Always Audacity

Chapter VI - Robinswood

It only took one embarrassing minute to find his way through the building to the front door, and with another nervous breath, he pushed his way through outside.

Wincing, he blinked as he let his eyes adjust to the bright light of the sun. But this time, they had an easier time adjusting to it and with a paw above his eyes, his vision recovered.

"Holy…"

The town that was laid out before him wasn't something Sam had expected. He had stepped out of a wooden cabin into what almost looked more like a forest woodland camp than a town. The trees that surrounded him were massive, easily towering dozens if not more than a hundred feet in height, with some often being so wide at the bottom as to cover dozen metres across. Stone paths cut across the ground in front of him, connecting to several differently sized cabins, also made from logs and planks that were secured into place. Some of those were reinforced with cobblestone that matched up with the stone paths that ran in between each of the buildings before congregating into a larger square at the centre of it all. Or rather, a pair of squares, given that there was a river flowing through it all. Several smaller buildings that Sam could only guess were shops were spread out around the square, with two wooden bridges, on being larger than the other to the point it was fitted with a circular platform, connected the two halves together.

On the far side of that though, standing beside a collection of waterfalls that fed the river was the most colossal tree he had ever seen. Forget feet, it was easily over one hundred metres tall, with branches so thick in places they made the cabins look small. Even from here, he can tell it has actually been hollowed out, with a large entrance built in at the bottom and what appeared to be windows and openings scattered across its trunk. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes moved from cabin to cabin, chatting away with each other or cutting through the water of the river. A few flew above his head, drifting from place to place across the town.

He couldn't resist letting out a gigantic grin, "…holy crap!"

"Ahem… language."

He stiffened up, head looking down to find the Blaziken Rex just a couple of feet away from him. "Y-Yep, sorry. My bad."

Rex let out an amused huff, his beak twitching a little bit. "Relax. There isn't any grammar police here."

"I-I… erm…"

Rolling his eyes, Rex turned and started making his way down the path, and Sam quickly scrambled to follow him. "Well Sam, welcome to Robinswood."

"Robinswood?" Sam mused, staring up at the trees, "Pretty nice name."

"You can thank the Fletchlings and Rookidees for that one."

"Oh… the robin guys? That makes sense."

Mentally, he kicked himself, Okay, come on. Why the hell do I recognise all these Pokémon and… trainers of all things… whatever they are… and yet can't remember my life? This su-

He forced the thoughts out of his head as Rex nodded. "Yes, the bird Pokémon that lived here were a massive help in setting up the town, especially as people started moving into the Sea of Wonders."

"Sea of Wonders?"

Rex cast a glance down at him, "You really got one hell of a knock on the head didn't you?"

Ears twitching, Sam could only sheepishly rub the back of his head, "Yeah… must have done."

"Well, the Sea of Wonders includes a collection of islands between all the major continents of the world." He glanced again at him again, as if trying to scan his face. "Air, Grass, Mist, Water and Sand Continents?"

"Right. So, everyone started having a closer look, right?"

"Correct. The different authorities on each continent decided to settle the isles some years ago, especially as new islands started emerging from the water. The plan was initially for the continents to establish joint settlements, with Robinswood at the centre but…" Rex sighed sadly, "That plan fell through."

"Why would that happen though?" Sam questioned, "Unless there was some kind of disagreement?"

"That… is a very long story."

Straightening up, the Blaziken guided him into the town, pointing out the different stores. Such as the Kecleon shop (which for some reason sounded familiar to the Scorbunny), the Durandolon Bank… all facilities that would have allowed a town such as this to function. A few Pokémon glanced their way, and shouted out greetings mainly to Rex, although a few waved over at Sam himself. The best he could do was merely wave back with a little smile, although he could feel the fur rise on the back of his neck… almost as if someone was watching him whilst his back was turned.

They soon found themselves at the bottom of the massive tree that dominated the town, a few Pokémon were strolling in and out… often in groups, Sam noticed. Many of them carried satchels on their person, and many more also sported what appeared to be an armband or scarf, all of them marked with some kind of clear symbol. He glanced back up at the Blaziken as he stopped short of the entrance… and noticed a similar band around his own arm. A black one with a clear red and yellow symbol that looked painfully abstract, and yet… he couldn't help but think it looked like a feather. "This tree has got a few facilities in it. Spinda's Bar is at the bottom, and at the top you have the TalonKnight Post Office just next to the Observatory. No Pelippier Post Office though I'm afraid."

Something clicked at the back of the Scorbunny's mind at the mention of the post office. A memory? Or something else? Whatever it was, Sam felt like he had heard of it before… what was it about? He looked up at the Blaziken. "I think I recall something about Pelipper being Post… birds or something. Why didn't they set up shop here?"

