Actually, it's just Rayne.


Actually, it's just Chatot.

~~~

I'm going to slow down posting to 1 chapter per week for a while, due to school starting and other things like that (both for myself and for others). When school schedules begin to stabilize, I'll probably go back to 2-per-week as before.

In the meantime, please have a teaser:

The reason this didn't go up last night is because I was playing Layton vs Wright almost non-stop over the weekend and finally managed to finish the main storyline (I went from Saturday morning to Sunday night, taking very few breaks, usually just to charge my 3DS).

Now that that is out of the way, time to get down to business.

~~~

[Back to Top]



The following morning, I woke up with hunger pangs. Hunger pangs suck.

I’ll just get something in the café later today or something. But for now, ow.

I wasn’t quite enthusiastic about the day ahead, not after what happened yesterday. While it’s true it was only a minor snag, it weighed on me. I didn’t think of this for my own sake; I didn’t mind being punished. But as long as she is my responsibility, I do what I must to please her.

The morning announcement didn’t help matters either.

“One last item,” Chatot said after we recited the three credos (don’t shirk work, run away and pay, smiles go for miles, you know, those three). “Tomorrow or the day after... or perhaps in several days’ time... we plan to announce the members of the expedition party.”

Everyone was jumping about with excitement. Even Rayne was much peppier than normal, totally enthused that she might soon be picked to go, something she’d wanted to do ever since coming here. Everyone was excited...everyone except me.

“Everyone, this is your last chance to make an impression,” Chatot continued. “Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen.” Then, with a chirp, he finished with “All right, everyone. Let’s get down to work as usual.”

As is custom, we as the throng responded with a loud “Hooray!!” before scattering.

Then I clutched my stomach.

“Wow, am I hungry...” I said aloud, though mostly to myself. “Going without dinner is making my stomach seize up in protest! I’ll just eat something later, I suppose.”

“Ah, you two,” Chatot called to us, presumably to give us our new jobs for the day. “You two should take care of listed jobs today. We’re counting on you.” That was expected.

“There’s one other thing...” That wasn’t.

“About the expedition... You should give up on being chosen as expedition members.” That definitely wasn’t.

I didn’t have time to think about what my feelings were on the matter, as I immediately responded with “Sir, I must protest!” I didn’t hear Rayne say anything. I have a feeling she was so thoroughly in shock that she couldn’t speak.

“Your failure yesterday weighs heavily. As you know, it is difficult to tell what our Guildmaster is thinking from his demeanor... but there’s no doubt that he must be seething with anger inside.”

“I would think disappointed, sir,” I said, “but his face gave no evidence of anger.”

“Nonetheless, it’s unlikely that he would bother to choose you for the expedition. So when the time comes to announce the members, don’t get your hopes up.”

“Sir, might I speak privately with you, man to man?” I glanced behind me to Rayne, and she had the expression of a deer staring into a car’s headlights. Not good; I had to act quickly.

“What about?”

“I can’t say. Not out here. Please, sir.”

“All right...”

Chatot decided to take us into the Guildmaster’s chamber for our private conversation. The Guildmaster was present and waved hello, but he did appear to be preoccupied with something else so I didn’t think to bother him. Chatot chose this location because it would be the least-likely place to be eavesdropped upon, since no one is allowed in without permission. I told Rayne that I’d be back very shortly, and with that, I closed the door behind us.

“So, what’s this important thing you have to ask me?” Chatot began.

“It is Rayne, sir. It concerns her and the expedition.”

“Go on.”

“When she first came to this guild, she expressed a strong desire to go to wonderful new places and see exotic new sights. When word of the expedition came up, we were elated that a chance had come up so soon. ...More than anything else, I want her to go on the expedition. I don’t even care if I have to stay behind at the guild for that to happen – I don’t mind being punished for my failures. But please...she needs this. She needs to go on the expedition in some capacity. If she does not, I fear her poor little heart will break.”

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I was desperate. All of what I said is true; I didn’t care what happened to me so long as she got to go – even if she had to go without me. She wanted this more than anything. I couldn’t bear it if she ended up missing her chance. And in case you didn’t figure it out, this is why I took all the blame for the Apple Woods debacle.

“I’ll...” Chatot started, as if pondering the answer in his head. I’m not sure if he had such a desperate appeal like this before, but I could certainly see the gears turning in his head. “...I’ll consider it, and will talk to the Guildmaster about it.”

“Thank you very much, sir,” I respond with gratefulness, though not sure if Chatot was aware the Guildmaster was in the room right now. I could see Finch listening into our conversation. Maybe it would tug at his heartstrings too? I could only hope. I bowed respectfully and exited the room.

Rayne was waiting expectantly right outside the door, sitting down and looking forward, eyes wide with curiosity and a little bit of worry.

“How’d it go?” Rayne asked.

“Okay, I hope. We have work to do today, so let’s get to it...”

“What about the expedition? We’re...We’re going on it, right? Right?”

“Hopefully. I just wanted to straighten some things out. Let’s just—”

“Psst! Listen up!” I didn’t recognize the voice.

“Who’s there?”

“Shhh! Over here!”

I look about the lobby, wondering who would have said that. I find that three of the apprentices – Bidoof, Sunflora, and Chimecho – are standing off to the west side of the lobby, near the entrance to the sentry post. They were being rather secretive, as if trying not to draw attention to themselves. I’m not sure why; Croagunk could quite clearly see them from his booth.

“Um...” I begin, but am cut off with Bidoof whispering “This way!” and the three of them dashing off towards the living quarters. Rayne and I follow, quietly, and notice they’re all hanging around near our room, leaning against the walls.

“Whew!” Bidoof said as we finally arrived. “No one saw anything, except maybe Croagunk...”



“So, guys...what’s the matter?” I asked. “Why all the secrecy?”

“Well...here you go,” Sunflora replied, handing me an apple.

“You must be very hungry,” Chimecho chimed in, pun entirely intended.

“That’s true, but you don’t need to give me—”

“We all set aside a little bit of our dinners last night for you,” Bidoof cut me off. “Now, eat up!”

“I’m grateful, but...are you sure about this? Rayne, would you rather split this apple?”

“I’m not the one who went without dinner, DNA!” she reassured me. “You’re not leaving until you eat that apple, mister!”

I looked around the room. Of the four faces staring at me, they were all smiling, nodding, waiting... The message was clear; they wanted me to eat the apple as a token of friendship. And so I did. And it was delicious. Its taste was amplified by my hunger, making it taste absolutely spectacular. I couldn’t get enough; before I knew what I was doing, I had wolfed it down to the core, and then I ate that too. I could feel tears of joy running down my face.

“So good thof...” I mumbled in between bites. I then swallowed what was left of the apple and wiped my mouth. “Thanks...so much guys. That meant a lot.”

“We can all use help when we’re down,” Sunflora offered.

“Every one of us needs to be able to work hard in order to be picked for the expedition, yup yup!” Bidoof added, with a modicum of zeal.

“Thank you. But if one of us gets picked, one of you might not get to go. I’d much rather Rayne go than me; she actually deserves it...”

“Don’t say that!” Sunflora protested. “The members haven’t even been picked yet!”

“But, of course, if someone is chosen, then someone else can’t go,” Chimecho admitted, though she didn’t appear to be dejected about it. “That’s just the way it is!”

“If you don’t get picked for the expedition, you should cheer for those who did.”

“Yup yup!” Back to Bidoof. “And everyone wants to go on the expedition with you, Rayne and DNA.”

“Even Loudred?” I asked. “Truly?”

“Especially Loudred. He says your early-morning pranks really help to brighten his day.”

“That...that makes me smile, honestly. At least someone besides me likes pranking Rayne.”

“Yeah, but I get back at you just by being me!” Rayne stated.

“Sadly, this is true. But thanks, you guys. Now let’s all work hard to get picked for the expedition, yeah? And may the best apprentices win!”

Then we exchanged a team high-five, all five of us together, for a most triumphant charge into the world of the daily grind! With my stomach now fully revitalized and my mood positively elated, I felt indestructible! The downer of the morning and my hunger were now completely gone, and I felt on top of the world. Nothing was going to stop us from getting picked for the expedition! And a huge step toward that would be to earn Silver Rank! Here we go!



Suddenly Croagunk.

“Meh-heh-heh!”

He has a creepy laugh.

“Hey, you two over there...”

“Yeah, what is it?” I ask, detouring to go visit his stand.

“Meh-heh-heh. What are you up to with Bidoof and the others? It all looks so sneaky. I suppose it’s got nothing to do with me, but... Meh-heh-heh.”

“Actually, we were planning a rappelling day!” Rayne interjected. “In celebration of the expedition, we’re all going to go rappelling off the cliff by our guild! Don’t worry, there’s a safety net at the bottom.”

I’m not even going to ruin that one.

“Anyway, that’s not why I called you here... Meh-heh-heh! The waiting’s over! It’s about my shop. Meh-heh-heh! The Croagunk Swap Shop is back in business!”

“Croagunk...Swap Shop?”

“Meh-heh-heh! You heard right. I finally finished repairing my Swap Cauldron, which means that I’m finally back in business again! Meh-heh-heh! You put certain kinds of items in this here Swap Cauldron... And those items get swapped for an item offered up by another Pokémon somewhere around Treasure Town.”

“What kinds of items are we talking here?” Rayne tried to put on as sly of a voice as possible, leaning her elbow on the counter.

“There are some Pokémon around that have pretty rare items for swapping. So you could end up with a stupendously great swap. Get it? Meh-heh-heh! So if you two feel like swapping items, you bring them to me, all right? Meh-heh-heh!”

“Sounds like a plan! I will see you later.” She winked and we left. I was confused.

“Is there any particular reason you were trying to haggle with him?” I asked.

“Nope! Now let’s get to work!”

And then I was interrupted again later on. I seem to get interrupted a lot. Then again, plot doesn’t progress unless I get interrupted, so I should count my blessings, I suppose. This interruption took place at the crossroads, in which there appeared to be an ample-sized crowd of Pokémon making a hubbub and then proceeding to enter the café nearby.

“Huh, would you look at that, DNA! It looks like there’s a party of some kind at the café.”

“Possibly, Rayne. Or an event of some magnitude, in any case. Want to crash it?”

“You know it.”



All of the regulars were gathered in the café, or at least as many regulars as one can amass in only a few short days. I counted about six myself, but there could have been more I wasn’t aware about. Each of them were gathered into their own little groups and talking amongst one another.

“Wow, DNA! They all separated into their own little groups! We should form our own group!”

“We are our own group. Rescue team, remember?”

“Dibs,” Rayne answered, hugging my shoulders.

“Are you mocking me?”

“Your shoulders are comfy.”

I would have made a snarky remark were I not interrupted by the familiar call of “Your attention please!” coming from the front of the café. Up front, there were gathered all three employees of this small café – Leah, the owner Spinda, with Wobbuffet and Wynaut on either side. For some reason it seemed louder than usual, but that might have been due to the smaller crowd size, the good acoustics in the wall, or even both. Rayne and I were standing at the back of the room, near the entrance, while most of the others had arrived earlier, and thus were positioned either at the tables or around the walls. It didn’t take very long for the room to fall silent, fortunately, so the Spinda’s incoming spiel began right away.

