Tales of Reborn: The Six Rifts of the Heavens

Saffron, we meet again.



The city looked even shittier than before, as unbelievable as it sounded. Then again, carrying a 70-pound unconscious Pokemon on her back might've been staining her impression of it.



Maybe.



The rest of the so called group walked alongside her, making small chitchat here and there though mostly staying in silence. She could tell some were concerned about going to Silph Co. right away, when perhaps finding someplace to rest and recover their strength might've been a better idea. One of the guys –the one with the Tyrogue who was rather verbose– approached her and asked for directions, quoting back what she'd mentioned about being from Saffron.



"That would make sense normally, but…" She stopped, searching for the best way to phrase it. "I'm not exactly the most popular person in the city. I don't think having me with you will make for a good first impression."



More than a few eyebrows were raised her way. Exactly what she needed, for everyone not to trust her right away.



"Besides, the market won't be open this early." She shrugged, trying to change the topic. "I know we all want to collapse under a rock and rest, but I'd like to get this over with before that."



She hated the idea as much as them, but if the person from the letter had gone to such lengths to contact them, he wouldn't kill them at first sight. Silph Co. was safer than the outskirts of the city, as far as she knew.



Said building came into view after they passed through the outer slums, rising into the sky as a black pillar of glass. At the top of it a giant symbol hung; a long segmented S with two circles inside it. The skyscraper was the only structure she'd seen so far which didn't look damaged, dirty or ready to fall into itself, which in any other situation might have been reassuring. It wasn't, if what she'd heard of the place had any traces of truth in it.



She grabbed onto the unconscious Drowzee's legs more strongly, and gulped.



Her new life might be inside that building, were luck to shine on her for the first time in her fucking life.

---

Vard took a notebook out of his hair and started writing on it as he walked.



Finally, the Dispute of Death in the Train of Gale has ended.



Great adventurer that he was, he always knew exactly what to call every interesting event he came across. When people spoke of his legend, they would need a way to name each one of his stories.



He looked up, noticing how one of his new subjects had effortlessly cleaned up the scythe wound he'd suffered during the train altercation with his trusty first aid kit. Such determination, such providence. Such… wait, was that thing next to him a Pokemon? Well, nobody's perfect.



"Hear me, my faithful servant!" he spoke to the man named Silver, grinning from ear to ear. "Yes you, the one with the jocular bird. From now on you will be the official foreman of the great Team of Vard!" He raised his palm to the sky. "You've proven yourself to be an invaluable asset worthy of this recognition. Now, give me that first aid kit; I think I hit my head when I fell from the train and I'm seeing a blue thing with cloud wings flying around."



The man did as he was told, as happy as a Shelder. After a few minutes of walking and taking care of the wounds on his beautiful body they finally arrived at the twin glass doors of the building. The inside looked as dark as an Arcanine's maw, and no one could be seen guarding the entrance.



Vard formed a wicked smile, turning around towards his companions.



"You've all done well to keep up with me! Now, those with enough strength to follow me in my prowess, to look at danger in the face, to put your manliness to the test, to…"



"Pass." Rhin said.



"In any case, follow me!"



Waving his pink cape dramatically he pushed the doors aside, plunging into darkness.

---

The building was completely empty for the first few floors. Toppled tables and abandoned research cubicles covered in dust littered the place as if it hadn't been used in ages. As the group advanced they could see the rest of the city from a panoramic view; they noticed a few weak, dwindling fires in the distance surrounded by dark figures.



Once they reached the tenth floor the air seemed to become heavier as they noticed not only the pristine state of the room they'd walked into but also the man standing at the other side of it, wearing black robes and staring through the enormous glass windows into the distance. He turned his head slightly as the last trainer entered the room, and with a whirring sound the door closed behind them. Small lights appeared at the edge of their vision as the candles resting on the walls came to life with a pulsing, purple flame.



A round, black table sat in the middle of the room, so pristine it looked like it hadn't ever been used. Nine rickety wooden chairs were placed around it, with a finely crafted velvet sofa at the extreme of it.



The strange man walked towards it, sitting on it with swift movements. He urged with his hand for them to do the same, and once each one found their seat they could see his lack of a face. He wore an oval mask, half red and half blue split in the middle. Two tired eyes stared at them from behind the cut circles in it.



Vard was the first to speak.



"The Feng Shui of this room is a disaster."



The man ignored him. He cleared his throat and after a few moments of consideration spoke with a deep, calming voice.



"Before I introduce myself I would like to congratulate all of you. I understand some of you might be upset due to what happened in the train, but the selection process was very important," he said, moving his gaze from one end of the table to the other. "With that said, you may call me Mullac. If I'm not mistaken you all received a letter from my, let's say, organization."



Most of them shifted uncomfortably under the sound of his voice. Next to the man, Sabrina curled her fingers into fists, ready to flee at a moment's notice.



"You might think this is madness, but I needed to know you were capable of surviving such a test. For you see, my mission… our mission, will be infinitely more complex. Of course, we will talk about rewards soon, but first…"



He raised one hand, his long and wrinkly fingers pointing to one of the nearby walls, from which hung a gigantic map of Kanto and Johto.



"As you all know, the situation in Kanto… it's not the same as it's been in the past," he said. "We're headed directly into a war with Orre, which would mean the end of our region and countless innocent lives. That…" his eyes fell on them, "is where I need the help of all of you."



Sabrina raised an eyebrow, "So… you want to use us to stop this supposed war?"



"Ha!" Silver chuckled, hands behind his head. "Yeah sure, where do we sign up?" he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.



Rhin narrowed his eyes at the strange man. "Forgive me, but I really doubt your intentions are noble."



The rest either mumbled or agreed silently, while Mullac sat still with his fingers interlaced. Once silence settled back in he continued to speak.



"Please. I understand that you're all worn out by today's events, so before continuing I would be happy to offer you a place to rest inside this tower, and…" He made a gesture with his hand and the middle of the table retreated inside it. A moment later it came back up, but there was something different. Nine Pokeballs were arranged in a circle, each facing one of the trainers. "I am aware that some of you took a Pokemon from my employees. You may keep them if you want, but otherwise you're free to take one of these."



Before any of them could process the offer Ñako lunged his arm forward, taking one of the Pokeballs with gusto. He leaned back into his chair, no hint of concern of fear in his expression.



"Well, I'm gonna stay," he declared. "I don't think this place is more dangerous than the trip back and I'm already here anyway."



Sabrina nodded, crossing her arms.



"I'll keep this one," she said, pointing at the passed out Drowzee on the floor.



Silver placed both feet on top of the table, smiling cockily while patting the head of his newly acquired Spearow, "I prefer this one. No offense but I'm a humble kinda guy; I don't want one of your stuck up Pokemon."



The rest made their decision, Wolfswift being the only one left who chose not to take one of the free Pokeballs. As the rest examined theirs, spinning it on their hands, they heard Sammy speak. She looked bored, staring mindlessly at her new acquisition.



"I guess if you wanted us dead you had the chance to make it happen already" she said. "Now, back to this mission…"



The man nodded, raising his hand once more to speak.



"As I said, I need all of your help to bring Kanto to its former glory." They noticed a strange intensity in his voice that hadn't been there before. "Of course, you won't do it directly. First I need you to find something for me. A certain collection of objects, which might be able to end this conflict once and for all. Objects which are tied to the legend of Ho-oh, might I add."



Some of them flinched at the mention of the name, while others like Sabrina simply frowned, incredulous. What could a legendary Pokemon have to do with their quest?



"In ancient legend it is stated that Ho-oh once gave humanity a gift," Mullac continued, his tone one of reverence. "A divine, incredibly dangerous power, something we humans could never achieve on our own. That's why these objects were closely coveted and hidden in secret, until they became no more than simple myth."



He turned his head slightly, once again looking at the gigantic map at his right. Without prompt a powerful light fell on top of it, illuminating a specific spot northwest of it.



"According to my research, one of these objects is hidden within a certain construction in Kanto. The abandoned prison of Pewter, which was said to be built on top of…"



"An ancient burial ground?" Ñako offered.



"No, on top of an underground dungeon. I need all of you to travel to Pewter and investigate the prison in search for this object." His voice trailed off, leaving the room in silence for a few moments. "Of course I don't expect an answer right away. Feel free to rest and think it over, and tomorrow we can talk about remuneration."



There really wasn't any need to complain or turn away know, and Mullac was keenly aware of this. The group silently accepted his request while mulling it over inside their heads. As usual, Vard was the first to speak.



"Ho-oh…" he whispered, smiling to himself. "The only one capable of rivaling my omnivorous being, whose beautiful colors are even more dazzling than my own mane. If it's to revive such a beautiful creature…"



"I never said anything about rev-"



"IF IT'S TO REVIVE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL CREATURE…!" Vard yelled at the top of his lungs, smiling. "Then me and my gentle men will be at your services."



He walked towards Mullac, extending his arm forward. Their fingers met tentatively and they shook on it, sealing the deal.

---

The next morning came without much complication. Sabrina was one of the first to wake up, and as she walked downstairs with a cigarette hanging from her lips and the memory of last night still fresh, one single thought came to mind.



What a motherfucker.



She shook her head, still thinking about what Mullac had said. Honestly, she couldn't give less of a shit whether Ho-oh existed or not. As for the war, as long as it didn't affect her she didn't have any reason to intervene. The glory and wellbeing of Kanto? Ha! What a joke.



Still, she had no choice but to accept and Mullac knew it. She needed to escape the region and with her current wealth she wouldn't make it to Lavender. She could try, but the chances of being found and end up floating face down on the sewers were pretty big. She needed money, and this guy had lots of it. If she could complete this one job then all her problems, her pathetic life of constantly running away… it would all come to an end.



Finally, she could be free like she'd promised him so long ago.



She kept going downstairs, trying to keep that thought off her head, eventually reaching the base floor. Before exiting she took the two Pokeballs from her belt and opened them, the explosion of light revealing its occupants.



The Drowzee was conscious, though not very pristine. Still, judging by the intense look of resentment she sent her way, it was evident resting had done her well.



"Oh come on, don't be like that," she said, patting her head. "Your previous master is dead and I saved your chubby life when I took you out of that train, with a lot of effort on my part. So… let's be friends, alright Gouda?"



Drowzee opened her mouth and, if she were a person, she was pretty sure she would've repeated the name to herself in disbelief. Seeing as she couldn't, she decided to simply look at Sabrina in a way that made it evident she wished her the worst of fates. Adler on the other hand bounced happily like the filthy little ice triangle she was.



Good enough.



As soon as she returned them to their Pokeballs, two people crossed through the door to the lobby. One of them was the skinny guy with the sunflower shirt and the giant scythe, Silver was it? The other one was the technicolor ninja.



"Hey."



They stopped talking amongst themselves and raised their heads to look at her.



"Wanna come with me somewhere?" she said, perhaps a bit more grimly than intended. "I promise it'll be interesting."



Silver had helped her yesterday during the train and he was pretty good at fighting. At the moment there was no reason not to trust him. As for the other one… well, his moral compass seemed looser than most, which would come in handy for what she had in mind.



They listened to her explanation and nodded without much doubt. They exited the building, heading towards the center of the city.



She silently wondered what the others would do in the meantime.

---

An hour later, Mycroft realized they might be completely lost.



He'd ventured into the outskirts of the city accompanied by Rhin, Samantha, Siegfried and the freak with the pink afro in the vain hope they'd be able to find a good market, someplace to gather provisions for the harsh quest ahead of them.



Mullac's words danced around in his mind, especially his mention of the legendary Pokemon Ho-oh. As much as he hated the idea of having to traverse a dirty, old prison there was something stronger than him compelling him to accept.



After what seemed like an eternity they arrived at the city's gates, made from heavy stone and at least thrice as tall as any of them. Still, there didn't seem to be any guards around, so they could slip through to the outside if they wanted. A completely insane idea of course, and he was sure no one would…



"We might be able to find some kind of market through these gates," Siegfried spoke next to him, startling Mycroft. "I seem to remember seeing houses outside the walls."



Of course they were considering it, Mycroft thought as he shook his head. Then again as long as he was the only one to…



"Inverted priestess, eh?" Rhin said as he brandished one of the tarot cards from his deck. "Excellent, this means we'll find something in there. Either that or yesterday's food isn't gonna sit well with my stomach. Hopefully the first thing."



Bordel de merde.



He silently pleaded to Samantha, but she seemed interested in the proposition as well. So much for her being the only one worth trusting in his mind.



"We must get through the gates of evil!" declared Vard, pointing forward.



Samantha rolled her eyes, and walked towards the door. Almost effortlessly she pushed both of them aside, letting in a cold mist which shook Mycroft to his bones.



"Exploring a bit won't hurt," she said, narrowed eyes. "Let's go."

---

The market was uncomfortably familiar, Sabrina realized.



A gigantic black canopy stretched through at least five streets like some kind of creature with an ungodly amount of legs. It was separated into a few dozen small busineses, mostly people with a single table on top of which they put the valuables they wished to sell. Nothing impressive, though it would certainly be enough for what she had in mind.



The stench of burnt grass and incense made its way to her nostrils, forcing her to crinkle her nose. About a street and a half away she could make up the shape of a circle of people, at least thirty of them, all looking at something in the middle and laughing.



Not her problem.



