A/N (March 25, 2013): This was my first foray into writing fiction with original, long-paced stories instead of short oneshots. It was written a long time ago, before I had done much of the world-building that I've done for Mystery Dungeon nowadays; as such, I don't really consider this "canon" to what I've world-built now. With that being said, if you want to read this, then go ahead and enjoy.

"Urgent mail for Team Returners! I repeat, urgent mail for Team Returners!"

My eyes flicked open, a strange shuffling sound breaking the serene ambiance of the waves that crashed against the rocks, the stillness of the air of the shared base shattered by our intruder. I turned my head to look at my partner, the cream-furred fox batting her eyes, trying to adjust to the dimness of our home. I stood up as slowly as I could, trying not to make myself dizzy from grogginess, and I moved over to a small iron torch, the fire burning atop it the only light in the entire bluff. My paw grasped it carefully, trying to avoid the sharp bits that poked out at certain points from the tall metal, and I quickly swung around, rubbing at my eyes with my other paw.

"Wha… who is it?" I asked, groaning halfway into the question, and I blinked one eye wide, trying to keep it open as best I could. A tiny, brown something-or-other peeked his face out from the dirt, gazing brightly at me. Rose grunted in irritation and flopped back down on the straw bed, and I strode over, shaking her gently. She never was a morning person.

"Rose, wake up. It's Diglett," I said, and she yawned again, flopping onto her other side to occupy the space I had been sleeping in, and she curled up, her nine fluffy tails covering her body as best they could. I shook her more forcefully, the sleepiness finally beginning to leave my mind. "Rose, we have mail, wake up!"

She gave a soft moan as her ruby-red eyes opened, moving her head up to lick my cheek. "G'morning, Bill…"

I left her for a moment as I stepped up the slope leading outside, and I gently opened the trapdoor to peek out. The moon was right above our heads. I grumbled as I moved back over to Diglett and Rose, who were now greeting each other.

"Diglett, couldn't this have waited? It's… I dunno, midnight," I spoke, more annoyance creeping into my voice than I would have liked. He shook his head.

"Sorry, Bill, Rose. I do share your sentiments, though," He replied matter-of-factly. "I've been delivering these to exploration teams around this area all night!"

I knelt down to him, patting him on the head. All night? What mail could be so important to be delivered this late at night… or rather, this early in the morning? He shot down into his little tunnel, and I glanced at Rose, who padded up to me with another large yawn. I tousled the fur between her ears and she sneezed, her snout letting loose tiny embers that landed on the stone floor.

"Diglett," She started. "How many times do I have to tell you to just wake Bill up?"

"Sorry, Rose, but this is an important letter from the I-A-E-T!" The little mole enunciated the last four syllables, and both my and Rose's eyes widened. Rose and I, ever since rescuing the legendary explorer Scizor from Blizzard Island almost a year ago, had been closely in contact with the International Association of Exploration Teams, and it was always an honor to receive mail from them, no matter what it might have been.

"Maybe it's another mission? I wouldn't put it past them," Rose wondered aloud, voice thick with confusion, and I nodded absentmindedly. We didn't get many missions from them, seeing as they had contact with thousands of different exploration teams, but when we did it was always at the most inopportune times. I grumbled inwardly as I remembered the time when a mission request was delivered to us in the middle of the sea, while in the middle of a completely different mission. Truly the skeleton that held the exploration guilds together had 'impeccable timing', to quote Rose's thoughts on the subject. A miniature tremor came from the hole in our floor, and Diglett appeared again, an envelope delicately balanced on top of his head, the signature red-wax seal keeping the folded paper closed.

"No, it's not a mission this time. Go ahead and take it, I'm going to bed," He said exhaustedly, and he thrust forward with his forehead, the letter falling onto the ground. Before Rose and I could voice our thanks, he had disappeared, Sharpedo Bluff going back to its relative stillness, the ambiance of the crashing waves taking over once again. I reached over to the letter and picked it up, dangling it between two of my pawpads.

"Well, may as well open this up and read it. Rose, help me out?" I asked her, and she nodded, swiftly gathering a circle of stones before launching a flamethrower at it, lighting a roaring campfire in the middle. As I held the letter near the blaze to melt the wax, I turned to Rose.

"What do you think it is?" I said. It was a rhetorical question, but I was pretty sure that – like every other rhetorical question I asked – Rose would answer me anyway. She was just like that.

"Well, whatever it is-"

Bingo.

"-we'll find out in a few seconds, right?" She commented cheerfully, and I leaned into her, nuzzling behind her ear. She let out a cute cry of contentment as I did so, and she began to twist her tails over to tickle my side. I barked out a peal of surprised laughter as I nearly flopped over, and I hopped away from the fuzzy onslaught. She trotted backwards and gave chase round and round the fire, expertly poking and prodding my weak points.

"C'mon, not while I'm holding the letter," I pleaded through a chuckle as I twisted around to face her, and she smiled disarmingly, stopping in place. Taking the moment to catch my breath, I looked at the letter, the wax having melted enough to be able to open up the envelope. I was about to do so when a stray tail had batted it out of my hand, and it landed near the straw bed. My eyes widened as the other eight tails lashed out at me, launching me away, and I let out an 'oof!' as I landed a couple paces away. Before I could defend myself, she was on me, a merciless tickling assaulting me from all sides.

"Ro-ho-ho-ose! Stoop! Pleeheeheehee-" I could barely breathe, the sensations overpowering my senses, and I pulled her into a hug to stop her, tightly clinging her to my body, her fur brushing against my blunted chest-spike. Her tails splayed out as she yelped in surprise at my sudden counterattack, finally freeing me from her playful act. I nuzzled her cheek affectionately, and she did the same to my own.

"C'mon, Rose, we should check what the IAET sent us," I said, reaching feebly for the paper in question, and she untangled herself from me. As I gratefully stretched my joints, she nipped at the letter with her teeth, shredding the envelope to reveal the stationary inside, then tilted her head in surprise.

