Chapter 30 – Annwyn Altercation

In front of the spring lay Pokémon of various different shapes and sizes, including Culhwch from before. Eminent among them was that same Cradily, draped in fancy clothing. It didn’t take much deduction from the Selenians to figure out who this was.

“Well now…ain’t this a sight? I’d never imagine you of all folks would shew up here of all places. Prince Leonid of Selenia, eh?”

“Indeed, it is I,” Leonid said. “I would say it would be a pleasure to meet you. But Uther Brynmor ap Eigyr, chieftain of Annwyn…today, my comrades and I have come to put you down.”

“Tough words from a little cnaf like you,” scoffed Uther. “I thought the rí had more than this.”

“Yeah!” an Annwynite clansmon yelled from the back. “Why the hell’s he lobbing a bunch of Sels at us, and their namby-pamby prince?”

“Hmph. Such naked prejudice!” Leonid’s expression soured with disdain.

“Give us a challenge! We want some proper Alban muscle to tussle with! Isn’t that right, my fellow clansmon?!”

“Yeah!” came the cheer from his fellow Annwynites.

“You hear that? We don’t want your scrawny kind here!” Uther’s tentacles flared out. “You Sels are weak, fragile things! To think those Dollies are throwing them at us instead of fighting us with their own fists!”

“Too bad,” Leonid sneered. “You will be disappointed when we are through with you and your recalcitrant clansmon. Or…will you be pleasantly surprised by our strength? Hmph, not like it matters.” He shook his head in contempt. “Rebels will forever be scum, no matter their origin.”

“Such words from the prince of a rebel nation…” The Cradily’s tentacles flared in fury. “You spit in the face of your ancestors, you neophyte princeling!”

“Do not claim you know how our heroes think!” Leonid growled. “The likes of you could never understand such things!”

“Do you channel the spirits of the dead and read their thoughts?! A stuck-up brat like you has no business making such claims!”

“You are delusional.” Leonid scowled. “Talking sense into your sort is a waste of time. We shall resolve this with fists instead, just how you Albans like it!”

“You’re speaking my language, princeling. But have you taken a gander around you?” Uther gestured his tendrils to behind the group, where numerous clansmon came out of the shadows, blocking the way the Selenians came in. “I didn’t choose to come alone. I’m no fool. I have my son Culhwch and my clansmon with me. I hate the Guild and that bloody Trahaern, but their motto is a good ‘un.”

“Ní neart go cur le chéile. Do not act as though I do not know it.” The Bisharp shook his head. “Little do you realise that unity is the force that bolsters us as well. And we shall use it to bring you down!”

“Not while I draw breath!” the Cradily chief yelled, before turning to the clansmon around him. “Kill ’em all! Don’t let one of ’em escape!”

“Yes, Chief!”

“Sure thing, Dad!” Culhwch’s voice sounded loud and clear. From his salute, he then turned to Arian, a mean grin creeping across his beak. “C’mere, you mutt! I’m gonna show you my real power!”

“You can tell yourself that!” Arian yelled, before dashing forward. That was the call that initiated the full scale brawl, with clansmon yelling and the Selenians bracing themselves for combat.

Arian and Culhwch wasted no time restarting their earlier fight. Culhwch’s fist glowed with fire, and Arian’s with electricity. They punched together, the two fists competing to see which was the stronger of the two.

It soon became obvious, after a bit of strength shown by both sides, which was the superior one.

“Yeowch!” Arian felt his fist burning against the flames, and pulled back.

“Hah! Shouldn’t play with fire, mutt!” Culhwch then spat flames towards him, which Arian leapt out of the way to dodge. It missed him, landing on the ground where he once stood and coating the dry ground in fire.

Arian ran back towards the Magmar, Force Palm at the ready. But just as he was about to connect the attack…

“Agh!”

Two vines suddenly ensnared him, halting him right where he stood. Before he could even react to this, Culhwch slammed another Fire Punch across his chest.

