Chapter 77: Closing In

In Whitepalm Town, the streets had largely emptied as Pokémon in indigo scarves went door-to-door searching shops and houses along its narrow lanes. While the guards made their way in and out of the different abodes, the resident Pokémon seemed to react with a mixture of confusion and unease, others taking a more vocally indignant turn at having their routines upended for a search of a Pokémon whose species couldn't even be identified. At a corner house of one of the streets, Cabot trudged out of a house along with Niilo and Berecien after they were hurried out the door by a block-headed Eiscue who sharply slammed the door behind them, leaving the trio to move along. All the while, the biting cold prompted Cabot and Niilo to pin their bodies up against Berecien's for warmth, much to the Fire-Type's frowning displeasure.

"Is this really necessary?" the Ponyta grumbled.

"Is that really a question with weather like this?" Niilo scoffed. "Of course it is!"

"Yeah! I was freezing my scales off just stepping out of the doorway!" Cabot piped, prompting Berecien to snort a few irritated cinders in reply.

"You are aware that the only reason why my flames haven't burned you two is because I've been holding back, right?" he grumbled.

"Yeah, well somehow I don't think that your two best friends have anything to fear there," Niilo replied. "Don't you think?"

Berecien muttered under his breath about the whole episode being 'a form of abuse', before carrying along with his uncomfortably close companions. The trio lurched their way to a crossroads between three lanes lined with houses where Cabot paused and poked his head up. After looking down each row of glazed-tiled houses, the Cranidos hesitated a moment, before turning back uneasily to his teammates.

"Where do we go now?" Cabot asked. "There's plenty of places we could go from here, but I don't know how many of them have already been checked."

Berecien and Niilo debated the matter among themselves for a moment, the Sandslash opting they head to the left, while the Ponyta insisted on heading for the right, their disagreement leading the two to butt heads much as it typically did. Cabot frowned and sighed, when he noticed a Sneasel up ahead, followed by Melli and a scowling Tegu moving along with a Jangmo-o huddled up against him.

"Why don't we go ask Tegu and Melli over there?" he offered. "Maybe they can help us narrow down where to head off to."

Berecien and Niilo traded glances with one another, before opting to humor their friend and make their way up to their teammates. When they reached them, Berecien and Tegu locked eyes for a moment, the Ponyta folding his ears back with a shake of his head.

"I see that you also have your share of 'mons hanging around you, Tegu," he sighed.

"Meh, at least I only need to worry about one 'mon," the Salandit replied. "Though I'd much rather be with my buddies back at base right now than having to worry about him."

"Hey! Stop shifting!" the Jangmo-o protested. "My tootsies are freezing here!"

The Dragon-Type's complaint drew an unimpressed scoff from the Sneasel next to him, leaving Cabot to look over the pair with a raise of his brow. He'd seen these two with Tegu lately, why they must be…

"Oh, you're Clyde and Barrow, right?" Cabot asked. "Are Tegu and Melli still showing you guys the ropes?"

"Yeah, Tegu said he needed more claws to help look around, so we gave him what he wanted!" Clyde insisted. "… Even if we spent a good chunk of time getting Barrow's tongue unstuck from an ice sculpture."

"How was I supposed to know it wouldn't taste like Yache Berries?" the Jangmo-o whined. "It looked just like that shaved ice we saw earlier!"

Cabot, Berecien, and Niilo narrowed their eyes unamusedly, letting out a trio of sighs that let visible puffs of vapor into the air. The Sandslash of the group shook his head, before leaning his elbow against Berecien's back and speaking up.

"I'm guessing you all haven't had much luck finding a lead either, huh?" Niilo said. The Sandslash leaned his chin against his claw, only to feel his arm grow uncomfortably hot, prompting him to pull it away and see Berecien glaring up at him. The Ground-Type reciprocated in kind, as Melli gave a buzzing sigh in reply.

"Not really… but I figured out something that can help us! If we can make sketches of the Protector for wanted posters, we'd be able to get more tips from the Pokémon that live here," Melli replied. "That's why I've been practicing on Tegu!"

Tegu caught himself and blinked at Melli's buzzing cheer. While the Vespiquen's voice evidenced genuine earnestness, he hadn't recalled helping her with anything involving drawings lately…

"Wait, you have?"

"Yup! Just take a look!" the Vespiquen insisted. "I think it turned out well!"

Melli dug through a satchel and proudly unfurled a sheet of paper in front of her friends. Much to Tegu's horror, the 'Salandit', if it could be called that, was a stick-limbed scrawl that looked more like some sort of googly-eyed duck. The Poison-Type's jaw flopped open with shock as the others with him tried their hardest to stifle their laughter. Sensing something was amiss, Melli gave a puzzled tilt of her head and a confused buzz as she pressed the still-ashen Salandit before her.

"… Is something wrong with it?" she asked.

Tegu bit his tongue and hastily composed himself, forcing his mouth into a wide, clearly overeager smile back at the Melli as he mustered all of his might to try and find anything positive to say about her artistry.

