Chapter 47: A Pirate's Life for Me

Things had not gone as smoothly as Ellsberg had hoped since his meeting with Elilan. Thanks to having to switch the Nektar Weide's sails with ones carrying decoy patterns and Ketu's sudden bout of stubborn hostility, the sloop was slow to leave port from Mengir. That delay in turn forced a grueling overnight run powered by a constant current from the escorts, the exertion and long hours grinding the crew down as the hours whiled by with the passing waves. When the sun dawned on the now white and blue-sailed ship, it was finally slipping into Otvaga's lagoon, the sight of the atoll's low-lying islets came as a relief to a yawning and increasingly restless crew. Among them was a familiar Mothim in a Second-Rank scarf, watching intently from a perch on the bow's railing as the ring of islands passed by.

"Slow us down and take us into a circuit!" Ellsberg buzzed. "We'll wait for the Captain here!"

At the Bug-Type's command, the crew hastily began pulling up the sails as the escorts whipped up a decelerating headwind. Before long, the Nektar Weide was left slowly drifting along, tracing the shore of Otvaga's islets in a laggard circuit. A frown crossed Ellsberg's face as he scanned the horizon for any sign of Lyn amongst the wild, overgrown islands of the atoll and their surrounding waters.

"Come on, Lyn…" Ellsberg growled. "Where are you?"

"Tch, don't get your wings in a twist, Elmer," Ketu scoffed from beside the front mast, looking up from an idle pick at his claws. "He'll show up on his own timing."

The Mothim shot a sour frown at the Weavile, unpleased with having to tolerate being called "Elmer" for the umpteenth time in front of the crew on his own ship since they'd left Mengir. The moth's frustrations were quickly distracted by the sound of churning water coming from behind him, followed immediately afterwards by startled shouts from the sea. The Bug-Type reflexively whirled around to sea, just in time to see a blue form with a horned helmet riding a cresting wave heading straight for him.

SPLOOSH!

Ellsberg tumbled onto the deck as the water washed over him, sending the Bug-Type flopping over in a sopping pile against the mast. The moth glanced up and saw Lyn before him shaking some excess water off his pelt; prompting Ketu to pace over and give a dismissive shrug of his shoulders.

"See what I mean?"

"You're late, Ellsberg."

"We- We had some troubles at the dock in Mengir," the stunned Mothim coughed. "Things went smoother with your contact, I hope?"

"It did," Lyn answered. "He informed me that the Guardian's making his way for Sormus Island along with a local guide."

"Huh?" Ellsberg asked. "Was there anything else-?"

The Bug-Type was cut off as the Commissioner thrust out one paw, motioning to silence him.

"That's not relevant right now, Ellsberg," Lyn scolded. "We don't have any time to waste, and I say we move on for Sormus immediately."

Some uneasy murmurs floated about the ship, surprised at Lyn's adamance to leave so soon after they had just arrived at Otvaga. There were surely supplies to be gathered, and some of the crew cast longing eyes at Otvaga's sandy beaches... only for a loud, belligerent roar to snap the lot back to attention.

"You heard me! Draw up the battle preparations and get this hulk moving!" the Samurott bellowed. "I wanted to be out and at Sormus yesterday!"

The crew jolted upright with a start before hastily breaking for tasks about the ship, letting the sails down and pulling the anchor up with uncharacteristic vigor in the wake of their superior's ill mood. One of the few Pokémon to not be swept up by the hurried business was Ketu, who gave a skeptical tilt of his head back at the Nektar Weide's new captain.

"Battle preparations?" the Weavile asked. "I understand the urge to light a fire under Elmer's butt here, but aren't you jumping the gun a bit, Captain?"

Ellsberg buzzed indignantly, shooting a burning glare at Ketu as he muttered under his breath about the nerve of that weasel to demean him so. The moth flitted up aggressively, only to be cut off with an impatient stomp and growl coming from Lyn's direction.

"We've had the Protector elude us three times already because we weren't prepared," Lyn spat. "I'm not letting that happen again if I can help it."

The Samurott paused before giving an irritated twitch of his whiskers at the lack of a response. Much to the Water-Type's annoyance, Ellsberg continued flitting in place and Ketu still whiled away his time leaning against the ship's railing. Lyn's face wrinkled with a deep scowl, muttering unimpressed gripes about the pair's lack of contributions to the Nektar Weide's departure.

"As for you two, stop standing around and go get this ship moving," he barked.

"Aye!" Ellsberg said, the Mothim's salute quickly followed up by an unenthusiastic huff from his Weavile colleague.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get to it."

The two watched as Lyn turned and left before parting ways, Ellsberg flitting off for the stern as his thoughts began to settle back down into his work aboard the ship. The Bug-Type flew over, and perched on the rigging of the rear mast to begin to inspect it…

"Yeah, Elmer! Make yourself useful like the rest of us!"

…only to tense up as he heard the sound of squawking laughter from behind. The Mothim whirled around angrily, just in time to see a snickering Fearow and Swanna flying off. From the corner of his eye, Ellsberg saw Ketu watching, a smug smirk creeping over his face.

"What can I say? It's a catchy name, Elmer."

The Mothim huffed angrily and for a moment entertained thoughts about knocking the miserable peons out of the air and into the sea with a timely Psychic. Rationalizing that a fight would surely not help Lyn's temper, the Bug-Type decided to leave the matter be and flew off grumbling. The sooner the Sea Guardian hurried up and fell into his tarsi, the sooner the days of being called 'Elmer' could end.


For a few harrowing minutes, Team Traveller ducked down alleyways and between stalls, trying in vain to shake off their Slurpuff pursuer. The group's lucky break finally came when the four came across a wall in an alleyway that they hopped across, Elty requiring a few tries more than the others to finally cross it. Winded, the team staggered to a small pile of crates in the alley where the four flopped down and paused to catch their breaths.

