Wigglytuff's Guild

[Namohysip]

Wigglytuff's Guild overlooked the eastern edge of Treasure Town like a looming, protective giant. The Wigglytuff-shaped top to the building led to an underground complex of hallways and chambers with several kinds of ladders to assist all body types in their climbs up and down. Past the notice boards for missions and outlaws, and into the bottom chamber. The in-house dorms for the Guildmates who still lived there, in addition to the general Guild staff, made up the majority of this portion of the cliff headquarters.

Most of the times that weren't dinner or morning, these halls were empty save for the occasional staff member. Most Guildies were out on missions or hanging out in town rather than in their simple quarters.

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​

Simple refreshments and small snacks were laid out for the visiting heroes, though the meals were consciously kept light considering their recent curry adventures. Maple had gathered as many as she could, and Diyem helped to inform the rest of what was happening, though he did not obligate them all to go. After all, he could just quietly inform them of the news, so long as at least one of them were there--and Owen, diligent as ever, was among those who attended.

"Thank you all for coming," said a Chatot at the front of the Guild, before a great door that led into the Guildmaster's room. His voice was proper but high-pitched, not unlike a strict but tiny librarian. The Guildmaster himself, meanwhile, stood by his side, staring blankly ahead. He was a Wigglytuff with a happy smile and a menacing aura despite it, and for some reason Owen found that combination strangely familiar. Also with them was Balm, who had his own seat to conserve his strength and ease his dizziness and fatigue, and Cepa, who floated by his side. Soda was absent, as was Flesh and Leg--he was likely taking care of them somewhere else. Potluck sat by Maple's side, trying to stay polite despite his wagging tail, and Truffle had taken up the role of note taker.

"Yes, thank you!" Wigglytuff said, his voice an unnerving combination of deep and childlike. "Friends, friendly friends from a whole other world!" He gasped. "No! Many other worlds!" He outstretched his tiny arms. "I can't thank you enough for saving the town!"

"Indeed," Chatot emphasized. "Without your efforts, this town would surely have seen its final day... But that is for another time. Right now, we have a more pressing matter to attend to." He straightened, and then looked to Balm and Cepa. "Team Spice--Meganium Thyme and Feraligatr Pepper--are still missing. They had gone off to investigate strange happenings in the Lush Prairie, but were not seen since. They didn't become gigantic like the Magikarp have, otherwise we would have seen them. But we also have not recovered a trace otherwise; they must still be out there.

"Right now," Chatot went on, "they are considered missing, and are a top priority. As we speak, several Guild members are tracing their path and finding any signs of where they may have gone. there is no doubt that this has something to do with the other crises that are striking the entire world. And as such... we have gathered as many of you as we could to get a full picture of everything we know so far. Perhaps,from that, we can glean further information by pooling our knowledge together."

Chatot paced, then finally raised a wing to address them all despite his small stature. "So!" he began. "If possible, tell us everything you know or think you know so far about all of this. A broad question, but an essential one."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot tilted his head slightly, before opting to brush things aside for now. Whatever Darkwhite's origin was, there wasn't much they could do with it right here and now. Besides, the meeting wasn't the only reason he came to the guild...

"Hey, Chatot?" Cabot asked, pausing a moment as he realized he didn't even know the bird's actual name. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I would like to congratulate everyone in a job well done," Maple said. While her tone was formal, her eyes had a pleased shine to them, and her smile was one of genuine relief. "You did what none of us were able to, and for that we cannot repay you enough. But before we get into any further discussions, let me fill you in on what has happened."

Maple addressed the whole team that had been gathered, and Diyem listened silently from the aether.

"Team Spice is recovering in the medical ward. They are fatigued and battered, but are otherwise stable and are expected to make a full recovery. Balm and Cepa are almost completely recovered. There have been no other sightings of Darkwhite, and we are still searching for other abnormalities we may have missed. Now... What happened while you were there?"

 

[Namohysip]

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Day 15, Noon
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Brisa's body would be aching all over, like she had been slashed over and over by so many angry Scyther. Despite this, she wore no bandages, and instead only had a simple cloth wrapped around her. There was something that smelled vaguely like mint, or perhaps coal, some strange mixture of the two, minty coal, next to her.

