Chapter 37: Helping Hand

"They're here to put an end to your little adventure."

Pleo looked around in panic for some way the team could stand against the Armaldo, Mienshao, Grovyle, Ariados, and Leafeon that had cornered them in the medbay. Nida and Elty's fur bristled, their eyes widened, and their backs arched, while Guardia held on to her club for dear life. The air seemed to thicken around them as the four braced themselves for the oncoming attack.

"N-Nida? What do we do?" the little Lugia stammered. Before the Poison-Type could respond, the sound of heavy, approaching footsteps drew Pleo's attention to the Armaldo. He locked eyes with the hulking sea bug, petrified.

"Look, I'm a reasonable Pokémon, so let's be frank," Briggs answered with a smirk. "The best course of action for you four is to surrender peacefully."

"Commander?! Wh-What are you doing?!" a Leafeon's yelp interjected. "W-We can't take them with us!"

The Armaldo's smirk abruptly faded, replaced with a frustrated grimace as Phyllis fearfully protested. Briggs whirled around to see the shaken-looking Leafeon ringed by her stunned-looking Mienshao, Ariados, and Grovyle counterparts.

"Huh?!"

"Phyllis?!"

"What are you going on about?!"

"That b-bird with them's a demon!" she insisted. Briggs' blood boiled, and the Fossil Pokémon raised a claw to strike some sense into the Marked Leafeon when a cry came from the four Pokémon.

"Pleo! Quick! The window!"

The Company Pokémon turned just in time to see the young Lugia spit up a glowing ball at the window, splintering the wooden shutters as the rest of Team Traveller clumsily clambered onto his back.

"Pin them down, now!" Briggs bellowed. The Armaldo's right claw began trailing flickers of whitish light as he readied a slash at the white bird. However, as soon as Briggs raised his claw, his Mienshao subordinate pre-empted him by fishing out a Petrify Orb from a bag around his shoulder, and hurling it at the wall above the broken window.

"A-Aah!"

A shower of shards and sparks fell onto Team Traveller, sending them toppling over onto the floor, twitching as the orb's effects rendered their bodies unresponsive. As the four cried out and fought futilely against their paralysis, Briggs shot an ugly glare at Phyllis, before turning his attention to Hertsog while the hapless Leafeon shrank back.

"I told you that she wasn't fit for this mission, Hertsog," he snarled. The Mienshao visibly paused and gave a disappointed look at the leafy fox, before hardening his gaze and turning back to his superior.

"Commander, they're subdued," the weasel grunted, shaking his head. "Let's worry about tying them up before they can move again."

"Fine," Briggs scoffed. "Let's get to it, then."

Pleo felt his friends get dragged from him one-by-one, as cries of protest rang out in the background. There was Nida's "W-Wait, stop!", Elty's defiant "Agh! Let go of me!", and a panicked "A-Aah! That's my bone!" from Guardia. Suddenly, he found himself tumbling to the floor, coming face to face with Salvini standing over him.

There, in his numbed helplessness, one question burned over and over in his mind, until he could hold it in no longer.

"S-Salvini!" he cried. "Wh-Why are you doing this to us?!"

The gecko said nothing, looking away as she tied up the immobilized Lugia. As she finished tightening the last knots, the Grass-Type was suddenly interrupted by a stern growl from Briggs.

"Make sure you cut his flight feathers."

The Grovyle's claws slipped from the rope, and she uneasily got up and faced the stone-faced anomalocaris.

"Come… again?" she murmured.

"He's a bird, Salvini," the Armaldo snapped. "Birds fly when they're free unless something is done to prevent that."

Salvani hesitated at Briggs' words, shaking her head.

"Commander, he's a wounded child!" the Grovyle protested. "Be reasonable!"

"I am being reasonable! This is standard procedure for transporting scum of their lot to the cells back in the fort!" he bellowed. The Armaldo opened his mouth to continue, only to suddenly be interrupted by a yelp from the back of the room.

"T-Ti si lud! Y-You can't bring that thing back with us!"

The Commander whirled and saw Phyllis wide-eyed, cowering in the corner. Briggs' nostrils flared and his tail batted impatiently against the ground as the seething Armaldo towered over the shaken Grass-Type.

"I have had it with you!" Briggs roared. "This whole arrest you've been nothing but dead weight!"

"That creature will destroy us! You can't just bring him into the fort!" Phyllis cried. "I w-won't stand for it! And neither will the others like me on the force!"

Briggs froze at the Leafeon's words. It would be trivial to have the fox discharged from the ranks like she ought to be, but if the other Marked among the guards or in the town saw the Protector, they would surely not react any better. And what if word leaked out from them to the rest of the villagers? Could the Company really keep things under control if they connected the dots to a Marked's "demon"? Worse still, what about the Imperials who would surely notice an unexplained disturbance…?

"Commander, I don't know what's gotten into Phyllis. But you did say this was supposed to be discreet," Hertsog began. "If there's a reason to think that moving this group would draw attention, wouldn't it be better to keep them here?"

"And surely it would be best to treat them like patients to preserve a cover, Commander?" Salvini added.

The Armaldo paused, before hissing in frustration and giving a dismissive wave of his claws.

"Fine. Bar the door and the window, and make sure every exit is watched around the clock," Briggs said. The creature shook his head, before casting a glance over at Pleo. "Commissioner Lyn should be in port before dawn to pick the bird up anyways."

At the mention of the Samurott's name, Pleo, Elty, and Nida's irises shrank to pinpoints. Guardia, seeing her teammates' reaction, began to quiver in dread as her teammates cried out in one voice.

"L-Lyn?!"

"Ah, I see you're all familiar with him," the Armaldo answered. "Your bird friend here will be going on a little trip with him. As for the rest of you, you'll be treated like any pirate that shows their face on this island… You'll be collecting Apricorns for us, indefinitely."

Nida gasped as a sudden realization came to her. Elty had said that Fensedge was a bad place to get caught, so those fields they saw on the way to the Mystery Dungeon earlier...

"A-Ah! Then those Pokémon up the hill!" Nida cried. "They're-!"

"Scum like you that we've put to use," the Commander sneered.

Nida tried to summon an urge to fight, only to find that her limbs were still rigid and unresponsive, and her mind blank of any ideas on what to do. Briggs gave a satisfied smirk at the petrified Nidoran and her teammates, gesturing at the group with a claw.

"Anyhow, this is the part where I should take my leave," he said, before turning his attention to his subordinates. "The rest of you, I want you watching every way in and out of this room with reinforcements in shifts.

The Armaldo left the room, leaving Hertsog to hastily hand down assignments as Team Traveller weakly fought against their bindings. It was decided that Payak would guard the door, while Salvini and Phyllis would tend to the exterior as Hertsog pulled other guards off for reinforcements.

After that, the window was blocked with a table and gummed up with some silk from Payak; Hertsog and a still-shivering Phyllis then left the room, the Mienshao signaling for Salvani to follow him out. As the Grovyle began to make her way for the door, she heard a hurt-sounding squawk.

"Salvini! Pl-Please!"

The Grass-Type paused, and reluctantly looked back where Pleo stared at her, his eyes tearing up and beak quivering.

"You're not a bad Pokémon like this!" the Lugia pleaded. "H-Help us!"

The Grovyle froze and tensed up, her breaths coming softly and shallowly. The Grass-Type looked silently at the bound children, and then at her teammates, before turning back reluctantly to Pleo and his friends.

"... You're right. I'm not," she replied, shaking her head. "And that's why I have to do this…"

Salvini hurried out the door at the sound of Pleo's whine. She passed Payak settling down next to the door, and made her way down the hallway with a knot in her stomach.

Outside the building, Trizano sat perched on a tree branch in a small grove at the far end of the hut, overlooking an alley downhill from the neighboring taverna. There, the Steel-Type stared at the now-blocked window in the side of the Medic's hut, shaking his head bitterly after watching the scene in the room unfold.

"I should have known something like this would have happened," the Skarmory said. He had to somehow set this right, and free the kids from the trap they had walked into. But... before he could do that, he had to learn more about his enemies.

"Hang in there, Pleo," he murmured. "I'm not out of moves just yet."


Back in Kenobi, Crom and his peers from the Siglo Swellow had finally found the 'bokuya' that Eeden and Zamora spoke of... a sorry-looking shack made of worn and pitted orange wood with a tiled roof.

