Chapter 9 – Flight

Die Welt, die der Glühende Blitz hinterlassen hat, war eine Welt, die von Geheimnissen und Wundern geprägt war, zusammen mit den Echos der Großen, die in unserer Mitte zurückgelassen wurden. Die wir “Menschen” nennen.

Und doch gab es in unserer gesamten aufgezeichneten Geschichte jene, die behaupteten, Menschen zu sein. Manchen fehlt die Erinnerung, kennen nichts als ihre Namen. Aber sie tragen immer unsere Formen und behaupten, seltsame Kreaturen zu sein, die in fremden Körpern gefangen sind.

Die meisten dieser Pokémon entpuppen sich später als Scharlatane, die die Hoffnungen und Neugierde anderer ausnutzen. Und doch weisen manch andere Qualitäten auf, die sich jeder Erklärung entziehen. Kenntnisse längst vergangener Schriften und Weisheiten, unmögliche Kräfte wie Hellsehen über ihren natürlichen Fähigkeiten, einige sollen sogar die Gunst der Götter gewonnen haben.

Bei solchen Figuren ist schwer zu unterscheiden, wo die Folklore aufhört und die Fakten beginnen. Niemand weiß, woher sie kommen. Manche sagen, sie kommen von jenseits der Sterne. Andere sagen, sie kommen aus Löchern im Himmel von anderen Welten. Andere sagen, sie stammen von namenlosen Orten jenseits von Zeit und Raum, wo die Dimensionen aufeinandertreffen.

Noch weniger wissen,  warum  sie kommen. Einige sagen, solche Erscheinungen seien nur kosmische Unfälle, andere Nachhall, der vom Glühenden Blitz zurückbleibt. Und wieder andere behaupten, sie seien Helden, die vom Stöhnen unserer unruhigen Welt angezogen werden.

Andere haben vorgeschlagen, dass es ihre Anwesenheit selbst ist, die dazu beiträgt, unsere Welt zu beunruhigen, und argumentieren, dass sie vielleicht zu gut in die Form der meisten Helden dieser Welt passen. Große und kleine Pokémon, die in einem Land als Retter gejubelt und gefeiert und in einem anderen als Geißel verachtet und gefürchtet werden.

– Auszug aus »Die Gesammelten Legenden aus Wunder«

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“Yeah, you better be scared! Those are our scarves you stole!”

Kate flinched at the sound of the Dewott’s sharp, accusatory cry. The otter glared at her, pointing his scalchop at her and her teammates. Around his neck was a red scarf with a silver, three-pronged spike, the same pattern and colors as the scarves they were wearing. The same ones she’d stolen on the way into Moonturn Square.

The Dewott’s teammates were similarly in a surly mood. There was the Houndour towards the rear, flashing his teeth with a low growl. The Eevee wearing what appeared to be some sort of clip over her left ear that looked like some kind of gray cross with shortened arms who was doing much the same… if looking more silly than intimidating. And of course, the Grovyle of the group, who was currently tightening up the leaves on her arms into blades and letting out a sharp hiss, as she held out Irune’s old, now dirt-caked scarf out in front of them.

“I believe that this is yours, we found it after following your footprints around from our campsite,” the Grovyle piped. “Must say I was expecting a bit more from the ne’er-do-wells that’ve been running our name through the mud, but if you think we’re just going to sit and take this, you’re sorely mistaken!”

… Gottverdammt, she hated when Lyle was right. Fortunately, these Hunters were just a bunch of rookies and surely wouldn’t be too hard to shake on their way to Hermes. But boy, did they know how to pick the world’s worst timing.

A quick glance up ahead revealed Lyle and Irune shrinking back from the quartet of strangers, while off to her left, Dalton was bracing himself for battle. All the while, Kate cocked a brow and flattened her ears out, wholly unimpressed with the team of Hunters accosting them.

“I’m sorry, but who are you dorks again?” she asked.

“My name’s-” the Dewott started, only to catch himself and trail off. “Eh, what do you care? Don’t try and change the subject!”

“Our name’s Bel, and we’re Team Pathfinder!” the Houndour of the lot chimed in, striking a determined pose. “The rising stars of Varhyde who bravely march on to protect the world from devastation!”

Oh yeah, that sounded really impressive… not. Also, ‘we’? Was this guy passing himself off as some royal, or was he a nut? … Probably a nut. The Dark-type’s teammates looked similarly unimpressed, the Grovyle of the bunch taking a moment to sidle up and give an unamused paw at the Houndour’s shoulder.

“Uh, Bel?” she said. “I think that we can spare the dramatic introductions here.”

The Eevee was similarly unenthused, as she shot an aside glance over to her Dewott teammate, speaking to him from the corner of her mouth with a barely-concealed whisper that Kate’s ears could pick up as clear as day.

“You and Vilma really need to hurry up and come up with a different catchphrase, Cruz,” she sighed. “I know Bel’s still getting used to things since we recruited him, but this is ridiculous.”

“We weren’t expecting him to actually go off blurting that out loud when he said it was a work in progress, Nellie!” the Dewott whispered back. “Why, that catchphrase makes us sound like a bunch of common criminals!”

“More like a bunch of dweebs,” Kate scoffed. “What sort of band of criminals would be taken seriously with a motto like that?“

Kate snapped back to attention after the sound of a low growl, as she spotted the Grovyle of the lot nearing with a sharp scowl and gesturing ahead at her and the rest of Team Forager.

“The point is, we’ve been hearing about all the trouble you’ve been starting around town, going around and trying to steal things in our colors,” the Grass-type piped. “We might have an escort mission to make later today, but we’ve got plenty of time to teach you a lesson beforehand!”

Kate rolled her eyes and began to walk off, when she noticed that the nearby bystanders were beginning to shuffle back a safe distance, and the members of this Team Pathfinder were bracing themselves for battle.

Seriously? Now? Right when they were about to take a flight out of this dump?!

Kate noted that the rest of her teammates looked visibly unnerved. While the team of Hunters that accosted them didn’t seem that hard to manage, a few passersby had stopped to stare at them. Which was probably a bad sign for how quickly they were wearing through their disguises. Lyle stepped forward, forcing a nervous smile over his face, waving to the watching townsfolk as he attempted to explain away their hostile encounter.

“J-Just a little disagreement among teammates!” the Quilava insisted. “Nothing to worry abou-“

“Disagree your way out of this!” Cruz cried.

The Dewott drew his Scalchop as water wreathed it from his paw, the otter lunging for Lyle with a slash that ran across his belly. The Quilava stumbled back with a yelp and lit up his vents out of reflex.

The otter’s other teammates then lunged forward, Kate hurriedly sidestepping a spray of embers from the Houndour while Dalton stepped ahead with a low, annoyed grumble as sparks began to dance on his hide.

“So much for a diplomatic solution…” he sighed. “Have at you!”

