Travis hadn't been lying about the injury being grievous. There weren't any pools of blood or bones sticking out, but the entire left side of a Gible was paralyzed… and it wasn't hard to see why, for his skin on the injured side turned shades of dark blue (a much darker shade than his skin's natural color) and purple, and his left arm was curved in a way it obviously should not have been. It was a nasty bruise, and the damage obviously went below the skin too for how quickly it spread. Whatever had hit him, the blow was a frighteningly strong one.

"You might want to grab onto someone for this," Rozen suggested, gently tracing his arm with one finger while giving a Heal Pulse as well.

"N-nah, go ahead, I can take it," the Gible replied, voice confident but wavering.

Rozen looked a bit hesitant, but still, quick as he possibly could, he took the Gible's arm and bent it back into more of its stubby straight shape.

Instantly, the little round dragon was regretting his words. "GYAAAAAAAAH!" he bellowed, his roar echoing throughout the caverns. "This is almost as bad as when it broke! Gyaaaaaah!"

"There's one more," Rozen gently noted, visibly lamenting that fact too even if he wasn't the one in pain.

The Gible gritted his teeth. "Get it over with."

Another quick motion by Rozen snapped the bones back into place, and yet again, horrendous roars of discomfort filled the area.

There probably wasn't a single soul in Draco Ridge that wasn't getting their senses assaulted by the happenings, and more than a few dragons stood around to make sure everything was alright while some others peeked out of their windows with concern. The village, much like Rugged Slope, was hewn into the pale brown rocks of the mountainous passes, though unlike the other areas, it seemed the place had been showered in meteorites more than once judging from the large craters in the ground and giant rocks lodged into the earth here and there. (Perhaps it was a natural occurrence, or perhaps someone had summoned a few too many Draco Meteors.) Several caves, not very deep but with giant openings, dotted the sides of the cliffs, probably the homes of some much larger species like Garchomp and Goodra, and a big lake in the center of the ridge had a few Kingdras and Dragalges peeking up from the crystal clear blue water where more caves could be seen underneath the surface. It was all rather peaceful, yet also a bit… intimidating, with stalactites and stalagmites scattered around resembling sharp teeth and echoes bouncing around off the slick walls.

Two Garchomps stayed close by, one of them nervously tapping his claws together as their son's broken limb was fixed, and a little group of smaller dragons- a Fraxure, Sliggoo, and Dragonair- watched their injured friend with hesitant but intrigued faces. Travis and a Druddigon carried on together, the Tauros leaving Rush and Rozen to take care of the matter at hand.

However, much different than the others was a Shelgon huddled in one corner, apparently trying his hardest to bury his face in his forelimbs as tears streamed from his eyes. A Salamence eyed him with pity, but whenever she tried to get close, the Shelgon seemed to fuss and wave her off again. Rush couldn't help but take notice.

"You're taking it like a champ, Zura," the less nervous of the two Garchomps said, still flinching a bit whenever the little round dragon yelled.

"I'm trying, Mom, but this sucks!" the Gible cried out. He looked to Rozen with a rather flustered countenance. "Please tell me that was the last time!"

"Don't fret, dear," the Audino replied, taking some bandages and a stiff piece of wood out of his bag. "Your arm was broken in two places, so we're done moving it. You should be fine after I set it."

A heavy sigh of relief left the Gible's mouth, though he did wince some more when Rozen started splinting his arm with the bandages and the wood. Rush, on the other hand, seeing as his partner had things under control, strode closer to the crying Shelgon with a curiously concerned look. The Endurance Pokémon didn't even notice.

"Yo, Shelgon," Rush said gently, kneeling down a bit. "You okay?"

The one in question immediately perked up, a mix of sorrow and frustration pouring out in his voice as he cried, "No! Stay away from me!"

Instantly the shell-covered figure was skittering backwards as far as he could, straight into the rocky wall behind him. Rush blinked, rather confused at the display, and the Shelgon went right back to crying his hapless eyes out. The Salamence close by strode over to Rush, gently sticking the tip of her tail around his shoulders. Rush eyed her next too.

"That's my little brother, Dren," the winged dragon noted, still haplessly studying the shelled one. "He's really upset. I wouldn't count on him talking to anyone anytime soon."

That caught the Scrafty's attention. "Eh? What's wrong?"

The Salamence nodded off towards the wincing Gible. "This isn't the first time that's happened. Trust me, he's a sweet Shelgon and doesn't mean it, but…"

That caught his attention even more. "Wait, ya mean-"

"Yes, he did it," was the swift answer. "He's the strongest one of our family by a long shot, even though he never gets into battles. When we were both little Bagons, we were just playing around, he Headbutted me just like literally every Bagon does… and I spent six hours unconscious."

Rush blinked in surprise. "… Damn, you ain't kidding, are ya?"

She shook her head. "I'm not. Look, most of the younger dragons here like play-fighting, nothing serious, but he's one of the few that would rather just look at flowers and splash water around. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's just… he's strong, so naturally, the others wanna battle. But the few times he's ever battled in his life… Well, either he's too uncomfortable to do much or he freaks out and actually makes a move, which causes a hell of a lot of damage, and then he cries for hours. He's afraid he'll accidentally hurt his friends and that everyone will start avoiding him for being scary and strong, and he'll just be alone forever because no one will want to come near him."

The Scrafty got an awkwardly pitying look too, studying the Shelgon in question next. "Bein' alone forever? That's a little extreme, don't ya think?"

"I do, so do our parents and grandparents, and so do a lot of the other dragons down here. We just don't know what to do or what to tell him."

Rush shook his head, not too convinced. "You ever tell him that there's other crazy strong 'Mon out there, but they ain't nice ones? I'm a crazy bastard that likes gettin' into fights, but I make damn sure that if I get into a fight, it's with some other crazy 'Mon that's givin' everyone else hell. Maybe he's the same way that I am, just differently the same way."

The Salamence sighed heavily. "You're the one with the badge. Maybe he'll hear it from you."

She gave Rush one last shoulder-tap before trailing off to go see how the injured one was faring, and Rush took a few steps closer towards the crying Shelgon.


Astrid studied Dren for a second, the Salamence looking a bit hesitant at the mention of the occurrence. Of course, a fully evolved dragon like him couldn't be weak, but somehow, she hadn't been expecting something quite like that. If that was true, then… it was likely Dren that was the strongest of the Coalition and not Rush, as she otherwise would've thought.

"Hold on a second," Arashi piped up inquisitively. "Dren, just how strong are you? I mean… you still don't battle, right?"

