-Chapter XI: The Assassins' Compromise-

-Amber-

After Connor's group had left in search of Roy and Dusknoir, the rest of them had decided to lie back down and get more rest. Amber had put an incantation over the crystal cluster illuminating the chamber so that it simulated the time of day outside without her constant oversight. Whenever it started getting brighter, signaling sunrise, she began waking everybody up. Basileus was already wide awake. Amber had never seen him sleep, now that she thought about it. But she woke the rest of the pokémon, although Jade was nowhere to be found. After they ate a hearty meal of roasted berries with gummis for dessert, she spoke up.

"As of now, it is a bit earlier than midday." She glanced at the crystal in confirmation. "The reason I woke you all is because we will not sit around idly and wait for Connor's group to return. Insurgo, you are to help the members of Team Firestorm heal and be ready to train by tomorrow."

Galvantula let out a short laugh. "Ha! Hey, uh, Amber. The only healers here are you and Briar. Ain't nothing Basileus, T, Celebi and I can do."

"T?" Mirage questioned.

"Tyranitar." Galvantula clarified. "It's an inside thing." He turned back to Amber. "So I'd suggest you do your little incantation healing spell thingy-"

"Hold on." Alice interrupted. She seemed to be in the best shape out of all of Team Firestorm, but that's not saying much. She had a slight limp, but at least she had no visible cuts or bruises. "I... I know heal pulse."

Galvantula stared at her for a moment before nodding. "That's convenient. How'd you forget that you knew a move like that?"

She shrugged. "I've never had to use it… except one time. And all this talking just got me thinking about it."

Celebi giggled. "That's actually got me thinking as well! I know a healing move. Although it is a bit risky to use."

"Healing wish?!" Briar said with disbelief. "Celebi, I will not allow you to risk your life. We're in no immediate danger, so using that move right now is pointless."

"Yeah," Alice agreed. "I know a healing move with no side effects on me. There's no need to sacrifice anything."

Celebi smiled. "Relax, you two! I wasn't going to anyways! I was just saying I knew a move."

Jade floated out of the floor without preamble, making Celebi shout in surprise and stumble backwards. The Froslass quickly apologized and said that she was meditating directly outside and heard the group awakening, so she decided to check in.

"Hey, Jade. That's a pretty gutsy thing to do, given the giant criminal organization that's after you guys." Galvantula said. "I'd join you, y'know, cuz I gotta harness my inner peace and all that, but Amber says I'm not allowed." He shifted his gaze towards her. "She can be a bit of a buzzkill. Even more than Basileus!"

The Sceptile tilted his head as if he were cleaning his ears. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Galvantula replied with a grin.

"...Hmph."

Galvantula's smile faded after a moment. "Like I said… Buzzkill."

Briar spit into a wooden bowl and began mixing it into some herbs and other things with a thick and short branch. Mirage fluttered forward and examined the mixture. "What's that?"

"Healing paste." Briar replied without looking up. Atlas looked like he was about to be sick. "That's what she put on my face?"

"Relax, muscles." Galvantula prodded him slightly. "Her spit's sanitary. And most people don't know this, but your Meganium friend actually makes her paste more potent if she breathes on it."

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"You can heal plants and grass-types, and amplify the effects of any plant-based material just by breathing on it. An ability that literally only your species possesses."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"I've been lots of places, sweetums. You learn things after a while."

She scowled at him. "Don't call me sweetums. What do I have to do?"

"Well… Let's see… You take Briar's paste mix." He took the bowl out of Briar's hands and held it in front of her. "And you breathe on it."

"That's it?" She looked at Amber for confirmation, her eyes darting back and forth, but she just shrugged. "I don't know enough to confirm that... Briar?"

Briar nodded. "While I don't approve of this yellow arthropod stealing my bowl, I do agree with him. Your species is able to amplify the strength of my abilities, including healing. There is certainly no harm in trying."

She shrugged and opened her mouth. A thin pink smoke trailed out and seemed to be drawn into the bowl. It glowed dimly and returned to normal after a moment. Briar took the bowl from Galvantula and dabbed her finger in it. It absorbed into her skin and her eyes seemed to give off a new spark of energy. She smiled and took a deep breath. "Wow… Incredible."

