The next morning, Remy and Pyren arrived at Amelia's house as her father had asked. Two guards protected the front door, but they recognized the kids and allowed them to knock. Tyrin answered and invited them in, although she seemed to loathe having to do so. Amelia happily greeted them and gave them both hugs. Pyren and Remy took a look around Amelia's living room, which they had never seen before. A fireplace was set up on one end of the room, with a silk couch and two mahogany chairs facing the set-piece. In the middle-back of the room was a staircase covered by an opalescent rug. The fireplace mantle displayed a collection of pictures, the largest of which was a painting of Amelia and her parents. Lining the walls were several lavish tables with ornate knick-knacks decorating their surfaces. Fancy mirrors and paintings adorned the walls, velvet curtains draped over the windows, and the room was lit up by an artistic glass chandelier with electric lights burning in their sockets. It was all incredibly lavish, and the two impoverished kids looked at everything with wide eyes.

"Are you enjoying seeing how the other half live?" Solomon asked them as he came down the staircase, his flippers thundering against the hardwood floor with each step. "I'm happy to see you two again." He invited them to have a seat in front of the fireplace. Pyren and Remy sat down on the couch, taking a moment to marvel at how soft the seating was, and Amelia sat down in the other chair. "So, you two again... I am-"

"Solomon the Trader King!" replied Pyren, his face beaming with excitement. "I've heard a lot about you. You're very famous, sir!"

Amelia's father laughed. "That I am! Remy and Payren, right?"

"Actually, it's Pyren."

"Right, right. I talked to my daughter about what you three have been doing together. Last night must have been quite the experience!" Solomon looked to his daughter, who smiled and nodded politely. "From what I can gather, she's been sneaking out for these adventures for over a year. Now, I'll have you know that I noticed fairly early on that my daughter was hiding something behind our backs. I may be here only a few days a month, but I'm an observant Pokemon! But I never objected for one reason in particular. Do you know what that is?"

Pyren and Remy shook their heads. They glanced to Amelia, who shrugged in answer.

The Empoleon nodded. "When my daughter was growing up, I had a feeling that she was taking more after me than her mother. But still, I knew Tyrinn would insist that Amelia become a proper lady. She can be stubborn, so I didn't argue when she tried to limit what Amelia could do." He turned to glance and smile at his wife, who was standing in a doorway passively observing the conversation. Tyrinn smiled and disappeared into another room. "Seeing what happened last night though, I think it's high time I take a stand."

Amelia paused to take in all of that information. "So, what does that mean, dad?"

"It means I want to know what you want to do with yourself, rather than what your mother wants. Last night, I asked your friends what they wanted to do with their lives." He addressed Remy and Pyren: "You've had some time to think about it so tell me, you two, what do you want to do with yourselves?"

Rem's face lit up, and he exclaimed: "I wanna be an adventurer!"

Solomon shook his head and replied: "that isn't a proper answer." Remy paused, confused, and began to ask why before he answered, "There are many things an adventurer does. I'm an adventurer, and I sail the seas and trade goods. Our guards are also adventurers, and they go around doing mercenary work for whoever hires them. There's the Exploration Guild, which works to serve and protect Pokemon all over the world. There's-"

"That's what I wanna do!" Remy said, remembering The Guild of Exploration. It was famous for the many Explorers that worked for them through dungeoneering parties. They were responsible for keeping the peace throughout the world, both in and beyond society. "I want to be an Explorer and help Pokemon all over the world."

"So, you want to become an Explorer?" Solomon asked, to which Remy nodded eagerly in reply. After a glance at their friend, Pyren nodded in agreement as well and said he would enjoy the life of an Explorer. "And what of you, Amelia?"

Amelia smiled. "Do you even need to ask, dad? I wanna become an adventurer too, and the Guild is the best place to start!"

A bright smile lit up Solomon's beak, and he gave a hearty laugh. "Aah, that's the spirit! The Guild is a service sworn to protect the Pokemon of Statera. As I'm sure you know, being a member of the Guild is no small task. It's far from the playful little explorations you three have done for the last year-and-change. Is that really what you want to live with?"

Remy and Pyren looked at their friend, who smiled and nodded with a confident gaze. They gave Amelia the same, and they all turned to Solomon and said in unison: "Yes!"

"That's what I like to hear! Since you're interested in that, I have something to give you three. Consider it an investment in your future." Solomon got up from his seat and told them to wait. He left the room and returned moments later carrying a rather beat-up looking chest. "This... is my chest... of self-protection!" He spoke through exertions as he dropped the big chest onto the floor with a huff. Solomon then began to undo the rusty latch and open the chest up. "I use it to protect myself and my crew during our travels." 

Inside was a wide array of tools and weapons, all well-crafted and well-worn from battle. The three kids got up to take a closer look. "Woooooah!" said Pyren as he looked over the extensive collection. "This stuff looks cool! Did you pick these up while adventuring?"

"Close. I bought these weapons using the money I earned from adventuring. Whenever I hire a crew, I let them borrow these just in case we run into monsters like the one that attacked you three last night. Now, I want you three to promise me something and, if you do, I will let you each take something from this chest and keep it for as long as you live. OK?"

"Sure thing, dad!" Amelia exclaimed in excitement, pushing past Pyren and Remy and digging in the chest for anything that seemed interesting. 

Her father stopped her and pushed her away from the chest, however. "First, you have to promise; then you can take what you would like. I want you three to promise me that you will go to Tem'Cael's branch for The Guild of Exploration - it's near city hall - and you will start taking jobs from there instead of aimlessly wandering in the caves outside the town at night. I want you to start training yourselves through your work there. I want you to get stronger, smarter, more powerful. I believe you three could be great adventurers and really change the world but right now... you're all just kids." Amelia began to argue, but her father interrupted her. "You are all young and naive, unaware of the dangers threatening the world right now. I want you to go to the guild and ask them for jobs in the wilderness around town. When you start seeing the dangers out there - the real dangers - you'll realize how inexperienced you truly are. And when you do, I want you all to resolve to get stronger and become the greatest dungeoneers you can be. Can you promise me that?"

The three of them answered yes in unison. 

"Then dig into this chest and take your pick!" Solomon backed away from the chest and allowed the three of them to look inside. 

Amelia went first, digging through the chest to see what she could find. The weapons were all different colors that crossed the entire spectrum of hue and saturation. As she rummaged, Amelia had to yank her hand out of the chest after pricking her finger on something very sharp. The weapons were as lethal as they were stylish. In the end, Amelia found two red, grooved bracelets that caught her fancy. "This is interesting. What do these do?" She asked, slipping them around her wrists. Amelia felt a strange power come over her as she equipped the bracelets, which gave her a sense of might.

"That's a good choice for you, sweety." Her father said. "Those are magical bracelets. Their magic strengthens the power of your attacks, but these bracelets, in particular, are capable of releasing dark energy in powerful bursts! They're good for attacking from a distance, a great complement to somebody like you who fights up close."