"Did- Did we lose that Slurpuff?" Pleo gasped.

"Yeah," Nida panted. "I think so."

The four eased up to their feet, still drawing labored and tired breaths. Guardia pulled her helmet tighter to her snout, giving an irked grunt about their current state of affairs.

"Ugh… well this is just great. We've gotten chased across that entire market and we didn't even get to stop by a single shop," the Cubone fumed. "How are we supposed to get a replacement bone for me now?"

"Jedną rzecz na raz!" Elty scolded. "Let's start by looking around here, maybe we'll find someplace to grab some supplies."

"Actually paying this time, I hope," Nida grumbled.

The Nidoran rounded the corner and came across a lane filled with shops that were half-shuttered, a few others similarly closing down as chatter of 'food' and 'lunch' floated through the air. As the four carried along, they watched as the street slowly emptied of customers, shifting for other lanes with more edible wares to peruse.

The lone exception, and the only place that seemed to carry anything passing as food was a long shop made of stone with a battered slate-tiled roof. The sliver-like structure opened out to the lane through a narrow dingy storefront riddled with slabs of ruddy matter on the counter and hanging from hooks on roof's rafters. There at the counter, a displeased-looking Purugly carried on with a heated, hissing exchange with the Doublade proprietor.

"Hey! You can't expect me to pay 200 Poké for this!" the Purugly cried. "As ucht déithe, it's not even properly dried yet!"

"What you see is what you get," the Doublade behind the counter shot back. "So are you going to take it or leave it?"

"... I'm going to a different shop," the cat spat.

The Purugly wrinkled her nose and turned, stomping away in a huff as Team Traveller watched.
They glanced over at the shop she had stormed away from, sizing up the contents of the storefront. There, mixed in with the pieces of meat were shells, colorful birds' feathers, and much to Guardia's delight, a few strong, hefty-looking bones.

"Ah! That shop has bones!" Guardia exclaimed, drawing some hesitant looks from her Nidoran and Lugia teammates as they sized up the uncouth proprietor.

"... I guess we could check it out a bit," Nida murmured.

Guardia darted ahead towards the scavver's shop, followed reluctantly by the rest of her team. The Doublade behind the counter scowled down at the young ones dismissively as they approached.

"Hm?" the Ghost-Type asked. "What do you kids want?"

"That leg-bone over there on the left would make a perfect club," Guardia said, pointing at a tapered bone near the edge of the counter. "What do you want for it?"

"That'll be 300 Poké," the Sword Pokémon replied.

Nida began to fish around in her pack for the money, only to be paused as she was assaulted by the rancid odor of decaying meat. Elty and Guardia seemed to smell it too, judging by how their noses wrinkled in disgust.

"Oi, aren't you scavvers supposed to try and hide your spoiled stuff?" Elty barked. "You'll scare off your customers with stuff like this!"

"Eh, I'm not worried about it," the Doublade shrugged. "This shop's gotten by just fine doing things my way all these years, and I don't see a need to change things up."

"Huh?" Pleo chirped. "What do you mea-?"

"Don't sweat it Pleo," Nida sighed. "Let's just pay and get out of here before I gag."

She dropped the coins on the counter and left, motioning for the rest of her team to follow as she prayed for some pleasant smell to overtake the stench that clung to her nostrils. The four ducked into an alley running along the windowless length of the shop, the vile smells of the scavver's putrid storefront fading away as fresh air came in, along with some lingering uncertainties.

"Was there something wrong with that shop we went to?" the little Protector asked. "It seemed… different."

"How on earth do you town 'mons get suckered into giving away money for that?" Guardia grumbled. "My colony wouldn't touch that stuff even if you gave it to them!"

"Beats me," Elty grunted. "Why, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought they dug their stock out from a garbage heap behind a real scavver's shop."

"Still, isn't it a little weird that a cajero would care so little about what he's selling?" Nida murmured. "Especially since that Purugly did say there were other shops in town like this…"

"You know, this isn't exactly what I had in mind when you said we'd get a job for the Torrent Tsars."

The four paused and looked around for the source of the voice. After seeing nothing but stony walls around them, Guardia chanced to notice a barred basement window up ahead, where the sound of grumbling could be heard. One by one, the members of Team Traveller crept over, where they saw a vaguely familiar-looking group consisting of a Zangoose, a Flareon, and a Banette seated around a crude table, playing a game of cards with flowery designs on them.

"You should be happy 'mons are hiring us at all after all the crews you've gotten us kicked from," the Flareon huffed.

"Well hey look at the bright side," the Banette offered. "At least our job is as simple as pushing around Pokémon like that yappy Sentret down there."

"Fair enough," the Zangoose admitted, giving a bemused sneer. "That little loudmouth wasn't talking so high and mighty after I gagged his mouth shut!"

Nida's eyes widened at the mention of a 'yappy Sentret.' One logical part of her brain told her it could be anyone, but the phrase brought to mind one Sentret in particular: one with a penchant for showing up time and time again in unexpected places. Her conscience simply wouldn't let her write this off - if it really was Scout, she'd never be able to live with having left him behind… probably. The Sentret could be annoying at times.

Her mind was made up when she noticed a nearby back-room, conspicuously unguarded and wide open with opportunity to rescue the pirates' captive.

"Let's go in," Nida whispered. "I think that Scout's in there."

"Whoa! You can't just sneak into there! There's guards inside!" Elty protested. "And you don't even know if that's him! It could be some random Sentret for all you know!"

"But it could also be Scout!" Pleo squawked. "Either way, we have to help whoever's down there!"

