"Excuse me," I said, stopping before a sleek tan and brown Pokémon. It looked up at me, easily determined to be a Furret, the evolved form of the Sentret Metria had noticed before. I silently prayed that this one wasn't related because that could get uncomfortable if the topic somehow came up. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

"What kind of questions?" the Furret wondered, looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. Its body had also tensed, preparing to flee. To put it more at ease, I sat down and focused on reducing my flames to a light simmer, so as to appear less threatening.

"Well, first off do you ever notice any events happening at that human city?" I asked, gesturing vaguely in the direction I knew Ecruteak to be from our present location. The Furret gave a slight shrug and cocked its head curiously. "Well, a definite answer would really move things along," I said impatiently.

The Furret nodded reluctantly. "Now and then I hear things."

"Anything really recent? Like the past day or so?" I pressed. No reason to reveal precisely what I was looking for if it didn't apply to this Pokémon's knowledge. The Furret shrugged again. "This isn't a difficult question, miss. I'm just trying to figure out whether you have any information I need."

The Furret frowned. "No, not that recent."

"Do you know anyone who might know information about extremely recent happenings and if so, may I know who that person is?"

The Furret shook her head. "I'm sorry, no; I don't know anyone who keeps track. Excuse me, I have to go now." She started to slink away. I considered stopping her, but changed my mind. Fine, so she didn't know anything and even if she did, she wasn't going to discuss it. That was the fifth Pokémon in the last half hour that wasn't able to help me. What I would give for Metria to come back so I could ask her to question the bug Pokémon of the forest, many of which I had noted were very reluctant to linger in the presence of a girl who had active flames on her body.

Maybe looking for information here wasn't the best way to go. The theft had occurred late last night, and while a forest had initially seemed like a good place for the perpetrator to hide, I was quickly growing to doubt it. There were probably better leads to pursue, maybe back in the city, or maybe somewhere else. I'd just have to accept that this mission, however trite, had to go by an entirely different method than I was used to. This wasn't just a matter of being given a name, species, and some background data and then being set loose to find their trail. This was doing all the work from the ground up, and the most aggravating factor was not the lack of information, but the lack of significance I felt it had.

Seriously, if it weren't for the fact Ridley had specifically asked me to take the mission, I wouldn't be bothering with it at all. This should be a simple case, and I couldn't imagine it taking me long once I got on the trail. So I kept walking, keeping my eyes peeled for other Pokémon that could maybe offer me a clue or two. My hopes weren't high, but it was on my way back to the city. Maybe Ridley and the human police had found something else for me to use.

My sense of direction may have been slightly off, however, because in the minutes that passed, I found myself venturing into denser areas of the forest, as opposed to exiting. How did I realize how badly off-track I was? Well, for starters, I stepped in something sticky, which jolted my attention back to my surroundings. At my feet was a white sticky fluid, like spider webbing, only not all over the damn place. Also sunlight was no longer streaming in from overhead, meaning my fire was the only real source of lighting.

I tugged my foot free and wiped it on the grass, feeling mildly nauseated at the sensation of it clinging to my foot. My eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, knowing that such fresh webbing or whatever was a strong indicator that I was not entirely alone. My ears twitched, hoping to catch the telltale signs of something planning to ambush me. A minute passed in perfect silence before I chanced a step further into the area, keeping an eye out for other puddles of the webbing.

"Hey! Intruder! Halt!" a sudden voice shouted out. I jumped, pivoting in a circle before I was satisfied that something wasn't right on top of me.

"Yeah?" I called, searching for the source. I had the general direction down, but that wasn't enough to satisfy me. I didn't recognize the speaker, although I classified the voice as that of a female.

"Identify yourself immediately," the voice commanded. I tensed, not liking my inability to see the speaker. If I was about to be attacked, I liked to have body language to steer me to that conclusion.

"Where are you?" I demanded.

"Identify yourself or suffer the consequences," the voice insisted, maintaining the same level of command and power. I hesitated. Consequences were vague enough to mean anything, but surely whoever was making these warnings had contact with someone who could know more about the forest than I did. It would be unwise to get on its bad side, and yet...

"Prime," I said bluntly.

"Further identification is required. I can see your species, but your purpose and occupation must be reported."

I stared around in bewilderment. "I beg your pardon? Occupation?"

"Of course. A creature of fire entering my territory so boldly cannot be here by accident. I'd give examples of frequent occupations, but why aid your alibi?"

I growled a little. "It could be an accident," I pointed out.

"It's not. Now complete the identification process."

I twitched, but forced myself to appear at ease. "My name's Prime. I'm looking for information on someone who may be taking shelter in the forest."

"Occupation?" the voice challenged.

