Oh, what's that? All new characters to introduce? Better give them a nice, smooth, and easy transition.

…Yeah, that's sarcasm. Enjoy the ensuing chaos!

...

[Greninja]

Waking up in your lover's arms should be a blissful experience most mornings. This would not be one of those mornings.

My eyes snapped open at the smell of fire. Chesnaught was right in front of me, his eyes already looking about wildly. Quickly, we jumped up to find Delphox outside of the room, launching a burning door down the stairs.

"Delphox!" He spun about as we hurried over. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He studied his wand and tapped it against his hand. "I walked into the door, and it was practically broken, so I decided to blast it off." The mage sniffed the smoke in the air. "Huh. Sorry about that."

Though I was about ready to go off on Delphox, Chesnaught growled and was set to haul off and deck him. He raised his fist, to which Delphox backed up and readied his wand with a fireball.

Quickly, I stepped between them. "Hey! We're a team. More importantly, we're friends. Let's not fight now."

Chesnaught lowered his hand and dropped his shoulders. Delphox let his fire dissipate and caressed his wand.

"Good." I stretched and moved from between them, letting my tongue fall from my mouth. Wrapping it around my neck, I looked outside of the fortress. "We should get going soon."

"All right." Delphox paused and stared at Chesnaught. "Why don't you pack our things? And Greninja, you take me around this place, so we can give it one last look over."

"Wait, what?" Chesnaught shook his head. "No, we can all pack, and then we can all look around here once more—"

"That will take far too much time, and you were relentless last night, so it's the least you two could do."

Under his breath, I could barely hear Chesnaught mutter, "If we really were, you wouldn't have slept a wink."

"It's either that or I make a mess of everything ten times over while putting things away. Magic has an easier time taking things apart over putting them back together."

Though he rolled his eyes, Chesnaught nodded and turned back to start cleaning our room. Delphox smirked and gestured for me to lead the way around the fort. Shrugging, I stepped downstairs and wandered around, with the fox mage in tow.

"There's not much to this place," I explained. "The rooms are mostly barren, the place is a withered structure, and I'm surprised that this fort is still standing at all."

"You'd be surprised at what secrets you can find buried within." I glanced back as he turned his attention to me. "Or have I been as simple as you've known me for?"

"Well—"

"Rhetorical, don't answer that."

Biting my tongue and stifling my laughter, I continued as we strode past one of the three armory rooms, the smallest. Nothing of use waited in there; broken staffs, a split wooden shield, and an empty scabbard were the first objects that I recalled finding.

Further along, I pushed open the half-hinged door to the library, or…what I suppose one would call it. Inside were only two shelves for books and tomes, but anything that remained there had most of the pages torn out, if there was anything left on the shelf altogether.

"Here. I'd imagine that you would be curious about this one."

"Yes, there are some secrets in libraries." He snorted. "Most people can't seem to keep their attention on the books for too long or else their eyes might bleed from knowledge. It's the perfect place to store secrets."

Delphox whipped books away from one shelf, wincing at the holes in the wall behind it. He shook his head and cleared tomes away from the other shelf, but found nothing of use.

"But, I suppose any secrets that could have been here were long since raided and stolen away." Delphox shrugged and turned to leave, pausing by the door. "I suppose if we weren't supposed to be at that empire already, I could have had more time to search, but, time flies."

"Speaking of, I've seen you perform magic—"

"You're going to question why I forced Chesnaught to pack instead of having him run around aimlessly with us." I blinked while Delphox smirked at me. "Sometimes, we don't need to read minds to state the obvious."

"Care to explain yourself, then?"

"Still needed a bit of a cool-off, I suppose." I lowered my eyes as we closed the library's door. "Oh, fine. On top of that, I wanted to move at a more leisurely pace and I knew that he'd grow bored of looking around this place." Delphox stared at a hole across the stronghold's hall. "Ruins can be fascinating places, if we just take the time to uncover them, bit by bit. You're patient, and observant, so you at least understand my mentality to a degree." He gazed outside and looked around, but shook his head. "Chesnaught's a knight, and like the louts we left home, he needs to hit something to focus."

"That's really not true at all," I contested.

"Of course you'd defend him."

"It's not even to defend him. Chesnaught enjoys scenery almost as much as I do."

