Ch 2 – Royals

After the aggressive welcoming to the guild, Lucario called Scizor in to help go through all the paperwork.

“Okay, so your proper name is Blizz and you don’t have any teammates at the moment, is that correct?”

“Yea, just me.”

“Are you considering joining Team Spark?” Scizor asked.

“Who’s Team Spark again?”

“Chimchar and Shinx,” he explained. “Given that they were the ones who assisted you earlier, I assumed you may want to work with them in the future. And they might keep you out of trouble…” He muttered the last part.

“I think I’ll talk to them about it first.”

Scizor looked disappointed. “So be it, then you are currently a solo exploration team. If someone decides to join you, talk to me. Since you already cleared the exam for your team, they won’t have to go through that process.”

“Hand me your badge and crystal,” Lucario instructed.

Blizz dug the items out of his bag and passed them off. Lucario inserted the crystal in the badge’s center, causing it to glow a dark blue.

He returned the assembled badge to Blizz, as a hologram projected out from it. Blizz recognized it as the same one he saw Shinx use back in the dungeon.

“Exploration Team badges use a complex laser-crystal matrix to generate what you see before you,” Scizor explained. “It’s interactive and has several features. The most significant ones are checking on the status of yourself or any teammates, check the status of any missions you’ve taken on, generating a map of the floor you’re on, and get other Pokemon out of dungeons.”

“Basically just don’t lose it,” Lucario summarized.

“Got it…” Blizz experimented with the display, before he noticed a kinda important detail. “Small problem, I can’t read footprint runes.”

“Right… guildmaster I forgot to inform you that Treecko is illiterate.”

“Hey, I’m not illiterate, I just can’t read footprint.”

“Then what can you read?” Scyther asked.

“Just English.” The moment he said that, it occurred to Blizz that there was a very good chance that the language didn’t exist here, a thought confirmed by Scizor’s insistence that he just made that up to make himself look better.

Meanwhile, Lucario started messing with his own explorer’s badge.

“I am the guild’s head of intelligence, and I have never heard of such a thing; meanwhile footprint runes are the standard-”

“Can you read this?” Lucario asked, holding up his badge’s display.

Blizz looked it over. It wasn’t perfect, but this was definitely intelligible. The letters all looked vaguely like English, though every character was in capitals with what kinda looked like an eye in the center. Still, it didn’t take much work to piece together what it was saying.

“Says ‘Lucario, Guildmaster Rank’, right?”

Scizor looked stunned. “…You can’t read footprint runes, the easiest and most universal language across all known continents, the language that most Pokemon hatch from their egg with some instinctual understanding of, but you can read Unown?”

“Is that what it’s called?”

Scizor put up a claw to his forehead, nursing the headache Blizz was inadvertently giving him.

“Yes, it’s called Unown script. It’s a fringe language you only come across in temples and ruins that predate known history. The only reason the Federation even includes it as a default language is because of the slim chance an explorer may find one of these ruins.” He turned to Lucario. “How did you know he could read it?”

“Lucky guess,” Lucario said, dismissively. He noticed Scizor giving him a look, and explained a bit further. “Long time ago I went exploring with someone, he also called Unown script English. Thought that’s probably just another name for it.”

Before Blizz could press on any details surrounding someone else that knows English, Lucario took his badge from him and changed the display language. When he handed it back, he could finally read what it was saying.

Treecko (Blizz) – Team N/A

Rookie Rank – Lucario’s Guild

Health – 100%

Level – 7

Moves – Leer, Pound, Leafage

“There you go,” Lucario concluded. “There’s a translator somewhere on the badge, should let you read the signs around here and job notices.

“That’s… really helpful,” Blizz commented.

“Of course, one of the only good things to come out of that damned Federation… While we’re on the topic of Federation stuff, you should take this.”

He held out to Blizz what appeared to be a blank sheet of paper. The moment he touched it, a spot in the upper left corner began to fill in with what looked like a map.

“This is a Wonder Map, automatically tracks where you are and fills in for anywhere you go to. Pretty helpful, minus the fact that we’re not allowed to give you a completed map for some bullshit reason.”

