Chapter 8: And I Would Walk


Typhon leapt awake, breathing heavily and eyes wide open. His head darted around, desperately taking in his surroundings. He relaxed, if only slightly, when he saw that he was back in his room, safe and unharmed.

The place was just as he remembered it, with nothing appearing to be out of place. He figured that it was sometime in the late morning, judging from how bright it was and the fact that waking up didn't feel like being brought back from the dead.

He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down in the pile of straw that was his bed, content that everything appeared to be fine. His mind flashed back to the seemingly traumatic events of the "day before," happy that they weren't real. Wow, what a doozy of a dream. Was that payback for mouthing off at Mesprit? Whatever, it's over now. Time to really start the day.

"Hey, Mojave! Good morning! You ready to get to work?" he called out. There was no reply.

Huh. That's odd. Must be out running errands again. But two days off in a row? What's up with that?

He got out of his bed and stretched. No point in sitting around in bed all day, there was… something to do. Just needed to waste time until Mojave got home. But what to do while he was out?

He mentally kicked himself. There was that book he wanted to read yesterday, wasn't there? It looked pretty thick, so it would be a long read, and he may or may not have forgotten to put it back on the shelf, which was really just setting himself up to find it again. Plus, now he could finally prove to himself that he wasn't illiterate.

He began to walk over to the bookshelf, eyeing his prize on the floor. The red cover just waiting for him to flip it open.

He took his first step out of the bed- and slipped. Something thin and smooth found its way under his foot and caused him to tumble over.

His body was fine, but his pride was sorely injured. At least Mojave wasn't around to see it. He lifted himself back up and turned around to find whatever it was that hurt him. Chucking it across the room would feel good, if nothing else.

The offending object turned out to be an envelope, thick and bulging, with an imposing red seal closing it up. The seal had a claw on it, thick and broad with four points, and a symbol of some kind on top. The symbol felt like it was a letter of some kind, but it didn't feel like it belonged with the other letters he had seen before.

The circle shape that every letter had was missing from it. Instead, the whole shape was a circle. Mostly. The loop was nearly complete except for the bottom, where the left side pulled straight left and the right side pulled straight right, creating a straight line that took a wide detour before getting back on course.

Well, whatever it was, it had no real meaning to Typhon. He broke open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside. Something from Mojave? Dunno why he'd leave me a letter instead of just telling it to me, though.

The letter was folded into three, revealing exquisitely penned writing that oozed professionalism. Whoever wrote this must have had the best penmonship in the entire desert.

It took him a few moments, but after reading the first line the letters started clicking together. To the brave Gible Typhon of Team Dune, it read. That was weird. Mojave wouldn't have written like that, but only Mojave would have known Typhon's name. He reread it to make sure he got it right, but nothing changed.

I apologize that our meeting yesterday didn't end as well as any of us hoped it would. I wholeheartedly swear that causing any undue suffering to anyone was the last of my intentions. However, the past is the past, and Dialga waits for no one. When the future comes, we must all be ready to do what we must. I think you two said it best.

I know that my actions were crude and treacherous, but please do not take that moment of barbarity as anything indicative of the character of me or my republic.

Typhon's heart began to race, and a pit formed in his stomach. He might not have been dreaming last night.

In any case, rest assured that Mojave is safe and sound within my care. Typhon acted without even fully processing what the words meant. His claws pulled away from each other, splitting the letter apart in a heartbeat. He was tempted to unleash into the paper right there, but managed to hold himself back.

He held the pieces together and kept reading. Even though you declined my offer in such determined fashion, I truly believe we can work together. To this end, my Pokémon have left your proper payment for yesterday's work, in the hope that you can use it to continue protecting. Half is with you, and half is with Mojave. Great. Sure, Aurelian might be a backstabbing, kidnapping liar, but at least he paid his dues.

Groudon willing, Team Dune will be reunited soon, and our work will truly begin. Until then, stay safe, and keep doing what you do best. Ever hopeful, Sandshrew Aurelian.

Who did he think he was, still going after Typhon like that? First his goons tried in that mine, then he tried doing it himself, where to go next? Oh, sure! Why don't we kidnap his partner? That oughta do the trick!

Even if Aurelian was one hundred percent honest about wanting to help rebuild the desert, he'd never find Typhon at his side. It was his fault the desert was broken to begin with, or at least as broken as it was now.

