Chapter 24: Fixer-Uppers


Rex had endured half an hour of Bristle's constant prodding as they waited beside the doomed rose bush in Bristle's foyer. He was only saved when a knock finally sounded on the doorframe.

"Come on in, Ashen," he called as they both stood up. A moment later, the Flareon popped through the door, followed shortly by Spritz.

"Vaporeon! It's good to finally have you here," Bristle said with a wide grin. "And Ashen, I, err- didn't expect to see you back."

"It's good to finally be here!" Spritz reassured her with an equally big smile. "And come on now, you didn't think my bro was just gonna abandon you cause you got hurt, did you?" she asked, giving her brother a playful shoulder-check.

Bristle winced at the question.

"Let's get straight to the point-point, yes?" a squeakier voice called from the doorway, and Bristle cringed further.

Dedenne shoved his way in, dragging Wimpod by his tail end as the latter's eyes shot erratically around the room in a panic.

"Helioptile says you can provide supplies if I help you, yes? Orbs, wands, seeds, berries, yes-yes?" he demanded of Bristle, whiskers twitching frantically. Wimpod's eyes finally settled helplessly on Rex, silently pleading for the Helioptile to free him.

Rather than answer him, Bristle's icy glare dead locked on Rex. She started to hiss, "You recruited- OW!"

Her grumbling was interrupted by his claws digging into her shoulders as he cast her a 'shut up' look. But it wasn't enough for her to catch the hint.

"Watch the claws! That hurts!" she growled.

"Oh my god you're hopeless," he muttered, sinking his face into his free claw.

He turned to the four onlookers, watching with expressions ranging between Dedenne's unamusement, Spritz's confusion, Wimpod's mild panic, and Ashen's utter apathy. "Please make yourselves at home while I speak to the 'Guildmaster'," he told them, unable to resist sneering at the word.

With an indignant scowl the whole way, Bristle let him drag her into her room. The instant they were out of sight she let out a hiss, holding her buds up at him like she was ready to fight.

"A Wimpod? You brought me a Wimpod? And Dedenne has poisoned both of us! Are you utterly insane?" she barked, just barely keeping her voice low enough for their guests not to hear.

Rex put his claws up disarmingly. "Alright, I want you to calm down, put the pom-poms down a sec, and hear me out."

Bristle recoiled. "P-pom-poms?!" she snarled, planting them firmly on her waist. "Do I LOOK like an Oricorio to you?"

"Yes," Rex replied instantly.

He had no idea what an Oricorio was, but based on the small growl that escaped her lips, he'd landed a bullseye.

"Listen, Bristle. I want to lay some facts out for you: One, everyone thinks you're a psychopath. Two, you're doing this a few days travel from a way bigger and more respectable guild than you," he said. "So: We're desperate. Who do you think is going to join us? Desperate people."

"What's even the point if we're accepting the absolute dredges though?" she finally demanded. "How is a neurotic bug going to help us hunt down Faith?"

Rex shot a nervous glance to the doorway, before turning a disapproving look towards her. "Okay, for one- if you must talk shit about everyone you meet, stop doing it in hearing distance," he hissed like a snake. Bristle recoiled a bit, but her scowl wavered.

"For two- he's not. He's going to evolve into a hulking badass and then help us hunt down Faith. In fact, don't even mention Faith to anyone yet. I don't want them thinking this is some kind of suicide squad."

She placed her buds on her hips again and glared at him. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a Wimpod to evolve?"

"One in fifteen," he recited immediately. "But I'd place my money on the one that left the nest."

"And Dedenne?" she asked.

"He's desperate for rarer dungeon items to run his experiments with. Apparently seeds and old used up wands aren't enough. From what I've seen, most of the stuff he's creating is... misguided, but the technical knowledge is there. If we can get him gear and point him towards something less... stupid, he might be an asset," Rex explained.

Bristle's unamused expression said everything for her.

"Listen, I get it, he's a fixer-upper. They all are. But if we can fix them up we'll have capable people that are loyal to us, despite how incredibly unattractive of an option we are."

Bristle folded her arms and glared at him like a pouting child for a long, awkward moment. Finally, she let out a sigh and her posture relaxed.

"Fine. We can give them a chance. But you're going to fix them," she relented.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our glorious leader," Rex muttered with a roll of his eyes.

He pulled away, back towards their guests, before she could retort and she begrudgingly followed.

Rex opened his mouth to address the crowd but was promptly cut off.

"Alright, everyone. Thank you all for your interest in joining the Rosethorn Guild. Tomorrow we'll be holding aptitude tests to see what you can do. In the meantime- "

"Aptitude tests?!" Dedenne squeaked. "We-were told of no-such thing!"

"Uhm... Do I have to take one?" Spritz asked, grinning sheepishly.

Rex quickly stepped forward before Bristle could talk more. "The tests are... more of a formality. Just to figure out where you are. Don't worry about it," he reassured them. He could feel Bristle shooting him an icy glare from behind.

