~Long Ago, when the Pokémon World was once again threatened by many catastrophes, A Hero and his friend came by to save the day... in the end however, this caused The Hero's death. It is now the present when random Pokémon are dying for no cause, some being alive which many thought were dead, and many catastrophic events are happening globally. While these events are happening, many Pokémon hoped for The Hero's friend to return... but he never came, but there is hope for many Pokémon that are strangely being spawned in Lush Prairie! Even better most of them claim to be human! Maybe The All Mighty Arceus have answered their prayers and sent them candidates. The first recorded Pokémon to claim being human since the Time Catasprophe is Jacks and he has already made a name for himself. He is as legendary as The Mighty Dusknoir and story alike. They both are at Master Rank, both run Solo... that is until Jacks evolved into a Ninjask and the companion Vincent joined along. Now they roam around the region helping those who need it and discovering new dungeons. Enough of them for now, now lets look at the upcoming Heros!~

Jess, a young Meditite, woke up in some bushes near Treasure Town. jess stood up and stretched thinking about her plans for today. Hmmm... I could go steal some more food again, or I could finally get the guts to sign up for the Wigglytuff's Guild... such hard choices... Jess thought to herself as she walked around Treasure Town. She looked over at the Market and saw that the Shop Keepers got some heavy duty guards this time... looks like she won't be stealing food today. Because of that she finally decided to head over to Wigglytuff's Guild. She stood on top of the open Grate and suddenly heard a Dugtrio. "READING READING... Unknown reading..." Suddenly Jess heard a Expload, "What do you mean?" The Expload said, the Dugtrio replied "Well it's a meditite, but not this Meditite isn't from around here...". The Expload opened the gate and looked at Jess. "What do you want?" He asked Jess. Jess shivered a bit from the intensity of Expload's voice but shook off the shiver and looked at Expload in the eye. "I want to join your Guild!" She told him. Expload laughed and looked at Jess. "Look, I love your determination, but you have no partner... how can you join without a team?" Jess replied back. "If Jacks can do it, so can I!" Jess said. Expload tilted his head then shook it. "Look kid, not everyone is like Jacks, come back with a partner then we can talk!" Expload said walking back in and slamming the door lock. Jess was disappointed and walked down the steps and sat down on the base of the stairs, stomach growling. "Pft me having a partner... I don't know anybody around here!" She had said looking at the entrance hoping for any young visitors to ask to team up with her.

A trio of little explorers, known simply as The Crusaders, stood in front of the boards inside Wigglytuff's Guild. Looking at the jobs that had been posted. They were all uncertain of what they should take, there were so many! Pip, the Aipom, wished they could take them all. But sadly that wasn't the case. "I say we do a bounty! I wanna beat up a bad guy!" He said, bouncing back and forth and jabbing at the air with his little hands. What better kind of job was there? Beating up the bad guys and putting them in jail was the best feeling ever! Pip loved it! He grinned, starring at his teammates. Isole, a Smoochum. And Lucio, a Tyrogue.

"Well, I think we should see if there is anything more simple!" Isole commented, and Pip's ears fell with his expression. "How do you get more simple than beating someone up?" He questioned, honestly confused. "Well, obviously some exploration of unknown territory would be much more simple than chasing down a criminal! Probably safer, too.." She explained, kicking a small pebble on the ground. She honestly wasn't one for fighting when it wasn't necessary, and figured they could find a better job than one of Pip's criminal beatdowns.

"Sure, that's fun, but at least we know where we're going when we tackle a criminal. Well- Most of the time!" Pip replied, as Isole turned and glared at him. "But it's extremely dangerous! I say my idea is better!"

"Unexplored terrain is dangerous too! My idea is better!" The two bickered back and forth about the decision, not noticing Lucio, the tallest, and probably wisest of the group, go up to the board. The fighting-type Pokemon stared at the requests until one caught his eye, then he snatched it up. He turned, simply putting his hand forward with the paper in hand. This caused Pip and Isole to stop instantly, and instead read what the job was. Pip was the first to glance up at Lucio. "Somebody got lost in the Beach Cave? That sounds like a mission to me! They could starve in there, we better hurry!"

Isole nodded in agreement. "Yes, this job seems more sudden than others. There is always time to hunt down criminals and explore places later, but when a Pokemon's life is in danger, there's no time to waste!"

"Then what're we waiting for? Let's get going!" Pip said, running towards the ladder to head up to the exit. Lucio simply watched for a moment as Isole followed him, glad the conflict was over. He was usually the one to solve their issues, not that he minded. They were good teammates once they got going. He followed after them, noticing Pip heading up the ladder, with Isole not far behind. He climbed up after them, and sadly as they reached the top, they were welcomed by the usual loud voice of Exploud.

"GOING OUT?" Exploud asked with his booming voice, the three almost falling down due to the gust that came out of the giant Pokemon's large mouth. "Yeah, yeah! Why else would we be up here!? Open the gate!" Pip answered, as the Exploud looked away for a moment. "IT WOULDN'T HURT TO HAVE SOMEONE JUST COME UP AND VISIT EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE...!" He said in a mildly hurt tone as he opened the gate. Pip rushed out, but Isole had halted for a moment to smile at Exploud. "You're a good gatekeeper, Mr. Exploud!" She said happily, and that was enough to make him smile. "THANKS!"

Isole and Lucio chased after Pip, managing to catch up before reaching the stairs leading down the small hill. The three halted, taking a look out at the blazing sun in the distance. Today was going to be great, they could tell! "Well, c'mon! We don't have all day!" Pip said, beginning his way down the stairs. Lucio crossed his arms as he followed, and Isole hopped down each step carefully. "Actually we do, this is our job!" She corrected, and Pip facepalmed using his tail. "You know what I mean...!" He grumbled, looking downwards and noticing a Meditite sitting down. Nobody came around here often unless they were trying to join up with the Guild, or were already a part of it. Pip liked meeting Pokemon, they usually were pretty unique. The only real noticeable features on Pip himself were his big grin and the bag he carried, filled with the team's items. "Hello~!" Pip called out, as he and his small group continued making their way down the stairs.

