Towny Town was nothing like the name would imply.
For Scout, hearing the name brought to mind sweater vests, middle-aged people calling everyone son, and a bizarre floatiness to the place that left everything feeling like some fever dream.
Rather than that, Towny Town was a cesspool of depravity that lurked on the fringes of polite society.
For a town populated by pokémon, it was a rather run-down place. There were general rules of understanding amongst civilised pokémon. Don't fight others in town. Don't trash the place. Be overall good-natured. Help, and you will be helped.
Towny Town was not like that. One could only assume that the name was kept out of sardonic irony, some sort of strange pride, or just out of sheer pragmatic laziness.
Towny Town teetered the edges of civility and the wilds. Pokémon who still valued the safety and security that living in a community and working together benefited resided in places like this. Money could not be eaten after all, unless you were capable of ingesting metal.
To loosen the proverbial shackle and live as a wild pokémon forsook such things. There was freedom but there was also danger and uncertainty.
And, really, there were very few proverbial shackles on civilised pokémon anyway. No more than simply asking everyone to get along.
Towny Town would toe that line, but not quite cross it. It wasn't worth it. And despite the relative lawlessness the place boasted, the buildings were largely intact, and the pokémon worked together for the most part.
Businesses that wouldn't be found elsewhere, or at least not so proudly demonstrated, could be seen as the highlights of a place like Towny Town.
Such as the establishment Liepard ran.
Rai, Scout, and Mane stuck very close together as they entered Towny Town, passing by a scorched sign proclaiming where they were.
There were pokémon, as there always were, but the energy of the town was a little different. Eyes followed them everywhere, but no one came up to say hello. It was not like Treasure Town or Blackstone Village, or anywhere they were used to.
Pokémon stared at them from a distance, it was very uncomfortable. Rai, people person that he was, bravely asked a braviary if he could point them the way to Liepard.
Rai had been completely ignored.
Asking around for Liepard received either ignoring or answers like. "I don't know. Go away." Or. "None of your business, exploration team." And even. "First Luxio shows up again and now a shinx? Your kind is just flooding this place, aren't you?" Sneered at them.
Eventually, however, someone reasonable was found.
"Liepard?" Aggron said, looking the three up and down with clear dubiousness on his face. "100 Poké."
Scout may have bitten him, but Mane was relieved to find someone who would take money. He answered them with the cash in hand and then in the mouth when the aggron ate it, "You can find Liepard's little hostel down that way." He pointed east. "Take a right turn once you see the rubble pile and keep going until you find a building with fogged-up windows. That's where Liepard is."
They thanked him for the helpful directions and raced off. Aggron did not play them for fools, and his directions proved truthful.
"This uh…." Mane paused upon spotting the place. "Grovyle and Riolu went here?" he asked.
"Yeah." Rai nodded.
"Oh, boy." Mane smirked, showing some teeth. "I'm going to have fun with them later."
That was not a good sign. Mane entered first, taking a deep breath before he entered. The smell hit Rai and Scout first. Cloying, heavy, and with an undercurrent of sweetened smoke.
Scout immediately coughed. "What is this?" he gasped.
"Us," a pair of voices spoke up, catching his attention. Twin salandit lay against a rather curiously shaped rock, their tails glowing as they emitted their pheromones.
It dawned on Scout just what kind of establishment they were in as he read the writing above the duo. Rai already had figured it out, sharing an amused look with Mane.
"We're here to see Liepard," Mane said without hesitation. One of the salandit gave a giggling hiss at him.
"But of course," he said before lazily moving his tail to wave to the right. "We're just the decoration. You can find Liepard in there." The right led to Liepard. The left had another door, otherwise, the entryway was quite small.
They moved on quickly, Scout opening the door as he was the only one tall enough to pull down the door handle.
"Oh, my," Liepard said with a purr. She lounged on a large cushion and the room was cramped and warm, meaning they had to get up close with her to talk. "What do I owe the pleasure of Team Ion here today?"
"We're here for information," Mane said with a smirk. "That's it."
"Just that?" Liepard purred. She laughed at Scout's uncomfortable grimace and decided to give a very Mane-like stretch.
Mane himself was unimpressed. "Pass," he said.
"Oh, very well," Liepard sighed, adjusting on the cushion she rested and into a more proper position. "Just spreading the word of Team Ion coming to me is fun enough, I suppose."
At this point, they weren't even surprised they were recognised, which caused Liepard to pout. "You three look so stiff, and not the kind most are here for. Relax, I won't bite."
Her tone carried an edge of sultriness to it and she chuckled, clearing her throat and speaking with a more even voice, "My apologies, force of habit. Alright. Pokémon come to me for two reasons, and you appear to be here for the latter reason. What do you want, Team Ion?"
Rai was the mouth of the team and thus stepped up to speak. "We're looking for a pokémon, and we were told that you helped Grovyle and Riolu out a while back?"
Liepard brightened. "Oh, those two!" She sighed in memory. "Very brave pokémon… and human, I suppose. I hear they have returned, as have you, Scout."
Scout smiled before realising she had said his name. No one had introduced themselves up to this point, and she smirked.
"So, business?"
"How do you know my name?" Scout asked, alarmed that this pokémon knew that.
Liepard gave him a Look. As did Rai and Mane.
Scout shrunk in on himself. "Ah."
"Indeed," Liepard said, back to amused. "Although I must give you my thanks. Pokémon in my… area of business tends to have a poor reputation around. The spreading of your unique status, however, has eased a lot of judgement. Heh. In short, business has never been better. Thank you for that."
"Great," Scout said, ears and nose going red.
Rai had to stifle a giggle at Scout's expression.
"Nevertheless," Liepard added, after letting him stew in shame for a moment. "I am grateful. Your salvation of time is one thing, but the good word is another." She winked. "Normally I would charge quite a price for my aid but I am feeling generous today."
"We haven't told you what we want," Mane pointed out. She gave a dismissive flip of the tail in response.
Mane nodded to Scout, who stepped up with only a small bit of hesitation, pulling the old papers out. "We're looking for an outlaw, Pyroar is the guy."
He pushed over the objects to Liepard, and she peered down, tracing a claw down the smeargle-painted wanted poster. "The scar is a bit too light on the nose there," she said, tapping the paper. "And it definitely shows him in far too good of an angle. The artist of this has too much pride in themselves."
Liepard leaned back. "Ah yes, him," she said the word lightly, but a shiver ran through Team Ion, nonetheless. "Pyroar was in here a short time ago. Sampling our services. We service all kinds but there are certainly those you take the money from and never wish to see again. He didn't wind up paying, with money at least."
