Chapter 64: Coming Up Short
An hour after Nagant's audience with Queen Aleria, the sun shone down on Tidemill's naval harbor as the hubbub of working dockhands and passing Wingull carried on the air, with much of the activity coming from around a freshly-drained drydock. Behind the site's icy flash locks, a large four-masted ship lined with metal plates on its hull and 'Lichtkanone' painted on the side had been rested on a set of wooden supports as Pokémon in the pit scampered around examining the hull for defects and barking out for supplies and repairs. On the ship's deck, the sound of dull thumps rang out as the Clawitzer bounded around with barely-constrained excitement followed behind by Jun, giving disbelieving stares at the ship's nooks and crannies.
"Four masts, cast-iron cladding from stern to bow…" she murmured to herself. "Jun, tell me I'm not dreaming here."
"You're not, Captain."
The Beedrill's answer was met by an enthusiastic squeal, the wizened old shrimp waving her claws happily before peering back up to her first mate.
"I've waited so long for this day!" Nagant burbled. "Oh, what's the first thing to do to break it in? Maybe I'll take her around the island! Or to Haipheh! Or-"
"Pffft! She's like a giant hatchling over this thing!"
Nagant stiffened up at the sound of Niilo's voice behind her, screwing her eyes shut out of embarrassment and cursing under her breath that she'd brought Niilo and his companions along from the throne room. The shrimp whirled around to see the Sandslash guffawing as Cabot and Berecien tried and failed to stifle laughs of their own. The Clawitzer stared mortified a moment, before the three Pokémon realized their supervisor was glaring at them, prompting them to quickly swallow their laughter after being put on the spot.
"Oh! Er…" Berecien stammered. "Uh… Captain Nagant! We were just wondering what our current assignments were!"
"I was… just about to pass these tee-yem vouchers onto you," the Water-Type insisted. "You'd best use them to hone your skills before we leave port. I won't accept failure again next time we encounter the Protector."
"Oh, thanks Captain!" Cabot cheered. "It's been a while since we last learned-"
"Honing your skills involves leaving this ship," Nagant huffed. "Immediately."
"Huh?! But I was just saying tha-!"
"Now, Cabot."
The Cranidos gulped and hastily grabbed the paper slips, before shuffling off with his companions for the gangplank and off the ship's deck. Nagant scowled after the three, watching as the lot slipped off for a set of stairs back up to the piers before she let out an annoyed sigh, leaving Jun to awkwardly clear his throat for attention.
"Is there anything else we still need to tend to, Captain?" the Beedrill asked.
"Well, the ship still needs its inspection," Nagant mulled. "And I believe we're about fifty heads short before we can leave port."
"Oh? That surely shouldn't be an issue," the Bug-Type replied. "Couldn't we just draw from the former crew of the Lichtkanone?"
The Clawitzer paused a moment at her first mate's question, before shaking her head back in reply.
"I have neither the time nor the patience to sift through the background of Coil's crew to filter the good eggs from bad," she harrumphed. "I need recruits that I can be confident dealing with."
Jun shifted uneasily, twitching his antennae as he gave a buzzing grimace back in reply.
"… I can understand your hesitation Captain, but… I don't think there's enough graduating cadets right now to even fill half of those slots, and I doubt there's too many Rescue Teams that would volunteer for a sudden mission to retrieve the Protector given the rumors swirling around right now," the wasp sighed. "If we're going to leave port anytime soon, it's inevitable that you'll need to accept at least some less-than-sterling recruits."
"Pah! So scrounge some taverns for sellclaws and raid one of the local jails or something!" Nagant insisted. "As long as I know what I'm getting, I can keep some malcontents in line just fine."
"That's… a fair enough point," Jun admitted. "Though what will you be doing during all of this?"
"I'll be trying to piece together what that blasted rabbit and her companions were up to before they fled with the Protector," Nagant chittered. "It's no coincidence that they conveniently stole Lugia away while Coil was being apprehended, and I want to know who helped those Trombans with their plot."
"Right. Then I suppose that I will-"
Woosh
"Huh?! What was-?!"
A loud wham suddenly rang out as the wood of the deck creaked and groaned, leaving Nagant to jolt upright with a start. The shrimp reflexively readied her large claw, when the Clawitzer heard a low growl from behind, turning to none other than Darzin in an ill-fitting indigo scarf with claw marks on its hem, and a fierce glare over his eyes.
"Captain Nagant?" the Dragon-Type demanded. "We need to have a talk…"
Nagant and Jun traded uneasy looks with each other, noting the sails were blocking the piers from view and that the Dragonite had failed to draw the attention of any potential onlookers on his way in. Nagant wavered a moment, before hopping up slowly, giving a small twitch of her barbels as she reluctantly spoke in reply.
"About what, Administrator Darzin?"
"About you keeping me in the dark about your mission!" the Dragonite fumed. "I spent the last few hours working my tail off to throw together a trap in case the Protector returned to Tromba, thanks to hearing that you'd captured the Protector a full four days ago and lost him again!"
Nagant hissed, bristling at Darzin's suggestion as she dug in and piped up to defend herself.
"I was following an evolving situation to the best of my ability!" the Clawitzer snapped. "Excuse me for not having the time to keep constant correspondence!"
"Sounds more like you're trying to shut me out!" Darzin yelled. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't expose you to the Board the moment I return to Vollezee!"
Jun fidgeted, flitting back and casting a wary glance up at the edges of the drydock above. After a moment's pause, he leaned back in, giving a sharp buzz to draw his superior's attention.
"Ah… Captain, your contact is getting fairly agitated," the Beedrill whispered. "We should try and tamp things down before someone overhears-"
The Bug-Type's insistence was silenced by the back of Nagant's small claw. After a moment of uneasy silence, Jun backed down, leaving the shrimp to continue on with a gruff harrumph.
"Because, as we agreed in our partnership, I have need of your aid, Administrator Darzin," the Clawitzer retorted, before moving her large claw about the surrounding ship.
"As you can see, I've been given powerful new tools to capture the Protector," she explained. "But I don't have a lead for where to use them. That's something you would be able to contribute."
Nagant's insistence was met by a fierce glare, leaving Darzin to stare at the Clawitzer wordlessly. After a moment's pause, the Dragonite shook his head with a snort, speaking up in a low, grumbing tone.
"Lyn's messenger said he'd tracked the Protector to Buyeom," the dragon answered. "I don't know whether or not that information is still accurate, but it's what was presented to the Board earlier today."
"Hrmph. I think that I can work with that."
"Glad to hear," Darzin growled. "I'll be taking my leave, and don't give me reason to think you're trying to operate outside of our agreement, Nagant."
"Hmph, really now! If you're so dissatisfied with our progress, you ought to stay and contribute!" Jun buzzed. "You even have the scarf!"
"Pah," the Dragonite spat. "Just stay out of my way-"
"You there!"
Nagant, Jun, and Darzin whirled as the sound of heavy footfalls hit the gangplank, prompting the three to freeze as a Avalugg in a twin-leaved scarf stormed up and jabbed a foot at Darzin's belly.
"This ship's closed off for cleaning!" the Avalugg snapped. "The only 'mons of your rank that are supposed to be here are cleaners to swab the deck!"
Behind the Ice-Type, a small train of Pokémon in single-leaved scarves began to file aboard. Darzin blanched, stammering blankly as he hastily tried to offer up an explanation back to the Avalugg.
"I- Er… Uh…"
"Arrived a little earlier than his peers, that's all," Jun finished. "Isn't that right?"
"Huh?! What are you-?!"
Nagant's face mandibles curled up into a smug smirk, the Clawitzer hopping along with Jun towards the gangplank before calling back towards the hapless Dragonite.
"Well, we have other matters to tend to," the shrimp insisted, barely stifling a snicker through her mandibles. "But good luck with the deck, sailor!"
Darzin glared and bared his fangs, only for a sharp jab at his stomach to prompt him to look down at the Avalugg, leaving him to begrudgingly grab a bucket and mop as he slipped out of view while Nagant and her first mate reached the gangplank.
"Was there anything you needed me to tend to while you were out, Captain?"
"Just get this ship readied and crewed," Nagant ordered. "I'll be back once I've found out more about what really happened with the Protector."
The Clawitzer set off, slipping down the wooden gangplank for the bottom of the drydock. Jun followed his superior's course as she made her way up the stairs for the piers, the Beedrill giving a small beat of his wings as he set off. All the while, a thought kept coming back over and over again to his mind…
What exactly could Nagant piece together about the Protector's abductors that they didn't already know?
