Chapter 88: One Jump Ahead
The evening after Team Traveller's discovery of the Vault's location, they and the rest of their teammates on the Siglo Swellow gathered together and mulled their options. After some deliberation, they came to the conclusion that if their encounter with Zelle portended a trap they'd need to plan around, that they'd likely need to fight their way out of port even if they abandoned their objective and left right here and now. One way or another, they would need to get the Company's volume of the Knights' Ledger, and with the alternative of having to come after it again with the Company better alerted and better prepared, it was quickly decided that it was best for them to stay the course while they still had a hope of retrieving it.
The following day, Team Traveller went through classes much as the day before. The five plotted out a schedule based off of snatches they'd overheard from Filbert and his siblings while they sat through Gerhard's class, which they used to try and develop a believable sequence. Strategic Battling, Economics… followed by a break that they took advantage of to make their way back to the Archive to scout it further.
The five took the opportunity to try out the westward skybridge that linked the main building with one across the canal to try out an alternate route towards the Archive. After all, they never knew when they might need to make a hasty exit, and it was important to keep their options open. Just after their Economics class let out, Team Traveller met in the third-floor hallways on the west side of the main building. There, they popped over a skybridge from the Academy's central building off towards the Archive in the west, not knowing that all the while, they were being quietly tracked by a Grovyle in Company garb.
Salvini made her way over to the skybridge and started to follow after Team Traveller, when she walked straight into an approaching presence and stumbled back.
"Ack!"
Salvini pratfell and looked up to see a Dreepy and a Toxtricity in students' scarves having stumbled over and picking up dropped belongings. The three stared at each other for a brief moment of mutual confusion, before the two students dusted themselves off, got up, and continued along.
"Sheesh, she's almost as big of a klutz as that dork Caelum you hang out with," the Toxtricity grumbled. "Come on, Princess Garnet, we said we'd meet up with Twiggy after history classes."
Salvini blinked, before righting herself and hurrying down the hall after where Team Traveller had been heading off to, and came across a fork in the hallway to her left and right. The gecko looked in either direction, but there was neither hide nor scale of Team Traveller to be seen, leaving her to hang her head and pinch her brow with a quiet sigh.
"What are you kids up to?" she murmured.
Salvini debated whether to go deeper into the new building to search after the youngsters, when she chanced to catch a glimpse of lavender fur cross back at the main building's end of the skybridge. There, she saw the form of a Mienshao in a First-Rank scarf slipping off to the right, the Grovyle hesitating a moment after she realized that the 'mon was…
"Hertsog?"
Salvini hurried back to the bridge's entrance and after the Mienshao, where she caught up with him chattering with an Ariados and a Marked Leafeon in the hallway. One of the silver linings of their reassignment from Mengir was that it was easier for the four of them to bump into each other while on the job. She didn't know if it was worth all the grief that had happened as part of the assignment, but it was something, at least. Salvini breathed a quiet, contented sigh, grateful for the opportunity, and walked up to join her companions just as Hertsog noticed her approach and gave a quiet chuckle.
"Heh, you all certainly don't seem busy right now," the Mienshao said. "Hope that's not a sign that you're slacking off."
"Meh, we're on break," Payak answered. "So I wanted to stretch my legs a bit."
"And it is nice to be able to see some different scenery every now and then," Phyllis added, prompting Salvini to shoot back a small grin.
"I'm just glad that you're all taking to this place this well," the Grovyle said. "It's been a long time since I walked these halls, and I wasn't quite in the same position back then."
Payak sighed, and shifted his legs in place with a low chitter, casting wary glances about his surroundings.
"I mean, it's no forested island, but you can't say it's boring…"
Payak and the others continued on with a brief summary of their day's rounds, with the Ariados' excitement apparently having been shooing off a delinquent he'd come across in the middle of defacing one of the back walls of the main building. Salvini's mind drifted off as Phyllis and Hertsog pressed the Bug-Type for more details, as she thought of Team Traveller's members and turned a curious glance to her teammates.
… Even if they all hadn't met on good terms on Mengir, what were her teammates' current opinions of Team Traveller? She assumed Crom would get a welcome reception from the way he was there to help repair Mengir's shrine alongside them, but the others she was less sure about.
Maybe it made sense to test the waters. After all, if those kids could just appear in front of her teammates as they pleased without worries, it'd certainly make her life a lot easier…
"Well, you're not wrong. Vollezee's always got something happening on it," Salvini chuckled. "Why, next thing you know, we'll wind up running into those kids from Mengir again."
A sudden dark cloud seemed to come over the group as Salvini's teammates fell silent. Hertsog shot a sideways glance at her, while Phyllis seemed to visibly squirm at the idea of meeting 'those kids from Mengir' another time. Payak's reaction was the most agitated of the lot, as he tensed his body and let out an angry hiss in reply.
"Hrmph, well for their own sake, they should hope that we don't," Payak spat. "If I see those bratya again, I'll web 'em up!"
Salvini blanched and unconsciously shifted back at the Ariados' reply, fumbling with her words briefly before she spoke up uneasily.
"I mean, not that they didn't already get themselves in trouble, but isn't that a bit harsh, Payak?" the Grovyle asked. "They were just a bunch of kids."
"Kids who got us reassigned thanks to whatever happened between you and Administrator Darzin," Payak huffed. "I don't care if the higher-ups got something wrong about them being pirates, if I somehow run into them again, I'll give them a piece of my mind!"
A quiet shiver went down Phyllis' spine, before she pinned her leafy ears back and lowered her gaze towards the ground with a small shake of her head.
