Eevee and her friends were elated to know that their trek through the crags was finally at its end. The team of three meandered down the cliffsides and more than half a moon later, they reached the bottom and were ready to enter the sprawling plains which lie ahead.
As they made their descent, the team encountered some small scuffles. A heliolisk shocked Eevee for encroaching on her den, a braviary squawked at the group and demanded them to leave his young alone, and Goodra attracted the attention of a flygon who failed to find a mate.
The team learned that Morgrem had gone this way. He was easily distinguishable and flitted in and out of caves, traveling during the evening oftentimes. As for Toxtricity, none of the natives caught a glimpse of her. Eevee knew she was a good navigator and probably found an alternate route. Why she wondered such was because more of Hydreigon's cronies started to appear in these lands. However, Eevee recalled that all they had left to travel through was a plain and a forest— no longer could she think they were far away.
Goodra led the team, with Eevee behind her and Boltund in the rear. The group crossed paths with a dubwool who preferred these rocky borderlands to the plains. Goodra asked him, "What is the status of the plains?"
There was no doubt that the locals knew what Goodra referred to. All natives on the western side of the crags had been increasingly harassed by Hydreigon's lackeys. The horned sheep pokémon looked at the trio and then refocused on Goodra. "They threaten to overwhelm it soon. I've seen scouts, and some of them request that willing pokémon visit the mountain's lord."
"Strange," the dragon remarked. "What pokémon does he ask?"
"Those predisposed to causing trouble," the dubwool said. "None of those upstanding types, if you follow me."
"So, he's still recruiting more?" Eevee reasoned.
"Yes," Goodra said. "Which is good. He's not confident that he's at full strength yet."
"Be careful in those plains," the dubwool announced. "Some pokémon you can't tell from native or crony."
"Of course," Boltund replied. The group watched the dubwool as he jumped on to a boulder and walked on the cliffside. A shallow cave swallowed his form.
The trio continued to walk upon the path. After a while, Boltund asked, "What if some pokémon take the invitation the wrong way? Like what if a bunch of pokémon show up against Hydreigon?"
"It's happening as we speak," Eevee chimed in. "That's what we're doing."
Goodra added, "We can't be the only ones. Yet, Hydreigon thinks he's safe if that mountain's his. You heard the refugees. You can't enter the mountain at ground level."
"But…" Boltund began, "Can't an army outside the mountain lay a siege?"
Goodra stopped walking. "They can," she said, turning around. "But he has hostages within, and he'll use them as leverage."
Boltund cringed and lowered her head. "I'm sorry I brought that up."
"Tactically it would be a good plan if he never stole young, but he's past that."
"There's a big task in front of us," Eevee said dejectedly. "How do we get in once we get past his patrols? His lackeys know those tunnels better than any outsider."
"Blow open an entry," Boltund said.
"And cause what scale of destruction?" Goodra challenged.
"Some pokémon can tunnel through rock," Eevee said.
"Yet that will take too long for Hydreigon not to notice."
Eevee moaned. The odds were stacked against them, even if they assembled a large team.
The path became grassier with each pace as they left the crags. Numerous boulders littered the area, having fallen off the cliffsides above from storms or brawls. The past fortnight had been descent, but at the border they were going up a gradual hill toward the plains. The air lost its parched dustiness as more humid air flowed toward the group.
"Are we nearing the ocean?" Eevee asked, mostly out of curiosity.
Goodra said, "If you go due west, you'll meet it where the plains end. You might occasionally smell salty air."
"Good," Boltund said. "I suppose it'll be easier to find water?"
"Yes, thankfully," Goodra said with a smile.
They settled down on the shaded side of a large, moss-covered boulder to get relief from the hot, midafternoon summer sun. They divested their packs and Goodra the waterskin and routinely ate lunch. They had run out of fish, so the next best thing Goodra and Boltund could eat were either eggs or bugs— none of which they liked. The bird pokémon had become too vigilant to let their young remain unattended.
Once they finished, Goodra retrieved the waterskin, and Eevee and Boltund their packs. They fastened their equipment on and hastily looked around to ensure they forgot nothing. Eevee nodded at the two other pokémon and they left the shade of the huge boulder.
