Pokémon Places We Call Home

[windskull]

A Mere Omen​

---

Last time, under captivity, Nip hadn't been brought into the cave. But now that it was his shelter and sleeping place, he had a chance to look it over. There was something melancholic about the cavern, with its old carvings and rotting furniture (a word he'd learned during his time in Theran village). He couldn't imagine his tribe ever abandoning what clearly used to be a special, religious space.

Lacking in straw, moss, or any other bedding, it was hardly a comfortable resting place. But it would do for tonight.

A small fire crackled at the entrance, the flickering flames illuminating Anu, who sat guard next to it. Whisper had insisted that they take turns keeping watch, and her mate had offered to take the first shift.

Susana and the rest of his former captors were gathered in the back of the chamber, most having dozed off. But Umbra's malicious eyes glowed in the firelight, watching him. He shivered and rolled over, trying to ignore her gaze.

Movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention to where Shimmer, Muse, Toshi, and Haru had settled down together to sleep. Haru dragged herself to her feet, stretched, and quietly padded to the entrance to sit beside the fire opposite Anu.

The lucario acknowledged her presence with a thump of his tail and the dip of his head. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Not well," Haru murmured. "It's hard to sleep near pokemon that tried to kill you."

Nip could relate.

Anu hummed an acknowledgment. He reached into a satchel at his hip and pulled out a white cloth with green trim, wrapping it around his shoulders. "I imagine so. You've been through a terrible ordeal, Haru. No one would blame you for struggling afterward." He paused before adding, "I don't think you're alone in that."

Haru tilted her head before turning back, catching Nip staring at her. He averted his gaze but sat up. No point in pretending to sleep now.

The lucario looked at Haru, then Nip. Then stood, stretching before heading out of the cave. "I need a moment to myself. Do you two mind keeping watch for a moment?"

"Me?" Nip asked. "Why would you ask me?"

"You're not going far in your condition," Anu pointed out, gesturing to Nip's broken arm, which was haphazardly held stiff with a makeshift splint made of two sturdy sticks and some twine.

"Ah, right." He shouldn't expect trust. He knew that. But disappointment still churned in his belly. "Very well."

"I guess that's fine," Haru said, turning her gaze back to the entrance as Anu moved out of sight. Nip hobbled to sit beside her. Pale moonlight fought against the orange hues from the fire to wash the color from her fur. They sat in silence for several moments.

He was the first to break it. "Congratulations on your evolution, by the way."

"O-oh. Thanks. It's a shame I probably won't get a chance to celebrate it any time soon."

Nip hummed in acknowledgment. "I take it evolution is a big deal in your culture?"

"It's a milestone," Haru said. "For those that choose to evolve, it marks a new period in their life. It's a marker of experience, of overcoming adversity. But those that intentionally choose not to evolve are still celebrated."

"It is — was — similar in the Half Moon… in my tribe. It signifies the strength of a pokemon. It's… expected. A mon that delays evolution is honored, but one who outright refuses is seen as weak. They risk losing social status. Their position, if it's lucrative. We all have to be strong for the greater good. Most of our lives are chosen for us. Our training. Our position. Our mates. All to make the tribe stronger. The elders know what's best, after all." He couldn't help but spit the last part out, bitter bile in his throat.

"You don't sound like you agree."

He tilted his head back and forth, considering his words. "The elders wanted me to be a lore keeper. There is value in their craft, but half the pokemon are given the position out of pity because they're seen as too weak to do anything else. I proved my worth and got placed among the hunters. And paired with Umbra. When things went… poorly with her, I couldn't get them to take my concerns seriously. She had them wrapped around her claws."

His fur was bushed now, but he was too worked up to notice. "When we didn't produce an egg, they wanted to know why. They wanted proof that we had… well, you know. I couldn't take any more. I snapped like a brittle twig, Haru. And—"

No, he couldn't relive those moments. Nip shook out his fur and gave his shoulder a habitual lick. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get carried away. I should try to sleep again."

He stood and started back to his sleeping spot.

"…Nip?"

He paused and glanced back. Haru scratched at her muzzle.

"That… That sounds rough. I'm… sorry it happened to you. It shouldn't have."

An apology? From Haru? Tonight was full of surprises. He flicked his ear to acknowledge her.

"Goodnight, Haru."

---

It took until nearly sunset the next day for the group to return to Theran Village. Anu led, his tail drooping with exhaustion. Haru, as the least-battered pokemon, kept pace beside him. The trio of surviving explorers and Umbra came next, their arms bound. Skorch's mouth was tied shut and the nullify looplet was still snapped tight around Susana's right forearm. Muse flanked them on one side, Shimmer and Toshi trudging on the other. Whisper brought up the rear, Nip walking beside her.

They were all exhausted. Clearly, no one else had slept well, either.

As they neared the outskirts of town, wild land turning to fields of berries, Whisper spoke up. "Anu, please run ahead and alert everyone that we're back. Tell them to gather in the square for a meeting. We need to deal with… this situation" — she gestured to the prisoners — "as soon as possible. Have Vale brought out, too. Oh, and we need Lecha."

Anu opened his mouth in a wide yawn, smacking his gums a couple times. But he then dipped his head and took off ahead of the group at a brisk run, disappearing over the top of a hill and leaving Haru alone at the front.

As they crested a hill and the village came into view, Toshi hobbled to the front to stand beside Haru. Nip caught a glimpse of his eyes — glazed with pain — before he reached her.

"How are you holding up?" Toshi asked.

"I should be asking you that," Haru replied. "I just have some bruises and electric burns."

"I'll be fine." Toshi lapsed into silence. "Mom and Dad are going to freak out. I mean, look at us, Haru. We're both pretty battered and you evolved! I wish it had been under better circumstances."

Haru sighed. "I know what you mean." Then, wanting to encourage Toshi, she forced a smile. "But look at the bright side. After this is dealt with, maybe we can arrange my evolution celebration. It could be a nice return to normalcy."

Nip could tell from her posture that she didn't believe that. Things would never be normal for her again.

Toshi offered a weak smile. "Y-yeah. That would be nice."

Before either of them could say anything else, a loud shout sounded from further up the road. Two bibarel came into view, racing towards the group as quick as their chubby bodies allowed. Behind them raced a purugly, who quickly overtook them and made a combeeline towards Shimmer.

Jhorlo skidded to a stop just in front of the kirlia, audibly purring as he bumped his forehead to her shoulder and pulled her close with one paw. "Oh, Shimmer, my darling daughter!" he cried, voice thick with emotion. "Thank 'Gigas you're safe. If I had lost you to that mountain, too…"

Shimmer giggled, running a hand behind her dad's ears and giving them a little scratch. "I'm fine, really! Muse kept me safe. But we had to go. It was important for the safety of the town."

"Your mother said the same thing, but she…"

It took him several moments to compose himself enough to address Muse. "Thank you for keeping my daughter safe. I hate to think what would have happened if you weren't there."

Muse opened her mouth to reply, but her response was drowned out by another voice.

"Oh, my kits! My precious babies! You're safe!"

Haru's mother had caught up and was now nuzzling her daughter, nearly knocking her over with the force of her affection. Then she bumbled over to do the same to Toshi while her mate hovered just behind, eyes watery with emotion.

"We're so glad you're safe," Chip said, bumping Haru just below her jaw with his snout. "And you've evolved! What in Gigas' name happened?"

"It's a long story," Haru began. "I—"

But before she could tell her story, Jhorlo interrupted her with a cough. He was back to his controlled, business-like self.

"Right. Thank you for bringing our children home safely, Whisper. But we should get moving. You wish to address the village before nightfall, I understand."

"Yes," Whisper replied from the back of the group. "We need to decide what to do with… these four."

Saku and Chip looked up, seeming to finally notice the abnormal pokemon for the first time. The former gasped and took a step back. "Who… what are they?"

"Those are the explorers," Whisper answered. "And based on what Nip and Haru told me on the trek back, they're trouble. The kind of trouble we need to deal with immediately."

Chip and Saku exchanged a glance. "Then we should get going. The sooner it's dealt with, the sooner you two can get home and recover."

With that, a few more words were exchanged before the group set off again.

Nip couldn't help but trail behind, his mind preoccupied. He'd been sidelined and alone during the heartfelt reunion, lacking ties to the village. A familiar ache of loneliness tried to worm its way into his chest. As usual, he was little more than an outsider. If he hadn't made it back, it was likely no one would have cared.

That wasn't quite true, though. Tempest would have cared, wouldn't he? He'd come this far just to find him, so surely that meant something.

"Nip!" Whisper called. "Hurry up."

He looked up. A gap several dozen body lengths wide had grown between him and the rest of the group. "Ah, sorry." He rushed to catch up, then kept pace the rest of the way back, trying to push the negative thoughts out of his head.

---

Most of the village had already gathered by the time the group reached the square. Gasps and murmuring rose from the crowd as they walked by, most eyes glued on Susana, Topaz, and Skorch.

Nip kept his head low, keen to catch as little attention as possible. It must have looked bizarre to them, him walking by completely unrestrained — that is, if they weren't too distracted by the otherworldly pokemon among them.

It felt strange. Once, not that long ago, everyone had gathered to decide whether he'd live or die. Now he was on the other side, presenting his case against Umbra.

Haru nudged him out of his thoughts. "Nip, look."

Following her gaze, he noticed the medic, Lecha, headed their way. And leaning against her shoulder for support…

"Tempest!"

Nip stumbled forward, but the aromatisse signaled for him to stop. "Let us come to you. I need to look your whole group over."

The wait for her to cross the gap was agonizing. Tempest was clearly worn out just from the walk here, limping with his paws dragging on the ground. His eyes were clouded with pain, but relief shone through the haze.

Tears pricked the corners of Nip's eyes as the pair finally came to a stop in front of them. Lecha set to work, poking and prodding at the burns on his back, running her paws through his fur to search for cuts, and carefully feeling his broken arm. Twi, that annoying illumise, showed up shortly after to assist. Lecha mumbled something about making sure his arm was properly set before providing any more orans. But Nip paid them little mind. All his attention was focused on Tempest.

"You… you're safe," he said, his voice barely more than a breath.

Tempest leaned forward to run his tongue across Nip's forehead, huffing a frosty puff of air. Nip couldn't help but laugh, pushing the ninetales away with his good paw. "Ha! Stop! I'm glad to see you too but they don't like public grooming here!"

Another puff of frost, then Tempest trotted to sit behind Nip, reaching out with a paw to draw him close. At the same time, he turned his head to stare at Whisper.

The hawlucha froze, her feathers puffing up as she turned to stare back. "What did you say?"

Nip tilted his head, flicking his ear. "I didn't say anything."

"No, not you. Tempest. What do you mean, thanks for saving my —" she cut off, eyes clouding with confusion."Why not?"

A silent moment passed. Tempest pulled him closer, placing one paw protectively in front of Nip, who looked up and knit his brows together. "Are you using telepathy?"

"He is," Whisper said before addressing Tempest again. "Look, I don't care what your Tribe said, you're not with them anymore. This is something you need to tell Nip."

Another beat of silence. Whisper let out a series of frustrated chirps. "I will respect your request and not discuss it. But I'm serious. As soon as you get a chance, you need to tell him." She shot a pointed glance at Nip. "He has a right to know."

"What is she talking about?" Nip asked.

Tempest took a deep breath and let out slowly, closing his eyes. His tails fanned behind him, flicking droplets of frosty mist.

"He'll have to explain on paper later. I don't think telepathy works on dark types without assistance from specialized techniques or items to suppress your psychic immunity. Items we don't have."

She turned away, taking a few steps before pausing. "I'm serious though. You need to talk. Later. After we get this dealt with. Stay where you are for now." She raised her voice. "And you as well Haru. Go stand by them. We'll need your testimony, too."

At the sound of her name, Haru looked up. A handful of the villagers — a pidove, an espurr, a flaaffy, and that quagsire — had gathered around, congratulating her on her evolution. But they let her pass as she hurried to the center to stand by Nip and Tempest.

Anu returned at about the same time, bringing Vale with him. The manectric's muscles were bunched and ready to spring, his head low and eyes narrowed. Sparks bounced off his pelt every time he shifted.

"Have him stand with the other accused," Whisper directed before turning to the crowd. She lifted one wing to point and count the pokemon around them, then raised it high to call for silence.

"We need to get started," she began. "I believe everyone is accounted for."

"Phoel is closing down the psychic communication line for the night, but she said to go ahead," a simisear said, pointing to the meowstic in question on the far side of the village. "She can hear well enough."

Whisper dipped her head. "Very well. Thank you, Meaad." Then she addressed the rest of the crowd. "As you have all noticed by now, the guards' hut burned down recently. At that time, one of the mon being kept there, Nip, disappeared. Before you stand the pokemon accused of being responsible: Susana, Topaz, Skorch, Umbra, and Vale."

Uneasy muttering broke out among the gathered pokemon.

"Vale? Really?"

"There's no way."

"This has to be a mistake… right?"

Whisper held up a wing for silence. "There's more. Additionally, the first four are accused of kidnapping one of our own villagers: Haru."

That, the other villagers seemed less torn over. But Nip tuned out their mutterings, focusing instead on the accused. Though Susana's expression was unconcerned and her two compatriots' were blank, Umbra's face was contorted with barely contained fury.

After giving the pokemon a moment to settle, Whisper continued. "Vale. Do you deny any of these claims?"

"Of course I do!" Vale growled, a wave of sparks running down his body. "This is ridiculous! I was attacked. What would I stand to gain from any of this?"

"You'll have a chance to defend yourself later," Whisper said before turning to Umbra. "You've been accused of kidnapping, assault, and attempted murder. Do you deny these claims?"

Umbra scoffed, but her voice came out smooth. "Is it murder if I've been ordered by my elders to 'take care' of a murderer? This all could have been avoided if your village had not meddled in our affairs. I do not deny what I have done, but I deny that any of it was wrong."

No surprise, Nip thought ruefully. You've always thought everything you did was just.

But what did the crowd think? Nip scanned their expressions. Most seemed uneasy or nonplussed, but a few of them seemed to consider her words, a fact that made his stomach twist.

Whisper's voice drew him out of his thoughts. "As for the remaining three—"

Topaz opened his mouth to interrupt, but Susana took a step in front of him before speaking herself. "Haru came with us willingly as a guide. Beyond that, we have nothing to say to any of you."

Whisper opened and closed her mouth twice before she found her voice. "Very well. Then let us start with testimony. Anu, could you give the timeline as we understand it?"

The lucario took a step forward. "Ah, o-of course." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, holding a paw up to his chest. "Several days ago, a group of four pokemon claiming to be members of the Explorer's Guild arrived…"

He went on to describe how Nip had been kidnapped from his perspective. Most of it was familiar.

"After I left Vale in charge, I returned to the shrine but only found a note stating they would try to talk to me again later. By the time I returned, the jail was on fire and Nip was gone."

Nip swiveled his ear at the sound of this name but found his attention drifting in and out as he watched the crowd. He focused again when Anu described the battle.

"One of the accused attackers fell into the river and went over the waterfall. He did not survive. May the gods show him mercy in the Great Beyond." He paused and bowed his head, and Nip noticed several other pokemon doing the same. How strange. How could they know the afterlife if they didn't know of the pokemon that governed it, Yveltal?

Anu shook his head violently. "That is… all. From my perspective."

"Thank you," Whisper said. "After the fire, Tempest used telepathy to contact Shimmer, then later myself. He gave testimony of the events from his perspective. Before I share it, I would like Nip to give his own account. If you would, sneasel."

The gruffness of her tone didn't surprise Nip; she probably wasn't happy about dealing with him. He pushed the thought out of his mind. Focus.

"A while after Anu left," Nip began, "Umbra and the charizard showed up. They attacked Vale and entered my cell. Tempest tried to fight them off from his confines. At that point…" He trailed off, struggling to remember the rush of events. "I believe Umbra told the charizard to set the jail on fire. She… got into an argument with Vale at that point. He didn't like that idea. I tried to crawl away while they were distracted but was knocked out. When I came to, we were soaring over the mountain forest."

"Thank you," Whisper said. "That aligns closely with the story I received from Tempest. Was there anything else important?"

Nip tried to think back. The entire event was a blur, sharp points of recollection surrounded by a pain-induced haze. He focused on the argument. Was there anything odd about it? "I… remember Jhorlo's name coming up in the argument. Something about him not being an idiot. I'm not sure that's important, but…"

Whisper chuffed. "It may or may not be, but the more detail you can give, the better."

Nip went on to explain the remainder of the events. His failed escape. Being taken prisoner with Haru. Their shared escape attempt. All culminating in the battle by the river.

Afterward, Haru told her own version of the events, admitting to initially helping the explorers out of a flawed sense of need, then her own imprisonment. When she reached the part where she talked about the old shrine, her words had the entire village listening with bated breath. And by the time she was done, not a single mon spoke.

Whisper stood at their center, her eyes closed and her wings crossed. "Thank you, Haru. For now, let us move on to defenses. We'll start with… Vale." She turned to the manectric, her eyes steely. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sparks danced along Vale's back as he took a step forward. Nip took a subconscious step back, not keen to get shocked by his static.

"Are you really going to listen to them? Nip and Tempest are both criminals. They're just making things up to get me in trouble!" Vale began pacing with his head low, paws kicking up puffs of dirt.

"I was attacked. I don't know why they feel the need to drag me into this. Maybe because I'm a strict guard? Maybe because they feel I didn't do enough to protect them? I don't know. But you're all fools if you'd believe their word over mine, someone who has made sure this village was safe and cared for, for cycles."

Mutterings broke out among the crowd, uncertain and confused. Nip's heart galloped. While it was true the village had no real reason to trust his word… Vale was lying. He had to be. If he got off without consequences, Nip knew he wouldn't be safe.

Then, from the back of the crowd, came a hesitant voice. "Vale… did come to the inn with Umbra the other day…"

Heads snapped around to the speaker: a simisear. Meaad, Nip thought his name was. The crowd parted as he made his way to the front.

"Maybe it's nothing, but… Just a few days ago, the two of them got a room at the inn. There was a brief altercation with, um, those guys" — he gestured to Susana — "but Vale had it under control, so I thought nothing of it."

All eyes turned back to Vale, silent as death.

The manectric's eyes widened, his hackles stiffening. "Wh — n-now come on, you don't mean to take that as proof, do you? That's just coincidence! Yes, I've spent time with Umbra, but that means nothing! I was betrayed!"

When that didn't seem to convince the majority, his voice grew more desperate. "I've been protecting this village for cycles. Longer than some of you have been alive! You don't really think I'd do something to harm the pokemon here, do you? I wouldn't — do you really think I would hurt Haru?"

That got the crowd talking, skeptical tones rising from the villagers.

"No," Whisper admitted. "At least, not intentionally. But the fact of the matter is that there's too many coincidences, Vale, to not be suspicious."