Guardia and Elty looked at each other uneasily, only for the matter to be decided for them by Nida marching on ahead. The other Pokémon of Team Traveller followed in, and discovered that strangely enough for what they heard of scavver's shops, the backroom was large, open, and dusty from disuse.

Perhaps the reason why the Doublade went out of his way to have such terrible goods was to keep Pokémon from wanting to hang around the shop in the first place. After all, judging from the room and its emptiness, it seemed as if its role as a scavver's shop was a complete afterthought! At the far left of the room, the team spotted a stairwell where the pirates' voices filtered up from.

One by one, the group followed Nida's lead and crept down the stairs. There at the bottom they saw the three brigands from earlier distracted with cards in a side room, along with an unguarded hallway lined with doorless rooms. Nida motioned for them to follow, prompting the youngsters to inch along the hall.

They passed one room, and then another, discovering spaces that were empty barring boxes and some scattered rope. All the while, the stale, musky scent of various Pokémon lingered in the air... were all these places used to keep captives?

The group came to the fourth room, where after poking their heads inside, Team Traveller came face-to-face with a bound and gagged Sentret, who true to Nida and Pleo's suspicions was none other than…

"Scout!"

"Mrrph!" the Sentret answered.

"Hang on," Nida whispered. "Let's get that gag off of you."

The Poison-Type moved her paw over the knotted cloth and tugged it down. As Scout started to spit up fabric fibers, Guardia gave a puzzled shake of her head at the Sentret.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"And for that matter, what did you do here?" Elty demanded. "If whoever grabbed you went through all the trouble of chaining you up instead of using rope, they must want you for something big."

"Yeah, so after we met in Otvaga, I wound up getting back onto the circuit to deliver Hariti's next letter," Scout explained. "And that involved hitching a ride with a Lapras out here in Rosequartz Town."

"Oh? But we didn't see any Pokémon that looked related to Hariti at this shop…" Pleo murmured.

"I know that. I got snatched by those swirl-scarfed hoodlums as soon as I hit the docks," the Sentret snapped. "They thought I was a courier for some rival crew of theirs, and nothing I said convinced those block-heads otherwise."

"Uhm… are you sure it was what you said and not how you said it?" Elty sighed.

"It doesn't matter!" Nida insisted. "Let's just get you out of here and get going."

The Nidoran hurriedly shook a quill loose from her back and grabbed it from the floor, only for Elty to cut her off by pushing an Iron Thorn in front of her.

"Look, we don't have all day, so no need to try out desperate solutions when we don't need to," the Growlithe said. "Use something that'll definitely push that pin down once you find it."

Nida blinked a moment, before taking the Iron Thorn and carefully working it into the crude padlock on the chains keeping Scout shackled to the floor. After a few tense moments of Nida blindly feeling around the lock, she finally felt the Iron Thorn brush up against the pin and started to push against it.

"Ah!" she cried. "Got it-!"

"Hey! What do you brats think you're doing?!"

She was interrupted by a voice calling from the doorway, a shiver running up her spine as she spotted its source: the Zangoose pirate she oversaw from the basement window, backed by his Flareon and Banette companions.

"Great save by the way, spike ball," Scout grumbled.

The four youngsters looked around as the pirates closed in on them, finding that the room had only been built with a single doorway, which the Zangoose and his buddies were currently blocking. After being backed into a crate, Elty looked up, and saw that they carried up to a basement window that had a visibly rotted bamboo bar. It was a squeeze and there was no guarantee the bar would give, but with every other exit to them blocked off, there was only one thing to do.

"Run!"

Elty bolted for the crates, hastily bounding up them and squeezing through the basement window. After briefly struggling with the rotted bar, the dog broke it with a crack and forced his body through the newly formed aperture. His teammates followed after, though before they could reach the top, they dove off with a yelp as a plume of fire swallowed up the crates, quickly reducing them to a collapsing pile of cinders and charred timbers.

"End of the road, punks," Scian growled.

"Yeah, maybe we'll keep you down here to keep your courier friend company!" Cerny added.

"Take this!"

The pirates' jeering was cut off by a sharp cry and the sight of a Cubone jumping at them with her club ready for a downward smash. Reflexively, Scian stepped forward and parried the Ground-Type's blow with one of his claws, knocking her back and sending her tumbling back along the floor.

"Agh!"

"Hah, take that you stupid liz- Oof!"

The Zangoose yelped after feeling a sharp kick to his gut, stumbling back from its Nidoran culprit after she swiftly followed it up with a second blow. As the Normal-Type steadied his footing, Nida's ears perked up at the sound of a ghostly screech, whirling her head just in time to see Cerny running at her with his claws trailed by a shadowy aura.

"Here, lemme give you something to remember me by, Nidoran!"

Nida's barbs fanned out in a panic at the sight of the Banette diving at her. The Poison-Type attempted to turn and bolt, only for her legs to go wobbly and unresponsive from petrified shock.

"A-Aah!"

"Stay sti-!"

A loud whoosh followed by a hard smack and a pained cry rang out. Nida looked up just in time to see Cerny sailing off headlong into a wall as Pleo skidded to a stop, trailing fiery blue light. The bird chirped surprisedly at the light and its sudden dissipation, only to be cut off by an aggressive yowl.

"Game over, you lousy gull!"

The Lugia whirled his head and went wide-eyed as he saw Scian lunge for him with his claws ready for a slash. The bird hastily hopped back, but too late to avoid a painful scrape from the Zangoose's sharp claws. The Cat Ferret Pokémon raised his other claw for a strike, only to see his foe turn and hastily bolt away.

"Hey, get ba- Agh!"

