Chapter 5: Fugitives

It had been well over a decade since Torr had entered a mystery dungeon alone. Guild ordinance forbade members from doing so for safety concerns. Guild ordinance probably also forbade sneaking into a private sector and witnessing the guild’s second in command test fire a super mega death cannon. Well, he certainly was not a guild member anymore. He was a criminal. Again.

Gray mist swirled around his legs and dark fog obscured his vision as Torr approached the entrance of Stonebridge Mystery Dungeon. This place wasn’t far from the guild. In fact, his exploration team had completed at least a dozen chartings of Stonebridge in the past couple of years. Torr wasn’t going to shake the guild off his tail by running here, but he could certainly throw them off in a loop if they failed to find him in the dungeon.

Torr dashed through the fog, squinting as the blurry landscape around him shifted. Moments later, he came to a halt as it became pitch dark around him. Even though Torr’s eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, it would still be easier for him to navigate the tight corridors of dungeons with a light source. Torr reached into his bag and retrieved a small orb. He squeezed it tightly with his claws. The orb began glowing brightly, instantly illuminating his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be a massive cave system. Stalagmites and stalactites littered the rocky, otherwise barren environment.

The krokorok dropped the glowing orb into a small lantern and held it out as he darted around the earthen obstacles, searching for the route to the next floor of the dungeon. He didn’t expect any interference at the moment, but it never hurt to be extra cautious. As usual for D-Level 6 and lower dungeons, the first couple floors of Stonebridge rarely contained any corrupted wilds.

Torr traversed the dungeon with ease. Although mystery dungeon formation is unique to each instance, it was possible for avid dungeoneers to make educated assumptions about each floor’s layout if they had explored it before. After just a couple minutes of elimination and trial and error, he arrived in a cave containing a faintly glowing, gray portal that resembled a staircase. Torr jumped through it and continued through the uneventful second floor.

As Torr reached the third floor of the dungeon, he began to hear the familiar shuffling and growling of a wild. The downside of bumbling about a mystery dungeon with a light source was that he became a magnet for trouble. He put down his lantern and pulled his dark red bandana scarf over his long snout, making sure it wouldn’t fall loose. Inhaling copious raw antanima could be deadly. Torr fell into a battle stance and readied his claws for action. Suddenly, a figure leapt out of the darkness and into the lantern light. It was a kabutops, scythes raised high and eyes glowing an unnatural dark purple. Its face was distorted into a permanent scowl.

Torr let the corrupted wild launch the first attack. The kabutops wound its left scythe back and ran at him. Torr easily predicted the feral assault and sidestepped at the final moment. The wild struggled to keep its balance as its attack went wide. It stumbled over its own legs and fell onto the dirt floor, embedding its scythe into the earth. While the corrupted wild was disoriented, Torr landed his first blow, striking the kabutops at the top of its head with an iron tail. The wild had no emotional reaction to the blow that caused a massive crack on its exoskeleton skull. It managed to free its scythes from the ground and swung back violently but without direction.

Torr easily skipped out of the frenzying kabutops and forcefully jabbed his claws into the crack on the wild’s head. Its skull split in two, and instead of blood, a dark purple mist erupted from where its brain should have been. The corrupted wild’s skeletal body fell to the floor, emitting the same vile vapors.

May you find warmer sands in death.

Torr picked up his lantern and turned his back to the scene, hoping no other wilds heard the commotion. He reached into the lantern and squeezed the orb again to snuff out the light, then dumped it back into his bag. Maybe the portable light source monster magnet was more of a liability than an asset. He could still find his way with a reduced field of vision. Torr sprinted through the dark corridors of the cave, finally arriving at the staircase portal.

The fourth floor sounded like trouble. Torr heard more ominous growling and shuffling than usual. He hadn’t been to Stonebridge in several months, but even factoring the spread of corruption, he knew that this was an unnatural amount of commotion.

Torr tread through the inky corridors with caution, trying to locate the root of the disturbance. He made quick work of a corrupted onix blocking his path by fracturing one of its segments with a hefty brutal swing. Shards of its body crashed to the floor as gassy antanima clouded the air. The krokorok quickened his pace.

Huh, that’s strange. Torr thought, squinting at what appeared to be a silhouette of a bird pokemon in his field of view, facing toward a wall. It seemed to be trembling violently, unlike any corrupted wild he had seen before. Torr readied his claws and approached the figure stealthily. It seemed to still be unaware of his presence as he tiptoed toward it.

