A.N./ This chapter is short. I ended the last chapter abruptly to avoid a cliffhanger. I'm considering merging this chapter with chapter sixteen once what currently will be chapter eighteen is posted.

"All right," Sylveon interrupted. "I know no one likes it in here, but I really want to mention something we might come across." The group slowed to a walk and then stopped. The echoes of woobat cries reverberated from whence they came, but they weren't coming their direction.

"We're listening," Obstagoon said, turning toward Sylveon in the rear. The torchlight illuminated the left side of the badger-like pokémon's face. Her face was muddy, and her fur strewn with pebbles from the rocks Goodra broke. She looked feral and Sylveon's belly somersaulted at the sight.

"We're likely to get lost. What if we exit and not enter the forest, but near the settlement? What will we do?"

"It's possible…" Obstagoon established. "If we're half-mad from being in this cave for some time, we're going to want to escape from the first available tunnel leading outside."

"And our food supply might have dwindled by then," Falinks added.

Obstagoon sighed audibly. "Wingfell is overcome by Hydreigon. Yet… his attention is on the border. No one's trying to get over Wingfell's wall, anyway."

"Did he force all the residents out?" Boltund inquired.

Scrafty visibly perked up and stepped into the group's center. "No. He's using some to farm to supply the border patrol with their grub. They picked clean much from the plains, as you've seen. The old residents were raising their own fish there. They had a big aquaculture pond for that."

Falinks reverberated with new energy. "We can liberate them!"

"We can't be completely sure to free them…" Obstagoon said. "But… if we do, that's a blow against the mountain lord. His lackeys at the border will diminish if they can't get a good food supply."

"Which means others like us can get on in," Goodra said with a smile.

"We need more allies once we're at the mountain's feet," Boltund agreed.

Sylveon waved her feelers in satisfaction. "Unlike those possessed, they will help us."

"Well then," Falinks started as he jerked his head toward Goodra and Obstagoon. "Best we continue and spend as little time here as possible."

"Isn't there a pokémon that can tell direction?" Boltund asked as Goodra turned and began walking again. "I swear I recall Reuniclus saying something about it."

The group paced a short distance when Goodra responded. "There is but it's not on Galar. It lives in Kalos."

"Nosepass," Scrafty said as he snapped his fingers. "That's what it's called. I heard it looks like a boulder and points north."

Falinks snorted. "Won't be much help down here at this rate."

"At our next junction, should we continue using the tunnel the most to the right?" Goodra asked her teammates to refocus the discussion on what lay before them. She shook her head and mentioned, "As long as we don't end up walking in circles?"

"I'd imagine the old residents made the tunnel system not too complicated," Scrafty relayed. "But that's just my guess."

"These tunnels are all artificial?" Boltund asked.

"Not all," Scrafty said. "That's good you brought that up because the ones pokémon made will be just like this one we're in. Narrow, rather tall, and smooth on the sides."

"I noticed the initial tunnel was rougher," Falinks commented. "Seems that was natural, and the area the woobat were dwelling must be the original tunnels."

"If we pass through caverns looking like this," Goodra said, pointing to the sides of the tunnel. "Then we'll get to Wingfell most likely."

Sylveon suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine. Her paws and legs were wet, which were accentuated when a frigid wave of air overcome her. Scrafty, who walked next to her, tugged his loose skin higher and said, "Is it just me or did it just get a lot colder?"

"No, I felt that too," Goodra said. She stopped walking and held the torch closer to her body instead of the aloft position it was. "If it stays that cold…" she stopped and then turned, looking at her companions, her face conveying worry, but then her eyes grew wide when she looked over Sylveon and Scrafty in the rear.

"What's wrong, Goodra?" Obstagoon asked.

"I swear I saw something behind Scrafty," she expressed, pointing over the orange lizard's head. Scrafty immediately spun around. Sylveon witnessed his eyes squinting into the darkness.

He shook his head. "I don't see anything."

