A.N./ I meant to take a break from writing just for the month of August. Then September came, and I didn't end up writing until mid-October. Gen nine will be out next week… crazy! (None of the new pokémon will be included here, obviously.)
This chapter isn't as edited as those previous, for it has one main aspect to display. Dialogue-heavy chapter. No transitions. 11/8- Fixed spelling mistakes and some clunky wording.
Sylveon's group meandered across the plains, staying within earshot of the river but not treading directly next to it. The deeper the crew crept into the plains, the stealthier— if such a thing was possible— they had to be to avoid aerial attacks every morning and evening. They stood out too much, from Sylveon's, Boltund's, and Scrafty's bright colors to Goodra's and Obstagoon's height.
They repaired their torn and scorched packs in the diggersby's former burrow, gathered up what remaining berries they found, and departed from their old location a day and a half ago, after the downpours and thunderstorms eased. In their wake, the air shrouded them in cold, thick fog as they walked toward their destination. Scrafty led the group and set the pace, with Sylveon tailing him. The fairy-type was too distrusting of him to lead their group concurrently. He mentioned that if a dragon were to swoop down and pummel him, he'd like her to decimate it. She couldn't help but laugh. As serious as their situation was, he still held on to a shred of humor.
Scrafty knew the terrain best. He found hidey-holes and low-lying areas, water away from the river, and plant food which Sylveon preferred to eat. The group followed him wordlessly for some time. Scrafty came to a sudden stop, although no patrol had been spotted nor were they due for a break.
"It's getting closer," he said. He rubbed the back of his neck, where his loose skin draped down. He stared at a point far yonder, at the river, which over a little hill, was a hazy stream in the distance, squiggling like an applin among the grasses. Sylveon knew that if the fog had lifted, the mountain they aspired to reach would be visible in the distance like a dead weight. She thanked the fog for its marginal relief from their impending doom.
"Well of course," Falinks called from the back of the group. "We're heading toward it, aren't we? I reckon that was our goal." He snorted.
"No," Scrafty turned around. "Not just that. There's also our settlement." He sighed and returned to face northeast. He stuck a finger in a direction a bit more north and said, "Over two gentle hills, it sits over there."
"Scrafty," Sylveon cut in, "I must ask you something."
Her question implied an interrogation. "Is it relevant our mission?"
"Why… yes, it is." She sat, showing she wouldn't move until he answered. "Did you protect your settlement, or did you flee it?"
"Oh," Falinks cooed. "Coming from Sylveon and not me? She's getting bold," he said, his voice honeyed with approval.
Scrafty's eyes flickered from Sylveon, to Falinks, to Obstagoon, and then back at Sylveon again. "I wasn't there when the attack happened." He looked at Obstagoon. "We both weren't."
"A little convenient, I must admit," Boltund chimed in.
Scrafty shook his head. "I know what you're thinking. I didn't bail on them. I headed out with Obstagoon, who was still a linoone then. The reason's up ahead a bit more. I'll show you, provided you still trust me to get you there," he said, his voice grating a bit from this delay.
"Not like I know where the hell I'm going," Falinks groaned.
"Then let's follow," Goodra said levelly from the rear. "He's kept us away from danger for this long."
Scrafty tugged on his loose skin and said, "Let's get moving."
He turned and resumed walking, albeit he took them closer to the river. The heavy mist obscured most of the waterway, but its faint trickling alerted the group to its location to the south. With the cooler weather, the pokémon noted that autumn seemed to arrive earlier than usual, although it might be a fluke before another summer warm up. When Sylveon crested the top of the hill Scrafty lead them to, the breeze running over her soaked pelt caused her to shudder.
Looking down into the shallow valley toward the river, Scrafty stopped, looking at the waterway, searching for something. He looked at a point in the distance, where the fog almost hindered anything which lay beyond. He pointed toward it, and said, "It's up there."
"It was," Obstagoon added.
"What, exactly?" Falinks asked, liking to take a direct approach, and that applied to more than his battle style. The dark types didn't operate like he did, and they remained reticent about it.
