Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 2, Episode 6, Chapter 3

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August 16th, 2:00 PM

Route 13 – Lumiose Badlands, Kalos Region

The last four days had gone by in a blur for Louise and the others. With Ōdachi recovering from her corrective eye surgery, they couldn't exactly go out and do much. They spent most of their time cooped up in their hotel room, watching movies and television, playing games, and more. Outside of a few light exercises to keep everyone in shape, they didn't get any training done. It didn't feel right in Louise's opinion to keep Ōdachi out of the group activities, and she knew the rest of her Pokémon felt the same way. As did Saito and his team, who spent much of their time tending to the young Skarmory and making sure she was comfortable as possible. The first day was the roughest, with Ōdachi being forced to wear thick cloths other her eyes that make it impossible for her see, thus leaving her a scared, trembling wreck. She luckily got used to it after a while, but the image in Louise's mind still broke her heart.

In all honestly, once they got into a rhythm Louise found it to be quite a relaxing change of pace from the constant traveling and walking that took up most of her time. If nothing else, it prevented them from going into the hot and dry badlands for just a few more days. She wouldn't say no to that. That being said, there was one that repeatedly came up during their time playing Marill Kart in the hotel room.

"Louise, you're not still mad at me for getting all those…what are they called, Turtonator shells?" Henrietta asked in an all-too-sweet and innocent, and Louise grumbled while hunching over.

As it turned out, Henrietta was absolutely terrible at playing Marill Kart, consistently placing towards the bottom of the leaderboard while Saito and Louise constantly battled for first place. Unfortunately, because Henrietta kept crashing or falling off the edge of the map, thus keeping her so far behind, the game kept giving her Turtonator shells which she would then use, screwing over whoever was in first place at the time. Louise lost count of how many races she lost because of that. After the sixth time, she could've sworn Henrietta was losing on purpose just to screw her over.

She wanted to say something, to accuse her of what she knew was the truth, but before Louise could even say anything she was forced to take a big drink of water yet again from her bottle and wipe away a sheen of sweat that had been accumulating on her brow.

"Founder, it's so hot…," Louise grumbled under her breath as she screwed the lid back onto her bottle and continued to hold it. Normally, she would've put it back into a side pocket on her backpack, but with how often she'd been drinking from it she figured doing so would've been pointless.

Beside her, Louise saw that Henrietta was in a similar state. The princess was sweeting up a storm, breathing heavily as she exerted herself like never before, and doing whatever she could to keep herself cool. All three trainers had opted out of their normal attires in favor of lighter and looser clothing more suitable for desert environments, namely colored t-shirts (red for Louise, blue for Saito, and purple for Henrietta), cargo shorts, and wide rimmed sunhats. They had also placed copious amounts of sunscreen on their skin to prevent sunburns and were using spray bottles whenever they felt the need. But those could only do so much under the hot desert sun.

"Create water," Henrietta muttered under her breath as she tried to cast the spell, but rather than the gentle stream she normally conjured when casting she instead barely even got a drop. She released a resigned sigh and hung her head.

"Still can't cast anything out here?" Derflinger asked, and Henrietta nodded.

"It's too hot and dry," she noted while spraying herself with water from a squirt bottle.

"Well, we are in a desert," Saito pointed out. "There's probably no water vapor in the air for your magic to use."

"Joy…," Henrietta groaned. Her muscles ached, her throat was dry, and with the sun beating down from above through a cloudless sky, all she wanted to do was just lay down and rest.

But then she looked at Louise, who despite appearing to be in a similar state as to her own, kept persevering. This prompted Henrietta to stand up straighter, determined to keep up with her friend.

"You know, if you two want to stop we can," Saito said, a hint of concern in his voice. "I mean, I feel fine, but you two don't look so hot."

"Saito, all I am feeling is hot right now," Louise countered. "Thank you for your concern, but I am fine."

She glanced over at Henrietta and saw just how determined the Princess appeared to be. Seeing that convinced that whatever exhaustion she was undergoing, if Henrietta could deal with it then so could she.

Saito, however, remained unconvinced as he saw both Louise and Henrietta dangerously swaying back and forth. He then said, "Yeah, no. You two look like you're about to collapse any minute now."