Dalton darted ahead and threw a wide, arcing burst of electricity that shot out and struck their assailants before zipping back towards himself. A Parabolic Charge from the looks of it, and from the sound of it, one that had stung. Kate breathed out an Icy Wind afterwards for good measure to throw the Hunters off balance, and turned to run, only to notice much to her astonishment that the team’s Grovyle and Dewott had swung around to cut them off.

Gottverdammt, seriously?! Couldn’t these dorks have picked a fight sometime when they weren’t about to miss a flight?! The Sneasel crouched and braced herself, motioning to her teammates with a sharp cry.

“Hit ’em with everything you’ve got and let’s get out of here!”

Kate, Lyle, and Irune darted forward into the fray, Kate lobbing a spray of icy flechettes at that ‘Vilma’ Grovyle from a distance while, Lyle followed up by barrelling into her with a Flame Charge. Good to see that even when he was a couple of years out of practice, Lyle could still use his head. Literally in this case.

The hiss of dragonfire and a sharp yelp turned Kate’s attention off to her left, where she saw bluish embers dissipating from in front of Irune, and further back, Cruz skidding along the ground. The Dewott brushed at a chunk of singed fur and grit his teeth, before Kate noticed that Irune was completely undefended, and from the look of it, the Dewott had seen it too.

“Vilma! The Axew’s open now!” the Water-type cried. “Help me take her!”

Kate whirled her head leftwards and right on cue, a blur of green and red zipped in and struck Irune along her left flank, knocking her to the ground. Kate hissed and grit her teeth, readying an Ice Shard in her claw as she beelined for Irune, only to suddenly feel burning pain rake her body.

Kate thrashed and yowled as she was swept up in an Ember, tumbling to the ground and entering a quick roll to put out stray cinders when she saw Bel running at her with fangs bared.

“Send us a telegram from hell, evildoers!”

“Back off, mutt!”

Kate braced her right claw, throwing a Brick Break forward the caught Bel in his throat. The Houndour reeled and bowled over gagging and wheezing for air. Bel never got a chance to recover, as Dalton stomped at the ground and threw chunks of stone and rock at the Dark-type, the Heliolisk’s Bulldoze upending a stand of protective amulets as the Houndour went still with a sharp yelp.

On the sidelines, a few onlookers were starting to get unnerved, as a couple remarks of “someone get the Gendarmen” went around, but otherwise the rest were content to look on, a few like a Geodude taking the opportunity to actively egg the two sides on to fight.

One down, they just needed to throw the other three off-balance long enough in order to slip away-

“Eyaaah!”

A sharp cry of pain turned Kate’s attention back to Irune, as she stumbled away from a watery slash run across her back. Because of course those Hunters would gang up on the one Pokémon they absolutely couldn’t afford to leave behind for their flight. The Axew cried out in pain as she bolted forward, just as Cruz pulled his scalchop back and Vilma gave chase after her.

“Hah! I don’t know why they even bother!” the Grovyle scoffed. “Just a little more-!”

“Paws off, you little runts!”

A fiery blur sailed in, driving the Dewott and Grovyle back as Lyle stepped in between Irune and her attackers as the fire from a fresh Flame Charge dissipated from his pelt. That was as good a sign as any to step in. It wasn’t like Lyle was going to be able to handle that Dewott on his own. Kate bounded forward, readying an ambushing lunge, when she suddenly felt her limbs lock up and pitched forward with a yelp. She hit the ground and quickly discovered that she couldn’t move her limbs, looking up just in time to see that ‘Nellie’ Eevee with a purple-banded Petrify Wand in her mouth giving a taunting harrumph.

“Neutralized. Stick around, Sneasel,” she said. “We’ll deal with you later.”

Kate snarled after the Eevee and bayed after her to turn and fight, but the Normal-type was too busy beelining for her teammates as they harried Lyle and Irune. From her place on the ground, Kate watched helplessly as Lyle and Irune were mobbed, the Quilava’s swift feet proving to be of no use after he was cornered up against the wall and cried out in pain from the hacking blow of a Razor Shell.

Then Kate felt the sharp tug dragging her up from the ground, and her limbs loosen as a sharp pipe reached her ears.

“Don’t just lay there! Get up!”

Kate looked back to see Dalton, sporting fresh nicks and scuffs on his scales. The Sneasel stared at him briefly, before she blinked in confusion and flattened her ears out with a disgusted huff.

“Ugh, I’m supposed to be the one using dungeon items like that,” Kate growled. “Though where the hell were you all this time?!”

“Doubling back to come to your aid!” he snapped. “We don’t have time for this! Let’s stun those Hunters and get out of here!”

Kate looked over at Lyle, who was pulling Irune free from their ringing opponents, the Quilava’s ears pinned low as he ran along visibly dripping and shivering. Irune lost her footing and stumbled, as Kate watched the other Hunters descend on her and reflexively cried out to her Fire-type teammate.

“Lyle, whip up some cover for her!”

The Quilava crouched and spat up a cloud of smoke at Cruz and his still-standing teammates, which also swallowed up Irune in the process. Coughs and yelps rang out, as the Eevee of the lot stumbled out of the smoke cloud, prompting Kate to point out the Normal-type with a sharp cry.

“Get her, she’s the Hunter with all of her team’s items!”

Dalton needed no further encouragement, and shot a Thunderbolt at the Eevee that made her lock up with a pained screech. While Nellie reeled, Kate rushed at her, and clocked her across the face with a Brick Break that threw her aside and into the front of a nearby card stand, kicking up a flurry of slips of colored paper as the Normal-type struggled to get back up.

“A-Agh! How is this even remotely fair?!”

A spray of cinders from Lyle put her down for the count. Kate let out a scoff and turned her attention back towards Lyle’s still-lingering cloud of smoke as she saw it clear enough to see Irune trying to flee from a Grovyle and Dewott’s figures amidst the haze.

“Lyle! Grab Irune and let’s go-!”

The cloud of haze suddenly lit up from a brilliant ball of fire, before Vilma was abruptly ejected from it screeching in pain. The Grovyle hit the ground visibly singed and rolled about, hurriedly running off for dear life with her tails pinned against her body as the smoke cleared. There, left behind was Irune panting wide-eyed as smoke trailed up from the corners of her mouth, and Cruz frozen and staring at her visibly spooked.

“Wh-What the-? Wh-What did you do to Vilma-?”

The Dewott was cut off by a Thunderbolt zipping in, which dropped him to his knees wincing and panting. Lyle ducked in and hurriedly pulled Irune along, the lot turning to leave when a hissing shout cut through the air.

“Oi! You’re paying for those wares you broke!”

The four glanced over and saw a Sableye at the head of a group of Pokémon making their way over from the crowd of onlookers. Kate sucked in a sharp breath and grimaced, as Cruz got up from the ground and shot a dirty glare back at her.

“Oh, way to go! You broke it!”