They continued the trek, but not before Boltund commented, "You can just tell us." Sylveon reasoned her question was not intended for Scrafty, but for Obstagoon, who she walked behind.
Scrafty answered regardless. "I know you won't take our word for it. Which means I must show you," he called over his shoulder. His gaze jumped from Boltund to Falinks before he continued focusing ahead.
"All right, if it suits you," she cried, glaring at Falinks, who was probably the reason he didn't spit this out. Nonetheless, they were continuing toward the mountain, and no patrols would be able to discern them in the fog. Sylveon smiled, grateful Scrafty was a great guide.
They followed him for another fifteen minutes. Sylveon kept her eyes on the river, noticing ahead that broken wood and round logs lay on the sides of the banks. Across the span of the river at specific intervals, huge boulders erupted from the water. She asked, "Is this what you spoke of? A bridge?"
Scrafty smirked and nodded as he looked at her. "What's let of it." His face drooped. "When Hydreigon's minions claimed the territory opposite, they destroyed this bridge and cut off our food and stone supply. This meant that we had to start searching for prey outside of our already depleted territory. Some of our residents fled already, and the strong among us were dwindling. I left, along with my sister, to get what haul we could one morning. However, I was being watched, and that's when they attacked our town."
"I'm not sure if it was stupider for you stay, or for you to leave the place without their leader," Falinks retorted.
Goodra grumbled, "Falinks, must you be so blunt?"
Scrafty continued like she said nothing. "I'm aware. I admitted it to you. It changes nothing now. All I can hope is most of the residents got away. We were under a sort of siege, and I was too complacent to gather my gang and leave while I could."
"Oh?" Falinks exclaimed in surprise for Scrafty agreeing with him, and without a shred of malcontent on the gang leader's part.
"There are a few things I should tell you. Hydreigon's got two commanders, a bisharp and a tyranitar. There's no doubt as to what one thought of slicing up the bridge. The dinosaur's a simpleton, but Bisharp's pretty smart. Throw Gallade into the mix— I'm positive he was watching me— and things will get…" He racked his brain for the best word. "Difficult."
"Something going on that you didn't tell us yet?" Goodra asked. Her tone was as testy as Falinks', which surprised the others.
"Yes, unfortunately. When the two came to speak to me, Bisharp grew increasingly nervous about Gallade. I know he can best her no problem. I don't know his goals, but he mentioned that he gained the plains. Hydreigon would only allow him that if he got a higher position."
"He's in conflict with Bisharp?" Boltund asked. "How's that hurt us?"
Scrafty shrugged. "Gallade's insidious. Bisharp might figure him out, but she might not in time. I know he won't stop with her."
There was a pause before Boltund said, "I see."
"But," Sylveon began, "I don't understand if you kicked him out of the plains, why'd he lay low for… how long?"
"Three four-seasons," Scrafty answered.
"Three four-seasons and then get active again? He doesn't sound like he'd lick his wounds that long."
"Unless he knew," Obstagoon said, her words lingering uncontested a bit too long for comfort.
"What? He knew Hydreigon was planning something that long ago?" Falinks asked, taken back.
Goodra nodded slowly. "Possibly. He sounds like he likes spying on others."
"He does. By teleporting, the cajoling pest he is," Scrafty hissed. "I didn't think he'd want to serve under the mountain lord, but that was my undoing, so…" he trailed off. "Let's get away from the river. We don't need to cross it again, thankfully."
With that, the group resumed their quest. Sylveon's mind buzzed from thinking about the connections with the commanders, Hydreigon, and what it might mean for their little team. She hoped that Gallade would make their goal of toppling Hydreigon easier, even if it was inadvertent.
Hydreigon. Over the past few days, just thinking about the dragon caused Sylveon to bristle with anger that she couldn't direct in a positive way. She flailed her ribbons, attempting to shake the feeling out of her, but it offered little relief.
"Something up, Sylveon?" Scrafty asked. Sylveon hadn't noticed that she was walking beside Scrafty and not behind him. He must have witnessed her display.
She sighed. "I'm sick of Hydreigon, what he's doing, and what he caused to my home. This feeling was never so strong before, though."