Vale swept his gaze wildly across the crowd, desperately looking for a friendly face. Nip followed his movement and saw nothing but worry and skepticism.

Then the manectric's stance changed. He adjusted his forepaws and squared his shoulders, letting out a low grow. "I see how it is. So what are you going to do? Lock me up? Drive me out? Do you realize how much I've done for this town? You'd all be starving without me. Every single obligate meat eater!"

Nip narrowed his eyes. Every… obligate? Every carnivore? Was he getting at…

Vale's gaze snapped to Jhorlo. Small, jagged bolts of lightning struck the ground around him, and Nip could just pick up a low buzz. "Fuck this. If I'm going out, I'm dragging you down with me." Then he raised his voice to a shout.

"You think dragging dead, diseased things back is enough to feed everyone? No, it's all a fabrication. Jhorlo has been forcing me to hunt for the town for cycles."

"What?"

"That can't be right."

"Jhorlo would never."

Other comments were lost among the growing clamor. At the center of the storm, Jhorlo sat at attention, calm and unbothered.

The purugly waited a moment, allowing the villagers to work themselves while he checked his claws, before raising a paw to call for silence.

"I'm disappointed in you, my dear Vale. To think that you would not only betray the trust of our village, but also try to throw it in disarray when your misdeeds were caught? For shame."

He raised his voice louder, addressing the crowd as a whole. "I would never do something so antithetical to the beliefs of our village, you all know. What kind of dirt would I even have on you, if it were true?"

Nip narrowed his eyes. Jhorlo's tactic was all too familiar. It was the same kind of deflection Umbra used when he came back from a hunting excursion with her, bruised and bloodied. Whether or not Vale's comment was true, Jhorlo was hiding something.

Vale flinched, the sparks racing along his pelt dying away. A long, tense moment of silence followed.

"What does it matter," the manectric growled under his breath. "I'm as good as dead or driven out as it is.

"You want to know what happened? Fine. Remember a few cycles back, when Leas was found dead in the woods? Everyone thought a wildener had gotten her. But it wasn't a wildener. It was me."

Gasps swept through the crowd, followed by swift murmurs that Nip could only pick up traces of. He leaned to the side to whisper in Haru's ear.

"Who is that?"

"Leas?" Haru kept her eyes on Vale. Nip saw her muscles ripple beneath her pelt, wound with tension. "She was the previous head of the guard before Whisper. About seven cycles ago, she went missing during a routine patrol. Siles — that quagsire over there — found her body two days later just outside of Sunglow Thicket. She was Jaques' and Lotte's mother."

"Jhorlo's guards?" Nip looked at the two purrloin flanking the mayor. Their fur was bushed as they stared at each other wide-eyed.

"Jhorlo," the female purrloin started. "He's lying, right? He has to be!" The tone of her voice suggested she didn't believe them, that she knew Vale was being honest, but she was desperate for reassurance.

"Of-of course he is," Jhorlo snapped, his own fur bristling. But there was a waver in his voice that wasn't there before. "I don't know what's going on in his head that makes him feel he needs to drag the rest of the village down with him!"

Nip picked up the burning scent of ozone. Instinctually, he dropped to the ground just as a bright discharge of electricity blasted off of Vale. It struck Jhorlo. It narrowly missed Whisper, who had also dropped to the ground. It struck Haru beside him, who let out a loud squeal. And it struck several other standing villagers who didn't react in time.

As soon as he quit discharging, Vale leaped into the crowd, pushing through the remainder and weaving among the buildings as he made a mad dash out of the square.

At the edge of the crowd, a rapidash struggled to her feet and started to give chase.

"Stop!"

Whisper's single-word command rang out over the groans of the villagers. She sprang to her feet, heaving a deep breath. "Let him go! We have enough to deal with as it is. We'll put out a bulletin to the Enforcers and to all the nearby villages."

The rapidash looked like she wanted to argue as panicked voices rose from the villagers, but the loud thwap of the Sile's tail drew everyone's attention. "Hey! Whisper is right. Vale will get what's coming to him one way or another."

Whisper took another heaving breath and gasped a "thank you" to the quagsire. She reached up and clutched at the feathers to the side of her head as if she meant to rip them out. Before she could, Anu came up from behind and placed a paw in the small of her shoulder blades.

Then he spoke up, speaking slow to force the stutter out of his voice. "As it stands, we still have four pokemon to deal with."

"Right. Right," Whisper said. She took one more deep, steadying breath, then pulled herself away from Anu. "We'll start with Umbra. Is there anything you have to say in your defense? Any reason we shouldn't give you a harsh sentence when you admitted to the allegations?"

"As I said before, this all could have been avoided," the mawile said. "What good has meddling in my affairs done? What has Nip done for any of you of his own volition? He's rotten."

At first, no one said anything. But then Toshi's exhausted voice came up from behind Nip. "He… saved my life from a wildener."

Haru hesitated, her expression almost embarrassed. "…He did help me escape. He could have left me behind when Topaz caught up to us and pinned me. But he came back."

Hastily, she added, "Don't get me wrong. He's harmed our village irreparably. But… I don't know if I would have survived without his help. I don't know. Everything that's happened in the last couple moons is so messed up."

Nip stole a glance at the bibarel, blinking slowly.

Whisper stared at Umbra for a moment longer. When she said nothing else she turned to Susana. "And what about you? Any defense?"

"We had no reason to hurt Haru," Susana replied, tone silky. "She was helping us. All we asked for was a little help inspecting your old shrine. Then things got out of hand. Punish us if you wish. It'll make no difference to your village in the end."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Siles grunted.

But Susana had turned her head, clearly done speaking.

"I… think I have some idea," Haru said. "When… when we were captive, I overheard a couple of things that Susana's group was talking about. First, the reason they went up the mountain… They're trying to find Regigagas. They're trying to bend him to their will."

"That's preposterous!" a roserade at the back scoffed. "A pawful of outsiders, controlling Regigagas? Ridiculous. It'd never work, if they even found him to begin with."

"But they didn't come alone." Haru drew out the last word, voice tinged with desperation. "They kept referring to someone they work for. 'Our Lady,' they called her. The way they talked… there's more coming. Possibly a lot more."

"Could they be what —" Nip cut himself off. He didn't want to mention Celebi by name, given what little he knew about Susana's group. "— what that omen was about?" From the way the other pokemon looked at each other, it was clear some of the villagers were thinking the same thing. More discussions broke out, growing into a cacophonous din.

Whisper held up a wing. "Everyone, quiet! QUIET!"

The voices slowly died away, heads turning back to the hawlucha. She took a deep breath. "We don't know what they want, and it's clear they're not willing to talk at this time. But they're trouble. Due to the severity of this… entire situation, I am asking for your permission to take charge here."

When no one argued, she continued. "We will contact the Enforcer's Union first thing tomorrow to have Susana's group taken in for proper questioning."

She pointed at Siles, the rapidash, then Meaad. "You three. I am going to keep our troublemakers in one of the tavern rooms, given the lack of a jail. Romi and Siles, you two are to guard them within the room. For the sake of simplicity, Umbra can be kept with them. Find someone who can come relieve you halfway through the night. Given our zoroark's ability to create illusions, I don't want her left alone at any point. Understand?"

"Right. Understood." Siles bobbed his head.

"Good. Next." She turned to Jhorlo. "While I seriously doubt Vale's testimony, I think it would be best if you remain within the villa for now. You, and the rest of your household. Jaques, Lotte, that includes both of you."

Jhorlo puffed out his chest. "This is ridiculous! There is no reason to believe the words of a condemned mon."

"While I agree," Whisper started diplomatically, "given the severity of the accusations, I think it's for the best. When everyone sees that there aren't any food shortages, it will help prove your innocence."

Shimmer reached over to place a hand on her father's head. "It'll be fine, Dad. Just for a few days, then we can put this all behind us."

Even as she said it, Nip picked up a subtle fear scent wafting from their direction. He wasn't sure if it was Shimmer or her father. And Muse looked downright miserable sitting behind them.

"Does everyone agree with this?" Whisper asked.

There were a few mutterings and a cough, but no one dared to challenge her.

"Right. That leaves us with just one more thing." She turned to Nip. "Your community service… With Vale gone and our guards busy watching over Susana's group, we do not have the time to continue it. Rather than hold you here or try to turn you over as well, I believe the best decision is to exile you once Tempest is healthy enough to travel. You would need to leave Theran Village and the lands surrounding it within one day's travel.

Nip hesitated. "Your demands are… reasonable." And yet, for reasons he couldn't fathom, he felt his stomach twisting in knots at the thought of leaving.

"Any disagreement?"

"Are you sure about this, Whisper?" Siles said. "He could be a liability if we send him on to the next town. If he commits a crime there and they find out we released him after what he did here…"

"It's…" Whisper started to reach for a feather, then caught herself. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. Given everything that's happened and everything we still need to deal with."

The quagsire looked like he wanted to say something more, but he only shook his head and took a step back. No one else spoke, though Nip could tell not everyone was happy with Whisper's decision.

"If there's nothing more, we will call this meeting to a close for tonight. We will reconvene tomorrow evening, after the Enforcers have been contacted, and decide what to do next."

She stood in the center as the villagers began to disperse, waiting till most were gone before walking over to speak quietly with Jhorlo. Nip wanted to eavesdrop, but a light shove from behind broke his concentration. He glanced back to see Twi.

"C'mon, Mister Thief," the illumise said. "Let's get you back to the hut to get looked at before it gets too dark."

He stole one more glance back at Haru, who was helping her brother to his feet. A part of him wanted to say something to the duo, given all that had happened and all that would happen soon. But instead, he silently let the illumise guide him to the medics' hut.

 

[Negrek]

I put this fic in reader mode, and when I got to the end I was like, oh no, was that all? Just three new chapters? D:

It turns out you forgot to put the threadmark on the most recent chapter you uploaded! One extra chapter isn't a ton, but four is still better than three! We're really getting into the part of the fic I've been most looking forward to... a bit of reluctant cooperation between Haru and Nip. I mean, with Nip about to be officially exiled, I'm sure they'll never cross paths again. But even so. ;)

Nothing quite like pain, exhaustion, and imminent threat to life and limb to inspire cooperation between a couple of reluctant characters! I think you handled the progression of Nip and Haru's relationship well here; it makes sense that the circumstances would make them more willing to work together and be vulnerable with each other, but it's not like they're instant besties, even after ultimately surviving and returning to a somewhat safer environment. It also makes sense to me that Nip is the one who seems most willing to reach out and try to work with or even comfort Haru. She's still a total hardass! Just one who perhaps isn't quite so anti-Nip as before...

The escape through the dungeon and into the fight where the rescue party arrives was a very satisfying conclusion to that arc of the story. I was a little surprised by how the fight seemed to have more or less wrapped up in the rescuers' favor when Haru made it back to the bank, since she realized they were losing pretty much right after Nip dove in to help. I guess the distraction of Remer going over the waterfall was enough to let Anu and Whisper get the upper hand?

I was honestly really surprised that Haru evolved here! Somehow it's so hard to think of her as anything but a bidoof. It makes sense for her to have evolve at that juncture of course; if there was ever a time for a crisis evolution, it would definitely be when the pokémon's right about to go over a waterfall! That segment was definitely a highlight of the battle scene to me.

Sorry, Haru, there's a 0% chance you're ever going to get your proper evolution celebration. Which is too bad, because that's something I think would honestly be a lot of fun to explore. How do pokémon celebrate an evolution, and how does it vary between species/cultures? For something like a charizard that gains wings or another totally new form of locomotion, it seems like the parties could get quite spectacular!

That one-sided conversation with Nip, Tempest, and Whisper sure was suggestive, wasn't it? Poor Nip. Absolutely unable to conceive of other people caring about him, much less in anything more than a friendly way. He's definitely going to need to have someone spell things out for him, ideally Tempest at some point.

I am curious how things are going to shake out from here. We have both everything going on with Jhorlo and the impending invasion of the beta pokémon to worry about, and presumably Haru et al will be setting off from the village soon, too. I imagine those are all going to end up colliding in one way or another. And this can't possibly be the end for Umbra, either. You've got lots of plates spinning, and I'm not feeling confident trying to guess how things might go from here. Possibly just because it's unfortunately been a long while since I've read the previous chapters.

Jhorlo may have to make some sort of move soon--he's either going to need to recruit someone else to go hunting, or like Whisper pointed out, it's going to become obvious that the village is running out of meat where it wasn't before. I was surprised that he seemed shaken by Vale essentially accusing him of having the former guard captain bumped off; that seems like it would be about as easy to dismiss as Vale's earlier comments about being made to hunt, but maybe he was shocked that Vale would have the guts to go against him like that. I imagine he's in for a grisly fate, no matter what happens with Jhorlo more generally.

Maybe Jhorlo will team up with the beta pokémon to retain control of the village despite his crimes being revealed? Or maybe the village will be forced to rally behind him to stave off the invaders, despite realizing what a monster he is. Not sure; we've definitely got a soup of characters with different motivations here, and any of them could potentially team up or betray each other depending on what they judge most expedient. It feels like the plot is really starting to get rolling, and I'm super here for it!

I had a lot of fun catching up with this story and was sad to see the updates end! Will definitely be on the lookout for future chapters as they come. Thanks for giving me a thoroughly enjoyable start to Blitz!

 

[Ambyssin]

Okay, time to get caught up. Again.

27
-Umbra continues to be a certified bitch™, as usual.
-Very wise of these "explorers" to keep mentioning their lack of need for Haru and Nip. Definitely not motivating them to try and find a way out of the situation.
-Y'know, the prose made it sound like there was something big coming. But I wasn't expecting it to be two somethings big. And ursaluna, too. I wonder if the species changed from your original plans thanks to PLA existing?
-You teed things up for these wild ursaluna to spur their escape, but I had a feeling that they'd have to try and lose these guys in a mystery dungeon. And lo the mystery dungeon appeared. Also Haruball.
-Ayy, Haru trusted Nip enough to remove the restraints. Helps that he saved her from getting skewered.
-I appreciate this isn't general dungeon trekking but rather Haru and Nip going through an empty dungeon and having to try and stealth/outrun Topaz. And they're out of it quickly, to boot.
-Also for some reason I had this impression they were so high up the mountain they were in a snowy environment and was thus a bit concerned at the river suggestion. But, no, not snow. I think in my mind I eternally associate Regigigas with Snowpoint Temple and just assumed this mountain had to match the aesthetic.
-Oh, huh. They actually failed in their escape. I guess the dungeon hadn't taken them that far. And also the other group had a flier. But at least the cavalry's here. Forgot about them. Probably because it's been a hot minute.

28
-Chaos is right. Lot of moving pieces going on at the start of this fight. Admittedly I'm not entirely sure about the placement of them in relation to one another outside of, like, Haru, Nip, and Skorch, since the latter's airborne. That's often the perils with these larger group brawls. Though it looks like you center things back on Haru pretty quickly.
-Ah, okay, so we're going for the jugulars now. Uh, GG, Nip?
-Lmao at Haru nearly having a Come to Jesus moment and that realization giving her a second wind. And an evolution, apparently. BIGGER BEAVER GET. The power of atheism or something! 🎉
-So we actually got a brutal (but technically offscreen?) villain death. I wasn't expecting some of the more violent moments in this chapter, ngl. Something about PMD fics, man. They all turn visceral at one point.
-Apparently the death was enough to end the battle. It seems like, even though the circumstances were different, the same bad things befell this big group as did Haru's grandfather and the team involved with him when they went up the mountain. Intentional parallels, perhaps? 🤔
-Man, this chapter really ended on the "I've won, but at what cost?" meme. (In all seriousness it was a good one. Nice dramatic evo and the fighting didn't overstay its welcome.)

29: Hey, I know this line! >:V
-Now we get some of the details of what happened with Nip. So, he didn't want to be perceived as weak, but ended up in a worse situation for it. (Hey, in some stories being a lorekeeper is a great thing. Maybe Nip needs to consider a job transfer. XP)
-Aww, look, they actually tolerate each other now!
-I'm surprised you actually cut back to the village. Part of me expected something to happen and the villains to escape.
-I can't even make the joke about Haru lying about a return to normalcy. Nip's narration did it for me.
-Dang it, you can't drop a "Thanks for saving my—" and punt the end of the sentence until a future chapter. That's just mean.
-This town meeting/trial thing feels partly like it's meant to be a recap for this little arc that wrapped up. Perhaps because of how spaced out the releases for the chapters were during it? Not blaming you or anything. Actually find it a helpful reminder. It's the good kind of recap. Especially with the reminder of the stuff between Vale and Jhorlo, even though it seems to get a bit swept to the side. Boy if that isn't like real life with certain politicians and their ability to deflect. Oh, and also, Celebi was a thing! With an omen and everything. I totally remembered that. (I did not remember that.)
-And things come to an uneasy end here. I doubt Nip's going to end up exiled for real or if he does have to leave, some of the rest of the squad will go with. Otherwise the fic'd basically be over.

 

[Arukona]

Hi @windskull! Your fic’s been on my list for a while, and so I figured that with Places We Call Home qualifying for the Week 1 bonus for me, as well as you accruing heat over the past few days, that I might be able to rake in some extra points if I drop a timely review here and now before the deadline's up. So no better time than the present than to jump in and get started with this fic.

(Also may as well do this review in return for the review you dropped for me. We do love a bit of reciprocity, after all.)

Prologue/Chapter 1

Firstly, I’m quite a fan of this intro, introducing us to the various characters of this story. I already know from things I’ve heard in passing that the first two are Nip and Haru, who’ll be key players in the story going forth. Not too sure on the others, although I’m willing to bet the Bisharp’s a dead ringer for one of the villains in this story, that’s for sure. And whoever’s speaking in the italics is possibly one step above them on the villain ladder.

And the way the prologue goes from bedtime stories told to Nip and Haru towards more chaotic scenes of argument, horror and desertion. Honestly, the way it’s written, if this were a video game or anime, one could imagine some kind of pre-title screen intro from these scenes alone. I wonder if that thought’s ever crossed your mind? Given I know that many other fellow authors do like to daydream such things in relation to their fic, myself included.

Now into the first chapter, and we start off with an ordinary routine from Haru. One that’ll no doubt take a turn for the interesting, if PMD fic intros are anything to go by.

Sounds like Shimmer’s the easily excitable exuberant type, as opposed to the more calm and collected Muse. I like ‘opposites attract’ pairings in PMD fics - they make for interesting dynamics between teammates.

Oh, and it turns out Shimmer’s of the pining for love type. I look forward to seeing Haru’s brother react to her advances. (I recall his name was Toshi?)

A wildener Kangaskhan? That doesn’t sound good, and I have a sneaking suspicion that our gang will have to face off against them if it’s being brought up now.

