Chapter 3 — Stargazers

"What do you think Luxio will be training us about?" Fennekin asked. They hadn't been in the room very long, but she had already begun to pace around anxiously. Nearly as soon as they had entered, she jumped into what had appeared to be a small arena, a small wooden wall surrounding a rectangular area of scuffed-up and chipped floor.

"It sounds like she trains everybody on battling," Ethan thought out loud, "but you already know how to battle, and I'm learning."

Fennekin quickly paused, winced, then continued pacing. "I couldn't get through the forest until I had you with me. I know how to battle, but I'm not very strong."

"That should make this process easier," a voice came from behind them, causing both Ethan and Fennekin to turn and look. Walking into the room was a blue and black Pokémon on four legs, with sharp yellow eyes that seemed to pierce right through Ethan. Her movements, fluid and graceful, made her seem ready to jump into a fight at a moment's notice.

Contrasting Luxio's intimidating presence was a small, brown and yellow Pokémon following behind her. Walking on all fours with legs seemingly too small for its own body, the Pokémon waddled into the room and gave Ethan and Fennekin a happy wave with one of its front paws.

"My name is Luxio," the blue and black Pokémon said, stepping over the short wooden wall into the arena, "and I am the one in charge of training recruits. Aipom and Emolga told me you two already seem to understand the basics of battling?"

"I had to teach myself," Fennekin admitted. "I've been traveling for a while, and a lot of Pokémon tried to attack me along the way."

"And that was the first time I'd ever battled," Ethan spoke up. "And it's not like we beat them easily; they put up a good fight."

With a wave of her paw, Luxio seemed to dismiss their comments. "A win's a win. And while those two aren't the most powerful in the Academy, they know how to keep up." A devious smile grew on her face as she looked at the two of them. "Let me see what you can do. Hit me with your strongest move!"

"Hit you?" Fennekin yelped in surprise.

"I promise you I've had worse," she laughed. "Both of you, come on!"

Fennekin looked to Ethan, worry across her face. Were they really going to do this? Sure, Luxio seemed tough, but both of them attacking at once? Maybe the other Pokémon was there to help her if it really was too much for her, a little extra caution even though she claimed she could take it.

"After you," Fennekin said with a shaky voice. He nodded once, then built up electricity to use Thundershock. Now that he wasn't in the middle of a battle fearing for his safety, the electricity flowing through him felt...right, almost. Natural. Like he was meant to be doing it. He was a Pokémon now, after all, and he supposed it made sense that he should be using his moves.

Releasing all of his pent-up energy as an attack, he saw flames come from beside him out of the corner of his eye; she must be using Ember. The two attacks slammed into Luxio, and as they made impact, she began gritting her teeth to brace herself. They stopped their attacks, and Ethan could swear he could hear her groaning.

Before he could take a step to go see if she was okay, her mouth changed into a smile; she wasn't groaning, she was laughing! "Not bad," she said through a deep exhale. "Of course you still have plenty of training to do, but for now, I'd say you're strong enough to take on beginner missions." After a quick shake of her head, she motioned for the other Pokémon in the room to come over. She didn't even look hurt! She really was tough.

"You're going to be accompanying Yamper on his mission today," she explained as the short Pokémon vaulted the low wall around the arena and walked up next to her. "Yamper, if you would?"

"I have a mission to go to the Dark Cavern!" He briefly reared back on his hind legs, then plopped back down again. "Some researchers say that there's a piece of an important map down there, and they want us to go and find it!"

"Yamper and I have agreed to let you two take the lead on this mission," Luxio explained. "He is one of the more senior members of the Academy, and is a talented explorer. Don't be afraid to ask him for help or guidance, and he will be there to step in if anything is getting difficult."

"I can help show you about how to prepare for an exploration, too!" Yamper hopped back over the small arena wall, then walked over to the door and opened it. "I don't think Helioptile showed you the bank, did she?"

"She just really showed us the shops and the market," Ethan responded. Nearly as soon as he was finished speaking, he heard a few delighted chuckles coming from Luxio's direction.

"That sounds like her," she continued laughing. "Yamper, I think that's a wonderful idea. While you're there, make sure Kangaskhan and Morgrem set up accounts for Team Stargazers so they can begin storing their own items and money."

