CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Issues

Sterling lay awake late that night, tossing and turning restlessly in his hammock. In the initial rush of the day, it had been hard to stop and seriously think about things; but now, he was free to ponder all that had happened. What was at the forefront of his thoughts, though, was the outlaw Nuzleaf that had appeared so suddenly – so randomly.

It wasn't a coincidence. Somehow, he knew that and was sure of it. He was absolutely certain that the Nuzleaf had appeared at the end of Sunrise Meadow for a reason. He couldn't say exactly why he was sure of this, but he was. There was no doubt about it.

He shivered a little. Who would have sent the Nuzleaf to attack two unsuspecting rookies and their equally unaware mentor? Were some darker forces behind this? Angry legendaries, possibly, or maybe vengeful figures from someone's past?

That's all stupid. Life wasn't some fairy tale, after all.

But even if those ideas were unlikely, what about the Nuzleaf's ominous words? He had said something… something about being one of his kind. But how was that possible? Sterling was nothing like that criminal. He looked completely different, probably acted different…

There was nothing that connected the two of them. Sterling had never seen the grass-type before in his life; it was probably just some side effect of being a criminal… maybe something was warping the Nuzleaf's brain.

Those possibilities still did not comfort him. In fact, they only made his mind churn more, and his whole body seemed to burn with his worry. His eyes opened and he stared wildly across the dark room, barely able to make out Blaize's faint outline in the shadows.

"Blaize?" he whispered frantically.

He wasn't entirely expecting a reply, seeing as it was so late. However, it was immensely relieving to hear his friend's now-familiar voice drifting back to him – a tired voice, but it was still Blaize's. "What is it?"

Sterling paused momentarily, struggling to figure out how to phrase his worries. Eventually, he went with a much simpler path: "Blaize, I'm scared."

The room fell uncomfortably silent. Sterling looked harder across the room, only able to make out Blaize's outline because of the Charmander's flickering tail-flame. He heard a rustling noise and saw that his friend was sitting up.

"What are you scared of?" Blaize asked finally, holding his tail in his paws so that the weak flame did not touch the hammock. There was a tremble in his voice; it was clear that hearing Sterling voice his fears had unsettled the Charmander as well.

"Of change, I guess," Sterling admitted, shuffling his paws on the hammock. "And… of everything that's been happening. Like the Nuzleaf… I don't think that his appearance was a coincidence." He didn't state everything that gnawed at him, though; as much as he trusted Blaize, he simply had to keep some things to himself.

"…I don't think it was a coincidence either," Blaize said after a short hesitation. "And everything else that's been happening… no, it's all connected somehow. That's what I believe. But it's our job, as rescuers, to solve these problems."

His words were oddly comforting, and they were very true. That was what Sterling had signed up for – his duty wasn't just to help other Pokémon; he was supposed to fix important issues as well, some of which would probably matter more than the problem they were facing now.

Sterling curled up on the hammock, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him. He murmured a quiet "thank you" to his partner before allowing himself to slip into dreams.

"WAKE UP! IT'S MORNING! TIME FOR WORK!"

RINGRINGRINGRINGRIIIIING!

Sterling fell out of his hammock again, landing with a loud thump on the ground. He stayed there until the blast of sound faded, and even then his ears rang. With a grumpy growl, he stumbled to his paws and made his wobbly way towards Blaize's hammock.

The Charmander looked exhausted; as exhausted as Sterling felt, to be truthful. There were shadows under his eyes, and his tail-flame – though admittedly brighter than the night before – was burning quite feebly. He managed a friendly smile, though, as he hopped out of his hammock.

Then the door swung open and Lyric burst in again. Misreading the expressions on the duo's faces, she began apologizing frantically. "Oh, I'm so sorry! This must be so horrible for you… such a bad wake-up… it's necessary, I'm sorry…"

"It's fine," Blaize said, holding up a paw as if to stop the flow of words. "We're okay. Let's just go to breakfast now, all right?"

It seemed that Team Guardian had skipped breakfast, but Team Fidelity had most certainly returned. The trio looked even more exhausted than Sterling and Blaize, but there was a definite aura of pride about them. They had most certainly captured their outlaw.