Taking in a deep breath she lowered her wool hat until it almost covered her eyes. There was no way anyone would recognize her, she tried to convince herself. It was like looking for a tree in the forest; who could fathom she'd be suicidal enough to come back to her own city? She felt a certain satisfaction, prancing around under their noses without them ever being the wiser. Then again she had no desire to run any kind of risk, not after getting so far. She needed to be stealthy, or as stealthy as she could be looking like a thief and being accompanied by a carnival freak and a guy with a giant fucking scythe.



"Nice place you brought us to," Silver said, as if on cue. "I have a feeling I'm gonna have some fun here."



"I know right?" Ñako smiled. "With joints like these it's hard not to be optimistic."



Sabrina frowned. "Just don't do anything stupid. Or if you do then make sure it's far away from where I am." She looked around until her gaze stopped on a nearby store. "I need to do some business here."



"Yeah I want to explore too," the ninja said. "I have a feeling it's better to stay close, but I also have a feeling you bought that awful hat from one of the hicks in these stores."



She looked at him with a glare capable of melting ice and promptly turned away as she walked north. She arrived at the store she'd been eyeing up; on top of the dirty table were countless Pokeballs, all used judging by how rusty and scratched they looked.



Exactly what she was looking for.



A man sat behind the counter, reading a newspaper. He wore a military jacket and a red bandana under his black hair. An ornate dagger hung from the pocket on his arm. He addressed her before she could speak.



"A trainer, eh?" he said, his voice as rough as sandpaper. "And one of those sneaky ones that can read minds, too. What do you want?"



Sabrina froze, shocked he'd noticed her abilities without looking at her. However, she decided it wouldn't be a problem as long as he kept it to himself. Without further ado she took Adler's Pokeball from her belt and opened it. The small bugger appeared on top of the table, grinning from ear to ear.



"I want to get this thing off me," she said, pushing the Snorunt as it tried to hug her. "For a good price."



"A Pokemon from Hoenn?" For the first time the man lowered his newspaper, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know if I can buy something that valuable, but… maybe you're interested in some kind of exchange?"

---

"Ah, these hicks are getting impatient," said Ñako as he and Silver made their way through the inner streets. "They're looking at us wrong. Maybe they know we're with the crazy old man."



As if on cue one of the young men from a nearby store glared at them furiously, though he turned around before he could say anything else. It was quite clear the people of the city weren't big fans of the man employing them.



"Whatever, it's too early to start the fun," Ñako shrugged. "Silver, I think you might like that store over there. Looks like they sell all that medicine stuff you like."



"Nice find," Silver smiled, grabbing onto the handle of the scythe strongly. "Thanks papu."



As he approached he pushed the dirty curtains aside, revealing the inside of the store. Contrary to what he would've expected, the person behind the counter was a young, cute girl with rosy cheeks, her blue hair tied into pigtails.



"H-hello sir," she spoke softly, almost a whisper as she bowed down slightly. The nervousness in her face was as clear as if reflected through a mirror. "My name is Loli, it's a p-pleasure. What can I help you with?"



"Good day!" Silver replied, grinning widely. "My multicolor ninja friend told me you have some toys for me. I might not look the part but I'm an apprentice doctor, so let's see what I can get…"



After a few minutes of looking around and choosing the merchandise he put everything into his backpack and gave the money to the young girl, who accepted it with trembling hands. She wasn't even looking at him, her gaze kept going to something outside the store.



Silver sighed. This was simply unacceptable.



"Alright, to hell with it," he said, startling her. "Look, sorry for meddling but you're way too scared of something and that's not cool. I know you don't know me, that I'm carrying a huge scythe and that I look like I'm high as fuck, but… let's see if I can make you smile."



From the Pokeball in his hand appeared his Swablu, faintly flapping his cotton wings as he flew on top of the table. Silence covered the store for a moment, while the blue haired girl stared wordlessly at the tiny Pokemon in front of her.



"It's… so cute!" she lunged at the poor creature, enveloping him with her arms. "Oh my gosh your Swablu is so adorable! You must take really good care of her!"



Two things came to mind. First; apparently his Swablu wasn't a girly boy but a girl, and second; he was getting credit for raising a thing he couldn't stand in the first place. Life was surprising sometimes.



"Thanks, I do what I can," he shrugged. "And I'm glad I could make you smile but… please, tell me what's making you so nervous. I'd love to help you however I can."



Her smile died as soon as he said those words, shoulders tensing up once more as she glared past the curtains covering the store. She gulped, and it took her a few tries before she could get the words out.



"My… my father…" she said, pointing outside. "He did something bad, something Mullac's men didn't like, and now he's…"



Silver didn't need to be psychic to understand what she wanted to say.



"STOP IT! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!"



The scream traveled through every inch of the market, making sure everyone turned their heads towards the spectacle outside. Silver didn't make himself wait; grabbing the blue haired girl by the hand he led her outside. Ñako was the first person he saw, hands on his pockets and looking directly at the circle of people in the intersection between two streets. Most of them were spectators and bystanders, but in the middle of it they could make out three of the robed men with masks, looking the same as they'd done in the train.



Between them lay a broken, bloodstained shamble of a man, face down on the ground and desperately trying to push himself up. Before he could however, the boot of one of the masked men fell on top of his hand. The man shrieked in pain, rolling to the side once more.



Silver frowned, looking at the girl next to him. Her eyes had started to water and she had both hands over her mouth.



"D-dad…"



That's all the incentive he needed.



"Ñako." He spoke to the man next to him, brandishing his scythe. "Should we break this party up?"



He smiled in that unhinged way of his and grabbed the hilt of his giant shuriken from his back.



"Just what I was thinking."

---

Sabrina put the two Pokeballs she'd gotten from the man on her belt, and turned towards what was once her partner.



"Sorry, but this is where I say goodbye," she told the Snorunt. The creature looked at her with tears shining on her eyes. "It's not that I hate y–… ah, who am I kidding. The point is... you did some things that weren't so stupid, I mean, good…"



She was in the middle of her speech to try and make the thing not feel like trash though she was, when she noticed Adler had stopped listening to her and was now nuzzling the man's arm, who looked at her with surprise and disgust.



Not my problem anymore.



It all looked ready to go her way for once, until the scream reached her.



She really didn't want to follow it, but she knew Silver and the ninja must've had something to do with it. With heavy steps she approached the source of the sound and was pleasantly surprised to discover that her two companions were simply watching the spectacle in the middle of the market, even if they'd already brandished their weapons and were ready to attack.



Couldn't wait until I bought all the stuff I needed, huh?



She walked next to them, hands on her pockets, and watched as one of the masked bastards kicked the poor old man in the ribs, making him flinch in pain.



"This will be a good lesson…" one of them spoke, rugged voice filtering through the mask, "for all those who want to leave the city without thanking master Mullac for his infinite compassion and benevolence."



"Maybe we should bring you to him," one of the others offered. "And see what he does to someone like you."



Sabrina just stared as the two idiots in front of her started walking towards the group of reapers. She sighed deeply, and resigned herself to her fate.



God I hate this fucking town.



The one closest to the old man raised his boot once more, ready to stomp on his head.



"Now you'll…"



Something slashed at his leg before he could finish speaking. Silver moved almost too fast for Sabrina to follow, hitting the masked man under the knee and throwing him to the ground. He'd been lucky not to tear the entire leg off.



"Alright boys, let's see how tough you are against someone who can defend himself!" Silver yelled, grinning from ear to ear.



"Yeah, how about you stop stomping on the old man and fight!" Ñako added, pointing at them with the blades of his shuriken.



Sabrina simply sighed and, while the reapers stared at them in horror and confusion, she took the metal lighter out of her pocket and lit another cigarette.



She then looked down at the beaten thing and realized she'd have no use for it anymore, not with the fire Pokemon she'd acquired as trade for Adler. She stared at it for a moment, feeling something close to nostalgia, and produced flame on it one last time.



"Oh well."



The lighter made an arc of flame as she threw it backwards. It landed on one of the many arms of the black canopy and it didn't take long for the fire to start spreading, slowly swallowing the market around them as it grew and grew, bathing their backs with a potent warmth.



"I always hated this place," she whispered to herself, grabbing one of her new Pokeballs. "It smells and it's full of assholes."

---

As soon as they crossed the town doors they realized the rundown and baleful ambience inside was nothing compared with what was outside. A spiraling, all encompassing mist obscured the floor and beyond it almost all the houses had collapsed into themselves, looking like they'd been hit by some kind of heavy artillery.



Broken glass, bricks and occasional dry blood met them as their feet dispelled the mist under them.



"How quaint," Mycroft whispered under his breath, looking around.



"Wait!" Sammy raised one arm to the side, stopping everyone behind them. She craned herself a bit forward, looking through one of the nearby corners. "What… what is that?"



There were metal cages in every corner, big enough to contain a human being. The bars were entirely brown due to rust, though even then they seemed impossible to bend.



"W-why would they have cages here?" Rhin asked, voice shaking.



Siegfried stroked his chin contemplatively, "Perhaps this is Mullac's doing?"



Rhin nodded, and his hand unconsciously went to the tarot deck hanging from his belt, but he stopped himself. "There's something very wrong here. I can feel it."



"Thanks, I hadn't noticed," Sammy whispered, rolling her eyes.



"I'm not talking about the state of the place!" he replied, nervousness clear in his voice. "It's something in the air. The stars tell me that we're not alone here, we need to get our Pokemon out now."



As much as Mycroft didn't like the idea of having to take orders from someone like Rhin, he couldn't help but agree something didn't feel right about the place. He followed the example of the rest and released Ludovic from his Pokeball.



In front of Rhin materialized a small orange Pokemon with a bald head and a long tail with fire burning at the tip.



"A Charmander, eh?" the boy whispered, the presence of his new companion giving him confidence "I can feel your fiery spirit. You'll be called Wyvern."



Vard and Siegfried's Pokemon were a Pikachu and a Cyndaquil, and judging by the fact he hadn't seen them before Mycroft deduced they were the ones Mullac had given them.



"I am very glad to meet you, my partner." Siegfried bowed to his Pokemon, complete seriousness in his voice. "May we work together to achieve greatness."



The mole looking creature tilted his head to the side, confused by his trainer's words. He didn't have much time for that however, as Vard's voice soon filled the street they were in.



"What an auspicious day this is, for I have a new great beast under my care!" He yelled, extending his palm towards the sky. "Pikachu, show yourself to Vard!"



The small rodent timidly walked towards his trainer, clearly frightened by the sound of his voice.



"Come on Pikachu, there is no time to be afraid!" The man declared, extending both arms to the side. "As Vard's partner you must face your fears, throw yourself at danger and obtain mon… I mean peace!"



"Would you stay quiet for a second!?" Sammy growled, her golden eyes almost beaming with rage. "I can't hear anyth…"



The sound of glass shattering startled her, and soon the rest followed her eyes as she looked towards the thick mist ahead.



Dark, tall figures took shape within the mist, getting clearer the closer they got. Low, almost imperceptible growling came out of them, like the sound of someone trying to speak with a terrible cold.



"Are those…"



Rhin's voice died as soon as he saw what was walking towards them.



At least five or six people, all wearing terribly worn garb and covered in blood and dust. Their eyes were completely white and their skin had turned into a plain grey. One of them, the one in the back, had a gigantic cut in the middle of his stomach and part of his guts were spilling out.



They were too horrified to notice the figures approaching from between the houses. A small creature jumped towards Rhin, its sharp front teeth scratching his arm as he lunged towards it.



"Agh!" The boy took a step back, startling everyone around him. "R-Rattatas!"



At least ten of the rodent Pokemon had appeared from the shadows and were now surrounding them. Their bright red eyes gleamed with hostility.



"W-what's going on?!" Mycroft hollered, trembling from feet to the tip of his hair. "This isn't… woah!"



One of the white eyed people threw herself at him, attempting to grab him by the arm. He barely managed to take a step back, avoiding her as she fell to the ground with a weak thump.



"These people aren't okay!" he declared, the obviousness of his remark dawning on him a few seconds after.



Siegfried stared at the large man approaching him, a hint of hesitation in his voice, "Excuse me gentleman, but I believe your intentions may be hostile."



"Are you serious!?" Sammy yelled, thowing her Pokeball to the ground. "Geek, help us out! We need to make our way out of here!"



As soon as the Treecko's feet touched the ground he jumped forward, kicking one of the Rattata towards the wall, where it fell unconscious. Three others ran towards him, their overgrown incisors glowing with energy.



Vard stepped forward, his smile not wavering an inch.



"Don't panic! I know exactly what to do!"



From the pocket of his belt he grabbed a big, red onion and took a bite out of it. For a moment they thought that's what he was talking about, but then he threw his arm forward.



"I could defeat all these Rattatas in the time it takes my hair to take form, but I'm not here to brag," he said. "Pikachu, destroy these miscreants with Storm of Osiris!"



Pikachu turned towards him, raising an eyebrow.



"Thundershock, Pikachu. I meant Thundershock."



Pikachu concentrated for a moment, releasing a small beam of electricity from his cheeks. It tore through the air towards the mindless person next to Siegfried, hitting him right in the chest. He was stunned, but only for a moment. As soon as the crackling energy left his body he threw himself at the closest victim once more. Siegfried had to take a quick step backwards to avoid him.