She hummed, frowning. "Pity, this wanted poster doesn't show him from the back, or else we could see a memento I left him with."
"He was here? Why didn't you tell the Clefable Guild?" Rai asked, as Scout gathered up the papers and Mane took in the information.
Liepard raised an eye at him. "The guild and us do not get along, dear. We take care of our own business, regardless."
Her voice was even, but very cold.
"Do you know where he went?" Mane asked, adjusting to the information as best as he could.
"Curiously enough, no," Liepard answered, to their disappointment. "I would assume he's on his way to Fissure, he left three days ago. You might want to hurry if you think to catch up to him."
"What about anyone else?" Mane pressed. "Did he have anyone else with him?"
Liepard gave him a searching look. "Not that I know," she replied after a time. "Why?"
With Rai and Scout's eyes on the back of his neck, Mane pushed nausea away and answered. "Have you seen any morpeko around?" he asked. His voice clipped with nervousness he was trying to suppress.
Liepard stared at him in silence for a bit, a few things dancing behind her eyes. Perhaps evaluating him for some unknown idea. Eventually, she said, "Yes."
Mane let out a hard breath he was holding and glanced at Rai and Scout, both giving him a reassuring smile. "Well, that's not a good sign," he sighed, turning back to Liepard. "If I'm right, Pyroar is my brother and Morpeko is my, our, father."
Liepard raised her head, eyes narrowing for a moment. Scout and Rai edged closer to Mane, who stared back at her defiantly. She eventually lowered back down, nodding. "Sift," she called, sharply. One of the salandit popped their head in. "Fetch Lovely, would you?"
Sift nodded and vanished, going through the other door to find someone. Liepard looked back down to Mane, who looked very queasy now. "Yes. They weren't with us at the same time and were not seen together in town at all, I would know by now if so. But Lovely might have some information that'd help you."
Sift soon returned, and a pikachu entered the room. She had a pink bow on, and the heart-shaped dint in her tail female pikachu possessed. "Yes?" she asked dreamily, looking over Team Ion curiously with rather sultry eyes.
"Four days ago, Morpeko," Liepard began, voice clipping a little differently, causing Lovely to stand up straight and drop the dreamy sway she had going on. "What can you tell us about him?"
"Oh, uh… well-"
"Non-gross information," Mane cut in. "Please. That's probably my pathetic excuse of a father, and I don't want to hear… anything he did."
Giggling a little at his discomfort, such was it that even Rai had to bury some amusement at the tables being turned on Mane for once, Lovely began.
"Well, he was a talky one. After we… well, afterwards he seemed to want to talk, so I encouraged it. You know, more time in the room, more money later on." She nodded to Liepard, who smirked back and rolled her eyes. "He was very curious about the area, pretty nervous guy. Definitely struck me as a pokémon who was probably in some trouble, so I told him about the shortcut."
Liepard raised her head sharply. "You did?"
Lovely's smile froze, and she nodded guiltily. "W-well. Yes. I thought we were supposed to do that?"
Liepard sighed and leaned back down. "You are right," she said. "You're not in trouble. It simply appears likely that Morpeko and Pyroar are connected, father and son even."
Lovely's expression turned dangerously furious for a very brief moment before she composed herself. "Ah," she said. She brushed her fur down for a moment, cheeks sparking. "Well, fuck. That's why Pyroar just vanished without a trace, isn't it?"
"Most likely."
"What's the shortcut?" Mane asked. Lovely gave him a dubious look and glanced to Liepard.
"Do you have a map?" she asked, and Scout procured it. Liepard dug her claw into a point on the map, causing a hole. "The shortcut is a very handy, rather curious, dungeon located just here out of Towny Town. It's very easy to miss."
Liepard leaned back, looking over Team Ion with a dangerous eye. "It's a curious dungeon for two reasons. The layout doesn't change, but the pokémon within it do. It's usually a safe dungeon as well, assuming you know the path." She grinned dangerously. "Getting lost in that dungeon is deadlier than the other hazards of it. We use it to help pokémon evade the guild or teams seeking to arrest them."
"Why would you help those kinds of pokémon?" Rai asked, more confused than upset. A dungeon that didn't change layout was very curious to his exploration senses, even if it was being used for evading the law.
"We do not help violent offenders," Liepard replied as easily as a flowing river. "It's very discretionary of who we'd alert to that secret. Because of the dungeon exits here." She pointed again, to a point right besides Fissure. "That's how we know it's a dungeon. If it was just a complex under the town, it would take days to navigate the correct path, but it should only take a few hours. Assuming you know the right way."
She gave them a narrowed-eye glare. "We'd hate to let too many pokémon know, as not only would it take the security of evading the guild away, it'd open us up to some very dangerous pokémon."
"You're telling us, though?" Mane pointed out.
"Yes," Liepard replied. "Because if Pyroar is escaping out that way, and he's smart or lucky enough to get the right path, no one is going to be able to catch him. And." Her claws came out. "That'd be a shame." She licked her paw.
"May I go?" Lovely asked, really wanting to leave by this point.
"Yes. Thank you for your information."
Lovely smiled weakly and vanished.
"Once your business here is done, I'll lead you to the shortcut," Liepard said, eyes not leaving the door and claws not retracting. "I'll even give you the directions you need to follow."
"I don't know if there's anything else we need to talk about," Mane said, ready to go and go now.
"Ah, but there is," Liepard said, nose twitching for a moment. "Raigeki here has a visitor."
Before Rai could react to the fact that Liepard knew his name as well, the door opened again.
"Always so dramatic, aren't you?" the new arrival scoffed, star-tipped tail catching the door before it could close.
Rai's eyes went wide, and Mane gasped. Scout frowned in puzzlement, taking in the visitor, the realisation not clicking just yet.
It was a Luxio.
"Ara?" Rai whispered.
Arashi, Rai's older sister, smiled in some way that made her look older than she was. "Hello, Rai."
Things were silent and somehow even more uncomfortable in Liepard's office.
Rai was gawking, Mane was almost glaring, and Scout simply looked confused. He had gathered this was Rai's sister by now, but the lack of anything happening after she spoke to Rai was confusing him.
"Are you… well?" Ara asked.
Rai blinked, swallowed, and made a weak sound before going back to gawking. Ara huffed in annoyance, and that finally seemed to break the camerupt's back.
"How? Why? What? Who? What? Why? How? Ara?"
"That's a lot of words to not say much?"