He felt someone else's gaze boring into him as well. He slowly turned to see Wimpod, still squirming helplessly in Dedenne's grasp, silently pleading with his eyes for the Helioptile to help him.

"Hey, Wimpod. How are you doing?" Rex asked him gently.

"M-make him put me down!" he whimpered. "I don't- I can't- I- I- "

"Hey bud, you want to be here, remember? You wanted to come, even though you knew you'd be scared. You're one in fifteen- don't forget that," he said slowly, eyes locked on the Wimpod.

The bug's writhing began to slow, and he finally nodded back with a pitiful look.

"Let him go, Dedenne," Rex ordered.

The mouse raised an eye. "He's going to run."

"He won't run," Rex said, staring Wimpod dead in the eyes. He received a tearful stare in return.

Dedenne shrugged and released his grip around Wimpod's tail.

The bug vanished in an instant, a dust cloud stealing his space.

"I stand corrected."

Bristle scoffed. "Well, that problem solved itself. Everyone else, I, err... " She paused and shifted her eyes nervously towards the spare room Rex and Ashen had been staying in. She only had two beds. "...I will be preparing living arrangements for you tomorrow. Can you stay in the inn tonight?"

"You're paying, right, yes-yes?" Dedenne immediately asked. Spritz and Ashen shot each other nervous glances that made it clear neither of them had much money.

Bristle winced a bit as a vine felt at her coin pouch. They needed serious income soon.

"Very well," she said through a grimace. She doled out coin to Dedenne and Spritz. But not to Ashen. "You've been staying here a few days already, Ashen. We have space for you," she reassured him, quickly stuffing the pouch away to minimize costs.

He shot a sad parting glance at his sister but nodded in understanding.

"Meet us in the fields west of town tomorrow for our first test. At dawn," Bristle said sharply.

"What she means to say is to get up at dawn, get ready, get some breakfast, and then head on over," Rex asserted over her. He knew she was glaring at him again, but he was getting used to it.

They waved the two new recruits off, leaving the trio alone in front of the rose bush. Moonlight had replaced the sun beaming through, and a light wind blew past the curtain in the doorway as there was a brief period of silent communication between them all.

Just as Rex was about to speak up the slow, muffled sound of applause broke the quiet atmosphere.

"Oh! Hoopa's valiant heroes," a voice snickered. The imp himself descended from the air above the bush, seemingly having snuck in from the skylight. "The puppet will be quivering like the Wimpod when she sees Hoopa and friends coming."

The three all jumped a bit at Hoopa's sudden appearance, and their surprise seemed to only double his amusement.

"What the hell is your vendetta against using doors?" Rex growled, stomping indignantly.

"Pointless things," Hoopa answered with a sly grin. He suddenly swooped into Bristle's face, making her recoil. "But that matters not! You have chosen to answer Hoopa's call, then?"

Bristle let out a small growl to intimidate the imp back, but he didn't so much as flinch. "We're going to catch Faith, yes," she snarled, admitting defeat by stepping back. "But it's going to take a while. We have to get everyone trained up, not to mention finding her."

Ashen shot Rex a very confused look, to which he responded by mouthing 'later'.

"Excellent!" Hoopa cried, clapping eagerly now. "So what should Hoopa do?"

Bristle's face curled up in confusion. "What? What am I supp- ow! Stop that!" she barked at Rex as he jabbed his claws into her shoulder again.

"The point is to get you to stop talking quietly," he groaned. "We're seriously having a talk about 'subtlety' after this."

He pushed past her to talk to Hoopa directly. "Hoopa, you've just been running around and hiding this whole time, right? What if you join us until we can catch her? We can keep you fed, give you a place to hide out. And in exchange? You give us transportation."

Hoopa's eyes widened with surprise. A mischievous smile curled onto his face, slowly growing downright devilish in proportion.

"Hoopa, a delver you say? And revenge on the puppet for weeks of toil? Mmm... you are a crafty seller, Helioptile... And Hoopa does like food, too..." he said in a toying tone. He jolted backwards and his hands clasped together in one grand clap. "Okay! But don't talk about Hoopa!"

Bristle leaned into Rex's ear and hissed- "We're seriously having a talk about you inviting crazy people into my guild after this!"

That just made him smile. She whispered it this time. She was learning.

"Where have you been staying, anyways?" Rex asked him.

Hoopa hovered over the bush to lean casually against the central pillar and waved a hand dismissively. "Here. There. Everywhere. Wherever the weather is good."

"Well, if you're joining, you can stay here after we get it set up," he offered. "As long as you're comfortable with the rest of the team knowing about you."

Hoopa seemed to appraise for a moment, before shooting an almost arrogant grin down to Rex. "Those guys, puppets?" he cackled. "The demon has higher standards than you do! Hoopa isn't afraid of those guys being agents!"

Rex glared at him past his hysterical laughter. "Okay. We get it. We're desperate," he growled.

Hoopa settled down, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. "Yes, yes. It's very well. Hoopa can stay with you." He glanced around the room, his eyes finally settling on the rose bush with disdain. "...Once you get Hoopa a bed with less... thorns."