"That's right," Dren confirmed gently. "I've never had an inclination to, natural strength for it or not. I only bare these fangs if I absolutely must, but every time it's come to that, I've never lost."

Rush snickered, shooting the Salamence a smirk before looking back at the Starstorm trio. "If I didn't have Rozen, Dren would whoop my ass in a fight."

Dren merely chuckled to himself, not too concerned at all. Ama, though, giggled and traipsed over to Dren, sticking an arm around one of his forelegs again. The Salamence's tail reached out and gave her another small pat, which made her smile grow bigger.

"This one is an absolute sweetheart, though~!" Ama chirped. "Your species might be comparatively scary, but we all know you've got a lovely heart of gold and if you weren't already with darling Rush, I'd jump at any chance to take you on my team~!"

Dren chuckled, patting her again. "Oh, Ama, you're too kind.~ Though the dragon you have now is probably a much better fit than I am."

Jingle giggled a bit too.

"Well, y'all know Dren doesn't go on expeditions," Rush noted to the Starstorm trio. "Hell, I think Adnea's actually been on more than he has, and y'all heard Adnea talk about how she feels about leavin' base!"

"It's true," the Orbeetle chimed in, still flat as ever. "Someone has to hold the fort down."

"Someone does!" the Scrafty concurred, haphazardly pumping his fist in the air in approval. "And y'all know how our setup is now- Adnea keeps watch on the surroundings, and if anyone is stupid enough to try anything, all Dren's gotta do is threaten to go Mega and they run like hell. But obviously, it was only me and Rozen then. But I wanted Dren too, ehehe!"


"Dren? Yo, Dren?"

The Shelgon looked up from his crying huddle on the ground and tearfully glared at Rush, hunching back into the wall as far as he could get. "Stay away from me! I already ruined one Pokémon's day, I don't need someone else getting close to me for me to accidentally mangle them, too! Just leave me be!"

Rush laughed, brushing it off. "I just wanna talk, Dren. Besides, I've gotten the daylights beaten out of me a hundred times over, so getting mangled ain't anything I'm worried about."

"Well, I'm worried about it!" Dren shot back, tears still pouring out of the opening in his shell.

The Scrafty held his hands up disarmingly, sitting down on the floor a meter or so away. "Then I ain't gonna get close; no worries," he still brushed it off. "I'm a li'l worried about you, though. Your sis told me you're afraid of bein' alone forever."

The shelled figure shuddered for a second, trying to bury his face in his forelegs. "And I have every reason to be! Look, I hate this, okay?! I don't care anything about battling, I don't want to hurt anyone, but I just had to be born as one of the scary dragons that's also the strongest one of the clan! I could be a Salamence already if I wanted to be, but I never want to evolve, because then I'll just be stronger and scarier! The one thing I might actually be good at is something I hate! There's only so many accidents you can be forgiven for before everyone starts branding you as malicious or negligent, and I don't know when that will be!"

Rush didn't seem too convinced and smirked just a bit. "Nah, that ain't the problem, Dren."

"Then what is?!"

The Scrafty chuckled a bit. "The problem is that you're afraid of your entire damned existence and don't know what to do with yourself, whether you like battles or not. You bein' strong and scary ain't the problem."

The Shelgon scoffed. "Oh, please! This wouldn't have happened if I wasn't!"

"Oh, please," Rush scoffed back, rolling his eyes. "Next thing you're gonna say is 'It wouldn't have happened if I was a Swablu instead!' then 'Well, it wouldn't have happened if I'd never been born!' or some shit like that. That's a cop-out answer and you know it."

"But it's true!"

"Is it really, Dren?" Rush shot back, still unfazed. "You sure there ain't a whole lot of circumstances that contributed to it- like your pals wanting to fight when you don't, you freakin' out 'cause ya hate yourself, and apparently no one teachin' you how to get your nerves under control so you can think clearly if ya ever wind up in that situation?"

… He wasn't sure. He didn't answer, and instead just buried his face again.

"Look, Shelly, maybe I don't know what it's like to be you and be good at somethin' you hate, but where I came from, the one thing I was good at was somethin' everyone hated me for. That plays out about the same way, don't it?"

A heavy sigh. "… What are you saying? That you know how to fix all this?"

Rush chuckled. "Maybe not, but I got an idea!"


"And y'all know what that idea was?" Rush inquired.

"Well, you're a Salamence now," Arashi noted. "Was it facing your worries head-on and getting into tons of battles anyway?"

"Hell no!" the Scrafty said to the contrary.

Dren only laughed at the very idea. "That's quite optimistic, Arashi."

The Frogadier only giggled.

"You must have joined the team," Raijin chimed in next, a bit contemplative. "Were you acting as a guard then as well, Dren? To keep the Rugged Slope occupants away?"

"You're real close," Rush replied, giving the Xurkitree a mischievous wink.

"Was it to scare off Nifty and Swaggy…?" Astrid's voice trailed off as her eyes fell on the Coalition lead next. "If they kept going after you, and they weren't afraid of either you or Rozen…"

Rush shot her a wild smirk. "Theeeere we go again! Right on, Li'l-li'l Green! I told 'im what I was thinkin'- that hell, sometimes just knowin' someone that's strong as hell is hangin' around is plenty to keep troublemakers out, and Dren could be that someone without ever makin' a single move! Y'know, bein' strong and scary ain't a bad thing at all! There ain't nothin' better than a gentle 'Mon that'll let you cry into their tail and hug you and all that shit, but they can also whoop some serious ass if they gotta, and Dren had both of those things in his favor!"

Astrid had to agree that such was true. The night she couldn't sleep and ended up pacing around the base's exterior with Raijin, Dren had peeked out to make sure everything was alright and had told them there was always space in his tail for hugs, which was comforting, but at the same time, she could tell he was strong simply from being close to him. A gentle giant- that was definitely Dren.

"Were you okay with that, though?" Arashi inquired, turning to the Salamence.

Dren chuckled. "… I certainly warmed up to it," he answered.


Rush stayed put, giving the shelled figure some space, but gradually as they carried on, Dren unfurled from his balled-up crying position. Rush grinned the entire time, and Rozen was starting to finish up with the Gible.

"H-hold on," the Shelgon inquired, his tears halted but his eyes still a bit uncertain. "So you're saying…"

"Your kind ain't weak- we all know that 'Mon like Salamence, Tyranitar, Garchomp, and Metagross are some of the strongest ones short of legendaries," Rush noted. "Fact of the matter is, whether you want to be or not, you're fuckin' strong and intimidating. But that ain't a bad thing. Hell, I say it's a damn good thing- the world don't look near as ugly when there ain't nobody that wants to cause trouble for ya, and the strong ones always got it easier in that regard."

