PMD-E Writing App: Team Goldberry

Team Name: Team Goldberry

Rank: Farfetch'd

Member 1 Signature: Art, male Spinarak

Nature & Trait: Jolly, quick to flee

Move 1: Poison Sting
Move 2: Spider Web
Move 3: Sucker Punch
Move 4: Agility

Accessories: Yellow neckerchief, worn around the neck

Member 2 Signature: Emeline, female Zigzagoon

Nature & Trait: Serious, good endurance

Move 1: Headbutt
Move 2: Odor Sleuth
Move 3: Protect
Move 4: Facade

Accessories: Yellow scarf, worn around the neck

Member 3 Signature: Inès, female Minccino

Nature & Trait: Rash, somewhat vain

Move 1: Pound
Move 2: Swift
Move 3: Tail Slap
Move 4: Thunder Wave

Accessories: Yellow ribbon, worn around the neck

Other Features: Dark brown eyes, abnormally sharp teeth

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It was cold. It was dark. It was raining. The wind was blowing with no regard to whomever may have been stuck sitting outside, exposed to every chilling gust that passed through Tao Village. Emeline the Zigzagoon deeply wished she did not have to sit outside of a hut with rain pouring down on her, soaking her fur, her yellow scarf, and the registration papers tucked beneath the fabric. Her eyes constantly scanned the dark roads of the village, hoping to see a sign of her partner.

Art was late for their registration. After what felt like a month of traveling together, they had finally arrived in Tao Village to join the town's illustrious Merchant Guild. After days and days of making their way through hills and towns and forests, they were finally here, a few steps away from a new opportunity—a few steps away from their sole reason for being here. And Art, her Spinarak partner, the one who'd traveled even farther than she had to arrive here, was late by several minutes. Emeline had stood in front of a hut in the bitter rain waiting for him. If she did not feel the cold beginning to creep into her bones, her blood could have begun to boil from the steadily rising anger.

With a weary sigh, she lowered her head and stared at the muddy dirt she was standing in. Emeline did not fear getting a little dirt on her paws, but standing in cold mud was far from any kind of comfort she preferred. Her usually-bristly fur was drooping and becoming matted from the water, and her coat felt like it had doubled in weight. If she became ill from this, she would force the Spinarak to procure the best medicine he could, costs be damned.

A particularly strong gust buffeted her from the left, causing her to tense her muscles to stay rigid and upright, as well as clench her eyes to protect them from the sting of the wind. The only sound she could hear, aside from the wind whipping past her ears, was her own growling. No, this was unacceptable, this was ridiculous. Art would have to deal with it, she was going in and register without him, if she could get away with it.

"Hey, Eme! Sorry I'm late, kinda got lost 'round town. Man, this place is bigger than I thought it would be! I mean, where I came from was pretty big too—didn't have that nice fountain though, that woulda been great to have..."

Yet just like that, the green spider Pokémon had crept up on her for the brief moment she wasn't paying attention, and chatting away like nothing was wrong with the world. But as soon as the Zigzagoon lifted her head and shot her fiercest glare at her partner's eyes, Art immediately ceased his ramble in its tracks. He didn't seem nearly as soaked as she did; if he was truly lost, wouldn't he have wandered around in rain for as long as she had sat and waited? The idea that he was lying to her only intensified her displeasure, but a rainy street in the middle of the night was no place to start an argument over her partner's honesty.

"Can we go in, now?" Emeline asked in a low, grave tone; a tone of voice that demanded agreement.

"Uh, yeah, sure, let's head in. Kinda cold out here, ain't it?"

"I hadn't noticed."

Emeline was not a patron of sarcasm, but sometimes the Spinarak's comments practically begged for it. But she was not in the mood to voice her dissatisfaction with her partner's behavior; there was more important things to worry about. It was far too late to feel much relief at finally being able to turn towards the door, ball up her paw and knock on the hut's door. She knocked a few times, and before even a few seconds had passed, the door opened, revealing the hut's inhabitant: a grayed Ninetails, accompanied by a soft, inviting warmth radiating from the interior.

Come in, come in! My goodness, come in! I can't believe you've all been waiting outside in the rain all this time! You could have knocked earlier, you know!

