Chapter 8: Sister

A few days after Donnel and Quin joined the Shepherds, both of them have joined training with Reina and the other Shepherds paired Pokémon as they go up north.

"When it comes to Type compatibilities, you have to pay attention to their advantages and disadvantages." Reina says.

"What do you mean by that?" Donnel asks.

"All of you know the basics of different elements weak against like water puts out fire, right?" She asks, and everyone nods. "It's the same thing but in a greater scale. Pokémon who have different types from each other have disadvantages or advantage."

"What if we face a Type that is disadvantage to our Pokémon?" Robin asks.

"That's where the Moves come in. In each Pokémon they can use different Type of move that they are able to use. For example, Cait is a Normal Type and can use Double Slap- a Normal Type, Attract- another Normal Type, Ice Beam- an Ice Type, and Shadow Ball- a Ghost Type. Also, if you ended up with a Pokémon with two Types, figure out a Type that is weak against it."

"How very interesting." Miriel says.

"So we need to watch out for a Type that is strong against our Pokémon?" Chrom asks.

"As a precaution, yes." Reina answers.

~Later~
A nearby village

Just a small distance away from the Shepherds, there is a merchant with a troubled look on his face talking to a soldier.

"Blast… Here is seems all hop is lost. Still, hold fast. I'll treat you wounds…" He says to the soldier.

The soldier clenches his fists and groans in pain. "Ngh… It's too late…"

Chrom then rushes over to the merchant who is treating the soldier. "What's happened here?!" He asks.

"Nothing but death ahead, travelers. I'd turn back if I were you… Whatever your business here, it will have to wait. Bandits have blocked the road ahead. They're demanding a king's ransom in illicit tolls for all who wish to pass."

"They think to profiteer on refugees? Despicable."

"Our caravan's livelihood is at stake. We'll do no business in this country now…"

Frederick then walks closer to Chrom and the merchant. "The flow of goods must be secured, milord, or the people are likely to starve."

"Then we'll secure it. You and your caravan can wait here. We'll let you know when it's safe." Chrom says in a determined tone.

Meanwhile, away from the village, a pair of bandits who are quite similar to each other are leading their group to a village.

"Vincent, darling?" One of the two calls.

"Yes, Victor?" The other asks.

"I daresay we've come across a village, Vincent."

"And what a thriving little hamlet it is, Victor!"

"Indeed. I think it'll make a fine bit of pillaging, Vincent."

"It most certainly will, Victor."

"Well, then. I believe it's my turn to do the honors, isn't it, Vincent?"

"I do believe it is, Victor! Oh, but try not to kill them all this time, hmm? It tends to cut into profits." With that, Vincent walks away, letting his partner take care of things.

As Victor leads his group to the village, a red-haired girl is blocking his path with a sword in hand.

"Hat to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid this village is closed." She says with a smug.

Victor smirks back at her. "Well, aren't you a fetching young thing? And fetching young things fetch good coin. In fact, the gold you net from slavers will build Vincent a fine home!"

"Careful, love. Us traders are known to make some very deep cuts." The girl says unfazed at what the bandit leader said. Behind the young woman, a girl who is younger than her, pops up from behind. "Um… Miss Anna?"

"Oh, don't worry about a thing! I've got this under control. You just stay back with your little critter friends and everything will be all right!"

The girl looks down at the small canine-like creature. Its body is mostly blue and black with a yellow collar, rounded bumps on the backs of its forepaws, and a black mask-like with red eyes. "Rio.."

"I know. We've got to help out. Come on, Lu, the least we can do is defend this village."

Meanwhile, a small creature comes out the bushes when he sees it is relatively safe and carefully bolts out of there.

The creature has circular, light blue eyes, wide teeth, and spherical hands and feet that lack digits. He is covered with a yellow cloak that gives it a triangular outline. The coat is rimmed with an orange stripe and has three orange diamond markings on the back.