"Yes, I get it already. I'll do something about the living space tomorrow," Bristle groaned.

But to Hoopa, it still seemed to be the funniest joke in the world.


Natalie's life had gotten weird.

One day you're writing fluff pieces for an online publication, the next you're a foot tall, have a probiscis, and are crawling through the gaps within the walls working maintenance. A thoroughly unlisted occupational hazard.

"Okay Nat, fly up here," a cheerful, effeminate voice echoed from a proportionally tiny box that had been strapped to her back. The device reminded her of a walkie-talkie, but the material was stonelike, and the "speaker" was a solid glassy surface.

Natalie did as she was told and flew upwards at the next intersection. Even to her the space within the walls was cramped, but with her small stature and tight wingspan she'd been deemed ideal for navigating it. Tiny, periodic openings in the walls let beads of light through to make the passages visible.

"You should be coming up on a metal plate on the inside of the wall. Do you see it?"

As the voice foretold, a dull metal sheet was driven into the inside of the wall above her by tiny, misshapen nails. There was no sort of camera on her- the voice just knew the walls by heart. She flew up to take a closer look.

The plate was covered from top to bottom in divots, and wedges, and lines of all different shapes and sizes. It vaguely reminded Natalie of a circuit board, except all of the different pieces she couldn't understand were different colors and shapes instead of unassuming greens and yellows.

"Yeah, uhm... It's here like you said. What am I looking for?" she answered back to her pseudo-radio.

"Near the upper right, approximately 6/7ths of the way up and 4/5ths of the way across, there should be a 1 tick by 3 tick fragment of a beacon orb embedded into the plate. Do you see it?" the voice asked.

Natalie stared blankly at the mess of random, seemingly garbage components all attached to the board. She didn't know what a beacon orb was, what a tick was, or remember what any of the numbers she'd just been told were.

"Uhm... I don't know what that looks like, Luci," she squeaked nervously.

An awkward silence buzzed back over the radio.

"...Right. Look at the top, and work your way across until you see a small hexagonal, red gem," they directed. Natalie obliged, finding the gem and silently noting that "small" was relative.

"Found it."

"Good. Now trace down until you find a smaller, uneven sliver. A whitish blue. Looks like a piece of broken glass," Luci instructed.

Her eyes fell down the board until she hit it. The problem was immediately obvious- it was falling halfway out, its upper half stuck to the board by a green glue-like substance.

"I see it. It's uh falling off! Do I uhm, reattach it?" she asked.

"Excellent work, Nat! What color is the adhesive they used?"

"It's like... a greenish... yellow... looks a bit like vomit," she muttered under her breath.

"Heathens!" Luci barked. "By the stars, nothing would ever break in this blasted place if I were able to implement my designs myself! The specification CLEARLY said to use Ganlon-paste. SOMEONE cheaped out!" She sounded incredibly indignant about it.

Natalie winced at the yelling. She'd always hated it, but now more than ever anyone getting loud scared her.

"It's- it's okay! I uh, I brought the Ganlon-paste like you said! Please don't..." she whimpered.

The was an uncomfortable, static silence from the box. "...Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to get worked up. Just reseal it to the sheet with the correct adhesive, please."

Luci was quiet then, and Natalie was grateful. Her long, spindly legs reached back and retrieved one of the tubes tied to her and she promptly squeezed a grayish fluid overtop the vomit green glue and wedged the shard back in place.

"Alright, let's give it a test. There should be an exit not far above it."

Natalie flew up to find a large gap in the wall designed for her and the other maintenance-bugs to exit through, leading her out into a small lobby on the lower floor of one of the Crest's towers.

And right on the other side of the wall, someone was waiting for her.

"Good morning, Cutiefly," the nine-tailed fox said casually. He didn't bother to look at her as he inspected the strange circle marked on the floor. His head tilted up to look at the small series of orbs embedded into the wall in two rows- one red and one blue. "So you've finally gotten around to this, eh Luci?"

"Oh, hiya Lore. What do you MEAN finally? I've had more important projects than you lazy clods not wanting to use the legs you hatched with! And this is way better than your stupid 'elevators' idea," Luci grumbled.

Lore just chuckled in return. "If you'd hatched with legs of your own, you would have done something about the stairs around here years ago. But I'll admit one thing- you may have had a better idea than the humans on this one. Is it operational?" he asked.

"Yep! This one's just a proof of concept, but the last issue was just a visual quirk with the indicators. Should be fully functional if you wanted to give it a test," she boasted proudly.

"...And what is the chance of this teleporting me several hundred feet into the air outside the tower walls?" He cast his amused grin at Natalie in lieu of Luci being able to see him.

"In my designs? Zero percent! In the implementation? Depends what clod you tasked with it," she growled back.

"I'm willing to take those odds," he laughed.

