How did I know not all of you would help me choose a Pokemon that would be hatched from the egg?! Still, six candidates from three people isn't bad. But I'm still hoping for more candidates. The poll will start with the next chapter is posted. The results will be when the war against Gangrel ends. Why so late? I'd rather a baby Pokemon to not be hatched in the middle of a war zone. And if any of you is thinking that the end will be so close, I am making some filler chapters, so you have plenty of time to vote, but not enough time to select candidates. No wait, I lied. You still have enough time to select candidates, for I will be working on other stories for a while.
Now, with that being said, let's start the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the opening, which is Papermoon, a Soul Eater opening.
*OPENING*
(Instrumental)
(The scene begins with the assassination of East Ninja Village. Coral, watching the scene from above, lets out a loud scream. Scene then changes to the title)
I'm falling
Down into my shadow
Holding in my every breath
As I await the deadly night
(Coral fell in dark water. She looked up at the surface and saw her family looking down at her as she tried to reach them. A whirlpool was picked up, dragging her away from them)
So scary
But you can't give into this
Fear of pumpkin carriages
Cause all the witches see it in your eyes
(Chrom and Robin were walking down the halls of the former's castle with troubled looks. Camera zooms out to reveal that it was seen in the eye of a crazy ruler and a dark mage. Screenshots of a Dark Flier and a general covered the screen)
See you in your dreams
Yeah, baby
(Screenshots of each of the Shepherds and Emmeryn going on with their normal lives came and gone in order of appearance)
Your nightmares, too
That's where I'll find you
(Scene changed to somewhere in space where Arceus was seen watching over Coral)
Fairy Blue
It is only for you
That I would crush the stars
And put them on display
(Coral, her Pokemon and the Shepherds were battling against the Risen and Plegians)
Black Paper Moon
(Coral's team were watching their leader sadly watching the sunset)
If you really put your faith in me
(Camera zooms over to many Pokemon that will be joining the Shepherds)
When you're lost here, I am
Forever with your soul
(Marth was fighting off many Risen on her own while heading to a portal)
Waiting here above you patiently
Just like the shining moon
(Scene changed and Coral took Marth's place as she ran to her clan's killer with a killing intent. They clashed and fought. Coral skidded back as she glared up at the murderer)
After Emmeryn left the group back to Ylisstol, the Shepherds continued on to Ferox. The night got dark, though, so the group decided to set up camp. So to say, the atmosphere was quite... heavy. Chrom and Lissa were both extremely worried for their sister. Their Pokemon tried their best to cheer them up somehow, only to fail in doing so. Most of the other Shepherds were also worried about the exalt. Maybe not as much as the two royals, but they were worried.
"They've been like this for quite a while," Sully stated.
"Can you blame them? This is their sister we're talking about," Stahl said.
"Stahl has a point. They have every right to be worried," Sumia agreed.
"But isn't there something we can do to help them?" Anna asked.
"Hey Bubbles, you're a tactician. What should we do?" Gaius asked Robin.
"Just because I'm a tactician doesn't mean I have the answer to everything," she told him. "But even so, I think the best thing we can do for them is... give them space."
Everyone sighed at the answer.
"Hey. Where are the ninjas, Panne and that new recruit?" Vaike asked, just noticing that some of their members were missing. Frederick was also missing, but they knew he was in Chrom's tent with the prince.
"I saw the ninjas going into the woods earlier, minus Kazuki of course," Ricken answered. "She and Panne are in one of the tents."
"And Cordelia?" Donnel asked.
"I... don't know about her."
"She might still be brooding over the death of her comrades before she arrived," Miriel guessed.
"These things do take time," Maribelle stated.
With the Pegasus Knight in question, she had followed the ninjas into the woods, mainly Coral. She wanted to thank the ninja for helping her realize her fallen pegasus knights wouldn't want her to keep grieving over their deaths. She managed to catch up to them, and noticed they were having some sort of conversation.
"... She's safe," Coral whispered.
"Is this really okay?" Yuuki asked.
"It's better than leaving her alone," Kazuto agreed. "Who knows what those Plegians are planning. For all we know, they could plan an ambush. Having a guard should be okay."
"Especially with his specialty," the east kunoichi added.
'Are they talking about the exalt?' Cordelia wondered, walking a little closer to hear more.
Seth seemed to have noticed her, as he took out a kunai knife and tossed it to the tree she was hiding behind, forcing an 'eep' out of her.
The other ninjas sighed at this.
"And we apparently have a spy," Coral said. The next thing Cordelia knew, the ninja she wanted to speak to disappeared and she felt cold blade against her throat. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut your head off." The red-head pegasus knight paled at the question.
