Chapter 2: Moving In

“Where have you two been?” An annoyed Dela stomped on the grass, slit eyes pointed downwards. “I’ve been waiting for twenty whole minutes and I hate waiting!” The motley crew of three stood in front of a small stone building. The door of the building was open and a paper sign above it read in neat runes “RECRUITING: REGISTER YOUR TEAM HERE”.

“Why didn’t you just register the team while we were on our way?” Sachi replied, yawning.

“Because those numbskulls at the desk wouldn’t let me! Apparently I need the entire team to be present to register. Do they even know who they’re talking to?” the skitty fumed as she stomped towards the door.

“No actually, I don’t think they do,” Sachi said, crossing his arms.

“Shut up, and hurry up,” Dela yelled, entering the open door. Sachi and Krem looked at each other, then headed in after her.

Inside the building, a purrloin wearing a monocle and a nidorina with a straw hat stood behind a metal desk. The purrloin was furiously scribbling something in a notebook. They dropped their pen and looked up as the three approached.

“Ah I see that you have returned, and this time with your crew,” the purrloin said patronizingly in a strange accent, looking towards Dela for a brief moment before resuming her paperwork. The skitty scowled and walked up to the desk.

“Happy now?” Dela strutted up to the desk. “And now I would like to finally register my team.”

“Someone woke up on the wrong side o’ the bed today,” the nidorina grumbled, adjusting her hat and pulling a clipboard out from under the table. “Alright, names?”

“Deliana Tahlia Amorenia Skitty the magnificent, though I usually go by Dela,” Dela said as she tilted her head upwards. The purrloin raised an eyebrow in surprise ever so subtly without looking up from her papers.

“Sachi Salandit,” said Sachi, arms still crossed and leaning on the wall. The nidorina wrote the names down, then turned to Krem.

“You on the team too? What’s your name, sweetie?” she asked.

“K-krem. Krem W-wimpod,” Krem stuttered. The nidorina finished jotting it down and looked up.

“And now you guys need a team name. What will it be?” The nidorina tapped her pen on the clipboard, awaiting a response.

“Team Super-Dela,” Dela responded.

“No. I’m leaving the team if that goes through,” Sachi said coldly, staring daggers at the skitty. “And I’m taking the bug with me.”

“You can’t do that!” Dela screamed, mortified by the prospect.

“I absolutely can, lassie,” Sachi retorted, putting forward a hand and pinching his fingers together. “I’m this close to walking out that door and never looking back as it is.”

“Argh, FINE, you pick our team name,” Dela cried in defeat. Sachi thought about it for a moment.

“We’re Team Caustic,” he finally said, looking at the nidorina, who wrote that down as well.

“Ok Team Caustic, y’all are on track to be an official team. Yaaaay,” the nidorina said with mock enthusiasm. “There’s just one small thing you need to fill out first. Then we’ll get you your starting equipment and you’ll be off to preview the premises.”

###

Krem struggled as he dipped a leg in an inkwell and scrawled a messy signature at the bottom of yet another document filled with text he couldn’t comprehend. He had tried asking Sachi what it was he was consenting to, but all he got were bored shrugs in return. It didn’t seem like the salandit read any of it either. Krem was almost at the end of the giant stack of paperwork. Just a few more pages to go.

The only thing more annoying than filling out paperwork was listening to Dela’s nonstop complaining about it. Even Krem had begun to wear out.

“Agh, I hate writing. You bipeds have it easy. Do you know how tiring it is lifting up a paw and dragging it around a piece of paper for minutes at a time?” she ranted at Sachi, who had already finished and was waiting near the door looking bored and with his arms crossed as usual. “I shouldn’t be forced to do such dull tasks! I should be out in a mystery dungeon, beating up a- OW!”

Dela’s whining was abruptly cut short by a pair of rattatas bursting through the door, bumping into her as they rushed towards the desk.

“Excuse me! Do you know where to register a team?” the slightly taller one energetically asked the nidorina, the only pokemon in the room other than Sachi who wasn’t preoccupied with paperwork.

“Literally right here. Didn’t you two read the massive sign above the door?” the nidorina answered, irritated.

“Ooohhh sorry! We were just so excited!” the same rattata replied. “We’d like to register our team!”

“Fourth one today. Shoulda expected as much, it’s grad season,” the nidorina said. “Names?”

“Remmy!” yelled the taller one.

“Rollie,” the other one quietly replied after.

“We’re gonna be Team Ratta!”