"Mm, maybe." Delphox shrugged and turned back to me. "But I've watched the way you to look into things. He skimps over small details. You don't, not when you can afford to observe." The mage lifted his foot from under his robe, kicked a pebble near his foot, and listened to it skip away. "I try to do the same."

"Ok, but that doesn't quite explain why you needed me with you."

"Wanted," he corrected. "Look, you're both my friends, but I get how out of place it is for me to be alone with the boyfriends. Split any of us off into a pair, we're fine. But as a trio, we're a mess. I'm whiny and complain about you two, Chesnaught grows bored while we fascinate ourselves with studying surroundings, and you don't know all of the stories that Chesnaught and I share, reminisce." He sighed. "Truth is, I just don't belong here. I'm taking up time that you two could be enjoying together and I hate that, but I hate being alone as well, so…" Delphox paused to mull it over, but shook his head and turned away. "Forget it, this is an aimless conversation."

"Not true." He whirled around to me. "It's helpful to understand your feelings and it's good to talk about this stuff. If we didn't, then I wouldn't understand why you keep getting annoyed around Chesnaught and I."

"Partially, it's jealousy." I turned my head while he chuckled. "Not of either of you, I'm not interested. Just…I'm jealous of the companionship, of your closeness. And in spite of how connected Gardevoir and I are, she has Gallade." He laughed. "I suppose he feels a little territorial around me, but really, I should feel that way with him."

"Why though?"

"Love, Greninja. It's what you and Chesnaught share, it's what Gallade and Gardevoir have. And…I don't." Delphox's ears drooped and he tapped his stick on the wall. "I'm not even sure it's love that I want, but…I want someone that feels…that someone needs me."

Moving to him, I placed my hand on his shoulder. "While you may not be dating her, Gardevoir certainly needs you."

"Maybe, but…" He sighed. "Honestly, I don't even know where I'm going with this."

For a minute, we sat in silence. Then, I remembered. "Didn't you take Lilligant to the ball? What was that for?"

"A little 'pair the spares' nonsense, I suppose." He shrugged. "Without Chesnaught, I wasn't sure who she would go to the ball with. I figured she'd be better with me than some town oaf." He bit his lip and frowned. "Sorry, that's judgmental and pretentious, but it's…I thought that at the time."

"Are you sure you don't like her?"

"Oh, I like her plenty, but…I don't think we're, uh, couple material." Quickly, he gazed upstairs and studied the rooms up there. "Let's head back up, grab Chesnaught, scan the rooms once more, and take off. We've wasted enough time here."

"So soon? I just got here."

We jumped at the sudden and snickering new voice and hurriedly backed together, scanning the fortress for the source. Neither of us could find anything, but we both definitely heard someone, most likely a male.

"All right, Chuckles, you got us," Delphox called out. "Come on out and we won't hurt you for it, promise."

"The name's Lucario, actually," the voice corrected from all around us. "And quite honestly…I like the idea of you trying to hurt me."

Growling, Delphox lit his staff and glared around the halls. My heart raced quicker as I turned and moved for the nearest hole, but the voice laughed.

"No need to look out there. I'm very much inside already."

"So come out and play," Delphox snapped.

"Now, that wouldn't be any fun." He laughed again; it was unnerving to hear it sound around us. "Go ahead, try to guess where I am."

"Guess? But where…" I froze and my eyes widened. Faintly, I let out, "Chesnaught."

Ignoring Delphox's shout, I tore back down the hall for the stairs. Quickly glancing back, I watched the mage run after me. After a couple of steps, I leapt the rest of the way up and slammed the door open.

Chesnaught jumped back, fell over our filled packs, and looked at me, first shocked, but then a bit annoyed. "Greninja, what is it?"

"He's…not here?"

"Who? Delphox?" Quickly, he pushed himself back up. "Did you guys get separated?"

"No." Delphox came up behind me and turned back to face the stairs. "There's someone else in here."

"What? But that's not possible, we didn't find anyone last night."

"They came by this morning," I clarified.

"Came in, this morning." We jumped at the voice correcting me. "I was very much near enough to visit last night. Just needed the orders to come by."

"Orders?" Delphox let out a laugh. "So, you serve someone like a dog. Quaint. Tell us, who's your master?"