Caroline smiled hopefully. "Is it really that good?"

"Your ability certainly helped." Briar agreed. "It is much more concentrated than I could have ever imagined." She turned to Celebi and shifted her gaze between the two of them. "Celebi… I have an idea."

"Oh, no. We're all doomed." Galvantula jested. She just rolled her eyes and continued. "If you could somehow use psychic or a similar move to collect Caroline's flower breath and concentrate it…"

"You could use it in case of emergencies or just to make your healing paste work better." Celebi finished. She turned to Caroline. "You catch all that?"
Caroline nodded. "It's not dangerous, right?"

"Not at all," Celebi confirmed. "All you have to do is use your special breath thing and I'll do the rest."

"While they're doing that," Alice said, "I'll get to work on healing Atlas."

She placed a hand on him and her fur gained a golden luminance. A yellow pulse emanated from her hand and coursed throughout the Machamp's entire body. He relaxed and leaned back as the healing energy did its work.

Her attention was redirected to Celebi, who swirled the thin pink mist around her in a miniature whirlwind. As some of the mist trailed into her body, concentrating mainly on her wings, her skin turned a brighter shade of pink and her wing straightened out. She gasped and grinned as the mist condensed into a single orb no bigger than a marble. Briar tapped the ground and a small flower with a blue bulb on top broke through the stone. It opened its bulb and drew the pink orb of mist into it. The blue flower closed, and Briar plucked it from the ground. She placed it in her wonder bag and nodded. "Thank you, Caroline. This should be enough for a while."

Caroline smiled and laid down. "No problem. I had no idea that I could do that."

"Sooo…" Amber turned to Galvantula, who was now looking at Briar. "You gonna use that super serum you concocted?"

"Of course. Why would I let it go to waste?"

"I dunno. Just wondering, since you haven't used it yet."

Briar smiled gently and scooped some of the paste out with her fingers. "Amber. May you come here, please?"

She nodded slowly. "Of course."

Briar gestured for her to turn around, and once she did, she took the leaf bandages off. The cool air rushed down her now exposed backside, and Briar lightly gasped. "Arceus, Amber… I didn't realize…" She paused. "...Hold still."

Amber nodded, and as soon as she felt Briar's hand along her back, she gritted her teeth as the healing paste took effect. She focused and remained standing, even though it felt like she was being prodded with a white-hot stick repeatedly. She wanted to scream, but she forced it down. She had to power through this. After the pain, it would be better.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain subsided. Her vision cleared, and when she turned her head, Briar was staring at her, awestruck. "Incredible..."

"What?" She tried to look at her back, but her crimson wings blocked her vision.

"The way your skin stretched over itself and healed… Amber, it's like new. No scars, no pale marks, nothing."

She couldn't help but grin and look at Galvantula and Caroline with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…" She pulled them both into a hug, but Galvantula's electric aura began burning after a moment. He leapt back and smiled. "It's not a problem. But how come you didn't know about that super effect boost thing?"

She shot him a warning look. "Because, Galvantula, where I'm from, I was never very exposed to knowledge about grass-types."

"Did you live near a volcano or something?" Mirage questioned. Amber smiled slightly. "Yes. Yes… I lived near a great volcano in an isolated jungle, home to mainly fire and bug types."

"No grass types in a jungle?" Alice asked. "That's… weird. And fire-types all over the place?"

She grimaced slightly. Stupid! Why did I say a jungle?

"...Yes. But it's not like that anymore. The last tribe of fire-types in that jungle died out long ago."

"And where would this so-called jungle be?" Alice seemed suspicious now. Amber just now recalled that the Lopunny could sense emotions. She felt her nervousness rising in spite of herself, and Alice arched an eyebrow.

Briar decided to intervene. "The jungle is in Tirtouga Isles on the second southernmost islet. Mt. Torrens is the supervolcano that makes up the island."

Alice narrowed her eyes and glanced at Basileus momentarily, but eventually nodded. When she looked away, Amber glared daggers at Galvantula, who put his hands up in surrender.

