The rest of Ophelia's team were just as smarmy as she was. Emery's Skarmory was taller than he was and he apparently had the same problem as Donald of throwing apricorns at everything, and Tami was enjoying all of the attention Percius was giving her and obviously didn't realize that he only actually cared about her Noivern. Ophelia had decided to stand next to Jackson, which unfortunately meant she had also decided to stand next to me.
"So you worked on a farm, right? Kinda weird for a farm boy to know how to use a sword." Ophelia leaned closer to him. "Broadsword or greatsword?" Ophelia took a long step to get in front of Jackson, who only just barely acknowledged her by glancing at her.
"I dunno." Jackson shrugged.
Ophelia's posture dropped and her face twisted in confusion, her expression small and cute as she puckered her lips and rose an eyebrow. "You don't know what kind of sword you use?"
"Is it important that I do?"
"I guess not, as long as you know how to use it."
"I do." Jackson was verbally dismissing her, but Ophelia wasn't taking the hint. Fortunately Jackson was saved from her continued spewing of questions for the moment as Sir Rowan walked out to join us.
"Kelsie's sendin' ya with some air support, aye?" Sir Rowan let out his bellowing laugh. "I hope Allison and her quiet boys don't give ya much trouble, 'phelia."
I was caught off guard for a moment. My original thought was that the three boys I traveled with were anything but quiet, but then I realized that around others, even right now, they weren't saying a word. I took a moment to look them over. Donald and Emery had taken on relaxed stances, but were fully engaged with Sir Rowan's words. Absorbing, analyzing, and immediately putting into action. Percius and Tami had both drawn weapons the second Sir Rowan addressed them, prepared for attacks from every angle. Jackson hadn't moved to even engage with Sir Rowan, but his eyes darted around the area, taking in details and addressing everyone he could see. He had entered some kind of threat detection mode. Ophelia and I had spun immediately to address authority. What did that say about us that our teams were so similar? What did it say about us that our actions had been the same when someone of higher rank had addressed us? I only had a moment to reestablish myself as Sir Rowan began to speak again.
"If you're headed to the Dracollis Conurbation, you'll want to all fly together. Emery, I heard ya caught yerself a Tropius on yer last mission?"
"Yes, sir. It was attacking Silva Templum before we drove it away from civilization. I caught it during the final moments of the battle." Emery gives a sly smirk. "It was not an easy task, but we accomplished it handily."
"Good ta hear. Have Allison's team ride on the back o' that, and the rest o' ya keep the air clear for the ride."
"Couldn't we just ride our own mount Pokemon up the mountains?" Donald adjusted his belt awkwardly, shifting his feet.
"Ya could, but it would be a heck of a lot faster ta fly up to the Dracollis Conurbation than it would be ta try to scale the mountainside. Heck of a lot safer, too. Ya know all about that, don'tcha Percius?"
"I do, sir. Bagon and Gogoat make it a point to try to knock travelers back down the mountain." Percius nodded. Donald still looked worried, but his smile returned when Percius turned to him and joked, "Besides, if you fall off the Tropius, you can just throw an apricorn at yourself."
"Ah, shut it. The sooner we get going the sooner I can get my feet back on solid ground."
I had never mounted a Tropius before, and apparently neither had anyone else. It didn't help that Emery's Tropius Nanabman was ornery, but I suppose if someone had named me Nanabman I wouldn't be very happy either. Percius was the first one to figure out how to mount the massive Pokemon, using its hind leg as a step to climb onto its back where it ended up holding the four of us quite comfortably. The three Bird Keepers mounted their respective Pokemon and took to the skies alongside us, each with a spirit of their own that, to my dismay, filled me with a sense of wonderous jealousy. Emery's Skarmory swirled and sliced through the air, its metal feathers shimmering as the setting sun glinted off of them, Emery harnessed to the Skarmory loosely enough that every time it spun through the air to adjust altitude or position I worried Emery might be flung skyward. Tami's Noivern crashed through the sky with reckless abandon, not quite a Dragon enough to be called one, but certainly enough of a Dragon to make it just barely a bird. Tami used the ears of the Noivern to make call-outs to the rest of the team, adjusting flight patterns for flocks of Spearow and Pidgey. Pippy and Ophelia were a blast of wind compared to her teammates, speed their primary asset as Ophelia clung low to the feathers of her Pidgeot. Dashing out ahead of the group, she was scouting for trouble and relaying information to Tami with hand signals and sharp whistles that cut through the blustery winds.