"We're fine," both Louise and Henrietta replied in unison, then looked at each other in surprise. A moment later, they both straightened themselves and prepared to move forward, confidently striding through the desert with their chins held high.

But Saito simply stood there and watched them sway back and forth ever so slightly. His eyes narrowed, and when he glanced beside him he saw that Derflinger was doing the same thing. They looked at each other, then Derflinger closed his eye and sighed.

"I swear, those two can get so competitive it's not even funny," Derflinger remarked, and Saito nodded before releasing Ronin.

"Ronin, mind cooling them off?" Saito asked through a devious smirk. "It looks like they need it."

Ronin smiled and nodded in agreement, which is when Louise and Henrietta finally noticed what their friend was doing. Louise's eyes widened, then she hastily yelled, "Saito, don't you dare-!"

She was interrupted by an intense Water Gun blasting her in the face, with Henrietta caught in the blast immediately afterwards.


Louise wanted to be mad at Saito. She truly did. After all, she didn't ask to be sprayed with water right in her face, nor did Henrietta. But, after spending hours walking through the hot desert, with the sun blazing down on top of them, the cool water on her skin actually felt nice. So Louise merely grumbled, refusing to thank Saito for cooling her off if only to keep her pride intact.

Henrietta, on the other hand, said to the boy, "While I would've appreciated some warning, thank you. I needed that."

"No problem," Saito replied.

The trio were taking a rest in the shadow of an escarpment, the rocky structure providing a temporary reprieve from the harsh sun. They were still sweating up a storm, but it was remarkably cooler. Saito had Shogun dig a small hole in the ground that Ronin subsequently filled up with water, which Henrietta then drew from to further cool them down with her water magic. She described it as a simple spell that any water mage could learn and was often used to cool their homes during the hot summer months. Basically, it was magical air conditioning. Ever since he had met Louise, Saito figured that Halkegenian nobles used magic in ways that were similar to modern appliances, but it was still amazing to see first-hand.

Wanting to fill the silence they found themselves in, Saito turned to Derflinger and asked, "So, Derf. What was this place like back in your day?"

"Pretty much as it is now, to be honest," Derflinger admitted. "I was actually expecting it to be bigger."

"Right, right. Desertification and all that," Saito stated as he nodded in understanding. "All of the regions in the world try to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Desertification? What do you mean?" Henrietta asked in confusion, prompting Louise to speak up.

"I actually asked this question to Professor Sycamore as well," she explained. "Basically, extensive and improperly managed agriculture can, over time, degrade the quality of the soil. Combine that with cutting down forests and removing water, you can cause deserts to grow larger. Hence the name."

"Yeah, a bit of that was going on back during King Kalos' time," Derflinger added. "Glad to see that mistake was rectified."

"Mm-hmm," Saito hummed in agreement, and settled back into silence.

Henrietta, meanwhile, pondered over what she just heard. She admittedly wasn't the most well versed in the farming practices of her country. Her mother used to tend to a garden, but it was more of a hobby and, even then, she had a full time gardener doing most of the work. But even she knew that soil could degrade over time. Particularly if earth mages attempted to increase its fertility too much. Such efforts would, in the short term, increase crop yield tremendously, but after a few seasons nothing would grow. Famine tended to follow such practices if it became too widespread, so it became national policy to limit the amount of magical enhancement used during farming.

The idea of her beloved kingdom turning into a desert was not a pleasant one, particularly since Henrietta was already planning on introducing berries and other crops native to Earth to Tristain. It was yet another reminder that she would have to be careful, that even if she had the best intentions it could lead to utter disaster.

She then said, "I'm honestly surprised anything can live out here."

"To quote a favorite movie of mine," Saito replied, "life finds a way."

"In environments like these, you tend to find a lot of Rock and Ground-type Pokémon. Species that don't need a lot of water, if any," Derflinger confirmed. "Let that be a lesson you. People tend to think of nature as being blue and green, but it's a lot more varied than that."

"No kidding," Henrietta said, then she leaned back on the rock she was sitting on while idly kicking her feet back and forth.

The party once again fell into a comfortable silence, content to simply rest and relax. They knew they couldn't stay put for too long. After all, they had to get to Lumiose by the end of the week if they wanted to stay on schedule and make it on time for Henrietta's grand Pokémon Showcase debut. She was still trying to figure out what routine she and her Pokémon would attempt, but she was narrowing it down. Henrietta was confident that, by the time they returned to the Kalosian capital, she'd know exactly what to do. Until then, she was just happy to be with her friends and unburdened with royal responsibilities. Eventually she'd have to take them back, but that was for later.

