Chapter 86: Next Step

The sound of footprints pattering against wooden planks filtered through the air as Nida and her companions made their way back along Canalhouse City's military harbor beside Kline. Alice, Dimitri, Ander, Pyry and Pekka… everyone from his group was accounted for, but Kiran and Percy's team was curiously absent. The party tensely filed past ships in lavender sails and Pokémon in Company scarves along their way to the Siglo Swellow, but the source of the group's quiet tension ultimately wasn't coming from any of their immediate surroundings.

Nida and the others had legged it from the Academy the moment Gerhard's class let out, and not a moment too soon. The entire time, he'd harassed them with questions about his lecture and singled them out in front of the entire class so that all the other students could see them struggle and give away how unfamiliar they were with his subject material. Evidently the back row had gone unclaimed by the other students for a reason. But after meeting up with Kline's group, instead of getting the relief they'd expected, they merely traded one set of worries for another.

They… hadn't gotten the full details, but something had happened to Percy's group, and their plans for searching had been abruptly cancelled in favor of returning to the ship as soon as possible. The entire way back, they had been sticking firmly to back alleys and smaller canals, avoiding open and more crowded areas as much as they could. Nida and her teammates had grown worried, but had only gotten vague answers from their teammates so far, prompting the Nidorina to shake her head and try to press the green hound in their midst for details again.

"Kline, what exactly happened out there?" she asked. "You said that the others got into some sort of trouble earlier, so what's wrong?"

"Yeah, whatever it was, just how bad was it that Kiran and the others already went back to the ship?" Elty pressed.

Kline fell silent and looked away for a moment, before the dog-like Legendary lowered his head with a low sigh.

"… It's a long story," the Zygarde said. "Like I said, we're better off covering it during our debriefing with the crew instead of here in public."

The group made their way one at a time up the gangplank onto the Siglo Swellow, where they shuffled along for the entrance below deck and made their way for the mess hall, Captain Beatrix's preferred meeting place during their port calls. When the lot arrived, they found the room already crowded with worried-looking sailors, along with the rest of their teammates… except Trizano. The lot found the boisterous Immortal's absence to be puzzling, but regardless made their way to the front and sat down, watching as Beatrix flitted up and trained a concerned glance down at them.

"Are you alright?" the Illumise asked. "After we'd gotten notified by Kline and saw Kiran's group return, we got really worried that something had happened to you."

"We're fine, really," Nida insisted. "We got mistaken for students from the same class as the Board's children, so we sat in for lectures today."

Crom paused and pinned his wings uneasily, giving a sheepish paw at the back of his head.

"We… didn't really get a chance to look around the Academy all that much though," he admitted. "So we haven't really been able to figure out where the Ledger could be yet."

Much to the Druddigon's surprise, no real reply came after his statement. No expressions of disappointment, guarded optimism, or even any sort of reaction to them getting into the same class as the Board's children. Just uneasy glances and chatter among each other. Guardia looked about the gathering and couldn't help but sense that something was deeply amiss, prompting her to go over to Percy and paw at his wing impatiently with her free hand.

"What exactly happened to you while we were in those classes anyways?" she asked. "Everyone's reacting like someone died or something!"

Percy looked down at the Cubone and shifted uncomfortably, fumbling with his words for a moment before grudgingly speaking up.

"Ellsberg and Aldrich ambushed us while we were scouting out the Academy's surroundings," the Gliscor said. "We don't know if we just got unlucky with being spotted, but we should assume that the Company already knows that we're here."

Nida and her teammates jolted back in surprise as their eyes shrank to pins. It hadn't even been a full day and they'd already gotten into trouble?! With Team Sentinel no less?! Then for all they knew, they'd already lost their chance to get the volume of the Knights' Ledger from this island!

"E-Eh?!" Pleo squawked. "But what do we do then?!"

No response came from his teammates or from the crowd, evidently everyone else hadn't settled on an answer to that question either. Worried murmurs and grumbles started to go about the gathered sailors, before a Nosepass stepped forward and spoke up with a sharp snort.

"Like I said earlier, we should leave port while we can," the Nosepass insisted. "If the Company knows we're here, then what's the point of staying?"

"Yeah, we're a single merchant ship!" a Bayleef exclaimed. "We can't hold out against an entire city full of square-necks!"

The Nosepass and Bayleef's sentiment began to ripple through the crowd as other sailors voiced their agreement with words like "they've got a point" and "yeah, let's get out of here while we can". Nida's ears drooped at the turn of the room's mood, before Kline hastily stepped forward and leveled a stern expression back at the sailors.

"Look, I understand that this isn't an ideal situation, but things aren't going to get any easier if we run away," the Zygarde began. "If we leave now, we'll never get another chance at getting this volume of the Knights' Ledger!"

"Por todos los cielos, Trizano got his eyes burned out!" Natrix protested. "What makes you think we still have a chance now?"

Nida and the rest of the Pokémon on her team blanched at the Servine's outburst. They'd been wondering why Trizano hadn't been present for the meeting, but if what the Servine was saying was true…

"T-Trizano's eyes?" the Nidorina stammered. "What-?"

"When we got ambushed and tried to retreat, Trizano taunted Aldrich and stayed behind to fight him instead," Percy explained. "Aldrich pinned him down and burned his eyes. Right now Trizano's currently recovering in one of the sleeping quarters."