“Ok, ok. Settle down lads,” the nidorina said, jotting the information down onto the clipboard. She reached behind the desk and pulled out two more stacks of papers. “Now fill this out and you’ll be registered shortly after.”

“Ok, will do!” said the tall rattata Remmy, grabbing the papers and taking a seat next to Krem. Rollie took a seat to the other side of Remmy. The larger rattata looked over at Krem. “Hey! What’s your name?”

“I, uhh, K-Krem,” the wimpod responded, not anticipating the sudden question.

“I’m Remmy, nice to meet you! And this is my best friend forever Rollie!” the rattata gushed, looking toward his companion of the same species.

“Hey Krem,” Rollie said with a sheepish smile and a small wave.

“H-hi. Nice to m-meet you two,” Krem replied awkwardly. He tried to focus his attention back to signing papers.

Remmy turned to Dela next, who wore a scowl on her face.

“And you’re his teammate, I’m guessing? What’s your name?” Remmy asked with a toothy grin.

“My name is Dela, prodigy rescuer and outlaw-catching extraordinaire. And I’m still waiting for an apology for you rudely crashing into me earlier,” Dela huffed.

“Ooohh, so so sorry! And, wow, you’re so cool! I hope I can become as experienced and skilled as you someday!” Remmy said, hopping up and down in place. Dela seemed content with the rattata’s apology, as her smirk reappeared.

“Impossible, but maybe you can make it in my league if you put in the work. Don’t feel too bad if you don’t, though. I’m the top rescue graduate from Cressinger Secondary Education,” the skitty gloated.

“Awesome! We’re from Freeden High, on the other side of the state. Took us over an hour in a rapidash carriage to get here. One of those newfangled rocket propelled ones, too. Rollie still somehow fell asleep along the way, so he’s even less talkative than usual right now.” Remmy looked over at his companion again. Rollie rubbed his baggy eyes and leaned on his friend, looking about ready to pass out there and then.

“Mhmm,” the tired rattata affirmed. Remmy turned his attention back to Dela and Krem.

“Well, since we’re both going to be new teams at the guild, we might as well get to know each other! What’s your favorite color, Krem?” the larger rattata continued.

“Orange. I like o-orange,” Krem answered.

“Orange is really pretty! My personal favorite is blue. It reminds me of the clear skies in my hometown of Kilo. Rollie’s favorite color is pink! Isn’t that right?” Remmy chattered on.

“Yeah, I guess…” Rollie said, letting out a yawn.

“Ooh ooh I’ve got another question. What’s your favorite berry?” Remmy asked.

Before Krem could answer, their rather one sided conversation was interrupted by a voice from behind the desk.

“Let’s save the small talk for after the paperwork, alright lads? I don’t have all day.” The nidorina tapped her pen impatiently on the clipboard.

“Ah, sorry miss!” Remmy bowed his head slightly, then turned his attention back to the thick stack of papers in front of him. “Well, talk to you guys later, I guess!”

Krem felt strange about the whole interaction he had just had. For the very brief period he had been in this world, everything was scary. Conversing with strangers in this strange environment was especially anxiety inducing, since he never knew how they would react. He had assumed every pokemon in this world was as prickly as the first two he met.

However, he felt comfortable talking to the rattata. Remmy was a bit too talkative, but Krem didn’t feel intimidated by him like he did when talking to Sachi or Dela. The rattata was predictable, and he seemed to respect him as an equal. He seemed nice, and that made Krem loosen up a bit.

Krem filled in the remainder of his paperwork, deep in thought. His mind drifted on to his expectations of being a member of this guild thing. He wondered how dangerous these “mystery dungeons” actually were. Of course, he was mostly terrified of entering some unknown, otherworldly anomaly that, by how Dela had described it, could suck the life right out of his body. That sure sounded quite painful. But, surprisingly, a part of him didn’t fear death. After all, what did he have to lose in a world where he had nothing, not even memories?

---

“This here is the western guild dormitory, where you will be staying in for the long term.” Sachi, Dela, and Krem as well as the rattata pair they met followed a large scolipede to a tall, stone building. Multiple rows of windows lined its exterior. Copious vines covered the walls, sprouting blue and pink flowers as they ran down the sides. “Team Caustic, your room is on the third floor, number 316. Team Ratta, yours is the next one over, number 317.”

The scolipede made his way to the wooden double doors at the front of the building. He had introduced himself as Sorid of the staff team Team Pixel. Apparently Kimu Purrloin and Hoyi Nidorina at the registration desk were two of his teammates.