"You okay, Goodra?" Obstagoon asked again.

"I saw something reflecting off the light of the torch when I turned around then," she declared.

"Well," Falinks announced, "Something's weird here because that cold spell we just passed is gone."

"Oh no," Boltund groaned. "That can only mean there are ghosts down here."

"Would be their place to hang out," Sylveon said cautiously.

"Explains why my neck fur was rising," Obstagoon said. "Great. We're being followed by something that can faze through walls."

"Good we're set up as is," Scrafty said. "Dark energy overwhelms a ghost's."

"Probably explains why it fled," Falinks stated.

"All right," Sylveon said, reorienting the group. "Let's continue, but not lower our guard… that pokémon might have been scouting for the likes of us."

Sylveon's only encounters with ghost-types were Dragapult and her dreepy. Few pokémon knew what to make of ghost types. Some claimed that ghost pokémon were the souls of the departed placed in a new body, as Dragapult related to when her past life appertained to her current one. Others said they were actually dead, and some thought that their knack for entering the ether and other dimensions allowed them to view the other side precociously. Some pokémon regarded them with mere fear, since so little was known about them, others offered them doubt like dark types, and a few held a peculiar respect for them, much like the alleged poké-reaper who'd guide the spirits of the dead.

"Oh!" Obstagoon exclaimed. "Look ahead!"

"I see light," Goodra remarked. Her voice buoyed in satisfaction.

"It appears to be torchlight, Goodra," Obstagoon discerned. "We need to be careful, or we might become trapped."

The leaders set their pace and walked gingerly ahead as they approached the lit portion of the tunnel. The tunnel turned sharply to the left, leaving the group unaware of what might linger at the bend. Sylveon noted that the light remained steady, so likely the torch or light was coming from a fixed source. However, that alone didn't mean that a foe wasn't expecting them.

Obstagoon approached the turn first. She cautiously huddled against the leftmost section of the tunnel and then peered around the corner, moving only her head. Her eyes widened and then she looked at her companions. "It's a storeroom. It's semi-circular, but smooth… seems like it's a new addition, judging by the lack of columns."

"No one's present?" Boltund asked.

"Not that I see," the badger-like pokémon said. "However, no doubt in my mind it's frequented. We better make ourselves scarce after we pass it."

"We found their cold cellar?" Falinks asked.

"It's likely."

"Should we take anything?" Sylveon asked. "Or would it risk our discovery if we helped ourselves to what's in there?"

"A ghost already has detected us," Scrafty mentioned. "Might as well take advantage of this."

"Not so fast," Goodra countered. "We've no idea if that ghost is a minion of Hydreigon's, besides."

"If he isn't, then no doubt he's probably stolen from this storeroom too," Scrafty pointed out. "And if he is, let's not linger here!" he urged.

"True," Falinks said, having to agree with Scrafty on this one. "We're pretty much lost. Let's not become surrounded!"

Obstagoon and Goodra took this as a cue to continue. They turned left into the stockroom and the group followed them. Within the room were wooden crates full of berries, barrels filled with water and some filled with sand, and atop stone tables were hunks of salt. Some scaled fish and plucked fowl sat caked in the salt on the tables. A lone torch illuminated the room in the middle. The room was shaped like a curved scar and featured two exits: one almost opposite of the tunnel they entered from, and another to their right.

"Right tunnel looks unnatural," Goodra remarked as she inspected it. She cringed. "It's a tight squeeze for me too."

"The other exit's not much better," Falinks remarked. "It might be half a foot wider at that."

"Appears like this place was designed for a bunch of shorter pokémon," Boltund reasoned.

Obstagoon responded, "Well, these tunnels were Wingfell's messaging system. Usually, a quick quadruped like you zipped through here. They heighted the ceiling over time to accommodate others."