Team Traveller's younger members grimaced at the Gliscor's answer, as Philips folded his arms with a low grumble.

"Just saying, the rest of us aren't Immortals here," the Raichu chimed in. "Maybe Trizano can magically come back after getting hurt like that, but we certainly can't."

Nida blanched and grit her teeth as she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Could they really pull through with how bad things looked here?

… No, it wasn't a matter of could they, they had to. And they'd never accomplish that by turning tail.

"… We get that, Philips."

Nida stepped forward and waved for attention, looking about the gathered sailors with a stern frown.

"Look, I know that this is all scary. But we knew this was going to be a dangerous mission going in," Nida said. "But the fact that we haven't gotten boarded already means that Team Sentinel hasn't passed that information on to the rest of the Company yet and are most likely playing games for Administrator Elilan again."

The Nidorina hesitated a moment, before shaking her head and digging her heels in to continue on.

"If we slink off here, we'll have given away our position to them with nothing to show for it," she insisted. "Whatever's going on, they have a reason for trying to keep their supposed allies in the dark. Even if it doesn't solve the issue of them trying to come after us, it'll be easier to avoid five Pokémon than every guard on the island."

"Right, and part of the reason why things turned out so badly with Aldrich was that he caught us off-guard and we weren't prepared for him," Percy added. "There's already things I can think of that if we'd done differently, might have let us win that battle, or at least make a clean escape."

"If we try sticking in larger groups and keeping better items on hand to make sure we can put up a harder fight, it would already improve our odds of success by a good 50%," Kiran mused. "It wouldn't be easy, but we'd definitely have more options than just having to retreat."

The three's explanation drew hesitant and uneasy murmurs from the gathering. While they weren't exactly in good circumstances, it was hard to argue their point. Vicente rubbed his head and made his way forward, giving a wary stare at the trio.

"What do you propose, then?" the Hitmontop questioned.

"We stay undercover in that class for a couple of days and try to find this Vault on-campus to see if it's something we can even break into," Nida answered. "The rest of the team can either hide near the Academy to help us in case Team Sentinel or the Company gives us trouble, or stay on the ship in case something comes up here in the harbor."

Beatrix looked at Nida for a minute, before she turned her gaze over towards the Nidorina's teammates and sized the lot up cautiously.

"Is this something you're all okay with?" the Illumise asked. "I don't know how you got mixed up to end up in that classroom, but… if you go back, there's a much bigger chance someone will notice you don't belong there."

Guardia, Elty, Pleo, and Crom briefly traded uneasy looks with each other. After a moment's hesitation, the four looked back determinedly, the Cubone of the lot giving a firm nod back.

"We'd obviously need a chance to talk through some strategy, but otherwise yes," Guardia answered. "We didn't come all the way out to this Company colony just to run off with our tails between our legs!"

"It is hard to imagine better options at this point," Elty sighed. "After all, what exactly are we going to do? Sail back to Tromba and turn ourselves over to that wydra?"

Beatrix said nothing in reply for a moment. After noticing that Pleo and Crom seemed similarly at ease with the idea, she trained her attention to the other sailors with a sharp buzz.

"Then we stay the course for now. Though I want the ship prepared to leave at a moment's notice," she ordered. "Just because Team Sentinel is keeping quiet about our presence at the moment doesn't mean we can count on things staying that way."

The Illumise was cut off by a low growl, followed by Pleo flusteredly looking down at his belly. A few other growls went about the gathering, as a few sailors similarly reacted in sheepish embarrassment, leaving the Bug-Type captain to blink a moment, before turning her attention over to the ship's Fraxure cook.

"Though before then, we'd best tend to ourselves," Beatrix remarked. "It is almost time for you to start preparing dinner, Pladur."

"Ahehehe… right," the Fraxure said, giving a bashful paw at the side of his head. "No sense trying to plan things out on an empty stomach."

Pladur's reply was answered by the sound of approaching footsteps as his child and his teammates drew near.

"We'll help too, dad!" Crom insisted.

"Yeah, after a day like this, I think we could all use something else on our minds," Nida added.

"Alright, though we should hurry things up," Pladur replied. "Sounds like everyone's already waiting on us."

Pladur and the younger members of Team Traveller set off, making their way for the other end of the mess hall to head into the galley. As the lot fished out the dishes and ingredients for the night's meal, Nida couldn't help but be troubled by a nagging unease.

From what they had seen of them on Buyeom Island, Team Sentinel was hardly the type to just sit back after losing track of them temporarily, and they were still out there somewhere in Canalhouse City. So then, they had to be up to something…

But what?


Aldrich and Ellsberg's search about Canalhouse City continued well into the afternoon, only to turn up no leads as to where Percy, Kiran, and their allies vanished off to. As the sun drifted for the western horizon, the pair grudgingly called their search off to go and rendezvous with Sorge who, according to Aldrich, hung around the local Company battlegrounds fairly often much like he, Ketu, and Zelle did. Much as the Noivern suspected, Sorge was indeed there, and the two surprised the Kommo-o with news of their sighting of Team Traveller and Team Zephyr's members, prompting Sorge to insist that they get Zelle and gather together for a meeting at his residence away from prying eyes and ears.

The task of fetching Zelle fell to Aldrich, who with his swift wings and sharp hearing was bound to have better odds of finding the Sylveon on short notice. In the meantime, Sorge led Ellsberg along into a sleepier neighborhood in the south of the city, where the pair made their way past small shops and eateries to a narrow canalhouse wedged on a back canal.

