Chapter 5 — Moon and Star

"Who do you think our mentors will be?" Ethan asked Fennekin as they walked into the weekly Academy meeting, everybody else already gathered. It was the only thing on everybody's lips, and had been for the past week. Nobody even knew the list of teams that had agreed to mentor them, let alone who would be assigned to what teams, allowing speculation to run wild. Roserade stood at the front of the group near the stairs, a rolled-up scroll under one of her arms.

"You know teams better than I do, I only know the one you said Luxio was in."

"Moondancers." As soon as she said it, her face lit up. "Do you think they're one of the mentors? I bet Luxio was able to get in touch with them, she was one of their strongest members!"

"Ethan!" He felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by Helioptile putting herself between him and Fennekin. "Fennekin! Are you as excited as I am to find our mentors out? I have no idea who I'll get, but I'm so excited!"

"Me too!" she responded. "Do you think we'll be given the same mentors? They haven't even told us who's going to be grouped together."

"I hope we are!" She turned her head to Ethan, then started laughing to herself. "You look about as excited as you can be, Ethan!"

"Huh? I didn't think I really looked all that excited. I mean, I am, but—"

She laughed harder. "It was a joke, you stone face! Yamper and Gloom have been telling everyone how calm you were during your missions, and from how you act you'd think the mentors are no big deal!"

He was glad his cheek pouches were red, since he felt as if he were blushing. "I don't know, I'm excited, but...I don't know. I guess I'm just a calm person."

"Attention!" Roserade called from in front of the group, causing everyone to almost instantly grow silent and all turn to face her. "I know you've all been excited for today and we have no other announcements this morning, so I think it would be best if we just go right into the mentor assignments." A wave of whispers rolled over the trainees, causing her to raise a flower and signal for a stop. "Please, remain quiet. Your mentor teams are all downstairs, and I promise you that we will not take long since we know you have all been looking forward to this." The whispers quieted down as she unrolled the scroll.

"Emolga, Yamper, and Aipom." All eyes turned to them; Emolga seemed almost petrified in anticipation, Aipom had a massive smile on his face, and Yamper...looked as happy and carefree as he always did. "You three will be mentored by Team Delve: Herdier, Cofagrius, and Persian. They're some of the best treasure hunters in the world, and we felt that all of you have shown yourselves to be skilled scouts and treasure hunters, so we are confident that they will help you hone your skills."

"Yamper!" Aipom called out as he jumped onto his tail. "Gimme five, we're gonna be partners!"

"Yeah!" Yamper was on the other side of the crowd, which had little space to let him aside; after a few moments he managed to push his way through before jumping up and giving Aipom a high five.

The smile on Emolga's face was much more forced than theirs was. "Just try to take this seriously guys, please? They're a really good team, and I really want to learn whatever I can from them."

"Your skills will all be valuable when working with them and amongst yourselves," Luxio spoke up. "You'll come to love their assignments, I promise."

"Oh, of course!" She cleared her throat. "Yes, of course! Of course. Sorry, go on."

"Next," Roserade continued, "Gloom and Vibrava. You two will be mentored by Team Rumble: Dewott, Conkeldurr, and Magmar. They're all very strong individually and together, and we all agreed that you two have the potential to be very powerful battlers in your own right, and we want them to help you push yourselves and realize this potential."

Vibrava took flight, hovering just over the heads of all the other Pokémon in the room. "Did you hear that, Gloom? I bet we'll be super strong in no time!"

"Roserade?" Gloom asked, raising a hand. "I think there was a mistake. I'm not that strong…"

"You're possibly the strongest trainee we currently have," Luxio said before Roserade could speak. "Learn from them, and I think you'll be surprised at your own strength."

"Yes," Roserade nodded, "and a good reminder that we did make these decisions about mentors with your own growth in mind; we want you to succeed and become the best explorers you can be, after all."

"Okay," Gloom mumbled.

