Spiteful Murkrow
Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
- Partners
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"I'm here to take care of a few loose ends before setting off for the Capital, and I'll be taking that bird with me."
As the growling words of Administrator Darzin reverberated in the small room in the medic's hut, the blood in Team Traveller's veins went cold. The only thing standing in the way of the towering Dragonite was the much shorter and similarly startled-looking form of a Grovyle.
Salvini hesitated as she cast a quick glance at the nervous faces of the kids behind her, and back at the glowering face of the Administrator in front of her. She knew she was both outranked and outmatched by the Dragonite, and that she wouldn't last long in a fight. But if she didn't do something, he'd walk out of the room with one of Team Traveller's charges before Trizano could rescue them!
"I-I was just moving the prisoners," Salvini hastily answered. "They were direct orders from Administrator Zorn himself!"
"So that's why you unbound them?" Darzin sneered. "Even if your little tale was true, it wouldn't matter."
"Wh-Why is that?" the Grovyle stammered.
"Because what Zorn doesn't know, Zorn doesn't worry about," the Dragon-Type huffed. "And last I was aware, he wasn't worried about anyone coming here."
Salvini and Team Traveller blanched as the Dragonite started moving towards them and blue sparks of electricity started crackling along the antennae on his head.
"If you want your little secret to stay just that, you'll hold that bird still as I- Graah!"
Darzin felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck, and jerked backwards by reflex. After running a claw along his neck, he felt a long, fresh scrape with lukewarm, sticky liquid oozing out of it. The dragon growled and looked up to see Salvini had positioned herself in between him and Team Traveller, the three leaves on her right forearm now extended into a long blade.
"I'm sorry, Administrator," she said. "I'm afraid that I can't be party to that."
"Then I'll have you rewarded as a traitor deserves!" Darzin snarled. Flecks of a fiery, bluish aura began to sprout among his scales as the Dragonite charged at the Grovyle, only to come to a skidding stop as the gecko rolled and clambered up a wall. The Grass-Type planted her claws against the timbers and vaulted up, attempting to bring a blow with her blades down on the dragon's head in between two antennae that were starting to spark.
"Ack!"
Before Salvini could react, she felt a hot, numbing flow of electricity run through her body, which sent her pratfalling to the floor with a loud thud. As the Grass-Type desperately fought against her unresponsive and wobbly limbs to get up off the floor, she saw a claw balled up into a fist trailing bright-orange fire…
THWAM
Nida and the others watched as Darzin's flaming punch caught Salvini in her snout and sent her flying into a side wall with a sickening crash. The hapless Grass-Type fell against the ground and slumped over, her burned and bruised body breathing weakly as the hulking dragon prowled closer and closer for the children. The still-shaken members of Team Traveller hastily dug their feet in and prepared for battle, the futility of the gesture from the worn and battered children eliciting derisive laughter from Darzin.
"I see that that Tromban defiance is strong with your team, spike lump," he sneered. "Well unfortunately for you, it looks like your little rebellion here is short on both numbers and strength!"
The Dragon-Type balled up his right fist, which began to smolder with orange embers. Darzin drew his fist back for a forceful punch, only to jump with a start at the sound of explosions outside to rock the room, intermingled with a commotion from the guards outside.
"Ack! What was that?!"
"It was coming from behind Everbloom!"
"What on ear-?"
Nida, Pleo, Elty, and Guardia flinched as the sound of a great crash and wood splintering came from overhead. The table Payak had propped up along the window was forced in and flung forward in splintered pieces intermingled with silk tatters. As the dust settled, Team Traveller's members blinked incredulously as it became apparent that there was a presence with glinting, jagged feathers on the floor in front of them.
"'Numbers and strength?' Your accounting is rather sloppy for an Administrator, Darzin!"
"A-Aah!"
Nida froze and her limbs went rigid as she saw that the creature in front of them was none other than the Skarmory they had run into at the square! Darzin quickly regained his footing, and charged his unwelcome intruder with a fierce howl and a flaming punch.
"Get out of my way!"
The Dragonite bore down on the Skarmory, his balled-up claw connecting with a satisfying thwack against Trizano's left wing. The Steel-Type rolled along the ground, only to right himself, and lob a cutting gust of air back at the Dragon-Type's face.
"Perhaps you should change your direction instead!" Trizano retorted.
"ARGH!"
Darzin lost his balance in a daze, and after a further cone of cinders from Elty, the Dragonite veered headlong into one of the side walls with a loud thud. As the dust settled, Trizano was left behind panting to inspect the room, along with a left wing whose metal feathers had become scorched and whose blades had deformed from the blow.
"Seguimi! This way!" the Skarmory squawked. "Before he gets back onto his feet!"
The Steel-Type darted for the opened door, Nida watching as Elty and Guardia charged ahead as best as their still-dull wounds would allow them. The Nidoran was snapped out of her petrified state by a squawking shove from behind.
"Nida! Come on!" Pleo cried. The little spike ball shook her head and without thinking ran after Pleo's fleeing form, the two having made it to the doorframe when a crash and the noise of wooden planks snapping sounded out from behind.
"No! I won't have victory snatched from my claws like this!"
The Nidoran and Lugia whirled around and saw charging with a fiery, bluish aura starting to wreath Darzin's body. Nida went wide-eyed in panic and flicked a barb at the Dragonite, while Pleo shrieked and desperately brought a churning wind together between his wings.
"A-Aah!"
Nida’s barb found her mark as Pleo’s winds blew Darzin off-course and embedded him in the window frame with a loud crash. The Dragonite seethed, and attempted to pull himself free only for the wall to suddenly creak and the timbers to give way and snap. At once, the wall came down with a loud crash, sending the Dragon-Type falling backwards into the alleyway outside with a bellowing yelp. Pained cries of "I've been hit!" and "My leg!" came from outside intermingled with the storm's howling winds and rains, leaving Nida and Pleo to stare, still shaken by the close call.
"Oi! Hurry it up, you two!" Guardia called from behind. The Nidoran and the Lugia hurried along after her, ducking out into the hallway as the room's door slammed behind them. The now-trashed room in the medic's hut went back to its silence punctuated by confused cries outside...
"Nrgh…"
… along with the weakly stirring form of Salvini. As the Grovyle fought to parse the contours of the still spinning room with her distorted sense, she heard voices and hasty footsteps coming from the hallway.
