The job board was stacked as always when the trio decided to search for their next mission.

"Why are there so many criminals around here?" Piers grumbled as he scanned the listings, watching Leon peel off a sheet to peek at the job underneath. As usual, there was a blend of abnormally adorable outlaws mixed in with the terrifying faces, the crimes ranging from petty thief to apparently being on the Grass Continent's most wanted list. Without Flaaffy there to designate something for them, it gave them time to really pay attention to the listings.

"What the heck did this Delcatty do to end up with a five star rating?" Raihan murmured, tilting his head. "That thing's not killing anyone with a 65 attack stat."

Leon chuckled despite the chills he could feel at the thought. "I don't know but if the difficulty's that high, it's probably not meant for level 20-odds. We need to get stronger, but whatever we pick needs to give us a fighting chance for that to be possible." The Charmeleon was quick in picking up each job, scouring it then pinning it back, moving onto the next one. "We haven't heard anything about dynamax spots in a hot minute, have we? I don't see any mentioned on the jobs here."

"They do just kinda pop up out of nowhere, I assume even by guild standards it's too quick to update. Though Yuri did say she'd look out for us… Rai, what are you staring at?" Piers looked to see Raihan focused on a particular job, no doubt unable to pick it up without tearing it.

"Is that a kid on this note?" He feebly gestured at it, prompting Leon to unpin it and read it.

"'My younger sister Duskull disappeared last night. Come to Haunter Bank for more details'. Isn't that near the Kecleon market?"

Raihan could see Piers' fur was prickling at the mere mention of the Ghost type's name. "Isn't that the one the kids are always warning us about?"

"Right, that creepy fuck," he deadpanned with a crack in his voice, Leon cocking his head to the side in response.

"Have you guys met?"

"Not exactly, but I felt him," Piers grumbled, visibly only adding to Leon's confusion before he coughed.

The lizard carefully folded the note away into their bag then turned away, producing a clearly forced chirp. "Well, we can't abandon a kid in need! Let's check it out!"

Piers allowed Leon to do most of the work, standing a good 20 feet away from the bank and just about able to hear the conversation yet far enough to avoid the chill.

"You last saw your sister where?"

Haunter sighed, rolling his eyes as he repeated himself for the third time that minute. "Again, I last saw her juggling Budew in Nightmare Forest. Are you sure you lot are qualified for the job?"

"I don't know but who the hell juggles other Pokemon?" Raihan murmured, tilting his head. Their client gave him a long silent stare before grumbling.

"She's a weird kid, ok? But it doesn't matter why she did it, she said she'd be back for work in the morning and where is she? Fuck knows where. So I need you to drag her figurative ass back home."

The words sent a spike of adrenaline through Piers but fortunately Leon echoed his internal thoughts for him, crossing his arms as he frowned. "Do you not give a shit about your sis at all? She could be Arceus knows where by now and you're just thinking about work?"

In response that chill grew stronger, the Linoone unable to do anything to curl up for a moment as his fur bristled uncontrollably. If Raihan felt it, it certainly didn't seem to personally bother him, instead giving both his friends a concerned glance as Leon's flame flickered. The Charmeleon wagged his tail, forcing the fire to counter the spectral cold. "What I'm thinking is none of your business." Was it even legal for a Haunter not to smile? It was terrifying. "I'm willing to reward you quite nicely so hold your tongues and listen. She's probably still goofing off in Nightmare Forest, but unfortunately there's a tendency for dark types to linger there, therefore I need someone to do the job for me. If she's not there… Well, I have no clue where the brat could have gone. But I need her back. We can discuss the reward when you return, alright?"

Raihan shot Leon a sheepish look as he continued to fan himself with his flame before coughing. "W-Well, uh… Any reason why you couldn't put these details in the request note? Is it maybe because you don't know she's there for certain?"