Dren sighed. "… That's true, okay…? But… what is it exactly that your idea is?"

"Well, you probably already know this, but there's some shady 'Mon out there that don't listen to anyone that can't kick their ass. I'm good at ass-kicking, but there's some asshats out there that still won't listen to me."

"Those other two Scrafties… Nifty and Swaggy, was it…?"

"Yeeaaaaaah," Rush replied, rolling his eyes and sticking his arms behind his head. "They're really the fuckin' worst. They don't give a damn about me or Rozen, they just wanna see me get fed up and quit. I'm pretty damn sure that if I had someone like you around… they'd cut that shit out. And I know I ain't the only one out there with someone like them on my trail either."

The Shelgon buried his face in his forelimbs again. "But… that's using me as a threat."

The Scrafty chuckled. "Yeah, but only to 'Mon that deserve it! If the only ones that are afraid of you are the ones causin' trouble and givin' everyone else hell, I say that's a good thing."

Another sigh. "… You're not wrong. But I'm still… extremely hesitant about battling."

Rush rested his head on one hand, smirking without a care. "We can handle that," he replied. "Look, Dren. I got a damn good cleric watchin' my back and I ain't afraid of getting beat up. You can practice with me and get those nerves under control. Expeditioner or not, the last thing you ever need is an instance where you're getting attacked and you're freaking the hell out. That's one of the few times where battling is completely necessary, and everyone oughtta be ready for that if it happens."

"That's… true…"

Apparently Rozen was done splinting the injured one's arm, for his dainty steps made their way over to the Scrafty and Shelgon as well. Rush shot him a grin, and seeing his partner keeping distance, Rozen elected to as well.

"Hello, dear," the Audino said to the shelled figure, then looking between Rush and Dren, "What's going on over here?"

Rush snickered, grin growing bigger. "I'm gettin' us a new team member!"

Dren perked up, looking more startled than anything else. "W-what?! N-now, I never agreed to that!"

Rozen inquisitively eyed them both, and Dren eyed the Scrafty too while Rush laughed without a care.

"Oh, c'mon, my dude!" Rush brushed it off. "You ain't foolin' anyone! You like the idea!"

"Y-yes, but that still doesn't change the fact that I never agreed to this!" the Shelgon haplessly replied.

Some more laughter came from the Scrafty. "How 'bout you give it a try, eh? Spend a li'l bit of time with us and see how well ya like it!" He turned to Rozen next. "That a'ight with you too, Rozen?"

The Audino chuckled. "I have no objections, but I am curious as to how this came about."

Rush's gaze fell on Dren again, who perked up a bit more while still looking somewhat uncertain. The Shelgon's forelegs dug at the ground a bit in contemplation, and he rocked from side to side a bit while staring in silence at the ground.

"You ain't gotta say yes, I just think it'd be worth a shot," Rush said gently, still smirking.

Another sigh escaped the shelled one, but he looked up at them. "… I'll try it. But don't you get carried away!"

A triumphant cheer came from the Scrafty's mouth and he pumped one fist in the air, which Rozen haplessly chuckled at.

One way or another, the little green cottage in Green Overpass had a third creature dwelling in it that night, Dren having accompanied them back once they saw fit to leave.


"And that's how we got Dren!" Rush laughed. "We only did some milder expeditions for a few days and then we'd practice a little more afterwards, 'cause I was tryin' to get Dren used to battles without freezin' up or freakin' out. Rozen was givin' us screens and Heal Pulses too, 'cause let me tell ya, Dren had a ton of power stored up inside that shell, ehehe!"

The Salamence giggled a bit at Rush's recollection. "I do recall breaking one or two screens and snapping at least six trees in half."

"And I believe one of my flower pots got shattered too," Rozen amusedly added. "But I don't think that was Dren's fault so much as it was a certain Scrafty not paying attention to his surroundings."

The Audino gave a playfully pointed look at Rush, whose cheeks turned a bit more pink than they already were.

"Okay, this might be a dumb question, but I just have to ask," Arashi chimed in, getting another excited look. "So Dren is individually the strongest. But if the three of you got into a fight- Rush and Rozen against Dren- who would win?"

The ones in question gave each other some amused looks, but a certain Orbeetle piped up with a rather plausible answer. "I would," Adnea declared, rolling her eyes. "You saw how fights against comrades play out earlier today. No such thing would ever pass my detection, and using Hypnosis on two out of three is enough."

Cinder let out a huff at knowing what she referred to, casting another glare at the Frogadier, to which Lazuli gave his wing a nudge to calm him down again. Arashi didn't notice it, but Astrid certainly did, and she fluffed up a bit.

Still, the Orbeetle's response seemed as reasonable as any.

"Yeeeaaaaaah, that sounds about right," Rush amusedly acquiesced, giving a dismissive wave. "Can't nobody say for sure, Li'l Blue. It ain't like we were gettin' serious against each other, ehehe!"

Arashi still seemed curious, but he accepted the answer nonetheless.

"But, by about the third day, Dren decided he was actually enjoyin' himself and joined us for real," Rush noted. "He even talked about evolvin', too!"


Crack!

Though Dren may have lacked proper claws, his Dragon Claw definitely made Rozen's Reflect falter for a second, and Rush grinned at seeing it. The Scrafty ducked out from behind it just a bit, going for a Brick Break, but a Flamethrower breathed out of the opening in Dren's shell made him jump back as a Light Screen went up.

"You ain't too bad," Rush noted, smirking.

Dren said nothing, only taking a deep breath and exhaling it. He might've had a few moments of uncertainty, but the Shelgon wasn't freezing up in fright or getting flustered and acting erratic. Rush definitely needed a Heal Pulse here and there, but true to his words, even if some drops of blood splattered the ground, the Scrafty wasn't too worried about it.

"Truly, he isn't," Rozen concurred. "I do think I'm getting better at shields, too- holding you off is a bit of a challenge, Dren."

Dren meekly eyed them, hunching down just a bit. "That's a good thing, right…?"

"Sure is!" Rush laughed, smashing his fists together. "C'mon, hit me again!"

At that, the Shelgon crouched down and pounced, another Reflect going up that Dren Headbutted instead of his proper target. It didn't crack, but it definitely shook a bit, and Rush spit some acid onto his fist before swerving around and slamming it into Dren's shell. The dragon winced just a bit, but another Light Screen went up when a burst of flames shot out from his shell again.

"You could use a Heal Pulse, no?" Rozen gently inquired, looking to the dragon.

