The sun hung low in the sky over the desert as a dry wind blew through the adventurers' stop at the Arid Riverbed's entrance. The sole occupant of the modest little hut paid it no heed, though, as he exhaled and dramatically spun around for what must have been the twentieth time, beaming to the wall.

"Ahoy, lass, glad tah see ya back! Tried tah warn ye 'bout that river, eh? She's moighty rough these times of day! ...d-day? Oi meant year... agh, cock."

Cap'n Brine stomped on the dusty floor, sighing to himself from deep within his massive bill. Taking a moment to hop over to the watering hole outside the hut, the Pelipper took a quick glance up the road. Team Reach had ventured into the dungeon sometime after noon, but the sun had now dipped so that it was just barely grazing the craggy rock formations of Arid Riverbed.

"If they don't come back by nightfall, come back and tell me."

Brine blinked as he mentally repeated Officer Feraligatr's words. Surely they shouldn't be taking this long? What if they'd gotten hurt? He wasn't about to be responsible for a team getting killed in action, was he?

"No, no, they're perfectly capable, oi say. They should know wot they're doin," he muttered to himself. "Oi hope, at least."

Taking a long sip from the shallow watering hole, Brine glanced back towards the dungeon once more before shuffling back into the hut. He couldn't do much if Team Reach didn't come back, so he figured he might as well work on other important matters while he had the free time. With a quick shake of his head, Cap'n Brine took a breath and began his memorized conversation once more.

"Ahoy, lassie, good tah see ya ba-"

A sudden pop and loud rush of wind sounded from outside, prompting a startled squawk from the captain. His face hot with embarrassment, he peeked out the window. In front of the notice, a visibly wounded but still standing Team Reach stood surrounded by unfamiliar Pokémon, their badges in hand. Brine narrowed his eyes, noting a Shroomish looking around bewildered, a Sandshrew jumping up and down gesturing excitedly at the badge in Rye's hand, and two larger Pokémon lying on the ground, only moving slightly on occasion.

"Huh. Well, the lads are breathin', at least," Brine said to himself, a small smile on his bill.


"How'd you do that? I want one!" Sandshrew piped as he jumped in place, waving his arms around wildly. I could have sworn I saw stars in his eyes as he kept his eyes locked on our team badges. Rye shifted in place, unsure of what to make of this.

"Uh, th-they were given to us by the Guild. Ms. May says badges that can teleport are rare, only Guilds who have good Psychic-types can make these kinds. W-we have an Alakazam in town," he tried to explain.

"Can he make us some?" Sandshrew asked.

"Sorry, but they're expensive," Rye said, tucking the badge into our bag. Tuning out Sandshrew's disappointed groaning, Shroomish laughed a bit to herself.

"Here we've been walking back to the entrance whenever we finish a mission... you Guildies have it so easy, I swear," she muttered.

As Rye rolled his eyes at this comment, a pained moan sounded from behind me as Vigoroth shifted in place, aggravating his broken legs.

"P-please..." he moaned, reaching out for us. As the others went about their post-dungeon routines, I took a long look at him and Poliwrath in their pitiful state. As I stared, a shudder ran through my spine as the image of the Xatu who had done the deed flashed through my mind. The ease and nonchalance with which he had broken the thieves' legs with just his mind was terrifying on its own, but something about the way he was staring at us with his cold, calculating eyes... urgh.

As I shook these thoughts off, a loud "oi, oi!" rang out from nearby. Our group looked up to find Cap'n Brine running over to us, wing flapping in greeting. Although Shroomish and Sandshrew were concerned over this, Rye and I still enthusiastically greeted the captain as he stopped to examine the outlaws behind us.

"Whew, ye really did a numbah on these lads! ...w-wot did ya do to their legs?" he asked worriedly. As Rye tried to explain, Brine stuck a wing in the air.

"Ah, ye can explain later, oi'll get 'em help from town. Surely they'll 'ave someone who can haul 'em over there, so just wait 'ere, will ya?" he said.

Before we could consent to this sudden proposition, Cap'n Brine had flown off. As he disappeared into the distance, Rye took my one good paw and led me towards the adventurers' stop.

"We've gotta get patched up before we go. I'm not sitting in his bill with open wounds..." Rye said.


Clutching my now tightly wrapped arm as we sat in Cap'n Brine's bill, I couldn't help but give an envious look out at Sandshrew and Shroomish. Brine had gotten a local Flygon to help us carry the rest of our party back to Bassa Village, and the outlaws were now tightly tied to the back of said Flygon, allowing Sandshrew and Shroomish to grasp on to the ropes. Sure, it looked uncomfortable, but surely it was better than Cap'n Brine's damp, warm throat.

We landed in front of Bassa Village's gate, where Officer Feraligatr stood waiting, an expectant smile on her maw.

