The Abomasnow smirked as he became cloaked in an icy blue glow and swept his stolen bag stash to one side with a single swing of one hulking arm, while a stinging cold sheet of ice crept over the surroundings in front of him at the Starstorm trio. Perhaps one of the dungeon's Cradilies would've been in serious trouble to be on the receiving end, but the expeditioners could avoid it fine enough, though they could easily tell that it was nothing they wanted to ever put themselves in the path of. They could practically feel what was left of the room's heat leaving to the Sheer Cold.
"Urgh! That's a one-hit KO move!" Arashi exclaimed, not sounding thrilled at all.
"That's lovely," Raijin flatly remarked.
"Do not let him hit you with it," Astrid commanded, her voice more akin to a growl as the freezing temperatures gnawed at her senses.
Nonetheless, Harold had seemed to expect it missing and his glow faded, albeit still leaving a large swath of the ground frozen. If they hadn't traversed the dungeon themselves to know, they never would've guessed that it had been so warm and humid, for the Abomasnow was certainly swaying the terrain to his favor. Astrid flew closer with one wing hardening while her comrades readied their own attacks, but Harold quickly reached into one of his bags of loot and removed an orb, which he immediately activated. Astrid's Steel Wing, Arashi's Ice Beam, and Raijin's Signal Beam all collided with the impervious shield of an All Protect Orb, while Harold laughed in mirth on the inside of it.
"No!" Astrid cried in frustrated dismay, quickly flying back.
"Nice try, chums!" the Abomasnow laughed.
A squawk of discomfort left the Dartrix's beak as an Ice Beam came flying out from their target, and she quickly pulled her wings in and let it sail overhead. However, she noticed another dilemma when something pelted her from above- a small icicle. The ceiling's frost appeared to be growing thicker and thicker until pieces of ice broke off and fell to whatever was below, just like a hailstorm even if they were underground without a single cloud present to drop anything.
Harold was certainly right about something- the technicalities of whether anyone could own a dungeon aside, it was his domain, or at least, he turned it into such.
"This guy knows what he's doing," Arashi remarked, voice wavering just a bit.
"That's alright," Astrid said quickly, landing in the vicinity of her comrades again. "If he's played dirty, we can do it too."
Both Arashi and Raijin gave her glance, wondering what she could possibly mean, but she gave a few hard flaps of her wings to whip up an Ominous Wind. The other three present couldn't discern why she'd even bother attacking since Harold was behind a shield, but shortly Harold was getting a flustered look when her harsh breeze blew his bags open and scattered the contents around on the ground. Coins, seeds, orbs, wands, berries, and other items were strung across the floor in haphazard disarray, causing his countenance to become fairly disgruntled.
"Why, you-…!" the Abomasnow growled. "Must you make such a mess?!"
"If he stole all of that from other expedition teams, then I'm sure those other expedition teams won't mind us making use of a few to beat him," Astrid noted to her teammates, the frost from the breath visible in the cold air as she spoke.
They caught on fairly quickly. All of Harold's spoils were out in the open, so making use of anything that would likewise give them an advantage wouldn't be much of an endeavor.
However, the three of them were shortly scattering when the ground beneath them rumbled, Astrid flying up and her comrades dashing aside right before it erupted with a fierce Earth Power.
"Nope! Not again!" Raijin cried. "Not again!"
The Abomasnow snickered, shooting an Ice Beam off and aiming at all three of them in succession. Astrid flew, Arashi jumped, and Raijin neutralized it with a Discharge that nonetheless still didn't break Harold's shield. Still, from her higher vantage point, Astrid scanned Harold's loot, looking for anything that their target wouldn't want them to get ahold of. A Weather Lock or One-Shot Orb would've been utterly perfect, but while none of those presented themselves right away, she did see a Luminous Orb sitting rather conspicuously on top of a pile of coins. As hesitant as she was to get close to someone with a one-hit KO move and another doubly super effective Ice-type move, she dove down and swiped the orb with her feet, flying straight in front of Harold.
"Oho, you think I'll let you- GAH!" the Abomasnow gloated, then promptly let out a yell.
Ssshhhiiiing!
There might not have been any other sections of the floor to see into, but the light from the orb was blinding nonetheless. Astrid's comrades thankfully thought fast enough to cover their faces (or at least, where it would've been in Raijin's case) and the Dartrix held her wings over her eyes long enough to outlast the flash, but Harold, on the other hand, got an absurdly bright eyeful. He held his hands up too late to block it out.
"Scoundrel! Scoundrel!" Harold fussed, blinking rapidly in discomforted disorientation.
"We had one of those too, you know," Raijin called.
"Yeah, but that's from the Coalition's stash," Astrid noted with a slight smirk on her beak, voice still sounding a bit like a growl from the cold. "Why use our own when we can just make things less fun for this guy?"
"Scoundrel!" Harold hissed again.