Rai closed his eyes and took a deep, very deep, breath. "Okay." He opened his eyes. "I don't even know what to say. Why are you… here?" He cringed slightly.
"I'm not an employee of Liepard, if that is what you are concerned about?" Ara said, Rai, did breathe a sigh of relief there. "Liepard is simply an excellent avenue of information."
"Aww, why'd you have to spoil my fun?" Liepard said, pouting as cutely as she could. "Their faces were magnificent!" She smiled. "And excellent? You flatter me."
"Hm." Ara looked away from Rai and to where the meowth and litleo lurked awkwardly. Ara took a few steps towards them and looked Mane and Scout up and down.
"A little scrawny," she said, about Scout. "And that one is fat." She wrinkled her nose at Mane. "Hm."
"Hey!" Mane snapped. "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy! Wait, muscles. I'm muscly!"
"Scrawny?" Scout murmured, looking down. He was pretty sure he couldn't count his ribs by sight anymore.
"Why are you here?" Rai asked again. Ara turned back, Rai was frowning at her. Quite the frown for the normally-happy-go-lucky Rai. "I haven't seen you in years. You left, and you never came back. Why are you HERE?"
Ara observed her little brother for a moment. She was a luxio, and he was a shinx, but there wasn't much height difference between them now. She was scruffier than he was, wearing a ragged bag stuffed with belongings.
She swallowed and her eyes softened a tad. "I have wanted to come to see you for a while now," Ara admitted, shaking her mane. "I almost did, a while back, when I heard some assholes peddling a rock that looked a little like your old treasure."
Rai smiled slightly, briefly happy that she had thought of him to remember the pattern. He had talked about his treasure with her enough. But his smile didn't last long. "Why didn't you see me?" he asked quietly. "The world was ending, I could have used at least some moral support."
Ara frowned, glancing away. "Didn't know what to say."
"Time was falling apart," Rai said softly. "It wouldn't have mattered. Just seeing you would have been enough."
Arashi gave a sort of shrug. "Sorry."
"Sorry?" Rai repeated, his tone becoming clipped a moment. "That's not good enough, Ara! You left me in Treasure Town and I didn't know what to do. You said you'd come back and you never did. Even the world wasn't enough? Why are you here now? Is it just random chance or have you shown up because I'm famous now!?"
His voice steadily rose but never reached a shout. Arashi didn't seem to be reacting much, her eyes widened a little though.
Ara gave a cracked smile. "The guild's been good for you," she said. "You've gotten so much braver."
"He was always brave," Scout said, reminding them that this was not private. "He just needed some support." He didn't flinch as she frowned at him, hearing what he was saying between the lines.
"And not to break up this 'happy' reunion," Mane said, causing Ara to turn around properly. "But we've still got MY sibling to worry about. Why ARE you here?"
"I'm wondering the same in return," Ara said, staring down at Mane. "I know who you are, Litleo. Son of the first Pyroar, Shadow Pokémon. That's nice. Your brother's a violent thug now, and your father is a coward. How far does the apple fall from the tree?"
Mane was actually stunned into silence at that.
"ARASHI!" Rai yelled, sparking angrily. "Don't you dare talk to them like that! Apologise!"
Scout, also had began to snarl, "Excuse you!" he snapped, raising his voice. "At least he's been around to support Rai. Where have YOU been?"
Ara turned her gaze on him, and Scout was caught in her gaze. He didn't back down, remembering the logic behind Hypnosis and used it even though he didn't utilise the move. Arashi was big and rough but she didn't scare him.
She seemed to find something positive in his expression and raised her head, her eyes turning into some sort of approving glint.
Liepard cleared her throat. "While this may be a show I'd pay money to watch, I do have to remind you that we have business," she said, staring Ara down.
Ara turned away from Liepard's gaze. "Business can wait. I haven't seen my brother in years. Rai, I apologise for my words." She glanced over Scout and Mane. "Rai's my own family left and I only see the bad in others, especially when it comes to protecting him."
"Protecting him," Mane snorted. "At least my family abandoning me was the best thing they ever did. You don't have any idea what it was like listening to him cry after you."
Arashi's expression twisted a moment but this time it was her who couldn't hold another's gaze and she glanced away from Mane's eyes. "I see."
Rai's expression softened, this was his only family left as well. "Since you apologised I'll forgive you, but you can't talk to them or about them like that. It's been years, Ara, why go after my partners rather than being happy to see me?"
He glanced back to Scout and Mane. Mane did NOT look happy, but Scout nodded stiffly and nudged Mane. "Yeah, fine," Mane grouched. "At least your sibling actually wants to protect you. Shitty as it was."
Liepard cleared her throat again. "Go for a walk around the town. I expect our meeting shortly, Arashi. But enjoy your time with your brother," Liepard said, excusing them. "I'll continue to entertain Scout and Mane, was it?"
Both of them turned to refuse.
"Thank you," Ara said, pulling the door open with her tail. "Rai?"
"Hey, hold on," Rai said, looking back and forth. "I'm not just going to leave them here."
"Towny Town may not be the most welcoming to two cute pokémon wandering around all lost-looking," Liepard pointed out. "They'll be safest here."
"We'll be fine," Scout said. "Go and… enjoy yourself. You must have a lot to talk about." He and Mane still didn't look too impressed with Ara, but Rai reluctantly nodded.
"I'll see you soon."
And then they stepped out. Ara quickly led Rai out of the building, and they both took grateful mouthfuls of fresh air.
"It's good to see you're well," Ara said, as they quickly began to walk to the edge of town. "Kangaskhan still feeding you?"
"She did until I joined the guild, yes," Rai answered, a little stiffly. "And sometimes she would anyway despite that. You asked her then?"
"She assured me she would," Ara replied, "I didn't have to ask."
"Yeah, she's… nice like that."
Arashi glanced over at Rai frequently, as if confirming he was really there. Rai kept his eyes forward. They neared the edge of town before she spoke again, "I'm really proud of you. Mother and Father would be as well."
Rai frowned slightly, but his ears flicked. "I guess."
"Come on, Rai. Give me something."
"I just don't know what to say," Rai said. "I've wanted to see you for years, and you finally show up out of nowhere and immediately attack my…."
"Your partners?" Ara said, a smirk flashing across her face. "Or would you prefer mates?"
"Pardon!" Rai went very red.
"I hear lots of things, Rai," Ara said, that smirk settling. She bumped him. "But I don't decide until I see it with my own two eyes."
"Them defending me confirms that?"
"You reacting like that," Ara corrected, and Rai's ears went flat, "is what confirms that."
