A/N: Fight time!

Recompense

"I want Company Seven in full retreat! Send in the fliers of Company Twelve to cover them!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"Tell Motochika that if he doesn't reign in that battalion on the right flank, I'll lodge my foot in his backside!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Takanobu, how is Naoshige's Zangoose Battalion?!"

"They're advancing steadily, my lord." The advisor lowered his looking glass as he turned to face Keihatsu, who was covered in ash and sweat from the battle that had begun earlier in the day. "While we've taken some hard hits to the left advance platoons, most of the injuries inflicted seem to be non-lethal, though reports are still coming in, and the battle is not over yet." The two of them were on top of a hill that overlooked the conflict between them and the city that they were trying to take. Snorlax and five other pokémon, plus their warriors, were all stationed in a rough circle around the hill in order to protect their leader in the unlikely event that enemy forces made it to their position.

"How long do you estimate before the city's defenses give?" the young warlord hissed as he clutched at a burn on his abdomen. Eevee had been on the wrong end of a Houndoom's flames about an hour into the conflict, so both he and Keihatsu had been relegated to the sidelines of the battle, though Vaporeon continued to fight on their behalf alongside Motochika's Samurott.

"If the battle continues to progress as it has, we should have control of the area by nightfall, my lord," Takanobu answered. "I suppose we should be grateful for our swift victories thus far, but I fear we may have grown complacent in our planning because of them."

"You mean I've grown complacent," Keihatsu chuckled through a grimace.

"That is not what I meant, my lord."

"But it's the truth," the younger man sighed. He thought back on the last five weeks of battles and travel that the coalition had been through, and how great their successes had seemed. Ignis had very few large cities, instead being divided into many smaller settlements that each had some singular form of commerce to its name. Some were built on mines for coal or gold, while others produced the food needed for their neighbors in exchange for the raw materials necessary for further trade. These settlements had been easily overrun by the combined might of Aurora, Fontaine, and Greenleaf, allowing them to progress swiftly though the fiery nation and maintain a high morale among the warriors and pokémon.

As they made their way through the countryside, the leaders strictly forbade their troops from looting, as they were not there to cause trouble for the common folk. They left a few soldiers at each place that they passed through to ensure that no one in the village tried to warn those closer to the capital, but Keihatsu left them with instructions to help the people if they needed it. As a demonstration, he had taken a day to disguise himself as a common warrior among the people of a village that they took over and had helped a struggling family to clear out a pack of Larvesta that were constantly devouring their crops. He had revealed himself as the warlord of Aurora after the fact, stunning many of the villagers and emboldening his troops to perform similar acts of kindness after they had left.

Of course, not everyone had followed orders so well. Motonari's senior command staff caught wind of some of their warriors stealing from some of the wealthier families in one of the mining towns. In response, the leader of Greenleaf had brought them before a large assembly of the coalition forces, and had then issued a swift and decisive punishment. He had borrowed Motochika's sword- the same one that Keihatsu had gifted him with- and with an unnervingly swift series of strikes, chopped off one hand of each of his men that had been caught with stolen goods, stunning the combined forces. Throughout the entire ordeal, his facial expression remained calm and composed, giving no hint that he was even angry or disappointed, which was all the more unnerving to those under his command. He had then warned the rest of the troops that the same punishment awaited those that were caught stealing from the Ignisians. After that, no one dared to attempt theft from their neighbors again.

Other than that, the invasion had progressed quite smoothly. Hideyoshi's warriors had no real chain of command among them, which made those that did resist the coalition forces unable to effectively fight back. That is, until they hit their first major city, a place called Ta-Koro, which was defended by a sturdy outer wall and a garrison of over six hundred warriors and pokémon. The coalition had forces that greatly outnumbered the Ignisian defenses, but their enemies had the home terrain advantage, and for the first time since the invasion had begun, the leaders seemed to have a good grasp on strategy, and it was showing in the casualty reports that Keihatsu and the other warlord leaders had been receiving all day.

"My lord, no one expects you to-"

"Hold on a moment," Keihatsu said with a frown while raising a hand for silence. He closed his eyes while Takanobu held still and awaited his master's next command.

The warlord's mind shifted into the view of Vaporeon, who was growling at a Blaziken and Camerupt that were menacing a trio of Herdier that looked like they had been used as chew toys by the hound. He sent energy across their link pouring into Vaporeon to enhance his speed and then ordered the pokémon to weave around the Houndoom and smack it with an Aqua Tail, followed by a Hydro Pump that blasted both it and its comrade into a muddy ditch where there were a handful of other fire-type pokémon being herded.

As soon as those two had been deposited by their kin, a Snorlax- not Takanobu's- crashed into them from above, having been dropped by four Pidgeot, and using Giga Impact in the moment before it struck. The earth around it shook, and any pokémon unfortunate enough to have been beneath the hefty pokémon would be lucky to still be conscious, if even alive.

Satisfied with Vaporeon's efforts for the time being, Keihatsu commanded his partner to make a retreat with the other wounded pokémon in the company so that he could be seen by Oichi in the healer's ward. She served as his personal healer in an official capacity, but she also tended to some of the more seriously wounded soldiers when she wasn't helping Eevee, Vaporeon, or Keihatsu. The young warlord could feel his tailbone bruising rapidly, as his partner had suffered a crushing bite wound from the Houndoom before his master had intervened.

Keihatsu opened his eyes and let out a breath that he hadn't realized that he was holding before looking back up at his advisor again. "My apologies for that," he said tiredly. "What were we discussing?"

"We were discussing the casualties inflicted by our collective hubris," the older warrior answered. "However, I was also going to say that if you need a respite, the situation seems stable enough for the moment. Lord Motonari is on his way over, so now would be an optimal time to rest your body and visit Lady Oichi for healing. Our troops need their leader to be hale and hearty in time for the final push into the city, after all."

Keihatsu raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You're laying it on a tad thick, aren't you?"

"Perhaps, but it stems from genuine concern," the other man said with a small smile. "The final decision is yours', of course, but as I said, things are progressing as well as they can for the time being. I will send for you when it is time to take the walls, or if something unexpected rears its head."

