A Toast to New Beginnings

The night gave way to the morning as the sun started to rise, the first rays of light signaling many of the Pokémon that it was time to wake up and get prepared for a new day. It seemed like it was about to become a wonderful day indeed, as the previous day's storm seemed to be in the past with not even a hint of a dark cloud up in the sky. There was barely even a breeze in the air as the sun rose, painting the sky with many shades of reds and oranges before it finally started to turn into a beautiful, spotless blue. Grassveil Town seemed to stir from its slumber as the Pokémon got out to the streets, starting their busy lives for the day.

Varda had been quite lucky yesterday. After the storm that had whisked him away from home, not only did he manage to bump into someone who was capable of helping him out of the strange forest, he also had managed to find someone who let him stay the night with them! Somehow after he stumbled his way to the pond to get cleaned last evening, he got quite lost and, well... He walked into a strange building and met a strange, wingless Pokémon. The owner of a Dojo or something. That Pokémon did prove to be quite nice, as she let the Swablu sleep somewhere dry. He really did have to repay her kindness one day!

Right now, the bird Pokémon had other plans, however. The person he had met in the forest was a leader of a team by the name of Lance – and someone who had wanted Varda to join his team, even! The decision had been quite hard as the Swablu hardly knew if he was up for the job, but he had finally agreed to it. He had also agreed to meet Lance the next morning, to properly get signed up for the team and become a part of the Guild! Or something. Honestly, he had no experience of anything like this and didn't know what was going to happen, but he had been told to not worry...

Of course, with Varda being Varda, he had managed to get lost on his way to the Guild despite having been given directions to it by a couple of different Pokémon already. While the bird was most likely a bit late, he did somehow manage to – finally – find his way to where he was supposed to go. Picking up his pace as he saw the structure looming up ahead, the Swablu quickly hurried towards the Guild to meet up with Lance. They were supposed to meet outside in the morning, so surely the other Pokémon was already waiting for him!

Lance was looking through his bag, checking everything in it. He was standing at the guild, waiting for Varda and Dawn. After leaving the forest with Varda, he found and told dawn to meet him at the guild. So now here he stands, waiting patiently for his future team-mates to arrive. He saw Varda coming up towards the guild, and waved at him. "Hi Varda!" He shouted. He smiled at him once he got up to the guild. "So what took you so long?" He said. He looked around. "Well, we should wait for dawn now."

Dawn was running towards the guild. She had gotten so sidetracked looking at everything she passed by, she was getting late. When she finally was getting near the guild, she saw two Pokémon. It was Lance the riolu, and a blue bird Pokémon, with fluffy wings that looked like clouds. When she arrived she said "Hello Lance!", and then she turned to the bird. "Hello, my name is Dawn!"

Varda couldn't help but smile and grow excited when he saw the familiar blue Pokémon waiting for him outside, waving his paw at the bird as he greeted. It just encouraged him to run faster, quickly closing the distance before stopping in front of Lance, panting from exhaustion with a big smile on his face.
"Good morning!" The Swablu chirped cheerfully, not seeming too tired even after running for the rest of the way as fast as he could,
"I, um, I got a bit lost," he explained as the other Pokémon wanted to know why exactly he had taken so long, his voice a bit quieter and tone less excited. Varda wasn't exactly embarrassed or anything, but it wasn't as much fun to be lost and wandering without a goal when he was supposed to get somewhere because someone was waiting for him!

"I hope you didn't have to wait too long," the excitement seemed to be back as the bird flapped his wings a couple of time, changing the subject quite suddenly. His beady eyes seemed to be eyeing the magnificent building behind Lance, the almost mythical Guild Hall he was supposed to step inside today... He couldn't wait! The Swablu had no idea what to expect, but his heart was throbbing in anticipation, his eyes growing glassy as they stared past Lance.

"Dawn?" Varda blinked as the other Pokémon's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, turning to look towards Lance,
"But it just was dawn!" he giggled, finding Lance's words quite silly. What waiting did they have to do – unless the other Pokémon really wanted to wait until the next day? The Swablu couldn't quite understand, but once he heard a new voice call Lance from behind him, he turned around to take a look.

