Fledglings

[at the function]

"… How did you know that my egg was snatched?"

Woah, did Hess not know this whole time that his egg was snatched? I wonder what he was told/what he thought happened to him

"I don't know how much I believe that, but I suppose that it doesn't matter now,"

yess I am here for all current and future Hess character development

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Woah, did Hess not know this whole time that his egg was snatched? I wonder what he was told/what he thought happened to him

He knew that it was snatched, but he definitely didn’t expect that Trizano would know about it.

yess I am here for all current and future Hess character development

We’re glad to hear, since Hess is one of those characters that’s grown on both us and the audience a lot with time. Though thanks for the review, it was fun to read. ^^

And with that, it’s about time to get back into the story. Though given that there’s a fairly clean divide between what the different groups of characters have been up to so far in this episode, and what they’ll be doing in the upcoming chapters, Virgil and I decided to take a page from the arcs back in Tromba and call the episode here. It should hopefully allow us to get through the immediately following plot events in smaller and more frequent (relative to the past few chapters) updates.

Though anyhow, let’s get right to things and send this episode off:

 

[Virgil134]

Elilan opted to spend the last stretch of his journey to Nagrobek with Sorge on the deck of his ironclad. He watched as the buildings of Dulefield Town started coming into view over the horizon under the afternoon sun… along with the prison and his administrative complex looming off in the background.

Dulefield was still the backwater town that it had been when his tenure began, with the same stubborn Pokémon that lived in it. It never failed to surprise him how the villagers clung to that outdated and obsolete relic of a town, instead of moving to more dignified existences on the other Company islands. But even so—as they got closer, Elilan noticed something was different that day:

All along Dulefield Town's harbor, the docks were unusually crowded with strange ships. There were far too many of them for them to be merchant vessels, and their hulls didn't look particularly well-equipped to carry ore. As they neared the town, he saw that most of the ships looked visibly damaged, like a schooner whose hull was visibly held together with ice plugs. Sorge blinked at the sight for a moment, before shaking his head with a low harrumph.

"Looks like Ketu wasn't kidding when he said that our personnel would be kept busy with the aftermath of Lyn's battle to capture Pleo."

"Well, I'd certainly hope so when Lyn sailed off for it with a fleet of five ships," Elilan scoffed. "If that Samurott couldn't even manage to come out victorious with such resources, even Inler would've had to fire him on the spot."

Elilan rested an elbow on the railing and leaned his head against the back of his claw. He looked out at the ramshackle town on the coast as they sailed past it, before giving a frowning sigh.

"But the Board has made its choice, and there's nothing to be gained by challenging it right now… Frontally, anyways," the Zoroark said. "It's not as if we haven't worked around worse setbacks in the past. Besides, there's more immediate concerns we need to tend to."

The town drifted further and further to the right as the ironclad sailed along. Elilan and Sorge watched their surroundings go by as the ship rounded the island, until they were looking up the island's Administrative Complex and its attached prison at the top of a sheer cliff face. Their destination lay at the same cliff's bottom, just west of the buildings far above—the local garrison. It was a collection of buildings and docks built along a narrow strip of land wedged between the cliffs and the sea, anchored by a stone fortress three levels tall at the center. It was the nigh-impregnable final line of defense to the cliff it was built into and the tunnel passages up to the complex above, with narrow slit-like windows from which its defenders could throw covering attacks or fire cannon shots..

Elilan scanned the docks as his ironclad pulled in at the dock's central pier. All around them were ships in Company lavenders moored, barring one exception with blue sails, each bearing a black circle quartered by tilted cross. Off to the right of the sea fort, there was a grated channel that had been cut to let aquatic prisoners be taken to the pens in the sea caves at the base of the cliff. Although there weren't any prisoners to be seen at that moment, there were guards going about firmly at attention on land, in the water, and in the air above.

A sign this place was being watched over by orderly and loyal defenders. Just as things should be.

The Zoroark's ears flicked at a loud clatter along the pier: a sign the gangplank was being lowered. Elilan felt a gentle nudge at his shoulder, before looking up at Sorge peering down at him.

"We should get going, Administrator," he said. "We've got a busy evening ahead of us."

And indeed they did. Elilan left his place at the railing and made his way for the gangplank alongside his Kommo-o subordinate. As they descended down to the docks, they saw there was already a party of guards present—evidently having received notice from the messenger he dispatched of their impending arrival. At their fore, there was a Trevenant with a Third-Rank scarf who kept his eye on them the entire time—Betulo, his Commander and right hand 'mon. He waited for them to reach the pier, before moving forward, nodding as his face took on a warm expression.

"Welcome back, Administrator," the Trevenant said. "And pleasure seeing you again, Sorge. It really has been far too long since you were last here."

"Indeed it has. You know how it is in the field, under cover," the Kommo-o replied, idly waving a claw. "While it wasn't the worst job, babysitting the dozenth Pokémon through a Mystery Dungeon while making no progress on our real mission got old after a while."

Sorge trailed off briefly, before looking at the ships docked at the garrison's piers. He let his attention linger on them briefly, before turning back to Betulo with a puzzled quirk of his brow.

"I take it that you've been busy with work in the prison lately?"

"Quite," Betulo replied. "We haven't had to process this many prisoners at once since the big raid seven years ago."

The Trevenant paused, as he turned his gaze to Elilan, his expression having suddenly taken a visibly serious turn.

"We did some initial processing to separate out the weak links and the Pokémon that Nyxem would have an immediate use for, but with how overcrowded the cellblocks are right now, we'll need to thin their ranks a bit more over the coming month," Betulo insisted. "I don't like the way those scum are spreading my guards thin and Torn Outpost always needs more bodies to keep it working."

Elilan blinked, before cocking a brow in reply.

"I'll admit, I wasn't expecting to hear that," the Zoroark said. "The Board's more or less approved everything I asked for to expand and better equip the local garrison for the last seven years. Why the sudden doubt in their ability to handle some more prisoners than normal?"

"Because the Director went and surprised me just yesterday with a summons for a third of the ships posted here to sail off and help shore up defenses on Vollezee," Betulo harrumphed, folding his arms. "I naturally did what I could to make sure we held onto as much of our own personnel as possible, but quality can only compensate so much for losing that sort of headcount."

There was a brief clattering noise as Sorge tensed up slightly. At his side, Elilan's face visibly fell, but he gave no response beyond a low sigh before speaking again.

"… Why am I not surprised?" the Zoroark grumbled. "Even if Inler normally isn't the type to just go and bluntly sideline me, I-"

"Oh, I already heard and started to try and rectify that by bringing in additional Pokémon from our mercenaries to fill in for them. If we're going to make do with reduced headcount, they might as well be more loyal and dependable," Betulo interrupted. "The procurement paperwork to smooth things over with the Finance Department and get them shipped in from Vollezee is on your desk already. It's just waiting for your signature."

The Trevenant turned and raised a claw off at a barque off at the docks where a set of lavender sails were being hoisted. Down at the docks, some teal-colored sails were lying wadded up by the gangplank and being carried off by workers. Elilan and Sorge both paused at the sight, as they looked back at Betulo, who nodded with a satisfied grunt.

"That's why that hunk of junk and the ones you saw in port at Dulefield Town on the way in are still floating," he explained. "They're not pretty, but they're functional. By the time the Finance Department signs off on the contract, they'll be repaired, cleaned, and ready for whoever our Canalhouse office sends over."

Elilan let his gaze linger on his Commander for a moment, as the Zoroark's mouth curled up into a small smile.

"You really are a lifesaver sometimes, Betulo–"

"Grr! Unhand me! Now!"

Sorge, Betulo, and the guards on the pier jolted up at attention and braced themselves. Elilan flattened his ears and turned around after them. From the growling and thumping, he already knew who it was:

Sure enough, coming down the gangplank getting herded along by Junius and a small party of other guards, was Darzin, thrashing and flailing as uselessly as ever with his limbs chained behind him. Elilan, Betulo, and Sorge watched as the procession made its way up to them, the Dragonite glaring at them the entire time and snarling from under his muzzle.

It impressed exactly nobody present. Sorge didn't even bother to hide the way he rolled his eyes, while Elilan barely gave the Dragonite a passing look. For his part, Betulo glanced over, crossing his arms with a bemused chuckle.

"I see that nuisance on the Board's finally been taken care of," the Trevenant said. "I'll admit, I was expecting him to wind up slinking off into some sea trench after getting fired."

Elilan and the others turned their heads after hearing the sound of Darzin's seething, as they turned and saw the Dragonite thrashing and bucking under the grasp of the guards leading him along… or attempting to, anyways. From the way he'd managed to shove an Abomasnow to the pier, it was already obvious that things were going to drag on without someone stepping in.

The Zoroark frowned, and started pacing over, flashing the claws on his left paw with a grumbling sigh.

"You really are a slow learner, aren't you, Darzin?"

Dark magenta light gathered around Elilan's claw, before coalescing into an orb that he suddenly dug his claws into. It burst forward into a shockwave that struck Darzin's stomach. The Dragonite roared in pain from the Night Daze as his strength visibly flagged and dark spots began to fill his vision. The Dragon-Type toppled forward, prompting the guards around him to swiftly pin him against the ground.

The Zoroark took the last few paces forward, as Darzin struggled against his captors' grasp and glared up at him. Elilan paid it no mind, other than to narrow his eyes into a sharp scowl and bare his own fangs back.

"As I told you back on the ship, I control you now," the Zoroark growled. "Clearly I need to get that message across to you in blunter terms."

Elilan looked over at Junius helping to wrangle Darzin, before motioning up at the Dragonite's wings with a dispassionate harrumph.

"Junius, have his wings perforated before he reaches the cellblocks. If he still hasn't learned his lesson after those wounds close, remove them."

The Marowak nodded back as a malicious grin started to settle on his face. All of a sudden, Darzin's defiant demeanor changed, as his eyes visibly widened and his voice came out in a startled cry.

"Wait, what-?!"

Junius and the other guards suddenly pressed the side of Darzin's head against the pier as a Persian stepped forward and cast a set of rings of light at his face. The Dragonite flailed and tried to get back up, only for his movements to grow more lethargic and his voice to start slurring. And almost as quickly as it began, Darzin's resistance was over, with the Dragonite lying sprawled out and dozing on the pier.

Junius and the others dragged the dragon up and carried on, Betulo watching as the party of guards left for the garrison complex. The Trevenant let his gaze linger after them for a moment with a darkened glare, before turning back to Elilan and giving an idle brush at his shoulder.

"As for our earlier conversation… I suppose this means the Board's gone through with making Lyn the new Administrator."

"Unfortunately, yes," Elilan replied. "Though let's take this inside, since we clearly both have a lot to catch up on."

Elilan turned and began to make his way down the docks, as Sorge followed after him. Betulo waited for Elilan to pass before he joined along at Sorge's side and turned his attention to the Kommo-o.

"By the way, I've already told the teleporters to prepare for your arrival, Sorge. Just let them know whenever you're ready to head to Torn Outpost," the Trevenant said. "I'm sure Nyxem's looking forward to seeing you again."

"Actually, I need Sorge to stay for now, Betulo," Elilan cut in.

The Trevenant blinked briefly, shooting an askew glance as the Zoroark looked back with a knowing smirk.

"There's a few Pokémon under your care right now that I'd like for us to sit down with."

---

Salvini quietly gulped down water from a small clay cup and set it down against the table with a quiet tak. She was back in the living room of that ratty little apartment in Drieboog her uncle used to own, the same one she'd gotten reacquainted with since being reassigned to Vollezee. It was the most crowded it'd been in years right now thanks to Payak and Phyllis both being here with her. A part of her was kicking herself over not having just pooled her money with Osmund to get a proper door for the place, even if she hadn't expected the place to need one until just a couple weeks ago.

Phyllis and Payak were sitting at the other end of the table, stealing impatient glances at the cut-up cloth strips in the doorway, before the Leafeon uneasily pawed at a cup on the table.

"What's taking Hertsog so long?" Phyllis murmured. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, I thought you said that he asked for us to meet here at your place the moment we got off work," Payak said.

Salvini pawed at her arm as a squirming feeling came over her gut. Even if it wasn't that uncommon for Hertsog to linger a bit after work, it wasn't like him to show up late for meetings that he himself had called. Let alone by almost half an hour.

… Had something happened to him? Salvini hadn't thought anyone had been listening in on them at the Academy, but if the past few days had taught her anything, it was that she didn't know Canalhouse City anywhere as well as she thought that she did.

The Grovyle quietly drummed her claws against the table, before getting up from her seat and turning for the doorway.

"I think one of us should go back to the Academy," she said. "Maybe it's nothing, but-"

The words died in her mouth as she heard hurried footsteps down the hallway. Salvini reflexively stiffened up and saw Payak and Phyllis do much, as the footsteps came closer before abruptly stopping in front of the doorway.

"Salvini, are you there?"

A familiar voice came from the threshold as the cloth over the doorway parted and there, poking his head in was none other than Hertsog. Salvini sighed in relief at the sight of the Mienshao, glad that those fears racing in her head hadn't come to pass.

"… We were starting to get worried," she said. "Come on in."

Hertsog slipped past the cloth over the doorway and made his way over to the others at the low-slung table. The entire time, the Mienshao's gait looked stiff and tense, as if he'd come over in a rush. Salvini and the others traded uneasy glances with each other, before the Grovyle shot Hertsog a worried look.

"Hertsog, is everything alright?" Salvini asked.

"I'm fine. Personally, at least," the Mienshao said. "I just had a bit of trouble finding the right building since they all look fairly similar on this block."

That… was good, at least? Though something about Hertsog's reaction wasn't adding up. Phyllis hesitated and swayed her tail warily, before giving him an askew glance.

"And…? Something's obviously going on from the way you're acting right now, Hertsog," the Leafeon said. "What's going on?"

Hertsog quietly sucked in a breath and had a hesitance about him that gave Salvini a sinking feeling. The Mienshao hung his head, and shook it with a low murmur.

"I just wish that I had better news to give right now," he explained. "I found out where Pleo's friends are currently. They were captured in a battle at sea and sent to Nagrobek."

The Mienshao's words seemed to suck the air out of the room. There was a shared grimace among the other Pokémon at the table, before Phyllis finally broke the silence with a startled gasp.

"Wait, they actually sent them to Nagrobek of all places?!" the Leafeon asked.

"Hertsog, are you sure that's where they are?" Payak pressed.

"That's what I was told, yes," the Mienshao insisted. "I went and asked some old acquaintances who were pulled for that sudden deployment earlier this week. I don't have any reason to believe that they're lying to me."

The gathering about the table fell deathly silent as Salvini and her teammates grimaced one after the other. Nagrobek was a forlorn island that was known for two things: being the site of the Company's tin mines… and of a brutal prison that even the pirates who were bold enough to attack Mengir were afraid of. Had Lyn really sent a bunch of kids to a place like that? Just how long could they possibly last there?

Hertsog clearly was worried about it himself from the troubled expression on his face. He averted his gaze, before the Mienshao continued on with a low sigh.

"As harsh as it is, I suppose this outcome makes a sort of sense. I take it everyone has heard by now of Commissioner Lyn's recent promotion to the Board?" he said. "The official story among our ranks is that Pleo was being held by pirates and that he fought off a large pirate fleet in order to 'rescue' him. I don't know why or how they got there, but whatever Lyn really believed about Pleo's friends, his subordinates would've likely just thrown them in with the others as an afterthought."

Salvini blanched and shrank back, as she saw her teammates reacting not all that differently from herself. She knew that they had wanted to help Pleo and his friends, but… just what on earth could they even do about that?

She looked back at the Mienshao, where much to her curiosity, Hertsog's face had taken a serious turn and a determined glint had settled over his eyes.

"I know that this wasn't what we were hoping to hear, but at least for myself, it didn't really change anything about my plans," he continued. "I just wanted to make sure that was still the same for everyone else here. Were you all still planning to accompany me?"

"Razbira se, che da!" Payak chittered. "We're not just leaving a bunch of kids to rot there of all places!"

Phyllis and Salvini both nodded along with Payak, only for the Leafeon of the pair to hesitate briefly, before giving a puzzled tilt of her head at her Mienshao companion.

"I think that we all want to do something, Hertsog," Phyllis murmured. "But just what are we supposed to do about Lugia's friends being on Nagrobek?"

"We reach out to the prison's warden and convince him that Pleo's friends aren't supposed to be there," Hertsog explained. "That Lyn's sentencing for them was wildly inappropriate for dealing with a bunch of youngsters and their guardians, and that they should be dealt with back on their home islands."

Salvini, Phyllis, and Payak traded dubious glances with one another. Yes, there was some logic to Hertsog's plan, and maybe it'd work on some Pokémon in the Company… but with the sorts of Pokémon that were posted to watch over the most-guarded prison in Company waters…?

"… I don't know how that one is going to go over with them," Salvini said, shaking her head. "Even if their home island wasn't Tromba of all places, the prison on Nagrobek doesn't exactly have a reputation for being quick to let 'mons go…"

"Then we tell them that they're wanted for a whole list of charges back on Mengir that we'll tailor accordingly beforehand," Hertsog insisted. "As Captain of the Guards, it is part of my duties to see that they're tried on Mengir for that, which would involve them being transferred over to stand trial."

Salvini blinked as she saw that Hertsog's own muzzle had curled and he'd quietly set his teeth on edge. He averted his gaze, giving an uneasy paw at his shoulder.

"I… admittedly am pessimistic about my chances of talking Administrator Zorn into letting them go entirely," he admitted. "But since I'll be restored to my position as Mengir's Captain of the Guards, I'd certainly have leeway over shaping what their sentencing looked like in practical terms. And if they wound up 'escaping' on Mengir because I underestimated how determined they were to get away, well…"

Hertsog trailed off briefly as the others in the room stared at him wordlessly. After a moment, Payak's mouthparts began curling up into a knowing smile, as the Ariados let out a low chuckle.

"Oh, so that's where Salvini's been getting all those terrible ideas from over the last month, huh?" Payak said.

Hertsog stiffened up and flusteredly twitched his whiskers. The moment passed almost as soon as it came, before the Mienshao shook his head back in reply.

"I don't know what you're talking about there, Payak. But if you three are serious about coming along, pack your things and get your share of the money we agreed on for buying passage and lodging on Nagrobek. Tonight."

"Wait, tonight?" Phyllis asked, blinking. "Hertsog, isn't that moving a bit fast?"

"It is, but the next ship to Nagrobek sails off tomorrow morning," Hertsog explained. "Unless we somehow have the extra money to hire someone to swim us directly to the island, it'll likely be our only chance to make it to Nagrobek without being away from Mengir long enough to be reported as being absent without leave."

Hertsog folded his arms and turned his eyes to them, their red irises and his muzzle locked into a firm, serious expression.

"I know that I've been asking a lot from you all in these past couple days," he said. "But if there's anything about this that makes you uneasy—anything at all that would make you change your minds about coming along—please, tell me now."