"It's… it's not working?" Sammy narrowed her eyes, incredulous. "But then… wait! Mycroft!" she turned towards the boy next to her, eyes wide open. "Your Riolu! He can…"



"Yes, of course!" He nodded. "L-Ludovic, Allez-y! Use Foresight on those zombies!"



Ludovic planted both feet firmly on the ground, and looking at the enemies in front of him he made his eyes glow with a potent red light. For a moment nothing happened, until they noticed something forming in the mist. Pitch black spheres with enormous white eyes hung above each one of the so called zombies, surrounded by an ever changing purple smoke that traveled down to their bodies.



Sammy took a step back, horrified. "Gastly? Then… they must be controlling those corpses like puppets!"



"Then that's our target," Siegfried nodded. "Though it might be smarter to simply defeat the Rattata and try to run away."



The rest seemed tempted with the idea, until Vard opened his mouth to speak.



"No, we must firmly plant ourselves in front of the enemy and emerge victorious!" He raised a fist, smiling. "As it is declared by the Law of Vard!"



Mycroft shook his head. "I'm… almost afraid to ask, but what does the Law of Vard say?"



"The Law of Vard is like his hair; firm and leafy!"



"That… doesn't clear up much."



"I don't pretend to understand the Law of Vard, I just enforce it!" Vard pointed at their enemies once more. "Now we must fight! Pikachu, once more!"



The shock of electricity pushed the rest of the zombies back, giving them enough space to get into position. Sammy studied each and every single one of the enemies surrounding them, trying to come up with a strategy to get out of alive of such a situation.



"Alright, if we're gonna do something stupid then let's at least do it right," she said, pointing forward. "Everyone, attack the Gastly!"



As all their Pokemon threw themselves towards their enemies, none of them noticed that a pair of eyes were watching them from behind a nearby corner.



A pair of very human eyes, belonging to a confused girl with a letter in her right hand, bearing Mullac's seal.

---

Wolfswift walked alone through the endless expanse of Route 6, hands on his pockets and his partner Sneasel walking alongside him.



He had no need for supplies or anything of the like, unlike the rest of the group he'd unfortunately have to join forces with. He didn't trust any of them, and would much rather go out to train his Pokemon alone. Strength would be necessary for their job, so it wouldn't hurt to start early.



Something shrieked next to him once he took a step forward. Looking down he noticed the distinct shape of a small, yellow bell that was a Pokemon's head, hiding amidst the tall grass. He then saw that he was stepping on the thing's vines, and lifted up his foot.



The Bellsprout jumped a few feet back, still shrieking at him for what he'd done. His thin, vine like arms extended at his side and his eyes shone with hostility.



His Sneasel walked next to him and brandished his sharp claws, smiling maliciously. But before he could throw himself at the poor grass Pokemon, Wolfswift interrupted him.



"Don't bother," he said, tone bored. "This one's too weak to be worth fighting. I'll take care of it."



He took the small revolver from the holster on his hip, about as casually as one would grab one of their Pokeballs. Almost without looking he pointed the barrel of it at the Bellsprout, finger hovering over the trigger.



A sharp sound cut through the air before he could shoot, followed by an intense pain in his wrist as something coiled around it.



"Agh, wh...!"



Wolfswift's revolver fell to the ground as his arm was pulled backwards. Looking over his shoulder he saw what had grabbed him; a long, leather whip, extending towards someone's hand.



"Well, what do we have here?"



His eyes went wide. Six figures stood behind him, their appearances blurry due to the sun hitting him in the eyes. The only thing he could see were the teeth of the one holding the whip as he smiled.



"It would be a shame, to waste bullets on a filthy Bellsprout," he said, voice thin and raspy. "Don't you think?"



That's the last thing Wolfswift heard before everything went black.

---

Current party at the end of the chapter (Image and art courtesy of Yuki):

To ZigguratZag: Thank you so much for your review!!! First off; rest assured, Loli isn't called that because of any awful reasons. This campaign was played in an Argentinian forum and in some spanish-speaking countries like Argentina "Loli" is just a cute nickname. Just wanted to clear that up

Also yes, the first chapter is definitely kind of a mess, which is understandable considering how many characters there are. I'll try my best to clean it up a bit when I can, but like you said, soon when all the characters get their own lil' moment hopefully it will be easier to distinguish between them. Thank you for sticking with this so far As for Sabrina, you could say she's the unofficial "main character" of the party so it's good that she sticks out. 

Also yes, this is definitely a dystopian sort f situation. I'd also like to mention that this takes place in the universe of Pokemon Special.

Again thank you!! And hopefully it'll be easier to distinguish between all these characters as things move along.

Now without further ado, I'll post the third chapter.

---

A/N: There's a small flashback in this chapter which will be marked with 》and《 at the start and end of it.

---

Three against three would've sounded like a fair fight to most, especially when one of the people they were up against had a severe limp due to a scythe cut.



Sabrina disagreed. Fair fights were for chumps who didn't know how to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Idiots who masqueraded their weakness with honor instead of ingenuity.



She spun one of her new Pokeballs with one finger as the fire grew behind them, slowly consuming the market. Screams of terror and general sounds of panic and fleeing made their way to her. The three reapers facing her seemed somewhat startled by what she'd done. Her gaze fell on the beaten old man between them, covered in dirt and blood.



It would've been merciful to take him out of his misery, but she had plans for him yet.



"Aren't those…" spoke the masked woman whose leg was bleeding. "…Mullac's trainers?"



"They are," the one next to her confirmed, narrowing his eyes through his mask. "We have orders not to kill them but… they did just set the market on fire."



The third one smiled under his mask. "And accidents do happen."



Sabrina rolled her eyes at their pathetic attempt at intimidation, deciding it was time to get this over with. Taking in a deep breath she looked at the back of Silver and Ñako's head, concentrating. It had been a while since the last time she had to use her powers.



"Hey."



Both men shivered as a voice boomed inside their heads, almost immediately turning to look at Sabrina. Her eyes were closed, lips pursed.



"Yes, I am talking to your minds and no, you are not crazy."



"W-Wha…?" Silver tilted his head to the side. "Flaca, you got yourself a Walkie-Talkie or somethin'?"



Ñako placed his fingers on his temples, wincing. "Is this one of those witch things that talks to your head?"



"Just listen. If we get this old guy out of here he'll be indebted to us. And we all know we could use some extra cash."



Ñako and Silver exchanged looks for a moment and then proceeded to shrug in unison.



"Well, if you say so…"



Silver grabbed his remaining Pokeball and smiled as he opened it. Spearow emerged from its light, flapping his wings strongly and looking at the reapers with a strange mix of malice and boredom.



"Alright Pogo, we're gonna follow the Flaca's advice," he told the bird, pointing towards the young girl at his side. "You and Flancito, fly her out of here! I'm sure her dad's gonna want her alive."



At first the girl seemed horrified as the two flying Pokemon grabbed her by the arms with their talons, but once her body lifted off the ground she seemed to understand Silver's plan. Desperation clear in her voice, she screamed one last thing before being carried away by them:



"S-sir! Please, save my father!"



Her silhouette became smaller as she was flown towards Route 7. Silver grinned in relief.



"Very noble of you," one of the reapers said, clear sarcasm in his voice. "Giving away your only route of escape…"



"Yeah yeah shut the fuck up already." Ñako interrupted him, pointing his blade forward. "We doing this or what?"



Sabrina felt the heat of the burning market in her back. They needed to end the fight and escape as fast as possible.



With the familiarity of someone who'd done it a million times before she threw the Pokeball forward, releasing her new partner. The light materialized into a green creature a bit taller than her, her body segmented into various oval pieces and two enormous scythes where her arms should've been. Her eyes were red as rubies.



"I'm aware we don't know each other and all that…" said Sabrina, hands on her pockets, "but I'm gonna need you to help me kill these guys. Also, you're gonna have an awful name and you'll be in countless bloody battles without ever receiving an iota of gratitude. Nice to meet you, Carrie."



The insect Pokemon lowered her glare shyly, as if their meeting had been some kind of emotive, epic event.



"Now, kill."



She jumped forward with enough speed to form a small vacuum of air behind her, translucid wings flapping fast enough to turn invisible. She wound her arm back and slashed at the reaper in front, slicing both the fabric of his cloak and the skin underneath. His body hit the floor, head bouncing on the cold cement, as blood started spouting from the wound.



"Shit!" The woman next to him yelled, eyes going wide. "We need to…!"



Silver and Ñako jumped forward, weapons in hand, before she had a chance to finish her sentence.



"Eat it hoodie!" the first declared, grinning from ear to ear.



"Ah… senseless killing," the latter whispered to himself. "I like these people."



It was over before it began. Soon enough the only people still in the market were the three trainers, the beaten old man, Sabrina's Scyther and the newly added pile of corpses in front of them.



Ñako folded the shuriken, still dripping with blood, and hung it from his back as he approached Sabrina.



"Not that I didn't enjoy that…" he said, raising an eyebrow, "but do you mind repeating why we're provoking the guy who's paying us?"



"That geezer Mullac needs us. It'll be fine," she shrugged. "Besides, you saw how little he cared about the guys he sent to the train."



Silver nodded. "And we're saving this guy, which means a sure reward!"



Their collective gazes fell on the almost unconscious old man, still covered in a not negligible amount of his own blood.



"Oh right, we should probably make sure he doesn't die," Ñako said, walking towards him.



The flames were almost on top of them as he opened his Pokeball, releasing the Abra they'd all seen in the train the night before. He fell on his butt and leaned his head to the side, breathing in deeply with his eyes closed.



"Paja, could I get a Teleport out with this guy?" he asked, grabbing the man by the collar. "I'll take your snoring as a yes."



The Abra lazily extended his arm to touch his trainer, a purple light coating their bodies a moment after as their shapes began to dissipate.



"See you outs-!" Ñako said as he vanished into thin air.



Silver looked around with a certain amount of worry in his expression, seeing the fire get closer and closer. Sabrina however didn't seem very bothered by it as she tapped her Scyther on the shoulder.



"Carrie, fly me and this guy out of here," she ordered, tone bored. "And make it quick. I hope you're getting used to this."



She lowered her head once more and obeyed without hesitation. Flying two humans on her back was a bit much, but they managed to get through above the fire just fine. After a couple minutes they spotted the funny looking ninja and his Pokemon next to the old man they'd saved and his daughter. They were on the outside of town, next to the tall grass of Route 7.



As they touched ground Sabrina noticed the girl with her arms around her father, tears running down her cheeks. Judging by all the bandages covering his body it seemed she'd gotten herself busy and patched him up as fast as humanly possible.



"I'm so glad you're okay!" she sobbed, hands shaking. "Oh dad, I was so worried!"



"I… I know," the man replied, smiling weakly. "It was thanks to these youngsters. I owe my life to them."



Silver approached his two Pokemon and let them land on his shoulder, patting them both in the head.



"Nice one! You two deserve the best birdseed money can buy!"



Carrie looked at the scene with unmistakable hope in her eyes and turned towards Sabrina, who simply frowned and turned around. She could almost feel the sadness of the insect's glare on her back, and sighed.



Making sure no one was looking at them, she slowly raised her hand, giving the Pokemon a thumbs up. She could swear the thing lightly screeched in glee.



Once father and daughter stopped crying over how happy they were or whatever, Sabrina approached them with the look of someone ready to do business. They both raised their heads towards her and saw as she extended her palm forward.



"Money," she said.



The man narrowed his eyes in confusion, looking all around as if he expected her to be talking to someone else.



"Wh-…"



"The money, geezer, the reward for saving you," she repeated, shaking her palm. "And make it quick, I wanna get out of this dump as fast as I can."



More silence, more confused looks. Had she really done all that for nothing? No, she still had one more card to play.



For the first time since meeting her, Ñako and Silver saw as she took out her hat, squishing it strongly with one hand over her chest. She closed her eyes, expression turning to one of intense sadness.



"She's… she's almost her age, my little sister." She pointed at the blue haired girl with shaking fingers. "They even look alike. The doctors say there's no cure for her sickness... all I can do is try to mitigate her suffering." She tried to summon tears and forcibly made her lower lip shake. "But it is too expensive."



She could almost picture the look of surprise and disgust in the faces of her companions behind her, but decided to ignore it.



"For two years I've been travelling the world as a mercenary, accepting the most dangerous jobs from the wealthiest of clients." She clenched her fist, voice breaking. "Without stop, without rest, all so… all so I could see her smile, one last time…"



With her act finished she looked up, taking in the reaction of the two. The man looked down, biting his lip and clearly moved by her words. The girl was a whole different story; new and bigger tears ran down her cheeks as she tried her best not to sob.



Hook, line and sinker.



At least so she thought, until the girl lunged forward and grabbed her hand with both of hers, smiling with difficulty.



"I… I'm studying medicine and I'm good at healing people and… and…" she tried to speak through the tears. "I'll follow all of you, and I promise I'll do everything in my power to help your little sister!"



Sabrina's smug smile died as soon as she heard those words, soon followed by the stifled laughs of Silver and the ninja behind her.



She looked down at the girl's hands, sighing as she let her shoulders fall.



"God dammit."

---

Horrible people, asking me to come here all of a sudden. I should've stayed in the Orange Islands with all those pink Pokemon and be stupidly happy forever.