"Down there, that room on the right!" a harsh, elder voice barked.
"Ack, it's been ransacked already!" a yipping, vulpine voice exclaimed.
By the time she was able to lift herself up from the floor, a pair of guards had already burst into the room, and swooped down upon her. The Grass-Type felt a pair of paws with long wisps of fur drag her up, as Hertsog and Phyllis' faces filled her vision, worry etched on their visages...
"Salvini!" Hertsog cried. "Dobre li si?!"
"What happened here?!" Phyllis added.
The Grovyle wearily raised her head up to meet her teammates, only to shift her gaze away from their eyes. She had gone against them in order to help Team Traveller escape, and with Darzin still around, she would be hard-pressed to maintain her cover. If they found out… When they found out... would they understand?
"It's alright," Salvini answered, giving a tired smile. "I was just doing my best to do the right thing."
The four members of Team Traveller quickly followed Trizano into an empty room further down the hall. Nida hastily closed the door behind them and helped her teammates barricade the door with the room's furniture, as Trizano hopped over to inspect the window at the other end of the room. Having a small moment of peace, Nida took the chance to ask their rescuer a question that surfaced to her mind now that her breaths were coming slower and more controlled.
"W-Why did you come back?" she demanded. "And what do you want from us?"
"Because I promised your friend I would keep an eye out for all of you," the Skarmory answered "And-"
Before Trizano could finish, he and the other Pokémon in the room could hear sounds coming from down the hallway. Trizano reluctantly shook his head, and turned towards Pleo
"Pleo, can you fly again?"
"I… I think I can," Pleo stammered as he beat his wings.
"Good, that will make this easier," Trizano murmured as he turned back towards the window.
He took a step back and beat out his wings, sending several sharp gusts of wind towards the window. After a series of cracks and snaps, the Skarmory's attacks reduced the cross-bracing and the shutters into splintered fragments, intermingled with the tatters of drapes dangling in the front.
"At least he handles those drapes better than you do, bonehea-" Elty whispered, only to be cut off by a swat from Guardia's bone.
"Shut your trap, mutt!" she hissed. "If I wasn't injured right now, I'd give you worse!"
"Enough!" Trizano squawked. "We can worry about that after we get into the-!"
"L-Leave us out of this!" a squeaking voice suddenly cried. All eyes turned to Nida, who had her back arched and her barbs fanned out, the little rabbit staring wide-eyed at the Skarmory all the while.
"N-Nida?!" Pleo exclaimed. "I don't-"
"Pleo, this Pokémon betrayed us!" she squeaked. "He's the reason why we got brought here in the first place!"
Nida's teammates paused for a moment. He brought them to the medic's hut… where the Company was waiting for them… but...
If he really did betray them… Why did he come back?
"I didn't know about the ambush!" Trizano cried. "And we can still get out of here if we hurry!"
"A-And he seemed nice when we were coming to the hut!" Pleo added. "He couldn't be bad, could-?"
CRASH!
The team flinched as noises from the hallway were now much louder and closer, with muffled shouts of "check the next one" now intelligible from the outside. They turned to look at Trizano again, who was wide-eyed and breathing faster.
"Look, I can't help Pokémon that don't want to be helped," Trizano pleaded. "Please, don't just throw everything away here!"
"N-Nida," Pleo stammered "Y-you said we wouldn't give up until we're home... right?"
Nida paused and hesitated… She didn't really trust Trizano, especially because of what had happened with the last Skarmory she crossed paths with… But there really wasn't any other way out of this situation.
Staying here in the medic's hut would mean they would get caught for sure. So then it was a choice between trusting a shifty and scary Pokémon, and giving up…
Wait- Giving up? Nida's mind turned back to the fateful first night the team spent in Boisocéan, of the promise that she and Pleo made to each other to not give up on going home even if things looked impossible. Then... maybe she had to put her fears aside... for Pleo's sake.
For everyone's sake.
"No, we won't," Nida finally admitted, giving a hesitant nod. The Nidoran hastily hopped up the white bird and helped pull Elty and Guardia aboard. "Venga, vamos!"
"Alright, then hurry then!" Trizano exclaimed, as he leapt onto the shattered window and hopped out. Pleo followed and took his place at the windowsill. There, in the midst of the sound of Pokémon just outside the room and Guardia's low whimpering, there was the harsh rain and the fierce winds of the storm...
Which soothed the dull ache in his injured wing, and gave him a swelling feeling of energy and newfound burst of confidence. The little Protector crouched, spread his wings, and leapt out into the raging storm ahead of him.
CRASH!
Back in the room, a Sudowoodo and a Stantler had forced their way into the room. At once, they noticed the sound of the winds howling from outside and saw the rain puddled on the floor under the smashed window.
"Ack! They came through here!" the Stantler cried. As the alarm was sounded and their compatriots in the hall bolted to call for aerial support, the reindeer and his partner went to the window as a flash of lightning lit up the sky.
There, off in the air ahead, were the forms of two birds, charging ahead into the stormy night.
Out in the skies over Fensedge Village, Trizano tore along with Pleo and his passengers in the pouring rain. The winds were growing strong, and flashes of lightning in the churning sky lit up drenched lanes that had been abandoned by townsfolk seeking shelter from the inclement weather. The flightless members of Team Traveller clung tightly to their perilous perches atop Pleo's back, breathing fast and shallow as the wind and rain whipped against them.
"What do we do now?!" Nida cried.
"Just follow me!" Trizano shouted back, doing his best to overcome the sound of the heavy wind and rainfall. "Once we're a few knots offshore, we'll see the diving spot to get you-"
Before the Skarmory could finish his explanation, a Hyper Beam sliced through the air, narrowly clipping his wings. Pleo squawked with a start, and the group of five Pokemon looked back to see the burning column had come from the Medic's hut. There, a few dark figures were dashing down the lanes, with several fliers who were alerted by the beam giving chase in the air.
"Hang on!" Trizano exclaimed. "We're gonna have to outspeed them!"
Pleo weaved to dodge a fiery bluish beam from an Altaria. Then came a near-miss from a slashing gust of air, followed by a crackling bolt of electricity. Despite their best efforts, the airborne pursuers were catching up fast and the attacks were growing tighter and tighter.