“Thanks.”

Lucario turned to Scizor. “I want you to figure out a room for Treecko. I think we have an empty spot on the west wing.”

“We gave that to Team Blitz when they recruited Combustken,” Scizor informed him. “There is an empty room on the east side, but it’s rather large for a single-Pokemon team. If we’re using that, it’d be more wise to move one of the other teams in there and give Treecko their old space.”

He seemed to consider it for a moment. “No one at this guild stays on their own for very long, I’m sure he’ll find someone to fill it up soon enough.”

“Guildmaster, you know I respect your judgement, but are you sure that you want to make a decision like that based on a feeling?”

Blizz was confused as well, but the conversation left him behind a bit ago and he didn’t think he was supposed to understand it.

“Trust me,” Lucario assured. “This bastard’s gonna go far.”

“Thank you?” Blizz responded, unsure of how to take that.

“Hmm… Well, if the guildmaster says so,” Scizor said. “Follow me, I’ll bring you to your room.”

They left Lucario’s chamber, heading into a hallway. They passed a couple doors coming to the far end of the hall, which Scizor opened up.

Scizor was right, it felt way too big for just Blizz. It was mostly barren, with two windows at the near and far ends.

“This is your new quarters. We have some straw in the storage room for making a bed, anything else is coming out of your pocket.”

“Got it,” Blizz responded, looking over the room. It could comfortably fit at least 10 other Pokemon, and he had it all to himself. Though a straw bed doesn’t seem quite as nice as the one in the inn he spent last night at.

“Now you know where to go, come with me.”

Blizz obliged, as Scizor led him back to the main room. “Who can I… ah, Rockruff!”

Scizor called over a Rockruff who seemed to be frozen at the entrance ladder. When he heard his name called, he immediately marched over, staring directly past Scizor.

“…Ugh… At ease.” He seemed to loosen up slightly. “Treecko is a new recruit to the guild, could you show him around?”

“Sir yes sir!”

Scizor sighed. “You don’t need to address me like that.”

“Understood sir!”

“Ugh…” He turned to Blizz. “I’m going back to my office, if anything comes up talk to me before going to Lucario.” He left, leaving Blizz with the rock-type.

“You’re the new recruit, correct?”

“Yea, passed the exam like an hour ago.”

“Then as a representative of the fourth highest-ranked team within the guild, allow me to congratulate you.”

“Uhh, thanks.”

“Now, for the introduction. Attention!”

Blizz didn’t really know how to react to the command.

“Pay close attention to what I’m about to explain, as it is a critical part of your contribution to the guild.” He marched over to one of the three boards.

“This is the rescue board. When a civvy or fellow explorer finds themselves lost in a dungeon, they send out a rescue notice, which is relayed to us via Pelipper Post Office. Missions constitute entering the dungeon and searching for, and recovering the client. Understood?”

“Yea, I think.”

“Then moving on.” He marched to the second board, which seemed to have way more papers piled up than the other two boards. “This is the escort and retrieval board. Should a civvy lose an item of importance to them, or should they wish to explore a dungeon but lack the strength to do so on their own, they create a posting here. With rare exception, these missions are non-critical and should only be undertaken if missions on the other two boards are not viable for you.”

That kinda made sense.

“Lastly,” he began, marching to the final board. “This is the outlaw board. Our guild is famous for our skill at apprehending outlaws, and you are expected to continue this tradition. The Magnezone Police Department updates this board with outlaws that need to be detained. Missions constitute hunting down the outlaw, who typically flee into Mystery Dungeons, knocking them out, and returning them to the nearest Police Department.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“That concludes our primary duties as members of an Exploration Team. The mess hall is off of the west wing, and food is provided at 0700 and 1900. Wake up call is issued at 0645, and morning announcement starts at 0800. Teams are expected to have selected their job and prepare supplies by 0900. Understood?”

“Yea, think so.”

“Then that is all. Dismissed.”

Rockruff walked away, leaving Blizz behind, more confused by the Pokemon than any part of the explanation.