Sorid bent his head down and tapped his snout on a badge he had pinned to the yellow scarf around his neck. There was a slight mechanical sound as the door unlocked. The large bug-type pushed the doors open with his head, revealing a long hallway lined with numbered doors. The doors were curiously missing doorknobs.

“Oh, I almost forgot the most important part!” the scolipede exclaimed, turning his head to face the brown satchel he had strapped onto his body. He brought a leg up and kicked it off. “If you open this bag, you’ll find yourself a few bandanas each adorned with a guild badge. This badge is not yet fitted with your aura, so it will not react to your touch. It will only allow entry to the mess hall, your room, and this building until you get it upgraded.”

“And how exactly do we do that?” Dela asked, raising one of her slit eyes.

“You’ll need to make an appointment with Sevve Lucario, the second in command of the guild. He can imbue your aura into these nifty little badges, allowing you access to most public spaces in the guild. You’ll get more information about that tomorrow. Feel free to rest for the remainder of the day, you all are probably pretty spent from your travels,” Sorid explained as the recruits dug their pieces of cloth out of the satchel.

“I’m not tired! I’m ready to enter some mystery dungeons right now!” Dela said excitedly while struggling to put her bandana around her neck as Remmy tried to help her. Sorid chuckled heartily.

“Calm down, lass. You’ll get plenty of opportunities for that in the near future. Even the best teams gotta know when to wind down,” the scolipede said, turning back to face the group. “Well, that concludes your extremely brief tour of the guild. My apologies that we couldn’t get to more places. Apparently another team was just registered ten minutes ago, and I need to get them up to speed.”

The scolipede walked out of the building, shutting the door behind him.

Sorid had given the new recruits a quick tour of the premises. They visited the mess hall, the mission board, and the infirmary before making their way to the dorms.

There weren’t many pokemon milling about the guild at the hour, save for a machop and mienfoo they saw at one of the mess halls enjoying an afternoon snack and the voluptuous slurpuff chef who served them. Sorid had explained that this lack of activity was because most guild members were still out on a mission at this time, and that after a couple more hours the place would be packed.

The recruits looked curiously at their new equipment. Sachi and the rattata duo promptly tied their bandanas around their necks. Dela tied hers first while sitting down, then slipped it over her head.

“Ugh, you lucky bipeds. Someone better help me tighten this thing up,” the skitty demanded. Sachi rolled his eyes and walked over behind Dela. He’d do anything to shut her bickering up.

“AAGH! Not that tight, numbskull. Are you trying to strangle me or something?” Dela screamed as Sachi pulled the ends of the cloth a bit too abruptly.

“If you don’t stop bitching about everything I might just do that,” Sachi replied, loosening the knot slightly.

“Umm, h-how do I put th-this thing on?” Krem asked as he poked a bandana on the floor with his legs while trying and failing to reach it with his antennae.

“Here, I’ll help. Hmm, I think it goes here.” Remmy slipped the cloth around the curved spikes on the wimpod’s head and tied it. “There we go! Looking dapper!”

Sachi finally finished adjusting Dela’s scarf. He looked down and inspected the badge embedded into his own. It had a round, silver frame, with a smooth green stone in the middle.

“Alright, now that we’re all done playing dress up, let’s go check out the rooms,” Sachi said with a yawn.

To say Sachi was tired would be an understatement. Not only was his body sore all over from walking almost halfway across the state, he had acquired a splitting headache, probably from listening to Dela’s incessant whining.

Sachi rushed up two flights of stairs ahead of the others and walked down the hallway, checking for the number 316 as he passed each door.

“There it is,” Sachi muttered to himself as he approached a door at the end of the hallway which, like the rest, was missing a doorknob. He pushed on it, but it was locked shut. He then tried pressing on his badge like he saw Sorid do earlier.

The door emitted a mechanical sound and swung open suddenly. Sachi took a step inside, observing the room. It was more spacious than he had imagined, but it was almost completely empty save for three plain, blanketed mattresses that lay on the floor and a metal table with a lantern on it. A clock was mounted atop the door. There was also a closet at the back of the room, positioned next to the window. Sachi walked over and opened it. It contained shelves of toiletries, cleaning supplies, and other assorted necessities. His eyes drifted to a bottle of fire retardant near the bottom. He opened it and sprayed some on one of the mattresses before laying down, hands behind his head.

Not even a minute later, Sachi could hear the faint, familiar chatter of a rattata and skitty coming from down the hall.