“Grraaaagh!” he cried, reeling from the punch and the embers licking his fur. “The hell?!” He moved against the vines, struggling to break free from them.

“Feisty ones like you are easy pickings,” Uther growled with scorn, as the vines suddenly glowed red and tightened around Arian.

“Urgh!” The Riolu felt his energy being sapped by the vines.

“Curses!” Leonid blasted, feeling the vines ensnare him too.

“Damn Leech Seed!” cursed A, who along with N had become trapped too. The Cradily chief had dispersed a few Leech Seeds to ensnare more than just Arian. Thankfully, Elvira, Yuliya and most of Carwyn had avoided them, but each were embroiled in their own duels.

 

---

 

Elvira found her hands full with a Banette. The ghost’s wide grin told of her trickery, and her opening salvo of a Will-o-Wisp was further evidence of this. The Treecko luckily dodged out of the way, and threw a gravelerock at her opponent, smacking her in the face.

“Tee hee hee!” she cackled, seemingly unfazed by the projectile’s impact. “Poltergeist Olwen, they call me! Can you keep up with my tricks, girlie?”

“It’ll take more than a few tricks to stop me!” Elvira said to her.

“Tee hee! We’ll see about that.” Olwen cast more ghostly flames at Elvira. Unfortunately, the Treecko couldn’t dodge them all, and she winced as the Will-o-Wisp struck true, burning at her side.

“Ah-hah! Gotcha!” chortled Olwen victoriously. “Now for some more!” She leapt towards Elvira, claws aglow with shadows. Thinking quickly, Elvira’s eyes glowed with the familiar light of Detect, and dodged out of the way before the ghost could strike her.

She dug into her bag, and threw a blast seed at Olwen. The item exploded, lighting up the cave and eliciting a cry of pain from the Banette.

“Gh!” she hissed. “I see you have your own bag of tricks, girlie. But you can’t out-trick the trickiest trickster in Annwyn! Hee hee hee!”

Olwen then suddenly disappeared. Elvira looked around for her, hearing the sounds of battle behind her. She prepared for her to reappear, but she didn’t realise that Olwen had snuck up on her from behind, where she then slashed her on the back.

“Aaagh!” Elvira cried, falling forward into the cave floor. Quickly, she got back on her feet, avoiding the incoming Shadow Claw from her opponent.

Quickly, she fished out an oran berry and ate it up as she dodged the Banette’s attacks. With her wounds healed, she gathered together green energy in her hands and prepared to fire another Giga Drain.

However, the energy wouldn’t coalesce into a ball, like Elvira had been doing thus far. It seemed to want to form a longer, thinner shape.

“Wh-What? No!” Elvira tried to force it back to a ball. But the energy seemed to have a mind of its own, and dispersed into nothing.

That was to the Treecko’s detriment, as Olwen swooped in and cut across her with her Shadow Claw again.

“Gaaaah!” Elvira cried, clutching her chest where it struck. That would’ve been bad enough on its own, but immediately after, the Treecko felt a burning sensation from the wound the ghost dealt.

“This is…!” She winced, as the wound burned.

“Hee hee hee!” chortled Olwen. “Seems you don’t know your best party tricks! Should’ve stayed at home, you wee llipryn!”

The Banette readied another fiery Shadow Claw to cut down Elvira. She leapt at her opponent, grinning gleefully…

Before a set of Shadow Claws slashed at her side, making her cry out in pain.

“Yaaargh!”

“That’s quite enough from you!” Yuliya declared, her claws aglow with shadows. Behind her, Elvira noticed a Golbat, landed and covered in scratches.

“Two on one?! That’s not fair!” Olwen clutched her side where the Furret struck. “Oi, Alun! Gimme a hand!”

“Fine, fine!” yelled the Golbat. “I’m not done with that ball of mange!” He shook a wing at Yuliya.

“I’ll have you know I regularly wash my fur,” Yuliya retorted, mildly offended.

