Fire Province: Town of Wildeburn: Age of Mew(Waning): Year 656: The Wildeburn Summit, Part 6

Moonbrand Present: Bravero, Conlan, Mandy, Ornia, Rudo

"Match 4, Rudo the riolu and Pierce the pawniard!" Alvar's white fur blew as the wind around the arena began to pick up very faintly. "Begin!"

Rudo rushed at Pierce without hesitation, aiming her Force Palm attack square at his chest, knocking the pawniard to the other side of the arena, and sending up a large cloud of dust.

"So strong for one so small." Gertrude mused as she sat next to her comfey teammates.

"Hngh!" Pierce tried his best to move his limbs and stand up, but was finding himself having difficulty.

Rudo simply smirked when he raised his head to look at her, somewhat smugly plugging her ears with her paws to shield against the weak Metal Sound that came out of Pierce's mouth.

"This is gonna suck for you." Rudo said as she walked up the clearly underprepared pawniard. "I'm sorry."

Pierce closed his eyes as the second, and final, Fore Palm came his way.

After more dust settled, it was clear that Rudo had won quite easily.

"Pierce is unable to battle, which means the winner is Rudo the riolu! Rudo advances to the next round!"

"That outcome was...disappointingly obvious." Ornis sighed as she returned to the bench where the rest of Moonbrand was seated.

"Well, no sense in waiting any longer. Aleron, Nezarix, you two are up!" Alvar smiled as both pokemon made their way down to the arena.

"Ready to get started, my boy?" Aleron asked with a hearty laugh as he took to one end of the arena.

"Of course I am. The question is, are you prepared?"

"Match 5, Aleron the terrakion and Nezarix the noivern!" Alvar announced.

"I'm always prepared!" Aleron grinned.

"Begin!"

With the flap of Alvar's wing, Nezarix vanished in a poof of smoke, replacing his body with a substitute, though it was clear to those watching that Aleron hadn't caught on yet.

"Let's see how you like this then!" The terrakion laughed as his horns began to mold into rocks that he rammed into the substitute, tearing right through it, ripping it to shreds.

"That was the most unique and powerful Stone Edge I've ever seen!" Ornia exclaimed.

"He must impart that technique onto me after the tournament is over!"

"Substitute, eh?" Aleron noticed, as he realized Nezarix hovering in the air above him, beginning to charge sunlight. "Oh, now that is clever! No wonder you lead a royal rank mercenary band! However…" Aleron kicked up a stone, before headbutting it towards Nezarix's left wing. "I'd prefer we keep this on land!"

"I represent the strongest mercenary band in The Flying Province!" Nezarix called as he dodged the rock. "And I fight from the air!"

The Solar Beam that Nezarix had been charging shot out, hitting Aleron directly, and leaving the molten ground somehow even more scorched where the beam had it. In fact, the rough arenascape had been somewhat terraformed into a flat, asphalt-like terrain.

"Whewww!" Aleron let out in a bellow after bracing through the pain. "That's a strong'n alright, but now I need to repay you for it! Get down from there!" A blur of various rocks formed around Aleron and rocketed towards Nezarix, pelting the noivern all over his body, forcing him to fly lower and at a slower speed so as not to injure his now incredibly bruised wings and body any further.

"You were right…" He replied to the terrakion. "That is a strong one."

Another disappearance in a puff of smoke later, and Nezarix had put another substitute on the field.

"I see…" Aleron grinned. "Same old trick again eh? Let's see you take this!"

As he rushed forwards with a Stone Edge, he wobbled on the unnaturally smooth arena, and ended up sliding past the substitute.

"No-!" He realized too late as he scrambled to turn around while a hidden Nezarix began to charge a Solar Beam again.

"Raaahhhh!" Aleron let out a war cry as he charged a Stone Edge at the substitute again, this time making sure to ram straight through it. "Now where are ya?"

"Up here." Nezarix responded from directly above Aleron, as he fired his Solar Beam, which Aleron slid back on the flattened terrain to dodge.

"I think I've got the hang of this now!" He grinned. "Time to knock the bat-dragon out of the sky!" He flung a Smack Down rock towards Nezarix, who instinctively strafed to his right to avoid the attack once more.

