[Prologue]

In the final days of the Second Great War that would ravage our world, we made the final daring move, and attacked Mewtwo's Command. We fought with every ounce of power we had left. We had the hopes of everyone with us, to finally end this reign of terror. As our forces clashed, we were severely outnumbered. Mewtwo himself came to finish off what remained of our resistance. Only when Mew arrived did the battle begin to turn.

As Mewtwo began to lose ground, his forces broke into a panic. Some began to retreat, while others pressed their attack more and more. His most loyal followers were soon all that stood between us. As Mewtwo finally fell, everything went quiet. But... Mew refused to finish him. He could not kill his brother again. In this moment, everything became a blur. When everything finally settled, Mewtwo and his followers were gone, vanished without a trace.

We lost many friends and allies in that cursed war. It left its scars on all of us, some deeper than others, some you can't ever see. The world was in shambles. They needed a beacon of light and hope. And so, a Village was built. A village that would signify the end of a deadly war that claimed the lives of thousands. That Village would become known as Valiant Village, in tribute to all those who fell at the hands of Mewtwo and his forces.

It became a place of peace, a sanctuary for those whos lives had been uprooted by the war. It became a beacon of hope for the future. And it became a place of training, with the creation of the Valiant Village Guild. Training so that such a bloody conflict should never arise again, that there would be those to stand up against the forces of darkness. To this day, they still stand ready, for the day that Mewtwo would return...

[Valiant Village - Training Dojo]

"Again." Spirit would say, watching sternly as his children went through the motions of martial arts he had been teaching them. For an hour now they had been drilled on their technique. As they finished, they looked to their father, who smiled and gave a nod, signaling that their training had finished. "Alright. Keep up on your technique, kids. We'll be doing this again tomorrow." He said, his two children joyfully running for the door. "We will!" They replied as they headed towards town square.

"They're doing well." Said Luna, who had been seated in the corner watching them. "They are. But I still want them to be ready." He said, taking a cross legged seat next to her. "Spirit, all you seem to be doing lately is worry. It's been over ten years. If he was going to come back, he would have by now." She said, Spirit closing his eyes. "Maybe your right..." He started to say, before flashes of visions began popping through his head.

"Spirit, are you okay? You look like you've seen, well, a spirit." Luna asked, Spirit shaking his head. "It's nothing, just flashes. They come and go nowadays. Just some things that never seem to fade..." He replied, standing up as he sensed someone approaching. "Spirit, Luna, we've got some news for ya. Some of it you might like, some of it you might not..." Said Razor the Excadrill, coming around the corner. "Has anything happened?" Luna asked. "I'm not sure, Ox just came in with some messages, and Zen's been picking up a lot of chatter too." He said, Spirit and Luna getting to their feet and following him out into the village streets.



Valiant Village. A place built as a beacon of peace and hope for the future. It had sprouted and grown in the past ten years since its founding, and become much more than anyone thought it would be. It was a safe haven for those who's lives had been disturbed by the Second Great War, and stood as one of the largest settlements in the known world. The group quickly made their way towards the north side of town, entering the Guild Building, which stood as the largest building in town. "Alright. What have we got?" Spirit said in his usual stern voice as the days Senior Member Meeting got underway.

Mermes the Buizel
On the road to Valiant Village

It was rather nice looking day today to the green-eyed Buizel traveled through what she was starting to identify as a beaten path. Though it wasn't easy getting to here. She had sell some of the items she managed to find to be able to afford a ticket that would allow her to ride one of the Lapras to the Grass Continent. And ordinarily she would be happy to enter Mystery Dungeons that are only a few floors long, though she did it only to be able to hoard more items and she always used an Escape Orb as soon as she encountered enemies.

However, she was more hesitant to even attempt to go through the Mystery Dungeons here. It looked like they all dangerous to Mermes, even if they could provide potential shortcuts. As a result, she had to take the longer way to her destination. Yes, it was more time-consuming, but better to take longer to arrive than to be a meal for a Pokemon. However, it's starting to look like the Buizel is almost there.

"Beeeerrrryl!"

The Meowstic simply stared at her partner silently, gently running a small paw over her tail.

"Beryl!"

"....what?"

