Herald Eugene called the dukes and his king for another scouts' report. He kneeled before Ludwig with a grim expression. "Your Majesty, it is with a heavy heart that I must report - the siege of Denryu Castle is over. Your father has passed. Leinwig Rentororu is now the sole recognized sovereign of the Kingdom of Luneland."
"No… surely, you jest? Say it is not so!" Ludwig wailed.
Helena walked over and put a paw on her cousin's shoulder. "I am sorry to hear this," she said. "You did what you could."
"Our objective has risen out of reach. I say it is time to pack our camps and return to our provinces," Duke Brennan said.
"No!" Ludwig snapped. "I want Leinwig's head!"
"How long ago did Denryu Castle fall?" Duke Percival asked.
"Most likely three or four days ago, sir," Herald Eugene answered.
"King Leinwig must be preparing an army to meet us here. If we are to conquer Skarmburg, it must be within the next couple days. We could already be too late."
Electricity crackled across Ludwig's fur. "I demand an assault on Skarmburg now! I will shock every wretched Skarmory to the ground myself if I must! Those pokémon standing in my way must suffer!"
"I thought we would have allies once we reached Denryushire," Duke Qasimir lamented. "Are we to face the entirety of Luneland now?"
"They must be tired and hardly united after their civil war," Duchess Madelyn asserted. "All we have faced are a couple of rocks. We will shatter them and capture your treacherous cousin, my liege," she promised.
"And his inheritance," Duke Ulysses added. "Right, Your Majesty?"
"Yes, his inheritance is all yours. Just deliver me his head!"
"No use in dreaming of such things when we still cannot march past Skarmburg," Duke Brennan pointed out. "We cannot fight the Skarmory and advance through the Rock Slides simultaneously. That remains a fact."
"Over the past few days my knights have been noticing less pokémon on the walls," Duke Kendrick brought up. "The sky is still full of Skarmory, but the walls are showing cracks. Perhaps their supplies are finally beginning to run low."
"The Skarmory must be hoarding the town's limited food supplies, citing their more 'important' role in the defense. The other pokémon in Skarmburg must be starving and not showing up," Helena reasoned, keeping her grimace to herself.
"Then what are we waiting for? We strike!" Ludwig hollered.
Duke Qasimir stroked his round chin. "Hmm, if the situation is only starting to get dire for our adversaries, it will be much, much worse come tomorrow. Can we squeeze them dry for one more day?"
"No!" Ludwig barked. "We must act now before my cousin rebuilds his army!"
Duke Kendrick held a claw to his forehead after all of Ludwig's screeching. "Okay… we strike this afternoon." Everyone else either enthusiastically or reluctantly nodded in agreement.
The knights of Solardie prepared for what they hoped would be their final assault on the walls of Skarmburg. Helena led half the army up their main path towards Skarmburg. The other half of the army would attack Skarmburg from the opposite side of town, hoping to split up the Skarmorys' attention. Pokémon benefitting from Helena's Drought, like Duke Percival, made sure to join her half of the army while those hindered by it, such as water types like Duke Qasimir, marched with the other half. Helena and Duke Percival brought Ludwig with them to watch over him.
"It pains me to attack a pokémon who could be on the brink of starvation," Max mumbled.
"I know," Helena said. "I don't intend on going past the walls."
"What's going to happen past the walls?" Lily asked.
"We loot the place!" Chadwyck exclaimed, his long tail wagging.
Helena glared at him. "Please don't. Don't I pay you enough already?"
"Ah, uh… of course you do! But there's something different about grabbing some extra dough in the middle of chaos with your own two hands, you know?" Chadwyck grinned sheepishly.
"I wouldn't know," Helena deadpanned.
"That doesn't sound right," Lily spoke up. "That sounds like being a bandit."
"Worse than a bandit," Helena said. "Chadwyck, if I see you destroying a pokémon's house for fun, I'm going to fire you."
"Aw, shucks. Fine, you won't see me looting. I-I mean, I won't be looting. Promise!"
"Good. Now get in the air," Helena commanded.
"Hell no! I'm not taking a rock to the wing again. I'm sticking to the cold, hard, ground."
The walls of Skarmburg came into sight, and the enemies sounded the alarm. The pokémon on the walls started sending rocks down the hill. "Charge!" Ludwig screamed, running straight towards the rocks and unleashing a Discharge. The army clamored after him, breaking through the rocks.
Helena balked at the sight of Ludwig acting like an actual leader. Shaking her head, she lifted her tails toward the sky and activated Drought. Chadwyck spread his wings, they glowed green, and he sent energy above them. He swished his wings forward, and his Solar Beam crashed down in front of them, moving forwards and vaporizing the oncoming rocks. Helena and Lily followed suit, cutting a path towards the wall as fast as possible.