The suddenness of the greeting left Emeline's paw hanging in mid-air, staring ahead at her greeter with bemusement. Art was quick to pass the Zigzagoon and enter, as the Ninetails' words did not hit a sensitive chord as they did with Emeline. She almost opened her mouth to ask how long he knew she'd been out there and why he did not invite her in earlier, but another strong gust suddenly hit her, eating away whatever body heat she had left. Between it and the Ninetails ushering her in, she merely sighed quietly, dropped the subject from her mind, and followed her partner inside.

My name is Callahan, or Calla, for short. I'm the guild registrar, you know. I'm quite good at it!

"Nice to meetcha, Mr. Callahan," Art greeted with a cheery glint in his eyes. "My name—"

Oh, please allow me to take your belongings; they're all wet! I'll just hang them in front of the fireplace to dry as we go over the formalities. Don't forget to take them when we're done! You wouldn't believe how many people leave their accessories here with me! (Please don't do that, I have so many things cluttering up my attic in dusty old boxes...)

"...Oh, uh, okay then," the Spinarak mumbled, stumbling over his thoughts and words after being so abruptly cut off. He began to speak again, only to be stopped when his scruffy neckerchief was suddenly yanked from his neck. Emeline was still shaking the cold from herself when the same occurred to her. Her scarf was roughly tugged off of her, letting their registration papers fall to the floor, which the Zigzagoon quickly picked up. She leered at Callahan as the yellow garments were hung above the fire, wondering how hospitality could feel so rude. If the Ninetails noticed her irritation, he did nothing to acknowledge it.

And the paperwork, of course! There will be a lot of that, don't you worry one bit! You do have the forms that we've mailed you filled out, yes? That does always make things go much quicker here.

"Yeah, yeah, Eme's got 'em," Art answered immediately, cheer quickly returning to his mood. A glance at the spidery Pokémon would show he was almost bouncing on his six legs, no doubt excited with anticipation. Were it not for the weather, perhaps his partner would feel more similarly. Emeline had to wonder if he was asking such a question as some kind of sly joke, considering he'd nearly touched the papers when he took her scarf. But as she had done since arriving, she kept her thoughts to herself, and offered the pair of rolled-up papers to the guild registrar, which he was quick to snatch and open, examining the forms with an energy that briefly yet peculiarly resembled Art's.

What's this? These forms are soaking wet... and the ink has run! Goodness, we're in for a lot more paperwork than I could have hoped to dream of!

Though she was talented at remaining stone-faced, Emeline couldn't help but stare incredulously at the Nintetails as he discarded their forms. The Zigzagoon had done her best to keep them dry, and they certainly felt drier than she did when she held the papers in her paws. Surely such a bookish Pokémon like Callahan could easily decipher a few blurry letters?

Art, meanwhile, had stopped his giddy bouncing.

No matter, I have spare forms, and all the time in the world! I trust you have no pressing appointments yet, so I'll write down your information now. With your help, of course.

Emeline wanted to cringe, but a quick glance at Art revealed that he was reacting enough for both of their sakes. The Spinarak's buzz seemed to die in a flash. Callahan, meanwhile, didn't seem bothered at all at suddenly having a lot more work to do; he almost seemed pleased about it, and if he took notice of their displeased reactions, he didn't react to it as he dug out more forms from his desk.

Let's get right down to it, shall we? My fastest time for entering a team in the official guild registrar is a touch under a few hours; let's see if we can break the record!

All right now... names, please?

"Hours...?"

A quick cough from Emeline shook Art out of the dejection that was slowly coming over him, or at least shook him enough to grab his attention so he could respond.

"Uhhh, right... My name's Art. Yep. Just Art. And she's—"

"I'm Emeline."

Ahh... what... commo—er, good names you all have! How do you spell them?

"Oh, easy," Art chimed, "A-R-T. Yup, just three letters."

"Emeline is seven letters. E-M-E-L-I-N-E. Emeline. Only one M."

It felt awkward for the pair to sit on the floor and watch the Ninetails enthusiastically fill out the form with an ink-dipped tail. But it was more comfortable than outside. They both hoped that the rain would let up before they finished their business with Callahan.

Interesting spelling! Are you foreign? French, perhaps?

"Foreign? Uhhh, well, kinda? Dunno what a 'French' is, though. I'm from pretty far away, so's Emeline. Hey, Eme, you 'French'?"