"No, no. It's great! It's very… spirited," he managed. "You ought to be proud of it."

"Yeah, it really shows off the red on your cheeks, Tegu!" Clyde snickered.

Barrow burst out into laughter at his partner's comment, prompting Tegu to whirl around with a piercing glare. The two both quickly swallowed their laughter, meekly backing down under the Poison-Type's scowl as a smug smirk came over Berecien's face as he turned over to Melli.

"It's quite impressive for a first attempt. Maybe once this is all over you ought to hang it up for the whole crew to see," Berecien insisted, much to Melli's visible delight.

"Ah! That's a great idea!" she buzzed.

"What?! No!" Tegu cried. "Why on earth would that need to happen?!"

The Salandit looked up to see Melli peering down at him with a worried expression. The lizard blanched a moment, before stifling his protests and pawing at the ground as he fumbled for a pleasing excuse.

"I mean, uh… it's just that this is a sketch for a wanted poster," he said. "Those aren't really the sorts of drawings that work well for decorations. So…"

"Oi! Stop standing around gawking at that Torchic scratch!" a chittering voice snapped.

The group turned around at the sound of wet thumps approaching and saw Nagant making her way over sluggishly as she did her best to fight against the cold.

"Captain Nagant? What brings you here?" Berecien wondered.

"Stop searching around in town," Nagant insisted. "We're moving out into the interior."

"Eh? Right away?" Niilo asked.

"Yes. Nobody's been able to find so much as a feather of the Protector or his companions, and the Pokémon from the cordon have turned up nothing as well," the Clawitzer harrumphed. "It's only logical to assume that they've gone inland to try and hide."

"But… isn't this a big change just to keep between us?" Melli pressed. "Everyone from the crew is still looking around town!"

"I never said this was just going to stay between us."

Nagant turned on her tail to face Cabot and his companions, motioning with her large claw to beckon the lot to follow her.

"Cabot, Berecien, Niilo. You're coming along with me," she ordered. "We need to start moving and if I happen to run into the Protector, your history with him will help to get his guard down."

The shrimp was answered back by a trio of 'ayes', prompting her to let out a satisfied grunt before turning her attention over to Melli and her companions.

"Melli, I want you in the cordon with anyone else from the crew who can get airborne," the Clawitzer said. "Tegu and his friends will handle passing word along to Jun and the other members of the crew so that everyone can regroup accordingly."

"Okay! I'll get right to it!" the Vespiquen buzzed. "Whenever this all settles down, I can show off the drawing that I made of Tegu!"

Melli's answer made Tegu blanch and set his teeth on edge. The lizard hemmed and hawed, before raising a voice to object.

"Uh, Melli," the Salandit began. "That's not-"

"Good luck, everyone!" Melli cheered.

The Vespiquen waved and flew off, leaving Tegu to stare after her with his jaw hanging open, before screwing his eyes shut in frustration. The sound of snickering reached his earholes, drawing his attention towards Clyde and Barrow busy trading stifled laughs at his expense, which was promptly cut short by the Salandit spitting up a glob of poison at their feet and shooting a sharp glare.

"Oi, chuckleheads! We've got news to pass along!" he snapped. The pair recoiled from Tegu's shout, before blinking and trading glances with each other.

"Er… right," Clyde said.

Tegu turned and went off deeper into town, his charges following shortly after. Nagant peered off after him for a moment, before turning back to Cabot's group with an impatient huff.

"Come on," Nagant ordered. "We don't have any time to lose."


After Melli's dismissal from Whitepalm Town, her assignment took her into the skies over Haipheh, where after a brief struggle to find a superior, she was tasked to patrol the far side of the island where the cordon was the thinnest, along with Blythe, the Pidgeotto from Nagant's crew. The Pidgeotto proved to be a bit of a hassle for the Vespiquen to keep pace with, prompting Blythe to slow his pace while leading the way forward. As they made their way further and further, the chill of Whitepalm Town gave way to the island's natural tropical heat, the newfound warmth invigorating the pair as they carried their search for Pleo and his companions from above the treetops.

"It feels so much nicer once you get away from the town," Melli said. "If I'd had known that, I'd have volunteered to work the cordon on the far side of the island right away!"

"Yeah, well don't get too used to it," Blythe chuckled. "The chilly weather here is caused by the Pokémon that live around here, so we're bound to feel the cold again as we pass the dungeon."

"But won't it be better again once we're at our actual positions, though?" Melli asked. "I mean, if the cold is made by Pokémon and it comes from the town and the dungeon, then-"

A thudding blow rang out, turning the pair's direction downward where they saw tree limbs shake and rend as an unseen presence flew past. The Vespiquen stopped, hearing shouts coming from the ground when she noticed them to be the din of an ongoing battle.

"Huh?! Someone's fighting down there!" she cried.

Melli beat her wings, driving her body forward as she caught the sight of a Swellow swooping down and sending a Poliwrath tumbling limply beside an unconscious white Darmanitan. The Swellow came to a stop when the forms of a Growlithe and Skarmory popped out of the nearby brush.

