Explorers of Fate chapter 53

Chapter 53: Sunburst's First Exploration


    Hours passed before Carlos, in a daze, made his way back to the Guild. He ignored Chatot, who demanded an explanation for Sandra's tears and his lateness, and slowly walked toward his team's room. Flashbacks of the kiss he had shared with Chelsey shot through his mind like lightning. He couldn't get it out of his head.
    Why did she do that? Carlos wondered, feeling numb. And Sandra… Why was she crying? I don't…get it… Any of this…
    He stepped into Team Legend's room and collapsed on his bed. A sideways glance toward Sandra's bed showed it was empty. Afraid, his eyes darted around the room until they landed on Joy's bed. Curled up beside Michael, apparently having cried herself to sleep…was Sandra.
    Relaxing a bit, the Pikachu allowed himself to curl up in bed. Sadly, he was unable to sleep. The images of the kiss and Sandra's tears kept him awake. No amount of tossing and turning helped.
    Why is it bothering me so much? Carlos thought. I've never…kissed anyone before. Why do I feel so bad about it? And Sandra…
    Carlos rolled over, paws over his ears. He began to tremble uncontrollably. Something felt so wrong yet he didn't know what it was. All he knew was that he felt horrible. He didn't know why he did. He just…did.
    A few more hours passed before the Pikachu passed out from exhaustion. At the moment Carlos fell asleep, Lucar was finally forced awake by the sheer amount of confusion emanating from Carlos. The blind Riolu sat up, looking toward Carlos' bed. The confused aura was still there but it was fading away with sleep. He looked toward Sandra, all of her confusion and sadness having vanished hours ago.
    Could they be connected? Lucar wondered. I'll need to find out what happened in Treasure Town tomorrow.
    Lucar went back to sleep. He didn't have much longer to sleep, anyway. Morning was on its way.

At Fogbound Lake…

    Uxie gasped for breath, his body aching from the amount of attacks he had been hit with. His Groudon illusion had been defeated and now the intruder was attacking him. Uxie didn't plan to give up, but he wasn't certain how much longer he could keep the intruder at bay.
    "I should've known this would happen," Uxie muttered, struggling to stay in the air. "How could any normal Pokemon keep a secret this important to themselves? I should've erased their memories, all of them."
    The intruder, Grovyle, tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about? No one led me here. I came on my own."
    "Impossible!" Uxie argued. "No one else but those explorers knows there is a Time Gear here!"
    "I'm certain that I've known it was here for far longer than the ones you're talking about," Grovyle said. "But enough chitchat. I'm here for one thing and one thing only. I'm taking that Time Gear with me."
    "You'll have to go through me first!" Uxie declared.
    "Then I truly am sorry, Uxie. Don't hold this against me," Grovyle requested, raising one arm. The leaves began to glow.
    Uxie immediately lifted his hands, which began to glow. His eyes began to open. I'll erase his memories, Uxie decided. This one's too dangerous to allow him to escape with the knowledge of my Time Gear!
    Just as Uxie's eyes were about to open completely, Grovyle suddenly disappeared. Closing his eyes again, Uxie looked around desperately in search of Grovyle. A light sound of feet landing on stone alerted the Legendary to Grovyle's location…behind him! Whipping around, Uxie shot a powerful Confusion at him. Grovyle ducked under the attack and then lunged, sharp leaves tearing across Uxie's chest.
    "AAAAAH!!" Uxie cried out, falling to the ground.
    Grovyle just stood there, waiting to see if Uxie would get up again. Despite all of his struggles, the Psychic-type could only writhe in pain. Grovyle sighed, turning his back on the Legendary and diving into the crystal clear waters of Fogbound Lake. He returned only a few minutes later, Time Gear in hand.
    "I have it," Grovyle said triumphantly. "The third Time Gear. Only two more to go before…"
    Grovyle suddenly stopped speaking, looking behind him. Uxie, from his place on the ground, couldn't see what Grovyle was looking at. The Grass-type dropped the Time Gear into the bag he was carrying and then picked up Uxie, fleeing from the cavern. Uxie, tired and hurt from the battle, could do nothing to resist. He passed out, wondering briefly what would happen to him now...

The next morning, Wigglytuff's Guild…

    "UP AND AT 'EM, ROOKIES! IT'S MORNING!" Loudred bellowed down the hall.
    "Ugh…" Carlos groaned.
    The Pikachu rolled over, trying to ignore the call. The groans of his teammates as they awoke didn't stop him from trying to go back to asleep. He was tired.
    "Carlos, time to get up," Joy said, shaking the Pikachu lightly.
    "Ugh…" Carlos reluctantly got up, yawning. "Morning already?"
    "Yep," Luv nodded, stretching her flippers.