"How about I send some rocks down to you instead?" Nezarix asked as the sky began to momentarily darken, before many small meteorites descended from the heavens towards his terrakion adversary, burying Aleron in rubble.

The pile shook once, shook twice, and then crumbled away, to reveal that Aleron had been knocked out. The royal rank mercenary had defeated the champion guard.

"Aleron is, for the first time in a long time here, unable to battle!" Alvar announced. "Which means the winner is Nezarix the noivern! Nezarix advances to the next round!"

"And now it's your turn, right Mandy?" Rudo asked, excitedly. "I can't wait to see you in action! I bet you can't wait either, right?"

Mandy looked over at the serious and stoic Xenon, her opponent, as he patiently waited for Alvar to announce the next match.

"Yeah…" Mandy lied to herself. "Can't wait…"

Fire Province: Blaze Desert(30F Mystery Dungeon) 15F: Blaze Oasis: Age of Mew(waning): Year 656: Crustle's Caravan, Part 6

Moonbrand Present: Magdalene, Gina, Bennett, Verden

"Have you come to gloat?" The gyarados asked as her large head rested on the shale near the oasis while Magdalene and Bennett approached her, as Verden carried Gina on his back right behind them. "Do me the honor of just ending me if I'll never get to see my treasure again."

"We aren't here to harm or kill you." Magdalene spoke up. "But we do have some questions."

"Hmph." The gyarados was not pleased with being made to give trivia, but her eyes veered towards Bennett, the closest one to her. "Go ahead then, you first, ghost."

"Don't worry, I've got this." Bennett reassured his teammates before turning to the gyarados. "So...how does a pokemon like you make their way to an oasis in the middle of the desert?"

"I was born here." The gyarados responded. "My brothers and sisters all were too, but they traveled far underground to the source of the water. Only I remain up here."

"That's so lonely…" Bennett moped, disappointed in the answer. "I was hoping you could fly or something."

"I'm Magdalene, by the way." Magdalene rolled her eyes at Bennett before introducing herself to the gyarados. "This is Bennett, Verden, and Gina. What's your name?"

"Grutyme." The gyarados responded. "Though I suppose a name is not much use when one lives in solitude."

"Seriously, she's bumming me out, can we leave yet?" Bennett asked.

"Soon." Verden assured him.

"What was the treasure you were talking about anyways?" Magdalene asked Grutyme. "If we knew what it was or what it looked like, we may be able to recover it and bring it back to you."

"My treasure...Maodice…"

"I didn't quite catch that." Gina leaned over from behind Verden. "Did you sneeze just now?"

"It was the name I gave my daughter." Grutyme explained. "Like me, she was the only one of her siblings to stay near the surface, but a shiny pokemon is a rare enough sight already, and since we're out here, it's easy to lump us in with the truly savage pokemon. Hopefully she is alright, as our species line can thrive in even the worst conditions, but I fear for her safety and well-being, after being snatched from me by those bastard thieves."

"You mentioned them earlier." Verden noted. "That they used similar moves to the ones we did?"

"Toxins and mind-moves, yes." Grutyme grunted in annoyance. "Quite annoying really, they would rarely meet me directly in battle."

"Do you know which way they went?" Gina asked. "I bet we could catch up to them if this confrontation was at all recent."

"Further into the desert." Grutyme replied as she shifted her neck and head to point in the direction her former assailants had fled. "There was talk of passing through Geotherm, before heading north to sell her in the Fighting Province."

"We'll be right near Geotherm when we complete this mission." Verden said as everyone huddled together. "We can easily track these guys down."

"I think it's a great idea, but-" Gina looked down at her leg. "A broken bone doesn't heal as easily as a regular wound. Short of a professional healer, my lack of mobility will be detrimental to us, and we barely held our own against Grutyne."

"Try not to be pessimistic. We'll find a way to get your leg back to normal." Magdalene assured her as Verden turned to Grutyne once more.

"One last thing, Grutyne, before we head off, to both complete our mission and now to look for your missing daughter-"

"Maodice."

"Yes, her. In any case, we were wondering if perhaps you'd like to come along with us? I know most of us could certainly benefit from the rain."