The Normal-Type ducked just in time for a plume of fire to pass by, prompting the creature to hastily roll on the ground to put out some stray embers that had singed his pelt. The cat shook his head, and glared furiously at the source of the fire, where a sheepish-looking Flareon stared back at him.

"Er… you kinda need to stay out of the way, Scian," the Fire-Type said.

"I need to stay out of the way?!" the Zangoose fumed. "Maybe you should learn how to aim, you-!"

"Oi you stupid clods, the room is on fire right now!"

At Scout's exclamation, both Team Traveller and their foes looked up to see that orange flames had spread over the boxes and clutter in the room. The pirates looked up and went wide-eyed as they saw that tendrils of flame had spread to the rafters and begun to char them black.

"Gah!" Scian yelped. "Quick! Grab the rodent and let's-"

Nida grabbed a Blast Seed from her bag and wasted no time lobbing it right into the roaring flames. A deafening explosion rocked the room, chased by a wave of heat from the combined power of the flames and the seed and the crash of rafters and dust falling into the room. As the pirates struggled to regain their bearings amid the cloud of disturbed dust and smoke, Nida saw her opportunity for an escape and motioned to her teammates to follow her out.

"Now!"

The three ran out the doorway, tearing through the now smoke-filled hallway and up the stairs coughing and gagging. The trio wheezed and panted for air at the steps, limping along for the door, just as the Doublade from the counter floated in from a door separating the backroom from the front.

"Hey!" the Ghost-Type shouted. "What are you-?!"

Guardia didn't wait for the Doublade to finish, instead slamming the door behind her and following the rest of the team forward. After putting a good distance between themselves and Scout's captors, they found an alleyway shaded by canvas awnings that looked to be a safe resting place. They gathered there, each Pokemon run ragged and gasping for breath as the smell of dust, smoke, and exertion swirled in the air around them.

"I- I think we lost them," Nida stammered.

"Wait…" Pleo said. "Did Scout get out? And where's Elty?"

Each member of the team looked around, as if expecting the two to simply have rejoined them while no one was looking. Indeed, the Sentret and Growlithe were nowhere to be found. Guardia hummed, one paw on her chin; she couldn't remember seeing where Scout had gotten to, but she did recall seeing Elty scamper out of the basement window in the chaos earlier.

"He must be off on his own right now," the Cubone murmured. "He managed to get out before that Booster torched those boxes we were climbing on."

"So, then all we have to do is meet up with him again, right?" Pleo answered.

The young Lugia waited expectantly for an answer from the pair, only for Guardia and Nida to remain silent and shift their glances away uncomfortably. Pleo began to pull his wings up against his body, the young Protector growing increasingly uneasy at his partners' lack of reassurance.

"… Right?"

"... Let's head back to the hostel. We can get the rest of our stuff and try to help Scout again before leaving the island tomorrow if things have settled down enough," Nida said, shaking her head. "If he didn't leave us after all this time over this bag, Elty will surely be back later tonight."

The Poison-Type sighed and led her teammates along to retrace their route back to the hostel. All the while a nagging sense of unease tugged at the three as one question kept coming back to mind over and over again:

Elty was adamant that he wanted to return back to his crew, but he wouldn't just leave them like this so suddenly…

Would he?


After a long day of searching for Team Traveller in the Crystal Mangroves, the Pokémon of the Khranitel Rod had finally returned to the clan's claimed grounds on Braveshoal's outskirts. The creatures were visibly tired and worn-down from the long search, with audibly dispirited grumbles from a day coming back empty-finned drifting along the currents in the water.

"Urgh… what a day," Dimitri groaned. "I feel like I'm about to faint."

"You're in no position to be complaining," an accompanying Kingdra scoffed. "It's your fault we had to spend the day searching to begin with!"

"Wha- My fault?! How is this my fault?!" the Kabutops spluttered. Kuda huffed and gave a glaring scowl at his counterpart, loosening his tongue to give a verbal lashing.

"If you had just listened to Ataman Viktor and stayed away from that blasted island's waters-"

"Enough!"

Dimitri and Kuda turned, seeing the form of a Dragalge glowering at them. After a tense silence, the Poison-Type moved on, swimming up to take his place above the seabed in the midst of a growing throng of Pokémon from the Khranitel Rod.

"Everyone listen up," he grunted. "I've got a lot to say and not a whole lot of time to say it."

The gathered sea Pokémon abruptly quieted at their Ataman's barked order, leaving the assembly punctuated only by the quiet churning of the sea and the sound of Viktor clearing his throat to continue speaking.

"Today, we found out that the Protector and his companions aren't in the Crystal Mangroves or any of the tunnels around it," the Dragalge began. "There's a few possibilities that could have happened, but all of them point to those kids having gone onto Orleigh."

The Ataman's words drew gasps and a torrent of loud concern from the gathered Pokémon. The god they had encountered was stranded all alone in a pirate haven? Just how much worse could this situation get?

"Naturally, this means that we're going to have to pay a visit to the place," the seahorse continued. "I will be talking through mission planning with some scouting teams, but I expect the rest of you to prepare for your parts in the matter."

A chorus of startled murmurs and wide-eyed stares followed the Dragalge's statement. Was Ataman Viktor seriously insinuating that they should try and attack Orleigh? Surely he of all Pokémon had to know that wouldn't end well.

"I know that this is a more dangerous mission than normal, and I don't ask this lightly of you as your Ataman," Viktor said. "But the future of the waters we swim in could hinge upon what happens out in Orleigh in the next day, and I expect all of us to stick together and fight to make sure that our future wins out."

The gathered Pokémon bobbed and traded hesitant looks with each other. When he put it that way, it was harder to disagree... but even so, it was hard to work up confidence when even by Viktor's admission the mission was a long shot.