"What do you think her name is?" Percius asked, leaned back on his elbows and staring out at Tami.
"Her name is Tami." I reminded him flatly.
"Not her, the Noivern."
I rolled my eyes. "Probably Belltower or something loud like that. You were talking to Tami about her for so long and didn't even ask?"
"I was thinking about other stuff."
"Other stuff, huh? Tami got you that distracted you can't even focus on the one thing in the world you like?" Donald jabbed teasingly, sitting cross-legged and sharpening his daggers on a whetstone.
"No, I'm thinking about this thing we were sent to fight. A flying Dragon? Most Dragons fly. What makes this one different from all the other ones that it needed to be specified that it flies?"
"What's a conurbation?" Jackson stacked a question on top of Percius's. "Like, I've heard of the Dracollis Conurbation but I-"
"You don't know what it means, we get it." I sighed. "It's fine, I don't expect someone who can't read to know these things. A conurbation is a group of villages which are not the same village but because of their proximity and sharing of resources they might as well be. The Dracollis Conurbation is made up of Apicem City, Monte Village, and Submonte Village."
"Monte Village and Submonte Village used to be the same village before Paling Moon teleported it from the middle of the mountain range to the base of the mountain range. The people who stayed called themselves Submonte Village and the people who moved back to where they were became Monte Village." Donald explained, but Jackson didn't look like he was absorbing any of it. He looked like he was caught on something that had been said, and was making his stupid ugly confused expression again.
"I can read."
I sputtered for a moment. "Well, I mean, I suppose I just assumed since you can't write-" Jackson saved me from myself as he spoke again.
"My brother taught me."
"You've got a brother?" Donald sat up a bit straighter.
"And a sister. Oscar and Riley. Oscar is older... was older." Jackson looked down at Excalibur, which was set in his lap. "He died studying Ghost type Pokemon in Ombrea."
"Sounds like nasty business." Donald nodded understandingly. "He make you that sword or something?"
"Sent it to me. Not him. A colleague of his. After his death. I guess you could say it was his sword. Blitzkrieg was his too."
"Sounds like you really admired him. I'm sorry for your loss." Donald put a hand on his chest, clutching something under his shirt. "I lost my mother to Ghost type Pokemon too. She was a Ghost Hunter for the Legendary Trio, before they were called that." I turned away. The way Donald told this story didn't paint my sister in a very good light. "She was possessed by a Gengar and became a Hex Maniac before turning on her teammates. Emilia Fayeri shot her in the chest."
"She tried to save her first." I defended quickly.
"She tried to crush her mind first." Donald shot back sharply. "Paling Moon was just a Kirlia back then, and didn't have the mental strength to do the dirty work for her like she does now."
"That's not fair and you know it."
"All I know is that when push comes to shove, Jackson is gonna want to know who's gonna shoot him in the chest."
We were silent for the rest of the ride there, the whirling of metal wings and shouting of call-outs all that broke our thoughtless, angry, somber silence. I turned to Jackson and opened my mouth to speak once, but when I turned to him he locked eyes with me. Eyes of deep sadness. Eyes that spoke of worry and sorrow and betrayal. Eyes that twisted my chest and stung my eyes. I turned away and centered myself again. There was no point in wasting feelings like that on someone like him. He was just an Unfezant, after all.
We arrived in the Dracollis Conurbation, at the top near Apicem City. Emery tapped his apricorns against his Pokemon to recall them before turning to look around. Apicem City was a bright, shiny area full of the riches of the mountains; pearls and dragon scales were embedded into the stonework and walkways and every house looked like a miniature castle. The Church Of The Draco Plate stood high above everything else, at the true peak of the highest mountain in the Dracollis Mountain Range, but Ophelia immediately started to walk out of the town.
"The church is that way, we should gather more information."
