Seven Years Later Chapter 3
Seven Years Later
CH. 3: The Guild
"On the first floor of the guild, you will find two bulletin boards", began Vulpix. "The one by the window has general jobs like escort and rescue missions. The one close by Chimecho over there contains wanted posters of outlaws that range from petty thieves to evil masterminds. A job's difficulty is based on its letter rank, so it's recommended to complete multiple lower ranking jobs instead of becoming ambitious and overburdening yourself with a high ranking job." Hearing her name, Chimecho glanced over to the group and dinged with interest. Floating towards them, she stared down at the guests with a twinkle in her eye.
"What are two adorable looking kids such as yourselves doing here in the middle of the night?", asked Chimecho. "Don't misjudge their skills due to their cuteness, senior", laughed Clefairy. "They saved us today from a C-rank outlaw pair. They also came here to become apprentices, so if they manage to complete the entrance exam then we might get some new team members." Dinging in surprise, a worried look appeared on Chimecho's face. "I don't recall the guild ever having new recruits pass an entrance exam before. I know that many of our former recruits ran away because of the rigorous training, but having recruits tested like this could drive away many potential explorers. Knowing the guildmaster, he probably created something that would be impossible to pass if you were ordinary pokemon."
Unshi gulped at Chimecho's words and looked towards Kutty to see her reaction. Unlike her partner, Kutty stared blankly at Chimecho and nodded. "Thank you for the advice", bowed Kutty as she turned to look at the quiet dile. "We knew that getting in wouldn't be easy, but we'll try our best." Taking in these inspirational words, Unshi also bowed in thanks. "It was nice meeting you Chimecho. Hopefully, the next time we talk will be the time when we're full-fledged members of the guild", smiled Unshi. Chimecho also smiled and waved the group off as they headed back down into the depths of the guild.
"Down here on the second floor is where we hang out and relax", said Vulpix. "You've already seen the guildmaster's entrance but haven't seen his room yet. Of course, whenever the door is closed like that, it becomes off limits. The hallway close to the guildmaster's room leads to the apprentice's rooms. There's four rooms altogether and they separated them into two sides based on gender. Over on the opposite side is the sentry nest and the dining hall. Diglett mans the sentry while Sunflora and Chimecho share cooking duty. You've already met Chimecho, so lets introduce you to the other seniors."
Entering the dining hall, the first thing that the group heard was a great big squeal. "Oh my gosh! It's you two!", cried Sunflora. "I saw the both of you talking to Chatot awhile ago and thought that you were both were just the cutest. Seeing you up close, I feel myself bursting with a need to hug you guys. Are you a couple? Oh my gosh! If that were true, I'd definitely would..." "Sunflora, calm down a bit!", Vulpix playfully snapped. "You're embarrassing our guests", added Clefairy, pointing towards the pair's reddened faces. "Eek! I'm so sorry", apologized Sunflora. "It's alright. No harm done", giggled Unshi. "Yep", agreed Kutty. "Although, I wouldn't mind getting hugged by someone like you." Unshi reeled back in shock as he stared at his blushing friend. He finally noticed the small subtle changes in Kutty's behavior. The once shy and timid charmander was slowly opening her heart to these pokemon, and Unshi himself warmed up to that idea. "Really? I can truly hug both of you right now?", asked Sunflora. Both pokemon nodded and instantly felt the gentle leaves wrap around them.
"None of the other apprentices, besides Chimecho, would let me hug them", smiled Sunflora. "Honestly, it's only a hug. I mean, hugs have this kind of power that strengthens the bonds of friendship and leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside." Gasping, Sunflora jumped back upon realizing something. "Eek! I still need to get dinner ready! It was nice meeting you two cuties and hopefully we can share more hugs later in the future!" With that being said, Sunflora rushed back to her duty. Leaving the dining hall, the group stopped in front of the Sentry entrance. After calling for him, Diglett emerged from the ground with pop.
"Hey guys", pipped Diglett. "Nice to finally meet the overexcited totodile and extremely shy charmander." Introducing themselves to the sentry guard, Diglett only nodded coolly. "I don't really have much to say and have a lot of work to do", Diglett shrugged. They stared at each other in awkward silence before Diglett finally went back to his post. "Don't mind him", whispered Clefairy. "He hasn't been as talkative ever since his dad left the guild." "He couldn't handle the training anymore?", asked Unshi. "No, Dugtrio has this unusual interest in the sea. He tried to go swimming in the ocean and almost lost his life. Giving his job of updating the general and outlaw boards to Diglett, Dugtrio now trains his mind and body with Sensei Marowak at Marowak Dojo."