Within seconds Torr had his unwitting opponent in a chokehold, with his claws over the pokemon’s throat. It was a young archen, frozen stiff with shock. Torr looked into the bird’s eyes. They were filled with life.

“What the hell,” Torr muttered incredulously. He loosened his grip, gently propping the archen up against the cave wall. “You’re not corrupted.”

The archen stared at him in silence for a second, then appeared to shake its head.

“Can you uhhh, speak?” Torr received another head shake from the archen. He couldn’t tell if it was deliberate or not.

“Hmm…” Torr mused for a second. The poor thing was probably just in shock, but he wanted to know for sure. “Right, uhh, raise your left wing if you’re not wild.”

The rock bird did as it was told.

“Hmm. It’s ‘kay, I’m not gonna like, actually rip your head off. Just thought you were another corrupted wild for a sec.” Torr took a seat next to the bird. “Now can you talk?”

The archen shook its head again. Torr looked at it quizzically.

Sensing his confusion, the archen dragged a clawed wing against the floor, trying to spell something out.

Mute.

Torr squinted, trying to make out the dirt scribbles in the dark. “That clears things up quite a bit.”

The archen looked up from his crude writing, shooting Torr a sad look.

“So, next question I guess. Why are you here? I mean, this is uhh… hardly a place for kids,” Torr inquired. The bird looked as if he was going to begin writing again, but stopped and just stared at the floor.

“Don’t wanna talk about it?”

The archen shook his head.

“You are stuck here though right? Like I assume you didn’t venture out here on purpose.”

Lost.

“Do you have a home?”

The archen stood still as a statue for a few seconds, before shaking his head. Torr let out a deep breath and put a claw on the bird’s shoulder. “Ugh, sorry man. Guess I can’t just leave you here in this mess. You got a name?” More scribbling ensued.

Dolkka.

“Dolkka. Cool.” Torr loosened his backpack and held it open. “Do you mind riding around in here for now? I kinda need to keep a low profile.”

Dolkka looked Torr in the eyes, expression unreadable. He then hopped in the bag without protest, poking his head out the top.

###

The eighth floor of Stonebridge was teeming with wilds, as usual. Its twisted, labyrinthian corridors were a challenge to navigate, even for a seasoned veteran like Torr.

The krokorok weaved between the rocky structures that jutted out of the ground, trying not to leave any tracks. The guild would definitely scour this dungeon for him sooner or later. He had made the massive blunder of not disabling his badge until well after his escape, so it was pretty much certain that they knew his whereabouts. The best he could do was hide somewhere deep within the dungeon and hope they give up the chase.

“There it is,” Torr muttered as he came across a tight, rocky corridor hidden from plain sight by a pile of inorganic rubble. He looked back at his newly acquired luggage. Dolkka was clutching the backpack with his clawed wings. The archen stared back at Torr anxiously.

“Okay, you can come on out now. We’re gonna squeeze our way through here. Hold my arm, I don’t want you getting lost in the dark.”

The duo crammed their way through the crevice and arrived at a clearing on the other side.

“This is a cave within a cave, and also my favorite hiding spot,” Torr said, sitting down and leaning back with his claws behind his head. He looked over at Dolkka and saw the archen staring blankly at the wall.

“Oh yeah, it’s like, even darker in here. Sorry, I’d light an orb but that’d give me away.”

The archen continued to stare, looking even more confused than before.

“Ah, I guess I owe you a bit of an explanation. Well, we’ve got some time to kill. I’ll start from the beginning.”

---

“I’m like, seventy four point two percent sure he’s somewhere on this floor,” a raichu whispered as he flashed another crack in the stone walls of the dungeon. He twirled a jagged glass dagger around in his left hand. “Check every nook and cranny.”

“Okay,” a hydreigon muttered nonchalantly as he scouted the other wall of the cave, peering into every opening he could find. The duo had been in the dungeon for upwards of an hour now. The loose antamina in the air and the occasional scattered remains of wilds hinted that someone had been here recently. As they turned another corner, the hydreigon routinely scanned the corridor, enhancing his senses to search for any trace of sentient life.

“Noise. To the left,” he turned to his companion and whispered after a brief moment. The raichu shot him a smug smile.

“Let’s go.”

