[S][C/Kyukon] Guildless No More

For a guild that focused on power and the arbitrary desire of increasing numbers, Arthur did not look the part with his Cottonee floating beside him - the newest addition to his team. Despite this, the bouncer immediately changed his tune upon seeing him - it was not like he was particular nice to this guy or even did anything memorable. He figured that his membership alone was enough to do a personality override, and the NPC put his hands behind his back.

"You may enter."

Well, Arthur was intending to enter, but he already noticed Josh - and he was reminded on how tiny he was now. It was basically accentuated by the large man standing in front of him, tall and imposing. ❝Thinking of joining the Creed, Josh?❞ he asked before turning to the bouncer. ❝This guy won't cause any trouble. Worst he'll do is challenge everyone to a race and wipe the floor with them.❞ he said with a wave of his hand.

"Trouble does not mean he is worthy to join, sir."

God, he was reminded of his bodyguard back at home. He faced the other trainer, with the Cottonee now sitting on his shoulder. ❝There should be an option in your UI to join a guild, or are you planning on doing this the hard way?❞ hard being - he felt like Josh to be the type to request an audience with the guild master for a formal meeting, something like that. Arthur only met her once, when he decided to join and check the place out. She didn't look like his mother, but she had a few resemblances in manner - he was faintly familiar with these types of women and usually kept a wide berth from them.

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Josh Devlin

Arthur hadn't thought about switching guilds, but it made sense - if he was not going to rely on other trainers to get exclusive Pokemon in the trade shops, it meant that he would have to go there himself (though that meant wasting some precious bytes that he could use to upgrade other things). He did find it a little ironic that traded Pokemon were not as obedient, partially because he did still have Stura in his box (he had not been able to find time to meet up with Torino again), and they were technically trading Pokemon fodder in order to get the one rare one. So...did that count? He supposed not since they would be listed as the original owner or something.

But the bouncer was, for some reason, really pissed off today, and he mentioned something about the PVP ladder. It crossed his mind that he had not bothered to try fighting other players, now that Arthur thought about it. After all, he was definitely in no shape to square off against the more active players in the server, and he was quite enjoying the PvE aspects of the game. If the wild Pokemon and the NPCs could give him a hard time, what more of actual players? ❝Ash is just a kid--❞ he retorted, though it wasn't like the NPC would be familiar with the anime-only character, but the other trainer was not having it. It wasn't surprising - the NPC just blew off Josh's love, after all.

He was frankly more surprised that Josh didn't do something else. The bouncer that took his place was much quieter and stoic.

He frowned and shook his head. ❝To be honest, I haven't visited here all that much, so I haven't had any terrible run ins. The NPCs mostly just give some helpful info but don't say much else. I did hear talks about some of the previously active players though. Tuesday, in particular...❞ (when he heard the username, he realized that the tea shop in Briarbane must've been hers. Who else could have it been owned by?)

❝Anyway, I'm just here more for the trade shop than anything. Absol, right? Want to ride on the herald of death?❞ he said with a small smirk. Thinking about it, an Absol would be a cool Pokemon to have, but it wasn't high on his priority list, especially with such limited box space.

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Josh Devlin

It was not like Arthur was oblivious also to the commotion happening inside. He couldn't quite tell what was going on though - they were too far to hear behind closed doors, and the walls were decently proofed. ❝Indeed, it's not surprising.❞ he muttered, as he knew plenty of people like that online and in real life. He only realized then that he was glad he hadn't met any of the sort so far in his adventures in UNOVR - nothing like the trash talking toxic piles of garbage in voice chat, anyway. ❝Do let me know how that goes and I may hop as well, especially if the Pokemon there are cool.❞

He listened to Josh and nodded along until he got to the part about Absol having wings. ❝Wait, they have wings? I could've sworn...❞ was he misremembering? He recalled the Pokemon being a sleek cat-like creature, something like a leopard or a puma or something. Nothing in his memory had "wings" listed as part of the description. Did Absol gain an evolution or something? No if that were the case, wouldn't he have said its species name?

But anyway, it looked like the commotion had died down as quickly as it had erupted. The substitute bouncer stepped aside while the original bouncer came out. His lips were sealed but he had a sneer on his face as he bowed and gestured to someone else walking towards them - a different aura than all the rest who were inside the base. Ah, he remembered this feeling, and he was not the most keen to expose himself to it again, but there was little choice in the matter.

❝Looks like you reeled in a big fish.❞ he muttered to Josh.

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Josh Devlin

Arthur nodded, pretending that he knew what Josh was talking about. In truth, he had never heard of Mega Evolution and didn't even know that was a thing. Was that different from regular evolution? Super evolution? Maybe it was just a new kind that gave Pokemon different appearances or something.

He figured that the bouncer was just referring to Josh when he said to follow, but of course the trainer was going to see where this was going to lead. He slipped his hands in his pants pocket as he strolled into the guild base. This was just the upper area of it, but most of the rooms and features were underground. The place was plush and posh, heavily leaning towards gothic, but there was a hint of the nautical as this was a lighthouse. He wondered why there would be such a structure when there didn't seem to be any water nearby, unless the land had changed significantly from when it was built. What could cause that kind of disturbance?

Eventually they were led to one of the rooms, and (NPC) C.L.A.W. sat there, regality hung over her person. While Josh was standing there trying to keep his wits about him, Arthur was much more relaxed, watching the whole scene play. It definitely felt like he was an observer in the middle of a quest being given, and he noted that the guild master was being particularly harsh, not sultry. Perhaps the AI knew that such tactics were not going to work on him, or was the guild master being warped by what Josh expected to see? No one would really know the answer to that. He raised a brow at the mention of a super boss, but frankly he had no idea such a thing existed, or if it was just specific to Josh doing something crazy again. For the NPC to acknowledge it, though...

And then the challenge was posed. Woah, where was this coming from? All he had to do was press a button and he was in, what was with the extremely tall order? This just weirded him out.

❝Seriously? you might as well throw in something to sweeten the pot.❞ Arthur spoke up, which basically caught the eyes of all of the bodyguards in the room. He could feel their glares, but he was used to such looks - he just had to keep his eyes on the one that mattered. ❝Ten Pokemon from the Tower - you know, that reminds me, your rarest trade is worth that, right? If Josh succeeds, a fair trade should include the Absol in there. It is something that no one else has done, after all.❞

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Josh Devlin