"Huh? Diglett was telling the truth, this isn't a mission…" As she stood back, I plucked the paper from the dusty ground, giving it a quick once-over before really reading it. It was fancy, nothing like the typically-torn scraps that most rescue requests were written on, with a faint pink tint and a decorative trim bordering the edges. The flourish-y handwriting, as well, was unfamiliar, especially when compared to the rather messy scrawl that Rose and I had. I could barely read the thing, it took me five silent tries to finally think that I understood that it seemed to be an… invitation to something. Not a mission, but something else.

"To Team Returners of Treasure Town's Wigglytuff Guild," I stated proudly, imitating the fancy cursive of the letter. Rose giggled. "As a Master-ranked exploration team, you are hereby invited to the first annual Master's Festival, to be held at the Marine Resort this coming weekend. If you decide to attend, simply arrive at the Marine Resort this Friday, and you will be marked as an attendee. Should you choose not to come, you may continue with your exploration duties and pretend this letter was never delivered."

I coughed a bit to clear my throat, and Rose cut me off before I could continue. "A festival for Master-ranked teams? Seems sort of odd, don't you think?"

I nodded flatly. It was odd for the IAET to hold a party for anything, much less to be starting a yearly event. I held on to a little bit of hope. "Maybe they've had an influx of funding and decided to celebrate a little?"

Rose let out a 'hmmm', and I rubbed at the underside of my jaw. "Oh well, we'll talk about it later. Here's the rest of the letter."

She nodded, moving behind me to peek over my shoulder as I spoke. "However, I do believe that any and every team will enjoy themselves if they attend, and I hope I see you there!"

I had one more quick skim-over before placing the letter near Rose so she could read it herself; from the (pretty funny) expressions of frustration she made while doing so, I figured that she had as much trouble understanding it as I did. By the time she stepped back, the sky was only just beginning to turn a lighter shade of blue, the sun shining despite its not-being-visible yet. I looked at her, then the letter, which had oddly started to deteriorate, almost like it was supposed to not be kept. Made me think of their mission requests, which sort of did the same thing by-

Wait. Shoot! I snatched up the paper, flipping it over to look at the missed note on the back. In striking, jet-black ink, a more scratchy sentence was clear.

"Signed, Chief Samurott… this message is self-deleting," I recited, confirming my hunch just in time, as the stationary suddenly fell to pieces. Rose let out a quiet yip of surprise as the sight, although she calmed shortly afterward, and wisely scooped the stray scraps into our treasure bag so that they wouldn't blow away and litter the area.

"Figures they'd pull that with the rest of their mail," She remarked gruffly. "Wake us up, invite us to a party, then they destroy the records. How polite the IAET are!"

"I've never heard of this 'chief' guy before," I said, and Rose nodded in agreement. "Obviously he's important if he's the one writing on behalf of the IAET, but I don't think I've even heard of… well, anyone that works with them besides Scizor."

Rose glanced up at the trapdoor that lead out of our cozy little home. "Do you think we should talk to Chatot and Guildmaster Wigglytuff?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but closed it. That was a good question, one that I hadn't thought of. The Guildmaster and his right-hand bird were the ones who ran the Wigglytuff Guild, which was part of the association, so it would only make sense that they had at least some contact with them. Whether their contacts were named (or whether the messages destroyed themselves like ours did) neither Rose nor I had the foggiest idea. At the moment, that was the best thing we could do.

"…Yes, Rose, that's a great idea," I smiled and stroked her back, earning a bashful aside-glance in response. "We should do that first thing in the morning before we get the jobs for the day."

She suddenly began to giggle as she pointed her snout towards the outcropping in the bluff, and I looked out to see the sunrise. It was already morning. I turned to her as she tried to keep a bout of laughter in.

"Addendum: we should do that first thing after we get some sleep," I flopped down onto the straw bed, the early-morning exhaustion finally catching up to me, and I drifted off almost immediately. Rose snuggled up to my side, letting out a large yawn before wrapping us up in her tails and dozing off as well.

We ended up snoozing straight into the afternoon, waking up at what would have been lunchtime, and had to hoof it over to the Guild in order to ask Wigglytuff about the message before he got too wrapped up in other matters. The hard leather rucksack that carried all our things rhythmically bumped against my leg as I ran, the items inside jostling around wildly.

"I guess we should be glad that he always takes all morning to stop playing with his breakfast and eat it, eh?" I quipped at Rose as we ran through Treasure Town.

"At least he's so attached to his Perfect Apples that they take him that long, anyway," She laughed back, a light trail of dust flowing from her paws.

Thankfully it didn't take too much time to get to the Pokemon-shaped tent at the edges of the town, and we stepped down the ladders leading to the ground floor. A few teams were still hanging around to choose jobs for the day, but it was otherwise silent. As I touched down on the stone floor, my eyes peered around the room and stopped at the sight of a blue-and-black parrot, chatting away to a Drilbur and Sandile. His charges smiled and waved to us as we walked up, although the bird himself continued to blather on, and seemed quite startled when he finally noticed us.

"Oh, Team Returners!" His rather screechy yelp was grating on all ears present, and he immediately lowered his voice. "Er-hem, sorry… what a pleasant surprise to see you both here today!"

I chuckled disdainfully and folded my arms. Good Pokemon that Chatot might have been, I was never very fond of him. "…it's good to see you too, Chatot."

Rose smiled at him and poked one of his sides with her cold nose. "Hi there, Chatot!" Her tone was leaps and bounds friendlier than mine.

Ruffling his wings and standing up straighter, Chatot looked at us with unblinking eyes, his odd tuft of head-feathers still as distinctive as ever. "Ah, hello! And now… what brings you two here today?"

I let my posture slacken as I knelt down to his level (or as close as I could get to it), and Rose planted her bottom down in place, glancing around the area absentmindedly. "Yesterday Diglett delivered a letter to us from the IAET. Something about a festival, signed with a name of someone who we don't know. We were wondering if we could ask Wigglytuff if he knew anything about it."

"You two got an invitation from the IAET?" Chatot chirped a little quickly, and I narrowed my eyes. What was that all about? Chatot composed himself somewhat before continuing, although he was still noticeably flustered. "And it was signed with a name? How strange, normally only the Guildmaster's letters have names. Curious…"

I nodded. "Yeah, we thought it was weird, too. Could we spend a little time talking to Wigglytuff?"