Rex scratched his chin, "Well, the Talonflame's and Coviknights had already set up a post service before we ever showed up. I think the Pokémon who run the Pelipper post office decided they didn't fancy the competition and just focused their efforts on the mainland. Let the folks here do their own thing."

"So… economics are to blame then?"

"Yes. Pretty much." The avian Pokémon placed his hands on his hips, gazing back up the tree. "Most of the floors though are reserved for the Guild."

"Guild? What, like mercenaries or miners?"

That got a chuckle out of the Blaziken as he shook his head, "No. Exploration Teams. You really did get hit on the head, or that Confusion Ray was particularly potent." He raised a hand up to the tree, "The Exploration Teams are groups of Pokémon that often do a few different jobs, some obviously go out exploring, trying to learn what they can about the world and bring back something to help the towns. Others perform rescue missions, rescuing Pokémon that end up getting themselves in danger, and some deal with bringing criminals to justice, like the ones you encountered back in Little Forest."

Sam looked back towards the black armband, "I'm guessing… you're part of one of these teams?"

Rex narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze drifting back towards his armband, "I'm not in a team anymore. I'm the local guild master."

The Scorbunny stiffened again, sensing his ears go erect. "Guild master- err… I must have wasted your time-"

"Nonsense." Rex replied, "Like I said, it's part of the job. Certainly beats office work all the time."

He sighed softly again, eyes closing. "Although, rescues and bounty hunting has been on the rise as of late…"

Sam flicked an ear at that. "I mean… if this is some newly colonised place, I suppose bandits showing up isn't farfetched."

"You aren't wrong. And yet…" Sam's eyes flicked down, seeing one of the Blaziken's hands clench. "There's the natural disasters."

Disasters… the Swampert mentioned them…

Brows drawing closer together, Sam loosed up and looked back up at the Guild master. "Rex… are these-"

An almighty crash rang out from the tree, the Scorbunny's heart nearly leaping out of his chest. "What the hell!?"

The Blaziken's eyes had snapped open, and he was already marching towards the entrance of the tree. A few Pokémon also cast a sharp glance towards the entrance as Sam scrambled to keep up. A purple shape dashed out of the tree and slid against the bark, panting whilst their crystal eyes dimmed. "H-Hey boss! That big guy you brought in to the cage? He's woken up and he's... well-"

Another crash rang out, and Sam could almost feel the ground quake from the impact. "-kinda pissed off." The Sableye finished, wiping their forehead with one hand. "He's trying to break the cell door down." Rex rolled his eyes, already clicking his fists together. "Of course he is. I suppose I'm going to have to try and talk some sense into him again."

Sam almost let out a little huff, tasting the flicker of sarcasm in the guild master's voice. "Hey, maybe I can help!"

Rex spun back round on him, "After what happened last time? You'll just annoy him some more. I can handle this myself. I'll get someone too…" his head swivelled round, looking amongst the teams of Pokémon surrounding the entrance. "Jack?"

A Butterfree floated out from the gathering crowd, a green scarf wrapped round his neck. "What do you need?" he asked with an almost happy chirp in his voice.

"Can you help Sam get settled in whilst I deal with Greg?"

The bug bobbled up and down with a flutter of his wings, "You can count on me guild master!" he exclaimed, bring himself to hover next to the Scorbunny.

Sam deflated at the order, a part of him desperate to get down there and give that big bastard the middle finger… not that he actually had a middle finger as such anymore… but then a very subtle ache worked its way through his ribs… and that was frankly the only reminder he needed. He returned a very faint nod, and with Rex returning a much stronger one back, jogged inside.

Jack led him out of the crowd and back into the square, making sure to hover next to Sam. "You're the new guy who just got rescued right?"

"Yeah, that's me." Sam said with a faint groan, "Though more like I got my backside kicked. You're an explorer too?"

"Oh yeah, been at it for a few years now." Jack swung himself in front of Sam as another bang rang out behind him. "Hey, don't worry about getting rescued. It happens to the best of us. Hell, it took me getting rescued to get into doing all this."

Raising a brow up, Sam focused his attention back onto the Butterfree, rubbing his hands together in interest. "Really? I doubt you did as bad as me. I could barely do anything."

Jack floated out of the way, and the two continued across the square and onto one of the paths out, "If it's any consolation, I ended up falling into a fissure and spent the entire time cowering in a corner crying my eyes out."

Sam stopped for just a moment to process that, "Okay… now that can't be the whole story."

With a little whistle, Jack bobbed about against as the rabbit Pokémon got walking again. "Oh, you bet! I was just a Caterpie back then, and got rescued by these two new guys." His eyes twinkled a little bit as he said that, "They were… so cool…"

Sam let out a weak, but genuine laugh. "I can kinda relate then." He said, as they made their way into the trees. "Those explorer guys do seem kinda badass."