There comes a day in everyone's life when they must take up their rites of passage and become a adult. For those who lived in New Wind Village this event came each year in the summer and it was always a wonderful time to watch for parents as young pokemon children take their trails. Those that pass are given the opportunity to pick what jobs they wish to do or if they shall leave the village all together and go out into the world. Either way the adults of the town were always glad to watch their young lings grow up and seek their happiness.

One such young poke child was a young Shinx by the name of Light who was today turning 2 years old and was old enough to be able to take the rites of passage and become a adult. Light was not a normal shinx by far, his fur was a light yellowish color compared to others who had a blue coat. Instead of the normal yellow color for his tail, ears and paws he had a interesting dark blue color. The only color on Light that was still natural was the black coat that went down the back half of his body, but thanks to the altered colors else where on him he was often picked upon and casted out of most groups. The only children that didn't out cast him was his two best friends Ictoothe the Spheal and Ribbon the Vulpix. It has been thanks to them that the young Shinx has not have to go though living in the village alone.

Standing outside of his small house that morning Light was thinking about the trial that was quicky coming up and how he was going to lead him and his friends to victory today and earn their right to join a pokemon guild. Trials were made to test to see if a young pokemon is ready to not only leave their family and go out on their own but also to see if their ready to become a apprentice in what ever they wanted to pursue whether it was become a town banker, merchant or even to join a guild like what him and his friends were about to do now, if successful they'll be let in as apprentices at the guild.

"Light." The shinx turned around and saw a his brother Truleaf coming out of their house.

Truleaf was a smaller than average Leafoen thanks to him evolving before a normal eevee was suppose to evolve. It was about a year ago that their parents a male Jolteon and a female Luxary went out on a short mission to Sky Pass a high level dungeon far away to the far north from New Winds Village to rescue someone after they fainted in the dungeon. All either of the brothers knew was that their parents never returned from that mission. After that Truleaf was forced to evolve so he could defend them from any potential attackers and took up a job being a berry and seed gather. Being a grass type he was able to know which seeds were good and bad and which were the best berries to be brought back.

"Ya bro?" Light asked as he stood wagging his tail.

"I wanted to tell you how proud I am to be seeing you taking your rights of passage test today." Truleaf said patting him on the back.

"Thanks..." Light felt him pat extra hard which made his back hurt. "Why so friendly today bro?"

"Because I get to watch my little bro take his own rite of passage test like your's truly did last year. Trust me bro I'm sure you'll pass yours just as easily as I did mine."

"Ya well if all I had to do was identify different seeds and berries while gathering so many before the sun went down I'll be pretty well off too." Light bragged

"Hey someone had to bring home the berries." Pats his underside and felt it was a bit plushed. "You don't seem to be complaining."

"Hahaha..." Light laughs knowing he was telling the truth. "Ya I'm getting a bit big from eating way to well."

"Well you better learn to start gathering your own food now since after today you'll be having to fend for yourself." Truleaf told as he gives him a small thunderbolt shaped necklace.

"Whats this?" Light looks at it and felt weird wearing it.

"It was dads so don't lose it alright. He gave to me before I took my rite of passage and now I'm passing it down to you." Truleaf couldn't stop smiling. "I always knew that I would give it to you but... I kind of wish mom and dad were here to watch."

"Ya...." Neither spoke for a moment. "Though I know their watching from up above with pride."

"You'll do fine Light just don't forget anything mom and dad taught you and you'll knock them dead." Truleaf looks over to the west.

"Have you ever been to Berry Forest?" Light asked feeling a bit nervous. "Is it challenging?"

"Ya I go there everyday and its the essayist dungeon you'll be going to while working for the guild. If you run into any trouble there are plenty of Oran berries on the ground to help heal you up."

"Alright..." Light was ready to leave though he had to admit he had cold paws.

"Your going there with that Vulpix right? Everything in that forest are bug type so you'll knock them dead. " Truleaf walks away. "I've held you up enough so get going or else someone else will beat you."

"Thanks bro." Runs off as he knew that his friends would meet up with him at their hang out spot near the edge of town. This was it all he had to do was find some treasure at the end of the dungeon and they were gold. But as its always told things never do go exactly as planned.

Else where in the village Ribbon the Vulpix was preparing for her departure. Ribbon was your normal colored Vulpix and acted a bit more mature than either of her friends though often times she wished that she could act a bit more childish. She proudly sported fabric shards on her which made her seem a bit human but mostly female as many ribbons she wore were mostly white with a bow on her back to finish the cute look she was infamous for.

