Chapter 7: Chapter 6: A Trip Down A Lane of Opportunity and Memory.

he smell of the sugar wafted in the air as Liam woke up. It wasn't a quick slumber. The night was spent tossing and turning over having apologizing to that daft git Oshawatt and the excitement to finally be able to get his shot at forming his own rescue team.  A  chill in the air maintained as he moved out of his bed. A small bit of confusion remained in his head. No letters scattered across the floor, no sound of Braviary flying through the door early in the morning. Yet it came back to him, reminding him of why the chest in his room lay there, and why there was a Treecko in a hammock across from him. Cos was nice. It had been awhile since he actually got to interact with Pokemon his own age,  Ever since people started moving out of the A.E, it had been... hard to say the least.  Liam rubbed his face.  "No time to get sad this early in the morning," he thought to himself. "Today is the day." 

He sprung himself out of bed and ruffled through the chest to find his letters and paintings properly wrapped and sorted. Liam made a mental note to thank Cos for it soon and found what he was looking for. It was something rare. Pop's paintings always looked... professional. He looked like he was the calmest person in the world, but it was the hair. It was that one painting of him, mom and him as the egg that looked the most natural. That had him smiling in a way that looked genuine.  Or as close to a smile as he was able to find. After the usual bath ,he took the picture and went to the closest mirror. He gently put it next to the mirror and proceeded to move his hair into position. He had done this before and his hair always moved into place, From the base of his head to the fur on top. Spike it up enough to gain lift and then allow it to settle in a kind of unspecific furry rebellion.  Liam looked over his work. Not as spiky as his dad's but enough to gain the resemblance. He always looked the least like him. The face, the smile, the accent. It was mostly his mom, but the hair seemed natural. It was nice to have something of his to hold on to. He went back to his room to find Cos still asleep. Liam quietly went to his chest and opened it up. There was a package. Wrapped with personal care and had within it the two starter scarves of his parents. He gave the two a soft embrace.    After that, he decided to get a move on.  As he dashed through the house, He went outside to look at the pond. It was nice. Cared for. A quick pause before he hopped the gate and proceeded to get his run.

Costello woke up to the sound of footsteps beating the ground. "Liam." he muttered.  As he got out of his hammock, he stretched all his parts. It was still a bit sore due to yesterday but it was healed. Honestly he was more concerned with Liam. He took the brunt of it all and got that force palm. There was also the issue of... the Lucario.  He tried to search his head for something about her. He found spots of blue. The same kaleidoscope of nonsense as always.  A small grit of the teeth, but no time for that. Today was the day.

Braviary had perched himself outside. There was nothing really there to watch. Far enough away from Autumn Embers to not actually have to inspect the place.  The talk he had with Thea assured that. The entire area was going to be cordoned off. No one was coming in anymore and now the  It was... hard to accept that. It was hard to see where you had been... where you had lived suddenly turned into a no go zone. It was fine. He was way past those emotions. No time for that. Braviary looked down at Liam doing his usual runs and his laps around the property. He would've teared up if his tear ducts worked like that.  Today was truly the day.

Next to Costello, he bounced in place as Liam looked up at the castle. The name Guarde was painted in a dull red yet it stood out as if there was fire underneath the letters.  Arc,it was massive. Why was he there, he was out of his league, he saw third stage evolutions walk out the door just today and he was going to apply to that? One of the highest regarded-

No. He wasn't going to do this. Mr. Braviary took him down to Ygg's dungeons plenty of times and he had shown that he had what it took. Even if he had only looked back at Braviary doing his stuff, he was still plenty capable on his own and was plenty willing to get his own licks in. He had this. He was going to do this. Mr.Braviary looked down on him. "You're ready, right?"

He smiled back at him. "Hunky-Dory."  He turned over to Cos. "You sure you're set Cos?"

Cos looked over at him. "Costello and yeah." 

Liam smirked at him. Cos didn't smile, but Liam knew he was just as ready as he was.  Liam pushed forward and with those two by his side, he felt assured that was going to do it. This assured feeling lasted until his first movement up the stairs. Each step forward and upwards felt like walking through cement as he finally made it to the end of the staircase. Once he got inside however, there was no more pressure. There was no more doubt. There was only awe.

The outside of the castle was sturdy and put out a cold front. But the inside. Just from what appeared to be the opening area, Liam could see chandeliers hung so high, he could barely seem them. Banners lined the walls, telling of teams and their accomplishments, a personal board of most wanted criminals, the entire space was massive and this was only the start.  Liam glanced at the sign up booth a couple of feet ahead of him and started to sprint before a wing put itself in his way. Liam looked up, to see Braviary look down at him. Braviary then looked over and nodded.  Following his sight-line, Liam saw that lizard with the goggles from yesterday and that damned otter. Him and that crystal around his neck. At least he couldn't blame them for anything. Liam could feel his mood sour at the sight of him. Once "Arno"  came towards him, he knew on some level that he had been forced to come to a similar conclusion. Braviary pushed Liam forward. 

