Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Chapter Four

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Raiden was standing just outside the grate again, but this time he wasn't alone. I was with him. Raiden bit back his fear and stepped onto the grate. "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" Screamed up a voice, startling Raiden. He let out a squeak of surprise, and I smiled at him. He looked back at me, clenched his teeth together, and determinedly setting his feet down on the ground. "No... I've got Lauren with me now." I didn't know how to react to that, so I just kept silent. "The footprint is Pikachu's! The footprint is Pikachu's!" Raiden seemed to be taking control of himself, "Someone's with you! Get them to step on the GRATE!" He stepped away from the crisscrossing wood. He looked at me with slightly embarrassed eyes. "I think he means you, Fluffy."

I nodded stiffly, looking suspiciously at the grate. Raiden smiled at me, it was his turn to be encouraging. Cautiously, I stepped onto the grate and almost had a heart attack when almost automatically a voice shouted up at me, "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected! Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" I felt tension curling my fur as I waited for his conclusion. "The footprint is... the footprint is... Umm..." The air was crackling with the tension, then an even louder voice roared down, but it wasn't directed at myself.

"Sentry! Sentry DIGLET, what's the PROBLEM?" There was a short silence between them, then the ridiculously loud voice roared up at the other Pokémon he had called Diglet. "What's the HOLD-up, WHOSE footprint IS it?" There was a nervous stuttering sound from the other voice, "Maybe Eevee's! Maybe Eevee's!" There was a very short silence that was immediately broken by an outburst from the ludicrously loud voice, "WHAT do you MEAN maybe?" Diglet let out a squeak in defense of himself, "I don't know!" He called back, sounding ashamed. "WHAT? Identifying the footsteps of VISTING Pokémon, that's YOUR job isn't it?"

Raiden looked bemused as he looked back at me, "Are they... fighting?" I returned the perplexed gaze with a shrug, they seemed less intimidating now that they were acting like a normal Pokémon. "Sorry to keep you WAITING." Called the absurdly loud voice, I felt sorry for anyone standing too close to such a sound. "It's TRUE that you don't see many EEVEE in these parts, but you don't SEEM to be BAD. You may ENTER!"

A rumbling under my feet alerted me that the gate that had been sealing the Guild's entrance was being hoisted up so we could enter, Raiden glanced at me with an energized expression. I grinned excitedly back at him, we were in. As we walked through where the gate had been lifted, there was a ladder leading underground to the guild. "Let's get down there!"

"Whoa..." breathed Raiden as we entered the Guild, the place was crammed-full of Pokémon of all shapes and sizes, all of which were chatting excitedly to one another and all seemed to have something important to do. We wandered into the center of the room, both of us were swiveling our heads around till they ached, trying to get a good look at everything and everyone at the same time.

"Hello, are you the Pokémon that entered the Guild?" Asked a strange voice coming from behind us, we spun around to stare into the face of a rather tall-standing Chatot. We nodded in synchronization, both of us not sure what to say, even with Raiden's large and outgoing personality. "I'm Chatot, the Pokémon in the know and head of intelligence of the Guild! Now, shoo! Leave the premises; we have no time for sales or silly surveys." Raiden held up his hands in front of him, "Hey, don't go shooing me away, we want to join the Guild, as an exploration team!" Chatot let out a squawk of anger, "Oh, what a strange bunch you two are, the steady stream of Pokémon running away should be proof enough how rigorous the Guild training is!" Raiden arched an eyebrow, "Whoa, is it really that tough, Feathers?" I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye, warning him that this Pokémon might not take his nicknames too lightly.

"Squawk! Oh, no, no, no! Not at all!" He insisted, at first I wasn't sure if he was referring to the nicknames or how strict the Guild was. "How about we get you all registered with the Guildmaster, hm?" He chattered musically, swishing his note-like tail back and forth joyfully. Raiden leaned towards me, and in a low voice whispered, "Greaat, looks like Feather's has some major mood issues." I rolled my eyes.