    "This is how early you wake up?" Sunburst complained, rubbing her eyes. "Well, I never…" She trailed off. "…I'll need to get used to this, won't I?"
    "Yeah," Zuzu replied, flapping down from her spot on the ceiling. The shiny Zubat stretched her wings. "So, back to doing normal missions again?"
    "I guess so," Joy said. Then she looked at Carlos. "Where were you last night? You never came back."
    "…Out," Carlos replied, avoiding the Raichu's gaze.
    "Sandra came back crying. What happened?" Blackie asked.
    "I…don't know," Carlos answered. His tone was dull, too tired to care.
    "Carlos, please, tell us. We're worried," Joy explained, looking from Carlos to Sandra.
    The Eevee was sitting on Joy's bed with a sleepy Michael. She was staring at the ground, ignoring everything around her. Her eyes were rimmed red from crying the night before. She had been so upset that she hadn't been able to tell them just what had happened in Treasure Town.
    /Sure, call me a baby if you want. If you've ever been in love, you'll understand. Try to imagine the love of your life kissing another in front of you. It's horrible. Within the span of a week, two other girls had fallen for Carlos and tried to crush my affections for him into oblivion. First Sunburst…and now Chelsey…/
    Carlos didn't reply. He honestly didn't know what exactly had caused Sandra to cry. Was it the kiss? Why? He didn't get it.
    "Come on," Lucar suddenly said, resting a paw on Carlos' shoulder. "We should get to the main room. Chatot will have a fit if we're any later than this."
    Carlos nodded before slowly getting to his feet. Sandra got up as well, shaking herself off in the process. Lucar led the way to the main room, Carlos and Sandra slowly trailing behind him. They quickly joined the other apprentices, lucky to be in time as Chatot began the cheers. Once they were over, Chatot suddenly raised a wing.
    "Remember what we vowed last night! Speak nothing of it to anyone!" Chatot squawked.
    "Huh?" Carlos, snapping back to attention, looked at Lucar. "What happened last night?"
    "Yeah," Sandra agreed, looking at the blind Riolu. She, too, had snapped back to attention.
    "Another Time Gear was stolen," Lucar explained as the rest of the apprentices left. "It wasn't the one from Fogbound Lake, thankfully."
    "Then Uxie's still okay," Sandra realized.
    "That makes two missing Time Gears, though," Lucar continued. "It's bad enough that one was stolen, but two? Whoever this Time Gear thief is, they must have something planned."
    "Where was it? The second Time Gear?" Carlos asked. "Do you think the thief will go for Uxie next?"
    "It was a good ways away from Fogbound Lake," Lucar replied. "As for Uxie, who knows? Maybe,"
    "I hope he's okay," Sandra whimpered. "He was so nice to us, even if he sent that Ground illusion to attack us."
    "He was defending the Time Gear, Sandra. I'm sure we would do the same if it was us defending it." Lucar pointed out. "Now then, we've got missions to do,"
    "Zuzu and Luv are pretty strong at the moment," Carlos muttered. "Joy still has to take care of Michael, who's still too young to be going on missions with us. That leaves Blackie and Sunburst."
    "Blackie still needs fighting experience," Sandra pointed out.
    "Though she's around our level, Sunburst isn't experienced in doing missions yet." Lucar commented.
    "Let's see what missions there are to do today and then we'll see who we should bring," Carlos suggested.
    "Good idea," Lucar nodded.
    "Yeah!" Sandra cried.
    Carlos led the trio upstairs to check on the mission boards. They found three missions to Apple Woods and decided to take those. Two were missions involving criminals that needed arresting. The other involved taking a stolen item back from a thief.
    "It's Apple Woods, so Sunburst would do best," Lucar pointed out.
    "Yeah," Carlos nodded. "Let's get Sunburst and go."
    Heading back down the ladder, the trio reentered their room and then exited with Sunburst in tow. Leaving the Guild behind them, the four members of Team Legend arrived at the crossroads and went down the path that led toward the mystery dungeons. Carlos and Sandra focused solely on the missions, ignoring any rising images of the kiss Carlos had shared with Chelsey the night before.
    /I was pretty hung up over that kiss. Every time I started to muster up the courage to confess, somebody suddenly appears to steal Carlos from me. It was frustrating, honestly. It was like the whole world was against me. It's different now. Carlos isn't here anymore. It's hard to steal him away if he isn't here to be stolen. I still…miss him…/
    Arriving at Apple Woods, Carlos turned to his teammates and smiled. "Okay, guys, these missions involve fighting criminals. Sunburst, since this is your first time as an explorer, you can watch and learn if you want or you can jump right in. The enemies here are weak, but the criminals are sure to be strong."
    "We get it, Carlos. We'll be careful," Sunburst teased.