It was then only she saw that the imp was pointing off at Cruz, which prompted Kate to blink before shooting a smarmy smirk off at the Dewott.

“Whelp, looks like you’ve got your paws full with Command Responsibility, Hunter,” the Sneasel taunted. “We’ll just leave and let you get right to sorting that out-“

“Not so fast!”

Kate’s smile abruptly vanished and grimaces began to form on her teammates’ faces as a Grovyle sporting singe marks and chewing a Heal Seed stepped out from beside the Sableye. The Grass-type narrowed her eyes, before raising a claw to point at her and the others on Team Forager.

“That’s them,” she said. “Those are the thieves you want.”

The Ghost-type paused briefly, before adjusting his own claws accordingly. Her Houndour teammate was also up again with a weary “our head is spinning”, spitting up a seed onto the ground as he hurriedly made his way over to his Eevee teammate and slipped a one with a small sprout into her mouth that made her start to stir.

This was bad. And judging from the toothy smirk on her face, Vilma knew it all too well.

“Reviver Seeds, gotta love ’em. Just saying, it didn’t have to be like this,” the Grovyle taunted. “I’ll admit, I should’ve expected a surprise like that Fire Blast or whatever it was your Axew friend hit me with, but you should’ve expected that we’d have a few of our own.”

Kate pinned her ears back and let out an irritated hiss, as Lyle’s vents flared to life and he tugged Irune to take off in the other direction, only for the pair to freeze and look like they’d seen a ghost.

“Over there, Officers!”

Kate herself froze after she felt the ground tremble from heavy footsteps and watched as Dalton turned and let his mouth flop open in startled fright. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed what had spooked her teammates so badly: there, right on the heels of a Yamper pointing them out, was none other than the green-armored form of Sheriff Mack from the day before!

“This had better be good,” the Aggron snapped. “I was in the middle of getting a Lemonade and- huh?!”

Kate flinched and stiffened up, her feathers and fur standing on end as the Steel-type followed the Yamper’s paw down to Team Forager’s members. Cruz folded his arms with an impatient scoff, before piping up with an audible harrumph.

“About time. Where have you been?”

The Aggron guard blinked and traded glances between the Pokémon in red and silver scarves, when he noticed Kate and her companions, and narrowed his eyes into an incredulous scowl.

“You’re those cheapskates from yesterday!” he exclaimed. “Just what have you been doing around town to stir everyone up like this, huh?!”

The color rapidly drained from the Team Forager’s faces as they saw other Pokémon in green armor emerge from the crowd with similarly inhospitable demeanors. Kate looked on as Team Pathfinder’s members shot smug grins back and seemed to relish her and her teammates visible squirming. The Dark-type set her teeth on edge, looking around for any sign of an escape route as she hemmed and hawed back to the encroaching guards.

“We were… uh…”

Kate glanced up and noticed that the shop just behind Mack at the front of his entourage had been built styled after a Kecleon’s head. That was the Consortium Shop that Irune had tried to rip off yesterday! The Kecleon proprietor was once again dozing off behind the counter, while the shelf behind him was lined with wares for the day, including one lined with a row of Wonder Orbs… just like the Blowback Orb in the bag they’d nicked from Team Pathfinder the other day.

“Just getting out of here!” she answered. “See ya!”

The Sneasel reached into her bag and hastily pulled the Blowback Orb out, smashing it against the ground right in front of Mack. A sudden gust of wind whipped up, sending the Aggron flying back into the counter with a crunch of splintering wood as the Kecleon woke up with a yelp.

The shelves on the display suddenly gave way, as a Blast Seed detonated and kicked up a sudden, fiery blast from behind it and ejected much of the shelves’ contents out into the street. At once, the nearby onlookers hurriedly ducked for cover as Seeds, Wands, and Orbs flew about in a chaotic hail. A Sunny Orb refracting the sun’s light to make it harsh, a Totter Seed striking a hapless Masquerain and making her lurch about in a daze. Team Forager watched briefly as the lane devolved into a chaotic mess from the effects of various dungeon items activating, when Kate whirled around and motioned frantically with her claws.

“Go go go!” the Sneasel cried.

---

Lyle took off running with his head held low after Kate launched Sheriff Mack into the front of Moonturn Square’s Consortium shop, bolting for a nearby alleyway as a rain of Orbs and Seeds laid waste to a good chunk of the marketplace behind him. There were startled yelps, mixed with the roaring bellow of a livid Aggron, cries of “Thief! Thief!”, and even a “Komm wieder her!₁” thrown in for good measure. It was as clear a sign as any that they needed to get the hell out of town, and fast.

A thousand thoughts raced through Lyle’s mind along with his breath and the pounding throbs of his heart. But of all of them, one forced its way to the surface first and foremost:

“Reshiram’s Fur, how’d we even get into this mess?!”

Team Forager’s members heard a bellowing roar and hastily ducked down an intersecting alley right as a hail of rocks zipped past. Lyle ran alongside his fellows down the other end of the intersection, ducking around bends and turns as they heard shouts ring out behind them. A slicing gust of air from above snapped a clothesline, dropping a set of sheets into the alleyway that cut Lyle off from the rest of his teammates.

“A-Agh!”

The Quilava wheeled back and desperately tried to rejoin his teammates, only for an errant hail of stones to send him charging blindly for cover. He hurried down a back alley and heard footsteps charging past the other end, prompting him to hide behind a stack of crates and barrels that he noticed carried a faint whiff of something that smelled like seawater. When he looked up, Lyle noticed the roof of the Laughing Delphox and Tepig up near the edge of the bowl. Just a couple streets away from the looks of it.

Except, he was all alone, and he couldn’t see hide nor hair of any of his fellows from their ‘Team Forager’.

Lyle felt fire dance on his vents in a panic and sucked in light, rapid breaths. No, no, no! Damn it, this wasn’t supposed to be happening! They were right here and Hermes would be flying off from this damned hole any minute now!

“Oh, for gods’ sake, trouble this early already? Of all the days to get stuck with back to back morning shift and night shifts-“

Lyle abruptly froze at the sound of a yipping voice hurrying in from the mouth of the alley ahead. An uncomfortably familiar yipping voice. The Quilava turned to run when he lost his footing and stumbled, Hermes’ money flopping out onto the ground with a loud clatter just as a blur of orange and cream came in and pinned him on his side, the Quilava looking up to see Nils staring down at him with a start.

“Lyle?!” the Floatzel exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

Lyle panted and looked up blankly at the Gendarm, trying to form words in his mouth only to come up with nothing. The Quilava saw the Floatzel narrow his eyes briefly, before giving a quiet scoff and letting him go. Lyle got up and hastily dusted himself, gasping for breath as the Floatzel peered down at him with his arms folded

“So you have been getting into trouble again,” Nils scoffed. “What’d you do this time? Knock off that Gummi Fab there?”