"I'll admit that Commander Briggs' story felt… iffy, but I know what I saw among the 'mons on their team," she chimed in. "If we ran into them again, the demon that was with them would almost certainly be nearby. I can't even imagine how bad things could get if he was loose in a big city like this one…"
Salvini and her companions fell silent at the Leafeon's retort, as Payak shot an askew glance at Phyllis' insistence that they had come across a 'demon'. Hertsog raised a brow back at his Marked teammate and remained quiet for a moment, before giving a small sigh and turning his attention towards Salvini.
"… What brings this topic up anyways, Salvini?" Hertsog asked. "It's not as if we'd ever run into them again."
Salvini said nothing for a moment and pawed uneasily at her shoulder, weighing her words carefully before speaking up in reply.
"… It was just a thought that crossed my mind," the Grovyle answered. "It's not that big of a world anymore, after all."
"Maybe, but I doubt they'd be dumb enough to run off to the Company's capital," Payak huffed back. "You don't get in trouble with the Company and then come here…"
Salvini suppressed a nervous titter at the Ariados' words. Yes, rationally the Bug-Type would be absolutely correct. But for whatever hairbrained reason, in defiance of all common sense, Team Traveller had come anyway, and was right there on campus. And from what her companions had to say, it was for the best that they didn't know that the kids were pretending to be students at the moment.
The booming chime of a distant clocktower rang out, making Hertsog and Phyllis' ears perk up as the hallways quickly filled up again with Pokémon hurrying to different classes. Hertsog backed out of the way of the passing students, before glancing back to his colleagues with a grudging sigh.
"I guess that this is it for now," the Mienshao said. "We'll touch base again after work this evening."
The four nodded and waved each other goodbye, Payak and Phyllis disappearing off down the left branch of the hallway while Hertsog drifted for the right. As her companions headed off, Salvini lingered at the mouth of the skybridge and glanced down at the ground.
From the way her friends had reacted, it was hard to imagine that telling them about Team Traveller's presence would end in any way other than the lot of them getting summarily drug off to some dark cell. On the other hand, wouldn't breaking the news early be more likely to make her friends open to the idea that the youngsters were something other than a bunch of pirates? After all, the Academy wasn't that big, and it'd be a matter of time before one or more of her friends spotted one of the kids.
Then again… would they know Pleo was here based just off a casual sighting? He was going about in a disguise now, and Nida was no longer the wee Nidoran they remembered. On top of that, Crom was with them, and while his presence would raise eyebrows since they'd seen him as a First-Rank before, their initial assumption of him wasn't that he was a pirate…
The Grovyle blinked after realizing the hallways had emptied and she'd spent a few minutes standing in place wrestling with herself over what to do. The Grass-Type looked about warily, before shaking her head with a sigh.
"… I'll work it out later," she thought to herself. "Don't wanna get a reputation as a slacker this early on into my new position."
Salvini shuffled off towards the same hallway Hertsog went down. Her job here expected her to watch over the campus right now, and lingering away from her duties would surely not endear her to her new superiors.
Besides, with how tangled-up things were with Team Traveller, she could use the time away from them to clear her head a bit.
Back in the Academy's Archive, Team Traveller found themselves wiling away their time after classes in the hallways just outside the entrance leading up to the secure wing that housed the Vault. Nida and her companions plopped themselves down and set to work pretending to tend to their studies as they listened in on the guards' chatter from around the corner. Every now and then, the Nidorina would fish out a small pocket mirror she'd borrowed from the Siglo Swellow to peek around the corner and take a look at the approach to the cast iron doors.
The five's ears perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, prompting Team Traveller to hastily bury themselves in their books. Nida pulled up a sheet of paper and a charcoal nub just as a party of three guards made their way down the hall for the iron doors. The Nidorina held up her mirror and peered around the corner, where she could see an armored Stunfisk sliding out of a bucket of water and a similarly-attired Cursola approaching the three, both of them visibly agitated and annoyed with the newcomers.
"Zeg, waar bleven jullie?!" the Stunfisk demanded. "We've been waiting for you for almost fifteen minutes!"
"Yeah, I've got kids that need to be picked up right now!" the Cursola fumed.
From their vantage point, Nida scribbled a few notes on a loose piece of paper with a charcoal nub, noting the Stunfisk and the Cursola along with their replacements on a small list of species and the times they'd spotted them. After finishing her notes, Nida gaped down at the paper, where she noticed that this had been the second change of the guards they'd seen since arriving, and that if one took off the fifteen minutes that the Stunfisk complained about, that it seemed to indicate that the guards' shifts lasted two hours apiece.
"Oi."
Nida and her companions froze, the Nidorina quickly pulling her paper close to her chest as the five youngsters looked down and saw the Stunfisk scowling up at them.
"If you're trying to study, you'll get more done in one of the study halls or the library than on a hard floor like this," the Stunfisk said. The Ground-Type stared at the five for a moment, as they got up and hastily packed up their belongings before inching back uneasily.
"… Right," Nida replied. "Thanks for the tip."
The Nidorina hurried off along with her teammates, rounding about the bend and carrying along down the hallway until they were confident they were out of earshot. After gaping about, Nida peered back down at her notes, before glancing back at her friends.
"Looks like these shifts are about two hours long, and that they're on a regular schedule through the day," Nida mused to herself. "So in that case, our best opportunity to actually get the Ledger is probably when the guards change their shift sometime earlier in the day, since it would let us be able to get lost among the crowd if we time things right."
Crom peeked over at Nida's notes for a moment, before he raised a claw to his chin and mulled her remarks over to himself.
"Shouldn't we worry more about finding out about what to expect on the other end of those doors?" he insisted. "It's not as if we can all sneak in there to take a look around on our own."
"That's not our job," Elty retorted. "Not yet, anyways. Remember that we're just supposed to be scouting the entrance to the secure wing right now."
