Imagine a world, mere inches from our own. Those mere inches may not seem like much, but in reality they can cause great changes between those worlds. That is the kind of world we find here today. Humans here are mere myth, child stories persay. But they are much more. There rarely comes a time where this world, inhabited by nothing other than Pokemon, comes into such a great peril that a human must be brought here to quell it. It is a tough endeavor, nonetheless, and many have failed in this quest, and new humans were chosen. Those who succeeded often stayed in this world, but eventually vanished from public eye, leaving more humans to be chosen yet again. But sometimes, the danger is more than only humans can handle...



It's late at night, most Pokemon would be asleep by then. That's why it was the perfect time for the troublesome twosome sneaking out of their rooms to not get caught. It was a beautiful, cloudless, star-filled night out that night, and they weren't going to spend it in some stuffy old room at their dad's guild. They were sneaking out to their favorite place, a clearing in the center of Tranquil Forest.

"Why don't we take a shortcut? I've never gone this way before." Said Lulu, easily distinguished by the red bow around her ear. Her brother, much more cautious, advised against the idea. "We should stick to our usual path, sis. Who knows how safe that path is..." Lulu easily passed off her brothers warning. "Where's your sense of adventure? You have to take some risks to find out what lies ahead. Come on..." She proceeded to jump onto a low hanging branch on a tree that was rooted in a deep crevice below. "See? It's perfectly fine!" Rico was still not convinced.

"How about this, you take your 'shortcut', and I'll take the normal route. I'll meet you at the clearing." Lulu saw there was no convincing her brother to follow her this time, and merely nodded and took off from branch to branch until she fell out of sight of Rico. Meanwhile, Rico quickly traversed the well-worn path and arrived at the clearing fairly quickly. He laid down on the soft grass and watched the glittering stars above him. A few minutes passed, and he noticed Lulu hadn't gotten there yet.

"I bet she got lost... just great..." Then he felt it, something changed in the atmosphere. It's that kind of feeling you subconsciously get when one of your family is in trouble. He rushed to where he believed the end of the crevice was, and saw no sign of his sister. Throwing all caution to the wind, he began jumping from branch to branch, looking for any sign of his twin. About halfway through he guessed, he noticed a spot where it appeared a branch had broken loose from the tree. He looked down, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was, but it was. His sister was at the bottom of the crevice, and she wasn't moving...

"Lulu! Lulu, can you hear me?" Cried out Rico, but got no response. Carefully he climbed down the tree, leaping from branch to branch, until finally landing on the ground. He looked over his sister carefully, he was scared out of his mind that she was... then she moved a little. Phew, she wasn't gone at least, but she was hurt bad. He thought about leaving to go find help, but he wouldn't dare leave his sister like that. He cried out, realizing that he was too far away from the Village for anyone to hear. But he kept crying anyways. "Someone! Please help!"

Next to a tall oak tree, the crumpled form of a small blue reptile lay on it's back unconscious in the grass. The moonlight slightly putting the creature in a bit of a spotlight as it twitched slightly. After a few moments, the Totodile of odd coloration finally came to. It let out a groan, and cracked open it's eyelids to stare directly at the starry sky. In it's mind, it attempted to process the situation as it's large jaws hung open.

Ugh.....What....What happened? I think I was.....No...I-I can't remember what I was doing....Or what...What's my name? Who am I!?

The alarmed crocodile sat up fully, and it's head shot to every angle in a panicked frenzy. .....Where am I!? I don't remember being in....A forest? I think that's what this is..Trees and stuff....And...I swear I was with others....Are they here?

Putting it's tiny clawed hands to it's mouth, the Totodile called out in it's raspy, clearly young masculine voice. "Hello? Is anyone around?"

The nameless Pokémon would frown deeply as he sat just staring off into the void of darkness beyond the trees in the clearing. ....That Didn't sound right. It's my voice but....It just doesn't FEEL like my voice. Like I'm speaking differently than I'm used to....Maybe I heard it wrong?...I dunno.

Finally the Totodile stood up, and began to wobble as he almost fell over onto his butt before wildly waving his arms and tail to regain balance. Huffing, he stared down at his little blue toes and narrowed his eyes. Ok...This REALLY doesn't feel right. But why? They're my legs. I've always been a uh....To..Totodile? Yeah....That sounds right.

Staring ahead of him, he took a few steps forward. He was than hesitant for a moment before he continued towards the tree line. Shuffling along at a slow pace, the Totodile awkwardly wobbled every which way. Thankfully he was able to catch his balance every time thanks to leaning back on the tail dragging behind him. Making it to the edge of the trees, the Big Jaw Pokémon looked behind him and grinned at his progress. "Hey, that wasn't so bad! Tail helps alot...But I don't remember using it much before? Huh..."

A cry rang out from beyond the trees in front of the little Tototile. Causing him to stare blankly for a bit before snapping out of his daze. "Who was that? Is it one of the guys I was with? Whoever it is, sounds like somethings going down. I should check it out." With a straight goal in his mind, the lizard wandered off towards the sound of the plea for help while slowly picking up the pace as he hobbled around on his oddly unfamiliar legs.