Haunter didn't have visible arms to embody the full effect, but the way his hands overlapped suggested he was trying to cross them. "Unfortunately, the guild's application forbids the use of certain language. My previous requests had a history of getting caught in the filter." Somehow, that felt strangely believable. "If I could do the job myself, I would save myself the trouble, but I'm smart enough to avoid getting ripped into by the Mightyena there if someone else is available. However, I think Duskull would have just seen them and gone 'Ooh, puppy'. Hopefully she hasn't discovered what happens when ghosts die."

"Yeah… Hopefully, that's not the case." Leon shivered, pushing the strap of their bag back up his shoulder as it threatened to slip with the movement. "Anything else we should know about this forest? I don't believe we've been told where this particular location is."

"Get your map out." With trembling claws he did so, marking where Haunter gestured. "The forest is safe in the morning because the Mightyena are deep sleepers. Either she didn't obey the 12 o'clock 'curfew', or something held her up. If you come across those mutts, watch out for Ice Fang." The bank owner didn't have to look at Raihan for him to know that it was aimed at him, slapping on a crooked grin as he chirped.

"We'll bring her back safe. But if you know that place is this dangerous, maybe you shouldn't let a child wander around there on her own."

"What the fuck is wrong with that man?! Who lets a child run off into a forest this far away by themselves?!" Piers and Raihan exchanged stares as Leon stormed ahead of them. If his cape was sentient, it would be relieved right now that it was flameproof.

"Bloody heck, his tail is acting like a Monferno's," Raihan grumbled, idly plodding behind not because he wanted to stay away but because his body was currently set on being as slow as possible, it seemed. "I wonder if that Haunter got stuck babysitting and just lets her do her thing so he doesn't have to bother, it sure doesn't feel like he kept her around by choice. … He really doesn't come off as a kid person."

Piers sighed, his paws feeling sore as he gazed at the sky in the distance. It was still day time but it seemed the further they drew from the village, the darker it got. At least it wasn't difficult for his companions to see yet. "Right. None of the kids in the village seem to like him. But from what we heard from them, he sounds more like a prankster than… Whatever we just saw from him. Guess we caught him on a worse day." He inched closer to Leon as he continued to fume, murmuring. "At least we'll be one step closer to returning to Hop and Marnie after this. The guy runs a bank, he might be able to get us some pretty powerful items."

Leon's gaze flickered to him for a moment before he whispered, "You're probably right, let's hope he doesn't turn stingy once we get the job done for him. He's already got us working for him without putting the reward into the contract, after all."

"I'm sure if he tries to skimp us, we can tell Yuri and she'll kick his ass!" Raihan whistled, watching the forest come into view. Visually, it didn't seem that frightening. Why was it called Nightmare Forest? "I'm sure she won't be happy with the guild's system being gamed. Now come on, let's get this over with!"

As the Trapinch tried to scramble towards their destination as fast as he could, Leon murmured. "Is he okay?"

"We had a talk last night about the upcoming fight, I think he's eager to prove himself. I just hope he won't accidentally rush into danger." Piers brought his paw to his snout. "Especially considering we might end up fighting some dogs with a type advantage."

Leon gave a quiet chuckle, speeding up his own movements as they reached the forest entrance. "Let's go, then!"

Trekking through this dungeon was giving Piers chills.

He found himself slogging behind his friends despite being the fastest, idly glancing around as his fur bristled.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

The way Haunter had described this place, he thought it would be more busy. Far past morning yet no sight of any hyenas, then the few other Pokemon they stumbled upon seemed more interested in running away from them. He tuned into his friends' conversation, keeping his eyes concentrated on their surroundings.

"I don't think I saw any orphanages in the village, no."

"What exactly happens then if a baby Pokemon loses its parents with no one else to raise it, then? Are they expected to raise themselves or something?" He had barely been paying attention, but Piers guessed that Leon initiated this conversation because of their 'target'. His personal opinion on social services wasn't positive but between that and a brother who cared so little it bordered on child endangerment, it was a tough toss up.

Raihan shrugged, stopped to scoop up a couple of coins randomly lying on the ground. Mystery Dungeons never got any less weird. Leon and Piers pulled faces as he idly spat them into their coin pouch. They were getting (carefully) dunked into the village watering hole later. "We haven't seen the school, maybe they have a little nursery section for the orphans. Though the school seems to be constantly closed… Must be terrible management, eh?"

