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I know I got assigned this for V-Wheel, yet I don't find myself with all that much to say about the chapter over all. It's not a bad chapter by any means. I just think some of the stuff at the healer's den failed to hold my attention because the fic has, at this point, established a pattern of locals showing up for one chapter and then the fic dropping them to move to its next destination. I'm basically pre-conditioned already not to feel much about the braixen and delphox and their quarrel related to enlistment. I believe it's more meant to set up and hit at Dalton's background, but I think you undercut that somewhat with the opening being in his POV and, uh, kind of telling us some of that background already. XP
Irune knowing the beer was sus makes me wonder if she's just getting more perceptive or if that's her inner Zekrom somehow showing itself. Dalton's drunken slip of the tongue about his brother it definitely meant to be the shocking moment that I assume is going to get followed up on, since this chapter quickly moved along to suggesting the next destination should be the capital. Which, despite the hesitance, I'm sure the team's going to end up going to because reasons.
Heya, lotsa reviews to respond to this time. While I make a general tradition of replying to things prior to Review Blitz kicking off, but I do have some proper content to share this time around, so all the more reason to square things away, huh?
Oh, hey, look, they ran into the chief and had a big ol' scuffle because of it after all. Though the, uh, misdeeds alluded to in the previous chapter sound more like cases of miscommunication killing judging from what follows. Which is... always something people will have mixed feelings on. Miscommunication plots are a treacherous tightrope. But if this area and everything about it are getting left behind then I guess it doesn't matter much. Beyond leaving the fate of the wild 'mons ambiguous, though it's not as if a deep dive was given to them to invest me much in whatever was going on with them.
Yeah, the point of this arc was basically to have some tensions on the team boil over plus give a glimpse at why Lacan and the army want Irune so badly as a ‘Dyad’. I’m not fully sure whether or not you really enjoyed things based off that feedback, but at the very least things didn’t overstay their welcome.
In some ways it's a bit of a headscratcher because outside of Irune's awakening there in the battle, the events surrounding this dungeon feel rather self-contained. And they make it hard for me to peg exactly where in the grand narrative this is. That self-contained aspect makes this feel like it's still early fic territory. But I'm not sure how true that is.
Well, relatively early. Assuming no major delays in my publishing schedule pop up and I can get at least 10 updates out in 2024, we’ll be roughly around the midpoint of the story sometime around the fic’s 3rd anniversary.
Anyway, I expected for some time Irune was going to awaken to some sort of magical holy power and I guess this was the event to trigger that. She seems relatively unaware of it? Or is deliberately not saying anything about it. We'll see what that means going forward.
I mean, yeah. Most readers don’t really want to read about dungeon crawls on a blow-by-blow basis, and this plot isn’t structured to accommodate that level of detail.
Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of her own actions.
"I mean, your stats are absolutely garbage, so we're not investing resources into you and— what the fuck do you mean she's a mandatory endgame party member?!"
Fortunately, this setting is a bit less “just like real life” in terms of injuries like its sources of inspiration, otherwise the gang logically would’ve been dead by the end of Chapter 9 when they fell out of the sky from Hermes’ shootdown.
Narrator: It was at this moment that Lyle knew he fucked up.
I suppose you’ll just have to keep reading a bit to find out, huh? While this is one of those things where readers paying attention to details can probably piece things together in advance, the formal answer in this story is like 5-6 months out. :V
Huzzah! Forward progress that didn't involve getting into a fight. I think this chapter might've had a longer word count than a couple of the previous ones? Or I'm just seeing things. But it felt brisker in spite of that because the team's able to get through multiple set pieces before shambling their way into the village. And since there isn't a huge chunk of combat pasted into this part, it gives more time for introspection to hammer home how royally screwed they are. Like the narration is making it such a big point they're fucked I'm legitimately wondering if they're going to find anything to give them a sorely needed power boost that isn't Irune's Zekky button. I don't think the power of anime can keep saving them from future battles.
Bold of you to think the power of anime would keep saving them from future battles. But that’s a story for another time in this fic.
The only thing I'm a slight bit confused about is whether they've exited the dungeon at a different location than planned or not. I think so, since they're going to a village and all. Which means the army could descend on them at any point since they were given orders to station around assorted exits. Unless they didn't account for the team warping dungeons. I suppose that's the idea. Guess I'll find out later.
Went and tweaked that. Thanks for pointing that out.
I still stand by Dalton should be dead. Or, at the very least, descending into sepsis because lord knows where the teeth that pierced his hide have been.
I know I got assigned this for V-Wheel, yet I don't find myself with all that much to say about the chapter over all. It's not a bad chapter by any means. I just think some of the stuff at the healer's den failed to hold my attention because the fic has, at this point, established a pattern of locals showing up for one chapter and then the fic dropping them to move to its next destination. I'm basically pre-conditioned already not to feel much about the braixen and delphox and their quarrel related to enlistment. I believe it's more meant to set up and hit at Dalton's background, but I think you undercut that somewhat with the opening being in his POV and, uh, kind of telling us some of that background already. XP
Hrm, a bit unfortunate to hear. Though this present arc will fortunately be mixing that up a bit, and hey, it’s not as if I have no opportunities to bring back some old faces later on. Which would also save me the effort of coming up with new bystanders in a few cases.
Irune knowing the beer was sus makes me wonder if she's just getting more perceptive or if that's her inner Zekrom somehow showing itself. Dalton's drunken slip of the tongue about his brother it definitely meant to be the shocking moment that I assume is going to get followed up on, since this chapter quickly moved along to suggesting the next destination should be the capital. Which, despite the hesitance, I'm sure the team's going to end up going to because reasons.
It’s meant to be her being a bit more perceptive. There is a reason beyond that freaky power inside her that’s helped her stay ahead of the army for most of the last year.
Fortunately for him, he’ll be able to hold onto it. Even if it’ll be some time in this story before we see Dalton being able to use both arms effectively again.
It would actually be kinda funny if the cast did have the ability to read those opening narrations, even if Dalton would likely be freaking out in live-time at some of them.
I mean, there was still one hell of a catch involved to said universal health care in this setting, so don’t be too jealous for them.
And while it was a bit late thanks to a mix of holidays and real life messing up my beta reading pipeline, I’m here with the last update of 2023, and most likely the last until the end of Review Blitz this year. Maybe. I technically do have the chapter after in a mostly-complete state, so it’s not impossible that I could squeeze another update out during it, even if I’m not really expecting it. As those of you who paid attention to the first post likely noticed, I also put up some goodies prior to getting this update up, including a smattering of some character arc, and some flavor titles of the rough arcs in this story that may or may not be familiar to you depending on how tuned-in you are to the non-Pokémon side of this story’s meta.
But enough chatter, let’s get to the real reason why you’re all here:
Durch königlichen Erlass von König Siegmund von Wahrheit wird der Empfänger dieses Briefes hiermit angewiesen, alle Untergebenen unter seinem Kommando anzuweisen, für die Ankunft etwaiger Truppen der Fähnlein-Stärke der Armee Seiner Majestät bereitzustellen und die Nachricht von deren Ankunft unverzüglich seiner Majestät und sein Generalstab zu übermitteln.
Alle Vertreter von Fähnlein Stärke aus den Mannschaftsrängen müssen an den Toren gehalten werden und dem Generalstab seiner Majestät mitgeteilt werden, dass dieser einen Abgesandten entsenden soll, um sie zu treffen und alle Neuigkeiten und Erkenntnisse in einer sicheren Umgebung zu besprechen. Sollte ein Vertreter im Rang eines Stabsoffiziers vor Ihren Toren erscheinen, müssen Sie ihn oder sie anweisen, mit sofortiger Wirkung in seiner Residenz im Heldenschloss vor seiner Hoheit zu einer königlichen Audienz zu erscheinen.
Sie müssen allen Anfragen, die diese Vertreter bei Ihrer Ankunft an Sie stellen und die sich nicht auf ihre Vorladung beziehen, nicht nachkommen. Ihre Angelegenheiten von Fähnlein Stärke beziehen sich auf Angelegenheiten, die die Sicherheit des Reiches und seine Kriegsanstrengungen betreffen, und es sollte davon ausgegangen werden, dass sie den Segen seiner Majestät haben.
Jeder Versuch, den Erlass seiner Majestät zu behindern, wird als Insubordination gegenüber der königlichen Armee behandelt und dementsprechend bestraft.
- Dringende Depesche vom König von Wahrheit, Siegmund Wieshus, weitergeleitet an die Wehrturmhauptmänner der Neuengelstädter Mauern
High in the skies above Newangle City, Lacan banked around the Administrative District’s spires. He watched as his shadow danced from one tower’s cladding to another, all awash with the orange, sunset hues that looked almost like he’d painted them himself.
Being in the air was always a soothing experience for him, as the world below always seemed so far away, and even the fiercest foes and strongest ramparts seemed conquerable. He knew all too well that such feelings were often mere illusions. Even if he’d been told before that his strength was the envy of many a Pokémon of his rank in the army, he had lived experience and battle scars to prove that his power still had limits.
… Not that there was hardly any harm indulging one’s follies from time to time. Gods knew that he hadn’t had many opportunities to do so in recent years.
He turned his eyes towards the rooftops of the white-and-gray cladded towers and watched as countless figures teemed about on them. There were the garrisons for the Air Marshals and flightworthy soldiers, the first line of defense against any aerial assaults. There were the quarters for various nobles, residences which were maintained among the spires for when they were summoned by the crown. And of course, there were the rooftop shrines that had been set aside as roosts for visiting gods, including the one at the very top of Dämmerungsturm that had been built where the Founder and his patron goddess had once roosted. It housed the great eternal flame that Reshiram herself first stoked which was revealed to the world every night after its sliding shutters were moved away. A great sanctuary whose interior was said to have drawn inspiration from the Divine Roost itself for its layout…
And if all went well, soon enough, it’d be filled once again with awed and worshipful pilgrims.
The Salamence trailed off in his thoughts and sighed, when he realized his surroundings were strangely quiet beyond the sound of winds gusting past his ears. He braked in the air, and glanced back with a worried murmur.
“... Sophia?”
Lacan turned his body around just in time to spot his Corvisquire Obertsleutnant rounding around a broad tower just to the northeast, one which was a good distance behind him. A part of him felt a small pang of guilt. He supposed he should’ve expected that Sophia’s armor would encumber her more as a smaller Pokémon.
He dove down and banked to fly through a gap in the broad tower, glimpsing up at a ceiling with exposed metal beams above him. Even here, directly beneath Agarezpalast₁, the traditional residence of Varhyde’s kings up until the reign of King Sansa, which was somewhere on the topmost roof above him, there were lingering scars from past wars. Some of the broader towers in Newangle City had holes punched into them like this one, while others had sections which were abruptly shorn off. Some through the ravages of time, some all at once from cataclysms like the Sack of Angle City, the name by which the Kingdom’s throne had been called when it happened.
And like in so much of Varhyde, there were newer scars left behind from things going unmaintained due to the needs of the war. There were segments of the towers that were missing chunks of cladding which had been dislodged by the elements, and others had grown stained and discolored. Supposedly in times of peace such as the golden years of King Sansa’s reign, the crown had the resources to repair and replace such segments to make sure that the towers’ appearances stayed smartly maintained, like giant Bildstöcke for the land’s patron goddess…
But those peaceful days were long over, and it would be obscene to indulge in such extravagances with the Kingdom’s present state. Why, with the circumstances that King Siegmund ascended to the throne in, Lacan doubted the King would dream of a gesture that would risk rankling the commoners after they had been asked to risk and sacrifice so much.
After popping out the other end of the tower’s hole, Lacan spotted Sophia off to his left. He beat his wings and came up behind her, and batted his wings out as he neared. A stiff Tailwind kicked up between them, the wind ruffling the crow’s feathers and making her glance back with a startled turn of her head.
“If you need a helping claw, don’t be afraid to ask for it, Sophia,” he insisted. “I wouldn’t dream of denying it to you.”
The Corvisquire remained silent. Was something troubling her? He knew that Sophia had been prone to melancholy spells for some years, but he didn’t think that she’d been going through one of them recently…
The Salamence pulled alongside her and slowed his pace and turned a worried gaze over to his companion. She didn’t say anything in reply other than to keep her attention trained on the passing towers ahead of them, before finally giving a quiet murmur in reply.
“Lacan, you don’t need to watch over me like some fledgling. Lend your strength to those who need it more,” Sophia insisted. “My wounds healed much longer ago than your own, and the last time I was assessed by a physician, I was told I won’t be a Corvisquire for much longer.”
Lacan reflexively opened his mouth to protest. To remind Sophia that the entire reason why she still trailed him in strength to such an extent when they’d shared most of their childhoods with each other was because of those injuries she’d sustained in battle. It had taken her three years after suffering them to recover to the point where she could fight again. And if it wasn’t for those own injuries of his he’d endured that gotten him sent home while they were last deployed, she’d-
No. Lacan didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if he wasn’t there to shield her during that ambush. He had always felt guilty for not being able to be there at her side in that dark time when she was still recovering from her wounds. Perhaps it was part of the reason why she was still suffering from those melancholy spells she’d had since her parents died.
Gods forbid Sophia had actually died on either of those occasions. Lacan didn’t know what he’d have done afterwards if she had, and he prayed he’d never have to find out the answer to that question.
“There’s nobody else for me to look after right now, Sophia. And it’s important that you remember to care for your own interests from time to time,” Lacan reminded. “I understand that your Ritterorden trained you about the importance of self-sacrifice, but it’s important not to give up more than you can shoulder.”
“... That is merely part of my duties as a Ritterin, Lacan,” the Corvisquire said. “You should know this.”
An uncomfortable silence came over the pair as they pulled up along the length of Dämmerungsturm. Sophia always had been willing to sacrifice for others and try and offer what comfort she could, to the point Lacan had sometimes wondered if the fates had intended for her to be a Kaplan₃ instead of a Ritterin.
It was that part of her that Lacan that quietly dreaded would one day claim her life.
It was part of the reason why he’d volunteered to take charge of Operation Spark in the first place after he was forced back to Varhyde a little over two years ago to recover from his own wounds he’d taken shielding Sophia in battle. A chance, however slim, that the war could finally be ended swiftly, that the fears of generations of Pokémon in Varhyde could finally be laid to rest.
Along with their much-denied yearnings for vengeance.
A flash of autumn colors crossed his eyes as the terraced gardens came into view up ahead on the southern face of Dämmerungsturm. That was their destination, Heldenschloss₂. A palace that prior to King Sansa also moving Varhyde’s kings into it, had been a domain set aside as a residence of the Heroes of the land’s patron goddess—not that there were any Pokémon who were still alive to claim the title.
Many centuries ago, the terrace had been a sloped roof, only to be laid waste by the thunder of Edialeigh’s patron god during war. Through determination and force of will, the scarred portion of the tower had since been rebuilt into the leafy terrace that was there today. With the way it stood out against the tower’s white and gray cladding, it provided an easy marker during daylight hours for fliers to spot the King’s residence.
Even if the air was a bit chilly, he could see what compelled their forebears to not just abandon the place.
Except, there was only so much that he could enjoy the sights with King Siegmund’s summons lingering at the back of his mind. It was the law of the land that any Pokémon who held a noble title had to present himself as soon as physically possible upon being summoned by the reigning monarch, and as a Graf, he was no exception to it. He already had an idea of what it would be about: King Siegmund surely wanted an explanation for why the Dyad was still not in his presence.
Lacan just hoped that that last minute turn of fate against him just outside Moonturn Square hadn’t worn out His Majesty’s patience.
“We’re here, Sophia,” he said. “Mind the crosswinds while landing.”
Lacan banked and swooped towards the gardens as Sophia followed him. There, the lowest level of the terrace had a paved space of gray brickwork along the tower’s edge, with markers pointing out directions for fliers and those who carried along air carriages used by some local nobles to safely land without running into each another.
The Salamence came to a jogging stop along the rooftop plaza, beating his wings to slow himself as the pair’s arrival made other nearby fliers and Pokémon tending to air carriages to turn and gape briefly. He paid their prying eyes no heed and made his way up to the gates leading into the terrace’s gardens, where a Haxorus and Raichu in green plates stood watch alongside a small party of their peers. The pair stiffened up and stood at attention after seeing him approach, and hurriedly stepped out into his path as the Haxorus reared up with a startled huff.
“H-Hold it! This is the main gate to Heldenschloss!” the Haxorus protested. “This is the King’s palace! You can’t just barge in here!”
Gods above, he did not need to deal with this right now. Lacan narrowed his eyes in reply, as a low, irritated growl rose from his throat.
“Are you blind?” the Salamence snapped. “Or do His Highness’ honor guards no longer receive training in identifying basic military ranks these days?”
The Haxorus seemed to grow spooked and wavered briefly, before the Raichu of the pair stepped up. The Electric-type studied his scarf briefly, before pointing a paw up at his face with a sparking snort.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re an Oberst, big whoop. ‘mons with your rank aren’t that rare,” the Raichu scoffed. “Look, just because you’re a bit up there in the army doesn’t mean you’re allowed to just swoop in without-”
“I’m afraid that things are a bit more complicated than that, Herr Raichu.”
Lacan turned just in time to see Sophia shuffle a satchel off her back and fish through it with her beak to pull out their royal commission along with their summons. The Haxorus took the papers and glanced at them before swiftly blanching. The Raichu glanced up at his taller and bulkier companion with a puzzled blink, then back at the Salamence as he narrowed his eyes into a piercing glare back at the two guards.
“That would be Oberst im Generalstab₄, you impudent rat,” Lacan growled. “I believe that those papers should speak for themselves, though please do go on and tell me how King Siegmund doesn’t have time to meet with me. I’m sure he’ll be just thrilled to hear about how you interfered with one of his summons.”
The color quickly drained from the guards’ faces as their peers quickly backed away, leaving the pair to squirm under Lacan’s gaze. Lacan had supposed he’d heard tha King Siegmund’s conscientiousness for his realm’s war effort had prompted him to choose less accomplished guards for otherwise ceremonial duties such as his honor guard. Perhaps he’d been a bit too much so from the way these Pokémon were reacting to being caught off-guard like this.
“R-Raimond, why does nobody ever tell us about these-?” the Haxorus of the pair whined. “I-I mean, m-my apologies, Herr Brutalanda-”
“That’s Herr Graf von Wellenhafen to you, Haxorus,” Lacan snarled. “Now both of you, stop wasting our time and let us through!”
The Raichu blinked and turned his gaze between him and Sophia before Lacan stepped forward and loomed over the guard. He let hot, impatient breaths out between his teeth, which at once made the Electric-type look up, and stiffen up with a startled squeak.
“Y-Yes, Herr Graf! We’ll see you to him right away!” the Raichu squeaked. “B-But… uh… as for your Corvisquire companion…”
“She will be attending as well given that the summons was directed to all Pokémon from my Fähnlein of Stabsofficier rank,” Lacan harrumphed. “Now, are you two going to bring us along, or am I going to need to see ourselves in?”
The two guards audibly gulped, the Haxorus subconsciously shrinking back as the Raichu stepped forward and motioned for the Salamence to follow after them.
“R-Right this way, Herr Graf,” the Raichu insisted. “It’s just a short walk to His Majesty’s quarters from here.”
Finally. Lacan just hoped that the welcome they’d received wasn’t a portent for how their audience with King Siegmund was going to go.
“I’ll say, I wasn’t expecting you to want to be tutored this move of all things.”
Lyle let his eyes drift around and take in his surroundings. He was in a chamber with thick, bare concrete walls and a circular aperture where a heavy door apparently had once been. Tubes of ancient resin hanging from the ceiling that had been filled with Luminous Moss bathed the space in cool blue light. He certainly didn’t expect there’d be something like this just off the street from a city street as crowded as Arsenal Avenue, perhaps it was once an armory or some sort of treasure room?
Whatever this place used to be, the Rotom and the Joltik were putting it to other purposes these days. On either end of a wooden block sitting in the center were simple, large wooden stools to sit on. Ones which in spite of their construction looked sturdy enough to hold even the likes of Sheriff Mack on them. Off on the end of the chamber opposite from the circular entrance, there were lanes in front of sandbags heaped up against the wall, along with what looked like dolls of Pokémon sitting in front of them. If they were anything like the last Move Tutor Lyle had visited, they were Substitutes, likely bought off a more enterprising Ditto judging from their sheer variety of forms.
That time, he’d been tutored Will-O-Wisp by a Porygon who ran a shop not too different from this one. It should’ve been a happy moment for him, especially since he was spitting fire hot enough to burn consistently in a matter of days afterwards. Except, that moment had come back in those awkward first weeks after he was thrown out of his family’s home and had to turn his fellows on the Foehn Gang to take their place.
“Quilava, are you alright? You’re kinda spacing out right now.”
Lyle blinked and snapped back to attention to see Watt giving him a sidelong glance. Right, those two had a business to run and he and the rest of Team Forager needed to make this tutoring quick if they were going to make it to those marketplaces across the river.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he told the Joltik. “It’s just that the last time I was tutored through a tay-emm, it was a bit disorienting.”
“Well, it is a bit of a surprise to discover the powers that slumber within one’s natural Ether,” Amp explained. “But if you’ve already been tutored once before in this fashion, you’ll probably find this session a bit easier.”
… “Ether”? Lyle vaguely remembered the Porygon also mentioning something about it when he was learning Will-O-Wisp. He knew he’d heard the term for medicines like those Max Elixirs that Pokémon sometimes drank when they were feeling worn down, though one of his old comrades had explained that it was also technical jargon among Move Tutors for the energy within Pokémon that allowed him to do things like wield his fire in battle.
Maybe it’d make sense to ask Dalton after this if the two were related somehow. That had to be something that Pokémon would learn about in a university, right?
A loud crackle rang out, as Lyle briefly caught the Rotom diving into the tay-emm reader. Like out on the table outside, the device took on its orange sheen before Amp sprang it open. Except, Watt wasn’t there on the wooden block anymore.
The Ghost-type floated in place for a moment, as scuttling and shuffling came from the floor. Lyle peered over the block, just in time to see Amp’s Joltik assistant coming back with an orange disc in a cracked sleeve made of ancient resin with a few lines of faded runes on it. It was in a strange script he couldn’t read, except it looked vaguely familiar to the strange runes they’d seen in Team Pathfinder’s handbook. The Joltik set the sleeve down on the wooden block and turned his attention to four particularly large runes near its top. There was a moment of silence, before the Joltik glanced up to meet Lyle’s gaze.
“You’re sure you want to learn this move, right?” Watt asked. “Since if my memory serves me right, your kind normally learns this move naturally not long after evolution. I mean, the customer’s always right in the end, but we can’t exactly refund a move tutoring service if you’re not satisfied with the result.”
Lyle paused briefly and thought the matter over. Most of the tay-emms that Amp and Watt said he’d be able to pick up hadn’t sounded that impressive. He supposed there was that Wild Charge tay-emm they had, but using that technique that was supposed to hurt its user in the process. He considered Brick Break for a while since it would’ve certainly helped in fights like the one with that damned Tyrantrum, but with his stubby Quilava arms and a fighting style he’d practiced for years that worked best bobbing and weaving away from his foes… he decided to stick with strengthening the skills he had.
After all, it wasn’t like evolving was going to be some magical cure-all for his life right now…
“I’ll have bigger problems to worry about after evolving than when I pick up a move or two,” the Quilava grunted. “I might as well get some extra practice in while life’s still less complicated.”
Watt cocked a brow curiously, before Amp raised a tendril to cut him off. A faint click rang out as a metallic cord telescoped out from under the sheath of the device Amp was indwelling. Lyle blinked and stared puzzledly for a moment. He opened his mouth to ask what the cord was, before the Rotom raised a tendril and gave a brief, buzzing chirp in reply.
“As you said earlier, Watt. The customer’s always right. No sense in questioning something he’s got his mind set on,” Amp remarked. “Though let’s get right to things, Quilava. Just keep your eyes focused on the light. The tutoring process will only take a minute.”
“Literally,” Watt chimed in. “It takes about a minute for a tay-emm to imprint on a Pokémon’s Ether and alter it. So sit tight and stay focused.”
Lyle breathed in to calm himself and watched as Watt slid the disc into the reader Amp was indwelling. The Move Tutor leveled the reader out against the wooden block and gave the orange plate a tentative spin, before stopping to poke his head out from the reader’s confines.
“Just try not to blink too much while it’s reading,” the Rotom remarked. “I assume you already had it explained to you last time, but for this process to work optimally, your eyes need to be open.”
Amp slipped back into the reader as it spun to life and the tip of the cord took on a white light as it shone into Lyle’s eyes. Lyle fought every urge in his body to try and close them, instead keeping his attention trained firmly into the eerie light, as it blinked and strobed.
It really was like the time he picked up Will-O-Wisp. He thought back to the day when he’d learned it, just after helping to fence their loot with Boss Gunther from one of the first jobs they’d done after getting kicked out from his home. Alvin had noticed his mood and helped spot him a few ill-gotten gains so that his stash could buy it. He insisted that “family is who looks out for you” and that there would be plenty of times for Lyle to pay things forward with his new move.
… Not that there’d be any more chances to do so. Not while Alvin was likely about to be dragged aboard some gods-forsaken ship to be deployed across the sea, if he wasn’t out on the water already.
The light abruptly vanished and things went dark. Lyle pinned his ears back and blinked to adjust his eyes to the change in lighting, watching as the disc in the tay-emm reader slowed to a stop. Amp clamped the reader shut and something seemed to loosen inside as Watt was able to remove the disc smoothly out. The reader then lost its orange color as the Rotom pulled himself free and floated into the air, zipping around Lyle’s head with a curious buzz.
“Well? Aren’t you going to try out your new move, Quilava? Go on, light up those Substitutes over there!”
Lyle turned as Amp pointed off with a tendril at a few things that looked vaguely like dolls of various Pokémon, including one that, much to Lyle’s annoyance, looked like a small, somewhat misshapen Floatzel. From the looks of how torn up the sandbags behind them were, he supposed that was one way to tell that the Rotom wasn’t just some huckster who parted fools with their money.
Lyle shuffled off his seat and made his way over to a set of markers drawn onto the ground opposite the Floatzel Substitute and tried to clear his head. He thought back to when his father had helped his mother first practice Flamethrower herself. He’d said the trick behind it was a deep breath out, forceful like blowing glass for a bigger vessel like a pitcher, but with a sustained breath that kept the fire fed with air the entire time..
It sounded simple enough, except for the fact that Lyle hadn’t blown through a glassblowing pipe in over three years. Still, it wasn’t as if he’d completely forgotten everything he’d learned, so it at least ought to help…
There was only one way to know for sure.
Lyle sucked in a sharp breath and felt the fire in his belly dance, hotter and stronger than he’d expected it to. He curled his mouth as if he were blowing through a pipe and breathed out. At once, a brilliant column of fire spewed out from between his lips towards the Floatzel Substitute as it bowled over and began to waver and deform in the fire.
H-He was doing it! Blauflamme, he was really doing it-!”
His breath suddenly hitched and he felt his innards abruptly flare up much like times when he accidentally swallowed his Embers. The Quilava’s eyes shot wide and he bowled over, coughing and wheezing as a few puffs of smoke came from his muzzle. He reared up, breathing in and out, pawing at his throat with a quiet groan as a crackling cheer alerted him to Amp approaching him from behind.
“Hey! Six seconds! Not bad at all for a first attempt!” the Rotom insisted. “The way you kept the fire coming out consistently was pretty impressive, too! Have you been practicing to learn this move?”
There was an awkward silence between the two. Lyle supposed that in a way, he had been practicing for it through the glassblowing techniques his parents taught him. Even if he didn’t want to think about it too much, much less mention it to a stranger.
“No, I hadn’t,” he replied. “I haven’t gotten a chance to train for new moves in years.”
Lyle headed off past Amp and Watt, and didn’t bother making eye contact as he left the circular doorway back for the dimly-lit hallway back to the shopfront. He retraced his steps through corridors lined with exposed and pitted concrete surfaces until he found himself back in the waiting room where the shopfront was. There wasn’t any sign of his teammates in the room and for a moment he started to grow uneasy, only to notice as his eyes adjusted to the evening light outside that they were waiting at the bottom of the steps.
Figured. And here he was getting worried over nothing.
The Quilava shook his head and made his way out of the open doorway, coming down to the stoop of Amp’s shop on all fours. His teammates turned their heads as he approached, with Kate flicking her ears with a teasing smirk.
“Took you long enough,” she said. “I knew that you were a little out of things, but I thought I was the one that learned things slowly.”
Lyle pinned his ears back and curled his mouth into a sharp frown. Maybe it was just the stress of the day getting to him, maybe it was the lingering discomfort from accidentally swallowing his own fire, but he didn’t need to deal with this right now.
“Kate, move tutoring doesn’t work that way!” he protested. “I was barely in there for five minutes! That’s short for a tutoring session!”
Kate rolled her eyes in response but otherwise didn’t contest the point. Lyle sighed and shook his head as he started to head off for the street, when he noticed Irune eying him with a curious tilt of her head and moving a finger up to her mouth.
“... Wait, what did everyone choose to learn anyways?”
Kate and Dalton traded glances with one another at the question. Now that Lyle thought of it, they never did tell him in advance what they planned on learning. They’d just split their money four ways and trusted each other to buy something they could afford with it.
“Psycho Cut. Duh,” Kate spoke up. “I was never too good at taking a punch, so figured it’d be handy to have a move to deal with Fighting-types better.”
“I opted for Rain Dance,” Dalton tsked, shaking his head in reply. “It’s one that I’ve wanted to learn for a while since it helps a number of other moves that I know.”
Lyle bit his lip. Maybe he should’ve thought of learning something other than Flamethrower. Sure, it was a stronger move, but Kate and Dalton’s both sounded like ones that would catch enemies they’d fight more off-guard. He reared up and rubbed at the back of his head, before offering up his own explanation.
“I went with Flamethrower,” he added. “I know it’s a bit basic, but it’d let me hit harder and be on the quicker side to get experienced with, so…”
He could already see Kate raising her brow and Dalton bringing his good hand to his chin with an unimpressed stare. He’d take that as a sign they weren’t impressed with his choice.
Except, Irune hadn’t said anything this entire time, and was starting to look flustered for some reason.
“Though made you so interested?” Lyle asked “Did you pick up that X-Scissor that Joltik was trying to sell you on?””
Irune hesitated for a moment, before pawing at her tusks with a quiet hem and haw.
“I… er… went with Protect.”
Lyle blinked and had to make sure he was hearing things correctly. Protect? As in the same move that ‘mons used to make shield formations in larger battles? But why would Irune go through the trouble of learning that all by herself? Dalton and Kate both seemed just as surprised as he was, and opened their mouths to speak.
“Aren’t you a bit small to be effectively covering for anyone with that?” Kate asked. “And Protect’s most effective when multiple Pokémon use it together, just saying.”
“Irune, you are aware that Protect doesn’t keep you from being pushed back by attacks, right?” Dalton added. “Just how hard do you think it’d be to knock a Pokémon your size around?”
The Axew shrank back and visibly opened her mouth to retort, only to catch herself. Had she chosen a move without thinking it through herself? Or else what was the story behind that reaction of hers? She seemed to trip over her words briefly, before shaking her head and giving a defensive huff in reply.
“I know that. But I’m not going to be little forever,” the Dragon-type insisted. “I guess I just wanted something in case I stopped being little sooner than expected. And I figured having a way to stop a strong attack if it came down to it would be helpful for if that ever happened.”
Lyle shot a sideways glance at the Axew. She was hiding something, she had to be with the way she was acting and the way she’d reacted to him coming across her diary the night before. But… what?
For that matter, why did she feel like she was on pins and needles trying to put her words together when answering them? Was she trying to avoid telling them a lie of some sort? For whatever reason, the Axew seemed like she was just unable to tell a convincing lie even if her life depended on it.
… Then did that mean that was there something she was afraid of which she wasn’t telling them about?
“Gottverdammte Diebe!"
Lyle flared up with a start at the sound of a bellowing roar from down the street and watched as his teammates turned their heads and the color visibly drained from their faces. Lyle glanced over his shoulder himself and felt his eyes shrink to pins as fire began to pour out from the vents on his head and tail:
It was the Tyranitar from earlier, storming through the crowds visibly seething. The armored Rock-type leveled a claw as he neared, baring his fangs as sand billowed out from vents along his body.
“Did you really think nobody else on the street would see you stealing from me?! Give me back my money!” the Tyranitar snarled. “Do it quickly and I’ll make sure there’s something left for the Gendarmen to punish when I’m done sorting you out!”
Lyle froze out of fear as the Tyranitar stomped up close enough for the soldier’s shadow to fall over him. He looked aside, where Kate was similarly wide-eyed, before curling her face up into a forced smile.
“J-Just saying, that could've been any Sneasel who stole from you!” Kate insisted. "It's a big city!"
Lyle fought not to throw a paw over his face. Gods, if Kate was going to try and deny things, why’d she have phrase it like that?
Lyle flinched as a weak electrical crackle rang out, and he turned to see Dalton had stepped between them as a weak arc of electricity broke off between him and the Tyranitar. The soldier’s eyes abruptly widened and staggered as Lyle noticed there was a small darkened mark just past the edge of the soldier’s chest plate and on his right arm. Lyle backed away uneasily as the Tyranitar growled and struggled to keep his balance as his limbs locked up,when he turned and noticed other Pokémon on the street all staring at them.
Yeah, they really needed to get out of this district.
“This way!” Dalton cried. “I know a shortcut we can use to shake him off!”
Lyle needed no further prompting and dropped to all fours before he took off running after Dalton. Kate followed along, all but dragging Irune with her as they rounded a corner and into an alleyway as the Tyranitar’s shouts and those of a couple others rang out behind them. The broad, sunny avenue turned into a darkened alley where everything seemed to blur into one another. Lyle felt something whistle just overhead, and watched as a spray of stones flew just past his ears. He stumbled as his foot stepped on one of the rocks landing ahead, his legs gave out from under him as he stumbled and slammed into a plastered wall.
The Quilava desperately got back onto his feet as he heard the Tyranitar lumbering along in pursuit. He felt an icy blast of wind from just beside him and turned left to see Kate had caught up with him and was spewing an Icy Wind down the alleyway. He looked back and briefly saw the Tyranitar wasn’t alone anymore and there were other figures in green armor recoiling from the chilling wind. His vents came to life in a panic and he spat up a plume of smoke before turning and running after Kate as fast as his limbs would carry him. He tore along down the alleyway, the walls and clutter all seeming to blur together until he heard a thumping noise just around a corner to the left followed by Kate’s voice.
“Ah! They’re over here, Lyle!”
Lyle felt a sharp tug on his scarf and skidded around the corner into a courtyard with a ramp filled with bins and sacks of trash that ran up against a dilapidated wooden grate. One of the horizontal boards looked broken at one end, with Irune and Dalton both frantically tugging at it as there was signs of some sort of darkened passage beyond the barrier. Dalton abruptly froze up and grasped at his splinted arm. Their eyes met briefly, before Dalton motioned at the loose board with a frantic pant.
“There you two are! Help us get this board off!” he cried.
Lyle froze briefly as Kate wedged her claws under the loose end of the board and pulled and the board flexed. The shouts were getting louder now. They didn’t have much time, time that he wasn’t sure was enough to get through these boards. Lyle bit his lip as his breaths came shallow and frantic when he noticed the end of board Dalton and Kate were tugging had chop marks on it and it was flexing more noticeably towards its midpoint. He turned his attention over to Irune, who was still hacking away at the other end of the board when it dawned on him:
“Irune! Throw your tusks at the middle of the board!” he cried.
She didn’t bother to question things and hurried over, throwing a pair of blows down at the flexing wood and leaving behind a two gashes as something cracked and the plank’s angle became uneven. Lyle stepped back, before lunging forward with a fiery tackle. His head hit the wood and he felt it give way as splinters and cinders danced around. He stumbled back and cradled his head as a loud clatter rang out. To his right was half the plank as Irune clambered up from the other and threw a chop of her tusk at it. The sound of splintering wood rang out as the shattered board broke and sagged to one end, leaving a visible gap in the grate. Dalton didn’t bother to wait, and clambered over, slinking through the hole and tumbling over it as he hurriedly got up just as the cries in the distance started to become distinct enough to make out.
“Hurry up before they catch up with us!”
Kate was the next to make her move and vaulted through the gap with a smooth jump. Irune went next and stumbled at the top, prompting Lyle to hurry over and steady her when a loud snarl rang out from behind.
“There they are!”
He didn’t even have to turn around to know it was the Tyranitar. Reshiram’s Fur, how did a ‘mon get over paralysis that quickly?! Lyle hurriedly shoved Irune through the hole and started to clamber through. He a loud crash cut him off along with a hail of splinters as something struck him in his rump. He fell through the hole and hit the ground facefirst as his senses briefly wavered. Lyle stumbled up and lunged ahead in a blind panic, his surroundings blurring into inky darkness. As he slowed back down from his Quick Attack, he began to see his teammates in the darkness and snatches of the world around him:
Straight tunnels, patches of pitted concrete and tile with surprisingly open chambers. While distant, he could still hear the soldiers from outside and panted tensely as Kate turned to Dalton wide-eyed.
“Scales, where on earth are we supposed to go now?”
“Down.”
Lyle saw Dalton pointing off into the distance and saw there was some sort of flight of steps going down. He didn’t question it and took off along with his teammates for them. They were strangely large, as if they were intended specifically for the likes of a Machoke to climb, and seemed to just keep going down without end. After what felt like an eternity, they came across a long stretch of flat ground where the four ducked into an open doorway to their right.
Lyle smothered his fire and stayed there, with nothing but the pounding of his heart and the winded breathing of his teammates to give them company in the darkness. After a few moments to regain his nerves, Lyle noticed that there were no other sounds coming from their surroundings, as he stooped down and pawed at his still-smarting rear.
“Ugh, I always knew that Grünhäuter were a pain in the ass, but I could’ve done without one who took it literally-”
He trailed off as the fire on his vents flickered back to life and he began to see his surroundings more clearly: it was a ruined wall that had separated wherever they were from a neighboring ruin.
“H-Huh?!”
Lyle steadied his fire and studied the wall closer and noticed it was made of a mixture of brick and concrete, a telltale sign that the ruin they’d stumbled into had been made by humans. Lyle motioned to his teammates as they retraced their steps out, saw from their footprints in the dust that they’d come from the left, and opting to continue further rightwards. The more distance they put between themselves and that soldier they robbed, the better.
The tunnel went on a ways until they came across a fork that opened into a large, open chamber to their right, with a pockmarked white glyph against a blue background made of tiles in the wall. Lyle stared blankly as Dalton looked up at the glyph before shaking his head.
“Just as I thought,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been my first choice for a way across the river, but we should be able to follow these tunnels past all the same. There should be a chamber where things open up just ahead.”
Everyone blinked at Dalton’s explanation. There was no way that one glyph said all of that… right?
“Scales, how on earth can you tell that just from a sign?” Kate demanded.
“From past experience.”
Lyle decided not to question it. Especially when the alternative was turning around and marching right back into that angry Tyranitar claws. He carried along with his teammates down the tunnel and started to notice what looked like ruined frames every now and then that had tattered images within them—ancient paintings of some sort, he guessed. There was one with fragments of a strange script that had a bunch of boxes set against a blue sky which looked vaguely like the towers of Administrative District, except they were mostly blue themselves. A little further down, there was an image of what looked like a Scorbunny waving from beside a yellow loop with three blue glyphs under it. Just past it, there was another image with a pair of red comets swirling in on each other on a black background above a line of grayish-white glyphs.
Wait a minute. They’d seen that design before back in Primordial Woods. Then did that mean whoever built the ruins there also built these ones? That same design was also on Amp’s tay-emm reader. Did that mean the humans that built this place built that contraption, too?
“We’re here.”
Lyle snapped to attention and saw that his fire was now illuminating a large, cavernous space that he couldn’t see the other end of. He and his teammates stepped forward as the chamber’s contents came into view. There were ancient bridges, some standing, others partly-collapsed. Here and there, he saw flights of stony steps in various states of wear and decay making their way down to a set of raised platforms between trenches.
It was like they’d come across a set of docks, except they were deep underground. If there had been any water here once, it was long gone, and there didn’t seem to be a shoreline that they connected to.
Kate faltered a moment, and pinned her ears back warily. So it wasn’t just him who found this place strange and off-putting right now.
“The hell is this place?” she asked.
“The Undercity. These tunnels run underground beneath most of the districts of Newangle City, including the Administrative District,” the Heliolisk explained. “Nobody’s really sure what they used to be used for. They’re normally blocked off outside of dire circumstances such as sieges, and even in peacetime they’re not fully controlled thanks to those Mystery Dungeon entrances I mentioned a while back.”
The Heliolisk trailed off and looked down the length of the chamber, as he seemed to drift in his thoughts for a moment.
“When I was in university, some of my professors theorized they might have been a system of mines from before the Great Flash,” he explained. “Or a system of passageways for large human machines to pass through back when Newangle City used to be a human settlement.”
That must’ve been one hell of a mine or system of passageways or whatever this used to be for tunnels this big to be dug down here. Why, this Undercity was almost a city unto themselves! If obviously much less lively and worse for wear than the one they’d left on the surface.
Lyle flicked his ears after hearing a quiet grunt and turned to see Irune hop into one of the trenches. She gaped down its length for a moment, and Lyle followed after to try and see what she’d spotted. Perhaps her farsight had allowed her to see something, since when he checked the tunnels on either side for himself, all he could see was a deep darkness that seemed to go off into an infinite abyss.
… He wasn’t sure that he liked this. Why, the only indication they weren’t in a Mystery Dungeon right now was the lack of fog to indicate they were passing through Distortion. He raised his eyes and saw Irune looking back at Dalton, nervously pawing at one of her tusks as she gestured off at the tunnel entrance in the distance.
“Just how far are we supposed to go down this thing?”
“Not far at all, or at least not in the grand scheme of things,” Dalton reassured. “We’re just following the tunnel until we come across the next chamber of this sort to the northwest. There’s another exit there that opens up on the opposite bank of the river from the Administrative District.”
Huh. It wasn’t quite making their way across a bridge, but that still worked out well enough. There wouldn’t exactly be a picturesque sunset sky overhead, but it’d get them where they needed to, and without undue attention, to boot.
… Except, something still felt off. Dalton seemed to have a tense air about him, even as he started clambering down the platform. He’d stop and scan his surroundings, as if he were double and triple-checking for the presence of traps in a Mystery Dungeon.
“Is something wrong, Dalton?” Lyle asked. “You’re a bit on-edge right now.”
There was a long pause, before the Electric-type trudged forward with a quiet shake of his head.
“Just… stay on your guard,” the Heliolisk insisted. “These tunnels aren’t as lonely as they look.”
Sophia had only heard about what the interior of Heldenschloss was like from what Lacan and others who had been inside had told her of it, which had made the journey from the gates most informative. The Haxorus and Raichu from the honor guards—Max and Raimond as she’d gathered—took her and Lacan past a set of double doors that opened out into a grand chamber which that had been furnished with gray, almost silvery tiling with white stone walls lining it along with a mural at the center with Reshiram on the left and Zekrom on the right. It was a scene depicting them locked in fierce battle above the Sundered Sea, with fire and lightning streaking across the background.
A humbling reminder to all who saw it of the power their patron goddess and her rival had wielded throughout the ages.
As they made their way deeper into the palace, Sophia quickly learned that the inhabited spaces of Dämmerungsturm weren’t all that different from the ones built in the other towers of the Administrative District. They were cavernous spaces that had been built for a time when lights of glass and ancient resin kept even deep catacombs awash in light at all times of the day, and been modified through the ages to form more manageably-sized rooms. Chunks of the floors had been cut away to let in shafts of light from the windowed exterior, but even then, there were still portions where torches and lanterns had to be pressed into service to try and fill the ancient lights’ absence.
The entire journey would’ve been fascinating were it not for the crushing atmosphere that lingered around them ever since receiving the King’s summons. Just what on earth were she and Lacan supposed to say to King Siegmund? Lacan had notified Siegmund of the arrival of a secure caravan with the Dyad three days ago, and now they had nothing to show for it. She ruffled her feathers and felt her breaths coming tense and shallow.
“Keine Angst, Sophia. Es wird funktionieren, da bin ich mir sicher.”ᴰ¹
Sophia felt a nudge behind her and looked up to see Lacan nosing at her. She wasn’t sure how much she believed his attempt at a reassurance. She knew that Lacan’s late father had apparently been an accomplished Feldmarschall₅ that King Siegmund and his own father were quite close to, but even through his helmet and mailed armor, the Salamence couldn’t hide a palpable sense of unease.
“Versuche einfach, dich von den Dingen abzulenken. Was auch immer passiert, ich bin bei dir. Für immer.”ᴰ²
Sophia stiffened up at his last words. It was probably a slip of the tongue of his, but those words felt eerily similar to the ones he’d told her on that awful day when she’d received the news of her parents’ deaths back in her hometown. She noticed their guides pausing and looking back at them, before she shook her head and turned away with a low sigh.
“Erschrecken Sie mich nicht, indem Sie so reden, Lacan. Versuchen wir einfach sicherzustellen, dass Seine Majestät nicht in schlechterer Stimmung ist, wenn er uns um unseren Bericht bittet.”ᴰ³
Really, managing His Majesty’s mood was about the best they could hope for right now.
They continued on down a hall which was deep enough into the building to require illumination by lanterns. Amid the dim light, she noticed that all along the open portions of the hallway, there were paintings and tapestries hung up for display. A number of them were depictions of events from history and folklore that she’d read about in books or heard about in stories. There was the painting of the fabled construction of Angle City’s walls by Klaus the Founder. There were multiple scenes of battles from past ages, with the patron goddess of the land featuring prominently in many of them…
And of course, there were the portraits, which after inspecting the labels more closely, she realized were of various monarchs from Varhyde’s history. There was a towering Samurott in a flowing white royal cowl with his blades drawn for battle: Agarez the Great of House Riese, who began the tradition of cladding the Administrative District’s spires and won resounding victories over Edialeigh by taking his foes unaware even as Wish and Reality made war with each other during his reign. There was a portrait of King Hogne not far away, who by a stroke of fate and parentage, closely resembled his ancestor in appearance. Hogne had the dubious distinction of being the last King of House Riese, which had been extinguished during the fabled Sack of Angle City thanks to the machinations of Edialeigh’s then-King Marveni.
A sober reminder that even great glories could be undone by fate and a rain of ruinous lightning. And of the horrors that potentially awaited if their mission didn’t succeed.
Sophia turned her head up just in time to see a portrait of a Gallade in a royal cowl with his arm-blades drawn and an air of pervasive self-confidence: Sansa the Godsly, the king who had built Varhyde’s modern military and was said among his contemporaries to be much like the Founder himself. Sansa was a contradictory figure, whose reign was marked by both great triumphs in building institutions like Varhyde’s Generalstab, along with great tragedy. After all, it was under his reign that gambles he’d made to secure a lasting peace for their land fell apart in a hail of consuming thunder as the opening salvos of war with Edialeigh broke out during the reign of their Queen Maynus.
The same one which they were still struggling to conclude in the present day 70 years later, long after the two had passed away without heirs of their own to carry on their houses. There was a portrait of a Lucario in royal garb afterwards with the label ‘King Baanders’, and then one of an elderly-looking Mienshao. Sophia at first thought it was Siegmund’s, when she noticed that something seemed to be wrong with his body and stopped in front of the portrait briefly:
There weren’t any battle scars on it. Sophia double-checked the label under the portrait and blinked after seeing the runes: ‘Waels Lucarios of House Baanders’.
She supposed that would explain the discrepancy—the portrait was of King Siegmund’s father.
“Hrmph, I didn’t expect that sort of brushwork would be in a royal portrait,” Lacan scoffed. “I’m surprised that King Waels was satisfied with it as a finished product”
Perhaps there was more to the portrait that was wrong than she’d noticed. Sophia continued on with Lacan down the hallway as she stole a glance back at the late king’s portrait. Waels had passed on shortly before Benzen Revolt, before the tide of war last turned to bring Edialeigh’s armies back to Varhyder soil. Before thrusting the kingdom into crises that Siegmund had spent much of his early reign digging out from, including through campaigning on the battlefield himself.
The same changing of the tides that had claimed Lacan’s hometown and left it a still-hobbling shell of its former self, along with both their parents, and untold comrades over the years.
Sophia shook her head and tried to push the thoughts from her mind. Every time she dwelled on them for too long, it just took her to worrisome places that made her wonder how much more she could bear. She briefly noticed the Raichu’s up ahead twitching his ears when she raised her head and noticed there was some sort of noise coming from down the hall: rumbling chiming, which formed a coherent melody.
She stopped as Lacan seemed to blink in surprise for a moment, but otherwise seemed unfazed. What was going on?
“Lacan, what’s that sound?”
“It’s an ancient instrument made out of pipes. An ‘organ’, I believe it’s called,” he explained. “King Siegmund was fond of them even back when I was a child, so he must be listening to someone giving him a performance.”
Right when he was expecting them for a summons? Sophia supposed that their arrival had been on short notice… would he be upset with them interrupting things? Strangely enough, the Haxorus and Raichu traded glances with one another, before the Dragon-type of the pair turned back with an uneasy paw at the back of his helmeted head.
“Actually… I’m pretty sure that’s him playing that ‘organ’ thing right now,” the Haxorus said. “Though the door to his chamber’s waiting room just up ahead, Herr Graf.”
The King was able to play a human instrument? Sophia supposed that his body’s general shape as a Mienshao was supposed to be similar to the ones humans were supposed to have, but it still surprised her. What on earth did this ‘organ’ look like?
Lacan himself quirked a brow at the pair, as they took the last few steps up to the entrance of the King’s quarters. It was a pair of doors with white and gray designs where a Beartic and Golurk in armor stood guard. Both of which sported segments that audibly rattled with the sound of mail whenever they moved, while some others appeared to be entirely made of metal. The Raichu and Haxorus hailed the pair and after a brief exchange of words, the guards opened the doors.
Sophia carried in along with Lacan and sucked in a sharp breath, unsure what she’d find on the other end. She stepped out into a spacious chamber that was aglow with the warm tones of candlelit lanterns. In front of them was a low table set out ringed by white cushions, along with a few bookshelves set up against the walls, lit up by a wall of tall, striplike glass letting the last rays of sunlight filter through them.
The floors and walls were covered with wood and stone paneling and flooring built over the ancient steel and concrete underneath. Why, it reminded her more of the stories Lacan had told her when they were younger of what his parents’ manor in Port Velhen used to be like than a human ruin over a thousand years old.
She supposed that the emphasis on white and gray didn’t hurt that feeling either. After all, this palace had originally been built for Varhyde’s Heroes and not its kings. And it was a reminder to all who entered this place that it was the quarters of Pokémon whose duty was to pursue and long after the same truths as her patron goddess.
She peered out past the windows as she and Lacan neared the table and its cushions and saw that a wooden balcony had been built out onto the exterior. Based on its construction, it appeared to be a much more recent addition to the ancient structure that had fashioned by Pokémon. Perhaps it was a perch of some sort? King Siegmund surely couldn’t fly, but such a vantage point would give him a commanding view of his kingdom, or else the stars and auroras of the night sky.
Sophia fidgeted her wings and looked over at her Salamence companion. He looked impatient, and moved his tail back and forth as he frowned at their Raichu and Haxorus guides.
“We were told the king wished to see us immediately,” he said. “Is there a reason in particular why you’re not taking us directly to him?”
“Max and I will inform His Majesty of your presence, Herr Graf,” the Raichu insisted. “Just… please just wait here patiently. There’s been a lot on the King’s mind lately and I don’t know how he’ll react if you go about rooting about his quarters.”
Sophia uncomfortably ruffled his feathers. She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign for what their summons was going to be like. Lacan raised a brow, before settling on a set of cushions by the table with a low grumble.
“Fine,” he grunted. “Just don’t keep us waiting long. I doubt His Majesty summoned us to idle about in his quarters.”
The two guards saluted and slipped out of the room and past a doorway to the left. Lacan hung his head, pawing at his snout with a forepaw with a low sigh. Sophia supposed that with the news they had to bring before King Siegmund being… unenviable, that it’d be best to avoid imposing himself if at all possible. Even so, she couldn’t help but be curious…
“How do you know King Siegmund so well, Lacan?”
“He was a benefactor of mine while I was living in Errberk Village, so I've seen him a bit more often than a Pokémon of my station normally would,” the Salamence explained. “He and my father knew each other in life, and I suppose he just wasn’t comfortable seeing the child of a close friend of his fall through the cracks.”
Lacan trailed off, before hanging his head with a low sigh.
“I just don’t know how much that will be on his mind today,” he said. “I’m not the helpless child I used to be, and I can’t imagine that the King doesn’t have higher expectations of me now.”
Sophia supposed that it would only make sense. Prior to them winding up on Fähnlein Stärke, Lacan had already built up a fairly impressive string of accomplishments in battle as an Oberst. To the point where he had been brevetted as a General in his last campaign before that wing injury sent him home.
Sophia wasn’t sure how either of them would be able to give the King a satisfying explanation. Four days after finally having the great hope of Varhyde in their grasp after a year of pursuit, and they were really supposed to tell him that they’d lost her to an Outlaw raid of all things? And that was before getting into some of the more concerning reports that their colleagues had turned up from Errberk Village:
The Dyad’s elements were beginning to manifest more frequently. And as such, it meant that the window of opportunity for fielding her as part of Operation Spark was closing—far quicker than her, Lacan, or anyone involved in Operation Spark’s planning had expected.
She knew not what would become if that window closed before they were deployed for Operation Spark, but she prayed that they never had to find out.
Sophia turned her head when she noticed that the rumbling, chiming music was still playing in the background. Across the table, Lacan looked about the chamber uneasily, before rising to his feet and shuffling forward with a low grunt.
“Hrmph, how long does it take those two to inform the King of our arrival?” he murmured.
Sophia turned her head as Lacan made his way over to the door. She got up, only for him to put a claw on the door.
“Stay here, I’ll handle it,” he said. “And if the King isn’t in a good mood… well, it’d be better for a familiar face to try and ease him out of things.”
Sophia paused and shot a worried glance over. The Salamence seemed to carry an uneasy aura about him. Was it really wise to just let him continue on?
“Lacan, are you sure that will be okay?”
“I’ll be fine, I’m sure of it,” he said.
The Salamence pushed the door open and stepped in. Sophia briefly heard voices on the other end before the door closed shut after his tail. The music trailed off and abruptly stopped as voices faintly carried on through the walls.
Sophia sat and fidgeted in place uncomfortably only to notice that the voices were louder than she expected. She noticed that the door to the King’s chamber was ajar. It was the height of foolishness, but what if Lacan was in trouble right now? Didn’t he deserve to have an advocate by his side?
She got up and quietly made her way towards the door, creeping over as she began to make out the voices coming from within more clearly.
“... I wasn’t aware you had an organ in your quarters, Your Majesty,” Lacan said. “Let alone that you’d become so proficient at playing it.”
“It’s the same relic I used to play at the Royal Reliquary,” an elderly, yipping voice remarked. “I merely had it moved to my quarters so that I could use it easier.”
All of a sudden, a gust of wind came from within and blew the door out. It struck Sophia in the side of her beak, prompting her to hop back with a startled caw.
And then the second voice spoke up again.
“Whoever’s out there, if you are going to eavesdrop you might as well come in and show yourself.”
Sophia grimaced and set her beak on edge before falteringly pulling the door open. She came across a room that had a large bed set out—One with a proper mattress and white sheets. To her right were more of those strip-like windows with the balcony running past, left open to let in light along with the wind that had given her away. Furniture and decorations hugged the walls: a dresser, a table with a mirror with a portrait of a vaguely melancholy Incineroar in a white cape.
Gods above, she thought that she’d been listening in on a parlor of some sort, not the King’s sleeping quarters! She grudgingly turned off to his left where there were Lacan and their guards, along with the form of an elderly Mienshao in a white cape seated on a wooden bench. Behind him was some manner of metal contraption with pipes that stuck upwards and a set of appeared to be white and black levers, along with a small wooden obelisk with a metal rod that stood up in its center.
Sights which would’ve been fascinating to behold were the King of the whole realm not staring her down with a stern frown. She noticed that Lacan’s face looked visibly pale, as he stepped out before the Mienshao and bowed his head with a flustered stammer.
“E-Eure Majestät, verzeihen Sie die Indiskretion meines Untergebenen. Es gehört zu ihrern Aufgaben Informationen zu sammeln und-”ᴰ⁴
“Let’s not stand on ceremony, Graf. These are serious matters which are best discussed in frank language,” the Mienshao said. “Your subordinate carried out her duties by heeding my summons. Even if it’d have been more convenient to have received earlier notice of your arrivals.”