The Totodile had eventually jogged his way to the edge of the crevice, and scanned the cliffs before looking down into the darkness once the cries continued to sound off. A bit of worry was on his face as he shouted down into the void. "Hey! What's going on!? Who needs help!?"

@Shiny Keldeo

@Light Lord



Rico was beginning to lose hope, when he heard the raspy voice from the darkness. Granted that voice nearly sent a chill down his spine, but he was just happy that someone was out here. "W...Who's there? Please... I need help..." He contemplated whether he should trust this random stranger that he couldn't even see... but his instincts were taking the place of his rational thought for once.

"My sister... she fell from one of these trees, she's hurt bad... she won't respond to me either, I'm... I'm really scared... I don't even know why I'm saying all this... I'm stuttering... I can't get her out of here myself..." He was hurriedly scanning the top of the crevice, looking for the Pokemon who had called out to him, and for any kind of way up. Sweat was beginning to bead down his face, he was caught between a rock and a hard place... "I'm gonna ask again... who are you? Where are you? And please, help!"

His rational thought finally started coming back to him, what was he doing?! For all he knew this could be some kind of outlaw who would save them then mug them! Then again, he could be truly helpful, but he definitely didn't come from Valiant Village, he'd never heard that voice before in his life... Whatever it was, he could be their only chance to get out of there.

The Totodile put a claw to his chin as the clearly terrified voice echoed out from below him. Nope....He doesn't sound familiar.... I don't think he's one of the people I was with before....Doesn't matter much now. They still need help, and from the looks of it, I'm the only guy they got.

Finally, the blue reptile replied to the scared Riolu's questions. "Uh...This is gonna sound weird, but I don't actually know who I am. All that I know is that I'm a Totodile, and I'm up here above ya on this cliff. But don't worry! I'll try to find a way to get down there to help you guys! Hang on!"

As soon as he said that, the Big Jaw Pokémon looked around and unfortunately spotted no way down into the deep hole....Except for a bunch of twisted trees growing out of cracks in the rock. The Totodile's brown eyes locked onto a wide branch that extended across the width of the crevice a few feet down, and seemed to provide a way down via its ridged trunk. The tree only had the one fat branch however, as all the ones below were much tinier and most likely would break with a little weight.

The miniscule blue Pokémon blinked a bit as he slowly shuffled towards the branch. Well, if I'm gonna break my neck, might as well do it trying to save these guys.

Carefully the reptilian would step out onto the fat branch. Yelping as he nearly slipped off of it, but thankfully fell forward onto the branch still clinging to it. His claws dug into the bark deeply as he let out a nervous laugh. "Ooook. Almost fell there, but I'm good! I'll be down in a sec..."

The Totodile slinked along the branch on his stomach, pulling himself forward with his arms and snout squished into the wood. After a minute of agonizing crawling, he made it to the trunk of the tree. Gazing down he could spot only one branch below him that might take his weight. Key word being 'might'.

Oh crap...Here we go...

With a deep breath, the Water-type reeled back, and flung himself towards the branch deep in the crevice stomach first. He landed on the thing with a loud snap, and soon the weak branch broke completely to make the poor reptile plummet to the earth.

A shrill scream could be heard for two full seconds until the Totodile landed at the bottom of the crevice with a loud thud. A groan could be heard as the little blue Mon lifted his bruised snout up from the floor to stare at the Riolu sibling standing over his sister a couple feet away from where he lay. A pained toothy grin came up on the lizards face. "I made it, and I'm not dead, so that's a plus."

The Totodile stood up completely and rubbed the end of his nose as he wandered over beside the two Riolu and looked over them. His dark brown eyes focusing on the female twin as his face drooped in a concerned frown."How's your sister? She still breathing?"

@Shiny Keldeo

@Light Lord



Rico felt a wave of relief wash over him when he heard the Pokemon's voice again. However, he wasn't sure what to make of him... he couldn't remember his name, but he knew he was a Totodile... a few moments later he said he was coming down. Rico probably would have laughed at the attempt if it weren't for the given situation. At least this Pokemon seemed nice, and honestly caring about his sister's well being.

"Yeah, luckily..." Rico said when he asked about her breathing. "I think she's just knocked out, but I don't know how bad she's hurt..." Rico was still shaking a little, he was still unsure whether or not to trust this stranger. "I could have easily gotten out of here and gotten help, but... but I'm not leaving my sister's side! If something happened to her... I'd never forgive myself..."

He started shaking a little more before saying and while saying his next words. "As... as much as I don't want to... I need my dad... maybe you can help..." He made his decision, he had no choice in the matter. "Just through this forest is a small village named Valiant Village. We live there with our dad, a Lucario named Spirit. He runs a Guild there, it should be easy to spot, biggest building in town. Could you get back out and find him? Please?"

