"Please, sir, we need to go in, he-"
"No, Treecko. The Guildmaster demanded privacy. Whatever he wants with your... ahem, friend, he doesn't want to be disturbed."
"But-"
The Bisharp guards at the entrance to Arcanine's quarters wordlessly stepped to block the doorway, the wicked glint of their blades discouraging Rye from challenging them any further. With no other option, the Treecko reluctantly turned around and started walking back to base, the lanterns lining the streets lighting his path as Mavy zigzagged alongside him.
"What exactly's goin' on?" he asked.
"I don't know. All I know is that he had a... uh, a vision," Rye answered. "But that doesn't make sense, he was awake..."
"Vision? Ya mean, like, back in Littora with that nightmare you were talkin' 'bout?" Mavy asked. Rye gave a nod, putting a hand to his head.
"It should be pretty straightforward, right? Just keep following clues till something comes up. But it's so weird and, uh, what's the word? U-uncertain. I-If he can get a vision while awake, then what else could happen? Ugh, I-I just... it's stressful."
Mavy considered these words for a bit.
"So what you wanna do 'bout it?" he asked.
"What?" Rye replied.
"Standin' around feelin' sorry for yerself ain't gon do shit. Now what're you gonna do to try and fix it?" Mavy questioned.
"What? I-I can't just... fix it! Wh-whatever's doing this to Beck, I can't do anything to change it, can I? I-I'm just a Treecko," Rye answered. "T-the best I can do is just not think about it."
"Aight, we can do that. Whatcha got in mind?" Mavy asked. As the two walked through the dinnertime crowd and past the boards, Rye gave him an ever-so-slightly bemused look.
"Wh-why're you asking me all this?" he wondered. Mavy gave the equivalent to a shrug.
"Yer mah partner. Not best buddy material yet, not by a long shot, but I still gotta look out for you. Ah'll play therapist for a bit," he reasoned, getting a look from Rye. After a moment, the Treecko gave a little smile.
"Thanks. Honestly, it's kinda nice talking to someone that won't just say, like, 'you're fine' or 'shaah.' I-I didn't really expect this coming from you," he said.
"I try mah best," Mavy grinned. "So, you wanna get yer mind off the crazy shit. You said there's a library in town, right? You could read something, maybe I could give learnin' how to a crack."
"Uh, we had a... b-bad experience there. Besides, I don't really wanna just stay in town again..." Rye began.
As the two headed into their team base to discuss their plans for the coming day, the last lingerers started home from Arcanine's quarters, leaving the Guildmaster alone to speak as he pleased. A brief interview with Beck had passed, though now the young Oshawott could only watch as the recently-arrived Alakazam concentrated, connecting the golden dog to what he could only assume was a good few other Pokemon.
"I rest my case before the assembled Guildmasters of northern Gray Proper. In summary, I wish my Guild first rights to exploration of the recently rediscovered Caverns of Being, lest greater risk of intrusion by hostile forces arise. Please raise any concerns at this time," the Guildmaster said. A multitude of voices rushed through his head, though they fell silent as the overseers of the emergency meeting called for order.
"Guildmaster Emboar, Vale Keep. Is the situation bad enough that the Societies should consider declaring emergency?" a gruff voice asked.
"No, no, such would only incite needless panic. There is no need, Gray Proper has suffered enough. Anybody else?" Arcanine answered.
"Ahem. Guildmaster Haxorus, Ironside City. Why should your Guild get exclusive rights? Surely my own would do well accompanying you," another voice asked.
"No, we cannot risk it. There is too much risk," Arcanine said.
"Oh, of course. Sure, we're in it with the Phoenixes because we don't want you taking all the glory, am I right?"
"Enough. I will not jeopardize the very safety of this continent just so your Guild might-" Arcanine snapped before giving a deep breath. "My apologies. I suppose we all need some leisure time once this all concludes. Now, then, anyone else?"
He waited for a moment.
"Very well, then. I shall entrust this proposal to high command. I declare this emergency meeting of the Exploratory Society of Gray Proper adjourned."
Alakazam severed the connection, opening his eyes as Arcanine gave a grateful nod, though his eyes quickly strayed over to Beck. The Oshawott shrunk back a bit, though the psychic's stare was broken quickly as he turned his head back forward and teleported out of the room. With this, silence hung between Beck and Arcanine until the Guildmaster let out a sigh.
"You needn't worry. The situation is within our grasp, child. Go and prepare for whatever might arise," he said quietly. Though doubt was clear in Beck's face, he nodded and bowed his head before the Guildmaster before turning to waddle back up the hall.
Arcanine watched the former human go until he disappeared up the ladder to the surface, then laid down beside the roaring fireplace his living quarters boasted. As soothing heat washed over him, he shook his head.
"What are we to do with you, young one?" he pondered to himself.
Knock, knock.
My teammates' heads turned as I stood in the doorway, the torchlight from inside our base shining light on my downcast face. At the sight of me, Rye quickly got to his feet as I dragged my tail in.
"H-how'd it go?" he asked.
"Egh," I replied, taking a seat on my straw bed. Ignoring the concerned looks Rye and Mavy both gave me, I took a moment to just stare at the floor and consider what I'd been presented with over the past hour.
Everything would be fine. That was clearly what the Guildmaster had been trying to get across when he'd ushered everyone but me out of his quarters. As he'd tried to calmly ask me about what I'd seen, he'd tried to subtly maintain that he had everything under control. The warm but strained smile he'd sent me off with betrayed him, though; I knew the worst was probably yet to come.
Noting my downcast look, Rye cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Uh, Mavy and I were talking while you were gone, and we agreed that we'll just take a job. Y'know, nothing too crazy, but enough to get some Poké for Mavy's fine," he said. "No real stakes, nothing to do with everything going on, we might even get some training for if another expedition does happen! Uh, what do you think?"
At my initial look up, Mavy smirked.
"Doesn't really matter, we'll just leave ya with Audino if you say no," he informed me. I cracked a little grin at this. I needed a break, and a good ol' non-consequential dungeon dive with the squad did sound nice.
"Yeah, sure," I affirmed. Rye gave a quick nod before sitting down and turning my attention to Mavy, who wobbily stood on his hind legs to address us.
"Aight, so the dungeon I'm thinkin's one ah used to go to a lot..." the Zigzagoon began.
As we padded our way down the dirt road south, I remained ever grateful of the clouds obscuring the afternoon sun, I got the feeling they'd make the dive ahead a lot easier.