“First of all,” Leah began, “I’d like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules!”

“Busy schedules,” Rayne giggled quietly to me. “That’s a good one.”

“Today I would like to give you some wonderful news of hopes and dreams!” She cleared her throat. “Thanks to your kind patronage, this café has been quite popular... We’ve been fortunate to have so many wonderful customers! This shop’s pride and joy, the Recycle Shop, is fully operational and has collected many items.”

“They recycle bottles here? But we haven’t found any—” I cut her off with a “hush”.

“We would like to thank you for your kind patronage...” At this point, Leah paused for dramatic effect while the Wynaut pulled out a small drum and played a drum roll on it... “...by opening a new service! We’re calling it Project P!”



At the mention of ‘Project P’, Wynaut starts clapping and Wobbuffet pulls a lever that causes balloons and confetti to fall down from the ceiling. While everyone was either amazed or surprised at the mention of Project P, I was wondering at how they managed to fit balloons into the ceiling. This café wasn’t that far underground...was it?

“This project aims to use the items gathered at the Recycle Shop in order to explore unexplored places!” Leah went on, clearly zealous about the new idea. “Allow me to explain.”

Wobbuffet reached over for another set of switches, and then proceeded to first dim the lights, then lower a projector from the ceiling, which began casting an image onto the back wall. Seriously, a projector in the ceiling too? How do they get that kind of budget from people just recycling stuff? And it looked like a really nice projector too. I wonder if they got it from the same person who gave Diglett his television.

“Big bro, I can’t see!” Rayne complained. “What’s on the projector?”

“Just hop on my shoulders or something, since you like them so much.”

“Yay! Puppyback!” Before long, her feet were hanging over my shoulders and her hands were resting on top of my head. I can’t really describe how demeaning this was to me, but everyone else would either describe it as cute, laughter material, or both.

I stand by my words in Waterfall Cave that she isn’t fat, but wow she puts a strain on my neck.

“Right now at the Recycle Shop,” Leah continued her most-likely-to-be-long-winded explanation, as an icon of Oran Berries being exchanged for apples appeared on the bottom right of the projector screen, “you trade several items in exchange for one of the shop’s items. Thanks to everyone’s continued recycling efforts, we have gathered a lot of items here at the shop. The service will continue to operate in the same manner... And with Project P established...”

At this point, a yellow arrow pointing left went out from the previous icon, and connected to a new icon at the bottom left of the screen, this one being a picture of a Wonder Map with a yellow question mark superimposed onto it. Rayne was starting to lean forward before I smacked her foot and firmly told her no. Remembering the last time, she respectfully went back to her original seating arrangement, because it would hurt if I fell face-first onto a hardwood floor.

“You might be wondering how Project P fits into all this...” Leah went on, now having suddenly materialized a laser pointer in her hand and drawing everyone’s attention to the new icon. “We’ll use the accumulated items to explore unexplored areas! There are still so many places around the world that are waiting to be found and explored. So many secret treasures and challenging puzzles waiting to be discovered...so let’s go out and find them! That’s what Project P is about! Ah, the pursuit of knowledge...and continuing exploration...”

I could almost hear Rayne’s eyes getting wider by the second. It made me wonder if she remembered that we had a more immediate expedition in our near future. But who knows? Perhaps she was planning for the long term.

And then I snickered to myself. ...I’m sorry; I couldn’t say that with a straight face. I stopped snickering when the next icon appeared; a yellow arrow pointing upward from the second icon went to the third, at the top center of the screen, looking like a crude drawing of Machu Picchu.



“We’ll find dazzling treasures and new exploration areas!” Leah jumped, also whispering the word “probably” as she did so. “And if you bring your discoveries back to the café...” Then one final yellow arrow appeared, leading the third icon back to the first, completing the image of the inventive recycling logo. “You’ll get a special deal at the Recycle Shop! This should keep items circulating through the Recycle Shop. The items at the Recycle Shop will become more and more amazing! What do you think? Do you understand?”

This was met with murmurs of understanding and approval from the crowd, such as “Whoa! This is genius!” and “It seems so economical!”. On the surface, it did appear to be a fantastic idea, not merely just fueled by true altruism, but having backing behind it. The use of unneeded items would propel this adventure into something truly amazing, and I, for one, would love to see where it would go.

“Use the recycled items to explore the world!” Leah concluded. “Don’t you think it’s a magnificent project, full of hopes and dreams? We’ve already sent out an exploration team to find unexplored areas! There should be new discoveries before long! So, everyone! Please keep recycling, more and more every day! Let’s all work together and find unexplored areas!”

This was met with a collective cheer of “Hooray!”, combined with uproarious applause.

“Amazing! So cool!” Rayne rambled after the crowd had dispersed and the projector had retreated to its resting place in the ceiling.

“You think so?”

“Mm-hmm! Recycling leftover items, trading them around... They’re bound to turn into unbelievable treasures!”

“I don’t think transmutation works quite like that, but it’s a nice thought.”

“And being able to explore the unexplored! That’s the best part of all! Don’t you agree?”

“I think so, yeah. And being prepared as a rescue team will give us the strength to explore all of those difficult places. Now let’s head out; I have a nice selection of four jobs for us to take on today. We’ll be guaranteed Silver Rank before the day is over!”

“Awesome! Let’s get to it!”

“Sure thing, but would you mind getting off my back first?”

“Oh! Okay.” She hopped off, and with gear in hand, we set off to Mount Bristle, where our current slew of jobs awaited. As we marched confidently out of Treasure Town, I distinctly heard Rayne mumble repeatedly behind me “Ooh! I’m so excited! We should recycle more!”




Team SOLO So Far:

DNA lv. 13
Rayne lv. 13

Silver Rank (320 / 1600)
Bag Size: 24

Yes, your eyes aren’t deceiving you; the requirement for Gold Rank really is 1600 points. Aside from acquiring the final rank, it’s the largest jump in requirements for rank-up in the game (taking scaling into account – 1300 points isn’t much in the long run, but early in the game it will take a while to amass that much). On the plus side, Silver Rank increases storage capacity from 96 to 200, a little over double the size, so it’s not as hard to bear.