Dylan the Mudkip

Tranquil Forest

It was an odd feeling, floating around in a void, no sensation of one's body. It was peaceful, if the situation could possibly be described, yet oddly foreign. Almost like the state of mind in-between dreams, but... different, somehow. However, the sensation was quickly cut off, the void fading with a small snap.

"Ah, my head..." Dylan's conscious, spurred on by a small, shrill sound in the distance, returned to him in a rush, the force of it all overloading his poor unprepared brain. As his eyes slowly opened, the soft moonlight trickling through the forest's canopy greeted them, helping to shake off the cobwebs in his mind. As he gradually woke up, the sight greeting him made him recheck his thoughts. ...Forest?

His mind's sleepy shackles loosening, Dylan came to the realization that the scene he was in felt off. He didn't recall falling asleep in a forest... As his brain went to double-check this notion, he came to realizing something even worse. He couldn't remember anything at all.

"W-what the hell?" He couldn't help but mutter those words, his body groggily being forced into action. However, in doing so, even more alarm bells went off in his mind as his attempt to stand up failed, body thumping to the ground. Two red flags thrown, he began to panic slightly. He tried to scramble up to stand once more, more hastily than before, only to receive the same results. His legs having failed him, he frantically looked around for something, anything that would help him. The sight of a small, blue leg in his sight effectively made him stop his search, answer found.

That... wasn't a human leg.

His brief moment of panic over, Dylan took time to assess his current situation. A thorough self-inspection assured him he hadn't been crippled somehow, beaten to a sorry state. No, the answer was much more far-fetched than that. Or Farfetch'd, he supposed in this instance. Without any explanation, he was now a Mudkip. A Pokemon. Not only that, but he still was pulling blanks on his memory. Well, besides the fact he was a human, or used to be, at least.

The small patch of grass beneath Dylan shifted as he tried to stand once more, more cautious than before. First a kneeling position, then a shaky stand. It was odd, standing on all fours. However, he was still standing, which was better than a few minutes ago. Not that standing still would really help him. He needed to look around, search for anything that could help him. Right leg... er, legs forward, left legs forward... Slowly but surely, he began getting a rhythm going, able to move around freely. It wasn't as hard as he was expecting to be honest, as he quickly got used to it.

As the Mudkip grew confident in walking, he turned his attention to his surroundings. Mostly trees and lush earth, small rays of the pale light managing to break through the green cover. Everything felt bigger, to put it simply, his change in perspective coming into play. The lack of sunlight left quite a few parts the forest unknown, darkness concealing most of it. However, upon further inspection, there seemed to be a clearing off in the distance. Seeming like a good bet to bid on, he headed towards it.

The moon's light began to peer more through the canopy as the water type walked, until the canopy disappeared entirely, showing him an unexpected sight. A village of sorts filled his vision, initially filling him with ease. Civilization... at least he wasn't left alone in the wilderness to fend for himself in an unknown body. At night to boot. However, his initial reaction faded as he looked more, not seeing anyone at first. Chances were the people, or pokemon, living here were all asleep. Regardless, he began walking towards the village, looking for any sign of life, softly calling out all the while, "Hello...? Anyone here?"

It had been a long and uneventful day for the Chimchar. He only went through two requests and both were simply taking supplies from one end to another. It was a tedious job, but pays good nonetheless. He wasn't sure whether he regretted not being in one of those teams who went on expeditions every now and then or not. The jobs went well enough and he got paid. It was over even before noon and so he spent almost the whole day lazing around the town square or inside the guild.

At some point or another, he fell asleep for quite some time and so when he woke up in the night, he wasn't tired at all. He really ought to fix those sleeping habits of his. It was all over the place. He couldn't count on both hands how many times Spirit, their guild's master, had chewed off his tongue because he couldn't wake up properly in some mornings. But everyone knew about his odd sleeping habits so as time passed by, everyone just got used to him being late or at least groggy.

Currently, he was sitting atop a tree, looking over the Valiant Village. The fire in his backside glowed brightly for a moment when he spotted a pokemon approach the entrance. It wasn't anyone he recognized from the village and he looks a little bit lost. He knew those looks everywhere since he used to encounter those kinds of pokemon when he was younger. He nimbly climbed down the tree, almost silent even as he did his best not to disturb the leaves, and approached the pokemon.

"Hello there." Zaru greeted as he walked closer to the pokemon, hoping that he hadn't startled him in some way. Now that he got a good look at him, he was a Mudkip. Yup, definitely not from the village. He then stopped in front of the Mudkip. He couldn't clearly see any indications to where the Mudkip came from but he definitely went through the forest if he entered through the entrance. After a pause, Zaru spoke once more. "Do you need help or something?" He figured he should know what this certain pokemon needed first before asking his name. He paused so the Mudkip could answer. Zaru didn't want to make the other panic by showering him with a ton of questions.