A quick agreement the previous night and a quick check of the board had led us here with high hopes, the items we still had from our pre-expedition shopping, and a job notice tucked in our bag. It wasn't much, just a surveying mission: go in, note any deviations, and leave a hundred Poké richer. What we had found amusing, though, was Mavy's choice of dungeon. The road to Amber Meadow was long, though somehow the topic of our past outing there had only just come up.
"So y'all have experience in the Meadow, I gander. Wut's the story there?" Mavy asked as he idly snuffed the air, stretching his stiff hind legs behind him. As I cocked my head, Rye mumbled to himself, apparently for not bringing it up sooner.
"Y-yeah, uh, we've been before. First mission, actually," Rye said. Mavy cocked his head and gave a hum.
"Well, now, ain't that a coincidence," he mused.
"Uh, I mean, it's an accessible dungeon. Like, it's sorta close to the Guild, ferals aren't too bad, easy terrain, towns nearby, and i-it's not a cave, heh. Er, Mr. Arden says it's a Guild favorite," Rye tried to explain.
"Yer Guild talk there's cool 'n all, but I just know it because..."
Mavy's pace seemed to slow.
"...cus Pa used to take me here to... agh, damn it," he muttered, hanging his head as he zigzagged. Before either of us could try and comfort him, he let out an "ah'm fine" and kept on his way.
The mood sufficiently soured, I took to just looking around at the scenery. As I looked up at the sky, I just barely caught a bird flying overhead, which further investigation revealed... well, small, I guess. I don't know, it was cloudy.
'I can't help but be reminded of that Murkrow from our first mission. Heh, imagine if that were the same one, that'd be pretty neat.'
The bird was long gone by the time I thought to point it out to Rye, so I turned my attention back forwards as I waddled after him, hoping that nice reprieve we'd come out here for wasn't so distant.
Amber Meadow
1F
'Right. Before we do anything, I gotta get this out of the way first.'
Holding a paw up to stop Rye and Mavy, I stepped forward and looked down the grass corridor we were faced with.
"Ahahm," I cleared my throat. "SHAAAGAAAAGHH!"
My challenge echoed through the dungeon for a good few seconds, so it was no surprise when a Purrloin ran into the hall, hissing as it charged me. Rye and Mavy both staggered back as it approached with claws unsheathed, though I could only imagine their reactions as I whacked the feral in the face with the flat end of my scalchop. As it tumbled to the ground, I hit it with a hard Aqua Slap, then hosed it with a long, hard Water Gun, not letting up until it stopped struggling. Panting for a bit, I gave the thing a little kick for good measure. I hadn't forgotten that one feral Purrloin that'd handed my ass to me here nearly a month and a half ago, and I clearly hadn't forgiven. Seeing one like it at my feet... it was satisfying in a weird way.
With my impromptu venegance handed out, I looked back at Rye and Mavy, who stared back in thinly veiled concern as I gestured them on, ready to proceed. As the two silently started ahead of me, I quickly stuck my tongue out at the golden grass lining the path before continuing on.
The first floor was unremarkable at best, only really offering a few ferals here and there. Despite this, most of the floor was spent in awkward silence, one which was only broken as we finished scouring the floor and approached the earthen stairs.
"Right, uh, so far, so good. The place has, like, six floors, shouldn't be too long at this rate," Rye nodded as he led us up.
Amber Meadow
3F
Despite our efforts, it seemed the silence couldn't hold forever, not with Mavy flanking us.
"...and this Pansear, right? She and I tried at it fer, like, a moon 'r two, but then one o' the old docks collapsed under her and she got sucked straight into the Strait. This Guild team just so happened to be nearby, so they fished her out," Mavy rattled on as we emerged from floor two. "She blamed me for whatever reason, can ya believe that shit? Smacked me square 'cross the muzzle, then she and her folks hopped town next day."
"Ah. Thaah... eh, sa-suhcks," I commented.
"Yeah. But a Pansear?" Rye asked.
"What, ya think we couldn't get it on?" Mavy asked. Smirking as Rye went a bit red, he continued. "Ain't you ever heard of egg groups? Tyrogue over by the pier told me a Skitty and a Wailord could knock. Yeah, the Skitty'd die real fuckin' quick, but there'd still be an egg, or so I heard."
"Eugh," I shuddered.
"Y-yeah, didn't need to hear that," Rye agreed.
"Trust me, kid, world's messed up. Gets worse the more ya dig," Mavy shrugged before blinking, apparently remembering something. "Yeah, Tyrogue was real mature; you talk with him, yer bound to get one joke. Couldn't even bring up the war without him gettin' all drooly about Cyndaquil and Eevee."
A bit of silence hung in the air before Rye froze and made a guttural sound.
"Y-you don't mean-" he began as we stopped in the middle of the clearing we'd found ourselves in.
"It's possible, he said," Mavy said slyly. Rye's mouth moved wordlessly as he put his hands on his head.
"Wh-b-but I... h-how did I not figure that out?! O-of course they're... I... I-I thought Mr. Pike was just kidding!" he groaned.
"Kiddin', you say? Interesting," Mavy said, raising his furry eyebrows. I gave a sigh
"Plehs stahp," I butted in, waving the two on towards a hallway.
"Yeah, please," Rye shuddered, hurrying after me. With a snicker, Mavy started after us.
"Maybe when we get back we can read if a Feraligatr can-" he started.
"W-WE'RE MOVING ON!" Rye yelled as he slammed his tail into an incoming Patrat's gut. Clearly not willing to argue with that Pound, Mavy met my gaze and shut up. After a minute of awkward silence, Rye coughed, having winded down.
"Anyways. Uh, wh-what do you two think about what Mr. Arcanine said? Like, a giant creature going to the caves, what could that be?" he asked.
"Ya don't know it was goin' to those caves in particular. Coincidences happen," Mavy shrugged. Rye and I gave him a look.
"I-it's a giant creature, probably a Pokemon, wouldn't it make sense?" Rye asked.
"It's a giant creature, so it's all the less likely to give a damn 'bout yer little hoo-mon thing. Don't that make sense?" Mavy asked. I let out a little sigh.
"Ya tink wee faghin' sh-n-nahts, yeah?" I asked. Mavy took a minute to try and decipher what I'd tried to say before snorting a bit.
"Naw, I don't still think y'all're fuckin' nuts, ah think you're just regular nuts," he said. At our flat looks, he only smirked. "Come on, that's an improvement, at least."
Rye just blinked as we approached the staircase, giving a sigh as he scratched off a floor on the list and stepped on one of the dirt steps.
"W-well, assume we, uh, aren't crazy for a second. What-"
Amber Meadow
4F
"-wou... uh, w-what would you think the takeaway would be from all that?" Rye asked, shuddering. "Ergh, remind me not to talk between floors, that felt really weird."