I promise, the plot is actually going to go somewhere next time

~~~

[Back to Top]



As you have probably noticed from the chapter title alone, the logbook is still recording G6 and we don’t seem to be any closer to the expedition than we were a little while ago. Well, for those of you reading along, I have good news.

This will be the last part of G6, after which we will proceed with the plot as normal – due to the quickened pace, the next few chapters should go by fairly quickly. Please excuse the meta-humor; I wanted you guys to actually notice that we’re getting somewhere. Now, back to work.

It was still another 2 days of work before any news of any kind was heard. As usual, the object of the game was to prove ourselves worthy to be picked as expedition members. While some may complain that it seems tedious (and it might very well be so), on my end, it was something to be earned, to be attained, to reach out for, which I could then hand to Rayne to enjoy. After all, as I said before, I didn’t really care what happened to me so long as she got to go.

The day after Project P was announced, we were tasked with sentry duty, since Diglett had to handle his father’s job of updating the boards. He seemed to be less afraid of me, and Loudred more congenial, so the day went by quite well. I didn’t do as good of a job as I did on my very first performance (today was only slightly less than that), but I wanted to try for a ‘true perfect’ performance one day. The rewards seemed to be fairly generic, but one of them was a Reviver Seed, something I will always try and hoard – similar to how Rayne views apples, but I know how essential Reviver Seeds can be for survival, and that, unlike apples, there are no substitutes for them. (On particularly long treks, for example, you could substitute berries for apples, if only temporarily – though they aren’t quite as filling as apples, they do the job.)

Now that I have bored you to death with my exposition, I won’t even bother to mention that the day after that we tackled a few more jobs (three, to be precise) and managed to muster up a few more points for our team – yet due to the steep curve, Gold Rank was still a long way away. It was still another 60 points’ worth, however, so it was a good day of work.

On the way out, I noticed that Dugtrio was talking to his son Diglett about the majesty of the sea. Dugtrio spoke nothing but praise about the vast body of water before him, while Diglett was weirded out and went off. Dugtrio lamented that his son did not understand, but then returned to his exultation with a few cries of “O sea!”

Stranger still, this was not a one-off performance. Before I thought nothing much of it, but to see Dugtrio out here at Sharpedo Bluff, day after day, proclaiming to the sea all the things he had done and what he was about to do, it began to concern me, as if he truly and sincerely believed that he could communicate with the ocean.



Rayne wanted to see if it was possible to get Gold Rank before the expedition began – after all, she reasoned, if we have Silver Rank as planned, what is Gold Rank but another hurdle to be overcome? I told her that such a thing wouldn’t be possible – not only were the requirements for Gold Rank very high compared to Silver, and thus impossible to complete in such a short amount of time, but that very night, before dinner, Chatot had an announcement related to the expedition.

I assume he times them before dinner so he knows everyone will pay attention and not run off with their food, but the whining on the part of the apprentices was downright horrible. I know Rayne sometimes complains about things, but this is downright petty.

“Well, spit it out already! Let’s eat!”

“You prevent us from eating what’s in front of us? This is an outrage!”

“Eek! This is so unfair! I feel faint from hunger!”

“Boooo! Boooo!”

While I was busy restraining the vacuum with eyes, I did have to concede that Dugtrio had a point. If Chatot had an announcement to make, he could have at least done so before the food plates were set down. Staring at food and having to hold back is indeed an outrage.

“Order! I must have order!” Chatot yelled, causing the complaining to abate. “Ahem! I’m sure the selection of the expedition members has been on everyone’s minds. Our Guildmaster has apparently made his final decisions.”

This was met with a collective cry of “WHOA!”

“The members will be announced at tomorrow’s morning briefing,” Chatot continued. “It’s something to look forward to. Now, sorry to have kept you waiting. Without further ado... On your marks...”

“LET’S EAT!” everyone cried out, before devouring the food with gusto. I was always amazed at Chimecho’s ability to keep things fresh and interesting every night, despite that most of the food on our plates was the same from day to day. She probably had a list.

There wasn’t any dinnertime banter today either, as everyone’s mind appeared to be on the same thing: who was going to be picked for the expedition. That wasn’t too surprising, as that was on everyone’s minds for the past week or so. It was a big deal, and rightly so. The decisions had been made at this point, so everything was essentially final now. Even though I didn’t know what laid in store for us, I remained hopeful. After all, this was Rayne’s dream!

Speaking of Rayne’s dream, when we got back to our room, she probably wasn’t going to have any, on account of talking at about a mile a minute. Not that I blame her.

“Isn’t this exciting, DNA!? The expedition! Tomorrow! We’re going to be rich!”

“Rich, maybe. Exploring new places, definitely. It will certainly be a most enlightening experience. And I know how much you love to explore new places.”

“You bet! Just imagine it! Team SOLO, explorers of the great unknown! And we’ll have a bunch of new friends to explore it with! That will prepare us for the moments when we go out alone and explore new places! It’s almost like a practice session for the real thing!”

“Well, this is a real thing. We have to treat it with the gravity it deserves. So let’s try and get some rest so we’ll be at full power for the morning, okay?”

“I’ll try, but...This is so very exciting! Aren’t you excited, DNA? I sure am! We’ll find all new places and write about all the things we see, and solve mystical puzzles and unlock hidden mysteries, and and and...and collect all the apples we can eat! Never mind all of the various other things we might find, like jellybeans and shiny objects! Oh, DNA, isn’t this going to be—”

I decided to interrupt her by grabbing hold of her shoulder. I did so in a very specific way that it targeted her pressure points, causing her to fall unconscious instantly and go straight to sleep.

It’s funny how you can solve a lot of your problems with a sleeper hold.



I’m not sure if it was the wisest idea, though. Now that Rayne was fast asleep and not getting up until morning, I was wide awake with worry and concern. It wasn’t that the expedition wouldn’t be as exciting as Rayne made it out to be; it’s that there was still no guarantee we’d be going on it.

Even with the selection process, there was still a chance that my gambit to take all of the blame onto myself and leaving Rayne spotless would be to no effect. And in the chance that Rayne wasn’t chosen... I’m scared of what might happen. Knowing her, she would probably break down in tears, having been left out of the thing she’d dreamed about and worked so hard for.

And where would that leave me? I would be the one to console her, it’s true, but what could I do that would soothe her soul or substitute for the expedition? I fear that nothing I could do would even amount to something that large. We might be able to stage a solo expedition (har har har) of our own in the end, but how far in the future would that be? The short-term would just have all of the guild go on a spectacular adventure and bring home equally spectacular stories, and she would be left out of it all. Her poor little heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

I set down my logbook, tiptoed past the sleeping Rayne, and looked out the window, staring upwards toward the moon. I wasn’t sure what kind of supernatural beings resided out here, if there were any at all, but I was desperate, and it was certainly worth a shot.

“If there’s anyone out there who listens and cares,” I began, looking up, “please let Rayne go on the guild’s expedition. If anyone deserves to, it’s her. I don’t care what happens to me, just so long as she gets to go. Please. I don’t want her hopes dashed to pieces.”

I let out a loud sigh, and with little reason to be happy, since the Light of Dolo probably wouldn't listen to me, I went to sleep myself. Tomorrow it would be my job to put on a brave face for Rayne while the selections were being done. Even if I were scared about us not being chosen, even if my worst fears became true, I still had to remain ever the picture of stability – if not for my sake, then for hers.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the Day of Reckoning. It was time to prepare ourselves for it.

Elsewhere, this very same night, a shadowy figure made its way toward a shining object deep within an underground cavern, suspended above an underground lake. The lights the object cast on the surface of the lake were positively stunning, but before long, those lights disappeared and the area was cast into darkness.

“There it is! Another Time Gear!” it said, taking the shiny object for itself, holding it gently in his green hands. “This is the second one! Three more Time Gears remain. I must have them...”



The day began with a true rarity indeed. I was actually shaken awake by Rayne. To think that the girl who was infamous for sleeping in was now waking up earlier than me. It defies logic.

“Wake up, DNA!” she shouted, shaking me awake. “It’s the big day! Come on, let’s go!”

“Five more minutes,” I mumbled, my brain not fully coherent yet.

“But the expedition!”

I jolted awake at the mention of the word ‘expedition’, hopping to my feet. “Okay, let’s go.”

We were both clad in our explorer gear at the morning briefing, as we usually were, but today we seemed more prepared than usual. Perhaps it was the anticipation of the announcement, perhaps it was the willingness to be chosen, or perhaps we just wanted to put on a brave face and stand out from the rest of the apprentices. Whatever the case may have been, we were ready.

“Now then,” Chatot began, when all were assembled. “I shall announce the expedition members at this time. Guildmaster, the memo, please.”

At this, Finch discreetly handed Chatot a piece of paper, which Chatot began to read from. No doubt it had the names of those chosen to go, plus a few other details besides. Who could say? But it was time to find out.

“The chosen members are written on this memo,” Chatot explained, holding the piece of paper up into the air. “Step forward if your name is called.”

The crowd of us ten was humming with excitement, anticipation, fear, eagerness...you name it. Any emotion you could think of in response to this situation was felt throughout us all.

“Without further ado, I will announce those who’ve been chosen. Our first member...Loudred!”

“Y-Yes! I DID IT!” Loudred shouted, jumping and fistpumping the air, walking to the front of the crowd and standing next to Chatot, a gigantic smile on his face – which, given how large his mouth usually was, was quite a feat. “But, if you really think about it, it’s only NATURAL that I would get picked! WOO-HOOOO!”

“Don’t quit your day job, Loudred,” I said with a sly smirk. A few others were similarly exasperated. I think I heard Chimecho whispering “You mean he wasn’t even nervous?” Though, to be fair, Loudred was quite the worker at the guild, so I’d be surprised if he wasn’t chosen.

“Next up is... Corphish!” Chatot continued. The small crustacean made his way to the front. I wasn’t quite sure what his job was, but I assume that his work was mostly taking on job bulletins and such, as I rarely saw him around the guild. He was a bit of a quiet guy, in truth.

“Hey, hey, hey! Got it!” he cried out. “I got picked! Hey, hey!” He walked forward and stood next to Loudred, heaving a huge sigh of relief. I could tell he was as nervous as the rest of us.

“Next is... Oh, what’s this? Well, this is a surprise! Our next member is Bidoof!”

“Really?!” Bidoof screamed, now looking so sweaty and on edge that he looked like he could drop dead from shock at any moment. At least he would have died happy. “Really and truly?! Golly... Me?! I’m going on the expedition?!”

“Hm? Is anything the matter, Bidoof? Come on, step forward.”

“I sure want to step up, I truly do, but... I’m feeling a mite overwhelmed here. My legs aren’t moving...”

“Don’t worry, sir,” I chimed in, “we can help! Come on, guys, let’s carry Bidoof forward!”

With much surprise and spontaneity, we as a crowd carried Bidoof the small number of steps forward and set him down, shouting cheers and praising his name, giving him applause for making it onto the expedition team.



“Next we have Sunflora and Chimecho!” Chatot called out. I felt it somewhat amusing that he called up the two females in the guild (if you don’t count Rayne) in the same breath.

They too joined the group at the front, with calls of “Oh? Us too?” and “Eek! Oh my gosh!”, bringing the total up to five.

“Erm, yes...” Chatot concluded, “and there we have the expedition party members!”

A group of five seemed to be a good number to go on the expedition, all in all. Compounded with the Guildmaster and Chatot, that would bring them up to seven, and Team Skull joining it would make it ten, which was a nice round number. It seemed like...

...wait a second, what am I thinking!? I didn’t care about the number; I cared about Rayne! I turned around and, sure enough, she was shaking and about to cry any second. I ran over and gave her a big hug, which caused the waterworks to turn on. The tears were silent, but plentiful, and painful. Neither of us were going. What could I do? What could I say? My worst fears had been realized, and I could hear Team Skull laughing at us in whispers to boot...

“Erm... What’s this...?” Chatot suddenly spoke up.

What was that? I turned my head around as much as I could, given how Rayne was resting on my shoulders, eyes clenched shut, and tears running onto our clothes.

“There’s something scribbled on the margins of this memo...” Chatot was whispering. “The Guildmaster’s handwriting is such a messy scrawl... This is so hard to decipher...”

“Wait, Rayne,” I whispered very quietly in her ear, causing the tears to cease, at least for now. “Chatot has something else to say...” We both quietly listened in as Chatot finished his thought.

“Erm... It appears that there are more expedition members,” Chatot spoke louder. No one said anything aloud, but everyone was collectively thinking (There’s more!?) “The others are...Diglett, Dugtrio, and Croagunk. Oh, and Rayne and DNA. That is all.”

Everyone then simultaneously registered surprise. In fact, directly after I yelled a decidedly loud “YES!”, Chatot and I both said “Wait, what?!”

Chatot and I both saw the same problem – the list of the expedition members was everyone in the guild. Given how Chatot had made a big deal of the members being specifically selected, why was everyone on the list?

“What?! Whaaaat?! Guildmaster!” Chatot chirped loudly. “This list seems to include...every member of the guild!”

“Yup! That’s right!” Finch answered, jumping.

Rayne had now slid off my shoulders and was no longer crying, but due to the commotion in the crowd, she was unable to register the extreme joy of being picked for the expedition, and was instead focused on the scene playing out before her eyes.

“I’m extremely confused...” I say aloud. “I’m very happy, but also very confused... Everyone in the guild was chosen? Really?”

“Well then!” Chatot protested. “It seems that the whole selection process was meaningless. Moreover, if we were to all go, we would be leaving the guild empty! Are you sure it will be all right to leave with no one to look after the guild?”

“It’ll be fine,” Finch responded, reassuringly. “We’ll lock up properly.”