    Carlos nodded, turning away from his teammates. "Then let's go!" he cried, leading Team Legend into the mystery dungeon.
    On the first floor, they ended up in a room with an Oddish and a Paras. The Oddish was quick to use Acid on them, hitting both Lucar and Sandra. Carlos hit it was Thunderbolt, allowing Sunburst to defeat it with Flamethrower. While her back was turned, the Paras hit her with Stun Spore and paralyzed her. It managed to hit Carlos and Sandra while it was at it. Lucar hit it with Force Palm, knocking it out instantly. Once the rest of the team could move, they headed for a nearby hall. Another Oddish appeared, slamming into Sandra and throwing her backward a few feet. Lucar quickly stepped forward, paws glowing. A bunch of large seeds erupted from his paws, knocking the Oddish out.
    "Whoa!" Carlos cried. "Lucar, how did you do that?"
    "It's a handy move called Copycat," Lucar explained. "It can mimic a single move of an opposing Pokemon and allow me to use it against them. The copied move only works until the opponent I copied it from faints."
    His paws ceased to glow, signaling the end to the copied attack. Since the Oddish had fainted, his Copycat technique was over.
    "And what move was that?" Sandra asked, getting to her paws and bounding over.
    "Seed Bomb," Lucar replied.
    "Clever," Sunburst complimented.
    "Thanks," the blind Riolu nodded.
    As Lucar turned away, the Quilava looked away. I still have to apologize to him for the Grimy Food, she remembered. But…when?
    "When did you learn to do that?" Carlos asked, amazed at his friend's newfound strength.
    "I…had some help," Lucar admitted. "Remember Mark, the Lucario? I asked him to train me the night before we left the Northern Desert Kingdom."
    "You did? And he trained you, no questions asked?" Sunburst questioned.
    "He asked questions but, yeah, he trained me. I've learned a lot from him." Lucar replied. "Maybe you'll get to see more as we move through this place."
    /Lucar learned a lot from Mark, including a special technique that we wouldn't see until later. I still don't know how Lucar learned it. Maybe through pure will alone? Either way, it would become real useful in the future. And I mean 'in the future' both figuratively…and literally. You'll see what I mean…/
    "Awesome! Let's keep going!" Carlos cried. Lucar's gotten stronger...and all without my knowledge, too! I wonder if he's the only one…
    They went down the corridor, passing by the Kecleon Shop in the next room. Passing through a few empty rooms and halls, they soon found themselves at a dead end. Backtracking to the first room, they defeated a trio of Hoppip and a Budew that swarmed them the moment they arrived in the room. They then took another corridor and defeated a Butterfree blocking the way. Upon finding the room with the stairs, they knocked out the Hoppip advancing on them from near the stairs and picked up an Apple in the corner before fleeing up the stairs.
    On the second floor, they went down a long hall before arriving in a big room. Picking up the Max Elixir on the far wall, they headed for the next room and found the stairs. Picking up two Pecha Berries and defeating a Budew with Sunburst's Flamethrower, they ran upstairs to the next floor.
    On the third floor, they moved through halls and rooms quickly. After a few empty rooms, Carlos found a Red Gummi and dropped it in their Treasure Bag. The eerie silence from before was shattered when a Budew, a Caterpie, and an Oddish ambushed them in the next corridor. Sandra knocked out the Budew with a well-aimed Shadow Ball, Carlos fried the Caterpie with Thunderbolt, and Lucar knocked the Oddish out with Rock Slide. In the next hall, a Budew jumped them from behind and was roasted by a frightened Sunburst.
    "Stupid thing! It came out of nowhere!" Sunburst cried.
    "That happens," Lucar chuckled.
    "You'll get used to it," Carlos reassured, patting the Quilava on the shoulder. "We're explorers! This is our job."
    "I'm starting to wonder if I picked the wrong job," Sunburst muttered, following her teammates as they moved ahead. But, if it means seeing Carlos smiling like that everyday, it's worth it, she thought, smiling fondly at the Pikachu's back.
    Reaching the next room, they were relieved to find the stairs. They ran up them quickly, eager to escape the eerily quiet floor.
    On the fourth floor, Carlos led the way to the next room and picked up 37 poke. As they started to leave the room, an Exeggutor and a Paras arrived. A combination of Sandra's Shadow Ball and Sunburst's Flamethrower took down the towering Grass/Psychic-type, leaving Carlos to electrocute the Paras with a powerful Thunderbolt. The hall they went down led them right back to the first room, prompting them to take another hall. Picking up an Apple in the next room, Carlos quickly zapped a Caterpie before it could throw a sticky String Shot at Sunburst. The former princess glared hatefully at the Bug-type as it crumpled to the ground in a smoking heap.