Tyranitar stifled a laugh and Galvantula jabbed him with a weak thunder punch jokingly. "Shut it."

He let out a deep, earth-rumbling laugh, which made Amber smile. He continued laughing and leaned back against the short section of raised stone. "Ha-ha-ha!"

Nobody else seemed to understand what he was laughing at, but Amber let him draw the attention of the Lopunny away from her. She had come awfully close to figuring out who she was. And she couldn't let them know until far later in time. They weren't ready.

-Victor-

He glared at Mordred angrily. "How did you let him get away?! You had Larua, were in a mystery dungeon, underground, sealed off with spectral energy, and still you managed to fail at interrogating one ghost!"

The Bisharp knelt on the ground and looked to the floor. "Forgive me. But I was caught by surprise. They were able to teleport directly to me. They seem to have two new members on their team, one with unimaginable speed, and one that could locate Roy remotely."

His anger subsided for a moment, only because curiosity replaced it. "...Two new members already? And they can teleport without the Smeargle?"

"Yes, sir. Their allies that I am aware of consist of a Ralts and a Grovyle."

"A Grovyle?" Victor's interest piqued. "Did he have any strange markings on his arms?"

"...I didn't get a good look at him, sir. He was so fast… I couldn't even see him until he stood still."

Victor rolled his eyes with annoyance. "This team is proving to be very troublesome. The amount of allies they've acquired in such a short time is making me worry."

"You're telling me." A raspy voice came from the doorway, and Widow crawled into the room. "The Mismagius had a friend. A Dusknoir. He nearly got Flatline with an ice punch."

The Noivern followed closely behind her. "Yeah. We read up on this team. Now Mordred's telling you they have two new allies, plus this Dusknoir? You'd better get your facts straight, Victor. We don't normally take down entire teams due to the difficulty, but we made an exception for you. And in return, we receive dated information? I don't take kindly to that."

"Nor do I," Widow agreed.

Victor cleared his throat and nodded. "Very well. Rest assured, your payment will compensate for the problem at hand."

"How much more are we talking?"

"I'll pay thirty thousand a head for their newfound allies." He paused briefly. "...However, won't Roy warn the others of you? That would be… troublesome."

"Oh, that's not a problem," the Ariados assured. "The quill I stuck them with was coated in a cerebral neurotoxin. It dulls memories of any pokémon, no matter what type. Living or dead, they won't be able to recall anything about us."

Mordred nodded and stood up. "Impressive. I was curious as to why the stupid ghost didn't remember how he got there."

"Which brings me to wonder…" Victor said. "Why did you not kill him on the spot? Surely that would have been much easier and saved all of us time and energy."

"We weren't sure if it was him," Widow replied annoyedly. "That's one of our terms. We don't kill anyone unless we know it's our target. That's how we make our living. If we went around killing anyone we pleased, we'd be killers. If you want to get technical, being paid makes it legal, which keeps us out of trouble with Magnezone."

Victor shook his head slightly. "...I didn't know bounty hunting was legal in any form or fashion. When did this change?"

"It hasn't. The reason we can do what we do is because we go under the guise of an exploration team that hunts down outlaws, which, by definition, is anyone with a bounty over their head. The bounty is set by you. We're Team Necro, to anyone that is not our employer."

That gave Victor an idea, but he pushed it aside to continue the conversation. "So judging by your uncertainty, did you not read the files I provided about Roy?"

"We did," her annoyed tone was making him nervous. "But the Mismagius was a little too good at playing dumb. And since he had a Dusknoir with him, which you did not mention in your 'files', I determined that he might not actually be the one we were looking for. So I brought them to Mordred to confirm it. I expected your second in command to be able to do something as simple as interrogate a single ghost-type and finish what we started."

Mordred extended his arm blades and stepped forward. "You want to run that by me again, you insect?"

"I overestimated you, Mordred. You and your 'master'." Widow replied bluntly. "And if you attack me, the outcome will still result in your defeat. And I might not be as lenient this time around."

Mordred scowled and took another step. "I underestimated you the first time. It won't happen this time around."

