Author's Note:

We're back to the main story! This chapter finishes Mt. Bristle and continues the idea that Wigglytuff is smarter than he appears. But maybe he isn't as clever as he thinks he is…

"Hey Brandon, are you okay?" Now that the battle was over we had time to regroup. Azurill had run off when I attacked Drowzee, so he'd probably found his way to Marill by now. To be honest I wanted nothing more than to get as far away from here as possible before Drowzee recovered, but I couldn't go anywhere if my partner was injured.

"I'm fine, just exhausted from the battle," Brandon answered.

That's good, now we just had to get back to the guild. "In that case, let's leave before Drowzee wakes up. I don't think we can handle fighting him again," I suggested.

"But isn't today's mission to capture Drowzee? We shouldn't just leave him here," Brandon reminded me. He did have a point; our job was to catch an outlaw. I guess my cowardice got the better of me again. Still, what were we supposed to do with Drowzee? Taking him back to the guild with us could work, but one of us would have to stay here to make sure Azurill and Marill got home safely. If Drowzee woke up and one of us had to fight him alone, it would be a disaster.

I was about to ask Brandon about this when I heard a voice from the room's entrance. "They're up here, this is where they were fighting," Azurill said, apparently leading someone to the battlefield. Turning toward his voice, I saw Marill, two Magnemite, and a Magnezone following Azurill.

"Crest, there you are! Why didn't you tell me Drowzee was a criminal? Azurill is my brother, you should have let me help you fight," Marill said as he ran up to us.

I wasn't expecting to be scolded for helping Azurill. "We didn't think you would be strong enough to fight him, so I didn't say anything hoping you would stay safe," I defended.

"To be fair, keeping you in the dark was more my idea than Crest's. He was just following my lead," Brandon added, covering for me. I owe him for that one.

Magnezone hovered forward and asked me, "Where is Drowzee now? We received word that your team chased him here, so leave it to us to arrest him." That must be Officer Magnezone then. At least that answers the question of what to do with Drowzee.

Before I could respond, the Magnemite floated over with Drowzee between them. "We've already apprehended him, boss. He was unconscious by the wall over there."

"Really? That's impressive, you two! I heard you were a rookie team, yet you managed to defeat an outlaw on your first attempt," Magnezone congratulated. "We will handle the rest of Drowzee's capture from here and send the reward for your work to your guild. Thank you for your cooperation."

As the officers made their way down the mountain, I turned to the rest of our group. "We should probably head home; Brandon and I are exhausted. What are you two going to do now, should we take you back to Treasure Town with us?" I asked Marill and Azurill.

"Yes, that would be great," Marill answered. "We can get home on our own from there."

Brandon seemed to like that idea. "Let's get going then. I've had enough battling for one day." He shined his badge on Marill and I did the same for Azurill. After they finished warping we escaped the dungeon as well.

I appeared next to Azurill, in front of the guild. "Okay, we're just outside Treasure Town. It's getting pretty late, so you two should probably head home. You know the way from here, right?"

"Of course I do! Come on, Marill. Mom is probably waiting for us," Azurill said, running toward the stairs.

"Hey, Azurill, wait up!" Marill responded. Before he left, Marill turned to us. "Thank you so much for your help. I've got to go now, bye!" he finished hastily as he chased after his brother.

Brandon and I made our way into the guild and waited by the outlaw notice board for Chatot. He said he would review our performance, but I was feeling confident. Sure, I was a bit of a coward, but our mission was a success. As long as Chatot didn't find out that I almost screwed up at the end I would be fine. As I felt the pride of a successful day welling up within me I noticed Brandon seemed to be lost in thought again.

"Hey Brandon, what are you thinking about? You don't seem very excited to report our success to Chatot," I questioned him.

He snapped out of his thoughts but still hesitated before answering, "I'm just… tired, I guess. I keep replaying today's events in my mind. It's a lot to keep track of, and so much of it doesn't make sense-" he cut himself off when Chatot flew up the ladder, probably in an attempt to keep his poor Pokesh a secret.