Scrafty was busy fitting purloined healing berries into Sylveon's pack as the rest of the group occupied themselves taking other supplies. Goodra handed the torch to Obstagoon, and she approached a barrel of water to fill up the waterskin. Boltund helped herself to some fish and Falinks inspected the containers, only for him to become disgusted as he shouted, "This crate's filled with mushrooms!"

The segmented pokémon fled from the fungi like they were contagious. Goodra snorted at his display of cowardice toward the toadstools, but after filling the waterskin she approached the crate only to retreat from it as well. She waved her hand in front of her face and then she hit the cavern wall behind her hard, knocking the bracketed torch on the floor. She then sneezed violently. Her eyes were red and filled with tears like she had been crying for hours.

The group tensed at the dragon making so much noise. Her friends asked if she was all right. Goodra wordlessly groped away from the crate, shoving her friends out of the way. She only managed to shake her head.

"Just what are—" Scrafty began as he inspected the offending mushroom crate. He furrowed his brow and then touched one of the fungi. To Sylveon's astonishment, the toadstool illuminated at his touch.

"That explains why," Scrafty said. "These are from the fairy forest!"

"What?" Obstagoon asked with incredulity. "Dragons are allergic to them!"

Goodra reached tunnel they came from. She wheezed with each breath. The dragon sat on the wet ground and occasionally rubbed her eyes. Boltund fetched her a pecha berry from one of the crates and offered her it. The weary dragon took it, choked out a barely audible thank you, and then ate the berry. She held her belly and rested her head against the rock as she waited for the berry to relieve her symptoms.

"How'd they even get down here?" Boltund asked as she turned toward the rest of the team. "The fairy forest is far away, isn't it?"

"Someone has to be growing them down here." Sylveon responded.

"If they're with Hydreigon… why?" Falinks asked, looking at his troopers, who all appeared perplexed by this development.

Obstagoon spun around toward the tunnel opposite of the entrance. She grit her teeth, hackles rising, as she said, "I hear someone walking."

"Just one?" Falinks asked as his troops assumed a fighting position. "Shouldn't be a problem for us."

A light from a torch illuminated from the offending tunnel. Luckily, Sylveon and her friends removed themselves from the pokémon's line of sight, so they could ambush the pokémon coming to the storeroom. Goodra finally returned to her feet, albeit she was still wiping her eyes. They heard the pokémon's soft steps on the gravel, and it stopped short of the entrance to the storeroom.

"I know you lot are in there," a somewhat belligerent voice called. The pokémon was male. He sounded annoyed more than anything else. "I'm not going to be a fool and get ambushed. I already knew you were coming."

Sylveon's companions exchanged glances as they silently tried to figure out their next course of action. Ultimately, Sylveon took the lead and declared, "We'll not harm you if you allow us to pass. You better not plan an ambush for us later."

"I'm no imbecile, we can't best six of you," the unknown pokémon sneered. "But what are you doing down here? Your paltry team isn't going to make much headway, unorganized as you are."

"Paltry?" Falinks fired back. "We're leagues ahead of you in strength, peon."

A chuckle erupted from the adjacent tunnel. "I've already figured that out, blockhead. I'm only telling you the truth. Free Wingfell if you will. You just might."

Scrafty shrugged. "Are you complimenting us?"

"Perhaps I am."

"I don't get you," Obstagoon said. "Hydreigon owns Wingfell, and you sound like a lackey. Are you challenging us?"

"Are you growing the fungi down here?" Goodra finally asked between sniffles.

"I'm cultivating them for a friend." He ignored Obstagoon's concerns completely.

Sylveon shook her head. She had enough of this guessing game, and she wanted to see what pokémon she was talking to. Her gut feeling told her he felt no fealty toward the mountain lord, given he didn't care about the status of maintaining control of Wingfell.

Sylveon revealed herself to the pokémon in the tunnel. Once she witnessed what pokémon she was speaking to, her jaw dropped in shock. "Morgrem? What? What are you doing here?" Sylveon asked, with her mind racing as she stared at the pink and green goblin standing in the tunnel. He carried a torch in his right hand at the waist. She observed straps upon his shoulders, indicating he was carrying a pack like she was.