Salvini studied the reactions of her teammates, when she noticed Payak looking away and seemingly wavering. The Ariados paused and lingered, before nodding back from across the table.

"I can make it," Payak said. "I'll have to take care of some stuff this evening, but I'll just make up the lost sleep on the ship."

He scuttled off past the cloth strips and into the hallway. Phyllis began to make her way after him, stopping and lingering by Hertsog as she passed. She studied the Mienshao's face for a moment, and fidgeted with her paws before finally speaking up.

"I still want to come myself. I… just hope we're doing the right thing here," the Leafeon murmured. "I don't know what I'd do if I got expelled from the Company…"

Phyllis turned and left herself, her footsteps pattering down the hall until it was just Salvini and Hertsog in the apartment. Salvini hesitated and let her gaze drift down to the floor, as the Mienshao sidled up to her with a worried frown.

"Salvini, is something wrong?"

The Grovyle faltered for a moment. She knew that she'd told Hertsog that she wanted to help him, and it wasn't as if she didn't want to help Pleo's friends, but…"

"Will we really be able to make any difference for them?"

Salvini looked up at the Mienshao expectantly. She hoped that he'd be able to say something about how things would work out in the end, but his own face didn't look that different from her own. He seemed to weigh his words briefly, before shaking his head with a low sigh.

"I wish that I had an answer to that question, but I honestly don't know," Hertsog said. "Whatever happens, we have to try to make a difference. And I'm willing to go as far as the rest of you—no matter what happens."

A part of Salvini thought that the words weren't all that reassuring. Their own circumstances in the Company were already precarious at the moment, and it wasn't hard to imagine ways that them attempting to get Team Traveller out of that prison could end poorly.

But at the same time, they'd be facing it as friends. Together.

The Grovyle's features eased, as a small smile worked its way over her face.

"That's good enough for me, I suppose," she replied. "I'll hold you to it."

---

Hess' breaths came out in ragged pants as his heart raced in his chest. He'd barely been able to follow where he'd been going since getting dragged out of his cell in the midst of his panic, and the journey since then had gone by in a disorienting blur of dimly lit hallways. Before he knew it, the Blaziken and the other guards shoving him along had brought him to yet another metal door. They opened it, revealing a small, windowless chamber lit up by torches with a couple wooden benches that looked like obviously recent additions from their construction. As he marched in, he saw its walls were made of stonework and sections that were obviously much older and made of pitted concrete, along with a metal grate that led off to some space that was too dim to make out.

Hess tried to buck his captors and run, only for the Blaziken to drive a punch deep into his gut. He hollered in pain and stumbled forward wheezing for air as the metal door closed behind him. That accursed chiming hum rang out just in front of him, where sure enough, there was Nyxem, floating towards him with that creepy perpetually upbeat demeanor of his.

"There's no need to be so nervous, Hess," the Porygon-Z chimed. "I have something of yours that you'd likely appreciate."

Nyxem's eyes suddenly came aglow with a bluish hue as he floated a gray, spherical stone with a helical swirl just in front of him. Hess' eyes widened as he saw the stone and its pattern, and realized that it was none other than…

"Ah! My lucky charm!"

The Aggron threw a claw forward and tried to grab at it, only for Nyxem to suddenly jerk it out of reach. The guards with him summarily wrenched Hess' arms back behind him, duly ignoring the Steel-Type's protests as Nyxem floated up.

"Ah-ah-ah… I didn't bring this back just for you to do as you pleased with it," the Porygon-Z said. "Though I must know… how did you ever get this in the first place?"

Hess squirmed in place and bit back his tongue, only to waver after the guards trained sharp scowls at him.

"I-I got it back when I was younger," the Aggron stammered. "The 'mon who sold it to me said that as long as I have it, it would bring me good luck and I'll always be able to get back to whatever place I call home."

"… Someone just happened to sell you a corresponding Mega Stone?" Nyxem questioned. "Who exactly sold it to you? What sort of Pokémon were they?"

"Uh… I-I don't remember?" Hess stammered. "It was just some travelling merchant and it happened years ago…"

There was a moment's silence between the two as Nyxem studied Hess carefully, before the Porygon-Z let out a low hum.

"Curious. You don't seem to be lying," he said. "But I suppose this is something we can pry into later. There was a practical reason why I let you have your 'lucky charm' back beyond your personal superstitions. Since it can do so, so much more."

Faint footsteps approached as the Porygon-Z swiveled his head, and idly fidgeted his arms in place..

"Though I believe that the most efficient way of explaining will be through a live demonstration."

Hess turned his head back and looked towards the approaching presence, and saw a Smeargle carrying a small metal case. The dog popped open a latch on the case, revealing a band made of golden-colored metal inside that was resting on soft padding. Nyxem floated Hess' lucky charm over to the Smeargle, who pressed it down into a circular notch with a faint click. After the Smeargle finished, he brought the band over towards Hess' right claw, before roughly hiking it up the Aggron's arm until it started chafing against his scales. Hess squirmed and tried to grab at the band to loosen it, when there was a clattering noise from up ahead. The grate suddenly started retracting up past the ceiling, as he guards with Hess suddenly pushed him forward.

They herded him along and the moment they passed the threshold, they sharply shoved him forward. He stumbled forward into some sort of large chamber with crude, wooden chandeliers holding torches hanging from the ceiling above. The space all around was flat and hemmed in by walls, with the one on the right having that same sigil with the five falling stars he saw when first coming to Torn Outpost. Off on the left, there was what looked like a pitted and scarred ramp going along the left side. It ascended at an angle much like a ramp, almost like seats set up along a battlefield. High up off towards the top of the ramp, there was a Sigilyph and Archeops posted in front of a small enclosure that overlooked the entire chamber. It seemed to be made of concrete and rusted metal with rectangular gaps that looked almost like they used to be windows of some sort.

"Wh-What the…?" Hess gulped. "What is this place-?"

"Looks like your test today's going to be easy, Heracross," a ghostly voice sneered. "With a type advantage like this, you ought to be able to put this 'mon down quick."

The Aggron looked over towards where the voices were coming from. Off at a similar-looking entrance at the other end of the chamber, there was a Heracross being led along by a party of guards headed by an Aegislash. The beetle's body was flecked in scars and his expression was sullen and unyielding, but he didn't do anything to challenge his captors beyond leveling a piercing glare back at the Aegislash.

"Hrmph, how about you weasels put your own carapaces on the line for once? See how quick I can take down 'mons then."

The Heracross punched his claws together, as it slowly dawned on Hess that beyond a brief moment glowering at the guards, the Bug-Type's attention was trained squarely on him. He backed away uneasily, before turning to Nyxem with an uneasy stammer.

"Wh-What's he talking about?"

"He's referring to the combat experiment of course. You and Samson will be fighting each other today," Nyxem explained. "He used to be an Imperial spy who wanted to see what went on below Nagrobek's prison. In the end, he got what he wanted… just not the way he was expecting."

Hess' eyes widened as soon as the Porygon-Z finished speaking. He spluttered out of surprise, before gathering his bearings together enough to cry out in protest.

"Th-This is insane! Wh-What do you expect me to do against a Fighting-Type?!" the Aggron exclaimed. "And you can't just force us to fight like this! I don't even know this 'mon!"

Nyxem let out a weirdly self-satisfied chime in response and tilted his head up. Hess froze, as much to his alarm, the strange Porygon's face suddenly took on an eerie look that made Hess' scales crawl.

"We'll see about that. Samson said much the same before his first experiment."

There was a flash of light, as Nyxem blipped away. He teleported up into the viewing enclosure that looked out over the entire chamber as the guards on both ends started filing out and the metal grates over the entrances slammed shut. Nyxem settled in and noted a waiting Kadabra in the room, prompting the Porygon-Z to raise an arm with a low chime.

"Ada, kindly fetch the instruments for today's experiment," he instructed. "I'm going to begin the Frism recording and I'd like to start our test suite as soon as possible."

The Kadabra nodded and headed off for a set of shelves in the background as Nyxem tugged a box out from beneath the counter with an unseen force. He set it on top, before telekinetically prying the lid open. Cold mist came from it, as he reached for an icy object that vaguely resembled a jar inside it. He gave a firm tap at the side of the vessel as a faint ping lingered in the air. He briefly looked down and saw Hess squeaking and nervously raising his claws for a stop on the battlefield as the Heracross approached, before the Porygon-Z floated the icy vessel up to his beak.

"Project Alkahest, Personal Log Timestamp 23520337385. A new batch of prisoners came in two days ago, and we received quite the lucky break from it," Nyxem said. "Not only did one of those so-called Immortals arrive in the shipment, but there was even an Aggron who came with what appears to be an Aggronite. Today's experiment will be focusing on the latter and his potential to Mega Evolve."

The Kadabra came back pushing a wheeled cart holding a large metal chest that had been hooked up to an empty canister, along with a pair of bracelets fashioned from gold-colored metal that rested on its top. Each bracelet had a black band and green hexagons on their surface—the needed tools for today's experiment.

The Kadabra slipped one of the bracelets over her wrist, before Nyxem floated the other over to himself and put it over his right arm. Nyxem held out his other arm out as his eyes came awash with a blue glow, and focused on the lid to the metal box. It came undone with a click and quiet hiss, before he propped it open to reveal dull, multicolored stones with white helical streaks on their surface. He glanced at them briefly, before turning back to his Frism.

"The last batch of Awakening Emeras that we processed show no sign of degradation after being transported across the Distortion," he continued. "The intermittent error affecting the Infinity Energy transfer which spoiled the last batch appears to be resolved. There should be no blockers for today's test suite."

Nyxem floated up one of the stones from the chest, before sliding it into the groove on his band until it seated with a faint click. He waited for the Kadabra to do the same, before continuing to speak into the Frism.

"It's been some time since there was a second subject for my experiments who had all the components needed to Mega Evolve," the Porygon-Z said. "We still need to determine whether or not this Aggronite is real and what capabilities it will unlock, but it could help speed up the process of refining the Synchro Looplet."

He turned his gaze back out through the windows as the Sigilyph and Archeops moved into place—just in case their Protects were needed—and looked out over the battlefield. On one end, there was Samson, flexing his claws. On the other, there was Hess, who was up at the grate that he'd come from and tried to yank it free before frantically pounding on it.

"Commencing experiment."

Nyxem brought his free arm down on the jewel set in the Looplet and pressed down. A jagged ray of white light suddenly shot out and arced down towards the battlefield, with a second coming from the Kadabra at his side. The lights continued on until they connected with the Looplets on the Aggron and Heracross' limbs below.

The reaction was immediate: Hess and Samson's eyes widened as they both fell to the ground, writhing and bellowing out in pain as the Looplets suddenly came aglow and white light began to spread and envelop up their bodies into a pair of spheres. They lingered for just a moment, before dispelling as bellowing roars and buzzes filled the air.

The results from Samson's end were as expected: the Heracross' carapace had turned a darker shade of blue with red fringes, while his singular horn had shortened and grown more tapered, and it'd been joined by a second, longer one that sprouted from the top of his head. It was Hess' end of the battlefield that was more remarkable, as the Aggron's body was now covered in natural, steely plates that would shame all but the very best armor provided to operatives within the Company.

Nyxem let out a sharp hum, before floating the Frism closer and speaking into it excitedly.

"The stone recovered with the new test subject is indeed an Aggronite. As suspected, his Mega Evolution was successful. Subject seems to have grown in size, and metal plating now covers almost all of his body surface."

Hess and Samson locked eyes with each other, as feral snarls mixed with furious buzzes rang through the air. Samson was the first off the line, as the Heracross flew forward with a series of open-palmed thrusts that landed one after the other on Hess:

One blow hit his shoulder, another his belly, another his chest… Nyxem watched in rapt attention as each blow did little more than make the Aggron stagger back slightly. A final blow to Hess' throat and then his face sent him stumbling with an uneasy gait, only for him to suddenly straighten up. He turned back with a livid glare, opening his mouth with a roaring bellow.

"GRAAAAAAH!"

In a swift motion, the Aggron spun around, his tail taking on a metallic sheen as he drove it into the transformed Heracross' underbelly. Samson tumbled across the arena floor, before coming to a crouching stop. Nyxem looked back towards Hess, where much to his surprise, the Aggron was charging forward without any signs of fatigue about him.

The Porygon-Z looked on in blinking astonishment, before continuing on with his log.

"Subject appears to be barely fazed from Samson's Arm Thrusts even after five blows. His present defenses are nothing short of remarkable," Nyxem said. "He must be a pure Steel-Type right now, even if that doesn't fully explain his present resilience. Further testing is clearly needed."

Nyxem turned his head back towards the arena at the sound of a loud buzz. There, Samson had flown up into the air, while Hess watched his foe from further below. The Heracross suddenly dropped down as the Aggron swiped his claws upwards, sending rocks shooting upwards out of the ground. Samson smashed one of the rocks aside with his arm, while another caught him in his chest. The Bug-Type briefly wavered, only to even out and plant his feet as he hit the ground.

Sharp tremors shook the entire chamber forcefully enough to send dust falling from above. Nyxem looked on as Hess lost his footing and reeled backwards, his snarls coming mixed with winded pants as he watched intently.

"Subject's offensive abilities are similarly much improved, but ineffectively wielded from his use of Rock Slide. Unclear yet whether this is an inhibition from his Mega Evolved state as seen with past subjects freshly entering this state, or just the limitations of this particular individual."

Samson suddenly lunged ahead, throwing himself forward with a flurry of punches that landed one after the other with pained bellows. Nyxem turned his attention towards his Frism, only to stop as he noticed light coming from Hess' end of the battlefield.

There, all along his left claw, there was fire starting to wreath it.

"RAAAAAAAAGH!"

He threw it forward with an uppercut that slammed into Samson's face with a sickening crack. There was a loud scream, as the Heracross shot back, tumbling back along the ground until he came to a stop facedown in the dirt.

He didn't get up, and a few moments later, there was a gold flash as the light on the Heracross' body faded and he reverted back to his original scarred self. A piercing roar split the air as off at Hess' end of the battlefield, the Aggron had thrown his head back and stomped the ground triumphantly. From his place overlooking the battlefield, Nyxem looked on in awe, and spoke up into his Frism again.

"Disregard prior remarks of subject's limitations. Subject clearly has mastered more battling techniques than I initially assumed. Mega Aggron has exceeded all my initial expectations, and I can already tell that future experiments with him will be most enlightening."

Hess started scanning wildly about his surroundings, as the Aggron's attention had turned towards the Heracross on the ground. Up in the observation room, Nyxem looked on before glancing down at the Looplet adorning his left arm.

"Combat test case completed. Now, to test the warding functionality."

Nyxem focused as in a flash of light, he blipped away with his Frism from the observation box and down into the arena pit below. There was a sharp bellow and the ground shook as Hess came charging in towards the fallen Heracross, his horns lowered for a piercing ram as Nyxem moved himself in between the Bug-Type's body.

Hess' gait abruptly stopped as he stared ahead vacantly, the growls from his throat taking on a puzzled-sounding tone. He just stood there for a moment, before sniffing at the air and turning away, letting out low snarls as he kept groping and searching about for another foe to vanquish.

All as expected. Nyxem let out a humming chime, before floating the Frism closer to himself and speaking into it.

"Test successful. End of log."

The Porygon-Z floated the Frism down to the ground, before gathering a white, frigid ray in front of his right arm and casting it down at the icy receptacle. It hit the Frism's opening, caking it over in ice. Nyxem turned his attention to his arm's Looplet afterwards, focusing and prying the stone seated in it with an unseen force.

It cracked and shattered, falling to the ground in pieces as light suddenly swept over Hess' body. His form started shrinking and rearranging back into his body's normal shape, before the light dulled and then faded away entirely. The Aggron staggered woozily about on his feet, before slumping over, panting dazedly as Nyxem floated down and raised his arms with a chiming cheer.

"Well done! Well done! I must say that the results of your first experiment were nothing short of phenomenal."

Hess shambled back up onto his feet, bringing a claw up to his head as he struggled to keep his footing and saw Nyxem staring at him intently.

"Wh-What just happened?"

Hess turned and saw Samson laying splayed out on the battlefield, yellow hemolymph oozing from a split on his carapace as the Aegislash and a couple other guards carried him off. The Aggron looked on for a moment, and in spite of the complete void of memories in his mind since pounding against the grate, things slowly began to piece together for him.

"I… I… did that?"

"Yes," Nyxem replied. "Quite an impressive display, really."

The Porygon-Z's eyes came aglow again as with a flick of his arm, he pulled the Looplet with Hess' Aggronite free of the Steel-Type's arm and back over to his side. The Aggron gasped and pawed at his arm, as Nyxem floated forward, batting his arms together with a cheery clap.

"Congratulations. You are the most promising test subject I've had since that Garchomp," Nyxem said. "I can already tell that I'll be able to do great things with you."

Hess' dumbfounded shock faltered as he grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He stomped forward, flashing a claw with a sharp growl that lingered in the air.

"Give me my lucky charm back!" the Aggron snapped. "And I don't know what you did to me, but I-!"

A weak jolt of electricity suddenly went over his limbs, before a sharp, burning blow struck him from the back of the head and sent him pitching forward. The next thing Hess knew, he was lying on his belly on the arena floor, and a Jolteon and a Blaziken were pinning him down. The Jolteon stood on the back of his neck as the Blaziken wrenched his arms back to bind them together. The Aggron panted briefly, and let out a low, defeated whine as Nyxem floated up and looked down towards him.

"Have done quite enough for me today," the Porygon-Z insisted. "Unfortunately we'll have to wait with any further experiments. I'm waiting for an old colleague of mine to arrive, and we won't be progressing any further until then."

Hess panted and widened his eyes as Nyxem brought his head down, and an eerie smirk settled over his face.

"I'll be looking forward to doing more experiments with you soon."

Hess let out a startled cry as the Blaziken jerked him up, before he and the Jolteon started herding him off the field. The whole time, Nyxem looked on, giving an idle glance after the Aggron as his stammering cries of protest faded, and then down at the gray, swirled stone his mind was holding aloft in the air.

"This has already been a most promising start."

---

(Continued in the next post)

 

[Virgil134]

Rosequartz Town hadn't changed all that much in the few weeks that Elty had last seen it. Sure there were some signs of fighting here and there, and the main square looked like a shell had blown up in it, but between the same scruffy stone-walled and slate-roofed buildings and the equally scruffy Pokémon that went about between them, it was very much how he remembered it.

Or at least it would've been if it weren't for all the Pokémon who stopped and stared at the Imperials and the towering serpent with him. Yes, Elty supposed that it was a bit different for Imps and a Protector of all Pokémon to just openly go around Rosequartz Town like this.

