The next morning, I got Pika up before Loudred came storming in. He got the first line out before he realized we were awake.

     "Oh," Loudred said. "You guys are awake already?"

     "We learned from yesterday," I said simply, packing my bag for the day and not looking at him.

     "Okay," he said, leaving.

     Pika tapped my shoulder. "Awake or not, I think they're about to start morning role call. We'd better get out there."

     "Agreed." I hefted the bag over my shoulder and followed Pika to the rest of the Guild.

     And I did find that the morning chant was going to be every single morning. I wasn't thrilled. When it was done, everyone fanned out like they usually did.

     "Hey, Pearl, Pika," Hex said. "Go talk to Chatot. He's probably got a job for you two to do today, too. You might get to fight outlaws! It's so exciting the first time."

     I looked at Pika, and we exchanged a glance. "Yeah, we might have already had our first fight with felons," I said, facing her again.

     "Well," she said, taken aback. "This time you'll get paid for it. Good luck, and we'll see you soon!"

     "Later, Pearl," Kip said quietly. I can't figure out what I remembered about him!

     "We might as well go and talk to him," Pika said. "The sooner we figure out the routine, the faster we can explore unknown areas!"

     "Yeah, but do we have to ask Chatot? He's so... uptight."

     Instead of answering, Pika dragged me over to the bird Pokémon. "Hex said you had a job for us?"

     "Oh!" Chatot said, as if we snapped him out of his thoughts. "You two. Still wandering around lost, it seems... Well, yes, I do. Come with me." He led us up to the second floor, and the other bulletin board.

     Pika seemed confused. "Last time we did a job, it was from the board on the other side..."

     "Correct! ♪" Chartot chirped. "Today, we'll have you do a job listed on this side. ♪"

     Still, Pika didn't understand. I had an idea, but I wasn't sure. "How is this different from the board on the other side?"

     Indicating it with his wing, Chatot then turned to the board. "Take a closer look! ♪" he suggested.

     We did, and I saw Pokémon. Pika did, too. "Oh, look, Pearl!" he exclaimed. "There are posters up here that show a variety of Pokémon! Wow, they all look pretty cool! Are they famous explorers? Who are these Pokémon, Chatot?"

     "They are infamous," I said before Chatot could. "Those are wanted posters," I said grimly. They had bounties on their heads.

     "Correct, Pearl," he said. "The Pokémon posted here... are outlaws. They're all shady characters. And they're wanted for committing crimes."

     "Oh no! They're outlaws?!" Pika said, surprised. Wasn't he the one to say time was making Pokémon corrupt?

     "Correct. So there are bounties on their heads. In other words, there is a cash reward if you defeat and capture one. There are so many aggressive Pokémon around these days that everyone's finding it hard to keep up with the problem."

     "So that's what Hex meant," I said. "We're going after one?"

     "Wait!" Pika exclaimed, worried. "You're telling us to go catch these outlaws? You can't be serious! That's not possible!"

     "Pika," I said, "yes it is. We've got each other's back, remember? We can do this."

     Chatot laughed at our display. "Just joking! ♪"

    "Dangit," I said. "I was looking forward to that." Pika just sighed in relief.

    "The Pokémon out there come in all shades of danger! ♪  Some of these Pokémon are completely wicked, through and through... But there are also bad Pokémon who are merely petty thieves. So you've got evil to naughty... and everything in between! ♪  So I'm sure we can avoid giving you a job catching a Pokémon too dangerous for rookies..."

     I was trying to follow. "So we get to go and beat up an outlaw, right?"

     Chatot nodded. "Look over these posters, then pick a Pokémon that looks weak enough for you to bring to justice! ♪"

     "Um," Pika said, uncertainly. "You say some are weak... But they're still bad Pokémon, aren't they? I'm scared of dangerous Pokémon!"

     "It's all part of your training. You'll work through it, I'm sure! ♪ But I suppose you do need to be prepared to confront a tough opponent... So I'll have your team give you a tour of the facilities."

     As if on cue, Hex and Kip came down from the next floor.

    Chatot nodded to them, and turned to us. "I'll leave you four to it. Don't forget to check for an outlaw, okay?"

    "I won't," I said. He went back down to the other level.

    "Alright!" Hex chirped. "So first we'll acquaint you with what we have here, at the Guild. We'll work our way out and then into Treasure Town." She led the way down the ladder after Chatot. On the lowest floor, she led us over to the Croagunk statue with the same Pokémon inside, as he was on our first day here.