“Entitled bitch,” Alun growled. “You ever think about givin’ some water to us, huh?”

“Th-That wasn’t-” Yuliya stammered, realising what she’d said.

“Die!” Alun suddenly charged at her, his fangs dripping with poison. The Furret yelped, leaping out of the way before they slammed shut.

Just as the Golbat began his chase, spectral fire suddenly moved towards Yuliya. She was too focused on Alun to see it, and it struck her chest.

“Argh!” Yuliya hissed, feeling it burn her.

“Two against one! Now we can get her!” Olwen sang gleefully, before summoning more ghostly fire. But before she could launch it, a ball of green energy slammed into her.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Elvira yelled, a determined look across her face. She then tossed a rawst berry to Yuliya. Her own burn had healed.

“Thanks.” Yuliya quickly scarfed the berry down. “With me, Elvira!”

“Right!”

Yuliya ran forward, with Elvira not far behind her. Shadowy energy covered the Furret’s claws as she made a beeline for Olwen. Alun’s fangs glowed, ready to clamp down, but Yuliya leapt up and slammed into him, knocking him off balance.

“Argh!”

Then from above, she landed down on the Banette, cutting across her face with her Shadow Claws.

“Gah! Damn you!” hissed Olwen. She prepared her own Shadow Claw attack, but this was intercepted by a ball of green energy.

“Take that!” Elvira yelled, before lobbing a blast seed at the Banette for good measure. Yuliya hopped out of the way, before the seed enveloped the ghost in a fiery blast.

“Sel bastards!” growled Alun, flapping at Elvira with venom in his fangs. But he didn’t get his chance; Yuliya tackled him to the ground once again and slashed at him with no let-up. Just as savagely as she had done with Team Scalebreaker, she made sure the Annwynite bat felt every slash.

“Aaaarrrghaahh!” yelled the Golbat in sheer pain. “Urgh…” Blood seeping from his wounds, he was down; he could fight no more.

“So you do have more tricks up your sleeve.” Olwen’s ever-smiling expression twisted to a snarl, as she cast another set of Will-o-Wisps forward.

It was for naught, however, as both Elvira and Yuliya both avoided the flames. Elvira, with her Detect foreseeing what was coming, and Yuliya’s expert manoeuvring – both zoned in on Olwen, and with a pincer movement, they let their respective attacks loose.

Elvira shot forth a point-blank Energy Ball, while Yuliya deftly slashed with her Shadow Claw. The Banette took the brunt of both attacks, bearing the full force of them.

“Aarrgh!” cried Olwen. “Urgh…” She fell onto her back and into unconsciousness.

“Phew, that’s her done,” Elvira said. “Now to help Ari-“

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Elvira’s brief moment of joy died the instant she heard a Sandaconda’s hiss. The snake glided toward her and Yuliya, its fangs bared and ready to strike.

“Looks like we have our work cut out for us.” Yuliya gritted her teeth as she prepared to continue the fight.

“Mmm.” Elvira readied a ball of energy, and tried to focus on the fight ahead of her.

Hopefully Arian’s alright…

 

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“Yow!” Arian yelped, as part of his fur caught fire. His opponent sneered at him.

“Rownd dau! I’ll burn ya to ash this time!” Culhwch spat another gout of fire at Arian, and though the Riolu tried to leap out of the way, some embers landed on his tail’s end, and he had to roll in the dirt to put it out.

No sooner had he done this, that the Magmar ran towards him with his fist coated in flame. Arian barely had time to react to the incoming punch, and while he managed to block Culhwch’s attack with his own fists…

“Ow ow ow ow!” he cried, feeling his paw pads burning from the extreme heat. The distraction provided was enough for Culhwch to slam another fiery punch into him, knocking him back.

“Not so tough now, are ya?” taunted Culhwch. He breathed in, about to unleash a devastating Flamethrower on his opponent. Arian willed his body into action, and avoided the blast of fire, which landed against the nearest cave wall.

