“Thanks buddy, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't passed by!”
A rather cheerful Raichu patted a Quilava on the back. The fire-type smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh it's no trouble at all, I mean you were nice enough to put me up for the night. Helping you re-thatch your roof was the least I could do,” said the Quilava
“Color me impressed on that, I didn't think there was any mon left alive that still knew how to do that” said the Raichu
“I got stuck in a village during the winter once and I had to learn how to do it if I didn't want to freeze,” said Quilava
The Raichu whistled a little bit, honestly surprised that the polite kid had survived such an ordeal. “Well if you need a more stable place to stay just let me know,” said Raichu
“Well if you say so, take care of yourself!”
The Quilava waved as he turned around and headed to where he was meant to go over three hours ago. It didn't really bother him, but it did bother the Honedge he traveled with. The dual type had stayed silent during the conversation, but the Quilava had picked up that something was wrong. He waited until they were out of earshot before he spoke.
“I know what you're going to say Ruca,”
“Honestly Quin did you really have to help? I mean it is tragic, but the ENTIRE roof?” said Ruca
“He put us up for the night! I mean what if it rained or his food got spoiled or something?” said Quin
“There are shelters and soup kitchens for that sort of thing. You don't need to stop and help every unfortunate Pokemon you run across. If you do than you'll never have time to yourself,”
It was an argument the two had often though this one was milder compared to the others. Ruca closed her eye her scarf curling in agitation “At least you didn't decide to paint the place or anything,”
“Oh do you think he would need help with that? Maybe I could go back and...”
Quin paused when the rather intense glare from Ruca started boring into him. “M-maybe we should get to the guild first,” he said feebly
“That's better,” said Ruca
***
Thankfully the duo manged to register at the Researchers Guild with little issue. When they were done Ruca half bullied Quin into walking around the guild so they could become familiar with it. When they walk around the corner to move to the next hallway, they encounter a group of Pokémon blocking the way. Many of them are chatting amicably, but a few in the back can be heard grumbling and snapping irritably, and the cause is revealed to be a somewhat tall Flygon attempting to shove her way through (and by the sound of it, accidentally hitting several Pokémon with her wings and tail as she goes).
"Ohhh... Excuse me, pardon me, Leader's Assistant comin' through... C'mon guys, can't you have your little meeting thing somewhere that isn't blocking a hallway? 'scuse me, sorry, jeez..."
When she finally makes it out, her arms are laden with a surprisingly large pile of thick paper scrolls. A large blueprints tube can be seen on her back, the strap crossing her chest diagonally and connecting with a metal clasp, while her wrists bear one gleaming armband each; silver worn on the right, and black worn on the left.
Quin watched for a moment and was already starting to move forward to help the Flygon. Ruca put her scarf on his head to try to pull him back, with little success. When the Quilava had in his mind to help someone there was little that Ruca could do to slow him down. It didn't stop her from trying.
“What did we JUST talk about,” said Ruca
“Look at her, nobody else is even bothering to help her. Helping to carry a few scrolls isn't so bad right?” said Quin
“The last time you said that we ended up helping to reorganize a library alphabetically,” deadpanned Ruca.
“That Persian was ancient! You can't tell me he could have gotten to all those high shelves by himself! Besides, he let us into the restricted area for an hour,” said Quin
“An hour of frantic reading doesn't justify an entire day helping a half blind cat! Besides as far as you know those are delicate documents she is handling that only that Flygon is allowed to see. We can't be making waves five minutes after registering,” argued Ruca
While the two were talking they didn't notice the Flygon coming towards them. An unfortunate misstep results in paper flying everywhere and the Flygon falling flat on her face. There are a few derisive chuckles from the group, but as none of them move forward to help the hapless earth dragon. Throwing a glare at the group, Quin went over to help the Flygon up himself.
"Oooof, so many papers... There we go," the Flygon mutters, balancing everything back into a manageable pile before straightening and breaking out into a cheery smile. "Thanks so much for helping me pick all these up. I swear, that's like the fifth time I've tripped today; I'm such a klutz..." She blinks. "Heeeey, wait a minute. You don't look familiar. Are you visiting the Guild?"
“Oh it's no trouble at all, I mean they weren't going to help so I figured I would. My name is Quin and the Honedge here is Ruca. We actually just got done registering not too long ago,” said Quin.
Upon hearing that the team has just gotten done registering, she breaks out in a warm smile.
"Well no wonder I don't remember you, you're new!" She inclines her long neck in the best bow she can manage without dropping everything all over again. "Welcome to the Researchers Guild! I'm Kali, I'm one of the Guild Leaders' assistants here. It's nice to hear a variety of names since Pokémon I do tend to come in from all over the place, after all. And speaking of which, did you guys get here from the fog or something?"
“Oh we...”
Before Quin could being, he felt Ruca's scarf on his back. She gripped at his back a little signalling that they weren't going with their usual story. He gave her a small side-long glance, the look on his face asking “Why?” When Ruca didn't acknowledge him Quin sighed mentally and began the lie.
“Oh it was a little scary though I was able to burn away some of the fog on the way here. We mostly walked from the village I live in. Probably would have registered the first day, but there were so many Pokemon picking the pieces from some kind of attack. I probably spent the better part of the last few days helping out,” said Quin.