Coming back to full awareness, Milton opened his eyes and glanced around his dark room. He realized it was probably a few hours after curfew and a long while since his mother and tucked him in and kissed him good night. Yet he was still not sleepy, he was totally too eager to sleep and as he wiggled out of bed he quickly stretched before nodding to himself. "Alright... let's if there's anything going on tonight"he said to himself as he pulled out a orb of a bag inside his room, touching the orb made it glow and soon small connections spread around it like threads among the stars. This was his Connection Orb of course, something quite useful for adventure guild members that told you who was in need of help or looked for someone to spend time with.

Milton listene around for a few seconds before touching the orb again a second time to make sure that nobody were around. He looked through it and soon came to spot what looked like... yes it was the Guild's Riolu... Rico, he was up this late?... they had probably sneaked out already. However he could see that they actually needed help, this was bad. Rico's sister was hurt according to Rico, and as he couldnt' see her personally wishing for help on the orb it was probably very serious. Milton tapped it twice quickly to turn it of and then put it back in his bag, he had to help... he had to do something even if he werne't sure what. He bounced on the desk in his room and then quickly slipped out the window just in case his mother was around the door somewhere.

Milton knew that his mother could still be awake, she was an Umbreon after all and was possibly hunting right now if she haden't returned yet. Carefully sneaking away from his house Milton made almost no sounds as he crept away until he was far away enough to make a dash for it. If he was going to help the Riolu twins he was going to need supplies and that fast... problem was that the store weren't open at this time and the Keckleon had probably closed up for the night... yet that wouldn't really stop Milton now would it?... he dashed to the store as he didn't know what else to do, quickly looked around before leaping up to feel on the back door... it was locked. He thought both once and twice about what to do about this... he needed supplies, and thus he recalled that there still might be some left at the guild.

He hurried over towards the guild when he spotted Zaru the guild's chimchar... he quickly leaped into a nearby bush and hid as he let out a few quiet pants. He watched the Chimchar for a while as he didn't know what to do, if the chimchar spotted him it could be bad as he didn't know if he would report him to his mother. Yet... it looked like the Chimchar was occupied with a Mudkip, another child who had snuck out perhaps?. He glanced left and right as he thought about his options and then he took a deep breath before he used his illusion ability to turn into the Guilds Luxray... a disguise so to speak, because nobody would question the Luxray what he did at night right?... he then walked out of the bush carefully as to not make too much noise and tried to just walk 'past' the Chimchar like nothing was going on and head towards the guild hall.

@Noklu
@Polaris North

[Outskirts of Valiant Village]

@Iatos@Polaris North@Noklu
It had been a long, tedious trek, and Celty was already feeling dizzy with hunger. Letting out a soft groan, the Mawile pulled forward a satchel that she had been carrying. "I was hoping to save this, but..." Opening her tiny mouth, Celty grabbed an apple out of the satchel, and began to delicately munch on it. While chewing, she thought to herself, I wonder how much longer until I reach civilization. Valiant Village is supposed to be near here, but...

About when she finished her thought, the quaint village came into view. Finishing her bite, she let out a cheerful chuckle. "It seems fate likes me this time. I hope there's an inn here, and I hope it's open, but... ugh, I guess it's pretty late."

In the distance—past the trees—Celty was able to see at least two distinct figures, with a possible third? Definitely a third. Well I guess it's good to find someone awake, maybe I can at least crash somewhere... Still munching on her apple, she continued along.

Timing it so that she could finish the apple before engaging in conversation, she finally arrived. Before her was a Chimchar, a Mudkip and a Luxray that was seemingly passing through. An astonished thought crossed through her mind, Wait... KIDS!?

Wide-eyed, she looked to the Chimchar, and then to the Mudkip whom she had approached from behind. Moving so the pair could see her, she put her hands on her hips, looking the two over with a slightly stern expression. "What are you kids even doing out here this late!? It's dangerous! I just passed like... a dozen hostile Pokémon just a few minutes out from here." Finally looking to the Luxray, she smiled somewhat, all while gesturing to the two children. "These aren't yours, are they?" Scratching the back of her head she awkwardly changed the subject, "I know you're busy but uh, I kinda need a place to stay tonight, and I'd appreciate any suggestions."

Peering into the darkness with surprisingly effective night vision, the Totodile nodded once Rico admitted that he wanted to stay by his sister's side. "It's alright. I get ya. I wouldn't wanna leave my sisters side either." His head tilted a bit as the whole idea of family got the reptile thinking. The people I was with.....They weren't family per say, but they feel like something more than friends....Do I have any actual family? I gotta have a Mom, Dad, or something right?.....I...I still can't remember anything like that either....

Rico gave him a goal, and a bit of useful information. The Totodile snapped his tiny claws and winked at the clearly frazzled Pokémon. "Sure! You got it. I'll be back with your Dad soon!"

Taking a quick 180 turn, the Big Jaw Pokémon was about to walk back towards the overgrown and twisted tree he came from before he stopped for a moment and stared blankly at the stone wall. A painful headache seeping into the base of his brain causing him to cringe and grab his head.

O-Oww...What the heck is that? What's with the headache? It seemed to start when I... A sharp gasp cut through his teeth. ...Thought about my family? These two have a Dad.....I think, no, I KNOW I have a Dad at least....He was really tough, and he always stayed up late to talk with me....