Boltund looked in the direction they were to travel. "So, we go up a bit here and then we're in the plains proper?"
"Yes," a voice said that wasn't Goodra's. Eevee noted that the voice had a masculine ring to it. She heard it before, however, which meant the pokémon had followed them.
Eevee and her two companions looked around to find the source. Eevee saw the pokémon, and she tensed. It was the falinks that had chased them from a cave and given them an intense fight. Eevee eyed the brass, the only one in the group that spoke, and noted that neither it nor its troops were hostile. The six-segmented pokémon edged past the boulder and presented itself facing the suspicious Goodra and perplexed Boltund.
Almost like the fighting-type could read their minds, the brass said, "I thought you were the mountain lord's cronies. Pokémon like you just don't frolic over the crags for a nice hike. We've been watching you and know for certain that you're not with him."
Goodra relaxed after this explanation. She asked, "Why did you follow us?"
Boltund chimed in and said half-heartedly, "I hope you haven't stalked us just to wish us luck."
"Absolutely not," the brass said with conviction. "We'd like to help."
Eevee and Goodra's eyes met. Boltund asked, "You want to join our party?"
"Of course. We already fought you and we know that you're a capable team. Like many of our neighbors here, we know the mountain lord will come here next. We've been looking for good fights. It's what we do best."
Eevee didn't want to trust Falinks, but oftentimes communities or groups of pokémon formed this way. They fought each other and formed an assembly around a leader. Come to think of it, Hydreigon probably had done the same, but then he started to overstep his bounds by taking land and young.
Eevee looked at her friends. Who was their leader? Goodra had been leading them as she knew the terrain better, but Eevee input her opinion at certain intervals— when they should rest, gather food, or sleep. Once she evolved, she might emerge more confident and assert herself more. Boltund usually followed the lead of her two companions, but she offered good advice.
The female dragon looked skeptical. This falinks had attacked them with little provocation, and Eevee knew that they needed a tight-knit team without a hotheaded member. Boltund seemed to be more open to the idea. "A fighting-type will help us against dark-types. I'm sure Hydreigon has many," the electric hound said.
Eevee agreed and said, "We're going to encounter more opposition the closer we get, and more dragons." The vulpine pokémon looked at the wetland dragon and she gave a terse nod. Goodra's gaze lingered on Eevee an uncomfortable moment too long. Goodra showed a flicker of indignance. Eevee knew that Goodra wasn't weak, not by a long shot, but paired against two or more dragons would spell disaster for a team of three with an unevolved pokémon. Eevee reminded herself that Goodra didn't live in a community and might take this as an insult to her self-reliance, although Eevee was being mindful of what they might face.
"True," Goodra acquiesced. The dragon placed her arms about her midsection, which puffed up her size.
Noting the dragon's defensiveness, Eevee said, "Should we give…" she looked at the falinks and concluded, "him a chance?" Although genderless, Eevee felt that calling the pokémon an "it" was debasing, especially if the falinks were to travel with them.
Goodra relaxed slightly. "We can," she announced, although the response was strained. "He'll travel in front of us, where we can see him."
Falinks's six pairs of glowing eyes lifted, giving Eevee the impression of a smile. There were no hints of malignancy in the falinks's look, so he genuinely wished to travel with them. "I usually like to lead the way, so kind of you to offer," the brass told Goodra.
"One of those guys, huh?" Boltund said, nudging Goodra with her muzzle. "We do need some entertainment."
"We'll have plenty, where we're going. The plains are neutral land now," the brass said, and his five troops followed him in line formation as he led the group.
"Bonus," Eevee whispered to the slighted Goodra. "He knows the way!"
"He should," she said with a dismissive wave of her arm. "You can see the mountain from the crags provided the fog wasn't there. Which means it's raining a lot up north."
"At least we'll get shade eventually," Boltund remarked. "We've baked for days on the crags!"
"You lot going to talk about the weather all day, or are you coming?" Falinks said as he expected his teammates to follow him like his obedient troops.
"Yes, sir!" Boltund exclaimed with amusement.