Amelia inspected the bracelets: They were crimson red with a black streak going around the middle occasionally overlapped by black circles. They each had a small indent for something to be inserted. "What's this notch for?" Amelia asked, pointing the indents out to her father. Solomon replied by saying it was for magical gemstones, and that she needn't worry herself about that right now. Amelia liked the bracelets, so she decided to keep them.

Remy got to go next. He dug into the chest and found some interesting items, one of which was a short, dull brown and grey-banded sword like the weapon they'd wielded against the Amalgamation last night. Remy inspected the sword for a few moments. He took a step back and waved it through the air before deciding that he didn't like it. The Munchlax put the weapon back and glossed over a few more items, including a metal wand and a pair of purple metal gloves. Then, at the very bottom of the chest, he spotted a stick about as tall as him. He dug it out and inspected the weapon: it was a staff, slightly taller than he was, carved from a type of wood he didn't recognize with a large, blue crystal fixed to the head. Holding it made his hand feel tingly as if some current was running through it. 

"That's a Livingwood Chargestone Staff," Solomon said to Remy. "It's a useful weapon for defending yourself. You can use the staff itself to defend from physical attacks, and you can draw energy from the stone to boost your defenses against ranged attacks. It's great for powering up electric type moves, too! It's not very useful for offensive attacks, but the stopping power of Livingwood is legendary, plus it can regenerate from damage. That's a pretty good choice for a Pokemon such as yourself."

Last up was Pyren, who dug into the chest and immediately made his choice - the pair of metal objects Remy had glossed over earlier. As the Munchlax suspected, Pyren was able to slip them onto his hands and tighten them. They were only slightly too big for his tiny paws, but he could grow into them. "I think I've seen these before. What are they called...?" Pyren asked, unsure of the word.

"Gauntlets," said Solomon.

Remy's eyes brightened up, now recognizing the significance of the metal objects. "Oh, those are gauntlets? Oh, that's great for you, Pyren! They'll make your punches stronger."

Pyren smiled and inspected his choice of weapon: They had several metal plates roughly forming the shape of a hand connected by leather straps. Bumps and ridges covered the plate meant for the fingers that would increase the damage a single punch could do. As he inspected, the Monferno couldn't help but contemplate the metal's strange color. "Hey, mister Solomon, what alloy is this metal? It's a weird green color, but it doesn't look painted or rusted or anything."

Solomon laughed and rubbed the chimp's head. "Well, my boy, as faaaabulous as these colors are, the metal isn't painted. It's a special metal from the realm where Amalgamations originate. You need it in order to hurt those things."

Remy examined his new staff with curiosity, considering the Empoleon's words in regards to the strange, elegant wooden shaft. "Where they originate...? Is that why we needed that sword to fight the Amalgamation from last night? Because our abilities weren't powerful enough?"

"It's more accurate to say the Amalgamation resisted your abilities! You see, their bodies become malleable like tar when presented with positive energy, such as the life energy we carry. This metal absorbs negative energy when striking Amalgamations, and then channels it through their wielders. In doing so, you sort of trick the Amalgamation into remaining solid as you strike them."

"All of this is starting to sound kinda complicated..." Pyren remarked, tilting his head. 

Amelia replied, "Think of it this way: If we use these weapons against monsters like what we saw last night, we can beat them just fine!" 

With that out of the way, the three of them started trying out their weapons. Remy's was difficult to swing around, so it would be hard to bash anybody about if the need came to it. But, he remembered, it wasn't meant for bashing other Pokemon about, but for defending himself. Pyren meanwhile swung his fists around to try and get used to the weight of his new gauntlets. They were heavy and slowed his arms down, but he figured he could adjust to the load. His mind wandered to the stories of mighty warriors who wore weights to suppress their power and increase their strength; it was an amusing thought to imagine himself as such a character. Amelia wasn't sure if her bracelets counted as weapons. She would have to try and figure out this dark energy attack they produced when they were not in her house. 

Looking at his gauntlets, Pyren remembered that Remy and Amelia's weapons had special abilities. "Hey, mister Solomon, do my gauntlets have any special powers?" 

The Empoleon turned and held his arms out. "Why don't you see for yourself? Punch me, and put your all into it."

Pyren paused. He asked, "A-are you sure?" to which Solomon replied with a nod. Pyren took a deep breath and pulled his arm back, ready to deliver a strong punch. He clenched his fist and felt his mind suddenly shift, his senses honing in on the Empoleon. Taking a running start, he charged at the penguin while his fist started glowing with radiant energy and delivered a powerful blow to his stomach; a super-powered finishing move if there ever was one!

Solomon gasped and recoiled, taking a step back, but he laughed off the punch and said "Hah hah... good show, kid..." He reached his flippers down and covered the point of impact, groaning a little behind his laughter. 

Pyren started to take the gauntlets off and apologized to Solomon. "Sorry about that..." The gauntlets were powerful, Pyren thought, so the Monferno decided to keep them.

Solomon had to slowly waddle over to a chair and sit down before he completely collapsed. With his breath ragged, he began explaining the Exploration Guild in more detail: "Because the land tends to flow and shift, much like the waters in the ocean, traversing the world is very difficult. I'm sure you've observed this phenomenon in the caves. Additionally, wild Pokemon lurk in these mysterious dungeons and, being very territorial, attack anybody who passes. Then there are bandits, marauder tribes and, indeed, the Amalgamations like the one you met. What you may not realize is that the natural shifting of the world endangers our society as a whole, not just individuals. Do you know what the Cataclysm was? I'm certain that was a history topic for all of you in school."

Remy and Amelia nodded, and Pyren nodded as well after a moment's hesitation. "It was a massive disaster that almost destroyed the world," Remy said.

"In actuality, it did destroy the world. The world which we knew, a highly advanced civilization with the highest standards of living ever known to have existed, was wiped out. Those few survivors were living in broken huts and craters desperately trying to get by, and movement across the world was impossible. Peoples became isolated for eons, and society ceased. Only in the past thousand years have we been able to start exploring the world, discovering one-another and connecting our civilizations, and it was only at this point when we were able to rebuild our society anew. Do you see where I'm going with this? The Exploration Guild is responsible for holding our world together."

Having never considered the world from this perspective, Remy and Pyren were amazed by this revelation. Amelia raised her hand and asked, "So basically, if we join the Exploration Guild, we'll be helping the whole world?"

"In many ways, yes. But, it's important to bear in mind, you won't be acting as legendary heroes right away. You'll most likely do minor jobs around Tem'Cael and the outskirts of town. Even so, the things you will be doing will contribute to the Guild, and therefore to the world. I want you to remember that every little bit counts, both for the world and yourselves. More importantly, if you work hard, then you'll prove your devotion to the Guild of Exploration, and soon you'll be traveling all over the world helping Pokemon."

The three kids all started talking amongst themselves, imagining what it would be like to be Explorers. They could be heroes, rescuing helpless victims and capturing criminals and being so awesome while doing so! It got them zealous with excitement. Solomon concluded his discussion with the three of them with a reminder that the world was getting more dangerous and that they needed to exercise caution. With that said, he told them to head off and sign up as a team with the guild, at which point the three of them rushed out the door.

