Team Traveller turned back to the medic's hut shortly after their visit to the mission board. Nida presumed that if the team had any guardians to stay with, Maranda and the others likely would've been content enough with their condition to discharge them. Thankfully for the team, the Leavanny didn't, and it meant one more night of being able to coast off the hut's humble meals, accommodations, and Maranda's abilities as a seamstress.
But before they knew it, the sun rose again over the horizon…
That morning, Team Traveller made their way out of the medic's hut. Along with the new dawn, they left behind most of their bandages, and the charred lavender scarf that covered Pleo's lucky charm the day before went back into the bag in favor of a Traveller scarf that had been stitched back together overnight. Small, but deeply appreciated comforts as the three made their way off yawning towards their mission with 'Daraen'.
Finding Seahive's shrine tree was remarkably easy. Whether crossing over spindly walkways or over the marshy ground among the trunks, simply following the sight of the shrine dangling from the branches proved to be a surprisingly reliable guide. One that lead them past the expected periphery of nests and mats (if with few burrows), past curious fields atop rectangular patches of darkened earth nestled amongst the surrounding swamp, all the way to the base of the towering, broadleaved tree that held the shrine up, which enraptured Pleo just by its sight from up close.
"Wow! It's so pretty!"
The shrine's roofing and construction was not too dissimilar from the
ánima at home, and the walkway was covered with roofing much like the one leading up to the gummi fab the other day. There, the similarities ended. Along all the apertures were fitted with florid green latticework decorations shaped like twining passionflower vines. When Pleo got close to one of the lattices at the bottom of the steps, he stopped and gave it a peck.
Tonk tonk tonk
They were made of metal! Nida explained before that metal was hard to come by in the Cradle and needed to be worked with strong fire, so it was rare to see it on anything that didn’t need to provide durability regardless of price. In between the sheer amount of it, the intricate details that had been worked into the decorations, and the fact that residents of Seahive typically weren't Pokémon that naturally lent themselves to metalworking, it was clear that this town had lavished a great expense on their Protector.
"Well, I can see why Daraen picked this place," Elty said. The Fire-Type looked up at the shrine and the passageway to it that coiled around the tree with murals of this
Prince des Temps along the trunk. "Looming over the town like this certainly made it a cinch to find."
"I wonder why their Protector is so small, though," Nida asked herself, inspecting a mural showing the Protector's counterpart in the old world flitting about some freshly-sprouted saplings. She looked at the red tiles on the dangling shrine and the painted shutters that were opened to let light in through arched apertures, before turning back to Elty. "This 'fairy' thing looks like it's supposed to barely be any bigger than me from those paintings! How would it be able to protect anything?"
"Mrph. If there's room for overgrown seabirds to be Protectors, I'm sure there's room for grass fairies, too."
That was a fair point. With how different Pleo had turned out from the legends that had grown around him… was it really unreasonable that a town might also muddle details about what their Protector might be like?
Sure, it was a strange thought, but there were more pressing matters at hand. One which Pleo wound up voicing after preening himself and looking around the still-quiet trunk.
"Wait, where's Daraen?"
Only for a voice to suddenly call out from around it.
"I'm right here!"
Nida's ears pricked up and she began hopping off towards the voice, her teammates following along behind her. At last, they were finally going to meet their client!
"Oh! Hang on, we'll be right-!"
Nida's legs froze as she carried along the trunk. Ahead of her was a small dragon with blue and magenta scales lugging a satchel on his back, his head and back covered in black feathers. On the creature's brow stretching along his head, as clear as day, was a light gray blotch…
One in the tell-tale shape of the Marked's five-tailed comet.
"There…" Nida murmured. Elty and Pleo had caught up and were trading nervous looks. The job had seemed simple enough yes, but how on earth were they supposed to do that with a Pokémon that would think Pleo to be some sort of evil monster?
"You're the Pokémon that accepted my listing?" the Deino asked. The Dragon-Type bounced on his feet and wagged his tail, he had clearly been looking forward to someone accepting his listing for a while. Something that made Nida and Elty hesitate as they struggled with what to do next.
"Uh…"
"Er…"
Pleo was similarly confounded. Here was a Pokémon that if he was anything like Ander and his family, or Margi from the day before, ought to be deathly afraid of him!
"Eh?! But you're-!"
"Daraen!" the Deino cheered, rearing onto his hind legs and showing his teeth proudly. "You know, the Pokémon that made the posting for the Substitute Battles? I had to get some help with it, but I think everything was put together right!"
"Uh, well… we are," Pleo responded as he tried to think of how to answer the Pokémon. "But are you alright? You're kinda-"
"Blind, obviously," Elty hastily interrupted. "And you've got a little bit of dirt on your scarf."
Nida and Pleo blinked and looked back at the Dragon-Type, his scarf did have a small clump of it near its tip. The Deino pawed at his scarf, a simple tawny cloth with five colored circles- red, green, blue, white, and violet- arranged on it. After a few fumbling attempts, he finally wiped the dirt off and shook his head.
"I'm not
blind! Everything's just a little blurry for a
Solochi like me!" he huffed back defensively. The creature began to grow nervous and started to stammer as he went on trying to reassure Team Traveller. "B-But it's no problem! My smell and hearing are both really good! That's how I can tell you're a Nidoran, a
Caninos, and a bigger-than-normal
Goélise!"
Travellers Above, he really
was blind! And that would explain why he wasn't afraid of Pleo even if Margi had been able to piece together his identity! Despite the fact that they seemed to recognize Protectors from beyond their islands, like most Pokémon the Marked probably only could recognize the gods based off of what they looked like.
