“What’s the first thing you want to know?” Wilson asked as they crunched along the snow, trying to stay in the steps that were first trod up the mountain to reduce fatigue.

  “I guess the first thing would be how do I become a Guild member?” Zarius asked with excitement.

  “Just show up, and if you’re a Trainer, they will let you join. You get a badge,” he pointed to a small, mountain peak made of a blue gemstone on a silver coin. The object was mounted inside a belt, which had other circular slots that looked like they would accommodate others. “And a belt. This is how you can track at a glance where a Trainer has been. Silver coin for being a member, gold coin for beating the Guild Leader at that location in a duel.”

  “Intriguing. Some methodology of tracking prestige,” Yveltal commented. “A means of tracking accomplishments. I always enjoy hearing about mortal’s and their pursuits of what they perceive as greatness. Struggling their whole lives towards a series of milestones that, in the end, matter not.”

  They matter a bit, Zarius thought back. A person can leave a legacy. A legend.

  “In our case, we are a literal legend,” Yveltal snappily retorted with a slight hint of amusement.

  Zarius looked over to Wilson, “You’re just a member then?”

  “Yes sir,” Wilson replied. “Trainers who join a Guild can take on Quests from all types of people. We are the go-to people for dealing with issues surrounding Pokémon, or Pokémon-suspected incidents.” He frowned and grumbled, “And those are on the rise with population numbers rumored to be spiraling out of control. At least, the few Psychic Trainers who have foretold the future said that.” He shrugged, “More hunts for us.”

  “Do you also see the language of the gods?” Zarius asked, curious if Wilson and by extension other Trainers could see the odd visions with the words tracking Experience and Moves.

  “Oh yes. Trainers only. Part of our connection with our Pokémon.” He patted the Bayleef’s side as they walked alongside each other, “We’re Level 12.”

  Lucien looked up at Zarius, “Only a bit higher level than us.”

  Zarius refocused on Wilson, “I just go there, sign up, get a badge and belt…then can start taking Quests?”

  “Yup.”

  Seems easy enough, he thought. “What’s the purpose of going to get those badges from other Guild Halls?”

  Wilson let out a barking laugh, “You don’t just get the silver ones on a first visit.” He tapped his belt and the one occupied slot, “The silver one is just the first. I can’t move to other Guild Halls to take other Quests until I upgrade to gold by beating the Guild Leader. Then, you go to other Guild Halls, get a silver badge, and then you’re…location locked, as it were, to Missions in any cities you have badges for.”

  “In other words,” Zarius replied, “I go sign up, get a silver badge, need to upgrade it to gold from a fight, and then I can go to another city to rinse and repeat?”

  “Mhmm. You can also be upgraded to gold if you just do enough Missions.”

  “Why?” Zarius asked, not quite understanding the purpose of that.

  “Prestige, for one. Bragging rights. Then you also have the different Quest opportunities. And, if you manage to get a gold badge from every single Guild Hall in a kingdom – a region, as you’d countryside folk call them – they can be taken to the capital. Lumiose, in the case of the Kalos Kingdom. You present them to the Guild Master at that Hall, and he will give you a master badge.”

  Zarius interrupted, “How far away is the capital?”

  “A few days’ travel,” Wilson replied. “The Kalos Kingdom is one of the smaller ones, but we are isolated from most of the other kingdoms thanks to the mountains. North you’d have to go past the rivers and along the coast to the Fiore, down to Western Passage to reach Paldia – which is guarded by a single mountain pass that both kingdoms man, or over the treacherous Southern Cut which takes you to Unova.” He scratched his head and continued, “You could also head across the sea from one of the ports, but most of the coastline is rocky beaches except near Cyllage and Ambrette and those are heavily fortified.”

  Zarius had never seen a world map, much less knew that he was located in a kingdom all on its own. There is so much I don’t know, he thought.

  “When you next sleep, we will take a dream flight, and I will show you what the world looks like from above.”