"Alright, he's down!" Kiran shouted. "Let's get out of here before more of them notice!"

The Swellow and his companions fled from the fallen guards, Melli and Blythe's jaws flopping open as for a fleeting moment, they caught the glimpse of the silvery-white form of a young Lugia in their midst.

"Th-That's the Protector we've been looking for!" Blythe squawked.

"Right!" Melli replied. "Let's get down there!"

The Vespiquen and Pidgeotto dove down for the clearing, only for Team Traveller's members to vanish into the undergrowth with a loud rustle. Melli attempted to fly after, but quickly lost sight of them amidst the trees, looking about in conflicting directions as the woods returned to their prior quiet.

"Ah! We missed them!"

A weak groan turned the Bug-Type's attention back to the clearing where the Poliwrath and Darmanitan were slumped over, stirring faintly. Blythe looked off at the forest for a moment, before shaking his head and pacing ahead towards the fallen guards.

"Never mind that," the Pidgeotto insisted. "Come on, help me out with these two!"

The Pidgeotto made his way over to the Poliwrath and pulled out a pair of Reviver Seeds from his bag. Melli followed behind, taking one of the seeds from her teammate and placing it in the Darmanitan's mouth, who bit down and stirred, moving a hand towards her head.

"U-Ungh… Góa thau thàng liáu…"

"Are you alright?" Blythe asked. "We saw you get attacked, but what was going on before we got here?"

"U-Urgh… we saw the lot sneaking towards the frozen waterfall and we thought they looked fishy, which was when we noticed they had the Protector with them," the Poliwrath answered. "We tried to apprehend them, but they knocked us out cold!"

"The frozen waterfall?" Melli murmured. "Why? What's there?"

Melli turned and flitted up over the treetops, where she caught a glimpse of an icy blues and white set of frozen rapids in the distance. The Vespiquen paused before warily starting to flit ahead towards it with Blythe behind her when she froze and come to an abrupt stop. There, hanging just behind the falls was the faint outline of a column of dungeon fog, leaving the Pidgeotto of the pair to grimace in realization that the Protector and his companions were likely already making their way into the Mystery Dungeon by now.

"I don't know how we're supposed to keep up with them going in there," Melli said. "We didn't even get a badge before being sent out!"

"Jun should be back in town right about now," Blythe insisted. "Maybe let him know what's up. I'll take care of these two."

Melli buzzed back an affirmation and flew up higher into the sky, beelining as fast as her wings would carry her to Whitepalm Town. That Protector was the hope for the whole Empire, and they'd need all the help they could get to secure him.


As the sun hung squarely overhead, the Mistral Marauder pulled up to the still-battered docks of Rosequartz Town. The escorts pushed the ship along, helping the deckhands move the mooring ropes into place as the gangplank was lowered, and Hess warily began to walk down it followed by Rodion, Kichiro, and the rest of his underlings. As the Aggron descended, the sound of a distant crash rang out, prompting him to look off deeper into town and see a dust cloud rise, before the sound of a faint roar rang out and a second crash and cloud of dust rose, along with a plume of smoke.

"What on earth?" Kichiro said.

"Looks like a bitva between a couple of crews," Rodion sighed. "You might be better off waiting a bit before going into town to see the Council, Captain."

Hess paused and after looking around saw that the already damaged buildings and docks in town seemed to somehow be even worse for wear. An extra burn mark here, a hole punched there, collapsed market stalls scattered about… Whatever business was going on further in town, it hadn't just started up today.

"I'm not sure how much that's going to help us…" the Aggron murmured.

"Hess?"

Hess blanched as he turned down the pier's exit, where the form of a Conkeldurr in a dark red scarf drew near, leading a party of similarly-garbed Pokémon. The Fighting-Type raised a brow out of surprise for a moment, before hardening his features into a muted frown.

"Hrmph, I didn't think you'd actually come back," the Conkeldurr grumbled. The Fighting-Type thumped the timbers underfoot with one of his pillars, making Hess grimace nervously as he tried to offer up an excuse for his presence.

"Uh… we had some… business to attend to in town," the Steel-Type insisted. "But what exactly is going on here?"

"Sibich and his crew got caught poking around Giotto so there's an unexpected vacancy on the Council," the Conkeldurr explained. "The smaller crews have been sorting out who among them will fill the Shadow Brigade's place."

A crash rang out, followed by the sound of a distant scream as Hess looked off to see a Garbodor pinwheeling through the air before falling below the rooflines. The Conkeldurr looked off at the distant battle, giving a shake of his head and dismissive snort.

"In their usual way, as you can see. But it's nothing you need to worry about," the Fighting-Type said. "They know better than to get 'mons like us drug into their little spats, and we're here to make sure that bird gets brought over to the Council without a hitch."

Hess blanched and began to backpedal along with his underlings towards the gangplank at the Fighting-Type's reply, stammering and tripping over his words as he struggled over how to best explain his circumstances.