---

“So anyways, after I blasted his stupid face with sand, I turned and just straight booked it. Like fuckin’ light speed outta the guild, excuse my language.” Torr’s hushed monologue echoed ever so slightly in the dark crevice he and Dolkka had been situated in for the past ten minutes. “And then I-“

The krokorok suddenly went quiet. He turned and peered toward the crack leading out to the corridor. A dim glow penetrated the former pitch darkness of the mystery dungeon.

Ah, here they come. Torr thought, backing up against the wall and trying not to move a muscle. He shot a glance at Dolkka, who stared back blankly.

The faint sound of footsteps gradually grew louder as Torr clenched his teeth nervously. He listened intently, taking note of the rhythm of the steps.

Sounds like… just one bipedal? And that whizzing sound, maybe a couple fliers? Torr wondered who the guild could have sent after him to try to distract himself from his immediate predicament. Team Renegade are the guild’s lap dogs, but they’re currently out somewhere in Celoville. Plus, they don’t have any fliers. It could be Overload, but they aren’t exactly on Sevve’s good side. Team Emera doesn’t have a flier either… Shit.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and whispering started. A beam of light made its way through the crack and into the crowded cave.

“Boo!”

Torr flinched at the abrupt sound. He gripped the rocky wall behind him even harder.

“Hey Torr!” A cheery voice echoed in the dungeon.

“What the fuck.” Torr peered out of the crack again at the source. He was greeted by the sight of a familiar, dagger wielding rodent. A hydreigon sat behind him, looking bored and jaded as always.

“Phew, that woulda been awkward if it wasn’t you,” the raichu said. “Did I getcha?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Me? Finding you, of course. What are you doing in there?” The raichu shone a light orb directly at Torr’s face. “Come out.”

“Uhh, alright.” Torr grabbed a confused Dolkka and inched out of the crevice.

“Oooh, who’s this?” the raichu asked, pointing the hilt of his dagger at the archen.

“His name’s Dolkka, and he needs a place to stay,” Torr answered. “Dolkka, meet my teammates Raize Raichu and Blackell Hydreigon.”

The archen waved shyly.

“Heya! Nice to meet you bud.” Raize extended a hand and shook Dolkka’s wing more violently than the bird was expecting.

“Greetings,” Blackell said curtly, bowing his head and hands simultaneously.

“Torr, you’ve got yourself in quite a pickle. And us too. Our team’s officially disbanded now,” Raize turned back to face the krokorok, who put his claws to his face. “I sure hope you have a plan.”

“My bad guys. Dunno why I assumed they would just let you guys go on without me.” Torr scratched behind his head. “Uhh, I was planning on going to Ardenvale.”

“Why Ardenvale? That place is full of low-life bottomfeeders,” Raize said as he fiddled with his dagger.

“That’s exactly why, Rai. As a former ‘low-life bottomfeeder’, I can tell you the lot of them don’t have the hots for the guild and its management.”

“I think I know where you’re going with this.” Raize ceased playing with his weapon and squinted at Torr. “You really think you can form a ragtag team of criminals to take down the guild?”

“Yep. Pretty much.”

“Do you know just how much monpower the guild has? We’ll probably need to recruit half the bandit population in the nation to even match them. Not to mention that we’ll be in conflict with every single criminal network in existence. They’ll see us as competition. I know you probably have connections, but no bandit worth their salt is gonna want to team up with former guildies. Sounds like a batshit crazy idea, even for your standards.” Raize stared unblinkingly at Torr, who just stared back silently with crossed arms for an awkward few seconds. Eventually a small smile crept onto Raize’s face, despite his obvious efforts to hide it. “You son of a bitch, I’m in. Black, what about you?”

“One question first. Torr, what did you even see back there?” Blackell asked, crawling up from his seated position and stretching his wings.

“Oh, yeah. Good question. I totally forgot to ask, haha,” Raize scratched behind his ear.

“I’ll describe it as I did to Dolkka here…” Torr paused to recollect his memory. “Uhh… There was a large metal box with a cannon mounted to it. There was a latch on it that opened to an empty chamber. Sevve’s lackeys brought it some criminal luxio and shoved him into the chamber. Then, Sevve hit a button that activated an aura shield between him and the cannon. A few seconds later, the cannon fired and almost blew up the entire room. There was a massive explosion. Like, I’m talkin’ smoke clouds as tall as four or five duradulons. And then they… uh… found me, somehow. And I had to run.”

“Damn,” Raize exclaimed. “When you said you suspected they were developing an energized weapon, I thought you meant like a handgun or something, not a weapon of mass destruction.”