Tyrinn came down the stairs a few minutes after they'd left. "I still think it's not safe out there for our daughter, honey." She said, pouting in distress.

"Oh it's not; not by a long shot," replied Solomon, laughing a bit. "But let me tell you something, love. I don't think anywhere's going to be safe a few years down the line..." His stoic grin lowered into a somber gaze as he looked into the dark fireplace, contemplating recent events. "Maybe not even a few months from now. Our daughter should learn to fend for herself now, rather than later. She's the right age to start, and she has two Pokemon she can rely on." He pulled his wife into a hug and said: "I don't think our daughter could be in any better circumstances."

Tyrinn smiled at her husband and shook her head in disbelief.

Before they went to the town square, Remy, Pyren, and Amelia first stopped by Pyren and Remy's house to inform their parents of Solomon's instructions. Charren was ecstatic about his son receiving proper adventuring gear from a real adventurer, but Eugene was a bit skeptical. He wondered if three kids could perform exploration work, but Charren assured him that a lot of Pokemon begin careers in exploration at a young age and, besides that, the guild would likely give them simple jobs around the town. With that reassurance, Eugene gave his blessing as well.

The three of them rushed for the town square, only to find the Guild surrounded by a massive crowd. Effectively blockading the guild, the gathering seemed worked up over something, but none of the three kids could make out what the problem was over the mass of chattering. They started weaving their way through the crowd, pushing their way to the front where a soldier protecting the entrance halted them. "The guild is currently working on a plan to sort out this issue, and we will not be answering any questions about this until that plan is decided upon." They shouted to the crowd.

Amelia started to argue with him, saying she didn't care about plans and wanted to go inside, but Remy stopped her and tried a diplomatic approach. "As my friend said, we aren't here about any sort of plan. We're just here because we want to join the guild!"

The guard scoffed, pushing him away. "Yeah, like I haven't seen any journalist try and pull that trick before." replied the guard in a sarcastic voice. He began to say something else when he noticed the red metal ring on Amelia's arm. Then he glanced at both Pyren and Remy and saw that they also had similar items. "Oh... wait, is that...?" He asked, grabbing Amelia's arm to get a closer look at her bracelet. The Mawile complained and pulled her arm away, but the guard had seen enough. "I'm sorry; I didn't take your argument seriously. Go ahead in." He said, stepping aside and letting the three kids go inside. They rushed in just as the crowd started pushing against the guard and he had to start forcing them away.

The guildhall seemed no less tense than it was outside.  A few seating arrangements were arranged around the room for groups to have meetings, most of which were occupied by Pokemon having hushed, tense conversations. Pokemon were rushing through doors at either end of the guild, occasionally bumping into the three looking upon the chaos. At the far end of the room was a reception counter, presumably for requesting jobs, behind which was a bunch of Pokemon frantically looking through scrolls and writing on paperwork. "Maybe we came at a bad time..." Pyren remarked, feeling the tension in the air.

"Nonsense! Come on, you guys!" said Remy, taking the lead and approaching the counter. It stood taller than any of them, so they detoured to a shorter desk off to the side. Working at this desk was an Aipom who looked ready to go crazy from tension as he switched between reading a scroll and signing paperwork. "Umm, excuse me?" Remy politely asked, waving his hand. "Excuse me, please? We want to register as members of the Guild of Exploration. Can you help us?" His words were ignored entirely.

Amelia groaned and pushed Remy out of the way. "I've got this." She said to him. She slammed her hands on the desk and made the Aipom jump in fright. "Hey, Reception man! Pay attention!" Amelia demanded. "We're here to sign up for the guild."

Remy grabbed Amelia's arm and tried to push her out of the way. "Ah, sorry about her! Sorry!" He exclaimed, fearing she had insulted the reception monkey. "She doesn't socialize with many Pokemon."

"I'm not sorry; he's working reception! He should be paying attention." Amelia insisted, trying to push Remy out of the way again.

Pyren's intervened and pushed the two of them aside before they could cause any more problems. He said to the Aipom, "Listen, if you're busy then we understand, but we really want to sign up for the guild. Can you help us?"

The Aipom watched all of this unfold with a mixture of confusion and concern. "Uhh... I don't know... we're very busy right now. The town is pretty much on full alert after an Amalgamation was spotted in the caves outside town." He explained, sliding a scroll over to Pyren to explain what he was doing. Pyren glanced at the document and saw a picture of a strange black creature with purple crystals. It was quadruped, had a tremendously wide mouth with purple teeth, and... looked remarkably similar to the monster the three of them had found the other day. "Hey! That looks like the thing we saw in those caves."

The bustle of the guild suddenly stopped, and everyone turned to look at the three Pokemon. Dead silence hung in the air as everybody tried to make sense of that information. "Wait..." The Aipom said. "Do you mean to say you saw another Amalgamation in the caves last night?" He asked in a panic.

Pyren shrugged. "Well... I mean, I dunno. We were attacked by a monster, and then King Solomon came rushing in and started hacking it to pieces, and..."

"That matches the report we got!" The Aipom exclaimed before jumping out of his chair and rushing away, shouting "Boss! Boss! We've got the witnesses here!"

Confused, Pyren turned to another reception worker and asked what was going on. They responded by telling them to wait there. A minute later, the Aipom returned with a Braixen following him. The fox audibly gasped and clasped his paws, giving the three of them a pleased grin. "I'm glad to see you three! I was worried we'd have to go on a wild goose chase to find, but your arrival here significantly eases matters!"

Pyren held his hand up in the air and said, "I'm confused. You were hoping to see us?" The fox nodded in answer. "Well... we came here because we wanted to sign up for the guild. You see, Solomon gave us these-"

"Oh, Let's not speak here!" The Braixen exclaimed, waving his hands. He pointed to the windows beside the entrance, beyond which stood an agitated crowd. "Talking about such things in public will get the crowd riled up. We should go to my office." He left the reception area and opened a door, gesturing for the three of them to follow his lead. They walked through some windy hallways past offices and workrooms and arrived a particularly significant office where, again, they were told to follow as the Braixen entered the room.

The smell of paper immediately assaulted the three of them, along with the faint scent of ashes. Bookcases and filing cabinets lined the walls, all stuffed between various storage units. Many books, scrolls, and files lined the bookshelves, littered the floor in big piles, and no-doubt filled the cabinets. None of them had considered how much paperwork went into exploration. The only objects that were not storage furniture were a chair and an office desk, the latter of which was thoroughly covered in papers. Pyren was able to see more pictures of dark monsters on the documents, no doubt related to the Amalgamation that attacked them.

"Alright, so... you three want to join the Guild of Exploration, yes?" The Braixen asked, going behind the desk and sitting down. "Sounds grand. My name is Flynt, and I'm the leader of this guild. We're always looking for more explorers but, before I figure out the paperwork for you three, I need to sort some things out about that monster you saw. Do you know much about them?"

