Chapter 7: Enemies


"We have four Oran berries. The special dungeon kind. A sleep seed, an escape orb, a Pecha berry. Also the special kind. A few good throwing stones, just in case..." Bristle removed supplies from the boxes still laying around Rex's room and put them into each toolbag. "And, just in case we come too close to the fires, something special..." she held up a small glass orb. Tiny clouds shifted inside it, and droplets of water flew back and forth throughout, like an endless rainstorm.

Galvantula peered curiously past Bristle and at her strange array of delving gear. The box was filled with berries and seeds and wands of all kinds. She'd seen bits and pieces of refined dungeon-tech before, but it was surreal to think that most of it was built off of these simple sticks and seeds. And that, as crazy as Bristle's collection seemed, it was nothing compared to the extensive hoards of more seasoned delvers.

"That's all fine and dandy," Rex said as he leaned against the doorframe. "But I'm not sure how any of that helps us find a missing person." With the gear she had chosen, it seemed like she wanted for them to end up in a dungeon.

"Well, search and rescue isn't exactly my specialty. Someone had to see him leave. We'll just find out which way he went and follow," she said, throwing her own bag over her shoulder.

"We asked around already. It was early that night, and I think he took my coat with him. No one saw him on the way out..." Umbreon mumbled guiltily from beside Rex.

"Right. So in short: you have absolutely no plan whatsoever. We're going to wander out into miles of woods in search of a missing child, completely uncoordinated with the other search parties, and at risk of actually wandering into a wildfire," Rex summarized.

"We'll figure something out when we get there," Bristle pushed past them and walked towards the front door. Umbreon cringed, looking after her doubtfully.

"Yeah, no." Rex said simply. He glanced around at the rest of their group. "If we wander off into the woods with literally no plan whatsoever, we're just all going to end up lost. And then maybe burn to death. I'm not doing that." He threw his bag to the ground and glared at her challengingly.

"You will do as you're told if you want to remain a member of this guild," Bristle growled, puffing her shoulders to try and look more intimidating. To her surprise, he only smirked.

"Fine," he threw his hands up disarmingly. "You can threaten me like that. But how are you threatening everyone else?"

For the first time Bristle registered the doubt on Umbreon and Galvantula's faces. They were frozen by Rex's side.

"I-I think Hel- Rex has a point... " Galvantula clicked her front pincers together anxiously.

"I'm going either way, but it wouldn't hurt to come up with a plan..." Umbreon muttered without peeling her eyes from the ground.

Bristle growled and threw her bag to the ground. Helioptile had cornered her there. She couldn't coerce her client and new recruit so easily.

"Fine. We can come up with a plan before we head out," she pouted, and sat down on the ground by them. They all sat downed and stared at her expectantly. "Well. Any ideas?" she asked after an awkward moment.

Rex rolled his eyes. The big bad guildmaster had zero ideas to offer, of course. He turned to Umbreon.

"You said there were already some search parties, right?" he asked.

"Yes... Taproot went out personally. Spritz too, but it sounds like she got called back to handle the fires... A few other townsfolk formed parties as well. But I thought Roselia here might have some fancy dungeon gear or something that might help..." she said regretfully.

Rex nodded. "Any fliers?"

Umbreon shook her head. "No. The canopy is too thick for an aerial search to be too useful. Especially... for someone as small as Mumble," she teared up a bit.

"Right," he muttered pensively. "But at the very least a flier might be able to help coordinate the different parties. And make sure we stay away from the fires." He frowned, considering that for a moment. "Talonflame said fires, right? As in, multiple?"

"That was how I heard it, yes." Bristle said. Everyone else nodded in unison.

"How does that just happen? Multiple separate fires at once? And I don't know much about the area, or wildfires at all really, but won't it spread to the whole forest eventually?"

"Probably a rogue fire type got spooked," Umbreon explained, trembling a bit as she envisioned Mumble trapped in the blaze. "Generally even ferals know better than to start fires in the woods. Burning up their habitat is bad, even for a fire type. But sometimes fire type ferals get stuck in a new place and panic."

"What does this matter? The fires aren't our problem." Several vines from Bristle's buds snapped at the ground impatiently.

"It matters quite a lot," Rex glared at her. "We're going into the woods, and the woods are apparently on fire. I'd like to know why and what we should be watching out for."

Bristle huffed, but let it go.

"And about your other question... it's impossible to know what would happen if the fire was left totally alone. But usually when something like this happens, water types put it out before too long. Feral water types have an instinct to protect the woods they live in. We send out civilized ones just to be safe," Umbreon explained.

Rex nodded. The game of rock-paper-scissors was always being played here, even on a regional scale. The fate of Solemn Meadow wasn't much of his concern, but he was glad to hear the little hamlet would probably be fine.

"Alright. Well, first of all, we should see if Talonflame is willing to help coordinate and keep us updated about the fire," Rex resolved. "If he can find the other search parties, we can try to make sure we search different areas, and that everyone stays safe. He can also make sure no one gets lost."

"That's a really good idea!" Galvantula perked up, relieved at the thought of being nowhere near a fire.

"That makes sense, I suppose," Bristle gave a begrudging nod. "But weren't you the one complaining about wandering around the woods aimlessly? How is this any different?"