Still though, there was something about it all that Mojave bought into. Was it really worth it to plunge the desert into one last bit of despair for now if it meant a better tomorrow? Typhon liked to think that the ends could justify the means, but on this scale it was too much.

Either way, it didn't matter. If Mojave couldn't decide before, getting kidnapped was sure to help him figure it out. And when he did figure it out, Typhon was going to be there, ready to gloat to Aurelian.

He finally allowed himself to destroy the letter. In a flurry of movement the page was reduced to scraps and then set on fire for good measure.

It didn't feel as good as it should have. Ripping up Aurelian's words was one thing, but it would pale in comparison to getting the sandshrew himself. Not that he would kill him, but making him feel a fraction of the pain he felt would be enough.

But how would Typhon get to him? The Attaman Desert was a big place, and there was no way he'd be able to do it alone. He couldn't wait for Aurelian to come to him, by then it would be too late. If he was going to get Mojave back, he had to do it now.

That's when it hit him. There were already Pokémon trying to get to Aurelian. Magby Castra and her Bronze Resistance, right? The Pokémon Team Dune met in the mine on their first mission. They were fighting Aurelian's general, Alexander, so they must have had something on the sandshrew himself.

It was their fault any of this happened to begin with, so getting their help was like coming full circle, right? There was some kind of poetry there Typhon was neither smart nor caring enough to figure out.

But how to get to them? It wasn't like they had recruitment centers around town, and he couldn't just walk around asking if anyone had seen any freedom fighters around. He'd have to find them directly and go from there.

Luckily, he just might have had a way in. Katelyn said that one of her sources for her newspaper was in the Resistance, right? She was in contact with them on some kind of schedule, so it stood to reason that she would have some way of getting Typhon in touch too.

Still though, Katelyn was never really clear about the true nature of their relationship. It could have just been that the Resistance left messages behind for her, and that she'd never met one in person.

No, being pessimistic and going down that route wouldn't be helpful in the slightest. If Typhon tried and failed to get help from Katelyn he'd be in the same spot if he decided to stay at home instead. At least there was the chance of getting something, no matter how small. He only had this one plan, which meant that it was his best plan. It would have to work. It would work.

The first part was getting to Katelyn. One step outside and Typhon already knew this would be harder than he thought. The fact that Korb Town was awash in sunlight meant that she was certainly not going to be at the Jobs Board like normal. Putting those pages up didn't seem like the kind of thing that took all day.

Well, if she wouldn't be there, where else would she be? Since she wrote for a newspaper, Typhon's best bet would be to look for where her newspaper was headquartered. One problem. He didn't know where that was. Or what her paper's name was. On the bright side, he was sure that she didn't have much competition, so that narrowed his options.

It took a good deal of time, and more confused business owners than he could count, but Typhon was now sure that he had finally arrived at the place. There was even a sign right outside the door marking it. The Furret Gazette, it read, with a picture of a newspaper and a smiling furret accompanying it. In retrospect, checking to see if the businesses he entered had something like this might have sped things up, but that was the past.

Typhon pushed open the door, repeating the same phrase for the millionth time. "Hello, is this the news?"

An unimpressed furret stared back at him, not taking her eyes off the book she was reading. "Did you not see the sign out front? Please know that while we wish to reach all kinds of Pokémon, the illiterate are the one exception we make." Her demeanor was nothing like the sign.

He refrained himself from saying something back to her. In her defense, that was a pretty stupid question. "Let me try that again. Does Buneary Katelyn work here?"

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Another Pokémon from the mayor, I presume? Please tell your boss that this is not the kind of government cooperation I asked for. She's upstairs. First door on the left, ignore the sign and don't knock."

Typhon thanked her despite her attitude and hurried up the stairs. True to her word, there was a note waiting there asking for guests to announce themselves. He decided to honor it.

"Oh! One second please," Katelyn called. A moment passed. Typhon could just barely hear the fluttering of paper and the sound of things clattering from beyond the door. "Come in!"

With some effort, he pushed the door open and entered. Katelyn's "office" - if it could even be called that. It was a mess, to say the least. Stacks of paper covered the floor and spent inkwells were scattered all over. Feather pens were here and there, and a crate in the back corner was filled with some kind of gold discs, each one studded with a blue rock, just like the ones at the Jobs Board. The main difference was that these stones appeared to be much larger than their cousins.

Katelyn was seated behind a desk on the far side of the room, much higher above the ground than she should have been. Her desk was relatively clean, with only a few scattered pens and papers on it.

