Team Dark Stars App 2.0

Note: Character descriptions in Author's description at bottom of deviation.


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The storm thundered. It'd warmed up earlier that morning with a few showers over the village and practiced its best gale winds against a mountain a few days ago. Now it was here for a show. Rain rolled down in straight lines from above. Lightning stabbed the hillsides like a cheap assassin. Thunder boomed overhead as if competing with the constant drumming of the rain off the walls, floors and roofs of Tao.  On the other side of the world, a butterfly somewhere has a lot to answer for.

Even if it wasn't for the presence of the Ice type, the mood outside the wooden building would have been frostier than Whispering Peaks anyway.

The two figures stood waiting in silence. Normally they'd be happy to idly chat and joke together, but the weather seemed to just drain the enthusiasm straight out of the pair of them. That and the fact they'd been waiting in the rain for over half an hour, which had felt like half a year. This was not going to be a good evening.

Eventually the Mawile spoke first. 'Shall we just come back tomorrow?'

The Sneasel sighed in response. 'No. We've been here for ages now, and I don't want to let all this time stood in the rain go to waste. Besides, it gets busy with all the people that come to get paperwork sorted. It'll be fine Cross, he can't make us wait much longer.'

Cross did not offer comment on this.


-20 minutes later-


'You were saying something about not waiting much longer?'

'Ugh, that's it.' Harley the Sneasel muttered in annoyance. Turning round, he hammered his claws on the door and shouted 'Hey! Open up! People are dying of cold out here!'

He had barely got the words out of his mouth before the door flew open to reveal a shiny Ninetales stood behind it, bearing the wide, eager smile of someone who has never been punched in the face.

'Come in, come in! My goodness, come in!' the Ninetales exclaimed at the sight of the soaking pair of irritated expressions. 'I can't believe you've all been waiting outside in the rain all this time! You could have knocked earlier, you know!'

'We did. Four times.'

Harley's deadpan comment fell on deaf ears. The Ninetales had already padded behind a small writing-desk in the centre of the room, gesturing for them to follow him. With a collective sigh, the pair stepped into the room, Cross closing the door behind her. They had been left out in the rain for ages and this guy was to be their reward? What a great night.

'My name is Callahan, or Calla, for short,' the Ninetales continued fluently, seemingly oblivious to the expressions of the other two Pokemon. 'I'm the guild registrar, you know. I'm quite good at it!'

There was a shared look. No wonder the door hadn't been opened. Callahan wouldn't have been able to hear the knocking over the sound of his finely stoked ego.

Harley sighed. They'd better attempt to make some sort of communication.

'Hello Mr. Callahan,' he began as politely as he felt up to managing, 'my name's Harley, this is Cross, we're here for-'

'Oh, please allow me to take your belongings, they're all wet!' Callahan interrupted loudly. Cross risked a look at Harley's expression. It wasn't friendly. Naturally. If Callahan was going to interrupt Harley before gaining his respect, this would get awkward. There was a conflict of leading personalities here, like two ringleaders fighting over one ring. This was going to be a difficult evening.

She smiled. And, doubtlessly, a highly entertaining one.

'I'll just hang them in front of the fireplace to dry as we go over the formalities,' Callahan continued smoothly. 'Could you please pass them to me?'

'Actually, they're fine over here,' Harley said with a glassy smile. 'Why, is there a problem?'

'No, Mr. Sneasel, there isn't a problem, I just prefer to do things this way. Could you be so kind as to let me have them?'

Cross winced. This meant war.

'Oh, please, allow me to do it instead,' Harley replied brightly. Cross knew what this meant, too. If Harley shouted at you, he just didn't like you on normal terms. But when he became extremely polite, then it was serious. 'After all, I don't want to trouble you. Besides, you'd better make sure your papers don't blow off the desk in the draught, hm?'

Callahan looked at Harley for while as if weighing up a sparring opponent. Eventually he said 'As you wish. Just please don't take to long, I'm a busy Pokemon.'

'Oh, of course,' Harley said with a smile. Cross recognised that smile. It meant that Harley had got Callahan to do it his way. It meant he'd Won.

Without a word Harley wandered over to the line hanging above the fireplace and casually hung up their modest bag over the fire to dry. He returned, still smiling.

'I'll just need you to answer a few questions for me,' Callahan said as Harley returned. 'Hopefully we can be a bit more civil about the proceedings, hm?'

