Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Vernal Ventures [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]

[Dova]

---

By the time the big speech came up, the Corbin had only progressed halfway down the Smeargle’s queue. It was rather inspiring stuff, and when it finally came to a close, he was hopping from claw to claw in excitement. Pulling his eyes away from the recently vacated stage, the Doduo returned to scanning the crowd, this time on the lookout for a potential partner for this apparent test. Although there seemed to be a few loose Pokemon here and there, Corbin couldn’t just take anyone as partners or this tournament. No, in order for them to make an impression, all of any given team would have to shine, and so he would have to go with the best of the best for the best chance of getting into the best Guild. The best way.

“Too small...too weird,” he murmured quietly, as both pairs of eyes swept those present, “too sleepy, but an Abra might still be helpful with their psychic shenanigans, so maybe…” Both mouths suddenly paused in their rash judgments as Corbin recognized a familiar face: a Tynamo, nondescript save for a greenish fin.

You would think that a Pokemon without limbs wouldn’t be a great choice for a height-achieving challenge, even one that could hover, but Corbin could remember her earlier display of strength at the Machoke’s stand, one that he had barely managed to equal yet that Tynamo managed to ace without breaking a sweat. Not only that but her confidence

If anyone could ace this test, it would be her.

Corbin dashed over as fast as his legs could carry him, in the hopes that he could convince her to team up with him before anyone else did. The Tynamo was already making her way over to someone else, a new Stufful for some reason, but that still left room for a third. The Doduo picked up his pace, just managing to arrive in time for the tail-end of his intended partner’s introduction.

“If we can find someone you can toss up I can get them to go even higher...”

“Er, hello!” interjected Corbin brightly, having slid over beside the pair and waited semi-patiently until the Tynamo was done. “I’m actually really good with my legs, so if you-” His right head indicated the Stufful. “-can do a throw in time with my jump, we could definitely ace this!” He hesitated briefly, then his left head took over with a weak smile. “So yeah, if those bear arms aren’t actually full of stuffing, we’ve got this.”

---

[Ralsei]

The Starly showing her around the festivities was awfully... So far, the Pokemon she had met in this world were just very... Kind. That's even ignoring the fact that Felix was a human once himself! The Ariados who helped her find her way out of the forest, the Roserade who had allowed her to stay at her home while she figured out a plan, they both had given her the time of day when it would have been easy to just ignore her...
 
The rush of food (Which was surprisingly good!), followed by games and then the more creative outlet of events seemed to catch her attention fairly well. Leading with the food though... Judging by the way she was trying to eat as much of it as possible with her new, smaller form, she definitely approved. The games part of it was a little rougher on her though, at her size she was absolutely tiny and a lot of the games weren't made with that size in mind! So instead she would watch as some other Pokemon, or Felix himself, would challenge the games. It was still a good experience in her eyes... But with a shadow being cast from the sky and Pokemon beginning to whisper in excitement, she tore her attention away from the music and games.
 
"It's Noivern!!"
 
Kiera looked up at the sky as the shadow passed over them, her eyes widening a little bit at the dragon in the sky. When she landed, that gust of air almost blew the poor Flabébé through the air, but she managed to duck behind a stand to keep herself in place. She watched as the massive figure land on the stage, her eyes widening a tiny bit as the dragon landed... And began to speak. She thanked the town for their hard work, which was reasonable. Not a surprise at all. She had been there when the Pokemon were setting up the festival, she had helped where she could, it seemed like everyone had been putting in some amount of work. But she knew the real meat of the festival was about to start...
 
They couldn't accept everyone, that sounded reasonable with the pure number of Pokemon that had shown up. But with so many Pokemon applying, her chances of getting in with a policy like that... It had to be near zero, right? There had to be so many well equipped Pokemon who were wanting to get in, the only edge she had was that she was a human once... And she certainly wasn't the only human applying. Felix alone proved that, and there were sure to be more.
 
"Thus, there is to be a test. A means to eliminate all but the most able and fit for the positions. Here now to explain this process to you all is our beloved guild master, Heliolisk!"
 
A test? Oh no, it wasn't like she was particularly well equipped for any kind of tests like this! Her strength, speed, even her reflexes were all... Lacking, to say the least. Hopefully the test was something not physical. Something mental. She hadn't even fully mastered the moves she was supposed to be using now. A brief moment of panic had started to settle in, but before she could run off from it, the Heliolisk on stage had approached towards the dragon and climbed up onto her back. She just blinked for a moment at the slightly strange sight, then he started talking.
 
"Uh... testing.... testing..... hello.... one... two... three...."
 
That was a soft voice. She calmed down just a little bit as she listened to the guildmaster speak, a little sigh escaping her. Something about the soft voice after the stern Noivern helped her stay reasonable. She focused her attention back to the stage... The use of the pet name had obviously flustered Noivern, a little giggle escaping Kiera as she shook her head for a moment before listening to Heliolisk once more. First... An Axew was given a place in the guild already? She hadn't heard that people could get in that way. It wasn't like she had any connections in the first place, but if only...
 
Then the actual test. She had to find a group of three. Maybe Felix would be okay with staying with her a little bit longer... She was light, he could fly, if they could just find someone to help launch one of them into the air, maybe this little tag team could work and get them into the guild after all! At the same time...
 
An Abra had approached Felix while she was distracted, stupid! Now he was going to get poached and she couldn't object to it, he had already been kind to her by showing her around, she couldn't impose on him just to try and help her chances of getting into the guild. Pairing up with that Abra would practically be a sure thing for him af-
 
“We’re already a pair, right?”
 
She flinched. Wait, did he really not plan on taking the sure thing?! She coughed before speaking, "...I really appreciate you showing me around, Felix, but if-"
 

Not only did he suddenly cut her off to reaffirm what he said, he then just suddenly fluttered off into the crowd! She let out a little squeak as she glanced towards the Abra, having missed his introduction she just bowed her head to him, "Uh, sorry! I hope you find a third!" Then she ran off to chase after Felix.

 

You would think getting through the crowd at her size would be awfully annoying. She couldn't quite catch the attention of the larger Pokemon normally, but thanks to the mass movement of trying to get the test done, there were enough gaps that she could duck and weave her own way after Felix. She tried to call out to him, but each time she did, her voice was just drowned out by the moving crowd of 'mon.

 

By the time she had caught up to Felix, she was out of breath and panting a little bit, her small hands having gripped onto the stem of her flower tighter. She laid it down beneath her as she sat in place, taking deep breaths as she looked up, "Felix... You..." She paused as she saw the Dratini starting to rise up from what looked to have been a curled up position. She tilted her head as she glanced between them, before a small grin broke out on her face, "Oh, you found... A third! I wasn't sure why you were running off that fast..."

 

She smiled to Jeremy as she seemed to have caught her breath, her hand rubbing at her neck a little bit as she sighed out gently, "I-If you want to be the third! Uh, if you do, we should probably try to get to Noivern and Heliolisk so we can do the test... Or figure out how exactly we want to do it first. I can float through the air a little bit if you two want to launch me up, but I can't exactly control it, and if there's a gust of wind... I'll just go flying around. Or I can help launch Felix and catch him, but it might be a bit harder to get him up there."

[Wind Rider]

"Uh... testing.... testing..... hello.... one... two... three...."

 

As she was just starting to get comfortable with how crowded the square had gotten, Karliah turned her attention towards the guild's leader, Heliolisk.

 

"Now then, it's high time we got to testing you all. We've got to see who's going to be joining young Axew in the guild. So your first task is to gather together into little groups of about, oh, three or so of you. Yes that should be good. Now what you'll need to do after you've banded together is come up with a strategy. For what you might ask, well indeed I will tell you. We're going to have ourselves a bit of a contest to see who can get one of their team members the highest up with a good throw, no flying mind you. Noivy and I will come around to each of you and when you're ready you'll employ your strategy and we'll determine how high your partner made it and judge you for other things like how evenly the work is spread and such. An- oh what's that? Yes, Noivy reminds me that catching your teammate is in fact one of the criteria for passing. We'd rather not anyone get too hurt today, that would be a sad turn of events. Well, if that's understood then off to it!"

 

Teams of three? But what if there was a number of participants that would not allow for teams of three? Nevertheless, Karliah needed to find a team and quick. With the rush of participants however, she got lost in the crowd and had to slink away until she could find an opportunity to find a team she could join. Unfortunately, by the time she could find one without being barged over, the only team left included Zee, the Abra that had given her money.

 

She gave a quiet sigh as she slinked over to him and his partner, so much for trying to avoid him. She had to make a mental note to pay Zee back double... No... Triple... For lending her money. Putting that mental note back in her mind, she stood in front of the two with a quiet stare. "Can I join?" she asked in a quiet tone.

[Sethera]

Soon after the Stufful asked what to do next, the area around him suddenly became dark, and he glanced up to see a large flying thing partly blocking out the sun. Not long after, he was tripping over his feet as everybody headed toward the hill...slope...thing. Things weren't as bad as he had expected though, as Draxew was very good about stopping and helping him back up whenever he fell.

 

There was a stage where they were all gathered around, and atop the stage stood five Pokémon, which, according to Draxew, were the guild leaders. "You sure that's a guild leader?" the bear asked, jerking his head toward the Buizel onstage. The guy looked way too nervous to have any sort of power. Back in--he cut himself off as he realized he had no idea what he was about to think. Back in...nope, nothing. Frustrated, he wracked...or maybe it was worked? He worked his brain over the problem as the bat lady started talking, completely ignoring everything she was saying in the process. He gave up around the time a large yellow lizard--he thought that was a lizard--came up and began to babble on about this and that. Honestly, it was really difficult to sit still and pay attention. He had never been--

 

Never been what?

 

Well, whatever. He was having a hard time listening, was all. He only really started to pay attention when he heard a familiar word. "Yes, everyone please say hello to Axew!"

 

Axew! That's it! That's what Draxew reminded me of. It sounds a lot like Axew. Huh. Wonder why. Wait, what even is an Axew? He was only partially listening as the lizard continued, more concerned with figuring out just what an Axew was and why the Pokémon even mentioned it. Glancing up, he saw that Draxew was now onstage for some reason, and looked really nervous for some reason. Giving his buddy a wave, as he stared at him, it finally clicked. Oh, he's an Axew. That's what he is.

 

"Sorry, wasn't really paying attention to all that," he said to the what he was now very sure was an Axew as the tusked Pokémon returned to the crowd. "But seems you know the guildmaster, huh? Hella connections, man," he gave him a friendly nudge, hoping the guy would loosen up a little.