"Whoa, wait Coral! That's the new recruit!" Yuuki warned.
"Hey!" came a different voice. Coral removed her sword from Cordelia's neck in time to block a sword strike from none other than Frederick. "It seems I was right this whole time. You're a Plegian spy!"
"Okay, that's crazy. Why would you think that?" Kazuto asked.
"Even after you attempt to kill Cordelia, you're still playing dumb? How stupid do you think I am?!" Both Frederick and Coral distanced themselves from each other. "I'm taking you ninjas in!"
"Why don't you try it?" Coral challenged, sheathing her sword and took out a kunai knife.
Seeing this both confused and enraged the great knight. "Are you mocking me? You think you can do well against me with only a knife?"
"Want to prove me wrong... weak knight?" That question and insult was enough to make Frederick snap and charge at her. The girl blocked each strike with her small weapon or was quick enough to avoid each hit.
"Hey guys! Knock it off!" Yuuki called.
"What's going on here?!" came Virion's voice. The ninjas in the sidelines looked and saw most of the Shepherds had gathered in the area, most likely due to the commotion.
"Why are you guys fighting each other?!" Anna asked.
"Because these ninjas aren't our allies!" Frederick shouted. "They can act as much as they want, but they are truly enemies! I saw them almost kill Cordelia!"
The pegasus knight tried to explain what had actually happened. "Th-That's not-!"
"You really think bad of us, don't you, Frederick?" Coral interrupted. "Is it because we're from another world? Because we're from the same world as the Pokemon, creatures you've yet to understand? I've seen discrimination, but this is taking things way too far! What the hell did we do to make you suspicious of us?! Just simply existing?! All you've done since we've met is be suspicious of us! I understand if you must be cautious of us, but to accuse us of being enemies before trying to understand us is a whole different story! Now, I would tolerate your action longer if it is towards us four, but what of Kazuki?! She's just a child, she's from the same world as the Pokemon, she is a ninja-in-training, she will be a trainer! The way you're acting towards us, are you going to pass that onto her as well?! An innocent kid who has never done any wrong in her entire life! You're going to give her the cold shoulders just because she's different from you?! Because you know nothing of her?! Because she's like us?! What sort of villain would send a child as a spy?!"
Everyone was silent at her outburst, especially the knight in question. Every word that came out of Coral's mouth hit where it hurts for him.
Unknown to them, the little girl herself was nearby, egg not in her arms like usual. She heard how distrustful Frederick was towards strangers, but she never thought he would take it this far to her parents, Coral and Seth. Not only that, but apparently he was also wary of her. The fact that Frederick didn't at least deny him taking extreme caution around her was proof enough that he didn't trust her either.
'What did I do wrong?' she wondered.
Kellam noticed the little girl nearby and walked over to her. "Hey. Are you okay?" he asked. His voice caught everyone's attention, most jumped for they had forgotten he was with them, as usual.
Kazuki snapped out of her thoughts as she remembered why she was with them. "Dinner is ready..."
Considering how low her voice was, it didn't take them long enough to know that she heard the whole thing. Coral sheathed her weapon and made her way back to the campsite. As she passed Fredreick, she whispered, "I hope you feel happy now. You made one of us outsiders cry."
As she continued to walk, the other ninjas started to follow her, with Yuuki comforting her adoptive daughter. The other Shepherds also joined them back to camp, leaving Frederick behind. The man was frustrated, not with Coral, but also himself. He told himself to give the Pokemon and the ninjas a chance, yet he kept pushing them away, including young Kazuki, an innocent little girl. He felt something rub itself against him and looked to see Herdier trying to comfort the man.
"You're..." he spoke. "Why are you comforting me? I've done nothing but push you and your kind away."
Herdier kept a stern look, as if telling him that he was aware of how Frederick has yet to trust him or his fellow Pokemon. He also knew it was for a good cause, no matter how overprotective it was. As the two stared at each other in the eyes, for once since the Pokemon started appearing, Frederick had finally acknowledge the intelligence in a Pokemon's eyes.
"You trust me?" he dared to ask.
"Her," the Loyal Dog Pokemon nodded.
Seeing this response, Frederick started to feel something for the Pokemon, something that felt like respect. "Let's return to camp." With that, the two followed the others back to the campsite.
The next day, the Shepherds continued making their way to Regna Ferox. As they walked, Coral walked up to Cordelia. "You mind if we talk?" she asked, surprising the pegasus knight.
"Um... S-Sure..." she answered.