Dren nodded, and the sparring quit as Rozen's warm light touched the dragon. Rush snickered to himself, eyes glinting with glee.

"This… isn't so bad," Dren acknowledged, relaxing. "I'm feeling a lot more comfortable."

"Good," Rush remarked, giving his shell a pat. "That's what I was hopin' for. You're a good 'Mon that don't deserve feelin' bad about existing, that's for damn sure."

Dren nestled up against him for a second, which made the Scrafty's grin turn a bit awkward at the sudden affection, but he didn't protest.

"I was thinking about something," the Shelgon mused, glancing up at the other two. "I like your idea, Rush- about me using my strength as a shield against troublemakers. But, if I were to join this team… perhaps I should evolve."

The Scrafty and Audino both got rather surprised looks on their faces at the suggestion and studied Dren for a second, taken aback but not objecting either.

"I thought you didn't wanna evolve," Rush noted, crossing his arms and smirking. "What's with that sudden change, huh?"

"Well, I'm actually feeling fine in my own form for once," was the answer. "You're right- my strength isn't the problem, it's how I thought about it. So if I'm a guard as we talked about… I should be quite strong, shouldn't I? And besides, having wings is useful for many purposes. Flying is faster than walking if we need to be somewhere, for one."

Rush and Rozen looked at each other, Rush's smirk growing and Rozen getting a grin.

"You sure ain't wrong," said the Scrafty, looking back to the dragon. "You're really alright with that?"

Dren nodded.

Again, Rush and Rozen were sharing glances.

The Audino chuckled. "We might need to find ourselves a proper base, in that case. My cottage is a bit small for such a large creature as a Salamence."


"The time he evolved was about the time we realized that my cottage was simply too small to be directing a team out of," Rozen said. "An Audino, a Scrafty, and a Shelgon were rather cozy inside it together, but an Audino, Scrafty, and Salamence… were a bit too cozy."

It was Dren's turn to laugh. "My wings wouldn't even fit through your doorway, Rozen! I was practically the size of the entire front room!"

The three of them shot each other amused glances, the Salamence haplessly shaking his head.

"This one here is sure good at makin' everyone feel like a pipsqueak," Rush jested, playfully pointing at their dragon comrade. "But that's a'ight! Anyone that talked to us could tell he was a nice guy, and li'l Belle even liked nestling up in his tail when we were hangin' around!"

"She was such a cutie," Dren laughed.

Astrid imagined it- a giant, intimidating dragon happily curled up in the grass with a little Shiny Miltank wrapped in his tail. She had to admit, it was rather endearing, and surely, no shiny-seeking Murkrow swarms would be stupid enough to attack a hulking Salamence.

"Now, we hadn't seen Nifty and Swaggy in about a week at that point," Rush noted, smirking. "We weren't goin' to our usual dungeons, so they probably weren't hangin' around in the same places that we were. But we knew we'd be seein' 'em, and if we were gonna shut 'em up for good, we had to give 'em one hell of a scare!"


It was another peaceful evening in Green Overpass, the cries of several smaller figures- a certain Shiny Miltank with very little traces of the damage she'd previously sustained, a Venonat, and a Sentret- filling the air a little ways off as they made markings in a grid in the dirt. Underneath a big tree, a very old-looking Braviary, an Audino, and a Salamence made pleasant conversation, but shortly…

"Hot damn, you guys!"

A certain Scrafty came scurrying over, his expression looking like an odd cross between amused, awkward, and downright perturbed. Whatever words were being exchanged came to an abrupt halt.

"What's the matter?" Rozen inquired, giving him a glance.

"You look like you just saw the underside of a Mimikyu," said the Braviary.

Rush shook his head, giving a little laugh. "Nah, Mav, if one of those went ripping off their rag at me, I'd Poison Jab it," he brushed it off. "But what I did see is how much a damned Mega Stone costs when I went to the Kecleon Shop and asked Li'l Green how much one was! Now that is scary!"

Maverick gave a hapless little laugh, covering his beak with the tip of one wing, while Rozen and Dren perked up.

"Did they have the one we were looking for?" Dren inquired.

"How much?" Rozen asked.

Rush sighed. "Nah, they ain't got Salamencite," he said. "They got Beedrillite, Galladite, Heracronite, and hell, Audinite. But we don't need that last one, do we, Rozen?"

The one in question shook his head. "No, I have no need for that in my current function."

Rush nodded, then continued, "But they're all runnin' six fuckin' figures minimum! You'd have to be one hell of a big-shot to just have that kind of money layin' around! I knew they were gonna be expensive, but… damn!"

That seemed to take the wind right of Rozen and Dren's figurative sails, and both of them got wide-eyed at the mention too.

"That's…" Rozen's voice blankly trailed off.

"… I suppose we won't be getting one of those anytime soon," Dren mused, shaking his head in stupor.

Maverick, on the other hand, started chuckling again, and Rush gave him a mischievous look.

"What're you laughin' at, old man?" the Scrafty inquired, giving him a playful nudge. "You got somethin' to say, then say it!"

"There's an option where you could get them yourselves without forking over an unholy amount of money, but it's not an easy feat," the old avian replied.

Rush studied him. "I ain't stealin' from no Kecleons, if that's what you're gettin' at," he remarked, grinning and rolling his eyes. "That's one fight I am damn sure I wouldn't win, ehehe!"

"No, no," Maverick said to the contrary. "There's a dungeon where you can find them, but that dungeon is… challenging, to say the least."

Rozen and Dren looked a bit intrigued at the prospect, if only due to the rarity of Mega Stones, but Rush, on the other hand, started getting a wild glint in his eye and a big smirk on his face.

"There is?! Tell me more, Mav!" the Scrafty cried. "Where we gotta go?! I'll throw down with anything!"

"Very far north," Maverick replied. "There's a dungeon called Forsaken Crater located out in the wilderness, far past where anything but wild ones would be willing to take up. The ground is nearly frozen, and everything is a blend of the same white-capped trees and frosted rocks for miles. In the dungeon itself, the Abomasnows and Tyranitars make the weather continuously swirl between a sandstorm and snowstorm, and the wild Steelixes cause earthquakes and rocks slides when they burrow around. There's also wild Mawiles and Gengars that can be troublesome… but are you noticing that every dungeon occupant has a Mega form of their own? Some of them can carry their respective stones and they become particularly vicious, but they don't even necessarily need to be holding the stones to evolve. Some of the stones are buried in the ground and walls where you'd never see them, but they're close enough to the dungeon-dwellers to let them have the benefits. I only know this because, when I was much younger, me and my flock decided to go there just to see how we'd fare, but that was a huge mistake and we were using our Escape Orb by the third floor."