“Yea you shouldn’t mind Rockruff.”

Blizz flinched as a Sneasel who was definitely not there a moment ago appeared by his side.

“He’s always like that. He won’t try to boss around anyone higher ranked than him, but if he tries to just ignore him.”

“I was planning on doing that anyways.”

Sneasel grinned. “I’m Sneasel, I’m the leader of Team Arctic, and I’m one of the three Pokemon in this guild who can actually use their head from time to time.”

“Who would the others be?”

“Scizor and Shinx. You might be able to join the club though.”

“I guess you missed me jumping down the canyon?”

Sneasel paused to consider that.

“No offense, I’m going to scratch your membership to the ‘actually uses their head’ club.”

“None taken.”

“Anyways, I need to run into town to pick up some supplies for tomorrow. I know you’ve already seen some of it, but you want to come with me? I can show you the stores we usually go to for stocking up.”

“Sure, that’d be cool,” Blizz agreed. He blinked, and when his eyes opened Sneasel was standing at the ladder.

“If you’re gonna come with me, then at least hurry up a bit.”

Blizz tried to keep up with Sneasel as they entered town, a process made more annoying by the fact that she would walk very slowly whenever she was in Blizz’s line of sight and seemed to teleport the moment he looked away.

Despite that, the duo made it to Nova Town.

“So the main vendor for us is Kecleon’s shop,” Sneasel explained. “Their inventory tends to change a lot, but they always give exploration teams a pretty good discount, so we buy most our supplies from there.”

She approached the two Kecleons and started talking about something while she was figuring out what to buy. It didn’t take long for their conversation to shift to topics Blizz had no idea about as he tuned them out.

“He got out again!”

“Catch him!”

He turned and saw some Magnemite chasing after the same shiny Umbreon from earlier.

“You mere commoners think you can subjugate someone such as myself.”

“You’re clearly under the influence,” Magnemite pleaded, as it became apparent they couldn’t keep up with the Umbreon. “We just want to make sure you’re alright!”

Umbreon didn’t care that his pursuers slowed down, running full speed towards the Kecleon’s stall.

“Hey what’s going on?” Blizz shouted, as the Umbreon bounded past him.

“None of you animals can keep me in chains!” He responded, not slowing down as he ran straight past the row of shops

With everyone’s eyes on the Umbreon, no one noticed Sneasel until she suddenly appeared in the space between two stalls and tripped Umbreon up.

“Gah, insolent peasantry…”

Sneasel pinned him down with an Icicle Shard Blizz and the Magnemite approached the scene.

“What’s the issue with him?” Sneasel asked the Magnemite as they used Thunder Wave on him yet again.

“Came into town a couple hours ago, kept calling everyone animals and peasants. We assumed he was under the influence of an X-Eye Seed, but when we brought him to Chansey she couldn’t find any evidence of one in his system.”

“Any chance he’s just a smarter feral?” Sneasel asked.

“Unlikely. This one’s very insistent that he’s above everyone else. Sometimes you’ll see that in Vespiqueens, but otherwise intelligent ferals don’t talk like that.”

“I… am… a prince…” Umbreon forced out through his paralysis.

“So he’s just batshit,” Sneasel confirmed.

“That’s the leading theory. We’re not really sure what to do with him though. He’s been making a commotion, but outside of attacking us for trying to bring him to Chansey he hasn’t done anything we can arrest him for.”

“Ahh.” She turned to the Umbreon. “You from anywhere?”

“None of your… business…”

A thought started to cross Blizz’s mind.

“You don’t need to bother yourself, this is our problem to resolve,” Magnemite said. “We appreciate your assistance though.”

“Always happy to help.”

“Wait,” Blizz said. “Can I try speaking to him?”

Sneasel and Magnemtie looked at each other.

“In private,” Blizz specified. “I might have an idea, and I don’t think he’s gonna be honest if there are other Pokemon around.”

They seemed dubious, but agreed. The Umbreon just listened, too paralyzed to make a snide comment.

“Let’s do this out of the town square though,” Magnemite reasoned. “If he breaks loose again we don’t want to have another incident.”