After their encounter with Team Sentinel, Elty, Guardia, Kiran, and Ander drifted southwards down Magmapool Town's central hill in search of the square in front of the town's gate. Time and again, Kiran would pop up to sight the gate in the distance and wait for the others to catch up… only for them to turn down a dead end or wind up following an alley down the completely wrong direction. The process continued on past crowded shacks and shopfronts, with the latest attempt seeming to accomplish little other than going in a large loop much to Elty's frustration.
"Bah… we've been chasing our tail for over an hour now!" the Growlithe fumed. "How are we having this much trouble?!"
"I mean, I haven't had much luck spotting a path to the plaza with all those walls and buildings and Ander's not as strong as a flyer himself," Kiran sighed. "Perhaps we should've talked with Alcon to see if he could've tutored you how to fly…"
Guardia grumbled and rolled her eyes at her teammates' arguing. Whatever it was that fueled the fire in Elty's belly, it evidently generated more than its fair share of hot air. The bone lizard directed her attention to the nearby alleyways in search of a path to the square, only to notice Ander's steps behind her came faltering and erratically. Guardia paused and turned back to see Ander slinking from end to end of the lane, casting timid glances around at his surroundings. The Ground-Type raised a brow for a moment, before frowning, realizing that his demeanor must surely be from the prospect of encountering one of his 'demons'.
"Hrmph. Isn't it a bit much to be worried so much about the gods?" Guardia huffed. "If this 'Voice of Life' really wanted to smite you he could've easily done so already."
"B-But you don't understand!" Ander protested. "That's no 'Voice of Life' and you have no idea what that thing is or what it's capable of!"
"It's a Protector who watches over the world and other Pokémon. Besides, were there not humans traveling with him?" the Cubone retorted. "If the gods didn't care about this world or making it better, why would they want to bring them back?"
"Eh? But they looked just like-"
The Scyther's insistence was cut off by the tak of a bone striking the ground, followed by a forceful harrumph as Guardia shot an impatient scowl back up at the Bug-Type.
"Really, I think that you're the one who doesn't have an idea of what that Protector's like," the bone lizard insisted. "The last time we saw him he was just collecting some of your hut baubles, not hurting anyone."
Ander paused, turning his head away uneasily without a reply as Kiran and Elty began to backtrack for him and Guardia. The Scyther brooded, evidently at a loss of what else he could say, when he looked up and saw a few Pokémon pass them from a side street. There, off in the distance, Ander noticed the Pokémon were peeling off a curious crowd from among stands and shopfronts further ahead.
"Huh? There's so many Pokémon here," the mantis said to himself. "It's all as if they just came from-"
The Bug-Type abruptly trailed off as he noticed that the Pokémon had come from a square in the shadow of a gate… which appeared exactly like the plaza Team Sentinel described back at the guild. Ander hesitated a moment, only for his teammates to continue on for the square and the Scyther to grudgingly follow, where they saw Xerneas hopping off a makeshift platform, his companions waving off a few straggling Pokémon.
"Ah! Talk about a stroke of good luck!" Kiran chirped. "He even seems to be a bit less busy than normal!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Guardia chimed in. "Hayaku ikō yo! Let's have an audience with him!"
The Cubone and her companions hurried over for the podium where Xerneas and his teammates preoccupied themselves chattering about something to do with their 'take' from the crowd. The four continued engrossed in their conversation even as Kiran and the others neared, prompting the Swellow to give a chirp to draw their attention.
"Excuse me, would you happen to have a moment?"
Hm? It's a bit late," the Nuzleaf began. "But if you're here for another donation, we'd be happy to-"
The Grass-Type trailed off at the sight of a blotch-headed Scyther among the new arrivals, prompting him and his companions to sharply frown and their demeanors to take on an irritable tone.
"Oh, it's you again," the Nuzleaf grumbled. "Haven't you caused enough trouble already for us?"
"Er… well, we won't cause any trouble now!" Elty insisted. "We can let that be water under the bridge, right?"
"I'll be the judge of that, and I certainly don't need any Marked around me from what I've seen of them," Xerneas harrumphed.
"Perhaps you could reconsider if we told you why we came?" Guardia offered.
"Try me."
Kiran paused, craning his head to peer around his surroundings. After finding that the remaining Pokémon in the square appeared to out of earshot, the Swellow breathed in and stretched out a wing before whispering over to the deer and his companions.
"We actually know of a Protector who's been separated from his home himself," the Flying-Type said. "And we'd like to know if you'd be interested in joining forces with us."
Xerneas and his companions paused a moment, trading blank looks with each other, before bowling over and dissolving into peals of derisive laughter.
"Oh yeah. Sure you've got a Protector traveling with you!" the Riolu of the group jeered.
"But we do!" Guardia cried. "He's a white bird who's in need of tutoring in the ways of the gods!"
"And where is this Protector then?" his Eevee teammate demanded.
Kiran and the others grimaced, realizing that by splitting up the team, Pleo and the rest were off on their own in a different part of Magmapool and highly unlikely to make it here in time to persuade Xerneas. It was hard to believe that these four could be moved without seeing so much as a feather of their own Protector, but… perhaps they could be convinced to hear them out?
"Er… well we separated from him in order to look for you and cover more ground in town," Kiran murmured. "But he was one of the Pokémon who asked you a question at your last appearance! And we have a ship where we could arrange a meeting!"
"Listen, we're busy with our own journey," Xerneas harrumphed. "So if you're not going to help it, move along and stop wasting our time with stories about your pretend Protector!"
"But-" Guardia began, only to be cut off by an impatient stomp against the ground.
"Begone!"
The Cubone went wide-eyed at the sight of Xerneas lowering his antlers menacingly at her, prompting her to bolt back with a yelp and reflexively shelter behind a nearby leg. Guardia peered up and noticed the green chitin of Ander's exoskeleton, the Scyther standing transfixed in terrified shock at the glaring blue deer and his companions. Kiran and Elty grimaced, trading wary looks with each other before the Swellow hesitantly spoke up, sensing that for now, they'd plead their case as best as they could and there was nothing else they could do.
"… If you change your mind, our ship is at the third dock to the right of the harbor's lighthouse."
The four inched away, before hurrying out of the square briskly. As the lot made their way into into the surrounding streets, they slackened their pace, letting out a quartet of sighs.
"Well splitting into two groups sure turned out to be a great idea," Elty grumbled.
"At least we found them," Kiran insisted. "Two groups have 100% greater odds of success than one!"
The Swellow's reassurance failed to lift the mood, leaving his teammates in deflated silence. As he shifted his wings uncomfortably, Ander paused and noticed Guardia looking back blankly in the direction of the square.
"Is something the matter?" the Scyther asked. "You seem a bit adrift."
Guardia looked up uneasily, before shaking her head and casting her gaze downwards with disappointment visibly poking through the holes in her helmet.
"I… was just expecting something different from that Protector…"
Elty and Kiran shuffled quietly as a palpable cloud of disappointment settled over the group. The Growlithe of the lot folded his ears back, giving a mutter under his breath about the unfairness of their current predicament before turning back to his teammates.
"So what do we do now?" Elty asked.
"Go back to the ship and let everyone know what we found, I suppose," Kiran replied. "Even if we can't count on Xerneas to help us, we do have an ambush we need to warn them about."
"Right…" Ander murmured. "It would be a good place to start… And I… I suppose we could try again with Pleo tomorrow…"
The four carried on, trudging back for the ship in low spirits. All the while, the lot couldn't help but wonder if there was something that they could've done differently, and whether or not Pleo and his companions were feeling similarly disheartened by a search that was bound to have been even less fruitful…
After their encounter with Opdahl, Pleo and his friends continued going further into Magmapool Town towards the fringes. There, the town's shacks began to space out further and further, the group's outward drift occasionally interrupted by a stop to ask a local Pokémon for further directions. As the town's buildings thinned out, the four came to a fork in the road between an empty street to their left and a few shops to their right, leaving Pleo to turn his head uneasily between the two.
"Which way do we go now?" the Lugia asked.
"Well, if I remember those directions we got correctly, we can take either direction to get to the fringes, so it's really a matter of preference," Dimitri explained. "What do you all say? Do you kids prefer to go left or right?"
"I say we go to the left," Nida offered. "It looks like the most quiet route, and wouldn't a Protector logically want its resting place to be calmer and quieter?"