“And then I jumped into the cave, ran over the burning coals, and saved the baby dedenne from the jaws of the terrible monster!”

“Wow, how did you not get burnt to a crisp?”

“Apologies, but that’s a trade secret. Maybe I’ll tell you when you’re a more seasoned rescuer.”

Sachi watched as Dela entered the open door, the others not far behind.

“Wow, this room has nothing! There aren’t even beds,” the skitty complained.

“Well if we finish some missions and make some cash, we can probably furnish it up,” said Remmy.

“This isn’t your room,” Sachi said from under the covers.

“Oh, yeah I mean our respective rooms, you know,” the rattata replied. “Speaking of which, let’s check it out. Come on Rollie!”

The pair of rattata went into their own room as Dela and Krem looked around.

“What a pitiful place,” the skitty continued.

“We are literally getting to live here for free, you ungrateful ass,” Sachi replied, irritated. “I’m tryna get some rest here, do ya mind?”

“Sleep is for the weak! I’m going to find out what missions we can do tomorrow. Come on Wimpy, let’s go.” Dela turned around and began walking out.

“That’s not m-my name,” Krem replied. “And I’m also kinda tired. Gonna go rest a bit t-too, probably.”

“Ugh, what’s with you lazy bums? We’re officially in the guild. And you two want to just waste the day away sleeping?” Dela stomped, visibly annoyed.

“They’re giving us the day off. Even Sorid told us to rest. C’mon, take a chill pill. Maybe a nap will snap ya outta your pissy attitude,” Sachi replied with his eyes closed. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now, but it’s what he signed up for.

“And what does that stupid worm know? He’s just on a staff team! They don’t do any heroics, they just sit on their arses and fill out papers all day!” the skitty argued.

“I’ll let Sorid know of your valuable opinion next time we meet. I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear that you appreciate his work,” Sachi said, turning on the mattress to face away from the door.

“Screw you.” Dela walked out the door. “Okay whatever, then I’m leaving by myself. You two can thank me tomorrow.”

The door closed behind her. Krem crept up to the mattress adjacent to Sachi.

“Condescending brat,” Sachi muttered. “Anyways, how’re ya doing? Remember anything yet?”

“N-nope. Still drawing a blank,” the wimpod replied, attempting to slip under the covers. “And also a bit nervous. I don’t feel ready for this line of w-work.”

“I mean, if we get booted we get booted. I don’t really care. I was doing fine by myself.”

“Then why did you accept her offer? You c-could’ve just stayed back.”

“I, uhhh…” Sachi had asked himself that too. He wasn’t too confident in his answer. “I guess I just wanted to feel something different? Get this bit of life experience out of the way, just to say I’ve tried it. Somethin’ like that.”

“Oh, that’s fair. I guess.”

As the teammates both fell silent, Sachi drifted to sleep with that question in his mind.

---

The sky was tinted orange as the sun neared the horizon. Like Sorid had mentioned, pokemon began trickling into the guild as teams finished their missions for the day.

Dela strolled through the guild grounds aimlessly. She could swear on Arceus the mission board was in this sector, but after over half an hour of searching it still eluded her. She sighed impatiently as she circled the area again.

Dela eventually found herself in a square she was pretty certain she hadn’t been to before. She attempted to backtrack, but had forgotten which direction she had come from. Defeated, the skitty walked up to a bored looking leafeon sitting by a fountain in the middle of the square.

“Excuse me, could you tell me where the mission board is?” Dela asked, swallowing her pride. She wasn’t lost, she was just… charting the area, like a true explorer.

“Mission board? Uhh, why are you even looking for the mission board at this hour?” The leafeon shot her a quizzical glance, then pointed into the distance. “Anyways, It’s about a fifteen minute walk in that direction. Say, you’re a new recruit, ey? Almost forgot it’s that time of the year.”

“Thank you, and yes. I am Dela of Team Caustic, the best rescuer to graduate from Cressinger Secondary Education, and I’m here to make a name for myself.” Dela stiffened her stance, beaming proudly. She needed to make a good impression on other teams. She had learned the hard way that connections were crucial in this line of work.

The leafeon chuckled softly. “Pleasure to meet you Dela. My name is Lekari, from Team Hyphen. I’m sure you’ll fit in nicely here.”

“Nice to meet you too. Anyways, I must get going. I must choose a mission for my team to complete tomorrow,” Dela said, walking away.

“Woah, hold your horsea! You know new recruits don’t go on actual missions for a few weeks after joining, right?”