Guardia shot an askew glance back at the Growlithe. They'd spent plenty of time scouting about how to get to the Ledger, but somehow it still felt like they were overlooking something important with their planning…
"Even if we manage to get the Ledger, don't we still need to find a way to get out of here?" she asked. "I know we tried out that skybridge earlier, but are we sure we know what the quickest way out of the Academy from this place is?"
Nobody had an answer to the Cubone's question, as they hemmed and hawed amongst themselves. Just then, the patter of footsteps turned Pleo's attention down the hall, where he saw a pair of purple Nidoran and a blue one quickly look about their surroundings before pulling a door open and slipping past it. The Lugia blinked a moment, as he realized that the three were…
"Aren't those Filbert and his siblings?" he asked. "What are they up to right now?"
Pleo's teammates turned and gaped at the door for a moment, as Nida stepped forward with a wary twitch of her whiskers.
"Well, they seemed to know something was behind that door," she murmured. "Let's go and see what it is."
Nida and the others slipped over to the door and pulled it open, discovering a windowless passage lit up with jars filled with glow-moss. The five made their way along with puzzled gapes between each other, wondering just where they had entered when amid the dim, blue light, Crom noticed Filbert and his siblings reaching for another door at the end of the passage and preparing to push it open.
"Hey! What are you three doing here?" Crom asked.
Filbert and his siblings stiffened up and fanned their barbs out with a start, the three Nidoran whirling around to see Team Traveller's members behind them. After a moment to collect his bearings and suck in a breath, Quintin pinned his ears back, giving a defensive scowl at the Druddigon and his peers.
"Hey! No fair sneaking up on us like that!" he complained.
Guardia tilted her head and cocked a brow from under her helmet, motioning at the door with her club.
"Eh? Sneaking up on you?" she questioned. "Isn't this just a normal hallway?"
The three Nidoran shuffled about uneasily, before Filbert reared up and pawed at the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle.
"Well… it is, but… it's kinda off-limits for students since the Pokémon that work here use this as a service access," he explained.
"But, it's also the fastest way to exit the Archive from this part of the building," Braam added. "And we haven't gotten caught sneaking through here that many times, so…"
Team Traveller's members blinked at blue Nidoran's reply. So this little passageway would allow them to…
"'Exit the Archive'?" Elty asked. "Can you show us?"
"Sure," Filbert insisted. "You caught us right at the way out anyways."
Filbert pushed the door open as warm sunlight could be seen peeking through ahead. Team Traveller followed along, exiting after their Nidoran guides to find themselves in a narrow passage littered with unattended crates and clutter hemmed in by walls on three sides. Pleo curiously eyed his surroundings as he carried along, seeing that the service access they were in led directly over to one of the city's canals where the expected watercraft and swimming Pokémon could be seen plying its waters in the background. After they made their way out and came to a small, cobbled path along the canal just outside the mouth of the service access, Filbert turned around, and nodded back as he motioned off at the Academy's central building in an almost direct line from where they were off to the east.
"We like to use the study halls out here since they're less crowded than the ones in the main building. This service access is a handy shortcut for getting back to it," Filbert explained. "It's saved a quiz score in Gerhard's class more than once before."
Pleo stepped forward and gawked at his surroundings, casting a glance back down the service access as he realized that he and his teammates had spotted this passage on their first time entering the Archive.
… How had it never occurred to him and his teammates to find an exit to it from inside? This certainly was a faster way back towards the main building and the ship than anything they'd found so far.
"It does seem handy…" Pleo murmured.
"That's why we can trust you to keep quiet about it… right?" Braam pressed. The blue Nidoran and her companions stared back insistently at Team Traveller's members, who traded glances, before Elty nodded back with a low grunt.
"Don't worry," the Growlithe insisted. "Your secret's safe with us."
Filbert and his siblings gave a grateful nod back before hurrying off, leaving Team Traveller to watch after the three until they were safely out of earshot. The five glanced back at the passageway they'd just taken, as the lot leaned in for a quiet huddle away from the street.
"Looks like we found that exit we needed," Crom said. "Though what do we do about getting past those doors and the guards watching them? They know what's inside them and we don't."
Nida paused a moment, before gazing back towards the Archive with a knowing shake of her head.
"We do have a way of finding out, though," Nida insisted. "Kline has his Cells, remember? He just needs an opening to get one of them in there…"
That evening, Ketu made his way along the canals of Sorge's sleepy neighborhood in the southern part of Canalhouse City. He'd passed a letter for his Kommo-o friend along to the Fearow that handled mail runs for Lyn's crew the moment the Argent Aviso made it to the Diamond beacons marking the main current back north to Vollezee. It was a simple note saying nothing more than that he'd be back in Vollezee earlier than expected and wanted to meet up with him and the rest of their friends the evening he returned. The Weavile left Lyn's ship a few hours after they pulled into port that morning, under the auspices of helping to gather monpower to help scour the island in search of Team Traveller.
Even if they had just started making use of Sorge's apartment again as a meeting place, Ketu was sure that the others on Team Sentinel would've gotten his message and planned accordingly for his arrival. The Weavile walked up to the door and paused a moment to check if he was being tailed, before slipping into the hallways connecting the apartments of Sorge's canalhouse. From there, it was just a simple climb up a flight of stairs, where there at the back was Sorge's apartment, with the padlock over the door removed.
Ketu raised a claw and gave a sharp knock on the door. After a brief pause, he heard heavy footsteps approaching, as the door opened to reveal a Kommo-o waiting for him on the other end, with a small smile over his face.
"It's good to see you back early. We've been waiting for you," Sorge said. "Come on in."
Ketu entered the apartment as Sorge closed the door after him, and made his way into its living room, where the rest of Team Sentinel had already gathered at its table. Why, even Ellsberg was present. That was something he definitely wouldn't have expected just a month ago. One of the stools had been left open for him beside Zelle, who flicked her feelers and shot an impish smile back to her Dark-type teammate.