"But Nida, the right side looks nicer!" Crom exclaimed. "If all these paths go to the fringes, wouldn't we have time to stop and enjoy the scenery a bit?"
Pleo paused indecisively before turning back, hoping that either Nida or Crom would've been swayed, only to find them both staring off insistently in their chosen directions. From behind, Dimitri blinked wordlessly at the youngsters' impasse, before giving an exasperated shake of his head.
"… You two aren't making this any easier…" the Kabutops sighed.
"Hey, you!"
Team Traveller turned around and saw a Sneasel in a yellow scarf adorned with a black hexagonal outline waiting behind them, sizing the four up before the creature's gaze settled on Pleo with a curious state.
"You're Team Traveller, aren't ya?"
Pleo and his companions blinked at the sight of the Sneasel. They hadn't run into her in town earlier… or on any other island for that matter, so… why did she know about them?
"Yes? And you are?" Nida demanded.
"The name's Alice," the Sneasel offered. "I'm here to take you to the 'mon you've been looking for."
"Wait… you are?" Pleo asked.
"Yup. He's been expecting you and waiting at a cottage on the outskirts we've been renting a room at!" Alice replied. "Just follow me!"
The four paused, Crom casting a wary eye at the creature as her red ear feather bobbed with a passing breeze. Why, she was of the same sort of Pokemon as that horrid Weavile from the tournament! With all the luck they'd been having, who was to say that she wasn't in league with him somehow? Alice waited expectantly, before shifting awkwardly a moment and brushing at the back of her head.
"Look, we're no longer staying at the fringes anyway and you're not gonna find that Xerneas there either," the Sneasel insisted. "So are you going to follow me or not?"
Team Traveller blanched after realizing that the stranger knew of their search for Xerneas, only for Alice to turn on her heels and saunter. The four hesitated, trading uneasy looks with one another, before Dimitri broke the tense silence with a sigh.
"… I guess we should go after her," the Kabutops said.
"Yeah, come on," Crom suggested. "Let's see where she's heading off to."
The Druddigon and his teammates followed along, trailing after the jet-furred weasel down winding paths until they reached a simple wooden cottage with two floors at the end of a lane. The four watched as Alice pulled aside a sliding door at the house's front, before heading in and darting up a flight of stairs to knock at a door to the right in a hallway. The Sneasel tapped her foot impatiently for a moment, before the door opened up with a creak and she slipped inside. One after the other, Crom and his companions followed her in, coming to a dingy room where Alice settled beside a waiting a Gliscor and Talonflame.
"Is that them, Alice?" the Gliscor asked.
"Yup, that 'Team Traveller' Kline told us about," the Sneasel replied. "And here you and Calidus were doubting I could find 'em easily!"
"Well, you've certainly got the timing right," the Talonflame said. "Percy and I were about to go out and look for you!"
"Good thing Kline's still as omniscient as ever," the Gliscor murmured, before turning to Team Traveller. "Anyway, welcome to our room. I'm Pierce, though most of my friends tend to call me Percy, and I'm the leader of our team here."
Pleo blinked at the Gliscor's welcome, though noticed that there was neither hide nor hair to be seen of a fourth Pokémon. Then, where was this…
"Kline?"
"That would be me," a squeaky voice piped. "And you know it's not omniscience, Pierce."
Pleo, Nida, Crom, and Dimitri tilted their heads and squinted as they noticed movement towards the back of the room, where a strange green Pokémon hopped forward balanced on his tail. The creature bore a single eye, with a red, hexagonal marking on his belly, Team Traveller's eyes widening as they realized that this must've been none other than the Pokémon Opdahl encountered. The serpent narrowed his eye, peering up sternly at the young Lugia in front of him.
"I've simply been keeping an eye on Pleo," he said.
"Huh?! Hold on a minute!" Nida cried. "How do you know his name?"
"Or anything about us, for that matter," Dimitri demanded. "We've never seen a 'mon like you before."
"I wouldn't have expected you to," the green serpent scoffed. "My name is Kline, or if you're one to insist on formalities: Zygarde, the Keeper of Balance."
The four frowned, trading dubious looks with one another. This squeaky little serpent before them looked like a wingless Dunsparce! What did he mean by his insistence that he was…
"The Keeper of Balance?" Crom asked. "Like some sort of Protector?"
"I am a Protector, you impudent skink!" Kline snapped back.
Crom uneasily shifted back and put a claw to his mouth flusteredly at the Zygarde's response. Pleo stared in awe, his eyes lighting up before giving an excited beat of his wings. If this little snake was like him, then…
"Wait! But that's great!" the Lugia cried. "If you're a Protector, then you can help me with-"
"No."
Pleo raised a wing and opened his beak to continue, only for his words to abruptly die in his mouth. Team Traveller stood there a moment in stunned silence, trying to process their abrupt rejection, when Nida fanned her pins out, the Nidoran being filled with a sudden, indignant vigor.
"Eh?! What sort of response is that?!" Nida snapped. "If you're really a Protector, why wouldn't you want to help out another one?!"
"Because I have a mission of my own that I've been working towards," Kline retorted. "I don't know what Nerea sees in your friend, but based off what I've seen of him and the rest of you lot so far, I simply don't think he'd be able to help."
The Zygarde harrumphed and hardened his eye into an unimpressed scowl, leaving Team Traveller to stare back at the strange creature with stunned silence. Percy, sensing that his friend's explanation had been more than a little uncharitable, cleared his throat as he tried to rephrase things on behalf of him.
"I think what Kline was trying to say was… well," the Gliscor began. "He's worried you'd have trouble on the mission we've been trying to carry out."
"Huh? Why not? We've been doing great as a team, and I've even started figuring out how to use my powers!" Pleo insisted.
"How'd that work out for that Ribombee and Flygon innkeeper you met back in Orleigh?" Kline asked.
Nida and Pleo blanched, the pair's minds abruptly shifting back to their chaotic escape from Rosequartz Town… and of a wounded Rasp fleeing in fright while carrying his unconscious father. Pleo fell silent, lowering his head in a low mood as Kline shook his head with an unimpressed harrumph.
"Really, if it was just a matter of throwing aside a couple bugs on accident, perhaps I'd be less hesitant," the Zygarde scoffed. "But after the mess you left on Giotto, excuse me for being skeptical about joining forces."
"What? How could we have done anything wrong there?" Dimitri demanded. "We were being chased by a city of guards, a Company Commissioner, and a pirate crew!"
"You seem to be forgetting the part where you disgraced Admiral Coil on your way out and threw the city into turmoil," Kline huffed.
One by one, Team Traveller's faces broke out into excited smiles at Kline's response. Why, if Admiral Coil was disgraced, then that meant that Nico and Rita had won their case! They managed to prove against all odds that he was the Coordinator that had been plaguing Tidemill City!
… But, if they'd managed to take down an awful Pokémon like that, why was Kline treating this like something bad?
"Wait, but that's a good thing!" Crom insisted. "If the Empire's chasing after Pleo, why is it bad for us if they have a few problems?"
"Because, you've made both them and the Company more dangerous to challenge!" the serpent snapped.
"How… so?" Pleo asked.
"Well, a weakened Empire can't keep the Company in check as much as it would normally," Percy murmured. "It wouldn't be an issue if you'd moved in on the Company right away, but… you obviously didn't do that."
"Not that the four of you and a single ship would have great odds of pulling that off," Alice chimed in. "Why, if the Royal Navy's focused on trouble at home, that's basically an invitation for Company ships to poke around the Empire's waters as much as they want!"
"Yeah, and haven't you ever heard about a 'mon being most dangerous when it's cornered?" Calidus added. "With angry 'mons pounding at the Queen's gates, those Imperials will be willing to do anything and everything to try and get you back."
Team Traveller's expressions sank at the explanation. Here they'd been worrying about convincing Beatrix to take them to Pioppo, but now with the revelation that weakening one foe had just strengthened the other… what were they to do?!
"W-Well what about Xerneas? Maybe we can work with him to help fix this!" Crom insisted.
"That blue deer that's been prancing around the town begging for money? From what I've seen of him, you'd be better off going alone," Kline harrumphed. "I was sorely disappointed by what I found after following him into these waters."
"Seriously?" Nida demanded. "Just what sort of mission do you have where you can't work with any Protector on an island with two of them?"
"Getting a close friend of mine out of captivity from the Company," he spat. "I already took a big risk just coming here, and I can't exactly free my friend with a glorified beggar or someone who actively tilted the balance of power in their favor!"