"See, now you're making me angry." The voice snickered again. "Not that I mind."

Chesnaught and I hurried back to the door and Delphox stepped across the landing for us to fit outside. Footsteps sounded from below and we quickly gazed down the stairs to see a black and blue jackal walk along the path that Delphox and I had just taken. Light golden armor decorated his chest, with a blue-tinted tasset over his waist. He loosely held a sword in hand and smirked up at us with his piercing red eyes.

"That's it?" Delphox scoffed. "I was hoping for a ghost, not parlor tricks from a meager knight."

"And I was expecting something a little less scrawny to back that mouth up, but I suppose we can't have everything." Lucario smirked, but then paused. "Ah, I'm not exactly a knight. Don't follow all those limiting rules or 'honor code.' Whatever you call it."

"What do you want?" Chesnaught demanded.

"Just a small box that the empire gave you. And don't deny the potential alliance, a few little birdies already sang about the mage's visit to the ball."

"Who…?" Delphox thought for a moment and shook his head. "Shining Summit. I knew the king shouldn't have hired outsiders."

"Then you're from the Great Mountains Queendom," Chesnaught pieced together.

"From seems too specific, but to keep it simple, certainly." He shrugged and stared at us again. "Now, the box, if you please."

We exchanged confused expressions with one another. "What box?"

Lucario sighed. "Are we really going to play this game?"

"No, we seriously have no idea what you're talking about." I watched as Chesnaught and Delphox nodded.

"See, if you weren't getting in bed with the empire, I'd fall for that more easily. But, considering the direction you're going in and the buzz that I've overheard—"

"While we're certain you've entertained a fair share of rumors, that's not our concern." Delphox readied his burning staff again. "You're sorely outmatched."

"Oh, by who, you?" Lucario laughed. "Now, the big one seems intimidating, and the ninja makes me a bit wary." More seriously than he had been, he pointed the sword at us. "I've been instructed to use whatever means necessary. Hand over the box or I'll have to help myself."

"That sounds like a threat." Chesnaught pulled out his broadsword and passed me the tachi blade.

Twitching his nose, Lucario glanced at his raised sword for a minute. "Oh, I suppose this is quite threatening." He shrugged. "Then again, three against one and with all of their weapons drawn is just a tad more so." He lowered the blade just slightly. "Now then."

In an instant, Lucario leapt up the side of the stairs, catching the ledge and rolling onto it. Delphox launched a fireball, to which Lucario rolled past. He quickly jumped at the mage, sword drawn.

Chesnaught moved ahead and blocked his swing. I swiped at him, but his breastplate took the attack for him. He jumped away and grinned as we readied to strike him again.

As our swords sliced for him, he flipped and twirled between them, not taking a single scratch. Awed, he caught me off guard and I was suddenly slammed into Chesnaught, who kept us from toppling over.

Pulling away from him, I spun about to watch Delphox parry Lucario's sword strikes with his staff, while pushing him back with a glowing fuchsia barrier. Chesnaught charged forward with a heavy swing down.

Lucario ran and kicked off of the wall, slamming into Chesnaught and flipping off of him. Quickly, I launched my tongue and grabbed my knight before he tumbled down the stairs.

Readying a Water Shuriken, I waited until Chesnaught regained his balance. Delphox lobbed another few fireballs, to which Lucario dodged most. A stray one caught his arm, but he rolled quickly along the floor and put it out.

Releasing Chesnaught, I threw the first Water Shuriken at Lucario. He jumped back as it cut through his armor, to which he cried out more in shock than pain. Quickly, I tossed out another one, but he ducked under it and watched it burst against the wall behind him.

Throwing a third shuriken, Lucario smirked and pulled away from it, as it went sailing toward Delphox. The fox mage produced another light blue barrier to block my attack.

"Sorry!" I shout and Lucario laughs as he slips into our room.

"It's fine." Delphox's eyes glow as red and purple flames dance around his wand. He rotated the wand in front of him to create a blazing circle. Jabbing his stick through it, a stream of fire burst through it, and flew into the room.

Chesnaught and I stepped a little closer, waiting as Delphox's eyes returned to normal. The mage glared into the room, waiting for the flames to settle.

