Another day of exploring and helping people (though, sadly, still no sleep seeds to be found anywhere, followed by a relaxing evening and the start of a typical morning. Unbeknownst to Keeper and I, however, trouble was brewing behind the scenes...
<Tails> Hey, you two, come over here for a moment. I have a special job for you this morning.
<Keeper> Ooooooh, do we get to explore a new place again today? :D
<Tails> No. You get to get gather food for everyone.
<Keeper> ... :<
<Tails> This morning while preparing breakfast, we happened to notice that our food stores have, uh, dropped sharply.
<Vom> *chortle*
<bbninjas> *snicker*
<Celever> *giggle*
<Tails> Unfortunately, we have no idea what could have caused such a thing.
<Vom> *burps and rubs belly*
<Athena> >_>
<Tails> Most worrisome is that our entire stock of Perfect Apples has depleted!
<Athena> ... perfect apples?
<Tails> Nonono, capitalized, you see. Perfect Apples are the most favourite food of IA. If he is forced to go without them.... well, let's just say that it wouldn't be good thing.
<Keeper> What would happen?
<Tails> *mumble* Anyway, we'll see the two of you to go over to Apple Woods.
<Athena> Let me guess... there will be apples there?
<Tails> Yes, lots! And in the very deepest center of the woods, you'll find the grove of Perfect Apple trees. So, please bring some back for us.
<Athena> *looks over at team Skull*
<bbninjas> Oh, don't worry about us.
<Celever> Don't worry, we don't do anything to mess with you or anything like that.
<Vom> Of course not! It's not like we're set up to be the obvious bad guys or anything.
<Keeper> Come on, Athena, let's go! :D
And so Keeper and I set off to prepare for our journey. We sold a bunch of junk, stored some other junk, bought some new junk, and put the rest of our money in the bank. We also happened to notice that Electivire's link shop was open and I chatted with him to learn a bit about his services, but it seemed kind of complicated, so I just decided to ignore it for the time being. Then we were off!
Apple Woods was certainly a nice change of pace from the cave-like dungeons we've been exploring lately. There we bad Pokémon everywhere, though, and strong ones! Although they were mostly Grass-type Pokémon that were weak against me, they tended to use a lot of status effects that were annoying to deal with. We came across our first in-dungeon shop, and made quite a few new friends for our team, too, including a Budew, a Hoppip, and a few more that we sent back to the Guild to wait for us to return. We even found a Sleep Seed! It took quite a while for us to get to the deepest section with the Perfect Apples, and I found myself running out of moves, so we started hurrying up a bit towards the end.
Finally, we got there... the deepest parts of the woods and the grove of Perfect Apples.
<Athena> That's it? They don't look all that "perfect" to me. They're just like regular apples. Maybe a bit darker?
<Keeper> Well, these are the ones IA wants, so...
<Athena> Ah well, what the Guildmaster wants, he wants. I kind of thought there would be more of them, though. It seems like there's only a few in the trees.
<Keeper> Well, we wouldn't be able to carry too many with us anyway, so let's grab them and go home.
<bbninjas> Sure, but how are you going to get them?
<Keeper> That's a good question, they are kind of up high.... wait.... bbninjas?
Sure enough, Team Skull popped out from behind the trees, smirking at us.
<Athena> Somehow, I'm not surprised in the slightest.
<Celever> We thought we'd come enjoy some apples, too, ehehehe.
<Vom> Why don't we help you get some of the apples down?
<Keeper> How do you plan on doing that?
<Vom> Oh, it's simple enough *headbutts tree*
<Perfect Apples> *fall down*
<Vom> There you go! Come up and take them. We won't hurt you or mess with you or anything.
<Athena> Somehow, I don't trust that.
<Keeper> Me neither.
<Vom> Aww, well, if you're not going to play along, then Celever and I will just have to gas you anyway. Smell ya later, losers!