“Guildmaster, I also have some misgivings,” Skuntank interjected. “Do you think perhaps we may have too many members for an expedition?”

“I can’t believe you and I actually agree on something,” I commented.

“That makes two of us.”

“When a friend says that, I have to wonder why...” Finch mused.

“I mean, first of all, why does everyone have to go? What’s the point in having everyone participate?”

“Huh?! Of course there’s a point! If everyone went, it would be more fun!”

“What?!” Skuntank was more surprised than even Chatot at this point. It might have been because Chatot was used to these shenanigans by now, but still, I don’t blame him.

“We’ll be noisy and excited and having fun!”

“Still not complaining, but still extremely confused,” I mentioned.

“I started thinking about it,” Finch continued his reasoning, “and it made me so excited, I couldn’t sleep!” I see Rayne isn’t the only one whose excitement keeps him or her awake. “So that’s how it is, everyone! We’re all going on the expedition, and it will be fun, fun, fun! Let’s all do our best!”



“Urrgh... Well, that’s settled,” Chatot muttered resignedly, as if his efforts had been utterly wasted. I don’t blame him for being dejected, but at the same time, we got to go, and the joy of that was negating my confusion.

“Fine, let me explain the schedule,” he went on. “Right after this, I will hold a briefing on the expedition. As such, the chosen members (...that is, everyone...) Each of you should get prepared to embark on the expedition. Let me remind you that this is a guild-exclusive expedition. You may not bring non-guild members of your teams. As such, you won’t be able to add members at Chimecho Assembly. They simply aren’t allowed to join the expedition. Keep that in mind while you are making preparations. When you are prepared for the upcoming journey, you should return here. Then, inform me of your readiness. That is all. Dismissed!”

We ten apprentices gather in a circle to plan for the expedition together, while the other five go off to make their various preparations. I couldn’t believe it; we all got to go? This was like a dream come true; it was almost too good to be real!

Then Rayne pinched me. It hurt.

“I could scream, I’m so happy!” Sunflora squealed. “Everyone is going on the expedition!”

“Our Guildmaster has done it again,” Chimecho commented. “I’m so shocked, I’m tingling!”

“I wasn’t expecting us to be picked, so that was a total surprise!!” Rayne spoke, elated. “I’m glad we never gave up!”

“He saved the best for last,” I said, flexing, until Rayne slapped me. “Okay, okay, you’re right...”

“By golly, I’m mighty happy that they’re even letting me go on this here expedition...” Bidoof spoke, sniffing, his voice having a little less confidence than usual. “Oh, but not just me! Why, everyone gets to go...sniff... It’s like I’m dreaming. It’s making me feel mighty emotional...”

“If you want, I could pinch you!” “No, Rayne.”

“It’s no dream,” Dugtrio replied. “This is really happening. Anyway, since we are all going, it means that we’re all going to be put to the test as well. That’s why I would like to propose that all of us apprentices work as one, and let’s make this expedition a success.”

All of us around the circle were in agreement with Dugtrio’s plan, expressing our approval with phrases such as “Yippee! That’s the spirit!” “Let’s do our best!” “Well said, my friend” and “Let’s band together and do it!” The big day had finally arrived and it was greater than any of us could have imagined – everyone had a chance to go! It instilled a lot of relief into all of us, knowing that no one would get left out and we’d have a chance to experience this altogether. We were going on this expedition, not as individual members, but as a guild. It was time to make this the greatest expedition this guild had ever seen!



“Oh, DNA, this is so exciting! I can hardly believe it’s real! It’s almost like I’m dreaming!”

“If you want, I can pinch you.”

“Oh, hush. You’re packing our Treasure Bag, right?”

“Yeah; I stopped by Kangaskhan Storage and got a message from the Exploration Team Federation or whatever-it-is-they-call-it that we’re getting an expanded treasure bag. It looks pretty nice, honestly! Perfect timing for the expedition.”

“What have you got packed for us?”

“I’m still wearing my Cobalt Bow as usual...”

“I thought that was a funny looking bow tie, DNA!”

“And I have this Pecha Scarf for you. Put it on and you won’t get poisoned.”

“And what makes you think I’ll get poisoned?”

“You want to eat pretty much any bit of food you see. Can’t be taking risks, you know!”

“If memory serves, you got poisoned by that Nidorina once, silly.”

“Yes, and it could just as easily happen to you. Now put it on. Other than that, I’ve got some Oran Berries, some apples, a Pecha Berry, and a few seeds in case we run into trouble. Don’t eat them, whatever you do. They’re the dangerous kind.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t get poisoned.”

“These seeds don’t poison you. They confuse you or worse. Ah, and I’ve filled up both of our canteens to the brim, so we won’t get thirsty on the road, plus I’ve deposited our savings with Duskull, so any money we find is going to be coinage scattered along the road – don’t expect us to splurge. Are you all packed?”

“I’ve got nothing but the clothes on my back, so yeah, I’m all packed! Don’t forget, you’re in charge of all the items because you’re the responsible one.”

“Ah, how silly of me. I almost forgot that. Now come on, let’s go.”

“Hooray! The expedition awaits!”

“I’ll have to ask Chatot for a new fresh logbook. I’m quickly running out of room in this one.”

We were asked by Chatot to wait in the downstairs apprentice lobby until everyone else was prepared; Chatot appeared to be quite pleased that, despite our status as new apprentices, we were in full readiness and ready to depart at a moment’s notice. In fact, he gladly accepted my request for a new logbook, impressed by how much I’d filled it out in a short amount of time. We were the first ones there, so we were early, but in fairness, all the others came shortly thereafter, so we were only early by a few moments. Once all fifteen of us were gathered in the lobby, Chatot began to explain to use the true nature of this expedition, and how we would ultimately bring about its success.

“All accounted for, it appears,” Chatot began. “Well then. Let me explain about this expedition. First, the objective: exploration of Fogbound Lake.”

“Fogbound Lake?” Rayne inquired.

“Correct. It is a lake that is said to be located far to the east. However, it is perpetually enshrouded by a dense fog. As such, its actual existence has never been confirmed... It is merely the foggy mirage of a spot that lives to this day on rumor alone. It is also rumored... A treasure of exquisite beauty is hidden there!”

“Wow! Treasure?!” Rayne exclaimed, her interest piqued instantly. “We’re going on a treasure hunt! This is so exciting! Just what I’ve always wanted!”

“Yup!” Finch encouraged. “It will be fun, fun, fun!”

“Everyone, open your Wonder Maps, please,” Chatot asked. Rayne sat at my side as the two of us looked at ours. Chatot opened his, and held it out to demonstrate. “First off... this is where Fogbound Lake is said to be.”

Chatot pointed to a place near the southeast part of the map that was enshrouded partially in clouds, and what appeared to be a little over a day’s journey from the guild, Specifically, it was more than twice the distance away than Apple Woods was from Treasure Town.

“As an uncharted territory, the area is shown under a cloud cover,” Chatot explained. “As you can see, the lake is at a considerable distance from the guild. Therefore, we will encamp at the foot of the highlands here. That will serve as our base camp.” He gestured to a point about a half-hour west of the intended destination of Fogbound Lake, then put his map away. Rayne and I were following along just fine, so I didn’t need to worry.

“If we were to travel all at once in a single group to the base camp, our mobility would be restricted. The strategy is to split up into several groups to travel to the base camp.”

“That makes sense to me,” I said.

“I shall announce the groups now. The first group is Sunflora, Loudred, Diglett, and Croagunk.”

“You guys!” Loudred called out as the four of them looked towards each other. “You’d better NOT hold me back!”

“You should talk!” Sunflora spat back, tensions already rising.

“The next group is Dugtrio, Chimecho, and Corphish.”

This group appeared to be closer-knit than the previous one, though to be fair, it was only Sunflora and Loudred that appeared to have it out for each other. Regardless, the camaraderie with this group of three was strong.

“Let’s see... The Guildmaster and I shall travel as a pair... That is acceptable, yes?”

“Awwwww?!” Finch whined. “I have to go with Chatot?! That’s so boooooring!”

It was all I could do to keep from bursting into laughter. This was just too hilarious.

“Please don’t be difficult. This is a key element of our strategy.”

“...Meanie.”



“Our guests, Team Skull, should travel independent of us as their own group.”

“Understood. Chaw-haw-haw!”

“And the final group is Rayne, DNA, and Bidoof.”

The three of us look at each other. I’m none too surprised at this, since the three of us are the three newest members of the guild, but then again, shouldn’t there be at least one experienced member among us so as to even things out? Regardless, I’m happy our group is small and easy to manage, and the others seem to be pleased too.

“We’re in the same group!” Bidoof said excitedly. “I hope I can keep up. Yup yup!”

“Same here, Bidoof!” Rayne responded.

“We’ll take it nice and easy,” I state, “neither too slow nor too fast. It’s important we put on a brave face, so let’s make this expedition one to remember. I’ll take the lead, as usual, but don’t be afraid to speak up if you need to take a break.”

“Agreed!” they both reply.

“Well then...” Chatot concluded. “Everyone, let’s get to it and move out!”

And with a final cry of “HOORAY!” we were off! At the exit to Treasure Town we all went out as a group, but after being on the road we each delineated and went our separate ways – some due to speed, others due to taking different paths. Finch and Chatot took off the fastest, since they were the ones who had to set up the base camp to begin with. Team Skull was next after that, already being used to working as a unit, and there was little holding them back. Dugtrio’s group and my group broke off at about the same time, going slightly different ways. This left Loudred’s group the last one standing to not take their own path, mostly due to the constant bickering between Loudred and Sunflora. I wonder if they’re ever going to sort out their differences. They might, but it would take a lot of suggestion.



With each successive parting of ways, each group wished the others good luck as we went on our respective paths. Our group opted to take a path along the coastline to reach the camp, going up into a mountain range and finally descending into the highlands to reach our destination. On the way there, the three of us decided to share what stories we brought from our backgrounds, and what brought us here to the guild to start careers as exploration teams.


Team SOLO So Far:

DNA lv. 13
Rayne lv. 13

Silver Rank (380 / 1600)
Bag Size: 32

Something like that, yes.
Rayne is totally convinced I stole someone's soul to do it, though.


okay who told shipper girl to start reading and commenting on the exact same chapter that she was alluded to in
speak up or I'm going to kill HW

... ...
... ...

Back to the point, yes, Rayne is cute. Glad you're enjoying the read.
And I reserve the right to beat the crap out of you if I find you're shipping anyone with anything. I did say at the outset it was forbidden; my opinion hasn't changed.

Hey guys, have a midweek treat!
It's topical, kinda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uHUb2qXVdw

"I'll order a..."

So I know that my game progress is miles ahead of where the actual posted story is, even as saved on my hard drive. In fact, I went so fast that I ended up losing a fairly large chunk of the script due to my flash drive not saving the file correctly, having to construct it all from memory. (Specifically, it was G17, G18, and the first half of G19 that I lost.)

...but that wasn't what I wanted to say here.

I finally got to the point where Rayne and I graduate and move out of the guild, and get our own place at Sharpedo Bluff.
It took me 5 tries to beat Wigglytuff (less than I was expecting), one of those tries reminded me that Pass Scarves don't work in boss fights, and so I ended up using a seed-heavy approach (Quick, Stun, and of course Reviver). I only ended up using 3 Reviver Seeds, but I finally beat him.

And it felt good.

Seriously, that fight is the hardest in the entire game. Way harder than Dark Dialga - though, who am I to compare? On this playthrough, I beat Dark Dialga before it could even use a single attack. But the Guild graduation fight is still much harder, of that I'm positive. (It's 2 of you versus 9 of them.)

Rant and celebration over; time for the fun to once again begin.



And so, the Finch Guild was off on its way to explore Fogbound Lake. Consisting of fifteen members in all, three of whom were guests, they separated into five separate groups as they made their way to the highlands at the base of Fogbound Lake. All five groups were three Pokémon strong, with the exceptions of Finch’s group (with only two) and Loudred’s group (with four). Still, the groups were solidly constructed, consisting of those like-minded (well, except for Finch and Chatot) and like-bodied. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Not yet, anyway. There would be room for wrong stuff later. But the trek was long, and time was lengthy, so there had to be some way to pass the time between point A and point B. Thus, I decided to break the ice with a question.

“You know, Bidoof, I’m curious,” I began to ask, as we entered a forested area on the way to the mountains. “I know Rayne and I joined the guild for the sake of adventure and such, and I can guess everyone else’s story in the guild too, but I’m not sure how you fit in to the equation.”

“Oh?” Bidoof responded. “What do you mean?”

“Some, like Rayne and myself, join with the goal of exploration, as both a team and a hobby. Others, like Loudred and Chimecho, are integral parts of the guild assisting in day-to-day life. But I can’t figure out where you fit in. You’re not particularly ambitious, nor are you instrumental to things – no offense, but for what I see you do it could just as easily survive without.”

“DNA, that’s rude!” Rayne chided me. “Bidoof is one of the nicest apprentices!”

“And I’m not questioning that. He’s incredibly friendly and I haven’t really an ill word to say about him. But that doesn’t explain why he’s at the guild, or what he’s trying to do. So, Bidoof, tell us. What are your ‘hopes and dreams’, as Leah likes to light-heartedly put it?”

“That’s a funny story actually, yup yup!” Bidoof answered. “Would you like to hear it?”

“We have time, Bidoof. Go ahead. Enlighten us. It will strengthen our camaraderie.”

“Okay! Perk up those puppy ears, you guys, because you’re in for a heck of a tale, by golly!”

“Do you really have to poke fun at my ears?”

It was an interesting experience to see Bidoof’s memories come to life through his words. Even in the midst of his explanations, I could see what he was trying to describe with almost perfect clarity. As he began I pulled out my logbook, recording his harrowing tale, to preserve for future generations, and potentially to just look at it all and laugh looking back. Or just laugh.

I will reserve final judgment for later.

Bidoof began by telling us that, before Rayne and I arrived, that he was the newest apprentice at the guild. He came to Finch’s guild with a singular goal in mind: to become the greatest explorer ever! And since Finch’s reputation preceded him, the guild was the ideal place to nurse his dream. He’d be the best explorer ever, by golly!