Suddenly, Derflinger shot upright and looked to his left while keeping the tip of his blade touching the ground, muttering under his breath, "What the…? Do you three feel that?"

The trainers shot their attentions towards the ancient Honedge, and after a moment Saito remarked, "No, I don't feel anything."

"What's going on?" Louise asked in slight alarm, and Derflinger narrowed his eye at her.

"The ground, it's…shaking," Derflinger revealed.

It took a few moments, but soon Henrietta and the others could feel the same thing Derflinger had already sensed. Their sense of alarm rose, and they quickly released their starter Pokémon who took up defensive positions around their trainers. Louise and Henrietta were also holding out their wands, ready to cast any spells should the situation call for it.

The ground continued to shake, increasing in fervor with each passing second. Then the earth in front of them erupted as a massive Onyx emerged from underground, letting out an angry roar. Alongside it were at least a dozen other wild Pokémon, including a Golem, several Geodudes, Digletts and Dugtrios, along with Trapinches. All of them were snarling and barking at the trainers and their Pokémon, their faces warped into infuriated scowls.

Saito, Louise and Henrietta prepared to order their Pokémon to engage the obvious threat, with the mages also ready to cast spells to further drive the wild Pokémon off. But before they could do anything, Fleur ran out to the front of the group and tried talking to the creatures surrounding them.

"Fleur, no! Get back here!" Henrietta ordered in a shrill voice, but to her shock Fleur shook her head and continued to talk back and forth with the wild Pokémon.

"Hold on, what?" Derflinger muttered as he overheard what they were saying, his eye narrowing slightly.

The trainers' confusion rose but, to their relief, saw that the wild Pokémon weren't attacking just yet. Saito then turned towards Derflinger and asked, "What are they talking about?"

Derflinger was silent for a moment as he took in more of what Fleur and the wild Pokémon were saying, then answered, "It sounds like…these Pokémon and a bunch of others in the area have been getting harassed by a…a Tinkaton for the past few days."

"A Tinkaton? Here?" Saito asked in surprise. Neither Louise nor Henrietta knew what a Tinkaton was, but they remained silent for the moment.

"Yeah. A real nasty one, too, from the sounds of it. It's been attacking them out of nowhere for no reason, ransacking their dens, taking their food," Derflinger added. "They know that Tinkatons aren't native to the region so they figured it belonged to a trainer. They've been going after any find."

"But we don't have a Tinkaton," Louise pointed out, and Derflinger nodded while pointing at Fleur with his sash.

"That's what Fleur told them, but they don't quite believe her yet. Might want to bring out the rest of your Pokémon as proof."

Wanting to avoid any unnecessary confrontation, the trainers did as advised. They made a point to show all the Pokéballs they had on hand, proving to the wild Pokémon that they weren't hiding anything as each Pokémon was released. While Esprit and Maindo were able to get a grasp of the situation immediately, the others were startled and settled into a combat stance immediately. The wild Pokémon, meanwhile, stared them down while breathing heavily. Soon, however, their anger began to dissipate as they realized that they weren't the ones who had been causing them harm.

The Onyx gave Fleur one final grunt, then turned around and slunk back underground. The other wild Pokémon followed immediately afterwards, the hole in the earth sealing shut behind them. It took a few moments for everyone to calm down and their hearts to no longer thundering inside their chests.

That was when Louise turned to Saito and asked, "Saito, what's a Tinkaton?"

In response, Saito pulled out his Pokédex and brought up the appropriate entry, which depicted a small, pink humanoid creature with white arms and hair while carrying a massive iron hammer over its shoulder. The electronic device then said, "Tinkaton, the Hammer Pokémon, and the final form of Tinkatink. A Fairy/Steel-type Pokémon native to the Paldean Region, Tinkatons are reckless and intelligent creatures who have an intense rivalry with Corviknights. They swing their massive 100 kilogram hammers into rocks and turn them into projectiles in order to knock Corviknights and other aerial Pokémon out of the sky. Tinkatons also steal anything they wants to take back to their den."

