Chapter 3: Brand New Faces

Arriving on the first floor of the Expedition Society HQ, Rea followed Alex through the doorway on their left. It lead to a hallway with one doorway at the end.

"This leads to the Society's dinning hall. The chef shouldn't be too busy right now."

As they approached the mess hall, a Drilbur walked out of the doorway.

"Oh, hello Alex. Who's this?"

"Hello, I'm Rea. It's nice to meet you."

The Drilbur smiled. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Pike. I'm in charge of underground exploration. I'd like to chat, but I have to go. See you both later."

Alex and Rea waved as Pike left, then, they entered the dinning hall.

Inside, there was a large table with seats surrounding it on every side. There was also a door that Rea could only assume lead to the kitchen. Occasionally, the sound of maracas echoed from the kitchen.

Suddenly, a Maractus pushed through kitchen door holding a stack of plates.

"O-Okay. Easy now." She hopped carefully to the table. As she hopped, the plates became more and more unstable. She stopped, rebalanced the plates, and sighed. "Almost there."

"Do you want some help, Illyria?"

"Ah!" She practically leaped several feet in the air. The platters went flying. "A-Alex?" She then looked up. "Oh no."

Alex's eyes began glowing and he caught the plates before they hit the floor.

Illyria put her hand to her chest and sighed. "Please don't startle me like that Alex."

Alex levitated the plates over to the table and set them down. "I'm sorry. I do have a reason for coming though. This is Rea."

Illyria locked eyes with Rea and blushed softly. "O-Oh, hi. I-It's, uh, it's nice to meet you."

Rea chuckled. "It's nice to meet you too Illyria."

Illyria nodded. "While I would love to talk, I do have to prepare for dinner tonight, so I will see you both then." She then entered the kitchen.

As Alex and Rea left the dinning hall and entered the main lobby on the first floor, Azure and Grace entered from upstairs.

"Oh, there they are." Grace said, flying over and landing in front of them. "I'd heard from Foli that we had new member. It's nice to meet you. I'm Grace."

Then, Azure walked up and extended a hand to Rea. "I'm Azure, nice to meet you."

Rea grabbed her hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet both of you. I'm Rea."

Azure nodded. "We'll talk more later." She then turned to leave. "See you around."

Grace quickly followed after her.

After they left, Alex led Rea to the doorway across from where they were standing.

"This is where society members sleep. Teams usually sleep together." He walked to a door which had a nameplate with "Tempest" written on it.

Alex opened the door, and inside were several beds. "You can pick which bed you want. I haven't had the chance to stay in the room much."

Walking over to one of the beds on the right hand side of the room, Rea sat down. To her surprise, they were more comfortable than they looked.

Alex sat down on the bed across from her's. "So, what do you think of the Expedition Society so far?"

"Well, the Pokémon I've met so far have been fairly nice. I'm just worried about what to say if they ask about my past."

"We'll worry about that when we have to. Right now, you should be fine."

Rea nodded. "So, how many more Pokémon are there to meet?"

"Just four. It shouldn't take us too much longer." After he said that, he got to his feet and gestured for Rea to follow him again.

Alex led Rea up the first flight of stairs to the second floor, the to the door on the left. On the door was a nameplate that read "Infirmary." Under the name plate hung a little sign, "Busy."

"Well, we can hold of on introducing you to the doctor for now," Alex said with a shrug. "Anyway, that's not all there is to see on this floor."

Alex then led Rea to the giant holographic globe in the center of this room.

"Before we go any further, I've got to show you this. The Pokémon Nexus, the first completed map of the Pokémon world. Completed by our leaders, Foli and Blaze."

Blaze... Rea's mind lingered on that name. Alex had mentioned his name in the forest, but now she couldn't stop thinking about it. Why was it so... familiar?

"Anyway, I've got one more floor to show you. Let's hope he's awake."

"Let's hope who's-" Before Rea could finish her sentence, Alex was already heading up the next flight of stairs. "Never mind then..." Rea said as she ran to catch up to him.

Arriving at the third and final floor of The Society's HQ, Rea was amazed to see how much stuff covered the walls. Notes, diagrams, and schematics, all of which covered the floor as well. She then noticed the massive telescope.

It pointed upwards through the roof, and a small Pokémon was looking through it. He then quickly floated over to one of the pieces of paper on the floor and picked it up.

"Nothing... Am I just looking in the wrong place?" He then looked up from the paper and saw Rea and Alex standing there.

"Oh, hello Alex. Who's this?"

"This is Rea. Rea this is Jirachi."

Jirachi waved his hand. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. As Alex said, I'm Jirachi. I'm the Expedition Society's astronomer."

"Nice to meet you too."

Jirachi nodded. "Well, if you both could excuse me, I'm a little busy." He then quickly floated back over to the telescope. Not wanting to upset him, they made their way back down to the first floor.

As they headed towards their room, a Typhlosion entered the Society's HQ.

When he entered, he locked eyes with Rea, causing her to slow her pace. His eyes gave off a very stern aura, like they were judging her every move. Then, he silently broke the stare and continued up the stairs to the second floor. Realizing she had slowed down, Rea made her way to the team room.