Skarmory flew into the airspace over the attackers, soaring in from all around the town. Their companions rained down Rock Slides on the army. "Come down here, you bastards!" Ludwig yelled, sending Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt above him while his knights shielded him from the attacks from above. He kept moving forward, forcing his knights to go even faster to fend off the Rock Slides from the wall.
"Slow down, Your Majesty!" a knight demanded before getting rolled over by several rocks.
Ludwig stepped over the defeated knights in front of him and managed to strike a Skarmory with a Thunderbolt. Some of the Skarmory en route suddenly changed course, flying over the town instead. "Yeah, fear my wrath!" Ludwig bellowed. Then several rocks knocked him back.
"They must be rushing to defend the other side of town from our army," Duke Percival noted. "Push on," he commanded.
Helena's team ran towards the wall, only contending with half the Rock Slide volume as past attempts. Terry kept the Air Slashes at bay with his Flamethrowers while Lily cracked rocks with her Vine Whips and Max shielded them all to the best of his ability. Helena and Chadwyck raised new Solar Beams and sent the green beams of light into the stone wall. A Light Screen manifested in front of the wall, sending some of the Solar Beams' energies shooting off to the sides, but the rest of the Solar Beams punctured the stone wall with a magnificent boom, sending bits of stone spurting out of the impact site.
The pokémon directly above the blast shrieked while the others redoubled their Rock Slide efforts. Several Skarmory swarmed above Helena's team, sending down more attacks than Max's Light Screen and Terry's Substitutes could handle. "Gah!" Helena cried as rocks from above knocked her down. Her ears rang with the rumbling of Rock Slides rolling straight towards them.
A Krookodile rushed over to Helena and took the Air Slashes descending on her with a grunt. Dark energy surrounded his body, and he slammed into the oncoming rocks with Payback. A shock wave of dark energy ruined the rocks behind the first. "Keep attacking the wall," Duke Kendrick insisted.
Helena nodded and pushed herself up. Around them, Duke Kendrick's knights helped keep the Skarmory and the rocks at bay. A Swoobat provided Light Screen and Reflect protection. While Helena took the Skarmorys' attention, Duke Percival's group of knights from Lyonnais broke through the light Rock Slides and attacked the pokémon on the wall. The Skarmory eased off Helena to drive off the closer pokémon, allowing Helena to raise another Solar Beam.
"Urgh, I have about had enough…" Max groaned, holding his head in his paws while hunched over on one knee. He didn't have the strength to hold up a Light Screen anymore.
"Stay strong!" Terry encouraged. He rushed forward and spat a Flame Burst at the top of the wall. The enemy Light Screen triggered across the wall, blocking most of the smoky spread. Helena's Solar Beam pummeled into the dent in the wall shortly after. The Light Screen flickered several times, faltering under their firepower. Cracks appeared in the wall.
"Hey, their Light Screen is getting weaker!" Terry exclaimed. His ears started smoking, and he fired another Flame Burst into the sparse line of pokémon on the walls. Some panicked while others stopped their Rock Slides to throw rocks directly at Terry.
With the wall defenders distracted and not too many Skarmory directly above, Chadwyck grinned and flapped his wings to life. "Time to bring the heat!"
Terry leaped away from several sharp, heavy rocks until he unfortunately landed in the way of one. The Rock Throw smacked straight into him, sending him flying back with a squeal.
"Terry!" Lily cried, catching him with her vines and easing him down.
"Agh, I'm fine…" he moaned, curling into a ball. "Don't worry…"
Lily glared at the Golem on the wall who threw the rock. She saw Chadwyck begin to fly forward. The Leafeon dashed after him and leaped onto the Charizard's back. She squeaked from the temperature of Chadwyck's scales brought on by his Solar Power.
"You've got the right idea!" Chadwick laughed as he swerved through a flurry of rocks. He ascended up the wall's height, opened his maw, and unleashed his Flamethrower across the top. Sure, most of the pokémon resisted his fire, but Helena's sun and Chadwyck's Solar Power were more than enough for anyone to fear Chadwyck's flames, especially pokémon who didn't fight for a living. To make matters worse for the defenders, their Light Screen shattered in a burst of light blue sparkles after a few seconds of trying to hold back Chadwyck's flames.
Lily sprang off Chadwyck's back, ignited a Leaf Blade from her forepaw, and sliced her target as she landed. The Golem wailed and tumbled down the other side of the wall facing the town, landing with a crash. Several pokémon panicked and scrambled away, but those brave enough advanced on Lily from both sides. Worst of all, she had nowhere to maneuver on the narrow wall, rendering her speed useless. Okay, this wasn't a good idea! she panicked, swinging her Leaf Blade wildly at the nearest opponent.
Chadwyck kept spewing flames onto the defenders until a rock smacked into his mouth, slapping his jaw shut. "Mhrmm!" Chadwyck exclaimed with wide eyes, his flight slowing. The defenders barraged him with rocks the next moment, sending him straight to the ground. With the wall defenders distracted, knights charged at the cracked part of the wall and battered it with attacks. Panting hard, Helena ran close to the wall and forced another Solar Beam out of her tails. Her ball of light rose close to the wall and bombarded a defender closing in on Lily. Lily managed to wipe out one more defender before someone slammed her into the stone.
