Chapter Nine: Trained Killers

There were times were Lopunny remembered back to her adventures with the Shining Beacons, even the less eventful moments where she and Altaria would occasionally look after the children. They would squabble, fight and throw tantrums irritating enough to put Lopunny off having kids forever but overall they were well behaved and kind enough, evident that Altaria's care had been applied very well. It was a shame that that nurturing skill had not rubbed off on Lopunny. Although, she thought, I doubt even Altaria could handle this nonsense.

'I'm hungry...' Primarina's moaning was driving everyone up the wall. 'And I'm more paranoid of Durant and Excadrill trying to scare me than any hunter that comes our way.'

'I have never,' Lopunny said under her breath as Keldeo trotted alongside her. 'met someone as childish as her.'

'Relax.' Keldeo said reassuringly. 'She'll come good. I think Excadrill and Durant will try and toughen her up.'

'Try being the key word.' Lopunny glanced over her shoulder at the three behind her, Primarina in the middle and taking turns to glare at Durant and Excadrill. 'She'll probably think that we're enslaving her. First with her stupid name now actually suggesting she mans up. Or womans up. Or whatever.'

It had been an hour since they left the cave. They six of them were now slowly making their way across the Shan'rala Desert, the surroundings becoming less rock structure oriented and now becoming a pure orange landscape. The sun was beating down on them harder than ever from the cloudless blue sky. In her small cloak, Lopunny reached down into the pockets, searching for her bottle of water. She felt around in the right pocket and only found the bottle of green medicine she used to heal Keldeo before rummaging around in her right.

'Aha.' she exclaimed softly, her fingers caressing the plastic. She took it out and opened her mouth wide, her dry mouth even more exposed to the sun. To her dismay, a small trickle emptied onto her tongue before it ceased, the slight tease making her even thirstier than ever.

'Great.' she muttered, turning round. 'Hey Primarina. Mind filling this up?' She shook her empty bottle as she came over, Excadrill sniffing the ground next to her in the hope of precious stones.

'What's the magic word?' Primarina asked, the two women coming face to face.

'Mind filling this up...now?' Lopunny waved the bottle under Primarina's upturned nose. 'See I'd rather not die.'

'Oh shame.' Primarina said under her breath, scooping the bottle from Lopunny and aiming into it. There was a splashing sound and Lopunny's wrist became soaking wet. A couple of drops fell before Excadrill's sniffing snout, sending him backing off.

'Thank you.' Lopunny found the words difficult to say as she retracted her bottle, preparing to sip the contents.

'With all due respect to Lady Primarina,' Keldeo said, watching Lopunny swig heartily. 'you could have allowed me to fill it up. I am a water type after all.'

'TOLD YOU EXCADRILL!' Everyone heard Scizor's voice ring out from ahead of the pack. He stood at the edge of an extremely deep sand dune, the sun radiating his red armour and waving at them like a madman. 'Told you he was a water type!'

'Okay fair enough!' Excadrill yelled back, cupping his claws round his mouth. 'But not all of them are blue remember!'

'I had no idea you were a water type.' Lopunny said to Keldeo, screwing the lid back on her bottle.

'Dual water and fighting type.' Keldeo said proudly.

'Now the fighting I can believe.' Lopunny smiled, miming a swinging sword motion with her hand playfully. 'Kind of sucks being normal type I'll admit but like you said last night; If I use my strengths I can discover my purpose.'

'I'm happy you think my advice is handy.' Keldeo beamed, his insides seeming to float away into dreamland. 'Many pokemon are too narrow minded and usually shrug off any advice that, forgive me for sounding condescending, sounds a bit too lofty for them to comprehend.'

'I think it's perfect advice.' Lopunny said, patting Keldeo on the back. 'Simple and effective for everyone.'

'I guess on paper,' said Primarina, nodding at Keldeo. 'That a water-fighting type sounds a little cooler than water-fairy which is what I am.'

'Fairy!?' Durant screamed in her ear, her yelp echoing through the desert. 'We coulda used folk like you when smiting the Rylus dragons!' He then mumbled something inaudible under his breath but the words 'fairy' and 'ponce' were definitely understood.

'P...Please.' Primarina looked as if she would faint again. 'Stop doing that...'

'I'll stop doing it when you actually retaliate.' Durant said defiantly. 'Little bit of pixie dust won't be too painful.'

'Yeah remember what we talked about yesterday?' Excadrill said in a far more kind tone than Durant's. 'Heck if you land enough good hits on us then we'll be more worried for any enemies that dare attack you.'

'Just stop being a victim.' Lopunny said bluntly, her arms folded.

'And you're okay with this?' Primarina asked, ignoring Lopunny. 'I mean you're a ground type, my water attack may do some serious damage to you.'

'I've had worse.' Excadrill smiled. 'Believe me.'

He raised his claw to place it on Primarina's shoulder before hesitating, remembering how opposed she was to him touching her. She noticed this and proceeded to blow a few bubbles his way, dousing his filthy hands in soapy water.