Mavy looked at us for a second before smacking his lips.
"Right. So, in all seriousness, let's say you ain't got a screw loose and all this really is related to Beck and his thing, right?" he proposed. "Well, given the, eh, circumstances... ah might actually have an idea wut these Phoenixes're after."
I stopped mid-waddle.
"What?" I demanded.
"See, Pa used to tell me these stories, and I'm gettin' the feel that some o' them, he didn't entirely make up. There was one, like a standard hero tale, he really liked tellin' that one," Mavy elaborated. "Basically, there's this Pokemon, and he's livin' in a land where it's always night. The mon travelled 'cross the world lookin' for these sphere-lookin' keys, opened and went through a magical door, and then the sun rose."
As the three of us stood there, the Zigzagoon paused to consider his own words. "He was tryna fish me in, wasn't he? That whole story, it was... th-that son of a..."
He hung his head, biting his lip hard as his eyes watered. Neither I nor Rye dared to speak up until he gave a shaky breath and started zigzagging along again.
"Mavy-" Rye began.
"Don't. Just... don't," Mavy snapped. Rye gave him a long, sympathetic look before his eyes met mine.
"I-it, uh, it sounds right. But keys? For what?" he asked, his voice more hushed.
"The link. He called it the link," Mavy called back. Rye nodded before looking to me for input.
"Do you remember anything about a link? Like, from when you were human?" he asked. I sighed.
"Nah. I dunno," I said.
It was the truth, I'd never heard of anything like that. Meeting Rye's expectant gaze with only silence, I just kept following him as he sighed and went back to scribbling notes. With nothing much else to do that wasn't worrying about this door thing, I ran a stubby paw along the amber grass to the side, at least hoping the mood would improve as we kept on our way.
Amber Meadow
6F
"Alright, uh, last floor! Everything's looked normal so far, maybe it was a false alarm. There's usually, like, something weird if there's a surveyor mission like this. K-kinda sucks, they pay extra if we find something weird with the dungeon," Rye said as we topped the last floor's set of stairs.
"That sounds impractical. You could just fake it an' run off with free money, couldn'tcha?" Mavy demanded. Wincing at his still bitter tone, Rye cleared his throat.
"Th-that's not... uh, they have, like regulations, and..." he tried before sighing. "Let's just go."
I instinctively drew my scalchop as we started on our way, keeping my eyes trained for any surprises to start this floor as I stuck close to Rye. A minute passed where I did nothing but listen to Rye scribble before I took notice of the first issue: I could hear Rye scribbling.
Dungeons weren't quiet. There was always the background noise of ferals and such other pleasant things in the background, I'd learned. I shouldn't have been able to hear charcoal scraping against parchment, not unless... there were no ferals...
"Rye," I whispered. "Is q-qui-eh, yeah?"
The Treecko looked back at me, listening for a moment before his face scrunched up in confusion. He barely had time to question this before he suddenly fell out of sight with a quick yelp, finding himself sprawled in a deep scar in the ground. The second issue.
"Wh-what... what is this? This shouldn't be here," he asked, examining the hole further. As I watched concernedly, Rye gulped, collected our fallen bag, and climbed out of the three-foot-deep hole, ending up on the other side. The three of us started examining for ways across this obstacle when Mavy suddenly seemed to pause.
"Uh... fellas? Y'all feelin' that?" he asked, shifting one of his front feet along the ground. I gave him a confused look before I too froze, realizing the ground was trembling under my feet. Before I could inform Rye of this, a plume of dirt suddenly erupted from just ahead, revealing the third issue with this floor.
Namely, the two hulking, growling Excadrills that'd just exploded out of the ground.
I didn't know much about these things, but among what I did know was that they were usually two feet tall, three tops. The ones that were now glaring us down were five-foot easily, and we appeared to have just pissed them off. While the dungeon looked to already be somehow regenerating the damage to its grass walls, we unfortunately couldn't quite do that ourselves, so I was decently panicked as the twin mole monsters menacingly tromped their way over towards Rye.
"Y-you were sayin' 'bout something weird with the dungeon?" Mavy squeaked.
All Rye had to respond was panicked gasps as the Excadrills both began to run at him on all fours, just barely missing him with a powerful swing as he jumped into the hole to escape getting skewered on their blades. It wasn't long before the Treecko clambered out, screaming at us to run as the ferals roared and jumped over the hole after us. A quick Water Gun to one of their faces bought us a few precious seconds to haul ass into the next hall over, and with our backs against the grass wall, I panted and listened for the ferals' low growling and sniffing. It wouldn't be long before they found us, it seemed.
As I looked to Rye for a solution, all I found was him trembling, though he stopped to put his hands on his head and quietly mumble to himself before long.
"Th-they're ground, we can... no, they're also steel, I won't be able to... alright, alright, okay," he muttered before getting to his feet. "B-Beck, you have the type advantage! You try and go for one of them, Mavy and I'll take the other!"
"What?! Me?" Mavy demanded.
"J-just trust me!" Rye yelled, turning to meet the Excadrills' gazes as they turned the corner. Swallowing hard, I gave a pitiful battle cry and ran at one of them, scalchop in paw. A quick Razor Shell connected with its leg, though I was dismayed to find it didn't seem to do much to the hulking beast other than make it angrier.
'Shit, okay. New plan.'
The Excadrill roared at me, so I responded by jumping up and down and yelling at it before booking it away from Rye and Mavy. As I'd hoped, the feral began pursuing, its blades glinting wickedly as it started closing the distance between us. I'd figured I could fight it easier without its friend nearby, but it looked like I'd failed to account for its speed. Worse, I'd hit a fork in the path, and the brief hesitation that it'd brought didn't do me any favors. With seconds to think, I tried to gauge my chances here, maybe there were some items on the ground I could use. On one path, grass. On another, more grass. Well, that was...
'...grass, you say?'
Biting my lip, I turned around, staring the Excadrill down as it made to impale me. Just before it could, though, I launched a powerful Water Gun off to the side, allowing it to blow me back a foot and onto the ground, and as I watched, the feral tried to screech to a halt, but it simply flew over me and straight into the grass. Panicked screeches immediately started ringing from inside the brush, and although I could hear it slashing away, it seemed like it was too far in. Before long, the cries faded, being replaced by the sound of shifting plants within the grass. Pushing myself to my feet, I chuckled a bit and turned to run back to join my partners, sparing the innocuous amber grass a look.
'Karma, bitch.'