"Uh,
right," Elty answered. The little dog rolled his eyes and then batted a paw around in front of Daraen's face. Just how blind
was this-?
Thwack
"Ow!"
Elty recoiled and yanked his paw back after a sharp biff from Nida, who gave an annoyed scowl at him.
"Elty, cut it out!" Nida hissed quietly. Thankfully Daraen didn't seem to notice Elty's behavior, or at least misinterpreted it as something a bit less offensive.
"Eh? Was he scratching himself or something?" he asked, tilting his head. "But don't worry! I know
all the rules about Substitute Battling and even practiced by myself, so you don't have to worry about the practice being too easy or anything!"
The three traded uneasy glances with each other. There wouldn't be any harm with going along, would there? The team
did need that reward he offered, and what Daraen didn't know about Pleo couldn't
hurt him… On top of all that, the Deino seemed genuinely eager just to have someone to help him.
Nida decided and shook her head. They were going to do this. Maranda had instructed them to keep a low profile anyways, so they might as well start here with their first mission away from home.
"So, where are we practicing anyway?" she questioned.
"There's a secluded clearing in the woods not too far from here!" the dragon replied, hopping up and down. "Come on! I'll lead you there!"
Daraen stopped to sniff the air, and then bounded off down a path that lead deeper into the woods, which transitioned from the mangroves in town to taller and more terrestrial trees that formed a canopy that shut all but little rays of light from the sun. The creature was a most peculiar guide, while Team Traveller was used to running or flying off ahead and waiting for the others to catch up, the Deino would move about in swift darts on straight sections, only to stop and sniff and listen to his surroundings at curves.
Evidently he had trouble distinguishing bends as well as straightaways. Whenever Daraen reached a bend, he would go on about sniffing at the ground below or stopping and tilting his head to listen to his surroundings. Despite those weaknesses, he
seemed to cover decent ground in spite of it all. Before too long, Seahive was but a collection of mostly indistinct buildings visible from gaps in between the trees. All the while, a question couldn't help but gnaw at Pleo.
"Wait, Daraen… Why did you need to hire a team to help you practice?" he wondered.
It
did seem strange that the Deino would go through all this trouble for a simple game, after all…
"Don't you have friends that are into Substitute Battling?" Nida asked, tilting her head at the Dragon-Type. "You said you played before."
"Um, well… I wanted a place where I could practice without holding back," he answered. "Since the neighbors got really mad when we broke their wall when we tried to practice at home. And with
maman saying a demon showed up in town, a lot of them have been avoiding going out."
The Deino shook his head, apparently to reassure himself before he continued on.
"Not that we'd need to be worried! I'm not scared of going near that old tree and
maman's really strong! I heard that she scared the demon off the moment it saw her!" he said. "So I thought maybe it would be best to try practicing in the forest… But even before the rumors going around lately, none of my friends were willing to come with me out there to practice…"
Pleo ruffled his feathers uneasily at the mention of Daraen's mother scaring off 'the demon', but much to Nida's relief it seemed he decided that it would be best to not say anything about the matter- Wait a minute, Daraen's friends
weren't willing to practice with him here? But why not? They were his
friends, weren't they?
"Eh?" Nida replied. "Why's tha-?"
Before Nida could finish her question, a sudden racket broke out as a Rufflet vaulted in over a bush with a fluttering hop and nearly nicked Daraen with a cutting strike with one of his wings. As the Deino shrieked and fell back crying out of startled surprise, the Rufflet was joined by a Vullaby tearing out from a bush squawking angrily at the Dragon-Type.
"Where do you think
you're going?!" she screeched. "You little
freak!"
The two Pokémon didn't seem to be wearing scarves, though Daraen's tawny strip of fabric didn't seem to do much to dissuade the little vulture from delivering a sharp, jabbing peck at the Deino's shoulder. The dragon yelped, and bolted away in a blind panic from another strike from the little scavenger.
"A-Aah!"
As he turned to run, the Rufflet followed on the dragon's heels in hot pursuit....
"Yeah, that's right, you'd
better ru- Augh!"
... and straight into a cone of fiery embers. The young eagle cried out, tumbled beak-first to the ground, and rubbed his face against the dirt. The bird spluttered and brought his head back up, noticing a Growlithe neither he nor the Vullaby had seen earlier glowering at him.
"He's with us," Elty snarled. "You should know how the Pact works if you live this close to a town. If you've got something
against Pokémon going a little ways out of town in peace, we can settle this the
hard way."
The pair quickly grew aware that beyond the orange dog, there was also a little blue spike ball, and worst of all a big, white bird. All three scowled at them, waiting for their next moves.
"Erk!" the Vullaby gulped. "You
would hide behind a bunch of village runts, wouldn't you- Yipe!"
The Vullaby leapt back as a spike sailed past her head and quickly took off into the bushes. The Rufflet followed suit after another gout of fire from Elty. Nida glared after the birds as she scrunched her whiskers and drew her barbs back under her pelt.
"Hrmph. They're gone," she spat. Daraen had grown quiet and tucked his head in closer to his body facing the ground. There was an uncomfortable silence as the team waited for the Deino to return to leading them forward to the clearing, only for him to stay shivering in place.
Suddenly it made much more sense why his friends weren't willing to come along.
"Daraen? Are… are you alright?" Pleo asked.