As he carefully escapes a bandit spots him and points to it to the others. "Hey! There's something going away!"

This causes the creature to panic and quickly runs away from them.

A little bit away, the Shepherds rush over to the village that the bandits are heading to.

"Chrom! There's someone trying to fight off the bandits by herself!" Lissa calls out pointing ahead.

Frederick sees what she meant and shakes his head. "Just what is she thinking? She will have no chance on her own."

"Then let's give her a hand, shall we?" Chrom speaks up. "Robin, Luke, Drago, can you join me?"

"Reido!"

"Mozu!"

"Did you have to ask?" Robin says.

"I'm coming too." Reina adds as Éclair gives a determined look.

"Okay. Frederick, can you, Sully and Ricken cover us on the other side of the formation?"

The three nods as they go their separate ways. The latter group goes to take care of some bandits coming from the hill only to gasp in shock seeing that they are chasing a small creature.

"Another Pokémon? Why would they be chasing it?" Frederick questions.

"I think for them, they know what Pokémon can capable of and could sell them off for a high price." Sully theorizes.

Seeing the creature stops and turns around before firing a beam of white wind with shards of ice in it at the bandits. However, one manages to avoid the shards and raise his axe at the frightened creature when Ricken sends a blast of Wind magic at the bandit.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" Ricken shouts at the brigand and Sully stabs him, killing him instantly.

The young mage turns around to face the creature who is staring at him.

"It's okay now. You're safe." Ricken calmly says, hoping they didn't scare it too badly.

Then the creature jumps up and down flittering its feet. "Yuki!"

Meanwhile

"That peddler woman was fighting to protect the village, you say?" The village elder says to Stahl as he, Lissa, Donnel and his Pokabu manage to warn the village in time to warn them about the danger and saw the woman on the way. "That kind of warmth is more than welcome in these cold lands. Here. Please use this to heal her if she's hurt."

"Thank you, sir." Shahl says as he takes a healing concoction from the elder before he closed the gates for safe keeping.

"Incoming!" Lissa calls out seeing more brigands heading their way.

"I got 'em! Quin, knock them down with Flame Charge!" Donnel commands.

"Poka!" Quin shouts as he charges them with his body covered in flames and crashes the brigands like bowling pin.

"All right, Quin!" Donnel cheers.

"Do that later!" Stahl snaps them to focus as he stabs another bandit with his sword.

"Right!"

Chrom, Robin, Reina, and their Pokémon have to cut through a couple more opponents, but they finally reached the red-haired woman.

"Milady! Are you hurt? Do you need…" Chrom trails off realizing she handled most of them. "Oh. You're… fine. Well, I guess it was silly of me to be worried, eh?

"Yes, but it's sweet all the same, handsome." The woman giggles.

"You seem to have things well in hand, but I hope you won't mind a little company? Just until we sort these rogues out."

"Aw, you ARE worried! That's adorable! I welcome the assistance."

"Thank you very much." The girl says.

"I knew it, Meena!" Reina calls out.

"AH! Reina!"

"Do you know her?" Chrom asks.

"Yes."

"Lade!" Luke warns getting their attention as they see more axe wielders.

"Luke, get close and use Slash!"

"You too, Drago and use Headbutt!" Robin commands as well.

One of Luke's arms glows white and slashes the them and Drago slams his head at a brigand.

"Oooh~! I see you got yourselves some of those fancy animals too!" The merchant woman says with an odd gleam in her eyes.

At the corner of her eye, Meena spots a bandit sneaking behind the red-haired woman. "Miss Anna! Behind-!"

"Éclair, use Iron Tail!"

"Pika!" Éclair jumps off Reina's shoulder as her tail glows. "Chu… Pika!" She slams her tail at a bandit who is sneaking behind the red-haired merchant and an arrow flies pass her head, piercing into the bandit's chest. The woman turns around to see the dead bandit.

"Are you okay?" The merchant turns back around as Reina lowering her bow down.

"Thanks to you I am."

