The next morning, after rollcall, Chatot called us over. "Two of you should stay back and do sentry duty." He got right to the point. "Pearl, you've done this often, so you can go ahead and remind Kip on sentry duties." Pika and Hex prepared to climb the ladder, and grab a job, when Chatot continued in a lower tone, "You four shouldn't hope too hard about being picked for the expedition. Your monumental failure yesterday weighs heavily on both my mind and the Guildmaster's. I don't think there is anything your team can do to increase your favor."

The condemnation hit all of us hard. Especially after last night's rally to do everything in our power to perform well in the field, and after what Chimecho and the rest of the Guild's recruits did for us. I could tell that it shocked Pika most of all, and Hex hurried him up the ladder. There wasn't any reason to give Team Skull any more ammunition to bully Pika with, even though they would all be gone on the expedition and out of the Guild soon.

I led Kip into the sentry hole, the echo of Chatot's words resounding in my head, followed by as many words as I could think of to convince him that Pika is worthy, if anyone is worthy it's him.

"Chatot's words aren't set in stone," Kip said to me. "He was really terrified of what Wigglytuff might do if he didn't get his Perfect Apple. Maybe it's coloring Chatot's judgment more than Wigglytuff's?"

"Weren't you the one to say that Chatot was Wigglytuff's link to all of us?" I reminded him. "If it colors Chatot's opinion, it might be safe to say that it color's Wigglytuff's, too. He's not all-knowing, Kip, though I appreciate the hope. Those words might have been better for Pika."

"Pika's got Hex to cheer him up," Kip said dismissively. "I, on the other fin, know that you need to accept this or have something to hope for before you can be cheered up."

"And how would you know that?" I asked. "Arceus knows I don't know that."

"Blame it on a feeling I have. But I believe it's true."

"Let's hope it is, because I'm over these emotions, as much as they want to stick to me."

"First, sentry duty. I hear a Pokémon approaching."

I got more than an acceptable number of Pokémon footprints wrong, but Kip was able to switch with me so I just had to relay what he identified. For now, we could limit Chatot's disappointment with the team and hope that this wouldn't affect us in the long-term.

I've only been causing them problems, and Chatot doesn't like me, I thought. Would it have been better for them to take Pika? But then how would I have gotten in as a lone explorer, and a new one at that?

"Pearl, it's an Eevee," Lidin said. "Are you paying attention?" he asked gently.

I let out a hiss of air. "No, I wasn't." I called up that an Eevee was at the Guild entrance. "Chatot's words have been running around in my head." I guess that's technically true.

"I know. They've been circling in mine, too. I'm thinking about Hex and Pika. What are your thoughts repeating?"

"I'm just not helping you guys, Skuntank targeted us because I got hostile, Chatot doesn't like me so he threw you guys in with my mistakes, and all that led up to Chatot believing Chief Stench over Hex. If there was a way to distance myself from you guys, I would." It's for the best. I don't even belong here, the more attached I become to them, and them to me, the harder going home will be.

"But that't not what I, or Hex or Pika for that matter, want," Kip said. "We want you with us. You're our friend."

"I'm not going to be here forever like you guys," I pointed out. "I don't belong here. I'm going to be gone at some point."

"Your thoughts aren't being nice, so you're not really listening to what I'm saying, so let me say it again. Pearl, we don't care. We're your friends, whether or not you're here forever. We want you as our friend. We want you to stay with us while you figure out how to go home."

I looked away. "What's the next Pokémon?" I asked, keeping my voice under control.

"This isn't over, Pearl," Kip said gently. "It looks like a Growlithe."

That evening, after the evening meal, Kip quietly conversed with Hex. Pika came over to join me while I wrote in my journal, humming to myself.

"Hey, Pearl, how are you doing?"

I smiled at him, a tired smile. "That sounds like what I'm supposed to be asking you."

Pika shrugged. "Expeditions don't seem to come up often, but it wouldn't have been any fun without you. I'd rather stay with you than go while you're left behind."

His words warmed my heart.

"I didn't really hear any specifics, but Kip mentioned that you had a hard time today. You were distracted and frustrated on sentry duty?"

I sighed. "Chatot's words were all I could think about. I started thinking that I was only holding the rest of you back..."

"No!" Pika said. "You are a great explorer."

"You sure that you're not looking in a mirror?" I joked.

"You're not listening!" Pika said. "I love exploring -- but I love exploring with you. With the team. Exploring with you is what I want to do."

I smiled, a real smile, and hugged Pika.