"Because at least this way we're not at any risk of getting caught up in a fire or lost," Rex pointed out. "That said, I would still prefer if we had an actual search plan." He glanced around the room expectantly.

After a silent moment, Galvantula raised a pincer.

"Yes, Galvantula?" Rex muttered, looking to the side to avoid her six staring eyes.

"We could uhm... try asking Bastette to help? He's got a real good nose on him."

"No," Bristle interjected immediately.

Rex groaned and leaned his head onto the wall behind him. "And what grudge do you have against this person, guildmaster?"

"I have nothing against him. It's what he has against me. I've never done a thing to him, yet he treats me like trash."

Rex didn't believe that for a second. "Ignoring your personal drama, do you think he could actually help us here?"

"Maybe. I suspect the rumors of his tracking abilities are overstated, but his species do have strong noses," she muttered without meeting his eyes. "But even so, I will not sink so low as to request aid from someone so disrespectful."

"I'm... I think I'll..." Umbreon started to speak up nervously. But Rex cut her off.

"There is a missing child, possibly dying in a fire, and you're seriously more worried about your damned ego?" Rex demanded angrily.

Silence fell over the room as Rex realized what he'd just said. He glanced nervously at Umbreon to see her eyes watering as she shrank back and trembled. Galvantula put a pincer on her shoulder to reassure her, looking equally as nervous.

"S-sorry..." he muttered. "I just think we need to take this very seriously. To make sure he's safe."

He knew that wasn't true. He wasn't losing his cool out of fear for Mumble. He was losing patience with Bristle. And Galvantula looming over his shoulder wasn't helping either.

Damnit, he was supposed to be the one who thrived in these situations. He didn't know what that meant, but he was sure of it. But the past few days had all been too much. He hadn't had any downtime. And now he was starting to crack.

"Fine. We can talk to Mightyena," Bristle finally broke the silence with her concession. "For Umbreon's sake."

"Thank you," Umbreon muttered softly between sniffles.

"Good. Why don't you two go find Talonflame, while we talk to this Bastette guy?" Rex gestured to Umbreon and Galvantula. He didn't trust Bristle to talk to him alone, Umbreon was a mess right now, and he was eager to split up from Galvantula. Talonflame seemed amicable enough that hopefully the two of them could handle him.

Galvantula looked disappointed but nodded her head as she continued patting Umbreon's back reassuringly. "We... we can try to get him, yeah."

"And then we can finally get going?" Bristle asked annoyed.

"Yes, because then we have an actual plan."

Bristle huffed and stood up, throwing her bag on again. "Fine. Let's go."


Bastette's home was little more than a fortified den. Wooden beams supported the nook that descended into the ground, leaving the bottom of it cloaked in darkness. A few simple belongings were piled up in the pit, encompassing the entirety of Bastette's simple living.

Rex peered into the dark hole pessimistically. "Seems like they're not home," he muttered disappointedly.

Bristle only shook her head. She snapped a vine against the ground loudly. "Mightyena," she called down into the pit.

Rex heard a groan from the hole, and after a moment the shadows seemed to creep forward. A midnight black canine crept halfway out of the hole and towered over him. He stumbled back from the massive hound, heart racing at yet another monster that could eat him in three bites.

But the beast's glare was fully focused on Bristle.

"You got a mighty lot o' nerve waking me up this early," he growled.

"It's well past sunrise," Bristle eyed him challengingly.

"Been a decade since I seen a sunrise. A record I intend to keep."

"Whatever. I'm here becau-"

"Because you need something from me," he cut her off with a malicious grin. Rex winced at the display of his many sharp teeth. "Let's cut to the chase. That's the only reason you'd be here."

"No!" she scowled. "I'm here because Umbreon needs something from you."

"Don't know 'em," Bastette started. He crawled the rest of the way out of the hole and began to circle tauntingly around them. "But I do know that if you care what they need, then that means you benefit from it. Therefore... you need something from me."

"I- this isn't about me! Umbreon's son is missing, and we need a tracker," Bristle hissed indignantly.

Bastette continued pacing around them like a predator, a smug grin etched onto his snout. Logically, Rex knew there was no chance of him eating them. Society wouldn't have reached this point if Pokémon regularly snacked on the other townsfolk. But that sure as hell wasn't reassuring his instincts.

"So what's the angle then? You want my help so you and your mighty stupid guild can take credit for everything?" he scoffed. Then, reading the surprise on her face he laughed, "What? You thought I didn't hear about the guild? I may not be much for socializing, but even I love a mighty good joke."

Bristle looked ready to kill. "If this was for me, or the Rosethorn Guild, you can bet your tail I wouldn't be here talking to the likes of you. But it's not. This is for my client."

"Your client?" he roared with laughter. "That's it right there. It's not your 'friend' you care about. It's not the missing kid. It's your 'client'. Your tongue betrays you!"

"Excuse me," Rex winced as he spoke up. He was hoping to avoid the beast's attention, but clearly Bristle couldn't be trusted to speak for herself. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Rex."

Bastette looked Rex over appraisingly. "Oh lookie here, little Roselia finally made a friend. May not be the best judge of character, but I bet you've got a mighty lot of patience. I'm Mightyena Bastette. I'd say nice to meet you... but the circumstances say otherwise," he grinned.