Seeing her reaction to her own presence made Coral sigh. "About last night, I apologize for... almost killing you. It was quite dark and I assumed you were a spy from Plegia. That and one should never sneak up on a ninja, especially during a conversation with other ninjas, unless if they were a skilled ninja."
Cordelia gave her an odd look. "Your rules must be quite strict in your world."
"For ninjas. One of our rules is to never have an enemy get behind us. That happens, we're dead."
The pegasus knight let out a small chuckle, assuming it was a joke. After noticing that Coral didn't seem amused by what she said, of what she can tell due to her mask that is, she ceased her laugh. "Oh, you were serious."
"Don't worry about it. You guys don't know much about ninjas. By the way, why were you spying on us last night?"
"I wasn't spying. Well, I didn't mean to at least. I wanted to thank you."
Coral stopped in her tracks in confusion at those words. "What for?"
"If you didn't give me that lecture, I would still be wallowing in despair over the death of my sisterly knights," Cordelia explained. "It's as you said, they wouldn't want me to continuously cry over their deaths. They'd want me to move on. So thank you, for helping me move on."
Her thanks made Coral cringe slightly. "I didn't say all that to give you advice. Don't get me wrong," she said, walking ahead of the pegasus knight, who was confused with what she said.
"Don't worry. She'll warm up to you eventually," Robin assured.
"Pikachu," Sparky seemed to agree.
"Y-... Yeah..." Cordelia answered, eyes locked on the Pikachu on the tactician's shoulders. The Mouse Pokemon looked back at her with a look of confusion.
Robin also noticed the stare. "Is there something wrong?"
"Not really." Cordelia then looked around, seeing some of the Shepherds getting along well with their Pokemon partners. "You are all quite close with these Magical Creatures, aren't you? Oh, wait! They're called 'Pokemon'."
"That's right," Robin answered, scratching Sparky's chin, much to his pleasure. "We are close with our Pokemon. It's kind of like we've met and reunited with our other halves. I don't know how to explain it. A good guess would be the strong bond between us that the ninjas spoke of. Though truthfully, calling it a 'bond' would be an understatement."
"How so?"
"Well, when we get into battle, our Pokemon would know what we would be thinking, how we want to initiate our attack. For example, in the case of Sparky and me, whenever I casted my Thunder magic, he would either prepare himself to absorb the energy and release it all in a big attack or just slip past the enemy and have my magic land a direct hit. For Lissa and Maribelle, they're healers so they would have to save anyone who got terribly injured. Their partners either helped heal them or protect them from enemy attacks. Chrom and Gladiknight? They fought like they've been fighting together for a really long time. Both had each other's backs and were in sync with each other's movements."
"The prince and his partner?" Cordelia questioned.
"Yeah. Bet it's hard to believe with how far apart they are now," Robin added, looking at their leader and his Pokemon.
As she had said, it was hard to believe they were partners; both still distanced themselves from each other and refused to look at each other in the eyes. Well, it was Gladiknight who couldn't look at Chrom, while the prince himself was still thinking about his sister.
"I see. How did you meet them? Each of you with your partners," Cordelia asked.
"Well, for Sparky and Gladiknight, we met them the day after I joined the Shepherd, on the way to Regna Ferox the first time. They were fighting off against some Risen. We helped them out, offered them to join us and since then, Sparky took a liking to me. As for Gladiknight, I think he was starting to have respect for Chrom after that day. It was when we won a small tournament in Regna Ferox, though, that they became our official partners," Robin explained.
"Kachu!" Sparky nodded, confirming the actions that had happened.
"You must've hit it off quite well. Because I seem to recall that the day you joined was a couple of weeks ago." When Cordelia said that, both Robin and Sparky paled slightly, thinking back to the brutal training they had gone through to deepen their bond.
In some other part of the Shepherd, young Kazuki was looking down at the ground with a sad look on her face. The event from last night still bothered her, as she recalled Coral's questions to Frederick, questions he didn't answer that seemed to be true.
'Was it a mistake for us to be here?' she wondered.
"What's wrong, kid?" Panne asked.
"It's nothing..." Kazuki lied.
Panne was no fool; she knew the kid was lying, that something was bothering her. "Kid, you can tell me." Kazuki didn't answer, as she held her egg closer to her. "Are you concerned for your egg?" Panne assumed.
"I-... Yes..."
The taguel knew she was lying again. She could tell from her heart beat. At the same time, she knew that whatever it was that was bothering Kazuki was better left alone. "Your egg will hatch in due time, kid. I've heard how long you've had it. There's a good chance it's waiting for the right time to hatch."
"You really think so?"
"I have high hopes."