Vom lifted his tail and shot us with a huge spray of rotten stench, enough to knock us both out. When we finally woke up, all of the Perfect Apples were gone, and so were Team Skull. At least most of Team Skull....
<bbninjas> Oh, jeez, I wish they would warm me when they spray their stink around so I could get my gas mask ready.... Anyway, see you chumps later. *flies off*
<Keeper> *sigh* It looks like they took the rest of the Perfect Apples with them, too... :\
<Athena> Well, nothing we can do about it now. Let's go ahead and head back to the Guild.
We warped back to the entrance and made our way back, reporting in to Tails first thing about the failure of our mission.
<Tails> What? You failed?!
<Athena> That is what I just said, yes.
<Tails> Are you serious? Oh, ^&)&*%, what am I going to do.... ._.;
<Keeper> It's not our fault! Vom and them showed up and...
<Tails> Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, I don't want to hear your pitiful excuses. As punishment, you'll have to go without dinner tonight.
<Athena> What are we, kids?
<Tails> You want a worse punishment?
<Athena> ... No. >.>
<Tails> And now I'm going to have to go tell the Guildmaster.... *gulp* ... after dinner. And you two will come with me so I don't have to face this alone.
<Athena & Keeper> :X
To make matters even more humiliating, Keeper and I were forced to stand and watch the others eat while our own stomachs grumbled. At least I knew we still had a couple regular apples and gummis in our sack to nom on later. Once the meal was over, we dutifully followed Tails to his meeting with IA...
<IA> Hiya! ^_^ Ohman, ohman, you've brought me some Perfect Apples, haven't you? I'm so excited. ^_________^
<Tails> Well, um, about that... you see...
<IA> Something wrong? o.o;
<Tails> Well, the truth is.... it's all their fault! *points* Keeper and Athena had a very crucial mission to bring back some Perfect Apples and they failed utterly. So...
<IA> Oh, that's okay! Everyone fails sometimes; I understand. Don't feel bad! ^_^
<Athena & Keeper> *phew*
<IA> So, where are the other Perfect Apples? ^_^
<Tails> Well, uh, you see, since they failed, we kind of have..... zero Perfect Apples.
<IA> ...
<Tails> Unfortunately, you'll have to do without any Perfect Apples for a little bit..... eheheheh....
<IA> ...
<Tails> Um... Guildmaster?
<IA> *sniffle* ;~;
<Keeper> Uh-oh....
<IA> *sob* ;~;
<Tails> Wah! No!
<IA> Urrrrrf.... ;~;
<Keeper> Ohgod, the whole Guild is shaking.... o_o;
<Tails> Everyone, cover your ears! *covers ears*
<Keeper> W-Why?
<Athena> I think now would be a time to not question and just comply. *covers ears*
<Keeper> *covers ears*
<IA> BWEEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....
<???> Sorry to disturb you! We've come to deliver a Perfect Apple!
<IA> Huh? o.o;
Suddenly, Team Skull barged into the room, Vom leading the way.
<Vom> Here you go, one Perfect Apple! Please accept it as a token of friendship. ^_^
<IA> Ohgod, you guys are the best friends ever. *omnomnomnom*
<Tails> Yes, thank you very much! Keeper, Athena, show some appreciation!
<Keeper> .... >:\
<Vom> Oh, no, your appreciation is quite unnecessary. After all, your Guild as been so hospitable and generous to us.
<Tails> Such admirable Pokémon! I'm so glad we have recruited you to come on the expedition with us! It will be inspiring.
<Vom> Oh, no, you are the ones who inspire us! Truly, we are honoured.
<Athena> *stifles gag*
<Vom> Anyway, we must retire to our chambers for the evening. Farewell!
<IA> Good night! And thank you again, friends! ^_^ *leaves*
Meanwhile, outside the chamber...
<bbninjas> Ohman, why'd you have to give away that Perfect Apple like that?