Sophia blinked and watched as Fighting-type’s stern gaze turned towards Raichu and Haxorus guards. The pair noticed the Mienshao’s expression, before letting out startled yelps.
“W-We insisted that they wait for you in your waiting room,” the Haxorus said, nervously pawing at his chest plate. “But-”
“Enough,” the Mienshao said, motioning for a stop with an arm covered in sleeve-like wisps of fur. “My summons have been fulfilled, even if it was not fully in the fashion that I wished. Herr Maxax₆, Herr Raichu, you two are dismissed. We’ll have more to discuss about your performances later.”
The two guards looked back at the Mienshao king, before hurriedly saluting, paws out and then drawn towards their hearts, before taking their leave from the quarters. She could hardly fault their reactions. Siegmund had a reputation for being slow to anger, but ruthless when stirred to parcel out retribution, and the guards were clearly keen on leaving while they were in they were still in his good graces.
Sophia froze as the Mienshao approached her with a skeptical gaze as Lacan quietly made his way beside her. Siegmund shot an askew glance between her and the Salamence, before speaking up.
“So this is that Oberstleutnant of yours whom you spoke of, Graf Lacan,” he said. “I’ll admit, I was expecting someone a bit more… experienced-looking.”
Sophia hurriedly saluted and sucked in a sharp breath as the Mienshao looked at her. Lacan seemed to be fumbling with his words as Siegmund cut him off with a low grunt and folded his arms.
“... I gathered from your lack of communications that the Dyad managed to escape during transport,” he said. “Is she still well at the moment?”
“She is. Or at least she was as of at least four hours ago, Your Majesty,” Sophia said. “We had been following her trail and it led us here.”
“... Into Newangle City?”
“Your Majesty, I realize that it sounds… improbable, to say the least,” Lacan answered. “We did indeed track the Dyad through the East Gate of the capital.
There was a long, lingering silence between the three of them. Sophia studied Siegmund’s expression to try and gauge his mood, but his expression remained guarded and hard to place. The Fighting-type looked over at Lacan, before narrowing his eyes briefly and giving a sighing shake of his head
“I’m afraid that I must ask you to remain patient with me a bit longer, Frau Kranoviz,” he said. “There are some matters which I need to discuss with your superior on a personal basis.”
That did not sound remotely promising. Why was the King being so evasive? Was Lacan in trouble right now? Sophia jolted upright, before raising a wing in stammering interjection.
“I-If it’s something involving the needs of our mission, surely I-”
“Will be able to discuss those matters at length. Afterwards,” Siegmund replied. “I would kindly ask you to keep your curiosity in check this time. I’m sure Graf Lacan will inform you of whatever he deems necessary for your mission to succeed.”
She wasn’t sure what to make of the King’s tone. It sounded understanding at least, but it gave a distinct impression that he was warning her somehow. Sophia lowered her wing and glanced over at Lacan. He seemed to be at a loss for what was going on himself, but at the very least King Siegmund still expected them to return to their mission after this?
“Frau Kranoviz, I don’t mean to be impatient, but would you kindly take your leave?”
Sophia looked up to see the Mienshao king giving a frowning glance at her. She ruffled her feathers and turned for the door, briefly glimpsing as the Mienshao made his way for a door to a wooden balcony and motioned with his paw at Lacan to follow.
“It has been a while since we last met, Graf,” the Fighting-type said. “We have much to discuss, and we might as well do so someplace with more space.”
Sophia couldn’t help but feel a lingering unease about her as she drifted out the door of the King’s quarters and let it close behind her.
Just what were the two going to talk about, and why didn’t the King want her to know about it?
Author’s Notes
Words and Phrases:
1. Agarezpalast - “Agarez’s Palace”
2. Heldenschloss - “Heroes’ Palace/(Unfortified) Castle”
3. Kaplan - “chaplain”
4. im Generalstab - “on the General Staff”, a traditional appending to the rank of a military officer with membership in such a body in a Germanosphere army, especially in Prussia.
5. Feldmarschall - Abbreviated form of “Generalfeldmarschall”, or “General Field Marshal”. Historically one of the highest ranks attainable in a Germanosphere army.
6. Maxax - “Haxorus”
Dialogue:
D1. “Keine Angst, Sophia. Es wird funktionieren, da bin ich mir sicher.” - “Don’t worry, Sophia. Things will work out, I’m sure of it.”
D2. “Versuche einfach, dich von den Dingen abzulenken. Was auch immer passiert, ich bin bei dir. Für immer.” - “Just try and take your mind off of things. Whatever happens, I’m with you. Forever.”
D3. “Erschrecken Sie mich nicht, indem Sie so reden, Lacan. Versuchen wir einfach sicherzustellen, dass Seine Majestät nicht in schlechterer Stimmung ist, wenn er uns um unseren Bericht bittet.” - “Don’t scare me by talking like that, Lacan. Let’s just try and ensure that His Majesty isn’t in a worse mood when he asks us for our report.”
D4. “E-Eure Majestät, verzeihen Sie die Indiskretion meines Untergebenen. Es gehört zu ihrern Aufgaben Informationen zu sammeln und-” - “Y-Your Majesty, forgive my subordinate’s indiscretion. It’s a part of her duties to gather information and-”
Teaser Text:
Newangle City, 15. Herbstmond, 1027 n. d. B.
To whom it may concern,
By royal decree of King Siegmund von Wahrheit, the recipient of this letter is hereby ordered to instruct all subordinates under their command to stand by for the arrival of any parties from Fähnlein Stärke of His Majesty’s army and to relay news of their arrival at once to His Majesty and His Generalstab.
Any representatives of Fähnlein Stärke from enlisted ranks are to be kept at the gates and notice served to His Majesty’s Generalstab to dispatch an emissary to meet them and review any news and findings in a secure environment. Should a representative of Stabsoffizier rank appear at your gates, you are to direct him or her to appear before His Highness for a royal audience effective immediately at his residence in Heldenschloss.
You are to defer to whatever requests those representatives may ask of you upon your arrival not pertaining to their summons. Their affairs of Fähnlein Stärke pertain to matters regarding the security of the realm and its war effort, and should be assumed to have His Majesty’s blessing.
Any attempts to impede His Majesty’s decree will be grounds for being treated as insubordination against the Royal Army and punished accordingly.
- Urgent dispatch from König von Wahrheit, Siegmund Wieshus relayed to the Wehrturmhauptmännerᵃ of the Newangle City Walls
a. Plural of 'Wehrturmhauptmann', or a 'Hauptmann' that would watch over a Wehrturm. Such word compounding which is common practice for word formation in German.
Hey! Surprise! I'm writing a review for Chapter 5, bet you didn't see this coming!
I've always wanted to read more Once a Thief, it still has my favourite premise! I think I just took so long cause it's hard to commit to such long chapters and I may have burned out reading the last chapter in a short time. Either way, I "read" this chapter by playing it back on tts during a very long drive. It that helped plenty with digesting the large chapters.
And with that, I can say I had an absolute blast with this chapter. Of all the fics I have read using this method, this was probably my favourite one so far. Them stealing and having a rough time was really engaging and I felt the story is really does this "thieves down on their luck" tone very well. It defines this work as its own story very well.
Of course, having read this via tts speech, I can't give feedback on individual lines or prose as a whole. Although the fact I was able to follow it well means the prose is working and is at least clear. The fact I had no translations for the German words didn't mean anything, I was still able to move along.
I'll get the constructive criticism out of the way though. I haven't read the 4th chapter in months so it opening with Kate responding Lyle's last question left me a bit lose fit context, I couldn't rewind given driving and everything. I reccomend trying to open chapters with some context of the end of last chapters, it's something I try to incorporate with Below and is feedback I've received myself. At the least, people who are caught up to current will have a wait between new chapters where they may forget things!
The scene with picking the offerings I felt was a bit drawn out. It wasn't a bad scene, but I felt them arguing with Kate was spelling out for the audience what may have been better as subtext/ the reader's conclusion. Not just that but they argue with her for a bit.
And overall I feel like there's a bit of a habit of characters explaining consequences/risks/subtext a bit too much, such as them explaining why Irune having her scarf and badge will put them in danger, and their frustration with her hesitance. This is a wonderful scene! But I think moments like this could also benefit from letting them speak for themselves.
I really enjoyed the lore building with the legendaries! I can't remember all of it and what was in this chapter/the next but I really enjoyed it. No gods to back the heroes up, and it gives the story a humantistic sense (well, pokemonistic...)
I've also been listening to the story trying to think of stories as journies instead of destination (I'm still relatively new to this reason for fun thing!) On paper, things are taking time to happen, but as a journey, I'm really enjoying these small scenes and the characters interact. I also still love Kate, my absolute favourite!
I also do think these chapters can be split in two without serious impact. You should consider it! ;o.
But seriously, thanks so much for writing this. I got another surprise - I actually read three chapters using tts, not just this one ;). You can expect the next two reviews in not too crazy long a time. Consider this my holiday surprise!
Seriously, Merry Christmas, and I can't wait to read more next long drive!
Get blitzed! I have returned just soon enough to somewhat remember things that have happened before now.
And by 'now' I mean chapters nine and ten. Although I spent a good while swearing that I already reviewed chapter nine, I don't think I did so we start there.
Action!
Because nine in particular is a very go go go, action-heavy chapter, I thought this would be a good time to mention (maybe not for the first time) that I do not understand action in writing. This has nothing to do with the quality of the chapter, moreso with revealing my own biases. I've read plenty of stories with on-paper good action, but most of them have done nothing for me so feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Anyways, this whole preamble sounds like it's leading up to me saying that I didn't like this chapter but I actually found it pretty good. My only real complain is that the gang's fight with the guild bois gets a little hectic in a way that was difficult to follow. This is certainly a result of trying to keep track of eight pokemon at the same time as trying to set the scene around them, which I do not envy. Honestly, I'm not sure what I'd do about it. It didn't feel too long and I suppose the hecticness is part of the point so oh well.
This was a surprisingly easy entry point considering I haven't read this story for quite a while. I think it helps that it feels like one of your more breezy ones--certainly not the however-many thousands of words it actually is. It also helps that the thrust of the chapter is fairly straighforward. Not a lot to complicate what's happening beyond them running into all the inhabitants of earth trying to get away.
Which brings me to what actually happens.
Ah, so the gang finally reap what they sow. Kate may hate when Lyle's right but I do not. And considering what happens next chapter, it's interesting that what kicks this off is Irune's lack of consideration. If only she burned the scarf smh.
Team Pathfinder makes their well-timed appearance. They leave a broad, group impression, though one without a ton of individual spark. (I have on good authority they reappear llater, so we'll see if that changes) An escape-or-die battle is not the best icebreaker though, to be fair. I like that they're built in the model of a standard rescue team, complete with shonen protagonist energy and quips that would irritate the hell out of me if they were directed my way. There's something very conceptually funny about watching character who believe they're the main characters even though I know they aren't.
It's also pretty funny that nearly every pokemon they've wronged shows up to harass team foragers lol. Including an unexpected ambush by the army as a sort of final boss just when the gang think they're finally safe. And funny in the well-timed comedic moments sense, too. Nils popping by, completely oblivious to how little he matters at this point in the story is great. Plus, he has his well-earned pathetic begging time on the floor. He deserves it for being the one to titledrop the story tbh. Anyway, I unironically stan Nils now, sorry.
And here I thought I was half-joking, but meeting the zangoose in the gummi fab tells me no, they really are running into every pokemon they've wronged thus far.
Fly time
Poor Hermes. I mean, he's not very smart, really. If my client tries to get into my taxi while tey're running from the cops I'm locking the damn door and driving away, no shot. But Hermes is a bro so he takes them and very much regrets it two minutes later lol.
It's nice that we have this time to relax, though. Even on first read, I knew they were not making it very far, but a nice introspective moment is great in the middle of the rollercoaster that is Once a Thief.
I don't have much to say about what actually happens on flight Hermes. I can't tell if I just forgot or if Irune is suddenly a lot more on edge than she was before? idk, my last memory of her was palling around and trying to do some thieving, so seeing her get so snippy about Lyle being a thief felt a little jarring. (it pays off later tbf, though I'll get to that). I agree with Lyle, of course, because we are best friends in real life, but she has a lotta nerve to be so defensive around pokemon who are risking their lives to help her. Kids these days are so ungrateful, I swear.
In opposition to my previous comments about action, I found the sky combat to be more clear. It helps that everyone worth following is smushed together under one dragon and unable to move otherwise.
Great end to the chapter, too.
Dungeon time
Ah, so mister complainer still lives in my house after all. And he has a balanced diet of good and bad things to say about the Lacan-POV part of this chapter.
The good: I'm always a sucker for other POVs. And here, it functions just as I like it. Specifically, it turns what was otherwise a nebulous antagonistic force existing only to oppose the heroes into a group of pokemon with motivations and thoughts and disagreements of their very own. Sophia in particular is an immediate breath of fresh air from her second line of dialogue. Nuance? In my army? How dare!
We'll get to her. And Lacan, who is also a good thing in this chapter.
The bad: The other reason I think this POV exists is purely expository, which I found to be too obvious. You really wanted to sell the danger of Primordial Woods and, while I understand that it's necessary to explain why the army doesn't just charge right in, you go too far imo and it hurts some other elements here.
Most apparent to me is the talonflame character. He reminds me of the classic eighties bully character who exists only to say something isn't scary and immediately get killed by it. To your credit, the story's tone is not miles away from classic eighties and the talonflame doesn't die for no reason, but I couldn't help souring on this moment because it feels like an unnecessary way to hype up the dungeon.
Like I said, this is broadly a problem of exposition. The more your characters talk about something, the more sold I am on their image of it and the more difficult it becomes for the real thing to live up. It’s not a total disappointment, but I think some of Primordial wood’s inherent threat could have been left up to interpretation and myth rather than the outright explanation we got. Like, Lacan's final line about Irune having to drag what's left of them out of the dungeon is almost good enough imo. And then you can play off the vague myth of the place that makes other pokemon avoid it.
This also affects the scenes after in two ways.
One: Dalton slowly figuring out that this is primordial woods just doesn't hit. I can't tell whether it was supposed to be a reveal (to them, at least) or not, but there isn't much emotion behind it.
Two: I find myself having strange feelings about your interpretation of ferals. They're almost too... normal? Like, they talk reasonably and have quips like everybody else. So my first taste of Primordial Woods is through me comparing their battle to those that have come before and not thinking there's a lot to distinguish them besides species. They don't feel much more dangerous than even team Pathfinders. AT least at first glance--we've only dipped our toes in the dungeon, after all.
I dunno, I won't deny you your interpretation of ferals as more of a different clan than rabid monsters. In fact, it's part of why I like your world so much. However, when we reach moments like these where I feel like I'm being sold how scary someplace is, they stop making as much sense in this way.
I started wondering why I haven't had thoughts like this before now, but I'm realising I haven't seen ferals in once a thief before? I think? Maybe I just forgot lol.
My new best friends
I like Lacan. He's not really a standout weirdo in the ranks of the garrison. In fact, I think he embodies a lot of what makes it both effective and terrible. (though he strikes me as less corrupt than the lot tbh). He manages to be intimidating without doing some stupid shit to prove how ooky spooky he is. A specific complaint, I know, but fantasy stories love bad guys murdering their henchmen for no reason and I don't get it. They aren't scary, I only fear the ruthless capitalists and real estate agents.
He's also unreasonable in sensical ways. He's an absolute dick to Hermes for basically no reason besides draconic pride, but it casts the actions of his soldiers in a new light. If this is what your boss gets up to, I can see why you're such a dick, Nils.
But Sophia is an unexpected surprise. It strikes me that her loyalty towards Lacan is what keeps her around rather than any loyalty to the crown, but I could be wrong on that count. Anyways, she ends up being an unexpected voice of reason in this situation. I'm especially side-eyeing her comment implying Irune is a child because, well... she's right.
It's interesting that Lacan scoffs at that. I don't know their history, but I suspect he might have had better luck keeping her around if he connected with her like one might a child, but I don't think he has it in him to have compassion to those weaker than him tbh. He would not run a good daycare.
Anyway, I'm keeping an eye on them both from now on. They also give some good reasoning why everybody's so eager to catch the DYad. It seems there's an unexpected time limit going on. And at this point I think I know what Irune's role in this whole game is, even if I don;t know how it'll play out, so I'm excited for that.
And then we get into the real juice. This is my shit. Character drama? Sign me up, baby.
It's actually very nice to see Irune snapping like that. Even if I complained about her earlier, it's true she's never seemed to like her companions or thievery in general so watching it bubble to the surface here is very cathartic on both ends.
It also presents a really great, morally gray conundrum with a whole buncha knots in it. On one hand, it's pretty fucked up to recruit an innocent young cranidos into your mission knowing how dangerous it is. On the other hand, isn't that exactly what Irune has already done with the thieves? It's especially galling considering how little she's shared about her role in it all. Hipocrisy aside, I like that her flaws are fully visible in her argument here. She is not coming down from that high horse anytime soon. Everyone is a bad person :(
The other great thing about this argument is that it isn't resolved immediately. It's a good thing to stew over for a while, I think. Something that fanfic could use more of are extended drama that doesn't just vanish the moment it appears.
Random thoughts
I like how team Pathfinders are clearly either new or not very good at their job. Fighting your imposters in public is a recipe for the rampant property damage that follows. Take that shit somewhere private, please.
Never before have I considered the dangers of keeping a whole bunch of volatile dungeon items on the same shelf. Now I may never unthink it.
Lyle's near-death flashbacks might be my favourite part of chapter nine. They're sweet and sentimental (kinda) but still speak to the horrors of the world he was forcedd to grow up in. It's sad that one of the few pure memories is the first, immediately followed up by war.
Good lord, the army sucks lol. No wonder the dyad wants nothing to do with you whenyou're pushing people into holes lol.
Ah, a monster house! I was wondering if those would show up. Like with a lot of your worldbuilding elements, they appear more sensibly here, as more of an ambush than whatever the hell kinda alien invasion is supposed to be happening in the games.
Side note: ‘sharptooths’ flashes me back to the racist dinos in land before time lol.
Figured I'd finish of this section of dungeon right quick while the previous chapters are still fresh on the mind.
Here I go reviewing chappies eleven and twelve.
Dungeon time reprise
Irune seems to have some sense of the hole she's dug for herself here. As the argument (sorta) continues, she dips into some excuses and avoidance to get Lyle off her back. As we see later, though, she seems to regret her blowup immediately. I liked how the rest of the dungeon is framed around that drama in a lot of ways. Or at least, it holds in the background and whenever anyone says something I side-eye Irune to see if she reacts.
I think I ended up having less to say about the actual dungeon itself. I don't think there was any new worldbuildingto comment on? My favourite action scene inside ended up being the Rampardos chase, I think. It involves a lot of clever dungeon nonsense that I find fun: locate the staircase, find the tunnel wand, then evade the dinos are the kind of emergent gameplay scenarios I love these sections for. Except... not gameplay. Writeplay.
Then whoops Irune is having empathy flashbacks
And whoops they’re making her rethink her actions.
It's moments like these that remind me how young she is. Also with how patient the outlaws tend to be with her. While they do want that sweet, sweet treasue, they're still very accomadating. Dare I say... wholesome? At least at times.
Which transitions us into some more, and more unexpected, drama. Honestly, I kinda forgot that Kate was the one who dragged Lyle back into thief life. He’d made his displeasure at the situation plenty clear before, but not much had been this pointed towards Kate. And I almost thought it would turn into another Irune situation, but it turned out surprisingly sweet, if for a moment shared in a brief safe spot in dino hell.
I think it provides an insight into Kate’s motives we haven’t seen before. I’ve always known she was friends with Lyle before, but I had assumed they’d always had this sort of grumpy-stoat happy-cat dynamic. Yet it seems she’s chasing the old days in a much more literal way. It’s a good bit of humanity to add to both her and Lyle's characters, I think. A real longing for something that we haven’t seen before.
This did actually turn out very nice though, didn’t it? Kate knows not to be overly combative about Lyle, Dalton holds up his end of the bargain even though everyone else (fairly) forgot. Plus some more sensible, levelheaded planning while they wait on the winds. Go team!
Anyway, not enough screaming and crying, 0/10.
Dinosaur >:)
Anyway, we get what part of the dungeon’s been building to: king dino. As I alluded to in my earlier review, this didn’t hit like I wanted it to. In the moment, it’s hard to really explain why beyond previous grievances about exposition—there are certainly stakes and escalation and consequences and all that good stuff. True to Lacan’s word, they aren’t leaving the dungeon without injury. And we also kinda got what I wanted from Irune here. (Lacan must be a psychic or something, because he called it).
But I think the pivot gets me. The end of the fight caps this dungeon arc in a different way than I expected. The focus shifts to this narrative about dino grandpa's terrible leadership skills, which is interesting in its own right both as a side story and a weird parallel to Irune's ongoing angst, but even as it was happening had me wondering how we got here from Dalton and Lyle nearly dying and Irune being forced to use her saiyan powers to save them. There is buildup, to be fair. And the kind that works well retrospectively to appeciate how clever some of it was structured (I especially like that their first resting place was a previous nest. It carried some inherent danger, but is recontextualised in an interesting way here). So idk. I'm over here acting like I love action all of a sudden, even though I actually end up thinking this direction does more for me.
So in putting together some more articulate thoughts, while no, I don’t think Primordial woods lived up to the promise it set and yes, I have some thoughts on your wilders, you end up playing to the potential strengths here in a way that I have a hard time complaining about. GIving them actual lives and personalities beyond corrupted creatures than thoughtlessly wander dungeons lets you play out mini-arcs like this that I think work quite well, give your world a distinct edge and manage to shift the focus of the adventure for a moment.
And whoops, Irune is relating to her own criticism of dino grandpa.
Random thoughts
Evolution is becoming an increasingly sus topic here. It’s not the first time it’s peaked my interest, but we’ve got some new info so I thought I would speculate.
‘Early evolution’ is an interesting concept. Something to do with the distortion’s influence, according to the dinos. And definitely not a benefit given the state we saw Hermes in. That combined with Lyle’s early fear about being unable to feed his oncoming bg boy typhlosion bod makes me wonder about the future. We have three good candidates, so who gets zapped first? :thinkingemoji:. I feel like Lyle’s the easy option? Not that I would complain, he seems like he would take to it with the least enthusiasm lol. My money’s on Irune, for the surprise twist. Though I don’t remember if Lacan said that would interrupt her dyad magic or if that was something else.
How does ’paws crossed’ work as an expression?
Rampardos calls Lyle a furry which is irredeemable slander.
Surprise consortium lore
Lyle’s always the one getting bopped around and needing to be pulled back up isn’t he? Poor guy.
Okay! I have reviewed parts of Once a Thief before, and thanks to the silverware of the V-Wheel, I get to have a revisit. I've gone ahead and read chapters six and seven.
I'm not going to comment on the wider world massively since I've already done so before, but I will say I'm liking how this world is developing, what with the wider use of different languages (German I think?), the wider conflict and looking at different diverse locations throughout the world through the eyes of the characters. It is nice to see the world's unique locations and see how they have all been structured. There is also more elements of culture being revealed, which is a nice touch many fics don't really check out.
The four main characters have had a small amount of development, and Chapter 7 in particular works really well in detailing how these different characters will actually proceed with completing a specific task, AKA teaching someone, which adds a nice bit of depth to them as well in a realtively subtle way.
That being said, whilst the Chapters are well written, at the same time, they are very... wordy. So wordy in fact that I'm actually struggling to picture what the locations are actually like. You could quite easily cut down on the detail as it really stretches out of the length of the chapters to the point that they start to drag. I'm not saying cut all the detail out, but having a bit less should just help with reading each chapter in one chunk.
Also, not much happened in Chapter 6 or 7, the former was focused on finding a Carrier, which did have a purpose, but for such a purpose it did feel like a very long chapter to do so. Chapter 7 was better due to the above character interaction, but it still felt very lengthy due to the detail.
However, it does offer enough of a hook to get me interested in Chapter 8, where things sound like they are gonna pick up again, so that should be fun.
Additon: As suggested on Discord, I might do a complete breakdown of a chapter soon.
Hello there! I’ve been anticipating waiting for Review Blitz to come along for a few months now just so I could have a crack at getting caught up on this fic. Last Review Blitz, I recall enjoying this fic enough to review it in its then entirety of thirteen chapters (and upon submitting it, I shot halfway up the leaderboard, hehe). Fond memories, that.
And now in Week 2 with its catch-up bonus, now’s the prime time to get caught up with the closest thing we have to PMD x Xenoblade. So let’s dive back into the world of Wander, and our not-so-heroic protagonists on their quest…
Chapter 16
So the creator of the world never interacted with it after he created it. Sign of a loving, benevolent god right there - and a nice parallel between Arceus and the Architect.
Ah yes, back to the moment of fear of being spotted by a Bewear. (Funny, that’s not the only fic I’ve read this Review Blitz that involves the main protag being terrified of one. )
Oof, seems like Team Forager are struggling. Never cross a Bewear, that’s one thing I’ve learned. And especially with how Dalton’s pinned under them, it gives a pretty bleak outlook.
That is…until Irune steps in, and I see she’s dipping into that power we saw a glimpse of back in Raptor Rock against Rankar. Must be a sign she’s becoming attached, if that’s her reaction to a comrade getting the life beaten out of them (even if she was the one whose loose tongue landed the group in this mess to begin with).
Irune lurched and convulsed as brilliant fire built up in her mouth, before she turned and spewed another gout of fire at the Bastiodon. Lyle stumbled back as the fireball missed his body and felt an overpowering flash of heat, briefly making out a fireball surrounded by what looked like two rings before it swallowed up the Puller. The most godsawful screams followed and Lyle flinched as the heat lingered along with the woosh of strong flames. The light and heat dissipated almost as quickly as it came, and Lyle turned towards where the Bastiodon Puller had been. The dinosaur was there, getting up feebly and whimpering in pain with singed scales trailing smoke as he nursed a fresh burn that ran along the length of his right flank. The clatter of broken plaster shifting turned Lyle's attention to the Bewear stumbling up in the background. Her eyes fell on Irune, where they at once shrank to pins and she stumbled back and stammered in fright.
This paragraph’s a bit chunky, and could be broken up into two at least. Maybe “Lyle turned towards where the Bastiodon Puller had been,” could be where a new paragraph could begin.
Axew and Fire Blast don’t tend to be a great combination. Have you seen that Sp. Atk stat?
(/jk obviously this is different in prose fiction works like this one.)
The implication of move tutors to teach Fire Blasts must mean TMs aren’t in this universe, I presume.
The story about the Chando Imperagators makes me wonder if we might see this mentioned in an upcoming chapter. Fifty counts of arson ain’t nothing to sneeze at. I also like how it could possibly imply a bandit taking advantage of the state of war to commit arson. Criminality does tend to spike in times of war, after all.
Three posters, looking like they'd been just freshly put up overnight, with drawings of their species. 'Kate Snibunnas' on the Sneasel's poster, 'Dalton Elezards' on the Heliolisk's, and most worryingly on the Quilava's, 'Lyle Fremders', the false name he'd used to try and hide from his past with!
Oh yikes, they have their faces and everything (and not crappily drawn ones that would make Kate tear them apart like a certain Gormotti did to her wanted poster). This is a certified Not Good moment.
Somehow the thought occurred to me that there might be outlaws out there in their positions that would look at the high bounty and be like, “Aw yeah, we’re in the Big Leagues now.”
Irune Wildes? That’s a Vatername to remember for later. Perhaps when the gang get to Newangle City we’ll see a familial connection to someone there. (If so, I wonder if the king has any affiliation…)
Neat that Lyle, as a Fire-type, is naturally afraid of the water. Also escaping via water? Beginning to look like the Colony Gamma arc in Xenoblade 3. (And now I’m picturing Kate doing a Eunie and complaining about “snuffing water” and her feather being “a bitch to dry.”)
Irune seems comforted by going to Newangle City? Oh, there’s definitely going to be some familial connection in there once the gang arrive.
For a second, Lyle thought of just jumping down to the riverbank below, only to think twice of the idea after seeing the drop from the embankment was at least twice a Mudsdale's height. Even if Dalton's arm wasn't broken right now, a fall from that sort of height was surely risking trouble if anyone didn't stick their landing.
Oh dang, that’s certainly an ‘on the nose’ reference. Fitting though, that the wielder of Leaf Blades would be named after someone who also wielded swords. (I’m now curious if Vilma wields her Leaf Blades in a similar manner to two swords.)
"It only took getting lost in three Mystery Dungeons, running into the occasional Monster House here or there, and running away very quickly, but we and our client survived!" the Houndour chimed in.
Huh, turns out a little mockery was all it took to reveal their shortcomings. Yeah, professionals in the art of outlaw apprehending, this lot are not.
Nice ploy by Dalton, although that can’t be good for his injuries. Here’s hoping he didn’t bite off more than he can chew…
And also nice that even in the face of surrender, our resident Heliolisk still has a plan (well, a gamble, more like). Still, when gambling’s your only option, you may as well go for it.
That Druddigon’s a shiny? Huh, neat. (I’ll be real, I forget Shinies exist sometimes.)
I agree. Remembering the bribes and how that would deprive villagers of the little income they already have don’t exactly paint the Grünhäuter in a great light. Making this moment of success for Team Forager all the sweeter.
Now they lay low until it’s time to depart…
Chapter 17
‘Annal’, eh? Was Elysium a partial inspiration for that place? Also intriguing allusions to the existence of a Kyurem once upon a time. I suppose with the Zekrom and Reshiram allusions, their former shell would have to come into the myths at one point.
Nice save with the book not being completely waterlogged. That would’ve ended badly if it did.
Seems this chapter’s from Kate’s PoV, and maybe we might see more from her side of things.
Kate froze and stiffened up, as they saw the groggy form of a Feraligatr in a plain blue scarf shuffle up with his jaw hanging open, his yellow eyes staring at them as he held out a claw and gestured with an incredulous splutter.
Team Forager try to catch a break, any sort of break challenge (impossible). If I took a shot for every time this lot have been accosted for something during this journey, I’d be as sloshed as that Feraligatr was the night before.
Amazing how quickly one’s tune can change with a bit of gold dangled in front of their face. Then again, that goes for just about everyone, whether it be Boudewijn, the Grünhäuter or hell, even Team Forager themselves. If it wasn’t for the prospect of robbing cargo for some coin, Lyle wouldn’t be on this journey in the first place.
Newangle City really is a stone’s throw away, huh? No doubt there’ll be some interesting revelations once the gang arrive in there, from Dalton’s past to Irune possibly having a Vatername connection there.
“... Compared to trying to slip off into the countryside when for all we know every Hunter’s Guild in this Provinz has seen our wanted posters by now?”
Such formations were said to have been left behind by unnatural means, whether as aftereffects from the Great Flash, or from Mystery Dungeons that used to be present and had since dissipated or shifted to another place.
Huh. I wonder…is this also a partial reference to annihilation events in Xenoblade 3? Because it does kinda have that feel to it as well. And the ruined concrete pylons give an interesting glance into human ruins - almost like Maktha Wildwood. I do vaguely remember an old convo on Discord where you ‘took notes’ upon entering that place in your XC3 playthrough…
But fortunately, the raft captain hadn’t put two and two together, not that Boudewijn’s temperament didn’t help. The captain, while gruff, was of a more good-natured sort.
Well, there’s something I wasn’t expecting. Feels like our gang have only ever dealt with double dealers and folks that would rather not have their company. Nice to have someone a bit more good of heart ferrying them to their next destination.
Ah yes, the old ‘look at the horizon’ trick to cure boat sickness. I’ve been told that many a time when on boats, usually at sea, and I can confirm it does work.
Yikes, penal labour. The most unenviable place to be, whether in wartime or otherwise.
Though this does bring to mind the Li Garte Prison arc in Xenoblade 3, and now I’m curious if there might be a similar arc where our gang might be captured and put in prison.
Pffft, that’s not often a thing I see in PMD fics, referencing ‘the call of nature’. (If that is what I think it is.)
Female Kyurem? Interesting spin on it - when I think Kyurem, I tend to think male. But hey - since most Legendaries are genderless, that’s very much an author freedom thing.
My. Proof more than ever that our little dragoness may not be of this time, and instead hails from a more distant past.
Oh, Lyle’s hometown was destroyed? Oof. And it’s kinda sad to think there’s nothing for him after all this. And the bounty’s probably put a target on his head for the foreseeable future. Kinda occurring to me that the ending for this fic, when we get to it, might well be a bittersweet one.
A dead ringer for the DNA Splicers? (I presume that’s what that is.) And it seems Irune’s going to have a bit of explaining to do. How will she get out of this one?
Chapter 18
Kinda like how this text interprets modern human terms. Things such as skyscrapers (‘high places’) and electricity (‘tamed thunder’) are written in an eloquent fashion that I find quite pleasing.
Also, “this is where we build our future” - nice parallel with Xenoblade!Klaus.
“Surely things wouldn’t be that cold just standing around Kyurem, but it’s… complicated. My pendant’s just a visual reference for one of the treasures I’m looking for,” she explained. “Considering everything I’ve been through, if I could count on a god for help, I wouldn’t exactly be picky about who I called out to for aid.”
….That’s a roundabout statement if I ever did hear one. Pity they can’t press her on it, because of course Boudewijn has to show up at that moment and divert their attention away.
Dang, this guy’s lenient with allowing them fifteen minutes to forage. You sure wouldn’t have gotten that service or attitude with Hermes. (Granted, the gang were in more of a hurry then.)
Going to familiar places does seem to be the way that offers them the most fortune.
Something we’ll perhaps find out when they arrive in Newangle City.
So looks like Dalton’s gonna use some of his upper class mannerisms and connections during his time at uni to get around. Hmm…might work for him, but I somewhat question whether the other three’ll blend in as well.
Now we go over to General Grumpywings, whose POV we haven’t seen in a while. And now it’s revealed that Errberk Village is Sophia’s hometown? Can’t say I was expecting that. Was this mentioned at all until now?
Seems your AU counterpart is more competent than you if he at least remembered his ether nets. Looks like Pax is facing a demotion if Lacan and Sophia’s attitudes are anything to go by.
Yeah, if it wasn’t clear already, do not piss off Lacan, whether that’s an errant messenger like Hermes or a soldier like Pax.
Without prompting, this ‘Cruz’ Dewott sheathed his scalchops and put his paws on his hips, proudly puffing his chest out that same imbecilic bravado he’d seen from would-be warriors enough times in the past to last a lifetime.
Man, if only Cruz took a leaf out of his XCX counterpart’s book and just remained in the background while Vilma did all the talking. Seems he’s not quite a ‘Rook’ here, rather more one on equal standing.
Oh, for the love of Arceus, why can’t their guesses just be wrong for once in a lifetime?
There’s a Thieves’ Guild in Newangle City? Hmmm…a possible hideaway for Team Forager, perhaps? Though it’s of some relief to find that Newangle City’s big enough that our not-quite-heroes could find many a hiding place in there away from the Grünhäuter.
And now it looks like Team Forager are going to be ambushed. Again. When will they find a break…?
Oh, so Newangle City has a whiff of the Indoline Praetorium about it with the refugee encampments. It does kinda give off vibes of being a hybrid of the Praetorium, Alcamoth and NLA, though I guess I’ll see how right I am when the gang enters the city for real.
It was a town where some sort of uprising had started just before the last set of invasions, which had been fiercely fought over between armies and heavily mined with Blast Seeds and Apricorns. Things were apparently bad enough there that there were allegedly stories of fully-evolved Rothäuter taken as prisoners who would break into sobbing pleas for mercy over the mere threat of being sent to clear mines there.
I’ll say. That does sound like one hell of a punishment, especially given what we’ve heard about Apricorns before this. Does speak to how ruthless punishments can be in Varhyde, if this along with penal labour are the punishments awaiting any Rothäuter prisoners. (Then again, it’s probably not much different in Edialeigh for any Grünhäuter POWs they take in.)
Man, I will say that Kate could have done a better job at acting up the sickness. Based on how they’ve acted thus far, they could definitely use better acting skills, that’s for sure.
These details of the ceiling make me wonder if these are human remains that the Pokémon aren’t far advanced enough technologically to learn how to replace. Because manufacturing those things doesn’t feel like something a PMD society would be very knowledgeable of.
“Why don’t you tie down the raft for a moment and answer a few questions?” that Carracosta asked. “We need to get in a few random inspections today anyways.”
Man, where is Lady Luck, or the Pokémon equivalent of her when they need them? Because Team Forager sure as hell could get by without riding on the fringe of being caught every time they go near anywhere mildly populated.
Okay, Boudewijn came in clutch with that purse of Carolins. Phew. Though it’s another insight into the crappy pay that soldiers get if they’re willing to take bribes so easily.
And indeed, they weren’t. I suppose such a thing would strike awe and wonder, seeing these alien structures far beyond the likes of which they’ve seen.
When King Klaus founded Angle City, he did so in the ruins of a human city spread out so far and wide that it had become an ungovernable warren after the Great Flash, much like others which have since been lost to time.
Dang, even after humans are gone, urban sprawl still proves to be a menace.
It’s honestly interesting how the Pokémon interpreted the massive skyscrapers to be out of worship for the goddess. I really like that, how they try and interpret past structures and sometimes miss the mark entirely like they do here. Because, let’s face it; humans wouldn’t build skyscrapers out of worship, surely?
Nice allusion to Zekrom being the enemy as transcribed in this eloquent fashion.
I suppose Newangle’s citizens couldn’t very well have lived in the human ruins for fear they might collapse, so fair enough that they built new buildings for themselves. Though it’s an intriguing image, imagining thatched roofs amidst what was once a modern city development.
Funny, that’s the second fic I’ve come across that refers to Alolan forms as ‘southern’ forms. Anything to make new continuity where Alola does not exist, I suppose. (Although maybe it did, back in the days of humans? After all, do they say what the world’s name was before the Great Flash?)
Also kinda fitting that this song happens to come on in the background while I’m reviewing this part. (I dunno if it captures the grandeur of Newangle City meant to be felt in the moment, but it kinda has that city feel to it, if you catch my drift. )
A grim reality, seeing ordinary folks becoming conscripted.
it dawned on him that he was looking at what was left of an ancient bridge span, one originally wide enough to carry six or seven Pullers and their cargoes walking astride each other.
Beeg bridge. Maybe it was a highway bridge once upon a time?
Gotta admit, I side with Irune here, with Kate trying to steal Boudewijn's money. Let the ‘mon have the money, after his kind words and transporting them all the way to where they wanted to go.
Really gives a sense for how big Newangle City is and how towering these skyscrapers are that on the surface Lyle can’t see the sun from the shade. (At least I think that’s what you’re going for here?)
I mean, would that not mean a better choice of marks to steal from? Especially in big crowds, that would mean they could slip in and out easier from thieving purses from passersby.
Stealing the laundry of others? How the mighty have fallen. (Well, not that Team Forager were ever stealing from grand folks to begin with.)
If I had a nickel for every Fobbiefic that had the main protags use Durin Berries to cover their scent, I’d have two nickels. Not a lot, but interesting that it happened twice.
And once again, fascinating seeing the interpretation of cars and highways by creatures who have no idea what those things are.
“The Administrative District,” he explained. “It has a number of vantage points that overlook the city’s northern bank, so it’ll make going over options a bit easier.”
How fitting that it parallels with NLA’s Administrative District in having the tallest buildings that overlook the city. And if it’s anything like NLA, there’ll probably be little nooks and crannies for our not-quite-heroes to hide in should things go awry.
How ironic that would be, if the pickpockets were pickpocketed.
Wow, that must be quite the view. Picturing something a bit like how NLA’s outlook from the Administrative District looked, and how commanding an overlook that was, the grandeur here can certainly be felt, doubly so when you take into account the fact that such grand structures were built by aliens to this world of Pokémon.
Watch this become prophetic in the next few chapters. (On another note, is the ‘disowned prince’ a sideways reference to Zeke? Or a Xenogears/saga character I’m not aware of?)
Yep, Irune’s definitely from a time of yore. (If that wasn’t obvious enough already.)
The wide net of prayers shows the diversity of thinking in Varhyde. Though it’s almost ironic to see prayers of desires being offered to the goddess of truth. Fascinating.
There was no Reshiram to answer all these prayers right now. And even whenever there was one again, why on earth would she lend an ear to the pleas of an Outlaw?
The dilapidation of some of these human ruins, and particularly the one covered in vegetation, reminds me a bit of Morytha (without the storms, Guldo infestations and tragic as hell BGM, of course.) That’s to be expected, I suppose - with the Great Flash bringing human civilisation to its knees and Pokémon not being advanced enough to know the ins and outs of human tech, it’s only natural to see it fall into a ruined state.
From how long it’d taken them to make their way up to this overlook, it’d take a good hour or so in order to make their way over and then reach that district.
Once again, urban sprawl is a bitch. Curse these cities of human origin for being so damn big.
To a poor part of town, eh? Just what would a noble like Dalton have to do with the poorest parts of the city? I guess we’ll find out next chapter…
Chapter 20
Well, if that opening title doesn’t imply this chapter may turn some things on their heads.
Interesting what ifs pondered in the text above. All squandered because someone wished for mankind to move one step to the divine, and in doing so, killed them all. But hey, now we have Pokémon ruling the roost instead, so that’s a win.
After retracing their steps down to the first intersection of the raised street they came from and turning right, she and the rest of Team Forager came across a collapsed span of raised street that had been turned into a ramp heading down to ground level.
Huh, I remember the Land of Morytha having similar paths forward through its warren of ruined buildings. Nice to see them repurposed here in a more populated settings.
There was always a liberating feeling from being up high and looking down on the world, one that made her wish sometimes that she’d been born as some other Pokémon who could just spread their wings and fly away as they evolved.
Almost like Irune has half-Bagon heritage with a remark like that. Now I wonder if Lacan had a similar attitude when he was a tyke. (And on that note, I wonder if this line might imply a subtle connection between the two of them… )
The speaker was a Druddigon who was dismissing a Cubchoo with a bowl of soup towards a set of simple wooden tables and stools that spilled out into the street before turning back to a pot behind the counter. … “Scarlet Dragon’s Soups”?
I see your affinity for the rough-skinned blue dragons shines through here. Even if there’s no Druddigon MC here like in Fledglings or Dragonspiral’s Children, that marks two appearances of them thus far in this story.
She turned back towards the shopfront, just in time to see the next customers cross their path and approach the counter: a Dusknoir with a scarf with a sigil that looked much like a flame on a green background. And there alongside him, was a Charmeleon draped in a hooded cowl of the same color who was casting glances about nervously.
Makes me wonder if these two will be characters we’ll get to know sometime in the near future. After all, details like mentioning scarves do make them stand out a bit. Perhaps they belong to that Thieves’ Guild Sophia mentioned a few chapters ago?
Clearly, the Dusknoir, Herold, is a father figure to Lohe. Maybe he took in Lohe after his parents died? Or could Lohe’s hometown have been razed by the war? The mention of Benzen Town a chapter or two ago makes me think that there might be a connection here, at the very least to war-torn towns…
No wonder he’s all nervous, then. But this is cool, because for possibly the first time in this story, we might see the other side of this conflict, from the Edialeighers’ point of view.
Oof, sounds like a failed attempt in the past to get there. Fingers crossed this next journey there will be successful.
I was about to say Arsenal Avenue was a Xenoblade X reference, but it turns out I got it mixed up with Armory Alley. Though maybe it’s meant to be a variant on that name?
Just realised: the gang could theoretically steal armour and dress up as Grünhäuter, and their enemies might well be none the wiser. Well, that is if the soldiers are as incompetent in Newangle as they’ve been thus far.
I see we have our variant of “Queen’s Wings” right here. Kinda funny that it’s the fur that’s most notable - after all, our resident truth derg is rather floofy.
Eyyy, nice one, Kate! Great to one-up that pompous Tyranitar. How fitting that the Pokémon with the Pickpocket ability would make the best pickpocket of the gang.
I suppose with all the different shapes and sizes with Pokémon, there would inevitably be some who don’t have a size to fit them and would thus need a custom build of armour. I remember such discussions taking place in the PMD Discords over all this. I find the topic quite fascinating.
Oh, cool. Since Move Tutors were brought up in the intro, they play a part in the chapter itself. Dunno if I’ve acknowledged this yet, but that is a nice touch, how the intros tie into the topic of the chapter in question. (Have to admit, it’s got me thinking about maybe trying something similar out when I get to write other things beyond Dual Wills…
Lyle turned his head in time to see Dalton blinking and eying the device Amp was indwelling, as he inspected the reader and the comet-like sigil on it closely.
Hmmm…I recall this sigil being brought up before. It’s apparently a nod at a Xenosaga symbol that makes a small cameo in XC3: Future Redeemed, if I recall correctly.
The team doesn’t really need to taught Hyper Beam. Especially given what it can take out of a user. Maybe Dalton would have good use for it given his Normal-type heritage, but eh…Team Forager might want to consider their options well.
She’d been told while growing up that back in ancient times, those towers housed massive machines that somehow gathered energy from far, far away and turned it into tamed thunder.
Electricity generators, I see. Would they be of the fossil fuel or renewable kind? First thought was solar energy, but I could see how it could equally be other kinds.
I see this Empoleon’s a bit of a snob too. A higher-up too, if even Lacan submits to her. I guess it would make sense that Varhyde’s snobs would be aplenty in their capital city.
Man, when you think that nobles like them hang back, sheltered by Newangle’s walls, while the young blood of the country fights and perishes on the front line, it’s hard to be sympathetic towards the likes of this Empoleon.
Hehe, nice reference there, comparing her to the bird enemies in Xenoblade 3.
Lacan and Sophia have to appear before the King? Well now, this should be an interesting turn of events. Really curious as to what King Siegmund is like - a brutal warlord or a more peaceable sort (something along the lines of the Tornan King from TtGC). At the very least, he seems to be impatient about the Dyad, and the mystery surrounding just who he is may well be unveiled next chapter…
Chapter 21
Ah yes, that very letter that Lacan and Sophia received. Sounds as strictly formal as I would’ve expected it.
Even here, directly beneath Agarezpalast₁, the traditional residence of Varhyde’s kings up until the reign of King Sansa, which was somewhere on the topmost roof above him, there were lingering scars from past wars.
I see it’s not just the Great Flash that ruined these human ruins; war from Edialeigh damages them too. A pity, when remnants of the past are lost to the flames of war.
“My wounds healed much longer ago than your own, and the last time I was assessed by a physician, I was told I won’t be a Corvisquire for much longer.”
Hm. So we might see Corviknight!Sophia at some point in the near future, perhaps? Come to think of it, I recall a similar thing said with Lyle in the past, where it was implied he might not be too far off evolution (a bad thing in his case, because it would mean having a bigger belly to feed on his part). So evolutions of our current cast may not be off the table…
Lacan and Sophia’s bond is kinda touching in a way. But part of me can’t help but wonder if Sophia’s in the firing line at some point in the future, and Lacan’s going to have to grapple with the consequences. No doubt those who’ve played Xenogears have a better grasp than me about what might happen with these two. (There’s probably a comparison in the Xenoblade games that could relate to these two, but I’m struggling to pin one down exactly. Reminder for me to look into Xeno series archetypes at some point in the future.)
A Haxorus and Raichu duo? I’m betting this choice might’ve sprung from one of those ‘crowdsourcing’ things you do in the PMD Discords.
Have to admit, in this sense, I kinda like Lacan with how he pushes aside those snobbish castle guards with pure logic and a reminder of the king’s wrath.
Interesting way to combine Xenoblade’s Ether with how Pokémon learn moves. Many fics interpret the latter differently, but I love the Xenoblade aspects are dipped into here. Good job with that.
The talk about Alvin makes me wonder if we’ll see him again. He’s surely out there somewhere…right? Though all the possible places he could be are…worrying. Especially what we’ve heard regarding punishments like penal labour or clearing out mines.
More moves to our gang’s arsenal. Pretty neat - I always loved it in the first game when team members learned new Arts to flex on enemies with.
Well then. I think I might be getting warmer as to what might well happen in the near future with our dear Irune. Let’s just say I think she may be telling the truth on this occasion.
Dalton had stepped between them as a weak arc of electricity broke off between him and the Tyranitar. The soldier’s eyes abruptly widened and staggered as Lyle noticed there was a small darkened mark just past the edge of the soldier’s chest plate and on his right arm.
Eyy, Thunder Wave! Always a trusty move to have for halting ‘mons in their tracks. That’ll be a better avenue for Dalton to take right now, with his injured frill impeding his electric attacks.
Also Irune knows Dual Chop now? Hm, must’ve missed that if it came up before. Perhaps she was taught it in the Move Tutor just there?
Now that I think about it, didn’t they mentioned there was a Mystery Dungeon somewhere in Newangle City? That’s not gonna go untravelled by Team Forager, surely? Given their luck thus far, I would not be surprised in the least if they stumbled into it.
Ah, we’re coming back to that design again. Seems to be showing up pretty often.
I presume the tunnels might’ve been for more highway traffic? If we’re talking large human machines, that’s what comes to mind. That, or a subway system of some kind.
a mural at the center with Reshiram on the left and Zekrom on the right. It was a scene depicting them locked in fierce battle above the Sundered Sea, with fire and lightning streaking across the background.
Gee. I wonder what this could be resembling? Giving off real Alcamoth/Keves Castle vibes here by bringing that mural into the picture.
The crushing fear they talk about must be an implication of Siegmund not exactly being the most amicable of folks. There goes my partial guess of him taking after the Tornan King, then.
Some nice history there about the Kings of Varhyde. I know some readers might dismiss that as pointless to the story, but personally I’m a fan. It shows the storied history of the land beyond merely the present day.
How fitting that a Varhyde king named Sansa and a Edialeigh queen named Maynus went to war. Once again, nice pair of references - and if Sansa was anything like his basis, then I bet some folks back then probably would’ve been very towards him. I recall Sansa was mentioned in the intros, and it’s neat to see the reference crop up again, showing the consequences of his reign on his kingdom many decades after.
Why am I reminded of Ganondorf with this? Although as for the actual song being played, this one came to mind with its organ at 0:38. I doubt it was what you had in mind, but I think it’s a good fit, at least.
The palace feels like an ironically patchwork place in spite of who it belongs to. Does take the shine off it, admittedly.
So Siegmund’s a Mienshao…Interesting. I have to admit, I was expecting a dragon.
Sophia does seem to get the short end of the stick regarding people’s analyses of her.
And now she’s been locked out of the convo altogether? That’s…somewhat concerning, given that she’s the more lenient one between her and Lacan. Worrying developments are happening, and His Majesty doesn’t appear to be a benevolent sort. And requiring a personal moment between him and Lacan…hm. There are dark clouds on the horizon, that’s for damn sure, and Team Forager’s going to be caught up in them...
Conclusion
Now finally I’m caught up again. Only took a year.
And hoo boy, where do I begin to talk about this batch of chapters?
Starting off with this - I have a theory that Irune is Reshiram. It would explain why she can’t tell lies to save her life, because she’s so inclined towards the truth. It would explain the blasts of fire she’s expelled thus far against Rankar and the merchants in Errberk. It would explain the unease she’s felt around the statues of Kyurem and Reshiram thus far. It would explain her statement of ‘not going to be little for much longer’. Based on that last statement, it seems there’s a window of opportunity after which I presume the power within her will awaken. And this would also line up with the supposed race against time with Lacan and Sophia to capture the Dyad and carry out Operation Spark. After all, having a reborn goddess like Reshiram on their side would be a massive boon for the war effort, to say the least. And power dwelling within certain female characters in the Xeno series is a recurring trend - it’s something Fiora (with Meyneth) and Pyra/Mythra (with Pneuma) have in common with this. I recall calling Irune a Pyra/Mythra expy in my first review, and I stand corrected; the two (or three, technically?) do indeed have a lot in common.
Anyway, text wall theory over, time for overview.
This is all really exciting stuff, and I really, really like this latest bunch of chapters. From the oodles of references (Pax the Padraig expy, the parallels of Newangle City to make it a blend of Alcamoth, NLA and even a bit of Morytha in there, to name two), the way Pokémon interpret the remains of human structures in their own interesting way, the gradual unfolding of Irune’s true identity, the dynamics of Team Forager ever developing, and even seeing Lacan for the threat that he is, along with his own relationship with Sophia, there’s a lot to love among the chapters I’ve covered.
And beyond just the Xenoblade references, there’s the impeccable worldbuilding, conveying in a great way the rich and storied history of the world, and what came before when humans once roamed it. There’s also the sympathetic outlook from an outlaw’s perspective that still remains very unique among PMD fics.
Genuinely, it’s been a blast reading these chapters, and I’m psyched for what’s gonna happen next. Honestly, I kinda regret not catching up with this fic sooner, because upon reading this, I remembered how much fun reading this fic could be, with all its references and its world and its characters. (Still need to brush up on my Xenogears/saga knowledge though. That might help me with a good few nods here and there.)
Some people mightn’t vibe with the references, but I absolutely do. Beyond just being a Xenoblade fan with this fic, I really love it when authors are indulgent in this manner with fics like this. Fanfiction is in essence self-indulgence, so why not let the author just go all in? Part of the reason I’m a big fan of Path of Valor too - the way both you and Amby weave your fics with references and use them as blocks on which to build a story is something I really enjoy seeing. And Once a Thief certainly delivers in all regards.
All right. You want three chapters? I'll give you three chapters. But it's my blitz style. Aka not what you're used to.
15
-Stains on an inn floor are totally water leaks and definitely not any other kind of fluid, bodily or otherwise. [lenny face]
-Lyle, beggars literally cannot be choosers here. Don't complain about this place.
-Sleep seeds as sleep aids is a 100% good use for one. Trust.
-Slate? Like an Arceus plate?
-"I've been having these weird dreams lately, Lyle. Like, is any of this for real... or not?" [Dearly Beloved blares in the background]
-Village on fire? Reshiram? Reshi vs. Zekky?
-Yeah, Lyle, didn't anyone teach you not to read a girl's diary? No wonder you're maidenless.
-Oh, hi, dream Kyurem. And bye.
-Y'know, it occurred to me that, in some respects, you could call the original dragon a literal personified Trinity Processor. The latter has three cores in its home series IIRC, and the former splits into three beings: Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. Kyurem can fuse with either one (or both?), so perhaps that would make it the Ontos equivalent as the "mediator" of sorts. Leaving Reshi and Zek as the other two. So, uh, maybe Irune (as Zek) is that equivalent? Like Pyra/Mythra or whatever (I think they're a core). I believe a previous German spiel mentions an architect, too?
-Sword of Wishes/Desires. Black brings to mind Zekrom and I guess ideals could line up with that. But wishes are also more associated with Jirachi in pokémon. Also, the Schild der Wirklichkeit doesn't have hovertext.
-I mean, sneasel have claws for digits, lockpicking would come naturally.
-Not much to say overall. This chapter's pretty much just the team quite literally restocking and trying to sneak around to get out of town. And, of course, failing at the end.
16
-I have no idea what these idiots expected. They don't even match up well type wise against these two. Genius move, there.
-Okaaaaaaay, that's Fusion Flare that Irune's using. Couple that with the dream last chapter. Uhhh... maybe she's actually all three of them? Or maybe just Kyurem since it does technically get both the Fusion moves when it's, well, fused with one of them. Alternatively, this is more of an "inner deity" situation. These two warring nations are like Bionis/Mechonis stand-ins and this original dragon is biding is indirectly responsible for the present and is now biding its time... where reaching the Divine Roost would actually be a very bad thing.
-Oh, hey, their wanted posters. This is basically the scene from the signature banner.
-Yeah, Dalton to the rescue with recklessness and all, but at this rate he is almost certainly going to cripple himself.
-Why would Lyle discuss his plan out loud when the soldiers are in range to hear him? I mean I guess he has to say something, but still...
-Large extended combat scene. The ship and raft element make it interesting, though I admittedly might've had trouble following it in places from Lyle's perspective.
-There's another Architect mention. In specific reference to the creator. There's, of course, Arceus with the whole Thousand Arms thing. Maybe the original dragon is the direct work of the creator in this situation...
17
-What shape is the pendant? Is it blocky and almost T or cross-shaped, per chance?
-Kate used bribery! It's super effective!
-Founder's City? Throne of Truth? Yeah, okay, so Reshiram is this country's patron. That whole reshi/zek as Bionis/Mechonis-esque warring faction stand-ins looks more reasonable.
-Boy I've been reading a lot of baguettes around lethal water today...
-This traveling feels like "We have Fledglings at home." Small raft floating down water and having problems.