  Thanks, Zarius thought back before clearing his throat. “Okay, sorry for the tangent. What does a master badge mean?”

  “Well, you can work in any Kalos Guild Hall, for one. And, every kingdom is bound by the Trainer Pact. That ensures you can safely travel to any kingdom without threat. Then you repeat the process – visit each Guild Hall, get a silver then gold badge, go to the capital, get your master badge, and move on!” He chuckled. “Some younger folks want to try and gather every master badge from every region. If you can pull that off…it is rumored that you can have an audience with Arceus himself and ask three questions.”

  “That part is true,” Yveltal commented. “I know that Arceus sometimes bitched and moaned to me about mortals asking questions about Death, and so I would visit those who asked and have an audience with them.” He laughed, “It was always fun terrifying them.”

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  I get every master badge, I can talk with the creator of everything? The idea blew Zarius away, and he was absolutely flabbergasted.

  Wilson picked up on his shock and chuckled heartily, “You are young enough, you might be the type to do it.” He looked up at the sky, “Damn, it’s getting late faster than I thought. If we want to make the bridge, we’ll need to hustle.” He picked up the pace, ignoring the talking, and Zarius let himself get lost in his thoughts as they walked along.

  Lucien nudged him, “What do you think about that? Showing off our might and prowess by beating their best?”

  “Could be fun,” Zarius replied. “Really make a name for myself. I can imagine it now. Zarius, the master Trainer who conquered every Guild Hall, spoke to Arceus, and then…” he trailed off, not wanting to tip off Wilson that he was going to be ascending to godhood. “Well, you know,” he said instead.

  Lucien nodded, “Traveling across the world sounds fun. I want to eat different meats from all over. Try different regional delicacies.” He licked his chops and bumped Zarius a little harder, eliciting Zarius’ instinctively reaching down to scritch between his ears atop his head.

  The day passed, and Zarius was tired from having traveled for almost twenty-four hours straight. But they came to a large, wooden bridge that was guarded by four armored individuals. They were heavily encumbered, with thick full plate that had tufts of fur poking out from the joints, indicating their warmth despite the metal carapace. They were holding crossbows that were at the ready, but did not have a bolt slotted. On their hips they had straight, steel blades, and pikes were leaned up against the sides of the bridge.

  “Hey! I got the thing with some help!” Wilson shouted as he waved.

  “Bayleef!” Juliet yipped.

  Zarius pushed down the innate desire to claim credit for the actual kill, but he kept himself calm and knew it was the cost for getting all of the valuable information he was filled in on.

  “Brought a friend?” one of the guards asked as they approached.

  “Yup! Met a new Trainer from the mountain villages. He wants to sign up at the Hall, and I’ll be taking him in!”

  “All right, you’re responsible for him in town,” the female, slightly slimmer guard replied.

  They were let through the wooden gates on the furthest end of the bridge. Twenty feet across and five times as long, Zarius felt his bootsteps clacking on the ice-encrusted expanse. The town before them was on the cliffs overlooking the river, and therefore had no walls. A few chest-high fences, perhaps to keep people from falling over, but that was all. The constructions were all wood, and he could see more buildings than he’d ever seen in his life. Large, standing metal spires held glowing crystals that shimmered with a pale, yellow hue that illuminated the darkening night. The buildings were all almost uniform – wooden constructions that weren’t like the hardier and more robust log cabins up on the mountainside – instead they were made of cut pieces.

  At the center of the town, or at least from what Zarius guessed was the center, a larger stone building rose up. A huge castle, with a deep, tall wall and a single central spire that extended up into the sky. Wilson pointed, “That’s where the Duke resides. He is the king’s second-cousin, but he’s not favored, so he was given this position here near the mountains.”

  Wilson gestured to a few other buildings of note. A general goods store, “Good for stocking up on travel supplies for expeditions,” a smithy, “For repairing weapons and armor,” a tailor, “To fix your burnt clothes,” and a building made of white wood with red paint along the trim and a large cross on the door – also in red. “That is where you can get mended up if you’re injured.”

