Pokémon Fledglings

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Imagine translating that literally. "Eye!"

Yeah, every language has at least a few phrases that sound laughably clunky when translated at face value to another. You should have a gander at the literal meanings of some Dutch profanity sometime. :V

Smart move, but I can't help but raise an eyebrow at this Tauros' incredible agility in water. It can jump in hard and then hop back out in seconds? Such a large and heavy creature?

Something something, the Tauros rode the wave he kicked up so getting out was a bit easier.

Lyn: "Okay! Caaareful what you ask for!"
Osmund: "Wait, no! Not like tha--"

And then the dispute came to a very pointed end. o3o;

Argh, you certainly know how to pace your fights. Without naval superiority, Lyn's ship won't have too much trouble leaving port if it has to. Putting Pleo aside, I imagine that Tromba is in a bit of a pickle. If they capture/kill Lyn and his crew, they will certainly be targeted for retribution. If they let him leave, there's a chance the Company will blame Lyn's initiative and not pursue his goals, but we both know that's impossible.

Well, I’m glad to hear that you found that fight engrossing. It initially had a few bumps in its initial incarnation that were ironed out after a couple bites at the apple with a retcon here or there, so it’s heartening to hear that the version that’s finally there hit those buttons.

As for the dilemma. It’s a bit moot against Lyn here right now, though hold onto that thought. It won’t be the last time that train of thought is relevant in-story.

Nida: "Psssst, Pleo! Wake up! We need another of your super wind attacks! ... Pleo?"
Crom: "Well, it was nice knowing our Protector. Let's hope he's not brainwashed into becoming a superweapon for the Company." ;-;

Elty: “Whelp, that’s that. Time for the curtain call since it’s not as if we’re gonna be able to sneak aboard Lyn’s ship to spring your bird friend.”
- Nida and Crom blink and ‘hmm’ externally, as Elty gets alarmed -
Elty: “H-Hey! We don’t need to do this! We can let the plot end right here!” o_o;
Nida: “On a note like this? Fat chance.”

Hehehe, it's either one kid, or dozens.

What can I say? Nida takes after her mother when it comes to negotiating. :V

Ah, much of society would be different if psychic-types worked like that. Alas.

Yeah, there’d definitely be a number of moments where things would be harder to keep suspenseful with casual teleportation. While it is useful, it’s pretty heavily nerfed compared to what you can do with it in some stories.

Oh, god, he hand-picked his crew to be made up of sociopaths. Typical.

I mean, his mission is to drag off a Protector by any means necessary. Kinda don’t want anyone on your crew who’d do something foolish like get moved by a sob story and let your hard-earned captured babby sea god fly off.

Also, it’ll be quite a bit longer before it gets explicitly dealt with in-narrative, but Lyn has a bit of experience on that front from within his own family

I figured people would remark more on how bonkers it is that the gods really do exist and aren't just fairy tales, but I suppose Lyn isn't one to care about that.

Nah. Their existence is pretty widely accepted, even if it’s taken a while for them to actually start hatching out. Even if most Pokémon’s knowledge of Legendaries falls into “vague stories and broadest of strokes” territory for off-island Legendaries, which saves the team’s hide for a good chunk of this story.

Oof. Excellent audio-visual description, though. Simple yet effective.

Sounds about right for a bunch of sailors, hehehe. If that last part is a cameo of sorts, I unfortunately don't know about the source material.

That’d be a nod to Final Fantasy V, good sir. One of the protags has a bit of an… unfortunate name in the original Japanese version that the tale there captured in slightly garbled (and funnier) form.

Nida: "Well, it's a bit too late to back out! Either we try our best or sit in that crate until they find us. Now, come on!"
Elty: Grumbles in Polish

That’s… pretty accurate, yeah.

Nida, flushing: "Y-yes, but that's not the poi--argh, I'll kick you into Lyn's cabin if you don't get rid of that smirk right now!"

Elty: “Suuuure you will.”

Nida: "... Don't think I don't see you still smirking! Yeesh, one comment about his scales being soft and shiny and I never hear the end of it."
Elty: "You realise you talk in your sleep, right?"
Nida, exploding with embarrassment; >_<

I honestly would not be shocked at all if Elty did pick up a thing or two about Nida and Crom’s crush for each other from Nida’s sleeptalk. :V

Great chapter! I appreciate the change in scenery, and while I'm not sure if this will be the start of the journey section of the story, I do know that it's getting very close. I can't wait!

Well, we’ll be looking forward to your reactions to things. Since quite a bit changes in not a whole lot of time from the point of the story you’re getting to. ^^

In the later part of the scene I liked that Crom's family own a baking business. Druddigon is the last pokemon you'd expect doing that, and I always love to see it when authors subvert pokemon archetypes like that.

Well, there’s that bit about Crom’s background influences from Trivia #1. That definitely influenced things a bit on that front.

Pleo continuing to not understand the meaning of words and concepts continues to be fun, like how he's confused at the notion of fighting and what training is. These bits further highlight the fact that Pleo's literally a baby. Almost makes one worried about the fact that this baby is going to be thrown into the responsibility of protecting the island. As Pleo grows and matures, it'll be interesting to see his personal feelings about his role in the world and whether he'll embrace his destiny in stride or with reluctance. Either way, he will have to decide what to do with all his power in the future.

All in due time. After all, this is a coming of age story, and it wouldn’t do any good if he grew up all at once. ^^

I liked the introduction of Mosca. Not many stories use Hawlucha in them so that's cool to see. I wonder how much of a presence she'll have in the overall story. Probably not much. She strikes me as just the tutorial tutor. The practice dungeon is also a cool addition, and it makes sense something like that exists since going into real dungeons for novice level practice is counterintuitive. I should probably incorporate such a concept in my own writing. I laughed a bit the first time I read the part where Pleo went straight for the bread loaves before Mosca could even finish her explanation.

Well, Mosca does a few things for the town other than just tutorial tutoring. But yeah, that’s her primary role in the story.

The next part of the chapter reintroduced Calino from the first chapter, and this time Nida made sure to use his previous words to get back at him. It shows that even a greedy Kekleon wants to look good before the revered protector. I almost felt bad for him honestly. Moving on from that, we got to see Pleo and the gang in a training session where they venture into the practice dungeon. It showed us just how inexperienced and careless Pleo can be, which makes it all the better that this is just a practice dungeon and not the real thing. An actual mud trap in a real dungeon will have meant serious trouble. And as is to be expected, Pleo was already eating some of the loaves before even reaching the stairs. I wonder if the ones Nida dragged across the ground are even edible at all.

Well, if nothing else, the loaves could probably make for some good caballeros pobres if they’re really that stale. Or a passable Gravelerock substitute. That works too. :V

Moving on to Chapter 6, we got to see the sparring session between Pleo and the gang against Gwenith. I liked the way the fight sequences were described. The words flowed naturally and I didn't find myself being confused trying to figure out any of the sequences, so good job on that. The comedic bits of the fight made me chuckle here and there, like the time Nidas poison stings just clinked off Gwenith's scales with no effects at all. I'm glad poor Pleo wasn't crushed by the event as you had me a bit worried there when he became a frightened chick at the end of the battle. Poor Pollito can't yet grasp the fact that sometimes one can't avoid getting hurt in life. Will be interesting to see how his outlook changes as he gets into more unavoidable fights in the future.

To be fair, even in canon, it’s depicted that particularly young Pokémon often find their first battles particularly disorienting and scary. Hence how there was an entire episode in the Johto season where Ash managed to scare his Phanpy off from him temporarily by accidentally zapping him as collateral all of 5 minutes after hatching. Or Iris’ Axew turning on the waterworks after getting hit by the likes of Bullet Seed in the earlier parts of the BW seasons. Even as a Protector, Pleo isn’t an exception to that dynamic.

It didn't register to me at first why Pleo hadn't been flying at all at any point in the story as I'd subconsciously assumed he just wasn't old enough yet, though it also makes sense that he just hasn't been taught how to fly yet. Given the fact that one of you authors is a fan of birds, I do wonder if a flight capable bird in real life will also not be able to fly if it's not been taught through some means.

He gets some assistance on that front to speed things up, but yes. Pleo does have to learn how to fly in this story. Just like a normal baby bird.

The scene that came after touched upon the can of worms that is the idea of the marked pokemon once again. I'll be upfront and say that this is the other thing about this story I honestly dislike. Like the other thing I'd brought up before, I'll just lay out my frustrations with this one here and do my best not to bring it up in further reviews.

The idea of the marked pokemon Is not inherently an objectively bad concept by any means, but I'm not a fan of how it's normalized in the story. I just can't buy the idea that the old gods were in any right to punish descendants of the star weapon builders just for being related to them. That's not exactly the best way to remind people of their past wrong and lead them towards bettering and making sure they avoid repeating their past atrocities. If anything, what Arceus did only ensures hatred against the old gods continues to grow across generations which SHOULD inevitably lead to the descendants of the marked leading to another revolt. A child should not bear their father's sins.

To be fair, I agree that I shouldn't necessarily judge the societal status quo of a world based on my own current worldview since historically people have lived with crappy situations and accepted them as facts of life because that's just the world they grew up in, but I don't think that evades scrutiny of this concept. All in all I think I'll give this story the benefit of the doubt to handle this 'sins of the father' well without handwaving the uncomfortable ramifications of it and without validating it in any fashion whatsoever. It's a touchy subject for me given my background, so I can't ever be on board with it. ^^;

Yeah. The dynamic with the Marked is very consistently handled as a flaw in-setting, and the Pokémon that use it as license to sideline and mistreat the likes of Ander in-setting are very consistently not portrayed in a favorable light when they do so. I understand if your own lived experience makes that bit fall flat for you, though hopefully that handling comes through as you read more of the story.

Also, it gets teased on-and-off throughout the story, but the Mark is more than a mere ‘sins of the father’ thing. But that’s a long ways away from being dealt with frontally from where you are in-story.

Anyway rant over. I liked the rest of the chapter. The gag about dragons being scared of Marley is funny, though I wonder if she really had been a menace to dragons in the past or if this is an injoke reference that originated from elsewhere. It's also amusing to see that even ferals have some reverence towards Pleo, as I'd thought those guys wouldn't be concerned about matters having to do with the protector and all that. Of course the fun didn't last long because pirates showed up shortly after to crash the party.

That’s a topic that gets explained more in full in a later trivia if my memory serves me right, but let’s just say that in the earliest stages of planning, Marley was a wholecloth reference to a Nidorina character from Venia Silente’s writings on Serebii and other sites who is quite experienced at picking Dragonmons apart. Some of those traits carried over to Marley, including her dreaded status among much of the island’s Dragon-Types.

In any case that's all for this review. The two chapters I read were enjoyable, which the latter souring a bit for me in the latter half. I enjoy the cast of characters and find them endearing and full of charm. I'll be looking forward to seeing how the crew handle the pirates attack next chapter. See you soon.

And we’ll be looking forward to hearing more from you soon too! Thanks for the review! ^^

Speaking of which, Team Traveller picked up a new buddy last time around? Why don’t we check up and see how she and the rest of the gang are doing?

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Back out in the maze, the Distortion spawned a level with a tightly-knit web of passages, the lot of them possessing ground that was composed of ceiling tiles broken by occasional arches. Up above, the ceiling consisted of the cave earth that formed the ground on most of the prior floors that Nida and her teammates encountered, complete with faint light coming from blinking wisps of earth-fire. Team Traveller's members, now four heads strong, made their way down the narrow and winding passages, searching for a suitably spacious chamber to call the teleporter in…

"… and there's places like Crom's bakery where they sell yummy bread made from these seeds called 'grain'!"

...all while indulging Guardia's curiosity of the world outside. Pleo's response to Guardia's question about how Pokémon got food in Bluewhorl Town rambled on much like the paths they travelled, with descriptions of great dining huts where seeds were ground into dust to make 'bread'. The bird's chatter provided a strange and incongruous picture to the Cubone, filling her mind with visions of a colony where Pokémon of every stripe worked together to make strange-sounding food out of equally strange-sounding ingredients.

"Wait, wait, wait," she interrupted, giving a puzzled tilt of her head. "Who's this 'Crom'? Some sort of seed-eater, I presume?"

"Hrm?" Nida murmured, flicking her ears curiously. "He's a Druddigon and a good friend of ours."

"Yeah! He's our teammate!" Pleo chirped.

"Er… what do you mean by 'Druddigon'?" Guardia wondered. "And if he's your teammate, where's he now?"

"Well…" Pleo began. "He's big like me, and has wings, but also arms like Nida… and-"

Pleo continued on with the description of this 'Druddigon', evidently a thorny blue and red yajū which sounded a lot like one of those 'Crimgan' creatures that Tetsuzui spoke of in a lore session some moons ago. The conversation continued to branch from there, swinging wildly from subject to subject. Except… the team noticed that something seemed to be missing from all these exchanges.

Or more accurately, someone.

"Elty?" Pleo asked as he turned his head towards the Growlithe at the back of the group. "Why have you been so quiet all this time?"

"Actually, now that you mention it..." Nida said. "You've been going on and on about wanting to get out since we set foot in here last night, Elty. What gives?"

Elty flattened out his ears and looked down at the ground for a brief moment. Then, with a shake of his head, the little Fire-Type snorted and turned his attention back to Nida with a grunt.

"I just don't have much to say right now," the Growlithe huffed.

It was hardly a truthful answer, and the skeptical looks that Nida and Elty traded each other before shrugging the matter off seemed to indicate the spike ball was aware of it. The Fire-Type could have talked about plenty, such as how Hess and the Iron Fleet were surely waiting for him back in Andaku right now, where he should be reclaiming his bag and heading back off to the sea where he belonged. But as pointless beatings were not his idea of a good time, there was no point in bringing that up right now.

Nevermind the topics that even the Growlithe himself was loath to dwell on. Like how the spike ball and the mewa had needed his help to get by in the past, or how there were even times when he had needed their help in return too…

They'd be able to get back to their island without him, right? After all, they had that bonehead to take his place now. And if they wanted to stick around him, they could always learn how to hold their own as fellow pirates... Why was he so concerned about them anyways? It was their fault he was in this mess to begin with!

"Oh! I see a chamber!" Pleo chirped.

Thankfully, those nagging, strange thoughts wouldn't need to be dealt with for too much longer. A cavernous chamber with a second exit along one of its sides came into view up ahead, past a three-way intersection. All that was left now was to step in, call the teleporter back at Andaku's guild, return to the company of his old peers, and let the cards fall where they may. Co ma być, to będzie.

"I'll do the honors," he grunted. The Growlithe nipped at the side of his scarf and pulled the glinting, dented egg of a badge pinned on it towards his shoulder. After moving it into place, he nuzzled it with his chin...

And began to speak.

"Oi, anyone on the other end?" he barked. "Hurry up and get me out of here!"

---

"Hurry up and get me out of here!"

The Teleport Pad at Andaku's guild was nestled in a stilted, low-roofed warehouse next to the canvas roof over the central courtyard. Inside the half-rotted wood structure, crates blocked dingy windows and ringed a cleared circle painted onto the floor, while meager spots of light from the late afternoon sun filtered through a few skylights that had been cut into the ceiling above.

There, the disembodied voice of an impatient Growlithe floated around the mind of a Drowzee known to his peers as 'Eeden'. The voice distracted him from the conversation about some "idiot cheapskates" that needed to be bailed earlier after trying to substitute Apples for Golone Rocks between his Exeggutor and Clefable colleagues on the other side of the teleportation circle, leaving the Psychic to shake his head, and grunt to himself.

"You really do know how to put your foot in it, Zamora," he sighed. Yes, it was time to carry out the 'favor' that the Beeheyem owed to Valatos and his friends, lest they run their mouths off. The Psychic-Type focused, and let the sounds of his Exeggutor and Clefable colleagues fade out as he extended his mind towards his partner in Mossaisle Town's higher districts.

"I've got them, Zamora. Now hurry it up on your end and get to that atoll," Eeden said telepathically, his words drawing a swift and flustered response from his distant counterpart.

"Ack! Right!"

"Hey, Eeden," the Exeggutor prodded. "What was that you were going on about?"

Ah, yes. Such was the cost of being in the same room as a bunch of other telepaths. Even if they weren't paying attention, they were bound to pick up parts of one's unguarded thoughts. The Drowzee shifted his mind to some other skeleton in the closet his colleagues already knew about and offered an explanation.

"Just need to run a little errand," the Drowzee answered. "I'll be back on the beat in a couple minutes."

The Clefable and Exeggutor looked at each other and shrugged as Eeden made his way onto the teleporting platform. As their tapir counterpart began to focus in preparation of a Teleport, the Clefable chimed in with an impatient grunt.

"Whatever, just don't leave us hanging to go and check up on your Sang shipments again," the Fairy-Type snapped. The Hypnosis Pokémon abruptly stopped, distracted from his Teleport, and shot an irked scowl back at the Clefable.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be in a hurry to get through with this one," the Drowzee snorted. "I'm not getting paid for it!"

Eeden refocused his thoughts and his body, and before his colleagues could get in a final word of protest, left the warehouse in a blipping flash of light.

---

In Kenobi's shipyard, the form of a Drowzee materialized with a flash of light among barrels and wooden crates. As the Psychic-Type looked about, he could see a Yanmega, a Manectric, and a Marowak setting up several Substitutes similarly shaped to themselves to throw off cursory examiners. A little ways off was a floating Beheeyem who absentmindedly stared to the ground, grumbling to himself.

"Heh, heh, the substitutes are great!" Nori exclaimed.

"Thanks Zamora! We really owe you one," Alvise snickered.

The Beheeyem buried his face in one of his hands as his grumbling intensified. Eeden sighed after taking in the scene and his partner's visible frustration, but approached the group to finish things up as soon as possible.

"Ahem," the Drowzee coughed. "I assume everyone is rea-"

"There you are!" a voice suddenly bellowed.

Valatos, Alvise, and Nori froze as they looked around in panic, expecting their angry Rhydon overseer to pounce on them at any moment. The two Psychic-Types seemed similarly distressed, and braced themselves for Company guards to swarm them for trespassing into the compound.

"You were assigned to one of the search groups in the interior!"

The gathered Pokémon stopped and blinked as they realized the shouting was coming past the crates. Valatos, Alvise, and Nori snuck over and peeked through gaps between the stacks of crates to see a Krokorok trembling in front of a livid Samurott.

"B-But Captain Lyn, I r-really do have a stomachache!" the Dark-Type squeaked. "I-I'm not trying to-"

THWACK

The hapless Krokorok was cut off by a smack across the face with the flat of one of Lyn's seamitars, sending him flying back along the path with a yelp.

"I don't want to hear it!" the Water-Type roared. "Get moving!"

The crocodile hastily righted himself and bolted up the path, the sound of the Water-Type stomping off following shortly after. As Lyn's presence slipped from the group's sensory range, Valatos, Alvise, and Nori traded looks with each other as they realized...

"Wasn't that that 'Commissioner Lyn' Farn was talking to yesterday?" Nori asked. "What a total grouch!"

"Yeah, glad he's not our supervisor!" Alvise exclaimed. The three pondered among each other what the point of joining a Commissioner's crew was when they'd get pushed around even worse than under their Rhydon supervisor, leaving Eeden and Zamora to grumble to themselves.

"What a bunch of overgrown whelps," the Beheeyem grunted.

"And yet, you managed to get blackmailed by them," Eeden shot back, giving an unimpressed glare. Before Zamora could protest, the two Psychic's minds were filled with a barking voice.

"Hello! Hurry up over there!"

The Beheeyem jolted and turned to the still-arguing Company grunts, waving his hands.

"Oi! Shut it already!" he hissed. "Eeden needs to speak back to your 'friends' without you giving us away!"

The three grunts quickly simmered down as the Drowzee rolled his eyes, paused, and focused on the little team far away in the dungeon.

"We'll be right in, just stay where you are."

With a shake of his head, the Psychic-Type shifted his focus back to his surroundings. After scanning the environment and double-checking for eavesdroppers, he gave a wary scowl at the lavender-scarved Pokémon with them.

"Are you sure that there's nothing that you're overlooking here?" Eeden demanded. "Be aware that we're not sticking around for your battle, and we're not coming back until you tell us to."

"Nope, it's showtime!" Valatos grinned.

The five Pokémon interlocked their limbs with each other in a rough circle, as Eeden began to regulate his breathing and focus. In the blink of an eye, the five Pokémon vanished with a flash of light, with Eeden, Zamora, and the square-necks departing for the shifting maze beyond the fog.

---

From behind a small pile of rocks next to the chamber's other exit, four Cubone watched silently as their companion and her new Nidoran, Growlithe, and Lugia allies waited expectantly in the cave-like room. The Fire-Type seemed particularly agitated, pacing around restlessly after nosing the metal bauble on his scarf, before flattening out his ears and pressing it once more.

"Hello! Hurry up over there!" Elty barked, prompting the spying Cubone to murmur among themselves.

"Huh? It hasn't been that long though... has it, Machitabi?" the runty Cubone of the group asked.

"Nah, somebody's just impatient," the reed-chewing Cubone muttered.

"We'll be right in, just stay where you are," a brusque-sounding voice finally answered, reverberating in the minds of the room's Pokémon. Much like her hiding counterparts, Guardia was puzzled by this 'teleporter'. She looked around and sniffed at the air, before turning warily to the Nidoran beside her.

"So, I presume that's your 'teleporter'?" she prodded, tilting her head curiously at Nida. "Tetsuzui-sama and the others always said that your type usually doesn't try to leave the dungeon through exits like we do."

"That's right, it's the Pokémon that'll get us out of here thanks to these badges," the spike ball replied. "They let them know where to find us in Mystery Dungeons like these."

Guardia paused, and tilted her helmeted head curiously. It was an explanation that matched the rumors she had heard, but something was amiss about what the voice had said.

"Wait, 'we'll be right in'?" the Ground-Type asked. "But from what I've heard from the colony's scouts, they normally send one without escorts."

Nida blinked and twitched her whiskers uneasily. Now that Guardia mentioned it, why did the teleporter say that? Pataki and her companions never seemed to have trouble handling parties of four on their own back at home...

"Well… I mean… there are times where more than one teleporter comes in," she answered, flicking her ears uneasily. "It does feel a little late in the day. Maybe the teleporters are starting to get tired?"

A flash of light suddenly filled the room ahead of the team. As they blinked away the effects of the light, they saw that instead of just the two teleporters they were expecting, there were three others present as well...

"Naw, they just needed some extra help today!" a canid voice sneered.

"Yeah," a rough, reptilian voice added. "For taking care of you!"

…with clearly malevolent intentions.

From their vantage point, the colony's scouting party flinched and ducked further back against their stony cover at the sight of the large strangers. After peeking back over their rocks, they saw that the group that arrived included a large flying bug, a wolf with blue and yellow fur that stood on end, and… a Marowak with a burlap satchel? Something wasn't adding up... Marowak certainly didn't teleport, and judging from the increasingly pallid appearance of Team Traveller's members, they clearly knew that.

Guardia tensely jolted upright with her claws wrapped tightly around her club. "Wait a minute, since when do Marowak teleport?!" she cried. The party of Cubone in the shadows looked up and saw that a Drowzee and a Beheeyem accompanied the three lavender-scarved Pokémon, who mercifully overlooked the four sentries' presence.

"Since never," Alvise sneered. "Congratulations for putting it together, kids! We're not here to teleport you!"

"Yeah, we're what you'd call a 'welcoming committee'!" Nori snickered.

"I don't like where this is going," Guardia growled as she raised her bone defensively. "Do your badges also attract majū like this?"

"E-Eh?!" Pleo squawked. "Y-You're those mean Pokémon who took our berries earlier!"

"Well, you obviously all know each other," Zamora murmured. "So we'll just let you get reacquainted a bit."

"Give us a call when you three are done with them," Eeden added. The Drowzee and his partner vanished with a blipping flash, leaving Team Traveller behind with the three Company grunts.

"Er… s-so you came to us for more berries?" Nida stammered.

"Pfft, please," Valatos spat as he pointed one of his legs at Pleo. "We're here for your friend with the ugly mug there."

"Yeah, a little bird told us that you and your not-so-little bird friend there are wanted by the Board," Alvise grinned. "And we're going to cash in your bounties!"

Machitabi and her fellow sentries traded uneasy looks with each other as they sized up the fierce, lavender-scarved strangers in the room. The purple knot-necked Pokémon clearly weren't who this Nida, Pleo, or Elty were expecting, and the predatory gazes they sported were similarly unreassuring.

"This isn't looking good at all," the reed-chewer muttered.

"Psst! Keikaiashi!" the round-eyed Cubone whispered. "You've got the fastest legs out of us, right? Tell the colony about this! Machitabi, Kamekurai, and I will get some help from the other majū here for Shugodeshi!"

"Right! I'll be right back, Mojisenshi!" the runty Cubone piped back. The four creatures quietly crept from their hiding places towards the exit of the room, as Team Traveller continued to backpedal away from the encroaching Company grunts towards a rapidly approaching wall.

"N-Nida?" Pleo stammered. "What do we do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Valatos buzzed as he homed in on Pleo, darting in erratic starts that frustrated the bird Protector's attempts to track him.

The Yanmega then turned his attention over to Nida and flew forward as his teammates seized the chance to move in tighter around Team Traveller. "Geef op. You're way out of your league here!" The dragonfly hovered menacingly above Nida for a moment and turned to Guardia to approach her. "How long do the likes of you expect to hold out aga-"

Before Valatos could finish his gloating, he was cut off by a stiff smack from underneath that sent him flopping back onto the ground. The dragonfly shook his head and dusted himself off, coming face to face with a scowling Cubone.

"Shut your yap, bug!"

"Grr! I'll make you eat those words, brat!" Valatos hissed. Guardia hastily fell back in anticipation of the Bug-Type's retaliation, and bolted only to feel a cutting gust of wind glance her flank and send her tumbling forward.

"Gah!"

It was only a glance, but still strong enough to stun her for a moment as the room spun. Guardia felt one of Nida's paws yank her up and drag her along running for the corridor they came from, only for a Marowak and Manectric to block the way.

"This has gone on long enough," Nori growled. "Light them up, Alvise!"

"On it!" the Manectric barked. Static began to dance on the Electric-Type's blue and yellow pelt, before thick, cracking bolts shot out in all directions. Pleo flinched as he waited for the hot current to flow through his body, only for the noise to die down and to see their ambushers staring with their mouths hanging limply open.

"I-It didn't affect them at all!" Alvise exclaimed.

On closer inspection, none of Pleo's feathers had been so much as ruffled by the Manetric's Discharge. On top of that, Nida and Elty also looked completely untouched by the attack! Except, for some reason, there seemed to be static crackling on Guardia's scales.

"What's the matter?" Guardia taunted back. "You don't sound so confident anymore!"

"She must be of Hiraishin stock!" Nori cried, as he dug in his feet and prepared to charge the electrically-attractive pest. "Stay on your toes, I'll take care of her-!"

Valatos and Alvise fumed and growled and hastily began to assume battle stances as Nori charged ahead, only for a sudden cry to catch them off-guard.

"Leave us alone!"

As Nida's squeak filled the air, she yanked the Confuse Wand from the satchel on her shoulder, and swung it at the Manectric and Marowak before her. A torrent of yellow, glowing spheres came flying out and enveloped Nori mid-lunge, leaving him to stumble and teeter dizzily. Alvise came running for her, but as Nida raised the wand to try and swing it at the Manectric, she saw that much to her horror, the wand's last orb was already shattered along with a now-mangled knot of wood at the end.

Nida's eyes went wide and she hastily rolled out of the way of a lunge as the Electric-Type carried on past her with a maw filled with sharp teeth shrouded with flickering embers. She flicked a barb at the Manectric and took off running for the opposite side of the room after hearing his yelp, expecting to be run down in a matter of moments.

"Hey, hothead!" a smaller dog's voice spat. "Don't think we'll be going down so fast!"

"Gah!"

Nida looked back and saw the Manectric roll along the ground, desperately trying to smother smoldering patches of fur. Between her and the Electric-Type was now a Growlithe, smoke still curling from his muzzle.

"I'll take this one, spike ball!" Elty cried. "Just make sure that Marowak's down for the count before he gets his senses back! We're finished if he gets a chance to smack us around!"

Nida looked around and saw that Pleo and Guardia were preoccupied with trying to keep Valatos at bay, trading potshots as the Yanmega zipped from one end to the other. Splitting up like this was dangerous, but with Elty's warning in mind...

"Right!" she grunted back. The Nidoran bolted for the dazed Marowak still blocking the exit, and charged him with her spikes raised. She slammed into Nori's side, feeling a couple barbs tear off from her pelt as she pulled back and heard the lizard cry out.

"Yeow!"

Nida ducked a clumsy swat from the Marowak and saw that her barbs had sunk deep into Nori's flank. From the fluid dribbling out the end, she guessed that it had to be enough to have poisoned her attacker.

"Gwuh? Stay still, Nidoran! All of you!"

Not that the dazed creature had really begun to register it. Nida ducked around the lumbering Ground-Type, and darted in to deliver a pair of spinning kicks at the Marowak's stomach.

"Maybe next time, you should pick on- Agh!"

Before Nida could slip away, she was caught by a swat from Nori's bone. She felt a heavy, crushing blow shoot through her hindquarters and went tumbling along the floor into a heap.
As Nida tottered up, she heard Elty yelp and roll to a stop not too far from her after being thrown aside by a Bite at his shoulder. A distressed squawk filled the air, and Nida turned just in time to see Pleo tumble to the ground after being struck out of the sky by a flying rock.

The young Protector hastily picked himself back up, dashed off with flapping hops in a blind panic, a winded and scuffed Guardia following closely behind.

The three were now in just about the same situation they had been at the start of the battle, and even if they had managed to get out of worse before…

"Grr… those little punks hit harder than they look," Alvise glowered.

"They won't be for long," Nori panted, as he woozily dug a Pecha Berry from a bag slung over his shoulder and gobbled it up. "Not when I'm seeing straight again!"

…this time Nida and the other three were flanked on all sides by stronger foes. Worse, they were tired out by the ambush and their new teammate was still unused to fighting as part of their team. To top it all off, there was no sign of a sudden glow from Pleo's plumes to come to their rescue. The pressure heaped upon Team Traveller etched itself into their worn, tired faces, which was not lost to Valatos.

"See, little twerps?" the Yanmega boasted as he hovered a bit closer. "You'll make a nice ticket for us out of this dump!"

Pleo stepped a bit closer to his teammates, suddenly weighed down by the tiredness and a memory.

"I'm not... not a ticket..." the young Lugia ventured between gasps for air.

"You're nothing," Valatos angrily chittered. "This is the end of the line for you!"

Just then, a sprinting body rammed into the Bug-Type from below, knocking the wind out of him and dropping him out of the air like a stone. Valatos tumbled onto his back against the tiled floor, the Yanmega hastily righting himself with some agitated beating from his wings.

"Ow!" Valatos hissed. "Who was-?!"

"Shut your yap, bug!"

All eyes in the room turned to see another Cubone with rounded eye-holes on his helmet glaring and standing with a drawn club in front of Team Traveller's incredulous members. Back at the passage at the far end of the room, there were four Cubone, three Unown, a Geodude, a Machop, and a Roggenrola at the exit. The reed-chewing Cubone stood at the head of the motley assortment of ferals, glaring defiantly at the three lavender-scarved Pokémon.

"Nobody pushes around one of our own like that!" Mojisenshi growled. "Not without answering to the rest of us!"

"Yeah, we dungeon majū protect our own!" Kuraikamen added. "Go push others around on your own territory!"

The Manectric and Marowak traded nervous looks with each other. Each of the ferals on their own would be no problem, but… there were so many of them.

"Er, Valatos?" Nori gulped.

"Just saying, but we might want to speed up that whole 'collecting the bounty' thing," Alvise whispered. The three Pokémon fell close to each other and brace themselves, growling and attempting to intimidate their unwelcome interlopers.

"Grr… you- you'll regret this!" Valatos hissed.

But in spite of their best efforts, the Pokémon of the Monster House could not be swayed, and dug their feet in to prepare for battle.

"No, it's you who will regret this!" Machitabi added. "Charge!"

Valatos watched as the massed ferals charged ahead at him and his companions, his attempts to counterattack thwarted by a burning clump of cinders that flew at his face and sent him shooting up into the air a start. When the Bug-Type cleared his vision, he saw that Pleo, Nida, and Elty had fallen back towards the entrance while the ferals had surged on ahead.

The dragonfly hissed and flitted back, sending a sharp gust which caught the Machop at the front with a loud yelp. The Fighting-Type slumped over into an unconscious heap, but the Monster House's momentum was unbroken as the three Unown pressed on towards their Bug-Type target. Nori blanched as he saw the reed-chewer and the dark-skulled Cubone leading the Rock-Types in a hurry for his position. The Marowak swung and slammed his club against the Roggenrola, sending it flying into a wall out cold and prompting the Geodude to hastily roll out of the way of another swat.

Alvise was less fortunate, as the wolf lunged to clamp down on a charging Cubone with a pointed-snouted helmet, only for the lizard to duck out of the way. The Electric-Type went wide-eyed and hastily tried to correct course, only for another Cubone with a crack over its left eyehole to join in along with Mojisenshi and Guardia, surrounding the hapless Manectric. The wolf nervously looked around and tried to keep his assailants at bay with his jaws, but with attacks coming from four directions, it was to no avail.

"You're too slow!" the pointed-snouted Cubone jeered, before broadsiding Alvise with her club along his back. The Manectric whirled around with bared fangs to try and retaliate, only for a blow against one of his forelegs to cut him off.

"Take that, knot-neck!" the cracked-helmeted Cubone added. The wolf started to grow unnerved and hunched back, only to yelp upon feeling a sharp, jabbing pain in his hindquarters, the culprit being none other than Mojisenshi yanking back the pointed end of his club.

"You should bone up on your strategies!" he snorted. At this point, Alvise had begun to panic, and charged blindly to try and break free of the ring of Cubone...

THWACK

"AAAAGH!"

...straight into a swat from Guardia's bone club that caught the Electric-Type caught across the head. The Manectric tottered briefly, before his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the ground.

"U-Urgh…"

Guardia hoisted her club over her shoulder and gave a soft, probing kick at the groaning Manectric as the other Cubone crowded around, taking no small satisfaction in his fate.

"Not so tough now, are ya-?"

"Shugodeshi, look out!" Mojisenshi shouted. The round-eyed Cubone shoved Guardia out of the way as a slashing gust of air struck him and the cracked-helmeted Cubone dead on, and sent them flopping to the ground out cold with ruddy scrapes on their hide.

"A-Aah!" Guardia cried. "Moji-!"

Guardia then felt a woosh overhead, and dove out of the way as a chitinous tail knocked against her. For a fleeting second, she noticed that the Unown who accompanied Mojisenshi were all lying uselessly on the ground, only to whirl around after a loud shriek rang out. Behind her was Valatos, the pointed-snouted Cubone going limp in his jaws. The Yanmega threw the Ground-Type aside and whirled to Guardia, hate burning in his eyes.

"Grr, you should've stayed out of our business, lousy lizard!" he spat. "It's time that I taught you and your miserable friends a lesson-!"

"Guardia! Duck!" Pleo's voice suddenly squawked.

"Eh-?!"

Without thinking, Guardia dropped to the ground as a cutting gust of wind sailed overhead and drew a sharp hiss from the Bug-Type ahead. Soon, a fiery gout of cinders followed that sent the bug tumbling with a pained screech, and finally…

Thwip!

… a Nidoran's barb, which caught the dragonfly in-between the segments of his exoskeleton on his head, sending him plummeting out of the air with a crash.

"A-Argh…"

Valatos didn't get up that time, and from the other side of the room, a Marowak's yelp and the sound of a jeering "got your bone!" rang out. Back at Nori's end of the battlefield, Machitabi managed to knock the lizard's club out of the air mid-Bonemerang before tossing it away over to Kamenkurai. A wave of panic washed over Nori's face, and after seeing his unconscious companions and most of the Monster House still standing...

"F-Forget this!" he squeaked. "You two can keep the bounties!"

The Marowak leapfrogged the Geodude charging towards him, and ran for the exit as fast as his legs could carry him. Being without a bone for defense was a frightening and disorienting experience, but that could be replaced as long as he got out of this job gone bad. The corridor was just ahead now, just a few more steps, and-

"Going somewhere?!" a voice barked from up ahead. Nori froze and looked ahead to see an elderly Marowak blocking his path, her metallic club raised for the attack.

"Oh cr-"

The bone caught the disarmed Marowak in his stomach, bowling him over. Another blow to the back of his head soon followed, sending him slumping over onto the ground, groaning.

"Gurgh…"

"Zokuchō!" Guardia cried. "What are you doing here?!"

"Keikaiashi here told me there was trouble," Tetsuzui answered. The elder shook her head with a displeased grunt, before trodding over the fallen Marowak to make her way further into the chamber. "I see he understated things."

Even with the strength of numbers, the battle had taken its toll on Team Traveller and their Monster House allies. The only Pokémon who still were well enough to stand consisting of Nida, her companions, Machitabi, Kamenkurai, and a lone Geodude. Between them and the sprawled and groaning Pokémon about the room, there were ugly bites, fresh lacerations, and darkening bruises from the Company Pokémon's furious blows.

The elderly Marowak shook her head before she noticed a burlap satchel on Nori's shoulder, and pointed it out with her club.

"Go through their stuff and take what you need to heal," she said to the gathered Pokémon. "Let the majū outside our colony have priority for healing, they don't have grounds on this floor to retreat to."

As the reed-chewer, the dark-skull, and the Geodude began picking through the satchel, some of the Cubone accompanying Tetsuzui went over and helped to pull the wounded Pokémon up and haul their fallen colony-mates back to the grounds. Guardia shrank away as her brethren were dragged by, weakly breathing from their ordeal.

"I- I shouldn't have let my guard down to gloat like tha-" she muttered to herself, only to be cut off by Mojisenshi's unexpected, if weak voice.

"Enough, Shugodeshi. We've both been through worse," he grunted as Keikaiashi helped him limp along, having returned to some semblance of lucidity. "I was actually worried that it would be me having to drag you off. Looks like your new teammates aren't half bad at protecting you."

The two Cubone continued down along the path and vanished, leaving Guardia to turn as Team Traveller drew near to her.

"Should we have given them some of our items?" Pleo asked.

"They'll be fine, the colony has more between its members than that bag of yours could ever hold," Guardia answered, involuntarily glancing back at the passage her colony peers had disappeared down. "You… all fight a lot better than I thought you would."

"Er… gracías?" Nida replied.

"Hm? But I didn't think we were all that tough," Pleo said. "We just worked together!"

The four flinched as the sound of Valatos getting up groggily reverberated in the chamber. Sure enough, over by the wall, the Yanmega was getting back up, tired, but still hostile.

"Hey! This- This isn't ove-!"

Thwack

Only to be cut off with a cry as Tetsuzui bopped him over his head with her club, sending the dragonfly back into an unconscious stupor.

"Uhm… what do we do with those guys anyways?" Nida asked.

"Maybe you're best off trying to find out what it is they wanted from you," the elder Marowak suggested. "You did seem to be caught off guard by them coming here…"

"Well, they got our teleporter on our side," Elty growled. "So we're not going anywhere fast…"

"I suppose that it couldn't hurt," Pleo murmured. "But what exactly would they tell us?"

"Oh don't worry about that, we'll just take them back towards our grounds," Tetsuzui responded. "Our Colony has ways of making such majū talk."

"Uhm… wait," Nida replied, flattening out her ears. "You're going to take them back to your home?"

"But what about when they leave the dungeon later?" Pleo wondered.

"And you will have to let them go unless if you want to stir up trouble with the town," Elty added. "You know how the Pact works."

"Oh, we weren't going to keep them here," Guardia began to explain. "It's just that we have a place near our grounds specifically for interrogations such as these."

---

When the sun finally began to set over the waters of Seahive's harbor, the docks were a bit less busy than they had been earlier in the day. Some of the shops nearby had begun to close for the evening, and the last few ships of daylight pulled in as others left for parts elsewhere in the Cradle.

Still, flecks of activity could be spotted here and there, including on and around a two-masted schooner flying lavender sails with purple squares on them. As a team of Pokémon headed by Philips was checking the ship's rigging, the Illumise captain slipped a letter to a waiting Unfezant on the deck. The Flying-Type twittered an affirmation, and flew toward for the horizon as a young Druddigon and his Fraxure father lugged a wooden barrel filled with fresh water up the dock towards the gangplank.

"Looks like Beatrix picked the right 'mon to deliver those updates," the Fraxure chuckled. Thankfully, Calino's provisions had been enough to cover more than just the hop over to Boisocéan. After parting with a couple cases of health drinks from the trade fodder packed back at home, the cost of fresh food and water for an extra leg of the Siglo Swellow's search was swiftly covered…

All that was left now was to bring the fresh food and water aboard the ship, and then afterwards they could set off for this 'Kenobi Island'. Margi said it was the place where Pleo had sought refuge, but… something about it gnawed at Crom's mind.

"Dad?" he asked. "What's Kenobi like?"

Pladur shifted uneasily after his son's question, his gait and eyes betraying a lingering unease. After inhaling, the Dragon-Type shook his head and began to answer.

"Er, well… it's an island with an atoll around it," the Fraxure began hesitantly. "If you know where to go it's not so bad, but…"

"But what?" Crom wondered.

"Well, as that 'Margi' Pokémon said, there's a lot of Company Pokémon around, and… there's some really rough places there, including a district where the local Pokémon turn a blind eye to pirates," Pladur reluctantly explained. "To top it off, the Siglo Swellow's never docked at the yards on the atoll before. And considering the local Company types there... I'm not sure if we would've even if we had the chance."

Crom's eyes widened and his wings beat reflexively with a start. Pleo had been chased to an island where pirates skulked about? An island where the local Company Pokémon were known for being unfriendly?

Pladur faltered a moment while watching his child's react to his words. It was far from a promising development, yes, but even so… it was probably best to try and put a brave face on, or at least as much of one Pladur could muster.

"But- But don't worry about that for now!" he insisted. "If the Protector had someplace to lay low in that hive, I'm sure that we can pull through!"

"I... guess that's true-" Crom murmured, only to be cut off by a cry from further up the dock.

"Attendez!"

"H-Huh?!"

As the sound of footsteps reverberated on the timbers of the rough dock, Crom and Pladur whirled around, and saw the Venipede, Tepig, and Purrloin from earlier that day darting up to them.

"Thank goodness we caught up with you!" Venner sighed. "We were worried you'd sail out of port before we found you again!"

"Oh! You're that team we met earlier!" Crom exclaimed. "'Cafteur,' right?"

The team of black-scarved Pokémon paused before collectively rolling their eyes at the Druddigon's mangling of their team name. The Purrloin among them shook his head, and swiftly corrected the little Dragon-Type's mistake with a huff.

"Chasseur," Actor said. "It may be a lame name but there is a difference!"

"Oh! Er... right..." Crom answered, moving a claw against the back of his head crest sheepishly. Before the Druddigon could amend his words, he was interrupted by the sound of his Fraxure father clearing his throat.

"Hrm? What are you all doing?" Pladur asked, tilting his tusked head curiously. "I didn't think that Beatrix hired any hunters to help us out…"

"Well, we just got back from taking Daraen and Margi over to Maranda's for a pre-departure checkup," Venner said. "And, we figured that since you also know Team Traveller…"

"If you ever caught up..." Francoeur said. "Perhaps you could pass this along to them?"

The Tepig shuffled through a bag slung over Venner's carapace, and pulled a slip of paper out with his mouth. After passing it along to Crom, the Druddigon unfolded it and discovered that much to his surprise...

"Oh! It's a mission receipt!" he cried. After looking a bit closer at the writing on the paper, the Druddigon's excited expression fell and flattened out into an unamused look as he buried his face into one of his claws.

"Uhm… this is for five points," he groaned.

"Well, it wasn't a big mission that they did, but every little bit counts, non?" the Tepig offered. "But good luck out there, we'll be rooting for you!"

"Yeah, your friends promised us a tour of your 'Tromba' next time we'd meet!" Venner chittered happily.

"A tour of Tromba-?" Pladur began.

"Aherm, not to be the one to rain on your parade," Actor interrupted, clearing his throat. "But if you're in a hurry after Pleo and the others, shouldn't you be loading your ship?"

The two Dragon-Types cast a glance at the water barrels still waiting along the docks, and over at the gangplank ahead, before both trading sheepish looks.

"Ahehe, right," the Fraxure replied. "Come on Crom, let's finish up with loading in the rest of this water here."

The five Pokémon traded goodbyes and waved each other off, as Pladur and Crom returned to chattering about how it was that the 'coopers' that made the barrels they were using to lug the ship's water aboard. Had they been more attentive, they might have noticed the blue shell of a shrimp lazily bobbing under the docks and shifting between the pilings. There, wound around a belt just behind the crustacean's head carapace, was a white scarf with a red saltire.

"I knew they were hiding something from me back at the bar…" she harrumphed.

As the sun slowly set below the horizon, the Clawitzer ducked down under the water and slipped off into the deeper waters of the sea. For a fleeting moment, the shrimp's trail was visible before the lolling waves obscured it, bearing towards the hazy sight of a ship with indigo sails on the horizon.