“Hey, wait a sec!” Rayne interrupted. “That’s my job!”

“Rayne, be nice, please,” I chided. “It’s his story, and he’s only just begun. I want to see where he’s going with this.”

“Wait, are you writing this all down?” Bidoof asked me, noticing the pen and book in my hand.

“I was planning to; why?”

“Do you mind if I dictate this story?”

“No, not at all. Go right ahead.”



At home, it was just me, my mama, my brother, and my sister. The four of us lived in a dam which our family had built ourselves a long time ago, yup yup. Ours was a peaceful life...

“Actually, I’m going to trim out a lot of the ‘yup yups’,” I interjected, “unless they’re actually part of dialogue. I need to conserve as much space as possible because I’m almost out of pages.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine; please continue.”

Ahem, now where was I? Oh, yes! Ours was a peaceful life, just us four, but my family knew of my dream. They were incredibly supportive of me, and when it finally came time for me to move out and follow through on my dream...



“Well, I’m off!” I said to my mama. We were all outside.

“Please say hello to everyone in the guild for me,” my mama said to me. “Yup yup! Oh... And be careful! You’re kind of a big eater... Don’t you go eating anything weird! Remember... If you get in trouble, you can always come back home to us.”

“Sniff... M-Mama...”

“Do your best, Big Bro!” my little brother cheered.

“Take care!” my little sister encouraged.

“You guys...” I replied, my eyes tearing up. But I shook it off. “I’m fine! Don’t you worry about me! Yup yup! When I come home, I’ll be big! I’ll make you proud of me! Just wait and see!”

I began to walk off, but I did look back for a little bit. I didn’t want to leave my family. After all, they were my family! But I knew this day would come, so I couldn’t be reluctant. “By golly, everyone! I’m off!” I waved, and with a final send-off of “Do your best!” from my folks, I was off on my journey!

So I left my hometown, and entered Finch’s guild as an apprentice. But the training at the guild...for me, was...more difficult than I thought... like when I fetched something for Loudred.

“HEY! Not YET?!” Loudred yelled from the sentry post entrance. I was off getting something for him, while Diglett was down below, doing what he does best. “You’re SLOW, BIDOOF!”

“Yes! I’m here!” I ran up to Loudred as fast as my legs would carry me. “Whew, sorry to keep you waiting. Here it is! Yup yup! Here’s your Reviver Seed!”

“Wh-What...IS this?” Loudred shouted as he took the seed from me, really surprised-like. “HUH?! THIS is a DOOM Seed, ISN’T it?!” Then he got angry at me. “NO, GENIUS!! BRING me the RIGHT one!”

Didn’t matter what I did, I would always mess it up... And then another time... I was in the mess hall, all by my lonesome, when I found something delicious.

“I wonder what this is!” I thought, eating this apple I’d found on the ground. “It’s so yummy!”

Then Chatot comes in and notices me. “Oh? Bidoof? What are you doing here?”

“Huh?” I said, looking up from my food at Chatot.

“Oh... That!? That is...the Guildmaster’s important...P-Perfect Apple!?” He was right surprised.



“Hahaha, I see where this is going!” DNA chimed in as I got to this point.

“Yup yup...you’re right...”



“Huh? Perfect Apple?” I asked. “Golly, is that what this thing here’s called? It’s so tasty and impressive, yup yup.”

I then went ahead and finished eating it, since it’s no good to leave unfinished food lying around. “Thanks for the grub!” I told Chatot. He was still really shocked.

“W-Wait...did you seriously eat all of them?” he asked. Me.

“Yup yup! Oh! Sorry! Did you want one too, Chatot? If you would have told me, I would have left you one...”

“What...what did you do... WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“Eeeeeeeek!? Uh-oh! Was it... Golly, did I do something wrong...”

“More than wrong!!” Chatot yelled, like he was going to blow a gasket. “If his favorite Perfect Apples are all gone... The Guildmaster... The Guildmaster!! ...Oh no... OOOOOOH NOOOOOOO!!” He started running around like a headless...uh...uhhhh...well, you know. “It will be horrific! As punishment, you’ll go without dinner! Got it?!”

“B-But!” I protested, meekly. “Sniff... Golly, I didn’t mean it...”

My hunger just gets me into trouble... And I couldn’t eat my favorite meal of the day...



“I feel your pain,” Rayne encouraged. “I would feel bad too if I didn’t get to eat dinner!”

“Yes, Rayne,” DNA replied, “but you’ve never had that punishment before. In any case, with episodes like that, I’m surprised Chatot hasn’t dropped dead yet from a heart attack! When he sees something that will make the Guildmaster go amiss, he just totally loses it. ...But go on.”



Golly, I thought I was doing my best... But I always mess things up, every time... I guess I just don’t have what it takes to be an explorer... I’ll never be the best explorer... I just can’t do it... I was really beginning to think that...

But...then... ...That... ...That happened...

We did our usual morning cheers, as we do every morning – you know: one, don’t shirk work; two, run away and pay; and three, smiles go for miles. Keep in mind, this was before you two joined the guild, so there were only eight of us. I was receiving my assignments directly from Chatot, so after everyone went off to their posts, he gave me my next task.

“Hey, Bidoof.”

“Yes! What is it?”

“Today’s assignment. Please go to Kecleon Market and find out how many Oran Berries they have for sale today.”

I hung my head for a while, and didn’t say anything.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Bidoof? You’re always doing little errands like this. It’s nothing too difficult.”

“Golly, it’s not that... Just that I seem to always be running errands... What I really want is to get exploration assignments, yup yup... Don’t you think I can do a job from the Job Bulletin Board sometime?”

“What? This isn’t a joke! If I let you do one of those assignments right now... How badly do you think you would mess it up?!”



“Wow, Chatot was a real jerk to you, Bidoof, wasn’t he?” Rayne commented.

“Yeah, and on top of that, it looks like your assignments reduced you to just a gofer,” DNA said.

“I think he’s a beaver, DNA.”

“Swing and a miss, Rayne.”



“Then I’ll just...” I sniffed. “I’ll just... The story of my life... Yup yup...” I was right dejected.

“...Bidoof, don’t be so impatient. You’re just a little slower than everyone else.”

“Sniff... Golly, you don’t have to be so direct...”

“But I know the day will come where you’ll get to do exploration jobs. If you want to be a top explorer, you have to start somewhere. Do your best... And work hard at your training.”

“Sniff... So you’re telling me I just need to be patient... By golly, I get it. I’m gonna work hard. Yup yup!”

“That’s right! Just like that! Now that you get it, if you could go run that errand I mentioned... Please go to Kecleon Market and find out how many Oran Berries they have for sale today.”

“Yes, sir! Yup yup!”

I felt real excited after all that. I mean, sure I would start small, but eventually I would move on to the big stuff, the real jobs, the kind that you two do so well! You think I could be as good as you guys one day?

“...Oh, that was a question to us?” DNA replied. “Hopefully, yes.”

Gee, thanks! Anyway, you know where Kecleon Market is, right? It’s at the west end of Treasure Town. It only took a few minutes to get there, and I walked up to the counter as usual.

“Howdy!” I waved to the two shopkeeper brothers.

“Welcome...to Kecleon Shop,” the green one sung a jingle. “Have you come to shop?”

“N-Not quite... Sorry to bother you, but I’m not here to buy anything...”

“Just asking about inventory, as always...” the green one sighed, hanging his head. “So disappointing...” Then he shook himself about and appeared his normal self. “That’s all right. Don’t worry. Inventory inquiries are no problem. Really. ...What have you come to check on?”

“Oran Berries. Really sorry to bother you... Sorry.”

“No, no. It’s no bother at all.” He said that with a spring in his voice, but I could tell he was lying. I know he can put on a brave face and all. “Let’s see...Oran Berries... We have two in stock today...”

“Two of them. OK, thanks!”

“Do your best at work!”

I nodded, but I didn’t move. I still had something on my mind.

“Huh? Is there something else?” the green one asked me.

“N-no. Well, there’s nothing more I need to do... I just have a little problem...”

“Oh... What kind of problem?”

“It’s OK to ask me about it,” the purple one offered. “Come on, spit it out!”

“...The truth is that no matter what I do...I always seem to mess it up... I’m always making mistakes at the guild... I really want to be an explorer like all the other apprentices in the guild... For example... To become an explorer really quickly...what should I do?”

“Oh! If that’s it...” the purple one answered, “you just need a TM!”



“OF course,” DNA commented. “Ever the consummate salesman.”

“The what?” I asked.

“To put it another way, the Kecleon brothers are merchants, right? So, more often than not, they will try to solve someone’s problems by selling you something. It sometimes can be a good idea, but it’s usually just an idea to make a quick coin.”

“Oh... Golly... I didn’t think of it like that?”

“I wonder if they know any redheads?”

“Redheads? What kind of a question is that? Why would you ask?”

“Oh, um...no reason. Please, continue.”





“TM?” I asked. “...That’s the way?”

“Yep,” the purple one told me. “With a TM, you can learn a new move. If you did that, you’d be very helpful in explorations. Yes, you will definitely be helpful.” He started rummaging through his shelves. “Hmmm... How about... Here it is! How about this one?”

“TM Hidden Power... That sounds pretty strong...”

“That’s right. It’s a very strong move! If you used this TM, you could learn Hidden Power!”

“Is that right...?”

I started a-thinkin’ to myself. If I learn Hidden Power, I told myself, then I could be more useful, and the guild members would appreciate me more. If I buy this, then the day I become the best explorer will get closer. That’s what I thought.

“By the way,” I asked, “how much is this TM Hidden Power thing?

“Oh! You’re interested in buying it. I’m excited! The price...let me see... It’s 6500P.”

“Whaaat?! It’s that expensive?!”

“You’re surprised? Well, TMs are very expensive... But you think that’s too expensive, right?”

“Sniff... No... Please hold on a moment...”

I turned back around and started thinking again. What should I do? Should I buy it? Shouldn’t I? I don’t know... To be honest, I had the money with me. I had my own money that I always carry with me...7000P. But...but this money...it was given to me by my mama...

“Th-this money...!?” I said to my mama as I was about to leave.

“Take this with you,” she told me. “It’s a farewell gift. I always knew this day would come...so I’ve been saving up, little by little. Please use it in case of an emergency.”

“Sniff... M-Mama...”

“There, there. You always were a bit of a crybaby. Your Mama’s rooting for you! Even though you’re going far away, you always do your best, you hear?”

“Sniff... Mama... Thank you...Mama...”



It was emergency money I got from Mama. I couldn’t just spend it carelessly. I turned back to the shopkeepers, and told them my decision.

“I considered it...” I told them, “but I’ll have to pass on buying it.”

“Is that so... That’s too bad...” the purple one replied, a bit disappointed.

“Thank you so much for listening to me... See you.”

“Anytime! If you change your mind, come back anytime.”

“...Sniff...Now that you’ve said that, how can I ever make up my mind for sure? Yup yup... But... It’s fine... Impulse buying isn’t good. It’s too bad...but I’m going to give up on the TM...”

I was about to leave and go back to the guild to report back to Chatot, when all of a sudden this Pokémon came up to me. I found out later his name was Snover.

“Umm... Umm... What should I do...” I saw him say, fidgeting, then he ran up to me. “Excuse me! H-hold this!”

“Huh... Golly, what is this?”

But before I could get a response, he ran off. Must’ve been mighty scared.

“Hey! You...wait!” I called after him, but he was already gone. “...Just now... What was that, anyway...?”

Then these other two Pokémon came running from the same direction too, and came up to me. I think they were a Bagon and a Gligar. They were looking around frantically, as if on a mission.

“Hey, you!” the Bagon ran up to me.

“Yes?”

“Did you just see a lone Pokémon run through here?”

“A Pokémon...? Let me see...”

“Come on! We’re in a hurry!” the Gligar shouted at me. “Quit taking your time and just spit it out already!”

“Eee... Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! S-scary!”

“Hey, hold on, Gligar,” the Bagon said. Then over to me. “White body, looking kind of nervous. Did you see him?”

“Um... Uh... Th-that is... He went that way...” I pointed.

“Let’s go!” “Yeah!” they said, and went off in the direction I pointed. They were pretty scary. I’m not very brave, so I don’t want to have anything to do with Pokémon like them...

After dinner, I was mulling over what happened that day before I went off to sleep. There was a lot of stuff that happened, and I had to digest it all.

“Phew... Today was a really long day, yup yup... Those two are already asleep. I’ll have to get up early tomorrow... Guess I should probably get to bed too, yup yup. Good night, you all.”

I didn’t get very much sleep, though. My roomies are Loudred and Corphish, but Loudred snores. Really loudly. It kept waking me up during the night; it was terrible. I couldn’t wake Loudred up as he’d just get angry at me, and I couldn’t go back to sleep because of all the snoring, so I started thinking a bit more.

“...Speaking of scary!” I began, thinking of Loudred. “Those two I met earlier today... Those Pokémon sure were scary, yup yup... ...Just before those two showed...there was that Pokémon that seemed to be running away and then disappeared... That Pokémon... He was probably being chased by those two scary Pokémon... If that was the case, I hope he got away all right...”

Then something came to mind. “That’s right! When that Pokémon ran off... Right then...that Pokémon handed me something...and right afterward those two scary-looking Pokémon arrived... I was so scared, I couldn’t remember what happened. But no matter how I try to figure it out, I just can’t... I guess I should look and see.”



“Wait, you’re telling me you had the entire rest of the day to yourself,” DNA asked, “and you didn’t even think to look once until Loudred’s snoring woke you up?”

“Yeah...”

“That’s rather forgetful of you. I’d be pretty suspicious of something a stranger thrust into my hands.”

“By golly, I guess so, but I was too focused on reporting to Chatot that I didn’t think about it. Anyway...”



“...This is pretty old...” I said. “It looks like a map. ...Huh!? There’s some kind of mark... It looks like there’s something written. What could be written here, I wonder? Let’s see... Star... Cave...? At this marked spot...seems there’s a place called Star Cave?”

It got me thinking more and more about it. “Star Cave... It certainly sounds enticing... Somehow I just get a feeling...there has to be something really special there. Sniff... Now I’m so excited, I can’t sleep. Yup yup...”

But I had to shake it off for now, so I put the map away. “...Nope. I have to sleep if I want to do any good at training tomorrow... Sniff... I really should sleep. Good night, you all.”

I was so excited about the map that I forgot how loud Loudred snores. I didn’t get much sleep. The next morning I had a bit of a rude awakening because of it.

(Wow, this story is getting kinda long. I wonder what I could—hey, check it out! It’s a chapter break! See you guys in a few days.)

I'M RIGHT HERE

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I promised I'd get this up by Sunday and so I have. Still in the writing rut but the backlog is thankfully not in danger at this point. The jury's still out on the quality of this story, though, so don't be expecting too much...

But I know I have viewers and Rayne, so here you are.

