The sound of a thousand footsteps echoed through the desolate, empty town. A constant, pulsing beat. A march.

Bean swiveled her head back and forth, peering through the orange haze that coated the area. Frowning, she hopped forward and took to the skies, the dry wind tugging at her fur and weighing down her wings. She circled the town from above, squinting down at the crushed buildings and ruined paths. Still, nothing stuck out from the fog.

Bean's frown deepened. Where was that dreadful noise coming from. She couldn't bear to watch another heartless army ravage another innocent village. She needed to find Meyers, and escape-

Wait, where was Meyers?

Panic overtook her, dragging her towards the ground. She landed carelessly, scraping her wings against the coarse dirt and dragging it through her mane.

"Meyers?" She called out. Her voice echoed strangely against the ruined area.

She never left his side. How could she have let that happen, right now, with an army bearing down upon them?

Reaching out with her psychic powers, she tried to feel for the aura of another being. Her brain was immediately assaulted with the anger and ferocity of an entire army.

Crying out, she covered her head with her wings in a desperate attempt to stem the pain. After a few moments, the pain subsided, leaving only the throbbing suspicion of something horrible.

Bean uncovered her head and gazed around. Something was wrong. The air was clear of orange smog. The marching had stopped.

Her psychic senses flared as she sensed the approach of another behind her. Flattening her ears, she spun around to see a lean figure move forwards from the darkness.

Piercing blues and yellows covered her entire body, and her bladed torso and face shone ominously. Her eyes were the color of the raging seas.

Bean felt her wings go weak, and all of a sudden she had the strangest sensation she was weightless, floating in empty space, like none of this was really real.

"The ocean eyes approach."

"Eh? What was that?" A voice cut through the dream like a knife, tearing it neatly in two like a creased piece of paper.

Bean gasped as the feeling of weightlessness disappeared and she was left with the horrible feeling of plummeting back to earth. An aura of mild concern pulsed at the edges of her consciousness.

"Bean?"

The Swoobat fluttered her wings and tried to disguise a gentle groan. Her tiny feet scrabbled against rough skin in an effort to get a grip. Blearily, she opened her eyes before finally being able to pinpoint the aura emanating from below her.

"Oh, Meyers! You're alright!" She couldn't remember why, but she'd been very worried about him.

"Eh? Of course I am," grumbled the old Druddigon. "But you were talking in your sleep. Something about the ocean's eyes."

"Oh." The Swoobat cringed as memories of fear and horror came flooding back to her. That's always how visions were- she could never remember the actual happenings, only the emotions that came with them.

"I had another vision."

"What?!"

Bean squawked as Meyers pushed himself standing and she almost tumbled off his head.

"Oh. Sorry," he grunted, a faint aura of sheepishness surrounding him. Sometimes the massive dragon forgot his own strength and size, as well as the fact he almost always had a Swoobat nestled in his craggy horns.

Bean shook herself, her fuzzy mane sticking out in every which way. "Don't worry, dear. But I think we should get moving. I can't remember exactly, but… something bad is coming this way. I think we should move."

Meyers didn't seem surprised. Instead of saying anything, he crawled out from the collapsing shack they'd taken shelter in and pointed his nose into the smoggy air. The usually beautiful sunset painted the sky an ominous, cloudy yellow. "Lead the way."

Bean nodded and extended her telekinetic powers to the dragon, feeling for his brain, and more importantly, his eyes.

Not only was he old, but the Druddigon was also going blind. Bean had found him stumbling through the charred forest that had recently been run down by a passing army, unable to find his way out. Since then, they'd been nearly inseparable.

They'd also discovered Bean could use her psychic powers to help him see- it had helped them move much faster across the desolate land, avoiding hostility and otherwise dangerous Pokémon.

Ever since the king had been murdered and Invictus had taken control, the scramble for safety had become constant. Meyers' eyes glowed as she took hold, and using his enhanced vision he turned and began to head down the road to the east.

They walked in silence, too nervous to talk for the fear that a lone rouge might be lurking in the ruins. After a long few moments of winding through the haunting, silent maze, the wreckage finally thinned and the gentle, sloping hills beyond the village finally became visible. Bean sighed a breath of relief, and she felt Meyers relax a little as well. They'd needed to find somewhere safe to spend the night, and an already-decimated city was the best choice, but that didn't mean it wasn't incredibly unnerving.

"Thank goodness that's over. Shall we head to the hills? Maybe we'll find another village by nightfall." The sentence made her wince internally.

It'd only been a couple weeks and she was already tired and frustrated with their new way of life- constantly running, constantly hiding.

Meyers scanned the area, his golden eyes now tinged blue by the psychic power able to let him see farther distances than she could. Shifting his weight, he nodded, the Swoobat carefully balancing herself on his head. "I suppose. Although… I was thinking. Bean, maybe we should head inland. I know, human cities, but the warring armies wouldn't dare attack those, would they…?"

He trailed off, and Bean knew they were both thinking the same thing.

Would Invictus stop at just the Pokémon cities? Would he dare expose their entire community to the humans living just beyond their boundaries? Bean shook her head, worry clouding her senses, when a sharp noise suddenly echoed through the area.

The snap of decaying wood.