"That's a Tinkaton," Saito confirmed, his face stern. "If this Tinkaton is as bad as what those Pokémon were saying, it's no wonder they're up in a frenzy. I'd be mad too if someone keeps stealing all my stuff."

"What do we do?" Henrietta asked, and Saito shrugged.

"Ultimately, it's not really our problem," he pointed out. "But, just in case, we should probably keep our Pokémon out. If, for whatever reason, we do run into this Tinkaton we'll deal with it, but we don't need to go out of our way to stop it."

Louise nodded in agreement, remembering the last few times she poked her neck into something that wasn't her responsibility. And with the Princess now traveling with them, the last thing she wanted was to do anything unnecessary. Henrietta, on the other hand, felt a little more unease at the prospect of just ignoring what they were hearing about. But, at the same time, she knew that her friends had a point. Besides, it wasn't as though the Tinkaton was breaking any laws as far as she was aware, and it could've already left. No, it was best to just carry on.

Deciding that now was as good a time as any, the three trainers picked up their bags once more and, with no small amount of trepidation, ventured back out into the hot and desolate badlands.


"You doing alright up there, Ōdachi?" Saito called out to the young Pokémon as she flew overhead.

"This is amazing!" Ōdachi replied, which Esprit immediately translated.

Smiling softly, Saito then replied, "That's great! Just don't get too high!"

Ōdachi was only about thirty feet in the air. For a Steel-type like her, that was basically nothing. Not to mention both Maindo and Esprit were keeping an eye on her, fully prepared to psychically catch her should she lose balance. They already had a few times in the past hour, but Ōdachi was getting better with each attempt. She'd been in the air now for ten minutes with no issues, a new personal record. It helped that she could see clearly now.

And what a sight it was. Before the operation, Ōdachi never quite understood what things really looked like. When they got too far out, everything became blurry and disjointed. For the longest time, she thought that was normal. After all, she was just over a month old and couldn't really compare it to anything else. Then the truth was revealed, and Ōdachi truly felt fear she never had before. She was terrified that she wouldn't be able to see anything, that she'd become useless. That was the last thing she wanted.

But that was in the past now. Maindo and Saito managed to figure out what was going on before it could became irreparable. Sure, having those thick cloths wrapped around her eyes for a few days was annoying, and the goggles she was currently wearing pinched and pulled against her feathers and skin, but at least now she could see what everyone else could.

So far, every single sight she experienced in the past day had taken her breath away. From the white, sterile confines of the doctor's office where she was given her goggles, to the green forest just outside of Coumarine and now the brown and deep red badlands. Each one was unique and spectacular in their own right, and she couldn't wait to see more.

A brief gust of wind made her panic and nearly cause her to careen out of control. But before she could, she managed to reorient herself with a quick adjustment of her wings and tail feathers just like Aile taught her. Speaking of, the Fletchinder was flying above and behind her, looking down on the young Skarmory with obvious pride as Ōdachi glanced up at her. Ōdachi smiled then looked down at the others, most of whom were simply focused on getting through the hot badlands in one piece. Apparently, they weren't all too keen on the intense heat, except for Shogun who didn't seem to mind at all. If anything, he was having the time of his life, bounding up and down while kicking up dust in his wake. Ōdachi was in the same boat, with the sunlight reflecting off her steel scales and the wind further keeping her cool.

Turning her attention back towards the horizon, Ōdachi felt a small twinge of sadness towards how it was still somewhat blurry. According to the doctor, the laser eye surgery they performed could only do so much. Even with the goggles, her eyesight was only about half as good as a healthy Skarmory. It was something she would have to deal with her entire life. But she tried not to think about that, happy that she was at least able to see clearly at all. And besides, it wasn't as though her poor eyesight defined her. She could still be a powerful Pokémon, even if she wasn't quite there yet. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that Saito and the others would see her growth to the very end, and she was happy to call them family.

Her mind then began to drift into wild fantasies of all the different ways she could do battle once she was strong enough. Perhaps she would be like Aile, focusing on speed and maneuverability? Or perhaps she would take a more offensive approach, becoming like a flying-sword as Uncle Derflinger lovingly called it? Either way, they were both exciting possibilities that she couldn't wait to explore. If only she wasn't so young.

That was when Ōdachi's musing were interrupted by, to her surprise, a large boulder flying through the air and hitting her right in the chest. She let out a squawk of pain, then dropped like a rock towards the earth below.