"Ribbon are you sure your ready for something like this?" Her mother a beautiful Ninetales asked as she was watching her baby prepare. "You know you do not have have to this, you can always change to being a merchant or gather?" Her mother was worried for her like any would be.

"Don't worry mom I'll be with Light and Ictoothe." Ribbon finished fixing herself and presented herself in front of her mother. "What do you think?"

Her mother looks her over and saw nothing too different from how she normally looked. "Sweety I do not see whats different on you?"

"I just fixed up my ribbons in a way that might get Lights attention." Ribbon walked around in a small circle and managed to get her tails in front of her face. "And once we're out in the field I"ll win him over with my powerful and beautiful fire attacks." Ribbon blew a bit of fire and watched as the embers came down in the form of butterflies.

"You would had made a great contest pokemon Ribbon." Her mother smiled as she saw her daughter look out the window and saw Light passing by the front of their house. "Looks like my future son in law is passing by as we speak." Her mother couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of the young shinx her her daughter being together.

"Mom!" Ribbon howled before she darts off to go catch up with her friend.

"Be careful Ribbon and try to come home on the weekends. I love you sweety." Ribbon heard her mother call out as she ran out the front. She couldn't help but cry a little as she going to missing being around her mother. She just hoped that life at the guild would not make it too hard for her to see her during the weekends. But pushing those thoughts to the side she had to focus on catching up to Light and meeting up with Ictoothe before they head off to Berry Forest and being their rite of passage trail.

"Light, Light." Ribbon yelled as she drew closer to him.

"Oh there you are Ribbon, I thought that you were already at the meeting point." Light said happy. "Your looking pretty well did you do something with your looks today?"

"Oh so you noticed." Ribbon couldn't stop blushing as she walked besides him. She loved how he walked full of pride and determination to reach his goals. Ribbon felt like just being around Light gave her more strength and desire to accomplish the things in her own life. Since knowing him she's not even had as many dizzy spells as before which used to plague her as a baby.

"Ya I always notice when you change your looks even just a little." Light looked forward and in the distance saw the blue ball ice ball Ictoothe rolling around.

"Is that Ictoothe?"

"Great..." Ribbon seemed a bit upset to be seeing the Spheal here of all times. "When has he ever wanted to be here early?"

Ictoothe was a Spheal from the northern sea region Chill Arc Sea which was where only the bravest of ice types live in its cold unforgiving waters. Ictoothe's family moved down to New Winds for a chance to raise their family in a less harsh environment. Since then Ictoothe became friends with Ribbon and Light and together the three decided to take their rites of passage together and join Valor Guild for the chance of having their own life adventure.

"What did you want us to be alone or what not." Light jokes as he ran over to Ictoothe. "Ictoothe when have you ever wanted to be here early?"

"Wanted to get here early so we can get this thing over with." The Spheal announced. "The faster we get it over with the faster we become guild members and females love males in guilds. You know what I mean Ribbon?" Ictoothe asked Ribbon.

"Is there ever a day that your not thinking with you dick?" She asked back no enjoying how ever since he hit the age of two the male has been hitting on any pokemon that didn't have a pair of balls on them. She almost wondered if all that rolling he does for a living had finally messed up his small brain?

"Come on guys lets focus alright." Light said taking charge. "There is suppose to be a guild representative at the edge of the forest so lets hurry up and go meet up with him. Can you two at least keep it together until after we finish this?"

"Ya buddy." Ictoothe nods.

"I think I can go at least one mission here with the little dumbbell." Ribbon jokes, though all she did was get a small glare from the Spheal.

"Come on lets stop wasting our time here." With that the three rushed off to meet up with the guild representative at the edge of Seed Forest which was only less than half a mile away from the village. Thoughts of what the test might be like running though their heads as they walked there. Light was wondering if he was able to lead his team to victory or if the wild pokemon of the forest would kick their asses kicked out the forest like the rest who failed to conquer the forest?

Berry Forest was a small forest out side of New Winds Village that was used as the main food source for the entire village. The forest was full of most of the basic types of berries along with a few rare ones deeper in the forest. The forest residents were mostly week low level bug types who feasted on the bounty of berries the forest had to offer and most of the time would leave any trespassers alone but every once in a while a few might attack someone if they got to close to their nest.