Solstice paced around the hut he shared with a kind eevee that had taken him in some time ago. His multiple tails twitched about in anxiety as he mumbled to himself about guilds and treasure hunting and rescue missions. "Soul! Stop that pacing before you wear a hole in the floor!" Came a gentle, maternal voice from a bed of leaves and jumpluff cotton in the corner of the room. Skye stood up and made her way over to the young vuplix, fixing the fur on his head which had been jutting up in odd angles from his restless night. "Today is a big day. You made the decision to join Wigglytuff's guild and I think it's about time you stop fretting and get to it. You must be brave, how else will you achieve your dream of becoming a famous pokemon explorer?"

The young vulpix scoffed and leaned away from the grooming paws of his adopted mother. "I don't just want to be famous you know. It's not all about fame. I want the world to be a better place because of me. I want to help make a difference. Especially with all the unusual happenings lately! This is more important that establishing my name....though, could you imagine Skye? Could you image me walking down the road, having everyone know my name and offering thanks for all my noble deeds?" His tails flicked about in a dreamy bliss as his imagination began to soar.

"Well," she said warmly, "You won't be saving the world from the comfort of your own home. You have to get out that door and move forward. Now, off you go!" She began pushing him out the door with gentle nudges.

"Alright, alright! You're right Skye, as always. I need to be brave and go face Wigglytuff.... I wonder if he's as powerful as everyone says....." He halted his movements, biting his lip. Wigglytuff was a strong pokemon, no doubt, and Solstice had heard stories about his Hyper Voice. "YOOOM TAH!"

"Enough with your silly imagination. A strong pokemon is nothing to be feared unless you face them as a foe. And Mr. Wigglytuff is far from a foe! He's a great leader and he's trained many wonderful explorers. Now get your tails moving before I drag you there myself!" Solstice gave her a frantic look before skittering out the door and running off down the road towards the center of Treasure Town. "You'll do well dear Solstice. You'll make your parents proud. I know it." She whispered with pride as she watched the young vulpix disappear in the distance.

~~~

"I'm gonna be the very best!" Soul muttered to himself as he wove about the shops of the village centre. Passing by the Kecleon Brother's shop he tried his hardest to avoid their enticing shouts of advertisements of new items. Frankly he found it eerie that they were so intune with each other's minds, always finishing each others sentences and bartering prices in a jumble of words as if they were really one pokemon in two bodies. Skipping along he saw the guild come into view over the horizon. His brisk pace slowed as he began to doubt his capabilities. "Errrr, gee, maybe I need to train some more first. How am I ever going to compare to all the amazing explorers the guild has produced?" His anxiety stirred up and he quickly found himself pacing back and forth on the road in front of the guild.

The Haunter seemed to be working ever so delicately on something, as if positioning a leaf just right. It looked about before sending a hand high in the air to check the wind. As it got its indication of where it was going it suddenly tossed what looked like a grape jam in the air?

The wind carries it over a few trees before it suddenly lands on a arbok! The pokemon seems confused at first then spots a fletchling in a tree! Lashing out the bird reacts to the sudden hissing and barely dodges! The snake gives chase, going through bushes and and trees alike, sap and other various substances coat its scales.
The fletchling escapes leaving it sitting in a clearing, where the haunter appears tapping it on the back of its head. The snake rears back in terror and surprise, hitting the leaf! Revealing a trap-hole! Filled with feathers? All the sap makes them cling to its flesh....

"GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

The Arbok shouts out insults and claims of taboo things that haunter does with his spare time....All of which just seem to add to the massive amounts of fuel to the fire of haunters laughing. But as quick as he started laughing the Haunter grew bored and floated away.

He questioned his life, what was his purpose? Had he really nothing better to do than pull such outlandish pranks?.........."YES!" He laughs at his own misfortunes! time for him to find some new fun! He remembered hearing from some travelers of a village, rather large one, plenty of new things to play with there!
Most of the targets he passed where not much to look at but he found this Vulpix, its mind clearly somewhere else! Easy prey! The little thing keeps inspecting the entry way of the building, is it afraid to go in? Haunter's mind wanders with various theories, but then he remembers he could care less! Hearing him talk to himself...Haunter could no longer resist!

Watching his pace, the haunter saw a opening and made himself form before the vulpix and shouted! "YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!"

It didn't take long for Jess to notice someone was speaking in her direction. She looked up the stairs to see a team, obviously from the Guild, walking down the steps. Jess turned to get more of a focused on who exactly they were. Of course the young Meditite wouldn't know who they are, but it would help to know what species they are. With closer examination, is was an Aipom, Tyrogue, and some species Jess couldn't remember, but regardless the Aipom was the one calling at Jess. "Hello!~" She could hear from the Aipom. By the sound of it the Aipom sounded nice, to which Jess loved to hear. Jess smiled as the Trio walked down the steps. "Hey!..." Jess said to them, but couldn't think of anything else to say. Maybe if I act like I somewhat know them, maybe they will become more friendly and even add me to their team! She had thought.

She decided to went ahead and walk up to where the team was while they were walking down so she could walk down with them. She turned around and walked next to the Aipom. "Hey... so what are you guys up too? I was just down there hoping someone would bring me into their team so that way I can be an active part of this world!" She said to Aipom trying to start up a conversation and decided to drag her purpose of talking to them into the convo, although it wasn't directed that was why she said such because asking a random stranger, three of them in fact, to join their team out of the blue would be kinda weird... so Jess tried to be slick and be kind before asking the question towards the team.

"Ohh, you must be who Exploud was talking to earlier!" Pip came to the conclusion quickly, recalling Exploud's loud voice booming a short while before they had decided on a job. If Exploud was talking about it, the whole guild surely knew! His voice was enough to shake the place, it was terrifying. And kind of awesome. Pip tilted his head at the Meditite's words, unsure of what to say. There didn't seem to be anybody for her to join up with, he felt kind of bad about that. He thought about it for a moment, turning his head to look back up the stairs, at the Guild.