  He led the still-astonished and taking-it-all-in Dark Trainer to a large, single-story lodge which had an emblem of a glittering, green acorn on the front. “And this is the Guild Hall. Shall we?” He pushed open the door, and the warm scent of freshly-picked pine needles greeted Zarius’ nose.

  Wilson stepped inside, followed by his Bayleef, and Zarius gestured for Lucien to enter before him. The Umbreon gave him a little nod before going inside, and Zarius shut the door behind him as the wind picked up with a howling, biting rage.

  The interior of the Guild Hall was a single, open space with several benches covered with layers of pine needles for cushion, and canvas tarps thrown over to make for a comfortable space. A large, wood-burning stove warmed the space, and the bubbling pot of what Zarius assumed was an eternal stew simmered in its cast iron confines. The far end of the hall had a set of stairs heading down to what he assumed was either a storage cellar, or perhaps individual quarters as he did not see anyone sleeping in this upstairs, general space.

  A large board was placed on the wall, opposite the stove, and had several slips of paper with requests and listed amounts of money. Yveltal spoke with curiosity, “Ah, you mortals and your currency. Remind me what it is called, the coins placed on the eyes of those who are being sent to the beyond?”

  Those are just coins, Zarius thought back as he followed Wilson towards the stairs at the back of the hall. Silver is the main one, and Gold is more expensive. I don’t remember the conversion. Not something I was taught as a possible Prophet and then sacrifice.

  Wilson led him down some steps and to Zarius’ surprise it got warmer as they descended. Reaching a hand up, he felt a small amount of heat coming from the ceiling. “How do you keep it warmer underground?” he asked quietly.

  Wilson turned down a long hall with doors on either side and one at the farthest end that said “Guild Leader” in bright, green paint. “Ah, the Guild Leader has a Torkoal that is very old, and doesn’t move very often. It’s kept outside, behind the building, and thanks to some conductive metal, the heat spreads through the building.”

  “Aren’t you worried about fires?” Zarius asked as he continued down the now-cramped passage filled with two Pokémon of decent size and two men.

  Wilson chuckled, “No. It’s just warm metal embedded in fire-hardened clay ceiling above us and floor below the main level.” He knocked on the door, “Hey, you up Mary?!”

  The door opened rapidly and a young woman, no older than twenty-eight with frazzled, orange hair and deep, green eyes looked down the hall. Her eyes seemed to pierce into Zarius, and he felt an ominous sensation as if something was right behind him. Spinning around, he could swear he saw the faintest glimmer of something outside of his vision.

  Lucien growled, “Ghost type. We are super-effective against each other. Dark and Ghost, I mean.”

  The woman named Mary sighed, “What is it, Wilson? Lose your nerve chasing that Centiskorch?”

  “Nope!” he pointed to Zarius, “This stranger helped me take it down! Zarius, meet Mary. Mary, Zarius.”

  Zarius felt irritated at the fact that his credit was being partially taken, but swallowed down his pride and tried his best to smile. “I was on my way down the mountain to join up. Came across the thing as it had attacked a village.”

  Mary looked over at Wilson, “You didn’t notice his blood-stained clothes?”

  Wilson shrugged, “I assumed from the Centiskorch.”

  The woman looked back to Zarius, “Well…welcome to the Guild Hall. You wanted to join?”

  “Yes,” Zarius replied.

  The woman nodded, closed the door, and a moment later came out with a belt and a silver badge – both of which she tossed to Zarius. He caught them out of the air with ease, and held the silver badge in between his fingers, feeling the indentation of the mountain design. “Here you go. You’re a member. Now let me go to sleep.”

  “Don’t want some steak?” Wilson asked.

  The woman’s eyes bored a hole into the man, but she shrugged. “I could eat some of that, sure.” She looked past Wilson to Zarius, “The three on the far end there are open. Make yourself at home, Trainer.”