"Maybe- Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," the Deino stuttered, backpedaling and turning his head about uneasily. "Maybe we should just go home…"
"Don't listen to those mean Pokémon!" Pleo squawked. "You
wanted to train out here! And we're ready to help you!"
"It does take a little more than some surly feral to get me to turn tail," Elty added. "And you won't be alone if they pull a stunt like that again!"
"The choice is yours, Daraen," Nida chimed in. "But if you give in, will it really make you feel any better?"
The Deino stopped and paused, deep in thought. After a while, the team noticed that Daraen had stopped shivering, the Deino shook his head, and with a grunt walked back to the head of the group.
"No… it won't. And I don't need to give in, not now!" he said, his earlier confidence returning to his voice as he turned back to Team Traveller. "Alright, we're
doing this! And you'd better be ready! My team's gonna win!"
"Team?" Pleo wondered, bobbing his head out of puzzlement.
"Yeah! Substitute Battles need to be played with separate teams! Two on two for us!" the Deino replied, which made Nida stop and ask…
"Oh? You had a team in mind?"
"Yeah! I'll take the birdie as my partner!" he cried. "It'll be feathers versus fur!"
Immediately, Nida and Elty's ears flattened out and their faces fell. Daraen picking Pleo as his teammate was already enough of a potential headache, but he wanted
them to partner with each other on top of that?
"Uh… Daraen," Elty grumbled, his eyelids lowering with an exasperated look.
"Erm…" Nida began. "Are you sure you-?"
"Hey!
My team has one member with bad eyesight, you know!"
"That's… fair enough," the Nidoran sighed. Daraen did seem to be at a disadvantage, and it
was his posting, so it hardly seemed fair to tell him who couldn't be on his team even if she didn't relish the idea of working with Elty.
"Then come on!" he called. "The clearing should be just ahead!"
Sure enough, after a couple more bends, the team found themselves following the path into a clearing in the thick forest. The sun beamed down on the clearing, and barring the occasional rock or root, the field was certainly flat enough to serve as a training ground for battling. It looked like someone had even dug a few lines into the turf to form the contours of a proper battlefield!
The four headed out onto the field, and after taking a moment to soak up the sun's rays and sniff at the surroundings, their guide turned back to them.
"Alright, so you all know the rules?" asked Daraen. Elty rolled his eyes and opened his muzzle to say something sardonic back, only to see Pleo put a wing to his mouth and stare blankly at the Deino.
Of course he wouldn't know…
"Actually, let's hear them again," the Growlithe said, sighing. "It's been awhile since we've last played this."
"Eh?!" Daraen cried out. The creature must have thought it was strange that the team that took his request would not know the rules to Substitute Battling, but… they had accepted it, and it couldn't hurt for a primer… "Well… basically, each team starts off at a different end of the field. During it, you battle until one side loses their Substitute!"
The Dragon-Type shifted a sack off of his back and dumped out its contents, revealing four straw figures that resembled Deino.
"That's what these are!" he explained.
"Uh…
no, they're
not," Elty scoffed, rolling his eyes at these most… 'unique' Substitutes. "Those are just some straw dolls you put together!"
"They're close enough! Real Substitutes cost too much for me and I spent all evening working on these!" the Deino protested. "And we can get around them not breaking down like actual Substitutes by playing until they lose their heads! Simple enough, right?"
"Uh huh!" Pleo chirped. The little Lugia beat out his wings happily, it did seem simple and straightforward when Daraen described it.
"Great!" the Deino exclaimed. "I've got enough Substitutes for us to play three rounds. We'll set them up and start at the count of three when we're ready!"
The Deino pushed two of the dolls back into his bag and took one of the remaining two up with his mouth before setting off for one end of the field. As Pleo fluttered off after him, Elty did likewise with Nida and the other straw dummy.
The little dragon set the 'Substitute' down, pushed it upright into a resting position, and after bidding Pleo to turn his attention to the other side of the field, cried out to him.
"Ready?"
"Bring it!" came the reply. Daraen tensed himself in anticipation, Pleo quickly following suit as his partner began counting down.
"
Trois… deux… un… Go!"
And the two were off! Pleo hopped up and took to the air. If this was going to be a battle, then he'd need to focus on Elty! That was the Pokémon he had most experience sparring with! The white bird dove for the orange dog and clipped him with his wings.
"Gack!"
"I got him! I got him!" Pleo cheered, only for Daraen's voice to cry out.
"Pleo!
Quick! Get back!"
"Huh?" Pleo craned his head around, and he saw Nida darting for the straw figure. With one swift motion, the Nidoran flicked a barb at the dummy, which got stuck right under its neck. The dummy flopped forward as the Deino ran desperately for the doll, leaving Pleo wondering…
"Eh?! Nida! I thought we were battli-!"
Whump whump
Only for the Nidoran to deliver two stiff kicks to the 'Substitute', the first slackening a cord holding the straw Deino's body in place. The second disintegrated the doll in a small cloud of dried grasses and reed cords, sending its head and hindquarters flying into a bush.
"Eh?! Nida!" he squawked. "You broke Daraen's doll!"
"Um… Pleo?" she replied. "That's the
point. Remember the battle goes on until one side loses their Substitute?"
"Yeah," Elty added, shaking some sense back into his flank before turning to Pleo. "The
mecz is over. Your team just lost.
"B-But the battle just started!" Pleo protested. "And none of the heads fell off yet!"
"Er… let's go over the rules one more time," Daraen sighed as he sniffed at the scattered straw where his team's dummy once was. "I only have so many of these things…"
Meanwhile, back at Hatteras' hut in Bluewhorl, a Raichu and Servine with the same white and blue scarves as Pladur's sidled up against the window, their ears focused on murmuring coming from within.