"Adding members to a team is handled by Ms. Chimecho in the Guild, there's apparently a lot of work behind the scenes about it." Pip explained, noting it was an odd process that nobody really ran by Wigglytuff, simply because he'd accept everybody. Pip assumed it was for the safety of the Guild, which was understandable. They probably didn't want a bunch of shady characters walking around, though the Meditite seemed alright. He was sure Ms. Chimecho would gladly accept her into a team. "We'd go and ask around inside to see if any team's had openings... But we've got a job we need to get done, and it's pretty urgent stuff." Pip said, Lucio staying silent and simply nodding in agreement to his words.

"Yeah!" Isole chipped in, walking on the other side of the Meditite. "There was a post on the board from a Nidoran that was concerned about her brother, as he hadn't came out of the Beach Cave! We're going to go look for him." She explained quickly, followed by Pip nodding. "Yup! It's not far, if you want to tag along! We can see about finding you a team when we get back!" He figured having another set of hands wouldn't hurt, though he also thought he should mention where the rewards went. "We can't expect much of a reward, though... Chatot takes most of the money to help supply the guild. We only get a little bit." He explained, not liking it, but understanding it. "We get to keep item rewards, though! Usually they are worth enough to fund the supplies we need for our next job!" He said more positively, bring his tail around and offering the fairly large hand to the Meditite. "I'm Pip, by the way!"

"I'm Isole!" The Smoochum said, introducing herself before glancing over at Lucio. He still didn't seem too willing to talk, but figured if Pip was going to offer to bring her with them on the job, it was a good idea to be on good terms with her. "Lucio." He introduced himself as short as possible, keeping his arms crossed. He kept his eyes focused forward, mentally preparing himself for the battles that would surely end up happening in the Beach Cave. He wondered if he would perhaps level up today, it'd be a pleasant surprise to be more powerful after this trip.

Jiggling keys could be heard in the distance if one were to be near Wigglytuff's Guild. The floating key ring Pokémon approached the entrance of the guild. Jingle was floating above the grate. If anyone would try to read him it would be difficult because... yeah he was floating... and he could have different keys on his ring. But that didn't stop the excellent Dugtrio from doing his job. "READING READING... Unknown reading..." as soon as Jingle heard that he became a bit nervous. He was applying for a team, he wanted to explore, what if he got rejected.

"NOT AGAIN!" the voice of an Exploud shouted. Jingle got a bit freaked out as he saw the loud noise Pokémon step out of the gate. "I BET YOU'RE ANOTHER ONE WHO DOESN'T HAVE A TEAM AND WANTS TO JOIN IN!!!" he shouted, harder than normal most likely because he was irritated.

"I should look for a team first, right. Pff, I guess I'll go look." Jingle said with his body hanging down to the ground in disappointment. He floated away from the guild's entrance, completely ignoring everything that was around him. "How the gentle caress can I find a partner. Everyone here already has one... probably. No use in searching." Jingle slowly floated his way towards the town, and when I say slow, I mean really slow.

---

Purin was once again at Spinda's Café, something that she did daily. She would start halfway in the midday, as there were only few customers in the early morning. Purin has become a close friend of Spinda. She was eventually granted a job as songstress in the café to entertain the customers. Purin had a beautiful voice, and many thought so of her. And today she was doing the thing she loves most again, singing.

However every day when she was done with her work, and helped Spinda, Wobbuffet and Wynaut clean the café she would return home. And every time when she walked home she passed Wigglytuff's Guild. She was really interested in it, and actually wanted to try, being an explorer, out for once. It was something she really would consider as fun. But for now she would just be singing, like she always did. Not that she minded that though, she loved it.

Autocrata floated outside the ruined mansion and opened the improvised wooden mail post that was visited by a pelipper some minuted ago. finding the precious mail that hopefully would bring rescue mission that the Bad Rulers could do in order to gain some money and kill some boredom in the meantime. However, the glowing yellow eyes of the lampent turned into a disappointed expression at the contents of the receptacle. Upon returning to the abandoned mansion, the rest of the team was waiting expectant and with hopes of some action awaiting for them, Déspota approached by jumping several times on a chair and when he was close enough he smiled and said

"So, any good missions? Which idiotic pokemon has fallen now into a ravine this time?"

With some hesitation, Autócrata handed the papers to the banette and answered

"See for yourself, but promise you won't break something in your anger this..."

She didn't finish before the banette launched a shadow claw and created a hole in the closest wall

"I DIDN'T DO NOTHING WRONG! I WAS TRYING TO SAVE THE LIFE OF THAT POKEMON!"

Tirano floated above the head of his boss and tried to suppress a chuckle, unsuccessfully

"Remember that Autócrata told us not to tie and gag that pokemon we were supposed to rescue because he could sue us later? What an irony!"

Passing through one wall a rotom appeared at such speed at it seemed to be in several places at the same time, probably because it was using double team at the moment. Dictador, that was its name, just started to gravitate around Déspota and laughed loudly with Tirano, which promptly caused the banette to hit both in the head to cease the mockery.

"Whatever, it was her the one who ended up helping the most because the screams of the kid were too much to handle apparently"

Throwing her arms in the airs she let out a long sigh in signal of pain, she showed her disgust just by remembering the horrible experience and tried to change the subject

"WHATEVER! Point is that we got no missions, without missions we got no money and without money... Well, we are actually really fine without money, why do we do these missions again?"

The rest of the team answer at the same time "Boredom. Also repairing this dumpster" and the lampent said to herself something among the line of "oh, of course, that...". Some uncomfortable minutes of silence followed before Dictador broke it with its strident electronic voice

"What now, boss?"

"Arg, if we were a explorers team instead of an outdated rescue team we would have more request. But I really don't want to work for that pink fat wigglytuff."

An idea popped in the mind of Déspota in that moment

"Wait a moment, didn't the explorers at the Treasure Town had like a bunch of missions they could do just by checking a message board? How about we go there and sneakily snatch some missions from them and get the reward for ourselves?"

Tirano raised the thin line of his eye (shorta like raising an eyebrow) and asked

"Wait, isn't that illegal and wrong?"

The team stayed silent for a few moment before bursting in guffaws at the unison. In the middle of the laughter,Autócrata said

"Oh, that's a good one. Anyway, let's get going."