A small smile formed on Kazuki's face. Although it did nothing to help her with her real troubles, Panne was happy to see that smile on her face.
Later the group arrived at their destination and rested in the castle.
"S-She's safe inside the castle, right? Phila and the others will protect her! And Khan Flavia is assembling her best troops as we speak. We'll make it back home in time. I know we will!" Lissa said, trying to look on the bright side of things. Chrom kept silent, not listening to what his sister had just said. "Chrom? Say something! Say, 'Yes, of course we will!'"
"I'm sorry, Lissa. What?" the prince asked, just realizing he was being spoken to.
This annoyed his sister. "Ugh, fine! Never mind! Let me know when you get out of your own head for a second!"
"Blue's really out of it, isn't he?" Gaius asked.
"Can you blame him? He's really worried about his sister," Sully pointed out.
"But if this keeps up and we're being attacked, he might be the first to go down," Donnel stated.
At his words, Sumia walked up to their leader. "Snap out of it, Captain!" she shouted. To everyone's shock, both humans and Pokemon alike, she punched Chrom... hard.
"OW! What the hell was that for?!" he demanded.
"Oh no! Did I do it wrong?" Sumia asked in a panicked tone. "Captain Phila said sometimes a good slap will break someone out of their doldrums."
Everyone sweat dropped at her reason.
"Unless if your world's version of a slap is different from our world's version, Sumia, when you slap someone, you do it with an open palm," Yuuki explained. "You just punched Chrom in the face!"
"Um... It's the thought that counts?"
"Gods, that seriously hurt..." Chrom complained, rubbing his cheek.
'I'm glad I'm not in his position,' Kazuto thought.
"Ha ha! What's wrong, my dear prince? Sometimes love hurts!" came Flavia's voice, as she walked into the room. "You're lucky to have strong women like these, and not just dainty flowers about. In any case, I bring good news. The Feroxi army has finally mobilized. Every last man is itching to fight. I must say, I'm looking forward to savoring a skirmish or two myself."
This caused everyone to pause for a moment. "Wait. You're coming along?" Chrom asked.
"Of course! A khan must have her fun. I'm even bringing my insignificant other."
"What insignificant other?" Coral asked, wondering if Flavia now had a Pokemon partner while they were away.
"Basilio," the East khan identified. "The oaf isn't good for much, but he might stop a few stray arrows."
"It might actually be nice if you guys also recruited that Pokemon that keeps giving you gifts every once in a while," Stahl brought up.
"Yeah. From what the Vaike and friends have heard, if the Pokemon is as strong as you said it was, it might make a great addition to the group," the Shepherd fighter said.
Flavia sighed at those words. "True as it may be, it randomly comes by with gifts and we don't know where it's living."
"If Pokemon are as intelligent as we think, there's a possibility that the visiting Pokemon will join us on the battlefield when it knows it should be," Miriel said, looking over some Pokemon notes.
"You think so?" Ricken asked.
"Possibly." Ricken sweat dropped at the answer.
"Better than an absolute no," Coral stated. "Besides, if the Pokemon sees the khans missing, if it cares so much for them, it'll definitely follow us to wherever we would be."
Later, the group followed Flavia into the throne room. There, Basilio stood waiting for them.
"Chrom! Good gods, I've been looking for you everywhere!" he cried out.
"Is something wrong?" the prince asked.
"Our scouts have reported back. Dark news, I'm afraid..." Basilio paused for a moment, wondering how he should explain it. Soon enough, he informed, "Ylisstol...has fallen."
The news shocked everyone. "What?!"
The next news wasn't making things any better for them, especially the royal siblings. "The Plegians captured your exalt and retreated back across their lines. Gangrel has declared she's to be publicly executed within the moon."
"E-executed?!" Chrom gasped.
Lissa didn't take the information well and fainted. Robin managed to catch her fall.
"Lissa? Lissa!" she called, as Sparky used his tail as a fan and Lei tried to heal her human partner.
"The dastard's not even trying to be subtle anymore," Flavia said.
"I agree. It's an obvious trap," the tactician claimed.
"The Mad King knew our scouts would relay this information back," Basilio said. "It's clearly a provocation- a hot brand to the buttocks! We should consider our options carefully before jumping to any-"
Chrom cut off the West Khan and gave an order. "Shepherds! We march to Plegia!"
Basilio cleared his throat and continued to speak. "Well, that would be ONE option, yes... But perhaps we've seen enough royalty waltzing into traps for one war already, eh?"
"I don't care if it's a trap, Basilio. He's going to murder my sister!"
"Calm down, Chrom! You won't be saving anyone with that sort of attitude," Coral scolded.