Gummi Fab? He supposed the crates did smell like the same gummi mix that the Mudsdale Puller the other day was transporting. Thank gods Nils wasn’t aware of how much trouble he was in right now. All he needed to do was to get him off his back at the moment, maybe pass him a few Carolins—hell, a few hundred Carolins—and get the hell out of here.

“Nils, I don’t have time for this-“

“No time for your old buddy to get you out of trouble again?” the Floatzel pressed.

Lyle heard the sound of jingling coins and felt his blood run cold. He whirled over to Nils and froze, the Floatzel had discovered the bag with Hermes’ money, and he was tossing it up and down with a smug smile.

“Look, times are hard and so’s changing habits, I get it. ‘Once a thief, always a thief’ and all that,” the Floatzel insisted. “Naturally, I can’t let you keep this. But hey, nobody said that shopkeep you lifted this off of had to get everything back.”

Hateful, livid fire poured out of Lyle’s vents and he bared his teeth. No. He was a minute from making it to Hermes. For all he knew, Kate and the others were already there with him right now. He was not about to let Nils of all damn Pokémon ruin everything!

“Now what’s with that look?” the guard asked. “You think I don’t know that you’re having trouble too? With this sort of money, I think I could afford to cut you a little charity this time-“

“Gottverdammter Grünhäuter, give it back!“

Lyle dove forward as fire wreathed his pelt, ramming Nils in his legs and making him lose his footing. The Floatzel yelped and tripped, losing his grip on the bag and sending it falling to the ground with a loud clatter. Lyle darted over and reflexively snatched it up, when he felt a sharp pain shoot through his flank as a watery burst broke over him and knocked him to the ground. The sound of a low growl filled his ears as he turned and saw Nils getting up with bared fangs and an overpowering glare.

“Ungrateful bastard!” the Floatzel spat. “Fine! Starve in an Apricorn for all I care!”

Lyle reflexively bobbed and weaved on his toes and spat up a plume of smoke at the Floatzel, attempting to bolt past him. The Quilava made it to the open back door of the Gummi Fab when he felt a torrent of water overtake him. The Fire-type flopped belly first onto the ground and struggled up in a daze, noticing the entire alleyway was drenched. Had- Had Nils used Surf?! When the hell had Nils learned that?!

Lyle wheeled around as the Floatzel charged him, only for Nils to yelp and hit the ground from a sudden bolt of electricity.

“A-Agh! Wh-What the-?!”

Nils tried to get back onto his feet when a yellow-and-black blur cut in and shoved him to the ground, the otter yelping as a gout of blue dragonfire sailed in and struck his face. There, Dalton and Irune hurried in, Kate darting over to the Floatzel as he attempted to scurry away and knocking him flat on his back with a swipe of her claws that trailed white flecks of light. As Lyle picked himself up, he saw Nils readying a jet of water, only to freeze up as Kate stepped onto his chest plate and pinned him with her other claw drawn for a second Slash at his throat. The Sneasel scowled down at the cornered Grünhäuter briefly, before looking back at Lyle with an annoyed huff.

“Hey! Give us a warning if you’re going to duck off like that next time, Lyle!” she exclaimed. “If we didn’t hear that racket you two made, we’d never have found you!”

Nils’ eyes shrank to pins and he coughed up his water, which did little more than to splatter over his armor plates inertly. His breaths came shallow and panicked as he tried to thrash free, only to accomplish little more than an ineffectual squirm as Dalton and Irune came over and helped pin him down. Lyle heard the Floatzel whine and watched as his air sac reflexively puffed up, the Water-type looking over at him with a pleading expression.

“L-Lyle! I-It was just an argument!” the Floatzel begged. “W-We’re friends! W-We can talk it out!”

Gods, Nils really was as pathetic as he thought. Lyle couldn’t help but feel some sense of satisfaction at seeing the leech squirm like this, and normally, he’d have half a mind to make Nils grovel a bit over all the crap he had to put up with from him over the last two years.

“Oi! Over there!” a voice barked. “I heard a scuffle!”

Except things weren’t normal right now, and they certainly weren’t going to be welcome in this town again anytime soon after this. Why, for all they knew, Hermes was about to spring in the air without them. The Quilava glanced back over at the open doorway and motioned at his fellow Outlaws to follow along.

“Quick, this way!” the stoat insisted. “We can cut through this Gummi Fab!”

Dalton shot a parting Thunder Wave at the Floatzel as Lyle and the others hastily ducked through the opened back door and into a darkened space full of vats and conveyer belts with the hum of crude machinery driven by Pokémon on running wheels. The group tore along, brushing past workers like a startled Togetic as they tried to follow the lines of contraptions, running past a one that deposited a stream of what appeared to be white, sea-smelling powder when they reached a wall.

“Gah! The exit’s not this way!” Kate yelped.

“You!”

The four whirled around and much to their alarm, saw that they’d been cornered by an armored Zangoose. The same armored Zangoose from the caravan raid and from the garrison. From the way his red eyes narrowed, he clearly hadn’t forgotten about them either.

“You’re those damned Outlaws from that caravan the other day!” he hissed. “Nobody makes a fool out of Dolch the Cutter and gets away with-!”

The Zangoose was cut off by a plume of white as Kate abruptly flung some of the powder off the conveyer belt and into the Normal-type’s face, Irune throwing in a pair of stiff chops with her tusks at the guard’s shins that keeled him over with a pained wince as the four ran along, retracing their steps. Along the way, Lyle noticed Kate licking some stray powder off her claws, and her face scrunching up with a disgusted frown.

“Gods, that crap they make gummis out of really does taste awful before they add the flavoring,” she grumbled.

“Kate, stay focused on finding a way out of here!” Dalton snapped.

They heard the voices of other guards in the room now when they spotted daylight peeking out through a doorway up a flight of stairs to their right across a conveyer belt. One by one, Team Forager’s members ducked and slid under it, popping out out the other end, up the stairs, and out a front entrance into a lobby being watched by an incredulous-looking Indeedee from behind a crude wooden counter.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to be-!”

The Psychic-type’s protests were cut off as the four popped out onto the street outside, which much to their relief, was the same street running up the bowl of the human ruin that the Laughing Delphox and Tepig was built on.

After a brief run up, they could already make the sign out hanging over the doorway, along with Hermes. The Dragonite was shuffling out, laden with a harness with lengths of rope draped over his back and baggage slung over his flanks, grumbling to himself with a clay flask in his claws. Thank gods, looked like he was ready to take wing, and with not a moment to spare.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Hermes!” the Quilava squeaked. “We’ve got your money, so let’s get flying!”

Lyle stuffed a paw into his satchel and pulled out their pilfered purse, throwing it at Hermes’ feet. The bag landed with a loud jingle, making the Dragonite look down, before he shot an exasperated scowl back at his would-be passengers.