Keihatsu was tempted to stand on his pride and remain where he was so that he could keep a personal eye on the battle that raged before him, but he knew that he was in for it from his betrothed as it was. She had urged him to try and allow his men to do their jobs when it came to protecting each other, and to save his pokémon for when a more grave threat arose, but the warrior in him had not been able to heed her caution. He yearned to protect those that he could, and so he had deployed Eevee and Vaporeon almost immediately after some of Greenleaf's pokémon and warriors began to find themselves overwhelmed by the flames of Ignis, leading to his current wounded status.

"Very well," he sighed as he got to his feet a little unsteadily. He allowed Takanobu to assist him when he started to sway with dizziness and said, "Thank you. A thousand pardons for becoming a burden."

"Not at all, my lord," Takanobu said with another smile. As they started to walk down the hill, he called out, "Munezane! Help Lord Keihatsu to the medical division, and be quick about it! Take him to Lady Oichi, she'll look after him."

"Sir, yes sir!" the younger warrior acknowledged dutifully as he moved to take his master's weight from his superior. The young capital warrior had volunteered to come on the campaign as one of Keihatsu's battle escorts, apparently feeling the need to make up for allowing an assailant to nearly kill his master right in front of him, despite the warlord having already tried to dismiss the matter. Now the pair of men made their way slowly down the hill, away from the battle zone and toward the medical tents that had been set up, outside the line of fire.

"So, Munezane," Keihatsu grunted as he nearly rolled his ankle, only catching himself just in time. "How do you like my new choice in route for the afternoon stroll?"

"It's much more exciting than our patrols in the capital, my lord," the other warrior answered ruefully. "As glad as I am to be here at your side, I will be much happier to accompany you to Lady Hatsu's fruit stand when we make it back home."

"Oh?" Keihatsu asked with a slightly pained grin of his own. "Do you miss the fruit, or the one that tends to the stall?"

"Both," Munezane admitted with a little chuckle. After a moment of quiet walking, he sheepishly added, "Because you have been unable to make your usual trips into the marketplace, I took to visiting her in my off-duty days, and I've been sending her a few letters as we've travelled."

Keihatsu regarded the man beside him with approval before saying, "I'm happy for you, Munezane. I hope it turns out well for you."

"Thank you, my lord," the other man said with a small dip of his head. "You are far too kind to concern yourself with my petty matters."

"The matters of the heart are many things, but 'petty' is not one of them," his master said with a negative shake of his head. "You're a good man, Munezane, and you deserve to be happy with someone that you care about. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently, understand?"

"Yes, my lord," Munezane answered with a significantly happier expression. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I deeply appreciate it."

"And I deeply appreciate the help in getting to the healers," Keihatsu said as the ground beneath them started to level out. "Though gods help me when my physician sees the mess I'm in."

"We can always go back to the hilltop with the rest of your war council, if you'd like," Munezane said a little cheekily.

Keihatsu displayed a strained to his subordinate before saying, "You'll have the Lady Oichi to answer to if I go back and extend myself any further than I already have. If you believe yourself brave enough to do so, by all means, let us return."

Munezane appeared puzzled at this. "I don't understand," he said. "Everyone speaks nothing of her but gentle kindness and skills in the medicinal arts. What is to fear about that?"

"My father used to say that a wise man fears the storm that he cannot predict," Keihatsu replied, the same smile still on his face. "Lady Oichi has not lost her temper with me yet, but war does strange things to people… I rather think that if she is in fact capable of producing a storm from her anger, it shall be a tempest of the likes which even the Therian pokémon have never seen."

Munezane looked askance at his master, unable to determine whether or not he was telling a joke. Deciding that he'd rather not find out, he simply said, "General Takanobu commanded that I get you to the healer's tents, and so I shall. What happens after that is entirely up to you, my lord."

"Oh, if only that were true."

Keihatsu had a slightly apprehensive look on his face as he spoke, which led Munezane to think, Perhaps he wasn't jesting…

Ten minutes of walking saw Keihatsu in Oichi's tent, where Eevee and Vaporeon were already waiting for him. The water-type pokémon was being treated by the healer when the two men walked in, so at first she didn't see who had come to visit.

"I'll be out to check on the seventh company in two minutes, Kazumasa," she said without looking up. "Please tell the others to have the Sealeo keep applying cold water to the burn victims' wounds."

"Sorry to disturb you, my lady, but your delay may have to be extended," Munezane said, causing Oichi to look over her shoulder, whereupon her eyes widened in surprise. He then continued on to say, "I'd be happy to pass on any other instructions you have to the other healers, but I'm afraid I will be unable to do much more than that to assist you."

"Lieutenant Munezane, Lord Keihatsu," she said as she finished applying a healing salve to Vaporeon's bruised tail. Regarding her betrothed with a practitioner's eye, she murmured, "If your wounds are anything like what these two suffered, it's a miracle that you're able to stand at all. Please, can you help him sit down on my cot?" She addressed the last part to Keihatsu's guard, who moved to do as she requested.

Once the young warlord was on the bedding, Munezane took his leave in order to relay Oichi's instructions to the other healers. "Please also tell Kazumasa to move those with less critical injuries to the south of the camp, near the river. If they can walk, we'll need their help to get water to those who cannot."

"Understood, my lady," Munezane said with a short bow to the girl. "I'll see it done before I go back to the battlefield." With that, he was gone, the tent flaps quickly rippling back into place.

Once he was sure that the other man was gone, Keihatsu shifted his gaze to Oichi, who was sifting through her medical kit, and asked, "How much trouble am I in?"

"So much trouble," the girl sighed as she turned toward him with bandages and two jars of ointments in hand. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's a severe bruise on the tailbone, chest burns, and claw wounds in various places?"

"Yes," he said as he closed his eyes in preparation for what was about to come. Oichi wasted no time in helping him to get out of his armor and remove his shirt so that she could begin to administer the medicine that he needed. The first few times that they had done this, there had been a lot of awkward eye contact and fumbling attempts to get him free of his clothes, but they'd had enough practice by now that it was a fairly smooth operation, though it was still very painful for the young man when his clothes were peeled away from the burnt skin.