"...carry me?" In response, the Meowstic simply turned, started walking, and smacked Tin in the face with her tail. Sometimes, the Meowstic questioned her choice of friend. It was early morning, and the two of them just woke up - she wasn't going to be putting up with Tin's shenanigans until after she had woken up a bit. Unlike her, Beryl was most definitely not a morning pokemon. Instead, the meowstic made their way out of their room in the guild. They should find a job for the day, shouldn't they?

"Hey, Beryl!~" Tin came running after the Meowstic. "What are we doing today?"

"...the same thing we do every day?..."

"Take over the world?" Beryl turned her head towards Tin. The pawniard was positively beaming for having just said that. She wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, honestly. It was probably just a joke, wasn't it? Yes, it was a joke. The little spiky ball of hugs couldn't possibly want to actually take over the world?

Ugh, she needed to learn to relax...

"...no...?" Still, her voice didn't sound entirely too confident in that.

"With hugs and friendship?!" Beryl gave the Pawniard the most deadpan expression she could have. Of course she'd say that. She was thinking about things to hard again, wasn't she? With a frown and a sigh Beryl continued walking. "Starting with you!~" Tin then, proceeded to tackle Beryl at full speed. The mewostic yelped in disapproval as the fast moving spike ball of a pokemon tackled her at running speed. "Best way to start a day, is with hugs!"

"...sure..." Well, being hugged was nice...being stabbed whilst being hugged however, was not nice. Beryl shoved Tin off of her, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Hey hey, lets go see if we can find a job! I wanna fight a tyranitar!" Tin sped off down the hallway, leaving Beryl in her proverbial dust.

"Tin, no...!" Them fighting a tyranitar, was so far out of their capabilities it was funny. It would have been actually funny if Tin wasn't serious...

[Valiant Village - Village Guild]

Once out of earshot of the awakening Guild Members, the Senior Member Briefing finally got underway. "Okay, let's get today's meeting started. Ox, Zen, Razor told me you had some messages you'd received." Spirit said, looking over to the Gogoat and Meowstic in the room. Ox surprisingly stepped forward first. "I've got several messages from Treasure Town and Capim Town. Luckily, good news for the most part. Everything's been quiet for now, except for one thing..." He said, looking over to Zen.

"I've heard through the grapevine that Flash is believed to be heading our way." He would finish, the Manectric in the room, Riot, suddenly having a look of worry on his face. "Flash... he's extremely dangerous..." Riot said, Spirit looking over at him. "Yes, I know. Flash's reputation is quite notorious since the end of the war. I know you all already know this information, so I'll spare you the details. But... if he's coming our way, we must stop him."

The group nodded in agreement, Riot stepping forward. "Permission to take the lead on this, sir." He asked, Spirit nodding. "He's all yours, I wouldn't have anyone else, besides maybe myself, spearheading the mission. After today's Guild Briefing, assemble a team." He replied.

Luna would step forward next. "Next we have the matter of our newer recruits, most recently Team Rhythm. How has their training been going, Razor?" She asked, Razor crossing his arms. "They've still got a ways to go, but they've definitely got potential. A few more supervised missions and I think they should be good to go on their own." He replied.

With the meeting beginning to wind down, Spirit took the floor once more. "So, is there anything else that should be brought to attention?" Spirit would ask, everyone shaking their heads no in reply, save for Zen. "I've got something, but I'd like to speak with you privately about it, Spirit." He said, Spirit starting to grow concerned. "Alright then, Luna..." Spirit began, Luna holding up her paw. "You don't need to say a word. Zen, call it, I can handle today's briefing." Zen nodded, closing his eyes and sending the message he'd sent every day since he joined.



With that done, the Senior Members filed out behind Luna, leaving Spirit and Zen alone in the room. "Now... you're not going to like what I have to say..." Zen started as the doors closed behind the departing Senior Members.

[Valiant Village - Village Guild: Main Hall]

When the message went out, two teams were already in the Main Hall waiting for the days briefing to begin. Team Sanctuary, comprised of Omen the Absol, Serenity the Sylveon, and Krystal the Glaceon. And Team Wildfire, comprised of Riptide the Samurott and Hiryu the Charizard. Looking around, Hiryu would hang his head and close his eyes. "You'd think after all this time we wouldn't be the only ones here and waiting..." He said.

A flurry of footsteps could be heard as the current Rookie Team, Team Rhythm, finally entered the room from the Crew Rooms. "Hey, everyone." Said the Team's Leader, Wade the Frogadier, as he, Scarlet the Braixen, Fumi the Steenee, and Aika the Mawile took their seats as they awaited the Senior Member's arrival.