Pyren shook his head. "No, sir. I'm afraid we don't. Yesterday was the first time we'd ever seen one of them. We've only ever heard stories."

Flynt replied, "Most Pokemon hope never to see one. You're fortunate to have walked away with your lives, especially because you're so young." Amelia folded her arms in a huff. Flynt paused to inspect the three of them, particularly their equipment. "did you have that gear when the monster first attacked you?"

Pyren shook his head again. "Nope, Mister Solomon gave them to us this morning. He said he wanted the three of us to become members of this guild. Can we be-"

"We'll get to that in a minute! For right now, please focus on the matter at hand."

Amelia stepped forward and demanded to know "what would that be?"

"The fact that an Amalgamation appeared here in the first place!" Flynt exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table and making the kids jump. "This sort of thing hasn't occurred in decades, almost a century, and an Amalgamation appearance this far south can only mean ominous things for the world as a whole. So please, answer my questions." The three of them remained quiet, so Flynt went on: "Alright, next up... how big was the Amalgamation when you saw it? We received a report that it was "rather small," but I need better figures than that."

Pyren answered by asking Remy to hold his staff forward and then pointing at a spot just below the chargestone head, about a meter and change in height. "It was about this tall. Just barely big enough to pin one of us to the ground."

"That's a much better figure, thank you," Flynt replied, scribbling a note on a piece of paper. "I don't suppose you were able to get a look at its Nihilite core?"

"Nihaal... what?" Pyren asked, tilting his head. He turned to Remy, expecting the more-literate Munchlax to know what the word meant, but he shrugged in reply.

"Ah, Nihilite. Ni-hill-ite," said Flynt, making sure Pyren understood the word. "It's a material from the Void, where those Amalgamations come from. How much do you know about the bastards?"

"Not very much, I'm afraid."

"Well then, education time!" He said, standing up and going over to a bookshelf, grabbing a scroll off the shelf and opening it for the three. On it was a large diagram of an Amalgamation. Several things were pointed out, including its protruding purple crystals and a purple circle in the center of the monster's body. "In the Void, the realm between dimension, a crystal called Nihilite grows naturally in the detritus of worlds. When the souls of twisted, sinful Pokemon come across these crystals, they clump around them and form a physical body. Essentially, an Amalgamation is... well, an amalgamation of souls; Their name is quite literal. The only way to banish the souls back to their hell is to shatter the core around which they gather."

Remy's face brightened in understanding. "So that's why its arms broke apart like that when we cut them off!" Remy said. "It broke off into individual souls."

"Exactly!" The Braixen said, giving him an approving wink. "The souls themselves cannot be harmed by normal Pokemon, since... well, they're just souls. They have no elemental type, no physical matter, and no attachment to the physical world. You'd think this would mean they couldn't affect the world in any way but, on the contrary, not only are they able to affect the physical world but they actively work to do so."

"Well, that's just rude," Amelia said.

Flynt shrugged, saying "Most Pokemon believe they are vengeful spirits taking their anger out on the world. So essentially, we're left with a situation where they can hit us, but we can't hit them. HOWEVER, as we overworlders discovered in ancient times, their negative energy can be absorbed by various materials found in their world. As an example, that Munchlax's staff is made of wood from the Void. This stuff is almost exactly like what you would find in a tree in our world, except it's built from negative energy. We call these various materials Voidmetals (even though that staff is wooden). Those trinkets you're carrying are made of the stuff." Remy, Pyren, and Amelia all paused to inspect their equipment again. "By channeling the negative energy carried by Amalgamations, their bodies begin to respond to ours and, in turn, we can start doing real damage against them!"

"That's pretty cool!" Pyren said. "So, we can fight these things using our equipment?"

At that point, Flynt closed up the scroll and stuffed it back on the shelf. "No. YOU won't be doing any such thing for a very long time. In fact, I'd like to ask you three to turn over your weapons to me so the guild can make proper use of them." Braixen reached over and took Remy's staff, causing the Munchlax to gasp in alarm and reach to try and get it back. 

Flynt started to take Amelia's bracelets as well before the Mawile yelled "Hey!" and retaliated with a swift punch to the face. The Braixen yelled in pain and collapsed onto his desk. "Stay back, you pest!" She screamed. "My dad gave these to me, and there's no way in heck that you're taking them away!" She marched forward and swiped the staff from Braixen's hand before giving it back to Remy.

Groaning, Flynt sat up and rubbed his bruised face. He pulled his paw back and saw a bit of blood in his fur. "Gods, you Mawiles punch hard..." He remarked. "I don't think you quite understand our situation. Our town lacks the necessary equipment to deal with Amalgamations because we've never had to deal with them in such a long time. Until now, their appearances were almost non-existent this far south. Now that they are appearing, we need all the resources we can get. If rumors are true, they'll be starting to appear in much larger numbers during the next few weeks. I am really going to have to ask you to give us your weapons."

Remy frowned and looked at his staff. It was a very nice tool, and it was also a gift. Still, the Braixen seemed desperate. He started to hold his weapon out for him to take when Amelia spoke again. "No, a thousand times, no! My dad promised we could keep these for our whole lives and damn if I'm going to let you take them away! This is our stuff, and you can't change that! Now, either let us into the guild, or we're going to tell that mob outside that you guys are defenseless against those Amalgamations! Is that what you want?"

The Braixen gasped in horror. "Ah! N-no no no! We don't need that in our lives!" He rushed behind his desk in a panic and started pulling papers out from his desk drawers. "Aah, ah... l-let's get you signed up for the Guild of Exploration! And don't worry about your weapons. I'm sure we can make do without them!" He said in desperation. Flynt quickly prepared three forms titled 'Guild of Exploration entry form' and slid them to the other side of his desk for Remy, Pyren, and Amelia to sign.

Smiling, Amelia whispered to Remy, "Mom taught me how to manipulate Pokemon." Before going over to the desk to sign her paperwork. Remy took his turn after her and Pyren after him.

Flynt gathered up the three forms and exclaimed. "Great! Now, you three just stay in the building for a while. Maybe have a little explore while the boys upstairs continue to work out what we're going to do about this menace. Just..." He took a deep breath and said, "please, for the love of gods, don't tell the crowd outside about the situation. Our health depends on it." He quickly forced a smile for the three kids before rushing out the door.

After the Braixen was gone, Remy grabbed Amelia's arm and said, "That wasn't cool, Amy. We don't need him thinking we're bullies."

Amelia scoffed and replied, "Oh, please. That guy? He's nothing more than an intern doing paperwork. I could tell with a single glance that he's only a figurehead for this guild. Even if he has a high rank here, it means nothing to the guild itself if he gets upset about this."

"I'm with Remy on this one, Amelia." Pyren chimed in. "Even if he was trying to take our stuff, we didn't need to do that to him. He seems scared about that crowd outside."

"He should be. This whole situation sounds pretty darn serious, but darn it if I'm just gonna give these things away."