However, he was still seeing stars and didn't seem to notice that his shield was fading. Astrid took the opportunity and hardened one wing, flapping closer before slamming it into the side of his head, which certainly didn't help him in reorienting. It also certainly didn't help him when Raijin fired a Signal Beam that he couldn't even hope to avoid, and a great cry of pain followed as the Abomasnow toppled over limp.
Arashi was about to spit his own Ice Beam, but stopped on seeing Harold seemingly unconscious. "Huh?! Did that do it?! Is he down?!"
Apparently the thief was down, but the battle certainly wasn't over, for a Reviver Seed buried among the rest of the items started to glow and its healing light roused Harold again. He started to move, much to their displeasure.
"Oh, come on!" Astrid squawked.
Nonetheless, the Dartrix was flying and her comrades running again when the ground underneath them went to erupting once more, and Harold picked himself up, still smirking and reaching for some other item scattered around- a bundle of Confuse Wands. He waved one at the Xurkitree, and Astrid and Arashi instantly got alarmed expressions.
"Huh?! Astrid?! Arashi?! Where'd you guys go?!" Raijin cried, looking around.
"Over here, Raijin!" the Frogadier called back.
"Where?!"
Their comrade was looking in the completely opposite direction. Clearly, trying to talk to someone that was confused wasn't the best idea, but when Harold threw the wand he'd just used down and pointed one at Astrid next, Arashi turned into a blur as he Quick Attacked the Abomasnow's hand to make him drop the wands before he could wave one at her, for which Astrid was quite thankful. It was certainly not a fight they needed their senses disrupted for.
"Just don't go Discharging the entire floor, Raijin!" the Dartrix called, whipping up an Ominous Wind to strike at their foe.
"Discharge the entire floor? Okay!"
The other two of the Starstorm trio were both quickly chorusing, "NO!"
Both Astrid and her partner exchanged dismayed looks as Raijin plugged into the ground, sparking like a thundercloud. Shortly the room was filled with jumping lightning bolts Discharged in every direction, which Astrid frantically took to the air (a bit slower than usual with her frozen feathers and trying to ignore the bits of ice pelting her) to avoid it and Arashi scrambled behind Harold, who cast him a dirty look while taking an icy glow again. The Dartrix stopped dead as a bolt shot straight in front of her, a very narrow miss. Harold certainly couldn't avoid the attack but looked a bit pained even with his type resistance, and while Arashi may have used him as an unwitting shield, it gave the Frogadier very little maneuvering room to avoid the Sheer Cold that crept toward him.
"Not good, not good…!" Arashi gasped, going wide-eyed as the floor around him was frozen solid.
However, the second Raijin's bolts died down, the Frogadier gave the biggest leap he could away from the Abomasnow, very narrowly missing a KO as the ground he'd stood on was overtaken by subzero ice too. Astrid, though, whipped up another Ominous Wind and glided down closer, still scanning Harold's stash. The Abomasnow reached for an Oran berry among the scattered goods, but a Steel Wing smashing into his hand as Astrid dove down stopped him from grabbing it. An Ice Beam was aimed at her next, which made her eyes go huge, but she quickly felt something else smash into her- Arashi's Quick Attack that got them both out of the way. If there was ever a time she'd be thankful for a comrade attacking her, that was definitely it, for a spot on the ground was frozen instead of her.
"Thanks!" she quickly said to her partner.
Arashi gave her a quick pat on the wing before both of them scattered away again, for Harold swung a green-glowing arm down in a heavy Wood Hammer that the Frogadier definitely didn't want to be in the way of.
"Huh?! You guys! Did I get confused?! I Discharged you, didn't I?!" came a cry from Raijin, who turned back around from looking at an empty wall. "Are you okay?!"
"Yes, yes, and yes!" Astrid answered.
"Ah-! Forgive me!" the Xurkitree exclaimed, nonetheless firing up another Signal Beam at their target.
Harold glanced about at the items nearby and saw little within reach that would protect him, and instead fired off an Ice Beam of his own into Raijin's attack. Though it may have lessened the blow, Raijin's easily overwhelmed his and the Abomasnow was taking the hit moments later, much to his vexation. Harold groaned, obviously losing a big chunk of his health, but he held on just enough to set off another Earth Power under the Xurkitree. Raijin went to run, but nonetheless, he couldn't completely avoid it and twitched in discomfort, stumbling with a cry of protestation.
"Raijin! You okay?!" Arashi exclaimed.
"I'll be fine! Ground-type moves suck, but I'll be fine!" Raijin quickly answered, albeit with a voice that sounded a bit distorted from the damage he'd taken. It might not have been as strong as the Tyrantrum's Earthquake, but it still was far from pleasant.
Harold chuckled with narrowed eyes, sending another Ice Beam at Arashi instead and grabbing up another orb with one hand. It was a bit hard to get a good look before it activated, but shortly, they were all figuring out what variety it was when they found themselves incapable of moving- a Petrify Orb. Their foe laughed some more, but the Starstorm trio were certainly thinking some less-than-kind thoughts when Harold swooped up an Oran berry while casting another Sheer Cold that they couldn't avoid.