The Skarmory and their partners swept across the battlefield, dropping rocks and knocking out anyone they could, including Max and Terry. Air Slashes bombarded Helena, sending her flying into the town wall. "Ugh…" Helena groaned, trying to pick herself up. She craned her neck and gasped, covering her head with her tails as the defenders buried her in a pile of rocks. Her sun slowly faded away.
Electricity danced and crackled across Ludwig's glowing yellow fur. "RAH!" he yelled as he threw himself at the damaged portion of the wall with Wild Charge. There was a loud bang and a flash of yellow light. Ludwig recoiled off the wall and rolled across the ground several times. Knights scurried over him as the Skarmory targetted him. As he raised his mane and spat out dust, the wall crumbled before him. "Skarmburg shall face my wrath!" Ludwig screamed. He and the knights charged through the breach and into the town.
The pokémon atop the walls bolted away from the breach as the invaders attacked them from behind. All the Skarmory further out had to stop harassing the stragglers and fall back to hold back the pokémon who got past the breach. Duke Kendrick breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing on the ground to rest after battling the Skarmory. He spotted a Swoobat fluttering over. "Sengupta," he called.
The Swoobat's nose glowed white, and he shot a Heal Pulse at the Krookodile's bruises. "Please rise, my lord. We must be swift," he urged.
"Urgh… give me a few minutes," Duke Kendrick groaned.
"My lord, we must rendezvous with Duke Percival and execute the plan before it is too late," Sengupta insisted. "The army has already begun to ransack the town."
Duke Kendrick huffed out of his nose. "Right, the plan." He rose to his feet. The two of them made their way through the breach and located Duke Percival and his Bisharp guard, Boris.
"Took you long enough," Duke Percival said.
"Hmph. The defense, though much reduced from when we first came, was still vigilant. We should have waited a few more days," Duke Kendrick reflected.
"My lord, we should stop our knights," Boris spoke up. "There will be little room for peace after what is taking place." He waved his metal arm at the streets around them, where knights knocked out pokémon too weak or famished to fight back. The unscrupulous knights barged into stone houses, gathering loot for themselves.
"I ought not to intervene," Duke Percival dismissed. "King Ludwig promised the knights our enemies' wealth as a reward. It appears the pokémon of this town are more well off than I presumed on account of their mining industry. It should satisfy our knights' desires after a long and troublesome siege."
"As expected, the Skarmory have withdrawn to protect their own homes," Sengupta remarked, watching them fly deeper into the town.
"Correct. Let us proceed," Duke Percival said.
The four Solardian nobles advanced down a few streets and past several scuffles. As they got closer to the center of town, there were fewer simple stone houses and more large stone towers with openings for Skarmory to fly in and out. They approached the grandest structure with the most decorations. A Skarmory accompanied by a Sableye perched on the top of the tower, glaring down at them. Sengupta pulled out a letter from his small bag and raised it halfway up the tower using Psychic. The Skarmory leered at the letter for a moment before waving his wing. The letter's glow changed from purple to blue as the Sableye took control of it and brought it up the rest of the way to read it.
Dear Lord Skanderbeg,
Your stalwart defense and commitment to your Lunish allies are commendable. However, there is little to gain from further resistance and much to lose. In exchange for cutting ties and allegiances with King Leinwig and ceding partial control over mining operations, we pledge to protect your possessions from harm. We hope we can forge a path forward of coexistence.
Signed,
Kendrick Waruvial, Duke of Waruvais
Percival Kaenjishi, Duke of Lyonnais
While Lord Skanderbeg was reading and contemplating the letter, a group of knights led by a Druddigon stomped down the street towards the tower. "Now that is a worthy structure to pillage!" the Druddigon announced. The other knights cheered in approval, increasing their gait.
"Dirard, I order you to halt!" Duke Percival boomed, standing in the knights' way.
Sir Dirard skidded to a stop. "Eh? What troubles you, my lord?"
"We are after the largest prize!" the knights jeered, continuing forward.
Duke Percival's mane flashed white, and he released a Noble Roar. The knights flinched at the horrible sound and cowered back. "Go loot those other inconsequential dwellings," he commanded.
The knights scampered off with scowls. "Tch. Must be Ulysses's or Madelyn's undisciplined ruffians," Duke Percival sneered.
From the top of his stone tower, Lord Skanderbeg and his Sableye companion, Salak, frowned at the scene below. "Looks like a choreographed setup to me," Salak grunted.
"Even so, what choice do we have?" Skanderbeg asked. "King Leinwig hung us out to dry. Best we concede and preserve what we have left."
"Our pokémon will be loathe to forgive this destruction," Salak pointed out, waving his purple hand languidly across the landscape of pillaged homes.