---

A foggy image seemed to form on the back of the Totodile's eyelids as he shut them. In his mind, a rather tall, well built creature seemed to be reaching down to touch him on the shoulder. The creature was all black, a silhouette, and moved it's defined mouth to speak inaudible words to the small Pokémon. A few words finally broke through the creatures lips and flooded the Totodile's mind with warmth.

"It's getting late. We should both go to bed son. Good night Devon."

---

Snapping back to reality, the Totodile blinked. Looking behind his left shoulder at the Riolu, the crocodile smiled. "You asked who I was earlier right? I didn't know it then, but it just kinda came back to me now....Ok that still sounds weird, but bare with me here. My names Devon. What's yours?"

@Shiny Keldeo

Dylan the Mudkip

Valiant Village

Dylan's eyes slowly shifted back and forth, scanning the village as he began to enter it. Part of his brain began to nag at him, trying its best to fill him with thoughts of possible bad scenarios that could happen. For all he knew, this town could be a hideout for bandits and the like, waiting for passerbys to unknowingly fall into their trap. Or maybe everyone in here either moved away or were killed in a sudden incident a while back, possibly due to local hostile wildlife. Or maybe…

"Hello there."

Gah! The Mudkip’s train of thought came crashing to a halt as a voice called out in the night, the suddenness of it all catching him off guard. He looked around quickly until his eyes lined up with what he presumed the voice had come from. A Chimchar. Well, he supposed if he was a Pokemon, it only made sense he could understand other Pokemon. The fire type seemed friendly enough. His tensed form relaxed, the possible adrenaline of danger not needed in this situation. The Chimchar walked closer, Dylan’s eyes watching its movements all the while, until it stopped right in front of him, speaking once more. “Do you need help or something?”

Dylan did suppose it must seem weird, having an outsider arrive to a village in the middle of the night, at least, if this Chimchar was from here. “O-oh, well, um…” He could barely manage words, realizing that he didn’t know what to say. If he immediately came out with the truth, it would sound ridiculous, and shooed aside as a bad dream or something. Instead, he tried to say as much as he could without sounding absurd. “I’m not really from around here. I, um… came from that forest over there, and found my way here somehow.” There, that was truthful enough to explain his situation he hoped, while leaving out the more absurd parts.

As he finished up speaking, Dylan noticed there was still some life in the town besides this Chimchar after all. A Luxray passed by, the difference in size leaving him to remember how much smaller he was than before. However, before he could dwell on that longer, another Pokemon showed up, its sudden appearance startling him a bit. The expression the Mawile wore on its face kept him a bit off guard, expecting, and consequently getting a small lecture.

Dylan’s mind began to swim slightly due to the sudden shift in tone from the Chimchar’s question to the Mawile’s words, combined with the idea he had possibly just missed getting involved with hostile pokemon. Not to mention the fact that he now knew there were hostile Pokemon here after all! And... "kids"? He supposed he must look young in his current state...

The Mawile seemed to be talking to the Luxray now, but the Mudkip’s focus was elsewhere, stuck in his own thoughts for a bit. However, what the Mawile said next broke through to his dazed brain, helping him recover. A place to stay! He needed that too. And if the Mawile was asking the Luxray, perhaps he could ask it for help in addition to the Chimchar. The more help the better.

“Ah, I need a place to stay for the night too!” He paused, before throwing in what he had already explained to the Chimchar, “I’m not from around here, and am a bit lost, you see…” Dylan slowly trailed off, not really sure what else to say in this situation.

@Ninian @Polaris North @Iatos

@Iatos@Ninian@Noklu



Zaru listened to the Mudkip in front of him. From the forest huh? Could he be a traveller like his family was? But from how this Mudkip was acting, it seemed like he was more lost than what a traveller should look like. Before he could reply, however, a Luxray passed by. Zaru tensed up. That wasn't good. This Luxray was an adult and who knows if he would tell Spirit about Zaru's late night habits.

"H-Hey, Luxray..." He called out to the 'adult' and then looked down. "Can you keep this a secret? I don't think the guildmaster would like it that I'm out here at night." It was way past curfew after all and only a few children in the guild had the guts to go out and explore at night. As for him, he was just hanging out here at night so there shouldn't be anything wrong with that right? Well even so, breaking curfew is still breaking curfew and he might get another earful from Spirit.

And then suddenly, a female's voice piped up and a Mawile appeared. And she was obviously angry at them because it was late at night and they were still awake. Gods, this was the first time he got busted in a long while. The Chimchar couldn't even make up a proper excuse right now. So he decided to lay down the truth. "I ain't tired but I just hang around the village." He stated his reason why he was awake and then gestured to the Mudkip, "And he just found his way here." His statement was further reinforced by the Mudkip telling them that they needed a place to stay.