After some traveling from the treeshroud forest, assaulting and mugging some pokemon on the way, they finally arrived at the treasure town and they took a big detour to appear from behind the wigglytuff guild, climbing the mountain behind it was no sweat for a group of floating ghost pokemon. Upon entering, by falling forcefully down the stairs and jumping in the middle of the room, Déspota shouted

"Okay! I've heard you idiots get to get some sweet missions and we want to get some for ourselves, so point us to them ipso facto!"

Tirano whispered to the banette trying not to break his bad dude appearance

"Pss, what was about sneakily snatching the missions?"

"I'm a master of improvising, not planning. This idea is flawless."

"Yeah but..."

"FLAWLESS!"

"Crossing through the meadows, out towards adventure...~"

A small, but beautiful voice emerged from the cart being pulled by Steele, the Mawile. He looked very irritated, regretting the decision of picking up that tired Pachirisu he found on the side of the path. This is why he didn't do nice things; they usually negatively affected him in some way.

"Through many dangers, I will venture~!"

'Just keep walkin'. Treasure Town ain't far off.' Steele thought to himself, trying to not show his irritation. The large black jaws above his head snapped, willing to feast on the Pachirisu right now if given the chance. 'Just stop for five minutes, please...' He mentally pleaded, noticing Wigglytuff's Guild. It was pretty much the landmark that said they had arrived to Treasure Town. The area seemed busy, he noticed multiple Pokemon around, doing different things. Seemed like today might actually be one where he could get a few sales going.

"I'll venture through, your emotions too~! You an' me, we're the perfect team~!"

Steele's eye twitched, as he stopped the cart near the road. He heard silence for the first time in what felt like days. Sighing in relief, he begins to walk around the cart, in order to set up his small travelling shop. He was only halfway around when the Pachirisu jumped out and landed in front of him, nearly causing Steele to fall due to shock. "Don't do that!" He complained, having had enough of her during the trip. "The town is down that way, we're here. Get lost so I can try an' not go bankrupt, aye?"

Mally, the Pachirisu, simply had a smile on her face. "Silly, I can't get lost!" She said with a small giggle, and Steele glared at her. "Alright, I'll bite. Why not?" His eyes darkened. 'This better be good...' He thought, though he already knew it wouldn't be.

"I'm already lost!" Mally answered, giving Steele a lighthearted hug, spinning them around. Steele was about to shove her away, but she let go and began excitedly jogging down the road towards Treasure Town on all-fours. "Thank you~!" She shouted, and Steele just stood there, awkwardly for a moment. "... Women." He grumbled, turning back away to set up his shop.

He hopped into the back of his cart, avoiding his wares as he raised his sign, it wasn't a specific shop like some, it had basically anything he could find. Orbs, Gummies, Berries, Seeds, TMs... If he had it, it was usually for sale. After setting up the sign, he began sorting his wares that the Pachirisu had scattered around the cart. His jaws watched his back, ready to maul anything that tried to rob him.

Meanwhile, as Mally was running to town, she really didn't pay attention to where her paws were landing, and got distracted as she saw a sign. "Is this the right way, or is it down that path over there to the ocean?" She asked herself curiously, approaching the sign from it's right. Sadly, there was a hole on the right side of the sign. A hole Mally fell down. She bumped her head and pretty much everything else as she fell down the stairwell, but was giggling the whole time. "Weeeeeee~! Ow!" She repeated, until reaching the bottom, where she ended the trip by landing on her face. She glanced up, noticing there were eyes on her in what seemed like some kind of place to relax. She quickly stood up, adjusting her cloak.

She only had one real question, and wasn't absolutely certain of how stupid she'd sound asking it... Then again, she really didn't care. "Where am I?" She asked, rubbing the side of her face that was still hurting, somewhat.

Jess was shocked that they were so open to discuss! "Nice to meet y'all! My name is Jess." Jess said happily. They continued to walk through Treasure Town. "So I would like to join this mission! And since I'm not officially part of your team, you guys can keep any of the rewards! It would be great if I could level up at lease, and do some good deeds!" said almost jumping, causing Jess to kinda do a skip while they walked. "So Chimecho? I didn't know he was involved in any Team Recruiting, but then again I'm not really from around here..." Jess had said. The she pondered back on the mission then looked at the team. "Well lets make sure we can make a brother proud!" Jess said smiling, mainly because she attempted to make a pun.

Murkuro was bored. More than bored with his life here, secluded inside his ramshackle hut . Not that there was anything else to do except steal some more. His horde of Pokes shined in the corner with the light that filtered through the cracks of the shack. Going to town didn't seem like an option, not with all the filthy brats there. Even stealing had lost its luster, it now seemed more like a chore. But it was the only thing he could do to spend the time before he became unconscious. Grabbing a twig from the hut he exited his house to hunt for prey.

Inflora Forest was as colorful as ever, with all its bright little brats seeking battle and rescue. The Foongus were difficult to faint but most often gave great profit. Which is why he targeted those weakened by its toxins. Another novice team, few wins in and eager for glory. Too eager. They were nearly wiped out by the poison, if not their own pitiful stats. It seemed almost cruel to knock them out and rob them blind. Almost. Brats should have known better than to get cocky. Swinging the money pouch in wing over his shoulder, he took off for another floor. This system continued for another hour or so before he retired back to his hut. That had bored him far too quickly. Maybe he would travel into town after all.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The stranger scowled, glaring at the menacing figure before her.

" You don't have any friends?! No wonder with that menacing aura about you. Come back to me when you have at least 4 friends, then we'll talk."
The Lopunny upturned her nose, walking away from the fustrated Zangoose.

"Come on, I even offered you money!" Tizuko shouted before turning his back. " Nobody wants to be my friend because of this damn face of mine....*Sigh*"

Slowly, he skulked away from the town, more depressed than irritated, back towards his home.

"Yeah, it's one thing to want to have somebody join your team, but in the Guild it's a little more serious, since some incidents that happened in the past with some pretty bad guys that ended up joining the Guild on a trip and causing trouble." Pip said, recalling some stories of a team of thugs that had went with the rest of the Guild on an Expedition. He forgot what they were called... Team... Gull? Lull? Dull? He couldn't remember the name, but Chatot had told him they were pretty foul. He shrugged it off, happy to have someone joining the mission! "Well, we shouldn't waste time chatting! There's a Nidoran that needs our help!"