"There's only like 6 kids in the village, it probably doesn't get much funding," Piers piped in, returning to his scouring. "Then all the older kids are working… I suppose we don't know what school age is for a Pokemon, though." He cleared his throat, watching a Poochyena manifest itself just to scamper past them. "Doesn't this feel a bit odd to you two? You'd think the Mightyena would be patrolling their territory… But we haven't seen any of them, and every other blighter here seems scared shitless."

Leon turned to see the Poochyena disappearing into the distance. "That is a bit odd… I wonder if something happened. Maybe we should catch the next Pokemon to run by."

And hope it doesn't attack them in a panic. Piers frowned, stopping as he noticed a small imprint in the ground. Warily approaching it, it was an odd oval shape. "Is this a footprint?"

Memorising the shape, he followed as his friends continued on their way, watching Raihan shovel up the occasional coin and noting another similar hole a short distance away. This time however he could see a more faint imprint of the same shape near it. Whatever left this footprint seemed to be jumping. Idly glancing at the other two as they skirted around a trap they had accidentally dug up, he sank down to sniff at the footprint. It smelt like flowers.

"Uh, guys? I feel like our problem today might not be the Mightyena."

Raihan and Leon turned around, following his paw as he gestured to the tracks. What little tracks they constituted as, anyway. "Those are really small footprints, they surely can't belong to anything that troublesome," Leon muttered as Raihan gave an awkward laugh.

"Right, for all we know they could belong to a Caterpie. It might be a stretch to jump to conclusions about this, eh?"

Piers continued to observe, before jumping as the three of them heard a hustle. Another Poochyena bounced out of the bushes, dashing away from them as he snapped. "Hey, you, stop!"

"Come on, we need to cat-" Leon cut himself as Raihan pulled him back by biting his cape, the tough fabric fortunately surviving.

"Let me handle this!" He stomped his legs and the earth before him fractured, chasing after the Poochyena before tripping it up. Piers darted after it as the Trapinch cheered, "I knew Bulldoze would come in handy today!"

The Linoone could track down the pup no problem with its head start sabotaged, carefully gripping it by the scruff of its neck as it whimpered. "Hey, kid, what's going on here? Why were you running?"

Leon and Raihan exchanged glances as the little creature gave some incoherent whines. "I don't think the pup knows how to talk." As Piers nodded along to the Poochyena shaky barks, Leon's jaw dropped. "Wait- Can you understand that feral, Piers?"

"I can't tell exactly what it's saying but I can get a general idea," he murmured, furrowing his brow as the flustered hyena continued yapping. "Something's in the forest that shouldn't be here. No idea what, though, it's not clear enough. Whatever it is, it's scaring all the kids. Could you take us to it?" The Poochyena stared at him like he had three heads. "I'll take that as a no. Alright then, guess we should prepare for anything."

Its interrogation concluded, Poochyena ran away. They watched after it before Leon murmured. "So, do you have any clue whatsoever what those footprints might be from?"

"It smelt like a grass type. What, do you believe me now?" Piers' voice now lilted, the Chameleon rolled his eyes and snorted, nudging him lightly with his foot.

"Come on, let's get going… Uh… Which direction were we going in again?"

Raihan sighed then chuckled, taking the lead. "This way, let's go!"

Raihan had never been so glad that Leon had a built-in torch.

"Think this is the centre of the forest? I'm starting to understand how it got its name," Leon murmured, shaking his tail to enhance the flame as Piers let his darkvision do the work for him. It seemed to be manually 'refurbished' to act as a home to the Mightyena tribe, the occasional stump indicating the attempt at deforestation for the sake of making room for the little clumsily put together huts. There were also small clumps of leaves and grass that seemed to be meant as outside beds, probably for whatever Pokemon was keeping an eye out for intruders.

"For how menacing Mightyena are, this is a pretty cute set up."

Raihan chuckled, Leon carefully following with his flame to allow him to check the inside of the huts. "No one's home though, it seems. I wonder if they evacuated to get away from whatever intruder's wandering about."