"Can do! Come on you two, let's go!" Fennekin looked to Ethan, then the two gave each other a quick nod before exiting the arena and following Yamper out through the door.

"It's nice to meet you, by the way!" Fennekin beamed, moving up next to Yamper. "Are you part of an exploration team as well?"

He shook his head. "It's just me! Most Pokémon don't come in with a team already made; some do, but everybody else in the Academy usually just starts off by themselves and then either becomes a solo explorer or makes a team while they're in here."

"Solo exploring doesn't sound very fun. Have you ever tried making a team?"

As they stepped outside into the garden of the Academy, Ethan had to put an arm up over his face to avoid getting blinded by the sudden sunlight. It wasn't as hot as it had been yesterday, thankfully, but the brightness was a strong change from being inside.

"I like exploring by myself and with friends," Yamper responded as they began walking towards the center of Pokéopolis. "While having a team helps you a lot, there can also be downsides. Say we were all a team, for example; we're all weak to ground type moves, so if we went somewhere with a lot of ground types, it could be really bad for us to all travel together, whereas just one of us might be able to sneak through unnoticed. Even if we were somewhere with a lot of water type Pokémon that Ethan and I are strong against, they might be able to corner you."

Her eyes went wide and her face blank at that last comment. "There aren't any water types where we're going, right?"

Yamper thought it over for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "Not that I know of, but there could be. I asked Lampent, and she said that it's mostly dark types there."

"Dark types…" Fennekin echoed, almost mindlessly, before shuddering. What was she thinking about?

With Fennekin seemingly lost in thought, Ethan spoke up after a few moments of awkward silence. "Who's Lampent?"

"She's another recruit at the Academy," he explained. "She loves to research almost everything about adventuring, so I go to her all the time to learn about where I'm going and what I should do to prepare! I hate that kind of stuff, so it's awesome when we go on adventures together! Even if she's not going with you, she loves to help everybody out, so if you're ever stuck, go to her."

"What do you usually research before an exploration?" Fennekin asked. "And where do Pokémon even keep that information?"

"I don't really research much," he beamed, almost proud of the fact. "I usually have Hattrem or Lampent help me since they're so much better at it. They say the best place is the Academy's library, where you can find information on how big an area is and what kinds of Pokémon are there, but if you've never been there, then it's just what scouts have reported. We haven't gone to Dark Cavern yet, so we don't know much: just that it's not very long and has some dark types. It'll be a great mission to take you on since it won't take too long and neither of you are weak to dark types!"

"I'm still kind of new to battling other Pokémon," Ethan spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. Just why had Fennekin told him to not say he was a human? "Just what should I know about dark types?"

"They're strong against psychic and ghost types," Yamper explained, "but if you have any bug, fighting, or fairy moves, then you can do a lot of damage to them. A lot of them know moves to make you less powerful, so make sure to knock them out quickly."

"Got it," he nodded. Come to think of it, what type were his moves? What moves did he even know? He knew about Thundershock and Quick Attack, but surely he had to know more, right? How many moves did a Pokémon usually know? Luxio would definitely know if her job was to train the recruits, but was something like that so basic that every Pokémon should know it?

"You two aren't from here, right?" Yamper asked as they wove their way through the crowds leading to the market. Instead of giving a response, Ethan looked to Fennekin, and met her gaze for what felt like far too long.

"I'm from a town far to the west," Fennekin spoke up eventually. "You've probably never heard of it."

"What about you, Ethan? Where are you from?"

Somehow, Ethan knew that question would come eventually; still, his eyes grew wide. Fennekin told him to not tell anybody else that he was a human, but why? Given the exasperated look she was giving him from the other side of Yamper, that still held true.

"You okay?" Yamper asked. "You look like you're going to be sick."

"Ethan has amnesia!" Fennekin blurted out. Almost as soon as she had done so, she stopped in her tracks and threw her front paws over her mouth, turning as bright red as the hairs on her ears.

"Amnesia?" Yamper echoed, looking from Fennekin to Ethan and back again. "Have you seen Togetic yet?"

