The next morning, Jeffrey and his team shared a horse as they were traveling with Thorin and company. The dwarves were on ponies and Gandalf was on a horse.
"I said it. Didn't I say it? Coming here was a waste of time," Dori muttered.
"That's true enough," Gloin seemed to agree.
"Ridiculous notion. Use a Hobbit? A Halfling? Whose idea was it anyway?" Dori muttered.
"Guys, he'll come," said Gardevoir.
"What makes you say that?" Thorin asked.
"Wait!" it was Bilbo who was catching up to the group. "Wait."
"Whoa, whoa," Thorin uttered.
"I signed it," said the hobbit holding the contract. "Here," Bilbo spoke as he gave the contract to Balin.
The dwarf took out his glasses and had a look, "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins… to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."
"Glad that you made it in time," said Jeffrey.
"Give him a pony," Thorin ordered.
"No, no, that won't be necessary. Thank you. I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know? Even got as far as Frogmorton once. Aah!" Bilbo declined politely until he was picked up then placed into the back of a pony.
On the road, Oin called out, "Come on, Nori. Pay up." The dwarf tossed a small bag to Oin, and then he passed it to Kili.
"What's that about?" Bilbo asked.
"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up. Most of them bet that you wouldn't," the wizard answered.
"And what did you think?"
"Well…" he caught the small bag. "My dear fellow, I never doubted you for a second," he replied.
Bilbo sneezed, "It's horse hair. Having a reaction."
"Pika," Pikachu muttered.
"I guess he's allergic to horse," Jeffrey said to Pikachu.
"No, wait, wait, stop. Stop! We have to turn around," the hobbit caught everybody's attention.
"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked.
"I forgot my handkerchief," Bilbo seemed to have left it at his home.
"Here. Use this," Bofur tossed a piece of cloth to Bilbo.
"Move on," Thorin ordered.
"You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire. But home is now behind you. The world is ahead," Gandalf said.
At one point everybody rested with Fili and Kili awake watching over along with Gandalf smoking his pipe. Pikachu woke up as he heard screeching and urgently tapped Jeffrey.
"What is it Pikachu?" the Machop asked.
"Pika, pika," said the mouse PokeMon.
"You're saying you heard something?" Jeffrey asked.
"What's that?" Gardevoir spoke as she woke up.
"Orcs," Kili replied.
"Orcs?" Bilbo asked.
"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lone-lands are crawling with them," Fili answered but did not describe what they looked like.
"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood," Kili added.
"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" Thorin was not amused.
"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili said to Thorin. The dwarf prince walked off staring at the horizon.
"Something's bothering Thorin," Gardevoir spoke as she sensed something in his mind.
"Don't mind him, fellas. Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs," Balin woke up and said to Kili.
"What did they do to him?" Jeffrey asked.
"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king," Balin recalled a battle.
"This is terrible," Gardevoir commented.
"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him. A young Dwarf prince facing down the pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armor rent wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. And our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast nor song that night for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call king," Balin finished recalling the battle.
"Pika," Pikachu's eyes flooded with tears when hearing the story.
"What a tragedy," Gardevoir commented as she was about to cry.
The other dwarves woke up and Thorin turned to face them.
"And the pale Orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked.
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago," Thorin answered in a bitter tone.
Far from a distance across a chasm, orcs riding large wolf-like creatures found Thorin and company. In a discussion, the orcs saw creatures they had never seen before were helping the dwarves. The one thing that came to the orcs' minds were, "We'll see about that. Give us what you got."