---

As the sensations of the world slowly returned to Valatos, the Yanmega groaned and weakly buzzed. His joints ached and felt as if they were about to fall apart, his wings felt scuffed and moist from hemolymph oozing from scrapes, and the smell of singed chitin hung in the air as his sight foggily returned to him.

"Grah… lousy ferals," he grunted. The bug chittered and pawed at a sloping rock wall behind him, when he noticed something amiss. His vision wasn't getting any less foggy, even though the rest of his senses had definitely returned.

"Um… V-Valatos?" Nori's voice nervously stammered. "We're kinda in trouble right now."

The Yanmega looked around and saw his Marowak and Manectric teammates beside him, defeat etched into their tired faces. Just ahead of them, he could see the form of a scowling Marowak with a metallic club, who was beating it against her free claw.

"Oh good, you've finally woken up," she said. "We need to have a talk."

---

Author's Notes:

- Crimgan (クリムガン) - Japanese: "Druddigon" (Official Romanization)
- Co ma być, to będzie - Polish: "Whatever will be, will be"
- Golone (no ishi) (ゴローンのいし) - Japanese: lit. "Graveler('s Rock)", referring to what we would know as a "Gravelerock". (Official Romanization)
- Geef op - Dutch: "Give up"
- Hiraishin (ひらいしん) - Japanese: "Lightning Rod", referring to ability we would call "Lightningrod". (Official Romanization)
- Attendez! - French: "Wait!"
- non? - French: "no?", used in context as akin to "right?"

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

Chapter 18 Review:

after all, if the Company dealt with stowaways like they did with Crom, there would be no townsfolk to come running to their aid…

I hope you know how to swim! Or that they throw a piece of wood for you to hold onto, at least.

She became aware of the smell of Herdier, and the sound of large footsteps coming directly towards their position.

Uh-oh. You know, canine 'mon are supposed to have a sharper sense of smell--and you both smell like awful-tasting berries...

The blue and brown dog stopped, sniffed the air, and nosed open a crate's lid to check inside. The creature looked about for a moment and then set the lid back down, going on its way.

Heh, lucky. Better sense of smell doesn't mean much if you're still distracted.

The crate was packed full of orbs!

Elty, panting excitedly: "Okay, new plan--ditch the Protector, we're taking these back and buying a mansion with the profits!"
Nida: "Just you try, and I'll show you where else those orbs can fit!"
Elty: "O_O c-can I at least use them to blast our way through the ship?"
Nida: "Sigh..."

"I did not! Unlike you, I don't have to stoop to tricks to win at cards!"

Elty: "Oooh, yeah! That was absolutely part of my plan to get them to fight!"
Nida: "... Once we get out of here, I'm killing you. And buying you more rum if this actually works."

Elty watched as the Nidoran caught herself and froze. It seemed she hadn't considered that possibility, not that living on some island all her life would have done much for reference pools. Nida visibly fumbled with her thoughts for a moment.

Argh, if only Nida's lockpicking ability were high enough...

"Aha! Lockpicking!" Elty cheered, as he wondered why he hadn't thought of the idea himself earlier. "Why, I didn't think that a guild amator like you would know how to-!"

Wait! I was joking! I didn't actually expect you to go there

"W-Whuh?! Who's there?! Please! Let me go!"

Nida: "I'm happy to see you, but shout like that again and I swear to you, there won't be much left for when the guards return!"
Elty: "... Does that mean I can burn him?"
Nida: "NO!"

"Wh-What about Kiran?! And Hatteras?! What about your parents?! Are they-?!"

Nida: "Do you want that muzzle again? Do you?"

She watched as Pleo's expression give way to a frightened grimace and whirled around to see the glowering forms of the Nuzleaf and Hitmonchan from earlier.

Ah, phew. I was fully expecting the captain himself to be standing there the whole time.

Beyond some footfalls and murmurs beyond blind corners, there were no further run-ins with other guards in that portion of the orlop deck.

Nida: "Wow, this ship's surprisingly soundproofed!"

I'd normally do a double-feature, but it's 2 AM and I'm drifting off--it just means you'll get a double review tomorrow! Fantastic job as always.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

I hope you know how to swim! Or that they throw a piece of wood for you to hold onto, at least.

Bold of you to assume Lyn would extend that mercy when they gave Crom a free fall onto the docks. ( I mean, they might considering it’s not an ultra-dark setting, but I wouldn’t want to bet money on it. o3o; )

Heh, lucky. Better sense of smell doesn't mean much if you're still distracted.

Yup. Stronger senses don’t help much if you just flatly don’t do that good of a job checking.

Elty, panting excitedly: "Okay, new plan--ditch the Protector, we're taking these back and buying a mansion with the profits!"
Nida: "Just you try, and I'll show you where else those orbs can fit!"
Elty: "O_O c-can I at least use them to blast our way through the ship?"
Nida: "Sigh..."

Elty: “... (We should try and find some Lansat Berries down here, since this spike ball has a temper.)”
Nida: “I heard that! And I don’t have that much of a temper! You just need to be kept in line!” >_>;

Elty: "Oooh, yeah! That was absolutely part of my plan to get them to fight!"
Nida: "... Once we get out of here, I'm killing you. And buying you more rum if this actually works."

Elty: “... But I am getting rum for this, right?”

Wait! I was joking! I didn't actually expect you to go there

I mean, when the lock quality in-setting isn’t all that good and one of the protags has natural implements on her body that can serve as picks...

Nida: "I'm happy to see you, but shout like that again and I swear to you, there won't be much left for when the guards return!"
Elty: "... Does that mean I can burn him?"
Nida: "NO!"

Pleo: “Nida? Y-You’re kinda scaring me right now.”
Elty: “What was that about not having a temper back there?”
Nida: *inhales* “I’m just stressed right now. Don’t read too much into it, but stay quiet, okay?”

Nida: "Do you want that muzzle again? Do you?"

Pleo:

Nida: “... I swear this is just stress talking.” >_>;
Elty: “Suuuure it is.” -_-;

Ah, phew. I was fully expecting the captain himself to be standing there the whole time.

Well, they’re not getting off the hook that easily, but it would be a bit early to run into Lyn, yeah.

Nida: "Wow, this ship's surprisingly soundproofed!"

Elty: “Something something most of the crew is asleep and there’s background sea noises. Also are you really complaining about this right now?”
Pleo: “Huh? But she wasn’t complaining, Elty. She seemed more surprised than-”
Elty: “Beside the point there.”

I'd normally do a double-feature, but it's 2 AM and I'm drifting off--it just means you'll get a double review tomorrow! Fantastic job as always.

Nah, it’s all good. We’ll be looking forward to those reviews as they roll in but sleep’s kinda important. ^^;

Though on that note, the current episode will be winding down with today’s update. Why don’t we check in and see where things wind up, and where things go with Team Traveller’s would-be captors from last time?

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"We need to have a talk."

The weakened form of a Yanmega hesitated as he took in the scene around him deep in Kenobi's Mystery Dungeon. To the left and right of Valatos' team were the mists of the Distortion- a careful examination of its churning suggesting the sudden drops of chasms not too far away, their bottom obscured by the haze. Behind them, a steep slope led up- perhaps to safety, though its top was likewise not visible in the fog. Blindly flying up the scarp would be a fool's errand, and climbing it would require all a Pokémon's limbs...

"Well?"

… which made it an unlikely escape route from the assembly of Cubone and Marowak just ahead. The mob from the Dungeon's colony had cut off the remaining exit, which- judging from their tight positioning- was the path from where they brought them to this place. As Valatos looked more carefully into the watching crowd, he saw the uneasy forms of a familiar white bird and his friends watching…

"Keep your talk!" the dragonfly hissed. "It's not over until we get that bird- AGH!"

The Yanmega felt a heavy swat against his back, crumpling against the ground as Tetsuzui pulled her metallic bone back. The Bug-Type twitched and fluttered his wings to try and take off, only to discover they hurt from every little movement he made. He could barely even hold his four wings up, robbed of any energy to carry him off to safety.

"Oh no, it's over," Tetsuzui corrected. "And I'm more than ready to beat it into your head if you insist on being stubborn about it."

Valatos relented and resigned himself to remaining in place; not that the fog leading into the Distortion would have been a great environment to fly or scuttle around in.

"You've committed a great transgression against our colony and against a god," Tetsuzui declared. "For that, I ought to have the lot of you subjected to a trial at our graveyard to receive the sentence the dead have pronounced on you."

"A 'trial' at your what now?" Alvise gulped.

"H-Hey wait! L-Let's be reasonable here!" Nori stammered, clearly unnerved by the suggestion of holding a "trial". "The dead wouldn't know anything about the Pact!"

"I'm aware of that, and the potential consequences of violating the Pact," Tetsuzui growled. "That's why I already conducted the trial while you were unconscious, and modified their sentence a little."

The three lavender-scarved Pokémon looked around and noticed that there were some welts that looked unusually fresh on each other's bodies. Nori began to shiver as his companions traded blank looks with each other.

"And just what does that mean?" Valatos demanded.

"It means that we had you stripped of everything other than the scarves on your necks in order to make restitution," the Elder Marowak answered, as she twiddled with a little bauble in her free claw. The Yanmega chanced to catch a glint of light- wait a minute, that was one of their burner badges! Behind the Marowak were two other badges, Nori's club, and the contents of the trio's burlap satchel dumped out onto the ground.

"W-Wait, that's my bone!" Nori cried. "I need that to defend myself!"

"A-And our badges!" Alvise protested. "You can't take those! We need those to get out of here!"

"I believe that it is custom among 'civilized' majū to send searchers after their own lost ones," Tetsuzui chastised. "It's completely within my rights under the Pact to rob you of your time, either from finding your way out of this maze, or waiting on others to help you."

The three square-necks blanched. Having to get rescued would mean missing days of work at the docks- and worse still, having to explain why they had gotten stuck in the dungeon. There were only a few possible ways things could turn out afterwards, with one possibility particularly sticking out in their minds...

"Th-That'll get us exiled!" the Manectric whined.

"M-Matte!" the disarmed Marowak begged. "We weren't doing anything to disturb the dead's resting place or anything like that!"

The Marowak with the metal bone gave a dismissive bat of her free claw and shook her head with an unamused glare.

"Pah!" she scoffed. "You're in no position to be bargaining here."

"D-Don't you get it?!" Valatos buzzed. "We don't have that kind of time to wait on getting out!"

"They don't, actually," Nida explained, folding her ears back with a sigh.

"How so?" Tetsuzui asked, tilting her head quizzically.

"They're former pirates who were press-ganged into the Company," the Nidoran answered. "Back home, pirates on Community Service would get into really deep trouble if they continued to cause mischief afterwards. I don't think their bosses would go any easier on them… isn't that right Elty?"

The little Fire-Type rolled his eyes and grumbled loudly at the spike ball's verbal barbs. Tetsuzui looked back at the three lavender knot-necks before shutting her eyes and shaking her head. While she wasn't in any particular mood to care about their fates… perhaps their shortage of time could be worth something.

"Well then, maybe it's best that you three do something to earn your prompt return home," the elder Marowak demanded, pointing her club at the Yanmega. "Answer this 'Team Traveller's' questions truthfully and earnestly, and I will give you enough of your belongings to ensure your safe return."

The three Company Pokémon looked at each other uneasily, before the Bug-Type begrudgingly growled an affirmation.

"Grr… fine. What do you brats want to know?"

"Well first off, where did you hear about these bounties on us?" Nida demanded. "We didn't see anything of the sort when we were in town at all!"

"That's because the bounties haven't been listed yet," Valatos spat back. "We overheard that they were going to be put up around Aisle Town, and we wanted to capture you before that happened and everyone in the ranks would start looking for you!"

"Huh? Someone told you this?" Guardia asked. "But who?"

The three Pokémon blinked and clamped their mouths shut. Finally, Alvise shook his head and began to growl back…

"That's not relevant to the-"

… only to have his words die in his mouth upon seeing Tetsuzui take the badge in her claws and mime a throw off into the distance.

"Ack! Okay! Okay! Just don't throw that away!" he yelped. "We overheard Administrators Farn and Elilan talking with some Commissioner 'Lyn' guy!"

Elty twitched and froze at the mention of the names the dragonfly brought up, particularly 'Elilan' and 'Lyn'. The Fire-Type lowered his body and arched his back as an awful realization crept in amidst the tension. He had been so close to getting back into his old crew. If only that stupid bartender hadn't insisted on them paying a tab so soon! But, based off of the Manectric's words, there was only one logical conclusion to draw.

"We can't go back to Aisle Town," Elty muttered, hanging his head dejectedly.

"Eh?!" Pleo squawked. "What do you mean?!"

"You heard them," the dog growled, shaking his head bitterly. "Lyn's in port and there's bounties about to be posted with our faces on it! There's no way Lyn and his crew aren't already looking for us!"

Pleo beat out his wings with a start and jerked his head back. They couldn't go back? But- But-

"What about our mission?!" Pleo protested. "We were supposed to get Team Taxonomy their field notes back!"

"Oh, if you need to complete your mission, there shouldn't be a problem with that," Tetsuzui explained, gesturing at the lavender-scarved Pokémon ahead with her bone. "He'll deliver your notes to this 'Team Taxonomy'."

Her words immediately drew derisive scorn from the Yanmega and Manectric of the group.

"What, me?" Alvise scoffed. "Dream on, jerk!"

"Yeah, how do you plan on enforcing that, huh?" Valatos buzzed dismissively.

"Not you two," Tetsuzui scowled, before prodding her club against the belly of the Marowak against the ledge. "You, the one who still has fear for the dead and their dealings with this world."

"M-Me?" Nori squeaked.

"Did I misspeak?" the wizened Ground-Type demanded. "Tell me, what Colony do you come from?"

"Uh… the Green Hill Colony?" he answered.

"Well, I don't know how the Green Hill Colony has been raising its young if it's been spawning disgraces like you," the elder Marowak said. "Given your offense, I don't see why our colony would be willing to have your blood spoil our grounds where better majū have earned their rest. Or that of any young you may have, for that matter."

"G-Gih! Pl-Please don't do that!" the Company grunt pleaded. "A-All my ancestors are buried there!"

"Wait, Nori. You actually believe in this mumbo jumbo?" Alvise demanded. The wolf opened his mouth to continue, only to bite his tongue and flinch after hearing a growl come from the Marowak with the metallic club, her grip visibly tightened around it. After the Electric-Type was suitably cowed into silence to her liking, she scowled and turned her attention back to her disarmed counterpart.

"Well now, fortunately for you the dead do have a precedent for making things right," Tetsuzui continued. "Namely to come back to this colony with proof-in-claw that someone worthy can vouch for your right to be buried in the graveyard we defend."

Tetsuzui gave a look over her shoulder back at Pleo, who was nervously preening some wing feathers. The aged Ground-Type paused for a moment before turning back to her disarmed counterpart with a gruff grunt.

"Since we're on the topic," the elder Marowak pressed. "Need I remind you that there is a god who needs this book delivered? How many better opportunities to find that worthy soul do you think you'll get?"

"R-Right, it's just delivering a book… I can do that!" Nori overeagerly answered, leaving his companions to shoot unimpressed glares at their companion.

"My gods, you really are pathetic," Valatos buzzed. As the three continued to argue among each other, Nida suddenly broke the squabble with a cry.

"Alto!"

All eyes turned on the little spike ball who was hopping and waving for attention. After stopping for a moment, the Nidoran flicked her ears and cleared her throat.

"If he's delivering the journal anyways," she began. "Could I add a couple instructions?"

"Oh?" the elder Marowak asked. "By all means, go ahead. Though what were you going to request?"

"Just to take care of some paperworks so my team actually gets credit for this mission," Nida explained. The Nidoran pulled out Team Taxonomy's journal from her satchel, along with a scrap of paper, and doodled out a message requesting that her mission's receipt be mailed to the Tromba Island Guild. When she was done, she passed the two articles along to Tetsuzui, as everyone turned their attention back to the lavender-scarved Pokémon.

"There, we've told you everything we know," the Bug-Type growled. The Yanmega's wings were still too weak to support his weight in his winded state, leaving him to glower and scuttle about on the ground. "Can we get our stuff and go now?"

"Fine," Tetsuzui grunted. The Marowak kicked the three badges along with Nori's club over to the captive grunts, before slipping the book and the note into the Company lackeys' now-emptied satchel, and tossing it their way. The three eagerly scooped up and repinned their badges as the lavender-scarved Marowak returned his club back to the tight grip of his claws. Valatos poked his head into the satchel, and noticed something deeply amiss.

"Hey! You just gave us this stupid book and our badges!" he buzzed angrily. "Where's our items and our money?!"

"Bring it up with your 'teleporter' friends after your trip!" Tetsuzui growled.

"Our tri-?"

The colony leader gave a nod and charged forward with a pair of Marowak from the front. In a swift motion, the three Bone Keepers clubbed the Company Pokémon from the side and sent them tumbling along deeper into the mist. Quickly, the three forms fell from view as the sounds of falling screams rang out, growing fainter and fainter until they faded away entirely.

"Er," Pleo murmured uneasily. "Were they supposed to go that way in the fog?"

Guardia gave a troubled-sounding shudder as the racket seemed to stir up unwelcome memories, before shaking her head and giving a grunt.

"They'll wind up scattered among the floors much as any majū that attempts to enter the Distortion off its set paths would," she explained. "They have their badges, so from there, it's merely a matter of them calling for help."

Tetsuzui stopped to rap a series of beats onto a nearby stone, and was swiftly answered by the sound of a "Come on through!" from the voice of the elder of the two guards at the colony's entrance from up the unseen ledge. The assembly of Ground-Types began to gather up the pilfered belongings of the three square-necks and make their way up the ledge with their three guests.

After heading down the entrance, Team Traveller was led through the main chamber en route for a short bedrest. Along the way, a few of the Colony's members passed Team Traveller some items left over from the loot. The Ground-Types parted with an Oran and a Pecha Berry, along with several other objects they had less use for. Some of the objects seemed to have obvious uses, such as the Poké and silver-colored Thalers Nori and his companions kept in the bag, and a small map depicting a patch of islands in the Cradle's sea. There were also objects whose purpose seemed a mystery to most of the team, which consisted of a wooden disc with an asymmetrical ellipse cut into it, and a wooden wheel with two cross-spokes and a rotating straight-edge at the center.

"So now what?" Nida asked as they shuffled along tiredly towards the mouth of a familiar den. "We can't go back to town, but we can't just hang around here waiting for Lyn to find us!"

Before Nida could trudge another step forward, she saw her front paw was blocked by a metal club being moved in her way. The Poison-Type looked up and saw that Tetsuzui had come to meet them before they slipped past the entrance to the den.

"If you have someplace in mind to go, we have a way for you to leave," the elderly Marowak answered.

"Wait," the Nidoran murmured. "You do?"

---

As the team laid down for rest, Team Traveller had their wounds treated by the colony's healer. The berries were applied without bandages, and their pulp seemed thicker and more filling than normal- like the berry Margi had passed Pleo before leaving Boisocéan. Evidently, they healed a bit better as well, as Guardia's friends were able to stagger along tiredly after being treated.

Team Traveller's rest proved to be more fleeting than any of them desired, as before they knew it, the lot of them were awake and waiting tensely in the main chamber for a time that felt like an eternity. Every so often, a scout would return with information, though barring a fleeting sighting of Valatos and his companions squabbling with some manner of distant Psychic, there were no square-necks to be found. Unfortunately, that changed around the time the central chamber's fire-pit was being cleared out, when the scout came back wide-eyed and nervously whispered a report into Tetsuzui's ear.

"… I was hoping that we could wait until the sea fog was at its thickest, but it appears that we cannot wait any longer. One of our scouts spotted square-necks entering the dungeon, and it will not end well for anyone if they were to find you here," she told the fugitives. "Come along, I will show you the way I spoke of."

"Eh?" Nida asked, flicking her ears curiously. "But where is it?"

The elder Marowak made her way to the back end of the room where her chest throne sat, tugged at some bricks, and set them aside. As the stones came out, they revealed a passage behind with a thick fog swirling deeper within.

"Ah!" Elty yelped. "That's a path-!"

"... to our sacred observatory," Tetsuzui answered sternly. "Now come along, we don't have much time to waste."

The three locked their limbs along with Tetsuzui in front of a sea of curiously watching eyes and slipped down the misty trail, Mojisenshi and Machitabi's patrol following closely behind in a chain of their own. The elderly Marowak guided the three along a tight stone corridor, which rapidly filled with fog as they progressed. Eventually, Team Traveller came to a tall cave with scattered skylights, where light shone murkily through a faint mist. There in the center was one particularly large skylight… large enough to let a creature about the size of a Marowak out, assuming it could get up there…

An exit that was perfectly sized for the little Protector who now curiously stared up at it into the night sky.

"This is where our tribe comes to watch the spirits of our departed make their customary approach to our world from the realm of the departed gods each month," Tetsuzui explained, casting a quick glance up at the night sky above. "For you, it's a way out of here."

Elty looked instinctively up at the hole in the ceiling and gave a surprised yip. After following his gaze and straining her eyes a bit to account for the lack of light, Nida noticed that the lights cutting through the haze were none other than the stars and a fattened crescent moon approaching its first quarter in the night sky!

"Why didn't you all tell us about this earlier?" Nida wondered, turning back to Guardia with lowered ears.

"Well, it is a special place for the tribe," Guardia answered. "Besides, you didn't ask."

Elty briefly cast a wary glare over at the lined-skulled Cubone, before giving a skeptical look at Pleo as he preened one of his wings.

"Er… will the mewa even be able to take a third Pokémon?" he muttered, flattening out his ears.

"Oh?" Pleo replied, poking his head back up. "I don't think it should be a problem..."

The little Lugia waddled over and lowered his body to the ground. One after the other, Nida, Elty, and Guardia clambered atop the creature. After some scooting, scrunching, and locking limbs around Pleo's back plates, the three managed to secure positions along his back.

The bird flapped his wings, hopped up, and much to Guardia's squeaking surprise, circled around the room a couple times before coming back down to the ground. As the young Protector came to a flapping stop, the Cubone caught her breath and began to speak to her carrier.

"T-That didn't seem so bad!" she insisted, a nervous smile cracking below her helmeted snout. "What about you, Pleo?"

"I mean, it's a little heavier than normal," Pleo murmured, putting a wing to his mouth. "I think I can still fly everyone, but... where will we go?"

"Eh?" Guardia asked. "Shouldn't you be more worried about how you're going to give the slip to those purple-necked yajū?"

"That's the idea, bonehead," Elty growled. "We're not exactly planning on sticking around to wait for Lyn to find us!"

"And what about the next island?" she retorted. "Even an incompetent hunter knows that prey can't run forever."

Nida cringed. With their luck so far, they wouldn't be able to stay at the next island for long. As Guardia said, they'd have to move on to another... then another... then another.

"... She's right," Nida sighed. "The only way this will end is when we can finally go home to Tromba."

"B-But Nida! My power doesn't come out when I need it to!" Pleo squawked. "It didn't come out back at Boisocéan, and it didn't come out when we were fighting those mean Pokémon earlier-!"

"So perhaps your escape route ought to be one that would give you enough time to try and find out how this Protector's powers work," Tetsuzui offered. "After all, once your god is able to tap his strength, surely even those lavender knot-necks would be no match for him."

Nida paused and twitched her whiskers at the Marowak's words. She remembered her mamí's tale of how Pleo had drawn out his power with shining wings, sending Hess flying head over heels all the way from the fringes of town into his ship's mast. Her mind then projected Tromba's hated Commissioner into the scene, imagining Lyn flying further and further over the horizon… as an entire fleet of lavender ships and their lackeys scurried away in a panicked retreat from the warm glow of the island's Protector's plumes.

She blinked and returned back to reality, as she realized… If Pleo could figure out how to bring out his powers when he really needed it, no force in all the Cradle would be able to pry him away from the home where he belonged.

"Right, that settles it then! We'll just have to run somewhere where Pleo can practice his powers!" Nida cried, only to catch herself and let her ears droop sheepishly. "Except… where exactly do we go to do that?"

"Hrm… let's take a look," Elty mulled. The Growlithe stuck his head in the satchel on Nida's back, pulled out a folded-up piece of cloth, and hopped down to the ground. There he unfolded and spread out the sheet to reveal a brown-colored cloth. On it, there was a map of the nearby islands of the Cradle with a compass in an empty patch at the very bottom, the top proudly labeled 'Anyilla' in runes. The cloth was flecked with colored islands set against the backdrop of an uncolored sea. In between the lonely patches of land, light and dark blue lines crisscrossed the undyed patches between islands, going in graceful straight and slightly curved routes in parts and twisting awkwardly around patches of fog in the sea in others.

Each island had little flourishes of art to it- there was Tromba with some whirlpools offshore and fog hanging from the mountain, Boisocéan with its tree-village and the dungeon on its eastern coast, and Kenobi with its twin sets of peaks and a colorful town along the greener of the two. In the center of the map, there was a big, blood-red splotch labeled 'Dead Zone' with an island barely visible underneath a scratched-out 'X' in charcoal over it that obscured the label for the island's name.

"We should avoid the sea routes if we can, but there's a star chart on the back of this map," Elty explained, gesturing at the unfurled map on the ground. "So as long as we know where we're going, we can use that to help us get around instead."

Nida peered at the cloth map on the ground and saw that on the bottom by the compass were labels to faraway patches of sea such as 'Garanza' and 'Linglan'. Now that she was looking more carefully, it seemed there were many other islands with 'X' marks drawn over them in charcoal on the western side of the map, along with numbers scribbled by them. One labelled 'Giotto' seemed to have been crossed out particularly harshly, and was annotated with a 'Don't go back here' beside it. A few solitary islands towards the middle of the map were circled, including Boisocéan and one that seemed to be roughly north of Kenobi, as well as one labeled 'Orleigh' that had a star drawn on it. On the east side, most of the islands had squares about them, including Tromba and Kenobi.

"If that's Kenobi there, then it looks like we have four places we can go," Nida said.

"Three," the Growlithe corrected. "We're not seriously thinking of going back to Boisocéan, are we? If Lyn has told the Pokémon around here about us, he's probably told the Company Pokémon along the Spiral beacons back there as well."

"Right... well what about this island there?" Nida answered, as her eyes shifted to a square-marked island. "'Vollezee'? I know that I've heard that name get brought up by the guards back home, so there has to be a settlement on it…"

"That's because it's the Company's capital!" Elty growled exasperatedly. "That's not a place to lie low, that's a place to go and turn yourself in!"

Nida blanched and folded her ears back. Yes, that would be a poor choice for a temporary shelter to test Pleo's powers. Now that she thought about it, all of the square islands seemed to be places run by the Company. A realization began to dawn on the minds of Team Traveller's members: if the square islands were Company ones...

"So then… we just need to go to the islands without squares?" Pleo asked. "How about this one that looks like a donut with all the blue lines leading to it? It's about as far away as the other island…"

"The one with all the Subway passages leading to it? Otvaga Island? Nie dzięki," Elty frowned. "The island's inhabited by ferals and all the Pokémon like us live underwater!"

"Eh?! But what's wrong with water?" Pleo chirped. "I like water!"

"Uhm, hello? The rest of us are Pokémon that are meant to live on land," the Growlithe fumed. "Even if the Subway has air in it, I'm not getting wet if I can help it!"

"Isn't he the picky one?" Mojisenshi sighed. "I mean, it's not preferable but you did say it wasn't controlled by the Company."

"Yeah, water's a bit uncomfortable, but considering the alternatives, why not just suck it up and just use a reed snorkel?" Machitabi added.

"He might have a point, water aside," Nida replied, as she pointed at a number of blue lines crisscrossing the space between Kenobi and this 'Otvaga' that would need to be crossed. "It looks like we'd have to cut through several sea paths in order to get there. That's more opportunities to get spotted by Company ships."

"Oi, Gardie," Guardia interrupted. "What about the last island towards the far end of the map?"

"Eh? 'Mengir'? But it's all the way off near the edge of the Cradle!" Nida exclaimed. "And it's still controlled by the Company!"

"Maybe so, but take a look at where it is compared to us and that 'Vollezee' island from earlier," she explained, gesturing with her club. "If news about Pleo's godhood is still travelling around, this 'Mengir' wouldn't hear about it until Vollezee does."

"It's also close enough that you could fly to Otvaga afterwards without running into one of those 'sea paths' Nida was worried about," Tetsuzui added, inspecting the map from the side. "And it looks like if you know how to use the stars, you should be able to get to Mengir itself without crossing any of those paths either."

"Eh… Mengir? As in 'the island where Fensedge Village is' Mengir?" Elty hesitantly answered. "I dunno about that…"

"What's wrong with it?" Pleo asked.

"I mean it's a small settlement," Elty muttered. "But I haven't heard anything good about getting captured there."

"Elty, we're not pirates," Nida hissed. "And we'd be in danger of getting captured no matter where we went to!"

"Well, based off your comments, it seems you really have two choices: Otvaga and Mengir," Tetsuzui explained. "These Company majū don't run things in Otvaga, but it sounds like they'll be hunting for you on the way over. On the other hand, they do run Mengir, but you won't be hunted if you're careful about how you get there."

"I don't know how well we'd hold out if someone caught us at sea," Nida murmured. "I guess Mengir would have to be the better option."

"Bah, talk about being in between a rock in a hard place," Elty spat, shaking his head. "But it does seem like the lesser evil."

"I would be able to protect you all better if we weren't underwater, just saying," Guardia grunted.

"I guess we're going to Mengir then," Pleo sighed. "But how are we supposed to get there if we can't follow the beacons like last time? How would stars help us?"

"Well-" the elder Marowak began, only to be cut off by a yip from Elty.

"Like this!" he cried. The Growlithe flipped the map over and revealed a black field with clusters of white dots linked together by thin lines. A ring around the edge was labeled with the solstices and equinoxes, in between repeating patterns of seven marks. The Marowak with the Lairon club glared, but shook her head and relented.

"I suppose that would be faster than trying to teach you all the constellations in one night," she said. "Care to explain it to them, Gardie?"

Elty nodded and grabbed the circular wooden frame with the ellipse cut into it, placing it atop the star chart. Now that the team had the time to inspect it, it seemed the different parts of the ellipse were labeled with the cardinal directions, along with a notch at the very bottom. The Growlithe set the frame down on the map and slid it in place over the chart, aligning the notch with one of the marks in the ring near some runes reading 'Spring Equinox' before clearing his throat to speak.

"If you know the season and where the stars are in the sky, you can get an idea of where you're going," he explained. "The polestar is here at the end of the Little Bear, and if you turn to the northeast like we'd need to to fly to Mengir, you'd wind up following after the Hibernator."

"Hibernator?" Pleo asked, tilting his head.

"The Big Bear? The one that looks like an Ursaring? You know, big, brown and fuzzy like that one that chased us back at Boisocéan?" Elty replied. The mention of this 'Ursaring' drew an uncomfortable ruffle of feathers from Pleo and a blank look.

"Just… follow my paw," Elty sighed, flattening out his ears. "I'll point it out."

The Growlithe sat on his hindquarters and raised a paw up towards the sky. Pleo looked up, and followed the little dog's paw to a particularly bright star in the sky, and then a little to the right. After stopping and squinting at the place where Elty stopped his paws a bit, he could see that even if the fog seemed to dull the sun-colored tint their light normally had, there really were some stars that made the shape of a Ursaring when you squinted at them.

"So as long as I fly after those stars," he murmured, gesturing at the constellation with a wing. "We'll get to Mengir?"

"Assuming that spike ball or bonehead there can read that astrolabe, then we should at least get as far north as Mengir without any problems," Elty responded. "I'd do it myself, but it's not a stick-type that I can use."

"'Astrolabe'?" Guardia asked. "What sort of hut-dweller nonsense are you going on about?"

"I guess that's this thing?" Nida asked, as she pulled out the wooden wheel with the lever mounted at the center. Now that she was inspecting it, she noticed that the rim of it was labelled with numbers.

"But how does that thing help at all?" the Cubone scoffed.

"Simple, those Company sods already did the hard work for us and wrote down the islands' coordinates," Elty answered, before pulling the wooden panel off the star chart. The Fire-Type flipped the cloth back over to its map side, and pawed at the number scribbled beside the island labeled 'Mengir' before turning back to Nida. "Hold the astrolabe so its braces are straight with the horizon, and tilt the lever until it lines up with the polestar. When the number on the rim matches up with the number they wrote down, we've gone far enough north."

Nida blinked and stared blankly at the Growlithe before looking back down at the mariner's astrolabe. How long did it take this pudgy little ex-thief to learn all of this?

"That's… a lot more articulate than I expected you to be, Elty," she said.

"Well, I do have experience sailing on ships," he reminded. "Though thanks for not being so patronizing for once."

"But how do we tell how far we need to go to the right of the 'polestar', Elty?" Pleo asked.

"Er… that… I don't know how to calculate. I remember hearing that you're supposed to be able to do it by tracking the Travellers in the sky, but I don't know how," Elty answered reluctantly. "But hey, as long as we get as far north as we need to, we should be able to just keep flying until we reach the island! And we can always follow someone else afterwards to make up the difference."

Team Traveller's members looked at each other uneasily. This sounded like a much easier way to get lost, but… if they had to be careful about not following the beacons this time, did they have any choice? Nida looked up, and chanced to see the Voice of Life's Traveller starting to slip behind the hazy crescent moon.

"It'll have to do, come on," Nida sighed, shaking her head as she scooped up the simple astrolabe in her paws. "If we get going now, we should be able to slip out while the sea fog is still rolling in."

With that, Elty folded the map back up and rejoined Nida and Guardia atop Pleo's back. The bird paced along and beat his wings to get blood flowing in them, chancing to pass by Tetsuzui, Mojisenshi, and the Cubone from Machitabi's patrol, the smaller Pokemon trading uneasy looks with Guardia.

"You're sure you'll be alright, Guardia?" Mojisenshi asked.

"Yeah, so close to the realm of the departed and all," Machitabi murmured.

"I'll be fine," Guardia overhastily answered. The Cubone stared up at the crescent moon in the sky long and uneasily, before looking down and shaking her head.

"The dead are not yet fully smiling upon us, anyways," she added. "It's nothing that I can't handle."

"Thank you again, for everything," Nida said, giving a grateful bow to Tetsuzui.

"Our interests just happened to coincide, that is all," the leader Marowak grunted. "And you make sure to gather that lore, Shugodeshi!"

"Mrph, right! I will!" the Cubone promised. As Pleo hunkered down for his hop, Guardia looked up, and then back down uneasily at Pleo's bobbed head. "So how does this 'flying to another island' thing wo-"

The next sound heard was the sudden woosh of air as Pleo sailed up into the inky blackness, prompting a collective yelp as his passengers clung tight against the Lugia's body... followed shortly by the sound of a surprised, startled shriek.

"A-AAAAAH!" Guardia's voice rang out. "Not so high! Not so high! I can't see the ground!"

"That's the point!" a fainter Growlithe's voice snapped back. "It means that we won't be seen from there either!"

The four Cubone traded uneasy looks with each other as Guardia's cries started to fade with the distance. It wasn't like the dead to make a decision like this… was it?

"Well, at least she was quieter about it than I expected," Kamenkurai sighed.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…" Keikaiashi murmured.

"Tetsuzui-sama?" Mojisenshi asked. "Will Shugodeshi really be alright out there?"

"She'll be fine," the Marowak answered back. A faint, but still discernible "Y-You didn't mention flying being like this at all!" carried on with the winds, leaving the Marowak to blink and shake her head.

"Though I suppose it wouldn't hurt to petition the departed for a little extra help. Just in case."

---

Unbeknownst to Team Traveller, a few hours before their flight from Kenobi, events were stirring back across the sea at Boisocéan. As the night fell and the stars came out in the sky, the Siglo Swellow slipped out of Seahive's harbor for the open ocean. Unbeknownst to the lavender-scarved Pokémon aboard, the blue-shelled form of a Clawitzer was at the same time cutting along the waves to a waiting three-masted frigate with indigo sails lurking offshore. Each of the ship's sails were emblazoned with a trio of white rhombic designs, resembling three leaves fanning out about a stem. The shrimp slipped past a surprised looking Tentacruel and Sharpedo patrolling the water and sidled along the craft. The Clawitzer latched onto a rope ladder dangling over the side, pinching and pulling her way up to a deck full of Pokémon with similar indigo scarves, each bedecked with either one or two white rhombic leaves.

"I'm back," she grunted. Right away, the hubbub aboard the craft died down, and a Sandslash turned and sounded the call.

"Oi! Captain Nugget's ba- A-Aah!"

The creature ducked, narrowly dodging a glowing orb of water that zipped over his head. When he looked back up he was met with a withering glare from the weathered Clawitzer as she unfurled and pulled off her white scarf. Underneath was an indigo scarf similar to the other Pokémon on the ship, except hers bore three white leaves on it.

"For the thousandth time, Niilo. It's not 'Nugget'," she snapped. "It's 'Nagant!'"

"T-Take it easy, Kapteeni!" the Sandslash exclaimed. "It was just a slip!"

One after the other, Pokemon on the deck, joined by those patrolling the sea and air surrounding the vessel, began to crowd around her. Their captain had been gone for quite a while, and now was the time to learn why.

"What took you so long?!" the Beedrill first mate interjected, an anxious flit from his wings disturbing a scarf with two sets of leaves around his neck. "If we knew you'd be gone for almost two days, we'd have pulled into port after you!"

"Yeah, we were starting to worry you got into trouble or something!" a Ponyta with a single-leaved scarf cried out.

"If I were truly in trouble, I'd have sent word," Nagant scoffed. "Besides, how much do you think Boisocéan would let slip about what really happened if they saw a fregat pull into port with Imperial sails?"

"We have spare sails and scarves, though!" a Tentacruel protested from the water. "We could have gone in disguised!"

"With my ship?" she retorted. "How many ships this big come here on a regular basis? It would have shut up the locals before we so much as dropped anchor in port!"

The gathered Pokémon murmured to themselves, thinking it over… the old shrimp did make some sense. The Clawitzer scuffled over to the bow, and gestured at a moving shape close to the horizon. Those with sharper eyesight could vaguely see the shape of a schooner, though the markings couldn't be made out at this hour.

Fortunately, the captain could divulge its identity.

"Besides… if the square-necks out there had figured it out while we were in port, we might've had to engage them," she said. "The customary headache from Boisocéan over collateral aside, we don't want them to get blown out of the water… yet."

Nagant's words drew frowns and puzzled stares as the gathered indigo-scarved sailors turned and murmured to each other.

"Why do we want that again?" the Sandslash, apparently named 'Niilo', asked skeptically.

"Yeah, who cares what happens to some Company sods?!" the Ponyta spat.

"Because when I was on Boisocéan, I ran into some of those square-necks, and they're up to something," the Clawitzer answered. "Something big. And we're going to follow them to Kenobi to find out what."

"What?!" the Tentacruel from the sea escorts exclaimed. "Into Company waters?!"

Worried chattering began to float around the sailors on the frigate. Their captain couldn't seriously be suggesting that they sail into enemy waters, could she? On the other hand, a handful of Pokémon seemed to take the matter in stride, as the idea of a risky mission brought other concerns to mind.

"Does this mean we're getting paid extra?" Niilo pressed.

Nagant screwed her eyes shut and shook her body irritably. Her worn shell testified that she had seen many things in her long life: A time when crews like hers didn't need their numbers padded out by thrill-seekers, glorified mercenaries, and conscripted ex-pirates. A time when pirates kept their trade to the remote seas. A time when there was privilege afforded by nobility in her own life…

And of course, the season in which it all boiled away with the fall of empire, leaving her to claw what little of it she could back for herself. One constant remained between those two eras...

"Captain Nugg-" a Cranidos began, only to see the Clawitzer level her big claw at him. The dome-headed dinosaur promptly cried out and hastily amended his words with a startled squeal. "Ack! Nagant! Nagant!"

… even after the world she grew up in burned, Pokémon were still getting her name wrong.

"Our mission's just supposed to be finding out wh-what happened at Boisocéan a few days ago!" the Cranidos stammered. "You already f-found that out, didn't you?"

"Da," the Water-Type answered, bringing her claws back to rest as she continued on. "And I have a strong suspicion that a god was involved."

A… god? The murmuring about the gathered Pokémon grew anxious. Did Captain Nagant seriously mean to suggest that the Company had woken a god? They couldn't possibly have done that! Could they?

"Given that this matter could potentially determine the fate of each and every one of your hometowns, and whether they're forced to bow before those corporatist traitors," she gravely intoned. "Does anyone else want to raise any objections about flying false colors for a few days?"

Not a single word of protest came as, one after the other, the gathering of indigo-scarved Pokémon shook their heads. A few of them shuddered at the thought of what those lavender-clad traitors might do to their precious little worlds back onshore if they had a god aligned with them…

"Wonderful. Then send word out to the Admiralty and throw together a pattern for the spares. We'll change the sails when we near Kenobi," Nagant barked before turning for the ship's bridge. "Tell them that we'll be late coming into port, and that we found something that might be a potential casus belli."

An Aipom fished out some paper and charcoal from a satchel slung over her shoulder, and hastily scrawled a message before passing it off to a Drifblim. The Ghost-Type lowered his tendrils and hastily scooped it up before floating off to the northwest. The sails were lowered and the stone anchor was raised as the deck returned to its normal, busy clamor. Soon after, the escorts in the air and water stirred up gusts in the sky and currents in the sea respectively, to help get the bulky craft up to speed. Nagant carefully clambered down the bow of her ship, lowering herself down the timbers of the frigate's hull towards the waterline.

"And we'll be doing what we can to take care of the matter quietly," she said to herself, eying the dark shape on the horizon. "For the Empire."

---

Author's Notes:

- Matte! (待って!) - Japanese: "Wait!" (Hepburn Romanization)
- (¡)Alto! - Spanish: "Hold it!"
- Nie dzięki - Polish: "No thanks"
- Kapteeni - Finnish: "Captain"
- fregat (Фрeгат) - Russian: "frigate" (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- Da (Да) - Russian: "Yes" (BGN/PCGN Romanization)

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

Chapter 19 review:

The entire room was packed with a larger variety of Pokémon than even the guild's sleeping quarters back on Tromba, curled up as they dozed on beds of straw and nestled on perches along rafters.

Pleo, about to sneeze: "Ah... ah.... aaaaah...!"
Nida and Elty, dying inside: 'O_O

It was no use; the little bird had already darted over to the pink and cream mammal

Pleo, not seeing the dozen empty tin cans on the ground: "Duh duh duh, la la la..."
Nida and Elty: Quivering in place and about to fall unconscious

The three dashed up the steps, not daring to look back to see who might be following them. Then came the deck, the sails above them along with the night sky with the Moon, the stars, and Forest Guardian's Traveller shining above.

Nida: "You know, if blast seeds here worked like they did in Rebirth, we could have thrown one down the stairs! Take out a bunch of them, possibly blast a hole in the floor!"
Elty: "Well, I could go back and set fire to more beds! That was pretty fun!"
Nida: "Maníaco! We're not trying to kill them!"

The three turned, and their hearts sank as they saw Lyn perched at the helm of the ship, glaring.

Pleo: "I-I was just taking my allotted hour of fresh air, sir. These two are part of the crew! Yup yup."
Nida: "Uuuh, P-Pleo? Remember that awesome attack you used against the Aggron raider? Please tell me you do... '''o_o"

Pleo grimaced, he scanned his head around desperately as he inched back towards the railing. There really didn't seem to be any way out of here, or at least not one he could see. But his teammates… Did they see anything he couldn't?

Elty: "If your flying skills have somehow improved dramatically, maybe you can fly us out of here! We'll, uh, cover you from any other flyers that'll give chase. Right, Nida?"
Nida: "... I wish I'd learnt how to swim."
(I don't remember if she's ever mentioned if she knows or not, actually)

Kiran lowered his head and put a wing over his face. Of all the times for Nida's mother to have her temper get the best of her, did it really have to be now?

Crom: "... Should she really be next to dragon-types with this temper? Hehehe... heh..."

The two looked down at their carrier and saw the markings on the Lugia begin to shine bright, his white plumage glowing softly.

Nida, teary-eyed: "You-you remembered! Pleo, I'm buying you ALL the ice cream you want from now on? Do you hear me? All of it!"
Elty: "And, and I'll get you all the rum you want! Er--maybe in a few years."

"Aaaaah! Not so fast! Not so fast!" Nida shrieked. "Blasting away hurts the Nidoran!"

And then as suddenly as it came, the glow faded.

Nida: "Phew, finally, I was starting to panic there--"
Elty: "Do you have ANY idea what you've just DONE?"
Pleo: "Ugh... feeling sleepy..."

They were free!

... Not unless the ship's flyers have anything to say.

All of a sudden, a bright, searing gout of fire passed by the tips of his wings.

Oooor, they could just shoot them down with ranged attacks 😰

And what kind of stupid nom de scène is 'Viroqua' anyways?"

Uh-oh... we've arrived at (shudders) the French island...

"It's a textbook rescue! Nothing un Gruikui, un Venipatte, et un Chacripan couldn't pull off!"

Oh no, we're using the French names for pokémon! AAAAH!

The beam that struck them and sent them tumbling through the air… It knocked them into a Mystery Dungeon!

Nida: "Er... better than falling into the ocean unconscious and drowning, r-right? Right?"
Elty: "Kurchak, you're really setting the bar low..."
Pleo: "Zzzzz... stay away from the cookies... zzzzzz..."