"That's because you evolved," Scrafty said.
"Really?" she asked automatically. It was the answer, she knew intuitively, but she had little time for introspection over the past week.
Scrafty smiled. "I didn't lead a bunch of scrafty and scraggy, but I still called my town's residents my gang, which they aren't. I'm territorial, which was why I didn't leave till I was forced too. You're a sylveon, and I don't call you a dragon slayer for nothing. It's what you are. I'm surprised you're not agitated around Goodra." He rubbed his neck. "I noticed you haven't been lingering around her much."
She assented with a nod. She sighed and then said, "I don't quite understand this. If a dragon slayer is what I am, and a gang leader is what you are, then why isn't Gallade a dutiful benefactor?"
"Beats me," Scrafty admitted. "All I can think of is he adapted to thrive on the negative emotions he gives others… which is the opposite of his nature. Not sure if he's messed up in the head, heart, or both. I don't know why he needed to go out of his way to find a dawn stone. He'd be just as bad as a malicious gardevoir."
"Probably didn't have the patience to wait," Boltund announced from behind them. "Unlike you, Sylveon."
Sylveon grinned at her friend behind her. "Well, you see, I wonder if the stone selects the pokémon," Sylveon mused. "When I got the opportunity to evolve, the stones felt wrong, and all tried to claim me with unpleasant force." She laughed. "I'm not sure if that makes sense. You can't evolve by a stone."
"Hmm," Scrafty grunted. "That's an interesting aspect."
"It might explain why your parents couldn't force you," Boltund reasoned. "You had to agree with your choice on some level."
Sylveon turned her words over in her mind and agreed. "I think you're right. Reuniclus said I should make the choice, and not have others' opinions convince me."
Scrafty's eyes lit up with realization. "It's a sound theory. You could've been an umbreon or espeon since they don't need a stone."
"Yes, Goodra knew something about that too!" Boltund barked, nuzzling Sylveon with her muzzle.
"What's this about me?" Goodra asked from the rear.
"Oh, we're just discussing evolution," Scrafty announced nonchalantly. "Why Sylveon is well, a sylveon and not the other seven evolved eevee forms."
"Must have been difficult with all those choices," Obstagoon sympathized.
"Beats me." Falinks pouted. "I get no options at all!"
"Believe it or not, sometimes evolving isn't the best option. You should have seen me the first week after I evolved," Goodra said with a laugh. "I kept tripping over my feet. I wasn't used to them, or my giant tail. I'd be easy prey since I had no time to adjust."
"Oh, tell me about it," Obstagoon concurred. "Going from four legs to two was an experience."
Scrafty snorted. "And we three up here basically got bigger."
"She got a new type and lost her old one," Boltund remarked, gesturing toward Sylveon. "I heard you speaking about how she wants to wrestle every dragon around."
"She unnerves me a bit," Goodra rumbled. "I'm still happy she evolved, despite that discomfort."
"Where are we going, Scrafty?" Sylveon asked, since he was taking them farther north than she felt was required. He had guided the team away from the bank and up the hill adjacent to it. This far into the captured territory, no wooloo roamed, and they were lucky to witness an outside aerial pokémon. Most of the birds were looking for catches from the river, or they were acting in reconnaissance for the southern lands. They surmised the six terrestrial pokémon were an enemy patrol, and the onlookers often turned in the direction whence they came if they flew close.
"The border is about three days away, and we are extremely close to our old haunt. I'm tempted to see what's become of it." He stopped walking. He grasped his loose skin so tightly Sylveon noticed the veins in his arms sticking out. His face was set and listless in a strange mixture of curiosity, anger, and fear.
"Is that a path to it up there?" Goodra pointed out, signaling to a beaten dirt path a hundred paces ahead, at the crest of the hill.
"You mentioned two rolling hills," Boltund told Scrafty. "We're at the second one now."
"I don't think this is wise," Obstagoon warned, her voice taut. "We can't see well in the fog, and they might be crawling all over the settlement."