Widow got lower to the ground and smiled slightly. "Is that a challenge?"

"Mordred, do not-"

"I beg your forgiveness, Master Victor, but this pokémon, assassin or no, is directly insulting the both of us in our territory! I will not forgive those that insult you, or me!"

He took another step forward, and Victor raised his voice in response. "Mordred! Are you disobeying a direct order?"

Mordred stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists. "...No, sir."

Widow humphed and said, "Well, it looks like you have your 'bodyguard' well-trained."

Mordred stood perfectly still, then returned to Victor's side. The Bisharp glared at Widow and said, "Once your usefulness to us has passed, I will kill you myself."

"Duly noted," Widow mocked. "I'll be sure to go easy on you."

Mordred growled, but Flatline snickered and extended his wings, the tips reaching almost from wall to wall. "Trust me, you don't want to get on her bad side. But even so, if you threaten her, I will end you before she gets the chance."

"Alright, enough! Mordred, I will deal with you later. Get out of my sight!"

Mordred gasped slightly. "M-master-!"

"That's an order!"

"...Yes, sir." Mordred glared daggers at the Assassins as he walked past them, and once the doors were closed, Victor sighed. "You have my sincerest apologies. Mordred is not normally one to act so brash. He will be dealt with properly once you two are supplied with sufficient information and resources."

"It's fine. I'm not scared of him. But how have you managed to make him respect you that much? To back down from a direct challenge?"

"...I have my ways. That is all you are required to know."

"Secretive, as always... Fine. Back to business. Did you have any further information for us about these 'new allies'?"

"No. Unfortunately, Koumori is only so good. Even she has limits. However, I have another pokémon available to assist you in taking down the ghost-types permanently, if you choose to accept."

The Ariados narrowed her eyes. "What species?"

"His name is Soulburner. He's a Chandelure."

The Ariados shook her head. "Out of the question."

He was caught off guard by the harshness in her tone. "But-"

"I said no. Right now, you abide by our terms. We work better by ourselves. I may be persuaded change my mind later, but for now, that is my answer."

He bit back any further remarks. "...Very well."

The Ariados smiled charmingly. "We'll be leaving now. Flatline and I will be done within a few weeks." She pulled out a warp orb, then spoke over her shoulder. "Oh, and expect regular check-ins, honey. We aren't going anywhere without our payment."

Victor was about to say something, but the Ariados tossed down a warp orb and vanished.

He growled and used air slash on the wall, putting shallow dents into the stone. "That insect used Taunt, I'm sure of it. Mordred would never act so rashly, nor would he defy me for even a moment. I will speak with him later… Those two are tricky… But I have already out-thought them... They cannot beat Roy and Dusknoir twice. They will not split off from their group again. They'll need help."

Then he left his chambers and flew to Nagini, who was sending out teams of pokémon to scour the continent. "Nagini, I need you and your team to find Soulburner."

"R-right away, sir!"

"Team Blackmist is already on his trail, so I need you to be swift. Locate him first. That's an order!"

"Yes, sir! I will get Arturia, Larua and Fornax immediately!" Nagini took off, and Victor walked back to his chambers.

"Meanwhile…" Victor murmured to himself, "I'll have Torrent and Pandora track down Iden and Cinder. I know where Iden will head next, though… So let's get him first."

Chapter 11! Things are really starting to heat up! The Assassins know about Dusknoir, Dawn and Grovyle, Victor's going to find Soulburner, and a whole bunch of other stuff! Oh my gosh!

That being said, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! As always, feel free to leave your questions, comments, concerns and theories about stuff in the form of a Review or PM! It is always much appreciated!

I do have a quick question for those of you that have been reading my stories for a while. You can answer it, or not. Do you guys prefer the third person writing in this story, or, for the next installment, would you like me to return to the style of Firestorm Origins using first person?

Also, I am still in need of at least two more OC characters to interact with Team Firestorm! So if you want to see your character in my stories, the guidelines are on my profile! And today's Firestorm Battle Royale is Nagini Vs. Rose! It's going to be a good one! Much Love!

-PL