"Y-you've gotta be kidding!" Astrid shrieked, trying her best to move but being absolutely unable.
"No!" Arashi cried.
"Now this is dirty!" Raijin protested, sparks shooting along his form as if somehow that would help.
The Abomasnow certainly was enjoying himself, not the slightest bit concerned. However, while Astrid was trying in vain to get out of the way, the absolute zero temperatures of the ice giving the air a biting feeling, another icicle from above pelted her on the head, and as soon as it did, she quickly discovered that the tiny bit of damage had nullified the orb's effects. She certainly wasn't going to waste her time.
"Brace yourselves, then move!" the Dartrix cried, flapping her wings and stirring up an Ominous Wind again that struck out at all three of the others present.
"Blast it!" Harold hissed, glaring at her. "Scoundrel!"
Astrid had to question just who the scoundrel was- her or a blatant thief. Still, Arashi winced a bit at taking her attack, but the other two of the Starstorm trio were definitely thankful for it when it let them avoid the creeping coldness just centimeters away from freezing them too.
With a growl of rage, Harold turned an Ice Beam at Astrid again, and she flapped her wings, but with the coldness and hail getting in her way, she had trouble dodging and the icy ray smashed into one wing. She shrieked in pain and flopped back on the ground, her wing becoming virtually useless with the entire surface of it frozen, but even if it wasn't as hard of a hit as it could've been, she barely held onto her consciousness. Doubly super effective it was indeed.
"Ngh…!" Astrid grunted, trying to pick herself up again but struggling.
"Are you alright?!" Raijin called to her.
"I-I'm alright…!" she said, albeit in a very hoarse voice.
Arashi, however, darted out in a Quick Attack slammed Harold's hand as he reached for something else, but the Frogadier too grabbed hold of an item in the scattered stash- a Slow Orb. Harold immediately set to slamming a Wood Hammer down at him, but with Arashi holding the orb up to activate it, avoiding the move was far, far easier.
"Scoundreeeeel!" the Abomasnow fussed, his voice dragging out a bit once the slowness set in.
"C'mon, let's finish this," Astrid declared.
Her comrades were right there with her.
As much as she would've liked to nail Harold with a Steel Wing again while avoiding him was easy, her wing wasn't going to listen. Rather, she whipped up another Ominous Wind with her unfrozen one while Arashi fired an Ice Beam and Raijin let a Signal Beam fly. Their foe couldn't possibly hope to evade them, and with a look of dismay, he went toppling over again, limp and unmoving.
A win would've been nice to celebrate, but the Dartrix still scanned around for any more Reviver Seeds that might've given Harold his strength back… and sure enough, one floated up with its healing light starting to emanate out. The three of them exchanged glances, and Astrid thought fast.
"Arashi, do you mind taking one for the team?!" she quickly asked, giving her partner a pleading but pitying glance.
"On it!" Arashi replied, running for the seed as fast as he could and grabbing hold of it. "Zap me, Raijin!"
"Forgive me!" the Xurkitree cried, shooting another bolt at the Frogadier.
"YiiiAAAAaaah!"
It definitely wasn't the Discharge they'd seen before, but it definitely knocked Arashi out. The Frogadier went sprawling limp on the floor too, and the Reviver Seed's warm glow enveloped him instead of Harold. He was back up in seconds as if nothing had ever happened, while the Abomasnow stayed unconscious. There weren't any other seeds giving off their glow afterwards, and the ice finally started to melt.
Astrid let out a sigh of relief, and Arashi went right back to grinning as the three of them regrouped.
"Okay, I know the fight's over and we won, but… a berry would be really nice," the Dartrix said tiredly.
Raijin went to fishing it out of their bag.
"You got hit by a doubly super effective move and hung on; you deserve it," Arashi laughed, gently patting her unfrozen wing.
She was certainly tearing into the Oran berry's light blue flesh as fast as she could when her comrade retrieved it, and quickly felt much better. Shaking the ice from her wing wasn't so much of a problem after.
"Say…" her voice trailed off as she eyed the fainted Harold and his loot. "If we grabbed Harold and used an Escape Orb, that'd get us all out of here along with that giant stash of stolen stuff…"
"Let's do it," Arashi agreed. "Moving all of that would be a huge pain!"
Raijin fished out the Escape Orb next while Astrid strolled over to the fainted one, latching onto one of his hulking hands with one of her feet. He still felt icy cold to the touch and she couldn't help shivering a bit, but nonetheless, their surroundings were shortly replaced with the etched cave wall of the dungeon's entrance. Both Harold and Harold's stash were sprawled across the floor, practically obscuring it from view.
"That was wild," Arashi said, grinning. "I can't wait to tell everyone back in Tranquil Town about this one, aha!"
Their friends would certainly give them some looks if he brought it up, Astrid was sure.