He tried to ignore the others' reactions and just kept going forward, checking his surroundings just in case that deal Nagant had struck up was a bit less ironclad than she'd assumed. There were the obvious pirates drinking in front of a tavern, with a Stoutland among them grumbling about 'the town going to the dogs'. Up ahead, there was a pair of Timburr lugging along a wooden cannon in broad daylight, and a little further down, there was a Braviary and a Morpeko that glowered in Nagant's direction from the stoop of a complex of buildings flying red banners. The Braviary shot a withering glare as Elty and the others passed, before turning aside with a sullen scoff.

"Tá sé seo áiféiseach," the Braviary growled. "We busted our tails with that raid earlier and now we've got to go and raid Nagrobek of all places without getting to keep anything?"

"That sounds like a 'you' problem for getting caught," the Morpeko retorted. "I got a bag of loot from Gestirn that's been treating me plenty well ever since leaving."

… Maybe it was for the best to hurry on from the way that the Braviary's face contorted at the Morpeko's reply. Elty picked up the pace as some sort of heated argument broke out further behind.

"Yeesh, talk about a rough neighborhood," Cabot murmured.

Berecien glanced over his shoulder and let his gaze linger for a moment. His eyes narrowed, before turning back with a disgusted snort.

"Why are we tolerating this again from Pokémon that are supposed to be working with us?" the Ponyta demanded.

"Because you literally have no choice right now and the alternative is trying to take over a dug-in island while hopelessly undermonned?" Alice replied with a shrug.

Berecien pinned his ears and gave a sharp huff in reply. From the side, Elty cocked a brow, tilting his head at the Ponyta.

"Isn't your captain's crew literally half mercenaries and former pirates anyways?" Elty asked. "Why on earth are you so bothered by this when this is just another day for you?"

"Look, there are standards within the Royal Navy!" Berecien snapped, stomping a hoof. "We don't just openly discuss looting like a bunch of common scoundrels!"

"Tch, speak for yourself," Niilo cut in. "My contract says that as part of my service I get to keep whatever I take off of 'mons I defea-"

There was a sharp hiss as the Sandslash's eyes suddenly widened and he jumped back from an incoming Water Pulse. A quick glance forward revealed Nagant had whirled about on her tail and was training her gaze at the Ground-Type with a withering glare, only to turn to Berecien with a frown that prompted him to similarly stiffen up.

"That's enough, all of you," the Clawitzer hissed. "I already have enough headaches with everything going on, and I don't need you all bickering like children on top of everything."

Berecien and Niilo fell silent, and beyond shooting frowns at each other, they said nothing as Nagant turned and continued leading them forward. All the while, the smell of salt water in the air grew stronger as Elty looked and saw that at the end of the street was the familiar sight of the sea and ships' sails and masts poking over the surrounding rooftops. He blinked, as he turned over to Nagant with a puzzled frown.

"Wait, the docks? Why are we going over here?" Elty asked. "I thought we weren't ready to set sail yet."

"We aren't. We're meeting someone to help prepare us for that. That pirate captain that the Council looped in to fill their vacancy apparently participated in the last pirate raid on Nagrobek and played a leading role in gathering intelligence for it," Nagant explained. "Given that we'll have to do much the same ourselves, I thought it would be wise to touch base with him and see what we're getting into."

Right, Dirk had mentioned that there was some old captain that Nagant should be reaching out to, with a name that sounded weirdly familiar. At the same time, this 'mon somehow was involved in spying on the place beforehand? And lived to tell the tale afterwards? That was certainly something he'd never heard of from others on Orleigh that he knew had been there at that raid.

Elty turned his head after they exited the street and started walking along the docks, studying the ships in port as they continued forward. He passed along a couple piers and saw that the Crimson Corsairs' red-sailed ships were a ways further down the docks. As he started walking by the red-colored ships, he noticed that the Strongjaw Gang's orange-sailed ones were behind them and almost on the entire other end of the harbor.

So, this Pokémon wasn't from either of their crews… but then who-?

"Oi, Cillian, put your back into things! I've been on the sidelines for six years and can still run up and down a gangplank faster than that!"

Elty looked up ahead where there at the next pier down, he saw a Feraligatr by a barquentine with blue sails. The Water-Type was calling up to a Beartic lugging a set of ropes up a gangplank going up to the deck, his arms folded and his face curled up into a small smirk. Elty blinked incredulously at the sight as it dawned on him that this was the same trinket-seller who'd showed them that map for getting around Pioppo. He really was once Council material?

Partway over, the pirates along the ship abruptly stopped and turned over wide-eyed as their attention all drifted over to Kline, including the Beartic, who stumbled and fell off the gangplank with a loud yelp and splash. Laurens turned around himself as his own eyes visibly widened, his attention drifting up as Kline slithered up to him.

"Ah yes, you must be Laurens. Or I suppose Captain Laurens now."

Kline brought his head down towards the Feraligatr, who visibly stiffened up as the Zygarde's face met his. Laurens stared wordlessly in dumbstruck awe, as from the side, Elty's own face looked not all that much different as he traded looks between the two…

If for somewhat different reasons.

"You're the one filling the vacant spot on the Council?" Elty asked.

"I did say that I used to be a captain in my own right, Growlithe," the Feraligatr explained. "I don't know who talked Dirk into agreeing to this, but he and Tarquin tasked me to take over the Torrent Tsars' last ship along with whatever else I can scrape together and raise a crew, so I've been calling in some old favors to fill the gaps."

He looked back to the pirates around the ship, reaching down to pull up the Beartic from the water with a low grunt.

"Tell everyone to take five, Cillian," he said. "I need a bit of time to talk with these Imps."

The Beartic saluted, still dripping, before scampering off and calling out back up to the deck. Laurens shuffled off down the pier, motioning for Elty and the others to follow. They began making their way down the docks together, as the Feraligatr tilted his head and peered down at the Growlithe with a puzzled frown.

"Though what are you doing back here?" Laurens asked "And where's the rest of your friends? Especially that long-necked Wingull who was with you?"

Elty froze as his ears and tails drooped, averting his gaze with a deflated whine. The Feraligatr cocked a brow, as Nagant hopped in between them with a serious frown.

"They've met much the same fates as the pirates who failed to come back to Orleigh."

Laurens' eyes widened at the response. The Feraligatr faltered afterwards, setting his teeth on edge with a low murmur.

"Then, they're-"

"A matter that's best discussed in greater depth another time. In private," Nagant harrumphed. "We have a window of five days at most in order to have our best chances at successfully raiding Nagrobek. So for the sake of Lugia's friends and any of your companions you had to leave behind there seven years ago, I need to know what you did while planning out the previous raid on Nagrobek."

Laurens paused for a moment, the grimace on his face fading as a noticeable frown came over his maw as they reached the end of the pier.

"I don't know why you're asking me when that raid failed, but I had 'mons infiltrate the ranks of the local guards and map out the town and its facilities," the Feraligatr said. "We spent a lot of time scouting out the prison in particular, since that's the main stronghold of the island."

He stopped and folded his arms, as he turned his snout down to meet the Clawitzer with a gaze that looked almost as if it could pierce through her shell.

"You lot had told us that Beatrice the Swift was there along with her crew," Laurens huffed. "We thought that if we could throw the prison into chaos, that she and the others inside would give us a fighting chance to overrun those square-necks."

Yes, Elty remembered hearing the story from Pyry that Beatrice had been sent to Nagrobek after a big raid on Canalhouse City. Word around town these days was that she was never there in the first place, but Pyry had been convinced that she'd died in prison.

There was a confused look among the Imperials, and most of Team Zephyr's for that matter. Alice seemed to catch on to where things were going as her fur visibly bristled in discomfort.

"We were mistaken back then," Laurens growled. "Both about Beatrice being there, and about trusting anything you Imps said."

Cabot and the others traded worried glances with one another, all while Kline subtly studied Nagant's reaction. The whole time, the Clawitzer remained unmoved beyond meeting Laurens' gaze with a steely, unyielding expression.

"… I didn't have any involvement in whatever happened back then, Feraligatr. I had a posting in the border waters towards the south at the time," Nagant explained. "I can't speak for whoever relayed that intelligence to you, but at the time your raid happened, that was what my colleagues and I thought happened to Beatrice. Given that I'll be physically present for that raid, I have no reason to lie to you about the present state of affairs on Nagrobek."

The two stared at each for a moment, before Nagant lowered her gaze with a quiet murmur.

"I'll admit that it's not particularly easy for me to have sympathy for a Pokémon like you, but I can understand how much it hurts to watch friends and comrades suddenly being ripped away," she said. "Though I'm still confused about how on earth this all happened. Even without Beatrice, shouldn't there have been a chance of the breakout succeeding? What went wrong?"

Laurens' scowl faltered as his gaze softened and turned wistful. He averted his eyes, rubbing at his right arm with a low, deflated murmur.

"The prison held and the breakout didn't succeed," the Feraligatr replied. "I don't know what exactly happened inside, but back out in Dulefield Town, we were ambushed by Company reinforcements coming in. It kept us from being able to cut and run with what loot we had back then, forcing every 'mon to fend for themselves."

"… If nothing else, we at least won't have to worry about reinforcements this time," Nagant said. "Or at least for now. I can't guarantee that will be the case if we can't get this raid started within five days."

She hesitated and twitched her barbels briefly, before carrying on with an insistent chitter.

"Our plan is to have a team of Pokémon go ahead of us and scout before we come ashore," Nagant continued. "I just need to know what they should be aware of before they set off."

"It's not that easy, Clawitzer."

Laurens studied Nagant, trading glances between her and the Zygarde further behind her, before training a skeptical frown down at her.

"Do you have anyone inside the actual prison already?"

"Er… not anyone that we have a way of getting in touch with?" Elty said.

"Technically I do have someone, but as a prisoner he is in no position to act as an inside 'mon," Kline corrected.

"Then I don't know what exactly you hope to accomplish. The prison's literally attached to the island's garrison and functions as the central hub for its defenses," Laurens said. "The guards posted there were better trained than most sailors I've run into either in Company or Imperial waters. Without someone on the inside to tell you what they're up to, they'll pick you apart."

The Feraligatr trailed off for a moment, shaking his head and folding his arms.

"It took me a lot longer than five days to get my 'mons in last time. It's been seven years since I last saw that gods-forsaken rock and I have no idea how it's changed at all beyond some loose stories that I've heard."

Nagant fell silent as the others traded uneasy glances with each other. After weighing his thoughts for a moment, Elty made his way forward and hesitantly spoke up.

"… What if there was another group we could ask for help?" the Growlithe asked. "Did you try working with the local ferals last time?"

There was a blinking pause, as both Laurens and the others around Elty stared at him. The Feraligatr broke the silence, as he tilted his head with a curious rumble from his throat.

"… Well, no. But how would that help?" he asked. "I mean, it's not as if I don't know how to talk to a 'mon that lives like that. But ferals normally don't care about whatever civilized Pokémon are getting up to if it doesn't involve their own territories. Trust me, I've been on both ends of that conversation."

'Both ends of that conversation'? … Right, Laurens had mentioned once being a feral himself. Even if Elty never would've pegged him as having been one when he first saw him hawking his charms a couple of weeks ago. Though he supposed he wouldn't have pegged Laurens as a captain either from an initial glance if Rasp hadn't told him otherwise.

That was the part that made him uneasy about this whole idea. What if Laurens had seen something about the ferals back then that convinced him not to even try?

… No, if there was anyone who knew about what the ferals who lived on Nagrobek were like, especially back during this raid, it was him. And he could think of some things that Pokémon like his mother could've done to help if she would've been convinced…

"Well, the ferals on Nagrobek know the lay of the land the best," Elty offered. "So maybe they would know ways of sneaking up on the prison and other facilities. And they might be willing to help fight, too…"

Elty trailed off briefly as his ears and tail drooped. Unwanted memories of running through the stripped forest as mom stayed behind fighting came to mind. He briefly tensed up and shook his head to try and dispel them, but it didn't do anything about the way his head and shoulders suddenly felt so much heavier…

"When I lived on that island, Elilan's guards would snatch us from the wilds for whatever excuse they could come up with, and then throw us into that prison," he explained. "Whatever Pokémon are still around, I'm sure that they'd want to get rid of him too."

Laurens hesitated for a moment, before giving Elty a sympathetic look and stooping down to pet the top of his head. From the side, Berecien stepped forward as he cast a dubious frown at the two former ferals.

"Not that I don't blame you all for having a grudge against those square-necks, but ferals aren't exactly united under one authority," the Ponyta said. "If what you said is accurate, then we can't even take it for granted that Elilan isn't already playing different groups of ferals against each other. Where on earth would we even start if we tried to get them to help us?"

"You'd be best off trying to approach the ones in the Mystery Dungeon first."

Berecien turned back and saw Calidus meeting his eyes. The Ponyta blinked in surprise as there was a lingering quiet, which was finally broken by Niilo after he turned to face the Talonflame with a puzzled frown.

"Wait, why would we want to do that again?" the Sandslash asked.

"Pokémon of dungeon stock do tend to work together in ways that ferals outside often don't. They have to with the sort of environment they live in," Calidus explained. "If things are as bad for ferals on Nagrobek as Elty's saying, it'd be the most likely place where they'd hole up. You can't track down a nest or a den as easily when its place shifts around during the day."

Laurens' face turned pensive, as crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. The Feraligatr visibly weighed his thoughts in his head, before he mused aloud to himself.

"I'll admit that it's something, but it's still not a replacement for knowing what's going on inside the prison and Nagrobek's defenses. I can tell you from experience that looking from the outside in will only go so far," Laurens said. "Neither the local ferals nor whatever team you send in are likely to get a proper read of things in just five days."

"What about the villagers in Dulefield Town?" Berecien asked. "It's not as if things can be kept a secret from them on their own island, so what if we tried to find out more about how the defenses are set up from them?"

Laurens looked over towards Berecien, as his face took an exasperated turn and grew impressively long even for a Pokémon with a large snout like him.

"I'd say that you were being very optimistic there, Ponyta," the Feraligatr retorted. "Last I checked, Imps aren't exactly popular in Company waters, let alone Imps collaborating with pirates. Just how are you going to find someone who both knows what's going on and willing to talk to you?"

"I might have an idea, actually…"

Everyone turned in surprise as Kline slithered up to the front of the group. Berecien seemed taken aback for a moment, as the Zygarde turned his eyes down towards the others.

"I know a Pokémon in Dulefield Town through a close friend of mine who might be able to help. It's admittedly been a long time since either of us met him, but at the very least we won't have to start from scratch," Kline offered. "Also, there is one crucial difference between that last raid of yours and the one we're planning now…"

The Zygarde fanned his tendrils out, turning his head up with a determined huff.

"I wasn't there to fight alongside you back then," he said. "Surely having a Protector at your side would give us a fighting chance to take over Nagrobek, wouldn't you say?"

Laurens blinked wordlessly and stared at the Zygarde for a moment, as a small smile began to work its way over his face. He closed his eyes, shaking his head with a small chuckle.

"… Maybe it's just me being a superstitious old sea dog for believing in a Protector I'd never even heard of before today, but I'll admit, it's not a bad argument," the Feraligatr said. "I suppose your plan could work, but…"

Laurens trailed off for a moment, turning his attention back to Nagant with a wary frown.

"Just who are you going to send to scout things out?" he asked. "Since your snake buddy here wasn't exactly subtle when he came into town earlier."

"I am, of course," Elty cut in. "Nagrobek's my home island, so of course I'm goi-"

A sharp hiss cut him off mid-sentence, as Nagant whirled about on her tail. She slightly shifted her firing claw, her mouthparts curling into a visible frown

"That is a matter that I will decide, Growlithe," Nagant said. "This isn't some Rescue Team mission of yours where you can just be teleported out or rescued if something goes wrong."

Elty pinned his ears and huffed back. He dug his paws in, before shaking his head and raising his voice in protest.

"Wiem o tym! But I want to help get my friends out of prison! Why else do you think I'm not back on Gestirn with the rest of Beatrix's crew?!" the Growlithe exclaimed. "And you need me to help! Unless you have another 'mon on your crew who grew up as a feral on Nagrobek, I'm the only one who's familiar with how things work in that Mystery Dungeon!"

Nagant remained unmoved as her frown grew visibly sharper. Before she could interject, she felt a nudge at her shoulder and glanced over to see Berecien nosing at her with a wary expression.

"… He does have a point, Captain," the Ponyta insisted. "I was going to volunteer myself to go with whatever group you sent out since my speech won't stand out locally. Besides, I wanted a chance to see the home that my parents had to leave behind."

Nagant didn't say anything back for a moment. The Ponyta waited expectantly, only for the Clawitzer to keep her expression firm, when a shadow fell over her. She pivoted on her tail, looking up to see Kline peering down at her.

"You are short on time right now, Nagant. Given that your scouts will only have a few days to work with, it would be beneficial if at least some of the Pokémon you send were already familiar with the island," he said. "Besides, this clearly matters a lot to Eltenios and Berecien on a personal level. Are you really going to find others on your crew who would be more motivated than them for this mission?"

Nagant twitched her barbels briefly, before turning back to Elty and Berecien with a grudging sigh.

"… We'll talk more about this later, but I'll keep your requests in mind." she said, before shifting her attention to Laurens. "While I don't normally pay much mind to the sentiments of pirates, I'll give you and your peers a chance to voice concerns with the strategies I and my superior are considering beforehand."

"I'll hold you to that," the Feraligatr grunted, nodding his head. "Best of luck to you and your sailors."

Nagant turned and began to hop off as one by one, Berecien and his companions, and then Team Zephyr followed after her. Elty lingered behind briefly as Laurens walked back towards his ship and barked out to his sailors to get back to work. It was well-timed on his part from the looks of it given there were a few Pokémon coming up from the docks with supplies and repair materials and headed in the ship's direction. There was a Golisopod in a teal scarf bringing along a bucket of pitch, a Machoke lugging along a stack of wooden planks, a Ribombee leading along a Flygon carrying a bundle of sailcloth…

He blinked and turned his head back after the last two.

"Wait a minute…"

That was Flygon was Rasp! The innkeeper who ran the place they'd stayed in the last time he and Team Traveller were here on the island! And Bech from the Secret Bazaar was there, too!

The Growlithe paced ahead after the Flygon and his father, and as the two turned to leave, he barked out after them for attention.

"Rasp? Bech?"

The Ribombee flitted in place before turning around, his Flygon child following after more slowly. Their eyes met his and there was a flash of recognition, along with a tension in Rasp's body that made Elty freeze in realization.

Right, Nida had mentioned that when she, Guardia and Pleo were getting chased around Rosequartz Town, that Pleo had trashed the main square… And he'd badly hurt Rasp and Bech in the process.

He hadn't personally been there to see it since he was with the Iron Fleet when everything happened. But the two looked like they were doing better now, so…

"What are you doing here?" Elty asked.