Those were the thoughts going through the girl's mind as she walked through the outer slums of Saffron with Mullac's letter in hand. Her brown hair was separated into two well crafted braids and on top of her head sat a strange, white hat with eyes and kitty ears. The sweatshirt she wore was more than a few sizes too big for her, so the sleeves went past her hands and flopped around with every step she took.



She heard something past the corner of the next street and froze with her heart in her throat. She'd seen that group of strange people before and they were fighting… things. She'd decided it would be to her benefit to get away from them.



What came out of the shadows didn't look like any of them, which at first she thought was a good thing. Then she noticed the state of the person walking towards her; empty eyes, several cuts and injuries all over and clothes covered in blood.



The thing swatted at her. She choked on a scream as she took a step back and dodged, eyes going wide in horror. The smell hit her, as potent as a punch to the nose and all encompasing. She had to summon all the will she had in her not to throw up on the spot.



"A-agh, what the…!?" She took an arm to her chest, hand shaking. "People in decomposition? What…?"



She heard various steps approaching and feared more… whatever these things were would surround her. Fortunately it was just the group of people she'd seen before, running through the street as a small army of undead followed them.



"The politics of failure have failed!" declared the one with the pink afro, a chubby Pikachu hanging from his shoulder. "We must look for shelter!"



The ones in front of her turned towards the sound and, for a moment, she had the hope they would chase those people instead of her. It was short lived as the second one made another attempt at grabbing her.



Looks like I have to choose between the pink afro and this, she thought to herself, cursing her luck.



She considered it for a good five seconds before making the decision.



"Pink afro, goddamit!"



She lunged past the two zombies and ran in the same direction as them.

---

Rhin felt guilty for jokingly thinking they would encounter a zombie movie situation when they entered the outer slums. Now he was pretty sure the cosmos did listen to him, except instead of trying to help him they simply laughed while watching him suffer.



He smiled to himself as he ran from the zombies, Wyvern hanging from his back. If the stars wanted a good show then he'd give them one.



"There, that place!" Sammy yelled, pointing towards a nearby building. "The door is open, come on!"



A worn sign hung above the entrance: Winchester II.



Once all of them were inside Sammy and Siegfried locked the heavy wooden door by putting in front as many chairs and tables as they could find. Rhin decided to make himself useful and tumbled his way to the fuse box, turning the lights on.



The first thing he saw after being momentarily blinded was a beautiful, ornate pool table in the middle of the room. At its right was what looked like a counter full of unopened bottles of alcohol, covered in dust. A jukebox sat at the other extreme, its weak light still twinkling after what must've been years.



Of all the places, it had to be a pub, he thought, frowning.



"We need to check for other entrances so we can block them," Sammy ordered, looking around desperately.



"Ugh, this place is dirty," Mycroft shuddered as he tiptoed through the filth covered floor. "Wait, why are we boxing ourselves in?"



"These aren't real zombies," she said. "Either the Gastlys stop possessing them and come inside to fight, or they get bored and leave after a while."



Or they wait forever because they're ghosts and they have all the time in the world, Rhin thought hopelessly.



He looked at Vard, who walked around the room curiously and studied the place. Probably considering turning it into his base of operations or something similar. He smiled; he really couldn't be mad at a guy like that.



He was in the middle of wondering where the man's confidence came from when the sound of breaking wood made him jump. A long, pale arm made an attempt at his neck, but Rhin's reflexes allowed him to lower his head and barely avoid the swat.



"Shit, they're coming in!" he yelled, gritting his teeth.



"Ah, bastards!" Vard said. "We must teach them a lesson!"



More and more arms broke through the crumbling defense they'd managed to put in front of the door. Slowly everyone gathered on the back of the bar, Pokeballs in hand and sweat running down their foreheads.



A few more seconds is all it took before the shattered splinters of the doors flew to the side, letting in at least ten of the corpses inside. They growled and walked slowly towards them, heads leaning to the side and eyes empty.



Mycroft took a step back towards the jukebox. "Merde, we need to do something!"



Siegfried nodded, looking down to the Cyndaquil. "Elliot, I'm counting on you," he said, voice completely calm.



"Our only chance is to attack the Gastlys and take them out," Sammy said, lower lip trembling. "We need to combine our Pokemon's strength and attack all at once."



"That is, if our Pokemon can even see the Gastly," Siefgried whispered.



"Oh, right!" Mycroft said, "Maybe I can…"



As he took a step back he accidentally bumped his elbow on one of the buttons of the jukebox. The machine roared with an electronic buzzing sound and came to life, startling all the trainers in the room.



"Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time…"



A voice came out of the device, bathing the bar with the low hums of music. Mycroft looked at the jukebox, then at the zombies and then at the jukebox once more.



"Why is Queen playing?" he asked, nose crinkled. "Ah, it doesn't matter. Ludovic, Foresight!"



The Riolu's eyes turned red once more, and just as it had happened before the gaseous shapes of the Gastlys appeared above the corpses' heads, smiling maliciously as they approached.



"Now!" Sammy yelled, throwing a Pokeball to the ground. From it emerged a bulb like Pokemon with four stubby legs, and a leaf coming out of her head. The Chikorita planted herself in front of her opponents. "Fiona, Razor Leaf!"



"Wyvern, Scratch!"



"Elliot, use Tackle if you may."



"Pikachu, destroy those mutants!" Vard ordered. "Storm of Osiris!"



As their Pokemon pushed back the zombies and tried their best to leave the Gastlys out of commission, someone approached from the back entrance of the bar. The girl with the strange hat scurried as silently as she could through the dark corridors, hearing commotion close. She carefully opened the door at the end of the hallway, finding herself behind the counter of the bar. At her right were the five people she'd followed, furiously battling what was at her left. At least ten of the horrible living corpses, their combined stench flooding the room like poison gas.



"Agh, disgusting!" she yelled, covering her nose with the sleeves of her sweatshirt.



Everyone in the room turned towards her, including the zombies. She froze for a moment, cursing herself, and grabbed the Pokeball hanging from a small holster in her jeans.



"I need to get out of here! Milkshake, Icy Wind!"



In front of her appeared a creature resembling a snake, with soft blue scales covering everything except her belly. Two small, white wings grew from the sides of her head.



The Dratini wound her head back, inhaling deeply, and spat a powerful torrent of frozen air into the room. The miniature blizzard swallowed every single Gastly, releasing enough mist at the sides to hide her and her Pokemon from the trainers sharing the room with her.



"W-what was that!?" Rhin asked, covering his face with the folds of his sleeve.



Once the mist and cold dissipated they were left alone with a room full of immobile corpses, the Gastlys controlling them having fled after the devastating attack.



"S-she took them all out at once," Siegfried said, incredulous.



"Wait, where is she?" Mycroft asked.



They looked towards the door behind the counter where the strange girl had previously been. It was now empty, no trainer or Pokemon to be seen. They waited for a few moments to see if more zombies would approach them, but only silence met them.



About a street away from the bar, the girl they'd just met ran as fast as her legs allowed, her long sleeves flapping in the wind behind her. Dratini slithered as she followed her, a look of boredom in her eyes.



"That place didn't look very safe, Milkshake!" she smiled nervously. "We should probably run back to Saffron at once!"

---

Route 7 spread in front of them endlessly, only tall grass and clear skies there to meet them. Sabrina would've considered the sight beautiful were it not for the pillar of black smoke coming out of the city.



After some deliberation they decided to stick around the route a bit longer, looking for chances to train their Pokemon for the upcoming mission. For some ungodly reason the young girl had decided to follow them, now skipping alongside Silver as she held his Swablu in her arms.



"So… Loli's coming with us then?" Ñako asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or did I get this wrong?"



"Seems so," Sabrina said bitterly.



The girl walked amidst them with a spring in her step, a smile on her face and an arm around Silver's.



Judging by her lack of protest she seemed to accept the terms rather easily. After a moment of consideration she grabbed onto Silver's arm and smiled.



"We're going to the house of that sir's sister now?" she asked, excitement clear in her voice. "So I can help her!"



Sabrina froze for a moment, not sure if she'd heard right. Slowly she turned her head towards the girl and frowned.



"Wow…" she said. "Are you braindead or what?"



Loli reeled back for a moment, "U-uh… so, your little sister is okay?"



"No, she's dead," Sabrina said, voice taciturn. "I killed her."



"O-oh."



"And you're next if you keep calling me sir."



Ñako walked next to her, an eyebrow raised, and leaned in to whisper something into her ear.



"That thing about your sister... that's a lie too, right?"



"God…" she sighed. "Just… just shut up, all of you."



Before she could finish considering whether punching the ninja in the face was worthwhile or not, everyone's attention turned towards the grass as it rustled next to them.



A small, round creature peeked through it, her soft blue eyes staring curiously at the group of trainers. The moment Loli's eyes fell on the Jigglypuff she let out a huge gasp and put both hands on her chest.



"IT'S SO CUTE!" She yelled, almost blowing everyone's eardrums up. "Can we catch it? Please, please!"



Silver scratched his cheek and smiled, "Alright, alright." He looked at the Spearow on his shoulder. "Go ahead Pogo, try not to eat her. Oh, and her name's gonna be Regordeta!"



Pogo let out a loud chirp and dived towards his opponent, opening his beak in anticipation. The Jiglypuff's eyes narrowed and her cheeks puffed. She wound back her arm, which caught ablaze as she threw it forward. Spearow felt the heat even before the stubby hand dug into his cheek, sending him a few feet back with a burn that stung badly.



"Sir, that's not a normal Jigglypuff!" Loli exclaimed. "She knows how to use Fire Punch!"



"Fire Punch? That's n-" Silver saw as his Pokemon was so easily repelled. "Hey Pogo come on, hit the chubster!"



While they fought, Sabrina headed north, looking for her own training opportunities. Soon she noticed a few blades of grass which looked different than the rest; a lot shorter and darker. Beneath them was the figure of a creature which looked like a blue onion, with two small red eyes. The Oddish shuddered under her gaze, and soon a couple more joined him. They moved the leaves on their heads ominously, releasing a yellow cloud of powder. However it didn't seem too effective as the wind carried it in the opposite direction.



The three Pokemon seemed to shrink in fear as they saw this and Sabrina almost felt pity for them. Not enough not to fight them, she thought as she opened two Pokeballs. From the first emerged a fox like creature with six fluffy tails and from the second appeared Gouda.



"Gouda, take care of the one in the middle," she ordered. "Rokon, the other two are yours."



The Vulpix turned his head towards her and his expression sent shivers down her spine. Not only were his eyes bloodshot and almost bulging out of their sockets, but a concerning amount of saliva dripped down his sharp fangs to his chin as he smiled wickedly.



Huh, so that's why he was so cheap.



Gouda also looked at her, but with disdain instead of whatever Rokon's expression was. Sabrina didn't know what kind of tasks she was used to from her previous master, but taking on an onion with legs was probably beneath her.



"Hey, can't jump out of a moving train every day," she shrugged. "Let's shrink that belly, alright?"



While the two completely obliterated the defenseless Oddish she decided to spectate the other fights. Ñako faced against a similar number of grass Pokemon with the Bulbasaur he'd received from Mullac, while Silver still had trouble against the fluffy ball of pink, which seemed bent on hitting her opponent with as much fire as possible.



"That Regordeta is on fire!" Silver yelled. "She wants to cook Pogo!



In the time it took her to listen to that and turn back, all the Oddish had been defeated. One of them had fallen face first into the ground, while the other two were burnt to a crisp, the ground crackling with fire from under them.



She noticed another pair of eyes on her, these ones belonging to something a bit more respectable looking. Another Drowzee, identical to Gouda with the exception of his look of fear, hid a soon as they noticed him.



Gouda took a step forward, but Sabrina patted her on the shoulder before she could attack.



"Sorry for interrupting your battle for honor, but this one's for Carrie."



Scyther appeared like a shadow beside her, expression darkening as she faced her opponent. Sabrina rested her hand on her forehead.



"Your first battle," she declared. "Impress me."



She didn't know what she expected, really. Maybe for Carrie to jump forward and flat out eat the poor thing. She would've even tolerated her walking away from the fight, considering the Drowzee too beneath her.



How naïve of me.



What Sabrina didn't expect was for Carrie to hide behind her, shaking from tip to toe like a wet Poochyena.



"Ah… should've imagined it."



It wasn't enough with a schizophrenic Vulpix and a Drowzee with an attitude, no sir. The Scyther needed to have a personality flaw ridiculous enough to be part of the team.



"You fear Pokemon combat, don't you?"



The Scyther lowered her head, cheeks turning a dark green.



"Oh well, nothing I can do. You'll be a means of transportation for the rest of your days," she said, not bothering looking at her. "A Pokemon who doesn't fight is garbage and doesn't deserve my time. Rokon, you go."



Unexpectedly Carrie took a step forward, still shaking, and faced her opponent. She was clearly afraid out of her mind.



"Well, if you insist. Go ahead."



She noticed movement at the edge of her vision. The grass rustled almost imperceptibly, revealing something that ran through it at high speeds towards her Pokemon. Her eyes went wide as she saw it jump at Carrie, long claws wound back and shining under the sunlight.



"Shit, Carrie!"



She didn't have time to dodge. The Meowth slashed at Carrie's face with all the strength he had in him, penetrating skin and leaving three deep cuts where her right eye was.