Pleo, Nida, Crom, and Dimitri fell silent, the four shrinking back and casting guilty glances low towards the ground.
"I'm… sorry, I had no idea that you were going through something like that," Nida murmured.
"I suppose it can't be helped," the Zygarde sighed. "But that's why I can't afford to just pair up with anyone who comes to me, Protector or not."
"But… is that really all you're going to tell them, Kline? Just that you don't want to work with them?" Alice asked. "I mean, I went out of my way to find them, and they did come all the way out to see you."
"… I'd also like to pass on a warning to them," he said, prompting Pleo to raise his head uneasily.
"Huh?"
"Be careful when using your powers. There's more dangerous Pokémon out there beyond that Samurott pursuing you, and a few are on this very island," the Zygarde said. "If you are careless about bringing out your powers, you could very well deliver yourself into their claws."
Team Traveller fell silent at Kline's warning and wondered to themselves who could be lurking nearby that would be more of a danger to them than Lyn. Everyone else they'd fought in their journey seemed to not fit with Kline's warning for one reason or another. Nagant seemed about as strong as Lyn, but at least she felt like a Pokémon that could be reasoned with. And Hess… well, there were any number of reasons why it would be absurd for Kline to be referring to him, but…
If it wasn't one of those two lurking in wait for them, then who was it?
"I have nothing else to say. Just try not to cause any more problems during the rest of your journey," Kline finished. "Good luck with your travels home."
The four shifted uneasily before they shuffled out of the room one after the other, making their way back into the hallway and down the stairs for the cottage's exit. Nida and her teammates paced away from the building, continuing on a ways until it had slipped from their view, where Nida shook her head with a growl and forcefully thumped one of her hindlegs against the ground.
"Blugh, this was all a giant waste of time!" the Nidoran snapped. "What should we even do now?"
"I guess let's go back to the ship?" Crom suggested. "We should tell everyone about what happened, right?"
The Nidoran and Druddigon paused a moment, before carrying on with a sigh, leaving Dimitri to shake his head and follow, only to notice Pleo lagging behind, his head and wings drooped low and completely bereft of energy. The Kabutops paused, turning back uneasily to the seabird as he called off to him.
"Are you alright, Pleo?" Dimitri asked. "You're looking a bit down."
The Lugia craned his head up, his eyes distraught as his beak moved and his tongue lolled about trying and failing to sound out words.
"It's just…"
Pleo struggled a moment, before lowering his head back down and pulling his wings in, turning his glance aside.
"Nothing. It's nothing," he murmured. "I'm… fine, really."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah…"
Dimitri stood silent, knowing full well that Pleo's answer felt less than honest. Even so, it was evident that the bird was in no mood to try and give a full explanation, leaving the Kabutops to sigh and opt to humor him for now.
"Well, if you say so. Just try not to let what Kline said bother you too much?" the crab insisted. "I know you've been trying hard and never did anything wrong on purpose."
"I mean, I suppose, but… let's just go back for now."
Dimitri waited, letting Pleo trudge ahead of him before following from behind. The pair carried on in the shadow of their friends as they made their way back for the Siglo Swellow, the world feeling far larger and more intimidating than it had just that morning.
Back on the Nektar Weide, Ellsberg flitted above the deck, passing a freshly-completed letter onto a Gligar, who nodded before catching a gust of sea wind and taking off for the horizon. The Mothim fluttered back down towards the ground, watching contently as a groaning and tottering Ken and Hooke were drug off below deck for the brig by a Heracross and a Graveler. The lot carried on, passing by the gangplank just in time for Ketu to come up and turn his head incredulously as Ken and Hooke were marched away.
"… What exactly did I miss here?" the Weavile asked.
"Nothing of note," Ellsberg said. "Those two gave me some lip earlier, and I made sure they learned a lesson from it."
Ketu folded his arms over, narrowing his eyes back at the moth with a scoff.
"Oh, so you finally developed the backbone to stand up to a couple of idiots," the Dark-Type harrumphed. "What do you want, a medal?"
Ellsberg buzzed back in annoyance, his eyes hardening into a fierce glare as he beat his wings agitatedly.
"Well, what did you wind up doing then?!" the Mothim spat. "I don't see the Protector anywhere with you!"
"This is certainly smaller than what I was expecting…"
Ellsberg looked over to the gangplank where a Kommo-o walked up onto the deck, followed by a Sylveon and a Noivern. The Mothim flitted in place, scanning the three strangers in their red scarves and rescue badges, before shooting a puzzled frown over to Ketu.
"I presume these are your friends you mentioned earlier?" Ellsberg asked. "Are they actually going to do anything useful? Or just stand and loaf on my ship like you do?"
The Mothim tilted his head back in confusion, only for the sound of heavy footsteps from below deck to ring out as a sharp bellow carried through the air.
"Ellsberg!" Lyn barked. "How's that update coming alo-!"
The Samurott trailed off at the sight of Sorge and his companions, leaving the otter to blink out of surprise and the scowl on his face to ease as a warm smile began to spread over his muzzle.
"Sorge? What are you doing here?!" Lyn exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since the Director's 50th birthday!"
"Working a present assignment," the Kommo-o grunted back. "I heard the same could be said about you."
Ellsberg blinked and stared blankly at Team Sentinel. Lyn knew these Pokémon too? Did anyone bother debriefing him about anything anymore?! The moth spluttered to try and speak up, only to be cut off by Ketu walking up to the red-scarved party, turning to Lyn with a proud smile.
"I found them while taking some time off in town," the Weavile explained. "It was certainly a nice surprise to run into my old friends."
"We were in town following the lead of a strange Pokémon," Zelle said. "It's a blue deer who claims to be-"
"Xerneas, the Voice of Life," Lyn finished, drawing surprised stares back from Ketu and his friends.
"You… were also tracking him?" Aldrich asked.
"More like initially investigating. One of my scouts informed me of strange talk among the locals about an alleged 'Protector with humans', but I wasn't able to spot them myself and didn't want to go too far inland on a sudden mission," the Samurott explained. "Since you've seen this 'Xerneas' for yourself, perhaps we could take a moment to touch base about-"
The Water-Type was cut off by the sound of his first mate abruptly clearing his throat, prompting the otter to turn and frown at the Weavile. Sensing his captain's displeasure, Ketu brushed his head feathers back with a claw, before speaking up in a friendly, disarming tone.
"If I may, Captain, but if we all know about Xerneas, talking over details can wait a while," Ketu said. "I wanted to give Sorge and the others a tour around the ship. Elmer's brigantine here is a bit different from the Argent Aviso after all."
The Samurott blinked a moment, before casting a glance over at Team Sentinel who pawed at the ground before sheepishly speaking up.
"It's been a long day, Lyn," Sorge said. "Surely it couldn't hurt to unwind a bit before catching up with each other?"
"It would be nice to have a moment to stretch our wings," Aldrich added.
"Yeah, Ketu said that Elmer over there there would help make it go faster seeing as it's his ship," Zelle insisted. The Sylveon extended a ribbon out, pointing off at Ellsberg much to Lyn's puzzlement as he twitched his whiskers.
"Hm? I wouldn't have expected him to be so eager to do that himself," the Samurott mulled. "But I suppose there's no harm in waiting a little."
"We'll try to keep this quick then," Ketu nodded back. "Come on, Elmer."
Sorge and his companions set off, making their way down the deck with Ketu and Ellsberg following. The Weavile made his way past the door's frame and paced along, only to hear Ellsberg's wingbeats grow fainter and fainter. Ketu paused, turning back to see Ellsberg waiting near the entrance with a piercing glare.
"Hey! Hurry it up, fuzz brain!" Ketu snapped. "This is an important meeting here!"
"If it's such an important meeting, you can at least be bothered to get my name right," Ellsberg huffed. "And don't think I'm showing up to others if I have to put up with this insult!"
"What?"
"It's 'Ellsberg'," the Mothim growled. "Not 'Elmer', not 'fuzz brain', or whatever inane name is on the tip of your tongue. Ellsberg. Got it?"
A moment of silence followed the moth's barb, Ketu staring back silently before a small smile crept over the ends of his muzzle.
"Well that's certainly a different attitude," the Dark-Type teased. "How's that new spine of yours working out?"
Ellsberg glared and buzzed angrily at Ketu's reply, turning to leave in disgust only for the Weavile's voice to reach his ears from behind.