They escorted Umbreon to the station. They ended up tossing him and Blizz into an interrogation room, and he had to take them at their word that they weren’t listening in.

(Sneasel was curious as to why Blizz was so insistent on it, but relented)

“I doubt we have anything worth discussing,” Umbreon said as the door slammed shut, having recovered from the paralysis a short while ago. “You’re just another one of these… vapid animals.”

“And you’re not?” Blizz asked.

“I happen to be a creature far more magnificent than something like you can possibly imagine. I just… have temporarily lost that form.”

“That’s what I thought. You have a name?”

“Like I would tell something so precious to a beast like you.”

“You forgot it, didn’t you? Can only remember a nickname?”

Umbreon stared at Blizz, shocked. “How did you know…” He lunged towards Blizz, who narrowly managed to dodge the attack. “DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?”

“You need to calm the fuck down,” Blizz said. “I’m the same as you. Used to be human, near complete amnesiac, right?”

“…Yes.” Umbreon stopped trying to beat up the only Pokemon who had some idea of what happened to him, but still remained in a battle stance.

“Yea, I woke up in the forest yesterday, couldn’t remember anything except for what I’m pretty sure was a nickname from my old life.” He held up his hand. “I’m Blizz. You have something I can call you?”

Umbreon eyed the outstretched hand warily. He slowly approached the Treecko.

“…The Prince. Doubtless an excerpt of my proper title.” He extended a paw to shake.

---

Out on the fringes of Nova Town, a lone Absol was enjoying what was so far a lovely day. The weather was splendid, and outside of some lunatic causing a small commotion in the town center, it was completely peaceful.

He was preparing a lunch for himself, a simple apple bake, when he froze in his tracks.

A sense of impending dread rushed through his body. It was his disaster sense, and the feeling was far larger than anything he had experienced before.

Something terrible, a force that could reshape the entire world as they know it, just made its first steps.

---

“Glad we got that cleared up,” Blizz noted. “Now let’s figure out what to do.”

“How do you mean?” The Prince asked.

“Have you figured out how you’re going to be getting food or spending the night?”

“Well… not particularly. I had not made many plans defying the assumption that this was simply a bad dream.”

“Honestly I haven’t ruled that out yet either… But let’s say it isn’t for the time being. Would you be interested in joining an Exploration Team?”

“… I haven’t any idea what that is.”

“Right. So it’s basically we go around rescuing Pokemon and arresting outlaws who run into Mystery Dungeons, which are this whole other thing…”

Blizz tried to give the most simple explanation of exploration teams and Mystery Dungeons he could, which still proved to be a long process.

“You mean I’d have to work alongside you to save these… Pokemon, as you call them.?”

“Also beating them up, if you’d prefer,” Blizz supplied. “Supposedly the guild is really good at that.”

“I’ll decline, I work under none’s leadership but my own.”

“Look, there’s another reason I joined up with them. They explore all the myths and legends of the world, I think if I work under them long enough I might be able to find whoever did this to me… or to us, I guess. Don’t you want the opportunity to tell them just how grateful you are?”

That seemed to catch the Prince’s attention.

“…That does sound appealing…”

“The dungeons can be dangerous, but if something was capable of pulling us from Earth and dumping us off here, it’s probably pretty tough. No way we could take them as we are, so we need to get stronger. And if we build up some good will with the local Pokemon, how would that hurt?”

“…Very well, you’ve made your case, I shall join. However, while I shall permit you to make executive decisions given your relative familiarity with the workings of this world and the guild, I want it to be made abundantly clear that I am the leader here. Only on certain matters, may you consider yourself equal to me.”

Blizz decided this wouldn’t be a good time to tell him that because he was the only one to pass the guild’s entrance exam he was the only one who could be team leader.

“Deal,” he agreed.

The two exited the interrogation room and met back up with Magnemite and Sneasel.

“So we managed to talk things out, turns out we’re both from the same place,” Blizz explained.

“Hmm? Where would that be?” Sneasel asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

“Earth,” Blizz replied without missing a beat. “Pretty far away, we think someone took us here.”