Rex tried to ignore his jeers. "Listen, you're probably not wrong that Roselia is asking for selfish reasons." Bristle glared at him with furious contempt. "But, that doesn't change the fact of the matter: there's a missing kid and we think you can help. I get not wanting to do it for her, but can you do it for the kid?"

Bastette sat down and looked pensively at the sky for a moment. "Well, I'm definitely more open to helping out anyone else," he considered aloud. "But I don't really know this Umbreon gal. And stars know that Roselia is gonna take credit for what I do no matter what. I don't really got the energy to go around correcting the story, you know?"

He paused, and then glared down at them with a malevolent grin. "Well, in that case, I guess it's a job then. Since you're doin' this for her after all, you should have no problem paying me for it, right?"

Bristle growled and started to speak up, but Rex spoke loudly over her. "How much are we talking?"

"Well, this could be an all day job. You even woke me up to an early start... " he yawned and made an exaggerated stretch. "I'd say a hundred and fifty Poké should cover it."

Rex scowled. He didn't entirely understand their monetary system yet, but he knew a scam when he saw one. Leafeon had paid him nearly half that for hard labor.

"You're disgusting," Bristle hissed at him. "I won't be reamed by you."

He laughed. "Don't think I don't see that little vine feeling at your coin pouch. If you really gave a damn about this kid, you wouldn't hesitate to pay my price. But we both know that ain't it. Finding this kid is a business investment to you, so you gotta weigh whether or not it's worth the cost."

Rex had to give the hound credit. He was a complete bastard, but he'd also made a bigger ass out of Bristle than she could make of herself alone. Which was an impressive feat.

Rex sighed and admitted defeat. "Bristle, just pay him. You can ask Umbreon to recoup you later."

"Absolutely not! I refuse to validate this flagrant disrespect by giving him what he wants," she yelled and coiled her vine defensively around the coin pouch.

"When it ain't about the money, it's about your mighty big ego, eh? You'd sooner lose the kid than see me win," his tail waved happily along the ground as he taunted her.

"For christ's sake, learn to pick your battles!" Rex yelled at her frustratedly.

Bristle's scowl only deepened. Rex was supposed to be on her side. Yet somehow she was getting it from both of them. Could he not see how Bastette was treating her? Or did he just not care?

But what could she even do? By hiring Bastette she'd play right into his scam, but refusing only fueled his jeering. Of course she cared about finding the kid. That was her job. This was what she was born to do.

With a stomp of her foot, she lobbed her coin pouch at Rex, pelting him in the chest. "Use guild funds as you see fit," she pouted. "But I won't validate him."

Bastette practically rolled on the ground laughing as Rex started counting out coins. "How mighty childish! Pretending that by shoving the decision onto him you don't make a choice yourself! Anything to pretend you didn't lose! When everyone else can see it!"

It took everything Bristle had not to attack him right then and there. But she remembered every one of the few words her father spoke. She was never to attack a civilian. And if her father hadn't sold the lesson, the disciplinary hearings her mother had received for her temper did.

"I- I'm going to go find Umbreon," she spat out flustered with rage. "Finish paying that disgusting creature, and meet us by the path to Solemn Meadow."

She stormed off while Bastette was still on the ground in hysterics. Rex glared at the hyena skeptically. Bastette was a necessary evil for now, but he could rival Bristle on the list of people Rex did not want to spend too much time around.


As expected, Talonflame had been more open to helping out. He agreed to coordinating search and rescue and set out ahead of them. He'd try to locate the other search parties, as well as the firefighting parties. Which left the five remaining Pokémon to make the trek on foot.

Their travels were predictably awkward. Umbreon was a trembling mess. Rex desperately tried to avoid Galvantula's constant attempts at friendly small talk. And Bristle desperately tried to avoid Bastette's constant mockery. Rex had to give her credit, he was amazed she hadn't killed him by the end of the trip. Even he wanted to strangle the antagonistic hound, and he wasn't the victim of his jeering.

But a few hours later they had returned to Solemn Meadow, and Umbreon led them hastily up into her home.

"Just throw anythin' with his scent my way and I'll be locked on in no time, ma'am," Bastette assured her with an eerie grin.

With a sad nod, Umbreon disappeared up the stairs towards Mumble's room.

"Quite like her. Shame she's got a family already," Bastette chuckled. "And truth be told, I know I ain't fit for no mate."

"What about you, Rex?" Galvantula piped up with another attempt to start a conversation. "You have any family?" She set her front pincer on his shoulder

Rex jumped at her touch, tripping and hitting the floor in front of him with a curse.

"O-oh! Sorry!" Galvantula cried as he pulled himself to his feet. Bastette glared down at him with amusement, and Bristle rolled her eyes.

"It's fine," Rex muttered with a scowl, averting his gaze sheepishly. How had he ended up surrounded by people he despised?

Umbreon came down the stairs dragging a small bed. "Thith should haff hith thent all ofer it," she mumbled through it and threw it in front of Bastette.

"For sure. Can smell the kid's mighty reek already," he muttered, bringing his snout down to the bed. He circled around it, sniffing heavily. "Yep, that's distinctive. Got a mighty good lock, I think."

"You can track him?" Umbreon asked hopefully.

"Sure can," he flashed her a grin. "Now watch the master at work." He shut his eyes and sniffed the floor vigorously, tail high in an alert position. After a moment his face tightened and he opened one eye. He wandered out the door, head still lowered and following the trail.