"I would, of course, have chased after them myself if I could leave my oasis, but I cannot leave this peaceful area unprotected. One of those accursed campsites may spring up before I return, and they have a nasty habit of stealing our water and valuables. Furthermore, your ghost friend's shadow ball has taken the wind out of me. I need hours, and you don't have a minute to spare. Now get going, and bring my daughter back to me."

"This is sweet, that we're doing this" Gina said as the four trekked onward into the desert, followed by the three caravan carts of items and the two empty ones, "But this is probably a trap."

"Not quite…" Their heliolisk shadow smirked as he hid behind a dune, watching them move on. "But you aren't far off, Moonbrand...keheh."

Fire Province: City of Emberguard: Nobility District: Age of Mew(waning): Year 656: Espionage in Emberguard, Part 6

Moonbrand Present: Aaron, Hex, Terune

Aaron and Hex: Support Rank D Reached

"This is something I really don't want to have to do." Aaron grumbled as he and Hex walked towards where Terune was waiting near the entrance to Calbridge Hold.

"What, too proud to be acting as a servant, big guy?" Hex mocked, jokingly.

"Too concerned I'll overdo it, actually." Aaron admitted. "I can be very protective, and a little impulsively violent if I feel a close friend or ally has been slighted. I don't want to cause a scene."

"It sounds to me like you're already prepared then." Hex shrugged. "I'd be more worried about the kid messing up. He doesn't know nobility."

"It's too bad if things go south, we can't just fight all these nobles." Aaron lamented. "It would make this easier. That said, I'm ready for the challenge. After you, estranged duchess."

"Excellent work, retainer." Hex laughed. "Be sure to stay on your best behavior while inside, else you may find yourself demoted to a chamberlain's assistant."

Arc Proper

11:50

Calbridge Hold

Calbridge Hold's foyer itself was a sparkling den of extravagance. Bright red streamers depicting a raging fire over a desert landscape framed by two black pillars hung from the high ceiling as all manner of noble pokemon and their very own retainers crowded around and socialized.

"Is Aradia even here?" Terune asked, a little overwhelmed.

"If she is here…" Hex looked around as she stepped across the blue and purple carpets, lined with gold thread, lain out across the smoothed limestone floor. "She's near where Visha will greet the guests. We can't approach them yet though, we should probably mingle with the other nobles first. Oh hey, there's one I recognize from the Dragon Province!"

Bai the bagon had her arms crossed in a huff as she hugged the walls of the palace, ready to take her first chance to leave the area.

"Isn't that-" Terune tapped Aaron's shoulder. "Isn't she a member of Team Aspect? That Royal Rank mercenary band from the Dragon Province."

"It's not a Province anymore." Aaron whispered back to him. "They seceded with nearly everyone else, remember? If I recall correctly, it's still Grass, Electric, Flying and Steel in the UGM Province System. Everyone else is back to nations."

"With the exception of this province, which remains on the fence." Hex entered in the conversation.

"Shouldn't you be socializing, milady?" Aaron asked, half-sarcastically.

"I can't with a dragon-province noble, she'd know I'm full of it." Hex shrugged. "There's got to be someone else I can mingle with instead. Although, I would like to know what she's doing here."

"Well, how about…" Aaron looked around. "Him?" He nudged Hex towards a cradily, regailing a swooning manaphy and munchlax with his various exploits.

"Ah, but now I am but an estranged prince of a conquered nation, though I one day will take back what is rightfully my family's and drive The Obsidian Legion out of Petrapis for good."

He turned and noticed Hex. "How do you do, milady? Prince Cameron, at your humble service. I am intrigued to see such a ravishing noble so far from her palace. What is your tale? Surely it warrants a story. Perhaps one of my bards can craft a song for you."

"Well, this is probably going to go south." Aaron realized before turning to Terune. "You have fun, but don't touch anything you aren't supposed to."

Terune gulped as Aaron left him alone.