"What are they saying? What are they saying?" the orange rodent pressed.
"Pipe down!" the grass snake admonished. "You'll give us away-! Gah!"
The two quickly tumbled to the ground in a start as a freezing beam sailed out the window just above the Servine's head, followed by crabby-sounding words coming from inside.
"Do you
mind?" an annoyed Nidorina's voice spat. "This is a
private conversation!"
Inside the hut, Kiran, Crom, Hatteras, and the other parents of Team Traveller had gathered to help get Pladur debriefed on the status of his son's team. As was their custom since Lyn left port, Marley and Teja were also present, hoping desperately for any word back of what had become of their missing child.
After a horrid past few days, Hatteras finally had time to call together Team Traveller's parents to explain everything that was known at the moment about the missing youngsters. The elderly sheep looked out the window, where he caught sight of the Fraxure's crewmates slipping away to hide in some bushes, before he turned back to Crom's father, shaking his head.
"Anyways, that's everything that's happened since then, Pladur."
Perhaps it was the nature of the Fraxure's work and his separation from his family for long stretches at a time, but Pladur had a tendency to be on pins and needles in the presence of trouble. And few things were as bad as the prospect that…
"The C-Company has our Protector?!" he cried, the dragon's voice coming out as an unnerved squeak.
"That's where things stand right now," Kiran confirmed, lowering his head glumly. The Fraxure continued stammering, still in a nervous panic.
"W-We're gonna get him back, right?!" he asked Hatteras. "Who knows what the Company would do to him?!"
"Dear, I think that you should calm down a little…" Gwenith's voice interrupted with a gentle but stern tone. As bad as things were, his father panicking like this was surely not what Crom needed to see at such a sensitive time.
"Pladur. I understand that," Hatteras said, rubbing a paw over his brow. Perhaps there was a better way he should have broken this news to such a high-strung Pokémon. "But I'm still trying to figure out
what we can do here."
"B-But what about us?!" Pladur pressed on. "Crom already had a close shave just wi-!"
At that point, Marley stormed over and jabbed her horn forcefully into the Fraxure's gut.
"
Por qué no te callas?!" she bellowed, her red eyes glaring lividly at the Dragon-Type. "At least you still
have all your children with you!"
The poor Fraxure, keenly aware of how
la Cazadragones de Tromba was upon him and in a less-than-stellar mood, did what many Dragon-Types had done in Marley's presence before-
"E-
Eek!"
-fall back and run for cover, specifically behind Gwenith. Crom, unnerved by Marley's flaring temper, joined his father shrinking behind the mother Druddigon, who grew upset with the spike ball's treatment of her mate.
"Oi!" she roared. "You leave him alone!"
Teja for his part also came to his mate's side, if with different intentions. Marley had both a strong reputation and a short temper, and the latter needed to be reined in right now.
"
Cosita! He didn't mean any harm-!" he assured, as the room devolved into heated bickering- only for a voice to suddenly pierce the brewing storm.
"Calm down! Calm down!" Hatteras bleated. All eyes turned over to the elderly Ampharos standing on a stump and waving his hands. "I understand that this is a… well, dire situation to say the least. But please! Don't panic and come to blows over this!"
The room grew quiet as the Pokémon traded uncomfortable looks with each other. Pladur slinked out from his hiding place, consciously giving Marley a wider berth. The Ampharos sighed and turned his head to the ground.
"If we can't stick together as a community in dark times like these, what hope do we have of a better tomorrow?" he pleaded. Marley's glare slowly softened, then melted away into a tired, defeated look. She shook her pelt and let her ears droop.
"I'm sorry, Pladur…. That- That was wrong of me. But what are we supposed to
do?"
The Nidorina whirled to face the Ampharos, making him bleat aloud in surprise.
"You
said you would have a way to bring Nida back!" she cried. "But no matter how we look at it, there's no way out! It's not like you can just count on a solution landing on your doorstep-!"
Just then, a series of pecking taps came from the front door. A voice called from outside.
"Mail call!"
Did this really have to happen
now? Kiran shook out his feathers and hopped over to the door, pushing it open a crack. On the stoop was a Pelipper, who tilted his head and tried to peek in.
"Erm… can this wait?" Kiran asked in a hushed tone. "We're kinda in the middle of something."
"Eh? But I've got a letter here from one 'Scout, Freelancer of Bluewhorl Town' for a 'Hatteras, Master of the Tromba Island Guild'!" the pelican squawked, shuffling a letter up to the surface from his lower beak. "And it's marked 'urgent'!"
Sighs went about the room. Even in writing, Scout had to run off that big mouth of his.
Hatteras shook his head and took the letter from the Pelipper. The seabird waddled away awkwardly from the tense group in the hut, hopping off the stoop and taking wing as the elderly Ampharos eyed the envelope.
"It's fine, Kiran," Hatteras said, rubbing a paw over his face. "I suppose it wouldn't take too long to skim one of Scout's inane complaints."
Rrrrip
The Ampharos pried out a letter written in charcoal from inside the envelope, as a silvery-white feather with a split end fell out onto the ground. The feather itself landed without a sound, only to draw a sudden cry from the Pokémon present.
"A-Aah!"
"That's-!"
Crom darted over and scooped up the feather. There was no doubt about it, the silver color, the split-ended shape, the smell…
"That's one of
Pleo's feathers!" he cried.