"Agh!"
Including the Flamethrower from a Fletchinder that scorched Trizano's tail feathers. The Skarmory lurched forward and fought to maintain his momentum, he couldn't let the kids down, not when they were all so close here!
Woosh!
A sudden gust of turbulent air ripped through the sky and sent Trizano jerking up as muddled cries rang out from behind. The Steel-Type fought with the whistling winds and the torrential rains and was finally able to work his way out of a stall. A seed of panic grew in Trizano's gut as he whipped his head around wildly to try and catch a glimpse of Pleo below. An inexperienced flier like the kid would surely not have held his altitude-
"Eh?!"
Only to see that the white bird was sailing along every bit as smoothly as when he'd first taken flight from the medic's hut!
"Since when did you learn to fly like that?!" the Skarmory squawked. The Lugia drew his good wing up to his beak and chirped back a response that, although muddled by the howling winds, still managed to reach Trizano's ears.
"The wind and the rain makes it easier to fly!" he cried. The Skarmory blinked incredulously. The little Protector was finding it easier to fly in these conditions?
"Whatever you meant by that, just keep it up!" he called. The Steel-Type redoubled his efforts and with a bit of work was able to pull ahead of Pleo again… only to fall behind shortly after thanks to having to fight the weather to regain his position over and over again.
The conditions of the storm were hardly 'invigorating' to Pleo's passengers either. Between furtive glances at her teammates, Nida saw Guardia was fixed to Pleo's plumes with her eyes screwed firmly shut to block out the ordeal. Elty similarly wasn't taking the storm well, as Nida saw the Growlithe was balled up and shivering from the drenching rains.
But… there weren't any more attacks coming their way coming. Yes, the wind was howling and the rain was pouring buckets, but their airborne pursuers weren't attacking them for some reason… After the Nidoran looked behind, she gave a surprised squeak when she discovered that their pursuers were nowhere to be seen. The storm must have driven them off! As scary as flying through the tumultuous cloud was, it did have quite the silver lining...
"Ah! Pleo you- you did it!" she cried. "We're free! We're really-!"
The festive atmosphere was suddenly cut off by a small tendril of lightning zipping down as a deafening peal rang out from above. The bolt struck just behind Nida and Elty and sent Pleo jolting downwards, drawing frightened squeals from his passengers. Nida and Elty instinctively flinched from the light and din, almost rolling off of Pleo in the process. The young Lugia hastily corrected himself, as a concerned squawk came from the Skarmory ahead.
"Ack! Are you alright?!"
The two panted tensely and looked behind them wide-eyed to see a warily peeking Cubone with static dancing on her hide and helmet, clinging tightly to her club and Pleo's back.
"Wh-What was that?! I-Is it over?!"
"... B-Bądź tu mądry. I had forgotten that you were one of those living lightning rods," Elty spat. "Next storm, you're swimming to your destination on your own."
"F-Fine! You can take the hit next time!" Guardia snapped back.
Nida breathed a sigh of relief. Pleo was soaring with ease now, and even the storm seemed to be letting up, the parting clouds revealing a cluster of sea rocks just ahead in the choppy waters. Maybe they weren't quite home free yet, but the bickering was a sign that things were starting to return to normal...
… until Pleo suddenly gave a pained cry. The young Lugia's left wing froze and stiffened mid flap, causing the white bird to pitch, roll, and fall out of the sky alongside his passengers.
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
Nida tumbled head over heels through the sky, her shrieks along with those of her teammates piercing the din of the fading storm in the background. Suddenly, the Poison-Type felt a heavy metallic claw trying to grab her, one that reminded her of that fateful trauma in the Mystery Dungeon back home. The spike ball screamed and instinctively flailed to try and escape it, breaking the claw's grip. The Nidoran then attempted to sprint away for cover, only for her feet to find empty air...
SPLOOSH
And to feel the wet smack of seawater as she was swallowed by the churning waves. The Nidoran felt the seawater seep into her ears as she sank deeper, but soon felt her body rise again and her head break the surface of the water. Nida gasped for air, only to get hit in the face by a wave and sent back under the surface.
As the Nidoran drifted back under the waves thoughts of Bluewhorl, Crom, and her family flickered across her mind. All of the worries they had about her, all the prayers they had surely said… and here she was, drowning in the sea far away from home as the fates deigned to sneer at their hopes and dreams.
Sploosh!
Nida heard something slicing into the water and felt her body get pulled upwards. Her head left the water, then her back, and even her legs. As Nida coughed and spluttered, she realized that she was airborne, and that metallic claws were clamped tightly around her shoulders.
"Don't worry, I've got you now!"
As Nida blinked away the seawater from her eyes, she felt wet, stony ground underfoot and rolled to a stop after the claws let her go. The Nidoran looked down and saw she was on an outcropping of worn, wet stones. The Poison-Type weakly raised her head and saw the form of a Skarmory heading away from her and back out into the ocean, when she realized…
She was completely alone. Pleo... Elty... Guardia… not one of them was with her on that rock.
Nida jerked herself up and looked around, her only company being the churning waves and the departing storm in the distance. The Nidoran thought of Elty, of Guardia, of the promise she had given to go home with Pleo… would she be able to keep any of those now?
Tears began to well up in the Poison-Type's eyes and she curled her ears and body into a ball as the awful enormity of what had just happened came upon her. Just as she felt a sob rising from her throat, Nida felt a gust of wind blow by her. Glancing up, she found Trizano skidding to a stop on the slick rocky shore.
"Never fear, fellow hunter!" he called, over the din of the storm.. "It's under control!"
Trizano pointed a wing offshore with a grin. Squinting, the Poison-Type realized she could see Pleo timidly paddling back to shore. A second later she also resolved the forms of Elty and Guardia... but they weren't on Pleo's back. There was a brown, fast-moving creature with a chitinous shell, a light blue band with a red dot worn as a choker, a small chest in a bag made of twine netting slung along his back, and scythe like arms swimming aside Pleo, carrying their other two teammates coughing and shivering from being abruptly dropped into the sea.
"You- You saved us…" Nida murmured.
"All in a day's work for a Warrior of Life," Trizano chirped. "And I did have a dutiful sidekick."