Light and his friends thought they were the first ones to arrive at the entrance to Berry Forest but to their displeasure they were not, worst off the team that was already here were the last group they wanted to bump into at a time like this. Shade the Poochyena, Amber the young Leafeon and Glacier the Piplup. These three were both their friends and rivals and when all six were together it was always because of some type of competition.

"Well, well, well look who we have here if it is not Light the Shinx, the ugly mutt of New Winds." Shade announced as he walked over to Light.

Shade was a Poochyena with a darker than normal coat for his species and often was out casted from his fellow poochyenas because of it. Though he didn't have to go though his troubles by himself thanks to Light who knew of his pain of being different and soon they quickly became best friends. Though as they grew older the two of them began becoming rivals in just about everything they did though when not on the field of competition they remained being good friends.

"Its hard to believe that you actually kiss your mother with a mouth like that." Light said walking over laughing. "Why did you and your groupies follow me out here?"

"To do what we always do old buddy, beat you to the punch." Shade said with a fire in his eyes. "Someone has to keep you on your paws."

Ribbon was so busy hoping that she might not have to stop a fight that she didn't notice the Leafeon Amber had walked over to her side.

"Ribbon how you doing?" Amber asked tapping her on her side which startled her for a second.

"Oh Amber...." Ribbon felt a bit embarrassed that she had zoned out like that. "H-How you doing?"

"I asked you first, but fine things have be doing well for myself and my family."

"Same here." Ribbon looks over to Light and Shade and saw how they were talking as though they were not rivals at all. "Its amazing how those two can be both good friends and rivals at the same time."

"Its called true friendship Ribbon." Amber said looking at Shade happily. "All he ever wants is to prove to the world that even if he's different he still has a heart. I love him for that big heart of his..."

"Huh...?" Ribbon looked at her friend funny and saw Amber snap out of her own day dream. "Are you ok you seemed to be trailing off into your own little world just now?"

"Y-y-ya." Amber wagged her tail in embarrassment. "Don't mind me just thinking out loud."

Ribbon always knew Amber had the hots for Shade because when they were younger all she would talk about was how her and Shade were going to become mates when they became older. Ribbon remembered spending hours listening to her talk about having ten little eevees and poochyenas and how she was going to become the best mate a male ever could have. As Light and Shade became more and more heated rivals Ribbon and Amber become rivals in their own rites as well as they worked hard to root for the male they loved and for a while the two wouldn't even try to pass the other while in the streets. It was only a while ago that they started becoming friends again after Light and Shade got to girls to sit down and work things out.

"If you have the hots for him why not just go talk to the pooch and get him to ask you out on a date?" Ribbon asked wondering why she doesn't take her own advice.

"Its never that simple Ribbon you know that." Ribbon noticed that Amber still had her eyes on Shade though and she knew that the Leafeon truly did love him. "Good things come with time."

"Ya..." She knew Light would come around to notice her more some day it just needed to take some time for him to grow more interested in girls. For now the two of them being best friends was good enough for her.

Ictoothe and the Piplup Glacier were rolling around on the ground trying to get one over the other. Ictoothe knew Glacier back when he lived back in the Chill Arc Sea and even there the two of them played with the other so much that most thought they were brothers. Glacier was a Piplup who was always laid back and easy going. He seemed to always have all the luck around females and one he set his eyes on one didn't stop going after her until he made her his. Ictoothe thought of the penguin as his ultimate rival since he was just as good at him at everything if not was better at it.

"Glacier get off!" Manages to get him off.

"Still don't got what it takes to hang with me Ictoothe. I'm surprised you even can move around the land like this."

"If you put your mind to it you can do anything." Ictoothe said determined to show him up.

A Abra teleports out of no where holding two tablets in his hands.

"I am the representative from the guild and am here to oversee the trials today. Before you are allowed into the forest both teams must place their paw prints onto the stone tablets so I may know who is in the forest. If something was to happen to either team I'll be able to quicky rescue you."

Both teams place their prints onto the tablets and watched the vanish. This was it they were now able to begin their trials. Looking at one another both groups knew what was to come next. This was not simply a test to them but was the first of many challenges to come.

"Sorry guys but we have to fly." Shade signals for his teammate to follow him and off they were into the forest.

"Come on guys we're not about to lose to those guys." And with that both teams were off thoughts of showing up the other and joining the guild of their dreams were before them. Even if there were more than enough seeds at the end of this for them to bring back but the knowledge that they defeated the other was the driving force behind them. Though unknown to either team this challenge was going to be more challenging than either of them knew as a pair of bug types were watching them from high up in the tree tops.....