'Rub your hands together.' Primarina told him as Excadrill grew slightly alarmed at the fluorescent bubbles that had latched onto his arm. 'They'll get rid of the worst of the germs. Ninety nine percent at least.'

As Excadrill tried to learn this baffling new tactic, Durant tutted and turned to Lopunny and Keldeo, his pincers shining brightly from the dazzling sun.

'You're welcome.'

Lopunny blinked, her mouth twitching in confusion.

'For what?'

'You came through last night without any trouble.' Durant said. 'You have me to thank for scaring off intruders.'

'Oh yeah sure we do.' Lopunny curled her lip. 'That's why when I went for a walk you were fast asleep.'

'I...' Durant stammered slightly, clearly caught out by his lie. '...I may have nodded off at one point yes.'

'That one point being three quarters of the night.' Lopunny said. 'Oh and I talked to Scizor last night.'

'Okay. And?' Durant was clearly uninterested on whatever she had to say.

'It was...telling.' Lopunny said, remembering the emotional revelations. 'What was it you trained him? How to stop feeling?'

'Come again?' Durant said, his tone tinged with annoyance. Keldeo thought he may feel the need to jump in again to split these two up.

'He said that thanks to you, he was able to defend himself against his dad. He almost killed him. His dad may have been a monster but for him to turn from a shy boy to a trained assassin is really revealing you know? Says a lot about you.'

'To me it says a time of war calls for the most precise measures.' Durant told her. 'You never saw the things that the dragons did to us and we did to them. Bodies disemboweled, decapitated, villages on fire, bodies littering the landscape.' Durant nodded his head at the ground. 'We could be standing on a long dead corpse right now and you wouldn't know it. I got that boy to be the greatest possible warrior he could be so he could slot right into the moment.'

'You turned him into a weapon.' Lopunny growled.

'I made him a man.' Durant retorted, ignoring Primarina behind him assisting the perplexed mole with the art of washing. 'The only drawback is that he didn't kill his dad on the spot-'

'How is that a drawback!?' Lopunny roared, her anger boiling over. Her shout of fury echoed far and wide, startling Keldeo, halting Excadrill and Primarina's scrubbing process and even alerting the far away Scizor, who knew perfectly what they were talking about but not wanting to get involved.

'...If you'd let me finish, rabbit.' Durant growled, not taking a step back from an irate Lopunny. 'If he killed his dad there he would of gotten past his first kill. It's always an emotional ordeal and everyone hesitates when doing it. The bad thing is his first kill came a few days later and he definitely hesitated when he had the initial chance...a second too long. It gave the druddigon he faced just the right amount of time to stab Scizor's brother in the eye and blinding him.'

Keldeo gasped while Lopunny stayed quiet, her face dropping, the anger however still burning inside her. Primarina was so stunned at the heated conversation that was taking place that she did not notice Excadrill scratch his behind with his clean claw, rendering it back to its original filth. Keldeo realized Lopunny was clenching her cloak so hard that her veins were visible through her matted fur.

'Lady Lopunny...' he said gently. She breathed out at the sound of his voice and her grip slacked.

'Sorry...' she said, her arm falling to her side. 'I...I just...'

'Have you ever killed, young lady?' Durant wasted no time to continue playing with Lopunny's emotions.

'...No.' she said flatly. 'I can't say I have.'

'Do you plan on it?'

'I don't know.' Lopunny remembered Nidoqueen last night and her abdominal muscles seized up. '...Yeah. Yeah I could.'

'Well you're going to hesitate.' Durant told her point blank. 'No matter who it is. Could be complete stranger or a mortal foe. Either way it's going to show your true colours.'

'We'll see about that.' Lopunny said, her tone determined, refusing to let this foul old insect get his way. Twenty metres behind her, Scizor had lost track of his scouting. He had told Lopunny everything he wanted to tell her last night and was now prioritizing the mission he was initially reluctant to go on purely for the sake of her. He knew how worried she'd be and how with how much information he relayed, the more frayed her relationship with Durant would be. He knelt down, scooping some sand from underfoot and thinking of his past. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten over it. Gotten over what his childhood was like or even his brief moment of hesitation that irreversibly injured his brother, Zayden. Their relationship had never exactly been one to brag about. It was just how exposed he now felt to Lopunny. She knew him for months as a charmingly reckless and fickle bounty hunter and now she would believe that it was all a ruse to cover up the pain he felt inside. It's not though! he thought, clenching his claw and allowing the sand to trickle down back to the ground. This is me. It always has been. Nothing, not even Lopunny, can change that. As Scizor tried to stretch upwards to stand straight, his foot slipped down the edge of the dune slightly..

CLANK!

Scizor froze where he was, his heart in his mouth. Cautiously, he looked down to see where his foot was and felt it rubbing against the edge of something metal. He slowly knelt down again and gently brushed the orange sand off whatever it was that he had made contact with. As the dust cleared, it was revealed to be a small circular metal device with a red button in the middle of it. The sight of it was enough to make Scizor go wide eyed with dread.

'Ah.' he said, staring at the tool.