His eyes finally focused on Natalie, rather than looking through her at Luci's disembodied voice. "I don't believe we've met properly yet. I'm Lore, the Jade Crest's fittingly-named Lorekeeper," he said with a small bow. "I met your team leader. You're Natalie, right?"

Natalie's blood had frozen a bit, and she'd instinctually backed up. She did not like predators. Maybe it was some Pokémon instinct she'd picked up, or maybe it was just common sense to fear Pokémon that could swallow her whole. But they made her uncomfortable.

"I, er- yes, I am," she finally replied. She couldn't meet his eyes- they were too close to his teeth.

Lore's posture relaxed quite a bit and he drew back, seeming to sense her discomfort.

"I'd actually wanted to talk to you about something. What do you say we give this thing a test run and take it up to my study for a bit?" he asked gently.

"Are you stealing my technician? Ah, I should have seen this coming," Luci's voice called playfully from the radio.

"That's right," he laughed again. "Unless you'd like to come up here and stop me yourself. See how many stairs you can make it up before you expedite these warp stations."

"Bah, that's a low blow you clever fox! Very well. Just turn the box off, and turn it back on when you're free again, Nat. Thanks for your help." There was a click.

But Natalie was barely listening. Every part of her but her wings had frozen still. The fox in his study? Why? This hadn't happened before. What was going to happen?

"Don't look so spooked dear, it's just a talk. The Guildmaster had wanted me to speak with you," he explained softly.

In a worried trance, she hovered over to the warp station with him. They stood within the circle, and Lore inspected the various orbs embedded into the wall for a moment. They were unlabeled, but he quickly pieced it together and tapped his paw against two in quick succession.

In a flash of light, they were suddenly in another, similar room. An upper floor lobby, standing within a similar station. This one seemed to be half-complete though, empty divots in the wall where more orbs belonged.

"It seems we chose the right clods for the job," Lore noted with a pleased hum. "Come on, it's just a few floors up now."

He led her up to the very top of this tower, through the large painted doors, and into his cozy study. As soon as they'd entered, he bit down on a bean-bag-like mat and dragged it over to the hearth where one already waited. He spit a small ember into the fireplace, sat down, and patted the other seat with his tails.

Awkwardly, Natalie flew over and settled down on top of it. She'd yet to discover many comfortable sitting positions, but the baglike chair managed to be nice no matter how she slumped onto it.

And they sat there, for minutes. Natalie didn't dare to speak up, and the Ninetales seemed content to just watch the fire peacefully in silence. Whenever he'd notice her daring to cast him a fleeting glance, he'd offer a soft smile- mercifully keeping his teeth obscured.

All the while, her anxiety just kept building. What was he going to do when they started talking? What did he want to talk about? Was this some kind of trap? Was he on to them?

After perhaps ten minutes she realized that if she didn't speak up, she'd be stuck there all day.

"Uhm, what did you want to talk about... Lorekeeper... sir?" she finally managed to squeak.

He gave that same smile again and laid his head down flat on the mat, a disarming gesture that put his eye-level closer to her.

"Please, just call me Lore," he asked. His voice was kindly, but now that she could see his eyes up close she realized there was something regretful behind them. "Natalie... It's a nice name. Why did you choose it?" he asked.

Her... name? He'd wanted to ask about her name? Why would he take her up here, by the fire, alone, to ask that? Unless...

She gasped. "A-are you flirting with me?!" she blurted out. Then she practically choked, blood rushing to her cheeks as she wondered why she had just asked that aloud.

Lore suddenly reared back with a horrified expression. "I- No!" he yelped. "I just- I just wanted to know because it's- you don't hear that- I don't know what it means!"

His yelling and sudden movements only increased her panic. "I'm not interested, sorry!" she squeaked at a pitch that could shatter glass. Her wings were flying at a million beats per minute, only to drive her face further into the mat so that he couldn't see her.

"I- err- understood!" he barked, his back straightening to attention. "Sorry to- I never meant to- I-" He tapered off, becoming lucid enough to realize he was making the situation worse and gave a heavy exhale. "I just wanted to ask you about where you were from, as Lorekeeper. I thought your name would be a good segue."

Natalie was still squealing uncomfortably into the mat. Where she was from? That was even worse!

"Hey! Lovebugs! I told you to turn the box off!" Luci's voice echoed through, barely holding back hysterics.

Natalie drilled herself so deep in the mat that they'd never find her. Why did she have to become a Pokémon? Why couldn't she have just died instead and avoided this situation?

Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, no matter how deep she pushed herself into the mat she never phased through it and was eventually forced to withdraw. When she did, she couldn't help but notice that Lore's mat had moved a few inches further away and his expression was far more awkward now.

"Right, uh, sorry for the err- misunderstanding. I-I'm not interested in any of that. It's just my duty as Lorekeeper to manage the Crest's information and history. So when five people join from somewhere we don't recognize, it's my job to ask about that," he muttered in a hastened pace.

"Oh! I, uhm, of course, I see," she mumbled. Neither of them were actually looking at the other. "You should ask Amelia all about that."