That… certainly didn't sound pleasant, to say the least. Dren and Rozen looked rather uncertain, but Rush's eyes were still glinting with mischief.

"That must be why they're so expensive," Dren mused. "That sounds horrific."

"That sounds awesome!" Rush said to the contrary. "You guys! We could totally do it!"

His comrades looked at him like he'd gone insane, and Maverick merely seemed surprised- not protesting, just surprised.

"No, really!" Rush exclaimed. "Four of those five got something in common- I have a super effective move for 'em, and I ain't afraid of no Mawile's jaws, either! Dren can fly, so if the ground caves, we can jump on him, and if the roof caves, Rozen can shield us! The weather'll probably be the suckiest part, but if we can get ahold of a Weather Band, we can stick that on Rozen and just have him heal me and Dren if we get too beat up by hail and sandstorms! All else fails, we can load up with Oran berries and Reviver Seeds!"

His comrades still looked uncertain, but Rozen got a skeptical grin and Dren softened up a bit. The old Braviary wasn't saying a thing, but rather turned to preen a few stray feathers while the Coalition members exchanged glances.

"Friend, I'm not one to doubt your abilities, but are you sure about this?" the Audino inquired. "I've seen you wreck some foes much larger than you with your fists, but this dungeon sounds… treacherous."

"It really does," Dren agreed. "Perhaps the Mega Stone can be foregone. I'd hate to see anyone get injured trying to retrieve something in such a threatening place."

"Pfffft!" Rush still brushed it off. "Worse comes to worst, we can take an Escape Orb with us too! But I ain't worried about gettin' chomped by a Mawile or slammed by a Steelix!"

The feeler-eared one and the dragon cast each other a contemplative glance.

Rush, though, turned back to the Braviary. "Where we gotta go, Mav? How do we get there?"

The old avian chuckled. "From here, if you head north, the terrain turns into craggy ranges. If you keep heading north, far enough out, the trees start turning into evergreens and the air gets cold. The crater itself is in the middle of a flattened field of land, which isn't hard to spot from overhead. Just look for a gaping black hole in the middle of a frozen clearing."

Rush whipped out his notebook and scrawled it down on the corner of one page. He grinned to his comrades.


"Arceus above, that sounds hard!" Arashi exclaimed. "I mean, I know you said it was hard, but… sheesh!"

"That sounds more like a death-trap waiting to happen," Raijin concurred.

Astrid thought about it for a second. She and Arashi had already been given enough trouble by rock slides on the final floor of Lake Lucent, and the Dartrix in particular didn't like the idea of getting Ice Beamed by an Abomasnow again. Raijin had expressed discomfort at sandstorms and earthquakes, so surely, he wouldn't be too keen on it either. The fact that the occupants could be in their Mega forms was just the terrible icing on an already threatening cake.

Ama giggled. "Only the bravest go there~!" she chirped, happily clapping her hands together.

Arashi looked to her next. "Has your team gone, Ama?"

Another giggle. "Oh, we have no reason to, darling~! Mega Stones are lovely and all, but none of us need them! If anyone in the Crossroads is likely to go, it's Shar's team, not ours! She's a handful without a Garchompite, but I couldn't see her turning one down, ahaha~!"

That sounded par. Still, Astrid couldn't help but to imagine Team Sweetheart traversing such a place… singing their sweet anthems about love while exchanging fierce blows with a bunch of angry Mega dungeon-dwellers. And of course, judging by what they'd seen and heard of the Gnarly Brigade, the sounds of clashing metallic claws and war cries would likely be heard for miles the second Shar and her underlings set foot in the dungeon.

"Well, hell, if anyone decides to make that trek, let me know, 'cause I wanna come too," Rush laughed, getting a wild-eyed smirk for a second. He turned back to the Starstorm trio. "It was a fuckin' death trap, let me tell ya!"


Forsaken Crater B1F

Even with a few embers smoldering in Dren's maw for visibility (and for some fleeting semblance of warmth), seeing an object only a meter away was a challenge. There had to be an Abomasnow and a Tyranitar on the floor at the same time, for icy mists and thick layers of frost covered the ceiling and dropped hailstones on anything below, and at the same time, a harsh wind blew through the dungeon tunnels carrying grains of sand that scratched at anything they touched like tiny sets of claws. Thick darkness shrouded their visibility, making it almost impossible to tell if the shadows dancing around were cast from the embers or indicated a Gengar slinking out to ambush them. The air was so cold that it almost burned, and Rush shielded himself from it with his hood as best he could (though it wasn't particularly effective). Only Rozen wasn't feeling the dreadful effects of the weather due to the Weather Scarf they'd procured beforehand (the last one that Kecleon had on hand), which the other two couldn't help but be just a bit envious of… but keeping their cleric in good health was easily the better call, seeing as they wouldn't have protective screens and Heal Pulses without him. The ground perpetually rumbled and shook, and with the foes they knew of present, it wasn't hard to imagine why.

"Mav wasn't lyin'…!" Rush said through gritted teeth, pressing through as best he could.

"The only saving grace is that this is only ten floors," Dren agreed, voice sounding more like a growl from the cold. "I can stave off the cold by keeping a remnant of a Flamethrower going, but this is dreadful."

Rozen cast them both some pitying looks.

There appeared to be a tunnel ahead and Rush went towards it, but the rumbling of the ground started to grow stronger and make walking rather difficult. Rather quickly, Dren reached out with his tail and tossed Rozen onto his back between his wings, and he put his head down slightly to let Rush jump on. Almost the second the dragon started flapping his wings, the ground split open beneath them and a Steelix came bursting out with a low growl escaping its gaping jaws. The faint glow of Dren's embers made its edges glint just a bit, giving at least some indication of where its body was amid all the dark surroundings.

"Well, it ain't a Mega," Rush remarked while he quickly scanned over the figure, balling one fist up.

The glow from Rozen's Helping Hand lit up the surroundings a bit more, illuminating the hulking figure of the metallic serpentine dungeon-dweller that took up maybe half the room. The end of its tail thumped the ground for a second, then glinted in more of a steely glow as it slammed an Iron Tail down at the Coalition trio. Rush jumped off of Dren and onto one side of the newly-formed fissure while Rozen shielded both himself and the Salamence with a Reflect. Their foe Hardened at the sight of Rush darting up to it, but still, the Brick Break it took elicited a pained growl.

"Careful, friend!" Rozen called in concern, eyeing the cracks in the ground that one could easily get cornered into with a single misstep.