"Ōdachi!" Saito cried out in alarm, already running to catch her while Aile swooped down in pursuit. But Maindo managed to get to her first, telepathically reaching out and slowing her fall so that Saito was able to safely scoop her up in her arms.

"Ōdachi, are you okay?" Saito gently and soothingly asked as she rubbed the small bits of rock off of her chest. The young Skarmory was gasping for breath, the wind having been knocked out of her lungs. But after Esprit used Heal Pulse on her, she was able to take a deep breath.

She breathed heavily for a for moments, then looked up at her trainer. Water began to pool around her eyes, and began to wail and bury her face into his chest.

"No, no! It's okay, you're fine!" Saito quickly said, rubbing his hand through the feathers on her head in a desperate attempt to calm her down.

"What happened?!" Louise shouted in alarm, already scouring the nearby area for any sign of danger.

"She got hit with a rock!" Aile answered, Esprit creating a telepathic link that allowed trainer and Pokémon to understand each other perfectly.

"A rock? She was thirty feet in the air, how'd she get hit by a rock?!"

Ōdachi continued to cry like the baby she, at the end of the day, was. The damage may have been superficial and had already been healed by Esprit, but to someone that young it didn't really matter. She was scared and confused, reacting the only way she could think of.

That was when Henrietta's eyes shot up to a nearby escarpment, and she pointed her hand towards the top and declared, "Look!"

Everyone's eyes shot up to where she was pointing, and to their shock saw a Tinkaton holding its hammer like a golfer just after a swing. She was looking down at them when a menacing glee, and soon they noticed that she was laughing.

'Oh, you sunova-!' Maindo began to exclaim, the air around his head warping in telepathic rage. But before he could do anything, Guerrier was already at a sprint with surprising speed given his size and age.

Using his arm blades as picks, Guerrier scaled up the escarpment as fast as he could, reaching the top just as the Tinkaton prepared to hit another rock towards them. But the Bisharp smashed the boulder into smithereens just as it was hit, and all the Tinkaton could do was stare at the fully experienced and furious Pokémon staring it down.

"…You shouldn't have done that," Guerrier growled, then hit the Tinkaton as hard as he could with Iron Head.

The blow made the Tinkaton stagger backward, but she recovered quickly. She tried to retaliate with her now glowing hammer, but that was when Aile joined the fray by dive bombing her with Flame Charge. Maindo teleported over at the same time and immediately blasted the Fairy/Steel-type with Shadow Ball. Soon, almost every Pokémon on all three trainer's team had joined the others on top of the escarpment, fully prepared to give the petulant Tinkaton a taste of her own medicine, who now looked absolutely terrified.

"Stop, stop!" Saito shouted just as Guerrier had grabbed the Tinkaton by its collar and was about to hit her in the face with a Metal Claw attack. As much as he wanted to pay the Tinkaton back for hurting Ōdachi, who was still whimpering, he had to remember that this was still a trainer's Pokémon. He had to stop this before it got out of hand.

"Bring it down here, now," Saito ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument. Guerrier continued to glare into the terrified Tinkaton's eyes, who clearly wasn't used to picking on targets who could actually fight back. Then, with a huff, Guerrier turned around and tossed her off the escarpment, who landed with a heap on the ground right before the three trainers.

The Hammer Pokémon dusted herself off, then glanced up at Saito, Louise, and Henrietta. If looks could kill, the Tinkaton knew she would be dead by now. Saito looked the most enraged, then he leaned over and whispered, "Where's your trainer? I want to have a…talk."


The prospect of three angry and vengeful trainers and their teams staring down the Tinkaton was more than enough to get her to talk. She pointed them northward, followed by them tying her onto Auspice's back and going in that direction. After the stunt she pulled, the last thing they wanted was for her get out and do something.

"There, there. It's okay," Henrietta soothingly said as she held Ōdachi to her chest, feeding the young Skarmory a few oran berries they had packed.

Everyone else was glaring at the Tinkaton who, now that the prospect of her being beaten was no longer on the table, looked utterly unrepentant. If anything, she looked amused at the situation. That only further incensed Saito and the others, making him want to lash out. But he wanted to be the bigger man even more, and so he stayed his hand.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before they found someone else hiking through the badlands. It was a young boy around Saito's age, with a small, neatly trimmed moustache and brown, combed back hair that was drenched in hair gel. His clothes were a burnt orange shirt and khaki cargo pants, along with brown leather boots and a matching Stetson.