It was the Mimikyu, Leg. Beneath her was a very soft bed, perhaps of cotton or something else that sank and had a lot of give. The air away from Leg--the source of that minty coal smell--the acidic, sweet smell of mixed berries welcomed her instead.

She had been brought, at some point, to the Guild again, specifically the medical area down the hall. This room had enough room for two patients on the bed, and the one next to Brisa was a lot larger--it was a Meganium, looking mostly alright as he read over a book that appeared to be some kind of nonfiction.

Also in the room was a Haxorus, looking incredibly bored and waving his head left and right to pass the time. There was a book, unopened, next to him, as well as two empty containers of something that likely used to have food.

"Khhh..." Leg shifted away from Brisa, sensing that she was finally waking up.

 

[Namohysip]

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Day 18, noon
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Maple decided to portal them from Sharpedo Bluff to near the entrance of Wigglytuff's Guild. The staff there had been upset at Maple constantly bypassing their security systems with her portals, so she'd made a habit of waiting at the gate as requested.

Then, on their way down, Meringue had suddenly lost his hold of the ladder and fell; Maple created a portal for him to fall in that spat him back up a few paces ahead on the lower floor, which zeroed out his falling momentum, and he thanked her with a stupefied, confused expression. "How can you do that?" he had asked.

"Mm," Maple replied, and then gestured forward. "The medical area is this way. I will summon some of my team, but tell us what you can for now."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave only made a quick visit to the Hidden Quarters to leave Squiggly there ("I'll be back later and then we can get you out of the damn jar, all right?") before heading back out. He had something more pressing to attend to.

He shoved open the door of Wigglytuff's Guild as decisively as he could (not very, as a tiny dog with paws, frustratingly enough). "Hey, Maple?" he barked, looking around. "Care to tell me just why the fuck I've got bullshit radiance powers now even though I didn't touch your ball of cult light?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

Those steamed buns were delightful. Cynthian had pretty much gotten his fill, though he still couldn't eat more than Curio did. The two went their separate ways. Cynthian wanted to follow her, but he had decided to visit the wigglytuff guild's infirmary for a medical check up and see if his possession had left any undesirable lasting effects on his body.

After he arrived, Cynthian made his way into the guild, asked for directions at the counter, and trailed his way towards the infirmary. Being in the guild brought him a wave of unsettling nostalgia. Like everything else in Treasure Town, the guild looked exactly like the one in his home except in all the ways that they differed.

While Cynthian was on his way, he spotted familiar green and pink hues from the corner of his eyes. Cynthian turned to find Balm and Cepa near the infirmary. The necklace adorning Balm especially caught Cynthian's eyes. It truly was them, right? The exact same pair from the legends.

"Excuse me, Grovy—I mean Balm, right?" Cynthian asked, waving at them from below. He flashed a nervous smile at them, suddenly feeling even smaller in the face of the iconic couple. "That time gear necklace looks really well made. Does this world celebrate the Time Festival too?"

 

[Namohysip]

Day 23, Noon​

The message came to them several days later, in the form of a group text from Maple:

[Maple > Everyone]: We found Darkwhite. Silver Trench. Meet at the Guild.

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Maple stood in the center of the Guild hall with her full team and Meringue nearby. Team Spice was not present, nor were Balm and Cepa. “Darkwhite and Lugia are both in the Silver Trench waiting for us to arrive. I have set up backup in case something goes wrong; a means of escape with some help from me and others in case you are not able to defeat her. However… it is also in case there is a trap we are not expecting.”

“What’s the backup?” Owen asked.

“I’m afraid we can’t tell you,” Maple said. “There is a chance Darkwhite can read minds, or something akin to that, on weaker members such as yourselves. As of now, only I and the other participants in the backup know of the plan, and I intend to keep it that way until it’s necessary.” Then, her gaze sweeping across the team, she said, “Are we ready? We do not know how long Darkwhite will be waiting.”

 

[Namohysip]

Several days passed without incident. The return of Brisa and Starr had been a massive relief for the team, and from there, everyone settled into their little routines while looking for their unknown foe's next move. One day, Maple called for an optional meeting at the Guild.