"Well, it's not really what you might be thinking," Rai muttered, turning away. But the insides of his ears were still redder than normal.
"I'm sure."
"Well if that's what you think, why were you so mean to them?" Rai demanded.
Ara juggled a few answers in her head for a moment. "I suppose I never told you what went down between me and Mane's mother. Knowing he's related to her makes me wary."
"I trust him."
"That's good, healthy trust is essential for relationships!"
Rai groaned. "It really isn't quite what you think," Rai insisted. Ara gave him a prodding look, so he sighed. "I am with Mane, Scout is… complicated. He's getting there."
"Hmm." She had a certain look on her face that led Rai to add.
"Please don't." The tone in his voice made her relent.
"But, to really answer your question, I'm your big sister. I HAVE to make sure they're scared of me so they know not to think they can mess with you."
"I still don't understand what you are saying."
"You totally do." Ara grinned with a lot of teeth. "I'll have the big sister talk with the two of them later, really drive the fear home."
"Don't be mean!" Rai demanded, not refusing the talk in general.
"I'll only threaten them with a little castration."
"They won't know that's a joke."
"A joke? Fine, fine, just the 'they'll never find your body' threat."
"Ara," Rai whined, and she snorted at him.
"I'm only messing with you," she said, planning out her threats to Mane and Scout in secret. "I've… I have missed you. Wondered if you've been okay."
"I've… missed you too."
"There we go." She leaned across and nuzzled him.
"What have you been doing?" Rai asked quietly. "Since I saw you? You already seem to know everything about me."
"I'd still like to hear it from your own mouth," she returned. "All the details. But, I can go over a bit of what I've been up to."
And so, Arashi began her story.
"I never joined a guild, no offence to you, but it just was never something I was interested in. I still owe the Wigglytuff Guild for getting that Gabite Scale for you though, so pass a message back that if they ever need a favour they can find me and I'll do it."
After leaving Treasure Town, she worked in Capim Town for a short time, until she had enough money to purchase a one-way ride from the Grass Continent to the Water Continent.
"I've spent most of my time just acting as a hired muscle. I'm not an explorer or anything fancy like that. If you wanted to get wordy, you could call me a mercenary, but I don't accept jobs that have me stealing or hurting civilised pokémon, although I've taken down quite a few baddies and other wildies are fair game."
She described a few of her more interesting jobs. Helping a bounty hunting team take down a whole group of outlaws. Joining a search into some ancient ruins believed to be humans.
The last of her stories was about protecting a gardevoir tradesman across mountainous terrain. His wagon of goodies had been too large to navigate through a dungeon, and bandits liked to pick on pokémon that came through the mountain.
"I zapped the murkrow off, choked out and tossed the floatzel with an Iron Tail, and tackled the weavile down the side of the cliff. Gardevoir managed to grab me before I fell too far, that was pretty wild."
Rai cocked his head just a little, and one of his ears flopped, that last word reminded him of something. "I've thought about why you left a lot over the last few years," he said neutrally.
"Have you?" Ara asked. "What conclusions have you made?"
They both remembered the conversation they had before she was quite ready to leave. How the months leading up to that point had been filled with anxious tension from Ara and confusion from Rai. How she had nearly attacked a few pokémon IN town and gotten in trouble.
How Ara had been born and raised in the wilds and a big part of her, no matter how much she tried, could not adjust to the rigidity of a town.
Of a civilised pokémon.
"I don't really like to think about where we came from," Rai said. "I barely remember anyone. I think I remember playing with my brothers, but I don't even know our parents' names…"
"Kogeki was our father," Ara said, smiling wistfully. "Raiton was our mother. Since you were the first boy, they made sure to give you a special name."
Rai nodded, he didn't have the same nostalgia as Ara. He had been very young. Not the youngest of the four, he had two younger brothers technically. But still, very young.
He did remember the names of his brothers, though. Sa and Ji. Hatched at the same time.
"What does that all mean?" Rai asked. He was never sure why their names were so much different from other pokémon. "Where did they get the name from?"
"I asked Mother the same question," Ara sighed, looking far away. "She said that they choose their names, and don't have to obey what town pokemon do. They used some words passed down from word of mouth."
Rai nodded, and they shared a moment of silence for their family.
"Did you really hate Treasure Town?" he asked quietly. It was what Ara had said when they argued about her leaving.
"…No, I never hated it. I hated being there, trapped there, but I don't hate the town itself." Ara wrapped her tail around his, their version of a hug. "You were so young when everything changed, and I'm glad you were. I kept myself together by raising you, but once you could stand on your own, I felt I had to leave. I know I left before I should have though. I am sorry. I've missed important parts of your life because of that."
Rai sighed but hugged her back, both of them sparking and sharing the electricity. "I'm okay now," he said. And it was true. He had Mane, he had Scout, and he had lots of other friends. "I do wish you'd visit though."
"Can't keep this cat in one place, but… I will. I promise." She had promised the first time too. Rai was an optimist, however, and decided he could believe her.
It wasn't something that anyone in Treasure Town saw fit to discuss if anyone even remembered in the first place. The day Ara arrived, starving and scarred with Rai with her, the town had been sent into quite the tizzy.
She had not adapted to living in town well. Choosing Sharpedo Bluff as a home, just so the sounds of the crashing water could block out the thoughts running in her and Rai's heads and allow them to sleep had not been an easy choice to make. Being stuck on a cliff with no way to escape. But they needed to sleep.
She was, they both were, after all, wild pokémon.
Ara had been too old to be able to reinvent herself, raised a certain way so that her thoughts were wired towards open plains, lightning storms, freedom and living each day by what they could. Rai was still young enough, however, that he could adapt to the ways of civilised pokémon.
Where Ara would hiss, bite, and zap pokémon who crowded her, trying to 'help', Rai could control himself, hold back, relax, and understand.
His groundwork had been a wild pokémon, however, and those roots never quite left. A wild baseline filled in with a civilised colour. Plenty of times there were conflicting instincts that caused him to act rashly and without thinking.
He could do it. She, however, could not.
"I've missed you," Ara said, leaning against Rai. He leaned back. "Now, tell me everything. All the details. Uh, well, you can leave out some of the stuff about your 'partners'. I can live without hearing that."
Rai laughed and started the story.
"Well it was a pretty warm morning, and I came out of Sharpedo Bluff to find a meowth passed out on the cliff's edge…"
Coming to understand Rai's predicament at the moment, Ara returned him to Liepard without spending as much time as she would have liked with him.
Scout and Mane were both very, very, relieved to have him back. Arashi thought, maybe, it's because they had been stuck with Liepard the whole time. But she still smiled on the inside to see them so happy to see Rai.