"Mornin'." Liam could see a bit of frustration on the face of the Oshawatt as he said those words.

"Good morning." responded the Watt. He looked over to Costello.

"I would like to formally apologize for accusing you of stealing my scalchop and my Mystic Water."

Costello shrugged. "It's no issue. I thought it was a Z Crystal anyway."

Arno fiddled with the deep blue stone in his hands. "If only."  He turned back to Liam. "And I am sorry for falsely accusing your friend and assaulting you for a crime you did not commit."

"Yeah yeah, it's fine." Liam could feel Braviary staring at him. "And I'm sorry for hitting you."

"Apology accepted."

...

...

The silence in the air was palpable.

Liam made a motion towards Braviary. A motion to signify "Hey, I put up my end of the bargain. Wrap it up."

Braviary gave a look back that said "I'll wrap it up in a very nice bow."

"So!" said the bird. "Where's your team leader?"

Liam swore he saw satisfaction in the avian's eye as he tortured him.

Costello was... confused. Or at least a part of him was confused. He could've sworn it was a Z-Crystal. Wasn't it?

It was supposed to be.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Costello received no answer to his annoyance. He looked over to Liam who looked like he was going to burn down Braviary for extending the conversation on purpose.  The bird on the other hand seemed to be enjoying this impromptu lesson in patience he was teaching the rabbit. The otter was of no importance and seemed to take turns with the static lizard explaining the situation about the Lucario. It seemed to be the lizard's turn.

"After the incident, Styles had to report to Thea regarding some business in the Northeast. "

"We weren't allowed up for some reason cause it was important business. 10th rank and above. Even though we're juniors tagging along with Styles, I'm sure me and Lumi could handle whatever it is."

"How do you know it was important," asked Braviary.

"Devlin was doing his flying exercises and he doesn't do those for anything less than 10," responded Arno. The tone of his voice felt as though he had to watch this Devlin individual do this before to their own annoyance.

" We're assuming it's the reason why Styles is stuck in a meeting with Guildmaster Thea...." continued Lumi. From there it was a matter of zoning out and looking at something else as Costello felt nothing important to gain from this.

 The conversation seemed to at least interest Liam for the purpose of learning the dynamics of how the guild works.  Or maybe he was just wanting to move the conversation on. Costello was uninterested either way. This entire place was big, which was nice, a concerning amount of skylines, might as well ask for someone to break in through the skylight.  This entire area was massive. Light coming through windows bigger than the fronts of houses. Whatever they used for the carpet was soft, soft enough to sleep on. A fact which was proven by multiple Falinks huddled up near the side to his right. To his left were a group of Bisharps sharpening each other on each other. A banner of some Dragonite stood behind them. This place was loud. A Lot of noises and people. It was getting hard for the Treecko to focus, and this entire conversation wasn't helping.

...

After what seemed like forever, the duo went off somewhere else, leaving Liam to look around the area in awe. It was massive, it was lively and it was everything he had ever dreamed of. The sights left him stunned until his eyes finally locked onto the sign up booth. Everything around him seemed to fall into silence as he focused in on that booth. He was barely aware of his feet taking step by step towards the desk. The Dottler that sat on the stool seemed unbothered by the intense look 

"M-Morning chap."

"A good morning to you too. May I ask what you've come for today?"

"Um..W-well I came in order to properly... properly"

 From behind, a gecko moved to the desk and looked straight at the Dottler.

"Hey. My partner over here would like to sign up to apply to your guild."

"Understood, and will the both of you be applying as a team?"

Costello looked at Liam. He wasn't going to take his moment if he didn't want him to. What was an option to him, was the goal of someone who had dreamed of this for years.  He turned back to the Dottler.

"N-"

"Yes! The both of us want to be a team!"

 It was with that interruption that Liam couldn't help but put an arm around the guy. He understood that Cos wasn't always gonna be there, and he certainly didn't want to drag him down when there might be people worrying about him. Yet in that moment, he felt something deep. Something deeper than whatever acquaintanceship they had. Maybe it was selfishness. Maybe it was the excitement of such a big leap in his life. But he was ready to do this with him.

Costello felt something in all this as well. It was mostly a feeling of discomfort. The place was packed and there was a lot of noise that he just couldn't really tune out. It wasn't his kind of place. After the otter and the lizard moved on, there wasn't anywhere where it could just be quiet. After a short bit of walking with Braviary, he did see that Liam had gone off on his own to sign up. It seemed that Braviary had expected this but from the way Liam was standing, he didn't look like he was actually gonna go through with it. However, Costello did see that this was Liam's place. It meant a lot to him and he didn't really know anyone else so going it alone wouldn't have been the right move. It was just facts about the situation. Yet the way Liam looked at him... it was genuine.  And through that look, he couldn't help but feel.. happy. The Dottler seemed unperturbed by this new development of team formation.