"Ah, Team Strength. I must say, I am impressed with your performance today. Capturing an outlaw on your first attempt is no small feat," Chatot started. I couldn't believe it; Chatot was actually happy with something I had done. I thought he was impossible to please. He continued, "However, it was quite careless of you to reject Marill's help. I expect better of you in the future, Brandon. For now, though, it's a job well done. Here's your share of the reward for capturing Drowzee. Now, get some rest. The Guildmaster has a special mission planned for you two to do tomorrow."

Chatot handed me 300 Poke before descending the ladder. As I went to put the Poke in the treasure bag I noticed Brandon was, once again, lost in thought. "You know we had to keep Marill safe. You didn't do anything wrong."

"That's actually not what I was thinking about," he responded much more quickly than last time.

"So, what was it then?" I asked.

Brandon thought for a moment but eventually answered, "Pretty much everything else." That was not a very helpful answer. He continued, "Could we talk about this later? I need to collect my thoughts, and it's something I'd rather the rest of the guild not find out about, at least not yet anyway."

I guess that meant I'd get a better answer later then. "Alright, for now let's just recover from today's battles. It's probably almost time for dinner anyway."

Today certainly was eventful. I learned to use vines, finally explored town, had some sort of vision, fought an outlaw, and learned Razor Leaf. Honestly a good day overall, but it left me with several questions. Now that everyone had gone to their rooms for the night I could finally talk to Crest about everything that has happened. At least this is a good time to practice Pokesh.

"So, are you finally ready to talk about whatever has been bothering you?" Crest pestered me, though I can't blame him. It's been pretty obvious that I've been hiding something since we got back from Mt. Bristle.

"Yeah, I am. It's just that there's so much that happened today, I'm not sure where to start, but I guess this morning is as good a place as any. Remember that weird vision I had?" To be honest, so much happened today that I wouldn't be surprised if Crest had forgotten already.

He remembered though and looked upset about it. "You somehow knew that Drowzee was dangerous, but I didn't listen and Azurill got kidnapped because of me…"

"It was not your fault. I wouldn't have believed me either. I just wanted to know if you knew anything about where my vision came from," I assured him.

Crest collected himself and thought for a second before replying, "I've never heard of a Chikorita having visions before. Usually that sort of thing is limited to Psychic types and legendary pokemon. Some other pokemon can have visions, but not Chikorita, at least not normally."

"I figured as much. At least we know the vision was accurate, so if it ever happens again that's something to keep in mind," I concluded. "The other thing I was thinking about was what Chatot said about a 'special mission.' Any idea what he was talking about?"

"Not a clue," Crest answered, "but it is something to be excited for. He said we should rest up for tomorrow, so it's probably not going to be easy."

"That's what I was thinking too. We should probably go to sleep early tonight," I suggested.

"You're probably right, we need to rest after today. Goodnight, Brandon," Crest said, turning over in his bed.

"Goodnight," I said back.

There was one more thing on my mind, but it was something Crest shouldn't hear. Today's mission gave him a huge confidence boost, and I didn't want to ruin that, but something was bothering me. Why was Officer Magnezone at Mt. Bristle? He knew we were chasing an outlaw, but surely there were other teams doing outlaw jobs today. It can't be standard protocol for Magnezone to meet you in the dungeon, which means someone thought we were going to fail our mission. My first thought was that Chatot sent him after us, but he didn't seem to want to send us on an outlaw mission in the first place.

That just left Wigglytuff. That pokemon had to be hiding something. There's no way someone as simple minded as he appears to be would send new recruits on a mission as dangerous as today's was; he should be prioritizing our safety over everything else. The only explanation was that he was faking it. He must have known Crest had confidence problems and sent us on a difficult mission to boost his confidence. Then, when we chose a mission that was too dangerous, he sent Magnezone to make sure we were okay. Wigglytuff must have even asked him for a detailed report on the mission, which would explain how I got blamed for leaving Marill behind. Either that, or he vastly overestimated us and Chatot sent Magnezone with the expectation we would fail.

The latter idea was what I had originally thought, but something about Wigglytuff just seemed… off. There was no way someone that childish could run a successful guild, even with Chatot by his side. That was the thought that led me to conclude the Guildmaster was behind everything that happened today. Still, I couldn't confront him about it until I had more proof. From this point forward, I would have to watch Wigglytuff closely to find out who he really was.