When I returned to our hiding spot, I found that the other Excadrill hadn't quite gone down yet, despite the numerous Pin Missiles sticking from its flesh and the Rye clinging on to its metal head-blade. Mavy stood off to the side, trying to shoot the thing in its face as Rye held on for dear life, soon getting a hand on flesh and trying for a Mega Drain. That seemed to be too much for the beast, as it roared and flung Rye from its head and onto the ground.
"Rye!" I called. Said Treecko trembled a bit on the ground before pushing himself back up in time to stare down his opponent, getting a loud roar into his face. He responded in tandem with a Dragon Breath right to its face.
As the Excadrill screeched and clawed at its face, Rye looked at me with glowing, twitching, indigo eyes. I stumbled back, our past experiences with this state coming to mind. He gave himself a hard hit to his noggin, however, and gestured me on.
"Let's finish it!" he demanded far more confidently than usual, turning his glowy-eyed gaze back towards his opponent as Mavy zigzagged away to avoid getting stepped on. With a quick nod, I joined Rye in charging at the Excadrill. Although it seemed quite weak from the damage it'd taken, it still bared its claws and swung at us, raking at my side as I tried to slice at it. Rye immediately followed up with a jump and a hard Pound to its face, sending the creature to the ground. Before we could do anything else, though, Mavy jumped onto its chest and Headbutted it straight in the belly. This seemed to be too much for the Pokemon, as it finally fainted as Mavy jumped and cackled over its body.
"Final blow, y'all! The Zigzagoon is the champion!" he gloated. I just rolled my eyes, looking to Rye for his input. He stood still, his eyes still that blue-purple and his face uncharacteristically bold. Before I could prod at him, something in the air seemed to change around the Treecko.
Then his body started to glow a blinding white.
Mavy's cheering came to an abrupt halt as we averted our gazes, giving bug-eyed side glances at Rye's glowing form. Rye... he was evolving!
I felt a smile creep onto my face as I watched the Treecko's silhouette begin to shift out of the corner of my eye. I didn't quite know what a Grovyle was capable of, but I knew for sure it'd be useful. I felt proud for him, knowing he'd come this far since-
"No," I heard from the glowing mass. My ears stuck up in confusion as I looked at the increasingly unfamiliar Rye before me. "No. No! No! NO! NO!"
The silhouette quickly shifted back to its familiar Treecko form before the light cleared, revealing an unchanged Rye as he kept screaming, stumbling backwards onto the ground as his now-normal eyes stared off frantically.
"Rye! Rye!" I called, running over to try and calm him. As I hurriedly put a paw on him, his yelling calmed into panting as he stared off, though he soon shakily looked at me.
"I... I-I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I... I-I don't-"
"Hey, hey. Shh," I offered, trying to comfort him with a stubby-armed hug. As Rye shakily returned the embrace, I gestured to Mavy, who stood just opposite from me. The Zigzagoon blinked a bit, then pursed his lips and joined in. With the Excadrill unconscious behind us and the sun slowly dipping, I had time consider the trembling Treecko I was currently embracing.
'This could... very well be an issue.'
"I-I don't know what came over me. It was like I could just take on the world, like nothing could touch me. M-maybe that's just the Dragon energy Ms. May was talking about," Rye sighed, scratching at his head.
It'd been a night since our escapade at Amber Meadow, and though we'd reported the troublesome ferals and left with two hundred Poké not about to be given to the Guild, the air between the three of us had been awkward the whole way back. None of us had forgotten that near-evolution, even after sleeping on it, and it seemed that Rye had finally decided to open up. It seemed Mavy wasn't entirely understanding in this situation, though.
"Well, that don't answer shit. Why'd you stop? You coulda been a Grovyle, dammit, why would you not wanna evolve?" he demanded, earning a flinch from Rye.
"I-I don't know," the Treecko responded.
"What do you mean ya don't know?" Mavy asked.
"I just... I-I'm not ready, I don't know! I just... I don't want to evolve, not yet," Rye said.
Mavy shot me a quick look before continuing his interrogating.
"This about Totodile, or-?" he started, though quickly shrunk back as Rye yelled in frustration.
"No, i-it's not about Dill! I'm just... agh, I'm not ready, I don't know!" he groaned. "Ugh, I'm sorry. I'm... I-I know, I'm a failure, I'm a waste of a Treecko, I don't deserve to-"
"Rye. Shtap. Yeh fine," I said. Rye didn't say anything beyond that, only hanging his head and sulking along. Thankfully, Mavy didn't have anything to say, instead turning his attention to the road ahead as the Guild's hill came into view in the distance.
As we finished the process with Cinccino at the front, we stepped into the Guild campus, stopping for a moment to take it in. I stuck my paw out after a bit, and though Rye still looked pretty upset, his face relaxed into a hint of a smile as he accepted the high-five. Mavy just rolled his eyes.
"Wut, y'all too good to do the thing with me?" he asked in jest before running up and jumping to slap his own forepaw against my paw.
"Ah! Mafee!" I protested, looking at the filth the Zigzagoon had left. He'd been walking on that thing, and I was pretty sure he hadn't washed it in a long while. He just gave a cheeky smile in response, not flinching even at the Look I gave him as I followed after him and Rye, wiping my paw off the whole way.
As we approached the boards to turn towards our base, though, the sight of a few familiar faces stopped me. Deciding a quick little conversation would be nice, I waved at them. The Nidorino in the trio was the first to notice me, giving a wide grin.
"Well, shit! How's it been going?" he asked, getting to his paws and heading towards us with his teammates, earning a few paranoid looks from the passersby. Rye blinked as the three approached.
"Mr. Nidorino, hey! Uh, w-we've been alright," he said, feigning enthusiasm. "How's Zangoose doing?"
In response, Raboot hung his head and gestured to the mentioned Pokemon. Zangoose looked to have changed since I'd last seen him, mainly in that his fur had become messy and unkempt like mine. He seemed docile enough, though, only cocking his head at the sight of us.
"Zah. Zyehh-leh," he tried. Nidorino gave a bittersweet smile in response.
"It's slow, but we're getting somewhere," he said. As Raboot just looked off to the side, Rye and Mavy looked at each other, both giving a grin.
"That's nice to hear! Uh, you want any tips? I-I can try and help," Rye offered, getting a nod from Nidorino. "Uh, o-okay, so... first, I think you should focus on names. If you can, y'know, get his name down, that'll make things easier..."
As the Treecko explained away to the nodding Nidorino, my eyes strayed away from Zangoose and towards the Pokemon regarding him. A few only glanced, some winced at being so close to the feral, and a particular duo just nudged each other as they watched us talk.
"Well, isn't that sweet, they're friends," Mustie audibly said. "He and Treecko both got pets, y'know, they're perfect for each other."