"Um…*Ahem*." Terune coughed as he got ready to talk in a fake voice. "Yes, I am a noble's retainer. I serve milady...um...what was the fake name we decided on? Hifroli? I serve milady Hifroli. She was once the ruler of a place in Dragon Province...No wait...it's a nation now, so...um…"

"Um...excuse me?" Terune was tapped on the shoulder by a magby about his size. She was dressed in a strange ceremonial gown as an incredibly stern-looking emboar, with a magmar wrapping her arms around his both stood behind her, watching observantly.

"Go-*ahem*" He fixed his voice. "Good day, milady. Why are you dressed like that?"

"I told you this was a bad idea." The emboar griped at the magmar. "The first thing they ask her about is the clothes. This is why I said let her stay in the village, elevate someone into a circle of status. It's what you did with me! We know it works!"

"Oh, you hush. She's still a child, and isn't here to marry anyone right away. She's here to understand how these things work, incase she wants to do something like this on her own one day."

"I still think we shouldn't be here." The emboar grumbled. "And where did that bird go? Nowhere?"

"It's a...crowning robe…" The magby smiled at Terune. "I turned 14 today, so I'm officially old enough to be called a Lady. These are my parents, the Great Lord and Great Lady of Cinders."

"Cinders?" Terune cocked his head. "I'm sorry my Lady, but I serve milady Hifroli, she was of Dragon Province, but has not been in contact with her home since before the merc madness incident. I'm afraid I don't know where Cinders is."

"We're in the south of the province." The magby smiled, eager to share. "Cinders is a great town built along a few canyon paths in the gorges that separate the Flying Province from us! We certainly aren't as fancy as Emberguard is though! Isn't this castle so pretty?"

"Yes, it is." Terune agreed.

"She's made a friend, see?" The magmar nudged the emboar. "She's going to be fine once she has to rule on her own."

"She's made one friend, and it's two a retainer who could be fired within a few weeks time, and who serves someone without any true political power. And seriously, where is that damn bird?"

"I'm T-Terrence, my Lady." Terune had to stop himself from introducing himself using his real name.

"I'm Masti!" The magby beamed happily as she eagerly shook his hand with both her own. "I'm actually Masti VI. My grandmama was Masti V."

"And your mother isn't named Masti?"

"No, she's Mafalta, and my papa is Enren, but mama calls him En!"

"Great Lord En, Grand Lady Mafalta, a pleasure." Terune bowed, mostly hoping to hide all his sweat.

"Hey, is this your first time in Emberguard too?" Masti asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes, actually, it is." Terune announced. "Have you heard the rumors about this place?"

"Nuh-uh." Masti shook her head. "But I heard something real cool on the road over here. Apparently, Sunstorm village, it was being attacked by bandits, but then a huge monster came and drove them out!"

"Oh, there she goes again." En motioned to the now rapidly gossipping Masti and Terune. "Child has her head stuck in the clouds."

"Oh, just let her have this." Mafalta smiled. "Besides, don't you have a 'damn bird' to find?"

"Yeah!" En looked around once more. "If he snuck off again to avoid babysitter duty-"

Meanwhile, Aaron was watching, impressed, as Hex sat through Prince Cameron's boasts about how he could have handled himself against the Obsidian Legion, managing to swoon in sync with the younger and more naive royal women.

"Any info?" He asked, when he noticed Cameron start to take an interest in a nidoqueen noblewoman over his storytelling.
"None useful to work with." Hex admitted. "But I did get a bit out of him before his Obsidian Legion tirade. Any minute now, Visha's going to open his doors, and will select a few nobles and their retainers to eat lunch with him. There's three classes of nobles in this regard. Those he's invited personally, which include among them those vying for marriage. Next, there are those that have requested to meet with him, and finally, there are those he determines worthy of entering. Usually someone new that's behaved themselves at the party, or perhaps someone who recently rose to power. In any circumstance, the noble can bring only one of their retainers, so it looks like Terune may be sitting lunch out."

As Hex explained this, Visha opened his doors.

"Good day, ladies and gentlemen!" He announced, happily. "I'm pleased to announce that the final charges have been filed, and reconstruction on the outer districts will begin promptly at dawn tomorrow, thanks to our wonderful team of specialist construction workers invited from around all of Ignia!"

The announcement was met with cheer from everyone in the room.