"Oh, Gible!" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here? Don't you and Trapinch have work to do? Where were you this morning?" She jumped off a stool three times her height to meet Gible face to face.

"That's just it. You know that sandshrew you introduced us to yesterday?" Typhon took a breath. As much as he wanted to, he prepared himself to not let the full fury of his anger out on Katelyn. "Turns out, he works with Alexander. No- Alexander works for him! He kidnapped Mojave! He's gone!"

Katelyn stepped back, her mouth open in shock. "I- what? What do you mean?"

"He had it all planned out. He led us to a whole squad of soldiers just waiting to take us who knows where. I don't know why he didn't take me, but I'm gonna make him regret it."

Katelyn steadied herself. "O-okay." She was hesitant to look Typhon in the eyes. "Oh, this is my fault isn't it? Introducing you to Castra and then to Sandshrew…" A much more determined look came over her. "How do I help?"

Typhon sighed. "That part's on you. I figure that my best bet is with finding Castra and joining the Resistance. I know it's a long shot, but you have to have some way of getting me in touch, right?"

The buneary's resolve melted away immediately. "Oh… I… I don't know if I should go through with this anymore…"

"What do you mean 'should?' It's your fault we're in this mess!" Typhon's restraint was starting to slip. "If you have something you're hiding, you owe it to me to say it. You owe it to Mojave. That slimy backstabber's got something coming soon, and I'm not letting it happen."

"No no no, I-" she cursed to herself, "I want to help you, really. I do owe you two. It's just- this is a really risky thing you're asking me to do."

"Risky?!" Typhon shouted. "My best friend is in the claws of the evilest Pokémon in the desert, and you think I care about risks?! Just help me already!"

Katelyn cowered back, fear written all over her face. Typhon took the moment to step back and reconsider himself. He took a deep breath and tried again.

"I'm… sorry. Mojave means a lot to me, and I need him back. Please, if you can help me, we need it." Typhon wasn't sure if the apology was any meaningful, or if he even should have said it in the first place, but it seemed to have worked.

Katelyn stood up straight. "Alright, fine. The end of the war's coming soon anyway, so I don't think this should matter too much." She went back to her desk and clambered up to the top of her seat. "One condition: tell me about Sandshrew. Everything you know. I have something you might be able to use if you do." The buneary opened up her desk's drawers and started tearing through them, leaving Typhon open to talk.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I don't know much. His name's Aurelian, believe it or not. He called himself the 'First Citizen' of the 'Attaman Republic', whatever that means. Apparently, he does the ruling while Alexander does the conquering. Any of that sound familiar?"

Katelyn stopped her search for a second. "Hmm. I heard rumors of something like that; Alexander being someone's puppet or something similar. I never put much stock in those rumors though."

She resumed her search. "As for the Republic, I don't know much. My sources in the Resistance gave me the name, and for the longest time I assumed that it was what Alexander called his nation."

"Do you know anything beyond that?"

"No, sorry. My contact completely ignored it when I asked, so I dropped it. The name definitely implies grand ambitions though, which I guess are coming true." The sounds of papers and objects rustling stopped.

Katelyn's head popped back up above the desk with a great smile. In her paw was a piece of paper with some kind of drawing on it. "This-" she motioned to the page, "has what you need." She ventured back down and gave it over.

It was a map. In the confines of the square sheet was a crude – but still legible – map. Korb Town and the surrounding area was in the bottom corner, and a dashed line led away from it into the desert.

"A map? Where's it lead?" Typhon had an inkling of what it might have led to, but kept it to himself.

Katelyn cleared her throat. "A little context first. When I first got in touch with the Resistance, they warned me of the dangers surrounding the news. I suppose there's a reason we don't hear much from the west anymore, and why me and my cousin are the only ones in business in this town.

"I told them it didn't matter, and that I'd be in this job no matter what. So, they gave me that map. It leads to a 'safe house' I think they called it. From the way they described it, I think it's a base they use, where they plan operations and the like."

Typhon caught on to what she was saying. "So they'll be there? I follow this map, and it'll take me right to the Resistance?"

"Yes!" she beamed. She frowned a moment later. "Probably."

Typhon glared at her.

"O-okay, look. That was a while ago, I don't know if they're still there, but I don't know why they would have left. I'm not sure what the odds are."

Typhon scoffed. "That's easy. They're either there, or they're not. Fifty-fifty."