He finally looked back to her with a sad smile, lowering his head once again. "Ah, but I wanted to talk to you. I mean- someone else, rather. I can learn so much more if I hear from all different people."

Natalie let out a heavy sigh. Amelia had prepared them all for this, but...

"What did you... want to ask?" she said hesitantly.

"Nothing that should be hard," he assured her. "Just to hear about your home. This isle of... Vista, I believe Amelia said? Where is it located? What is it like?"

She clammed up a bit, her legs tightening and her wings stretching out tensely. Just recite the story. Don't stray...

Natalie told him of the alleged "isle of Vista". A ways off the western coast of Trespis, it had been settled for lush fruit-bearing trees over a century ago, and had only had communications with villages directly along the mainland since. But their population was quickly growing beyond what the island could support in terms farmland and importing everything from the mainland was too unwieldy. Team Vista had been sent to observe the major settlements on the mainland in search of better farming or shipping techniques to lighten the load.

Lore listened eagerly. His expression was incomprehensible- not for a lack of expressiveness, but because it changed and flashed so regularly.

She finished her explanation and stared up at him nervously, feeling like she'd just finished a middle school history class presentation and was awaiting the teacher's feedback.

The Ninetales seemed pensive now but gave an affirming nod. "I see. Quite the predicament. I can't say farming or cargo strategies are among my daily readings, but I'm certain you could find something of use somewhere in my study." His tails spread out in gesture for her to look around.

"O-oh, thank you. I'm uh... I struggle with the books myself, r-right now. But I'll be sure to tell Amelia to look," she stuttered. Still, she took to the air and hovered over to one of the shelves, if only to get away from him. She perused the spines of the books curiously, finding that quite a lot of them were unlabeled.

He smiled back. "You defer a lot to her. What exactly was your relationship on Vista?" he asked, not rising from the fireplace.

Natalie stiffened up a bit. They had not rehearsed that one. What did she say, what did she say, what did she-

"We weren't dating," she blurted out.

Lore paused. Blinked twice at her. Then let out a stiff chuckle. "I, erm... meant your professional relationship. You have that on your mind a lot, don't you?"

She let out a pained squeal.

"She was my uhm- supervisor. And we were all, uhm... berry farmers," she answered quickly.

He tilted his head. "Berry farmers? Why did they send you on this mission, then?"

"We volunteered."

She had made it to the other end of the room now. Her pretense of examining the books was collapsing as she practically fled from him without glancing at them, and there was no longer anywhere to go. Yet the questions hadn't stopped.

"I assume your isle was already trading with the isle of Gloom?" he asked. He sounded forlorn, as though the questions were hurting his soul.

"We, erm- I don't know?" she squawked.

"You were sent to improve your trade routes, and you don't know your own trade partners?"

"A-Amelia knew them all!" she shouted. "B-but yes. I remember now. We do, but it's uhm... it's not enough."

Natalie could sense the sudden stillness in the study, and it suddenly felt cold as ice, in spite of the crackling fire. Lore was staring her dead in the eyes with a sad expression.

"Gloom is uninhabited," he said flatly.

Her wings stopped with her heart. Moments before she slammed into the floor they restarted by instinct and brought her back into the air as she panicked. They'd been caught. They'd be questioned, locked up, probably-

He was bowing.

"Checkmate," he said with little enthusiasm. "You're a human, aren't you?"

It took her a moment to finally choke out an answer. "W-what happens if I am?"

"I apologize for this," he said, still bowing. "I had wished to respect your privacy. All of you. But circumstances do not allow it." He raised his head and patted the seat with his tails once more. "Please, take a seat. Let's speak in earnest."

She hesitated for a moment. It felt like that carnivorous maw was now wide agape, and she'd be flying straight towards it. But what were her other options? She'd been found out. They all had. And even if she left her team behind, she doubted she could even escape the room without the fox catching up to her.

Dread in her stomach, she hovered over and settled back down on the pillow.

"...I sense fear," Lore noted with evident regret. "Let me reassure you that I have nothing but the utmost respect for humans. Your deception is not held against you, and so long as you continue to behave as good citizens you will be watched after."

Her body relaxed just a bit.

"Normally, it would be my policy not to prod on these matters. To respect your secrets. But there are strange things going on in our world, and I have been asked to determine your place in them," he explained.

"I- we- we don't have any place in anything. We ended up here by mistake," she said quietly.

Lore nodded in understanding. "That's part of the question, though. Crossing between worlds, or across time, or wherever you have come from is no casual mistake. How have you ended up here?"

Natalie took a big inhale. What she wouldn't give for anyone else to have been the one up here. Whatever she said would affect everyone. But she knew she could never lie to the fox.

She let that air out and gave a nervous nod.

"We were just, uhm... looking into some people that had gone missing, down in a canyon. We weren't allowed into the area, though, so we were just gonna ask around. But our friend vanished in the middle of the night. We figured he snuck in, cause he uhm... does stuff like that a lot...