"That is all," he concluded. "Get whatever you need together tonight, we swim in the morning."

A long pause hung in the water among the gathered creatures before one after the other, Pokémon from the crowd began to scatter and rummage through bags of netting or hiding places in the reef for supplies for their coming trial. Kuda too turned and began to swim off, only to pause when he felt movement in the water behind him and noticed Dimitri following him.

"Look, Kuda," the Kabutops began. "About earlier-"

"Enough," the Kingdra huffed. "I still don't like this, but I know when to table an argument."

The seahorse turned away and prepared to swim off, only to be stopped by Dimitri raising his voice once again.

"I'll have your back out there, Kuda," the Kabutops offered.

The Kingdra turned his head and after a brief pause, gave a nod of his head before continuing on. Content with his comrade's quiet rapprochement, the Kabutops parted ways to grab supplies of his own and prepare for what would surely be the most important mission of his life.


Back out at sea the search for Team Traveller continued, with Pokémon from the Vasilek prowling the sea and the nearby Subway tunnels in search for the Protector and his compatriots. On the deck, the Clawitzer captain had taken a break from searching, the sound of rummaging coming through an open cabin door before she exited carrying along a cup and a glass bottle sloshing with clear fluid.

"Ugh… I'm getting too old for this," she grunted.

Nagant poured the contents of the bottle out into the cup and took a swig. As the shrimp began to indulge herself in some much-desired refreshments, her first mate flitted by with a skeptical shake of his head.

"Uhm… Captain?" the Beedrill buzzed. "Isn't it a bit early to be drinking?"

"I've been looking through kelp forests and reefs for the last four hours, Jun," Nagant huffed. "A little vodka won't be the end of the world."

"No, but it might be the end of the crew's…" her first mate murmured under his breath. Much to Jun's chagrin, Nagant proved to have a stronger sense of hearing than he assumed, as his comments were quickly answered by an agitated wave of her claws.

"A little flexibility would do you good, Jun," she said as she sucked in a swig of the clear fluid. "Rules are made to be bent every now and then…"

"Captain! Captain!"

The pair turned and saw that Cyanea and Katyusha had swum back up against the side of the ship. They were back rather soon from the Crystal Mangroves, but whether that was a good or a bad omen remained to be seen.

"Does that also extend to those two?" Jun asked, drawing a grumbling roll of his captain's eyes.

"I'm not dignifying that with a response," she harrumphed, before training her attention on the duo in the water below.

"Back so soon?" Nagant asked. "What did you find out there?"

"Erm… about that…" Katyusha began. "Well, the Protector is kinda not in the dungeon."

"Katyusha! Give her the context!" Cyanea hissed before trying to reframe the Sharpedo's words to her superior. "We found that out after we ran into that Kabutops from earlier again!"

The Clawitzer dropped her cup, splashing the remains of her drink on the deck. The shrimp carefully balanced herself on her tail, and peered down at the pair with a stern and impatient gaze.

"And what exactly did you hear?" Nagant prodded.

"Well, he was there with some other Pokémon from his rod, and they were calling off the search for the Lugia," Cyanea explained. "They apparently figured out that he'd managed to get out of the dungeon."

"Ah!" Jun buzzed. "Then they must have made it to Rosequartz by now!"

"Yeah. When we chased them into the Crystal Mangroves, their guide had most of their stuff," Katyusha added. "A bunch of kids like them would run into trouble fast out in the wilderness without someone to hide behind, or at least some more supplies."

Nagant moved her little claw to her mouth deep in thought. Whether or not the Protector and his compatriots knew about Orleigh's nature, what she had heard of them hardly seemed to indicate that they were accustomed to roughing it in the wilds. In that case, all routes seemed to lead to Rosequartz Town…

And to the assumption that they would be encountered by many other Pokémon while there.

"… Then we should assume that we'll need to extract them," Nagant grunted. "And that the local pirates have figured out his true nature and started making moves to keep the Protector and his companions for themselves."

"An extraction?" Cyanea asked. "But there's other Pokémon actively hunting for that Protector! We'd have a day at most to get a feel for the town!"

"It would be a difficult operation for a small team, Captain," Jun murmured.

"I'm aware of that," the Clawitzer rebutted. "Which is why we're going to have to engage in some gunboat diplomacy."

Cyanea's eyes widened and her Sharpedo partner's jaw dropped. Even Jun was taken aback with a startled buzz as Katyusha stammered and tried to articulate a response.

"Captain Nugget, that's insane!" Katyusha exclaimed. "We're a single frigate and that's Orleigh!"

The captain reflexively glared at the sound of her name being butchered yet again. After a tense pause, she harrumphed and decided to let the matter slide... for now.

"I didn't say we were going to be doing it alone!" Nagant hissed. "We'll have to rely on some outside assistance."

"From whom?" her first mate pressed. "We'd never be able to get reinforcements from the Admiralty in a day, let alone the means to hire mercenaries for that sort of raid."

The Clawitzer turned to a map pinned on the wall in the cabin where her drink had come from, prompting her to hurry and pull it down to spread it on the deck before her audience. Her eyes darted over the illustrated paper, before settling on a patch of sea with the forms of jellyfish and sunken ships on it, the cartographer's representation of Spirit Trench. The Water-Type paused, before a devious look started to glimmer over her eyes.

"Don't be so sure about that, Jun."


Back on Orleigh, the form of an orange dog paced down the tight alleys and lanes of Rosequartz Town. Far from his teammates' worries, the Growlithe hurried along, tracing his way down the warren of alleyways for the half-finished Aggron head that marked the Iron Fleet's hideout. With the scaffolding poking out in the distance in between lanes, the Fire-Type began to wag his tail expectantly, newfound vigor coming into each and every step.