Fantastic chapter! It's always great to see Pleo going all-out. It didn't last as long as I'd hoped, but... hey, at least they're about to explore not!France! Or Corsica, since it's just an island. I'm really eager to see what it looks like!

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

Chapter 20 Review:

So the Subway, the maze of breathable passages and Mystery Dungeons under the waves that crossed the seafloor and seamounts like strands on an Ariados' web… that was the most logical place that the seabird could've escaped to!

Woooah, there's a submarine network of mystery dungeons? That's so cool! Props for the creativity.

"Lyn, are you daft?" Ellsberg spluttered. "The Subway leads to almost every island in the Cradle-!"

That sounds quite handy! Almost... too convenient to be a product of nature, actually. Hmmmm...

or so the saying (created by a Pokémon that had lips, clearly) went

Or maybe it was created by a human cough cough.

"Did you feel that? The floor's about to get cleared out by the Distortion here!" Elty cried. "If we can't find the stairs or a place to hunker down, we'll get blown who knows where!"

Elty: "H-hopefully not into the ocean floor..."
Nida: "To be fair, at those depths, water would be the least of your concerns. Think of the pressure!"
Elty: "One fear at a time, please >.<"
Pleo: "Pressure? What's that, can you eat it?"

"'If you're stuck here reading this, always look on the bright side of life'... Oi, are you sure that message wasn't sarcasm?" he asked. "Because the messages right next to this one look like something you'd see on the alley outside a juice bar, or the inside of a lat-"

Hehehe, now I'm imaginine the dungeon equivalent of graffiti.

Elty: "Hey, look at that! It's a heart with "C + N". Are you sure you've never been in here?"
Nida: "Th-there's thousands of 'mon with names that begin with C or N! Get off my case!"

"Um… How about after we patch ourselves up first?"

Elty, checking around frantically: "O-okay. He's not here. Let's do that."

"This is Team Chasseur of the Boisocéan Island Guild! Is anyone out there?!" it called out again, its tenor coming out as a bug-like chitter.

I... I just can't help but read all their lines with a French accent

"Xe tuti mati," the Purrloin muttered under his breath.

Hey! That language is even more familiar! I'm not from Veneto, but their dialect is similar enough to Italian for me to get at a glance (E.g. "Siete tutti matti" in this case)

"That's something we'll keep in mind the next time we have a choice," Elty groaned, rolling his eyes.

Nida: "Oh, I'm sorry! Next time we're escaping from a Company ship, we'll wait until a more convenient hour!"
Pleo: "She's, uh, just a bit tired. G-gets a bit scary when she's nervous like that in the review dialogue."

These new characters seem interesting enough. I'm really excited for them to visit a new place! I already know they won't be going back home (or, if they are, it'll be temporary) since this is an adventure story, but I'm still curious how everyone on Tromba will be featured going forward. I highly doubt you'd characterise them so heavily only to put that whole part of the cast in the freezer until the final arc in some 300 chapters. I'm sure you'll find some way to keep them engaged in the plot. Maybe a couple set off to look for the three? I can see Nida's parents doing that, and Crom and Kiran, too.

Chapter 21 Review:

"Meh, I've seen more impressive places before," Elty grumbled.

Nida, grumbling: "I'm surprised you remember any of the places you visited before you set fire to them."
Elty: "H-Hey! That was only on some of the raids! Sometimes we also chilled out and enjoy our shore leave!"

After cheerily broaching the subject of 'that reward' with the newcomers, it was quickly decided that since the team was absent of any Poké and still in need of a good night's rest, that they could cover their fee with the berries in their bag ('Actor' taking a particular shine to the Pinkan Berry).

Wow, this island really needs stronger public services. You can't just charge pokémon who need rescuing! Tax the population a little so that the Guild teams receive a decent salary--it'll pay off in the long-term.

Side note, but I like the name Boisocéan. It's really simple (just "ocean forest/wood"), but then again it doesn't need to be more complicated.

"You're not just my mind playing tricks on me," the Hydreigon snarled. "I saw the others react to you!"

A Hydreigon nurse, huh? You'd think a nurse would need, er, the dexterity that comes with hands or paws--but hey, more dragon-type characters! That's a win in itself.

After a few brief words, the two groups parted and Maranda lead Team Traveller off deeper into the hut for some much-deserved healing.

Awww, so she wasn't the nurse. I blame the similarity between "Margi" and "Maranda" for my confusion. In a way, though, Leavanny is somehow worse in terms of dexterity than Margi as a nurse xD

After Maranda and a few of her assistants in the hut had done their work, the three Pokémon were taken to a simple room with wooden walls, beds made of fresh straw, and a window overlooking the guild hall for bedrest.

Pleo: "Wow! A hotel?! And we're not even paying anything for it?"
Nida: "Knowing the state of their social services, I expect to receive a huge bill tomorrow morning. But... we'll, uh, pay it off. Somehow."

When were they ever going to see each other again?

Elty, whispering: "Come ooon, we're only on, like, the next island over! One night of navigation can't be that far. I'm sure they have ferry 'mon that'll take us there. Besides, think of it like a holiday! Right, Pleo?"
Pleo: "Hmpf. That dumb grass fairy, thinking she can steal my job..."

"Why, what's tomorrow?" Pleo pressed.

Nida: "Tuesday. Wait, no, I meant--Elty, what's going on?"

"I'm leaving, that's what," the Growlithe snapped. "You're not in danger right now, and I didn't sign up for this with your sheep leader or his lackeys!"

Oh! I really wasn't expecting that. I didn't catch any hints of this being his intention, but based on his circumstances, it's a perfectly understandable decision.

"And for the record, my Community Service is helping you train on Tromba. We're not exactly on Tromba right now, and there's no headband-wearing cepy to force me to play along with your stupid ideas! So let me go on with my life and figure out your own way back!"

Argh, can't argue with the fine print of a contract.

"Well, when I first saw you come in, I thought you looked an awful lot like a kinda chubby pirate I remembered from that Harvest Festival raid where the fireworks hulk blew up in front of town,"

Elty: "I-it's not fat! I just forgot to groom my fur there!"

"Actually, he was just about to tell Pleo one of the stories about the Prince of a Thousand Enemies," she suddenly added.

Elty: "You... you evil mastermind!"
Pleo: "Oooh, a story? I want to hear! I want to hear!"

"Nidorino?" the nurse asked, tilting an ear down puzzledly. "Since when was the Prince of a Thousand Enemies a Nidorino?"

I mean, you'd kind of expect the story to be malleable enough that every species places one of their own as the prince.

"I don't know if it'll work or not, but if we all work together and don't give up… maybe we'll be able to get back home," Nida said

Elty: "I keep telling you: if you just check the docks, there's probably a Lapras or Sharpedo who'll take you there for a few poké."

(Although, to be fair, if that were the case then she'd already know about them. Hopping onto merchant ships as paying passengers is bound to be a good alternative; it was how most maritime travel used to happen in ancient Rome.)

Then, as daft as it sounded… Maybe the thing to do was to try and stand firm, whatever the odds…

For each other.

Cute moment, hehehe. It had been a while since the last one; I dare say they're one of this story's defining traits.

For the bandaged Druddigon perched at the end of one of the still-soggy docks, that focus was on the sea and the horizon beyond.

I really like that you're doing these Crom scenes. He's one of my favourite characters, and it would have been a shame to simply put him on ice whenever the main trio isn't on Tromba.

Pyry grumbled, shaking his head. "I'm the one that has to put up with your äiti being upset, you know!"

Crom: "And you're becoming a recurrent, likable side character! The reviewer really likes his dragons, and we're outnumbered and demonised as it is."
Pyry: Grumbling

"That dad's ship!" Cenn cried, beating his wings excitedly. "He's home! He's home!"

Woo! I've been curious about him since the beginning, so this is a welcome surprise. Plus, poor Crom needed a distraction. (I'll admit, though, as a follow-up to my merchant ship idea for the main trio I thought it would have been cool if Crom's dad were on it. Oh, well).

The hatchet-headed dragon then turned and pulled Crom into a similarly tight embrace, the Druddigon's head resting atop the head of this sudden arrival.

A Fraxure? I was expecting a Haxorus for sure. Why, even Crom is taller than him! xD (I suppose you're carrying over the games' high level requirement to evolve)

"Father?!" Pekka continued, his maw falling agape.

For a second--a brief, solitary instant--I thought Pekka meant that they had the same father xD

I'll close it off here. 10/10 for awkward, loving, short dad. And more general great storytelling.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Pleo, about to sneeze: "Ah... ah.... aaaaah...!"
Nida and Elty, dying inside: 'O_O

Yup, that sounds about accurate. You’re getting pretty good at capturing the cast’s voices. ^^;

Pleo, not seeing the dozen empty tin cans on the ground: "Duh duh duh, la la la..."
Nida and Elty: Quivering in place and about to fall unconscious

In Pleo’s defense, tin’s a bit more expensive than can-making material in this setting. Not that disturbing glass bottles and clay jugs around a bunch of dozing sailors is really much better. :V

Nida: "You know, if blast seeds here worked like they did in Rebirth, we could have thrown one down the stairs! Take out a bunch of them, possibly blast a hole in the floor!"
Elty: "Well, I could go back and set fire to more beds! That was pretty fun!"
Nida: "Maníaco! We're not trying to kill them!"

Elty: “... But you realize that the Blast Seed probably would’ve just started a fire itself and we’d get in just as much trouble, right?”

Pleo: "I-I was just taking my allotted hour of fresh air, sir. These two are part of the crew! Yup yup."
Nida: "Uuuh, P-Pleo? Remember that awesome attack you used against the Aggron raider? Please tell me you do... '''o_o"

Pleo:

Elty: "If your flying skills have somehow improved dramatically, maybe you can fly us out of here! We'll, uh, cover you from any other flyers that'll give chase. Right, Nida?"
Nida: "... I wish I'd learnt how to swim."

She’s not a particularly good one, though even if she were, she’s far enough from land that that wouldn’t really help her.

Crom: "... Should she really be next to dragon-types with this temper? Hehehe... heh..."

Kiran: “... No. No, she should not.” ·v·

Nida, teary-eyed: "You-you remembered! Pleo, I'm buying you ALL the ice cream you want from now on? Do you hear me? All of it!"
Elty: "And, and I'll get you all the rum you want! Er--maybe in a few years."

So just how dirty was that glare that Nida shot Elty mid-line to get him to back off on giving Pleo rum? Since he’s not likely to care that much about drinking ages. o<o

Nida: "Phew, finally, I was starting to panic there--"
Elty: "Do you have ANY idea what you've just DONE?"
Pleo: "Ugh... feeling sleepy..."

Nida: “Uh… I didn’t think I did anything to make Pleo drowsy?”

Elty: “That’s not the point, you tempted fate, spike ball!” >_>;

... Not unless the ship's flyers have anything to say.

They’re busy with little problems like suddenly getting knocked out of the air by a surprise divine wind.

Oooor, they could just shoot them down with ranged attacks 😰

Also, yeah. That’s a thing too.

Uh-oh... we've arrived at (shudders) the French island…

Don’t worry. They’re (mostly) not as stuck-up and rude as your stereotypical Parisian.

Oh no, we're using the French names for pokémon! AAAAH!

Ohhh yes. There's a certain joke later on in this arc that wouldn't work without it, and we weren't going to leave that one on the table in a setting that raids multiple franchise localizations. :V

Fantastic chapter! It's always great to see Pleo going all-out. It didn't last as long as I'd hoped, but... hey, at least they're about to explore not!France! Or Corsica, since it's just an island. I'm really eager to see what it looks like!

Technically, their lifestyle and surrounding environs is a wee bit closer to those of les Cadiens even if their speech is very firmly Metropolitan French. But I hope you have fun with Boisocéan, since it was an island that was a lot of fun to come up with.

Woooah, there's a submarine network of mystery dungeons? That's so cool! Props for the creativity.

Technically, much of the Subway isn’t Mystery Dungeons. But yeah, it wouldn’t do any good to make a setting as soggy as the Cradle without giving air-breathers some way of at least scratching the surface of that whole other world beneath the waves.

That sounds quite handy! Almost... too convenient to be a product of nature, actually. Hmmmm…

Hold onto that thought.

Or maybe it was created by a human cough cough.

Ditto there. The Cradle’s roots as a post-human world is used to justify a lot of background details that are intended to make you go ‘hmm’ if you can spot them.

Elty: "H-hopefully not into the ocean floor..."
Nida: "To be fair, at those depths, water would be the least of your concerns. Think of the pressure!"
Elty: "One fear at a time, please >.<"
Pleo: "Pressure? What's that, can you eat it?"

Elty: “It’s like getting crushed from all sides at once. No, you can’t eat it.” >_>;
Pleo: “Okay, never mind! I don’t want one of those ‘pressure’ things!” OvO;

Hehehe, now I'm imaginine the dungeon equivalent of graffiti.

Elty: "Hey, look at that! It's a heart with "C + N". Are you sure you've never been in here?"
Nida: "Th-there's thousands of 'mon with names that begin with C or N! Get off my case!"

I mean, they wouldn’t know it at that point in the story. But it’d be really funny if that hypothetical scrawl turned out to mean Caninos et Nidoran and it was subsequently explained to them just to see how beet red the two would turn from embarrassment afterwards. :^)

I... I just can't help but read all their lines with a French accent

I mean, you can’t say it’s not fitting. Even if they’ve almost certainly been muddled from centuries of mutual contact, every island has a ‘stereotypical’ accent to it and it actually triggers a few plot moments here and there later on in the story.

Hey! That language is even more familiar! I'm not from Veneto, but their dialect is similar enough to Italian for me to get at a glance (E.g. "Siete tutti matti" in this case)

Yeah, it’s fun to see similarities pop up between languages in proximity. Especially since some languages have differing levels of intelligibility depending on if they’re spoken or written. (e.x. Spanish and Portuguese or Dutch and German, which have significant lexical overlap with each other while at the same time sounding very different from each other when spoken.)

Nida: "Oh, I'm sorry! Next time we're escaping from a Company ship, we'll wait until a more convenient hour!"
Pleo: "She's, uh, just a bit tired. G-gets a bit scary when she's nervous like that in the review dialogue."

I mean, she is Marley’s child there. :^)

Nida, grumbling: "I'm surprised you remember any of the places you visited before you set fire to them."
Elty: "H-Hey! That was only on some of the raids! Sometimes we also chilled out and enjoy our shore leave!"

Elty: “Also, we might not have been that great of a crew, but we still needed places to fence our loot!”

Wow, this island really needs stronger public services. You can't just charge pokémon who need rescuing! Tax the population a little so that the Guild teams receive a decent salary--it'll pay off in the long-term.

Such is life in a PMD setting. :V

Side note, but I like the name Boisocéan. It's really simple (just "ocean forest/wood"), but then again it doesn't need to be more complicated.

Yeah, in general, islands in the Cradle are either named after simple words or phrases from the resident language or corruptions of place names from the world-that-was. Boisocéan happens to be a name that pulls off both, as explained in Trivia #3

Awww, so she wasn't the nurse. I blame the similarity between "Margi" and "Maranda" for my confusion. In a way, though, Leavanny is somehow worse in terms of dexterity than Margi as a nurse xD

To be fair, they can stitch things, which is handy for applying sutures.

Pleo: "Wow! A hotel?! And we're not even paying anything for it?"
Nida: "Knowing the state of their social services, I expect to receive a huge bill tomorrow morning. But... we'll, uh, pay it off. Somehow."

Nah. It’s a Pokémon setting. If there’s one thing you can take for granted, it’s that you won’t be charged upfront for the healthcare. o3o

Elty, whispering: "Come ooon, we're only on, like, the next island over! One night of navigation can't be that far. I'm sure they have ferry 'mon that'll take us there. Besides, think of it like a holiday! Right, Pleo?"
Pleo: "Hmpf. That dumb grass fairy, thinking she can steal my job..."

Nida: “That requires money, Elty. And I didn’t exactly bring a bunch assuming that I’d need to cover fares for a party of three back home.” >_>;
Elty: “I mean, we could always just help ourselves to some-”
Nida: “No.”

Oh! I really wasn't expecting that. I didn't catch any hints of this being his intention, but based on his circumstances, it's a perfectly understandable decision.

I mean, considering how he’s been talking about pirate life so far and still needs to be hit by the character development stick a few times, it wouldn’t really be like Elty to not try to go back to pirate life the moment he got a chance to. :^)

Elty: "I-it's not fat! I just forgot to groom my fur there!"

Diggersby: “... So you were there.” :|
Elty: “I… uh… no? I-It was a hypothetical answer! The point is that I’m not any pudgier than a normal Growlithe!”

Elty: "You... you evil mastermind!"
Pleo: "Oooh, a story? I want to hear! I want to hear!"

I mean, she was quick enough on her feet to blackmail Elty into helping. Do you really think she wouldn’t also think up of a way to keep him in line? :V

I mean, you'd kind of expect the story to be malleable enough that every species places one of their own as the prince.

Yeah, that’s very much deliberate for this story and others like it. Almost makes you wonder who told that story first, hm? :3

Elty: "I keep telling you: if you just check the docks, there's probably a Lapras or Sharpedo who'll take you there for a few poké."

(Although, to be fair, if that were the case then she'd already know about them. Hopping onto merchant ships as paying passengers is bound to be a good alternative; it was how most maritime travel used to happen in ancient Rome.)

Nida: “Poké which we don’t have...” >_>;
Elty: “Poké which we would have if you stopped being such a księżniczka and let me put my sticky paws to work!” >_>;

As for the merchant ship thought, that tends to be a favored solution here too. It’s harder to shoot out the hull of a ship with a good 40 to 60 babysitters in the air and water than it is to knock out a solitary Lapras.

Cute moment, hehehe. It had been a while since the last one; I dare say they're one of this story's defining traits.

I mean, the story does try to ape Saturday Morning Cartoons. Cute and/or funny moments are to be expected here and there. ^^

I really like that you're doing these Crom scenes. He's one of my favourite characters, and it would have been a shame to simply put him on ice whenever the main trio isn't on Tromba.

Ironically enough, the decision to make Crom into a recurring character happened really late into the story. Up until just a few chapters before that one, he was originally intended to exit the plot entirely until the end. Though what can I say? He’s a cutie and he grew on Virgil, me, and the story’s betas at the time, so he wound up getting a bigger role than initially planned

Crom: "And you're becoming a recurrent, likable side character! The reviewer really likes his dragons, and we're outnumbered and demonised as it is."
Pyry: Grumbling

I mean, Pyry’s still making appearances over 60 chapters on from where you’re at, so it’s a good thing you’re finding him likable already. o3o;

Woo! I've been curious about him since the beginning, so this is a welcome surprise. Plus, poor Crom needed a distraction. (I'll admit, though, as a follow-up to my merchant ship idea for the main trio I thought it would have been cool if Crom's dad were on it. Oh, well).

I’m dying inside to respond to that part, but nah. All I can say without a ton of spoilers is don’t get rid of that thought too quickly.

A Fraxure? I was expecting a Haxorus for sure. Why, even Crom is taller than him! xD (I suppose you're carrying over the games' high level requirement to evolve)

Technically, Crom’s present height’s been mentioned in prior chapters as being about the same as a Marowak’s with it assumed that he’ll grow into full Druddigon size as he grows out of being a kid, so the two are pretty close if not identical in height to each other.

As for Pladur still being a Fraxure, things are carrying over from game leveling, yeah. There’s some ways of cheating it in-setting, though Pladur isn’t really in a position to be able to readily exploit them. And considering how he has his job to send remittances back to the missus and kids, even if he had the needed experience, he’d probably think twice about evolving until Crom and Cenn can take care of themselves. The food bill for a Haxorus does add up a bit more than it does for a Fraxure, after all.

I'll close it off here. 10/10 for awkward, loving, short dad. And more general great storytelling.

Glad to hear you’re enjoying things so much, we’ll be looking forward to getting more fun feedback like this from you in the future! ^^

It’s a touch late, though with Episode 6 concluded on Thousand Roads, we’re back with some fresh artwork and a new trivia section related to it to help send it off before the story sets sail for Mengir Island. This section was originally posted on Serebii when Fledglings picked up 10,000 views, with the contents focused primarily around things that came up in Episode 6, but also on some topics from earlier in the story.

Been waiting to find out what’s there? Well let’s get straight into that trivia:

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Author’s Note: This trivia section was originally posted alongside Chapter 30 of Fledglings on Serebii after its thread received 10,000 views. Annotations and revised commentary not originally in this trivia section are noted in bolded text.

How did you come up with Kenobi?

Spoiler: Answer

Kenobi as an island is the result of throwing Quest Island, Kanto's Rock Tunnel, the Ruins of Alph, and a Regi chamber into a blender, producing an island with scruffy terrain in some parts, and ruins with weird glyphs that loom large in the local mythology.

Both the endonym- 'Tennobi' and the exonym- 'Kenobi' for our beloved rune-island owe their origins to being corruptions of 'Tanoby'. 'Kenobi' in particular was considered since it was a lame cute Star Wars pun that was hard to pass up on, which in turn influenced Japanese as a choice for the local tongue due to a mix of being one of the few languages that would plausibly produce 'Kenobi' as a natural-ish sounding name, and as a meta nod to the influence that Japanese cinema had on Star Wars as a series.

From there 'Tennobi' was also considered since it sounded like a more plausibly Japanese name, then I got indecisive, one thing led to another, and the issue was tap-danced around with the decision to make one name an endonym and one an exonym.

How did you come up with Mossaisle?

Spoiler: Answer

Mossaisle, or as readers with long memories recall, originally Aisle Town, again owes its name to lame cute pun, namely to a wretched hive of scum and villainy on a desert planet in a galaxy far, far away. The original name owes itself to recycling a town name from some past writing Spiteful Murkrow did on a Play-By-Post RP, while the transition to Mossaisle was done in order to preserve the 'two words' naming scheme that settlements had in-story.

As for its architecture, Mossaisle is basically a traditional Japanese village put together with more primitive tools… spliced together with a favela. Hence why sliding doors and Skittle-colored walls exist side by side there. Andaku, the gaudy, sensual district and most concentrated site of scum and villainy in town, owed a bit of its inspiration to Shinsekai, a tourist trap district in Osaka that is infamous for its underworld ties. The name itself is a corruption of the Japanese localization name for 'The Under', along with the obligatory suffix meaning 'Ward'.

Where did Lansat Berries as a drug come from?

Spoiler: Answer

Lansat Berries being used to make recreational drugs is based off of the games' flavor text of describing Lansat Berries as being seen as 'a legendary Berry. Holding it supposedly brings great joy' coupled with a simplified version of how drugs are extracted from natural plants.

In real life, many drugs, both medicinal and recreational, are simply concentrated and treated extracts of the active substances within a plant. Similarly, in Fledglings, some more benign substances such as Vitamins can similarly be produced by concentration and treatment.

The case of Lansat in particular draws heavy inspiration from how coca leaves are perceived in some Andean countries. Where the innocuous natural plant can be traded and consumed openly, but the distilled drug formed from it is neither desired nor legal from an administrative perspective.

What's with that weird Pokémon language description?

Spoiler: Answer

The way that Pokémon language is described to work ultimately stems from the assumption that Pokémon speech in PMD games is fundamentally 'anime-style' in nature. As such, the most plausible way for different creatures to be able to communicate verbally with each other would need to be something divorced from phonetic values.

As it so happens, there are real-life languages such as Mandarin Chinese that use non-phonetic features to encode meaning, namely enunciation, including to some extremes that aren't too far removed from anime-style Pokémon speech.

As such, the decision was made to have Pokémon languages in Fledglings be fundamentally based upon enunciation, rhythm, and a hefty dose of context-specific meaning. Or in other words, a language where it's not what you say that's important, but rather how and when you say it. A feature that would allow both 'Nidoran' and 'Growlithe' to potentially communicate the same things for Pokémon, if potentially make some things we take for granted such as gag dubbing songs significantly harder for them.

And what about their writing that was described?

Spoiler: Answer

This is actually a topic that I had to cut down a bit on describing in Chapter 28 to avoid going full textdump, though there was still a good deal that got communicated if one read in between the lines. Mechanically, the writing system used by Fledglings' 'civilized' Pokémon is heavily influenced by East Asian scripts, which themselves are used to render languages with low phoneme densities and context-dependent meanings.

In Fledglings, meaning in writing is disambiguated through the visual form of logographic runes, much as it would be used to distinguish homophones in a language like Chinese or Japanese. Similarly, runes in Fledglings can be read for their rhythmic or enunciatory value, which is used to mimic the way that a word with unclear or uncertain meaning would sound to Pokémon ears as opposed to its ideographic meaning (ergo "tee-yem" as opposed to "technical machine").

The presence of ideographic meaning also allows for the meaning of written words to be roughly understood across languages even if the 'pronunciation' and grammar are highly divergent. This was subtly shown in Chapter 27 where Nida read the name of 'Ryūbokuya' as 'Driftwood House', which seemed to be appropriate for both keeping a complex world sufficiently simple for our heroes to navigate, and the logical direction that a writing system used to render a 'common tongue' with many influences would evolve in.

In terms of visual appearance, the 'runes' in-setting owe their description to the various depictions that have been shown of writing in the canonical PMD games. For those of you who have paid attention to the flavor text in the PMD series from the Explorers games on, you may have noticed that the writing is often described as 'Footprint Runes' or 'footprint-like'.

On the other hand, those of you who remember the art from PMD R/B's manual may remember that their depiction of writing was not remotely footprint looking at all. And a writing system tightly bound to footprints would be impossible to write in a casual context short of constantly lugging along a large collection of stamps.

As such, the logical result and middle ground for a PMD-esque world seemed to be to have a writing system where the runes had distinct origins from composition from footprints, but in casual usage would be rendered abstractly.

What is the Dungeon Colony based off of?

Spoiler: Answer

The Dungeon Colony owes its origins to a character concept that Spiteful Murkrow batted around with some friends in other parts of the net of various Cubone who lived in a tribal structure and had a culture that placed a hefty emphasis on veneration of the dead. In transitioning the concept over, a few changes were made to various features, such as making nomenclature for how their dwellings and kinship networks worked a little less anthropogenic.

All of the names that are thrown around among the Cubone and Marowak of the colony are deliberately chosen to be valid Japanese names… If highly featural ones that would sound rather doofy to modern ears. A listing of the names, their etymologies, and rough meanings:

Tetsuzui (鉄髄) - "Iron Marrow"
Shugodeshi (守護弟子) - "Guarding Student(/Disciple)"
Mojisenshi (文字戦士) - "Word(/Rune/Character) Warrior"
Machitabi (町旅) - "Town Journey"
Keikaiashi (軽快足) - "Nimble Feet"
Kuraikamen (暗い仮面) - "Dark Mask"

How did you come up with the Siglo Swellow?

Spoiler: Answer

The Siglo Swellow ultimately owes its role in the story thanks to an evolution in Crom's role in Fledglings. Up until the early part of Episode 3, Crom was initially planned to more or less bow out of the story after Lyn abducted Pleo until the end. After seeing the positive reader response to him as a character, we wound up retooling those plans to have Crom on a 'search quest' for Pleo, which would also allow showing off bits and pieces of things going on in-setting that wouldn't normally be depictable with a sole focus on Team Traveller.

Most of the characters that have names are nods to past character concepts that Spiteful Murkrow played with in his past writing, Pladur in particular being another nod to Dragonspiral's Children. As for the name of the ship, it's a more literary way of rendering 'Century Swellow' in Spanish, taking obvious influence from Star Wars' Millennium Falcon in style.

What have been some of the more helpful practices you've encountered while writing Fledglings?

Spoiler: Answer

Offhand, one of the primary things that we have learned to be grateful for when writing this fic are beta readers. Beyond helping to iron out kinks in the drafting phase, having beta readers to act as a sounding board has been immensely helpful for getting past moments where one is stuck, and for helping to coalesce ideas at the hazy beginning around a concrete base.

We can also heartily vouch for the virtues of maintaining a queue of work in a publishing pipeline. Even if it's not all 'there' after initial drafting, maintaining a pipeline of work helps to keep your immediate future events defined solidly enough to have structure and certainty, while fluid enough to accommodate any last-minute changes, which has been instrumental for maintaining the generally fast publishing pace of this fic.

What PMD Games Did You Base Fledglings' World On?

Spoiler: Answer

The technical answer is 'none', since it was decided to set this story in a setting completely divorced from the canon ones since there would be significantly fewer canon 'toes' to step on. This opened the door to pulling dynamics from other series, and meant that things ever wound up conflicting with a future installment of PMD, we could play the 'lol multiverse' card that Game Freak so generously provided fan worldbuilders as of ORAS. Now, if the question is what PMD games influenced Fledglings' PMD-like setting, well...

This is the awkward part where we reveal that at first, Fledglings was based off of Spiteful Murkrow’s second-hand experience with the R/B and Explorers games via Lets Plays and osmosis. About a month into writing, he started to do concurrent playthroughs of the series, starting with Gates to Infinity, followed by Blue, Sky, and finally PSMD when it launched in the winter of 2015.

So in other words, it's a grab bag of influences from all of the games (as evidenced by the appearance of Wands in Chapter 28), though the DS games in particular left a particularly large footprint in coming up with how the setting worked.

What Inspired You to Write Fledglings?

Spoiler: Answer

For those of you who read around Serebii Forums, Spiteful Murkrow answered this question from his perspective regarding the earlier parts of the story. While the story has since grown beyond its initial beginnings after Virgil134 became involved in directly creating chapters starting in the initial run of Episode 4, a good deal of Fledglings’ origins hail from experiences Spiteful Murkrow had in the roughly 18-24 months prior to the Prologue’s publishing in spring of 2015.

The fundamental tone of this fic was heavily informed a short while after Spiteful Murkrow watched ATLA and Digimon Tamers in relatively short order during a particularly trying season of his life. After perusing some fics after that, he felt that there didn't really seem to be any prominent stories out there that had a similar mix of 'lighthearted' and 'grave' atmospheres, and filed a 'fic that feels like ATLA and Digimon Tamers' onto the idea bin.

As it so happens, Spiteful Murkrow used to Play-By-Post RP, and he chanced to spend some time reviewing some old posts on one by the name of 'We Are All Pokémon Trainers'. A few of the posts he revisited happened to be from a PMD-style campaign within it (long story there) and spent some time waxing a little nostalgic about some experiences and fun characters and worldbuilding during a season where One Piece's OST was the personal 'flavor of the month' music.

Somewhere along the line, a switch went off and he wondered 'what would an Ocean Punk PMD look like?' since the thought crossed Spiteful Murkrow’s mind that he didn't know of any PMD fic that had tried such a premise before. From there, he remembered the old fanfic idea and realized that an oceanpunk setting would allow for fairly easy episodic transitions much like in ATLA. From there, he started to drabble out rough ideas as a theoretical exercise, and started playing around with a setting, a story structure, and of course, a cast.

Over the course of about a year, some other influences wound up worming their way in after sharing the draft documents with some close friends. He wound up dipping into Watership Down thanks to Venia Silente, which wound up providing influences for the protagonist and some in-setting folklore. The metaphysics wound up pulling a bit from the Megami Tensei series, which particularly informed the Marked's counter-mythology with regard to Legendaries.

And then, after about a year of that, he decided to take a leap of faith, put the proverbial pen to paper, and start making that theoretical exercise a reality.

From the start, Virgil134 had always taken a bit of a shine to the story, and starting during the events of Episode 4, he began to play an active role plotting out where things would wind up going in Fledglings. Including working together to create and develop characters and episodes that would otherwise have not existed, and to touch up some rougher sections of the earlier bits of the story. The story doesn’t follow exactly the same vision and isn’t going to the same narrative destination as it was originally envisioned back in early 2015, but having different perspectives to counterbalance and sanity-check each other has proven invaluable for making the story stronger and a bit more coherent. And Fledglings simply wouldn’t be the story you know and love today without both writers’ efforts.

 

[SparklingEspeon]

~Review of Chapters 12 to 32~

Well, then. I remember reviewing the first eleven chapters and thinking that it had been mighty slow up to this point. Then things picked up. This was A Lot, so to keep the whole thing at least somewhat organized I’ll try to keep things relatively separate and in neat boxes.

The Plot/Setup

So the general plot/setup of Fledglings follows Nida, Elty, their charge Pleo, and Guardia as of the chapter I stopped reading at… :v as they travel across the collection of islands known as the Cradle and flee the governing organization known as The Company. There’s also some broader stuff, like the fact that the Cradle is a small collection of islands nestled among a vast wasteland and that depending on who you ask, Pleo’s ilk is either a league of saviors or a league of villains, but for now those are pretty much in the background, so I’ll mostly be focusing on the first half.

I do have to admit I was a bit sceptical of if I’d end up liking this one going in (since K-rated cartoony isn’t usually my thing), but I can see what you were going for when you said this fic had a daring Saturday morning cartoon feel. It does keep things a bit on the cartoony side thus far, but at the same time I’ve been surprised at Fledgling’s ability to imply and keep a somewhat dark universe, while still dodging the censor enough to qualify as For Kids. It works really well as an exercise in telling a somewhat dark story without including too much shocking/horrifying content (though I’m not sure if that’s the way it was intended – feel free to let me know if that is the case, though!).

One gripe I do have with the overly cartoony feel is that it makes some of the extras feel just a tad two-dimensional. The pirates are all snivelling lowlifes looking to make a quick dash and hit the high seas at their first opportunity, and the lower-ranking Company ‘mon (or at least Lyn and Eisenberg’s lackeys) are your general Evil Thugs devoted to their evil boss’s cause. You can argue that Lyn and his ilk might surround themselves with Bad Guys for servants, but at least the pirates feel like they should fall under a broader spectrum of motivations than ‘for the heck of it’, and so far we haven’t really seen that. Points for what you did with Margi and the Marked as a whole, though. They have a realistic motivation to constantly be screeching that Pleo is a demon, and Margi showed that they can be at least somewhat flexible on the matter. It feels real, even though it’s treading risky ground in a K-rated environment.

On the whole, though, the plot of Fledglings is pretty engaging and pretty easy to fly through! The cycle of “flee to this island” --> “get tangled up in local affairs” --> “Company forces move in” --> “time to escape” is one that seems fairly renewable, so long as it feels like there’s a sense of progression in the background. It’s a clever way to introduce us to the various islands and cultures of the Cradle while keeping the story relatively simple at its core. We’re only in the introductory… fourth, if I’m gauging the wordcount correctly, and that map says there’s only three or four more notable islands to explore (Including the Company capital), so I’m expecting a shakeup about halfway through.

We also need to talk about the Airbender parallels. Because wow do those pile on. I know you said there was Watership Down inspiration, and I think maybe some Airbender inspo (though Idk it was a year ago don’t quote me on that), but honestly from the moment the Company flags sail into Tromba’s harbor the whole fic just goes pure Airbender, all the way down to the PG tone. We see a plot-central character whose return is pivotal to kicking the current events in motion, ships from a semi-evil empire hell-bent on catching said character, a mostly MoTW setup where the main group flees from said evil empire while learning about the various cultures of the different places they travel to, and so on. Pretty much the only major thing we’re missing at this point is some kind of a tragic shock for Pleo (which I have a feeling might be on the horizon, if the theories of the Marked hold any weight…) and a ‘Zuko’ faction. …Or maybe that’s supposed to be Elty. Idk does he really qualify? More on him later I guess. Lyn feels too evil for me, and Eisenberg is a clear Number 2.

I also! Really appreciate that there isn’t an obvious supernatural ‘something evil is coming to destroy the world’ plot being set up here in the early game. The conflict from all sides is entirely mon-made, which is quite frankly really rare to see in the PMD Genre. Especially in a fic of this size, and especially done as well as it is. Even without the presence of a Human or an impending cataclysm to set the plot into gear, the Company is a formidable and scary villain, and that’s what gives this fic a lot of its unique flair: it’s telling a story that has (so far) realistic proportions.

My plot ‘hopes’ moving forward… which may be a little bit redundant to throw out when I’ve only scrounged through a fourth of what’s currently out, but oh well: I hope the island chase formula doesn’t overstay its welcome. Having a great plot setup but then using it far after it’s gotten stale and not actually changing the status quo is an issue I have with a good number of cartoons, and I hope it doesn’t manifest here. I also hope you capitalize on the currently more down-to-earth subject matter you’ve got going – I want to see more focus on The Company and how the awakening of the Protectors affects their hold over the Cradle, instead of seeing them slowly get sidelined for a more conventional supernatural lore plot down the line.

And also for Hatteras’ stealth crew not to be stuck an island behind on the chase forever. That would be terrible D:

The Characters

Nida: Hnnnnng Nida. I’m split on this character. She’s technically the lead MC (not counting Pleo because he’s both a baby and a walking plot device) and she’s pretty entertaining to read, but when she has her moments she can be pretty bossy/obnoxious. At the same time, you can tell her heart’s in the right place. And she’s pretty young! So I give leeway.

I’m not entirely sure where her character’s supposed to go at this point in the fic, since her main objective seems to be making sure Pleo’s safe currently. She does seem to be working slightly better with her teammates at the end of the Kenobi arc than she was before, so I’ll count that as a good improvement/direction for the time being. It’s still pretty early on in the story, so there’s time for things to develop more properly down the line.

Pleo: Probably the character I have the least to say about, because he’s a literal baby and pretty much the simplest character of all currently. His innocence is adorable, but it’s just waiting to be shattered in some way, shape, or form once they run into something Nida, Elty, and Co. can’t brush under the rug with reassuring words. Until then, he remains the Precious Baby of the team, but it’s a false security.

Elty: I think so far, Elty is shaping up to be my ~second favorite character from this fic. Mostly because he knows what’s up most of the time and is the closest thing they have to a tour guide, but also because he seems to genuinely be not that bad, but half the cast just shits on him constantly because ‘pirate’ and it’s hard not to feel some sympathy for him.

I’m not really sure where to peg him on the morality vector – he seems like he either wants you to believe he’s a heartless thug or is flippant and legit doesn’t care what you think of him, but at the same time he seems to be honorable enough that he’s tagging along with Nida and Pleo and using the ‘they have my stuff!’ plea more as an excuse than anything. Like, his ‘thug’ qualities aren’t really making me think real thug. But at the same time he’s apparently all about this pirate’s life that was about looting ships and stealing things from others, and it just doesn’t line up to me. I feel like there’s a piece I’m missing as to why he’s so attached to the pirates, but doesn’t seem to truly be one. Though Idk maybe that’s just a faulty read and it really is that simple. I… have a habit of reading way too much into morally grey people and thinking of ways they could be Not Bad :joltyshrug:

Guildmaster/Mayor Hatteras: I think it’s absolutely hilarious that you created a character basically identical to the PSMD Ampharos six months before PSMD even came out so much so I wonder if the game developers were taking notes… probably not. The game would have been far into development by then. Regardless of who inspired what, Hatteras definitely acts the part of 75% competent leader, 25% doof. I enjoyed seeing his relatively cool head when dealing with the company and the same ‘read between the lines’ wit/gall that his PSMD counterpart had – though I do find his sudden ‘wigglytuff’ streaks a bit strange amongst the rest of it. Wouldn’t work very well if the tone were any less goofy, I think. (This is also an issue I have with Wigglytuff and Canon Ampharos, FWIW)

Lyn and Eisenberg: These two are basically your run of the mill Bad Guys. Not much morality here to be seen, only apathy and grouching from Lyn and Eisenberg hoping he can benefit from Lyn’s success in some way. These two are pretty scummy! Even though it seems they’re not at the top of the ladder. I don’t think these guys are the actual villains, but I’ll be interested to see if you take them any interesting places down the line. I just… hope they don’t get trapped in a “travel to island, fail to do the One Job you had to do, rinse and repeat” cycle.

Side Characters: The side characters range from mellow to interesting to somewhat tertiary, depending on which island the story is on. They don’t really seem to be super involved with the story outside of Tromba, but they do seem distinct enough that it feels like Bosoician and Kenobi have real cultures, both civilized and wild. Tromba’s tight-knit, villager culture is an interesting one, and it feels like the one we’ve gotten to know the best. Which is just as well, since it seems a good number of those characters are getting involved in the story beyond the introductory arc. Standout faves for me are Scout, Nida’s Mom I forget the name of right now, and the captain of the tromba guard guy I’m tired okay :V

It was also kind of funny to see how much Calino’s reputation just. plummeted the moment Team Traveler got off Tromba.

yn and Ellsberg turned their heads just in time to catch the Braixen's form get enveloped in a magenta-colored flash, giving way to a gray and red form with sharp claws. A creature with a spry, bipedal stance emerged from the dissipating light, a thick mane tied down around a bead hanging from its head. When the light cleared away, all that was left was unmistakeable form of a Zoroark wearing a scarf with the four-layered design of a Company Administrator, much to Ellsberg's buzzing surprise.

Another braixen-shifting-zoroark, I see :)

I hope that’s his usual undercover form, instead of a one-off dummy, because that would be interesting to see.

I do have to say, though… Poor Crom. It’s probably just as well, since there was no way Pleo was going to carry him off Lyn’s ship, but so far he’s gotten the short end of the stick D:

General dynamics!

I’ve probably said it too much, but Nida making Elty her personal grudge-toy on grounds of being a pirate is a dynamic that kind of rubbed me the wrong way up until the infiltration of Lyn’s ship just around how mean/one-note it is. Thankfully it equalized itself once they had to flee Tromba, since Elty actually had more ground to defend himself. And it seems to be getting slowly less icy as they spend more time as a team. Hoping that continues on a positive trend.

Interested to see what more of an effect the Marked will have on Pleo going forward. Especially if we learn down the line that the Protectors aren’t exactly the heroes most of the Cradle believes them to be. I feel like that would be a pretty big jolt for him and give him some shadow of a conflict that he doesn’t brush off soon after he gets it. As cruel as that might be to inflict upon a baby…

I like that Team Traveler is slowly starting to become less dysfunctional and act like a real team. No clue what Guardia’s introduction is going to do for that dynamic though. It will be nice having a fourth character to round out the team, though. I always kept thinking someone was missing because just Nida, Elty, and Pleo seemed like one too few. On the other hand, Crom D:

Theories

I’m pretty sure that the Marked’ version of events holds some weight. As I said before, the version of the story told in the prologue just seems a bit too fanciful to be completely true, and it would make absolutely delicious conflict for Pleo. Obviously Not-Watership Down and the fact that he changes pokemon and details depending on the island ties into this somehow too, but I’m not really sure yet. Too early to tell I think.

I’m also thinking on the Company, and what their plans for the future are. Obviously we know what their short-term goals are

1) control the Cradle

2) control the protectors, certifying their control over the cradle

3) profit

But I wonder if there’s some level of a conspiracy going on here with the upper board we haven’t seen yet. I have a suspicion they’re either (A) involved with whatever prompted Pleo’s awakening, or (B) they’re going to start looking at the Protectors as a lucrative business, and once the next one awakens… Either way, I feel like they’re going into this with some idea of their long-term goals.

It also has to be asked why only now Protectors are coming back. That feels like something that would need to be predicated by some initiating event, and we haven’t really seen that happen yet. Unless Pleo was born as a defense against the Company’s encroachments, but then, well. You have to ask why that didn’t happen to the other islands. Tromba’s is arguably the most removed from the Company’s prodding, unless you count Bocoisian.

Like I said before, I might be reading way too much into it, but I still have the creeping feeling that Elty has something that’s driving him towards piracy beyond ‘it’s a pirate’s life for me’. He just… doesn’t strike me as the type who has no qualms burning/raiding ships but suddenly goes soft when his captors drag him on a dangerous cross-continential journey. And like, he had the chance to run away. His crew was in port in Kenobi, he had the bag, and he didn’t go with them. (Or at least, he hasn’t yet.) So I just… I dunno. It’s just a feeling.

I do have to wonder when some of the other things we’ve heard about get into play! For instance, Cabot. I haven’t seen Cabot yet. I think he sails Company? Idk I haven’t read Casting Off in a while

I only know him from BLC, so seeing him on the enemy side’ll be… interesting.

Outro

Overall, this has been a pretty fun romp so far! I have some trouble discerning the story themes this early on, and a few of the characters do admittedly suffer a little from the cartoony tone for me, but so far it seems like you’re building a solid story in a solid world that’s ripe for expansion and exploration. And this is early on, so I won’t rag the story for themes just yet.

But yeah, I think that’s about everything I had to say for this portion. I think I’ll have a more comprehensive picture later on when I’m about ~halfway through/we reach a bit twist of some kind, but until then, adios! Feel free to DM me if you wanted my opinion on anything specific, thought I glossed over something, or just wanted to talk about it!

(On that note I should add that the multilingual words you use and the glossaries at the end are a pretty cool way of including a lot of languages, and makes me want to study those languages more now :D)

~SparklingEspeon

Listening to: WW 84

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

I do have to admit I was a bit sceptical of if I’d end up liking this one going in (since K-rated cartoony isn’t usually my thing), but I can see what you were going for when you said this fic had a daring Saturday morning cartoon feel. It does keep things a bit on the cartoony side thus far, but at the same time I’ve been surprised at Fledgling’s ability to imply and keep a somewhat dark universe, while still dodging the censor enough to qualify as For Kids. It works really well as an exercise in telling a somewhat dark story without including too much shocking/horrifying content (though I’m not sure if that’s the way it was intended – feel free to let me know if that is the case, though!).