Chatot immediately lashed out, pecking my snout, and I winced as the jabbing beak dug into my fur. I grabbed my nose and swerved backwards as Rose padded over to see what had happened. I leered angrily at the bird.

"Uh, ouch, what was that for!" I yelled in alarm.

"You forget that the Guildmaster must be referred to by his title, not his name," Chatot replied tersely, and I rolled my eyes as blatantly as I could, the meager revenge mellowing me a bit. Chatot coughed as he started to speak again. "However, the Guildmaster actually left a few moments ago to get a drink at Spinda's café instead of his normal breakfast, so he should probably be there. If you leave now, you should catch him."

I was about to give him a snarky retort, but Rose beat me to the punch as she stepped in front of me. "Thank you, Chatot. We'll go meet with the Guildmaster right now!"

Chatot and Rose said their goodbyes, and as I climbed up the ladder leading out of the guild I shot one last weak glare at the stuffy old Pokemon. I stormed through the tentflaps, my paws tightly gripping the air as I took a sharp turn to go behind the tent to look out at the sea beyond. The hilly point that the guild sat on truly had a beautiful view of the ocean, and I closed my eyes to meditate and calm down. Focusing my aura into my mind, I felt the tassels that draped from the back of my head levitate, the energy forming a pool in the pit of my stomach, the world around me dimming… but a fuzzy someone sling her front paws over my shoulders, her head snugly setting itself between my ears. I opened my eyes and let the aura fade as I glanced up at Rose.

"How can you stand him?" I asked.

"You just have to not let things get to you," She replied. I sighed and glanced out at the sea again as she nuzzled my forehead.

"C'mon, let's go to the café. We haven't had any breakfast, so a drink at least would do us both some good." Rose hopped off of me as I rubbed at my stomach, which growled softly in response. I was rather hungry.

We both slid smoothly down the slope and made our way towards the trapdoor leading to Spinda's little place, and we entered, the warmth of the outdoors giving way to a cooler atmosphere lit by candles and quartz-paned windows. The place was quaint and quiet, and rather empty, too, if the many unattended tables were any indication. The only noises that could be heard were Spinda mixing drinks, Wobbuffet and Wynaut setting up for the day, and a large pink Pokemon in the corner that slurped away at an apple smoothie. Rose and I both hid a smile as we walked over to him and sat down at his table. He was completely oblivious to our presence until he had completely drained his glass, and he grinned. "Friendly-friends! It's good to see you, Team Returners!"

I laughed good-naturedly at the nickname Wigglytuff gave… pretty much everybody, now that I thought about it. "Good to see you too, Wigglytuff. Enjoying yourself today?"

He was light and jovial as he nodded, acting almost like a young child despite his middle age, and I crossed my legs and placed my paws on the table, waving over Spinda. Rose scooted closer to me as the loopy bartender toddled over, plucking Wigglytuff's glass and beginning to clean it with a wet, soapy rag. "Hey there, you guys. Want something?"

Rose and I both ordered apple smoothies, and Wigglytuff requested a refill of his, and Spinda wobbled away back behind his counter to begin making the drinks. Satisfied, I looked at Wigglytuff, who had obtained a Perfect Apple from Arceus-knows-where and was no bouncing it on his head. Rose and I didn't bother hiding our smiles this time, although I kept my mind on business.

"Chatot told us that you were here, Wigglytuff. We were wondering if we could ask you something?" I tentatively inquired. A wide grin plastered itself onto his face.

"Friends can always ask other friends about things! What did you want to know, friendly-friends?" He responded, the Perfect Apple only augmenting the boyishness of the pink Pokemon. I took a deep breath and motioned for Wigglytuff to lean in close, so that we could try to keep the knowledge secret.

"Yesterday, we got a letter from the IAET, an invitation to some party. It was signed by someone we don't know, and we don't know if the message is real or not. We thought you might know a little bit more about it," I said as I dug into the treasure bag, hunting for the scraps of the invitation that we had been given, and my paw grasped a handful of the thin papers as I dumped them onto the table. Wigglytuff ooh-ed and reached out for them, and we both began to piece together as much of the letter as we could. In the end, not much was legible, but we could at least read the signature. I gingerly ran a pawpad just above the words, the inky-black words almost gleaming in the light.

"Chief Samurott… Rose and I have no idea. Do you know who this guy is?" I whispered hastily. Wigglytuff nodded, an uncharacteristically serious look gracing his features. At this point, Spinda returned with our three smoothies, and I took two glasses gratefully, placing one in front of Rose while I sipped at the other, the sweet stuff satiating my hunger a bit. Wigglytuff grabbed his own smoothie, tucking his Perfect Apple safely away somewhere, and greedily drained half of his drink before continuing to speak, somehow keeping his dignity while having a mustache of froth around his mouth.

"Chief Samurott… yes, I do know him. He's one of the Pokemon in charge of the IAET as a whole, along with two others," He explained slowly, and I tilted my head. Two others? "It's said that they were some of the greatest pioneers in their youths, exploring most of the world and, of course, starting the whole organization of exploration teams."

Rose and I looked at each other in mild surprise. It was only natural to assume that the ones who ran the whole association were also explorers themselves once, at least I thought. I let my mind wander as I thought of them – if they were the first exploration team, they must have been prolific. "But how come I've never heard of this guy and the 'two others'? If they're the guys who run the IAET, then you'd think they'd be more well-known."

Wigglytuff shook his head, ears flopping around humorously, and he sipped his smoothie again. "They prefer to keep themselves a secret. I'm not sure why, since I barely know them myself, although I assume that we'll meet them at the Marine Resort, right?"

I nodded in agreement. If the IAET was the one hosting the party, then obviously this Samurott person would be there, and then Wigglytuff and Rose and I would be able to meet hi-

I did a double-take. "Wait… we never told you that it was at the Marine Resort."

Wigglytuff gave us a sheepish grin. "I suppose I should be honest with friends; I got an invitation too. Although," He quickly added. "I'll be there less as a guest and more to represent the Guild."