"Don't ya worry!" Rush called back, sounding more like a snarl from the cold.

The Audino gave him another Helping Hand, but quickly, Rush was darting aside when the ground beneath him started to rumble again and a Stone Edge flew up. The Steelix raised its tail up, probably to strike again, but Rush's fist slamming into one of its stones made it stop. Another growl of wrath came from its gaping jaws as it fell in a heap in front of the tunnel, something akin to a small crater left in its diamond-like surface.

"I don't know how he goes after them so easily," Dren mused in a husky voice, eyeing the fainted wild one.

A swift kick from Rush moved the Steelix's head out of the way, for it had been in the way of their path moments earlier. "C'mon, it's a corridor," the Scrafty noted, motioning them over.

With Rozen still on his back, Dren flapped over and landed, and the three of them shortly followed Rush into the even darker tunnel.

"We still have an Escape Orb if we need it," Rozen said gently, hopping off of the dragon's back. "Me and Dren aren't handling the brunt of the battles here. It's fine to say it's too much, friend."

"Truly," the Salamence seconded it. "You and I are passively taking damage as it is, Rush. Throwing attacks at the same time like that can't be easy."

Rush shook his head. "Don't y'all worry about me; I can take it," he brushed it off, the cold still making his voice sound like a growl. "If I can't, I'll tell ya. But 'til that comes, if it does, I ain't quittin'."

His comrades didn't protest it.

However, the next room they entered had a rather monstrous figure waiting for them- a Mega Tyranitar with its stone clutched in one hand. It snarled as soon as it laid eyes on them, its glare hardly visible through the dimness. Rozen jumped back into his former positon between Dren's wings, and even with the hail and sandy gusts eating away at his senses, Rush smirked while balling up his fists.


"You saw a Mega on the first floor?!" Arashi exclaimed.

"Sure did, Li'l Blue!" Rush laughed. "And I punched it, ehehe!"

Yet again, the Scrafty made a wild punching gesture as if a Mega Tyranitar was standing right in front of him, and yet again, Dren's tail reached out to keep him steady.

"So we ended up takin' its Tyranitarite after I knocked its ass out," Rush noted, slumping back into his chair. "We weren't gonna leave a damned Mega Stone behind after all, even if it wasn't the one we wanted! We saw a Mega Steelix on the third, a Mega Abomasnow on the fourth, there was a Mega Gengar on the fifth, and two damned Mega Mawiles on the sixth tried to chomp my head off. But the stones didn't start appearing out in the dungeon by themselves until about the eighth floor, which if ya can't tell, ain't easy to get to in the first place. We saw a rock with a little pink light peekin' out, and when I busted it, an Altarianite fell out! We reached the tenth floor thinkin' that we'd either sell or trade the stones we had for the one we were lookin' for, but we saw a white glow in one rock… and whaddya know, we got a damn Salamencite!"

"That was such a lucky find," Rozen nonchalantly piped up.

It had to be, Astrid figured- of all the forty-something Mega Stones to find, getting the one they wanted was definitely lucky.

"I was glad to be out of that dungeon," Dren chuckled. "I've walked on snow before, but that cold was the worst I've felt it in my entire life. And those unending sandstorms were awful."

"I felt damn near dead once we found that last staircase," Rush laughed, rolling his eyes. "Some of those wild ones were able to bust Rozen's shields, and that sucked when it happened, ehehe!"

They had to imagine that indeed, it did.

"What did you do with the other two stones?" Arashi inquired.

"Sold 'em," Rush replied. "Those damn Kecleons were real happy to see 'em. That got us a huge chunk of money, and we figured we'd use it to get ourselves a proper base. But before we could do that…" His eyes got a shifty glint, and a huge smirk wormed across his face. "Well, y'all probably know what happened!"


"The fuck you want, bitches?" Rush asked flatly, eyeing the other two Scrafties with amusement and crossing his arms. "It's gettin' real fuckin' old, y'know that?"

"Oh, don't be like that!" Nifty playfully but maliciously said back, eyes narrowing.

"Only thing gettin' old is your act," Swaggy shot back with a smirk, balling up one fist.

They hadn't even entered their dungeon yet, and the unwanted company was already bothering them. A cave entrance loomed before them, set into a small and vibrant green forest winding its way around the mountainside, and outside were three Scrafties and an Audino, not a Salamence to be seen… but Rush and Rozen knew their dragon comrade was close by. On one green-shrouded ledge, a large blue tail draped over the side that wasn't particularly noticeable unless directly looked for. Dren watched Rush carefully, and Rush grinned at their company with Rozen sticking close to his side.

"My act, huh?" Rush laughed. "What act are ya referring to? 'Cause clearly, I must be a better expeditioner than you if I'm pissin' ya off, ehehe!"

The other two tried to keep their flippant composure, but by the furious looks that graced their faces, Rush's words stirred something beneath the surface. Swaggy let out a little growl, and Rush only snickered to himself.

"Besides," Rush flippantly continued, "the fuck does it matter to you what I'm up to, eh? I thought I was a worthless waste of space! If that's true, then why the hell do you keep chasin' me down and gettin' up in my business? Either y'all are a pair of dumbasses or I'm better than you, ehehe!"

Nifty snarled, and Swaggy made a move like he wanted to take a swing at Rush, but a Reflect went up that made him think twice.

… And when the shield went up, the blue tail draped over the ledge's side disappeared, a much larger draconian figure jumping out of the greenery and taking flight to come closer.

"Coward," Swaggy hissed. "You're just hidin' behind your little pink fluffball there! Cut that shit out!"

Rush laughed, not budging. "You and Nifty don't actually think ya could beat me, alone or with Rozen, right? C'mon now- we've done this song and dance both ways already. Ya show up, ya act all high and mighty like I ain't kicked your asses, we get into it, and ya fuck off. Wanna try something different~?"

Perhaps Nifty and Swaggy would've noticed the large shadow on the ground that glided closer and closer all while getting bigger and bigger, but when a burst of energy filled the air from a stone around a certain Salamence's neck, they definitely took notice of the blinding flash. Instinctively they looked up, and just as quick, shielded their eyes.

Thud!

Dren, even larger than he had been in his normal form and with pointed crescent-shaped wings almost akin to blades, dropped onto the ground in front of the two wily Scrafties. The moment they put their arms down from their faces, they stared straight into a set of snarling jaws. Their eyes went huge.

"What the FUCK!" Swaggy cried in horrified panic.

Nifty Protected herself with an energy shield as she backed away slowly, but her shield bumped the inner edge of Dren's curved wings and she gave a startled jolt.