The remaining Pokémon cast eachother nervous glances and followed him out. He hadn't paused to wait for them. He was moving erratically, his head snapping back and forth along the ground as he'd pick up different scents, follow them for a few steps, and then snap back onto a different trail.

"He's been here a lot..." Bastette muttered. "Gotta find the most recent one..."

He continued his turbulent stroll down into town, nearly knocking over curious townsfolk as he flailed back and forth sniffing the ground in a frenzy.

"He's travelled this way a ton. And pretty recently too," Bastette explained as his movements became a bit less frenzied down one path. Then, without warning, he veered right off the path and into the woods.

The rest of the group hesitated for just a moment before following him. He pushed through bushes and weeds without a moment's hesitation, letting them fall back into place to hinder everyone else. All he cared about now was the scent.

"The trails converge here," he said, speeding up considerably. "He's walked this one route, a lot o' times."

Umbreon whimpered a bit, hurrying up to keep pace with him. Everyone else lagged behind. Now that they were looking, they could see little hints of a trail. It wasn't well worn yet, and it was definitely too small for most of them, but someone had definitely been travelling this route.

After about twenty minutes of jogging after Bastette, Rex smelt something the hound dog had been too fixated to notice.

"Stop," he instructed. Everyone but Bastette did. After a few moments the Mightyena noticed he'd lost his entourage and looked back in annoyance.

"What? Don't interrupt me while I'm working!" he growled.

"I smell burning," Rex pointed out. Everyone else turned their noses skyward and took in the same scent.

"R-right. I'll call Talonflame..." Galvantula chittered. She closed her eyes and inhaled, then shot her two pincers forward and unleashed a bolt of lightning up to the tip of the tallest tree she could see. It wasn't enough to start a new fire, but it left a visible smolder.

A minute later, Talonflame swooped down and roosted on a log nearby.

"Yes? What is it?" he shifted anxiously. Coordinating the groups had been more of an effort than he had expected, and the smokey air above the areas still burning was bad for his old lungs.

"We smelt burning. We wanted to make sure we weren't near a live fire," Rex explained.

"No, no fires here," Talonflame shook his head. "There's a singed swath nearby, but it looks like it was already put out. Probably some feral waters got to it."

Rex nodded. "Alright, thank you Talonflame." It was nice to get good news for once. With his luck he would have assumed the kid wandered right into the nearest live fire.

"That mean I can get back to sniffin'?" Bastette grumbled.

Talonflame made no delay in returning to his duties, and Bastette continued leading them into the woods.

The burning smell only became stronger, and soon they entered the singed strip. Within the span of a few minutes, the woods died around them. The vibrant and lively trees they had been passing minutes before were replaced by ones adorned with only a few charred leaves and coated in an ugly soot. Swaths of the ground were blackened and bare where they could be seen beneath the ashes.

"Jesus..." Rex muttered, still shuddering at the reminder of fire. Bastette sneezed violently as his nose inhaled the soot, but he continued on undeterred. Galvantula and Bristle looked as uneasy as Rex.

"The fire is out now... It's perfectly safe now... He came after the fire..." Umbreon quietly muttered reassurances to herself, terrified what she'd find at the end of their walk.

Rex examined his surrounds with awe. A single fire-type had done this... How could this world ever be at peace when a single Pokémon could do something like this?

But the more he looked, the more something bothered him.

"What happened to all of the ferals?" he wondered aloud.

"I assume they all decided to leave when it was on fire," Bristle suggested sarcastically.

"They just... walked out? All of them? Not a single one got caught in the blaze?" he continued scanning the area, searching for any sign that a single feral had perished in the fire.

"I assume so? It's a fire, I can't imagine it's too hard to run from."

Rex wasn't satisfied with that answer. There were no young or old that couldn't run away? Nothing got caught asleep or got injured and couldn't escape? But as strange of a detail as it was, it didn't seem relevant right now. The fires were only tangential to his goal here.

Bastette finally led them into a small clearing, where very little life remained. He wandered up to the trunk of a massive, scarred, and soot-covered oak at the far end and dove right between the roots. The group walked up and peered in after him.

He walked to one end of the little den. Then the other. Then wandered in a circle, sniffing frantically as his eyes widened. Then he stood frozen for a moment.

"He... he vanishes," he muttered in disbelief. "His trail just... ends." He continued sniffing as if he himself couldn't believe what he was saying.

"What does that mean?" Umbreon asked in a panic. "You have to have seen this before, right?"

Bastette closed his eyes and sat down. "Can mean a few things. For one it could mean somethin' big enough to gulp him down whole showed up and had a snack." He opened his eyes again to see Umbreon frozen in raw terror, and quickly corrected himself, "But that couldn't be it. Nothin' that big would fit down into this den."

Umbreon's expression only relaxed a little bit.

"Coulda masked his scent somehow. But I doubt some little mighty twerp could pull that off. Or, maybe..." he gave another curious sniff. "There's a few other scents in here recently that I don't recognize..." he continued sniffing, his tail starting to wag excitedly. "Yes! One o' them just appears at about the same time! A Pokémon's scent changes when they evolve!" he beamed proudly at his own discovery.

Umbreon stared at him in disbelief. "Mumble... evolved? Into... into what?"

Bastette shrugged his shoulders and hopped out of the den, sniffing the ground once more. "Beats me. Can't tell that just by scent. But I can follow the new trail."