I clapped my paws once. "So that's why Chatot acted so strange when we told him about it."

Rose stopped drinking from her thin wooden straw and half-glanced at me. "Chatot always acts strange around you."

I shrugged in response and Wigglytuff giggled. "Anyway, I don't know much about the festival itself, but I do think that it would be good if you two went. I always see you doing jobs every day, and that's also what I see from other Master-ranked teams, like Team Charm and Team Raiders, whenever they visit us. It would do everyone some good to take a breather."

I leaned back in my chair, my paws behind my head. Wigglytuff had a point; I didn't remember the last time Rose and I had taken a day off. Adventuring, doing search and rescue jobs, it was all fun, but I would have been lying if I said that it never got boring, especially since Rose had a penchant for taking jobs at the Beach Cave (even though that place was better left for the teams that were just starting out). Closing my eyes, I let the mental energy flow through me as auras outlined my two companions.

It had taken me an incredibly long time to finally understand all this, but being a Lucario, I was sort of forced to learn it. Auras were complex things, changing at a moment's notice and always reflecting the feelings of a Pokemon. Most took on a color that represented their current emotion, while their smoothness symbolized their inner thoughts. Rose's aura was blue and fluctuated very slightly, and I fidgeted – blue meant calm, but even gentle shaking meant that she was thinking about things, just as I was. Wigglytuff, on the other hand, was a flat, happy pink – all he seemed to be focusing on was polishing off the rest of his smoothie, which he did with great gusto. I twisted my head as a third, red-colored shape in the back swore loudly as the clunk of a dropped drink glass reverberated through the room.

I opened my eyes. "Well, Rose? What do you think?"

"Huh? Oh, I think that it sounds like fun, but I also don't want to stop doing jobs… think of all those Pokemon that will be left without help," She said, voice flip-flopping from excited to worried. I reached over to tousle her headfur, and she unconsciously purred with pleasure.

"Personally, I think it would be great to take a few days off, but I'll leave it up to you. Besides, if we take a break, then that opens up jobs for the new recruits like Team Diggers," I remarked as nonchalantly as I could. Rose let out a 'hmmm' and stared past me out the window, deep in thought, before taking another sip of her smoothie. I looked over at Wigglytuff again, choosing to change the subject.

"Hey, Wigglytuff… I know you said that you don't know much about the festival itself, but what about the Marine Resort? Manaphy told Rose and I about it once, but we've never visited it," I crossed my legs and leaned forward, and Rose seemed to have an interest as well. Wigglytuff held his head and nodded, slightly off-kilter, probably from his smoothie.

"Ooogh… brain freeze," He grumbled. "Y-yeah, I know a little about the Marine Resort. Want me to tell you, friendly-friends?"

Rose and I both responded with a simple 'yes', and we waited until his brain freeze had passed. "Umm… I know that it's a big tropical island down south of here, and that it's known for its beaches, hot springs, and its famous bath salts. It's populated mostly by water-loving Pokemon, but the IAET had sent down a lot of Timburr and Gurdurr workers a few years back to start working on a construction project there, along with a bunch of Metagross and Alakazam for… something I don't remember."

I rubbed at my chin thoughtfully. "Timburr and Gurdurr? Never heard of them."

"They're the IAET's main building crew, so they get sent around a lot. They're naturally nomadic, I guess. They built a lot of the houses of the friendly-friends that live here," Wigglytuff explained. "I only know what I overheard during the occasional Guildmaster meet-up, so I'm not sure what they were making there. Probably something having to do with this festival, though. I don't know much more than that, I'm afraid."

Ignoring the slips of affectionate terminology that Wigglytuff slipped in there, I was satisfied. "It's fine, we learned a lot."

The pink Pokemon hopped off of his chair and dropped a few coins into the empty glass. "Well, I have to get back to the Guild so that I can pack some snacks and things. If you're planning on going to the festival, you oughta do the same, friendly-friends," He grabbed his Perfect Apple and began to bounce it on his head again, and he waddled out of the café, leaving Rose and I alone at the table. I took another sip of my smoothie and winced as I spat an apple seed into my paw.

"Well, Rose? What do you think? Do you want to go to the festival?" I asked, and Rose's wooden straw noisily announced that she had finished her drink. She removed her muzzle from the thin utensil and peered down the glass, quiet. "Rose?"

She turned to me, expression bright but firm, and nodded. "I think… I think I'd like to see what this is all about."

I smiled gently at her and stroked her back, and she rubbed against my side lovingly. "I'm glad. I don't know what it's going to be like, but I bet it's going to be great. Hot springs and beaches, it sounds like fun!"

Slowly a smile appeared on her face as well. "Hot springs… that sounds nice."

"Yeah, right? I know you like those, and it'll be fun to meet other Master-ranked teams. Maybe we'll see Team Charm again! Wouldn't that be cool?" I felt a little bad for deliberately mentioning Team Charm, but I knew that it would get Rose excited. She was a big fan of them, after all.

Rose's smile grew giddy and she stepped off her chair, her tails waving up and down. "Hey, you're right! That'll be great! It'll be fun to see Lopunny and the others again!"

I chuckled at her burst of enthusiasm and stood up, digging into the bag and pulling out a tiny satchel. As I took a few coins from the satchel and placed them near our drink glasses, Spinda clumsily walked up and took the three dishes into his arms. "Thank you for your continued patronage. We hope to see you again!"

Wobbuffet abruptly saluted and called to us from across the room "That's right!"

Rose and I laughed as we left the café, and I stretched my arms as clean, fresh air entered my lungs. A cool breeze blew through the empty crossroads, and we set out along the western path leading through Treasure Town and towards the bluff that was our home.

"So, we should pack, and then we'll meet with Wailord tomorrow to sail us over to the Marine Resort?" I planned, gesturing with my paws. Rose nodded in agreement, and we continued through the town silently. "Are you sure you want to go? We don't have to if you don't want to."

She shook her head. "No, I think I want to go. It'll be fun, right?" She shot me a genuine smile, and I relaxed, giving her a quick hug before continuing.

"Yeah, it'll be fun. Definitely."