"Coral's right. Breathe a moment," Flavia agreed."No one's suggesting we don't act. We're simply saying we should act WISELY. We'll need guts AND wits in equal measure if we're to save your sister."
"The khans and Coral have a point. I'll think of something, Chrom. I promise," Robin vowed.
The prince took a few moments to take deep breaths and calmed himself. "...All right, Robin. I leave it to you to formulate our strategy."
"Are you certain you're up to the task, Robin?" Flavia asked. "It won't be easy. You hold the exalt's life in one hand, and all of ours in the other."
"A responsibility I do not take lightly. But I am equal to the challenge," the tactician claimed.
The female khan gave a small laugh. "Ha ha! You've got stones, at least. I like that!"
"No hesitation, no mincing words... She's either a genius or a fool!" Basilio stated with a smirk. "I suppose we'll find out once we march. Hold on to your tassets, Ylisseans. We've an exalt to save!" Most of the Shepherds shouted in approval to the order. As they did so, the four ninja teens glanced at each other, smirking behind their masks.
Later, the group set out to Plegia to save Emmeryn. As they traveled through the dessert, Chrom couldn't help but feel something off about how they were able to travel so far without being spotted by the enemy. He sent Gladiknight on ahead to scout the area, as well as Sumia, Cordelia, Avian, Sonic and the ninjas. Said otherworldly group also brought out Nic, Nightwing, and Anubis to join in on the scout.
Some time later, Kazuto, Yuuki, Anubis, and Gladiknight returned to the group. "Chrom, there appears to be some manner of engagement downfield," Kazuto said.
"They don't seem to be Plegians, but they have some killing intent," Anubis warned.
"Coral and the others already went on ahead to deal with these brigands," Yuuki added.
"Got it. We must get ready to move," Chrom said.
"These desert sands are certain to bog down our units, milord," Frederick informed. "Only mages and fliers will be able to proceed unhindered."
"Not to mention some Ground, Rock, and Steel-type Pokemon, like Stone and Lock for example," Kazuto added.
"I'll keep that in mind. Robin, let's discuss strategy," the prince told the tactician.
As the two talk about the plan of action, a little girl ran through the middle of the soon-to-be battlefield. She looked around Kazuki's age, with long, green-yellow hair in a ponytail and pointy ears. She wore quite a revealing outfit, consisting of a scaly cloth tied together with a pink ribbon, covering her chest, and really short shorts, with pink ribbons on the sides. She also had on a pair of gloves, a cape, really long boots, and a tiara on her head. Draped around her neck was a blue and white serpent of some kind, with fins on the sides of its head, a small white bump on its forehead, and a large, white, snout.
"Did... Did we lose him, Levia?" the girl asked.
The creature let out a small cry as it looked behind them. Before it could make any other sound, a middle aged man with orange hair caught up to them. He wore an armor with heavy clothes underneath and had a sword by his side.
"Wait, I say! Why you no comprehending, wee one?" he spoke.
The girl and her creature, no doubt a Pokemon, let out a cry at his voice. "AUGH! GET AWAY! Everyone just leave me and Levia ALONE!"
Sensing its friend is in grave danger, Levia slithered down to the ground and gave an intimidating look. Or at least attempted to, with how adorable it looked.
"Please, be keeping down with the voice! You give away position! Very bad!" the guy pleaded. Unfortunately, the girl was busy in her emotional distress to hear him.
"My throat is dry, my shoes are full of sand, Levia is too weak after all that torture back there, and some big weirdo is trying to KILL US!"
"Oy, you break Gregor's heart! Why you treat like villain?"
Their conversation didn't go unnoticed by Panne, due to her sensitive hearing, as she looked around the area for the source of the voices.
"What's wrong, Panne?" Kazuki asked.
"I'm hearing cries for help," she answered, catching the rest of the Shepherds' attention.
"Which way?" Vaike asked.
"Sounds like... that way." The taguel pointed straight ahead of them, where the group can see a middle-aged mercenary with a little girl and a small creature that seemed like-
"Coral! Is that small serpent-?!"
"A Pokemon? Yes," the East kunoichi answered. "And a really rare one. Dratini are called 'Mirage Pokemon' because very few have actually seen it. All there is to confirm its existence is its shed skin."
Maribelle realized something at that explanation. "Hang on! If that Pokemon is rare, and Pokemon have yet to officially be known to the whole world then..." The rest of the Shepherds caught on to her thought.
"You there! Fiend! Keep your hands off that maiden and Pokemon!" Chrom shouted.
"Who is fiend? ... You mean Gregor? No, friend! You have idea wrong!" the man, Gregor, tried to correct.