The Skarmory gestured over to Dimitri as he drew near along with Pleo to soggy sea rocks. The Kabutops scrabbled up the stony outcropping with his scythe-like claws, and left Elty and Guardia to tumble off his back onto solid ground panting as Pleo uneasily waddled up the rocks with his left wing hanging awkwardly at his side.
"You didn't tell me that I'd have to fish your team out of the sea too, Trizano!" Dimitri chittered. "You should consider making your mission details a bit clearer next time."
The Nidoran paused and stared at the large creature with the sharp claws, before blinking and turning uneasily towards Trizano.
"Trizano?" Nida asked. "Who is this?"
"An ally, but that can wait," the Steel-Type answered. "You've had a rough landing, and we should get you dried off a bit first."
Back at Mengir's medic hut, a Luxio medic was inspecting Salvini's wounds as she laid down on a disturbed, but still functional bed of straw. There, her Mienshao, Leafeon, and Ariados teammates ringed around her anxiously, attempting to get a better understanding of just what happened earlier.
"All I remember is feeling something burning, and after I took a swing with my blades, I got slammed against the wall," Salvini said.
"And you're sure you didn't see anything at all?" Hertsog asked skeptically. "If those pirates slipped past our defenses, we'll be back to square one if we don't know who rescued them."
"And if we don't put that demon away, just think of all the chaos it could cause!" Phyllis cried. "And what if it comes back here?!"
"I'm sorry, that's really all that I know," the Grovyle sighed.
"But you were right there with them in the same room!" Payak chittered. "I mean look at these ropes! They were cut through with something sharp! Didn't you hear anything spiky coming down the hallway or anything?"
Salvini looked down at the ground. Lying to her friends was far from favorable, but after what she had done it was necessary if she wanted to save herself. She looked back up to her teammates and reluctantly spoke up.
"Well-"
"There she is!" a bellowing voice suddenly interrupted. The four Pokémon flinched as a livid Dragonite barged into the room with an Amoonguss and Magnemite in Company garb at the door's entrance. As Hertsog and his charges sized up the new arrival, they noticed that the Dragon-Type bore an Administrator's scarf and a fresh laceration along the side of his neck.
"That's the traitor!" Darzin roared. "Arrest her!"
"Eh…?" the Magnemite asked. "But it looks like the Captain has this under control."
"Yeah, if you knew he was already here, what was the point of dragging us along?" the Amoongus pressed.
"Tr-Treason?" Hertsog spluttered. "Administrator Darzin, I'm not sure if I under-"
"I found your subordinate cutting your prisoners loose!" the Dragon-Type snarled. "And this is how she repaid me!"
The Dragonite gestured at a ruddy laceration on the side of his neck, and after looking back at the cut bindings, Phyllis and Payak turned their attention to their Grovyle teammate…
And noticed that the ends of the leaves along her right arm were stained a deep red.
"A-Aah!" the Marked Leafeon cried "You really did let them go!"
"Salvini, what is wrong with you?!" the Ariados hissed. "How could you just betray this town like that?! How could you betray us like that?!"
Salvini faltered and shifted her gaze to the ground. She had hoped that she would have been able to get an understanding audience from her companions. That they would understand why she let the kids go if she explained what was happening, but... perhaps it just wasn't possible.
"Stiga!"
The sound of a Mienshao's sleeve whipping through the air rang out, as Hertsog bared his teeth and glared at the Pokémon in the room, before turning his attention back to the Administrator.
"Administrator Darzin, even for someone with your rank, these aren't accusations to be making lightly!" the weasel piped. "Charges of treason can end someone in our ranks!"
"They're not accusations, they're the truth!" the Dragonite snarled back. "And if I don't see her leaving this room in binds in the next thirty seconds, I'll have you reported for abetting her!"
The Fighting-Type paused, and turned reluctantly back to his Grass-Type subordinate. After an uneasy pause, Hertsog finally spoke.
"Salvini, you don't have anything to hide from the rest of us..." he prodded. "Do you?"
The Grovyle froze upon hearing her captain's words. She didn't want to lie to the Pokémon who had been such an inspiration to her, but... coming completely clean about what had happened would come at a steep cost. Potentially up to her own life.
Though… now that she thought about it... maybe she technically didn't have anything to hide after all. Whatever her intent, she had been passed out when Pleo escaped. Hardly in any condition to have freed him. It wasn’t the soundest defense, but it had to count for something.
"No, I don't," she replied.
"Then I apologize if this proves to be premature," the weasel sighed, before turning to Payak and Phyllis.
"Restrain her," he ordered. "I'll see if Administrator Zorn is available for a spot judgement tonight, hopefully we can get to the bottom of this."
Hertsog pulled Salvini's arms behind her as Phyllis guarded her from the front, still wide-eyed with betrayed incredulity. She felt Payak spin silk around her wrists, and then around her snout, clamping them firmly shut against sticky bindings.
"Hrmph, good riddance," Darzin harrumphed. "And I'll be-"
"Getting that wound of yours treated so you can testify, I presume," Hertsog finished. The Dragonite huffed and pulled his antennae back against his head as he gave a displeased snarl.
"I'm running late!" he fumed. "I would think that a mere Second-Rank as yourself would know better than to try and tell me what I ought to prioritize my time on!"
"Administrator Darzin, you're the lead witness in this case," the Fighting-Type insisted. "If it's really such an open-and-shut matter, what would Administrator Zorn think about some complication that came up because of your absence?"
Darzin froze and gritted his teeth. If the traitor were to single him out for being in the room, it could splash unwanted suspicion from Zorn on him. On the other claw, suddenly backing out now would be even more unseemly in appearance...
"Rrgh, fine," the dragon spat. "But you can rest assured that you will regret wasting my time like this!"
The Dragonite stormed out of the room, as the Magnemite and Amoonguss who had accompanied him continued to poke their heads into the room along with a growing cohort of uneasy-looking guards.
"What are you all doing just standing there?!" Hertsog snapped. "Get out there and search for those pirates!"
The guards flinched at their captain's rebuke, and hurried down the hall as Hertsog shook his head with a sigh, prompting Phyllis and Payak to turn to Salvini and shove her along.
"Come on, we're going," the Ariados hissed. "And we are getting an explanation for this!"