“Yeah, I thought so too. We need to spread the word. That thing looks like it can wipe out an entire city.”

“Well, I’m ready to go. And so is Black, I’m guessing.” Blackell nodded in affirmation at Raize’s remark.

“Thanks guys. But we’re not heading to Ardenvale just yet.” Torr looked over at Dolkka, who had been patiently listening along the whole time. “I think we should make a detour to Klinklaton first. I wouldn’t want to get a kid involved in this mess, and I know a couple mon there who may be able to take him in.”

---

“Couldn’t we have just taken the road?” Raize grimaced as he whacked away at a dried, thorny vine that clipped his left ear. “By Raikou’s wrath, how did these damn things even grow this tall?”

Raize, Torr, and Dolkka had been trekking through the heatstriken desert wilderness of south Cressinger for the past couple of hours, while Blackell flew a short distance ahead. Dead trees were sprinkled amidst a seemingly endless field of tall brambles and yellow shrubs. Cracks covered the sandy clay floor. The occasional cry of wild mandibuzz could be heard in the distance. The afternoon sun painted a scarlet gradient across the blue sky, which would have been beautiful if it wasn’t so blindingly bright at the same time.

“This route cuts thirty minutes off the main trail,” Torr said, checking his wristwatch. “If we’re quick with it, we may be able to catch someplace open for dinner.”

“I think I’d rather starve,” Raize muttered, rolling his eyes. This enthusiasm from earlier was all but gone. “How much longer do we’ve got?”

“Uhh, we’re about halfway there I think. So about two hours or so?”

“Are you for real?”

“I told you it’d be a four hour walk.”

“And I assumed we’d be walking on roads!”

“You’d be complaining either way.” The krokorok was unbothered by the scraping assault of burrs and branches on his legs. Sometimes, Raize was jealous of his friend’s tough skin. The raichu looked back to make sure they hadn’t lost Dolkka. The archen was also having a better time than he was, it seemed.

Raize made an anguished huff and turned his attention back to the crude, faint path carved from decades of light foot traffic ahead of him.

A sudden flash of movement to his left caught his attention. Without making any abrupt motions, the raichu tracked the suspicious blur with his peripheral vision. He saw another movement, this time to his right, followed by a faint shuffling sound.

“Torr! Two attackers, three and six o’clock!”

With a rustle of dried twigs, an arbok and a mightyena sprung out simultaneously from the dense piles of tumbleweed on both sides. Raize quickly extended an arm, striking down an attempted bind attack from the arbok. He pinned the snake down by its hood as it struggled and hissed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fight, Torr quickly protected a fury swipes aimed at his chest. The mightyena bounced harmlessly off the energy shield. While the attacker was too dazed to react, Torr swept his rough tail at the mightyena’s torso.

“Oomf!” The mightyena was sent airborne, landing sprawled out on the dry ground in a cloud of dust.

“No, Pashu!” the arbok let out a raspy cry. He struggled harder against Raize’s iron grip. “Get off of me, you rat bassstard!”

“You won’t win my favor with insults,” Raize said smugly, unsheathing his dagger with his left hand. “But we’ve got a few questions you can answer. Perhaps you’d like to oblige?”

Raize swiftly jerked his head to the side, dodging a spitball launched by the scowling arbok.

“You know what? I could use a new snakeskin belt and a fur hat,” Raize continued, bringing his dagger up to the arbok’s face.

“Fine. What do you want?” The arbok bared his fangs, trying to keep up the menacing act.

“Name?” Raize demanded, slightly loosening his grip.

“Arbok,” the arbok said initially. When the grip on his hood tightened back up, he hastily amended his statement: “Caranaga! Caranaga Arbok!”

“Relation with guild?” the raichu continued interrogating.

“Guild? We don’t have relationsss with no damn guild!” Caranaga screeched.

“Wait, so you’re just a couple dumb bandits?”

“Objection! We’re aspiring membersss of the Phantasm Sscircle.”

“Being ‘aspiring members’ doesn’t mean anything,” Raize replied with a chuckle at the bandit’s expense. “Torr, what the hell is this guy talking about?”

“The Phantasm Circle is one of the bandit gangs that rose to prominence after Team Vigilant dismantled the Coalescence almost a decade ago,” the krokorok explained, still staring at the unconscious mightyena. Dolkka, who had hopped into Torr’s bag during the scuffle, poked his head out curiously.

Raize turned his attention back to the snake.