"Do I know you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. He held up his free arm, ready to prepare an attack if necessary. "You better not be throwing me off guard."

Boltund joined Sylveon at her side and said, "Morgrem from the forest? Dragapult was your guardian?"

Morgrem snapped to attention. "Dragapult…" he grumbled. "I still hold my promise to her."

The remainder of the team moved in to witness Morgrem in the tunnel. Another figure walked up from behind him. The pokémon was about as tall as Morgrem, goblin-esque like he was, and featured two reflective eyes. The sableye asked, "Know these fools?"

Morgrem shrugged. "Them two." He pointed at Sylveon and Boltund. "You evolved."

"I'm surprised you haven't," Boltund replied. Her voice wavered between astonishment and disgust, for she wasn't sure what to make of this old acquaintance.

It was Falinks who got to the point. "Are you allied with Hydreigon?"

Morgrem hesitated before saying, "More or less."

"What's that mean?" Scrafty inquired.

"What you think it does," he said, going around the question.

"That's helpful," Obstagoon said as she rolled her eyes.

"He always was a little troll," Boltund claimed. "To us. To everyone."

"It's just what I do. But maybe my sister didn't deserve it," he said, looking over their heads at nothing.

"How come?" Sylveon asked.

"Truth is, she is my sister. Blood-related sister. And for that, that's why I'm not at the mountain right now."

He continued; his face taut like he'd eaten something sour. "It's gross. The same pokémon on the mountain that liked my father likes me. She's a hatterene, I mean, counterparts are more inclined to like each other, but no. I have some standards, even. She killed Toxtricity's mum, so especially no."

"How'd you figure this out?" Sylveon asked in disbelief. "Dragapult never said you were related."

Morgrem grumbled and shook his head. "Talking with the mountain folks, obviously." His lip curled and he exclaimed, "I think we were released to do Dragapult's own dirty work. She never liked Hydreigon, but to release my sister and I knowing we'd eventually came back to him…" he trailed off.

"You've no proof of that," Boltund barked.

"I don't. But it's what my intuition tells me," the goblin replied.

Goodra said, "I gather you want to challenge Dragapult and Hydreigon. Why? What is it you expect to do after the fact?"

"That's none of your business," Morgrem said tersely.

The sableye standing next to him asked, "Do you really?"

"Do you wish to remain a slave, Ruby? He thinks so little of you. What about your brothers and sisters locked in his chambers? You can't say that they all want to be minions forever."

"Wait a minute," Scrafty interjected. "What of the young?"

Goodra nodded vigorously. "Yes, what of them?"

"They are fine for now," Morgrem said. "Until Gallade removes Bisharp, at least."

Scrafty adjusted his loose skin nervously and Goodra stroked her horns in worry. "Gallade's out here near Wingfell now. You can relax for the time being," Morgrem said, smiling, exerting authority over Scrafty and Goodra for having this information.

Boltund exchanged glances with Sylveon. "Are you telling us the truth?" Boltund asked.

Morgrem flicked his hair. "I already said I was."

Falinks narrowed his eyes and fumed at Morgrem's manner of speaking. "Can't you just spit out your point already?"

Morgrem raised his free hand again. Upon his displayed palm he conjured a ball of fairy-type energy. "Don't try me, tough guy." He held the prepared attack there as a warning for the rest of the group. All but Boltund and Sylveon were weak to fairy moves.

"You may have the strength in battle," Obstagoon reasoned. "But I feel that… given what Sylveon and Boltund have told us, you're following what your sister's doing. You're lost, aren't you?"

Morgrem lowered his hand and reabsorbed the prepared attack. His gaze became distant and Sylveon observed the wheels turning in his mind as he considered what Obstagoon said.

"You want to battle Dragapult and Hydreigon," Goodra said, following up to what Obstagoon mentioned. "Just like your sister did."