"You are ready to bring Pyroar to justice then?" Liepard asked. She was cool on the outside, but her burning fury towards Pyroar had caused her claws to come out and never retract.
"Yes." Rai nodded, and Mane breathed a sigh of something. Relief? Nerves? Not even he was sure.
"Very good. Follow me, and don't dawdle."
"I'll see you off," Ara said, not offering. And Liepard nodded. Liepard's movements were precise, fluid, using her whole body with every movement. She was the kind who could walk on coals and make it seem sensual.
The twin salandit gave waves with their tails as the five left the room, the door clicking shut behind them, Lovely and a minccino and kirlia also watching them go.
"This is a considerable measure of trust I am putting in you," Liepard said, as they walked. "Not only to not reveal this to the Clefable, or Wigglytuff, or any other force of law. But also." She turned, a flicker of something more real than the bedroom eyes she always had passed through her face. "To bring Pyroar down."
"We're doing this," Mane huffed. "Not just for the graduation, and not just for your sake either. This IS personal. He's going down."
"Hm," she scoffed, but there was a measure of respect to it. "The shortcut is a long dungeon, with many corridors and few rooms. It has many twists and turns, and it is very easy to get lost and turned around in it. Hopefully, that has stalled Pyroar for the last few days. But there is a set path that will get you through it the fastest, so listen to me carefully because I am only going to tell it to you."
She was willing to repeat it, however, until they were there and Scout was confident he could lead them through it.
The shortcut was not an easy location to find. Nestled in a small set of rocks, it was as inconspicuous as anything he'd seen. Not even something trying to look inconspicuous, the entrance was, but a small entrance in a random location set off the beaten path.
"I'll see you when you've brought him down," Ara said, nodding to Rai. "And I'll be having a talk with you two later as well," she said, staring Scout and Mane down with Big Sister Energy.
They both swallowed nervously.
"Generic message of good luck," Liepard said, rolling her eyes. "Generic statement that you can do this. Now please, get it done. If, however, Pyroar has made it through and has reached Fissure you're only chance to do this is to convince someone will pull to sell him out to you. I would suggest going to Delphox, her residence is a very blatant one. She will help, if you can pay her exorbitant prices."
With her, very clear, dismissal, Rai gave Ara one last nuzzle before Team Ion shared a group nod and dashed into the dungeon.
Ara watched them go with an eye of sadness, before sighing and turning to Liepard. "Well, now we've got to do business."
"Of course," she purred, turning back the way they came. "Come to my office."
"Always with the office," Ara muttered under her breath. Rolling her eyes, she followed.
Scout was like a shadow leaping between scraps of light.
The meowth had always been the first to make a joke about his strength but two things were never in question about him.
He was fast.
And he was tough.
The shortcut dungeon had indeed taken them a couple of hours to pass through but they emerged tens of kilometres from where they had gone in.
Towny Town was right on the fringe of society. Everything past it was untamed wilds. The idea of bandits and terrible pokemon barely seemed to gel in Scout's head.
The mere idea that pokemon could be awful people seemed completely against the very nature of pokemon as he understood it.
They existed though. Places like this were where Shadow Pokemon fled to when they could not hide among society anymore.
This was where few exploration teams would go, fewer rescues, and only the bravest, or dumbest, of outlaw hunters would tread. They were well and truly out of the safety of the civilised world, and anything could go down out here.
Somewhere in this abyss of plains and woodland was Fissure, nicknamed the pit of the world. If Towny Town was a shanty town, Fissure was a lawless collection where any crime could have been committed.
That is what Team Ion knew of this place at least.
It was quite beautiful. All of the Grass Continent was, but there was an added mystique to the trees around them, the grass that few feet trod on. This was true wilds, only wild pokemon and outlaws lived out here.
Scout lived up to his namesake. Scouting ahead, they had to know if Pyroar had made it through the shortcut already or if they could lay a trap for him.
A rollcall orb was clasped in his paw, ready to summon Rai and Mane at a moment's notice.
Mane gave him a quick coaching of what Pyroar and Morpeko would probably try once they were out and sent him on his way, wishing him to be careful.
Scout wished he could claim to do so, but carefulness had never worked out for him in the past. He raced forwards, darting from spot to spot following a trail he had happened upon.
He would thank his lucky stars that something went right for once when he heard the sound of whistling, following it to be greeted with a sight that perplexed him a moment.
Pyroar walked along, murmuring something under his breath. What perplexed him was the similarities to Mane he noticed immediately. Evolutionary line aside, Pyroar's voice carried a similar tempo to Mane's, he strutted with a similar swagger, even his scent wasn't too different from Mane's smoky one.
There was no Morpeko but Scout couldn't let this chance be lost. Rai and Mane knew to prepare to fight as soon as they were teleported and he activated the orb and threw it at the ground.
The sound of it smashing had Pyroar whip around, flames already building as a shinx and litleo appeared from midair, a meowth leaping out to join them a moment later.
"Gotcha!" Rai cried, crackling with electricity already as Pyroar raised a paw, looking almost offended at being disturbed.
"Who do we have here?" Pyroar rumbled, causing all of Team Ion to blink once. Even his voice was similar to Mane's. Pyroar's red eyes flicked over the three of them, taking them in one by one. They stopped on Mane, lingering a long time staring at him. "Ah. So, this is the legendary Team Ion. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
He gave a mocking bow that had Mane's lip curling.
"You're coming with us," Rai declared firmly. "Surrender if you know what's good for you." He tossed Pyroar's wanted poster to the ground between them, Pyroar glanced at it and then up at them.
"Surely you don't think that's me?"
"Save it," Mane growled, sparks popping around him. "Save the talk I know you're not going to go quietly, Rumble."
Pyroar, Rumble it was, narrowed his eyes. A smirk curled at half his mouth and he shook his head, his mane tussling around him, in amusement. "For fucks sake, Mane. Really? I heard Team Ion had a litleo, didn't really think it was actually you. Gotta admit I'm surprised. Stopped making yourself a waste of space in town and changed that to the guild?"
"Enough!" Rai yelled.
Rumble stomped his foot, it thrumming with some sort of power. "Fuck off, wildie. Go cry to your sis. This is between Mane and me."
Mane threw a paw up. "I want to hear this," he said to Rai. Rai forced a nod, charging electricity but not unleashing it. He knew this would come to blows eventually, Mane deserved a chance to say what he wanted to though.
"Ohoh, you want to hear this?" Rumble taunted. "What do you expect me to say, little bro?"