“So why jump us? You’ve gotta be the dumbest thieves on the planet.” Raize pointed to the gray scarf tied loosely around his neck. An intricate white crest resembling a delphox head was neatly patched on the corner. “That’s the guild crest.”

“Hsss, we’ve run out of time. Trial endsss tonight and we have nothing to show for it,” Caranaga seethed, wriggling against Raize’s grasp.

“Trial?” Raize looked over at Torr.

“Probably a recruitment trial,” Torr answered.

“Are you gonna arrest usss or just ssstand here mocking usss?” Caranaga spat on the floor.

“We won’t arrest you,” Torr piped up. “In fact, we actually have an offer for you.”

“What kind of sssick joke are you pulling? Asshole guildiesss.”

“We’re not with the guild anymore. We’re starting a… uhh… bandit gang. Kinda.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“And you’re desperate. Rai, let him go.”

Raize obliged. The arbok crumpled to the ground, panting heavily.

“Look man, we’re not arresting anyone,” Torr continued, shrugging with open palms. “Still not convinced?”

Caranaga remained still for a while longer, before silently slithering beside his fallen partner. The mightyena stirred slightly as the arbok stroked his fur with his tail.

“Can we get sssome time to… consider this ‘offer’?” Caranaga finally asked. Torr stroked his snout, giving it some thought.

“Sure. We’ll be at Klinklaton for a couple of days. Be there tomorrow at noon sharp, or we’ll assume you’ve declined.” Torr turned away from the bandit duo just in time to see Blackell flying back towards them.

“All good?” the hydreigon asked. He turned to eye the defeated bandits sprawled on the ground. “Looks like it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get a move on,” Raize grumbled, patting some barbs out of his fur. He began walking away. Torr followed with Dolkka still in his bag. “The faster we’re out of this hellscape, the better.”

“Need a ride?” Blackell offered, tilting his head.

“Nah. I’m not a pikachu anymore,” Raize responded, looking slightly offended. “Plus, I need to keep watch for more bandits.”

“Your loss.” Blackell shrugged, then swiftly took off again, disappearing into the afternoon sky.

Torr and Raize remained quiet for a while, until they were well out of earshot of the recovering bandits.

“Are we really that desperate that you’re trying to recruit those idiots?” Raize squinted at Torr. “If they tried that shit a week ago we woulda had them locked up. Arrested on your first thievery, imagine!”

“It’s more common than you think. And yes, we are that desperate.” The krokorok had his sights on the path ahead. The sun seemed as if it were beginning to set, albeit very slowly. The path ahead also seemed to flatten out. “Did you really need to scare that guy so bad? Probably would’ve gone a lot smoother if you cut the death threats.”

“Hey, we’re outlaws now. No one’s gonna take us seriously if we play goody-two-shoes. You should know this better than anyone,” Raize said, a smug smile returning to his face.

“Err, not necessarily. But I appreciate that you’re getting in character.” Torr turned to face the young archen in his bag. “Everything alright in there?”

The archen nodded.

“Mmk. You can stay there as long as you want. I don’t mind a bit of extra weight, haha,” Torr continued, his strained face betraying his words.

###

“We’re almost there,” Torr exclaimed as the group emerged from a wooded patch crowding a rocky mountainside. Blackell had decided to land and walk the rest of the way with the party, as his wings were aching. The sun had just inched its way over the horizon and twilight had begun to set in, but the tantalizing heat prevailed.

“What do you mean we’re almost there? I don’t see shit.” Raize put a hand above his eyes and squinted into the distance. “I just see some merchant caravans and wild wooloo. No real signs of civilization.”

“See that steep plateau over yonder?” Torr pointed ahead.

“Yeah. What about it?” There was indeed a massive plateau near the horizon, jutting out of the flat earth like a misplaced jigsaw piece. A layer of ominous dark clouds hung low at the top of the earthen landmark.

“Klinklaton’s built inside the wall of that cliff.”

“Whaaaat?” Raize exclaimed, jaw agape with awe. “When they said Klinklaton was in a mountain I assumed it meant on top of the mountains. Not literally inside of one.”

As the group approached the cliffside, the existence of the town became apparent. Cargo carriages whizzed about the myriad of roads leading out of the bottom of the cliff. It also became obvious that the “dark clouds” Raize observed earlier were billows of industrial smoke emitted from several large shafts jutting out of the plateau. A row of uniformed guards patrolled around a massive steel gate embedded into the cliffside. Upon closer inspection, the cliffside itself was covered almost entirely in uneven wooden planks.