"Or it's abandoned," Scrafty stated, his voice lifting with hope. "We would have met some foe if they were using it as a base, being this close."
He turned away from the group, looking at the dirt path ahead. He sucked in a breath, which hissed between his teeth. It sounded like a snarl. He shook his head rapidly and announced, "I need to see. I need to know!"
He bolted away, as fast as a lizard with saggy skin could go, which caught the team by surprise. Scrafty was attached to this land, and his building it up furthered the emotional bond he had with it. Sylveon felt that his old buddies were long gone, and she guessed a hostile welcoming party might greet him if spotted.
"Scrafty!" she hollered. Getting no response, she ran after him, thankfully capable of sprinting faster than he. Boltund was the fastest among them, and she eclipsed Sylveon's pace. The two canids didn't look to see if the remaining three followed.
"He's mad!" Boltund exclaimed. "What does he think he's doing?"
Scrafty reached the top of the hill seconds before the canids did. The quadrupedal pokémon toppled the lizard to the ground. From Sylveon's vantage point, she saw a few structures in the valley ahead, all of them heavily shrouded in mist. She witnessed no movement within the fog, thankful that no enemies would challenge them.
"Umph!" come Scrafty's wordless reply as he contacted the earth. "Some breathing room, please!" he hissed.
"Not yet," Sylveon chided. She had him held down by her ribbons, and his frenzy was strong, as her touch hadn't mesmerized him like last time. "What possessed you? You know better than to run off and endanger us like that."
Boltund watched the scene with an amused expression. Here was Sylveon, reprimanding the gang leader like he were a child, despite the fact he had several more four-seasons under his belt. The others caught up to the trio, and Sylveon guided Scrafty down from the top of the hill until the buildings were out of sight.
"C'mon Scrafty," Obstagoon declared, baring her teeth in anger. "You told me not to do anything stupid like that!"
"Aye, stupid indeed," Falinks agreed with a nod. "We're on a stealth mission for the most part. I shouldn't be telling you that's not how it's supposed to work! If we'd need to charge, I'd say charge, but this isn't one of those times!"
"We need to get away from the settlement either way. I doubt it's completely empty," Goodra cried, her voice tinged with worry.
"It's not," a voice several feet behind them said. The team spun around, their hearts sinking in unison that an enemy discovered them. He was a large and muscular pokémon, and Sylveon acknowledged this pokémon as a gurdurr.
The group bristled to threaten the muscular pokémon, and stood in attack positions, except for Scrafty and Obstagoon. Scrafty's eyes bulged, and he held up his arms and pled to the group, "Don't attack!"
Obstagoon appeared mesmerized, and said slowly, "We know him."
Upon that, the group relaxed slightly, but Sylveon's guard remained up, as did Falinks'. The gurdurr, as he surveyed the group, gave away an air of wrongness that he shouldn't emit if he was an ally.
"Gurdurr, I'm sorry about leaving the village," Scrafty said. "Why didn't the lackeys kick you out, or make you flee?" He cocked his head at his friend doubtfully, his voice giving away the sense that he felt something wasn't right.
"It's our turf, isn't it, Scrafty?" Gurdurr asked with a dubious smile. "Well, it was." He laughed, his large frame heaving from the action. "I can't see, since you bolted like a coward, how you can lay claim to anything."
"You were there!" Obstagoon cried. "You were there when Scrafty said he'd help out and search for grub that day with me!"
"He's a turncoat?" Falinks observed.
"He hated Hydreigon," Scrafty reasoned, telling the group. He turned to Gurdurr and said, "Why ally with that brute?"
"We are only in name," he responded, taking an intimidating step closer. "It makes our task easier. We want to overthrow him as much as you do."
"We?" Goodra observed.
"Some didn't make it," Gurdurr admitted, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. He made a cutting gesticulation near his neck with his hand. "Like Scrafty's entire family. They're too weak, and they'd be better off as food for the dragons."
Scrafty snapped, and if Sylveon wasn't there to restrain him, he would have thrown a kick at Gurdurr's face. "No!" he hollered at a volume that would alert any other pokémon nearby. He shouted a horde of obscenities, glaring at his former friend with a palpable hatred. "Betrayal! My family didn't deserve that! What about the rest? My friends…!"