"Is... is this where he's been coming?" Umbreon asked nervously as Bastette followed the trail back out of the den. "When he's been wandering off?"

Bastette nodded. "Probably? Place reeks of the kid, 'specially the little den down there."

Umbreon stared solemnly at the dying oak tree above the den. Glancing down at the ground, she saw a plot of singed land that reminded her eerily of their plowed fields. The ashes and dried out remains of a few lifeless weeds grew from it. She sighed.

"This is our fault," she muttered. Rex looked away from her with a guilty feeling. Like he should say something, but he had no idea what.

Sensing his anxiousness, Galvantula walked up and planted a pincer on his shoulder again. He winced, but managed to keep his composure this time.

"I do not like being touched," he muttered through grated teeth. He hated being the villain like this. But she was getting too close for comfort now, and subtlety wasn't working.

With a dejected look, she took her pincer off of him and stepped back.

"Uh?! Hey uh, you guys might wanna see this," Bastette's shaken voice called out from behind the oak.

The other Pokémon rushed around the side of the tree to join him. And it was immediately clear what had caught his attention. Seared into the back of the tree was a message across several lines:

Interlopers beware! The spirit of Flak Mountain reclaims these woods for their rightful owners!

Everyone gasped.

"A-are you saying the fires are intentional?" Bristle gaped in disbelief.

"That... that would seem to be the implication..." Galvantula muttered.

"WHERE IS MY BABY?" Umbreon demanded, pouncing at Bastette in a full on panic. "WHERE DOES HIS TRAIL GO?"

Bastette shoved her back, complete confusion on his face. "It just... ends again back here. Gone without a trace. There's no new trail this time. Nothing that could o' shown up and taken him. Mighty nothing."

"Someone took him! Someone took my baby," Umbreon wailed, now having a full breakdown.

Bristle and Rex both backed away nervously. Normally this was exactly the time Bristle would be reassuring the client. Letting her know that she'd for-sure find this spirit of Flak Mountain and let them have it. That Mumble would be back to her in no time.

But Bristle knew she couldn't get through to Umbreon right now. They both did. Trying to reassure someone in this stage of grief was well beyond either of them. So they watched awkwardly as Umbreon sobbed into Galvantula.

Bastette continued sniffing the spot, over and over again. Trying desperately to figure out the trick. How Mumble had seemingly vanished into thin air. But nothing added up.

Even Rex was at a loss for what to do in this situation. They hadn't just lost their lead. Their lead had vanished into thin air and been replaced with a totally different problem. A problem he knew Bristle would get them involved in. She would never pass up the opportunity to be the 'hero' that stopped the big bad magic arsonist.

This was too much. He'd gotten in too deep. What did any of this have to do with regaining his god damned memories? He'd totally lost the plot. It was just too much.

He wandered over dizzily to a nearby tree and slammed down against it to rest his head.

He heard the crack and threw his gaze up just in time to see the burnt branch crashing down towards him.

He closed his eyes and braced for the debris to slam into him from above, but instead a force slammed into him from the side and threw him away from the branch. His back slammed into the ground instead. Frightfully, he opened one eye.

Six hungry eyes glared down at him, four massive legs forming a cage around him as two pincers loomed, ready to dig into him and eat him alive.

Rex shrieked. "GET OFF OF ME! HELP! FUCKING SPIDER! GET THE FUCK OFF OF MEEEEE!" he flailed frantically, smacking at the monster pinning him and digging himself out from under it. He tried scampering away, but tripped in his panic and rolled onto his back again. To his panicked surprise, he hadn't been chased.

And with that singular moment of pause he realized what he'd just done.

Galvantula stared at him in utter disbelief.

Everyone watched the two silently, waiting for one of them to speak up. But Rex was frozen. What could he even say to that?

"I- I... uh-" he choked out. Galvantula shut her upper four eyes as tears welled in the lower ones and turned away. She quickly skittered around the base of the tree, and out of sight.

Rex felt everyone's accusing glares as he pulled himself off the ground. He rubbed his temple with his tiny claw. At least he didn't have to worry about Galvantula anymore. He stole a glance towards the tree and could still see hints of yellow behind it. She hadn't wandered off entirely.

That wasn't the ideal way for this to end. But she just hadn't been able to take the hint. It was an inevitability.

Bristle was giving him a furious scowl. Umbreon, her own eyes still filled with tears, slowly followed Galvantula. She wasn't in the position to provide much reassurance, but at least they could enjoy company in misery.

"What is wrong with you?" Bristle approached him, demanding.

"Several days of severe anxiety as well as mild trauma," he listed off in a hollow voice, eyes still locked ahead.

"Well, I hope you're happy now. You got what you wanted. You drove our newest recruit to tears. Now she's never going to come with us again. That was what you wanted, right?" Bristle ranted.

Rex sighed, collapsing to the ground again. He had to get out of this.

"As mighty entertaining as that was, I think this is where my job is done," Bastette came up to them looking annoyed.

"What? We didn't find the kid!" Bristle turned her fury to him.

"Yep. But you didn't pay me to find a kid. You paid me to follow a scent. And this is where the scent ends," he said with amusement. Then, dropping the grin, he added, "Frankly, this type of nonsense is exactly why I keep to myself. Mighty fun to watch, but I ain't getting caught up in it."