"I don't think it works like that."
"Well, it has to." He paused a moment. "It will." Typhon rolled up the map. "Thank you. Give me a few days, and you'll be seeing me and Mojave at the Board like usual."

Katelyn sighed. "Please just be safe."

Typhon left Katelyn to get back to her writing, and went down the stairs. On the way out, Furret asked him what the shouting was for. He replied that Katelyn needed a stern talking to, but everything should be fine with her for the foreseeable future. For what must have been the first time in her life, Typhon could have sworn she smiled.

It was then back to home to scrounge together whatever supplies he could. He would see if Mojave had any spare bags, study the map, then head out for the Resistance.

He found a pouch similar to the one Mojave wore, if only a little smaller and not as worn. It was tucked away in a cabinet filled with random junk. The contents of the pouch were similar, being nothing more than a collection of paper scraps. They had writing on them, but Typhon could wait to get Mojave back before he read them.

The pouch's interior was deceptively small, and fit far less than Typhon thought it should have been able to. He'd have to ask Mojave for his secret later. Still, there was enough room for a couple oran berries and some seeds Typhon thought could be used offensively. He'd save them for a worst case scenario, just to be safe.

A twinge of guilt crossed over him as he supplied himself, but he couldn't figure out why. Sure, these weren't his items, but they belonged to Team Dune, so Mojave would be understanding. Besides, he would be using them to save Mojave, which invalidated any other arguments.

Whether he was stealing or not, Typhon felt ready. He checked the map one more time. The path seemed long and cut through some mystery dungeons to travel farther than otherwise possible, but he could handle it. Mojave would be worth it.

He folded up the map and tucked it into his pouch. Pushing the door open and stepping outside, Typhon instinctively looked to his side, expecting to see Mojave next to him.

It felt wrong setting off into the world without him. They were partners after all, this was the kind of thing they should have been doing together. Typhon shook his head. He'd be back at Mojave's side in no time, he just had to put in this one bit of solitary work.

Looking up, Typhon saw the Sun at what appeared to be at its highest point in the sky. He wasn't sure how much ground he'd actually have to cover, the map didn't appear to have much scale to it at all, but something told him he should savor his time with daylight.

Shaking himself out, he set off for the desert.


Typhon wasn't sure how much time had passed. By this point, the Sun had set and the Moon had taken its place ages ago. Joining it were the stars in all of their glory, painting the sky wonderfully. It was this view that made the bitter cold surrounding him that much more bearable.

Even without them though, he still would have trudged on. Every step closer was one more step towards finding Castra, every feral he fought in those dungeons was one more obstacle towards getting Mojave back out of the way. He considered taking his scarf from his fin and attempting to wear it in a different – and hopefully warmer - way, but decided against that. Just reaching it was hard enough.

Eventually, following the landmarks on the map led Typhon to one last place. He had followed decrepit bridges over dried up rivers, guided himself using solitary rock formations that rose high above the desert floor like monuments, and even had to guess which branch of a dead tree was supposed to be the "funny" one. That was the map's description, not his. He opted to follow the one that grew like a corkscrew.

Tired as he was, he eventually ended up at a canyon of some kind. This one was… odd, to say the least. Unlike the other canyons he had been to, it wasn't necessarily cut into the ground. Instead, giant stone pillars rose high above him in varying shades of orange and red, just like the ground around them.

They were rough and had a wobbly feeling to them, like they were poorly sculpted from clay. On the top of most of them they narrowed out before suddenly exploding outward and capping themselves off, giving the impression that there were boulders precariously perched on them.

It was these pillars that formed the canyon, placed side by side with each other to create walls. Here and there, tall trees sprouted from the valley floor created by these walls, somehow managing to sustain themselves.

This canyon, or rock formation, or whatever the proper term for it was, was labeled "Emissary's Den" on the map, and Typhon could start to see why. Besides the twisting nature of the path ahead of him and how often it branched out, the canyon was more heavily forested than anything Typhon had seen before, and there were plenty of holes and caves in sight.

There was what seemed to be one main path to take, with small offshoots coming from it. The walls that contained these subsections would narrow in on themselves and the vegetation was particularly thick, taking the openness of the canyon and crushing it.

If someone wanted to hide a large group of Pokémon, this place could it with no trouble. The safehouse the map promised could be hidden anywhere in this maze. It seemed to be even more labyrinthian than a mystery dungeon, because those at least had to end at some point. This place felt like it might go on forever.