"Scrafty!" Sylveon declared as she grappled Scrafty with her ribbons to steady him. "You can't believe him. He's lying to provoke you!"
Gurdurr seemed to have noticed Sylveon at once. "Ah, is she your girlfriend?" Gurdurr tutted. "You always had a soft spot for fairies." He looked at the former gang leader and said, "A blessing for you, old pal— Ribombee got away from us."
"So why isn't she with Hydreigon? Or whoever's ruling you?" Obstagoon asked, showing her claws, offering the muscular pokémon an icy glare.
"I say we crush this sucker before he gets his buddies to help!" Boltund barked, baring her teeth at the fighting-type.
"Indeed," Falinks yelled, his troops forming battling formations.
"I don't understand this," Goodra remarked. "Why turn on your friends? Were you threatened?"
"Hardly," Gurdurr announced shortly.
A crack, like that of a whip, sounded through the humid air and with it came a bipedal pokémon who stood adjacent to Gurdurr. Sylveon only needed to see his blood red eyes to know they belonged to Gallade, who probably had been watching them during this entire exchange. "There's my cue!" he chirped brightly, bowing not out of respect, but to mock them.
"Aw shit," Scrafty groaned. "Gallade, you heartless bastard, what'd you do to my friends?"
"I didn't do anything," he declared, placing a hand on his chest. He stole a look at Gurdurr. The two pokémon snorted, like they were sharing some inside joke.
"The hell's that mean?" Obstagoon mused.
"I say we shut them up," Scrafty yelled. "I especially don't need to hear from him," he pointed at Gallade.
"This time I agree with you," Falinks chimed in.
"I'd rather return them to sender," Scrafty threatened. "If the Maker even wants them at this point."
Sylveon released Scrafty. They knew that there wasn't going to be a peaceful way out of this. "Fighting-types," she said. "You lot will be easy."
Sylveon summoned a disarming voice at the two pokémon, and being an unavoidable attack, she achieved the first hit on the two fighting-types. They gave audible grunts of discomfort but remained standing. Falinks used the distraction to surround his troops around the two hostiles, preventing them from engaging in an easy retreat. Next, Scrafty pummeled gurdurr with a high jump kick to his face, something he wanted to perform from the beginning.
"Are they even going to retaliate?" Goodra asked, preparing a dragon pulse.
"Wait." Boltund barked. "What's going on with them?"
Gurdurr brought his hands to his head, and it was not just out of pain from Scrafty's attack. "No!" he cried. "I won't do it!"
No one had spoken to him. Upon hearing this, Gallade jabbed the muscular pokémon with a pyscho cut that felled Gurdurr, knocking him out. "You fool," the psychic garbled out, his voice disclosing annoyance. Goodra's dragon pulse—which he had not been paying attention to— contacted the psychic fencer in the chest, throwing him through the air and over Falinks' stout troops. He hissed in agony, and in the spilt second that the attack contacted him, Sylveon witnessed fear in his eyes for the first time.
He collided with the ground, heaving up grass and dirt as he cut through the terrain like a knife. He pulled himself up, clutching the protrusion on his chest. He breathed heavily and cried, "I can't stand it!"
The team rushed over, having gotten Gallade in a position to finally knock him out, or from the look on Scrafty's face, end his life. When Sylveon crept up to him, she noticed he was actually… crying? He brought his legs to his chest, curling up in a fetal position. His eyes were clamped shut and his body shook. "I can't stand it!" he repeated.
"He's fibbing!" Scrafty challenged. "I'll knock his lights out forever!"
Sylveon stopped the gang leader and said, "No, Scrafty. Look at him. He's mortified."
The two stood, the rest of the group at their backs. Sylveon let Scrafty go, and she gingerly stepped toward the crumpled form of Gallade, who shivered like he'd been stuck outside during a blizzard. She swallowed, wondering why she felt compelled to do this. She gently wrapped her ribbons around his legs, avoiding his sharp, bladed forearms. She gasped as she felt his petrification, and slowly, she channeled better, positive emotions into him.