When she opened the door, she saw Alex sitting on his bed organizing the contents of his bag. There were a couple small blue orbs, some apples, a singular seed, and a mountain of Pecha berries.

"What took you so long," Alex asked as he put the items back in his bag.

"Sorry, there was this Typhlosion and we locked eyes for a moment. I just, slowed down as he stared at me. It felt like he was criticizing me for just being there."

"That's probably Blaze, the other leader of the Expedition Society. He's not very talkative or expressive. Foli says he's kind, but he doesn't really seem approachable."

Rea nodded and sat down on her bed.

"So, any memories come back to you yet?"

"No, but the Typhlosion, Blaze. Something about his name is familiar to me, but I'm not quite sure why."

"Really? Do you think you maybe heard about him and Foli before you lost your memory?"

Rea shrugged. "It's possible, but..." She sighed. "I don't know. I'm just frustrated. I want to know why Blaze's name is the only memory I have other than my own name."

"Hey, don't dwell on it too much. I'm certain you'll remember something soon."

After picking up his bag, Alex walked over and sat down next to Rea. "Besides, until you get your memories back, we'll just have to make some new ones."

Rea smiled. "Thanks Alex."

Then, both of their stomachs growled.

"I just realized, we haven't eaten since last night. Luckily, there's a café and bakery nearby."

As they left their room and entered the HQ's lobby, a figure opened the door. A Gabite with a bag slung over his shoulder.

As Rea and Alex approached, the Gabite stumbled and fell over. A thin layer of ice coated his back, and his arms were covered in slashes.

Running over to help, Alex began checking the Gabite's injuries. "Rea, we need to get him to the infirmary, quick!"

Rea nodded, and, using Alex's psychic powers to lessen the weight, they carried the Gabite up the stairs and to the infirmary. The sign that read busy was gone, so Alex hurriedly knocked on the door.

After few moments, the door opened revealing an Armaldo. Before he could say anything, his eyes fell on the Gabite and widened. Quickly, he ushered them inside.

"Lay him on one of the beds." The Armaldo immediately had his full attention on him, treating his injuries with unexpected delicacy and deftness.

Now that the doctor was working on the Gabite, Rea took this chance to look around the infirmary. There were two beds in total, both set up away from the door, with a small partition between them. Then opposite that was what looked like a cabinet, counter, and various apothecary equipment.

Rea, still taking in the scene around her, observed as the Armaldo worked swiftly, his experience evident with every practiced move, swift and deliberate. He took out berries, bandages, and other medical supplies, attending to the Gabite's wounds. The air in the infirmary was tense, filled with concern and a sense of urgency.

Alex, standing next to Rea, couldn't hide his worry. "Saga, is he going to be okay?"

Saga didn't pause his work as he responded, "He's taken quite a beating, but he's a tough one. He'll pull through." After a few moments, he looked up at Rea and Alex. "You two did well bringing him here quickly. That may have made all the difference."

Rea felt a small sense of relief wash over her, but she couldn't help but wonder what had done this to him. "What happened to him?"

Saga finally took a moment to catch his breath, looking at the Gabite with a mix of concern and contemplation. "I'm not sure, but he may tell us if he wishes when he wakes up."

Just as he finished speaking, the Gabite started to stir. His eyes fluttered open, and he groaned, feeling the pain from his injuries. "W-What happened...?"

Rea and Alex moved closer, relieved to see him conscious. "You're in the Expedition Society's infirmary. We found you in the main hall, injured," Alex explained.

The Gabite tried to sit up, wincing as he did. "I... I need to go after her."

Saga immediately put a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back down. "You're in no condition to go anywhere right now. You need rest."

But he was persistent. "I can't... I can't rest. She took something important from me. I need to get it back."

Rea, hearing the desperation in his voice, spoke up. "We'll help you get it back. Just tell us what happened."

The Gabite looked at her, his eyes filled with a mixture of gratitude and desperation. "Thank you... I was ambushed by a Sneasel. She took... something very important from me. I... I can't lose it."

Alex nodded determinedly. "We'll get it back for you. Just rest for now and leave it to us."

But he was having none of it. "I'm going with you. I can't just sit here while you risk your lives for me."

Saga sighed, realizing there was no changing his mind. "If you're going to be stubborn about this, at least let me give you something to help with the pain and speed up the healing."

After Saga administered some medicine and gave him a bandage to wrap around his more severe wounds, the Gabite slowly got to his feet, his body aching but his determination unwavering. He looked at Rea and Alex, a fire in his eyes. "Thank you, both of you. I'm in your debt." He then extended a claw. "My name is Geo."

Alex smiled. "Don't mention it. We're happy to help."

As they descended the stairs and exited the Society's HQ, the sun was beginning to set, casting a warm golden hue over the land. The three of them set out, determined to find the Sneasel and retrieve Geo's badge.

Rea couldn't help but feel a little scared. This Sneasel they were looking for was potentially dangerous and willing to injure another Pokémon to take what she wanted. Regardless, Rea was also eager to prove herself, not just to Alex, but to herself as well.