"I'm waiting to hear you beg," Mane said neutrally.
"Beg?" Rumble snarled.
"Beg," Mane snarled back. "You don't stand a chance against us. I don't see daddy dearest around either. Finally abandon you too? Guess you're not worth enough to him to keep around anymore."
"I don't stand a chance?" Rumble laughed. "You think I buy you beat a legendary pokemon? Please. I've heard Little Shinx's stories. You didn't fight it. And I know you didn't fight it, Mane." Rumble touched his neck, right where Mane's scar was. "You didn't even make it that far did you?"
His ember-red eyes flicked over Mane's backup with similar derision. "What a little group you've built. The bitches crybaby brother, heard she abandoned him the moment she got the chance. And, oh look at that. The night mate. Doesn't surprise me you surround yourself with two-bit whores and pathetic children, not much different to you is it?"
Mane seemed to soak that in a moment before he smiled, sighing lightly and shaking his head back. "I always wondered what you'd be like," he said. "You always took Mother's lessons to heart. You haven't changed at all, Rumble."
"Neither have you, Mane."
"Wrong." Mane took a breath. "I got something worth living for now. What do you have, Rumble?" Rumble opened his mouth, but only a rough scoff came from him. "Yeah. Sounds about right."
Rumble slammed his paw into the ground again, this time a shockwave shook the earth. All three of Team Ion jumped, however, sailing over the Bulldoze, but Rumble followed it up immediately with a bellowing cry.
A shockwave through the air to match the one he sent through the earth. Mane matched it with his own, the sound ricocheting through the trees and sending leaves flying.
Rai unleashed his built-up charge all at once, a thunderclap deafened everyone present with the force of lightning and Rumble's pained howl was drowned out by the echo.
Scout landed and dashed forth, drawing his claws into a sabre of darkness. Right as Rai dropped the lightning strike but Rumble was still staggered by the voltage, Scout struck him straight through the chest to his tail.
Rumble roared and staggered from the cutting blow, his tail suddenly whipping and turning as hard as steel. Scout was clobbered in the side of the head by the iron-hard tail and the world spun, his brain ringing from the blow.
Mane covered Rai needing to recharge, sending another blast of sound at Rumble and knocking him away from Scout, guarding Rai against a returning blast of flame that he weathered silently.
Rai pulled him down to avoid the rest of the flame and lanced Rumble in the neck with a thinner bolt of lightning, causing his throat to spasm and him to choke suddenly. Rumble's eyes bulged and he tried to stagger away to catch his breath but Scout had already recovered.
He leapt upon the pyroar's back, scratching his spine until Rumble bucked him off. Rumble hit him point blank with another Flamethrower but was met by a building Shadow Ball. As Rumble pumped more fire into it, Scout pumped more blood into it, containing the inferno before it collapsed in a blast of fire.
Howling as he was met with fire in his eyes, Rumble was beset upon by Rai and Mane in tandem, unleashing fire and lightning upon him in concurrent bursts.
Scout chewed a berry, parts of his fur burning from the blast before he rubbed some of the juice of one over his face and called, "Keep him steady!"
Rai nodded and charged electricity again as Mane dared to get in close to distract him. Rumble slammed his paws into the earth again, this time tripping everyone up with the Bulldoze. He snarled, their limbs being sapped of speed and vitality and tried to crush Mane under his paws.
Rai unleashed his half-made charge, Rumble beat Mane up with his paws instead and knocked him into the path instead. Rai only shocked him a moment but it was enough to disrupt his attack.
The pyroar turned blazing eyes of hate on Scout and took a deep breath. He breathed out the kanji symbol they were so familiar with, Fire Blast.
He knew it too?
Scout hissed and tried to leap to safety by the attack detonated and sent him sprawling anyway.
"Weaklings!" Rumble roared, slamming his paws into the earth and causing it to shake again. "You think you're better than me because you're in a GUILD? You're NOTHING, Mane!"
He inhaled again, fire forming a spiral around his maw.
Mane snarled and unleashed his own. Twin Fire Blasts connected, sending a massive blast of fire into the air and setting several trees on fire. Both sides were forced back from the overwhelming heat, even Fire-types could burn after all.
Rumble's eyes scanned the ash and smoke, trying to determine if they had endured the attack. He began to snort but then something flew through the smog.
A seed. It burst into a powerful pop upon touching him and he howled, recoiling from the blast seed. Team Ion burst out of the smoke as one, two Quick Attacks and Scout's sheer speed.
Rai collided with his legs as Mane struck his chest, knocking Rumble off his feet right into Scout's trajectory. He landed on the pyroar's neck and pressed hard, pressing his koban straight into Rumble's line of sight and pressing his strongest Hypnosis into the outlaw.
Pyroar's will hit him back and Scout nearly staggered. It was just like Mane's. But, he had practiced it on both Rai and Mane, he knew it was not always a battle he could win but Pyroar was stunned and injured.
Something would slip. Something was slipping.
Then Scout was hit in the spine by a spinning disk of black lightning.
"SCOUT!" Rai screamed, for a moment he saw Manectric and he was back in Amp Plains again.
Mane was not so frozen, however. Turning to the new arrival with abject hate in his eyes.
"Rumble!" the new arrival, Morpeko yelled as he recoiled from Mane. Rumble sprang to his feet and sailed over Morpeko as he cowered low. Mane didn't see him coming and Rumble pounced on him, knocking him onto his back and pinning him underneath the far-larger feline.
Mouth smoking, Rumble forced Mane onto the ground, teeth ready to bite at a moment's notice.
The only reason he didn't bite down immediately was Morpeko's frustratingly sensible voice. "You can't kill him," Morpeko said sharply. "Not a member of Team Ion. They will NEVER let us get away then. We'll be chased forever."
Positively vibrating with repressed anger and instinct, Rumble held Mane down as Morpeko looked to Rai.
Rai was utterly frozen as the battle suddenly changed from imminent victory to imminent defeat.
Morpeko was here. That was why Rumble didn't even twitch at Mane's suggestion he had abandoned Rumble. He hadn't, he'd simply parted temporarily to gather some food.
Scout was unmoving from a single Dark Aura Wheel, cheap hit it may have been.
Mane was pinned under Pyroar, inches from the maw of death.
Rai was the only one left, frozen in place now as Mane's life was in danger.
"You're done, Shinx," Morpeko said, quietly. "No one's coming to save you, back down and leave now or else we'll have to hurt you and them."