 

"Now then, it's high time we got to testing you all. We've got to see who's going to be joining young Axew in the guild."

 

"The hell? He doesn't know your name? Or do you guys normally call each other by what you are?" he whispered. He managed to listen more carefully as the lizard thing explained the rest of what was going on. Come to think about it, I haven't even heard his name yet. Or maybe this happened while I was blanking out? Maybe the bat lady said it? Who is she, anyway? Name guessing aside, it seemed they were about to get divided into teams, and Draxew wouldn't be part of it.

 

The panda glanced around, at a loss of what to do. Well, guess I'll just wing it, he thought, making his way toward what looked to be a large, tough hippo. "Wanna team up?" he asked.

 

"As if," the other scoffed. "Try this again when you get a little older. And a little less...pink."

 

"Motherf***er what did you just say to me?" he rolled up his metaphorical sleeves, whatever those were, and stepped forward aggressively. "I'll show you pink. Pink's the last thing you're gonna see before I knock your f***ing face off."

 

"You talk big for a small bear."

 

"And you talk big for a small brain."

 

Another Pokémon got in between the two of them. "Now, now, let's not fight," they said. "After all, we need to find teams first."

 

"Tell that to him," the hippo grunted, before turning away. "You're lucky that ended where it did. Next time you won't be so lucky."

 

"Yeah, well at least I get lucky--"

 

"Hey, uh, you." The Stufful turned around to see what looked like...actually, he didn't know what the hell it was supposed to be. "We should work together. I may be small but I'm strong. If we can find someone you can toss up I can get them to go even higher."

 

“Er, hello!”

 

"Those bear arms gotta be worth somethin, right? Unless they're full of stuffing...are they?"

 

"The hell are you?" he asked, before registering what she, and he was pretty sure it was a girl by the voice, said. "Oh, sure," he shrugged his shoulders, almost stumbling backwards as his balance shifted with the movement. "And stuffing?! You wanna bet? My bear arms are stronger than your..." he looked at her again and no, she didn't have any arms. "Well...this is awkward."

 

It was in the middle of that awkwardness that he realized that they weren't alone. Somewhere in the middle of their conversation, a bird thing with two heads had slid over beside them. “I’m actually really good with my legs, so if you-” His right head indicated the Stufful. “-can do a throw in time with my jump, we could definitely ace this!” He hesitated briefly, then his left head took over with a weak smile. “So yeah, if those bear arms aren’t actually full of stuffing, we’ve got this.”

 

"My arms are better than your..." again, no arms. "Well sheet," he threw his front paws up in the air, falling backward onto his tail at that point, which, ouch, wasn't going to do that again. "Can't give a good trash talk if I'm the only one with arms here. I mean, uhh," he realized that that might have been the wrong thing to say, before bravely moving forward. "Anyway, yeah, I'm game. Might not be very coordinated...er, I think that's the word for it. But I sure as hell ain't no quitter, and my arms are all muscle." Whatever that was.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

 “Hey, I’m really sorry,” he said, “Kiera, this Flabébé right here, and I had already agreed to be a pair and, well, I don’t think they’ll let us do fours. Sorry!  We’re already a pair, right?”

 

"...I really appreciate you showing me around, Felix, but if-"

 

“Already a pair. Right. Hey, sorry again, Zee, but I’m sure a bunch of Pokémon here would love to have you on their team. Maybe some other time?”

 

"Ah."  Zee said with a pinch of disappointment, as he reached out.  It was obvious the other two weren't a pair until just now, but why the haste with the rejection.  Zee breathed into his hand, and then brought it up to his nose to sniff.  His breath didn't smell too bad.  So what was the deal.  "Well, don't come complaining to me when we beat you."  He snickered while shrugging.  He returned to Blake, before sighing again, wagging his head from side to side.  "No luck there.  And it's looking like we need to speed things up."  He could see that the contestants were starting to thin down, and there weren't many Pokemon who would be available for a team up.  "You better hurry and find someon~."  He said, snoozing again.  

 

"Can I join?"

 

The question stopped Zee's nap, and made him spring back to life.  He looked where the voice came from, and saw that Salandit from earlier.

 

"Ah!  So do you have my money, or did you sign up to see Mr. Heracross too?!  I wanna win this bad so I can meet him!"  Zee exclaimed with enthusiasm.  With their rag tag team set up, Blake ushered them into a circle of sorts.  "So, here's my plan that I got all plotted."  He was whispering, because he noticed some of the teams were giving away their strategies.  What if their were ne'er-do-wells among them?  He continued.  "I can teleport myself high into the sky, and slow my fall with my psychic powers.  My fall will be slow enough for you both to catch me easily as I descend."  He broke the circle and nodded to himself.  "That's right, there's no one here who can get higher than me without cheating!  Blake!"  He pointed to the Honedge, "Go report our team members to Heliolisk, while I get ready for the operatio~."  He ordered before falling asleep again. 

[)e//!s0P]

The Appearence of the Salandit frightened Blake. First of all, the phasing sounded like she owed Zee money. Second of all, and more importantly, the word poison came to mind. This puzzled Blake. ' In this state, I'm immune to poison. Why am I not thinking about fire?' While he was thinking, he floated over near the platform where the Guildmaster was, he realized something. 'Couldn't I just use Automize to get their faster?' He asked himself. 'No, I might hit someone. Besides, if I do hit someone, it would give me more enemies. That's the last thing I need right now. He continued floated over to the area, and reported in to the Guildmaster. He had an idea, and was ready to flesh it out in more detail while he waited for the contest to begin.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Cassidy was happy to see that they had gotten a second member so quickly. Or, she should be happy. But she just felt even more awkward than before. She would have to get this over with so she could move on she supposed.

 

The reminder about her lack of arms didn't help much. "Yeah, awkward." Cassidy said, narrowing her eyes at the rude bear. "Don't complain to me about coordination you know how weird it is to move around without limbs?" She let out a sigh and floated lower, the closest thing she could get to slumping shoulders, before perking back up. "Right, so we've got our group. Come on....team, lets go tell those stupid ad....uh, the guild leaders we're ready to take on this test."

 

As she floated on towards the Heliolisk and Noivern, with the others in tow, she called out behind her. "I'm Cassidy. I guess we're going to be working together when we get into this guild anyway so probably should know each other's names....though I guess you're Stufful and you're...Doduo, right?"

She had almost forgotten that most of the people here just went by their species name. How confusing must that be in a large family. She cast a sidelong glance at the two, wondering if they were going to mock her about her Human name like some others had. Group or not she'd not let that go easily.

 

"Oh and, Doduo guy, hope you've got a sturdy body, the only way we're going to get you up high enough is by gettin a bit rough."

[radio414]

---

For the second time in what couldn’t have been more than ten or fifteen minutes, Felix froze. If Kiera was suggesting what he thought she was suggesting… No, there’d been a misunderstanding. Of course she wouldn’t have known. She wouldn’t have known for the same reason Zee and so many other Pokémon wouldn’t have known.

“Kiera, before we actually lay out our plan or whatever we’re doing,” Felix said, “I think I need to tell you something about me. I’m, uh, I need you to promise me you won’t laugh, too. Like, I guess it’s pretty funny but you can’t laugh, got it?”

There was a pause after he spoke before she replied, “Funny? Uhm… I won’t laugh. If it’s important to the test, I guess we should know about it…”

“Jeremy already knows, I think,” Felix said. “Jeremy- oh I guess I didn’t introduce you two yet. Sorry! Uh, Kiera, this is Jeremy, and Jeremy, Kiera. Sorry, I’m a little rattled right now.”

“Oh right!” She turned to Jeremy and waved her hand, smiling to the Dratini, “It’s nice to meet you, Jeremy. Are you okay…?”

Jeremy shook his head. “No. I didn’t even mean to be here… b-but it’s nice to meet you, Kiera!” he said.

“Cool, cool,” Felix said. He was still a little jittery, even going as far as to hop a little trying to calm his nerves. “Um, yeah, Kiera, I think- Jeremy, you already know about my, uh, ‘falling thing,’ right?”

A nod this time. “Yeah, I remember.”

With the matter settled, Felix turned back to Kiera. “Okay. Um, Kiera, I know I’m a bird, and, yeah, I do sometimes flutter around like, you know, like a bird should, but uh, I’m not the biggest fan of flying, like, up-in-the-air-type flying. The, uh, the way I like to describe it is that- what comes up must come down, right? I just really, really don’t like the ‘must come down’ part of that equation, if that makes sense. Does that make sense?”

Her head tilted a little bit as she listened to Felix speak, clearly waiting for him to finish before she nodded, “...You were a human too, I think we’re all a little scared of falling from high places. Becoming a bird wouldn’t make that fear just go away. I’m sure we can find a way to make the coming back down part of it less scary!”

Felix forced himself to smile a little. “Thanks, Kiera,” he said. This was good. She got it. Maybe she didn’t quite understand the intensity of his vertigo (or at least how it differed from the “we’re all” in her sentence) but she got it. There was a chance this wouldn’t be so bad.

With that matter settled, the true “laying out the plan or whatever” could begin. “So does that mean you’re more comfortable with heights or…?” Felix let that sentence trail off. That probably was fine, right? The alternative was implicit. “I just don’t want to make assumptions before, uh, we figure out what we’re doing in earnest.”

The Flabébé’s hands twirled her flower around beneath her in thought, her eyes closed, “I don’t mind heights. I spent a while in the woods when I first got here, and I would climb trees for food. I could just drift back to the ground safely. I can probably slow the fall on the way down, though I haven’t tried it…” Her hand rubbed at her cheek for a moment as she glanced up, “...But when I used Fairy Wind in the woods, it felt like it was pushing me back some.”

“Fairy Wind! Okay, that’s a good start,” Felix said. “I was thinking, ‘cause Jeremy can whip up a pretty mean Twister, uh, that could be a pretty good way to get someone up in the air. Uh, oh, sorry, how’s that sound, Jeremy?”

Jeremy coiled around himself a little tighter. “Twister? Uhm, yeah, I can do that,” he said. “It’s a really chaotic thing though. Aren’t you worried about how high it will launch you? N-not that I’m saying you can’t handle it or anything!”

“I can handle that! If Felix carries me up into the air with him, he can catch the wind from Twister under his wings, and on the way down I can slow the fall. If things get bad, I can also use Vine Whip to try and grab onto things that we pass… If there is anything to grab.” Her eyes opened up again, a small smile on her face, “Think you can carry me with you, Felix?”