"With that being said, the next pair of trainees are Hattrem and Lampent, who will be mentored by Team Cosmos: Arcanine, Medicham, and Metang. I'm sure you two have likely read about them, but for those who have not, they are rather famous researchers, not only having looked deeply into the phenomenon of mystery dungeons but a wide variety of other subjects. Given how much you two support your fellow trainees with their own research and preparation, it should come as no surprise why we chose you two for this."

"I loved their book about the history of Pokéopolis!" Hattrem exclaimed. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"Maybe we can help them find out why mystery dungeons keep appearing," Lampent responded. "They have some ideas, do you think they'd let us help look into them?"

"I hope so!"

"Next, Dewpider and Helioptile: you two will be mentored by Team Culin, consisting of…" She cleared her throat. "Basculin and Basculin. A fair warning now that they do bicker amongst themselves quite often, but when it comes to completing bounties and catching outlaws, they have few who can be compared to them. I know you two are not quite as experienced in bounty hunting, but the missions you have done show much promise."

"This could be fun!" Dewpider said to Helioptile. "And we'll get to work with each other a lot, right?"

"Yeah!" She took her hands off Ethan and Fennekin's shoulders, going up to Dewpider. "We don't get to do a lot of missions together, anyways! I haven't done a lot of bounty missions, though, so just please be patient!"

"And don't feel as if you two have to become bounty hunters if you don't wish," Roserade butted in. "For example, as I said, you two have shown promise with bounty missions, but ultimately, being an explorer comes down to what you want to be doing."

"Oh, I have a lot of fun with them! Besides, we'll get to work together a ton, right Dewpider?"

"I have a bounty mission I still need to do. We should see if they'd be willing to help us do it!"

"They might. Which brings me to my next point: missions. All of your mentors have set aside a mission or an exploration to do with you today, but they are willing to help you with your own when they have the time. Within reason, of course; they are there to assist, not do your missions for you.

"With that said, there is just one more mentor team. Team Stargazers, you will be mentored by Team Sunstriders—"

Almost as soon as Roserade said the name, the rest of the trainees erupted in a small roar. "What?" someone called out. "Why do they get them?"

"Yeah!" someone else joined. "They're brand new!"

"That. Is. Enough!"

Luxio's yell managed to stop the commotion almost as quickly as it had started; although she always looked slightly irritated regardless of her mood, her face now contorted into one of legitimate anger. "We are incredibly lucky that Team Sunstriders has agreed to become mentors, and take on our newest team, even. This program is not a competition; you all owe Team Stargazers an apology for this unfair, and frankly childish, outburst."

As the mumbled apologies rolled in, Ethan looked to Fennekin, whose eyes were damp and red, her face quivering. He couldn't blame her, he supposed; while he was more annoyed than sad, he couldn't imagine how she was feeling since she seemed so excited for the program. And from the reactions of everybody else, even those elated about their mentors, this Team Sunstriders was something to take notice of.

Roserade nodded slightly. "Yes, thank you, Luxio. We are doing this for you, and we should all be happy for our fellow trainees for getting able to work with such distinguished teams. Team Sunstriders was the team we were able to get in contact with after Team Stargazers arrived, and we hope that allowing our new recruits to work with such a successful team will help bring them to the level that you all are at much quicker, allowing them to help the Academy as a whole out. Do we make ourselves clear?"

The only response she got was some silent head nods, most of which came from Pokémon staring at the floor.

"Good. Team Sunstriders is composed of Meowstic, Leafeon, and Houndoom, although I am told that Meowstic is busy today and you two will just be meeting with Leafeon and Houndoom. With no further announcements this morning, I invite you all to go downstairs and meet with your mentors." An awkward silence fell over the group as the other trainees began walking towards the stairs; Fennekin seemed to drag her feet, and before long they were hardly halfway to the stairs and were the only trainees left on the floor.