"Well the place is certainly at home with the rest of the district," Kiran murmured.

Ander paused and poked skeptically at a few timbers, half-convinced that the rickety shack might collapse at any moment. After some unease and false hopes that the proprietor might come out to tend the shop's front, the team conceded that there would be no avoiding entering the uninviting bar.

"Let's go inside," Pladur sighed.

However, before the team could take another step forward, a Linoone flew through the doorway, followed by a gruff "And stay out!" from further inside. The ferret got up, shook some sense back into his head, and hastily darted off with his tail between his legs.

The four Pokemon looked at each other and blanched for a moment before Crom spoke up

"Are we really going in there…?"

"Well… it should certainly be an… interesting visit," Ander added.

The four Pokemon made their way into the bar past the clothing hanging by the door. The interior was revealed to be a dingy room that reeked of cheap spirits, filled with rough-hewn round tables and stools. The place was mostly abandoned, barring the exception of a Meowstic and a Cacturne with orange scarfs bearing white jaws talking about how much time they had left in port, and an obscured figure sitting alone in a corner. And finally, a Throh was making his way towards the other side of the counter.

"I don't see this 'Valatos' anywhere" Crom muttered as he scanned the bar.

"Maybe we should try chatting with that barkeeper," Ander said. "Those teleporters did say he had an axe to grind with them."

Perhaps sensing he was being talked about, Shuho lifted his head from his work cleaning the bar and turned his eyes towards the group.

"If you're here for something, either take a seat or make it quick," the Throh snapped. "I don't have all day."

Crom and his companions faltered a second, but then approached the bar and sidled up against the counter. The four looked warily at the stone-faced Throh, before Pladur cleared his throat to try and start up some small talk.

"Erm, well, what was that whole ruckus about earlier?" the Fraxure asked.

"That's something between me and that Linoone," Shuho huffed. "Why don't you go and ask him yourself?"

The Fraxure paused and traded uneasy looks with his fellow lavender-scarves. This bartender wouldn't even answer a little question like that?

"Fair enough," Ander muttered, shaking his head. "Anyhow… we were hoping you'd have seen a group of fellow First-Ranks consisting of a Yanmega, a Manectric, and a Marowak?"

"They're not here now if that's what you're after," the barkeep grunted.

"Yes, I can see that," the Scyther sighed. "I meant if you knew where they are right now."

"Look, I don't talk stuff about Pokémon unless if someone from their group's in my establishment," the Throh spat.

"Uhm, aren't they fellow Company Pokémon like us?" Crom asked. "Doesn't that count as being in the same group?"

"Last I knew, they didn't hang out with punks like you, and their boss was a Sidon," the Fighting-Type retorted "So no, you're not."

"So you really are a neutral type," Kiran said.

"Around these parts, you'd be wise to not make many enemies," the Throh answered. "It's bad for business."

"I see," the Swellow murmured. "Then perhaps we could come to a little understanding about something we needed taken care of…"

"And what would that be?"

Kiran rifled through his bag and pulled out a small collection of folded-up leaflets before sliding them across the bar. The Throh picked up the papers, unfolded them, and leafed over them one by one… Until he paused and suddenly went wide-eyed. The Fighting-Type vigorously shook his head and hardened his gaze before turning back to Kiran.

"Is this a joke?" he demanded. "You're telling me that that group with the mutt who came in here without money to pay their bill had a god with them?"

Crom put a claw over his face and shook his head at the mention of Elty attempting to get food without paying, before pausing, and realizing…

"Wait, they were here?!" the young Druddigon cried.

"Yeah? And?" Shuho scoffed. "That doesn't explain why you're passing this bounty around! Your employers put one out for two of those kids a few days ago, and now you're going out and saying the last one was a god?"

"Look, I understand that this may be hard to swallow, but this is no joke," Kiran said. "That bounty might be the most important sheet of paper the Company has had to issue in its entire history. Top-secret and issued by orders of the Board."

"Because we need to find someone to hold onto this until the time is right to make it public knowledge," Ander added. "Someone who would obviously be rewarded if they were found to have led to the Guardian's retrieval."

Shuho paused, giving his chin a few idle strokes as he mulled over the claim of the Company strangers in front of him.

"I see," the ruddy fighter answered. "And you chose to trust this with some guy running a hole in the wall why?"

"Because you seem to know quite a few Pokémon around these parts, and you said that you weren't fond of making enemies," Ander retorted.

"Make no mistake," Kiran added, shaking his head. "If you take this and the Company hears of you running your mouth off before the time is right, you'll have no shortage of those. This outfit doesn't suffer liars particularly well, especially with stakes like these."

Shuho narrowed his eyes at Kiran, before glancing down at the paper again. The Fighting-Type paused a moment in contemplation, before giving a shake of his head.

"Fine, I'll bite," the Throh grunted, before stuffing the bounties into a lockbox under the counter.

"As for Valatos and the rest of his buddies, I still don't know where they are," he said. "I do know that they've been looking for a way out of here lately. Seems like they've crossed someone really high up in your organization."

Crom drew a sharp breath. Pleo had angered Lyn alright, he knew… but had Valatos as well? How worse could things get?

"Right, we'll keep that in mind," Pladur replied. The four quickly turned and filed out of the door and out of the sordid little shack, leaving the bar to return to its prior sleepy atmosphere.

"What was that all about?"

Only for a chittering voice to suddenly speak up, and a worn-shelled Clawitzer bearing a white scarf with a red saltire to hop out into the middle of the floor. The crustacean stood up on her tail and looked off in the direction of the doorway, before turning to give Shuho a stern, but curious look.

"Nothing that I feel like talking about," the Throh snorted. "If it's something you're interested in, why don´t you ask them yourself? They can't have gotten far."

The two Pokémon glared at each other, the Clawitzer up at the Throh, and the Throh back down to her. After a long, pregnant silence, the impasse broke as a small smile began to creep over the shrimp's face.

"Maybe I will," the Water-Type answered, before hopping along on her tail. "I left the pay on my table. Do svidaniya."

Nagant began to scuttle for the door and cast a glance back towards the counter, where Shuho had already made his way back to the bar while counting the money she had left on her table. The shrimp turned back and pushed her way past the white noren over the doorway, out into the streets of the teeming hive outside and after a most familiar-looking quarry.


While Shuho and his most inquisitive client were chatting inside his establishment, Crom and his fellows from the Siglo Swellow had made their way towards an intersection a short way down from 'bokuya.

"What do we do now?" Crom asked. "That 'Shuho' Pokémon barely gave us anything to work with!"

"Well we managed to give out the bounties at least…" Pladur sighed. "But I really don't know how we're supposed to narrow down where this 'Valatos' went."

The team made their way past the colorful, dingy shops on the lane over to the sea. They walked past a Shelgon-shaped Box Buster shop, its draconic proprietor hard at work bashing open a stack of pilfered crates. Afterwards came a shifty-looking store tended to by a grizzled Blastoise with metal-tipped harpoons displayed on a wall with some improperly hollowed logs lying in a discarded pile in an alleyway. Finally, the team came to an intersection with a small pagoda, where at the far end sat a Reuniclus' shop that was filled with maps and navigational tools, and surprisingly enough, a Kecleon market, if with a duo of extra and particularly surly-looking chameleons keeping a steely watch around the shop.

For a second, the team thought they saw Valatos inside the map shop after seeing a flying, chitinous form. The four ran up to wave down the creature, only to discover to their disappointment that it was simply a teal beetle with long, jagged mandibles, and an abdomen that flickered with yellowish light.

"Well, wherever they are, we don't have much time," Ander said. "That barkeeper did say they were trying to leave town."

"But how would they do that? Given the neighborhood the only way of doing so would be by joining a pirate crew…" Kiran murmured. The Swellow suddenly froze as his eyes went wide, as an uncomfortable realization crept into his mind.

"Wait a minute!" he squawked. "They were trying to join a pirate crew! They were even talking about it when we ran into them!"

The four Pokémon abruptly blanched for a moment as they realized that if Valatos and his buddies had been looking for a crew for a full day, they might not even be in port by now! But even if they hadn't...

"If they did join a pirate crew and they're still here," Crom began. "How would we even find the-?"