Nidorino's face twitched as he heard this, though he just growled and turned away, looking over his shoulder at the two.
"Haven't heard that one before, at least. Nice job, Weavile, you're original for once," he called before giving us a nod of thanks and slipping away. Team Assail's pause at this seemed to be short-lived, as the two shot us a nasty knowing smirk before turning and walking off.
"Ugh, those two, I swear," Rye growled. Mavy snorted in response.
"Ya wanna fuck him up?" he offered.
"Honestly, kinda," Rye sighed.
"We'll fuck 'em up," Mavy grinned. "Y'know, just give the call, and ah'll-"
He stood up on his hind legs and gave a few swipes of his claws to sell the idea, only getting a look of concern from Rye.
"N-no, no we're not f... uh, d-doing that. Don't do that, please," he requested before gesturing me along to head back to base. Mavy gave a disappointed groan.
"Damn. Wanted to get back at 'em fer that one time, remember that?" he sighed, walking after the two of us.
Before I could waddle into our little base and relieve my aching little legs, an anomaly in the mail slot caught my eye.
"Hey, mail," I pointed out. Rye paused and took the piece of parchment, cocking his head curiously as he unfolded it. After reading it over for a minute, his brow furrowed.
"It's... from Team Apex. Uh, they say they wanna i-invite us to their base for dinner, talk about the expedition," he recited, looking up at us. "Th-that's good. We can, uh, say sorry for what happened, figure out what's coming next... yeah, maybe-"
"Sorry, they want us to go to their place for dinner?" Mavy asked. "Don't we already get free food? Wut's the point?"
"I-it's more, uh, a formality than just food here," Rye reasoned, hurriedly walking into our base. "Come on, let's get ready, we should... uh, you good, Beck?"
I gave a reluctant nod and headed in after Rye, dropping our bag down as I clenched my teeth. Despite the prospect of sorting things out with that gang, something didn't quite feel right. I didn't know why, but...
'Great, here you go being irrational again. It's nothing, Beck, just go, it's fine.'
Trying my best to calm that nagging feeling, I brushed my shaggy cheek fur in a vain effort to look presentable before following Rye and Mavy out the door.
A few minutes' walk led us out in front of Team Apex's base, the sky turning red and orange above us as Rye gave the doorframe a rap. Not a minute passed before May walked up, her eyes lighting up at the sight of us.
"Rye, hey! How's it been going?" she asked.
"Ugh, y-you know," Rye coughed. As Arden leaned into view behind May, his look souring just a bit, the Leafeon chuckled.
"Us, too. So what can we do for you?" she asked. Rye's eyes darted over to me as he momentarily hesitated.
"Uh, d-dinner, right? To talk about... y-y'know, remember?" he reminded her. May's smile seemed to falter a bit, and she and Arden exchanged a quick glance as we stood there waiting. A bit passed before May looked back to us, still grinning but evidently a bit confused.
"Well, uh, if that's what you want, come in. We'll get Pike to snag some food from Raticate, you three just... well, I'd say make yourselves at home, but... Beck, you just stay with us, alright? We'd never hear the end of it from ol' Fuss and Feathers if we let you roam," she requested. I gave a sigh.
"Yeh, mahm," I agreed. With that, Arden and May stepped aside, allowing the three of us inside, where it looked like a good few younger Pokemon had gathered to see us. As May stepped through them and went further into the base, Rye gave a nervous smile.
"Uh, hey. It- l-long time no see. R-Rue, Braze," he said. The Ralts and Bagon in the group just looked at him for a moment before approaching me.
"So, this is that feral, huh, Treecko? ...hey, little guy, how you doing?" the Ralts asked, cautiously putting a hand out as she cocked her head. In stark contrast, the Bagon quickly pushed her aside and got into my face.
"HELLO? CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" he yelled, earning a violent wince from me.
"Ah! Agh, fack!" I protested, stumbling back from sheer self-preservation instinct. The Bagon rolled his eyes.
"See? It can talk! I told you Treecko was full of Tauros!" he told the Ralts.
"Braze, that doesn't mean he's not feral!" she reasoned, kicking off an argument between the two. As they went back and forth, I reached for my ringing ears and looked over at Rye, who just watched the two sadly.
'These guys don't care much for him, do they? Did he live like this before we met? ...well, they haven't heard all the crazy shit we've been through. That might sway them.'
Giving the Treecko a little smile to reflect my optimism, I turned my attention to Mavy as he stared up nervously at Arden, who stayed there watching us as he rubbed at a bandage on his arm. Despite what should've been a clear sign that he was about to give Mavy a piece of his mind, that didn't seem to be the case. Rather, his brown eyes were trained on me, and his face read concern rather than anger. Though he immediately looked away, the message was clear.
Whatever the cause, I doubted this dinner was gonna go without some tension.
As the sun set, the flapping of wings sounded out from above. Mustie looked up from fidgeting with his claws in time to see Murkrow come in for a landing. The two Pokemon of Team Assail quickly stood to attention.
"How's it lookin'?" Gold asked.
"They took the bait. I'll take my position, you do your thing," Murkrow relayed. Mustie and Gold nodded, relieved that the hard part was over with.
"Damn good thing Quilava writes so sloppily, real easy to copy, know what I'm sayin'?" Gold nudged his friend.
"Yeah, yeah, is the shit ready?" the Weavile asked. Gold gave a nod, prompting a smirk from Mustie as he leaned back to consider.
From Treecko making them look like fools to Team Luster making a show of trying to rehabilitate their Zangoose, things had been strange for the Guild the past moon; a strange that Team Assail simply did not approve of. That would change tonight, Mustie hoped. Team Reach, the troublesome little shits they were, would fall back to the wayside, at least, and they would go back to their usual routine. To Mustie and Gold, this was just fine. Before they did that, however, Mustie craned his head to look at Murkrow.
"Gotta say... what's the name?" he asked.
"Er, Poe," Murkrow said.
"Okay, Poe. You're alright. You know, there's always a position open here in Team Assail if you wanna-" Mustie began.
"Nah. I work solo, always have, and I'm better for it," Poe immediately butted in. Mustie pursed his lips.
"Well, that's a shame. Y'know, keep it in mind, at least," he requested.
"Course," Poe nodded before fluttering up to watch the target bases in the distance. With his proposition delivered, Mustie took a seat next to Gold, stealing a final sneer towards Team Apex's base.
"Karma's a bitch, Quilava. Just ya wait," he smirked.
Before tonight, I'd have said that the mess hall was a bit of a chaotic mess. Sure, we usually weren't affected, but there were times we were just happy to be sitting off to the side away from the majority of the others. However, sitting at Team Apex's table, I was willing to forgive those incidents by now.