"Fine. Whatever. Go," Bristle turned away and flicked a vine dismissively.

With a wide grin and an exaggerated bow, Bastette took off back the way they came from, leaving Rex and Bristle alone. Rex braced for Bristle's lecture to continue, but Galvantula and Umbreon emerged from behind the tree again. Rex caught Galvantula's tearful eyes before quickly averting his gaze.

"Uh... Sorry about that, you caught me off guard," he muttered lamely as they reconvened. Galvantula mumbled something too low for him to hear and refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"Well, it seems that we're right back where we were before the brilliant 'plan'," Bristle growled. "We'll have to continue searching. I think for obvious reasons we should split into two smaller search parties. I'll stay with Galvantula. Umbreon, you and Helioptile can go together."

Everyone murmured awkward agreements, and they split off without much goodbye. With no trail to follow, and miles of woods to comb, it was a fruitless endeavor. The day was spent pushing through bush and brush and awkward silence.

Bristle tried her hardest to cheer Galvantula up again. To convince her that Rex had just been nervous. That he had panicked in the moment. But it was no use. She had thought they were becoming friends. But in the heat of the moment, his true thoughts had shown themselves. They both knew she would not be joining Bristle again tomorrow.

Neither Umbreon nor Rex were in a state to make small talk either. Both spent the afternoon trapped in their own thoughts.

The sun finally set behind the horizon, granting them proof of their failure. The search would have felt impossible even if they knew he was still in the woods. But with the mysterious disappearance of his scent, it seemed more likely than anything that they'd never find him. Mumble's fate would be an eternal mystery.

All the same, Rex knew they'd be back here again tomorrow. Umbreon to find her child, and Bristle to find an outlaw.

Talonflame guided the two groups back towards Tranquil Knoll. Once the two groups reconvened, silence overtook them all. Neither Rex nor Galvantula could look the other in the eyes. As soon as her home came into view, she split off from the group wordlessly and disappeared inside.

Umbreon made for the inn as Rex and Bristle stepped into Bristle's house.

"Your behavior today was unacceptable," she started with an angry glower.

But he ignored her entirely. He wandered right into the room she'd left him and threw himself right down on the bed. He shut his eyes tight, and pretended he couldn't hear her angry tirade, until eventually she gave up and left. And then, he faded off into blissful sleep.

No more.


A small, hazy office formed Rex's dream. The walls were lined with framed awards, and certificates, and printouts of news articles. Bristle sat back in an office chair, her legs extending unnaturally long down to the ground as she typed away at a laptop. He was still a Helioptile himself, sitting across from her with his head barely poking over the desk.

"I'm assuming from that look on your face that I'm safe to say 'I told you so'?" Bristle asked with an amused grin as half a dozen vines from her buds smacked into the keyboard, typing quickly.

"Dude was an ass," Rex muttered off of instinct. "Refused to so much as look at me."

"No surprise there. What did I tell you about pissing people off?" her expression became more serious, and her typing slowed.

"Piss him off? I've never spoken to the guy before!" he protested.

Bristle stopped typing and looked him in the eye. "No. But you need to remember that anyone and everyone can hear what we say. It's been less than a month since you made Chief Macaven look like a complete imbecile nationwide. Don't you think the warden is going to sympathize? Don't you think he's going to wonder if, by talking to you, he'll be next?"

"Making that guy look like an imbecile was an act of charity," Rex snorted, "Cause the alternative is that he's being paid off. But you didn't want to go that route."

Bristle nodded and eyed him pensively. "Yeah. Paid off or just incompetent, it doesn't really matter. As much as people love being outraged, police corruption is really nothing new. But people love a good mystery. That's the other reason I warned you against making the chief look too incompetent. If the police seem inept, people will assume that's the only reason the mystery wasn't solved."

"Even if they are inept," Rex muttered.

"Even if they are inept," she affirmed. "At the end of the day, there's no value in making enemies. When you make allies, they can help you. They can come to your aid when you need them. But no one has ever benefited from enemies. Enemies are a useless thing to make."

She smiled and a thick vine spun the laptop towards him, "So, let's apply this to your current project, shall we? The Roznell guy, in Discova. Tell me an exciting tale."

Rex shifted in his seat and considered, as if he could actually read the words on the laptop. But they were a haze, and he was too short to read them from this angle.

"Well, the tracking signal on his phone vanishing is a good start. Realistically the guy probably just fell off a cliff and shattered it on the way down. But if we lay the breadcrumbs for some conspiracy about an abduction or the guy vanishing on purpose, people will eat that shit up," he mused.

Bristle nodded, pleased. "A good start. That's a hook. But who's the bad guy here?" she asked.

Rex squinted. "Nature, more than likely. Possibly gravity." She looked unamused, so he continued. "Well, you've made your point about making the rangers look bad. So Warden Penmark is out. The only person that really leaves us with is Roznell himself. He was violating guidelines by hiking down into the canyon alone, so it should be easy to frame this as a consequence of his own negligence."

"All good thoughts," Bristle smiled widely, a sight eerie enough to crack Rex's hypnotic state.

A strange anxiousness set over him, as wisps of consciousness returned. "I-I'm not sure I get how that's any different than pissing off the rangers, though," he muttered. His confidence in his mental script was quickly waning.