"Furthermore…" Visha continued. "Soon we will be ready to mobilize our forces and take to Geotherm! Out of all the outer cities, it is the only one that still supports the pretender Queen!"

"Okay…" Aaron whispered to Hex amongst more cheers from the fire-types in the room, "I'm back to hating this guy again. A frickin' god chose Tashia, she's not pretending at all."

"Try to hold it in until after the party." Hex half-joked.

"Now, on this glorious day, I invite the following names to dine with me, in honor of all that Ignia, as a nation, has accomplished: Cameron, Prince of Petrapis. Aradia, Marquise of Ignia. En, Great Lord of Ignia. Mafalta, Great Lady of Ignia. Masti, New Lady of Ignia. Mizuko, Princess of Fable. Cailyn, Princess of Fable, Layon, Count of Noironia, Lisariph, Baron of Ignia, and Shusnal, Lord of Momiji. You are each permitted to bring in a single retainer of your choosing should you possess one. The rest of you, please wait until after everyone else has been seated. I will then announce the maximum capacity, and let those worthy among you inside as well.

"Excuse me, miss Hifroli?" Masti tapped Hex on the knee as she walked by.

Hex gave the magby stranger a confused look.

"Can I help you, milady?" She asked.

Masti nodded. "Can you please bring in your retainer Terrence if you get in, later? He's my new friend, and everyone else here is so old."
"Masti!" Both her parents gasped in unison.

"I'm sure she' didn't mean it like that." Hex laughed, before turning to Aaron.

"Are you okay with that? I know I'll be let in, but are you okay with Terune going and not you?"
"I'm fine with it, sure." Aaron shrugged. "But what do I do in the meantime?"

"Find Bai. Anyone from the Dragon Province, or I suppose Longguo, if we're doing nation names again, must have something important to say. She was obviously here for a reason."

"Right." Aaron nodded. "Be sure not to let yourself or Terune get hitched at the luncheon. We need you both on the team."

"I'm not a nobleman's lady, so that's probably not too hard." Hex laughed. "Also, keep an eye on Aradia's manor. The other three are probably there now, so make sure no attention accumulates there. If any does, try to disperse it."

Aaron nodded, before heading outside.

Outside

"Finally, you're out." Aaron was almost immediately met with Bai. "You're the aggron from Moonbrand. You were with that weird possessed phantump too. I need help. You need to get to the Ghost Province. It concerns the whereabouts of Garian, the Dragon Province's former UGM representative."

"This sounds like bad news." Aaron clicked his tongue. "What exactly do you need help with?"

"In a word: Giratina."

Aradia's Manor

12:10

Moonbrand Present: Charlie, Micah, Semora

Charlie dug up through the ground and ended up in the first floor of the manor, in a circular room, connected to a narrow hallway, leading to the front door of the household, and three more hallways each leading to the north, west, and south.

"We're in." She whispered to Micah and Semora. "Where should we head first? The basement is probably where it's being kept, but the tether, if it's not on her person, is probably up in her bedroom.

"Should we split up?" Micah asked. "We can reconvene here if we discover anything."

"That would be best." Semora agreed. "I'll go west."

"I'll take south then." Micah determined. "Charlie, you head north."

The three nodded at each other before they each snuck off.

As Charlie kept close to the wall, making sure there were no ghost type spies in the area, she snuck northwards through the manor, until she came across a large room.

"Whoa…" She couldn't help but marvel at its size as she realized that she was only on a second floor, viewing the true room, a floor below.

"The basement." She muttered to herself. "There must be a staircase around her somewhere…"

She looked over the railing as she moved along her viewing balcony. The basement was largely empty. The floor was made of packed sandstone, and other than a small lava fountain, there did not seem to be any sign of life.

"It's not a bust is it?" She grumbled.

Semora's hallway had led her straight to the bedroom of Aradia's servants. "They're likely out shopping right now." She realized as she used her leaf blade to pick a locked door. She looked around the room, hoping to find some sort of journal.

"Ah-ha." She mumbled as she picked up a small bound book, hidden underneath one of the pillows. After once again opening it with a leaf blade, she flipped through the pages.