"Pity, that one might have actually worked."

Everyone jumped as Lucario strolled out carrying our packs. Angered, Delphox fired a bright green spell ball at Lucario, who merely sidestepped it.

"You are trying to hit me, yes?"

"Piss off, tosspot!"

"Now you're just being rude."

He lifted his own hand and launched a glowing blue ball at Delphox, as the mage created a barrier to take the brunt of it. Skidding back to us, Delphox quickly cast a spell of hex shapes at Lucario who watched with a smirk.

And then…Lucario lifted his hand and froze the spell in the air.

"What?!" Delphox voiced all three of our thoughts.

"Oh, don't be so surprised." Lucario waved his hand again and the hex broke apart. "Or, then again, do. It's amusing either way."

"Uh…what are we dealing with, exactly?" I questioned.

"Aw, the novice reveals himself!" Lucario laughed. "Go ahead, one of you two explain it to him, I'll wait."

Enraged, Delphox cast several streams of fire at Lucario, who merely redirected them into walls. Chesnaught joined in and tossed a stiletto, which nicked Lucario's shoulder.

Still smirking, he jumped away and back down stairs. We chased after him and looked about, but he was nowhere in sight.

"How the actual hell does he do this?!" Delphox cried out.

"Calm down, he's just fast." Chesnaught rested a hand on the seething mage's shoulder.

"Actually, I'm still curious about the whole freezing spells in the air bit," I piped up. "Because…I thought he was more like a knight. And those moves aren't exactly easy for a mage to learn."

"That's because he's both," explained Delphox. "He's a magic knight, or a warrior mage if he doesn't exactly practice the disciplines of knighthood, but that's not the point!" Delphox pulled his ears in aggravation.

"They're rarer than you'd expect," Chesnaught cut in, "since most people either line up as a knight or a mage based on what they can do. Even if an individual has prowess with both swordsmanship, or any type of weapon proficiency, and magic arts, they end up committing to one or the other, since practicing both can be really taxing."

"Taxing?!" Delphox blurted out. "Practicing multiple arts of anything takes years of practice! Studying spells alone can take time from childhood to adulthood! Weapon proficiency and understanding the proper stances takes hours into years of practice! And actually applying them to situational events is just…!"

"What if he just has some knowledge of swordplay, but more adept with spell casting? Or vice versa?"

"Even still, he held his own against three of us." Chesnaught tugged on his facial fur. "That's certainly impressive."

"Pardon, but I can't tell if you're actually complimenting me or touting your own skills."

We whirled around to find Lucario walking toward us. He tossed our packs aside and drew his sword again.

"The box. Which of you has it?"

"What is it with you and this box?" I shook my head. "We seriously have no idea what you're looking for."

Lucario lowered his eyes in disbelief. "Right. And I suppose you weren't armed with these, then?" I watched as he lifted my Mystic Water and Chesnaught's Miracle Seed into the air.

"Those were gifts!" Chesnaught cried out.

"From your king, no doubt."

"From each other!"

"Yes, Type enhancements are always the most thoughtful gift that I purchase for others." He rolled his eyes. "Strategy, and I'm not blind to it."

"Wow." Delphox laughed. "You may be strong, but you're certainly dense."

Before he could continue, an explosive crash from above us sounded as the roof broke open. We looked above to find a swirling ball of sand floating in the sky.

"It's about time you showed up!"

Lucario fired himself into the air and into the dust cloud, which lowered a bit as if to catch him and absorb him into it. Green arms seemed to grab hold of Lucario inside.

"Light them up," Lucario called. "Knock them out and we'll search them after."

A magenta energy ball shot out from the sand cloud and we dashed forward to evade it. I ran to grab our sack, as Chesnaught grabbed me. Delphox cast up another barrier to block the next shot and we ran for the hole, leaping out of the fortress.

[Chesnaught]

From the second blast, Greninja tripped coming out from the fortress hole. Quickly, I scooped him and our packs up, lumbering after Delphox, who darted around the tundra.

He lifted his wand and fired a white spell ball at the dust cloud, which followed us in the air. It hit easily and with a soft glow, it shredded the ball of sand to pieces, revealing a green dragon with red-rimmed wings that carried Lucario in its arms. Squinting, I noticed red covers over its eyes and dark green antennae on its head.