"I'll have to clean this," Oichi warned him with a slight grimace. "The fabric stuck to the wound long enough that it might cause an infection if I don't get all of the threads out."

"Wonderful," the young man said through shut eyes and gritted teeth.

"I'll heal it partway so that it doesn't affect your ability to think clearly, but it will still take time to mend properly," she told him as she reached for a fresh washcloth and a gag. She handed him the fabric to jam in his teeth so that he did not accidentally bite his own tongue when she started to clean the abused flesh.

"As much as I dislike what it about to happen here, I do have to say, it's nice to have a few minutes with just the two of us," he said with a pained chuckle, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. "I've hardly seen you this weekend."

"You hardly need to go to such lengths to garner my attention," she replied with a slightly softer expression on her face as she set about wetting the fabric that she would be using to clean his body. "I do wish that you would exercise more caution in these battles."

"So does my rationale, but my instincts demand that I do otherwise," he replied with a helpless shrug. "I really did try to restrain myself, but one of Motonari's companies was in trouble, and it was faster for me to have Vaporeon and Eevee assist them than waiting for the standard reinforcements, so… If I can save a life under my charge, I must do so. Surely you don't fault me for that?"

"Not as my warlord, no," she sighed as she began to apply a sanitary compound to the soaked cloth. "As my future husband, on the other hand… I know I'm being selfish, but you are the first genuinely good thing to happen to me since I can remember, and I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," he said with as much conviction as he could muster. "I'll always make my way back to you. Granted, I'll likely be battered from head to toe half the time, but I will return as many times as I depart, I promise."

"So long as you do," she said before glancing at the entrance to her tent. She then gave him a soft kiss that lasted only a second, but it left the both of them smiling when she broke contact. "There," she giggled softly. "But no more until after you no longer look like you had an argument with a volcano."

"Heh," Keihatsu chortled. "I'd win that argument."

"Maybe, but we'll see how long your tongue holds out against this healing session," his betrothed said with a little smile of her own that wiped his clean off. "Now get that gag in and hold still for me. This is not going to be pleasant for either of us, so let's try to get it over with as quickly as possible."

As Keihatsu stuffed the gag in his mouth and bit down in preparation, he reflected that it was very difficult to win an argument with one's healer, especially when one was completely enamored with said healer.

It took about twenty minutes of cleaning and healing before Oichi was finished with her work, and by the end of it, she was breathing heavily and trembling with exhaustion. She looked as though she might collapse, so Keihatsu moved quickly to help her sit down on her cot before that could happen.

"And you lecture me on overextending myself," he said with a kind smile while her cheeks flushed and she averted her gaze. "You've been working too hard, yourself." Eevee and Vaporeon were both fast asleep, resting in the clutches of true exhaustion that only a battle can inflict, leaving the two of them relatively alone together.

"I suppose we truly are a perfect match, then," she said as she leaned on him, her eyes drooping closed. "Perhaps I should worry that when we are married, we will be so busy attending our respective duties that we will not have enough time for one another."

Keihatsu was quiet for a moment before he said, "It won't always be like this, not if I can help it. You and I will return to Aurora, where I will spend my days handling nobles and upstart bandits, and you will be free to do as you desire. Then at least we can be certain of our evenings together without wondering if an enemy country is about to come crashing through the borders."

"Free to do as I please, hmm?" Oichi murmured as she put her head on his shoulder. "I rather think that I'll stay by your side at every possible moment."

"Even when I am called to fight?" he asked curiously.

"I am here now, aren't I?" she responded with a tired laugh.

"True," he nodded with a grateful smile. "Thank you for that."

"Of course."

A thought then occurred to Keihatsu, leading him to say, "I'm sorry that I didn't ask this earlier, but where is Jigglypuff? Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's helping the pokémon of Greenleaf to recover from life-threatening injuries alongside the more experienced healers," she answered. "She's amazingly tireless."

"She sounds like her master," Keihatsu said as he nudged his betrothed gently, causing her to smile again. "I am glad that you found a partner to aid you in your goal to become a great healer." Oichi had been tending to sick pokémon in his castle's vivarium when she had come across Jigglypuff, who had fallen ill with a virus that made other healers wary of treating her, for fear of infecting their own partners with the sickness. Since Oichi was one of the few healers who did not possess a bond with a pokémon, she had taken to caring for the sick creature, a task that took up a good portion of her days leading up to the departure for war. By the time Jigglypuff had been nursed back to good health, Oichi realized that she had become linked to her, a revelation that initially confused and frightened her.

She knew that people who could form links to pokémon were often expected to fight on behalf of their country when called for, and so she feared not only for her new partner, but also herself, as she detested being part of a conflict that would hurt others. She had confessed her fears to Keihatsu, who had been quick to dispel them by reassuring her that he had no intention of making her fight if she did not wish to. Instead, he encouraged her to cherish her bond with Jigglypuff, saying that she had been entrusted with a precious life that now depended on her for guidance and strength. She had cast her doubts on her ability to give strength of any kind to another, but Keihatsu had insisted that she had a resolve as strong as any warrior that he had ever known, given her ability to take charge of the kingdom's negotiations while he had been incapacitated, and her belief in abstaining from conflict in a world so driven by the idea that might made right.

He had told her that if she still desired to be a practitioner of medicine, nurturing her link with Jigglypuff would only aid her in that endeavor, as the pink pokémon was more than capable of learning several healing-type moves that could save the lives of pokémon and by extension, their warriors. Her latent ability that had been unsealed by her bond with her pokémon allowed her to also use her own energy to heal others, so even if she never set foot on the battlefield herself, she could still help Keihatsu and his cause a great deal. Some of the more experienced medical officers in the army had begun to whisper that she may have had the potential to become a healing sage, the likes of which had not been seen in many years.