I’m already getting the vibes of a rural, homely village where Haru lives, and it conjures up a nice peaceful image. A good place to start off a story, although judging by the intro, no doubt legends are gonna make their way into the story soon. So better enjoy the low-scaling while it lasts, I suppose.

Muse playing all the part of a stoic bodyguard - somehow, I wouldn’t expect anything much different of an Absol.

Bit confused as to referring to Muse as ‘the leader’ when she smelt the bloodied Pokémon - personally, I feel the epithet there isn’t necessary.

Judging by the fact that Nip’s a smaller Sneasel than normal, I’m guessing he wasn’t fed much as a young one.

And now we might have a bit of a situation on our hands; with Muse, no doubt the most powerful of the group, leaving Shimmer and Haru alone in the woods with an attacker still on the loose, this could be potential for trouble. Here’s hoping nothing happens…

Chapter 2

Ah yes, the old "nightmare into waking up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar house" trope. An oldie but a goodie.

Lecha talks about how she's stronger than she looks, but I do wonder if that strength might well be put to the test sometime soon-ish. Especially with how resistant our resident Sneasel seems to be to everything and everyone.

Nip’s clearly not much of a talker, that’s for sure. I almost wondered at one point if we’d have to go through a small arc where he learns how to talk like everyone else. But this isn’t Quenched Torch.

Seems that Kangaskhan from before did have relevance to something, seeing as how they were the one to wound poor Nip here.

Nip must not be used to civilisation, then. It’ll probably be a bit before he gets adjusted. Because if even the idea of villages and growing oran berries is foreign to him, then that’s quite a surprise. Maybe he’s more nomadic?

Some interesting tales of how the Pokémon of this world live their life, including the fact that Pokémon as predators and prey are a thing in this world. I wonder if that might well end up playing a part in things later on…

Looks like there’s a secret or two about why Nip’s on this journey. A revelation’s in store in the future, I reckon.

“easy for you to say.”

Curious as to whether Nip really will be safe in this village, or whether someone will try to push him out, or…whether he might do something that ostracises himself from the rest of them. He already gives off distant loner vibes, so it’s gonna take a bit before he blends in with the rest of the village, I reckon.

Oh hey, a Bellossom character. Thinking about it, I can’t think of too many of those around. So brownie points for including one.

I suppose for a villager with a daily routine like Haru, it would be difficult to imagine someone trekking from so far away. Alas, we’ll have to wait another day for Ruffle’s answer because alas time is a construct.

A whole family of the same species line, Haru’s is. Mostly I’m curious as to how different personality-wise Toshi is to his sister.

Funny to know that Toshi is just as annoyed by Shimmer’s pining as much as Haru is. Makes me wonder if there’ll either be an arc where she’ll wisen up and learn to stop acting that way, or if Toshi will warm up to her.

Talking about legends again. Seems like it’s a curiosity as to whether they exist - well, knowing how things usually go, Haru’s gonna be proven wrong before long.

Surprised how atheistic Haru is - almost certainly an attitude that’ll be changed if what I said above ends up happening.

Chapter 3

Somehow I get the feeling Lecha won’t be the only person Nip will end up causing trouble for.

Based on his quiet muttering and more distant tone, I could almost picture Nip with a similar voice to Jin from Xenoblade 2.

I look forward to seeing that Slurpuff merchant if they show up - they sound like quite a character.

Nip speaking in terms of defence as to the village, and yeah, doesn’t sound like the best in that regard, But I do wonder if him querying about this is a hint about the kinds of conditions in which he lives…

Wow, Haru doesn’t know about the god of death? That is a surprise.

Ah yes, I see this fic isn’t afraid to step into the murky waters of hunting innocent Pokémon for meat, and the horror that comes with that.

Another intriguing species that I don’t think I see much of in PMD fics - Mandibuzz. I like this inclusion of lesser-included species.

Even in a more primitive setting, there’s checks, procedures bureaucracy for meat eaters. Discrimination smh smh.

The fact that Nip is unmarked makes me wonder if that could potentially make him prey in an upcoming skirmish. That’s…a worrying possibility.

So killing others for meat is a more of a thing Nip and his ilk don’t take pride in it and do it out of necessity. Which makes me think that an upcoming antagonist could well be someone who does in fact take pride in killing for sport.

Unsurprising that a Sneasel would come from a cold climate.

Seventeen Poké? Huh, that’s barely anything in other fic universes. Guess this fic’s world treats that rather differently, where one Poké is more akin to one dollar.

Interesting how the golems aren’t numbered at all, implying that it’s not just the original three but Regidrago and Regieleki in there as well. Not sure if this fic began before they were introduced, but I like the implication there.

Anu’s more flustered than I would’ve expected. Perhaps it’s something to do with Whisper? Given that they left immediately, I can’t help but wonder what they might be like.

So Nip is a patron of the god of death. Good thing he doesn’t word it like that, otherwise that would provoke very

reactions from those around him.

And this universe has an Expedition Society as well, huh? The PSMD variant comes to mind, although there’s a part of me that thinks it probably isn’t the one led by Ampharos. Then again, who knows, given that I’ve noticed it’s not necessarily implied that this isn’t the canon world.

Anu’s having a baby? I wonder what the kid will be like.

Seems like Nip carries some regret with him. Maybe his journey is a pilgrimage to earn back forgiveness for something he did in his past?

And now over to that same Kangaskhan from before being mauled - and by a Mawile who seems quite interested in Nip. Looks to be someone from his past - an old enemy, probably - and by the sounds of it, we’re going to have a confrontation in the near future…

Conclusion

I’ll leave it there for now, but this was an intriguing intro and I’m glad to have dived into this story after hearing good things about it for quite some time. Some fascinating themes about meat-eating, as well as worship and belief, both of which are ripe for potential to develop into more intriguing plot lines as the story goes on. Plenty of mysteries too, chiefly among Nip who seems to carry some degree of baggage with him - and it’ll be interesting to see that unfold as he and the other villagers become acquainted with one another.

Good job, and keep up the good work! There’s still plenty more to read, and hopefully I can get into reading more of it soon-ish, whether it’s later on for this Review Blitz or in future review events over at Diner and United.

 

[Negrek]

Anu’s having a baby? I wonder what the kid will be like.

This is so damn funny to me, and I can't even say why. :P

(You're good, Arukona; there's no way you could possibly know!)

 

[windskull]

A/N: Thanks as always for the reviews yall! I'm not going to type up responses right now, but I hope to do a mass reply catchup in a few months. Maybe lol, we'll see if time permits.

As we reach the end of another year, PWCH continues to make steady progress. And we end it with the prelude to a new arc. My hope is that I'll be able to reach a certain key point in the story this year, probably about 6-8 chapters from now. I think that's achievable if I prioritize PWCH and keep working at the steady clip I've worked thus far. See you in January or February for the next one!

---

Interlude 2: Convergence​

---

Soot clung to Yellow’s paws with every step she took, clinging to the fur between her toes and staining her paws black. A chilly breeze cut through what remained of this part of the forest, unimpeded without foliage. A handful of enforcer teams fanned out around the jolteon, some with noses low to the ground in search of suspicious scents. Above, a few fliers drifted in wide circles, looking for abnormalities.


Less than a half-moon ago, a wildfire had ripped through the Silken Woods, burning so fiercely that nothing remained. The local rescue teams had already come through a quarter-moon prior, searching for survivors. Now it was the enforcer’s turn to investigate the cause. The fact that it had taken this long to get teams on the ground was an embarrassment. Especially given that an expedition team had gone missing in the wake of the fire. Which is why she’d come all the way from headquarters herself to investigate.


In front of her, a staravia landed crossing a wing over his chest. “Enforcer Yellow.”


She dipped her head. “Speak.”


“The flyby suggests that the fire started in a clearing up ahead. There’s some damage to the trees near there that suggests signs of a struggle, but we suspect most of the evidence was destroyed in the blaze.”


“Thank you. You are dismissed.” She moved to walk around him, but he hesitated, staying in her path. “Yes?”


“Well… it’s just that my buddies and I saw an arcanine headed this way from the opposite end of the damage. He kind of looks like that private detective who comes around sometimes, but given the… you know, situation we’re in right now, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to risk an approach. We just thought you should know.”


Maneth? Yellow stood still for a few heartbeats. “Thank you. I’ll head for the clearing now. Were there any others already there?”


“Just The Sniff-it-Outs.”


“Go ahead and tell them to take a break but stay nearby. I’ll take care of the Arcanine if they show up.”


“Will do.” With a running start and a couple wingbeats, the staravia took to the air, circling once before flying ahead.


Yellow followed behind at a light trot, intending to give him time to alert the team. It gave her time to think. If the arcanine was Maneth in disguise, they’d have to find someplace private to talk. No one here had a high enough clearance to know his true identity, let alone the conversations he had with her. If it wasn’t him but someone with unsavory intentions, her appearance alone would likely be enough to spook them away.


But by the time the jolteon reached the clearing, the other pokemon were still there, gathered around a single spot on the far end. Apprehension sent spikes of static and sparks racing through her fur. She had to force the feeling away before it could get out of hand.


“What’s going on over there?” she called, sprinting across the clearing. Not far beyond them, she could see a handful of trees that looked like they’d been splintered apart by an explosion. Possibly the cause of the fire.


The members of The Sniff-it-Outs, a houndoom, a houndstone, and a growlithe, stood in a tight circle, the staravia from before with them. They parted at the sound of her voice, revealing what was worrying them: a pile of charred bones, half buried in the ash.


“We just found these,” the houndoom said. “We’re not sure… but these look kind of like treecko bones, don’t they? Some sort of reptilian pokemon, at least.”


“One of the missing explorers was a treecko, wasn’t she?” the growlithe asked.


Yellow kept her jaw set in a firm line. “You are correct. The missing team is treecko-charmander duo. Go get a sketcher to draw up an image of the scene, and a mon to gather up the bones. We’ll have them taken back to headquarters for identification.”


“Right.”


“Understood.”


“Yes, Mam. Although…” The growlithe nosed something else towards Yellow. “We also found this. We weren’t sure what to make of it.”


The item in question was some sort of container, Yellow thought. But it had melted beyond recognition. She couldn’t figure out what kind of material it was made of.


“Take it with you. We can try to figure out what it is later.”


Yellow turned away, focusing her attention on the splintered trees. Remains suspiciously similar to one of the missing explorers, found near signs of an explosive attack… She didn’t like the implications. But they’d only found one set of remains. There were two pokemon missing. And it wasn’t like they hadn’t come across a handful of remains already. Wildeners lived here, after all. Or used to, she guessed. Some were likely unable to escape the flames.


Shaking her head to clear it, she kept walking. “I’m going to find that arcanine and see if they’re who I think they are. If not… they’ve got a lot to explain, snooping around here.”


Without waiting for a response, she took off, racing into the trees.


Alone, she had a moment to think about the damage she’d seen. The radius of the explosion was concerning, longer than she was used to seeing. She didn’t want to speculate what was capable of causing this type of damage. A lesser god, perhaps. Or a very powerful mortal.


Her feet hardly touched the ground, each pawstep muffled by the ash. The acrid stench still hung in the air, muffling her sense of smell. She thanked the stars it hadn’t rained recently; the only thing worse than ash was wet ash.


There, in the distance. Among the grays and blacks and whites, the arcanine’s orange coat stuck out like a sore paw.


Yellow approached cautiously, sniffing at the air. The arcanine was male. He walked like an arcanine. But did he smell like one? It was difficult to tell with the ash clouding her senses.


Of course, just like he stuck out, Yellow did, too. And it didn’t take long for him to look away from the tree he was pacing around and notice her.


“Yellow?” the arcanine asked.


“Maneth?”


The arcanine jerked his head in the direction of the tree he had been investigating. “You better take a look at this.”


After only a heartbeat of hesitation, Yellow raced over. The tree looked like it had been cut clean diagonally, though it had since burned. The remains of the trunk lay on the ground. A few other trees near it were destroyed in much the same way.


But it wasn’t the trees that concerned her once she reached him.


He took a step back, giving her a clear view of the decomposing corpse of a charmander.


“Forest fire wouldn’t burn hot enough to cremate a charmander,” he said, putting a paw over his snout to try and dampen the stench. “Not likely to kill one either. This one looks to have met a grisly demise. Maybe the cause of the fire though.”


“Not likely, given the scene I just came from. What in Arceus’ name are you doing here, Maneth. No, don’t drop your illusion. There are other teams around.”


The illusory arcanine took a step back. “I was on my way to investigate something for Progne. But when I saw the state of this forest, I wanted to see if I could figure out what happened. Any idea?”


“Not yet. We know it happened a little over a quarter-moon ago, though. Two explorers went missing around the same time. Looks like we found them. Or what’s left of them, at least.” She nudged her paw towards the charmander but didn’t dare touch it. Dealing with grisly scenes like this was never fun, and this was on the tamer side. She’d have to send the sketcher this way, next.


“Damn. All this destruction to kill just one explorer team? Seems like overkill, doesn’t it?”


“Perhaps, but we don’t know yet whether they were the target or just collateral damage.” Not that it mattered. An explorer team was dead. A young one, at that. Pokemon that had a bright future ahead of them. She remembered their initiation ceremony, how the charmander’s eyes had lit up as Blue presented her with her normal rank badge. Yellow felt rage roiling inside, threatening to unleash the beast she knew she could be.


“Hey! Hey, Yellow! Calm down. Your sparks are going to shatter my illusion.”


Her sparks? Oh.


Yellow took a deep breath. “Sorry.” She sat down, running a tongue down her paw in anticipation of washing behind her ear, only to stop, curling her lip at the acrid tang of ash. “What were you doing for Progne?”


“Progne sent me out on an investigation mission,” Maneth explained. “They said they felt Celebi’s presence but were unable to make contact with him. They wanted me to see why Celebi showed up now of all times. And why he chose to appear where he did.”


Celebi? For a moment, Yellow forgot about the dire situation they found themselves in. “And where was that?”


“Near the base of Mount Domo. The specifics are difficult to triangulate, but there’s only a few villages in the area, so I thought I might start with those.”


“Mount Domo, huh?” Yellow closed her eyes, thinking for a moment. “How long ago was this?”


“I was told to leave… about a quarter-moon ago, now.”


“I see. I probably wouldn’t have been in to hear any delivered news…” She closed her eyes, thinking. He was probably in a hurry, but it wouldn’t hurt to play things safe. “Tell you what. I want you to come back with me to headquarters. It’s a little out of your way, but we can reach out to see if anyone in the Unified villages has seen anything out of the ordinary. If not, then it narrows your search to unincorporated villages.”


“And there’s not many of those in the region,” Maneth concluded. “I only saw two on the map. Theran and Malkin.”


“Rocorn isn’t incorporated either,” Yellow said. “Not yet at least.”


“Understood. I’ll mark those down.” He paused; Yellow suspected he was busy at work pulling his map out under that disguise. “Do you think this might be related?”


“Related to what?”


“Right, you’re not fully filled in. Progne also lost contact with Tinny, not long before Celebi appeared. They hadn’t been able to reestablish contact since.”


Dread churned in Yellow’s belly. “Do you think someone is targeting the gods?”


“I don’t know, but Celebi appearing, Victini disappearing… And this fire. In fact…” A rustling came from the disguise as Maneth pulled out his map. The disguise did as well, dropping it on the ground. “I think… Progne told me roughly where they lost contact. They didn’t ask me to investigate that right now, but… this isn’t too far from it. Within a day’s travel for Tinny, I’d guess.”


Yellow fought to control her sparks. A massive fire. A missing god. A dead expedition team. “This… may be even more serious than I thought.”


She glanced up as a shadow passed by overhead. It was that staravia again, come to check on her. She tilted her head up and let out a yip to call him down.


He landed at her side, recoiling at the sight of the charmander corpse.


“Have the team come over here. We’ll need the sketcher to draw up this one, too. Investigator Blitz will stay here to mark the spot until they arrive.” She flicked an ear in Maneth’s direction.


“Will do. What about you?”


“I need to speak with the psychic on duty and get a bulletin out. Whatever happened here is a sign of serious trouble. We need all teams on high alert.”


She pushed past the staravia, forcing herself to walk until she was a good ways away before breaking out into a run.


Yellow should have known better than to hope there would be no more fighting after they unified the continent. But now serious trouble was on the horizon, more serious than she suspected any mortal pokemon had ever dealt with.


She had made a promise to protect the pokemon relying on her. Now was the time to make good on it.

---

Elsewhere, an encampment of strange, otherworldly pokemon sat in an alcove sheltered by high, rocky walls. The shadow of Mount Domo loomed in the distance, only a few days’ journey away. A few pokemon, those who suspected they could pass as natives, stood along the perimeter, watching for actual natives to scare away or kill for supplies.


In the center, a white leporid darted between the tents, making her way to the main one at the center. She kept her long, blue-and-white–striped tail wrapped tightly around her waist.


At the entrance to the main tent, two pokemon — a porygon and a short-eared umbreon — stood guard. The umbreon stepped forward first.


“Warabbit Waisha, what business do you have with Our Lady?”


“Bad news from the courier, I’m afraid,” Waisha said with a shake of her head. “I need to speak with her immediately.”


The umbreon turned to the porygon, who stilled for a moment.


“She is free at the moment, but you must hurry. The evening report starts in twenty minutes.”


Waisha involuntarily shivered. She never liked the way that porygon spoke, but the way its voice became so stilted when telling time was exceptionally creepy.


But the answer seemed to satisfy the umbreon. “Better you than me,” she said, stepping aside.


Waisha rushed inside, skidding to a stop as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Why was their leader insistent on keeping things dark? Then she saw a wave of sparks at the end of the tent and understood. One of her deputies was already there. His body snaked and slumped around her waifish form, barely having the strength to move. The Lady had explained that he wasn’t built for this world. Or that it wasn’t built for him. One way or the other. Regardless, without the infrastructure to support him, he was slowly dying.


“Waisha, was it?” The Lady asked, her claws snaking down the deputy’s slender form in the dim light. “Why are you here?”


Time to steel your nerves, Waisha told herself, taking a deep breath. “First off, some good news. I heard word from Commander Zaid that Mina has fully subdued and integrated Victini. We’re ready to move to the next phase of the plan.”


The Lady quirked her head, her antennas barely visible threads in the darkness. “Good, good. But that would have been covered in his report. Why are you really here?”


“Well,” Waisha began, gulping. “I just spoke with the courier. He said he’s lost connection with Remer. The last message he sent before disappearing was an SOS.” She hesitated, wringing her paws together. “Between that and the previous report, there’s reason to believe that Susana’s team may have been compromised.”


Silence. The deputy groaned and shifted around The Lady. She shushed them, running her hand between his cords. “Did she report any electricity or electric types in the village?”


“I’m… sorry?”


“Any electric types. Don’t be daft, now.”


It took Waisha a moment to understand. “Oh, one, I think.”