"Almost there," he said to himself. "Almost-"

"Well, well, well… What do we have here?"

Elty's fur bristled on end as he recognized the chittering voice from Kenobi. The dog turned to run, only for Valatos to dart out in front of him from above, the Yanmega's Marowak and Manectric teammates quickly closing in from behind with low snarls.

"Ack!" the Growlithe yelped. "What are you doing here?!"

"We could ask the same of you, mutt," Nori growled. "After everything that you and your dweeb friends have put us through, you've got some nerve to show your face around us!"

The Fire-Type began to backpedal and noticed that the three weren't wearing the Company scarves he was expecting. Instead, they were golden, with a silver, spiky teardrop shape on them… the scarves of the Iron Fleet!

"Why are you wearing those scarves?" Elty stammered. "You're supposed to be stuck in some dead-end job with the Company!"

"We had to make a sudden career change thanks to you," Alvise snarled. "And we never did get the chance to properly thank you for it."

Elty gulped at the mention of a "proper thanks" and pulled his ears and tail tight against his body. The dog desperately looked for a route to slip away, but every escape was blocked by the Yanmega and his companions pressing in ever tighter on him.

"I see you've realized what's going to happen, too," Valatos sneered. "We gaan veel plezier met je hebben, Growlithe. Lots and lots of fun-"

"Eltenios?! Is that you?!"

The four looked behind the Yanmega to see a surprised-looking Ledian and a flummoxed Hoppip in golden scarves. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the beetle shook his head before giving an annoyed glare at the Growlithe ringed by the new recruits.

"Ah! Kichiro!" Elty cried, the dog's yelp drawing an annoyed huff from the Ledian.

"It's Keiichiro," he snapped. "And where have you been?!"

Valatos flitted quietly, casting confused glances back and forth between Elty and his new teammate, who seemed… familiar with him?!

"Eh?!" the Yanmega spluttered. "Wait a minute, you know this fleabag?!"

"That's because we're from the same crew, geniuses!" Elty huffed.

Valatos and his companions looked at their cornered prey, and then back at their Ledian teammate. They could overpower the Bug-Type and his Hoppip comrade to get their revenge on the mutt… but if they got thrown out from a bottom-feeding crew like the Iron Fleet, just where would they go afterwards? The three furrowed their brows and glared back at Elty before backing off, deciding to relent for now.

"This isn't over, brat," Nori growled.

The trio sulkingly backed away, letting their captive walk free and towards an irked Ledian. Kichiro's companion, delighted to see a new face, was quick to offer cheery commentary.

"Wow!" the Hoppip exclaimed. "There's new recruits for our crew everywhere!"

"Shut up Wilhelm, nobody asked you," the Ledian buzzed annoyedly.

"… You had trouble filling spots again, didn't you?" Elty sighed.

"Oi, you didn't help by standing up the crew back at Andaku!" the Bug-Type fumed. "What on earth were you doing there?"

"… It's a long story," the Growlithe grunted. "I'll explain when we get back to the hideout."

Kichiro gave a skeptical glance before shrugging the matter off with both sets of shoulders and led his returned teammate ahead, Valatos and his friends following right after. The Ledian carried on down a side lane, leading Elty through the door into Hess' half-built base. The Aggron captain was there at the front, chattering with Rodion about a recent visit to the Council. Their chatter didn't continue for long, as the room went quiet and all eyes fell upon the Growlithe as soon as he stepped through the doorway.

"Eh?! You're back!" a Cherrim exclaimed, only to trail off blankly. "… Wait, what was your name again"

"'Eltenios', he's one of the ship-burners we lost on Tromba," a Litten whispered.

"... Wait a minute," Hess began. "How'd you manage to get all the way back here on your own?"

"Well…"

Elty quickly launched into his tale about what he had experienced since being stranded in Tromba. Of the first night being assigned to 'Community Service' and his time as Team Traveller's punching bag-turned-teammate that drew surprised murmuring after the culprit of the storm turned out to be none other than a fabled sea god.

From there, the Growlithe continued on with Lyn's arrival and how fate and perhaps divine interference roped him into a narrow escape to Boisocéan. He then moved on to telling them of their time at the treehut-laden isle before being forced to take flight to Kenobi, the turn of events serving to draw an irked buzz from Valatos as memories of the first time he crossed paths with that mutt and his friends were stirred up.

"Oh, so that's how you all already knew each other," Kichiro said.

"Well, frosty introduction aside, your story sounds exactly like why I signed up!" Wilhelm burbled, drawing a skeptical frown and muttering under the Ledian's breath.

"Someone never learned to be careful with what he wished for."

Elty's mention of his time in Kenobi drew some sour glares from Valatos and his friends. It was a special indignity to have to listen to that tubby mutt talk about how he and his runty friends had upended their gig on that island. Though since he was talking about it in the first place, it begged a question...

"Hrmph," the Yanmega hissed. "So where's your friends now then?"

"Eh, I had to split tracks with them earlier today," Elty said, waving a paw.

The room suddenly went deathly silent, as the gathered pirates stared at the Growlithe. A few surprised looks went around, others apprehensive. If Eltenios hadn't misspoken, then that meant...

"Wait, so you're telling me that that 'Lugia' thing from Tromba is here?" Hess asked. "How come you split up only now?"

"His spike ball friend is holding my bag hostage," Elty grumbled. "It's why I didn't ditch them earlier."

"Oh, you mean that thing that you got when you joined our crew?" the Aggron prodded.

"Yeah," the Growlithe sighed. "I still need to figure out how to get that back…"

"Oh, don't worry about that," the Steel-Type replied, giving a reassuring wave of his claws. "I'm sure we can work something out."