Nonetheless, turning over their defeated foe to the authorities proved rather easy, for when they stepped outside the cave, they were a bit surprised to find a Magnezone, Magneton, and Magnemite- specifically Sheriff Magnezone's squad, Arashi assuaged both Astrid and Raijin. Apparently they too had caught wind that Harold had been hiding out, and were rather happy to see him taken care of when peeking inside the cave at the fainted snowy figure and the stash of stolen bags. Team Starstorm was assured that he would be dealt with, and that a nice reward would be sent back to their base soon. They certainly had no objections, and started making their way back to town thereafter.
"You guys!" came a cheerful, very enthusiastic voice not long after they set foot back in Craggy Crossroads boundaries. "You guys! You guys! You guys!"
The Starstorm trio all looked up to see a very excited Chikorita darting towards them with such vigor that they themselves might have turned around and ran the other way had they not recognized the steely grey bandana and badge reading 'Team Wily' around her neck.
"Kaede! Where the hell are you going?!" came the voice of a certain Mawile.
"Wait up!" called a certain Meowstic.
Astrid went fluffing up again, but Arashi grinned at seeing all three members of Team Wily and held one hand up for a high-five, which Kaede reciprocated by slapping it with her leaf.
"I found them! I found them! I found them!" Kaede cheered happily to her teammates, jumping up and down in glee, then back to the Starstorm trio, "I saw you and I had to say hi! Hiiiii~!"
Jaws and Clyde shortly caught up and got friendly looks on seeing the other team too, and they all were shortly exchanging greetings- or at least, Astrid attempted to, but very few words came out.
"Long time no see!" Arashi happily exclaimed. "What're you guys up to?"
"Just got back from Dusky Grotto," Jaws answered, crossing his arms and getting a grin. "Some poor Salandit got stuck and said his other Salandit friend was talking about how the Kirlias in Whispering Lowlands messed her up, so he had to go conquer a dungeon to rub it in her face. He got pummeled by a Sudowoodo and couldn't make it, so that's where we came in."
"Every Fire-type knows that using Ember on a Sudowoodo won't actually be super effective… except for him, apparently," Clyde haplessly remarked.
"To be fair, I thought they were Grass-types too," Raijin gently noted to the contrary.
"You don't count," Arashi brushed the Xurkitree off with a chuckle.
Raijin wasn't protesting such. Astrid had to wonder for a second if perhaps the Salandit that Jaws was talking about was the friend of the Salandit her own team had rescued several days prior, and if so… the entire lot of Salandits they came from apparently needed to stay out of dungeons altogether.
"Did you guys just get back from a dungeon, or did you see that fight too?" Jaws inquired, giving them all a playfully furtive glance.
The Starstorm trio perked up.
"'Fight?!'" Arashi asked back, smiling with mischievous intrigue. "What fight?!"
"Team Charade's Kuro the Zoroark and the Gnarly Brigade's Riven the Honchkrow," the Mawile answered. "From what I could hear, it seems like Kuro was just hanging around and talking about some mission that he went on where this Murkrow was being really annoying, and Riven thought Kuro was talking bad about his little brother that's also a Murkrow… Long story short, they got into an all-out fight and it took Team Charade's second-in-command, Karma the Wobbuffet, jumping in the middle and knocking them both out with Counter."
"It was pretty ridiculous," Clyde added. "Entertaining, but ridiculous."
Astrid tried to imagine it- a Honchkrow and a Zoroark beating the living daylights out of each other, only to realize their misfortune when their attacks were turned back on them at twice the power. Surely, that had to be a terrible way to lose a fight.
Arashi, however, grinned with more intrigue. "Well, who was winning before they got Countered?!"
"Riven, obviously!" Kaede declared enthusiastically, giving her leaf a little wave.
"Are you kidding?!" Jaws exclaimed to the contrary. "Kuro totally had it in the bag before Karma showed up!"
"Oh, come on, fact of the matter is that they both lost," Clyde disagreed with them both.
Of course, the Starstorm trio had no way of knowing for sure, and they'd probably never find out.
"Well, hey, we won't keep you if you have places to be; we were on our way to Soul Aria ourselves," Jaws noted, giving both Astrid and Arashi a friendly nudge (the latter of whom fluffed up a bit at the gesture). "But maybe we should all meet up at Grumpy's Lounge sometime and split one of those giant berry tarts. You guys seem like alright company."
Arashi certainly thought that sounded like a great idea, and while the thought of going someplace loud and with other Pokémon made Astrid feel even more shy, neither she nor their Beast comrade (that obviously couldn't be splitting any sort of food) protested it. They said their goodbyes and exchanged waves, and they were off.
Dren was perched on the roof again when they came back to the base, and gave them a friendly greeting as they strode in. The base appeared to be empty save for Adnea in her study, pages flipping with psychic energy as she both scoured and scrawled on them. She didn't take her eyes off of them, and even with her back turned to them, several pens scrawled something on several papers.