Think, Arian, think! The Riolu racked his brains. You could deal with him back there. You can turn this around! But how do I do it…?

The gap between him and Culhwch had widened, and between the two of them, flames danced. The Magmar was advancing towards him through the flames, not bothered by them in the slightest.

Dammit! If only I was Melchior and just put all of these out with water. That’d make things so much easier.

Wait a minute, he suddenly realised. Water. There’s water here! We’re literally in a spring! I can’t put all this out, but maybe if I can…

“Take this!” Culhwch’s voice drew him out of his thoughts, where the Magmar came in again with another Fire Punch. Arian’s fists sparked, and he collided his Thunder Punch with his opponent’s attack. The heat of the flames burned, but he persevered, managing to hold his own.

“Not this time!” Arian gathered energy in his other paw and struck Culhwch in his exposed belly, knocking the Magmar back…and closer to the edge of the water.

Do it! Knock him in! Let’s see how he likes it!

Thoughts like this suddenly came to him, and Arian found a sudden flare in his aura. Looking down, his fists were aglow once again. He was about to question how and why, but he shook that off. If it helps me win this, I don’t care!

He found he had the nerve to walk through the fires. They burned at his feet, but with the burn of pain came a burst in energy from his paws. It was like…the pain was giving him power and will to overcome the fire.

“What the hell are you?” Culhwch mumbled, amazed. “That’s not normal for your kind, is it?”

Arian didn’t answer him. He ran forward, and upon reaching his opponent, channelled his overflowing aura into his paws. Like he had done with Sorcha, he shot a burst of energy point-blank at Culhwch.

“Argh!” Culhwch was knocked into the air, and just like Arian wanted, he landed on his back in the spring. Upon coming into contact with the water, the Magmar let out a deafening scream.

“AAAAAAAAAAAGH! It burns!” he cried, immediately fighting to get back on his feet and get out of the water which threatened him so.

Arian caught eyes with him, his paws aglow. The Riolu stepped into the spring’s waters, intent on finishing off his opponent.

Suddenly, a pair of vines ensnared his legs, and he lost balance, falling face-first into the spring’s water.

“Urgh!” Arian spat out some water, but before he could react, he found his torso being bound and squeezed. “Wh-What the hell?!”

“I can’t allow that.” Arian looked up, before seeing the long neck of Chief Uther loom over him. “You are a right little pla, you are. And if you intend to drown one of my most honoured clansmon, it’s only right you go the same way!”

More vines appeared around Arian, holding him where he was. Worse still, they were lowering his head towards the water. The Riolu panicked, realising what Uther’s plan was.

He’s gonna drown me! Flashbacks came back to the confrontation at Rusalka, and the similar intent of Metody to send him to a watery grave. No, no, no, no, no! He thrashed about, trying to break free of the binds.

However, they were strong, and with water seeped into his nostrils, Arian found himself struggling to breathe. He kicked furiously, but to no avail.

As his struggle grew more desperate, he felt the tightness of the vines begin to waver slightly, as if their owner wasn’t as focused on them as before.

He thought he heard shouting, but he couldn’t be sure, given how the water muffled his ears. But suddenly, the vines’ grip on him slackened completely.

“Get up!” a familiar voice barked. Arian lifted his head out of the water and caught eyes with Leonid. His eyes fell upon a series of severed vines that were cut finely; his handiwork, no doubt.

“On your feet,” the Bisharp demanded. “Help us fight Chief Uther!”

“But…” Arian gazed back at Culhwch, who, while still struggling to get out of the water, was getting closer to his location.

“Tch. There are more important matters on our plate!” chastised Leonid. “We take down their leader and the subordinates will fall like a house of cards! Now hop to it!”

“You’re a fool, princeling.” Uther had heard Leonid’s words. “We Annwynites aren’t so fickle as that. But if the Sels ever lost you, then they’d be in for a world of hurt!”

The Cradily shot trails of green energy from his mouth which wrapped themselves around Leonid. The Bisharp cried out and squirmed, trying to free himself from the tendrils, which seemed to glow as they tightened.