The two didn't say anything at first, but just from their postures, Elty already could tell that something was wrong. Rasp's face visibly fell and his tail flicked back and forth agitatedly. In the air off to his side, Bech shot an aside glance at his son, before flying down with a small smile.

"Oh, it's you again. It's been a while, kid," the Ribombee said. "Laurens called in a favor and asked us to help get his ships sailworthy. Though what are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, going along with this raid to try and save my friends and stuff," Elty explained, waving a forepaw. "But who'd have thought we'd wind up working with each other like this again?"

Elty wagged his tail and forced a smile over his face as he looked back up at the two. He faltered almost immediately after noticing Rasp's face falling into a withering glare and him flaring his wings. Bech visibly hesitated in the air as he went and flew up beside the Flygon, giving a hushed "Come on, Rasp…" that caught his ears.

The Flygon's expression visibly refused to budge, and when Elty's eyes drifted leftward, he noticed a faint scar running along the Flygon's wing.

Rasp pulled his wings back in, before craning his head down towards his father with an audible harrumph.

"Tar anois, a Dhaid. We need to get going," he insisted. "Those sails aren't going to hoist themselves."

The Flygon turned away and started making his way down the pier as Bech lingered in place for a moment. The Ribombee wavered, and looked back at Elty uneasily.

"Don't mind Rasp, he's just been through a lot lately," he said. "I'm sure that he'll be in a better mood eventually."

… Yeah, probably sometime after he left.

There was a sharp woosh as Rasp jumped up and took wing, as Bech turned and flew off after him. From his place on the pier, Elty watched, opening his mouth to call out, only for the words to hang in his throat:

Just what could he even tell them right now?

His ears and tail fell, and he let his head hang as his eyes drifted down towards the wood under his paws.

"Hey, what's the holdup?"

He briefly looked behind and saw that Alice had split off from the rest of the group to come back for him. The Sneasel looked at him for a moment, before her gaze drifted up at the sky where Rasp and Bech were flying off. She watched them for a moment, before turning back to Elty with a curious raise of her brow.

"… Those old friends of yours or something?" Alice asked.

Elty didn't raise his gaze from the pier. He turned away from the Flygon and Ribombee vanishing off in the distance, and shook his head with a deflated murmur.

"I wish," he said. "Come on, let's just get out of here."

Alice hesitated briefly, before turning and continuing on for the path back to the Council's manor. Elty trudged along beside her, his ears and tail drooping the entire time.

---

Nida stepped past the threshold of an open set of double doors and squinted her eyes against the almost blinding light. Three days in, and it was still surprising how being in darkened tunnels for so long would make normal sunlight so hard to adjust back to.

She made her way down a set of broad steps, first glancing back at the exit to the prison wing behind her, and then off towards her surroundings ahead:

It was the same bleak, featureless space she remembered being brought out to in the days before: tall brick walls with guards patrolling their tops left, right, and center, with a ground covered in pavestones. The only hint of nature that was there at all was the increasingly westerly sun of a late afternoon sky overhead… and the other Pokémon here inside the courtyard with her.

This was apparently the place in this prison where prisoners were supposed to have "recreation"… or what passed for it, since Nida couldn't see anything that remotely resembled a game, beyond the occasional battle that didn't look particularly like playful sparring. More typically, Pokémon would gather off into small groups that huddled together, while others would go off on their own and wander about aimlessly. Wherever she looked, both sorts of Pokémon would usually look closer to being "sullen" or "exhausted" than like they were doing anything they were actually enjoying.

She scanned her eyes as she went about, where there, off in the left corner at the far end of the yard, she could see Kiran, Pladur, Albert, and Pyry all gathered and talking together. The Swellow from the group noticed her and hailed her by raising a wing, as she shuffled forward to meet them. As Nida walked up, she noticed that they all looked tired and covered with dust and soot, just as she surely was herself after a long day's work at the smelters.

She also noticed that there was still a noticeable tension about them. Kiran raised his head and looked around for a moment, before checking the top of the wall. After seeing that they weren't being watched, he shuffled aside to let Nida join their circle. Pladur was the first to speak, as he turned his tusked head with a hushed murmur.

"Cómo salió todo, Nida?" the Fraxure asked. "Did you manage to sneak anything out?"

"I did, actually," the Nidorina replied. "I stole an Oran Berry during my last shift that was small enough to hide in my scarf. I don't think anybody noticed me when I took it…"

After briefly scanning their surroundings for herself, Nida pawed at the knot of her scarf and pulled out the Oran Berry she'd kept hidden under it… if it could be called that from how small and underripe it was. The berry didn't seem to inspire much confidence in her teammates, as Albert briefly eyed it, before shaking his head with a low sigh.

"That's… not a very big Oran Berry," the Nuzleaf murmured. "Though are you sure it's going to stay good long enough for when we try to get out of here?"

Nida quietly lowered her ears and averted her gaze. She hadn't thought about that. She'd gotten herself so worked up over getting that berry, but just from what she could already see from the others, she got the feeling that they weren't expecting to get out of here before it went bad.

Perhaps she should've known better. Since even that hidden entrance she'd spotted while working at the smelters wasn't something they were sure they could use to escape. Still, between the five of them, surely someone else had to have some ideas of what they could do…?

"I was assuming that it would," the Nidorina murmured. "Did any of you find any potential leads out of here?"

The others traded mostly blank looks with each other, which Nida supposed was as good a sign as any that they hadn't. The one exception was Albert, who paused for a moment, before speaking up to the others.

"One of the guards pulled back a panel on one of the walls in our cellblock and I saw there was a keyhole behind it. It might not be much, but if there's tunnels that the guards use to get around, maybe we could use that to our advantage," the Nuzleaf offered. "I don't know if we'd be able to get through it on our own, but if we managed to rally some help-"

"… Then it's not worth bothering with."

Pyry shuffled away and hung his head. Nida blinked as Kiran and the others shot askew glances at the Gabite, the Swellow warily raising his brow.

"Huh?" Kiran asked. "Why not?"

"Because Elilan will just make an Illusion if the guards realize there's trouble happening. That's what happened during the riot that Pekka and I escaped in."

Pyry shook his head, his mood and gait both seeming to sink lower and lower in front of their eyes.

"It was a very strong one, since we almost got lost right at the very edge of a hole in the wall," the Gabite explained. "All this time, we've never run into anyone else who made it out of the prison walls beside us. Maybe there's some sort of way we could sneak out if it's just a few of us, but once those Illusions go up, I just don't think there's a way for us to get out of here."

Everyone fell silent as Nida quietly tensed up and grimaced. If Elilan could really do that, then just finding a way out wasn't enough. It'd mean that to have any hope of escaping, they'd also have to somehow get out before Elilan found out about their absence, which Nida wasn't sure would be possible unless he just wasn't around… and he'd almost certainly normally would be here since this was the island he was supposed to run as an Administrator.

Then… would any of this actually work? Or had they just been grasping at straws this entire time?

… Were they really just going to be trapped here forever? Nida had tried telling herself that it'd only been a couple days so far. That they'd already gotten out of impossible-looking situations in the past, but the more she found out about this place, the harder it was to see any way out.

She looked up past the top of the walls and off at the skies above, as clouds drifted in the distance along a southern wind, towards where Pleo was somewhere far away and across the sea.

A part of her hoped that he was doing better than them. However, after being all alone for three days and with the way that Lyn had treated him the last time he caught him… was he really better off? At least when the Imperials caught him, he had others to talk to. It wasn't as if that Samurott would let anyone close to him, and gods knew what he and the Board were planning for him.

Travellers above, could it be that he'd actually be doing worse than them? Nida assumed that Lyn wouldn't be making Pleo do hard labor, but was he lonely right now? Was he scared?

She just wished that she knew…

"Listen up you miserable wastes of flesh!"

Nida and the others turned their heads at the sound of a sharp shout and a tremor coming from the entrance of the prison yard that jolted through the ground. There, coming down those same steps she'd descended earlier, was Junius. The Marowak pulled his bone back from the ground, sauntering up along with a party of lavender-scarved guards. It was hard to miss the reactions of the other prisoners as he passed, some shooting hateful glares, while others shrank away at his approach. The Marowak seemed to enjoy both sets of reactions, as he went about and sneered about the prison yard.

"We've got a newcomer today: someone I'm sure that some of you are just dying to meet."

"Nrgh!"

Junius leveled his club off towards the steps, where there was a Dragonite getting shoved along by guards. He winced in pain with every jostle, as Nida saw that his wings had had holes oozing blood torn into them. She cringed at the sight, as the thought crossed her mind that he somehow looked familiar.

She noticed a number of other prisoners turning their heads in surprise as the Dragonite was marched forward up to Junius, when Nida stiffened up as she suddenly realized why this Dragonite looked so familiar to her…

"This is Darzin. Yes, that Darzin," Junius said. "The now-former Company Administrator of Tromba."

Nida pinned her ears back as she saw a dark mood start to settle among the other prisoners. Growls started coming from all around, as various prisoners started getting up and a few began making tentative steps towards Darzin. Between them and the malicious sneers on the guards, she could already tell that it wasn't a sign of anything good. Her teammates seemed to think much the same, as they traded worried looks with each other.

The only one in the entire courtyard who didn't seem to really react to it was Darzin himself, who glowered and growled from beneath his bindings. Junius gave a brief glance at the growing crowd of prisoners about them, before shooting a self-satisfied smirk out at them as he gestured at Darzin with his club.

"Looks like you all have some catching up to do," the Marowak remarked. "We'll let you have a moment to give this fat embarrassment the old 'Nagrobek welcome'."

A Pawmot undid Darzin's chains as the guards beside him shoved him forward towards the other prisoners. The Dragonite fought to stay on his feet for a moment as the guards started heading off. Darzin whirled around, dragonfire starting to wreath his claws as he began to go after them.

"You."

It dissipated as Darzin paused and turned his head back towards the prisoners gathering around him. There was a Mamoswine making his way forward with a small group. He pawed at the ground with a foreleg, and a look that reminded Nida as one her mami would have when she was mad enough to send a 'mon to the Medics' Hut… which almost all the other prisoners and around him shared.

Darzin briefly glanced about the others, before answering with a glare of his own.

"What do you want, Mamoswine?"

"I've spent six years in this godsforsaken hole because of you square-necks," the Mamoswine growled. "I might never get out this place alive, but I'll be content with taking your hide as-"

Darzin cut the Mamoswine off with a Fire Punch to the face, sending him stumbling back. The Ice-Type fought to keep his footing, as Darzin crouched and suddenly lunged ahead, blue dragonfire wreathing his entire body which Nida recognized as being the same Dragon Rush that she'd seen Pleo use. The Dragonite struck the Mamoswine with a sharp thud, his momentum throwing the Ice-Type off his feet and to a groaning stop on his side. Flashes of alarm went about the other Pokémon in the group, as a few uneasily shifted back, while Darzin bared his fangs with a sharp growl.

"Do you really think you miserable worms are just going to kick me around?!" the Dragonite spat. "I got to where I was by my strength, and I'll gladly remind you of-"

An Ambipom charged ahead and buffeted Darzin mid-sentence with a pair of slams with his tails. The Dragonite briefly lost his footing, before roaring and driving a set of claws trailing dragonfire deep into the Ambipom's gut. A pained scream followed, as the monkey limply pitched to the ground. A Whirlipede slammed into Darzin from the right, only to be met with much the same fate, when a cloud of orange powder suddenly overtook him.

"Ah!"

The Dragonite's limbs visibly locked up and grew sluggish, a quick glance back revealing a Masquerain hurriedly darting away, stray orange powder still lingering about her. A Ludicolo then spat up a Hydro Pump from behind that sent Darzin pitching forward with a sharp cry, prompting a Drapion to rush in with a slash trailing darkened contrails.

The other prisoners' hesitation melted away after that, as one after the other, they descended upon the Dragonite. They rained down blow after blow upon him as Darzin's cries came out increasingly pained and frantic.

Nida looked on in blank shock as they just kept going, while the guards, beyond a disinterested look here and there, did nothing to intervene as Darzin wildly thrashed and swiped his claws. There were fresh cuts and bruises all over Darzin's hide. His earlier defiance was completely gone, as the Dragonite curled up to try and shield himself from the mob attacking him. Nida's breath caught in her throat as she noticed an Excadrill approaching, bringing his claws together and lining them up with the wounded dragon's underbelly.

"Time to make you scream, you filthy square-"

The Excadrill abruptly stopped as a whirling bone smashed into him, sending him slumping over Darzin and collapsing into a heap on his other side. A stream of burning sand drove off the Drapion just afterwards, and a Thunder Punch from the Pawmot among the prison guards sent the Ludicolo hurriedly limping off before the gathered prisoners scattered. A series of sharp taps against stone turned everyone's attention back to the steps leading into the courtyard, where there was Junius, strolling downwards with a piercing glare.

"Alright, you scum have had your fun, show's over," the Marowak barked. "Anyone who's still going at it in the next five seconds gets a free trip to the Pit. Tonight."

The prisoners faltered briefly, before grudgingly slinking off one by one, a few laggards staying to help their wounded fellows limp off or else to glare and snarl hushed invective at the still curled-up Dragonite. The moment after the crowd cleared, Junius sauntered up, Darzin wearily raising his head with hoarse, shaken pants. The Marowak raised his bone and thrust it forward with a sharp jab at a cut along Darzin's flank, making the dragon recoil with a sharp cry as a malicious smile came over Junius' face.

"Looks like you're really popular here, Darzin," he sneered. "In case you were too dense to figure it out, but things don't work the same way they did when you were wearing Company lavenders. Keep making enemies like that, and you'll be lucky to last the week."

Junius gave a parting swat at the dragon's rump with his bone. Darzin flinched, before stumbling up onto his feet and limping off awkwardly, his wings and antennae now visibly drooping. Nida watched the Dragonite lumber along leftward, a few prisoners stopping to cry out particularly harsh insults as he made his way to the edge of the yard by the wall. He sat down in front of the bricks and just stayed there, staring.

Nida pinned her ears back and averted her gaze. This was the hated tyrant of Tromba who'd just been humbled in front of everyone present, and yet, unlike those stories Mami would tell her about her fateful battle defeating Darzin and sending him fleeing with his tail between his legs, this felt… wrong somehow. A quick glance over her companions revealed similarly uncomfortable expressions, as Kiran stared at Darzin for a moment, before he shook his feathers with an uneasy mutter.

"I suppose this hasn't been the first fight that I've seen in this yard since coming here, but that certainly got uglier than I expected," the Swellow said.

"What on earth even happened?" Pladur asked. "I know that Darzin was supposed to have fallen afoul with the Board, but winding up here of all places as a common prisoner?"

The others traded uneasy murmurs as Kiran wondered aloud if the Company had found out that Darzin tried to work with Nagant. The whole time, Nida looked on with a strange but familiar discomfort. She couldn't place where that uneasy feeling was coming from or why it felt so familiar, when it suddenly dawned on her:

She'd felt like this after Lyn had captured them all, when she saw Hess' utterly defeated and crushed expression. She never got the chance to speak to him afterwards, and considering what became of him, she likely never would.

But Darzin was here right now. Even if a part of her still wasn't sure if approaching him was really a good idea, could she take it for granted she'd be able to talk with him later…?.

Nida began to make her way towards Darzin, when a surprised squawk came from behind her. She felt scales and feathers holding her back, as Kiran and Pladur both quickly caught up with her, the Swellow looking at her with a startled stare.

"Nida, qué estás haciendo?" Kiran demanded.

"I want to go and talk to him," Nida replied. "It just doesn't feel right to leave Darzin like that."

Pladur stared at her for a moment as the corners of his mouth drooped, before he gave a dubious shake of his head in reply.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Nida," the Fraxure said. "You saw how the others reacted to him. If they think that we're together, then-"

"Pladur, it'll be fine."

The dragon's words trailed off in his mouth as Nida cut him off. She glanced back at him, meeting his eyes, steady and unyielding.

"It'll just be a moment. If there's any trouble, I'll come right back."

Neither of the two looked convinced, but after a brief hesitation, they let her go. Nida warily began to walk towards the prison wall that Darzin was sitting against. The Dragonite looked visibly winded and his antennae were drooping. As she neared, she thought she saw moisture beading up in the corners of his eyes, before her gaze turned to the red-flecked holes standing out against the teals of his wing membranes.

Nida winced at the sight. She knew that Kiran had had his flight feathers cut, but she didn't remember seeing other winged prisoners dealt with like this over the past couple days. She briefly considered turning back, but before she could, Darzin twitched his antennae and turned his head up at her approach

Almost immediately, he forced back the defeated expression on his face. He stood up and flared his tattered wings, flashing his fangs and claws with a wobbly gait.

"Hrmph, so you're here to try your luck fighting me, too," Darzin growled. "If you seriously think you stand a chance against me alone, you have another thing coming!"

Nida looked on wordlessly as her face curled into a frown. She shook out her barbs, before narrowing her eyes with an unamused harrumph.

"You're really making things tempting, just saying," the Nidorina replied. "But no, I came here because I was worried about you."

Nida briefly checked her surroundings, before bringing her paw up to the knot of her scarf. She pulled out the Oran Berry stashed away from it and held it out toward the Dragonite.

"We already have enough enemies in this place as it is," she said. "Quick, take the berry before the guards see it. You're not going to last long going into work tomorrow without anything to tend to those wounds."

Darzin stared at her with a slow, wary blink. After a few moments, that earlier suspicion returned, as his face visibly fell with a sullen huff.

"Are you mocking me right now?" the Dragonite demanded.

"I could've done that just fine without walking all the way over to you," Nida retorted. "Look, do you want the berry or not? Since if you don't, I'm fine holding onto it myself."

Darzin gave Nida a blank look for a moment, before warily snatching the Oran Berry and popping it into his mouth. He chewed it a couple times, before swallowing the berry with a quiet gulp. He pawed at an arm, casting his gaze down and meeting her eyes with a skeptical frown.

"… Why are you doing this after everything I've done to you and your island?"

"Because even if you're a mean-spirited cheat, nobody deserves to be left beaten down and all alone like that," Nida said. "Much less after going through something like what they did to your wings."

Darzin remained silent and looked away. Nida wasn't fully sure what to say after that given that she was expecting the Dragonite to say something back, but perhaps this was a sign that she needed to take the lead with keeping the conversation going.

"How did you even get here?"

"… It was that Kommo-o and that Sylveon that were chasing after you," Darzin muttered, shaking his head. "After you left, they revealed that I'd been going after Lugia and framed me as being a spy for the Empire."

The Dragonite turned his head up and stared off into the sky. First vacantly, as an increasingly bitter twinge came over his face.

"Elilan must've known all along," he huffed. "He talked the Board into sending me here so that he could toy with me."

Nida blinked in surprise. There was clearly quite a story behind whatever had happened between Darzin, Elilan, and the rest of the Board. At the same time, she wasn't really sure what she could do to help his mood at the moment. She averted her gaze, giving an awkward shuffle of her forepaws.