Sabrina felt her throat turn to ice. The cigarette fell from her fingers. Images flashed through her eyes and, for a moment, she could hear it clearly.

---

》"Here again? Aren't you tired of being beaten to a pulp every day?"



A furious man stood at the other side of the arena, a heavy iron crucifix hanging from his neck. In front of him stood his only Pokemon; a grim looking Scyther.



"Shut up!" He pointed at Sabrina with his finger. "I'll show you that I can win without resorting to dirty tricks like you, brat!"《

---

"Gouda, protect Carrie!" Sabrina yelled, the words leaving her mouth before she had time to process them.



Her Drowzee only raised an eyebrow at her before obeying. She pointed one hand at the Meowth and released a small wave of psychic energy, which threw him backwards and stunned him momentarily.



Sabrina stared in horror, the realization of what she'd done flooding her. Heat rising to her face, she returned Carrie to her Pokeball and looked around to make sure no one else had seen that.



Why did I have to remember that now? She lamented herself.



"Scyther are very rare and valuable, I can't find one in the dumpster like you idiots." She pathetically excused herself to her Pokemon, who weren't listening to her in the first place.



Gouda emerged victorious against both the Meowth and Drowzee, though it was clear the battle had taken a heavy toll on her. Sabrina was sure of one thing; she hadn't done it out of respect for her or to protect her teammate, but because she'd been trained to obey blindly, no matter what were to happen to her.



Does she see me like one of those robed bastards? She thought, Am I the same as them for her?



With a sour taste in her mouth she gave her a pat on the head and returned her to her Pokeball, trying not to think about it.



In the distance she noticed Ñako straight up kicking Oddish left and right, who didn't stop coming towards him.



"I swear to god I will kill every Oddish in Kanto!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "Every single one!"

---

After a while she decided to find greener pastures for her training, walking away from the rest. Silver managed to catch the Jigglypuff after a lot of effort on his part, and Ñako took the opportunity to catch the Meowth she'd left unconscious.



The tall grass became more peaceful as she kept walking, until she began to loop around towards Saffron once more. She was about to call it quits when a strange sound of metal hitting the ground reached her.



She froze, silently debating what to do. The obvious answer would be to run, obviously, but something akin to curiosity told her she shouldn't.



After a few seconds of walking she spotted the source of the sound. Standing in the middle of the field was a tall man with curly black hair, wearing a sleeveless shirt and worn out jeans. But what caught her attention was the thing in his right hand; an ornate, heavy looking silver sword. It was almost as tall as he was, which spoke volumes of the man's strength considering how easily he was carrying it.



Her steps were heard by him, and their eyes met once he turned around. His were narrowed, though more due to boredom than anything else.



Another trainer hired by Mullac? She thought. Or a mercenary trying to make a name for himself?



The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, green eyes clashing against soft brown. Finally Sabrina broke the ice, staring down to the strange collar hanging from his neck and then away as she showed him her back.



"Be careful if you plan to go to Saffron," she said, putting her hands on her pockets. "Later."

---

Vard breathed in deeply, admiring the landscape before him.



"Ah, mother nature spreads before us like a beautiful woman's legs."

They'd made it out of the slums and walked uphill through the nearest route, stopping on a small mound just outside the city. Behind him Sammy and Siegfried sat against a nearby tree, recovering their strength, while Rhin and Mycroft looked around for wild Pokemon.



"I don't know about you," said Sammy, "but I think I had my fair share of exploring for today."



"We should probably go back to Saffron and rest," Siegfried offered. "It can't be safe to stay outside the city."



Sammy sighed, one hand on her knee, "I doubt those things will come back, since we're on an open field."



The sound of flapping wings made its way towards Vard, who perked up his nose curiously. On top of the fence separating them from the city now rested a bird Pokemon covered in black feathers, with something that looked like a hat on top of his head.



Those black wings flapping, the blood red eyes, the funny beak… a single thought came to Vard's mind.



Could he take the hat off if he wanted?



"You rascal bird!" he pointed at him, his other hand curled into a fist. "You shall be Vard's new servant in the skies! Pikachu, make your will known!"



An explosion of light came out of the man's afro, where the Pokeball was located. Pikachu climbed his way through the prison of hair and emerged with a clear look of Please never release me there again.



"Storm of Osiris!"



While Vard was busy with his fight both Mycroft and Rhin saw the grass rustling their way. Two canine looking Pokemon approached, one covered in orange and black fur and the other one sporting a skull like mark on his forehead.



Rhin smiled, looking directly at the Growlithe, "I'll take care of this one. Keroro, out!"



Next to him Mycroft released the Pokemon he'd received from Mullac; the Squirtle stared down his opponent with clear worry in his face.



"Alright Barty, I'll need your help," Mycroft said, smiling. "This time it won't be a battle for our lives, so it'll be okay."



The fire Pokemon they were facing were quick and powerful, but with a bit of strategy and taking Barty's type advantage into consideration the battle slowly began to tip in their favor.



"Barty, careful!" Mycroft warned, "That Houndoom will…"



Grass rustled behind him. Another wild Pokemon? He turned around as fast as he could but only managed to make out the vague shape of… a hat with cat ears? He had to be hallucinating.



Oh well.



The fight didn't last much longer, and soon all three of the trainers managed to catch the Pokemon giving them trouble. Mycroft kneeled to pick up the ball with his new companion inside, and smiled.



"This wasn't in the plan, but welcome to the team nonetheless Helga," he said. "I hope we can become…"



Something traveled through the grass too fast for him to see properly. Something long and thin, which proceeded to coil around his leg strongly enough to almost topple him to the ground.



"Agh, what the…!"



Thick, blue vines were grabbing his ankle, and as he followed them he saw the Pokemon they belonged to. A tiny ball of vines with feet and two dark eyes hidden underneath.



He could swear he saw the thing smile happily at him.

---

The sun had almost gone down by the time Ñako and Silver walked back to Saffron. The city itself was livelier than usual, though the ninja attributed it to the fact that they'd recently burnt down the market. Not that anyone could know that, considering all the witnesses were either dead, indebted to them or grabbing Silver's arm. It was a shame that didn't stop most of the people they came across from hurling insults at them.



"Those are Mullac's people!"



"Fucking scum!"



"Get out of our city!"



Loli was shaken by such strong words, but the two trainers simply ignored them as they walked, the shape of Silph Co. growing in the distance.



They kept walking for a few minutes, the barrage of screams and insults never stopping for more than a few seconds. None of them startled Ñako, until they were a couple streets from the building and he heard something actually surprising.



"It's… it's you! You came back!"



They were approached by the exact opposite of what he expected from a citizen of Saffron. A frail, old lady with a bag of groceries still hanging from one of her arms. Her wide smile exacerbated the dozens of wrinkles around her face.



Ñako was too stunned to speak as the woman walked toward him, eyes watering.



"I knew it, it really is you!" she said, voice trembling but full of emotion. "You look a bit different, but your eyes! Your eyes are the same as the last time I saw you!"



"Wh-hey!" Ñako moved his arm urgently as the woman tried to touch him. "I don't know what you're talking about, hag! I've never set foot on this dump in my entire life!"



He got away from the woman as fast as he could, Silver and Loli following behind with frowns of confusion adorning their faces. He shook his head and tried to get what had just happened out of his head; what the hell had that been about?



Finally they reached the street in front of Silph Co and noticed Vard's group waiting for them. The man with the pink afro turned towards them as they approached, smiling thoughtlessly.



"You lot look like you fell on a pit full of dung," he said. "And then you fornicated with it."



"Ah… there was something of a situation," Ñako admitted. "When the black market burned down and all that."



Rhin glared daggers at him, arms crossed. He then looked at the girl accompanying Silver.



"You got tired of killing people so you've resorted to kidnapping?" he asked, voice full of poison.



"Geez, what an attitude."



They exchanged stories while they waited for the rest to arrive, the only ones silent being Rhin and Mycroft who seemed preoccupied with their own thoughts. Once the sun went down all the way they noticed Sabrina approach from a nearby street, hands on her pockets.



"Ah… if that duck gave me a cold…" she whispered to herself, eyebrows knit together.



Sammy raised an eyebrow, "Duck?"



"Oh hey, we're almost all here." Sabrina ignored her. "Where's the guy with white hair? Wolf… something."



As if on cue the glass doors of the building opened up and five people stepped through it. In front were two of the men working under Mullac, their faces hidden by identical masks. They held Wolfswift as he walked towards them, the state of his body even managing to make Sabrina flinch momentarily.



He was covered in gauze and his eyes were bandaged. Several cuts and bruises could be seen on him, blood staining the black fabric of his shirt.



"They found him outside the city."



Mullac was the fourth person, accompanied by someone who seemed to be hiding behind him. He spoke with his usual calming tone, pointing at the wounded boy.



"My men did everything in their power to heal his wounds," he assured them. "However, I'm afraid that his eyes are beyond recovery."



The two men holding Wolfswift let him go. He tumbled forward and fell to his knees, clenching his teeth in pain.



"This mission will be incredibly dangerous," Mullac said, "and there will surely be others looking for the same objects; it wouldn't be a stretch to consider that you'll run into them. You might end up like this boy, or even worse."



Rhin took a step forward, wanting to help the man but afraid he might attack him. "How… what happened to you?"



"Tsk…" Wolfswift got to his feet with difficulty, legs still wobbling. "There were… too many of them. I couldn't do anything."



Sabrina simply stared at the sorry state he was in, wondering if he'd even be useful for the mission. What if he turned into a burden? What if that burden cost them their life? It would've been merciful to either force him to stay or take him out of his misery.



Would someone miss him if he were gone? She thought, shoulders dropping. Does he have someone back home waiting for him?



Silver tapped Loli in the shoulder and pointed at Wolfswift, "Hey, see if those hooded guys did anything to him."



She nodded enthusiastically and kneeled next to the man, swiftly inspecting all his wounds with a steady hand.



"Sir, he was very well taken care of," she said. "But… they were right, his eyes…"



A few feet from them, Vard crossed his arms and smiled.



"Very well done, my foreman!" He patted Silver on the shoulder. "That girl will be a good asset for the Team of Vard! For your foresight I give you this!"



He fumbled around inside his cape for a moment until he found what he was looking for. Grabbing it by the tail he showed Silver an upside down, passed out Rattata with his tongue sticking out.



"He's not dead, just shake it a little."



"You've had that thing in your cape for hours?" Sammy asked, horrified.



"Thank you so much, Vard sir!" Silver said, voice turning bubbly in excitement. "I promise I'll train him as if he were my own family!"



While everyone around him wondered what the hell he'd meant by that, Mullac approached them and cleared his throat, grabbing their attention.



"By the way, I believe it's time for me to introduce you."



He moved to the side, revealing the person who was hiding behind him. Everyone who'd been at the slums that afternoon recognized her immediately by the unmistakable hat with cat ears and the long sleeved sweatshirt.



"She is a trainer who will travel with you," Mullac explained. "She calls herself Muffin."



"It's the girl from the bar," Mycroft said, eyes wide.



"Bar?" Silver smiled, "What bar? You guys had fun without us?"



The girl apparently named Muffin introduced herself quietly, though it was clear by the look on her eyes that she didn't quite trust the group she'd been stuck with.



After a few minutes of preparations Mullac gave each one of them a small backpack, which felt comfortably heavy as they carried it. Sabrina had to dump her old one and put the crossbow inside the new one along with everything else.



"Those have a few rations of food and a tent," Mullac said. "It's all I can give you until your return, I'm afraid."



The man turned to the side, eyes lost on the endless landscape leading north. He waited for a few moments before speaking again.



"As I've explained before, your mission is to find the underground dungeon hidden within Pewter's abandoned prison. Inside one of the cells you will find the object I want. I recommend you travel through Route 5 tonight, as you will be safer under the blanket of darkness.



"The first city you'll encounter will be Cerulean; you might stop there to rest and buy more provisions were they to run out. After that you'll walk towards Mt. Moon and head north. It's a long, arduous path but I trust you can handle it."



He narrowed his eyes, and a gleam of something like sadness appeared behind them.



"That is all. Good luck."

---

They were almost an hour into the road through Route 5 when Mycroft slowed his walking, purposely falling behind.



He'd been so nervous in front of Mullac he hadn't gotten a word in. How could he? He'd been lucky to put that inside his pocket instead of the backpack he had to empty in front of the man. Had it been there, he would've seen it and all his plans would've collapsed on the spot.



As the others went ahead he put one hand inside the pocket of his overcoat. He had to make sure it was still there, as stupid as it was. Slowly he took it out, and the light made his eyes itchy.



In his hand he held a long, pristine golden feather. It glowed with a powerful, multicolor gleam and the very touch of it sent shivers through his skin. Its warmth had been the only thing keeping him from fleeing as soon as their mission had been revealed.



Mullac's words came to mind once more. The legend of Ho-oh, and the divine power it had given humanity long ago…



If the man knew he held one of the objects he was looking for, Mycroft would surely be killed on the spot. He needed to protect it.



He needed to keep Ho-oh's feather safe.

To ZigguratZag: Thank you again for your comment!! I'm very happy you're still enjoying the fic, even if it's still a bit confusing and hard to follow  

Sabrina is indeed a psychic! All the characters have their own 'class' although not all of them manifest like Sabrina's psychic-ness does. As for her affiliation to the Sabrina we know and love... that'll become clear later on :3c Also yes, her fail regarding Loli is one of my favorite scenes. Good rolls in Manipulation don't always get you good results.