"What's taking those new guys so long?" a heavy voice asked. The sound of footsteps approaching rang out, followed by a low sigh in response.

"Don't tell me they bailed already because of your outburst..."

"Well hey, look on the bright side," a buzzing voice answered. "This way we get to pick seats before them!"

"Huh?"

Crom, Pladur, Kiran, and Ander turned and felt their blood run cold as an Aggron with a golden-yellow scarf followed by a host of like-scarved cohorts rounded the corner. Both the Pokémon from the Siglo Swellow, and the metal ruffian froze and widened their eyes in shock before a shared refrain filled the lane…

"Ack! You again!"

Kiran turned to Crom and then at the gathering of golden-scarved Pokémon right before him. The other Pokémon also staring at group in exchange, though many of them seemed far more puzzled than the Aggron.

"Uh… Hess, who are they again?" Rodion asked.

"Yeah," Kichiro piped up. "I don't remember seeing these dweebs before."

At the pirate's remark, memories of the fateful encounter with the Aggron came flooding back to Crom's mind. The young Dragon-Type suddenly felt aches all over his body, unpleasant reminders of the wounds the captain had inflicted on him.

"Y-You're that pirate captain that raided our home last month!"

Pladur gulped and grimaced, such an outburst was hardly the thing to say to a lot of hardened criminals! Much to the group's horror, the band of pirates slowly and carefully spread away from their captain. The golden-scarved mob began to circle the party from the Siglo Swellow as the Aggron captain gave an audible crack to his neck.

"That's right," Hess snorted, the hulking Steel-Type lumbering closer to his trapped quarry. "And it looks like things are finally going my way for once!"

"Wait, they… are?" Crom asked, the Druddigon starting to grow increasingly unnerved as to what the brigand's answer might be.

"Well now, thanks to your freaky gull friend, I'm short a few deck claws," Aggron explained as he pointed to the group accompanying him. "And here you go through all the trouble of coming out here! Just when I needed to find a few extra claws to swab the deck of my ship!"

Some members of the Iron Fleet caught on the commentary and started laughing at the trapped 'Company grunts', already understanding of what was coming next for the quailing square-necks before them.

"H-Huh?! Us join you?!" Kiran squawked. "Y-You're dreaming!"

"Oh really now? I seem to remember that it was because of your blasted town that I lost a mast and over a dozen deck claws!" Hess angrily snarled. "Sounds like you've got a debt to pay, and I'm in the perfect position to collect!"

Crom and his companions flinched, expecting the hulking captain and his cronies to be upon them at any moment. There was a tense, breathless wait, followed by a realization that the Aggron was extending a claw, with a predatory smirk spreading on his maw.

"But I'm a reasonable captain," he offered, giving a call forward with his outstretched claws. "Come peacefully and we'll hash out the details over some drinks."

The four did not spend much time deliberating the matter. The situation clearly looked hopeless, the choices stark… with only one answer left to give.

"N-No! We're not pirates!" Crom growled, beating his wings out in trembling defiance. "We- We'd never work with the likes of you!"

The mood of the gathered pirates suddenly turned sour, as murmurs and a jeer of 'well this will be fun' floated around. Hess' mood darkened and he hastily drew his claw back to his side at the refusal, and shook his head, shooting an overpowering glare at the four Pokémon from the Siglo Swellow.

"So be it. Looks like I'll get to show the crew why this job gets to be so enjoyable sometimes!" Hess roared. The Aggron snorted, eased into a battle position, and pawed his feet, ready to charge

"Because every so often, I get to beat the tar out of pests like you!"


Back in Fensedge Village, Trizano had dutifully circled the medic's hut from the shadows ever since watching the raid on Pleo's room, searching for possible ways that he could make his way in. A subtle, but noticeable presence of guards had taken up positions around the exterior of the hut along the of the guarded room. There were guards patrolling around the medic's hut perimeter, guards standing underneath Team Traveller's window, and a lone Marked Leafeon looking out anxiously from the roof...

"Captain, about what happened earlier…"

And of course the pair he was currently watching, a Grovyle and Mienshao who seemed to both be deep in uncomfortable thought.

"Did we really do the right thing? Restraining those children like that?" the Grovyle asked. "And the way Phyllis reacted..."

The mustelid shifted an uneasy glance at the ground, before shaking his head and facing his charge.

"Look, Salvini… I understand that sometimes carrying out the letter of the law isn't pleasant," he offered. "But there's surely a reason why Commander Briggs thinks those children are more than what they seem to be-"

"You there!"

Salvini and Hertsog looked up in a start at the sound of a booming, interrupting voice. From the main lane up to the guild, they saw a Dragonite wearing a lavender Fourth-Rank scarf swoop in impatiently with an irked expression etched into his face. The two tensed their stance upon noticing the superior, as the Dragon-Type came lumbering along to them, in a clearly agitated mood.

"Wait a minute," Trizano murmured from his perch in the trees behind the hut. "Isn't that…?"

"Administrator Darzin, sir. You still haven't flown back to Canalhouse?" Hertsog prodded. "Is something the matter?"

"What exactly is going on here?" the Dragon-Type demanded. "No medic's hut has a detail this large posted to it!"

"We have some Pokémon of interest detained inside, and we have reacted accordingly," the Captain answered.

"What sort of answer is that?!" the Dragonite spat. "I need specifics! Who is in there, and why have they not been transported already?!"

Hertsog and Salvini blinked and traded uneasy looks with each other. Here before them was an Administrator from the Company board demanding that they divulge the identity of the pirates they just captured, but...

"Er… I'm afraid that we're not allowed to talk about that, sir," Salvini replied. "Direct orders from Commander Briggs."

"I'm your superior here! I outrank Commander Briggs!" Darzin roared. "So either spit it out or let me in!"

"Administrator Darzin! How can you demand that I endanger my subordinates like that?!" Hertsog exclaimed. "Surely Administrator Zorn would have been notified of the matter! Can't you ask him for a debriefing?"

Trizano's eyes widened as he realized that Darzin had to be talking about the Protector from Tromba- no other prisoner would warrant this fuss. But then...

"I don't understand, don't you already have a lackey coming to pick him up?" the Skarmory murmured to himself. "What's the point of rushing like this?"

Focusing a little too intently, Trizano accidentally squeezed the branch tighter and tighter, until it fractured with an audible snap. The subject of his observation heard the noise, and spun his head around to check for the source. The Skarmory hastily braced his wings and fanned out his blade-like feathers, bracing for a sudden battle.

After a tense, breathless pause, Trizano realized that Darzin seemed startled and apprehensive. Slowly, the dragon turned back to the Mienshao and Grovyle, his adamance for getting a better picture of what was going on in the hut having evaporated.

"I… remembered that I had other matters to tend to," the Dragonite answered. "But I will be back later, and don't you forget it!"

Trizano watched as Darzin hastily turned and stormed off, exhaling with a sigh of relief that the fractured branch hadn't given him away. Even so, a realization began to creep up on him about the scale of the task before him...

"This will go easier if I have help," the Skarmory grunted. "But posting a job would take too long, and alert the powers-that-be to what I'm up to..."

Trizano jumped from his place in the treeline behind the building, before taking to the skies. The Armor Bird's mind swirling with possibilities for who to reach out to…

"There has to be somebody there with the courage to stand with Trizano against injustice! I just have to find them myself!"

And there was a place where someone would surely have the courage to stand up… The Mengir Island Guild. All the while on the route over, one detail bedeviled him…

Where would they be able to hide the children?

He thought of attempting to spirit them to Kenobi Island, but there were far too many grunts there. Leaving sleepy Fensedge for Canalhouse City was hardly an alternative, as it would just be leaping from the pan and into the fire. Otvaga Island was a better option since that atoll was neutral, but as a sudden stiff and gusty wind reminded, the waters en route would surely be patrolled, and there was a storm due to come in tonight.

The Skarmory landed in front of the guild and went inside hoping he could find someone who would be up for an arduous task. But… did ferrying the childern to another island have to be one? Perhaps he just wasn't thinking far out enough? Though, if his suspicions about the one named 'Pleo' were right, he would surely not have rest on any island in Anyilla for long, and possibly not any others… Except for one place…

Home. It would certainly be safe, and already shepherded its own secrets, but it was all the way on the other end of Anyilla! There would surely be a wall of obstacles just to get there even if he stayed with the children all that time…

If only there was another way, a nearby place he could get them to where the Company wouldn't look for them…

"Yeesh, this gummi chest is hefty… Good thing it's only a ten minute walk after I get into the Subway."