Whatever thoughts Felix had of this being “not so bad” or “a good day” went right out the window. He almost asked Kiera to repeat herself, but he knew that what he had heard was exactly what had come out Kiera’s mouth. Carry her? Sure, he’d practically dragged her around the entire fairground the entire afternoon. She was as light as a feather, maybe even lighter. Carry her up? That implied he’d be going up in the first place.

Wasn’t the whole point of that initial discussion, what, with the confirmations with Jeremy and “getting it” to discourage this sort of thinking? Kiera had said it herself, becoming a bird didn’t make that fear go away, so especially then why would she suddenly not “get it?”

He almost cried out. He almost leapt straight up and dashed away in a straight line away from the stage, as far away as possible from anyone with the mere idea of Felix participating in this challenge in the same way Kiera was offering now. There were only a few reasons he didn’t:

The first reason was he still felt he was in the initial “first impressions” phase with Kiera, and everybody knew that first impressions were the most important part in the formation of any friendship. To make the assumption that they had paired up before asking, or even glancing in her general direction with any semblance of clarity was probably a pretty big faux-pas and needed to be rectified somehow, even at his own personal discomfort. Felix certainly didn’t want Kiera to think he was the type of bird who would back out of a commitment like this on what would probably seem like a poorly-explained whim.

The second reason, of course, was Jeremy. Good old, dependable Jeremy, who didn’t know how strong he was. Felix was in awe at how tenacious the Dratini could be, pushing through whatever anxieties he had to get whatever task done that he needed to. He’d told Kiera he wasn’t supposed to be here, but here he was now, willing to help his partners -- in Kiera’s case, a Pokémon he’d only just met! -- achieve their dreams. If Jeremy could put his anxieties aside for a single, stressful moment, so could Felix.

But Kiera had asked him a question, and Felix still had his best smile (given his mood) plastered on his face. “Uh, sure!” he said. “That sounds like a great plan!” he lied. “I’ll go get Heliolisk and Noivern and we’ll, uh, yeah, let’s do our best!” And with that, he dashed back off.

Finding the two guild leaders was a much less difficult task than Felix had expected. He’d thought they’d be just another two Pokémon in the crowd, but no, Noivern had taken to the skies to observe the proceedings from above, and even if she hadn’t been, of course Heliolisk would attract quite the crowd wherever he went, prospective applicants begging for his attention as soon as the previous team had touched the ground.

The team they were observing would certainly be tough to beat. A Machoke had hurled a Voltorb high into the air like a shot put, who in turn hung in the air for what seemed like ten whole seconds before crashing into a net an Ariados had woven for them.

“My, that one was pretty good, wasn’t it, Noivy?” said Heliolisk as his fellow guild leader returned to the ground.

“Yes, among the higher ones we’ve seen thus far.”

“Is that so?” said Heliolisk. "I thought it was good but that is excellent to hear. Now then, who’s next?”

Hands, wings, claws, limbs of every type were immediately thrown into the air as Pokémon scrambled to attract the particular attention of the two particular judges. And some of these Pokémon were several times Felix’s size, with voices loud enough to match. Felix’s only advantage was that he’d managed to -- like before with Jeremy -- worm his way to the front of the crowd. He didn’t wave much; he was still feeling the effects of his previous panic (was he shaking? Shaking was like waving, right?), but he could hope that his smaller-body, smaller-voiced “We’re ready, I think” pierced the noise around him and reached Heliolisk intact.

"Ah, yes, Flappy over there should do nicely," Heliolisk responded with a finger pointing Felix's way.

"Already nicknaming are we, sir?" came Noivern's query as the duo approached the small Starly.

Felix hadn’t realized it when they were so far away, but Heliolisk himself was three times Felix’s size, and Noivern was even larger than that. He almost had to look straight up just to make eye contact, though he did manage. “My name’s, Felix, uh, sir,” Felix said. “And uh, ma’am. My friends are just over there. I can lead you right to them.”

"Yes, please do, Flappy!" Heliolisk said, a smile overtaking his face. The duo followed Felix through and out of the gathered crowd to where the team was waiting.

On the way, Felix felt the need to explain the whole plan again out loud. Part of that was for Heliolisk and Noivern, they probably wanted to know what was going on beforehand (and Noivern especially probably wanted to be aware of the Twister), but another part of it was just to assuage his own nerves. The number of potential disappointments just kept climbing. There was no way he could back out now.

“…So, yeah,” Felix said, “uh, once we’re in the air, Kiera’s Fairy Wind plus using my wings like a sail, we should be able to float down and Jeremy’ll easily be able to catch- Oh, there they are now! Jeremy! Kiera! I got them!”

“Oh!” Kiera turned to look over towards the duo as they approached, her hands clenching around the flower she was holding onto, “I guess it’s really time. Felix, I can hold onto your talons with some vines as we go up… It should hold.”

“Uh, good!” Felix said. In truth, he hadn’t really given much thought as to that aspect of the plan, so it was good that somebody was! Otherwise, he’d probably have found himself upside-down and dangling from a flower stem. “Jeremy, are you ready?”

“Okay! I- I mean, whenever you guys are,” Jeremy said. His brow was already slick with sweat, but he seemed determined to see his part of the task through.

A pair of vines had started to emerge from the flower Kiera was holding as she moved over to Felix, “Just let me get these in place… If I wrap them around just enough to pull them loose, I should be able to stay in place on the way up…” She worked the vines around his legs carefully, tying them in place, “Then, I can loosen them when we start to fall so I can use Fairy Wind.”

“I feel safer already,” Felix said. “Hey, uh, actually, can I ask another favor? I’m probably going to have my eyes closed for most of this, so if you could just talk a little on our way down, you know, tell me what you see or which way to adjust, that’d be great. Once we’re below the treeline, I should be okay, but until then, um…” He couldn’t think of a good way to finish that sentence, so he let it end there. “Is that okay?”

She looked up to him when he mentioned the favor, letting go of the flower for just a moment as she did. “Of course! If you need to have your eyes closed, I’ll just… Make sure you know what you need to know. I’ll tell you when we get closer to the ground and we’ll start the landing. You can use your wings better once you can see anyway!” She picked up the flower again as she smiled, “Just let me know once your eyes are closed.”

Felix managed a weak smile. “They’ll probably be closed as soon as we go up. But anyway, I think Jeremy’s ready.”

Jeremy, for his part, had made his way to about ten, maybe fifteen feet away. Felix nodded at him, and the Twister started to form.

“Just gotta jump into it, huh?” Felix said to himself. The reassurances at this point were wearing thin, but as much as he’d been telling himself there was no turning back, there was definitely no getting out of this one. He was literally roped into this now, and he had to trust that Kiera was able to do what she claimed.

The Twister was getting nearer. This would only take what, one minute? Two? No time at all. Then again, free falls only took seconds to become lethal.

Felix morbidly wondered if his body would be able to cushion Kiera’s fall.

Nearer still. He could feel some of the dirt circling the vortex, stinging him upon impact. That was something he’d forgotten to consider. Twister actually hurt. This was going to hurt on top of sending him hurtling upwards. But again he thought of Jeremy. If Jeremy was able to do this, so could he.

It was upon them now. It was time.

“Oh, hell,” Felix said, and he jumped.

He was right. Jeremy did have a pretty mean Twister. Between being buffeted by the vortex and the sheer force of the air rushing past him, he almost didn’t need to close his eyes; he almost blacked out right then and there. But he managed. He managed. He extended his wings, closed his eyes, and waited for Kiera.

From below him, Kiera spoke up, though it was nearly drowned out by the wind that was rushing around the two of them, “Okay, it’s working! Just try to stay steady now, we’re passing the treetops and still going up! Everything is holding just fine!” She said that, but the vines around his legs seemed to have tightened in their grip during the beginning of the trip. There was either some concern there or it was just a reaction. Either way, it wasn’t the smoothest ascent…

But it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been after the initial launch. Eventually, they were carried to relative safety without too many rough patches. With Felix’s wings giving them the ability to catch the wind, they were still rising as well. They were rising steadily. Then slower. It was getting to the point where they weren’t quite gaining altitude anymore, “Felix, we’re about to begin descending,” Kiera said. “Keep your wings steady and just help slow the fall. That’s all you have to do and I’ll handle the rest.”

As she spoke, the vines around Felix’s feet loosened, but they didn’t let go entirely. He could feel Kiera turning her flower down to face the ground as she waited for them to begin falling. “The view up here isn’t so bad. You can see the entire town almost, at least… I think. I don’t know it so well just yet.”

Her voice sounded a bit forced. The view probably was really impressive, even if he couldn’t see it. It was clear, though, her thoughts weren’t entirely focused on that. There was a brief moment were they just lagged in the air, not rising anymore but not falling just yet. Then it started. The pull of gravity had come to claim them and the descent began. They picked up speed even with his wings catching the wind. Kiera said, “Okay! I’m going to start slowing us down, just stay calm!”

There was a lurch in their movements, sending them drifting forward a little bit as both Kiera and Felix let out a little yelp. The flower beneath them had started to spin in Kiera’s hands, and Felix could feel the Fairy Wind starting to work its magic. “Okay, I’ll get the angle right! It’s definitely slowing us down though!” Kiera said. Even though her voice was being drowned out a bit by the return of the wind as they fell, there was a sense of confidence in it, at the very least she did seem to think she could control their fall still.

It was a slow process. Their descent was definitely not smooth, Kiera had to keep adjusting the direction of the flower to adjust for the odd miscalculation (at least Felix hoped they were the types of miscalculations that could be adjusted!), not to mention the occasional errant gust of wind, probably from other teams practicing for their own attempt. Again, though, it did seem like Kiera at least kind of knew what she was doing, “Alright Felix,” she said, “we’re almost back down to the trees. If you want to wait a little bit before opening your eyes, it should be safe very soon…”

Jeremy watched Felix and Kiera take to the skies with no small amount of panic. Had Twister been strong enough to impress the Guildmaster? Not only that, but Felix was scared of heights. Was he a bad friend for letting him go up into the air? His stomach churned, and when he tried to swallow, a painful lump clogged up his throat.

Guild Master Heliolisk and Noivern were staring at him too. He could feel the weight of their judgment on him, rightfully criticizing him. He needed to get away. He suddenly remembered he was supposed to catch Felix and Kiera; an excuse to escape. “I’ve gotta go!” he said so quietly there was no way anyone possibly heard him, before shortly darting away into the crowd.

Felix and Kiera had vanished over the treetops. Jeremy slipped through the masses with the ease that only a noodle could, ducking between legs and claws, sliding around hooves and pincers, and generally making it look easy. Finally, he made it far enough that he managed to pass his friends in the sky. What was supposed to happen now? Did he just wait for them to come down to him? Was he far enough back? Could they see him?