After making their way in, the Dragon-Type brought his guest up a flight of stairs and to a door at the back of the hallway. There, Sorge fidgeted with a set of keys, undoing a padlock and pushing the door open to reveal a spartan apartment. Just past the door was a common room with a table set out with four simple seats and a small kitchen tucked in a corner. To the right was a room with a closed wooden door, likely a bedroom, with little sign of anything else to speak of in the dwelling.

Ellsberg flitted about the living room, where a blue scarf with a black circle with a tilted cross in it hung on the far wall to the left of the window. A couple curiosities had been set out on a simple shelf not far from it, including a set of black goggles with lenses that were made out of some sort of clear material, a strange metal-and-glass slate, and a metal necklace with a curious round, rainbow-colored stone set in it. Ellsberg tilted his head and put a tarsus to his mouth, not sure what to make of the collection of strange artifacts.

"Eh? What are these things?" Ellsberg murmured.

The Mothim cast an expectant glance over at Sorge, who gave no reply for a noticeable pause, before looking at Ellsberg with a wistful smile.

"They're momentos. Reminders of who I really am," the Kommo-o answered. "Normally I keep them in storage since I'm not around, but since I'm here, I figured I'd take them out to spruce my place up a bit."

Ellsberg's gaze lingered on the artifacts for a moment, but he supposed the explanation made sense. Though barring Sorge's little collection of these momentos, the simple apartment didn't have much to speak of for decorations. Was this cramped little apartment really the residence of a Pokémon who was a Third-Rank in the Company? Why, he knew First-Ranks with better lodging than this!

"I suppose… but, is this really all there is to your apartment, Sorge?" Ellsberg asked. "I'm just a Second-Rank and I have fairly comfortable accommodations. I wouldn't have expected you to live in someplace so… simple. Especially for a larger Kommo-o like you."

"Well, I rarely stay here, so anything fancier would just be a waste," Sorge replied. "It's not too spacious, but it meets my needs just fine."

A sharp rap came from the apartment's door, prompting Ellsberg to look back as Sorge made his way over. The Kommo-o pulled the door open and let Aldrich in, followed by Zelle who came in wearing a white coat with a hoodie fashioned from silk and woolen furs. The pair entered the room and Sorge closed the door behind them, as Aldrich glanced around for a moment before speaking up.

"Looks like we're all ready to get things going," the Noivern said. "I certainly wasn't expecting an opportunity like this to come into our claws."

"I know I definitely wasn't," Zelle sighed. "Not that I'm complaining about a new lead, but it would've been nice to not have my trip through Afschaffingstraat's stores cut short."

Ellsberg fluttered in place with a blank expression, before shooting an askew glance at the Sylveon. While Zelle had seemed like the type who would take an interest in frivolous accessories such as her winter coat, it beggared the question…

"… Why are you buying winter wear when it's the beginning of spring?" Ellsberg wondered. Zelle gave a skeptical raise of her brow, before brushing at her cheek with one of her feelers.

"Because it will be winter again by the end of the year and I probably won't be in the city for it?" the Sylveon retorted. "Besides, I'm not gonna pass up a coat like this when it was on sale for only 5000 Poké! After visiting that Move Tutor yesterday, I still had more than enough left of that little bonus from Buyeom to buy something extra."

Ellsberg blinked and did a double-take at Zelle's answer. Even before any shenanigans involving exchange rates into Thalers, 5000 Poke was almost half of his monthly salary. The Mothim raised a tarsus to speak, only for Zelle to wave him off with a feeler and turn her attention back to her teammates as she took her place at Sorge's table and waited for the others to join her.

"Anyway, what's this lead on Subject Red that you two found?" the Fairy-Type asked, prompting Aldrich to shift his wings and settle in before training his attention back on her.

"We spotted Percy and Calidus along with part of Team Traveller near the Academy," he explained. "If they are here, we should assume that Kline and Pleo are most likely here in the city as well."

Sorge and Zelle paused and stared back at the Noivern incredulously. The Sylveon of the pair tripped over her words briefly, before letting out a baffled exclamation.

"Wait, what? But why on earth would they come here of all places?!"

"We don't know yet, since they managed to slip away," the bat answered, shaking his head. "Considering how they completely disappeared after that, I suspect that someone in the city is helping them."

"I don't think it should be too much of a problem. We already know they went about with false Company sails before, and the fact that they came in Company attire means they don't know we figured that out," Ellsberg added. "If they haven't already cut and run, it should just be a matter of asking the Harbormaster to show the logs of the ships that have come into port recently, spotting the odd Ducklett out, and calling in a raid. Everyone here's at least a Second-Rank, so it should be trivial to step in and take the lot into custody afterwards before word makes its way up the chain."

Sorge took a moment to mull the Noivern and Mothim's words, before he folded his arms with a quiet grunt.

"Well, bringing things up with the Harbormaster would be an obvious step… but if we do find their ship, I'm not sure if having them raided right away would be our best course of action."

Aldrich tilted his head in response, giving a puzzled, yet curious raise of his brow at his superior.

"Hm? What are you getting at, Sorge?"

"To start with, Kline has eluded us multiple times in the past using feints and trickery," the Kommo-o began. "If he and his allies came to the Company's capital willingly, is it really safe to assume that they don't have a way of leaving Vollezee in case their ship gets discovered by the guards? Especially if they really are receiving outside help?"