-Okay, see, even Dalton acknowledges the whole "bridge b/w truth and ideals" thing. "Always able to step in and rein things in when one or the other was out of balance" feels veeeeery specifically worded.
-Oh, yeah, okay, "triangular spike with horizontal bands" is just the DNA Splicers, which may or may not be Trinity stand-in(s)? I guess that's what Irune's pendant is, too. Sheeeeeee's either some personification of the whole kit and caboodle or she's Kyurem. Varhyde's king wants her to drag out that inner power, because it's either got part of the kingdom's patron and can guide them to victory, or he wants to force this arbiter to sway toward his side. Definitely. Maybe. This ending scene's probably the most interesting part of these three chapters, if I'm being honest. Since it raises all these questions.
-Also starting to think this "Great Flash" is, in fact, a calamity even that led to Varhyde/Edialeigh being split away from the rest of an original world. Perhaps the canon world... and that's where all the humans still are? So a Bionis/Alrest situation or whatever.
Here we are, back for another Blitz catchup on Once a Thief! And the recent Newangle City chapters have me really intrigued, here--this is probably my favorite of the settings so far in this story, and it's been a lot of fun getting to explore it!
As always, the worldbuilding here is on point, and I'm glad we're getting more context for how this nation's reinvented itself since the Great Flash and the role the capitol's played in everything. From the talk of all the bridges and the river, I wonder if this is a post-apocalyptic Castelia City? Or perhaps it's some Xenoblade reference that I'm not going to recognize. Doesn't really matter, but of course spotting what the relics of the old world refer to/really are is part of the fun in a story like this.
In any case, you do a great job of making this place feel gradiose, with its impossibly high, thick walls, its grand sweeping bridges, its ruined skyscrapers and its grand statues. I'm a sucker for a new civilization having grown up inside the ruins of an old one, and it's fun to see the variety of ways that modern-day pokémon have adapted or expanded upon the ancient technology around them. I also enjoy the verticality of this place, with all the partially-inhabited skyscrapers, bridges clustered with buildings, and impossibly tall walls. I think this is the location has the most flavor out of any the cast has visited yet, with loads of neat nooks and crannies to dig around in as well as that sense of sweeping grandeur, plus the snippets of history we've gotten both from the various in-universe texts featured at the start of each chapter and in the stories characters tell about it. I'm also really curious about the undercity and the dungeon(s?) that reside there; we've only made a brief visit so far, but I can't imagine those won't be relevant in the future, no doubt much to Lyle's dismay. In any case, I think your worldbuilding shines particularly strongly with this location, and it's been a real treat over the past couple chapters.
I'm really curious what kind of person King Siegmund will turn out to be. I think all signs point to some variety of Shitty Monarch, but the guy is obviously in a tough position--maybe he'll turn out to be Not So Bad.
I'll be real, when Kate started getting excited about the fact that there was a street lined with shops selling armor, I thought the gang was going to end up buying/stealing some and passing themselves off as soldiers, heh. I'm with Lyle in that I'm not sure that it makes more sense to go for new moves as opposed to getting themselves some proper supplies, but I'll look forward to the reveal of exactly what's going on with Irune's tutored moves. Sure, I would imagine she's not lying about learning Protect, but what else did you end up going for, Irune? What else? Given how much she's been preoccupied with heights and flying recently, I wonder if it was something like Aerial Ace or even Fly itself, if that's now considered a TM. Or, obviously, it's possible that she didn't learn Protect + something else, but Protect is a nice, cheap TM, so...
I'm also here for more Lacan and Sophia. Love the relationship here, where Lacan feels extremely close to and protective of Sophia, and while she obviously cares for him, too, she doesn't always appreciate his overbearing nature and has, perhaps, a somewhat more nuanced take on right and wrong than he does. Those divided loyalties! With Lyle and company right under their noses, it seems like those points of friction are bound to come to the fore, and I'm really curious to see what will end up happening.
I do gotta say, though, that the longer the story goes on the more I boggle at how badly the army seems to have fucked up everything to do with Irune. It seems like all they'd really have to do would be butter her up a bit, tell her they'd find out what these weird powers of her meant, that she was important and special, etc., and they probably could have gotten her to cooperate. A little lighter on the chains and violence, you know, that seems like it might have worked better. We don't know much of anything about Irune's background, so it's entirely possible she has reasons she would never fall in line with what the crown wanted, but I've been facepalming a lot over their approach these past few chapters, heh.
The arrival in Newangle City definitely feels like a turning point in the plot, and unlike Moonturn Square I'm quite content to spend a few chapters here unraveling a few of this story's mysteries. I have a bit less to say about the events that came before; we learned a bit more about the characters and their environment as they staggered out of the dungeon, through Errberk and down the river, but it felt more like a case of "getting from point A to point B" more than anything. I do appreciate that you keep the characters on their toes and keep them appropriately harried and desperate as they make their way across the country: it definitely sells the idea that these are down-on-their luck people struggling just to keep their heads above water in a hostile world. However, sometimes the complications piled on complications can get a bit exhausting for me, too! Getting out of Errberk we have the gang accidentally getting into a fight with a couple haulers, then getting into a fight with an Exploration Team, then attracting the attention of the guards, then being attacked by wild pokémon... after a while I'm ready for things to stop leaping out to get in their way, heh. In any case, some serious threats are closing in around Lyle's gang now, and escape to the final dungeon feels tantalizingly close--it feels as though we're getting close to a reckoning, which is super exciting.
While the plot has been picking up a bit in the most recent arc, it feels like the character progression has slowed down a bit. There was that big blow-up between Irune and the rest of the party in Primordial Woods, and there's still plenty unresolved with Irune holding disdain for the outlaws and their lifestyle, while at the same time feeling more empathy with them and not necessarily wishing ill on them, either. On the flip side, the rest of the party's super exasperated with her, but not enough to really act on it. It feels as though they're all kind of tiptoeing around each other right now, intentionally not talking about things for fear of igniting a big fight. Understandable given the circumstances, but I hope we'll be bringing those character conflicts back to the fore soon. There's still so much to address!
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Likewise, most of the character development in these chapters feels like it's more character reveals than a change in dynamics. We get a little more insight into Dalton's background, although it's always been clear that he has particular beef with the army on top of some sort of highborn lineage. It'll be fun to learn how he ultimately ended up as an outlaw, and at this point I'm kind of expecting him to turn out to be related to some kind of incredibly famous figure, heh. More about Irune, too. At this point I'm leaning towards her being Kyurem, or someone necessary to awaken Kyurem. It's also possible that she has some sort of relation to the Original Dragon/could become either Reshiram or Zekrom, though.
Right now Kate's still a big mystery to me. There are some hints of a tragic (of course!) backstory, but she doesn't seem to have much in the way of internal conflict/anything special to her. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing--she has one of the biggest personalities out of the group, and so if she's just along for the ride to make bad decisions and have a good time, I don't think it's a problem. But it did stand out to me in a group of characters with so many ~secrets~ swirling around them, and it did mean that she faded into the background for me now and again.
Meanwhile, I'm intrigued by how much Lyle's been dwelling on Alvin's fate recently. Wondering whether we'll be seeing that guy again soon, or that plot thread will otherwise end up intersecting with the main show; you clearly have plans for it yet. Very much looking forward to Lyle eventually having to face Alvin again.
I'm also wondering whether Errberk's going to end up being important down the line. Much was made of its unusually strong garrison and fighting traditions, and it's Lacan's hometown... at this point it would feel weird to revisit it, but it also feels like one of the most consequential places we've visited, despite its out-of-the-way status. Seems likely that the hostel's bagon is a relative of Lacan's? There are perhaps some open plot threads remaining in that place. Very curious whether it's going to have a role in the story going forward.
And generally curious how the story goes forward in general! Hard for me to say whether things are coming to a head or if we're a ways out from the end yet. We're going to need to get some sort of revelation about Irune's nature while we're here in the city, and a run-in with Lacan and/or Sophia seems inevitable. But it could really go two ways from there: either everybody escapes and they're off to the Divine Roost and most likely the end of the story, or there's some complication and their path is diverted and there'll be a bit more meandering around to do before we're ready for the final confrontation. Honestly no idea which way it'll go at this point, but excited to see how we get there either way. It's always fun to check up on what this fic's had going on, and I'll be back for more for sure!
Congrats Fobbie, I get to read your fic. Not Fledglings this time around, but hey, this one seems just as fun, so here I am. Already did the prologue, so I’ll jump into the proper chapters.
Chapter 1
Oh god a whole text in German. I... don't know anything about German, so I went straight into the end section of the chapter just to see if there was a translated version. I'm really glad there was. Anyway, about the text... just lore, lol. Lore about the world and about the division between civilized Pokémon and those that wish to live in the wild. Neat, it's an actual division that was created and didn't just happen. Cool background reveal here.
Now onto the proper story. It's been a while since I last read it, so I'm gonna get used to it again. Lyle probably wouldn't have gone all the way through a dungeon if his situation wasn't dire. It tells something about the world he's in that, even if he doesn't want to be a thief anymore, his current conditions make it hard for him to live a normal, honest life. On the bright side, he's seeing old friends. For one job only... and something tells me it won't be just one, nor will it be all that simple. He's also meeting new guys, and... they're all from different crews. This caravan they're taking must be soooo important. Really.
To join they have to impress the leaders. Makes sense, and what also makes sense is Lyle's hesitation on who to pick. Maybe rusty skills? It's not his time, so a Lurantis offers to go instead. I see his thought process was that with a type advantage he could make quick work of a Samurott. He didn't. On Lyle's end, he had enough guts to challenge despite having a disadvantage in type matchups. I have to give it to him, that takes courage. Or stupidity. But surely the main character isn't just gonna lose right in the beginning of the story.
Yeah, he did pretty good. Running, striking, he's good at it. Surviving a minute wasn't that hard, and I think he'd probably be able to survive more if it was necessary. Though she wasn't pleased. Maybe she's just a sore loser. In any case, it's a W for Lyle here. Having everyone else shower him with praise must feel good too. Yay for a successful first impression. Here's hoping for more of that. Nice.
Okay, planning for the heist. Cool, they're taking a bunch of valuable merchandise. I love the small nod to Kecleon's... y'know, relentless chasing in the games. It sounds like a solid plan, at least. On another note, there's already more information about Lyle's past, which I appreciate. I mean, getting kicked out for being a thief? Not that relatable, buuut his parent's probably had the right choice. Still, now he's in a rough spot, and the only ones he can count on are thieves. As for the final explanations for the job, it's all regular stuff. Don't get caught, protect your partner and yourself, yadda yadda. It's a good beginning for the story, but like I said, I imagine this heist won't be so simple.
Chapter 2
Oh there's another German text in the beginning. Let's see... a letter about the caravan, so my theory that it wasn't a simple heist is seeming more likely. Cool, so they're specifically hired to protect the contents inside, which indicates it must be important. Now, this also probably means that it's serious. Serious enough to warrant a big payment, two hundred thousand? That's a lot, but that's also a nice amount to get if the outlaws get their hands(and paws, and... limbless in the case of the Steelix) on it.
So far, there's only two real issues: one, Kate was getting out of her position, and two, the caravan seems to be in a hurry. One likely theory is that someone warned them that there were outlaws nearby planning on pulling a heist. Other theory is that they're just being extra careful because of the package inside. Could be something else, though.
Reading a little more into the story, and their plan continues to go well, for the most part. Lyle and partners almost blew it, they got sooo close. I'm surprised I'm actually rooting for outlaws. Anyway, they got out through sheer luck and convenience. And now I get what they meant by the Togedemaru having a different speech pattern. Kinda reminds me of how Russian is said in most media, that stereotypical accent.
More chat(and an Aerodactyl later), and they actually have guards. I was kinda right in that regard, so with the extra security it makes me wonder what the package they're carrying is. If it's not that significant then this feels like a bit of an overkill.
And finally the signal is sent. It's not shown how the other groups are doing, but I don't mind it, my focus is on Lyle. On his end, it went well, and I gotta give props to Alvin here for being the MVP. Lightingrod and a ground typing that made quick work of the Togedemaru. For the rest of the action, it's just chaos all around, but in a good way. The prose does wonders to paint a picture, and aagain, I'm rooting for the bad guys here.
In the end, Kate was the one to do something nice for someone, despite the overwhleming odds against her and the others. I like the fight here, especially on Lyle's end as the first one to realize how they could turn the tides. He's a really crafty guy.
Ah. The priority wagon had a prisoner... an Axew. Cool, so what did she do to get this much security? Probably a hideous crime.
With a lot of effort and luck, things went... not well, but better than nothing. And they got an Axew.
Chapter 3
You know it, reading the text before anything else. It sheds some light on the Axew from the previous chapter, and apparently she's an important figure that needed to be protected, hence the over-the-top security that was on the caravans. Not that it helped so much, since she ended up going with them. Still, she's impudent. I doubt she wants to be used as a tool for those that brought her there.
Ah, here it is, the meat problem. And it's adressed nicely, on both ends of the spectrum, someone that doesn't care if they're eating a Wilder, and Lyle, who has too big of a moral code to do that. To be fair, he can't know for certain. So I guess he's sticking as a vegetarian for the rest of the story. Other than that, the gang inside this dungeon seems lively. They did just pull a successful heist, so it's all the more reason to celebrate. They won! Lyle should really celebrate by eating, he's probably starving.
So, in the middle of all the partying there's the main cast. The perfect time to learn more about this Axew. First, that she's only giving them one part of her name. That brings to the front more information about the world, and how people treat names. It's fine. But just as she doesn't know anything about them, they don't know anything about her either. Though I feel they're asking her way too much, because I doubt someone would ask a stranger about a memento they wear. Yet they keep asking.
The important thing... they kinda brought a stranger into their HQ. Naturally the reaction is to treat her with, well, distrust. So they go and ask her even more questions, because that's certainly gonna help out. Apparently she's an outlaw too, just like the rest of them, but from a really small gang. Though her story feels full of holes. She's probably lying, and anyone with more experience than her would know. Actually, she reacted to being called human. Now that I think of it, a human being transported would warrant a whole bunch of security...
To make matters worse, they're actually kidnapping people. Surprised Lyle isn't a fan of that, though I guess he's just really trying to survive and not being involved in those things. Yeah, it fits with his character so far.
So things go from bad to worse, they're found, right in the dungeon. Something tells me there's more to it, but it could just be bad luck. It all gets increasingly chaotic from there, and honestly it's a miracle they were able to escape at all, though not without any casualties. Even Lyle almost died.
Chapter 4
Okay, this teaser text is explaining dungeons. I'm liking all of them so far, having them as a way to give more lore into the world is a genius idea. Seriously.
Alright. The good news is that Lyle's alive. Bad news is they lost a lot during that raid. Ironically, calling them good 'mons. Really ironic. In any case, despite completing their mission, they still suffered a whole lot. I... actually feel bad for them. Lyle in particular seems to be taking it the worst out of everyone, all because of Alvin. That Marowak and him must be really close. There's still a possibility he's alive, but that possibility shrinks the longer he stays with them. But they don't really have the time to think about that. There's still more guards running after them, so yes, escaping is the top priority.
Together. Honor among thieves I guess. So it's not an ideal situation, and nobody would even like it, but they have to stick together, and hmm, this Samurott lady does have a commanding presence. She named herself leader, but it's totally deserved. I like that they're going to at least look for survivors. It's better because the leaders mentioned not staying behind to save someone. Guess circumstances have changed. Lyle's group is almost the same as the one in this fic's cover, save for the Swellow. I wonder what's gonna make him get out. Maybe he's a traitor or something.
Oh hey, Lyle thought something that I was thinking too. This all happened because of Irune. Sort of, because I think even if she got captured during the raid, soldiers would still go after the others, so she's in the same situation as them, for better or for worse. More talk later—with mentions about human culture. Hm, this fic is probably set after humanity died out or something. And searching for the stairs is proving to be really hard for them.
They're not alone, but I thought they knew that already. Soldiers found them anyway, and while it took them a while to catch up, they're at least incredibly persistent. And prepared to fight. See, Lyle is right in feeling regret over joining this situation. I can only think how big that regret's gonna grow.
Ah, I love reading Lyle's strategies in battle. He might not be the strongest fighter but he's full of tricks. That's cool in my opinion. Honestly the fights flow well, the paragraphs are pretty big, mind you, but the information in them is easy for me to process.
During the whole commotion, Artem is gone. Dalton does care about him, enough to get really upset about this situation. Not that it helps them. They don't have that luxury. Both Dalton and Lyle lost someone during this mission. How sad.
Even resting is a bit of a bad idea. Well, it's all they can do.
God I love reading about lore. So after the humans were gone people wanted to salvage what little remained of them? Neat, because even in present time there's some human relics. In dungeons, but still. Nothing surprising about animosity between a king and a queen. It happens.
Good news: they left the dungeon. Bad news... what next? While splitting up could work in their favor, it could also make things a lot worse. The option Irune gives them is crazy. She's asking outlaws to go with her and risk it all for a treasure. It's the main "hook" of the story, and normally this would be the call to adventure, but since the protagonists aren't, well, your regular protagonists, the hesitation they feel is a little different, but still valid. She's surprisingly cunning because as she explains the whole idea it kinda makes sense? The journey is dangerous and everything, but the rewards feel like they make up for it. Money and a chance at a peaceful life. For someone like Lyle, that's perfect, isn't it? And they all agreed to it. A bunch of weirdos, but I can't help but root for them. This kind of journey seems like a lot of fun.
There's some reprieve with another group of Pokémon. Something tells me I'll be seeing more of them, and that they won't be in friendly terms with our main cast. So the solution to the scarf problem is stealing from that group. Cool, makes sense, and since the team is apparently a new one, it's not that suspicious, though I do wonder if the team will notice it.
Irune's really attached to her... treasure. The scarf I get, now I wonder if the rocks are the key to entering Divine Roost, or at least related to it. She's sooo mysterious. Cool. But at least it all worked out for them. Uh, kinda, I guess.
Next up, deciding where to go. The soldiers from before will likely conclude they escaped, and maybe even find charred remains of those scarves. Either way, they'll be wanted soon enough. Being outlaws, they don't have many options on were to go, but thinking about the most dangerous route is interesting. Like, it'd be the last place the soldiers would look for them in.
Instead they're going to be hitchhikers. Out of them I wanna learn about Dalton more than the others, because I have the feeling he's gonna be like, royalty. Or at least part of a rich family. Learning about the shrine is neat too, but the crush thing is a little too much information. Though I feel a little uneasy about them taking food meant as an offer. Well.. guess it's not unexpected.
Chapter 6
Yeah, I can see it. No humans around made the whole world get chaotic because all the Pokémon were trying to make sense of it all. In the present, that seems to be resolved, so they really put in the effort to fix things.
No soldier arrested them yet, so that's a good start. And the crew is lucky enough to run by a carriage without waiting for too long. So, in the end, Lyle's plan actually worked. Smart guy. Also, more time spent explaining some events about the world. Lyle isn't the only one that had a rough life, it feels like a common thing, so no wonder there's so many outlaws. The quick comments about Lyle's past help the story too, it's not too much exposition, if that makes sense. There's a lot of this throughout the prose and it's fun to read. Back to the story, their luck isn't looking too good, since the guards are trying to look at the cargo. Though the situation was solved fairly quickly, it was a momentary scare. Luckily they managed to get inside the city without much issue. That's one step closer to reaching their goal... on a giant staircase of steps.
Lyle made the right call in going to this town, since he knows the place. Knows enough to talk to the local sheriff without much issue, and wow he even put up a much friendlier attitude when talking to the guy, though it kinda came off as trying too hard, which I found funny. Even better, they succesfully duped the guy into thinking they're not criminals. But... unfortunately he's not a ray of sunshine. Bribing them? That's corrupt for someone acting as the sheriff in this town. Though they only gave him a berry, but luckily that was enough.
Naturally, everyone is pissed that they had to give him a berry. Things are hard enough as it is. But that's not really the biggest issue they have right now. They gotta find a carrier. And like many criminals, their choice of place to find one is a tavern. Lovely. Another detail that those berries they found so much in the caravan are used as drugs. Hmm. Honestly I feel sorry for this poor Dragonite. To someone doing something illegal, Hermes seems so reserved, but he's also extorting them. I mean, that much for a trip? They're all outlaws so stealing that kind of money might be the only way they can do this. Oh, and the team name's been dropped, though I imagine the jig will be up eventually.
Chapter 7
This teaser text tells a lot more than I thought. A letter, and someone is already aware about Irune and the others trying to escape. There's also the mention of Irune being a key in some kind of operation, something that she clearly wants nothing to do with. How curious.
Like I thought, they'll have to steal in order to get the rest of the money. They're good at stealing, and it happens to be their only choice. Doesn't make it good, of course. So wow, they actually stole a bit of their goal so easily... or Dalton did, without even trying too hard. He's great at this kind of game. Meanwhile, Irune is having a hard time. I believe her story less and less, and I'm actually starting to doubt she was an outlaw in the first place. Only time will tell though. Even the others are getting suspicious of her. And in the end she couldn't do it; she got caught. Honestly even though she got caught, Irune was lucky enough that the lady she tried to steal from had a baby. For someone that says she stole before, this is really sloppy. So the obvious call is... she lied. About one thing or a bunch of things. Despite this setback, the others seem to still want the partnership, but taking time out of their busy schedule to show her the ropes? Cool.
It's hard. Hard to teach her when they could get caught at any failure on her end. And she failed. Again. I wasn't really hoping she was gonna succeed in just two tries, but wow, she failed. Spectacularly. Lyle also doesn't seem to be that good of a teacher. Dalton might have a better shot at this. Or she fails again. I don't think failing is an option.
Going directly into the guild. As weird as it sounded at first, Dalton made a good point. Besides, they are trying to disguise themselves as being hunters or whatever. Unfortunately, she failed. Yet again. I think I see where this chapter is going, everyone is trying to teach her, but they're not doing a very good job.
Next up is Kate. And... Irune failed again, but this assignment was a little... awful for her, because she was practically robbing a child. And nobody wanted to do that.
The next idea is for them all to rob someone together. While Irune watches. That can go really well, and it might just be their best shot.
Oh, they found one of the Togedemaru from before. Talk about bad luck. Well, they wanna deal with those spiky balls. That's gonna be fun.
Chapter 8
Oh boy the soldiers sure want to capture team Forager. For obvious reasons, but I'm impressed by the amount of effort they're putting into this. All because of Irune, I take it. The others aren't that famous(yet) so they're not being targeted that much. So it's all Irune's fault. I joke.
Of course Lyle is the only one that'd like to sleep inside a burning building. Stereotypes, maybe, but if it fits... and their plan to get the money feels good. It just depends on whether or not those Togedemaru are dumb enough to fall for it. They even went as far as say they took scarves from other Pokémon, which is true. Though they didn't do much of a deal. As for the other two, Irune really can't fail now. Not when they got so far. Thankfully, she managed to distract him long enough for Lyle to do his thing. Unfortunately he's out for blood. This Scrafty is strong as hell if it took the four of them just to get him knocked out. And... ewwww, he's keeping the money in his pants. "Pants", whatever it is that Scrafty have. All in all, they made it with the money, so it's a win for them.
Why the hell did she keep his skin??? Uh, okay then, I'll choose to ignore that. They have the money for Hermes, which solves a bunch of t heir problems. But it's also a lot of money, imagine if they got robbed right before handing it to the guy. That would be some really bad luck. Getting to Hermes alone is gonna take some planning and prepaations.
Ah. There's Alvin, and he's not dead. Just taken prisoner. And wow it feels rough to read. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, so seeing him get treated badly is... yikes. Irune's hesitation in accepting they can't go rescue him tells a lot about her. Yeah she's not really an outlaw...
To finish the chapter off, the team they stole from has found them.
Chapter 9
Ah, more about humans in this text. Or rather, the humans that get turned into Pokémon. If it happens a lot then fakes are also expected to show up as well. But there are regular humans, just seemingly rare. Which brings me to my theory about Irune being one and the whole "Balance Bandits" thing being a bunch of lies.
So the chapter picks up immediately as the two teams run into each other. Naturally, the hunters are really pissed off. Only a day or two after and they already know about what the outlaws have been doing. News travel fast, I suppose. Now, this team Pathfinder... seems to be a bunch of dorks. From the bravado to the speech before they argued against themselves. Very heroic of them. And of course, they get into a fight. This is about the worst possible timing they could have, but I'm glad they held out pretty well, all things considered. Taking out the one with the items is a sound strategy. Wow, of course the Aggron from before gets called there, as if things couldn't get any worse for them. I'd say that but they managed to handle that pretty quickly. Still, that was really lucky.
A chase sequence. That's how I'd describe what's going on here. First, Lyle gets separated from the others, then he meets with his old boss, that stupid Floatzel. Not that they had a good reunion, and he just wanted to get out of there. So much for hiding out, that cat's out of the bag now. Honestly it's a fun sequence of events, and they even saw the Zangoose from before. Somehow, they managed to make it through to where Hermes was. Buuuut like the other chapters said, soldiers already know they're doing this, so even if they fly away, there's no guarantee they're gonna be out of danger just yet.
Well, the beginning of their trip went smoothly. Apart from Irune being confused as hell about flying; she's clearly never done this before. And judging by their circumstances, it'll be rare to do it again. At least they had some time to chat amongst each other before they finally realized someone was following. And poor Hermes got sucked into this, he deserves better. In fact he seems to hate this situation, and for good reason. They almost died, and Lyle even had that flashback moment where his entire life flashed in his mind. Oh wow, that's an awful life to have, poor guy.
So, they barely made it out, but unfortunately Hermes got captured in the process. And team Forager has little time to think about it. They have to run.
Good chapter.
Chapter 10
A cool tidbit of information about dungeons right at the beginning. There's not much to say here, but I like it.
Again, they escaped but aren't safe just yet. In a dungeon, and one they don't seem to know much about, but it's likely the soldiers will come running to them soon enough. Meaning... staying around to rest could be a bad idea, but they're also exhausted, which makes it a conflict. They decided to go despite this anyway, and that's a little commendable. Just hoping nothing jumps at them the second they get inside this dungeon. But it probably will.
Before they can do anything, there's some focus on those pursuing them. Right, they clearly want Irune out of everyone, and there's a mention of her becoming more aware of her role... hmmm, neat. She's an important figure, but who? Or what? Apart from that, the dungeon they entered is dangerous, or more dangerous than normal. For them and for all the soldiers around. Finally, Hermes. Yeah, he got the short end of the stick here, and he technically didn't lie; team Forager never told him what they were doing. Though I imagine he probably has some suspicion. Don't think they needed to throw him in the dungeon, but it worked for getting him to tell more. Poor guy, at least they let him go. Next it's a looong conversation between the soldiers, a lot of which is in German, but thankfully with translations. So, Irune hasn't awakened her powers just yet, and they wanna capture her before that happens. Neat.
Ah, Dalton knew what made that dungeon infamous. And they arrived right in the middle of a monster house, which complicates things even more. But the fight was relatively short, and the wilders just ran off before a Cranidos showed up. He wants to join them, kinda? Of course, the best way to recruit someone is to beat them up. It never fails. But he also wants to leave the place, which makes them getting him out a good deal for both? But bruh, Irune did something really stupid, she didn't need to cut him off like that. The prose mentions a bit about Dalton too, and about his parents. Guess both him and Lyle are disappointments. And that's a wrap for this chapter. Really intense, didn't even know I was done until I saw the author notes.
Chapter 11
These teaser texts sure like to talk about humans. I wonder why. Okay jokes aside it's nice to learn more from a dedicated segment, and specifically about humans. Ironically the attitude of worrying about their future as Pokémon is so much like humanity's fear. On that end they're not all that different.
Back to the main story, the protagonists aren't having such a hard time with the dungeon. In fact, they've been getting it done a lot better than before. Save for that small argument with Lyle and Irune. I expect they'll become closer as the story goes on, because that's what usually happens, but considering how the premise of this story is already different, I'm also half expecting something else on that regard. Whatever it is, I'll be there for it. And the team just happened to stumble upon two Wilders having a conversation. A surprisingly eloquate conversation about their... leader, I think? And about tributes. They don't sound like wild Pokémon, to be honest, which is the most amusing part of this conversation. They're smart enough to realize there's someone else in there with them. Very clever, so now they wanna attack our main characters. Very lovely indeed.
Not that they have the time to fight. Yeah, they've been searching for the exit for a looong time and it's been hard to find it. With monster houses and increasingly stronger Wilders. Again, a chase sequence. They can't even run for that long, so fighting might be their only way out of this situation. Cool, I like seeing Lyle fight. Or run away and taunt his opponent. It's still a valid strategy, and it helped him. Though he got hurt in the process. Thankfully, not a fatal injury. Good for him.
Ah, sweet, Irune is feeling guilty for making that Cranidos from before run away. Serves her right, though she's still reserved about it. And on Lyle's end, he doesn't seem that injured. Sure, things could be better, but they could also be much worse. This is their first "mission" together, and it's not going so well, hell, Irune is not getting along well with them. But since they're planning on resting for a bit, that's the perfect time to make ammends. She's hiding something from them, something that could alter their relationship. Man, I really wanna know what it is.
Instead it's Kate and Lyle that are talking. Yeah, I can see why Lyle feels reret. It was his choice to do this, but he has every right to be upset about it. Thinking about what could have been isn't very productive, though. He knows that, I'm sure he does. The team also realized the possibility of Lacan to be waiting around at the exit, which was the plan. I hope the team makes it out safely.
Chapter 12
I've been wondering if this fic was set in the same continuity as Fledglings, and slowly I searched for any kind of clue inside these teaser texts. I've got nothing, probably because it's been a while since I read Fledglings(I really should work on that). But anyway, in this one there's a mention of a powerful dragon that can cause doomsday. Eternatus? Rayquaza? Ultra Necrozma? Something else? I dunno. Fun.
Man, how long have they been running around this dungeon? A long time, for sure. Though at least things seem to have calmed down. For the moment, anyway. That doesn't stop Irune from worrying. She's got her reasons for worrying, of course. She still doesn't trust them, and that trust might not ever appear. Unfortunately it's not like she has any other choice. She picked them herself. So they go to the link. But nothing can come to them easily, and they found the so-called chief of this dungeon. A Tyrantrum, cool! Strong enough to give them a real challenge in the dungeon, and smart enough to block their exits. Overall, a worthy opponent for this ragtag team.
Ooooh, Irune did something different. Using an electrical attack despite it seemingly being impossible for her species. And wow does she pack a punch. I can only ask who the hell she really is. And finally they manage to defeat the guy, only to find out weird things about him, like the lack of bones, and that he holds on to a single tooth. He's... pathetic, really. Neat choice of them to not kill the guy.
Not everything's a win, though. Dalton is still wounded, and who knows what's waiting for them on the other side of the dungeon? The good thing is that they're alive. But about everything else? No clue. I'm hoping that the team gets a break, because I think they deserved it after all they've been through. At least to discuss what was up with Irune. Maybe it'll be revealed in the next chapter.
Chapter 13
Okay this text is very informative. Dungeons forming around the world caused all kinds of items to fall in them, items not found anywhere else before. And there's that bit about the merchants inside. I'd never guess there was an explanation for why Kecleon is so incredibly strong inside dungeons but here it is. And it fits right in with the world.
Ah, now I see why Irune was so hesitant to accept that Cranidos. She saw others suffering because of her, and having three new teammates is all she can hope to afford. She's more tragic than I realized in the beginning, and she doesn't even want the power she has. So going to that dungeon is gonna help her control it? Cool premise. The team seems more occupied with figuring out where to go and about looking after Dalton, so her power is a secret. For now anyway. As for where they should go, it seems they'll need a long time just to get out of this dungeon, and Dalton isn't gonna help out all that much. They barely started their journey and things are going south already. In fact it doesn't sound like he has much strength left in him. Sheesh.
God, things are awful for them. Not even letting them get a moment to breathe and come up with a plan, and the winds are showing up as a sign of what's to come. And apparently, not the natural winds. Irune continues thinking about Lacan and herself, which I'm not sure would even help in their current predicament. Wind showed up again, as well as the scent of Oran berries. It's strange since there's no sign of any Wilders, but no sign of Hunters either, so what is it? Apparently, hidden stairs to a bazaar where they can acually rest and maybe even cure Dalton. It's the only option they have, even if it might not be a bazaar.
It was a bazaar. But they're still kinda criminals so talking to the merchants there is gonna take some... convincing. And keeping secrets, too. Somehow they managed to make it work, kinda. Not like they can just buy something and hope that Dalton makes it. His wounds are too severe for that. Just like Hermes before, they can't have the merchants asking too many questions, and now they have to find 100 Poké, which isn't nearly as much as what they had to give the dragon.
They made it out, but this bug clearly isn't very happy about what he had to do. In fact he probably figured out they're criminals from how little they told him. Still, he didn't outright say it, so it's just a theory. The village they're going to doesn't seem to recognize them, which means their bounties probably haven't been updated yet. Or the guards are stupid. But they're still asking a lot of questions, and even kinda recognize them, but not enough to cause trouble. They're really close to getting Dalton treated, though.
Chapter 14
Aw man, yeah, human technology is so more advanced than Pokémon technology, and it's a shame that it got lost to time and... dungeons, I think. Maybe if there was a sufficiently smart mon around, they could replicate it. But for now it's just shoving berries and seeds until wounds are healed. I imagine this particular subject is because in this chapter Dalton will finally get healed. Here's hoping he does.
Oh... Dalton is going through a rough time. I wanna give him a hug but it'd probably hurt his arm more. Never though he'd be the type of guy to think about old times that much. It's stuff like this that makes him feel like an old man, or a noble, or both. Actually, from every bit of information about himself that he tells his teammates, it feels like he was an actual noble. Luckily they're finally on the way to the clinic. Only now they're realizing that maybe going there isn't such a good idea, because they're wanted. What choice do they have, though? It's that or let him get worse and worse. Maybe they can stay there long enough for him to heal, and then run away.
I don't know enough about medical practices to ask if asking the patient what happened is a good thing or not. Thankfully on Dalton's end his injuries aren't so serious. They're still bad and everything, but he won't need to like, do surgery or anything. He just needs rest and berries. Which... was what he was doing before, but hearing it from a doctor helps out a lot. Speaking from experience. And wow, the clinic actually lets them stay in there for free if they're a patient. I'm actually surprised. Mostly because I hear the horror stories about clinics in the US. In any case the team is not hoping to stay there. A long talk later, and they more or less have a plan. A bit expensive but really, they deserve it.
Pffft, Lyle can't pick names to save his life. I love this running gag of his. Things went smoothly after that, and they met a few familiar faces. They're resting by drinking. Because surely that's the best option.
So next up, Irune and Lyle talk again. And she actually mentions her so-called power, and that she wants to go to another city. Using just a hunch is hardly a good idea. And Dalton's... wow. I wasn't expecting that from him. He's an angry drunk. That issue aside, things got better. Relatively speaking.
Chapter 15
Yeah, obviously the soldiers are still out there looking for Irune, but at least they have a headstart now. And the government is putting a hell of a lotta effort in capturing them. Well, it makes sense if Irune really is capable of turning the tides in this war. I don't even think it looks overdone.
On the bright side, Lyle seems interested in at least talking things out with Irune, but she was apparently only having a bad dream. Honestly their journey so far seems to be one-sided. It was very explicit that they're only doing this because of the reward. Interestingly enough, Irune herself mentioned the bandits she was a part of inside the prose, so maybe it wasn't all lies. Meanwhile, Kate and Dalton are kinda not up for anything right now, so it rests on both Irune and Lyle. Of course. Wasn't expecting them to be drinkers, and they should really try to get sober faster. Which apparently a Lum berry can do. Surely it can't be that hard to find one without them getting caught by more soldiers. But with their stream of luck... it's probably gonna go horribly wrong for them all. As always.
Nevermind, it went as smoothly as possible. But wow, they have to steal again. What a surprise, and Irune was against that. The kind of speech Lyle heard from his parents a lot of times, and it's probably pinned on his head right now. I mean, it is what it is, at least when it comes to them. And they found people they met before, which complicates things even more. Lot more conversations, and this time about a potential heir. Since I doubt it's a coincidence, money's on Dalton being that heir. Or Irune, somehow. It'll probably be a new character or someone I know.
Heist time. On someone that seemingly is suffering, which makes him not a very good victim. The bear nearby does, though, It's not that hard for them to pick the lock they need, but the pair they've been watching made an interesting observation. Good, they're at least away from Lacan for the moment, which makes things easier on their end. Too bad they got found in the end.
Chapter 16
Ah, this one is more about the creator of the world. Arceus, I assume, given how they seem to fulfill that role in almost every story, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong if that's the case here. Whatever it is, I'll be happy with it.
Like last chapter suggested, the team was found and now they're running for their lives again. It's becoming routine by this point, which it's funny. Except this time around it's a little harder, they barely made any progress before getting slowed down. Not to mention Dalton was stupid enough to try and open his frills when the nurse specifically said it'd take a while. But hey, he was probably desperate. Irune once again did something weird in front of them, and it managed to save them all. Girlboss attitude. Again, they don't have enough time to discuss what's going on with her. I'm curious myself, I wanna know what kind of power it really is. And they finally have bounties, all over eight thousand each. Irune's last name bein Wilde is interesting enought that it got a reaction out of them, but that's probably being explained later down the line. So now their plan is to just... get on a boat and leave. Not their best idea, but it can work if they're lucky. Which they probably aren't.
See? Not lucky. Crazy how they found those Hunters from before. I knew they were gonna be recurring characters. Team Forager just can't catch a break, which fits since they're criminals. Nonetheless, despite the animosity they have towards each other, they still have time to banter. Then the fight actually happened. You know, for someone injured, Dalton puts up a lot of effort. Probably because he doesn't wanna be useless. Or captured and all that it entails.
Chaos and chaos as they make their escape. I have the feeling this is gonna be a recurring event. They keep getting into messes in every town they're in, and escaping said towns is a journey all on its own. I like it. Somehow they actually managed to do it, but who knows for how long.
Chapter 17
Ooooh, interesting lore. There was once a common land all the way back in the past, and that land isn't accessible anymore, but it still has a name. And another thing, I assumed the dragon was gonna be Eternatus or Necrozma, but now with it being called "Nameless", I'm thinking it's the original dragon that the Unova trio originates from. It'd make sense since iin canon it was split into them, which could be the so-called Scions. Just a theory. Also, Wish is likely a reference to Jirachi, I believe? It's fun to theorize, at least, even if I'm likely wrong.
Time for more misadventures with the loveable cast of idiots(I say this in the most affectionate way possible). They're out of danger for now, but their map is more or less ruined. At least Irune managed to get her pendant. She seems really desperate to keep that thing, and yes, it's important, but I haven't got the faintest clue about why it is. Not yet. How amusing that the Feraligatr they saw is on the raft as well. The team didn't have enough time to look at it before making their escape. And he was drunk before... lying their way out of this is becoming more reocurring every chapter, and it's always fun. They actually convinced the guy! And this city is the Throne of Truth, huh? Reshiram, maybe?
Lyle is having a bad time. The water's bad, and seeing a... labor camp, for lack of a better word, just reminds him of himself and Alvin. He sure likes to think about that guy a lot. Really close friends, then. The worst of it is that he can't do anything, and thinking about how Alvin is doing won't help him either. But I get why he keeps doing it. This gator is so cool, scaring off those fish just like that. Though they damaged the raft... and Lyle's fears are getting bigger. He really can't catch a break. The damage doesn't seem so bad, and hey, they're all making conversation. That has to help this gator not realize he has criminals in his raft.
Also, Kyurem is mentioned. Heheh, guess I was right in some way. Irune herself is curious about it, but that doesn't tell me much now. On another note, guess they are headed for the city after all. Or at least thinking about it.
The shrine looks nice. Ah, and I think I got something from the wish and reality. It's just a different name for truth and ideals. Dun dun duuun, they find a pendant just like Irune's. Curious.
Chapter 18
Neat, the test is more about a city being formed. Not much juicy information on this one, but I don't mind it because, well, it's cool to read more lore. Moving on to the actual chapter.
Right, last chapter had that cliffhanger. And, of course, Irune imediately goes to defend herself. Even when confronted with something as relevant as this, she still doesn't say anything. Though the implication is that she prayed for Kyurem in her life. The pendant is part of that, but there's no true confirmation of its purpose. She said it was a visual reference to the treasure, but honestly I doubt that. Though she's not that good at lying, so maybe it is and I'm just being paranoid. So now they have fifteen minutes to decide what to do. Guess they put it off for too long. Though Dalton makes good points, his knowledge can come in handy. Also, he's an actual nerd. Cool. In the end they decided to go, but wow did Lyle need a lot of convincing. He's by far the character that needs it the most this fic. It's in his character. Well, they have a plan now. It's better than nothing.
Lacan finally makes an appearance again. And he's slowly working through team Forager's footsteps. Right now at the city where they went into the clinic. Amongst other things. The village itself is handling things as well as it's expected, while Lacan is just angry at them for letting them go. Not that they didn't try to capture them, they failed. Oh, oh I get it, they're likely taking shelter in the Thieves' Guild. That makes sense, and Dalton is probably the one leading them there. Lacan probably knows what Irune wanted to find there. Question is if they'll be intercepted before entering the city.
Before, apparently. The good thing is this Feraligatr doesn't think his passengers are lying. He got duped. And wow, the guards aren't that stupid, even if they don't recognize the team. Huh, they got bribed in the end. Like team Forager I didn't think Boudewijn would do it. But unfortunately it's the sad reality of the world they live in.
Chapter 19
This King Claus seems like a heartwarming figure, like he really was a good king. It certainly feels that way with all his achievements. But even he couldn't stop the war at hand, maybe it was out of his reach. Good teaser text.
Like I thought, the city is beautiful. A city built on ruins is such a nice setting for this story. It's like it was made for it. And it's funny how Dalton is the only one not that impressed. Lyle almost feels like a country boy because of his reaction, which made this a little funny. I kinda wish I could visit this city from how pretty it seems to be based on the prose. Drafting to the army is also a thing here, unfortunately. Lyle's parents must have heard the news about him, and must be even more disappointed. It is what it is. Oh, and this Feraligatr is more forgiving than he might look. He knows times are tough, given the bribe from earlier. Again, the group is getting at each other's throats. Not that productive, but it doesn't seem that bad compared to other times. They'll likely steal again if they're that broke. Which brings them to Dalton's plan.
They're stealing scarves again. On the bright side this means team Pathfinder won't be that pissed off at them. Maybe.. And again, they don't steal it without someone noticing it. Dalton disguising himself as a student when he used to be one is probably his smartest idea yet. Meanwhile, Irune got a scarf that's an actual symbol. Cool. This time though, they're not burning the scarves. It's a good plan to swap if they need to. And their next plan is to follow Dalton into another district. That's also cool in my opinion. Here we go.
Going up sounds so tiring. I don't know how they handle it. Honestly I wanna know what caused Dalton to stop studying and living in the city, as well as what started his life of crime.
Interesting that Irune spent so much time near the statue. I... actually had an epiphany. I wonder if she's somehow the original, nameless dragon mentioned in the teaser text. It'd explain her using electric and fire attacks. No ice attacks yet, which does put a hole in my theory. Just a thought.
So, from what little information Dalton is giving out, I do think they're heading for that Thieves Guild. Feels like the most natural conclusion. Good chapter.
Chapter 20
Y'know, I was wondering why there were mentions of real-life animals throughout the story, and hm, I can see it now. Pokémon can use ether, animals can't. And that's the distinction between them, if I'm reading it correctly? And on that note, learning TM moves requires an actual tutor and not just... pressing it against their head? Really fun.
Maybe they don't wanna be high up because they're scared of falling down. Or that to live there they need a lot of money, something that the fic has established is hard to get by for the common folk. Meanwhile, Kate is still out there trying to rob people. Despite the fact that it's too risky in the district they're in. It's probably risky in the entire city, but this place is more than usual. At least the people in this city seem a lot more friendly. They're talking about the Charmeleon there and his accent. Which apparently is distinct enough to be noticeable by them, but I don't know German, so I really can't tell. Apparently the implication is that this Charmeleon isn't from around the place, and the army was involved. Well, it can't be good if that's the case, but it doesn't matter for them. Oh wow, Kate's a dumbass, going to the armor shop.
Well that didn't take very long. And while they didn't get arrested, they did get into trouble with a Tyranitar. Though I guess he was in the right here. And there's another argument made with everyone involved. Kate doesn't even defend herself here, probably because she doesn't want to, and because they're right. Honestly she's the biggest thief of them all. And hey, they can try buying the thing. Which is strange because Kate actually has a point here. They can't just go around without protection, they probably won't even reach Divine Roost the way they are. Not to mention they aren't particularly strong. Getting TMs instead of an armor might suit them better. And it's probably cheaper too. Also, uh, they have a lot more money than I thought. It should give them an edge.
Lacan and the rest of his company arrived in the city. This is the second time he's close to his goal. Now there's another party interested in them. Cool.
Chapter 21
Ah, there's the letter that told the guards there to wait. Even the army has to deal with this stuff. In fact, since it's bureaucracy, they gotta deal with something a little bit worse.
Lacan is flying around. He seems so powerful up there, but at the same time he's humble enough to know he's not invincible. Honestly he doesn't seem like a bad guy. He just happens to be standing against the main characters of this story, for his own reasons. Though... how much does he know? Maybe he's a pawn in someone else's game too. That thought just ocurred to me.
Hm, okay, yeah, Lacan is a nice guy enough to be there for his associates. Out of necessity due to his job, maybe, but he at least sounds genuine. And they're friends since childhood? Cool! These soldiers, leaders, aren't two-dimensional. They have worries and dreams too. And fears, like that Lacan is gonna kill her eventually, which seems like a bit of a stretch. Or maybe not. So now they wanna get into the castle. Nothing too big, just a misunderstanding with the guards. Other than that, things went smoothly. I kinda wanna root for Lacan.
At least the pronounciation of "TM" is consistent here, in like, a weird way because it's not something they know much about. It's a neat detail. Anyway, Lyle is learning a move, and even when doing so he's thinking of Alvin. Man, I want him to join the group eventually. He'd fit right in with them! He did well too, relatively speaking. So did the others. Except for maybe Irune, since she chose Protect. Hm, it fits with her personality; I don't think she's much of a fighter, so adding support works for her. Also, that Tyranitar realized he got robbed. Uh... well, at least they learned everything now.
Another chase sequence began. This one was helped by Dalton's... experience. Just what did he go through in this city? He even lead them to some tunnels. Normally it'd be a good place to hide, but it seems they're not alone in there.
Aw, Sophia and Lacan are cute. The way he said things makes him seem like a foster parent for her. Finally meeting the king... it's something I was looking forward to. Even Lacan is full of expectations, knowing the king since he was a kid. Neat, if it wasn't giving him a bit of pressure.
Ah, he's a Mienshao. Fits. And hm, he's rigid, as expected of a king. He's not even saying anything to Lacan. But he might soon. Neat, I wonder what they'll talk about.
Hey everybody, so there was, uh… a lot of feedback to reply to this time around, but I suppose that it wouldn’t be right to complain about having a surplus of a good thing, so let’s just get right into things:
Hey! Surprise! I'm writing a review for Chapter 5, bet you didn't see this coming!
I've always wanted to read more Once a Thief, it still has my favourite premise! I think I just took so long cause it's hard to commit to such long chapters and I may have burned out reading the last chapter in a short time. Either way, I "read" this chapter by playing it back on tts during a very long drive. It that helped plenty with digesting the large chapters.
Yeeeeeeah, I should really get around to splitting up Chapter 4 one of these days given that it’s the one that perennially gets complaints about its length from readers, even if I’ve been drawing a few blanks of where I’d want to divide it, much less what I’d make the new teaser that’d need to be dropped in about.
And with that, I can say I had an absolute blast with this chapter. Of all the fics I have read using this method, this was probably my favourite one so far. Them stealing and having a rough time was really engaging and I felt the story is really does this "thieves down on their luck" tone very well. It defines this work as its own story very well.
Glad to hear that that came through for you. There were a couple times where I was worried that I might have cheated a bit too hard meta-wise to keep the characters sympathetic to the audience, but eh. Probably worrying a bit too much about nothing given that it hasn’t really come up as a criticism thus far.
Of course, having read this via tts speech, I can't give feedback on individual lines or prose as a whole. Although the fact I was able to follow it well means the prose is working and is at least clear. The fact I had no translations for the German words didn't mean anything, I was still able to move along.
Well, that’s a bit heartening to hear, since it means that the context clues that I provided will probably be sufficient to keep my Serebii and FFN readers from being taken out of things? ^^
Though that now makes me wonder what the German text sounded like going through your TTS program.
I'll get the constructive criticism out of the way though. I haven't read the 4th chapter in months so it opening with Kate responding Lyle's last question left me a bit lose fit context, I couldn't rewind given driving and everything. I reccomend trying to open chapters with some context of the end of last chapters, it's something I try to incorporate with Below and is feedback I've received myself. At the least, people who are caught up to current will have a wait between new chapters where they may forget things!
Hrm. Wasn’t aware that the fifth chapter had an issue with that, even if I see your point. I’ll put some thought into how to give more of a “oh yeah, that happened” reminder to the audience for this chapter, though if you have any more concrete suggestions, feel free to shoot me a DM.
The scene with picking the offerings I felt was a bit drawn out. It wasn't a bad scene, but I felt them arguing with Kate was spelling out for the audience what may have been better as subtext/ the reader's conclusion. Not just that but they argue with her for a bit.
And overall I feel like there's a bit of a habit of characters explaining consequences/risks/subtext a bit too much, such as them explaining why Irune having her scarf and badge will put them in danger, and their frustration with her hesitance. This is a wonderful scene! But I think moments like this could also benefit from letting them speak for themselves.
Yeeeeah, I suppose brevity has always been a bit of a bugbear of mine, which was a bit of an issue while cutting this present chapter down to size for release. I dunno how much I’ll go back to touch up past chapters that are already out the door, but I’ll keep this in mind for future ones.
I really enjoyed the lore building with the legendaries! I can't remember all of it and what was in this chapter/the next but I really enjoyed it. No gods to back the heroes up, and it gives the story a humantistic sense (well, pokemonistic...)
Yeah, I suppose that I’ve always been a sucker for ‘everyman thrust into extraordinary situations’ since I’m kinda 2 for 2 on longfics about such scenarios. Though glad to hear that you enjoyed the setting lore and the vibes that it gave off.
I've also been listening to the story trying to think of stories as journies instead of destination (I'm still relatively new to this reason for fun thing!) On paper, things are taking time to happen, but as a journey, I'm really enjoying these small scenes and the characters interact. I also still love Kate, my absolute favourite!
I also do think these chapters can be split in two without serious impact. You should consider it! ;o.
Hrm, out of curiosity, but for Chapters 4 and 5, where would you suggest splitting them? I can’t exactly promise I’ll action on said advice, let alone anytime soon, but I figure that it’s handy to keep my options open.
But seriously, thanks so much for writing this. I got another surprise - I actually read three chapters using tts, not just this one ;). You can expect the next two reviews in not too crazy long a time. Consider this my holiday surprise!
Seriously, Merry Christmas, and I can't wait to read more next long drive!
Get blitzed! I have returned just soon enough to somewhat remember things that have happened before now.
And by 'now' I mean chapters nine and ten. Although I spent a good while swearing that I already reviewed chapter nine, I don't think I did so we start there.
Nah, it’s all good. I can be a bit slow about coming back to stories myself, so it’d hardly be right for me to throw rocks about my reviewers also taking a while between their readings, especially when the feedback’s very thoughtful when it does come.
Action!
Because nine in particular is a very go go go, action-heavy chapter, I thought this would be a good time to mention (maybe not for the first time) that I do not understand action in writing. This has nothing to do with the quality of the chapter, moreso with revealing my own biases. I've read plenty of stories with on-paper good action, but most of them have done nothing for me so feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Anyways, this whole preamble sounds like it's leading up to me saying that I didn't like this chapter but I actually found it pretty good. My only real complain is that the gang's fight with the guild bois gets a little hectic in a way that was difficult to follow. This is certainly a result of trying to keep track of eight pokemon at the same time as trying to set the scene around them, which I do not envy. Honestly, I'm not sure what I'd do about it. It didn't feel too long and I suppose the hecticness is part of the point so oh well.
Yeah, I suppose that part of that is that when you have that many bodies flying around in an action scene, you have to pick specific things to focus on, which in this case is just whatever Kate / Lyle could see and notice during their particular leg of the sequence as an artifact of a third person limited perspective. Though I suppose I can understand the argument that while something might rightfully be a confusing blur for a character through their eyes, that it can get in the way of reader comprehension.
If there were any bits that struck you as particular offenders, feel free to give me a poke over DMs or a follow-up and I’ll take a gander.
This was a surprisingly easy entry point considering I haven't read this story for quite a while. I think it helps that it feels like one of your more breezy ones--certainly not the however-many thousands of words it actually is. It also helps that the thrust of the chapter is fairly straighforward. Not a lot to complicate what's happening beyond them running into all the inhabitants of earth trying to get away.
Huh, glad to hear that the story was a breezy read in spite of its length. It’s a bit of a dark art that I’m not always able to stick the landing on, though happy to hear that it at least did here.
Which brings me to what actually happens.
Ah, so the gang finally reap what they sow. Kate may hate when Lyle's right but I do not. And considering what happens next chapter, it's interesting that what kicks this off is Irune's lack of consideration. If only she burned the scarf smh.
Team Pathfinder makes their well-timed appearance. They leave a broad, group impression, though one without a ton of individual spark. (I have on good authority they reappear llater, so we'll see if that changes) An escape-or-die battle is not the best icebreaker though, to be fair. I like that they're built in the model of a standard rescue team, complete with shonen protagonist energy and quips that would irritate the hell out of me if they were directed my way. There's something very conceptually funny about watching character who believe they're the main characters even though I know they aren't.
I mean, they are the main characters… of their own story. But those stories are a dime a dozen in this genre, so we’ll just go straight back to ignoring it when it doesn’t intersect with our protagonists. ^^;
It's also pretty funny that nearly every pokemon they've wronged shows up to harass team foragers lol. Including an unexpected ambush by the army as a sort of final boss just when the gang think they're finally safe. And funny in the well-timed comedic moments sense, too. Nils popping by, completely oblivious to how little he matters at this point in the story is great. Plus, he has his well-earned pathetic begging time on the floor. He deserves it for being the one to titledrop the story tbh. Anyway, I unironically stan Nils now, sorry.
Well hey, I suppose that I did have a few options on the table for bringing him back into this story at a couple points that I’d been considering, so who knows? Perhaps I’ll get to see some more of your Nils stanning a bit sooner than anticipated.
And here I thought I was half-joking, but meeting the zangoose in the gummi fab tells me no, they really are running into every pokemon they've wronged thus far.
Lyle: “A-At least those Togedemaru aren’t involved in this too? Probably?”
Fly time
Poor Hermes. I mean, he's not very smart, really. If my client tries to get into my taxi while tey're running from the cops I'm locking the damn door and driving away, no shot. But Hermes is a bro so he takes them and very much regrets it two minutes later lol.
I mean, it helps that he dropped a flask full of drugs in front of the fuzz right as a levy for the army was about to go out. Like it’s still not the smartest response in the world, but one that someone busy noping out and afraid they’re in trouble might do.
It's nice that we have this time to relax, though. Even on first read, I knew they were not making it very far, but a nice introspective moment is great in the middle of the rollercoaster that is Once a Thief.
I mean, I do need to let the cast have a few moments to come up for air in between all the parts where they’re running for their lives. :P
I don't have much to say about what actually happens on flight Hermes. I can't tell if I just forgot or if Irune is suddenly a lot more on edge than she was before? idk, my last memory of her was palling around and trying to do some thieving, so seeing her get so snippy about Lyle being a thief felt a little jarring. (it pays off later tbf, though I'll get to that). I agree with Lyle, of course, because we are best friends in real life, but she has a lotta nerve to be so defensive around pokemon who are risking their lives to help her. Kids these days are so ungrateful, I swear.
In opposition to my previous comments about action, I found the sky combat to be more clear. It helps that everyone worth following is smushed together under one dragon and unable to move otherwise.
Hermes: “You sure have a funny definition of ‘great’ there, buddy.”
Dungeon time
Ah, so mister complainer still lives in my house after all. And he has a balanced diet of good and bad things to say about the Lacan-POV part of this chapter.
The good: I'm always a sucker for other POVs. And here, it functions just as I like it. Specifically, it turns what was otherwise a nebulous antagonistic force existing only to oppose the heroes into a group of pokemon with motivations and thoughts and disagreements of their very own. Sophia in particular is an immediate breath of fresh air from her second line of dialogue. Nuance? In my army? How dare!