<Celever> Yeah! We could have seen what would happen to those losers, and we would have had another Perfect Apple to eat for ourselves.... >_>
<Vom> You guys are so dumb, it's a good thing you have me to lead you.
<bbninjas & Celever> o.o?
<Vom> The only reason we're here is for the expedition. To get the most out of that, we need to build up trust.
<bbninjas> Oh.
<Celever> Trust, yeah.
<Vom> This is such a famous guild and all that I was originally planning on being incredibly cautious... but really, these losers are just too easy. IA's just a big baby that everyone is terrified of for some reason, Tails is a windbag, and everyone else is a rookie. It'll be easy to knock them all out of commission if we find a sweet treasure on this expedition.
<bbninjas> Sweet plan, Chief!
<Celever> This will be excellent.... *giggle*
Keeper and I finally made our way back to our room where we gorged on our horde of food to make up for the lack of dinner and then complained to each other about our misfortune.
<Keeper> ... those jerks. ._.; *punches hay*
<Athena> Well, not much we can do about it for now. Let's get some sleep.
<Keeper> Yeah... tomorrow's another day to get some jobs done.
The next morning, we were about to start on our day's explorations, hoping to make up for our failures, but Tails pulled us to the side for a moment before we could leave.
<Tails> Look, I just want both of you to know... you may as well give up on trying to get picked for the expedition.
<Keeper> What? Why?!
<Tails> You made a huge mistake yesterday. IA may look calm on the outside, but he'll probably be pissed at you for a while. He's not going to forget this, and it's unlikely you'll be able to redeem yourselves over the next couple days before we make the final choices.
<Keeper> But but but.... :<
<Tails> Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you don't get your hopes up. *flies off*
<Keeper> :\
<Zyflair> Psst, guys, over here!
Zyflair, Teal, and MtC were waiting in a corner for us. When Tails had flown off, they summoned us and we went back in the direction of our room, sneakily to make sure we weren't caught.
<Keeper> So, uh, what's this about?
<Teal> Well, we wanted you to have these. *produces apples*
<MtC> We thought you'd be hungry.
<Zyflair> So we all put aside parts of our dinner for you! :D
<Athena> Oh, wow, that's very nice of you! But, actually, we already ate.
<Teal> You did?
<Athena> Yeah, we still had some apples and gummis in our bag for when we're out on explorations.
<MtC> Oh, yeah, duh, that's a pretty obvious solution. I wonder why no one else thought of that?
<Keeper> But thank you anyway!
<Athena> In fact, since you're all here, why don't we all pitch in and have a meal together? ^_^
<Zyflair> Good plan!
<Everyone> *omnomnomnom*
<Keeper> But, seriously guys, it was really thoughtful of you.
<Teal> Well, it's good to be able to help out others. All of us in the Guild need to stick together!
<MtC> We're all going to have to work hard to be picked for the expedition!
<Athena> Oh, yeah, the expedition, right.... >_>
<Keeper> *sigh* Tails already told us that we're not going to get picked because of our failure yesterday.
<Zyflair> What? That's so lame!
<Teal> They haven't even picked the members, so they can't know for sure, right?
<Athena> I guess so... but everyone wants to go, and we're the only ones who have royally pissed of IA, so...
<Keeper> And if we're chosen, that would mean someone else staying behind, even if they want to go, too.
<MtC> Well, yeah, that's how limited spots work. If someone is picked, then someone else misses out.
<Teal> But those of us who aren't chosen will just have to cheer for the ones that do!
<Zyflair> And everyone wants to go on the expedition with you guys. You're super popular for some reason, even though no one hardly knows you and you've only been around for a few days. Main Character syndrome, I guess.
<Athena> Well, I guess we've got that going for us.
<Keeper> And, hey, we'll still keep trying to do well and get picked. Who knows what will happen!
<Teal> Yay!
<MtC> Let's all try our best. :D
<Everyone> *high fives*