"Eh… about that…"

The Conkeldurr's frown deepened at the Aggron's reply, prompting him to shoot a harsh glare back as the pirates behind the Conkeldurr began to trade low murmurs with each other.

"You did bring the Protector with you, right?" the Conkeldurr demanded. "After all, you couldn't possibly be stupid enough to come back empty-handed after they told you what they'd do if you did."

Hess hesitated a moment, before gulping and tapping his claws together anxiously.

"Uh… well… the thing is, I… don't have him just yet."

The Conkeldurr said nothing back, his features remaining in their same hardened scowl. Sensing that the lack of change was surely not a good sign, Hess hastily spoke up, hoping to try and sway Dirk's messenger.

"B-But I'm getting close!" he insisted. "That's why I came back since I needed to- Agh!"

The Conkeldurr cut Hess off by driving one of his concrete pillars into the Aggron's stomach, sending him crumpling to the ground coughing and gagging. Rodion and Kichiro hurried forward, only to be cut off by a hail of attacks at their feet, forcing them and the other members of the Iron Fleet to hastily retreat up the gangplank and into the water as Dirk's underlings surrounded their captain. Hess hacked from his blow, before feeling a rough grasp clamp onto his scarf and drag him up, his breaths coming out short and panicked as the Conkeldurr jerked his head up to face his unamused scowl.

"You look tense, Hess. Don't worry," the Fighting-Type growled. "This'll all be over before you know it."

Hess let out a frightened squeak before the Conkeldurr drug him off, tugging the Aggron along as the other red-scarved Pokémon threw in jeers and taunts in full view of the Iron Fleet's members, leaving them to watch helplessly as their leader got led down the docks and off into the town.


The cellblock of Bluewhorl Town's Guardhouse was a simple hallway dug into the hill, consisting of cells with stone walls and iron bars over their entrances. In normal times, the place was empty barring the occasional drunk and a pair of guards posted at the entrance, though in the present the cells were all occupied with Pokémon dozing off in a midday rest as was custom on Tromba, a few including a Mightyena and Machoke still sporting wounds from their unceremonious arrival. In the cell in the far right end of the block, a Sceptile laid down on a mat of stale straw, shifting about as he attempted to fall asleep amid the snoring and mumbling from the other prisoners. After a few futile attempts at closing his eyes, Osmund rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, letting out a tired groan when the sound of tapping at his cell's bars reached his earholes.

"Psst! Osmund!"

Osmund turned his head, where he saw the purple-furred form of a male Nidoran in Company garb pawing at the bars. The Sceptile got up, and shuffled over to the cell door, crouching and lowering his head in order to better address the Poison-Type who he quickly recognized to be…

"Orino? What are you doing here?" the Sceptile asked.

"Well, I'm still on the Company payroll… for now at least," the Nidoran answered. "The villagers were getting a bit worried about you, so I figured that I'd check up on you while I could."

"Well, I've been better," Osmund muttered. "Though I'm alive, aren't I? What about everyone else? How are they holding up?"

The purple Nidoran flattened his ears and shook his head back with an indignant growl.

"Short of Bluewhorl being actively sacked, it's hard to imagine how things could possibly be going worse," Orino said. "The town's under curfew, those grunts from off-island are going around bullying the townsfolk as they please, and everyone's just all-around demoralized."

The Nidoran thumped the ground with his foot, shaking his head as he lowered his voice into a bitter murmur.

"And it's not like there's a whole lot I can do to help either," he continued. "My family got served a resettlement notice, and I've been spending most of the last two days trying to pull strings so that at least some of us can at least stay behind to work the family field so it doesn't need to be sold off."

Osmund grimaced at the young Nidoran's reply, and grasped the bars of his cell letting with a low sigh.

"Yeesh and here I thought I had things bad being locked up," the Sceptile said. "Just… try not to take it so hard? As bad as things are, Bluewhorl's been through much lower moments before, and it sounds like 'mons are still looking out for each other to try and make the best of things."

"Fat lot that'll do to help us if that stupid Charizard and his underlings just snatch away the Protector the moment he comes back," Orino piped. "Why are we even trying to dig in our heels if we can't win here?"

Osmund fell quiet, before casting furtive glances about the cell block. Barring a stir from the Machoke and Mightyena from the cell next to him, the only signs of life about them were the sound of the guards shifting at the end of the hallway and the snores from the inmates that Bunsen's underlings had rounded up. The Sceptile craned his head down, cupping a claw as he whispered over to the Nidoran.

"Has Mosca still been allowed to keep her Dojo open?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's still keeping it going. Why?"

"She knows who the tough customers in town are," the gecko explained. "If there was ever a time for her to try and get everyone on the same page, this is it."

Orino raised an ear and cocked a brow puzzledly. There was only one reason to seek out Mosca for such a reason, but did that mean Osmund was suggesting…

"To fight back? But you said yourself that we couldn't hold out against three ships' worth of 'mons on our own," Orino reminded. "And it's not like we can get any help from the outside either. Commissioner Bunsen's frozen travel for locals unless they get it approved by him or his underlings first, and even then he's not allowing any ships to leave without an escort. I don't think there's been anyone's even managed to get an approval other than a merchant ship that had a couple locals on its crew."