Harley shrugged. 'Ok then.' He no longer needed to fight.

In an instant the whole atmosphere of the room had changed. Cross became aware that she had been holding her breath.

'Good.' Callahan nodded, then suddenly appeared to remember something. 'And the paperwork, of course! There will be a lot of that, don't you worry one bit!'

'Will there now?' Harley muttered. 'Oh deep joy.'

Cross didn't have to say anything. Callahan looked a little too excited at this prospect. The sooner they could get out of this building the better, but from the look in the Ninetale's eyes that wouldn't be any time soon.

' You do have the forms that we've mailed you filled out, yes?' Callahan asked casually, as if he'd forgotten he had to ask. At last, things seemed to be calming themselves. 'That does always make things go much quicker here.'

'Yes, they're here,' Cross said, holding out the sheets that she'd been holding in her hands. Callahan took them and had barely looked at them for a second when his eyes widened.

'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!'

Harley frowned. 'Hoped?'

Cross frowned. 'Ink?'

Callahan took no notice. 'Deary dear, this won't do at all!' He tossed the forms over his shoulder into a trash can with a move that Cross couldn't help feeling had been practiced. She scowled. This would not be fun in any description.

'No matter, I have spare forms,' Callahan fluently continued, said papers having appeared in his hands, 'and all the time in the world! I trust you have no pressing appointments yet, so I'll write down your information now.'

Harley and Cross looked at each other.

'Fine,' Harley said eventually, a look of resigned irritation on his face. He'd changed policy from getting one over Callahan to getting out of there as soon as possible. That thing with the forms had been cheating, and there was no point having a verbal battle with a cheater.

They'd been filled out in pencil, for a start.

'With your help, of course.'

'Really?' Cross muttered to Harley. 'I thought we just sat here and you did it with telepathy. How silly of me.'

'Let's get right down to it, shall we?' Callahan began in the voice of one has a job to do and intends to do it, regardless of someone else's circumstances. '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?'

Cross couldn't resist making her mark on the conversation. 'I'm sorry, didn't we tell you earlier? You know, when we came in?'

'Did you?'

'We did, you know,' Harley added with a nod. 'Didn't you hear us?'

'I'm afraid I missed them,' Callahan said, his expression not budging an inch.

'Oh, well in that case I'm sure we could repeat them for your benefit,' Cross said, enjoying herself enormously. Round 2: Them.

'My name's Harley,'

'And I'm Cross.'

'Hm…' Callaha scribbled on the paper for a second. 'Ahh.. what.. commo- er, good names you all have! How do you spell them?'

'H-A-R-L-E-Y.'

'C-R-O-S-S.'

'Excellent…' Callahan muttered as he wrote. 'Interesting spelling!' he added, without looking up. 'Are you foreign? French, perhaps?'

'No. Why? It's not even like ve speak mit a stupid accent, is it?'

Callahan ignored Harley's comment, if he even heard it. 'Ah, no, forget it, France is just made up here, you know. Often used as comic relief. Er, just forget that.'

Harley and Cross looked at each other and smiled. So much for him trying to be clever.

'Moving on!'

'What alias do you wish to give your lot of fellows? I hope it's something good! I've been so bored by Pokemon 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.'

'Well, I was thinking of Team SuperAwesome… not really,' Harley added quickly with a smile, having seen the look of undisguised disapproval on Callahan's face. 'We're Team Dark Stars.'

'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…)'

'Normal spelling, please,' Cross said as if ordering a dish from a menu. 'That's T-E-A-M-space-D-A-R-'

'Thank you, Ms Cross,' Cahallan interrupted. Cross didn't bother to push any further. The point had been made.

'And… done. All right! Next topic!'

'You there, lad!' the Ninetales continued, turning to Harley. '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! But 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.'

'If you like, Sir,' Harley said with a smile. This hadn't turned out to be such a bad evening after all. And best of all, even though it wasn't official any more, the two of them where very clearly winning.

'I just grew up with my parents like any other kid would do. I'd been fairly interested in the Guilds while I was still young. The real tipping point, however, came when I met Cross.' He turned to his Mawile partner. 'You remember, don't you?'

Cross smiled as reliving a fun memory. 'How could I forget? That was so much fun. Those were the days, weren't they?'

'You sure gave me a surprise though, I can tell you-'

'Excuse me? Please can you stop reminiscing and tell me what happened? Sorry, I'm a busy man, so if you could please…'

'Oh, of course. Basically, I meet Cross when she broke into my house.'