"Yeah, right! ... Creep!" Lissa scoffed and insulted.
Gregor didn't like where the conversation and situation were heading. "This day has been nothing but insults and punches to groin. And all for doing good deed! ... Listen, friend! Gregor only want to-"
"Gotcha, you slippery scamp! Prepare for a dose of Grima's wrath!" interrupted an elderly man, who seemed to be a dark mage.
"An enemy?!" Sully gasped, as more Plegians arrived at the scene.
"Oy, this is most terrible! Do you see now? They make with the catching of us!"
"Why are you all after the girl and Pokemon?" Chrom continued to question.
"All? What is this 'all'?" Gregor realized what they meant. "Gregor is not one of 'all'! Look close! Maybe you not see from so far? Gregor have innocent-baby face!" The guy actually resorted to using an 'innocent-baby' face.
Everyone sweat dropped at the sight before them.
"Not sure 'innocent baby' is how I'd describe it..." Robin muttered.
"Ditto," Yuuki agreed.
"Gah! Never be minding! Gregor is not enemy! You must believe!" Gregor exclaimed once more.
"Maybe we should believe in him," Kazuki suggested, to everyone's shock. "He doesn't seem that bad."
Chrom just sighed and placed a hand on his head. "...This is making my head hurt. We'll sort him out later. Right now, we need to protect the girl and the Pokemon."
Said girl looked up and over at the group. "Y-you're going to help us?"
"We'll do everything in our power to keep you safe. Just hold on until we can reach you, and we'll drive them off!"
"Gallade!" Gladiknight called, getting the prince's attention. "Galla! Gal gallade!" He was pointing at a small village near them to two other villages.
"You're right, Gladiknight. We should warn those villages of the danger," Chrom understood and agreed. "Anubis, can I count on you to warn them?"
"Leave it to me!" she nodded, rushing over to the villages.
With that the Shepherds were off into another battle, making their way to Gregor, the girl and Dratini as quickly as they could.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM US!" Nowi shouted, as a fighter ran to her and Levia with an axe raised. She took out a stone and was encased in pink light. The next thing the group knew, a yellow dragon stood in her place, breathing out flames at the mage. Levia followed it up with a blast of blue energy from its snout. The combined attacks burnt the mage to crisp.
This action surprised all of the Shepherds.
"What in blazes?! That girl is a dragon!" Robin shouted.
"That's so cool!" Kazuki exclaimed, eyes sparkling in amazement.
"Is she a taguel like Panne?" Yuuki asked.
"No; she's a manakete," Chrom corrected. "I never thought I'd see one."
"Looks like she doesn't need our help so much as we could use hers..." Gaius stated, fighting off an enemy cavalry.
All of a sudden, the group was hearing what sounded like a really loud war cry heading their way.
"Do any of y'all hear that?" Donnel asked.
"I know I did," Panne answered.
"YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the cry was getting louder and was being followed up by the sound of something being cut and enemies being brought down. "IN THE NAME OF THE NINJA VILLAGE OF THE SOUTH, I WILL KILL YOU ALL BEFORE YOU EVEN LAY A FINGER ON THE DRATINI AND HER PARTNER!"
The two words they heard caught their attention the most, as they turned and saw a red ninja cutting down the enemy line. With him was a purple, bat-like Pokemon with four wings.
"Another ninja?!" Ricken gasped.
"Just how many of them got here?!" Kellam asked.
"Crow! Hit them all with a good Air Slash!" the red ninja ordered. His Pokemon nodded at the command and sent blades of air at some of the dark mages. "Chomper! Any time with that Dig now!" At those words, something emerged from beneath the enemy fighters, sending sand in the air and knocking them all off their feet. "Now use Dual Chop!" The Pokemon hidden in the sand charged out and cut the fighters in half.
Said Pokemon was a dark blue Pokemon that seemed to be a mix of a hammerhead shark and a dragon. Its feet had three white talons and each arm had a long, white claw for a hand and large, curved fins sprouting from the arms. On its back was a large, dorsal fin with a notch and its tail resembles a shark's.
"I do believe it's safe to say that he's an ally," Miriel told them.
"I think so too," Stahl agreed.
All of a sudden, the red ninja went in to attack Frederick, for whatever reason.
"What the-?! Why are you attacking me?!" Frederick demanded.
"Don't play fool with me! You think having armor different from the others make you innocent?! Even more so, you force the Pokemon to fight with you fiends?! I am no fool! You are all here the same reason as the rest of these guys! I will not let you take away that Dratini and the girl back to that horrendous place!" he shouted, confusing the Shepherds even more so.