"We didn't want to all get into trouble, so we went looking for him. It was an awful idea. We all nearly got lost cause Geoff couldn't read the map right, and then even if they'd found us we'd have gotten arrested for trespassing, too," she whimpered. "And then we found a staircase, leading somewhere underground. It was unmarked, and that seemed like the type of thing he'd latch onto, so we looked what was down there, and..."

Natalie stared up at him blankly. "That's the last thing any of us could remember. We woke up in the, uhm... 'mystery dungeon' as... this..." she ended, looking down at herself with a squeak.

Lore gave her an understanding look and took a gentle step forward. But she winced at this and he quickly pulled back.

"You've changed quite a bit, haven't you?" he asked softly. "If you need any help getting used to your body, I can find someone to help you. That goes for your whole team."

She didn't have the will to respond, but there was gratitude in her tearful look.

A telekinetic force nudged his spectacles up on his face, and he smiled at her again. "That's really all you remember? No one spoke to you? Nothing about these stairs, or where they led?"

"Th-that's all, I swear!"

Lore laid his head flat against the ground again, the most unintimidating pose he could muster, and gave a small chuckle. "Please, relax. I believe you. Is there anything we can provide to make you all more comfortable?"

Her eyes drifted anxiously around the room as she silently considered before shaking her head. "Just uhm... a way home..."

"I'll look into it," he promised. Then he rose to his feet and gestured to the door. "You may leave if you wish. I can tell I'm making you uncomfortable, and I've fulfilled my obligations. Thank you, Natalie. This has been informative, even if you don't remember much."

She felt a bit guilty quickly taking to the air and floating towards the door. He had been rather polite, but she still wanted to be gone as soon as possible.

"Uhm... no problem. Thanks for the offers," she muttered back.

"Oh, and Natalie! Please let your team know about this. I'd like to speak to the rest of them, when they can," he called after her.

She mumbled an agreement as she slipped out the still-ajar study doors. There was no risk of her not telling them about this.


"Holy shit, look at him go!" Rex laughed, an amazed smile on his face.

Ashen's paws flew through dirt in an unobservable flurry, sending it hurling up into the sky like a muddy rain. He swam through the ground in this manner all around the fields, segmenting them into smaller sections with shallow grooves and their corresponding mounds of dirt.

"Leafeon didn't slouch on teaching him to dig," Bristle noted with an unusually impressed expression. "Guess it's important on a farm."

By the time the others started to arrive, Ashen had doggy-paddled out three separate fields, and cleaned up most of the mess Brutus's quaking attacks had left behind. When Spritz's singsong voice called through the air, he popped out of a ditch coated in dirt to stare curiously back.

"Gooood mooorning!" she sang with an eager smile as she and Dedenne came up the hill. "Who's ready to test?"

Bristle smiled at her new recruit's eagerness. "You all are, I'd hope? All... three... of you..." Her eyes narrowed as she noticed Wimpod in Dedenne's grasp again, being dragged flatly along the ground without a struggle.

Dedenne followed her eyes and shrugged. "He asked-me to drag him-here."

"...Hi..." Wimpod muttered weakly towards Rex in specific.

Rex waved a claw at him. "Let him go, Dedenne."

The mouse raised an eye. "He's going to run again."

"He won't- " Rex stopped himself and sighed. "Okay, he might run. But he needs to do this on his own. He's not going to evolve if we drag him around everywhere."

Dedenne looked doubtful, but he let Wimpod go. The bug quickly backpedaled several paces but didn't bolt.

"...Good," Rex said with an affirming nod. "Now, everyone gather around. We can do introductions and then our brilliant leader can tell you how this test will work."

Ashen hopped from his ditch and spat a quick ember on himself, which rippled across his fur and burned most of the dirt to crumbling dust as he took a seat beside his sister. Bristle climbed up on one of the big rocks dotting the field.

"Alright, so let's go around the circle and get names out of the way," Rex said, and pointed his claw towards Ashen.

"...Flareon Ashen," he muttered. Spritz's eyes widened a bit with surprise, and she nuzzled him with a smile.

"Vaporeon Spritz!" she reported in turn.

Dedenne hesitated a moment. "Dedenne Clicks."

"Helioptile Rex," Rex said with a nod. He cast a look towards Wimpod, who was watching the circle anxiously from a healthy distance.

Wimpod froze up a moment. "I- err- W-Wimpod. It's just... Wimpod."

"Hoopa!" Hoopa cried excitedly from his spot in the circle.

Everyone yelped and recoiled, and Wimpod was twenty feet away before the cry had finished.

"Jesus! Stop doing that!" Rex hissed at the imp. "Just show up like a normal person one time."

Hoopa gave him a wide grin. "No."

Before Rex could respond, he was already vigorously inspecting all of the other attendants. Each one reared back in turn as he violated their personal space, snickering all the while.

"What are-you?" Clicks asked nervously. "I've never-seen of something like-you."

"Hoopa is Hoopa!" he answered uselessly, before hovering to the next person.