Flynt disappeared after the three kids signed their registration forms, though he insisted they stay in the building in case something terrible happens. Taking the initiative, Remy started leading an exploration through the Guildhall. The reception area at the front seemed to be a hub from which the rest of the guild extended. At the front was, of course, the entrance and some windows beyond which a displeased crowd stirred. Left of that were two doorways, the nearest leading to a mess hall and the furthest leading to a planning room for job assignments. At the right wall was another pair of doors, one leading to a training dojo and the other leading to a gathering room. Plenty of noise was echoing from the latter door. Beyond a staircase and the two doors flanking the reception counter in the back, behind which were the offices they'd just come from, there was not much more to say about the Guild. Remy couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.

The noise from the meeting hall drew Remy's attention. His friends followed as he went inside to find a bunch of Pokemon shouting at Flynt, who stood behind a raised podium. The rumbling was about them! "Just take the damn things from them!" One guildmember shouted. "We aren't going to let a bunch of little kids be our first line of defense against the legions of hell!"

"Listen, I know this is a problem," Flynt remarked, "but we don't want to do anything that will upset the public-"

"What's the crowd going to do? Riot over us taking toys from children? We're talking about lives here! We need Voidmetal!"

"The crowd needs to know we have something!" Another guild member chimed in, "and I'm sure they would be far more confident that professional warriors are armed, rather than children!"

Remy started to back towards the door, but Amelia grabbed his arm. The other guild members became aware of their presence. "Hey, that's them!" A Machop exclaimed, prompting the entire guild to surround them and loudly voice their displeasure! She, in particular, grabbed Amelia by her maw and lifted them from the ground, saying "What the hell are you three doing, hogging those weapons? We're in the middle of a god-damn crisis, and you think you can handle it all by yourselves?!"

"I don't care if we're in a crisis! They're ours!" Amelia said, making a feeble attempt to escape by kicking the bigger Pokemon. It did very little to impress.

"You need to learn your place." The Machop grabbed Amelia's bracelets and yanking them from her arm. "Kids like you have no place trying to save the town. Wait 'till you're grown-up and go do something you'd be good at, like pencil-pushing."

Infuriated by the fighting-type's audacity, Amelia empowered her leg with fairy energy to kick the Machop again. Though her blow was no more forceful than before, the energy invoked by Amelia's magic sent a sharp burst of pain through their chest, making them release Amelia. Amelia quickly grabbed her accessories and rushed behind her friends. "You all are a bunch of pricks; you know that?!" She yelled, shaking her fist.

Machop got over the pain and started to reach for Amelia again, but Pyren got between them, catching a swinging fist before it could find Amelia. "Stop this! SHUT UP!!!" He cried at the top of his voice, silencing the crowd. "The hell is wrong with all of you? We walk in here, wanting to help and all you wanna do is crush our dreams. Maybe we'd be more willing to share these GIFTS to US from SOLOMON THE TRADER KING if you would stop giving us such a shitty deal!"

Pyren's words seemed to hit a nerve with a few members of the Guild, but everybody remained quiet. somebody asked: "You got those from Solomon?"

Flynt pushed through the crowd to separate Pyren and the Machop. "People, please! Let's be civil about this! Yes, we are in a crisis, but-"

"Are you STILL on their side?!" roared Machop while stomping her feet. "Get some brain cells in that hollow shell you call a skull!"

Remy was beginning to tear up. "Can we please stop fighting?!"

"NO!" Everybody yelled in retaliation.

"Look, I get it! You literally can't get along without our weapons." Pyren said. "We can work something out here."

Amelia was starting to regret joining the guild. "You know what? This place is a load of crap!" She blew a raspberry before forcing her way through the crowd and marching to the main entrance. Concerned, Remy and Pyren raced after her.

"Amy, wait up!" Remy shouted as she went through the door, following close behind. "You can't just leave!" Remy exclaimed. 

"Why the heck not?!" Amelia replied, glaring at the Guild members following close behind. "I'm not dealing with this place if they're gonna treat us like a bunch of children!"

Pyren was about to agree when the Guildmaster rushed to block the doorway with the Machop in hot persuit. "Waaaaait! Don't go, please!" Flynt exclaimed. "A-at least give us your equipment! We're seriously desperate at this moment in-"

"No! My dad gave these to us and THEY! ARE! OURS!!!"

Pyren stomped his foot. "Amelia, why are you so persistent about this?! They have a point! We can figure this out!"

"THANK YOU!" The Machop shouted.

Amelia paused, hesitant to give her answer. "B-because they're my dad's!" She answered, folding her arms. "He gave them to me, and I'm not just going to let some stranger take them away. They belong to me-" She paused to rephrase: "they belong to us."

"Do you even remember what your dad said?!" Pyren exclaimed. "Every little bit counts!"

"Well, he didn't say anything about them stealing our stuff!"

Remy got between them. "Stop fightiiiiing!"

The Guild became silent as the three drew heavy breaths from all their shouting. The Guildmaster rubbed the back of his neck. "Aaaaah... this isn't going well at all... isn't there anything I can do to convince you otherwise, miss Amelia?"

Amelia huffed and shook her head. At this point, Pyren decided to speak up. "Well, we got our equipment from Amelia's dad, Solomon, and he had a whole lot of weapons just like this one. Maybe you can get some from him too."

Flynt's face brightened up. "Oh, that sounds like an excellent suggestion! I didn't think of that!" He clapped his paws together in delight. "Do you think he would give them to us?"

"Maybe, if you guys aren't so RUDE!" Amelia said, scorning the Braixen. The fox's ears lowered, and he apologized and looked away in shame. 

Amelia tried to push past Flynt before Pyren grabbed her shoulder and said, "Would you stop walking away?! And stop being so hard on the guy, Amy!"

She slapped Pyren's hand away and said, "Why should you care? He's just some awkward paperboy who only wants us for our stuff!" She glared at Flynt, who sniffed remorsefully. "You saw how they were trying to take our things. Why should we respect them?" Again, she looked to the onlooking Guild members, who were beginning to show guilt.

"Well, Amelia," Remy began, "it would at least build a bridge. Think of it from his perspective. We're carrying the only things that can be used to fight Amalgamations, and... well, I think that Machop is kind of right-"

"Uhh, THANK YOU!" The Machop said, pouring sass into her tone as she folded her arms and bent her head forward.

Remy groaned in frustration. "The point is, we are still inexperienced just like Solomon said. We almost died fighting that monster!"

"No, we didn't!" Amelia countered. "We were kicking its butt. If we had had these things, then we probably could have won! We CAN fight, and we CAN win!"

"Oh, really?" asked the Machop. "Tell me then, little girl. What exactly, if anything, did you do to 'kick its butt'?"

"If you must know, I did this," Amelia said, clenching her fist and charging it up with fairy energy. The Fighting-type took a step back in fear, to which Amelia grinned. Pyren stepped in before a fight could break out to explain what had happened. He told how the creature snuck up on them, how they managed to counter its first few attacks before they found the sword, and how they were able to strike it multiple times. Despite Amelia's objection, he also noted that it had wrestled the sword from them but said they were about to try and take it back before Solomon intervened.