I mean when the number one and two influences on the story were ATLA and Digimon Tamers... :V

Though yes, "lighthearted with dark undertones" is very much the fundamental intended feel of the story, and glad to hear that it's coming through.

One gripe I do have with the overly cartoony feel is that it makes some of the extras feel just a tad two-dimensional. The pirates are all snivelling lowlifes looking to make a quick dash and hit the high seas at their first opportunity, and the lower-ranking Company ‘mon (or at least Lyn and Eisenberg’s lackeys) are your general Evil Thugs devoted to their evil boss’s cause. You can argue that Lyn and his ilk might surround themselves with Bad Guys for servants, but at least the pirates feel like they should fall under a broader spectrum of motivations than ‘for the heck of it’, and so far we haven’t really seen that. Points for what you did with Margi and the Marked as a whole, though. They have a realistic motivation to constantly be screeching that Pleo is a demon, and Margi showed that they can be at least somewhat flexible on the matter. It feels real, even though it’s treading risky ground in a K-rated environment.

Er… talk about bad timing, given that this upcoming arc actually gets into the thick of showing off differing motivations regarding the extras of one of the factions.

More seriously, though. In general, the characters that get more dwelled upon in this story get a bit more fleshed out as time goes on, and I hope it comes through in your future readings.

On the whole, though, the plot of Fledglings is pretty engaging and pretty easy to fly through! The cycle of “flee to this island” --> “get tangled up in local affairs” --> “Company forces move in” --> “time to escape” is one that seems fairly renewable, so long as it feels like there’s a sense of progression in the background. It’s a clever way to introduce us to the various islands and cultures of the Cradle while keeping the story relatively simple at its core. We’re only in the introductory… fourth, if I’m gauging the wordcount correctly, and that map says there’s only three or four more notable islands to explore (Including the Company capital), so I’m expecting a shakeup about halfway through.

Nah, there’s more islands than that to explore. It’s just that three or four islands on that map were explicitly highlighted. There are 90 and counting chapters to this story on the off-site versions after all. It’d get really boring really fast if all of the next ones were spent on four islands. :V

We also need to talk about the Airbender parallels. Because wow do those pile on. I know you said there was Watership Down inspiration, and I think maybe some Airbender inspo (though Idk it was a year ago don’t quote me on that), but honestly from the moment the Company flags sail into Tromba’s harbor the whole fic just goes pure Airbender, all the way down to the PG tone. We see a plot-central character whose return is pivotal to kicking the current events in motion, ships from a semi-evil empire hell-bent on catching said character, a mostly MoTW setup where the main group flees from said evil empire while learning about the various cultures of the different places they travel to, and so on. Pretty much the only major thing we’re missing at this point is some kind of a tragic shock for Pleo (which I have a feeling might be on the horizon, if the theories of the Marked hold any weight…) and a ‘Zuko’ faction. …Or maybe that’s supposed to be Elty. Idk does he really qualify? More on him later I guess. Lyn feels too evil for me, and Eisenberg is a clear Number 2.

Might be getting your wires crossed there, since ATLA has always been the number one influence on this story. So it’s not terribly shocking that you’re seeing a healthy amount of parallels while reading.

Also who is this “Eisenberg” character? Some sort of dog? I only know Ellsberg.

I also! Really appreciate that there isn’t an obvious supernatural ‘something evil is coming to destroy the world’ plot being set up here in the early game. The conflict from all sides is entirely mon-made, which is quite frankly really rare to see in the PMD Genre. Especially in a fic of this size, and especially done as well as it is. Even without the presence of a Human or an impending cataclysm to set the plot into gear, the Company is a formidable and scary villain, and that’s what gives this fic a lot of its unique flair: it’s telling a story that has (so far) realistic proportions.

I mean, one of the very early decisions made for Fledglings design-wise was that it would not be a isekai story following a human protagonist, since A: that’s what the canon games are there for, B: at the time Fledglings was being planned out, it was extremely common as a plot setup. I suppose that Pleo still fits the meta role of the “weird fish out of water” character, but it’s a significantly different feel and yields very different scenarios versus the stock setup.

That’s not to say there aren’t humans bumming around in the Cradle. It is a PMD fic, but Fledglings fundamentally isn’t their story or battle, and things are written accordingly.

My plot ‘hopes’ moving forward… which may be a little bit redundant to throw out when I’ve only scrounged through a fourth of what’s currently out, but oh well: I hope the island chase formula doesn’t overstay its welcome. Having a great plot setup but then using it far after it’s gotten stale and not actually changing the status quo is an issue I have with a good number of cartoons, and I hope it doesn’t manifest here. I also hope you capitalize on the currently more down-to-earth subject matter you’ve got going – I want to see more focus on The Company and how the awakening of the Protectors affects their hold over the Cradle, instead of seeing them slowly get sidelined for a more conventional supernatural lore plot down the line.

I’ll say that thus far, the narrative dynamics undergo shakeups roughly at the quarter marks in this story. So… yeah, can’t vouch for if you’ll find them to overstay their welcome, or else if enough will change from arc to arc for your tastes, but the island chase has a few more arcs to go in it from where you’re at.

And also for Hatteras’ stealth crew not to be stuck an island behind on the chase forever. That would be terrible D:

Shhh… o3o

Nida: Hnnnnng Nida. I’m split on this character. She’s technically the lead MC (not counting Pleo because he’s both a baby and a walking plot device) and she’s pretty entertaining to read, but when she has her moments she can be pretty bossy/obnoxious. At the same time, you can tell her heart’s in the right place. And she’s pretty young! So I give leeway.

I’m not entirely sure where her character’s supposed to go at this point in the fic, since her main objective seems to be making sure Pleo’s safe currently. She does seem to be working slightly better with her teammates at the end of the Kenobi arc than she was before, so I’ll count that as a good improvement/direction for the time being. It’s still pretty early on in the story, so there’s time for things to develop more properly down the line.

Hrm. It’s a little disconcerting to hear that Nida reads that muddled to you so early on, though I hope that things clear up as you go along. After all, the story is called ‘Fledglings’ for more than just Pleo being a baby Lugia.

Pleo: Probably the character I have the least to say about, because he’s a literal baby and pretty much the simplest character of all currently. His innocence is adorable, but it’s just waiting to be shattered in some way, shape, or form once they run into something Nida, Elty, and Co. can’t brush under the rug with reassuring words. Until then, he remains the Precious Baby of the team, but it’s a false security.

That obvious where things are going, huh? :V

Elty: I think so far, Elty is shaping up to be my ~second favorite character from this fic. Mostly because he knows what’s up most of the time and is the closest thing they have to a tour guide, but also because he seems to genuinely be not that bad, but half the cast just shits on him constantly because ‘pirate’ and it’s hard not to feel some sympathy for him.

I’m not really sure where to peg him on the morality vector – he seems like he either wants you to believe he’s a heartless thug or is flippant and legit doesn’t care what you think of him, but at the same time he seems to be honorable enough that he’s tagging along with Nida and Pleo and using the ‘they have my stuff!’ plea more as an excuse than anything. Like, his ‘thug’ qualities aren’t really making me think real thug. But at the same time he’s apparently all about this pirate’s life that was about looting ships and stealing things from others, and it just doesn’t line up to me. I feel like there’s a piece I’m missing as to why he’s so attached to the pirates, but doesn’t seem to truly be one. Though Idk maybe that’s just a faulty read and it really is that simple. I… have a habit of reading way too much into morally grey people and thinking of ways they could be Not Bad :joltyshrug:

I mean, unjustified cold shoulder or not, in-setting Elty doesn’t exactly hail from a popular background, and from a fairly reviled subset of said background at that, which colors interactions when he’s been known for all of about two weeks. The primary reason why he still comes off as sympathetic to the audience is that A: he wasn’t terribly good at his old job, B: he’s a superficially cute and fluffy little pupper.

Hold onto those thoughts though regarding your ambivalent read on Elty. It gets laid out in greater details a ways down the road why he became a pirate, though as you’ve likely picked up from your read, he’s still working out what exactly he wants for himself at this point in time as a character.

Guildmaster/Mayor Hatteras: I think it’s absolutely hilarious that you created a character basically identical to the PSMD Ampharos six months before PSMD even came out so much so I wonder if the game developers were taking notes… probably not. The game would have been far into development by then. Regardless of who inspired what, Hatteras definitely acts the part of 75% competent leader, 25% doof. I enjoyed seeing his relatively cool head when dealing with the company and the same ‘read between the lines’ wit/gall that his PSMD counterpart had – though I do find his sudden ‘wigglytuff’ streaks a bit strange amongst the rest of it. Wouldn’t work very well if the tone were any less goofy, I think. (This is also an issue I have with Wigglytuff and Canon Ampharos, FWIW)

Yeah, Hatteras is definitely one of those cosmic coincidences where people just flatly wouldn’t believe the story of how he came to be without the timestamps being what they are. Glad to hear you’re enjoying him, even if he’s very much one of those characters that requires a sunny and cheery (or at least on its face) world to operate in.

Lyn and Eisenberg: These two are basically your run of the mill Bad Guys. Not much morality here to be seen, only apathy and grouching from Lyn and Eisenberg hoping he can benefit from Lyn’s success in some way. These two are pretty scummy! Even though it seems they’re not at the top of the ladder. I don’t think these guys are the actual villains, but I’ll be interested to see if you take them any interesting places down the line. I just… hope they don’t get trapped in a “travel to island, fail to do the One Job you had to do, rinse and repeat” cycle.

Things get shaken up a bit for the dynamic between them, yes. Though you’re correct that Lyn and Ellsberg aren’t the primary villains in this story, even if they’ll be menacing Team Traveller for some time to come.

Side Characters: The side characters range from mellow to interesting to somewhat tertiary, depending on which island the story is on. They don’t really seem to be super involved with the story outside of Tromba, but they do seem distinct enough that it feels like Bosoician and Kenobi have real cultures, both civilized and wild. Tromba’s tight-knit, villager culture is an interesting one, and it feels like the one we’ve gotten to know the best. Which is just as well, since it seems a good number of those characters are getting involved in the story beyond the introductory arc. Standout faves for me are Scout, Nida’s Mom I forget the name of right now, and the captain of the tromba guard guy I’m tired okay :V

Those latter two would be ‘Marley’ and ‘Osmund’. Though glad to hear that the different islands thus far are cutting unique profiles for you. ^^

It was also kind of funny to see how much Calino’s reputation just. plummeted the moment Team Traveler got off Tromba.

I mean, nobody likes a miser. :V

Another braixen-shifting-zoroark, I see :)

I hope that’s his usual undercover form, instead of a one-off dummy, because that would be interesting to see.

I would imagine that he has a few different disguises he kicks around. He is fond of that one in particular though, yes. Even if Virgil and I still need to find opportunities to show him using it again.

I do have to say, though… Poor Crom. It’s probably just as well, since there was no way Pleo was going to carry him off Lyn’s ship, but so far he’s gotten the short end of the stick D:

Well if nothing else, it won’t be the last you’ve seen of him. I’ll refrain from speaking too much further on the subject since that’s pretty spoilerific.

Interested to see what more of an effect the Marked will have on Pleo going forward. Especially if we learn down the line that the Protectors aren’t exactly the heroes most of the Cradle believes them to be. I feel like that would be a pretty big jolt for him and give him some shadow of a conflict that he doesn’t brush off soon after he gets it. As cruel as that might be to inflict upon a baby…

One of the things that the story has been building towards is that everyone’s story of the way things were isn’t fully “there”, but at the same time, they’re not fully wrong either. Finding out the truth, and deciding what to do with it is a bit of a slow-burning journey in this story, but it’s absolutely something that will rear its head here and there over the story.

I like that Team Traveler is slowly starting to become less dysfunctional and act like a real team. No clue what Guardia’s introduction is going to do for that dynamic though. It will be nice having a fourth character to round out the team, though. I always kept thinking someone was missing because just Nida, Elty, and Pleo seemed like one too few. On the other hand, Crom D:

Well, they’re not out of the woods quite yet, but they do put the ‘Team’ in ‘Team Traveller’ as time goes along. And I hope you enjoy the story of how that plays out for them.

I’m pretty sure that the Marked’ version of events holds some weight. As I said before, the version of the story told in the prologue just seems a bit too fanciful to be completely true, and it would make absolutely delicious conflict for Pleo. Obviously Not-Watership Down and the fact that he changes pokemon and details depending on the island ties into this somehow too, but I’m not really sure yet. Too early to tell I think.

Well, it’s not completely wrong, but like everything else myth-wise in this setting, it’s not completely right either. How that shakes out, I’ll leave that for you to observe as your readthrough progresses.

I’m also thinking on the Company, and what their plans for the future are. Obviously we know what their short-term goals are

1) control the Cradle

2) control the protectors, certifying their control over the cradle

3) profit

But I wonder if there’s some level of a conspiracy going on here with the upper board we haven’t seen yet. I have a suspicion they’re either (A) involved with whatever prompted Pleo’s awakening, or (B) they’re going to start looking at the Protectors as a lucrative business, and once the next one awakens… Either way, I feel like they’re going into this with some idea of their long-term goals.

Well, it’s not that far removed from reality, but the Company’s ranks mostly have their horizons set a bit lower than that. Mostly, anyways.

It also has to be asked why only now Protectors are coming back. That feels like something that would need to be predicated by some initiating event, and we haven’t really seen that happen yet. Unless Pleo was born as a defense against the Company’s encroachments, but then, well. You have to ask why that didn’t happen to the other islands. Tromba’s is arguably the most removed from the Company’s prodding, unless you count Bocoisian.

Something something, the story fundamentally would track whenever Pleo woke up given that it is called ‘Fledglings’. At this point in time, the cast would parse Pleo’s awakening as essentially a coincidence or a stroke of fate. What comes of it is another matter.

Like I said before, I might be reading way too much into it, but I still have the creeping feeling that Elty has something that’s driving him towards piracy beyond ‘it’s a pirate’s life for me’. He just… doesn’t strike me as the type who has no qualms burning/raiding ships but suddenly goes soft when his captors drag him on a dangerous cross-continential journey. And like, he had the chance to run away. His crew was in port in Kenobi, he had the bag, and he didn’t go with them. (Or at least, he hasn’t yet.) So I just… I dunno. It’s just a feeling.

Hold onto that thought there.

I do have to wonder when some of the other things we’ve heard about get into play! For instance, Cabot. I haven’t seen Cabot yet. I think he sails Company? Idk I haven’t read Casting Off in a while

I only know him from BLC, so seeing him on the enemy side’ll be… interesting.

Well, he is on the enemy side, but he’s not a Company ‘mon. Though if you’re wondering where he is in the story, you might want to take a closer look at the final scene of Chapter 32. :V

Overall, this has been a pretty fun romp so far! I have some trouble discerning the story themes this early on, and a few of the characters do admittedly suffer a little from the cartoony tone for me, but so far it seems like you’re building a solid story in a solid world that’s ripe for expansion and exploration. And this is early on, so I won’t rag the story for themes just yet.

But yeah, I think that’s about everything I had to say for this portion. I think I’ll have a more comprehensive picture later on when I’m about ~halfway through/we reach a bit twist of some kind, but until then, adios! Feel free to DM me if you wanted my opinion on anything specific, thought I glossed over something, or just wanted to talk about it!

(On that note I should add that the multilingual words you use and the glossaries at the end are a pretty cool way of including a lot of languages, and makes me want to study those languages more now :D)

~SparklingEspeon

Glad to hear that you’re enjoying the story thus far, and Virgil and I will be looking forward to getting more feedback from you in the future. ^^

Speaking of which, we’ll be kicking off a new episode as part of today’s update. Why don’t we check in and see what’s going on, and what new island Team Traveller finds themselves on?

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

As the first rays of sunlight began to poke over the horizon, a Fearow with Company lavenders swooped down and latched onto a branch of a solitary, scraggly tree by the sand on the far end of Kenobi. From his perch, the creature beat out his wings to get his blood flowing, sore from a long night of searching flying about Kenobi's airspace. His Crobat superior had grown particularly cantankerous since that tumble into the sea the day prior, demonstrated in his assignment of search sectors.

Rustle

The Flying-Type jerked his head at the sound of nearby grass being disturbed. The bird ruffled his feathers at the sound of grumbling and shambling footsteps, along with an odor that managed to rankle even his less-sensitive avian sense of smell. The source of the sound and stench soon became clear, as a seasick-looking Krokorok wearing a lavender scarf pushed through some dried golden-brown grasses and scampered along the beach. He looked up and down the coastline, before shaking his head and sighing as he noticed his counterpart.

"Blurgh… what a night to get food poisoning," the crocodile groaned. "Doesn't Administrator Farn have Pokémon that can search her own island?"

"Yeah, I dunno either, Ken," the Fearow answered. "But at least you haven't been stuck with my group. Air Officer Kane's been giving me and the other fliers an earful for not looking alive in 'a search at a sane hour for once'."

The Krokorok paused, furrowing his brow before launching into an exasperated response.

"A sane hour?! Maurier, is he daft?! It's almost time for the sun to come over the horizon!" the Dark-Type hissed. "Just how much longer is Captain Lyn going to keep us-?!"

The Desert Croc Pokémon noticed the Fearow's eyes widen, before the bird suddenly flew up into the air with a startled squawk. The Krokorok turned around, and promptly dropped his jawed and went wide-eyed as he saw a large wave coming for him directly from the sea...

Sploosh!

...and was promptly swept aside into a sand drift. The wave's culprit was revealed to be an irked Samurott, who marched up the beach grumbling to himself while the hapless reptile spluttered and hacked up water and sand.

"Bah, I don't believe this…"

Clearly their captain had not had much luck searching the waters between the island and the atoll over the last few hours. The two Company Pokémon hastily pulled themselves to attention as Lyn shook himself dry and turned a scowling gaze on the pair.

"Give me a status report," the otter barked. "If there's been so much as a feather from that bird floating around, I want to know about it!"

The Samurott waited expectantly and twitched his whiskers impatiently, only to be answered by the sound of breaking waves and stammering from the two underlings before him. The Water-Type began to scowl, and repeated his question with a loud, growling emphaticness.

"Well?" he demanded. "Has there been any sign at all?"

The Fearow and the Krokorok traded reluctant looks before the bird shook his head and began to speak.

"Apologies, Captain," Maurier finally answered. "But none of the flying teams have seen any sign of the Guardian or those kids with him. Or anything out of the ordinary for that matter."

The Samurott seethed before shaking his head and pointing at the reptile with a paw.

"And you?" Lyn pressed.

Ken gulped and uneasily squirmed under his superior's glare. It wouldn't be wise to get on his bad side twice in just over a day, but... just what was he supposed to tell him?

Actually… maybe there was something to bring up...

"Eh… well, there was one thing," the crocodile murmured. "I heard one of Pokémon from the mountain sectors say they overheard screams that sounded like a Cubone's while patrolling a bluff."

The Samurott blinked and paused as he mulled the Dark-Type's words. After a brief moment of rumination, the otter furrowed his brow and gave a shake of his head, realizing that the incident had a perfectly normal explanation.

"Hrmph, it was probably just a feral getting caught up by the law of the wild," Lyn harrumphed. "I fail to see why you would find that strange."

"Well, there weren't any ledges or anything overhead, so the screams had to be coming from the air," the reptile began. "I mean, I suppose now that you mention it there are flying Pokémon that could carry one off, but…"

The Krokorok began to yawn, much to Lyn's displeasure. As he opened his mouth to begin to castigate the crocodile, he heard Maurier yawn as well. Looking to the east, Lyn noticed the sunlight poking over the horizon. Had the night already gone by so fast? Now that he thought about it, his swimming had become sluggish and jerky over the last couple of hours.

"I think that we've searched enough for a night... enough to leave things in the paws of the relief teams," he sighed. "Go back and get them. If tonight was anything to go by, the Guardian and his cohorts are probably still hiding somewhere in town right now."

"Aye, Captain," the pair replied. The Krokorok and Fearow set off, leaving Lyn behind with the rising sun. The Water-Type looked back at the sun, and gave a low growl off at the horizon.

"You and your friends can't hide from me forever..."

---

"Ow!"

Nida's yelping voice carried over the water as she felt a stiff blow strike her back. Behind her was a rather startled-looking Cubone who was drawing her arm back to her side, trying her hardest not to look at the churning waves far below.

"A-are we there yet?" Guardia weakly asked. The pitiful show made Elty fold his ears back. Did he really have to worry about this now- as the sun coming over the horizon rendered the star chart underpaw less and less useful? She'd stopped screaming and had only gotten sick once during the entire flight at least, but could she not pester them about getting out of the air?

"For the hundredth time-" he growled, only to be cut off by a sudden hiss.

"Hush, Elty!"

Ferals really didn't take being put in strange situations well, did they? The Nidoran sighed and tiredly shook her head. After a little thinking, she answered softly to try and soothe the wide-eyed Cubone.

"Sorry, not yet. It's probably still going to take a while," Nida answered. "There's nothing but water all around... see?"

The mention of water drew a shudder from the Ground-Type, prompting her to claw deeper into Pleo's back. The Lugia felt the sudden pinch and shrieked, jolting his passengers midflight.

"A-AAAAH!"

"No no no, nothing too fancy, mewa!"

"Sudden jolting hurts the Nidoran, Pleo!"

As Pleo's flight stabilized, his three passengers caught themselves panting and trying to regain their nerves. Elty's were the first to return to him, as he turned and glared at Nida. This was all her fault. If she had just gone back to that angry bartender, he'd be back in the Iron Fleet and she and the mewa would be back on their quest to get home.

But no, they just had to leave before Hess could come, and they just had to take this little bonehead with them.

"I knew it wasn't a good idea to take the scaredy Skitty along," he grunted. The Growlithe yanked his snout back as the end of a bone slipped past it, just barely dodging the club before coming face to face with a now glaring Cubone

"I-I'm not scared!" she spat angrily. "S-Say that again when we're not all a few seconds from falling to our deaths and see what happens then!"

"Enough!" Nida cried. "Look, we're all in this pinch together, so let's just try to stay quiet for-"

"Are we there yet?" Pleo's voice tirely chirped from the front.

"No!" Elty barked. "And don't you get in on this too!"

Pleo's flight wobbled a little after Elty’s protests, the Lugia sluggishly attempting to climb up higher in the air. He knew that Elty, Nida, and now Guardia were all counting on him to fly them and to be their Protector, but...

"My wings are hurting again, though!" Pleo complained. "And I keep hearing some muffled sound in the distance, I thought it would be from the island, and-"

"It's alright, it's alright," Nida insisted, nuzzling "We will get there, I'm sure everything will be alright."

"Uh-Uhm... you mean like that?" a wide-eyed Elty sputtered, gesturing with his paw up ahead. In the distance, heavy, jet-black clouds were churning, and worse…

Bo-Boom…

Thundering. Much to the horror of Pleo's passengers, he was heading straight for the storm!

"Um… Pleo? We need to turn around, now," Nida said, her barbs pricking up out of tension.

"H-Huh?!" Pleo exclaimed. "B-But I’m feeling better right now!"

"Forget about that!" Elty shouted. "We need to not get blown out of the sky by that storm!"

"You don't understand, the island’s just up ahead and I think I can make it!" Pleo squawked back. "Look!"

Elty was about to argue back in his hurry to get far, far away from the the skies over the Cradle's sea, but he began to notice how not only not only the mewa was heading right for the storm, but Elty had a clearer view of it and the world around than before.

In spite of the looming clouds ahead, Pleo's flight was calm and stable enough that Elty could easily make out some shapes in the distance, there was a narrow band of colors and right past them... a green-shrouded hillside!

The three faltered and looked at each other, then at the clouds ahead, and realized that there was only one solution.

"We're gonna have to go through it," Nida gulped. "It's the only way."

"F-Fly us lower at least!" Guardia cried. "What if we fall?!"

"You can't be serious, spike ball," Elty yipped. "It's already tough enough going through a storm on a ship, and you want the mewa to do it?!"

But for some strange reason, Pleo didn't seem to be fazed. No, he kept flying on ahead, his wings beating with increasing firmness and his pace quickening as he sliced on ahead under the darkened clouds.

Bo-Boom…

The rumblings of thunder came more frequently and the wind began to whistle. As the team slipped under the darkened clouds, they felt rain platter against their pelts. Winds whipping around them, the three screwed their eyes shut and clung on for dear life, expecting at any moment to be thrown loose.

But that moment never came…

"Pleo?"

As Nida cracked an eye open against the whipping winds, she saw that Pleo was flying on completely unfazed, chirping cheerily along the howling wind and bobbing his head to and fro at the surrounding clouds. It was as if he were entranced- and the fatigue he had been struggling under for the last few hours had melted away. A short time after, the three felt the rain let up, the sun returned, and they passed the band of dark clouds as Mengir Island came into view.

The island consisted of a collection of steep hills up ahead, with a forest of needle-like stone spires protruding from a thick fog at the center. Pleo stared at it, and then puzzledly back at the darkened clouds, before continuing on. As the team got further and further from the clouds behind them, the little Protector's flight began to grow sluggish and tired again. After a staggering and panting final stretch, Pleo came to a stumbling rest at a green-sanded beach surrounded by stony bluffs, flopping down against the sand and leaving his passengers to tumble off his back into an exhausted pile.

"Urgh… let's not do that again for a while," Guardia groaned.

"Seconded," Elty panted. "I smell like I fell into a river right now!"

"Pleo?" Nida asked. "Are you alright?"

The Lugia craned his neck up and shook out his plumage. He looked about his surroundings, but seemed dissatisfied upon turning back to his teammates.

"I don’t know why I feel so tired again," he murmured. "I know I felt good when we were flying through those clouds when we were coming here…"

"Okay, how do you feel better going through a storm?!" Elty grumbled, lowering his eyes. The dog quickly shook himself dry from the trip through the rain, lowering his ears annoyedly.

"I just felt a lot better when we were around it. My wings didn’t feel tired, and I felt relaxed. And then the water came down from the sky and helped too, and…" he began. The young Lugia put a wing puzzledly to his beak, only to turn back to the dark clouds when a realization dawned upon him.

"Oh! That’s it!" he exclaimed. "It must’ve been that ‘storm’ thingy that made me feel better!"

As Pleo babbled on about the storm clouds and waved them off with a cheery "bye" (before pulling his wings back and noticing they felt rather sore), the rest of Team Traveller looked at each other speechless. Nida paused and wondered… Storms were things that Pokémon ran away and hid from… but then why would Pleo like them? Wasn't he a Protector? Protectors wouldn't like storms…

Would they?

"Oi!"

The sound of Elty's voice snapped everyone back to attention. There, off in the distance, was a small settlement of light-colored huts bounded by a river. On the other end of the river, there were fields and a fort on a motte surrounded by wooden palisades that loomed over its surroundings. Curiously enough, the village seemed to be built among a collection of tall, craggy rocks, though there didn't seem to be an easy way to walk over…

"Looks like you might have landed a little early," Elty sighed. "If you can get back into the air, we could always land at one of the out-"

"NO!"

Elty, Nida, and Pleo collectively flinched and turned to their wide-eyed Cubone teammate. The creature looked tired, obviously rattled, and clearly unenthusiastic about the prospect of further flying.

"N-No more flying, please," she pleaded. "We're already at your 'Mengir' and everything!"

"Well how else are we going to get there, huh?" Elty snapped. "You don't mean for us to climb these bluffs, do you? And we'd have to find our way over without a map afterwards!"

"But Elty!" Pleo whined. "My wings are sore!"

The three proceeded to begin to bicker tiredly with one another, leaving Nida to sigh and turn to the still-churning water offshore. As she watched the passing forms of Pokémon making their way to the settlement's harbor, the spike ball squeaked with excited realization.

"Wait a minute, we do have another way over!" she cried.

"We… do-?" Pleo asked, looking out at the water and its inviting, bobbing, wave. Suddenly, Nida's same realization dawned upon him.

"Oh!" he cried, giving a triumphant trill. "I can swim all of us over!"

Elty and Guardia both groaned and looked out at the stretch of sea to the settlement, before training skeptical looks at their Poison-Type teammate.

"I mean, I suppose it's safer than flying," Guardia grumbled. "But going through all that water?"

"We'd have to go through the harbor, too! That's the busiest part of any town!" Elty added. "We don't know if the village there's already been told about us, so just how would we be able to get in without being spotted?"

Peck peck peck...

The three turned, and saw Pleo pecking curiously at a battered and worn crate washed up among some rocks. Elty gave a sour frown, before shaking his head with a grumble.

"Oi, mewa!"

"Whuh?!" Pleo squawked, jerking his head up. "What's the matter?!"

Nida eyed the crate, then the surprised-looking Lugia, and then the crate again. It was ridden with holes, and hardly a seaworthy craft, but it was big enough to hold Pleo in it.

Though then again… what if they didn't get into the crate… but the crate got onto them?

"Actually, Elty", she said. "I think there is a way we can sneak in while swimming."

---

After hastily pulling themselves back aboard Pleo, Team Traveller found that the battered crate fit snugly over their heads, giving the appearance of a lost article of cargo bobbing along the waves. While far from perfect, with their impromptu camouflage, the four were emboldened bobbed along in the water towards the distant village's harbor.

The plodding cruise took them past the harbor's ships, and dockworkers toiling away at shuffling cargo around. The group also passed Pokémon who traded curious looks at the box with a white tail trailing it, only to shrug the matter off as some children at play. Amazingly enough to Guardia, their disguise seemed to pass muster.

Their journey finally ended as Pleo came ashore underneath a wooden set of docks built atop a soggy beach. Some rocks formed a crude retaining wall and wooden pilings behind them.

Pushing their wooden cover off as they dismounted from the Lugia's back, Nida, Pleo, Elty, and Guardia darted further under the piers, where muffled conversations from the local harbor Pokémon filtered down from the docks above.

"Oh, the roses? They're for my baba," a passing voice said. "She's on bedrest after she got attacked by ferals out at those sacred stones on the outskirts."

"She should have known better, the ferals have been surly around these parts for years" a deeper voice sighed. "I don't understand why the old generation makes such a big deal with that dump anyways…"

The voices faded away into a sea of indistinct murmurs as the sound of footsteps carried on down the dock. After pausing and flicking his ears in the air for a moment, Elty noticed that the voices sounded louder on their left. Following the Growlithe's lead, the group found a hole punched into the docks' wooden planks near the edge, perhaps by a stray attack. After a few sniffs at the air and a careful listen for footfalls and movement above the background noise of lapping sea waves, the members of Team Traveller popped out of a hole behind a heap of wooden barrels. The four quickly darted out into a lane, where the buildings of the humble village came into view.

The buildings along the shore were rough and simple wooden shacks of similar construction to the seaside structures back home. Like their counterparts back in Bluewhorl, the rude buildings teemed with activity as sailors and harbor residents went about their daily routines. Almost immediately, one feature stood out as very different from little Bluewhorl Town...

"Wow, Nida, look at the big rocks!"

Up ahead, there were two tall stones that had been planted into the ground on opposite sides of a path leading from the docks up a hill. The team followed after Pleo as he darted out to the stones and began to eye some vertical columns of footprint runes and a carving of a deer-shaped figure with branching antlers etched among clumps of moss. As Nida shifted her gaze around, paying mind to the guards who would surely be in a Company town, Guardia wandered around some of the stones on their own. The Growlithe of the group made sure he kept a safe distance from her, wondering if she would remember her comment from before.

That was not much of an issue, for the newest addition to Team Traveller was mesmerized by the new sights. So these 'towns' really were like big colony grounds, if one full of Pokémon that were nothing like each other. There were walking Pokémon, swimming Pokémon, Pokémon that flew...

But, how did they make all of these? Without caves or wands to burrow holes? And how did they get these giant boulders propped up? Machitabi never said anything about rocks like these being in the town along the shore back home...

"They look so... firm, and heavy. There are creatures that can actually move stones like these?" the Cubone asked. After prodding at the base of one of the two standing stones, she turned to Nida and tilted her head curiously. "I never heard anything about this back home... is this how majū from towns start building their homes? Placing stones like these around?"

"I- I think this must be something that only Pokémon on this island do," the Nidoran answered as she rubbed her arm, not knowing what else to offer. These structures were certainly something different from anything they'd seen so far, and Nida had the impression they were not really intended to be homes, or anything of that sort.

Now that she noticed it, there were a number of other things that seemed to be particular to this town. There weren't as many shops down by the docks, and there were more stones off in the distance. A number of buildings further inland seemed to be built with whitewashed walls and wooden shingles on their roofs. There was a stream in the distance, but there didn't seem to be much of the town on the other end beyond a fort complex consisting of low-slung buildings ringed by wooden palisades and stern looking guards patrolling the perimeter...

"Well how was I supposed to know we had a visiting Administrator?"

And, as the group had feared, the town also had Pokémon in Company lavenders coming and going. Nida and Elty's fur stood up as they caught the sight of a Stantler and Sudowoodo passing by, the pair idly chattering as the reindeer carefully tugged along a cart loaded down with sturdy crates along, steadied by the false tree.

"The only ironclad in port then was Zorn's!" the Normal-Type protested. "And it's not my fault that Dragonite wasn't watching where his tail was!"

"Eh, don't worry about it," the Sudowoodo replied. "Of all the Admins to get on the bad side of, you could've done much worse than that tubby lizard."

For a fleeting second, time froze and the team's blood ran cold as the two cast glances at the party by the stone pillars. Then, the pair shifted their attention back, seemingly unconcerned by Team Traveller's presence.

So word hadn't reached this island yet! This meant that they'd be in the clear as long as-

"Oi! Don't think that we're just gonna let you get away!"

Nida, Pleo, and Elty grimaced as Guardia ran out into the path, bellowing and stamping her feet behind the two Company Pokémon. The startled Stantler stumbled forward and jolted the cart, making a crate towards the top shift and totter a panicked expression flash over the grunts' faces. After hastily throwing his arms out to steady the crate and push it back onto the cart, the Sudowoodo and its companion turned around, shooting venomous glares at the Cubone.

"Hey, just what was that for, huh?!" the Stantler snarled. "Making Pokémon drop delicate cargo your idea of a fun time or something?!"

"Yeah, are you trying to start something?" the Sudowoodo growled.

"That's right, I am!" Guardia shouted back, tightening her grip on her club. "I'm gonna-! Mrph!"

Before the Cubone could finish her words, she was hastily cut off by a paw over her mouth and drug up the lane. As the Ground-Type stumbled along flailing and protesting, Elty yipped back at the two lavender-scarved Pokémon.

"Sorry about that, she's new!" the Growlithe apologized, before growling and shooting a glare and growling at Guardia. "And we were just going..."

The group dragged their new teammate up the lane and into an alley as some distant grumbles between the two Company Pokémon of "what was her problem, anyways?" floated through the air. After the three fell behind the alley, the team's Pokémon relaxed their grip, and...

Thwack

"OW!"

… came face-to-face with a glaring Guardia, her bone having freshly found its mark on Elty's head. The dog shook his head and flattened his ears back, snarling.

"What is your problem?"

"What is my problem?" Guardia shot back. "They were yajū that clearly had nothing good in mind for us! You should've known by their scarf colors and those nasty-looking horns the four-legged one had! If you don't fight 'em off, they'll come back for you!"

Guardia's rebuttal drew a wave of paws and wings over faces.

"Um… Nida? It doesn't work that way, does it?" Pleo asked, giving his head a puzzled tilt.

After screwing her eyes shut and furrowing her brow, Nida muttered under her breath, and attempted to explain the situation to their new teammate.

"Guardia… remember scarf-wearers aren't supposed to cause trouble with each other for no reason," she sighed. "The Company Pokémon here don't know that they're supposed to try and catch us, so if we fight them, we look like the bad Pokémon!"

"Eh? But aren't these Company majū like predators?" she asked, pedaling her free claw. "Always causing trouble because that's what they are?"

As Pleo began to open his beak to ask what 'predators' were, Elty hastily interrupted, shaking his head.

"I told you taking her along was a bad idea, spike ball," he grumbled.

"Hush!"

The Nidoran shook her head and tried to think of how explain the matter. After a few mental false starts, she began to spell out an explanation.

"That's… not how it works," she sighed. "Look, you saw how they didn't recognize us earlier, right?"

"Yes…?"

"Well, we don't have that much time to try and help Pleo learn how to use his powers here before they do recognize us," she explained. "And if we get into trouble, we'll only speed that up!"

The Cubone paused and tilted her head. It sounded strange that a foe Pokémon wouldn't know when to be a foe, but it did seem to make sense under its own logic.

"So if we don't have to fight with our enemies to help your Protector learn how to draw out his power," she began. "Then what do we need to do?"

"Well, Guildmaster Hatteras had us take a mission to try and draw out Pleo's power," Nida replied. "So we could always try that again…"

Nida looked at Elty and Pleo, and saw their eyes had dark, tired-looking circles underneath them. Perhaps the flight and sleep deprivation had taken more out of them than she initially thought…

"Though on the other hand… we've been up all night and could use some rest," Nida murmured. "And there are a couple things we could use before accepting a mission anyways."

Nida lifted the coin purse that had been liberated from Valatos, the Yanmega that had ambushed them yesterday. She gave it a stiff shake and heard the satisfying clink of metal inside, before dropping the satchel safely back into her bag and turning to Guardia.

"Why don't we put the money from those jerks back in your dungeon to some good use?"

The four Pokémon poked their heads back out of the alley and, after seeing the coast was clear, continued up the path from the docks, passing a collection of the town's stone pillars and little white-walled huts that stretched along the path. The scenery of huts and standing stones on the way was occasionally punctuated by larger structures. There were a few more built-up houses, a signaling platform for ships on a hilly outcropping, and a two-storied medic's hut with a stone base and shingled roof down the lane from a bustling juice bar that a passing Luxio chatting up a Chansey called a 'taverna'. To their pleasant surprise, the team discovered that one of the larger buildings the path passed was none other than one 'Mengir Island Guild'.

The guild was completely housed in a multi-story building with white, rough-hewn stone walls and scruffy domed roofs covered in teal-painted shingles. In spite of its humble accommodations, the place seemed as lively as any other guild they had been to. There was a Kabutops with a sky-blue band with a prominent red dot worn as a choker reading over a mission listing pinned against one of his scythes. Over by a belled well near the entrance, a Mismagius and Charmeleon loitered in wait for some expected companions, the Ghost-Type wondering aloud what was taking the Fire-Type's teammates so long to arrive. And out of the teal-roofed guild building, a Swirlix hopped off in a huffy mood, grumbling about being banned from the mess hall for the day for trying to eat some extra food 'that was going to go to waste anyways'.

The passing Fairy-Type's grumblings reminded Team Traveller that they had not had a bite all day… and that they had yet to do the customary first mission that would earn them food and shelter for the night at the local guild. Perhaps it was best to leave the guild behind for now, and search for food and shelter they could buy with the money 'given' to them by Valatos and his friends.

Fortunately, now that the team had the means, they had other options to choose from. An arrow-shaped sign pointed out a square built around a stone pillar alongside the stream that bounded the town from the east. In it were a host of colorful shops trafficked by a surprisingly large number of Pokémon for such a small town. There was the local franchise of the 'Merchantry', whose scaly proprietor and Pumpkaboo partner traded rivalrous looks with a Noctowl and a smaller, leafier counterpart who ran a shingled hut advertising 'recycling'. A little ways off, there was a two-story thatch-roofed building that Pokémon lugged sacks full of parcels and letters in and out of. But despite the square's amenities, Team Traveller had other priorities on their mind...

"Let's try and find a hostel to stay in," Nida yawned. "I'm bushed."

"But, Nida," Pleo protested. "Didn't we give Guardia the broken scarf? And doesn't she need a badge?"

"Nani?" the Cubone asked, as she pawed at her tattered and charred Company scarf. "What's wrong with this one?"

Nida cast a glance at the damaged scarf on their new teammate. The badge could always be borrowed from the guild in the morning and returned after their mission, but the scarf would certainly raise questions.

"You know, spike ball," Elty added. "If we got her scarf order taken care of now, we could always pick it up in the morning after some rest."

Nida glanced at the wallet, and then at the shops. They had a fair amount of coin, and a scarf couldn't be that much, right? After scanning her surroundings, the Poison-Type spotted a shop that seemed promising- one in the shape of a Butterfree's head with scarves and cloth hanging from the eaves.

"Fair enough, and I think I can see a tailor's shop right over there..."

The team set off for the shop, weaving between passing Pokémon. As they drew closer, they saw a Butterfree behind the counter, handing an off-white scarf with a blue square in its center to a customer obscured by a Tangrowth busy puzzling over a map in his viney hands.

"Incredible! It looks better than my old scarf before it got torn!" a voice enthusiastically cawed. The Bug-Type chuckled bashfully, and dismissively waved a chitinous claw.

"Well, it's the least I could do," she replied. "Especially after helping out my son in the Mystery Dungeon like that. Why, if it weren't for your help getting him out of that stony briar, who knows what would've happened to him?"

Pleo began to grow curious and bob his head to try and get a view of who the energetic-sounding stranger might be. But as he paced forward, he noticed that Nida had stopped and grown wide-eyed.

"Nida? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Yeah," Guardia added. "You're shivering!"

"Hey, wait a minute," Elty murmured. "That bird... I swear I've seen him before."

Then, the lumbering Tangrowth wandered off, revealing the butterfly tailor's customer to be a young-looking Skarmory who was inspecting the Butterfree's handiwork with unusual vigor and energy.

"All in the line of duty. But this seamstressing… why it's on par with the best I saw back in my hometown!" the bird squawked. His cheery tone and tenor faltered as a wistful look spread over his eyes. "When it was around…"

'When it was around?' So something had happened to it? Whatever the matter was, the metal bird didn't seem to dwell too long upon it. After donning his new scarf and a ruffle of his metal feathers, the creature roused his cheery demeanor and turned back to the Butterfree.

"But there's no sense in dwelling upon the past," he cheered. "Mille grazie! Truly, I will cherish it!"

As the Skarmory turned to fly off, he chanced to catch a glance of Team Traveller watching him from behind, and decided to flit over, coming to a rest in front of Nida.

"Hark! A Rescue Team!" he greeted. "Good day, fellow hunters!"

"Eh?" Guardia asked, warily shifting back and tightening her grasp on her bone. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Why, I'm the Warrior of Life and Paladin from the ashes of Blackmoon Village! Trizano, the Valiant Knight Skarmory!" the bird answered, revealing beaming eyes that had curious blotches over his pupils to form rough crossing bands. With that, the creature entered a bow, and fanned out his feathers with an audible swish, the light glinting off their edges. "At your service!"

Guardia and Pleo traded puzzled glances as Elty's brow furrowed- he was increasingly sure that he had run across this character sometime in the past. Meanwhile, Nida remained still and pallid. All those moons ago, back in that fateful day in the Mystery Dungeon…

She had run into sharp talons just like those. A cruel and sharp beak just like the one in front of her. Piercing eyes with yellow sclera, and sharp, cutting feathers. All of it was here again, and once again it had come for her.

To devour her.

"A-Ah- AAAAAAAH!"

With a shriek, the Nidoran turned and sprinted madly away through the square. The spike lump weaved around the legs of startled passerbys for a nearby back alley as fast as her legs could carry her. As Nida forced her way down the alley, she blindly shoved aside some clutter with an audible crash, much to the stunned gaze of her teammates.

"Nida?!" Pleo cried. "What's wrong?! Come back!"

"What is her problem?!" Guardia added, turning incredulously to Elty. "How can you just let her take off on us like that?!"

"Oi, how is this my fault?!" Elty spluttered.

The little Lugia and the Cubone hurried off after the fleeing Nidoran. After shooting an askew look back at the Skarmory, the Growlithe turned and followed, leaving the bird to look after the party puzzledly and droop his feathers.

"Did I overdo the introduction?" he wondered. As the square settled down, the Skarmory shook his head, gave an awkward thanks to the tailor for his new scarf and flew off from the scene. A sense of normalcy started to return to the little plaza around the standing stone, barring a Mothim with a Second-Rank scarf burdened with a brown, bloated satchel slung over his shoulder. The Bug-Type remained there flitting in place for a moment, as he stared wide-eyed after Team Traveller’s members...

"W-What?! That was the Guardian of the Seas!"

Ellsberg blinked for a moment, before hurriedly fluttering after the youngsters. An overloaded cart pulled by a green-and-yellow Tauros got in his way, the Bug-Type jolting back only for him to lose track of the silvery-colored seabird amidst the crowd and buzz to himself with a start.

"Why is he here of all places?!"

The Mothim flew up onto the standing stone to try and see if there was any sign of the young Lugia nearby, but between the mass of Pokémon in the square, and the well-shaded alleys that fanned out from it, there wasn't a sign of the Protector or his companions to be found. The Bug-Type shook his head with a scowl, where by chance he saw an Ariados in Company garb happening to pass by the stone pillar's base. Immediately, Ellsberg flitted down and accosted the hapless creature.

"You there!"

"Wh-Whuh?" the spider stammered.

"Bring me to Administrator Zorn at once!" the Mothim demanded. "A wanted Pokémon passed through this square, and it's of the utmost importance that he be caught at once!"

"Eh?!" the Ariados cried. "But if you saw a troublemaker, just give us a description! We can handle the rest!"