"I suppose it explains why I never had any luck with pokémon in Dragnor," she mused. "I never considered the thought that I am simply incompatible with dragon-type pokémon. However, I rather think that I will count such a thing as a blessing, else I likely never would have come to meet you or her- my wonderful partners who so readily support me almost before I even realize that I have need of it."

"Just returning the favor," he told her before he kissed the top of her head.

"I don't recall doing anything worthy of note," Oichi said as she flicked her eyes up toward him.

"No?" Keihatsu grinned a little more brightly. "Let's see, where to start… Ah, you agreed to accompany me, a stranger, into a border conflict that could have been quite hazardous to your health, not to mention that you volunteered your medical knowledge in order to save many of my people before I could even ask. You also put up with a lot of ridicule from my kingdom's nobility, followed by securing the negotiations to make this coalition possible. Oh, and you've helped me to get well after I got myself injured, several times now. As far as I'm concerned, I have much to repay."

"I feel much the same, and I imagine that we could argue about it until the end of our lives without either of us being able to convince the other to concede," Oichi giggled as her eyes slowly drooped closed. "I am glad to know that we will have that long together…" Her voice dropped to little more than a murmur, and Keihatsu realized that she was falling asleep on his shoulder.

Smiling to himself, he moved quietly to lay her head down on the pillow at the edge of the cot before carefully lifting her legs so that they rested on the bedding where he had been sitting. He noted that the light coming in from the outside was starting to fade, and since they were still a couple of weeks' travel away from the volcanoes near the capital, the autumn evenings could still get chilly in this part of the country. He looked around the tent for the blanket that had been provided for her, but he soon realized that Eevee was using it as a nest, and he wasn't about to make his partner get up when he was getting a well-deserved break.

He still didn't want to leave her without an extra layer of fabric to ward off the oncoming chill, so he detached his cape from his armor and put it over her small frame as she slumbered. It wasn't a very thick piece of fabric, but it was better than nothing, and she smiled in her sleep when he left it atop her, so he felt that he had made the best choice.

He put on his shirt and bracers before picking up his upper body armor and slipping out the shelter without a sound. As soon as he was outside, he quickly located one of the orderlies that was running messages across the camp and called her over, causing the girl to stop in front of him and bow deeply. "How may I serve you, Battlemaster?" she asked as she straightened herself up.

The young man noted that her accent marked her as a resident of Greenleaf before answering, "This tent is not to be disturbed under any circumstances except by myself or the Lady Oichi's Jigglypuff. My pokémon and the good lady are taking a well-deserved rest, and anyone who rouses them early will answer directly to me. Make sure that this is known, especially among the healers of this division."

"As you wish, Lord Keihatsu." The woman gave him one more bow before she rushed off to carry out her new orders, leaving him to walk toward the command pavilion, where he knew he would find the senior staff of the other warlords. His wounds still smarted something fierce, but not to the point where he couldn't get around on his own. He could also think more clearly, which he knew he would need when their forces made the final push to take the walls.

He stopped outside of the tent next to a pair of his warriors- the standard practice had become to have two warriors and their pokémon from each nation to stand guard over the war council's meeting place- and greeted them by name, causing them to acknowledge his presence with deep bows from the waist.

"Koda, Matsuda, good to see you both well," he said to the middle-aged warrior and his son. "If it's not too much trouble, could you help me into my armor? It's a bit fiddly if I try to do it myself, and last time I wound up with one of my shoulder pads falling off."

"Of course, my lord," said Matsuda as he took the armor from his master and moved to stand behind him. "Your father filled this set out quite nicely in his younger days, back when I was apprenticed to his armor-bearer. It seems to suit you equally well, though it appears to be missing the cape that goes with it?"

"It's gone to someone who has greater need of it than I," Keihatsu answered as he raised his arms in preparation to be clad in the white-and-gold armor. "I didn't know that you had been in my father's confidence."

"For five years I served as his armor-bearer after my predecessor passed the title on to me," Matsuda said proudly. However, his tone became a little more somber as he continued, "I was dismissed from my duties two years prior to his death, a shame that I've never been able to rid myself of."

"Why?" Keihatsu asked curiously, causing the two men to look at one another nervously. Seeing this, their master said, "I assure you, no punishment will befall you for speaking the truth. I am not my father, and as far as I am concerned, you have done me no wrong while in my service. I have no reason to hold a grudge against you."

"The blame lies with me, my lord," Koda blurted out, causing Keihatsu to raise an eyebrow, as the young man had been silent thus far. "I was caught doing something foolish, and my father tried to shield me from the consequences."

"Love makes fools of us all, son, but not so much that you should have been punished," Matsuda insisted. Before Keihatsu could try to understand what he was talking about, the older warrior told him, "My son became enamored with a truly delightful lass and he sought to garner her attention. After some trial and error, he succeeded in wooing her, and they declared their intent to marry."

"I follow you so far," Keihatsu said as Matsuda began to tighten the bindings that held his chest piece in place with the armor on his back. "However, I fail to see how any of this would lead to your dismissal."

"The girl in question is Lady Keiko of the Koriyama clan," Matsuda replied, naming the noble house that had a Tauros as their crest. "Sir Tsunehisa is the current patriarch, and he strongly discouraged his goddaughter marrying into a lower class. He stated that my service to your father had given my family a sense of entitlement that we were not privy to, and when I protested, he urged your father to maintain the discipline. I was dismissed, and my son has been kept away from her family ever since." Matsuda shrugged and finished by saying, "I regret that I could not be by your father's side when he passed into the void, but my duty as a father demanded that I defend my son's honor."

"As well you should have," Keihatsu said approvingly. To Koda, he asked, "Tell me, has Lady Keiko been married off in the time that you have been kept apart?"

"No, sire, but I have heard that she is betrothed to one of the Sarutobi heirs," the young man said sadly. "I have seen her at a distance a few times, and she looks sad. I know I could make her happy, even if I have no money for a grand hall like her father and grandfather possess."

"I'll see to it that you get the chance to do so," the young warlord grunted as one of his burns protested his chest piece being clamped against his stomach.

Both of the men paused where they stood, their eyes wide. "My lord?" Matsuda asked in disbelief.