“…Can’t say I’ve heard of it before,” Sneasel admitted.

“Yea, like I said it’s really far away. I have no clue how either of us ended up here, but we decided to form an exploration team together to try and figure it out.”

“Oh, what a shame, was just about to offer you an invite to Team Arctic.”

“Sorry to disappoint then.” He turned to Magnemite. “Is there anything else you guys need to do with him? I know he caused some issues, but it shouldn’t be a problem any more.”

“Not really. Just make sure to keep him in check.”

“I can take care of myself,” the Prince huffed, walking away from the group.

“Do you even know where the guild is?” Blizz yelled.

After waiting on Sneasel to finish her resupply run (a wait that the Prince described as “agonizingly tedious”), the trio returned to Lucario’s Guild.

Blizz went to Scizor’s office alongside his new teammate.

“Hey, found someone to join my team,” he explained.

“Of course. You’ve been an explorer for all of 3 hours and you already have a team.” He turned to face the Prince. “Alright, what’s your proper name?”

“Prince.”

“Ugh, you’re one of those types,” Scizor complained. He fished through his desk before haphazardly tossing an explorer’s badge at the Umbreon. “Welcome to the guild, Treecko literally just went through the explanation so if you have any questions just ask him.”

“Hmph…”

“Now that you are more than one Pokemon, you’ll need an actual team name,” Scizor explained. “What do you want to be called?”

Blizz didn’t really think about that, but it made sense. Everyone else seemed to have a team name.

“Hmm… Prince, you got any ideas?”

“Obviously. The Royal Guards, Off-World Expedition Corp, Pal-”

“Thank you, very helpful,” Blizz interrupted in the middle of the Prince’s not-very-helpful tirade.

He gave it some more thought. There was something clawing at the back of his mind, some sense of deja vu.

“…Apex. Team Apex,” he finalized. “If we need to, we’re gonna go from the top of the world to the bottom of hell.”

The name was familiar in the same way that “Blizz” was. It was attached to something in his old life, but he had no clue what.

“…It’s permissible,” the Prince agreed.

“Then you’re now Team Apex, with Blizz as your team leader.”

The newly formed Team Apex left Scizor’s office as Blizz showed the Prince around.

“And this is our room, size is pretty good for just two of us.”

“Obviously still undersized for someone such as myself, but by virtue of our circumstances I’ll tolerate it.”

“I’ll forward your tolerance to Scizor.”

The duo worked on setting up their room until dinnertime, when they both got their first real look at the entire guild.

The mess hall was a single long stone table with benches on either side, with a smaller area for Scizor and Lucario.

At the closest part of the main table was a Gible and the Rockruff from earlier, both of whom seemed to be tearing into their food.

Next to them was a Tyrogue, Hawlutcha, and Combustken, who were also tearing into their food but managed to hold a discussion about their mission for the day at the same time.

After them was Sneasel and Dewott, the former taking their time with their meal and the latter violently attacking their food. Blizz wondered if there was any point in the process where Dewott would actually put the food in his mouth.

At the end was Chimchar and Shinx, who Blizz wasted no time in sitting next to.

“So how was your first day?” Chimchar asked between bites.

“I mean I don’t think it counts as a first day until I actually go into a Mystery Dungeon. Did get a partner though.” Blizz gestured to the Umbreon.

“Nice to meet you!” Chimchar greeted. “I’m Chimchar. Shinx and I ran into Treecko here yesterday.”

“…Prince. It’s a pleasure.”

“Turns out we’re both from the same place,” Blizz explained. “And similar circumstances.”

Chimchar nodded, understanding that “circumstances” meant “amnesia that I don’t really want to talk about with everyone else here.”

After digging into their food for a bit, Chimchar leaned towards Blizz. “Hey, from where you guys come from, do you usually introduce yourself with your proper name?”

“Yea…? Is that wrong?”

“Oh, well uh, here in Varin we usually only use species name unless you’re either really close to the Pokemon or if it’s not clear who you’re referring to. Like, if there’s more than one Umbreon around or something.”