Machop's displeasure receded as Pyren's story went on. Flynt meanwhile had a 1pleased expression, and the other Guild members listened with interest. At the end of Pyren's story, Flynt remarked: "My my, you three seem better than we realized. Perhaps whatever talent you showed in those caves could be honed into something incredible! On that note, meet Malatet." Braixen gestured to the Machop, who looked upon them with much less contempt than earlier. "She's our best combat instructor. She can guide you to becoming stronger, I'm certain!"

Amelia was about to argue before Malatet stomped her foot and exclaimed "Alright maggots, listen up! If you think that fight you had with dark and ugly last night proves you've got skills, then you're gonna have a wake-up call in the next few days! Fighting isn't just about being able to hurl yourself at something; it's about knowing what you're doing at all times. You knew how to defend yourselves against that monster, but you would have died eventually, and nothing you say will convince me otherwise." Then Malatet calmed her voice and said, "But, maybe you got something going for ya. I'm gonna start tutoring you three, and in exchange, you are going to give us those weapons and let us defend the town. Got it?" She glared at Amelia, who pursed their lips and stared back. After a few moments of tension, they conceded and handed over the bracelets. 

"Thanks for helping us. Just make sure we get those back when you're done." Pyren said, removing his gauntlets and handing them to Flynt. Remy did the same with his staff.

"Alright, then," Malatet said, giving them a nod. "Come to the training dojo tomorrow morning. We'll gonna start right away, and I'm gonna wring out whatever "talent" ya have and make it something useful. Understand?" When the kids didn't immediately reply, she yelled with tremendous ferocity: "UNDERSTAND?!" Remy and Pyren yelped and said yes. "Good." She began to walk away, mumbling curses under her breath and triggering the other Guild members to disperse around the hall.

Braixen waved to Malatet as she left. "Believe me when I say that she's one of the best we have in this guild. Ask your father to let you have his Voidmetal weapons and bring them to us tomorrow morning, or sooner if he can manage it. That should appease the masses. Until then, though..." He gave them a big grin and clasped his paws, doing a tiny leap for joy as he said, "Welcome to the Guild of Dungeoneering!"

Departing out the front door completely untenable, so the kids were shown the back door as a way to slip out. The three of them immediately rushed back to Amelia's house to tell Solomon about the events that had transpired. Unfortunately, Solomon had bad news - "I'm afraid I can't turn over my Voidmetal weapons to the Guild. Do you know how expensive these things are?! Voidmetal is impossibly difficult to gather and, even then, a lot of it goes to waste in the forging process. I'm not just going to donate them to the Guild."

His explanation confused the kids, who had been given the weapons for absolutely free. "Then why did you give these to us?" Remy asked.

"Remember what I told you yesterday, how I was investing in your future? The first reason was that you're friends with my daughter. I love Amelia to death, and I would do anything for her; besides, ol' Tyrinn spends excessively on our daughter. Getting you out of the house saves me plenty." He laughed and rubbed Amelia's head, making her giggle. "More importantly, though, there's only three of you, and I have about a dozen more weapons in this chest. Giving a few to you is one thing. Arming the town's entire Guild is a significantly different matter. And lastly, I'm thinking about my bank balance." He laughed and rubbed his fins together. "Maybe it's selfish of me to say, but I care a lot more about staying out of bankruptcy than I do about the Guild. All that said, I wish you'd have sided with my daughter, but it is what it is. Tell the Guildmaster that I'm expecting you three to get those back at some point. I would be distraught if that didn't happen..."

Nothing much else happened for the rest of the day. Remy and Pyren returned home, along the way hearing from the town criers that the Guild had announced it was prepared to fight the Amalgamation threat. The two of them wondered if this was true.

The three awoke bright and early the next morning and met up at the Guild. Malatet had sat alone at a table in the reception hall, bearing a steaming cup of coffee, so the trio came over to greet her. The Machop held up her hand to silence them. "Don't talk to me till after Assembly." She said, her voice slow and tired.

"Assembly?" Amelia asked. Malatet wordlessly pointed them to one of the planning room. Inside was a calendar board denoting the day's, the week's, and the month's activities. The first daily activity, listed at 9 o'clock, was: Morning Assembly.

A bell started echoing through the Guild, and the building became fraught with activity! Pyren took a look at the nearest clock: 09:00. The trio followed the crowd into the assembly hall and stood amongst them. The only notable feature of the room was the stage at the front with a podium at the front. To one end of the stage was a bell that Flynt was incessantly ringing. The trio had to weave their way to the front to see past some of the taller figures. 

The chaos settled as the Guildmembers collected into the hall. Flynt released the bell and addressed the crowd, calling for them to repeat the creed of the Guild of Exploration. The Guildmembers cried: "One: Do our duty to the world. Two: Become stronger and earn our keep. Three: Give joy and hope to every Pokemon!"

Flynt now stood behind the podium. "Good to see you all this morning. We have a lot to go through, so let's make announcements quick." The Braixen began rattling off trivial matters relating to the Guildhall itself, most of which Remy and his friends immediately forgot. They hoped context would give these announcements more value in the future. "With all that said, let's now address the Copperajah in the room: Amalgamations. As you all know, we received several new recruits on the day the Amalgamation attack was reported. Though we are in dire need of more weapons, I am pleased to announce to you all that we no longer have a nation-wide shortage." The crowd applauded and shouted with excitement. "Yes-yes, very good. Don't get too excited, however; we have few weapons, and they're highly specialized. I've sent out a courier to acquire further arms but, until we are better equipped, we need to ration these tools." Flynt looked down into the crowd and quickly spotted Amelia. "You there, Amelia! Did you manage to procure more weapons from your father?"

Shaking her head, Amelia said, "Sorry, he said he wasn't willing to give away all of his weapons." There was a roar of disappointment. "He also said he'd come and kick your ass if we don't get those back when this is over." The crowd was a mix of laughs and sighs of disappointment.

"Figures. Alright, then we'll stick with the current plan. I want the six teams to pair up and report to the assignment hall to have these weapons distributed. And remember, protect these weapons at all costs!" Flynt punctuated the sentence by banging his paw on the podium. The majority of the Guildmembers exclaimed acknowledgment and rushed out the doors. Remy started to follow before Malatet grabbed his arm and told the trio to stay. "Staff, you have your duties. Get to it, and be sure to keep everybody and yourselves in high spirits." The remaining personnel, save for Malatet, began to leave too. "And lastly, you four..." Flynt addressed Remy, Pyren, Amelia, and Malatet. "I can only assume you'll be in the training hall all day. Malatet, will you be giving them the crash course?"

With a smirk, the Machop replied: "Oh, they're gonna crash, alright..." Her grin widened as the others looked at her, apprehensive about her meaning. Malatet motioned to the others to follow her to the training hall.

Along the way, Amelia pulled Flynt off to the side. "Hey, uh, sorry about what I said yesterday. The thing about you being a pencil-pusher, and all. I was feeling pretty heated..." Amelia rubbed the back of her neck as she spoke.