"Calm down, Kai," Kazuto calmly told the red ninja.
The newcomer looked towards the source and noticed his fellow ninjas calmly staring back at him. Their calm attitude to the Shepherds mixed with how close Kazuki was to Panne made him realize he was about to fight and possibly kill an ally.
"My apologies!" Kai shouted, bowing before the group.
'That's fast!' they all thought, as Kai's Pokemon just sweat dropped at the attitude with a blank face.
"You can apologize later," Yuuki said. "For now, we have to stop the Plegians."
"Yes, ma'am!" With that, Kai left to battle once more.
The Shepherds couldn't help but be dumbfounded at what had just occurred.
"Is he-?"
"Yes, he's always like this," the teenage ninjas interrupted Lon'qu in unison, knowing what his question was.
Meanwhile, Coral was streaming through a horde of fighters, her Sword of Kusanagi in hand and easily cutting through them all like hot knife to butter. Nic was right by her side, switching places with his trainer every once in a while to catch the enemy by surprise and kill them within that time. Eventually, the two were in front of the mastermind behind the attack.
"Ha ha! You dare defy Grima, god of annihilation?!" the dark mage demanded.
After hearing one certain word, time seemed to have stopped for Coral. Her eyes dilated and she started to tremble slightly.
The leader of the group of Plegians smirked at the reaction. "Oh? I see you are having regrets for your action. Well, perhaps if you give your life to Grima-" He was cut off by a hard punch to the face, forcing him to skid away from his spot. Getting back up, he saw that it was Coral who gave him the punch, glaring at him as she took out some kunai knives.
"It seems someone needs a wake up call," she spoke. "Because there's no such thing as god. And even if they do exist, they are nothing but lazy-ass bastards!" She tossed the knives at the mage, who deflected them all with his Nosferatu magic. Nic sped past the knives and magic and struck with a Slash attack.
"Damn you... Die in the name of Grima!" the dark mage shouted, shooting out more of his magic at Nic. The Ninjask used Double Team to avoid the attack and surround the dark mage, much to his shock and confusion. "What the-?! Which one is the real you?!" A few Nics swooped down on him. The dark mage avoided each and every one of the clones. "No matter... I'll find you myself!" He started to retaliate with a Nosferatu on each attacking Ninjask, causing each of them to disappear on contact. When the magic was about to hit the real one, the real Nic swapped with Coral. The female ninja cut through the dark magic, much to the mage's surprise.
"Off with your head," she simply stated, beheading him and putting an end to the battle. As she stood there, her mind went back to Arceus, how she learned that he knew of the danger that was to come to the village and yet still let things came to be.
'You're suppose to be a God, and my grandfather's friend. Yet... How could you, Arceus?' she thought.
"Ninjask?" Nic called, worried for his trainer.
"I'm fine, Nic," she assured. "Let's get back to the others."
"This is just the worst. Day. EVER!" the manakete, who the Shepherds learned was named Nowi, cried.
"Ho now, wee one! Do not make with the crying of tears. The evil people are now dead people. This is good, no?" Gregor asked, as Levia comforted her dragon friend.
Nowi started to calm down slightly at that realization. "You... You're right. Th-thank you. And... I'm sorry I was so mean to you earlier. I just get nervous around people who are... outside my age group."
"Your age group? Ha! Gregor much closer to your age than others here!"
Chrom walked up to the two. "Say, um...Gregor, was it? Gregor, do you mind looking after her? We need to press on."
"Mmm... Gregor is mercenary, yes? Maybe you hire Gregor instead," he suggested. "True, Gregor just finish killing former employers, but still very reliable! So long as you not try to hurt little girl, Gregor will not hurt you. Also, Gregor need steady income. Many angry former employers."
Chrom was shocked to hear his class. "You're a sellsword?"
"Yes! Very swell sword! Cost performance very high. You have Gregor's word," he answered with pride.
Chrom smiled at the enthusiasm. "Sure, why not? You're hired."
"But! But what about me and Levia?! We WON'T go back on the auction block!" Nowi exclaimed, holding the Dratini close to her.
What she said surprised the Shepherds. "Wait. You've been sold? Like a... like a slave?!" Lissa asked.
"To men more despicable than you can possibly imagine. They made me transform for them... They drank and laughed and called out tricks... It was even worse for Levia; she was forced to do everything they say and starved. She already had a hard life back home. Things could've been worse if it wasn't for the red ninja guy..." Nowi was starting to shed tears at the memory and Levia was looking down on the ground with a sad look.