“Ah… well to be honest we don’t really use species names at all back home,” Blizz explained, trying very carefully to not lie while also not giving away the fact that he’s supposed to be a human. “Neither me or Prince are super familiar with them… I kinda thought Chimchar was your real name at first.”

“Well, you couldn’t have known…”

After finishing their dinner, Team Apex went back to their room. After very delicately breaking the news to the Prince that they were gonna have to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, the two spent their first night in the guild.

---

Blizz was in the middle of a snow storm, and could barely see more than a couple feet in front of him.

There was wind blasting against his face, was he moving or was it just the storm? Maybe both?

He tried to look around, but snow kept getting into his eyes. He tried to sit down, which seemed to be a bad idea as he learned he was in fact moving. The act sent him tumbling before he launched into the air, and he in free fall for a moment before the ground started approaching faster and faster and-

Blizz woke up.

“Ugh…”

After clearing out the sleep from his eyes, he looked around. It was kinda difficult to judge the position of the sun from his room in the guild, given that the window mostly just gave him a view of the other side of the canyon. Still, he could faintly see the night sky receding.

He heard some movement elsewhere in the guild, and decided to accept that he wouldn’t be going back to sleep any time soon anyways.

He wandered into the main room, where Tyrouge, Combustken, and Hawlutcha were examining the outlaw boards.

Combustken seemed to notice him. “Hey, it’s the newbie!”

Tyrouge smacked him over the head.

“You only have three days on him,” Hawlutcha reprimanded. “And we don’t talk down on our guild members, especially over experience.”

“Hey,” Blizz greeted.

“Apologies for Combustken,” Hawlutcha began. “Until your team joined, he was the newest entry to the guild.”

“Hmmph.”

“Uh, no worries,” Blizz responded. “Definitely am the newbie here.”

“I’m Hawlutcha, I’m the leader of Team Blitz. This is Combusken and Tyrouge.”

“Bli- err, Treecko,” Blizz introduced, remembering his lesson from last night. “I think I met Tyrogue yesterday.”

Tyrouge nodded in confirmation.

“Ahem.”

The group turned to look at Lucario and Scizor.

“Cover your ears,” Hawlutcha instructed, as the rest of Team Blitz moved to do the same.

Deciding that this wasn’t a good time to ask questions, Blizz did so. Immediately after, Lucario made a screeching that sounded like a jet engine being pressed into concrete.

“WAKE UP FUCKERS!” He shouted when the noise ended.

Soon, the rest of the guild filed in, with the Prince looking very irritated. They organized themselves, standing in lines by team in front of Lucario and Scizor.

Blizz and the Prince followed suit, taking a spot at the end.

“Alright, first order of business today,” Scizor began. “If you haven’t noticed yet, we have a new Exploration Team in the guild: Team Apex, led by Treecko. Remember, they’re still new to this, so please don’t challenge them to sparring sessions yet.” He said the last line looking at Team Blitz.

“Second, we received word from a guild affiliate that a potential disaster may be brewing. According to the source, the danger was not immediate, however the source repeatedly emphasized the severity of whatever this disaster may be. As such, keep an eye out for any abnormalities, but as of the moment we will not be diverting any teams for investigating.”

The rest of the guild seemed kinda… bored at the news.

“Is that a normal thing?” Blizz whispered to Chimchar.

“Kinda? You get a disaster once every couple years. Usually they tend to resolve themselves or only involve a couple Pokemon. Usually doesn’t affect us that much.”

“Now that announcements are done, any team reports to discuss?” Scizor asked, being met with silence. “Wonderful. Guildmaster, if you would lead our chant.”

There was a jarring silence as Lucario cleared his throat. Team Apex looked slightly unsure of themselves as the air grew tense. Blizz could tell something was coming.

The quiet shattered as Lucario yelled.

“IT WAS TWELVE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN!”

“TWELVE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN!” The guild echoed back, matching Lucario’s volume.

“LITTLE RATTATA HAD JUST TURNED OLD ENOUGH TO JOIN THE LOCAL GUILD!”