Jeremy reared up on the tip of his tail get as high as possible. He would be visible from even as high in the air as they were, he hoped, with his bright blue scales and surprising height. Though he didn’t actually see how he was supposed to catch them, what with his lack of appendages, which had only just occurred to him.

Uh-oh.

“Almost back down to the trees,” Kiera had said. Almost back down to safety. It was almost over. Sure, his heart was still beating a mile a minute and his wings were getting sore and the vines lashing Felix and Kiera together simultaneously felt both too tight to be comfortable and too loose to not worry about, but at least it was almost over. He was finally able to open his eyes.

They were coming in a little hot, which, you know, wasn’t great, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t deal with. At this height? At this height, he could deal with anything. See, there Jeremy was now, providing a nice, tall marker for the two to land on.

“Hey, Kiera,” Felix said, “could you, uh, I don’t know how Fairy Wind works, but is there a way you could get us to slow down just a little bit more?”

Kiera’s gaze was locked on the ground, a little mumble escaping her as she attempted to keep the Fairy Wind steady, but it didn’t seem to be slowing down much at all. It was slow enough for the descent to be safe technically, but… “I’m gonna try something a little different,” she said. “Keep your wings open.”

The vines holding her in place began to lower her down slightly, giving more space between the two of them as she moved the flower up face Felix instead of the ground. Once more, it began to twirl and that glittery wind began to rise up into the air, catching underneath Felix’s wings. It was a much smaller breeze than what she had been using to try and slow them down before, but with Felix’s wings catching it, it was being distributed much more evenly. The fall steadily slowed down with the additional support, giving the two a much more controlled landing, “Okay, we should be able to just lower down to Jeremy now! At least I hope so, this seems slow enough…”

“Lowering down onto Jeremy” turned out to be a trivial task, so much so that it barely required description. Just a few more course adjustments here, some light touches there, and soon Felix found his claws lightly gripping Jeremy’s body.

It was over.

Noivern arrived at the group first. The Twister didn’t appear to have bothered her much; it seemed she was very experienced in flying in less than ideal conditions. She looked the group over, confirmed all three were still present and that everyone had landed safely. Heliolisk arrived some moments later, having been slowly trotting over to the intended landing spot once Jeremy had taken off.

"That looks like a catch to me," Heliolisk said cheerfully. “So what do you think, Noivy?"

"I think the use of Twister was incredibly reckless and could have easily ended with several broken bones or worse," she replied. There was a scolding tone in her voice, but also an exasperated one, like telling other Pokemon they were being stupid was her full-time job.

"Hmmm… perhaps you're right, but the fact of the matter is they did both land safely," Heliolisk said. But something seemed to be bugging him. "I'm not quite sure I like that you launched two of yourselves at once. I said a teammate, not two…" He sounded almost childish, like they hadn't played his game correctly.

"To be fair to the children, sir, you never did explicitly disallow them from sending more than one up," Noivern said.

The idea seemed to catch the lizard by surprise. "Oh? My goodness, you're right, Noivy! How silly of me." He laughed, and with each laugh, the issue seemed to fade away more and more. There was only one final question, it seemed. "Well, where does that place our little windsurfers?" Heliolisk said.

"Among the higher we've seen thus far,” said Noivern. Her sternness had faded away as well, leaving only the exasperation behind. Felix wondered how many times she had said that exact phrase today.

"Yes, good, I thought as much. Well, we ought to be off to the next group, don't you think?" Meanwhile, Heliolisk’s happy demeanor seemed to persist through everything. He turned to Felix, Kiera, and Jeremy. "Well, Flappy and friends, that was quite something! Thank you for taking the test. We'll be sure to let you know more of what we thought when we've seen all the others."

And they were gone. They wandered back into their crowd of onlookers, the crowd’s hundred limbs and hundred voices drowning out any other observations they might have had, leaving the team behind.

The moment Kiera’s vines came off, Felix immediately collapsed to the ground, almost embracing it. He’d forced himself to be calm, to say nothing during Heliolisk and Noivern’s evaluations, but now that they had left it all came pouring out. “Oh, ground, I could just kiss you right now,” he said.

Was he crying? Sure, probably, why not? His breath was already ragged and he was already shaking, the only thing missing was the tears, right? The ordeal had taken a lot out of him, and he lay there for what felt like forever, not wanting to leave his sweet, sweet earth.

Eventually, though, he had to get back up. It was still a slow process, partly because of his sore wings and chafed claws and partly because at this point Felix felt adding a little extra melodrama to the whole thing might lighten the mood a bit. He was smiling again, perhaps a little weakly, sure, but that made it all the more genuine.

“Okay,” Felix said to Kiera and Jeremy, “Good, uh, great work, everybody. Let’s just- let’s just relax for the rest of the afternoon and, um, never do that again.”

---

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Zee floated there for a moment, but saw that once a team had already went up to the Guild Master they were supposed to perform their feat of seeing who could reach the highest point.  Zee saw the futility in standing still, and decided to travel behind Blake so that they would all be there to introduce the team, and do their thing.  Zee turned behind him to signal Karliah to follow, which she did hesitantly.  He then raised a brow, before turning around once more.  

 

"You know...I never did catch your na~..."  He said, as he dozed off whilst continually pressing forward.  It wasn't long, but they had finally reached the stand where they would show their strategy.  Zee put himself forward in front of Blake, unwittingly as he smacked right into the stand.  He woke up, and saw Heliolisk and Noivern watching him with intent.  "Yo."  Zee said, raising an arm.  "These are the guys I managed to scrounge up.  Now watch as we take this competition to a whole other leve~..."  He said, before his head bobbed down to touch his chest. 

 

"Ah yes.  Good.  Drowzee and friends should do nicely." 

 

"You mean Abra, Sir?" 

 

"Yes, precisely.  I do hope he's able to stay awake for this.  Maybe his teammates can help."  Heliolisk stated, before the two of them made their way to the team.  Zee's head popped up as they began to approach.  They were a lot bigger in person, and it made Zee a little intimidated.  They radiated an aura of experience that made him want to open his eyes a little, just to snag a true glimpse of them.  They nodded to each other, as Noivern took to the sky high above them.  Zee watched as she barely became visible to the eye, but still within a reasonable distance to where someone might get up to.  Zee smiled at the fact that she was so careful with them.  However, he had a strange feeling that they both were looking down at him, and not in a literal sense.  Zee turned to his group and nodded.  

 

"Alright...I'll be off now.  Just make sure on of you catches me...for like teamwork or somethin~..."  He said, before nodding off, only to look up at the sky and shake his head to wake himself.  He pointed high into the air, and concentrated.  He could feel where he wanted to go...but was that too high?  He never had teleported vertically, but there was no reason why the rules wouldn't be the same.  "Teleport..."  He said rather lazily, before he disappeared in some sort of odd flash and distortion of reality.  The next thing he realized, he was way above the clouds.  His perspective had changed so that he could see multiple types of terrain all colliding against each other in weird shapes.  Above him were twinkling stars, and a dark sky.  "Holy..." he exclaimed, as he could feel the strange space above him. 

 

"Is he still up there?!"  Heliolisk called, urgently, trying to squint to see if he was still visible.  Noivern, instead of calling back, started to flap her wings in a desperate attempt to climb higher into the sky.  She was in rescue mode now.  

 

It was wonderful up here...why hadn't he done this sooner?  Zee soon felt gravity take hold of him, as he started to descend.  However, using his mind, he stopped gravity's lethal pull and started to fall as if he were light as a feather.  It took some time, but he finally had descended far enough to meet Noivern's gaze.  Upon meeting her, he just waved.  

 

"Yo."  He said, as he continued to slowly descend, leaving Noivern with a puzzled look.  He snickered a bit, as he floated down even further, until all of the pokemon of Thicket Town were clearly in sight.  They became larger and larger, as he made sure to position himself above the Salandit on his team.  

 

Karliah looked up and watched as Zee slowly descended from the sky.  She could swear she saw him sleeping as he drifted down.  In hindsight, the ability to teleport anywhere you wanted sounded a little busted.  You could teleport to the top of a mountain, inside of a locked building, use it to disorient an opponent, etc.  Shaking the thought out of her head, she stood up on her hind legs and eventually had the drowsy Abra in her hands...Paws?  Claws?  Whatever, she caught him, and that's what mattered.  Zee snored a bit, before the ginger touch woke him up.  

 

"Ah...that was quick."  He said, stretching his arms over his head.  "Good job you two...you were a big help."  He said, as he softly snickered to himself.  They were a shoe in for first place, no doubt.  

 

"Hmmmm."  Came a long drawn out thought from Heliolisk.  "That was really him all the way up there, right Noivy?"  He asked his winged partner as she descended.  

 

"Yes.  He teleported, but it was definitely him all the way."  Noivern reported without much emotion.

 

"Something feels off..." the lizard replied while tapping his head with a finger.  His eyes lingered on Karliah for a moment longer, than the other two, as he looked the whole team over.  "It was sooooo high up, but Drowsy did most of that himself."

 

"I'm an Abr~"  Zee tried to correct the Guild Master, but fell asleep in the process.  Noivern nodded in agreement, clearly annoyed by Heliolisk's insistence on calling Zee a strange nickname.  

 

"Well, thank you very much.  Noivy and I will have to discuss this one some more.  We'll be telling you the results when we've seen the others!"  He said cheerfully, before turning and waving Noivern on to follow.  Zee wasn't sure how to feel from that response, but one thing was for sure.  He was tired. 

 

"Guess I'll just take a nap until they announce the results~"  Zee managed to complete his sentence, before clasping his hands and resting his head on them.   

[Dova]

---

“No arms?” Corbin asked confusedly, then glanced down at his sides. “Oh, right...” He’d had actually forgotten about his two “missing” limbs. His mobile legs and two able beaks had done a bang-up job compensating, and no other Pokemon in similar scenarios had complained, so he’d just not thought about it, which had apparently worked...until the Stufful’s reminder.

Still, he nodded enthusiastically at the new guy’s determined tones. “Well, we’ll need ‘all muscle’ to actually pass or whatever at this test.” Corbin paused, looking towards the other eager tryouts and stifling a gulp when he saw just how high some of them were getting. One of them was even using Twister, would you believe it.

“Let’s hope our plan is less painful on us,” he murmured quietly if apprehensively, before turning to give the Tynamo his full attention. While the trio began their way over to the Heliolisk and company, she seemed to be taking charge of the group, but when the time for introductions came around, he responded to her prompt without thinking.