"Maybe," Osmund replied. "But that doesn't mean that we don't have options for getting in the way of whatever they've got planned for the Protector when he returns."

Orino blinked and fell silent, peering up into Osmund's yellow eyes as he flicked his ears and listened intently.

"… What do you mean by that, Captain?


After Jun's return from the naval base, the Beedrill was swiftly brought up to speed regarding the state of the search by Tegu and his entourage. From the best anyone could tell, the Protector had long since left Whitepalm Town, with Captain Nagant having shifted the focus of the search further inland. Afterwards, the first mate spent the better part of an hour fighting with the town's bitter cold to regroup the sailors still in town to head into the interior, drawing the lot into the town's central square where he finished up a headcount and handing down assignments when a scolding cry broke over the assembly's thinning crowd.

"Really?!" a Salandit's voice snapped. "I leave you two alone for one moment and then this happens?!"

"Oh, just help me pull already!" a Sneasel's voice piped back.

Jun flitted his wings and gave a puzzled tilt of his head, following the sound of arguing voices towards a street on the right side of the square, before coming to a flabbergasted stop. There in front of him was Tegu and Barrow tugging at Clyde's arm, attempting to pry him from a crate that his right claw was stuck in to no avail.

"What on earth? What are you three doing?" Jun buzzed.

"Clyde got his claw stuck in it!" Barrow explained.

"I can see that, but what was it doing there in the first place?" the Beedrill demanded, prompting Clyde to fold his ears down and shoot back a nervous grin.

"Uh… well, you know, it just looked interesting and all," the Sneasel insisted. "Wasn't trying to steal berries from it or anything like that!"

Jun hardened his features into a disbelieving frown, when Tegu abruptly stopped tugging at Clyde. The Salandit climbed onto the crate, moving his snout up to Clyde's wrist where it was lodged outside the container before he gave it a curious prod.

"Wait, Clyde, are you holding onto one of those berries inside?" Tegu asked.

"Yeah, and?"

The Sneasel blinked as he watched Tegu narrow his eyes with an exasperated groan. Clyde looked down at his claw, letting his grip slacken as he effortlessly pulled it out, leaving him to shake it a few times to restore feeling. The Dark-Type's face turned up into a sheepish smile, as Barrow let out an unimpressed huff.

"And here you were making fun of me for getting my tongue stuck to that ice sculpture!" the Jangmo-o harrumphed. "At least I didn't choose to get stuck to it!"

"Hey, shut it, scales-for-brains!" the Sneasel fumed. "At least I didn't put my claw in there on a whim because I thought it'd taste like Yache Berries!"

The two promptly devolved into heated bickering over who among them was the greater fool, leaving Jun to stare blankly, before moving one of his stingers over his face with an exasperated groan.

"Blurgh… I can't wait until the Captain can go back to a more normal crew," he muttered.

"Tegu! Tegu! Tegu!"

The sound of buzzing wings drew the group's attention upwards, prompting them to see a Vespiquen flying overhead who quickly settled beside Tegu and his two charges. The Salandit blinked incredulously, opening his mouth to speak only for Melli to cut him off with a breathless cry.

"Where's Jun?!" she exclaimed. "I need to talk to him right now! It's an emergen-"

"Uh… Melli? I'm right here."

The Vespiquen turned around to see Jun staring at her unamusedly, prompting her to excitedly beat her wings.

"Oh, hi Jun! I was just looking for you!"

"Yes, I heard that. But what are you doing here in the first place?" he asked. "I thought the Captain had ordered you to join the cordon."

"She did, but this is important!" Melli insisted. "Blythe and I saw the Protector and those pirates with him heading into the Mystery Dungeon!"

Jun flitted back out of surprise, his expression lingering for a moment before melting into a serious frown.

"Let's not waste any time, then," the Beedrill said. "I'll gather the crew and tell them to head towards the dungeon entr-"

"But they weren't heading to the entrance," Melli interjected. "I saw them beat up a pair of guards over by the north side of the island before going towards a frozen waterfall!"

The Vespiquen's insistence drew puzzled frowns and stares back from Jun and his underlings. How could she be so certain the Protector was headed for the Mystery Dungeon when they weren't even near the entrance?

"Isn't that on the complete other side of the fog?" Tegu questioned. "If they were trying to get into the dungeon, why on earth would they go there?"

"Maybe they just rushed through the fog?" Barrow mused. "You don't need an entrance to get in that way."

"And risk having a bad fall or gods-knows-what happening to you?" the Salandit retorted. "If they took out the guards they ran into, why would they feel desperate enough to do that?"

Jun twitched his antennae, trying to square away the apparent contradiction between Melli's report and what he knew of Haipheh's geography when he abruptly paused in realization. If the lot truly were headed for the Mystery Dungeon, then…

"… They must have found another way in."

"Huh? How do you know that?" Clyde asked.