Bristle was silently fuming at this point from where she stood over them. She stomped her foot down on the stone. "As we were saying," she growled. "Roselia Bristle." She took a small bow, still scowling.

Hoopa finally settled down in the ring, smug amusement on his face. "Okay, okay. Names are done. What game are we playing?"

"We are not playing any games. This is a performance evaluation," she answered with a pout. "I'm going to spar with each of you in turn to get a sense for your abilities. Then we're going to take a short delve through Rolling Fields."

Rex propped his head up on his claw. "You're going to spar each of them, one by one?" he asked with smug amusement. "This will be fun to watch."

"Sparring?" Clicks shouted indignantly. "I am-not a fighter! I was-told if I-helped there would be supplies-in it for-me!"

Bristle just stared at him a moment. "Where exactly do you think dungeon items comes from?"

"Dungeons!" he chirped immediately.

"And what do you have to do when delving dungeons?" she asked as though he were a child.

Clicks was silent a moment, as if processing. "I-thought I'd be escorted! Not fighting-for myself!"

Bristle disregarded him entirely to shoot an accusatory stare at Rex for recruiting him.

Even Rex was watching him a bit questioningly. "Clicks, we're not going to escort you to get supplies for yourself. What part of that deal would be good for us?"

"Well I'd-make something super-cool for you then!" he pouted. "I just-need better supplies... Everything Leafeon was growing for me burned-up."

"Maybe that'll be an option later, when we have more people. But right now we need all hands on deck. So we're giving you the next best thing- teaching you how to get supplies for yourself," he said calmly.

Clicks' eyes flitted about and his whiskers twitched as he calculated it in his mind. "Fine. I'll try it."

With everyone on board, they encircled one of the fields and began. Spritz went first and smoothly. She was clearly no trained fighter but moved gracefully and was well practiced in her techniques. Even Bristle seemed smugly pleased with her performance. But the moment Bristle grew serious, the Vaporeon was shortly after laid out.

"Oof," Spritz groaned as she rose to her feet. "You hit hard."

Bristle beamed a bit at that. "That wasn't half bad for someone untrained," she noted her approval.

The praise was enough to silence Spritz's whimpering and she stood proudly. "Thanks! When I was younger, I used to practice a lot when I'd... uhm... pretend to be a delver," she confessed with a shy giggle.

That earned the rare warm, genuine smile from Bristle. "Well, it's not pretending anymore."

Before the moment could continue a shadow swept across the sky, blotting out the sun for an instant before crashing down to roost on the stone where Bristle had previously stood.

Everyone turned to face it, and Bristle raised one eye high. "Talonflame. What do you want?" she asked almost accusingly.

Talonflame didn't answer her right away, instead opting to shoot his gaze between each of the Pokémon present. Finally, he looked back at Bristle and tilted his head, inspecting her for especially long. Then he shrugged.

"This looked interesting," he answered dismissively, his voice deep and crackling like the last embers of a fire, yet clearly worn. "Need to fill the hours of retirement however I can."

Bristle looked displeased about this, but she didn't exactly own the fields.

"Whatever. Just find a different rock. That one's mine," she grumbled, waving her bud dismissively at him in turn.

Talonflame snorted, puffing out smoke as he did, and flew over to a further stone.

Clicks was up next, and he did not look happy about it. If Bristle had seemed pleased with Spritz's performance, she looked anything-but now. The Dedenne was fast, but little else. Clumsy, weak, and predictable, Bristle grew bored of him quickly and smacked him down without breaking a sweat.

She called it and he looked absolutely furious as he leapt to his feet, rubbing his sore cheek. "Well! This-was a waste of-time," he chirped angrily. "I told-you I can't fight!"

"He's telling me," Bristle muttered under her breath towards Rex. Then she spoke up. "Evidently. Which is why we're doing this. So I can tell just how far you have to go."

Clicks kept muttering to himself all the same, scowling as he returned to the edge of the circle.

"He has a point, you know," Talonflame's voice boomed out across the field. "That did seem like quite the waste of time."

The whole group turned to look at the bird, who was now standing taller and more regal on his perch. There was an air of arrogance to him which pissed Bristle off.

"Did we ask for your input?" she snapped. "If you want to watch, then watch. But criticize somewhere else."

If she'd phased him in the slightest, he didn't show it. He stared right back at her with cold, avian eyes.

"What did you gain from that exercise? Tell me one actionable item you picked up on from smacking him senseless?" he ignored her and asked in a cool tone.

"That he's weak, and hardly knows any techniques! His attacks barely phased me, and he cycled the same few over and over. Couldn't get up after just a few hits either," she answered, stomping her foot.

Talonflame didn't respond to her again, instead turning his beak towards Dedenne. "Did you get all of that?" he asked. "Be stronger. Learn new moves. Get up when they hit you. Understand?"

"No! I distinctly do-not!" he squawked indignantly. "I didn't sign-up for this!"

Talonflame's head cocked back towards Bristle again. "He doesn't understand. You failed."

Bristle was steaming again, but Rex's claw pinched her before she could protest.