"Gather what information? We're here to find a flying Dragon, we've got a Dragon Tamer, we've got some Bird Keepers. The Flying and Dragon are covered. All we gotta do now is find it. Only three places to look if it's a big enough problem to be notifying the Arceian Church." Ophelia marched onward away from the safety of the city, and Emery and Tami followed diligently; innocent Skitty dragged to and fro by a devious Purrugly.
Emery turned to me and walked backwards a few paces. "Come on, we found the Tropius in no time, didn't even need the Church Of The Meadow Plate." He spun on his heels to rejoin his team. I looked at my own team, who were all deferring to me. I looked towards the church, and then turned to look at Ophelia's team, the team we had been sent here to have as back-up, walking away from us.
"Arceus' sake, let's go." I reluctantly chased after the group of Bird Keepers, followed by my own group of Skitty, but I was their Delcatty, knowingly leading them into danger to keep the Purrugly's Skitty alive. Fortunately, we didn't find much as we were walking around the mountainside. A few Gogoat did exactly what Percius said they would and tried to knock us off the mountain, but we easily avoided them and Donald stood to awkwardly watch them tumble a few meters before standing back up, noting the Pokemon reminded him of Percius, which earned him a whack on the back of the head from the person in question.
"Well, darn." Ophelia put her hands on her hips and looked around at all the nothing we had found. "Nothin' here. False alarm, maybe?" Originally I thought Ophelia had turned to address me, but actually she had turned to address Tami, who spoke before I could.
"Doubt it. If they're Dragons, they're probably looking for a challenge and flying around is just their way of taunting the conurbation or other dragons in the area." Tami explained.
Percius nodded, pulling out two apricorns. "So there's one surefire way to draw them out." He tossed the apricorns into the air, producing Justice and Hoki, who both loomed over the stone clearing in the mountainside like they were about to duke it out for unseen treasure. "Hoki, Noble Roar. Justice, Dragon Pulse into the air." The two Pokemon shifted their positions, their footsteps pounding against the stone before they both raised their heads to the sky. Hoki let out a thunderous roar that shook me to my core and made my heart skip a beat, while Justice released a volatile blast of draconic energy into the air, which quickly sputtered out and dissipated into nothing.
A moment passed.
Two moments.
Three moments.
"Did we seriously come all this way for-" Emery's words quickly stopped as his expression turned from one of anger to one of stunned confusion, his mouth hung open in surprise as blood trickled down his cheek from a cut that had not been there a moment before.
Jackson drew his sword and said something under his breath. Something about seeing it. His arm stretched outward and he pointed Excalibur into the air at nothing. "Right there!" He shouted, his free hand tossing out Achilles, who was immediately struck by an unseen force and... exploded into ribbons.
"What in Arceus' name just happened?! I thought that thing was invincible!" Donald shouted as panic rose in his voice, his daggers spinning out into his hands as Percius armed himself as well, but turned in a similar panic as Hoki let out a roar of pain, golden blood splattering from his shoulder onto the ground.
"What the heck is this thing?!" Tami screamed in her own panic. "Where is it? What's it doing?! Why is it slicing at us like that?!"
"Right there!" Jackson repeated more forcefully, swinging Excalibur again as he sent out Blitzkrieg to replace poor Achilles. He locked eyes with me. "Allison!"
I snapped out of my daze. It was where Jackson was pointing. We needed Ballet. She was out in a second. "Ballet, Disarming Voice!" The noise that pierced the air was melodic and sweet, but focused like an opera singer shattering a glass. In front of us a Pokemon materialized out of nothing; a Dragapult, followed by all of its little minions. Dreepy swarmed around the Dragapult, three or six, I couldn't tell because of the way they moved in and out of their hive, who locked onto me and sliced across the air at startling speed. But even more starling was how Blitzkrieg was suddenly in front of me, his teeth latched onto the horn of the Dragapult in a vicious Bite.
"Keep him there, Blitzkrieg!" Jackson commanded, and Excalibur erupted with a horrid black energy that seemed to tear at my very soul to even look at before it sliced across the Dragapult, who reeled back in anger and pain as black smoke erupted from wounds where golden blood should have been.
"It's not a Dragon!" I shouted quickly. "It's a Ghost!"
"Dragapult is a Dragon, though!" Donald shouted back as he wrestled with his apricorns while still holding his daggers.