Trizano turned, and saw a Kabutops pass by, pressing a red chest in between his scythes to dump into a netting bag. Wasn't that Dimitri from the other day?

Wait a minute! There was a frontier to work with all this time quite literally under his beak! And Dimitri was a Pokémon who would be in the perfect position to take the kids there!

"Oh, it's you again!" the Kabutops exclaimed as he took notice of the Skarmory.

"That's right, but aren't you supposed to be back at your clan?" Trizano replied.

"Eh, being a little late never killed anyone. Besides, this mission will take me straight to them!"

"Hm?" the Skarmory asked, tilting his head. "Mind explaining that to me?"

"I was gonna meet up with my rod at Seaspear Station along the Subway passages to Otvaga," Dimitri explained. "It's where I have to deliver these Gummis for my current mission."

The Subway... the maze of breathable passages and Mystery Dungeons that crisscrossed the Cradle's seafloor. It was only about fifty fathoms below the waves, but it may as well be another planet for most Pokémon. Wait...

"Davvero?" the Steel-Type asked. "Would you like to make a little extra on the side?"

Dimitri gave a quizzical tilt of his head at Trizano, a curious demeanor coming over him as he began to wonder what sort of errand the Skarmory needed help with.

"Eh? What do you need me to do?"

"Well, first off, how good are you with stormy waters?" Trizano wondered.

The Kabutops crossed his scythes and gave a bemused chuckle back at the Steel-Type. Him? Have a problem with stormy waters?

"Pfft, if I wasn't good, would I be taking a mission the day when one's set to blow in?"

"... Touché," the bird cawed. A small smile began to form at the ends of Trizano's beak. If Dimitri was a strong enough swimmer, then that would mean that all would be needed to get the kids underwater was a place to dive...

"And I take it you've been using the diving spot next to those rocks offshore to the west to get down into the Subway?"

"Well, yeah. I don't need those purple-scarves getting involved in my rod's matters," the crustacean answered.

Along with a little skill...

"Do you know how to Dive with other Pokémon?"

Dimitri paused and blinked at Trizano's question. It seemed like an odd detail for the bird to be prying into, but...

"Er… da," the crab responded. "Why do you ask?"

The Skarmory paused for a moment and went quiet, before looking up into the Kabutops' eyes with a surprisingly stern and serious expression.

"It's the mission I need help with," Trizano explained. "It involves taking a party of four into the Subway."


Meanwhile on the dingy streets of Andaku, Crom, Pladur, Kiran, and Ander circled in tighter and tighter as the Iron Fleet closed in on them. The four backpedaled until they felt their tails touch each other and realized there was nowhere left to retreat.

"Err... what now?" Ander buzzed anxiously.

The four desperately looked around for a way out, but couldn't seem to see anything that could help them. Suddenly Kiran noticed the Kecleon shop up across the intersection had a number of goods on display behind the counter, including what looked to be a few orange, scaled seeds.

"Maybe we have something…" the Swellow murmured. The Flying-Type hopped up, and as the Pokémon around them began to charge, beat his wings and sent a slicing wind at the counter…

"Close your eyes!"

BOOM!

… which set off a Blast Seed on display, followed up by a Blowback Orb that burst with a gust of air ejecting merchandise from the stall and into the nearby navigation shop. A Sandy Orb smashed against the ground whipping up a localized sandstorm, as one after the other orbs shattered and seeds flung out from the shop along with bits of signed timber and canvas.

"Aargh!"

The gathering quickly devolved into a chaotic cloud of sand and confusion, with disoriented cries, and the sound of angry shouts from Kecleon coming from further off. After sending a Liepard tumbling back into the dust with a swipe from his tusks, Pladur saw an opening, along with the muddled form of Shuho's bar in the background.

"Th-This way, quick!" he yelped. The four quickly bolted through the confusion and exited the plume of dust kicked up by Kiran's distraction, fleeing as fast as their limbs could carry them. They sprinted back past the arms dealer and the box buster, and made it to 'bokuya when they heard a hacking voice bellow out behind them.

"Don't let them get away!"

Crom, Kiran, Ander, and Pladur looked back and saw Hess storming out of the sand cloud, calling up and flinging a hail of large rocks from the ground at the crewmates from the Siglo Swellow. With a yelp, the four ducked down the side, and into a narrow alleyway with broken down planks laying around as a barrage of bulky, heavy stones slammed into the side of the orange-wooded shack.

As the four lavender-scarved Pokémon slipped out of view, Hess and a number of his cronies ran in, looking around restlessly for their foes. Towards the end of the pack, Valatos flew in from high up with his companions trailing him, the Yanmega catching the forms of creatures moving swiftly down a back alley.

The dragonfly flew down and settled against the ground, just in time for Nori to give a questioning prod to his teammates with his bone.

"Valatos, you see anything?" Nori asked.

"Yeah," the Bug-Type buzzed back. "Those Pokémon the new Captain's after headed down our old shortcut for the big shopping street."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Alvise exclaimed. "Let's get a move on!"

"Yeah!" Nori added. "Let's tell the others and get them!"

The two turned to call out to their new teammates, only to be cut off by Valatos raising a foreleg and motioning for a stop.

"Actually... I've got a better plan…" the dragonfly began.

The sound of an angry "That's my shop!" from 'bokuya's Throh proprietor rang out, followed by yelps and running from the Pokémon up ahead, which drew a pair of gulps from Nori and Alvise.

"I'll explain while we move!" Valatos cried. "The others will be catching up with us fast enough anyways!"


The confused shouts of the Pokémon behind them dulled and grew fainter as Crom and the others zipped through the alley. They turned left upon stumbling across an intersection, and hurried along past some upended timbers onto a large street lined with shops, panting out of exhaustion.

"I… I think we lost them," Ander said. For a second, the four paused and sighed, starting to brush off some dust and sand from their bodies as the passerbys traded askew stares before continuing on.

"There they are!"

Until a shout rang out up ahead and the forms of several golden-scarved Pokémon darting out from a side street came into view. The four quickly turned and bolted down the lane, as yelps and the crash and clatter of disturbed merchandise rang out behind them, with more flightworthy members of the Iron Fleet pursued from the air.

"Th-They're all over!" Pladur yelped.

"Quick! Down that alley there!" Kiran exclaimed. "It'll give us cover!"

The team ran past a modest shack watched by a Sawk bodyguard with a Cinccino handling a clay pot among bunches of spiky, reddish-orange berries dangling from the rafters. Up in front, the addled customers lazily turned as the sound of the four square-necks rushing past reached their ears. Suddenly the sound of a crash and the clerk shrieking rang out as a jet of hot, steaming water sailed into the shop. The scream was soon followed by the Lansat pot smashing into syrupy pieces against a wall, which jolted the clients at the counter into a blind panic.

"A-Ack! It's the fuzz!" a Lapras yelped. "They made me do it officer, I swear!"

"I'm too pretty to do manual labor!" a Vanillish cried.

"Let's resist arrest!" a Bastiodon shouted. "That'll show 'em!"

The dazed Pokémon sprang up out of their seats as the crewmates of the Siglo Swellow ducked down the alley, the sounds of confused Pokémon tripping each other up and trading blows resounding in the background. At the head of the group, Kiran noticed that the cliffsides were looming up ahead, then that meant…

"We just need to make it to the cliffs!" the Swellow squawked. "Once we get out of this district, the Iron Fleet won't be able t- AUGH!"

Only to be cut off by a slicing burst of wind that sent the four into a tumbling stop tripping over each other. As they stumbled up to their feet, they came face to face with a Yanmega flitting back and forth smugly with a golden scarf around his prothorax.

"Aren't you in a hurry?" the Bug-Type sneered. Crom backpedaled at the sight of the great dragonfly, only to realize… the eyes… the wings… the voice… This was the same Yanmega from the other day!

"E-Eh?!" Crom stammered. "You're-!"

"Right where we want you!" a voice shouted from behind. The team looked back and saw a Manectric and a Marowak rushing up the alleyway. The three quickly boxed in Crom and his companions, shooting malicious sneers with the four all the while.