The big three were fine, down to keeping their elbows off the table if applicable: May and Arden sat and listened to Rye as he spoke while Pike gave comments every so often and avoided eye contact. That was all well and good. It was the apprentices that were the real nightmare. As I sat there chewing on the Spoink sausages that'd been served at the mess hall, I tried my best not to stare at the young apprentices as they screeched like demons and pretty much just acted the part. The majority of them, I guessed, were under fifteen (at least in Pokemon years, however that worked), so I could only watch as food flew through the air and loud yells rang from a troublesome few. The rest, thankfully, were transfixed on Rye as he recounted our antics to them.
"I-I don't know what came over me, like, I just stopped. Uh, after that, we reported the Excadrill to the town, and-
"What? You quit evolving? What kinda crap is that? Evolving's great, why would you-" Bagon demanded.
"Come on, now. Clearly Treecko here didn't need to be a Grovyle, they already don't stand a chance," Mavy said. Rye nodded in agreement and looked back at Bagon, who still rolled his eyes.
"Still stupid," he said, though flinched as May looked up.
"If he wasn't ready, he wasn't ready. That's just part of evolving. I'm sure he'll get to it one day. Now, all of you say what you thought of Rye's stories," she said. Scattered cheers of approval sounded from the apprentices as the Leafeon sighed.
"Well, despite the whole evolving thing, just know I'm still impressed. Really, only a moon and half ago I wouldn't have believed all that coming from you," she said, grinning at her teammates. Arden gave an "mhm, yeah" between a mouthful of food as Pike just shifted in his seat uncomfortably, though this didn't deter May.
"Come on, look at Beck. You can barely even tell he's feral if he doesn't speak up. Y'know, general scruff, stench, and... ahem, table manners aside, he'd pass for a normal Pokemon," she nodded. I paused at the mention of manners, realizing with a start that among other things, my mouth was hanging open in chewing. Muttering a quick apology, I wiped my mouth, though Pike only shuddered and excused himself in response. As the Swellow left the room, May cleared her throat. "Anyways, I'm damn proud, Rye."
"Th-thanks," Rye said before his eyes darted over to me. "Uh, what do you mean by stench?"
"What, you haven't noticed?" May simply asked. I blinked, then hesitantly rose a stubby arm to my face and sniffed the fur. The grimace I gave said all they needed to know.
"Oh... I-I'm sorry, Ms. May, I didn't know. I'd have... M-Mavy, did you notice?" he asked. The Zigzagoon gave him a sideways look as he chewed on his food.
"Ah was bein' polite," he said. Rye and I watched for any sort of followup, but Mavy just stayed unusually quiet as he sat there, only slipping back into his usual demeanor briefly when a sausage from one of the rowdy apprentices nearly nailed him in the head. I was a bit put off by this change in behavior, but remembering how composed he was back when he first joined the team and his apparent respect for this team, I figured it made sense.
As Rye gave a quiet, embarrassed sigh, Arden cleared his throat.
"Yeah, might wanna take a dip if and when that next expedition happens. There's this Lilligant in town that makes some pretty decent soap, I can point you in the right direction tomorrow. You know, if you aren't too busy doing, uh, feral things," he said. As I raised an eyebrow and made a quiet noise thanks, May looked over in surprise.
"You? Who are you and what've you done with Arden?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. After that party and... you know," he paused, eyeing Mavy. "Uh, I did some thinking, and I figured why not. The dog's inevitably gonna sock them onto that next expedition, regardless of whatever the fuck happened back there. Might as well pull myself up by my bootstraps, do what I can to make sure you three stay in one piece for the time being."
Rye, Mavy, and I all exchanged a glance.
"Uh, th-thank you, Mr. Arden," Rye eventually said.
"Don't mention it. Maybe we can finally talk about what's all been going on while we're at it, you know?" Arden replied, leaning in towards us. "You and Oshawott here look to be in the middle of it all for some reason. I wanna get your insight, maybe we can figure out what all's going on."
"Sir? If he don't wanna talk, then you know," Mavy blurted out. Arden sighed.
"Yeah, obviously, but from experience, the best approach to shitstorms like this is clonking heads. I mean, last time heads weren't clonked... well, no one told us Tyranitar could pull Kyurem out of his ass, and that ended swimmingly. You got anything you wanna say about all this, Zigzagoon?" he asked.
"Nothing, sir. If there were somethin', they'd've told me," Mavy replied, giving me a quick look.
"You sure?" Arden asked.
"Yessir," Mavy said. Arden just sat there for a moment before narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Pardon?" Mavy replied, sounding quite unsure. In response, the Quilava gave a sigh and stood up, gesturing him along. With a quiet gulp, Mavy slipped down from his chair and zigzagged after him, and as the two disappeared into another room, an awkward silence fell over the table. Even as the apprentices yammered on beside us, we just stared at May for a minute before she straightened up.
"So, uh, Beck. You ever heard the tale of the Great Bullshittery of Port Albion?" she offered.
"Nah, mahm," I said.
"Ooh, you're gonna love this. It was maybe six years back, and the three of us were up north to-" May began, though she paused and turned her head as Arden and Mavy reentered the room, the latter looking worse for wear.
"Wh-what'd you talk about?" Rye asked. Mavy didn't answer, only looking back and forth between me and Arden with fearful eyes. After a bit, he cleared his throat.
"Can we leave?" he asked.
"Huh?" I asked.
"I-I wanna go," Mavy stammered.
Both of us hesitated for a bit, though the look on our partner's face eventually got us out of our seats, leaving only enough time for Rye to mouth an apology to a confused May. As we followed Mavy out of Team Apex's dining room, I caught a glimpse of Arden nodding to himself, maybe satisfied with whatever he said to Mavy. I wasn't sure. Whatever the case, the three of us quietly filed out of the base and into the night, where Rye immediately made to catch up with Mavy.
"What happened back there? Wh-what'd he say?" he asked concernedly. Only Kricketots met our ears for a second, though as we passed through the Guild's gates, Mavy sighed.
"You promise you won't tell no one?" he asked. Though the double negative in his words didn't really help, Rye and I nodded. "Right, so the meat of it is... well, the mon threatened me."
Rye did a quick double take.
"Wh-what?! Mr. Arden? N-no, he wouldn't do that, not seriously!" he protested.
"Ehh-" I tried to add, though Mavy spoke up before I could get anywhere with that.