Yeah, this story from its earliest envisionings was intended to be a very ‘gray’ tale, with the antagonists obviously the noticeably darker shade relative to our sticky-pawed protagonists.
We'll get to her. And Lacan, who is also a good thing in this chapter.
The bad: The other reason I think this POV exists is purely expository, which I found to be too obvious. You really wanted to sell the danger of Primordial Woods and, while I understand that it's necessary to explain why the army doesn't just charge right in, you go too far imo and it hurts some other elements here.
It’s also there to act as a character establishing moment for a part of the cast otherwise only seen chucking attacks and making very angry soldier noises. Though I suppose that it was a bit on the heavy side for exposition.
Most apparent to me is the talonflame character. He reminds me of the classic eighties bully character who exists only to say something isn't scary and immediately get killed by it. To your credit, the story's tone is not miles away from classic eighties and the talonflame doesn't die for no reason, but I couldn't help souring on this moment because it feels like an unnecessary way to hype up the dungeon.
Like I said, this is broadly a problem of exposition. The more your characters talk about something, the more sold I am on their image of it and the more difficult it becomes for the real thing to live up. It’s not a total disappointment, but I think some of Primordial wood’s inherent threat could have been left up to interpretation and myth rather than the outright explanation we got. Like, Lacan's final line about Irune having to drag what's left of them out of the dungeon is almost good enough imo. And then you can play off the vague myth of the place that makes other pokemon avoid it.
I actually wonder if your opinion of this changed at all in the wake of getting through the full sweep of Primordial Woods chapters, since… yeah. Things wouldn’t have exactly ended well for the gang if it weren’t for some very particular events that went down in Chapter 12.
This also affects the scenes after in two ways.
One: Dalton slowly figuring out that this is primordial woods just doesn't hit. I can't tell whether it was supposed to be a reveal (to them, at least) or not, but there isn't much emotion behind it.
Two: I find myself having strange feelings about your interpretation of ferals. They're almost too... normal? Like, they talk reasonably and have quips like everybody else. So my first taste of Primordial Woods is through me comparing their battle to those that have come before and not thinking there's a lot to distinguish them besides species. They don't feel much more dangerous than even team Pathfinders. AT least at first glance--we've only dipped our toes in the dungeon, after all.
re: ferals: That’s just a matter of differences of interpretation, which in this case runs with the “they’re sapient, too, but separated by a culture and lifestyle” angle that’s admittedly fairly uncommon in the PMD fandom. Probably because it makes people feel bad to see the protagonists cut a bloody swath through them.
I dunno, I won't deny you your interpretation of ferals as more of a different clan than rabid monsters. In fact, it's part of why I like your world so much. However, when we reach moments like these where I feel like I'm being sold how scary someplace is, they stop making as much sense in this way.
I started wondering why I haven't had thoughts like this before now, but I'm realising I haven't seen ferals in once a thief before? I think? Maybe I just forgot lol.
Wilders actually appeared before this point twice. Just very briefly in a couple short skirmishes, which is probably why they didn’t register all that much compared to their depictions here. ^^;
My new best friends
I like Lacan. He's not really a standout weirdo in the ranks of the garrison. In fact, I think he embodies a lot of what makes it both effective and terrible. (though he strikes me as less corrupt than the lot tbh). He manages to be intimidating without doing some stupid shit to prove how ooky spooky he is. A specific complaint, I know, but fantasy stories love bad guys murdering their henchmen for no reason and I don't get it. They aren't scary, I only fear the ruthless capitalists and real estate agents.
He's also unreasonable in sensical ways. He's an absolute dick to Hermes for basically no reason besides draconic pride, but it casts the actions of his soldiers in a new light. If this is what your boss gets up to, I can see why you're such a dick, Nils.
Technically, Lacan isn’t from Moonturn Square’s garrison but the leader of the equivalent of a black op greenlighted from pretty high up the chain of command. He’s very much a cut above the likes of Nils in terms of both strength and professionalism. Also, the character archetype he was built around is heavily influenced by Darth Vader, so that probably helps.
Though as for Hermes, Lacan wasn’t quite a dick for no reason… or at least from his perspective. Hermes is a peasant with a syrup-drinking habit who just tried to play “outrun the fuzz” on him, got one of his soldiers injured to the point of needing to be benched, and forced him to waste time having to figure out where the three Outlaws with the most important ‘mon in the kingdom are at the moment against a ticking clock. I’d be a bit frustrated and crabby myself in his position.
But Sophia is an unexpected surprise. It strikes me that her loyalty towards Lacan is what keeps her around rather than any loyalty to the crown, but I could be wrong on that count. Anyways, she ends up being an unexpected voice of reason in this situation. I'm especially side-eyeing her comment implying Irune is a child because, well... she's right.
It gets built a bit on more in later chapters, but:
A: That “personal loyalty” is a two-way street between those two.
B: Sophia has some background that influences her outlook as a soldier. You might be able to get some ideas of what that might entail if you look closely at how she signs her letters.
It's interesting that Lacan scoffs at that. I don't know their history, but I suspect he might have had better luck keeping her around if he connected with her like one might a child, but I don't think he has it in him to have compassion to those weaker than him tbh. He would not run a good daycare.
While probably wouldn’t be good at running a Day Care, I probably should make a note of explicitly patching in that these two tried that and it didn’t pan out, since… yeah. It’s highly unlikely he didn’t at least try that approach at first in light of Sophia’s influence.
Also, he’d heavily insist that he has plenty of compassion for those weaker than him. After all, just look at his Oberstleutnant. o<o
Anyway, I'm keeping an eye on them both from now on. They also give some good reasoning why everybody's so eager to catch the DYad. It seems there's an unexpected time limit going on. And at this point I think I know what Irune's role in this whole game is, even if I don;t know how it'll play out, so I'm excited for that.
This will wind up getting thrown out into the open in this story sometime later this year assuming that my publishing pace doesn’t fall off a cliff, though there’s a bit of a journey ahead of you to get there, and it’ll be interesting to see what you piece together along the way.
And then we get into the real juice. This is my shit. Character drama? Sign me up, baby.
It's actually very nice to see Irune snapping like that. Even if I complained about her earlier, it's true she's never seemed to like her companions or thievery in general so watching it bubble to the surface here is very cathartic on both ends.
It also presents a really great, morally gray conundrum with a whole buncha knots in it. On one hand, it's pretty fucked up to recruit an innocent young cranidos into your mission knowing how dangerous it is. On the other hand, isn't that exactly what Irune has already done with the thieves? It's especially galling considering how little she's shared about her role in it all. Hipocrisy aside, I like that her flaws are fully visible in her argument here. She is not coming down from that high horse anytime soon. Everyone is a bad person :(
Though yeah, both sides are meant to have a point in this exchange, even if they all have a ways to go before they can properly call themselves heroes of any stripe.
The other great thing about this argument is that it isn't resolved immediately. It's a good thing to stew over for a while, I think. Something that fanfic could use more of are extended drama that doesn't just vanish the moment it appears.
I like how team Pathfinders are clearly either new or not very good at their job. Fighting your imposters in public is a recipe for the rampant property damage that follows. Take that shit somewhere private, please.
I mean, at least the local law enforcement was understanding enough? Though yeah, they’re definitely new at this, just as well given that they’re a meta parallel of the “up and coming rescue team” that’s normally the protagonist for a story like this.
Never before have I considered the dangers of keeping a whole bunch of volatile dungeon items on the same shelf. Now I may never unthink it.
It’s actually not the first time that I’ve used that at the plot device, but hey, if it works, it works. And I did my part to try and make things different this time around.
Lyle's near-death flashbacks might be my favourite part of chapter nine. They're sweet and sentimental (kinda) but still speak to the horrors of the world he was forcedd to grow up in. It's sad that one of the few pure memories is the first, immediately followed up by war.
Yeah, one of the things that I wanted to hammer home in this story was how even if the war was not presently right on the characters’ doorstep, that it still impacts their lives and the world around them. Sounds like I accomplished what I was shooting for there.
Good lord, the army sucks lol. No wonder the dyad wants nothing to do with you whenyou're pushing people into holes lol.
Lacan: “Something something, necessary actions for the greater good. Something something, the fat idiot had it coming.”
Ah, a monster house! I was wondering if those would show up. Like with a lot of your worldbuilding elements, they appear more sensibly here, as more of an ambush than whatever the hell kinda alien invasion is supposed to be happening in the games.
Yeah, it just felt like the most sensible way of handling that if coming down hard on the idea that wilders/ferals/[whatever] weren’t mindless monsters or constructs of some sort. Especially since a mob of rational attackers can be quite dangerous and frightening in their own right.
Side note: ‘sharptooths’ flashes me back to the racist dinos in land before time lol.
Figured I'd finish of this section of dungeon right quick while the previous chapters are still fresh on the mind.
Here I go reviewing chappies eleven and twelve.
Dungeon time reprise
Irune seems to have some sense of the hole she's dug for herself here. As the argument (sorta) continues, she dips into some excuses and avoidance to get Lyle off her back. As we see later, though, she seems to regret her blowup immediately. I liked how the rest of the dungeon is framed around that drama in a lot of ways. Or at least, it holds in the background and whenever anyone says something I side-eye Irune to see if she reacts.
Yeah, she’s got a healthy amount of problems going on inside her, which meta-wise, was one of the bigger points of sending the gang through Jurassic Park this Mystery Dungeon.
I think I ended up having less to say about the actual dungeon itself. I don't think there was any new worldbuildingto comment on? My favourite action scene inside ended up being the Rampardos chase, I think. It involves a lot of clever dungeon nonsense that I find fun: locate the staircase, find the tunnel wand, then evade the dinos are the kind of emergent gameplay scenarios I love these sections for. Except... not gameplay. Writeplay.
Glad to hear that you had fun with that bit. Mystery Dungeon segments in general are a bit contentious in this fandom since it’s very easy to have them wind up feeling like filler if you’re not careful about how they’re handled, but sounds like that wasn’t an issue here.
Then whoops Irune is having empathy flashbacks
And whoops they’re making her rethink her actions.
It's moments like these that remind me how young she is. Also with how patient the outlaws tend to be with her. While they do want that sweet, sweet treasue, they're still very accomadating. Dare I say... wholesome? At least at times.
Which transitions us into some more, and more unexpected, drama. Honestly, I kinda forgot that Kate was the one who dragged Lyle back into thief life. He’d made his displeasure at the situation plenty clear before, but not much had been this pointed towards Kate. And I almost thought it would turn into another Irune situation, but it turned out surprisingly sweet, if for a moment shared in a brief safe spot in dino hell.
I think it provides an insight into Kate’s motives we haven’t seen before. I’ve always known she was friends with Lyle before, but I had assumed they’d always had this sort of grumpy-stoat happy-cat dynamic. Yet it seems she’s chasing the old days in a much more literal way. It’s a good bit of humanity to add to both her and Lyle's characters, I think. A real longing for something that we haven’t seen before.
Yeah, there was a reason why Lyle mentioned feeling a bit nostalgic when he came across the Outlaw encampment way back in Chapter 1. I felt that exploring it and showing some hints of what that looked like once upon a time was important.
This did actually turn out very nice though, didn’t it? Kate knows not to be overly combative about Lyle, Dalton holds up his end of the bargain even though everyone else (fairly) forgot. Plus some more sensible, levelheaded planning while they wait on the winds. Go team!
Cue the Ian Malcolm quote from The Lost World about being around dinosaurs, since…
Dinosaur >:)
Anyway, we get what part of the dungeon’s been building to: king dino. As I alluded to in my earlier review, this didn’t hit like I wanted it to. In the moment, it’s hard to really explain why beyond previous grievances about exposition—there are certainly stakes and escalation and consequences and all that good stuff. True to Lacan’s word, they aren’t leaving the dungeon without injury. And we also kinda got what I wanted from Irune here. (Lacan must be a psychic or something, because he called it).
Yeah, that. See, we got to the running and screaming bit after all.
But I think the pivot gets me. The end of the fight caps this dungeon arc in a different way than I expected. The focus shifts to this narrative about dino grandpa's terrible leadership skills, which is interesting in its own right both as a side story and a weird parallel to Irune's ongoing angst, but even as it was happening had me wondering how we got here from Dalton and Lyle nearly dying and Irune being forced to use her saiyan powers to save them. There is buildup, to be fair. And the kind that works well retrospectively to appeciate how clever some of it was structured (I especially like that their first resting place was a previous nest. It carried some inherent danger, but is recontextualised in an interesting way here). So idk. I'm over here acting like I love action all of a sudden, even though I actually end up thinking this direction does more for me.
So in putting together some more articulate thoughts, while no, I don’t think Primordial woods lived up to the promise it set and yes, I have some thoughts on your wilders, you end up playing to the potential strengths here in a way that I have a hard time complaining about. GIving them actual lives and personalities beyond corrupted creatures than thoughtlessly wander dungeons lets you play out mini-arcs like this that I think work quite well, give your world a distinct edge and manage to shift the focus of the adventure for a moment.
Glad to hear that even if it didn’t quite go the way you would’ve done things that you still had fun with how this arc played out. Though yeah, there’s definitely a lot of things about this arc that would not have been possible if I rolled one of the more common depictions of ‘wild encounter’ Pokémon in this fandom.
And whoops, Irune is relating to her own criticism of dino grandpa.
Yeah, she seems to have a habit of doing that, huh?
Random thoughts
Evolution is becoming an increasingly sus topic here. It’s not the first time it’s peaked my interest, but we’ve got some new info so I thought I would speculate.
‘Early evolution’ is an interesting concept. Something to do with the distortion’s influence, according to the dinos. And definitely not a benefit given the state we saw Hermes in. That combined with Lyle’s early fear about being unable to feed his oncoming bg boy typhlosion bod makes me wonder about the future. We have three good candidates, so who gets zapped first? :thinkingemoji:. I feel like Lyle’s the easy option? Not that I would complain, he seems like he would take to it with the least enthusiasm lol. My money’s on Irune, for the surprise twist. Though I don’t remember if Lacan said that would interrupt her dyad magic or if that was something else.
Lacan actually never did say anything about if it would interrupt her Dyad magic, but I’ll just go ahead and throw it out as an author that Irune evolving wouldn’t do anything to that power that slumbers inside her, even if I’m not presently committal as to if or when she would evolve in this story since… well, I’ll leave that as a story for another day.
Though the ‘early evolution’ here is based on how in the early PMD games, it was possible to run into underleveled evolved Pokémon in Mystery Dungeons. Which was promptly discarded in later games since Chunsoft probably got yelled at by TPCI or something. It’s something that I’ve kept around in my writings, since in a reality-warping space where stuff like Wonder Orbs are just lying around, would it really be impossible for it to start affecting the Pokémon that are inside for long enough?
I mean, considering what the gang came across that chapter, I felt that it made that particular topic fair game. It might not be the only time this story delves on them lore-wise, but no promises there.
Lyle’s always the one getting bopped around and needing to be pulled back up isn’t he? Poor guy.
Okay! I have reviewed parts of Once a Thief before, and thanks to the silverware of the V-Wheel, I get to have a revisit. I've gone ahead and read chapters six and seven.
I'm not going to comment on the wider world massively since I've already done so before, but I will say I'm liking how this world is developing, what with the wider use of different languages (German I think?), the wider conflict and looking at different diverse locations throughout the world through the eyes of the characters. It is nice to see the world's unique locations and see how they have all been structured. There is also more elements of culture being revealed, which is a nice touch many fics don't really check out.
What can I say? I’m a bit of a sucker for worldbuilding, and even if I used a few shortcuts in this story that I normally stay away from in others, I still had fun with stitching together a living, breathing world for our not-quite-heroes to romp through.
The four main characters have had a small amount of development, and Chapter 7 in particular works really well in detailing how these different characters will actually proceed with completing a specific task, AKA teaching someone, which adds a nice bit of depth to them as well in a realtively subtle way.
Yeah, I figured that it would be kinda inevitable when Irune was always meant to come onto Team Forager as the obvious weak link in terms of thieving skill. The story didn’t exactly have many opportunities to stop to baby her through things, so I figured that this part of the story was as good as any, along with a chance to add some comic relief after a string of particularly bleak chapters.
That being said, whilst the Chapters are well written, at the same time, they are very... wordy. So wordy in fact that I'm actually struggling to picture what the locations are actually like. You could quite easily cut down on the detail as it really stretches out of the length of the chapters to the point that they start to drag. I'm not saying cut all the detail out, but having a bit less should just help with reading each chapter in one chunk.
Also, not much happened in Chapter 6 or 7, the former was focused on finding a Carrier, which did have a purpose, but for such a purpose it did feel like a very long chapter to do so. Chapter 7 was better due to the above character interaction, but it still felt very lengthy due to the detail.
However, it does offer enough of a hook to get me interested in Chapter 8, where things sound like they are gonna pick up again, so that should be fun.
Hrm, I suppose that is partly a stylistic thing since I generally consider “around 10k” to be fair game for writing a chapter and part of that is me just sucking at brevity. If there are any concrete moments that stood out to you as particular offenders, feel free to point them out over DMs or in a follow-up, and I’ll take a second look over them.
Glad to hear that even if it wasn’t quite as quick as you’d have preferred, that the two chapters still got you interested in the stuff coming down the pipe.
Additon: As suggested on Discord, I might do a complete breakdown of a chapter soon.
Heya, so I kinda gave you a partial early bird response to this review like a month ago, so if there’s parts of it that look familiar to you, that’s where it’s coming from. Though I’d like to think there’s still enough new here for it to be worth your while to look at things.
Hello there! I’ve been anticipating waiting for Review Blitz to come along for a few months now just so I could have a crack at getting caught up on this fic. Last Review Blitz, I recall enjoying this fic enough to review it in its then entirety of thirteen chapters (and upon submitting it, I shot halfway up the leaderboard, hehe). Fond memories, that.
And now in Week 2 with its catch-up bonus, now’s the prime time to get caught up with the closest thing we have to PMD x Xenoblade. So let’s dive back into the world of Wander, and our not-so-heroic protagonists on their quest…
Perhaps that’s a sign to stay a bit more caught-up this year, since… yeah, these reviews of yours are always fun, especially since they give me a glimpse at how the more meta side of this story is landing with readers who are clued into them. o<o
Chapter 16
So the creator of the world never interacted with it after he created it. Sign of a loving, benevolent god right there - and a nice parallel between Arceus and the Architect.
It gets even better. Check what the Architect is called in the JPN version of XB2 and double-check the text of that one teaser.
Ah yes, back to the moment of fear of being spotted by a Bewear. (Funny, that’s not the only fic I’ve read this Review Blitz that involves the main protag being terrified of one. )
I mean, at least she wasn’t a jilted love interest? Though that is a bit of a funny unintentional parallel, yes. ^^;
Oof, seems like Team Forager are struggling. Never cross a Bewear, that’s one thing I’ve learned. And especially with how Dalton’s pinned under them, it gives a pretty bleak outlook.
That is…until Irune steps in, and I see she’s dipping into that power we saw a glimpse of back in Raptor Rock against Rankar. Must be a sign she’s becoming attached, if that’s her reaction to a comrade getting the life beaten out of them (even if she was the one whose loose tongue landed the group in this mess to begin with).
Yeah, let’s just say that while the four don’t fully appreciate it just yet, they’re very fortunate that they have each other to bail them out at times when they’re in over their heads.
This paragraph’s a bit chunky, and could be broken up into two at least. Maybe “Lyle turned towards where the Bastiodon Puller had been,” could be where a new paragraph could begin.
Axew and Fire Blast don’t tend to be a great combination. Have you seen that Sp. Atk stat?
(/jk obviously this is different in prose fiction works like this one.)
You already got an answer to this a few chapters later, but ‘move tutor’ means something a bit different in Wander than it did 1027 years ago.
The story about the Chando Imperagators makes me wonder if we might see this mentioned in an upcoming chapter. Fifty counts of arson ain’t nothing to sneeze at. I also like how it could possibly imply a bandit taking advantage of the state of war to commit arson. Criminality does tend to spike in times of war, after all.
Alas, most likely not. Chando is a nod to another story that influenced a few worldbuilding details of this story where if the name and the background strike you as familiar, you most likely know what it’s nodding to.
Oh yikes, they have their faces and everything (and not crappily drawn ones that would make Kate tear them apart like a certain Gormotti did to her wanted poster). This is a certified Not Good moment.
In retrospect, I probably should’ve considered nodding to that moment for the lulz since Errberk Village wound up cribbing some inspiration from Torigoth (e.x. the town’s thing for tall trees and some of the details of the square outside the hostel), but eh. Wouldn’t have been able to nod towards that banner art if I had, which was a looooong time coming.
Somehow the thought occurred to me that there might be outlaws out there in their positions that would look at the high bounty and be like, “Aw yeah, we’re in the Big Leagues now.”
If the circumstances weren’t as dire, I’d honestly buy Kate having a reaction like that. She seems like the type who’d have a “Woo hoo! High score!” reaction to a bounty poster.
Irune Wildes? That’s a Vatername to remember for later. Perhaps when the gang get to Newangle City we’ll see a familial connection to someone there. (If so, I wonder if the king has any affiliation…)
That would be a bit tough, since King Siegmund’s Vatername was already given as Wieshus... which would be a bit hard to have as a father for an Axew if you picked up on what that implied for the species of Siegmund’s father.
Neat that Lyle, as a Fire-type, is naturally afraid of the water. Also escaping via water? Beginning to look like the Colony Gamma arc in Xenoblade 3. (And now I’m picturing Kate doing a Eunie and complaining about “snuffing water” and her feather being “a bitch to dry.”)
No, unfortunately for the gang, it’s more in line with the rest of the series. ^^;
Oh no, the Team Pathfinder do-gooders are back.
[...]
Oh dang, that’s certainly an ‘on the nose’ reference. Fitting though, that the wielder of Leaf Blades would be named after someone who also wielded swords. (I’m now curious if Vilma wields her Leaf Blades in a similar manner to two swords.)
She absolutely does, yes. And that’s very much by design. Let’s just say that when I was picking a “swordsman” Pokémon to cast for Vilma, there was a very particular thing I was looking for that Treecko and its evolutionary line happened to satisfy. Well, that and “Grovyle as heroic protagonist swordsman” takes have been a dime a dozen in this fandom since the Explorers games.
…What. That is some ridiculous luck to have escaped from all that unscathed.
I mean, considering how these guys are an excuse to take the piss out of archetypical protagonist teams… I mean, the average one in this fandom does tend to get quite a few lucky breaks, especially early on in their journeys. :V
Such is life when you’re essentially the ‘Team Rocket’ of the story, just not ones that would be villainous in a conventional story. Not to say that Team Forager will be guaranteed to have this level of good fortune in a hypothetical future encounter.
I mean, he did literally just say that he’d been drinking them a minute ago.
His arm will be fine™, though “biting off more than they can chew” is kinda a running trend for Team Forager at large. ^^;
And also nice that even in the face of surrender, our resident Heliolisk still has a plan (well, a gamble, more like). Still, when gambling’s your only option, you may as well go for it.
I mean, these three wouldn’t have made it this far if they weren’t quick-witted and willing to lunge for whatever reeds of hope they can spot. That’s just life as a Guile er… sorta-Hero?
That Druddigon’s a shiny? Huh, neat. (I’ll be real, I forget Shinies exist sometimes.)
“Expy”, huh? Let’s just say that the story behind Pax’s name in this story is the same as Sheriff Vandamme’s from Moonturn Square also, up until like 72 hours prior to publishing, he just flatly was called ‘Padraig’ in the story text.
I agree. Remembering the bribes and how that would deprive villagers of the little income they already have don’t exactly paint the Grünhäuter in a great light. Making this moment of success for Team Forager all the sweeter.
In their defense, the Grünhäuter aren’t quite a monolith, even if Dalton wouldn’t exactly be inclined to view “well I don’t personally take bribes” all that highly when they’re still his opponents and tend to be obnoxious towards the criminal scum they fight for various reasons.
Chapter 17
‘Annal’, eh? Was Elysium a partial inspiration for that place? Also intriguing allusions to the existence of a Kyurem once upon a time. I suppose with the Zekrom and Reshiram allusions, their former shell would have to come into the myths at one point.
Without giving away too much, but there was a very specific reason 'Annal' and the name it’s called in the German text were rolled in this story. You'll probably figure it out after a closer look.
Nice save with the book not being completely waterlogged. That would’ve ended badly if it did.
Well, it’s still not in great shape. Enough so that the gang will probably be keeping an eye out for a replacement if they can find one, but that’s a story for another day.
Seems this chapter’s from Kate’s PoV, and maybe we might see more from her side of things.
Yeah, it was something that I decided early on in this run to try and do, since there are certain details about the characters’ backgrounds that would be hard to bring out without getting into their heads a bit. Coming down hard at around Chapter 6 or so to do everything in third-person limited helped a lot to that end.
Team Forager try to catch a break, any sort of break challenge (impossible). If I took a shot for every time this lot have been accosted for something during this journey, I’d be as sloshed as that Feraligatr was the night before.
I mean, they at least got bailed out by the merchants in the Secret Bazaar and then the guards on the way into Errberk Village let them go out of pity? So they’ve had some luck in this story. Not much, but some. ^^;
Amazing how quickly one’s tune can change with a bit of gold dangled in front of their face. Then again, that goes for just about everyone, whether it be Boudewijn, the Grünhäuter or hell, even Team Forager themselves. If it wasn’t for the prospect of robbing cargo for some coin, Lyle wouldn’t be on this journey in the first place.
Such is life when life is precarious and unpredictable. Also, Boudewijn wasn’t exactly in the greatest of circumstances himself, as he revealed in this chapter, which probably didn’t hurt for motivating him to just shut up and take the gang’s money.
Newangle City really is a stone’s throw away, huh? No doubt there’ll be some interesting revelations once the gang arrive in there, from Dalton’s past to Irune possibly having a Vatername connection there.
Lyle: “Oh trust me, I’d rather deal with the rock right now.”
Huh. I wonder…is this also a partial reference to annihilation events in Xenoblade 3? Because it does kinda have that feel to it as well. And the ruined concrete pylons give an interesting glance into human ruins - almost like Maktha Wildwood. I do vaguely remember an old convo on Discord where you ‘took notes’ upon entering that place in your XC3 playthrough…
That's more the effects of the Great Flash messing with the local topography. It's TBD if or how I'll ever acknowledge it, but my official series future-proofing excuse for whenever Game Freak finally makes a [Germany] region is that Varhyde got run over particularly hard by said event's effects, thus why it’ll probably look nothing like that that final product outside of the broadest strokes.
Well, there’s something I wasn’t expecting. Feels like our gang have only ever dealt with double dealers and folks that would rather not have their company. Nice to have someone a bit more good of heart ferrying them to their next destination.
Yeah, I figured that it was important story-wise to throw in some points of light here and there, since “bad news and negativity all the time” has a way of wearing readers down.
Ah yes, the old ‘look at the horizon’ trick to cure boat sickness. I’ve been told that many a time when on boats, usually at sea, and I can confirm it does work.
Well, in this case it’s more curing “I’m not supposed to be here, oh gods, I’m gonna drown”-ness, but yeah.
Yikes, penal labour. The most unenviable place to be, whether in wartime or otherwise.
Though this does bring to mind the Li Garte Prison arc in Xenoblade 3, and now I’m curious if there might be a similar arc where our gang might be captured and put in prison.
I mean, I can think of a still more unenviable place to wind up that’s been established in this story thus far, since let’s just say that it wasn’t just penal labor that was brought up as a potential ‘bad end’ for Outlaws in this story.
Funny, I remember a certain medic saying before she cast Heal Round.
Nah, ‘salvagers’ are just very, very old concept-wise in the Xeno series. As for there being a Rexpy… it’s admittedly unlikely since there's already one protagonist expy crew strutting around the story. I do know what exactly I'd cast one as if I ever changed my mind, though. Even if his name probably wouldn't be 'Rex'.
Pffft, that’s not often a thing I see in PMD fics, referencing ‘the call of nature’. (If that is what I think it is.)
That’s what it was referring to, yeah. Even if it’s obviously not going to be delved into in detail, it is a part of any journey that takes a sufficiently long period of time.
Female Kyurem? Interesting spin on it - when I think Kyurem, I tend to think male. But hey - since most Legendaries are genderless, that’s very much an author freedom thing.
Yeah, Bildstöcke can be pretty diverse in form factors and appearances, which I leaned on to try and keep the shrines in this story from feeling too samey with one another.
My. Proof more than ever that our little dragoness may not be of this time, and instead hails from a more distant past.
That actually wasn’t quite what I was attempting to get at there, but… nah, I’ll let you guess a bit more.
Oh, Lyle’s hometown was destroyed? Oof. And it’s kinda sad to think there’s nothing for him after all this. And the bounty’s probably put a target on his head for the foreseeable future. Kinda occurring to me that the ending for this fic, when we get to it, might well be a bittersweet one.
Well, it was destroyed in the past. It’d be a bit hard for his parents to still have a shop that Nils could visit if his town was still destroyed in the present day.
A dead ringer for the DNA Splicers? (I presume that’s what that is.) And it seems Irune’s going to have a bit of explaining to do. How will she get out of this one?
Kinda like how this text interprets modern human terms. Things such as skyscrapers (‘high places’) and electricity (‘tamed thunder’) are written in an eloquent fashion that I find quite pleasing.
Also, “this is where we build our future” - nice parallel with Xenoblade!Klaus.
The quote there is actually a nod to something a bit more on the nose than that. If you've got a physical copy of XBX that you bought in-region in the EU, check the back of it sometime.
I think we all deduced that a long time ago, Kate.
Kate: “Yes, but we never formally spelled it out, so…” >_>;
….That’s a roundabout statement if I ever did hear one. Pity they can’t press her on it, because of course Boudewijn has to show up at that moment and divert their attention away.
Irune: “No, no, this is a really good thing right now.” O_O;
Dang, this guy’s lenient with allowing them fifteen minutes to forage. You sure wouldn’t have gotten that service or attitude with Hermes. (Granted, the gang were in more of a hurry then.)
I mean, it helps that rafts aren’t exactly the speediest transports under the sun. Unlike Hermes, Boudewijn can only do so much for getting from point A to point B quickly.
Going to familiar places does seem to be the way that offers them the most fortune.
I’m not sure if the gang would fully agree with that statement considering the aftermath of bouncing from Moonturn Square, but… ^^;
Something we’ll perhaps find out when they arrive in Newangle City.
So looks like Dalton’s gonna use some of his upper class mannerisms and connections during his time at uni to get around. Hmm…might work for him, but I somewhat question whether the other three’ll blend in as well.
Dalton: “... They can pretend to be my servants?” ^^;
Kate: “Yeah, I’m going to hate being in this city, I can already tell.”
Now we go over to General Grumpywings, whose POV we haven’t seen in a while. And now it’s revealed that Errberk Village is Sophia’s hometown? Can’t say I was expecting that. Was this mentioned at all until now?
re: mention: It probably could have been beaten over the head a bit harder, but it’s foreshadowed by Sophia’s knightly title and how Errberk Village has a knightly order in it. (Also, try saying “Herberge” really fast and cut things off abruptly without the final vowel, and there you go.)
I went and dropped in a short added bit to Chapter 15 to beat it over the heads of the readers a bit harder, since in retrospect, this foreshadowing was on the easier side to miss.
Seems your AU counterpart is more competent than you if he at least remembered his ether nets. Looks like Pax is facing a demotion if Lacan and Sophia’s attitudes are anything to go by.
I mean, you’re not wrong. Which is part of the reason why Lacan was busy having his internal
moment just before this.
Man, if only Cruz took a leaf out of his XCX counterpart’s book and just remained in the background while Vilma did all the talking. Seems he’s not quite a ‘Rook’ here, rather more one on equal standing.
I mean, in their defense, this has been the first time they’ve been asked to give a guess, so… ^^;
There’s a Thieves’ Guild in Newangle City? Hmmm…a possible hideaway for Team Forager, perhaps? Though it’s of some relief to find that Newangle City’s big enough that our not-quite-heroes could find many a hiding place in there away from the Grünhäuter.
Well, we wouldn’t be able to see a whole lot of Newangle City if they were, so…
Oh, so Newangle City has a whiff of the Indoline Praetorium about it with the refugee encampments. It does kinda give off vibes of being a hybrid of the Praetorium, Alcamoth and NLA, though I guess I’ll see how right I am when the gang enters the city for real.
Well, you didn’t have to wait for much longer there, though I leaned a bit harder on the latter two than the former, even if “religious center with a love for white color schemes” did give some fodder for stuff to do.
I’ll say. That does sound like one hell of a punishment, especially given what we’ve heard about Apricorns before this. Does speak to how ruthless punishments can be in Varhyde, if this along with penal labour are the punishments awaiting any Rothäuter prisoners. (Then again, it’s probably not much different in Edialeigh for any Grünhäuter POWs they take in.)
It almost certainly is not meaningfully different in Edialeigh, as is to be expected when their armor plates look the same to half of the protagonist cast, aside from the Chain Attack icon symbols that are put onto them.
Man, I will say that Kate could have done a better job at acting up the sickness. Based on how they’ve acted thus far, they could definitely use better acting skills, that’s for sure.
Especially when stopping to whine about it will only increase your odds of something going seriously awry. ^^;
These details of the ceiling make me wonder if these are human remains that the Pokémon aren’t far advanced enough technologically to learn how to replace. Because manufacturing those things doesn’t feel like something a PMD society would be very knowledgeable of.
Man, where is Lady Luck, or the Pokémon equivalent of her when they need them? Because Team Forager sure as hell could get by without riding on the fringe of being caught every time they go near anywhere mildly populated.
That would be Victini, and there’s better than coinflip odds that s/he’s dead right now. ^^;
Okay, Boudewijn came in clutch with that purse of Carolins. Phew. Though it’s another insight into the crappy pay that soldiers get if they’re willing to take bribes so easily.
And indeed, they weren’t. I suppose such a thing would strike awe and wonder, seeing these alien structures far beyond the likes of which they’ve seen.
In their defense, it probably took at least a few centuries for the entire space between the walls to fill in like this. Kinda like how IRL, there used to be a lot of farms in between the Aurelian Walls in the medieval period since the cityscape from Roman times had been abandoned and crumbled away ages ago.
It’s honestly interesting how the Pokémon interpreted the massive skyscrapers to be out of worship for the goddess. I really like that, how they try and interpret past structures and sometimes miss the mark entirely like they do here. Because, let’s face it; humans wouldn’t build skyscrapers out of worship, surely?
Less “interpreted” said skyscrapers and more “repurposed” said skyscrapers. Since… yeah, even in canonical media Reshiram love themselves a nice tower to chill in as a divine roost.
Nice allusion to Zekrom being the enemy as transcribed in this eloquent fashion.
I mean, considering some of the fluff and folklore surrounding Zekrom in official media… yeah, any place that’s on the wrong end of one that didn’t rationalize it away as their own fault somehow would be bound to have opinions about them.
I suppose Newangle’s citizens couldn’t very well have lived in the human ruins for fear they might collapse, so fair enough that they built new buildings for themselves. Though it’s an intriguing image, imagining thatched roofs amidst what was once a modern city development.
I mean, there were some parts where they built into said ruins anyways since just before the Great Flash, the newer construction figured out whatever sorcery Morytha’s creators did to keep their creations from rusting into a collapsed heap in spite of untold ages of lack of maintenance.
Funny, that’s the second fic I’ve come across that refers to Alolan forms as ‘southern’ forms. Anything to make new continuity where Alola does not exist, I suppose. (Although maybe it did, back in the days of humans? After all, do they say what the world’s name was before the Great Flash?)
That’s less a “Alola doesn’t exist” matter (neither confirming nor denying that since it’s way, way out of story scope), and more a “the Great Flash caused phenomena that used to never happen here to start occurring” matter. In this case, after the Great Flash, southern Varhyde started being a place where Pokémon would be born and evolve into forms their pre-Flash counterparts would consider “Alolan”.
Also kinda fitting that this song happens to come on in the background while I’m reviewing this part. (I dunno if it captures the grandeur of Newangle City meant to be felt in the moment, but it kinda has that city feel to it, if you catch my drift. )
Yeah, even if the story is by and large not a splatterfest (especially since the cast would have most likely have problems if they were stuck on frontline combat for too long), I felt it was important to emphasize that there was a nasty meat grinder of a conflict going on in the background constantly threatening to no longer safely be on the other side of a sea.
Beeg bridge. Maybe it was a highway bridge once upon a time?
Gotta admit, I side with Irune here, with Kate trying to steal Boudewijn's money. Let the ‘mon have the money, after his kind words and transporting them all the way to where they wanted to go.
Such is life when you’ve got Poké signs in your eyes and being a bit too rawly pragmatic. Though at least Boudewijn was a good sport about things.
Really gives a sense for how big Newangle City is and how towering these skyscrapers are that on the surface Lyle can’t see the sun from the shade. (At least I think that’s what you’re going for here?)
That is what I was going for, yes. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
I mean, would that not mean a better choice of marks to steal from? Especially in big crowds, that would mean they could slip in and out easier from thieving purses from passersby.
If I had a nickel for every Fobbiefic that had the main protags use Durin Berries to cover their scent, I’d have two nickels. Not a lot, but interesting that it happened twice.
I mean, it helps that IRL durians aren’t exactly subtle about their odors. I ran with the assumption that Durin Berries smell like them, which would make them really solid candidates for scent masking and probably want to make you take a bath afterwards.
And once again, fascinating seeing the interpretation of cars and highways by creatures who have no idea what those things are.
I mean, Dalton at least had a hazy idea of what they used to be used for, but yeah. Very, very few Pokémon in Wander really have an idea of what life used to be like before the Great Flash, and are left to do guesswork with the relics that survived.
Hmm, and he seemed to point out army textiles when on the raft with Boudewijn. There’s a connection to be had between our Heliolisk and the army…
That, and they already got burned once by “leave the identifiable markers intact” in the past.
How fitting that it parallels with NLA’s Administrative District in having the tallest buildings that overlook the city. And if it’s anything like NLA, there’ll probably be little nooks and crannies for our not-quite-heroes to hide in should things go awry.
Well, there’s certainly worse outcomes they could have, even if that definitely wouldn’t be great either.
Wow, that must be quite the view. Picturing something a bit like how NLA’s outlook from the Administrative District looked, and how commanding an overlook that was, the grandeur here can certainly be felt, doubly so when you take into account the fact that such grand structures were built by aliens to this world of Pokémon.
That’s… a decent point of comparison, yes. Just imagine it looking a bit more obviously run-down and abandoned.
Watch this become prophetic in the next few chapters. (On another note, is the ‘disowned prince’ a sideways reference to Zeke? Or a Xenogears/saga character I’m not aware of?)
Considering how there’s only so many escapes from this place that wouldn’t result in them becoming street pizza… yeah, it was for the best for them to wait there. ^^;
Yep, Irune’s definitely from a time of yore. (If that wasn’t obvious enough already.)
Just saying, there are some other potential alternatives that you’re not considering at the moment. ^^
The wide net of prayers shows the diversity of thinking in Varhyde. Though it’s almost ironic to see prayers of desires being offered to the goddess of truth. Fascinating.
Lyle: “Har, har, because the statue’s right here, real funny.”
The dilapidation of some of these human ruins, and particularly the one covered in vegetation, reminds me a bit of Morytha (without the storms, Guldo infestations and tragic as hell BGM, of course.) That’s to be expected, I suppose - with the Great Flash bringing human civilisation to its knees and Pokémon not being advanced enough to know the ins and outs of human tech, it’s only natural to see it fall into a ruined state.
Yeah, there was basically a period of time where I paused my XB2 playthrough just to wander Morytha for like 5 hours while this section was being taken out of alpha drafting, since... yeah. There are indeed some shades of Morytha in Newangle City's design.
Once again, urban sprawl is a bitch. Curse these cities of human origin for being so damn big.
I mean, it helps that he was a petty noble who came to Newangle City in a context he rubbed shoulders with others that weren’t necessarily all nobles… that and as you’ll see in today’s update, some of these parts of town aren’t exactly far away.
Chapter 20
Well, if that opening title doesn’t imply this chapter may turn some things on their heads.
Nah, we’re still a few months out from the real “everything changes” moment in this story.
Interesting what ifs pondered in the text above. All squandered because someone wished for mankind to move one step to the divine, and in doing so, killed them all. But hey, now we have Pokémon ruling the roost instead, so that’s a win.
I mean, considering the event that you’re thinking of, are you sure that the people that got swept up in it were dead?
Huh, I remember the Land of Morytha having similar paths forward through its warren of ruined buildings. Nice to see them repurposed here in a more populated settings.
Yup, all that time wandering around Morytha and Maktha Wildwood paying dividends there.
Almost like Irune has half-Bagon heritage with a remark like that. Now I wonder if Lacan had a similar attitude when he was a tyke. (And on that note, I wonder if this line might imply a subtle connection between the two of them… )
Well, she certainly got her yearning to be up in the sky from somewhere. Though I honestly could buy Lacan being similar when he was younger since Bagon, and considering what’s been shown of his backstory thus far, it was probably a handy mood-lifter.
I see your affinity for the rough-skinned blue dragons shines through here. Even if there’s no Druddigon MC here like in Fledglings or Dragonspiral’s Children, that marks two appearances of them thus far in this story.
What’s that? Put in more Druddigon into this story, you say? /s
Makes me wonder if these two will be characters we’ll get to know sometime in the near future. After all, details like mentioning scarves do make them stand out a bit. Perhaps they belong to that Thieves’ Guild Sophia mentioned a few chapters ago?
Clearly, the Dusknoir, Herold, is a father figure to Lohe. Maybe he took in Lohe after his parents died? Or could Lohe’s hometown have been razed by the war? The mention of Benzen Town a chapter or two ago makes me think that there might be a connection here, at the very least to war-torn towns…
These two are an “other story” cameo where it'll probably hit differently depending on if you recognize them from their origin since I put a little too much thought into nailing the subtle details with that one. You’ll know exactly what this is nodding at when you come across it.
The throwaway Hydreigon courier stopping in front of the Salazzle Apothecary in Errberk Village is another such moment from that ilk depending on how good you are about noticing details, even if there's decent odds he'll make a reappearance sometime down the pipe.
Ohhhhhhhh.
No wonder he’s all nervous, then. But this is cool, because for possibly the first time in this story, we might see the other side of this conflict, from the Edialeighers’ point of view.
Well, I’m sure the rest of Team Forager is certainly hoping that it’ll be a successful journey. ^^;
I was about to say Arsenal Avenue was a Xenoblade X reference, but it turns out I got it mixed up with Armory Alley. Though maybe it’s meant to be a variant on that name?
It's a recursive translation of Armory Alley's name in the German localization, Arsenal-Allee (which in spite of the name, ‘Allee’ is more akin to a boulevard in that language), so you are actually correct. It was just disguised a bit.
Just realised: the gang could theoretically steal armour and dress up as Grünhäuter, and their enemies might well be none the wiser. Well, that is if the soldiers are as incompetent in Newangle as they’ve been thus far.
Hold onto that thought, really. Even if it’ll take a while for it to pan out.
I see we have our variant of “Queen’s Wings” right here. Kinda funny that it’s the fur that’s most notable - after all, our resident truth derg is rather floofy.
Well, at least in current planning, it’ll be a bit before that all comes out in full, but we’re getting there, yes.
Eyyy, nice one, Kate! Great to one-up that pompous Tyranitar. How fitting that the Pokémon with the Pickpocket ability would make the best pickpocket of the gang.
I mean, she’s also light and nimble with quiet paws. That probably doesn’t hurt either. :V
I suppose with all the different shapes and sizes with Pokémon, there would inevitably be some who don’t have a size to fit them and would thus need a custom build of armour. I remember such discussions taking place in the PMD Discords over all this. I find the topic quite fascinating.
Technically, you could probably get close enough just LEGOing standardized pieces together. Arsenal Avenue is meant more for ‘mons who aren’t satisfied with such a loadout and have the means to push for more.
Oh, cool. Since Move Tutors were brought up in the intro, they play a part in the chapter itself. Dunno if I’ve acknowledged this yet, but that is a nice touch, how the intros tie into the topic of the chapter in question. (Have to admit, it’s got me thinking about maybe trying something similar out when I get to write other things beyond Dual Wills…
Yeah, this was something that I actually had considered doing in Fledglings as well once upon a time, but didn’t get to due to lack of inspiration. It took 6 years, but at least I got another chance to take a shot at things.
Hmmm…I recall this sigil being brought up before. It’s apparently a nod at a Xenosaga symbol that makes a small cameo in XC3: Future Redeemed, if I recall correctly.
I mean, the sigil has been explicitly identified as to what it belonged to in this setting. Make what you will based on what that entity used to be and the Xeno-series meta behind it.
The team doesn’t really need to taught Hyper Beam. Especially given what it can take out of a user. Maybe Dalton would have good use for it given his Normal-type heritage, but eh…Team Forager might want to consider their options well.
Electricity generators, I see. Would they be of the fossil fuel or renewable kind? First thought was solar energy, but I could see how it could equally be other kinds.
You’ll get an answer to this question in about one or two chapters after today’s.
I see this Empoleon’s a bit of a snob too. A higher-up too, if even Lacan submits to her. I guess it would make sense that Varhyde’s snobs would be aplenty in their capital city.
That’s less submission and more being polite to get what he wants since Ms. Hauptmann there actually is a few ranks below Lacan, which is mentioned in passing in the part where she bites her tongue and holds back what she really thinks about what’s going on.
Man, when you think that nobles like them hang back, sheltered by Newangle’s walls, while the young blood of the country fights and perishes on the front line, it’s hard to be sympathetic towards the likes of this Empoleon.
The Empoleon there actually is more likely to be a commoner and had a brief line explicitly mentioning having once done a tour of combat overseas. Not that her attitude would do wonders for keeping the audience sympathetic with her.
Hehe, nice reference there, comparing her to the bird enemies in Xenoblade 3.
It helps that ‘Gulkin’ is also a legitimate surname people sometimes have IRL, so I thought it was a bit too good of an opportunity to pass up. She’s neither the first nor the last background character to be named like this.
Lacan and Sophia have to appear before the King? Well now, this should be an interesting turn of events. Really curious as to what King Siegmund is like - a brutal warlord or a more peaceable sort (something along the lines of the Tornan King from TtGC). At the very least, he seems to be impatient about the Dyad, and the mystery surrounding just who he is may well be unveiled next chapter…
Siegmund was one of those ‘if you know, you know’ characters since he’s explicitly modeled after one from one of the earlier Xeno games. Let’s just say that there is a certain segment of people reading along who would be wholly unsurprised at the reveal of who Siegmund turned out to be.
Chapter 21
Ah yes, that very letter that Lacan and Sophia received. Sounds as strictly formal as I would’ve expected it.
I see it’s not just the Great Flash that ruined these human ruins; war from Edialeigh damages them too. A pity, when remnants of the past are lost to the flames of war.
Hm. So we might see Corviknight!Sophia at some point in the near future, perhaps? Come to think of it, I recall a similar thing said with Lyle in the past, where it was implied he might not be too far off evolution (a bad thing in his case, because it would mean having a bigger belly to feed on his part). So evolutions of our current cast may not be off the table…
It’s certainly something on the radar, even if “near future” is relative since the story up to this point has happened over the course of less than a week.
Lacan and Sophia’s bond is kinda touching in a way. But part of me can’t help but wonder if Sophia’s in the firing line at some point in the future, and Lacan’s going to have to grapple with the consequences. No doubt those who’ve played Xenogears have a better grasp than me about what might happen with these two. (There’s probably a comparison in the Xenoblade games that could relate to these two, but I’m struggling to pin one down exactly. Reminder for me to look into Xeno series archetypes at some point in the future.)
>there’s probably a comparison in the Xenoblade games that could relate to these two
You already got clued in on this one on Discord, but for those reading along, depending on how you count them, there are actually two or three direct parallels to XG!Lacan and XG!Sophia in the Xenoblade series. I actually drew off of those paralleling characters to an extent, so if you can spot the allusions, you can probably figure out what they were and what the story between Lacan and Sophia’s namesakes in Xenogears was roughly like.
A Haxorus and Raichu duo? I’m betting this choice might’ve sprung from one of those ‘crowdsourcing’ things you do in the PMD Discords.
They're actually references to RP characters I used to write ages ago. They also got shout-outs in Fledglings but their backstories are different here, and there's no third buddy of theirs, which is closer to what their OG flavor incarnations were like.
Have to admit, in this sense, I kinda like Lacan with how he pushes aside those snobbish castle guards with pure logic and a reminder of the king’s wrath.
I mean, sure, Lacan’s got the build and the stats to murder most of his obstacles out of existence, but sometimes alternative approaches are required, as is the case here.
Interesting way to combine Xenoblade’s Ether with how Pokémon learn moves. Many fics interpret the latter differently, but I love the Xenoblade aspects are dipped into here. Good job with that.
I mean, sure it was me being a bit of a dumb hack, but it helps that that “infinite energy” alluded to in the teaser basically is the equivalent of Ether in Pokémon. Especially to Ether as depicted in Xenoblade 1, thus I figured that it’d be fair game to dust the term off to refer to it.
The talk about Alvin makes me wonder if we’ll see him again. He’s surely out there somewhere…right? Though all the possible places he could be are…worrying. Especially what we’ve heard regarding punishments like penal labour or clearing out mines.
Ironically enough, this was actually a pretty late addition to this part of the story. Though I figured that there were worldbuilding opportunities to be had and it’d help open a few doors for some later arcs, so good enough.
Well then. I think I might be getting warmer as to what might well happen in the near future with our dear Irune. Let’s just say I think she may be telling the truth on this occasion.
Lyle: “Look, it’s easier said than done when under pressure!” O_O;
Eyy, Thunder Wave! Always a trusty move to have for halting ‘mons in their tracks. That’ll be a better avenue for Dalton to take right now, with his injured frill impeding his electric attacks.
She’s consistently had that move since the beginning. Though I suppose such might be life after taking a multi-month hiatus from reading.
Now that I think about it, didn’t they mentioned there was a Mystery Dungeon somewhere in Newangle City? That’s not gonna go untravelled by Team Forager, surely? Given their luck thus far, I would not be surprised in the least if they stumbled into it.
I mean, they probably don’t want to go there given that the other end is mentioned as uncharted territory. Or at least not based off what they presently know about it.
Ah, we’re coming back to that design again. Seems to be showing up pretty often.
I mean, you did catch what that one teaser had to say about what the Administrative District used to be, right? ^^
I presume the tunnels might’ve been for more highway traffic? If we’re talking large human machines, that’s what comes to mind. That, or a subway system of some kind.
Yeah, it’s referencing exactly what you’re thinking of.
The crushing fear they talk about must be an implication of Siegmund not exactly being the most amicable of folks. There goes my partial guess of him taking after the Tornan King, then.
What, you’re telling me you don’t like Emperor Palpatine? /s
Though alas, Siegmund is based off a much older and less reflexively sympathetic character from the series.
Some nice history there about the Kings of Varhyde. I know some readers might dismiss that as pointless to the story, but personally I’m a fan. It shows the storied history of the land beyond merely the present day.
And it’s an excuse to cram in like half a dozen Xeno series shout outs for the eagle-eyed to spot.
How fitting that a Varhyde king named Sansa and a Edialeigh queen named Maynus went to war. Once again, nice pair of references - and if Sansa was anything like his basis, then I bet some folks back then probably would’ve been very towards him. I recall Sansa was mentioned in the intros, and it’s neat to see the reference crop up again, showing the consequences of his reign on his kingdom many decades after.
It gets even better: 'Sansa' under German orthography can validly pronounced the same as 'Zanza' while 'Maynus' is the original JPN name of 'Mayneth'. There were also at least three other XB lore references in that sequence that you didn't seem to catch, but I'll leave it to you to figure them out on your own time.
Why am I reminded of Ganondorf with this? Although as for the actual song being played, this one came to mind with its organ at 0:38. I doubt it was what you had in mind, but I think it’s a good fit, at least.
I actually had this song in mind for this sequence. Let’s just say that it would be really hard to cast another song that would be more fitting than it since the tail end of this scene heavily nods to a moment when you hear that song play in Xenogears.
The palace feels like an ironically patchwork place in spite of who it belongs to. Does take the shine off it, admittedly.
Yeah, that’s dramatic irony for you. For the characters, this is a wondrous space built with techniques they simply can’t reproduce… while for us, this is just a gutted office tower.
So Siegmund’s a Mienshao…Interesting. I have to admit, I was expecting a dragon.
That would be a bit difficult for him given that his full name explicitly reveals he's a Mienshao's child and there's a whopping one actual Dragon-type at the moment that can be parented biologically by a Mienshao. Also, think Pokémon around places that one would encounter a Reshiram, it doesn't hurt that if 'Siegmund' rang any bells as a name from the Xeno series that Mienshao happened to be decently fitting in terms of visual motifs.
Sophia does seem to get the short end of the stick regarding people’s analyses of her.
Almost as if she fell behind to where people would expect her to have wound up in life for some reason, huh?
And now she’s been locked out of the convo altogether? That’s…somewhat concerning, given that she’s the more lenient one between her and Lacan. Worrying developments are happening, and His Majesty doesn’t appear to be a benevolent sort. And requiring a personal moment between him and Lacan…hm. There are dark clouds on the horizon, that’s for damn sure, and Team Forager’s going to be caught up in them…
Lacan: “I fail to see the problem here, just saying.”
Conclusion
Now finally I’m caught up again. Only took a year.
And hoo boy, where do I begin to talk about this batch of chapters?
Starting off with this - I have a theory that Irune is Reshiram. It would explain why she can’t tell lies to save her life, because she’s so inclined towards the truth. It would explain the blasts of fire she’s expelled thus far against Rankar and the merchants in Errberk. It would explain the unease she’s felt around the statues of Kyurem and Reshiram thus far. It would explain her statement of ‘not going to be little for much longer’. Based on that last statement, it seems there’s a window of opportunity after which I presume the power within her will awaken. And this would also line up with the supposed race against time with Lacan and Sophia to capture the Dyad and carry out Operation Spark. After all, having a reborn goddess like Reshiram on their side would be a massive boon for the war effort, to say the least. And power dwelling within certain female characters in the Xeno series is a recurring trend - it’s something Fiora (with Meyneth) and Pyra/Mythra (with Pneuma) have in common with this. I recall calling Irune a Pyra/Mythra expy in my first review, and I stand corrected; the two (or three, technically?) do indeed have a lot in common.
Well, that’s quite the theory there, and you certainly made quite the argument for it. Though there is at least one thing that doesn’t quite work with it:
It doesn’t quite explain what went down in Primordial Woods, since Irune actually didn’t use a blast of fire there during her fight with Rankar.
Anyway, text wall theory over, time for overview.
This is all really exciting stuff, and I really, really like this latest bunch of chapters. From the oodles of references (Pax the Padraig expy, the parallels of Newangle City to make it a blend of Alcamoth, NLA and even a bit of Morytha in there, to name two), the way Pokémon interpret the remains of human structures in their own interesting way, the gradual unfolding of Irune’s true identity, the dynamics of Team Forager ever developing, and even seeing Lacan for the threat that he is, along with his own relationship with Sophia, there’s a lot to love among the chapters I’ve covered.
And beyond just the Xenoblade references, there’s the impeccable worldbuilding, conveying in a great way the rich and storied history of the world, and what came before when humans once roamed it. There’s also the sympathetic outlook from an outlaw’s perspective that still remains very unique among PMD fics.
And these are the sorts of reviews that make those months-long waits for reviews worth it, especially coming from readers who can appreciate both ends of this story’s meta background.
Genuinely, it’s been a blast reading these chapters, and I’m psyched for what’s gonna happen next. Honestly, I kinda regret not catching up with this fic sooner, because upon reading this, I remembered how much fun reading this fic could be, with all its references and its world and its characters. (Still need to brush up on my Xenogears/saga knowledge though. That might help me with a good few nods here and there.)
I mean, they would certainly help, yes. Also, they’re genuinely fun games, if a bit aged mechanically and showing signs of “author’s first attempt” teething problems. But admittedly, I leaned on those older games precisely because a smaller pool of people that are into Pokémon as a franchise would reflexively pick up on things like the significance of there being a ‘Lacan and Sophia’ and what a baseline expectation for what to expect would be than if I had framed them in terms like, say… ‘Noah and Mio’, which would have been very close to being interchangeable for framing without breaking any story or meta dynamics.