"Hey," Luxio said, walking up to them once every other trainee had left. "Don't let them get to you. We're doing this for you, not anybody else; Roserade meant what she said about wanting to give you two the most experienced team. We truly do want you to succeed." A smile grew on her face, a stark contrast to the anger she was showing just a few moments ago. Very stark; it was warm, like a mother's comfort. Well, he supposed that's exactly what it was.

Fennekin began smiling, but definitely was trying not to. "Thanks," she muttered. "Ethan, we should probably just go."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Thanks, Luxio."

"Anytime."

Ethan pat Fennekin on the shoulder, then smiled at her. "Everything alright?"

She cleared her throat, then quickly shook her head a few times. "Yeah. No, it's okay. I'm fine!"

"Okay. We should probably go downstairs and meet them, they must be wondering why we're not coming down with everyone else."

"Yeah!" She took a few steps towards the stairs and looked back, but her smile still seemed forced. "Come on, let's go."

The stairwell of the Academy was quiet, the gentle roar of a small crowd floating up from further down in the lobby. "Ethan?"

"Yeah?"

She looked back at him, her smile completely gone and replaced by somberness. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Talk?"

"Yeah." He didn't think he had ever heard her voice this weak; she clearly didn't want to say whatever it was she was thinking. "Just for a moment."

"Well, sure. What is it?"

Going down a couple of steps, she walked out onto the third floor of the Academy, then to the training arena. Nobody was there, of course, and the morning sunlight illuminated the dust lazily dancing in the air. "It's about this mentor program. And kinda about how everyone just reacted back there."

"Was kind of a jerk move everyone just pulled." They stood in silence for a few moments, neither seeming to know what to say. "I mean, I think they're all nice Pokémon who got caught up in the heat of the moment, but still rude."

"It's not just that," she sighed. "What if they're right, that we shouldn't get them as mentors? What if we're not good enough for them?"

"I think that's why they're here. It sounds like they know we're new, so they know we won't be the best yet."

"But they're a three star team, and we just started last week! Everyone's saying how well we did on those explorations, but they're probably just being nice. And now we're going to go meet one of the best teams in the world and completely mess everything up."

"Fennekin, if they were just being nice, I don't think they would've given us to someone like them."

More silence, then broken by a deep sigh from her. "I don't know. I'm just worried that coming here and joining the Academy was a mistake."

"Why?"

"Just…" Slowly, she began pacing the length of the arena. "What if I'm no good at it? What if I just end up being a failure?"

"What if you—well, I don't know what else a Pokémon can do in the world, but what if you just do it because you enjoy it? How much fun did you have when we got to the bottom of the Dark Cavern?"

"But Yamper was there with us."

"Did you have fun because we got there by ourselves, or because you were excited to go somewhere new and find something very few others had any idea even existed?"

More silence.

"Fennekin, I get being worried, but we've barely had a chance, and the ones we did get we did really well in. Besides, you said this has been your dream as long as you can remember, right? Like you've said, you're literally living the dream. Not many other Pokémon can say that. I think…"

She had stopped pacing, now staring at the floor. "I should've left that 'I think' out of that, right?" he asked. "Kinda hurts the impact of it."

A single, very shaky laugh came from her as she blotted tears from her eyes. "Thanks. I don't really know how I feel, but thanks for at least listening to me. Nobody's ever done that for me before." Silence again, but this time she walked up and...hugged him. Briefly, and she quickly dropped back to all fours and walked back towards the door, but a hug nonetheless. Was she blushing? He couldn't tell, but with how quickly she seemed to be scurrying to the door, it wouldn't be surprising.

She seemed very impatient about leaving, so he walked towards the door and said nothing; he tried to look at her, but she seemed determined to not meet his eye. Come to think of it, that was the first time he had really seen her upset; she seemed to almost try and hide it before. Was she embarrassed?

Questions for another day, he thought as he walked out of the room, Fennekin right behind him. She was silent as they went down, their footsteps soon being drowned out by the excited chatter in the lobby; it was always loud and crowded down there, but was even more packed than usual with all the other trainees meeting their mentors.