As Salvini marched alongside her teammates, she looked back where the storm continued to churn outside the shattered wall. She had done her part, now the rest would be up to the kids and that 'Immortal'. She shook her head, gaping out the shattered window as she was led off and wished the best for the others.
After a tired, limping walk down to the less seedy piers of Mossaisle Town and a ride on the Siglo Swellow's Mantine sea escort, Crom, Kiran, Pladur and Ander found themselves back at the Company's shipyards on the ringing atoll. There, they made their way back to the Siglo Swellow, where they patched up their wounds, and gathered tiredly at the docks beside their craft.
"Spending the entire day in a district full of pirates just to hit a dead end. Just our luck," Ander sighed. "Where exactly do we try looking now?"
The team looked down at the ground, clearly at a loss on what to do next now their trail had run cold. The lead that they'd gotten from the Cubone seemed to be so promising, and they had even found the Pokémon that tried to ambush Team Traveller… only to discover that Valatos and the others were just as clueless as the bone lizards about where Nida, Pleo, and Elty had gone off to!
Wait a minute… Were they really so clueless? Suddenly, the Swellow of the group ruffled his feathers uncomfortably, as a dawning realization crept upon him.
"Wait a minute," Kiran said "Those three Cubone we spoke to earlier…"
"Eh? Those ferals we ran into sneaking around town?" Pladur asked "But they're the ones who sent us on this fool's errand in the first place!"
"That's the point, Pladur. They knew about Pleo but pointed us towards someone who didn't know where he went," Kiran insisted. "If I were to make an educated guess, I'd say that they know 100% more about where he really is than what they told us."
"Wait, does this mean we have to go look for them in the Mystery Dungeon?" Crom asked. The young dragon's words drew a collective blanch from the four Pokémon. Traversing Mystery Dungeons was already an ordeal in itself, but having to find three specific ferals who knew the dungeon better than they did on top of that? Why, even tracking down outlaws and pirates at least had the benefit of a scarf to help identify them!
Before the four could dwell on the daunting task ahead of them for too long, a voice called out to them from above.
"Oh, there you are!"
A whooshing sound caught the four Pokémon's ears and prompted them to look up. There, coming in for a flapping stop was the lavender, leathery-winged form of none other than...
"Oh! Kellner!" Crom cried. "What are you doing here?"
"Your day's been better than ours, I hope?" Pladur sighed.
"I've been looking all over for you!" the Aerodactyl exclaimed. "I heard that some of our own got chased all around Andaku earlier."
The group shifted uneasily and traded sheepish looks with one another at the Kellner's question. After a few false starts, a deflated sigh came out before the Marked Scyther among them finally responded to the Aerodactyl guard.
"Yeah, that was us," Ander finally sighed. "That lead that we got didn't quite pan out."
"Ah, I see…"
The Aerodactyl gave a tired shake of his head, and now that Crom and the others noticed it, he seemed to have a grim look on his face. Kiran bobbed his head quizzically and decided to try and press the matter.
"You never did answer us about how your day went," the said.
"It was… fine, really," the Rock-Type answered reluctantly.
"That hardly sounded like a convincing answer," the Swellow grunted. "You're sure everything went alright?"
"... I don't think it really matters," Kellner sighed. "At the least it didn't involve getting chased around by a bunch of brigands."
The Aerodactyl attempted to put on a brave face and wave the matter off, only for his burdened and tired movements to betray him. Kiran thought about what might be gnawing at the creature before them, and after thinking back to their time in Aisle Town, realized that there was something that could explain Kellner's mood.
"Does this have anything to do with that talk we had earlier in town?" the bird pressed.
"It… might have something to do with that, yes," Kellner admitted. The pterosaur shook his head bitterly and stamped his feet against the wooden dock before turning back to his questioners.
"It never ceases to amaze me that in a town with literal 'mons of fortune on our shores, that our own ranks would be so completely lacking in backbones to actively extort the townsfolk that go out of the way to stay innocent of those brigands' dealings," the Aerodactyl fumed. "Honestly, if I didn't know any better, I'd think they were but a bunch of fellow pirates running our lavenders through the mud!"
"Er… but aren't some of the Company Pokémon here actually pirates though?" Crom asked. "I mean, they're former ones, but still."
"Also, do be mindful that some of us literally don't have backbones here," Ander retorted with an unimpressed buzz.
"... You know what I meant," Kellner sighed. "I don't know, I know that there's other Pokémon like me on the force who are trying their hardest to actually protect this town… but in between all the petty extortion and bullying going on, I sometimes wonder if our efforts really matter."
"Huh?" Pladur said. "But why wouldn't they matter?"
"... What do you mean by that?" the pterosaur replied, blinking a few times in uneasy surprise.
"If Pokémon like you didn't try to help others out, then it would just be letting awful Pokémon fill the void in your place!" the Fraxure cried. "Does Aisle Town really need more bullies?"
"No, it doesn't," the Aerodactyl growled emphatically. "This order keeps the town from falling into an abyss of lawlessness and the Empire's caprices, but there's so many things that just sit here and fester… and nothing ever seems to change."
"That didn't seem to stop you from helping those ferals earlier, did it?" Kiran chirped. Kellner paused, taken aback at the Swellow's question. After giving a puzzled tilt of his head, Kellner gave a gruff-sounding grunt in response.
"I'm not sure if I see what you're getting at," the Rock-Type answered. "I was being a good 'mon there, and having Company lavenders doesn't preclude me from that."
"That's my point. I don't really know about everything that goes on here in this town, but maybe the best thing to do for now is to just do what you can along with those Pokémon like you," Kiran explained. "To show by example to the Pokémon in this town that there are souls in the ranks who aren't just out to squeeze them for berries and Thalers, and cut deals with pirates for short-term peace."
"Is that what they've been doing where you're stationed?" Kellner asked.
"Er… well, we try..." Crom began, only to pause and remember a promise they had made to Margi and Daraen. A promise to clear their names, and to do the right thing while in Company lavenders.
"Uh… actually," he murmured "There was kinda something about the 'doing what we could' that we needed a little help with."
"Care to elaborate?" the Rock-Type pressed.
"Well, before we pulled into port here, we made a stop at Boisocéan," the little Druddigon answered. "When we were there, we ran into a Marked Hydreigon who was packing up to leave because of a Commissioner who falsely accused her of piracy."