"You don't understand, this isn't just some common pirate!" the moth buzzed angrily, beating his wings with an angry huff.

"This is a matter of the Company's future!"

---

A little ways down the back alley, Nida took shelter under a battered, overturned wooden crate and curled up in a nervous ball in the darkness. There, her only companions were the sounds of her breaths coming in ragged pants, and the feeling of little droplets dripping off her barbs and onto her pelt.

Thump thump

To her horror, the crate suddenly jolted with the harsh sound of something big and strong pecking at it. She saw a corner leave the ground, and realized that there was nowhere to run. The Nidoran closed her eyes and curled up, expecting to be set upon any moment by the metal fiend from the square.

"Nida?"

When the spike ball opened her eyes up, she saw Pleo in front of her. The little Lugia had tipped the box over, and her back was now exposed to the sunlight.

"What's wrong?" he murmured. "Why did you run away like that?"

Nida folded her barbs back and folded her ears back as she realized that she had let her fears come out in front of her teammates. The Poison-Type shook her head, and cautiously crept out, weakly attempting to dissuade Pleo's concern.

"It's- It's alright, Pleo," she replied. "I'm alr-"

"Hey!"

Before Nida could finish her reassurance, the sound of footfalls came from further down the alley. The Nidoran turned and peered ahead, where she saw the sight of an unimpressed-looking Cubone and Growlithe.

"I thought you said town majū work differently!" Guardia huffed. "So what on earth was that?!"

"I- I just lost my nerve a minute," Nida answered.

"Why? Expecting some metal bird to take a bite out of you here too?" Elty grumbled, rolling his eyes. Immediately, Nida bristled and fanned her barbs out, her eyes growing livid at the mutt daring to drag that moment out into the open.

"Shut up!" she hissed. "No one asked you!"

"You could have been honest, you know!" Guardia growled. "How am I supposed to gather lore for my colony if I don't know what you're getting me into?!"

"I didn't lead you into danger though!" the Poison-Type spat.

"Tak jasne! Great job you're doing with that!" Elty huffed back. "You lead us into some Commissioner's ship and turn tail after running into some random feather duster? Talk about getting your priorities backwards!"

The Nidoran fumed and dropped to her feet, fanning her barbs out and readying a tackle. Why couldn't that dumb dog just shut his yap? No matter, if he wouldn't do it on his own, she'd make him-

"What's going on here?!"

The argument abruptly broke off and all eyes turned the opposite end of the alley, before giving way to frozen grimaces. There, scampering up behind them was the form of a Grovyle… with a First-Rank scarf about her neck.

The creature was glaring harshly, her blades drawn and ready to pounce. The four Pokémon froze, expecting the stranger to pounce on them at any moment, only to see her withdraw her blades and cross her arms.

"Really now, aren't you four a bit young to be getting into trouble like this?" she demanded.

"We… we weren't trying to get into trouble," Pleo answered shyly.

"Yeah, it's the spike ball's fault!" Elty interjected.

"It was not!" Nida shot back.

"Oi, don't try and scapegoat your teammates like that, mutt!" Guardia growled.

As the team devolved back into heated bickering, the Grovyle scanned the group. The spike lump with them had a simple satchel a little big for her size slung across her back, everyone except the Cubone seemed to have badges on their scarves (clearly she was a new recruit)… nothing that seemed too out of the ordinary, except…

"I don't mean to butt in here, but what happened to your friend's scarf?" the Grass-Type interrupted.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Guardia asked. "It's just a scarf, isn't it?"

"Well, it seems like you burned it quite badly," the Grovyle answered. The creature walked up, and ran the fabric through her claws before letting it fall back against Guardia's chest. "The fabric and cloth aren't like the ones your friends have, either. If anything, it feels closer to mine."

Nida, Elty, and Pleo blanched at the gecko's observations. The reason why Guardia's scarf felt closer to the grunt's was because before Elty charred it and ran it through the dirt, it was a First-Rank scarf like hers! The Grass-Type seemed to still have her doubts, but…

Just what sort of excuse could they give her?

"That's because… uh," Nida began. As the Nidoran fumbled for words to say, Elty suddenly interrupted with a barking exclamation.

"We changed our scarf patterns recently!" he yipped. "Stars were the new 'in' thing, but we didn't have the money right away to replace hers!"

"And- And Elty accidentally set it on fire!" Pleo added. The Grass-Type gave a skeptical glance at the group, she didn't seem particularly impressed with the argument, but at the same time seemed to be held back by something.

"Uh huh… who are you, and where are you from again?" she asked. "I mean, I don't think I've ever seen a seabird quite like your friend there, and you could say I'm curious."

"We're Team Traveller!" Pleo reflexively chirped. "From B-"

Pleo clamped his beak shut as he noticed from the corner of his eye that Nida and Elty were shaking their heads in a panic. The little Protector tried to think of a town name he could make up.

"Bluhh… Water… ship... Town!" he cried. The Grovyle blinked, paused, and then shook her head as she muttered something to herself.

"Must be one of those newer 'periphery towns' on Vollezee, but I have to wonder what kind of rubes call a place Watership Town," she replied. "It's right up there with 'Pokémon Square' as an unimaginative place name-"

Pleo paused and blinked blankly at the Grass-Type. She… believed that? While it was relieving, just what were 'rubes'? And what was wrong with 'Watership Town'-?

"Anyhow, you four seem to be rather worn out," the Grovyle continued. "Your little spat earlier wouldn't be because you've been shorting yourselves on sleep, was it?"

Yaaaaaaaaaah

As the sound of Guardia yawning pricked the team's ears, the four looked around and realized that their eyes looked worn and bloodshot. The already tiring trek into town and up the hill was starting to catch up with them as aches returned and eyelids started to feel heavy. One after the other, Pleo, Elty, and Nida reluctantly began to reply back to the Company grunt.

"Erm…"

"Well…"

"We were up all night…"

The scowl on the lizard's face faded for a moment, before she shook her head and turned and pointed off at a long, low-slung, two-storied building with a stone ground floor, a white-timbered second floor and a weathered shingled roof.

"If you've got the money for it, why don't you head off to the Cromlech Inn over there and lie down a bit?" the Grovyle offered. "They serve food in the lobby and the Kricketune there sews on the side. He'd probably be able to help you out with getting that last matching scarf you were looking for."

Wait… did, this Company Pokémon just give them help? It took a few quiet pawings at their bodies to reassure the team's Pokémon that they weren't dreaming… But this was help, and the team would be wise to take it before the Grovyle changed her mind.

"Right," Nida replied. "Thank you..."

"One more thing before you go..."

"Huh?"

"Don't go raising up trouble like that again, you hear?" the Grass-Type sternly admonished. "This town's already has enough to deal with the weather and all the trouble that comes here from outside, and the Pokémon here don't need more headaches to deal with. Understood?"

The four stopped and blinked at this strange creature. Was she really a Company grunt? She certainly didn't seem like the bullying type like Valatos and his friends… Did this place also have an 'arrangement' like Tromba did?

"Well?" she prodded.

"Understood," the team over-hastily replied.

The Grovyle paused and gave a long, skeptical look at Team Traveller's members, before shaking her head and turning around. The Wood Gecko carried along down the alleyway, Nida, Pleo, Elty, and Guardia watching intently until she slipped past a corner. The group looked back at the 'Cromlech Inn' that the Company grunt pointed out and gave a collective sigh of relief. Nida and her teammates lowered their heads and began to shuffle along towards it, eager to finally have some food and rest after a long and stormy day.

---

Back on Tromba, the island's guild was abuzz with its typical bustle of activity as its members went here and there for their errands between missions. Lost amid the sound of chatter and plans for the day floating about was the patter of an Ampharos' footsteps as Hatteras walked around under the shade of the guild's main tent. The Guildmaster did his best to present his normal aloof and an amiable atmosphere, but the arcing of his tail betrayed his feelings of uneasiness and hesitation. At some point, already bored with himself, he stopped in front of the guild's main entrance and turned to the direction of the ánima.

"What are we doing wrong?"

The Ampharos let a moment pass to recover his focus and returned to his round, this time with a calmer demeanour revealed in softer steps. After the third pass past the Mission Board he saw a familiar party consisting of a Shiftry and her Loudred and Croconaw teammates.

"Ah, Team Sawtooth!" Hatteras bleated. "Work going well for you, I trust?"

"Er… not so hot," Cardellini sighed, shaking his head. "There's this one mission that we can't seem to make headway on."

"Yeah, we've been looking largo y ancho, but for the life of us, we just can't seem to find that 'ahp-gredh' that Melissa wanted!" Alto cried.

Hatteras bit his tongue as he winced in sympathy a bit at Sawtooth's plight. Finding the magical plates that Melissa and her kind read was already an erratic task, but searching out a specific kind in particular? Why it must be like spotting an Altaria in a cloudbank!

Even so, there were still some advantages to the setup…

"Well, surely long excursions are at least helpful for getting some of your other missions out of the way at the same time, no?" Hatteras offered.

"I suppose that's true," Pitys murmured. "But knowing that our reputation for speedy completions is getting dinged by this request still makes me wilt inside a little."

"Ah, well don't let it get to you too badly," the sheep cheered. "If there's one thing that I've learned in my years, it's that good things come to those who-"

"Mail call!"

The sound of a sudden squawk and the sound of beating wings drew the four Pokémon's attention to an Unfezant who swooped in before the group. After digging a little through a satchel slung over a wing, the Flying-Type pulled out a particularly large and heavy-looking envelope that seemed filled to the point of bursting.

"Just making sure, but this sheep is 'Hatteras, Mayor of Bluewhorl Town' and not some look-alike right?" the Unfezant asked.

"Yes," Pitys and her companions groaned.

"Okay, great then!" the pheasant chirped. "The Siglo Swellow sends its regards!"

As the bulging envelope changed hands and the mailmon took his leave for a short detour to visit his family in the outskirts, Team Sawtooth's eyes drifted curiously over the letter in their Guildmaster's paws.

"Isn't that a bit bulky for a letter, Hatteras?" Pitys asked. "Just what exactly is in that thing?"

"Yeah! I haven't seen you get an envelope this stuffed since that one last month from that investigator that's been looking for the missus and the kid!" Alto chortled in a cheery and booming voice- only to be met by awkward silence, everybody suddenly finding an interesting patch of dirt on the floor to look at.

"Er… well, I was just curious," the Loudred offered apologetically.

"Wait. Guildmaster Hatteras… Last month?" Cardellini interjected. "You're still looking for them? I mean, I know we all say 'las cosas buenas en la vida se hacen esperar', but by now, surely you of all Pokémon would have accepted that they're- Ow!"

The Croconaw was cut off by a loud whap from one of Pitys' leaf fans along with a growling "leave the clueless, uncomfortable questions to Alto, Cardellini!" The Ampharos shook his head, and much to the three's amazement, seemed less perturbed than they thought he would be.

"Never underestimate the power of hope, Cardellini," the sheep answered back. "Even if it doesn't get realized the way you'd want it to, it still gives strength to Pokémon to weather the fiercest storms."

The Ampharos raised the letter with his paws up to his face, and squinted to read. For a short moment, the creature scanned the runes on the brownish paper, only to abruptly stop, nervously tense his tail, and bat it anxiously side-to-side, piquing Pitys' curiosity.

"Eh? What's with the sudden excitement?" Pitys asked. "Just what exactly is in that thing, Guildmaster?"

"I'm afraid that I can't quite say for now," the Guildmaster coyly retorted. "After all, you know the old saw about 'loose lips'..."

"Right," she replied. "And we should be getting back to that 'ahp-gredh'."

The Ampharos parted ways with the team and brought the overstuffed envelope all the way back to his office. There, after closing the door and throwing the shades closed, he tore the package open, and fished out the folded-up sheet of paper layered with messy runes that had so excited him.

The letter gave a short summary of what had happened to the Siglo Swellow in Boisocéan. It spoke of an initially fraught and tense negotiation with Seahive's 'mairesse', during which they discovered that Lyn had beaten them to the island and chased Pleo away. Their search for leads turned up nothing for a day, until by a stroke of luck, they chanced to come across one 'Team Chasseur' and a Hydreigon named 'Margi' who helped them pick up Pleo's trail to Kenobi. The crew was sailing on, a little further from home, but if the fates and the stars aligned, perhaps they would be able to reunite with the Protector there, and bring him home after a short delay.

"Good luck, everyone-" the Amphraos said to himself, only to cut himself off as he noticed a hastily-scrawled line at the end.

"'P.S. Please forward the attached personal letters'..." he read. "Wait a minute. Personal le-?"

Rrrrrip

At that moment, the worn bottom of the enveloped gave way, and a flurry of smaller envelopes spilled out onto the floor below.

"Ah," he murmured to himself. "I was wondering why that letter took up so much space!"

---

"Lower the gangplank!"

Beatrix's buzzing voice carried along the salty sea air as the Siglo Swellow bobbed along the docks at the Company compound on Kenobi's port. In spite of the strange and potentially hostile environment, the Illumise seemed as at ease as she pointed over at a Hitmontop by the railing.

"Just one moment!" came the reply from the Fighting-Type as he double-checked the stone anchor and the lines that had been thrown down to the posts on the dock until he was sure the ship was properly docked. After seeing the ship firmly lashed to the pier's moorings, the Fighting-Type gave an "aye!" in response, leaving a few crewmates to start working on the bringing the gangplank over.

The Handstand Pokémon paced around the place taking notice of some deck hands led by Natrix and Philips adding some finishing knots to the lines lashing the ship in place along the dock. The sound of the plank being lowered and clanging against the timbers of the piers sounded, which prompted the Hitmontop to turn and call his shipmates' attention...

"Alright, come orderly and single file," he instructed. "No need to strain the poor gangplank more than it needs to-"

"Yah!"

… only for Crom to leap off the railing and glide down to the docks, his Fraxure father dashing down the gangplank with a hurried 'Crom! Wait for me!'.

"Yeesh, would it kill you two to wait?" the fighter grumbled as he gestured for the rest of the crew to move down the dock. Crom and Pladur eagerly carried along the wharf, drifting down the shoreline past a host of docked ships all flying lavender and purple sails after reaching the end of the dock. The pair's eagerness however was quickly subdued as they took in the sights of the complex.

There was the Rhydon at one of the docks further down bellowing at some hapless charges to 'put some backbone' into loading crates onto a waiting sloop, which prompted a hasty detour down an alley. There were the closely-packed warehouses and barracks on either end of their paths, along with little flecks of life such as a Snover, Vibrava, and Pansear in Company lavenders who were enraptured with a game of monster cards. All the while, the pair of Dragon-Types couldn't help but be on edge their eyes and movements betraying an unease with the place.

Crom began to think about how they were deep in hostile territory. The last time the Company caught him sneaking into a place where he wasn't supposed to be, he got beaten up and thrown off a ship. If they were caught here… just what would happen to them?

The Druddigon tried to distract himself by looking back at his surroundings, when he chanced to notice they passed the same card-playing grunts from earlier and stopped.

… hadn't they just passed that a moment ago?"

"Dad, we don't know where we are, right?" the Druddigon asked somewhat worriedly.

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem!" Pladur replied. "Why we can see the Siglo Swellow's masts from-"

The Fraxure pointed off back at the docks towards where the Siglo Swellow ought to be, only to discover that the lavender sails they had disguised the craft with made it blend in a little too well with the other Company ships at dock. The Fraxure and Druddigon tried to tease out the schooner from the crowd, but every time they were sure they saw one of the masts, they found that it belonged to a completely different ship.

"Maybe we should've waited for Kiran before we headed off," Crom mumbled uneasily. At this point, Pladur's confidence was rapidly evaporating as he realized that he had lead himself and his son deep into a strange, and potentially unfriendly place.

"Er, w-well… we could always try to trace our steps back to the ship…" the elder dragon nervously stammered. "I-If we're quick, then maybe we can avoid running into Lyn-"

"Hey!"

"MEEP!"

The Fraxure leapt up with a yelp at the sound of a voice coming from behind. The two whirled around and saw a waiting Aerodactyl with a Company scarf about his neck, his maw opened and his teeth showing. Blanching, the Fraxure yanked his child behind him and the two shot wary glances at the new stranger.

"Uh, er," Crom began uneasily. "Is… is something the matter?"

"Eh? You aren't in trouble if that's what you're talking about, I'm just another First-Rank like you!" the pterosaur cheered back, giving a playful beat of his wings.

"Just thought you two looked a little lost," he explained. "So who are you two? I don't think I've seen either of you on the beat before."

"Well… I'm Pladur, Chief Cook of the the Siglo… er… Swanna!" the Fraxure offered. "And this is my son, Crom."

"Ah, so I see you take after your dad in more way than one," the Aerodactyl chuckled, extending a claw to Crom. "The name's Kellner. So where'd you two come in from, anyways?"

The two dragons froze for a moment, as Crom wondered what he should try and say back. He couldn't say they were from Tromba… and Boisocéan would be suspicious…but, where else could he claim to be from?

"Uh… we're… from…" Crom fumbled, only to be swiftly cut off.

"The Capital!" Pladur interjected. "We're here for an assignment!"

The Fossil Pokémon tilted his head curiously, but after a little mulling and a shake, he was back to his prior congeniality, seemingly satisfied with the explanation. After all, even if it was a shadow of Middleguard City's former glory on Conntow, the cityscape of Canalhouse City on Vollezee, would surely be a world removed from Kenobi.

"Ah, so that's why you're a bit lost," the Aerodactyl said. "Well, think of it this way… The lanes here in the compound and out in Aisle Town might be a little confusing, but at least it's a small place here. Looking for anything in particular?"

"Mostly a place to hear the news," Crom answered. "We're a little out of the loop right now."

"Well now, you can't go wrong with the fort!" Kellner replied, gesturing at a looming, stone-walled structure a little ways off in the distance. "The training grounds inside are as good of a place to get a feel for the pulse of what's going on!"

"Oh? They wouldn't happen to have maps there, would they?" Pladur asked, shrinking his shoulders away a bit. "I mean, it would be nice not to get lost again."

"Yep! Come on, I'll show you over!" the pterosaur offered. "There's an entrance just up ahead!"

The Aerodactyl set off, leading the Druddigon and Fraxure plodding along a series of twisty paths that lead past various wood and stone buildings. As the three made their way alongside the tall imposing walls of the local sea fort, they eventually reached the lip of an entrance into the stone fortress…

"I don't believe this!"

… only for Kellner to stop in his tracks as an angry snarl echoed off the surrounding walls. Pladur and Crom froze, worried for a moment that their ruse might have been seen through, only to catch the sight of a bristling and sparking Luxray passing by with an Eelektross.

"How could those sightings in town just conveniently stop right after my meeting with Elilan last night, Commander?" she demanded.

"I know it sounds preposterous, Administrator, but that's what I've heard from the gossip in the lower ranks," the Eelektross replied with guarded words. "For your own sake, perhaps we ought to shift the topic to Elilan's tin shipment? If you need to reclarify anything, he'll be leaving by-"

"Don't change the subject, Utsumi! Pokémon don't just vanish like that! And if they had done a mission with one of the local guilds, they'd have turned up by now!" the Luxray growled, static dancing on her fur. "Why, if I didn't know better, I'd be convinced someone told them of what we were up to!"

"Er, well," the lamprey offered. "Didn't you mention that during the proceedings you caught the repair crew slacking off against the wall?"

Farn paused as a creeping realization swept over her face, and her ears folded back out of frustration.

"That's… right. The crew was a Yanmega, a Manectric, and a Marowak and they were pressed up right against the wall," she admitted, before shaking her head and continuing on into the fort with the her fellow Electric-Type, her words echoing along back to a still-stunned pair of dragons and their guide.

"Have those three brought before me!" the lioness' voice bellowed. "I am going to get an explanation about what's going on from them, even if I have to tear it out of their hides!"

Crom and Pladur looked warily off in the direction that the two Electric-Types had gone off to, grateful that they were now out of earshot. The Fraxure and Druddigon turned back to their Aerodactyl guide and noticed that his cheery demeanor had evaporated, with a look of visible unease.

"Um… actually... maybe you should take some time getting to know the neighborhood around here first. I think I might have an extra map on me," the Kellner muttered. The grunt blinked a few times and shook his head before digging through a sack, and pulled out a folded-up wad of brown cloth, which it extended over with a claw. "Administrator Farn's offices are also in the fort, and she's best avoided in a mood like this."

"Point taken," Pladur gulped, quickly taking up the map. Crom inspected the map and found that it had a map of the lanes and trails of Kenobi's settlement and hinterlands sketched in thin, black lines, before casting a glance back at the Aerodactyl and the fort behind.

"Thanks for the tip, Kellner," he said. "We'll be sure to stop by… er… later."

With that, the two turned around, and eagerly put some distance between themselves and the fort. After all, there was a Siglo Swellow to find, and the fort would be there for eavesdropping on the local grunts when the island's leader was in a less stormy mood.

---

Meanwhile, out at Mengir's fort, a Mothim fidgeted impatiently in front of a tall, double door. There, he was accompanied by the Ariados from the square, along with an unamused duo of guards consisting of a Breloom and a Gourgeist in sets of dark blue Company armor blocking the entrance. The doors had been closed since they had arrived a quarter hour ago, the muffled sounds of some meeting filtering out from behind it, much to Ellsberg's frustration.

"Need I remind you that this is a matter of the Company's future?" the Bug-Type buzzed irkedly to the guards. "Open the door already!"

"I understand that, but Administrator Zorn is in a meeting!" the Breloom replied, shaking her head. "You can't just barge in like that!"

Almost as soon as the Mushroom Pokémon stopped talking, a large, yellow blur shot past them. The gust from the passing presence sent the gathered Pokémon bowled over yelping, followed by the sounds of the doors being thrown open.

"Outta my way!"

As Ellsberg picked himself up off the ground, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the gust's culprit. The distinct pudgy and small-winged form of a Dragonite passing through before swatting the doors back shut with his claws.

"I thought you said that we couldn't barge in like that!" Ellsberg's exasperated voice cried, a steady stream of invective fading away behind the great dragon as he paced further from the door and his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light.

The Dragonite had stormed into a stone chamber ringing a square pond. The room had a grated tunnel under the waterline at the back of the room to admit aquatic visitors (if unfortunately too soggy for the contents of his bag), while a timbered bridge lead out to an islet in the middle of the pond for more landbound audiences.

"There's also the matter of the lack of blue Apricorns, Administrator. We need a certain quota of those nuts specifically for handling sea Pokémon and the current shipment is severely short on them."

There, coiled around the islet, was the Pokémon the Dragonite was in such a hurry to find. A great serpentine fish with blue and cream scales, barbels trailing down from a mouth with razor like fangs, and an Administrator's scarf about his neck. The Gyarados was currently chattering with a Poliwrath about some "crates full of 'blues' up in the fields" that would head out for shipment in the imminent future.

"Zorn!" the dragon bellowed. The water stirred and churned as the sea serpent raised his head and glanced at the Dragonite's direction. A leering frown crept across the Water-Type's face before he turned back to the amphibian .

"Take five," the Gyarados instructed the fellow Water-Type. "We'll continue this conversation in a bit."

"Yes, Administrator," the Poliwrath replied. The sound of the grate being winched up echoed in the chamber as the Dragonite made his way out onto the islet. As the blue anuran dived under the surface and disappeared into the tunnel…

Creeeeaak…

…the grate slipped into the water and landed against the bottom, closing off a room now shared between only the two Pokémon, each waiting for the other to speak. After a long, uncomfortable pause, the Gyarados broke the silence with a displeased grunt.

"Darzin, why are you here?" he demanded. The Dragonite's antennae dropped and a scowl crept over his face.

"What do you mean 'why am I here?' The updated revenue spreadsheets you requested!" he cried, fishing out a clawful of papers filled with orderly lines of runes "I flew it out directly from Vollezee!"

"And? Didn't you notice I was in the middle of something?" the Gyarados answered dismissively. "It could've waited, you know."

"You summoned me here just two days ago! If these spreadsheets were that important, you could have just let me send it through a notary and not wasted my time-!" the Dragonite bellowed in protest, only to be cut off with the sound of mocking laughter.

"Ha ha ha! Wasting your time?" the fish chortled. "Oh, that's rich, Darzin. Since when did I or the rest of the Board care about where your delivery routes took you?"

Such slights were not new to the Dragonite from his fellow Fourth-Ranks… Or more uppity Third-Ranks for that matter. Familiarity truly did breed contempt, which the Dragon-Type was all too eager to reciprocate.

"Yeah, well what are you doing?" Darzin spat back sullenly. "Just sitting around, floating lazily in some po-"

"Administrivia, Darzin," Zorn snarled. "Which you would be doing if you weren't such an incompetent at running a small settlement and forced the Board to strike an arrangement with a bunch of peasants!"

"Well if the Board would have helped me pacify that island like I requested back then-!"

"We'd be telegraphing our weakness to the Imps even moreso than your current 'absentee Administration' from the records department would. Exactly like what happened during that little prison riot that almost cost Elilan his island," the Gyarados interrupted with a growl. "The difference between Elilan's episode and yours was that he got things back in order, and you wound up flying off with your tail between your legs. You didn't honestly think that you're still wearing that Fourth-Rank scarf because Inler thinks you're an all-knowing repository of wisdom, right?"

Yes, Darzin's predicament was all because of those fateful days all those moons ago. Where he had pushed too hard, too fast upon the residents of Bluewhorl Town, and stirred up a revolt among the peasants and some of the rank-and-file that forced him to slink away in ignominy.

The exercise had left its share of scars on the Dragonite. Some deep claw and bite marks on his hide, an even deeper aversion of poisonous spike balls, but most of all...

A wounded pride, which had only been further injured through many an exchange such as this one with his peers.

"He seems to give me more leeway than the fish he left to watch over his hometown!" the Dragonite sneered back.

"Grr…"

Darzin blanched and backpedaled as he heard a fierce growl echo off of the stone walls. From the way that the serpent was glaring and baring sharp fangs at him that were starting to form a frosty film on their surface, it was evident that Zorn too was not a fan of having his pride dinged.

"Alright, listen here, fat lump. It seems that you need a few delusions to be cleared up," the Gyarados growled. "Whatever fin-tying Inler puts me through, I have a future in this Company. You're on borrowed time."

The fish circled about the dragon on the islet, shooting a piercing glare at his captive audience of one. Darzin turned warily to meet the Water-Type's gaze, the Gyarados began to smirk, smugly reminding his entrapped quarry of his raison d'etre in the Board.

"The only reason why you haven't been thrown out on your butt yet is because we haven't found a substitute who can resolve the mess you made," he explained. "And once that changes, whether by one of the lower ranks showing some initiative, or us finding some way of neutralizing your 'understanding'... our use for you will end."

SLAM

"Ack! Wait what are you doing?!"

Before the Water-Type had a chance to go on, a commotion broke out from the back of the room. The doors flew open and a Mothim fluttered in, crying out to the fish.

"Administrator Zorn!"

The Gyarados lifted his head in a start, only to bumped against the side of the room's timber bridge. After a low, sullen growl, the creature swam out and surfaced directly in front of the Mothim, glaring.

"Do you mind?" he snarled. "Administrator Darzin and I are in the middle of something here!"

Ellsberg went wide-eyed with a timid squeak, and flitted back reflexively from the displeased sea serpent. By now, the honor guards from behind the door had caught up, their footfalls coming with the telltale rattles of chainmail, along with the Ariados who had led Ellsberg over. The Ariados scuttled up and bowed, before apologizing profusely for the disturbance.

"I-Izvinete, Administrator Zorn," he stammered. "I'll see him to the door right-"

After shaking his head and attempting to recompose himself, the Mothim raised his voice to try and speak up.

"A-Administrator!" he pleaded. "My name is Ellsberg from the Legal Department and the message I have is urgent! It's a matter of the Company's future!"

Zorn paused and tilted his head curiously. If this lowly Second-Rank had come in such a hurry, he had to have something of importance…

Or else was a glutton for punishment who would have his yearnings sated soon enough.

Step out for a moment," the Water-Type instructed the Ariados and the other guards. "It looks like 'Elmer' here thinks he has something that was worth disrupting my busy schedule."

The spider gave a salute, and scuttled off for the door with his peers, pulling it shut with a strand of silk behind him. As the sound of the door closing rang out in the chamber, Zorn lowered his head and hardened his eyes into a piercing glare.

"You have thirty seconds," the Gyarados glowered. "This had better be worth it!"

The moth flitted anxiously and gulped before taking a deep breath…

…and promptly shattering the tense silence in the room with a single, breathless exclamation.

"The Guardian of the Seas is here on Mengir!"

---

Author's Notes:

- baba (баба) - Bulgarian: "grandmother" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Nani? (何?) - Japanese: "What?" (Hepburn Romanization)
- Mille grazie! - Italian: "Thank you very much!", lit. "(A) thousand thanks!" Also rendered "Grazie mille!"
- Tak jasne! - Polish: "Yeah, right!"
- largo y ancho - Spanish: "far and wide"
- las cosas buenas en la vida se hacen esperar - Spanish: "the good things in life make you wait", idiom analogous to "the best things in life take time"
- Izvinete (Извинeтe) - Bulgarian: "Sorry", "Pardon me" (formal) (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)

 

[Phoenixsong]

good lord how has it been half a year. Got three chapters for now, and will hopefully be back for the rest... all the rest... *gulp*... soon!

Spoiler: Chapter 20

Ah, so we're back to Ellsberg now! This should be interesting.

"Does it really need an explanation?" Lyn growled back, gesturing at the lolling waves around the ship. "We're currently doing a search of the nearby seafloor for him and those meddlesome brats. One of the sea Pokémon around here probably found them and brought them into the Subway."

Well, at least the fact that his estimation is off will buy Team Traveller some time...

The Subway sounds intriguing. I love big, winding mazes of secret passages and such. Hopefully at some point we'll get to take a closer look at it, though I'm sure it won't be as fun for whoever's actually doing that traveling.

Hm, Administrator Farn's eyes can allegedly "pierce through walls"... a luxray, perhaps? Or something else that simply has such a force of presence that it just seems that way? I expect it'll be a while before we find out either way, but it's fun to imagine a character waiting in the wings who'll be even more intimidating than Lyn.

And now, we return to the rising winds of distortion, already in progress! (I can't help but wonder whether our heroes will end up in a situation where they can't avoid being swept up in the Distortion somewhere down the line...)

We get to see more of Elty's experience and common sense coming to the fore here, which is nice. Hopefully this'll lead toward a little more appreciation for him from the rest of the team!

"Hold onto my tail! It'll be close, but I think I can get us through!" Elty shouted "And no matter what, don't stop for anything!"

Missing a period after "shouted".

This was writing, much like she had seen on signs and pieces of paper back home...

A bit of an odd observation here—if she's familiar with what writing is and can read what it says (so it's not like it's a totally unfamiliar language/script), then the comparison to having seen it before on pieces of paper, signs, etc. doesn't seem necessary.

Good way to give them a reminder of their options for seeking help, though!

while Pleo's lavender Company scarf was charred and rubbed through the dirt to get rid of that troublesome purple square that would need to be explained to rescuers.

Also good that they had the wherewithal to think to do this. I definitely forgot about it, lol. Don't send me to handle anything important in Fledglings-land, is what I'm saying.

"A-Aah!"

All of a sudden, Pleo pitched forward and tumbled onto the ground. As the little Lugia staggered to get back up, Nida and Elty's fur stood on end. There was a barb embedded in between Pleo's feathers along his right wing's carpal joint, dribbling noxious purple fluid from its end.

Ah. I was wondering when other pokémon might show up. Don't suppose there's any chance they'll be able to give the kids any helpful info about this islands' rescuers, eh? And while I'm wishing for the moon, I'm totally sure that Pleo isn't poisoned and that won't cause aaaany problems at all. :P

Oof, and then Elty gets poisoned, too? And it doesn't sound like they had any pecha berries in their loot... At least the fight ended quickly enough that they didn't sustain any additional injuries on top of that!

a twine 'writing band' that Pokémon like Elty slipped over their forepaws to hold said charcoal in place for writing,

That's a clever way of handling it. Might have to yoink that one, heh.

And the team from the end of last chapter arrives right in the nick of time! Looks like the different languages of the islands are finally coming into play, heh.

That must have been quite the fall these three strangers went through.

Hm... is the idea that they came from somewhere else in the Cradle really that unbelievable? Or the idea that there are other protectors for other islands, even if they don't believe that Pleo is one specifically? I dig it when not everyone automatically recognizes every species of pokémon Just Because, though. Just how far away did the team end up? 👀

Spoiler: Chapter 21

Tree village! Always a fun time.

and "Have we seen a Pokémon like that before?" from passerbyers

The plural of "passerby" is "passersby".

More Marked drama's on the menu next. A scary time for Pleo, to be sure, though it looks like the Marked aren't treated much more kindly in Seahive than in Bluewhorl. The truth behind the Marked's fears will have to come to light eventually...

"I'm leaving, that's what," the Growlithe snapped.

Aha. Figured he'd make an attempt eventually. I suspect this won't be the last one before they finally manage to get closer, either.

Interesting that, for all the culture/mythology shock she's supposed to represent, the diggersby seems to know so much about Tromba—has apparently even been there before, in fact. Does make it seem a bit odd that Team Chasseur was initially so confused by all of Team Traveller at first, rather than simply by Pleo's claim... but on the bright side, maybe this diggersby could be their ticket out of here?

"He still hasn't come back," he growled glumly, the Druddigon's wings and head drooping as he looked down into the churning water of the harbor.

Aww, Crom.

"That dad's ship!" Cenn cried, beating his wings excitedly. "He's home! He's home!"

Hm! I expect he comes with interesting news! Or perhaps a way to set out after Pleo and the others...

All eyes turned over to see that the Raichu and Servine had dropped the crate out of startled surprise onto Pekka's abdomen. The hapless Trapinch squealed out of pain before pulling his injured rump free and scuttling backwards along the dock, muttering irately under his breath.

Man, these pirates just can't catch a break, can they? Some nice, reliable comic relief in the middle of everyone feeling down.

"On top of my duties here, I'm also the Mairesse of Seahive Square," Maranda answered, moving an arm towards the door behind her. "Please get up and come along. We need to have a talk."

👀 Does she believe them about Pleo being the Protector? Is she aware of something going on at Tromba and needs to share the news? Is Celebi somehow around to have a little chat? Hm!

A lot of processing of emotions this chapter, some with more tangible results than others. Good to let the kids have that time to at least try to work through things, though obviously their wild ride is far from over yet...

Spoiler: Chapter 22

A bit of gummi worldbuilding here, nice. I do wonder how necessary it was to go into questions about what sorts they make, but heh, I've been surprised by what's turned out to be relevant foreshadowing before!

"Well, your attempt at hiding it was certainly admirable," she explained. "But it takes a little more than some minor fire damage to disguise the weave of a Company scarf from me."

They tried! Still more than I'd've remembered.

"Boisocéan is a neutral space," Maranda replied. "Wedged in between the reach of the Company and the Imperials…"

Aha! Hi, future Cabot appearance!

and the bands of ocean Pokémon that depend on our gummis would have reason to attack both sides for disturbing such an important island to them.

I wonder how organized the ocean pokémon are? They've been mentioned a few times, mostly just as going about their business, or easily assumed to be loosely associated with various islands. Do they have some sort of larger culture of their own? Perhaps we'll get to find out if and when we end up in that Subway, mm?

"And the guild gives visiting Rescue Teams access to their dorms and dining hall after doing at least one mission for the guild…"

Possibly not before they end up going back into that forest dungeon, though! Nida's only presenting this as a suggestion, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do wind up back there (but hopefully better-prepared) soonish...

There was even a Day Care full of raucous children run by a Drapion who shuttled around her charges (a few of them seemingly little Skorupi of her own) on her back!

Oh man, I love this. Scary pokémon doing sweet stuff!

Bader answered as he inspected a Sunny Orb, holding the dark sphere with its light inside that smoldered much like a faint fire in the oven at Gwenith's bakery, against the glint of the sun.

As a suggestion, I'd move the description of the sunny orb outside of the sentence about what Bader's doing with it. Including a lengthy description in the middle of the action causes the sentence to meander. I like the familiar comparison to Gwenith's bakery, though! It's a fun touch for a character to notice.

Also, Bader's been "it" pretty consistently until this point. If that's intentional, then I assume this "he" is a mistake, since I don't believe anything's informed Team Traveller of Bader's gender. (Alphonse is also "it" for most of this scene, in the event that that wasn't intentional.)

I wonder whether this purplish hue that certain coins have is going to come up again later? It's fun to guess what sorts of things are just neat worldbuilding details and which are foreshadowing who knows what, haha.

It's said that in their time, humans knew great magic that allowed them to work aluminum so well that it was as common to them as paper…

Look on my aluminum foil, ye mighty, and despair!

Seeing this kind of thing in post-human society is always fun to me. Reminds me of Pugmire, in which bits of old plastic, which the dogs and cats have to mine out of the ground, are a much hotter commodity than silly old gold. There's a picture of a kitty clerk counting stacks of buttons and it's precious.

Wait a minute! That Sentret was Scout!

We're saved! And exasperated! But mostly saved!

Team Traveller traded excited looks with each other. This was it! They finally had a chance to go home! To see Crom, Kiran and everyone else again!

… Right?

Assuming Lyn didn't head back to lie in wait for them.

Or that the Company hadn't sent someone else after Pleo.

Or that something hadn't happened to the town.

Nida shook her head. As much as it pained her to do this, they really couldn't take a blind leap here. Like taking a blind leap in a Mystery Dungeon, the consequences weren't guaranteed, no… But if they did happen…

Would they be able to get past them again?

Or not, aww. The unfortunate bit is that it would be safe for them, at least at the moment, but it's entirely likely that Lyn or someone else will go back to harass Bluewhorl eventually, so this isn't an unreasonable train of thought. Ah, well.

The feather's a clever thought, although I can't help but think it's hardly impossible that Pleo shed some feathers while they were on the ship. (Can't remember whether that was mentioned or not, mind.)

Off in a corner, an Igglybuff puzzled over a mission listing in its hands for retrieving Perfect Apples, wondering where to even start looking for one of those rare fruits.

Heh.

Nida frowned and her ears drooped after she saw the listing. Sure enough, it was a mission for gathering apples. But wait a minute, they were on their own! If she didn't want to do the apple mission, she could always do another!

:galaxeon:

Who wants to bet she'll regret not taking the apple mission after all?

Or maybe not! I'm sure there'll be surprises in store yet, starting with whatever Daraen turns out to be, but this does sound like it might be a fun little trip...

where he saw a Poliwhirl and a Remoraid bobbing in the water

Whoops. Wasn't sure exactly who they'd turn out to be; part of me was thinking pirates!

The team's been bought a little more time, so at the very least it looks like we'll get to see what Daraen's all about before Lyn takes center stage again, but the clock is definitely ticking...

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

The Subway sounds intriguing. I love big, winding mazes of secret passages and such. Hopefully at some point we'll get to take a closer look at it, though I'm sure it won't be as fun for whoever's actually doing that traveling.

I mean, it didn’t get brought up in that level of detail to never get explored in-story. ^^

The arc after this current one is where it gets dealt with the most extensively.

Hm, Administrator Farn's eyes can allegedly "pierce through walls"... a luxray, perhaps? Or something else that simply has such a force of presence that it just seems that way? I expect it'll be a while before we find out either way, but it's fun to imagine a character waiting in the wings who'll be even more intimidating than Lyn.

I mean, there’s only so many Pokémon who can pull off that sort of party trick, so hopefully it gives you a few ideas. :P

And now, we return to the rising winds of distortion, already in progress! (I can't help but wonder whether our heroes will end up in a situation where they can't avoid being swept up in the Distortion somewhere down the line...)

They’ve avoided it thus far in the story, though never say never. When inspiration strikes, the stars can align to make a scenario happen really quickly.

We get to see more of Elty's experience and common sense coming to the fore here, which is nice. Hopefully this'll lead toward a little more appreciation for him from the rest of the team!

It’s a process. It’s not quite done on either end yet for where you’re at. :V

Missing a period after "shouted".

Fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.

A bit of an odd observation here—if she's familiar with what writing is and can read what it says (so it's not like it's a totally unfamiliar language/script), then the comparison to having seen it before on pieces of paper, signs, etc. doesn't seem necessary.

Good way to give them a reminder of their options for seeking help, though!

Went and made that ‘just like’.

Ah. I was wondering when other pokémon might show up. Don't suppose there's any chance they'll be able to give the kids any helpful info about this islands' rescuers, eh? And while I'm wishing for the moon, I'm totally sure that Pleo isn't poisoned and that won't cause aaaany problems at all. :P

Oof, and then Elty gets poisoned, too? And it doesn't sound like they had any pecha berries in their loot... At least the fight ended quickly enough that they didn't sustain any additional injuries on top of that!

Yeah, all things considered, fate smiled on Team Traveller there on their arrival to Boisocéan Island.

That's a clever way of handling it. Might have to yoink that one, heh.

Yeah, it just felt like a society that has writing but can’t take it for granted that you’ll have opposable thumbs would have a small cottage industry of trying to make that writing accessible to as many Pokémon as possible. After all, it’s not terribly sustainable if only about 10-20% of your population can actually write the glyphs they can read.

And the team from the end of last chapter arrives right in the nick of time! Looks like the different languages of the islands are finally coming into play, heh.

Yup. Pokémon speech not being unified or universal has always been a bit of a headcanon of mine, plus it’s an excuse to raid other localizations here and there which have some fun names in their own right.

The plural of "passerby" is "passersby".

Also fixed.

More Marked drama's on the menu next. A scary time for Pleo, to be sure, though it looks like the Marked aren't treated much more kindly in Seahive than in Bluewhorl. The truth behind the Marked's fears will have to come to light eventually...

I mean, it is a Pokémon story. Every myth has at least a kernel of truth to it. That said, the Marked, like everyone else in the story, didn’t nail the full truth in their version of events. That’s something that the story’s been slowly chipping away at until it comes time to lay things out in full (which is rapidly approaching offsite!)

Aha. Figured he'd make an attempt eventually. I suspect this won't be the last one before they finally manage to get closer, either.

I mean, he is a pirate who’s been separated from his day job for all of about 2 weeks.

Interesting that, for all the culture/mythology shock she's supposed to represent, the diggersby seems to know so much about Tromba—has apparently even been there before, in fact. Does make it seem a bit odd that Team Chasseur was initially so confused by all of Team Traveller at first, rather than simply by Pleo's claim... but on the bright side, maybe this diggersby could be their ticket out of here?

Team Chasseur are a bit more of homebodies as Pokémon, and their experiences are a bit more on the norm of Pokémon in the Cradle. The average Pokémon’s grasp of others’ lore boils down to some murky secondhand tales and some occasional doodles that have been subject to centuries’ worth of distortion and exaggeration, such that when Lugia in the flesh shows up about 4 meters shorter than expected with some minor cosmetic differences, you wouldn’t recognize him.

Hm! I expect he comes with interesting news! Or perhaps a way to set out after Pleo and the others…

Hold onto that thought there.

Man, these pirates just can't catch a break, can they? Some nice, reliable comic relief in the middle of everyone feeling down.

I mean, the narrative role of the Iron Fleet and its members is to provide comic relief. (Well, mostly anyways.) So… :V

Aha! Hi, future Cabot appearance!

You know it. o<o

I wonder how organized the ocean pokémon are? They've been mentioned a few times, mostly just as going about their business, or easily assumed to be loosely associated with various islands. Do they have some sort of larger culture of their own? Perhaps we'll get to find out if and when we end up in that Subway, mm?

All in due time, though in general, there’s a bit of a difference among sea Pokémon that hang out close to shore and align with the local land-dwellers and those that ply the high seas. You’ll be seeing plenty of faces from both backgrounds in this story.

Oh man, I love this. Scary pokémon doing sweet stuff!

It’s actually modeled after the behavior of real life scorpions. It’s a bit less cute in real life, but hey. It was an excuse to show an off-beat Day Care worker there.

As a suggestion, I'd move the description of the sunny orb outside of the sentence about what Bader's doing with it. Including a lengthy description in the middle of the action causes the sentence to meander. I like the familiar comparison to Gwenith's bakery, though! It's a fun touch for a character to notice.

Went and made a tweak to try and resolve that.

Also, Bader's been "it" pretty consistently until this point. If that's intentional, then I assume this "he" is a mistake, since I don't believe anything's informed Team Traveller of Bader's gender. (Alphonse is also "it" for most of this scene, in the event that that wasn't intentional.)

That’s an error. The two of them should both be ‘he’ and the text has been adjusted accordingly.

I wonder whether this purplish hue that certain coins have is going to come up again later? It's fun to guess what sorts of things are just neat worldbuilding details and which are foreshadowing who knows what, haha.

It’s a mix, though sometimes things established in passing get revisited after the plot fairy bestows a suitable dose of inspiration. As for the purplish hue, I’ve debated as to whether or not it was laid out properly, but that’s supposed to be Pleo and Bader seeing ultraviolet light reflect off the Poké coin (thanks to it being composed of an alloy including a metal that reflects UV light in reality), which is a party trick that chameleons and most birds can pull off in real life.

Look on my aluminum foil, ye mighty, and despair!

Seeing this kind of thing in post-human society is always fun to me. Reminds me of Pugmire, in which bits of old plastic, which the dogs and cats have to mine out of the ground, are a much hotter commodity than silly old gold. There's a picture of a kitty clerk counting stacks of buttons and it's precious.