"Then make them. It is not like there is anywhere else for them to go. Hop on." He eased off his roof with Salak on his back, flapped down to his courtyard, and approached the two dukes of Solardie.
"Lord Skanderbeg," Duke Kendrick greeted with a short bow. "Shall we make a deal?"
The Skarmory and Sableye held their scoffs and bowed in turn. "We shall."
Darrell and his crew arrived from the port of Miloa with the latest food shipment. The army camps were empty; they found knights outside the walls taking care of their injured allies. The knights requested for half the delivery to go to the other side of Skarmburg, where the other half of the army had assaulted.
"Terry?" Darrell called as he spotted the Torracat lying on the ground. He furrowed his flaming brows, grabbing some bandages from a supply cart and hurrying over to the Torracat. He set Terry up comfortably and applied some bandages. If no one came to help Terry, is the whole team down? Darrell grimaced. He went looking, found Max nearby, and patched the Meowstic up too.
Darrell spotted Chadwyck's orange scales standing out against the gray stone near the town walls. He rushed over, stuck his burly arms under Chadwyck, and heaved the Charizard to where he left Terry and Max. Darrell found Helena knocked out at the base of the town wall and carried her over too. After applying some bandages, he scoured the area looking for any signs of green or beige.
Terry stirred, slowly opening his yellow eyes. He pawed at the hard ground and swiveled his neck around. Terry felt healing bandages all over him, but it still hurt to move too many things by too much. After blinking a few times, he noticed Helena, Max, and Chadwyck lying around him.
But no Lily.
Terry shot up on his legs. "Ack!" he cried, splaying out on the ground once more.
Darrell came lumbering back. "Hey, Terry!"
"Hey, Darrell, did you give us these bandages?" Terry asked.
"Yup! Brought you all together too. Except for Lily, I can't find her," Darrell slumped. "Was she with you?"
"Yeah, she was." Terry's whiskers lowered as he frowned and his tail flicked around. He turned around, spotted the tall, gray, imposing structure with a crumbling split down the middle, and gasped. "I think she's up on top of the wall!"
"What?" Darrell turned and gawked at the wall. "How did she get up there?"
"On Chadwyck's back. I think she wanted to knock out the pokémon who knocked me out. That's my wonderful Leafeon," he said with a goofy smile.
"Aww," Darrell gushed with an ear-to-ear grin. "I'll get her back for you right away."
The Darmanitan sprinted over to the wall and then activated Zen Mode, turning into an immobile blue statue. His white eyes glowed purple as his mind poked around the top of the wall, feeling several fainted other pokémon before latching onto the familiar Leafeon. He gently picked her up using Psychic and lowered her down the wall. Then he transformed back to his fiery red standard form, gently picked Lily up in his arms, and carried her back to the rest of the team.
Lily awoke to some warm, soft fur nuzzling her cheek. She was lying on a soft velvet cloth next to her favorite Torracat. "Welcome back, Lily!" Terry excitedly yet softly whispered.
"Hey, Terry!" Lily hoarsely chimed, snuggling into his fur. She looked around and saw her team all there, eating food. "W-wait, wasn't I on the… the wall?"
"Darrell brought you down," Terry explained. "That was such a cool stunt you pulled! You didn't have to take out that Golem for me though, you know." He held her close and kissed her on the cheek.
Lily hummed in delight and wrapped her tail around him. "I wanted to."
"Then I'll make sure to join you next time!" Terry promised.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Lily giggled, nuzzling Terry. Her ear flopped across Terry's head when she spotted smoke billowing from behind the walls of Skarmburg, though. "W-what happened over there?" she stammered.
"I don't know," Helena said. "We were waiting for you to recover before checking it out."
Once Lily had some nourishment, the team strolled through the wall breach and into the town. Helena grimaced at the looted iron forges and collapsed stone dwellings. "I must never let this happen to Kyukonais," Helena vowed through her teeth. "We need to train up a defense force right away."
Lily spotted a Golem at the side of the road glaring Stone Edges at her. Next to him, another Golem and a Tyrunt were trying to comfort two little, crying Geodudes. Behind them was a line of crumbling stone buildings with caved-in roofs. Lily gasped and turned away when she realized the dad of the family was the Golem she had sliced off the wall. "I feel terrible…" Lily whined, dragging her tail across the rubble-filled street.
"Maybe we can offer some pokemon a new start in Kyukonais," Helena suggested. "We haven't had many pokemon move in lately."
"I wouldn't move into the place that destroyed my place," Chadwyck remarked.
"Then we have to start earning their trust," Helena said. "They must be starving, so let's get cooking. Darrell, do we have food supplies?"
"Yeah, we just brought a fresh shipment in today," Darrell said. "They're at the army camps."
"Hopefully the new supplies haven't been touched much since the knights have been busy taking over the town. Let's split up and recover as many supplies and cooking pots as we can and bring them here," Helena instructed. "Gather anyone you see from Kyukonais to join us too."