"I don't, but merchants in dungeons use entrances they keep hidden among themselves regularly," the Beedrill explained. "As improbable as it seems, it wouldn't be impossible for someone to tip them off to one."

The wasp turned his head at the sound of an approaching group from the central square, and spotted a Drifblim at the head of the small party of sailors from the Uragan. Jun hurriedly flitted over, before raising a stinger to motion to the Ghost-Type.

"Faraday! Find the Captain in the interior and let her know to head into the dungeon immediately!" Jun ordered. "Lugia and the others have already made their way in!"

The Drifblim blinked out of surprise for a moment, before saluting and quickly hurrying off with the winds. Jun watched after the departing messenger, before turning back to the rest of the group.

"As for the rest of you, tell everyone else to regroup and go to the entrance and exit of the dungeon!" the Beedrill barked. "If the Protector and those brigands are inside the dungeon, there's no telling where they could've slipped off to by now and I don't want them getting an easy way out!"

The sailors barked out an 'aye' and immediately set off away from the street, Melli giving a beat of her wings as she followed after their number when a sharp buzz cut her off.

"Not so fast, Melli. I want you and your friends to come along with me," Jun said, leaving the Vespiquen to look back with a puzzled tilt of her head.

"Huh? What for?" she asked.

"I want to go and find out how Lugia and the rest managed to get in," the Beedrill explained. "If they really did get in through some sort of secret entrance, we might be able to figure out how to find them faster."

Jun flitted up and cast his glance off inland, peering towards Haipheh's heart with a serious, stern-eyed gaze.

"Let's just hope they don't have any more cards to play…"


At the very moment Jun and his subordinates began to set off for Haipheh's Mystery Dungeon, Team Traveller had already made their way within it and were working their way down the eleventh floor. The floor was lined with passages made of bluish stone, with occasional patches of ice and snow throughout that could even be seen on the ceiling. At the mouth of a chamber flecked with stony rocks, the sound of disgusted grunts rang out, as Kiran flicked away a glob of purplish muck off his left wing and pushed an Apple onto the ground that had been freshly spoiled by a hidden Grimy Trap.

"Words… fail me," Kiran sighed.

"Don't take it too hard on yourself," Trizano reassured. "It happens even to experienced explorers."

Kiran frowned and ruffled his feathers annoyedly at the Skarmory's words, his pride wounded from the Steel-Type unwittingly talking him down. Further off, Pleo squirmed and bobbed as he attempted to remain pressed up against his Growlithe teammate, the Puppy Pokémon narrowing his eyes with a low sigh.

"Um… Pleo," Elty began. "I can't move around when you're squeezing up beside me like this."

"It's so cold though!" Pleo cried. "How are we supposed to hide out in a place like this?"

"Well, finding the places where the locals hide out would be a start," the Growlithe said. "So look for something that looks or smells a bit off, or-"

The Fire-Type felt a puff of slightly warmer air blow across his face, prompting him to stop a moment and look off to his right curiously. The air came again, leaving him to blink and pace forward hesitantly.

"Eh? I didn't notice that earlier…" he murmured.

Elty continued along, his teammates following after him until they came to a small crevice in the icy wall, which a cursory glance deeper in revealed to be filled with fog. So it was a stable zone! Though, in that case…

"Are we sure this is safe?" Trizano asked. "Stable zones are shelters for more than just Rescue Teams, you know."

Elty lowered his head and sniffed at the ground, craning his head to the left and the right before looking back up at the rest of his teammates.

"It doesn't smell like anyone's been here, at least not since this floor's been cleared," the Growlithe said. "I think this is as good an option we're going to get."

The four moved on, carefully making their way through the fog and out the other end to a large, snowy chamber lined here and there with prominent ice crystals. The party paced forward cautiously, noting that while the place lacked any strong scents, there were a few scattered sticks along with discarded scraps of cloth and paper on the ground, a clear sign that the stable zone had been safely used as a shelter before.

"It'll have to do," Kiran sighed. "We'll wait here and start checking if Kelly can hear us."

"I mean, I guess it's a little better, but it still feels kinda cold…" Pleo murmured, giving an uncomfortable beat of his wings. "Are we all going to crowd around Elty to stay warm?"

Pleo's words were immediately met with a surprised yip, prompting the three birds to turn and see their Growlithe partner flattening his ears and tensing his body irkedly.

"What?! Are you kidding?! I'm not getting sat on by birds until we leave!" Elty snapped. "Make a fire or something!"

The Growlithe shot a firm scowl at his teammates, only for them to keep staring expectantly at him. After a moment's befuddlement, Elty blinked and sheepishly pawed at the ground.

"… Right, I suppose I'd need to do that," he said. "But there's not exactly a nice pile of stuff that I can light on fire, though."

"Pleo and I can see what we can do about that. There's some items scattered around here I think we could use to get a fire going," Kiran replied. "Just… keep an ear on the entrance with Trizano for a while, would you?"