"I-is this a dungeon-dweller?!" she cried both in fright and uncertainty, her shield going down.

Dren's eyes narrowed at them, and he snarled out, "NO."

Their eyes went wider at his words, and wider still when Dren made a little lurch at them. Rush's grin got even wilder, and Rozen started to smile a bit as well, albeit with slightly frightful eyes at their comrade's suddenly aggressive antics.

Nifty and Swaggy gave each other panicked glances and ducked underneath Dren's wings, hurriedly backing away as fast as they could while the dragon lurched at them again.

"Y-you two!" Nifty cried, looking at Rush and Rozen. "D-do you know this guy?!"

"Fuck that!" Swaggy said to the contrary, spitting acid onto one fist. "Everyone knows that Megas are prone to losing their goddamned minds after too long! Beat his ass while we can!"

He went to Poison Jab the Salamence, but a Reflect went up that blocked it. Dren started smirking too, and more horror entered the two troublemakers' countenances.

"I'm their friend," Dren growled, his tail thumping the ground hard enough to make it rumble. "And I'm not a violent dragon, but this Mega evolution… is making me feel like I am."

If Nifty and Swaggy needed any indication that they were in some serious trouble if they kept levelling threats, that was it. They gave each other a glance and darted aside to run for the nearest pathway back to Rugged Slope, but Dren turned around and, with nearly blinding speed, dove down at them in an Aerial Ace. It would've been a dead-on hit if Nifty hadn't been scared and put up another Protect, but even then, her shield shook and cracked as though it would shatter like glass, and the snarling face on the other side didn't bode well at all. The two Scrafties let out horrified shrieks as the shield faded almost as fast as it had gone up, and they sprinted off as fast as they could possibly go when a Flamethrower welled up in Dren's throat with the embers spilling out of his maw.

"Don't let me see your faces again!" Dren hollered, fire pouring from his mouth. "Or I'll rip them off!"

A mighty roar of wrath escaped the dragon's throat, and Nifty and Swaggy both looked as though a Chandelure had just appeared to burn their spirits away. Something was getting burned away, that was for sure- but it was rather the grass on the ground by Dren's Flamethrower. It turned black in instants, and everyone present could see and feel the heat. Dren lurched at them again while their backs were turned in their running, apparently thinking something about attacking, but he stopped himself.

Nifty and Swaggy didn't say a thing. Rush watched with glee as they tumbled pell-mell away as fast as they could possibly go.

"… My," Rozen said nonchalantly. "That's…"

"Fuckin' beautiful," Rush interjected, crossing his arms.

Dren turned back to them, eyes twitching a bit but the outwardly aggressive antics coming to a quick halt. He strolled closer, his movements a bit mechanical as though something was making him tense.

"How's that form feel?" Rush inquired, smirking and studying him.

"… Powerful," the dragon replied. "I… actually have an urge to battle and tear things apart. I'm not sure what to make of it, and I know I should not breathe fire on you two… but I almost feel like I must."

His comrades looked fairly surprised at his statement of having a fighting desire. That had been their entire point all along- that Dren didn't like battling, and Dren wouldn't battle unless it was absolutely necessary. But, all at once, he was surrounded by blinding energy again, this time in dissipation. Seconds later, it was a normal Salamence in front of them again, looking far less threatening (at least, in comparison).

"Was that sufficient…?" Dren asked gently. "That felt so strange. I thought I'd just growl at them a bit and look like I'd douse them with a Flamethrower, but I just couldn't help myself. That Mega evolution… That truly is scary."

Rozen strolled closer and gave him a small pat, and Rush cackled in happy laughter.

"That was perfect, Dren!" the Scrafty cried with glee. "Hell, I ain't ever gonna forget the looks on their faces! If they show back up to bother us after that, you can light into 'em for real!"

The dragon looked rather hesitant about such, but he gave a meek nod.

Rush turned to the cave entrance, still snickering to himself, and motioned them along. "C'mon now, let's get back to what matters. We got one precious artifact to retrieve for Celeste over in Rocky Outpost, and then we got stuff to talk about with us gettin' a proper base and where it should be."

His other two comrades got brig grins of their own.


"I ain't seen those asshats since," Rush laughed. "I heard through the grapevine that they called it quits on bein' a team the day after, and fuck 'em, good riddance!"

"I'm glad for that too," Dren said haplessly. "Mega-fueled rage isn't something I particularly like to deal with after the fact."

'Mega-fueled rage' didn't sound like anything fun to be dealt with, after the fact or during the fact.

"But within the week we were relocatin' to the Crossroads, and the rest is history," Rush laughed. "It wasn't as big back then, but I guess the place has caught on as an expeditioner hub, ehehe! Ama, you were there at the time, though, I remember!"

"Oh, of course, darling~!" the Blissey chirped. "We needed a convenient location to spread our love from, ahahaha~!"

She did a bit of a happy dance herself, and shortly, Chira was darting over to steady her before she could fall over in a tipsy heap. Millicent helped steady her too, and the Blissey gave them both a little hug.

"So you, Rozen, and Dren were the only ones on the team when you started in the Crossroads," said Arashi, looking to Rush.

"That's right," the Scrafty confirmed. "Me and Rozen were the ones that'd run off into dungeons, Dren would give us a lift if we needed one and he'd stay around to growl at any outlaws that might've come chasin' someone through- though ya don't see that in these parts hardly at all these days, ehehe! We thought we had our bases covered pretty well, but obviously, the team got bigger!"


While making their way through a largely tree-shrouded area to the northwest, Rush and Rozen had stumbled upon a rather unexpected figure in the vicinity- an Orbeetle, surrounded by half a dozen books floating with psychic energy while a pen, also moving by telepathy, scrawled something down on one page. She wasn't exactly standoffish, but to call her cheerful and amiable… wasn't very accurate, either.

She studied them, and studied a certain notebook that Rush had filled up. "So you're an expeditioner, a very good one… and this is how you document things."

The tattered edges of the notebook flipped themselves with telepathy, and even if Rush might've been immune to any Psychic-type mind-playing, the Orbeetle's piercing gaze put him just a bit on edge too, and Rozen's usual smile was tinged with nervousness.

"It sure is," Rush replied, still smirking at his collection of pages. "Whatcha think?"

Her piercing gaze turned on him next, and she said flatly, almost bordering on anger, "… I have never been more disappointed in my entire life."

Both the Scrafty and Audino were taken aback, and the page flipped to the haphazard map on one of the earlier pages.