'What is it?' Scizor flinched as Keldeo came up behind him followed by the other four, Lopunny still glaring at Durant. Scizor took a deep breath and slowly rotated to face them, his friends wondering why he was twisting round with tiny little steps and looking so awkward.

'Uhhh...' Scizor said in trepidation, rotating like a broken record. 'Don't panic anyone but we're-'

Before he could finish his sentence, the soft ground underneath his right foot gave way. Scizor yelped as his whole body dropped down, his arms flailing forward hoping someone would grab on.

'Scizor!'

Lopunny lunged forward to grab his hand but Excadrill halted her where she was, preventing her foot from stepping on the steel device he had just noticed, his expression now stricken with fear. Everyone watched as Scizor tumbled at least twenty feet down the hill, his eyes shut tight to avoid sand infiltrating them and hoping that he would be incredibly lucky to avoid anything more.

'What is that?' Lopunny pointed down at the trap with a shaky finger as Durant held Keldeo back from going after Scizor.

'Yeah it's...' Excadrill clenched his teeth, his face screwed up as if he was in pain. He kept shooting looks down at the still rolling Scizor whose body was turning orange as it was engulfed in sand. On one turn, he felt a click under his back and his brain went into ultra-speed alarm mode. Without hesitation, he stabbed his long legs into the ground as he turned, launching himself from the crumbling hill and soaring through the air, his wings allowing him to somewhat guide himself. Primarina watched this with her mouth as wide open as a wailord swallowing its tiny food.

'What the-'

BOOM!

At the point that Scizor had just jumped from, an explosion happened, showering the radius with fiery gas. Lopunny ducked and jammed her hands on her ears while Keldeo screamed, twisting around and bashing his head off Durant. Primarina however acted the most radical. She instantly span to her right, squealing at the top of her lungs and released a huge water pulse which struck Excadrill directly in the chest, knocking him back several feet. He sat straight up, panting and wheezing, his eyes fixed on Primarina with sheer rage.

'Why did you do that!?' he screamed at her.

'I retaliated!' she yelped, her voice reaching extremely high levels. 'You told me to!'

'I didn't even hit you!' Excadrill roared, Primarina cowering before him. Meanwhile, Lopunny was leaning over the edge, her eyes peeled on a disheveled Scizor lying crumpled at the bottom of the ditch. He instantly shook himself off and looked around, wild eyed and frantic.

'Are you okay!?' Lopunny shouted down at Scizor who was standing to his feet. 'I'm going to come down for you!'

'Don't!' Scizor yelled out, halting Lopunny from going further. 'Stay where you are! Don't move!'

'Why!?' Keldeo cried in anguish.

'Isn't it obvious idiot boy?' Durant scowled, standing in between Lopunny and Keldeo and staring at the tiny looking Scizor in the far away bottom. 'We've wandered straight into a mine field!'

Keldeo gasped in fear while Lopunny clapped her hands to her mouth. Primarina appeared to have finished her grovelling apologies to a soaking wet Excadrill, his grey skin dripping with freezing water.

'Oh no!' she screamed, her fins flapping hysterically. 'I don't want to die! I don't want to die!'

'You won't if you stay where you are!' Scizor's loud voice made its way up to where they stood, disorganized and afraid. 'I can navigate my way out of this pitfall. Just let me-'

There was another burst of sand behind Scizor. He twisted round while his feet were planted firmly to avoid stepping on any potential bombs. Out from the ground emerged a short, squat pokemon with large buck teeth and a mean expression. In his hand he held a cylindrical triggering device.

'I got him!' the Scraggy shouted from left to right, him and Scizor standing feet apart. Either side of him, two more scraggies emerged undercover while on the same platform that Scizor's crew were standing, at least three others made themselves present from unseen. They all held the same trigger in their hands and their eyes were alight with malice. Primarina whimpered while Excadrill shook where he was, his inner anxiety taking over as he saw the distance between him and the nearest Scraggy. I need to actually engage with him then I'll be fine, he thought, back to back with a terrified Primarina. It's getting there that is the problem!

'Okay okay.' Scizor faced the three Scraggy's opposite him, surprisingly relaxed in the face of danger. 'Tell me you guys aren't goons of Hoodwink are you?'

Hoodwink? Lopunny remembered the name from last night.

'We are!' The lead Scraggy said proudly. 'And you just walked right into our trap!'

'So you admit you're goons?' Scizor rolled his eyes. 'Each to their own but I think that's kinda sad.'

'It don't matter.' Leader Scraggy said as his mates sniggered. 'Wait til we get the biggest bonuses ever when we snag both the asset and Scizor the Shining Beacon!'

'Why do you want to capture me?' Scizor said curiously. 'Thought you'd be happy blowing me to pieces so-'

'KELDEO NO!'

Lopunny reached for the back of Keldeo as he sprang to action, charging straight at the Scraggy that was approaching him. Durant missed in attempting to catch Lopunny and she clung on to the back of Keldeo with all her strength. The Scraggy cackled and flicked the lid on his trigger, pushing down on the button as Durant roared out.

'STOP!'