"Flygon, shoot them!" Lucario shouted.

"Relax, will you?" Flygon's mouth lit up with a magenta glow. "And move your ears."

Delphox launched a fireball at the two, but the dragon twirled away from it. Flygon then blasted a stream of energy, which rocketed down at us.

Impulsively, I tossed Greninja away and dove aside myself, feeling bits of earth whack against my shell. Once the magenta glow behind me faded, I glanced over and saw a long crater in the ground.

Wait. Delphox!

Looking up, I exhaled and watched the fox mage cast away a barrier that he constructed to defend himself.

Pulling out a hatchet, I aimed and tossed it at the dragon. He rolled away, spiraling around and soaring toward me. Whipping out a shuriken, I waited as he came closer, and then tossed it up.

It was definitely going to slice Flygon's neck, but Lucario lifted his sword to bat the shuriken away.

A fireball whizzed at them next, and then two more shuriken. I looked about and saw Delphox and Greninja attack them as well.

The dragon swerved around each projectile and retaliated with another breath of energy, striking the ground near Delphox.

Greninja shot another shuriken at the two, cutting Flygon's leg. He cried out and tightened his grip on Lucario.

"Go get the mage!" Lucario ordered. "Launch me at those two!"

Nodding, Flygon spun around and threw Lucario between Greninja and I. He then flew toward Delphox, who lobbed another fireball at the dragon.

Tossing one last shuriken and missing him, I quickly pulled out my broadsword again as Lucario knocked Greninja's shurikens away and smashed the ground between us.

He bounced up almost immediately, somehow unharmed from the fall. Swiftly, Lucario ran over to me and swiped at me with his sword. I blocked each swing and knocked him back.

Still very much on guard, he created a blue ball of energy and blasted it at Greninja, who had tossed two more shuriken. The spinning blades were knocked away by the attack and Greninja dove aside as it blasted the ground near him.

With a shout, I cleaved my sword down upon Lucario, whose sword blocked it with his back to me. Pivoting around, he shoved my blade away and looked to hit me with a spell up close.

Instead, he focused the energy into his fist and punched my stomach. I grunted and heaved my hand back, slamming it across his face.

Lucario backed away in pain and I gripped my side. Hard hit, but nothing serious. Likewise, he took a rough punch from me, but rubbed the bit of blood away from his mouth and glared.

"Nice shot," he complimented, "but now I have to hurt you for it."

Before he went for me, however, he noticed Greninja moving closer and closed his eyes. I lifted my sword to attack him, but he launched a red ball of energy at Greninja before I could swing down upon him.

A blast sounded behind me and I glanced to see Greninja fly back. Growling, I swung my sword into a strike against Lucario, who blocked it again.

Grinning, he pushed the blades up at me and threw me back. He tried to swing it across at me, but I parried his blow and forced the sword straight from his hand.

"Yield." I lifted my broadsword and pointed it at him.

"You forget that I don't really play with knights' rules."

Too late, I noticed an orange glow around his hand, which he jabbed at me. A fiery spell collided with me and I flew back from its force, dropping my blade in the process.

Landing, I rolled around on the ground and patted myself to get the fire out. Something splashed against me as another spell blew up and knocked me away.

For a minute, I slammed onto my back and gazed up to see the sky. Struggling, I was able to lift my head enough to watch Greninja run at Lucario as he materialized a glowing blue bone-shaped club.

Drawing his tachi blade, Greninja swiped at Lucario, as blocked the attack with his club. They clashed their weapons against one another, neither conceding an inch.

I rolled over to push myself up, watching Delphox leap away from Flygon's swinging tail. The mage twirled his staff around, and launched a series of spells at the dragon. Flygon had flown up higher as I finally lifted myself from the ground. Unsteady, I threw a shuriken at the rising beast and watched it miss.

A clang returned my attention to Greninja and Lucario, the latter having tossed Greninja's blade aside. I surged forward to assist, only to have a blast of earth knock me off balance and back down.

Forcing my face up, I watched Lucario bat Greninja's legs and knock the ninja down. He lifted the bone club above his head and swiftly brought it down.

"Greninja!" I cried out.

Another clang rang out and I blinked to as Lucario grunted. His bone was caught between two of Greninja's water blades.