"So this is Valiant Village..." The Minccino had just past the bridge into the town, though calling it a town was an understatement. Valiant Village was huge, several times bigger than Lively Town. Should have just called it a city then, PC thought, pulling on the straps of his backpack, which hung almost a few centimeters off the ground. It was these times PC wished he was a much larger Pokemon; the backpack was almost his size and it could hardly fit very much without severely weighing him down. He had heard how Psychic types could make hyperspace holes to carry much more inventory than normally possible, and considered finding someone in the guild here who could help.

Now that his mind was on the guild, PC recalled the stories of the village itself. It was established as the Second Great War ended – it was a very recent conflict, well within his lifetime, though his memory of it was vague, and his parents were never involved in the war. His remaining mother talked about it regularly though, and of Valiant Village and all its famous guild members and heroes. However, PC had no idea where it was, being on the other end of the Grass Continent, simply overhearing that there was a guild in the general direction he was going to, and only a few days ago in a small outpost did he realize that said guild was none other than Valiant Village's Exploration and Rescue Guild.

The "village" was as crowded as expected to be, with long rows of market places lining the side of the commercial area. It was just morning, but already there were Pokemon all around purchasing goods. A few adventurers were at the bank, depositing their loot after a tiring expedition in some mystery dungeon. "I could buy basically anything here..." PC muttered, strolling along the road towards the town square. The guild hall stood out a bit north of the village, its height well above the rest to emphasize its power and importance.

The Minccino spent so much time gazing at the sights that he nearly hit head on with a Riolu who had dashed out of somewhere. At soon as he turned his eyes back in front of him, the young Pokemon was on a collision course that was thankfully averted with the quick reflexes of both. PC did a quick dodge to the left, staggering momentarily before regaining his footing and sighing. Right, getting a bit too distracted. He scanned his surroundings, the Riolu who he had nearly crashed into dashing off towards the other side of the town square along with another Riolu, likely his sibling.

PC then noticed a group of older Pokemon come out, namely two Lucarios and an Excadrill. He couldn't make out what they were saying, their barely audible conversation being further dampened out by the noise that was going around the square. The three were walking away from another building, with the sign above the door marked in clear red: "Training Dojo". PC had seen these kind of dojos or fight schools or whatever they were called back in his hometown, and wasn't the biggest fan of training in these buildings, especially since he didn't perform too well against Fighting types. They must be experienced adventurers, he assumed, deciding that he would go towards the guild hall.

As a junior Member of Valiant Village Guild, the Seniors expected Tinuviel to be up bright and early for morning briefings, and he wasn’t about to shirk that simple expectation. Even though he told himself every morning that he’d like to tidy up a little, any room keeping chores were to wait until after the days official guild jobs were done, and by then there wasn’t much time for anything. The best he could do as he left his quarters was preen the dust from his fur.

The main hall was noisy with the murmurings of other members waiting for the days briefing to begin. Tinuviel looked around the room. He still hardly knew any of the other members. They’d all established Teams or joined as Teams, so it seemed to him if as if they stuck to themselves more than anything, not that it terribly bothered him. He didn’t join the Guild to improve his people skills, but they still had to work together while at the base. It made the chores go faster when there was someone pleasant to chatter with. Tinuviel fluttered over to one of the tables, and perched next to a Braxien, hoping that he wasn’t interrupting anything,

“Good morning, everyone,” he said, glancing around at the empty seats. He never did have to worry about being the last one in.

Mermes the Buizel
Valiant Village

The Buizel kept walking for a while. Her feet were aching from the long journey, and it would be a welcome respite to finally stop for more than a short hour. And indeed, Mermes caught sight of a village in the distance, and she sprinted towards it on all fours.

To her surprise, at the area where she entered Valiant Village, there wasn't many Pokemon around. Though it was understandable, it was still fairly early in the morning. Mermes looked up at the sky to check for any Flying-type Pokemon that may try to swoop down and snatch her up. Not any in sight, which was good. Mermes plopped herself down on the ground, not caring about any dirt that may get caught in her orange fur. She may as well take a short break now that she arrived.