Typhon was tempted to explore some of the side paths to see if they held what he was looking for, but something in him stopped him. Was it intuition? A gut feeling? Some sixth sense he had? He didn't know, but it kept him on the main path. Something told him that he'd find the Resistance if he just stuck with it.

So he did, and he trudged through the canyon. He was resting inside the entrance of a side path when he heard something that got his attention. Straining himself, he could barely make out what could have been someone speaking. Finally! After so long, this might be it. He held still to listen.

"You know what I'm saying?" a male voice asked. "Patrolling the Attaman almost makes me wish it was winter."

Typhon heard the sound of someone getting hit. "Are you still going on about that?" said the voice's female partner. "It's night time! It's cold right now! Why are you still complaining about the heat?"

"I'm just saying… Wouldn't some snow be fun?"

"Did you forget I'm a Flying-type?"

"Did you forget I have feelings too?"

"Wait, you do? Can you feel more than just hot or cold?"

Typhon let out the beginning of a laugh before slamming his mouth shut. If he was lucky, they wouldn't have heard him. It now dawned on him that he had no plan for what to do when he actually met the Resistance. Though, he did know that he when he did meet them, he wanted to have something. Some guards finding him trespassing wouldn't make for the best first impression.

"Stop. Did you hear that?" the female asked her partner. "There's someone here." Uh oh.

Her partner didn't respond right away. "Nah. It was probably just a pebble or something. Erosion and all that, you know? Like how the statues by base are."

"Are you really going to debate me on this? I'm a woobat, I think I know sounds when I hear them." Typhon could now hear the flapping of wings, dangerously close to him.

"Here. Let me-" Woobat started, when her partner interrupted her.

"No, no, no, don't do that. I'll have you know I'm a purrloin, and we have sensitive ears."

"You're a soldier, and a volunteer at that. Really?"

"Hey, if we get into a fight, I want to be in my best shape for it, okay?. Besides, let's try this first." He cleared his throat. "Hello? Is anyone out there?" he shouted. "If you are, that's umm… that's great! Actually no, that's not. That's the opposite of great. Could you come out so we can direct you to somewhere less likely to kill you?"

Woobat hit Purrloin again. "What are you saying?! Do you want to get us killed?"

"No, that's why I'm being diplomatic. You should try it sometime."

"Truly, you are the Resistance's greatest asset." Well, that was all the confirmation Typhon needed. The Resistance was here, and they did have a base. Now, he just had to not mess up with the patrolmon. Luckily, Purrloin gave him just the right opportunity.

"Yeah, I'm here," Typhon finally said, to no response. He paused a moment before adding, "What's up?"

Woobat spoke first, but to Purrloin. "Come on, this was your idea, moron. Say something back. Use your wonderful diplomacy."

"Okay, okay, shut up!" he told Woobat. "Hey, stranger, could you come out for us? I'm Purrloin and this is my partner, Woobat. Who are you?"

Typhon stood up and began walking towards them. "I'm Gible." As much as he hated going by his species name, it was probably best to let them know just what kind of Pokémon he was. "I'm coming around the corner now, don't kill me. I've gone through enough today."

"See how wonderful things can be when we use our words?" Purrloin said. "This is going swimmingly."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm still calling this in. Give me the transmitter." Typhon could hear the two fumble around with something before Purrloin exclaimed with glee. There was a weird buzzing noise and the sound of whispered speech that he couldn't hear even as he closed in.

Typhon finally turned the corner and saw them. On the left was Purrloin, almost half his height, with a bag at his side. Flapping next to him was Woobat, frowning.

Purrloin spoke first. "See, Woobat? That wasn't so hard."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She turned to face Typhon, but he didn't comment that she was pointed ever so slightly to the side. "Now, what are you doing here? Don't you know how dangerous this place is?"

Typhon scoffed. "I've seen plenty of dangerous in the past few days. This canyon – if that's what you can even call it – doesn't seem that bad."

"Answer the question." There was a hostility to her voice that put Typhon on edge. It was understandable, but that didn't make the situation any better.

"Alright, alright. I'm here looking for-" he didn't get to finish his sentence.

Woobat immediately rammed towards him but missed, her side rubbing past him. It bumped him over slightly, but it was really nothing. The surprise of the attack prevented him from retaliating, but Woobat still cried out in pain as if he had.