"Sounds good!" Darrell agreed. He listed off the places where he and his crew dropped off the latest shipments. Chadwyck and Max flew off to the camps on the far side of the town. Helena, Terry, and Lily went back the way they came while Darrell went to gather the rest of his supply crew.
"Come on, Lily, let's make things right," Terry encouraged, giving her a playful nudge.
Lily chanced one last glance at the Golem family before bounding up straight and nodding firmly. "Yeah, let's do it."
"I want my red shard back!" one of the Geodudes wailed.
"Shh, I'll get you a new one, I promise…" the Golem mother soothed.
"It won't be the same!"
"I want my blue shard back too!" the other Geodude yelled, slamming her fists together.
"I'll get it back for you, promise," the Tyrunt comforted, patting the Geodude's head with her tiny hand.
"Waaaaah!" the kids cried.
The Golem father held his head in one hand with a deep sigh, massaging the bruise on his back with the other. "Teresa, can you please handle our kids for now? We have to get to work on our house…"
"Of course," Teresa replied, hugging the Geodudes.
"Thank you, dear," the mother smiled.
Teresa kept the kids distracted with a few games of dodgerock. She let the Geodudes throw rocks at her while she dodged them expertly. The Tyrunt gave them a hefty challenge, but she let them land a hit every once in a while to keep them trying their hardest. Sometimes when a rock was headed straight for her, she'd open her giant maw and chomp it into bits, which always made the kids laugh.
"Teresa!" someone called from above.
Teresa looked up at the call. "Skarlette!" she responded. The next moment a rock splatted against her cheek, and the Geodude kids cheered.
The Skarmory touched down beside the Tyrunt. "Are you okay?" Skarlette asked.
"Never better!" Teresa responded.
"But, your house…" Skarlette trailed off, pointing her wing at the destroyed stone structure next to the one the Golems were repairing.
Teresa slumped her head against Skarlette's wing. "You don't have to remind me…"
"Sorry, but… what are we waiting for? Let's go after the bastards that destroyed our town!" Skarlette declared.
The two Golems heard the Skarmory and came out to the street. "What are you doing out here?" the mother hissed.
"How come your part of town is untouched?" the father asked sharply with a stomp on the rubble-filled ground.
Skarlette averted her eyes, slumping her wings.
"Your house survived? That's good," Teresa remarked.
"It shouldn't have," Skarlette mumbled. "Lord Skanderbeg made a deal with those filthy Solardians. Loyalty and money in exchange for not touching any Skarmory's tower."
"I'm done trusting any Skarmory," the Golem father declared, pulling his confused Geodudes away from Skarlette. "The Skarmory are nothing more than cheats nowadays."
"H-hey, calm down," Teresa pleaded. "Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"
"I had my suspicions when the Skarmory started hoarding food for themselves," the father complained. "Now they make a deal with the enemy, leaving the pokemon of the town out to dry!" The couple put their backs to Skarlette and Teresa, ushering their children away.
Skarlette bristled her wings for a moment, then sank to the ground with a huff. She jolted when she felt a familiar weight on her back.
"Come on partner, what are we waiting for? Let's go after the bastards that destroyed our town!" Teresa declared. "We won't let them divide us!"
Skarlette smiled and rose to her full height. "Yes! Let's do it, partner!"
"Teresa, where are you going?" the Geodude children called out.
"We're going to get your shards back, promise! Be on your best behavior!" Teresa hollered as Skarlette took to the skies.
Skarlette and Teresa honed in on the first targets of their dual rage within a minute - a group of rowdy invaders in an alleyway. Skarlette's wings glowed light blue, and she twirled several times to whip up the air before slashing her wings downward repeatedly. Teresa held onto Skarlette's steel feathers securely with her toe claws and spat numerous caramel-colored rocks out of her giant maw. Their attacks crashed down on the Solardian knights, who weren't expecting any aggression and had nowhere to dodge in the alleyway. Skarlette quickly dived at the enemies, cloaking her sharp body in radiant blue and orange energy, while Teresa enveloped her head with a jagged caramel aura. Skarlette plowed through their targets in an explosive Brave Bird, and after they flew past, Teresa leaped off of Skarlette's back and rammed through the targets with Head Smash. Screams rang out, drowned out by the explosions, and dust flew everywhere.
Skarlette and Teresa shook their heads and picked themselves up, grinning at the pile of four defeated Solardians lying in a heap between them. Teresa rummaged through the knights' bags. "Iron, poké, more iron, more poké… ugh, no red or blue shard…"
"This guy stole our local whiskey," Skarlette scoffed, eyeing the broken bottle in a fainted Druddigon's claws.