Eevee couldn't help but offer a smirk. Goodra shrugged. "I guess let's go," she expressed softly to Eevee.
They all followed Falinks up the grassy knoll. The boulders became more scattered as they left the borderlands. "I don't think he'll try to attack us again," Eevee whispered to the dragon.
Their following order had reversed. Goodra took the rear, and then Eevee, Boltund, and Falinks in front. "It's not that I'm particularly worried about. He might try to take on too many opponents and drag us along for the ride or behave rashly and catch us in a tizzy. It might be a bit late to say this" —she chuckled good-naturedly— "We shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."
Boltund heard the last portion and yelled, "We stick out as much as a group of skarmory gleaming in the sunlight."
"No, I don't imagine that much," Falinks called out from the lead.
"A rillaboom pounding on his drum?"
"That's by noise, not by sight," Falinks clarified.
"They're going to get along well," Eevee told Goodra.
Goodra offered Eevee a smile. The female dragon walked besides the vulpine pokémon and assessed Eevee. Eevee noted Goodra's face was the same as when Eevee mentioned they needed more power against dragons. Eevee believed she knew what her draconic friend was thinking and said, "I'll evolve soon, I think."
Without hesitation, Goodra nodded and said, "You will."
Her delighted candidness encouraged Eevee. Yet, a nagging feeling within her swore she heard these same words uttered by another pokémon. Was it her parents or one of her elders?
As Eevee pondered, she and the trio eclipsed the hill and discovered a vast area of green grasses, sporadic stout trees, and low shrubs. The liveliness of the land compared to the crags warmed Eevee's being. A sweet scent blew in her direction instead of the metallic and arid one on the cliffs. The plains under the sun welcomed her with a sensation of peace. Yet, Eevee knew that everything was not as well as it seemed.
Eevee saw some pokémon, like wooloo, that she recognized, but the others she didn't. She eyed a grass-type pokémon with a large spore on its head among the wooloo herd. "An eldegoss," Falinks said, evaluating the pokémon like a military tactician. "Pretty docile." Down on the knoll were brown-colored avian pokémon dragging green stalks behind them. "The ducks with the leeks are farfetch'd. They aren't too threatening since they can't really fly."
"Look what they're near!" Goodra exclaimed.
From where the quartet stood, the herd settled on a hill opposite of their position. Down the hill was a depression and in it was a creek that Eevee overlooked.
"Water…" Boltund said. "Fish!" she declared as she licked her chops. "You still have that salt, Eevee?"
"Yes," the foxlike pokémon said. "You can use it again!"
"I guess let's head down to the bank," Falinks mentioned. "Not like I can prevent you."
The quartet walked down the meadow carefully. In a wetter four-season, it appeared that the creek would expand up the sides of the depression. However, the creek was flowing well, which meant it was wetter here than down south.
"Wait," Falinks warned as they were halfway down the wide dell. "Look downstream there, by that willow tree. There's another pokémon on our side."
The group followed his instructions, and underneath the canopy of a single willow near the bank five hundred feet away, stood a strange pokémon that Eevee thought looked vaguely familiar. It stood on two legs, was neutrally colored, and in a way looked like it was wearing a jacket. Or was that its fur?
"Looks like zigzagoon's evolution," Boltund said as the pokémon in question caught a fish pokémon from the water. Once the badger-like pokémon pulled the catch in and moved to face downstream, A lizard-like bipedal pokémon with a red crest on its head— almost like Falinks— became visible as it walked around the tree's trunk to speak to its ally. The two pokémon looked at their catch, which was a scaly magikarp, and they seemed to be deciding on how to carve it up between them. The tall black, white, and grey pokémon raised a claw and slashed at the fish to slice it into pieces. Its friend picked up the portions, shook its head, and starting eating. The pokémon were distracted by the food and failed to notice the four.
Boltund stole the words Eevee was about to voice. "Who are they?"
"That's the final evolution of zigzagoon, an obstagoon," Goodra said, "and a scrafty… both are dark types."
"Nothing good comes from these pokémon," Falinks said with the air of instigating a fight. "The obstagoon I'm not so worried about. He'll crumble like damp sand from fighting moves. It's the scrafty. He's some sort of leader based on the size of his head crest. Their kind in particular are thugs that prowl around looking for trouble."