"It's blood is black smoke, not gold!" I informed as Jackson shoved me away from the angry Ghost. I heard Jackson let out a groan of pain but didn't see why as I ran towards Justice and Hoki. "Help him!" I demanded desperately. "Ballet, use Protect on him!" I commanded my Pokemon blindly. I couldn't turn to look at him. A realization was settling over me that I wasn't able to come to grips with. I was refusing to come to grips with. I stumbled and fell as a Dreepy sliced across my calf, causing me to faceplant into the dirt. I heard shouts. Screams. Groans of pain. Percius's triumphant cackling. I rolled myself over to see Hoki was holding the Dragapult by the horns and it was straining heavily against his grip. The moment of triumph was swiftly stamped out as the Dragapult opened its mouth and a blast of blue flame engulfed Hoki's face and neck, causing the bulkier Dragon to let go of the Ghost in pain. The sound of a Dreepy in distress was cut short as Jackson sliced one of them in half and it exploded into black smoke, and the Dragapult turned on him in a rage. The five other Dreepy launched out of the cavities they resided in and went on the offensive against Jackson, who swung his blade more in defense of himself than in offense against the horde, but they still quickly overpowered him and drove him to one knee where they begin to engulf him in a purple and black miasma.
"What's going on?" Ophelia stood helpless as she stared at the Dragapult that loomed triumphantly over Jackson.
"They're Cursing him." My voice shook. I didn't know why it shook. "A lot." I armed the crossbows on my gloves and rose them to point at him. "They're trying to break him." My hands shook. I couldn't take clear aim at the Dragapult or any of the Dreepy or... or at him. My eyes stung. I was already nearly blind when an overwhelming light blinded me further. I put my hands up to shield myself from another oncoming attack, but as I turned to the source, it wasn't an enemy.
It was Blitzkrieg.
Enveloped in light, Blitzkrieg's form began to shift. The plate on his head molded into horns, and the ridges on its back multiplied as his body grew larger. His tail extended to an arrowhead point, and in a flash of confirming light, Blitzkrieg had evolved from a Houndour into a Houndoom, and wasted no time in going to work to save his master. A torrential Flamethrower tripled across the Dragapult, who was sent screaming as Blitzkrieg bounded past him and landed a devastating bite against one of the Dreepy, causing the others to scatter as it exploded into black mist in his mouth.
"Blitzkrieg?" Jackson touched the Houndoom on the head, as if to confirm the Pokemon was his own before Blitzkrieg nudged him on the chin to get him to stand up. Standing together like that, the two of them looked like they could have taken on Darkrai himself. As the Dreepy returned with their Dragapult leader, Excalibur once again lit up with that dark energy, and I watched as the blue gem on its hilt blinked as it rose itself nearly out of Jackson's hand to use the Dragapult's own momentum to slice it clean in two, causing it to explode into black mist. Without their leader, the Dreepy had no homebase, and quickly scattered to the wind with shrieks of anger that almost sounded like they were promising revenge.
A total silence settled over the area, and was broken as Donald stepped cautiously towards Jackson. "You good? You took a lot of Curses right there."
Jackson nodded. "My head hurts, but I'm fine. Still me, anyways."
"That's good to hear. And look at this!" Donald gestured excitedly with both hands at Blitzkrieg. "Your Houndour evolved!"
As Donald and Jackson had their own celebration, I turned to Ophelia. "We should scout the area and make sure none of the Dreepy are going to cause problems for the conurbation."
"You're right. Tami, can you and Glassrattle handle clean up on the little guys?"
Tami nodded as she walked towards us. "We've got it-" Her final word came out as a gargled mess as blood erupted from her mouth along with a Dreepy erupting from her chest cavity. She stumbled a few more feet towards us as the red-stained Dreepy sped off down the mountainside, only to be blasted to nothing by Justice's Dragon Pulse. Tami's clothes stained a similar color as she touched the hole in her chest that looked like she had been hit by a cannonball, staring at her bloodstained hand and looking helplessly at Ophelia and me. She tried to speak again, but all that came out was another spurt of horrible viscera, and she collapsed to the ground.
Ophelia screamed.