"But fine, I'll play along assuming you do your part and follow my orders," he continued. "I'm the one with the operational knowledge, and if we're going to actually swipe that bird, we don't have time to wait on you to reinvent the wheel. Capiche?"
"… Fine," Ellsberg sighed. "Let's just hurry up and rejoin your friends to figure out our plan of attack."
The pair carried on below deck, where the sun's rays faded and was replaced by the dim glow of lanternlight. Ketu carried along down the hallway, pausing when he heard a repeated tapping, pressing on to see that it was none other than Zelle stamping her foot impatiently in front of her teammates.
"Where have you two been?" the Sylveon demanded. "We were right ahead of you!"
"I just needed a moment to run some details by Ellsberg before we talked things through," Ketu explained. "That's all."
Team Sentinel blinked out of confusion at the Weavile's reply, realizing that the way Ketu addressed the Mothim had changed. Zelle gave a shake of her feelers, before prodding curiously at her Dark-Type companion.
"Wait, but wasn't his name Elmer?" the Sylveon asked. "That's how you introduced him."
"Nah, just misspoke a bit," Ketu insisted. "You know how it is with 'mons with long names."
Ellsberg grumbled under his breath about how his name was perfectly long enough, leaving Sorge and Zelle to trade puzzled looks with one another while an unimpressed frown settled over Aldrich's face. Ketu brushed the matter off, leading the group off down the hallway, where Ellsberg pulled the group aside into an empty room lit up by a lantern hung from the rafters. One after the other, Sorge and his companions entered and eased themselves, leaving the Kommo-o to rattle his scales and clear his throat to speak.
"Well, I can't say that I know you, but if Administrator Elilan trusts you, then I'm sure that we can work together quite nicely," the Dragon-Type said, thrusting out a claw. "I'm Sorge, and this is Zelle and Aldrich. You can say that we go a ways back with Ketu."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Ellsberg replied, shaking Sorge's claw before flitting back puzzledly. "Though, what exactly happened out there with you and that Lugia?"
"Before we ran into Ketu, we encountered him outside our guild as a member of an inexperienced-looking Rescue Team called 'Team Traveller'," Aldrich explained. "We noticed he was a strange Pokémon from the looks, but there was a Marked with him who seemed perfectly calm, so we figured it was probably just some sort of subspecies from elsewhere in the Cradle."
"A… Marked?" Ellsberg murmured. "That would certainly be a change from the team we've been tracking…"
"It's a Scyther that was at the tournament in Giotto," Ketu explained. "Seems like he was with the schooner that chased the Protector from Tromba and got him out of Tidemill."
"We don't really know the details of what's been going on between Lyn and Team Traveller, but we ran into about half their team in a panic later on saying they spotted him in town," Sorge added, prompting Ketu to give a grumbling shake of his head.
"Tch, of course a 'mon that always charges in swinging would be sloppy like that."
"At least his mistake worked out for us. If it wasn't for us running into them again, they'd probably have tried to cut and run from port by now," Zelle replied. "We simply explained that the conditions here in Magmapool are such that the only way Lyn could get at them would be through an ambush outside of town, and it calmed the lot right down."
"They were also searching around for that Xerneas beforehand, and they almost certainly kept at it after we parted ways," Aldrich said. "It's quite fortunate, really. Thanks to that, you've got the best opportunity you could hope for for grabbing that Lugia."
Ellsberg twitched his antennae, flitting up to the Noivern's face with a puzzled frown. How was one Protector looking for another supposed to help them at all?
"How on earth do you figure that?" Ellsberg demanded. "Wouldn't two Protectors be harder to deal with than one?"
"Because, that Xerneas is a phony. Last I checked from the lore I've read, Xerneas, and Protectors in general didn't have gray Deerling eyes," Ketu chimed in. "However, I wouldn't put it past a Ditto impersonating one."
"Huh? But how would a Ditto even find one to impersonate?" the Mothim asked.
"He wouldn't. No Protector on record that's ever awakened has grown as large as him yet, and I'm sure if we got a chance to look closer, we'd probably notice more things wrong with that 'Protector' prancing around," Sorge answered. "If anything, he and his buddies probably tried to cobble together that disguise from a bunch of drawings and the like and fill in the rest with other Pokémon they saw, hence the eyes."
"It would certainly explain a lot about his actions as well," Zelle added. "Since when would a Protector ever be so obsessive about collecting money from random peasants?"
"So, all we need to do is twist those con artists' arms a bit," Ketu smirked. "They keep up their act long enough to lure that Lugia to us, and then we pounce."
Ellsberg fluttered with a pondering silence, before giving a muttering nod of his head. He certainly hadn't expected much from Ketu's friends on such short notice, but even he had to concede that this idea might be onto something.
"That's… actually not half bad," the Mothim admitted. "But you're missing one thing. How do we get to 'Xerneas' and his friends without drawing attention from the townsfolk?"
"Leave that to me. I'll find out where their resting place is by listening in on them. All you have to do for now is wait until tonight when the town is less active," Aldrich insisted, as a malevolent grin came over his face.
"After all, those townsfolk have to be awake to come to anyone's aid."
"Hm, that does seem like a fairly solid plan…" Ellsberg mulled.
"Good. In that case we should go see Lyn now," Sorge said. "I want to know what he found out about this fake Xerneas and see what we can do to keep him out of the loop."
The Kommo-o and his companions took his leave, shuffling along for the hall as Ketu and Ellsberg stayed behind in the dim chamber. As the three's footsteps fell away, the room returned to silence barring the occasional creak of the ship and churn of waves outside, leaving Ketu to cross his arms and shoot an insistent look over at his Mothim partner.
"Now do you see why I said we had better odds on this island?" he said.
"I admit it sounds better than going along with Lyn's course of action here…" Ellsberg murmured. "But there's one thing I still don't understand."
Ketu tilted his head, giving Ellsberg a puzzled, yet curious look before the Mothim continued.
"Why are you doing this anyway? Simply sticking close to Lyn as he gets promoted would make it much easier for you to become a Third-Rank than doing all of this," the Bug-Type said. "He never seemed to mistreat you or take you for granted. What did Administrator Elilan promise you that you'd pass all that up? A seat on the Board?"
The Weavile frowned back at the moth's question, giving an irritable shake of his head as his eyes hardened into a sharp glare.
"Really? That's who you think I am?" Ketu scoffed. "Some cliché rank-chaser who only cares about getting promoted?"
The Dark-Type gave a disgusted scoff before making his way for the door. Ketu pushed it open only to pause a moment before turning over his shoulder with a pointed scowl.
"But to answer your question, no. I wouldn't be interested in becoming an Administrator even if they asked," he retorted. "I'm fine topping out as a Commander. Having to deal with a whole island is more of a headache than I'd care to put up with."
"Then why are you doing this?"
Ketu and Ellsberg stared at each other silently, the Mothim waiting insistently for an answer only for the Weavile to remain stone-faced. Ellsberg fidgeted impatiently, preparing to speak when a small smirk crept over Ketu's face as followed by a singular reply.
"… Wouldn't you like to know?" the Weavile answered.
The Dark-Type slunk off, leaving Ellsberg alone in the room to huff annoyedly. Why the furball couldn't be bothered to answer such an honest question, he'd never know. But that was hardly his problem, and after their mission was complete, it would be unlikely they'd ever cross paths with each other again. Brushing the matter aside, Ellsberg set off, opting to prepare for the mission ahead of him tonight. No matter what Ketu's real motivations were, that was his promotion on the line, and it was nigh time to seize it.
As the sun carried on its westerly course over Tidemill's skies, the wreckage in the harbor of the Visitors' District cleared away little by little until a passage reopened through its gates. One by one, the entrance grew thick with ships and groups of swimmers queueing up for departing inspections at the wall, forming a snaking line in the water that included a golden-sailed caravel where a Ledian and a Floatzel watched as their ship bobbed slowly along, the beetle giving a disgusted hiss and click of his mandibles.
"Ugh, can those Imps take any longer checking these ships?" Kichiro grumbled. "It's like they're all doing this for the first time!"
Rodion shook his head, giving a bemused chuckle in response as he prodded at the Bug-Type's shoulder with a teasing jab.
"Sounds like you've been taking after Hess a bit while we've been waiting in port," the Floatzel snarked.
"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?!" Kichiro buzzed back. "I'm nothing like-!"
WHUMP!
Kichiro flitted up and Rodion latched onto the railing as they felt the ship's deck lurch underfoot. The pair turned to their right, where further down, Hess was stomping the deck impatiently, leaning out over the railing and cupping a claw with a loud bellow.