Zaru looked at the Luxray once more. He hasn't seen him before really but that didn't matter, it seems he's part of the guild too. Maybe one of those seniors that always went on expeditions and just came back or something. Yeah, that must be it. "Do you think they can stay at the guild for the meantime?" He asked Milton. Outsiders can't usually stay inside the guild if he wasn't mistaken but maybe they can make an exception for these two.

If not then maybe they can go around asking the people to take them in for a while. He remembered the time when his family just entered Valiant Village, the villagers welcomed them with open arms and they even gave him a place to stay momentarily. They'll surely do the same for these two right?

[Valiant Village]

@Iatos@Polaris North@Noklu
During the entire conversation, Celty noticed that the Mudkip was quite clearly dazed, lost, or perhaps just hungry. Her red brows furrowed as she examined the child-like Pokémon. Pulling forward her satchel, she opened it up to pull out one of her apples. "Lost...? A child like you? Where's your parents...? Well, I guess it can't be helped." Handing the apple to the Mudkip she continued, "I'm Celty by the way. If we can't manage to find a place to stay tonight, you and I can camp out somewhere on the outskirts of the Village. In theory it should be fine."

Turning to the Chimchar, Celty continued, "Hang around the village? Hmmm, your village must have some pretty lax rules then. In Seelie, children would get in a lot of trouble for staying up past curfew." Closing her pack and pulling it around she let out a soft sigh. "Regardless of rules, it's still dangerous. I know I'm just a traveler, I probably shouldn't be lecturing you. Just don't do anything to hurt yourself."

@Light Lord



Rico almost beamed at the kindness this Pokemon was exhibiting. "Th... Thank you, you have no idea how thankful I am right now!" The Totodile started towards the edge of the cliff when he appeared to suffer some kind of random headache. Afterward he seemed to remember his name or something. "Devon... I'm Rico... and she's Lulu... please, hurry..." Rico was still trembling, he couldn't remember a time in his life where he shook so much, and he never wanted to ever again. This... feeling, it was so dark, so foreboding...

---

@Iatos @Ninian @Noklu @Polaris North



A Scyther from the east wanted for robbing a bank, a request for an Oran Berry a little ways south, the types of jobs that come in to this little town still amazed him to this day. Spirit, working late into the night, was updating the request boards inside his Guild. He had to work for so long to be able to establish this place, but it was all worth it. He took great pleasure in his work, especially helping young Pokemon like his kids to become full fledged adventurers and rescuers.

"Phew, that's the last one... hmm, those two are really quiet, they've probably snuck out again..." He heard a few voices just outside the Guild. People out this late at night... while not unusual the townsfolk tended to stay inside at night. He came to an odd sight though. Luxray was out, or it looked like Luxray... along with a Mawile, and a Mudkip. And... "Zaru... you too? *Sigh* What has become of this generation?" He took a few more steps outside. "I'm afraid that I don't have your acquaintances, may I ask?" He asked, the question directed to the Mawile and Mudkip. And too the Luxray, he had a word for him. "You know, 'Luxray', that disguise may fool some, but one who can sense aura, it's not too effective Milton."

The Totodile, Devon, raised up a clawed thumb to the thankful Riolu. "Hi Rico. And don't worry, I'm sure Lulu will make it. I'll be back soon."

And with that, Devon re-approached the twisted tree he had fallen from, and sighed before hopping onto it and shuffling up it slowly. Using his claws for grip and some low hanging stronger branches. Eventually, he climbed free of the dark crevice and sprinted off along the edge of the cliff back towards Valiant Village. A slightly worried thought crossed his mind as he awkwardly ran on his tiny legs. Oh...Crap. He didn't tell me which direction this place was in.....Hope I don't screw this up....

---

After hurriedly hobbling around the woods for a time, Devon finally made it to what appeared to be civilisation. The tired Totodile wandered out of the bushes and came across a group of other Pokémon gathered around a very large building. Looking up as he panted a bit, the reptile fist pumped as he spotted what appeared to be this 'Guild' place mentioned by Rico. "Woo! I think this is it....Ugh. That took it out of me...."

His brown eyes drifted around at the edge of the group of Pokémon. Noting the species of each present. A Chimchar, a Mawile, what appeared to be a Luxray, a confused looking Mudkip, and a stern faced Lucario. This had to be Spirit. Devon gasped, and ran through the crowd of other Pokémon to stand in front of Spirit and make a bit of scene. "You're Spirit right!? The Guild guy!? Rico and Lulu are stuck down in a crevice just out in the woods back there! I think Lulu broke her leg falling from a tree or something too! They need help!"

@Shiny Keldeo@Ninian@Polaris North@Noklu@Iatos

Carefully putting one step ahead of the other he had hoped to pass without anyone noticing him... however a voice calling out too, what now would be him made him stop mid step and awkwardly glance their direction to confirm that they were indeed speaking to him. "Hey there Luxray... uhm do you mind keeping this a secret... etc" the Voice said yet making Milton's whole body tense, had he been found out?... no, it actually didn't sound like it, his disguise held up and now it seemed the rather awkward sneak attempt had taken a rather curious 180 turn with the Chimchar asking 'him' not to be a tattle-tale and tell the guild master on him. That was good... honestly way better than any scenarios his mind had been able to come up with in the meantime... and he was about to reply when a Mawile stepped into the dim light and revealed itself behind them.