"How?!" Lucario snapped.

"You're fast. I used to blindly rush opponents like you, honestly," Greninja explained. "But then someone taught me about patience and its advantages." He glanced over to me and I nodded, getting back on my feet.

Quickly, Greninja spun from his countered stance and kicked Lucario away. The jackal hit the ground and rolled back, but jumped up again soon after.

"Try again," Greninja challenged, holding the water blades up firmly.

Lucario growled with his bone club in front of him, but he paused and looked over to me. Smirking, he took one hand from his club and fired a spell at Greninja.

Angered, I ran forward as Greninja dodged the spell. Lucario grinned though, and quickly sped over to Greninja. He parried the ninja's blade swipes and, launching himself forward with the club, dropkicked Greninja straight into me.

We both fell backwards and crashed against the floor. The shield slid out from behind me and I quickly forced it into Greninja's now vacant hands.

"What—?"

"Just use it!"

Forcing myself up in front of him, I slammed my arms together, watched the green rim fan out, and formed my Spiky Shield.

Lucario had cleaved his club overhead and tried to slam it down on me, but was stabbed by my personal shield instead. He jumped back and ripped blades of grass from his arms.

Shaking my arms, the shield folded away and I glared at Lucario. He held his hand open and channeled a blue ball of energy.

Pulling out the dagger, I held it tightly in my hand. If I could get back to the pack, I could grab a bō staff instead. Reaching down, I brushed my hand along my belt, feeling a few more shuriken and a hatchet remaining.

Staring at Lucario, he only had his club left for weapons. But his spells didn't have an apparent limit and I couldn't counter them easily, regardless of weapons.

A shuriken whizzed out, which Lucario blocked with his staff. I glanced back at Greninja, who dropped one empty hand, while gripping the shield in his other. His eyes met mine and he nodded.

With a growl, Lucario launched his spell at Greninja, who lifted his shield and flew back from a strong hit. I raced forward and threw the hatchet in front of me.

Though his club whacked my axe away, I stepped around Lucario and sliced at him with my dagger. It barely connected, but I managed to deepen the cut on his shoulder, worsening his wound from my stiletto.

He winced and jumped back, knocking my hands with his club. Gritting my teeth, I tightened my fist from the pain, but kept the blade firmly in my hand.

Rapidly, Lucario wildly swung his club at me, forfeiting his stance. I pivoted to let my shell take the blows and swiped my tail at his legs, tripping him to the ground.

I tried to slam myself on top of him, but Lucario rolled away and jumped back up. He panted as he readied his bone club again.

"You're getting pretty sloppy," I taunted.

"Shut up!" He swung the club at me again, but I sidestepped it and caught it tightly in my free hand. Lucario tugged, but his club wouldn't budge.

"Told you."

Growling, he let go of the club and I turned it around. But with a wave of his hand, it began to burn mine and I dropped it. A sizzle sounded from it before the club disintegrated entirely.

Readying my dagger, I watched as Lucario channeled another blue ball in his hand. The longer he held it, the larger the sphere grew, to the point where he had to hold it between his other hand as well.

His head jerked up and he jumped back, evading a Water Shuriken that flew by. I checked to see Greninja had gotten back up, with the shield dented but still in his arm.

"One of you two has to fall eventually." I turned back as Lucario launched the ball at me. Again, I brought my hands up and formed my Spiky Shield, blocking his attack.

Greninja tossed out another shuriken, which Lucario backed away and evaded. He looked back and forth between the two of us as I lowered my shield.

"Face it. You're finished."

Lucario glared, but his ears twitched at a sharp cry that rang out. Greninja and I looked at one another, and then quickly past Lucario to watch Flygon's tail slam into Delphox.

Pulling his tail back, Flygon looked back to us and shot itself forward.

"Just needed my wings."

Before either of us could stop him, Lucario dashed away from us and closed the distance between himself and Flygon. Scooping him up, the dragon spiraled around and launched another breath attack at us.

Slipping in front of me, Greninja raised his shield as the beam came closer to us. The shield took the brunt of it, but the two of us were thrown back.

Grabbing Greninja, I fell back and landed hard on my shell. I cried out and Greninja bounced up from the landing impact, flipping over and into the ground.