Watching the two investigate, Piers felt another chill, his fur bristling as he looked around. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a shadow as it whispered. "Hey you, get out of here!"

Spinning around aimlessly, his head started moving too as he tried to catch sight of the source. "Who's there, what's going on here?"

"You're in danger, you have to run!"

Despite the fact his friends were chatting away, the outside noise seemed to fade away as the voice entered his head, as though broadcasting its message to him. "What are you? What are you…" Suddenly he could hear whimpering, the tone suggesting it was multiple beings all trying to cry out at once like a choir. Turning to his friends he could see they had stiffened, Leon murmuring.

"Do you hear that? It sounds like a dog Pokemon."

"It sounds like more than one dog." Raihan joined Piers' side as quickly as his miniscule legs would let him, staring around as he added, "What direction is it coming from? I can't tell!"

"I think it's coming from all directions!" For once, Leon's sense of spatial awareness seemed to be working, his tail flame flickering as his arms tugged his cape to move his body. "It's getting real cold, what's happening?"

Piers had no answer, eyes fixated ahead of him as he saw a bordering tree's bark distort. Then the three of them jumped as a tiny Duskull fell through it onto the ground, the child twitching as she weakly squeaked. "I told you to run… You're in danger!"

"What are you talking about?! What's going on-"

Raihan cut himself off with a startled yelp as Piers jumped on him and covered his eyes, watching as the ghost's floating orb behind her mask started shining brighter, Leon taking it as a sign to block his own. Regardless, they still grimaced as a bright light blasted through the area, hearing the muffled whimper grow louder as the darkness lifted.

No longer relying on a living torch, Raihan could finally see the source of those noises, spinning around to take in the five Mightyena spread out and bound to trees, snared by what looked like vines. "What the heck- Who the fuck did this?!"

Duskull tried to shout out but was silenced as she went rigid in response to the voice that purred, the trio being drawn to a silhouette hiding just outside of Flash's reach. "That would be me." Piers recognised the shape right away and clearly Raihan did as he called out.

"Rosette?!"

"Who is Rosette?" Leon murmured, only to be drowned out as the hiding Pokemon snapped.

"What - Whoever that is, no! Do all us Roserade look the same to you?!"

Piers and Raihan exchanged sheepish stares. "At least we know it's a Roserade now."

The Roserade sighed, revealing himself as he dove down and landed behind the injured Duskull. In the light there was truly no way for them to visually mistake the two Roserade anymore, his flowers violet and black. "Shame on you, you ruined my dramatic entrance. I suppose that lazy Haunter couldn't be bothered to go looking for his little sister himself, then." His frown edged into a smirk, arms crossed as his eyes gleamed. "Instead he sends three Pokemon and none of you are fully evolved. How pathetic."

"Cut the shit," Piers grumbled, legs bending ready to pounce as he judged the situation. A battered child and five other hostages. … Those vines weren't ordinary vines. "What are you up to? Was this a trap for Haunter? You'd be at a disadvantage if it was."

Roserade chuckled, raising his violet flower to the sky. A murky ball of shadows started to form. "You really think so? I'm just happy taking out anyone who gets in my way. Whether it's that armless blob or this little brat." With a swift kick, Duskull let out a sob prompting Leon to growl.

"Oh, so you're just a bully? Then how about we show you what flames do to flowers?"

"I'm so scared," Roserade deadpanned before smirking, tossing the Shadow Ball. Piers quickly ran in front of Leon, the attack dissipating harmlessly against his fur. "Then I'm going to step all over you!"

Before they could even question those words, their enemy held up a shining rock pulsing with dynamax energy prompting their jaws to drop. "That's a Wishing Star! Does that mean-" Raihan halted himself as he was rendered silent by the thought, prompting Roserade's sneer to grow.

The Wishing Star unleashed its power, enveloping the holder and enlarging his body as he charged up another attack. "I took this from Eternatus, I've been dying to test this out! There's only going to be one survivor in this forest and it's Yours Truly!"