[Valiant Village - Village Guild]

As the Noibat entered, some of the Pokemon present in the room gave a slight nod. More Pokemon began filing in and taking seats, usually with their respective teams. The room kept its silent, yet not somber, atmosphere as everyone waited for the Senior Members to enter. And, after several minutes, they finally came into the room. However, the observant members would notice immediately that Spirit and Zen were not present as they took their spots in the center of the room.

"Alright, we've got a lot to do today, everyone, so let's not waste time with pleasantries and get this started." Luna said, all eyes focusing on her. "Firstly, we have received reports that Flash, a Scizor Wanted for Multiple Robberies and Believed to have been Aligned with Mewtwo's Army, is heading North." She said, many of the experienced Guild Members turning to one another, wordlessly conveying their worry with a single look.

"At the end of today's Briefing, Riot will be selecting a group to take with him in pursuit of him." She paused, letting the air clear before continuing. "Onto our usual topics, our Job Boards have been updated with new Job Requests from Pokemon in the area. For those not selected for the previously mentioned assignment, continue with your normal duties unless pulled aside by one of us." She continued, taking a single breath before continuing.

"Speaking of which, Wade and Scarlet, we'll be continuing our special training today, so meet me at the Training Dojo after Briefing." She finished, taking a step back as Riot took the floor. "Alright. Flash is a dangerous opponent to face in battle. I should know... that's why I'll be choosing those who I choose for this mission. I know his tactics, and how to counter them." He turned, facing Team Wildfire. "Hiryu, Riptide, you're in." He said, as he began turning to other various teams. "Team Flashforce. Tai, Barker, I'm counting on you." He said, turning away from the Arcanine and Meinshao seated nearby as he focused on the last group. "Team Specter. Shuri, Raf, don't let us down." He said as he pointed to a Mismagius and Weavile. "Those I've selected, get your gear ready. We're heading our in one hour, so make all essential preparations."

And with that, the various assembled teams headed their separate ways, with some heading out towards Town Square, with others staying around the Guild.

[Valiant Village - Village Guild: Guildmaster's Office]

"... Are you sure." Spirit said sternly, Zen replying with a nod. "Some of Mewtwo's old forces have been dropping off the grid. Everyone's going on edge. They think it means that he's coming back, that he's reforming his army."

Spirit's blood ran cold. He looked stressed beyond belief. He took a seat at his desk, putting his hand to his head. "This can't be happening... not again..." He said, looking up at Zen. "How certain is everyone?" He asked, Zen putting his paw to his chin. "Right now, it's only rumors and speculation. And that's bound to cause panic." He replied, Spirit nodding. "You're right about that... don't speak about any of this to anyone other than myself, or Luna. I'll tell her about it myself." He looked downward and closed his eyes. "If he is returning again, we'll have to be ready..." He said, the room growing quiet.

Mermes
Valiant Village

After some time, Mermes stood back up. Thanks to the brief rest, the muscles in her feet were no longer sore. She brushed the dirt off her fur and re-positioned the blue flower on her head before going further into the village.

The Buizel started seeing more Pokemon the further she went towards the center of town. Which prompted her to try to appear smaller and blend in, as she usually does when more Pokemon are around. It's better that way lest something happen and she happens to be singled out for whatever hypothetical unfortunate event may happen.

Well, he couldn't exactly expect to be put on such a critical mission while he was still a Junior. Nothing for it but to train and improve. The fact that all there was for him to do was find jobs on their message board disappointed him. He could have done that with the Rescue Team Associaton back home. He'd come here with the promise of specialised training, but maybe he'd gotten the wrong idea from those travellers. However, whatever the situation was, he would not give up on the Guild; he'd signed up for this place, and he needed to make the most of it, whatever "it" really was.

Tinuviel fluttered up from his perch, excusing himself. He landed on a wall and crawled his way to where the bulletins were hung and landed in front of them. He peered at the listings, looking primarily for locations he'd seen or been to already since he'd arrived at the Guild. "What would the hard day's work bring him today?" he wondered.

@Veradana
[Team Rhythm]
[Valiant Village - Guild]

Waving goodbye to their fellow teammates as they went off with Guildmaster Luna for their weekly training session, Fumi and Aika faced the Job Bulletin Board, trying to find a job to do for the day. "What about that one?" Fumi asked, pointing to an Outlaw Wanted Poster. "With only two of us? Look, it even says he most likely has a gang of Pokemon with him." Aika replied, Fumi sighing. "Yeah... I guess... hey, there's this one here..." She pointed to a rather simple request. It was from the Town Healer, Melody the Gardevoir.