"Are we ready? We don't have that many supplies, we should probably go shop for a few things~!" Isole said, bringing up a good point. Except for the fact the three of them were completely broke. "You do remember what happened to the last of our money, right?" Pip asked darkly, glaring at his partner. She looked up at her clean hair, before shaking her head lightly. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She said stubbornly, and Pip simply rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't." He groaned, before looking on the bright side. "At least there aren't any poison-types in there. We have some Oran Berries for injuries, and Apples if we get hungry. That's all we need."

"I guess." Isole muttered, feeling a little bad about the shortage of supplies for this trip. Pip was right, though. Beach Cave had no poison types, it mostly had water-type Pokemon. Judging by the group, there wouldn't be any advantages or disadvantages. So this would rely more on skill than typing. She was confident they could do it, they had explored the area before... But it was a Mystery Dungeon, so they never truly knew what to expect. She always wondered how dungeons changed like they did... It was kind of scary, but also very interesting.

While Pip and Isole walked with Jess, Lucio had gotten distracted. He noticed the odd cart by the Guild, and the sign made it apparent that it was a shop. He knew they had no money as of the moment, but thought it might be a good idea to visit back later, to see the Pokemon's wares. "Lucio! You coming?" Pip called, getting the Tyrogue's attention. He walked mildly faster to catch up, starring ahead at the path that would lead them down to the beach.

He liked the beach, honestly. It was a beautiful place, and very relaxing. He liked to go meditate there at times, when the team wasn't busy. The only thing that bothered him were the occasional mushy couples that came by for the romantic view. Lucio wasn't one for such connections, he could honestly care less about love, he considered his friends as close-enough companions. A small smile crossed his face as he watched the three Pokemon in his group, they certainly were lively. He wouldn't change that for the world, though.

Jess looked off towards the beach when they mentioned a Nidoran needed to be save! Then they stop to get supplies, while the Meditite stood there. "I don't really need anything, just get me one or two oran berries and I'm set!" Jess said jumping back and forth in excitement. They mentioned money and Jess kinda frowned. "Uh I never usually have money... that's particularly due to me being jobless..." She said kicking the dust on the ground. They then finally decided to head down to the beach. Jess looked up at the sky. "Oh neat! Some Pelippers and no clouds huh?" Jess said smiling at the view, but then immediately looked to her left to see the entrance to the mystery dungeon. "Alrighty guys! Let's go!" Jess said walking towards the cave.

Meanwhile....

Team SneakyNinja had just completed their mission of saving a Rhyhorn from the Zero Isles. "Hey be careful now! It wouldn't be good if nobody came, which nobody would Being the only ones that survived were The Mighty Scizor, Legendary Lucario, and The Hero everyone mentions..." Jacks told the Rhyhorn. "Oh and don't worry about the prize, keep it for yourself alright?" Jacks finished off. Rhyhorn's eyes glistened with the voice of the team. "Thank You so much, May Arceus be watching over your head!" The Rhyhorn said while it left. Jacks looked over to Vince. "Nice job once again! What would you like to do next?" jacks asked. Vince simply looked at Jacks. "..." Jacks instantly caught on to what Vince was implying. "Yeah yeah I know... you want to go to The Hidden Land and then onto Temporal Tower to talk to Dialga to find out about us huh? Well we're trying, maybe we get some luck with the guild?" Jacks asked Vince. Vince just levitated up and down to showed it agreed. "Alright! That shall it be! Let's go!!!" Jacks said as the Duo quickly speed up to head down to the guild.

To their surprise, nobody cared a bit when the ghost gang made their flamboyant introduction, so they decided to turn to plan A, snatching the missions without anyone knowing that they were part of the guild and getting out of there. The four pokemon approached the message board and looked through the avaible missions. At one point Tirano seemed to have found something

"Hey look, this mission is where we live, and the reward seems great!"

The Banette smiled before turning and grabbing the paper that the gastly was levitating in his poisonous gaseous body

"Oh really? let me see"



Déspota turned his head in a really slow manner to look at his surroundings and making sure that no pokemon was watching them and with the same slow pace he made the mission into a ball of paper and he opened the mouth of Dictador to throw said ball between the jaws of the rotom that was promptly chewed to pieces. He then raised his arm and hit the head of Tirano, making a satisfactory emptiness sound and without saying anything they returned to checking the missions until they were interrupted by a sinister looking pokemon that approached the group from behind

"You aren't from around here, are you?"

The team turned at the same time and they faced a pokemon they have never seen before, with a round brown body and long neck that ended in pink arms. Déspota, being the leader, answered

"What if we aren't, eh... Punk?"

Then he turned to Autocrata and whispered to her only

"What pokemon is this?"

"Why are you asking me? I've never seen it!"

"You are the only one bored enough to read the books of that filthy manor, surely you have to know of this"

"Those books are older than the dirt below them and the dust above them, I told you I've never seen it."

Ignoring the other two, Tirano and Dictador had engaged into a conversation with the stranger pokemon and surprisingly the rotom was the one to talk with its high pitch voice

"So who are you?"

"A client, if you want it to be so, and I'm offering you a good deal if you do me a favor."

Déspota heard that last part and interrrupted

"Hey, I think I know what you are talking about, what kind of "favor" is this you are referring to and what do we earn?"

"Unfortunately, I don't feel comfortable speaking here, mind coming with me somewhere else?"

The team agreed and they followed the unkown pokemon to a place that was called "Spinda Café" They all approached a round table and sat around it, except for Dictador, who, for some reason was having one of its nervous attacks and was floating and using double team everywhere on the place, but luckily not being much of a nuisance for the rest of the customers in the place. The rotom didn't care much for any contract or mission they could do, the amorphous ball of electricity knew that it would just end up being bored and being a nuisance for the negotiations of Déspota and Autócrata, so instead it decided to see the place and find anything fun to do when it noticed that the music of the place had stopped to sound and realized that the cause was that it was live music of a jigglypuff singer. Dictador applauded with its ray like arms and waited for her to finish the spectacle to approach and congratulate her, although sadly the rotom wasn't good with words he tried to express her enjoyment with its electronic voice

"HI! Nice song! I liked it! Who are you!?"