"Hey!" he shouted. "What're you-" now Purrloin interrupted him.

Typhon had turned to see Woobat go by, and completely missed Purrloin revving up a Sucker Punch that landed square on his lower jaw, sending him tumbling. He at first landed on his fin and could feel something in its base shift awkwardly before he bounced off and landed on his side.

He was up in a flash, scraping his claw against the ground and flinging up a potent Sand Attack towards Purrloin. He got back on his feet, ready to trap Purrloin in a Sand Tomb, when Woobat came back around for a second pass, slamming into him from behind with a direct hit.

This one was much more devastating than the last, and Typhon was sent tumbling to the ground, and again Woobat shrieked with pain. Typhon was about to pick himself up when something that felt like a pebble hit his side and seemingly exploded. The moment the projectile touched his scales it dissolved into some kind of mist that prickled as it spread out. Purrloin boasted something about landing a hard throw but Typhon ignored him.

He tried to get back up, but his body refused. He attempted to move his legs, but they didn't respond in the slightest, as if he didn't even have them . All over his body his ability to feel started to disappeared too, with the sores from Woobat hitting him vanishing. Now, all he felt was numbness all over.

Pawsteps came closer to him, crunching on something. "Don't bother moving, okay?" Purrloin told him. Typhon couldn't see him, with one eye stuck closed and the other facing the sky. "Got you with a stun seed. But if you want, just say the word and Woobat'll smack you out of it. Though to be fair, she'll hit anyone for just about anything.

Woobat came flapping over. She was out of breath, and panted as if she'd just gone through the worst work out of her life. "No, it's just you, and you deserve to get hit for everything you do."

"Like what?"

"Like attempting to negotiate with Legion spies, that's what." She took a few more breaths. "Now you call in this part, because you were sooo sure about this guy."

Purrloin grumbled. "Whatever." He reached for the bag at his side and pulled out a gold disc like the ones in Katelyn's office. This one, though, had a green gem embedded into it.

He touched it, causing it to glow and produce the buzzing noise from earlier. "Command, this is Purrloin," he said neutrally. "Update on the gible situation; it got a bit out of paw for a moment, but it's controlled now. We believe he's a Legion spy searching for our base, and he has been pacified with a stun seed, over." He stopped touching the gem and the buzz coming from it died out with its glow.

He looked to Woobat. "Happy?"

"Very."

The disc then picked up back to life a moment later, and Typhon heard a new voice that he could have sworn was coming from it. "Very well, Purrloin. Bring him down to the holding cells. We'll send a new pair out to cover the rest of your shift, over."

Woobat breathed a sigh of relief. "Great." She motioned for Purrloin to take the lead.

"What? I'm not taking him. He's twice my size!"

"Yeah, same here, but I don't have arms, moron! You do it."

Purrloin cursed under his breath and reluctantly took Typhon by the arm. If there was any consolation to this, it was that the numbness of his body prevented him from feeling anything but shame.

How could they do this to him?! He hadn't said or done anything to warrant getting beat up and taken prisoner. If anything, this was just like with the Legion, except this time he ended up in this position all on his own.

They dragged him through the rest of the canyon for what felt like an eternity before finally stopping. Typhon was sure that the entrance to their secret base was lovely and all, but it couldn't possibly have compared to the view of the sky that was forced on him.

Woobat spoke first when they arrived. "O-oh! General! What are you doing here, ma'am?" She was shaken, and clearly unnerved by their presence.

"Captain Woobat," said the General. Upon hearing her speak, Typhon would have smiled if he wasn't still under the stun seed's effect. That was Castra! She was here! If anyone could clear Typhon's name, it was her.

"I see you've got the prisoner from your report," she continued. Typhon desperately wanted to stand up and show her who he was. There was no way she wouldn't recognize the Pokémon who saved her life.

"That's right, ma'am. Just gotta bring him to a cell now." Woobat's voice was awkward and unsteady. Typhon had to assume that Castra's reputation in the Resistance was even greater than in the Legion.

"Before you do that, what species is your prisoner?"

"U-um, a gible, ma'am."

"And have you heard anything about any gible recently?"

Woobat paused. "That there was… that there was one who helped you in… ma'am! I'm so sorry! We didn't know it was him!"

Purrloin wasn't so quick to catch on. "What? I'm not sure I follow."