"Team Stargazers!" someone called out from a corner near the entrance. He still didn't know every Pokémon by heart, but the one waving at him definitely was a Leafeon; that must make the other Houndoom.

"Team Sunstriders?" he asked, walking up to them.

"Yup!" he chirped. "My name's Leafeon, and this is Houndoom. You're...Ethan, right?"

"Yeah." He looked to Fennekin, who perked her head up and had a weak and shaky smile. "And this is Fennekin."

"Weird name for a Pikachu," Houndoom commented with a tile of his head. "How'd you get it?"

Ethan thought about his response for a moment; looking at Fennekin out of the corner of her eye; she seemed to be doing the same thing. "My parents gave it to me, I think."

Leafeon's face grew crestfallen. "You think? Did you not know them?"

"I can't remember anything from more than a week and a half ago." Seeing what looked like legitimate sadness on Leafeon's face, he nervously chuckled. "It's fine, don't worry about it. Fennekin helped me get here, and I don't seem to be sick or anything."

"Well, I hope you can find something to jog your memory! Did you lose it on your way here?"

"I guess?" He looked at Fennekin, then back to Leafeon and shrugged. "Meeting Fennekin outside the city is the first thing I can remember; we didn't know each other from before. Or at least, I don't think so?"

"No," she responded after a...strange pause. It was a pause alright, but a very short one, almost unnoticeable.

Leafeon's leafy ears perked up as his eyes grew slightly wider. "Oh, so you're new new! I know Luxio and Roserade said you were new, but I had no idea you two were brand new!"

"We already have a couple of missions done!" Fennekin blurted out. "And we've been studying the past week, plus I did some traveling and exploring, and have been reading about exploring as long as I can remember!"

"Relax," he giggled, "I'm just surprised, is all. We all had to start somewhere, and helping new teams is why we did this! It's nice to see trainees as excited as we were when we all started."

"Yeah!" Houndoom came over and gave Fennekin a hearty pat on the pack; so hearty, in fact, she slid forward a few inches. "We knew we'd be working with newbies in this program, so no sweat if you don't have a ton of missions done. We were actually all talking about it, and we think we might have a good one that I could run with you. You know, help out and see what we can work on to help you guys get better. We could even go do it today if you two are willing to!"

Fennekin steadied herself after being forcibly moved. "Already? We just met you."

"Easiest way to learn is by doing," Leafeon smiled. "And it would help us to see what your strengths and areas of improvement are, so we can make sure to pay attention to those. Meowstic and I also have business in town today, so Houndoom could accompany you two while we run errands."

"Adventuring with a three star team…" A few shaky laughs came from her. "Just go easy on us, please. We're new."

Leafeon looked directly at Fennekin. "We spent some time going through our notes to find explorations we thought would be appropriate for you, don't worry." Even though Ethan was not worried, Leafeon's smile and tone of voice made him feel more confident about whatever they were about to go do; just talking to him seemed very soothing.

"And I'm coming along to help out; if it does get too difficult, just let me handle it! You can bring an escape orb, too, if you're feeling worried. Never hurts to have one!"

Leafeon looked up to Houndoom. "Do you mind taking them to prepare? I told Espeon and Umbreon I'd get over there as quickly as I can."

"You're probably still too late in Umbreon's eyes," he muttered. "Don't worry, I can help 'em get ready!"

"Thanks," he smiled before turning back to Ethan and Fennekin. "I'm so sorry to leave so quickly, but both Meowstic and I should be done by this evening! We'd love to hear how it went and get a chance to know you better."

As Leafeon started walking to the door, Houndoom looked down at both of them. "Anything you guys need to do here? The sooner we get on the road, the sooner we can get to the treasure we heard about!"

Ethan shrugged. "I don't think so. Fennekin?"

She nodded very slightly, though seemed almost unsure of it. "We can go."

"Sweetness!" Houndoom yelled, causing a few others in the lobby to look at him. "No time to lose!"