"Well, it seems we're both broke!" Pip responded to Jess, laughing. Though they wouldn't be, if SOMEONE wasn't so focused on their hair instead of the task at hand... Brushing that aside, he smiled at the sights around the beach as they walked. It was calm, as usual, and he wouldn't have it any other way. The entrance to the Mystery Dungeon was just a small trip down the beach, so they had ended up arriving quickly. Jess was motivated, and that was enough to get the team behind her feeling the same way.

Entering the cave, it felt a tad colder. The footsteps of the explorer's echoed throughout the first floor of the dungeon, and it was time to get facts strait. "What floor is the Nidoran on?" Pip questioned, looking back at Lucio and simply getting a shrug as a response. "Could be anywhere, huh?" Pip asked meekly, and Lucio simply nodded, not filling the little monkey with excitement. Pip simply walked forwards. taking the lead in front of his fellow members. "He might be all the way down in the pit then. Crusaders, let's move out!" He ordered, though not truly the leader, it was good enough for the others. Most of the time.

"I don't see any Pokemon." Smoochum reported, attempting to keep an eye on their surroundings as they walked. Her eyes narrowed whenever she focused on a shadowy corner, not wanting an enemy to jump out and surprise the team, though she doubted they'd get too far with four of them here. She swore she heard the sound of a Kabuto crawling around, glancing back. There wasn't anything there, so she ignored it.

"Keep on your toes, they could come from anywhere." Lucio warned, unsure if Jess had been in a dungeon before. He didn't need her getting struck down by a Pokemon from the shadows, so he hoped she would stay alert. He also kept an eye out, figuring he could counter a surprise attack with his Bullet Punch. There was always the chance he couldn't and his teammate would get struck down, though. It was troubling...

---

Mally was still unsure of where she was, but was soon approached by a little floating Magnemite. She stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to say. She listened as it spoke. "BZZT! Ma'am, are you okay? That was quite a fall!"

"I'm okay~!" Mally replied happily, looking around. "Where am I?" She asked once more, and the Magnemite seemed to panic. "BZZT! Oh, no! Did you hit your head that hard?! Do you remember your name, ma'am?!"

"No, silly! I'm fine, I've just never been here before!"

"Bzzt. Oh." The Magnemite looked down, feeling stupid. Mally tilted her head, just wanting an answer. "So, where is this? And who are you?"

"BZZT! I'm Deputy Magnemite! I help keep the peace in treasure town!" The Magnemite answered, before adding on with her other question. "Bzzt! And this is the Spinda Café! A place for travelers and explorers alike to relax! There's no better place in Treasure Town!"

"Ooo~! What's there to do?" Mally asked, glancing around at the different Pokemon in the area. "There's a lot of Pokemon here!"

"Bzzt! Right! Might I suggest that you go over and see Spinda herself? She can make wonderful drinks out of any fruit, berries, or seeds that you have!" The Magnemite gestured it's entire body towards the counter, and Mally nodded quickly, obvious excited. "Yeah~! I want one~!" She sang, skipping past the Magnemite. She glanced back for a moment to thank the Deputy, before hopping along towards the counter to get a drink. She wondered how great it'd be? Maybe her tongue would explode from how great it was? Like a Golem using Self-Destruct! Woohoo!

There was indeed, a creature in the Beach Cave, not more than a few hundred feet from where the intrepid three were, but this thing wasn't a Nidoran by any stretch of the imagination. An oblong, cyan figure lay upon the damp, unforgiving floor, its arms and stubby legs splayed across the rocks--a Wobuffet. Though no Pokemon, neither cave-dweller or adventurer, was in position to observe it, an observer would note that the Wobuffet appeared to be sleeping. A smooth, rubbery torso that glossily reflected what little light penetrated this deep into the cave rose and fell slowly as the Pokemon breathed, but its movements were anything but peaceful. Arms and legs twitched incessantly, and every so often the creature would roll over, as if subconsciously seeking a more comfortable patch of rock upon which to slumber. These movements became increasingly erratic, as if the Pokemon's nightmares were rising to fever pitch. Finally, with a heaving spasm, it tumbled from its stony bed into a random pool of seawater, making a hefty slap that echoed throughout the cave.

Suddenly thrust into the waking world, the Wobuffet gasped for air and struggled in the puddle, flinging brine in all directions as he tried to catch its bearings. Everything felt incredibly strange to him; not what he felt (cold, wet, and hard were familiar if disliked sensations) but how he felt it. He had no clue where he was, what he had been doing, or even who he was. Nothing but shadows existed in his mind, the kind that shrink away like bugs when reached for. Though light was scarce in this place, he found out very quickly that something was very wrong with his body. It was entirely unfamiliar, totally alien to him for reasons he couldn't comprehend, and yet...somehow, it felt right.

Getting his bearings at last, the Wobuffet dragged himself from the chilly seawater back onto the stony cave floor, shaking drops from his four legs. It was then he noticed a little black thing trailing behind him. Upon glimpsing his tail, Wobuffet was stricken by a surge of emotion. Though he had no clue where the knowledge had come from or why it even made sense, he was suddenly seized by the notion that he needed to protect that tail from anything and everything. It was vital! Defend it! Keep it! Shield it! A few seconds passed before he could think clearly again, after which the Wobuffet dismissed the sudden panic attack. "I'm so confused..." he whispered to the dark, and he found some comfort in the fact that he could still speak.

His comfort vanished when the darkness answered back. "Keep on your toes, they could come from anywhere," echoed across the cave walls, and the Wobuffet shrank back into the darkness. Were there others in here? A hint of fear stole up on him only to be crushed by a newfound, natural sensation of confidence, and he waddled boldly forward until he could peek around a corner. What he saw (a Smoochum, Aipom, and Tyrogue silhouetted in the light of the distant cave mouth) caused him to recoil in fear, momentarily forgetting his bravery. He was equal parts repulsed by the light and the other Pokemon, but his hasty retreat might have caught someone's eye. Had they seen him?