Yeah, aluminum is one of those interesting stories where until a decisive turn in metallurgy, it was very, very hard to produce and work, to the point where it was more valuable than gold. Unlike in reality, the residents of the Cradle have the option of being able to melt down the hard work of a prior civilization that figured out how to make the Hall-Héroult Process work properly, but those sources aren’t exactly sustainable, and as such aluminum has drifted back into its role as a precious metal.

Or not, aww. The unfortunate bit is that it would be safe for them, at least at the moment, but it's entirely likely that Lyn or someone else will go back to harass Bluewhorl eventually, so this isn't an unreasonable train of thought. Ah, well.

The feather's a clever thought, although I can't help but think it's hardly impossible that Pleo shed some feathers while they were on the ship. (Can't remember whether that was mentioned or not, mind.)

To be fair, Scout was looking more for a way to get the kids out of his fur and probably wasn’t thinking of that second possibility. Fortunately for them, Lyn was a bit too preoccupied trying to track down his quarry to pull off a sneaky move like that. :V

Who wants to bet she'll regret not taking the apple mission after all?

Or maybe not! I'm sure there'll be surprises in store yet, starting with whatever Daraen turns out to be, but this does sound like it might be a fun little trip...

Depends on what point in time you ask her afterwards, really. ^^

Whoops. Wasn't sure exactly who they'd turn out to be; part of me was thinking pirates!

It probably would’ve been a bit better for Team Traveller if they were pirates, but alas.

The team's been bought a little more time, so at the very least it looks like we'll get to see what Daraen's all about before Lyn takes center stage again, but the clock is definitely ticking...

Well, you’ll get to see Daraen front and center real soon, so hopefully you have fun with him since he’s a bit of a curveball.

Speaking of which, we had a fresh chapter to post in which Team Traveller unknowingly had some… less savory characters get wind to their presence on Mengir Island. Why don’t we duck in and see how that’s panning out for them?

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"What did you just say?!"

A startled roar filled the stone chamber that served as Administrator Zorn's office. There, the Gyarados and the visiting Dragonite stared wide-eyed and shocked at an anxiously flitting Mothim.

"The Lugia the Board sent Lyn after!" Ellsberg buzzed. "I spotted him in the middle of the square by the guild earlier!"

A dead silence filled the room as both Administrators in the room struggled to process the Bug-Type's words. Zorn attempted to coil his way out of a stunned, upright posture, the Water-Type's words coming hesitantly through gritted teeth.

"This… is… unexpected," the Gyarados finally managed. He shook his head and after regaining a bit of his composure, turned to address the Dragonite in his presence.

"Darzin, leave your records at the door, I'll look at them later," the Water-Type said. "It seems something more pressing has come up."

The Dragonite beat his wings and jerked his head towards the sea serpent with a start. Was Zorn dismissing him?

"What do you mean something more pressing?! This is potentially the most significant event of my career!" the Dragon-Type bellowed, his sentence punctuated by bouts of exasperated panting. "You can't just expect me to sit out of it!"

"Yes, and this is a private matter," the Gyarados answered, a glare settling on his face as his tone became increasingly growling and serious. "So I would like to have a chat with this notary, in private."

Darzin hopped back reflexively and felt the blood drain from his face at the sight of a growling maw full of razor-sharp fangs hovering directly in front of his face. After faltering a moment, the full weight of Zorn's attempt to be rid of him weighed on his mind, followed by his pride. Before he knew it, his burning indignation returned, and his feet were dug firmly into the stone islet underfoot.

"N-Now you listen here, you overgrown eel!" Darzin snarled back, flashing his claws at the Gyarados. "I'm an Administrator too, and I won't let you shut me out of-!"

Zorn thrashed forward and cut Darzin off with a roar, the tumult kicking up a spray of water that drenched the islet and sent Ellsberg flitting up with a start. A dull crunch reverberated in the room, followed by a pained howl that became increasingly muffled and joined by the sound of faint crackling.

When Ellsberg turned his head back at Darzin, he saw that the bulk of his body had been encased in a layer of ice still spreading from a bite at his left shoulder. The immobilized dragon was able to do little more than twitch the unfrozen tip of his tail and digits of his right claw. Zorn pulled his head back and spat up a few scales as the ice block began to give some stifled, angry growls of protest in the background.

"Well, that went better than expected," the Gyarados harrumphed. "Guards!"

At once, the doors flew open and the guards outside rushed into the room and up the wooden bridges. One after the other, a Gourgeist and a Breloom followed closely after a flustered-looking Ariados. The lot slowed their pace and came to a stop on the islet, sizing up the now-frozen Dragonite.

"Yes, Administrator!" the Ariados swiftly answered.

"Kindly leave Administrator Darzin's records by the door and escort him out of my office before he thaws out," Zorn instructed. "I will need to have a word with Commander Briggs and Elmer here."

A summary "Aye" came in response, and after a moment of uneasy hesitation from the spider, the three set off shoving the hefty Dragonite for the door in fits and spurts and complaints of "could he get any fatter?" Halfway to the door, Darzin melted a hole around his mouth with a gout of fire and was able to manage a "can't do this to me!" before being shut up by a clod of golden-brown Stun Spores from the Breloom.

After the three finally pulled the frozen dragon through the doors, they were slammed shut, leaving Zorn and Ellsberg behind as the pre-existing quiet slowly returned...

… only to be broken by the sound of a dissatisfied buzz.

"Uhm… sir... I believe you're mistaken," the Mothim notary corrected. "My name's Ellsberg."

"Let's not get too hung up on details," Zorn answered back dismissively. The creature circled around and craned his head and neck to accommodate the Bug-Type in his customary way for visitors...

Namely, to loom over them, with eyes trained fixedly on the Pokémon in his presence.

"First off, what is Tromba's Protector doing on my island?" the Gyarados demanded. "I was under the impression that Lyn had been sent there to handle the matter of extraction."

"Erm, well," Ellsberg began. "Commissioner Lyn underestimated said Protector's abilities a bit, and underestimated the degree and tenacity of the support that he'd have."

"What exactly are you trying to imply there?"

"I'm implying that he has help," he answered. The Bug-Type rifled through his bag and pulled out a small stack of bounties, arraying the sheets of paper along the ground for the Administrator to see.

"I found the Guardian's feathers in the square! Freshly molted, even!" Ellsberg explained. "It means that he and the party he's been traveling with must be in this village!"

Zorn scanned the papers in front of him and saw that they were a set of four, depicting a Nidoran, a Growlithe, a Nidorina, and a Hydreigon. The Gyarados peered at the listings for a moment, before giving a skeptical frown and looking back at the Mothim.

"Eh? Whose fin are you trying to pull here, Elmer?" the Water-Type pressed. "These bounties were issued by the Kenobi branch!"

"Ellsb-!" the moth reflexively retorted, only to notice that the much larger fish with a much higher rank and much bigger teeth was glaring at him. Ellsberg hastily caught his tongue, gulped down his pride, and amended his words to be more palatable to the Administrator.

"Er… it's because at the time, we had reason to believe Lugia and his companions were on Kenobi."

Zorn shook his head and gave an exasperated scoff, muttering quiet frustrations under his breath.

"Just what sort of extraction is Lyn running?" the Water-Type growled. "Losing his target first at Tromba, and then within spitting distance of one of our shipyards?"

A deafening silence filled the room as Ellsberg stared blankly back at the Gyarados. The Mothim screwed his eyes shut and shook his head with a grunt.

"I... don't have an answer to that-"

"Administrator Zorn!"

The sound of the doors being thrown open filled the room, revealing an Armaldo with a Third-Rank Company scarf hurrying in. As the Plate Pokémon came to a rest at the islet, Zorn turned, and addressed him with a tone of voice that approximated amity.

"Ah, Briggs… Just in time."

"I heard that you needed my presence immediately," the Armaldo answered back. "Just what is going on here?"

"The gods tread among us on this island," the Gyarados replied.

At once, the Rock-Type hopped back with a start. Zorn didn't honestly mean…?

"W-What?! But how can that be?!" he cried. "The Protector here on Mengir got shipped off-island before the Petrification of Conntow! And the only one you've told me of is that sea fairy that drifts among the ocean clans and hasn't come ashore in years!"

"It's an unrelated specimen this time," Ellsberg explained. "The Guardian of the Seas."

"I'll brief you on the details in a bit," Zorn added. "But my understanding is that it should look something akin to a long-necked Wingull."

Ellsberg passed the four bounties over to the Fossil Pokémon, setting them down beside the anomalocaris' feet. The Armaldo simply stood there for a minute scanning the papers, blinking at the odd description of their quarry before finally clearing his throat to speak.

"I see," Briggs grunted back. "I'll send word to Captain Hertsog to seize them at o-"

"Actually, Commander," Zorn interrupted. "I need you to arrange for something a bit different this time…"

The two bugs whipped around to stare at the Gyarados puzzledly. It wasn’t like him to suddenly meddle in open-and-shut operations...

"Administrator Zorn? What are you going on about?" Ellsberg asked. "The Protector is here now, we should grab him before he can get away!"

"Well now, that strategy's been working out rather well for Commissioner Lyn, hasn't it?" the Administrator scoffed. "Chase around the Protector while he's healthy and capable, only for him to slip from your grasp again. No, I think that it's nigh time for a change of strategy."

The Water-Type twitched his barbels and mulled for a moment, before turning a wary eye towards the Mothim notary in the room.

"First off, have there been any particular habits this group has been getting into in each of their stops?" the Gyarados demanded.

"Er… well, my understanding is that they were found near a guild the first time they slipped our grasp, so I presume they've done a mission or two while we've been chasing them?" Ellsberg replied.

"Oh really now?" Zorn asked. "I think that I have a proposal for how to handle them in that case."

"You… do?" the Mothim buzzed.

"This island's ferals, particularly the ones in our Mystery Dungeon, have been unsettled ever since the local Protector's egg was transported all those years ago," the Water-Type said. "As you may already know, they have a habit of ambushing villagers travelling alone in the island's interior at night."

"Not to mention the occasional team that gets forced into an early retirement by those ferals for straying into one of the more sensitive stable zones..." Briggs added, his words quickly drawing a grunt of affirmation from the Administrator.

"That's right, and I think it's something we can use," Zorn remarked. "I suggest that we let Commander Briggs have a few of his subordinates lead these 'pirates' of yours into one of those less… accommodating stable zones through a bait mission."

The Gyarados eased into the water, evidently content with the direction his thoughts were going in. After all, a weakened Guardian would be a much simpler target to deal with...

"Then, when the Protector limps back with whatever's left of his team, we pounce and hold them until Commissioner Lyn can come to transport the Guardian."

"I think that I can arrange for that, sir," Briggs replied, before pausing as a troubled thought flickered over his mind. "But... are you sure Director Inler will-?"

"What Director Inler doesn't know won't harm him," Zorn quickly answered back. "And if anything goes amiss, I will ensure that you don't bear the brunt of responsibility."

Ellsberg began to sputter with a start at Zorn's words, twitching his antennae anxiously. This plan was much riskier than anything he had been expecting!

"B-B-But this is madness!" the Mothim blurted out "What if the Protector gets hurt?! Or-?!"

"Need I remind you, Elmer," the Gyarados interrupted, "that all this time, this wild-goose chase has been going on precisely because the Company has been underestimating this Protector?"

The sea serpent paused and mulled, flopping his tail back and forth against the surface of the water as he waited intently for an answer from the still-stunned moth. After a few flops, the Gyarados grew impatient, and decided to humor the insect's reservations.

"Look, I'm not pushing for any special favors or concessions here," the Water-Type said. "And for my own reasons, I am more than ready to sign off on Commissioner Lyn to fill Darzin's spot as an Administrator... even if my department has to do most of the work for him."

Zorn dipped his head down, coming to eye level with the Mothim as he narrowed his glare with determination.

"All I ask in return is that we follow my plan here."

---

Later that night, the Grovyle Team Traveller encountered outside the Cromlech Inn made her way through the bowels of the fort on the outskirts of Fensedge Village. The palisades and the bulk of its structures were composed of roughly-hewn logs and timbers, with a few exceptions having sturdier stone walls. One of those exceptions was the central complex where Zorn's chamber lay, along with her destination in it- the central blockhouse which loomed over the entire fort.

The Grovyle entered and paced up the winding, torchlit passages of the upper floors of the fort's central blockhouse. The gecko came across a waiting Ariados and Leafeon with a five-tailed blotch on her head waiting patiently outside the Captain of the Guard’s offices. From beyond the firmly-barred door, muffled voices filtered out, leaving the three to try and puzzle out their meaning.

"Oh, hey, Salvini," the Ariados said. "Captain Hertsog wanted you to come too, huh?"

"Yeah, I just got the summons, Payak," the gecko answered back. "Do you have any idea what's going on, though? Sure seems like a late hour to talk about something."

"Well, at first I thought it was about what happened with Administrator Darzin earlier today," the spider chittered. "Though you're right, it wouldn't have been worth putting off to this hour."

"Do you two think it has anything to do with that fuklyo going around who's been claiming to be an Immortal?" the Marked Leafeon asked.

"The Skarmory? I haven't really heard of him doing anything strange," the Ariados, evidently Payak, began, only to find himself facing a pair of unamused stares from his counterparts.

"Strange in a bad way," the spider hastily corrected. "You know what I meant, Phyllis. It's hard to really find fault with a weirdo when he's actually helping Pokémon around town."

"Well, it wouldn't matter," Salvini grunted. "Not like any of us would be able to tell an Immortal from an imposter with just a glance-"

Clunk

Just then, the sound of the door being unbarred from within resounded. The three whirled around towards the office's entrance, coming face to face with a Mienshao with a Second-Rank scarf.

"Sorry for keeping you three so long," the weasel said. "Come on in, Commander Briggs is here to see us."

The three grunts stopped and blinked uncertainly as soon as their Captain's words left his mouth.

"Commander Briggs?" Payak asked. As the three poked their heads in, they saw that sure enough, there was a waiting Armaldo, Administrator Zorn's second-in-command. The trio made their way in, and took seats on simple cushions on stools about a low table opposite the Commander. One after the other, the three grunts straightened their scarves as the Plate Pokémon sized them up, clearly agitated about something.

"The Commander informed me that there was an important mission involving some Pokémon that were seen in the square by the guild earlier today," the Mienshaoe explained, turning his head towards his subordinates. "He asked me to pick a team of Pokémon that were around the area, and of the options, you three seemed to be the candidates for the job."

"Now hold on here, Hertsog! The candidates that are best for the job aren't necessarily the ones you think are best for it!" the Armaldo interrupted, his gaze settling on Phyllis. "And offhand, I can see one that isn't suited to this mission at all."

The other Pokémon cast glances over at the Leafeon with the blotched head, who had frozen and started to grow flustered as she realized that the fossil bug was referring to none other than...

"Wh-Wha-?! M-Me?!" Phyllis exclaimed. "Wh-Why wouldn't I be suited for it?!"

"What's the deal?!" Salvini interjected. "She works as hard as the rest of us!"

"With all due respect, what's so wrong about letting a Marked do this assignment-?" Payak began, only to be silenced by his Captain whipping a furry sleeve out to motion for silence. The Mienshao also appeared to be taken aback by his superior's objections and quickly turned his attention back to the Armaldo.

"Commander, you asked me to pick from my subordinates that were around the square earlier today," the Fighting-Type reminded. "From a purely technical perspective, Phyllis is by far one of the most qualified choices I could have made!"

In response, the Mienshao got an icy glare from the Armaldo across the table, who leaned in before snapping back in an agitated tone.

"Don't get cocky just because you evolved early, Hertsog! There are some things that skulking about a Distortion longer than normal won't just give you, like operational experience," Briggs hissed. "I'm your superior in that department, and I say that fox isn't well-suited to this mission!"

"B-But- I've worked as hard as anyone else on the force! A-And I care just about as much as Mengir and the Company as anyone else!" Phyllis protested. The Leafeon's voice carried a betrayed and helpless tone, clearly upset by Briggs' insistence on being rid of her. "Are the Pokémon Marked or something? You don't have to worry about me sticking up for them if they've been causing trouble!"

"Commander, if Phyllis isn't suited for this mission, I think that I as her superior have a right to know why she's not suitable, no?" Hertsog pressed. "Give me an explanation for your reservations, and I'll concede the point."

Briggs turned and sized up the Leafeon with a frown. If a Marked was tasked to pursue a sea god, what could keep her from causing a panic among her peers on the island? If that happened it would surely defeat the secrecy that Zorn demanded!

… on the other hand, there wasn't really an excuse he could give. He couldn't claim that terrain was an issue, as any team fielded by Hertsog would focus on the land anyways. And if he said that this quarry would frighten the blotch-head, what would keep that Mienshao from just going along and telling her?

Bah… perhaps the best that could be done would be to play along, and make sure that that fox stayed out of the way.

"I... was skeptical of potential conflicts of interest," the Armaldo reluctantly growled back, eying the Leafeon. "But I think that things can work out if her loyalty is as solid as she lets on."

Phyllis bristled and growled at Briggs' accusatory tone, only for Salvini to up beside her and pat at her shoulder.

"Don't let it get to you," she whispered. "After all, you're still on the case right?"

"… Right," the fellow Grass-Type answered, giving a glowering sigh as the Ariados of the group cleared his throat to attempt to steer the conversation in a less confrontational direction.

"So then what's the assignment?" Payak asked.

"Well, leadership has had a bit of a pirate problem lately," Briggs answered as he moved a claw through some papers at his end of the table. "Do any of these Pokémon seem familiar?"

The Commander pushed a set of pirate bounties out into the middle of a table. There was one for a Nidoran, another for a Growlithe, and another pair for a Nidorina and Hydreigon. One by one, the three First-Ranks began to inspect the notices.

"Uhm… I can't say that I've seen any of them during my rounds today," Phyllis murmured to herself. "Payak? Salvini? What about you?"

"Can't say that I've seen any of them myself," the Ariados began. "But-"

There was a loud clatter as a chair was thrown back by an excited Grovyle springing up from her seat. The gathered Pokémon turned in surprise as their teammate suddenly sprung up from her seat, mystified at what had caused her outburst.

"Salvini? Kavko ima?" Payak exclaimed.

"These pirates of yours! I ran into them earlier today!" the gecko cried, eliciting a chorus of startled exclamations from her peers. "I thought something seemed fishy about them even though they looked a little young, so I steered them to the Cromlech Inn!"

"That settles it then," Hertsog declared. "I'll organize a raid on the place right away-!"

"Not so fast, Captain," Briggs interrupted. "While these are obviously very serious characters, we can't afford to just barge in right away!"

"What are you talking about, Commander?" the Mienshao protested. "We know where they are, why wouldn't we spring on them now?"

"They really didn't seem that tough when I ran into them, Commander," Salvini insisted. "And we could grill them for information about where their tougher friends are!"

Briggs shook his head in response, before looking back at his underlings and carrying on with his explanation.

"Bear me out... This group is much stronger than their rag-tag appearance would let on," the Armaldo said. "And I believe you should know a thing or two about appearances being deceiving, Hertsog."

"I'll concede your point…" the Mienshao grumbled, shaking his head. "But where are you going with this?"

"What I'm getting at is that this lot has already fought their way out of the Company's grasp three times already," Briggs answered. "So you'd be wise not to blindly rush your subordinates off to a stay with the medics."

"Eh?!" Payak exclaimed. "But how are we supposed to wrangle them down if they're that dangerous?!"

"You aren't," the Fossil Pokémon corrected.

"Come… again?" Phyllis asked, giving a puzzled frown. Payak and Salvini similarly thought the anomalocaris' words to be strange and traded curious looks with each other.

"Why not?" Salvini wondered.

"Yeah, you're not suggesting we just let them slip away, are you?" Payak added.

"From the information I received, every place this group has gone to has reported that they front as a travelling team," Briggs explained. "Most likely to scout hiding places in the interior and local Mystery Dungeon for future raids."

The Armaldo paused for a second, his tail swishing as he processed the account.

"Naturally, our local circumstances make things a bit more… treacherous," he continued. "Which we can use to get this band of brigands in over their heads, and pounce on them while they're weak and wounded."

"You mean what's left of them," Payak corrected.

"Well, I wouldn't be so quick to assume, but a loss or two wouldn't be unexpected, no," Briggs answered as a small smirk spread over his mouth. "But does that clear things up, Hertsog?"

The Mienshao moved a fur-sleeved arm to his muzzle and pondered a moment. The mustelid glanced over the bounties once more before returning his gaze to his superior.

"It does, yes… And offhand, I see a few things that need to be done to get these pirates into that trap," the Fighting-Type answered back. "We'll need to work with the guild and medics to help set up a snare for these brigands without sucking any civilians in. We'll need to keep an eye for any potential contacts they might have from the docks or on the fringes, and of course, we'll need to actually reel them in."

Hertsog looked down and pawed at his whiskers in thought for a moment, before looking back up and addressing his subordinates.

"Payak, I want you to handle the guild details," the weasel instructed, casting a glance over to the Ariados. "Dangerous criminals or not, this will require bending the guild's rules a little, and it would be best if there were no discrepancies to show for it."

"Consider it done," the Bug-Type grunted.

"Oh? Not giving the duty to Phyllis there?" Briggs asked. "After all, it does seem like a simple enough task compared to the alternatives, especially that dock work..."

Phyllis hissed in indignation, arching her back as she launched into a heated protest.

"Captain, if I may, I'd like to receive the assignment for the docks," the Marked Leafeon replied adamantly. "I'm confident that I can handle it."

A wicked smirk cracked across Briggs' face. Work at the docks would certainly do as a distraction for her...

"It's yours, and I'll work with the Rangers to handle those fringes from my end," Hertsog said. "Salvini…"

"Yes?" the Grass-Type asked.

"You seem to have had the most contact with these scoundrels already," the Mienshao Captain instructed. "I think you're the most natural candidate for steering them towards the dummy mission."

"Hrmph, got it."

"I think that should be all then, get some rest," the Fighting-Type said. "We'll all need to be up in time to beat these scoundrels to the morning crush tomorrow."

The three First-Ranks were dismissed and made their way to the door. Salvini and her companions traced their way down the halls, en route for the courtyard, where the three would go their separate ways for the night based on the lodgings the Company had assigned them.

All the while, something about the whole exchange couldn't help but strike the lizard as strangely amiss...

"Why was Briggs so hesitant to let Captain Hertsog bring Phyllis along for a simple pirate bust?"

The Grovyle mulled the matter, but after thinking and not being able to come to any satisfactory explanation, she brushed it aside.

"Eh, there's probably a good enough reason for it."

Salvini shook her head and continued on as her mind drifted off to the instructions she had been given. If she wanted to give those ne'er-do-wells that mission all she had to do was wait outside the inn the next morning and follow them to the guild.

---

Unbeknownst to the three, on the roof above the Captain's office, a Dragonite had been perched on the awning, fluttering up just high enough to keep his full weight from weighing down the shingled roof. From his position, Darzin had gathered the whole of the conversation that transpired in the office beneath him.

"So, Zorn plans on making the Protector into a sitting Ducklett," he muttered. "Well that simplifies the matter greatly."

The Dragonite turned over to Zorn's stone-walled chamber and glared. It was all that Gyarados' fault that he had to take matters into his own claws to get restitution… Him and the rest of those ingrates on the Board!

But that was no matter, the opportunity was here, and with his time as an Administrator drawing to a close, one could be forgiven for resorting to desperate measures.

"You won't be rid of me so easily, Zorn," Darzin growled. "I will get back what the Board and the Company took from me all those years ago, and if I have to get blunt about it, so be- a-ah-ACHOO!"

The Dragon-Type sneezed, as a gout of dragonfire sailed off and into the side of a nearby barracks. As the Dragonite raised his head and inhaled some snot starting to dribble out his nose, he noticed the barracks now had a blackened scorch mark on the wall and the roof eave was smoldering, with startled cries coming from nearby.

"A-Aaah! What was that?!"

"I think it came from the Captain's office!"

Darzin froze, his antennae drooping and eyes slowly widening in spite of his shrinking pupils as the sound of guards moving around reached his ears.

"Urgh… lousy cold... Time to make myself scarce."

The Dragonite flew off as fast as his tiny wings could carry him. A quick look back past his now tense and rigid tail revealed several guards approaching the blockhouse he was perched on just seconds ago.

Now that he knew what Zorn's plan was all he had to do was wait for the team to come back from the bait mission, and snatch them away before his goons had a chance to capture them.

---

"Crom! Ojo!"

The Druddigon whirled about and froze as he saw a Vigoroth with a Company scarf charging him under the morning's light, his claws bared and swinging towards him. Crom attempted to bolt to the side, but it was too late to avoid a painful glance from the Slash on his arm.

"Eyaaaah!"

The ruddy dragon tumbled and fell along the dirt ground, panting. This fight was going much worse than planned. His foe was tougher, more experienced, and as the sound of rapidly approaching footfalls indicated, swifter.

"Ha!" the Normal-Type taunted. "Nice try, kid!"

Crom hastily dragged himself upright, anticipating another blow at any moment. Except, now the taunting voice and the footsteps were growing fainter and falling away. As the Druddigon looked back, he saw the reason why.

"Your Substitute's mine!"

The sloth was beelining straight for the form of a misshapen Nidorina slouched over, the helpless form of his now undefended Substitute!

"Gaah!"

The Vigoroth's momentum was arrested by a swift chop from a Fraxure's tusk, which was quickly followed by a second. The dragon's strike sent the grunt tumbling back along the ground with a yelp, a pair of raw, red marks forming along his side.

The Nidorina Substitute was safe for now, and the axe-headed Dragon-Type called out an exhortation to try and invigorate his son.

"Don't worry, Crom! I've got it!" Pladur cried. "I've got i-!"

The Fraxure's eyes widened as a screeching Staraptor swooped at him with cutting, white bands of air tracing his body. The dragon dove down and covered his head, feeling whooshing air brush his scales as the hawk harmlessly flew past him.

SPLUTCH!

Any relief was abruptly squelched as he and Crom turned around and saw that their Substitute's flank had been torn open. The fake Nidorina was now melting into a bluish mist, starting around the wound.

"Er," Pladur murmured. "Well, I had it…"

"Gotta pay closer attention to your surroundings, Onondo!"

The culprit of the Aerial Ace, a Staraptor, fluttered down and hopped over to offer a congratulations on a match well-fought.

"That said, it was a decent attempt for a bunch of rookies," the hawk said. "Your kid's quite the scrapper!"

"Yeah, and you're no slouch, either," the Vigoroth winced. "Why, with how you constantly duck and weave around like that, you're a real pain to nail!"

Pladur shook his head flusteredly as he began to protest that he didn't "run away that much", only to notice that Crom was rubbing at his right arm. The Fraxure moved closer to inspect the arm and saw that there was a ruddy scrape on it. Nothing that couldn't be patched up, but even so...

"Uhm… Crom?" the Fraxure prodded. "Maybe you should heal yourself a bit right now. You look a bit roughed up."

"E-Eh?!" the Druddigon protested. "But dad, it's not that-!"

Crom chanced to brush his scrape, which sent a sharp pain through his body and made him wince aloud. The Vigoroth had a flicker of worry pass over his eyes for a moment, only to dismiss his concern with a grunting shake of his head as Pladur drew near to his child.

"Better safe than sorry, right?" the Fraxure insisted, pawing at Crom's arm. "There should be some Oran Berries in my bag. I'll ask some questions while you're getting patched up."

Crom looked back at the scrape on his arm, and in between the sight of the reddish streak on it and the lingering pain it left... those Oran Berries didn't sound so bad.

"I… guess that's a fair point," he replied. The Druddigon lumbered off towards the sidelines as curious prodding over "what sort of questions have you got?" distantly reached his ears from the background. All around him, the local grunts eagerly traded gossip with one another, just as Marley and Osmund had predicted. The young Dragon-Type picked up conversations about friends, family, tips for how to court a crush… along with chatter about a suspicious ship that pulled in overnight with "white sails with red saltires" from some passing grunts.

Crom came to the retaining wall of the battlefield, where a number of bags from the Siglo Swellow's crewmates who had come to poke around for information at the fort were piled up against each other. After rooting around a little, the Druddigon came across his father's bag, and fished out an Oran Berry from inside. The fruit was peeled, pressed against his fresh scrape with a wince, and its pulp popped into the Druddigon's mouth and gulped down. Everything felt alright, except…

It felt like there was less juice in the berry than normal that time. Crom initially thought nothing of it, until he saw that half the juice from the Oran Berry had dripped all over a bulky, coal-gray bag in front of him.

"Ack! Oh no!"

Crom hastily tried to brush the juice off the fabric with his claws, with little success. The Druddigon then hastily looked around, and after seeing that no one seemed to be looking, fished out a piece of paper from the bag and folded it up. The young Druddigon scraped the folded up paper against the fabric and was able to get the bulk of the juice off but for some faint bluish stains. Perhaps the best that could be hoped for on such short notice. The Druddigon sighed, and began to pick the bag up to hide it at the back of the pile…

"Huh?"

… only to realize that the bag felt like there was something strangely bulky and heavy inside. From the side, Crom could see a boxy shape through a gap in the cover. The dragon nosed at the cover, and after letting his curiosity get the better of him, moved a claw for the bag's opening.

"Ack! What are you doing?! That's my bag!"

Crom yelped and dropped the bag as he heard a startled buzz from behind. It was Ander, who had returned from target practice with Watmel-headed training Substitutes the next battlefield over. Almost as soon as the satchel hit the ground, a scythe slipped past the straps and pulled it back.

"Er…"

The Scyther brushed his bag with a blade, and drew it back with a disgusted grimace. Much to his unpleasant surprise, he discovered that it now had some fresh blue stains and leftover Oran juice on it. The Bug-Type shot an exasperated look at Crom, waiting for an explanation.

"A-Aaaah! Sorry! Sorry! I accidentally got it dirty and I was trying to clean it-" the young dragon stammered. "I-I just thought that it seemed a little heavy! And-!"

"What's going on?!"

Pladur had scampered over in a hurry at the sound of the outburst, leaving Ander to shift his glance from the startled-looking Druddigon to the worried-looking Fraxure. After noticing that the bag didn't seem to have been opened, the Scyther began to grow calmer, if still unhappy about the new fluids on it.

"It's fine. Just…" Ander sighed. "Let me worry about my bag the next time something happens to it. Alright, Crom?"

Crom gave an overhasty affirmation, though even so, his mind couldn't help but wonder… Why had Ander gotten so startled about him peeking into his bag? And what was the bulky object inside of it?

"Hey guys!"

The Druddigon's curiosity was quickly displaced as all eyes were drawn to a rapidly approaching party consisting of a Swellow, a Servine, and a Raichu. The lot of them came down a flight of steps along the retaining wall in a hurry, concern etched on their faces.

"Uhm, we kinda found out something about the kids," Philips said. "And, well... it's not looking good at all."

The Electric-Type passed a small tube of rolled-up papers to Crom's group. As Pladur unfurled the papers along the ground, their contents became clear and made the three go wide-eyed as they realized...

These were bounty notices, with Nida and Elty on two of them, described as traveling with a "unnaturally gigantic Wingull".

"Ack!" Crom yelped. "They have bounties on them?!"

"That's not all!" Kiran squawked. "Look!"

After looking through the collection of papers, the group noticed that one of them was for Margi. The group had barely been in port and Lyn had already gotten her in trouble! As for the other…

"Wait a minute, Marley got a bounty too?" Pladur murmured, raising a skeptical brow.

Sure enough, the remaining bounty was a listing for none other than 'la Cazadragones de Tromba', under pretenses of piracy.

"Is that supposed to be a bounty? Or a way to get rid of Pokémon the Company doesn't like?" he asked. "Why, I'd almost feel sorry for anyone who tried to go after her!"

"That does seem strange… Even if he obviously didn't like them, would Lyn lie about Pokémon being 'partners' with the kids?" Ander buzzed. "It's almost as if he added them to deliberately make them seem more danger-"

"Hey! Fancy seeing you here!"

The six Pokémon looked up and saw a cheerful-looking Aerodactyl with Company garb standing over the group. Kiran, Ander, Natrix, and Philips blanched and paled at the sight of the Company grunt beelining for them. To their surprise however, Crom and Pladur seemed to be unperturbed by the stranger approaching them.

"Oh! Kellner!" Crom cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Came here to hone my skills a bit," the Fossil Pokémon said. "So what do you think? I mean, we're not exactly Canalhouse City here, but pretty sweet digs, huh?"

"It's… a bit unexpected," Pladur answered, rubbing a claw sheepishly against the back of his head.

"Eh?" Philips asked, raising a brow skeptically. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I thought you said you never really got around here, Pladur," Natrix interjected.

"We met him yesterday, he was the Pokémon who showed us how to get here!" Crom explained. The conversation quickly turned to a congenial exchange of introductions, and the ice between the Aerodactyl and these 'strangers from the Capital' quickly began to thaw. The chatter among the lavender-scarved Pokémon carried on amiably, until Ander chanced to bring up a question...

"Oh, out of curiosity, Kellner…" the Scyther began. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about these pirate bounties here, would you?"

The look in the Aerodactyl's eyes grew cold and a sour expression spread over his maw, suffocating the Fossil Pokémon's prior congeniality.

"Oh, so you're also getting in on this nonsense," he grunted.

"Eh?" Pladur murmured. "Why are you looking at us like that?"

"Yeah!" Crom interjected. "You were friendly with us just a bit earlier!"

"... Sorry. I suppose it's not really your fault," Kellner sighed. "It's just that ever since those bounties went up, all of the skeevier Pokémon in the ranks have been getting worked up about them and prowling around Mossaisle."

"Mossaisle?" Crom wondered. "You mean the town on the island?"

"That's right. I don't know what's gotten into leadership since a lot of those Pokémon are trouble waiting to happen without tight leashes on them…" Kellner trailed off with a disappointed sigh.

"But I guess that's not for me to decide right now," he answered. "Anyhow, luck with the training."

The Aerodactyl paced off and gave his head a disheartened shake before hopping up and flying off past a retaining wall. After Kellner's sudden departure, Crom and Pladur looked off after him, wondering just what the Rock-Type meant by his parting words.

"I think we should try our hand at looking around the town," Philips said.

"Eh?" Ander asked. "Why's that?"

"Yeah, we've barely looked around this place at all!" Crom interjected.

"Well, think about it," Natrix added. "If these bounties are up, and the grunts are still looking for Elty and Nida, then they haven't found them already."

Pladur paused and moved a claw under his chin thoughtfully. While it wasn't a good idea to underestimate the likes of the Company… he had to admit that it would be strange to keep up outdated bounties.

"I suppose that's a fair point," Pladur murmured to himself.

"And it would be more likely that they'd be in the town," Kiran added.

"We should take teams," the Servine said, shaking his head. "With bounties like these, I don't think that those other grunts will be giving us any time to spare."

"Oh?" Ander buzzed, flitting his wings anxiously. "How do we do this?"

"Natrix and I got off a bit easier from training," Philips offered. "We'll grab some help from the Siglo Swellow and look around. The rest of you get ready to take over for us if we haven't found anything by evening."

"Mrph. Right!" Crom grunted back.

"I think that sounds fair," Pladur answered.

The Raichu and Servine hastily snatched up their bags from the pile against the wall, darting off deeper into the complex. Kiran made his way over to the bags to similarly pack up, only for a sudden worry to make him shake out his feathers and look off at the passing clouds in the sky.

"I just hope he's doing alright out there…" he muttered.

---

Across the stream in Fensedge Village, Team Traveller slept soundly at the 'Cromlech Inn' after a hasty supper the night before. The hostel's rooms were spread out on the second floor, the cheap communal halls positioned closer to the stairs while the more private rooms were further towards the back.

Flush with these silvery 'Thalers' from Valatos and his friends, Nida and the others decided to book one of the private rooms. The room was similar to Taxonomy's in its design, with straw bedding and a simple table, but this time of a squarish instead of rounded design. There was a crude cloth drape for the window, and little holes in the shingled roof that let in light from above. Each of the holes served as an unintended skylight, letting sunlight filter down on a room filled with nothing but the sounds of silent snoring...

"Aaaaaah! We overslept!"

Until the startled squeaks of a Nidoran who had roused herself and saw that the light from the gaps in the ceiling were coming down vertically... The way the sunlight did at high noon.

The little Poison-Type quickly flew into a tizzy as she darted in front of the straw beds her teammates still laid upon, and loudly thumped her feet against the floor.

"Come on you guys! Levántense!" Nida cried. "It's noon already!"

"Wuzzat?!"

Guardia was the first up, leaping up from her bed wide-eyed and with a claw tightly clamped on her bony club which she reflexively swung out, nearly conking Nida on her head. After looking around anxiously about the room, the Cubone saw that her only companions were a wide-eyed Nidoran and a groaning Growlithe and Lugia who were still struggling to raise themselves from their beds.

"What's the big idea?" she huffed. "With the way you were running your yap off, you made me think we got ambushed!"

Nida flicked her ears irkedly back at the bone lizard, just as her other teammates finally managed to drag themselves up to their feet and get their blood flowing with wingbeats and morning stretches.

"Nrgh… 'afternoon'?" Pleo yawned. "But I thought we woke up in the 'morning', Nida…"

"Urgh… couldn't this have waited five minutes?" Elty grumbled, before gesturing with his paw off the room's window. "If you didn't want us sleeping in, why'd you close the drapes?"

"Huh?!" Nida shot back. "No I didn't-!"

As the Nidoran turned to the window, she saw that sure enough, there was a pair of ratty green cloth curtains pulled down over the windows. So that was why the room was so dark! But... she couldn't remember when she pulled it down last night!

"Oh, those things? That hole there was keeping me up when the sky started to become light hours ago," the Cubone answered proudly. "I found you could pull those cloth things down while trying to cover up that skylight in the wall."

A wave of paws and wings quickly found themselves over the faces of Team Traveller's other members. Nida scrunched her brow and shook out her barbs, mumbling exasperated "why me"s under her breath.

"We need that to wake up in the morning!" the Nidoran hissed. "That's when missions get listed!"

"Wait, what?" Guardia asked. "You mean you don't have anyone come by to poke you awake for the start of the day?"

"That's why Pokémon put windows in their walls," Nida grumbled. "So the sun can do that for you!"

The Cubone paused and adjusted her helmet flusteredly as she noticed that the rest of her teammates were giving unamused scowls at her.

"Uh… well it's certainly new lore to be mindful of," she replied, giving a mollifying wave with both her claws. "I mean, how was I supposed to know that skylight would be so important?"

"Ugh… why did we take her along again?" Elty grumbled to himself.

Nida groaned and shook her barbs, muttering under her breath about this rather… rocky start of the day. After picking up on his teammates' increasingly crabby demeanor, Pleo beat out his wings and tried to motion for calm.

"It's alright," the little Lugia offered. "There should still be some missions for us on the board, right?"

---

"How is there nothing left for us?"

Elty scowled and shook his head as the team sized up the mission board for Mengir's guild. It had only taken a few minutes to pick up Guardia's new scarf from the receptionist and make it to the mission board underneath the guild buildings' central teal-roofed dome. And here they were, in a teeming guild hall, without a single mission they could take…

Or at least that's what Elty said. Something seemed amiss about the Growlithe's description, and drew puzzled stares from the Cubone and the Lugia on the team.

"What are you talking about? There's a bunch of papers still on the board!" Guardia protested, pointing at one of the board's listings with her club. "These are missions, aren't they? Why don't you just take one of them?"

"Yeah!" Pleo chimed in. "What about this one with the picture of the swimming Pokémon there?"

Pleo went over and pulled down a paper with a doodle of a Lapras with cargo on its shell off the board with his beak, setting the pamphlet down on the ground. Nida quickly darted up, and began to look over the contents of the listing...

"It says that they're looking for a team to bring some berries down to the Subway on the bottom of the ocean…" she mumbled.

Pleo's eyes brightened up and he bobbed his head excitedly. A mission with swimming?

"Oh! We can do that!" he chirped. "I'm great at swim-"

Before Pleo could finish his words, he heard a low growl and turned to see Elty bristling and glaring.

"NO."

"But-!"

"NO," an equally unamused Cubone's voice shot in. Between the harsh glares from Elty and Guardia, and the head-shaking from Nida… much to Pleo's disappointment, it seemed like they wouldn't be taking a swimming mission today.

"This is a clutter mission anyways, Pleo," she explained, sighing. "And this one and the remaining missions would be too tough for us."

"Eh?" Guardia murmured. "How can you tell?"

"Because the only shapes next to the rune that says 'Rank' are triangles, snake-curves, and stars?" Elty answered. After looking over the pieces of paper, the Cubone saw that sure enough, there were triangle-like, snake-like, and star runes on the places the Fire-Type pointed out. So even if there were missions available, there weren't any that would be reasonable to do!

"I guess that's a reason for waking up on time," Nida sighed. "They say 'a quien madruga, los dioses se ayudan' for a reason back home…"

"What does that mean?" Guardia asked.

"It's a saying that more or less means that 'the gods help the early,'" the Nidoran explained. "Basically, if you're early, you'll get more advantages. If you're late… well, just look at ourselves."

"But we have to do something, Nida!" Pleo squawked. "Don't we have to do a mission before the guild lets us eat here?"

"We should have enough to get by another day, but… maybe it couldn't hurt to prepare a little."

"Prepare how?" Guardia prodded.

"Well, we need to pick up an Escape Orb before we hit that dungeon anyways since we can't risk getting our badges checked..." Nida answered. "We could always come by afterwards to see if any more missions got listed today."

Grumble

Team Traveller's four members looked down at their stomachs, and realized that they hadn't eaten since their small meal before heading to bed the evening before.

"Getting something to eat is part of that getting by, right?" Elty asked.

"Oh? How do Town Pokémon get food? Don't you all not hunt thanks to the Pact?" Guardia wondered. The question made Nida lower her ears and fidget uncomfortably, before shaking her head.

"Uhm… I'll explain on the way, but we don't, and won't need to do that here for food," she said. "Come on, I'm starved already!"

The Nidoran darted off, her teammates quickly following after her as they slipped off into the crowded hall. The four passed by a Kabutops hoping aloud that 'that berry mission to the Subway's still up' and disappeared amidst the mass of milling Pokémon just as some hurried footsteps rang out and came to an uneasy stop.

"Shoot, I lost them!"

Their owner, a Grovyle darting from hall to hall, looked around before pressing on through the crowd. Salvini ducked and weaved around passerbys, drawing cries of protest and surprise, only to find that neither hair nor hide of her targets was to be found there or down the nearby hallways.

The Grass-Type blanched and shook her head to try and collect her thoughts. Perhaps it was best to take a step back here, after all it wasn't a particularly big town to hide in, so...

"Hmm… let's think. Where would I go if I was a pirate stocking up for heading out into the interior?"

With all the facilities around the square it would be the most logical place. If not there, they surely would have gone back to the inn to meet up with their other teammates. Salvini made one final sweep around the crowd and peered down the hallways, just in case her quarry was still around. After coming up empty, she gave a quick nod and turned to make her way out of the guild.

---

About half an hour after she lost sight of Team Traveller at the guild, the lavender-scarved Grovyle continued her fruitless search for the team. She looked through the square, then to the inn that she had steered the group to the day before, only to find that her targets were nowhere to be found. After a similarly unfruitful attempt checking a few local eateries, Salvini then doubled back to re-check the shop-lined square near the guild.

"I only lost sight of them for a second!" she exclaimed, scanning the crowds in the bustling plaza. "Where could they ha- Well how about that…?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the forms of a Nidoran, a Growlithe, a Cubone and a large white bird at the Kecleon shop. They seemed to be... haggling?

"But this apple is perfectly fresh!" Elty insisted. "It's certainly worth more than ten Poké."

"You mean it was fresh," the Kecleon scoffed. "Just look at the color of that thing!"

The chameleon pointed a claw unamusedly at the apple's skin, which had turned a dull shade since the team first picked it up, and grown flecked with specks of dirt. After a moment of uneasy blinking at the 'fresh' fruit, Guardia cleared her throat and hastily butted in.

"It's just a little dust! It'll come off fine!" the Cubone interjected. "It's still good!"

"Look, if my partner here says it's worth ten Poké, it's worth ten Poké," the Pumpkaboo at the counter grunted. "We didn't get into business yesterday, you know!"

"But you're charging 150 Poké for that Escape Orb!" Pleo cried.

"Guess you'd better sell a little extra, huh?" the Kecleon pressed, pointing at the bag on Nida's shoulder.

Nida's ears fell at the chameleon's stubborn insistence and the Poison-Type put a paw to her face with a sigh. Perhaps this wasn't a battle they could win.

"Ugh, fine," Nida muttered. "Let's see what we can do."

After conceding that the Apple would not be fresh enough to pass muster, Team Traveler turned away from the stand to sort their sadly lighter bag for goods to cover the difference. As they fished out their Cleanse Orb and the paltry few Poké left in Valatos' assortment of coins, they traded them over the counter for a dark, black orb with a light faintly glowing at its center. The group's wariness slipped as they were engrossed with their lost negotiation with the Kecleon and Pumpkaboo pair. Deciding to act before they could give her the slip again, Salvini walked over to accost the group of brigands as they pocketed their sphere. The gecko quickly dusted herself and mustered the cheeriest demeanor she could summon, before sidling up to the group.