"He very well did, right in fronta mah face. H-he asked if I were talkin' with Pa or his club, then said if I did so much as suggest ah was gonna pull some shit with y'all, he'd-"
"Sh-shove your head up where the sun don't shine?" Rye finished. He sighed as Mavy gave him a puzzled look. "L-like I said, he isn't serious about this sorta stuff, he says stuff like that all the time."
"But this is fuckin' Cyndaquil we're talkin' 'bout, he very well could-" Mavy started.
"I-it'll be alright, I promise," Rye said. I gave a noise of agreement, though it was shaky at best. Exchanging a look with my friend, I knew I wasn't alone; neither of us quite believed this was nothing. As our base came into view, though, I decided to keep quiet about this between the both of us for now.
'At the very least, we can figure this out over some chill t-'
The three of us froze at our doorstep. Rather than the empty base we'd grown so accustomed to, it seemed we had visitors in the form of Mustie and Gold, their backs to us as they pushed furniture around and bickered.
"We aren't putting it behind the table, ya dingus. They aren't stupid, no one would hide stolen shit in such an obvious place," Gold whispered, gesturing to a burlap sack next to them.
"Well, where else we supposed to put it? Look around, they don't got shit but these tables. You think we're gonna go out back and bury it?" Mustie asked.
"Well, once Murkrow gets back, we can always just gorge ourselves on whatever's edible. You know, maybe then they'll buy that the feral did it. Then we can bury it," Gold suggested.
"Alright, that's actually a good idea, I'll-" Mustie nodded before glancing over his shoulder momentarily. His eyes bugged out as he froze in place, alerting Gold that something was up. We stared at each other, frozen in place for a minute.
"What are you doing?" Rye demanded.
"Y-you weren't supposed to be back for-" Gold began.
"What are you doing?!" Rye repeated, clearly angry. The two Pokemon before us hesitated before turning to fully face us.
"What does it look like we're doing?" Mustie asked, malice in his tone. Sensing where this seemed to be going, I pulled my scalchop off my chest and got into stance, though Mustie only laughed. "Wow, look at that pitiful little thing. If that's how small you grow weapons, I'd hate to see the other one."
My eye twitched as I kicked the table by the entrance in response. A clatter rang out as the Iron Thorn that'd been sitting there fell to the floor, though I quickly picked it off the floor and pointed it at them.
"Wh... the fuck is that? What'd you do to that thing?" Gold asked, looking rather perturbed at the blood-covered, juice-coated, dusty monstrosity of a weapon as I gave a few warning stabs, stepping towards the two and gesturing to Rye. Taking the hint, he and Mavy joined me in backing the two against the base's rounded wall.
"So y'all're burying something in here, tryna make us look bad somehow. Don't know what exactly yer up to, but... that's real low, whatever it is," Mavy growled, tufts on his back glowing as he held Pin Missiles at the ready.
"Why? Wh-what'd we ever do to you?" Rye asked. Mustie frowned, looking around for a way out, though he eventually exchanged a look with Gold and gritted his teeth.
"I'll tell you why. You didn't earn this. All you did was get lucky enough to run into your pet there, and the dog just gave you everything. You don't deserve this, so what something happened at Twist? Gold and I lived hungry and poor, we had no choice but to join. What do we have to show for it twenty years later, huh? Guess," he ranted. "I've seen this before. Some hotshot new team waltzes in, gets everything handed to them on a silver platter... Quilava did enough, we are not letting you do it all over again!"
Rye's fists clenched.
"Y-you're wrong! You-" he started.
"We could've avoided this, you know. We offered our friendship once, we'd have excused you if you'd been sensible then. But now... well, you may have fucked it up, but Poe's still out there. Rumors spread fast, and it's our word against yours," Mustie said.
With that, Rye gave an angry shout and fired a Dragon Breath straight at him. The Weavile only sped out of the way, then blew at us as the fireball exploded against the back wall. A bonechilling cold immediately washed over me, prompting the two crooks to bolt for the door. I only managed to land a single swing of Mizu's old Iron Thorn before they escaped, and what seemed to have been an Icy Wind ensured I couldn't even make it past the door before the two disappeared down the street, the only damage taken being the slash I'd left, a couple bruises, and a single Pin Missile.
After a minute, the deep-piercing chill began to subside, though I kept staring after where Mustie and Gold had gone as a couple of our neighbors poked their heads out curiously.
"...wh-what do we do?" Rye asked, still shivering from that Icy Wind.
"Well, we chase those assholes down, that's what!" Mavy said, immediately zigzagging ahead of us.
"Nah, cahps. We tehl be-feh sheh sha," I tried to reason. Mavy stopped in his track and gave me a confused look.
"You get any of that, Rye?" he asked.
"Cops... n-no, the Mags won't care, but we can get Ms. Cinccino! Come on, they had to have left something! L-look, there's that bag, maybe there's more!" Rye said, running back into base. Mavy and I were quick to follow, and as I took a quick look up at the small hole Rye had left, that little voice of doubt I'd grown so accustomed to decided to speak up.
'They said a Murkrow was still out there... i-it's fine, we've got evidence and some witnesses, I think. If we can get to the Guild first, we should be good. Yeah.'
Unbeknownst to me at the time, the shape in the sky rapidly approaching our location happened to disagree with that optimism.
This was an odd night for Poe, to say the least.
Now, sneaking into an establishment to grab whatever looked shiny? He'd done that before, that was nothing new. No, what was strange here was the nature of what he was doing now.
While getting paid to do what he usually did was new to him, the Pokemon his clients had specified... well. He'd heard tales of Team Apex, sure, and they were straightforward enough to prepare for, but Team Reach?
It'd been just under a moon since the Murkrow's ill-fated attempt to steal a Seedot's Pecha scarf, and he hadn't forgotten the rookie team that'd shown him mercy in that dungeon. An odd couple of mons, they were, but given he was still short his Reviver seed, it seemed they worked decently together, and for that, he was grateful. But now?
'I've paid my debt. I owe them nothing. Shinies are shinies, after all.'
That was what he told himself as he hid under a desk, keeping a decently-filled sack hidden as he watched the room warily. As had been agreed upon, the cue to begin would be whenever Treecko's team left. So long as the timing didn't go wrong, there would hopefully be no issue. Indeed, as a couple sets of paws entered the room, it seemed he'd managed to go undetected so far.
"Sucks they had to leave so early, I was just fixing to start telling them about Port Albion," a female voice sighed.
"Eh, they're too young to be hearing all that anyways," a male voice shrugged.
"You didn't hesitate to tell Rye about it three moons ago, though," the female said, revealing itself as the dainty paws of a Leafeon. "Look, I'm not stupid. What did you say to Zigzagoon, Ardie?"
The male voice hesitated as a Quilava's paws came into view. Poe gulped quietly as he connected the dots as to the two's identities.