It wasn't a complete lie, but it still weighed on the boy's mind. He didn't like to lie even if was to cover himself for later questions. The Flygon just didn't really seem like that bad a mon to get to know. Ruca word was law on these matters so there wasn't much he could say or do about it.
"Really? Hmm, yeah, that's how it is for a few people around here. Oh and thanks for helping the people out. It's just been a big mess since the Pokemon Regigigas woke up and destroyed half the town. Anyway, now that you're here and you've been registered as a team, what name did you pick?"
“Team Cyras, it's an old word from his village meaning 'magical',” said Ruca “Though if you ask me it is slightly childish name,”
“You can't even let me have this can't you?” moaned Quin.
The Flygon was patient while she waited for the response with an expectant look, and laughs lightly when it's given.
"Hah, that's so much better than the name I used when I signed up, wow. I was kind of, uh, young and silly back then, I guess you could say, so the name I used was... yeeeeaaaaah, pretty bad."
Ruca gives Kali a questioning look, what name could possibly be worse than the one she had to put up with? She would have expressed this in a question, but Kali was already moving on to another subject.
"So what's your reason for joining the Guild, anyway? There are three guilds here in Andalusst, and even if I like it here with the Researchers, I know it's not the best fit for everyone since we're kinda knowledge-oriented; you could have just as easily registered with the Hunters, or the Explorers. So why here?"
Quin and Ruca look at each other, exchanging words silently before Ruca takes the question. “There is a relic that has been a village valuable for many years. Roughly a year ago it was stolen from the village, Quin and I have been searching for the thieves since. In order to find out why the thieves stole it in the first place we figured joining the Researchers would help us find information on the relic itself,”
Kali listens quite intently as your team tells its story, her earlier cheerful expression changing to one of thoughtful consideration. She waits patiently for the response to wrap up, before speaking again. "Wow, that's quite a tale! Not many Pokémon come through here with a story like that. Seems like everyone in the Guilds has a driving force behind what they do, and some reasons are... well, better than others."
She pauses, before her voice regains its chipper tone. "So that's the "why" and the "how"; what about the "what"? What do you think made the Guild decide to accept you into the ranks?" She says this with honest curiosity, not a trace of taunt or teasing in her tone, and listens as your team lists off their skills.
“I can't honestly be sure, I mean I have a little sword training, I don't have much scholastic training” said Quin “At least I think I don't,”
“I would like to think they want information about the relic from back home. After all a statue came to life already, who knows what the relic we are after is capable of?” said Ruca
"I guess that is one way of looking at things. Don't worry about it though I'm sure you two will find something that will contribute to the guild. I wish I had a better skill set though. Pretty much the only things I do around here are draw and deliver papers everywhere and, well, get stuck helping Archie."
She says the last part with sudden venom, which surprises Quin. Kali had been so cheerful the entire time he didn't expect the rather dark tone out of her when she mentioned this “Archie”. It sounded like someone that he should be wary of. He felt a little concerned as he had heard the name once or twice on the way to being registered and Archie had been spoken about in a similar manner.
"I mean yeah sure he's one of the Guild Leaders, but he's just so... so... annoying, always bossing people around and taking credit for everything and acting like he's so much smarter than everyone else. And I'm always the one having to put up with him since someone has to help him but everyone else always runs off before they get stuck with him instead!"
“Well that isn't any fun at all, don't worry about it so much Kali,” Quin breaks out in a warm smile “I would like to think that maybe being able to put up with Archie is a skill itself. If you weren't here than maybe Archie would be making the entire guild miserable. I know how you feel that it isn't any fun, yet at the same time you keep that misery from spreading,”
Kali stares at Quin for a moment before she gets a smile of her own, “You know I never thought about it that way,” she says,”Sorry, I'm not talking too much or anything, am I? I kind of have a tendency to ramble on sometimes... And I probably really shouldn't be bad-mouthing Archimedes..."
With a sudden, panicked expression abruptly crossing her face as she remembers the mass of paper in her arms, she blurts, "And OH MY GOSH I still need to take care of these!"
She starts running down the hall, then abruptly pulls an about-face - accidentally whacking a passerby with her tail while doing so - to stammer, "Uh, it was nice meeting you! I'll, er, see you later, I hope?" She attempts to raise an arm to wave back, but stops when the paper pile in her arms wobbles precariously, and instead flashes a quick grin before stomping briskly away.
Quin happily waves back as Kali disappears around a corner,
“She seems nice,” said Quin
“Perhaps, now that we know that she is close to one of the guild leaders it can be a way to get in contact with him,” responded Ruca.
“I don't know, he sounds like the kind of guy that would be in cahoots with the thief” said Quin
“Then all the more reason we need to get close to him and find out what he may know. If he really does like taken credit for things and the relic passed through his paws than we need to know when and where. Until then we'll just have to sit, bind our time and hope we get a break,” said Ruca.
“How about in the meantime we go back to that Raichu's house? I mean he DID offer us a place to stay after all,” said Quin.
Ruca was about to say something in response but figure that it wasn't worth the effort. After all what was the harm in staying someplace for free?
A few days after a disastrous event in the city of Andalusst, two travel partners finally sign up to join the Researcher's guild to conduct research on a thief that stole something precious from one of them.
The two do not get along, one is far too trusting and timid for his own good and the other is always quick to remind him of his faults every chance she can. Yet neither one knows that their relationship may be more intimate than they realize.
*** Here it is, part one of the Welcome to Andalusst Arc. Hope you all enjoy