The salty scent of the open ocean wafted its way into my nostrils, nearly causing me to sneeze, droplets of the ocean's moisture spattering onto both our bodies. I wiped my forehead vainly and leaned forward to scan the foggy horizon, our ride bobbing up and down with the waves. I crawled onto all fours as I peered downward at the sea below, and recoiled, a slight pang of worry creeping its way into my mind. I scuttled back to Rose, who was lying down flat atop our ride, and I curled up next to her as Wailord crashed through a particularly high sandbar. I grabbed the bag to make sure it didn't fall off into the depths below, and shuddered as I pictured toppling off myself.

"I hate heights," I grumbled, and Rose licked my cheek, the smell of her Pecha Scarf soothing my senses.

"Don't look down, then," She replied. I shivered a little bit, the fear not leaving, and I snuggled into her warm fur, the harsh wind whipping at our faces. She raised her head and took in a deep breath, smiling as she did so.

"Hey, Wailord," I winced and instinctively raised my hands to my ears as she yelled down to him. "How much longer do you think we have 'til we make it to the Marine Resort?"

A loud, strange-sounding groan emanated from the spout of the Float Whale Pokemon before a pressurized blast of water shot from it, a rainbow forming from the mist that resulted. A deep, throaty voice came out of nowhere.

"I can see an island a few hours away from here, miss Rose," Wailord stated matter-of-factly, and I slumped, relaxing ever-so-slightly as soon as I heard that we were near land. Finally, an end to this whole trip; some solid ground under my feet would do me good.

Rose was more thoughtful than I. "You can see through all that fog?"

A slight dip in movement indicated a nod. "You forget that not only do I have far better sight than you, my dear, but also that my eyes are underwater."

Her jaw dropped before she ducked her head low in embarrassment. "Oh yeah... I forgot."

I chuckled softly as she curled up to try and take a nap, and I leaned backward, staring up at a couple nondescript flying Pokemon in the sky, my eyes following their every movement as they darted in between the clouds. One in particular stood out, a large circular shape that darted its way between the rest, and I stared unblinkingly as it swooped lower and lower towards us. Closing my eyes, I focused the aura into my mind and stood, zeroing in on the unknown Pokemon. His – or her – aura was a determined yellow, and I made to enter a battle stance. However, it took that moment to dive straight towards me, and I yelped as I flung both my arms out in a panic. I flopped quite ungainly onto Wailord's slimy back, grunting in pain as my head clonked onto a particularly tough spot.

"Ow," I cried. "What… was that?" I fumbled for the bag to try and grab the team badge, but a psychic force held my body in place, and I could only watch as my assailant flapped over. It was a large, baby-blue ball of fuzz with a pink, heart-stamped nose, the body punctuated only by a pair of dark wings. It wore a frown, which obviously wasn't a good sign. I struggled fruitlessly against the mental power that kept me down, and the bat-like creature landed on my blunted chest-spike. I bared my teeth.

"Who are you?" The voice was that of an elderly female, and I quit scowling at the Pokemon momentarily from surprise. However, my anger returned in full force.

"If you'd let me get the badge, I'd have gladly told you," I growled. "Attacking me is not a good way to make a first impression, you know."

The bat seemed to frown deeper… or maybe it didn't at all, I couldn't tell because of all the fur that covered the body. "I'm not in the mood for your sass. Who are you?"

I didn't say anything, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of receiving a response. Instead, I simply stared at her and waited, which far more visibly angered the bat, as her tone turned dangerously sweet. "I'll ask you one more time, mister. Who are you and why are you traveling near the Marine Resort?"

"Miss?" Rose's calm voice broke the tension, and the cream-furred fox poked at the bat with her snout. The bat, in turn, jumped (or would it be flew up?) in surprise and swiveled around to look at her new charge.

"Oho? Another traveler? Maybe you'll be more cooperative than this one," The bat seemed to tilt backward, obviously meaning me. Rose gave me a look and I felt my face heat up ashamedly. "Now, if you please, tell me who you two are and why you are traveling near the Marine Resort?"

The Ninetales' face brightened. "Oh, so we are near the Marine Resort? That's good, I was hoping that we had gotten it right. Are you part of the IAET? Can you tell them to stop making self-destroying letters?" Rose's questions came out swiftly before she composed herself.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to ask all of that, I've just had them on the mind. My name is Rose," She introduced herself before nodding towards me. "And he's Bill, my partner. We're Team Returners, on our way to the festival-thingy at the Marine Resort."

The bat flapped over to Rose and perched in between her ears. I rolled my eyes, although I stopped when Rose shot me another disapproving look. "And if that is true, then do you still have your invitation?"

Before Rose could answer, I spoke out. "I'm sorry, miss, and no, we don't, unless you count the scraps of paper left over. It would be easier if you didn't make all your messages rip themselves to shreds." The snark left my mouth before I could stop myself, and I scrunched my face up in annoyance with myself. "If you would stop holding me down, I could both get our team badge and the remains of the invitation for you."

The bat's face turned thoughtful, and she wrapped one of her wings around herself before nodding. "Very well, mister Bill. Go on, get your things." As the psychokinesis keeping me down faded away, I stood up and sighed with relief before grabbing our bag, fumbling for what she wanted. The first thing I pulled out was the handful of scraps that we had kept, which I held out to the bat.

"You may need to rearrange them back in order," Rose remarked off-handedly, and the bat nodded, proceeding to do so. I continued to hunt through our bag for our most important tool, raising it towards the sky when I finally found it. The fog from the early morning was gone now, replaced by warm sunlight that glinted off of the jet-black pin. After rubbing the badge a few times to shine it, I held it out in both paws for the unknown Pokemon to inspect.

"Very well, it looks like you are indeed Team Returners. I apologize for my previous behavior, but I was under orders to make sure that no unwanted trespassers came near the festival." The bat said tersely. I bowed my head.

"I'm sorry too. I was out of line for arguing with you." I said. "But, if I may ask… who are you?"

The bat popped up and hovered in the air before responding. "I am Woobat, leader of chief Samurott's appointed scouts for the IAET. Ah, good, there he is no-" She did a double-take. "Wait, he's there right now!"