"So, how was your island vacation, Ketu?" the Sylveon teased.
"Eh, could have been better, but at least the food was nice," the Weavile replied with a casual shrug. "Though I'm pretty sure you already know that's not why I asked you all to come."
Ketu walked up and took a seat at the table. The Dark-Type took a moment to settle in, and glanced at his teammates before hardening his features into a serious expression.
"There's been some stuff going on that I got wind of out on Tromba," Ketu said. "It's something that I think you'd all wanna hear about."
The other members of Team Sentinel traded puzzled looks with one another, wondering what it was Ketu had to say to them. Sorge was the first to break the silence, as the Kommo-o hesitantly spoke up.
"We… actually had some news to share with you as well," he replied. "But that can wait a bit. Let's hear about what you found out first."
Ketu tilted his head out of surprise at the Dragon-Type's response. Hadn't everyone else been on shore leave? Just what could they have found out while he was gone?
No matter, there'd be plenty of time for Sorge and the others to explain. For now, it was just best to cut to the chase, and relay what he had turned up while he was stuck with Lyn and his crew.
"When I was out on Tromba, I found out that Pleo set sail for Vollezee, along with Kline and Manaphy," the Dark-Type explained. "Given that they'd already skipped town by the time Lyn made it there, we should assume they're already here in Canalhouse City."
Much to Ketu's surprise, the other Pokémon around the table didn't seem fazed at all by his report. The Weavile blinked for a moment, glancing over at Aldrich as he awkwardly pawed at his shoulder before speaking up.
"We… actually knew about that already and informed Administrator Elilan about it," the Noivern replied. "While we didn't know about Manaphy for sure, we figured out everything else two days ago."
Ketu stared back with a stunned expression, feeling a vague sense of deja vu with when he caught up with his teammates on Buyeom Island. He knew that Sorge and the rest of the team were still actively embedded in the Intelligence Division, but he certainly hadn't expected them to do this good of a job at staying on top of things!
"But how did you-?!"
"Aldrich and I ran into some of Zygarde and Lugia's companions in Hardenheuvel the other day," Ellsberg explained. "After that, it wasn't hard to put together that there was a ship in the harbor that lines up perfectly with that schooner they sail around in."
"We've already flagged their ship with the harbormaster to make sure they stick around," Zelle added. "In the meanwhile, we've been tailing them to keep tabs on their activities. They dolled their Lugia friend up in some cheap disguise and have been passing some of their younger members off as students in the Academy."
Ketu blinked, before blowing a deflated puff of breath up at his head feathers and leaning back. The Dark-type shrugged his shoulders briefly, before idly picking at his claws with a small frown.
"Hrmph, guess I got you all worked up for nothing, huh?" he said. "If you've been watching them, I suppose that means you also already know about their plan to steal the Knights' Ledger?"
Ketu waited for the expected affirmation, only for the room to go deathly silent. The Weavile looked up and gave his teammates a puzzled look, before noting that Sorge, Zelle, and Aldrich were all staring at him in startled surprise. Ellsberg glanced around blankly, and raised a tarsus to say something, only to catch himself after Zelle began to speak up.
"We actually didn't know that," the Sylveon said. "I got them to slip up and mention that they were trying to find the Vault at the Academy, but we didn't know what they would want from it."
Sorge paused and grit his teeth as a dawning realization came over him.
"Of course, the Company's tome of the Knights' Ledger was supposed to have been moved there for safekeeping years ago and Kline would've had a way to find out about that through his Cells," he growled. "He must be planning on using that Ledger to try and blackmail the Company into surrendering Micky! It's the only thing that would justify Kline taking risks this big!"
"Actually… I don't think he's just after Micky. After going through the trouble of teaming up with other Protectors, if I had to guess, he's trying to force both the Company and the Empire to stop going after Protectors in general," Ketu said. "And if the Company isn't their only target, who's to say that this is the first volume they went for? They did spend a lot of time in Imperial waters, and considering what happened right around the time they left them…"
Ellsberg cocked his head back at the Weavile, before shaking it and speaking up with a sharp buzz.
"I… admittedly don't know the first thing about any of all that, but if we know what Kline's up to now, why don't we put an end to it? Haven't we bided our time enough by now?" the Mothim asked.
No reply came back at first, when Aldrich raised a brow and brought a claw to his chin in thought.
"Do we really want to though?" the Noivern responded. "Since this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us."
The other Pokémon gathered at the table shot curious glances at Aldrich, as Ellsberg raised a brow with a dubious frown.
"… What do you mean by that, Aldrich? Didn't you agree with me the other day that we were better off getting the ship raided?" he wondered, prompting Ketu to fold his arms and raise a brow.
"Yeah, I'd like to hear what you have in mind as well," the Weavile added. "Lyn is currently setting up an ambush for the Siglo Swellow in the lagoon, so we only have so much time to wait around on those kids."
"Well, if your hunch is right, Ketu, then it means that Kline, Pleo, and their smuggler friends already have at least one of the other parts of the Knights' Ledger," the Noivern elaborated. "Considering all the trouble they stirred up on their way out of the Empire, there's a good chance they could have theirs. If the contents of that volume really are what they're said to be, they'd have the ability to stir up open revolts in Company waters."
"But if they really do have something like that, we could get that right here and now if we called in a raid on their ship," Ellsberg insisted.
"If they have one. After that raid, the ship would be combed over by guards and anything they found would be admitted into evidence afterwards. It'd be significantly riskier for us to try and intercept it under such circumstances," Aldrich reminded. "But… if we waited until they stole the one from the Vault, we'd be guaranteed at least one part of the Knights' Ledger, regardless of whether they already have any on their ship or not."