"Damned if we do damned if we don't," Rumble snarled, smoke pouring out of his mouth. He forced Mane down harder when he dared to struggle. "Come on, give me an excuse, Mane"
Rai glanced between Rumble and Morpeko, trying to work out how he could force the pyroar off Mane before Morpeko could intervene, or Rumble could attack Mane.
"That's your son," Rai managed, staring at Morpeko in a type of disgust even Rumble hadn't been deserving of. "Don't you care?"
"Shinx, please," Morpeko said, "I can only control Rumble so much, and I can see he's right on the brink of snapping and killing Mane. I can't have him die now."
Mane, who was continuing to struggle, hissed, "Get OFF me!"
"SHUT UP!" Morpeko yelled. Mane stilled a moment on reflex, Rai saw the natural response and saw red.
"GET OFF!" Mane yelled, struggling harder. Pyroar's drool dripped onto his face, burning hot. He didn't care what Rumble was about to do. He was in the midst of relieving so many days as a young child, as Rumble beat him up to the approval of Mother and Father. Rumble. The favoured son. The little pet monster who did as he was told always. He couldn't go back to that. He'd die before he'd let himself go back to that.
The argument had drawn attention away from Scout, who stirred after a few moments and began to assess the situation. Once Rumble snapped and went to bite the back of Mane's neck, Scout intervened.
Pyroar gave a groaning gasp as six Night Slash blades pierced his chest. Mane, immediately taking advantage, sent a Fire Blast into the earth underneath him and blasted himself, Rumble, and Scout. Then immediately charged Morpeko. He hated Pyroar for many things but he hated Morpeko so much more.
Morpeko yelped and dove for cover, but he was too far from cover. Mane charged him, spitting Ember's and Morpeko closed his eyes, cheeks sparking.
"GYAH!"
Morpeko unleashed electricity and blasted Mane back. "Oh, that's right," Morpeko breathed, relieved. The siblings got their species from their mother, but their strength from him.
Emboldened by the success, Morpeko's stomach grumbled, and his eyes narrowed. His whole body changed to a darker version of himself, and he wrapped himself up with Dark-type electricity, barrelling for Mane with the same Aura Wheel that had one-shot Scout.
Mane, who was dealing with the painful consequences of trying to charge an Electric-type, waited for the last moment and leapt as hard as he could.
The burning aura around Morpeko still seared his underbelly, but he evaded the worst of the hit. Landing, he tried to fire again, and a stream of sparks flowed from his maw as Morpeko turned around, leaving a charged gouge in the ground as he did so.
The fire interfered with the spinning aura and destabilised it. Mane leapt clear again as Morpeko rolled out, switching back to his normal form and blinking in surprise.
Scout slammed into him, knocking them both sprawling over each other. Mane looked up sharply as Pyroar returned to the scrap, having tussled with Scout briefly before knocking him back.
Mane went to edge around Pyroar, but Pyroar was done with playing around. He came right for him, eyes narrowed and mouth burning with fire.
Scout, falling into combat with Morpeko, jumped and skirted around as precise, but relatively weak, jolts of electricity went for his feet.
"Stay… still," Morpeko huffed and popped a Shadow Ball Scout tossed at him.
"No, you," Scout said, forming a Night Slash with his right paw. He sprinted for Morpeko but opened himself up to a concentrated discharge.
Scout blocked it with his claws, but the dark energy shattered under the surge of lightning. He reached Morpeko but was headbutted, and Morpeko jumped into a spin, forming an Electric Aura Wheel.
He spun into Scout like a buzzsaw, but Scout caught Morpeko with his paws, holding the Aura Wheel back even as it tore at his paws.
"Used to electricity. Used to electricity." Scout repeated in his hand. "Rai zaps me all the time. Used to it. Used to it. USED TO IT!"
But Morpeko was shockingly strong, and Scout was buckling. He repeated itself in his head over and over, agony rippling through his body as he suddenly thought of Mane.
Mane never talked about his upbringing. Scout hadn't even known his mother was a Shadow Pokemon until very recently. Morpeko seemed to lack any hesitation to put Mane's life at risk, and as the electricity tore at his body he wondered what else the rat had no hesitation to do.
He had seen Mane cringe when Morpeko shouted.
He had seen Mane laugh off Thunderbolt's from Rai in training as if it was nothing. As if he was used to it….
Darkness was pooling around Scout, somehow darkening the area around him as he began to push back against the Aura Wheel, darkness swimming around his features until he was mimicking a monster and then a lightning strike knocked them apart.
Rai closed the distance, joining Scout and breaking Morpeko's battle focus.
Morpeko squealed, slamming into a tree, a look of horror on his face.
"Rumble!" Morpeko shouted. "Swap places!"
Pyroar wasn't listening until Morpeko lit up with electricity, his whole body quirked and then he was running to Scout as Morpeko dropped down to Mane.
Morpeko shocked Mane, but Rai came after him and diverted the electricity into himself, charging up. "I'm. Not. Him," Mane forced out, step by step. Morpeko's eyes widened, and he took a step back, hesitant for just a moment.
Mane pulled on his Power and forced a Quick Attack through his spasming muscles, launching himself onto Morpeko and biting down with as much force as he could, filling his mouth with fire.
The manufactured Fire Fang caused Morpeko to scream, and Mane forced the fire in his mouth to shift to a Fire Blast, detonating point black and ripping a chunk of Morpeko's skin off, burning as they disengaged.
Pyroar, rampaging at Scout again, was faced with a much scrawnier opponent. As well as a much more agile one. The darkness had faded, leaving Scout winded but he didn't show it.
"Stop moving," Pyroar yelled, missing Scout again. Scout kicked up some dirt in his eyes, snapping a little more of Pyroar's self-control away.
Scout was adept at switching between using two and four legs at any given moment, but as he grabbed a seed from the Treasure Bag he couldn't shift so easily anymore.
And Pyroar was almost as fast as he was.
It was rather terrifying, really, to have an enraged, imposing and towering over him, pokémon aching to rip out his throat but Scout managed as well as he always had.
His Night Slash held the worst of the Flamethrower at bay as Scout charged Pyroar, leaping over a weaker Bulldoze and sliding along the loosened ground even faster.
Pyroar batted at him brutally with his paws once he was close, but Scout punched him in the throat at the same time. Spinning to on all fours before springing back up to two, Scout slammed the paw holding the sleep seed into Pyroar's gasping mouth.
Pyroar burned the seed to ash and breathed the smoke and fire into Scout's face.
Gasping for breath, Scout staggered back as his vision swam and his plan completely backfired on him. The seed was too destroyed to put him to sleep, but a wave of tired swept over him and caused him to sway.
