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Open Ultra Mystery Dungeon

I liek Squirtles

sobble squad
Pronoun
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A mountain looms little ways away from the sparkling coast. In it, the Explorer’s Guild has carved out its headquarters. Colorful banners flutter around the Guild’s entrance (which faced towards the interior, not the beach) at the base of the mountain, proudly announcing to all who resides here.

~*~​

Four figures huddle around a square stone table, hunched over, torchlight playing on their silhouettes. A map of Rea lies on the table; dots and x’s are scattered about it. Some thick old tomes, taken from the sizeable bookcases that line the periphery of the room, lay open.

The room is quite comfortable. It is about ten feet tall, ten feet long, and twenty feet wide. The table is in the middle of the room; to its right, is a small but deep pond about five feet across (the pond feeds into a deeper stream within the mountain which form a path for aquatic guildmembers). At the north end of the room, opposite the door, is a semicircular wooden platform adorned with a simple rectangular mat.

The bright-white Ninetales breaks the silence. “So, Serra, the sightings thus far have concentrated mostly in Ayuma, you say?”

The Decidueye answers. “Yes, Guildmaster. Taineh has the next most accounts, followed by Cozte. Merrim, for the time being, has been mostly safe.”

“Serra, none of the other members are here. You can call me by name.”

“Yes, Guildmaster- er, Auramah.”

The Guildmaster rolls her eyes playfully, and the bird lets out an awkward chuckle. The Incineroar opposite Serra absentmindedly taps at the drawing of Ayuma. His face is somber with consternation.

“This is worrying. If this is the invasion the ancient texts predict, Ayuma is a hell of a place to start. If they somehow manage to harness the incredible energy that lies in the island, we’re done for.” He carefully leafed through the aged book, stopping on an illustration of an odd Tentacruel-like creature. He shakes his head. “Poison and Rock? Never in my years of study have I come across such a typing. Good Arceus above, this is simply preposterous!“

Now, the Primarina perks up. She sits on an ice floe; the Ninetales had earlier frozen a small patch of the pond to serve as a seat. “Now, now, Axel, you know we can’t afford to rule anything out. Any information we have is precious, no matter how improbable it seems.” She clears her throat. “Besides the spiritual significance of the place, Ayuma is a remarkably strategic place to invade. Not many Pokémon live there, and they pose little to no resistance…” She gulps when she realizes the significance of her statement.

Axel smirks, his fangs glinting. “I’m glad we finally see eye to eye, Reena. I suggest we mobilize immediately to cut them off.”

“No,” Auramah says. “We have no clue what we’re up against. You have read the grueling efforts the ancients undertook during the first invasion. The gods themselves were called down to Rea to help defeat the onslaught.” For a moment, she loses herself in her thoughts. What would she do? Is it really her responsibility to save the world?

‘‘Um, G- Auramah?” Serra says. The Ninetales snaps back to reality.

“Oh! I am terribly sorry for that short lapse. Anyways, onto more mundane matters. Have the recruitment posters been hung up? Few of the reconnaissance teams we sent out to investigate these creature reports have come back. Any single able body we can get, we take. Go to town and see if there’s any new faces. They could be recruits coming to the guild. If not, well, try and convince them.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the other three say in unison. They leave the room to do their duties.

Once they left, Auramah let her weariness and worry wash over her. What was she going to do? Shaking, she goes up to a book, turns a page, and reads to calm herself down.
 
A shadow looms in the doorway of the hall. A cold wind blows over the area as the figure looks to one side, then the other. The ground shakes as this creature approaches the desk, slowly.


The figure opens its mouth and speaks.


"Well, hi! My name's Gerald! I'm here to join the Guild, and I sure hope we can have a lot of fun with it, too!"


The Bewear looks around gives a big grin to anyone who may be around.
 
Wooloo rolls into Gerald's left leg.

"Baaaa?"

She looks curiously up at him, wide eyes begging for her soft fluff to be petted.
 
Right in the smackdab middle of an otherwise deserted reception hall, a pair of Meowstic, a male and a female, staff the desk. They both smile warmly at Wooloo.

"Hello!" the boy greets. The girl wordlessly scribbles the Bewear's name and species into a book. "If you have anything else you'd like the Nine-Tailed Guild to know, please say so! Otherwise, head down to the floor below. There's a fountain in front of the trio of carved-out stalls. All new recruits are being sent there."
 
Gerald nods. He pats Wooloo a moment, and descends the ladder.
 
Ireri had already made her way down to the floor below, but actually getting to the fountain is proving difficult. There isn't much of a crowd of recruits just yet, but it's still entirely enough to make her nervous. Her tail twitches, swiveling to try and keep an eye on everything at once, and she edges towards the fountain at a pace befitting a Wurmple.

It'll be fine! Probably! As long as no one looks at her.
 
Kallie floats above the group, keeping an eye out for anything that interests her.
 
Gorm the sizzlipede skitters into the reception hall, all ten of his little feet tap-tap-tapping on the smooth tile as he snakes his way toward the pair of meowstic. Once he's come suitably close to them, he rears up and flashes a winning smile from behind his gently flickering mustache. "Good day to you," he proclaims loudly, his tone good-natured but assertive. "It is I, Gorm of the Centiskorch Clan. I believe your guildmaster is expecting me. I sent notice of my intention to fight for your cause ahead of my arrival."