"And this letter's Nida's paw-writing!" Hatteras suddenly bleated out, the electric sheep almost tumbling off his stump in surprise. "She says she's just an island over with Pleo and Elty!"
The room burst into excited shouts as the Pokémon inside turned to one another with ecstatic hugs and tears of joy. They were alright, everything was going to be fine. They would get Pleo, Nida, and even Elty back!
"T-Travellers Above!" Crom sniffled, rubbing away a few tears from his eyes. "Sh-She's really okay!"
"And the Protector!" Teja added. "But- How did he escape?! We saw Lyn take him!"
"That's not important!" Marley interjected, hopping up and down like her excitable children would. "What are we waiting for, Hatteras? Send a Surfer for them and let's bring them all home by morning!"
The Ampharos opened his mouth to speak, only for his overjoyed expression to grow sober as the words he was going to say died in his throat.
"Hatteras?" Gwenith asked. "What's wrong?"
"I think given what's happened so far," he replied, his voice slow and reluctant. "Maybe we should take some time to think this one through."
"E-Eh?!" Pladur exclaimed. "What are you talking about?!"
"Yeah, the kids are alright!" Marley huffed, shaking her barbs up. "And we
know where they are! What's left?!"
"Well for one, there's at least one over-ambitious bully of a Samurott and a ship full of cronies still out there."
That… was right. It was already a miracle that Pleo had even escaped from Lyn, let alone with his teammates alive and well. If Lyn found them, or worse, if the town
led him to them…
Would another miracle come to save them again?
"And something could always go wrong at sea even without Lyn getting involved," Teja reluctantly said. "Just like with the Mis-"
The Ampharos fidgeted at Teja's words and quickly cleared his throat, evidently not wanting to delve into the subject much further.
"I think we're getting a little off track, Teja," Hatteras responded, shaking his head. "Lyn was able to get away with Pleo because he was strong and caught us off-guard. If we want to get Pleo back home safely, we should presume that he's up to something and make sure that we can get the drop on
him if he does try to do something with the kids."
The whole room had grown as sober and somber as the Ampharos. They were all so close! And yet, there were still so many ways bringing the children back home could go wrong… The Ampharos sighed and muttered something about things never being as easy as they needed to be before he spoke up again.
"I know that isn't what you all wanted to hear but… please understand."
"Well," Kiran murmured, tilting his head at the Ampharos. "If we
do need to think this through… Where do we
start?"
After a remedial strategy session, Daraen and Nida's teams took their places on the field again, with a fresh 'Substitute' set back behind Pleo and Daraen. The countdown sounded and then…
"
Go!"
They were off. Nida and Elty took off bounding from their places, the Growlithe leading as Nida hung closer to the back to defend her team's straw dummy. Pleo certainly
seemed to have a better grasp on the rules of the game as he hung towards the back of his end of the field, and Daraen charged off ahead much as he had the round before.
"Remember! Keep an eye on the Substitute!" the Deino cried.
"Right!" Pleo chirped back.
So winning this round was going to be less trivial this time, but no matter. They simply needed to be swift-footed and swift-minded. And what with Daraen's clumsy running, that was hardly an issue at all to Elty as he approached the Deino.
"Not so fast there!" he barked, spitting up a column of embers at the young dragon, only to feel an abrupt gust and see his fire blown harmlessly onto some nearby grass.
"E-Eh?!"
The culprit, Pleo, brought his wings back from midair and fluttered forward.
"Nice work, Pleo!" Daraen cheered. "Now like we planned, let's switch!"
The Deino fell back, dug his feet in, and leapt at the Growlithe, teeth bared, as Pleo sailed on above. Elty weaved around Daraen as the Pokémon's jaws snapped shut on empty air where his tail had been just a few moments ago. The dog sprinted off out of the Dragon-Type's reach, only for his eyes to widen as a sudden realization hit him. The Deino's charge had been a feint to let Pleo slingshot ahead, and he'd fallen for it hook, line, and sinker!
"Oi! Don't just stand there!" he yelped at Nida. "Take one of the two and I'll take the other!"
The Nidoran shook her head and muttered to herself as she watched Pleo fly low along the ground in between her and Elty.
"Sorry about this, Pleo. But a match's a match!" she yelled, flicking a barb at the white bird, only for Pleo to suddenly fly up as the missile came down on him. The spike carried on into a Growlithe whose eyes widened just as the barb struck him in the head.
"Yeow!"
The Fire-Type batted his head against the ground and glared back at the Nidoran
"You're not supposed to sting
me!" he growled.
"Why are you even there?!" Nida shot back. "You're supposed to be taking Daraen! He's closer to you!"
"He doesn't burn as easy!
You were supposed to take him!"
"My attacks go faster! Suck it up and-!"
As the bickering between the two continued, they were interrupted by the sound of Daraen's voice suddenly crying out.
"Got it!"
Nida and Elty looked around in a panic. Pleo was back on the opposite side of the field, but Daraen was nowhere to be found. The two suddenly realized that Daraen's voice was coming from behind and turned around to see the Deino running down their dummy with a stiff headbutt.
"A-Ack! Get away from that!" Nida cried. The Nidoran bounded up to the Deino and delivered two stiff kicks with her hindlegs, catching Daraen in his flank, and then his head.
"Ow!"
The blows flung Daraen tumbling off the battered straw doll, its head dislocated but still attached by a few straw sinews. The young dragon was forced to fall back after Elty breathed out another gout of fire at the Deino, leaving Nida to growl and whirl around fuming to her teammate.