'I'm so dead...' Milton thought, as the Mawile chewed the two... yes, the two of them out?... but, again He was not the target of this chewing now was he?... lucky, again it proved that his disguise was quite good. Now the only problem was that he had stood there mid step quite awkwardly for way longer than intended and then he possibly should. He put his paw down slowly and looked to the Chimchar first, yet with the mawile already here and having chewed him out he figured he couldn't just go with the 'I didn't see anything' response. "uhm... No. These ain't my children. And now that you've already had an earful of naggin, I suppose I've got nothing to add" he said trying to act all cool Luxray'y about it. He then figured he could just slip off again couldn't he?... nope, apperently he now had to take action again and show these pokémon somewhere to stay... otherwise he would make Luxray look bad.

He gave a sigh, and turned his head to look at the Mawile and then the Mudkip who both had asked for a place to stay. The chimchar had given a pretty good advice to them, and he in turn nodded. "For the night, I recon the guild should have a bed or two spare... it would be the best option for now seeing as you don't want to go door to door at this hour to ask for a place to stay" he said as he thought back at it, he then walked ahead just slightly figuring he might as well show the way there... after all he was already heading that way. "Come on then, The guild's this way." he said as he once again started heading towards the guild, now he just hoped that his disguise would hold up or this situation would turn really, really, really.... awkward.

However he felt lucky, it seemed that Chimchar didn't know the Guild Luxray that well and this Mawile was out of town... the Mudkip he didn't know about at all but it seemed for the moment to know nothing at all... it meant that the only onces here didn't have a single clue about any possible shenanigans going on right under their noses. He knew however that if he actually ran into the guild master... well than he was toast, but it was an emergency right?... and he didn't have the time to explain to a bunch of stray pokémon why he was out this late at night. He knew the Guildmaster could tell it was him with his Aura reading ability, he would know something was off... it was even more accurate than the motherly sense his mother seemingly had, and she could also tell by scent.

He would try to reach the guild without stopping after that, after all he felt like he needed no more distractions tonight.

---

Thinking of the Devil however, the Guildmaster came to greet them just outside the guild... and well, Milton knew the jig was up even before the guildmaster spoke. He chuckled nervously at the qutie obvious statement... couldn't the large pokémon have played along just this once?:.. nope, probably impossible. "Well... uhm. I wasn't really trying to fool You sir" he admitted as he glanced back at the others, it was the truth after all.

In a slight 'poof' he changed back to normal, to the other's possible surprise. "Shor version... These two pokémon Need somewhere for the night to stay... And I need to save Rico and Lulu from the forest"he said and slightly tried to just inch past the Guildmaster while he was possibly distracted, not that he sincerely expected it to work.

It had been a while since the Totodile named Devon left, and it seemed to only be getting darker and darker out. Rico was worridly circling the area around Lulu, watching out for anything hostile, when he heard a light moan. He looked over to his sister and saw her starting to stir at last. "Lulu, can you hear me? How do you feel?" Lulu finally opened her eyes, tilting her head to look at her brother. "I don't know, you try falling out of a tree and see how you feel..." Lulu cracked a little grin, at least she hadn't lost her sense of humor.

Lulu tried to raise up, but winced and laid back down on the ground. "Easy, where does it hurt the most?" Lulu couldn't honestly tell, when she moved her whole body just seemed to be filled with pain. "My... leg I think, I... I think I landed hard on it..." Rico was just happy that his sister would most likely be okay. "Don't worry, help is on the way. I hope..."

---

@Light Lord @Iatos @Polaris North



Spirit's chat had been completely cut off by the arrival of a Totodile. He said that Rico and Lulu were in trouble in the forest. "WHAT!? My kids... what have they gotten into now... you said the Crevice in the Forest right... thank you, you're a very honorable Pokemon, my friend. I'll be back, and I'll finish talking with you two kids later." That last comment was aimed at Milton and Zaru. He turned towards the forest, and in a single swift jump, sprinted off into the forest as quickly as he could.

[Valiant Village]

@Iatos@Polaris North@Noklu@Shiny Keldeo@Light Lord
Clasping her hands together, Celty let out a sigh of relief as another adult had made his way towards the group. It was awkward being around children after dark with no parents in sight, and hopefully he would know something about the kids and what to do about them.

The Lucario spoke up, requesting introductions. Scratching the back of her head her cheeks flushed and she let out an awkward chuckle, "I'm Celty, and..." Raising a brow at the Lucario's call out, her gaze fell upon the Luxray who was heading towards the Guild. "...A disguise?" The Mawile really wanted to ask if she could sleep at the Lucario's place, now worried that the Luxray's offer wasn't legitimate. Unfortunately, most of her thought processes were fixed on the Luxray; curiousity filled her head with strange thoughts. These strange thoughts—were of course—shattered when another voice entered the picture.