Eevee felt a nagging itch near her neck, and she scratched her fur collar. She caught Goodra's eye, and the dragon frowned, staring acutely at Falinks.
"They don't sound like pokémon I want to be friends with," Boltund groaned. "So, you encountered them before?"
"Well…" Falinks began, sounding embarrassed, "Not quite. But I've heard word about them."
Boltund deadpanned. She hollered, "I was under the assumption you battled them! A pokémon told us earlier you can't tell some refugees from the lackeys." She exhaled and changed her tone to a rational one and expressed, "I wonder if he meant these two because something isn't quite right here. Why are dark types foraging in broad daylight? Two is too small of a group to be a patrol. Neither appear to like that fish they're eating either."
"They usually don't eat them," Goodra explained.
Eevee asked, "Should we go up the bank and avoid them?"
"No. We fight," Falinks said, wishing to unleash his energy. "We don't want them to catch up with us."
Eevee said, "We need to save our energy for the battles we can't avoid." She prodded the brass's back to get him to look at her. When he turned around, she growled, "We can't just fight everyone because we feel like it."
"I agree," Goodra said, and with her input they successfully stalled Falinks aching for a battle. "Look at them." Eevee observed the scrafty separating the scales from the edible flesh and passed the clean fillets to the obstagoon. "They're sharing that food without a quarrel."
Eevee noticed that the wooloo flock and farfetch'd on the other side ignored them. "They have to be natives," Eevee reasoned. "The herd on the other bank aren't fazed."
Falinks sighed. "Then let's see if we can ask them a few questions." He looked at his three companions, waiting for their approval.
"They indeed can be difficult," Goodra remarked. "Let's be careful."
Boltund nodded. She noticed Eevee's lack of initiative and said, "We have your back, Eevee."
Eevee felt anxious to greet the obstagoon and scrafty. She didn't have good memories of a certain dark-type from her home forest. By extrapolating, she didn't believe the two near the river would act differently. "All right."
The group sauntered to the lone willow, and their presence attracted attention from the pokémon on the other side. The farfetch'd squawked a warning. This caused the passive wooloo nearby to retreat by rolling away. When the ovine pokémon moved en masse, it appeared as if the entire bank was shifting. The eldegoss that Falinks noted earlier disappeared.
The obstagoon and scrafty caught on to the commotion and then turned in the direction of the four oddities who arrived. The two dark types spoke hurriedly to each other and then faced the quartet. They appeared flippant, like they hadn't wished to be disturbed.
The scrafty confronted them first and stepped out from the tree's shade into the sunlight. "Not a step closer," he shouted, holding up a hand. "Or we'll knock you out, one by one!"
The group hesitated and stopped their approach. Falinks bristled and Boltund stiffened, preparing for a possible attack. Eevee sucked in a breath. However, they relaxed once they assessed the condition of their opposition. Falinks taunted, "Nice try buddy, but I doubt you can."
"Don't provoke him," Eevee said. "They're a thread away from desperation!"
The two dark-type pokémon moved sluggishly and appeared exhausted. There was no substance behind the scrafty's threat in his current condition. His words were inflated by bravado. Goodra pushed herself to the front and flashed a grimace at Falinks as she passed him. She asked, "You're natives here, right?"
The obstagoon and scrafty exchanged glances. The dominant one, the scrafty, walked closer to the group and examined them, but he kept a considerable gap between them. "I don't think this is a patrol," he told his friend slowly.
"We aren't, you git—" Falinks began, but Goodra kicked the brass to quiet him. The scrafty opened his mouth, but his partner interrupted whatever he was about to say.
The obstagoon wasn't convinced and asked the other dark-type, "How can you be sure?"
The scrafty bared his teeth at Falinks, giving the brass his species' signature glare. He refocused, pointing at Boltund and Goodra. He told his companion, "They're carrying their own supplies." He squinted at the group. "All of them are dusty. Must have walked over the crags." He skirted around Goodra and found the short eevee behind Falinks's troops. He looked Eevee in the eye. "The mountain lord wouldn't recruit you."