"Yeah, I… know the two Pokémon you're talking about," she murmured. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Nida hesitated. A part of her wasn't comfortable just turning away and leaving Darzin behind after everything that had happened to him. At this rate, it wasn't hard to imagine that that horrid Marowak might be right and that Darzin really wouldn't last the week with the way the prisoners ganged up on him.

… At the same time, Darzin wasn't exactly a friend of theirs. For all she knew, he'd turn on him the day after when his wounds were a bit more healed. And Pladur likely wasn't wrong that getting close to him would likely draw the prisoners' ire onto them, too…

She just didn't know what to do.

"H-Hey! Let go of me!"

Nida's ears flicked as she briefly saw Darzin straighten up and look past her. She whirled around, where there in the corner was a large group of guards pulling Kiran and Pladur away. Her eyes widened as she saw the guards shoving back Pyry and Albert. The Nidorina raised her barbs in a panic and she started hurrying after her teammates and their captors.

"Ah! Kiran! Pladur! What's-?!"

"Not so fast."

Nida felt something hard catch her under her chest and nearly tripped, before she looked down and saw a long bone held out in front of her. As she followed it back to its owner, she saw that dreaded, dark-scaled Marowak was there. Nida tensed up as Junius pulled his bone back and idly spun it around, before planting it upright against the ground.

"It's your lucky day, Nidorina," he said. "You and your friends are getting transferred."

Nida looked over at Kiran and Pladur as they were marched over to the steps leading out of the prison yard. Much to her surprise, Crom and the rest of her teammates were already gathered at the top of the steps. The other prisoners in the yard were staring at them, with a few murmuring dark-sounding remarks like 'poor bastards' that reached her ears. She looked back at Junius and dug her feet into the ground as her heart quickened in her chest.

"What do you mean, 'transferred'?"

"It means, you're being moved to a different part of the prison," the Marowak answered. "You can either come along quietly or I'll drag out of here. Your choice."

The Marowak tightened his grip on his bone and idly batted it against his free hand as Nida subconsciously shuffled back. There was no way that anything good would come of going along with this. But she'd seen this Pokémon smack around Hess on his own, and with all of her friends already in the guards' clutches, just what could she do?

She hesitated for a moment, before Junius stepped forward and she felt his thumb claw dig under her pelt. The Marowak grabbed onto her shoulder, before marching her along towards the others. She tried to wrench herself free, but after the first few steps, she stopped fighting things, until she'd been marched over to her friends at the top of the stairs. She cast a glance over towards Crom, as the young Druddigon was standing up stiff and wide-eyed.

Tak! Tak!

Junius tapped his bone against the ground for attention. He turned his gaze out over Team Traveller and the gathered guards, before motioning ahead at the entrance to the prison with a sharp harrumph.

"Come on, we're running late as it is."

Nida uneasily shuffled forward with her friends. The whole time, her head spun and heart raced as they began making their way up the stairs and back into the prison and questions she couldn't answer kept repeating over and over again in her mind:

What was happening? Why were she and her teammates being singled out?

And what were these Pokémon going to do to them?

---

Author's Notes:

- Razbira se, che da! (Разбира се, че да!) - Bulgarian: "Of course (it is)!" / "Of course, absolutely!" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Tá sé seo áiféiseach - Irish: "This is ridiculous"
- Wiem o tym! - Polish: "I know that!"
- Tar anois, a Dhaid - Irish: "Come on, dad", lit. "Come now, dad"
- (¿)Cómo salió todo? - Spanish: “How’d everything go/turn out?"
- (¿)Qué estás haciendo? - Spanish: "What are you doing (right now)?"

 

[at the function]

You and Samson will be fighting each other today," Nyxem explained. "He used to be an Imperial spy who wanted to see what went on below Nagrobek's prison. In the end, he got what he wanted… just not the way he was expecting."

Well, they say the first rule of Nagrobek fight club is that you don't talk about Nagrobek fight club.

The way mega evolutions are handled is actually pretty interesting, kind of going into a mindless aggressive state is something that I'd never thought of before.

At this rate, it wasn't hard to imagine that that horrid Marowak might be right and that Darzin really wouldn't last the week with the way the prisoners ganged up on him.

Dang it, I didn't think it was possible but you might be making me be able to feel bad for Darzin.

 

[Virgil134]

Well, they say the first rule of Nagrobek fight club is that you don't talk about Nagrobek fight club.

Oh, hey there. It’s a rare treat in general for us to get reviews so far into the story, so it's great to see you back! But that would be good advice in general, yes.

The way mega evolutions are handled is actually pretty interesting, kind of going into a mindless aggressive state is something that I'd never thought of before.

There’s a couple branches of canon that do stuff with this. In the XY seasons of the anime, Pokémon that Mega Evolved without strong bonds to their trainers had a tendency to go into rampages, and in Super Mystery Dungeon and DX, there is also a berserk mechanic that your party members can enter into when Mega Evolved. If forcibly done to others however, this can become a feature and not a bug.

Dang it, I didn't think it was possible but you might be making me be able to feel bad for Darzin.

I mean, it helps that he was always the least effectual member of the Board and had some sympathetic motivations to him. That and being friend-shaped as a Dragonite even if Darzin tried his hardest to be of the same school as Iris’ from the anime probably helps with making it easier to feel bad for him.

Though thanks again for the review, it was a lot of fun to read and @Spiteful Murkrow and I hope to see you around again in the future. ^^


Alright, this chapter hit a few more snags than we were hoping to for getting it out the door, which was probably immediately obvious from the lack of a chapter header this time around. We actually have one in development from a commissioned artist at the moment, but due to personal reasons and some events outside of our control, it was not ready to be included at the time of this chapter, and will be edited in at a later date post-release.

Beyond that, we also decided to hold off on writing a trivia session for Episode 18 given that this episode and the prior one both are set on a common island and build off each other.

Though thank you all for your patience, it’s about time we kicked off a new chapter in which the gang finds themselves in a very different world from the one they’ve been in in the prior episode:

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Chapter 109: Dining With the Devil​

Nida had trouble focusing as the guards led her and her teammates through the same oppressive hallways that she'd gone through over and over again during the past couple days. The thought had crossed her mind that the guards might've found out they'd been trying to escape, and that they were bringing them to that 'Pit' the other prisoners were afraid of. They made their way down a long hall with white-painted walls and over to a set of reinforced doors manned by a party of guards led by a Tinkaton. After a brief exchange that Nida couldn't quite make out, the guards ushered them through.

The difference on the other side of the door was almost night and day. The hallways weren't drab and featureless anymore, and had flooring made of smaller clay tiles, as opposed to the plain, stone flooring in the cellblocks. There were windows that weren't barred, along with doors to rooms that hadn't been built in mind with simply being as sturdy as possible.

Much to her surprise, the guards led them into a steamy room with a pool of water in it, where they were ordered to bathe and 'make themselves presentable'. Even while actually stopping and settling in the pool, Nida didn't know what on earth to make of everything, other than that she seriously doubted that there'd been other prisoners that had come to this place before them:

There were wave motifs that ran along the length of the wall, and unlike those cold and brief showers in the prison, the water even felt warm like those springs on Buyeom did—most likely from an empty space under the pool that was heated by a furnace, as Pladur explained.

What on earth was going on? Weren't they supposed to be getting punished right now? If so, why were the guards bringing them someplace to make them feel good? Much less in a place that looked like it'd probably cost more than Calino's entire stock of goods to furnish?

Tak! Tak!

Nida flicked her ears and jolted upright in the pool along with her teammates. There, looking down from the edge of the pool was Junius, tapping the floor with his bone. He held it upright against the ground, before giving an impatient huff down at them.
"Come on, get up and dry off," the Marowak demanded. "You're keeping your host waiting."

Their… host? Nida and her teammates quickly made their way out of the pool. She and a few others like Kiran stopped by a pair of tiled alcoves to shake off some moisture before turning back to the towels that had been set out for them. Soon enough, the guards were all but herding them back out the room and into the hallway to march up a stairwell. One… two… three… four floors, when they were marched leftward and she suddenly noticed something:

Through the windows, she could see more than paved-over courtyards or a prison wall. This time, there was the sea under a burnt sky approaching sunset. A glance down revealed ramparts on top of a thick, brick wall, with Pokémon in lavender scarves patrolling up and down it.

The top of the same walls that had been blocking their view all this time.

"... Just how high up are we?" she murmured.

Nida didn't get an answer to the question, but she noticed her teammates slowing up ahead. Junius prompted some guards to push a set of double doors open and began leading them forward. Almost immediately, Nida could see that the room ahead was brightly lit, and as she crossed the threshold, she saw a line of broad windows to her right, with dark blue-colored walls decorated with paintings of landscapes and ships at sea to her left.

Dead ahead of them, there was a long table with plates and cushioned chairs set out with a spread of dishes laid out in the center: gummis, fresh loaves of bread, every imaginable variety of fruit and berry, and sweets that she'd only seen in town when Gwenith made them on special occasions for her bakery.

The Nidorina's eyes widened upon seeing the very end of the table. On the left, Sorge of all Pokémon was seated there. To the right, there was that Trevenant who'd been there watching over them when they first came to the prison. And in between them, was none other than Administrator Elilan himself, seated at the head of the table.

"Welcome! I'm so glad you could join us for dinner," Elilan greeted. "Sorge has told me quite a bit about you, so it's good to finally put faces to your names."

Nida stood there blinking and twitching her whiskers for a moment, as she tried to make sense of it all. Elilan had brought them over from the prison… to be his dinner guests? The rest of her companions looked as baffled and confused as she was, as Pladur hurried in front of Crom with a tense and hushed "mijo, quédate detrás de mí".

Elilan remained quiet, as a small smirk crept up over his face.

"I assume you already know who I am, so I'll spare you the introductions," the Zoroark said. "I'm sure that we'll get to know each other better soon enough."

He outstretched a paw, motioning over the spread of food on the table.

"Please, sit down," Elilan insisted. "You surely must be hungry since the rations in the prison aren't exactly filling."

There was a moment of hesitance as Nida and the others traded wary looks with one another. The Nidorina's face fell into a sharp frown. This was Elilan, wasn't it? The same Pokémon whose prison they'd just come out of. The same one who'd spent years chasing after Kline and had imprisoned his other half. So why was he just bringing them to a dinner like this as if nothing had happened?

"... What exactly is going on here?" Nida demanded. "Why are we even here right now?"

"Simple, Pleo has agreed to work for me in return for your freedom," Elilan said. "I'm merely honoring my end of the agreement."

Nida's eyes shot wide as she heard a mix of gasps and startled cries from her teammates. That- That couldn't be right! Pleo? Working with Elilan?! Surely this was just some sort of lie meant to shake their confidence!

The Nidorina looked around for any sign of something not adding up, as Elilan studied their reactions before continuing.

"Or to be more precise, we're still finalizing the terms of it," he elaborated. "Although I don't expect Pleo to turn our offer down in the end. He didn't strike me as the sort of Pokémon to let his friends suffer when they don't need to."

A collective chill among Team Traveller's gathered members. Nida wasn't really sure what to make of Elilan's words, other than that if he was being remotely truthful, it meant that Pleo wasn't working with him yet…

But what did that mean for them in that case? Was Elilan trying to get Pleo to go along with him by promising to let them go? But if that was really so, why were there all these guards around in the room? From the side, Crom idly kicked at the floor, before looking at Elilan with a wary tilt of his head.

"So… does that mean we can leave now?"

"No."

Crom and the rest of his teammates narrowed their eyes and scowled back across the table. Elilan gave no acknowledgement, other than to nonchalantly shrug in reply.

"As far as the Board is concerned, you're all prisoners meant to be kept here as leverage over Pleo. Letting you go would raise questions among them that I myself would be hard-pressed to give satisfactory answers for," the Zoroark explained. "As such, I'm working within necessary constraints and relocating you somewhere far more comfortable than the general prison population."

There was a sharp thump as Nida stomped ahead of the group, her barbs raised all along her pelt. She took a few steps forward, before pointing ahead with a glare.

"You seriously expect us to trust you?" she spat. "How do we know that you didn't poison the food?"

"Simple."

Elilan brought up a set of claws and snapped them. Almost as quickly as it happened, Nida's companions all vanished from view. She jolted up and whirled around, her eyes widening in alarm.

"A-Ah! Crom!"

She looked around wildly, when it occurred to her that this was surely all some sort of trick by Elilan. He was a Zoroark and she'd already seen how they were capable of making illusions with her own eyes. She took a step back towards the door and where she remembered her teammates being, when a low snarl suddenly filled the air immediately behind her.

"If I wanted to dispose of you, you'd already be dead."

Nida froze after suddenly hearing Elilan's voice. She whirled around, where the Zoroark was suddenly standing right behind her, bringing a claw trailing dark flecks down with a slash. The Nidorina yelped and flinched, bracing for the blow, but at the very moment the claws came down upon her, her vision suddenly filled with a magenta flash.

As it cleared, Nida saw empty air. She whirled her head back towards the rest of her teammates, who were hurrying over and coming up to her. The Nidorina panted briefly as Crom grasped her with a shaky stare.

"Are you alright?! You were just staring off into space when you suddenly started panicking!"

Nida wasn't sure what to say back to that. Just what had her teammates seen of her while that illusion was up? Her attention drifted back over to Elilan's end of the table, where the Zoroark was still at his seat. This time, he was resting his chin against the back of his claw while his muzzle curled into a small, knowing smirk.

"Of course, if I killed you I'd eventually have to give an awkward explanation to my daughter about what became of the friends that she made last week," he said. "Call it a father's sentimentality, but I'd prefer if things didn't come to that."

Nida stiffened up and sucked in a tense breath as she saw the same flashes of worry on her teammates' faces as the same realization was surely occurring to them: they were wholly unprepared to battle the Zoroark right here and now if things came down to it. With illusions like those, would they even be able to land a hit on him before Sorge, that Trevenant, and the guards picked them off?

They wavered for a moment, as Elilan studied them briefly, before motioning at the seats with an expectant smile.

"Now… will you join me?"

Nida and the others hesitated briefly, before making their way up to the seats and settling in. Nida, Crom, and Pladur took their places on the right side of the table, while the rest of their teammates sat down on the left and began to cautiously pick over their food. At his place, Ander pushed the napkin off his plate and warily speared a mango with the tip of his scythe. He brought it over to his plate as he briefly shrank back from the gazes of the Pokémon at the head of the table and the surrounding guards. His attention drifted over towards the Trevenant to Elilan's left, when he caught himself and tilted his head.

"... You were on the walls the day that we arrived at the prison," Ander said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Betulo, Commander of Nagrobek Island," the Trevenant answered. "I usually prefer to skip these sorts of formal occasions, but I'm happy to make an exception today."

From her seat, Guardia raised her head and narrowed her eyes skeptically.

"What is a 'Commander' exactly?"

"It's a Third-Rank position within the Company. My job is to help Elilan manage the island, particularly its local defenses and its more strategic locations," Betulo explained. "As such, I also serve as the prison's warden. Though don't worry, I'm sure you'll find the way I deal with others outside of those duties is quite different."

Ander shot back a dubious frown, while others on the team like Crom and Guardia visibly bristled at the response. This 'mon ran that awful prison, meaning that he was responsible for everything that they'd gone through in there. Everything that their other friends were still going through.

How did he have the nerve to just go around and pretend as if acting hospitable would make them forget all that? Was any of this even genuine? Or was it all just an act on his part?

They uneasily turned their attention back to the table. One by one, the other members of Team Traveller cleared their napkins off their plates and set them aside. Guardia watched her teammates for a moment, before tugging the folded-up cloth off her own plate. She tilted her head curiously and poked at it with her thumb, when she turned and shot a puzzled frown over at Elilan.

"... Why on earth do you have these white scarves sitting on the table like this? They're too small for any of us to wear."

Elilan and Betulo stopped and both gave the Marowak a disbelieving stare. From his own place at the table, Sorge blinked briefly, before raising his own brow with a quizzical tilt of his head.

"… You don't know what a napkin is?"

"Am I supposed to?" Guardia huffed. "It's not as if I know every little hut dweller practice off the top of my head."

The disbelieving expression on Elilan's face faded as a deepening frown took its place. He reached for the cup set out by his plate, and idly swirled its contents in his grasp.

"Ah, a feral, I see… Well, I guess we can't all be born equal."

Guardia set the napkin aside and began helping herself to some fruit on the table, only to catch herself. She narrowed her eyes back in response as it sunk in on her that the Zoroark had insulted her, but before she could say anything, Dimitri spoke up with a question that had been lingering on the team's mind:

"Where's Trizano right now?" the Kabutops asked. "If Pleo really did strike some sort of deal with you, I can't imagine that he would've left him out of things."

"Yeah, and what about Pyry and Pekka? Or the others from our ship who got caught on Vollezee?" Pladur added. "We know that they're in the prison, too."

"... Trizano will take a bit of time to fetch, unfortunately," Betulo replied. "He was moved quite far away from the general population as part of the initial sorting of prisoners when you came here."

Kiran blinked slowly, before his face curled into a sharp frown. The more he thought about things, the more he realized that things weren't adding up…

"Why on earth would that be the case?" the Swellow demanded. "Didn't you just put him to work in the mines? It's underneath the prison, isn't it?"

There was a brief pause between Elilan, Betulo, and Sorge. After a short moment of hesitation between the three, Sorge shook his head and broke the silence.

"You're welcome to ask Trizano yourselves once he is back," the Kommo-o said. "I'll be going out to retrieve him after we're finished with dinner."

"And everyone else?" Crom demanded. "They're not in this mysterious 'faraway part of the prison', so what's keeping you from also getting them right now?"

"Because they're not a part of the deal," Elilan explained. "Pleo negotiated for the release of 'his friends', not 'everyone he's ever known'. He certainly didn't mention these other Pokémon, whose existences I didn't even know about until just now."

Crom glared and grit his teeth in reply, which Elilan met with a sharp frown of his own as he leaned forward in his seat.

"I'm not the sort of Pokémon who changes the terms of my agreements on the fly, especially when making good on said terms would be difficult to conceal. My prison suddenly moving about so many Pokémon at once, let alone ones that have ties with Lugia, would raise questions that I can't easily dismiss," the Zoroark harrumphed. "That's the sort of matter that would require time to be dealt with, along with a separate set of incentives to make it worth my while."

The table went quiet as Team Traveller wondered what sort of incentives Elilan was talking about, when they slowly began to realize that the Zoroark was trying to get them to make a deal with him. Over at his end of the table, Crom had straightened up in his seat and leveled a piercing glare up at Elilan.

"Why should we believe anything you're saying right now?" Crom demanded. "What, are you going to tell us that you made a deal with Micky, too?"

The Zoroark briefly cocked a brow, before he shook his head back with a quiet scoff.