"What the…Tinkaton!" the boy cried out when he noticed her tied up on Auspice's back, then ran towards them in a fury. "Unhand my Pokémon!"

"That's what we came here to do," Saito replied as Maindo telekinetically lifted the Tinkaton off of Auspice's back and dropped her onto the dirt. "Do you have any idea what your Pokémon has been doing?"

"Aside from being roughed up by rapscallions like yourself?" the boy accused in what appeared to be a Paldean accent, which made sense given the Tinkaton.

"Your Tinkaton was the rapscallion!" Louise shouted, her fists tightly clenched. "She's been attacking other wild Pokémon for no reason, who then attacked us thinking she was part of our team. Then she hit Ōdachi out of the sky with a rock!"

She pointed at the whimpering Skarmory still being held by Henrietta, who was now trying to match the others in giving the Paldean trainer and the Tinkaton disapproving glares. Given her small size, though, it wasn't that intimidating.

The boy blinked his eyes a few times, then looked down at his Pokémon and asked, "Tinkaton, is that true?"

In response, the Tinkaton merely smirked and shrugged his shoulders, causing the boy to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose in obvious frustration.

"Dios mío," the boy muttered under his breath. "How many times… I apologize for this. My name is Carlos, and you know how Tinkatons are. Can't really control them."

Saito narrowed his eyes, not particularly liking the implications of what Carlos was saying. Ignoring it for the moment, he replied, "It's fine. Luckily, Ōdachi wasn't too hurt. I'm Saito, these are my friends Louise and Henrietta."

"Hola, señoritas," Carlos said, clearly trying to put on the charm to the two beautiful girls standing in front of them. "Again, my sincerest apologies. I was setting up our camp for the night when Tinkaton got away from me. Turned my back for one minute and she was already gone."

"You need to keep a better track of your Pokémon, especially if they're harassing others," Saito pointed out.

"I know, I know," Carlos admitted while throwing up his hands in a placating manner. "But, again, you know how Tinkatons are. Especially mine. They can't help themselves."

"They can't help but harass and attack others for no reason?" Louise incredulously stated, and Carlos sighed and nodded.

"Yes. I told her so long as she kept it to wild Pokémon it would be fine. She isn't supposed to go after other trainers," Carlos answered as though that justified everything.

"…What? You allowed this?!" Saito shouted angrily, catching Carlos off guard.

"Why are you being so hostile?" Carlos asked in clear confusion. "Besides, you said it yourself that your Skarmory wasn't really hurt."

"That's not the point!" Saito shot back, his voice rising in frustration. "Your Pokémon hit mine out of the air with a rock for no reason! It doesn't matter if she wasn't hurt, what does matter is that she easily could've! Especially since she's just over a month old!"

"You let your Pokémon fly around when she's that young?" Carlos said, raising an eyebrow. He then noticed the goggles on her eyes and added, "And it appears she can't see all that well to begin with. I dare say that you probably shouldn't have had her out to begin with, especially if you already knew a Tinkaton was harassing over Pokémon. You know Tinkatons and Flying/Steel-types don't get along all that much."

"EXCUSE ME?!" Saito yelled while Louise and Henrietta gasped in shock.

Carlos, no longer putting on a veneer of civility, grimaced and nodded before saying, "You heard me. Now, again, I'm sorry that my Pokémon hurt yours. I really am. But seeing as how she is a Tinkaton, and your Skarmory wasn't really hurt after you put her in a position to be hurt in the first place, I don't think there's anything else we need to discuss. Will that be all?"

Saito seethed, clenching his fist tightly but otherwise refused to say anything at first. He then growled, "No, I think we're done here. Come on, guys."

Without saying another word, Saito turned around and stomped away. Carlos stayed for a moment, then he and his Tinkaton went the other direction back to wherever they set up camp. Saito wanted nothing more than to lash out and hit the jerk, but at the same time felt that was beneath him. If anything, he felt that doing so would validate whatever obscure point Carlos was trying to make in his victim blaming, and he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"You're not seriously just going to let him get away with this, are you?" Louise asked once they were far enough away, and Saito, still grimacing, nodded.