"Wait, really?" the dog asked.

"Of course!" the captain insisted. "This is the Iron Fleet, after all we look out for our own!"

"Uh…" a Noibat murmured. "But what about all the 'mons that we left behi-"

THWAM

The Flying-Type's chatter was swiftly replaced with a heavy blow and a yelp as Hess slammed the bat out of the air with a downward punch. The hapless creature plummeted to the ground with a loud thump, and sprawled out on the floor dazed and groaning. The Aggron cleared his throat and gave a wag of his tail, trying his hardest to sweep the Noibat's undue frankness back under the rug.

"So… what do you say?" Hess offered. "Needed a helping hand there?"

"I'll take it," Elty answered. "It'll let me hit the ground running joining up with the crew again."

"Enough about the bag already," a Pawniard snapped. "Keep going on with the story."

The Growlithe opened his mouth to continue, only to notice that the shadows from the window had grown long and the sky outside had turned a dim orange color. The Fire-Type paused for a moment, wondering if it was proper to leave Team Traveller to take care of themselves. Bag aside, this was a rough town…

Though then again, they'd handled themselves just fine back on Kenobi. And he knew from experience that the spike ball and bonehead could give some mean hits...

"Eh…" Elty whispered to himself. "One night won't hurt that much."

"We're waiting..."

"Aherm… right," the Growlithe said. "So as I was saying…"

He continued with his story, the rapt attention from his old peers serving to make him more and more at ease inside the half-built base. Elty carried on with his tale, covering mishap and misadventure as he told of the team's stint in Otvaga and their meeting with Nerea. As the sun began to set and the skies darkened, his concerns about Team Traveller's well-being similarly ebbed away.

Life had been a whirlwind since that fateful day in Tromba; but in that moment, everything seemed to melt away as the Fire-Type once again began to feel at home.


Back on Mengir, the day quickly whiled away under the glare of the withering sun. Crom and Pladur passed the hours fitting planks together and driving Iron Thorns in to fasten them in place. Kiran and Salvini spent their time flying and carrying up rafters and wooden shingles for the shrine's structures, where they slowly began to assemble them into something vaguely resembling roofing. Ander too was kept busy, spending his time hacking and sawing wood with his blades, if careful to avoid straying too close to the shrine or its shadow.

In spite of all this, the same gnawing sense that something was amiss with the shrine's site was never far away. While laying the foundation, Pladur chanced to notice the Apricorn fields in the distance, manned by Pokémon toiling away in between the rows of bushes. Even Salvini didn't seem to have much of a defense for the fields, brusquely dismissing it as how Administrator Zorn ran things and beyond her ability to question.

"Wait!"

"Huh?!" Pladur cried. "What's wrong?!"

But more pertinently to the five's efforts, they had discovered one of the beams holding up the shrine's unfinished roof was noticeably thicker at the top than at the bottom...

"We put in the support beam upside down!" Kiran exclaimed.

"But we already nailed it in," Ander said. "If we take it out, we're going to have to also take out everything that's been built on top of it."

The group looked at the beam, and blanched as the enormity of Ander's words began to sink in. They had already fallen behind just getting to where they were with the shrine. If they had to redo the entire roof, they'd have better odds of finding a Red Gyarados than finishing in time to collect their reward from Hertsog!

"Ugh… figures that the last thing that I wanted to do for this town would also be something I couldn't finish," Salvini mumbled.

"Huh?" Crom asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I'm getting reassigned after tomorrow night," the Grovyle explained. "There's no way we'd be able to finish this just between the five of us by then!"

"… I'm sure that we can work something out, Salvini-" Kiran began, only to be interrupted by an abrupt question.

"But why are you getting reassigned?"

An uneasy silence followed, as Crom quickly became aware that all eyes in the group had shifted to him after his outburst. The young Druddigon batted his wings uncomfortably, before deciding to try asking again less emphatically.

"Did something happen?" he questioned.

"… Nothing that you need to worry about," Salvini muttered.

"Eh? But why not?" Crom pressed. He looked at Salvini with an expectant gaze, only for her to rebuff him with a defensive cross of her arms.

"Why do you care so much about some stranger's problems?" she huffed. "It's rude to nose around in others' lives unasked, you know."

"Because you seem like a nice Pokémon and I want to know what's wrong…" Crom trailed off.

Why was Salvini being this evasive…? What could she have gotten involved with that would make her so unwilling to talk...? The thought crossed the young dragon's mind that the two had both received messages from a common stranger earlier that morning. So then...

"Did it have something to do with the Pokémon that wrote our letters?" the Druddigon asked. "He was a Skarmory, right?"

Salvini stomped her foot and reflexively fanned out her arm blades, making Crom jump back with a yelp. Wh-What was wrong? Why'd she get mad all of a sudden?

"I said it's nothing you need to worry about, Druddigon!" she fumed. "I've already gotten enough headaches thinking about birds to last a lifetime, so either lay off, or leave like that Skarmory and that overgrown Wingull!"

Crom and his companions went slack-jawed at the gecko's explanation. There was only one Pokémon that that 'overgrown Wingull' could be, prompting a torrent of exclamations to break the stunned silence.

"Wh-What?!" Kiran squawked.

"You saw Pleo and helped him get away?!" Crom exclaimed.

"Where did he go?!" Pladur cried. "He had to have told you something, right?"

The Grovyle froze, her yellow eyes widened and startled as she realized that she'd spoken too much. If these strangers felt like it, they had all they needed to dredge up the Company tribunal that had almost ended her, without the benefit of a superior to vouch for her innocence.

Then again, they too seemed to have something to hide. But after everything that had already happened, it was hard to think of anything to say that wouldn't potentially make things worse…

With one exception.