"Guild Members, I have but a simple request to ask of you. My daughter is visiting family down in Treasure Town, and with all the rumors about outlaws hiding out between here and there, I don't feel safe letting her travel alone. So I'm asking anyone kind enough to escort my little girl home safe and sound. - Melody"

After looking over the paper, Aika nodded. "Seems easy enough. It'll take most of today, but if we use a few Mystery Dungeons as shortcuts, we should be there and back in no time. Sure wish Wade and Scarlet were coming for that, though." She said, Fumi looking around. The room had nearly become deserted as the few leftover teams picked their jobs and left. The only ones left were Team Sanctuary and the lone Noibat, a recent recruit if she could remember correctly. "Why don't we ask him?" She asked, non-chalantly motioning to him as he too was looking over the remaining jobs.

"Really? I don't know, he seems kinda like a lone wolf... I guess it's worth a try though, it'll make the job a lot easier." She replied, the two turning to the Flying Type. "Excuse me, Tinuviel, right? Me and my teammate here wanted to ask you something." She started. "We're gonna be going on a little job down to Treasure Town, and we could use a third. Our usual partners are off on special training with Guildmaster Luna, so we wondered if you'd like to help." Fumi finished.

@UmbreonRogue
[Team Wildfire; Team Flashforce; Team Specter]
[Valiant Village - Central Plaza]

The teams selected by Riot quickly made their way into town to begin their preparations. As they passed by the massive Memorial Fountain in the center of the plaza, they split off to make their separate preparations. While Team Flashforce had been tasked with mapping the route they would take, Team Specter was to gather supplies from storage while Team Wildfire headed over to the Kecleon Market.

"This one ain't gonna be easy, Riptide." Hiryu said to his partner as they passed through the crowd. "I know." He replied to his partner, short and to the point. "I wonder how Riot's gonna react when he meets him face to face again, after what happened last time..." Hiryu continued, Riptide sighing. "He needs to keep a level head, he's good at controlling his anger. He'll be fine." He stated as they caught sight of their destination.

Then Riptide came to a screeching halt, looking down at his feet. "Huh? Partner, what's up?" He asked, looking down he'd see the cause. A small Buizel with a Blue Flower on her head. Riptide took a step back. "I'm sorry, I almost didn't see you there. You might want to make yourself a bit more seen, or you might get trampled out here." He said, taking note as an Aggron passed by only seconds later.

The Minccino slowly walked up the stairs into the guild building, examining the entrance. The first thing he noticed was how massive the place was; the ceiling stretched up three meters tall, sufficiently high enough to allow taller Pokemon to enter. The style was rustic, like many guild buildings in other towns, with walls made of brightly stained clay or wood. PC wondered how old the building really was; the guild in its current form surely wasn't older than him, but he had no idea if the building was constructed after the war or it was older than he thought and was just renovated and converted.

Once the size of the building settled into his mind, PC also noticed the entrance area was relatively empty. Maybe the members were off somewhere. A touch of curiosity urged him to go towards the hallway and explore, and possibly find wherever these members are. It didn't even take a minute, however, before his question was answered; after just a few steps down the hallway he suddenly saw a crowd of guild mebers heading out towards the exit, and he hurriedly moved to the side to get out of the way. Some of the members still hung around near the main hall, and he bit his lip. Several of these guild members were experienced and evolved, and much better than his current abilities, as much as he hated to admit it.

PC wanted to find a place to register as a guild member, but unfortunately, the guild here didn't make the directions particularly clear. Maybe he could try out for another mission before he actually joined the guild, get a bit of a warm up. His eyes quickly detected the wooden bulletin board pinned to the wall, and the Minccino dashed there and stared upwards. Come on...can't they at least make the board shorter? he muttered in irritation, though a bit audible to the Noibat near him.

As the Buizel kept her head low, she had been looking around. Not just for potential predators, but at all the shops around her. Mermes could see Pokemon interacting and laughing, or just walking around like her. But what interested her was the exchange going on between shops, and she could see demand for some items Mermes actually had on hand.

While she had been glancing at the activity going on, she had heard a voice that was right in front of her.
"I'm sorry, I almost didn't see you there. You might want to make yourself a bit more seen, or you might get trampled out here."
"O-oh, I didn't mean to get in your way. I was just, um, l-looking around," Mermes had apologized, unconsciously shrinking even more while looking away slightly. Mermes didn't make eye contact out of extreme nervousness, so she didn't see what species the unknown Pokemon was. The green-eyed Buizel jumped a metaphorical two feet in the air when a heavy Pokemon walked next to her.