Though hey, who knows, maybe this story will wind up encouraging people to try out some of those more obscure entries in the series. ^^
Some people mightn’t vibe with the references, but I absolutely do. Beyond just being a Xenoblade fan with this fic, I really love it when authors are indulgent in this manner with fics like this. Fanfiction is in essence self-indulgence, so why not let the author just go all in? Part of the reason I’m a big fan of Path of Valor too - the way both you and Amby weave your fics with references and use them as blocks on which to build a story is something I really enjoy seeing. And Once a Thief certainly delivers in all regards.
All right. You want three chapters? I'll give you three chapters. But it's my blitz style. Aka not what you're used to.
15
-Stains on an inn floor are totally water leaks and definitely not any other kind of fluid, bodily or otherwise. [lenny face]
-Lyle, beggars literally cannot be choosers here. Don't complain about this place.
Fortunately Lyle is too buzzed and tired to really think too hard about what on earth those were or complain too hard about the sucky accommodations. ^^;
-Sleep seeds as sleep aids is a 100% good use for one. Trust.
Nah, moreso that the shingles were a shade of dark gray.
-"I've been having these weird dreams lately, Lyle. Like, is any of this for real... or not?" [Dearly Beloved blares in the background]
-Village on fire? Reshiram? Reshi vs. Zekky?
-Yeah, Lyle, didn't anyone teach you not to read a girl's diary? No wonder you're maidenless.
Lyle: “Look, it was right there and I didn’t think she’d be up, okay?” >///<
-Oh, hi, dream Kyurem. And bye.
-Y'know, it occurred to me that, in some respects, you could call the original dragon a literal personified Trinity Processor. The latter has three cores in its home series IIRC, and the former splits into three beings: Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. Kyurem can fuse with either one (or both?), so perhaps that would make it the Ontos equivalent as the "mediator" of sorts. Leaving Reshi and Zek as the other two. So, uh, maybe Irune (as Zek) is that equivalent? Like Pyra/Mythra or whatever (I think they're a core). I believe a previous German spiel mentions an architect, too?
Well, you’ll get more answers to these musings over the next few months, since the story is like 4-5 updates out after today’s from the point where things just get thrown out into the open.
-Sword of Wishes/Desires. Black brings to mind Zekrom and I guess ideals could line up with that. But wishes are also more associated with Jirachi in pokémon. Also, the Schild der Wirklichkeit doesn't have hovertext.
It is convention in this story for hovertext to only be provided for the first instance they pop up in the story. ‘Schild der Wirklichkeit’ had its done all the way back in the Moonturn Square arc, thus why it’s not also done here.
-I mean, sneasel have claws for digits, lockpicking would come naturally.
-Not much to say overall. This chapter's pretty much just the team quite literally restocking and trying to sneak around to get out of town. And, of course, failing at the end.
Hrm, a bit unfortunate, though I suppose building actions sometimes don’t have much to say about them in a vacuum.
16
-I have no idea what these idiots expected. They don't even match up well type wise against these two. Genius move, there.
-Okaaaaaaay, that's Fusion Flare that Irune's using. Couple that with the dream last chapter. Uhhh... maybe she's actually all three of them? Or maybe just Kyurem since it does technically get both the Fusion moves when it's, well, fused with one of them. Alternatively, this is more of an "inner deity" situation. These two warring nations are like Bionis/Mechonis stand-ins and this original dragon is biding is indirectly responsible for the present and is now biding its time... where reaching the Divine Roost would actually be a very bad thing.
Fortunately, he hasn’t managed to do that yet? ^^;
-Why would Lyle discuss his plan out loud when the soldiers are in range to hear him? I mean I guess he has to say something, but still...
-Large extended combat scene. The ship and raft element make it interesting, though I admittedly might've had trouble following it in places from Lyle's perspective.
I was going more for the gang whispering with said soldiers being far enough to not fully hear them, though glad to hear that you at least found parts of the escape sequence interesting.
-There's another Architect mention. In specific reference to the creator. There's, of course, Arceus with the whole Thousand Arms thing. Maybe the original dragon is the direct work of the creator in this situation…
You got an answer to this one later on, but it wasn’t quite a Zohar clone there.
-Kate used bribery! It's super effective!
-Founder's City? Throne of Truth? Yeah, okay, so Reshiram is this country's patron. That whole reshi/zek as Bionis/Mechonis-esque warring faction stand-ins looks more reasonable.
I mean, the founding figures of Varhyde and Edialeigh weren’t already a big enough tell? :P
-Boy I've been reading a lot of baguettes around lethal water today...
-This traveling feels like "We have Fledglings at home." Small raft floating down water and having problems.
Nah, needs more waterborne brigands in some capacity for it to be ‘Fledglings at home’. :V
-Okay, see, even Dalton acknowledges the whole "bridge b/w truth and ideals" thing. "Always able to step in and rein things in when one or the other was out of balance" feels veeeeery specifically worded.
-Oh, yeah, okay, "triangular spike with horizontal bands" is just the DNA Splicers, which may or may not be Trinity stand-in(s)? I guess that's what Irune's pendant is, too. Sheeeeeee's either some personification of the whole kit and caboodle or she's Kyurem. Varhyde's king wants her to drag out that inner power, because it's either got part of the kingdom's patron and can guide them to victory, or he wants to force this arbiter to sway toward his side. Definitely. Maybe. This ending scene's probably the most interesting part of these three chapters, if I'm being honest. Since it raises all these questions.
Whelp, glad you thought that the ending scene was a memorable one to leave off on. It won’t be too much longer before I can stop beating around the bush with regard to what Irune is, even if part of the audience will likely have figured things out well in advance.
-Also starting to think this "Great Flash" is, in fact, a calamity even that led to Varhyde/Edialeigh being split away from the rest of an original world. Perhaps the canon world... and that's where all the humans still are? So a Bionis/Alrest situation or whatever.
Fortunately, I have plenty of time to decide what I want the full implications behind that Great Flash to be, even if such an outcome would certainly be thematically appropriate.
Though thanks for the review, even in its condensed format, it was a lot of fun to take in. ^^
Here we are, back for another Blitz catchup on Once a Thief! And the recent Newangle City chapters have me really intrigued, here--this is probably my favorite of the settings so far in this story, and it's been a lot of fun getting to explore it!
As always, the worldbuilding here is on point, and I'm glad we're getting more context for how this nation's reinvented itself since the Great Flash and the role the capitol's played in everything. From the talk of all the bridges and the river, I wonder if this is a post-apocalyptic Castelia City? Or perhaps it's some Xenoblade reference that I'm not going to recognize. Doesn't really matter, but of course spotting what the relics of the old world refer to/really are is part of the fun in a story like this.
Well, it’s not Castelia City at least, since the geography doesn’t line up and there’s a couple teasers whose text would explicitly preclude it. The location is basically a composite reference to a few different locations in the Xeno series overlaid with whatever Pokémon’s equivalent of Frankfurt will be whenever Game Freak can be bothered to do a [Germany] region, plus some near-future AU antics.
In any case, you do a great job of making this place feel gradiose, with its impossibly high, thick walls, its grand sweeping bridges, its ruined skyscrapers and its grand statues. I'm a sucker for a new civilization having grown up inside the ruins of an old one, and it's fun to see the variety of ways that modern-day pokémon have adapted or expanded upon the ancient technology around them. I also enjoy the verticality of this place, with all the partially-inhabited skyscrapers, bridges clustered with buildings, and impossibly tall walls. I think this is the location has the most flavor out of any the cast has visited yet, with loads of neat nooks and crannies to dig around in as well as that sense of sweeping grandeur, plus the snippets of history we've gotten both from the various in-universe texts featured at the start of each chapter and in the stories characters tell about it. I'm also really curious about the undercity and the dungeon(s?) that reside there; we've only made a brief visit so far, but I can't imagine those won't be relevant in the future, no doubt much to Lyle's dismay. In any case, I think your worldbuilding shines particularly strongly with this location, and it's been a real treat over the past couple chapters.
Yeah, I went a little nuts with the chapters laying out what Newangle City was like, though I’m glad to hear that you’ve been enjoying it.
I'm really curious what kind of person King Siegmund will turn out to be. I think all signs point to some variety of Shitty Monarch, but the guy is obviously in a tough position--maybe he'll turn out to be Not So Bad.
I'll be real, when Kate started getting excited about the fact that there was a street lined with shops selling armor, I thought the gang was going to end up buying/stealing some and passing themselves off as soldiers, heh. I'm with Lyle in that I'm not sure that it makes more sense to go for new moves as opposed to getting themselves some proper supplies, but I'll look forward to the reveal of exactly what's going on with Irune's tutored moves. Sure, I would imagine she's not lying about learning Protect, but what else did you end up going for, Irune? What else? Given how much she's been preoccupied with heights and flying recently, I wonder if it was something like Aerial Ace or even Fly itself, if that's now considered a TM. Or, obviously, it's possible that she didn't learn Protect + something else, but Protect is a nice, cheap TM, so…
re: Protect price: that’s actually an artifact of this being written in mind with PMD series pricing, where Protect is significantly more expensive in relative terms than in trainerverse (e.x. in the Explorers games, the difference in cost between Hyper Beam and Protect is 3000 Poké. In PMD DX, the difference is 150 Poké.) So alas, no hidden party tricks from Irune beside the obvious ones she already had.
I'm also here for more Lacan and Sophia. Love the relationship here, where Lacan feels extremely close to and protective of Sophia, and while she obviously cares for him, too, she doesn't always appreciate his overbearing nature and has, perhaps, a somewhat more nuanced take on right and wrong than he does. Those divided loyalties! With Lyle and company right under their noses, it seems like those points of friction are bound to come to the fore, and I'm really curious to see what will end up happening.
Whelp, I’ve gotta do something to keep my readers in suspense. Though glad to hear you’ve been having fun with Lacan and Sophia’s dynamic thus far. ^^
I do gotta say, though, that the longer the story goes on the more I boggle at how badly the army seems to have fucked up everything to do with Irune. It seems like all they'd really have to do would be butter her up a bit, tell her they'd find out what these weird powers of her meant, that she was important and special, etc., and they probably could have gotten her to cooperate. A little lighter on the chains and violence, you know, that seems like it might have worked better. We don't know much of anything about Irune's background, so it's entirely possible she has reasons she would never fall in line with what the crown wanted, but I've been facepalming a lot over their approach these past few chapters, heh.
Yeeeeeeah, the present chapter today makes it a bit clearer that Lacan and Sophia actually tried the “come and join the army, we have cookies” route but it didn’t take. I also edited in a brief acknowledgement of that in the sequence just outside of Primordial Woods since it felt like a decent point that would’ve come up.
Though you are onto something there about how Irune’s background was always going to make making her fall in line a problematic venture.
The arrival in Newangle City definitely feels like a turning point in the plot, and unlike Moonturn Square I'm quite content to spend a few chapters here unraveling a few of this story's mysteries. I have a bit less to say about the events that came before; we learned a bit more about the characters and their environment as they staggered out of the dungeon, through Errberk and down the river, but it felt more like a case of "getting from point A to point B" more than anything. I do appreciate that you keep the characters on their toes and keep them appropriately harried and desperate as they make their way across the country: it definitely sells the idea that these are down-on-their luck people struggling just to keep their heads above water in a hostile world. However, sometimes the complications piled on complications can get a bit exhausting for me, too! Getting out of Errberk we have the gang accidentally getting into a fight with a couple haulers, then getting into a fight with an Exploration Team, then attracting the attention of the guards, then being attacked by wild pokémon... after a while I'm ready for things to stop leaping out to get in their way, heh. In any case, some serious threats are closing in around Lyle's gang now, and escape to the final dungeon feels tantalizingly close--it feels as though we're getting close to a reckoning, which is super exciting.
Well, they’re not that close to the final dungeon, even if hopefully the events after Newangle City go by a bit faster. Though you are correct that this is going to be a hinge point in this narrative. By the time the gang leaves Newangle City, a lot about the state of affairs for the gang will be different relative to what came before, so I hope that you’ll have fun getting up to the part where sparks fly and seeing how things shake out.
While the plot has been picking up a bit in the most recent arc, it feels like the character progression has slowed down a bit. There was that big blow-up between Irune and the rest of the party in Primordial Woods, and there's still plenty unresolved with Irune holding disdain for the outlaws and their lifestyle, while at the same time feeling more empathy with them and not necessarily wishing ill on them, either. On the flip side, the rest of the party's super exasperated with her, but not enough to really act on it. It feels as though they're all kind of tiptoeing around each other right now, intentionally not talking about things for fear of igniting a big fight. Understandable given the circumstances, but I hope we'll be bringing those character conflicts back to the fore soon. There's still so much to address!
Hold onto that thought, really. Since that dynamic you outlined there will be a recurring part of the parts of the rest of this arc and the next couple ones.
Likewise, most of the character development in these chapters feels like it's more character reveals than a change in dynamics. We get a little more insight into Dalton's background, although it's always been clear that he has particular beef with the army on top of some sort of highborn lineage. It'll be fun to learn how he ultimately ended up as an outlaw, and at this point I'm kind of expecting him to turn out to be related to some kind of incredibly famous figure, heh. More about Irune, too. At this point I'm leaning towards her being Kyurem, or someone necessary to awaken Kyurem. It's also possible that she has some sort of relation to the Original Dragon/could become either Reshiram or Zekrom, though.
Whelp, I’ll keep an eye out for what you have to say in about 6 months, since the story is getting pretty close to the point where I can just be candid with readers about who Irune is and confirming/deconfirming various guesses.
Right now Kate's still a big mystery to me. There are some hints of a tragic (of course!) backstory, but she doesn't seem to have much in the way of internal conflict/anything special to her. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing--she has one of the biggest personalities out of the group, and so if she's just along for the ride to make bad decisions and have a good time, I don't think it's a problem. But it did stand out to me in a group of characters with so many ~secrets~ swirling around them, and it did mean that she faded into the background for me now and again.
Hrm, I’ll keep that in mind, since I certainly did have a background in mind for Kate. Perhaps that’s a sign that I should consider pulling some parts of revealing that forward.
Meanwhile, I'm intrigued by how much Lyle's been dwelling on Alvin's fate recently. Wondering whether we'll be seeing that guy again soon, or that plot thread will otherwise end up intersecting with the main show; you clearly have plans for it yet. Very much looking forward to Lyle eventually having to face Alvin again.
If all goes well, you’ll see him again in this story by the end of 2024 or else shortly afterwards.
I'm also wondering whether Errberk's going to end up being important down the line. Much was made of its unusually strong garrison and fighting traditions, and it's Lacan's hometown... at this point it would feel weird to revisit it, but it also feels like one of the most consequential places we've visited, despite its out-of-the-way status. Seems likely that the hostel's bagon is a relative of Lacan's? There are perhaps some open plot threads remaining in that place. Very curious whether it's going to have a role in the story going forward.
It might come up for some character moments, but alas, it’s unlikely it’ll get too much more screentime in the narrative short of me kicking off that one slow-burn prequel plot bunny.
And generally curious how the story goes forward in general! Hard for me to say whether things are coming to a head or if we're a ways out from the end yet. We're going to need to get some sort of revelation about Irune's nature while we're here in the city, and a run-in with Lacan and/or Sophia seems inevitable. But it could really go two ways from there: either everybody escapes and they're off to the Divine Roost and most likely the end of the story, or there's some complication and their path is diverted and there'll be a bit more meandering around to do before we're ready for the final confrontation. Honestly no idea which way it'll go at this point, but excited to see how we get there either way. It's always fun to check up on what this fic's had going on, and I'll be back for more for sure!
And I’ll be looking forward to hearing what you have to say at that time. It’s been fun following your thoughts about this story all this time, and I’ll be looking forward to what you have to say about the big shakeup incoming. ^^
Congrats Fobbie, I get to read your fic. Not Fledglings this time around, but hey, this one seems just as fun, so here I am. Already did the prologue, so I’ll jump into the proper chapters.
Technically, Fledglings is a joint project with @Virgil134 , but thanks for stopping by in this story. Since your reviews for Fledglings have been fun thus far, so I’m really looking forward to what you have to say here. ^^
Chapter 1
Oh god a whole text in German. I... don't know anything about German, so I went straight into the end section of the chapter just to see if there was a translated version. I'm really glad there was. Anyway, about the text... just lore, lol. Lore about the world and about the division between civilized Pokémon and those that wish to live in the wild. Neat, it's an actual division that was created and didn't just happen. Cool background reveal here.
Yeah, it’s a bit of a hit-or-miss flourish among readers, though when in doubt, my personal recommendation as an author is to just read things in natural order as they come and pull up the translation at the very end. Though jumping to the bottom to read things is certainly also a valid choice.
Now onto the proper story. It's been a while since I last read it, so I'm gonna get used to it again. Lyle probably wouldn't have gone all the way through a dungeon if his situation wasn't dire. It tells something about the world he's in that, even if he doesn't want to be a thief anymore, his current conditions make it hard for him to live a normal, honest life. On the bright side, he's seeing old friends. For one job only... and something tells me it won't be just one, nor will it be all that simple. He's also meeting new guys, and... they're all from different crews. This caravan they're taking must be soooo important. Really.
Yeah, admittedly the “I’d really rather not be here, but I’m in a bad spot and this is an easy fix” was partly a meta choice made to keep the cast more sympathetic to readers when in a more normal story, their equivalent characters be curbstomped for bounty money by the protagonists like 5 chapters in, but sounds like it did its job without feeling too contrived.
To join they have to impress the leaders. Makes sense, and what also makes sense is Lyle's hesitation on who to pick. Maybe rusty skills? It's not his time, so a Lurantis offers to go instead. I see his thought process was that with a type advantage he could make quick work of a Samurott. He didn't. On Lyle's end, he had enough guts to challenge despite having a disadvantage in type matchups. I have to give it to him, that takes courage. Or stupidity. But surely the main character isn't just gonna lose right in the beginning of the story.
I mean, Outlawry in general kinda requires a dash of both. Have you seen some of those Outlaw Hunters going around in different stories? ^^;
Yeah, he did pretty good. Running, striking, he's good at it. Surviving a minute wasn't that hard, and I think he'd probably be able to survive more if it was necessary. Though she wasn't pleased. Maybe she's just a sore loser. In any case, it's a W for Lyle here. Having everyone else shower him with praise must feel good too. Yay for a successful first impression. Here's hoping for more of that. Nice.
Yeah, it was a handy mechanism for multiple character establishing moments as well as emphasizing that an Outlaw’s “winning condition” isn’t always “win in a straight fight”. “Nab the shiny and get away” or if push really comes to shove, “run away and don’t die” are more valuable to them.
Okay, planning for the heist. Cool, they're taking a bunch of valuable merchandise. I love the small nod to Kecleon's... y'know, relentless chasing in the games. It sounds like a solid plan, at least. On another note, there's already more information about Lyle's past, which I appreciate. I mean, getting kicked out for being a thief? Not that relatable, buuut his parent's probably had the right choice. Still, now he's in a rough spot, and the only ones he can count on are thieves. As for the final explanations for the job, it's all regular stuff. Don't get caught, protect your partner and yourself, yadda yadda. It's a good beginning for the story, but like I said, I imagine this heist won't be so simple.
I mean, it’d be a boring story if things really were that simple. I mean, I suppose I could’ve gone through an entire “this is how life works” arc, but this story was originally intended to move at a faster clip in its original drafts, so there’s still some pacing artifacts from that.
Chapter 2
Oh there's another German text in the beginning. Let's see... a letter about the caravan, so my theory that it wasn't a simple heist is seeming more likely. Cool, so they're specifically hired to protect the contents inside, which indicates it must be important. Now, this also probably means that it's serious. Serious enough to warrant a big payment, two hundred thousand? That's a lot, but that's also a nice amount to get if the outlaws get their hands(and paws, and... limbless in the case of the Steelix) on it.
Yup. That letter was the first major indication that this wasn’t going to be easy for the gang, and for those who are into the Xeno series meta that this story draws on, the letter’s author was a red flag that the cast were going to get themselves very deep in over their heads in short order.
So far, there's only two real issues: one, Kate was getting out of her position, and two, the caravan seems to be in a hurry. One likely theory is that someone warned them that there were outlaws nearby planning on pulling a heist. Other theory is that they're just being extra careful because of the package inside. Could be something else, though.
It was more intended to be the second one of those two, though you likely picked up on that later on in the chapter.
Reading a little more into the story, and their plan continues to go well, for the most part. Lyle and partners almost blew it, they got sooo close. I'm surprised I'm actually rooting for outlaws. Anyway, they got out through sheer luck and convenience. And now I get what they meant by the Togedemaru having a different speech pattern. Kinda reminds me of how Russian is said in most media, that stereotypical accent.
It was more going for “stupid furry volleyball” speech. There’s a very particular subset of characters that have that general speech pattern from Xenoblade games, and the Togedemaru from the Roly-Poly Caravan deliberately evoke it.
More chat(and an Aerodactyl later), and they actually have guards. I was kinda right in that regard, so with the extra security it makes me wonder what the package they're carrying is. If it's not that significant then this feels like a bit of an overkill.
I mean, even if it was overkill, it was clearly not sufficiently overkill given that it got overpowered by an Outlaw raid. ^^;
And finally the signal is sent. It's not shown how the other groups are doing, but I don't mind it, my focus is on Lyle. On his end, it went well, and I gotta give props to Alvin here for being the MVP. Lightingrod and a ground typing that made quick work of the Togedemaru. For the rest of the action, it's just chaos all around, but in a good way. The prose does wonders to paint a picture, and aagain, I'm rooting for the bad guys here.
Such is life when you’re writing a morally gray narrative where there’s a case to be made in multiple directions about who the “bad guy” of the story is. Though it sounds like I did my job in getting the audience to root for the guys on the Outlaw Mission Board. The fact that multiple members have cuddly designs more or less built to sell merch probably doesn’t hurt.
In the end, Kate was the one to do something nice for someone, despite the overwhleming odds against her and the others. I like the fight here, especially on Lyle's end as the first one to realize how they could turn the tides. He's a really crafty guy.
I mean, while there’s ultimately a bit of luck involved in the life of an Outlaw, being quick-witted and able to think on your feet helps quite a bit. Let’s just say that there’s decent odds that Lyle wouldn’t have made it to the Prologue if he wasn’t on the craftier side.
Ah. The priority wagon had a prisoner... an Axew. Cool, so what did she do to get this much security? Probably a hideous crime.
And a looooot of problems following after her, but let’s focus on the positives for now.
Chapter 3
You know it, reading the text before anything else. It sheds some light on the Axew from the previous chapter, and apparently she's an important figure that needed to be protected, hence the over-the-top security that was on the caravans. Not that it helped so much, since she ended up going with them. Still, she's impudent. I doubt she wants to be used as a tool for those that brought her there.
I mean, yeah. Irune not wanting to be someone else’s tool is definitely a strong motivator behind much of her actions in this story. Even if the way she tries to go about it sometimes smacks of “self-centered desperation”.
Ah, here it is, the meat problem. And it's adressed nicely, on both ends of the spectrum, someone that doesn't care if they're eating a Wilder, and Lyle, who has too big of a moral code to do that. To be fair, he can't know for certain. So I guess he's sticking as a vegetarian for the rest of the story. Other than that, the gang inside this dungeon seems lively. They did just pull a successful heist, so it's all the more reason to celebrate. They won! Lyle should really celebrate by eating, he's probably starving.
TBD if he’ll fully be a “gummis-only” ‘mon for the rest of the story, but yeah. He’s probably not going to be touching scavenged fare if he has other options since he lives in a setting where there’s incentives to cut corners at just about all levels of society, which in the realm of meat production can lead to really creepy territory really fast in spite of how it’s supposed to work.
So, in the middle of all the partying there's the main cast. The perfect time to learn more about this Axew. First, that she's only giving them one part of her name. That brings to the front more information about the world, and how people treat names. It's fine. But just as she doesn't know anything about them, they don't know anything about her either. Though I feel they're asking her way too much, because I doubt someone would ask a stranger about a memento they wear. Yet they keep asking.
Potentially, though they are in a way of life where taking on someone you can’t trust will result in things coming to a screeching end. Plus you know, the whole deal of getting shoveled into a suspiciously secure wagon all on her lonesome. I’d be curious what the deal was, too! ^^;
The important thing... they kinda brought a stranger into their HQ. Naturally the reaction is to treat her with, well, distrust. So they go and ask her even more questions, because that's certainly gonna help out. Apparently she's an outlaw too, just like the rest of them, but from a really small gang. Though her story feels full of holes. She's probably lying, and anyone with more experience than her would know. Actually, she reacted to being called human. Now that I think of it, a human being transported would warrant a whole bunch of security…
She actually didn’t react to being called human, more so her story being lumped with “telling an obvious fairy tale” in terms of how seriously it was taken.
To make matters worse, they're actually kidnapping people. Surprised Lyle isn't a fan of that, though I guess he's just really trying to survive and not being involved in those things. Yeah, it fits with his character so far.
Yeeeeeeah, it’s a bit hard to pull “just one job” and bounce on employers that also get into the really icky sides of Outlawry. Needless to say, he didn’t sign up for that sort of heat and when confronted with that possibility, he wanted out, as did the Riparian Raiders and Mistral Marauders.
So things go from bad to worse, they're found, right in the dungeon. Something tells me there's more to it, but it could just be bad luck. It all gets increasingly chaotic from there, and honestly it's a miracle they were able to escape at all, though not without any casualties. Even Lyle almost died.
Well, it’s not quite just bad luck there. Remember how the author of the teaser in Chapter 2 specifically noted that he and his forces would be shadowing the caravan and to signal them with flares if things went sideways? Yeah, this is him there.
Chapter 4
Okay, this teaser text is explaining dungeons. I'm liking all of them so far, having them as a way to give more lore into the world is a genius idea. Seriously.
Glad you’re enjoying them, and that’s actually hitting on why I incorporated them in this story. There were some details about this world that I figured that I wanted to share, but that would be hard to bring up in a fast-paced plot organically, thus having in-setting texts do my dirty work.
Also, it’s a handy way of moving parties from the antagonists around off-screen without having to devote multiple scenes to it and while still keeping it from feeling like it came out of nowhere, as you’ve likely seen from your readthrough.
Alright. The good news is that Lyle's alive. Bad news is they lost a lot during that raid. Ironically, calling them good 'mons. Really ironic. In any case, despite completing their mission, they still suffered a whole lot. I... actually feel bad for them. Lyle in particular seems to be taking it the worst out of everyone, all because of Alvin. That Marowak and him must be really close. There's still a possibility he's alive, but that possibility shrinks the longer he stays with them. But they don't really have the time to think about that. There's still more guards running after them, so yes, escaping is the top priority.
I mean, it doesn’t help that this is actually the second time that Lyle has had to go through an event like this, so… yeah, he’s getting some old traumas revisited in live-time right about now.
Together. Honor among thieves I guess. So it's not an ideal situation, and nobody would even like it, but they have to stick together, and hmm, this Samurott lady does have a commanding presence. She named herself leader, but it's totally deserved. I like that they're going to at least look for survivors. It's better because the leaders mentioned not staying behind to save someone. Guess circumstances have changed. Lyle's group is almost the same as the one in this fic's cover, save for the Swellow. I wonder what's gonna make him get out. Maybe he's a traitor or something.
‘Or something’, yes. Though you got an answer to this later this chapter.
Oh hey, Lyle thought something that I was thinking too. This all happened because of Irune. Sort of, because I think even if she got captured during the raid, soldiers would still go after the others, so she's in the same situation as them, for better or for worse. More talk later—with mentions about human culture. Hm, this fic is probably set after humanity died out or something. And searching for the stairs is proving to be really hard for them.
Once again, ‘or something’. But they’re certainly not around anymore as far as anyone’s concerned, even if some of their stuff still is.
They're not alone, but I thought they knew that already. Soldiers found them anyway, and while it took them a while to catch up, they're at least incredibly persistent. And prepared to fight. See, Lyle is right in feeling regret over joining this situation. I can only think how big that regret's gonna grow.
Ah, I love reading Lyle's strategies in battle. He might not be the strongest fighter but he's full of tricks. That's cool in my opinion. Honestly the fights flow well, the paragraphs are pretty big, mind you, but the information in them is easy for me to process.
Glad to hear. That battle sequence in particular tends to be a bit divisive among reviewers, but hey, I do get feedback decently frequently among readers that had fun with it. Glad to hear that you were one of them. ^^
During the whole commotion, Artem is gone. Dalton does care about him, enough to get really upset about this situation. Not that it helps them. They don't have that luxury. Both Dalton and Lyle lost someone during this mission. How sad.
Even resting is a bit of a bad idea. Well, it's all they can do.
Lacan: “I mean, they could surrender and make life easier for those of us who aren’t Outlaw scum, but no…”
Chapter 5
God I love reading about lore. So after the humans were gone people wanted to salvage what little remained of them? Neat, because even in present time there's some human relics. In dungeons, but still. Nothing surprising about animosity between a king and a queen. It happens.
Yeah, hold onto those thoughts about that king and queen there…
Good news: they left the dungeon. Bad news... what next? While splitting up could work in their favor, it could also make things a lot worse. The option Irune gives them is crazy. She's asking outlaws to go with her and risk it all for a treasure. It's the main "hook" of the story, and normally this would be the call to adventure, but since the protagonists aren't, well, your regular protagonists, the hesitation they feel is a little different, but still valid. She's surprisingly cunning because as she explains the whole idea it kinda makes sense? The journey is dangerous and everything, but the rewards feel like they make up for it. Money and a chance at a peaceful life. For someone like Lyle, that's perfect, isn't it? And they all agreed to it. A bunch of weirdos, but I can't help but root for them. This kind of journey seems like a lot of fun.
Well, for the readers, certainly. I get the feeling that the cast would get a bit cranky if they were told that their journey was going to be a fun one, since… yeah.
There's some reprieve with another group of Pokémon. Something tells me I'll be seeing more of them, and that they won't be in friendly terms with our main cast. So the solution to the scarf problem is stealing from that group. Cool, makes sense, and since the team is apparently a new one, it's not that suspicious, though I do wonder if the team will notice it.
It’s also the one on the cover art, since they did need that set of coordinated red-and-silver duds there. :V
Irune's really attached to her... treasure. The scarf I get, now I wonder if the rocks are the key to entering Divine Roost, or at least related to it. She's sooo mysterious. Cool. But at least it all worked out for them. Uh, kinda, I guess.
Next up, deciding where to go. The soldiers from before will likely conclude they escaped, and maybe even find charred remains of those scarves. Either way, they'll be wanted soon enough. Being outlaws, they don't have many options on were to go, but thinking about the most dangerous route is interesting. Like, it'd be the last place the soldiers would look for them in.
Yeah, definitely a risky proposition, but there are advantages to be hand by playing the ‘reverse psychology’ card sometimes.
Instead they're going to be hitchhikers. Out of them I wanna learn about Dalton more than the others, because I have the feeling he's gonna be like, royalty. Or at least part of a rich family. Learning about the shrine is neat too, but the crush thing is a little too much information. Though I feel a little uneasy about them taking food meant as an offer. Well.. guess it's not unexpected.
Yeah, I can see it. No humans around made the whole world get chaotic because all the Pokémon were trying to make sense of it all. In the present, that seems to be resolved, so they really put in the effort to fix things.
Well, for a certain definition of ‘fix’, yes. Since the civilization that rules the roost in Varhyde nowadays is really different from the one that it attempts to strive after.
No soldier arrested them yet, so that's a good start. And the crew is lucky enough to run by a carriage without waiting for too long. So, in the end, Lyle's plan actually worked. Smart guy. Also, more time spent explaining some events about the world. Lyle isn't the only one that had a rough life, it feels like a common thing, so no wonder there's so many outlaws. The quick comments about Lyle's past help the story too, it's not too much exposition, if that makes sense. There's a lot of this throughout the prose and it's fun to read. Back to the story, their luck isn't looking too good, since the guards are trying to look at the cargo. Though the situation was solved fairly quickly, it was a momentary scare. Luckily they managed to get inside the city without much issue. That's one step closer to reaching their goal... on a giant staircase of steps.
Lyle made the right call in going to this town, since he knows the place. Knows enough to talk to the local sheriff without much issue, and wow he even put up a much friendlier attitude when talking to the guy, though it kinda came off as trying too hard, which I found funny. Even better, they succesfully duped the guy into thinking they're not criminals. But... unfortunately he's not a ray of sunshine. Bribing them? That's corrupt for someone acting as the sheriff in this town. Though they only gave him a berry, but luckily that was enough.
Yeah, the whole “welcome to Moonturn Square” sequence is basically the first long and hard glimpse of what civilization in this setting looks like outside of its boonies, the problems that it’s currently having, and how it relates to the characters. Glad to hear that you seemed to have fun with it.
Naturally, everyone is pissed that they had to give him a berry. Things are hard enough as it is. But that's not really the biggest issue they have right now. They gotta find a carrier. And like many criminals, their choice of place to find one is a tavern. Lovely. Another detail that those berries they found so much in the caravan are used as drugs. Hmm. Honestly I feel sorry for this poor Dragonite. To someone doing something illegal, Hermes seems so reserved, but he's also extorting them. I mean, that much for a trip? They're all outlaws so stealing that kind of money might be the only way they can do this. Oh, and the team name's been dropped, though I imagine the jig will be up eventually.
“Eventually”, yes. Though yeah, Hermes is definitely one of those characters who got a rawer deal in this story.
Chapter 7
This teaser text tells a lot more than I thought. A letter, and someone is already aware about Irune and the others trying to escape. There's also the mention of Irune being a key in some kind of operation, something that she clearly wants nothing to do with. How curious.
Like I thought, they'll have to steal in order to get the rest of the money. They're good at stealing, and it happens to be their only choice. Doesn't make it good, of course. So wow, they actually stole a bit of their goal so easily... or Dalton did, without even trying too hard. He's great at this kind of game. Meanwhile, Irune is having a hard time. I believe her story less and less, and I'm actually starting to doubt she was an outlaw in the first place. Only time will tell though. Even the others are getting suspicious of her. And in the end she couldn't do it; she got caught. Honestly even though she got caught, Irune was lucky enough that the lady she tried to steal from had a baby. For someone that says she stole before, this is really sloppy. So the obvious call is... she lied. About one thing or a bunch of things. Despite this setback, the others seem to still want the partnership, but taking time out of their busy schedule to show her the ropes? Cool.
I mean, if you’re wanted by the law enforcement of your land, you are by definition an Outlaw. Irune never said that she was an Outlaw who stole things. o<o
It's hard. Hard to teach her when they could get caught at any failure on her end. And she failed. Again. I wasn't really hoping she was gonna succeed in just two tries, but wow, she failed. Spectacularly. Lyle also doesn't seem to be that good of a teacher. Dalton might have a better shot at this. Or she fails again. I don't think failing is an option.
Going directly into the guild. As weird as it sounded at first, Dalton made a good point. Besides, they are trying to disguise themselves as being hunters or whatever. Unfortunately, she failed. Yet again. I think I see where this chapter is going, everyone is trying to teach her, but they're not doing a very good job.
Next up is Kate. And... Irune failed again, but this assignment was a little... awful for her, because she was practically robbing a child. And nobody wanted to do that.
Lyle: “Technically, we’re dealing with the ‘mon that’s ordering berries to make drugs through them, since… yeah. I don’t think we’re going to knock off any caravans just between the four of us like this.” [lylethinking]
Chapter 8
Oh boy the soldiers sure want to capture team Forager. For obvious reasons, but I'm impressed by the amount of effort they're putting into this. All because of Irune, I take it. The others aren't that famous(yet) so they're not being targeted that much. So it's all Irune's fault. I joke.
No, that’s about right. The other three to the army’s perspective are ultimately expendable while Irune is really, really important to them. As in “willing to do terrible, horrible things for the greater good”-level important.
Of course Lyle is the only one that'd like to sleep inside a burning building. Stereotypes, maybe, but if it fits... and their plan to get the money feels good. It just depends on whether or not those Togedemaru are dumb enough to fall for it. They even went as far as say they took scarves from other Pokémon, which is true. Though they didn't do much of a deal. As for the other two, Irune really can't fail now. Not when they got so far. Thankfully, she managed to distract him long enough for Lyle to do his thing. Unfortunately he's out for blood. This Scrafty is strong as hell if it took the four of them just to get him knocked out. And... ewwww, he's keeping the money in his pants. "Pants", whatever it is that Scrafty have. All in all, they made it with the money, so it's a win for them.
Why the hell did she keep his skin??? Uh, okay then, I'll choose to ignore that. They have the money for Hermes, which solves a bunch of t heir problems. But it's also a lot of money, imagine if they got robbed right before handing it to the guy. That would be some really bad luck. Getting to Hermes alone is gonna take some planning and prepaations.
Something something “salty about being punched around”, something something “humiliating a ‘mon that was kinda terrible to begin with to get even”.
Ah. There's Alvin, and he's not dead. Just taken prisoner. And wow it feels rough to read. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, so seeing him get treated badly is... yikes. Irune's hesitation in accepting they can't go rescue him tells a lot about her. Yeah she's not really an outlaw…
Lyle: “Wonderful. What next? Is that damned Salamence going to swoop in from beyond the horizon?”
Chapter 9
Ah, more about humans in this text. Or rather, the humans that get turned into Pokémon. If it happens a lot then fakes are also expected to show up as well. But there are regular humans, just seemingly rare. Which brings me to my theory about Irune being one and the whole "Balance Bandits" thing being a bunch of lies.
Well, you’re correct to assume that there’s at least one human in the mix this chapter, but it’s not Irune who’s the one.
So the chapter picks up immediately as the two teams run into each other. Naturally, the hunters are really pissed off. Only a day or two after and they already know about what the outlaws have been doing. News travel fast, I suppose. Now, this team Pathfinder... seems to be a bunch of dorks. From the bravado to the speech before they argued against themselves. Very heroic of them. And of course, they get into a fight. This is about the worst possible timing they could have, but I'm glad they held out pretty well, all things considered. Taking out the one with the items is a sound strategy. Wow, of course the Aggron from before gets called there, as if things couldn't get any worse for them. I'd say that but they managed to handle that pretty quickly. Still, that was really lucky.
Yeah, Team Pathfinder are basically your archetypical dweeby “zero to hero” team, just played in a manner where they:
A: Aren’t the protagonists that the story revolves around.
B: Have the everloving piss taken out of them as comic relief antagonists.
A chase sequence. That's how I'd describe what's going on here. First, Lyle gets separated from the others, then he meets with his old boss, that stupid Floatzel. Not that they had a good reunion, and he just wanted to get out of there. So much for hiding out, that cat's out of the bag now. Honestly it's a fun sequence of events, and they even saw the Zangoose from before. Somehow, they managed to make it through to where Hermes was. Buuuut like the other chapters said, soldiers already know they're doing this, so even if they fly away, there's no guarantee they're gonna be out of danger just yet.
Well, it’s less that they don’t have a guarantee that they’ll be out of danger and more or less had a guarantee that they would be blundering into danger. Though such is life when you’re completely out of the loop with what your enemies are planning for you.
Well, the beginning of their trip went smoothly. Apart from Irune being confused as hell about flying; she's clearly never done this before. And judging by their circumstances, it'll be rare to do it again. At least they had some time to chat amongst each other before they finally realized someone was following. And poor Hermes got sucked into this, he deserves better. In fact he seems to hate this situation, and for good reason. They almost died, and Lyle even had that flashback moment where his entire life flashed in his mind. Oh wow, that's an awful life to have, poor guy.
I mean, in the end, Hermes is allowed to limp off with his limbs attached and his freedom, that’s a good enough ending for him, right? /s
Yeah, I’ve been told by some other readers that Lyle’s life recall moment is one of the more memorable parts of this particular arc of the story. Glad to hear that you had fun with it.
So, they barely made it out, but unfortunately Hermes got captured in the process. And team Forager has little time to think about it. They have to run.
I’m honestly impressed at how you were able to just power through so many chapters in one shot and find so much to say about each one. Though glad you had fun with the ending note of this one.
Chapter 10
A cool tidbit of information about dungeons right at the beginning. There's not much to say here, but I like it.
Well, that and it was the foreshadowing that Team Forager wound up blundering into a really bad neighborhood, but I suppose you saw that in short order.
Again, they escaped but aren't safe just yet. In a dungeon, and one they don't seem to know much about, but it's likely the soldiers will come running to them soon enough. Meaning... staying around to rest could be a bad idea, but they're also exhausted, which makes it a conflict. They decided to go despite this anyway, and that's a little commendable. Just hoping nothing jumps at them the second they get inside this dungeon. But it probably will.
Yeah, while this story’s setting made Mystery Dungeons exploitable as spatial shortcuts as a convenient way to use them to take the gang from Point A to Point B as the plot called for it, nobody ever said they were going to be easy to use to those ends, as you likely gathered in this arc of the story.
Before they can do anything, there's some focus on those pursuing them. Right, they clearly want Irune out of everyone, and there's a mention of her becoming more aware of her role... hmmm, neat. She's an important figure, but who? Or what? Apart from that, the dungeon they entered is dangerous, or more dangerous than normal. For them and for all the soldiers around. Finally, Hermes. Yeah, he got the short end of the stick here, and he technically didn't lie; team Forager never told him what they were doing. Though I imagine he probably has some suspicion. Don't think they needed to throw him in the dungeon, but it worked for getting him to tell more. Poor guy, at least they let him go. Next it's a looong conversation between the soldiers, a lot of which is in German, but thankfully with translations. So, Irune hasn't awakened her powers just yet, and they wanna capture her before that happens. Neat.
Yeeeeeah, that whole German dialogue sequence likely doesn’t work quite as well on the platforms that lack hovertext markup, but meh, it’s a deliberate design decision so I’m sticking with it. Though yeah, this was kinda the main character-establishing moment for the primary antagonists of the story, since Hermes’ fate would’ve probably been pretty different had Sophia not been present to influence Lacan’s decision-making.
Ah, Dalton knew what made that dungeon infamous. And they arrived right in the middle of a monster house, which complicates things even more. But the fight was relatively short, and the wilders just ran off before a Cranidos showed up. He wants to join them, kinda? Of course, the best way to recruit someone is to beat them up. It never fails. But he also wants to leave the place, which makes them getting him out a good deal for both? But bruh, Irune did something really stupid, she didn't need to cut him off like that. The prose mentions a bit about Dalton too, and about his parents. Guess both him and Lyle are disappointments. And that's a wrap for this chapter. Really intense, didn't even know I was done until I saw the author notes.
Well, I suppose that that’s one way to tell that you were having fun this chapter. ^^
Chapter 11
These teaser texts sure like to talk about humans. I wonder why. Okay jokes aside it's nice to learn more from a dedicated segment, and specifically about humans. Ironically the attitude of worrying about their future as Pokémon is so much like humanity's fear. On that end they're not all that different.
The “they’re not so different” was actually the main point of that teaser, especially when it spent a decent chunk talking about humanity’s hubris. And if humans and Pokémon aren’t all that different from each other, well…
Back to the main story, the protagonists aren't having such a hard time with the dungeon. In fact, they've been getting it done a lot better than before. Save for that small argument with Lyle and Irune. I expect they'll become closer as the story goes on, because that's what usually happens, but considering how the premise of this story is already different, I'm also half expecting something else on that regard. Whatever it is, I'll be there for it. And the team just happened to stumble upon two Wilders having a conversation. A surprisingly eloquate conversation about their... leader, I think? And about tributes. They don't sound like wild Pokémon, to be honest, which is the most amusing part of this conversation. They're smart enough to realize there's someone else in there with them. Very clever, so now they wanna attack our main characters. Very lovely indeed.
Yeah, Wilders in Once a Thief basically run off the same rules as Fledglings’ ferals. They may be living as ‘wild Pokémon’, but they’re still every bit as sapient as their civilized counterparts, and as such capable of being pretty smart in their own right.
Not that they have the time to fight. Yeah, they've been searching for the exit for a looong time and it's been hard to find it. With monster houses and increasingly stronger Wilders. Again, a chase sequence. They can't even run for that long, so fighting might be their only way out of this situation. Cool, I like seeing Lyle fight. Or run away and taunt his opponent. It's still a valid strategy, and it helped him. Though he got hurt in the process. Thankfully, not a fatal injury. Good for him.
Glad to hear. Lyle’s battling style actually draws a bit from IRL weasel/ferret behaviors, where bobbing and jumping around to disorient their prey is a well-documented part of how they hunt. Given that Quilava’s dex lore also talks about them being quick-footed, I thought that it was a worthwhile addition.
Ah, sweet, Irune is feeling guilty for making that Cranidos from before run away. Serves her right, though she's still reserved about it. And on Lyle's end, he doesn't seem that injured. Sure, things could be better, but they could also be much worse. This is their first "mission" together, and it's not going so well, hell, Irune is not getting along well with them. But since they're planning on resting for a bit, that's the perfect time to make ammends. She's hiding something from them, something that could alter their relationship. Man, I really wanna know what it is.
Instead it's Kate and Lyle that are talking. Yeah, I can see why Lyle feels reret. It was his choice to do this, but he has every right to be upset about it. Thinking about what could have been isn't very productive, though. He knows that, I'm sure he does. The team also realized the possibility of Lacan to be waiting around at the exit, which was the plan. I hope the team makes it out safely.
I mean, it’d have been a short story if at least a part of the team didn’t make it through, so…
Chapter 12
I've been wondering if this fic was set in the same continuity as Fledglings, and slowly I searched for any kind of clue inside these teaser texts. I've got nothing, probably because it's been a while since I read Fledglings(I really should work on that). But anyway, in this one there's a mention of a powerful dragon that can cause doomsday. Eternatus? Rayquaza? Ultra Necrozma? Something else? I dunno. Fun.
It’s not set in the same continuity as Fledglings beyond occasionally getting in some nods to it (and vice versa in its later chapters). The best way of thinking of it would be like two separate game lines from Dungeons and Dragons: lots of shared overbroad mechanics and nuts and bolts, different settings and nitty-gritty details.
Though as for that dragon, hold onto your thoughts there…
Man, how long have they been running around this dungeon? A long time, for sure. Though at least things seem to have calmed down. For the moment, anyway. That doesn't stop Irune from worrying. She's got her reasons for worrying, of course. She still doesn't trust them, and that trust might not ever appear. Unfortunately it's not like she has any other choice. She picked them herself. So they go to the link. But nothing can come to them easily, and they found the so-called chief of this dungeon. A Tyrantrum, cool! Strong enough to give them a real challenge in the dungeon, and smart enough to block their exits. Overall, a worthy opponent for this ragtag team.
Ooooh, Irune did something different. Using an electrical attack despite it seemingly being impossible for her species. And wow does she pack a punch. I can only ask who the hell she really is. And finally they manage to defeat the guy, only to find out weird things about him, like the lack of bones, and that he holds on to a single tooth. He's... pathetic, really. Neat choice of them to not kill the guy.
Not everything's a win, though. Dalton is still wounded, and who knows what's waiting for them on the other side of the dungeon? The good thing is that they're alive. But about everything else? No clue. I'm hoping that the team gets a break, because I think they deserved it after all they've been through. At least to discuss what was up with Irune. Maybe it'll be revealed in the next chapter.
Irune’s identity is something that the story is about 5-6 chapters past today’s from just bluntly revealing to the other cast. I fully expect a decent chunk of the audience to zero in on what it is before that point, but as you probably saw in the following chapters, the cast hadn’t gotten around to putting two and two together yet.
Chapter 13
Okay this text is very informative. Dungeons forming around the world caused all kinds of items to fall in them, items not found anywhere else before. And there's that bit about the merchants inside. I'd never guess there was an explanation for why Kecleon is so incredibly strong inside dungeons but here it is. And it fits right in with the world.
All the better for a chapter where the gang gets their sorry bums saved by some of those dungeon merchants, huh?
Ah, now I see why Irune was so hesitant to accept that Cranidos. She saw others suffering because of her, and having three new teammates is all she can hope to afford. She's more tragic than I realized in the beginning, and she doesn't even want the power she has. So going to that dungeon is gonna help her control it? Cool premise. The team seems more occupied with figuring out where to go and about looking after Dalton, so her power is a secret. For now anyway. As for where they should go, it seems they'll need a long time just to get out of this dungeon, and Dalton isn't gonna help out all that much. They barely started their journey and things are going south already. In fact it doesn't sound like he has much strength left in him. Sheesh.
Yeah, Dalton… wasn’t exactly doing well after becoming a Tyrantrum chew toy. Though at least things have stabilized for him in the present day? ^^;
God, things are awful for them. Not even letting them get a moment to breathe and come up with a plan, and the winds are showing up as a sign of what's to come. And apparently, not the natural winds. Irune continues thinking about Lacan and herself, which I'm not sure would even help in their current predicament. Wind showed up again, as well as the scent of Oran berries. It's strange since there's no sign of any Wilders, but no sign of Hunters either, so what is it? Apparently, hidden stairs to a bazaar where they can acually rest and maybe even cure Dalton. It's the only option they have, even if it might not be a bazaar.
It was a bazaar. But they're still kinda criminals so talking to the merchants there is gonna take some... convincing. And keeping secrets, too. Somehow they managed to make it work, kinda. Not like they can just buy something and hope that Dalton makes it. His wounds are too severe for that. Just like Hermes before, they can't have the merchants asking too many questions, and now they have to find 100 Poké, which isn't nearly as much as what they had to give the dragon.
Fortunately for them, 100 Poké was pocket change and they did have leftovers from that Scrafty they mugged that they didn’t pay to Hermes, so…
They made it out, but this bug clearly isn't very happy about what he had to do. In fact he probably figured out they're criminals from how little they told him. Still, he didn't outright say it, so it's just a theory. The village they're going to doesn't seem to recognize them, which means their bounties probably haven't been updated yet. Or the guards are stupid. But they're still asking a lot of questions, and even kinda recognize them, but not enough to cause trouble. They're really close to getting Dalton treated, though.
It’s a mix of said bounties not getting updated plus the guards feeling sorry for them. Which was just as well, since if they had come into town just 8-10 hours later, they’d have gotten a very different reception.
Chapter 14
Aw man, yeah, human technology is so more advanced than Pokémon technology, and it's a shame that it got lost to time and... dungeons, I think. Maybe if there was a sufficiently smart mon around, they could replicate it. But for now it's just shoving berries and seeds until wounds are healed. I imagine this particular subject is because in this chapter Dalton will finally get healed. Here's hoping he does.
Well, he’ll start getting healed, at least. Even if it’s going to be a few arcs in this story before he fully goes back to normal.
Oh... Dalton is going through a rough time. I wanna give him a hug but it'd probably hurt his arm more. Never though he'd be the type of guy to think about old times that much. It's stuff like this that makes him feel like an old man, or a noble, or both. Actually, from every bit of information about himself that he tells his teammates, it feels like he was an actual noble. Luckily they're finally on the way to the clinic. Only now they're realizing that maybe going there isn't such a good idea, because they're wanted. What choice do they have, though? It's that or let him get worse and worse. Maybe they can stay there long enough for him to heal, and then run away.
It’s actually straight up mentioned in his narration that he is a noble. A petty one way at the bottom of the noble hierarchy called an Edler, not that he’d have much luck riding on his rank at the moment.
I don't know enough about medical practices to ask if asking the patient what happened is a good thing or not. Thankfully on Dalton's end his injuries aren't so serious. They're still bad and everything, but he won't need to like, do surgery or anything. He just needs rest and berries. Which... was what he was doing before, but hearing it from a doctor helps out a lot. Speaking from experience. And wow, the clinic actually lets them stay in there for free if they're a patient. I'm actually surprised. Mostly because I hear the horror stories about clinics in the US. In any case the team is not hoping to stay there. A long talk later, and they more or less have a plan. A bit expensive but really, they deserve it.
Yeah, if playing things completely realistically, Dalton would be lucky to still keep his arm after all of this and deal with weeks of recovery afterwards. But “something something, Pokémon heal faster than IRL”, so he’s just got to survive about a week without making things worse… which is a bit easier said than done while on the lam.
Pffft, Lyle can't pick names to save his life. I love this running gag of his. Things went smoothly after that, and they met a few familiar faces. They're resting by drinking. Because surely that's the best option.
Yes, surely only good things could come from that. ^^;
So next up, Irune and Lyle talk again. And she actually mentions her so-called power, and that she wants to go to another city. Using just a hunch is hardly a good idea. And Dalton's... wow. I wasn't expecting that from him. He's an angry drunk. That issue aside, things got better. Relatively speaking.
Yeah, Dalton’s been through some stuff in life that he normally keeps bottled up. They tend to stay a bit less bottled up when he’s more uninhibited.
Chapter 15
Yeah, obviously the soldiers are still out there looking for Irune, but at least they have a headstart now. And the government is putting a hell of a lotta effort in capturing them. Well, it makes sense if Irune really is capable of turning the tides in this war. I don't even think it looks overdone.
Quite a change from your initial read of how she was being carted around in Chapter 2, huh? ^^
On the bright side, Lyle seems interested in at least talking things out with Irune, but she was apparently only having a bad dream. Honestly their journey so far seems to be one-sided. It was very explicit that they're only doing this because of the reward. Interestingly enough, Irune herself mentioned the bandits she was a part of inside the prose, so maybe it wasn't all lies. Meanwhile, Kate and Dalton are kinda not up for anything right now, so it rests on both Irune and Lyle. Of course. Wasn't expecting them to be drinkers, and they should really try to get sober faster. Which apparently a Lum berry can do. Surely it can't be that hard to find one without them getting caught by more soldiers. But with their stream of luck... it's probably gonna go horribly wrong for them all. As always.
Lyle: “I mean, we at least got the money to get out of Moonturn Square instead of getting stomped by Sheriff Mack? That counts for something, right?”
Nevermind, it went as smoothly as possible. But wow, they have to steal again. What a surprise, and Irune was against that. The kind of speech Lyle heard from his parents a lot of times, and it's probably pinned on his head right now. I mean, it is what it is, at least when it comes to them. And they found people they met before, which complicates things even more. Lot more conversations, and this time about a potential heir. Since I doubt it's a coincidence, money's on Dalton being that heir. Or Irune, somehow. It'll probably be a new character or someone I know.
That’s more “background events” going on in the story, you’ll actually get to see that ‘Operation Siegfried’ talked about a bit more in today’s chapter and what its primary relevance to this plot is.
Heist time. On someone that seemingly is suffering, which makes him not a very good victim. The bear nearby does, though, It's not that hard for them to pick the lock they need, but the pair they've been watching made an interesting observation. Good, they're at least away from Lacan for the moment, which makes things easier on their end. Too bad they got found in the end.
Yeah, blurting things out in startled tones is a bad idea while hiding, who knew?
Chapter 16
Ah, this one is more about the creator of the world. Arceus, I assume, given how they seem to fulfill that role in almost every story, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong if that's the case here. Whatever it is, I'll be happy with it.
Well, there’s a certain angle to that teaser that you didn’t quite pick up on. Without giving the game away too hard, but pay attention to what the writer had to say about that ‘God of Creation’ and what they know of its past appearances.
Like last chapter suggested, the team was found and now they're running for their lives again. It's becoming routine by this point, which it's funny. Except this time around it's a little harder, they barely made any progress before getting slowed down. Not to mention Dalton was stupid enough to try and open his frills when the nurse specifically said it'd take a while. But hey, he was probably desperate. Irune once again did something weird in front of them, and it managed to save them all. Girlboss attitude. Again, they don't have enough time to discuss what's going on with her. I'm curious myself, I wanna know what kind of power it really is. And they finally have bounties, all over eight thousand each. Irune's last name bein Wilde is interesting enought that it got a reaction out of them, but that's probably being explained later down the line. So now their plan is to just... get on a boat and leave. Not their best idea, but it can work if they're lucky. Which they probably aren't.
I mean, the gang does have a finite pool of luck, but they haven’t hit bottom with it… yet, anyways.
See? Not lucky. Crazy how they found those Hunters from before. I knew they were gonna be recurring characters. Team Forager just can't catch a break, which fits since they're criminals. Nonetheless, despite the animosity they have towards each other, they still have time to banter. Then the fight actually happened. You know, for someone injured, Dalton puts up a lot of effort. Probably because he doesn't wanna be useless. Or captured and all that it entails.
Chaos and chaos as they make their escape. I have the feeling this is gonna be a recurring event. They keep getting into messes in every town they're in, and escaping said towns is a journey all on its own. I like it. Somehow they actually managed to do it, but who knows for how long.
Hold onto those thoughts, really. Though yeah, the gang have been running up quite the tab for their luck as of late, haven’t they?
Chapter 17
Ooooh, interesting lore. There was once a common land all the way back in the past, and that land isn't accessible anymore, but it still has a name. And another thing, I assumed the dragon was gonna be Eternatus or Necrozma, but now with it being called "Nameless", I'm thinking it's the original dragon that the Unova trio originates from. It'd make sense since iin canon it was split into them, which could be the so-called Scions. Just a theory. Also, Wish is likely a reference to Jirachi, I believe? It's fun to theorize, at least, even if I'm likely wrong.