"Wait a minute, but I've seen this bounty before," the pterosaur replied, giving a skeptical raise of his brow. "You're telling me that it's a false accusation?"
"I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's really what happened!" Crom insisted. "And that Hydreigon said that she got a bounty issued against her as revenge and that she was having to fly away with her child-"
"I will see what I can do about it," Kellner interrupted.
"Huh?"
Crom and the others noticed then that a serious look had swept over the Aerodactyl's face. The pterosaur grit his teeth in indignation, and his eyes burned with a fiery determination at the young dragon's words.
"The Hydreigon. Even if she's guilty as charged, her child shouldn't be brought into this at all," Kellner growled. "I might not be that high up in the ranks, but I can still point out a flawed bounty when I see one!"
"It really would mean a lot," Pladur said.
"Well, then don't worry about it," the Aerodactyl insisted. "It's something that I can handle."
The Rock-Type turned and spread his wings for take-off, only to pause and falter. Kellner gave a skeptical, hesitant glance, but after a moment, he shook his head and turned back to face the four Pokémon of the Siglo Swellow.
"Actually… since you seem to be trying to do your own part to try and do what's right in those lavenders…" Kellner began. "There was one other thing that I might be able to help with."
"How so?" Ander asked.
"I overheard the Cubone chattering among themselves on the way back to the Mystery Dungeon. One of them mentioned that that 'Pleo' Pokémon you were looking for earlier moved on to Mengir," the Aerodactyl explained. "I was actually about to update the bounties at the main hall with that information so the wannabe bounty hunters on the force would get back to work and leave the townsfolk be."
As soon as the words left Kellner's maw, the four members of the Siglo Swellow jumped with a start. Crom, Kiran, Ander, and Pladur all chattered wildly and incredulously at the implications of the Aerodactyl's discovery.
"Ah! Those Cubone were hiding something!" Kiran squawked. To the side, Crom sidled up against his father and tugged at his arm curiously.
"Wait, Mengir?" Crom whispered.
"It's a sleepy island that lies closer to Cradle's edge than most others," Pladur explained. "A lot of storms blow in there from the Wastes."
"I'll admit, it's not the most solid of leads," Kellner replied. "But I figured that if anyone needed the advance notice, it would be you."
"There's supposed to be a morning fog tonight," Ander said. "If we start loading now, we might be able to beat it out of port."
"Right!" Pladur cried. "I'll go tell Captain Beatrix!"
As the Fraxure hurried off, Kiran turned back to give his thanks to the Aerodactyl, who now seemed unburdened of his earlier gloom.
"Thank you so much for that, Kellner," the Swellow chirped. "You don't know how important this i-"
"Hey!"
Before Kiran could finish with his thanks, he was cut off by the sudden arrival of Natrix and Philips. The Servine and Raichu duo casually carried along the docks waving to Crom and his companions up ahead, and turned to notice that their acquaintance from the grounds had come by again.
"What's all the fuss here about?" Natrix asked.
"Yeah, and where's Pladur? Philips added.
"Kellner here just told us where Pleo and the others are!" Crom exclaimed. "He's out at Mengir Island!"
At once, the color began to drain from the pair's faces and the two went rigid and wide-eyed, as if they had seen a ghost.
"He's… out on Mengir?" Philips murmured.
"What's with that look? It's great news, isn't it?" Crom said. "Now we know where they are!"
"Well, we heard around the docks that there was a suspicious ship spotted offshore, until it set off eastward around sundown!" the Servine exclaimed.
"Wait, but why is that an issue for us?" Ander asked.
"Because when Natrix and I thought that maybe the ship would be a lead, we asked around ships who had come and gone recently," the Raichu answered. "And we found out that Lyn's ship left just before that shady ship did, and going the same route!"
Crom, Kiran and Ander blanched as an awful realization began to dawn on them. Pleo was out on Mengir Island, which was east of Kenobi, but if Lyn was also heading eastward...
Then he too had discovered where Team Traveller fled to!
"We need to get moving," Kiran said. "We need to tell the rest of the crew about Lyn. Pat should be back by now, so we can push the ship off and-"
"Why are you in such a rush?"
The team froze and stared blankly for a moment, realizing that in their rush to get moving they had just blurted out everything in front of Kellner. Crom turned to the Aerodactyl with an expression that betrayed his discomfort with further questioning, and attempted to stammer a response to deflect his curiosity.
"Uhm… er… that's because..." Crom began. The little dragon tried to come up with some excuse, only to keep fumbling over his words, lacking the gift of gab that Guildmaster Hatteras might have had.
"Because…"
"It has to do with those bounties, doesn't it? Is there something wrong with what's written?"
"Huh?!"
"Were the others also falsely accused?" Kellner asked.
"Yeah, they were," Kiran answered. "And if we don't catch them first, their lives are going to get ruined over stuff they never did!"
"And you're off to go and try to do something about it?"
At that, Kiran and the others remained there in silence, trading anxious, intent looks with the Aerodactyl. The Fossil Pokémon looked at one and another for a moment, then craned his head and gazed away from them.
"Well, I'll let you get to it. After all, I'm going to need all the help doing the right thing from inside the service that I can get, aren't I?"
The team let out a collective sigh of relief, giving their thanks to the Travellers above that Kellner took them at their word in spite of how outlandish it must have seemed to him.
"Thanks Kellner," Crom nodded. "We won't let you down! We promise!"
Kellner watched as the Pokemon from the Siglo Swellow waved him off and ran down the docks. As the group faded into the busy masses, the Aerodactyl turned to go back to his same old post, to the same old job, on the same old schedule...
Except, for the first time in ages, he went back with hopeful spirits and the wind under his wings.
"Ow! That hurts!"
The sound of a startled cry came from the lonely sea rocks offshore Mengir, as Pleo sat on the worn sea stone catching his breath with the rest of Team Traveler as they recovered from their splashdown. The young Lugia hastily jerked his left wing back against his body and gave a fussy glare at Trizano before nudging at it with his beak as his teammates watched under the light of a waxing moon, Guardia taking particular care to shift her gaze from it. The Skarmory guide tilted his head and gave a final inspection at the injured wing before shaking his head with a sigh.
"It looks like our little escape might have worsened your sprain," he said. "It's nothing that won't get better with a little time, but you really do need to stay off your wings for a few days."