Flynt smiled and waved away her apology. "Oh, it's quite alright! I should be apologizing, myself. I could have handled that situation much better, after all. Why don't we just agree to call it karmically even, and you can go start your training?"

Malatet chastised Amelia for their delay as the Mawile entered the training hall. The room was fairly unremarkable: a rectangular room dominated by a packed-dirt floor serving as the arena. The room's edges sported raised wooden platforms with various closets embedded into the walls. Malatet stood at the arena's center, waiting for the three to line up in front of her.

When they were ready, Malatet folded her arms and yelled: "Atteeeeention!!!" Remy, Pyren, and Amelia all stood at attention. "Now, you three may have a little skill but lemme tell you something: you ain't gonna even survive outside of this village without training. You gotta be tough, you gotta be stubborn, and most of all, you gotta be a team! Am I understood?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Remy and Pyren exclaimed. Amelia was more hesitant to reply, but after a glare from the Machop and a nudge from Pyren, she answered the same way.

"Good. Now, roles!" The trio had no idea what Malatet was talking about, which she expected. "You kids gotta have roles in combat. Fighting ain't about beating somebody up; it's about beating somebody up and also not getting beat up yourself. To do that, you've gotta specialize." He stood in front of Remy and said: "Munchlax, what's your specialization?"

Remy paused and tapped his chin in thought. What did they mean by that? Could he even say that he specialized in anything? Maybe apothecary, but that was more of a skill than a role. "Umm... ah... I guess I can throw electricity around." He held his hand up. Electricity crackled in his palm for a few moments, making his fur stand on end. Pyren unintentionally brushed his hand against Remy and got zapped by his charged body, making the Monferno recoil in surprise. 

Malatet rolled her eyes. "That's not what I'm looking for." She stood before Pyren and asked the same thing: "What's your specialization?"

Tilting his head, Pyren asked, "What's a specialization?" which brought Malatet to bury her face in her palm. 

"A specialization is a skill you're particularly trained for," Amelia explained. "Usually, you could be considered the best in that particular skill."

Nodding in agreement, Malatet added, "Basically, it's your role in a fight; the job you gotta play. It's what you do to make sure your team can win. Got it, dumbass?"

Pyren sighed and nodded in understanding. "So, basically, it's what I can do best? Well for myself, I guess that would be metallurgy?" Malatet pursed her lips and shook her head. "Oh right, in a fight. I'm pretty good at attacking up close." Pyren clenched his fists and threw several punches. They were weak but fast. 

"That's more like it." Malatet moved down the line to Amelia. "What's your specialization?" Amelia responded by clenching her fists, powering up her fairy magic. The Machop took a reflexive step back and left the question aside. Lastly, she turned to Remy and asked: "What's your specialization?"

The Munchlax replied by saying: "I don't know, but I guess I can protect my friends pretty well. I can take a lot of hits without a problem." The Machop appeared satisfied with Remy's answer.

Having gotten a preview of the recruits' abilities, Malatet had an idea of how to begin. "Alright, I think I know how this is going to work." He said. "You're a bit young for this stuff, but every Pokemon is suitable for doing something different. You three seem to have the advantage of complementing each other with your combat preferences." Remy and Pyren grinned and shared a hi-five while Amelia nodded in smug agreement. "We'll start your training with something simple."

"Awesome!" Pyren said. "What are we doing?"

"We're going to play a game. It's called: Dodge."

Pyren was about to ask what they meant before Malatet raised their fist and walloped Pyren in the face, sending him tumbling across the ground. He groaned as he picked himself up and said, "H-hey! What was that for?!"

"Dodge!" Malatet exclaimed, taking another swing at Pyren and sending him tumbling again. Malatet attacked again, crying out that word again. Pyren leaned out of the way and retaliated with a punch. Malatet caught his fist and grabbed hold! She swung her leg, kicking Pyren to the floor. "I said this game was called "dodge"! You will dodge my attacks, and you will keep doing it until you can dodge them all!" Malatet told Pyren to wait at the outside of the ring.

Remy and Amelia watched with utter shock. What exactly was this instructor's problem, blatantly attacking them? Malatet ordered the two of them to stand at attention and began circled them. After two laps, she called out "Dodge!" and took a swing at Amelia. The Mawile attempted to dodge but ended up getting punched in the side of the head. Malatet told her to wait outside the ring.

Last was Remy, who Malatet circled like a vulture. His breath was heavy as he tried to anticipate Malatet's next move. He'd had two chances to watch the Machop attack his friends, and Remy certainly wasn't up for being pummeled as well. Malatet paused as they stood right in front of Remy, clenching their fist. A few moments of silence, then Malatet called her attack and swung her fist.

Remy raised his arms and tanked the blow! He quickly reached forward and grabbed Malatet's arms, holding her steady. She briefly struggled against his grip, only to be surprised by how strong it was! "Don't you attack my friends like that!" he shouted at the Machop, pushing them away.

Malatet was pleasantly surprised, though she immediately responded with her other fist going straight into Remy's stomach. She pointed to Amelia and Pyren and ordered: "Back in the ring." Remy's friends congratulated him for catching Malatet's attack as they rejoined him. The Machop approached him and said, "By the way, I'll attack you however I want. The enemy won't give you any mercy, and those monsters certainly won't either, so expect none from me. You have to be prepared to deal with the worst pain you can imagine if you're going to improve. Got it?"

"Do you really have to attack us like that, though?" Amelia demanded to know.

Malatet responded by calling another attack and swinging at Amelia. This time, she managed to duck below the attack! Malatet smiled. "See? You're learning. Now, line back up!" She had the three of them return to the center of the ring. Malatet started circling again, occasionally throwing punches at the trio and either being avoided or knocking one of them to the floor. Their training went on exactly like this for hours, with only minute-long breaks to drink water and a short break to stop by the mess-hall. By the end of it, the three of them were nervous wrecks reacting to the slightest motion.

At the same time, however, they became much more aware of their instructor's movements and were able to predict her attacks much more reliably. Malatet started noting how the three of them approached her attacks differently, occasionally giving them faint praise. Amelia seemed hyper-aware of her movements, and so they would be moving the second Malatet twitched her arm. Pyren was less cognizant of her moves, but they had such good reflexes and speed that they were avoiding her blows reasonably well. Remy caught her off guard, being such a slow Pokemon yet able to counter or guard against her attacks reliably. As evening drew near, Malatet said, "Not a bad start. We're done for today." She gave them a nod and started towards the door. "Come back tomorrow and we'll continue this."

"Do we have to do that again?" Remy whined, feeling battered and exhausted.

The Machop simply scowled. "We are going to keep doing this... until you learn... to DODGE!" The three recruits recoiled in fright, expecting an attack.

Remy started to ask if Malatet wanted to do anything like eat supper together, but his friends urged him against the idea. Malatet wordlessly departed, and the three dragged themselves to the mess hall and got some food. They sat around a table in an exhausted heap. "Goodness, that Machop is harsh..." Remy remarked, pausing his shoveling of food down his gullet to rub some of the bruises he'd earned.