“Corbin, actually,” he chirped, then realized what she’d said. Both heads turned in the Tynamo’s, or rather, Cassidy’s direction in surprise, catching her backward glance and understanding what that meant. He opened his mouth to ask a question he’d hadn’t dared to put to any other Pokemon before, but-

"...hope you've got a sturdy body, the only way we're going to get you up high enough is by gettin a bit rough."
 
This gulp was harder to hide, but Corbin pushed past this momentary dread with a new surge of determination, responding with, “Yeah, of course! Look, I definitely can handle anything a Pokemon could throw at me. I’ve been through much worse!” This wasn’t strictly speaking true, but he attempted a confident chuckle anyway to emphasize the point. “Much much worse. After all, I’m the best Doduo you’ll find around!”

That last comment wasn’t just for their benefit, as by now the team had reached the wandering Heliolisk and Noivern. His newfound confidence still running through him, Corbin decided to get to the introductions as quickly as possible. After all, first impressions were everything.

“Hey, sir?” he called out, then, realizing his legs hadn’t received the confidence memo and were hopping nervously from claw to claw, he planted them both firmly on the ground. “The three of us are ready to fly high and ace this!”

"The three of you?" Heliolisk inquired, seeming puzzled at the statement. He proceeded to count under his breath but his pointing finger seemed to be catching each of Corbin's heads. "This most definitely seems like four of you." he continued, still running through the count. Noivern came to his side to settle the matter.

"The two bird heads are one Pokemon sir." she said, with a confusion as to why she had to explain this and yet a familiarity that would have one guessing this happened a lot.

"Oh! Yes good, perfect. Three of you then. Two-Beak, Scrawny and Fluffy, let's have it!" he replied cheerfully. Respectively these seemed to be his nicknames for Corbin, Cassidy and Tuff. For an official exam he certainly wasn't taking much seriously. Noivern flew into the sky just overhead in preparation. "Right then, whenever you're ready. Noivy will catch you if things look bad so throw with all you've got!" the lizard cheered.

"We'll manage, don't worry!" Corbin said proudly, before turning to the rest of the team. "You ready, Fl- Stufful?" 

---

[Sethera]

As things got even more awkward, the Stufful didn't really have much to reply to the floating thing's comment, nor to the bird thing. As they approached the lizard thing and the bat thing, the floating thing introduced herself as Cassidy, and the other two by their species. However, the "Doduo" corrected her with Corbin, and it was then that the bear realized that the other two...also had weird names. Maybe they were like him and Draxew then. If that were the case, then maybe they knew more about what was going on, because he had no f***ing clue.

 

Lost in thought, he missed his opportunity to introduce himself. sheet, the others probably think I'm a Pokémon now. Well, that I've always been a Pokémon anyway. Well, not gonna cry over spilt milk. I can introduce myself later. Listening to the lizard thing, he was starting to lose his faith in this place. Or at least this person--sheet, Pokémon. This Pokémon. Not a person, not people, human, whatever. Anyway, point is, he should've realized that Corbin was one person, not two, though...it was kind of confusing, wasn't it?

 

"Oh! Yes good, perfect. Three of you then. Two-Beak, Scrawny and Fluffy, let's have it!" the lizard thing said cheerfully.

 

"Ha! What a bunch of weird names, who the hell is Fluffy anywa--" the panda cut himself off as he glanced at himself, and then at the others. Floating--Cassidy wasn't fluffy, and Corbin was obviously Two-Beak. "Wait, I'm Fluffy?! Hell no!"

 

"Right then, whenever you're ready. Noivy will catch you if things look bad so throw with all you've got!"

 

"Are you listening to me?!"

 

"We'll manage, don't worry!" Corbin said proudly, before turning to the rest of the team. "You ready, Fl- Stufful?"

 

"Don't call me Fluffy! I'm tough, not fluffy, got it?" he roared angrily, pointing at himself with a paw, and then wobbling as his body reminded him that standing on three legs was not as easy as it looked. "And of course I'm ready. I was born ready. Let's get this over with."

 

He stumbled a fair distance away from the reptile...whatever...things, before looking at Corbin. "You'll have to crouch...let's see...ouch, hmm...no, that's not working...goddamnit!" The bear had somehow managed to trip over himself and tangle up the Doduo's legs at the same time. After multiple attempts to get his arms underneath the bird's feet, they eventually decided that Corbin would step onto his paws, and he would toss him. Wincing at the weight, the Stufful grunted as he exerted himself. This f***er's heavier than I thought he'd be. Or I'm just weaker. No way. I'm not weak. I'm strong. Always have been. And I'm not gonna let a little something like weight stop me.

 

"Horyaaa!" he shouted, straining his arms to the point they looked like overstuffed punching bags, whatever those were. Slowly, but surely, the Doduo was rising off the ground. But it didn't stop there. Eventually, the bear was holding the bird above his head while standing on his two back paws. His legs trembled, but miracle of all miracles, he didn't actually fall. Something about this pose felt...familiar. Why, he wasn't sure, but it was enough of a memory to help him not fall flat on his ass. Gritting his teeth, the panda bent his arms slightly as he prepared to throw, elbows wobbling slightly. "Gryaaagh!" he shouted, straightening his arms and throwing the Doduo with a mighty toss, straight up into the air.

 

The Stufful watched the bird shoot up like a...bottle rocket or something, flushed with triumph. He did it. He managed to throw a Pokémon bigger than he was. He was awesome. He was-- "F***!" and sometime in the middle of all of that he managed to fall flat on his ass. Better now than earlier, but still... "That hurt, damnit!" he flopped onto his belly to relieve the pain from his sore tail, looking up at Cassidy afterward. "It's up to you now."

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Yes, I'm continuing the trend of having him sound like he's saying his name is Tuff.

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Huh, so the Doduo had a name. Maybe he, too, was in a similar situation as her. She wasn't counting the no-arms thing. After all he had beaks at least. Cassidy's mouth wasn't much good for picking things up anyway.

 

“Much much worse. After all, I’m the best Doduo you’ll find around!”

 

"Guess we'll see about that." Cassidy said stiffly, as they approached the guild leaders. She tried, and failed, to not give the two adults a dirty look. Especially that bully-inducing Heliolisk. Though it seemed that they were rather oblivious to her thoughts as he just continued rattling off things like he didn't have a care in the world.

 

Tch. Typical.

"Oh! Yes good, perfect. Three of you then. Two-Beak, Scrawny and Fluffy, let's have it!"

 

Wait what was that?

 

Ha! What a bunch of weird names, who the hell is Fluffy anywa--"

 

Wow, his head must be full of stuffing at least...It took the Stuffal, who had the rather odd nickname of "Tuff" apparently, some time to realize what the leader had meant. Though he realized fast enough for both he and Cassidy to respond to the Heliolisk angrily. "And I'm not scrawny! You better watch who you call names, old man, unless you want me to show you how not scrawny I am!"

 

She huffed a bit and then turned away. "Come on Corbin, Tuff, lets get this done."

 

Despite her misgivings about the Stuffal it seemed that he was actually pretty strong after all. And it felt kind of nice to have someone to shout at the adults with as well.

 

She had to focus, though, as the Doduo was sent up into the air. She couldn't levitate very high so she had to...now!

 

Cassidy charged forward, aiming her head, as she went for a mighty Tackle on the bottom of one of Corbin's feet. Once she hit it she quickly looped back around to hit the other foot. She repeated this tactic twice before the bird Pokemon began to get out of reach and she darted back down closer to ground level. "Hey, Tuff, get ready! We're gonna have to catch him still!"

[Dova]

“I'm Tuff, not fluffy, got it?"

“Tuff. Got it,” Corbin responded, nodding as the newly named Stufful stepped back to begin their maneuver. After a few somewhat embarrassing attempts of getting into position, interspersed by tentatively hopeful words of encouragement from Corbin, Tuff somehow managed to lift him over his head. They swayed together, the Doduo surprised by glad by the sheer amount of strength his teammate seemed to have.

“Hey…” he began, laughing nervously as he tried not to think about what would happen next, “Tuff sounds kinda like-”

"Gryaaagh!”

If it hadn’t been for the cry, Corbin would’ve missed Tuff’s final heave. As it was, he barely managed to kick out himself as he was propelled upwards into the dark sky. Even as the wind whistled around him and the ground fell away, Corbin couldn’t help but let out a yell of exhilaration which quickly turned into cries of pain from the impacts to his feet, courtesy of Cassidy.

“You couldn’t have toned it down a bit?” he tried grunting, even as he kicked downwards again and again in response to each blow, but his words were lost to the wind. The stage was now set. With a fallen Tuff down below and Cassidy falling to join him, it was all up to Corbin now. He attempted to rearrange his heads and legs into a something more aerodynamic than just a flailing Doduo, returning excitement dulling whatever pain remained. The taller buildings of the town fell away, then the images of the surrounding, and finally it was just Corbin and the ever-distant clouds above. If it weren’t for the rushing air all around him, he would have no idea he was still moving.

As Cassidy’s and his last efforts finally wore off, his ascent began to slow. Then, just as reached the apex of the climb and his feathered form twisted in the air, something flickered through Corbin’s mind. He saw himself hanging in mid-air, a bar ahead of him. A bar he had to overcome. He twisted in slow-motion, straining to soar over it, his head turning to look down at the ground just beneath him…

Except it wasn’t just beneath him. It was far, far below him, filled with the specks of the many still unfamiliar Pokemon, along with the guild judges and his waiting teammates, and it was approaching fast.

“It’s at times like this,” Corbin said, wincing in anticipation as he curled himself into something resembling a brown, uneven ball, “that I could really do with wings.”

The collision was quick, messy, and painful. Tuff and Cassidy had done a good job cushioning his fall, but the three still fell apart when the relatively large Doduo cannonballed down into them. Covered with bruises, Corbin gave himself only a few seconds to recover before surging to his feet unsteadily for the second time that day. The smile he gave the judges was almost a grimace, but he refused to give in. Not yet.

“So...what did you think?”

[Andx]

Helolisk had been rather captivated by the sight of Fluffy and Scrawny getting their larger teammate Two-Beak into the air. It seemed like a somewhat illogical thing to do and those were always the most fun. Noivern watched in the air in bewilderment as the Stufful threw the Doduo only to have the Tynamo repeatedly knock the flightless birder higher into the sky. It felt like one of the more unorthodox strategies of the day to be certain. She was worried about their ability to catch him now at this point but it seemed like they might be able to do it. That was until the landing itself. The Doduo wasn't seriously hurt due to his teammates' actions but to call it a clean catch was a bit much. With a growl of frustration at the ideas some of these kids came up with Noivern descended to where her partner was standing. The team wanted to know their thoughts and she had a lecture ready but as always she deferred to her leader.