"Pay attention, jerk! We almost lost the-!"
Only to be interrupted by a glowing ball sailing along and slamming into the doll's head, sending a singed-smelling body and now-severed head tumbling along behind them.
"Substitute…"
As Nida and Elty stared blankly at the charred doll- or more accurately the charred lump of straw that
used to be their doll- the sound of Pleo chirping in triumph rang out.
"Woo hoo! We did it, Daraen!"
The young Lugia swooped down and cheered with the Deino, the two darting in excited circles around each other. Nida and Elty flattened out their ears, as the sting of defeat began to register.
"Okay, let's agree to figure out who does what fast," Elty growled. "I am
not losing to a team with a first-timer!"
"Right," Nida sighed, shaking her head. "So… about your moves' effectiveness again?"
Back on Tromba, Hatteras thought, and thought, and thought some more, leaving the Pokemon from the earlier meeting wondering just when the wizened Ampharos was going to have that plan of his. Finally, as the afternoon gave way to the evening, the Guildmaster's mental logjam suddenly cleared with a loud "I've got it!" and some excited sparking.
In the flurry of activity that followed, word spread, and Pokémon of every conceivable stripe from around town began to turn up at the main square, as was the custom for whenever Hatteras had an important announcement to make. Hatteras brought along his mayoral scarf for the occasion, along with an empty crate from the docks to perch on, as the crowd gathered around and anxious questions floated about the gathering.
"What's going on here?"
"Has word come back at all about the Protector?"
"Is he hurt?"
The murmuring continued until Hatteras cleared his throat and motioned for quiet. The Ampharos shook his tail and then pierced the uneasy silence.
"I am happy to announce that as of noon today, I received word from Boisocéan that all the missing members of Team Traveller are alive and well," he said. "And that I
finally know how we're going to get them back."
Jubilant cries went about the crowd, though after the initial happy shock that the Protector and Kiran's missing charges had been found, some questions began to float around in the air. Hatteras actually had a way to get them back to Bluewhorl?
How?
"We're going to pull an inside job," he cheered. "To have our own villagers take Pleo back from the Company… as
members of the Company."
The happy and joyful atmosphere bled away and was replaced with blanching and skeptical voices, as one after the other, doubtful comments came to the fore.
"
What?"
"He's gone completely off his rocker this time."
"Hatteras, how is that a solution to
anything?"
"It's simple," the Ampharos explained. "We've been playing a double game with the Company for some time now. Holding their ranks in return for being left to live our lives with less intrusion, Lyn's overpriced 'protection and services' notwithstanding. We are going to use that same double game to put out a bounty of our own to get our Protector back!"
"But there's no way the Board will stand for that!" a Pinsir with a lavender headband cried from further back in the crowd. "And it's not like a bunch of First and Second-Ranks like us have any way to push them around!"
"Maybe so, but
they're also the ones who stand to lose greatly if a bounty for a
god started circling around on every side of what's left of Anyilla!" the electric sheep bleated back. "And we can use the bounty
not turning up on every Mission Board and seedy dive in the old empire as leverage!"
More chattering went about the crowd. Yes, it was audacious, and like many of Hatteras' other plans, it seemed just a little daft, but… it just all seemed to add up somehow. It was a way to strike back at the Company when simple brute force wasn't an option. It was still a long shot, to be sure, but with the stakes what they were, could a better option really present itself?
"Alright, it
could work," a Persian from the guild said. "But… what do we need?"
"Well, for starters, a ship," Hatteras mulled, before he turned to a Fraxure at the front of the crowd. "Pladur, how are those sea legs doing?"
"Ah!" the Dragon-Type exclaimed in surprise. It was a big request, and also a big honor at that, but… "Er, w-well, I'm flattered, but it's not really my-"
"We accept!" a Raichu in a matching scarf hastily interjected. "What are you
doing, Pladur, this is the chance of a lifetime!"
"I'm the captain, and in my book, 'bringing a god back home' is a mission that's hard to say 'no' to," an Illumise buzzed. "And it's not as if any of us are strangers to 'undeclared cargo'."
Other affirmations hastily went up from other Pokémon on Pladur's crew, which wore down the Fraxure's initial reservations as he turned back to the Ampharos and stammered sheepishly.
"Ehehe, well, I guess you have a ship, Hatteras."
"And I'll provision it!" Calino shouted from the sidelines. "The Merchantry wouldn't want to sit on its claws for something as big as rescuing a god!"
Some murmurs went about the crowd about Calino's newfound generosity, or whether it was
really generosity as opposed to the advertising coup of a lifetime.
"That settles it, then!" the Ampharos cheered back as he brought a paw under his chin to continue mulling. They had a ship, provisions for it, and a crew, but there still seemed to be a few loose ends. "Unfortunately,
I can't go on account of serving several branches of government and keeping the ships in harbor safe at night. Marley is needed to come out of retirement to fill Osmund's position until he recovers from his 'square-neck greeting'."
"Mmph. It'll be a pleasure," the Nidorina grunted, a proud smirk spreading over her muzzle. "I was already thinking of returning to a more active role in recent weeks anyways."
"And I believe that it would be in poor form to ask Teja to abandon a field and nine children for a crew call," the Electric-Type said to himself. "So we will need some additional help-"
"We'll do it!" a voice suddenly interrupted. All eyes in the crowd turned to see a Quilava, a Jigglypuff and a Zebstrika, waving and trying to draw attention to themselves as they carried on in unusually cheery tones.