Castra finally exploded. "You morons! There are slowpoke who think quicker than you and psyduck with more clarity! That gible is a hero! If he were enlisted he'd have every medal we could offer! We'd have to create new ones just for him! It is a disgrace to everything we stand for that he's on the ground like that!"

Purrloin broke immediately. "Ma'am! I'm sorry! Everything just moved so fast, and all the way out here, he couldn't have been anything but a spy!"

"Sorry? You're 'sorry?'" she asked. "You don't even know the meaning of sorry! When I'm done with you two, the both of you will be able to write a definition of it so long there won't be enough paper to write it on!"

She continued less violently, "Luckily for all of us, we've got a surplus of heal seeds after yesterday's raid. Now fix our hero and maybe I'll count it towards your punishment."

"Y-yes ma'am!" Purrloin sputtered. Typhon could hear him run with energy he didn't even know was possible. He returned as soon as he left, and crouched down to meet Typhon's face. "I'm so, so sorry, sir!" he repeated over and over again.

He placed a seed in Typhon's open mouth that had an instant effect. The moment it touched his tongue he could feel his limbs again. He could feel the soreness in his limbs com rushing back, and the rawness some of his scales had from being scraped along the ground.

And he could feel nothing but rage towards two Pokémon in particular. The only thing sparing him was that he would have to get along with them if he wanted Mojave back, so he let them go for the time being.

As he stood up, he took in the canyon around him. Behind Castra was a pillar wall that surrounded them all, forming a sort of bowl that capped off the end of the canyon. The bottom of the wall had a cave carved into it with intricate patterns and details chiseled all around it that extended onto the ground. Two stone braziers at the entrance, the fires in them burning bright. They were weathered with time, but Typhon could see how exquisite they once must have been.

There were three statues decorating the entrance. On the left side was a statue of a tall Pokémon that could only be described as pointy. It had two spikes for legs and a jagged skirt. Its arms ended in three claws that looked capable of stabbing into anything, and it had what appeared to be a row of sharp teeth forming a collar around its head. Typhon didn't think they were teeth, but the sandstone wasn't the best at showing any color but orange and any minute details were long gone. Even the roundest part of it was still sharp, with a strange wisp coming off its head still looking angular.

The statue on the right was easy. It was Cresselia, captured in almost lifelike detail. Looking at it filled him with resentment, so he stopped.

The final statue, above the cave entrance, was the most impressive of the bunch. It depicted a large Pokémon flying outwards, with large wings curved like a crescent moon. Their head was shaped similarly, with the moon's points very nearly touching. Typhon didn't know why, but something about this Pokémon interested him. It wasn't just the fact that this statue was the biggest or in the center, but something within him immediately recognized this one as the most dominant of the group, even if he only knew one of them.

He turned to face Castra, standing with her fists balled. "You have no idea how I am glad to see you. I need your help."

"Just a moment," she whispered to him. "Let me deal with these two first." She pulled away from him, facing Woobat and Purrloin, now next to each other and entirely unsure of what to do with themselves. "The scale of how badly you two messed up tonight cannot be understated," she said, disappointed. "But still, I am extremely impressed with your actions."

The two immediately perked up, and even Typhon was confused.

"You identified a potential threat to our operation and dealt with it swiftly, as any of us should have. Even though he matched the description of a known ally, you clearly knew that this could have been a devious Legion trick and acted accordingly." Was she… proud of them? Typhon couldn't believe it, considering what he just heard, but looking back to her, Castra had gone through a complete shift in mood. Her claws were on her hips and she was grinning. "Double rations for the both of you, and don't worry about your punishment. Dismissed!"

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am!" they said at the same time before dashing off into the cave.

Typhon turned to Castra. "About my situation. It's-" she cut him off.

"Hold on a moment," she said. "You are in absolutely no shape for anything else tonight. Now, I don't know how you managed to find us here, but we can talk about it later." She maintained the same gruff voice as ever, but there was an odd strain of kindness mixed into it.

"Really? This is important. It's a matter of life or death!" Despite his insistence, Typhon could feel his mettle starting to dissolve. All the day's travel had made him exhausted, and the fight with those two hadn't helped. But still, getting Mojave back was too important to give up anything, and everything was finally starting to fall into place.

"Not as important as making sure you're healthy," she affirmed. "If it's as important as you say, you're no good to anyone like that. I'll get you somewhere to sleep and we can talk after you wake up. Now let's get going." She turned around and headed into the cave. "That's an order, soldier."