Ellsberg fell quiet at Aldrich's words. Aldrich twitched his ears, realizing that Ellsberg evidently hadn't been considering that angle, which prompted him to quickly explain his point.
"If we were able to intercept one or more parts of the Knights' Ledger, it would be in the Administrator's interest to keep it around as insurance. Especially without anyone else knowing," he continued. "When Administrator Elilan assumes control over the Company, the Empire would have nothing to counter him if he aired their dirty secrets from the Company's volume. And if things ever blew up with Kline sometime before then and someone else in the Company captures Kline before us… well, what better way to force the Board to quietly hand him over than keeping the contents of the Empire's or their own Ledger hanging over their heads?"
Sorge brought a claw to his chin in thought. If the reports of the Ledger's contents were true, then it made sense to pursue Aldrich's proposal as an objective. Unfortunately, that didn't change anything about the fact that they didn't know if Kline and his companions actually had any volumes of the Ledger with them. For all they knew, this was some sort of elaborate feint, and it wouldn't make any sense to barge into their schooner in search of tomes of the Knights' Ledger without getting a better feel for what was really going on.
"Perhaps it could work, but if we're going to invest serious effort trying to steal stuff from their ship without the Company knowing about it, we need to be sure they actually have something…"
The Kommo-o paused for a moment, before turning his head towards his Weavile friend across the table.
"And that's where you come in, Ketu," Sorge said, prompting Ketu to give a puzzled glance back.
"… What do you have in mind?"
"You already have the best idea of what to expect from those hicks and their ship, and out of all of us you're the one best-suited to sneak aboard and search around. As such, you'd have the easiest time figuring out if they really do have one of those tomes, and if they do, how to take it from them," the Dragon-Type explained. "As for us, we'll stay our current course and keep a close eye on what they're up to with the Vault for now. Regardless of if they manage to steal it and manage to make it out of the Archive, it'd be fairly straightforward for us to swoop in. Whether from picking them up from the onsite guards, or from ambushing them on their way back to their ship. After that, we'll call in that raid to tie up loose ends."
Sorge gave a serious glance at the other Pokémon gathered about the table, before raising his voice to continue.
"It should go without saying, but the moment the rest of the Company gets involved, our window for capturing Kline here on Vollezee will close. This is a golden opportunity to realize everything we've been working towards in one fell swoop, and we might not get another one like it anytime soon," he reminded. "As such, it's imperative that we find out anything else we need to about this plot with the Vault as soon as possible, and be ready to put things into motion at a moment's notice."
"Right. If they can make it out of there, it gives us a chance to intercept the Company's volume of the Ledger," Zelle insisted. "Even if that's the only volume they have, the Administrator just having the thing without anyone knowing would give him a much freer hand to stop lurking in the shadows and start putting our plans for a better Cradle into motion. After all, what's the Board going to do? Publicly cry about being blackmailed?"
A devious smile flashed over her face as the Sylveon looked over the rest of her teammates, before rising from her seat and motioning to her partners.
"So what are we waiting for?" she asked. "Let's get down to business."
The following day, Nida and her companions once again started classes in the Academy bright and early in the morning, with the decision made by the crew the prior evening to send some of their older companions to case the approach to the Vault and help slip one of Kline's Cells in, while Nida and her companions were busy maintaining their cover. After some internal debate, it fell to Alice, the most accomplished thief of their ranks to do the honors with a lockpicking kit she and her team had picked up some time ago in their travels, who insisted that the matter would be child's play provided she had a suitable distraction.
And now, there she was, in the hallways of the Archive, using the same pocket mirror Nida had borrowed the day before to glimpse around the corner at a Probopass and Sirfetch'd standing guard… with not so much as a scale of her scheduled distraction to be seen. The Sneasel pinned her ears and tapped her foot quietly as she looked about with an impatient frown, murmuring under her breath at the unexpected delay in her plans.
"The guards should be switching out soon," Alice murmured. "What's taking those two so long?"
The Sneasel scanned her surroundings again when she heard a thump come from down the opposite hallway, turning just in time to see a Vibrava strike a wall before flitting back erratically with a grumbling chitter. There, Pyry and Pekka were making their way down the hall garbed in student's scarves… if one could call their lurching, glazed-eyed gait 'making their way down it'. The pair caught the attention of the Probopass and Sirfetch'd as they approached, with the Gabite of the pair giving a dazed look for a moment, before pointing a claw accusingly at his Vibrava companion.
"Hey- Hey you. Buzzy," Pyry hiccuped. "I don't like how your voice sounds."
"Yeah, well- I don't like the way your face looks, fish breath!" Pekka slurred back. His Gabite partner let out an offended growl, crouching unsteadily as he readied himself for a pounce.
"Fish breath?!" Pyry slurred back. "Oh, you asked for it!"
The Gabite lunged for the Vibrava, the two trading slashes and bites as they wound up tumbling to the ground and scuffling with one another. All the while, the Probopass and Sirfetch'd traded looks with one another, before the Rock-type lowered his Mini-Noses and let out an unimpressed huff.
"What on earth are those teachers doing for discipline these days if their students are showing up drunk on campus? Especially this early in the day," the Probopass sighed.
"They're probably just a pair of delinquents from the underclassmons," the Sirfetch'd growled. "Come on, we'll sort them out."
The two guards left their posts, the Sirfetch'd of the pair barking at the feuding Dragon-Types to "Knock it off already" as Alice quickly slipped past them and scurried to the door they were guarding. The Sneasel flicked her ears, the sound of slurred shouts revealing that Pyry and Pekka's fight had not yet been broken up, and pulled the flap open on her bag to peer down at a Cell laying amongst her items inside with a small frown.