"I'm not going to do a thing," he admitted.

"But what he's doing is wrong!" Henrietta pointed out, and Saito nodded again.

"I know, but nothing we do would change his mind," Saito answered. "Besides, I think someone already is."

Louise was about to respond, then she stopped in confusion, looked around and asked, "Hey, where's Maindo and Aile?"


'Stay on him,' Maindo ordered as he balanced himself atop Aile, the pair looking down on Carlos and the Tinkaton as they hiked through the dry expanse.

"Don't worry, I see him," Aile replied.

As soon as it became obvious that Saito wasn't going to do anything to retaliate against Carlos and his Tinkaton, Maindo already decided he wasn't going to make the same mistake. He understood why Saito was doing it. The idiot was trying to prove himself as being "the bigger man" by not stooping to Carlos' level. But Maindo had no such compunctions. Through his negligence, Carlos injured someone Maindo had grown to genuinely care for. It would be like if one of his actual younger brothers and sisters were attacked out of nowhere for no reason at all. Most of the other Pokémon were in agreement, particularly Aile, and so none of them said so much as a word as the pair took off in pursuit.

"There it is," Aile announced as they saw Carlos and his Tinkaton stop near a small camp set up in a small crevice in the shadow of a large butte. With the sun beginning to set, it honestly wasn't that bad of a setup in Maindo's opinion. By default, that made it too good for him.

"What are you thinking?" Aile asked, and Maindo hummed for a minute.

'I'm thinking…that we aren't the only ones who have a bone to pick with these two,' Maindo answered as they hovered in place.

Aile was silent for a moment, then she replied, "You're evil. Right now, I love that."

'I try.'


It wasn't too long before Aile and Maindo, their two missing Pokémon returned to the others. After the events of the day, setting up camp seemed like a smart idea. They chose to set it up behind a large escarpment that would shield them from the morning sun. Saito had set up a campfire with Henrietta's assistance. While she may not have been able to cast water magic, fire was all too easy in this kind of environment.

"Where did you two go?" Louise asked, and Aile nonchalantly whistled.

'We saw something interesting and wanted to check it out,' Maindo replied, and Louise narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"You didn't do anything to Carlos, did you?" Louise asked. "I won't be mad if you did."

'Nope, we did nothing to him,' Maindo answered with all too smug grin.

"…Uh-huh," Louise muttered in clear disbelief.

That was when they heard a loud scream, and they turned their heads in its direction. To their surprise, they saw Carlos and his Tinkaton running for their lives away from an angry horde of wild Pokémon, the same that accosted them earlier that day. From the direction they were going, the horde was chasing them all the way back to Coumarine.

'Well, would you look at that? Looks like those Pokémon found where that Tinkaton was camping,' Maindo said. 'Good on them.'

Everyone silently stared at the unrepentant Maindo and Aile, then Saito chuckled and replied, "Gee, I wonder how that happened?"

"I guess we'll never know," Derflinger added.

"Indeed," Henrietta agreed as she took a sip from a water bottle.

"A mystery for the ages," Louise declared, and everyone's smiles grew even wider.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate and Yuri Vampire for their help in bringing this chapter to life.

After how eventful the last few chapters were, it's always nice to take a break and that's essentially what this chapter was all about. Just our heroes going through the Lumoise Badlands, only to have an encounter with a less-than-friendly Tinkaton. We felt this was a perfect way to introduce the species into the story but not so in a way that it would detract from the wider plot.

To answer your questions:

We do actually intend to do a Mystery Dungeon OVA at some point. It's too good of an opportunity to pass up. When we'll do it, obviously, will come in due time.

Henrietta's third and final Pokemon is something that I think you guys will enjoy. Just keep in mind that, given how she isn't undergoing the Gym Challenge, having a different team typing than Saito and Louise isn't as important.

The Tristain Arc going to be the capstone to this story. If Season 2 is the second third of Kalos, and Season 3 goes up to the Pokemon League, Tristain would be the Epilogue. The post-game, if you will. It would be a few episodes long, at most.

That's it for now. Let us know what you all think! If any of you have a TV Tropes account, I would greatly appreciate any assistance you guys can offer in updating it. We hope you enjoy and see you all next time!