"As I'm sure the rumors have told tale, I am not a supporter of the caste system that I inherited from my father," their master told them. "A man or woman should be free to choose their spouse, regardless of the circumstances surrounding their birth. After all, I could have been born a commoner because of my mother, were it not for my father- something that people often forget. That being said, I will send a letter to both houses telling them to put the wedding proceedings on hold until my return. I believe the both of you, but I would like the chance to hear Lady Keiko's thoughts on the matter before I interfere any further. I hope that this eases your mind a little, Koda."

"More than you know, my lord!" the young man said as he dropped to his knees and prostrated himself before his master. "Thank you! A thousand years of gratitude from me and my descendants be upon you, my lord!"

"Truly, thank you," Matsuda said, his voice sounding a little husky as he spoke. Keihatsu turned to see the older man bowing to him from the waist as he added, "A father's greatest wish is to see his children succeed, be that in their chosen profession or their ability to create a family of their own. Thanks to you, I may yet see that wish fulfilled."

"It is the duty of a warlord to see to the welfare of his people wherever and whenever he is able," Keihatsu replied as he urged his servants to get up. "I would be remiss to ignore a man who has served my family and his nation well, and continues to do so under my rule. Besides, I rather think the nobility of my kingdom could do to be touched upon by those that have experienced the hardships of someone who has worked for success as opposed to those who have it handed to them merely by right of birth." He chuckled a little bit as he added, "A bit hypocritical of me to say, I know, but it is how I feel. And until someone with a greater strength of will than I comes to change things back, my kingdom will advance in the ways that I see fit."

Matsuda and Koda swiftly finished tying off the last pieces of the armor, allowing Keihatsu to move freely once again. "Thank you," he said to the happy pair. "Now, I have a meeting to attend, but I trust that you will keep us safe while I do. And Matsuda?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Takanobu has been assisting me with my armor for the duration of this campaign, but he has many other duties that he could do to invest a few more minutes in," he said with a little smile as he stood in front of the entrance to the pavilion. "If you can find it in yourself to be at my tent an hour before dawn every morning, I think I'll have myself an official armor-bearer."

Tears began to pool at the corners of the older man's eyes while his jaw worked up and down, though no sound came out. Seeing this, Keihatsu put his fist over his heart and murmured, "Deo Ecclesiae Patriae."

"Deo Ecclesiae Patriae," they echoed with trembling voices. Then he was gone into the tent, his smile even brighter, glad that he had been able to bring happiness to even a few of his citizens in a time of war.

The gates to the city were breached not long after the moon appeared in the sky above Ta-Koro. Keihatsu and Motochika led the charge personally with their most elite troops, the Regigigas and Kyogre platoons, both units comprised of thirty-five warriors each, all of them linked to two or more pokémon. Every one of them were the veterans of more than twenty major battles, with the exception of Keihatsu himself, though no one would have guessed as much if it were not for his youth.

Together the warriors of Fontaine and Aurora drove back the weakened defenses of the Ignisian city and forced them into the main plaza where a statue of the legendary pokémon, Ho-Oh, stood gleaming in the firelight of the conflict. It was there that the warriors of Ignis set up to make their last stand, tired and battered though they were.

Once Keihatsu and Motochika had them thoroughly surrounded, the leader of the coalition called a halt in their advance. The warriors under his command were confused by the order, as they had the momentum to easily crush the last of the resistance, but no one moved to disobey. He had earned enough of their respect to at least see what he had in mind, even those not from his homeland.

"Warriors of Ignis," Keihatsu called out, his powerful voice echoing across the plaza for all to hear. "You have fought with honor and valor today. I wish to honor your loyalty to your homeland by offering you a chance to stand down without any further bloodshed. Surrender and I promise that you will be treated fairly by all standards. No harm will befall you or your pokémon, nor will I allow ill fortune to befall those whom you have sought to protect. If you wish to fight back, however, I cannot promise to give you safe quarter when all is said and done. This is your only chance to end things with even a small measure of peace."

"You stand with the blood of our comrades on your hands, and you expect us to roll over and allow you to take our city without a fight that is drawn out to our last breath?!" demanded a commander, one of the few officers left standing. "Darkrai take you, Auroran! We'll die before allowing you to have Ta-Koro!"

"Wait!" Another voice halted Keihatsu before he could give the order to finish the battle. A lieutenant stepped past the commander, who looked furious with his subordinate for speaking out of turn. The man ignored his superior's ire in favor of locking eyes with Keihatsu as he spoke again. "I doubt you remember me, Lord Keihatsu, but I remember you. I was part of the battalion that fought your people at the border of our nations the day that you repelled our attack. You spared the lives of my brethren and our pokémon partners."

The men and women of Ignis began to murmur among themselves with interest. Apparently rumors of Keihatsu's mercy had reached their ears, but now they were seeing it confirmed with their own eyes. The lieutenant went on to say, "I detest the idea of allowing you to walk through my home unhindered… But I would hate it even more if another score of my kinsmen died needlessly to the might of your forces. I've fought in many battles on behalf of Ta-Koro and Ignis, and I have never seen strength that equals yours'. Therefore I know that struggling any further will yield no fruit in our favor. You will destroy us, for our masters have urged us to enter the Ursaring's lair and bloody its nose without provocation. It is only natural that you retaliate as you have, and yet you extend this olive branch to those of us that have survived this long."

Turning to face his countrymen, he raised his voice and said, "This battle is lost. But this man is better than his word, something I know from personal experience. If he decrees that no harm will befall us or our families, then I believe him. I offer to him my surrender, and I urge you all to do the same. Let us not visit any more sorrow upon our people than this battle already has."

"Silence!" the commander shouted, seeing that many of the people in the square were seriously considering the words of the lieutenant. "All of you, your loyalty is to the throne of Ignis! Anything less than a battle on Lord Hideyoshi's behalf is treason, and the perpetrators will be treated as such!"