"You'd better be sure you can find that vault in a day, Kline," she said, as she raised a claw with a small metal pick to try and force the lock of the door open. "If what the kids told us is anything to go by, I'm not sure if we'll have much more than one to work wi-"
Creaaaak
Alice's blood froze as she heard the door ahead of her creak and saw it start to open. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a small gap to her left and wedged herself there as the door swung open, watching as a Slowbro with a shell clamped onto his left arm and a Machamp in Company lavenders and dark blue armor exited, chattering with one another.
"So I was telling Liv that if she really has such an issue babysitting a vault door, that she should ask for a reassignment," the Machamp said.
"The Klinklang?" the Slowbro asked. "Didn't she push for getting an assignment in this building in the first place? Sure seems strange she'd have a case of buyer's remorse from sitting around and waving in researchers a couple times a day this quickly-"
"Ack! Let go, you killjoys!"
From her vantage point, Alice saw the Machamp and Slowbro pause as Pyry's cries reached her ears. The Sneasel couldn't make out much past them, but glimpsed Pekka trying to flit back with a sharp hiss, and could make out Pyry flailing on the ground on his stomach while pinned from above. The Machamp and Slowbro paused for a moment, seemingly at a loss of how to respond to the unfolding disturbance right in front of them.
"Wat krijgen we nou?" the Machamp murmured to himself.
"Well, that's one way not to have a dull moment," the Slowbro grunted. "Let's see what's going on."
Alice sucked in a sharp breath and waited for the Machamp and Slowbro to pass, hurriedly darting behind them and past the entrance just before the iron doors fell shut. As she snuck her way inside, the doors closed behind her with a loud thud. The Sneasel paused as she let her eyes adjust to dim blue lighting about her, and saw that she was in a windowless hallway lit up by lanterns filled with glow-moss with a series of doors on either end.
Alice blinked and carefully crept from side to side, stopping before each door to try and check for any sign of whether there might be Pokémon inside. Most of them sounded empty, but a few had voices or footsteps from inside that prompted her to hurry along. She didn't know what exactly all these rooms were, but she somehow doubted any of them were the 'Vault' she'd heard about.
Up ahead, she chanced to see a door left ajar, and hurried over and pulled it back to reveal it was a storage closet with segments of blue armor plating hung up in storage. The Sneasel pursed her mouth into a small frown. Guess the guards here weren't messing around if they were keeping replacements for damaged armor around like this, but was it really that hard to find a decent map around this place?
Tap tap tap.
Alice stiffened up after hearing approaching footsteps from the door just behind her, and hurriedly ducked into the storage closet, pulling the door almost shut behind her as she glimpsed a Garchomp in dark blue plates drift by grumbling "I swear, this job watching that door's more boring than Mies' last birthday party" under his breath. Considering how Percy had told her in the past that the traditional birthday party on Vollezee basically amounted to sitting in a circle and talking for hours on end… that seemed like quite the accomplishment.
Alice waited for the Garchomp's footsteps to drift off, before she slipped out and watched the Pokémon round the corner when she realized that if the Garchomp's duty was to watch a door, then there were decent odds that that was none other than the door to the Vault they were looking for. The Sneasel opened her bag and looked down at Kline's Cell resting just under its flap, moving the bag up closer to her mouth as she murmured quietly to it.
"Did you get all that, Kline?"
The Cell wriggled back in reply. Alice didn't know if that was a 'yes', but it was as good an excuse as any to take a closer look. The Sneasel clamped the bag back shut and set off, quietly sneaking after the Garchomp and shadowing the Dragon-Type down a flight of stairs to a basement floor with other hallways lit up in a similar fashion.
Alice continued following the Garchomp, carefully checking her surroundings all the while. First down a hallway to the left, then off to a hallway to the right… when at last, just as she was about to round the corner to her left again, she saw it:
A great, hulking door made entirely of metal with what appeared to be an oversized rotating lock on it. The thing looked heavy and sturdy, enough to endure just about any attack a Pokémon could throw at it. More importantly, there at the front, were a Toxapex and an Infernape standing guard, with the Garchomp taking his place alongside them. Alice peeked around the corner briefly and let out a quiet sigh, before looking back at the Cell in her bag.
"… So much for us getting a closer look," the Sneasel whispered. "Though at least this should speed things up a bit, Kline."
Alice stooped down and set the Cell down by her feet. The Dark-Type watched the Cell inch forward before turning invisible, which she took as a sign that Kline was already attempting to move it over to the door. Alice turned back, carefully retracing her steps in a faltering pace from door to door and hallway to hallway in between passing guards. After what felt like an eternity, the Sneasel found herself back at the iron doors at the entrance, slowly opening them to check her surroundings. After neither seeing, hearing, nor smelling anything on the other end, she quickly slipped out, just in time to hear distant shouts ring out down the hallway.
"And stay out until you sober up!" the Sirfetch'd's voice barked.
Alice quickly darted away from the door and hurried back to her original vantage point, watching as the Sirfetch'd and Probopass from earlier came back from the right. The Probopass and Sirfetch'd grumbled an apology to their Machamp and Slowbro teammates, before they shuffled off and returned to attention.
The Sneasel got out from her hiding place and walked past, the Probopass and Sirfetch'd eyeing her as she passed but otherwise paying no mind as she carried along to the right, following the hallway until she spotted a nearby exit back out onto the street. The Dark-Type made her way down and pushed the doors open, where sure enough, there were Pyry and Pekka staggering up in a daze in front of the canal outside, with the Gabite cradling his snout with a low whine.
"Owwww… my poor nose."
Alice tilted her head after the Dragon-Type pair. They'd taken a few scuffs here and there from picking a fight and being 'monhandled on the way out of the building, but nothing the two surely hadn't seen before in sparring, or that couldn't be swept under the rug with some well-earned praise.