"Names?"

"Liam and Costello!" There was no hesitation in the rabbit's voice.

The lights on the back of the bug began to glow as a thin brush started floating behind him. It wrote at a rapid pace while the bug didn't take his eyes off of the two. After a short while, the brush stopped moving and the psychic glow spread from the pen to the cards underneath. The two cards floated their way into the palms of the both of them. 

Costello looked down at his and saw nice handwriting, a good font that was big enough to see and not enough to overwhelm. Fancy yet professional and sleek enough to fit and carry. Whatever ink they used dried quickly so to make a signature of this skill must've been made by years of experience. Whoever produced the blank version of these made good cards. He gave a nod to Dottler out of respect and made a note to shake the hand of whoever made the blank versions of these.

Liam looked down at his card and saw the card. He saw more than the card but he wasn't going to express those emotions until he was out of the public eye. Though what he did feel was pride and elation.  He wasn't in and he knew it couldn't be that easy. But he was in too deep to back out. All roads lead to him having to succeed. And he was sure as hell going to do it.

The lights faded as each card settled into their hands. The bug gave a brief shiver and settled itself.

"Don't lose them, you still need to go through basic training and rank assignment."

"Yes sir," responded Costello

Liam just nodded and then began to walk over to Braviary. He held up the card in his hands. The bird put his wing over the rabbit and rubbed the top of his head. Costello felt that weird pulling in his heart again for a split moment. But it was gone soon after.  Braviary approached Costello and nodded at him.. "Good job kid. How does it feel?"

 Costello tilted his head slightly as he looked over it. "It feels like well made wood. Cut well,smoothed to perfection with no splinters. A proper font. Reliable durability and also an overall good feel."

"I'll take it that you're content with it. Next up, we need to go meet someone. Though before we go."

"Liam", said the bird over his shoulder. "The next thing you should do is introduce yourself to your future Guildmaster. She's upstairs, fancy door of Mahogany, shabby window though. Can't miss her, she's a big bird."

It took a few moments for Liam to move out of the trance of his temporary card as he processed the words spoken to him.  Once the words got through, his head popped up and he nodded as the rabbit took off on a dash upstairs. 

As the Scorbunny moved out of sight, the two were left to their own devices. Braviary started walking and Costello followed after. They slowly made their way past the Pokemon gathered within the castle and downstairs to what appeared to be a totally different area. The place was lit by torches and wasn't as.. developed as the upper levels of the castle. Not to say it wasn't clean but it was sparsely painted save for a few red streaks. Doors that had no dust yet entropy seemed to give way in its own construction. 

Finally, Costello had ended up outside the door of whoever Braviary wanted them to see.  Costello wanted to assume it was a doctor but there was no title. Just "Alzbell '' inscribed on a very fancy piece of marble. With one wing, Braviary moved the door open to see a feline currently in the middle of pushing together two magnets with a psychic glow. The way he focused on it was in the same way you'd aimlessly flip a pencil around or just play with a coin in your hands. The room itself was littered with flexible shapes and puzzles that were either finished or seemed on the verge of being finished,impossibly stacked up in two different piles.  A quick glance over and the magnets dropped as the felid recognized the two figures in the room. 

"Ah, Soren. Didn't notice you there. Should've knocked."  The ears of the blue creature moved up slightly as the room arranged itself into better states. Puzzles moved onto a shelf, a long black chair put itself next to the blue being and a notepad floated its way onto the lap of what Costello assumed to be the one called Alzbell. 

A Meowstic. Psychic type.  A therapist. You can handle this.

"You should stay outside for this, Soren. I'll call you in once we finish."  said Alzbell.

Soren nodded and as he left,shut the door behind him. 

Alzbell looked over the Treecko before him and patted the long chair. "Take a seat."

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Costello rested on the chair. It was comforting. Somewhat new,yet broken in enough to assure that people had laid here before. This was a part of the process. His process.

"It's nice to meet you. If you didn't read the door, I'm Alzbell. And you should be Costello if I'm correct. Soren or Braviary as you might call him, told me alot about you. Walking around and you're already on your way to a career field. "

"Is that not normal?"

 A smirk arose on the face of the Meowstic. "Usually when you're found beaten and burnt, the first choice to be made isn't to find a job."

No such humor was found in Costello. "Got it."

"Impressive work. If you don't mind me asking,what brought you to the Almas guild?"

There was brief readjustment in place by the gecko. "Braviary brought me here. Along with Liam."

"Ah. That's fair. Did you want to be here?  And how do you feel about those two?"

"There's nowhere else for me to be right now", Costello answered. However there was a short pause as he answered the next question. "... I think they're ok."