"He's right. You are going to scare Dedenne off," he hissed in her ear. "Remember: we're desperate."

She looked exceptionally annoyed by it, but she relaxed a bit. "Fine..." she growled back.

Bristle shot an angry glare back towards Talonflame. "What are you suggesting then, Talonflame?"

He shifted his perch a bit and stared curiously at her with the same iron gaze for a moment. When he spoke again, his tone was just as stern, but that air of derisiveness had vanished entirely.

"Stop worrying about what they can't do and figure out what they need to do. His attacks are weak. Why? Is it a lack of energy behind them, or incorrect application? He doesn't know a lot of techniques. What vulnerability is that creating for him? If he's going down too easily, is he more suited to improving his endurance or his evasiveness? All of these are important questions, and you have asked none of them," he recited in an even tone.

Bristle was quiet for a moment and seemed to give it genuine consideration. Rex too was quiet, but his own curious stare was focused directly on Talonflame's face. Something seemed to register.

"You said you used to be a trainer for the Crest, right?" he asked.

Talonflame nodded cordially. "Some of their best were raised under my wing," he said. Then he gestured that wing towards Bristle. "That would have included her, too. But there was a thorn in my side that wouldn't allow it," he hissed.

Rex looked at Bristle and shrugged. "Listen to him, Bristle. You're getting free professional advice."

It seemed to be a struggle, but she finally let out a heavy sigh and relaxed. "Alright. Fine. This was a mistake. What now, then?"

There was a tangible break in the crowd's anxiousness at that admission. Clicks still seemed unamused, but the tenseness that suggested he was about to wander off lifted.

Talonflame swooped back over to the closer rock and shot his eyes across the group. "Who's up next?"

"That would be Hoooooo- nevermind," Rex said as he realized the imp had vanished entirely. Clearly he had felt Talonflame was less of a joke than their other attendees. "In that case- oh, shit!"

Rex broke into a sprint and dove, just barely grabbing hold of Wimpod's tail as the bug attempted to flee.

"Let me go!" the bug yelped, flailing in a panic.

"One in fifteen, Wimpod! Remember!" Rex growled, struggling to pick himself up as Wimpod fought against him.

Wimpod whimpered and fell flat, letting Rex drag him back to the circle.

"Well, you've certainly started with a challenge," Talonflame snorted, eyeing the bug appraisingly. "Training a Wimpod is an exercise even I can't say I'm familiar with."

"You don't know anything?" Rex asked disappointedly as he dragged the twitching bug onto the field.

"Only that normal drills are ineffective," he answered. "Combat skills are completely useless when they can't keep their head clear. They need to compartmentalize away the fear enough to evolve."

"Compartmentalize... Like that time he went catatonic during the fires?" Rex asked.

Talonflame shook his head. "Catatonic means he's walling off everything but his instincts. Including any rational thought. He needs to put that wall around his fear, and nothing else. Normally that type of thing isn't healthy, but..." The bird turned his eyes down to Wimpod with a surprisingly pitying gaze. "The fears of a Wimpod are not a legitimate emotion, and they cannot be quelled. Walling them off is the only option."

Wimpod began to squirm more at the predator looking at him. Talonflame seemed to recognize that and looked away.

"I am not an expert on this topic," he made clear. "But if I had to recommend anything, it would be exposure. Force him to face his fears, bit by bit, and help him learn to ignore them. Sparring with him now is useless."

Bristle furrowed her brow, but surprisingly didn't protest. "Alright. In that case..."

She hopped back up onto the rock beside Talonflame, forcing him to step aside with an indignant glare.

"That's all for sparring, then," she reported. "We'll do this some more in the future and try to be a bit more... specific about it." She glanced at Talonflame and received an approving nod. "Which brings us to our other exercise. We're going to break into small teams and make a run through Rolling Fields. It's short, weak, and right outside town. So even if you were somehow defeated, we'd rescue you within hours."

This was met with mixed responses. Spritz seemed nervously eager, Dedenne just seemed nervous, and Wimpod was, of course, having a panic attack.

"In that case, I'll be off," Talonflame declared. He cast Bristle one final stare, the faintest hint of amusement behind his eyes. "If you need any suggestions, come find me. I'm curious to see where this goes."

She glared at him for a moment, but it quickly broke. He had offered her useful advice. "Thank you, Talonflame."

He looked at her for another moment, that amusement flickering out. "You know my name, Bristle."

With a few heavy wing flaps he was high in the sky, and swooping back down towards the village. Rex stared up after him with narrow eyes.

"There's something going on there," he muttered lowly to Bristle. "But I have no idea what it is."

"What do you mean?" she whispered back.

"That was too deliberate. He came here to specifically help, and I don't know why. You knew him?"

Bristle just shrugged. "Not too closely. He'd offered to take over my training when I was younger, but mother wouldn't have it. Still offered me advice here and there. He's probably just bored now that he's retired and saw a chance to do his old job for a bit."

Rex hummed at that, clearly still pondering.