Woobat, Rose and I looked out, a large, sandy beach greeting our vision. It seemed that in the time we had spent talking with Woobat, we had reached our destination. Wailord, who I had completely forgotten about (to my embarrassment), groaned before shooting off another spout of water to signal our arrival. Woobat zoomed away from us to attend to a blue Pokemon that stood in the shallows, and I hesitantly looked down at them. The new creature nodded at us.

"It's shallow enough to tread water here! Jump down," Chief Samurott called to us, and I looked at Rose and smiled.

"Ladies first," I said, and Rose leapt out, barely making a splash as she landed gracefully next to Samurott. I grabbed our bag before jumping off of Wailord as well, submerging completely into the drink before kicking out, swimming to the surface, and trying as hard as I could not to swallow any salt water. Gulping in fresh air, I looked around at the rest of our little group before we all silently headed to the shore. Wailord let the waves carry him out to deeper waters before he turned around and headed away.

As we trudged up onto the beach, I flailed around, trying to dry my sopping fur as best I could. Rose had the advantage of her fire-typing, and as such she simply increased the temperature of her body, which resulted in her fur becoming large and poofy. I tried hard not to chuckle at the sight. Woobat had simply flown the whole way, and Samurott seemed to have the droplets just slide off of him. Now that we were on land again, I took the time to survey the one who wrote our letter.

He was quite impressive, if I said so myself. A bushy, silver mustache sprouted from his muzzle, and small pieces of armored shells adorned his legs and tail. His shell helmet, with a fearsome spear-like protrusion jutting out in front, completed the image. I knelt down respectfully, not wanting to screw up like I did with Woobat.

"It's good to meet you, chief Samurott," It felt odd referring to him by his title and his name, seeing as I was on first-name terms with everyone in Treasure Town. Chalk it up to shyness, I guess. Rose sat down and nodded, repeating what I had said. To both our surprise, he laughed at us.

"So formal," He quipped. "Come now, stop, you're making me feel old."

Tentatively, I stood up, scratching the back of my head. I watched Samurott draw a sword from his front armor and point it outward into a mess of palm trees. "Follow that path to get to the festival. Go to the meeting hall first. You'll know it when you see it, each building will have a sign next to it."

Rose tilted her head in confusion. "What about you, chief Samurott?"

He gave us a kind smile. "I'm staying here to greet anyone else that arrives this way. Get along now."

Rose and I obediently began to stroll down the path, somewhat dazed by the short encounter with the leader of the IAET. Woobat didn't come with us, so we were alone for the first time that day. The warm air of the tropical forest helped to dry me, although that brought along a new problem, which I attempted to deal with by rubbing at my arms and legs. This seemed to break Rose out of her trance as she looked at me concernedly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, and I paused my actions to look at her. I wonder if I looked pitiful. I hoped I didn't.

"Salt in my fur," I said, and Rose suddenly scratched at her ear. "You too?"

She nodded, and I sighed. "We'll have to wash up when we get the chance." I looked up at the sea of leafy green above our heads, and tried to keep my mind off of our predicament by thinking of what the festival would be like. "Getting excited?"

Rose budged up next to me, glad for the change of subject. "Yeah… chief Samurott was really nice, and this place is so pretty," A bushel of flowers caught her eyes as she spoke, and I plucked one, tucking it behind her other, less-itchy ear. "Thank you… but anyway, it does look like this was a good idea so far..."

She trailed off, leaving me hanging. "So far?"

She grumbled. "Well, I mean… what happens if it's not great? What happens if it turns out to be a big disappointment? Then we'll have wasted a weekend we could have spent doing work," She closed her eyes, thinking. I sighed and tousled her headfur good-naturedly.

"You just have to learn to stop worrying so much. I mean, you're so polite and calm when talking to Pokemon, but you worry about everything. Relax a bit, have a little fun," I brought her into a hug, and she nuzzled into my chest, swaying every so slightly with me as we took comfort in each other's presence. "Besides, I'll always be here for you. I've always been here for you for the past two years."

She mumbled something incoherent into my fur, and I pulled away, gently raising her head with my chin. "What?"

She smiled happily. "Thanks, Bill… I love you…" She suddenly pushed me onto my backside with her tails and ran away.

"Catch me if you can," She cheered joyfully, and I laughed as I hopped up to run down the path, chasing after her.

We spent most of the walk down the path playing our game of tag, the sun winking through the fronds above our heads, and I took the time to savor the warm climate and look around a little bit. Overall, most of the forest was full of trees (duh), but a great many tropical flowers and strange herbs, many of which Rose and I had never seen before, cropped up in nooks beneath exposed roots. Occasional vines draped from higher branches, which Rose took the time to tug on to see if anything would get pulled down (nothing did). It was when my feet finally grazed over a cold stone slab that I looked at where we were going, and I knelt down to feel at the seemingly-foreign entity with my paw.

"Tile…? What would tile be doing here?" I wondered aloud, although Rose didn't hear me as she trotted away down the path, probably not noticing the new ground we treaded on. I dusted off the hunk of rock and was surprised to find an intricate carving of an exploration team badge etched into it. It seemed to be masterfully crafted. I would have taken more time to examine the thing had Rose not screamed out, making me instinctively dash forward to find the cause.

"Bill! Bill! We're here," She yelled, and I forced my way through thick clumps of bushes, tripping and slamming down hard on the tile pathway. Rose nuzzled my shoulder as I got back up, and a gasp escaped my lips before anything else. Rose smiled as she turned to look the same way I did. "Look at this place!"