"Excuse me?"

Ah, no, forget it, France is just made up here, you know. Often used as comic relief. Er, just forget that.

Moving on!

What alias do you wish to give you lot of fellows? I hope it's something good! I've been so bored by Pokémon insisting to use a name like "Team Awesome" or anything of the sort. More like "Team Mediocrity," I like to think! I'm sure you have a much more original name.

At this, Art suddenly seemed excited yet again. "Oh, oh yeah! We got a great name! We're gonna be—okay, listen—'Team Goldberry'! Eme and I thought of it ourselves! Took forever, so we know it's good! Right?"

I knew you wouldn't let me down! Is that the normal spelling, or do you insist on losing letters, or replacing them altogether entirely? (I hope not...)

The Spinarak beamed, and Emeline briefly considered suggesting to him that Callahan was being sarcastic. But she honestly was not sure of the notion herself.

"Nah, it's normally spelled, but it's all one word. 'Goldberry.' Just one word," Art continued to explain. "Looks good on paper, doesn't it?"

And... done. All right! Next topic!

You there, lad! You seem to be the leader of the team, here. Why don't you tell me about yourself? Please make it interesting! I'm not filing a police report, you know. I don't get paid for this, either. I do it for the stories people tell! Everyone has a story! (Some are better than others, though. That's for sure...) However, I do hope yours isn't filled to the brim with angst and darkness, you know. We have enough of that as it is with the recent crises we've been going through!

If you insist on weaving a yarn of incredible sadness and general malaise, please make it good. I'll discern the necessary details from your story and put it down in the log book here.

Art seemed surprised. Was he just called the leader? Well, he had done most of the talking, but Emeline preferred to let him. He looked at his partner, who simply gave an apathetic shrug. They'd agreed to be partners, but if he seemed like the leader type and Emeline wasn't going to complain, then maybe...

Oh, he was supposed to tell Callahan about himself. All eyes were on him and he suddenly felt awkward at having trailed off in thought like that. With a sheepish chuckle, he began.

"Well, I don't got a weepy story or anything. Least, I don't think it's sad. I grew up waaaay way away from here, I'm not sure how far away but it took me a long time to get here. Lived in a town a lot like this one—I mean, it was different, but kinda not, y'know? Which I think is cool—but anyway, my dad was a popular business guy ever since I was born. Seemed like he had a little to do with every store there. I'd hang out with him and when he wasn't too busy, he'd teach me about how things worked, or introduced me to the Pokémon he worked with, and I always thought it was real interesting how it all worked together..."

Again, the Spinarak trailed off, distracted by his own thoughts. But before anyone could nudge him back to reality, he snapped back to attention on his own and continued. "Anyway, a little while back, my dad died, and a lot of the stuff he owned went to his business partners, and I thought a lot of it would go to me, and... W-well, anyway, I decided to leave home and come here. I've heard plenty of good things about Tao Village! Seemed like a great place to... Y'know... Uh, yeah, join up and stuff!"

What an enchanting tale! I can see why you'd probably like to join the Rogues' Guild!

"Yeah, I—woah, woah, wait! What! No, Merchant Guild! We wanna join the Merchant Guild! D-do I look like a thief?!" Art protested loudly. Callahan seemed to brush off the upset outburst with ease and continue scribbling on the form before turning to face the other team member.

And you there, lass, what is your story? Your leader has done an excellent job of keeping me awake at this late hour, I hope you do the same!

Emeline perked up as she was addressed, having moved a bit closer to the fireplace as Art told his tale. Reluctant as she was to leave the fire, she stood and returned to Callahan at his desk. "I don't have much to say about myself," she replied. "I also grew up in a far away village. My parents grew berries for a living, and my mom was also something of a doctor. She knew a lot about the medicinal properties of berries and other kinds of plants. I helped them when I could, and I did like the business, but I felt it wasn't for me. Then, I met him," she nodded her head to Art, "as he was passing through my village, and he told me about how he was traveling to Tao Village to join the Merchant Guild. I liked the idea myself, so I joined him. Simple as that."

"I'm pretty sure it was my idea for us to partner up," Art interjected, earning him a stern look from his associate.