"...Where is everyone?" Maple said, frowning. "Did I not send a message to gather at the Guild?"

"Um, you said it wasn't mandatory, right?" Owen said, raising a hand. "So I guess not everyone showed up if they already had obligations to take care of."

Next to Maple was Balm and Cepa, who didn't seem too concerned with the small turnout. "It's not a problem," he said to Maple. "Your other announcements can be spread to the others with some messaging, right? They're usually pretty on top of things."

"I suppose so," Maple said. "I was just hoping for a little more. Can't be helped. Mm. I have a few announcements to make. First: We have finally made arrangements in Destiny Village for you to have proper residencies there. Whenever you're ready, we can start the process of packing whatever supplies and other arrangements you need, and take you there, and you will no longer need to live in your makeshift homes in the Treasure Town dojo."

The Smeargle then gestured to Balm and Cepa. "Second, we have decided that in an effort to search for more distortions and other oddities, we are going to pay a personal visit to Dialga in the Hidden Land, and from there, perhaps speak with his siblings. Balm is most familiar with Dialga, so we will be starting there. Dialga is among the few remaining Legendary Pokemon who elected to not take shelter in Destiny Village during these uncertain times. Perhaps pride, perhaps protection in his tower, but..."

She shook her head. "Regardless, it would be wise to check on him and seek advice. Perhaps he may also see some of you directly, and that may give him clues on what to search for."

 

[Namohysip]

Several days passed without incident. Spontaneous searches throughout the Grass Continent turned up nothing, and perhaps by chance, the team was not able to find this mysterious Shadowed village at all. There were several reports of Pokemon looking a little antsier than usual, particularly in Baram Town and Shaymin Village, but it was never anything to investigate directly. It was difficult to analyze some of the towns even for Diyem, because the distortions of lingering Dungeons obscured whatever he could find. They still needed time.

On one of the days, Wigglytuff reported that Bidoof was taking longer than usual to return from his searches. And while that was typical of him at times, and nobody thought anything of it after one day, concerns rose when two passed. Pine and Nanab, still on their spontaneous searching spree, took up the mission of searching for him and reporting back.

...And then they, too, did not return.

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"Thank you all for coming," Maple announced to the group. "This is an emergency meeting. Pine and Nanab have been searching for Bidoof, as you know, and have not returned. It has been two days, we traced their steps, and we can confirm that they have gone to their destination and simply did not return." She lowered her head, thoughtful. "They went to Shaymin Village."

Excuse me? Diyem said. I searched Shaymin Village myself, at least, as far as my distortions would allow... It is right near a Dungeon, so I can only see the peripherals, but there was no trace of Shadows inside.

Owen quickly translated this for Maple, who nodded. "And I sent Soda, Flesh, and Truffle all to search that village very early on. They spotted nothing suspicious."

Grr... It was placed somewhere I assumed was safe, and even after a closer scout, nothing turned up? Is there a corruption hidden deeper inside? Or is this just a false alarm?

"I see no reason," Maple said after Owen repeated Diyem. "Pine and Nanab wouldn't leave outright for something like this and stay away for longer than predicted unless something went wrong. I think we shouldn't be cautious about this; all of you need to go to investigate."

"We didn't see anything in the main village, so it might be somewhere deeper," Soda remarked. "Guess we can ask the Shaymin there, but..."

"I'm not sure what we will see, but once everyone enters, I will try to assist... if it's possible." Maple nodded, then looked to the others, who felt similarly.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa had enough time on her walk from the beach to the guild infirmary to work off some of her emotional surge from her... her weird moment with Curio. What was that, anyway? She hadn't felt quite like that since...

Well, since Cathy.

She made her way inside and made a brusque push past the staff to check on the casualties from the battle at Shaymin Village. She soon learned that Starr had already discharged herself. Meanwhile Zane was fully out cold, and would remain so until after he was transferred to Destiny Village.

But Astrid...

"Uh, how d'you do, Astrid?" asked Brisa as she entered her ward. "That makes both of us who've exploded now. Not a great feelin', huh?"