Before they could respond, another detonation took place feet away from Keldeo and Lopunny. The impact sent them both flying down towards where Scizor was. He cursed at the sight of this, attempting to charge off and see if he could catch Lopunny. However, one of the Scraggy's leaped straight at him and he only managed to deflect the drain punch as he prepared to take on all three of them.

'Bloody fools!' Durant grimaced, watching Lopunny and Keldeo plummet towards the earth. He looked up to see the scraggy approaching him with a mischievous expression. Durant lowered his head, his eyes becoming more frightening.

'I got an old yin here lads!' he shouted out loud. 'How much of his blood will come out powder? Haha!'

'You watch yer mouth ya pimply little cunt.'

The scraggy's face turned from gloating to mortified in less than a second as Durant launched himself at him, his pincers looking very sharp indeed. Meanwhile, Excadrill was attempting to calm Primarina down while at the same time praying that the two scraggy would hurry up and get near them so he could get stuck in and forget his fear.

'Just breathe okay!?' he consoled her as she took shuddering breaths. 'I have a plan!'

'Oh what's going to happen!?' Primarina wailed, the situation too much for her. 'What they going to do to me!? Shit they're getting closer!'

'You just need to stay still!' Excadrill said. 'Your water pulse was pretty effective earlier! Use that on them!' He turned back and forth, shaking his head and knowing what he needed to do. 'Just hit one of them. You have to.'

'What if I miss!?' Primarina cried to him. 'What if I miss and he just kills me on the spot! I should have just stayed at home I know!'

'You won't miss!' Excadrill told her, the scraggy now metres from them. 'Okay, they're too close to us to use their explosives so that means they're going to take us on with close combat. When I dig, use the water pulse.'

'Dig!?' she shrieked.

'Please?' Excadrill pleaded, his heart hammering hard. 'You have to trust me!'

Primarina gulped, peering over Excadrill's shoulder and seeing that both the scraggy's had entered their personal space.

'OKAY DUCK!' she screamed, throwing caution to the wind. Excadrill said the worlds quickest prayer to Arceus and scampered underground almost too quickly to believe. Primarina squealed and fired out another ring of water that struck the lead Scraggy in the face, catapulting him over his companion and leaving him in a heap. The other Scraggy was startled and couldn't even begin to comprehend what had happened before Excadrill reemerged behind him, grabbing him by the chin and wrestling Scraggy to the ground. Primarina watched with a sort of sick glee as Excadrill pummeled him to submission.

'We won!' Primarina said delightedly, watching Excadrill stand up and shaking himself off. 'Didn't we?'

'So far...so good.' Excadrill managed a faint smile. Primarina let out a 'yippee' and leaned forward to hug Excadrill only to backtrack, her smile fading slightly.

'Oh you got more mud on you.' she nodded down at his once tidy body.

'Ah shit.'

'Ugh...'

Lopunny tried to sit up but her head was fuzzy beyond belief. Her vision was distorted and there was an awful ringing in her ears that no sound of conflict around her could seem to drown out. She blinked rapidly to try and get back to her senses. Lopunny had landed in the large sand pit that Scizor had fallen down to minutes ago. As her vision slowly recovered, she saw something blue float in front of her. She attempted to catch it only for her hand to phase through the strange gas...

'Oh no.'

Lopunny twisted round, her back aching. Her fuzzy vision was clearing fast as if the adrenaline filling Lopunny in the dire situation was flushing away all hindrances. It was at least five metres away that she could make out the wincing and shuddering form of...

'Keldeo!' Lopunny staggered to her feet, awkwardly hurtling over to said pokemon who was moaning in agony. 'Keldeo! Are you okay?'

'Urf...' Keldeo groaned, his front legs splayed ahead of his upper body. 'I've been better. My right leg feels like it's been torched.'

Lopunny headed round Keldeo's body to check on his leg and her stomach turned.

'You're hurt.' Lopunny said, acknowledging the gaping wound that had opened up above Keldeo's hoof. 'Hang on a second, let me get my medicine.'

Lopunny reached into the pocket of her cloak which was still hanging onto her shoulders despite the violent toss of the bomb only to recoil her hand in pain.

'Ow!' she held her hand up to her face. A blob of blood was trickling out of her fingertip. 'Why..? Oh no!'

Lopunny turned the pocket inside out and a shower of glass poured out from the depths, leftover smears of green liquid staining the many pieces.

'It's broken!' Lopunny sucked on her bleeding finger and swore in dismay. 'Shit! What we going to do now?!'

'I'll be fine Lady Lopunny.' Keldeo said, gurning as he put pressure on his sore limb. 'What's going on?'

'Bit exposed.' Lopunny looked around her surroundings. She could see Scizor facing off against three scraggy's, refusing to take a backward step despite their intimidation methods.

'I know what you're planning.' Scizor said, analyzing their movement patterns. 'You have these mines buried around me and whatever direction I go in, you can try and blow me to hell.'

'Well we're at a stalemate then.' the lead Scraggy said, all three of their trigger fingers itching. 'You're sharp. You familiar with Hoodwink then?'

'Took one job from him a while ago.' Scizor shrugged. 'Tell him I resigned from that while I was ahead.'