We've got a few introductions in this chapter like you saw, with Muffin and Loli and the mysterious swordsman, and there will be a few more on the next chapter, although not as additions to the party but something else. Hopefull the ensuing journey can differentiate them all more clearly as we go along.

Once again, thank you for your comment! It means a lot. Sabrina's Vulpix is great, as are all of her Pokemon. Like she says, fate requires that they all have weird personality flaws. And yes, the mysteries will continue next time!

With that said, let's get to the next chapter.

---

That cabin: as they say, the players always make the dumbest decisions. Good thing it wasn't an enemy hideout, or they would've been in deep water. Sabrina's tall tales are the best. "We're actually a death metal band lol".

Some more fun action! Silver v. Dexter was great—unabashedly anime fight scene. Sabrina's fight was hilariously anticlimactic, too. Rokon is really pulling his weight on the team.

Again, lots of different characters running around in the later parts. It's better here because each character is paired off with a rival, for the most part, and the pairs don't interact much with each other. A little regimented for my tastes, but ultimately a good alternative to a chaotic free-for-all where it's impossible to tell what's happening.

Samantha knows Mycroft's secret? The plot thickens. (I can hear the ominous background music.)

Knowing that about the Scizor fight makes it so much better. Sabrina's so cool she can win even when the DM's against her. Actually, I think she's been doing really well in her battles so far. Hasn't lost yet? To be fair, using a graveler against a psyduck is not a smart choice.

That gligar thing was hilarious, by the way.

Now we've learned the villain's name, and some interesting tidbits about Samantha. Wonder what the deal with her eyes is?

And more on Sabrina's mysterious backstory, in this chapter! Poor her. I hope she gets the courage to go on a roaring rampage of revenge or something, since that'd be super fun. She probably deserves one, too.

Rhin and Wolfswift making very good decisions that definitely won't lead to pain in the future

Rhin smiled to himself in that way that his mom always told him made him look really cool and, producing a Pokeball from his belt, he threw it up in the air as light pooled out of it.



"Ha! Finally, something to break up the monotony! Let's stretch those legs, Wyvern!"



The Charmander materialized amidst the blades of grass in the middle of the route, standing on all fours and growling defiantly at the Venonat before him. The purple Pokemon jumped out in fear. He let out a screech and spat a cloud of musky yellow gas toward his opponent.



"You're faster; run circles around him!" Rhin commanded. "There's no need to hurt him, we want him for our team after all."



As Wyvern began running on all fours around the scared creature, Wolfswift approached from behind with that usual nonchalance of his, hands on the pockets of his jacket. Even after having been blinded, he always looked as though he were in control of the situation. Rhin wished he knew how he did it.



"I'm starting to doubt we're going the right way," said Wolfswift. "Why haven't the others caught up to us?"



Rhin waved the matter away with a smile. "They probably got distracted causing chaos and destruction like the senseless criminals they are. They'll catch up to us, don't worry."



"I don't know about that. Something about this place smells… off."



"Trust me, it's gonna be fine Wolf. Can I call you Wolf?"



"No."



"Listen Wolf. Once we're inside Mt. Moon we can find a place to rest, and then when we wake up the others will surely be close by," said Rhin. "Trust me, I…"



And at that moment, Rhin narrowed his eyes, which emitted a pale, crimson glow. Wolfswift froze in place as a voice spoke in his head.



"I can check."



It took him a moment to relax. "Ah… I see. You're one of those."



"Righto! So there's nothing to worry, Wolf." Rhin gave him a thumbs up, then turned toward his battle once more. "Alright, Wyvern, you got him on the ropes! Whip your tail and use Ember around him!"



It was a matter of seconds. Wyvern ran past another cloud of paralyzing dust and, using the momentum of his run, whipped at the air with his tail, sending a coiling whip of flames that engulfed the grass around the poor Venonat. He screeched and shrunk into himself, horrified as the wall of flame closed in around him.



"Don't worry, you won't get hurt! I just wanted to intimidate you a lil'. Makes you easier to catch," said Rhin with a smile. "Here it goes!"



The Pokeball flew through the flames and bonked the Venonat on the head, trapping him inside. Wyvern ran to the scene and stomped all over the flames, extinguishing them, and once he did Rhin walked to the middle of the ring of scorched grass and grabbed the ball containing his new partner.



"Alright! Looks like we have a new partner!" exclaimed Rhin. "Couldn't have done it without you, Wyvern."



Wolfswift scoffed behind him. "If you're finished wasting your time with that Venonat, we should probably deal with the girl over there."



"Wh–girl? What girl?" Rhin turned around, frowning. "And how did you know it was a Venonat?"



"I'm starting to get used to the blindness. My other senses are slowly sharpening," explained the man. "Still… I can't quite discern if she's dangerous or not."



Before Rhin could ask who exactly he was referring to, they heard a soft, sweet voice behind them.



"Hehe, I guess you caught me!"



His first thought as he turned around and met the girl's eyes was 'How the hell did I not notice her there before'? She was sitting on a big rock, leaning forward casually as she greeted them with a smile of perfect white teeth, a gesture that the Magby atop her shoulder imitated a second after. She looked young, probably no older than either of them. She had short, disheveled orange hair and wore the traditional apron and thick gloves of a Pokemon breeder.



"I was watching your battle. A trainer, eh? Not many of those around anymore, so that's pretty cool!" She spoke dizzyingly fast, almost enough to make it hard to understand what she was saying. "I'm one too! Or, well, a breeder I guess but still. This Magby here helps me out with all the eggs, mostly to make them hatch faster, you would not believe how hard it was before I caught him! This one time I was commissioned by one of my clients to hatch a Dratini egg and I'm not joking you it took me six months to get it to…"



She seemed to catch herself, letting out a short chuckle and shaking her head.



"Ah, sorry, sorry. I tend to ramble. Anyway, my name's Charity!" She pointed at herself with a thumb, and the Magby did the same. "I was supposed to go to Lavender but got lost in the way, so lucky me to have run into you two, right?"



"Wait, hold on just a moment." Wolfswift interceded, raising a palm toward her. "What are you implying? We don't know you, so–"



Charity jumped out of the rock she was sitting on and dusted herself off, shining them a brilliant smile.



"Oh come on blindfold guy, I'm trustworthy! And also lost. Like, very lost," she clarified. "Anyway, where are you guys headed? Are you alone? How many Pokemon do you have? Which ones? Oh right, where are my manners. What are your names?"



"I… er…" Rhin swallowed, unsure of how to deal with the intensity of this girl. "Well, I'm Rhin and this is Wolfswift, and we were headed tow–"



"Great! See, I'm actually kinda scared of crossing the mountains by myself, so I was hoping I could get you two to accompany me! For security, you know? What do you say, Ron?"



"I-it's Rhin and–"



Wolfswift placed a hand on Rhin's shoulder, shaking his head. "Rhin, we don't know her. It would be reckless to have her with us."



It's not like he would've had much time for it anyway, but Rhin considered their situation as best he could. And then, as he usually did, he decided to go with the option that involved trusting in people.



"Come on, Wolf, don't be a cynic. She seems nice," he said. "And besides, we trainers have to help each other, right?"



Charity pumped her fist high into the air, and Magby imitated her.



"That's the spirit, Ron! There's few enough of us to go around, so of course we gotta stick together when we can!" she exclaimed. "Alright, let's get to it! Together, we'll figure out a way through the mountains in a jiffy!"



Against the combined forces of two optimistic idiots, Wolfswift had, unfortunately, no choice but to accept their proposition.

---

Muffin hummed happily to herself as she examined a shelf full of different kinds of fishing rods. The supply store was mostly empty. Only she, Sammy and Siegfried were perusing through its contents, though the boy seemed more preoccupied with the Pokemon egg he was carrying.



"Ah, there's so much variety here!" said Muffin, raising her sleeved hands to her chest. "We can buy everything we need for the rest of the journey."



Siegfried looked down at the egg and smiled. "I just hope the others don't take too long. I've got a good feeling about this egg an–"



As if on cue, they heard the chubby man behind the counter address a group of people approaching the store.



"Welcome! Come in, come in."



Muffin didn't need to turn around to know that Ñako was the one to open the door, what with him slamming it against the wall. Not to mention that booming voice of his filling the room a second later.



"Don't have to tell us twice, geezer!"



The second voice was unmistakably Sabrina's, cold and full of irritation.



"What do we even need from this place, anyway?"



They strolled into the store, looking around with different levels of interest at the wares lining the shelves.



"A map, probably."



Sabrina frowned. "We came all this way for a stupid $10 map?"



"Er… $20, actually," said the owner.



"$20!? You cheap fuck."



Siegfried was the first to address them. "Was there any trouble on your side? You were gone for a while."



"And where are the other two?" asked Sammy. "Er, three. Vard, Silver and his… companion."



"They went ahead to secure our staying place for the night," explained Sabrina. "Big hotel, 5 stars. You're welcome, by the way."



"You don't need to ask how we got the money for it," said Ñako. "It's okay."



"You… didn't set fire to anything, did you?" Sammy frowned.



Ñako shrugged. "Nothing of importance, right?"



"Nope," muttered Sabrina. "S'all good."



Sammy stood in front of them with her arms folded, the look on her face reminding Muffin terribly of the one her own mom often had whenever she was trying to determine if her brother was lying to her or not. After a few seconds, she just sighed and looked away.



"Anyway, we shouldn't spend too long here. Let's just get what we need an–"



A loud crack broke through the room. All eyes turned instantly toward the source of the sound, some more quickly than others. Sabrina's hand was already on her belt, though it froze in place when she realized what had caused the sound.



"Goodness!"



A happy grin spread across Siegfried's lips as he looked down at his egg, which had begun to crack. Muffin let out an excited gasp, and even Sammy couldn't stop herself from making a sound. All of them huddled around Siegfried as the Pokemon within the egg tried its hardest to free itself.



"Siegfried, look!" Muffin pointed excitedly. "You were right!"



"It's… it's about to be born!" declared the man, voice full of happiness. "We're about to witness the miracle of life."



Behind them, Sabrina muttered under her breath. "Tsk. Guess we can't eat it anymore, huh?"



The last of the cracks appeared on the shell, light filtering through, until finally with a sound like that of glass breaking the light exploded from within. The eggshells fell all over as a small creature began to take form on Siegfried's hands. It was round and blue, with big glassy eyes and a marking like a spiral on its stomach.



"A Poliwag!" Siegfried and Muffin yelled in unison, equally thrilled.



The rest looked somewhat disappointed, but Siegfried's reaction couldn't have been farther away from that. He raised the baby Pokemon high and shone him a kind smile.



"Welcome to this world, little one," he said. "Your name will be Murphy. I hope we can be friends."



"Wruui!"



"Ahh… that is wonderful," muttered Muffin. "I never thought I'd see a Pokemon being born."



"It's definitely not something you see much of nowadays," said Sammy.



"Eh. It's not that cool," Sabrina added. "I've seen b–"



Suddenly, the chubby owner slammed his hand on the counter and yelled out.



"THIEVES!"



Every pair of eyes turned toward him, some confused, most of them irritated by the sudden noise. Even the newborn Poliwag frowned at the man.



"Excuse me?" asked Sammy.



Sabrina scoffed. "We haven't stolen anything yet, what the hell."



"Yeah, I just smell bad!" said Ñako. "That ain't a crime last I checked."



"I swear, the nerve of some people," whispered Muffin.



"No, you idiots!" yelled out the owner, pointing forward. "Behind you, it's–!"



The door flew open, slamming against the wall with a loud, sharp sound. Everyone except Siegfried and Muffin already had a Pokeball in hand before they even turned all the way around, and their quick reaction was well-founded, as they found themselves face to face with a couple of men wearing black wool hats and scarves over their mouths. They both held pistols.



"This is a robbery! Everyone get down!" yelled the shortest one, his voice deep and rough.



"Yeah, stay nice and put if you don't wanna be Magikarp food!" the other one added, his voice much more shrill.



Out of the entire group, Muffin was the only one who gave the two the reaction they were probably expecting, gasping in fear and clutching at her chest with her sleeved hands. The others simply looked at the thieves gormlessly.



"'This is a robbery'? Seriously?" muttered Ñako



"Yeah, and that line about the Magikarp food…" said Sammy.



"Talk about cliché. Where'd these clowns come from anyway?" finished Sabrina.



The lukewarm reaction was enough to shock the thieves for a few seconds, which gave the trainers enough time to reach for their Pokeballs. Ñako, however, hoisted his arm over his shoulder and unfolded his giant shuriken in front of him, a relieved smile on his face.



"Ah, whatever," said Ñako. "It's been almost fifteen minutes since we engaged in senseless violence. I was starting to get worried."



"W-wait!" yelled the owner. "Please, I don't want any trouble, I–!"



Ñako silenced him with a wink. "Don't you worry, we'll take care of these two and no one will even miss them. Everyone knows those who wear black wool hats are terrible people, right?"



Sabrina dug into the back of his head with her glare.



"Are we sure we should be–?"