*You three,* came her telepathic voice, making them all jump a bit. *There's been another set of 'crazy' incidents further north, and I've picked up on an expedition team or two wiping out after meeting what they call 'odd creatures.' I'm keeping track of what I can gather and scanning whatever minds I can reach, so if I pick up on anything that might concern you, I'll let you know.*
They were certainly thankful for whatever help she could give, and Astrid certainly felt relieved knowing that someone close by and not stuck in an impasse with Void would assist them in following the developments.
"You're great, Adnea!" Arashi exclaimed with a grin.
"Th-thanks, Adnea!" Raijin called up at her.
They didn't get a direct reply, spoken either out loud or to their minds, but they could tell from her telepathy that the Orbeetle was chuckling at being deemed 'great.' She went back to her researching and documenting, and they strolled back to the basement to sort out what remained in their bag and see what they needed to add before running off anywhere else the next day.
It wasn't too long after they'd returned that they heard more footsteps coming from upstairs and a familiar Azumarill calling "Hello~? Anyone home~?"
"Hey, Big Blue!" Arashi hollered up.
The footsteps were running up to the stairwell's entrance and Lazuli was peering back down at them, then happily skipping down the stairs with a happy wave.
"You're back!" Lazuli cried. "How'd it go?! You won, didn't you?!"
"We sure did!" Arashi answered, perching on one of their cushions. "He called us scoundrels, but c'mon, we all know who the real scoundrel was! And our synergy was great! Astrid's quick thinking made it easier and saved us a few times, I messed with his plans and didn't let him go for what he wanted, and Raijin's ridiculous firepower really came in handy for ending the battle!"
The Azumarill nodded, eagerly taking it in. "Good! Seems like you guys really fit together well!"
"Oh, we do!" Arashi excitedly concurred.
Lazuli giggled, taking up on another cushion. "Mind if I keep you guys company? Adnea's pretty aloof and I've pestered Dren enough all these years I've been here."
Arashi certainly welcomed it, Raijin wasn't protesting, and although Astrid couldn't help sinking into her feathers a bit, she didn't mind.
"Speaking of pestering someone else," Arashi piped up, "Big Blue, can I ask you something? You know everyone here better than we do."
"Anything!"
The Frogadier seemed to be debating how to put it into words for a second, but all the same, within moments, he was blurting out, "Why is Dren here? I mean, don't get me wrong! I know you guys don't have a setup like this for no reason! It's just a little strange that… Well, everyone knows that a Salamence is really strong, and he's even got a Mega Stone! So why is he just keeping watch all the time?"
Lazuli didn't seem very fazed, smiling and giving a little bob of her tail. "Oh, you'd have to hear the story of the Coalition's founding to fully understand that, and I could tell you, but that's more Rush's story to tell. No one knows Scrafty society better than a Scrafty, after all!"
That much, no one doubted was true, but they didn't quite see how that aspect fit into answering what Arashi was asking.
Nonetheless, the Azumarill continued, "But I'll let you in on a little something, alright? You know that Rush and Rozen founded this team, and waaaay back, whenever it was just those two, there was some… bad blood with another two that kept giving them trouble. Dren was the third to join, and that trouble died down pretty fast afterwards!"
That piqued their attention.
"Wait, they had enemies?!" Arashi exclaimed. "But… why?! And what'd Dren do?!"
The Azumarill giggled, leaning back a bit and giving another bob of her tail. "Ask Rush, and he'll be happy to tell you! He loves talking about those escapades, and if you get him slightly tipsy on berry beer, it's even better!"
"You swear?" Arashi asked, smiling but eyeing her intently. "You're not gonna tell us? C'mon, Big Blue, you can't just leave me hanging like that! I need that story in my life! I have to know why my idols ever had enemies when they're the best!"
As the words left the Frogadier's mouth, he crept closer and closer to Lazuli, practically begging her on his knees to tell the story. His eyes were sparkling but pleading, and the Azumarill still grinned and gave him a pat on the head.
"You're not gonna hear it from me, Little Blue!" she laughed.
A hapless cry of playful dismay escaped Arashi, but he nonetheless sank back onto his cushion with a droopy-eyed smile. He shot Astrid and Raijin a determined look. "We gotta get Rush tipsy sometime! I wanna hear this!"
Astrid eyed him uncertainly, and Raijin twitched a bit.
"Look, I might not know much about what berry beer does to anyone who drinks it, but from what I do know, that sounds fairly unethical," the Xurkitree noted.
"I-it k-kinda does," Astrid agreed.
Neither Lazuli nor Arashi seemed very concerned.
"Oh, I'll help you do it, Little Blue!" the Azumarill laughed nonchalantly, then looking to Astrid and Raijin, "Don't worry; it'll be fiiiine! It's not like we're getting him to do anything he otherwise wouldn't; we're just getting him to do it when he has absolutely no filter for what he says or what moves he tries to imitate! I mean, not that he has much of a filter now, but y'know!"
That assuaged them, at least a little. Astrid almost wanted to ask her what Cinder's deal was, since Lazuli seemed completely fine telling them whatever they inquired, but she figured that too might fall under stories that weren't Lazuli's to tell.