This is one of those things that will hit different for the part of the audience that either goes through these teasers with a fine-toothed comb (or else are L1 German speakers). Since let’s just say that the land that was rendered as ‘Annal’ could’ve been validly translated in a very different fashion than how this story did it.
Time for more misadventures with the loveable cast of idiots(I say this in the most affectionate way possible). They're out of danger for now, but their map is more or less ruined. At least Irune managed to get her pendant. She seems really desperate to keep that thing, and yes, it's important, but I haven't got the faintest clue about why it is. Not yet. How amusing that the Feraligatr they saw is on the raft as well. The team didn't have enough time to look at it before making their escape. And he was drunk before... lying their way out of this is becoming more reocurring every chapter, and it's always fun. They actually convinced the guy! And this city is the Throne of Truth, huh? Reshiram, maybe?
I mean, you did catch the repeated references to how Reshiram was the patron Legendary of Varhyde, right? :V
Lyle is having a bad time. The water's bad, and seeing a... labor camp, for lack of a better word, just reminds him of himself and Alvin. He sure likes to think about that guy a lot. Really close friends, then. The worst of it is that he can't do anything, and thinking about how Alvin is doing won't help him either. But I get why he keeps doing it. This gator is so cool, scaring off those fish just like that. Though they damaged the raft... and Lyle's fears are getting bigger. He really can't catch a break. The damage doesn't seem so bad, and hey, they're all making conversation. That has to help this gator not realize he has criminals in his raft.
Yeah, the one change to this story that if I can ever be bothered to go back and implement it would be to play up in the first few chapters about how Lyle and Alvin are close friends to one another and show it off more explicitly to make their parting more of a gut punch. Though it sounds like that even if it wasn’t perfectly executed, it still got the point across.
Also, Kyurem is mentioned. Heheh, guess I was right in some way. Irune herself is curious about it, but that doesn't tell me much now. On another note, guess they are headed for the city after all. Or at least thinking about it.
The shrine looks nice. Ah, and I think I got something from the wish and reality. It's just a different name for truth and ideals. Dun dun duuun, they find a pendant just like Irune's. Curious.
More specifically ‘Wish and Reality’, or more specifically ‘Wunsch und Wirklichkeit’ is the German franchise localization equivalent to the whole ‘Truth and Ideals’ shtick from the English localization. As such, somebody referring to ‘Reality/Wirklichkeit’ as an entity in the story is functionally equivalent to calling Reshiram ‘Truth’.
Chapter 18
Neat, the test is more about a city being formed. Not much juicy information on this one, but I don't mind it because, well, it's cool to read more lore. Moving on to the actual chapter.
Well, there are still a couple small details (and Xeno references) to be had with a closer eye. After all, don’t you find it a bit strange that the teaser has no mention of a Neuengelstadt in it?
Right, last chapter had that cliffhanger. And, of course, Irune imediately goes to defend herself. Even when confronted with something as relevant as this, she still doesn't say anything. Though the implication is that she prayed for Kyurem in her life. The pendant is part of that, but there's no true confirmation of its purpose. She said it was a visual reference to the treasure, but honestly I doubt that. Though she's not that good at lying, so maybe it is and I'm just being paranoid. So now they have fifteen minutes to decide what to do. Guess they put it off for too long. Though Dalton makes good points, his knowledge can come in handy. Also, he's an actual nerd. Cool. In the end they decided to go, but wow did Lyle need a lot of convincing. He's by far the character that needs it the most this fic. It's in his character. Well, they have a plan now. It's better than nothing.
Lacan finally makes an appearance again. And he's slowly working through team Forager's footsteps. Right now at the city where they went into the clinic. Amongst other things. The village itself is handling things as well as it's expected, while Lacan is just angry at them for letting them go. Not that they didn't try to capture them, they failed. Oh, oh I get it, they're likely taking shelter in the Thieves' Guild. That makes sense, and Dalton is probably the one leading them there. Lacan probably knows what Irune wanted to find there. Question is if they'll be intercepted before entering the city.
Well, that would be really anticlimactic since then I couldn’t show off what Newangle City was like, so…
Before, apparently. The good thing is this Feraligatr doesn't think his passengers are lying. He got duped. And wow, the guards aren't that stupid, even if they don't recognize the team. Huh, they got bribed in the end. Like team Forager I didn't think Boudewijn would do it. But unfortunately it's the sad reality of the world they live in.
Yeah, alas. Unfortunately, when you have places to be in a world that’s coming apart at the seams, you have to bend a few rules.
Chapter 19
This King Claus seems like a heartwarming figure, like he really was a good king. It certainly feels that way with all his achievements. But even he couldn't stop the war at hand, maybe it was out of his reach. Good teaser text.
Well, he’s certainly seen as one by the Pokémon that came after him. Can’t say anything about what the reality of things were, other than that he and his counterpart in Edialeigh were very deliberately evocative of an “if you know, you know” thing from the Xeno series.
Like I thought, the city is beautiful. A city built on ruins is such a nice setting for this story. It's like it was made for it. And it's funny how Dalton is the only one not that impressed. Lyle almost feels like a country boy because of his reaction, which made this a little funny. I kinda wish I could visit this city from how pretty it seems to be based on the prose. Drafting to the army is also a thing here, unfortunately. Lyle's parents must have heard the news about him, and must be even more disappointed. It is what it is. Oh, and this Feraligatr is more forgiving than he might look. He knows times are tough, given the bribe from earlier. Again, the group is getting at each other's throats. Not that productive, but it doesn't seem that bad compared to other times. They'll likely steal again if they're that broke. Which brings them to Dalton's plan.
I mean, you did catch the implication for why Boudewijn was so forgiving to the gang, right? Let’s just say that once upon a time, Boudewijn would’ve been right at home alongside the rest of Team Forager, even if he’s left those days long behind him.
They're stealing scarves again. On the bright side this means team Pathfinder won't be that pissed off at them. Maybe.. And again, they don't steal it without someone noticing it. Dalton disguising himself as a student when he used to be one is probably his smartest idea yet. Meanwhile, Irune got a scarf that's an actual symbol. Cool. This time though, they're not burning the scarves. It's a good plan to swap if they need to. And their next plan is to follow Dalton into another district. That's also cool in my opinion. Here we go.
Yeah, this was actually a late addition to this story when I stopped and realized that there was exactly zero way that the gang would assume that their original scarves would still be good in a giant city teeming with guards after seeing updated wanted posters. As such, this sequence was dropped in to allow them to pull some things off that would otherwise require a lot of other Pokémon being really, really incompetent.
Going up sounds so tiring. I don't know how they handle it. Honestly I wanna know what caused Dalton to stop studying and living in the city, as well as what started his life of crime.
By living within a certain band of levels from the surfaces they can reach easily and taking ramps that are more gradual climbs than a huge bank of stairs.
Interesting that Irune spent so much time near the statue. I... actually had an epiphany. I wonder if she's somehow the original, nameless dragon mentioned in the teaser text. It'd explain her using electric and fire attacks. No ice attacks yet, which does put a hole in my theory. Just a thought.
Well, that’s certainly an interesting theory. I can’t confirm or deny it since the story will be doing that job for me within the span of a few months at this rate, other than to say that there’s a certain character detail about Irune that nobody to my knowledge has picked up on yet which provides a very strong hint as to who she really is.
So, from what little information Dalton is giving out, I do think they're heading for that Thieves Guild. Feels like the most natural conclusion. Good chapter.
I mean, the Thieves’ Guild could always head to them, just saying.
Chapter 20
Y'know, I was wondering why there were mentions of real-life animals throughout the story, and hm, I can see it now. Pokémon can use ether, animals can't. And that's the distinction between them, if I'm reading it correctly? And on that note, learning TM moves requires an actual tutor and not just... pressing it against their head? Really fun.
re: real-life animals: Those are just treated as synonymous with various classes of Pokémon. e.x. a “dog” is a certain subset of Pokémon that might include Growlithe and Snubbull much in the same way that a “jackal” IRL can refer to a Side-Striped Jackal, or the very distantly related Golden Jackal that has more in common with wolves than the first species.
Though otherwise, yes. The “infinite energy” that the in-setting residents call “Ether” being present in the bodies of Pokémon is treated as the main thing that distinguishes them from non-Pokémon life. It’s a familiar concept in from the Pokémon franchise that was almost certainly called something very different a little over a thousand years prior to the story.
Maybe they don't wanna be high up because they're scared of falling down. Or that to live there they need a lot of money, something that the fic has established is hard to get by for the common folk. Meanwhile, Kate is still out there trying to rob people. Despite the fact that it's too risky in the district they're in. It's probably risky in the entire city, but this place is more than usual. At least the people in this city seem a lot more friendly. They're talking about the Charmeleon there and his accent. Which apparently is distinct enough to be noticeable by them, but I don't know German, so I really can't tell. Apparently the implication is that this Charmeleon isn't from around the place, and the army was involved. Well, it can't be good if that's the case, but it doesn't matter for them. Oh wow, Kate's a dumbass, going to the armor shop.
Kate: “Is it really stupid if it works? And hey, are you really saying you don’t want a sweet set of armor?”
Well that didn't take very long. And while they didn't get arrested, they did get into trouble with a Tyranitar. Though I guess he was in the right here. And there's another argument made with everyone involved. Kate doesn't even defend herself here, probably because she doesn't want to, and because they're right. Honestly she's the biggest thief of them all. And hey, they can try buying the thing. Which is strange because Kate actually has a point here. They can't just go around without protection, they probably won't even reach Divine Roost the way they are. Not to mention they aren't particularly strong. Getting TMs instead of an armor might suit them better. And it's probably cheaper too. Also, uh, they have a lot more money than I thought. It should give them an edge.
Also, it won’t make it obvious that they just stole a bunch of money from someone else on the street, but… yeah, Dalton kinda pointed that out for me. ^^;
Lacan and the rest of his company arrived in the city. This is the second time he's close to his goal. Now there's another party interested in them. Cool.
Sophia: “I don’t know if ‘cool’ is the word that I’d use to describe that, really.”
Chapter 21
Ah, there's the letter that told the guards there to wait. Even the army has to deal with this stuff. In fact, since it's bureaucracy, they gotta deal with something a little bit worse.
Lacan is flying around. He seems so powerful up there, but at the same time he's humble enough to know he's not invincible. Honestly he doesn't seem like a bad guy. He just happens to be standing against the main characters of this story, for his own reasons. Though... how much does he know? Maybe he's a pawn in someone else's game too. That thought just ocurred to me.
Oh, trust me, there’s other ones that are way more on-the-nose than that in this story. >:V
Hm, okay, yeah, Lacan is a nice guy enough to be there for his associates. Out of necessity due to his job, maybe, but he at least sounds genuine. And they're friends since childhood? Cool! These soldiers, leaders, aren't two-dimensional. They have worries and dreams too. And fears, like that Lacan is gonna kill her eventually, which seems like a bit of a stretch. Or maybe not. So now they wanna get into the castle. Nothing too big, just a misunderstanding with the guards. Other than that, things went smoothly. I kinda wanna root for Lacan.
That’s less ‘kill her eventually’ and more ‘get her killed eventually’, or ‘be unable to be there to protect her’. Since if you picked up on Lacan’s thought process, he’s already had more than one close call on that front in the past.
At least the pronounciation of "TM" is consistent here, in like, a weird way because it's not something they know much about. It's a neat detail. Anyway, Lyle is learning a move, and even when doing so he's thinking of Alvin. Man, I want him to join the group eventually. He'd fit right in with them! He did well too, relatively speaking. So did the others. Except for maybe Irune, since she chose Protect. Hm, it fits with her personality; I don't think she's much of a fighter, so adding support works for her. Also, that Tyranitar realized he got robbed. Uh... well, at least they learned everything now.
Well, that and it’s an artifact of the “language” they used to speak from when the terminology for TMs was handed down. “tay-emm” is roughly how one would pronounce “TM" in German franchise media.
Another chase sequence began. This one was helped by Dalton's... experience. Just what did he go through in this city? He even lead them to some tunnels. Normally it'd be a good place to hide, but it seems they're not alone in there.
Aw, Sophia and Lacan are cute. The way he said things makes him seem like a foster parent for her. Finally meeting the king... it's something I was looking forward to. Even Lacan is full of expectations, knowing the king since he was a kid. Neat, if it wasn't giving him a bit of pressure.
Ah, he's a Mienshao. Fits. And hm, he's rigid, as expected of a king. He's not even saying anything to Lacan. But he might soon. Neat, I wonder what they'll talk about.
You’ll get an answer to this question really quickly. Just come back and keep reading! :V
Whew, that one took a few days, but I’m back and ready to present the next chapter of this story. It’s a bit on the chunkier side, but I honestly couldn’t think of a good thematic point to cut things short with the events that are immediately coming down the pipe afterwards, so I figure it’s good enough. Especially with how much I’ve been keeping you all waiting.
Anyhow, time for today’s main attraction, which is a chapter all about wanting things in life and the problems that those can cause:
Die Geschichte von Wahrheit und Ideale als Königreiche existierte lange Zeit im Schatten der vielen Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit. Und doch bleibt es bis heute ein Rätsel, warum Wunsch und Wirklichkeit auf ihren Wanderungen nach dem Glühenden Blitz so nahe beieinander liegende Länder zum Wohnen auswählten. Ihre genauen Begründungen sind inzwischen verloren gegangen. Einige vermuten, dass es das Schicksal der beiden ist, sich im Laufe ihres Lebens näher zu kommen, während andere vermuten, dass der Glühende Blitz einfach zu einer Zeit stattgefunden haben könnte, als sie beide von ihrer ursprünglichen Heimat entfernt und nahe beieinander waren.
Wie unsere Schutzgöttin wählte der Gott, den wir Wunsch nennen, einen Helden und half dabei, ein Königreich nach ihrem Geschmack zu gründen. Königin Galea, die zusammen mit dem Gott, der ihr beistand, das Königreich von Ideale inmitten der Ruinen einer Stadt des Lichts gründete, die einst der Standort der legendären „Illumina“ gewesen sein soll. Ein Ort, den die Bewohner des Landes der Wahrheit heute Donnerturmstadt nennen.
Auch wenn es in dieser Stadt Orte gab, die Wunsch als Schlafplatz gefielen, heißt es, dass es letztlich ihre Wünsche und ihre Stärke an Idealen waren, die ihn dazu brachten, Galeas Bitten zu folgen, um unsere unruhige Welt in eine zu verwandeln, die ihrer Meinung nach besser für ihre Bewohner war. So starke Wünsche, dass manche sagen, sie hätte es für angebracht gehalten, dem ein Ende zu setzen, wenn die Welt sie zurückgehalten hätte.
Niemand weiß, wie wahr diese Geschichten sind, aber sie sind auf jeden Fall glaubwürdig, wenn man bedenkt, was über Wunsch und diejenigen, die er als seine Helden in der Geschichte ausgewählt hat, überliefert ist. Besonders angesichts der großen Gewalt, die dieser Drache von Reines Schwarz über uns und unserem Land von oben herab verübt hat.
- Auszug aus »Die Wahrheiter Chroniken – Eine kurze Geschichte der frühen Jahre unseres Königreichs«
Lacan held his head up stiffly as the clatter of sliding wooden partitions rang out and the wall in front of him slid aside at the tug of the King’s paw to reveal a wooden balcony outside. The King stepped out, and after a moment to suck in a breath and steel his nerves, Lacan followed after him into the brisk air.
The balcony was simple, but well-hewn in construction, and wide enough for just about any Pokémon on land to comfortably fit on it. Function had evidently been prioritized over form, with the timbers feeling sturdy underfoot but bearing few decorations barring a Drachensiegel here or there carved into the wood just below the railing.
The sun was already starting to set, as burnt orange hues reflected off the river bounding the Administrative District to the north as stars began to twinkle in the skies above. Below, they were mirrored by the lights of countless lanterns and candles in the windows of the city below sprawling out to its circular walls and the ten towers that anchored it. In more normal circumstances, Lacan would’ve been content to just look out over the scene and bask in its wonder.
But things weren’t normal right now. The Mienshao’s frown at the corner of his mouth made that much obvious, even as he kept his gaze turned away and glanced out over the surrounding cityscape.
“I was hoping you’d have something to show me for your efforts, Lacan,” Siegmund said, still looking away. “Especially after you passed word of finally intercepting the Dyad just three days ago.”
Lacan quietly grimaced. There had been times in the past when the King had received him warmly, much as if he was his flesh and blood…
But none of that warmth was there today, and Lacan could hardly fault him. After all, this wasn’t an occasion to prattle on about his recovery from the wounds he’d sustained prior to his assignment to Operation Spark, or about the paints he dabbled with in simpler times much like his father had.
They were there to talk about how for the third time in a year, he had grasped the fate of Varhyde’s future in his claws only to have nothing to show for it.
“Your Majesty, I’m not one to make a habit of making a fool of myself,” the Salamence said, lowering his head apologetically. “I would not have come here to the capital if the Dyad’s trail had not taken me here.”
The weasel’s expression grew guarded and serious. It was hard to imagine he thought much of excuses, much less coming from a noble of middling rank such as himself. The very fact that he was here addressing the King in person was a privilege that Grafen rarely enjoyed in Varhyde, especially ones without accomplishments to their name like his father.
It was likely because of his father that he had this opportunity with Siegmund, and he would be a fool to squander it by making the King believe that he took it for granted.
“I understand your apprehension, Your Majesty. But the fact that the Dyad came here not even a night after fleeing Primordial Woods makes me believe she won’t leave right away,” Lacan insisted. “She and the ruffians with her fled Errberk Village after they were caught stealing from a wagon, and they would need time to reprovision in a strange environment. Time which we can use to track her down.”
“I still don’t understand how things came to this,” Siegmund sighed. “If she could have been persuaded to come quietly…”
“As you’ve seen from the reports from our first few months pursuing her, our attempts to do so were unfruitful,” the Salamence said. “Somebody put her up to the idea that she couldn’t trust the power within her to the realm and to keep running away, and we’ve been dealing with the consequences of her stubbornness ever since.”
Lacan braced himself as the Mienshao remained silent and kept his same, stony expression from the corner of his eye. He wasn’t sure whether or not he was persuading the King, or simply digging himself in deeper right now.
He’d explained in an urgent dispatch after the debacle in and around Waterhead Cave that he needed what he hoped would merely be a few days’ more time to recover her. While King Siegmund would surely understand a delay of a couple days, being half the kingdom away from that backwater where those damned Outlaws had thrown his mission off-course was another matter entirely.
… And yet, the fact that Siegmund hadn’t cut in yet wasn’t a bad, sign was it? Perhaps if he just explained why the Dyad had most likely come here, he’d understand…
“That’s why I have reason to believe that the Dyad may want to linger here,” Lacan said. “It would appear that she is looking to better understand her true nature.”
Siegmund turned his head warily to the side. He twitched his whiskers briefly before speaking up in a guarded tone.
“And what gives you such confidence in your theory, Graf Lacan?” the Mienshao pressed. “After all, it’s already deeply surprising to hear that the Dyad would come here of all places.”
“Observed behaviors,” he replied. “She picked up a pendant during her travels that she keeps with her, one that appears to be styled after a Diennesse Wedge.”
The Mienshao jolted upright from the railing and shot an alarmed stare back.
“A Diennesse Wedge?” he asked. “How on earth did she get that?”
“She didn’t. Hers is a cheap trinket made of painted stone, of the sort that might be sold as a protective amulet. A scratch test we conducted confirmed as much,” the Salamence explained. “The more important factor is that she’s been holding onto it and been trying to make her way to the Divine Roost at least since we apprehended her, and likely for much longer.”
Lacan shook his head, before turning out towards the evening cityscape and letting his eyes fall over the warren of streets and buildings below.
“The Dyad appears to have heard some of the lore regarding her true nature and is trying to piece those stories together,” he explained. “I believe that’s why she came here—to try and fill in more of those gaps. It’s the most likely thing that would motivate her to risk coming here instead of searching for a safer refuge for a fugitive.”
Siegmund twitched his whiskers briefly, before leaning against the railing of his balcony with a low sigh.
“I suppose it’s hard for me to contest your argument, Graf Lacan. The Diennesse Wedge isn’t exactly common knowledge outside of those who are well-versed in tales of the gods, in particular of its wielder,” he said. “Though there’s far from a singular place in this city where one could find such knowledge. So how do you narrowing down where the Dyad would seek out this knowledge, then?”
Lacan … hadn’t worked that part out. And with the Dyad traveling in the midst of a band of companions, it wasn’t safe to assume that she’d be groping about blindly in Newangle City. The very fact that she’d made it into the city without being detected was strongly suggested at least one of them was familiar with it.
He could see the skeptical glint in Siegmund’s eye. Even if Lacan was the type to blow hot air and prattle on with empty words, he doubted the King would have patience for it.
Perhaps it was best to just be honest, even if it surely wasn’t what the King wanted to hear.
“I suppose I’d start by trying to find places where the Dyad would be looking around in the first place,” he said. “After all, the answers that she seeks aren’t available in casual reading material. So she’d surely be asking others in this city about places where she could potentially find them.”
“Yes, you could certainly do that, and with enough time and soldiers, you’d likely succeed,” the Mienshao replied. “Alternatively, you could steer her to a place where this material is already present.”
The Salamence blinked in surprise and cocked his head with a puzzled frown. ‘Steer’ the Dyad? When he didn’t even know where she was in Newangle City to begin with?
It wasn’t as if Siegmund had poor judgment, the Mienshao’s years of experience as a strategist were testament enough to that. Siegmund had helped draw up the campaigns to drive out Edialeigh’s armies during their last invasion, and personally campaigned on the frontlines to help achieve them—as the scars on the Fighting-type’s body beneath his white cowl attested.
But even so, the Salamence was genuinely at a loss as to how Siegmund expected him to accomplish such a feat.
“I’m… not fully sure how that would be possible at this point in time, Your Majesty,” he said. “What are you proposing that I should do?”
“Well, Graf Lacan. Let me answer your question with one of my own,” the Mienshao insisted. “Did the Dyad come to the City alone? If not, tell me of these ‘ruffians’ she’s traveling with?”
“Outlaw scum from the hinterlands as usual,” Lacan harrumphed. “With how frequently she’s been associating with such Pokémon this year, I’m starting to think that she’s developing a type.”
Or at least as much as she could as a fugitive anyways. Much to Lacan’s surprise, the King’s expression visibly eased, and a small smile came over his muzzle.
“I thought as much based on your past reports you sent me,” the king said. “Though that should speed things up considerably.”
“How… so?”
“I’m not privy to all the details, but the local Gendarmen have had contacts with Pokémon from similar circles in this city,” the Fighting-type explained. “It’s an arrangement that was first set up in King Sansa’s day and all these years later, it still sometimes provides valuable insight as to the goings-on of the more restive quarters of the city.”
Lacan batted his wings subconsciously and glanced around his surroundings. Perhaps it was just reflex from the incident in Errberk Village, but it didn’t hurt to make sure that they weren’t being overheard. It was hardly his place to judge what King Siegmund found necessary to keep his realm secured. Not after much of his early reign had been spent clawing it back from red-clad hordes after a failed attempt at suing for peace. Even so, a part of him was startled to hear the King discussing such unsavory connections so frankly.
Perhaps that explained why Siegmund insisted on having this conversation between just the two of them.
“Get in touch with the Gendarmen and explain your situation. I’m sure that they’ll be able to lean on those contacts to steer these Outlaws towards mounting a heist in short order,” Siegmund instructed. “Was there any place in particular that you had in mind?”
Where on earth would he even start? It wasn’t as if knew every bookshop in Newangle City that might have a dusty mythology tome buried somewhere on its shelves. Though… perhaps he was going about this all wrong. What he needed most was for the Dyad and her companions to reveal themselves and make mistakes. And the most likely sort of place where they would slip up in such a fashion would be one that was normally widely trafficked.
A place like…
“The Royal Library. I’m not sure if I’d want to have the Dyad come there while it’s open to the general public, but I know for sure there would be books she’d be looking for there,” he explained. “Considering how it’s a public institution trafficked by Pokémon from throughout the city, it’s likely she would’ve already considered it as an option.”
Siegmund brought a paw to his chin in thought, before turning aside with a quiet nod.
“Then do so, I will see that the Library is closed for however long you deem necessary,” Siegmund said. “Either those brigands will take the bait, or they’ll give away their location and we can deal with them accordingly. Though don’t leave anything to chance, be sure to have at least five Rotten₁ of your soldiers there for the occasion.”
Lacan jolted his head back with a startled blink. Five Rotten was a good quarter of the troops in Fähnlein Stärke. Troops that could otherwise spend time canvassing the city with local guards. What on earth was Siegmund thinking here?
“Isn’t that an overly large force to center on a library?” he asked. “I was under the impression that the royal commission I was given allowed Fähnlein Stärke to requisition local assistance as needed. There isn’t exactly a shortage of Gendarmen that could do the task.”
The Mienshao king narrowed his eyes briefly, much like how a master painter might scrutinize a disappointing piece by an apprentice. For a moment, Lacan reflexively opened his mouth to protest and offer a defense, only for the Fighting-type to motion for silence.
“I trust that during your pursuit of the Dyad that you’ve been keeping up with current events to some extent,” Sigmund said. “Tell me, what have you heard during your travels regarding Operation Siegfried?”
‘Operation Siegfried’? Lacan hadn’t pried too much into the campaign since he’d heard hearsay about it, but…
“That it was a campaign that captured a port town well behind enemy lines led by a recently-promoted General who transited his forces through a nearby Mystery Dungeon?” he asked. “I must confess that I’ve been a bit behind on news from the frontline lately.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to, since barring a catastrophe, most of the details surrounding Operation Siegfried will remain crown secrets until well after my death,” Siegmund explained. “But the long and short of it is that Operation Siegfried was a feint to deflect attention from the route you and your supporting forces will need to take to reach Donaterm City.”
Lacan blinked at the Mienshao’s response. A feint? He had heard that the war effort had been coming under increasing strain as of late, but for the King to already start setting things in motion for Operation Spark when he’d only had the Dyad at all just a few days ago…
The frontlines must have been more precarious than he realized.
“One of the secondary objectives of Operation Siegfried was to gauge what the cost would be in the event that the Dyad had to be recovered on Edialeigher soil,” he explained. “The exercise was carried out with a proxy target who… the Hofstaat hoped could potentially address some of the difficulties regarding my son.”
Lacan caught himself and had to fight to keep himself from raising a brow. The Salamence hadn’t heard much about the Crown Prince in recent years, assuming that Siegmund’s son was even still the Crown Prince with some of the rumors that had swirled about him after Queen Anna’s death…
Though where was Siegmund going with this? After all, he doubted the king had brought the topic to delve into rumors about his family life…
“What was the conclusion of that exercise?”
“That having to recover a Dyad under such conditions would bleed Varhyde’s armies white and risk returning the Kingdom to the chaotic state of affairs I inherited from my father,” he explained.
Lacan bristled at Siegmund’s explanation. But everyone in Varhyde who was old enough knew of the times Siegmund alluded to. Of how not even a year into King Siegmund’s reign, the Benzen Uprising broke out at a time when the war in Edialeigh seemed to be stalemating.
Town after town along the coast of Sundered Sea erupted into open revolt against the crown afterwards. Soldiers had to be pulled from the frontlines to try and quell the disorder, including his own father. The frontlines on Edialeigh’s soil collapsed because of it, and within the span of a year, Edialeigh’s soldiers in their red plates were laying waste to towns along the coast. Loyalist and rebel-held alike.
Including his own hometown, whose persistent loyalty to the crown had not saved it from such a fate.
Lacan didn’t want to believe that there were truly enough fools among the commonfolk who would risk repeating such a catastrophe. And yet, if history was any guide, King Siegmund’s fears were more than justified.
“It goes without saying that it is paramount to avoid returning the realm to such circumstances, which is the entire reason why I approved Operation Spark,” the Mienshao insisted, shaking his head. “With how much trouble the Dyad has given you over the past year, it’d be the height of negligence for you not to err on the side of caution with apprehending her.”
Lacan fell silent and turned aside. Even so, he dug in his claws. Yes, he understood the King’s argument. But at the same time, there was a critical oversight with the Mienshao’s plan:
“I understand your concerns, Your Majesty. But even so, I must contest your strategy there,” the Salamence insisted. “I wouldn’t want all those soldiers present. Or at least not all outside the library.”
Lacan watched as Siegmund twitched his whiskers puzzledly and eyed him keenly. The Dragon-type weighed his words in his mind, before he spoke up to explain himself in a rumbling voice.
“After all, if the Dyad saw that many soldiers prowling outside the Royal Library, she would likely decide to try her luck elsewhere,” he explained. “It would be best to lure her inside and have those soldiers lie in wait to ambush her there. She’d be unlikely to make it out of the building, and even if it did, it’d buy time for the other units to converge and either apprehend her outside, or else follow her back to her hiding place.”
Siegmund hesitated a moment, before letting a small, proud smile creep up over his muzzle.
“You really do take after your father, don’t you? With a mind like that, I look forward to seeing the same White Wings about your neck, and you using your skills at the fore of this realm’s armies.”
Lacan blinked a moment at the weasel’s words. The White Wings of a Feldmarschall? The pattern modeled after Reshiram’s wings and its attendant baton was the mark of the highest rank a soldier could have in the army, and granted its holder the rights and privileges of a high noble. A part of Lacan felt a swell of pride over the idea of being able to wear the same patterns as his father, an honor normally reserved for Generals who had managed feats such as capturing a major settlement in battle.
But there would be plenty of time to daydream about honors after Operation Spark succeeded, and just its success would be a reward higher than any rank that could be bestowed:
A chance to avenge all the destruction and misery that Edialeigh had left on this land. On his world.
“Though is there anything else that you need for your mission?”
Lacan studied the King’s expression carefully, even if they both understood how paramount Operation Spark’s success was, he wasn’t sure how the King would react to him asking for still more assistance.
“There are a few tomes from the Royal Library that would be helpful to cross-reference for my mission. And obviously, extra bodies to help search for the Dyad,” the Salamence replied. “But we’d already be spending time around the Royal Library, and the issue of additional strength can be solved by assisting Gendarmen if need be. After all, considering how Fähnlein Stärke was formed to be a covert unit, working through proxies is probably the safer course of action to preserve Operation Spark’s secrecy.”
The Fighting-type cocked a brow, before turning and facing him as his expression grew stern.
“Really? Nothing at all?” the Mienshao asked. “Feldmarschall Kant was loyal to my father and I until the bitter end. It would be unbecoming of me to not repay it by extending such a favor to his flesh and blood.”
Lacan stiffened up briefly and fidgeted his wings. It always made a part of him feel uneasy leaning on his father’s accomplishments to get things, especially when it didn’t feel like he’d properly earned them. King Siegmund had already given him no shortage of aid while growing up on account of his friendship with his late father. Just what on earth could he offer at this point?
“Personal sentiment aside, you are in the Kingdom’s capital, Graf,” Siegmund said. “There’s certain resources that will be hard to access again once you leave it. If you can think of anything here that you think would materially help Operation Spark’s chances of success, by all means, tell me.”
Lacan opened his mouth only to catch himself. There was one thing he could think of asking for, but the last time he’d brought it up with the Generalstab, he’d been brushed aside and told his concerns dealt with crown secrets.
Well, he was here with King Siegmund himself, and if there was ever going to be an opportunity to ask…
“I would like a chance to review any records regarding what transpired during Operation Avalanche,” he said. “In particular, if there were any from during King Sansa’s reign specifically dealing with how it reached its ultimate resolution.”
Siegmund pulled his cowl tight around his body and narrowed his eyes. Lacan briefly bit his tongue, wondering if he’d perhaps been a bit too bold in his request. The specifics of what had happened in Operation Avalanche were murky, with the only agreement being that it had at once gone horrifically awry, while also helping to usher in the end of the Advent War. The war between Varhyde and Edialeigh before the one that raged in the present day.
… No, Siegmund had asked him for anything that he needed. No matter how it made him look, he’d be a fool not to try and make the most of the Fighting-type’s offer.
“I realize that it surely sounds presumptuous to ask for such a thing, but with how little of a margin for error we have, it would be best for me and my subordinates to know everything we have to know before we hit the sea,” he insisted. “A part of that would be understanding what went wrong with the Kingdom’s past attempt at securing and drawing upon the power of a Dyad like the one we pursue today.”
The Mienshao stared at him wordlessly for a moment, before folding his arms with a dubious frown.
“And you intend to accomplish all this while organizing a search for the Dyad at the same time?” the king pressed. “Isn’t that a bit much for you to shoulder alone?”
“I’m well aware, Your Majesty,” Lacan said. “That was why it was my intention to dispatch my Oberstleutnant to review those records for me.”
Siegmund seemed genuinely surprised by that comment. The Mienshao briefly looked through the windows, where Sophia was seated at the table in the waiting room at attention and worriedly stealing glances at her surroundings.
There was a long silence, which Lacan thought to try and explain his rationale further. The moment he opened his mouth, the Mienshao frowned and shot a wary, sidelong glance from the corner of his eye.
“And not assigning her to organize the search for the Dyad in your place as an Oberstleutnant? Are you sure about this, Graf Lacan?” the Mienshao pressed. “I understand that the Generalstab likely already provided you a truncated version of events, but there is a reason why you were instructed to be sparing about sharing details of Operation Spark and the things that would be needed to see its success through. As I’m sure you already know, the way the commonfolk would react to such details becoming known would be… unpredictable, to say the least.”
“I’m aware, and Oberstleutnant Sophia is more than capable of shouldering such a burden. She’s been a dutiful member of the Ritter von Herbergau and a loyal subordinate for years,” the Salamence retorted. “She has gone above and beyond in her duties to the crown during this mission and long before it. I’d trust her with my life.”
Lacan didn’t realize how forceful his words were coming out until the ending enunciation reverberated in his ears. He bit the inside of his mouth and fought back a grimace. He’d always been quick to come to Sophia’s defense, but addressing the King in such a tone surely wasn’t helping his case.
“Your Majesty, I-”
“Have told me enough to make an informed decision.”
Siegmund raised a paw for a stop, before brushing his cowl aside with a quiet click of his tongue.
“Tell your Oberstleutnant once you go back inside to report to the Royal Reliquary effective immediately,” he said. “I will arrange for her to review whatever files can be gathered up there.”
Lacan had to fight to keep his jaw from flopping open out of surprise. He supposed Siegmund did say to ask him for anything, but a part of him wasn’t sure how earnest the Mienshao was. Even so, there was a grave air about the Fighting-type, as he turned his snout up with a stern frown.
“This isn’t a favor I grant lightly, Graf Lacan. Even if I admit that it’s motivated in part by personal sentiment,” he said. “If at all possible, I’d like to see you come home alive after Operation Spark to see the fruits of your and your father’s labor. To see what I wasn’t able to give Anna thanks to my cowardice and naivete when I was younger…”
The Mienshao king trailed off as a wistful look came over his face, he turned and gazed out at the night sky and the sprawl bounded by the city’s circular walls below.
“A realm that’s finally at lasting peace. One where Pokémon that dwell in it will never have to fear the capricious desires of the Pokémon across the sea in Edialeigh or their depredations,” Siegmund remarked. “One where Edialeigh’s crown and their so-called ‘City of Light’ from which it reigns from are but faded cinders and faded memories.”
It’d been about an hour after Lyle and his teammates made their way northward from that strange chamber with the concrete platforms. Unlike the tunnels they’d gone through earlier, the ones around them right now were much wider, and somehow even more barren and desolate. Some of the tunnels’ walls and ceiling were pitted and looked much like they were parts of a natural formation, aside from a few chunks here and there that still had smooth sections of concrete. The ground was similarly irregular, with portions of the ground which were gouged with shallow pits and rises that were partly filled with stagnant water. And every now and then, Lyle swore he’d see a corroded metal bar lying around. Occasionally, there’d be a pile of rubble he and the others would have to climb over or snake around in whatever space remained—the leftovers of prior cave-ins. Not recent ones, he hoped.
Their only companions the entire time had been the hums of the Wonder Orbs they’d occasionally been rubbing to make sure they were ready for use. More worrisome was how the entire time, they didn’t seem to be short on would-be foes. As they went down the tunnels, they’d occasionally hear sounds of movement in the distance or catch glimpses of eyes glowing further off in the darkness. On a couple occasions, they even ran into a Wilder that ambushed them. A Rattata here, a Voltorb there…
“Skree!”
Along the Zubat he just shot out of the air with a Flamethrower and left twitching weakly at the wall of the tunnel. Lyle braced himself in anticipation of more to come, since Wilder Zubat weren’t solitary creatures. Fortunately, nobody else came, and after a glance back at his teammates, he saw Dalton venturing ahead and motioning with a hand to hurry along.
“That fight made more noise than I’d hoped,” the Heliolisk murmured. “We should get going before anyone else comes to investigate.”
Music to his ears, really. Lyle quickly hurried along with his teammates and took his place back at the head of the group as they continued on deeper into the tunnel. He knew he’d heard of long tunnels made back in human times, but this one just kept going and going…
That other chamber had to be close by now, right? The encounters he and his teammates hadn’t been particularly hard, but they were starting to take their toll. Enough so that they’d already had to stop once to distribute healing berries between themselves. It didn’t help that those ambushes seemed to always involve Pokémon that were just beyond Lyle’s sight from his body’s fire. Oftentimes, their only warning was just a growl or the sound of pattering footsteps right before being attacked.
“How much further do we need to keep going like this?”
Lyle turned his head back towards Irune and saw her clinging tight to Kate with a nervous gulp. He would’ve thought that she’d be able to see better than him with her farsight, but even so, she seemed to be visibly rattled. Kate looked down at her with what seemed like a twinge of pity, and briefly patted the Axew’s head before turning to Dalton.
“Scales, you’re the guide here,” she said. “Are we there yet?”
Why was Irune so rattled at the moment anyways? Was it because they were quite literally in the dark right now? Or was something else weighing on her? He started to pace toward her as Dalton brushed past him and went deeper off into the tunnel. The Heliolisk went ahead a few paces, when he paused and studied the tunnel lit up by the glow of Lyle’s fire.
“Almost. We should be entering the remains of another chamber like the one we were in earlier,” Dalton said. “Once we get there, there should be some steps up on the right that will take us back up to the surface across the river from the Administrative District.”
Lyle hoped that getting out of the place wasn’t also going to be a pain in the ass, but he supposed that it was nice knowing that they’d see the sky again soon enough. He carried on as Dalton studied the wall briefly and walked along its length, running a hand along it when the Heliolisk suddenly stumbled. Lyle flared up and hurried over as Dalton sharply pulled his foot back. Gottverdammt, another Wilder? It was some sort of crustacean that had an Occa Berry’s color with a flash of cream on its underbelly. Wait, those claws, that fan-like tail, it was-!
“Gah, there’s Corphish down here, too?!” Kate cried.
Lyle jumped back and arched his body, as his teammates took battle positions. Except… the Corphish just kept staring off blankly into the tunnel, fixed and unmoving. Lyle crept forward and sniffed at the Corphish, only to realize that it didn’t smell anything like one. He snuck up and gave a wary poke at it when discovered that it wasn’t hard to the touch. It was like it was a doll, or…
“A Substitute?” he murmured.
He definitely wasn’t expecting to see one of those down here. Lyle knew that Substitutes were sometimes used as more than just training dummies like the ones Amp and Watt had at their shop. Back in his hometown, some of the younger Pokémon would keep them around as dolls, especially if their parents were too tight on money to afford one that wouldn’t melt into mist if it was thrown around too much.
Except that still didn’t explain why it was just lying around.
“Keep your fire dim from past this point, Lyle. This last stretch could get a bit dicey.”
Lyle looked over at Dalton and immediately noticed that the Heliolisk looked on edge—much as if he’d seen a ghost. He followed the Electric-type’s gaze off to the wall, where there was a ruddy, sloppily painted sigil on the wall… which looked like some sort of Crawdaunt’s claw. Lyle glanced off at his side and Kate and Irune staring up at it, before Kate blinked and turned aside with a small frown.
“Scales, isn’t that going to make things harder for us?” she harrumphed, folding her arms. “I know that my darkvision is decent, but it’s not as if the Wilders that live down here aren’t more used to it than me.”
Lyle expected Dalton to waver more after Kate’s counterpoint, especially since he was the one with the busted arm that didn’t mix well with scuffles. But the Heliolisk’s expression didn’t change at all as he warily glanced down the length of the tunnel.
“Just trust me on this one,” the Electric-type said in a low tone. “A lot of these tunnels are less empty than they look, and there’s more than just Wilders down here.”
There… were? Lyle hesitated a moment at Dalton’s demeanor and noticed Irune starting to get visibly worried. She stole uneasy glances around her, before tilting her head puzzledly.
“... Do you mean that there’s Grünhäuter patrolling down here?” she asked. “I thought that you said these tunnels weren’t used outside of times of crisis.”
Dalton blinked and hesitated a moment, before pawing at the back of his head with the hand on his good arm.
“Well, yes. I suppose that wouldn’t be impossible,” the Heliolisk said. “It’s a big tunnel system, and I suppose there have been stories of them using these tunnels to get around in past sieges…”
He trailed off, his posture tense and braced as if he expected them to be jumped at any moment.
“But they aren’t who I was worried about right now,” he said. “I’m more concerned about others who had the same idea as us.”
‘Others who had the same idea as us’? As in other Outlaws? It hadn’t occurred to Lyle that there’d be others beyond themselves down here…though from personal experience, Outlaws weren’t above territorial squabbles like Wilders. Or the Kingdom itself for that matter. But there were really bands of Outlaws that managed to hold out here in the Capital with all the guards roaming around?
That was probably as good of an argument for not brushing Dalton’s advice aside. After all, any Outlaw gang that could make it in a territory like this was definitely not one they wanted to get on the bad side of.
Lyle fought against his vent and tamped down the fire coming from them, the visibility in the tunnel dropping down to about twenty paces in any direction. After asking Dalton for instructions of what to do next, he drifted over with his teammates for the right wall of the tunnel, glancing up at the pitted and scarred wall above him.
“Gods, I can’t wait until we’re out of this hole,” Lyle grumbled. “And here I thought Waterhead Cave was unpleasant to go through.”
He carried on with Dalton walking alongside him to his left, just in case there was something else the Heliolisk noticed that they should be aware of. The tunnel walls drifted past them mostly in darkness, time seeming to slow to a crawl as he felt his heart thump in his chest. After a small eternity which surely couldn’t have been more than a couple minutes, the wall abruptly gave way to half-crumbled remains of a concrete platform. Lyle clambered up and stopped to help his teammates up and then down a shattered hallway that appeared to have once had straight, smooth walls.
He briefly spotted a faded blue square with a white glyph a little ways down along the side of the wall next to a fork in the path, when Kate’s ears suddenly pricked up. Then his own did the same. Footsteps, not far away and growing louder.
“Somebody’s here,” Kate whispered.
Lyle fought against his body’s flames and cut the fire from his vents entirely, plunging him and the rest of Team Forager into darkness. He held his breath as the sound came again, this time mixed with the sound of wingbeats. Maybe they were just getting wound up over the likes of more Wilders, but after Dalton’s warning earlier…
“Think it’s more Wilders?” Lyle asked. “Whoever’s out there, they don’t sound big.”
“Oi, Igna! We’ve got intruders poking about in here!” a voice squawked. “Up there past the platforms, one of them had fire on his body!”
Lyle reflexively lit up again with a start at the cawing voice. He hurriedly tamped his fire out, but the damage was already done. There further down the tunnel was a pair of ghostly blue lights along some sort of whitish rod, with a glimpse of a bipedal figure about his height holding it.
He couldn’t get a good view of the figure holding the light, but just from the glimpse and the sound of increasingly large-sounding footsteps and wingbeats, it was obvious the Pokémon out there weren’t exactly small and unthreatening like he’d hoped. Lyle felt his heart begin to flutter and set his teeth on edge as he fought back a quiet whine from his throat.
“A-Ach, Schei-₂”
“So much for an easy exit,” Kate whispered. “Looks like we’re gonna have to fight our way out of here.”
Kate flashed her claws and started to walk ahead, only to abruptly stop as Irune blocked her path. The Axew looked up at her, with an expression that struck Lyle as being equal parts anxious and frustrated.
“Kate, we have no idea who we’re up against!” Irune hissed. “We can’t just blindly pick a fight here!”
“It won’t stay a battle between two Pokémon either, Kate,” Dalton added. “I would’ve hoped you as an Outlaw by trade would expect as much starting a fight with rivals.”
“Well give some better ideas to work with then!” Kate snapped.
Lyle felt his heart pound as the light neared and grew ever-clearer in his vision, when his mind turned back to when they first entered the Undercity. Earlier on, there was that strange blue-and-white sigil at the end of a tunnel on their side of the chamber. If this was really a place with a way out, wouldn’t it likely have a sigil like that, too?
It was just a hunch, but he didn’t have any better ideas to work with at the moment. The winged Pokémon with the figure with the torch or whatever it was was doing a flyover now. It wouldn’t be long before the two ran into them, along with any buddies of theirs.
“Dalton. You know how we saw that symbol coming into the Undercity?” Lyle asked. “Do those show up anywhere in particular chambers like these?”
“The ones that are still around usually are nearsteps that go up towards the surface,” Dalton explained. “Or at least to ones that used to, why?”
“There’s one in by that branching path up ahead, so that’s probably our way out of here,” the Quilava insisted. “Come on, we’re gonna need to make a run for it!”
Lyle abruptly lit up as the right wall of the chamber with its mottled teal paint came into view and bolted ahead after where he’d remembered seeing the white sigil. Sure enough, it was in a passage that split at both ends, and was quickly approaching… along with their pursuers.
“Hey! Stop and put your paws where we can see them!” the cawing voice cried.
Lyle didn’t bother to stop or even look back, and instead kept running. A slicing gust of wind and a gout of bluish, ghostly fire zipped in, a yelp from Kate suggesting that they’d missed by hairs. Lyle quickly whipped his head between both directions at the fork, and after seeing pricks of colored light from the right, hurriedly bounded up the steps.
He tore along and looked back to see his teammates rounding the corner, with the sound of the pursuing wingbeats and footsteps right behind them. It dawned on him that they weren’t going to be able to outrun their pursuers, so they had to do something to buy some time or else they’d be quite literally fighting in the dark in short order. The Quilava hastily rifled through his bag, blindly grabbing at a Wonder Orb inside and lobbing it just as he spotted the glow of ghostly fire coming around the corner.
The Orb broke with the sound of shattering glass, followed by a pair of startled yelps. Gottverdammt, they could’ve used that in a Mystery Dungeon! It’d have worked against an entire chamber in there, while he’d have been lucky to have worked more than ten paces out using it right here and now!
“Agh! Ansel, you idiot! You could’ve told me they were right there!”
He supposed whatever he’d grabbed, that ten or so paces was enough, even if it was a bit unnerving to think that their ambushers were that close to them. The Quilava turned to his companions, who briefly faltered and glanced back in disbelief, before he motioned up the steps impatiently.
“Go! Go! Go!”
Lyle tore along and darted up the stairs as best as their size would allow him. He reached the top, and came across a tunnel that had been covered with wooden boards. The others caught up shortly afterwards and immediately began frantically feeling around for any sign of a loose plank to pull aside. There was a creak, when Lyle turned over to Kate and saw her tugging at one that looked loose…
And riddled with claw marks on it.
“Hey wait a minute,” she said. “Looks like someone’s come through here before-”
The board abruptly gave way under her weight, and sent her pitching forward. Lyle hurriedly followed after her and tumbled out onto a set of worn and ground-down steps with some weathered propaganda posters and a pile of shattered exposure chests that reminded him of the back of the Box Buster shop in his home village. Big cities had Box Busters too, didn’t they?
Kate hastily picked herself up and dusted herself off as Dalton and Irune caught up. Lyle turned and bolted up the steps, he saw that overhead, the sunlight was gone, replaced with moonlight along with bluish auroras that he glimpsed between narrow gaps overhead in some sort of alley. He ran ahead wherever the alleys took him, running along what felt like a veritable warren until he popped out into a cobbled street with a few passersby drifting past.
He paused to let his racing heart slow down as he heard his teammates catch up, only to pause after looking at his surroundings. All about them were various buildings and shacks with thatched and shingled roofs, with the spires of the Administrative District off in the distance towards the south crowned with a fiery light coming from the top of Dämmerungsturm. The Quilava turned and stared at the darkened monoliths against the starry sky and the bands of colored light behind them, when Dalton’s voice pricked his ears.
“Lyle?”
Lyle turned and saw Dalton pawing at his left shoulder with his good arm, with the Heliolisk’s eyes narrowed into an annoyed scowl.
“From now on, let’s try and stay out of trouble until we make it to those marketplaces, got it?”
He nodded back all too eagerly. He’d had enough excitement for one day, and it’d be nice to have some peace and quiet before finally getting some sleep.
After leaving the Undercity, Lyle was all too eager to get away from the exit tunnel they’d taken, just in case those two Pokémon they’d run into were attempting to track them. The first thing that Lyle noticed as he went along was that the district they’d stepped out into was cramped with narrow and winding streets, some of which looked like they’d struggle to fit a larger Puller passing through, let alone a wagon. It sort of reminded him of the district where they’d gotten off Boudewijn’s raft, and he swore that a few of the shabby-looking buildings looked like they’d been made of the same timbers as the barges and rafts even if he couldn’t see signs of a dock anywhere.
Even so, there were still differences from the neighborhood around the docks. Here, there would occasionally be the skeleton of a taller human ruin which rose up, unclaimed by civilization from the gutted upper levels and darkened silhouettes of branches that could be seen against the auroras and moonlight. And while the area around the docks hadn’t exactly been obviously wealthy, it certainly felt a cut above their present surroundings.
“Is that part of a boat? Dalton, where did you take us?”
Lyle turned and saw Irune pointing and gaping at a post jutting out from a building facade with a carving of a Gyarados head that looked like it was styled after a ship’s prow. Hell, it probably was a ship’s prow once from the way the paint was flaking off of it. He turned and cocked a head at Dalton himself. What was the story behind this neighborhood anyways?
“This is Shift Square, a district just to the east of the Great Arena and the neighborhoods built on its slopes where more normal Pokémon live,” Dalton explained. “There’s a stretch of shoreline along the bridge that I was originally going to take to get here that has places where boats are brought in to be scrapped.”
Lyle supposed that explained the nearby buildings, even if he was surprised to hear that Pokémon would live this meagerly just across the river from where the King and Hofstaat lived. Kate seemed even less impressed than he did, and had a twinge of discomfort cross her face.
“I don’t think I missed much by never coming here before,” she muttered. “I’ve spent time in refugee camps that felt less miserable than this!”
Lyle wasn’t sure if he agreed with Kate there, though from what he knew of her history, she was definitely more qualified to cast judgment. Neighborhoods that felt worn-down and meager weren’t exactly rare in even Varhyde’s smaller towns, but now that Kate mentioned it, the buildings seemed to get visibly shabbier as they went along. Some of them were obviously put together from scraps of unpainted wood and metal. Others went without blinds or shutters for windows, while still others didn’t have doors beyond some cloth strips hung over the doorway—the sort of thing one would expect from a rural peasant barely able to afford a mat and mailpost for their burrow or nest.
“I… suppose that portions of Shift Square did used to be refugee encampments earlier on in the war,” Dalton said. “I guess that parts of it still reflect those origins.”
Lyle hoped that they wouldn’t be here too much longer, since even the streets seemed to get worse as they went along. The back lanes grew increasingly cluttered with untended garbage, a few carrying vile, gag-inducing odors that the Quilava tried not to think too hard about. The one spot that seemed to be a reprieve from it all was a weirdly tidy corner with a set of wooden boards set up with line after line of tiny runes on them. He wasn’t sure what it was at first, when he noticed flowers and little stones and notes set at their base.
… Just like the Gedenksteine₃ in his hometown, where Pokémon who’d died from the war and weren’t able to be sent off at home had their names engraved. These boards were obviously shabbier since they were made of wood, and they had a hell of a lot more names on them.
He hurried and continued along after that, and noticed his teammates had similarly had a chill come over their moods. Nobody said anything afterwards until they spotted a line of Pokémon queued up at an open-backed cart manned by some Pokémon in green plates next to some lanterns that had been set up. Most of the Pokémon lining up looked visibly lean, a few had missing limbs or other ugly scars, all waiting for packets being handed out from the back of the wagon.
Lyle knew what the line to a food dole looked like, and he knew how unruly they could get if it came up short. With the tense, sullen mood in the crowd and how the Gendarmen would occasionally shove back Pokémon trying to sneak around them, he already knew it was a bad idea to hang around.
“Is there a side street that we can take, Dalton?” he asked. “That crowd up ahead just screams trouble.”
“Yeah, off to the right.”
Lyle hurriedly rounded the corner with his teammates and moved along. They didn’t need to risk the Gendarmen noticing them, and none of them needed to get a good look at that sort of misery right here and now. Irune seemed to be visibly bothered by her surroundings, and she went over and tugged at Dalton’s side with a worried frown.
“Is… it really a good idea to be stealing from Pokémon in a place like this?” she asked. “It just feels so… meager.”
“Things are thankfully a bit less rough in the area around those marketplaces, but there’s a bit more of this to go through before we reach them,” the Heliolisk said. “Though there are worse places we could’ve wound up in. Like Zelba City. Now that district is a real dump.”
Wait, there were districts here called ‘cities’? There was probably some story behind that, but Lyle wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what that place was like if Dalton was comparing it negatively to this one. He and Team Forager entered an intersection of back alleys, with clotheslines dangling between rows of ramshackle tenements. Lyle noticed Dalton slow as they passed through, as he stopped and pointed off to their right.
“After all, even if you won’t find a noble’s salon around here, you can’t say that the residents don’t at least try to make things feel a bit more homely.”
Lyle turned and followed the Heliolisk’s finger off towards a small, crude pavillion made of unpainted wood with misaligned shutters. There were a few odds and ends set out in various places, their arrangement giving away that the place was some sort of shrine. Irune seemed particularly fixed at the sight, before she turned her head over to them.
“If we’re not in a hurry, could we take a look?”
Lyle traded glances with Kate and Dalton. On the one paw, they weren’t going to get to those marketplaces any quicker like this. On the other paw, the shrine was right here, and small enough that it wouldn’t take long to duck in and out.
And with how their luck had been lately, even if it was on the superstitious side, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to try and curry a bit of divine favor.
“Fine. But I’m not sure what you’re expecting to find in a neighborhood as poor as this one,” Lyle said. “Just make it quick. We still need to hit up those marketplaces and find a place to sleep tonight.”
He shuffled up to the entrance of the pavillion along with his teammates, only to freeze in surprise once he crossed the threshold. All around him were a collection of wooden statues and painted panels dedicated to various gods. Made well enough and with enough care that they looked more at home along that path up to the Reshiram statue in the Administrative District than in a dump like this.
Maybe that was a bit unfair to Shift Square’s Pokémon, since even if there hadn’t been any living gods in Varhyde for years, they still commanded respect among the Kingdom’s Pokémon. He supposed the shrine being shared between gods should’ve been less surprising to him as well. After all, he remembered Moonturn Square had one where a statue of Celebi shared the same roof with one to Hoopa.
Even so, this was the first time he’d ever seen a shrine to so many gods in one place. One corner of the pavillion was devoted to Ho-Oh, the Great Bird of Seven Colors, with incense and fragrant ash set out. Another to Xerneas, the Voice of Life, with wooden branches set out. Why, there was even a corner set aside for Latios. Lyle blinked and went over, where he saw a few coins left sitting at the base of the statue. The sight drew a smile and small chuckle from Dalton as he walked by and picked a few of the coins up from the base.
“Honestly, this little shack feels more earnest than that big statue back at the overlook,” Dalton remarked. “The Pokémon that lived here wanted to make this shrine and pooled their own efforts to put it together.”
Lyle noticed Irune paying particularly rapt attention to something behind the Latios statue. He turned to look himself and saw that on the wooden panels behind the statue, there were scenes of the Latios playfully wheeling about in the sky. The scenes were a bit rough around the edges, but their creator had clearly invested a lot of care and effort on behalf of his patron.
One that gave the urge to just stop and stay a while taking them in.
“I… guess I can see where you’re coming from,” the Axew murmured. “Latios looks so… free in these paintings. I don’t know if a shrine commissioned by a noble would ever look like this.”
