A fateful meeting.

It was a day just like any other in Grassveil town and once more Ned was simply wandering around the outskirts of the town, not yet feeling ready to try and join the guild, but also not feeling powerful enough to try and do some training in the surrounding forests.
But sadly there wasn't much else to do in these parts, so the Bug type hoped to evolve soon.
Then maybe he could join the guild and finally fulfil his dream.
But for now that would have to remain wishful thinking.
One day the time would be right.
One day.
But when would that day finally come?

The day was young and the sky was bright as a young archen, an apprentice to the nearby Guild of Grassveil by the name of Acro, lingered about the outskirts of the town. He looked up to the sky, he had been beginning to doubt he would ever evolve and be able to touch the skies. He was simply too weak, pokemon would always look at him as the strong one, but he had been growing confused about it lately.
He wasn't!
He really wasn't!
Acro had decided to give up on ever trying to help others see the truth in him being weak, and he had come to Grassveil to wander around like a ghost haunting the grounds. He had no friends to hang out with, William had probably been off doing a mission or had been about to do one, the archen didn't want to bother him.
He had not seen George since Serene Cave, Izumi had a box shop to run, and Tsuki and all the other explorers were off doing missions most likely. The archen was a one man show, no team, no companion, and it was making him quiet depressed.
"Hah, weakling" the voice of Astrid sneered to him.
"You should really just give up already, you can't be a one pokemon team, you can't even be a partner with someone else!" The voice of Flint huffed in disgust.
The archen was somewhat relieved though, the voice of George seemed to have disappeared ever since he had met George, and the buizel admitted to the archen being strong. The other two voices were a part of him that he dreaded for the next time the spoke.

As he was making his way through the area, Ned spotted an unfamiliar face aimlessly wandering around.
It appeared to be an Archen.
Immediately the now terrified Bug type skittered off to hide behind a rock.
While it would probably not attack him here in Grassveil, the Archen most likely would know some devastating Flying type attacks and Ned's irrational fears prevented him from approaching.
Hopefully the fossil Pokémon would simply not notice him and walk away.
Hopefully Ned would finally be ready to evolve soon. Maybe that would help him to overcome these stupid fears and worries.
But obviously the time hadn't come yet. He would have to become stronger still.
But...how?

The archen stopped, giving a sigh. Alone he was, along with bored, just because he was too weak and afraid to go out in a dungeon alone. Sure he had done it before, but he just couldn't seem to muster the courage up anymore. All of these acts of strength, and yet he felt as if nothing had been accomplished. He looked up into the sky once more, wondering what it would feel like to fly, to go to the "utopia" in the sky called Ailreon with its sophisticated rescue teams and everybody there knew what it was like to fly, performing acrobatics and tricks in the sky whenever they felt. The archen ripped his attention away from the sky back to the ground, he was a grounded bird, there was no way for him to fly until he evolved, "I have to evolve..."he mumbled, "Soon..."

Why had the Archen stopped all of a sudden? Maybe it was thinking about something.
But...what would it be thinking about? Probably just what it should be doing next.
It could do almost everything it wanted to do. It was powerful. It had nothing stopping it.
Once more Ned silently cursed his own weakness. What would he ever be able to accomplish with his frail, useless, tiny little body?
If he would be able to just evolve, there would be so many things he would be able to do.
He would be able to protect his ideals and those dear to him.
He would even be able to fly!
But there was no way for him to fly until he evolved.
"I have to evolve..."he mumbled, "Soon..."

As the archen spoke, he had heard another voice nearby, "huh? Who's there?" the archen spoke, growing cautious of whoever had spoken. Who would have kept this quiet around another pokemon we he was so obviously in the open other than a thief? The archen made a dash for a nearby rock, perching on top of it to get a better view of the area. Whether it was fortune or not, the archen had hopped onto the boulder the nincada had hid behind, but he did not think to look down for the stalking pokemon.

"Uh, noone. Noone at all. There's nothing of note here.", the Bug type blurted out without thinking.
Shivering in fear, he then silently chided himself for his idiocy, trying to remain as quiet and unnoticeable as possible. Hopefully the terrifying beast of the skies would not be able to find him.
It was the life of a Nincada, hiding, waiting, not doing anything out of fear of being spotted, attacked and defeated. It was not an interesting life but at least one would be alive.
But that might not be the case anymore soon.
Hopefully the Archen would not find him. Otherwise Ned would be screwed...