With that, Scizor flicked up a rock from the ground and brought his mighty claw down upon the airborne object, cracking it into two pieces. He caught both shards and flung them to his left and right. They both hit the ground at the same time, the one on the right remaining intact while the left one falling on top of a metal object buried deep. Scizor smirked.

'Bingo.'

BOOM!

The rock had clearly struck one of the mines and caught the scraggy's off guard. It exploded, firing sand and pebbles up in the air. Using the confusion and surprise, Scizor launched himself to the right where he knew it was safe, his leg springing off the ground and firing into his opponents with a blinding speed. He kicked one of the scraggy's straight in the stomach, winding him. Scizor turned and ducked skillfully out of a one-two punch combo from his next opponent.

'We're coming to help you Sir Scizor!' Keldeo struggled to get the words out as Lopunny helped him to his feet. 'Let's get these creeps!'

'No! Don't move!' Scizor cried out, parrying another blow. 'You don't know where the explosives are buried.'

'He's right.' Lopunny rested her hand, exasperatedly this time, on the reckless Keldeo's back. 'Let's watch how the Scraggy moves. That way we know which paths to take without stepping on the mines!'

Keldeo resisted his urges to jump into the fray, knowing that Lopunny was right and aware of the stinging sensation in his leg. Lopunny saw Keldeo's blue smoke continue to emanate from the injury. She knelt down and covered the wound with her hand, careful not to touch the ravaged flesh.

'We can't risk your your location being exposed again.' she told him. 'Hang on.' She whipped the cloak off from around her shoulders and began to tie it round Keldeo's leg, the brown fabric beginning to soak with blood. Keldeo held his breath, his quickly beating heart not helped by Lopunny touching him with such soft hands. Down in the pit with them, Scizor was facing off with two of the Scraggy's with the third one nowhere to be seen, unnerving Lopunny to no extent. They both circled Scizor was crouched in a battle pose, his right claw ahead of him while his left held behind his back, appearing to make a gesturing motion as if he was inviting the unseen Scraggy to engage.

'Why do you want him?' Scizor asked, addressing the lead Scraggy. 'Keldeo? That Scrafty Hoodwink only deals in weapons so why are you trying to capture this pokemon?'

'He has something we want.' hissed Scraggy, his fists raised below his chin. 'What everyone wants. Some big things are planned ahead. You should be excited.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' snapped Scizor, his eyes narrowing. 'You realise that you're working with former Clan of Shadows pokemon that won't stop stabbing you in the back until they get what they want?'

'Does it really make a difference?' Scraggy asked, thumping his chest sharply. 'That's the way it's always been in Shan'rala. It's the way it's always going to be...At least for now.'

Scizor growled and lowered his arms, prompting the two of them to strike. It was exactly what he wanted. He ducked below the lead Scraggy's kick and span round, deflecting the multiple blows from his rear attacker. Scizor swung twice, the first one missing but the second one catching his opponent in the jaw with such a powerful force, Lopunny saw a tooth fly out of the Scraggy's mouth and consciousness leaving his eyes. However, this attack seemed to have exerted a lot of Scizor's energy. The leader Scraggy jumped and jabbed him right in the back of the leg, sending Scizor to the ground yelling. Scraggy then wrapped his arms around Scizor's head and turned his body sharply, throwing Scizor with a surprising amount of strength across the ground, his body bundling into the sand. As Scizor coughed and tried to shake sand out of his eyes, Scraggy flicked up his trigger, his finger hovering over the red button.

'No!' Lopunny broke away from Keldeo and darted towards Scraggy. Her arm reached over and twisted round his outstretched limbs, the two engaging in a grapple, Lopunny trying to force the switch out of Scraggy's hand. Keldeo couldn't adapt however, as the third Scraggy that had remained unseen had latched on to him. Keldeo struggled in vain but the searing pain in his leg proved a real liability. Scraggy number three popped up out of nowhere and shoved him to the floor, flipping their trigger around, the other end opening up and a sharp needle popped out. This sent Keldeo into an internal fit.

'That wound looks like a jag or two is needed!' the female Scraggy screamed maniacally, the tip of the needle glinting in the sunlight. She lowered the device, intending to siphon the continuing gust of blue steam pouring from the wound. Keldeo yelled out in terror as Scizor was still staggering to his feet and Lopunny was engaged in her wrestle. Suddenly, a pair of pincers burst upwards from the ground, clamping tightly around the wrist of Fem-Scraggy who let out a piercing shriek of pain and terror. The second the grip was secured, Durant's blood soaked weapons fired back downwards, dragging Fem-Scraggy down with him and jamming her entire arm into the ground. She struggled and whimpered, Keldeo watching apprehensively as she tried pushed against the ground with her free hand. There was a clatter next to him. Lopunny and Leader-Scraggy had separated at long last, the trigger they were fighting over now flying upwards through the air as if in slow motion. The two were now split apart by a five metre distance with Leader-Scraggy making the first move towards the air suspended device, so quickly in fact that there was no chance that Lopunny could make it there in time. As Leader-Scraggy reached out to seize his trigger, a Razor Wind struck him in the back of the head, the effective attack stunning him and giving Lopunny enough time to lunge forward, plucking the switch from the air. In the very next motion, Lopunny fired a powerful kick at the dazed Leader-Scraggy, propelling him backwards and landing in the same area Scizor was at. It was clear that he had cast the Razor Wind, his delayed response was simply him charging up. Scizor then punched Leader-Scraggy with a backhanded fist. He keeled over and Scizor skipped over to Lopunny who stood holding the trigger with a frantic expression.