Large thumping noises began to fill the rooms. Jumping in fear, Kutty and Unshi asked their tour guides about what was making that sound. Diglett reappeared from the ground and looked at the frightened youngsters. "No need to be scared, it's only Bibarel. He's an overall nice guy so why don't you go and say hi when he gets down here." Trusting Digletts words, the two gulped as they waited for the supposedly jolly pokemon to arrive. With the thumping getting louder, they could finally see a large mass of brown fur climbing down the ladder. "Hiya everyone!", cheered Bibarel. "I'm back after completing a couple more job requests." Reaching the ground, the large pokemon slowly turned around to see his fellow guildmates. "Well I'll be! It's nice to see a couple of new faces around here", laughed Bibarel. Inching closer to the group, he smiled at the two young guests. "My names Bibarel and I'm happy to meet you."
After introductions and random chatter, Chimecho rang her dinner bell. Bellies growling, Bibarel, Diglett, Vulpix, and Clefairy made a mad dash towards the dining hall. Sunflora appeared and motioned to Kutty and Unshi to come eat. A long rectangular table with thirteen plates of food on it sat in the middle of the room while a pile of assorted berry baskets laid stacked in the corner. "You two can sit at the end over by the baskets", pointed Sunflora. Finding their seats, they waited for the other members to arrive. Watching the entrance, they saw a group of four walk in. They were Sandshrew, Shinx, Numel, and Growlithe, and together they stared at the newcomers. Silently sitting down, they continued to stare at Kutty and Unshi before Chatot squawked and ruined the moment.
"Now that I have everybody's attention, I would like to introduce you all to our guests. Kutty the charmander and Unshi the totodile will both be taking the guild entrance exam and if they succeed, will become apprentices to our guild. I want to speak with both of you after dinner, so don't forget. Sorry to keep you all waiting, but let's eat!" Roaring with hunger, everybody began to fill their maws with the delicious food. Kutty and Unshi tried their best to keep up, but just looking at Wigglytuff bounce that apple on his head made them slow down. Minutes after, the food on everybody's plate had been licked clean. Yawning and drowsiness took hold of the pokemon as they wished each other pleasant dreams and shuffled into their beds.
Remembering their meeting with Chatot, Unshi and Kutty waited outside the guildmaster's room. Door creaking open, the two stepped into the room expecting mountains of treasure sitting behind the guildmaster. They were disappointed to find the room barren, except for the few pictures that hung around the walls. "Hey-ya!", boomed Wigglytuff. "How are my friendly friends doing tonight? Has your stay been filled with excitement and fun?" Nodding, Unshi couldn't believe that he was talking to the legendary Wigglytuff. "As you know", Chatot stepped in. "I said that we were talking about what kind of test to give you. In truth, we were actually secretly testing you both this entire time." The pair jumped in shock. "Really?" questioned Unshi. Tilting his head to openly show how confused he was, a knock on the door drew both of their attention.
Door opening, four familiar pokemon entered the room behind them. "Chimecho. Sunflora. Diglett. Bibarel. You mean all of the seniors were testing us the whole time?", cried Unshi in disbelief. "That's right", smiled Wigglytuff. "I had them go out and talk to you two. From what they told me, I know what kind of pokemon you are. Brave, compassionate, cool, and kind, all four of the things that make truly amazing explorers. It's been about seven years since I met pokemon such as yourselves, and it brings back so many fond memories. Just like them, I'm sure that you two will also do something big and will gladly help you however I can. The first thing that I can do for you is accepting you two as apprentices."
"Really?", Unshi said as he began to shake. "Yep! So come up here and accept this starting explorer's kit. Oh, and you also need to decide on your team's name." "I would like to go up and accept the kit, but I'm so overjoyed right now that I can't even move." Bibarel chuckled to himself as he was reminded of his past. Kutty went in Unshi's place and graciously accepted the explorers kit. "I have it. Our team name. I just know it will be perfect", shook Unshi.