He can't help but notice that the hall is astonishingly empty, and what a pitiable thing that was. How very few mon had mustered the courage to defend their homeland, even in these trying times... Though he supposes he can't blame everyone else for not having been born with the immense bravery and fierce patriotism that Gorm had.
 
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A small gust of wind blows through the hall, and with it enters Calvin. They stop in the doorway, unmoving, surveying their surroundings, before wordlessly floating over to the ladder and descending to the floor below.
 
Absolutely miffed at having been ignored by half of the new arrivals, Wooloo rolls over to the ladder and looks pointedly at the reception staff, demanding to be carried down.
 
The male Meowstic's smile faltered. "Ah, Gorm...?" The female handed him a neatly folded note. Teo, the boy, opens it. "Ah, Gorm. Thank you, Tea." She nods. "Please, head downstairs. We've had a number of new recruits today, and an address should be beginning shortly."

As the Cryogonal walks in, Tea nonchalantly writes down 'Cryogonal' in the ledger, leaving a blank space for their name.

Teo was a little shaken. "Yikes, that was spooky... didn't even say hi." Tea stared at him, raising an eyebrow. "W-what?! You can't say it's not scary!" She shook her head and turned her attention back to the ledger.
 
Pascal slinks into the foyer after most of the others have already gone through (he gives Gorm a cordial nod, but he's all too familiar with the capricious Wooloo; he keeps her in the corner of his eye) and approaches the counter.

"Hello there, how are you two — I've got the er, usual, deliveries," he stammers to the Meowstic pair, fumbling through his mailbag, "but, er, there was one other matter I was wondering about."

He plops the mail on the counter, takes one of the recruitment flyers out of his bag, and clears his throat. "I've heard the reports, of course, and my next mail run is a bit of a runaround, we're a little short-staffed — and anyway, I was hoping, if you're sending out an adventuring party anyway, I might be able to tag along for a while?" He grins anxiously.
 
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At the back of the line of recruits stands a rather skittish little Cleffa. She rubs her little nub hands together nervously, murmuring to herself, "Come on, Tora, make your mums proud...."

She steps into the guild proper, approaching the desks. "Um, hello, I'm...Tora...and I'm here to join the guild?"
 
Teo returns a confident grin to Pascal. "Of course! We're actually, a little understaffed ourselves, haha..." Tea elbows him. "Anywho, the guild more than appreciates anyone who wishes to join, especially someone who's already so hardworking. Please head downstairs, we'll be there shortly!"

When Tora came up, Teo couldn't stop a little squeal from escaping. Even Tea's ears wiggled a bit. "Why, right this way, ma'am! We'll form you into a tip-top adventurer in no time flat!"

~*~​

The new recruits congregated on the second floor. The ladders neatly divided the room in two, each half having a fountain right in its center. The northern half, where the recruits were, had three stalls carved out in stone. Nobody stood in the leftmost one, although shelves upon shelves if stones and artifacts lined its walls. The middle one was stocked with all manner of wares, manned by a steadfast (yet bored) Kecleon. The final one was empty as well, but it housed many rolls of parchment on its shelves.

Teo and Tea came down the ladder, Tea carefully levitating the ledger onto the rightmost stall's stone counter. They called the group to attention, and as they did so, Auramah, along with a Decidueye, a Primarina, and an Incineroar, made her way up the ladder.

The Guildmaster's white coat sparkled when it caught the light. Even the gentlest breeze floated her wispy tails.

"Hello, newly admitted. I am Auramah, your guildmaster, and these are Serra, Axel, and Reena, your guild stewards. Your initiative, dear recruits, is much appreciated," she began. "I am certain a good number of you, if not all, are aware of the dire situation which we face. Most of the guild is away on a variety of missions attempting to glean any kind of information which might be useful to us. This has left our base of operations unguarded, and we are unaware if there is any danger nearby. As such, as your first duty as guild members, I am assigning you a joint mission. You shall traverse the nearby woods all the way to the next town, Roholi, and report back.

I do warn you, however, that the woods are slowly becoming what rescuers and explorers term mystery dungeons, enigmatic places that drive Pokémon into fits of anger. What's more, these dungeons never have the same path through twice, and thus require careful navigation.

Therefore, I implore you that you prepare yourselves well. If you so desire, you may stock up on provisions -paid for by the guild, of course-, or inspect your rooms on the lower floor with the assistance of the stewards. I once again thank you, and may Arceus grant you speed and fortitude in the times to come." She bowed deeply and went back down the stairs.
 
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Wooloo glowers at the ladder from the floor above as she struggles to eavesdrop, having not been carried down. :(
 
ATAuFAW.gif
 
To the side, by the ladders, there is a small ripple, and then a Xatu appears out of thin air
- It seems I'm late, how unseemly
He catches the eye of Teo
- "Greetings, I am Oscen of the Gold Sands, I am here to join the guild. I apologize for my tardiness."
 
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