‘Free’, huh? If it weren’t for the fact that the Vatername he saw on Irune’s wanted poster back in Errberk Village was the sort which Wilders recruited into civilization had, he’d have guessed that Irune’s dad had been a Carrier or something like that. A set of clinks snapped him out of his thoughts as Dalton returned the offerings back to their place beside the Latios shrine and continued on. He followed after, only to see the Heliolisk suddenly freeze just ahead. Kate caught his change in demeanor, too, and tilted her head puzzledly.
“Scales? Why are you reacting like tha-?”
Lyle caught a glimpse of black paint splattered about up ahead and stopped dead in his tracks after rounding the corner. The space ahead had been a shrine to Reshiram, except the panels had black paint thrown onto them, recently enough that he could see beads still dripping like black tar. The wooden statue to Reshiram had met a similar fate, and been toppled over with gashes cut into it.
Something came over Lyle and he hurriedly turned the statue up, setting it back on its stand. He’d never considered himself as the type of ‘mon to put much stock in dead gods, but something about seeing this humble shrine defaced like this just didn’t sit well with him. Dalton and Kate stared blankly ahead as Irune went up and pawed at the statue. She put a hand on the black paint, only to pull it back sharply after discovering it was still wet.
“I- I don’t understand,” she stammered. “Who would do something like this?”
“Look up,” Kate remarked. “It should give you a few ideas.”
‘Look up’? Lyle followed after Kate’s claw and went rigid with shock. There, to the side of the black paint were a set of scrawled runes and the silhouette of a great, deep black dragon with outstretched wings and a dart-like tail.
Zekrom, the patron god of Edialeigh, and the Endbringer who was said to have razed entire kingdoms with his lightning.
“I’m going to go ahead and guess that’s not supposed to be part of this shrine,” Lyle murmured.
“Gee, what tipped you off there, Lyle?” Kate scoffed. “The fact that it’s a scrawled mess? Or that there’s still black paint dripping down?”
Lyle held his tongue at the Sneasel’s remark, not least of all because the scene was uncomfortably familiar. He supposed it was only to be expected when there had once been a proper shrine to Zekrom in his hometown.
He never fully understood why it was so. The way his parents explained it to him, it and a number of shrines like it had been built in Varhyde during the reign of King Sansa. At a time when as impossible as it sounded, Zekrom was said to have once been friendly to Varhyde… one that was swiftly drowned out and forgotten when the Dragon of Deep Black once again brought death and destruction alongside Edialeigh’s forces later on in King Sansa’s reign.
Back in the early years of the war before the gods that took part of it all killed each other off.
Lyle supposed that even if those memories were hazy now, that Varhyde’s Pokémon never forgot what happened. Or forgave it. Even if the Zekrom shrine in town was boarded up and decaying after being torched in the past, it was still standing. He’d never heard of another one in Varhyde all his life that was in a better state than it.
“I-I just don’t understand why whoever did this would need to destroy a shrine to make their own,” Irune murmured. “Reshiram and Zekrom are counterparts to each other and at least where I grew up, there was a shrine to Zekrom in it.”
Lyle stiffened up at the Axew’s reply and whirled around, just in time to catch Dalton and Kate staring at her much as if her tusks had just fallen off. Irune also came from a village that still had a shrine to Zekrom? He doubted she ever saw what it really looked like or that it was in good condition, but still, that was one hell of a coincidence.
“Because whoever made this wasn’t interested in making a shrine,” Dalton said. “That message is a curse.”
Dalton pointed out the set of runes underneath the scrawl of Zekrom, made in the same paint, with loose, messy strokes much as if made in a fit of rage. He had to read the line a couple of times since some of the runes used didn’t look like ones which were normally used, but he thought that he managed to piece together the message…
“‘May the gods hear our cries for aid and judge this den of liars,’” the Quilava said. “Am… I reading that right?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s correct, yes,” Dalton remarked. “I… might be reaching for the next line, but I’m pretty it says. ‘May they grant this hole the same peace they visited upon Freeden Village.’”
Lyle reflexively pinned his ears back at Dalton’s narration. Gods, whoever wrote that sure knew how to get under his hide. The Heliolisk trailed off and pawed underneath the runes, giving a frowning shake of their head.
“You definitely don’t see too many Pokémon write a message out like that,” he said. “Especially not with some of the runes this ‘mon used. Or at least, not among Pokémon from Varhyde.”
… Meaning that an Edialeigher wrote it? Lyle supposed that he couldn’t definitively rule it out after they came across that Charmeleon earlier, and it was genuinely hard to imagine a Varhyder doing something like this to a shrine of the land’s patron goddess.
“W-Wait, what did that writer mean by that last bit?” Irune asked. “I’ve- I’ve been to Freeden Village before and there wasn’t anything obviously special about it!”
Lyle turned and stared at Irune as she turned her head up at Dalton and noticed that she looked visibly alarmed. Did she not really know the tale of how Freeden Village was said to have earned the disfavor of the gods? After all, if an Edialeigher had heard the tale to allude to the ‘peace’ the gods gave to his hometown, what were the odds that Irune hadn’t?
Actually, as crazy as it sounded… could Irune have also been from Freeden Village like him? While he admittedly hadn’t been back home for almost three years at this point, he couldn’t say he ever remembered seeing her in the village when he was younger. Even so, that reaction of hers felt familiar, like ones he’d had on a couple of occasions when he was still new to the Foehn Gang… and a couple assholes on the gang had found out about his hometown and ribbed him over being as living jinx carrying the town’s curse.
… Maybe he was just overthinking things. Varhyde wasn’t a small kingdom, enough so that he barely knew about the towns past the neighboring Grafschaften where he grew up. It was surely more likely than the two of them somehow hailing from the same two-bit village without ever knowing each other.
He considered just asking Irune and settling the matter once and for all, only to bite his tongue. Maybe it was better to set the topic aside. If she had somehow grown up in Freeden Village, he was sure that one way or another, he’d know for sure eventually. It was probably time to move on anyways, since lingering around this of all things wasn’t exactly going to lift the mood.
“It’s just a curse some punk put up,” Lyle huffed. “Let’s just get out of here right now.”
He made his way out of the shrine as Kate and Dalton followed after him. As he turned back into the alleyway, he noticed that Irune wasn’t there with them. He poked his head back through the entrance, where he saw her still looking back at the desecrated Reshiram shrine. The Axew shook her head and shuffled back out and rejoined them with an uneasy paw at her shoulder.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting. Though I suppose you’re right and we’ve got more important things to worry about…” she murmured. “Though what do we do now?”
Kate paused a moment and let her ear flick at the sound of something in the distance, before raising a claw and motioning off down the alley to their left. There at the end, Lyle could spot glimpses of colorful stalls and different figures slipping past the mouth of the alleyway.
“Scales, is that the marketplace we were looking for?” she asked.
“The edge of it, yes,” Dalton said. “We might as well get started, though stay sharp. Just because we’re not in Armory Alley right now doesn’t mean that things can’t go sideways for us quickly.”
Much as Dalton had predicted, after slipping out of the alleyway, Kate and the rest of Team Forager came across Shift Square’s marketplaces. They were clustered along both sides of a road that headed off towards a bridge going back towards the Administrative District as buildings of three to five stories of wood and scrap clustered among gutted human ruins. Layout and towering ruins aside, it didn’t all that different from that marketplace they’d gone through in Moonturn Square…
Aside from the fact that it was still crowded at this late hour, with throngs of Pokémon continuing to do their trading and bartering under the glow of lanterns hung out over stalls and shopfronts and hung across streets on lines. A great place to just slow down and soak in the hustle and bustle of passing Pokémon and wagons.
“Hey! Stop!”
Kate ignored the cries of protest as she snagged a Luminous Orb off the counter of a wood-and-canvas stall tended by a Kadabra and took off running. She dashed ahead, ducking and weaving past passersby before popping into a back alley. The others were already waiting there and waiting for her, including Dalton, who sized her up briefly with a small frown.
“You should’ve been more careful about picking marks, Kate,” the Heliolisk remarked. “Many of the vendors here aren’t exactly pushovers.”
Kate couldn’t help but scoff internally at the Heliolisk’s remark. They’d attempted to seek marks quite literally at the doorstep of a Hunter’s Guild once already in their journey. So long as they were quick on their feet, how could this possibly be any more risky?
“Ah, lighten up, Scales,” Kate insisted, giving a dismissive wave of her claws. “We’ve already made up most of those items we burned through back in Primordial Woods. Not bad for only our third go!”
The Heliolisk briefly rolled his eyes, but didn’t contest the point. Good enough, Kate supposed. She started putting away the Luminous Orb into her bag as Irune looked at her, when she noticed the Axew was holding a meager coinpurse. So she’d managed to actually steal something after all… except, why did she look like she was expecting the sky to cave in on her at any moment?
“Don’t you think we’ve taken enough already?” Irune asked. “These Pokémon probably worked hard to get the things we’re stealing from them. And the longer we keep at this, the more likely we are to run into trouble.”
Kate pinned her ears back with a quiet sigh. She supposed that was one way to tell that Irune still wasn’t used to stealing things. How on earth had she survived as an Outlaw before Lacan caught up to her anyways?
“Yeah, and we worked hard to nab it,” she said. “And it’s going to a good cause… namely to keep us out of trouble and get you closer to your treasure.”
Irune opened her mouth briefly to protest only to catch herself. Kate wasn’t sure whether or not the Axew really agreed with her, but it got the point across at least. Lyle was already starting to drift off, though Dalton seemed to be weirdly hesitant and on-edge as he kept stealing glances at his surroundings.
Was something wrong? She wouldn’t have pegged Scales to get confused by their surroundings with the way he’d taken them to this place through the Undercity, so what was going on?
“Gottverdammt, I didn’t realize we’d been getting this close to the northeast end of the market,” the Heliolisk said.
“Why? What’s wrong with the northeast end of the market?” Lyle asked.
As if on cue, Dalton raised a hand and motioned off down the street, where a few stalls could be seen with various dungeoneering items set out. Among the buildings in the background, Kate spotted a building made out of a gutted concrete structure with a tent shaped like a Baxcalibur’s head attached to a part which had partly collapsed. Between the wares being plied and the number of Pokémon going past in groups with coordinated scarves…
“Right, you mentioned earlier that there were Hunter’s Guilds in this city,” the Quilava said.
Kate supposed that would explain why that shop had so many Wonder Orbs just set out on display. It was a bit weird to be in a place where the local guild wasn’t the most prominent building in its surroundings, even moreso to see one styled after what she assumed was its guildmaster’s head. She always thought that was more of a thing in podunk towns, or else something that some more tacky merchants like the Colorswap Consortium would find more up their alley.
Except, that didn’t solve the issue of what they were supposed to do right now.
“So… what’s the plan then?” Kate asked. “Since it’s not as if we don’t need these items. It’s not that hard to nick things in front of a guild, is it?”
There was a moment of hesitation, before Lyle turned back from the edge of the alley and shook his head.
“We only need a few more Seeds and Berries to cover what we went through in Primordial Woods,” the Quilava began. “Let’s just get them, meet up at the end of the street, and then put some distance from this part of the marketplace. It’s late enough that we should probably be worrying more about trying to find a place to spend the night and figure out where we’re going to go from here, anyways.”
Lyle reflexively set off, only for Dalton to grab at him with his uninjured arm and look about uneasily. The Heliolisk studied his surroundings closely, before leaning in with a wary murmur.
“Actually… I think that Irune may have been onto something earlier, Lyle,” the lizard said. “We’ve pushed our luck enough in this marketplace for a while.”
Kate pinned her ears back as Lyle turned back to Dalton. Gods, this wasn’t a hard thing. They just had to get those last Berries and Seeds and then get to the end of the street. How hard could that be?
“Let’s focus on finding a place to stay the night for now. Ideally someplace off the street.”
Great, now Scales was getting cold feet on top of things. Maybe he just needed a bit of a shove to get him back on track.
“Hey, hurry up slowpokes! See you at the end of the street when you’re done!”
Kate darted out into the crowd and briefly turned back to wave at her teammates still in the alley. She saw their shocked expressions, before they vanished amidst the faces in the crowd. Seeds and Berries… Seeds and Berries. She briefly glimpsed a Pecha Berry lying on the counter of a stall kept by a Delibird distracted by talking with a Prinplup off on the side. She walked by and in a swift motion, snagged it off the counter and ducked back into the throng. She weaved around bodies and passing wagons, but didn’t even hear a cry coming from the Delibird’s stall. Guess that was one way to tell that nobody had noticed her.
“Heh. Easy peasy.”
The next few stalls that she hit up went by similarly easily. A Totter Seed, a Cheri Berry, a Heal Seed… There was a brief moment when she thought she heard wingbeats overhead, but the whole time, her marks had at most caught passing glimpses that were easy to shake. It was all well and good, except she kept getting things a little at a time. If only there were a place where she could get more than a single Seed or Berry in one go…
“Oi, Masch! Hurry it up with the stock out there! Don’t just leave that inventory sitting around, each of those boxes is worth more than your week’s pay!”
“Alright! Alright!”
Kate’s ears swiveled and she turned around towards a stall built into the front of a human ruin where just in time to catch a Machoke taking a crate off a stack and bringing it in through a side entrance.
Expensive gear available in bulk? Now that she could get behind.
She hurriedly darted along and scanned the surroundings, noticing a wooden door leading further into the shop. She hurriedly breathed an Icy Wind over the door’s edge to freeze it over. It almost certainly wouldn’t hold, especially against a Machoke of all ‘mons, but the noise would give her a sign of when it was time to go.
Kate hurriedly darted over to the crate and popped the lid of the topmost crate open, seeing that it was filled with Oran Berries inside. She blinked briefly, before her face fell.
“Tch, this is what that Machoke was getting yelled at over?” she scoffed. “Boy, his weekly wages must really suck.”
She quickly snatched one, then another. She put her paws in deeper to reach for a third, only to feel them tink against something glassy.
“Huh?”
She tightened her grip around the object and pulled it out, revealing it to be a glass flask capped with a cork and filled with bright Lansat-colored fluid. Quite thick from how slowly the air bubbles in it moved when she flipped it over.
“What in the-?”
The door opened with a sharp, icy crunch, as Kate grasped the flask in her claws and whirled around. Just in time for the Machoke to return from inside the shop.
“For crying out loud, who on earth delivers a batch of Drive during peak hou– Hey!”
Whelp, that ‘Drive’ answered the question of what the fluid was, and a sign to bounce. The Machoke’s expression changed the moment his head poked out past the doorway, as he wound up an arm for a punch with a sharp snarl.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Kate answered the Machoke by blowing an Icy Wind in the Fighting-type’s face, dashing the bottle against the ground by his feet. There was a snarling “get back here” and then a pained yelp, probably a sign that the Machoke hadn’t been watching where he was going.
She ducked back out into traffic, springing up and vaulting over the back of a passing Stantler puller much to the ‘mon’s alarm, dutifully ignoring the Normal-type’s cries as she ran to the end. There was an alley off on the left side where she could see the glow of fire coming from it. That must’ve been their meeting place.
Kate stumbled into the alley and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Götterblut, that was way too close for comfort. Maybe Scales had been onto something about them pushing their luck.
“What the hell happened to you?”
Kate’s ears perked up at Lyle’s voice. She turned, where further down the alley, she saw him looking up with Irune at his side. The pair seemed visibly worried, as Dalton hurriedly pulled her over to their hiding place.
Kate stumbled forward, her heart still pounding from her earlier close call. She hoped it wouldn’t take long to help Irune find out about her powers of hers, since they couldn’t put this craphole behind them soon enough. Kate wasn’t a stranger to mounting daring raids, but those always had safe places to slip away to once the deed was done, not more streets with prowling guards on them.
“Kate, did anyone follow you here?”
Kate looked up at Dalton as he looked visibly on edge. She looked back at the alleyway and saw nothing but passing traffic, before turning back with a puzzled tilt of her head.
“I mean, if someone did, you’d think they’d have caught up by now-”
A slicing gust of wind suddenly sailed in from further down the alley and caught Kate in her stomach. She fell back, and heard Lyle yelp after something loudly smacked against him, along with Irune and Dalton raising their voices in alarm.
“A-Ack!”
Kate stumbled up as Irune’s voice reached her ears. She watched Lyle right himself by a bin filled with trash, only to freeze and flare up with a grimace. She followed his gaze deeper down the alley and stiffened up when she saw it herself:
A lanky lizard that had blackish scales with a violet tinge. It had a bony head with a vaguely star-shaped marking between its eyes and grasped a bone that looked longer than it was tall. Was that a Marowak? Kate blinked for a moment since a bunch of little things seemed off compared to Alvin, but no, this ‘mon was clearly some sort of Marowak.
And she was looking at them much like how Wilder predators were said to look at their cornered prey.
“Well well well, what do we have here, Ansel?”
Wingbeats rang out from above as a tawny blur dropped down from the surrounding rooftops. Brown feathers, a tall red head crest, and a long, thin beak that looked like it’d give one hell of a jab… that was a Fearow, alright. He and the strange Marowak didn’t have any armor plates, but from the overpowering glare in their eyes, one could’ve been forgiven for thinking they were somehow connected to them. Kate reflexively readied an Ice Shard, only to freeze after she noticed a peach-colored orb in the Fearow’s talons—a Slumber Orb, surely already prepared for use.
“You tell me, Igna,” the bird replied. “Since all I see are a bunch of stupid mudders who think that they can just swoop into this town and poke their sticky paws wherever they please.”
Kate looked on at their assailants, and flattened her ears with a low hiss.
Gods, she really hated this dump.
Author’s Notes:
Words and Phrases
1. Rotten - Plural of "Rotte", a name for various military units in the Germanosphere. Within the context of a Fähnlein, a Rotte is a small unit composed of 8-12 soldiers.
2. Ach, Schei- - “Ah/Oh, shi-”
3. Gedenksteine - “Remembrance Stones”
Teaser Text
The history of Varhyde and Edialeigh as kingdoms have long existed in the shadow of the many clashes between Wish and Reality. And yet, to this day, it remains a mystery as to why it is that Wish and Reality in their wanderings after the Great Flash would come to choose lands to dwell in that are so close to each other. Their exact rationales have since been lost to time, with some suggesting that the two are just fated to draw close to each other across their lives, while others have suggested that the Great Flash may have simply occurred at a time when they were both away from their original home and near to each other.
Like our patron goddess, the god we call 'Wish' chose a hero and helped found a kingdom to their liking. Queen Galea, who alongside the god who aided her, founded the Kingdom of Edialeigh amidst the ruins of a City of Light that is said to have once been the site of the legendary ‘Lumenaᵃ’. A place that those who live in the land of Varhyde now call Donaterm Cityᵇ.
While that city too had places which Wish found pleasing as a roost, it is said that what ultimately drew him to heed Galea’s pleas were her desires and strength of ideals to shape our unsettled world into one she thought better for its inhabitants. Desires so strong that some say that had the world held them back, that she would have seen fit to end it.
Nobody knows how true those tales are, but they’re certainly believable from what has been recorded of Wish and those he has chosen as his Heroes in history. Especially in light of the great violence that this Dragon of Deepᶜ Black has visited upon us and our land from above Edialeigh’s banners.
- Excerpt from 'The Varhyder Chronicles - A Brief History of our Kingdom's Early Years'
a. Derived by phonetic corruption from terminology from the German franchise localization.
b. Derived by phonetic corruption. A more semantically accurate translation would be "Thundertower City"
c. Semantic translation. A more literal one would be 'Pure', with 'Pure Black' in the original text alluding to the same concept as 'Deep Black' does here.
Well, hello again! Here I am back to review Once a Thief, not too long after dropping you a sizeable enough review back during Review Blitz. And now that Diner’s Review Event is on, I guess you could say this is Round 2: Electric Boogaloo. Now that I was finally caught up with the fic before this new chapter, I want to keep up with it and not repeat the mistake last year where I fell off with being caught up and had to use the odd Review Tag and eventually Review Blitz to get fully caught up with it.
But enough preamble; let’s get on with it, and see what situation the lovable rogues of Team Pathfinder are gonna inevitably land themselves in.
Chapter 22
Ah yes, the trope (if you could call it that) of ‘Fate being a glorified magnet’, destined to draw opposites towards each other. I’m certain if they had the option, Wish and Reality probably would’ve stayed as far away from the other as possible and set up their respective realms in peace. But if that was the case, we wouldn’t have conflict~
I ponder if the City of Light is a reference to something from either Xenogears or Xenosaga, because I’m drawing a blank as to what it could be in the Xenoblade games. Similarly with ‘Lumena’. Though the mention of ‘light’ now makes me half-wonder if Necrozma plays a part in any of this lore. Probably not, but who knows?
By the sounds of these snippets, this universe’s Galea doesn’t seem to deviate too much from the Galea/Meyneth we knew in XC1. Makes me wonder then, if our heroes are gonna end up siding with Edialeigh in the long run, given the route the XC1 protags took in their quest…
Now to the present day, where continuing on from last chapter is the conversation that Lacan and Siegmund are having behind closed doors with Sophia out of the equation.
A shame there’s no time to look at that pretty view when you have an impatient king breathing down your neck.
Well, sometimes that can be a trap in and of itself, and if those demands to come quietly were given by fearsome looking Grünhäuter, then I can’t say I blame Irune one bit for constantly being on the run from them. Especially given the haunting indications of what Operation Spark might be…
A Dienesse Wedge? I see that’s a play on ‘DNS-Keil’, the German for DNA Splicers. So those suspicions weren’t wrong, then.
Lacan talking about Newangle City as if it’s an unsafe refuge for a fugitive makes me hit X to doubt, given how a sprawling city like the capital full of ruins would be a pretty good place for one to hang out in. And I can imagine that having to summon troops to conduct a full-on search of Newangle City, especially when there’s a war going on, would be quite the hassle.
Welp, looks like Siegmund’s talking for tactics of luring the Dyad in. Which will probably mean Irune will fall for this upcoming trap hook, line and sinker, knowing how curious that Axew can be.
The focus in on the rest of Team Forager by Siegmund makes me bet that they’ll find a lure in an old friend of Dalton, given his history with the place, who’ll proceed to bring them right into the lap of Lacan. Whether through coercion or cooperation, we’ll see. Probably the former.
They’ve been doing that plenty of times already, and yet Team Forager have still managed to evade capture. Skill issue on Lacan’s part.
I can’t imagine the librarian’s gonna be too happy about the possibility of combat taking place in the Royal Library. Here’s hoping this doesn’t become another Library of Alexandria situation, because that would most certainly be a Bad Thing.
The mention of the Crown Prince makes me wonder if we’ll see him at some point and if so, what he’ll be like. Will he be like a certain other Crown Prince that’s known for his Eye of Shining Justice?
Ah yes, the old ‘do this important thing, and you’ll be promoted’. Though here’s hoping Lacan doesn’t go about boasting that openly. Not that he would - it doesn’t seem like him - but he’d be tempting failure through such hubris.
Feldmarschall Kant? I see we’ve got a philosopher’s name in the mix. Would make sense given Kant was German and thus would fit in with the (not quite definitive) naming guidelines of this story.
The details about Operation Avalanche…somehow I get the feeling there’s a dark truth lying in wait there. Especially when it was conducted by King Sansa of all people.
A stern yet fair person Siegmund is. Though I suppose this is in the name of his kingdom, so that would make sense. And determined to sunder Edialeigh for good so it can’t attack Varhyde again…
And now away from the royal elegance of the king’s chambers and to the dirty passageways of Newangle City where our resident outlaws are passing through. The mention of Wilders made me wonder if it’s a Mystery Dungeon, although I don’t think it’s that? Given how I feel the gang would react more in alarm if it transpired they were in one.
Delving through these tunnels makes this theme come to mind.
Hmm, Corphish substitute dolls? Oh, I see what you’re going for here. Question being: are there a hundred of them belonging to a self-proclaimed hero of justice who’s in fact anything but? (On that note, Newangle sidequest arc when? /j)
Territorial Outlaws are a worry, but I do wonder if there are Outlaws out there that might relate to Team Forager’s current situation and be willing to help them out as a result.
Igna? Dang, even in this universe, Ignas continue to be a pain. Lizardmon incoming in three, two, one…
And one called Ansel - a whole squad named after enemies in here, I see.
Ah yes, the old reliable Box Buster, run by Rampardos. And do they also have Gift Shops located near them? Curious if there’s a Rampardos and Cinccino AU romance in this world too. (Have to admit that writing A Rock and a Heart’s Place kinda has me on Rampardos x Cinccino brainrot, ehe.)
Asking too much of your colleague there, Dalton. It seems being an Outlaw has made them into trouble magnets, that’s for damn sure. Perhaps Irune’s the factor of that. But then…they can’t exactly abandon her without the conscience of guilt nagging their every step beyond that.
Sounds like a slum that Lyle and his comrades have ended up in. Poor wretches populate these streets, no doubt. Especially if one has to built their house through boat parts - definitely scavenger vibes being given off here. At least resources are being reused through the scrapper’s place nearby, so I can commend that resourcefulness of the folks that live here.
Ah, some remembrance stones. I can see there’s no people disappearing into light motes in this universe upon their death.
Yep, definitely the poor part of town, if the dole’s being handed out here. Though those Pokémon with outright missing limbs…geez, what did they go through? Could they be veterans of the war who lost limbs during combat, had to pull out and be repatriated home, and now can’t get a good job because of their disfigurement? The fact that there’s a few folks like this make me wonder if this might indeed be the case.
The mention of a bad place called Zelba City - calling it, our not-quite-heroes are gonna have to make an escape through that part of town in order to escape the Gendarmen of Newangle City, and Lacan too, if his trap ends up working.
A shrine with all kinds of pretty devotions to Legendaries. I guess even the poor, when all bets are off, still revere those divine figures as matters greater than their own miserable lives. For some of them, at least. And the amount of work put into them really does show their earnestness to praise the gods on a higher level. Who knows? Maybe this’ll be the lot to go to Heaven, while the nobles in their fancy towers with their gaudy statues and artworks will be the ones cast down into the pits of hell when Yveltal claims them.
Irune being envious over freedom…Seems this girl does not like being locked up, for whatever reason. Maybe there’s a history of that? Was she sealed at one point in time? Would be in line with the immense power she supposedly has as the Dyad.
Oh, seems we have an Edialeigher vandal on our hands. Could it be that hooded Charmeleon from before that did this? And recently too, if the fresh paint is anything to go by.
Interesting to hear about a time when Zekrom might’ve been friendly to Varhyde. Then again, it’s not like the people of Varhyde are immune to the impulses of wishes and desires that Zekrom is the patron god of.
Irune spouting yet another statement that hints at things being different in her time. You could make a drinking game of it at this point.
I get the feeling we’re going to know more about just what happened to Freeden Village. Could it have anything to do with Operation Siegfried that Siegmund mentioned earlier in this chapter? And now that Irune’s mentioned it and Lyle wondering if she might be from there…I can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection there…
The mention of jinx certainly does feel like it applies to Team Forager with how they’ve been hounded by Lacan and the Grünhäuter. If those ‘assholes’in the Foehn Gang saw Lyle now, they’d probably double down on those insults. Though if one were to make the remark that Irune’s something of a jinx for the group, I don’t think they’d be far wrong, to be honest.
On to the marketplace, and I see Kate’s wasting no time getting on with stealing from marks. Still, stealing from poor folks like these maybe isn’t the most charitable thing to do.
Irune got a purse? She’ll be a natural at this before she knows it.
Oh dear, Hunter’s Guilds in the city. Maybe these ones might have actually competent ‘mons in them compared to the incompetent bunch that was Team Pathfinder.
The way Kate’s going about this stealing spree makes me think that in a minute, we’re going to see a part where she takes this a wee bit too far and the others are gonna have to bail her out.
Well, that was a close call. Although that Drive…could that be the in-universe equivalent of a Red Pollen Orb? I forget if it was mentioned before, but something about it seems familiar, and I can’t help but wonder if it might play any role in Team Forager’s journey. Maybe they could use them for a quick burst of energy in a pinch?
Oh, it seems those fugitives have caught up with our gang, Igna and Ansel: a fire Marowak and a Fearow. That last part makes me remember that one teaser of an Ansel from XC3 you showed off in your forum, and now it all makes sense.
Ansel calls Team Forager ‘mudders’? I see the XC3 influences have definitely seeped in by this point. Also with the way he calls them mudders, I officially anoint the headcanon voice of Lanz upon him. (Was about to say Eunie before I realised Ansel was a guy.)
Conclusion
And that’s the end of that.
Another good chapter, with a fair amount of intrigue mentioned in the long conversation between Lacan and Siegmund. Getting to see the King’s personality at last, after he’s been alluded to for so long, and how in spite of his sternness towards Lacan for his failure to get Irune, he still has pride for him and hope that one day he’ll become an esteemed Feldmarschall like his father. There’s also the curiosity of figuring out just what Operation Siegfried was, and how finding out what it was may well have ramifications for the present day, Varhyde’s army, and Lacan’s quest.
Meanwhile with Team Forager, there’s the standard fare of sneaking around, pickpocketing, nearly getting caught, and now having to throw hands with some other Outlaws. Along with the mystery of who defiled the Reshiram idol, possibly by Edialeigher hands, we do have a good amount of mystery on our hands that may end up with some interesting results, particularly over the culprit of the Zekrom graffiti.
Looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds. Good stuff, keep it up!
I wonder if Newangle City is actually just a refurbished locale from the main line games. Or, like, all of this setting is actually some bizarro region. Perhaps Unova, given the focus on the Tao trio and Irune being a gen V dragon, too. Maybe this is Castelia City. Or since the ending blurb -- I'm calling it an ending blurb as long as you continue to insist on having the opening be in German and not just giving us a translated version because surely some author by now would've translated this out of "hightongue" like people have done with the works of authors like Homer, Dante, etc. -- references a big ol' tower that makes me think of Dragonspiral, maybe it's actually Icirrus?
It's nice that for once things "worked out" and didn't devolve into violence for the group. I kinda pegged this feraligatr as someone who cut corners to get by, so nice to see that confirmed and put to use. The scene with Lacan felt like an excuse to dump exposition about his backstory and some lore behind these settlements. So, it didn't offer me much, personally. I'm sure Xenoblade fans are doing the Leo di Caprio meme because he's some Xeno character expy.
he’d tried to keep an open mind for ways she could still catch him off-guard after an agonizingly long year when he’d thought he’d seen just about everything from her
e away while Boudewijn took the raft through them. The plan was simple: to feign stomachaches to get an excuse to lie down in the shade for “rest”, and pass Boudewijn money to slip to the guards to wave them along through an inspection so they could get to a clinic quicker.
The Founder set out to found his kingdom from one of the cities that humans left behind. Places that were veritable forests of concrete and glass, with high places which the goddess who granted him favor found pleasing, with lights driven by tamed thunder that seemed to outnumber stars in the sky
Righto, and with another V-Wheel circle, comes another V-Wheel review. I had an option of four to select from this time, but I figured that this time I'd come back to Once a Thief to read through Chapter 8 as part of the review materials. I knew this chapter coming up would potentially be a good one, and this chapter definitely delivered on that front. I'll try and keep it spoiler free for those wanting to read through it.
The chapter follows up from the previous sets of chapters, focusing not on... let's call it 'light crime', and now we are moving onto something more heavy with a more complicated operation in mind, involving blowing off some infamous merchants and robbing another merchant for money in order to leave.
This sequence in both of it's halves was really good. There was plenty of tension in the sequence, as the team has to try and get the job done with minimal effort and risk to themselves, and when one half of the plan breaks down into a fight, we get a short and sweet fight sequence which is also well writen and chronigraphed. And it was pretty awesome, given one particular mon just wouldn't roll over and give it up. Gotta commend the effort needed for our team to take him down, giving everyone a chance to shine. (Yes, even Kate doing... something).
That is merely the first half though, and the second half hits even more, the reveal of another character being alive and being sent off to a horrible fate, whilst the main cast is unable to do anything about it hits alot harder than I thought. It's not only incredibly realistic, but geniunely shows the troubled reactions of the cast to the whole situation as well. Oh, and a gang of characters I thought were going to be a oneshot group have returned... and are rather pissed off, which suddenly makes Chapter 9 sound very appealing to read through in the future with a solid hook.
There is less worldbuilding here for understandable reasons, but what little we do get about the penal units is certainly a scary thought, and a really dark addition to bring into play here.
The writing itself is all extremely solid, as per usual, but much like I said in the last few chapters, the chapter is very wordy. It's not so bad here compared to the previous two chapters though, partly because there is alot more action here and shorter gaps between the major scenes which is a major plus. I still had issues with the descriptions at times being perhaps overly detailed, or at least not clear enough, as I was having trouble imagining the layout of certain locations, however, again, this wasn't as a big a problem as the previous two.
All in all, this was a very entertaining chapter, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with Chapter 9 and the conclusion of this story part!
Hey everybody, cutting it a bit close this month for my “once a calendar month” goal, but I did have a fresh update today, along with some supplemental materials. But before that, let’s dive straight into those review responses:
Well, hello again! Here I am back to review Once a Thief, not too long after dropping you a sizeable enough review back during Review Blitz. And now that Diner’s Review Event is on, I guess you could say this is Round 2: Electric Boogaloo. Now that I was finally caught up with the fic before this new chapter, I want to keep up with it and not repeat the mistake last year where I fell off with being caught up and had to use the odd Review Tag and eventually Review Blitz to get fully caught up with it.
But enough preamble; let’s get on with it, and see what situation the lovable rogues of Team Pathfinder are gonna inevitably land themselves in.
Well thanks for being prompt about it. I haven’t forgotten about your own writings myself, though I suppose this is a sign that I should get around to reading and reviewing more of your stuff pretty soon, huh?
You probably recognize a few of these comments from about a month ago on Discord, but I threw in some new stuff to keep it fresh.
Chapter 22
Ah yes, the trope (if you could call it that) of ‘Fate being a glorified magnet’, destined to draw opposites towards each other. I’m certain if they had the option, Wish and Reality probably would’ve stayed as far away from the other as possible and set up their respective realms in peace. But if that was the case, we wouldn’t have conflict~
See, you’d think that, but even in the mainline games, they seem to have a knack for running into each other on a regular basis. :V
I ponder if the City of Light is a reference to something from either Xenogears or Xenosaga, because I’m drawing a blank as to what it could be in the Xenoblade games. Similarly with ‘Lumena’. Though the mention of ‘light’ now makes me half-wonder if Necrozma plays a part in any of this lore. Probably not, but who knows?
This actually isn't a Xeno series reference. That's all that I will say about it since once you know what to look for behind that name in particular, things will fall into place really quickly for you.
By the sounds of these snippets, this universe’s Galea doesn’t seem to deviate too much from the Galea/Meyneth we knew in XC1. Makes me wonder then, if our heroes are gonna end up siding with Edialeigh in the long run, given the route the XC1 protags took in their quest…
You mean side with exiles from it and wind up getting said opposing land destroyed? >:V
Though nah. Barring a huge, huge last-minute shakeup in planning on my part, this story won’t be going the same route as XC1. Not to say that I haven’t thought of ways of showing off glimpses of what’s on the other side of the Sundered Sea, it’s just that it likely will be through very particular perspectives.
Now to the present day, where continuing on from last chapter is the conversation that Lacan and Siegmund are having behind closed doors with Sophia out of the equation.
A shame there’s no time to look at that pretty view when you have an impatient king breathing down your neck.
I mean, they managed to get some time gawking out at the surrounding cityscape, so it wasn’t a total wash.
Well, sometimes that can be a trap in and of itself, and if those demands to come quietly were given by fearsome looking Grünhäuter, then I can’t say I blame Irune one bit for constantly being on the run from them. Especially given the haunting indications of what Operation Spark might be…
Lacan talking about Newangle City as if it’s an unsafe refuge for a fugitive makes me hit X to doubt, given how a sprawling city like the capital full of ruins would be a pretty good place for one to hang out in. And I can imagine that having to summon troops to conduct a full-on search of Newangle City, especially when there’s a war going on, would be quite the hassle.
You see, that would certainly be true if you had to search for fugitives the old-fashioned way. Or, you could break out the bounties and talk to some people who know some people, which you might have picked up on towards the end of this scene.
Welp, looks like Siegmund’s talking for tactics of luring the Dyad in. Which will probably mean Irune will fall for this upcoming trap hook, line and sinker, knowing how curious that Axew can be.
Irune: “Hey! We’ve gotten out of attempted traps before, alright?” >_>;
The focus in on the rest of Team Forager by Siegmund makes me bet that they’ll find a lure in an old friend of Dalton, given his history with the place, who’ll proceed to bring them right into the lap of Lacan. Whether through coercion or cooperation, we’ll see. Probably the former.
You’ll get some more clarification on this, but that’d be a bit unlikely since Dalton used to hang out with a very different crowd back in his days when he was in Newangle City.
They’ve been doing that plenty of times already, and yet Team Forager have still managed to evade capture. Skill issue on Lacan’s part.
I mean, with a bit of a helping of luck and timing, but…
I can’t imagine the librarian’s gonna be too happy about the possibility of combat taking place in the Royal Library. Here’s hoping this doesn’t become another Library of Alexandria situation, because that would most certainly be a Bad Thing.
Presumably all the real valuable stuff is behind lock and key since… yeah, not exactly hard to damage books with Pokémon powers.
The mention of the Crown Prince makes me wonder if we’ll see him at some point and if so, what he’ll be like. Will he be like a certain other Crown Prince that’s known for his Eye of Shining Justice?
In present planning, he’ll show up on a couple occasions. Though he’s actually cut from a different “crown prince” character archetype than the one you’re thinking of. Let’s just say that if Siegmund or the name of his royal house reminded you of anything from the series, you probably have a general idea of what he’d be like.
Ah yes, the old ‘do this important thing, and you’ll be promoted’. Though here’s hoping Lacan doesn’t go about boasting that openly. Not that he would - it doesn’t seem like him - but he’d be tempting failure through such hubris.
I mean, while I wouldn’t put it past Lacan to gloat a bit, he doesn’t strike me as the type to count his chickens before they hatch. Or at least not this far out in advance.
Feldmarschall Kant? I see we’ve got a philosopher’s name in the mix. Would make sense given Kant was German and thus would fit in with the (not quite definitive) naming guidelines of this story.
This one was actually rolled as a “slight tweak reference” name, but the fact that it was an actual surname that was decently fitting with the neighborhood didn’t hurt either.
The details about Operation Avalanche…somehow I get the feeling there’s a dark truth lying in wait there. Especially when it was conducted by King Sansa of all people.
What, are you telling me that “Sansa the Godsly” isn’t a totally trustworthy-sounding name there?
A stern yet fair person Siegmund is. Though I suppose this is in the name of his kingdom, so that would make sense. And determined to sunder Edialeigh for good so it can’t attack Varhyde again…
Well, from a certain party’s perspective, since I doubt that he’d be spoken of in such terms were we on the other side of the Sundered Sea right now.
And now away from the royal elegance of the king’s chambers and to the dirty passageways of Newangle City where our resident outlaws are passing through. The mention of Wilders made me wonder if it’s a Mystery Dungeon, although I don’t think it’s that? Given how I feel the gang would react more in alarm if it transpired they were in one.
Delving through these tunnels makes this theme come to mind.
Not a bad option, really. I’d also have accepted that 'dripping water' ambient music from Xenogears and this theme as alternative background music.
Hmm, Corphish substitute dolls? Oh, I see what you’re going for here. Question being: are there a hundred of them belonging to a self-proclaimed hero of justice who’s in fact anything but? (On that note, Newangle sidequest arc when? /j)
You’ll get an indirect answer to this in today’s chapter. TBD if I manage to squeeze in an actual onscreen appearance sometime later in the story or not, but the gang thankfully won’t be getting involved in any doll-collection quests in this story.
Territorial Outlaws are a worry, but I do wonder if there are Outlaws out there that might relate to Team Forager’s current situation and be willing to help them out as a result.
I mean, are you really surprised given that we had a ‘Zig’, an ‘Ardun’, and a ‘Gulkin’ so far in this story? (And those are just the blatant ones named after enemies.) :V
Ah yes, the old reliable Box Buster, run by Rampardos. And do they also have Gift Shops located near them? Curious if there’s a Rampardos and Cinccino AU romance in this world too. (Have to admit that writing A Rock and a Heart’s Place kinda has me on Rampardos x Cinccino brainrot, ehe.)
Technically, the species isn’t confirmed, but… you can’t say that Rampardos wouldn’t have an advantage for busting boxes open.
Asking too much of your colleague there, Dalton. It seems being an Outlaw has made them into trouble magnets, that’s for damn sure. Perhaps Irune’s the factor of that. But then…they can’t exactly abandon her without the conscience of guilt nagging their every step beyond that.
Also because the alternative is basically going to ground and hoping that they don’t get picked up in a manhunt when they’d be persons of interest to the army after being the Dyad’s last contact. ^^;
Sounds like a slum that Lyle and his comrades have ended up in. Poor wretches populate these streets, no doubt. Especially if one has to built their house through boat parts - definitely scavenger vibes being given off here. At least resources are being reused through the scrapper’s place nearby, so I can commend that resourcefulness of the folks that live here.
Yeah, it might be a couple chapters before I get a chance to explicitly reveal its name in Hightongue, but Shift Square is a disguised reference to a major location from Xenogears which is similarly a giant craphole like the location in this story.
Ah, some remembrance stones. I can see there’s no people disappearing into light motes in this universe upon their death.
Alas, no. Though for reference, this is indeed what ‘Remembrance Stones’ were translated as in the German localization of XB3, so I figured it was as good a reason as any to crib it and roll with it.
Yep, definitely the poor part of town, if the dole’s being handed out here. Though those Pokémon with outright missing limbs…geez, what did they go through? Could they be veterans of the war who lost limbs during combat, had to pull out and be repatriated home, and now can’t get a good job because of their disfigurement? The fact that there’s a few folks like this make me wonder if this might indeed be the case.
That was intended to be the implication, yes. If you recall the Prologue, there was a passing mention of a soldier who was sent back from injuries incurred in battle. This is the first that the story has taken the time to really explicitly show that off.
The mention of a bad place called Zelba City - calling it, our not-quite-heroes are gonna have to make an escape through that part of town in order to escape the Gendarmen of Newangle City, and Lacan too, if his trap ends up working.
That’d be a bit unlikely, since Zelba City is one of those “references a place from another story” locations like Port Reyn and Toya Square, so it’ll only be dealt with indirectly.
As a Word of God thing, but there’s nonzero odds that the Roly-Poly Caravan would have a decent presence there, for reasons that will become evident from the author’s notes of this next chapter.
A shrine with all kinds of pretty devotions to Legendaries. I guess even the poor, when all bets are off, still revere those divine figures as matters greater than their own miserable lives. For some of them, at least. And the amount of work put into them really does show their earnestness to praise the gods on a higher level. Who knows? Maybe this’ll be the lot to go to Heaven, while the nobles in their fancy towers with their gaudy statues and artworks will be the ones cast down into the pits of hell when Yveltal claims them.
Dalton: “Oi! I’m right here, you know! (... Even if I suppose I wouldn’t be too shocked.)”
Irune being envious over freedom…Seems this girl does not like being locked up, for whatever reason. Maybe there’s a history of that? Was she sealed at one point in time? Would be in line with the immense power she supposedly has as the Dyad.
That was actually more intended to be Irune hyperfixating on the sky some more, but hold onto that thought, really.
Oh, seems we have an Edialeigher vandal on our hands. Could it be that hooded Charmeleon from before that did this? And recently too, if the fresh paint is anything to go by.
That would be a bit hard considering where we last saw him and the company he kept, but this is another one of those things to hold onto thoughts about for the future.
Interesting to hear about a time when Zekrom might’ve been friendly to Varhyde. Then again, it’s not like the people of Varhyde are immune to the impulses of wishes and desires that Zekrom is the patron god of.
That’s not quite what I was going for there. Also, her ‘time’, huh? That’s- hm, nah. I’ll wait for you to piece things together as they come, since a lot of stuff will be coming out over the course of the next 3-4 chapters that will give you a definitive answer as to what Irune’s deal is.
I get the feeling we’re going to know more about just what happened to Freeden Village. Could it have anything to do with Operation Siegfried that Siegmund mentioned earlier in this chapter? And now that Irune’s mentioned it and Lyle wondering if she might be from there…I can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection there…
No, because Operation Siegfried was explicitly mentioned as having already been wrapped in Edialeigh. Now, Operation Avalanche on the other hand…
The mention of jinx certainly does feel like it applies to Team Forager with how they’ve been hounded by Lacan and the Grünhäuter. If those ‘assholes’in the Foehn Gang saw Lyle now, they’d probably double down on those insults. Though if one were to make the remark that Irune’s something of a jinx for the group, I don’t think they’d be far wrong, to be honest.
On to the marketplace, and I see Kate’s wasting no time getting on with stealing from marks. Still, stealing from poor folks like these maybe isn’t the most charitable thing to do.
Oh dear, Hunter’s Guilds in the city. Maybe these ones might have actually competent ‘mons in them compared to the incompetent bunch that was Team Pathfinder.
I mean, to be fair on Team Pathfinder, they did wind up getting into a position where they got a second wind in their first encounter. But yeah, there’s plenty of non-rook teams in that guild, even if it’s not the one the gang should be most worried about at the moment…
The way Kate’s going about this stealing spree makes me think that in a minute, we’re going to see a part where she takes this a wee bit too far and the others are gonna have to bail her out.
Well, that was a close call. Although that Drive…could that be the in-universe equivalent of a Red Pollen Orb? I forget if it was mentioned before, but something about it seems familiar, and I can’t help but wonder if it might play any role in Team Forager’s journey. Maybe they could use them for a quick burst of energy in a pinch?
Technically, 'Drive' is a more general class of drugs in this setting, as mentioned back in Chapter 6. But otherwise, yes. That batch of Drive in particular is an instance of the setting equivalent of Red Pollen Orbs. Makes you think a bit about how it got there, huh?
Oh, it seems those fugitives have caught up with our gang, Igna and Ansel: a fire Marowak and a Fearow. That last part makes me remember that one teaser of an Ansel from XC3 you showed off in your forum, and now it all makes sense.
Ansel calls Team Forager ‘mudders’? I see the XC3 influences have definitely seeped in by this point. Also with the way he calls them mudders, I officially anoint the headcanon voice of Lanz upon him. (Was about to say Eunie before I realised Ansel was a guy.)
Nah, too heroic and fraily-built to be a Lanz. I’d put my money more on him sounding closer to Gort.
Conclusion
And that’s the end of that.
Another good chapter, with a fair amount of intrigue mentioned in the long conversation between Lacan and Siegmund. Getting to see the King’s personality at last, after he’s been alluded to for so long, and how in spite of his sternness towards Lacan for his failure to get Irune, he still has pride for him and hope that one day he’ll become an esteemed Feldmarschall like his father. There’s also the curiosity of figuring out just what Operation Siegfried was, and how finding out what it was may well have ramifications for the present day, Varhyde’s army, and Lacan’s quest.
I mean, the name of the arc is ‘Quiet Intrigue’, so… :V
Though I assume that you meant ‘Operation Avalanche’ there, since… yeah, that one will become a bit more important over the coming chapters.
Meanwhile with Team Forager, there’s the standard fare of sneaking around, pickpocketing, nearly getting caught, and now having to throw hands with some other Outlaws. Along with the mystery of who defiled the Reshiram idol, possibly by Edialeigher hands, we do have a good amount of mystery on our hands that may end up with some interesting results, particularly over the culprit of the Zekrom graffiti.
Looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds. Good stuff, keep it up!
Whelp, you at least won’t be waiting for long to get a few answers for some of those questions this time around. Though thanks for the review. It was a lot of fun to read. ^^
I wonder if Newangle City is actually just a refurbished locale from the main line games. Or, like, all of this setting is actually some bizarro region. Perhaps Unova, given the focus on the Tao trio and Irune being a gen V dragon, too. Maybe this is Castelia City. Or since the ending blurb -- I'm calling it an ending blurb as long as you continue to insist on having the opening be in German and not just giving us a translated version because surely some author by now would've translated this out of "hightongue" like people have done with the works of authors like Homer, Dante, etc. -- references a big ol' tower that makes me think of Dragonspiral, maybe it's actually Icirrus?
Varhyde is an OC region that is the remains of one that does not exist canonically yet in the franchise. Whenever it does, my official excuse for why will probably not look a whole lot like the official one will be “it was a near-future AU of it with hefty Xeno influences worked in that got especially screwed over by a cataclysm where the fabric of reality got a bit screwy”.
Maybe. I wouldn’t rule out some funky geographic rearrangement happening during the Great Flash, but it wasn’t what I initially envisioned.
It's nice that for once things "worked out" and didn't devolve into violence for the group. I kinda pegged this feraligatr as someone who cut corners to get by, so nice to see that confirmed and put to use. The scene with Lacan felt like an excuse to dump exposition about his backstory and some lore behind these settlements. So, it didn't offer me much, personally. I'm sure Xenoblade fans are doing the Leo di Caprio meme because he's some Xeno character expy.
Hrm, a bit unfortunate that things seemed to be a bit uneven for how they landed with you, though it at least sounds like that on balance you enjoyed things.
Yeah, I suppose there’s always a first time for them given that they’re going back to Lumiose next year, even if Newangle City isn’t quite Unova in this setting.
Though thanks for the review, and until next time! ^^
Righto, and with another V-Wheel circle, comes another V-Wheel review. I had an option of four to select from this time, but I figured that this time I'd come back to Once a Thief to read through Chapter 8 as part of the review materials. I knew this chapter coming up would potentially be a good one, and this chapter definitely delivered on that front. I'll try and keep it spoiler free for those wanting to read through it.
Well, I can’t say that I’m complaining. Though thanks for coming back to this story, your reviews have always been fun to read thus far. ^^
The chapter follows up from the previous sets of chapters, focusing not on... let's call it 'light crime', and now we are moving onto something more heavy with a more complicated operation in mind, involving blowing off some infamous merchants and robbing another merchant for money in order to leave.
This sequence in both of it's halves was really good. There was plenty of tension in the sequence, as the team has to try and get the job done with minimal effort and risk to themselves, and when one half of the plan breaks down into a fight, we get a short and sweet fight sequence which is also well writen and chronigraphed. And it was pretty awesome, given one particular mon just wouldn't roll over and give it up. Gotta commend the effort needed for our team to take him down, giving everyone a chance to shine. (Yes, even Kate doing... something).
I mean, at least their victim will be fine in the end from that something, even if it’ll be on the embarrassing side of things for him. Though glad to hear that you thought the mugging sequence went down well.
That is merely the first half though, and the second half hits even more, the reveal of another character being alive and being sent off to a horrible fate, whilst the main cast is unable to do anything about it hits alot harder than I thought. It's not only incredibly realistic, but geniunely shows the troubled reactions of the cast to the whole situation as well. Oh, and a gang of characters I thought were going to be a oneshot group have returned... and are rather pissed off, which suddenly makes Chapter 9 sound very appealing to read through in the future with a solid hook.
Sounds like both parts did their jobs, then. Though I suppose that I had the meta benefit of Chapters 8 and 9 being originally written at the same time as some good help for making the ending note of Chapter 8 a nice tease for the future.
There is less worldbuilding here for understandable reasons, but what little we do get about the penal units is certainly a scary thought, and a really dark addition to bring into play here.
Yeah, the story does make use of ‘conservation of detail’ and discretion techniques to try and avoid getting too far into the weeds for dark material, but ‘How on earth is this rated Teen?’ is a recurring trend in Xeno series games, and as a story that draws heavy influence from it, aiming for that sort of vibe was one of those things that I wanted to go for.
The writing itself is all extremely solid, as per usual, but much like I said in the last few chapters, the chapter is very wordy. It's not so bad here compared to the previous two chapters though, partly because there is alot more action here and shorter gaps between the major scenes which is a major plus. I still had issues with the descriptions at times being perhaps overly detailed, or at least not clear enough, as I was having trouble imagining the layout of certain locations, however, again, this wasn't as a big a problem as the previous two.
Hrm, well glad to hear that the contents were on balance good enough to make the chapter still enjoyable to read. I’ll keep the note about descriptions being too wordy / unclear in mind for the future, since that can sometimes be a stumbling block for me.
All in all, this was a very entertaining chapter, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with Chapter 9 and the conclusion of this story part!
And I’ll be looking forward to your feedback! Thanks again for the review! ^^
And in light of this story reaching 10,000 views (well, plus some hundreds at this rate) on TR, have a fresh batch of trivia about the making of this story and some of the faces and places you’ve come to know and love from it:
Author’s Note: This trivia section was written under the assumption that readers had caught up with the full length of the story up to this point. If you’re stumbling across this from before Chapter 22, strongly consider revisiting it sometime after catching up.
Why is the world of this story called ‘Wander’ anyways?
Well, I suppose that the more accurate answer to this is that it’s what the Pokémon of Varhyde call their world, but it was named as such because it sounded like a plausible-enough corruption of ‘Wunder’ from German, which as explained in the Prologue, carries the semantic meaning of ‘wonder’ or ‘miracle’ depending on how one chooses to translate that. Which felt like it’d be fitting for a world with some trippier topography and little pockets where the fabric of reality is a bit screwier than normal that was built on the remains of a bygone civilization capable of fantastical-sounding feats to its present day inhabitants.
As for why I chose to call the setting that in the first place, the early phases of this story’s outlining were done concurrent to a playthrough of Xenoblade X, which led to the working name for the setting being the same as the setting planet of that game—‘Mira’. ‘Mira’ happens to be a word in Latin that means ‘wonderful’ or ‘astonishing’, thus the choice for a name that was a sly nod to it for a world that draws on it in terms of vibes and features.
What’s with those Mystery Dungeons in this story?
As readers of Fledglings likely might have gathered, there was a good deal of worldbuilding in this story that I didn’t bother to reinvent the wheel for a secondary story, with much of the nuts and bolts being shared between them, if sometimes under different nomenclature like ‘Pockets’ in this story.
That’s not to say that everything was a straight lift from Fledglings. As a story that in initial development aimed to be shorter and more fast-paced than my main work, Wander’s Mystery Dungeons are significantly more interlinked than the typical Mystery Dungeon in Fledglings’ setting, which allows them to function as handy spatial shortcuts for those sufficiently strong or desperate enough to try and take advantage of them. The auroras that appear over and nearby Mystery Dungeons are also exclusive to this story, mostly because aberrations of spacetime felt like they might plausibly cause disruptions in a planet’s magnetic field, and it was a handy excuse to put in the surreal and dreamlike night skies that one might encounter in various Xenoblade titles.
Wait, but I swear that I’ve seen these Mystery Dungeons somewhere… why do they sound and feel so familiar?
That would be because the Mystery Dungeons in this story draw a good deal of influence from more memorable bits of topography from different Xeno titles, and usually are named as a reference or play off of different location names from the series. In no particular order:
- Waterhead Cave is a fairly transparent semantic rename of Headwater Cavern from Xenoblade X, even if its aesthetic was drawn from elsewhere by virtue of Headwater Cavern being on the blander side. Instead, Waterhead Cave looked back further in the series at the Vilia Lake area to inform its aesthetic, so if the blue bioluminescent water and cave illumination reminded you of anything… yeah, that was where it was coming from.
- Primordial Woods is a play off of the full name of ‘Makna Forest’ in the Japanese version of Xenoblade: マクナ原生林, or semantically ‘Mak(u)na Primeval/Primordial Forest’, which was the placeholder name of the Mystery Dungeon at large. The fundamental premise of the area was “large fossil revival lab overtaken by a jungle”, with explicit influences drawn from Blackmoon Forest from Xenogears, Makna Forest from Xenoblade, Noctilum from Xenoblade X, with Torigoth Forest from Xenoblade 2 being a late addition for cues in the leadup to its chapters’ publishing.
- Raptor Rock is a composite of ‘Talon Rock’ and the name of the same area in Xenoblade X’s German localization: ‘Raubvogelstiege’, or roughly ‘Raptor/Bird of Prey Steps/Stairs’. As a location, it is based off the namesake rock formation and some of the more surreal-looking plateau areas of Bionis such as Gaur Plain.
Though hey, I can’t really argue with a practice if it worked. While the location design hopefully wasn’t too on the nose, drawing influence from the other half of this story’s well of inspiration worked quite well for grounding where I wanted to take things thematically, including for places outside of Wander’s Mystery Dungeons.
How did you come up with Rankar?
Rankar as a minor antagonist started out life as a fairly transparent stand-in of Captain Tarquin from Fledglings, only to undergo retooling past the earliest of draft phases to differentiate him and go off in the direction of a leader figure well past his prime who secured his power through sordid means and was staring down an uncertain future as a deliberate thematic parallel to Varhyde’s broader problems in the present. While Rankar’s characterization changed quite a bit during development, the core of him being a Tyrantrum Wilder did not, to the point that his primary working name for much of the Primordial Woods arc’s development was ‘Grandpa Tyrantrum’.