"Oh, it's you again! Just got through picking a mission, I take it?" she asked.

The Pokémon turned out of surprise at the sudden voice beside them, but sighed out of relief as they saw it was none other than the Grovyle who had steered them to the hostel the night before. The tension in their faces fading, Nida eased into answering the gecko's inquiry.

"Uh... not quite," the Poison-Type replied, sheepishly folding her ears back.

"Hrm?" the Grass-Type wondered. "Something go wrong?"

"We slept in," Pleo chirped back. "And by the time we got to the board, all the missions we could take were picked already!"

Elty, Nida, and Guardia cringed a little. Pleo's admission was rather mortifying for the rest of them... but fortunately for their pride, the Grovyle declined to pry.

"Ah, so basically just treading water until you get something up your alley?" she pressed.

"Oi! We're not treading water, we're right here on land!" Guardia interjected. "And if we were able to get one of those missions, we wouldn't be treading anything around here!"

So the team was actively looking for a mission... steering them to Hertsog's dummy mission might actually be easier than expected, Salvini mused.

"Hrm… Well, it might be a little on the tough side," the Grass-Type offered. "But I was actually running over to re-list a request for a friend of mine…"

The Grovyle dug through a satchel slung across her shoulder and pulled out the fake listing that Hertsog had prepared. As soon as she set the paper on the ground, the members of Team Traveller crowded around, eagerly scanning its details.

"You need us to draw pictures for this village's shrine…?" Nida asked.

"That's right. They're references for the shrine and the paintings have gotten a bit worse for wear," Salvini replied. "It's in a stable zone that was last sighted between the seventh and ninth floor."

Guardia squinted carefully at the paper on the ground, eagerly examining every little scribble on it. She could only recognize a few scattered hut-dweller characters on the paper, the fruit of her studies under Tetsuzui. On the top of the paper was a doodle of what looked like a crude blue drawing of a Stantler on it… the local god, perhaps?

Even so, there was one matter that troubled the Ground-Type...

"Not that I'd be one to turn down a mission dealing with lore gathering about the gods," the Cubone murmured. "But how exactly are we supposed to know if we've found this chamber?"

"Oh, that's easy," the gecko reassured. "There's murals on the passage leading into it from the Mystery Dungeon! If you find it, you'll know as soon as you make it through the thick of the fog!"

Nida looked back down at the listing, and then back up at the Grass-Type. It was a bit of a peculiar request, but...

Pleo needed a chance to practice… and who knows, perhaps the drawings might even have some sort of tip for how Protectors drew out their power!

"Hrm… well, the description doesn't sound like anything we couldn't handle," the Poison-Type mused.

As Nida mulled, Elty twitched his ears and glanced at the paper the spike ball was prodding at. The little dog gave it a skeptical sniff before casting a wary glance up at Salvini.

"Eh, nie wiem," Elty mumbled. "Even if it was posted once before, it's technically unlisted now…"

"I was actually in the middle of running a copy over to the guild myself," Salvini explained. The Grass-Type pulled a second sheet of paper, and dangled it in front of Team Traveller, prepared for this exact purpose to mollify her pirate quarry. The gecko put the second sheet back into her bag, and began to bend down to pick up the one she set on the ground. "I mean, it should be up on the board in just a couple hours if you'd rather wait…"

"No, no, that's alright!" Nida interjected, quickly pulling away the listing. "We'll take it! We could use the mission!"

The Grovyle cracked a satisfied smile as the Nidoran eagerly snatched up Hertsog's listing. While the spike ball stuffed it into her bag, the Grass-Type gave a few more words to attempt to pry into her targets' next move.

"Well… glad we could both work something out with each other," Salvini chuckled. "So you'll be getting right to it, then?"

"That's right!" Guardia grunted. "We'll be heading straight for-!"

"Wait!" Pleo squawked.

Elty and Nida folded their ears back at Pleo's outburst, taken aback by the sudden volume. The three turned with skeptical looks to see what the Lugia's issue was.

"We've been running here and there for the last couple of days already!" the little Protector cried. "Before we go back into a dungeon, can't we play a little?"

Nida paused and twitched her whiskers uncertainly, they had been through a lot… and…

"A break would be nice after the past few days," she murmured. Elty and Guardia similarly paused, and much to Salvini's astonishment, the longer the two mulled, the more they seemed to agree with the little spike ball! Just what sort of criminals were these?!

"W-Wait a minute!" Salvini interjected. "You're going off on a break now?!"

"Er… this mission of your friend's," Nida said, drooping her ears sheepishly. "Does it have to be done today?"

"I- I mean, it would be preferred," Salvini stammered. "But it would be understandable if-"

"Then let's play first!" Pleo insisted. "Let's go to the beach!"

The Nidoran looked at her Lugia companion, and then turned her head back at the Grovyle with a wavering glance.

"We wouldn't be holding you up, would we?" the Nidoran asked. "Er…"

"It's 'Salvini,' and…" the Grass-Type said before trailing off. She hesitated, then gave her head a dismissive shake.

"Nah, forget it," she replied. "Go ahead, sometime's a 'mon's got to unwind a bit."

"Woo hoo! Let's go! Let's go!" Pleo cheered. "Come on, let's go build a sand castle!"

The four Pokémon ran off chattering and calling after one another, as they slipped away in the morning crowds. Salvini stared off after this band of most peculiar criminals, still blinking and blankly trying to make sense of the fact they were excited about a...

"Sand... castle?"

These were either, without a doubt, the worst pirates she had ever heard of, or Commander Briggs or someone further up the chain of command had made a mistake.

Unless this was their cover…

Or maybe they were some hooligans who needed to be scared straight…

Or the Commander left out some details about their mission during their debrief... Could that be it?

Well, Briggs would sort it out. He couldn't possibly go that hard on a bunch of kids, right?

With that, the Grovyle shuffled off, tracking the path Team Traveller took off for the beaches west of the town.

---

After making their way back on the route past the juice bar and medic's hut that they took on their first day in Fensedge, Team Traveller carried along to the shoreline and off to a green-sanded beach just outside of town. There, in the backdrop of Fensedge's stone spires, the team wiled away their time, dutifully scooping up handfuls of sand up from the wet band above the surf and carrying them up towards the high tide mark.

"That's it," Nida called. "Just keep moving the sand over!"

"You know," Elty grumbled. "This would go faster if we just kicked up the sand into a pile and shaped it there."

The young Lugia squawked out of protest at the Growlithe's suggestion and beat his wings emphatically. They couldn't just kick up the sand like that! After all...

"There'd be a big hole right in front of the sand castle then!" Pleo cried. "And you wouldn't ever get the waves to come up to you!"

As the team continued their talk about how to make the sand castle, the little Protector noticed that one member seemed to be missing from the conversation.

"Guardia? What's the matter?" Pleo wondered "Why aren't you playing along?"

The Cubone all this time had been watching her teammates play with the sandcastle, doing nothing other than to occasionally poke at it with her club while lost in thought. The Ground-Type tilted her head skeptically at the little Guardian, before deciding that it was best to clear up the matter troubling her.

"Well, something bothered me about earlier… why were you acting so strange during that storm?" Guardia asked. "We were all in danger, but you weren’t bothered at all while you were in the middle of it!"

"Now that the bonehead mentions it, that was kinda strange," Elty murmured. "What is it with you and storms?"

Pleo paused and tilted his head puzzledly, giving a bat to his tail. The little Protector brought a wing to his beak and mulled a moment, before finally offering up what little of an answer he could think of.

"I don't know, it just made me less tired…" he replied. "And I thought it felt really soothing."

"Huh? But you're supposed to be the Guardian of the Seas!" Nida cried. "Why would a storm feel soothing to you?"

The team traded blank looks with each other, as no simple answers seemed to come to mind to Nida's question. After scratching at her chin under her skull helmet, the Cubone in the group suddenly raised a proposal.

"Well… it's said that Protectors are supposed to have 'domains'," Guardia said. "What if Pleo's 'domain' is storms?"

Nida flinched at her teammate's words and hopped back with a start, twitching her whiskers uncomfortably. Guardia couldn't possibly be suggesting that Pleo had anything to do with it, could she?

"Wh-Wha-?! That's preposterous!" the Poison-Type spluttered.

"Not that I'd be one to look forward to getting stuck with more rain, but…" Elty mused. "I think she might have a point."

"She does?" Pleo asked, tilting his head.

"Think about the times when your power came out before," Elty explained. "The day you blew Captain Hess across the island was just a few days after a storm. That night we crawled through Lyn's ship was the night of a storm…"

Pleo fidgeted uncomfortably at the mention of Lyn's ship. The Growlithe's words rustled unwelcome memories of being taken away from home and chained up in that dark room below deck, which made the young Lugia rustle his feathers uneasily.

"Then… if this island here gets a bunch of storms," Guardia mulled. "Maybe this is the right place for figuring out how to draw out your god's power."

Nida lowered her ears and shook her spikes, unnerved at the Cubone's words. Pleo? A god of storms? The scary winds and rains that brought trouble to shore and to ships at sea? The spike ball turned, hoping her partner's normal cheer could help dispel some of the anxiety, only that Pleo still looked downcast.

The little bird had lowered his head and pulled it in close to his body, uncomfortably shuffling his feet in the sand. The three wondered what could be troubling the young Protector until a simple pair of questions made his troubles known…

"Nida…?" Pleo murmured. "When can we go back home?"

The Nidoran blanched and looked down at the ground, the young Protector's words catching her off-guard. After a hasty shake of her head, a forced smile spread over her muzzle as she attempted to soothe the little Lugia with some encouraging words.

"Don't worry Pleo," Nida reassured "We'll go home soon."

"When is soon?" Pleo asked.

Nida froze. When was soon? Every path home she could think of had a Samurott sitting in its way. Her family, her friends beyond her teammates, the rest of the town she took for granted just up until a few weeks ago… The more she thought of them, the more impossibly far they seemed, causing the poison-rabbit's ears to droop lower and lower.

"I… don't know," she mumbled, shaking her head glumly. "If we could only draw out your power we could fight back against the Company…"

Pleo's neck drooped ever so slightly, but Nida caught the signal. Think positive, think positive, find something for Pleo's sake... he liked the storms, right?

"Though... if Guardia is right, then being someplace near storms might help," she said. "If there's any place where we can draw out your power, we sure can do it here!"

The Nidoran noticed that the mention didn't seem to be very effective at cheering up her teammate. Perhaps it was best to set aside the worries of drawing out Pleo's power for now, and focus on something a bit more relaxed...

"But… why don't we get back to that sand castle for now?" Nida asked, nosing at the team's still nascent sand castle. "We've only got one day off, so let's make the most of it!"

The suggestion seemed to cheer the little Lugia up, as his spirits and energy quickly returned at the prospect of finishing the team's sand castle...

"Sure!" he chirped, much to Guardia's long-faced displeasure.

"Are we seriously putting off learning more about the lore of a god for sand castles?" she grumbled.

"Aw, come on!" Pleo chirped. "You can learn this 'lore' thingy about sand castles!"

The Ground-Type paused and blinked incredulously, tilting her head puzzledly at the white bird. Were the gods supposed to be this way? The Cubone felt a paw at her shoulder, and turned to see a bemused-looking Growlithe.

"He's got you there, bonehead," Elty chuckled. "I mean, when was the last time you got to make one of these in that stuffy cave of yours?"

The bone lizard turned to the pudgy Fire-Type, and then to her companions gathered around their sand heap. It wasn't lore about the Protectors, but…

"Yokarō," she grunted. "This sand castle thing is more fun than I thought it would be anyways."

With that, the former feral joined her peers, continuing the process of lugging up wet sand and molding it into a fort that with enough time and a little imagination, would outshine even the one looming over the town to the east. And so it was that the team whiled away their day, laughing and playing with each other with Fensedge Village off in the distance…

Rustle

And under the watch of a pair of sharp, yellow eyes of one of its guards lurking unseen in the nearby undergrowth.

---

Author's Notes:

- fuklyo (фукльо) - Bulgarian: "Show-off" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Kavko ima? (Какво има?) - Bulgarian: "What's the matter?" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Onondo (オノンド) - Japanese: "Fraxure" (Official Romanization)
- (¡)Levántense! - Spanish: "Wake up!"
- nie wiem - Polish: "I don't know”
- Yokarō (良かろう) - Japanese: "Very well" (Hepburn Romanization)

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

Chapter 22 Review:

Any escape would have to happen at the top of the stairs; however, if there was any trap waiting for them up there…

It speaks volumes to their paranoia if they're assessing possible escape routes and trap placements...

"This is a Gummi Fab,"

A "Fab"? Is that an actual slang term that's used in English, or something more story-specific? Perhaps derived from fábrica?

The young Lugia took a nip at the white substance inside the cup- but as it passed over his tongue, he gagged and spat the white substance onto the floor.

"Ptoo! Ptoo! Ack! It doesn't taste like one either!" he cried. "Cave rocks taste better than this!"

Maranda: "You absolute FOOL! Do you realise how tight not!France's food safety laws are? You contaminated the whole batch--now we'll have to throw it all out!"
Nida: "Hehehe, oops... w-we're not going to get a bill in the mail, are we?"
Maranda: "..."
And thus was the real reason the three began their world adventure: to evade their creditors.

"Eh…? How did you know I was a Protector?" he wondered, tilting his head puzzledly. "I didn't tell you yet!"

Pleo: "Awwww, my punchline! That's the best part of the job!"

"You have heard of Conntow and their late King, yes? The Imperials are his heirs… of a sort, which puts them at odds with the Company," the Mairesse explained. "Both sides would love to own Boisocéan, but neither can afford the other controlling it. Annexation would lead to certain war, and the bands of ocean Pokémon that depend on our gummis would have reason to attack both sides for disturbing such an important island to them."

Ooooh, lore! Worldbuilding! Probably my favourite part of any story. Could these Imperials be the Byzantine Empire to the Company's Venice? (Strange that this is the official name. How many are there? Why not just "Empire" or "Conntow Empire?"? If it's a collection of different pretender states, wouldn't each have their own official name?).

"To be fair, this place is a maze," Elty grumbled, shaking his head as Pleo fluttered up from the river below onto a nearby awning to stop and preen his feathers. "It's not like you can just get up high and spot the post office around here with all the tree branches in the way."

Great description of the town all-around! Perhaps more important than making a place interesting is to make it possible for the reader to actually paint an image in their head. I'd say you succeed in that here.

"Well, if you do have something to sell, I could always give you Poké for that and you could buy something with it," the Kecleon interrupted, clearing its throat. "The Merchantry's always been a fan of commerce sans frontières, so no harm in circulating our own money to help travelling Pokémon like you dodge exchange rates, eh?"

Hang on. So every island has their own currency? Or perhaps every archipelago? Or is it Company/Imperial overlordship that determines the currency? I just assumed the entire Cradle had the same currency, but here's this guy talking about exchange rates.

"Shopkeepers sometimes still use them out on their bigger islands like Giotto, but what with things getting divided up between them, the Company and Pokémon needing to move around… When you don't have to worry about switching over from Bezants to the Company's Tin Thalers, it makes Poké much more useful for travellers like you in small towns like this one, eh?"

Ah. I suppose that answers my questions. So Poké is more of a non-aligned island currency, I see,

"Indeed. The only real way for anyone to get workable aluminum is to get it from things left behind from the age of humans, like shipwrecks and skeletons of their flying machines on the seafloor,"

Oooh, that's so cool! They take apart aeroplane wrecks for scrap metal!

Nida shook her head. As much as it pained her to do this, they really couldn't take a blind leap here. Like taking a blind leap in a Mystery Dungeon, the consequences weren't guaranteed, no… But if they did happen…

Pleo: "Don't worry! You can just hide me in a crate, too! I missed out on all the fun the first time around."

Much to his surprise, after the pair turned to see him, they seemed startled by his presence.

"Gih!"

"Ack! Cover blown! Cover blown!"

Hehehe, reminds me of this clip from Family Guy:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9c_2aoW2OU

"Send word to the search teams to monitor the skies and seas around the island. If the Guardian gets off of that rock, pin him down and grab him," he ordered.

Pleo: "See? I told you, just put me in a crate and they'll never see me get out!"
Nida: "Pleo... are you taking this for a game? >.<"
Pleo: "Errr... it would be fun AND help us escape?"

Fantastic chapter, as usual!

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

It speaks volumes to their paranoia if they're assessing possible escape routes and trap placements…

I mean, considering what they’ve been through thus far, can you really blame them? o3o;

A "Fab"? Is that an actual slang term that's used in English, or something more story-specific? Perhaps derived from fábrica?

It's a word that can be used to refer to a factory derived from 'fabricate'. e.x. a 'semiconductor fab'. Nowadays it’s primarily associated with the tech sector and manufacturing of things like semiconductors, though here it’s a shorthand term along the lines of “factory” but not quite.

Maranda: "You absolute FOOL! Do you realise how tight not!France's food safety laws are? You contaminated the whole batch--now we'll have to throw it all out!"
Nida: "Hehehe, oops... w-we're not going to get a bill in the mail, are we?"
Maranda: "..."
And thus was the real reason the three began their world adventure: to evade their creditors.

That would certainly make for an awkward return home if they greeted Bluewhorl Town with a big bill, now wouldn’t it? :V

Pleo: "Awwww, my punchline! That's the best part of the job!"

I mean, if you repeat a punchline enough, you start getting more mileage out of subverting it, Pleo. o<o

Ooooh, lore! Worldbuilding! Probably my favourite part of any story. Could these Imperials be the Byzantine Empire to the Company's Venice? (Strange that this is the official name. How many are there? Why not just "Empire" or "Conntow Empire?"? If it's a collection of different pretender states, wouldn't each have their own official name?).

Their technical name is the Empire of Anyilla. It’s been a bit blink and miss thus far, but Anyilla is the region of the Cradle where this story is set, and both the Company and Empire have claim to all of it.

There are understandably some *ahem* disputes that have arisen as a result of that, and both sides are looking for neat and tidy ways to resolve them. Like having a Protector place his wing on the scales for one or the other.

Great description of the town all-around! Perhaps more important than making a place interesting is to make it possible for the reader to actually paint an image in their head. I'd say you succeed in that here.

Glad to hear, since unlike stories in visual mediums, written stories have to be explicit about details that one wants the reader to know about. I’m glad to hear that the description of Seahive Square was solid enough to help it come to life for you in your reading.

Hang on. So every island has their own currency? Or perhaps every archipelago? Or is it Company/Imperial overlordship that determines the currency? I just assumed the entire Cradle had the same currency, but here's this guy talking about exchange rates.

Technically, there are two state-issued currencies in Anyilla, Copper Bezants being the Empire’s and Tin Thalers being the Company’s. And given those two specific metals, you can probably guess what used to be circulated for money before the two broke up with each other. Boisocéan is a rare bird where it has de facto independence thanks to being too much of a geopolitical hot potato for one side or the other to outright annex. Right now anyways.

Ah. I suppose that answers my questions. So Poké is more of a non-aligned island currency, I see,

Technically, it’s closer to Bitcoin/Canadian Tire money, which has gotten broader acceptance socially thanks to the coverage of the Merchantry’s retail network and it being a convenient medium of exchange when you’re trying to avoid little problems like currency debasement and scam-tier exchange rates between factions that don’t like each other very much.

Oooh, that's so cool! They take apart aeroplane wrecks for scrap metal!

Yup, that’s one of the ways left of reliably getting aluminum in this setting. Not very common, but when it does turn up, it noticeably boosts the aluminum supply.

Pleo: "Don't worry! You can just hide me in a crate, too! I missed out on all the fun the first time around."

Yeah, but that only works for as long as he stays in said crate. It’d get a bit cramped and uncomfortable eventually. ^^;

Hehehe, reminds me of this clip from Family Guy:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9c_2aoW2OU

Pleo: "See? I told you, just put me in a crate and they'll never see me get out!"
Nida: "Pleo... are you taking this for a game? >.<"
Pleo: "Errr... it would be fun AND help us escape?"

Hold onto that thought about the crate for a while. It comes up more than once in this story. :V

Fantastic chapter, as usual!

Glad to hear you’re enjoying it! And me and Virgil will be looking forward to when you wind up catching up with the present arc, since I strongly suspect you’ll find quite a bit in it that’ll make you smile.

Speaking of which, it’s been two weeks. So it’d probably be good to push out a new installment from it, huh? ^^

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Beyond being surprised by the occasional wave, Team Traveller's lazy day at the beach went by without incident. The team whiled away the daylight hours laboring on little heaps of sand that their imaginations spun into grand castles. Eventually, the sun began to set over the west and the sky started to turn a vivid orange, prodding Team Traveller to begin their trek back to Fensedge. After returning to the village, the team grabbed a bite from the square near the local guild and retired back to the inn for the night. It had been a much needed day of rest and relaxation, though all the while Pleo, Nida, Elty, and Guardia couldn't help but shake the feeling that they had been watched...

Pat-pat-pat

And for good reason.

As night broke and the stars came out, Salvini made her way up the stony chambers in the central blockhouse of Mengir's Company fort. Three Pokémon were already waiting for her inside at the Captain's office: a Marked Leafeon and an Ariados, both facing a tired-looking Mienshao with a Second-Rank Company scarf.

"I was hoping that the guild would've fished them out by now," Hertsog sighed. "I didn't see anything other than the expected plants and ferals while I was with the Rangers earlier, not exactly what I wanted to do while work piled up in my office."

The Mienshao shook his head and stroked his whiskers before turning to his subordinates with an expectant look.

"We can't afford to stay off their trails for too long," he murmured. "So let's try and make this status update quick. Any luck from your ends?"

"I looked around the docks on the west side of the village as promised, but I didn't see them at all today," Phyllis said.

"I 'convinced' the guild to allow the mission to be posted, sir," Payak chittered. "I didn't see any of the pirates, but Salvini told me that they passed through while I was in the back office."

"What about you, Salvini?" Hertsog pressed. "Were you were able to give them that mission?"

"I successfully gave the mission to a couple of their younger members in front of that Merchantry shop…" the Grovyle began. "But they wound up spending the day at the beach to the east of town today before returning back to the inn."

Salvini's answer was met with wide eyes and jaw drops from her teammatess. The pirates hadn't started their mission and left Fensedge on their own?

"Wait, what?!" Phyllis cried. "But why would they do that?"

"Captain, we should pounce on them now while they're at the inn," Payak interjected. "They've clearly caught onto us."

"I'll admit, this is looking rather concerning," Hertsog murmured as he moved his fur-sleeved arm towards his muzzle. "But, let's not get worked up just yet."

"Huh? But they already left the town once already!" Phyllis exclaimed. "Shouldn't we not be pressing our luck with these characters?"

"Why not hear from the source?" the weasel asked, before shifting a glance to the leafy gecko in his presence. "You saw them come and go today, Salvini. Did you see them do anything strange at the beach?"

"Well, it was just the younger ones," she answered, moving a claw under her chin. "But they spent most of their time at the beach there making sand castles!"

Payak and Phyllis blinked and traded puzzled looks with each other. As the two tried to figure out why their targets would behave in such a manner, Hertsog shook his head and cleared his throat.

"That's what makes me think they haven't caught onto us," the Fighting-Type replied. "If they knew we were onto them, why come back to town when they could have slipped away right there? And especially with the forecasted weather..."

"Forecasted weather?" Salvini wondered.

"Oh, that's right," Payak said. "The Castform who checks the barometers was saying that it's looking like the next storm from the Wastes will pass by Mengir tomorrow. I mean, she's not always right, but-"

"Why would they take a chance like that unless there’s something they still need to do here?" Hertsog finished, giving a wave of a fur-sleeved paw. "I think we should make a point of keeping a closer eye on them from here on out at the guild and inn."

"Oh? Who's taking what?" Phyllis asked.

"I want you and Payak on the guild. Salvini and I will watch the hostel," the Mienshao answered. "Throw a Luminous Orb to signal if you run into trouble. If these pirates are planning on slipping away from here, they'll most likely try something by tomorrow-"

Grumble

The four Pokémon hastily looked around and eased into battle stances, expecting to encounter a hidden eavesdropper… only to pause, and look down towards their bellies as they realized that the strange rumbling was coming from their stomachs! It was rather late in the night, and none of them had eaten yet…

Then perhaps, there was something else to be done before heading straight back onto the beat.

"But for now, we should probably grab a small vecherya before heading back out again," Hertsog said. "Let's make it snappy, though!"

"Right!" came the unanimous reply.

Payak and Phyllis darted off past the door and down the halls with fading footsteps, though one exception remained. There in the now-quiet office, Salvini continued to stare at her superior, her eyes betraying a sense of obvious unease.

"Captain…?" the Grass-Type asked. "Just what kind of pirates are these?! They went off to go play after I gave them the mission!"

"It does seem a little strange, I'll admit," Hertsog answered. "But don't you remember that Commander Briggs said that this team has been able to slip away because others have been underestimating them?"

"That's… true," the Grovyle murmured.

"You have to know your opponent, Salvini," Hertsog reassured. "If you don't… well, if all goes according to plan, these pirates will wind up learning that for themselves the hard way."

The Mienshao paused and shook his head, before turning back to his subordinate and giving his sleeved arms a wave off to the distance.

"Go and get that meal, I'll meet up with you at the Everbloom Taverna," the Captain said. "And that's an order!"

"Hmm, right!" the gecko answered.

Salvini turned for the door and darted down the blockhouse's flights of stairs, eager to treat herself to a well-deserved dinner. Even so, the thought of food and Hertsog's reassurance couldn't dislodge a lingering, nagging thought in her mind…

Was Commander Briggs hiding something about the mission? Otherwise, just what were those supposed pirate kids up to?

---

Back on Kenobi, Crom, Pladur, Kiran, and Ander set out in the late evening, riding a Mantine from among the ship's escorts across the short distance between the atoll compound and the waiting town ahead. During their search, the lot noticed the gate to Mossaisle's Guild, with the towering hall in the background, along with the town shrine and its glyph-studded murals depicting the Continent Tower. But most importantly…

"Wow, it's so colorful!" Crom cried.

…all the gaily-colored shacks the young Druddigon was eagerly inspecting as he darted to and fro. Kiran fluttered over to the young Dragon-Type, hoping to settle him down a bit.

"To be fair, it's maybe 50% more colorful than the buildings at home," the Swellow scoffed. "I think we could match it if we wanted to!"

"Eh… all this color makes things a little confusing to follow. And these buildings seem a little cramped and flimsy." Ander murmured, as he sized up a row of pastel-colored shacks that seemed to have uncharacteristically fortified windows and shutters.

Crom had no mind for any of their criticism, as he bathed in the sights and sounds of the surrounding town before scampering back up to his shorter father.

"Dad, this place looks nothing like home or Seahive at all!" the Dragon-Type exclaimed. "Does every island's town look this different?"

"Well, some are a bit less different than others," Pladur chuckled. "But every one I've run into seems to have its own flair to it, maybe it's because of where they came from back in the old wo-"

"Out of my way!"

Pladur's explanation was cut off with a collective yelp from the group as they were knocked down to the ground by a hastily passing presence. As the four shook their heads to get their bearings, they caught sight of a Yanmega passing by in a hurry with a Manectric and a Marowak.

"How did Farn find out about us anyway?!" the Manectric whined.

"It doesn't matter, just keep going!" the Yanmega buzzed. "We just need to find a new crew and we'll be fine!"

The panicked trio of strangers were gone by the time the four staggered up, leaving them to wonder aloud about what the rushed Pokémon were up to as they dusted themselves off.

"Well, someone was in a hurry, and 100% ruder than they had to be!" Kiran irkedly chirped as he ruffled his feathers. "I wonder what that was all about?"

"Nothing we need to worry about, I'm sure," Ander mumbled. As Crom got up, he cast a look around, and the wonder in his eyes wore off in favor of a more sober and uncertain expression.

"Erm… where do we even start searching for Pleo?" he asked. "This place looks as much of a maze as Seahive!"

"If you're serious, you should check the Andaku Docks," a voice answered from from behind. Crom, Kiran, Ander, and Pladur whirled around and saw that further down the path, a grayish-purple pterodactyl was making his way towards the group...

Wait a minute! This was-!

"Kellner?!" Crom cried. "What are you doing here?!"

"Yeah, I thought you were the one giving us a hard time about messing around with these bounties to begin with!" Pladur added.

"If you must know, I'm off-duty-"

"You know, it's polite to give something extra to the Pokemon who keep you safe from Andaku's scum."

Before the Aerodactyl could finish, the five Pokémon got distracted by a rough, stony voice in from a nearby alley. The group turned and looked, and saw a Golem in Company lavenders had cornered a wide-eyed Glameow, giving a threatening glare while holding out an expectant claw.

"Come on, let's talk this over somewhere else," Kellner sighed, shaking his head bitterly. "I don't need to deal with this right now."

Crom and his companions paused as Kellner faltered for a moment before setting off. The Aerodactyl had clearly seemed upset about the Golem's extortion, but… why didn't he do anything about it?

Maybe, like them, he thought that he couldn't do anything about it?

"Yeesh… rough crowd here," Kiran muttered as the group carried down the back alley. "So, what are the Andaku Docks anyways, and why do you say we should look there?"

"It's the shifty walled district along the southern bluffs," the Aerodactyl answered. "And the place where miscreants like the pirates you're after like to hang out."

"Eh? But then why isn't everyone already searching that district?" Ander asked.

"Because it's tougher work and involves a tougher crowd," Kellner sighed. "And a lot of the Pokémon in the ranks seem to prefer to spend the time shaking down the locals for a berry or some extra Thalers."

"But why would there be a part of town where you know pirates hang out to begin with?" Crom added. As the little Druddigon's words came out of his mouth, the group's journey chanced to pass into a small clearing at a crossroads of alleys with crates resting by the walls. Kellner paused for a long moment, seemingly unsure of what way to go, before sighing and turning back reluctantly to his new companions.

"... It's because Administrator Farn lets them stay there," the Aerodactyl admitted. Shocked expressions flashed over Crom, Kiran, and Ander's eyes, though curiously enough, not Pladur's.

"W-What?! But they're pirates!" Crom exclaimed. "You mean they're just being left alone to run the place?!"

"We are not leaving them alone!" Kellner shot back, the Aerodactyl's words coming back with a frustrated roar. "We capture any that don't get lost after three days, and Administrator Farn recruits privateers from there!"

"But you have that big fort out on the atoll!" the Druddigon protested. "And the shipyards-!"

"And a choke point for trade routes for the south of Company territory that can't afford to be disrupted for too long," Pladur added. The Fraxure shook his head as the entire group grew deathly silent. "Isn't that right?"

"That… is correct," Kellner replied reluctantly.

"But- But that's awful!" Crom shouted. "Couldn't you just put more Pokémon to protect the town? Or what about those big walls? Why do you need to deal with those pirates at all?!"

"The grub does have a point," Ander said. "It doesn't look like whatever's going on right now is working out that well with how uninviting this neighborhood looks."

"The locals don't like the taxes that HQ puts on them already," the pterodactyl sighed, shaking his head. "How are they supposed to react when they get told that they need to pay even more for protection they don't even believe in?"

Kiran's mind turned back towards those hazy days when he was younger, when the Guild Hall was the local fort that Administrator Darzin ran the island from. He remembered that it was harder to avoid tributes then, that the guards were bullies from off-island instead of trusted faces who could help deflect the burdens of Company rule.

After mulling it over, he realized that if the Pokémon in Aisle Town were anything like the ones that used to be in Bluewhorl, then there was only one logical direction for Kenobi if things went as Kellner predicted...

"Why, it would be 200% more likely they'd revolt!" Kiran squawked.

"Exactly, and for what?" the Rock-Type demanded. "To let the Imperials set up shop here and give the Pokémon here more of the same treatment? To go independent and hang a giant 'raid here' sign over the harbor?"

There was a long pause as nobody knew for sure how to answer Kellner. Having the island infested with pirates sure was bad... but would the alternatives really be any better?

Scufffff… scufffff...

The sound of sudden rustling broke the silence and drew the group's eyes to a small wooden crate. After turning their attention to the box and scrutinizing it a bit closer, the group noticed that it seemed to be inching along the ground.

"H-Huh?! I-Is that box moving?!" Pladur yelped. At Fraxure's mention, some anxious whispers started up from within the crate.

"Ack! We've been spotted!"

Suddenly, the wooden container lifted up slightly, little scaly brown tails and feet peeking out through a gap at the bottom of a now hastily moving crate. Kellner darted over, cut the box off, and pinned it down to the sound of yelps from inside.

"Alright, let's see just what we have here," he began, as he pulled the container off, revealing three startled-looking Cubone inside. Among them was a Cubone chewing slowly at a reed, a jittery and runty-looking specimen, and a wide-eyed Cubone with a grayer skull.

"A-Ack! Th-They're huge!" the runt squeaked.

"Brace yourselves!" the reed-chewer shouted, as she tightened her grip on her bone and eased into a battle stance. "It's time for bat-!"

THWACK

Only for the three to be unceremoniously swatted into a nearby wall by a tail swipe from Kellner.

"Ow…"

The four Pokémon from the Siglo Swellow rushed over and came upon the sight of three stunned Cubone attempting to regain their bearings. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like none of them had any scarves on their bodies.

"Wait a minute- Those are ferals!" Kiran squawked. "What are you three doing in the middle of a town?!"

The three gulped and looked at the bigger, lavender-scarved Pokemon surrounding them. The reed-chewer and the darker-skulled Cubone seemed to do a decent job at keeping their maws shut in spite of the intimidating audience, but the runty one...

"We- We were making sure the defilers got back their book like Tetsuzui ordered!" he cried, drawing exasperated scowls from his companions.

"Keikaiashi!" Kuraikamen growled. "You weren't supposed to tell them that!"

"Eureka!"

The group got interrupted by enthusiastic cries back out on the street, where a Tropius, an Archen, a Nidorino and a Marshtomp excitedly crowded around a small, red notebook in the Fossil Bird's claws. Several Pokémon passing by were giving the four awkward stares, but they seemed too distracted by the notebook to notice, and carried on giddily about 'a big lead on understanding those Unown Runes' with one another.

"'Defilers'?" Ander asked. The Scyther glanced at the jubilant group of red-scarved Pokémon outside the alley, before turning back to face the three Cubone. "There's a long story behind this isn't there?"

"Er… sorta," Machitabi explained. "But the important bit was that we saw them get their book back from those knot-necked jerks and mail off that 'receipt' thingy for those 'Team Traveller' majū."

"Wait a minute, we've actually been looking for a team of Pokémon by that name!" Ander said to the cornered Ground-Types. "You're telling us that you saw them earlier?"

"That's right, they got into a fight with the purple-scarved majū Machitabi was talking about," the gray-skull answered. "We bailed them out before they left the dungeon to do… whatever it is that scarf-wearers do!"

"But why exactly are you here?" Kellner demanded, giving a skeptical tilt of his head.

"Well… someone had to make sure that book got back!" Kuraikamen exclaimed. "So…"

"You planned to follow those Company Pokémon here, then?" Kellner sighed, shaking his head. "Was getting caught also part of your plan?"

"You haven't caught us!" the reed-chewing Cubone protested. "We're just a little… exit-challenged!"

The Cubone's declaration was met by a wave of groans and eye-rolls, including from her own teammates. After looking at her partners, and then back at the larger Pokémon in Company scarves, the Ground-Type blinked and finally conceded the obvious...

"... Okay, you've caught us."

"About this 'Team Traveller'…" Ander prodded. "They didn't happen to tell you where they were going, did they?"

The Ground-Types froze for a moment and began to trade looks and nervous murmurs with each other, before the dark-skulled Cubone shook his head and turned back to the gathered Company Pokémon with a shrug.

"How would we know? We're not hut-dwellers," Kuraikamen scoffed. "Why don't you ask your fellow purple knot-necks? Some Megayanma calling himself 'Valatos', along with a Livolt and a Garagara. They were the ones that tracked them down in the first place!"

"Er… what does that mean again?" Crom asked.

"I believe you call them 'Yanmega', 'Manectric', and 'Marowak' back at the Capital," Kellner answered.

"Wait a minute," the Druddigon suddenly said. "Didn't we run into some Pokémon just like that not too far from here?"

"That's right! They were headed off towards those walls…" Pladur began, only to trail off uneasily as he realized they had gone...

"Straight for the Andaku Docks."

"Wait, Pladur, you've been in there once right?" Kiran chirped.

"Eh?" Kellner asked, raising a brow. "You have?"

The four Pokémon collectively bit their tongues for a moment, realizing that they had revealed something that might cause Kellner to question their cover. The Fraxure quickly fumbled for words to answer Kiran and Kellner, finally managing to stutter a response...

"I-I… mean, this isn't the first assignment I've had here, no," he answered uneasily.

The Aerodactyl raised a brow skeptically upon hearing Pladur's answer, but before he had any chance to ask more about it, Ander hastily butted into the conversation with a question of his own

"So then you'd be able to lead us around, right?" the Scyther pressed.

The Dragon-Type visibly jolted and went wide-eyed, before shifting his gaze to the ground and starting to fidget his claws nervously.

"U-Um… I mean, I could try, but…" the Fraxure stammered. "I got out of there as soon as I could last time…"

"As you should," Kellner chimed in. "Andaku's not exactly a place to go day-tripping, even for Pokémon in the ranks like us."

"But that 'Valatos' Pokémon and his friends are in there," Crom murmured. The four Pokémon peered over uneasily at the graffiti-covered palisades in the distance, before realizing there was only one way they'd find out where Team Traveller's missing members had gone off to.

"We'll have to be careful about it, but it looks like we're going in," Ander buzzed. He turned and began to make his way off for the palisades alongside Kiran and Pladur, only for the young Druddigon among them to falter, and look back

"Look, Kellner, we need to get going, but… what's going to happen to those Cubone?"

"Well, I'm not on the clock, and last I checked this wasn't your town. So it looks like there's no on-duty officer to deal with them," the Rock-Type answered, before turning his attention to the cornered bone lizards. "Or to object to being brought to the outskirts and left to continue from there, hmm?"

"Oh, er… well, it would be nice," Keikaiashi said.

"Yeah!" Machitabi added. "It would save us the trouble of fighting our way through you!"

The Cubone's adamant belligerence drew a facepalm from the Aerodactyl, as the group of Company-scarved Pokémon rolled their eyes at the little creature's insistence.

"I'm sure it would," he sighed, as he lowered his body and allowed the Ground-Types to clamber up his back. Now that things looked like they would work out, Crom turned and carried down the alley after his teammates, only for Kellner's voice to interrupt him.

"Crom! One more thing!" he cried. The Druddigon looked over his shoulder, and saw that Kellner was fidgeting and visibly fumbling for words.

"Good luck out there," the Aerodactyl finally managed.

"Oh, er… thanks," the Druddigon replied. Kellner gave a quick nod back before he turned around and took off flying from the ground, three Cubone in tow. As the Aerodactyl began to fly off, the dark-skulled Cubone tugged at his reed-chewing counterpart's arm, a nagging uncertainty gnawing at his mind.

"Psst, Machitabi," Kuraikamen whispered. "Shouldn't we have told them about that 'Team Traveller' flying off to that 'Mengir' place already?"

"Yeah, they were looking for them!" Keikaiashi added. "And for purple-scarved majū, they didn't seem bad…"

The reed-chewer looked back, and for a fleeting moment, saw Crom and his companions making their way down towards the palisades before they vanished among the maze of alleys and rooftops. The Ground-Type paused a bit, before shaking her head and turning back to Kuraikamen.

"Mou ii, it would only have caused them trouble." Machitabi answered. "I mean, sure they seemed nice, but they're Company majū just like that bug and his buddies!"

The dark-skulled and the runty Cubone looked at each other uneasily before shrugging the matter off. It would be a bit late now to tell those knot-necks about where Team Traveller had gone…

Besides, the group had flown to a Company island anyways. It would just be a matter of time until the Crimgan and his friends would hear about a long-necked majū strutting around there… wouldn't it?

---

It was said in folklore that in the distant past, the first ships built by Pokémon were constructed in order to ferry Protectors' eggs from the Eye of the Cradle to the islands where they currently reside. Back on the atoll ringing Kenobi Island, the craft continued to be honed and kept alive, as evidenced by the Company shipyards which remained busy as the hours went by in Crom's search and the stars came out for the night.

The focus of the nighttime activity was a collection of drydocks nestled in between warehouses with lanterns and torches lighting up the site. At the sea's edge, flash locks formed by timbers with ice plugs between them kept the water out, with wind-powered pumps present to shift water in and out of the locks as needed. Inside one of the drained basins, Pokémon were finishing up the repairs of a three masted ship as orders barked out over a tiller repair in the basin just beside it. Lyn's hulking vessel was held in place by wooden blocks and a scaffolding, as its Samurott owner tensely paced past the busy scene.

"Grr, where is he?"

Lyn scanned his weary, dark-circled eyes irkedly around the crowd of Pokemon, stalking about the drydocks with blade in paw. There were Pokémon clambering up scaffolds made from bamboo and wood, a few workers scraping gunk off the hull… but the Pokémon the otter was looking for was nowhere to be found.

"You looking for something, Captain?"

Only for the Pokémon of interest, his Weavile First Mate, to casually approach the Samurott from behind. Lyn turned around and locked his gaze with the weasel, glaring back at the Dark-Type.

"Ketu! Where have you been?!" Lyn growled. "I told you to oversee the repairs on the ship and meet up with me in front of the drydocks an hour before the Time Lord crosses the Moon! I've been wandering around looking for you for almost fifteen minutes now!"

Lyn's presence in one of his more mercurial seasons was enough to reduce many of the Company's First and Second-Ranks into shivering, stammering messes. Even the nearby workers seemed to be keen to give the Samurott a berth. As for the first mate in front of him...

"Eh?" the Weavile nonchalantly answered, giving a skeptical brow raise. "Lighten up a little, Captain! I got pulled off for a surprise meeting. Some boring administrivia about the ship's repairs."

"Ketu, this is serious!" Lyn bellowed. "I need to know when the ship will be ready! We need it if we're going to catch that bird!"

"Well, why don't you take a look for yourself?" the Dark-Type asked as he pointed at the ship. The ships' sails and rigging were once again pristine, with all but a few errant gaps in the railings that were yet to be repaired. Why, there'd even been a fresh coat of paint thrown on, making the craft looked better than it had when it first pulled into Tromba.

"All's left are a couple touch-ups, and she'll be ready to hit the water again by tomorrow," Ketu said. "You didn't think I would leave if the Argent Aviso was still a pockmarked wreck like when we came in, did you?"

The Samurott paused as he sized up his ship. He had to admit, now that he'd stopped to look at it, it did seem to be in much better shape than when they limped into port. The Water-Type shook his head and sheathed his blade, before giving a scowl to the Dark-Type.

"You should have told me about this advance," Lyn grunted. "But, I can't say that I can really argue with results, so it seems I was a little quick to judge."

"Well now, I do aim to please," Ketu smirked. The Dark-Type crossed his arms and gave a smug smile back at his superior… only for the Weavile to sprout a disgusted expression upon noticing a fluttering form in the corner of his eye.

"Lyn!"

"Eh?"

Lyn turned around just in time for Ellsberg to come to a fluttering rest in front of him, his breath still ragged as he brushed himself off.

"Oh great, it's the notary again," Ketu harrumphed. "And here I was hoping we'd be able to leave port before you got back-"

"Enough, Ketu," the Samurott growled. "Well, out with it, Ellsberg."

"The- The Guardian-" the moth began, only to be cut off with a roaring bellow.

"Not out loud right here, you dunce!" Lyn shouted. "You're a notary aren't you? Give me a note or something!"

The moth reflexively flew back in a start, leaving Ketu to snicker at the Bug-Type as he attempted to regain his nerves. After taking a moment to calm himself, the Mothim took out a small slip of paper from his satchel along with a lump of charcoal and sketched out a note that he slipped in front of the Samurott…

"WHAT?!"

…who promptly went wide-eyed. A number of nearby workers turned at the sound of Lyn's commotion, only to be turned around by a backing "Hey! Get back to work!" from his first mate. The Samurott hastily disgorged a pulsing burst of water at the note, reducing it into an illegible collection of pulpy fragments before turning back to face the Bug-Type.

"You know, if we had simply gone somewhere more private, you wouldn't have needed to do that," the Mothim huffed.

"Priorities, Ellsberg!" Lyn demanded. "What do you mean he's at Mengir?!"

"I mean exactly what I said, Lyn," the notary answered. "I saw him there with my own eyes. Administrator Zorn even has a plan in place to find and restrain him, but you need to get over there quick!"

The Samurott pawed at his whiskers at Ellsberg's words, mulling on what the best course of action was. After a noticeable pause, the otter shook his head with a grunt, having decided what path to choose.

"... Ketu, make sure reprovisioning for the ship gets done by the time the drydock gets flooded tomorrow," Lyn commanded. "We're leaving for Mengir as soon as the locks open."

The otter looked down at the shaking notary with hardened eyes, giving a gruff, growling command to his subordinate.

"You too, Ellsberg," the Third-Rank barked. "I want you out on the water as soon as that tiller of yours is fixed!"

After a quick nod from Ketu and a "R-Right" from Ellsberg, the two Pokémon quickly headed off to their respective ships. Lyn looked at his craft as the last touches were being made, and a smirk began to spread over his muzzle.