Wide-eyed, Celty watched as yet another child appeared from the forest. Mouth agape, she forced it shut before speaking, "Someone's hurt!?" A frustrated groan escaped her lips as she thought to herself, This is EXACTLY the reason children shouldn't be out past dark, or out by themselves period...

AND THEN THE LUXRAY WAS ACTUALLY A ZORUA CHILD. Why are all of these children out past dark!? What sort of Village IS this!?

Placing a palm to her forehead, Celty tried her best not to scream. After a few calming breaths, she finally spoke, "...Myself and the Lucario... Spirit? Will help Rico and Lulu. Everyone else needs to go back home. And I don't know what to do about the Mudkip, but you can't come with us, it's far too dangerous."

Then Lucario took off in a flash and Celty let out a groan. "And great, now he's gone. I guess I'll babysit."

@Ninian@Iatos@Shiny Keldeo@Light Lord



He just shrugged in response to the Mawile. He couldn't really explain it well to others who don't know about his odd habits. He really didn't want to explain the whole, 'I really can't sleep and I'm inside the village anyway so I won't get in trouble or anything' to the other pokemon. With Luxray approving them staying at the guild, Zaru sighed in relief. That was good. Now he can just go back to the tree and then continue resting there and hope that Spirit doesn't...

"Zaru... you too? *Sigh* What has become of this generation?"

The Chimchar couldn't believe his luck. This night, he met a lost Mudkip, a travelling Mawile who got angry because they were out, Luxray who was actually Milton and then got caught by their guildmaster and will get chewed out later. Great! Just his luck! Maybe he shouldn't have left his room after all. But then again, this was pretty interesting. "Sorry master, I'm just at the tree. You know me, I don't go out of the village unless someone's with me." He decided to point out. Well what he saw is true unless he went on a random expedition to a nearby dungeon that's pretty basic that he could handle it alone and even then it's only to retrieve some berries for others.

Then suddenly, a Totodile hurried towards them and alerted that the twins were hurt in a nearby crevice. "Lulu's hurt?" Zaru wasn't really surprised. That girl was adventurous but he was still worried. More so because the two are alone in the forest at night and some bad pokemon appear at night. Gods, hopefully nothing gets to them first. Spirit proclaimed that he would go and help them and he would talk with him and Milton later. He then watched Spirit leave the village towards the forest where his children were.

He then turned to the Mudkip and... Celty was her name right? Right. And the Totodile if he was not going to follow the Lucario. "Well, I guess you could stay at the guild for a while. Come on." He at least wanted to show some hospitality to the newcomers. He then began to walk towards the guild, passing by Milton and saying, "We are so dead." He then continued towards the lobby and then let them stay there until Spirit and the twins come back.

This was really an odd night. It was usually only Rico and Lulu who would sneak out while Zaru himself would hide atop a tree. Milton, was well he was who he was and would sometimes like to sneak out too. But with the addition of those three, they got themselves in deep trouble. He probably wouldn't be able to sneak out for a week or more and that was pretty sad. What would he even do inside...

Hey maybe he could get some extra food from the storage at night. He could probably get away with it if he only took some food. Yeah, that would be a good waste of time and he gets something out of it too.

He let out a loud sigh as he looked back to the others, it was truly an awkard moment that would be hard to laugh off. It was obviously a bit embarrassing to be caught this early, or late in the night but... early in the adventure, it seemed his night was over before it even had started and while truthfully he should be in bed, he couldn't help but to think that he at least was out for a righteous cause. The Totodile that had arrived just as he were about to tell the Guildmaster what he had found out confirmed his suspicion about Lulu being hurt, and quite frankly he was quite bitter that some other pokémon had rained on his parade and actually gotten praised for it. Now he was in trouble... and he had nothing to show for it... great, just fangtastic.

When Zaru told him that they indeed were dead, he nodded slowly before glancing to the others. Well, perhaps he could still redeem himself in the eyes of fate, and alter good karma in his direction or something... there was now three pokémon that was not from here who probably needed somewhere to sleep. "Welcome to Spirit's guild... My Name is Milton... Sorry about the Illusion, now, I suppose I owe you a room... come with me" he said as he walked into the guild, he knew he might as well do something right for the night. And thus by checking the room assignments he quickly found one with two beds to spare and one with a single one.

He went to check on the rooms quickly and then leaped up at the reception desk to look at the pokémon. "Well, There's a spare room in the far right corner, and a double room room diagonal across from it. I suppose you can stay there for the night if two of you don't mind sharing and someone can sleep alone. " he said and glanced to Zaru. "Mind grabbing me an apple or two?... might as well die on a full belly" he said as he noticed Zaru heading towards the storage, with that in mind he wondered if the others perhaps were hungry too... "Uhm, you all hungry or something?... I guess if I'm not going to see the sunrise tomorrow, I might as well make sure our guests are fed. " he asked as he sat there looking at least slightly like anyone working there.