'Wow, we were really here just this morning?'

As I stumbled out of Brine's bill, she walked up to us, quietly greeting our posse with a quick nod as she began looking over the outlaws on Flygon's back.

"Damn. Pelipper said their legs were fucked up, but wow," she said under her breath. Shaking her head, she gestured Flygon to follow her. As she turned her head to give us a wary look, she cleared her throat.

"You can hunker down in my house, I'll probably be at the station dealing with these two the whole night," she said before leading Flygon through the gate. She suddenly stopped as she did so, not moving for a second before looking back at us, her eyes noticeably softer.

"Uh... if any of you want to talk to me come morning, feel free to. I'm all ears," she said. With that, she disappeared into the small crowd of spectators with Flygon still carrying the crooks. As I watched, I heard a gasp as Rye fell onto the sand. I only then realized that he had been hiding in Brine's bill the whole time, only now choosing to come out.

"Uh, wh-what'd she say?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him as a confused Shroomish recounted Feraligatr's info to him. Giving out a breathless sigh, Rye quickly rushed over to Officer Feraligatr's nearby house. As he disappeared through the doorway, Shroomish cleared her throat behind me.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked. I huffed to myself as I shrugged.

'Distortion if I know.'


"Uh, w-we don't... uh, know how to make a fire..." Rye stammered, his face turning red as the sky out the window. Sitting around Officer Feraligatr's unlit fireplace, we looked away in shame as Shroomish gave us a small sigh.

"How would you try to start it?" she asked.

"Uh, like this," Rye replied, leaning forwards to rub two sticks together. Shroomish rolled her eyes.

"You Guildies, I swear... get one of those big pieces of wood from in there," she said.

"Wait, don't we have a firestarter in the Toolbox?" Sandshrew asked as we confusedly pulled a sizable log out.

"Yeah, but they clearly don't. Let me see your shell, Oshawott."

I reluctantly handed my scalchop over, prompting her to saw a small notch into the log with it. Once she had finished, Sandshrew immediately pushed her aside, sticking a stick into the notch and rubbing it. Ignoring Shroomish's dirty look, he blew some of the resulting ashes onto the straw underneath the wood. The small wisp of smoke the ashes created gave way to a little flame, which we stared blankly at as it slowly grew, illuminating Team Creosote's smug smiles.

"...oh," Rye said after a moment.

Avoiding the others' gazes as the fire grew, Rye and I pulled out what little food we had left in our bag and silently ate. Sandshrew quickly followed suit, sticking a ripe-looking berry onto his Iron Thorn, which he had apparently managed to bring out of the battle. Even though it was still caked with dried blood, he didn't hesitate to use it to roast his berry over the fire, much to Shroomish's disgust.

"Just... why?" she said between gags.

"What? You said it's protein!" Sandshrew replied.

"I didn't mean that seriously, you...!" Shroomish started before Sandshrew turned to us.

"Y'know, you two don't really talk much. What's up, guys?" he abruptly asked.

"Uh... shaagh." I tried to remind him, tapping my throat. Rye didn't have such a handicap, though, so he just gulped and shook his head. This only served to intrigue the little bugger more.

"Come on, you can't keep secrets around a fire! That's just common adventurer sense!" said bugger piped in a singsong voice.

"I... i-it's personal," Rye said quietly.

"Huh, do you know what it is, Blubby?" Sandshrew asked me. Growling slightly at the use of that name, I shook my head. Sandshrew hummed a bit to himself.

"You haven't even told your partner? Do you not trust him, Treecko?" he asked.

"W-what? Of course I do!" Rye responded.

"Really?"

"I-I'll tell him soon, alright?!"

Ignoring Rye's glare, Sandshrew sighed and stared into the fire, Shroomish watching him expectantly. After a minute, he looked back up, his face more serious than we had ever seen it.

"H-how soon, Treecko? Tomorrow or...?" Sandshrew asked. "It's basic adventurer knowledge that trust in a team is everything, right? Saying you'll trust him later won't do anything. I... uh, I think it's like a baby Pidove in a nest. Uh, the Pidove can look down from the nest and say 'I'll get out of here soon, I know it!', but it can't... uh, it can't do it just by telling itself that. No matter how much it dreams, it won't just have flight handed to it. It has to push itself, y'know? Jump out and give its wings a good flap..."

Sandshrew paused for a minute to gather his thoughts, oblivious to our stupefied looks and Shroomish's growing grin.

"Uh, everyone learns that at some point, I think. I guess I learned the hard way. Mommy and Daddy never agreed over who owned the burrow, but I never could ask someone for help, so... uh, y-yeah," he said.

He plopped back down onto the floor as Rye hung his head, his eyes trained on the fire. Shroomish gave us a manic smile.