"Eh?" Guardia asked. "But if his wings were really so bad, how come he was able to fly us all this time? How come he didn't crash as soon as he jumped from the wall-hole?"
"Well, I didn't really notice how much it hurt until I flew out of the storm," Pleo answered, casting a glance back at the storm continuing to recede in the background. Nida flicked her ears puzzledly and cast a glance over at the dark clouds in the distance, when a realization caught her.
"Pleo didn't seem to have any trouble up until the storm started to let up," she murmured. "I mean, it sounds kinda crazy, but… if it really helped him that much..."
"Then he really is a god of storms," Guardia murmured. As the Cubone gaped and prodded awedly at the young Lugia before her, Elty's expression started to turn sour. The Growlithe realized that there was a huge complication for the team's efforts to leave Mengir for a safer place, one to which there didn't seem to be any immediate solutions...
"Well that's just great," Elty huffed. "But how exactly does that help us get away when the mewa can't fly?"
"That's where I come in," Dimitri said. "Trizano told me you four needed a dive down to the Subway."
Elty's ears instantly flattened out along with a disgusted "Ugh, are we really doing this?" at the mention of the Subway, as his teammates gave puzzled glances at the Kabutops. Guardia in particular seemed to be a bit unnerved at the idea of diving, which prompted her to press a bit more about this 'dive'.
"Dive? As in in the water?" she demanded accusingly. "Just where are you taking us?"
"Hm? Don't you know what the Subway is, yashcherka?" Dimitri asked. "It's a network of air tunnels on the seafloor for airbreathers like you. After accounting for changes in air pressure, I should be able to get you there in seven to eight minutes."
"S-Seven to eight minutes?!" the Cubone cried, hoisting her bone defensively. "M-Masaka We'll drown before you get us down there!"
"Don't be so sure about that," Trizano answered. "Any diver who would be willing to take passengers knows how to use Dive and form an air bubble. Care to give them them a demonstration, Dimitri?"
"With pleasure," the Water-Type chittered.
Dimitri leapt into the water and began to swim in a circling arc around the sea rocks as his bag clung to his back plates. After the seas calmed for a moment, the Kabutops began to cut through the water faster, leaving a growing bubbly trail in his wake.
Elty and Guardia traded puzzled stares with each other, only for Dimitri to swing around and suddenly throw his scythes out in a spreading motion. The bubbly wake suddenly opened up into a large trough that the crab swam down, which with a great crash closed over him.
"Oh yeah, that's real confidence inspiring," Elty snorted, only to be cut off by an excited chirp.
"Wait! Elty, look!"
Pleo gestured with his healthy wing at a small trail of bubbles reaching the surface. Below them swam the form of Dimitri, bobbing along with a much bigger bubble attached to his back.
The four stared mesmerized, as the shape came back up from the depths, and the bubble burst as the horseshoe crab reached the surface.
"See, nothing to fear," he insisted, before moving a scythe under his mouth and giving his head a puzzled tilt. "Er… once I figure out how to fit all of you on my back."
Team Traveller looked at each other hesitantly, unsure what to do. Undaunted, Trizano ruffled his feathers and cleared his throat.
"Hrm… Well... I remember that in my past travels, I occasionally ran into Pokémon who would form towers atop each other so they could pool their strengths when exploring," he said. "If you did that, you'd easily fit on Dimitri's back!"
"Sounds more like a great way for someone to drown," Elty spat. "If we all made a tower, we wouldn't be able to fit inside some dinky bubble!"
"Eh?" Pleo asked. "But wouldn't you just be riding me like always?"
Elty blinked before folding his ears back out of embarrassment. How had the mewa thought of that on the spot but not him?
"Oh, so that's what you meant," the Growlithe sheepishly replied. "Well, I guess it could work …"
Dimitri lowered himself against the rocks to allow Pleo to latch onto him. The little Lugia pushed Dimitri's bag up along his shoulders to provide a resting place for his head, and struggled for a moment to put his left wing in place. Afterward, Nida, Elty, and Guardia made their way onto Pleo's back and hunkered down, just in case Dimitri's bubble was smaller than expected. As the vampire crab flattened out and pushed off into the choppy waters to circle the rock, Pleo looked back at Trizano on the stone outcropping… and shifted uncomfortably as a nagging worry surfaced back up to his mind.
"What about Salvini...?" he murmured.
Pleo and his companions listened for some reassurance from Trizano, only for the Steel-Type to remain speechless, a serious look coming over his eyes. Nida and the others were quick to see this as a signal that, in the end, something had gone wrong. They traded concerned looks with each other, until Pleo turned his attention back to the Immortal.
"Trizano?" Pleo pressed.
"She took a risk to help you all escape…" he finally admitted.
"Eh?!" the Lugia cried. "You mean she's in trouble?!"
"But we can't just leave her like that!" Nida exclaimed.
"Fear not. The Immortal Trizano doesn't forget a Pokémon in need," the Skarmory reassured. "If I can help her, I will. But if I can't…"
Trizano shook his head and ruffled his feathers uncomfortably, evidently thinking of all the same what-ifs that were troubling Team Traveller.
"You need to honor her wishes," he said. "And make the most of the risk that she took for you."
Nida and the rest of the team lowered their heads and assumed the certainty of the situation, ones more than the others. Pleo shifted uneasily, reminded of how others had put themselves on the line for him.
"I don't know what we can really do anymore," Elty answered. "But we'll try."
"Yeah, for the Juptile's sake…" Guardia began. The Cubone trailed off until, all of a sudden she noticed something amiss with Trizano's left wing. Hadn't that Darzin majū hit it with a burning punch earlier? But the wing looked flawless, with nary a sign of any of the effects of Darzin’s Fire Punch to be seen!
"Eh?! Your wing!" the Ground-Type cried. "I thought that it got burned earlier!"
"Now that she mentions it," Dimitri said, giving a puzzled tilt of his head. "I could've sworn that your tail feathers were messed up, too."
The Skarmory looked down at his mysteriously healed wing and tail and gave a bemused, knowing shake of his head.
"An Immortal can't divulge all of his secrets. I will say though, that you four have already seen a glimpse of the truth back in that Mystery Dungeon," he replied. "I'll explain when our paths cross again, and knowing your friend, they will cross again. But until then…"
Trizano turned to glance back at the island they had escaped, the silhouettes of its needle-like peaks coming into view with the moonlight as the storm began to slowly recede.