He quickly recovered and pulled me up as I watched the dragon fly at us. Pushing Greninja back down, I covered him as a heavy force pounded my shell. I grunted in pain, but pushed myself back up again.

Picking Greninja up, we turned as Flygon shifted Lucario in his arms and swung around the top of the fortress. He flew at us again, looking to attack once more.

Out of nowhere, a bright blue arrow zipped over and crashed into Flygon's wing. He cried out and they went crashing down to the ground.

Checking the area, I couldn't quite place the location from the arrow's launch. Lucario pushed himself up and picked Flygon, brushing off his wing.

"Damn it, that was cold!" Flygon groaned as Lucario finished cleaning the wing.

"Hang in there," assured Lucario. "We'll need to fall back, but this isn't the end."

Nodding, Flygon flapped his wings. Another arrow flew across the air and went for Flygon, but Lucario shot a spell at it, breaking the arrow to pieces.

"Leave the rest to me!"

At the shout of a new voice, Greninja and I turned as a gray four-armed figure rushed past us. We turned to watch it swing four swords at Lucario and Flygon, with one cutting Lucario and another slicing Flygon.

Beating his wings, Flygon's wind pushed the armored fellow back as he grabbed Lucario. Again, he shot into the air and began to fly away from us. One last arrow flew out at them, but again, Lucario fired a spell and broke it.

Watching them fly off until we could barely see them, Greninja and I then turned our attention to the newcomer before us. He spun about to face us and grinned, sheathing his four swords. Silver armor decorated him, with vambraces on his wrists, a tasset around his waist, and greaves on his shins. The rest of his legs and arms were bare, as was his chest. His eyes were a deep red, but still pretty bright.

"You two all right?" He raised a brow and laughed. We exchanged confused expressions with one another before nodding to him. "Sorry about that. Name's Machamp! The Emperor sent us out here to meet you, but we didn't expect any trouble for your travel. Would've come along sooner if we knew."

"Thanks anyway," I stepped forward and held out a hand. "We really needed it." He lifted one and shook it. "I'm Chesnaught, and this is Greninja."

Machamp reached over and shook Greninja's hand with another of his, laughing at our bewildered faces.

"Don't worry, the extra arms throw off everyone." He looked past us and called out, "Hey, Weavile, come on over!" We opened our mouths to interrupt, but he beat us to it: "Don't worry, I'll go grab your friend over there."

We watched Machamp hurry over to Delphox and turned at lightly approaching footsteps. Turning around, we stared as the black weasel-like archer in light bronze armor stood beside us.

"Hey," she greeted. Like Machamp, she wore greaves and vambraces. Unlike him, she wore robes beneath her armor, with only her arms and face freely exposed. Weavile brushed the feathers atop her head and scratched at the yellow jewel on her forehead. In her hand was a dark brown bow, but she had no quiver on her back.

"Hi, thanks for helping us out." I reached out with my arm, but she merely nodded. "Um, I'm—"

"Chesnaught, and he's Greninja." Weavile nodded, a bored expression on her face. "Heard you two before, Machamp introduced me, no need to repeat ourselves."

Tightening my lips, I shrugged and nodded.

"How do you launch arrows without carrying them in a quiver?" Greninja asked.

"I make them before I fire them out."

She lifted the bow and rested her free claw on it. Ice formed around the space between as Weavile pulled her claw back along with the bowstring, creating an icicle shaped arrow. Once she had it back far enough, Weavile released the arrow and let it whiz across the air. My eyes widened as I watched it soar off.

"That's impressive!"

"Thanks."

Silence rolled in quick around us and Weavile put the bow around her back.

"Do your claws serve as your close quarters weapon?" I tried. Weavile shrugged and nodded. She also tapped her belt, which held a knife and a dagger. "Cool."

"Is Machamp a knight?" Weavile nodded to Greninja's inquiry. "And you're an archer, but are you a knight too?" To this, she shrugged.

She looked past us, maintaining her lowered red eyes. We turned to see Machamp carry Delphox over. His robes were torn in several different places, from scratches or burns. His fur was ruffled and there was some dried blood on him, but nothing that appeared life threatening.

"Put me down," Delphox weakly murmured. "I'm fine."