Great, they were fighting a sociopath. Piers held his tongue but it threatened to spill out as he recognised the inevitable onslaught by the colour. There was no trying to defend his friends anymore, Roserade wasn't going to use a Ghost move twice. "God, I hope we have enough Reviver Seeds for this!"

Duskull's feeble cry was drowned out as the powered up Sludge Bomb exploded, raining on the trio before they could even attempt to dodge. Raihan staggered on the spot as Piers limped, hearing his friend's weak shout as Leon fell back twitching. "Lee!"

"That hurts, even with the resist!" the Trapinch snapped, watching Piers scramble through the bag for a reviver seed and coax Leon back into consciousness.

"Everything's blotchy… I think we're out of our element, here…" he panted as Leon forced himself up, looking to see the dynamaxed Pokemon towering over them, just watching. "He's not attacking us again… Why?"

Leon shook his head, tail flame flickering weakly before igniting itself again as he gained his bearings. "I think he's toying with us… I'll show you not to mess with me!" He lunged at the Roserade, summoning scorching heat to his mouth to land a Fire Fang the colossal Pokemon was unable to avoid. Roserade flinched as the flames lingered but that gasping chuckle sounded smug.

"Is that all you've got? You'll need to do more than that to stop me!"

"Then how about this?!" Leon moved far out of range foreseeing what Raihan was about to do, watching the ground dig itself up beneath Roserade's feet causing him to stagger and growl. "Good job landing the burn, Lee! We might be able to survive more attacks now!"

Somehow Piers got the impression it was too early to celebrate just yet, failing to get the crit on his Night Slash and registering Duskull's panicked glances around the area. She knew something- "Keep your guards up, something's wrong!"

That cold chuckle as their enemy composed himself made the three of them start to freeze up from the inside, watching his flowers glow faintly as he murmured, "Pathetic, that's not enough!" The air filled with the sound of strangled howls as the vines around the captive Mightyena tightened and glowed red, Raihan's jaw threatening to unhinge as he watched them thrash then looked back at their opponent to see five smaller vines curling around his arms, perking him back up.

"You- You're stealing their life from them!"

"That is what Leech Seed does," he drawled, closing his eyes as though the barely incoherent noises were background music. "Oh I feel better now, wanna try that again?"

Leon stared at him incredulous, hearing the cries die down as the linking vines relaxed and retreated from the user. "They're not even part of the fight- That's cruel, you can't use bystanders like that!"

"Says who?" Roserade tilted his head before raising his arm again, a much stronger vine ripping through the ground and swaying from side to side as it lengthened. "I can do whatever I want, thank you. You should focus on yourselves."

The Power Whip lashed out, fortunately with the burn Leon could tank the resisted move a lot more easily and Raihan barely managed to dodge it but the already injured Piers was slammed to the ground out cold, prompting his friends to yelp as Leon searched for recovery. "Arceus, how many reviver seeds do we have left?" Raihan exclaimed, Leon scrambling to feed the extremely disoriented and mumbling badger the seed.

"Not enough while he's like this, our only hope is to wait the dynamax out then maim him faster than he recovers! He has one turn left, so the health boost will end soon but look underneath our feet!"

Raihan followed Leon's directions and stared wide-eyed as he noticed the faintly glowing grass beneath him. "He set up Grassy Terrain! That'll add to the healing he already gets!"

Piers was still light-headed as he came to, stumbling a bit as he glared down Roserade. "Had enough?"

"Get bent, you plant pot." He brandished another Night Slash, cursing as their enemy took the attack with barely a wince. "Damn it, I need that one in eight chance now, please." On the contrary, it was a good thing he couldn't be crit himself because of his bandana.

Leon threw himself into another Fire Fang then Raihan launched a Sand Tomb, however the passive damage was recovered immediately after it was dealt as the Mightyena howled, the red Leech Seed energy visible through the blur. And with another dynamax-improved Sludge Bomb, the three Galarians found themselves twitching on the ground.