Reina shakes her head. "You should thank Meena. If it wasn't for her call, you would've been killed."

"You're right."

At the same time, Chrom and Luke make their way over the brigands' leader.

"Give it up now! I was born a Victor, and victory is mine!" Victor shouts.

"Never! We will defend these innocent villagers." Chrom retorts and rushes in with Luke to fight the bandit off.

Chrom aims for a hanging left as Victor swings his axe at the prince, but Luke blocks the axe using Slash. Chrom then closes in and swiftly dodges the next bow that Victor about to land and then the prince slices Victor's neck, leaving a trail of blood drip.

"I… I see an open field… Vincent… Such beautiful flowers…" He breaths his last words.

As the Shepherds are finishing up, Chrom walks back over to the same merchant he had talked earlier. "Many good thanks, sir! I'd fear our goods would spoil before reaching market. I'm sure the townsfolk will be happier for the fresh food as well."

The red-haired woman comes over to the prince. "It seems you've done a kindness to my fellow merchants. My name's Anna, some folks like to call be the Secret Seller. Next time we meet, I'll be sure to cut you an extra-special deal."

Chrom couldn't help but feel he herd of the title before. "Secret Seller? That sounds… familiar."

"I'd tell you more, but then it wouldn't be much of a secret, now would it? Until next time, happy shopping, and may the gods of the open road keep you!"

"Uh, Miss Anna, are we just going to keep going?" Meena asks with her companion in her arms.

"Yep! More places to go, more goods we'll find!"

"Excuse me, do you really know Reina?" Chrom asks looking at her peculiar clothing to the canine creature in her arms.

The girl has short and bobbed, brown hair with a side-swept bangs and wears a dress with white top with blue skirt and high tops shoes. She also carries an aqua ribbon purse over her shoulder.

"Yes! I'm…"

"Her name is Meena." Reina says walking towards them with the Shepherds. "She's my little sister."

The Shepherds blink a few times and then shout, "HUH?!"

"Little sister?!" Lissa repeats.

"You didn't tell us that you have a sister!" Sumia says.

"You didn't ask." Reina replies.

"Is this true?" Chrom asks Meena.

"Yes. Reina is my older sister."

"Then are you like Reina, a Pokémon trainer?" Robin asks.

"A little bit, but unlike my sister, I don't like battling."

"Meena, I know I told you this before, it's your choice to battle or not. You're you. It's your choice to do it or not." Reina reminds her sister.

"Sister… You're right."

Anna, who watched the two sisters interact, taps Meena's shoulder. "Well then, I'll be on my way. Since you found someone you know. There's no need to tag along with me." She says gleefully.

"You're not coming?" Meena asks.

The red-haired woman shakes her head. "Nope. I'm a merchant you see, and where there's good and gold, that's where I'll be!" She waves goodbye at them and heads her way with the other merchants.

"Well Shepherds, it's already dark. How about we restock in the village and spend the night?" Chrom suggests turning to the others.

"Yay! We're not camping!" Lissa cheers.

"Yuki!"

Everyone jumps and looks down to see the same small creature that Ricken saved.

"That's Yukiwarashi!" Reina says and takes out her Zukan.

"Yukiwarashi, the Snow Hat Pokémon. Yukiwarashi is said to bring great wealth to any home that it lives in."

"We found this little guy running around the battle field and been sticking to Ricken's side too."

"Looks like that Yukiwarashi took a liking for Ricken." Reina guesses.

"What?! Me?" Ricken points to himself.

"Isn't it fine? Yukiwarashi chose you after all."

Ricken looks down and see the Snow Hat Pokémon staring at him. He then kneels down at the Pokémon.

"Do you want to come with us?" Ricken asks causing the Pokémon to smile.

"Yuki!" He says as Yukiwarashi jumps up and down.

The Shepherds all laugh from the Snow Hat Pokémon as Reina and Meena look at each other before both of them smile.

Yukiwarashi – Snorunt