"Your mission went successfully?" Lyric asked, looking at them and evidently coming to the same conclusion. There was pride in her voice, too; perhaps the members of the Academy were more like a family than Sterling had originally thought.

"It sure did," Flis replied happily, her candle-flame flickering. "The Lombre was really easy to beat."

"There were some difficulties in the dungeon, though," Skaris said with a shake of his metallic head. "While we were resting for the night at the waypoint, a couple of ferals managed to sneak in and steal our food supplies."

Lyric gasped. "Ferals took your food at the waypoint? But how did they make it out of the mystery dungeon?"

Flis shrugged – or did the ghost-candle equivalent of it. "We don't know why they chose to take our food rather than attacking us, either. It's just another weird event in a long line of them, though. We're not too worried."

Sterling exchanged anxious glances with Blaize.

He pondered what was going on all through breakfast, barely tasting his bacon. It was a worrying situation – even Kalazar had gotten upset over it, and that had not been a pretty sight. It should have been against the law for important Pokémon to freak out that much…

"A Poké for your thoughts?"

He blinked, feeling disoriented, and found himself looking into the half-amused face of Lyric. What in Arceus's name is that supposed to mean?

"Never mind," Lyric sighed. "Just don't get too distracted while we're working, okay?"

"Speaking of work… how did your first mission go?" Raze asked in his growly voice, looking up from his meal with interest.

While Blaize and Lyric recounted what had happened in detail – a long-winded explanation that was altogether very boring, seeing as Sterling knew exactly what happened – the Shinx focused more on eating. Lyric was right; it wouldn't do anyone much good if he was lost in thought during their mission.

At the very end of breakfast, a familiar Pokémon emerged from the headmaster's quarters – a fire-type bird with a pleased look on his face. Kaizen?

"Hey, everyone," Kaizen called, dragging everyone's attention to him. "I'm pretty sure you all recognize me – I am famous, after all." Oddly enough, this statement didn't sound conceited at all. "For those noobs who don't, I'm Kaizen of Team Never, and I am taking over the Academy for the week."

"I can foresee some trouble," Nettle said loudly, her usual warm expression replaced by a grin that actually looked quite devious.

Kaizen bowed to her. "I'd be happy to deliver."

Though their friendly banter was amusing, Lyric actually looked quite worried. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Sterling turned back to her, not daring to ask what was wrong. It was Blaize who asked the question: "What's the matter, Lyric?"

"Just why isn't Kalazar here?" the Chimecho replied gravely.

With those concerning thoughts in mind, the group of three said their farewells to Team Fidelity and set off for Mossy Trail. It wasn't a long walk to the slightly gloomy forest in which the mystery dungeon lay, but it was long enough for Sterling to grow progressively worried over what was happening.

I need to focus, or I'll get destroyed today, he thought to himself, growing furious at his lack of self-control. Despite whatever measures he took to avoid the thought of the current issues, his thoughts kept drifting back to the Nuzleaf, Kalazar's absence, the ferals' ambush on Team Fidelity, and everything else that had been going wrong…

"Stop, Ster! The mystery dungeon begins right there!" Blaize cried, shoving the Shinx back from what appeared to be a perfectly normal patch of grass.

"It – oh, okay." Sterling felt too disoriented to snap at him for saying "Ster" again. He looked in confusion at the forest that began just ahead.

To be truthful, it was barely a forest. The trees were scattered about quite randomly all over, though they were large and leafy enough to cast the ground into shadow. Clumps of moss hung from their branches, occasionally littering the ground.

The most disturbing of it all, though, was the lichen that speckled the tree trunks. It actually appeared to glow in the gloom.

Again, Sterling felt his fur prickling with that typical mystery dungeon tension. He looked back at Lyric with concern, suddenly finding that he was unwilling to venture into this dark forest.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Blaize asked suddenly, breaking the awkward silence. "Let's go."

And with that, he trotted through the invisible barrier, immediately fading from sight as he stepped into the grass. Sterling leaped after the Charmander, his star-tipped tail streaming behind him, and Lyric followed at a slower pace.

As they ventured through the first floor, Sterling still couldn't shake his uneasy feeling, which hung over him like a storm cloud.

AN:

Who else hates homework, guys? D:

Well. Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Plot rears its long-awaited head at last here, even if everything is short…