Rankar as a name was chosen about a month out from the start of the Primordial Woods arc, and is a transparent reference to Xenogears’ ‘Rankar Dragon’. An early boss from that game which is more or less a giant robot-sized tyrannosaur. While this story’s Rankar is significantly smaller and more dangerous of a fight for the protagonists, the parallels felt too good to pass up even if the name was a bit on-the-nose.
How did you come up with Team Pathfinder?
Team Pathfinder were developed to fill a meta role as an “archetypical zero to hero protagonist team”, cast as a recurring comedic relief antagonist akin to a more competent Team Rocket from the anime which reflected in their earliest working title of ‘Goldfish Poop Gang’. Around the time that the story came down hard on leaning into the Xenoblade-themed placeholders that had cropped up here and there in development, the idea came to me to make the team a character cameo of some of characters that were from the broader series. Between the protagonists of the numbered Xenoblade games being a bit too recognizable for my liking and it being on my mind, that took me in the direction of Xenoblade X’s characters, just portrayed further down the power scale and in a more comedic light. So if some of their lines struck you as familiar… yeah, that was pretty deliberate. More specifically, the characters were cast as follows:
- Cruz is a semantic rename of ‘Cross’, the default name for Xenoblade X’s player character. His personality leans particularly hard on the ‘Male Joker’ VA option you can select in that game, and while he’s hardly alone as the ‘Rook’ of his team, it informed his portrayal for team dynamics.
- Vilma is a semantic rename of ‘Elma’, who is one of your first party members in the game and is generally accepted in the fandom to be the narrative’s proper protagonist. Vilma fills the same role for Team Pathfinder, even if she leans a bit heavier on her “dual swords” than projectile attacks compared to her source of inspiration.
- Nellie is the stand-in for ‘Lin’, with her name being a lazy anagram of ‘Lin Lee’ since my original angle of attempting a non-Mandarin reading of the character used for her name resulted in options that either sounded too similar to ‘Lin’ or else didn’t quite roll off the tongue. True to form, she’s also the team youngster with a cute little Xeno-themed hairclip of her own.
- Bel if it wasn’t already obvious from his speech pattern and devil-like aesthetic, is Team Pathfinder’s equivalent to L, with his name formed much in the same way his inspiration character’s full name of L’cirufe is a play off an epithet for the devil. In this case, from a clipping of ‘Belial’ that is done much in the same style of how his shortened and full names are handled in Xenoblade X’s Japanese version.
I will decline to comment as to what the future holds for Team Pathfinder’s future morphs ather than that they still had other appearances in the pipeline in the story planned at the time of writing and that future plans involving them did take their gameplay portrayals from Xenoblade X into mind.
As for the team name, that went through a few rounds of revision, with the original name settled on them being ‘Team Blade’, after the name of the organization that gives out missions in Xenoblade X and its individual operatives. I ultimately felt that the name didn’t quite work with half the team not having fighting styles leaning on fighting with sharp implements, which sent me back to the drawing board. One glance through the different Divisions from Xenoblade X later, I realized that the one responsible for expanding the game map, the ‘Pathfinders’ had a snappy enough name and more or less was a perfect thematic fit for an Exploration Team staffed by fish-out-of-water rookies.
More observant readers likely saw this one this one coming, since if the trident design of Team Forager’s pilfered scarves or the reworked design that Team Pathfinder popped up in in Errberk Village seemed familiar to you, there’s a good reason for that: they’re tweaks of the logo of the Pathfinders Division in Xenoblade X.
Wait, those symbols in this story are based on things? Like what?
Well, some of them are sigils cooked up whole cloth, but a good number of them are references to various designs that feature prominently in different games from the series. In no particular order:
- The Schild der Wirklichkeit and Schwert der Wünsche are based off the “triangle with circles at vertices” visual motif that shows up from time to time in Xenoblade titles in both upward (e.x. 1 and 3’s Chain Attack icons) and downward (multiple major character designs from 1) orientations.
- Nellie’s clip that she wears is based off the design of “ye olde Xeno cross with shortened arms”, specifically the shape of a Lifehold.
- The sigil of Vector ‘Ah-ghee’ should be immediately familiar to you if you’ve played Xenosaga or else played far enough into Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed. That is all I will say about it for now other than if you recognize it, you might have some ideas of what it’s pointing towards.
- The sigil of Sophia’s Ritterorden as seen on the keep in Errberk Village is a Nisan Cross, a very prominent sigil from Xenogears that is intimately associated with her namesake character.
- The symbol of Universität von Wahrheit is based off of Addam’s Crest from Xenoblade 2
- The scarves Lyle and Kate wind up wearing after stealing from the clothesline are based off the frame of a Flame Clock lit up in Agnian colors.
There are also a few that originate from within the Pokémon franchise such as the sigil used for the clinic in Errberk Village and the Drachensiegel, but I’ll leave those for readers to figure out since the latter of those two is for another day.
How did you come up with Moonturn Square?
Moonturn Square actually went floating in terms of location design up until fairly late in development, with the oh-so-creative name of ‘Chapter 3 Town’ for a good chunk of development. The big break for coming up with a design came after the decision to go full referential hack with regard to the Xeno series and set a goal of drawing vibes from Colony 9 from the first town, which some readers likely pieced together from the big tri-legged tower that looms over everything and the former Sheriff off campaigning in battle named after Colonel Square-tache in a disguised fashion.
From there, it was just a matter of finding a way to make things make sense in the setting, with the angle that I settled on being that Moonturn Square had been built on the ruins of a larger stadium complex akin to those that appear in the anime’s once-a-region League Conferences, which isn’t far removed from how some medieval towns in Europe were built in the remains of ancient Roman amphitheaters like Medieval Arles, which with a couple collapsed sections provided a way of roughly echoing the footprint of Colony 9’s Commercial District: marketplace in the west, big tower in the center, large military installation in the north, and residential district with a transparent stand-in for Tranquil Square in the south.
That’s not to say that everything about Moonturn Square was taken straight from Colony 9 since it’s not a series of interconnected islands in a lake. The star fortification that encloses the town was based on various towns in Europe built in such a style, in particular Palmanova. While the aqueduct and water wheels are based off of similar constructions in Iberia and the Middle East used to ferry drinking water from rivers to raised settlements.
As for the name, it and the vast majority of location names in this story were developed with its German name first: Munternplatz, deliberately echoing the name of Pokémon Square in the German localization of the original Rescue Team games: Pokémonplatz, with the somewhat dippy and ironic semantic meaning of “Cheerful Square/Plaza”. From there, it was simply a matter of phonetically corrupting ‘muntern’ (which ‘Moonturn’ roughly approximates for Anglophones) and attaching the ‘Square’ to it and the rest was history.
How did you come up with Errberk Village?
Like many other locations in this story, Errberk Village started with an on-the-nose working name, which in its case was ‘Post Town Analogue’, its intended meta function in the earliest drafts of the story. Errberk Village wound up changing considerably during development due to a mixture of needing to pick a hometown for Sophia, which informed the decision to give the town a more martial character, and playing through Xenoblade 2 during the process of writing out the first couple arcs of the story, which wound up influencing the final depiction of the town.
More specifically, if the Sheriff spouting the very memeable lines didn’t already tip readers off, but Errberk Village is more or less the end result of putting Torigoth from Xenoblade 2 and Baram Town from PSMD into a blender. So if you thought that the description of the entrance arch into the village or the square with the fountain right outside the Green Dragonite sounded familiar, that was why. The primary departure in layout made for Errberk Village as a smaller settlement is that it has no “second bank” across the river dominated by a military presence unlike Torigoth in Xenoblade 2. That was kept closer to the village along with a lot more windmills thrown into the mix.
That’s not to say that there weren’t also wholesale additions thrown in. The Green Dragonite in particular is based on a Pokémon Center of the design used in XY that had been gutted and retrofitted into an inn with a more rustic facade. The shacks perched on the concrete pillar is based off the design of more old-timey gas stations in Germany, which felt like something that could be reasonably found not far away from a Pokémon Center for hosting travelers in a long-bygone time.
Much like Moonturn Square, Errberk Village was named by first coming up with a German name for it that would sound very “standard PMD settlement”, and then phonetically corrupting it. In its case, its name is a deliberate play off of the name for Serene Village in PSMD: ‘Ruhenau’, with ‘-au’ being a common toponymic suffix for towns built by rivers in the Germanosphere. As mentioned in an earlier author note, ‘Herbergau’ carries a semantic meaning roughly equivalent to “Hostel Village (by a River)”, with ‘Errberk’ just being the result of abruptly clipping a few sounds at the beginning and end of the name.
What’s with those song lyrics at the bar scenes?
They are cameos of songs from the Xenoblade X soundtrack. More specifically, the lyrics from the Moonturn Square tavern scene are from the opening stanza of Don’t Worry (with part of the stanza immediately following further cameoing in Chapter 9), while the ones from the Errberk Village tavern scene are the opening stanza of By My Side.
They won’t be the last such cameos you’ll come across in this story, even if I won’t go so far as to say that they’ll all appear in similar capacities or be drawn from the same soundtrack.
Do you have a headcanon OST for this fic?
Well, Don't Worry and By My Side, obviously. But more seriously, the soundtrack I associate with this story is a grab bag of music from titles from the Pokémon and Xeno series, with particularly heavy bias towards Xenoblade X and Xenoblade 3’s soundtracks by virtue of their source games being the closest in overall vibe to this story and them having more of an ‘artificial’ bent to them befitting a world built on the ruins of a not-too-distant future.
Mir ist zu Ohren gekommen, dass Ihre Streitkräfte unkonventionelle Kontakte mit den weniger schmackhaften Elementen dieser Stadt über Elemente in und neben der sogenannten „Diebesgilde“ unterhalten. Aufgrund von Bedenken hinsichtlich der Kriegsanstrengungen gegen das Königreich der Ideale bitte ich im Namen von Eurer Majestät König Siegmund von Wahrheit, ihnen mitzuteilen, dass sie jene Pokémon ausfindig machen sollen, deren Beschreibungen in diesem Brief enthalten sind.
Ich interessiere mich nicht besonders für die Arbeitsweise dieses Ungeziefers oder des sogenannten „Bluthummers", der ihren Respekt abverlangt, und es ist mir auch nicht wichtig, die vollständige Geschichte und Einzelheiten dieser Vereinbarung herauszufinden. Praktische Bedürfnisse erfordern, dass Ihre und meine Streitkräfte nicht gezwungen sind, eine ganze Stadt nach diesen Pokémon abzusuchen, selbst wenn dies den Rückgriff auf unangenehme Lösungen erfordert.
Ihre Kontakte müssen über die bereitgestellten Beschreibungen hinaus nichts wissen und müssen sie mit einem Raubüberfall auf die Königliche Bibliothek beauftragen. Was diese Pokémon von Interesse stehlen sollen, ist unerheblich, solange zumindest die Milza unter ihnen körperlich in der Lage ist, durch die Türen zu gehen, sodass sie vor Ort festgenommen werden kann.
Bitte informieren Sie Ihren Ansprechpartner darüber, dass jeder, der an der Begünstigung dieser Festnahme beteiligt ist, sowohl finanziell als auch durch die Löschung aller Vorstrafen reichlich belohnt wird. Jeder aus ihren Reihen, bei dem festgestellt wird, dass er die Gefangennahme stört oder das Wohlergehen der Milza auf eine Weise beeinträchtigt oder die ihre Festnahme verhindert, wird als Täter des Hochverrats gegen die Krone behandelt.
Weitere Anweisungen und Briefings werden im Laufe des Abends an alle relevanten Personen weitergeleitet.
- Dringende Depesche von Graf von Wellenhafen, Lacan Dragoransohn weitergeleitet an den Viertels Oberwachtmeister von Neuengelstadt
Gods, this just wasn’t Lyle’s day. Lyle looked up from the ground, still smarting from a heavy smack across his flank when he saw the ‘mon who hit him: a lanky, umber-colored Marowak. She wore a cream-and-red scarf with that same claw pattern they saw graffitied in the Undercity… and wielded a bony club that looked longer than her standing height. Or at least Lyle the ‘mon sounded like a ‘she’ from the way her voice sounded.
She must’ve been one of those Marowak from the southern Provinzen... which he knew precious little about other than that they were different from ones like Alvin. He took a moment to catch his breath and size up the lizard glaring down at him. The still-smarting blow to his shoulder was proof enough that even if she was different from Marowak Alvin, she could hit as hard as him with her club.
“You should know when you’re beat, Quilava. Just saying, my Orb’s primed to use right now and Igna and I aren’t the ones who will conk out if I break it!”
And then there was her Fearow partner wearing the same patterns who blocked the rest of the alleyway, with his right talon wrapped tightly around a Slumber Orb.
Really, the more he saw of his present circumstances, the more Lyle was convinced they were all in deep trouble. The Marowak seemed to know it too from the way she batted her club against her free palm and the toothy sneer spreading over her mouth.
“Though please, do pick a fight. Go ahead and make my day,” the Marowak sneered. “If you four don’t completely crumple up, you seem like you’d be fun for our buddies to take apart once they catch up with us.”
Gods, there were more of these ‘mons?! From the way that the Marowak phrased things, those buddies of theirs couldn’t have been far away, either. Irune was hiding behind Dalton, whose mouth hung open with that same sort of expression that Alvin and other lizard Pokémon like him had when they were in for a bad time. And then there was Kate, who rolled her eyes and folded her arms with a dismissive scoff.
“And just who are you jokers supposed to be?”
“We should be asking you the same thing, Sneasel,” the Fearow huffed. “There’s a system for ‘mons looking to steal things here in Newangle City. So let’s see some sign that you’re part of it, or else things are about to get very uncomfortable for you.”
“Actually Ansel, I think you can save your breath there,” the Marowak said.
The Marowak grabbed at the scruff of Lyle’s neck, dragging him up as a predatory sneer spread over her face and ghostly fire sprouted on the tips of her club
“I remember this furry rat’s yippy little voice from the Undercity earlier. So how about we get properly introduced to each other, hm?” she asked. “Who knows? Maybe there’ll be something left over for one of the local Leichensammler to pick over when we’re done with you. I heard the ones in Zelba City don’t ask too many questions about where they get their stock, and I’m willing to bet the ones here in Shift Square don’t either.”
Lyle felt a chill run down his back at the strange Marowak’s threat. He didn’t know if it was just bluster to mess with them, or if these two really were going to kill them, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to wait to find out. The Quilava gulped, looking around his surroundings uneasily when he noticed Dalton bracing himself and something building back at his mouth.
That was a Surf. Or at least he sure hoped that was one. Either way, he needed to get this ‘mon’s claws off him, and the fastest way to do that was to get her guard down. He pinned his ears back, his voice coming out with a stammering squeak.
“Uh… Yeah, well… You see, the thing is-”
Lyle blew out from deep in his lungs as it mixed with ashy heat from within and came out as a Smokescreen straight into the Marowak’s face. A shout from Irune’s voice followed and a pair of hacking blows against scales rang out from just beside him. Igna lost her grip and Lyle hit the ground, the Quilava hastily rolling onto all fours as he heard Igna hack and splutter behind him.
“Gah! Ansel, Orb those lousy-!”
The pair suddenly yelped when Lyle felt water from behind knock him down. He lost his footing and saw Irune run past him, a quick glance back revealing Dalton riding the remains of a wave of water past a reeling Igna and Ansel. The Fearow’s Slumber Orb was left behind on the ground rolling inertly, just in time for Kate to stoop down and snatch it.
“Hey, thanks for the welcoming gift! But I think we’ll take a pass on that introduction!”
Lyle turned and bolted as he heard the telltale woosh of an Icy Wind ring out from behind him and tore along into the street after Dalton and Irune. He felt a sharp tug as Kate caught up and dragged him leftwards past passersby and briefly saw his Heliolisk and Axew teammates duck down an alleyway on the right side of the street.
“Say your prayers, you little worm!”
Lyle heard startled yelps ring out and ducked as the Southern Marowak’s bone flew just over his head. He hurriedly spat a second Smokescreen up before bolting down the alleyway as he tried to keep pace with his teammates. Reshiram’s Fur, Icy Wind was supposed to slow those two down! When he looked back ahead for Dalton and Irune, he saw he’d fallen behind them and that Kate was now in front of him. He dove into a running lunge which made the surrounding world melt into a blur around him, faintly hearing cries off behind him. His vision started to become clearer as his Quick Attack petered out, as he began to see walls and entrances to dingy-looking houses and flats along a quieter back street. Dalton and Irune were off along the side, panting for breath, without any sign of the Marowak or Fearow behind them.
The lull barely lasted long enough for him to catch his own breath when he heard wingbeats from overhead and looked up to see Ansel skimming over the rooftops. Because of course that stupid feather duster would’ve just been spying on them from above this whole time.
“Gottverdammt!” Kate cried. “Can’t we catch a break?!”
Lyle spat up a cone of cinders up at Ansel as the Fearow attempted to dive at them and froze as clattering intermixed with low snarls came from the back of the alley. That was either Igna, or one of her ‘buddies’—neither possibility boded well for him. The Quilava looked about frantically as Dalton and Kate threw attacks up in the air to try and drive Ansel off, when he spotted movement up a set of steps from a building a few doors down.
He briefly glimpsed a sign over the door with a symbol that looked like a pair of circles side-by-side and… a party of Togedemaru with grayish scarves entering? Those furballs again? Whatever, he wasn’t going to question it. If they could make Igna and Ansel their problems, it’d be just the break they’d need to shake their pursuers.
“Th-That way!” the stoat cried. “Where those Togedemaru just went in!”
“Lyle, those are ‘mons from the Roly-Poly Caravan!” Irune protested. “How’s it a good idea to-?!”
The Axew’s protests abruptly cut off after a slicing wind zipped just past her arm. She jumped back with a yelp, before bolting for the stairs with a frantic wave back.
“Okay, never mind! Getting the Togedemaru involved sounds good to me!”
Lyle took off running for dear life along with his teammates, as every step, every second, seemed to drag on for an eternity. Lyle yelped as a whirling bone sailed in and almost clipped his right side, hastily springing to off to the left before he made a mad dash up the steps just as the door ahead started to close after the Togedemaru. Dalton was the first to reach it and caught its edge, stopping it with his good arm and pulling it open.
“Gotcha!”
Air wooshed from behind as a loud smack rang out and Kate yelped. The next thing Lyle knew, she bumped into him and sent him stumbling into Dalton and Irune as they all pitched forward and fell through the doorway with a chorus of yelps.
Lyle hit the floor face-first on some sort of rug that thumped from wood underneath it. He lay there as the world spun around in his eyes before feeling a set of scaly claws wrench into his body and roll him over onto his back and then something heavy press down on his throat hard enough to make him struggle to breath. He looked up and let out choked screams as his vents lit up in fright. It was Igna, pressing her club down harder and harder against his throat all as a toothy sneer came over her face.
“Gotcha, you ugly son of a-!”
“Ah-ah-ah. You seem to be forgetting where you are just now, Knogga₁.”
Lyle felt Igna’s grip loosen and saw her freeze and look up with a nervous grimace. Over to his left, Ansel was doing much the same atop a rough ball with the others, his beak slackening from the middle of a tussle with Kate over his stolen Sleep Orb. Lyle craned his head up, the world around him still inverted as he saw a room with a wooden counter on one end, and a few cushioned seats and tables on the other. The Togedemaru party from earlier were there as well, staring blankly as one of them with a set of Heavy Rotation Specs—or so Lyle assumed from their swirl-like lenses—nudged another one clad in armor places in front of him with a scolding “Pupunin, you supposed to be bodyguard! Get out there!”
He wasn’t sure where the hell they were at the moment, but it didn’t take long to see what had spooked Igna and Ansel so badly. Up at the counter, there was a Crobat flying in place from behind a sheaf of papers on the counter.
Her garb carried some sort of shade like the scarves they stole off that ‘Team Pathfinder’, except at the center was some sort of strange crystalline design with hue that reminded him of lavender flowers—a pointed rod, overlaid by a diamond circumscribing a pair of concentric hexagons.
That was definitely a design that would stick out. Did it mean something to those the Marowak and Fearow? The Crobat let out a disinterested scoff, before leveling a sharp glare across the counter.
“This is the Möbius, not a guild hall for Hunters. It’s the proprietor’s policy that no business be settled on the property outside the playhouse,” the Crobat said, as her face settled into a predatory smirk.
“Or am I going to have to call Wye over to help me sort you all out?”
Lyle felt Igna let go and hurriedly rolled onto his feet and bolted away from her, stressed fire still pouring out his vents as his companions hastily joined him at his side. Lyle didn’t know who this Crobat was or who this ‘Wye’ she was referring to were, but they seemed to put the fear of the gods into Igna and Ansel. The pair squirmed a moment under the Crobat’s glare, as the Fearow of the pair bowed and raised a wing with a stammering squawk.
“O-Our deepest apologies, Frau Iksbat₂,” Ansel started. “Der Bluthummer₃ wouldn’t dream of having his associates start trouble in a place like this! We were just taking these jokers-”
“Over to book a room!”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Kate as she nonchalantly strutted over to the counter and threw the leftover money they’d stolen off the Tyranitar earlier onto the counter. The Sneasel propped herself onto the counter with her shoulders and shot a playful grin up at the Crobat receptionist.
“We’ll take the best room for four you’ve got. Our Marowak and Fearow friends there were just showing us around town,” the Sneasel insisted. “A chunk of change like that ought to cover things plus the damage to your rug, right Frau Iksbat?”
The Crobat cast a glance between the Sneasel and her money on the counter, and then back at the two ‘mons from the Thieves’ Guild. After a moment’s hesitation, the receptionist took the money and ducked up to a set of rafters to drop a key on the counter. Lyle just stared blankly for a moment as the Crobat came back down, before staring off at a set of stairs at the far end of the lobby.
“Room 236. Third floor, and second right from the stairwell. We’ll bill you for the damages your payment didn’t cover later,” the Crobat instructed. “Though for the record, it’s ‘Ecks’. And don’t get in the habit of bringing in trouble along with you, either. It gets the proprietor on my case.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Kate cheered.
Lyle stared blankly before noticing Igna and Ansel doing much the same with their jaws flopped open. He looked back at Kate as she gave a smarmy wave before ducking off for the stairwell. He decided not to question things and got up as Dalton hurried after her and he did likewise with Irune. Lyle made his way over to the stairs, heart still racing his chest only for Irune to abruptly stop and turn and look past his shoulders. She took a moment to blow a raspberry before hurrying up the stairs, with a quick peek back revealing the Marowak and Fearow glaring daggers back at him from the doorway.
“This isn’t over, Quilava,” Igna snarled. “You four are gonna have to come out eventually...”
The Marowak and Fearow ducked back out the doors at the entrance, before pulling them closed with a flinch worthy slam. He lingered briefly at the bottom of the steps as his heart continued to pound in his chest, and blinked incredulously until he started to notice that the Togedemaru from earlier were staring at him.
Probably as good a sign as any it was time to move on.
“Right, uh… sorry for the disruption and have a nice stay?”
Lyle didn’t wait to see how anyone would react and hurriedly ducked along after his teammates. He scurried up the stairwell as his thoughts drifted to his tongue with a sighing grumble.
“What in the world did we just get ourselves into?”
Sophia knew that her flight to the Royal Reliquary after receiving her assignment from Lacan would be short, but she didn’t realize it would be this short: scarcely a minute’s flight south and then almost straight down. It took her to one of the buildings that the Universität von Wahrheit had been built into. The university’s share of the building had its entrances on the Lower Streets, while above on the floors around it the Upper Streets, was the Royal Library. Except her destination was far higher still from the two—a ledge about a third of Dämmerungsturm’s height from the ground which had been turned into a plaza with a curious banded appearance.
Sophia spread her wings as braked in the air as she neared the platform, coming to a hopping stop on a ledge for fliers. The plaza was fairly quiet, trafficked by a few guards and some Carriers such as a small group of Squawkabilly who idly prattled beside a grounded Air Carriage. A quick glance down revealed that the bands she saw from the air were from white and black brickwork. It was one of those motifs that marked it as clearly having been built during golden years of Sansa’s reign, during that brief, happy season before the present war started when both Wish and Reality smiled upon the kingdom.
The statues that stood guard over the approach to the steps up to the Royal Reliquary came shortly afterwards. First came the four founders of the Generalstab, their bodies all in Awakened states much as if they’d just consumed Empowerment Seeds. King Sansa of course was among them, as was the Absol statue of his trusted confidant, Alweiss the Seer. Then came the Tyranitar and Blaziken statues of Feldmarschall Pritchard the Giant and Feldmarschallin Laulan the Armorer.
Likenesses of a visionary and his three disciples, who’d reformed the army into its present structure and allowed Varhyde to endure the strains and burdens of a war that would’ve surely collapsed the Kingdom in prior ages. A little past them were three larger pedestals at the final flight of steps leading to the Royal Reliquary’s entrance. At its center was the statue of the land’s patron goddess, bearing an inscription written in Hightongue that Sophia briefly peeked at as she passed:
Wohl dem Menschen, der Weisheit findet, und dem Menschen, der Verstand bekommt.ᴰ¹
She supposed that it was fitting enough for a place that preserved relics from a past which Pokémon like them didn’t really understand, but something about the pedestals felt amiss to her. The left one had had a series of inscriptions removed from it and at its top, one could see remnants of black stone from where a statue used to be. The right one had similarly visibly had inscriptions removed and wear marks on its top from something being drug off of it, with leftover flecks of white stone that matched the stonework of Reshiram’s statue.
A part of her wondered what the other two pedestals used to say, but it probably wasn’t worth worrying about. They’d just suffered the fate of many a shrine that Sansa had built before the present war, and been altered or dismantled when Varhyde’s fleeting wishes and desires had come crashing down from harsh reality. It wasn’t worth relitigating things that even her parents weren’t alive for..
After all, she already had her wings full trying to tease out hints of the past. Ones which more immediately relevant to keeping Operation Spark from repeating the mistakes of its predecessors.
It was easy enough to enter the Royal Reliquary: after displaying her royal commission and the summons that King Siegmund had sent her off with from Heldenschloss, the guards waved her through the entrance. As her eyes adjusted to the lighting, she found herself in a tall atrium lit up by daylight through blinds installed over open windows—ones which looked like they were once filled with glass panes in ancient times from their shape. Off along the right wall, there was a stone counter with an Oranguru receptionist dressed in garb that looked not terribly different from those the students at the Universität von Wahrheit far below them might wear. As she neared, the receptionist turned his eyes up and keenly watched the Corvisquire as she came to a stop in front of him.
“May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m here to transcribe some archival documents on behalf of Graf Wellenhafen,” she explained, fetching her paperwork. “I was told to present this summons and that one of your historians would take me to the materials I needed to review.”
The Oranguru pawed through the paperwork briefly, when his eyes widened after reaching the king’s signature and stamp. After a blinking moment of realization, the Oranguru gaped back and shook his head.
“Oh, so you’re the one who we were told to expect to review those old records the Generalstab asked for,” Oranguru remarked. “Step right in, someone’s already waiting for you past the door.”
The Oranguru passed Sophia’s credentials back across the counter and pointed at a set of steel double doors, which she took as her cue to move along. So far, so good. Now, it was simply a matter of meeting this Herr ‘Friedrich Bojelins’ who was supposed to lead her to these records. The description of him that she’d received had been scant, beyond that he was quite advanced in years, and an esteemed historian who taught at the university down at street level on top of his duties in the Royal Reliquary…
Which made it all the more surprising when she opened the door and came across a relatively young-looking Serperior. The serpent shot to attention as the door opened and flusteredly composed herself. She stared briefly, before as her beak flopped open with a start as it dawned upon her that...
“Wait, you’re Friedrich Bojelins?”
Why, from the way Herr Friedrich had been described, she’d expected an elderly Pokémon, but this Serperior looked young enough that she’d have thought him to be Friedrich’s apprentice! Surely there must have been some sort of miscommunication…
Though then again, what if there hadn’t been one? Just from what she’d seen over the past year, Sophia knew full well that there were Pokémon with the most implausible-sounding backstories in the Kingdom. And she supposed it wouldn’t be impossible for a Serperior to have ‘Bojelins’ as a Vatername...
“Pardon my lack of manners, Herr Serpiroyal₄,” Sophia insisted, flusteredly bowing her head. “I didn’t mean to presume about your parentage, it’s just that when I was told to expect ‘Friedrich the Historian’, I was expecting someone older-”
“Er… it’s ‘Zeuge’, actually,” the Serperior replied. “‘Zeuge the Scribe’. Herr Friedrich was my mentor.”
Sophia blinked for a moment in confusion before the Serperior motioned with his tail off towards the wall. She turned and followed along to a portrait of a visibly aged Floatzel on the wall, with a plaque added with a pair of dates on them, the more recent of them a date in Erntemond from not even a month ago. Sophia hesitated a moment, before glancing back at Zeuge, who seemed to have a cloud come over his mood.
“There… must’ve been some confusion with whoever sent you, since Herr Friedrich is no longer with us,” the Serperior murmured. “I suppose it could be forgiven, since none of us here expected the ‘Der Hoffnungsträger₅ von Silberstadt₆’ to be ripped away from us and the neighborhood he so loved.”
... ‘A beacon of hope’? For Zelba City of all places? An impoverished, lawless hive was hardly the place one would assume to be the place of origin for a distinguished historian… and a more morbid part of her couldn’t help but wonder if it somehow related to the poor Floatzel’s demise. She briefly considered asking Zeuge about the matter, but decided against it after seeing the way that the Serperior glumly hung his head.
“Sorry if that seemed trite to you, Frau Kranoviz,” Zeuge said. “You’re in His Majesty’s army, so surely you’ve seen no shortage of others dying for the sake of the realm. The death of an old scholar probably doesn’t mean-”
“‘Frau Sophia’ is fine,” the crow insisted. “There’s no need to apologize, Herr Zeuge. Loss isn’t an easy burden to shoulder, no matter how it arrives.”
The Corvisquire trailed off and looked away with a quiet shake of her head. She wasn’t sure why the Serperior’s mood was bothering her so much when they were so different from each other. But seeing him like this stirred up uncomfortable memories of those black days in the middle of her training as a Ritterin when the war had claimed her own parents.
“Von jetzt an werde ich dich beschützen. Ich bin bei dir. Für immer!”ᴰ²
And whenever she dwelled on them long enough, she’d always recall those words which Lacan told her to try and comfort her. Ones echoed from words she’d told him during similarly dark days for him when they were both but children.
She shook her head back to attention and turned her attention further down the hallway. Right, she could ill afford to dawdle right now. Why, for all she knew, Gemeinwebel Frantz or someone else from Fähnlein Stärke would come bursting through the door any moment with a summons from Lacan to return to chasing after the Dyad!
“I suppose that we should move things along, Herr Zeuge,” Sophia insisted. “I had to take time off from a sensitive assignment, so there is only so much time I can spare to make these transcriptions, and I’m not sure how many other opportunities I’ll have to come back here.”
“Oh? You don’t have any time to look at the artifacts?”
Sophia glanced back at Zeuge and saw him stare expectantly at her, only to catch himself, before drooping with a flustered stammer.
“S-Sorry, it’s just that Herr Friedrich always loved showing off the artifacts on display to the Pokémon he took around the Reliquary…”
Sophia remained silent as the Serperior trailed off and fumbled with his words. Herr Friedrich must’ve meant quite a bit to Zeuge as his mentor. Enough so that in retrospect, she probably wouldn’t have been that surprised if the Serperior really did have ‘Bojelins’ as his Vatername.
Maybe she was letting sentiment get the better of her, but she couldn’t help think back to the way Lacan was when he first came to Errberk Village as a little Bagon. Something about Zeuge’s visibly depressed and lonely mood felt similar, and it felt uncomfortable just leaving it go unaddressed.
… Was there really nothing that she could do to try and lift the scribe’s mood right now?
“... I suppose it can’t be helped if you don’t have time,” he said. “We should get going to your reading room-”
“Actually,” Sophia interrupted. “Are any of those artifacts that Herr Friedrich was fond of on the way to that reading room? ”
Zeuge cocked his head up and pulled his body into a flustered coil. The snake blinked a few moments, before raising his voice to speak.
“I- I beg your pardon?”
Sophia fidgeted her wings and looked aside with a humming caw under her breath. This wasn’t a part of her mission, but even so, it would only be a short detour, would it not?
“I probably don’t have the time for any lectures at length today, but I suppose I would have time to at least pass by a few artifacts that aren’t too out of the way,” she said, before trailing off.
“We all need to have moments to make time for our little joys in life. Especially in times like these,” she remarked. “It sounded like those artifacts meant a lot to you two.”
The Serperior paused, as a small smile spread over his face. He slithered around and nosed ahead at the air down the hall, motioning for the crow to follow.
“Thank you for your interest, Frau Sophia. I’m sure that you’ll love them, and I promise I won’t keep you long,” he said. “There should be a few set out on display right this way.” Dalton supposed that he wasn’t a stranger to the idea of an inn that served as a meeting ground for thieves and Outlaws and their fences. He’d been to a few places of the sort while in the Riparian Raiders. He also supposed that between Newangle City’s Thieves’ Guild and the sort of neighborhood that Shift Square was, that it wasn’t that shocking that there’d be such an inn of the sort there either.
He just couldn’t get over how well-kept it was, even in the hallway they were going through. The other inns he’d been into in the past didn’t have a ‘fourth’ anything, let alone a fourth story with rooms. All of them had been hovels that made Das Grüne Dragoran back in Errberk Village look well-sorted and scared off all but the neediest or most unquestioning clients. This ‘Möbius’ on the other hand, didn’t bother hiding itself from public view and apparently shared its premises with a playhouse. If it weren’t for the obviously questionable clientele it catered to, it might have been the sort of place his parents would’ve lodged in while traveling during better times.
Perhaps that was pushing it a bit. Even with the more comfortable environs, the Möbius carried a strangely threatening air about it. The Marowak and Fearow from the Thieves’ Guild had been adamant that there was a specific way of doing things here in Newangle City as Outlaws, and the very presence of this place seemed to confirm it.
It was also a pointed reminder that the four of them were in a place that they didn’t belong. Not that the pain that occasionally spiked in his splinted arm really helped the tense mood. He supposed that was one way to tell that it was time for another dose of healing berries to deal with that fracture in his arm bone.
“Dalton, who were those two from earlier?”
The Heliolisk felt a tug at his flank and saw Irune staring up at him with a worried expression.
“Are they Pokémon that you used to know?” she asked. “You seemed to expect that we’d get in trouble earlier.”
“Hardly. I just knew that the larger cities in Varhyde often have a Thieves’ Guild that resident Outlaws use to stake out local turf. And Outlaws from those guilds tend to be fairly territorial about them,” he explained. “Newangle City here is hardly an exception, so it was only a matter of time before we caught the attention of one of its members.”
Dalton didn’t bring up the fact that he didn’t know about any of these details during the time when he’d actually been in the city at university. He’d heard rumors back then of there being a Thieves’ Guild and it having unsavory ties to powerful figures, but he’d never have imagined running into them firsthand. Much less as a fellow Outlaw. He snapped back to attention after an exasperated hiss reached his ears, and saw Kate turning back to face him with her ears visibly pinned back.
“Then why didn’t you say anything about it earlier, Scales?!” she demanded. “That would’ve saved us a lot of money and trouble, you know!”
“Because we were short on supplies, and a certain featherbrain opted to cut me off before I could explain that I noticed someone shadowing us and we ought to stop,” he harrumphed.
Kate didn’t say anything back to that, slowly folding her arms and scrunching her brow into a sour glare. Dalton repaid the gesture in kind. Because of course Kate would have a childish reaction like this when someone pointed out how her boundless appetite for risk would come back to bite her. It wasn’t even for something worthwhile like helping out a teammate or even some Pokémon on the street she felt bad for, just a to steal few stupid Oran Berries they could’ve gotten some other time! He felt a nudge at his side and briefly caught Lyle rolling his eyes at Kate before giving an insistent look at him.
“Are we sure that we’re in a safe place then, Dalton?” the Quilava asked.
“No, but we’re at least in some sort of neutral ground, so we should be fine as long as we don’t cause trouble,” the Heliolisk replied. “Just think of it like a place where you’d meet a fence to sell off loot, even if this one certainly has more… decorum about it.”
He trailed off after noticing the party of Togedemaru from the lobby approaching from the opposite direction of the hallway and froze, grimacing along with his teammates. Fortunately, the rodents didn’t seem to pay any mind. The leader of the bunch in his Heavy Rotation Specs pushed open the door, affording a brief glimpse of a Togedemaru almost the size of an Electrode locked in heated argument with a Quaquaval.
“40,000 Poké?! What sort of highway robbery is this?! It was 20,000 last time!”
“Regional Leader Baan not have time for such nonsense,” the Togedemaru inside scoffed. “Look, if bird person’s ‘Club Highmore’ need so many Lansat Berries on such short notice, bird person more than welcome to try and find different supplier. Go ahead and tell Baan how that work out afterward!”
The door slammed shut after the party of Togedemaru made their way in, as muffled shouts back and forth continued from the other side. Dalton shook his head and continued on. He supposed he should’ve been less surprised that Pokémon from the Roly-Poly Caravan would be up to sordid business after the deal they walked in on in Moonturn Square, but getting involved with them again—while that giant Togedemaru was with them no less—sounded like a terrible idea if he’d ever heard one.
“Well, decorum of a sort, anyways. Though it’s probably for the best to avoid getting involved in anyone’s problems while we’re here.”
Everyone else was quick to agree as they eagerly put distance between themselves and the Togedemaru’s room, even if something about the encounter stuck with the Heliolisk. ‘Regional Leader Baan’? Dalton swore he’d heard the name get brought up in relation to the Roly-Poly Caravan before, but he couldn’t place his finger on when or where.
Dalton and his teammates carried on up to a fork in the hallway, when the Heliolisk glanced at the doors and noticed that the numbers on them were starting to go up. 241, 243… that was weird, had they just missed their room?
“Scales, I’m pretty sure that our room’s this way.”
Dalton turned his head and saw Kate waving from the other end of the fork as Lyle and Irune followed after her. He paused a moment after feeling a shot of pain run through his splinted arm, when he thought he heard voices coming from nearby.
“For gods’ sake Hesper, you’re supposed to be the responsible one between us,” a rough, draconic-sounding voice grumbled. “What on earth was in that paint you got? This crap’s like black tar!”
“Deva, calm down. It blends in with my fur and nobody noticed it on you when we came in. And since when were you one to complain about bending the rules of professionalism dealing with the scum in this hive?” the second, yipping voice answered.
Dalton froze after realizing the noise was coming from a small pinhole in the wall just next to him. The speaker’s accent was strangely neutral, to the point where he couldn’t tell what Provinz he was from. It was almost as if it were rehearsed somehow.
Though ‘paint’? ‘Professionalism’? Maybe he was jumping to conclusions, but were those two talking about the-?
“Scales! Are you coming or what?”
Dalton flinched briefly after hearing Kate’s voice calling from down the hallway and seeing her poke her head around the corner. The voices in the room went silent as Dalton quietly slipped off, picking up pace as he made his way further down the hallway. He rounded the corner where one of the doors was already left open with a simple metal key left in the lock. He stopped to grab it and made his way in, shaking his head.
“Okay, so it should go without saying, but while we’re here, let’s make a point of not bothering the Pokémon from the neighboring roo…”
He trailed off as he walked past the doorway. There was a simple table with four chairs without backs in front of a window… with a view of other, shuttered windows built into repurposed ruins just outside, along with the trash-littered alleyway below them. Hardly a view worth writing home about, but judging from the heavy shutters and curtains next to it, he guessed that wasn’t a big priority for most visitors here at the Möbius.
No, what really caught his attention was how the room had four beds set out. Not piles of straw, but ones with actual headboards and mattresses and pillows like the ones his parents had had at home during better times. Lyle and Irune were poking and prodding at a pair of them while Kate was already sprawled out on her stomach on the one nearest the door. She pulled a pillow forward and rested it under her chin, kicking her feet in the air with a wide grin.
“Heh, not a bad place we stumbled across!” she said. “You’re all welcome, by the way.”
“Yeah, yeah, just don’t get too comfortable,” Lyle harrumphed from beside the table. “Even if we didn’t have limited time to work with in this city, we cleaned out a good chunk of our money just paying for the night here. I’d be surprised if we had half of it left after that bill for damages comes.”
The Sneasel picked up on her Quilava teammate’s irritable mood, and sat up, folding her ears with a quiet scoff.
“Oh come on, Lyle? Why are you being such a downer after a hairy exit like that?” Kate scoffed. “What else can we even do right now aside from kick up our feet a bit?”
“Worry about getting someplace that isn’t teeming with guards?” he retorted.
It was hard to argue the Quilava’s point, really. Especially since Dalton wasn’t fully sure what the best way for them to get out of the Newangle City would be in their present circumstances. Even so, they’d been through a lot for one day already, to say nothing about the ones before it…
“Maybe, but it might make sense to take a moment to breathe first,” Dalton insisted. “And besides, don’t we still need to claim our beds?”
“Already did that while we were waiting on you,” the Quilava grunted.
Lyle slung his bag onto the bed closest to the window to claim it, while Irune had gotten particularly far with arranging some of those glass beads and baubles of hers into a growing pile to curl around much to Lyle’s annoyance.
Dalton supposed that was one way of settling where he’d be sleeping at night, even if couldn’t help but blink at Irune’s “treasure pile”. He knew that it was a habit of some younger Dragon-types to hoard colorful or shiny baubles, but this was certainly a lot more than he would’ve expected from a Pokémon like Irune. He honestly surprised that she wasn’t uncomfortable just resting on them directly like that.
Though that reminded him… Part of the reason why they’d come here in the first place was because Irune was adamant she wanted to find out more about that strange power inside of her. He looked over at her and curled his mouth down into a wary frown.
“Irune. You mentioned wanting to come here to find out more about yourself,” the Heliolisk said. “We likely won’t have the luxury of being here for more than a couple days at most. What specifically about you are you trying to find out more about? And are you sure that you need it that badly?”
Dalton’s question hung in the air, as his teammates glanced back at him with Irune seeming particularly flustered. She sat up as her baubles clacked on the bed and gave an uneasy paw at the back of her head before speaking up.
“I mean, we’ve got a long journey ahead of us still up to the Divine Roost,” she remarked. “I just figured that if I knew more about my power… maybe I’d be able to find a way to control it more? It could help us out when we have to go through Mystery Dungeons.”
There was something about the Axew’s tone of voice that felt weirdly evasive. It wasn’t like those times when she’d choked and fumbled with her words while trying to lie to them, but Dalton got the distinct impression that she was hiding something. He frowned and shook his head with a low sigh.
“That sounds like more of an argument to try and grab a less damaged copy of that handbook we stole off those Hunters,” he said. “Plotting a route isn’t an issue, getting there is. Why, if our bounties haven’t already been posted locally, we could even just post an escort mission at a local guild with the amount of money we have at the moment.”
“Yeah, and if we’re really lucky, a weaker team will draw our request,” Kate remarked. “Could save us some gear and coin if we just rip ‘em off afterwards-”
“No!”
Dalton blinked after Irune as she blurted out her protest, turning and staring down at her alongside his teammates. She really must’ve wanted whatever she was trying to find out about her power to have a reaction like that. An awkward silence followed afterwards, as the Axew tripped over her words and flusteredly hemmed and hawed.
“I mean, this is a large city. So if we’ve only got another day or two to work with, s-surely we should be trying to get a more surefire solution than just relying on some rookie rescue team’s map!”
Yeah, no. She was definitely trying to hide something from them. Dalton turned his snout up and narrowed his eyes, before showing his splinted arm with a sharp frown.
“In case you've forgotten, but I’m not exactly in a position to go out on a limb for anyone right now,” the Heliolisk retorted. “Whatever it is you wanted to look for here in Newangle City, you’d better give me a good idea of what it is and a really convincing argument for me not to just move on. Lyle, Kate, you two back me up on this one, don’t you?”
Lyle didn’t say anything but leveled a long face over at Irune, while Kate pawed at her arm with a quiet click of her tongue.
“I mean, I could be down for it if there was some good loot to snag,” she said. “But it would be easier to find whatever you’re after if we had some more specifics about what you were looking for.”
Irune visibly flinched and blanched afterwards. Was she afraid of them knowing about what she was looking for? Why? What on earth could it possibly be that she wanted to keep it to herself so badly?
Did she already know things about these powers of hers that she hadn’t told them about? If so, just what was she hoping to find?
The room seemed to go quiet as Dalton waited for an answer, watching the Axew as she uneasily rubbed at one of her tusks.
“I… Uh…”
“Lemme guess, it’s also something you don’t want to tell us, like that journal you keep in your bag.”
Irune abruptly whirled around towards Lyle, who stared at her with narrowed eyes. Irune kept a journal? Since when? Dalton blinked and traded puzzled stares with his teammates, before Irune glared back at the Quilava with a sharp shout.
“Lyle!”
“Oh come off of it! Everyone was going to find out about it eventually!” he snapped. “The point is, whatever it is you want to find out about yourself, you’re trying to be cute about it and leave us in the dark like you did in Primordial Woods!”
Irune winced and visibly recoiled at the charge before looking away ashenly. That was probably a bit harsh of Lyle, but Dalton supposed that was one way of telling that the Axew had a sense of guilt over the trouble she’d brought onto others. The Heliolisk traded glances between the two and felt a pang of unease. Maybe it was just some sentimental part of him reacting, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit taken aback at the Quilava’s outburst.
“Lyle, I think you’ve gotten your point across-”
“No, we need this, Dalton,” he snapped. “To understand just where we are right now and where things stand for us as a team.”
The Quilava folded his arms, irritated fire flickering along his vents as he shot a piercing scowl down at the younger Dragon-type.
“We’re all going out on a limb at the moment, and you keeping things from us in the past already cost us since we teamed up!” he spat. “So if we’re really in this journey to the Divine Roost together, how about you explain what you want to drag us into here instead of trying to surprise us?”
Irune hesitated, wavering as if she were standing at the precipice of a tall ledge. Or maybe that wasn’t the right point of comparison with how much she seemed to enjoy heights and tall places. She visibly weighed the words in her mouth, before she shook her head, and spoke up in a low tone.
“I… guess you’ve all noticed those strange moves I’ve been using sometimes,” she murmured.
“You mean those freaky light shows you’ve had every now and then?” Kate asked. “How could we miss them? They weren’t exactly subtle.”
That was an understatement if Dalton ever heard one. But at the same time, Dalton wasn’t sure what on earth had happened on those occasions. He supposed he’d learned enough to know that an Axew’s Ether could be imprinted on to wield Fire Blast or Thunder Shock… but wielding it with the level of raw strength they’d seen from Irune which none of her other moves seemed to have? Or that almost feral demeanor she’d had when wielding it, as if she were being overtaken by her emotions?
Dalton admittedly hadn’t gotten a good look at whatever Irune did to force Rankar off of him back in Primordial Woods, but he distinctly remembered the fire she spewed in Errberk Village took on a cross-like shape. He couldn’t rule out for sure that it wasn’t just the heat distorting the surrounding air, especially since he didn’t have an explanation if it wasn’t one considering the stories he’d heard of in the past about fiery blasts that did carry that shape.
He just knew that whatever Irune used back there, that it wasn’t a Fire Blast. And the way she’d been unable to answer Kate when she asked back in Errberk Village just confirmed it.
“Was there something you wanted to say about them?” Dalton asked. “I realize that we’ve only been together for a few days, but there’s clearly quite a bit about you that we don’t know.”
Irune pawed at her neck and looked away uneasily. She seemed visibly worried to keep talking, as if she was afraid of how they’d react. Dalton wasn’t sure whether it was better to be patient with her and let her come to terms on her own, or just to push her to be out with it. Before he knew it, the Axew made the decision for him, and began to speak up slowly and deliberately.
“I don’t fully understand what’s happening myself,” she explained. “I suppose that others have told me their theories, but I don’t know how much stock I should put into them. I… don’t really want to talk about them all that much, when being open about them hasn’t always ended well for me over the last year.”
She avoided their gazes the entire time, and it struck Dalton that she was reacting much like a cornered mark. More specifically like one of those marks that lingered with him afterwards and bugged him from not being able to rationalize away as being someone who had things coming to them. The ones which at a time when he thought this life was just going to be a short stint, he swore he’d never rob. When he could still entertain naive desires and ideals about being an Outlaw and how he’d have the luxury of being able to pick and choose who he stole from to get by.
A time he was terrified of forgetting lest he become everything he was afraid of his parents thinking he was if they ever found out about his turn to banditry. If they were even still alive somewhere to pass judgment about it.
“The Capital’s supposed to be full of knowledge from scholars and sages from across the ages, and if we found something about those powers, it’d be a way of knowing for sure one way or the other,” Irune said. “I just figured that since we were already here, it was a chance to finally get closure about things and deal with them as they are instead of how I want them to be.”
Dalton hesitated after the Axew’s explanation. It didn’t have that faltering speech she’d had in the past when trying to mislead them, so knowing her, it was probably a truthful answer. Or at least one Irune thought was true. He supposed that it was only natural to want to try and piece things together when there was a part of one’s life that one didn’t fully remember or understand.
“Irune, just how many books do you think there are out there about ‘Axew that use freaky-looking Fire Blasts and Shock Waves’?” Kate demanded. “Where would we even start looking to try and find that?”
“... Books about myths and folklore, I guess,” Irune said. “Since I’m not sure when the last time something like this ever happened was.”
Dalton raised a brow at the answer, but he supposed it wasn’t a bad place to start. They were trying to get to the Divine Roost and Irune’s pendant was apparently related to Kyurem somehow. That did certainly seem to be the purview of myths and folklore, even if he didn’t know if there were any books written about Irune’s predicament in particular, but he supposed he had an idea of where they might be if they really existed.
“If that’s the case, we should try looking around at my old university,” he said.
Kate and Lyle turned their heads and stared at Dalton incredulously for a moment. They must’ve been taken aback by his expression, since he could see Kate’s face furrowing into a skeptical scowl.
“Seriously, Scales?” she scoffed. “I think we’d stick out a bit sitting in on classes, just saying-”
“We’d ideally be trying to narrow down what to look for and find it around one of the nearby bookshops there,” he explained. “If we really find ourselves stuck, we could try our luck in the Royal Library.”
That one got everybody’s attention, especially Lyle’s as he visibly flared up with a start. He shook his head, before narrowing his eyes with a low scoff.
“The Royal Library? I’ll admit that I’m not familiar with Newangle City, but isn’t that the library the King and Hofstaat specifically use for themselves?” Lyle asked.
“Look, not that I’m the type to shrink from risky infiltrations when I’ve gotten loot for my crew back from an army base before, but just how are we supposed to get into that?” Kate demanded.
“I did say ‘if push comes to shove’. It’s not my preference, but we would be able to get into it,” Dalton explained. “It’s literally on the Upper Streets just above the university’s eastern edge. And students at Universität von Wahrheit are allowed access to it along with guests.”
The Heliolisk fished through his bag briefly with his good arm, before he came across his badge from his university days. He held it up, and gazed down longingly at the tarnished, silvery metal.
“And let’s just say that even if it’s been a while, I know enough Hightongue and expected mannerisms to at least get us in through the door,” he said. “I don’t know whether that will extend to being able to check a book out, but we have options for getting around that.”
Dalton let his gaze linger on the image of the Reshiram in flight on it along with the runes stamped along the bottom of his university badge as his mind turned back to happier days. Days when he’d dared to hope that his studies would help keep his parents’ textile mill used to make for things other than army plates. He sighed and slipped it away. Those days were long gone, even if in the end, some good was still coming from it.
“The point is, we know where to go and have options for finding what Irune’s looking for,” he said. “Beyond that, some of the books we’d be coming across would be valuable to fence since there’s always a market for texts among students, so there are some practical reasons for us to want to go there.”
That was probably an oversimplification, since they’d still be going back into the Administrative District and stealing from it a second time. And they’d need to somehow smooth things over with the Thieves’ Guild if they ran into them again… or else be good at running away really quickly. But if they really were going to get out of the city once they were done, it was hard to think of better options and he doubted that Pokémon from the Thieves’ Guild like Igna or Ansel would want to get mixed up with places in the Administrative District. He studied the reactions of his teammates. They seemed a bit skeptical, but didn’t say anything in protest.
“You had me at ‘valuable to fence’,” Kate said. “If I could rip off that asshole Tyranitar earlier today, a bunch of hoity-toity prisses shouldn’t be that much harder.”
Dalton had to fight back a scowl at the Sneasel’s comment. Kate probably wasn’t wrong about it being easier to steal from around the University, but did she really need to phrase it like that? The Heliolisk turned his attention over to his Quilava teammate, who rubbed at one of his forearms with a hesitant look.
“I… guess it could work, but what are we supposed to do if we have to use gear we stole in a fight?” Lyle asked.
“We’d steal replacements, obviously. Preferably someplace outside the city after we leave it with how much trouble we’ve already gotten into,” Dalton said. “We ideally should be spending the night resting and planning things out a bit before making our move one way or the other. But I suppose there’s only one question that I still need answered…”
He turned over to Irune, hardening his features with a stern frown.
“How serious are you about this? Would you still be going on your own even if we weren’t there to help you?”
Irune paused for a moment and blinked, though much to Dalton’s surprise, the Axew didn’t hesitate as much as he expected her to. She briefly tugged out her pendant before shaking her head and nodding back with a firm scowl.
“Yes,” she replied. “This is something that I need to know, and I don’t think I’ll have another chance to find out for sure.”
There was a moment of tense silence as the others on Team Forager traded uneasy glances with one another, before Dalton shook his head.
““Then let’s talk about ways to make this happen. Since from the way that the Thieves’ Guild chased us in here, we’re probably going to need to make it worth their while to let us leave in peace,” he said. “I might have an idea of how we can do that, but I can’t make any promises for how well it will work.”
Irune blinked, before holding her head up with a puzzled tilt.
“Oh?” Irune asked. “What do you have in mind, Dalton?” Author’s Notes:
Words and Phrases
1. Knogga - “Marowak”
2. Iksbat - “Crobat”
3. Bluthummer - “Blood Lobster”
4. Serpiroyal - “Serperior”
5. Hoffnungsträger - lit. “Hope’s-carrier”. Depending on context of use, can semantically mean “Bringer of Hope” or “Rising Star”.
6. Silberstadt - “Zelba City”, derived by phonetic corruption. In a more faithful semantic translation, this would be “Silver City”
Dialogue
D1. “Wohl dem Menschen, der Weisheit findet, und dem Menschen, der Verstand bekommt.” - “Blessed are the people who find wisdom, and the people who receive understanding.”
D2. “Von jetzt an werde ich dich beschützen. Ich bin bei dir. Für immer!” - “From now on, I will protect you. I’m with you, forever!”
Teaser Text
Newangle City, 19. Herbstmond, 1027 n. d. B.
To whom it may concern,
It has come to my attention that your forces maintain unconventional contacts with this city’s less savory elements through elements in and adjacent to its so-called “Thieves’ Guild”. Due to concerns regarding the war effort against the Kingdom of Edialeigh, I find myself asking on behalf of His Majesty King Siegmund von Wahrheit to relay word to them to locate the Pokémon of interest whose descriptions are included with this letter.
I don’t particularly care about the workings of such vermin or the so-called “Bluthummer” who commands their respect, nor do I care to find out the full history and details of whatever this arrangement is. Practical needs dictate that your and my forces are not forced to attempt to scour an entire city for these Pokémon, and as such, even if it means resorting to distasteful solutions.
Your contacts need not know anything beyond the provided descriptions and that they are to task them to mount a heist from the Royal Library. What these Pokémon of interest are tasked with stealing is irrelevant, as long as at least the Axew among them is physically capable of walking through its doors so that she can be apprehended on-site.
Kindly inform your contact that anyone involved in facilitating this apprehension will be amply rewarded both monetarily and by having any criminal records expunged. Anyone from their ranks found to be interfering with the capture or otherwise harming the welfare of the Axew in a way that prevents her apprehension will be dealt with as a perpetrator of high treasonᵃ against the crown.
Further instructions and briefing will be relayed later this evening to whomever is relevant.
- Urgent dispatch from Graf von Wellenhafen, Lacan Dragorans to the Viertelᵇ Sheriffs of Newangle City
a. In German, the analogous concept of “high treason”, “Hochverrat” is used specifically to refer to treason that is committed against the internal structure or order of a state. e.x. participating in an attempted coup.
b. Viertel - “borough”, “district”