"Your thoughts lied," Pika said to me. "You are invaluable to us. You are one of us. We aren't leaving you behind. If you aren't going, then neither am I."

My smiled faded. "I can't be an anchor, Pika, if there are opportunities, you need to take them. I don't belong to this world. You will have to go on after I leave."

Pika hugged me tighter. "Then for the time we get, we do it all together. All of us. You are especially included in that."

I returned the hug. They care so much for me, I thought as we released the hug.

"Good night, Pearl," Pika said, warmly. "If you can't sleep, let the stars keep you company instead of Chatot's words."

I nodded, and promised, "I will," as he walked over to his bed.

I continued writing in my journal, ending it with the line: They can help me find my past, my place, but I can't ask them to fall with me in regards to Chatot. They will, if I let them, if I don't stop them.

In the morning, some of my resentment had faded. Some. I let out a sigh of relief that I stood in the back row instead of the front – I didn't want to face Chatot's scalding glare, or the guilt that I'm the obstacle that is keeping the rest of my team from the Expedition. We got through roll call, then went up to the bulletin boards. Once we saw our options, we could decide on if we wanted to have split up, and who would go with who, or take on a tough job as one team.

"There's a Pokémon who wandered into Amp Plains," Kip noticed. "A friendly Luxio reported an Eevee with a red bandana and unknown equipment wandering around about ten levels into the Plains."

Hex peaked over at the poster. "Hm, that's odd. The details aren't from a concerned friend, but a concerned stranger."

Kip handed the poster to me – he wouldn't have a good time in a place with the name of Amp Plains, anyway. "Maybe the Eevee thought she was some kind of upstart explorer?" I guessed, reading it for myself.

"As many do," Hex agreed. "Let's head out. I don't want her to get hurt – I've heard from my sisters, those Luxray packs are vicious about trespassers."

"No need to invite me along for this one." Kip shuddered, glancing at me.

I glanced over at Hex. "We've got this, then?"

She nodded and, to Kip, said, "You and Pika can find some two-stones jobs. Just don't take on too tough of outlaws."

Hex and I didn't waste any more time in getting to the Eevee before she found herself fainted and stolen from. We set out on the long trek to the plains, while Kip and Pika looked for multiple jobs for one area.

Stepping onto the electric-haven for the first time felt like hugging an excited Pika, and never letting go – electricity hummed in the air, every brush of vegetation gave little static-like shocks, and the ground had a low electric pulse go through it at a set interval. Clearly, this is what drew electric-types to Amp Plains.

But why does it draw the Eevee?

"If she's an explorer," I said aloud, "she could be going farther than the tenth level the Luxio had mentioned."

"Right," Hex said briskly, stepping forward, and I let her take the lead.

In the first hour and a half, we made it through the first five levels. With Hex's spot-on intuition giving us reliable hints as to the location of the next level. By the next hour, we got to level ten. So far, the Pokémon who called Amp Plains their home either gave us warnings of trespassing, or we came across pack-less stragglers that we could deter together.

When we crossed into level ten, however, I watched Hex, waiting for her directions; I saw her ears twice, swivel, and instead of pointing out the next staircase, Hex snapped, "Follow me!" and dashed off, leaving me the only option of racing after her.

Then I heard it; a battle was taking place.

We rounded a corner and saw the battle. It was a Shinx facing a cornered Eevee. The Eevee matched the description given by the Luxio, but her unkempt fur and tired expression told us that she'd bitten off more than she could chew.

Despite how worn she looked, I noticed in surprise and disbelief that she growled back at the snarling Shinx she faced.

Before Hex could have alerted the Shinx to our presence, I noticed the Shinx had a few wounds as well. I tapped her shoulder, and put my talon out in front of her. She turned a quizzical look at me, like Why?

"I want to see what the Eevee will do."

She didn't quite get why, but she nodded, and took a step back.

The Shinx's mouth started to spark, and he lunged at the Eevee. She deftly lepted above the attack, not only to avoid it, but to deliver her own in the unavoidable Swift. The move ended in her landing with significant force on the Shinx's back, and I suspected that she used either a very strong Tackle, or Quick Attack. The Shinx collapsed with a groan, as I led the way to greet the Eevee.

The Eevee focused her attention on us as we approached. "You're not Pokémon who live here," she declared, as she clearly tried to figure out who we were. Then she seemed to notice Hex's badge on one of her tail ribbons. "Wigglytuff's Guild? Did someone file me as lost again?" The Eevee sighed. "Great Arceus above, do I not look like an explorer?"