Aldrich and Zelle fell silent and hesitated, making Ellsberg trade glances between the two. Kline's feint on Buyeom had been… unexpected, but how many times had he and his companions given them the slip before? The Mothim thought of asking for more details for a moment, only to decide against it as Sorge folded his arms and continued on.

"More importantly, this is an opportunity to discover just what it is Kline's been plotting. We know he's been trying to stop us for a while with a plan that involves teaming up with other Pokémon like himself, and there's no reason to think he's abandoned it," he explained. "We should assume that it's related to why he's here in Canalhouse. Why else would he have come here of all places with his teammates and another Protector?"

The other members of Team Sentinel traded glances with one another as Sorge paused and shook his head before speaking up.

"I'm aware it's a gamble, but it's one that I feel pretty safe in making. After all, Team Zephyr and their allies aren't the type to leave their friends behind if they can help it, meaning they aren't likely to leave Vollezee without that ship of theirs. Let's keep an eye on them and let things play out before we pounce," he insisted. "I'll inform the Administrator and let him know what we're up to. I doubt there's anything that would keep us from going for Kline here and now, but it'd help us figure out what exactly he's up to and get him when he's at his most vulnerable."

Zelle tilted her with a thoughtful murmur. It was hard to argue her team leader's point, though…

"Where do you think we should start? Obviously we should still get things squared away with the Harbormaster to stop Kline from just sailing off," she replied. "But what else do you have in mind?"

The Kommo-o fell quiet for a moment and thought to himself, before turning over to his Noivern counterpart.

"Aldrich, you said that you ran into Percy and Calidus near the Academy, right?" he asked.

"We did, yes," Aldrich said, nodding back. "Though that could've just been a lucky break."

"Perhaps, but it could also be a lead as to what they're all up to," Sorge mused. "We'd do well to keep an eye on the area for the next day or two."

The Kommo-o cast a glance out of his apartment window, his face curling up into a dark smile before he continued on.

"Besides, even if it is a dead end, we know exactly where to find them now."


Ketu didn't stick around with Kachina and the others for long after they made it to shore, having quickly come to the conclusion that the lot of them would be little more than dead weight for a simple infiltration. If Kline was actually still on the island, keeping them near would easily be more trouble than they were worth if they managed to spot him. Within half an hour, he was skulking about Bluewhorl's main square and its surroundings, where over the course of a few hours, he'd managed to piece together bits and pieces of what had happened to Commissioner Bunsen.

He'd sailed in, bullied the hicks around and done a surprisingly good job at keeping them in line, only for his work to fall flat on its face the moment the Protectors showed up. Ketu heard of a few things that had happened afterwards, such as how some of Bunsen's underlings had been put to work on Community Service, or how there had been a festival to celebrate the town's turn of fortune… but not a word about where any of the Protectors could've gone off to. He hadn't expected them to be talkative with Company ships visibly idling in the waters off port, but this level of tight-lippedness could only be possible if the townsfolk had coordinated with each other.

And that meant he'd have to find a weak link among them in order to learn the truth… but where would he even start?

"Hrmph, so many hicks, and no clues as to which of them would have a lead…"

The Weavile's attention drifted over to a Mightyena talking with a Machoke near the entrance of a potter's shopfront. The Mightyena didn't look like he'd be too challenging to interrogate, and even if he couldn't be separated from that Machoke, a Fighting-Type like him couldn't do much if he was frozen.

After taking a closer look however, Ketu noticed the pair were sporting bandages and trading worried conversation with one another about getting a cold shoulder from their Protector lately. The Weavile frowned and sized up the Mightyena a second time. He and his buddy must've gotten chewed up during the uprising earlier this week and spent a good while afterwards passed out. From their topic of conversation, it was highly unlikely they knew anything meaningful about Pleo, let alone Kline or Manaphy.

Ketu frowned and continued on the lane slightly, when his eyes fell on a Loudred loudly chortling with a Snorlax at a storage shop over how he was 'looking forward to working with Team Traveller again sometime soon'. The Weavile moved forward towards the direction of the Storage Shop, nearing the Normal-Type when he noticed a glinting bauble pinned to his white and green scarf, prompting Ketu to pause. The Loudred was with the local guild, and he'd surely have friends who'd notice if he went missing… not that the set of pipes a Loudred had would make that hard for them. What good did it do to try and get information out of him when it'd risk blowing his cover this early on?

The Dark-Type pinned his ears against his head and blew up a frustrated, frigid puff of air up at his head feathers. As hard as it was for him to believe, all this time, he didn't have a solid lead as to who would know about the Protectors' whereabouts. So what was he to do? Pick some random peasant and hope that he'd get what he needed out of him before breaking cover?

Those hicks on the ship had to have someone they would've let things slip to. Friends, family, some sort of connection along those lines. But how was he supposed to narrow things down at all in a village that he'd barely ever seen from closer than the deck of Lyn's ship?

"Come on, mom! The muffins should be done right now!"

Ketu's ears perked up at the sound of a younger voice calling out, making him look off down the lane where he spotted a young Druddigon tugging at his mother carrying a sack of flour. The Weavile walked forward a few paces and squinted at the two Druddigon as he couldn't help but shake a lingering sense of deja vu.