    "Gross thing," she muttered angrily.
    "Again, you'll have to get used to it. You can't expect to always remain nice and clean while on missions," Lucar commented. "You're going to get dirty sooner or later, be it either by fighting or walking around a mystery dungeon. There's no avoiding it."
    "Doesn't mean I can't try," Sunburst argued, looking away from both Lucar and the unconscious Caterpie.
    In the next room, Carlos was quick to devour the Yellow Gummi he had found. Suddenly realizing something, he pulled out the Red Gummi he had found earlier and offered it to Sunburst. The Quilava blushed before accepting it, gnawing on it as they walked. The next room housed the stairs, a Pecha Berry, and a Burmy. Lucar's Force Palm knocked out the Burmy, allowing Carlos to pick up the Pecha Berry and lead them up the stairs.
    On the fifth floor, they tiptoed around a sleeping Butterfree and crossed an empty room. Knocking out a Hoppip in the hall, they arrived in a room that had a few items inside of it. A Shiny Box was dropped to the ground by the Hoppip. Carlos picked it up, along with the Apple and 5 Sticks lying on the ground. The next room was a dead end, forcing them to backtrack until they found a new corridor to explore. In the next room they entered, Carlos picked up a Big Apple before leading his teammates up the stairs.
    On the sixth floor, they encountered the first criminal on their list. It was a Flareon. Barely seconds after they arrived, the criminal lashed out with Quick Attack. Carlos dodged it with Double Team, tricking it with his clones before giving the Fire-type a nasty shock with Thunderbolt. When it turned to attack him, Sunburst hit it from behind with Quick Attack. Lucar then buried it under a pile of rocks with Rock Slide, knocking it out.
    "How was that?" Carlos asked. "First criminal battle for you, Sunburst,"
    "I barely did anything," the Quilava pointed out. "You tricked it, you shocked it, and Lucar buried it. I barely even hit it."
    "It probably had Flash Fire, anyhow," Lucar commented. "Maybe it was better you didn't do much against it. Your Fire-type attacks wouldn't work. The next one's a Bronzor. We'll let you try fighting it. That should be a good first criminal battle for you."
    "Sure," Sunburst nodded, grinning. Time to prove how serious I am about this whole explorer thing! I'm sure to impress Carlos if I take out that Bronzor all by myself!
    Luckily for them, the stairs were in the next room. They went up them quickly.
    On the seventh floor, Carlos easily defeated an attacking Paras with Thunderbolt. They went through two empty rooms and a long corridor that seemed to stretch around the whole outer edge of the floor before encountering another Paras. Sandra knocked it out with Quick Attack immediately. Continuing through the long corridor, they were ambushed by a Paras and a Butterfree. Lucar took out the Butterfree with Rock Slide, leaving Sunburst to hit the Paras with Flamethrower. When they finally found a room, Carlos grabbed an X-Eye Seed lying on the floor and entered the next room. Picking up 80 poke, they entered the next room and were attacked by an Exeggutor and a Gloom. Only then did Sunburst notice something.
    "Carlos, Sandra and Lucar are gone!" the Quilava yelped, realizing the other two were no longer behind them.
    "It happens sometimes. We'll meet up with them on the next floor," Carlos replied, electrocuting the Gloom. "Help me out here!"
    Sunburst rammed into the Exeggutor with Quick Attack, forcing it back a step. Just before it could attack her, an orb of black and purple energy hit it from behind. The Grass/Psychic-type fainted, crashing to the floor. Sandra smiled triumphantly at her victory before bounding to Carlos as he defeated the Gloom.
    "You're okay!" Sunburst cried. "Where were you?"
    "I got turned around during that fight with Paras and Butterfree," Sandra replied. "Where's Lucar?"
    "Still missing," the Quilava said.
    "He'll be okay," the Eevee smiled. "Lucar knows how to handle this place."
    /Lucar seemed to be the most experienced of all of us when it came to mystery dungeons. He knew how to handle himself in them from the very beginning. I only had knowledge about them from my sister. Lucar seemed to have experience, as if he's been in them before. It would still be a while before we'd find out just where his experience came from./
    Picking up 72 poke lying nearby, the trio continued through the floor. The next room, luckily enough, contained the stairs. They went up them, eager to be reunited with their lost teammate.
    On the eighth floor, Lucar smirked as he reappeared by Carlos' side. The four Team Legend members then turned to Bronzor, who hovered only a few feet away from them. The thief didn't seem too pleased to see them.
    "Okay, Sunburst," Carlos said, turning to the former princess. "This battle's all yours. If you need help, just call. We're a team, remember?"
    "I remember, Carlos. Don't worry." Sunburst stepped forward, the flames on her head and lower back igniting. Time to prove my worth, she thought, smirking.