"Hey, nice acting back there," the Sneasel cheered, giving a beaming grin back at the pair. "I didn't think you two could act out a drunken fight that well, but you were real naturals back there!"
As soon as the words left Alice's mouth, Pyry and Pekka turned back to face her, still glazed-eyed and unsteady. The Sneasel cocked a brow and was about to tell them they could drop their act, when a quick sniff revealed the two's breaths smelt strongly of rum, and the pair shot back disoriented smiles as they visibly struggled to keep their balance while getting up.
"Kiitti…" Pekka slurred. "Nice… furry cat lady."
"Yup! We made- hic, sure we drank plenty of rum before coming here and everything!" Pyry added.
Alice blinked and flattened her ears out after realizing that the entire time, Pyry and Pekka's drunken brawl in the hallway had been a bit more real than the others on the Siglo Swellow had originally planned. It all worked out in the end, but method acting hadn't been something they agreed on last night, and the Keeper of Balance on her team would surely not let any of them hear the end of this episode.
"Oh yeah, Kline's going to be really happy about this," Alice muttered. "But oh well, it helped me get his Cell in. I'm sure he'll get over it."
The Sneasel started to set off, only to see Pekka take wing, before sluggishly falling back down to earth.
"Er… hey… Alice?" the Vibrava slurred. "I dunno what's going on, but… my wings aren't really cooperating right now."
Alice blinked back at her Dragon-Type teammates. Right, they were drunk. Meaning that they would be susceptible to all the sorts of distorted senses and questionable judgment any other drunk would have, and would need a helping claw to get back to the ship.
"… Maybe it's for the best that you two are this plastered, since Kline's going to give you a real earful once we make it back," the Sneasel said. "Come on, he'll probably have gotten a chance to look around by the time we return."
The Dark-Type shook her head and threw a claw onto each of Pyry and Pekka. She hadn't expected she'd need to babysit these two to keep them from falling into the canals on top of sneaking into the Archive's restricted section, but meh, it wouldn't be the first time she had to think on her feet.
Alice tugged at the Dragon-Types and pulled them along, as she and her drunken charges made their way back for the central building and the path to the harbor and the Siglo Swellow. It was a bit unsettling to think that all this time they were having to plan things out under the assumption that a trap was being set for them, but until Kline could gather reconnaissance for them, it was best to just be happy with the victories they'd already earned.
After Team Traveller's classes let out that afternoon, the five retraced their steps from the main building of the Academy past the Founder's Statue, setting off westward back for the Archive. All the while, from beneath the main building's eastern arches that straddled the canal that cut through campus, the forms of a Kommo-o and Sylveon watched from the shadows as Nida and her companions made their way across the courtyard, the youngsters never once turning to notice them.
Sorge glanced up where he saw Aldrich pass by in the sky, circling briefly before swooping down and landing in the main plaza. The Noivern flicked his ears and trained them westward for a moment, before pacing over to his teammates and slipping into the shade, making Zelle shoot a curious frown as he approached.
"Find out anything new this time, Aldrich?" she asked.
"They said something about casing escape routes from the Archive, but I didn't get much more than that since there was a bit too much crosstalk from other Pokémon in the square," the Noivern answered, before giving a puzzled tilt of his head over to his Kommo-o teammate.
"You're certain I'm not better off heading to their ship to help Ketu get a feel for things there, Sorge?" Aldrich asked. "Since I'm pretty sure I could've picked up most of what I heard from those kids from sailors running their mouths off on that ship of theirs."
"It'll have to wait. Ketu's busy at the moment doing tasks on Lyn's ship to maintain his cover," Sorge insisted, shaking his head in reply. "It sounds like there haven't been any changes to how Lyn's planning on running his ambush, so you should be fine sticking around here until Ketu's free to case those hicks' schooner more properly."
Aldrich opened his mouth to reply, only to abruptly trail off and turn his head. The Noivern remained quiet for a brief moment as he squinted and twitched his ears briefly, leaving Sorge and Zelle to trade puzzled looks with one another.
"Huh? Did you notice something, Aldrich?" the Sylveon asked, prompting her Noivern teammate to frown in reply.
"… There's someone else up on the roof and listening in just like us."
Aldrich raised a claw and pointed off at the roofline of the Academy's central building ringing the courtyard. Sorge stooped down and put Zelle on his shoulder to help her get a better view, when they squinted and peered off after Aldrich's claw. There, behind the roof's gable right above the main entrance was a bulky yellow figure poking his head over. Sorge and Zelle blinked incredulously as they realized that it was a suspiciously familiar bulky yellow figure that looked like…
"Hold on, is that Darzin?" the Kommo-o asked.
"What does he think he's doing here?!" Zelle hissed. Aldrich moved his ears to listen in and paused a moment, before narrowing his eyes and letting out a derisive scoff.
"… It's him, alright. I can recognize his voice," Aldrich harrumphed. "He's talking to himself."
The figure on the roof took to the air and began to fly off for the east, where sure enough, it had the profile of a Dragonite. Back on the ground, Sorge stared after the departing dragon for a brief moment, before hardening his eyes and turning to Aldrich with a stern frown.
"Stay on his tail. We'll follow you from the ground," the Kommo-o instructed. "When you two get someplace less watched, knock him out of the air and pin him down for a while."
Aldrich nodded back with a low grunt, before springing up and taking wing, the Noivern glancing back to see Sorge and Zelle behind him already making their way eastward below on the ground. The bat flew after the Dragonite, climbing to a higher altitude before gliding silently from behind as the buildings of the Academy gave way to a more normal thicket of canalhouses built amongst the islets and canals below. The Noivern glanced ahead and saw that Darzin was approaching a sector where the lanes and canals below were narrow and winding, without much sign of passing traffic. Sensing his chance, Aldrich built up dragonfire in the back of his throat and spat it up as a ray of fiery blue light, the Dragon Pulse sailing on until it found its mark on Darzin's right wing and drew a sharp yelp.