"You seem very capable," Hex commented diplomatically. "And you are right in both your assumptions, we're from Wigglytuff's, and a local reported you wandering around here."

The Eevee appraised us. "Hm. Well, I'd guess you saw me take that Shinx. Thanks for letting me do that. It's so annoying, even with the best intentions, when a battle is interrupted. I don't feel like I learn much that way."

"That was Pearl's idea," she said, indicating me, "and I'm Hex. What's your name, if you don't mind us asking?"

"It's Ev," the Eevee replied. "Nice to meet two of you."

"Likewise," Hex said.

"Want to come with us, to treasure Town?" I asked. "If your so adventurous, maybe you could join the Guild as an apprentice. It pays well enough, though I'm not going to hide the fact that you only get a ten percent of the Pokécoin reward."

Ev seemed to consider. "How far is treasure Town from here?"

"Not quite an hour's walk, if we go with some effort," Hex answered.

"Then I have time to find an answer to your offer. Staying in civilization will be a welcome change. Those Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray are quite touchy of their space, aren't they?"

"Quite," Hex agreed, clearly thinking about the stories her sisters have told her. "One of our team members is a Mudkip, and he was more than eager to avoid this job today."

"We don't blame him," I added.

"Oh?" Ev asked. "Are there more members to your exploration team?"

"Well," Hex started, hesitating, "it started out with just me. A few days later, a Mudkip showed up. I was the one to take him to the Guild and he and I became partners, deeming ourselves Team PokéClan." I was watching Hex's eyes; they were slightly unfocused. She had a nostalgic smile on her face "Then, a few weeks later, Pearl and a friend showed up. He's a Pikachu. Pearl, and to take it from there?"

I silently thanked Hex for not going into my amnesia. I could bring it up how I wanted. "If she wants to hear it," I said, glancing at Ev. "You only asked about our team members, not our history on how we met."

"It is interesting," Ev said. "How about we trade? I'll tell you my history when you finish Team PokéClan's."

"Fair," I agreed. "Well, I should start at the beginning. I lost my memory, I remember nothing before I woke up on the beach and I met Pika. You know there is a beach near Treasure Town?"

"Yes," Ev replied. "I studied maps for years."

"Okay, well, Pika wouldn't stop asking questions—" I laughed. "But after, he started explaining the world to me. You won't believe this, but I was human before I woke up on the beach. Pika suggested that someone from the Guild might know who I was, that and someone might have seen a Grovyle that I had a picture of. He started talking about wanting to join the Guild. A bad exploration team stole something valuable to him, and ran into the nearby cave. We went after them, and we got his relic back after we cornered the ones who did the dirty work and fought them for it. That was when we decided to team up, and I followed him to the Guild, asking about my identity, and then Pika asked about joining. Blurted, more like. Hex took an interest in us, and offered to let us join. That, what, maybe a couple weeks ago now?"

"Just about," Hex agreed. "Some funky stuff has happened since then, though."

"Those are stories for another time," I said before Ev had the chance to ask.

"Fair enough," Ev said agreeably. "My turn, I guess, right?"

"If you would like," I said. "If you don't want to, there's really little to no harm in telling you our short history."

"I'll keep it to myself for now, then," Ev decided.

"Maybe when you join the Guild you'll decide to tell us," Hex suggested.

"What makes you think that I'll join?"Ev shot back, playfully. "Wigglytuff's Exploration Guild is hardly the first exploration guild that I've encountered. I have no awe inspired by the guilds anymore."

You might not be awe-inspired by the administrators of this one, I thought. Though, Wigglytuff himself isn't bad...

"What's the point in coming with us, then?" Hex asked. "Sure, you said civilization would be nice, but you could have decided to go on your own."

Ev shrugged. "Curiosity, I guess. I've not been to Treasure Town before, or personally appraised your Guild."

" 'Curiosity killed the Skitty,' " I quoted.

" 'But satisfaction brought it back,' " she replied, smiling. "I may look young, but I am capable. I've survived worse than Amp Plains."

I almost asked why she didn't evolve. Then I remembered that Luminous Spring wasn't working. Then another question that Hex and I didn't ask registered...

"What other exploration guilds have you found? We've come across other teams, but they are working on their own missions and resources."

"Hm, well, you know of the other four known continents?" Ev asked slowly.

"In a general sense," Hex answered. "There's enough to do on this one for us."

I glanced between the two of them. "This isn't the only land mass here?" I asked. "But this continent is huge! how big is this world?"