Bristle's smile curled unnaturally wide. "That's the unfortunate contradiction of our job. People always need someone to be at fault. Without an enemy, there is no conflict. And without a conflict, there is no story. But at the same time, we need people to be willing to work with us."

"W-why are you smiling like that?" Rex demanded, pinning himself against the back of the chair as the room started to fade away.

"Roznell is a safe bet. It's very unlikely they find him alive. But in general, you have to be careful who you make the villain. You have to be sure they're someone who can never bite back," she said with a gleeful grin as everything melted away.

And a moment later, Rex was pulling his eyes open back in the real world. Scowling, he sat up and glared out the window. The faintest hints of sunrise trickled through.

That was a memory. He had no doubt about it. The conversation was too clear to be anything but.

And that meant his memories still existed. Whatever had done this to him had mangled his mind just as bad as his body. But while that short conversation told him a lot, it was still just a drop in the sea. He hadn't even gotten his own name out of it.

But... he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd regained that particular memory for a reason. It was strangely relevant, wasn't it? "There's no value in making enemies."

He furrowed his brow. He'd spent the past several days in frustration at the fact that every single person they'd come across was already against them thanks to Bristle. But he'd gone and done the same thing, hadn't he? All he could think about was that Galvantula would be off his back now. But what happened when he ended up needing her help? There were ways to get rid of her that didn't make her hate him.

He sighed and eyed the doorway nervously. The real Bristle would be here soon to wake him up. And no doubt she'd give him double the scolding for ignoring her last night.

He couldn't have that right now. He needed fresh air, and some time to process these new memories. And perhaps... a chance to fix his mistake.

With another sigh, he hopped up and wandered outside.


Galvantula's home was an odd, angular thing. A series of overlapping, wooden triangular pieces formed a singular small hut. Rex stopped at the threshold, and with a sigh yelled in.

"Galvantula? Are you home?"

After a moment's silence, her voice muttered quietly back. "Come in."

Rex pushed the curtain aside and stepped in. From the inside, her home's shape made perfect sense. A series of massive spiderwebs ran between every one of the many corner. Galvantula watched him from the largest, thickest web in the back.

Rex shuddered at the horrifying interior but tried to stay focused.

"What do you want?" Galvantula asked in a tired tone, looking at him warily.

Rex paused, trying to think of the perfect wording. But there were no golden words coming to him. He shook his head and sighed.

"Listen, I just wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday. With everything going on I was in a really bad headstate, and when you pounced on me I got confused, and-"

"I know," she cut him off and sighed as well. "I know you didn't mean to yell at me."

"But you're still upset," he looked at her guiltily.

"I'm not upset with you," she quickly clarified. "I'm upset with myself."

Rex tilted his head. That didn't make any sense.

"For... what, exactly?"

"Honestly, I'd been enjoying your company the last two days. And I thought we were getting along well..." she tugged at her web nervously with her front pincer. "But then I went and botched it up."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Rex waved his claws in front of him. "You were just trying to help me. It's just... " he winced nervously, trying to figure out how to go about this.

If she wasn't blaming him, then that meant he still had a problem. A problem that needed to be addressed, before anything worse happened. But how did he explain it to her in a way that wasn't offensive?

"Where I'm from, the only spiders are all feral," he told a technical truth. "So I have... bad experiences, that you remind me of. I'm sorry. That's not your fault, but I can't help it."

It was the closest to the truth he could get without begetting more questions.

Galvantula stared into space for a few moments, before backing up her web anxiously.

"O-oh... I- I'm so sorry... I had no idea..." she muttered. "I botched it up even more... I wanted to hang around you and you were just trying to get rid of me..." She grasped her head with her front pincers and shook it vigorously. "Oooooh... Why did I think something so stupid?"

Rex watched her awkwardly. He knew he should say something, but nothing came to mind. This was what he wanted after all. She would give him space now, but he hadn't made an enemy of her. Uncomfortable as it was to watch, it was a successful outcome.

Finally, words came to mind.

"Like I said, it's not your fault. And I'll work on getting over it in the future. But I just wanted you to understand why I reacted the way I did," he explained. It was true that he intended to work on getting past it. There was no telling what other bizarre monsters he'd need to work with in the future. He'd need to become numb. "I just wanted to apologize for it anyways and say that I hope this doesn't sour things between us."

Galvantula let go of her head and gave a slow nod. "Y-yeah! I'm really sorry about this... I should have realized sooner... But Bristle... No..." she shook her head again, "I shouldn't make excuses. I'm sorry."

Rex's eyes narrowed at her name. "No, by all means, continue. Bristle what?"

Galvantula stepped back again and looked away. She'd cornered herself now. "I- uhm... Bristle just said something last night that made me think something dumb, and I was confused today. That's all..."

Rex sighed. "Please Galvantula. If Bristle is saying stuff about me, I need to know what."

She shrunk back even further, hiding her face behind her pincers. "Well... Bristle said you had a crush on me, and that's why you were kinda distant. And I... thought it might be true," her voice shrank to nothing.

Rex clenched his fists and growled at the floor, making Galvantula yelp.

Bristle was worse than useless. He'd tolerated her dangerous and ill-fated guild antics. He'd tolerated her atrocious attitude. But now she'd gone against his clearly-stated will to interfere with his personal relationships for her own benefit. She'd tried to ship him with a god damned spider. She had abused him over and over and over in every way she could since the moment he'd met her. And what the hell had he gotten in return?