The archen heard a voice sounding just beneath him, his head snapped down to see a rather scared looking bug type he had never seen before. He blinked and hopped off the rock, not finding the pokemon to be as threatening as he thought it would be since it was shivering in fear behind a rock.
"Well I see someone here..." the archen spoke, studying the white bug type with green wings. He wondered why it was shivering, was it scared of him? Why would it be scared of him? The archen had noticed the burn mark the Nincada seemed to have, but noticed that it was not fresh and must have been a scar, nothing to do with him since he was a fire type...so why was this pokemon so scared.
"Is...something wrong?" he asked.

"Bwah!", Ned shouted, now completely scared for his life.
Of course the Archen would have to find him.
"N-no, n-n-nothing's w-wr-wrong! And at the same time e-everything! I have no idea actually!"
It was true, there was no reason to be scared, but as a result of his upbringing, typing and general frightfulness the Nincada still was terrified out of his mind.
"I d-don't want any trouble and I was just wandering around and then you and I got panicked and..."
Further and further the Bug type was rambling on without finding the ability to form a full sentence.

"Could you calm down and speak clearly?" the archen asked, "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm Team Roark from the guild.." he found that a lot of pokemon usually calmed down when he said he was with the guild, not to mention one of the more higher ranking pokemon among the guild members that were actively moving about and rescuing others. The archen was a bit nervous himself, wondering why this nincada would view him as dangerous if it did. He shuffled his feet and he seemed to look a bit smaller than his unusually small size at about an inch or so less than a foot.

"I-the-wha-the-I-...sorry.", Ned muttered before taking a deep breath.
"Long story short Nincada aren't exactly the most powerful of Pokémon and it has caused me to be rather paranoid, especially around Pokémon with a type advantage."
So this Pokémon actually didn't mean any harm to him. Or at least that was what he claimed.
Hopefully he was speaking the truth, but as Ned hardly was in a position to flee, this claim would have to suffice as a basis for trust.
Once more Ned cursed his weaknesses. Couldn't they have been something rare, like Dragon for example?
Or maybe Ghost. It didn't seem to be as stupid to be afraid of Ghosts as it would be to be afraid of birds.
"So, uh...what...what do you want?"

"O-Oh..um..I was just wandering around town...I heard you say something i think and since you hid I thought whoever spoke was trying some funny business that outlaws do.." the archen spoke, "erm sorry for bothering you, I should probably get back to the guild and get started on a mission...it'll take me longer to do it since I have to do it alone."
The archen hopped back on the rock and then hopped off of it on the other side. He turned back and spoke, "erm..sorry...for bothering you."
Oh how he wished he was evolved, and how he wished he was more social. He was probably only making this nincada feel even more frightened or awkward...

"Erm...no problem, I guess. I can see, how someone might get to such a conclusion. Interesting, how easy it is to let oneself be deluded...I almost became an outlaw, but luckily I found out soon enough."
Once more Ned found himself reminded of his old life back with the clan. How often had doubts overcome his mind and he had thought about just going back. But now, finally having reached Grassveil Town, the Nincada was more sure than ever that his choice had been the correct one. Here he would finally be able to do something, that would benefit everyone. Here he would not have to make others suffer for his own profit.
But first the Bug type would have to get stronger.
Once he would finally manage to evolve, he could try to join a team.
But right now the only thing he was doing was to make the Archen feel awkward...

The archen stopped for a moment, wondering if the Nincada would like to come with him to train or do a mission. After all, the two seemed to have a common goal right? This nincada had to be one of the first pokemon he met that shared a similar goal and didn't act rather strange like Sorren the Torchic he had met a while ago several times. The archen looked back, "Hey...you want to get stronger right? Do you uh...want to come train with me or do a mission with me or something? That's how I typically train..and it works somewhat..."

"Mission? Never done one of those before. But I guess it couldn't hurt to try it. I doubt I'd be of much assistance though. Thank you for offering by the way."
Now this was unexpected. The Nincada was just a weak, pathetic little bug. Why would anyone want to bring him with them onto a mission? The Archen seemed to be fidgeting nervously? Was he just bringing him along out of pity? But...the Flying type's reasons did not matter. If his training actually worked, then maybe that would be the final push the Ground type would need to evolve into something partially useful. Hopefully.
"I...I accept your offer. I hope I won't disappoint you too much."