"I have a partner to try and help," he said. "Farewell, fellow Hunters."
"Goodbye, and thank you," Pleo replied.
The Skarmory gave one last wave, before turning around and flying off back towards Mengir and the storm. Dimitri began his journey away from the rocks, weaving here and there in search for stiller waters. During the journey, the Kabutops noticed that his passengers had grown quiet, prompting him to look over his shoulder in concern. There, he saw Guardia fixing her gaze on the churning sea below as Nida, Elty, and Pleo looked back and watching intently as their metal rescuer flew back against the moonlight for the stone-spired island in the distance.
"What exactly did he mean by that bit about you 'seeing a glimpse of the truth' anyways?" the Kabutops asked.
"Err... well..." Nida began.
"Ah, don't sweat it," the fossil crab sighed. "I'll have plenty of time to ask once we get you out of here."
Dimitri's pace suddenly picked up in the water and the team began to notice a trail of bubbles in his wake. The Kabutops swung around and spread out his scythes, causing the four to hunker down as they suddenly felt their carrier's body drop.
SPLOOSH
The four flinched as they heard a watery crash overhead, only for the expected cold, wet seawater to never come. They looked up and saw that a translucent, ebbing bubble had formed overhead, just large enough to accommodate the group. Guardia hunkered down uneasily against Pleo's plumes as her teammates peered on above, the three gazing as the moon and stars faded away as they went further into the deep.
Around midnight, the sea fog started to form in wisps offshore Kenobi, and the lavender sails of the Siglo Swellow were raised and the craft set off. The shipyards on the atoll grew smaller and smaller until they were but a few flecks of grey and brown against the backdrop of a pair of green and golden-brown mounds. The deck hummed with activity as lavender-scared Pokémon moved back and fro, and the craft bobbed along the sea current that would take them to Mengir.
Unbeknownst to the merry crew, off on the horizon, a two-masted caravel with golden sails was lurking in wait behind them. Its captain: a glowering Aggron peering through a scope at the edge of a railing as some of his underlings traded traded skeptical looks and unenthusiastic grumbles.
"Captain, why are we still here?" Rodion said. "Wasn't our port call in Andaku enough humiliation?"
Hess' memories of the debacle that 'press ganging' turned into unwelcomely returned to his mind, as that Druddigon brat from earlier flickered across the lens of his scope. Even before that fateful visit to Tromba, life had been precarious and lurching from one debacle to another, but the repeated encounters with those Pokémon had just made things much worse.
As if losing a dozen underlings wasn't enough, Hess was now indebted to the shopkeepers of Andaku, and he had had to part with all the extra loot that hadn't been split with the crew... in what was merely the first of a long schedule of future payments.
Hess followed Crom on his scope... just for a little longer, letting out a growl. That haul he had taken from Tromba could have been his breakthrough to moving on up in Orleigh… Probably. Maybe. But thanks to those meddling kids, he would never know!
He couldn’t just let that stand. But now, he could do something about it, and he knew exactly where he and his crew could get started.
"That's exactly why we're following them," the Aggron growled. "We're getting even!"
"With a Company ship?!" a Hoppip with a fresh Iron Fleet scarf cried.
"Captain, you can't possibly think that's a good idea," a Seadra insisted from the water. "Company ships are tough prey even for better crews than us!"
The Steel-Type gave an irked snarl which rapidly shut up the chorus of protests. After winning a reprieve, the Aggron shook his head and began to address his crew.
"That's not a Company ship!" he huffed. "It's a fake run by those twerps that got us into trouble earlier!"
To his dismay, the Hess' insistence was met by disinterested groans and unamused stares. Even the new Yanmega, Manectric, and the little bone-headed monster with them didn't seem to be enthused by the suggestion. Then… maybe they all just needed a little motivation to get whipped into shape...
"Don't you get it? This is our chance to show that we won't just take getting humiliated like that!" Hess bellowed. "That the Iron Fleet doesn't take getting made to look like a bunch of fools by a crew of nobodies!"
Chirp chirp chirp
The intended rousing speech seemed to miss its mark, an awkward silence filling the air instead. The sole disruption to the quiet was a lone Kricketot obliviously humming in the corner until a Pawniard prodded the Bug-Type for silence.
"Psst, Chirpy!" the Pawniard hissed. "Knock it off, you're making the Captain look bad!"
The cricket hissed back at the Dark-Type before bringing his chirping to a halt, throwing the gathering back into silence. Hess's smile froze on his face, as the Aggron slowly sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. He dropped the expression, shaking his head as he tried to connect with them a different way.
"... also, we'll split the loot we grab from them on the way back to Orleigh over rum," the Aggron sighed.
"Now that's more like it!"
"Yeah, can't go wrong with some extra pay on the way back to Rosequartz Town!"
"And we can clear out their rum for some refreshments after our work's done!"
Hess buried his face in a palm at how easily his crew got persuaded over a promise of a few bottles of rum. Well, it was one way of getting them motivated… Though he would have to do something about his crew's misplaced priorities.
But that could wait. The Steel-Type felt his Mistral Marauder lurch forward, and gusts of wind fill his sails as they shadowed the lavender-sailed ship ahead. The pirate captain pawed at the lucky charm under his scarf, looking out to sea with newfound determination. All that was left was to follow those chumps, and keep an eye open. Eventually the conditions would be right- they would grow groggy, they would become too tired, or too dumbfounded by what lay ahead of them to remember to check their backs.
"It's payback time, twerps."
Author's Notes:
- Seguimi! - Italian: "Follow me!"
- Dobre li si? (Добрe ли си?) - Bulgarian: "Are you alright?" / "Are you okay?" (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- (¡)Venga, vamos! - Spanish: "Come on, let's go!"
- Bądź tu mądry - Polish: Expression roughly analogous to "Go figure", lit. "Be smart"
- Stiga! (Стига!) - Bulgarian: "Enough!" Interjection. (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- yashcherka (ящeрка) - Russian: "lizard" (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- Masaka (まさか) - Japanese: Interjection communicating disbelief. Used here to roughly mean "No way!" (Hepburn Romanization)
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