"This is Croagunk," the Vulpix said, flicking one of her tails toward him in both indication and greeting. The blue frog Pokémon waved back. "Most of the Guild doesn't know what he does, but I found out that he will trade special items that will help your skills, which comes in handy in mystery dungeons, such as my afire collar." She lifted her chin to show us. "It heals me when I'm hit by normally-devastating water-type attacks. Croagunk will also tell you what items are specific to your evolutionary family and your type."

"Sounds like that'll be useful, and that the Guild is really missing out on some upgrades," I said.

"Right," Hex said, nodding. "And you remember the mess hall, of course. You might not have noticed, but Chimeco's the only cook. Thank him when you have a minute, he'll really appreciate it." Then Hex led us over to a hole in the ground, with vines growing up the sides. Some of them were neatly, and even recently, cut. Loudred was standing nearby, focused more on the hole than us.

     "This is the sentry post for Pokémon entering the Guild," Hex explained. "Loudred here and Diglet are in charge of it, but you'll eventually have to do a shift of it yourselves."

"How does it work, though?" Pika asked.

Loudred made a noise between a snort and a huff. "You identify the Pokémon's footprint. That's what the grate is for."

"Oh, okay." Pika turned to me. "That's why they called out 'Pokémon detected!' when you stepped on the grate."

"How strong is the grate?" I asked. "It didn't feel super sturdy when I was on it."

The loud Pokémon rolled his eyes. "You jumped off it, causing it to bend slightly. Don't do that. It can hold a Charizard, no problem, though," he assured. "So don't worry about it."

"Ever consider glass?" I muttered. "My foot could have fallen through." Hex flicked one of her tails at me, and Kip silently shook his head, eyes wide, as if that was an insult to Loudred.

The Pokémon himself glared at me. "I'll let that pass, as you haven't done the shift yourself and have no respect for how it proceeds."

I returned the glare. "Big word for—"

Hex basically leaped on top of me, and Kip started to nudge me toward the ladder. "Let's just go," he said quietly to me. "No need to get Loudred angry. He gets even louder when he's mad."

"You could have told me that," I hissed. He seemed to flinch at that, and I couldn't fathom why.

When we were at the ladder, Hex ordered me up first, probably to keep me from doing anything that might start a fight with Loudred, and instructed I go to the top. I can totally take him, I thought. Kip came up second. "You like making trouble, don't you?" He said, shaking his head. "Hopefully you can fight well enough to not have that be a problem."

     "I can fight! Do you want me to prove it to you?" I challenged.

     He looked at me like I had gone mad. "You know I'm a water-type, Pearl."

     "You know, I don't really care, Kip," I retorted. He seemed hurt, but I didn't care.

     The Mudkip simply sighed and turned away as Hex and Pika joined us. Hex looked between us, but asked no questions. Pika on the other hand wasn't so subtle. "Hey, er, you two good?"

     "Peachy," I fumed.

     "Let's continue, shall we?" Hex ventured. "Next is Treasure Town." She led the way down the carved stairs, and halted at the crossroads. Kip was a few steps ahead of me, purposefully, and Pika caught up with me.

     "What happened, Pearl? Don't be mad, please."

     I huffed out a plume of flame. "Kip is trying to protect me when I don't need protecting. I don't exactly appreciate it; I feel strong as a Charmander. I don't need help."

     "But," Pika started, "we're a team. We can't start dividing up. We have to stick together." Something like a memory stirred for a moment... "Please? He's just trying to be nice. We don't know how strong or dangerous Loudred can be if he's mad."

     "If he's too dangerous, I'd only do it once, wouldn't I?" I sighed. "Fine. You're right."

     The Pikachu hugged me. I felt a slight static charge as he touched me. "Thank you," he murmured quietly.

     Hex had a playful look in her eyes as we approached. "What was that?" she sang, a silly smile on her face.

     "What, the hug?" I asked, starting to lose my sour mood. "Pika was just trying to talk some sense into me. That's all." I looked at Kip, but couldn't keep my eyes on his and looked around his face instead of at it. "I'm sorry," I said, dipping my head to him. "That was highly inappropriate of me. You were just trying to help."

     "It's alright, you're just disoriented," Kip said. I wish that was true...

     Silence elapsed between us four, and Hex nodded. "I don't know what transpired, but I'm glad you two worked it out. Now, let me explain this little watering hole real quick before we head to town."

✿ ✿ ✿
July 15, 2017
Very do-nothing chapter. I feel bad, since this could have and should have gone up June 3, like I planned, but that was such a weekend! I haven't written in here for a month or two, so I hope this is okay until I get the next one out. I'll hopefully work on that tomorrow, I'll want to get it out before July 3 because this is chapter very slow, and the temper flare at the end seems a pretty crummy end... But with summer comes time to write!