Aradia brought that thing into the manor tonight. Don't know what she's thinking. Girl must have a wish to go to Nowhere early or something. She says it's safe as long as we still feed it, but it's huge. Might as well take it to a tribal camp, let it eat everyone there. At least then it would be ridding the world of the uncivilized pokemon. It's too dangerous to keep cooped up here all day. There's no way she'll have it ready for Visha by the time he heads to Geotherm either. I better stop writing so feverishly before I wake Gretchen up again. Bossy bitch. I hope the Marquise comes to her senses soon. Gretchen is the only monster this manor needs.

"Why hello evidence…" Semora smirked. "We have what we came for, good." She slowly creased the page in the book, before stuffing it into her bag.

"Now, to regroup with the others-"

She was interrupted by a teleporting Micah, who had Charlie with him.

"We have a problem." He looked upset.

"What problem?" Semora's brow furrowed.

Micah touched Semora's shoulder and the three of them teleported down to the lowest level of the basement, housing the lava fountain that Charlie had seen, and nothing else.

"I checked all upstairs." He said. "There isn't a single room that can house a heatran. This is the only one that will work. So where is it?"

"That is unsettling." Semora agreed. "But we didn't come here to fight and destroy the heatran, we came here for proof that Aradia's been keeping it, and-"

She held up the servant's journal. "I've got it."

"Oh, you have proof? Good." Inkeri grunted as she shifted the fake lava fountain out of the way of the secret tunnel she'd used.

"Unfortunately, we aren't quite done...you see, this is the secret tunnel that Aradia uses to take the heatran on...walks. It leads directly out of the city, and well-"

"Oh no…" Charlie's eyes widened, as her mind flashed back to the tyrantrum bandit.

"Man, we thought we'd try and expand our territory by taking over one of the outer towns, with less guards, but we didn't expect whatever the hell that thing was to be waiting there for us! You better skidaddle too, kids, before you're eaten alive by that monster!"

"Don't tell me it's been out there this whole time!"

"It's probably halfway to Geotherm by now." Inkeri sighed.

"Then we need to get it out of there!" Charlie exclaimed. "Geotherm is the source of all our power! If it goes down…"

"Exactly." Inkeri nodded. "I hesitate to do this, but I need you guys over there to warn the citizens. I'd rather go without power for a few days or weeks or months, then have power taken away from us permanently. Most importantly though, the queen's parents work there. Their safety is of the utmost priority. Tashia has enough to worry about right now. We don't want to add any more to her plate. Micah, teleport Semora and Charlie to Geotherm, then come back and get Aaron, Terune, and Hex when their done gathering intel with the nobles. I'll send word to the others as well. Hopefully it reaches them in time."

Micah nodded, grabbed Semora and Charlie, and teleported.

As an oricorio cooed a single time, Inkeri emerged on the other side of the secret tunnel.

She gave an exasperated sigh.

"Let's hope things are different this time."

AN: Mandy, Xenon, battle strategies would be appreciated, as would strategies for Razr and Faden.

AN2: Blaze Desert Moonbrand, you guys are nearing the end of your journey, so any preparations you guys might want to make for the fight against the thieves you are now tracking down would also be appreciated.

AN3: Hex, Terune, you're about to be guests at a noble party, anyone you might want to talk to? Or anything you might want to ask?

AN4: Aaron, you get about 5 questions total to ask Bai before Micah comes to teleport you to Geotherm, so think on what you might want those to be.

AN5: Semora and Charlie, you're in Geotherm now. Any special things you want your character to do or look for there? (It's fine if nah)

AN6: Character App

OC Name, Sex, Species:

OC Home Province (Where they are from):

OC Role(Teammate Hopeful, Other Team Member, Minor Villain, Commoner, Etc.):

OC Profession(Are they unemployed like Terune, are they a veteran like Concordia, an assassin like Semora, etc.?):

OC Moveset:

Move 1(From Natural Movepool):

Move 2(From Natural Movepool):

Move 3(From Natural Movepool):

Move 4(From Natural Movepool):

Alt Move 1(Can be TM or Egg Move):

Alt Move 2(Can be TM or Egg Move):

OC Personality:

OC Background:

Anything Else Doobop Should Know:

That's all or now! Thanks for reading ^.^!