"You're actually not all that far off. I came to an understanding with him some years ago, yes," he replied. "Though I'm not in the business of elaborating on my other dealings to Pokémon that I don't know I can trust."

"You're one to talk!" Crom snapped. "The entire reason why we're here is because Ketu talked Lyn into sending us here! And that's not getting into all the times that he, Sorge and the rest of Team Sentinel have attacked and tried to hurt us!"

"Our interests conflicted back then, and now they don't," Elilan said, shrugging. "It's really not more complicated than that. Though for the record, you would have been worse off if Ketu hadn't talked Lyn into sending you here."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure we would be," Guardia scoffed.

"You're free to dismiss me all you want," the Zoroark remarked. "But at the end of the day, Lyn is now an Administrator on the Board."

Guardia blinked and whirled her head after hearing a clatter. She looked over and saw Pladur had dropped a piece of bread onto the side of his plate with a start. Everyone else was similarly wide-eyed, as the whole of Team Traveller straightened up and stared at Elilan. The Zoroark sized them up briefly, knitting his brow into a serious expression.

"It should go without saying, but the first thing he intends to do is take over Tromba by using Pleo as a weapon," Elilan explained. "I think you've seen enough of Lyn in the past to know how that would go."

A tense silence lingered about the table, as Nida blinked slowly. Lyn… as Tromba's Administrator? She shook herself, before shooting a sharp frown back at the Dark-Type. Even if it was true, it didn't change anything:

"Pleo would never agree to fight for Lyn," she insisted. "Especially against his own island."

"In a vacuum, perhaps," Elilan remarked. "But that's why Lyn wanted to keep you close. He and the Company intended to use you as direct leverage to force Pleo to fight."

He leaned back against his seat, as a small smile began worming its way over his muzzle.

"Instead, thanks to Ketu seeing to it that you were moved to my jurisdiction, Lyn can now only use you as indirect leverage by sending orders to Nagrobek for me to follow. Naturally, I have no incentive to play along with that as long as Pleo's interests align with mine," the Zoroark explained. "If our bargain works out, Ketu will help free Pleo before Lyn can attack Tromba. Lyn will fail his mission afterwards, and he will be stripped of his position as Administrator. A turn of events I'm sure will make all of us happy."

Elilan glanced around at Team Traveller's members, only to see that the lot were staring back with dubious expressions mixed with quiet glowering. He said nothing for a moment, before he blithely shrugged his shoulders and continued on.

"I won't deny that Ketu is going about this because it's in our best interests, but there's no contesting you're in a better position now than if you were still being held captive by Lyn. Are you really going to tell me otherwise?"

A loud tak and jostle suddenly rang out, followed by a low snarl. Crom had shot up from his seat, fanning his wings out and flashing his teeth. The guards in the room began to step towards him, but the Druddigon was just too worked up to notice them as he furiously leveled a claw at Elilan.

"You're just telling us things that you think we want to hear!" the Druddigon snapped. "Ketu hurt my dad and treated it like a joke afterwards! Why should I just forget any of that?!"

Betulo held out a claw and waved it as the guards hesitated before withdrawing. Crom shot a parting scowl after them, only to notice a piercing glare from Sorge as the Kommo-o answered him in kind. The Druddigon briefly faltered and subconsciously pinned his wings back as Sorge's attention remained fixed on him, only for the Kommo-o's expression to ease.

"… You shouldn't, and that was out of line of him."

Sorge averted his gaze briefly, before finally speaking up with a low sigh.

"Pokémon sometimes do things they regret when they're stressed and in difficult circumstances," the Kommo-o explained. "Circumstances like having to maintain a cover working under Lyn for years on end."

There was a low growl at Pladur's end of the table, where the Fraxure himself was glowering with a fuming Cómo tienes la cara… that trailed off. Guardia couldn't fight back the piercing scowl of her own and saw that her expression was mirrored by her other teammates. Sorge briefly looked around, before shaking his head with a quiet huff.

"I don't expect you to let things go right away, but he's genuinely more than this malicious figure you've come to think of him as," he said. "After Ketu has sabotaged Lyn's mission, he will need a place to lie low with Pleo. Naturally, he'd be coming here for that, and when they arrive, I'm sure that we can properly talk things out about what happened between him and your father."

Crom continued to glare back, before Junius stepped forward and gave a harrumphing 'sit down' back at him. The Druddigon glanced at the Marowak and grudgingly settled back in with a sullen huff. The mood didn't quite recover after that as the dinner awkwardly resumed. Elilan studied his guests briefly, before folding his arms against each other.

"For what it's worth, I do hope we can eventually move past our previous conflicts with each other," the Zoroark said. "After all, I gathered you here for more than simply informing you about my dealings with Pleo. There were other matters that I hoped to talk with you about."

Ander idly picked over the food on his plate, before turning over to Elilan with a wary frown.

"... What specifically do you want from us?" the Marked Scyther demanded.

"Well, you telling me where Kline is right now would be ideal, but I'm not expecting you to be willing or be able to answer that question," Elilan replied. "Instead, I'd like to start a bit simpler: we both have shared interests at the moment, so I'd like to propose an alliance."

A collective silence fell over Team Traveller. A few of their members traded wary looks, while others like Kiran and Nida turned their attention back towards their Zoroark host.

"Alliance?" Kiran questioned. "Alliance for what?"

"Let me guess, you want us to help you take over the Company?" Nida scoffed. "How would that be any different for us compared to how Inler already rules it?"

"Simple: I don't need Tromba to change from its status quo anytime soon. Much less in the way that Lyn and the rest of the Board want it to," the Zoroark answered. "I'm perfectly happy to leave a small island content to keep to itself to manage its own affairs, especially when I have a powerful new ally who can help to those ends."

Elilan shifted his gaze over towards Dimitri, and tilted his head with a small smile.

"Dimitri, isn't it? I'm aware the Company's had a fairly cold relationship with ocean clans for some time now, but I would also be able to accommodate your clan well enough," he said. "Unlike most of the Board, I think there is a mutual benefit in mending relations between us."

The Kabutops faltered briefly, as Guardia waited on the Zoroark to speak to her with a dubious frown. Elilan ignored her, turned his attention back to the rest of the group, his face settling into a visibly serious expression.

"Though on a more fundamental level, my interests are closer to yours than that of the Company under its present direction," the Zoroark insisted. "Inler's ambitions are to take over Anyilla. Mine are to uplift this world from its present state."

Neither Kiran nor Nida were sure what to make of that, other than that it'd managed to draw everybody's attention over to Elilan. Just a couple seats over, Dimitri tilted his head, before shooting a dubious frown back towards Elilan's end of the table.

"Which means what exactly…?"

"It'll be faster for me to just show you," the Zoroark said.

Elilan brought his left claw over the table and spread its digits out. A magenta flash began to form between them when he suddenly swept it out in front of him and the Zoroark's eyes glowed with matching light. In the blink of an eye, the food and plates vanished, as tiny, rolling waves took up the table's surface and grew increasingly translucent before fading out into nothingness along its edges. Nida gaped down, noting that she could even see a little Wailord swimming about, as her attention moved towards the center. There was an island with a lagoon in miniature there, with what looked like a small town built on its waters. Nida peered down at it, before glimpsing back at Elilan as he looked back with a small click of his tongue.

"I'm sure the lot of you have heard tales of how the Cradle came to be. That it was formed from fragments of the Old World after the Star of Destruction sundered it and Arceus plucked bits and pieces of it away before putting them here in this sea," he began. "Whatever the truth behind those myths are, it doesn't change how we live as Pokémon now: on fragments of land poking above the water, in this small pocket of habitability sheltered from the Wastes by the Veil."

Nida watched as the illusion continued shifting in front of her eyes. The lagoon started filling in with more and more patches of land as the small town and the buildings on it grew taller and more densely packed together. They started merging into each other alongside branching canals, as a cluster of buildings started taking shape on the shoreline and filling in as the town from earlier was now a sprawling city. Partway through, scattered villages started appearing elsewhere on the island and red brick ramparts sprung up along the barrier islands of the lagoon.

As the walls came up, it occurred to Nida that she was looking down on an illusion of Vollezee. She brought her face down as it was just sinking in on how detailed it all was. The Academy was there… The military harbor and its ships were there… Why there were even small schools of Pokémon swimming in the water and flocks flying through the air!

She cast a glance back towards the head of the table as Betulo and Sorge looked on at the illusion themselves, when Elilan stood up, idly tracing a set of claws through a patch of illusory sea.

"Throughout history, our civilization has been building towards a day when those we call 'Protectors' will return and allow us to reclaim the world beyond the Veil," he said. "It's been the glue that's united Pokémon that didn't share kinds, and long ago didn't even share languages with each other. It has informed the way that we've built our ships. Our cities. Our very way of life..."

Elilan trailed off as his expression visibly darkened. His ears flattened, as he closed his eyes and shook his head with a mirthful sigh.

"Except, it's grown faster than these little slivers of land can sustain it," he continued. "Soils deplete, mines eventually run dry, and scarcity eventually prods different branches of our civilization to war with one another. It's how we even got into this mess to begin with before the Great Calamity."

He brought his claws up and swept them out. A magenta flashed rippled across the table as the island melted away. Nida looked back down as where the island had once been, there was now sea, with indigo-sailed ships lined up on one end, and gold-sailed ships on the other amidst churning waters. A dull roar suddenly came from the table, as lights began flying between the two sides and small figures went about in the water and air while others crowded their decks.

It took all of a few moments for Nida to piece together she was watching a battle at sea. A few of the ships were afire, while others were capsized. When she looked closer, she could see bits of wreckage with Pokémon clinging desperately to them and others floating limply in the water. Nida looked over at her teammates, who all looked at the scene with an uncomfortable silence, as Crom turned his head worriedly towards Elilan.

"... What are we looking at right now?" the Druddigon asked.

"A war, from my parents' time. Not long before the Great Calamity, there was a particularly large one that sucked in all the nations of the Cradle. One that in less than a decade wrought devastation comparable to that of the Sigillating Wars. The second of its sort in just fifty years," the Zoroark explained, before looking down at the illusory battle with a hardened frown.

"It colored the mindset of the nations affected by it to seek out Protectors as ultimate weapons, with Anyilla being no exception," he said. "It's why Queen Erna gathered Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde's eggs in the first place. Why the Great Calamity happened."

Nida blinked slowly in response as her mind drifted back towards the passages that she'd read from the Knights' Ledger. So this was why Queen Erna had been so fixed with trying to hatch those Protectors' eggs—they'd been meaning to use them for a war with the other islands outside of Anyilla!

A small chill ran down her spine as she saw her other teammates looked noticeably uncomfortable, even if Ander seemed less surprised than everyone else. Her eyes drifted back towards Elilan's end of the table, where Sorge and Betulo were waiting on him as the Zoroark closed his eyes and shook his head.

"But things were not always this way," he explained.

He brought his arms out in a sweeping motion, as a magenta flash radiated out from him and enveloped the room in all directions. Nida briefly flinched as the walls and ceiling seemed to melt away and the floor was replaced with snow-wreathed ground. When she looked up at the wall where all the paintings had been, she saw blue skies overhead and a large stone covered in snow. In the background, there was an icy spire that looked almost like a claw of some sort with peaks in the distance to the left, and a truly massive one off to the right that had waterfalls cascading down it.

This was really all Elilan's doing? Nida was beginning to understand how Pyry and Pekka mentioned they'd almost gotten lost from those illusions Elilan had put up in the past, since clearly the fox was more skilled with them than she realized—

"Ah! Look at that!"

Nida flicked her ears and saw Guardia pointing off towards where the windows had been, her mouth hanging open. The Nidorina turned around herself and froze, her barbs flaring in surprise.

"H-Huh?!"

It was an entire landscape that just went on and on as far as her eye could see. To her right, there was a lake or a lagoon with some islands in it, except from the trees she could make out on them, the entire thing made Canalhouse City's lagoon look like a little pond! As she moved her eyes further and further leftwards, the land rose in cliffs starting from the water's shore and continuing in layers, forming even bigger plains that rose up in tiers almost like terraces.

She stared wordlessly as a faint tapping rang out. Elilan had come over, pacing ahead of them and looking off into the illusory distance.

"Long ago, our world was much bigger, with chains of mountains that stretched on for further than a ship could sail in a day, and plains big enough to hold all the islands of the Cradle together in them," he explained. "Back in that world, there were some metals that were dealt with much like how we would deal with cloth or paper from how plentiful they were. That was what allowed humans to leave behind their great works that remain as ruins."

The Zoroark swept a claw as the surroundings flashed and melted away into magenta light again. The room was suddenly dark now, as Crom looked up and saw they were under some sort of night sky. He let his eyes drift down as he started seeing buildings with four stories and shingled roofs that vaguely reminded him of the ones in Tidemill City. Their colors were definitely different—red and white, and blue and tan two tones—and they had strangely bright windows when he heard Nida gasp out of surprise.

He whirled over to her, when he saw it:

"H-Huh?!"

They were in the middle of an intersection of two streets paved with some sort of gray, unbroken stone or concrete that had red and white fringes. Trees and hedges were planted all along the streets, interspersed with ground-level entrances to shops whose signs radiated light, as well as angled lights mounted on metal-looking stalks that illuminated the ground below. The buildings behind him were boxy and seemingly all metal and glass, some taller than even that old lighthouse that'd been at Tidemill City's arena. In the street, there were Pokémon going about intermixed with strange creatures that vaguely resembled Machoke, except they were covered in clothing like one'd expect from a Sawk or Throh, and they were thinner with hides that were either pale or shades of brown. There was one of those creatures wearing a yellow helmet with a Magnemite following alongside, while another, bigger one with a more Machoke-like build stooped to pat a Manectric…

"Crom, look out!"

Crom whirled his head as a Cyclizar came barreling in his direction. He and the others alongside him cried out and hurriedly stepped out back up against the table as the Cyclizar blew past them, where on the lizard's back, there was another one of those creatures wearing a helmet.

He looked on in stupified awe alongside his teammates when it all suddenly came together for him: the cities of glass and metal, the strange creatures living and working side by side with Pokémon…

"Wait, are those…?"

"Humans. As they would've lived in the Old World," Elilan explained. "What you see around you is how one of their larger cities would have looked like back in that time."

Crom's eyes drifted rightward, as he gasped at the sight of a group of five truly massive towers awash in light. He noticed that Sorge was staring intently off at them for some reason. The Druddigon thought to ask, only for his attention to fall on a flock of Squawkabilly carrying some sort of large white capsule that was flying by past it. He followed the flock as it made its way rightward across the sky, where there was some sort of square or battlefield surrounded by giant glowing paintings that changed their pictures every few seconds. Past it, there was a glimpse of more buildings with lit-up windows like the ones all around them that continued on seemingly without end.

"Venga, vamos!"

Crom jolted up as he heard a voice carrying in the air. One just like the sort of voices he would hear back home on Tromba. He turned towards the other end of the intersection, where there was an Ampharos darting in and hailing a human girl with long, flowing hair that came up after him. The girl petted Amphraos' head, who after a brief content hum and blink of his tail carried on, passing right in front of him and Nida as his curiosity got the better of him.

Crom began to follow the girl and reached out after her, before feeling something hard press up against his chest, where he saw Junius holding his bone to block his path.

"You're in an illusion, Druddigon," the Marowak harrumphed. "Keep wandering off like that and you'll march yourself snout-first into a wall."

Crom stiffened up and pinned his wings, before pulling back with a sullen "I knew that" under his breath. He retraced his way back to his seat, as his father's attention, and those of all his teammates were now on Elilan as he glanced off at the five towers in the distance with a quiet click of his tongue.

"Of course, this is just what I think their cities used to look like," the Zoroark said. "But… I know that I have a better understanding of how they used to be than most other Pokémon in the Cradle."

Crom and his teammates all turned and stared at Elilan for a long moment. 'Better understanding than most other Pokémon in the Cradle'? What did he mean by that? And what made him so sure? Nida briefly thought to ask the Zoroark about it, only for him to speak up and continue his explanation.

"What I want is for Pokémon to be able to go back to that world," he explained. "Through the duties that Protectors were meant to do, but given the appropriate structure and direction to accomplish something meaningful with it. With resources that aren't being burned or sent to the bottom of the sea over petty squabbles."

Elilan waved his claws, as in a magenta flash the strange cityscape faded and the rest of the room came back into view. His face remained set into a serious frown, as he shook his head and continued on.

"None of that will ever happen if Inler stays in charge of the Company. Nor will it if Protectors keep being treated as objects of idle worship and blunt weapons for the Company and the Empire," the Zoroark said. "That's what I want you and Pleo to help me with."

Nida faltered. Could trying to restore the world to the way it once was really be Elilan's motivation? It sounded almost… noble. But then if he really wanted something like that, why would he need a place like that horrible prison that they'd been thrown into? A place where their other friends were still suffering right now.

This couldn't have really been the full story behind things… could it?

"I understand this is a lot for you all to take in all at once," Elilan said. "Think it over and take some time to enjoy your dinner. We can discuss the details some other time. Betulo will show you to your accommodations afterwards."

Nida blinked slowly in response, as she warily held her head at a puzzled tilt.

"Our… accommodations?"

---

(Continued in next post)

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Alright, just to make sure that we're clear, tell me what you understand your mission on Nagrobek is."

Elty looked up as Kline towered over him in his serpentine form. It had been a small challenge to find a place close to the docks quiet enough to talk about their mission, but this little hidden courtyard a couple streets over from the harbor had sufficed well enough.

The Growlithe followed Kline's gaze over to his left, where there was Berecien, wearing a blue scarf with an orange arrowhead pattern that was part of a small collection of reserve scarves Nagant kept in reserve for missions like this. A part of him couldn't really believe that things were finally happening, especially when the old crab ultimately needed Kline weighing in to convince her to let him join this mission. The skies above were already a burnt orange and Cabot and Niilo were still finishing pinning the badges they'd gotten not even five minutes ago for this mission to their new scarves. Even so, there was some sort of fire in Berecien's eyes, as he stomped a hoof and met Kline's gaze with his own.

"We go in and get set up as a travelling Rescue Team to do reconnaissance in preparation for the raid later this week," the Ponyta explained. "While we're there, we keep an eye out for a Corviknight from the local Rangers called 'Zawisza' that's supposed to live in the fringes of Dulefield Town."

"That's right," Kline said. "And how will you let him know that it's safe to talk about me?"

"By showing him this Cell," Cabot answered.

The Rampardos rooted through a satchel around his waist, before pulling his hand back out and seemingly grasping thin air, when a Zygarde Cell suddenly turned visible in it.

"You said that before Elilan captured Micky, he grew up with Zawisza," Cabot continued, looking up at Kline. "So if he sees us with your Cell not being invisible, he'll know that you and Micky want him to talk to us."

"Correct," Kline said, nodding. Glad to hear we're on the same page then."