"Heh, nice work, Valatos," Nori said. "And here I thought we'd have to chase 'em into a dead end to corner them like this."

The assailants slowly closed in, flashing menacing, predatory smirks as they herded Crom, Kiran, Ander, and Pladur into an ever-tighter group.

"Valatos, wait!" Crom cried. "You saw a white bird, didn't you?"

Valatos scoffed, turning to trade a bemused glance with his companions.

"What are you getting at?" The Bug-Type buzzed.

"It was as big as me, and looked strange, and-"

"Tch, how should we know?!" the dragonfly chittered, leaving Crom to drop his jaw agape in disbelief.

"H-Huh?! But you saw him!" Crom protested. "Those Cubone said so!"

"Yeah, we did, but we don't know where he went," Nori grunted, before tightening his grip on his club. "But that's not really relevant right now."

"There will be plenty of time to get to know each other once you're down for the count!" Valatos sneered. "Alvise, finish them!"

"On it!"

Alvise hunched up and sparks began to fly along his coat and coalesce into a crackling mass. As the wolf prepared his Discharge, Ander noticed a stack of flour-dusted sacks against the wall of a wooden shack to his right and threw out a scythe in a panic. As he slashed open the sacks, a plume of white dust suddenly blinded the Manectric, causing him to send his Discharge forward and draw a litany of yelps.

"Gah! You weren't supposed to shock me too, you dimwit!"

Including one that wasn't supposed to happen.

"Agh! It's not my fault!" Alvise protested. "I can't see- Yeow!"

The Electric-Type slammed against an alley wall with a yelp after being struck by a claw swipe from Pladur, trailing jagged flecks of greenish energy. The attack on his teammate prompted the accompanying Marowak to charge forward with his club raised.

"I've got 'em! I've-"

Before Nori could retaliate against the Fraxure, he was cut off by a gust of wind from Kiran brushing past him. The burst of air struck a tall pile of flour bags, which promptly toppled onto Alvise and Nori below with a loud thud and a chorus of dazed groans.

"Urgh…"

"Ow… my back..."

Valatos darted back as static still danced on his exoskeleton, falling back panting from the cloud of flour dust and hastily calling up some rocks ringed with purplish auras out of the ground.

"Do I have to do everything around here?" he hissed, only for a young voice to suddenly cry out.

"Hey! Look over here!"

"Huh?"

Valatos turned and instinctively fluttered backwards as white powder was thrown against his face, covering his eyes. The Bug-Type blindly launched his stony projectiles, only to feel the sensation of claws smacking him down out of the air. Valatos hit the ground hard, leaving him to hack and wheeze angrily after the fleeing presences.

"A-Argh!" he cried. "G-Get back here where I can see you, you dweebs!"

The demand came to no avail, as Crom, Kiran, Ander, and Pladur continued to hurry down the alleyway, if with labored and heavy movements. The running battle had taken its toll, leaving scrapes, bruises, and electrical burns over the increasingly ragged group.

"I can't take much more of this," Kiran panted.

"Just hang in there, Kiran," Ander pleaded. "I can see the cliffs getting closer! We must be getting near to-!"

"Checkmate, chumps!"

The team came to an abrupt stop as they ran square into a solid, gray mass, knocking them back and onto the ground. The group rubbed at their heads and limbs until they realized that to their horror, what they'd run into was…

"A-Aah!"

The looming form of an Aggron in the middle of an intersection of alleyways. Behind him, various forms poked their heads here and there to try and get a view of their leader's trapped quarry.

"Still running?" he taunted. "I think that my crew's colors on your necks would fix up that tired look of yours just fine!"

Laughter and jeers came from the lackeys behind Hess, as the team slowly began to realize how dire a situation they were actually in. The Aggron prepared to call up stones from the ground with a Rock Slide, which froze the four in fear as their hopes sank along with Hess' stony form. Until suddenly, the jeers were pierced by a voice from behind.

"I think not."

"Huh?! Who said-?! Agh!"

Before Hess had a chance to finish his attack, a pulsing burst of water zipped in and struck him in the face, knocking back into his mass of underlings. The sound of yelps and cries came out from the gathered lackeys behind the Steel-Type captain, as Crom and his companions looked back, and saw a Clawitzer jumping down from an overlooking rooftop.

"A-Aah!" Crom cried. "You're that Clawitzer from-!"

"Don't just stand there! Run before he gets up!" the crustacean hissed. "There's a warehouse you can cut through on the right!"

"R-Right!"

Crom, Pladur, Kiran, and Ander hastily followed their rescuer to the right alleyway, leaving Hess to stumble back up and rub at some fresh bruises and cuts on his side; meanwhile, right under him a Pawniard half-embedded in the ground dragged himself out of a Pawniard-shaped hole, groaning and muttering a half-curse along the way. A moment after, the mob of Pokémon stopped cold and looked around... to realize that his quarry was nowhere to be seen.

Hess whirled around and after failing to catch any hint of where the fake Company grunts had gone, angrily stamped his feet and bellowed out in challenge.

"Grr! Stand and fight you cowards!"

"Oi, Hess!"

The Aggron blanched for a moment and turned around to see an angry mob flecked with faces Hess had seen at the various shops, with Shuho at its head. Hess reflexively took a step back from the horde of shopkeepers, only for the Throh to lunge forward, grab the Steel-Type by his scarf, and yank his head down.

"Agh!"

"We need to have a little talk about that property damage you've been causing," the Fighting-Type snarled.

"P-Property damage?" the Aggron nervously began. "I think you're- Hey!"

From the corners of his eyes Hess noticed that his fellow golden-scarved Pokemon all began to quickly slipped away from the intersection, clearly not wanting to be a part of any 'aggressive negotiations' that the shopkeepers might have in mind.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going! Stay here and help-!"

The Steel-Type felt a sharp blow against his belly, followed by sudden pain as he flopped forward and hit the ground. The creature gasped for air and hacked up spittle, desperately pulling his head in to counter with a steely headbutt, only to feel his head get yanked back up by his scarf, and to come face-to-face with the Fighting-Type drawing an arm back for a punch…

The Captain's fighting spirit quickly evaporated, and he hastily amended his words.

"Okay! Okay! I give! I-I'll pay!" he squeaked. "I-I've got leftover Poké from my last raid!"

"Glad to hear, "Shuho said. "There's the matter of my wall, the shop my brother watches over that you smashed up, and the lizard shop here isn't happy about all their merchandise going up in smoke..."

As the Fighting-Type went through a list of damages that seemed to never end, Valatos, Alvise, Nori came around the corner dazed and in within sight of the crowd. Although the lot were still covered in flour, the golden scarves around their necks could clearly be seen, prompting a Sawk from the crowd to speak up.

"Oi, bro!" the Sawk cried. "Aren't those the deadbeats you keep complaining about?"

The Throh relaxed his stance for a brief moment as the Karate Pokemon called out to him, and shifted his attention from Hess to the flour covered 'deadbeats' as they traded back confused looks.

"Oh, so you're their captain now? In that case, I'm going to need to call in the debts of some of your new recruits," Shuho grunted as he turned back towards Hess.

The Aggron shot an angry glare at three, who in return gave back sheepish grins. Before the Steel-Type could focus on them for too long, Shuho tightened the grip around his scarf, prompting him to hastily turn back to him.

"Now, are you gonna pay all of this up front, or do we need to talk about installments?"

Gah… why hadn't he listened to that lippy bug about press-ganging earlier? Hess grimaced and closed his eyes, before giving a gulp and a muttering squeak back to the snickering group of shopkeepers

"Ulp… Wh-Why me…?"


After a hurried chat with Dimitri at the guild, Trizano found himself back staking out the medic's hut, alternately scanning the building and shuffling along to new vantage points whenever the guards seemed to get suspicious of him. So it was that he came to his current perch in a tree overlooking the roof of a bustling juice bar, the raucous noise inside providing cover for the sounds of his movements among the trees along the far side of the roof.

"If I can just keep those guards outside a little busy, my wings should be able to make short work of that barricade," Trizano murmured to himself. "Then, it's just a matter of getting in and getting Pleo out to the water…"

It was certainly an audacious enough plan, but there was still one part which he couldn't seem to square… Where exactly were the guards positioned inside? And even if he got to Pleo, would he even be able to fly out of there? Gah... if only he had some way of getting a better picture of what was inside that hut!