"What's troubling you?" she asked calmly.
"The shame…" he prattled, his voice barely above a whisper, like he didn't want another soul to hear them. His eyes snapped open in blatant despair, looking at nothing. "The shame. It's terrible… I never wanted to do any of this. I can't believe I did." He shook his head and closed his lids in a vain attempt to force his emotions to shut down. "But—!" He gnashed his teeth together and anger rolled off him in waves. "If only I was strong enough! I should be above this disgrace!"
"Easy," she said, in the most soothing voice she could muster. Whatever guided his actions, he couldn't free himself of it, and in usual gallade fashion, blamed himself for not living up to his high standards. It was like there were two entities at ends inside him. Sylveon wondered if Gallade hadn't been able to speak as his true self for a long time. "You're doing these things against your will?"
It seemed he hadn't heard her words, but he hollered, "She's going to overwhelm me… get away, go away!" He extended one of his blades and prepared to cut himself free of her.
Sylveon unraveled her ribbons and leapt away from him. Gallade managed to stand, and as he did, the hollow, hostile look in his eyes returned. Sylveon's mouth opened, but her words were lost while witnessing his darkening transformation.
Gallade waved his hand and clenched his fist, like he was grabbing something. "You're next on my list." Within seconds, Gallade teleported, and all was quiet. Sylveon absorbed what happened for a moment, looking at the churned ground where Gallade once lay, and at the still figure of Gurdurr near the village's path.
Boltund broke the silence. "Are they… possessed or something?"
Goodra tugged one of her horns. "I don't care to become like them."
Scrafty looked overcome with disbelief. "I never imagined this." He shook his head and walked toward gurdurr. "Will he be himself when he wakes up?"
"I honestly don't know," Goodra responded.
"We can't stay here," Falinks warned. "I fear we'll have company."
"Let's bolt," Scrafty said, waving his arms in indication to follow him. "We'll try and figure out what happened later."
The group heard the flapping of powerful wings and grass rustling coming from the direction of the village. The team knew that they couldn't fight against the entire village and from whatever possessed them. They fled, leaving gurdurr behind. They had few berries to heal him with, and none were certain that by knocking him out if the poltergeist truly fled. More uncomfortable was the thought the team might succumb to the same affliction.
Sylveon followed Scrafty as they rushed toward the river. Many questions lingered in their minds, but before they could debate, they needed to flee as far from the settlement as possible with what remained of the day. As hindering as it was of late, Sylveon was thankful that the fog was so dense.
Scrafty clambered down to the river, and once at the bank, he threw himself in. The group hesitated from his doing this, but when he resurfaced, he said, "We need our scent disguised, at least for a while."
"Ah, so we can reek of magikarp and the like," Falinks groaned. Goodra urged him on when he hesitated to enter. She kept him and his troops afloat. The others soaked themselves, and then heaved themselves out of the water. They continued to follow Scrafty, wondering if he knew of some place to hunker down, but to Sylveon it seemed to be a tall order, especially if the village of pokémon nearby knew the terrain.
Out of breath from running for ten minutes, Scrafty reluctantly stopped and then faced the rest of the exhausted group.
"Do we need to perform any more dashes?" Goodra asked between breaths. She and Scrafty were the slowest of the crew and had similar facial expressions. Scrafty sat down and didn't answer right away.
"I don't know… how that demon possessing them works," he told them. He sucked in a lungful of air and exhaled. "If it can draw upon their knowledge, they'll know where all the nearby dens and burrows are."
"So, more running?" Falinks asked, sounding deflated. "I don't enjoy running from a battle, but right as rain I don't know what that thing would do to me— us." The brass looked at his troops, and their heads bobbed in unison.
Scrafty stood. "We can just walk now." He looked up and tried to penetrate the thick veil of fog. "I don't hear anything."
"What time of day is it?" Boltund remarked. "With this weather I can't quite tell."
"Afternoon," Scrafty replied. "We have a few more hours left to distance ourselves."