Jess ran into Beach Cave in front of the Trio, eager to fight any Pokémon in their way... but there was no one here... So eventually she slowed to a steady walk and listened carefully to the trio. "What floor is the Nidoran on?" She heard Pip say. She then realized something... she never knew there were 'floors' to a dungeon, then again she never actually went to a mystery dungeon. "He might be all the way down in the pit then. Crusaders, let's move out!" She heard Pip say once again. Whatever these floors could be, it sounds like it would be going deep into the dungeon. Jess looked around still to see no Pokémon around, until that is she saw a figure creep away into the corner. Perfect! My time to gain some experience in this dungeon![i] Jess though as she ran away from the team to go around the corner and see a Wobbuffet. "Confusion!" She yelled, obviously gaining the attention of the team and Wobbuffet. She proceeds to use confusion on the Wobbuffet.

[i]At Wigglytuff's Guild
SneakyNinja quickly approached the gates of the Guild that they used to attend a long time ago. "We're here!" Jacks said to Vince eagerly. "READING...READING... It.. can't be..." The Dugtrio had said, suddenly Expload spoke. "WHAT? WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?" "It's... It's Team SneakyNinja!" Dugtrio said in excitement. Suddenly the Dugtrio appeared out of the ground looking at Jacks and Vince. "Great to see y'all again!" Dugtrio said. The door opened and Expload, Chatot, and Wigglytuff all went through the Gate. "Oh hey guys!" Wigglytuff said in the usual cheerful mood. Chatot jumped up and down. "Oh hey boys, what brings you back to the guild?" Chatot said. Jacks looked at Wigglytuff. "Well we want to do one more challenge..." Jacks said almost in a serious tone. The cheerful Wigglytuff smiled. "YAY!!! What would like to do!!!" Wigglytuff said. Before Jacks could speak Vince interrupted. "GuildMaster, we want to go to Hidden Land and Temporal Tower and face Dialga!" Vince said in a monotone voice. Chatot had gotten angry. "Look, I understand you want to show the world you two are as strong as The Hero and his friend.\, but we made promises that we wouldn't let anyone over there without the permission of either, and well The Hero is forever gone, His friend however is somewhere, a place w\even we don't know about... and sadly we haven't seen him since the Darkrai incident... but look. If you truly desperate on finding out where he is, then maybe you can get some info at Spinda's Café. As you excuse me, we will be on our w-" Chatot said then is interrupted by Wigglytuff. "YOM-TAH!" The Wigglytuff yelled out shocking everyone but Vince. "Get me some Apples please?" Wigglytuff asked. Jacks responded back. "Yeah no problem!" Jacks said then the Duo departed from the Guild and headed to Spinda's Cafe.

The Wobbuffet had barely settled into his comforting, shadowy corner before he changed his mind; determined to present this strange new world with a brave face, he leaned forward again to peer around the corner. He had expected to see the three Pokemon he before witnessed, but instead he got a good look at a wild-faced Meditite barreling toward him at great speed. Caught totally off-guard, he tried to mumble out a greeting, a warning, or perhaps an apology but just managed a surprised blurt that was instantly cut short by the Meditite's eager shout. The Wobbuffet had no clue what 'confusion' was (though it pretty accurately described his current situation, truth to be told), but the instant that word exited the Meditite's mouth, a vaguely pink wave of energy emanated from her fist and flew straight toward him.

His first instinct was indignation. The second was self-preservation. Scrunching his eyes shut, the Wobbuffet threw up his arms in front of his face. As such, he didn't notice a purple, shadowy mist slide from his body, slither across the floor, and tag the Meditite on the heel--all of which happened in less than a second. While he was too distracted to take note of this unobtrusive event, Jess would quickly realize that if she tried to escape, a shadowy band would solidify around her ankle and root her to the spot, preventing her from fleeing. The telekinetic force made contact, but instead of the mind-reeling agony he had expected to receive from the psychic assault, he felt only a minor pang, like a headache. That wasn't so bad, he mused, eyes still closed and arms up, and with the realization he relaxed his arms, dropping them to his side.

Yet another surprise greeted him as a silvery sheen spread across his skin, glowing brighter by the second. The Wobbuffet's befuddlement turned to a sort of anger, and with a vindicative "kyah!" the dazzling energy erupted, firing off a silvery blast right back at Jess. He had instinctively used Mirror Coat, and now Jess's own strike would be returned to her twofold unless she intervened.

Jingle looked surprised when the Team SneakyNinja arrived at the Guild. He backed away and watched them from a small distance. After they finished their conversation with Wigglytuff, Jingle approached them. "Are you really the legendary Team SneakyNinja!? I'm a big fan! I want to become an explorer too, but I can't find a partner who also wants to be an explorer and join me." Jingle said sounding a bit sad at the last part but quickly became happy again. "I am really eager to become an explorer! Any tips for a beginner like me?" he asked.

---

Purin just finished her song and went off stage to take a break. She went to Spinda who already had prepared a glass of juice for her. Spinda was always nice to her, it was also because she worked here, but Spinda also really seemed to like her. They had become close friends during the time she had worked here. After taking a gulp of her juice she wanted to ask Spinda something, when suddenly she got approached by a Rotom. She never had seen one before, well, never in front of her face.

"Oh really!? Thank you so much sweetie. I try my best." Purin began. "My name is Purin? What is your name? I see that you are a Rotom, I have never seen a Rotom before in my life. Well, at least not this way. I heard from them and have seen a few pictures of them, but that's it. I don't really get out too much, I'm usually singing and entertaining people in this place. Are you with those creepy Pokémon over there? All ghost types, and you are electric, or are you also ghost? Ugh, sorry, let's get back to the first question. What is your name?" Purin said after her long introduction of herself. Purin had the tendency to keep talking, and talking, and talking. She really can't help it.

Pip and Isole hadn't noticed Jess run off right away, having been keeping an eye out for the Nidoran in case it was around. The only one that had noticed her run off was Lucio, and after a few oblivious moments from his team, he pointed it out. "She's gone." He said bluntly, waiting for the reaction.