Eevee reciprocated his gaze with false gusto. She didn't want to be marked as weak as she studied the lizard-like pokémon. With his face illuminated by the sun, she discerned dark circles lining his eyes. She wasn't sure if they were from a fight or sleep deprivation. Like Falinks mentioned, he looked like a miscreant, but from what he said he wasn't stupid. "Why do you say that?" the vulpine pokémon asked.
"You can evolve into eight different pokémon, and two of them won't jibe with Hydreigon and his multitudes of followers."
Eevee was going to say, Two? but the scrafty's companion spoke first. "Are you heading to the mountain?" the obstagoon asked. Despite the pokémon's foreboding appearance and harsh voice, this was a female. Eevee had seen some strange couples, but these pokémon made an odd pair. Yet it seemed they were committed to each other despite their troubles.
"We are," Boltund asserted.
"Good. I was under the impression that you wanted to camp here." The scrafty shook his head. "We can't defend our turf anymore with all the patrols running around like they own the place."
"He's subjugating you too," Goodra said with sympathy.
The obstagoon walked up beside her partner. The badger-like pokémon dragged her feet, and the sunlight emphasized her matted and dirty fur. She said, "Yeah. All the time. Well… they come out during the evening here. So, it's why we had to change our whole schedule and get food now." The obstagoon pounded a fist into the palm of her other hand. "We can't fight 'em all off and we're not leaving. Sucks it came to this. We don't enjoy it one bit."
"I hear your pain," Goodra empathized. "We've all felt the pressure, even far away. I can't imagine how you two manage!"
"Barely. Our grub left with those patrols, and most of the plants they swipe too. I hope you like fish," the scrafty huffed.
"The lands up ahead are all his now?" Eevee asked.
The scrafty's face fell. He looked tired and miserable as he stared blankly into the river. He pulled his loose skin up higher as if he were expecting a blow. His pride was injured most of all. "It's almost impossible to get into the forest. The gang I ran used to be near there. I thought we could hold that ground. Perhaps I was an idiot to think so." He looked at the group. "Unfortunately, we had to fall all the way back here. Hydreigon's peons have set up shop on the border and only let those accompanied by a patrol in."
The obstagoon crossed her arms. "Yet it's not that simple. You can't just say you'll join him, and they'll let you in. Those responsible for vetting aren't so easily deceived."
Eevee perked up at this information. No one had told them that yet. "How long has it been like that?"
The obstagoon shrugged and looked at her friend. "Maybe two moons? Hydreigon apparently lost a prospective lackey, and since then he's upped security." The two shady pokémon gave a feeble laugh. "Heard that pokémon humiliated him."
"Who was the pokémon?" Boltund asked. "Not a morgrem?"
"Nah, but one went that way," Scrafty said. "Rumor has it that the master in the mountain picked on a punk. He thought it was another dumb, blue-colored toxtricity. They're rare, especially 'round here."
Eevee's expression lightened. She and Boltund glanced at each other, and Goodra noticed it too. They found the other adoptee, and by the sound of it, she was not with Hydreigon. Morgrem, however, was at large, but Eevee didn't put it past him to ally with the mountain lord.
"I would've liked to see Hydreigon's face," the scrafty continued. He beamed with delight. "A pokémon told him off! And he knows he's in trouble. He let her get away and probably report it to her band!"
The two dark types chuckled again at the mountain lord's folly. The incident was the closest thing they felt to vengeance. "Serves him right," the obstagoon cooed.
"He's defensive," Falinks concluded. "All because a pokémon hurt his ego."
"Fragile ego," Obstagoon added.
"Helpful to know," Boltund said. "No wonder why he's hurting for new recruits."
"Yeah," Scrafty said. "We refused his offer, and the lackeys marked us since." He grasped his loose skin with contempt. "It's pathetic. We can't respect a pokémon who's affected by every naysayer like that."
"And stole all our food and friends," Obstagoon spat. She stomped her foot and growled.
"Hydreigon himself sounds rather weak," Goodra said. "We've picked the best time to assail him."
Eevee's ears flopped as she said, "If we can get to him first."