Cabot put the Cell back into the bag, though the entire time, Elty couldn't help but frown and turn his attention up at Kline. Yes, he supposed that it was handy that Kline knew somebody on Nagrobek, but…

"What are we supposed to do if we can't find him?" Elty asked. "Rangers aren't exactly the types to just stay around in one place, and if he's out in the field, there's no guarantee as to when he'd be back."

"I'll do what I can to try and update you through that Cell, through the same question and answer system we used back on the Siglo Swellow," Kline insisted. "But Zawisza was there just yesterday, and he should wind up coming back to town when he's done with work. Unless something drastic happens, you should be able to find him… even if you might need to look around a little."

"Right. We can work with that," Niilo replied.

Elty and the others nodded back in reply. It admittedly still felt like things wouldn't be quite that simple, but it was easy enough to work with and it wasn't as if they had any better leads right now.

Kline raised his head back up, as he continued looking down with a low rumble.

"Good luck out there. We'll meet again soon."

"Thanks," Cabot said. "You too."

Elty and the others waved to Kline, before they turned and made their way down for Rosequartz's docks. On them, Imperial sailors went about preparing vessels to sail, carrying materials and supplies up to the various ships alongside pirates dressed in a variety of colors. A few had even stopped to talk with the locals.

He supposed that it'd get less strange with time. It had to, if this plan to raid Nagrobek was going to have any hope of success. Even if there were still some parts of it that he found hard to wrap his head around. The sight of that shrimp's ironclad being docked at the far end of the harbor was just another one of them, especially since it was in the opposite direction they were walking in right now. He turned his head up at Cabot, holding it with a puzzled tilt.

"I'm surprised that your captain isn't having us meet this group we're setting off with by her ship," Elty said.

"The water's too crowded around the Uragan," Cabot explained. "This was supposed to be a more open place to gath-"

"G-Gih! What's the big idea?!"

"The 'big idea' is that I'm stuck with you thanks to that crab!"

Elty and the others turned their heads at the sound of a squeaking stammer followed by a low growl. There, in front of the bow of a caravel at the docks, there was a crowd of pirates from the Iron Fleet. Rodion was standing on one of the docks' moorings, glaring up at a squirming Grumpig and Krokorok that had been tied in a mass of ropes and silk to the sides of the ship's prow—a Liquidation leveled at the Grumpig's belly.

"Wait a minute," Elty murmured. "Aren't those two…?"

The Floatzel brought the tip of his Liquidation up, giving a firm jab at the Grumpig's gut as he sharpened his glare.

"I've seen how little the Company pays to ransom their First-Ranks, and it's not worth just letting you sit around eating up rations," he spat. "As the acting Captain, I need you two to do something more useful than taking up space and trying to bully around crew members, so you can clean the ship's heads. If that's too good for you, you can stay tied up there and earn your keep as a deterrent to your old buddies. Pick your poison."

Elty stared for a moment, before heading off with Cabot and the others. Bogowie, Rodion really did have a mean streak when he was mad. Berecien glanced back briefly as they paced off, the Ponyta shaking his head with a low scoff.

"Hrmph, didn't think I'd ever be taking the side of pirates, but good riddance to those square-necks," the Ponyta harrumphed. "Though what pier are we looking for here?"

"I think that's it over there."

Cabot pointed off a couple docks down the harbor. There, in an empty space along one of the piers, was a pair of figures in the water laden down with harnesses made from wood and cloth meant for carrying passengers. Elty continued on with the others, and as they reached the docks, he saw the two were a Tentacruel wearing a pad-like harness on top of her bell and a Sharpedo wearing a harness with a seat that fitted to her body.

… That same Tentacruel and Sharpedo who'd ambushed him and the rest of Team Traveller in the Subway outside of Otvaga. He blinked out of surprise as they approached the pair, before tilting his head down at the two with a puzzled frown.

"Wait, you two again? What are you doing here?"

"We're your rides into Nagrobek, of course!" Katyusha replied.

"This is a scouting mission for the Company's most dangerous island, so Captain Nugget wanted some 'mons who could throw their weight around," Cyanea added. "Especially since we're also supposed to stick around to keep an eye on you afterwards, in case you need to exfil in a hurry."

Elty pinned his ears back and gave the two a dubious look. Didn't badges need a Psychic in the loop for them to work? Since when were Tentacruel and Sharpedo able to do that...?

"Just how are you two supposed to pull that off when you can't act as a badge dispatcher?" the Growlithe asked. "Or even travel on land for that matter?"

"Simple," the Tentacruel replied. "We'll be getting help with that."

Cyanea swam aside slightly as the water burbled and a Cloyster surfaced just beside her. Elty stared for a moment as he realized it was that same Cloyster that had teleported him over with Tarquin earlier in the day… 'Schumer' or something like that.

"Schuster has some experience setting up badges for communication, so we'll be able to hear you loud and clear for whatever you find out there," Cyanea explained. "And if you get into any real trouble, we can send him over to go and get you off that cursed rock."

Elty hesitated and narrowed his eyes with a sharp harrumph. He supposed that he should've seen it coming that the two would have a workaround, but did he really have to ride with them all the way to another island…?

"I don't know how much I really trust a pair of 'mons who almost drowned me the last time we met."

Cyanea and Katyusha's faces fell while Schuster traded puzzled looks between the pair. Up on the docks, Cabot let his own attention linger between the swimmers and Elty's still-sullen expression, before pawing uneasily at the back of his neck.

"Eh… I mean I get that you guys got off on the wrong foot, but Cyanea and Katyusha are some of the most experienced swimmers on the crew," the Rampardos insisted. "They've carried us through danger plenty of times in the past, and they're certainly strong enough to make the trip over."

Elty scrunched his brow and let his mouth hang open at Cabot's explanation. It wasn't exactly what he'd have called 'reassuring', but surely if that old crab had agreed to all of this, Cabot couldn't be entirely making things up right now…

"... I'll take your word for it, I guess."

Katyusha shifted in the water briefly, before swimming up along the docks. The Sharpedo craned her head out of the water, before motioning off at Cabot and Niilo with her snout.

"Cabot. Niilo. Why don't you help get Schuster's harness on and see if ours are set up good enough for you all?" Katyusha asked.

The Sharpedo bobbed up and nosed off at the pier, where Elty and the others saw there was a harness already propped up against one of the moorings. They glanced at it briefly, before turning their attention back to Katyusha as she settled back into the water.

"This is going to be a long ride and we'll need to stay away from the buoys on the sea routes to reduce our odds of getting spotted, so make sure that everything's comfortable for you before we leave."

The pair nodded and started to head off towards the Cloyster waiting in the water. Elty watched as the two started getting to work sizing up the straps and fasteners and fitting them into place, before he turned and quietly drifted off down the docks towards the pier's end.

He raised his head and looked off towards the sea and the burnt orange sky above it. Somewhere out there to the east was the island where everyone else was being held captive right now.

The island that he'd left behind as a pup and given up hope of ever going back to it until just the other day…

"So you're finally seeing home again. Are you ready?"

Elty averted his gaze as Berecien trotted over and sat down beside him. The Ponyta cocked a brow puzzledly, as the Growlithe finally shook his head with a low sigh.

"I don't know, honestly."

"Why's that?" Berecien asked.

Elty hesitated. For years now, whenever the topic of 'Nagrobek' came up, everyone only seemed to have terrible things to say about it. Why, his own last memories of it were bitter and mournful.

And yet, it didn't change the happy ones he'd had on the island beforehand. Of nuzzling up against his mother on chilly nights. Of those few times his mother took him outside the Mystery Dungeon to run free on those rolling plains outside. It was the entire reason why he'd even suggested that maybe the ferals still living on the island might be able to help them.

Except, did that same Nagrobek he remembered even exist anymore…?

"I left the island back when I was still a little pup," Elty finally answered. "Most of my life since then has been spent out at sea and I don't really know what to expect from it now…"

The Growlithe trailed off, his head and tail drooping. He looked away and turned his attention back out to the sea and the waning sunlight in the sky above.

"I don't even know if those Pokémon back in the Mystery Dungeon will hear out anything I have to say," he murmured. "I've been living very differently from the way they do, and I can't imagine they look highly on civilized Pokémon after everything they've been through."

Silence returned to the pier beyond the faint sounds of Cabot and Niilo checking Cyanea and Katyusha's harnesses in the background. Elty waited for Berecien to say something, but the Ponyta remained quiet. He turned his head back puzzledly, when he noticed Berecien looked adrift in his thoughts, his own eyes having shifted down towards the wood underfoot.

"What about you?" Elty asked. "You're obviously from Nagrobek yourself from the way you speak. Are you ready to see the island again?"

Berecien raised his head and met Elty's gaze for a moment. There was a firm seriousness behind the Ponyta's eyes, as he faltered and flicked his ears uneasily.

"I honestly don't know, since I've never been there before and my parents weren't exactly normal villagers on the island," the Ponyta said. "My father… used to be the Duke of Nagrobek."

Elty snorted and rolled his eyes in response, except the Ponyta's expression didn't budge at all. He blinked, before giving an incredulous gape in response.

"Wait, you're actually being serious right now?" the Growlithe asked. "And you're really just bumming around as a common sailor when you're a Duke's kid?"

"I do not 'bum around', and you are in no position to be talking down Imperial sailors when you used to be a pirate of all things up until a little over a month ago," Berecien huffed. "But… yes, my family's had a long tradition of naval service and I didn't want special treatment when starting out. Though I suppose it's not quite that simple since my father never had the chance to properly exercise his title. He and his family were driven from the island when he was about my age…"

The Ponyta trailed off and averted his gaze, as his voice came out in an uneasy murmur.

"It'll be my first time seeing with my own eyes. I'm… actually unsure whether or not I'll be able to recognize it from the stories my parents told about their dworek there," Berecien said. "Or if I'll even feel like I belong there…"

Berecien made his way up alongside Elty to the end of the pier. He stopped at the edge and turned his head up towards the sunset in the distance.

"I've dreamed for years of the Empire finally freeing Nagrobek from those square-necks," he said. "Being able to help with that was why I approached the Captain to help scout the island in the first place, but thinking about everything that's waiting for us out there…"

He trailed off and lowered his ears, his voice coming out in a deflated murmur.

"I know that I was the one who talked the others into joining in for this infiltration mission, but I'm starting to wonder if this was a mistake."

"It isn't one."

Both Elty and Berecien glanced over their shoulders behind them. There, pacing down the docks were Cabot and Niilo. The Rampardos nodded at them, and the entire time, he seemed to have a determined air about him.

"It'll be a dangerous mission whether we go scouting or not, Berecien. At least this way we can make things easier for everyone else," Cabot insisted, before pawing at his neck.

"And… well, I know that we don't know each other that well yet, Elty, but we're teammates now, aren't we?" he asked. "Neither of you will be alone: we'll be there to look out for you. Whatever's out there on Nagrobek, we'll have your backs for it."

Elty blinked and stared back at the Rampardos for a moment, and noticed Berecien doing much the same. He knew that it didn't change anything about how they were going off deep into hostile territory…

But somehow, things felt less impossible than they had just a few moments earlier. A little bit, anyways. And he couldn't help but find himself wagging his tail in response.

"I think I'm starting to see why Pleo wound up taking a liking to you, Cabot," the Growlithe said. "You're pretty good at giving a motivational speech."

"And hey, there's benefits for taking on risky missions like this," Niilo chimed in. "They always pay well and I'm pretty sure we can convince Captain Nugget to pay you a spot bonus once we're back."

Elty smiled back and stifled a chuckle when the sound of churning water turned everyone's attention downwards. Off in the sea along the pier, Cyanea, Katyusha, and Schuster had swum over to catch up with them. Cyanea sidled up against the dock, before poking her head from the water to glance up at them.

"We need to get going now," the Tentacruel said. "Are you all ready?"

Cabot looked over the others briefly, before turning back to the pair with a small nod.

"Yeah, I think so."

One by one, the Rampardos and the others started clambering aboard their watery steeds. Cabot made his way onto Katyusha, while Niilo clambered onto Schuster just afterwards, prompting Berecien to make his way onto Cyanea. Before he knew it, it was just Elty on the docks, with Berecien nosing towards him to follow along—

"Wait!"

Elty's ears shot up at the sound of a buzzing cry from further down the docks mixed with strong wingbeats. He whirled around, where much to his astonishment, there was a Flygon swooping in for a landing along their pier. The dragon came to a crouching stop as a Ribombee let go and fluttered out ahead of him. Elty stood there watching the pair in blinking surprise, as it dawned on him that these two in front of him were…

"Rasp? Bech? What are you doing here?"

"We heard that you and the others were going on a mission to Nagrobek," Bech said. "Since you were here, we figured that we'd send you off with a little help."

The Ribombee flitted up and turned his gaze over to the Flygon beside him. The Flygon averted his gaze and had a noticeable frown the entire time, as Bech gave a gentle prod at his shoulder.

"Come on, Rasp. Give it to him," the Ribombee insisted. "It's a bit bulky and heavy for your old 'mon to handle."

There was a brief flash of discomfort over the Flygon's face, only for it to ebb away after a moment. He reached into a small satchel, before producing a small, orange gem that had been fixed onto a length of cord and set it down in front of Elty. The Growlithe stared at the gem and warily pawed at it. The more he looked at it, the more it dawned on him that something about the gem's color and patterning made it look almost as if it was ablaze.

"... What is it?" Elty asked.

"It's a Fiery Gem. I got a hold of it some time ago while working at the Secret Bazaar," Bech explained. "If you keep it with you, you and any nearby buddies who are Fire-Types like you will tough out any ailments as long as the sun's strong and shining bright. I don't know how it works, but I've heard there's even supposed to be a way to upgrade it and make it even stronger."

Elty looked down at the gem in awe. He knew that there were supposed to be some items that were touched by the distortion of Mystery Dungeons which only turned up once in a blue moon. Ones that would help Pokémon of specific types, or even specific species…

But this was his first time actually holding one in his paws. Why, if Rasp could keep himself from getting robbed, he probably could've sold this for a decent amount of money! There'd surely be no shortage of Pokémon on this island who'd want it.

He just didn't understand why after everything, the two would just give this to him…

"... I don't get it," the Growlithe murmured. "You got hurt because of Pleo. Because of us. Aren't you still upset about it?"

"Kid, it's alright," Bech reassured. "You weren't even there for everything. Isn't that right, Rasp?"

Rasp turned away and frowned with a sharp harrumph. Elty shrank back briefly, as the Flygon shot him a sideways glance through his red eye covers.

"Honestly, I'm still a bit mad. Especially since you all hid what Pleo was from us," the Flygon said. "But… I know he isn't the one stuck on Nagrobek, while a bunch of innocent kids are."

Rasp trailed off mid-sentence, and much to Elty's surprise, the Flygon's body seemed to ease slightly. The Dragon-Type shuffled in place for a moment, before turning his head down and brushing his claws against each other.

"I just wanted to make sure that you had the best chance possible at getting them out, that's all."

Elty stared up at the Flygon for a moment. He wasn't really sure what to make of Rasp's reaction since it sounded like he cared about him but didn't want to say it. He was met by a buzz from his side, as there was Bech, waving with a small smile.

"Don't mind him. Rasp just has a bit of a prideful streak," the Ribombee said. "Whenever this all settles down, you should stop by again so we can properly smooth things over. Our treat."

Elty looked up into the Ribombee's eyes for a moment with a slow, disbelieving blink. A small smile worked its way over his face, as he turned for Cyanea, glancing back at Bech and Rasp behind him.

"We'll do what we can," the Growlithe said, nodding. "Thank you, and take care of yourselves, too."

He tucked away the Fiery Gem into his bag, before hopping up and clambering onto Cyanea's harness. After a moment to settle in, the Tentacruel started swimming off, as she and the other swimmers started making their way deeper into the harbor for the sea ahead of him. He turned his attention down towards his bag, as he felt Berecien nudge at his shoulder.

"Were those two old friends of yours from back when you were a pirate?"

"Not quite. We only met each other after I stopped being one," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"It was that Fiery Gem that they gave you," Berecien said. "They must've really wanted to see you do well with this mission, since that's not something Pokémon come across often. I hope that sometime after everything settles down, that you take the time to properly thank them for it."

"... Yeah, I'll be sure to."

Elty let his attention linger on his bag for a moment, before turning his gaze back for the docks after hearing a fading buzz. It was Bech, fluttering and waving farewell, while Rasp joined in alongside him.

The Growlithe raised a paw and waved back, a small smile working its way over his muzzle. There was a long swim ahead of them, one that would surely drive him stir-crazy eventually given that water was surrounding him so closely on all sides. It also didn't change anything about how much of a tall order was ahead of them on Nagrobek…

But this time, he could at least be confident that he was leaving Orleigh behind with no regrets.

---

About twenty minutes after their dinner, Nida and her teammates were being led along by Betulo, while most of the guards who'd been there at the dining room with them followed them from behind. Their course had taken them down to the ground level of Elilan's complex and through a set of courtyards to a stony bluff that'd been fully enclosed by the walls. Soon enough, the Trevenant led them on a march up a path that had been lined with flowers and some sort of garden of all things.

Much to Nida's and her teammates' shared astonishment, there was an entire mansion up there built along the ledge's edge. It was a wide, almost block-like building with three floors, cream-colored walls, and reddish-orange shingles. It clearly hadn't been built cheaply either, since all the windows had glass panes and even visible ironwork on them!

The Nidorina caught a glint from past the house and peeked towards the edge of the bluff. Along the back of the house, there was some sort of structure attached that looked almost like a building made entirely of glass with metal latticing. She noticed Crom staring in stunned surprise at her side, and she couldn't blame him: even now, it was hard to believe this was all really happening and that she wasn't dreaming. The lingering soreness in her body reminded her otherwise as her thoughts turned back to the dinner. Elilan had mentioned they were being moved to 'accommodations', then this was…?

"Wait, this is where we'll be staying?"

"That is correct. The Administrator and I wanted you to stay somewhere comfortable, but also away from anyplace where the Board could find out about our current arrangement with you," Betulo explained. "I felt my house was the most suitable place for that and offered it accordingly."

The Trevenant walked the final stretch up to the door, as Team Traveller followed behind. Betulo grasped the handle along the door and gave a small push. He stepped through the widening gap, before glancing back and motioning after the others to come along.

"Please, come on in. There's no shortage of space inside."

Nida and the others hesitated and traded glances with each other, before Dimitri warily stepped forward. After a brief pause, she and the others joined him as they followed along one by one and the guards tailed them through the entrance.

When she stepped through to the doorway, she found herself in a large foyer with hardwood flooring and darker beige walls. End tables were set out along the walls, with paintings of landscapes and ships at sea hung up above them, along with a number of blue accenting objects scattered about, including the rugs and window drapes. There was a broad, central staircase that ran straight down the center of the room and up to a second level with ironwork railings, with small hallways to its left and right that went off to other rooms.