"… Wait a minute," Ketu murmured. "Those two look familiar…"

He carried along, following the Druddigon pair from a safe distance as they went further inland into the town, until he saw them duck into a small hut that smelled strongly of bread. The Weavile lingered a moment as he heard the two talk with each other, along with thumps that made him raise his brow. A quick walk past the door and glance in allowed him to see the two working in a back room behind the counter kneading dough, obviously busy since they'd have noticed him otherwise.

Ketu crept along the side of the shop, sneaking around the back where he found a pair of windows. Through the window closest to him he could see a bedroom for a pair of occupants about the size of a Marowak. There was a patch of straw bedding on either side of the room and a couple pieces of simple furniture. Odds and ends lay about the room, evidently the belongings of the Pokemon that slept there, including a toy ball, two piles of shiny baubles such as polished coins, crystals, and emera shards, and a silvery-white feather that was weighed down by a small pebble.

Ketu didn't think much of things at first, just the standard bric-a-brac that many Dragon-Types would have, only to pause after he noticed a blue scarf with a white star pattern hanging on the wall above one of the beds. The Weavile suddenly realized this was Crom's room, that little brat lizard from Team Traveller!

"Ah, so there is more to that little family of skinks than the Fraxure and his kid," he thought to himself. "Well then, let's find out what you two have been telling them."

Ketu carefully retraced his steps to the entrance of the shop and made his way in, sauntering up to the counter. There he rapped a claw against the wood, making Gwenith and Cenn look up from their work as the mother Druddigon hurried over to the counter.

"Buenas tardes," Gwenith greeted. "I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you passing through town?"

"Hm? Yeah, I've got a sister who visits here every now and then," Ketu replied. "Didn't expect things to get so crazy while seeing her, but eh. It happens."

"Well, you came in at just the right time!" Cenn cheered. "We're about to put out some fresh muffins!"

Ketu tilted his head, before idly looking over the other contents that were put on display as the two Dragon-Types ducked into the backroom, the Dark-Type taking the time to size up the rest of the shop to get a feel for his surroundings just in case things had to get… physical. A whiff of chocolate hit his nose just as Gwenith came back holding a tray of muffins studded with brown chunks that she set on the counter. Her younger helper sniffed at them briefly, before giving a cheerful bat of his wings and smiling back at their Weavile customer.

"See? They smell great, don't they? You're actually really lucky, since we got the ingredients in by special order," Cenn insisted. Ketu let his gaze linger on the younger Druddigon, curling his mouth up into a small smirk as he turned back to Gwenith.

"Kid's a great salesmon, isn't he?" the Weavile remarked, drawing a toothy smile back from the Druddigon baker.

"Well, I'd like to think that I taught him well."

"It certainly shows," Ketu said. "Though if you don't mind answering a few questions for a 'mon out of the loop… I heard the Protector here left. What exactly happened?"

Gwenith gave an askew glance in response to the Weavile's question. If he'd already seen Pleo, shouldn't he already know what had happened in town since then?

"I think one look at the harbor would make it obvious," she replied. "Those square-necks came sailing in, and he decided to make himself scarce."

"Huh? Why would a Protector need to flee?" Ketu asked. "Couldn't he just stand his ground and blow them away?"

"Eh? But Pleo's still young and his powers aren't all the way there yet!" Cenn exclaimed. "I mean, he can use them sometimes like what happened with that mean Charizard Commissioner a few days ago, but-"

Gwenith sharply cupped a claw over her child's mouth and shot a sharp scowl down. Cenn blinked and let his wings droop for a moment, as Ketu shot a knowing smile back across the corner and ran a claw along the counter's wood.

"Fair enough. I guess I can see why they're so interested in him. If they could control him, it sounds like he'd be a real nasty weapon to face down," the Weavile mused. "So… where'd he go off to anyway?"

The mother Druddigon let go of her son and turned her attention back to the Dark-Type with a sharp frown, obviously not thinking much of his comments.

"He didn't tell any of us before leaving," Gwenith said. "We all knew that there was trouble coming and he must've thought we'd be safer if we didn't know where he went."

"While going on a friendly name basis?" Ketu scoffed. "I find that a bit hard to believe, especially since there was that green snake Protector that was helping him out earlier- 'Zygarde', I think it was."

Gwenith and Cenn stared back blankly at the Weavile, the younger Druddigon starting to sense that something was amiss as he hid behind his mother, who raised a brow back at her customer.

"… How do you know this again?" Gwenith questioned, prompting Ketu to shrug back nonchalantly.

"Again, I've been here for a while," he replied. "I just paid attention to things that were happening in town."

Gwenith frowned and narrowed her eyes back, finding the Dark-Type's explanation to be completely unsatisfactory. After all…

"If you really saw that much, then you wouldn't need to ask me these things," the dragon insisted. "You should already know more than enough to answer your own questions."

"Eh, I missed a few details, and I wanted to fill in the truth a bit," Ketu remarked. "Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Huh? But that doesn't make any sense!" Cenn cried. "If you know all of that, wouldn't you also know where Pleo went to get the Knights' Ledger?"

Ketu's jaw briefly dropped at the mention of the 'Knights' Ledger'. He didn't know the exact details of what was in those books beyond that they were about events that had happened right before the Great Calamity. The contents of the one the Company had were supposed to be state secrets and that there was no way that the little feather duster or anyone in his circle of friends should know anything about them. The Weavile hastily recomposed himself and shot back a small scowl, shaking his head back with a low growl.