“Well that’s great that you finally came through, but it can wait a bit given how you four obviously weren’t in a rush,” Hermes snorted, before snatching up the bag of coins. “I wanted a drink before hitting my route.”

“We don’t have time for that!” Irune cried. “Just take the money and get us out of here!”

Hermes stomped the ground and stepped forward, leveling an accusatory claw back out at Team Forager.

“Well if you’re gonna give me an attitude like that, maybe you can go and find another-“

“There they are!”

A sharp shout came from the group’s left as they saw Mack now sporting a few burns, scuffs, and stray splinters clinging to his hide, charging ahead at the front of a mob of other guards and disgruntled townsfolk, with Team Pathfinder’s members near the front. Hermes’s jaw slackened, as his grip on his flask slipped and it fell and shattered against the ground, splattering red syrup by his feet. The Dragonite looked down at his spilled Lansat Syrup, then back at Team Forager’s members before crouching and motioning back with his head.

“Nevermind, flying now sounds good!” Hermes yelped. “Get on or forever hold your peace!”

Lyle hastily clambered aboard, latching onto the Dragonite’s bags and rope loops for grip as he made his way onto his back, Kate and Dalton swiftly following as the latter hastily pulled Irune from the ground and onto Hermes’ back when the Dragonite ran up along the path leading to the edge of the bowl and sprang up.

The Quilava yelped and wrapped his paws about the rope loop nearest him as his body pinned against Hermes’ harness and he felt air rush through his fur. He looked back and saw a wooden railing zip past as Hermes dived briefly, flinching as he heard the sound of it splintering, and looked to see stones and dirt cascading over the edge with Mack stomping and shouting at them from the ledge. Hermes frantically pulled up as beams and missiles sailed by, the Dragon-type hurriedly tearing southwards past the town walls. Team Forager and their companions breathed sighs of relief as they watched the attacks whizzing by grow more and more sporadic as trees and fields passed below them and Moonturn Square faded further and further off into the distance behind them.

---

The wind was chilly that day, as it usually was this late in Herbstmond. Even so, Lyle had never realized just how cold it got at this time of year until he was on dragonback and feeling it whip against his fur.

Two hours later, Hermes’ course had taken Team Forager southwards. Lyle’s heart had stopped racing after Moonturn Square slipped over the horizon without any sign of pursuing Air Marshals, which allowed Lyle to turn his attention to his surroundings. They went by in a patchwork of fields and forests, with the occasional spire or some other human ruin jutting up here or there. Occasionally, a few regions showed abrupt changes in foliage anchored by Mystery Dungeons, a couple of which were already visibly frosted in snow that Hermes dutifully steered away from. Lyle noted that the Dragonite flew close enough to the ground that he could still faintly make out wagons with his nearsighted vision, yet high enough for much of his surroundings to go by in blurs. He wasn’t complaining, but he could’ve sworn that Dragonite normally flew at higher altitudes.

A gust of frigid wind and a shuddering shake from Hermes made the stoat clutch tighter to the length of rope serving as a grip before him as he fought back nervous fire. Maybe that had something to do with why Hermes was flying relatively close to the ground. Lyle supposed these “loops” were safer than riding barebacked, but from this high up, he felt almost as vulnerable as when he was out in the middle of deep water.

“Hopefully we don’t need to fly long-distance again anytime soon,” he murmured..

“Blaugh, I can’t wait until we hit the final stretch before Toya Square. I’m not buzzed enough to deal with these temperatures,” the Dragonite grumbled. “It shouldn’t be much longer now before you start feeling the difference.”

‘Feeling the difference’, huh? Lyle supposed that meant that Toya Square wasn’t far from a Mystery Dungeon. The only way a ‘mon was beating the autumn chill short of starting a fire or wearing oneself out by constantly using Sunny Day was if they were around a Mystery Dungeon that affected its surroundings.

Lyle shifted in place from his spot on Hermes’ harness and fought back a yawn. He hadn’t slept well again last night, not that having to get up at the crack of dawn helped. Even if there was at least half of Varhyde to go after Toya Square before reaching the Divine Roost, he honestly wouldn’t have minded if Hermes had opted to stop and rest his wings a bit. It’d be a chance to stretch and get his paws back on solid earth again.

It didn’t help that there weren’t many things to do for amusement other than sightseeing right then. Attempting to play cards would’ve been a non-starter even if they had them. That left listening in on his teammates’ conversations, which when he’d been able to hear them at all over the wind or when Kate wasn’t dozing off, had been guarded and stiff ever since they’d left Moonturn Square… for obvious reasons of not giving their much stronger Carrier any ideas of turning them in.

♫ You said you’d love me many days ago
“Don’t worry about those things”
It’s not your fault- ♫

And then there was Irune at the head of the group.

The whole trip, she’d gaped about her surroundings in awed wonder, and sometimes amused herself by flapping one of her arms, or trying to hum or sing parts of that dippy song from the other day at the tavern. Or at least she was when the chill and the air currents didn’t catch up with her and make her flinch and shiver, much like they’d done just now.

The younger Dragon-type trailed off and scooted back to press up against Lyle for warmth. He blinked briefly, but couldn’t begrudge her too much for doing so. Alvin had done likewise in colder months from time to time.

Even so, the Quilava couldn’t help but find it curious at how Irune seemed to be wholly unbothered at being stuck zipping along in midair. Or at least when she wasn’t freezing her scales off. Had she flown with a Carrier some other time in the past?

“Just what were you four doing in town to get the guards so riled up like that?”

As for casual conversation during their flight… well, Lyle supposed Hermes was turning his head back to face them just now, but from the exasperated scowl on his face, it was highly unlikely he had anything to say that they’d want to talk about.

He and his fellows traded wary glances with one another at the Dragonite’s question, before Kate broke the silence with a quiet shrug of her shoulders.

“Eh, just some business.”

Hermes turned his head back with a sharp frown. Lyle held his breath for a moment, worrying that perhaps Hermes had gotten wise to them, before the Dragonite snapped him back to attention with a distrustful growl.

“Are you going to be any more specific?” he demanded. “Since as far as I know, there’s not too much business that’ll get a ‘mon into hot water like that.“

“Look, we had an agreement to ride with you to Newangle City with no questions asked,” Dalton huffed, narrowing his eyes back. “If you’re really that worried, wouldn’t it be in your best interests to stay in the dark as well?”

Boy did Dalton sure know how to pick his battles… this was the sort of lack of tact Lyle would’ve expected from Kate. The stoat eyed Hermes carefully as the Dragonite turned his head and shot an askew glance from the corner of his eyes for a moment, before training his attention back towards his flight path with a low grumble.

“Egh, maybe it’s just the cold getting to me. It’s just that a couple of times, I could’ve sworn I was being tailed,” he muttered. ” I guess it’s nothing that I couldn’t smooth over with a gift of a little tea to the guards next time, but you four are really not making this easy right now.”