The Skarmory shook his head frustratedly, before suddenly bolting upright after noticing movement coming from the lane. It was the form of a Grovyle, who made her way up the path with heavy and fatigued movements, before stopping at the door to the juice bar below.

"… Isn't that one of the guards from the hut's security detail?"

The gecko shook her head and muttered something inaudible before pressing on into the taverna underfoot, leaving Trizano to blink out of surprise.

"Maybe if I talk to her…"

The Steel-Type hopped down into an alley, and rounded the corner to the juice bar's entrance. After pushing aside the rude door at the entrance, he made his way into the taverna to discover a stone-walled space with simple wooden timbers for pillars and rafters bedecked with small bells. As the Skarmory made his way inside to search for Salvini, he found that the inside was every bit as busy as the noise from outside had hinted. He passed a Whimsicott and a Haunter playing a game of cards at a table together, and then a trio of Wormdam trading gossips over drinks of a "dorky Company Mothim" one of the three had run into several days ago. And finally, at a lonely bar stool in the corner of the juice bar, was a Grovyle with a lavender scarf and a dispirited expression. Trizano tilted his head, bounced a little in his steps, and paced over slowly, sidling next to the Grass-Type at the seat beside her as the Spinda barkeeper labored away in the background.

"Don't you have a shift over at the medic's hut right now?" Trizano asked.

"Whuh?"

Salvini looked up in surprise, but upon seeing the metallic bird beside her, her face drifted back into its previously sullen expression.

"Oh, it's you. That 'Warrior of Life' guy," she sighed. The Grass-Type shook her head, and returned her attention to the clear and strong-smelling liquid inside her clay cup. Trizano noted the cup's decidedly-not-water contents, and blinked before clearing his throat to speak.

"Not that I'm one to pass up a drink, Salvini," he said. "But won't you fall afoul of your superior for doing this?"

The Grovyle gulped down some of her drink wrong at the Skarmory's question, and sent herself into a fit of coughing. After recovering, the Grass-Type whirled to face the prying bird, eyes widened.

"How do you know that?!" she demanded. "And who told you my name?!"

"I've seen you around since I came here," the Skarmory explained. "As for the name, it was just what I heard others call you. I assumed that that was what you'd be most comfortable with."

Salvini grumbled a little and turned back to her drink, dismissively waving off the surprise of not being addressed by species name first as was the custom with strangers among the Cradle's residents.

"Yeah, well, it's rude to just swoop in and address someone you don't know by their name," she growled. "So be a little more mindful of custom next time!"

"Hm… fair enough, though it seems like you already know a bit about Trizano the Immortal," the Skarmory answered, shaking out his feathers. "Though since we're on the topic of customs, might I ask if it's also custom on this island to give guards drinking breaks during their shifts?"

Salvini drew in her arms and sat up straight defensively, giving a glaring scowl back at the metal-feathered interloper.

"My supervisor gave me a short break," she spat. "I've been having a headache."

"Vollezeese Jenever sure seems like an interesting… 'cure' for a headache," Trizano replied, giving a skeptical tilt to his head. "Are you certain you're making the right diagnosis there?"

The Grovyle gave a sour look back at him, before grunting and returning to her drink.

"Mrph, mind your business."

"You know, a medic can't treat what ails you if you don't tell them about it," the Steel-Type insisted.

"I'll pass," Salvini huffed. "Last I was aware, 'Valiant Knight Skarmory' weren't medics."

"I wasn't aware that Pokémon who wore Company lavenders were either," Trizano retorted. "Or at least not until you stopped by that room on the south side of the medics' hut earlier today."

TAK

The Grovyle slammed her cup against the counter as she whirled and shot a fierce glare at the nosy bird beside her. The Grass-Type balled her claws into fists, as the reptile became determined to know...

"Have you been spying on me?!"

"I prefer to call it 'the observations of a concerned citizen,' but that is where your headache is from, isn't it?" Trizano asked. "The layout inside was a bit much to handle? Or did you see something in there that didn't quite sit right with you?"

"Don't worry about it," Salvini snapped. "It's nothing that I haven't seen before in a day's work."

"You sure don't sound like that right now," the metal bird insisted. "Why, if I didn't know better, I'd say you sounded more like you don't know what to do about-"

At this, the Grass-Type lost her temper, and hopped atop her stool, extending the leafy blades along her arm and visibly seething. Why was this bird doing this to her? She didn't like what had happened in that hut, but it had happened for a reason...

"I do know what to do about it!" she shouted, thrusting an angry and accusing claw at the Skarmory's face. "To follow the orders I was given and protect this town!"

A dead silence filled the bar, which prompted Salvini to look around and notice that her outburst had caught the attention of everyone else in the room. Trizano shook his head and realized that prodding the Grovyle for more information would probably not deliver any further progress. After awkwardly shuffling his feathers, the Skarmory cleared his throat and turned back to his Grovyle neighbor.

"Listen, Salvini," he began. "I might not be a doctor, but I think that if you really meant that, you wouldn't be here right now with that cup of jenever."

"You're trying to get at something, aren't you?" the lizard grunted.

"I was, actually," the Skarmory replied. "It's a question whose answer I think will clear that headache of yours better than that drink ever will."

"Which is?"

The metal bird deposited a small stack of papers containing charcoal rubbings of various scenes of a deer with branch-like antlers. The gecko's black eyes widened a moment, as she recognized that these must have been the pictures that the bait mission asked for. The Grass-Type looked up uneasily at the stern-faced Skarmory, who responded with a simple question.

"What do you really want, Salvini?"

The Grovyle went silent at the Trizano's words, and reluctantly drew her blades back against her arms and uneasily returned to her seat. The Steel-Type sighed, shook his head and turned to the still-staring patrons in the bar.

"Apologies for the disruption," he said. "I'll take my leave now."

Trizano hastily made his way over to a small side door at the end of the taverna, where he passed through and slipped out of the bar. Little by little, the chatter of the bar started to return to its normal, raucous atmosphere, if flecked with occasional blurbs 'What was that all about?' and 'Think that was over a tax dispute or something?'

Salvini looked down at the drawings and thought of the other day when she gave Team Traveller their mission...

Of how carefree and trusting they had been…

Of their betrayed looks back in the medic's hut...

Why was she here drinking anyways? She had followed her brother's footsteps into the force to begin with to help other Pokémon, but… how was snookering a bunch of kids helping anyone, especially when the higher-ups couldn't keep their stories straight? From the moment this mission started she had a feeling something was wrong about it, a feeling that had only gotten stronger since.

Her brother had mentioned that there were times when he had to go against the grain of his orders… Was this what he meant? But what was she supposed to do? He was all the way off on some podunk island and those kids would be taken care of in a matter of hours.

… Actually, maybe she didn't need her brother's advice to make this decision. She had joined the Company in order to help Pokémon like the ones that lived in this town. So then if the Company was making that impossible, there was only one logical thing to do...

The Grass-Type thrust the stack of drawings into her bag, and hopped off her stool. As soon as her feet hit the floor, the gecko turned and bolted for the side door after the so-called 'Immortal'.

"Hey! You didn't pay for your jenever!" the Spinda barkeep cried.

"Put it on my tab!" she shouted back. Salvini dashed into a cluttered alley uphill of the taverna, only to find no sign of Trizano. The Grass-Type looked around desperately, and bolted for the treeline to try and find a perch. The reptile dug her claws into a trunk, and scampered up it, vaulting over the limbs and onto a bough where she caught a glimpse of the so-called 'Immortal' on another tree preening at his metal feathers.

"Hold it right there!" she exclaimed. The Skarmory raised his head and turned back in the direction of the Grass-Type, giving a quizzical tilt.

"Hrm? Is something the matter?" Trizano answered.

"You're planning to do something with those kids, aren't you?" the Grovyle huffed.

The Skarmory turned and beat his wings, before settling down and giving a firm, determined look back at his questioner.

"I think you should already know the answer to that question, Salvini," he said.

"Well, what is it?" she demanded. There was a long pause between the two as Trizano tensed his wings to be ready to strike at a moment's notice, before the tension suddenly evaporated with five simple words…

"And what do you need?"