"So I'm assuming you're on the team because you're the only one that can breathe underwater," Arashi noted of their company. "Or at least, you were, until I showed up!"
"That's right!" Lazuli affirmed with a wink. "Places like Sunken Cavern or, closer to your hometown, Lake Lucent, are a lot less intimidating when I'm around! We don't have to carry Drought Orbs or worry about accidentally losing items in the water because I can just use my bubbles or swim in after them! I'm guessing you saw how annoying some of those Cradilies and Carracostas can be, yeah?"
Three nods very quickly answered her.
She laughed. "Yeah, we had a Cradily try to eat Rozen one time. I gave Rush a bubble and he smashed that poor thing's flowery face in."
Arashi got starry-eyed again, while Astrid almost felt sorry for the Cradily in question. As easily as the Scrafty had busted apart the boulder in Tranquil Tunnel, taking one of those blows directly to the face had to hurt.
"If you get sent to one of those types of places again, I should be going along with you next time," the Azumarill amiably noted. "We'd have some fun, yeah? I wanna see what your synergy looks like too!"
Astrid would certainly welcome her abilities, and Arashi looked excited at the idea.
Lazuli ended up keeping them company for some time, mostly carrying on with Arashi (who loved the company and conversing) but occasionally with Raijin or Astrid, albeit much less with the latter two on account of their relative quietness (especially for the Dartrix). Cinder, Rush, and Rozen eventually returned together, the Fletchinder still as standoffish as always and Rush laughing about putting a fist in some wily outlaw's face. All in all, it was a fairly peaceful afternoon… at least, for a while.
Once the sun was starting to vanish over the horizon, however, Dren poked his head in through the door and hollered, "Rush! Rozen!"
The tone of voice he hollered it in was enough to catch the attention of the ones in the basement, for the Salamence had always been friendly and warm, but this time he sounded frantic and tense. The four of them perked up, and with a playful wink, Lazuli went traipsing to the stairs and motioning them along. Arashi wasn't shy about darting up the stairs after her to see what the matter was while Astrid and Raijin lurked a bit out of view on the staircase, nonetheless still intently paying attention.
The Scrafty and Audino came scurrying down from upstairs while the clawed forelimb of a Garchomp parted the doorway. It didn't take much inspection to figure out she too had seen plenty of battles, for her fins bore a few scarred-over gashes and a black patch covered her left eye, across which was a fairly prominent scar. Astrid almost wondered if Dren was alerting them to an unwelcome intruder to the base, but the Coalition leads certainly didn't seem that concerned for such to be the case.
Rush's face lit up quickly. "Yo, Shar!" he cried amiably, striding up to her and holding a fist up. "How's my favorite gnarly Garchomp?!"
"Doin' well and bein' gnarly, mateys!" the Garchomp replied, bumping his fist with one claw before holding it out to Rozen next. "How goes it this side?!"
"Quite fine, quite fine," Rozen chuckled, bumping her claw with his fist too. "What's the matter? We all know something isn't quite right when Dren takes that tone of voice, and surely, it isn't you."
From their smallish peeking hole, the Starstorm trio exchanged glances.
"Rozen mentioned a Shar running a team called the Gnarly Brigade…" Astrid's voice softly trailed off. "L-Lazuli, i-is that…?"
"Sure is!" the Azumarill quietly chirped back. "Ask her about her battle scars and she'll tell you all about her gnarly adventures! And don't go drinking berry beer with her unless you're prepared to gain a few scars yourself, 'cause she's a real riot!"
The Dartrix fluffed up at the mention, getting slightly wide-eyed.
"Ooooh! She seems cool!" Arashi chattered back under his breath.
"She must've gotten in a ton of fights…" Raijin noted softly, eyeing her.
"Just like Rush! So she's gotta be cool!" the Frogadier giggled, trying to keep his voice down.
Nonetheless, in the center room, Shar got a flippant but pensive look, crossing her arms and thumping her tail a bit. "So ya see, we all know about the wild ones actin' weird out at Starry Peak and how Team Sweetheart was going to investigate, right?" she inquired, and on getting two nods from the two she addressed, continued, "Well, something gnarly must've happened to them! Me an' my mateys were makin' our way back, and we happened across Yunael layin' in the dirt lookin' absolutely busted up with the rest of those sweethearts nowhere to be found! There were some twigs stuck in her wings and some marks on the ground like she'd crashed, and she was all kinds of knocked out! We've been watchin' her for a few hours now and takin' care of her, but ohoho, let me tell ya, she's actin' weird!"
The two Coalition leads studied her, Rush not seeming too fazed and Rozen looking intrigued. The Starstorm trio exchanged more glances.
"'Weird?' How so?" Rozen nonchalantly inquired.