“THE LOCAL GUILD!”

“SO HE MARCHED STRAIGHT IN THERE AND DEMANDED TO FORM A TEAM!”

“AN EXPLORATION TEAM!”

“BUT THE GUILDMASTER WAS A PRICK AND KICKED HIM OUT.”

The guild started muttering very loudly in what Blizz assumed was a part of the chant.

“How dare he.” “Guildmaster’s a douche.” “Can’t believe the guildmaster.”

“BUT THAT WAS NOT THE END FOR THIS YOUNG EXPLORER!”

“NEVER THE END!”

“FOR HE MARCHED STRAIGHT BACK INTO THAT VERY SAME GUILD THAT VERY SAME DAY AND DEMANDED TO FORM A TEAM!”

“AN EXPLORATION TEAM!”

“AND THE GUILDMASTER, HE LOOKED LITTLE RATTATA IN THE EYES!”

“RIGHT IN THE EYES!”

“AND HE KICKED HIM OUT AGAIN.”

“Arceus this guild master sucks.” “Does he have no sympathy for little Rattata?” “Rattata would probably be a better guildmaster than him.”

“BUT THAT WAS NOT THE END!”

“NEVER THE END!”

“FOR HE MARCHED STRAIGHT BACK INTO THAT VERY SAME GUILD THAT VERY SAME DAY AND DEMANDED TO FORM A TEAM!”

“AN EXPLORATION TEAM!”

“AND LITTLE RATTATA, HE LOOKED THE GUILDMASTER IN THE EYES!”

“RIGHT IN THE EYES!”

“AND THE GUILDMASTER DECIDED TO LET HIM FORM A TEAM!”

“Let’s go!” “Little Rattata deserved it.” “Can’t believe it took this long.”

“AND SO LITTLE RATTATA WENT ON TO MAKE ONLY THE BEST EXPLORATION TEAM VARIN HAS EVER SEEN!”

“ONLY THE BEST!”

“AND TO THIS DAY, EVERY DAY!”

“EVERY DAY!”

“WE REMEMBER LITTLE RATTATA’S KNOWLEDGE!”

“HIS KNOWLEDGE!”

“WE REMEMBER LITTLE RATTATA’S SPIRIT!”

“HIS SPIRIT!”

“WE REMEMBER LITTLE RATTATA’S WILLPOWER!”

“HIS WILLPOWER!”

“NOW, ARE WE GONNA LET SOME LITTLE RATTATA OUTDO US?”

“HELL NO!”

“THEN LET’S FUCKING GET IT!”

“YEAAAA!”

The guild members scattered, having gotten hyped up for their day. This left behind a very confused Blizz and Prince.

“…What the hell was that?” The Prince asked.

“I have no fucking clue,” Blizz responded.

“That was the morning chant,” Scizor stepped in to explain. “It’s a longstanding tradition that predates the guildmaster from when Lucario and I were rookies. I’ve tried looking into its origins, but it’s never been written down.”

“…Huh.”

“That’s beside the point though, I want you two to take on a mission today. Try an E-class so we can see how well you do, once you finish one I can recommend a better mission rank.”

They approached the rescue notice board first. Blizz brought up his badge to help translate the notices. Thankfully though the mission ranking wasn’t in footprint rune, which made it easier to tell which jobs they should consider.

“Nothing here is E-rank,” Blizz concluded, moving towards the outlaw board. “Hmm… Here’s one: ‘Aipom thief escaped into Tidal Cliffside, please bring him to justice.’ Sound good to you?”

“It’s permissible,” the Prince agreed.

“Then we’ll do it,” Blizz decided, tearing off the poster from the bulletin board.

As he did that, another section of his Wonder Map revealed itself. A bit north of Nova Town was a Mystery Dungeon labeled “Tidal Cliffside.”

“You’ve been to Nova Town before, feel free to stock up on any supplies from there before departing. The dungeon is about a 30 minute walk from here. Otherwise, good luck.”

Scizor left the team alone as Blizz placed the folded up wanted poster in his bag.

“Let’s head out then.”