The scrafty's eyes shone with determination. "We're about pushed out of the plains. I've been here my whole life and know no other place." He looked at Eevee and seemed to acquire an idea. "We knew where his barrier was the thinnest, and at what time of day too. You might be able to force your way in."
A chill swept over Eevee. Scrafty's constant sneer made him hard to read. She wondered if he was talking just to her and not to the whole group. None of the others seemed to notice, however. Her belly suffused with nervousness, and he shook herself out to discharge the emotion.
"You'll help us too?" Boltund asked. She knew that the two natives didn't know about Falinks's joining them on the same day. Nonetheless, she couldn't hide her surprise.
"Just until you get in," Obstagoon said, looking at her companion, who concurred with a nod. "We'll remain in our plains… preferably where we were, by the forest."
"We want him gone," Scrafty hissed. "We can't play this game much longer. But no one will help us push back." He gawked at them expectantly, his somber demeanor lifting.
The foursome huddled together, and they requested that they review the proposal. They knew these two pokémon weren't with Hydreigon and would help. Yet, their being dark types and their knack for cunning made them unreliable to carry through with the entire plot.
"I just can't agree to going along with them. Especially him," Falinks grumbled, looking at Scrafty, who sunbathed in the meadow. He appeared to be napping. Obstagoon relaxed against the willow in the shade. Her head kept turning in the quartet's direction.
Falinks was on shaky ground with Scrafty. Being fighting types and used to leading a pack, they were too similar. "Look, Falinks," Eevee declared, "I get it. You don't like him. He weirds me out too. But if you insist on settling your score, you can fight him after we deal with our primary concern: getting rid of the patrols and that brute in the mountain."
The brass and his troops' eyes narrowed. "Will we get the chance? Has it occurred to you we might never return?"
"That's why this is so stupid!" Boltund barked. Obstagoon near the willow heard the cry and got on her feet. Scrafty groggily sat up and glanced at Boltund.
Goodra looked at the electric hound and then at the segmented pokémon. "You're acting like children!" she snapped. "You see, what progress will we make if we try to go all in by ourselves?" She pointed in the direction of the natives. "Those two are fully evolved and they're virtually powerless to stop the invasion."
Falinks admitted this truth and said, "I see your point…." He looked away to avoid meeting the dragon's eyes. "But we can pick better pokémon than them!"
"Who? Where?" Eevee asked, getting increasingly flustered at Falinks's stubbornness. "Everyone else has been running away or hoping that someone else will fix everything for them."
"They're not my first choices to ally with either," Goodra related. "But dark types will understand how other ones think. Not like you can get a psychic to help you there."
The pokémon in question walked up to the group. "You've been arguing long enough," Obstagoon said. "Have you made your choice? Evening will come upon us soon."
"I'll go," Eevee expressed.
"I stick with her no matter what," Boltund said.
Goodra nodded, which left Falinks remaining. Scrafty said, "I'm catching this vibe that you're the one stalling. C'mon. We don't have all day."
If the brass and his troops had teeth, they were grinding them with disdain. "Sure," he spat.
"Lose the attitude," Scrafty bemoaned, "because you're going to follow us."
Falinks said, "No. Not you. Can't you see? Your buddies are gone, save one. Get over yourself. You were just a big fish in a small pond!"
Goodra paled and tugged at her horns in distress. Boltund flashed her teeth and snarled at Falinks. Eevee shoved past Falinks, so she stood at the front. She couldn't believe that Falinks's need to lead was so prevalent it was becoming ridiculous... and dangerous. Fed up, Eevee yelled, "Falinks, if you can't stand it, leave us."
Eevee stood before him poised in a battle stance. She fixed her eyes on the brass and glowered. "Remember what I said earlier."
Scrafty showed Eevee a satisfied smirk. He praised, "I like your nerve, girl, going against a fighting-type like that. Just what the medic ordered."
"Now," Eevee said, "Will you keep yourself in line?"
Falinks sighed, having finally declared defeat. His voice faltered as he said, "Then… let's get going." Eevee's group looked at the dark types and they beckoned them. Obstagoon and Scrafty guided the team of six, to Falinks's chagrin.