The pen stopped moving over the paper.

Slowly, Callahan looked up, a look of morbid curiosity on his face.

Harley, however, just seemed to smile at the memory. 'I ended up having a small fight with her, and then it turned out we actually got on quite well. So, when two devious and tricksy minds like ours got together it was only natural that we'd end up heading for the Rogues Guild.'

For possibly the first time ever, Callahan's unfazable exterior had slipped and he just sat there open-mouthed for a second. Then he gathered himself and quickly scribbled something on the paper. 'Ah… What an enchanting tale! I can see why you'd probably like to join the Merchants…'

'Rogues. I just said it then.'

'Oh, right. I can see why you'd probably like to join the Rescuers…'

'Rogues…'

'Rogues… Anyway! 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!'

Cross smiled sweetly. 'Well, as you probably gathered I was always the type that fancied trying what I wasn't supposed to, just for the laughs. I mean, I've grown out of it now, but when I younger I'd sometimes break into someone's house and explore around. Not to pinch anything, of course, and I certainly wasn't any kind of criminal. Just to see if I could, really. And once when I did this, well, I met Harley. Sure, there was a bit of a fight, but we got on really well afterwards and, well, with that kind of approach to rule-breaking it was a matter of time before we wound up here to apply for the Rogues,' she finished, placing extra emphasis on the word.

'Ah… I… Very well, then!' Callahan said eventually, visibly surprised by a story like this. 'It seems I have all I need in order to register you here in our peaceful Tao Village! Just to make sure all the facts are correct, please look over them and sign your initials at the bottom!' With this he handed the pair a long piece of paper covered in small, official handwriting and several 'Sign Here' spaces. It would take ages to read all of it. 'And don't forget to sign off on your belongings! You wouldn't believe how many people forget their accessories, only to leave them here with me! (Please don't do that, I have so many things cluttering up my attic in dusty old boxes...)'

Harley and Cross looked at each other. The concept of Karma had never graced their imaginations, but if it had it would have been quite fitting. There was a lot of paperwork, and Callahan seemed to be quite enjoying their disappointment at this fact. Still, it had to be done, so they did it.


Team Name: Team Dark Stars
Rank: Farfetch'd

Member 1: Harley the Sneasel
Male/Female: Male
Member 2: Cross the Mawile
Male/Female: Female

Member 1 Trait & Personality: Hardy, strong willed
Member 2 Trait & Personality: Sassy, thoroughly cunning

Member 1 moves: Ice Punch, Night Slash, Icy Wind, Strength
Member 2 moves: Crunch, Rock Tomb, Iron Head, Iron Defense

Member 1 accessories: Purple bandanna, tied around left leg.
Member 2 accessories: Dark blue bandanna, tied around tube between head and the huge jaws.

Desired Guild affiliation: Rogues.

By signing here, you agree that the above information is correct and true to the best of your knowledge.

Signature 1: Harley, Sneasel
Signature 2: Cross, Mawile


'What's all the rest of this space for? There's only two of us! Waste of paper…'

'What's that, you say?' Callahan said, smiling at this slight opportunity to score a few points off the new Team. 'There are only two of you? Of course I know that! I do have eyes, you know! What if, during your travels, you decide to recruit, or add on an extra member to your team? Would you really want them to fill out all this paperwork from scratch? There's no problem with me for that, I assure you! This is just a convenient foresight! There is only room enough for four signatures on here, though, so please, no more members than that!'

'Well, now! 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). Oh well! Time to conclude our business here!'

'Certainly, Mr. Callahan. I'd say it's been a pleasure, but really I-'

'Shoo! Out!'




The door swung shut in their faces.

'Well… That was fun,' Cross spoke first.

'Hmph.' Harley smiled. 'Not really. But he did ask for it, didn't he?'

'Oh, most definitely. Couldn't stand him. But at least we got through it, so we can now enjoy never having to go back there again.'

'...Um, not necessarily.'

'What do you mean?'

'He's still got our bag.'

The two of them looked up and their eyes met.

'Well… Shall we?'

'After you, Harley.'

'Very well. As a new, official Rogue team, our first mission is to get our stuff back!'

And in the morning, Callahan woke up to find that not only was the window latch considerably looser, but the rain had got onto all his precious sheets. Oh dear.

He'd be in for a lot of filing.