"Well, when we got her nestled up back at our HQ, we shoved some berries down her throat to get her to come to, and right after, she was snarlin' and throwin' attacks," Shar answered, her tail scraping over the ground a bit. "Y'know, if they'd been in a gnarly fight, that's expected, but even after she laid eyes on us and I tried tellin' her to calm the hell down, the first words out of her mouth were 'Don't touch me!' all pissed off like I've never seen. So we backed up and gave her space, and that seemed to calm her down, but then she was just roostin' and starin' at us with this weird look in her eye. She's talkin' fine just like normal, but if you get too close to her, she gets all jumpy and tells you to back up, 'cause according to her, she's got these out-of-whack gnarly urges to lash out even though she doesn't really want to… I mean, is that soundin' familiar? I think she's got another case of the crazies. Salem showed up in Tranquil Town not long ago, and that's not too far away from here, so who knows?"
The leads exchanged glances, as did the four on the staircase.
"Where's the rest of her team?" Rush inquired, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side. "She said anything about where the hell they are?"
"No idea," Shar replied with a shrug. "She said she could make a getaway 'cause she's a flier. She's still pretty tired and jumpy, but what tiny bits of info we could get out of her make it seem like they got ambushed by this gnarly squad of weird-ass 'Mon."
At that, Rozen started looking concerned, but a grin began to spread across Rush's face and his fists twitched a little as if he were ready to pound something with them. The Starstorm trio had their ideas of what 'weird-ass 'Mon' could be referring to, and indeed, it didn't sound like a very pretty occurrence.
"So do you think we could borrow Adnea in the morning once that fluffy flier is rested?" the Garchomp inquired. "None of my mateys are mind-readers. I'm sure that Togekiss' memories can show us a thing or two."
*Fine by me,* came the Orbeetle's disembodied voice. *I've already begun to scan her, but she is rather scatter-brained at the moment and it's hard to make out.*
Shar grinned and cast her gaze up the stairs. "Thanks, matey!"
"She say yes?" Rush inquired of the Audino next to him, and on getting a nod and giving Shar a playful glance, "The one downside of being a Dark-type is that I can't hear her telepathy, ehehe!"
"You're just too gnarly for Psychic-types," the Garchomp laughed, holding one claw out again that the Scrafty bumped with his fist.
Rozen haplessly rolled his eyes at their antics, smiling nonetheless.
Astrid, however, couldn't help but study Shar, wondering if perhaps she'd made a bet with a comrade on who could use the word 'gnarly' the most. It certainly seemed like an accurate descriptor for the Garchomp, but even if Shar wasn't a threat, Astrid's feathers stayed puffed out on end.
"But, while we're on the topic of the crazy incidents, maybe we oughtta let ya in on a little something," Rush said with a smirk, crossing his arms again. "We can trust ya, right?"
"Of course, matey!" Shar affirmed, getting an intrigued grin.
The Scrafty turned sideways and glanced up the staircase towards Adnea's study. "Yo, Adnea! Share the important info with her, will ya?"
"On it," the Orbeetle called back.
Moments later, the Garchomp was getting a wide-eyed look and jumping slightly in surprise. She'd clearly been made privy to some memories that didn't belong to her and quickly combed them over, getting a pensive look followed by a wild-eyed smirk.
"So that Dartrix isn't a natural-born Dartrix, that tall glowing fellow is an otherworldly rogue, Salem is a puppet, and we're getting invaded," Shar chuckled to herself. "But damn, if that isn't gnarly! I'm jealous that you guys got that info first!"
"Well, you are also the first one outside of our team to be getting it," Rozen nonchalantly noted.
That seemed good enough for Shar, who tapped her claws together and wagged her tail with a giddy but wild grin, as if she couldn't wait to kick up an Outrage on some unsuspecting Beast. The Starstorm trio exchanged glances again, Astrid trying her hardest to sink into her feathers and Lazuli giggling under her breath at the avian's hesitance. A pat from the Azumarill didn't help much, either.
"Just be careful how ya handle it," Rush said to the dragon. "Li'l-li'l Green is shy as hell and doesn't want any more eyes on her than is necessary. We all know that the cronies are gonna find out about those three eventually, but we wanna put that off for as long as we can until we've got a viable way to give Salem and Void a piece of our minds."
The Garchomp nodded. "No worries, matey."
"It seems rather safe to say that Team Sweetheart was attacked by a faction group and Nihilego neurotoxin is the cause for the odd happenings on Starry Peak," Rozen proposed. "Yunael herself is probably another incident too."
The Scrafty started snickering to himself, pounding one fist into his other palm. "I doubt they stopped at Yunael," he remarked. "If she escaped, that's gotta mean the rest of 'em are poisoned too. And if we ain't seen 'em back, they're still out there. Y'know what that means, Rozen?!"
The Audino haplessly rolled his eyes, but nonetheless smiled too. "I've always been ready to cover and heal, have I not?"
Shar gave Rush a knowing grin. "You gonna go out there and raise some gnarly hell?"
"Hell yeah, Shar!" Rush exclaimed, getting a bit jumpy at the very idea. "I know how that team is! Someone's gotta beat some sense into 'em!"