Very well, then! It seems I have all I need in order to register you here in our peaceful Tao Village! If during your travels you decide to recruit or add on an extra member to your team, please have them visit me and fill out the necessary info at the top.

I don't think I'll keep you here any longer, I have everything I need from you! I haven't broken any records for time tonight, though. Your story took up quite a bit of it! (Thankfully, it didn't put me to sleep... it's happened before). Time to conclude our business here!

Before either of them could object, they found themselves being nearly pushed out of the Ninetails' office and back out into the rainy street. Both tried to speak up, but any attempt was ignored or cut off by a strong nudge. The door shut behind them, leaving the Zigzagoon and Spinarak standing in the rain, which had only intensified during their registration. All the warmth they'd received inside was now vanishing at a fast rate, and what little bristle Emeline's coat had regained was once again gone.

"...Well, that was kinda weird," Art commented, looking somewhat dazed at their sudden relocation. "Did that really take a few hours? Didn't feel that long... Anyway! We should probably get goin' and outta this rain, eh, Eme?" With that, the spidery Pokémon turned and began heading down the road.

Emeline, however, remained where she stood. "Art, you're forgetting something," she called out to him over the sound of the wind and rain.

"Eh?"

"Our things are still in there, Art."

In almost a flash, the Spinarak had zipped back and started rapping on the door as loudly as he could, calling out for the office's inhabitant. "Mr. Dullahan! It's me, Art! I think you still have our—"

Again, the door was answered with remarkable speed, this time with the pair's accessories in Callahan's paw. With the yellow articles of clothing returned to the owners and rapidly re-soaked by the rain, the door was quickly shut again with no opportunities to say thanks nor good-bye. Donning their respective belongings, the two set off through the downpour.

"So, Eme, what do ya wanna do now?"

"Dry off and sleep."

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Ahh, yes! The fabled new member of the team that stood out in the rain for hours before finally knocking! I remember them! Come in! It’s nice to see that you knocked immediately. Shows initiative!

Inès didn't know what to expect when she had knocked on the door. Art only said the Ninetails who handled the paperwork was “kinda nice but kinda weird,” which wasn't a useful description. He was grayer than she was, and much taller. Callahan stepped aside before she could give any kind of greeting and made his way back to what appeared to be several cabinets fully stocked with papers. The place looked like a half-clean mess, like someone was still sorting and storing things but had a lot of work left to do. It didn't look like Callahan minded the disorganization, maybe there was another who worked there?

With a rather loud thud, the Ninetails slapped down a paper onto his writing desk, and had two tails dipped in fresh ink with an excited look on his face.

Most of your information has already filled out, but please, for posterity, tell me about yourself! How did you come to meet that raggedy bunch of Pokemon and become so interested in them that you decided to join? Do tell!

She forced a smile, ready to lie about everything. “Oh, I'm just a traveler, going here and there and seeing the world. So many places to see, so many people to meet. But traveling costs quite a bit, and I've done it for so long now, I felt I should take a rest. So I came through here and bumped into Art, that Spinarak, and after a bit of chit-chat, he offered me a job! I couldn't turn down that kind of generosity, and he says I could have a special knack for the merchant business! So I decided to join their team, and now I'm a member of Goodberr—er, Goldberry! Not much more complicated than that!”

Callahan was smirking at her. The way he looked at her made Inès wonder if he believed any parts of her story. It was half-truths, things that were technically true with details stripped out, but there was no way she was going to explain how she got dressed up as a maid in Castle Draclugia, made into a servant for weeks, and was eventually freed by Art and convinced to join his team. That would just be humiliating; no one in Tao Village but her and Art could ever know.

That seems to be everything I need!

The Minccino was sighing with relief on the inside, but only politely nodded to him on the outside. Callahan seemed content with whatever he had scribbled down on the paper.

Go out now, and get some rest! I doubt you’ll live to regret your decisions!

Her tail twitched. She could practically taste the sarcasm, but she wasn't going to call him out on it if she wasn't sure she could take him in a fight. With a polite nod and a wave good-bye, Inès quickly left the Ninetails' office as quickly as she could. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she dropped the smile and groaned under her breath. “Warn me about the weirdos in this place, Art…” she muttered as she walked away, hoping she wouldn't have to deal with more of Callahan anytime soon. She knew to stay away from Pokémon who gave her the creeps like he did.