"… I don't know what a 'Knights' Ledger' is, so none of that means anything to me," he insisted. "Again, I want to know where Lugia went to. So, are you going to give things to me straight?"

Ketu narrowed his eyes and dug a set of claws into the counter, dragging them along the wood and leaving noticeable gouges behind. The Dark-Type pulled them away, brushing some stray wood shavings off his nails as he shot a threatening glare back to the shopkeep.

"Or am I going to need to pry it out of you?"

Gwenith felt her blood run cold at the Weavile's words and stepped back from the counter, for the first time feeling that she and her child were in genuine danger. Cenn seemed to pick up on the Dark-Type's ill intent himself, as he folded his wings back and glanced up at his mother, pawing at her with a nervous whine.

"M-Mom? What's going on?" he stammered. "If he wanted to know about Pleo and the others, why isn't he asking Guildmaster Hatteras? I thought he said that Pleo and the others went to Vollezee!"

Ketu's eyes widened. Why on earth would-? … Never mind that, he already had a suspicion of why Pleo would want to go there, and there would be plenty of time to piece things together. For now, his priority was getting back to Lyn's ship. The Dark-Type looked down at the counter for a moment, sharply sighing and lowering his ears apologetically before turning back to Gwenith.

"… Sorry, guess I've just been a bit wrapped up in things and getting a bit pushy," Ketu muttered. "But I've stalled you two long enough, let's get those muffins taken care of."

He slid a few Poké coins across the counter, Gwenith hurriedly snatching it, and making change, not particularly caring if she was being too generous with her counting. She ought to have been more concerned by how much Cenn had let slip in the past few minutes, but at that moment she had few thoughts other than to get the obvious villain across from her out of her shop and far, far away from Cenn.

Gwenith all but threw Ketu's muffins and his change back across the counter, the Weavile taking it and making his way for the door as she knelt down to pat a visibly shivering Cenn. The mother Druddigon pulled her son into a reassuring embrace when she noted that Ketu's footsteps stopped, the Dragon-Type poking her head over the counter to see that he'd paused at the doorway to look back at her.

"By the way, how's your mate doing?" Ketu asked. "Heard he felt absolutely gutted about losing that tournament in Tidemill City."

Ketu's mouth curled up in a knowing smirk as he slipped out of the door, leaving Gwenith to flop her mouth open and her eyes to widen before narrowing in a fiery rage. The only way that Weavile could've known about Pladur's injury in that arena fight…

"You! You're-!"

Was if he was the 'mon that gave it to him in the first place!

The Druddigon ran out from behind the counter and stormed out of her shop with her claws drawn, only to see that the Weavile was gone. The Dragon-Type looked around warily and drew shallow, tense breaths when she felt a tug at her tail and looked down to see Cenn pawing at her and looking up nervously.

"Mom? Is- Is everything alright?"

Gwenith said nothing for a long pause, before picking up Cenn and pulling him in tight to her chest with a worried sigh. The mother Druddigon nosed at her child, before trudging back into her bakery, warily casting glances over her shoulder all the while.


The districts just south of Canalhouse City's historic core had always been leafy relative to the surrounding city, and with its residents wealthy enough to afford the extra space, its canals were usually quieter and less trafficked than those of the rest of the city. Not that Zorn minded the quiet, as he snaked his way up a canal lined by large estates set back behind brick walls with small access docks poking out into the water. The sleepy canal gave him the freedom to swim about the water without having to shoo passersby out of the way. But more importantly…

"Ah! That's it, dad! That's Leonard's house up ahead!"

… it gave Murdo freedom to wander ahead without Zorn having to worry about losing track of him. The Gyarados had volunteered to take Leonard home to his mother that day. A reciprocal gesture he and Farn did for each other from time to time since his own family's manor was not far away. The sea serpent swam up to a dock in front of a three-story brick manor with a hipped roof and two protruding wings, Leonard looking over just in time from his perch atop Zorn's head to see Farn come from a rear entrance watched by guards and pace down a set of steps into a manicured garden.

"Mom!"

Zorn craned his head down to the access dock and let his Shinx passenger hop off, the Electric-Type hurrying up the dock just as his mother slipped past a brass gate and pulled him into a warm embrace. The Luxray administrator nuzzled her child and drew a playful purr, before she looked up at her Gyarados counterpart with a relieved smile.

"Thanks for picking up Leonard for me, Zorn," Farn said. "Work piled up more than I thought it would today."

"Don't mention it. You've done the same for me in the past, and I'm not the type to shirk paying things forward," the Gyarados grunted back. "Besides, the kids always seemed to enjoy going home with us more than a normal guarded escort."

Zorn coiled his body in the water around his own child, before rearing his head up and peering down at his Luxray colleague down at the canal's edge.

"On that note, have you heard anything back from Lyn?" Zorn asked. "He has always been somewhat close to you, so I was curious if he'd sent anything to your desk in advance."

"Hrmph, I wish. Though it is a bit soon to be expecting any news from Tromba when he just sailed for it the day before yesterday," Farn replied, shaking her head. "I spent today talking with Olivia from the Intelligence Division about potential sources of our intel leak."

The Luxray trailed off for a moment, before flattening her ears out and curling her muzzle down into a sharp frown.

"They don't seem to have turned up anything meaningful for a lead other than it had to be from a high-level source," the Electric-Type muttered. "Even without that, with everything going on on Tromba, we're almost certainly going to have to postpone returning to our posts."