~~~

[Back to Top]



“HEY!!” I heard Loudred yell. “HEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!! GET UUUUUUUUPPPPP! IT’S MORRRRRRRRNNNIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGG!”

“H-huh...? What’s that...?” I was so confused as he just woke me up from sleep, and that’s a really shocking way to wake up!

“How LATE will you SLEEP! The MORNING address is STARTING! HURRY UP!”

“Oogh... Whose fault do you think it is I can’t get up in the first place...?” But he’d already left before he heard what I said. “Sniff... His snoring made it really hard for me to sleep, yup yup... But if I don’t get up, I’ll miss the morning address... I-I’ve got to hurry!”

After our usual morning address, I became lost in my own thoughts. The map marked with Star Cave was still on my mind; it offered me an escape from the guild work that was really boring and not very eventful. This would be a huge step to me becoming an explorer! Chatot noticed my staring off into space, and asked about it.

“Huh? Something wrong, Bidoof? Quit staring off into space, and get to your assignments.”

“...Chatot, you know a lot of stuff, don’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Chatot said, very pleased with himself. “I do know a lot of info. I’m an encyclopedia. Hee hee! Is there something you wanted to ask me? You don’t have to hesitate. Go ahead and ask.”



“I’m not really confident... Chatot...do you know anything about a place called Star Cave?”

“Star Cave? Hmm... Yes, I think I’ve heard of it.”

“Huh?! Really?!”

“Yes, of course I have. Didn’t I just tell you I’m like an encyclopedia? Hee hee hee!”

Then Chatot got to his explaining.

“Well... Star Cave is a legendary place, but nobody knows where it is...”

“N-Nobody knows? Golly...”

“That’s right. It’s a legend that’s been passed down for generations. The truth is buried in history. But according to the legend, deep within Star Cave... the rare Pokémon Jirachi lies sleeping. It’s said that if you can wake Jirachi...he’ll grant you a wish.”

“Huh?! He’ll grant you a wish?!” I turned and began to look out the window. “A wish... A wish-granting rare Pokémon... His name is Jirachi?!”

“He... Hey, hey! It’s only a legend! I already said that nobody knows where the cave is, didn’t I?! ...HEY! ...Hey, Bidoof. Bidoof, what are you thinking of? Bidoof?”

I was thoroughly lost in thought at this point, and didn’t even notice what Chatot said after that. He had me at ‘he’ll grant you a wish’. If I meet Jirachi, he can grant a wish. My dream, to be the best explorer ever... Jirachi can make it come true! And I’ve got that map with Star Cave marked on it... Right now, I’m the only one who knows where Star Cave is! Just li’l ol’ me! This is...This is...so cool! So awesome! I’m so happy, I could burst!

“Hey.”

“...Huh?!” The sound of Chatot talking again snapped me back.

“Are you all right, Bidoof? You kind of spaced out for a while. And you were smiling to yourself. Something happen?”

“Nope! Nope, nope, nope, nope! N-nothin’ at all! No sirree! I wasn’t... I wasn’t thinking about anything! Not about Star Cave! Golly, no!”

“...Is that so? You say you weren’t thinking of anything... But that’s a bit suspicious...”

“Eeek!” I thought for sure I gave myself away!

“With that mischievous smirk, you had to be thinking of something, don’t you agree? Like you were secretly excited about something...”

“B-But...”

“Like you were so excited about something that you thought you would just burst...”

“N-No, nuh-huh!” How in the world did he know about that?



“Either Chatot was really good at picking up on visual cues,” DNA commented, “or you’re really bad at trying to hide secrets. Knowing you two, it could very easily have been both.”

“Yeah, I thought he found me out for sure. Thankfully, Loudred managed to interrupt the conversation by telling me I had a visitor.”



“Huh? A visitor?” I asked Loudred. “G-Golly, a visitor? For me?”

“Yeah, THAT’S right,” Loudred answered. “They’re WAITING by the GUILD entrance. Hurry UP and get OUT there!”

I went outside and found out it was that Pokémon from yesterday, the one who thrust the map into my hands. He was pacing back and forth until I showed up. He looked happy to see me.

“Huh? You are? You’re from yesterday!” I recognized him.

“...Y-Yes,” he answered. “Nice to meet you. M-My name is Snover. I’m really sorry to have caused you trouble yesterday.”

“Never mind that... What about those scary Pokémon that were chasing you... A-Are you all right?”

“Y-Yes. I’m OK. But... Truth is I had a bit of a scary encounter...”

“Whaaat? Scary encounter... What happened?!”

“After we met, I tried my best to run away... but Bagon and Gligar caught up with me...”

Then he told me of what happened when the two of them caught up to him. It was really scary!

“Ha! Finally caught you!” Bagon said, catching up.

“You really ran for it!” Gligar laughed.

“Ow-ow! Let go of me!” Snover was struggling to escape them.

“Nope,” replied Bagon. “You know what we’re looking for... You of all people should know!”

“Not here!” Gligar exclaimed after searching Snover. “The map’s not here! Bagon! He doesn’t have the map!”

“WHAAAAT?! Y-YOU! Where’d you stash it?!”

“I... I don’t know...” Snover answered.

“Liar!” Gligar roared, pushing Snover to the ground.

“OUCH! Ooooh... No matter what... No matter what you do... I’m not telling you.”

“ARGH!” Bagon screamed. “He has to have stashed it around here somewhere! Look for it!”



“Eek! That sounds pretty scary!” I told Snover after he explained. “Oh! That reminds me! That thing that Bagon and Gligar were looking for... Was it...”

“That’s right,” Snover told me. “That’s right. That thing I gave you yesterday, Bidoof... The Ancient Map. Yesterday, I was sure that if I held on to that map, it would get stolen from me, so I decided that I had no choice but to hand it to someone. And then I saw you... Afterward, I asked around Treasure Town about you. They all said that it was probably Bidoof from this guild, and so I came here to thank you. I’m really sorry...to have caused you so much trouble.”

“No, no! You don’t have to apologize! Don’t worry about it, by golly! I’ve been thinking...about that map you handed me... Is it really a map to Star Cave?”

“That’s right. It’s said that’s where the rare Pokémon Jirachi lives... that Star Cave. If you meet Jirachi, he’ll grant you a wish... That’s why those two Pokémon wanted to steal the map. Speaking of which... I have a request to make...”