'What do I do?' she asked Scizor. Over her shoulder, Excadrill and Primarina slid down the hill, the latter looking giddy with her surprise victory.

'Hit the button.' Scizor said to her, nodding at the groaning Scraggy. 'Do it.'

'But...that's where the bomb was!' Lopunny cried, Keldeo gingerly standing up, the Fem-Scraggy still immobilized by the underground Durant. 'He'll be blown up!'

'Yeah I know.' Scizor said as if this was obvious.

'No...' Lopunny shook her head, the trigger held in her trembling hand. '...I can't.'

'Ugh. Hate to do this then.' Quick as a flash, Scizor smacked the trigger out from Lopunny's slack grip and caught it, turning on his heel and facing his defeated adversary. Lopunny let out an anguished scream.

'Scizor! NO!'

Scizor pushed the button. The explosion went off straight underneath the Leader-Scraggy, the smoke and fire engulfing his body and ripping him to shreds. Keldeo yelled out while Excadrill covered Primarina's eyes with his claws.

'Fuck! You're a fucking monster!' the Fem-Scraggy yelled out, her arm still trapped. Lopunny stood where she was completely shell shocked. She could not believe what she just saw. Scizor had just murdered a defenseless opponent without even batting an eye. Right in front of Lopunny. She was speechless. It felt as if a family member had just sold her out to an enemy.

'Not nice.' Scizor said, dropping the trigger before turning to Excadrill. 'How did you guys do?'

'She subverted my expectations.' Excadrill smiled at Primarina who returned a wider one.

'I feel brilliant!' she exclaimed excitedly. 'Like I could take on anyone!'

'Let's not get ahead of ourselves.' Scizor warned her, turning to approach Keldeo next to the last remaining Scraggy, Durant's unseen grip strong as ever.

'I'm hurt Sir Scizor.' said Keldeo.

'I can see.' Scizor said, looking down at Lopunny's cloak tied round Keldeo's leg. The wound was covered almost entirely but every few seconds a little wisp of blue smoke sneaked its way through the tight bondage. Hopefully that will be enough until we can get proper attention, thought Scizor before kneeling down in front of their new prisoner.

'What do you want with Keldeo?' Scizor asked Fem-Scraggy almost in a police-like tone.

'I'm not telling you anything.' she hissed. Scizor smirked.

'Durant.' he said blankly. Durant's pincer grip tightened, her circulation being cut off. She gasped and quivered more. Lopunny noticed out the corner of her eye that Fem-Scraggy's own eyes were beginning to water.

'I'm not gonna ask you again.' Scizor said.

'That's right!' Primarina shrieked wildly, alarming everyone. 'You tell us everything or we'll all kill you! I swear!'

'Calm down.' Excadrill said bluntly, providing the finishing touches to Keldeo's bandage. 'You won your first fight, it doesn't mean you're Tapu Bulu.'

Primarina flushed and seemed to restrain herself.

'Hoodwink...wants Keldeo.' Fem-Scraggy spluttered, her veins becoming more blue. 'He thinks that...the energy he releases can be weaponized.'

'I am not to be used for that purpose.' Keldeo said indignantly.

'Yeah I don't think they care.' said Scizor. 'Look, there are pokemon you're working with who are some of the most dangerous and evil warriors in the whole of Charom.'

'Don't give anyone a lecture on evil, Scizor.' Fem-Scraggy growled. 'You know better than anyone that there is no such thing in Shan'rala. And if there was, you're closer to it than most.' she nodded at the charred earth where her companion was. 'I'm not prepared to give the details of our plan out to the likes of you or that fucking normal type.' She then gestured her head at the still and silent Lopunny. 'The only reason you'd try and stop us is for your own self righteous benefit. You think you guys are heroes? Nah...You're just diversions.'

Scizor glowered at Fem-Scraggy while the others kept quiet. Keldeo was becoming consistently paranoid at just how much he was worth to these vile hunters. The buried Durant's mouth had almost sealed entirely shut with how tightly he was gripping Fem-Scraggy, who had knelt down and was rummaging through the sand.

'What are you doing?' Excadrill asked firmly. Fem-Scraggy pulled out a sharp shard of glass from under the sand and slowly waved it in front of Scizor's face which broke out into a laugh.

'You think that's gonna do anything to me?'

'It's not for you. It's for me.' Fem-Scraggy placed the razor sharp piece by her neck, sending alarm bells ringing through Keldeo, Excadrill and Primarina's heads. 'I should have done this years ago once the Shan'rala-Rylus war was over... See ya.'

