PMD Rising Darkness - Chap 05

"WAKE UP CALL!!" a strident sound pierced throughout the dormitories. "GET UP QUICKLY! MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE IN 20 MINUTES."
"What kind of wake up call is that?!" moaned Flare, his head still buried in the straws.
"Just get over it," replied Lyra bluntly as she let out a loud yawn. "Come on, get up. We have an important day ahead of us."
"Yeah, yeah..." he complained. He got up slowly and stretched his body. "I guess this another thing we'll have to get used to..."
"Yeah, come on. Let's go to the main lobby".
Along with all the other teams, the two headed out the dormitories and waited for the Guildmaster to show himself. In the meantime, Lyra and Flare got time to speak with the other teams.

"May I have your attention please?" the young Gabite announced, finally coming out, "Today, we have a guest. He came to us in the middle of the night, badly hurt, and brought us some interesting news. We patched him up as soon as he got here and he told us about an event that happened two days ago. He'd like to pass everyone a message." He paused briefly before he turned around to call the visitor. There were whispers among the small groups, all wondering what this was about. Lyra and Flare shared the same impressions, but they froze when they saw a figure come out of the hallway. It was an imposing Armaldo, covered in scrapes, cuts and scars. He seemed fairly weak and was covered in bandages.
"Flare? Isn't that..."
"Yeah, there's no doubt about it..." he interrupted.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
"Let's find out..."
The visitor shook hands with the guildmaster before stepping forward. "Greetings honorable explorers. I present myself before you as the result of something bad that had happened two days ago, near midnight. First of all, let me present myself. I'm an Armaldo with an important job. I reside deep in Palane Forest near Azuria. I'm in charge to hide and protect a specific item that lies inside."
"But wait, there are absolutely no reports saying that Palane Forest holds any specific items or treasures," protested a Lucario in the crowd. "How should we trust that what you say is true?"
"Noble Lucario, if you would let me finish please. Now, the item in question that was taken is the Silver Flute." As soon as he pronounced those two words, there was an uproar among the guild's members, all of them astonished by this statement.
"Yes, you heard right. The only item that is capable to summon the Legendary Lugia has been stolen. I have no idea how the thief managed to find out its location, but the fact is that he has. The thief in question is a Scyther. I beg of you that if on any of your explorations you come across him, do your very best to take him down. But be careful, he's very strong. Obviously, I don't know the individual's intentions are, but rest reassured because I can personally guarantee that Lugia rests and watches us from a safe location. Thank you for your time," he finished, and retired back in the guildmaster's chambers.
The chatting started once more as Lyra and Flare were now frozen in place.
"So, that Scyther wants something with Lugia... Judging by the items we got, I highly doubt it's gonna be beneficial for him," sighed Lyra.
"I just don't understand how that Armaldo is still alive... That Scyther took great risks to eliminate us and ends up failing just because he didn't want any witnesses."
"Yeah, what is that about?" The circumstances were very awkward, and they pondered them for a few seconds. "I guess the Scyther left him severely injured and thought he was dead. Did you see what condition he was in? He was covered in bandages everywhere and he had all those cuts and scars..."
"Well, that's not important right now. The fact is that we know almost everything that's up with that Pokémon. Given the circumstances, I think it's a good idea to warn the guildmaster..."
Lyra looked at him with a worried look. "I don't know... Let's wait until at least tonight, after our first mission."
"Okay, sure thing."
The chatting continued for a short while until the guildmaster finally cut them off as he spoke again,
"That said, if you have any kind of information regarding this peculiar Pokémon, please come and tell us everything you know. We don't know if this Pokémon is dangerous or not and we'd rather not find this out the hard way. That is all for this morning. You may go on with your regular jobs. Thank you for your time."
He finally closed his speech and everyone dissipated into small groups, going on with their daily routine.
"Hey, you two!" the Vibrava called to Lyra and Flare, "The guildmaster wants to meet you in his chambers. He wants to give your exploration team equipment so that you can start today."
The duo nodded and headed over towards his quarters.