A Fire Blast from Mane stopped Pyroar from tearing into Scout and Mane ran over, drops of blood on the scuff of his chin.
"That worked on you," Scout complained, wobbling.
"I'm very offended you just said that," Mane growled, knocking him on the head. He tore through the Treasure Bag until he had a heal seed.
Morpeko sniped Mane in the back for his split of attention. Pyroar then set Scout and Mane both on fire.
Pyroar approached from one side, Morpeko from the other. Rai ran in to hold them off but only momentarily before joining them on the ground.
"Any ideas?" Mane asked, dragging himself up. Rumble was bad enough, but Morpeko was so much worse. They were losing.
"Be the anime," Scout groaned. "Previous evolutions always win there."
"I… ugh," Mane sighed as they got lit up with fire and electricity.
Not wanting to lose the advantage they had been wrestling back and forth with this entire time, Pyroar charged into the smoke left behind, even as Morpeko yelled. "DON'T!"
Scout, laying over Mane as he had protected the other with his own body, dropped to the side, letting Mane headbutt Pyroar in the jaw and cracked a fang.
Mane tackled Pyroar onto his back and briefly pinned him before Pyroar's considerable bulk easily threw the smaller litleo off him.
They both rolled to their feet, and Pyroar slammed his paw into the ground, barely flashing orange at all before the ground shook. Mane lost his balance, and Pyroar pounced, aiming for the neck with claws and teeth ready to rip and tear.
Scout bit his tail.
Pyroar gasped before flicking Scout up, as the meowth was scrawny and light. He raised his head and breathed out a stream of flame bright enough to make the sun look impotent.
Scout was enveloped in an instant, an inferno drawing a scream out of him as he crashed to the earth.
"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?" Pyroar demanded as Scout landed, charred and burnt but on his feet.
Scout replied without words, as like Mane, he knew that talking was quiet at this point. He drove his claws, merely extended and flashing white, into Pyroar's face, piercing his cheeks.
Scout also headbutted him, using his koban to hit even harder and pulled, leaving deep scratches in Pyroar's face. Mane hit him in the eye with an Ember, and Pyroar staggered back, as Morpeko jumped over again, Aura Wheel blazing and aiming to take them both out.
A bolt of extremely accurate electricity knocked Morpeko in his hangry form out of the sky.
"That's enough out of you," Rai said, shaking his head free of the buzzing.
Morpeko landed on a tree with a satisfying smack and fell back onto his back. Rai joined the beaten and bloody Scout and Mane against Pyroar.
"How are you?" Rumble began before his words just drowned out into an enraged slurring roar.
Pyroar attacked, and it was different.
Team Ion were forced to scatter before the flames incinerated one of them on the spot. Pyroar had dropped any sense of restraint.
This was extremely dangerous. Pulling at his Power so harshly would exhaust him in moments, even do considerable damage to his body that wasn't prepared to channel this much force.
But Pyroar had stopped caring.
"RUMBLE!" Morpeko yelled over the chaos, the roaring, the explosions and blasts of heat. Team Ion had run for it to put space between them, but Pyroar chased after, inaccurate but powerful. "STOP! STOP!"
Morpeko ran after them. He couldn't let Pyroar get himself killed at this point. All this time. All this work he'd put into him. He sparked dangerously, knowing Pyroar would react to it. "STOP NOW!"
Pyroar stopped and looked at him. For a brief moment, Morpeko was relieved his control still worked. It had taken years of conditioning to snip Rumble's roiling inferno of rage to obey when he had to obey. For a moment he feared Rumble had been lost too much to fury to register it. For a moment.
Then he knew.
Pyroar's flames reached him in a split second.
Even as Morpeko put on That Voice and sparked in That Way, Pyroar didn't care. He had enough. It didn't matter how many times Morpeko had shocked him, teaching him to obey his father. It didn't matter how much that had hurt until his body naturally shied away from it. It didn't matter how much Morpeko had conditioned him with pain and fear until he automatically followed his words, no matter how he felt on the matter.
It didn't matter anymore.
Mane too, seeing Rumble's hateful gaze turn at last to the mon they called itself their father, took a deep breath and called upon the same move they both had learned at that terribly young age, passed down from Mother.
An optimistic soul may have seen Mane's addition to the attack as a brief moment of solidarity between brothers, mutually turning on the one that had hurt them both so much. Mane only wanted to see the attack through.
The Twin Fire blast sent Morpeko through the side of the woods and he did not return.
Then, Pyroar turned back to Team Ion.
Rai flashed with electricity, so dangerously similar to Morpeko in Pyroar's head and he attacked him first. Fire and lightning met in the air, passing through each other.
Scout tackled Rai out of the way, getting shocked himself, but there was no one to save Pyroar from the lance of lightning striking him in the face. He recoiled with a howl and Mane followed up, knocking him off his feet with his Fire Blast.
Pyroar fell, but only for a moment.
He returned to his feet as Scout was upon him. Claws brimming with darkness and eyes even darker, Scout speared him in the chest again before grabbing his face and peering into Pyroar's eyes.
There was little conscious will left, Rumble snapping to primal rage. An easy target for Scout's Hypnosis.
The fire in Pyroar's mouth flickered, but he wavered for a brief moment. Scout dropped down, and Rai and Mane nailed him together and Pyroar finally went down.
Rai shocked him again just to make sure.
"Oooh, thank god," Scout groaned, falling back. "I'm going to sleep," he slurred. He hadn't managed to eat the heal seed and still had the sleep seed in his system. He was asleep in seconds.
"H-hey," Rai said. "Don't go to… he's already asleep."
"He's got," Mane panted, wheezing for breath and coughing out smoke, "the right. You already did." And then Mane dropped as well. Both of them were burned and bleeding.
"But I can't just…" Rai looked between the three downed pokémon in desperation. "I… ugh. I don't have the dexterity of you, Scout. Get up!" He wandered over and nudged him. "Please."
Scout mumbled something and frowned.
Rai groaned, he looked to Pyroar. Not exactly sure what to do.
"Holy… shit."
Rai's ears flicked, and he turned, gasping when he saw Ara approaching.
"She was right," Arashi said with a flummoxed expression. "That's some utter destruction."
"Oh… good," Rai said, with a responsible adult here, he would be allowed to faint too. Ara's expression changed, and she shouted something as Rai swayed as everything went dark again for him.
Arashi looked between the four unconscious pokémon and sighed. "It's going to be one of those days," she sighed, pulling an object out of her shoulder bag.