Piers found himself the only one able to move as he crawled to the bag and counted three more reviver seeds - one left spare. If they survived they would be off to Kecleon Market after the clinic, he joked to himself as he took the two to revive his friends. After their turns, their enemies' max health would hopefully be cut down for their attacks to take him down. "Make sure you don't get knocked out again, there's only one seed left and Arceus knows what'll happen if we run out!"

"Just great, we're already on a timer too if he keeps draining the Mightyena," Raihan murmured, shaking the dizziness off. "This guy's way too high levelled if his 'not very effective' attacks are this strong!"

Leon eyed the frightened Duskull as he tried to push himself up, grumbling, "If we lose, what's going to happen to the kid? You there, why don't you run yourself?!"

"I-I can't," she whimpered, shrinking back as her captive gave her a sharp look, "He knows where I live, my brother too! If I do…"

"If she does, she'll find out what happens when a ghost Pokemon kicks the bucket. Not that anything's stopping me regardless of where she goes… It's just more fun for me if she runs." Roserade used a flower-hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. "And I'm starting to get a little tired. So throw your best attacks at me. I'd like you to think you could have a chance before I take it from you."

Piers' fur prickled. What a sadist. Why did this bastard remind him of the cartoons they used to watch on TV? He sunk down, thinking through the options. Whatever he picked, it was going to end in pain. "You two. Don't attack until after I do, alright?"

Raihan and Leon stared at him before exchanging glances and nodding. "Please don't do anything stupid," Leon murmured, prompting Piers to snort.

"Sorry, can't promise that!" His paws battered the grass as he raced towards then lunged at Roserade, bouncing off his 'hair' as he snapped.

"What the hell was that? You call that an attack?!"

"Yup!" Landing on the grass behind him, he found the glowing Wishing Star. The cons of lacking a Dynamax Band, Roserade was about to find that out. "It's called Covet!" And with that shout he hurled the shiny rock, summoning all his strength to propel it out of the forest. With the energy source cut off, their enemy shrunk two attacks early, allowing Raihan and Leon to charge in.

The two sunk their teeth into their opponent at the same time, earning some satisfying yelps before the plant-man shook them off. The sand tomb bit at his body and he gasped before growling. The Mightyena's screams soon filled the plain as Roserade healed the bulk of the damage back, however he remained staggering as he snarled, "You little shits really want to go the painful way, eh? Fine, take this!"

Before they could act, he summoned a Sludge Bomb, aiming then slamming it down against Leon. The Charmeleon barely had time to shout before falling prone, Piers shouting as Raihan found their last reviver seed. "Crap, even without the dynamax- How strong is this bastard?!"

"I'm way above your league, that's the answer." Roserade's voice was dripping venom, devoid of any playfulness at all now. "I'll give you time to bring your friend back, then I'll send you all to your doom together!" He cracked his Power Whip as it formed, Piers' feeling his fur become damp with sweat as Raihan's breathing grew harsher, bringing Leon back.

"There has to be something we can do!" Raihan swallowed hard, looking at the trembling Duskull, the writhing Mightyena then back to his friends. "Maybe we have an item that can stop him!"

"We have no Blast Seeds left, what can we-" Roserade launched his Power Whip upwards and Piers gritted his teeth, immediately judging the trajectory. There was no time. "Rai, watch out!"

Piers shoved Raihan out of the way, his eye locking onto the descending attack just as it landed. Never so badly had he wanted a move to crit, if only so the sudden flash of red that invaded his vision would be temporary, along with the white hot electricity that coursed through as his body spasmed against its own will. He was sure he could hear his friends call out but in that moment it was deafened as every other sense decided to shut itself off. There was only red.

He was watching his friend fade. Raihan had never seen a Pokemon bleed out yet all he could do was stare despite his stomach urging him to do otherwise, barely registering as Leon ran over to shake Piers' somehow conscious yet convulsing body. He didn't want to look at the Roserade, he could already imagine what expression the monster had on his face. He wouldn't dare take even a glance at the child, the poor girl too young to see this. His throat was begging to let an explosion of air out yet his tongue was failing him. He was a statue and he knew if he didn't move, he and his friends would be broken ones.