Pleo and Kiran shuffled off towards the center of the stable zone, starting to gather twigs and other scraps along their way. Off at the entrance, Trizano and Elty paced over and rested against the ground, casting wary glances off into the fog when Trizano shifted his wings and spoke up.

"I'm surprised that you were able to find this Stable Zone so easily," he said. "How'd you manage that?"

"Eh, it comes with experience," Elty replied.

"Really? I'd never have pegged you for the type to be a dungeoneer from when I saw you on Hess' caravel…" Trizano remarked. "Though I suppose you learn something new every day."

Elty's eyes widened at the mention of Hess' caravel, prompting him to whirl around with a flummoxed expression. Trizano paused a moment, before giving a sheepish shrug of his wings and smile back.

"I mean, I suppose it was a bit presumptuous to think that the Iron Fleet would have only one Growlithe," the Skarmory began. "It's just that when I saw you with Hess-"

"No, I am the only Growlithe that's ever joined the Iron Fleet," Elty insisted, before giving an inquiring tilt of his head. "… So you're the Immortal that always got into fights with Hess, huh?"

"Guilty as charged," Trizano replied. "Hope I didn't ruffle too many feathers in the past."

Elty stared back wordlessly at the Skarmory, only for his face to fall and for him to give a sighing shake of his head.

"Well, it doesn't mean a whole lot now," the Growlithe said. "But what was up with that anyways? You had that wandering do-gooder shtick going on, so why seek us out specifically?"

"It was Roteck's idea, really," Trizano answered. "He had a friend of his that he wanted me to talk some sense into."

Elty furrowed his brow and raised an ear back puzzledly. A friend? From his experience, the Iron Fleet's members weren't exactly great at keeping secrets, and he couldn't remember anyone from it ever so much as mentioning it…

"Eh? Who would he have a friend on the Iron Fleet?"

"It wouldn't do me any good to go blurting out Roteck's secret now would it?" Trizano chuckled. "Besides, I think you already have a good idea who his friend is."

Elty's mind turned to Hess for a moment. They were the same species, so, as crazy as it sounded… could Trizano have meant he was this friend? Elty opened his mouth to ask, only to catch himself and pause, rationalizing that whatever the story was behind Roteck's friend, perhaps it was best to just let it come out on its own.

"I… see. So, all this time you've just been going out for him?" Elty asked.

"Well, there was the practical aspect of it. Darkwood Square did need its resources, and there were some things we just couldn't get easily on the island," Trizano replied. "But I suppose the biggest thing was just being able to get out and spread my wings in the world."

The Skarmory fanned his wings out proudly, leaving Elty to tilt his head back with a puzzled frown. Trizano blinked a moment, before flusteredly ruffling his feathers and beating a wing out to wave the matter off.

"I mean, I suppose it's a bit of my youthful wiles that I've retained, but-"

"Nah, I know what you mean," Elty insisted. "It's a big world out there, and sometimes you just need to run around in it a bit."

A small smile spread over Trizano's face as Elty returned to keeping watch over the entrance. Trizano turned his head back towards Kiran and Pleo, seeing them hard at work putting the burn pile together when he focused his attention back out at the fog and left his mind to wander off towards their separated companions.

"I wonder how your teammates are all doing right now…"


About two hours after their hasty exit from Haipheh Island, the Siglo Swellow finally bobbed alone in the seas without ships pursuing its wake. On the deck, the crew's members gathered tiredly, trading worried murmurs as Vicente got up to the railing and peered off into the distance with a spyglass. The Hitmontop lingered a moment, before pulling it back and turning to the rest of the crew.

"I think we're finally in the clear," he said. "Those ships stopped chasing us past the second buoy."

A wave of relieved sighs and exhalations came over the crew, which quickly morphed into uneasy chatter as their thoughts turned to their companions that they'd left behind. Crom paced up towards Beatrix, giving an uneasy paw at the back of his head as he glanced over worriedly.

"Beatrix, what do we do now?" the Druddigon asked. "Half of our team's still on that island, including Pleo!"

"Isn't it obvious? We head back and get them!" Nida exclaimed, her insistence at once being met by scattered protests and interjections.

"Estás loca?!" a Dwebble cried. "We just almost got sunk by their ships!"

"Yeah, who's to say they won't just catch us going back in?" a Sliggoo demanded.

The Nidorina pulled her ears back and thumped her foot irritatedly against the wood. How could they all just talk like that when Pleo and the rest of their friends were stranded?!

"What is wrong with you all?" she fumed. "This is our island's Protector we're talking about here and you just want to give up?!"

"This… honestly seems to be beyond what we can handle, Nida," Beatrix said. "We'd be better off returning to Tromba and getting help before going back for them."

"But they're four Pokémon against an entire colony!" Guardia protested, stepping forward with a wave of her club. "You can't honestly expect them to last long on their own!"

"I know it's a gamble, but we don't have many other options," the Illumise sighed. "We're a single ship and we wouldn't fare much better than last time."