“No, you don’t!” Arian leapt up and slammed an ice-coated fist into Uther’s head. This threw the Cradily off balance, and the energy sapping was halted.

“Damn you, mutt!” hissed Uther. New vines shot out from under Arian’s feet and ensnared them.

“Urgh!” Arian felt his energy being drained, and as he looked up, he also saw the mark he had left on Uther’s face gradually fade.

“Your tenacity knows no bounds,” Leonid remarked. His blades coated themselves in a green energy, and he ran forward, crossing his arms in an X and slashing at his opponent.

“Look who’s talking!” growled Uther, as he took the blow. “No matter.” He tightened his grip on the vines that ensnared Arian.

“Wh-What the heck?!” The Riolu then saw the wound where Leonid had struck begin to heal up. “He keeps regenerating!”

“I was well aware of that!” snapped Leonid.

“You don’t need to yell at me-“

Arian didn’t finish his sentence before a ball of fire suddenly hit him.

“Aaaaaargh!“

“Got you now, you bastard!” Culhwch was closer to the water’s edge, though still hissing from being in the water. “Now you’ll be cinders!”

“Dammit! As if!” Arian growled. He fought hard against the vines, trying to free himself. I’m not dying here, I’m not dying here!

As if to answer his woes, his aura suddenly flared up once again. The vines around his arms suddenly gave way to the power in Arian’s paws, and just as soon as he was free, he shot Culhwch with a point-blank aura blast, throwing him backwards into the water.

“Nnnrgh…Damn you…” Culhwch fell to the ground, too weak to do any more.

“Culhwch!” Uther cried. “You asked for it, mutt!” He shot forth another bunch of draining tendrils, but Arian had grown wise to this, and jumped out of the way.

“Out of my way, you foolish mercenary!” However, he happened to roll into Leonid’s path. “We’re meant to work as a team, not obstruct each other!”

“Oh, shut up!” hissed Arian. “No time for complaining!” He didn’t wait for Leonid’s response, and he jumped into the air, slamming his open palm into Uther.

“Little brat!” Uther whipped him with one of his tentacles, knocking the Riolu to the ground.

It was then that Arian noticed something. Even with no tendrils on either of them, the Cradily still seemed to be regaining energy.

“What in…How?” he said.

“How irritating,” Leonid muttered. “It seems this is a chief who doesn’t know the consequences of his own actions. For look!” He pointed to the body of water behind Uther. “He feeds off the spring – the very thing he claims for his clan as precious drinking water, only to leech it all for himself!”

“I don’t care. If it means I won’t die this day, then so be it!” Uther declared. “My people will understand!”

“What the hell kind of logic is that?! You’re depriving people’s drinking water for something like this!” Arian yelled. “How can you say you’re in the right here?”

“Quiet! A Sel like you wouldn’t understand!” Uther shot forward more vines, ensnaring Arian.

“…You’re a fool. Plain and simple.” Leonid shook his head as he moved to cut Arian’s vines off. “This is a waste of time. The sooner we best you, the better!” Once the vines were cut, he ran forward.

Arian, now freed, did the same. If he’s gonna keep regenerating, then we’ll just have to take him down in one fell swoop!

Uther launched more vines at Leonid. But the prince cut through them with little resistance. Once he was close enough, his head glowed metallic, before he slammed his helm into Uther’s head.

“Argh!” Uther cried.

Arian then leapt in, his fists aglow with blue energy. He slammed an open Force Palm into Uther’s side, before following that up with an uppercut coated in frost.

“Ghghghgh-“

Leonid’s blades then became coated in a dark energy, and he slashed at the Cradily relentlessly. Meanwhile, Arian punched Uther with his aura-coated fists with no let up, before retreating briefly, leaping into the air, and with a Force Palm charged, he slammed his open palm down on Uther from above. The force of the attack knocked Annwyn’s chief over and onto his front, and under him, vines were uprooted. The onslaught had stopped the Ingrain that was leeching from the spring.