"Hurry it up, you lousy peons!" Hess roared. "Some of us have places to get to!"
The Ledian stared wordlessly at the Aggron's fuming, before looking up and seeing the Floatzel first mate looking down at him with a smarmy, knowing smile that prompted him to shake his wings uncomfortably.
"… That doesn't count," the Bug-Type huffed. "Purely coincidence."
Hess snorted and stepped away from the railing with a low grumble, lumbering along the deck before he looked up and noted Rodion and Kichiro before him, prompting him to tilt his head in surprise.
"Huh? You two are still here?" the Aggron asked. "I thought there was work to be done taking us out of port."
"Well, there's only so much that can be done while we're inching forward like this…" Rodion sighed.
The Floatzel motioned around the deck, where from a passing glance, Valatos, Alvise, and Nori could be seen gathered around a crate playing a game of cards, with little sign of any actual work being done on the deck. A quick glance at the rigging and surrounding waters revealed the escorts to be little better: a Noibat and a Chingling perched among the netting poking up at the clouds above, with a few of the crew's swimmers in the water busying themselves with a splash fight, leaving Kichiro to shake his head with an irritated mutter.
"Blugh… we're never leaving this island, are we?" the Ledian grumbled.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Hess retorted. "As long as I've got my lucky charm, this ship's bound to make it back home in one piece!"
Kichiro shot a sour frown at the Aggron, who rolled his eyes before walking off to fish through a chest under the shade and fetch a clay flask. The Ledian watched as Hess stood up and took a swig from the flask before plodding back, leaving the Bug-type to turn to Rodion with an unamused stare.
"Am I supposed to seriously be soothed by that lousy rock around his neck?" he muttered.
"Eh, whatever helps him keep his confidence," Rodion answered. "Keeping morale up in battle counts for more than you think."
"Next!"
The sound of a Slaking's cry made Hess sputter and spit up his current mouthful of rum, prompting him to turn and note that the line ahead had emptied out and other ships were beginning to pass them. The Aggron hastily called out to his underlings, snapping the escorts back to attention as they pushed the Mistral Marauder ahead to the front of the line in a hurry, while faint curses and growls rang out from the freshly-delayed crews behind them. The caravel eased its pace, slowing as it approached a small wooden platform built along the harbor's wall, where a Venomoth kept watch and a Slaking lazily leafed through a clipboard with a crude checklist attached.
"Do you have any cargo to declare?" the Slaking asked.
"Nothing that we didn't already submit while in line," Rodion replied.
"Any 'mons that have come down with an illness?"
"You're supposed to ask that when we pull into port!" Kichiro snapped. "And do we look sick right now?"
"Well you lot certainly smell the part…" the Slaking muttered to himself, before tapping his checklist idly. "And… any tea by chance? Me and the other guards have been getting a bit thirsty up here."
A loud thump filled the air as Hess stomped the deck, glaring up at the Slaking above over the sloth's sudden craving for tea.
"Look bub, we've been waiting in line for two hours!" the Aggron growled. "We're not getting turned around because you decided that you were thirsty!"
"Come on, Bruno. Just hurry up and get this over with," the Venomoth on the platform groaned. "Would you really want tea from that nasty-looking caravel? Why if I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a pirate ship!"
A collective grimace settled over the crew at the Venomoth's words, Hess and his underlings watching breathlessly as the Slaking looked at the ship sternly. After a pause for what felt like an eternity, the Normal-Type turned back to his checklist, before summarily marking a few points on the top paper and turning his attention back down to the Aggron captain.
"Well, I don't see anything out of the ordinary," the Slaking said. "You're all free to go."
The crew of the Mistral Marauder breathed a collective sigh of relief, at once hurrying to their stations to help ease the ship through the passage past the walls. From his place, Kichiro flitted over to the ship's railing, when the sound of churning water and loud complaining carried along the air.
"And I was saying that if we'd been waiting to ambush them in the harbor instead of chasing them through the canals, the Protector wouldn't have slipped away from Captain Nugget," a Tentacruel's burbling voice scoffed.
"Snova? Seriously, give it a rest Cyanea!" a Sharpedo's voice shot back. "It's not as if we'd get another chance to redo everything to prove your point!"
The Ledian froze, realizing that the voices sounded like ones he had heard back during the chase through the canals… and not for a good reason either.
"… Wasn't 'Captain Nugget' that Clawitzer we ran into?" the beetle gulped.
Hess, Rodion, and Kichiro peered over the railing where they caught sight of none other than Cyanea and Katyusha swimming by. The Tentacruel and Sharpedo carried on, before noticing the three and the golden sails above them, prompting them to stop dead in the water and point ahead with slackened, incredulous jaws.
"You! You're those pirates who were chasing around the Protector earlier!" Cyanea cried.
"W-We were just leaving!" Hess stammered. "Thank you Officer, we'll move along now-!"
"Oh no you don't, pirate scum! You should've learned from your run-in with us on your cesspit island and stayed there!" Katyusha snarled. "Surrender and turn yourselves in here and now if you know what's good for you!"
From the platform, the Slaking and Venomoth's mood had taken a turn for the worse, the moth calling out and drawing the forms of other indigo-scarved Pokémon hurrying up along the wall while swimmers closed in from every direction behind him. Realizing that he was between a rock and a hard place, Hess hemmed and hawed a response back to the glaring guards.
"Uhm… yeah, about that surrender… er…" the Aggron began. "I've put some thought into it and I think the only logical thing to do is-"
The pirate captain swung his arms up, calling up large stones from the bottom of the harbor that churned the water and sailed up into the air where they struck the base of the wooden platform with a loud crash. The Venomoth and Slaking pitched into the water with a pair of screams as a cloud of dust from a fresh crater in the wall settled, Hess hastily whirling to his wide-eyed underlings with an impatient stamp of his foot.
"Go go go!"
The escorts in the sea and air hastily whipped up a current that shoved the Mistral Marauder along, as beams and projectiles sailed through the air. Ducking a passing glob of toxic sludge, Rodion scampered along the deck for the stern, shouting out to the deckhands below from the railing's edge.
"All hands, keep suppressive fire on the water behind the stern!" the Floatzel ordered. "We've only got one shot at this!"
The caravel lurched ahead as the air thickened with attacks zipping to and from the deck, as pained yelps and shrieks rang out from unfortunate Pokémon caught in the crossfire, such as Wilhelm who was struck by an untimely Flamethrower and sent pitching unconscious to the deck. Seeing her foes were beginning to slip away, Cyanea slapped the water irritably, before barking out to the guards following along behind her.
"Focus your fire on their rudder!" the Tentacruel cried. "Let's see how well those pirate scum hold up when they can't steer!"
The hail of incoming attacks onto the Mistral Marauder's deck thinned, though any relief was short-lived as the sound of splintering wood rang out, prompting Hess to look over and see that a set of holes had been punched in the stern just above the waterline, the rudder having barely been spared by a Seadra's desperate Protect. The Aggron blanched at the sight of Cyanea, Katyusha, and their peers readying themselves for another salvo, prompting Rodion to desperately shout to the escorts to hurry the vessel along. When the shadow of a Magmar and a Skuntank at the top of the wall fell onto Hess, he quickly looked up and saw them pushing up a cauldron. The Magmar of the pair breathed fire on the vat, setting its contents ablaze when the Steel-Type realized to his horror that it was a batch of seafire, the Magmar and the Skuntank reaching for the cauldron's base when a Simisear ran in waving frantically.
"Agh! What are you doing?!" the monkey cried.
"Burning that pirate ship of course!" the Magmar shot back.
"We just spent over a day cleaning out the harbor from last time!" the Simisear snapped. "Don't dump that here! Get some bellows instead for when they pass the walls!"
"There's no time!" the Skuntank insisted. "They're getting away!"
The Magmar and the Skuntank pitched the cauldron's contents over the ledge of the wall, sending it spilling out below… directly behind the Mistral Marauder. The pursuing swimmers craned their heads up, some lurching back while others dove under the water's surface in a yelping panic just as the burning glop hit the water and spread over the surface, kicking up thick plumes of smoke as the sound of irritated voices carried on through the haze.
"Gah! Give us some warning, you almost burnt me there!" Katyusha complained.
"I can't see anything in this smoke!" Cyanea cried. "Did they get the ship?!"