"I- I've already said too much as is," she muttered.

"Look," Ander began. "If you would be able to tell us-"

"No. I've already messed up my life enough by doing things without thinking them through," Salvini hissed. "I don't need to do it again with you!"

Salvini and the others stared down each other, each waiting for the other to yield. Much to Crom's dismay, the gecko's scowl remained as firm and entrenched as ever... Was there really no way to convince her to tell where Pleo went?

"Is- Is there really nothing you can tell us?" the Druddigon pleaded.

"I'm sorry. I've already paid a lot for what I did," she answered. "I can't risk letting that sacrifice be for nothing."

A tense silence hung in the air as Salvini and the Pokémon from the Siglo Swellow stared at each other, only for a sudden flare of light to sweep over their eyes. The group turned off towards the horizon, where they saw that the sun had begun to set, turning the sky a dull orange. It wouldn't be long before it slipped over the horizon and the visibility started dropping, a dangerous situation given how aggressive the local ferals had shown themselves to be just yesterday.

"It's getting dark," Ander murmured. "We'd probably do better to call it a day here and come back tomorrow."

"That's right. Those ferals will be back before long," Pladur gulped. "I don't think we'd be able to get much done having to constantly fight off ambushes."

"I mean... I don't know how much I'll get done," Salvini said. "But I won't give up on this shrine while I'm still here."

The five uneasily started to pack up the supplies and tools around the worksite, eager to beat the sunset. All the while, Crom still felt a nagging dissatisfaction with how things had gone, prompting the young Dragon-Type to sidle over to Salvini to try and appeal for her help one last time.

"Salvini, can you-" Crom stuttered. "Please... at least think about telling us where Pleo went later?"

"... I will," she hesitantly answered.

The group set off shambling down the path for Fensedge, weighed down by the exertions of a long day of work, along with a sense of looming dread. Every time Crom and his companions looked back in the direction of the shrine's hilltop, they saw the incomplete bones of their work. If they weren't able to finish tomorrow, they wouldn't be paid by Hertsog, and the Siglo Swellow would be stuck in port for at least another a few days, perhaps longer. But… with everything that was left to be done, how on earth could they overcome this obstacle?


Back on Orleigh, evening gave way to night, but even after the full moon reached its zenith in the sky, Elty still had not returned back to Rasp's hostel. The Growlithe's absence started to weigh on the remaining members of Team Traveller, prompting them to ask Rasp for help keeping an eye out for the dog around the market district, just in case he had not been as fortunate as they presumed.

The three ate dinner at the hostel's dining hall and retired to their room, the unease over Elty's absence compounded by the discovery that the team's coin purse was running low yet again. And so it was that the three opted to retire for the night under the glow of the full moon.

Uwaaah…

Or, at least, they had been trying to for several hours. Every time the group finally fell asleep, they were startled awake by the sound of mournful crying from outside. Pleo stirred drowsily in his straw bedding, looking over at his Nidoran teammate at the other side of the window.

"Nrgh… Again?" Pleo yawned. "I thought that the crying stopped earlier!"

"It did," Nida groaned. "But I don't know why it's back, or how Guardia can sleep through this. I haven't heard a peep from her tonight!"

The young Protector shifted tiredly against his bedding, trying in vain to sleep in spite of the crying. It had been a second night with the same voice crying off in the distance, the voice they hadn't gone to help last night…

Was it crying because it was alone? That would surely be a tough thing to bear alone in this town... Though... Elty was probably all alone himself. Was he also going through something like this?

"... Do you think that maybe someone else here has been going through a hard time too?" the little Lugia murmured.

"I don't know what that crying Pokémon is going through," Nida sighed back. "But we're the ones having a hard time thanks to it right now."

"Actually… I was talking about Elty."

Pleo looked around, his glances doing nothing to dispel the sense that the room felt noticeably emptier than the night before. Elty's bedding was still empty and unclaimed, and Guardia's spot from the dresser still sounded as silent as ever. The young Lugia pulled his head against his neck uncomfortably, giving an uneasy glance over to his Nidoran partner.

"Are we doing the right thing just trying to sleep, Nida?" Pleo insisted. "What if Elty's hurt? Or worse?"

"He's not that helpless, Pleo," Nida countered. "And as long as I've got his bag, he won't be going too far…"

"Are you sure about that, Nida?"

Nida thought and twitched her whiskers uneasily. On one level, Orleigh's alleyways weren't that safe given their run-in with the Marked pirates yesterday. On the other hand, if they went out to search for Elty, they'd be doing so knowing even less about their surroundings than he did... and with how they had entered town, would he even want them to find him?

"Yes. Let's just try and get some rest," she sighed. "We need you rested up if you're going to be able to fly us to Sormus tomorrow."

Nida settled back into her straw bedding, watching as Pleo preened a few feathers before he too settled down for rest. The Nidoran closed her eyes, only for the crying outside to stifle her attempts to drift off into slumber. After some turning this way and that way, the Poison-Type cracked her eyes open and looked up at the full moon in the sky.

Even in this safe harbor on this pirate-infested den, it seemed that proper sleep was ever elusive. Hopefully Pleo's wing would be better tomorrow, so that Orleigh and its unwelcome environment would soon be able to be left to slip into the realm of unwelcome memories.


Author's Notes:

- Jedną rzecz na raz! - Polish: "One thing at a time!"
- As ucht déithe - Irish: "For the gods' sake"
- cajero - Spanish (Southern Cone): "shopkeeper, cashier"
- Booster (ブースター) - Japanese: "Flareon" (Official Romanization)
- We gaan veel plezier met je hebben - Dutch: "We're going to have a lot of fun with you"