It was a Pokémon he had never seen before – and her species were equally unknown to him. Bipedal and wingless like Lance, but she was white and slightly smaller, closer to Varda's own height. While she was unknown to him, she clearly did at least know Lance and the bird could just assume that Lance knew her, too! Once she introduced herself however, the gears in Varda's head started to slowly turn.
"Oh!" He called out once he realized what Lance had meant with waiting for dawn. Dawn was this Pokémon's name! It all made a lot more sense now, apparently they were supposed to meet her as well?
"Hello," the Swablu greeted, opening his wings for a moment,
"I'm Varda!" He happily introduced himself, turning his gaze towards Lance in case there was something he would like to say too. Or to see if he even knew this other Pokémon...

Dawn smiled happy to meet this Pokémon, which she realized was a swablu just now, remembering a book she read once a long time ago. A thought crossed through her mind. "Varda, are you joining Team Mystical too?", she asked the Swablu. It had to be that, since Varda and Lance seemed like they might be waiting for something.

Lance smiled. "Hi Dawn!" He then turned to look at both pokemon. "Well, now that everyone is here, should we go inside the guild, or do you want to do something else first?" He looked around, waiting for their desision. He couldn't wait to once again meet Faye and register his new team. He then looked back at his soon-to-be team-mates.

Varda looked at Lance, his eyes becoming brighter when he noticed that the team leader did indeed know this new Pokémon that had showed up! It could have been slightly awkward otherwise, so he was glad that this Dawn was supposed to meet them here! Of course, he hadn't heard of that plan, but the bird seemed to be quite happy anyways.
"Oh, um, yes!" He turned to face Dawn once again, excited as he nodded a couple of times,
"I think so! I was supposed to, at least," the Swablu chirped in a cheerful tone, most likely seeming a bit scatterbrained, not even being entirely sure what his plans were when it came to joining the team. But he was just going along, not minding his uncertainty at all anymore. Doing what Lance said seemed like it was a good plan for now, it was easier to leave the thinking to the other Pokémon!

"Do you mean you are joining too?" Varda tilted his head as he asked a question, his head feathers flopping to the side with gravity,
"Or are you perhaps already a part of the team? Lance didn't mention you yesterday," he continued, quite curious. This was the first time he heard of Dawn, so he was a bit unsure what her part in this was! Only thing that was clear was that the three of them were supposed to meet. He did wonder if Dawn herself knew that she would be meeting the Swablu?

The bird Pokémon turned around to look back at the Guild as he pondered Lance's question. He certainly did want to go inside and see how it looked, but at the same time, Dawn herself was rather interesting. Having two interesting things so close to each other made it quite hard to concentrate on either properly. That, and he didn't even know what Dawn wanted to do!
"Well, I'm fine with anything," Varda nodded though his voice was a bit tense with anticipation, looking in Dawn's direction as if asking for her opinion on the matter. He was fine with what she wanted to do. The two of them did have to talk a bit more later – and they had to talk more with Lance, too! The Swablu didn't really know either of them that well, but he was quite curious. Perhaps the other two Pokémon were curious too...?

When she was asked if she was joining, Dawn answered right away. "That's right! I met Lance yesterday and while exploring Pecha forest I asked if I could join!", the ralts eagerly. "Well, there is one quick thing I want to do....", and then she got out her gummi I and divided it by three, giving each Pokémon a piece. She ate hers and then said "OK, now I'm ready to go!".

Out of character: I read that right now, in the site, gummis are only treats, since there is no IQ system here. There might be one in the future.

The guildmaster was just returning from one of her common walks through the town of Grassveil as she saw a familiar and two unfamiliar faces standing in the entranceway of her guild.
Always happy to meet someone new she walked over to the group, introducing herself with the words:
"Hello, dearies! And hello, Lance! My name is Faye. May I help you with anything?"