Sylveon's ribbons became limp. "Yet we're ever closer to the forest and Hydreigon's troops. I'm hoping if we meet them, they're truly lucid ones and not… that."
The group began to walk again. Boltund asked Sylveon, "Why did you wrap your feelers around him? That was dangerous."
Sylveon searched for the proper words to describe her actions. "It was a sort of compulsion. He was in pain, and I wanted it to stop." She looked away from her friend when she recalled Gallade's sheer hopelessness. "He's steps away from asking for death."
"He's conscious of whatever that crazed spirit does with him?" Obstagoon asked from behind, her voice heavy with incomprehension. "Gallade's been like that for four-seasons."
"Talk about being used up and worn out," Goodra said quietly.
"I'm surprised he's still alive," Sylveon said.
"Gallade and gardevoir can take a fair amount of incorporeal punishment, Sylveon," Scrafty said. "Most of their kind don't make it to their last stages; ralts are notoriously fragile, and kirlia aren't much stronger."
"Which explains why they're so protective and honored," Sylveon said, "As long as nothing goes wrong."
"So now there's us, Hydreigon, and whatever's possessing those pokémon that's feigning to be with Hydreigon," Goodra said. She tugged one of her horns and then threw up her hands. "I doubt the mountain lord knows…" She drifted off into thought for a moment. "Scrafty and Obstagoon, can ghosts possess your type?"
Obstagoon shrugged, and Scrafty scratched his head. The gangster said, "Not sure… our energies conflict, and the dark-type would have the advantage. It'd be risky."
"How's this work, though?" Boltund asked. "Like… would the ghost need to 'push' the host aside?" She snarled in discontent. "Is this even the work of a ghost? Where's a psychic or lucario when you need one? They'd be able to detect if there's another aura attached to a body."
"I don't recall that psychics can detect dark-type aura. Just lucario can," Sylveon mentioned, recalling a conversation long ago with Reuniclus in her home forest.
"Whatever this thing is," Obstagoon began, "It's clear it wants to use Hydreigon and his lackeys for its own use. And if Gallade's its eyes and hears, for all these four-seasons, it bided its time for the right opportunity."
"And it worked," Scrafty grumbled.
"So, what broke them free of the trance?" Falinks asked. "He mentioned he fought Gallade already," Falinks said, referring to Scrafty, "and well, so did I."
Sylveon said, "I hit them with disarming voice. Remember how it affected Scrafty?"
Scrafty rubbed his chin. "Might your voice have reached the pokémon within?"
"Seems likely. They broke into hysterics at the brink of fainting," Falinks said.
"Can they be freed permanently is the better question," Sylveon mentioned. "Yet…" She narrowed her eyes. "We have no answers, only questions!" She whirled her ribbons in dissatisfaction.
Boltund nuzzled against Sylveon's flank. She whispered, "Then let's let it lie for a bit. Discussion can come later. We don't want our leader to be clouded with worry, on top of everything else."
Sylveon couldn't help but smile at the poor pun and her friend's assurance. The others didn't want to probe this more, for Falinks asked, "How much longer until the forest, Scrafty?"
"Maybe two days," he replied. "At an increased rate without delays."
"What will you to do once we arrive?" Boltund asked. "You said you wanted to stay behind."
Sylveon, who walked up to the gang leader's side, saw the uncertainty upon his countenance. He said, "I've had enough excitement this week. We'll make a beeline for the forest ahead. I'm not ready to deal with the village or my old friends for a while."
"There's nothing there for us," Obstagoon reasoned. "Not until that spirit is exorcised. I'm content with our biggest problem being Hydreigon, and our being dark-types… if we find more help."
Having gotten a clear answer from the badger-like pokémon, Sylveon looked at the hesitant scrafty. "Scrafty, will you accompany us all the way to the mountain?"
"Until that evil's gone from the village," he uttered, looking distraught, "I'll be sticking by you." He gave her a penetrating look, his eyes settling on her. "Let's gain more distance before we hunker down and call it quits."
Sylveon almost wanted to ask if his "you" was intended as singular rather than plural, but after the action today, she agreed with him.