“Gah…n-no.” Uther made an effort to upright himself.

“That’s enough.” Leonid pointed one of his blades at him. “You have been defeated. Accept it with honour, as any Alban chief would.”

“The Chief’s down!” The other Annwynites took notice of what was happening, as did Elvira, Yuliya and Carwyn.

“No! How?” a clansmon cried.

“How did those Sels beat our chief?!” another lamented.

“You’ll…pay for this!” the Sandaconda from before hissed, before a Shadow Claw from Yuliya shut him up. The duel between him, Elvira and the Furret had been rather one-sided on the Selenians’ part.

“Beaten…by a bunch of Sels?” Uther was in disbelief.

“We are not a nation of cowards. Let this be a lesson to you and your pathetic clansmon, Chief Uther!” Leonid pointed a blade at him. “Now then. Remove yourself from here at once!”

“…No. I refuse!” the Cradily said. “We need this spring!”

“Enough of this charade,” Leonid huffed. “You have lost, and as is custom in this country, you must give in to the demands of your victor. In this case, that is to leave here and return this spring to Dálriada.”

“Fuck off!” hissed Culhwch in pain. “We’ll…never give this back to the Dollies! We don’t have any other water sources in this area!”

“Then why not ask Dálriada for aid?” the Bisharp said.

“Ask the Dollies?!” Uther was incredulous. “Afreysmol! Never! Over my dead body!”

“So you would not swallow your pride?” Leonid’s expression turned to shocked fury. “Even though your own people’s lives are at stake?”

“They’re at stake anyway!” Uther protested. “We fear for our lives every day because of raids from Dálriada! You know nothing about our situation, you little rich upstart!”

“And yet you raid them in turn and terrorise their clansmon. You are no better than them!” Leonid denounced.

“You don’t understand!” Uther growled. “They started it! Those Dollies are always the ones starting these feuds!”

“They are!” “It’s true!” “We didn’t do nothin’!” Sounds of agreement came from the other Annwynite clansmon.

“It matters not who started this. You made things worse, counterattacking and turning this into tit-for-tat.” Leonid pointed accusingly at Uther. “You let animus fester, at a time when you should be united. In these times of drought, you should be banding together and sharing resources!”

“Don’t talk to me about unity!” Uther shouted. “That bitch Eilidh keeps attacking us! I’d never ally with her, not in a million years!”

In the midst of this arguing, Arian’s ears pricked. Though it was faint…he could swear he could hear footfall from somewhere.

“Enough of your drivel. Back home we tsars would sit such feuding lords down and settle their quarrels like gentlemon.” Leonid shook his head in disappointment. “Call Selenia weak-willed all you want, but a dispute of this nature would never happen in my country!”

Arian noticed Yuliya’s sudden alertness. It seemed she could hear what he was hearing.

“Ha! Says the overthrown prince!” the Cradily laughed bitterly. “You’ve no right to talk to us!”

“Your ways are foolish!” Leonid thundered, his voice echoing around the cave. “All your fighting with Dálriada is only widening the gulf between you!”

The footfall was getting louder. Along with that, Arian could sense the presence of what seemed to be quite a few people.

“I’d rather die in a dune than settle with those rats!” Uther declared.

“So would I!” Culhwch seconded.

“And me!”

“And me!”

Other clansmon followed suit with their chief’s declaration. Leonid looked at the Annwynites in disbelief. That then became fury, as an angry snarl crossed his face.

“You disgust me!” he yelled. “You do a disservice to your people! What a stain on your country you all are!”

Right as the Selenian prince made this outburst, a huge explosion suddenly sounded at the cave’s ceiling. The quick flapping of a bird’s wings could be seen, but it just as quickly disappeared.

A deafening crack sounded across the cave, and a few loose rocks fell from the ceiling.

Then everything seemed to happen at once.

The stalactites hanging from the ceiling began to fall.