I growled at the tone, again forcing myself to relax before answering, "I don't have an occupation." Sure, I was lying through my teeth, but she couldn't know that. "Now where the hell are you?"

There was a quiet titter, sounding somewhat amused. There was no verbal response, but my eyes suddenly caught a flicker of movement. Turning towards it, the light of my flames fell upon a small brown worm Pokémon with a noticeable poison stinger on its head, and a sizeable nose. I stared at it for a long time, not sure whether to laugh or not. Seriously, a Weedle had been threatening me and ordering me around moments ago?

"So uh...you're a Weedle?" I asked, half-hoping that it was just a coincidence. However, the Weedle nodded its head, and when it spoke, it was in the same voice I had been hearing before.

"Indeed, how perceptive of you," it said, watching me carefully. I took a step nearer, but it suddenly reared its body warningly. "Ah-ah-ah...you have active flames. Not a step closer if you value your health."

"What?"

The Weedle tittered. "My guards don't take kindly to dangers. Take another step and they aim to kill."

"Guards, huh?" I repeated skeptically, my eyes scanning the nearby trees. Nothing was in view, so I couldn't be sure whether the Weedle was bluffing. In any case, I just wanted to get some information, and the conversation thus far had not been promising.

"Of course," the Weedle said, her tone laced with pride. "Don't you know who I am?"

"No, but a name might help me get a clue," I replied dryly. She was the one who refused to identify herself before I had done so.

The Weedle tittered. "I am Cerebes, the future queen of my hive."

"Yet you wander around the wild? Safe," I retorted.

The Weedle's smirk didn't falter a bit. "I have guards, remember? Or maybe you didn't, I can never be sure with you...foreigners," she said, the last word said with delicate contempt, as if the very word itself was stained with mud.

"So are you 'in the know' about events around here? I may have mentioned looking for someone and-"

"Why are you looking for someone?" Cerebes interrupted. I hesitated. Now that was going to be a tough one to explain. I hadn't given enough time to think this through, and since I didn't even know what species or gender I was looking for, I couldn't give more information to narrow down a list without arousing suspicion. I could say it was a friend or a friend of a friend, but I simply had no information to provide.

"Stole something from me," I answered finally.

Cerebes blinked. "Stole what?"

"Just something valuable!" I snapped. "I was in the city last night and that thing swiped it and fled. I think it came to the forest, but I don't know for sure. I'm just trying to find them and get it back. Have you seen anything or know anything?"

"Don't take that tone with me," the Weedle warned angrily. "If you want my help, or to even tread upon my territory without being marked as an intruder, you would be wise not to antagonize me." She looked me over dismissively, and then shook her head. "Forget it. Leave my territory now."

"What?"

"I told you to leave," Cerebes said firmly. "And you will do so without another word or complaint." On that cue, a striped yellow bee Pokémon with its forelegs ending in truly wicked stingers emerged from the cover of a tree, buzzing loudly enough to attract attention and making me wonder how it had ever evaded notice before. The Weedle smirked up at its evolved form, and then focused upon me. "Leave now."

I backpedaled quickly, watching the Beedrill warily. "Okay, okay, I'm going..." I muttered. The Beedrill hovered nearby like an oppressive menace, its stingers poised to strike should I make even the slightest wrong move. Slowly, I turned around and began walking away, glancing over my shoulder to ensure I wasn't opening myself up to a sneak attack.

The Beedrill continued to follow me, darting around in an odd pattern, all while jabbing its forelegs at me to force me to increase my pace whenever it grew impatient. Only once I was well away from the location did it stop stalking me, and instead did an about face and flew back towards its mistress. I stared after it, then immediately ran after it, using the pads of my paws to muffle my steps over the grass. Something about that territory and the Weedle just felt off, and I had no better leads. She was just too paranoid and evasive to simply be a bystander. She had known about Pokémon holding investigative occupations, and while she hadn't challenged my lie, I had gotten the vibe she didn't believe me.

To charge directly into the territory again would have been stupid, and despite what some people believed, I was no idiot. Instead, I took a more roundabout path, circling around the perimeter of the small clearing I had encountered the Weedle queen in, slipping easily between trees until I was beyond that clearing. Then, I turned to the left and took a straight path. If my calculations were correct, I'd eventually emerge behind the Weedle's position, assuming she hadn't moved much since I had left. Being a Weedle, I doubted Cerebes had gone far.

If I could just get the drop on that bug, my interrogation could work out differently…I just hope this wasn't going to be treated as an invasion or political nightmare. Come to think of it, this might end up being one of the stupidest things I've ever gotten myself into. I'll be kicking myself if this doesn't pay off in the end.