"Hmmmmmm... Yes I liked it quite a lot! Well done. Scrawny's a lot tougher than I gave her credit for." Heliolisk practically cheered. He looked to the larger bat behind him to offer her commentary.

"You needed to think your landing through better. All of you could have been really hurt with the stunts you pulled." came the stern rebuke. It wasn't as strong as it could have been as Noivern seemed to be inspecting each member of the team for whatever injuries they might have.

"Now now Noivy, everyone's fine. I think they did good. I'm impressed they got Two-Beak off the ground given he's bigger than them both! That has to count for something." he said while patting her on the back once. "Thank you for the performance. We'll be announcing the results to everyone soon so don't stray too far." he said with a smile before walking away to the remaining groups.

There were many odd strategies employed by the pokemon present that day. All of them with mixed results. Some got incredible heights but had to be rescued by Noivern, dashing their chances. Others struggled to even get off the ground such as a team of rock types who felt the exam unfair to them. They received a lengthy lecture about the important of type diversity on a team so as to avoid all being routed by one attack and how they should have taken the chance to get with some of the others present they could have actually completed the task with. At the end of it all, Heliolisk was still beaming but Noivern looked drained. The duo returned to the stand and convened with the other senior staff members to begin reviewing the teams' performances.
 

The crowd was restless as the task carried on. All the townsfolk were chattering about the different teams they'd seen and who they thought should get in. Axew nervously took the opportunity to return to Tuff's side as this went on. Hoping to just ignore the whole thing about his father. "H-hey Mr. Tough!" he called out as he approached. "I can't believe you lifted a Doduo. That's crazy! You're really are tough!" he said, relaxing a bit the further into it he got. But the boy's approach hadn't gone unnoticed by the others looking to get into the guild. Whispers began all around of how he didn't even look like he was cut out for the guild. How could Heliolisk pick someone like him over them? Other insults were barely audible but the boy did his best to ignore what was going on around him and just talk to his friend.

---

After what must have felt like an eternity the senior staff broke from their circle of discussion on stage. A very small stack of the applications relative to the number of entrants were placed in a neat stack before the ever nervous looking Buizel took hold of them and took center stage. He attempted to call the town's attention, rather unsuccessfully, until Noivern shot some high powered sound waves out of her ears into the sky above which quickly hushed the tumult of noise.

"Uh... t-thanks Noivern." the Buizel started, unsure what to do next. "It uh... well you all probably know I'm pretty new to this whole guild staff thing. B-but Heliolisk has asked that I announce the results of the exam so I'm gonna do my best!" he yelled. The weasel-like pokemon took a deep breath before seeming to really settle into the task at hand. "As was explained at the start of the exam, the aim was to throw one of your team members as high in the air as possible. But we were looking for other factors in each attempt. How well you all cooperated with and supported your teammates was a big factor. Making sure you were able to catch your partner and not hurt anyone was important too. In line with this, I must unfortunately inform all those who Noivern had to intervene on behalf of their teammate that you will not be entering the guild today." Buizle said before pausing. There was a bit of noise as a good third of the entrants departed back from the forward group into the town itself. Most of them had figured their chances were shot, this was just the confirmation. The town however still applauded their efforts in an attempt to comfort them.

"The idea of cooperation was a bit harder to tackle however. Some achieved astounding heights but with minimal help from their teammates. Others cooperated very well but could have hurt themselves or others. Still others though even if cooperating well didn't make it to Noivern's height who always hovered at the height she thought reasonable from first glance at the team. To those of you who fall in this category I must also say that you will not be joining the Helio Guild today." Buizel continued as about a fourth of what remained of the entrants fell back into the crowd of the town. Though greatly reduced by these two announcements, a healthy number of applicants still remained. Surely far more than the stack of papers in Buizel's paw.

"There is one other criteria you weren't informed of. Something the guildmaster himself had to determine by direct interaction with you. He'll often refer to an attribute about pokemon. A spark they have to them. And not in the sense of they're an electric type but rather something about their character stands out to and connects with him. He would be far better suited to explain it to you but suffice it to say, those with stronger sparks make better impressions on him. And so now I have here the applicants who will be entering the guild." he said as he raised the papers up. A hushed excitement charged through the crowd, wondering who it could be.

"Will the following Pokemon please join us on the stand: Felix, Kiera, Jeremy, Zee, Karliah, Blake, Corbin, Cassidy and uhh tough?" he announced, getting more and more confused as he went. None of these names were pokemon species names meaning these were either all these humans-turned-pokemon or else their parents had named them something human sounding to be hip and cool. There was often one or two in the groups that made it but never had the Buizel seen an entire group named like this. Still he recomposed himself and smiled as he watched the lucky nine come forward and take to the stand. Each would receive in order, a warm greeting from Mudsdale and Audino, formal greetings from Buizel and Noivern, an excited wave from Heliolisk and a disinterested huff from Sandslash.

"Thank you everyone! Enjoy the remaining festivities for the day! We have a special show this evening in town square, be sure not to miss it!" Buizel would call out after the uproar of applause and cheers had settled from the successful applicants standing before them. Heliolisk approached the group on the stand for one more address.

"Well done everyone, well done. I'm elated to have you all joining us. As was said, please enjoy the rest of the party tonight. But don't do too much. You report to the guild bright and early tomorrow morning. So gather what belongings you will as you'll be living with us from tomorrow on. Ohhh I can't wait to get to exploring with you!" he said, excitement building the longer he spoke. With that, the senior staff excused themselves, some to depart into the guild base, others to the town square to begin preparations. Mudsdale lingered close by if the newest members had any pressing questions.

---

The town was alive again as the crowd dispersed back to the square. Smeargle's line was as long as ever it felt like. Some of the smaller food carts had closed up shop but there was still plenty going on. Other games were set up. Many of the unsuccessful applicants had gotten together to throw something of a group pity party. But the promsied show from the guild would only come as the sun finally set. It was hard to tell when exactly this happened as the overcast sky never let the sun through. But as things became darker a crowd of pokemon began accumulated in the center of the square.

At the very center of it all was a trio of pokemon: a Growlithe, a Blitzle and a Skiddo. Around them were several psychic type pokemon standing in a circle. The trio began shooting seeds, embers and sparks off into the air. Guided by the telekinesis of the psychic types, the the attacks would collide and result in stunning little explosions with colors added in by the psychic powers. For all intents and purposes it was a firework show. For the Pokemon of the town it was stunning as they'd never seen anything quite like it. Perhaps those former humans would recognize what it was trying to be and not be impressed. But regardless this would be the close to the day of fun and excitement for all.

When light came in the morning, it would open to a new band of Helio explorers beginning their adventures!

[spoiler=OOC]
Congratz my dudes, you made it. This week is something of an interaction time. Talk to each other, ask questions of guild/town members, make up activities to do, enjoy the firework show in the evening, and get your stuff ready. Cuz in a week I'll be posting the first day of guild training so you'll wanna be ready for that. Please try to interact with each other some. I can understand if you wanna just post your pokmeon reacting to getting in and going home to sleep but would be more fun to start to get to know one another don't ya think? As always, hit me up if you want/need any town details/npc ideas or dialogue and what not. Axew will be free to interact with though will be hanging around Tuff for the most part. Feel free to post more than once this week if that's what your memes with each other need. Let me know if you'd all rather just be boring and wrap up and head for the next day though I guess.

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Cassidy had not expected such a fluffy looking bird to hurt so much. But she couldn't let the leaders know she was hurt! So she stared defiantly at them, keeping herself afloat just barely, as they gave their thoughts on the plan.

 

She didn't trust Heliolisk's reply. He seemed to have liked it but she was certain that he was just making fun of her in a way she couldn't quite get. After all he still insisted on calling her by that name.

The Noivern had the nerve to lecture them, causing the Tynamo girl to respond, "We're just fine so it should be fine right? And my name is Cassidy, got it?"

 

After they left she let out a huff and, glancing at the other two, muttered. "I thought we did great."

-----

And it turned out they had done enough to get into the guild. Along with a handful of others she hadn't met yet, but included a pair of rather young looking Pokemon. She nodded to herself upon noticing the two, deciding she'd have to look out for them.

 

But before all that there was something else she wanted to take care of...

 

It took her a bit to find the Axew boy. Sadly she was able to find him mostly because of the mutters of people talking about him. And it turned out he was hanging around Tuff, which made Cassidy glad that she had helped the Stuffal get into the guild. "Yo." She said stiffly to her former partner. "Good throw or whatever."

 

Turning her body towards the Axew she proclaimed, "Hey, I'm Cassidy. Just wanted to let you know if anyone give you a hard time come to me and I'll bop them one, mkay?"

[radio414]

---

Nine.

Nine Pokemon- well, if you counted Axew, that made ten. Maybe start over?

Ten.

Ten Pokemon out of, what was it, dozens? Hundreds? Hundreds, surely, right? Only ten Pokemon out of hundreds of applicants had managed to impress the Helios Guild enough to admit them entry. And he, Felix the Starly, had managed to be one of those Pokemon. He’d almost asked Kiera or Jeremy to repeat the names back to him just so he could make sure he’d heard correctly. And he was the first name called, too! That meant when his teammates’ names were called he could immediately share in their excitement (or maybe Jeremy wasn’t as excited but that just meant that Felix could be twice as excited for both of them) without being anxious about, you know, not being called.

Whatever exhaustion, whatever soreness Felix had accumulated over the past hour or so immediately dissipated. There was so much more to do now! Almost enough for a whole new checklist:

Or he could wrap most of it under one category. But what a category! Celebrate! Of course! All three of them had overcome some pretty serious obstacles and without everyone’s hard work, none of them would have made it on stage. Sure, some of the games had shut down now that the main area’s festivities had captured everybody’s attention, but most of the food stalls were still open, and all that shivering in terror had certainly worked up Felix’s appetite. Plus now there were fireworks?

But on the other hand/wing/whatever, he could also hear the murmurs of the crowd all too well. It had started even when Buizel was calling out the names of the accepted; he’d had the sort of half-stumble in speech one got when they realized just what might be going on. Human names, all nine of them. And that energy had translated over to the crowd as well. Nobody made their dissent known outright, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t there. He could sense it.

For years -- years! -- now, he’d been trying to integrate himself into Thicket Town. And he’d succeeded!… Mostly. It was in times like these, times where a whole crowd had their eyes on him, that Felix wondered if he really had. It was the look in their eyes, the one that said, “You’re not human. Stop pretending you were.” Because wasn’t pretending. And if he couldn’t get them to believe that, he’d at least have to get them to look past it.