Frowning, Machamp slowly helped Delphox down, as the fox winced while standing. He shook his head and sighed.

"Delphox, I'm sorry," I started, but Delphox waved me off.

"Don't." He took in another breath and exhaled it. "I should have had that handled."

"We still should have helped you," added Greninja, but Delphox shook his head again.

"Do you two not feel anything?" Machamp questioned.

"Sore, but it's nothing serious."

The Empire's knight exchanged a concerned look with Weavile, who…well, didn't change facial expressions really. Turning, I stared at Greninja and my eyes widened. His robes were torn in a few different places as well, with slight cuts and bruises on his body. Gazing down at myself, I noticed similar wounds on myself, with dented armor as well. We didn't look as bad as Delphox, but it hadn't registered until now that the two of us had taken just as hard of a beating.

"All five of you seemed pretty messed up by the time I came over," noted Machamp. "Must have had a harder fight than you realized."

"Much," agreed Greninja.

"Well, that's probably the last bit of trouble you'll hit before the Empire. You should be safe with us." Machamp smiled again. "So, ready to head out?"

"In a few minutes or so." I glanced around, noting our pack some distance away. "We need to recollect our gear and…well, anything we can salvage."

"Oh, that's a pretty good idea! We'll help you out; find everything quick and then get you three to the Empire. Sound good?"

Slowly, I looked at Greninja, and then smirked at Delphox, who rolled his eyes.

"If it's not too much trouble for either of you, that would be really helpful," accepted Greninja.

"No trouble at all! Right, Weavile?"

"Sure." If it wasn't for that sole word, I might have imagined that she'd be inclined to disagree with the idea.

"All settled! Let's grab your gear, and then get you to the Empire to be healed."

Though Machamp's attitude eased us a bit, I caught glances from my friends that agreed with my own wariness of the pair. In spite of our mutual apprehension, there was nothing more we could do on the matter, and we wandered around the tundra and the fortress once more, collecting whatever we could find.

...

Oh, finally! No one understands how long I've been sitting on these character additions. (Hint: Since the beginning of first story. Oops, process spoilers. And I'm sitting on others that I'm waiting to add. Oops. Whoops. Yeah.)

But before that, HA! You didn't expect any feels regarding Delphox, did you?! Thought I'd leave him as an eternal butt monkey and comedy relief victim, huh?! Ok, I don't know what people assumed and it's not that impressive, but I enjoyed his shot of character development. Deep down, he's just a lonely soul. (If you feel nothing for him, that's fine, but just know you're about a tiny bit heartless. Jk, but really, nothing?) Oh, and he gets particularly sassy in this chapter.

Speaking of sass, meet Lucario! He can fight a knight and make some magic too! Too bad he's kind of an enter and exit character, meaning he won't be back for a while. But, you should get used to him…because he's such a fun character! …What? You can't see my schemes…well, not all of them. Oh, and Flygon got an introduction too! With that, I have now included all 18 types within the series. Isn't that just so special? Now, if only they were all important characters.

Besides them, behold! Newcomers Machamp and Weavile! And they'll be around in the next chapter as well, and probably for the story's duration! Aren't you so excited for the new characters?! …Yeah, I know, it's just me, but I can pretend they're strong and noteworthy additions. (Give them time, I'll make their development happen.) Anyway, Machamp is a pretty nice guy, similar to Chesnaught. (I'd say it's a Fighting type thing, but Lucario already ruined that.) Weavile's a chill lady, pun intended, who's also got a sharp shot. Bows and arrows are still totally in, right? …Right?!

Other notes: the tundra fortress was such a fun place to include; so sad to see it go. We'll never know if there were secrets buried within the old place. Oh, and this chapter ended collecting supplies because, do you ever wonder how characters throw weapons or equipment around in one scene, leave an area, and then later have that used inventory suddenly back with them? I totally do think about it from time to time. Hence, grabbing gear.

Anyway, too much talking from me, so that'll do it for this chapter. And hey, I was right, it was shorter than the last…two. Um…yeah! Next chapter will finally bring us to the Iceberg Empire! I've only been billing it for 7 chapters now. Digging my own holes can be such fun! Comments and criticisms are welcome, just send me a review or message. It's what gives the stories life. Thank you again for reading!