@Shiny Keldeo

He was still shifting through the job papers when the remaining members of Team Rhythm came up to do the same. They seemed to have an easier time deciding than he did, plucking a notice off of the board after only a moment of looking. Soon, they were muttering to themselves, stealing glances at him that he pretended not to see. Tinuviel was still picking around high-rated outlaws when Fumi walked up to him, asking if he wanted to help them out with a job.

He blinked at her a bit and hummed to himself. He still wanted to work by himself, but would he really be learning anything more that way than he was before? Maybe, if he teamed up with a group that had been here a while, he could get some pointers from them, and learn more about just how this Guild ran, since the Pokemon who'd told him about it clearly didn't really know much at all.

"Sure, I'll come along," he said, hopping down from his perch to stand in front of them. "You can count on me. I won't hold you back."

@Veradana
[Team Rhythm]
[Valiant Village - Guild]

The two barely noticed the arrival of the Minccino next to them, as the Noibat agreed to help them with their mission. The two shared a glance at his response before they spoke. "Alright, then. This is the mission we'll be going on." Fumi said, showing the Job Bulletin to the grounded bat. "Melody is the Village Healer. Her daughter, Lena, is everything to her. We've gotta get her home safe." Aika explained.

After letting Tinuviel have enough time to read over the job description, Fumi rolled it up and stored it away in her Treasure Bag. "Alright, we just have to grab a few things before we go. If you want to come with us, it's fine. Otherwise you can just meet us at the Town Gate in a couple minutes." Fumi said, Aika nodding as the two headed for the main exit.

@Stale Pizza
[Team Sanctuary]
[Valiant Village - Guild]

As the room cleared even more, Omen and his team took notice of the small Minccino looking over the Job Board. "Who's he? I haven't seen him before." Asked Krystal, looking at the others. "Me either, haven't seen him in town either. Might be new." Omen replied, Serenity sighing. "If that's the case, we might as well say hello and see if we can help." She said, hopping down from her seat as she headed towards the Job Board casually.

As she stood next to the Job Board, she tried to start up a little conversation. "Hey, new here? You look just a little lost, I might be able to help." She said, giving a sincere smile as she turned to the small Normal Type.

@UmbreonRogue
[Team Wildfire]
[Valiant Village - Central Plaza]

Seeing the skittish Water Type's reaction, Hiryu dropped down lightly behind her. "Easy, he was just kidding about that squash thing... I think..." He said, looking over to Riptide. "Don't you worry, you're safe here in Valiant Village. I'm Hiryu, that's Riptide. We're Team Wildfire of the Valiant Village Guild." He said, motioning to his partner. "You certainly don't look like one for crowds, what brings you to the center of town?" Riptide asked.

The Buizel glanced quickly at the other Pokemon, still trying to avoid eye contact. They appeared to be a Charizard and a Samurott, rather powerful Pokemon. Even though they were reassuring her that the town is a safe place, they looked like they could rip her head off if they wanted to. Mermes will have to try not to accidentally anger them.

[color=98ff98]"I-I wanted to trade s-some of my trinkets f-for treasure that the g-guild could probably find,"[/url] Mermes explained, laughing nervously. [color=98ff98]"I-it went a lot b-better in m-my head. I p-probably won't b-be able to trade like th-this."[/url]

@Shiny Keldeo

Tinuviel nodded at them as they left. So, they were on bodyguard duty? Escorting a kid through the region seemed simple enough. He remembered his parents would occasionally guard important Pokemon all across the continent. Those long-term jobs weren't ones he was usually brought along for, but his parents always spoke highly of them, even when they didn't speak highly of their charges. The current job shouldn't be like that, though, Tinuviel thought. Melody seems like a down-to-earth person. He doubted that a kid raised by someone like that would cause trouble on a trip.

"I do have a few things I should bring along," he said, fluttering back to his position on the walls. He crawled his way back to his shared room, greeting other guild members as they passed each other. He slung it over his should as he climbed down and started going through the supplies both already in the bag, and that he'd once stashed by his bed. The supplies came to a fairly standard set of apples and blast seeds, along with a brown bow. Anything else he needed he would have to find during the mission.