Lyle sighed out of relief before he noticed that the air suddenly felt damper and warmer than he remembered. He let his eyes drift out over his surroundings again. The ground below had given way to thick forests, and every now and then, there’d be a prominent patch of fog that clung to the landscape here or there. The telltale sign of a Mystery Dungeon’s presence.

As luck had it, Hermes’ route took them directly past one in the far distance. The fog wreathed the sides of a table-like plateau over the horizon much like an affixed cloud, and below it were a small pawful of spindly stone chimneys seemingly rising from the forests below. That was Raptor Rock, about a day’s journey overland from the royal capital of Newangle City, and half a week’s journey had they chosen to walk that sort of distance.

It was one thing to hear stories about such places, but it was another to see one of them in the flesh. It was said that places like Raptor Rock were formed from the churning of the earth the Great Flash inflicted on Wander, in which entire chunks of stone and earth had been raised aloft into the sky and kept in place in defiance of gravity by Mystery Dungeons anchoring them. Nobody knew whether such places would stay aloft if their anchoring Mystery Dungeons dissipated, but Lyle didn’t want to think too hard about that right now.

The topic got Lyle thinking about their final destination at the Divine Roost. It was supposed to be an island which hung over the sea between Varhyde and Edialeigh, one only normally only reachable by traversing one of the Mystery Dungeons it served as a nexus to.

Except… Raptor Rock was supposed to be a Mystery Dungeon that Hunters went into for missions on a regular basis. The ones that led into the Divine Roost… weren’t, to say the least. The only alternative was to brave the treacherous skies about it that few other than the gods could manage, hence its name.

He still wasn’t sure what that was going to look like for them when they got there. If they got there.

Lyle felt Irune shiver and press up against him from the chill of the winds blowing past them on Hermes’ back.

The Quilava froze and started to pull himself back before reminding himself that Irune was a reptile. Without a pelt to keep her warm or an element to counter the effects of the chill, it was only logical she’d find these temperatures uncomfortable. Lyle frowned and looked down, when he glimpsed Irune tugging her dart-like pendant with its white, gray, and black bands out from under her scarf.

The Fire-type tilted his ear puzzledly. What was that thing? And why the Axew had felt a compulsion to wear it while riding a flier as swift as Hermes?

He quietly reached a paw out for it, only for Irune’s eyes to suddenly widen and her to clutch onto the bauble with a fierce glare and low growl from the back of her throat.

“Paws off, Quilava,” she spat. “You don’t see me rooting through your stuff, do you?”

Well, she certainly had her guard up as an Outlaw. A bit too up, if he said so himself. Lyle frowned and flattened his ears, giving a low harrumph in reply to the Dragon-type.

“If you’re not going to let me get a closer look at it, would you at least tell me what that thing is?” he asked.

“I already told you,” she huffed, stuffing the pendant back under her garb. “I need it for when we get to the Divine Roost!”

“That’s not an answer and you know it,” the Quilava scoffed. “Seriously, what is that thing? A key? A weight? What on earth would a stone wedge like that have to do with a treasure?”

The Axew fell silent and seemed to falter a moment, as if she were unsure of what to say next. After a long hesitation, she shook her head, before narrowing her eyes back sharply.

“That’s not a matter that concerns a thief like you.”

Lyle blinked for a moment, noticing Hermes’ shadow falling over the treetops below briefly, before he snapped back to attention and narrowed his eyes with a quiet scoff.

“‘A thief like me’?” he muttered. “Just what’s that supposed to mea…”

Lyle abruptly trailed off, as the Quilava’s eyes drifted off to the right and noticed that there, on the treetops behind them, were the shadows of a good dozen shapes closing in on their position. Dalton similarly spotted it, and clung tightly to his loop, pointing with his mouth hung open in shock off behind them and crying out something that he couldn’t make out over the wind.

Lyle looked back past Hermes’ tail and saw nothing but empty air, when his ears suddenly pricked at the sound of strong wingbeats. He at first thought it was his ears playing tricks on him, when he noticed Kate stiffen up with her fur tensed up and her ears pinned out. She’d heard it too.

The Quilava flushed pale as a dawning realization came over him: they weren’t alone right now. He felt Irune paw at him, her earlier scowl now gone and replaced with a visibly nervous grimace.

“Wh-What’s going on?” she asked. “What did you three see out-?”

As if on cue, a blue gout of dragonfire zipped past, just missing Hermes’ wings. Lyle threw his paws onto his loop as Hermes abruptly pulled his right claw back from the passing Dragon Pulse and jolted his body in midair, sending the Quilava lurched over the side. Lyle felt his hind legs dangle in midair and held on for dear life. He clung tightly and felt Kate and Irune help pull himself up onto Hermes’ back. The Dragonite’s eyes were now shrunk to pins as he wheeled sharply to the left with a startled yelp.

“Ack! Götterblut! I went out of my way to avoid the Outlaw hotspots this time!”

Lyle and the rest of Team Forager’s members looked back along with their Dragonite Carrier as Dalton threw a crackling wave of electricity back at the air behind them. The air abruptly shimmered with magenta light as a number of flying Pokémon suddenly came into view, including a Zoroark clinging wide-eyed to a Pidgeot that was pulling up from an uncontrolled dive with static still crackling on her plumage.

It took all of a few seconds for Lyle to notice that the lot of them were clad in green army plates and taking on a chevron-shaped formation. Much to their horror, there, making his way to the front of it, was none other than Lacan in his cloth and mail armor.

“You’ve got bigger problems than a few Outlaws back there!” Dalton cried.

Lyle flattened his body against Hermes and his vents came alight with a start as a hail of beams and missiles zipped past the drake’s body: lightning, ice, fire, and a few others that the Quilava struggled to make out in the confusion. Gods, were they in over their head right now! Another Dragon Pulse zipped past when an angry growl rang out, which much to Lyle and his companions’ alarm, came from ahead of them. The stoat gulped and pinned his ears back, looking up to see Hermes looking back at them with a furious glare.

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you off for whatever you did back in town!” the Carrier fumed. “What did you little runts do?!“

“Oi! Easy! Easy!” Kate yelped. “We didn’t have any more idea than you that this would happen!”

Lyle wasn’t sure what the right thing would’ve been to say back to Hermes, but from the Dragonite’s expression, he was sure as hell it wasn’t that. The Carrier’s face contorted into a bared-fanged snarl at the Sneasel’s protests, before he launched into a bellowing tirade that rang in their ears.

“Sure you didn’t! That’s why I’ve got a dozen soldiers on my ass right now, huh?!” Hermes shouted. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t throw you off my back right here and now and just let gravity sort you out!”

Lyle bit his lip and glanced down at the treetops below with panicked breaths. H-Hermes was just bluffing, right? He had a record to keep as a Carrier, and he wouldn’t just dump them off his back, would he? The Quilava snapped back to attention after seeing Irune wave at Hermes in protest as she raised her voice.