They flew out of the dust-filled, explosion-riddled alleyway, searching for more Solardians to punish. They glided above the rooftops for a few moments before coming across a large crowd of pokemon centered around a group of cooking pots. What caught them off guard was how the air smelled so good - a pleasant assortment of aromas unlike anything they had ever experienced before. Their stomachs growled, reminding them of the starvation-inducing siege conditions and compelling them to touch down and join the line. However, when they reached the front, they recognized some of the servers…
"You… filthy Solardians!" Skarlette squawked.
"What are you feeding our town?!" Teresa demanded.
"Only the finest imported rice from around the world, flavored with the best berries of Kyukonais," Terry grinned. "You two look like you've been through the worst. Please accept our gift!" he insisted, placing two bowls in front of the Skarmory and Tyrunt.
Skarlette and Teresa were about to smack the rice bowls away, but the locals told the two ardent defenders how these Solardians were cooking for them, how good the food was, and how relieved they felt after the last few days of shortages. Teresa stared at the tantalizing meal in front of her. "But why would you help us?" Teresa mumbled. "We attacked you for weeks…"
"I respect you," Helena said, stepping forward to stand across from the two warriors. "You did everything in your power to protect your town. You deserve some relief."
"Then why did you assault and sack Skarmburg in the first place?!" Skarlette hollered.
"King Ludwig's orders," said Helena. "I cannot speak for what the king and the other nobles want to do, but here is what I can do. I'm Helena, the Duchess of Kyukonais. I invite each and every one of you to move to Kyukonais. We have plenty of food, houses, and jobs for you."
"Our city welcomes all!" Darrell added.
Skarlett and Teresa fidgetted in place, wearing unsure expressions as they observed their content neighbors mingling with the Solardian suppliers. Lily gently pushed the rice bowls closer to them. "I don't want to fight anymore… can't we be friends?" the Leafeon pleaded.
"I-I need some space to think," Teresa mumbled, hopping onto Skarlette's back. "Can we fly?"
"Yeah, let's do that," Skarlette said, taking off. They soared to the top of a nearby building, ignoring the stares from below. "Ugh, I couldn't think straight from all those pots of steaming food." The Skarmory took a deep breath of the thin mountain air, still somewhat tainted with the Solardian cooking.
"Everyone looks like their enjoying the food, but… Solardians," Teresa groaned. She swiveled around, taking in the town below. "They still were the ones who ruined our town…"
Skarlette stared at the Solardians and cringed. "Hey… remember when we got captured on the first day?" she brought up.
"It was that same group of Solardians, and they let us go," Teresa realized. "Maybe they're not all bad… I mean, we can't deny that they're feeding our town right now."
Skarlette glared at the Ninetales as she maintained a fire beneath a pot and stirred with a large ladle using Psychic. "I don't get it," she sighed. "These nobles always have some sick purpose. What does she get out of helping us?"
"She wants the pokemon here to move to her city?" Teresa shrugged. "I don't know, my head hurts. And my stomach…"
"I guess the only way to find out is to follow and keep a close eye," Skarlette resolved.
Skarlette and Teresa flew back down and accepted the bowls of food. After they had their fill, they flew around Skarmburg and directed other hungry pokemon to the Kyukonais camp at Helena's request. Then they joined a group of pokemon headed to Kyukonais to bring more supplies.
"I've never had such good food in my life!" a Rhydon from Skarmburg praised, patting his belly. "I feel like a king!"
"Haha, you should!" Darrell laughed. "We grow berries that only nobles used to get, but at Kyukonais, everyone gets to enjoy!"
"The food is only one thing! Wait until you see the construction and leisure we get at Kyukonais!" a Grumpig added.
"It almost feels too good to be true, being welcomed while we have nothing…" a Solrock mumbled.
"Not true at all, bud!" Darrell exclaimed, patting the Solrock on the back with his burly arm. "We need as much help as we can get to build Kyukonais up to its full potential, and we haven't had a lot of new faces around until now. We could also use some defense planning and training. Helena's a little concerned about whether we can defend ourselves if someone tries to attack us."
"It does feel too good to be true. Why would your duchess help us?" Skarlette asked.
"Who?" the Grumpig asked.
"The Ninetales," said Teresa.
"Oh, you mean Helena," Darrell laughed. "I guess she's the Duchess of Kyukonais, but no one really calls her that. Some pokemon still call her 'Princess,' if they really want to."
"Duchess, Princess, whatever," Skarlette scoffed. "Point is, she's rich and powerful. Why does she bother to help us?"
"That's just how she is," Darrell grinned. "When I was still a helpless Darumaka, she saved my farm from bandits!"
"She freed us from our lords' fields too," another Kyukonais crew member added. Others showered their praises on Helena and spoke of the best parts of Kyukonais.
"But how is she getting all this food and supplies?" Skarlette demanded.
"Ever heard of a loan?" Darrell grinned.
Teresa slumped at the ruined farmhouses and fields as they traveled down the mountain. Talk of the glory of Kyukonais could not distract her from the devastation around them. She tugged Skarlette away from Darrell's financial hocus pocus talk, and they slowly fell behind the group. "The pokemon of Kyukonais may or may not be trying to really help us," Teresa whispered, "but Solardie still destroyed our town."