"Ugh, fine. I told him that if he does anything that suggests he's in league with his Phoenix daddy, I'd..."
The Quilava didn't finish the sentence, though the Leafeon was all too willing to interject.
"What the fuck. Are you out of your damn mind?" she demanded.
"Dammit, what if the kid's in it with these Phoenixes, huh? What do we do then? I wasn't just gonna stand around and let that happen," the Quilava defended himself.
"He's a kid from a small town, what in distortion do you think he's gonna do?" the Leafeon asked.
"Look, I'm not saying he-" the Quilava said before the two walked out of earshot. With no one else seeming to be coming, Poe scurried out from his hiding spot and slipped down the hatch in the floor: what his clients had told him was their storage room. As he got a good look at the cramped space, his eyes lit up.
"Jackpot," he whispered. With this, he descended on the countless trinkets on the shelf, relying on the light from outside the door alone to see what he was shoveling into his sack as he whispered to himself.
"Ooh, shiny mask. What's this made of, gold? I'll take this. Gummis? Eh, don't need 'em. Got some orbs... hmph, this one doesn't even work, pass. A sack of apples, they said to get food first and foremost, I'll just take that. Oh, hoho, this is handsome, I'll-"
"May, did you move that vase? Thought we put it right here," the Quilava's voice asked from above.
"Ah, shit," Poe swore to himself. Said vase was in his sack, he didn't have long before they came looking for it. As instructed, the Murkrow made ready to imitate a particular cry and turned back to grab whatever he could. As he reached for a sack of jewels, however, he hesitated against his better judgment.
'...this doesn't feel right. If I was just gonna grab everything and cheese it, then sure. But... that Oshawott saved me. I don't know, is it worth it?'
"HEY! The fuck are you doing?!"
Poe cringed. He'd thought it over just a bit too long, it was too late to make any decision. The dark obscured his form, though, so he still had a chance as the Quilava jumped down into the room.
"You got balls, I'll give you that, but the gig's up, dickhead. Come out where I can see you or I'll kick your ass back to the human age!" he demanded. Poe stayed rooted in place, watching the shape warily as flames began to erupt from its head in anger. Stomp, stomp, stomp...
As the Quilava loomed over him, Poe swung a Wing Attack at the nearest shelf. It and its contents were sent tumbling atop his assailant, who barely had time to swear to himself before he was pinned under the shelf with a terrific crash. It seemed he wouldn't be down for long, though, so Poe grabbed his sack tight and ran for the hatch. As he did, though, the Quilava's paw wrapped around his leg.
"Ah! Sha!" Poe instinctively yelled as he tried to wrestle free. After a couple seconds of this, he made a hasty decision and dropped his sack, shedding enough weight to fly out of the hatch and run through the exit to take flight. Fluttering away from the base, he sighed to himself. He'd failed, but... maybe that was for the best? He wasn't sure, he'd figure it out after meeting back up with his clients. He did think it was a shame, that mask really did look rather nice.
Back at the base he'd left behind, its confused occupants gathered around the hatch as the peeved Quilava climbed out. Though the thief's load had been discarded, the idea that they'd gotten this far was enough for the two superiors of the team to give each other a glance.
"Well, you know what this means, right?" Arden asked.
"Yep, night watch till we can get some security. We'll both take first shift, you could use the company, I think," May said. The two smirked at each other as she helped her bruised partner up, though behind the concerned apprentices, a certain Swellow was not as smiley.
Pike knew what he had heard.
It seemed his warnings had not been enough. It was time for action.
Not so far away, Poe looked down at Arcanine's Guild as he circled in for a landing upon the amphitheater, squinting at the two figures sitting upon the seats. He couldn't help but give a grimace as he landed atop the statue of Arcanine, watching as Mustie pulled a large pin out of Gold's behind.
"Gah! Dammit, I told ya to do it slow!" the Persian protested.
"Yeah, quit whining," Mustie muttered, only to get a rap in the head from Gold's tail.
"I got every right to whine, the little shit shot me right in the ass!" he said.
"Oh, boohoo, the feral slashed me with that... thing!" Mustie said, holding up his arm to show the cut.
"Come on, that's barely even a scratch, mon," Gold said.
"Did you see what was on that thing? Fuck knows what was growing on it, there's a more than zero chance that this arm's getting amputated!" Mustie complained. Poe ground his beak annoyedly and fluttered down between the two, which at least shut them up.
"I take it things didn't go well for you either?" the Murkrow asked.
"They came home early and walked in on us. You?" Mustie asked.
"Got cornered and had to drop the load," Poe said. The three shared a moment of silence as this sunk in.
"It's okay, it's okay. This is fine. We-" Mustie began.
"No. We're fucked. We got found out, it's over," Gold interjected.
"Well, see, they hit us, you can use the hole in your ass to drag them down with us," Mustie reasoned.
"Ding-dong, it's the self-defense clause!" Gold said frustratedly. "Honestly, the best thing we can do now is go to Quilava and explain. That's less Tauros-shit for everyone, and we don't fall as hard."
"I'm sorry, did the Zigzagoon hit you in the head, too? That's the dumbest fucking idea I've... ever..." Mustie began, though trailed off as his eyes strayed to the sky.
Taking notice of this, Gold and Poe turned their heads to look. Against the light of the waxing gibbous in the sky, a distinctly avian shape was flying in an arc from the south. That was not normal at such a time, Mustie noted as he watched. Before long, the shape suddenly circled back around and dove down, disappearing behind a line of buildings. The rookie bases...
The unmistakable sound of an attack landing sounded out from one of these bases, followed by a loud pained cry, one Mustie immediately recognized. As crashing and clattering rang out from the base, the three stared in its direction in stunned silence, though it didn't take long for Mustie to make up his mind on the matter and scramble to his feet, his wound forgotten.
"Fuck! Go!" he yelled.
"What?" Gold asked.
"Get over there and help them! I'll get Quilava!" Mustie yelled.
"But-" Gold said.
"For Arceus' sake, go! Do you want someone to fucking die?!" Mustie screamed before running off at full speed.
With nothing but dust to argue with, Gold quickly jumped to his paws and sped towards Team Reach's base, Poe flying close behind as the sound of the one-sided fight continued to echo throughout the Guild's grounds.
Author's Note: Crud, I didn't mean to be gone that long. Well, uh, anyways.
Expect a bit more of an erratic update schedule over the next few months. Hopefully it shouldn't get in the way of things to come, especially given the spelunking Beck and friends are about to do. Assuming Beck survives this, of course.
That's about it. Rate, review, you know, you know. See you on the next one.