"Agh!"
Darzin rolled and spiraled out of the sky, the Dragonite fighting with his injured wing to even out as he clumsily just missed clipping a rooftop and flew down into a back alley, unintentionally snagging a pair of clotheslines on the way down. There on the ground, Darzin crouched as he came to a skidding stop, throwing aside the stray scarves, sheets, and towels he'd picked up with his bulky body. The Dragonite braced himself into a fighting stance, scanning his surroundings for his assailant.
"Who is-?!"
The sharp beat of approaching wings turned Darzin's attention upwards, where he caught the sight of a Noivern swooping in and diving at him. The Dragonite realized the bat must've been none other than the 'mon who'd just attacked him and flashed his claws with a low growl.
"Why you-!"
Bluish dragonfire built up in Darzin's mouth before he disgorged a pulse of fiery light at the Noivern. Just before the Dragon Pulse made contact, Aldrich spread his wings wide and conjured a barrier of light that materialized right in front of him, the fiery burst crashing against it and accomplishing little other than to push him back slightly in the air. Aldrich evened his body out as smoke curled from the failed Dragon Pulse, looking down at his Dragonite foe with a taunting sneer.
"Hah! Is that all you've got?" Aldrich scoffed. "No wonder why the Director's trying to get rid of you!"
Aldrich retaliated by spitting up a Dragon Pulse of his own at the Dragonite, which struck Darzin and sprawled him out on the ground. The Noivern gave a puzzled frown and tilted his head. Even with a 'mon as in disrepute as Darzin, he'd have expected a better showing from him than that. The bat swooped down, preparing to pin the Dragonite when Darzin suddenly sprang up with greenish flecks trailing from his claws, striking the Noivern with a sharp uppercut.
"Grah!"
Aldrich skidded back into a few crates with an audible clatter. Without a moment's hesitation, Darzin righted himself and tore after the Noivern. If he could catch that bat off guard with a feint like that, then surely he could turn this battle around, right?
The Dragonite hurried over to try and press his advantage, when all of a sudden, a bright pink glow filled the corner of his vision. The Dragonite turned towards it, just as a bright orb hit him in the face.
"Augh!"
Darzin felt his body get thrown back and his head strike the wall behind him, slumping over stunned to the ground on his stomach. He struggled to get up, only to feel claws dig into the hide around his neck, drag him up and shove him against the wall and sharply wrench his arms behind his body. The Dragonite thrashed and tried to break free, only to get pinned by a firm grip, and turn to see a Kommo-o's head leaning in with fangs bared and growling at him.
"That's quite enough from you," Sorge snapped. "If you don't want to answer awkward questions to the rest of the Board about why you're suddenly not able to leave the infirmary for a week, you'll stay still and shut up."
Darzin glanced down at the Kommo-o's claws, before hardening his features into a scowl and letting out a low snarl in reply.
"And just who do you think you are pulling a stunt like this?!"
"Just some 'mons looking out for the Company's best interest," Aldrich remarked as he dusted himself off. "Which you obviously don't have in mind."
"Wanna fill us in as to why you're suddenly stalking students from the Academy?" Zelle demanded. "I know that you've had a change in tasks since you lost control of your domain as an Administrator, but this is unexpectedly low even for you."
"That's none of your damn business," the Dragonite spat back. "And who's your superior? I'm going to have a word with him about this!"
"Oh, you mean Commander Olivia?" Zelle scoffed. "The head of the Intelligence Division, who answers directly to Director Inler?"
Darzin's eyes widened and he felt the color drain out of his face. Had the rest of the Board gotten wise to his plans after all? He was snapped back to attention after feeling Sorge tighten his grip and the Kommo-o's claws dig deeper into his hide. The Third-Rank brought his head face-to-face with the Dragonite's, and leveled an overpowering glare at him.
"Look, we know who those kids are and why you're trying to snatch them," the Kommo-o growled. "Unless you want to have to explain what you've been up to to the Board, you'll back off."
Sorge moved his claw and clamped down onto the side of Darzin's neck, dragging the Dragonite back upright and sharply shoving him onto his feet. Darzin stared back and reflexively pawed at his neck, before Sorge narrowed his eyes and let out a disgusted huff.
"Get out of our sight and stay out of our way," he spat.
"Or don't, if you're a glutton for punishment," Zelle chimed in, shooting a taunting smirk at the Dragonite. "After all, we wouldn't exactly have trouble dealing with a feral in a scarf like you."
Darzin glared back at the three Pokémon, before giving a low growl and shuffling off with a visible limp, his wings evidently not ready to grant him flight so quickly after his ambush. After the disgraced Administrator slipped off, the alleyway fell silent, as Aldrich turned and shot a dubious glance at his Kommo-o leader.
"Do we really expect him to back off, Sorge?" the Noivern asked. The Scaly Pokémon said nothing for a moment, before shaking his head with a low sigh.
"… Probably not. But Darzin hasn't exactly had a glowing record of success, and we've already got our claws full with our present objectives," the Kommo-o said. "If he really does have some sort of plot in mind to interfere with us, it won't be particularly hard to step in and stop it."
Author's Notes:
- bratya (братя) - Bulgarian: "brats" (BGN/PCGN Romanization)
- Zeg, waar bleven jullie?! - Dutch: "Hey, where were you?!"
- Wat krijgen we nou? - Dutch: "What on earth?" / "What the hell?", lit. "What are we getting now?"
- Kiitti - Finnish: "Thanks" (colloquial), shortened form of "Kiitos"