“Look, those soldiers obviously aren’t going to let you off if you try something like that right now!” the Axew cried. “Just do what you can to not to get hit and we’ll try to cover for you!”

“Spinnst du?!₂ Did you all hit your heads this morning?!” Hermes exclaimed. “How long do you expect me to hold out against all those ‘mons?!”

Lyle and his fellow Outlaws looked about frantically, when his eyes fell on a sudden drop in a plateau up ahead. There, mixed in with the midst of a wide set of cascading waterfalls, was the telltale fog shroud of a Mystery Dungeon. If they skimmed it, it’d force Lacan and his cronies to either back off or else risk getting knocked into its Distortion by the likes of a stiff crosswind!

“That Mystery Dungeon up there!” the Quilava exclaimed. “If you can hold out long enough for us to cut right past it, we can force those guys to back off from us!”

Lyle watched as Hermes looked off ahead at the Mystery Dungeon. For a second, the Dragonite visibly blanched. He looked anxious. Scared, even. Before the Quilava could ask, an arc of lightning struck Hermes’ hindquarters and made him lurch and lose altitude. Lyle screamed and he heard his teammates do much the same.

The Quilava screwed his eyes shut as the Dragonite pitched forward, only to get pushed down against the harness on his back as he hastily evened out. Lyle felt his heart pound in his chest and cracked his eyes open with a low whine. There, he saw Hermes panting for air, glimpsing briefly back over his shoulders at his passengers, before shaking his head with a sharp bellow.

“Alright, hold on to those loops!” he cried. “This is going to get bumpy!”

Lyle clung onto the rope in his paws for dear life and felt his body leave Hermes’ harness as the Carrier dove down, picking up speed as he approached the forest canopy below. Lyle jolted against the harness’ fabric as the Dragonite sharply leveled out about halfway to the ground. Or at least he assumed it was halfway to the ground from how much larger the treetops looked right now.

Their leaves were still an emerald green and Lyle felt beads of liquid roll off his brow. He didn’t know it was physically possible for Quilava to sweat. It shouldn’t have been, but then what on earth was…?

It then dawned on Lyle that the air itself felt warm and humid. Why, it had more in common with the wet heat of the midsummer days of Heumond₃ than the autumnal chill around Moonturn Square. Was that really what the weather around Toya Square was like?

A band of wind whipping over his face snapped Lyle back to attention. To his left was a wall of mist close enough for Hermes’ claws to just skim it. Back above and behind them in the air, Lacan and his soldiers were headed in a diagonal path going behind the Mystery Dungeon. Hermes for his part seemed to be putting his boost of speed to good use, as Lacan and his lackeys’ attacks kept veering off further and further away from them as they attempted to change course.

“Got you!”

A cawing sneer followed by a startled yelp from Kate turned Lyle’s attention towards a Skarmory that was beelining straight for them. He must’ve flown in the draft from Hermes’ wake and caught up with them! The Quilava instinctively spat up a spray of burning, bluish-white cinders in the Skarmory’s face and the bird lost his balance. He heard a startled squawk as he clung to his loop for dear life where he could see Kate following up with an icy gust of wind from her mouth from the corner of his vision. The Steel-type began to fall behind and struggled briefly from the blows, when a weak spark zipped in from Dalton and settled on the Skarmory’s left wing.

The Steel-type soldier abruptly went rigid with a startled screech, plummeting out of the air and into the boughs of the trees below. Lyle couldn’t help but wince at the Skarmory’s crash landing, and pulled himself back into a riding stance with a panting shiver. Hermes for his part didn’t dare look back to examine Team Forager’s handiwork, though from the abrupt loss of the Skarmory’s presence, Lyle could already hear the Carrier’s voice adopting an increasingly confident tone.

“Whatever you’re doing back there, keep it up!” he cried. “We’re almost at-! Agh!”

Just then, a blue-and-green blur zipped in. Lyle looked up and immediately grimaced. It was that damned Corvisquire from Lacan’s Fähnlein in her Grünhäuter armor, with a length of rope in her talons. Lyle reflexively spat up a spray of cinders and heard her squawk with a start, his teammates shouting themselves as they tried to strike her when they suddenly felt Hermes’ body lurch.

A quick glance revealed that the crow was banking and hurriedly flying off in the distance, while there in front of them, was her rope. Wrapped up and tangled around Hermes’ wings. The Dragonite glanced back at the Corvisquire’s work and went wide-eyed, the drake frantically trying to break free as he lurched and began to pitch forward.

A spray of stony flechettes sailed up from the ground followed by a sharp yelp. A quick glance revealed Hermes’ flight was wobbling, as he pawed at his chest and wheezed for air. Team Forager’s members held on for dear life to their loops as the Dragonite’s balance wavered and they lost altitude. So there was a reason why Lacan’s attacks kept veering off in one direction. He’d been herding them into an ambush!

“H-Hurry! Get Hermes’ wings free!” Lyle cried. “We need to get out of here!”

Nobody needed any further prompting after that. Lyle made his way over to the length of rope between Hermes’ wings and spewed fire along a section further away from his hide. The rope thinned and frayed, which Kate made short work of with a Slash. At once, Hermes’ wings freed up, and while still encumbered, he beat them for dear life. He must’ve realized the soldiers’ intentions himself.

Lyle clung to one of the loops on the Hermes’ back as the drake hurriedly pulled up. The stoat felt himself get knocked against Hermes’ back and heard his teammates cry out as the Dragonite started ascending sharply, flying past a stony ledge at the rim of the plateau as the treetops started shrinking below them. All of a sudden, Irune’s eyes widened after she noticed something below, and she cried out in a loud voice.

“A-Aah! Hermes! Watch out-!”

The Axew never finished her words as Lyle watched an icy ray abruptly shoot up from among the treetops towards the edge of the plateau. The Ice Beam struck Hermes’ right wing mid-beat, as he bellowed in pain and frantically tried to beat it to flee. Much to Lyle’s shock, the wing visibly crusted over with ice, and for a fleeting second, everyone, even Hermes, looked at it with horrified stares.

And then the Dragonite’s body rolled rightward and his smooth flight turned into a flailing tumble towards the rapidly approaching treetops below.

The next thing Lyle knew, the air filled with his and his teammates’ screams as it whistled past them and their bodies began to drift away from the Dragonite’s harness.

Gazing emptily, Lyle started to see glimpses of his past flash before his eyes:.

His parents playing with him when they were still Quilava and he was still a Cyndaquil, pointing out the stars in the sky and explaining that they were great fires far, far away in the distance much like the ones they wielded.

A night from when he was so young that he could only hazily remember anything beyond cowering with his parents and his brother’s egg in the shop’s cellar. All while the roar of marauding Rothäuter and their attacks rained down from the sky.

His father as a Quilava in front of a damaged shopfront littered with broken glass, hugging him and his mother goodbye before his deployment during Edialeigh’s last invasion of Varhyde.