"If you're looking for help, can't go wrong with ours!" the Zebstrika eagerly cried.
"Yeah!" the Jigglypuff added. "We're
naturals at this 'crewing a ship' thing!"
"Much better use of us than keeping Pokémon around to get chased by kids, huh?" the Quilava asked.
Unamused stares went about the crowd. Just how naive did this lot think the town was? Hatteras sighed and put a paw to his brow as he replied back, shaking his head.
"Help that
doesn't have outstanding legal sentences against it, thank you."
After a few disappointed groans from the three, Hatteras entered back into thought as he mulled over just what was still missing from this crew. After he caught the sight of a Swellow's red, white, and blue plumage, it suddenly dawned on him.
"Kiran! He's your charge!" he bleated, whirling around to the Flying-Type. "Surely getting lost lambs
back to the fold is not too out of the norm to ask a team leader such as yourself?"
"Not at all!" he chirped triumphantly. "It'll be a pleasure-!"
Suddenly, Kiran was caught off by the sound of a sudden buzz.
"Wait!"
A commotion rang out as a group of Pokémon forced their way to the front, Ander and his mate at the fore followed by a Marshtomp and a Chatot.
"What are you
doing?!"
"You can't just bring the demon
back here!"
Almost immediately, an outcry arose from voices in the crowd. This was the Protector, and Ander and the other Marked were telling them that they
couldn't take him back? The suggestion was enough to draw bilious and angry growls.
"Oh,
sod off!"
"Who ever said that
you got a voice in getting our god back?!"
"You should just keep your yaps shut and stay in your little holes like normal-!"
"
Quiet!" a sharp bleat interrupted. The crowd's attention focused back on Hatteras, who was wearing a sharp glare as indignant sparks danced on his hide. The angry voices quickly hushed up as the Ampharos shook his head, and the sparks, much like his temper, calmed down.
"We are a
town. And when we do things as a town, we include
everyone in it," the Ampharos said sternly. "And if there's
any lingering doubt about something critical to its future, it's best to try and bring back evidence to inform decisions…
Isn't that right, Ander?"
Some gasps and cries went about the group. Did… did Hatteras just ask
Ander to be part of the crew that would search for the missing members of Team Traveller? Even the poor Scyther seemed to be taken aback, as he cried out with a buzzing stammer.
"Wh-What?! You want
me to-?!"
"Take a wager of sorts," Hatteras replied. "Whether or not I and the majority of this town are right or wrong about the nature of our Protector, there would be
evidence to back the truth up, yes? Will you be the one to bring it back?"
Ander blanched and tapped his scythes together nervously. Why did it have to be
him that Hatteras asked?
"A-Ah…"
"Ander, do it!" the Chatot squawked.
"Wh-What?!" the Bug-Type objected.
"This is our chance!" the Marshtomp interjected. "Our chance to show that for all these generations the truth we've been taught is real!"
"B-But Cassie! And Sandra!"
"It's fine, Ander," the other Scyther reassured. "With this kind of opportunity, I can afford a little more work back home… Especially if what you find out there means that we can make a better future for ourselves."
"And we'll help them out as we always do when you're not able to work!" the Marshtomp said.
"If you won't do it, one of us will," the Chatot murmured. "But… I mean, none of the rest of us are quite as built for what might be out there as you."
Ander paused for a moment, and then looked back up at the Ampharos and beat his wings.
"I'll- I'll do it!" he buzzed.
"Very well then," Hatteras replied. "And, I think that's-"
"
W-Wait!" Crom's voice called out. The young Druddigon ran up to the front of the crowd, nearby Pokémon staring uncomfortably at him as he continued on pleadingly.
"What about me?! I want to help get Pleo back!"
"Um… sweetie," Gwenith answered as she sidled up against her child. "I know that Pleo means a lot to you, but you're really not in any shape to go on a sea voyage."
"And this could be dangerous!" Pladur added. "What if something happens to you?!"
"B-But he's my friend!" the young Druddigon muttered, staring at the ground as Hatteras blinked and began to reply.
"I will say that I can't in good conscience send you as you are right
now Crom…"
The dragon shrank and his expression sank, his eyes screwing shut as tears began to well up. He- He really wasn't going to be able to go after his friends? Not even with Kiran?
"But this ship
isn't ready to leave port right now. There's reprovisioning that needs to be done, and Osmund will need to give a debrief as to what to expect as new Company First-Ranks," Hatteras continued, as he pat the Druddigon's crest. "As long as you take care of yourself tonight and on the voyage over, I would say those wounds of yours would probably heal enough by then for a stint at sea, no?"
Crom absentmindedly grunted back, when he stopped, and suddenly realized…
Did Hatteras just say he could go?
"H-Huh?!"
"H-Hatteras?!" the Fraxure cried out stammering. "What are you-?!"
"It
is proper to keep a Pokémon in company with those near and dear to him, isn't it, Pladur?" the Ampharos countered, which made both the Fraxure and his mate look at their son and pause.
"I- I guess when you say it
that way…"
"He would have you with him, dear… And Kiran, too."
"I-I can go?!" Crom exclaimed. Gwenith and Pladur looked at each other, before giving small nods to the elderly sheep.
"It looks like your parents are alright with the idea, Crom," Hatteras answered. "You can go- Ack!"
Hatteras winced as he felt something coarse and rough scraping his hide. He looked down, and saw that Crom had latched onto his body and was hugging it tightly.
"Thank you, Guildmaster!" the dragon said. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"
"Ow!