"Who's Togetic?" Ethan asked. "Are they another one of the recruits?"

"She's the doctor that's closest to the Academy," he explained, "so if there's anything wrong with us, we get sent to her. I don't think she's ever treated amnesia, but if there's anyone who can, it's her! We have some time before we have to head out, if she's not busy then we can stop by."

"I don't really know if we'll have time, will we? We should just go to the bank and then head out." Something about her tone told Ethan that her concern went beyond just delaying the mission. Did she not like going to the doctor?

"Roserade will understand if we're late because we brought Ethan to Togetic; it's not an urgent mission, and if we have to wait until tomorrow then that's fine."

The group walked through the crowd in relative silence, Ethan unsure of how to make further conversation and Fennekin seeming to not want to. Yamper asked a few questions here and there that Ethan would answer, of course, but having a true conversation still felt awkward. Maybe once he had...well, any memories, he would be better at it.

Before long they came across a building fairly short for how close to the center of the city it was, only two stories tall, and narrowly squished between two large shops. Old was not quite the right word to describe how its exterior looked, but weathered. Whoever owned it clearly cared about keeping it up, but there was only so much one could do to stave off the passage of time.

The insides of the building, once entered, felt very much the same. Sure the floorboards seemed a little scuffed and the reception desk looked like it had been worn down over the course of many years, but nothing looked dirty or broken. It made Ethan feel strangely nostalgic, though for what he wasn't sure.

"Good morning, Yamper!" a Pokémon chirped from behind the desk as she flew up into the air. She was fairly small and nearly pure white, save for a few red and blue splotches on her round stomach. Her wings almost seemed too small to be carrying her, but despite that she seemed graceful as she fluttered in place. "Is something the matter?"

"Not with me," he shook his head, "but these are our new recruits, Ethan and Fennekin! Apparently Ethan has amnesia, so I wanted to bring them here to see you."

"Amnesia?" she repeated, flying down to Ethan and feeling his head. "It doesn't look like you have any trauma. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," he shrugged.

"What did you lose? What's the last thing you can remember before the gap in your memories?"

"Nothing," he admitted.

"Nothing at all?"

"I remembered my name, and that's it."

"Was he sick before losing his memory?" she asked Yamper and Fennekin. "Or did he maybe take an attack to the head or neck not long before?"

"I met him yesterday morning as he woke up," Fennekin mumbled. "That's the first thing he says he can remember."

She continued studying him for a few moments, then flew back behind the desk and opened a drawer before rummaging through it. "You three are probably going on a mission, yes?"

"That's right!" Yamper exclaimed. "We're going to the Dark Cavern!"

Togetic grabbed something round and shiny in her hands, then flew over to Yamper before giving it to him. "I have a spare escape orb; please, take it. He looks fine and I know your missions are important so I'll let him go, but if anything happens, please use this and bring him right to me. And Ethan, if you're not feeling well, tell Yamper so he can get you out safely." She looked at Yamper, then giggled. "I know all of you recruits are stubborn when it comes to getting your explorations done, but make sure to never do so at the threat of your own safety! And don't tell me that Luxio will get mad, I have asked her personally, and she agrees with me!"

"We'll probably be fine!" he dismissed while gently placing the orb in his bag. "I'll be there with them; since they're new, Luxio is having me go with them to keep them safe and try to get them out of any trouble they might find themselves in."

"Just please stay safe." Togetic's smile was motherly — Ethan didn't remember his mother, but he had to have one, right? — as she flew back over behind the desk. "Ethan, if you wouldn't mind, are you able to come by sometime you're free? I know you must be busy with training, but inform Luxio or Roserade and they should be able to give you some time to come down here. While I'm not immediately worried, I do want to do a thorough examination."

"I'll be sure to," he called back to her as he followed Yamper and Fennekin out of the building, both of whom seemed very eager to get on the road. "She seems nice," he noted once he was outside with them.

"She's great! She worries about us a lot though, so sometimes you have to go to her and you end up telling her that everything's going to be okay! At least that didn't last very long, so I can help you get set up at the item and money banks. Kangaskhan is really nice, and Morgrem is...well, he's nice too, but he's kinda weird...you'll know what I mean once we get there."