"You're definitely the best candidate, matey," the dragon laughed. "I'll leave y'all alone in that case. Seems like y'all have this one covered."
"We sure do, Shar," Rush replied, eyes practically glinting with mischievous excitement. "You know whose asses to kick if ya see 'em! We'll see ya tomorrow morning before we set off!"
The Coalition leads exchanged their goodbyes with the Garchomp, and shortly she was disappearing with a swoosh of the curtain door. Rush turned around and Rozen followed suit, the Scrafty's eyes falling directly on the four lurking in the stairwell.
"Y'all hear that, Starstorm?" Rush inquired, crossing his arms and grinning. "Y'all three are coming too."
At that, Arashi got wide, starry eyes, and Astrid quickly gave him a nudge with one wing to keep him from getting too carried away. Lazuli only giggled again, giving them all a cheeky glance, while Astrid and Raijin merely nodded quickly without a sound. The Dartrix couldn't help but to be slightly apprehensive at the thought of facing Ama's team while they were in a poisoned rage, but surely, if her partner's fanaticism was anything to go by, Rush could call the shots just fine regardless of the unfriendly circumstances.
The Scrafty looked up the stairs again and called, "Adnea!"
Shortly, the Orbeetle was floating down from her study. "Will I be accompanying the expedition too?" she asked matter-of-factly.
"Yeah," Rush answered. "You and your Hypnosis ain't something I'm leaving behind for this kind of mission. It's too damn valuable not to take."
Adnea nodded. "I see. You know what I'm capable of."
Without a word, she went gliding back up to her study.
"Oh, we certainly do, Adnea," Rozen giggled, watching as she vanished back into her study.
Rush appeared to be mulling things over in his head for a moment, nodding and mouthing things to himself before saying, "That should cover it. Ama'll be down if I can get close for just a few seconds, Adnea can go straight for Hypnotizing Millicent into not buffing her teammates, then the rest'll be easy going from there with Rozen guarding us. If there's any Beasts lingering around, we have one of our own. Besides, y'all three on the Starstorm squad are a hell of a lot more tied to this than anyone else, and you two could use the experience in general if you're getting targeted."
Rush's eyes fell on Astrid and Arashi, the former of whom tried to sink into her feathers and the latter of whom got starry-eyed again at his idol paying him any attention. Nonetheless, they all nodded wordlessly, Arashi obviously trying to keep his excitement under wraps.
"Get a good rest tonight, you three," Rush told them with a grin, setting off up the stairs himself with Rozen close behind. "We're gonna go raise some hell on Starry Peak tomorrow."
Another set of nods was the answer. Another set of glances travelled among the Starstorm trio, Astrid's feathers deflating a bit.
"Ohhh, lucky you!" Lazuli laughed, giving Astrid and Arashi a pat on the back. "You get to set out with the heavy hitters tomorrow! That'll be a real adventure!"
"This is great," Arashi concurred, nodding vigorously, and once the Coalition leads were out of earshot, "I get to see my idols in action again! This is awesome!"
"I'd certainly like to see them in action too…" Raijin's voice trailed off.
Arashi and Lazuli exchanged a high-five, both giggling with glee. Shortly the Frogadier had both his fists held triumphantly in the air as he darted about the room's perimeter, but Astrid still stayed fluffed up in her place.
"I guess Team Sweetheart really didn't know what hit them…" the Dartrix's voice trailed off. "L-Lazuli, y-you've been around all these expedition teams longer than us… C-can our group match them…?"
The Azumarill winked, giving her a playful nudge that made her feathers fluff out again. "You'll just have to see, Astrid! I got faith in you guys!"
That didn't particularly assuage her concerns, but nonetheless, she accepted it. She couldn't deny that indeed, the three that her own team would be traversing with certainly seemed to know what they were doing, and that put her at ease somewhat. It would definitely be a great opportunity to watch what some renowned expeditioners did and how they approached foes together, but she certainly hoped that, for as vicious as Nihilego neurotoxin seemed to make the recipients, Ama's team would retain a bit of their friendliness and come to their senses before anything too wild happened.
Nonetheless, the Starstorm trio settled down in the basement again for the evening, albeit with Arashi still happy-dancing while Astrid roosted peacefully and Raijin plugged into the ground. They'd be ready for the mission waiting, that was for sure.
Author's note: That one scene during the fight with Harold where Astrid breaks free from the Petrify Orb's effects after taking hail damage came to me from a happening whilst playing Rescue Team DX. I believe I was on some high floor of Mt. Faraway while hail was in effect and I stumbled into a Monster House. I stupidly used a Petrify Orb, thinking I would simply stroll through without fighting anyone, and… well, let's just say, hail damage ruined my day. Don't forget about weather damage like me, folks.
Also, I accidentally uploaded the version of this chapter that I had not gone back and proofread several seconds ago. I hope that didn't cause difficulty for anyone; I have fixed it now.