"The loyalty of a good warrior who loves his homeland is to the people that the throne serves," Keihatsu countered calmly, further angering the leader of the Ignisian forces. "If the one who sits on the throne fails to act with the best interests of their people at heart, then the throne may as well be empty for all the good it does its nation. Hideyoshi has visited war upon my homeland, as well as that of Greenleaf, all without cause. How has this caused your kingdom to prosper? How has it benefited any of our people?

"Your current warlord is a cancer that must be removed if there is to be peace and prosperity in this part of Ransei. I am not here to conquer your lands, merely to see that a more temperate ruler makes their way onto the throne so that there may be peace between our people as it was in the days of my father. I offer you a chance to live to see the sun rise on a time of brotherhood and kindness, sons and daughters of Ignis." Keihatsu then fell silent, waiting to see what their opponents' response would be.

It wasn't long in coming. Starting with the lieutenant who had spoken of Keihatsu's mercy, the warriors of Ignis all got on their knees with lowered heads in a gesture of surrender. Those with weapons held them out in front of them and allowed them to fall to the ground, one by one, until only the commander remained standing, shaking and red-faced in fury.

"You all shame yourselves!" he screamed at his troops, to no avail. "Where is your loyalty?! Are you such cowards that you'll surrender to a boy who's still wet behind the ears?!" Keihatsu guessed that a good number of them were warriors that had been involved in the border conflict, because they seemed to defer to the lieutenant instead of the commander, who seemed to be a warrior dedicated solely to the city.

In response to the insults being hurled his way, Keihatsu stepped forward and said, "Face my might in battle with your own, then." His challenge seemed to catch the other man off-guard, but he didn't let up. Furrowing his brow, he added, "If you are truly so determined to defend your home to your last breath, then prove your loyalty and send your pokémon to face mine in single combat. If you value your life, and a chance to continue serving your nation, then stand down now. I will not afford you mercy in the heat of battle, and I guarantee that you and your pokémon will die here if you choose to fight." His words were delivered in a conversational volume and without the slightest hesitation in their delivery, which was far more unsettling than if he had been shouting to assert his claims.

In spite of himself, the commander found himself faltering in the face of this invader who was at least twenty years his junior, who gazed at him with eyes of blue fire that pierced through his confidence that had been built over the course of nearly fifteen years of battling and rising through the ranks of the Ignisian military. He tried to muster his anger to accept Keihatsu's challenge, but his tongue would not obey his mind, no matter how hard he tried to convey his hatred of the Auroran invader.

As if sensing his wavering resolve, Keihatsu then said, "There are two kinds of leaders in this world, Commander. The first lead their troops by example, demonstrating their strength so that those who follow them are inspired to rise past their preconceived limits in order to prove their own worth as warriors. These are the truly strong, the ones who can change the world around them with their actions and ambitions. The second kind hide behind the strength of their troops, relying solely on them to do the hard work for them and then assuming the credit for their victories, saying that they had the wherewithal to direct the people from a safe standing. They claim that real leadership is given from an elevated view in order to hide the fact that they no longer believe in their own strengths- if they had any to begin with." Keihatsu allowed a slight pause to fill the air before he finished with the words, "I have my own thoughts about which kind you are, but I wonder if you'll confirm them for me?"

The commander swallowed hard, his throat having become drier than the deserts of Terrera. None of his troops were standing, and their pokémon appeared equally passive. If he was going to fight, he and his Typhlosion would do so alone. The seconds trickled by, each one serving to suffocate him with an invisible pressure that was serving to drive him closer and closer to the brink of a complete breakdown.

Finally, inevitably, he fell to his knees in front of the young warlord, his energy and will spent. "You win," he said miserably. "You've beaten me at my own game."

Motochika laughed derisively at that while their troops moved to restrain the Ignisians, though they were sure not to be rough about it while Keihatsu and his advisors were watching them. "I hate to break the news to you, lava-brains," the leader of Fontaine said as his personal escort moved tie the commander's hands behind his back, "but you shouldn't flatter yourself into thinking that you were even a player. You're just that idiot Hideyoshi's silly puppet."

"Motochika, please refrain from setting a bad precedent for the soldiers," Keihatsu said in a slightly lowered tone as he turned his back to face the water-type warrior. "We've won, and that'll be a sufficient punishment for his ego."

"Hey, I'm just saying," Motochika shrugged. "The biggest fools are the fools that follow the loudest fool."

As the Ignisian troops began to file past the two men under the guidance of their vanquishers, the lieutenant who had initially spoken in favor of surrendering paused in front of Keihatsu, his face grim. "Consider this recompense for sparing our lives at the border," he said quietly. "Beware those who reside closer to the capital. There are none there who owe you such a debt, and they will fight all the more fiercely for fear of Lord Hideyoshi's wrath, should they fail to repel your forces."

"I will keep that in mind, thank you," Keihatsu said gratefully. "You and your kinsmen fought well today, lieutenant. Take pride in that, despite your loss."

"Hmph," the enemy soldier replied. However, he did say, "I'll take some pride in the fact that it took a trio of warlords to bring us to our knees. And I suppose that if I had to concede to anyone, I should be glad that it was you." Done with his piece, he fell into line with the rest of the captured soldiers, his back straight and his head held high.

"Nice guy," Motochika snickered. "We should invite him to breakfast."

"In all honesty, I would prefer his presence to Sir Kurogiri's first thing in the morning."

"Hah!"

It took a few days for the coalition to successfully root out any remaining Ignisian soldiers that were in hiding, all of whom were given quarter if they conceded. Then it was a question of how many of their number to leave behind in order to keep the city secured until things were settled in the capital. This was a matter of debate that took the three warlords two full days to settle, and it ended with Keihatsu and Motochika each leaving one of their most trusted commanders in charge of the city with a battalion from Aurora and Fontaine, each. Keihatsu had wanted the temporary governing force to be comprised of Greenleaf and Fontaine's soldiers, but he had been overruled by his peers on the grounds that while the two nations were not outright hostile toward one another, having them work together under such a high-stakes job without their direct supervision might be a recipe for conflict and a follow-up disaster. Aurora generally had good relations with both nations, so it seemed a safer measure to have them paired with whoever was left to monitor the situation.