That was why his second new imaginary checkbox was labelled Make Amends And Make Friends. Because now that he thought about it, he probably had a lot to apologize for. He’d done a lot of jostling when trying to get to Jeremy and trying to find Heliolisk and Noivern when his group was ready. Had he apologized (like, actually apologized and not just mumbled “Sorry” or “Excuse me”) as he brushed past? And if no, to whom did he not?

But even before all that, there was one Pokemon who Felix felt he’d probably slighted personally. And maybe, if he didn’t teleport away, he could try to fix that.

Fortunately, the Abra was still on stage. “Hey, uh, hey Zee,” Felix said as he approached. “So, congratulations on making it into the guild! Glad you could find a third and all that. Um, I did want to apologize for snubbing you earlier, though. I had this weird idea in my head and, uh, I think I kind of freaked out a little. It was really nothing against you.

“I dunno, I guess I just wanted to say I’m sorry for all that. But hey, both our groups made it in, right? All’s well that ends well?”

He wasn’t even sure if Zee had heard him. It was difficult at times to tell the difference between an awake Abra and a sleeping one. But if he had to repeat the whole thing again when he woke up, then he would. Anything to get the matter off his chest.

---

[)e//!s0P]

Blake found little suprise in his name being called. He was, after all, responsible for catching Zee with no injuries or scratches. He didn't see any of the other attempts, but he was sure they had some merit. He was interested in the Dratini though. A meek creature now, but if he acted now, he could create a steadfast ally, one that relied on, no, NEEDED him by his side. He introduced himself. "Excuse me, but I would like to introduce myself. My name is Blake. Being we are in the same organization now, I think that it would be wise to meet some pokemon who would be willing to adventure with me in the near future. I like you for some reason. Would you be interested in working with me?" He noticed the Flabebe nearby, and thought it would be weird not invite them. Besides, she becomes a Fairy, and she would be weak to him. "You would be welcome to join as well, if you like. So, what are your names? " He knew he was taking a risk, adding more people to his circle. But needed allies in this strange world. He 'trusted' only a few creatures, Haunter, Wingull, and almost Zee. He need to trust someone. Maybe he would find trust in one of these souls.

[Sethera]

He thought they did pretty good--or was it well? He was never good at putting words together, that was more--

 

More who?

 

Well, whatever. In the end, they did a f***ing great job. There. Except this weird bat thing apparently didn't think so. Which, why the hell not? "You needed to think your landing through better. All of you could have been really hurt with the stunts you pulled."

 

"We're just fine so it should be fine right? And my name is Cassidy, got it?"

 

"Yeah!" he shouted, and then immediately stumbled backward as the bat thing inspected him for injuries. "Hey, easy on the goods, bat...lady."

 

"Now now Noivy, everyone's fine. I think they did good. I'm impressed they got Two-Beak off the ground given he's bigger than them both! That has to count for something," the lizard thing said while patting her on the back once. So that was her name then. Noivy. Except that sounded wrong too. It was too...cute. Like Fluffy. "Thank you for the performance. We'll be announcing the results to everyone soon so don't stray too far."

 

"In that case..." He plopped his ass on the ground. "I'm tired, so I guess this is about as far as I'm going."

 

Floating thing, no, Cassidy, huffed, "I thought we did great."

 

"Same."

 

Soon afterward, Draxew approached. "H-hey Mr. Tough! I can't believe you lifted a Doduo. That's crazy! You're really are tough!"

 

"Hell yeah I am!" the Stufful puffed his chest out proudly. "Tough as nails! You saw that throw, huh? Took us a little bit, but we got it in the end. I was the best part, though." Huh. Everyone's starting to whisper. Wonder if they're worried about getting in after seeing the amazing job I did. The panda didn't really care though. Was their own fault they didn't want to team up with him. They were probably all crying a river inside right about now.

 

--

 

Eventually those who passed were announced, and he listened with just the tiniest bit of worry. After all, Draxew said that the guild probably knew more about the human-turned-Pokémon thing, and he was in the guild as well. If he didn't get in, that would really put a stop to his "learn more about what's going on" goal, and it'd probably be harder to hang out with his only friend here too. He wasn't sure if the people he teamed up with counted as friends or not. Corbin was pretty chill, and Cassidy had a toughness to her he could respect, but they didn't really know each other aside from working together to pass the exam.

 

But maybe he was thinking too much about it. He already gave it his all, and if that wasn't enough for them, well, he'd just have to try again next year. It wasn't like it was the end of the world if he didn't get in, after all.

 

Before he knew it the otter or weasel thing was finishing his speech. "Will the following Pokemon please join us on the stand: Felix, Kiera, Jeremy, Zee, Karliah, Blake, Corbin, Cassidy and uhh tough?"

 

"Well, damn," he muttered. "Tough? That's like, kicking a man when he's down. Too bad you didn't get in, but tough sheet. And looks like I'm one of 'em that have to eat that sheet."

 

"Mr. Tough I think he means you as the last one. Who else could tough be?" Draxew nudged him.

 

"Oh really? Huh, that's weird--I mean, of course he meant me. They'd have to be crazy not to choose me." The bear started to swagger on up to the stage, tripped, and quickly rearranged his limbs into his normal stumbling pace.

 

Passing by the large hippo from earlier, who was standing next to what looked like a giant rock thing and weird thing with three heads sticking out of the ground. "So, do you still think I'm too young and too pink?" he mocked. The hippo shot him a sullen look but said nothing.

 

Glancing at the other Pokémon who got accepted, the panda wasn't really able to make judgments about them other than, Oh that's a bird thing, that's a flower thing, that's a snake thing, that's a sleeping thing, that's a lizard thing, that's a sword thing, and there's fluffy bird thing and floating thing. None of them looked it, but apparently they were enough to make the cut. At least the sword thing looked like it was somewhat badass. But hell, he didn't really have room to talk, did he?

 

--

 

As everyone went their own ways, he and Draxew stuck together. As fellow human-turned-Pokémon, separating would be tough on either one of them, though at least Draxew seemed to know what he was doing. "Hey, let's go check this out," the bear suggested whenever he saw something that looked particularly interesting. Unfortunately, without any money, he wasn't able to do much, but he did talk his way into getting a couple candied apples for free to the approval of a nearby lizard-thing, failed at scooping up toy fish when a vendor took pity on him and let him play for free, and was now looking at a game where you used long-distance attacks to shoot down prizes. Wish I knew some of those. All I know how to do is trip and throw things. Wait, that's an idea. Maybe I can throw a rock or something?

 

He was about to ask the weird star thing manning the stall, when floating thi--Cassidy approached. "Yo." She said, a little stiffly. "Good throw or whatever."

 

"What do you mean or whatev--?!"

 

"Hey, I'm Cassidy. Just wanted to let you know if anyone give you a hard time come to me and I'll bop them one, mkay?"

 

"Hey hey hey, I'm talking here. What do you mean, 'or whatever?!' And who the hell would give Draxew a hard time, anyway?"

[Mr. Hyde]

 

So that line hadn't been a sign-up to meet Guild Members, it'd been a recruit session all along!  Zee felt a little silly for getting himself mixed up, but also was rather pleased at himself for even getting into the Explorer's Guild at all.  Perhaps it would be a stepping stone to meeting Heracross!  He nodded at all of the senior Guild Members, as they all warmly greeted the nine who had proven themselves good enough to join.  After they had left, the festival seemed to really turn itself up.  Although, he wasn't much for parties, he couldn't help but bob rhythmically to the beats that played in the air.  

 

He was happy.  He was sleepy.  

 

“Hey, uh, hey Zee,”  The Starly from before approached him hesitantly.  “So, congratulations on making it into the guild! Glad you could find a third and all that. Um, I did want to apologize for snubbing you earlier, though. I had this weird idea in my head and, uh, I think I kind of freaked out a little. It was really nothing against you.  I dunno, I guess I just wanted to say I’m sorry for all that. But hey, both our groups made it in, right? All’s well that ends well?”

 

"Yo."  Zee said, waving his hand around.  "No need to apologize.  I really didn't mind.  I'm not the kinda guy who would get upset about something like that, but it takes guts to fess up to it I suppose."  Zee then flashed the Starly a thumbs up.  "Congrats on getting into the guild too.  Looks like we'll be working together."  If Zee could glare, he would.  But he was too tired.  "If you snub me again, I'll send you to the stratosphere, though."  He kept the gaze locked for a bit, before laughing rather lazily.  "Just kidding, Just kidding."  He said, with his tail wagging through the air behind him.  "By the way..."  He said scratching his chin, "Who were you again?"  

[Ralsei]

“Good, uh, great work, everybody. Let’s just- let’s just relax for the rest of the afternoon and, um, never do that again.”
 
Kiera had done her best to maintain her composure through their flight. It wasn't until they landed that just how... Reckless that had been had kinda started to pop into her head. What if Felix had frozen up? What if she hadn't been able to slow their descent enough? What if, what if... She had ignored the what if's during the build up to their stunt, but it was definitely reckless. It was definitely... Shortsighted. They probably deserved more than just the light scolding they got off with from Noivern.
 
The fact they didn't get more was definitely surprising.
 
"Ye... Yeah. Let's just rest for now."

────── 〔✿〕──────

Rest she did. While the majority of the crowd and even the townsfolk were chattering away about the test, the different groups, and who they thought were going to get accepted, she found a shady place to just... Sit. Sit, rest, and reflect. She had pushed Felix to doing something he was uncomfortable with and put him at risk...
 
She had plenty of time to think as she rested. The restlessness of the town wasn't going anywhere, at least until a Buizel walked up onto the stage holding a stack of paper. She blinked as she began to rise up and float back towards the stage, her hands gripping onto that flower tighter as she looked up. She waited for him to begin speaking, all while her thoughts were still racing, still getting mixed up and jumbled... It was best to just try and stop thinking for the moment.
 
"I must unfortunately inform all those who Noivern had to intervene on behalf of their teammate that you will not be entering the guild today."
 
That was one point in their favor. They didn't have the second-in-command rescue them! She scolded them for their attempt, but that's not... Not the same, right? Kiera took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, trying to calm her thoughts again... And then the second requirement, cooperation. She perked up a little bit more as she heard that one, her eyes widening as she did. They had cooperated. Surprisingly well in fact, and a lot of that was thanks to Felix agreeing in the first place. Maybe that would be enough to let them in...
 