Farn perked up as she felt a paw tug at her hindleg, the Luxray looking over her shoulder to see Leonard looking up at her with a puzzled tilt of his head.

"But… doesn't that mean that you'll get to stay longer?" the Shinx asked. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

The Gyarados and Luxray fell silent, Farn blinking back at her child for a few moments, before Zorn curled his maw up into a smile at his coworker.

"Well, that is a pretty big silver lining, wouldn't you say?" the Gyarados said. "I know that I'm certainly not complaining about getting to spend a few extra days here in Vollezee with Murdo."

Farn let a faint smile settle over her muzzle, before she turned and sat down, looking over at her son.

"I suppose that is a benefit, yes," the Luxray remarked. "So how was school today, Leonard?"

The Shinx paused and bobbed his tail back and forth as he gathered his thoughts, before looking up and opening his mouth to reply.

"Well, the lessons were mostly the same as always," he began. "But we got these new transfer students in our class today!"

Farn blinked at her son's reply, giving a puzzled tilt of her head.

"… Transfer students?"

"Uh huh!" Leonard insisted. "They're a Nidorina, a Druddigon, a Growlithe, and a Cubone! And… there was one other purple-feathered one that said he was a Wingull, but Sophie said he was wrong, so we're not sure what sort of Pokémon he is."

"They said that they came from the island you work on!" Murdo chimed in. "Are you friends with their parents?"

Farn flattened out her ears and narrowed her eyes into a puzzled scowl. While the past few weeks had been a blur, she never had a promotion to Third-Rank from her island slip her notice before. Was her son meaning to imply that somehow five promotions had happened without her knowing about it?

"… That many transfers from my island in the middle of the semester?" she murmured to herself. "I can't imagine why Commander Utsumi wouldn't have told me of that."

"To be fair, it has been an abnormal time lately," Zorn reminded. "It's not as if I pay that close attention to every promotion my own Commander sends up to me. Perhaps it's just something you overlooked in your paperwork."

Farn turned back to Zorn with a dubious frown, letting her tail bat back and forth agitatedly as she peered up at the Gyarados.

"I mean, I haven't focused too closely on my paperwork since the Guardian of the Seas turned up," she said. "But I'd hope that I wasn't that unfocused."

"Don't worry about it too much," the Gyarados insisted, idly swaying his tail in the water. "There's plenty of work ahead of us tomorrow, so just try and enjoy the evening off while you can."

Farn fell quiet, before lowering her head with a grumbling sigh.

"I suppose you have a point," she replied. "It's not as if tomorrow's going to be any less busy than today."

Leonard jolted up out of surprise for a moment, before worriedly nosing at his mother's shoulder.

"Huh? But if you're busy, then are you still going to be able to pick me up from class before you go back to Kenobi?" the Shinx asked.

Farn leaned in and nuzzled the top of her son's head, looking down with a reassuring smile.

"It's just a little extra work for the next few days, sweetie," the Luxray said. "Though I promise that I'll be able to walk home with you before I leave again."

"Walk? But why would you want to do that?!" Murdo wondered. "It's so much faster to swim here in Canalhouse City!"

Farn gave a displeased frown at Murdo's suggestion of 'swimming' to get around, prompting Zorn to give a gentle nudge at his child with his tail, and crane his head down with a bemused smile.

"I think the idea's more to spend time together, Murdo," the Gyarados remarked. "Just like we were going to on our way back. Did you feel like swimming down the central canal this time?"

Murdo splashed happily in the water at the prospect of swimming through Canalhouse City's central canal, which was always teeming with life and activity. Giddy with anticipation at taking his scenic route home with his father past the likes of the Strandmeer Arena, the Magikarp burbled happily in reply.

"Oh sure! See you at class tomorrow, Leonard!"

Farn watched as Murdo zipped ahead in the water, Zorn shaking his head bemusedly before he slunk deeper into the water and swam after him. The Luxray noticed Leonard walk past the entrance to her estate and lingered for a moment, wondering why these new students he and Murdo had mentioned sounded vaguely familiar.

The Electric-Type shook her head and brushed the matter off before following after her son. Her time with Leonard was always scarce, and it was best to make the most of the opportunities she had. Besides, what were the odds that that feeling of familiarity wasn't just stress from a long day's work getting to her?


Back on the waters right outside of Tromba's harbor, Lyn and his underlings dutifully kept the center of the deck vacant and massed at the railing of the Argent Aviso to face down Osmund and his band of locals on Bunsen's seized flagship. The last couple of hours had gone by with fruitless attempts at negotiations, with 'mons from both sides accusing the other of deliberate stall tactics. By this point, the Samurott's patience had long worn thin as he shook his head back at Osmund's latest offer with a sharp huff.

"Again, expunging this entire episode from the record is more than a fair offer considering how the Company has bombarded places from sea for lesser offenses than this!" Lyn snapped.

"You see, that's what I thought when you stabbed me and put me on bed rest for a week when you came for the Protector," Osmund retorted. "But clearly 'pretending blatant treason didn't happen' after letting you sail off with him last time didn't mean a whole lot, since the Board just sent another Commissioner here to push us around. So Mayor Hatteras insisted that there needed to be consequences this time."