"And need I remind you that we have more than our own hides on the line?" Vicente remarked. "If we get captured, that Knights' Ledger you worked so hard to get will just fall into the Empire's hands. Even if Pleo gets away, you'll have lost the leverage you were hoping to have over the Pokémon chasing him."

"As loath as I am to ask, but can we really afford to not take that risk?" Ander said. "If the Empire gets Pleo, they'll use him as a weapon!"

"I know that, but you're also forgetting that we don't have the slightest clue as to where on Haipheh he is right now. If he's even there at all," Beatrix replied. "For all we know he's managed to flee the island, or we'd have to fight our way through the island's entire garrison just to get him!"

The Siglo Swellow's crew began to audibly voice reservations at the idea of fighting against the Royal Navy on their own, with appeals of 'think about what you're suggesting here' and 'she's right, you know' filtering through the air. Guardia, Crom and Pladur's faces fell as Beatrix shook her head back glumly, leaving Nida to pause as she weakly raised her voice in protest.

"But…"

"It's just the hand we've been dealt," Beatrix insisted. "There's nothing more to it."

The Illumise turned and began to flit off as Nida stared ahead blankly. After everything she'd gone through, all the fighting she'd done to try and bring Pleo home, they were just going to sail off without him? The Nidorina felt tears start to well up in her eyes as Crom sidled up to try to comfort her when Kelly abruptly jolted up in the crowd and hastily floated off in front of Beatrix waving her arms.

"Wait! Captain!" the Elgyem exclaimed. "Before you leave, you've got to hear this!"

The Psychic-Type floated up as the nearby sailors began to crowd around when she held a glinting bauble aloft and pressed down on it, the sound of a Kabutops' voice filling the air.

"Privet! Is anyone out there?"

The gathered sailors jumped back with a start at the voice, Nida's eyes lighting up as she realized it to be none other than Dimitri. The Nidorina bounded over towards Kelly, all be yanking the badge from her hands when she pressed down and spoke into it with a startled cry.

"Dimitri?! Where are you?!"

"Is Pleo with you?" Crom insisted. "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm alone, but they were fine the last I saw them. I'm assuming you're nearby?"

Beatrix flitted up and stared surprisedly at the glinting badge, faltering for a moment as Kelly lifted her arm and telekinetically pulled the badge back from Nida's paws. The Elgyem focused a moment in a meditative state, before tightening her grasp on the badge and looking back to the gathered sailors.

"I think that I've got his position," Kelly said. "Clear the deck for me to come back."

The Psychic-Type moved her arms about as she closed her eyes in focus, the nearby sailors backing away as she suddenly vanished in a flash of light. Team Traveller watched tensely as murmurs floated about the surrounding sailors, when another flash of light appeared followed by the sounds of splashing water, revealing Kelly returning with Dimitri as he found his footing still dripping seawater on deck as Nida neared.

"Dimitri, what happened? Why aren't Pleo and the others with you?"

"I was the only one who could slip past the cordon," the Kabutops sighed. "We'd found a safe place when we parted ways, but they're running out of time."

Dimitri tapped his scythes together and quickly recounted how he and the others slipped out of town after watching the Siglo Swellow get chased out of port, followed by them finding refuge with Neil in Haipheh's interior where the others decided to hunker down and try to call out to Kelly. Lastly, the Kabutops' tale turned to his own fraught journey sneaking back to the Siglo Swellow to seek help, and how he'd slunk off alone and dodged Imperial guards on the high seas all to relay the others' messages. Beatrix and Vicente paused at the Water-Type's account, when Nida turned back insistently towards the pair.

"Is that enough to convince you two?" the Nidorina asked. "As long as Kelly can sense Pleo and the others, she should be able to teleport right to them, shouldn't she?"

"That's assuming that nothing's changed since Dimitri's left," Vicente countered. "We could be taking a gamble over nothing here!"

Beatrix paused tensely before she flicked her wings uneasily. The Bug-Type tapped a digit below her mouth, hesitating for a moment before giving a stern look back at the Hitmontop.

"But we do have Pleo and the others' location now, and it sounds like they don't have much time before the Imperials find them if we don't go for them," the Illumise said. "We'll try and sneak by the island, though if Kelly doesn't pick anything up for too long, we're turning around and heading back to Tromba. Are we clear?"

Team Traveller's members hesitated at Beatrix's reply. While none of them really wanted to admit it, it was hard to concede the Illumise captain's point. One after the other, they gave begrudging nods back, prompting her to give a sharp buzz and call out to the rest of her crew.

"Right, then let's move out!"

The Illumise quickly flitted up to the tiller and leaned hard against it, turning her schooner around as the escorts in the sea and air whipped up a current to push the ship back towards Haipheh. As the ship pierced through the waves, Nida looked off at the horizon, hoping and praying that her friends would be able to hold out for their return.


Author's Notes:

- Góa thau thàng liáu (我頭痛了) - Hokkien: "My head hurts" (POJ Romanization)
- bitva (битва) - Russian: "battle", "fight" (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- (¡¿)Estás loca?! - Spanish: "Are you kidding?!" / "Are you crazy?!"