But that third requirement? A certain... Spark? Talk about vague! What kind of spark could that even be referring to? He said it wasn't like an electric spark... Maybe a spark of flames. Yeah that makes sense.
 
"Will the following Pokemon please join us on the stand: Felix, Kiera, Jeremy, Zee, Karliah, Blake, Corbin, Cassidy and uhh tough?"
 
They did it. Wait... They actually did it? Even with Noivern scolding them and the slightly... Loose take on the rules they might've gone with, they were accepted?
 
"No way..." She widened her eyes a little bit as she began to float up to the stage, almost on autopilot as she heard each name being called one after another... Human. Human. Human. Human... At least that last one didn't seem to be a human's name. Who names their kid Tough? As she approached the stage, different guild members were approaching her, one after another. She accepted the greetings, the wave from Heliolisk... But it was like she was just floating through the motions now, the disbelief that she had actually managed to get in still sinking in... So she waited. Waited on the stage for the others to join her. The rest of the ceremony went with little fanfare after all that...

 

"You would be welcome to join as well, if you like. So, what are your names?"

 

She had zoned out almost completely. She had missed this Pokemon... Human-Turned-Pokemon's name when he approached, but his voice was very... To the point? Something about it sent a slight chill down her back, but maybe that was just the residual adrenaline from the fall earlier. She took a deep breath, before speaking up with a quiet voice, "It's too early to make plans like that. We don't know how the guild functions on the inside... At least I don't. My name it Kiera and it's nice to meet you, but we can't start breaking into little groups until we know how the guild works."

────── 〔✿〕──────

The rest of the event had started. A show had begun in the middle of the town, and her focus on it was very, very fleeting. She had wanted to find Felix, to apologize to him if her insistence on the plan had caused him any discomfort, but it seemed like he had fluttered off after the ceremony had ended. She resolved to apologize to him another time.

 

For now, she sat down in a grassy patch to reflect on the day in it's entirety and watch the fireworks show. The light of it in the sky brought her a sense of comfort... Even if there was a bit of dread as she was going into the unknown now. When she had the energy, she would have to thank Jeremy for his help too. Without him, they wouldn't have been able to launch high enough. He definitely deserved to be thanked for it... But for now, her eyes closed as she took a deep breath, leaning back before opening again to watch the show. 

[radio414]

---

What a mix of emotions! The prevailing one in Felix’s mind was relief, largely that Zee clearly hadn’t given their earlier encounter a second thought, but there were also hints of terror related to Zee’s threat (even if he was “only joking”), confusion from having his name forgotten again, and that same self-conscious worry that Zee was lying and all of this was useless anyway. And Felix had to manage all that while also continuing the conversation.

 

Not that that was something he wasn’t used to, of course. He didn’t not like talking, it was just interesting to note.

 

“My name’s Felix!” he said. “I don’t really have a good way to remember that, to be honest, but, uh, I don’t know that many other Felixes, so if you ask around for a Felix, it’ll probably be me! And hey, thanks for your time, too. I’m gonna go get some food, I think, but I’ll see you around!”

 

And he was gone. Half-check, Felix thought. There was still a lot of work to do on the Make Amends and Make Friends side of things, but Celebrate! was right there and just begging to be Checked off, and who knew just how long the festival was going to last at this point? Making friends was a long-term goal anyway, now that he had eight -- well, if Kiera already counted as a friend, then seven -- Pokemon that could either be new friends (or at the very least, acquaintances!) or rivals/enemies, and of course the former was the preferable option.

 

Celebrate! his mental checklist said. And celebrate he would. He hopped off the stage and dashed back into the crowd, weaving this way and that, always looking for something new to try or someone new to talk to. Tomorrow was when all the hard work would start, but for now...

 

For now he could just savor the moment.

---

[Andx]

Axew was having a good time just wandering the town with Mr. Tough. He enjoyed how the bear didn't let anything stop him from doing what he wanted to do. He talked his way into snacks and even got free tries at some of the games. It seemed that however awkward this transformation was for him, he wasn't going to let it slow him down any. And it was only going to get better from here as the duo had both been accepted into the guild. The tusked boy could just imagine what exploring would be like with Mr. Tough. The bear's company was appreciated for another reason however. He'd bought into the young reptile's lies and hadn't questioned him too much about the information Heliolisk had presented about his family situation. Everywhere they went he could catch whispers about him but he felt better that he had at least one friend that wouldn't doubt he belonged in the guild. As luck would have it that soon became two pokemon. The crazy strong fish girl from Mr. Tough's team had found them and introduced herself as Cassidy. That was an odd name for a Tynamo. So odd in fact that the boy jumped to the conclusion she had to be another human-turned-pokemon. She seemed supportive of him and even promised to deal with any bullies which seemed to confuse Mr. Tough.

"It's cuz I didn't have to take the test. I'm only here cuz that stupid Haxorus dumped me on Heliolisk." the boy started, his mood taking a dive as he mentioned his father. He didn't dwell on that thought for too terribly long before continuing. "But don't you worry Cassidy. I can handle a few meanies. Cuz I'm gonna be the very best explorer, like no one ever was! That'll show 'em." the boy proclaimed more resolutely. It was perhaps a bit too energetic but it seemed to carry with it a host of expectations the young Axew hoped to both meet and surpass. He'd get people to stop talking about him by showing he belonged at the guild. He'd get Heliolisk to acknowledge him as really belonging in the guild by being a great explorer.

As if to prove himself the boy stepped up to the game Mr. Tough had been eyeing. Without batting an eye he puffed up his chest as he inhaled deeply before spitting out a ball of what looked like purple fire. The move sailed along through the air, startling the poor Starmie running the game. It was on course to hit down one of the larger prizes. The boy's aim was true as it hit it's mark... and engulfed it in flames as it fell to the ground. Even without much of a face to emote with, Starmie's panic was clear as it began dowsing the flames of the Dragon Rage attack. Axew, not having anticipated this turn of events, turned away awkwardly.

"Heh... don't really know my own strength I guess..." he offered as a poor excuse before attempting to put Mr. Tough and Cassidy between himself and the Starmie just in case.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Hey hey hey, I'm talking here. What do you mean, 'or whatever?!' And who the hell would give Draxew a hard time, anyway?"

 

Cassidy turned her head, which involved turning her entire body, towards Tuff. Though before she could respond Axew gave the answer instead. Which was for the best as Cassidy was about to snap at the older boy. "Yeah, and people like to pick on those younger than them." She said, staring down Tuff as if he were part of the problem.

 

The Tynamo gave Axew a kind look as he announced his intention to be the best. "Well, I look forward to seeing what you can do. Just know I've got your back, and will be rooting for you the whole way!"

 

When the Axew had his little mishap with the Starmie's prize she felt bad for the little guy. He was so confident and this would be a blow to that confidence unless someone stopped it. She moved so that she was between Axew and the Starmie and said to the young Pokemon, "Don't worry, you did great I promise. Just should check to see if the prizes are fireproof next time." Upon saying that she shook her head, or, again, rather her whole body, at the Starmie. "You know you probably should have fireproofed it. With how many Fire types are wandering around today. Occa Berries could help with that."

 

She paused. Why did she know that? And why did she also know those berries could help enhance a Pokemon's coolness and cuteness? And they weren't good to give bashful and hardy Pokemon? When had she learned THAT?

[Wind Rider]

"Will the following Pokemon please join us on the stand: Felix, Kiera, Jeremy, Zee, Karliah, Blake, Corbin, Cassidy and uhh tough?"

 

So she actually made it? Karliah looked around at the other pokemon who would be joining the guild along with her. From the sounds of their names, it almost sounded like they were humans like her. If that was the case, then maybe things wouldn't be so bad. At least there were other people who were in her situation. Once things settled down on stage, Karliah wandered back towards the festivities.

 

Now that she was gonna be a part of the guild, she was bound to make some actual money. She looked down at the poke that Zee had given her to pay off the berries she took from Breloom's stand. She sat in thought for a moment before sighing to herself. She scampered back over to the berry stand and left the money for Breloom. She didn't say a word and before Breloom could say anything she had already disappeared back into the crowd.

 

As much as the festival looked fun, Karliah felt that she needed to get some rest before tomorrow. She made her way through the crowd and back to her shadowy corner, a darkened alley way that had a bedroll of sorts hidden away to the side. She curled up and laid down on the bedroll, she closed her eyes and tried to get some rest over the sounds of the festival.

[Sethera]

"It's cuz I didn't have to take the test. I'm only here cuz that stupid Haxorus dumped me on Heliolisk." the boy said.

 

"Yeah, and people like to pick on those younger than them." Cassidy said, staring down Tuff accusingly.

 

The Stufful puffed himself up at that. The f***?! I didn't do sheet to her and she's glaring at me like I'm a villain or something. "You gotta problem with me?" he moved forward till he was in her face. "If so, then say it outright! Ways I see it, Draxew here's my friend, so I don't need to prove nothin' to nobody, and not to you neither."

 

"But don't you worry Cassidy. I can handle a few meanies. Cuz I'm gonna be the very best explorer, like no one ever was! That'll show 'em."

 

"Well, I look forward to seeing what you can do. Just know I've got your back, and will be rooting for you the whole way!"

 

"Yeah! What she said. Humans gotta stick together," the panda finally got out of Cassidy's face. He was pretty sure he didn't like this fish lady, but he was also pretty sure he liked this Haxowhatsit even less.

 

As if to prove himself the boy stepped up to the game the panda had been eyeing. Without batting an eye he puffed up his chest as he inhaled deeply before spitting out a ball of what looked like purple fire. The move sailed along through the air, and the Stufful watched it with awe. "Damn, wish I could do that," he whistled. It was on course to hit down one of the larger prizes. The boy's aim was true as it hit it's mark... and engulfed it in flames as it fell to the ground.

 

"Well," the bear started awkwardly as he watched the star thing begin to dowse the flames.

 

"Heh... don't really know my own strength I guess..." he offered as a poor excuse before scooting around behind the Stufful and Cassidy.

 

"Don't worry, you did great I promise. Just should check to see if the prizes are fireproof next time." Upon saying that she shook her head, or rather her whole body, at the Starmie. "You know you probably should have fireproofed it. With how many Fire types are wandering around today. Occa Berries could help with that."

 

"The f*** are Occa Berries?" the Stufful asked, before shaking his own head. "Whatever. Look, sorry 'bout your stand." He reached forward to pick up the prize, balancing on his haunches as he picked it up, and almost dropping it in shock. "Yowch! That's hot! Well, guess this belongs to you now," he turned around to give it to Draxew, trying to identify just what exactly the thing was while he was at it.