"That's good. It's always nice to have someone you like around. Hopefully you feel comfortable, I know it must be hard to be constantly moving around."

"I haven't felt much stress about that."

"Then you're better at adapting to change than me." A chuckle came from him. "Do you have any questions about me, about where you are? Life in general?"

"Not really."

"Do you know where you are?"

"Seva."

"Yes. Where in Seva?"

"Almas guild. Castle Guarde."

"Where did you see the name of the castle and when?"

"Some minutes ago, on the front of the Castle."

Scribbles enter the notepad, long enough for Costello to assume they had a purpose.

"Have you felt any discomfort? Either physically or mentally?"

Go physical. Do not answer the mental.

"But he's supposed to-

Don't. 

A small breath was taken before answering. "Not since the paralysis."

"Ah yes. Braviary told me that you and Liam got into a tussle with some guild members. And also that you were winning."

"I didn't do anything. I hit the Oshawatt and then I got hit back due to my inability to plan it out."

"You seem to be taking it personally."

"It was a mistake that won't happen again."

"Ok." More scribbles. Then a pause from Alzbell and a slight lean in. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Do it."

"Why did you defend Liam?"

"What do you mean," Costello said in confusion.

"He took you in and I can understand maybe pushing a bit into the direction of verbal defense but physicality seems a bit out there."

"It was the next step. He defended me and I defended him. That's how it works." There was a matter of fact tone in the voice of Costello. Yet also, a bit of defensiveness that he couldn't pin down.

"How what works?"

There was an odd sort of unlock in his head. A pressure valve for something in his head that had been tightened. Hard. Yet it slowly and lightly loosened itself."It's how it's supposed to work. Something happens and then there's a response. There's always a response, a purpose. That Oshawatt accused me so there was defense. Blowback. Everything that happened happened. "

You're losing the point.. Stop.

 

"Do you think there was a purpose in Liam and Braviary taking you in?"

"Liam did it cause he's good and on some level was lonely.  Braviary did it cause he didn't want me there but didn't have it in him to kick me out. Or maybe it was the opportunity that he lacked."

Stop it. Slow down.

"What makes you think he didn't want you there?"

"Everything in my head when I go over it leads up to it. He asked me about Thea who I still don't know, and I know there's a reason for it but I can't find it and it just...

"Just what?"

Don't answer that. Breath. Get it together. This is not the time for you to be falling apart over this. 

A short pause. A quick inhale. Then slow exhale. 

"Nothing. I just think he doubts me and asking me about someone I don't know doesn't seem right for someone who wakes up nearly dead and without any traces to speak of." No outbursts, no rushing. Nothing over emotional.

"Understandable. I won't push you too hard. Your first day here is already stressful enough." A joking tone covered those words. Costello found the act annoying. " However, if you're looking for a reason, there's a chance that you may be a 'wild' Pokemon."

"Wild?"

"Wild as in uncivilized."  A paw was raised up as soon as the feline finished the sentence. "Sorry, that's not the right word to use these days.  Read enough books and you'll end up parroting their opinions."  

 Costello moved over to see the pencil floating in a lazy rotation.

"To better explain it, Wild Pokemon are Pokemon found in dungeons and other more.. secluded areas.  They can usually talk and act like the rest of us but they're usually a lot less... social than you are.

"So what's the difference?"

"Politics. But we aren't here for that."  Another chuckle from Alzbell.  "Let's get back to the stuff we were talking about. What usually goes through your head? How do you view the world?"

"Thoughts. My thoughts. Sometimes the thoughts of my conscience tell me what I need to do. And the world is... a matter of flow charts. Branches on a big tree. Sometimes choices are easier to grab on to. Sometimes certain options are bigger. The wrong ones or the right ones. It's just a lot of choices."

There were no scribbles. Instead there was an odd bit of concern in the voice of the Psychic type. "What does your consciousness sound like?"

"Older. Mainly older in experience but also in age. Like me but as an adult. A tired adult."

Another pause from Alzbell "... Has that voice ever guided you to do things you didn't want to."

"...."

"It's ok to say so. If you aren't comfortable, we can move on."

Take it. Move on. Do it. You're close to being done. 

"Sometimes... It guides me. I don't really know how to fight. I know what moves I can do cause... I tell myself to.  It didn't want me to fight with Liam but I did. Everything with that Lucario has been a no go. I keep thinking about her, and why there was such a negative reaction but I get nothing but another weird point in my brain. Everything from her to any memory before I woke up is-

"A Kaleidoscope of nonsense."

Costello was.. concerned by the knowledge of the Meowstic. But that concern didn't come from him. "... Yeah."

The blue feline got out of his chair and stretched out his ears. "Ok. Costello, I'm gonna try something. And I'm gonna need you to have faith in me."

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