And what a place it was. It looked like a mish-mashed replica of Treasure Town, only far more…modern, I suppose you could say. The pathway leading through the place was all tile and stone, while wooden buildings and small tents were sprinkled liberally throughout the area. Bubbling, gurgling rivers ran from every which way, blocked off by fences of pale granite, and unlit lanterns hung from every roof. The western pathway led to a small outcropping in a mountain, while the rest of the area was surrounded the trees, leading to parts unknown. The centerpiece of the plaza, a giant fountain fed into by the aforementioned river, completed the scene as water pooled into a magnificent cross shape at the base of the container. What was even more astonishing (to me, at least) than the look of the place was the sheer amount of Pokemon that the place contained. It was a veritable sea of exploration teams, probably from around the world, and despite my fervent searching I couldn't recognize a single other team from around the Treasure Town area. A Charizard finished telling a joke to a Psyduck, who only tilted his head in response. Tiny, grey pipsqueaks of Pokemon carrying around wooden planks marched to and fro from the area. A small yellow weasel leaned happily against a sea-blue otter, completely oblivious to the others around them. A large group of Eevee and Vaporeon scampered about, visiting the multiple tents as fast as they could. It was one of the most magnificent things I had ever seen.

"Holy…" I stopped myself from swearing at the last minute, and Rose took a single step forward, her jaw still reaching for the floor. We were silent for a long time, only breaking out of our shock when a Pokemon to our side waved a large iron beam at us.

"Hey," A gruff, thickly-accented voice said, and I glanced over. It was a large, muscled Pokemon, and it hoisted the metal weapon it carried over its shoulder. "You two are festival-goers?"

I nodded dumbly, my voice still trying to find its way back into its voicebox. The Pokemon rolled its eyes and turned, swinging the iron beam around to point at a roof that stood slightly above the rest. "Head there. It's the meeting hall. I suppose mister Samurott told you two to go there already."

Rose began to mindlessly walk in the direction that our friend pointed, and I suddenly found my voice, swallowing loudly before speaking. "T-thank you, mister…"

He waved a paw at us, not really showing much interest anymore. "Gurdurr. I'm a Gurdurr."

"Thank you, mister Gurdurr," I said hastily before going off to catch up with Rose. Turning my head, I caught Gurdurr rolling his eyes and rolling his shoulders before heading away, then apologizing to a Raichu who nearly got clocked by his iron beam. As I finally kept pace with my own partner, she seemed to have finally escaped from her stupor, and I didn't need aura sight to see how much excitement seemed to be boiling inside her. She seemed to skip through the crowded street as happy as can be. I, on the other hand, was rather uncomfortable with the sensation of all the Pokemon. From the outside, it looked incredible; from the inside, it was a mess of 'excuse-me's, brush-pasts, and shoving. I tried my best to avoid bumping into Pokemon, but eventually opted to walk to the meeting hall on the far-less crowded sidewalk. I took care to occasionally check on the cream-colored blur that made its way through the rabble, just so that I could step in if she got lost. Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of confidence in Rose. I had to - we were exploration partners, mates, even. She did get lost occasionally, but we would always stick together whenever we were able.

This eventually manifested itself in my gaze wandering from Rose onto the signs that stood in front of the tents and buildings in the area. My curiosity perked as I took the time to read as many signs as I could, just to see all the things we could do. Most kinds of places repeated themselves, such as storage tents, general stores and banks, which were looked after by their owners. Other places, though, were far more unique, such as a shop exclusively for buying gummi candy, and, to my surprise and delight, many different cafés – so there'd be a place to eat breakfast after all! By the time Rose and I had reached the meeting hall, I was nearly as giddy as she was, matching grins making their way across our faces. With a mutual nod, we went inside our destination.

The place looked a lot like the inside of the Spinda café back home. It was very open, probably so it could hold the multitude of invited guests, with wooden chairs and stepstools neatly ordered in lines. A stage stood at the other end of the building, while the entrance was only attended by a dark wooden table and a couple of small green snakelike Pokemon sitting behind it. Rose and I casually ambled up to the pair, who seemed to be quietly sorting papers. I clapped my paws to get their attention.

"Uh… chief Samurott told us to come here," I stated blandly. The twin snakes scrambled to stuff their papers under the table and turned to us, smiling innocently as they peered up at us.

"Are you Team Returners?" The pair of boys spoke so stereotypically in-tandem that I was hard-pressed not to comment on it, but I thought better of it. Sideways-teardrop heads hummed away as the two waited for an answer, and I rubbed at my head-tassels in an awkward silence, nodding as I pulled our team badge from the bag. As soon as they saw it, the snakes grabbed something from under their chairs, jumped onto the table, and held them out to each of us. I took the item carefully, feeling the thin string in my paws. A small, hard piece of paper was attached to the string, with my name and the team name printed on it. As the giggling Rose allowed one of the twins to place her own name-necklace over her head, I slipped mine on as well. It felt weird, but not irritable. I decided that I would be able to get used to wearing it.

"Those are your nametags for the festival," One of the snakes stated the obvious. "Don't lose them, or else you'll be in trouble!"

The other snake nodded. "Yeah, just always keep them on and you'll be fine."

Rose smiled, her tails waggling around, and gave one of the boys a lick on his head. He giggled. "Thank you, mister… uh…"

"I'm Smuggy. This is my brother, Leafy," He said. "We're both Snivy!" I racked my brain thinking. Snivy. I'd never heard of that Pokemon before. In fact, a lot of the species of Pokemon I had met so far I'd never even seen before. Gurdurr, Snivy, Samurott, Woobat… did the IAET have a whole group of Pokemon all to itself? That couldn't be possible, could it? Suddenly, lots and lots of teams started to pour in, and the two Snivy children scampered off before I could ask what was going on. Rose wrapped a tail around my arm and began to pull me towards the lines of chairs.

"I think we need to sit down, before all the spots get taken," She said, and we both took a seat at the edge of one of the leftmost rows. Rose waited quietly, but I turned around to look at all the Pokemon streaming inside. Most were unfamiliar, but I thought I caught a glimpse of pink and blue. I nudged Rose's side to try and bring her attention to it, but by the time she looked over they had already disappeared. Shrugging in disappointment, I swiveled back. Samurott stood proudly on top of the stage with a few other Pokemon. Behind him were a large, pale green serpent, a black-and-orange boar with a beard of fire, and an aging Tropius whose leaves were turning a slight greenish brown. As soon as the crowd had settled down to a low murmur, Samurott stepped forward.

"Exploration teams," His voice carried well, his tone confident and charismatic. His bushy mustache twitched as he spoke. "On behalf of the IAET, and on the behalf of my team, Team Explorers, it is my honor to welcome you all to the first annual Master's Festival!"