"Well, Dratini are known as 'Mirage Pokemon'. As such, there were many Pokemon hunters who would do anything to find and sell them at a really high price," Kazuto pointed out.
"What kind of scumbags buy and sell a little girl?! Even if she CAN turn into a dragon..." Lissa exclaimed in an outrage. "Same with such an adorable Pokemon."
"She may be little, milady, but not nearly so young as you might think," Frederick informed. "Manaketes live a very long time."
"Really? ...How old are you?"
"Oh, I dunno. A thousand ...something? But look! No wrinkles!" Nowi answered.
"That old?! But you look my age!" Kazuki gasped. Nowi giggled and stuck out a tongue in response.
"The dragonkin are said to be more resilient than men. Nowi would make a strong ally. Besides, we cannot risk her falling back into the hands of the Grimleal," Frederick added on.
"Beg pardon, but who are the Grimleal?" Robin asked.
"Followers of the fell dragon, Grima. The selfsame dragon the first exalt defeated a thousand years ago. Even today there are some who yearn for the fiend's return."
"I ...see." Robin wasn't comfortable with how there are people who can actually worship such a horrible dragon. Sparky sensed her uneasiness and nuzzled against her cheek in comfort.
"Well, shall we get some rest? We're almost to the Plegian capital. We'll need all our strength, soon enough..." Flavia suggested.
Everyone nodded in agreement to the idea.
"On the other hand..." Anna began, trailing off as she looked to the side. The rest of the group looked and remembered of the new addition to the group... strangely still bowing down before them. His Pokemon were returned to their Pokeballs.
"Why are you still bowing down?" Cordelia asked.
"BECAUSE YOU ARE THE SHEPHERDS OF YLISSTOL!" Kai answered quite loudly, much to their surprise as they either jumped or fell on their backs at his ridiculously loud voice. "FURTHERMORE, YOU HAVE ROYALTY IN YOUR GROUP! IT WOULD BE A SHAME AND DISGRACE FOR A NINJA TO SHOW DISRESPECT FOR ONE OF SUCH HIGH CLASS! NOT ONLY THAT BUT I'VE ALREADY DISRESPECTED YOU BY ATTACKING ONE OF YOUR OWN! I AM ASHAME OF MYSELF FOR NOT REALIZING WHO YOU ARE SOONER!"
Some of the members in their group are already starting to lose their hearing from his loud voice, mainly Panne, Nowi and some of the animal-looking Pokemon, as they all covered their ears at the volume.
"C-Calm down! It's not like you meant to show disrespect," Sumia tried to comfort.
"NO! AFTER WHAT I'VE DONE, NOT EVEN A SIMPLE SORRY IS ENOUGH TO ATONE FOR SUCH SIN!" he retorted, much to Sumia's surprise. "In such a case... To atone for my mistake... I WILL COMMIT SEPPUKU!" He suddenly took out a kunai knife and was prepared to cut his stomach open.
Although they didn't know what seppuku was, most of the Shepherds can already tell he was going to commit suicide. "WAIT, STOP!" they cried out.
Something did stop him... quite roughly, as the guy had his head buried in the desert sand, a fist above his head.
"I see some things never change in the South Ninja Village," Coral calmly said, the owner of the fist.
The non-ninja Shepherds questioned about how calm she was despite the shout-fest from the red ninja, wondering if this was a normal thing for them.
Kai got his head out of the sand and turned to Coral. It was silent for a second, as the man stared at her with a weird look on his face. Then-
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The non-ninjas once again jumped or fell at his sudden shout. The ninjas themselves, on the other hand, calmly covered their ears the second before he screamed, Kazuki sitting down with the egg close to her. "SO YOU ARE ALIVE! IT IS A GRAND MIRACLE! I HAVE ALWAYS, ALWAYS PRAYED FOR YOUR SAFETY EVER SINCE THAT FATEFUL DAY! OH, THE JOY I FEEL FROM THIS REUNION!"
"I-I see that it's been forever since you last saw each other. Your friendship must be really strong," Chrom nervously stated.
"Blue, I do believe that's an understatement," Gaius said, sticking a finger in his ear to get his hearing fixed.
"HOW DARE YOU BE SO DISRESPECTFUL! ROYALTY OR NOT, DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO THIS IS?! SHE IS-!" This time, Kai's head was kicked in the sand by Coral.
"I cannot help but wonder how he's a ninja," Kazuto calmly said, he and his fellow ninjas having their ears covered from the yelling.
"Big brother Kai is funny though!" Kazuki stated, Seth lightly chuckling in agreement.
'How long did they have to deal with that loud voice?' the non-ninjas mentally questioned.