The Mistral Marauder moved along, clearing the walls and hitting the deepening blue of the open sea. The crew looked back, seeing smoke trailing up from the harbor gate as Pokémon all about the ship flopped to the deck breathing sighs of relief, leaving Hess to fish a round silvery, marbled stone from under his scarf and give it a relieved rub between his claws before turning to Kichiro and Rodion.
"See? Nothing to worry about," Hess proclaimed. "We're all good!"
Kichiro stared wordlessly, before burying his face into one of his fists. From beside him, Rodion sighed and shook his head, opting to brush the matter aside and focus more on the next portion of their voyage that laid ahead of them.
"Where do we go now, Captain?" the Floatzel first mate pressed. "If we're going to find that bird again, we'd need to get an idea of where those hicks were going to, since it's too late to chase after them on their course."
"Well, we've got plenty of time to take it easy and try and put things together now," Hess answered. "What place did Eltenios say they were heading to again…?"
"Ack! There's three ships closing in on us from hard to port!" a Staravia from the crow's nest cried. The Aggron captain quickly raised a scope noticed that sure enough, a trio of ships were now swiftly closing in, with cannons being moved to their bows in preparation to fire after them. The Steel-Type grimaced, realizing that with the way those Tromban hicks had trashed the harbor on their way out of Tidemill, of course the Imps wouldn't just let someone use the same trick twice!
"Agh! We'll worry about that later!" Hess yelped. "Get this ship moving already, Rodion!"
"But where are we supposed to-?"
"Anywhere but here! Just lose those ships!"
Rodion hastily ran up to the tiller, leaning hard to the left against it and turning the Mistral Marauder sharply to the right. The pirate caravel carried on, zig-zagging to and fro over the horizon as the deep boom of cannonfire and errant attacks rang out following behind it all the while.
At the Guards' Headquarters in Tidemill City, the air was thick with tension that day. Guards milled in and out, some chattering in hushed tones about how long the city's relative calm from the riots' ebbing into scattered and more peaceable protests would last, others heading back out in larger groups than normal, and a few others coming back with damaged sets of cloth armor or limping into the infirmary with wounds from the earlier disturbances. At a bulletin board hung up in the central hall, a quiet lull lingered as a Fletchinder and a Misdreavus watched as a Pikachu put up a set of missing person posters bearing the images of a Nidoran, a Growlithe, and a Cubone.
"Are you sure we're not jumping the gun here, Cardino?" Nico asked. "It's only been a day and a half."
"I'm sure that something happened. They told me to my face they'd be at that courtroom, and then after everything blew up there's not a trace of them!" Cardino insisted. "If that's not a sign of something wrong, I don't know what is, pal."
"Well, we did our part earlier hanging up those posters around the city," Rita said. "Let's just hope that the other guards here actually take some time to check up on these posters-"
"You there!"
The three's ears pricked up at the sound of chitinous thud, prompting them to turn and see the form of a Clawitzer hopping along blowing past a Glalie and a violet Persian in indigo garb who hastily ducked out of the way. The shrimp carried along, coming to a stop in front of Cardino and his companions, when she pointed her larger claw accusingly with a harsh glare.
"Your supervisor told me that you're the one who has been putting up these posters of these missing children, Pikachu," Nagant demanded. "Who are you and how do you know those Pokémon?"
"Er… well, I'm Detective Cardino and up until a day and a half ago, those three were my assistants that I'd contracted for investigating a case related to some captured pirates," the Pikachu explained.
"What case was that?"
"Well…"
Cardino cleared his throat, recounting how he'd recruited Team Traveller to help with his case involving an accusation of egg theft being leveled against the aforementioned pirates. During the twists and turns of the investigation, the youngsters had helped Nico and Rita clear their clients of the charge, while uncovering Sibich's dealings with Admiral Coil just before they parted ways at the stadium when Coil was summoned to testify…
"And that's everything that happened before they vanished."
"Well that's a cute story, but it's wrong," Nagant harrumphed. "Those same Pokémon you left at the stadium were the ones that stole the Protector and sailed off with him!"
The Clawitzer's charge made the three Pokémon jump up with a start. Had- Had they misheard the shrimp?
"E-Eh?! You're kidding!" Nico cried.
"How can that be possible?!" Rita exclaimed.
"Yeah pal, they were literally helping to get to the bottom of a major case!" Cardino piped.
"Maybe so, but they did that in order to further their own ends, and you abetted it," Nagant fumed, giving an impatient click of her claws.
"So now, I have to track them down, and part of that is trying to find any possible leads at all to those children and where they might be."
The three shuffled uneasily at the Clawitzer's reply, none eager to put the youngsters in potential trouble when the official explanation sounded as far fetched as it did. The sound of shifting chitin pricked the three's ears as they saw the shrimp holding out her large claw, leveling it at them impatiently with a demanding glare, prompting Rita to grimace before hesitantly offering up an answer.
"Er… well those pirates we represented did seem to find them familiar…" the Misdreavus said, casting her gaze off further down the hall as she left Nagant to narrow her eyes with a testy hiss.
"And where are they now?" Nagant pressed.
"Ow! Hey watch it!"
The lot turned and looked further down the hallway where they saw the forms of a Scraggy, a Combusken, and a Grotle being shoved along roughly by a Swalot and a Bastiodon, the three shooting dirty glares back as they plodded forward.
"I presume those would be them?" Nagant asked, prompting Cardino to paw at the back of his head uneasily.
"Er… well, yes."
"Would it kill you to be patient?!" Eric snapped. "We can walk just fine without you pushing us!"
"Yeah! I thought we were supposed to get better treatment since we got cleared of that egg-nabbing charge!" Hanuna whined.
"Shut it, you lousy sea vermin!" the Swalot snarled. "Or I'll-"
"Change your course and transport them to the Lichtkanone at the naval drydocks at once," Nagant ordered. The guards paused, staring incredulously as Eric and his companions blinked blankly, before Sela tilted her head with a scoff.
"… Who is this joker supposed to be?" she demanded.
Nagant glared back, before shooting a pressurized pulse of water at the Combusken's stomach, sending her pitching back with a pained squawk. Cardino and his companions jumped back as the wet hen spluttered and gagged on the ground, Eric and Hanuna backpedaling with a blanch and audibly nervous stuttering.
"B-But we were supposed to get sentenced to cleaning up trash or something like that!" Hanuna stammered.
"Not anymore you're not! Effective immediately, you are impressed into Her Majesty's navy," Nagant harrumphed. "Before your capture, you encountered a Nidoran, a Growlithe, and a Cubone that I found consorting with a Protector!"
"W-Wait, what's that got anything to do with us?" the Grotle asked.
"Because it means you also encountered the Protector with them!" the Clawitzer snapped. "And you're going to help me find it!"
Sela began to right herself, when the three froze at the mention of finding a Protector, their faces beginning to flush an unhealthy pale as Eric stammered back uneasily.
"F-Find it? Y-You mean chase after that demon bird we saw?" the Scraggy gulped. "Look, if this is some sort of joke to try and get us to be quiet-"
"March!" Nagant hissed.
The guards traded askew looks with one another, before shrugging and shoving the three former pirates along, leaving them to cry out and protest in panic. Cardino, Nico, and Rita stared after the sorry group as they slipped past the door, before turning away uneasily.
"Uh… I don't know how much help a bunch of Marked will be for your quest, but… good luck?" Cardino said. "The rest of us will certainly be rooting for-"
"You're coming too, Detective," Nagant barked, prompting Cardino to perk his ears up and stare back in shock.
"C-Come again?!" he cried. "You must be joking, pal! I'm a detective, not a sailor! The only boats I've ever set foot on just took me across the harbor!"
"I'm completely serious," the Clawitzer scoffed. "The City Guard are subordinate to Her Majesty's navy and Her Highness has granted me the authority to bring any resource necessary to bring the Protector back."
"I still have a pile of casework to get through!" the Pikachu protested.
"Which will be reassigned," the shrimp finished. "I already requested your superiors to dismiss you from your role if it turned out you knew something about this Protector that could help me, and this more than suffices."
"But-"
Cardino's protests were quickly cut off by Nagant levelling her firing claw, shoving its still-dripping tip into the stunned mouse's face.
"Zatknis'! I don't want to hear it! This whole debacle is partially your fault for letting a band of children exploit you!" Nagant hissed. "The least you can do for your queen is to try and help clean up some of the mess!"