Most of the Pokemon in the room cheered or howled in approval, Rose included. I stayed silent, but did smile excitedly. Samurott bowed his head in appreciation, waiting until his audience quieted down to continue. "I am happy that everyone is so excited about the festival. It warms my heart to see that the IAET's efforts have come to a resounding success so far. For that, I thank you all."

He turned to the elderly Tropius, who smiled at us. "I would also like to extend my thanks to Elder Tropius, who presides and watches over the Marine Resort. He and the rest of the residents here have graciously offered to host the festival here, and without them it wouldn't have been possible."

Another resounding cheer of approval came from the gathered teams, and Samurott stepped back, letting his snake companion take his place. Striking yellow eyes quickly scanned the room, looking for something. Or maybe someone, I didn't know. Clearing her throat, she slithered forward a bit and started to address us.

"My name is Serperior, one of Samurott's partners in Team Explorers. Now, I know that everyone is probably excited to start exploring the festival area-" She spoke far quietly, and was drowned out by yet another cheer. Samurott and Serperior's other friend slammed a bulky fist into the ground to shut us up, startling most and causing the more timid Pokemon to yelp out in surprise. Serperior nodded at her companion. "Thank you, Emboar. As I was saying," She began again. "You all are obviously excited, but there are a few rules that need to be understood before we allow you to roam freely. Is everyone paying attention?"

Rose and I, along with a medley of other voices, replied with a simple "yes, ma'am," although there were a few mutterings of disdain here and there. From the right side of the room, a gruff voice, whose owner I couldn't see, blurted out "Chaw-haw-haw! Who do you think we are, little kids?"

Rose and I turned to each other in mutual shock, our eyes wide with the same thought. That laugh was unmistakable… but how in the name of Arceus did Skuntank and the rest of Team Skull escape from the Brine Cave? Or get an invitation to this festival, for that matter? Serperior's eyes narrowed at the rude interruption, and she raised herself to her full height.

"Good sir, look around you," She made a sweeping gesture with her tiny leafy hands, appendages stretching as far as they could. "Notice that there are, in fact, a great deal many kids in the room."

I couldn't help but smirk. Long as it might have been since Skull had antagonized either Rose or I, I still couldn't really forgive them for the stunts they had pulled on us before. Was it childish of me? Maybe. "Whether or not the attendees are children or adults, I would still explain the rules. Your comment only proves my point. Now, I'll continue."

She thought for a moment, then spoke again. "First! Please, keep the battling to a minimum. You're not at your home, or your base, or wherever you live. There is a dojo set up where you may battle each other to your heart's content, but outside of there, it will not be tolerated."

"Second," Serperior turned to take a quick look at the Samurott, Emboar, and Tropius before continuing. I could have sworn I saw Samurott give her a reassuring smile. "Second, please try and be courteous to everybody you may meet. This includes not interrupting them," She eyed the right side of the room accusingly before smiling and recomposing herself, her tone more jovial.

"Before you all leave, one more thing. The western pathway leads into a mountain. The inside of the mountain is where all of the visitors will be sleeping, if they wish to sleep at all. Now, thank you for your time and patience," The crowd as a whole seemed to be on the edge of their seats. "And please, enjoy the festival!"

A unanimous uproar of approval shook the meeting hall as literal hordes of Pokemon began to exit the building. I looked over at Rose, who was grinning brightly, any traces of worry clear from her eyes, and I wrapped my arm around her to pull her into a half-hug, our treasure bag sliding around my neck from the momentum.

"And at first you didn't think coming here would be a good idea," I teased, and she leaned into my hold, chuckling.

"Alright, so I was worrying a little too much," She admitted, and I lightly ruffled her headfur. "It's all so different, though! I've never seen anything like this place!"

"Neither have I," I said. "But…"

"But what? Don't tell me that you're being the worrier now?"

Rose licked my cheek, and I let out a bark of laughter at her joke. "No, it's not that. But you heard it too, didn't you?"

The Ninetales' gaze turned serious. "Oh. That."

The short, sweet response was all the confirmation I needed. "We haven't even heard a peep from Team Skull since we went to the Brine Cave, right? Or at least I haven't."

Rose nodded. "No, I haven't either. How were they able to get out? Do you think they got rescued by another exploration team?"

"Never mind that, how did they even manage to get an invitation to the festival?" I rubbed at my chin thoughtfully. "Maybe they stole it?"

Rose sighed and glanced up at the ceiling of the hall. "Who knows…" I gave her a quick squeeze before breaking our hug.

"Well, whatever. We can talk about it later," Rose rebounded back to her more cheerful self. "Maybe we'll even meet up with them. Right now, let's just plan what we're going to do!"

"What?" I questioned. "But… there's so much here to do!"

Rose and I hopped off of our seats, and I noticed a large pile of folded papers on the ground, the ones that the two Snivy children had been sorting before. Picking one up, I unfolded it. What luck! "Hey, Rose, look at this! It's a map of the festival!"

"No way! How did we miss getting one if they're all strewn about the floor like this?"

"Those two kids we met before were sorting these. Maybe they were supposed to hand them out and forgot?"

"Maybe. Let's give it a look," She peered over my shoulder as I read over the map of the area. The east was home to the fighting dojo Serperior had mentioned, along with a path leading to a beach. The west's pathway through the mountain of visitor rooms lead into a set of hot springs. And in between the two were the many buildings and tents that made up the plaza. Looking at Rose, I ruffled her headfur again and smiled.

"How about you pick what we do first?" I said. Rose pondered her options for a moment before nodding, placing her paw on the drawing of the mountain rooms.

"Let's go drop off our stuff first, and then let's go to the hot springs," She stretched and let out a yawn before starting to walk off, taking the lead. The scent of her Pecha Scarf wafted into my nose, and I took a deep breath.

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that," I shook my head and smiled as I followed her into the beautiful day outside. The festival had begun!

A/N: Apologies for the large amount of exposition in this chapter - I had to introduce the setting, otherwise I don't think the story would have been as good.

Also, before anybody points it out, yes, Tropius can't be found naturally in the Marine Resort ingame.