The Skarmory blinked and lowered his razor-feathered wings at the gecko's words. Did… she just offer to help him? But this was no Elekid's play, and he couldn't in good conscience accept help from someone who had so much to lose.

"Are you sure about this, Salvini?" he asked. "You're aware that it could get you in just a bit more trouble than that drink back there, aren't you?"

"I think you should already know the answer to that question, Trizano," she replied. A smile began to creep over the Skarmory's beak, there were more brave souls in this town than he had expected to find on such short notice. The two volunteers he'd accrued so far would do just fine.

"Well, then… why don't we start with a little privacy?" Trizano volunteered. "Time is short, and we've only got one shot at this."


After a nerve-wracking shortcut through the warehouse, and a tense journey through Andaku's shadowy alleys, the four Pokémon of the Siglo Swellow and their Clawitzer defender made their way up to the cliffside path in fits and starts. The party carried along haphazardly until they eventually made it to a panting stop just past the sturdy wooden gate.

"Hah… hah… that was way too close," Crom gasped.

"Why don't we pick a place with a little privacy, hm?" Nagant chittered, while gesturing at a nearby alley. "Sounds like you four could catch your breath a bit."

The four Pokémon traded wary looks with each other, before looking back at their rescuer. While she had helped them greatly just a short time ago, something was…

Amiss.

"Weren't you that Clawitzer from the bar back in Seahive?" Kiran asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmrph, could ask you the same thing," the Water-Type harrumphed. "Weren't you skulking around Boisocéan in white scarves just a couple-"

Crom, Kiran, Pladur, and Ander's eyes went wide at the shrimp's words, which prompted the ever-jittery Fraxure to hastily interrupt with a startled cry.

"A-Aah! Don't say that so loud!" he yelped. The four grimaced and hastily scanned their surroundings, and discovered that mercifully, no other Pokémon in lavender scarves seemed to overhear Nagant's nonchalant accusations. After seeing the coast was clear, the group turned their attention back to the now-scowling Clawitzer.

"Hrmph, aren't you high strung today?" Nagant grunted back. "So then we agree a little privacy is good, yes?"

Pladur and Ander exchanged warily looks for a moment in a stunned silence. Kiran was quick to catch up with the situation while Crom, far less experienced in such things as machinations, blinked at his father. Pladur and Ander quickly reached a wordless agreement, and the insect turned to Kiran, who nodded and relaxed his posture.

Crom stared at his father, and after a moment he managed to read his pleading expression to play along with the Clawlitzer's words.

"That's… fair enough, but do make this short," Kiran sighed. "Conversations when one's fatigued are 50% harder to get through!"

"Well, then, I suppose we should get started," the Water-Type answered. The shrimp gestured at the alley, and after waving them on ahead with her smaller claw, Crom and his companions warily made their way down the secluded lane. The five came to a stop with Nagant a short distance from the entrance amidst some alley clutter. The shrimp balanced atop her tail to get a better view of her audience, and chanced to notice a dusty, tattered checkerboard lying in a heap of worn and disused litter.

"So now that we agree that the matter of where we've personally been is irrelevant," Nagant said as she clamped onto the tattered board. "I notice your missing 'crewmate' gets around quite a bit."

"Er… you could say that," Ander buzzed. "He's technically closer to a missing person."

"Ah… I'm sorry to hear," the shrimp replied, as she dusted off the checkerboard and began to absent-mindedly move her little claw along the board manipulating imaginary pieces. "But what lead you out here?"

"Well... we heard that another Company ship was looking for him," Pladur explained. "So we followed them here."

"Yeah, Commissioner Lyn's!" Crom added. As soon as his words left his mouth, Crom bit his tongue and grimaced after realizing that he had spoken too much. The Clawitzer seemed to pick up on the Dragon-Type's words as well, as she looked up abruptly from her tattered checkerboard.

"Hrm? If a Commissioner's already looking into the matter," she murmured, giving a forced tilt of her head. "Then aren't you a bit out of your league?"

A faint smirk flickered over Nagant's face and drew nervous glances from Crom and his companions. There wasn't anywhere to run if they needed to, or at least nothing that would shield them from the Clawitzer's Water Pulses…

Then perhaps, it would be better to try and deflect with something that Company members would surely be all too familiar with...

"Er… well, we were hoping that if we found him first, we'd be able to get something out of it," Ander buzzed back.

The shrimp shot back a withering glare at the four square-necks, before giving an unimpressed grunt and shaking her head.

"Hmph, I should have expected as much from your type," Nagant muttered. "Though I suppose if nothing else, the Company's taught you how to take risks."

The four collectively let out a sigh of relief, grateful that their rescuer seemed satisfied with their deflection. Though, now that the Clawitzer's curiosity seemed to be sated for now… perhaps they could return the favor a bit.

"So, since we're asking," Kiran said. "Why did you come here?"

"Yeah, you kinda saved our hides back there earlier," Pladur added.

The Clawitzer paused, and nudged quietly at the checkerboard a little. With a shake of her head, she turned her attention back to her questioners and began to speak.

"I'm a 'mon who gets around here and there with some associates," she answered. "You could say it's our job to stay privy to current events here in Anyilla."

Crom, Kiran, Ander, and Pladur traded flummoxed looks with each other at Nagant's response. That hardly seemed like a detailed answer! Ander shook his head, before attempting to press the Water-Type for a bit more information.

"Er… what do you mean by that-?"

"Oi! There they are!"

Only to be interrupted by a shout coming from the direction of the barrier. The five Pokémon whirled around, and saw that much to their surprise, there was a glaring Ledian and Floatzel with golden scarves poking over the wooden palisades. The Pokémon from the Siglo Swellow grimaced at the sight, as Nagant hastily leveled her large claw at the two pirates.

"Yeah, you'd better look scared!" Rodion snarled. "We're going to-!"

"Is something going on here?" a gravelly voice interrupted. Suddenly, an Arbok and a Golem with Company scarves rushed in from the path along the palisades at the end of the alleyway. The pair came to a hasty stop, trading glares with the golden-scarved Pokémon at the top of the palisades.

"Yeah, you know what happens if your little disputes leave the barrier," the Arbok hissed. Nervous murmurs started coming from other pirates behind the wall, as Rodion's face contorted into a scowl, begrudgingly accepting that this wasn't a battle the crew would do well to fight.

"Urgh, fine," the Floatzel growled. "But you pests won't be so lucky next ti-!"

"Chotto matte! I'm from here!" Kichiro fumed, flitting over the wall. "I have every right to leave Andaku whenever I wan- Gack!"

"Now, Kichiro!" Rodion huffed, yanking the Ledian back over the palisade before the situation could escalate any further.

The pair from the Iron Fleet hastily ducked back over the wall, and the sound of hastily fleeing footsteps could be heard as the pirates slinked back for safer territory.

"Well, that was a speedy resolution," Nagant scoffed. "Shame, I could've used the target practice."

"You guys alright?" the Arbok asked. "What was that all about?"

"Um… just a little argument we got into in Andaku," Kiran explained. "Nothing major."

As the Arbok and Golem traded skeptical looks with each other, the Clawitzer turned and sized up the two new Company guards… and decided that perhaps she had stuck around in the alley for long enough.

"Well, it seems you have work to get to," the shrimp said, hopping and turning for the alley exit. "Looks like I'll have to explain the matter another time. I've got a feeling we'll cross paths again."

"We will?" Crom answered. "What makes you say that?"

"Call it a sailor's instinct," Nagant replied, before giving an unimpressed scowl back at the group. "Oh, by the way, you're welcome."

She hastily scuttled off grumbling about "Courtesy these days," past the Golem and Arbok as they traded blank and incredulous with each other. Crom and his companions warily headed out, and came face-to-face with the skeptical-looking duo.

"Friend of yours?" the cobra wondered.

"Er, I'm not sure, actually…" the little Druddigon muttered.

"Well, whatever you were up to in there, be a little smarter next time!" the Golem snapped. "And make yourself useful instead of just standing there!"

"R-Right!" Pladur stammered.

As the skeptics carried on past the wall, Crom and his shipmates let out a collective sigh, before looking down the lane where Nagant had disappeared off to.

"She's up to something, isn't she?" Crom asked.

"She almost certainly was," Ander sighed. "But let's not worry about it too much right now."