Once this matter had been settled, they moved on to planning what city they would take next. "There is only one city directly between us and the capital," Motonari was saying as the three of them looked over the maps that they had managed to acquire of the country. "It's well-defended, though if these maps are anything to go by, it's not as large as Ta-Koro, which means that ideally, we should be able to capture it with a smaller force than we used here. The real issue is a city that is three day's journey to the northwest called Ember Island. This is apparently due to the vast lava moat that surrounds it, and since the foundation of Ignis, no attacking force has ever managed to take it. There are only three bridges in and out of the city, so access for even other Ignisians is difficult to acquire. It also has troops and defenses nearly twice that of Ta-Koro, if that gives you any idea of how difficult it would be to conquer it."

"Why does that matter if it's not between us and our goal?" Motochika scowled, clearly eager to be on their way to the next battle, already. He and Samurott alone had accounted for nearly a hundred warriors and their pokémon in the last battle, stunning many of his allies, Keihatsu included. It was only after seeing him unrestrained in battle that he realized how much the other man had held back during their own mock battle. However, his ferocity and raw strength did not translate well into the strategy meetings required of him and his peers.

"If for whatever reason this smaller city is able to hold out for any number of days, or they get word of our advance and send for reinforcements, we would have the strength of two cities to deal with," Keihatsu answered as he peered down at the map with a critical eye. "I don't think we need to take it over for the sake of the campaign, but it might be dangerous to leave such a potent enemy behind us."

"On the other hand, their greatest strength is the terrain that surrounds the city," Motonari pointed out. "We would be hard-pressed to defeat them- assuming we could- but I doubt that they would send out too many of their troops to attack us in raid fashion. From what we've seen, each town keeps to itself because there is no central unity or chain of command over them, so the people are forced to fend for themselves."

"So there's a chance that they'll just ignore us?" Motochika asked grumpily.

"I think so," the grass-type warrior answered as he looked to Keihatsu. "But ultimately, the decision lies with you. I suppose the question we must ask is which is the greater risk? To leave them be and potentially expose our backs to what may be a very deadly opponent? Or do we try to take them over and certainly lose a good portion of our forces in the process, with not even a good chance at victory? It's true that we could certainly do with a fortified city like that if it turns out the battle with the capital is more difficult than we anticipate."

"No," Keihatsu said with a negative shake of his head. "Not only would we have to deal with the logistics of fighting a distanced siege, there would be the local population to consider. I don't like the idea of occupying a city to use it for war purposes if it puts innocents in harm's way. At the same time, a lot of them probably won't want to extend us such mercy- we are invaders after all. Many of them would want us and our soldiers gone, by any means necessary, and I don't want to expose our people to that danger unnecessarily."

"So… what?" Motochika asked impatiently. "We just leave 'em alone?"

"I didn't say that."

Capital of Ignis, Two Weeks Later…

"Lord Hideyoshi!"

The master of Ignis turned away from Kanbei and Hanbei to see a messenger dropping to one knee just inside of the doors that led to his throne room. The man then said, "Forgive the interruption, sire, but I have dire news to report."

"Dire?" Hideyoshi repeated with a frown. "What, is there a volcano eruption imminent and that idiot Koboyasu didn't finish digging the lava trenches like I told him to? I knew he couldn't be trusted to get a job done…"

"…No, my lord," the messenger said without moving.

"Those trenches were dug two months ago, and inspected by his lordship personally," Kanbei said dryly. "They were more than adequate, if memory serves."

"Oh, right," Hideyoshi remembered, a smile then working its way onto his face. "Well then, I doubt that it's very urgent, whatever it is. Tell me whatever it is after dinner tonight."

"What is the news, messenger?" Hanbei asked after yawning sleepily.

"A coalition comprised of forces from Aurora, Greenleaf, and Fontaine have taken Ta-Koro, and all the lands between it and the border of Lord Keihatsu's nation!" the messenger said quickly, before the fire-type warlord could countermand his subordinate. "They also set up an embargo around Ember Island that the city forces have been unable to break thus far!"

"What?!" Kanbei asked, his normally grim face looking shocked for once. "Are you telling us that Ember Island was actually defeated?!"

"No, my lords," the messenger answered, though he kept his eyes focused on the ground in front of him. "They are simply unable to send troops out in any sort of formation, though the city remains occupied by our forces."

"Wait, wait, wait," Hideyoshi said as he held his hands up with an irritated glare at his junior warlords. "First of all, how did this happen? I told you two to take care of Greenleaf and Aurora months ago! Why are they marching in on my country?!"

"The forces we were given were not adequate for mounting a proper invasion," Hanbei shrugged, causing Hideyoshi's face to redden with anger. "Maybe if you'd listened to Kanbei about drafting the able-bodied people and pokémon in addition to reassigning troops, we'd have had a chance to at least get a foothold in the southern countries."

"How dare you?!" Hideyoshi shouted angrily, his carefree attitude forgotten. "First you undermine my ruling in my own hall, and now you dare to implicate that my designs are flawed?!"

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," Hanbei shrugged lazily. "Have you ever tried using the imported Bellosom incense from Greenleaf? Always knocks me right out."

"As if that requires a great amount of effort," Kanbei said.

"Shut up, both of you!" Hideyoshi shouted. "Explain to me how a bookworm, a wild man, and some kid are now marching toward my front door?! And how in the Distortion Zone did they defeat Ember Island?!" He aimed the last part of his rant at the messenger, who flinched in fear of his master's fiery temper.

"They collapsed all of the bridges that cross the molten lava moat, my lord," he said in a quavering voice. "The warlords sent in elite teams to do the job under the cover of a clouded night. Without them, the city cannot receive supplies, and they cannot send out their troops to aid us if the coalition attacks us. And in regards to their advance, they seem to be only four day's march from Entei City."

Hanbei and Kanbei exchanged a look at this, and it was not a comfortable one. Even the lazy vice warlord seemed surprised at just how close their enemy actually was to their home. With that in mind, Kanbei said to Hideyoshi, "My lord, I believe it is time to begin preparations for an assault on the capital."