"I haven't forgotten either," Skarlette hissed.
Teresa surveyed the ruined fields again. "The Solardians are headed to Luneland next. Should we… warn them, or something?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Nothing against those folks from Kyukonais, but… we have to stop those filthy Solardians," Skarlette determined. Teresa hopped on, and Skarlette flew off the other way.
Lothario greeted Windie at the edge of King Leinwig's army camp in Denryushire. "Empty-pawed again today?" the Lucario asked.
Windie shook his head. "I couldn't find any of the stolen shipments."
"I am beginning to question your status as Denryushire's most regarded defender," Lothario tutted. Then he patted the Arcanine on the back. "Only in jest, my friend. I know it has been a while since you last oversaw Denryushire in particular. The bandits have certainly altered their ways since then."
"Thanks, Lothario," Windie said with a small smile. "I'm trying my best to relearn, but it's taking some time."
"I understand," said Lothario. "The others have recovered enough shipments over the past few days to keep us going, so you need not worry."
"Right," Windie grunted, clenching his tail.
They met up with the other figures from Denryushire at the army camp. "Ah, Windie! Have you gathered my subjects for the upcoming battle?" Duke Antonio asked.
"My lord," Windie addressed with a bow. "Everyone is exhausted. They don't want to fight anymore. I could not get many pokémon prepared."
Duke Antonio stiffened, his tail thudding on the ground. "The other dukes have brought back their armies. If we do not field a large enough army, King Leinwig will continue to brand us as traitors," the Ampharos mumbled.
"My lord, is it time for us to muster our serfs?" Sir Raymond asked. "Windie's efforts have proved inadequate."
"Yes, please do so," Duke Antonio approved. "Windie, I… have a task for you."
Windie cleared his grimace and slowly lifted his head. "Yes, my lord?"
Duke Antonio tentatively gazed across the army camp. Windie followed his lord's line of sight, landing on Duke Godric. "I wish to learn… how could Godric betray Prince Ludwren so… so callously?" he said, clutching his ears.
Windie cringed, staying silent. Lothario spoke up instead. "Father, why do you wish Windie to ask? Can you not ask that yourself?"
"W-well, you see… in light of our status as… traitors… it is best that I not speak of such things," Duke Antonio blubbered. "But Windie, as a commoner, need not worry!"
I guess April really is right, Windie thought. Well, I should stay in my lord's good graces while I can. Besides, I kind of want to know more myself. "Sure, I'll give your message," Windie said.
"Thank you, Windie," said Duke Antonio.
Windie made his way towards Golenshire's portion of the camp. He passed by several groups of exhausted-looking pokemon before reaching the (Alolan) Golem and his knights.
"Oho! Little Captain Windie!" Duke Godric remarked. "What can I do for you?"
"I want to know why you betrayed Prince Ludwren," Windie said. "You even planned the surprise attack on King Leinwig's camp and then turned against our army," he added.
The knights around Duke Godric started an uproar, but the duke held them back. "It is quite simple, my boy. I gave the plan away in exchange for more autonomy and fewer taxes under King Leinwig than I would have gotten under a future King Ludwren. To be honest, I was a fool not to have acted sooner. Declan beat me to it."
"You left your soldiers in the dark. Why?"
Duke Godric flashed a glare. "Now, now, no need to dwell on the past," he soothed. "We must strive to make amends. Luneland must stand united against the Solardian invaders! Please convey a warm word of friendship to your lord."
Windie couldn't hide his glare. "I will," he snapped, marching away. He relayed Duke Godric's answer to Duke Antonio, then began to head home when a messenger came by.
"Attention! His Majesty, King Leinwig requires the attendance of all!"
The knights gathered at the center of the army camp, where the Luxray king stood atop a pedestal. "My subjects of Luneland, we have received visitors from Skarmburg. They bring grave news," King Leinwig barked.
A Skarmory flapped above the crowd with a Tyrunt on her back. "The filthy Solardian knights broke through the walls and sacked Skarmburg this afternoon!" Skarlette hollered.
"They destroyed houses, took valuables, and assaulted innocent pokemon!" Teresa cried. "And they're coming here next!"
The crowd of knights roared against the Solardian name until King Leinwig ground his claws against his metal pedestal to silence everyone. "We must double our strength to prepare for the oncoming threat and avenge our fallen allies of Skarmburg!" he declared.
"And how come you all didn't come to our rescue?" Skarlette snapped, leering at the boastful Luxray from above. Some Lunish knights held their breaths while others pushed back with excuses about civil war. Duke Antonio slipped away from the gathering flusteredly.
"We had our own issues, but fear not! We shall liberate Skarmburg soon!" King Leinwig proclaimed. "Now ground yourselves!"