A night where he went hungry with his brother about a month after his hatching while his mother cried in the next room over.

The day the Pokémon deployed from his village came back from the last frontlines in Varhyde near Port Velhen thinned in number. And how his father returned as a Typhlosion but seemed wholly unable to get into the festive mood.

The day his mother evolved, and the dread she and his father had over how on earth they would afford the extra food she needed.

The day he was given his first glassblowing pipe by his father as an apprentice. And how happy and eager he was to follow in his footsteps.

The sleepless nights from his father waking from nightmares. Or from his parents worrying how they were going to keep the shop during leaner months.

And of course, the day when his mother was served that damned draft notice. The one he’d dipped his paws into banditry to afford bribing the soldiers garrisoned nearby to make disappear from the records.

Lyle felt his body jolt against Hermes’ harness and snap back to attention. The Dragonite had managed to flatten himself out and pulled up just above the treetops. All of a sudden, Lyle launched forward as Hermes hit something. He watched the Dragon-type fall from view with his teammates and briefly heard their cries as he spun head over heels into the treetops below.

The Quilava felt damp foliage lash his body, and then hit a bough on his side that flexed under his weight. Lyle wrapped his paws around the branch, as it whipsawed back and forth while his vision ran muddy and he heard his vents pouring sputtering fire.

Craaaack!

And then it gave way and he fell, his body tumbling against one branch or set of vines after another before he hit a large fern and came to a hard stop against the ground on his back. Lyle lay there stunned for a moment, trying to roll over onto his feet as ferns and vines nestled among tall, shaded trunks danced in his vision.

The last thing he remembered before his strength gave out and the world went dark was keeling over and feeling the side of his head hit the damp earth.

---

“Lyle! Lyle!”

The first thing Lyle remembered after passing out was Kate’s voice and a sharp prick at his side. The Quilava tried to curl and flare up, only to hear his fire sputter and his Sneasel teammate cry out ‘Hey! Watch it!’ in reply, probably from being too close to his vents again. The Fire-type felt frantic pawing at his belly, and woozily cracked his eyes open with a low groan as his paws brushed at wet dirt underfoot and the sound of rushing water in the background pricked his ears.

“Ngh…”

“Get up, Lyle!” Irune pleaded. “We don’t have much time!”

Lyle’s eyes jolted open as he felt a set of claws latch onto his forepaws and drag him up, coming face to face with Dalton and Kate. The two of them were visibly winded, with Kate’s feathers frayed and mussed from a clumsy fall, and Dalton’s hide missing scales on a few patches.

“Wh-What’s going on…?” the Quilava stammered. “How long have I been out? Did we shake Lacan?”

“You fell off Hermes about fifteen minutes ago, and we’ll be meeting Lacan real soon if we just stick around here!” Dalton insisted. “That Salamence and his goons are coming right this way!”

Lyle looked around his surroundings and noted that the trees were tall and dark-colored, with verdant undergrowth that continued unimpeded aside from a rough path that his teammates had evidently stomped through to get to him. The canopy overhead was thick enough to make it impossible to see the sky outside of small patches, and the trees looked closely spaced. Guess that would explain why Lacan’s fliers hadn’t found him yet. Distant buzzes and calls of local Wilders rang out in the distance, and the air was hot and sticky, not at all like the weather Varhyder autumns were supposed to have.

“Dalton, where the hell we are right now?! Where’s Hermes?! Wh-Where do you expect us to go?!” Lyle exclaimed. “We’ve just crash-landed!”

“The Grünhäuter got to him,” the Heliolisk snapped. “Look, just get up and get moving before they catch up with us too!”

“We already found a place to escape to!” Irune insisted. “Come on!”

Lyle watched as the other members of Team Forager hurried back along their hastily cleared path, and darted after them as he saw them approach the ledge of the plateau they saw from the air. In an arcing line, they could see the contents of a wide river spill over waterfalls in the background, into churning fog that clung at its base. The Quilava followed the fog and saw that it crept up along the cliff faces in some places, including right below them. The stoat’s eyes widened and he pinned his ears back with a sharp grimace.

“Oh no. You can’t be serious,” he demanded. “We just got chewed up in the air and now you want to jump head-first into gods-knows-where in a Mystery Dungeon?”

Kate rolled her eyes and picked up a rock from the ledge before dropping it. The stone fell from sight before roughly a second later, the faint clatter of it crashing against something hard filtered back up to the team’s ears.

“There’s solid ground down there in the fog, so we’re not jumping straight into it,” she said. “And someone’s come through here before.”

Lyle followed the Sneasel’s claws as she motioned at a set of vines that hung over the ledge and dangled into the fog. Along them were claw marks of a creature that had climbed them. The Quilava looked back at the forest warily, before turning back to his teammates.

“Look, for all we know, that ledge leads straight to some Pocket with a Wilder’s den in it!” he exclaimed. “Don’t we have any way of getting better bearings on where we are right now-?”

Before he could finish speaking, Lyle heard sharp rustling from the forest’s undergrowth, and spotted dark shapes flying amongst the treetops. The four braced themselves, when a rough, barking voice called out to an unseen presence deeper within.

“I hear them! They’re up ahead!”

Lyle felt the blood drain from his face, when Irune tugged sharply at his flank, looking up with pleading eyes.

“There’s no time!” Irune whispered. “Come on Lyle! You three know how to get around these places, and it’s our only hope!”

The Quilava looked back towards the undergrowth as the approaching rustling grew louder and louder, before looking back at the vines. Reflexively, Lyle latched onto them and slid down into the fog, jumping down and feeling his feet land on damp stone. The stoat crouched and hastily rolled out of the way, his feet brushing against the edge of the ledge and feeling empty air for a brief moment. He heard the sound of Dalton and Irune following after him and could see their forms, pinning himself against the cliff’s ledge and lighting up his fire to draw their attention.

Lyle felt his Heliolisk and Axew teammates sidle up against him, when a sharp hacking noise rang out as the vines gave way and Kate landed in a crouch, hastily jumping over the vines and rejoining her teammates as they whipped past her and slid off into the foggy abyss. The four held their breaths and looked up at the obscured ledge of the plateau as voices rang out overhead.

“Eh?! You said they were right here!” a buzzing voice cried.

“I mean, they were…” the first voice insisted. “I don’t know what could’ve happened.”

The four darted up against the stone wall when Lyle noted that instead of the stone of a cliff face, they were entering a darkening space. The Quilava continued on until the light behind them shrank to a rough circle, when he flared up and revealed that they were in a fog-filled tunnel.

“Keep it down and stick close,” he whispered. “I don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side, but I doubt it’s anything good.”

And with that, the four Outlaws pressed on, leaving the distant sounds of chatter beyond the cave’s mouth to filter through the mist as they marched on into the dark passage ahead of them.