It… clearly had cost a fair amount to put together and furnish, and it felt just downright out of place right now…

"Why is this place here right next to a prison of all places?" Nida asked.

"Originally it was a mansion built for the island's Governor, whose job it was to manage the island's day to day activities and watch over the local Duke on behalf of the Crown," Betulo explained. "Now that the Empire no longer controls this island, it belongs to the prison's warden, which is currently me."

Nida shifted uncomfortably. Somehow it just felt… wrong to even be here right now, much less actually stay in this place. To be going around in this big and luxurious house while other Pokémon—including friends of hers and her teammates—were suffering in that awful prison not even a few minutes' walk away…

She flicked her ears as taps rang out against the flooring towards the center of the room. She turned her head towards them, where Betulo was already starting to make his way up the central staircase. He paused a few steps up and glanced down at them, before motioning at them to follow along with a branch-like claw.

"Let me show you where your quarters are."

The others traded hesitant looks, before climbing the steps as Nida carried along with them. Towards the back an Armarouge and a Mismagius from the party of guards herded along those of them that drug their feet like Guardia, who seemed to grumble the entire way up. The top of the steps led to a hallway lit up by a window at the end, with occasional ones intersecting from the left and right.

Partway down, there was a small set of drawers in the hallway. Nida didn't think much of it at first, until she happened to notice that it had a glass globe on top of some sort of stand. She slowed and let her eyes drift over the glassy sphere, when she noticed that it contained figures of a Delibird alongside a human in similarly-colored attire with a white beard and hair.

"... What is that?"

She briefly drifted over to try and get a better look: the figures were stooping down in front of a small house with colorful boxes as there was a Sneasel figurine alongside a second human. The two of them were reaching out in unison to each receive a box from the red-garbed human and the Delibird. She gave a tentative tap at it as the globe suddenly came alive with what looked like snow in it.

She glanced mesmerized for a moment, only to notice her other teammates passing her and hurried along after them, lest the Mismagius and Armarouge push her along. The whole time, she couldn't get that snowy globe out of her thoughts. What was that thing? How did Betulo ever get it here of all places?

And why was it just sitting out there anyways?

She brushed up against Ander ahead of her and backpedaled, seeing that her teammates were coming to a stop. Up ahead, Betulo was pushing a door to the right open with a faint creak, as the Trevenant scuttled back and gestured off deeper within it.

"This bedroom along with the one next to it are yours for the time being. They connect to each other via a door in the wall between them, so feel free to choose amongst yourselves what rooms you'll be staying in."

Nida stepped forward through the open door at the head of her companions. Much to her surprise, it was a surprisingly well-equipped room with flooring made of dark wood, along with a set of matching shelves, a storage chest, and a low table to gather around. Why, there was even a bed with a mattress of all things! The sheets, drapes, and cushions for the table were all made of white cloth, and there was a lantern set out for illumination at night at the window—just high enough to see over the brick walls of the complex…

Except, there was something in the room that didn't quite fit. On the floor, a good portion of the free space had been taken up by three straw beds that had been set out. Crom walked up, and idly pawed at one with his foot, before shooting an askew glance at Betulo.

"... How come the beds are so different from each other?" the Druddigon asked. "Isn't it a bit unfair to only have one actual mattress?"

"They're normally intended to host one or two Pokémon at a time," Betulo answered. "Naturally, I had to improvise to accommodate you until more permanent arrangements can be made."

Crom supposed that that made sense, even if he still didn't trust that Trevenant. With the way that Team Sentinel had thrown aside David when he stopped being useful, what were the odds this room itself wasn't just another trap? Betulo seemed to notice his reaction, along with the wary frowns from the others, as the Trevenant motioned back off towards the hall with his branch-like claws.

"You're free to go about the mansion as you please while you stay here, with the exception of my study, the master bedroom, and the mansion's greenhouse. Those places are for my private use," Betulo explained. "There are some books to read and card and board games downstairs if you need something to pass the time and amuse yourselves. If you're hungry, you can ask the cook on-staff to prepare you something. Someone will be on-duty roughly between sunrise and two hours after sunset. There is a clock downstairs that can help you keep track of time. The staff can explain how to interpret it if necessary."

Crom and the others made their way deeper into the room, gawking and poking and prodding at their surroundings. Betulo looked them over briefly, before speaking up and continuing on with his orientation

"If there's anything else you wish to talk about with me or Elilan while I'm not home, you can ask one of the guards on-staff to forward your message to one of us," he added. "They won't ever be far from you while you're here."

Crom looked off back at the doorway, where the Mismagius and the Armarouge lurked just past the doorframe. The two stood there unmoving the entire time, and neither of them made any sort of acknowledgement of Betulo's comment. Even if they hopefully wouldn't kick them around like the guards in the prison, the Druddigon could already tell they were going to be 'fun' to deal with. A flash of realization suddenly came over Betulo's eye, as he abruptly spoke up to the others.

"Ah yes, there was something that I almost forgot…"

Betulo backed away and motioned towards the door as approaching footsteps followed. Crom and Pladur turned their attention to the door, where they saw a Leavanny stepping through the threshold. The Bug-Type briefly sized up the others in the room, his antennae twitching tentatively as Betulo let out a bemused chuckle.

"I assume that you wanted to go about in something more presentable than prison attire," he said. "I wasn't able to recover your scarves, but I can have a tailor in Dulefield Town remake them if you so desire."

Crom blinked incredulously at the Trevenant. Was this a trick of some sort? Why would Betulo just offer to give them new scarves?

There was a stunned, lingering silence in the room afterwards. Kiran cast a glance over at his teammates, as a few like Crom and Pladur murmured with each other, before turning his attention to Betulo. The Trevenant hesitated briefly, before clearing his throat and idly pawing at his chest.

"... Alternatively, if you'd prefer to turn over a new leaf and get an entirely new pattern, I can accommodate that request-"

"No, no. We'd like to have our old patterns again," Kiran insisted. "We're just surprised that you're offering this, that's all."

… Maybe it was just Crom's imagination, but he could've sworn Betulo's eye relaxed a bit at Kiran's response and the Ghost-Type looked almost satisfied before he spoke up again.

"Well, let's move things right along, shall we?"

The Leavanny went about with a length of measuring cloth and sized up the proportions of Kiran and his teammates. There was something uncomfortable and off-putting about the whole encounter, with Guardia seeming to take things particularly hard as she practically shoved the Leavanny off of her after getting her own neck measured. She glared after the Bug-Type as he headed off, before turning her attention over to Betulo with an unamused harrumph.

"I believe you're forgetting something here, Ohrot."

"And what would that be?"

"My bone?" she demanded "You can't just expect me to go around like this forever!"

Betulo raised his brow briefly, before folding his arms against each other.

"And why exactly would you need a weapon right now?"

"To defend myself, obviously!" Guardia snapped. "No Cubone or Marowak would feel comfortable just being at mercy of others like this!"

The Trevenant's eye briefly narrowed from below as he let out stifled, ghostly laughter in response.

"Which is why the guards are present here in this house," he chided. "Don't worry, there won't be any predators swooping down to devour you at night under my roof, Marowak."

Guardia grit her teeth and growled back in response. The others around her traded worried and uncomfortable looks with one another, as Crom reflexively straightened up and his face fell into a sharp frown. Why would Betulo just go and taunt her like that? He glared after Betulo as the Trevenant dutifully ignored Guardia, before turning his attention over to the rest of the group.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Yes. What on earth is your problem?!"

Crom and his teammates' hearts collectively skipped a beat when Guardia stomped forward, her bony face locked into a furious glare. Over by Guardia, Ander set his teeth on edge as his other teammates looked on with a shared grimace while the Marowak went up and pointed up accusingly at the Trevenant Commander.

"I gave you a legitimate explanation and you just went and treated it like a giant jo-!"

There was a sharp buzz and flash of green as Ander hurriedly darted in and slipped the flats of his scythes in front of Guardia, before sharply tugging her back. The Marowak flailed and pushed back at them, giving a fierce glare up at the Scyther trying to reel her in.

"Ander! Let go of-!"

"No, no, it's fine. You don't have to intervene, Scyther."

Ander hesitated as Betulo met his gaze. For a moment, Guardia's own struggling died down as the Trevenant made his way up and looked down at the two.

"I understand if you don't particularly trust me," the Ghost-Type said. "And frankly, I'd assume you were quite gullible if you did."

Betulo paused for a moment and averted his gaze. He seemed to linger in his thoughts, before looking back at the rest of the team and extending an open claw out tentatively.

"I know you've had negative experiences with Team Sentinel, and I can't imagine the history Tromba has with the Company in general makes you particularly eager to trust a 'mon in its lavenders."

"I'm not from Tromba and I wouldn't trust you no matter what scarf you knotted up around your neck." Guardia grumbled

Betulo didn't acknowledge Guardia as he kept his attention on the rest of Team Traveller, before continuing on.

"I'm not naive enough to think that you'll instantly believe me, but Elilan and I are genuinely interested in working with you and reconciling under amicable terms," the Trevenant insisted. "Elilan was being earnest about wanting a better world, and even if you don't necessarily see it right now, we both ultimately want the same things as each other."

Nida visibly hesitated. She wanted to shout out that they didn't want the same things as each other, but…

Elilan said he wanted the world beyond the Cradle to be restored to the way it once was. Wasn't that something that literally every Pokémon had been hoping for ever since the Old World ended?

Except, as that ugly prison out the window reminded, the Zoroark had done no shortage of terrible things… and she didn't know how to make it all fit together.

The sound of tapping footsteps turned Nida's attention back to Betulo. He'd made his way back for the door, as the Mismagius and Armarouge from outside came in to flank him. He idly brushed at his shoulder, before speaking up again.

"Though one last thing…"

The Trevenant let out a sigh, his eye narrowing into a stern and serious look.

"Please don't attempt to escape from here," he said. "The agreement we made with Pleo merely was to move you somewhere more comfortable than the prison cells, not to lodge you in my own home or anywhere with this level of comfort. If I find that my hospitality is staying one-sided, I'll logically have to reconsider whether or not you should be sleeping under the same roof as me."

Nida and the others stiffened up and traded worried looks with one another. She supposed that was one way to be reminded that in the end, they were still prisoners right now. Betulo's expression eased a bit, as he spoke up to them again.

"That's all for now," the Trevenant said. "You've all had a long day and are surely in need of rest."

Betulo turned for the door and made his way out, the Mismagius and Armarouge following him as he peered back through the door's threshold from the hallway. He pushed the door closed afterwards, as Nida felt her heart pound in her chest as the footsteps drifted off down the hallway. The Nidorina waited along with her teammates for the room to return to silence, as Kiran motioned for the others to follow him into the other room, as far away from the door Betulo left through as possible. After settling in and making sure they all couldn't hear anyone from outside, Nida spoke up again, keeping her voice low and hushed—just in case.

"Did all of that really just happen?" she asked.

"I honestly had to stop and check myself at one point, but no, this is all real," Dimitri replied. "Even if I can't say I'd ever have imagined going to bed inside a mansion when I woke up in that cramped cell this morning."

"... Is it really right for us to be here?"

Nida's ears flicked and she turned her attention over towards Pladur. The Fraxure brushed his claws against each other, his attention drifting down towards the floor beneath him.

"I just don't know how much I can really be at peace here knowing that we're resting well and comfortable while Pyry's just on his own in that horrid prison. And Natrix and Philips… and everyone else who was caught with us…"

He let his words trail off, before looking away and giving a nervous paw at his right tusk.

"They're probably worried sick about us," he murmured. "For all we know they think we were sent to that 'Pit' everyone's afraid of."

A long silence lingered in the room, as Nida shifted uncomfortably. Pyry and Albert had all but been in a panic when she and the rest of Team Traveller were led off from that prison yard. The two of them were now without anyone they recognized for company, and what reason was there to believe that Junius or anyone else in the prison told them the truth of where they went…?

The Nidorina looked away, only to catch Ander shaking his head in response to the Fraxure.

"We've been here for about ten minutes, Pladur," Ander said. "I think that we need to take some time to take stock of where we are before we can really worry about how we're supposed to make things right."

Right, Nida supposed that that made sense. While she couldn't imagine that the others still in the prison were taking their sudden absence well, things were still recent enough that there'd surely be time to try and figure a way out to help them. The Nidorina opened her mouth to speak, only to see Crom hesitating and brushing his arm with a sidelong look.

"Do you think those illusions Elilan showed us were really the way things used to be?" the Druddigon asked.

"I don't know, but they certainly looked real," Dimitri said. "And Elilan clearly believes that's what the world used to be like."

"... I still don't know what to make of everything that we saw back there," Kiran murmured. "Elilan? Somehow wanting to make the world like the one he showed us…?"

There was a shared hesitance among the others in the room. It was hard to argue that the Zoroark hadn't sounded genuine about the things he'd told them about the Old World. There was a certain spark to his words when he'd talked about the way he wanted to see theirs restored to be like it again…

It was just that everyone knew there was something about it all that Elilan hadn't told them. Nida shifted uncomfortably in place, and dragged a foot along the floor as she spoke up in an uneasy murmur.

"I… wasn't expecting to hear that Pleo is actually considering working for Elilan," she said. "Was he lying to us? Since it's just so hard to imagine that Pleo would do something like that…"

"Actually, I don't think it's as hard to imagine as you might think," Kiran insisted. "Pleo's young and impressionable. If he genuinely thought going along with Elilan was the only way to save both Tromba and us on Nagrobek… well, isn't that the sort of difficult decision a Protector would have to wrestle with?"

Guardia folded her arms in response, before turning her snout up with a sharp huff.

"Personally, I don't trust that fox any further than I can throw him," she scoffed. "He's obviously lying and trying to trick us!"

Kiran went over and sharply nudged the Marowak with a wing, speaking up with a sharp, chirping hush.

"Guardia, do be mindful that we're likely not as alone as it seems," Kiran whispered. "Even if Betulo and those guards aren't in the same room as us, I'm sure they have ways of listening in on-"

Guardia shoved the Swellow's wing away and stomped the floor, her voice coming out in a low, irritated growl.

"Let them hear us!" the Marowak snapped. "We're not buying into this nonsense, and we're certainly not going along with whatever plan Elilan has!"

Crom balled up his claws and opened his mouth to speak up, only for the words to never leave his mouth. The determined glint in his eyes faded as his attention drifted off. From his side, Guardia cocked her head and followed his attention, where she saw Pladur uneasily pawing at an arm.

It wasn't just him either. Nida herself was visibly tense, seemingly conflicted about something. As the Marowak looked at the others, they all seemed like they were similarly hesitating. She blinked for a moment, before giving a worried tilt of her head at her teammates.

"... Why aren't you all saying anything?" she asked.

Ander let his eyes drift down towards the floor as he brought his scythes together. He uneasily rubbed them against each other, as his voice came out in a low buzz.

"I'm not saying that I trust Elilan, and it doesn't change anything that happened between us and Team Sentinel or the things we saw in the prison," Ander said. "But I'm not really sure what our other options are at the moment…"

Guardia's jaw flopped open. Her shock lingered for but a moment, before her face screwed up into a livid glare and she stomped her foot again.

"Bakana! Ander, are you kidding me right now?!"

"No, I'm being completely serious, Guardia. There's no immediately obvious way to escape, and it's not wise to assume someone is gonna break us out," Ander said. "We need to take time to think through what we ought to do next… and how much time we have to think things through."

The Scyther trailed off briefly, before averting his gaze.

"If it comes to it, it might make sense to worry more about freeing our friends left behind in the prison," he murmured. "… Even if it means we have to make uncomfortable decisions."

Nida squirmed as her thoughts turned to the others they'd left behind: Pyry, Pekka, the others from the Siglo Swellow who'd been in that horrid place for a full week at this point… With how much she had been worn down just from the few days she'd been there, how long would it be before one of them got hurt? Or worse…?

… It didn't matter whether or not Elilan just kept waiting on them to agree to join them or not. One way or another, they were going to need to give him a firm answer. And if they rejected him… what were they supposed to do about their friends?

The Nidorina looked across the room, where Crom was pinning his wings back, and shooting an askew glance back at Ander.

"Ander, how can we really trust anything Elilan offers us?" the Druddigon asked. "Even if we're not in prison cells right now, we're literally being kept here against our will! And since when did Team Sentinel ever make a habit of keeping their promises to others?"

"Yeah, and there's everything going on with Trizano…" Dimitri added.

The Kabutops cast a worried glance out the window back at the prison and the rest of the complex it was attached to. His gaze lingered on those hulking, ugly buildings just past the central tower, as he worriedly scratched against the floor with his toe claws.

"I just don't understand what could possibly take so long to get him back? He's underneath the prison right now, isn't he?"

… Was he though? The more Nida thought about it, the more things didn't seem to add up. Elilan had ordered the guards to go and fetch them from the prison, and if Trizano was really just underneath them the entire time, it surely should've been straightforward for them to get to Trizano in time to all have dinner together, right? A simple task that certainly wouldn't have needed someone from Team Sentinel to accomplish.

She tried to puzzle things out, only to hear a low sigh and see Kiran stepping forward into the center of the room and looking around at the others.

"I don't think it makes sense to lose any feathers over it right now. There's not much we can do at the moment other than wait for Trizano to return," the Swellow said. "He can tell us everything he went through once he's back. In the meantime, we should try and get to know the Pokémon under this roof a bit better to see what we're getting into."

Guardia let out a sharp, spluttering growl in response. The Marowak visibly fumed, before she shook her head and sharply turned her head away.

"Fine! Go and consider working with that creep!" she spat. "Just don't come crying to me when it doesn't end well for you!"

Guardia turned away and stormed off into the other room, leaving the others to stare in uneasy silence. Kiran began to follow after her, only to pause and visibly hesitate. His attention drifted off towards the window, where he noticed the sun had almost fully set and the sky was visibly growing dark…

"… It's getting late now," the Swellow said. "Come on, we've spent enough time worrying for now. Let's figure out how to divide up the beds tonight."

Nida watched as her teammates started to drift off, some like Crom and Pladur heading after Guardia and into the other room, while others like Ander and Dimitri each settled uneasily into one of the beds. The Nidorina followed Crom into the other room, only to linger for a moment at its window. She made her way up to it, looking off at the stone and brick buildings looming against the sky as one thought kept nagging her mind over and over again…

"... Are we doing the right thing?"

---

Author's Notes:

- mijo, quédate detrás de mí - Spanish: "son, stay behind me"
- Cómo tienes la cara… - Spanish: "How do you have the nerve..." lit. "How do you have the face..."
- Ohrot - Japanese: "Trevenant" (Official Romanization)
- Bakana! (バカな！) - Japanese: Exclamation expressing stunned disbelief, frequently translated as "Impossible!", "Ridiculous!", "That's absurd!", or "It can't be!" depending on context. (Hepburn Romanization)