The biggest stalactite fell, and one person was directly in its sights.

Chief Uther.

Several of his clansmon saw the stalactite fall towards him.

“Chief! Look out!”

“Get out of the way, Chief!”

But their cries were fruitless. Though he tried to move, Uther was too slow to avoid the falling stalactite.

It made its landing. Huge, sharp, – it impaled the Cradily at the top of his neck. Uther gave a gargled strangle before the life left his eyes.

“No! Dad!” shrieked Culhwch. He didn’t get to say much more, though, before a falling rock struck him on the head and knocked him out.

“Get His Highness to safety!” C yelled to his troop.

“Sir, yes, sir!” echoed five voices, before the Falinks moved to surround Leonid. More rocks and broken shards of stalactites fell, some splashing into the spring and others landing on solid ground. The Selenians began to move back.

“Arian! Above you!” Elvira shouted.

“Shit!” Arian glanced up, and spotted a falling rock heading straight for him. He tried to move, but somehow…he found himself frozen to the spot.

No! Come on! Why can’t I move?! Now, of all times?!

“Arian!”

Another voice yelled, and suddenly the Riolu found himself being pushed aside by something – no, someone brown and furry. He fell onto his back, and next moment, a horrible cry of pain rang out.

In his peripheral vision, a horrible sight greeted Arian.

Yuliya, having pushed him out of the way of a stalactite, was now buried underneath it, unmoving.

“Yuliya!” Arian cried. Immediately, he got to his feet and ran over to the Furret.

“Yuliya?! Yuliya!” Leonid’s anguished cries echoed once he saw what had happened. “Help her, Carwyn! Now!”

“Yes, Your Highness!” All six Falinks marched to where Yuliya was stuck under the stalactite.

“We need to bust the rock!” N said.

“On it!” Arian charged a Force Palm, and struck the heavy stalactite with it, causing cracks to form where he had struck. “Urgh! It’s rock-hard!”

“Hang on!” Green energy formed in Elvira’s hands, and she threw it at the rock crushing Yuliya. More cracks formed in the stalactite.

“Together, men!” Carwyn surrounded the rock, all of their helmets aglow, before they struck the rock at various points. That did the trick; their combined Rock Smash caused the rock to crumble into various bits of rubble, and take the weight off Yuliya.

“Yuliya!” Leonid came over. “No…Don’t tell me she’s…!”

“Lessee…” A, W, and N turned Yuliya over onto her back. The Furret showed no signs of movement, and everyone feared the worst.

“…She’s alive.” W’s answer was a relief to all. “But her ribs are badly damaged. She needs medical attention immediately. Normal berries won’t cut it. She needs proper treatment, not patch-ups.”

“No…!” Elvira looked at her bag. “There must be a reviver seed in here! We always bring one in case of-“

Before the Treecko could finish her sentence, something struck her from behind.

“Argh!”

Before anyone could react, a tall, thin, black-and-white bird flew up towards the cave ceiling. From its beak…it held a bag.

“No!” Elvira realised immediately once she saw what was missing on her possession. “My bag!”

“Who’s doing this?!” Arian cried in frustration.

“Show yourself, whoever you are!” Leonid stood defiant, fiery determination crossing his face.

There was silence, before a rough, Dálriadan burr spoke.

“Enough o’ yer shite, prionnsa! Yvvie’ll be bringin’ did back ‘fore I talk tae an Annie like him!“

“That voice!” Arian looked back at the cave entrance, now realising they were not alone. There stood a number of clansmon, most of whom looked familiar. Horribly familiar.

A black Tauros, who gave a snort and rapped his hoofs against the ground in preparation for combat.

A Bombirdier, with a sickening smirk spread across her beak…and Elvira’s bag in her apron.

And standing out amongst them…

…was an Excadrill, draped in chieftain’s garb.

Leonid, upon seeing this, only shook his head at the sight.

“How did I know you would betray us, Chief Eilidh?”