Dela swiveled back around in disbelief. “What? Are you serious?”

Lekari nodded. “Yup! You’ll need to go through training first. After the guild admins deem you prepared, you’ll officially be an E tier team. Right now you’re still a trainee.”

“Ugh, what the hell!” Dela shook with annoyance. She didn’t want to “train”. She already had enough experience. She had gone into a couple of mystery dungeons before and made it out without life threatening injuries.

“Hey, relax, don’t get all worked up about it. I know you new blood are all raring to go, but the training’s worth it. I swear. No matter how much you think you know right now, you’re guaranteed to learn something important that might save your skin in a dungeon.”

While the leafeon was speaking, a dark, dopey looking typhlosion with a goggled emola riding on its head walked up to them.

“There you are, Lekkie! I thought you’d be back in the dorm by now,” the emolga chirped, hopping down from her tall companion and lifting her goggles.

“Decided to stay out here a bit longer today. The warm afternoon breeze is nice,” Lekari replied.

“Mmm, it sure is! Feels great on my wings! Oooh, and who’s this? Don’t think I’ve seen you around,” the emolga asked, turning her gaze to Dela.

Dela opened her mouth, but before she could respond, Lekari answered for her. “This is Dela, a new recruit who got a bit lost.”

“For the record, I was simply surveying the area like a seasoned explorer. Since my good for nothing teammates are loafing around in their room, I have to find everything for them,” Dela scoffed. “And yeah, I’m Dela.”

“Good for nothing teammates, hm? Tell me about it,” Lekari muttered with a smirk.

“Hey! I heard that!” the emolga yelled, crossing her flappy arms. She shifted her gaze back to Dela, a wide grin on her face. “Anyways, I’m Relaiya, or Rey for short, and my ride here is Oneiros.”

The odd looking typhlosion nodded. “Ey, that’s my name alright. We make up Team Hyphen, an A tier rescue team.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Say, you look a bit strange for a typhlosion,” Dela blurted out, then immediately regretted it. “Oops, errrrm, no offense. I mean, my apologies.”

Idiot! This was her chance to make an impression on a high tier rescue team and she was going to blow it.

To Dela’s surprise and relief, Oneiros just chuckled. “No worries, I get that a lot. My family comes from up north in the Frigid Highlands. We’re just built a little different. Want a demo?”

Without waiting for an answer, Oneiros squinted his eyes and growled loudly. Smooth, pink flames erupted from the vents all around his neck, forming an impressive ring of fire. Dela couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.

“Pretty swell, ey?” Oneiros said, smiling. He relaxed and the flames vanished in a puff of smoke.

“Show off,” Relaiya grumbled, a playfully annoyed expression plastered on her face. “Anyways, we still haven’t turned in our mission, so let’s go do that before the fox makes off with our hard earned coin.”

“You two had one job.” Lekari sighed and got up from her seated position.

“What? You just left us to loaf around the square again.” Relaiya threw her small hands toward the leafeon accusingly.

“Oh come on Rey, you know I already do most of the chores around here.”

“Not my fault I’m too tiny for most household tasks.”

Oneiros walked between his two bickering teammates. “Alright, alright. Break it up, gals. It’s really my bad Lekkie, I got sidetracked by some interesting rumors we picked up on.”

Lekari’s ears perked up. “Oh really? Anything about Torr?”

Oneiros shook his head. “Nah, unfortunately. Just that apparently shit’s goin’ down in Palomere. One of the king’s hotshot generals just defected.”

“Oh well. You know I don’t care much for politics, especially that of other nations.” Lekari turned her head back to Dela, who was silently listening. She didn’t feel adequate speaking out to guild members of such high rank, especially after her misstep earlier in the conversation. “Alright Dela, I gotta go now since my own good for nothing teammates decided to eavesdrop on boring gossip instead of doing basic guildwork. Guess I’ll catch you later.”

“Bye Dela!” Relaiya yelled, waving. Oneiros also brought his hand up as a parting gesture.

“Have a good evening,” Dela said as courteously as she could manage. She watched as the three walked away. Someday in the near future she would be just like them. No, she would surpass them. She would even surpass the guildmaster. It was merely a matter of time before she became the best rescuer on the continent. Dela clenched her claws.

Just you wait, Mother. I’ll show you.

After a moment of fantasizing, Dela realized how dark it was getting. Since there wasn’t much point in going to the mission board, she decided to head back to the dorms.

Wait, which direction did I come from again?