"Yeah, we're not going to get anything else looking around in this state!" Kiran exclaimed. "Let's go back to the ship and patch ourselves up and try and figure out where we haven't looked yet."

The four tiredly looked back at the gate for Andaku, before setting off down the hill back for Aisle Town's docks for a return trip to the atoll. Had… had all of the work, the running and searching for the past two days been for nothing? If it was, then how were they supposed to find Pleo, Nida, and Elty? And where could they be?


The sun set early that day on Mengir Island, as the winds picked up and dark, ominous clouds rolled in over the horizon from the Cradle's edge. Night soon followed, the inky, churning sky blotting out the moon and stars, prompting shopkeepers to close their shops early, and chasing townsfolk home early as rains and the sounds of distant peals of thunder came.

Rumble

A flash of lightning lit up the halls of the medic's hut as the Continent Tower´s Traveller began coming over the horizon. There, Salvini made her way for the room Team Traveller was held in, recounting in her head the plan she and the alleged had talked through.

It sounded simple enough: make up an excuse to take over the current guard's shift, and then enter the room. From there, she'd free the kids from their restraints and give back their belongings. Trizano would then distract the guards outside with some Blast Seeds to draw them away from the window, before coming back around and using it as an entrance. Finally, they'd exit via the third room from the right along the tree-lined back of the hut, and fly to a diver who would take them to the Subway before the storm outside grew too strong.

Rumble

A plan that was so simple, and yet so risky, with its first major test right in front of her. Directly in front of the room she needed to get to was the current guard on shift: Payak, who was dangling from a silk strand from the ceiling and keeping a sharp watch over the door.

"Well… here goes nothing," the Grovyle quietly murmured. Salvini approached her teammate, who upon seeing her, tilted his head and gave her a surprised look.

"Salvini?" the Ariados asked. "What are you doing here? Are you here to keep me company or something?"

"Captain Hertsog told me to take over your shift," the Grovyle said. "We've apparently needed to shift some positions around thanks to the storm picking up outside."

"Huh? Veche? But my shift doesn't end for another hour," the spider protested. The Ariados gave the Grass-Type a puzzled look, which made Salvini uneasy for a moment, before she cleared her throat and doubled down on her ruse.

"That's just what he told me," the reptile shrugged. "I don't make the rules any more than you do, I just pass them along and enforce them."

"Well you don't have to tell me twice," Payak chittered. "This wouldn't exactly be the most fun job even without the storm, and I could use a drink if Everbloom hasn't closed down already."

The spider shook himself loose of a silk mooring he had attached to the ceiling and scuttled away from the door, turning to the Grass-Type.

"Take care of yourself, alright?" he said. "I've had a bad feeling about this mission all night, as if something was about to happen."

The Grovyle faltered momentarily, before shaking her head and attempting to deflect her partner's misgivings.

"Don't worry about it," Salvini responded. "You know me, if something comes my way, I won't be going anywhere without a fight."

The answer seemed to satisfy the Bug-Type, who after a quick nod carried along, and disappeared down a rough staircase at the end of the hall. The Wood Gecko waited until the sounds of her companion faded away, and only the sound of faint snores, movements by other guards downstairs, and the storm were left behind.

Salvini drew her right blade and slipped its tip into the keyhole of a padlock placed over the door. The Grass-Type whispered the instructions Trizano had given her earlier, feel for the pins, push them up, and...

Click

The gecko felt the padlock open, and instinctively yanked it off before pushing the door open, the wood creaking faintly as it moved. The Grass-Type quietly returned the door to its place minus its padlock, and crept forward towards the forms of four Pokémon who seemed to be uneasily dozing as the door closed behind her.

Creeeeak

The once-proud team had clearly been run ragged, their bodies still weak from their wounds earlier in the day. On a few of their faces, there were trails left behind from dried tears, and some of their bindings had shown stretch marks and streaks from fruitless attempts to wear through the ropes. The Grovyle began to extend the blades along her arms and made her way forward as...

"Ah! S-Someone's in here!"

A squeak from the Nidoran stopped Salvini in her tracks, the group evidently being less asleep than she assumed. A flash of lightning lit up the room, and cast the shadow of a figure with sharp blades jutting from its arms against the back wall, which raised a chorus of frightened squeals from the bound children. The Grass-Type's eyes widened at the sudden racket, which prompted the reptile to hastily attempt to shush Team Traveller.

"It's alright! It's alright! It's me, Salvini," she reassured.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Pleo asked.

"If you're here, then that means Lyn-" Elty began, only to be cut off by a whisper from the Grovyle.

"Will be too late to pick you up," she said, as she bent down, grabbed Nida, and pinned her down. The Nidoran went wide-eyed as she saw a blade towards her flank and froze out of fear.

Snip

The Nidoran flinched at the noise and instinctively bolted up and clutched at her flank, only to realize that she was unharmed, and… Wait a minute!

"I can move again!"

The Grass-Type quickly made her way to each of the remaining members of Team Traveller and with a few swift motions and snipping sounds, similarly cut them loose. Nida, Pleo, Elty, and Guardia traded blank stares with each other, before looking back at this most peculiar Company grunt.

"E-Eh? You're that Juptile from earlier," Guardia pressed. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out of here, what's it look like?" she insisted. The gecko hastily dumped out some items from her bag, which on closer inspection were a stained, folded up bag; a bony club; a map and astrolabe; and three glinting, misshapen badges.

"A-Aah! That's our stuff!" Nida cried. The four instantly set upon their belongings: Nida shook out the bag and slung it over her shoulder, Guardia latched back onto her club, and the lot of them began to repin each other's badges, only to notice that something was amiss with the sparse pile…

"Where's the rest, though?" the Poison-Type asked.

"I wasn't able to get it back in time," Salvini answered, shaking her head. "And, you there. Pleo, right? Can you fly right now? It'll be important for figuring out how to get you guys out of here."

Pleo tried to get up and started beating his wings to lift himself above ground; it took a couple of tries to even get that straight, and managed a short impulse onward. Suddenly, Pleo's expression turned to one of blunt pain and he forced himself to land, unceremoniously but at least not crashing hard on anything.

"Nrgh!"

"Ack!" Nida exclaimed. "Pleo, estás bien?!"

"I- I mean, I flew," he murmured. "But when I stopped thinking about the storm outside, then my wing started to hurt again."

"Storm outside?" Salvini wondered. "Why would that make you feel better? And wouldn't it make it harder for you to fly in?"

"Hrmph, he takes to thunder and storms like a Ducklett to water," Elty said. "Don't ask."

"It'll have to do," the reptile sighed. The four members of Team Traveller skeptically looked at each other, as one burning question was on their mind...

"Why are you helping us like this?" Guardia prodded. "Didn't you say earlier that you had to hurt us?"

"Well… I happened to run into an old friend of yours," the gecko began. "And while I do want to protect this town… I realized that I didn't want to have to destroy the lives of some kids like you in order to do it."

"An old friend of ours-?" Nida asked.

SLAM

The five Pokémon flinched at the sound of the door being thrown open, and watched with horror as a large, lumbering Pokémon with antennae and stubby wings entered with sharp claws digging into the wood of the door. The light through the window quickly revealed the figure entering the room to be a Dragonite with an Administrator's scarf, making Team Traveller and Salvini flush pale.

"I said I'd be back before returning to Vollezee," Darzin growled. "I didn't expect that I'd encounter a common First-Rank like you in the middle of active treason."

"A-Administrator Darzin?" the Grass-Type gulped. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take care of a few loose ends before setting off for the Capital," the Dragon-Type answered, shooting a steely glare at the five Pokémon before him.

"And I'll be taking that bird with me."


Author's Notes:

- Ti si lud! (Ти си луд!) - Bulgarian: "You're mad!" / "You're crazy!" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Sidon (サイドン) - Japanese: "Rhydon" (Official Romanization)
- Do svidaniya (До свидания) - Russian: "Goodbye" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Davvero? - Italian: "Really?"
- Chotto matte! (ちょっと待って!) - Japanese: "Wait a minute!" (Hepburn Romanization)
- Veche? (Вeчe) - Bulgarian: "Already?" (BGN/PCGN 2013 Romanization)
- Juptile (ジュプトル) - Japanese: "Grovyle" (Official Romanization)
- (¿)estás bien? - Spanish: "are you alright?"