With that. Fem-Scraggy shut her eyes tight and in one quick motion, drew the shard sharply across her own throat. Blood spattered all over Scizor and Excadrill. Primarina and Keldeo screamed and backed off while Lopunny was finally brought out of her stupor and clapped her hands to her mouth. Fem-Scraggy's throat had been cut wide open of her own hand, the weapon used falling to the ground and her eyes lolling backwards until they were pure white. Her whole body became limp as life crept away, part by part. Eventually, she had keeled over to one side, her back hitting the earth and her eyes staring blankly up at the sky. Nobody spoke. The only sound was everyone shuffling backwards to avoid the enlarging pool of blood coursing through the sand. Eventually, Scizor spoke up.

'Durant you can...you can come up now.'

Durant's head burst through the ground, sending chunks of solid sand flying. He shook his head and stretched his mouth up and down.

'That was getting taxing.' He turned to look at his prey only to see a bloody mess before him. 'Huh!? Did I do that?'

'No.' Scizor shook his head, his expression the same as Lopunny's was for the past few minutes. 'She did it herself.'

Durant continued to rip his own body and limbs out from the earth but his eyes were still fixed on the carcass, appearing to be deep in thought.

'I can't believe what I just saw.' Primarina shuddered, her face white as milk.

'No...' Keldeo squirmed where he sat, visibly distraught. 'This is my fault. It is my fault! Damn it!'

'Don't be daft it ain't your fault.' said Scizor, turning away and rallying his group. 'What we need to do is haul ass and get out of here. Keldeo, can you walk?'

'Just about.' said Keldeo, shaking his leg off and emitting several particles of blue steam.

'Right well make sure that is on at all times.' Scizor pointed at Lopunny's cloak-cum-bandage. 'It hides most of your energy source but good hunters can pick that out anyway. So we need to cover our tracks generally.'

'I can scout ahead underground for somewhere safe to stay.' Excadrill raised his hand. Scizor nodded his approval.

'You do that.' he said, prompting Excadrill to begin digging. 'Primarina, now that you've gotten your hands dirty, would you mind helping me bury these unconscious and dead scraggy's?'

'I suppose a bit more hard work won't kill me.' grunted Primarina before gesturing vigorously at Fem-Scraggy's corpse. 'But there is no way I'm touching that. No way. That can get to-'

'Fair enough.' Scizor waved his hand, silencing Primarina. On both of his sides, Durant and Lopunny were the ones still quiet and analyzing the situation. Durant was moseying the corpse of their fallen enemy with a look of scrutiny.

'What's the matter?' Scizor asked, seizing the body by the wrist and preparing to drag it into the side of the pit so he could cover it with sand.

'You're saying that she did this to herself?' asked Durant.

'Yeah.' confirmed Scizor, hauling Fem-Scraggy across the ground. 'Rather than reveal what they intended to do with Keldeo's power. Bit radical wouldn't you say?'

'...No.' Durant muttered to himself, watching Scizor continue his work. 'I wouldn't say so.'

Durant then turned his head to his left, his eyes meeting Lopunny's who had finally looked up from the ground at long last. There were almost sparks between them with this stare, totally unopposed as Keldeo had stood up and was slowly walking after Primarina to help her, his leg wobbly and letting out small clouds of blue. Lopunny stepped one foot backwards, allowing Durant's line of sight to fall on the charred and smoking remains of the Scraggy leader, his death nowhere near carrying the same weight and honour Fem-Scraggy's had. Durant gazed at this with a curious expression on his face, somewhere between contempt and...satisfaction?

'I'm guessing you did hesitate?' Durant said, his eyes still peeled on the black ground. 'I called it.'

'Yeah that's right.' Lopunny's voice was hoarse but defiant. She pointed ahead at the scarlet insect shoveling sand over the corpse. 'And he didn't. It was almost automatic to him.' Lopunny pointed a shaky finger at Durant, her face livid. 'I was right. You did make him a weapon.'

Lopunny shot one last glare at Durant before turning round and striding after Keldeo and Primarina, leaving Durant standing in the stream of quickly drying blood and Scizor entombing the dead body under the sand, ready to join the hundred others buried underneath, a long line of sacrifices for the sake of victory.

The hours of the day passed by with the speed of a shuckle. The sky became darker, the sun was dimmer and the two desert dwellers that would wander across the plains every hour had reduced to zero. And all the while, Bisharp never moved from his spot. He stood at the edge of the giant cliff, surveying the vast landscape with the keenest of eyes, not prepared to let anything suspicious pass by and even less ready to allow the apparent Shining Beacons of the desert to roam free. The one chance I have to make everything better and it turns out that running into bugs and bunny are inevitable. Out of pure instinct, Bisharp drew his blades across one another, the sheathing sound echoing far and wide. It was so piercing that the pokemon hidden deep underground could hear it and now refused to submerge.

BZZ!

Bisharp's communicator began to vibrate, causing his arm to shake. He sighed and tapped it once, the devious voice springing out of the speaker and annoying Bisharp a tad.

'Bisharp, are you present?'