"What?!" Pip turned, looking around. "Where'd she go?!" He honestly couldn't believe she slipped away like that! He tried to figure out where she went, but there were no obvious signs. Aside from the shout they heard, that is. "Sounds like she's fighting!" Isole said, mildly concerned about Jess. The Pokemon around here could be unpredictable at times, it wasn't safe to go alone! She ran towards Jess' voice, her teammates soon in tow.

Lucio couldn't help but be distracted by the sounds of multiple little legs hitting the stone floor of the cave. He looked around, but nothing seemed to be there. This didn't make any sense to him. 'If they aren't on the floor...' He thought about it for a moment, before his eyes widened with a realization. "Stop!" He yelled suddenly, causing his teammates to skid to a halt, Pip in particular almost fell over. "What is it, Lucio?" Isole asked, as the alert fighting type looked up at the ceiling. He saw multiple yellow glowing eyes looking down at him. "Kabuto! Above us!"

As soon as they were called out, the Kabuto fell from the ceiling and began landing around the trio. The Crusaders all ended up back-to-back, surrounded by six Kabuto. "Yikes! That's a lot of them!" Pip commented, realizing the situation wasn't exactly good for them at the moment. He smirked, glancing back at his friends. "But not enough to stop us, right? We'll clear a path through 'em!"

"Right." Lucio replied calmly, taking a fighting stance. The Kabuto began scratching their forelegs against the rocky floor, ready to attack. "Get ready!" Isole said, as the Kabuto all let out a screech as they lunged at them, raising their forelegs to use Scratch.

Lucio clenched his fists, preparing himself as the Kabuto quickly approached. "Follow me!" He commanded, dashing forward towards one of the approaching Kabuto. Pip and Isole followed behind him as he used pulled back his left arm, waiting for the Kabuto to get closer. It let out another screech as it began bringing it's forelegs down to attack, but before it's attack managed to get through Lucio countered with a punch of blinding speed, a Bullet Punch. His fist connected with the yellow eyes of the Rock/Water Multi-Type, and with that one super effectively move the Kabuto was sent barreling backwards, screeching in pain about it's injured eyes. This left enough of an opening for the trio to escape the rest of the Kabuto, whom ended up landing in a group hitting the ground instead of the intended targets.

"Too easy!" Pip exclaimed, turning around to face the Kabuto. They screeched and charged, but now they had a more open field! Which made it a little more fair. Isole jumped in front of Pip and raised her arms. "I've got it~!" She said confidently, as Pip felt a chill down his spine. He quickly moved out of the way, as he knew that meant Isole was using Powder Snow. Lucio shook his head. "They're resistant to Ice-Type moves. If we want this move to be put to use we need to use the blizzard she creates as cover to move in and attack." He looked at Pip, and the two nodded in agreement. Lucio circled left, and Pip went right. The small, icy blizzard flew towards the Kabuto. And though it didn't damage them much, it clouded their sight, and caused them to stop.

Taking advantage of this, Lucio and Pip jumped in to attack. Lucio landed on one of them forcefully, an audible crack followed, causing it to screech loudly in pain. The other Kabuto soon caught on, and one lunged at Lucio to try and scratch him. The attack connected, hitting Lucio's chest. It knocked him down off of the Kabuto and onto the cold hard ground, and though there were only 4 Kabuto left after that brutal stomp from the air, that was still double the fighting force of the Crusaders at the moment, not counting Isole's distraction.

The same Kabuto that struck Lucio down jumped on top of him, and raised it's forelegs to attack once more. Lucio was quick, and used his hands to grab it's forelegs. He grunted as he pulled back and threw the Kabuto, throwing it out of the small fading blizzard. It rolled along the ground, before hitting a decent-sized rock. The cold was having an effect on Lucio, but he tried to push through it, standing up while holding the wound on his chest. He hoped Pip was doing alright.

While Lucio was fighting, Pip was jumping around in the blizzard to one; try and keep somewhat warm, and two; to confuse his enemies. The three Kabuto kept slashing at the air, with Pip taunting them the whole time. They were angry enough that when Pip landed on top of one of them, the others attacked without concern for their ally. Pip simply jumped back off the Kabuto and allowed them both to hit their comrade, though their forelegs didn't do much to the shell of the poor Pokemon. It was however, angry. But before the three could fight, Pip landed, and swung around. The large hand on his tail clenched into a fist, and hit two of the three Kabuto with force, sending them flying out of the blizzard and against the nearest cave wall.

The ice blizzard faded completely, leaving Lucio, Pip, and the one still fighting Kabuto completely visible. Though at the sight of it's fallen comrades, it quickly scurried off. Pip laughed. "Aw yeah! Don't mess with us!" He said loudly, and Isole approached quickly, happy. "I'm glad everything worked out~ It was a good idea to use my blizzard as cover... Are you okay?" She was concerned for her teammates, and Pip simply stood tall. "Yeah, I'm fi-Faah..."

Isole tilted her head. "What?"

"Aaah... AAAHHH CHOO!"

Isole ducked and managed to avoid the barrage of germs that flew out of Pip. She laughed as she backed away. "You got sick!" She said playfully, and Pip crossed his arms. "Whatever, it's your fault!" He shouted, though before they could argue, Lucio approached, holding his wound. "At least we're alive, that's what matters." He said, and the two glanced over and were surprised he had gotten hurt. "That scratch looks like it hurt... You gonna be okay?" Pip asked quietly, and Lucio nodded. "I'll eat an Oran Berry to help it heal up faster. I'll live." He knew it wasn't serious, but had to assure them. Pip removed the bag from his person, setting it on the ground. "Well, rest here for a minute while I go check on Jess. Isole, I want you to stay here, too. Make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"Me? Trouble?" Lucio questioned, not being able to resist the urge to smile. "Whatever you say." He muttered, sitting down and taking a moment to relax. Isole had already began digging in the bag for an Oran Berry, figuring it had to be somewhere. "I'll take care of him, don't worry! Go make sure she's alright!" She said, and Pip nodded, appreciating the cooperation. He turned, and lowered down onto all-fours as he ran towards where he had heard Jess last.