"Quite large," Ev said, with an air of excitement that she could be the one to inform someone of this. She must rival Pika's enthusiasm for exploring. "The four other continents are just about the same size as this one. They were founded in the order of the Air Continent, which is north of us. Then this one, the Grass Continent, the Mist Continent, way to the northeast, then the Water Continent, east of the Mist Continent, and the Sand Continent south of that. Oh, and the Mystery Continent to the north of all the known continents. We only know what is reported by daring explorers, and so far it can be assumed to be diverse in type and ecosystem like all the other continents.

"Now, each continents has a type of exploration organization. The Air Continent has a rescue organization. The Water Continent has the Exploration Society based in Lively Town, similar, I think, to your Guild, and it has reached out to some of the other Continents. At least that's what it looked like to me at the time. I could be wrong."

"Wigglytuff's got some competition," I said.

"Wigglytuff doesn't care about competition, he just cares about exploring," Hex corrected.

"Right," I said slowly. "Yeah."

The rest of the trek back to Treasure Town was met with a watchful silence, occasionally broken by Ev's comment of one history of one Continent or another. I was still trying to figure out the world and the other organizations, much less the other Continent histories.

Did I maybe come from a different Continent?

Kip and Pika weren't back by the time we returned with Ev and proved to the kind Luxio that we found her.

"Let's hang out at Spinda's Café," Hex suggested, as we approached the Crossroads. "We can get the others to join us when they get back. Gumi smoothies are on us, Ev, if you'd like to join."

Ev thought about it for a moment. "A Gumi smoothie sounds good right about now. Sure, I'll join and chat for a bit. I'm also eager to meet your other team members."

We talked for a while, and we learned that Ev started out in a Rescue Team on the Air Continent with a team of other Eevee evolutions.

"By the way, Ev," I began, "I never got to ask. Have you ever seen a human in your travels, or heard rumor of one?"

Ev thought a moment, looking away with a furrowed expression. "Every once in a while, rumors about humans exist. Most are in the realm of them turning into Pokémon – but I never heard if things get resolved, or where the humans came from, or where they end up." She raised an eyebrow at me. "You were serious about that? You weren't just making fun of the rumors?"

"Do Pokémon usually make fun of those rumors?" I asked.

"Yes and no," she answered. "I guess— it's not really a common joke, but it's not uncommon, either. You know?"

I shared a confused glance with Hex. "I'm serious," I said. "I don't know where I came from, but I'm looking for a Grovyle, I think – I have pictures with both a Treecko and a Grovyle. My journal mentions a shiny Celebi—"

"Celebi?!" Ev hissed. "Don't mention that so casually!"

"She usually doesn't," Hex said, giving me a pointed look. "You never mentioned that to us before."

I shrugged, but wouldn't meet her eyes. "I didn't think mentioning it to anyone would be useful, I think the town would have gossiped about a shiny, much less a shiny legendary. After that— well, it just seemed pointless to mention and I forgot to."

Ev had stopped listening, and gave the wall the blankest, most serious glare I've ever seen on an Eevee. "I haven't heard of any shiny Celebi in my travels," she said. "I've heard of certain legendary or mythic Pokémon sightings, but never saw them myself."

"See," said a familiar voice still a bit away from us, "I told you Hex wanted to see the new café."

We all whipped around and saw Pika and Kip, with Kip hosting an I told you so expression.

Ev nodded to Kip and Pika. "Are those your team members?"

I nodded as Hex greeted them and introduced Ev. "She's been to other continents."

Pika's eyes lit up like fireworks. "Which ones?" he asked, enthralled before she said another word.

Ev gave me an amused smile, and then excited recounted her time in a rescue team.

"There are other continents?" Kip asked us while the others were in their own little world of exploration.

"Four known ones, one that's literally called the 'Mystery Continent,'" Hex told him. "How don't you know?"

"I—" he glanced at me for just a moment, "I didn't really get out much before I came here to explore. Have you ever heard anyone in the Guild mention other continents?"

Hex rolled her eyes, but in an amused way. "If you paid attention to the professional explorer teams that wander through, you would have."

We shared our experiences from the day. Before we knew it, we had to get back to the Guild – it was nearly time for dinner.

"Ev," Pika started, "do you have anywhere to stay nearby? If you're not joining the Guild, you can't really stay with us."

Ev shrugged. "I usually can find somewhere, but I don't have anywhere in mind right now. Why? Do you want to sneak me in?" A look of chaotic mischief crept onto her face.