"Bristle knew that wasn't true," he snarled. "I told her I was uncomfortable, but she thought you were interested in me. So she tried to use me as bait to keep you around."

Six eyes blinked back at him.

"So... she... tried to make all of this happen?" Galvantula asked blankly.

"No, I imagine her ideal situation was that we fell madly in love and decided to stay together forever in her guild," Rex rolled his eyes. "But to anyone who isn't totally deluded it should have been obvious that something like this would have happened."

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have believed Bristle... I was always trying to give her the benefit of the doubt..." she looked downwards sadly.

"No. This isn't your fault. Why do you keep apologizing to me? This is Bristle's fault," Rex said sternly.

"Oh... I don't know... "

"Aren't you like... mad? She knew how I felt. She knew we'd end up hurt by this. All of this hurt you're feeling is because of her."

"I- I guess that's true... I just... " she sighed, "What am I supposed to do about it? I honestly don't know."

"Well, I know what I'm going to do. I'm gonna go give her a piece of my mind. She's not going to stop doing this shit until she realizes it has consequences." As soon as Rex said it, he realized that Bristle was particularly bad at learning from her mistakes. So he added, "And if that doesn't work, at the very least it feels good. You should come too."

"A-and do what?" she asked nervously.

"Give her a piece of your mind! You feel hurt, right?"

Galvantula nodded weakly.

"Then you go and give a piece of that hurt right back to her. You tell her how she made you feel and what you think of her for that! She's gonna keep doing shit like this until someone gets it through her skull!" he snarled.

"Oh... " she repositioned nervously on her web as she considered.

He sighed, trying to control his temper. "Listen, I'm gonna go yell at her either way. I'm just inviting you cause it seems like you need to stand up for yourself. Your choice," he shrugged.

"I-I'll come!" She sounded like she was convincing herself more than him.

She skittered down from her web and hopped next to him. Then seeing his unease, stepped back a few steps. "Uh- sorry," she mumbled sheepishly.

The two marched straight to Bristle's home. Rex threw the curtain aside and stepped in unannounced. Galvantula hesitated but followed behind him.

Bristle emerged from her extra room carrying a half-filled supply bag and glared coldly at Rex. Then she noticed Galvantula and her expression brightened.

"Oh, Galvantula! Good morning!" she said cheerfully.

"Uhm... good morning..." Galvantula muttered back. Rex glared at her. Then he turned his attention back to Bristle.

"I'm tired of your shit," he said flatly.

Bristle's scowl returned. "You're one to talk."

"You told Galvantula I had a crush on her."

"Did you not? I could have sworn," Bristle cast him a death glare as she feigned innocence.

"Cut the shit, Bristle," he took enjoyment from her visible outrage at her name. "I told you I wasn't comfortable with her, and you tried to make her get closer to me."

Her face contorted with anger. "I just wanted you two to get along well. That was all."

"Bullshit! You told me it was to recruit her to your stupid guild. You set us both up to get hurt just because you have some desperate fixation with having power over people. Well, now I'm pissed. How about you, Galvantula?" he prodded her.

Galvantula practically hid her face. "I... I don't like it."

Rex growled. Galvantula was pissing him off too right now. After everything Bristle had done to her, she still wouldn't let Bristle have it. It was no wonder Bristle had gotten away with being like this for so long, if even a fraction of the Pokémon here were this afraid to call her out.

"Come on, is that all? Tell her how you really feel! Give her a little bit of that hurt back!" Rex roared.

"I- I- " Galvantula choked for a moment and ducked her head. Then by instinct, she spun and ejected a heavy mass of webbing from her abdomen.

The surprise attack slammed straight into Bristle. Bristle and the webbing together slammed into the wall with a bang, knocking the breath right out of her. But she never hit the ground. The thick mess of webbing left her stuck on the wall, unable to move a limb.

Rex gaped in awe at the sudden outburst. Galvantula had been far more frustrated than he'd even realized.

"I'm sorry! But that's how I feel! You're terrible!" Galvantula cried. Opening a single eye to see what she'd done, she gasped. "S-sorry," she choked. Then she skittered out of the house as quick as she could.

Bristle squirmed desperately against the webbing, but with all of her limbs pinned to the wall she was powerless to escape. If he was even a bit less infuriated, Rex would have found it hilarious.

With Galvantula gone, every drop of hatred Bristle could muster welled up in her face as she cast her enmity upon Rex.

She hissed, "First and foremost, get me down from here. Then we will talk about your-"

"Shut up," Rex said loudly and decisively. It shook Bristle enough to make her pause. And the hatred on his face rivaled hers.

"Do you know what your problem is? You make every god damned person you meet into an enemy. You use people without the slightest bit of care or foresight, and burn every bridge at the earliest opportunity. Then, when you're dangling over the edge, they're more likely to kick your hand than help you up. You made enemies of Team Pride. You made an enemy out of Leafeon. You made an enemy out Galvantula. And, now, you've made an enemy out of me."

For once Bristle was silent, staring back at him in awe rather than trying to form some petty retort. He cast her one final hateful glare and marched right out the front door, leaving her to clean up her own damned mess.

He didn't care what Amy said. Some people could only ever be enemies.

He paused at the thought.

Who was Amy?