Mayor! But I do- We all do, Crom. Whatever happens, we're all in this together," Hatteras bleated back softly.
"And… if it's not too much trouble, would you mind letting me go?" the Ampharos added. "Your scales are kinda digging into me here."
Nida and Elty slowly put their argument behind them after the second round, as the two concluded that winning the match was a higher priority than airing their displeasure with each other. Nida would play defense, Elty offense, and the two would focus on engaging whoever was closer at hand. The new 'Substitute' was set, the teams took their places, and Daraen's countdown came to a close…
"Go!"
Nida and Elty bounded off ahead at the sound of Daraen's voice. This time, they
wouldn't get tripped up over some silly bickering, as Elty whispered back to Nida about their strategy.
"Remember, you take high, I take low. We trade depending on who's closer."
"Mrph. Right!" Nida grunted back. Pleo and Daraen were almost upon the two, following a strategy much the same as the last round. This time, the Deino seemed to be content to charge on ahead for Elty.
"Aha! There you are!" he cried, as he dashed at the Fire-Type, head slung low and braced for a ramming charge. The Growlithe bounded away from the Deino's path with a last-second dodge, leaving the young dragon to skid to a stop and look around disorientedly.
"Eh?! Where'd you- Oof!"
A column of embers caught Daraen from behind, which sent the dragon pitching forward as he tried to run from the burning cinders.
"Gotta pay more attention to those senses- OW!"
Before Elty could finish his taunt, he was cut off by a sudden cry and burning-hot blue flames that stung surprisingly hard. The Growlithe tumbled in the dirt before getting up and shaking some sense back into his head, just in time to hear a retort from the Deino as he too righted himself and shook out his black feathers.
"Ha, that goes double for you!" he called back, as Pleo sailed on overhead, the final Substitute to break and decide the match now clearly in view.
"I've got it! I've got-"
But before he could enter a dive, he was smacked out of the air by a passing black blur.
"
GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
"
A-AAH!"
As Pleo got back to his feet, he heard Elty give a frightened, whining yelp and saw him run back for his end of the field. Nida had her barbs spread and her eyes widened in shock, leaving the young bird to squawk disorientedly.
"Wh-What was-?!"
As a Hydreigon swooped down and positioned herself in between Daraen and everyone else, all three of her heads snarling at Team Traveller.
"
M-Maman?!" the Deino squeaked. "What are you
doing?!"
"You would go after my
son?!" she roared at Pleo, glaring venomously at the young bird. "Of all of the things for a demon to single out in this world, why him?!"
As soon as the words left his mother's mouths, the Deino flinched and shrank behind her, shivering.
"Y-You mean
you're the demon in town I've been hearing about?!"
"Daraen! Pleo's not-!" Nida began, only for the young Dragon-Type to interrupt her with a betrayed and hurt-sounding shout.
"Y-You
tricked me! I th-thought you were being nice!"
"Daraen,
please!" Pleo pleaded, beating his wings to try and draw attention. "We took this mission because you wanted someone to practice with!"
"I thought we took it because we were desperate for-" Elty muttered, only to be cut off with a kick from a nearby Nidoran.
"Ow!"
"Not
now, Elty!" Nida hissed. She shook her head and cried out to the still-hiding Deino, hoping to reach him. "We were all having fun together just a few moments ago! Was
that just a 'trick'?"
The little dragon paused, and began to waver. He had been having fun just until a few moments ago. But the thing he had thought was a
Goélise turned out to be dangerous! But on the other claw-!
"I- I mean, I guess it wasn't-" he stammered, only for his mother to growl after hearing the rabbit's words.
"Don't try and mislead my child anymore than you already have! As if the doom that
thing brings wherever he goes isn't enough!"
"But- But-" Pleo stuttered. Why did this have to happen? They had been having a fun game before Margi came along and blurted out Pleo's identity. And why was she so adamant that he was a demon? He hadn't been mean at all! Why…
"I'm a
Protector!" he piped back indignantly. "I've been
helping him!"
"Just like how you 'Protectors' 'helped' erase humans from the face of this scarred world, huh?" Margi asked. "For daring to challenge them!"
The clearing went quiet as Team Traveller's jaws dropped. What-
What did Margi just say?
"H-Huh?!" Pleo squawked.
"You heard me! Pokémon like you are the
reason why there's no more humans in this world!" the Hydreigon snarled back as she snatched up her child in between her neck-arms. "Why all that we have left to get by with are these sea rocks surrounded by the Wastes!"
The dragon then beat her six wings, and tore out of the clearing with her child in the direction of town. Back on the ground, the three were left staring, still speechless as they tried to process what just happened.
"
Psiakrew… We didn't get paid, did we?" Elty sighed, shaking his head. Pleo was left stammering as he tried to make sense of Margi's rant. His… his kind of Pokémon
made the world as it was today? A world where islands like Tromba and the seas around them were the
only places that Pokémon could live?
"That- That can't be true! Nida! Elty! It isn't!" he cried, beating his wings out. Eventually, no response came, and Pleo's wings grew tired, leaving him to drop them and weakly ask.
"It isn't… is it?"
Author's Notes:
-
Solochi - French: "Deino"
-
maman - French: "mother" (informal), "mum"
-
Trois… deux… un… - French: "Three... two... one..."
-
mecz - Polish: "(sporting) match"
-
(¡¿)Por qué no te callas?! - Spanish: "Why don't you shut up?!"
-
(¡)Cosita! - Spanish: "Dear!" (endearing), lit. "little thing"