"Stop moving, please Piers, stop! If you keep going that- Fuck, what do I do?!" Leon knew his cries were falling on deaf ears, as he forced himself to look away for a moment to see the approaching Roserade. "Don't you get any closer! Look what you've done!"

He laughed, brandishing a Shadow Ball. "'Look what I've done'? It seems I haven't finished the job. Do you three have any last words or should I choose them for you?"

"Shut up!" Leon's tears fizzled away on his cheeks as he continued to snarl, "Just shut up! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Are you enjoying this?!"

"Of course I am, why else would I choose this as a job?" The grass type had the nerve to shrug. Raihan wished his feet would move, how badly his teeth wanted to plant into his neck. "Once you're gone, it's these six and that jackass Haunter. Maybe even more if I can get away with it?"

Why couldn't he move, why couldn't he call him all the names he deserved? All he could do was return his gaze to Piers as his thrashing grew weaker, breathing becoming shallow. Without warning he could feel a dull pain, water feeling like acid as they rolled down his face and hit the ground. It was all over.

Roserade threw his Shadow Ball down and Leon braced himself.

Heat ripped through the area, Leon feeling the blaze soar above his head missing by inches before it impacted, sending Roserade back with a shout. His eyes darted to find the source, jaw falling slack as they landed on silver fur. "Mayor Ninetales?! Is that you?"

The fox approached leisurely now his target was downed, trailed by a tired looking Flaaffy who had the decency to look a little more alert as he glanced around at the hostages. "Fancy dragging an old man out of retirement. You sure have some nerve, Everade."

"Everett?" Leon echoed, watching Roserade try to push himself up. "Is that his name?"

"It's Ever-rade," Flaaffy grumbled, glaring at the sight before him. "Whether it's his real name is unknown, but this bastard has made quite a reputation for himself. We found out from Haunter what you were doing and thought the Mightyena would be the problem here, not him."

Right, they thought the same but instead the Mightyena were getting bullied. Raihan wished he could voice it if only to lighten the mood, yet even with the danger disrupted, the paralysis lingered. Duskull squeaked and darted to join their side, Flaaffy blocking Everade's Shadow Ball with his own Electro Ball as he attempted to stop her. "The Mightyena were being nice, then he came and tied them all up! I couldn't leave or he would- I would-" She fell to the ground sobbing, Flaaffy awkwardly patting her as Ninetales checked on Piers. Raihan's heart almost jumped into his throat, seeing his friend was now eerily still.

"Is he going to be okay," Leon murmured, Ninetales frowning in response.

"If we get him to Blissey quickly, we might be able to save him. But there's some things even she can't fix." Ninetales looked at the Mightyena then charged flames in his maw. The Fire Blast shot out in multiple directions, scorching the vines and freeing the hyenas in front of him. He repeated the gesture again, hearing them whimper as they all staggered to each other. "These guys are in bad shape too." No thanks to his own rescue attempt, Leon could read that from his sheepish expression. "You're coming with us too, Everade, you're going away for a long time!"

He pounced at the Roserade and he growled, revealing a small lilac orb. "Over my dead body!" Smoke erupted, sending the elder Pokemon into a coughing fit as the culprit escaped. Flaaffy quickly joined Ninetales' side, snapping.

"Damn it, he got away!"

"There's always next time… Hopefully someone else will be able to deal with it, we'll get Guildmaster Falinks to make an announcement that thug's in the area…" Ninetales wheezed, desperately trying to compose himself as he turned to face the trio and freed hostages. "Our priority right now is getting you all medical support. We'll answer any questions you have about that man after your friend recovers, you two."

Raihan only felt the strength return to his legs as Leon nudged him, however any attempt at speech remained futile. There were indeed a lot of questions, yet how useful their saviours would be regarding some of those was debatable. Why had he targeted Duskull, how he got that wishing star- His number one concern however was Piers, Flaaffy resting him on Ninetales' back before he held up his badge, shouting the word to return them to safety.

All that confusion yet he had one certainty - they weren't ready to fight Eternatus.