about…Minerva Florez, the owner of the laptop. She was there yesterday. According to our recovered biometrics, she clocked in at 8:56 PM, and entered the control deck in the observation area 20 minutes later. The destruction was at 10 PM. If it's so obvious that she was present there, how is it that both her body and her laptop coincidentally are missing in the aftermath?"

Confusion was plastered all over Jenn's face, understandably so. She paced around in a circle, avoiding a puddle. Finally, she took her hands out of her pockets and let them fall on her thighs.

"I can't think of anything…but I know for a fact out of the both of us, you were the closest to the gateway. And, right before the gateway overloaded there had been that intruder you were so focused on 'protecting' that you sent them to the other world and wiped their memory for good measure. And then that beast of yours teleported us away before the explosion. What was that about anyway?"

"My wonderful ally perfectly timed the escape."

"And the intruder?"

I should have expected Jenn to pester me about that. Perhaps now was a good time to bring up this new idea I had for her to change the subject.

"Jenn…you've been a great addition ever since you've joined the cause, I think it's about time I promote you to an even more important role."

Her initial facial expression indicated that she was annoyed that I didn't answer that question, but she seemed intrigued enough to hear my offer.

"I'll be taking care of your position now, so you wont needing to do anymore finances. This new role of yours will be so…so much more important than being the financial manager."

Creaaak

The sound came from the rooftop. Immediately, it was followed by fading rapid footsteps. We've been spotted.

"Let's continue our conversation some other time…"

Unfortunately I had gotten sick at the start of last week and then later that same week went on vacation with my family, so the release of this chapter was delayed more than I had wanted to…

Anyway! Here you have it. The next chapter will be the start of Alex's venture into his career as a member of the guild! Starting with the ideal test for a beginner. What could that Houndoom be up to?

Huge thank you to everyone who liked and favorited this story…

And an even HUGER thank you to Sunny for that awesome review!

See ya!