“It’ll have to do.” The Lady’s eyes flashed in the darkness. “Thank you for the confirmation. I will speak with Commander Zaid and have him put in the order to move out first thing in the morning. Our target will be Theran Village. Then, depending on Susana’s report, the mountain beyond. You are to speak of this to no one for now, understand?”


“Of course, My Lady.”


“Good.” The Lady leaned back on her cushion, bringing her hand up to her deputy’s spiky head. As Waisha slipped out of the tent, she could hear her speak, voice soothing and serene.


“I will do everything in my power to find you a better energy source,” she promised. “No matter what. You just need to hold on for a little longer, okay? Once we have enough of the gods’ power on our side, we will shape this land to suit our needs. I promise.”

 

[Ambyssin]

Just The Sniff-it-Outs

This sounds like the name of a group you'd see in Paper Mario. Made up entirely of Snifits. I suppose I should've expected a few dogs.

If the arcanine was Maneth in disguise

Another zor— okay, yeah, definitely another zoroark.

The first half of this appears to be following up on the previous interlude, which IIRC involved a treecko and charmander finding something they should've have in the midst of this forest. I like the forensics-esque approach that's being taken here. Even if some of this forensics stuff feels out of place for a PMD fic, it brings police procedurals to mind. Those are, admittedly, a guilty pleasure. So it makes me when I see that stuff pop up in pokémon fics no matter how strange it is for that to happen.

I do like how both the first and second scenes are linked. With Yellow speculating about what could have happened to Victini and then the scene with the baddies confirmed that, yes, they did successfully get Victini under their control. I didn't actually look up any of the betamon designs this time. I figure if/when these characters become more relevant to things, I'll use Google or whatever to determine what they actually look like. Doubt I'll have to wait long for that to happen, either. Since it sounds like they're going to attack Theran Village. And that may be what part (or most?) of your next arc ends up dedicated to. Probably a significant chunk, if I had to guess. It sounds like the Big Bad wants an electric-type to keep her partner or whatever alive. Of course I know that electric-type has skipped town. So, she's going to end up sorely disappointed when all is said and done. Next arc should be interesting... and mess up the status quo even more than the last one did.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, it's been a while since I’ve been back in this story, but I figured that you'd been pretty generous so far about reviewing my fare this Review Blitz, so it felt like as good a reason to make sure that my plans to catch up with PWCH didn't get crowded out completely while on the Blitzing grind.

Last time, things basically cliffhangered with Haru and Nip getting a minor reprieve from an ever-so-minor case of imminent violent death, which... uh... basically was a portent for tears and heartbreak. So let's see how fast things go sideways in:

Chapter 28

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

Umbra hopped to her feet in an instant, turning to face her assailant. The lucario glared at her, assuming a defensive stance. "You again?" she screeched. "Stop meddling in my affairs!"

Anu: "I'm sorry, but what affairs? What on earth are you even doing out here?"

"I'm only going to say this once," Whisper barked with an intensity Haru had never heard from her — not even when dealing with Nip. "Turn yourselves in peacefully, or we will use force. We have — Toshi, wait!"

Breaking ranks, Toshi raced down the slope towards Haru, calling her name. Hope swelled in her chest, but it was replaced with dread as Topaz raced up the hill to intercept. Toshi skidded to a stop, planting his paws in the dirt and growling. Topaz responded by dropping on all fours, spiked tail lashing.

Let's not even get into how Toshi is literally the most vulnerable member of his party at the moment.

At first, Susana said nothing. Then she grinned and chuckled, the laughter starting sinister before turning into rasping barks. Muse let out a low growl, digging her front claws into the zoroark. Wispy, purple tendrils that seemed to suck in light rose from Susana's fanned-out mane. Before Muse could react, the tendrils lashed out, striking at her legs, face, and shoulders. She visibly winced, shivering.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that that's Bitter Malice in action there.

That was all the opening Susana needed. She hooked her legs under Muse's belly and kicked, sending her flying. At once, the zoroark sprang to her paws. "This has gone too far. Kill them all!"

If Susana manages to report alive back to Zaid after all of this, I can already see the

reaction over how badly she allowed a simple infiltration and reconnaissance mission to spiral out of control like this.

The field exploded into chaos. Toshi lunged at the gorochu, teeth bared and glowing. Topaz spun out of the way, racing back towards his team with Toshi close behind.

As he ran, Topaz released a thunderbolt toward Anu, Whisper, and Shimmer. The trio dodged, Shimmer teleporting just in time. The bolt instead hit a tree, the trunk bursting into flame. Shards of bark exploded out in all directions, raining down on the combatants.

Whisper: "Um... dear? I'm starting to get the feeling that we should focus on just grabbing Haru and Nip and getting out of here."

Anu: "I think that's going to be a bit easier said than done!"

The kirlia reappeared in front of Haru, who yelped instinctively and tried to scramble back, but her legs felt like jelly.

Haru felt a psychic hold wrap around her body, dragging her as Shimmer grabbed Nip's good arm and dashed away from battle. She deposited them in a patch of tall grass, away from the thick of the fighting. Then she reached her hands into the satchel at her hip, pulling out a handful of oran berries.

"Okay, you guys," she said with a wink, "eat these and stay out of trouble while we handle things!"

Yeah, I can already tell that Shimmer's happy-go-lucky attitude here is going age really, really poorly in short order. (Even if there's strong odds that it's an emotional front.)

Nip reached out for a berry, only to freeze with pupils narrowed to slits.

"Look out!"

His warning came too late. Umbra slammed into Shimmer from behind head-first, knocking her flat with her iron jaws. The kirlia screeched and writhed, ruddy marks swelling on her back where steel energy had made contact.

Well, that was faster than I expected. And this is why you should keep a healthy stock of items with you at all times in a PMD setting, kids.

Umbra spat in Shimmer's direction, then turned towards Nip, claws glowing as a low grow sounded in her throat. "Why do you continue to struggle? Just roll over and die already!"

Nip: "Becauase I like being alive, thank you very much!"

Nip's eyes were glazed with pain, but he held his good arm in front of him as he took a defensive stance. "Why won't you just move on already? This could have been resolved peacefully a long time ago!"

"Because you don't deserve it!" she shrieked, lunging.

Haru: "Ah yes, just the thing that I needed to see before I died. Umbra airing out her matehood drama." >_>;

Nip sprang back, her glowing claws only grazing him, and retaliated by flinging a pawful of ice shards in her direction. He turned and dove into the grass.

Umbra shoved Haru out of the way to chase after him. But before she got far, another aura sphere struck her in the back.

Boy that monomaniacal focus on Umbra's part is sure working out in Haru's favor there, since... uh... yeah, she'd otherwise be really dead right now.

Anu slid to a stop in front of Haru, standing stiff as his eyes darted between her, Umbra, and Shimmer. The kirlia groaned, pushing herself to her hands and knees. At the same time, Umbra whirled around to face Anu, jaw raised high and her claws sparking once again.

The lucario crossed his arms across his chest and took a deep breath. Two bone-shaped aura blades formed, one for each paw. He swung his arms to his sides, taking a fighting stance.

Oh, so Anu dual-wields his shortened Aura!bone clubs instead of going with the anime's 'staff' depiction. Duly noted.

"Fine," Umbra hissed. "If I have to break your spirit first, then I will!" She lunged, claws slashing across Anu's thigh. He winced and shivered involuntarily, but retaliated by smashing one of the bone clubs against her cheek.

Anu: "I take it that you haven't fought many Lucario before in the past, huh?"

Umbra: "Ugh... shut up!"

Rolling with the blow, Umbra sprang to her feet and tackled Anu, howling with rage. The two rolled over and over, each trying to get the upper paw, soon out of reach.

Boy is Umbra fortunate that Anu lives in a podunk village and presumably hasn't been through much move tutoring, since just saying, a Lucario with the right build would be a really annoying ranged opponent to deal with.

Shimmer sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to stand, trembling. "S-she hits hard, I'll give her that." Reaching into her bag, she grabbed another oran and gulped it down, spitting out the skin. "I gotta go help. Keep everyone healthy. You two stay hidden." Before Haru could argue, she teleported away.

Whelp, I see someone is already starting to have it sink in that this fight isn't going to be like her youth novels there.

Haru shrank into the tall grass, tearing open an oran to get to its healing flesh. But she couldn't keep her eyes off the fight.

Whisper grappled with Topaz, electrical burns singing her feathers. The hawlucha sprang into the air and dove at the gorochu, springing out of the way a moment later to roost and recover.

Haru: "Um... wasn't there a Charizard with them? Someone's dealing with her right now, right?"

Anu and Umbra were on their feet again, the former flinging more bones while the latter dodged and weaved, dashing in to strike when the opportunity presented itself.

Shimmer took psychic potshots at Skorch between heal pulses directed at the rest of the team. It was enough to keep her from raining fire down on the team. For now.

Oh, so Shimmer's basically playing sniper from the treeline, huh? I mean, that does feel like a pretty wise course of action given that she's not exactly tanky right now, so...

Susana towered above them all, sending pulses of dark or ghost energy towards Muse when she was far, and striking with teeth and claws when she was close. But Muse was nimble, dodging most of the ranged attacks and powering through the physical strikes to slash with her horn and claws.

Occasionally, Haru caught sight of Toshi rolling about, knocking over grounded enemies whenever he got the chance.

Just saying, uh... you really should not be mixing it up with those other 'mons on the field, Toshi.

But they weren't winning, Haru realized. While everyone was holding their own, the fight was clearly taking its toll. Whisper trembled. Blood oozed from wounds on both Muse and Anu, the former's injuries staining her white fur.

She should be helping. She should be protecting her brother, her neighbors. But what good could she do in her current state?

I mean, you could always chuck items at the others-?

Haru: "My bag was stolen and cleaned out a day ago..." >_>;

Right, that was a thing.

Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. The girafarig, Remer, had circled the combatants, keeping out of the way and keeping both heads low. Now, he stood near the edge of the riverbank, alert.

Psychic energy, bright and chaotic, gathered between both sets of horns. He sent two psybeams hurtling in Whisper's direction.

Preoccupied by Topaz, she didn't see the strike until it hit her. She stumbled with a squawk, giving Topaz an opening to follow up with a thunderbolt. She crumpled.

Boy I sure hope that you sent more than one team out for this rescue mission, since... uh... yeah, I can already tell there's going to be a body count otherwise.

"Whisper!"

Anu disengaged with Umbra, racing towards the gorochu. His bone rush struck once — twice — sending Topaz sprawling. He didn't get up.

Haru: "I mean, that's one down, at least?" ^^;

But before Anu could pivot, Umbra struck him in the back. The pair grappled in the dirt once again but it was clear Umbra had the advantage now.

And now Remer had his sights set on the lucario.

"Ugh! We can't just sit here!" Nip growled. Haru stumbled as he pushed past her.

Haru: "Uh... no, we actually can since we're hopelessly outmatched and-" o.o;
Nip: "Haru, we're going to die if those 'mons wipe everyone else!"

"Nip, wait!" Haru started to give chase but stumbled over a stray stone. Already, he was halfway across the field.

He sprang at the girafarig, slashing with his good arm while keeping the other one close. Startled and knocked off-balance, Remer's next strike launched harmlessly into the air.

Haru struggled to her feet and chased after Nip.

Haru:

"Aside from the obvious of trying not to die, but..." .-.

Electrical sparks gathered between the horns of Remer's golden head. A heartbeat later, he launched the charged beam at Nip. But the sneasel danced out of the way before striking again. Remer took a stumbling step back, teetering close to the edge.

Taking the opening, Nip sprang on the girafarig's back, dark smoke trailing from the claws on his good arm.

Haru's eyes went wide. She was nearly close enough to attack. "Nip, no!"

The sneasel slashed his claws across the dark girafarig head's neck with all the strength he could muster. A sickening crack and a pulse of blood followed.

Though yeah, I feel pretty good about that feeling that at least one member of the rescue party isn't coming back alive from all of this.

Remer screamed, stumbling, as the head convulsed and went limp. He wobbled a few steps forward, then to the side, trying to find his balance with just one head. He tottered at the edge of the bank for one agonizingly long heartbeat, then toppled into the river, bringing Nip down with him.

Haru dashed to the edge of the bank and froze. White water rushed by, sweeping both pokemon downstream. In a moment, they'd plunge over the waterfall. She saw Nip's head for a heartbeat before he disappeared under the surface. Remer flailed, eyes wide with panic.

"Susana! Someone! Anyone! Help!"

- Your Susana is busy trying to murder an Absol out of existence, please take a number -

Remer: "Susana! For gods' sake!" O.O

Nip wouldn't be able to fight the current. Even before his arm was broken. But now?

If he didn't drown before he reached the waterfall, the drop would kill him, dashing him against the rocks below.

Haru acted on instinct. Before she could think about it, she leaped into the river.

Water pounded her back, sending her tumbling through the current. She fought to right herself, instinctively paddling as the river spun her and knocked her against underwater rocks, driving the breath from her. Then she breached the surface.

Oh, so she's going to drag him along like a log during one of her woodcutting runs, huh? Though somehow I doubt she's got enough stamina in her to also save Remer there.

The riverbanks raced past her on either side, too steep to climb out. She ignored that, focusing on swimming with the current before diving underwater again. Ahead, she could see Remer's flailing hooves. But where was Nip?

She kicked her feet, blinking underwater. A stream of bubbles caught her attention ahead. There he was.

He'd just smashed against a jagged, underwater boulder, mouth open in a soundless scream. He flailed as water entered his mouth, twisting uselessly as the rapids carried him away.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yw5jkAHgME


Nip: "Is this really necessary right now?!" >.<

Haru angled herself towards him and kicked, catching up in mere heartbeats. She sank her teeth into his scruff and pushed for the surface, sucking in a lungful of air as she cleared.

Nip hacked and sputtered, coughing up water. He was practically dead weight as she tried to swim against the current now, looking for a spot where they might be able to climb up the bank. But with the extra weight, she struggled to make any headway. They were slowly creeping closer to the waterfall, each stroke a losing battle. Exhaustion made her limbs feel like heavy steel.

Yup, I knew it. Though I wonder if this will ever be joked about at less dire times in the story.

Remer smashed into her as he tumbled past, nearly making her lose her grip.

We're not going to make it, Haru thought as her world spun. I'm not strong enough. Someone, anyone, help! Regigigas, save us!

Wait.

Haru's mind snapped with sudden clarity.

Was she truly that desperate, truly so helpless that all she could do was pray?

I mean, things are certainly getting to that point in short order, so... ^^;]

No.

She knew better.

If she wanted to save the two of them, she had to do it herself.

This... sounds like it's building up to some sort of disappointment. But it'd be a really short story if so, so we'll see where this goes.

With renewed vigor, she paddled against the rapids, treading water. She had to give this her all. She couldn't give up. She huffed through her nose, every muscle aching and screaming. She had to do this.

Desperate strength surged through her limbs, hot and electrifying. Her heart hammered against her chest, her blood roaring in her ears. She'd never felt this alive before. Never felt this determined. Never felt…

Just when it felt like the energy might overwhelm her, blinding light overtook her vision. She felt her body bulk up, limbs elongating and ears shrinking. Her small, tufty tail lengthened, morphing into a long, scaly tail like a boat's rudder. She instinctively smashed it against the water, propelled forward by new strength.

I'll admit, I didn't see that one coming. Guess this is a sign that you'll need to cook up a new cover/banner art sometime soon.

Not just strength. Before, water had been familiar. But because she was used to it. Because she grew up in it. Now it was more like she was one with it. Was this what it felt like to have an elemental affinity?

Her tail waved behind her, pushing her forward as she struggled to keep Nip's head above the water. They were still doing little more than treading water. Her strength alone was not enough.

But the water around her felt different, now that she was a bibarel. Like it was an extension of herself. Maybe if she… willed it to propel her forward…

The water complied. Her first aqua jet was a sloppy maneuver, jolting her to the right and left before evening out, her personal current driving her upstream. She angled herself towards shore, took a deep breath, and then dove. Nip thrashed in her grip, but she did her best to ignore it.

Oh, so that's how elemental-attributed attacks work in this setting. Though timely save there.

In heartbeats, she reached the riverbed. Her paws touched the muddy surface, then pushed off of it, swimming back upwards with all the speed she could manage.

Propelled by her aqua jet, she leaped from the water, spraying droplets as she soared through the air and over the bank, landing on the grass and tumbling to a stop.

Neat embedded art piece there. I presume that that's by Bograbbit from the style?

They'd made it. They'd survived.

For now. There's kinda three other Pokémon just going around ready to kill you in the background at the moment. ^^;

Finally, she let Nip go. He flopped on the ground before dragging himself to his forepaw and knees, hacking and sputtering and coughing up mouthfuls of river water. His good arm shook with the effort of keeping him upright.

"A warning would have been nice," he rasped between coughs.

Haru: "Nip, is this seriously your reaction to getting saved from going over a waterfall right now?" >_>;
Nip: "Look, nobody said that you had to use your teeth to carry me by the scruff of my neck."

Haru sank to her belly. The burst of energy that came with evolving was waning. Any moment now, she thought she might pass out. "Hard to do with a mouthful of your fur."

Ah yes, the whole "only having 5 hit points" thing came roaring back. Though interesting to see evolution played as giving a temporary shot of adrenaline shortly after it happens. It does seem to make sense for ones in circumstances like these, though.

As she lapsed into silence though, something seemed off. Where were the sounds of battle? The fight had still been ongoing when she jumped into the river.

Heaving herself back to her paws, she stood on her hind legs, putting her new size to good use. After scanning her surroundings, she noticed the smudgy forms of pokemon downstream. One that she thought was Susana stood at the bank of the river, a smaller white shape standing behind her. The charizard flew tight circles overhead but was no longer breathing fire down on the combatants.

Wow, that current was certainly fast there for them to travel this far.

Nudging Nip (who she realized was now notably smaller than her), she tilted her head towards the pokemon. "Come on. We need to regroup."

"Right… Right." With a groan, Nip heaved himself to his feet, wincing as he jostled his broken arm. He circled around to Haru's other side, draping his good arm across her back for support.

Together they limped back towards the others. As they walked, the charizard swooped out of sight, reappearing and carrying something limp in her arms. A mournful wail followed.

Haru: "Uh... please tell me that that's Remer and not one of ours."

Nip: "Haru? She's a freaking Charizard! I really don't want to know what it's like to fight one driven mad with grief right now!"

They emerged at the edge of the burnt grass. Remer lay unmoving in a soggy heap, one head bent at an awkward angle and the other oozing blood from a gash at the back of its neck. Susana stood hunched over him, eyes wide with shock.

Nip: "Uh... yeah. I think that's our cue to run like hell right now." O.O

Haru turned her head to find everyone else. Skorch stood next to the zoroark, expression unreadable. Topaz lay sprawled out on the grass, unmoving save for the steady rise and fall of his chest. Just unconscious.