"Whoa! Val! Val!" the Pikachu cried. "Just… simmer down, and give me a chance to pack-"
The Clawitzer rolled her eyes at Cardino's insistence, before summarily moving her large claw to his scarf and clamping down. The Electric Mouse Pokémon yelped, before Nagant began to hop along, dragging the hapless detective off along with her.
"Agh! Hey! Slacken those claws a bit!"
As the freshly press-ganged detective carried along with his passage down the hall, Rita bobbed uneasily in the air, shooting a worried look over to her Fletchinder partner.
"… Should we be worried about this?" Rita murmured.
"I mean… Cardino's a tough 'mon, so… he should be fine…?" Nico responded, only for a loud slam to ring out, and leave him looking off at the freshly-closed doors to the main hall with an uneasy stare.
"… I think."
The two halves of Team Traveller drifted back towards each other at the docks, each sharing their tale with the other of how their search through Magmapool had found promising leads that ultimately led to dead ends. The lot relayed their findings to Beatrix, who upon hearing of Lyn's impending ambush, opted to postpone her plans of setting sail to try and scheme a contingency plan, leaving Team Traveller to drift down to the galley for a simple meal of gummis, bread, and unappreciated Nomel Berries.
With the evening still young after dinner, the team's restless youngsters eventually opted to attempt to practice the moves that Alcon had tutored them, leading them to set up crude straw dolls on the beach and make fruitless attempts of attacking them.
"Yah!"
The process continued on well after the sky had turned orange and the sun began to slip over the horizon, where Elty charged up to a straw dummy on the sand. The Growlithe lunged ahead, smoke curling from his nostrils as he neared, when he blew out a spray of bluish-white embers that brushed over the doll, leaving it black and smoldering. The Puppy Pokémon stood wordlessly for a moment, before realizing the fiery spray was none other than…
"I think I've finally got it!" Elty yipped. "That's Will-O-Wisp!"
"Wow! You even got it to land right on the doll's head!" Crom cheered.
"Hmph, not bad," Guardia added. "Looks like quite a burn from how charred the straw is."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Nida grumbled.
Elty's eyes narrowed, prompting Nida to fold her ears fold back in annoyance as a smug smirk spread over the ends of her teammate's muzzle.
"What's wrong spike ball?" the Growlithe teased. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your voice?"
From his place near the edge of the group, Crom watched as his companions bantered and jested with each other, figuring that a spark of competition couldn't hurt them learning faster. All the while, the Dragon-Type noticed that Pleo seemed to be absent, prompting him to look around and spot him nestled off by a log of driftwood, staring morosely down at the black sand underfoot.
"Huh? Is something the matter, Pleo?" Crom asked.
"Have… Have I really been making everything worse?"
Crom fidgeted his wings uneasily at the young Lugia's question. Everything… worse? Since when had Pleo gotten into a mood like this?
"No…?" the Druddigon answered. "Why do you say that?"
"Privet!"
Crom and Pleo looked up, spotting Kiran, Dimitri, and Ander heading down the beach for them. The Kabutops of the group hurried along, calling out ahead at the sight of Pleo on the beach.
"I just wanted to check up on you since you seemed a bit down earlier," Dimitri said. "How's the practice coming alo-?"
Dimitri trailed off as Pleo suddenly hung his head, just in time for Nida, Elty, and Guardia to turn and see their teammate in depressed spirits. The Kabutops shifted uneasily a moment, overcome with a sudden uncertainty of how to best continue on.
"Er… was there something you wanted to tell us, Pleo?"
Kiran shook his head and fluttered along, settling down beside his pupil with a nudge at the Lugia's wing with his beak.
"Pollito, what's wrong?" Kiran asked.
"I…"
Pleo bit his tongue, unsure whether he should speak up about what Kline had told him. After everything his friends had been through to try and get him home, how could he just tell them that it'd made things worse? The Lugia shifted away, thinking to keep quiet and let the matter be, before shaking his head and deciding that for better or worse, his friends had to hear about what was bothering him.
"It's just what Kline said about how we're making things worse… I already felt awful about Rasp and Bech… but now I can't even escape without messing something up?" he murmured. "I didn't know that just running away would make the Company stronger! If that's already going on, then what's going to happen if I get home? Is something terrible going to happen there too?"
Kiran fell silent for a moment, before answering by spreading a wing and settling it on the seabird's shoulder. Pleo looked up puzzled for a moment, as Kiran looked back at him with firm, insistent eyes.
"Pleo, nothing is gonna happen when we get home, okay? You're still a pollito so you're bound to make a few mistakes, but every 'mon does," the Swellow said. "We're a team, and we look out for each other, it's nothing we can't overcome together."
"… Yeah," Elty muttered. "Hopefully I'll be a good distance away from those mista- Ow!"
The Growlithe yelped and leapt forward, pulling his tail between his legs as Guardia pulled her bone back from the back of his head. The pair traded dirty looks with each other for a moment, before the Cubone shook her head and turned her attention over to the Lugia.
"Don't listen to that 'Zygarde' too much," Guardia insisted. "I'm sure you'll be a great Protector, Pleo."
"Yeah! What's a little snoop like him know about protecting seas anyways?" Dimitri piped.
Pleo lifted his head, his mood improving slightly, only for him to notice Ander uneasily fidgeting at the back of the group. The Scyther hemmed and hawed a moment, before warily raising his voice to speak up to the young Protector.
"About that 'Zygarde' you met earlier… Are you sure it was the Zygarde?" Ander asked. "As in the demon of Conntow?"
"Wait a minute, he's from Conntow?" Nida questioned.
"Assuming it's the real one, yes," the mantis answered. "A great green-and-black serpent that rends the earth much as my scythes would do to paper."
"Huh? But the Pokémon we saw looked like a little green Dunsparce with a red spot on his stomach!" the Nidoran exclaimed. "Not anything like that."
Kiran, Ander, Elty, and Guardia traded puzzled looks with one another. Claiming to be a Protector wasn't something Pokémon did glibly, and for a Pokémon that didn't look anything like what it was said to in the myths? Something just wasn't adding up here…
"… You don't suppose it's one of Lyn's dirty tricks, do you?" Crom asked.
"I mean, we did see him walking around." Guardia insisted. "If he was able to, he does seem like the type to try and fake a Protector being here if it helped him catch us off guard, especially since he can't attack us directly while we're in town."
"It's certainly something we'll need to think through and be careful about," Dimitri murmured. "But given how the sun's already set, I don't know if there's anything we can do about it right now. Maybe we're better off calling it a day."
The Kabutops motioned with his scythe over at the horizon, where the form of what appeared to be a star slipped over the horizon. The Moon Caller's Traveller if the darkness of the sky and the moon's position were anything to go by.
"It's getting late, and between Lyn waiting for us to leave and the guards getting closer by the hour to figuring out who we are, we only have so many options right now," he said. "We should go back to Xerneas with Pleo tomorrow to see if we can sway him, and I don't think shambling over half-asleep in the morning will help our odds"
"Brzmi dobrze! I could use a break about now," Elty piped. "Who knows, maybe the galley still has seconds for a pre-bed snack!"
The Growlithe tromped off, followed closely behind by his teammates as Kiran remained on the beach with Pleo. The Swellow ruffled his feathers, beginning to pace ahead when he heard a chirp from behind, prompting him to turn back and see Pleo staring insistently at him.
"Kiran? Did you really mean what you said earlier?" Pleo asked. "About being able to get past mistakes?"
"It's what a team is for, pollito," Kiran replied. "Surely you've seen that yourself by now."
The young Lugia paused a moment, before a small smile settled over his beak.
"… Right, I think I know what you're talking about, Kiran," he replied. "But… what do we do now?"
"Why don't you lead the way back to the ship?" the Swellow asked. "Your flight feathers are looking full again, and it never hurts to practice the old wing muscles."
The young Protector shifted a moment, before waddling ahead with short, flying hops along the beach, occasionally stopping by a curious stone or piece of driftwood to peck at it. All the while, Kiran dutifully followed after his charge, the two making their way back for the Siglo Swellow as the cool darkness of twilight sank in and stars began to shine in the skies above.
Author's Notes:
- Hayaku ikō yo! (早く行こうよ!) - Japanese: "Let's go quickly!" (Hepburn Romanization)
- Snova? (Снова?) - Russian: "Again?" (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- Zatknis'! (Заткнись!) - Russian: "Shut up!" (expression is much ruder in Russian culture than Anglophone analogue) (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- Val! - Venetian: "Alright!"
- Brzmi dobrze! - Polish: "Sounds good!"