"Stop the Solardians," Teresa repeated. Skarlette touched down away from the knights.
The knights frantically discussed what to do to prepare for the sure-to-come Solardian assault or mumbled insults at the uncouth visitors. Windie, however, shuddered as he thought of the pokemon of Skarmburg. He dashed over to the visitors and said, "Hey, can I ask you about what happened at Skarmburg?" The Skarmory and Tyrunt just grunted at him. "I'm Windie, the captain of Denryushire," he introduced with a bow. "It's my job to take care of the common pokemon around Denryushire, and I will do anything to ensure every pokemon's safety," he proclaimed. "Please, let me learn from what happened in Skarmburg so I can help others."
Teresa loosened up and offered a small smile. "I'm Teresa."
"And I'm Skarlette. We're defenders of Skarmburg till the end. What do you need to know?"
"The pokemon of Denryushire are struggling with food after all this war," Windie sighed. "What is the food situation in Skarmburg?"
"It was terrible," Teresa immediately answered, slumping forward. "Near the end of the siege, there was so little food left. The Skarmory started hoarding the last of the food."
"Lord Skanderbeg insisted that we, as the controllers of the skies, needed the food to keep up the defense. But the rest of the town went hungry. We took away their ability to protect the walls," Skarlette mumbled, averting her eyes. "Either way, the wretched Solardians starved our town and broke us."
"So, what now? Is everyone still starving?" Windie trembled.
"For the most part, yeah, except… there was one group of invaders who had the decency to help out, I guess…" Teresa remarked. "Some pokemon from the province of Kyukonais. They started handing out food."
"Kyukonais?" Windie gasped.
"Yeah, and their leader insisted that we move there or something. It was kind of weird, but I guess we shouldn't complain after they fed our town..."
"That's… amazing!" Windie exclaimed. "I've never heard of anyone handing out food for a whole town's well-being before!"
"But they sacked our town!" Skarlette cried.
"Oh… right," Windie slumped. "But… I've been to Kyukonais once before. Every pokemon there was well-fed, housed, and enjoying themselves, from what I could see. I can't imagine why they would destroy your town…"
"Well, she did say it was her king's orders," Teresa brought up.
"Who?" Windie asked.
"Some Ninetales named Helena was their leader," Teresa said. "Was she a duchess or a princess? I didn't really get it…"
Windie's ears perked up. "From what I can remember, she's both," he remarked. "So, you got to meet Helena Kyukon? What's she like?"
Skarlette and Teresa looked at each other. "Well, honestly… she was never rude at us, right?" Teresa said.
"Yeah, she even said at one point that she respected us," Skarlette admitted.
"And she provided relief for the starving pokemon who needed it most?" Windie pressed.
"Yeah… she did. She is doing that right now," Skarlette said. "Gosh, now I feel kind of bad for ditching her crew…"
"What do you mean?" Windie asked.
"Well, Helena sent out a crew to Kyukonais to bring food and building supplies back to Skarmburg," said Teresa. "A bunch of Skarmburg pokemon went to help out and see the city, including us, but we left in order to come here and warn you all about the sack of Skarmburg."
"Yeah, the Solardians are evil," Skarlette reiterated, "but maybe the pokemon of Kyukonais are exceptions." She turned to Teresa. "Should we go to Kyukonais and help the supply crew after all?"
"How are we going to find the way?" Teresa asked.
"I know the way!" Windie chimed. "Go south from here until you come across the Rokon River, then follow it south. You'll see a huge city surrounded by wonderful houses and fields upon fields of colorful berries."
"Oh sweet, thanks!" said Teresa, leaping onto Skarlette's back. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Thanks, Windie!" Skarlette called as she shot off into the sky, heading south.
"Good luck!" Windie said. He watched them fly off, staring in the direction of Kyukonais for a long moment before heading to his village and his hut.
A Ninetales named Helena, the savior of Kyukonais and the savior of Skarmburg. Can she help me save Denryushire too?
A/N 8/15/22: Why did I make Skarmory such a prominent species? Well, in Pokemon Go's Great League, one of my old favorite teams consisted of Skarmory, Whiscash, and Sableye. Skarmory and Whiscash have nearly perfect coverage of each other. Skarmory is weak to only fire and electric while getting walled by rock and steel types. Whiscash can handle all of those. Meanwhile, Whiscash is doubly weak to grass only and has trouble dealing with flying and bug types, which Skarmory can handle. Sadly, I chose not to try and write about a Skarmory and Whiscash duo because I didn't know how to write about a mudfish in a story predominantly taking place on land (and sky, I guess).
Skanderbeg is the name of a famous Albanian general who revolted against the Ottoman Empire in 1444. That also happens to be the starting year of EU4, so he appears in the game as a very strong general.
Finally, we are at this point in the story. I've been striving to reach the next chapter for a long time! You need only glance at this chapter's last sentence to get an idea of why. Get hyped for Chapter 16 - Warriors do not Read Books!