Muse stood behind Susana, her legs shaking. Her typically pristine fur was dyed with patches of scarlet and one eye was nearly swollen shut.

A low growling to her right caught Haru's attention next. Anu and Whisper were still struggling with Umbra, the former pinning her second jaw shut while the latter worked to bind it with rope. The mawile struggled in the dirt, swiping her claws at their feet. Nasty burns peppered Whisper, feathers missing in patches, while Anu did his best to ignore still-oozing gashes in his abdomen and thighs.

Nip: "Um... guys? As thoughtful as you tying up my ex is right now, we really should run into the woods before the rest of them come back for-"

When Umbra caught sight of Nip, half-drowned but still alive, she redoubled her struggles. "Let go of me! Are you going to side with him? He ate your egg! He ruined your life!"

Whisper visibly flinched. But then she shared a glance with Anu and continued tying the bindings. "I'm not siding with him. I'm siding with the village and the decision they made." She grunted and pulled a knot tight. "Even if it weren't the case, the outcome would be the same. You assisted pokemon that kidnapped one of our villagers."

Nip: "Good gods, does anybody in this village have any survival instinct at all?! Let's get out of here before the other two strong and very pissed Pokémon stop mourning their dead friend!"

Umbra growled and started to say something more, but Haru tuned her out. There were still two pokemon unaccounted for.

Standing on her hind legs, Haru spotted Shimmer a short distance away. Tear lines streaked her face. A cold pit formed in Haru's stomach. Toshi. Where was Toshi?

Slipping out from under Nip, Haru raced across the burnt grass and to Shimmer's side. The pink glow of a heal pulse wrapped around her hands, channeled into a bundle of brown fur at her side. Coagulated blood spiked the fur along Toshi's back, his breathing ragged. As Haru approached, he tried to lift his head, but Shimmer pushed it back down.

"Stop. I've only just stopped the bleeding. You can't let it open up again, Toshi-kins."

I mean, I didn't think that the plot would really go there, but...

To say nothing about how Susana and Skorch are still alive and well just downstream at the moment.

Toshi whined but complied. His eyes shifted to Haru. "You evolved."

"I did," Haru confirmed, trying to keep her voice from croaking.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks," he continued. "That zoroark, she's tough. Threw me around like a rag-doll. But I think Umbra was worse." He sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm just… so glad we got here in time."

... He's not gonna make it, is he?

"You're lucky you're not dead!" Haru replied, panic making her words harsher than intended. She turned to Shimmer. "Be honest, is he going to be okay?"

"He's stable," Shimmer replied. "Now that I stopped the bleeding, he should be okay, but… he should still see Lecha as soon as possible."

Haru tried to calm herself. He would be okay. He was fine. Nothing to worry about.

Nip: "Yes, yes, very sad, I know. But are you all seriously just standing out here away from the treeline right now?!"

"There. That should hold."

Whisper's voice dragged Haru's attention away from her injured brother. She stood up next to Umbra as Anu moved on to bind the gorochu.

The hawlucha turned her attention to Susana. "You. You'll all be coming back with us to the village."

Nip:

Muse: "Um, we already used that reaction once-"
Nip: "It still applies here!" >.<

"You…" Susana growled. Dark energy swirled around her jaws. She let the snarl loose in Whisper's direction. "You killed him! Remer is dead because of you!"

Whisper didn't flinch. "I'm sorry your compatriot did not make it. But the river here is treacherous. I cannot help that he fell in."

"Skorch could have rescued him if you'd just stopped fighting!"

Whisper: "I don't mean to be callous right now, but that sure sounds like something you should've thought of before you ordered your teammates to try and kill all of us, huh?"

At the mention of her name, the charizard flinched, shrinking in on herself. "I really did try, Susana. But by the time I realized he'd fallen in…"

"And whose fault was that? It was that screeching kirlia, distracting you!"

Shimmer: "I... don't like where this is going right now." o_o;
Nip: "I told everyone that we should've run while they were distracted, but noooooo..."

Whisper took a step forward, standing beside Muse. The absol's horn turned darker and began giving off dark wisps.

"Enough," Whisper said. "This fight happened because you kidnapped one of our villagers. You can either come along quietly or we can drag you back unconscious. Your choice."

Skorch placed a hand on the zoroark's shoulder. "Susana, maybe we should listen. We're severely outnumbered now."

That would be wise, but given that Susana has had a history of making rash decisions that weren't fully thought-out in this story... uh. Yeah, I'll take the under on her just surrendering here.

Susana narrowed her eyes. "Fine. But at least allow us to bury our fallen comrade."

Wow, wasn't expecting that one.

Whisper glanced at Anu, then dipped her head. "Very well. I am not without honor. However." She reached into a bag at her hip, pulling out a looplet. "You'll have to wear this. Don't get any ideas about using illusions to sneak off later. This looplet will nullify your ability to create them."

"Ugh. Fine." Susana swiped the looplet and snapped it around her left forearm. She shuddered as it took effect.

[ ]

"So… are we going to talk about how weird these guys look?" Shimmer asked as Susana started digging.

IMO, it might have made sense to slip in another paragraph of description here to actually mention them bringing Remer's corpse over to wherever they're planning on burying it.

"They are strange," Anu agreed, "but I feel that may be a conversation for another time. For now, we should focus on resting before we have to make the trip back down."

"We'll stop at the old shrine to sleep," Whisper said. "Then we can head back to town at the crack of dawn."

"Can we get that far before nightfall?" Muse asked, sinking to the ground. "Especially given our injuries and our… prisoners."

Muse, if you have to ask the question...

"We need to get home as soon as possible," Haru said. "The sooner we get back to the village, the sooner we can get proper healing. And…" She glanced at Susana. "From what I heard, there could be more trouble coming."

Whisper tilted her head. "Care to explain?"

"Later. Right now I… I need a break."

She sank to her belly, nerves and exhaustion getting the better of her. She tried to reach for her bag, only to realize it was gone. The strap must have snapped when she evolved and grew bigger. It was lost to the river now. What a shame; she really liked those bags.

Oh, she kept a flask in there for those times when she just needed a stiff drink, huh? :V

Fortunately, the others had come prepared. Anu reached into his satchel and started handing out oran berries.

Shimmer reached into her own, pulling out a small mortar and pestle. Taking a few of her berries, she skinned them and then mashed their flesh into a pulp.

"It's not as good as one of Lecha's poultices, but it should still help for now," she explained as she massaged the berries into Muse's fur anywhere she found a cut, creating fresh stains. Then she turned to do the same for Toshi.

Right, I suppose that's another reason why Haru would've reached for her bag there.

Anu stopped at Nip's side, staring down at him. The sneasel couldn't return his gaze. "Before we leave, I'll see if I can find something to keep that arm still. Lecha can treat it better when we return." He paused. "You should consider yourself lucky. If not for Tempest, we wouldn't have been able to find you."

Nip snapped to attention. "Tempest! Where is he? Is he okay?"

The lucario held one paw up placatingly. "He was badly hurt, but he was alive and stable. We had to make him stay and rest."

Nip: "What?!"

Anu: "Nip, are you going to tell me with a straight face that him going through this with smoke inhalation and burns all over his body would've ended well for him?"

"Oh, Yveltal's blessings," Nip murmured. He swayed on his feet, eyes drooping. It looked like Haru wasn't the only one ready to collapse.

The next several moments passed in relative silence. Haru couldn't complain. Evolution was usually cause for celebration, but she was content to celebrate later when she was safe and well-rested at home.

Uh... yeah, I frankly will be more surprised if there isn't something that ruins your moment in about five minutes here.

Soon, the shallow grave had been filled in, leaving a patch of upturned dirt amid the burned grass. Haru imagined nature would recover by winter, as if the fight had never happened.

"We should get moving," Whisper said after giving Susana and Skorch a moment to mourn. "Muse, do you think you could carry… that one until he wakes up?" She gestured in Topaz's direction.

Muse sized the gorochu up. "I… I think so."

Haru: "Um... we're not just bringing them along with their limbs free to move around, are we?"

Whisper: "It wasn't really made clear at all whether we did or not, actually. But at least we took care of the most dangerous part?" ^v^;

Haru turned towards Toshi. "Do you want me to carry you for a while? I'm not sure you should be walking so soon." Guilt twisted her gut. The only reason he was hurt this time was because of her. What kind of big sister was she?

Toshi didn't argue as Anu and Whisper first lifted Topaz onto Muse's back, then Toshi onto her own.

They'd won, but she couldn't bring herself to celebrate. It hadn't come without cost, and it was close to turning out far worse.

She tried to push the thoughts out of her head as they set off. After all, they had a long walk ahead of them.

And how!

Alright, that's a chapter. A bit shorter than I was expecting (I misremembered this as being the 6k one in your batch of newer ones, but that's apparently the one after this), but it was surprisingly action-packed here. Things didn't go quite as sideways as I was expecting... or at least not yet, but there were still some things that genuinely surprised me. Like I was not expecting Haru to evolve this chapter, or Nip to (indirectly) put down one of their opponents so brutally, so kudos for keeping your audience on your toes there. The scene art was also a nice bonus to everything.

Mechanically I thought that this chapter was pretty solid, since there were only a couple spots that I had disagreements with stuff like paragraph formatting, and one spot in particular that felt like things were a little glossed-over for narration. I do think that it might have made sense to beat it over the readers' heads a bit harder that Susanna and Skorch were both a bit more physically/emotionally beaten down at the point where they surrendered since it kinda felt like they just gave up there. I mean, they had some decent reasons to do what they did in-setting if they stopped and thought about it (e.x. if they were afraid that Topaz would also die if they didn't yield and felt like taking their chances with regrouping after recovering a bit), but given what their understanding of what would happen to them as relayed by Vale and Umbra if they fell afoul of the local village rules... it probably makes sense to either depict or imply a bit more of the gear-turning in their head as they weigh their options and realize that Umbra's version of events may not be true. Since otherwise the rational action from their point of view thinking that they're about to be chopped up into village rations would short of being ground down to the point of getting sniped from the air being all but guaranteed be to attempt to grab Topaz if at all possible and then mount an aerial retreat and bail. Granted, that could easily get taken care of after the fact in Chapter 29, but I'm not there yet.

But altogether, I thought that this was a fun chapter @windskull . I'll be looking forward to coming back for more as part of Review Blitz, since, uh... there are some pretty big shoes left to drop in the aftermath of all of this. Hope the feedback was helpful, and see you around sometime soon. ^^

 

[Negrek]

Ah, another chapter to enjoy for Blitz! Interlude chapters are always fun; there's a lot going on in the broader world of the story, and I enjoy getting to check up on it now and again. You've set up some delicious dramatic irony as the Lady indicates they'll be attacking Theran Village in a few days... so if Jhorlo's going to get up to anything sneaky, he'd better be pretty fast about it, I guess!

It has unfortunately been a long time since I read the interlude that covered what actually happened during the fire, so I only vaguely remember it. I imagine Yellow's interpretation of events has some major holes, but I'm not sure of what those are. Yellow mentions that it took a disgraceful amount of time to get a team out to investigate the fire; I don't remember if we know what caused that delay, but it makes me wonder whether there was some further interference from the beta pokémon to cover their tracks.

I liked the introduction to Yellow here--I don't think we've had her POV before. She seems like a generally good-hearted pokémon trying to do the right thing, but that flash of anger gives her an interesting edge. I hope we'll get to see more of her in the future! She'd better watch out, if the beta pokémon are on the hunt for electric-types...

I'm not super familiar with the beta pokémon, unfortunately, so I'm not 100% sure how much I'm supposed to know/be able to guess about the Lady/the deputy's species. Presumably an electric-type for the deputy, although maybe something artificial and not necessarily electric-typed as such. I'm intrigued to find out more about this group, though: how they ended up in this world that's patently not made for them and how they plan to rectify it most of all. Gain control of the gods and rewrite reality to better suit them, I'd guess? Understandable, and maybe even achievable, goal, although not a fun one for all the pokémon happily living their lives today.

A quick minor note:

Yes, Mam.

It's "Ma'am" (short for "madam").

All in all, a very fun little interlude that hints at exciting things to come for the story. Glad to see another chapter posted this year!

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, it's not quite topical to the weekly theme on TR, but I figured that it was a priority of mine for the event to get caught up with PWCH, so I'll be doing something a bit different from normal with a double-feature review.

Anyhow, let's start right off with:

Chapter 29

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

Last time, under captivity, Nip hadn't been brought into the cave. But now that it was his shelter and sleeping place, he had a chance to look it over. There was something melancholic about the cavern, with its old carvings and rotting furniture (a word he'd learned during his time in Theran village). He couldn't imagine his tribe ever abandoning what clearly used to be a special, religious space.

Lacking in straw, moss, or any other bedding, it was hardly a comfortable resting place. But it would do for tonight.

Huh, so Nip's tribe just straight-up doesn't have furniture in their settlements. I suppose that makes sense given that they're essentially more organized wildeners.

A small fire crackled at the entrance, the flickering flames illuminating Anu, who sat guard next to it. Whisper had insisted that they take turns keeping watch, and her mate had offered to take the first shift.

Susana and the rest of his former captors were gathered in the back of the chamber, most having dozed off. But Umbra's malicious eyes glowed in the firelight, watching him. He shivered and rolled over, trying to ignore her gaze.

Nip: "Do they really just have to be here right now?"

Whisper: "Yes, because Anu and I didn't think that we were going to need restraints as part of a rescue mission." -v-;

Movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention to where Shimmer, Muse, Toshi, and Haru had settled down together to sleep. Haru dragged herself to her feet, stretched, and quietly padded to the entrance to sit beside the fire opposite Anu.

The lucario acknowledged her presence with a thump of his tail and the dip of his head. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Not well," Haru murmured. "It's hard to sleep near pokemon that tried to kill you."

Nip could relate.

Yeeeeeeah, I'm honestly surprised that you all aren't huffing the Chesto Berries in live-time right now, since... uh... those aren't exactly easy-to-subdue Pokémon you're sharing this cave with.

Anu hummed an acknowledgment. He reached into a satchel at his hip and pulled out a white cloth with green trim, wrapping it around his shoulders. "I imagine so. You've been through a terrible ordeal, Haru. No one would blame you for struggling afterward." He paused before adding, "I don't think you're alone in that."

Waaaaait, implying that Anu used to be part of some sort of organization, or...?

Haru tilted her head before turning back, catching Nip staring at her. He averted his gaze but sat up. No point in pretending to sleep now.

The lucario looked at Haru, then Nip. Then stood, stretching before heading out of the cave. "I need a moment to myself. Do you two mind keeping watch for a moment?"

"Me?" Nip asked. "Why would you ask me?"

Nip: "Also, aren't you literally stronger than the two of us combined? Especially since I've got a broken arm-" ._.
Anu: "Nip, it'll only be for a couple minutes. It'll be fine." -_-;

"You're not going far in your condition," Anu pointed out, gesturing to Nip's broken arm, which was haphazardly held stiff with a makeshift splint made of two sturdy sticks and some twine.

Oh, so that's why Nip was asking the question. Yeah, I guess it's a bit hard to be a flight risk right now.

"Ah, right." He shouldn't expect trust. He knew that. But disappointment still churned in his belly. "Very well."

"I guess that's fine," Haru said, turning her gaze back to the entrance as Anu moved out of sight. Nip hobbled to sit beside her. Pale moonlight fought against the orange hues from the fire to wash the color from her fur. They sat in silence for several moments.

Does this count as a shipping moment? :V

He was the first to break it. "Congratulations on your evolution, by the way."

"O-oh. Thanks. It's a shame I probably won't get a chance to celebrate it any time soon."

Nip: "Whuh? But there's nothing stopping you from celebrating it right no-"
Haru: - points over at Toshi -

Nip: "... Right, I can see how that'd get in the way of things." .-.

Nip hummed in acknowledgment. "I take it evolution is a big deal in your culture?"

"It's a milestone," Haru said. "For those that choose to evolve, it marks a new period in their life. It's a marker of experience, of overcoming adversity. But those that intentionally choose not to evolve are still celebrated."

Oh, so they have coming of age ceremonies for such events. I actually wonder what they entail, or if it's basically up to whoever throws the thing to determine what they'll include as part of the festivities.

[ ]

"It is — was — similar in the Half Moon… in my tribe. It signifies the strength of a pokemon. It's… expected. A mon that delays evolution is honored, but one who outright refuses is seen as weak. They risk losing social status. Their position, if it's lucrative. We all have to be strong for the greater good. Most of our lives are chosen for us. Our training. Our position. Our mates. All to make the tribe stronger. The elders know what's best, after all." He couldn't help but spit the last part out, bitter bile in his throat.

Something about this transition feels like it might make sense to pause a bit more and show the gears turning in Nip's head a bit more explicitly.

Haru: "... No offense, but your tribe sounds like it was horrible." >_>;
Nip: "None taken. I wouldn't have run all the way out here if I liked it in the end."

"You don't sound like you agree."

He tilted his head back and forth, considering his words. "The elders wanted me to be a lore keeper. There is value in their craft, but half the pokemon are given the position out of pity because they're seen as too weak to do anything else. I proved my worth and got placed among the hunters. And paired with Umbra. When things went… poorly with her, I couldn't get them to take my concerns seriously. She had them wrapped around her claws."

Woooow Nip's tribe, just wow. Even if you'd think that'd be a logical candidate for a job for "elderly and burned out of youthful energy and strength" candidates.

His fur was bushed now, but he was too worked up to notice. "When we didn't produce an egg, they wanted to know why. They wanted proof that we had… well, you know. I couldn't take any more. I snapped like a brittle twig, Haru. And—"

No, he couldn't relive those moments. Nip shook out his fur and gave his shoulder a habitual lick. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get carried away. I should try to sleep again."

I wonder if we'll ever get to see that backstory story idea showing Nip before and just after the Nippening. Since it certainly sounds like there's a lot of story behind it.

He stood and started back to his sleeping spot.

"…Nip?"

He paused and glanced back. Haru scratched at her muzzle.

"That… That sounds rough. I'm… sorry it happened to you. It shouldn't have."

Haru: "I mean, don't get me wrong, what you did afterwards was still vile and horrible, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I kinda understand how you got here."

An apology? From Haru? Tonight was full of surprises. He flicked his ear to acknowledge her.

"Goodnight, Haru."

Wow, the world must be ending. Which I suppose given those scenes with Celebi about 10-ish chapters ago...

It took until nearly sunset the next day for the group to return to Theran Village. Anu led, his tail drooping with exhaustion. Haru, as the least-battered pokemon, kept pace beside him. The trio of surviving explorers and Umbra came next, their arms bound. Skorch's mouth was tied shut and the nullify looplet was still snapped tight around Susana's right forearm. Muse flanked them on one side, Shimmer and Toshi trudging on the other. Whisper brought up the rear, Nip walking beside her.