But Siegfried's concern was cut short as the tallest thief scoffed and took a cocky step forward. His partner tried to do the same. He chuckled and then tried to spit dismissively to the side, but he forgot that he was wearing a scarf over his mouth and just ended up spitting on it instead. He froze, hoping that no one had seen that. Everyone had.



"You brats wanna step in, be the big heroes?" asked the tallest one. "We'll show you what happens to those who don't stick to the scrip–"



Two simultaneous lights exploded between the two groups, blinding the thieves as a Vulpix and a Treecko materialized inside the store.



"Alright, let's see if this works."



Sabrina grabbed a lighter from a nearby shelf and flicked it on, using it to light her cigarette. She took a drag, then threw the lighter down toward her Vulpix. As soon as the flame touched his fur it spread all throughout his body like a mantle of golden light. Inside Sabrina's head, a voice rang.



Flash Fire, activated.



"Light'em up, Rokon."



"Geek, take out these jokes!"



The roar of flames cut through the air, and by the time the tallest thief opened his eyes again they were already upon him. He screamed and threw his gun down to the ground on instinct as his hand was enveloped. His friend only had time to gasp at the sight before a green blur flew toward him and a thick green tail was buried in his gut.



"HGHK!"



He crashed against the doorframe and his gun fell to his side on the ground.



"Heh. This won't take long." Sabrina smiled to herself. "Hope you can hold your own, redhead."



Sammy scoffed. "Same goes to you."



The thieves stumbled back toward the door, disoriented and in pain. The shortest one swallowed, his eyes going wide in fear.



"S-shit, they got Pokemon!"



"Calm down, dumbass!" the other chastised him. "They're not the only ones!"



Three new Pokeballs flew through the air, the explosion of light pooling into the shapes of Pokemon a second after. A Gastly, a Beedrill and a Kadabra. They stood between the trainers and the thieves, eyes narrowed, ready to attack.



"Get them!" yelled the tallest thief.



A buzz roared through the air as Beedrill shot forward like a bullet, the tip of his spear-like hand going straight for Ñako's chest. The ninja raised his shuriken, deflecting the blow with a loud Tink as the Pokemon flew over him, maneuvering to his blind spot.



"Rokon, dodge and counter with Ember!" The Vulpix jumped out of the way of the Psywave and spat another mouthful of flames at the Kadabra. "Ninja, take care of the bug! Siegfried, protect the old man! We can ask for money in return for saving his store later!"



"Got it!"



"Y-yes, of course!"



The sounds of battle and chaos reverberated through the store as the five Pokemon and Ñako engaged in a mess of a fight, flames and waves of psychic energy flying through the air and destroying the shelves and items around them. Sabrina kept on shouting orders, but she stopped once she realized something.



"Hey, cat ears." The mere act of talking to Muffin was enough to make the girl jump in place. "Were you planning on just standing there with those Deerling eyes or are you actually going to do something?"



Muffin's voice shivered as she spoke. "I-I… I d-don't…"



"If you're gonna be useless then you could at least find a way to cover the windows," Sabrina offered. "We draw enough attention as it is."



"S… s-shut up, I know how to fight!" spluttered Muffin, grabbing a Pokeball from her belt. "Milkshake, use T-Thunder Wave!"



The attack went out before the light of the Pokeball fully vanished, a cloud of crackling electricity shooting forward. Kadabra raised his spoon, blocking both it and the flames from Rokon. Gastly flew up and dodged. The thieves, however, weren't as quick to react.



"Agh!"



"F-fuck!"



The crackling bolts surrounded them like chains, paralyzing them in place. The tallest one fell back, holding himself up against the wall, while the other lost balance and fell to the ground, right next to the gun he'd previously dropped.



"T-this is getting out of hand!" yelled the former.



"I-I've got it. Here, I'll–!"



It happened too fast. Sabrina and Sammy were too focused on the fight and Ñako was busy deflecting the Beedrill's stingers with his shuriken. Muffin and Siegfried were the only ones who saw as the man on the floor grabbed the gun with incredible effort and raised his hand as much as he was able.



"Sir, get down!" yelled Siegfried.



"P-please, I don't want trouble!" yelled the owner, terrified. "Take what you want, just–!"



The gunshot boomed throughout the store, deafening. The owner gasped, then looked down at the dark spot on his chest and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed behind the counter, immobile.



"Tsk," muttered the thief. "I was aiming for the mannish girl."



"Sir!" Siegfried bellowed, eyes wide with horror. "Sir, are you–!"



"NO!"



Muffin's scream was loud and shrill and broken. She took a step back, tears falling down her cheeks, and without thinking she grabbed a second Pokeball from her belt and threw it into the air.



"V-Vodka, do s-something! Stop them!"



A tiny wall of flames rolled through the room, spat out from the mouth of the freshly-materialized Growlithe. This time, Kadabra wasn't as lucky. He took the brunt of the attack and was thrown back while the remaining tongues of flame fell upon the two men. They screamed and fell back toward the wall, the shortest one dropping the gun immediately.



Sabrina whistled appreciatively. "About time you did something useful."



"W-what is wrong with you!?" yelled Muffin, her voice little more than a sob. "T-that man is… he was…"



"Dead. Shot. I'm well aware," replied Sabrina. "And we'll follow suit if we don't finish these fuckers off. And speaking of which…"



Grabbing her backpack, Sabrina put a hand inside and pulled out the heavy crossbow she'd used once before, a cold look of determination on her eyes.



"This is taking longer than expected," she said. "Ninja!"



"Just a sec!"



A spray of blood cut through the air as Ñako slashed through the Beedrill's side, earning a loud buzz from the creature and sending it flying unevenly toward the ground, where it stayed. The man then turned around, shuriken bloody, and smiled at the two paralyzed men.



"There we go," he breathed out. "I'll be honest, I was looking for a reason to kill you two without feeling bad, so thanks for that."



Ñako threw himself forward. Sabrina raised her crossbow and whispered. "Stay still for me."



"W-wait! Stop, we…!"



"Gastly, Confuse Ray!"



A ball of disorienting light was shot toward Ñako's face. He frowned, unable to change his trajectory, and braced for the impact.



"Geek, intercept it!"



Using its springy legs, Treecko jumped in front of Ñako just as the ball of light was about to reach him, taking it straight to the face and falling back to the ground, eyes spinning in confusion. Ñako chuckled and raised his hand, ready to strike.



Something whistled through the air. The tallest thief opened his mouth to say something, but then the bolt from Sabrina's crossbow hit him square in the chest, going straight through him and impaling him against the wall behind him. His companion looked at him and shrieked in terror.



"Where are you looking you git!?"



Ñako fell like a reaper atop him, and a single slash was all it took to finish him off. A spray of blood painted the floor red as they both collapsed to the ground, dead.



Silence set in for a few moments. The trainers looked amist themselves, taking a moment to breathe, or in Muffin's case simply hiding her face behind her sleeves and shaking like a leaf. The enemy Gastly was the one of their opponents still conscious, but judging by that look of horror on his face he wasn't very keen to fight them anymore.



After a while, Ñako broke the silence.



"Think we might've gone a bit too far?"



The store around them was a complete mess. Three corpses laid on the ground and pretty much every item laying on the shelves had fallen off or been turned to ash by Rokon's flames.



"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Sabrina, lowering the crossbow. "That was a perfectly legitimate case of self-defense."



"What?" breathed Siegfried, holding on tightly to the baby Poliwag. "That wasn't self-defense no matter how you slice it!"



Sammy rolled her eyes. "Self-defense or not, things will only get more complicated if we stay here. Let's go."



"Yeah. Redhead's got a point," said Ñako. "Besides, we got a five-star hotel waiting for us. The more we hurry the better."



After taking a moment to return their Pokemon and holster their respective weapons, the trainers hurried out of the door and away from the scene of the crime. Sabrina, however, stayed back.



"Hey. Gastly."



She approached the terrified Pokemon with a casual look on her face, hands in her pockets. Stepping over the pool of blood, she bent down and picked up the Pokeball that belonged to him.



"I know this is a bit sudden, that I killed your previous master and all that, but I'm afraid we've got little time, and you have a decision to make," she said, raising the ball. "I can trap you here and sell you to the highest bidder, or…"



A cold smile formed on her lips. "You can work for me, and become stronger. What do you say?"



Of course, both of them knew it wasn't much of a choice. After a moment of deliberation the Gastly did the best equivalent of its species to a nod, and Sabrina smiled to herself as she returned him to the ball.



"Welcome to the team, Stan," she muttered. "Now…"



But just as she was about to leave, Sabrina noticed that she wasn't the only one still in the room, disregarding the corpses. As she turned around she saw Muffin, frozen in place, eyes wide like plates. Her cheeks were stained with tears.



"What?" asked Sabrina, raising an eyebrow. "First time you see someone die?"



Muffin said nothing. She just glared at Sabrina with a mix of horror and hatred.



"Well trust me, it won't be the last," she continued. "But hey, first time's always the hardest, so you've gotten through that at least."



"Y-you…!"



"You're free to leave. Turn tail and never come back. It's what's worked for me before," said Sabrina, shrugging. "Or you can open your eyes and see the world the way it actually is. It's up to you. I would suggest moving sometime before the police gets here, though. If you get caught and rat us out I will kill you."



And with that Sabrina turned around and walked out the door, leaving a scared, sobbing Muffin behind.

---

Half an hour later, Ñako came out of his hotel room's shower with only a towel tied around his waist.



"Oi, guys… you might wanna follow my example and take a bath," he told his Pokemon. "Assuming you want to experience new things… such as not smelling."



Most of his Pokemon were sleeping on different parts of the room. Gordolfa the Bulbasaur rested atop a flower pot, Paja the Abra sat with his eyes closed in front of the vanity mirror –not much different than his usual demeanor– and Gligar rested inside his Pokeball, which he'd forgotten next to the toilet of course.



"Mrraaw!"



Meowth, though. He was too busy tearing apart the room to sleep. The sheets, the curtains, the walls, they were all full his signature scratches. Ñako looked at this, opened his mouth, then closed it.



"Eh, whatever. I'm not paying for it."



He then walked toward the service phone and picked it up, waiting until he heard the 'Hello?' from the other side before speaking.



"Garçon! We're gonna need a lot of food and a loooooot of alcohol for the room next door, where Silver and Loli are!"



"Sir, I am not sure of who this Silver is, b–"



"Shut up and bring it! And also a change of clothes, and pretty much everything you could give us for free. Oh, and Pokemon food! It… uh… does my stomach good, yeah."



He hung up before the man had a chance to reply. Then he placed his hands on his hips and took in a deep breath, enjoying the moment.



"Alright, I guess I should tell everyone we're having a party in Silver's room," he muttered to himself. "I'll see if I can think of a way to convince them."

---

With her face buried in the pillows, Sabrina found herself faced with an existential dilemma. Fall asleep like she so desperately wanted to or… live, and stuff.



It was funny how in the little time she'd been here the room was already a disaster; clothes hanging from the chair, table and door handle, sheets balled up and thrown to the ground, Pokeballs strewn about everywhere, a crossbow next to her pillow and a quiver full of arrows hanging from the headboard.



For a moment Sabrina was about to fall asleep, but then she realized just how much she wanted to take a shower RIGHT NOW, and so despite her body's protest she got up and did just that.



After a full hygiene session, she put on her reserve shirt and pants and let her wet clothes hang from the window so they'd dry off by tomorrow morning. After that she went around the bathroom, grabbing every towel, soap, bottle of shampoo and tube of toothpaste she could find, shoving them all inside her backpack.



Once she finished stealing everything of value, she picked up the phone and was about to call to order dinner when she heard a distant knock, and then the muffled sound of Ñako screaming.



"Siegfried, we're going to use words that are very hard to understand in Silver's room!"



Ñako's steps echoed down the hall, and soon Sabrina heard him knock hard on her door, his voice booming through the halls.



"THEY'RE GIVING AWAY MONEY IN SILVER'S ROOM!"



Sabrina rolled her eyes and put the phone down.



In all honesty she had no desire to put herself in the same room as those… people, but if there was any chance of leaving this place without burning it to the ground then someone sensible needed to be there to look after them.



And so she let out a tired sigh, grabbed her shit and walked out of her room.

---

Silver lay down on his bed, one hand holding onto his scythe while the other held the room's phone close to his ear.



"Yo, waiter! Get us a Neapolitan pizza with half anchovies!"



"But I don't like fish!" Loli yelled out from the couch.



"Tsk, always making things easy, eh?" he muttered with a smile. "Alright, take out the anchovies and put some pineapple in there."



"I'm on a diet!" yelled Loli. "I'd rather a salad."



"Son of a bitch. Hey waiter, on top of the pizza throw in a roasted Goldeen with an Oddish salad, yeah?"



"I want apple juice!"



"Hear that, waiter? Throw some fresh juice in there, all the flavors and colors you got!" Silver paused, then added. "Oh yeah, you got some nachos or something for the pre-game?"



Loli yelled out again. "We also need food for the Pokemon!"



"Fucking critters. Hey waiter, to finish it off bring in a skewered Tauros 'cause the Pokemon are hungry! Alright, later!"



He hung the phone and threw himself up to his feet from the bed, almost skewering the frame behind him with his scythe. He figured he should start dressing himself now that he'd showered.