"That's why I formed this team with him, Treecko. He's a pain to deal with, but once you get him talking seriously..." she mused. As Rye distantly nodded, Sandshrew giggled to himself, his serious demeanor melting away.

"Yeah, the first time I talked to her like that, she got so excited she launched spores everywhere, it was hilar-"

Shroomish's smile immediately morphed into a face of contorted panic as vines burst from the floor, stopping just short of Sandshrew's head.

"We promised not to talk about that, Mizu!" she half-screamed, her eyes wide. Sandshrew suddenly perked up as he looked over at us once more.

"Oh yeah, uh, Mizu's my name. Don't tell anyone, okay? Adventurer's honor?" he requested. Taken aback by this sudden trust from the now-named Mizu, I nodded. Shroomish's eye twitched as she glared at Mizu, who gave his own cheery look back. After a minute of this staring contest, Shroomish groaned.

"Ugh... mine's Lily, I guess. Might as well give us yours now, huh?" she said.

"Beck," I said, smiling slightly to myself for finally getting it out without trouble.

"Ooh, can you say our names? Here, here, Mee-zooo," Mizu enunciated. I raised my paws to try and talk my way out, though he persisted. Eventually, I hung my head.

"Sh-sheeits-hooo," I tried. The two gave me a brief horrified stare before Lily suddenly started laughing.

"Y-yeah, that sounds about right!", she said between chortles.

"Wh-wha?" I asked as Mizu slowly started as well.

'Did I say something wrong? All I said was 'Mizu', right? I didn't... oh. Shit.'

I began flapping my stubby arms around trying to apologize, though quickly found myself laughing along with the two. Allowing the day's horrors to melt away, I took to trying my damnedest to keep talking with them, even if my vocabulary only had, like, five words. It was a fun time, I'd say.


Rye swallowed the lump in his throat as Beck and the others laughed beside him. Despite the language barrier, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, a welcome change from what he had seen in the dungeon.

'I want to join in, but... ugh, anything I'd say would ruin it...'

He instead chose to stare into the roaring fire, watching small embers fly up through the ceiling into the night as he mulled over Mizu's spiel.

'He had a point. Do I really trust Beck? Are we really friends or just... partners?'

As Mizu and Lily kept telling Beck to spout out seemingly random words, Rye bit his lip and nodded slightly.

'Sandshrew's right. No more 'laters.' I'll talk to Sinni; tomorrow for sure. Hopefully she'll know what to do.'

Content with this idea, he sat back and watched as Beck exaggeratedly threw his paws up in defeat, apparently having been given too complicated a word to pronounce. Rye let himself smile a bit as he watched the others share another laugh. For once, he felt confidence blossom up as he decided on one thing.

'Tomorrow's gonna be better.'


Xatu wasn't having a particularly good day.

He had had to eat a mushy apple at breakfast, overheard at least eleven thoughts wishing for his untimely death, been reprimanded by another executive, and had been scratched up while breaking up a fight in the Dark-type quarters. He knew as well as any that servitude towards the Phoenix League required sacrifice, but this was getting ridiculous.

Especially considering the Arid Riverbed rendezvous.

Staring ahead unblinking as he paced the empty central hall, Xatu mulled over what he had seen during the encounter with the thieves.

'Something was wrong there. I know it.'

Surely it couldn't have been the underlings, Xatu had gazed into their psyches more times than he wished, and he knew for a fact that they couldn't surprise him if they tried. In that case...

'It had to have been the adventurers. But how? They were but mere children...'

Xatu clenched his left eye closed, watching intently as the scene psychically materialized in his mind's eye.

'I do not understand. They were unremarkable at best...'

He sighed to himself as he began to listen in on the thoughts he had picked up during their brief encounter.

'Yes, yes, childish awe from the Sandshrew, wariness from the Shroomish, fear and uncertainty from the Treecko, and simple feral garbage from the Oshawott. Why, then, do I-"

Xatu suddenly paused, his open eye widening ever so slightly as his crests rose.

'The Oshawott. Its mind was that of a feral, but the way that it composed its thoughts... it must have been...'

"Sir? Are you alright?" a voice called out. Xatu opened his eye and turned his head to find a Linoone eyeing him concernedly. He stared at the underling as he considered what to do next.

"...I must see the leader," he eventually said. The Linoone raised an eyebrow.

"Erm, leader's still out, sir," he said. Xatu quickly spun around, causing the Linoone to jump back.

"Then assemble the executives, this is no time to sit about!" he demanded, his wings extended forwards. The Linoone gulped hard and quickly nodded, shrinking back further as Xatu returned to his usual neutral demeanor.

"W-what do I tell them... uh, sir?" the Linoone stammered. Xatu allowed the faintest hint of a smile to grace his beak.

"We appear to have found our human."