Oh, so they did have bindings after all. I kinda wonder if that should've been acknowledged a bit earlier on in the first scene, since I'll admit that I was internally:

ing a bit.

They were all exhausted. Clearly, no one else had slept well, either.

As they neared the outskirts of town, wild land turning to fields of berries, Whisper spoke up.

"Anu, please run ahead and alert everyone that we're back. Tell them to gather in the square for a meeting. We need to deal with… this situation" — she gestured to the prisoners — "as soon as possible. Have Vale brought out, too. Oh, and we need Lecha."

A paragraph where IMO, it might make sense to hack things up a bit. Though I suppose we'll figure out very quickly whether or not Team Susana got wise to them getting scammed by Vale and Umbra.

Anu opened his mouth in a wide yawn, smacking his gums a couple times. But he then dipped his head and took off ahead of the group at a brisk run, disappearing over the top of a hill and leaving Haru alone at the front.

Huh. Anu sure is able to get his blood flowing fast. I guess it must just be Lucario stamina in action.

As they crested a hill and the village came into view, Toshi hobbled to the front to stand beside Haru. Nip caught a glimpse of his eyes — glazed with pain — before he reached her.

"How are you holding up?" Toshi asked.

"I should be asking you that," Haru replied. "I just have some bruises and electric burns."

Ah yes, "just" there. Though I suppose Haru didn't have someone try to break her neck by biting and ragdolling her.

"I'll be fine." Toshi lapsed into silence. "Mom and Dad are going to freak out. I mean, look at us, Haru. We're both pretty battered and you evolved! I wish it had been under better circumstances."

Haru sighed. "I know what you mean." Then, wanting to encourage Toshi, she forced a smile. "But look at the bright side. After this is dealt with, maybe we can arrange my evolution celebration. It could be a nice return to normalcy."

Nip could tell from her posture that she didn't believe that. Things would never be normal for her again.

Yeah, I had a feeling there.

Toshi offered a weak smile. "Y-yeah. That would be nice."

Before either of them could say anything else, a loud shout sounded from further up the road. Two bibarel came into view, racing towards the group as quick as their chubby bodies allowed. Behind them raced a purugly, who quickly overtook them and made a combeeline towards Shimmer.

>combeeline

That pun is so horrible, but I fully buy Pokémon settings using that term.

Jhorlo skidded to a stop just in front of the kirlia, audibly purring as he bumped his forehead to her shoulder and pulled her close with one paw. "Oh, Shimmer, my darling daughter!" he cried, voice thick with emotion. "Thank 'Gigas you're safe. If I had lost you to that mountain, too…"

Oh, so for all his sketchy and manipulative antics, Jhorlo does genuinely love Shimmer in the end.

Shimmer giggled, running a hand behind her dad's ears and giving them a little scratch. "I'm fine, really! Muse kept me safe. But we had to go. It was important for the safety of the town."

"Your mother said the same thing, but she…"

Well, that conversation certainly took a turn there.

It took him several moments to compose himself enough to address Muse. "Thank you for keeping my daughter safe. I hate to think what would have happened if you weren't there."

Muse opened her mouth to reply, but her response was drowned out by another voice.

"Oh, my kits! My precious babies! You're safe!"

I'm going to guess that that's Haru's mom who's name is drawing blanks ATM (IIRC, it was something along the lines of 'Saki'(?), it's been a while)

- Does quick flipback -

Right, 'Saku'. Knew it was something with a 'Sak' there.

Haru's mother had caught up and was now nuzzling her daughter, nearly knocking her over with the force of her affection. Then she bumbled over to do the same to Toshi while her mate hovered just behind, eyes watery with emotion.

"We're so glad you're safe," Chip said, bumping Haru just below her jaw with his snout. "And you've evolved! What in Gigas' name happened?"

Haru: "It's a really long story..." -_-;

"It's a long story," Haru began. "I—"

I love those times when I call where things are going to go for character reactions like this. o<o

But before she could tell her story, Jhorlo interrupted her with a cough. He was back to his controlled, business-like self.

"Right. Thank you for bringing our children home safely, Whisper. But we should get moving. You wish to address the village before nightfall, I understand."

"Yes," Whisper replied from the back of the group. "We need to decide what to do with… these four."

Skorch:

Susana: "I just want to remind you that it was your brilliant idea to surrender to these 'mons, Skorch." >_>;

Saku and Chip looked up, seeming to finally notice the abnormal pokemon for the first time. The former gasped and took a step back. "Who… what are they?"

"Those are the explorers," Whisper answered. "And based on what Nip and Haru told me on the trek back, they're trouble. The kind of trouble we need to deal with immediately."

Jhorlo's obviously licking his chops in the background right after hearing this, huh?

Chip and Saku exchanged a glance. "Then we should get going. The sooner it's dealt with, the sooner you two can get home and recover."

With that, a few more words were exchanged before the group set off again.

Nip couldn't help but trail behind, his mind preoccupied. He'd been sidelined and alone during the heartfelt reunion, lacking ties to the village. A familiar ache of loneliness tried to worm its way into his chest. As usual, he was little more than an outsider. If he hadn't made it back, it was likely no one would have cared.

Tempest: "... I'm right here, Nip."

Nip: "One, canonically you're still in that 'jail' place. Two, you don't count since you're not a villager." >_>;

That wasn't quite true, though. Tempest would have cared, wouldn't he? He'd come this far just to find him, so surely that meant something.

Oh hey, the story basically comes to the same conclusion as me there. :p

"Nip!" Whisper called. "Hurry up."

He looked up. A gap several dozen body lengths wide had grown between him and the rest of the group. "Ah, sorry." He rushed to catch up, then kept pace the rest of the way back, trying to push the negative thoughts out of his head.

I'm just going to go ahead and call it Nip won't be particularly successful at that.

Most of the village had already gathered by the time the group reached the square. Gasps and murmuring rose from the crowd as they walked by, most eyes glued on Susana, Topaz, and Skorch.

Nip kept his head low, keen to catch as little attention as possible. It must have looked bizarre to them, him walking by completely unrestrained — that is, if they weren't too distracted by the otherworldly pokemon among them.

Oh, so he's basically a step away from going full:

It felt strange. Once, not that long ago, everyone had gathered to decide whether he'd live or die. Now he was on the other side, presenting his case against Umbra.

Nip: "I believe the village expression is 'how the turn tables'."

Umbra: "One, that's not how it goes. Two, your hide is mine once I get free, Nip!"

Haru nudged him out of his thoughts. "Nip, look."

Following her gaze, he noticed the medic, Lecha, headed their way. And leaning against her shoulder for support…

"Tempest!"

Ah yes, it's about time that we had our favorite Icetales come back to the story. Though, uh... yeah, not sure how Umbra's going to pull a Buneary out of her hat here once Tempest gets a turn testifying.

Nip stumbled forward, but the aromatisse signaled for him to stop. "Let us come to you. I need to look your whole group over."

The wait for her to cross the gap was agonizing. Tempest was clearly worn out just from the walk here, limping with his paws dragging on the ground. His eyes were clouded with pain, but relief shone through the haze.

Tears pricked the corners of Nip's eyes as the pair finally came to a stop in front of them. Lecha set to work, poking and prodding at the burns on his back, running her paws through his fur to search for cuts, and carefully feeling his broken arm. Twi, that annoying illumise, showed up shortly after to assist. Lecha mumbled something about making sure his arm was properly set before providing any more orans. But Nip paid them little mind. All his attention was focused on Tempest.

"You… you're safe," he said, his voice barely more than a breath.

Tempest leaned forward to run his tongue across Nip's forehead, huffing a frosty puff of air. Nip couldn't help but laugh, pushing the ninetales away with his good paw. "Ha! Stop! I'm glad to see you too but they don't like public grooming here!"

I mean, it's less embarrassing than the alternative method of friendly greeting among canids. ^^;

Another puff of frost, then Tempest trotted to sit behind Nip, reaching out with a paw to draw him close. At the same time, he turned his head to stare at Whisper.

The hawlucha froze, her feathers puffing up as she turned to stare back. "What did you say?"

Nip tilted his head, flicking his ear. "I didn't say anything."

"No, not you. Tempest. What do you mean, thanks for saving my —" she cut off, eyes clouding with confusion. "Why not?"

Ah yes, Tempest putting that telepathy to good use there. Though so that's what it looks like from the outside looking in.

A silent moment passed. Tempest pulled him closer, placing one paw protectively in front of Nip, who looked up and knit his brows together. "Are you using telepathy?"

"He is," Whisper said before addressing Tempest again. "Look, I don't care what your Tribe said, you're not with them anymore. This is something you need to tell Nip."

Another beat of silence. Whisper let out a series of frustrated chirps. "I will respect your request and not discuss it. But I'm serious. As soon as you get a chance, you need to tell him." She shot a pointed glance at Nip. "He has a right to know."

Oh. Oh dear.

"What is she talking about?" Nip asked.

Tempest took a deep breath and let out slowly, closing his eyes. His tails fanned behind him, flicking droplets of frosty mist.

"He'll have to explain on paper later. I don't think telepathy works on dark types without assistance from specialized techniques or items to suppress your psychic immunity. Items we don't have."

Oh, so that's how Nip's been kept in the dark all this time. Duly noted.

She turned away, taking a few steps before pausing. "I'm serious though. You need to talk. Later. After we get this dealt with. Stay where you are for now." She raised her voice. "And you as well Haru. Go stand by them. We'll need your testimony, too."

Nip: "... Tempest, what on earth was that all about?" ._.
Tempest: "..."

At the sound of her name, Haru looked up. A handful of the villagers — a pidove, an espurr, a flaaffy, and that quagsire — had gathered around, congratulating her on her evolution. But they let her pass as she hurried to the center to stand by Nip and Tempest.

I was going to ask if this species spread was a reference, but no, I remember that bloodthirsty Flaaffy from earlier on, so I'll assume these are just randoms.

Anu returned at about the same time, bringing Vale with him. The manectric's muscles were bunched and ready to spring, his head low and eyes narrowed. Sparks bounced off his pelt every time he shifted.

Vale: "(Umbra, you freaking idiot!)"

Umbra: "(Oh yeah, like you did such a good job with your end of things!)" >_>;

"Have him stand with the other accused," Whisper directed before turning to the crowd. She lifted one wing to point and count the pokemon around them, then raised it high to call for silence.

"We need to get started," she began. "I believe everyone is accounted for."

Oh, so they got wise as to Vale's role in burning down the jail, huh? ^^;

"Phoel is closing down the psychic communication line for the night, but she said to go ahead," a simisear said, pointing to the meowstic in question on the far side of the village. "She can hear well enough."

Whisper dipped her head. "Very well. Thank you, Meaad." Then she addressed the rest of the crowd. "As you have all noticed by now, the guards' hut burned down recently. At that time, one of the mon being kept there, Nip, disappeared. Before you stand the pokemon accused of being responsible: Susana, Topaz, Skorch, Umbra, and Vale."

Aaaaaand there it is.

Uneasy muttering broke out among the gathered pokemon.

"Vale? Really?"

"There's no way."

"This has to be a mistake… right?"

Whelp, time to see how much dirty laundry gets dumped out in public, since... uh... there are multiple parties here who would be motivated to throw the others under the bus to save themselves.

Whisper held up a wing for silence. "There's more. Additionally, the first four are accused of kidnapping one of our own villagers: Haru."

That, the other villagers seemed less torn over. But Nip tuned out their mutterings, focusing instead on the accused. Though Susana's expression was unconcerned and her two compatriots' were blank, Umbra's face was contorted with barely contained fury.

... Susana, what on earth are you doing? .-.

Also, I like how Umbra even when her life depends on it still can't read a room properly.

After giving the pokemon a moment to settle, Whisper continued. "Vale. Do you deny any of these claims?"

"Of course I do!" Vale growled, a wave of sparks running down his body. "This is ridiculous! I was attacked. What would I stand to gain from any of this?"

Well that's a bold play there given that there's 3 'mons would could shoot holes in this story with about 5 seconds of effort if so inclined.

"You'll have a chance to defend yourself later," Whisper said before turning to Umbra. "You've been accused of kidnapping, assault, and attempted murder. Do you deny these claims?"

Umbra scoffed, but her voice came out smooth. "Is it murder if I've been ordered by my elders to 'take care' of a murderer? This all could have been avoided if your village had not meddled in our affairs. I do not deny what I have done, but I deny that any of it was wrong."

Vale: "... You really are an idiot, you know that?"

No surprise, Nip thought ruefully. You've always thought everything you did was just.

But what did the crowd think? Nip scanned their expressions. Most seemed uneasy or nonplussed, but a few of them seemed to consider her words, a fact that made his stomach twist.

Nip: "I really did not need a reminder that half of the village flatly wanted me to die the last time I was here."

Whisper's voice drew him out of his thoughts. "As for the remaining three—"

Topaz opened his mouth to interrupt, but Susana took a step in front of him before speaking herself. "Haru came with us willingly as a guide. Beyond that, we have nothing to say to any of you."

Haru: "Seriously? That's the story you're going with right now?"

Whisper opened and closed her mouth twice before she found her voice. "Very well. Then let us start with testimony. Anu, could you give the timeline as we understand it?"

The lucario took a step forward. "Ah, o-of course." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, holding a paw up to his chest. "Several days ago, a group of four pokemon claiming to be members of the Explorer's Guild arrived…"

He went on to describe how Nip had been kidnapped from his perspective. Most of it was familiar.

Definitely handy for avoiding repetition of things in-story there.

"After I left Vale in charge, I returned to the shrine but only found a note stating they would try to talk to me again later. By the time I returned, the jail was on fire and Nip was gone."

Nip swiveled his ear at the sound of this name but found his attention drifting in and out as he watched the crowd. He focused again when Anu described the battle.

"One of the accused attackers fell into the river and went over the waterfall. He did not survive. May the gods show him mercy in the Great Beyond."

He paused and bowed his head, and Nip noticed several other pokemon doing the same. How strange. How could they know the afterlife if they didn't know of the pokemon that governed it, Yveltal?

Another spot where it might make sense to chop off the dialogue from the attached description, though some fascinating comparative worldbuilding about views of the afterlife there.

Anu shook his head violently. "That is… all. From my perspective."

"Thank you," Whisper said. "After the fire, Tempest used telepathy to contact Shimmer, then later myself. He gave testimony of the events from his perspective. Before I share it, I would like Nip to give his own account. If you would, sneasel."

The gruffness of her tone didn't surprise Nip; she probably wasn't happy about dealing with him. He pushed the thought out of his mind. Focus.

Whisper: "Gee, you think?" >v>;
Nip: "Alright, alright, I get it! Just let me give my testimony already!" >.<

"A while after Anu left," Nip began, "Umbra and the charizard showed up. They attacked Vale and entered my cell. Tempest tried to fight them off from his confines. At that point…" He trailed off, struggling to remember the rush of events. "I believe Umbra told the charizard to set the jail on fire. She… got into an argument with Vale at that point. He didn't like that idea. I tried to crawl away while they were distracted but was knocked out. When I came to, we were soaring over the mountain forest."

[ ]

"Thank you," Whisper said. "That aligns closely with the story I received from Tempest. Was there anything else important?"

Kinda wonder if it'd have made sense to mention any of the characters reacting to this at all here. Especially the ones actively involved in the trial.

Nip tried to think back. The entire event was a blur, sharp points of recollection surrounded by a pain-induced haze. He focused on the argument. Was there anything odd about it? "I… remember Jhorlo's name coming up in the argument. Something about him not being an idiot. I'm not sure that's important, but…"

Whisper chuffed. "It may or may not be, but the more detail you can give, the better."

I can already see Jhorlo glaring daggers at Vale in the background right now.

Nip went on to explain the remainder of the events. His failed escape. Being taken prisoner with Haru. Their shared escape attempt. All culminating in the battle by the river.

Afterward, Haru told her own version of the events, admitting to initially helping the explorers out of a flawed sense of need, then her own imprisonment. When she reached the part where she talked about the old shrine, her words had the entire village listening with bated breath. And by the time she was done, not a single mon spoke.

Well, that's one way to see who the (relative) village favorite from the group is here. :V

Whisper stood at their center, her eyes closed and her wings crossed. "Thank you, Haru. For now, let us move on to defenses. We'll start with… Vale." She turned to the manectric, her eyes steely. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sparks danced along Vale's back as he took a step forward. Nip took a subconscious step back, not keen to get shocked by his static.

"Are you really going to listen to them? Nip and Tempest are both criminals. They're just making things up to get me in trouble!" Vale began pacing with his head low, paws kicking up puffs of dirt.

Boy is Vale putting a lot of faith in Team Susana to not just out that he arm-twisted them into working with him at the inn right now. I'm not convinced that this won't end terribly for him in short order. ^^;

"I was attacked. I don't know why they feel the need to drag me into this. Maybe because I'm a strict guard? Maybe because they feel I didn't do enough to protect them? I don't know. But you're all fools if you'd believe their word over mine, someone who has made sure this village was safe and cared for, for cycles."

Team Susana:

Vale: "Oh sod off, you especially aren't ones to talk!"

Mutterings broke out among the crowd, uncertain and confused. Nip's heart galloped. While it was true the village had no real reason to trust his word… Vale was lying. He had to be. If he got off without consequences, Nip knew he wouldn't be safe.

>implying Nip's ever been safe all this time

Then, from the back of the crowd, came a hesitant voice. "Vale… did come to the inn with Umbra the other day…"

Heads snapped around to the speaker: a simisear. Meaad, Nip thought his name was. The crowd parted as he made his way to the front.

"Maybe it's nothing, but… Just a few days ago, the two of them got a room at the inn. There was a brief altercation with, um, those guys" — he gestured to Susana — "but Vale had it under control, so I thought nothing of it."

Whelp, it was nice knowing you, Vale. Since Team Susana has the perfect opening to shiv you if they feel like rolling the dice.

All eyes turned back to Vale, silent as death. The manectric's eyes widened, his hackles stiffening.

"Wh — n-now come on, you don't mean to take that as proof, do you? That's just coincidence! Yes, I've spent time with Umbra, but that means nothing! I was betrayed!"

I see that someone's realizing just how deep in over his head he's in right now from that very obvious

reaction.

When that didn't seem to convince the majority, his voice grew more desperate. "I've been protecting this village for cycles. Longer than some of you have been alive! You don't really think I'd do something to harm the pokemon here, do you? I wouldn't — do you really think I would hurt Haru?"

I mean, hasn't he been very obviously snippy and annoyed about Chip and Saku's kids for a decent chunk of the story thus far? ^^;

Vale: "L-Look, I wouldn't, okay?!"

That got the crowd talking, skeptical tones rising from the villagers.

"No," Whisper admitted. "At least, not intentionally. But the fact of the matter is that there's too many coincidences, Vale, to not be suspicious."