With that, he left his room and hurried to meet the others.

@Veradana
[Team Rhythm]
[Valiant Village - Town Gate]

Within minutes the duo had gathered the necessary supplies for their cross-continent trip, and were now patiently waiting for their third party to arrive. "Are you sure about this? We barely know anything about him, and he's newer than we are." Aika voiced her concern, Fumi giving a smile in reply. "Hey, wasn't too long ago we were kinda in the same boat. The Guild helped us, now we can pass it on. Let's give him a chance at least."

Aika nodded, pulling a Wonder Map from her Treasure Bag. "I think I've got a good course plotted. First we'll go through Tranquil Forest. It isn't a Mystery Dungeon, so we should be fine. After that we'll have to go through Mount Bristle, then through Oran Forest, and finally Grean Meadow. After that, just a bit more walking and we should be at Treasure Town by Lunch Time." She said, Fumi jumping up rather pumped. "Great! Then there shouldn't be any problems! No as soon as what's his name gets here we can get started!" She finished.

@UmbreonRogue
[Team Wildfire]
[Valiant Village - Central Plaza]

It was clear their words did little to ease the newcomer's nerves. As she explained her purpose in coming, Riptide would give a somewhat disappointing answer. "If that is why you came here, then I'm afraid you might be disappointed." He said, Hiryu sighing as he picked up where he left off. "Yeah, while some Guilds like Wigglytuff's down south come up with all kinds of treasure and rarities, 'most everything we get here goes to the village."

As Hiryu tried to find a silver lining to the situation, a familiar voice spoke up. "Hiryu, Riptide, is something wrong? Should't you be getting ready?" Asked Luna, as she came up with Wade and Scarlet from Team Rhythm. "Oh, Guildmaster Luna. No, not exactly. We were just trying to help... her..." He explained, pointing down to the nearly shaking Buizel.

"I see... I can sense what lies beneath that nervous exterior..." She said to herself before bending down to be somewhat on eye level with the Water Type. "There's no need to be afraid or nervous here. This is a place of peace and harmony. I am Luna, one of the Guildmasters of the Valiant Village Guild." She said in a soft caring tone, then looking up to Team Flashforce. "I can handle this from here. You two better hurry, Riot will be waiting."

"Yes, Guildmaster." Riptide said plainly. "R-Right. We gotta grab that stuff from the Kecleon Market. Let's go partner." Hiryu replied, the two hurrying off into the crowd. "Now... Wade, Scarlet, you're okay with our lesson starting later than usual, right?" She asked, the two Pokemon with her nodding. "Good. Well then, would you like to have us show you around? Knowing your surroundings might help ease your tension." She asked with the same tone as before.

@Stale Pizza
[Team Sanctuary]
[Valiant Village - Guild]

Her words went unanswered, as the Normal Type kept his gaze on the board ahead of him. Serenity was slightly saddened that he'd practically refused her kindness, sighing as she heard a voice pop into her head.



The Guild Master wanted to speak with the two of them. She looked over her shoulder to see Omen already on the move. "I wonder what's going on..." She said as she passed her sister. "What are you talking about?" Krystal asked as Serenity stopped. "Spirit wants to see me and Omen. Just... wait here till we get back, alright little sister?" She said, Krystal drawing a frown on her face and pouting somewhat. "Alright... I always get left out of the good stuff..." She complained, Serenity shaking her head as she followed her partner towards the Guildmaster's Office.

The duo from Team Rhythm was naturally already waiting at the town gate by the time he got there. He hoped he hadn't kept them waiting long. It was important for him to make a good impression on his seniors. He could almost hear them chatting to each other as he flew over, and he caught the tail-end of their conversation: they expected to reach Treasure Town by lunch, and that the three of them would leave as soon as he joined up with them. Also that Aika couldn't remember his name. Would it be too awkward to remind her?

"Yes, sorry to keep you," he said, deciding against re-introducing himself, "I'm ready to head out as soon as you are."

@Shiny Keldeo

The Buizel looked up at the female Lucario. Even though she was still feeling somewhat anxious, the blue Pokemon's presence was somehow comforting. But what did she see in her? Mermes is quite easily frightened, and she can't fight very well.

"Th-thank you, I would like to know more about this t-town," the green-eyed Buizel responded. "I'm Mermes.

@Shiny Keldeo