"Let's see how much longer your luck holds, Guardian."

---

The following day, the sun slowly rose above the horizon, covering Mengir island in its warm rays. It was a quiet day in Fensedge Village, as shopkeepers slowly opened up their stalls and shacks for business. The sleepy atmosphere also pervaded Team Traveller's room at the Cromlech Inn, where Nida, Elty, Guardia were sound asleep. The lot of them enjoyed a much-needed rest after a fun day of playing at the beach. Or at least up until…

"Wake up everyone!"

… the sound a young bird's loud squawking jolted them out of their sleep.

"Eh? Pleo?" Nida asked drowsily.

"Wha-?! Where are they?!" Guardia yelped, bolting upright to her feet and scanning the room with her club in hand.

"Urgh, five more minutes," Elty groaned.

"But the sun is up!" Pleo cheered. "And you need to wake up early for me to help you! Nida even said so yesterday!"

One by one, the three Pokémon adjusted to their abrupt rousing and the morning light, groaning louder as they remembered Nida's fateful idiom from the day before.

"Thanks for telling him about that, spike ball," Elty growled, the Growlithe trading a glare with a now huffing and defensive Nidoran.

"Well, I didn't think Pleo would take it tan a pecho-!"

"Enough. I don't like the fact that we were woken up for nothing, but we're up now, and we have lore to gather and pictures to find," Guardia grunted. "Might as well make the most of it."

"That's right!" Pleo chirped. "Come on, let's go! Let's go!"

Pleo flitted out of the door in a hurry, leaving his teammates to turn to each other and sigh. Guardia and Elty ran off, with cries of "wait up!" as Nida grabbed the team bag from the corner table before setting off after her friends.

Even if it wasn't quite the way she wanted it, maybe being early would pay off today. Maybe they would finally discover the secret they needed to evoke Pleo's power…

Perhaps then they would finally be able to go home.

---

About half an hour and a few complaints later, Team Traveller made their way through Fensedge Village and up the path to Mengir Island's Mystery Dungeon, the fields growing sparser and further between clumps of woods. As Pleo happily darted ahead of the group, the three other members of the team followed the Lugia in a slower pace, still grumpy about their rude awakening.

"Buh, couldn't we have waited at least another hour?" Elty grunted.

"Come on Elty, the sun and the morning breeze are great!" Pleo cheered.

"I should have closed those 'drapes' things again…" Guardia groaned.

Nida flattened her ears and sighed. As if waking up early wasn't bad enough, listening to her teammates bicker all the way to the Mystery Dungeon sure was.

"Eh?!" Pleo cried "But then we would have woken up late again, and- Ooh, what kind of plant is that?"

The three paused and stopped as Pleo waddled along to a stout, broadleaved bush by the side of the path. Nestled among the leaves were round, scaly, orange-ish seeds. Upon closer examination, Guardia instantly recognized them as a fixture of her old home.

"Eh?!" the bone lizard cried. "You can grow seeds like those?!"

"You didn't know that?" Nida replied, tilting her head curiously. "The seeds that the Distortion change can grow fine out here if you plant them."

The Cubone curiously tilted her head as she took a step closer to inspect the bush. As Guardia carried on prodding and poking at the Blast Seed plant, Pleo gave a puzzled look at the shrub, before turning his head towards Nida.

"But... then why are the rest of the plants here different, Nida?" Pleo asked.

"Well, that's because- Hey!" the Nidoran began, only to trail off and stop herself. In the corner of her eye, she saw Guardia pulling at one of the branches, attempting to pry one of the seeds loose.

"What are you doing?!" Nida squeaked, fanning her barbs out in surprise. "You can't just take them, you'll get us in trouble!"

"Whuh?!" the Cubone yelped. Guardia pulled her claw back and let the branch free, sending it shooting back and dislodging the Blast Seed with an audible thwip. The orange seed sailed off into the air, arcing past the bushes on the other side of the lane, where a squeaky voice cried out startledly.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

A loud blast rang out and forced the four Pokémon to the ground as something brown and fuzzy jumped out of the bushes and pratfell onto the ground. As the bushes behind continued to smolder and his ears still rang from the blast, Elty picked himself up and tried to shake some sense back into his head. As his hearing began to return to him, the Growlithe turned to the not-so-little mewa and began to spell out why exactly the other plants were different.

"Urgh… well for one, when was the last time you heard of anyone wanting an entire field that would explode-?" the Growlithe said, only to look back in the direction of the brown creature picking himself up off the ground by the bushes. "Wait a minute…"

The brown and cream fur and ringed tail... The squeaky and ever-sardonic voice... This was...

"Scout?!"

As Nida, Elty, and Pleo's voices still reverberated in the air, Guardia stared blankly at the flummoxed-looking Sentret that seemed every bit as startled to see her new teammates as they were to see him.

"Wait, you know him?" she asked. "Who is this majū?"

"Just when my mail run couldn't get any weirder," Scout muttered to himself, before turning to focus on the members of Team Traveller. "What are you three doing here?!"

At once, Nida, Pleo, and Elty set off attempting to give explanations for their long ordeal out to Mengir, their words tripping over and conflicting with each other. The confused prattling continued on for a while, until a sudden shout pierced the air.

"Aah! My cabbages!"

All eyes turned back to the singed gap in the undergrowth, and grimaced as the sound of footsteps were now rapidly approaching.

"Come on, we'll explain somewhere else," Elty barked.

The group hastily continued up the path into the thickening woods, leaving the owner of the distraught voice and its likely now-crispy cabbages behind. After putting some distance between themselves and the Blast Seed bushes, and realizing that none of them could hear any pursuing footfalls, the five slackened their pace, panting...

"Whew, that was close," Nida sighed. Scout, still unsure of what exactly was going on with these children, shook his head, and gave an exasperated roll of his eyes.

"Okay, first things first. Who's the Cubone?" he barked. "And why aren't you still on Kenobi?"

"They were judged by my colony, and I was tasked to go and defend them and this god they have with them!" Guardia answered, proudly slinging her club over her shoulder. Scout drew an ear back and shot a puzzled, incredulous look at the four youngsters, before Nida shook her head and tried to explain the matter to the Sentret.

"Er… we kinda got into trouble with some Company Pokémon out on Kenobi and had to move on," Nida explained.

"Well that much is obvious!" Scout exclaimed. "That dishwashing must not have taught you much if you've graduated onto arson!"

"To nie nasza wina!" Elty barked irkedly. "It was the bone-head here that started that fire!"

"'Arson'?" Pleo chirped, tilting his head puzzledly. "But we're doing a mission in the Mystery Dungeon!"

"Yeah, we were just on our way!" Guardia added. Scout visibly paused, as the surprise faded from his face and gave way to an increasingly serious and grave expression. The Sentret cast a look over his shoulder and his surroundings, before leaning in and beginning to address Team Traveller in a low tone.

"... I've got a place by the port if you need somewhere to stay after you're done," he murmured. "Meet me at the docks once you're finished with your mission. I'm planning on leaving this place as soon as my business is done, and I can take care of you until the next leg of my trip if you need a lift off this place."

"Oh! Thanks!" Nida squeaked, only to catch herself and realize something was amiss about Scout's offer. "Er… wait a minute, why are you offering this to us?"

"Yeah, weren't you the Pokémon that was too cheap to let us stay with you back on Boisocéan?" Elty demanded. "What gives?"

A long, tense silence filled the wooded path, before Scout shook his head and turned back to face the curiously watching eyes of Team Traveller.

"It's because this island isn't all that it seems to be," the Sentret answered. "I don't know if the Mystery Dungeon is anything like this village, but you should watch your step around here to be safe."

After a few glances at the four Pokémon before him, Scout turned around and began to walk back towards the direction of the village before turning back at Nida and her companions.

"Anyhow, I've got to get going, I'm running late dropping off this letter as is," Scout said. "Just keep what I said in mind and behave, alright?"

The Sentret continued off down the hill slope, disappearing under the tree cover. After watching Scout fade away, the Pokémon of Team Traveller turned and continued up the path. All the while, a lingering question nagged at Nida's mind...

"What did Scout mean by that?" she wondered.

"Maybe it's because he knows that we're in trouble," Elty answered. "Mengir is supposed to be a bad place to get caught."

"Huh? But we aren't pirates, Elty-!" Pleo began, only to notice a pile of large rocks up ahead. "Eh? What is that?"

The four Pokémon hurried up the path and came to the site of the rock pile, only to discover that the rocks in the pile were bits and pieces of standing stones much like the ones seen in Fensedge Village. Among the stones still intact enough to make out features, was one with a carving of a creature with antlers that had been toppled and broken into three pieces. Along the ledge, there was a dilapidated wooden pavilion covered in spotty flecks of paint, with a roof that had been caved in and its timbers worn by the elements.

"Is this... a shrine?" Pleo murmured.

"More like it was a shrine," Elty grunted. "It'll take a bit more than a fresh coat of paint to fix this place up, it looks like a total dump!"

"But a shrine's supposed to be in honor of a Protector, isn't it?" Guardia asked, as she inspected the site of the dilapidated ruins. "Why would the majū here just leave it all messy and broken like thi-?"

"Guardia, watch out!" Nida's voice squeaked.

"Huh?!"

Guardia hopped back with a start and saw fragments of a shattered round, white seed by her feet. Elty crept over, and after a few sniffs and a nudge at the colorful nut, rolled his eyes and turned back to Nida and the others.

"Again, spike ball? It's not even a complete Apricorn!" the Growlithe scoffed, only to pause and look around uneasily as he wondered aloud...

"What's it doing here to begin with?"

The four looked off at the direction of Fensedge and noticed that the fields downhill were verdant and thick, but suspiciously shorter than the patches of forest they intermingled with.

Here or there, a tired-looking Pokémon in a dirty and ratty scarf with a banded black-and-white pattern would pace down between rows of the shrubs and stop for a moment. There, one of the creatures would stop and carefully remove Apricorns from the shrubby trees with a thick guarding cloth, before moving on and repeating the process on another bush.

A pall came over the team as they watched the figures pluck the dangerous nuts from the shrubs. After looking around, the team realized that as far as they could see from the ledge there was row after row of shrubs growing large, colorful nuts. Red ones, blue ones, yellows, pinks and greens, and even black and white.

"Wait, are those fields- Are they all growing Apricorns?" Nida murmured.

"Huh? But didn't you say Apricorns were dangerous, Nida?" Pleo asked. "Why would they grow them so close to the village?"

As the team kept staring at the fields, they noticed that several of the Pokémon working there were bringing Apricorns to a large cart bearing a purple sigil. The sigil carried the same composition of squares like the marking on Lyn's scarf, though seemed to have many additional squares on it… did that mean that whoever owned the cart was even more powerful than Lyn?

Why were all these Apricorns needed? Elty looked off and chanced to see the now hazy and distant form of Fensedge's harbor, when a shiver went down his back as he began to realize that there was a perfectly good reason for the Company to need so many Apricorns...

These were probably the very same Apricorns that the Company used for their cannons' grapeshot!

"Let's get going and get that mission done with," Elty grunted.

"Eh?" Pleo asked.

"Scout was onto something earlier," the Growlithe said. "This place gives me the creeps."

The team reluctantly continued up the path, as they thought about what else Scout's warning might entail. As the group moved on, Elty briefly stopped to look back the field, but shuddered at the sight and quickly moved along as they saw fog in the distance.

As the team continued down the path, a pair of lithe figures emerged from the side of the path: a Grovyle hopping down from a branch and a Mienshao coming from the bushes. The two continued to watch as the forms of the team grew hazier and hazier.

"I'm surprised that they figured out just how important this place is," Hertsog murmured. "I suppose even pirates respect Protectors."

"Captain?" Salvini questioned. "Why weren't the rest with them? Even back at the inn?"

"Something's up," the Mienshao replied. "Perhaps the ringleaders are using them to scout out a hiding place for them."

The Grovyle looked off doubtfully into the distance. It did seem to make sense… But why did this all feel so wrong right now?

"… I mean, I suppose that makes sense…," she murmured. "But what do we do now when we don't know where the strongest members of their team are?"

"We head back to the village and wait," Hertsog said, giving a stroke of his whiskers. "We can find out where their buddies are after they come to the Medic's Hut for treatment."

The Fighting-Type turned and began to make his way down the path back for the village, Salvini following after him. All the while, the Grovyle couldn't help but look back towards the fog and think over and over again...

Something wasn't adding up.

---

Back on Tromba, Hatteras was making his usual morning rounds around town. As the Ampharos looked around, he could see the Persian from the Guild attempting to haggle with Calino over the price of a Trap Scarf, and Mirlia and Minia chattering with the neighboring glassblower as they tidied up the front of their Juice Bar.

"Eyaaaah!"

And of course the Nidorina with a lavender headband flicking a spike after a running Quilava, sailing inches away from the creature's ear…

"Hanging out with your old friends behind Mirlia's bar is not running an errand for Hariti!" Marley yelled. "Stop slacking off and get back to watching the kits!"

"Alright, alright! I'm going!"

Hatteras gave a surprised look as he saw the stoat hastily dash off with a yelp back for the Day Care, leaving bystanders to murmur uneasily. As the commotion simmered down, the Nidorina stopped to adjust her lavender guard headband when she noticed the elderly sheep's presence.

"Oh, hello there Hatteras," Marley cheerily greeted.

"Uhm… how has the old position been treating you?" the sheep warily asked.

"Oh, you know," she answered back, waving a paw dismissively. "Just the usual. Osmund's supposed to be going through the last steps of his recovery, so it shouldn't be long before I can hang this old headband back up and go back to the field again..."

"I see, so you'll be a bit less busy soon enough," the Ampharos replied. "Speaking of which, I actually was looking for you…"

"Hrm?" the Nidorina wondered, tilting an ear quizzically. "Did that Jigglypuff pick a fight with one of her old buddies again?"

"No, no, nothing of that sort," Hatteras reassured, shaking his head. "It's just that I was about to send the return letters back to the Siglo Swellow, and I was wondering if you wanted to add anything to them."

Marley hardened her red eyes into a scowl and raised her barbs for a moment, before shaking her head and giving a dismissive wave.

"I don't think I have any business with that group. It's not my children on that boat," she grunted. "Just what is writing a letter for a daughter who is still lost supposed to accomplish?"

"Er… well," the Ampharos began uneasily. "If they found her since the time they wrote the letter, they could always pass it along-"

Thump thump

The Nidorina cut off the sheep's words with a pair of forceful thumps against the ground with her hind legs, looking up with a glower at the Electric-Type as he took a couple steps back.

"You know how I feel about getting my hopes up for nothing, Hatteras," the Poison-Type answered in a low tone. "And beyond myself, why should I work Teja and the kids up for something that may never come?"

"Because it's not for nothing, Marley," Hatteras replied. "Surely you of all Pokémon would appreciate how even in grim times, hope can sometimes work miracles."

"I don't see what you're getting at by waxing romantic on me like this," the Nidorina scoffed.

"What about the way that we got rid of 'that cheating Dragonite'?" Hatteras questioned. "Would that have happened if we didn't have hope that we could somehow make things work in spite of the odds?"

The mention of the town's victory over Darzin made Marley pause and look down to the ground for a moment. Contrary to the stories the townspeople told their young nowadays, the odds certainly weren't in Bluewhorl's favor back then. Yet, despite that, they never gave up hope of ejecting Darzin from the island, even when things seemed their most impossible.

"Oh! There you are!" a chirping voice called.

The pair turned and saw an Unfezant flitting down to a rest in front of them. The creature preened a few loose feathers, before turning his attention to the black banded Pokémon in the duo.

"Eh? Pat?" Marley asked. "I thought you were still with your family down the lane from the burrow."

"Nope, I've been looking all over for Hatteras here!" the Flying-Type squawked. "When I heard you wanted to send out those letters earlier, I thought you'd be waiting for me at your office..."

"Ah, apologies, Pat," Hatteras said. "I got a little carried away earlier, but… I have the packet with me, all that's left is to seal-"

"Wait!"

The Ampharos felt a nip at his arm and looked behind him. There, he saw Marley staring at him, her expression noticeably softened from the harsh demeanor she had maintained earlier.

"Give- Give me a couple of moments, Hatteras," the Nidorina insisted. "I'll write something up."

---

Mengir's Mystery Dungeon was a maze nestled between tall and jagged walls of rock that carried on beyond a thick curtain of fog overhead. Perhaps that was what the Pokémon outside built all those stone spires around the town?

"You inkfoot defilers better run if you think you can still show your face around these parts!"

Then again, considering the locals like the hissing Carnivine off in the distance downstairs, it made one wonder why they would do so. Team Traveller slowed from their hasty flight up the stairs from the previous floor and looked down at some fresh scuffs about their bodies from their scrap with the Grass-Type. As the team panted and caught their breath, they heard the ground shudder them as the stairs sealed shut and the sounds of the stalking flytrap faded away entirely.

This mission was harder than Salvini had made them think it would be. The floors had been getting more and more treacherous, and that was already their second battle that had roughed them up. From the last floor alone, there had been the narrow escape from the ambushing Carnivine the team just had encountered, and a battle with a trio of Shroomish beforehand who had forced the team to use a Pecha Berry to cure Elty of poisoning.

"Nida?" Pleo asked. "Are-? Are we there yet?"

It had been seven floors into the dungeon, and the team still hadn't seen any sign of the mural chamber Salvini asked them to find. Nida saw that the white bird, much like the rest of her teammates, seemed to look rather worn. But the grounds were supposed to be somewhere between here and the next few floors, right?

"It should be any floor now, Pleo," she said. "Just hang in there a little longer."

Nida's reassurance was answered by a pair of groans at the back of the group, where Elty and Guardia gave back unamused looks as they intently scanned their prickly and uninviting surroundings.

"Ugh... this place is nothing like home!" Guardia grumbled. "These yajū keep ambushing us!"

"That's because you're an 'intruder' to them just like the rest of us," Elty scoffed. "Did you honestly think you were going to get a free pass?"

"That's not what I meant, mutt!" the Cubone snapped back. "I mean, yeah, there's driving an intruder off territory, but…"

The Cubone cast a wary glance at her surroundings, and after being satisfied that the four of them were truly alone, she turned back to the Fire-Type.

"The way they were so angry with us… Calling us 'defilers' and the like…," she murmured. "It was almost like they were trying to get revenge for something."

The team paused and traded uneasy looks with one another. Now that they thought about it, the last feral had mentioned something about them being 'defilers' as they ran off. But what did that mean? They hadn't messed up any graveyards or anything!

"You don't think that it has something to do with that broken-down shrine, do you?" Pleo asked.

"I... don't know, Pleo," Nida answered. "But let's try and be careful he-"

Before the Nidoran could finish her thoughts, she was cut off by Pleo excitedly chirping and gesturing off up ahead.

"Oh! Look! Look! It's another Wand!" he cried. There, up in a chamber down the corridor, was an a branch with the familiar whorl at the end and series of glassy layers. This time, underneath each layer, was the form of a vaguely spiral-shaped cone, pulsating softly with a faint silvery glow. After Guardia squinted her eyes and got a better look, she realized that she had seen such objects back in her old home before.

"An eda, you mean," the Cubone corrected.

"Eh?" Elty grunted. "Pretty sure that's just called a 'Tunnel Wand'."

"I know what I said, Gardie! … but it certainly couldn't hurt to pick up something for cutting through a wall or two," she murmured. Pleo perked up, and with a beat of his wings, began to flutter over to the Tunnel Wand.

"I've got it, I've got it!" he cried, coming to a waddling stop just before the Wand. He stepped forward, towards a patch of dirt that on closer observation seemed to have a faint design of a split circle with what looked roughly like a face. Upon noticing the shape, Nida's eyes went wide and she cried out after her teammate.

"Ack!" the Nidoran squeaked. "Pleo, wai-"

Only for the little Guardian to carry on ahead, and a faint click to reach his ears.

"What was-?"

BOOM

A sudden blast rang out, forcing the team down to the ground to shield their eyes as clods of dirt and stony fragments flew at their heads. A cloud of dust and smoke hung in the air as Nida coughed and tried to make sense of what had happened.

"Is- Is everyone alright?!" she cried. She was answered by the groaning affirmations of Elty and Guardia, who staggered back up, their ears still ringing from the explosion. Yes, everyone was here, except...

"Oh, no… Pleo!"

The Nidoran ran for the still-settling cloud of dust and dirt, where she found Pleo crumpled up in a shallowly-breathing pile against one of the floor's stony walls. The blast had singed his feathers on his right wing, and the impact against the barrier's sharp stones had left scrapes on Pleo's back. The sorry sight coming into Guardia and Elty's vision as they darted up.

"A-Ack! The Protector!" Guardia cried.

"Spike ball, is he alright?" Elty asked, pawing uneasily at the bird's prone body.

Indeed, the little Lugia wasn't responding to their words or tugs at his feathers. Nida grew wide-eyed, and rummaged through her bag for a Reviver Seed, before prying Pleo's beak open and pushing it in and clamping his beak shut on it

"Come on, please get up…"

The little Lugia began to stir and twitch as Pleo coughed up a spittle-covered seed as he groaned a little about "No fire! No fire!" Suddenly, Pleo threw his eyes open and lurching up with a startled squawk, and latched onto Nida for dear life, his voice still thick with panic.

"A-Aah! N-Nida?!" he cried. "Wh-What happened?!"

"Oi! Don't rush yourself, mewa!" Elty barked. "You just got yourself blown up!"

"Just stay calm and hang in there for a bit, Pleo," Nida said, trying to calm the white bird down with a nuzzle at his breast. "It takes a little bit for Reviver Seeds to kick in on wounds."

The little Lugia bobbed his head from side to side, nervously looking around to try and detect any further dangers around him. After looking and finding nothing, the little Protector pulled his head and wings close to his body and turned back uneasily to his teammates.

"Did- Did I do something wrong?" the Lugia murmured.

"Don't worry about it, Pleo," Nida reassured, shaking her head as she shook off some spittle from the now-plain seed Pleo spat up. "It was just an accident..."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Elty's voice grunted.

"Elty?" Nida asked. "What are you going on about?"

"He might be onto something, actually," Guardia said. "I mean, my colony got you into that ambush by putting items around."

"Yeah, thanks for that by the way- OW!"

Elty abruptly let out a loud yelp and jumped up with a start, his earlier grumbling cut short by an angry swat from his Cubone partner.

"Let me finish!" she growled. "Anyway, if these majū in here really are mad about something... what would've kept them from purposefully putting that eda right next to the trap?"

A tense silence fell throughout the group as they realized Guardia raised a good point. After all, the ferals in this dungeon did seem more hostile than the ones encountered on other islands... It really wouldn't have taken that much for them to set the Wand as a trap...

And if they were willing to do that… just what else were they prepared to do?

"I don't like where this is going at all," Elty grumbled.

"Maybe we should pack it in," Nida said, shaking her head as she put away the Plain Seed in her paws. "I mean, I know we told Salvini we'd help her friend, but can we really handle this mission?"

"E-Eh! B-But Nida!" Pleo protested. "I thought that we weren't going to give up! We promised each other!"

The Nidoran blanched and began to look down at the ground. She didn't want to break her promise to Pleo, but... was it really wise to continue if things seemed to be spinning beyond the team's control? As she weighed the matter over in her head, Guardia chimed in with an argument of her own.

"We do still have plenty of supplies, including that Escape Orb," Guardia added. "And if this is the local Mystery Dungeon, most of the jobs are going to be here."

"I mean, it wouldn't do ourselves any good wasting supplies if we just had to come back here later," Nida murmured. "And we'd have to worry about food and lodging again."

Elty froze his tail and carefully mulled over the scenario that Nida had brought up. They had used up a lot of money since they arrived, and sleeping on the mats like they did in Boisocéan wasn't exactly something he wanted to do again...

"Well when you put it that way, it's kinda hard to argue against it," Elty sighed. "Let's be careful though, something really is off about this place-"

The Growlithe flicked his ears as a noise caught his attention, and looked and sniffed around for a sign of the culprit. After a tense pause, the Fire-Type realized that it was the sound of not-so-distant footsteps passing nearby.

"We should moving along," he whispered. "Something's coming this way."

"Right, come on," Nida answered.

The team reluctantly carried on deeper into the dungeon, continuing their mission's search for the mural chamber. The original optimism and eagerness had now largely ebbed, and in its place came an ever growing sense of uncertainty and dread…

Just what would they find further ahead?

---

Blip

Back in Fensedge Village, the form of a Skarmory with wings interlocked with a Venomoth's appeared in an open, carefully cleared field next to the domed Guild Hall. After giving a ruffle of his metal feathers, the self-proclaimed 'Warrior of Life' gave his thanks to the teleporter and flitted off into the complex.

The Steel-Type landed and paced down the halls, striding past a sagely-looking Sawsbuck congratulating a Rescue Team consisting of a Pidgey, a Fletchling, and a Pikipek over a recent graduation to Normal Rank. The bird carried along the hallway, before coming up to a desk staffed by a drowsy-looking Slakoth. Trizano rifled through his bag and passed over a paper with a still-fresh footprint over as the sloth slowly but surely reached out to take it. Another day, another mission successfully logged in his stint at this stone-spired island…

"Hey!"

… and from the looks of the cheery-eyed Kabutops coming up behind him, another fellow explorer who had caught attention of him. Such recognition was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, too much attention could be a burden, but in other cases, as with the horseshoe crab before him…

"You're that Immortal… Trizano, right?" the crustacean asked. "Back from another mission so fast?"

… it was a welcome chance for the Skarmory to take a bit of the edge off his circuitous travels.

"The one and the same," the metal bird chirped back. "As for the mission… what can I say? When you're an Immortal, the rush of a job well done fills you with determination!"

Trizano fanned out his wings and gave a theatrical bow to the watching Fossil Pokémon, before bringing his head back up to the crab, giving it a curious tilt.

"And you are…?" the Steel-Type inquired. "I know that I've seen you around the past few days, but I don't believe I've ever heard you name."

"It's Dimitri, Terranaut of the Khranitel Rod!" the Kabutops answered, giving a proud nod of his head. "I've been stopping at islands in between my Rod's stops to bone up on becoming an explorer that neither sea nor land can hold back!"

"Ah, so you're from one of those sea clans... Well, it does seem like an admirable goal," Trizano chuckled. "Keep at it with an attitude like that, I'm sure you'll go far!"

Dimitri paused before giving a wistful sigh and looking down at the ground, giving a shake of his head.

"Yeah… I've got my claws crossed a bit there," the Kabutops murmured, before examining the metal bird and giving a curious tilt of his head. "Actually, since you're here… mind if I ask you for a few tips of the trade?"

"Well, now… not everything has a simple answer, Dimitri," Trizano replied. "But I'll bite. What did you want to know?"

"What's your secret for how you always come out so unscathed in this Dungeon?" the Water-Type inquired. "You've been taking missions left and right over the last few days, but the one time I saw you come out with so much as a scratch afterwards, it was gone by the time I saw you again at the end of the day!"

The Skarmory closed his eyes and shook his head, a small smile forming at the ends of his beak. The Steel-Type waved a wing to deflate Dimitri's inquisitiveness, and fed him an evasive answer.

"That's something that only my patron can share, I'm afraid," Trizano said. "Though I'll say that if you can get the attitude down and take a crash course or two in evading attacks, you'll be halfway there-!"

The Skarmory trailed off after hearing the young rescue team from earlier squawking in a panic followed by the sight of them darting over wide-eyed. Trizano followed the group's worried gazes, where he saw a number of other Pokémon with similarly unnerved expressions further down the corridor he'd taken over to the Slakoth clerk. There, a Dragonite was looming over the Sawsbuck from earlier, the dragon all but cornering the hapless Grass-Type against a corridor wall.

"A-Administrator Darzin, surely this could wait?" the buck stammered. "I was just in the middle of-!"

"I don't care what you're in the middle of Guildmaster Stewart!" Darzin snarled back. "This is an urgent matter, and I need you to discuss it with me!"

"Y-Yes, I understand," the Sawsbuck gulped. "But- Perhaps we could continue this in my office?"

"Hurry it up, then!" the Dragon-Type snapped.

The reptile let the Grass-Type slip out, and then followed closely after him, lumbering down a passageway as worried murmurs floated around the gathered Pokémon. Trizano looked after the disappearing forms down the passageway, before turning his head to Dimitri, giving it a shake.

"I'll catch up with you later, Dimitri," he said. "There was something that I just remembered I needed to take care of."

The Kabutops paused and gave an uncertain tilt of his head, before casting a wary glance off in the direction that Darzin had disappeared to.

"... That's fair enough," the Water-Type replied. "I think it would probably be better if I steered clear of surface politics myself…"

Trizano waved a quick goodbye to Dimitri before darting for the outside of the guild. The Skarmory looked back towards the direction that Darzin and the Guildmaster had headed off to, and after spotting trees on the other side, realized that they must have gone to the opposite end of the complex, the furthest place from prying eyes.

The Steel-Type flew over to one of the trees, and paused to try and overhear any sign of the Guildmaster or the Administrator who had spirited him off. After hearing nothing he hopped to another and tried again, and then another, before finally…

"Stop beating around the bush, you old codger!" the voice of an angered Dragonite growled. "I'm not exactly asking you for a detailed assessment of my targets' battle potentials, I just need your teleporters to bring me into the Dungeon to intercept a few pirates!"

Trizano came to a stop in a tree outside of an office on the second floor of the compound. The bird quickly pulled himself behind the tree's foliage, cutting away a small branch with his wings to open a hole just big enough to peer out from.

"Pirates?" he murmured. The Skarmory peered through his camouflaging foliage and into a spartan office with rude wooden furniture. Inside, he saw that the Dragonite from earlier had cornered the Guildmaster within its confines, pinning him against a table and leaning over menacingly.

"A-Administrator! I don't have the faintest idea of what you're talking about!" the Sawsbuck protested. "Yes, the local guards mentioned that they needed us to specially approve a mission for sketching the murals in the local dungeon, but they didn't mention anything about you being involved in it!"

"Well, they did now! I'm the one in charge of wrangling them when they come out!" Darzin huffed, shoving an ink-stained claw clutching a slip of paper with runes that looked to be scribbled in a hurry with an ink pen into the stag's face. "So unless you'd like me to arrange for Administrator Zorn to review this guild's operations, you'll give me as much detail to work with as possible!"

Stewart blanched at the Dragonite's threats, and stamped his hooves insistently as he desperately tried to explain his genuine ignorance of Darzin's operation.

"Administrator, I don't even know who you're looking for here!" the Grass-Type pleaded.

"Don't play dumb with me! The team is headed for the mural chamber in the dungeon where that Beautifly nesting ground is. You should have been given a specific list of species to watch for!" Darzin snarled. "There was a long-necked white bird, a Nidoran, a Growlithe…"

Trizano blanched as the Dragonite's rant continued on as he realized that the first few species sounded uncomfortably familiar. Wait a minute, it couldn't be that these pirates were-!

"Those are those kids from a couple days ago!" Trizano whispered to himself. "There's no way they could possibly be ready to take a mission to go to those grounds!"

Then, that meant that they were in serious danger right now! But what was an Immortal to do in this situation?!

"Answer me!"

As Darzin's interrogation inside grew more heated, the Skarmory realized he couldn't leave those kids alone for much longer. Trizano tore out of the tree, flying up and away from the guild compound with a loud rustle that made Darzin whirl his head in a panic.

"Gah! Who's there?!"

He peered outside, only to see that there was no presence to be seen beyond signs of a Pokémon having been in the trees recently. The Dragonite twitched his antennae nervously and looked about, for any sign of the eavesdropper. Could it be a local Flying-Type passing by...? Or perhaps someone was watching...? Could it be that Zorn was growing wise to him?

One thing was for sure, he was clearly on thin ice, and there was no point in risking his chance at capturing the Protector by not heeding warning signs.

"Consider yourself fortunate," Darzin growled at the Grass-Type. "I have more pressing matters to tend to… far away from here."

The Dragonite stormed out of the trashed office, leaving a still-shaken Sawsbuck behind to wonder...

"W-What just happened?"

By chance, he turned to look out the window, where in the rapidly fading distance, the form of a Skarmory could be seen. Tearing away for the spiny peaks that poked out of the fog of the Mystery Dungeon north of the town.

---

Author's Notes:

- vecherya (вeчeря) - Bulgarian: "dinner" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Megayanma (メガヤンマ) - Japanese: "Yanmega" (Official Romanization)
- Livolt (ライボルト) - Japanese: "Manectric" (Official Romanization)
- Mou ii (もういい) - Japanese: "Enough" (Hepburn Romanization)
- tan a pecho - Spanish: "so serious"
- To nie nasza wina! - Polish: "It's not our fault!"
- eda (えだ / 枝) - Japanese: "branch", Japanese localization name for "Wand". (Hepburn Romanization)
- Khranitel Rod (Хранитeль Род) - Russian: "Keeper Clan" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

Chapter 23 Review:

"This 'fairy' thing looks like it's supposed to barely be any bigger than me from those paintings! How would it be able to protect anything?"

Celebi: Reverses time to give Nida a final chance not to say that

"Daraen!" the Deino cheered, rearing onto his hind legs and showing his teeth proudly. "You know, the Pokémon that made the posting for the Substitute Battles? I had to get some help with it, but I think everything was put together right!"

Nida, whispering: "Maybe his parents haven't had time to teach him what the Protectors of other islands look like?"
Pleo, grumbling: "Uglier than me, that's for sure."
Daraen: "What was that?"
Nida and Pleo: "N-nothing!"

I heard that she scared the demon off the moment it saw her!

Pleo, puffing his chest: "Hey! I wasn't scared at a--MMF!"
Nida and Elty jump on him and gag his mouth
Daraen, cheerful: "Ah, see? There's nothing to fear from this demon! Even regular Goélise aren't scared!"

"Don't listen to those mean Pokémon!" Pleo squawked. "You wanted to train out here! And we're ready to help you!"

Daaaaw, look at you getting us to root for the underdog. And make no mistake, it works.

"Hey! My team has one member with bad eyesight, you know!"

Elty: "If you do have eyes, have you tried shaving some of that fur that's covering them?"
Daraen: "Hm, I didn't think of that! Then we can help you shave that overgrown stomach fur that's making you look fat!"
Elty: "Oh, it's on." >:[
Daraen: "Wh-what? Why?" >.<

The poor Fraxure, keenly aware of how la Cazadragones de Tromba was upon him and in a less-than-stellar mood, did what many Dragon-Types had done in Marley's presence before-

In another universe:
Flame and Alice wake up in a cold sweat, gasping in unison.
Gaius, rubbing his eyes: "The hell is your two's problem?"
Flame: "I-I just had the most terrible nightmare..."

They would get Pleo, Nida, and even Elty back!

An echoing voice, from an island over: "HEY! WHAT'S THAT 'EVEN' FOR?!"

"And something could always go wrong at sea even without Lyn getting involved," Teja reluctantly said. "Just like with the Mis-"

Awwww, but I wanted to know more lore!

The spike carried on into a Growlithe whose eyes widened just as the barb struck him in the head.

Elty: "OI! Do you have homing spikes?! At the very least fix their IFF systems" >.<

Back on Tromba, Hatteras thought, and thought, and thought some more, leaving the Pokemon from the earlier meeting wondering just when the wizened Ampharos was going to have that plan of his.

I like the jumping back-and-forth. It helps the pacing move along, and also makes me feel like we're building up to something major.

"Unfortunately, I can't go on account of serving several branches of government

Pladur, whispering: "Correction: every branch." 'O_O
Gwenith: "What is our plan in case he dies, again? Slip into anarchy?"
Marley: "Hmpf, I could be a good mayor..."
Pladur: "Eek!"

"It isn't… is it?"

Nida and Elty: ^w^''...

A great cliffhanger ending as always. I wonder if Pleo will start disagreeing with what his legendary ancestors did, and pledge to restore the rest of the world to its former state. That would be... quite something.

Chapter 24 Review:

"Erm… Kiran, you do realize that I know how a Rescue Team works, right?"

Ooooh, maybe Ander will become a more prominent side character! You certainly won't see me complaining.

"But- But- Pleo and the others told us they were alright!" Crom interjected. "And we haven't heard of any trouble from the island since then! They couldn't have gotten into that much trouble… could they?"

Marley: "Way to go, stupid dragon! You jinxed it!"

"Is this yours?" the toad growled, leaving Nida to flatten her ears and bite her tongue.

Nida: "Er... n-no! He's that pirate that attacked our island once! Argh, damn pirates!"
Elty: Muffled cursing and insulting

"Relax! It wasn't anything serious," the Growlithe answered, as the scowls on the guards' faces grew sharper and more pronounced. "Just a little forgery."

Seismitoad, squinting: "What was that about pirates?"
Nida: "Wh-wha? Pirates? Who said anything about pirates? Ah! I said 'these forgers, they're worse than pirates!'. Hehehe..."

"Of course it is!" Elty barked, glaring determinedly back at the little Protector. "If you want to stay and eat at the guild today, we need that signature!"

To be completely fair, "our client's extremely powerful mother threatened us with death" is a fairly good excuse to get some help from the Guild. What good are they for?!

"Oh really now?" Margi asked. "Is that why they sent storms to wipe their towns away? Why they stirred up land and sea against them to try and burn and drown their nations? Why they lent their power to fiendish devices to try and annihilate entire swaths of the world in a fell swoop? Why they even attempted to unmake our world from the archfiend's throne? That's what you call a 'Protector'?"

I mean... he's got a point. What COULD have justified such a disproportionate reaction as destroying the entire world minus a few island nature reserves? These old gods don't seem so benevolent.

Then again, maybe the humans wiped themselves out via nuclear and experimental weapons that created the current Wastes. I wouldn't be surprised.

before finally attempting to put an end to this madness with mighty blows from the heavens,"

Satellite-mounted weapons? Now THAT would be awesome. Maybe there's one or two still active up there, and a conveniently-located submarine or aircraft wreck that's connected to it...

"Maman…? If a demon doesn't want to be a demon," the Deino murmured. "Will it really still be one?"

"I don't know, ma petite," the Hydreigon sighed, as she watched Team Traveller slip into the trees at the end of the bridge. "But… part of me hopes it won't."

Dawwww, that's so cute! I have a hunch that Ander will visit La Bastille on his trip to Boisocéan. That'd make for some really cool character development, and development for the Marked as a whole.

Pokémon flew and swam along the loose cordon that Lyn had enacted- far enough from the island to elude suspicion from watchers on shore, but sufficiently close for Lyn's spotters to make out the Pokémon that came and went.

Uh-oh. Tromba's hope hinges on the extent of the word "loose".

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting, Ellsberg!" the Samurott cried. "From all the runs I've made to that accursed sea rock, I know it's exactly the sort of stunt that Hatteras would try and pull!"

Awwww, you're no fun, Lyn. At least let the Trombans do their thing before you unravel their plans.

"If Seahive were to harbor cutthroat pirates that raided and attempted to burn a Company vessel on the high seas, that's not just a reckless disregard for local safety…"

"Pirates"? Uh-oh. Things aren't looking so hot for Team Traveller; after all, they're about to be accused of being hated pirates, and it's only false for two of them. I can't wait to keep reading! Thanks for the amazing chapters as always!

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Celebi: Reverses time to give Nida a final chance not to say that

Nida: "U-Uh... need I remind you that you're not supposed to be in this story?"

Nida, whispering: "Maybe his parents haven't had time to teach him what the Protectors of other islands look like?"
Pleo, grumbling: "Uglier than me, that's for sure."
Daraen: "What was that?"
Nida and Pleo: "N-nothing!"

Elty: "Isn't the entire point that he wouldn't know what other Protectors look like because he's b-"
Daraen: "Eh? Because I'm what? You know you can just speak up normally instead of doing that weird half-whisper thing!"
Elty: "Being extraordinarily patient with us taking his mission! Let's not keep him waiting any longer, huh?"

Pleo, puffing his chest: "Hey! I wasn't scared at a--MMF!"
Nida and Elty jump on him and gag his mouth
Daraen, cheerful: "Ah, see? There's nothing to fear from this demon! Even regular Goélise aren't scared!"

Elty: "I swear, at this rate, we're gonna need to break out a Sleep Seed for this mewa." >_>;

Daaaaw, look at you getting us to root for the underdog. And make no mistake, it works.

Yeah, one of the things that this story tries to hammer home is that while the Marked don't have all the answers to life, the universe, and everything, that they get kind of a raw deal. And part of being a Protector also includes at least making an attempt to reach out to such Pokémon and give them a fair shake.

Elty: "If you do have eyes, have you tried shaving some of that fur that's covering them?"
Daraen: "Hm, I didn't think of that! Then we can help you shave that overgrown stomach fur that's making you look fat!"
Elty: "Oh, it's on." >:[
Daraen: "Wh-what? Why?" >.<

Daraen: "Though for the record, they're actually some sort of feathers in this story-"
Elty: "Don't try and change the subject! You and me, on that field, now."
- Nida flattens her ears -
Nida: "Guess that's one way to get those Substitute Battles rolling."

In another universe:
Flame and Alice wake up in a cold sweat, gasping in unison.
Gaius, rubbing his eyes: "The hell is your two's problem?"
Flame: "I-I just had the most terrible nightmare..."

Oh don't worry, considering their world and the point in their story you've mentioned they're roughly in, Team Phalanx will have plenty of time to run into a good old-fashioned 'Drachentöter' on their own or I suppose it'd be a 'Dragedreper' given recent meta language shifts in their narrative. :^)

An echoing voice, from an island over: "HEY! WHAT'S THAT 'EVEN' FOR?!"

Well, it's gonna take a while to work your way up to an equal as a peer with that sort of attitude, Elty.

Awwww, but I wanted to know more lore!

It's more a backstory element. It pops up again in the future, though admittedly, it's one of those things that can get lost in the shuffle if you're not keeping a keen eye on things.

Elty: "OI! Do you have homing spikes?! At the very least fix their IFF systems" >.<

Nida: "Obviously not if you got in the way of it." >_>;
Elty: "I got in the way of it?! Maybe you should learn to aim!"

I like the jumping back-and-forth. It helps the pacing move along, and also makes me feel like we're building up to something major.

Glad to hear that it accomplished its intended effect there, then. ^^

Pladur, whispering: "Correction: every branch." 'O_O
Gwenith: "What is our plan in case he dies, again? Slip into anarchy?"
Marley: "Hmpf, I could be a good mayor..."
Pladur: "Eek!"

I mean, Marley probably would be a decent mayor, even if she'd give Pladur and a good chunk of Tromba's draconic residents heartburn. :V

Ooooh, maybe Ander will become a more prominent side character! You certainly won't see me complaining.

Hold onto that thought there.

Marley: "Way to go, stupid dragon! You jinxed it!"

Osmund: "Easy there, Marley. It's not as if we're living in a story right now."
Marley: "Tonto! Have you not bothered to look up and see that we're being quoted right now?" >.<
- Osmund glances up -
Osmund: "... Er. Huh. Never noticed that before."

Nida: "Er... n-no! He's that pirate that attacked our island once! Argh, damn pirates!"
Elty: Muffled cursing and insulting

Pleo: "Uhm... Nida, shouldn't we not be kicking team members when we've been badly outmatched in this story so far?" ._.;

Seismitoad, squinting: "What was that about pirates?"
Nida: "Wh-wha? Pirates? Who said anything about pirates? Ah! I said 'these forgers, they're worse than pirates!'. Hehehe..."

Guards:

Pleo: "Er... we need him to advance the plot?"
Seismitoad: "... Fair enough, but you kids aren't making this easy."

To be completely fair, "our client's extremely powerful mother threatened us with death" is a fairly good excuse to get some help from the Guild. What good are they for?!

Maybe, but bureaucracies can be like that, and guilds generally have to avoid picking sides in their host communities even if it’s not always for a good reason. ^^;

I mean... he's got a point. What COULD have justified such a disproportionate reaction as destroying the entire world minus a few island nature reserves? These old gods don't seem so benevolent.

Then again, maybe the humans wiped themselves out via nuclear and experimental weapons that created the current Wastes. I wouldn't be surprised.

Bold of you to take any myth in this setting fully at face value. After all, myths in Pokémon settings have kernels of truth to them. There's plenty of room for misinterpretation or distortion to be added, of which there's no shortage in this story.

Satellite-mounted weapons? Now THAT would be awesome. Maybe there's one or two still active up there, and a conveniently-located submarine or aircraft wreck that's connected to it...

All in due time. It's not the last time the 'Star of Destruction' gets brought up in this story.

Dawwww, that's so cute! I have a hunch that Ander will visit La Bastille on his trip to Boisocéan. That'd make for some really cool character development, and development for the Marked as a whole.

Well, it'd certainly be a missed opportunity if he didn't show up there eventually, now wouldn't it?

Awwww, you're no fun, Lyn. At least let the Trombans do their thing before you unravel their plans.

Lyn: "Hrmph. This isn't a game, in case you haven't noticed." >:(

"Pirates"? Uh-oh. Things aren't looking so hot for Team Traveller; after all, they're about to be accused of being hated pirates, and it's only false for two of them. I can't wait to keep reading! Thanks for the amazing chapters as always!

And we can't wait to hear your reactions, since they're always a blast to read! ^^

Though on that note, I guess it's time to roll things along a bit, huh? After all, there was quite the cloud of tension in the air last time that needed to be dealt with.