Vale: "Are you all kidding me right now?!"

Vale swept his gaze wildly across the crowd, desperately looking for a friendly face. Nip followed his movement and saw nothing but worry and skepticism.

Then the manectric's stance changed. He adjusted his forepaws and squared his shoulders, letting out a low growl.

"I see how it is. So what are you going to do? Lock me up? Drive me out? Do you realize how much I've done for this town? You'd all be starving without me. Every single obligate meat eater!"

Small typo, and oh. Oh boy, we're finally publicly going to go there with this story, huh?

Jhorlo:

Nip narrowed his eyes. Every… obligate? Every carnivore? Was he getting at…

Vale's gaze snapped to Jhorlo. Small, jagged bolts of lightning struck the ground around him, and Nip could just pick up a low buzz. "Fuck this. If I'm going out, I'm dragging you down with me." Then he raised his voice to a shout.

"You think dragging dead, diseased things back is enough to feed everyone? No, it's all a fabrication. Jhorlo has been forcing me to hunt for the town for cycles."

Yeeeeeah, I'll heavily take the under on Vale living past this chapter. Since he's blatantly incriminating himself here and basically turning this into a contest of whether the town will take his word over the beloved mayor's.

"What?"

"That can't be right."

"Jhorlo would never."

Other comments were lost among the growing clamor. At the center of the storm, Jhorlo sat at attention, calm and unbothered.

Jhorlo:

"You really are an idiot, you know that, Vale?"

The purugly waited a moment, allowing the villagers to work themselves while he checked his claws, before raising a paw to call for silence.

"I'm disappointed in you, my dear Vale. To think that you would not only betray the trust of our village, but also try to throw it in disarray when your misdeeds were caught? For shame."

He raised his voice louder, addressing the crowd as a whole. "I would never do something so antithetical to the beliefs of our village, you all know. What kind of dirt would I even have on you, if it were true?"

Boy I sure hope that you kept receipts, Vale. Since, uh... there's no way you're surviving the night otherwise.

Nip narrowed his eyes. Jhorlo's tactic was all too familiar. It was the same kind of deflection Umbra used when he came back from a hunting excursion with her, bruised and bloodied. Whether or not Vale's comment was true, Jhorlo was hiding something.

Vale flinched, the sparks racing along his pelt dying away. A long, tense moment of silence followed.

Vale: "I-I... uh... c-can I amend my testimony there?"

"What does it matter," the manectric growled under his breath. "I'm as good as dead or driven out as it is."

[ ]

"You want to know what happened? Fine. Remember a few cycles back, when Leas was found dead in the woods? Everyone thought a wildener had gotten her. But it wasn't a wildener. It was me."

Oh. Oh boy. So Theran Village's "system" for procuring meat was dragging villagers into it, too. Boy, we're getting all the dirty laundry of this village out right now.

Team Susana:

Haru: "... Wait, why are they reacting so badly to this when they were the ones who attempted to murder me on multiple occasions?"

Gasps swept through the crowd, followed by swift murmurs that Nip could only pick up traces of. He leaned to the side to whisper in Haru's ear.

"Who is that?"

"Leas?" Haru kept her eyes on Vale. Nip saw her muscles ripple beneath her pelt, wound with tension. "She was the previous head of the guard before Whisper. About seven cycles ago, she went missing during a routine patrol. Siles — that quagsire over there — found her body two days later just outside of Sunglow Thicket. She was Jaques' and Lotte's mother."

Oh, Jaques and Lotte are going to take this really well, I can already tell.

"Jhorlo's guards?" Nip looked at the two purrloin flanking the mayor. Their fur was bushed as they stared at each other wide-eyed.

Yuuuuuuup.

"Jhorlo," the female purrloin started. "He's lying, right? He has to be!" The tone of her voice suggested she didn't believe them, that she knew Vale was being honest, but she was desperate for reassurance.

"Of-of course he is," Jhorlo snapped, his own fur bristling. But there was a waver in his voice that wasn't there before. "I don't know what's going on in his head that makes him feel he needs to drag the rest of the village down with him!"

Well, maybe Vale did have dirt to work with after all, there.

Nip picked up the burning scent of ozone. Instinctually, he dropped to the ground just as a bright discharge of electricity blasted off of Vale. It struck Jhorlo. It narrowly missed Whisper, who had also dropped to the ground. It struck Haru beside him, who let out a loud squeal. And it struck several other standing villagers who didn't react in time.

As soon as he quit discharging, Vale leaped into the crowd, pushing through the remainder and weaving among the buildings as he made a mad dash out of the square.

Aaaaaand he's a dead 'mon walking. Should've stayed and aired all the dirt you could've since that way you could at least try and trade your cooperation for clemency.

At the edge of the crowd, a rapidash struggled to her feet and started to give chase.

"Stop!"

Whisper's single-word command rang out over the groans of the villagers. She sprang to her feet, heaving a deep breath. "Let him go! We have enough to deal with as it is. We'll put out a bulletin to the Enforcers and to all the nearby villages."

Nip:

Whisper: "Because Vale is strong enough to hold his own against the town's guards and chasing him around in the woods at night is a terrible idea?" ^v^;
Nip: "Yes, and he's going to use that strength to come back and try and take revenge on the Pokémon that put him in this position! Yveltal's Plumes, does nobody in this village have a basic self-preservation instinct?!"

The rapidash looked like she wanted to argue as panicked voices rose from the villagers, but the loud thwap of the Siles' tail drew everyone's attention.

"Hey! Whisper is right. Vale will get what's coming to him one way or another."

Small typo there, also:

Whisper took another heaving breath and gasped a "thank you" to the quagsire. She reached up and clutched at the feathers to the side of her head as if she meant to rip them out. Before she could, Anu came up from behind and placed a paw in the small of her shoulder blades.

Then he spoke up, speaking slow to force the stutter out of his voice. "As it stands, we still have four pokemon to deal with."

Susana: "... Words fail me."

Umbra: "Preaching to the tribe there." >_>;

"Right. Right," Whisper said. She took one more deep, steadying breath, then pulled herself away from Anu. "We'll start with Umbra. Is there anything you have to say in your defense? Any reason we shouldn't give you a harsh sentence when you admitted to the allegations?"

"As I said before, this all could have been avoided," the mawile said. "What good has meddling in my affairs done? What has Nip done for any of you of his own volition? He's rotten."

Half the crowd:

Nip: "Okay, seriously? Can you stop rubbing it in already?"

At first, no one said anything. But then Toshi's exhausted voice came up from behind Nip. "He… saved my life from a wildener."

Haru hesitated, her expression almost embarrassed. "…He did help me escape. He could have left me behind when Topaz caught up to us and pinned me. But he came back."

Hastily, she added, "Don't get me wrong. He's harmed our village irreparably. But… I don't know if I would have survived without his help. I don't know. Everything that's happened in the last couple moons is so messed up."

Wow, Haru defending Nip of her own free will. The world really must be ending right now.

Nip stole a glance at the bibarel, blinking slowly.

Whisper stared at Umbra for a moment longer. When she said nothing else she turned to Susana. "And what about you? Any defense?"

"We had no reason to hurt Haru," Susana replied, tone silky. "She was helping us. All we asked for was a little help inspecting your old shrine. Then things got out of hand. Punish us if you wish. It'll make no difference to your village in the end."

Oh boy, is that an ominous line at the end there.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Siles grunted.

But Susana had turned her head, clearly done speaking.

"I… think I have some idea," Haru said. "When… when we were captive, I overheard a couple of things that Susana's group was talking about. First, the reason they went up the mountain… They're trying to find Regigagas. They're trying to bend him to their will."

Village:

Whisper: "Is... this... true?" ovo

"That's preposterous!" a roserade at the back scoffed. "A pawful of outsiders, controlling Regigagas? Ridiculous. It'd never work, if they even found him to begin with."

"But they didn't come alone." Haru drew out the last word, voice tinged with desperation. "They kept referring to someone they work for. 'Our Lady,' they called her. The way they talked… there's more coming. Possibly a lot more."

Ah yes, I'm beginning to understand the context of Theran Village being a smoking crater in the background of those Celebi scenes earlier on in the story.

"Could they be what —" Nip cut himself off. He didn't want to mention Celebi by name, given what little he knew about Susana's group. "— what that omen was about?" From the way the other pokemon looked at each other, it was clear some of the villagers were thinking the same thing. More discussions broke out, growing into a cacophonous din.

Ah yes, so that's why the title is what it is in this chapter.

Whisper held up a wing. "Everyone, quiet! QUIET!"

The voices slowly died away, heads turning back to the hawlucha. She took a deep breath. "We don't know what they want, and it's clear they're not willing to talk at this time. But they're trouble. Due to the severity of this… entire situation, I am asking for your permission to take charge here."

Jhorlo: "Don't I have a say in the matter here-?"
Whisper:

When no one argued, she continued. "We will contact the Enforcer's Union first thing tomorrow to have Susana's group taken in for proper questioning."

She pointed at Siles, the rapidash, then Meaad. "You three. I am going to keep our troublemakers in one of the tavern rooms, given the lack of a jail. Romi and Siles, you two are to guard them within the room. For the sake of simplicity, Umbra can be kept with them. Find someone who can come relieve you halfway through the night. Given our zoroark's ability to create illusions, I don't want her left alone at any point. Understand?"

This... feels like an absolutely terrible idea since any one of those four could overpower their guards if they got free and then free the rest in very short order.

"Right. Understood." Siles bobbed his head.

"Good. Next." She turned to Jhorlo. "While I seriously doubt Vale's testimony, I think it would be best if you remain within the villa for now. You, and the rest of your household. Jaques, Lotte, that includes both of you."

Jhorlo puffed out his chest. "This is ridiculous! There is no reason to believe the words of a condemned mon."

"While I agree," Whisper started diplomatically, "given the severity of the accusations, I think it's for the best. When everyone sees that there aren't any food shortages, it will help prove your innocence."

Jhorlo:

Whisper: "That's a simple enough request, right?" .^.

Shimmer reached over to place a hand on her father's head. "It'll be fine, Dad. Just for a few days, then we can put this all behind us."

Lol. Lmao.

Even as she said it, Nip picked up a subtle fear scent wafting from their direction. He wasn't sure if it was Shimmer or her father. And Muse looked downright miserable sitting behind them.

That's totally Jhorlo that he's smelling there, I can already tell.

"Does everyone agree with this?" Whisper asked.

There were a few mutterings and a cough, but no one dared to challenge her.

"Right. That leaves us with just one more thing." She turned to Nip. "Your community service… With Vale gone and our guards busy watching over Susana's group, we do not have the time to continue it. Rather than hold you here or try to turn you over as well, I believe the best decision is to exile you once Tempest is healthy enough to travel. You would need to leave Theran Village and the lands surrounding it within one day's travel.

Ah yes, I see that the plot's firmly nixing staying around Theran Village for much longer even if it's still standing by the time this comes to pass.

Nip hesitated. "Your demands are… reasonable." And yet, for reasons he couldn't fathom, he felt his stomach twisting in knots at the thought of leaving.

He's been growing attached to this place, huh?

"Any disagreements?"

[ ]

"Are you sure about this, Whisper?" Siles said. "He could be a liability if we send him on to the next town. If he commits a crime there and they find out we released him after what he did here…"

"It's…" Whisper started to reach for a feather, then caught herself. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. Given everything that's happened and everything we still need to deal with."

Small typo there. And this feels like another spot where it'd have made sense to show off the mood in the proverbial room a bit more.

The quagsire looked like he wanted to say something more, but he only shook his head and took a step back. No one else spoke, though Nip could tell not everyone was happy with Whisper's decision.

"If there's nothing more, we will call this meeting to a close for tonight. We will reconvene tomorrow evening, after the Enforcers have been contacted, and decide what to do next."

... Is this village going to make it to next morning without something horrible happening to it?

She stood in the center as the villagers began to disperse, waiting till most were gone before walking over to speak quietly with Jhorlo. Nip wanted to eavesdrop, but a light shove from behind broke his concentration. He glanced back to see Twi.

"C'mon, Mister Thief," the illumise said. "Let's get you back to the hut to get looked at before it gets too dark."

He stole one more glance back at Haru, who was helping her brother to his feet. A part of him wanted to say something to the duo, given all that had happened and all that would happen soon. But instead, he silently let the illumise guide him to the medics' hut.

Nip: "Well, I didn't feel like sleeping soundly tonight anyways. Um... I don't suppose you have some other place meant to keep 'mons out like that 'jail' place in this village, do you?"

And splitting the rest of the review off into its own post, since I'm too lazy to nix a dozen image tags.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Interlude 2

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

(Boy is that title a horrible omen for Theran's imminent future there. .-.)

Soot clung to Yellow’s paws with every step she took, clinging to the fur between her toes and staining her paws black. A chilly breeze cut through what remained of this part of the forest, unimpeded without foliage. A handful of enforcer teams fanned out around the jolteon, some with noses low to the ground in search of suspicious scents. Above, a few fliers drifted in wide circles, looking for abnormalities.

Oh hey, it's him again. Though wait, is this the same forest where that one Rescue Team walked in on Zaid and got ganked in the last Interlude?

Less than a half-moon ago, a wildfire had ripped through the Silken Woods, burning so fiercely that nothing remained. The local rescue teams had already come through a quarter-moon prior, searching for survivors. Now it was the enforcers' turn to investigate the cause. The fact that it had taken this long to get teams on the ground was an embarrassment. Especially given that an expedition team had gone missing in the wake of the fire. Which is why she’d come all the way from headquarters herself to investigate.

Small typo there. Though boy is it ironic that you'd actually written an unrelated piece that covered this scenario from the perspective of one of an on-the-ground survivor. It makes me wonder a bit if once upon a time, it was originally meant to happen in PWCH's setting. Like I know it’s set in the official setting, but the timing here sure feels uncanny.

In front of her, a staravia landed crossing a wing over his chest. “Enforcer Yellow.”

She dipped her head. “Speak.”

“The flyby suggests that the fire started in a clearing up ahead. There’s some damage to the trees near there that suggests signs of a struggle, but we suspect most of the evidence was destroyed in the blaze.”

Well, that was a fast answer to the question that I had at the beginning. Boy did this place take a turn for the worse since the last time we saw it.

“Thank you. You are dismissed.” She moved to walk around him, but he hesitated, staying in her path. “Yes?”

“Well… it’s just that my buddies and I saw an arcanine headed this way from the opposite end of the damage. He kind of looks like that private detective who comes around sometimes, but given the… you know, situation we’re in right now, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to risk an approach. We just thought you should know.”

Wait, is that Maneth that bird's referring to?

Maneth? Yellow stood still for a few heartbeats. “Thank you. I’ll head for the clearing now. Were there any others already there?”

“Just the Sniff-it-Outs.”

Yuuuup, though I snerked at that team name there.

[ ]

“Go ahead and tell them to take a break but stay nearby. I’ll take care of the Arcanine if they show up.”

“Will do.” With a running start and a couple wingbeats, the staravia took to the air, circling once before flying ahead.

Another spot where IMO, it might've made sense to tip your hand a little more as to what was going on with Yellow's reaction and/or thought process there a bit more.

Yellow followed behind at a light trot, intending to give him time to alert the team. It gave her time to think. If the arcanine was Maneth in disguise, they’d have to find someplace private to talk. No one here had a high enough clearance to know his true identity, let alone the conversations he had with her. If it wasn’t him but someone with unsavory intentions, her appearance alone would likely be enough to spook them away.

Oh, so Maneth is a Zoroark or a Ditto. I didn't see that one coming, though I suppose this might be less of a surprise to your readers who read Lost to Retellings, since IIRC, Maneth's the main character there and you'd think it'd be a bit hard to hide something like this while being the central subject of a story.

But by the time the jolteon reached the clearing, the other pokemon were still there, gathered around a single spot on the far end. Apprehension sent spikes of static and sparks racing through her fur. She had to force the feeling away before it could get out of hand.

“What’s going on over there?” she called, sprinting across the clearing. Not far beyond them, she could see a handful of trees that looked like they’d been splintered apart by an explosion. Possibly the cause of the fire.

The members of The Sniff-it-Outs, a houndoom, a houndstone, and a growlithe, stood in a tight circle, the staravia from before with them. They parted at the sound of her voice, revealing what was worrying them: a pile of charred bones, half buried in the ash.

Well, that went from

to

really fast in the span of one paragraph.

And

for that one rescue team in Interlude 1, since... uh... yeah, that's very obviously them.

“We just found these,” the houndoom said. “We’re not sure… but these look kind of like treecko bones, don’t they? Some sort of reptilian pokemon, at least.”

“One of the missing explorers was a treecko, wasn’t she?” the growlithe asked.

And there's our confirmation. Alas, poor Treecko.

Yellow kept her jaw set in a firm line. “You are correct. The missing team is treecko-charmander duo. Go get a sketcher to draw up an image of the scene, and a mon to gather up the bones. We’ll have them taken back to headquarters for identification.”

“Right.”

“Understood.”

Oh, so that's what they do in lieu of photographing crime scenes. But bruh, it's been a month. How on earth can you even take it for granted that you can piece together anything of what happened that far back?

“Yes, Ma'am. Although…” The growlithe nosed something else towards Yellow. “We also found this. We weren’t sure what to make of it.”

The item in question was some sort of container, Yellow thought. But it had melted beyond recognition. She couldn’t figure out what kind of material it was made of.

“Take it with you. We can try to figure out what it is later.”

That's going to be a

that

toasted, isn't it?

Yellow turned away, focusing her attention on the splintered trees. Remains suspiciously similar to one of the missing explorers, found near signs of an explosive attack… She didn’t like the implications. But they’d only found one set of remains. There were two pokemon missing. And it wasn’t like they hadn’t come across a handful of remains already. Wildeners lived here, after all. Or used to, she guessed. Some were likely unable to escape the flames.

I mean, I suppose that it would've been easier for Susana to assume

's identity had she stayed alive long enough to see how to mimic her. I'll heavily take the under on her not presently being in a shallow grave somewhere given how Susana was prepared to deal with Haru the moment she became inconvenient.

Shaking her head to clear it, she kept walking. “I’m going to find that arcanine and see if they’re who I think they are. If not… they’ve got a lot to explain, snooping around here.”

Without waiting for a response, she took off, racing into the trees.

Alone, she had a moment to think about the damage she’d seen. The radius of the explosion was concerning, longer than she was used to seeing. She didn’t want to speculate what was capable of causing this type of damage. A lesser god, perhaps. Or a very powerful mortal.

Again, that would be

's doing there.

Her feet hardly touched the ground, each pawstep muffled by the ash. The acrid stench still hung in the air, muffling her sense of smell. She thanked the stars it hadn’t rained recently; the only thing worse than ash was wet ash.

There, in the distance. Among the grays and blacks and whites, the arcanine’s orange coat stuck out like a sore paw.