As Pika started hastily saying, "No no no no no," the rest of us were laughing. When we calmed down, he continued, "I mean, I don't normally live at the Guild. Do you want to stay at my place? It's just outside of Treasure Town."

Ev tilted her head. "That definitely beats roughing it somewhere. Sure, I'll take you up on that."

Pika stood up from the table. "Alright, I'll meet you guys at the mess hall, then?"

Hex nodded. "See you tomorrow, Ev. We'll have some jobs to do."

We went up to the Guild while they went through Treasure Town. Maybe tomorrow, we can give her a proper tour of this place.

It didn't take long for Pika to catch up to us, though it seemed like the rest of the Guild was waiting for us. Chimecho greeted us and brought us to dinner.

The mixture of scents from Chimecho's cooking, as always, made my mouth water immediately.

As everyone was about to dig into Chimcho's dinner, Chatot spoke up with a flap of his wings.

"Everyone! Hold up, hold on one moment! I wish to make an announcement."

Keeping this many hungry Pokémon from their dinners made for a loud protest. Of course, Loudred's, "Spit it out already! We want to EAT!"

Chatot flapped his wings as he called out, "Order! I must have order!"

It took a moment, but the protests turned into quieter grumbles and glares.

"I'm sure the selection of the expedition members has been on everyone's minds." He glanced at Wigglytuff, as he continued, "Our wonderful Guildmaster has made his final decisions ♪"

Discussions erupted from every Pokémon, excitedly discussing their chances with their neighbor and their friends, dinner forgotten for the moment. Team PokéClan gave each other disappointed looks, giving ourselves a moment to feel our failure before hiding them quickly.

Chatot went on, once he could be heard over everyone, "The members will be announced at tomorrow morning's briefing. It's something to look forward to! ♪ Now, sorry to have kept you waiting."

The rest of the Guild started eating their food as if they hadn't eaten in a year. Good food and good moods filled the mess hall tonight.

While everyone else ate with enthusiasm, including my team members, I tried to push down the bitterness and regret that I wished that I could ignore. Why do you have to punish them because of me, Chatot?

After dinner, we talked about our meeting Ev. Everyone seemed to want to avoid the Expedition, even as the hours drew near for the announcement of those going.

"At least we'll be able to venture out with Ev," Kip said. "It'll be fun to have an unofficial member of Team Pokéclan."

I nodded enthusiastically in agreement, looking toward Pika. "I think she and Pika will be inseparable – only Pika could be as excited about exploring as she can!"

Pika looked out one of the windows. "I hope she's not lonely. Too bad she didn't want to join..."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Hex assured him. "She's a skilled explorer. Though I wonder how long it'll be until she gets sick of 'civilization,'" she joked.

"Guess it's good that she'd on the other side of it, nice and quiet, with a nice view," Pika said.

I gently punched him. "Okay, one of these days, we need to see your home, Pika. You can't say stuff like that and not show us!"

He smiled at me. "We can go while other apprentices are on the Expedition," he suggested. "Then Chatot can't say we're slacking off, when he's not here to see us go and tour Treasure Town."

✿ June 6, 2022 ✿
4,343 words! I ended up working on other stories (the one after this, rewriting the first book) but I finally got this out. AND! I finally got the character Ev the Eevee in, or my good friend Ev, FableOwl. I wrote the part of her character entering my story back in 2017, and while I reused most of that in this chapter, the old version is up on my deviantART (charizard-100).
I'm also thinking about putting this story up on AO3 (Mel_the_Pirate), as well as PMD: World of Darkness. I might put the story following this one on both Wattpad and AO3, though the one after that might just be on AO3. That site is a bit easier to use, and the tags are much easier to use for searching and also it's auto-fill tag library is extensive. And, again, no ads, no videos between chapters. I don't need to worry about media and book covers, which honestly, in the past, came from searching up stuff on Google Images and not crediting the artists.
     My AO3 account can be found in my bio, as well as my dA and Tumblr (no writings there, just vibing and consuming other authors'/artists' stuff).
Anyway, aside from promoting myself somewhere else, I hope you guys are doing well! I hope summer is going well for all of you. I hope you're doing all of what you wanted/hoped to do once summer came.
I will reiterate that though I'm slow to get stuff out, I am still working on this. I'm getting there! And soon, we'll meet Grovyle, and Dusknoir, and see Time Gears.

So it would seem that I hit publish and this did not, in fact, publish two days ago. Oops. Well, it's up now!