Scrafty snorted. "You're all talk though. What's stopping you? Cowardice?"

"Like Obstagoon said," Boltund said, "You're lost without her lead."

"Wait, she battled Dragapult too?" Morgrem asked, his mouth remaining parted after speaking. He shook his head. "I haven't seen her since I left Dragapult's place."

"She had the tenacity. That's how she evolved," Boltund stated.

"If I were you… I'd do like she did," Scrafty related. "Especially since you have an advantage against the mountain lord."

"Absolutely," Falinks concurred. "But instead, you're running around down here growing toadstools to poison him."

"It's not that simple!" Morgrem thundered. "I'm not hesitating because of her... or anything else!"

Sylveon witnessed the sableye near Morgrem giving his friend confounded looks. The ghost exposed his lie from his expression alone. Morgrem bit his lip and then declared, "Enough of this. Ruby, get us out of here."

The goblin threw the torch he carried at Sylveon's group. It rolled toward them, still lit, and Goodra picked it up as the two fiends darted down the dark tunnel.

"Pursue?" Falinks asked.

"No," Boltund said. "They're not going to do anything to us."

"That's one adoptee found," Goodra said. "He's one conflicted fellow."

"Enlightening, at least," Sylveon said. "But I don't understand. He was fixed on becoming stronger and besting everyone, yet he's not evolved. I know he's several four-seasons older than us." She glanced at Boltund and then at Scrafty. "He's older than Scrafty, even."

"Do you believe him?" Boltund asked her friend. "That Dragapult was setting up her adoptees?"

Sylveon sighed. "Dragapult's primary concern was protecting the forest, and I guess that's why she kicked Morgrem and then-Toxel out… but she was the one who took them in originally." Sylveon lifted her head up and peered at the group's dragon. "Goodra? Do you know anything about Dragapult that might help us understand this?"

"Little," she admitted. "However, until you told me, she never had fosterlings… just her own dreepy with her mate."

"I've never met her," Obstagoon started, "But given she raised them in a community that wouldn't like them, there had to be some reason for that." Her tone was unapologetic.

"I asked Reuniclus about why she took them in," Boltund said. "He made it sound like she did it out of magnanimity since their parents died, but Morgrem mentioned his father to us, and he sounded like he might still be around."

Sylveon pondered, "Where could Toxtricity be now, though?"

"With a band, probably," Scrafty said. "No other place for a punk to go unbothered."

"Oh…" Obstagoon groaned. "If she's a leading type, then…"

Falinks shook his head. "Isn't she blue, from what you said? Wouldn't she lay low? Damn, I really wish to meet her."

"Blue toxtricity are just as notorious as the yellow ones," Scrafty told him. "Even I'd be hesitant to allow one in my village. Some 'mons say they're even worse than their counterparts, as they use many clandestine means to achieve their aims. Appropriately, it's called low key manipulation."

Goodra shook her head. "I see what you mean, but if she integrated with a band, why would she leave the comforts of one?"

"Her mother's dead," Sylveon said. "Indirectly due to Hydreigon, and she's resentful for her upbringing because her mother wasn't around. I recall a late-night conversation in the forest where some pokémon like my parents were talking about it. At the time I didn't understand who Reuniclus and Indeedee were referring to when they said she should exact revenge on someone else."

"How would this toxtricity learn that a hatterene is responsible?" Scrafty asked.

"Morgrem figured out quite a bit since he left us," Boltund said. "With how resourceful Toxtricity is, she'd no doubt learn a thing or two."

"It'd be much easier if we just found this other adoptee," Falinks admitted in defeat. "Otherwise, we'll speak in what ifs all day."

"At the rate things are going…" Obstagoon began, "She might just find us first."

"Sooner than later too," Sylveon agreed. "Let's get moving and go along with what Goodra planned earlier. Right tunnel, everyone!" she ordered, indicating with one of her feelers to head down the cramped hollow.