""""Arcanine""", yes.

Yellow approached cautiously, sniffing at the air. The arcanine was male. He walked like an arcanine. But did he smell like one? It was difficult to tell with the ash clouding her senses.

Of course, just like he stuck out, Yellow did, too. And it didn’t take long for him to look away from the tree he was pacing around and notice her.

“Yellow?” the arcanine asked.

“Maneth?”

Whelp, time to get our answer in 3... 2...

The arcanine jerked his head in the direction of the tree he had been investigating. “You better take a look at this.”

After only a heartbeat of hesitation, Yellow raced over. The tree looked like it had been cut clean diagonally, though it had since burned. The remains of the trunk lay on the ground. A few other trees near it were destroyed in much the same way.

But it wasn’t the trees that concerned her once she reached him.

He took a step back, giving her a clear view of the decomposing corpse of a charmander.

... Oh, there she is.

“Forest fire wouldn’t burn hot enough to cremate a charmander,” he said, putting a paw over his snout to try and dampen the stench. “Not likely to kill one either. This one looks to have met a grisly demise. Maybe the cause of the fire though.”

“Not likely, given the scene I just came from. What in Arceus’ name are you doing here, Maneth? No, don’t drop your illusion. There are other teams around.”

Small punctuation error there, though I'll just take that as confirmation that Maneth is a

.

The illusory arcanine took a step back. “I was on my way to investigate something for Progne. But when I saw the state of this forest, I wanted to see if I could figure out what happened. Any idea?”

“Not yet. We know it happened a little over a quarter-moon ago, though. Two explorers went missing around the same time. Looks like we found them. Or what’s left of them, at least.” She nudged her paw towards the charmander but didn’t dare touch it. Dealing with grisly scenes like this was never fun, and this was on the tamer side. She’d have to send the sketcher this way, next.

... Okay, so I admittedly am a bit spoiled as to who Progne is, but that is an absolutely horrible sign for where things are going to go in the near term if she's remotely close to here.

“Damn. All this destruction to kill just one explorer team? Seems like overkill, doesn’t it?”

“Perhaps, but we don’t know yet whether they were the target or just collateral damage.” Not that it mattered. An explorer team was dead. A young one, at that. Pokemon that had a bright future ahead of them. She remembered their initiation ceremony, how the charmander’s eyes had lit up as Blue presented her with her normal rank badge.

[ ] Yellow felt rage roiling inside, threatening to unleash the beast she knew she could be.

Damn, Yellow really is a scary one if she felt that over a spot of jealousy there- oh wait, I guess that's over the killings. It might make sense to split that off from the flashback to make that a bit more obvious there.

“Hey! Hey, Yellow! Calm down. Your sparks are going to shatter my illusion.”

Her sparks? Oh.

Yellow took a deep breath. “Sorry.” She sat down, running a tongue down her paw in anticipation of washing behind her ear, only to stop, curling her lip at the acrid tang of ash. “What were you doing for Progne?”

“Progne sent me out on an investigation mission,” Maneth explained. “They said they felt Celebi’s presence but were unable to make contact with him. They wanted me to see why Celebi showed up now of all times. And why he chose to appear where he did.”

Oh, so Progne is nearby, then. Though that makes me wonder what these two's story with each other is.

Celebi? For a moment, Yellow forgot about the dire situation they found themselves in. “And where was that?”

“Near the base of Mount Domo. The specifics are difficult to triangulate, but there’s only a few villages in the area, so I thought I might start with those.”

“Mount Domo, huh?” Yellow closed her eyes, thinking for a moment. “How long ago was this?”

“I was told to leave… about a quarter-moon ago, now.”

Wew, that Interlude title really is on the nose, and once again, terrible sign for Theran Village's near-term future.

“I see. I probably wouldn’t have been in to hear any delivered news…” She closed her eyes, thinking. He was probably in a hurry, but it wouldn’t hurt to play things safe. “Tell you what. I want you to come back with me to headquarters. It’s a little out of your way, but we can reach out to see if anyone in the Unified Villages has seen anything out of the ordinary. If not, then it narrows your search to unincorporated villages.”

'Unified Villages' would probably have both words capitalized as a place name.

“And there’s not many of those in the region,” Maneth concluded. “I only saw two on the map. Theran and Malkin.”

“Rocorn isn’t incorporated either,” Yellow said. “Not yet at least.”

Ah yes, getting a better view of the neighborhood. I actually wonder if we'll get to see any of them later on in the story.

“Understood. I’ll mark those down.” He paused; Yellow suspected he was busy at work pulling his map out under that disguise. “Do you think this might be related?”

“Related to what?”

“Right, you’re not fully filled in. Progne also lost contact with Tinny, not long before Celebi appeared. They hadn’t been able to reestablish contact since.”

Oh, so that's

's name in this story, duly noted.

Dread churned in Yellow’s belly. [ ]

“Do you think someone is targeting the gods?”

“I don’t know, but Celebi appearing, Victini disappearing… And this fire. In fact…” A rustling came from the disguise as Maneth pulled out his map. The disguise did as well, dropping it on the ground. “I think… Progne told me roughly where they lost contact. They didn’t ask me to investigate that right now, but… this isn’t too far from it. Within a day’s travel for Tinny, I’d guess.”

IMO, it might make sense to spell out Yellow's thought process here in a bit more detail than you presently do to show the dots connecting internally.

... Though I just realized, but if Zaid has

in his and his gang's custody, they're in the general vicinity of Theran Village, and they were looking for Regigigas...

Yellow fought to control her sparks. A massive fire. A missing god. A dead expedition team. “This… may be even more serious than I thought.”

Oh Yellow, you don't even know the half of it right now.

She glanced up as a shadow passed by overhead. It was that staravia again, come to check on her. She tilted her head up and let out a yip to call him down.

He landed at her side, recoiling at the sight of the charmander corpse.

Staravia: "Seriously, can't you put a tarp over that or something?"

“Have the team come over here. We’ll need the sketcher to draw up this one, too. Investigator Blitz will stay here to mark the spot until they arrive.” She flicked an ear in Maneth’s direction.

“Will do. What about you?”

“I need to speak with the psychic on duty and get a bulletin out. Whatever happened here is a sign of serious trouble. We need all teams on high alert.”

Uh... I think you want to go a step past just Enforcer Teams for this one, honey. I don't suppose you have an organized military, do you?

She pushed past the staravia, forcing herself to walk until she was a good ways away before breaking out into a run.

Yellow should have known better than to hope there would be no more fighting after they unified the continent. But now serious trouble was on the horizon, more serious than she suspected any mortal pokemon had ever dealt with.

She had made a promise to protect the pokemon relying on her. Now was the time to make good on it.

Once again, terrible omen for the near-term fate of Theran Village.

Elsewhere, an encampment of strange, otherworldly pokemon sat in an alcove sheltered by high, rocky walls. The shadow of Mount Domo loomed in the distance, only a few days’ journey away. A few pokemon, those who suspected they could pass as natives, stood along the perimeter, watching for actual natives to scare away or kill for supplies.

Well then. I suppose that would explain a thing or two about how Susana was willing to give Haru a free cliff dive the moment she became even a minor liability. You'd think that too many Pokémon turning up dead in too short a time would risk exposure, but I suppose Zaid's band is big enough that that's not that big a concern.

In the center, a white leporid darted between the tents, making her way to the main one at the center. She kept her long, blue-and-white–striped tail wrapped tightly around her waist.

Oh, hello Chien-Pao. I wonder if this is the 'Lady' that Susana and the gang spoke of or a past Legendary that was turned.

At the entrance to the main tent, two pokemon — a porygon and a short-eared umbreon — stood guard. The umbreon stepped forward first.

“Warabbit Waisha, what business do you have with Our Lady?”

Oh, so that's what that rejected aqua bunny from Hoenn was called. I didn't realize that 'leporid' was the scientific name of rabbits/hares, but that clears a few things up.

“Bad news from the courier, I’m afraid,” Waisha said with a shake of her head. “I need to speak with her immediately.”

The umbreon turned to the porygon, who stilled for a moment.

“She is free at the moment, but you must hurry. The evening report starts in twenty minutes.”

Huh, font antics. That one's new. Didn't translate to my note-taking format, but it stands out in the original format.

Waisha: "Uh, is he supposed to do that with his voice?" .-.

Waisha involuntarily shivered. She never liked the way that porygon spoke, but the way its voice became so stilted when telling time was exceptionally creepy.

Ah yes, so that's deliberate there. Duly noted.

But the answer seemed to satisfy the umbreon. “Better you than me,” she said, stepping aside.

Waisha rushed inside, skidding to a stop as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Why was their leader insistent on keeping things dark? Then she saw a wave of sparks at the end of the tent and understood. One of her deputies was already there. His body snaked and slumped around her waifish form, barely having the strength to move. The Lady had explained that he wasn’t built for this world. Or that it wasn’t built for him. One way or the other. Regardless, without the infrastructure to support him, he was slowly dying.

Oh, so the betamons literally aren't meant to be in this world, huh?

“Waisha, was it?” The Lady asked, her claws snaking down the deputy’s slender form in the dim light. “Why are you here?”

Time to steel your nerves, Waisha told herself, taking a deep breath. “First off, some good news. I heard word from Commander Zaid that Mina has fully subdued and integrated Victini. We’re ready to move to the next phase of the plan.”

https://media4.giphy.com/media/QMHoU66sBXqqLqYvGO/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952ozahl41fcmevb79j9i6ld1y2flvuazpmji4n101p&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g[/imh]

The Lady quirked her head, her antennas barely visible threads in the darkness. “Good, good. But that would have been covered in his report. Why are you really here?”

>antennas

Wait, between this and the description of her deputy... are they Ultra Beasts? Since that could also explain a few things about 'integrating' a Victini given that we've seen one do that in the past with another creature.

“Well,” Waisha began, gulping. “I just spoke with the courier. He said he’s lost connection with Remer. The last message he sent before disappearing was an SOS.” She hesitated, wringing her paws together. “Between that and the previous report, there’s reason to believe that Susana’s team may have been compromised.”

https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/1220916380468117705.webp?size=96

See I knew I was right to be worried about whether or not Theran Village was going to physically survive to the following morning.

Silence. The deputy groaned and shifted around The Lady. She shushed them, running her hand between his cords. “Did she report any electricity or electric types in the village?”

“I’m… sorry?”

“Any electric types. Don’t be daft, now.”

It took Waisha a moment to understand. “Oh, one, I think.”

I... don't think I like where this is going. Especially if this deputy is a Xurkitree as I strongly suspect. .-.

“It’ll have to do.” The Lady’s eyes flashed in the darkness. “Thank you for the confirmation. I will speak with Commander Zaid and have him put in the order to move out first thing in the morning. Our target will be Theran Village. Then, depending on Susana’s report, the mountain beyond. You are to speak of this to no one for now, understand?”

Well, all of those fears were more or less validated, since this basically confirms that Theran Village may very well be in its last day of existence.

“Of course, My Lady.”

“Good.” The Lady leaned back on her cushion, bringing her hand up to her deputy’s spiky head. As Waisha slipped out of the tent, she could hear her speak, voice soothing and serene.

“I will do everything in my power to find you a better energy source,” she promised. “No matter what. You just need to hold on for a little longer, okay? Once we have enough of the gods’ power on our side, we will shape this land to suit our needs. I promise.”

Okay, yeah, I'm calling it now. Zaid's faction is composed of Pokémon that fundamentally don't 'belong' in PWCH's world, and given that Solgaleo is a part of the local pantheon, it's only logical that Ultra Beasts are represented in their ranks. Since these two are just screaming Pheromosa and Xurkitree vibes right now.

And made it to the end of this double-feature, which can basically be summed up as:

And how. Since... uh... yeah, everything is spinning apart in short order, and our favorite little bucolic village with a dark secret sounds like it's going to be a lot less bucolic and likely a lot less 'village' in the very short-term future. The chapters did a great job at selling a sense of tension, especially with the sense of utter dread that kicks in by the end of Chapter 29 and just goes into overdrive in Interlude 2, with it being painfully obvious that there are some very big shoes that are about to drop.

There were some scattered typos here and there, and I felt that there were occasionally some paragraphs that worked better formatted as multiple smaller ones. There were also some points where I thought that you passed up on chances to get into the characters' heads a bit more and provide more context, especially in Interlude 2, but all-in-all, these chapters were very well put together.

Glad to finally be caught up again, @windskull . And I'll be quietly looking forward to where things go from here, since it sounds like Theran Village is about to be in for quite the set of fireworks within a chapter or two.

 

[Starlight Aurate]

Last year, I said I hoped to be back before the following Review Blitz.

That did not happen lol.

Anyway, onto Chapter 14!

Chapter 14

Hm, so Tempest can't even leave his cell. Granted, when recovering from an injury, it would be nice to have time and space to rest. But I'd definitely go stir-crazy if not even allowed outside.

I wonder if Whisper only requires payment for Nip's food, or if she's keeping some of the funds for herself.

Celebi! I certainly didn't expect to see him! All we get is that glimpse of something pursuing him and burning the forest around him before he passes out. I wonder if his time-travelling abilities are coveted and will be used by his pursuers?

As I read this chapter, I was struck by Vale's attitude towards the village, and the villagers attitudes towards hunters. All of the villagers appear to detest it and firmly believe that meat is scavenged, while Vale knows that's obviously untrue. Despite hunting down Pokemon for the villagers to eat, he's clearly angry at Nip, though whether it's because Vale cares for the villagers and is upset at Nip for disturbing the peace, or something more selfish, I'm not sure. I was expecting the hunters to not care too much about the villagers, given that they're lying to them about where the meat supply comes form, and I feel that they would be more honest if they actually saw them as equals or trusted them.

Either way, seems like Vale has something nasty up his figural sleeve as he seeks to ally with Umbra to take down Nip. I can't see things going well--I don't expect Nip to die (at least not yet), but they could have something nasty like torture planned for him. And Nip has already dealt with physical torment; I wonder how far they're going to push him.

I think it's brave that Whisper tries to not hate Nip after he stole her egg, but that she has a more compassionate approach. I certainly don't blame Anu for hating him, though. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for him to follow Nip around town and help him out.

Definitely a lot of setup in this chapter! Hopefully I'll get back to this within this year and not the next Blitz lol but who knows.

 

[StolenMadWolf]

Well, time to come round for the Review Blitz again. I’m fairly sure I’ve read a portion of this before, but I’m going to start from the beginning here. I tend to focus on worldbuilding, characters and plot, but will try and cover all bases.

Spoiler: Chapter 1-3 Review + Prologue

So, going through the first three chapters here, I’ve got to say that the very start of the story was a very effective way of starting things off. The prologue itself which doubles as the first chapter is really effective, and probably the thing I most remember from my initial readthrough some time ago. I really like the shifting perspectives and different cultures, especially when matched in with the narration. It’s a really cool and well written part of the story that helps garner a lot of interest straight out of the gate. That itself works really well. It’s short and sweet, and does end up getting referenced quite early on which is a nice bonus.

It's only after this prologue that the actual first chapter begins, and this one is fairly standard fare compared to the start. It’s not jumping quite at me in the same way compared to the beginning. However, it does help get us introduced to some of the characters that we are going to follow through this particular fan-fic. It pretty much nails Haru’s background right at the start. She lives a fairly mundane life filled with chores and hard work, but is perfectly content with that life. And of course, she doesn’t like everyone in her little village. Namely the resident girl from a privileged background who is all super convinced that everything will happen her way, including her own little love interests. And welp, I completely get Haru’s frustration with that kind of personality, and feel sorry for Muse being her bodyguard as well. This only adds some extra layers to Haru’s character, especially with how she interacts with a few other characters in distinct ways. Chapter 1 is fairly standard plot wise, but damn, does it help establish Haru’s character and perspective straight away.

Nevertheless, soon they have to retrieve the near dead sneasel who may have been from the prologue himself. And he ends up being taken to the clinic in the village itself, which becomes a key part of Chapter 2. The initial part of the chapter itself is very intriguing, but again follows through the motions here. Nip is initially wary and hostile to the village mon, but nevertheless relents when he realises that they are intending to help him. Much like the first chapter, we get a fair degree of insight into his character here, which is nice to see here, even if it’s more hidden. But hey, some bonus intrigue is always a good thing. I’m already beginning to like this guy.

Then of course, there is a key aspect that rolls into Chapter 3 here as well as 2 that I have to cover here. Haru and Nip coming from very different backgrounds. Haru is part of your typical PMD style community as you would expect, if slightly more developed. Village life with the beginnings of trade, a farming lifestyle and industry. Pokemon are less hostile to each other here, including amongst both the Villagers and the wildiners. Oh, and no hunting Ferals. Everyone is a vegetarian here I guess! Which comes in stark comparison to what we are catching glimpses off with Nip. His world is full of hunter gathers who actually hunt other Pokemon, but more for the sake of staying alive rather for sport as you would expect, and there is a lot more conflict between the tribes where he is from. There’s also how they take these differences into consideration. Both are weirded out to some extent, especially Haru, who is understandably horrified about the whole hunting thing and the more tribal way Nip lives. Nip obviously finds the Village life strange, but he’s not having a go at anyone over it and at the very least is willing to learn more about it.

There is also the slight religious aspect here that doesn’t normally get covered in this kinda of fashion within fan-fics focusing on PMD. Sure, legendaries and mythicals being used as the basis of gods is a fairly common and understandable trope for these stories, but this is clearly at a point in time where they aren’t connected as some part of a pantheon. The closest we get to that is what I think is the creation trio, but again, we get a very hard contrast. Regigigas for the villagers, and Yvetal for the tribes. Plus their directly linked companions to boot. It’s an interesting take on them, and this again highlights things for Haru and Nip. The former being atheist to at the very least agonistic, whilst Nip is very clearly spiritual in comparison. It’s a really cool bend on the idea, and again, it’s nice to see they aren’t tearing eachother apart over this. It’s just accepted as another culture and faith. That’s very nice to see.

Of course, these chapters are lengthy and slow paced, but through these two characters and how they interact with each other especially but other Pokemon too, we not only learn a lot about what seems to be the two main protagonists, but also some of the world too. Not in the usual way either, we don’t get a huge amount of information, but enough to draw a very significant comparision between two distinct parts of the world that I haven’t seen in most fan-fics. It’s something that I really do like seeing. And as a bonus, it does seem like things will be speeding up soon, as not only Nip seems to be on the run, but he is also being hunted by another tribe mon from the North… and seems like things are going to get very intense sooner rather than later.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read. A bit on the slow side, and there were points where I wanted to see more of the characters thoughts. Or at least more of Nip’s, but I can let that slide since Haru seems to be the main viewpoint character here, and it adds to Nip’s intrique. The character/world comparision is something that I don’t think a lot of fanfics do, which adds a nice difference to this story. I’m looking forward to reading more!