Lyn narrowed his eyes with an irritated scoff. It was hard for him to believe at times that he and Osmund hailed from the same class in the Academy, much less once called each other close friends. While he'd grown out of his youthful impulses and moved on to more constructive endeavors such as climbing the Company's ranks, Osmund remained ever the troublemaker he'd been back in youth days. Clearly it was the reason why he'd ever caught Hatteras' eye in the first place when the Company forced him to pick an emissary while negotiating the island's… understanding after Darzin lost control of it.

A bright light suddenly flashed from behind him, the Samurott glancing over his shoulder to see Ketu and the rest of the scouting team having appeared at the center of the deck. A quick look back at Bunsen's ship revealed Osmund and the other Trombans had noticed it as well, the lot staring wide-eyed as their Sceptile ringleader turned to him with an incredulous scowl

"What the-?!" he exclaimed. "Lyn, did you just call in a teleporter-?"

"Hrmph, negotiations are over for now," the Samurott shot back. "Everyone, keep these peasants from snooping over the railing so that I can have a moment of privacy."

Lyn's underlings massed at the railing as he walked off, a few clambering onto each other's shoulders to form a crude wall to block off the view from the disabled galleon as protests sounded out in the background. The Samurott captain made his way for Ketu's group, which dispersed as Ketu stepped forward and brushed off the fur on his arms and fished out a muffin from his bag. Lyn rolled his eyes at his first mate's behavior, hardly the sort of first impression he was hoping for, but Ketu'd already demonstrated that he could deliver results before

"What did you find out there?" Lyn asked, prompting the Weavile to reply with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, some nice muffins, obviously," Ketu replied. "Why? Did you want one?"

Ketu raised his claw with his muffin and gave it a little shake as a smug smirk spread over his face. The Weavile watched as Lyn's eyes hardened into a sharp glare and the Samurott visibly started to lose his patience, prompting the Dark-Type to cut in right as the captain opened his mouth to launch into a tirade.

"Though if you're talking about the Protector, I looked around town, but it looks like our princess is in another castle."

Lyn raised a brow and shot a puzzled frown back, letting a low grumble rise from the back of his throat.

"… What on earth are you talking about?" the otter demanded. "We're pursuing the Guardian of the Seas, not a princess."

Ketu's smile faded as he narrowed his eyes and groaned in annoyance. Had Lyn never bothered to read a book when he was younger? Why he'd understood that reference since he was a little Sneasel just learning to read in school! The Weavile shook his head, before opting to repeat his point in plainer terms.

"The bird's gone, and so are the other Protectors that were with him," he explained. "They expected that we'd come for them so they left for another island."

Lyn face hardened into a skeptical scowl and eyed the Dark-Type warily. Could his first mate really have come to such a definitive conclusion in a few hours? After all…

"Ketu, Tromba's not that small of an island. There's forests and a Mystery Dungeon that they could easily have taken shelter in," the Samurott said. "What makes you so sure of that assessment when Trombans aren't exactly known for their honesty in dealing with us?"

"Because my intel came from the mouth of a brat who's got a dad working on the smugglers' ship that Lugia's been hanging around with," Ketu insisted. "I seriously doubt he'd have mentioned that Lugia went to Vollezee if it wasn't a slip-up."

Lyn paused and twitched his whiskers for a moment with an incredulous blink, before narrowing his eyes back with a sharp frown.

"You're hinging an awful lot of faith that this isn't a feint," he harrumphed. "Vollezee is the Company's capital. It's about the last place that Lugia and his companions would want to go to!"

"That's the point Captain, that we'd think that. Remember these 'mons have fake sails with our colors," the Weavile snapped, flattening his ears. "If you were in their position, wouldn't you try to hide somewhere where you thought you were least expected if you thought you could get away with it?"

Lyn fell silent and stared back in thought for a moment, before gritting his teeth and turning to the rest of his crew with a sharp bellow.

"Hoist the anchor and lower the sails!" the Samurott shouted. "Signal the other ships in the water! We're getting out of here!"

The sailors hastily cleared away from the edge of the railing and hurried back to their posts. Ketu rolled his eyes and bit into his muffin as the lot quickly brought the anchor and sails back to their sailing positions and a Crobat above the rigging signalled with his wings to the other ships in the water. Osmund and the others on his ship looked on in blank confusion, before they felt a sharp wind and noticed Lyn's ship was starting to move, with the other four ships in the background visibly unfurling their sails to similarly set sail.

"Lyn?!" Osmund cried. "What are you-?!"

With the aid of its escorts' efforts, the Argent Aviso and the rest of the fleet began to pull away much to the slack-jawed astonishment of all the Pokémon present. A couple of Bunsen's underlings that had been brought above deck went wide-eyed and ran up to the railing, crying out after the steadily vanishing ships.

"W-Wait! Stop!" a Swoobat begged. "You can't just leave us like this!"

"Y-You were supposed to get us out of here!" a Lopunny whined.

Osmund and his fellow guards left the grunts to call out their unheard pleas to their departing counterparts, the lot's minds growing troubled over the entire episode as they traded uneasy looks and murmurs with each other. Orino from among the guards walked up, the Nidoran giving a wary glance up at the Sceptile.

"Captain, what on earth just happened?"

Osmund cast his glance down towards the water below, tightening his grip on the railing as he grit his teeth and looked off at the departing ships sailing off on their northward course.

"Nothing good, I'm sure."


Author's Notes:

- (¡)Por todos los cielos! - Spanish: "By the heavens!", used analogously to "For crying out loud!"
- wydra - Polish: "otter"