“Yes? What is it?”

“W-Would you...come with me to explore Star Cave?”

“Whaaaat?! Really, you want little ol’ me to come along?!”

“Yes. I really want to meet Jirachi and make a wish, but... but... I’m not strong enough to make it very far by myself...so I was hoping you would come with me, Bidoof! You seem really dependable, Bidoof...and kind. There’s nobody I’d rather go exploring with than Bidoof! But... This is a sudden request... I hope I’m not bothering you?”



“Hey, Bidoof, can I ask a question about the story?”

“Sure, Rayne, what is it?”

“When Snover told you all that, did you look a little yellower than usual?”

“Huh? No, I don’t think so, why?”

“Because it sounds like Snover was...buttering you up!”

And then Rayne and DNA simultaneously burst into laughter.



“I don’t get it...” I told them.

“Butter is yellow,” Rayne explained, “so if Snover were literally buttering you up, you’d look yellow from all the butter! Get it?”

“I think so, but why would Snover put butter on me?”

“It’s a pun, silly.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhh. ...I still don’t get it.”

“DNA! Bidoof is boring!”

“I’m still trying to write down the story as he’s dictating it,” DNA responded, though I bet he totally agreed with Rayne. I think they’re siblings or something? I think that’s what he said. “Anyway, Bidoof, go on. What happened when Snover asked you to accompany him?”



Well, I said “No, no! N-Not at all! Yup yup! The truth is I was thinking of making a wish too. It’s OK! I really want to go to Star Cave too, yup yup!”

“Really?!” Snover responded, really pleased. “YAY! I’m so happy!”

“If we work together, we can definitely meet Jirachi!”

So that’s how Snover and I decided to go to Star Cave together. But I had training to do, so...

“Whaaaat?!” Chatot exclaimed. “You want to take time off from guild training?!”

“By time off, I just mean a couple days. Yup yup.”

“What is your reason for wanting to take time off?”

“Huh? R-Reason? The reason I want to take time off...um...um... O-Oh! I haven’t been feeling good lately! Yup yup! My stomach really hurts... Ooogh...”

“Your stomach hurts? You, the one with the cast-iron stomach? Last night at dinner you were the only one to ask for seconds, am I right? And now you’re saying that your stomach hurts?”

“Ooogh... I ate too much...”

“...I see. This seems really strange... All right. Your request for a day off is granted. Just don’t cause any trouble for other teams, OK?”

“Sniff... Thank you...”



“I’m guessing Chatot was starting to notice a pattern,” DNA commented. “First you ask him about Star Cave and then have a decidedly giddy and spacey reaction to it, and shortly thereafter you tell him you want to take time off because you, the one guy who could probably go toe-to-toe with Snorlax in an eating contest, has a stomachache.”

“Golly, you really think he noticed that easily?”

“You’re telling me all this and even I think that was an obvious lie. But I have this odd feeling that it’ll come up again at least once before the story is over. Continue.”



I ended up suddenly having to lie to Chatot... But... But...but it’s all right, because maybe I can make my dream of becoming the best explorer ever come true! If I can do that, then maybe I won’t mess up guild assignments anymore...and I won’t cause trouble for anyone anymore. Everyone will be so happy! This is a rare chance! I’ve got to take advantage of this chance! I’ve just gotta!

When I got to the crossroads, Snover was waiting for me. He said we should both prepare before going out exploring, but he was going to lie low until we left because Bagon and Gligar were still looking for him. I told him I would take care of the preparations completely, and we would meet up at the town exit.

Star Cave was really beautiful when we got there. Everything was a beautiful shade of light blue, and it was home to a few water-dwelling Pokémon, who were nice for the most part, but kept rambling about this thing they called Vanguard. I had no idea what they were talking about.

“Trust me, you don’t want to,” DNA said.

Anyway, I found all kinds of orbs, seeds, and berries on the ground, so the few things I brought with me weren’t all that big of a deal. It was like I didn’t even need to prepare at all since everything was right there! Though having Snover around did cause it to be hailing everywhere, so it was a bit irritating. About seven floors down, we found a place to rest, and the shade of blue got even deeper and more beautiful. Come to think of it, that’s when those strange ducks kept showing up. I can’t explain how it’s possible, but those ducks made it stop hailing.



There were only four floors after that until we got to a round room at the bottom that was blue, sparkly, and covered with tiny crystals sprouting out from the walls. It was right pretty.

“This looks like a dead end,” I said, rushing ahead to scope out the area. “This looks like the deepest part...the depths of Star Cave. Where’s Jirachi?”

Then I heard some evil laughter come from ahead of me.

“Wh-Who’s there?!” I asked. “Wh-Who...is that?!”

“Heh-heh-heh! You are really so gullible, to come trustingly all the way here!”

Then Bagon and Gligar jumped down from their hiding place. It was Bagon that said that!

“H-Huhhh?! Wh-Who are you?!”

“Heh-heh-heh! Long time no see!”

“Haven’t seen you since we met at Treasure Town!” Gligar joined in.

“Wh-What are you doing here?! Jirachi’s place in Star Cave is... I thought me and Snover were the only ones who had the map and knew how to get here... Wh-Why are you here?”

“Humph! Jirachi was never here,” I heard someone else say. I turned around, and found out it was Snover. “Star Cave, Jirachi, they were all made up. They never were here from the start. That’s what I’m saying.”

“You were tricked into coming here...by us...you see...” Bagon explained.

“Wh-Whaaaa?! ...U-Us? What do you mean, ‘us’?!”

“We’re the band of thieves, Team Rogue!”

“We trick our marks and take what we want...” Gligar told me. “We’re thieves! We’re rogues! Do you get it yet? We’re the bad guys! Gwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“And I am their leader, the great Snover!”

I’d been duped! They were all working together, like a bunch of con artists! Snover told me that when I was standing in front of the Kecleon Shop, stewing, they were watching me! They called my big wad of money a ‘mark’, and thought that the money was theirs for the taking.

“But...” Snover went on, “if we mugged you right then and there, there would have been an uproar. That’s why we put on this little show...to lure you out here...”

“Th-Then...” I sniffed. “The story about Star Cave and Jirachi is...?”

“A complete fabrication. You see, we were pretty excited when we laid our hands on that Ancient Map... Wishes come true here, so we heard. We could get rich! So...we came here to find out! But there’s nothing here. It’s just a dead end. We were so disappointed. It’s just a fake. The map, that is. Still angry, we came to Treasure Town...and there you were.”

They began closing in on me. I was almost about to cry.

“Too bad... Your money...we’re taking it! Prepare yourself!”

I screamed, but it was no use. They beat me up and knocked me to the ground. I was no match for them. I couldn’t have beaten them...



“Wait a second,” DNA interrupted. “That doesn’t explain something...”

“What’s that?”

“Well, if the story about Star Cave and this map was a complete fabrication, then how did Chatot even know about the story to begin with?”

“I’m guessing it was a well-known legend, but no one ever knew if it were true or not.”

“It still seems a little too convenient, like there’s a part of the story I don’t know about.”

“I’m just getting to that part, actually...”

“Ooh! Do continue.”



“Even though you’re weak, you’re going to resist and make us ask?” Bagon taunted.

“Hurry up and give us your money!” Gligar demanded.

“N...No...” I protested, still on the ground. “That money...is very important to me... Who do you think you are...?”



“Argh, this one’s really stubborn!” Snover said. “We’ll take it by force if we have to!”

Suddenly, there came a scream of “WAAAAIT!!” and everything got a little bit dimmer. No one had a clue what was going on – not them, and not me, but then I heard something familiar.

“One! Don’t shirk work! Two! Run away and pay! Three! Smiles go for miles!”

Then, out of nowhere, the entire guild showed up and surrounded Team Rogue! I was still lying off to the side, so now I was separated from them by the other guild members.

“Finch’s Guild is here!” Chatot proclaimed.

“Uh-oh!” I heard Bagon say.

“You! Don’t you dare pick on our apprentice!”

“You BETTER be READY!” Loudred yelled, more angry than I’d ever seen him before.

“Huh!? What do we do?!” Gligar said, panicked.

“Going up against the famous Finch’s Guild...” Bagon mumbled.

“W-Wait!” Snover stammered. “Don’t run away! Don’t believe the worldwide reputation and rumors! Jirachi’s not in this cave! Never has been! Y-You’re just scared of Finch’s reputation of being really strong! Let’s go, you guys! We’ll take them on too!”

“YEAH!” Bagon and Gligar yelled.

The next thing I remember is the entire guild dogpiled them before they ran away screaming.



“Worldwide reputation?” DNA questioned. “How long has Finch been here!?”

“I don’t know, but pretty much every rescue team everywhere knows the name of Finch.”

“When I stop to think about that, that’s an incredibly terrifying thought.”



“Are you all right?” Chimecho asked me, helping me to my feet.

“Thanks, everyone,” I replied, teary-eyed. “It was because you all came to help that I’m all right. But...what are you all doing here?”

“Chatot told us about you acting strangely,” Sunflora said.

“Ch-Chatot did?”

“You were acting really strange, daydreaming,” Chatot explained, “and then suddenly you wanted to take the day off. So I talked to the Guildmaster, and secretly followed you to see what you were up to.”

“I-Is that so...?”

“I...I will say this one thing... It wasn’t because I was worried about you... No, I didn’t think I’d tag along because I was worried at all! You were acting really strange... I thought maybe you were deserting the guild...so I had to see for myself. That’s it! Don’t misunderstand!”



I heard a few of the guild members say “Well said!”, but then Corphish came out and said that Chatot really was worried about me. At least Corphish was honest about it, because Chatot denied it to the end.

“B-Be quiet!” Chatot retorted, angrily. “As for everyone coming along... At first, it was going to be myself and the Guildmaster coming to your rescue, Bidoof...but in the end, everyone wanted to come along! HUMPH!”

“Because...” Loudred started.

“Once we heard you were acting strange, Bidoof...” Corphish continued.

“We couldn’t ignore it,” Sunflora finished.

“We’ve always been strict teachers in your training...” Finch told me, “but of course we still care about you, Bidoof. So...Bidoof, we’re just glad you’re safe!”

“Everyone...” I blubbered. “I’m sure happy... You all did this just for me... Sniff... But... here I’ve gone and caused you all trouble again... I just can’t seem to do anything right, yup yup...”

“What?” Sunflora countered. “That’s not true...”

“Nobody could take on an entire band of thieves by themselves, hey, hey,” Corphish reassured.

“You’ve GOTTEN much STRONGER,” Loudred seconded.

“You’re worried about failing...” Finch consoled. “But that’s how everyone becomes stronger. That’s how the best explorers get to be that way. So failure is nothing to be embarrassed about.”



“Hey! Blubbered!” Rayne noticed DNA’s notes. “And all of those other cool verbs! I need to use those more often!”

“Carrying around a dictionary would improve your chances,” DNA rebounded.

“You did it again! Stop showing off and writing all this down in real time!”



“Guildmaster...” I said, almost about to cry. “Everyone... Thank you... Thank you so much. Truly. I’m sorry for troubling you... From now on, I won’t be afraid of failure... I’ll be patient... and do my best...”