The pair's heads swiveled in unison, and their combined suspicion and fear roared in Bean's ears until she couldn't be sure which emotions were hers and which were Meyers'. The Druddigon dropped to the ground, his pupils narrowing to slits and his nostrils flaring.

"Careful! Please," she hissed to Meyers, a part of her vision suddenly flaring into clarity.

A bladed figure with burning blue eyes…

"It's hiding," Meyers growled huskily. "Can you… do the psychic thing? Read its mind?"

If it wasn't for the situation, Bean would've laughed and explained to the old dragon again she only sense emotions, and not actually read thoughts. She nodded anyways, though, drawing back some of her power from Meyers and reaching the rest out in the direction of the sound.

After she was silent for a few moments, her companion whispered, "what's wrong?"

Bean shook her head. "It's strange. I can sense something's there, but the emotions are… unreadable. It's just a blankness."

Meyers tensed with a growl. "We should investigate."

The Swoobat hestaited. If it was a spy for the army, or a rogue, or something else hostile…

"Forward," she finally whispered, barely audible.

The dragon crouched lower to the ground, moving stealthily towards the ruined house. The broken wooden wall loomed before them. Nothing moved for three long heartbeats.

"Now!" Bean cried, and with a snarl, Meyers lunged forward and around the wall.

The figure, which had been cowering and shaking behind the wall, screamed.

Bean yelped in surprise, instinctively reaching further into Meyers' mind and moving his arm and clamping it down over the Pokémon's mouth. Guilt flooded her almost immediately- it was rude and invasive to control his body like that. It had been an accident, an instinctual movement… but there was no time to dwell on that. There was a more pressing matter at hand.

"Quiet!" Bean hissed at the creature. It stopped squirming under Meyers' claws and looked up at her with tearful eyes.

The Swoobat frowned, looking over their captive more carefully. A bladed face and torso, all bright reds and grays. A slightly dirty scarf was wrapped around its neck and part of it was pinned under Meyers' back claws. It looked terrified… and young.

A Bisharp. That made more sense… Dark Pokemon were immune to her Psychic powers.

Bean shook her head. "Let go of them, Meyers. But don't move your feet." As soon as the dragon removed his claws, the Bisharp scrambled to its feet and turned to run, but the scarf was still caught and they fell back to the ground.

"P-please don't eat me! I- I-" He broke off, looking like he might faint at any moment.

Bean sighed. "We're not going to eat you, honey. We just need to make sure you're not… a threat. Or dangerous. Are you a scout from the army?"

Meyers growled and blew a heavy breath through his nostrils.

The Bisharp paled and shook his head violently. "N-no! I didn't even know there was an army coming this way!" His eyes darted around frantically as if he expected soldiers to burst from the ruins.

Bean was always surprised by how strongly some wore their emotions on their sleeves, even when she couldn't hear their minds.

"It's alright, darling," she tried to reassure him. "They're not here yet." The final word lingered, leaving discomfort in the pit of her stomach. She could feel Meyers' suspicion as well.

A breeze hissed through the broken buildings and made her shudder. "We should get going, though, before they do arrive," she said briskly.

Without changing her expression, she sent a gentle pulse of emotion to Meyers. A question. What to do?

Meyers blew through his nostrils and looked down his nose at the Bisharp.

He shrunk underneath the dragon's glare, pressing himself closer to the ground. The terror in his eyes sent a wave of sympathy through Bean.

"You're just a child, aren't you?" She murmured, more to herself than to him.

A sudden streak of defiance reflected in his eyes. "I-I'm not! I can take care of myself! I can- wait!" The stubborn shine turned into hopefulness. "Can I come with you? I promise I'll help!"

Bean hesitated, surprised. She'd been planning to ask Meyers if they could just let him go, as she'd assumed he'd just run away. Someone young and strong would be helpful. But another mouth to feed…

Bean reached out to Meyers again, forming a question in his mind. She wasn't opposed to letting him tag along, but it wasn't fair not to give him a say.

Meyers was motionless for a few tense heartbeats, and then he slowly lifted his paws and freed the Bisharp's scarf.

"C'mon, kid," he grumbled, tossing his head.

The young one leapt to his feet. "Oh, thank you so much! Mister, uh…"

"Meyers."

"And Bean," Bean chirruped.

He nodded enthusiastically. "Okay! My- my name's Rayzor."

Bean opened her mouth, but before she could say anything a faint sound reached her sensitive ears. A continuous, dreadful sound.

"They're coming," she whispered.

"What?" Rayzor frowned.

"The army," she said, and Meyers snarled in the back of his throat.

"We need to go," he snapped.

Bean nodded and without a second's hesitation, the dragon turned and stomped away, towards the rolling hills, the Swoobat bobbing up and down on his head.

Rayzor, who had momentarily frozen, jumped and hurried after them as the sound of a hundred marching feet became louder and louder.

Bean watched him out of the corner of her eye, noticing the way he anxiously twisted his scarf and how his eyes darted from side to side.

He's no older than a child. He doesn't deserve to be caught up in this war.

For a moment, when Rayzor had asked to join them, she'd dared to let hopefulness fill her chest. But now, the image of a massive, bloodthirsty army had burned itself into her eyelids.

Despite the companions travelling beside her, she didn't know if she'd ever felt quite so alone.