"Ah, it's you two. Come on in! The federation got back to me. I'm proud to announce that Team SolarQuake is now an official exploration team! We just received everything you'll need to get started. Everything on that table is yours. Go take a look. It's not much but it' essential."
The new team approached the table and scanned through all the items on it. Among them was a region map showing the precise location of all nearby dungeons, two explorer badges, and a brand new treasure bag. Lyra and Flare shared a moment of pure excitement as they took their badges. Each was engraved with their name and species, along with their team and guild name. It gave them an identity as official explorers and allowed them to escape from dungeons in case they were knocked out during a mission.
"I can't believe we finally have one of these!" exclaimed Flare blissfully. Lyra was sharing the same emotions as she proudly stuck the badge onto her chest.
"Those badges are very important, so be sure not to lose them at any time. Also remember that even if they allow you to escape in dungeon while in great danger, you'll lose all the items in your treasure bag along with at least half of your money, so please be very careful. Speaking of treasure bags, the federation still sent you a new one, which isn't a bad thing. With your other one, you'll be able to transport more items!"
"Yeah, that's a nice advantage," replied Lyra, elated. She picked up the new treasure bag from the table and examined it for a bit. "For convenience, I think we'll avoid the extra weight and use only one of the two bags."
"Well, these items are yours. You can do whatever you want with them. It's up to you to organize yourselves."
"Understood."
"Okay then, now that you're all set, you may go back to the main lobby and choose your first mission. I have another guild member waiting for you over there to help you with that. I wish you the best of luck and, once again, welcome to the guild!"
"Thank you guildmaster! We won't let you down! Come on Lyra, let's go!" They both left the room, eager and impatient to get started.

"Hey! Team SolarQuake, over here!" shouted a Lucario as he saw the duo exit the guildmaster's chambers. They approached him, wondering what he wanted.
"Hey! What's up?"
"I'm Cole from team 'Aura Guardians'. The guildmaster requested that I help you out on your first day."
"Oh yeah, right," they sighed. "Okay, so where do we start?"
"Well, first of all, we need to find a mission that's suited for you. Let's have a look." they all scanned the board thoroughly, until Cole grabbed one of the job offers.
"Here's one that looks good. It's from a Minun, and here's what it says: 'Greetings. I seem to have lost an item that's dear to me in Arid Plains. It's a Wonder Gummi. I think it's at level B4, but I don't have the courage to go back there and get it... Please, someone help!'"
"Well, it's typical," complained Flare, "but it'll do fine for our first mission!"
"Yeah, I agree. We'll take the job!"
"That's great. Well, here's the job offer. I'll leave it up to you from now on. I wish you guys the best of luck!" he said with a smile. "Right now, I have to go back to my team."
"Sure thing, no problem. Thanks again!"
"Anytime." They all shook hands and waved goodbye.
"Okay, well since we don't have that much money to buy items, I propose we start with the mission right away," declared Flare.
"Yeah. And besides, the Scyther's items should be more than enough to start with."
"True, true..."
"Okay, well, let's take a look at the map to see where these 'Arid Plains' actually are... Hum... Look! Right there!" she pointed out, "It's about 4 miles away from here. Okay then, let's go!"
They headed towards the exit and crossed Jake's path.
"Greetings! I take it that you have a mission?"
"Yeah! It's in 'Arid Plains'. We have to recover an item," explained Lyra.
"Oh, I see... Interesting. Well, I won't keep you any longer. Good luck out there!"
"Thanks!" Without waiting any longer, the two left the guild's locals, excited and eager.

They walked at a high pace, until they finally found themselves at the dungeon's entrance.
"So... This is it?" wondered Flare.
"Yup. These are Arid Plains." True to their name, the climate was very dry. The sun was high and hefty, but Flare didn't seem to mind at all.
"Okay then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Lyra nodded in response and went in with her partner, unaware that a lurking shadow was following them.