With a huff, Pyren replied, "I dunno... Maybe there's a point to this." He started eating some of the soup he'd been served but found it a challenge to work up an appetite. "She's probably right... we won't get any mercy when we try to do an actual mission."

Amelia sighed and, after a single taste, pushed her bowl away and resigned to getting better food at home. "I agree, but still..."

Remy and Pyren came home battered and exhausted from their day of training with Malatet. Their parents welcomed them home, but they were quick to shrug them off in favor of going upstairs to their beds and collapsing into sleep. They awoke to a pile of medical wipes with which to rub medicine into their bruises, to which they were grateful. Amelia was treated much the same way. For once, the Mawile gladly accepted her mother's obsessive care.

When asked not to return the next day, Amelia's only response was that she would keep going back to the Guild until she could kick Malatet's ass. She even refused Tyrinn's offer to do it for her. Remy's and Pyren's parents advised likewise, and their children also said no. They didn't want to give up after one day and walk away as failures. 

The three of them returned to the Guild the very next day to continue their training. Malatet had a few other exercises set up for them this time around: They needed to attack a series of dummies in wildly various ways, risking punishment if they didn't perform up to Malatet's standards. As it turned out, the penalty boiled down to more forced agility exercises involving the Machop's fists.

Some of the routines Malatet had them go through were downright bizarre, involving such things as making the trio push and lift heavy boxes, hitting targets soaring across the room, and assembling wooden blocks into shapes from memory. The Machop refused to explain the reason for these exercises apart from assuring them she wasn't wasting time. They were sent home exhausted once again, which made their parents concerned. Though their children weren't hurt like the previous day, they worried what would happen to their kids as they kept getting pushed to the limit.

The following day, Malatet chose the day to work on their evasion again by making them dodge punches, leading to another few hours of dodging punches and being yelled at when they failed to dodge punches. The pattern of agility training to eclectic exercises on consecutive days repeated itself for two weeks. Over time, the kids began to get a sense of how Malatet attacked and were able to avoid her punches more reliably, and her seemingly-random exercises became more natural with practice. They came home with fewer bruises and retained more of their energy.

Malatet was pleased with their tenacity and progress, so much so that the exercises became more relaxed and she often sent the trio home early. Remy tried to make friends with Malatet on occasion, but the Machop would only reply: "Don't push your luck, kid." 

Eighteen days following their initiation, Malatet called off their training for that day. "You kids are getting better." She remarked, allowing herself to smile. "So far, we've been focusing on two things: Keeping your asses alive, and figuring out how to get through a situation. Those are the important things you gotta know if you're going to get anything done. Ideally, in a mission, you'll never have to get in a fight at all. It's gonna happen though, so you're going to practice fighting today. After that, you're gonna look on the mission listings and find something to do."

The three of them gasped in surprise. "We're going dungeoneering? For real?" Remy exclaimed with his face beaming.

"Not "we." you." Malatet corrected. "Oh, and you're going to take one of the voidmetal weapons with you just in case something happens."

Amelia grinned and said, "Finally, we're getting them back!"

"Correction: one of you is getting your voidmetal weapon back; we still haven't gotten any additional ones."

"Wait, still?!" Amelia was taken aback. "But it's been two weeks! A shipment can't take that long!"

"It shouldn't. Boss-man thinks somebody is disrupting shipments of equipment to our town, maybe to other villages as well. We're trying to organize parties to scout further into the wilderness to rout any bandits, but we're already spread thin. I was hoping to give you three another two weeks to practice, but we need all hands at work. Understand?" Remy and Pyren replied yes while Amelia nodded. "A'ight, let's get this going."

Pyren smiled and swung a fist into his palm. "So, we just have to fight you, and you'll choose who did the best?"

Malatet shook his head and corrected them again: "You'll be fighting each other." The trio exchanged some nervous glances. "Believe me; you won't know your strength until you've thrown it at each other. You three will be fighting until you cannot continue and, since there's only three of you, you'll all be fighting one another at the same time. The last one standing will get their voidmetal weapon back."

Malatet had them stand several meters apart in a triangle, facing one another. "Stand at attention and get ready to fight! Don't even think about holding back." Malatet instructed. "If you retreat, hesitate, or if I think you're holding back, you'll forfeit the exercise. The enemy won't hold back, and neither will you." She held up her hand, then swung her arm down with purpose. "Fight!"

The three of them stared at each other before Pyren moved first, throwing his fist forward and unleashing a plume of fire at Amelia. The Mawile was weak to fire-type attacks, but she shielded herself with her maw. Amelia chose to guard until her opponents were close together. Remy lept at Pyren to body-slam them, but the Monferno moved out of the way just before he landed. 

Seeing them together, Amelia charged Remy and Pyren and started wildly throwing fairy-empowered punches. Pyren was forced to back away while Remy defended himself from her blows. The Munchlax endured so well that he was able to grab one of Amelia's punches, catching them off guard! Remy slammed his wrist into the side of Amelia's head and stunned them before shoving their body at Pyren. 

The Monferno caught Amelia's body and pushed her away. The Mawile staggered off to the side but regained composure. Pyren loosed another plume of fire, this time at Remy. The Munchlax anticipated the attack and defended himself. The cover of fire allowed Remy to retaliate with electricity! 

Amelia grabbed hold of Pyren and stood in Remy's way, taking the attack for the Monferno. Remy gazed with surprise as the two of them looked at each other and nodded, signaling a truce. Remy felt his nerves raise as the two started to move to either side of him, preparing to attack.

"Enough!" Malatet exclaimed, declaring the fight over. Amelia and Pyren looked over in shock while Remy just sighed in relief. "I've seen enough; I can see where this fight is going."

Remy smiled and congratulated his friends on a good fight, offering apologies for attacking both of them. "So... did I win? I mean, I didn't exactly beat them. I just-"

"You woulda won. Your defense was spot-on, and so was your strategy." Malatet remarked, folding her arms. "You used your strength in endurance to your advantage, though they could have beaten you with teamwork. More importantly, though, you never compromised on your capabilities during the fight." She glanced to Pyren. "Monkey boy, you're literally built for close combat. Don't just dodge: dodge and then follow through. You had two chances during that fight to land a critical blow, and you hesitated during both. Don't do that." 

Pyren huffed and lamented: "I thought you were teaching me to dodge..."

"I said dodge, AND follow through." Malatet then turned to Amelia. "And bigtooth, don't just rush in blindly once you have a plan of attack. Good on you waiting for an opportunity, but you threw it away the moment you went crazy. Remember: plans never survive contact with the enemy."

"Well then, what's the point of planning?!" groaned Amelia as her eyes narrowed.

"You plan, and then you plan to adapt as you go along. You and monkey-boy aren't the most compatible, but dropping your differences to gain the advantage shows good teamwork and strategy." Then Malatet surprised them all: She smiled and started to applaud the trio. "Good job overall, though. You've surpassed my expectations."