Sky's the limit

Chapter 11

Blah, longest chapter so far .

A faint gurgling noise jolted Gina awake. Pale dawn light filtered in through the window, signaling morning was close. Ears pricked, she stared around the room, then groaned, remembering the events from last night. "Soren," she whispered. "Your stomach was growling and woke me up."

"Actually, that was your stomach," he mumbled, eyes still shut. "It was doing that all night."

"Oh." She hoped he hadn't seen her fur ruffle with embarrassment. She stretched out her legs and back, relishing in the feeling. "Should we get up now?"

"Why not?" Soren stood up, his mouth wide in an enormous yawn. "It beats Loudred having to come in and wake us up himself."

"True." Gina led the way out of their room, wincing as her stomach grumbled loudly once again. "I'm so hungry," she whimpered.

"Hey, I'm sure we'll get something to eat soon," Soren said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Besides, it's all over now. We just have to keep working at being chosen for the expedition."

They left their room, careful not to wake the rest of the guild members up. As they passed Sunflora and Chimecho's room, Gina thought she could hear whispering. She brushed it off and continued down the hall.

Loudred was just coming out of his room. He frowned in confusion. "You guys are up ALREADY?" he asked.

Gina nodded. "We decided we should get up earlier so we can start our day off better," she said.

"Well, everyone's waking up now," Loudred said. "So you better hurry up if you want to get to the morning briefing FIRST."

"We'll keep that in mind," Soren responded.

They walked past Loudred and waited patiently for the rest of the guild members to arrive. The only other Pokemon in the room was Chatot, who was staring at them thoughtfully. The first ones to come were Amber and Jasper, the former eyeing them with contempt.

"So you failed an errand, I hear?" Amber taunted. "What a shame. It's not every day that someone screws up something so simple. I wouldn't be surprised if the Guildmaster doesn't pick you for the expedition."

"We're not in the mood today, Amber," Soren replied. "We had a long day yesterday, and an even longer night, and we're exhausted."

"I should have thought this guild training would be too tough for you two," she sneered. "You've already been here for almost a month now, and you're still exhausted every morning. If you were anything like Jasper and I, you wouldn't be complaining, since we're already such a better team than you are."

"Uh, hey, come on, Amber," Jasper said nervously, trying to prevent an argument. "I'm sure many Pokemon haven't been able to succeed in a certain task. They shouldn't feel bad that something like this happens. Besides, the Guildmaster probably won't let something like this affect his decision."

Gina looked hopefully at Chatot, searching for an approving gleam in his eyes, but she found nothing. She let her ears droop. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

It was not long before the rest of the guild members arrived. They all looked ready to start the day, eyes gleaming and a spring in their steps. Gina guessed they were excited for the expedition, even though it was still several days away.

Team Skull was the last of the members to come, Skuntank giving Gina and Soren a detestable grin before taking their places in the room. Gina still felt angry about what had happened the night before, and she didn't think she would ever forgive the team for what they did.