'Yes Hoodwink.' he said exasperatedly.

'Good.' Hoodwink replied on the other side, sitting in his office and twiddling his thumbs. 'You'll be pleased to know that one of my agents in the field has produced a plan that will bring the asset to us. He is on his way to you guys to pitch it to you. Expect him to be there in around ten minutes.'

'Gotcha.' Bisharp replied, the tiredness beginning to hit him at long last.

'Is something the matter?' Hoodwink asked, noticing that Bisharp was being more dry than his already stoic self.

'Tired I guess.' Bisharp explained, twirling a blade in his hand. 'I've been standing in same place all day just waiting for something.'

'Something?'

Bisharp hesitated, tempted to flick the communicator off and get some rest but realized the alternative was going down to their camp and talking to Nidoqueen again.

'Apparently, some old...acquaintances of mine are working with the asset we're looking for.' Bisharp said, the golden sun hiding further behind the massive sand dunes.'It means that a rematch is on the cards very soon.'

'Oh I know that.' Hoodwink said with a chuckle. 'A good thing too. You see, I encourage my agents to express their actions in the most meaningful ways possible. If you bump into an old enemy while on a mission for me, I encourage you to incorporate overcoming that foe with my task. It...builds character shall we say?'

'Um...' Bisharp thought what Hoodwink was saying sounded really specific. 'If you say so.'

'These pokemon that work for me all have their reasons for doing so.' Hoodwink carried on. 'I'm glad that I've managed to inspire some extra motivation for you to do a good job.'

You didn't inspire anything, thought Bisharp, his eyes narrowing.

'Anyway,' Hoodwink's voice broke slightly due to his back stretching. 'got some more work to do. Keep an eye out for your new partner, he'll be arriving in a buggy. Happy hunting.'

'Catch you later.' Bisharp said, his expression still fixed to stern. There was a click and the communication was severed. Bisharp puffed out his chest before wincing, his arm reaching up and clutching his wounded chest. Bisharp breathed out hard, his fist closing and eventually pulling it away only for him to open his hand, seeing pieces of broken metal resting in his hand.

'...No.' the words came out as a whisper.

'No what?'

Bisharp whipped round, closing his hand again. Nidoqueen stood opposite him, her arms behind her back and an inquisitive expression on her face.

'Nothing.' Bisharp shook his head, subtly dropping the shards of his own body behind his back. 'I thought I saw something in the distance that I recognised but I was mistaken.'

'At least you admit that you make mistakes now.' Nidoqueen smiled, approaching Bisharp. 'Have to get away from those guys for a bit. All they do is talk about their desert shenanigans and I just can't relate I'm afraid. You'd have more fun chatting to them.'

'Doubt it.' said Bisharp. 'Hoodwink called me there. He said a new guy is on the way very soon to discuss a plan with us.'

'Yeah I was told earlier off Krookodile.' Nidoqueen then paused before she spoke again. 'Wait, are we not told about these things until the last possible moment.'

Bisharp snorted.

'Seems that way.'

'Do you think he knows?' Nidoqueen lowered her voice, the non existent wind making it easy for them to be heard. 'About how we are?'

Bisharp slowly looked left and right, checking if there were any unwelcome eavesdroppers nearby. He then stepped closer to Nidoqueen and adopted a hushed tone as well.

'Yes.' he said, his low voice husky. 'I reckon he's smarter than we thought.' Bisharp noticed a skeptical expression on Nidoqueen's face so he elaborated. 'I mean he seems a bit thick on the outside but he can't be an idiot AND build this elaborate business. He's pretty perceptive too I've noticed.'

'Either he's afraid of us or he's going to betray us.' Nidoqueen theorized before going back to her wicked grin. 'Once we get what we want with these new explosives it won't matter though.'

'I think it might?' Bisharp said with an inquisitive look. Nidoqueen shrugged.

'Maybe for you.' she smirked, gesturing at Bisharp. 'Not for me though.'

'What are you talking about?'

Before Nidoqueen could respond to an increasingly irritated Bisharp, a revving noise could be heard to their right, ceasing the potential argument. Nidoqueen and Bisharp glanced at each other, the engine chugging sound reverberating through the twilight desert.

'Must be our new friend.' Nidoqueen said. She and Bisharp turned to face the approaching figure, who had clambered out of the hastily cobbled-together dune buggy and began to clamber up multiple rock peaks. The slowly shrinking sun still managed to cast a dim light on their new ally although only Bisharp initially noticed as Nidoqueen shielded her eyes for a seconc due to the sudden shine.

'That can't be...' Bisharp muttered, recognising the familiar tall frame and body shape.

'What..?' Nidoqueen lowered her arm and her eyes widened. 'No way.'

The pokemon was finally revealed as he came up to the same level as them. Both Bisharp and Nidoqueen let out sounds of shock and relief when they realized their first guesses had been incorrect but neither of them could be blamed for their mistakes. The pokemon began to speak to them, the whites of his eye glowing bright in the Shan'rala sun.

'Okay. Here is what we are after. And we're all going to benefit greatly.'