To be a member of a guild, of a proper rescue team, a Pokemon must be a step above the rest. The Almas guild was dedicated to that belief, a guild of Pokemon that sought not only to be at the peak of their profession but to expand the boundaries of what it meant to be a proper coalition. To Adventure, to Explore, to Live. That was the spirit and motivation of the Pokemon behind Castle Guarde. However, in order to forge a spirit that was strong enough to clash with the greats, training was necessary. As Costello soon found out, the general spirit around the Castle was that training never stopped. This realization unsurprisingly coincided with the Treecko was on the ground after such a day’s worth of training.

“Hate... hate and seething.”

“Aw c’mon Cos!””

“Not... my... *hack*

“A full lap better this time round. Gotta be proud of that!” A pat on the back accompanied the praise from the rabbit.

A soft chill by Floe greeted Costello’s back as he struggled to catch his breath. “Pain begets improvement Costello, don’t take the process so harshly.”

The Glaceon joined the two on the sidelines and offered a comforting pat of their own.

“Better than you were yesterday at least.”

Costello took the compliment under consideration. “Yeah… sure. Where’s Zata?”

Floe nodded their head towards a series of sandbags, roughed up and scarred. “Still on the course. She’s certainly been dedicated to it as of late.”

“An Understatement,” added Costello wryly.

Liam’s eye didn’t wander as he stared at the wyrmling with a frown. “I get she wants to be better but Zata’s gotta ease up. Can’t have her breaking something before our first mission.”

“If she’s anything, she’s stubborn. Don’t worry about it too much. Zata knows where to find us.” As Costello ended on that note, the trio went off to the castle meeting room.

Zata however, remained at course. Sweat dripped down her face as the body bag in front of her spilled sand from gashes left by her tail. She towered over the bag with menace as her body heaved from exertion. By her feet laid sand and reflected in her eyes was the essence of her weakness.

Ever since the first session with Drestal when he treated her like a ragdoll, it seemed as though her improvement had stalled out before it even began. It had been three weeks.

Three.

Weeks.

Of her being tossed around and put in a corner while the other three seemed to carry her like she was dead weight. Relegated to simply diversion tactics and cheap shots. She was a Dragon type. How could an embodiment of battle be left on the sidelines. No one in their right mind would ever slight her like that. Yet in each of the spars, her weakness was exposed time and time again.

All that effort.

For disappointment.

For failure.

What was wrong with her?

She was better than that.

She was born better than that.

She-

“Hey.”

A tap on the back snapped her out of stupor as she turned to face the source of the interruption. Floe stood before her with a look of worry on their face.

“What do you want?”

“Simply came to check on a teammate. Team “You Guys” has to stick together as Liam would say-

“Liam can keep his jokes to himself. What do you want?”

The smile seemed to fade in genuine emotion and in its place was a smile purely there to keep up appearances. Warm but empty.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Thea has us for a meeting. We’re assuming it to be our first mission as you know. “

“I know that.”

“I’m sure you do. So, if you would, don’t lose yourself in your own head. You’ll never get any stronger that way.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that at the rate you’re going, you’re more likely to break something and burn out than gain any progress. Zata, you’re not stupid. But the way you’re acting certainly isn’t helping you appear otherwise. Liam has a gap ahead of you in personal experience and inherent athletics, and while Costello isn’t as gifted in stamina, he certainly is making progress. Each of them making it further at their own pace. I’m sure by your logic, since you’re putting in twice the work, you should be twice as good as them.” The smile on Floe’s face seem to solidify with a knowing, almost mocking glare.

“But that isn't working. Is it?”

Something about the delivery seemed to piss off Zata even more than just the content of the words. Familiar lines said in a way that denied any attempt of retort. The tone of someone speaking “truth” in such a way that any disagreement would be disrespectful. In spite of the bile surging in the back of her throat, years of experience carved into her told her to remain quiet.

“I understand how the culture usually is with dragon types. But the reason you aren’t there, and you’re here is because you’re supposed to see how things are like from outside the echo chamber.”

Zata stepped forward with barely restrained rage backing her voice. “What do you know about my-”

Floe quickly silenced the wyrm. Not with malice or any sort of antagonism, but with simple authority.

“Enough. So, take my advice, sincerely. Ship up, get out of your own head and move on. Find a way to get better that isn’t beating your head against the ground. You know where to find us. We’ll be sure to wave.”

Soon after Zata rejoined the group, and no matter the prodding from Liam, not a word escaped from the mouth of the wyrmling.

As each Pokemon stepped into the meeting room, Costello and the gang found themselves several rows behind the others, with the Leafeon and Litleo from the field test being the closest recognizable bodies that Costello could make out. He could’ve sworn that there were others in their group, but that line of thought was interrupted by Thea and Morris taking center stage. A rumble came from the steel breast of Thea before she spoke.

“Attention Almas Guild!”

“Attention,” responded the Guild en masse.

“Good.” The bird of prey looked over her subordinates. “I trust that our new recruits are adapting well to the guild environment. From what I’ve heard from your respective teachers and mentors, your progress has been going especially well. But can you do better?”

“Of Course, Guildmaster!”

Something resembling a smirk crossed the beak of the corvid. “Of course. Improvement does not cease just because you achieve some success. However, the time to discuss your potential has passed and now it is time to discuss your actions.”

Thea opened her wingspan to gesture to a blue creature to the right of her. A maw of sharp teeth greeted the audience as the creature quickly moved over to Thea’s side.

“An unfortunate occurrence has happened which requires guild attention. With the information brought to me, I've had to make an executive decision. With our senior members gathering to address a situation in the North, it seems that this responsibility comes on the shoulders of our Junior Members.” The clack of talons on hardwood echoed through the hall. “A Salazzale is attempting to gather suitors near Seva. Not only that, but one of those suitors had the gall to steal official Guild Correspondence out of the hands.”

A rumbling came through the crowd. Murmurs of what was to come and surprise at how blatant this theft was. The Leafeon in particular seemed to be very opinionated on the topic as the ear of the Litleo next to her came to know.

"Thea's got Caspian up there blushing like an idiot, Ion is out of sight and now we're on a hunt for a bunch of horny lizards. "

"By all means Sera, go up there and save him."

"I have half a mind to Roka, but still, why are we stuck with the crap jobs?" The offense in her tone was almost dripping off each word.

A halfhearted yawn greeted her from the young lion. "Cause we're on the bottom of the totem pole. Eventually we'll move on up. Sides, Esme is hanging with Devlin and the flying dudes. Only a matter of time till we find our niche."

As Costello looked to his teammates beside him, a face of confusion seemed to reside on the face of both Liam and Floe, while Zata’s remained oddly unreadable.

Salazzles are known for gathering males of their species in massive numbers to copulate and take over territory. More than likely something attracted the eye of a Salandit to steal the message to impress the head of their harem.

“Gross.”

Yes.

Thea’s voice heightened with fervor as she spread her wings at the crowd. “Are we simply going to let them run havoc in their single-minded pursuits?”

“No!”

“Are we simply going to let them steal from us? To disrespect us?”

“No!”

An all too familiar grin appeared on the face of Thea, best she could make without having teeth, yet Costello felt the spirit of the smugness and self-assuredness flow through the expression. As he looked over to the Totodile, he could see a glint in his eye. A glint he only ever saw in the mirror and as the reptile matched his gaze, he could see that same realization reflected in his face.

“Then you know the mission. Official details will be passed out by Morris, but I will deliver the generalities. Two teams will combine forces to comb over your selected area. To all of you, all I can say is…"

"Merry Hunting."