As Lance was about to eat his part of the gummi, he heard a familiar voice from behind him. Quickly turning around, his face lit up with joy when he saw the guildmaster. "Hello Guildmaster!" He said. He turned to look at his friends. "Dawn, Varda, meet the guildmaster." He looked back at the guildmaster. "Guildmaster, this is Dawn & Varda, and they will be joining my team." He smiled, happy that he gets to see the guildmaster. He shifted his bag, which was starting to become filled with items.

Varda nodded happily, quite readily accepting the unknown Pokémon into being a part of the team. This was the first time he met Dawn, but he didn't see that being an issue. He didn't really see an issue with joining Lance's team after a day of knowing him, either! It seemed like their soon-to-be team leader was quite busy when it came to recruiting, having spent even more time in Pecha Forest yesterday than the Swablu has originally thought!

"Oh?" The bird Pokémon asked in awe as Dawn mentioned that there was still one more thing she wanted to do before she was ready to step inside the Guild, his dark, beady eyes following her hand as his curiosity got the best of him. His eyes lit up as she pulled out a small brightly colored bean-looking thing, dividing it into smaller pieces to give an equal portion of it to everyone. Varda wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he happily accepted the treat into his beak, letting the flavor envelop his tongue.

"Mhhm!" He cooed with the gummi in his mouth, seeming like he quite enjoyed its sweet flavor, closing his eyes,
"Tish if good! Fank you, Dawn!" The Swablu gave his thanks as he was still chewing on the sticky piece of candy, his words coming out sounding slightly mushy before he managed to swallow his treat. His day had already become so great that nothing would be able to bring him down now, fully enjoying his new friends and the beautiful weather. He didn't even feel homesick at all, even forgetting that he was lost for a moment!

Having been turned away from the Guild proper, his eyes managed to notice something in the distance approaching them. A much larger Pokémon on a leisurely walk, quite easy to spot with the tall neck it had. Seeing how Lance had invited Dawn without Varda knowing about it, this could be another friend of his – and a new teammate!
"Good morning! Are you going to join our team too?" The Swablu chirped in return as the new, large Pokémon introduced herself as Faye, answering her question with a question of his own. Considering how things had gone this far, he didn't feel like it was too big of a stretch to assume that she was going to join Lance's team – even though she obviously was more experienced... But she did know Lance, just like Varda and Dawn!

His theory was quickly shot down by Lance himself when he called the newcomer the Guildmaster. Oh. Well. That might have been a better explanation. Perhaps there was a hint of disappointment in the little dark eyes of the bird when Faye wasn't going to be a part of their team, but then again, having found the Guildmaster right away meant that they didn't have to go run around searching for her. Being so close to someone so big felt strange to the tiny Swablu, feeling even smaller than usual as he looked up in awe.
"O-Oh. Um, yes! I'm Varda," the bird didn't exactly have to introduce himself as Lance already did it for him, but he said it anyways now that he realized his earlier mistake...

Dawn looked up at the Meganium. Unlike Varda, it didn't feel strange for her to be near a Pokémon that tall. Her mom was a Gardevoir, only a few inches shorter than Faye, and she had seen Pokémon larger than a Meganium, like a Torterra, who she happened to meet a long time ago back home. "Hello! It's nice to , meet you!", she said to Faye.

"Oh, that is wonderful, dearies.", Faye chimed, happy for Lance to have found friends this quickly already.
"Then I guess we better get you signed up right away, shouldn't we? Since the basics have already been taken care of when you joined the guild this process should take even less time than your initial signup. Well, you know the drill. If you would please follow me into my quarters, dearies?"

"OK!" Dawn said, as she followed the Meganium into the guild. She was finally going to be an explorer, just like her parents.  As she followed Faye, a smile grew on her face. She always wanted to be an explorer, and now she would have the chance. And what better teammates than her first friends after leaving her home?

"Ok." The Riolu said, walking behind the guildmaster. He aready knew where the guildmaster's quarters were at, but he didn't want to zip away. While they were passing the boards, Lance stopped for a second to scan all the missions, wondering which one his team will do first. He then continued walking behind the guildmaster, looking at his two team-mates to see if they were doing the same.