"You call this a map?" Adnea said with a very pointed coldness. The pages quickly flipped through the rest of the book. "And you call this documentation? Where are your categories and sub-categories? There's dozens of dungeons within a six-mile radius, and a quarter of them are in forested terrain while one-eighth are swamplands, another eighth are arid, a third are rocky, and the rest fall into differing categories. But you just have them organized by the order in which you've been to them. That is pathetic."

The pages stopped on one of the dungeon entries with all the encountered species listed.

"And this. You have all the species listed, but you didn't even think to include the probability of encountering each one. Is an Eldegoss as common as a Bellsprout? Not even close, if I'm reading Rozen's memories correctly, and I am reading them correctly."

The pages flipped to one of Rush's outlandish drawings of him beating the daylights out of Nifty and Swaggy.

"And don't even get me started on this! Is an expedition log also your personal scribbling board for childish doodles? Apparently so. But of course, I suppose I can't expect someone who clearly doesn't understand proper research and documentation to think any differently."

Her telepathic energy shoved the book into Rush's chest with enough force to make him stumble a bit, and he reclaimed his notes while looking absolutely taken aback by Adnea's rant. Rozen didn't utter a single word either.

The Orbeetle floated closer, her narrowing eyes only mere centimeters away from Rush's face. "You really don't know how it's done, do you?"

The Scrafty blinked and Adnea backed away, though her gaze alone made them feel like someone had a fist clenched around their necks. Rush looked to Rozen, both of them sharing a stupefied glance.

"Did I just get verbally reamed by that floating bug?" Rush inquired, still rather taken aback.

"… You did," the Audino gently replied, blinking himself.

A smirk wormed across Rush's face, and he looked to Adnea, who only looked back out of the corner of her eyes.

"… By the way," said the Orbeetle, "there's an outlaw hiding in Yellow Forest and a lost traveler stuck on the fifth floor of Shining Quarry. You're the dungeon-crawlers- you might want to see to that. You should also keep an eye out for wild Beedrills in the area; some idiot decided to throw a rock at their nesting grounds and now the whole colony is in a frenzy, or so I've deduced."

His smirk grew even wider. He pointed at her, eyes practically glinting with intrigue. "You… I like you, ehehe! Why don't ya join us?!"

Rozen looked a bit surprised at the inquiry, but Adnea softened up a bit while still keeping her piercing gaze.

She crossed her arms, but nonetheless said, "… I find that agreeable."


Adnea was still as straight-faced as ever as she chimed in, "You needed a verbal reaming if you thought that was any appropriate way to document information, even if it was a paltry amount of information."

Rush snickered, and Lazuli cast the Orbeetle an amused glance as well.

"Well, nobody gathers information quite like you do, Adnea," Rush laughed. "Then we got Lazuli 'cause she can actually live underwater and not die like the rest of us would, and we got Cinder 'cause havin' a bird around is useful as fuck too for tacklin' stuff the rest of us can't."

Lazuli grinned. "Hey, now, my bubbles would keep you alive if you went and lived underwater!" she too chimed in. "No one dies to aquatic terrain while I'm around!"

The Fletchinder was yet again shooting death stares at the Starstorm trio, and yet again Astrid felt horribly uncomfortable under his stare.

"And then years later, after thinking the team was complete, we get three new members in one fell swoop," Rozen chuckled, giving the Starstorm trio a glance.

Rush cackled happily. "Damn straight, ehehe!"

Arashi giggled in glee too, giving both of his comrades a grinning glance. Astrid haplessly smiled back, and Raijin would've too if he could have… perhaps if only because the Frogadier looked absolutely ridiculous with his drawn-on monocles that Astrid secretly hoped would wear off by the next morning.

For several hours afterwards, most of the expeditioners were rather rambunctious in the pub. Astrid still stayed in the corner, bur gradually, she left her hiding place between the flower pots and exchanged a few words with the others (save for Cinder, who didn't even acknowledge her team's existence and she tried not to get close to). Dren's tail was a fine hiding place too if all else failed, and the Salamence was perfectly happy to let her huddle up in it. Millicent made a few signs at her, which Astrid wasn't too sure what to interpret as until Adnea translated them, but the Dartrix decided she was a bit fond of Millicent's wordless way of communicating and both she and Arashi tried to pick a few of the signs up. (The Frogadier had a much easier time of such on account of actually having hands with which to imitate the Alcremie's gestures, but the gods knew Astrid certainly tried her best.)

… Still, by the time they called it done and headed back to the base, Astrid was definitely glad to not be in such a buzzing environment anymore. The basement practically called to her, and Raijin wasn't too far behind either. A good afternoon or not, a bit of repose was in order.


Author's note: This is completely random and likely no one else would have noticed, but I found it out whilst double-checking what moves I had marked down for Coalition members waaaaaay back when I first started coming up with them. I ended up changing a few sets, and I couldn't quite recall if I had Dren with Air Slash on his set, so I checked my old sheet and saw Aerial Ace, and then I thought "Wait, can Salamence learn Air Slash, or am I just misremembering things?" and went to look at Salamence's learnset… Yes, it can indeed learn Air Slash, but... come to find out, it could learn Aerial Ace in Gen 7, which was the latest mainline iteration that had come out when I started writing this story, but apparently it can't do so in Gen 8. Couple that with my favorite Ultra Beast, Xurkitree, losing Tail Glow (a status move that raises special attack by three stages) because Tail Glow is no longer a selectable move, and I am shaking my head over here at what, precisely, is going on in people's heads when they make these decisions. Don't anybody tell me that anyone over at GameFreak is trying to preserve 'battle balance' or whatever they say they're trying to do in Gen 8 by taking moves away or making Dexit a thing- any credibility for them caring about battle balance flew out the window the moment they saw fit to create Mega Rayquaza in Gen 6 and set that unholy beast loose on the metagame. (Need I even mention Mega Kangaskhan, Therian Landorus, Primal Groudon, Kyogre in Gens 3-5, or heck, easily the most egregious of them all, Gen 1 Mewtwo?)

Point is, I'm not jiving with all these cut moves because I think it's a ridiculous decision, so I'm keeping Dren's moveset as it is. And if I put another Xurkitree somewhere in here in the chapters to come (trust me, we will be seeing a lot more Beasts soon), I'll probably give them Tail Glow just because YES, a base special attack stat of 173 plus a move that can boost it to maximum after only two turns is a ~beautiful~ thing. Anyone who says otherwise is either kidding themselves or salty about getting nuked by a bipedal dancing Christmas tree from space. (... Okay, don't actually take that last sentence seriously.)

(…And I might just be ranting at this point, but still.)