In response, Ignis' warlord turned around and laughed at him. "You really believe that this smorgasbord of ragtag warriors can best my kingdom?" he asked derisively. "You overestimate their chances."

"They've made it further than any invading force has in nearly a century," Hanbei pointed out. "Who's to say that they can't make it all this way?"

"I say," Hideyoshi snapped as he rounded on the younger man. "And you will too, if you know what's good for you. Go to Entei and send those tree huggers, swamp squatters, and plain people back to the holes that they crawled out of!"

"And if I don't?" Hanbei replied lazily.

Hideyoshi stood a handbreadth away from his subordinate and hissed, "Then I'll feed you to it."

Hanbei's eyes narrowed briefly, but then he stepped back and gave his master a small bow. "As you wish, my lord. But if I'm going to be fighting three warlords, I'll be needing to secure the talents of a certain warrior."

Hideyoshi seemed as though he might deny the young man's request just to spite him, but even he could now recognize that if drastic measures weren't taken, the battle could well make it to his front doorstep- not that they would be able to defeat him, of course. No one, not even that arrogant prick, Nobunaga, would be able to defeat him. "Who do you want?" he finally asked as he turned away from his two advisors.

"The freelancer, Yoake," Hanbei answered. "Her skills will see to the swift defeat of many of their forces- I think she might even be able to knock Greenleaf's leader off his pedestal."

"No…" Hideyoshi muttered, his eyes becoming distant. "If she kills anyone of importance, it will be the boy sitting on Aurora's throne… What was his name again?"

"Lord Keihatsu," Kanbei answered. "He alone was responsible for my defeat at the border months ago. Now he seems to have rallied Lords Motochika and Motonari to his cause."

"No matter," Hideyoshi sniffed as Hanbei and the messenger departed the room. "If they have all banded together, they can all die together. Then the southwest countries of Ransei will all finally belong to me- followed soon by the rest of the continent." A devious smile worked its way across his face as he stared up at his throne, where at the head, a golden replica of the legendary pokémon, Reshiram, sat.

"Your days are numbered, Nobunaga."

"So let me see if I have this straight…"

Hanbei sighed to himself, knowing what was about to come, and also being aware that there was nothing that he could do but accept it.

"Moustache Monkey-"

"Lord Hideyoshi."

"Moustache Monkey," replied a girl a few years younger than him, "kept throwing you and the ghost at Aurora and Greenleaf because he was too full of himself to bother with it in person, but neither of you could do your jobs, leading to the pushback of one very angry alliance who took over half of our country's territory before its ruler even heard about it, and now you need me to save the day like I did during that incident with Pugilis, because you are all a cavalcade of royal screw-ups." She paused to take a breath before asking, "Did I miss anything?"

"No, that about sums it up," Hanbei admitted.

"Good, that's great," the other warrior said with an overly bright smile that set Hanbei on edge. "And what exactly do I get out of this? Gonna make me your new warlord?"

"Can't do that, the warlord's a monkey," Hanbei smirked. "But I'm sure he could be convinced to make you a regional governess over Aurora."

"Hmm…" the girl mused, her blue eyes sparking with intrigue. "Governess Yoake… It's a start." As she looked the junior warlord up and down, she added, "I do imagine you know that my ambitions don't end there, right?"

"Hey, I follow whoever in Ignis lets me take the most naps," Hanbei shrugged. "Kanbei might need some convincing, but if Hideyoshi's reign is ready to topple over, I'll gladly give it a nudge- provided you're the one doing all the shoving when it comes down to it."

"Good to know where we stand," Yoake said as she reached out and shook hands with her ally. "Now, let's go save Entei from the invaders before Hideyoshi rides out to take the credit."

Keihatsu: Are you... feeling unwell?

Mataras: Whatever gave you that impression?

Keihatsu: My apologies, I thought you had just emerged from a ten-hour nap in order to make this addition to our tale. Was I mistaken?

Mataras: Shut up and do the announcements.

Keihatsu: Which would you prefer? Silence or statements?

Mataras: Don't get alliterative with me, I'm sleepy.

Keihatsu: For the next instalment, the title shall be 'Challenge for the Throne'

Mataras: Later, people. I'm going back to sleep.

Keihatsu: That is inadvisable.

Mataras: I don't care, I'm sleepy.

Next time on Pokémon Warpath...

The coalition arrived at Entei City two days later in the early morning. After a brief debate, it was decided that they would begin the attack at dusk, after their troops had time to get more organized, and the city's defenders had endured a long, stressful day of waiting to be attacked without anything actually happening to them.

"We've done well with preserving the element of surprise thus far in the campaign," Keihatsu was saying as he stood at the head of the senior war council's table. "Now, however, we cannot afford the luxury of assuming that our presence has gone unnoticed. We are drawing close to the heart of the nation, and word of our victories will have spread, no matter how tightly we attempt to restrict communications between the enemy settlements. I imagine that Hideyoshi has at least heard from Ember Island by now, which should tell him just how much of a threat we actually pose to his military. Therefore, it would be a prudent measure to change tactics at this point in the campaign."

"Isn't that in of itself a larger risk?" Ujisato questioned with a slight frown. "Why should we change our plans when they've proven so effective thus far? It's not as though Ignis' intelligence network is anything to be concerned with. As you said, they've allowed us to get this far into the country without mustering any forces from the kingdom's standing army."

"And that is exactly why I'm worried," Keihatsu countered firmly. "Hideyoshi does not strike me as a master strategist, but remember our reports about his junior warlords, Kanbei and Hanbei. Our spies tell us that one of them is supposed to be here, though they were not able to confirm which of them it is. I have already defeated Kanbei in battle, and I am confident that we can do so again, but the other man, Hanbei, is an unknown to me. The only things we have been able to confirm about him are that he is a highborn member of Hideyoshi's inner circle, and many of the kingdom regard him as the smartest warrior Ransei has seen in generations. But his pokémon partner and personal goals are a complete mystery to even most of the residents of the capital."