“Yeah!” Finch cheered.

“That band of thieves was pretty second-rate, weren’t they?!” Croagunk chuckled.

“Hey! That’s right!” Corphish hey-heyed. “But never mind that... So this is Star Cave? They shouldn’t have just given up and gone home! Hey, hey!”

“Huh?” I said, confused. “But there’s nothing here, right? The cave just comes to a dead end right here... Jirachi’s not here, right?”

“Hey, Bidoof. Did you FORGET?” Loudred told me. “We’re an EXPLORATION team.”

“Don’t make fun of the Guildmaster’s guild!” Chatot chirped.

I looked over and noticed Finch had been scrutinizing the far wall for quite some time now.

“Hmmm... Probably... Right around here,” he said. Then he started chanting something weird, and as he did so, everything began to shake. “Oooooo... OOOOOOOooooooooo...”



And then came the yell. “YOOOOOOOOOOOOOM-TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Then the back wall exploded and there was a pathway that led even deeper into Star Cave! We were all really surprised, especially li’l ol’ me! All of the guild members were really enthusiastic about getting a chance to explore more of the cave, and some of them were even thinking about what they were going to ask Jirachi for when they got there. But then Finch said something...

“Everyone... Wait a moment,” he told them. “It’s too bad, but not everyone can go ahead.”

“WHAAAAT?! Why not!?” everyone screamed.

“This is Bidoof’s exploration.”

“Whaaat?! Mine?! By golly!!”

“Yep. Bidoof’s. You’re the one who’s got this map, Bidoof, and you’re the one who’s adventured all the way here. That’s why you should go ahead alone, Bidoof.”

“Yeah, when you say it like that, that’s the way it should be...” the apprentices replied.

“We can only help you this far. The rest is up to you, Bidoof. Use your own strength and do your best to have a successful exploration!”

“Guildmaster...” I told him. “Thank you so much, yup yup...” Everyone was cheering for me, telling me to do my best and telling us what happened later on. They were all happy to send me off to finish! I thanked them all, and told them I would do my best exploring!

Then this part of the story I heard later from Loudred, since by then I was already well ahead. He said that the Guildmaster was pretty cool and kind with handing the exploration over to me.

“You think so?” Finch asked.

“YEAH. Handing OVER the EXPLORATION to Bidoof was a very GENEROUS gesture, I THINK. BECAUSE Jirachi WILL grant WISHES, you know? SO... You COULD have made a WISH... For all the PERFECT APPLES you CAN eat! HA HA HA!”

“Oh...”

Then while everyone was singing the Guildmaster’s praises and saying what a great Guildmaster he was, he suddenly told us “...All right, I’m going.” He was dead serious, Loudred told me! With a yell of “EVERYONE! Stop the GUILDMASTER!” all of them dogpiled him so he couldn’t rush ahead of Bidoof and claim the Perfect Apples for himself. He was surprisingly strong and almost broke free with his struggling, it took everything they had to restrain him. Chimecho was apparently smitten with how cool and strong Finch was.

“Ah, so Chimecho is a Finch fangirl?” DNA asked. “That actually doesn’t surprise me too much, given how I found out she’s a Rayne fangirl too. But how’d the rest of Star Cave go, Bidoof?”

Oh, it was beautiful! I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow, it got even more beautiful the deeper I explored! Everything was a deeper blue... Everything began to sparkle more and more... Even the Pokémon that lived down there were rare and elusive! I’d never seen any kinds like those before, it was neat. There wasn’t that much more to the cave, but I kept being chased by those weird ducks, chanting about that Vanguard thing. I asked them to go away; they didn’t.

Before long I got to another round room that looked like a dead end, and I was wondering if it didn’t go even deeper still. It was an even deeper blue, and had a star pattern on the floor. It almost looked like the surface of the moon, and felt like it too. At least, that’s what I think the surface of the moon would feel like. It was all dusty and such, and footprints got left behind really easily. For a minute I thought I was in space!

And then I heard someone sleeping. I looked around, but I saw no one. I only heard the voice. It asked me who I was, and I said I was Bidoof. Then someone appeared, and it was Jirachi, who had been talking to me.

“I’m Jirachi,” he yawned, floating, still asleep.

“J-Jirachi! You’re THE Jirachi, aren’t you?!”

“Mmm-hmmm... That’s right... Speaking of... Whoooo are yoooooou? Yaaaaawn...”

“I’m Bidoof.” Didn’t I already say that? “U-Um...”

“Whaaaaaat?” Jirachi snored.

“I heard that you...that you can grant wishes, Jirachi. Is it really true?”

“Yep, it’ssss truuuuuuue. Yaaaaawn... But right now, I’m pretty sleeeepy, so I can’t really help you. Sorrrry... Zzz... Zzzz... Snorf... And I usually toss and turn in my sleep... Zzzz... Snorf... So, if you’re nearby... I will probably attack you... Sorry if I do... Zzzz... Snorf...”

“Wh-Whaaaaat?!”

“...Yaaaaawn... I’m so sleepy...”



“Wait a second, Bidoof,” DNA asked. “Did you just say that Jirachi had a conversation with you, and started to attack you, all while fast asleep?”

“Yup yup, that’s what happened.”

“Either Jirachi’s a really light sleeper, or he has some knowledge of his surroundings even while asleep. But yeah, did he really attack you?”

“Yeah, he did! After I got over the shock of him just up and fighting me like that, I started just pelting Totter Seeds at him while waiting for him to make a move or three. He hit really hard though, so I ended up eating a lot of Oran Berries. While he was confused, though, he was running all over the place, so I started pelting him with rocks until he fell over.”

“This sounds unnecessarily mean for some reason. Anyway, what happened after that?”



Well, the ground started to shake a bit, and I thought Finch had been following me or something, to steal a wish! But no, it was from Jirachi absorbing a lot of energy, and then suddenly, he was fully awake. He wasn’t yawning, he wasn’t tossing or turning, he was awake and giving full attention to me.

“Hah! All right, I’m fully awake!” he exclaimed. “So, so awake! Ahhh! My name is Jirachi. Um... Who are you?”

“I’m Bidoof.” Golly, how many times do I need to tell him?

“Your name is Bidoof. So, Bidoof. You better listen well. I grant wishes for those who manage to wake me up.”

“Waah! All of a sudden! I-I’m not ready for this yet...!”



“Ahem... All right, I’ll listen. What is your wish, Bidoof?”

“M-My wish... My wish is... Ummmm... Uuuuummmm...” That’s right. My dream... It was to become the best explorer ever. But I had to think about it. After all, a wish isn’t something to take lightly!

“Huh? Something wrong?” Jirachi asked. “What’s your wish, Bidoof?”

I was a little worried, and the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth.

“Something wrong? You don’t have a wish?”

“M-My dream...is to become the best explorer ever, yup yup.”

“The best explorer? Got it. That’s pretty easy! OK, here we go!”

“Uwaaaah! W-wait a moment, please!”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Golly, well, my dream is to become the best explorer ever, that’s true... At first I thought I’d come down here and ask you for that, yup yup. B-But I’m giving up on that plan.”

“Truly? Why?”

“Because... Because I’ve come to see it’s not something you can wish for, by golly. You’ve got to work hard... Once you’ve really done your best...put in the effort, then you can feel like a worthy explorer. You gotta have lots of experiences, lots of feelings and memories... Those are the ways you learn, grow, and get better, little by little. Yup yup. Yes sirree, I got a lot clearer on all this stuff during this adventure. So my wish to be the best explorer ever... Jirachi... I’m not asking you for that anymore.”

“...I see... Well spoken. So you don’t have any wishes? What you’ve just said, it shows something about you. Not everyone can resist being greedy. You’re a good Pokémon, Bidoof. I’ve come to like you. So, if you don’t have a wish right now...”

“Oh! ...W-Wait just a moment, please! Yup yup!”

“What is it?”

“You just said a nice thing about me not being greedy, Jirachi, so maybe I shouldn’t ask...”

“It’s all right. Go ahead.”

“If...you’ll still grant me a wish... I...I wish... I wish for a buddy who I could teach stuff to.”

“A buddy? You’re training at the guild, aren’t you, Bidoof? So...you want a buddy, Bidoof? Someone you can show around and give a helping hand to?”

“That’s right. During this adventure, I... Golly, thanks to the Guildmaster and everyone in the guild caring about me, I feel so incredibly happy. Yup! But I don’t want to get used to it and start acting spoiled or anything. That’s why... That’s the reason I’d like a pal or two. If I had a buddy, a pal I could share what I learned with, I’d get better and better as I push forward, you know?”

“...Yes. Got it. Your wish, Bidoof... I will make it come true.”

“R-Really?!”

“Yep. Maybe it won’t be soon... But sooner or later, you’ll see some new faces at the guild. You should look forward to it.”

“Thank you...Jirachi... Thank you so much... Sniff...”

And so my exploration of Star Cave came to an end. Later on, while I was staying at the guild, I saw my wish come true, I did! Really... There really is a new apprentice! And not only that, there are two of them! Jirachi, thank you so much! As your older buddy, DNA and Rayne, I won’t let you down! I’m going to work hard at my guild training each and every day!



“Aw, that’s really cool, Bidoof!” Rayne said at the end. “What a fantastic story!”

“Shucks, Rayne, thanks,” Bidoof answered, blushing slightly. “You really think so?”

“I know so. DNA, did you get all of that? Every single last detail?”

“Indeed I did,” I answered. “Every single last detail.”

To be honest, it wasn’t that bad of a story, and it did help to pass the time quite a bit. We were now much closer to our destination than we were before, and I lost track of time as Bidoof spun his tale. In fact, I couldn’t think of a single negative to this—

...wait a second. Back up a bit.

“Bidoof, something’s nagging at me,” I asked. “You said that you gave up on your wish to become an explorer and wished for a new buddy? And that wish was granted to you in the form of Rayne and I joining the guild?”

“Yes.”

“So to get things straight, the entire reason I’m here is solely because of you?”

“Yup yup!”

I think something in my brain snapped, causing several other things to snap with them, because the next thing I remember after a small half-second blip is Rayne restraining me from strangling Bidoof to death.

“I’m stuck in this stupid nightmare because of YOU!?” I screamed, trying to break free.

“No, DNA, don’t kill him!” Rayne protested. “He’s not worth it! Focus on killing Team Skull!”

“If I do that then replacing their face with his will only make it that much easier!”



In the end, due to the insistence and restraint of Rayne, I didn’t end up killing Bidoof. I was still incredibly mad at him, though, making that two members of the guild that were terrified of me – first Diglett for me giving a hard time, and second Bidoof for being responsible for this entire affair that I’d much rather have been spared from. There was only one positive to this, and it was that I got to spend this time on the team with Rayne. Come to think of it, maybe Rayne was the wish being granted, and I was asked to come along to keep her safe.

I may very well never know, but one thing is now clear: I absolutely despise Bidoof. And now that the logbook is out of pages (at this writing, Project SOLO, including team planning, is exactly 200 pages on the Word document, same as a logbook), this is a good place to break.