And so he put his trusty weapon against the wall while he looked for his clothes. Meanwhile, Pogo and Flan were flying about the room, chasing each other and giving each other little playful pecks whenever they were caught. It was cute, Silver had to admit, but he really hoped he didn't have to deal with any unexpected Pokemon egg popping up soon.



Then again, Loli might like that.



Once he finished dressing himself, he stood in the middle of the room and aired his concerns.



"…When's the pizza coming?"



But before he could get a response, he heard the walls talk with a voice eerily similar to that of Ñako.



"SILVER WE'RE HAVING A PARTY IN YOU ROOM!"



Silver looked around, confused.



"Is it me or are the walls talking?"



Loli stood up. "Sir, I think they're coming over!"



"… The pizzas?"

---

Rhin's face was red like a Scizor, and for once it had nothing to do with his proclivity for embarrassment. He was just trying to climb up the side of a cliff. A cliff high enough that he would certainly drop to his death were his hand to slip.



"Hngghhh! C-come on…"



Finally, after a couple minutes of struggling, he pushed himself with the last of the strength on his legs and emerged atop the platform he'd been trying to climb up to. Both Wolfswift and Charity were already waiting for him up there. The latter giggled and knelt in front of him, hugging her knees.



"Come on, come on! We're so close; I can see the entrance from here!"



"Hgh… Y-yeah, just give me a… a minute."



"Hurry up," said Wolfswift. "You're slowing us down."



Rhin decided not to tell Wolfswift where he could stick his advice, and instead used those few seconds to recover his breath, hands resting on his knees.



"A… are we really close?" he asked Charity.



Charity scrunched up her nose and looked away. Then she sighed.



"That attitude's not very attractive, you know," she said. "You have to be more confident, Ron! Put some determination in your voice!"



She shot up to her feet before Rhin could even reply, then turned around and pointed in the opposite direction of the cliff, through the small clearing in between the ridges of the mountain.



"There, look!"



Indeed, Rhin could see a depression on the wall in the distance; an entrance to the series of caves that ran through the entirety of the mountain.



"If we go through the inside of the mountain, then we'll get there a lot faster don't you think? Don't you?"



Rhin let out a breath that was almost a sigh, his shoulders dropping. "She's got a lot of energy, doesn't she?"



A scoff was all the response he got from Wolfswift before he changed the topic.



"Did you forget that we're supposed to meet with the others before heading to the prison?" he asked. "If anything we should go around the cave instead of through it."



"Oh come on, don't be boring Wolfsweets!"



"My name is not–"



But Charity was upon them in a flash, each of her hands grabbing onto theirs as she pulled them along with a huge grin on her face. Rhin felt his heart jump at the sudden touch.



"Where's y'alls adventurous spirit? Let's go!"



Rhin tried to stutter a response, his face tinted a pale red. "E-er, Charity, I think it's better if we–"



"Say no more! Through the mountain it is!"



There were no more arguments from the two men, mostly because they were too busy being dragged forward to be able to say anything.

---

The party inside of Silver's room was going well, so well in fact that nothing had been set on fire yet.



Loud rock music boomed through the walls, pulsing like a heartbeat out of the boombox Ñako had procured from Arceus knew where. The atmosphere was nice. Food and drink were abundant. Even the least friendly members of the group seemed to be having fun.



Silver, Ñako and Sabrina sat in a circle around the small table in the middle of the room, drinking beer and playing cards, while Loli watched with peaked interest, a glass of apple juice on her hand. Siegfried ran around the room, trying to keep the newborn Poliwag from stealing all the pizza. Sammy leaned against the nearest wall, arms folded, trying to pretend that her foot wasn't moving up and down with the rhythm of the music. Mycroft, draped in the hotel's fancy bathrobe, was too busy making tea in the room's kitchen to join his companions.



"Oh, by the way," muttered Ñako, looking down at his cards. "Where's V–?"



The door flew open. All eyes in the room turned and saw as Vard strolled forward, raising one palm toward the sky.



"Your leader… has arrived!"



The first thing everyone noticed was that his spherical hair was somewhat crumpled and bent on the side he'd probably lay down on. The second was that he was wearing nothing but a pair of pink underwear. After a moment of awkward silence, the man seemed to notice the former.



"Ah, how careless of me. Fear not, my gentle men, for I have this under control," he declared, raising his hand. "Secret technique of Vard Nº 17! Prehensile Hair!"



He stuck his hand inside his hair and grabbed a short piece of rope, then pulled at it with all his strength. With a 'Pop', his hair immediately poofed outward into its usual spherical shape.



"H-how the fuck did you do that?" Sammy asked, breathless.



"Ah, my candid redhead, explaining one of my techniques to regular people would be like trying to explain Algebra to an Ekans."



"R… right."



"Speaking of candid…" Ñako cleared his throat before changing the topic. "My dear Vard, your hair is as lustrous as usual but do you think you could put a shirt on? Or at least a pair of pants."



Silver laughed. "Yo', that's so cool, his boxers match his hair!"



Vard smiled to himself, folding his arms as he struck a pose as though he were thinking over something.



"The truth, my spiky ninja, is that I need to take a bath, but it is not like me to keep my subjects waiting," he explained. "As such, I decided to bless your bathroom with my nakedness. In the meantime, I'll be taking this!"



He walked toward the table and grabbed a slice of pizza before heading for the bathroom. Sabrina's voice caught his attention before he could enter.



"Er… not like I care, but are you going to eat that in the shower?"



Vard looked at Sabrina, then down at the slice of pizza, then up at her again.



"Yes."



He closed the door behind him, and the sound of the shower soon joined that of the rock music as the party went on.

---

Once Mycroft finished brewing some tea, he came out of the kitchen and immediately turned up his nose at the sight that met him. Food and empty bottles were strewn about everywhere. Pokemon ran through the room, toppling things over and scratching at the walls. And worst of all, they'd eaten all of the roasted Goldeen.



Barbarians…



However, one more detail caught his attention. Wasn't someone missing? Where was…?



He saw a piece of her hat through the window separating the room from the balcony. Muffin was sitting outside, with her back to everyone. She sat still as a corpse, holding her knees tight.



Muffin…



He made his way through the room, politely declining a glass of beer from the smelly ninja, until he reached the window and walked out into the balcony, then closed it behind him. Somehow, Muffin hadn't noticed him yet. She stared out into space gormlessly, eyes full of sadness. Her Meowth slept soundly on her lap.



Mycroft stood there for a moment, thinking. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this?



"Would you like some tea, mademoiselle?"



She blinked in surprise, then turned to look at him with eyes glossy with tears. Stammering, she wiped her cheeks with her sleeve and swallowed down the redness in her cheeks before replying.



"M-Mycroft… yes, thank you."



He handed over the cup of tea that, yes, he had made for himself, but he knew that Muffin probably needed it more than him. While she held the cup and blew air on it to cool the contents, he let himself fall next to her, one hand over his knee.



"Give it a moment to rest. Tea is temperamental; if you drink it right away you'll just burn your tongue."



Muffin smiled laboriously. "Thank you… it already smells amazing."



"That's good to hear."



They sat there for what felt like an entire minute, the sounds of the ruckus and the music behind them seeming to get farther and farther away. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was a pleasant one, one they shared.



After a while, however, Mycroft spoke.



"I understand."



Muffin looked up at him, eyes narrowed.



"I heard from the others what happened today," he explained. "Such an ugly scene. To take a life without even a hint of remorse like Sabrina… and even worse, to be making jokes while spilling all that blood like Ñako did… It's sick."



A strained sound left Muffin's lips. Her eyes grew cloudy again and she looked down, the cup shaking on her hands.



"Silver, too. They're all a bunch of savages. Like bloodthirsty monsters," continued Mycroft. "But you shouldn't let them get into your head. You are better than them."



Muffin shook her head ever so slightly. "N-no, it's not just that. It's just… being there when it all happened, in the middle of a battle to the death, I realized…"



She swallowed. For a moment she said nothing, but then a sad laugh left her mouth.



"… What am I doing here? When I accepted this job, a part of me thought we'd be out here having adventures, meeting new people and Pokemon, like…"



Her expression grew dark.



"Like… trainers. Real trainers, the ones from before… all of this happened. But I think I let my imagination fly a little too out of control, and here I am."



Mycroft shone her a kind smile. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. Do you want to know something?"



"Hm?" She turned to look at him.



"Even if I only accepted this job because of my family, I think deep down… I was looking for the same thing," he said. "So you're not the only naïve idiot in this group."



Despite herself, Muffin couldn't help but mirror the boy's smile.



"I guess I'm not."



They looked away from each other, their gazes getting lost in the dark horizon ahead. The tea had started to go cold in Muffin's hands, but neither of them minded.



"Kanto isn't ready yet. But maybe someday… we could be like them," said Mycroft. "Real trainers, like the ones we watched on T.V when we were young."



Muffin nodded, eyes distant. "I'd like that."

---

Ñako was the last one to wake up next morning, pushing away the pizza, empty bottles and sleeping Meowth on top of him before rising to his feet and letting out a big yawn.



"Ahh… is it eight already?"



"It's twelve, Ñako."



Mycroft said that as he entered the room with a handful of freshly washed white towels, which he proceeded to sniff before letting out a pleasured sigh.



"Ah, clean and perfumed. I guess the room service is acceptable."



The rest were scattered around Silver's room, either gathering their stuff or trying to wait out the hangover. Vard stood in the middle of the room, wearing a bathrobe as well as a towel wrapped around his hair.



"Good morning, my subjects! Let us embark on this new day with cheer and positivity!"



Sabrina scoffed, adjusting her hat in front of the mirror. "Can we get coffee first?"



"Did you all know that you snore a lot?" said Sammy from the other extreme of the room.



They finished dressing up and gathering their belongings while Loli and Silver's Pokemon sat back on the couch, watching T.V. It didn't take long before she called out to them, terror in her voice.



"E-everyone, come here! I think you'll want to see this!"



The group gathered around the couch, looking up at the T.V., which showed an interesting piece of news.



"Murder in Cerulean; there are three victims confirmed," Sabrina muttered under her breath. "Shit."



Mycroft took a step back and sighed into his palm. "I knew it."



"Great news! Our legend expands!" yelled Vard.



"B-but… they can't know it was us!" Sammy argued. "Right…?"



At that, Silver walked over to the balcony and looked down, then let out a long whistle.



"Well, there are police cars down the street, if that answers your question."



Chaos ensued. Everyone started running around the room as fast as they could, grabbing onto their Pokemon and belongings and heading for the door. Siegfried was the first to ask what they were all thinking.



"C-could we get out from the back door?"



Sammy shook her head. "There's no way, they'll definitely follow us."



"I could take my clothes off in front of the police," said Ñako. "Would that help?"



"It's just as the good ninja says!" yelled Vard. "We must create a distraction in order to escape safely!"



Siegfried shook his head. "In what way does Ñako's genitalia mean that?"



Ultimately, however, it was Sabrina who came up with a solution.



"They won't pursue us if they have something even bigger to worry about."



At least half the group shivered at the coldness in Sabrina's voice, and that feeling only exacerbated when they saw that she held a Pokeball in her hand. There was a flash of light, and a moment later her Vulpix materialized before them.



"Rokon, do your thing."



The curtains were burning before she even finished saying that sentence. It didn't take long for the flames to start growing, until they started licking up the ceiling.



Muffin let out a scream as she ran out of the room. "Whyyyyyy!?"



"Tsk! What if someone gets hurt?" asked Siegfried as he did the same.



"Merde! Is it too much to ask to leave ONE town without committing arson!?" Mycroft yelled out.



Yet none of them could stay back and argue, as the entire group soon started running downstairs toward the lobby. Sabrina, Ñako and Silver ran together in the back, a more relaxed look on their faces. As they reached the base floor and saw the back exit in the distance, Silver spoke up.



"Cool hotel."



"Yeah," said Ñako. "We should come back sometime."



"For sure," added Sabrina. "Ah, where are my manners? I should tip the staff for their generosity."



Just as she ran past the receptionist's desk, she took a coin out of her pocket and flicked it toward the poor owner, who was too busy sweating and yelling at the phone for the firefighters to come as soon as possible.



As the door closed behind them, the three stood still for a moment to catch their breath.



"Y'know, if we're all done acting cool and aloof…" said Ñako. "We should probably…"



"Fuck off," finished Sabrina. "Yeah."

---

An hour later, the group stood over one of the high hills of Route 4, overlooking the city they'd just left far in the distance while the wind blew and the grass rustled under their feet.



"So how was the thing now?" asked Silver. "We head for Mt. Moon?"



"We should," said Mycroft. "We wasted enough time on Cerulean as it is."



"Huh…"



Ñako muttered to himself, frowning at the horizon.



"Wolf… Wolfsy… the blind one, and that other guy. The one that believed in morality and Santa Claus. We never saw them again. Wonder what happened to them."



He only 'wondered' for a couple more seconds before shrugging and turning around, facing the majestic figure of Mt. Moon in the distance.



"Oh well."

To ZigguratZag: Thank you so much for your continued support!! Very interesting thoughts regarding this chapter. You're right that Sabrina gets both the best line and the best ideas, mostly because the player took everything very seriously and put some serious effort into everything she did. It's great.

That was a very fun chapter to write, mostly fluff and the gang having a good time before moving on with the story. And speaking of which, I hope you enjoy the new chapter! We're getting closer to the main conflict of Act 1.

---