“Hello there!” Torr greeted the nearest guard.

“State your business,” the nidorina demanded monotonously.

“We are here from Estias City to visit some friends.”

“Identification?”

“Uhh, one sec.” Torr reached into his bag and fished out a laminated sheet of paper.

“Visitors from the guild? Come on in, we’re honored to have you,” the nidorina said with a hint of surprise. She turned to the guards posted at the edge of the gate and gave them a thumbs up.

The gate creaked open gradually, revealing a wide, rectangular tunnel. Electrically modified luminous orbs adorned its two upper edges, strung together by precariously sparking wires like a pair of pool dividers. The decrepit iron walls were covered with unsightly rust and various graffiti.

After just around a minute of walking, the group reached a tall flight of stairs which led down to the city. Raize marveled at the view of the colossal underground city from atop the stairs. Dozens of rows of identical cubic brick houses that covered the width of the city formed a grid of dirt roads. A tall street lamp was present at every other intersection, illuminating the roads below with a dim orange glow. The roads were busy with pokemon pushing around wheelbarrows full of various earthen substances. Several mine shafts covered the walls to the left and right sides of the houses. The faint sound of minecarts clanging along rickety rails echoed around the city. Past the vast grid of houses, a plaza that resembled a marketplace was teeming with activity. Even further down in the city was a mansion that was big enough to fit over a thousand of the small houses. It was the only structure in the entire city which, at a glance, did not look battered by the test of time.

“This is dope. Why have I never been here before?” Raize gawked as he descended.

“‘Cuz other than the initial amazement, there’s nothing to do here if you’re not a merchant or coal baron,” Torr grumbled in response.

###

“Who are we looking for?” Raize asked as they trudged along, careful not to trip on one of thousands of potholes riddling the unpaved roads. Turns out, Torr wasn’t lying. It hadn’t even been ten minutes and Raize was already weary of the tedium of brick houses and musty air.

“A pangoro and a marowak. Dunno where they live though. It’s been a decade since I’ve been in this shithole,” Torr said from the head of the pack.

“So, are we just gonna walk around like a flock of headless torchic?”

“Just follow me. I think I got a clue.”

The group soon arrived at a wide, concrete building that broke the monotony of brick cubes. To the left of the building was a curious flight of stairs leading even further underground. A booth was located at one end of the building, where a bored looking sudowoodo wearing a blue cap was handing out a ticket to a bisharp.

Snagging the ticket, the bisharp suddenly turned to face the group, inspecting them with glowing red eyes for a split second before pivoting and walking away. Raize shook away the slight unease from the strange incident as Torr approached the booth.

“Two adult, one child,” Torr said to the sudowoodo, who handed him three tickets in exchange for a handful of poké. Torr grabbed the tickets and turned to Blackell. “Yo, Black. Mind flying to the market plaza? Just a few miles down this road. We’ll meet you there in a few.”

Blackell nodded and took off without a word.

“What’re those tickets for?” Raize looked around, confused.

“You’ll find out in a sec.” Torr headed down the stairs next to the building. Raize and Dolkka followed shortly behind.

The stairs led to a platform on the side of another massive tunnel. At the center of the tunnel was a pair of peculiar tracks. Instead of fishplates, the tracks’ metal rails had evenly spaced teeth carved into them. Perched on the tracks was an empty, wrought iron carriage.

“Well, that beats scootin’ away on a tiny minecart,” Raize remarked, putting a paw to his mouth thoughtfully. “How does it even work? There’s not even a lever inside.”

“Be patient, you’ll see.” Torr crossed his arms and leaned on the wall. “You good? You’re asking an awful lot of questions. Like, more than usual.”

“Hmm…” Raize hadn’t even noticed until his friend mentioned it, but he had been extra chatty today. He had even dropped his confident persona that he put up for years now. The raichu pondered his feelings for a bit. “I guess it’s the nerves. Y’know, I’ve lived in Estias pretty much my entire life. Only left the city on jobs. And now we’re leaving all that behind.”

“Say, didn’t you mention before that your motivation to join the guild was to ‘get strong and explore the world’? Well, you’re done with step one,” Torr said with a mocking smile. Raize cringed and shot his friend a nasty look.

“Guh, don’t go around quoting what I said as a dumbass kid.”

“Aww, learn to take a joke will ya?” Torr slouched back even further against the wall. His expression turned serious. “My bad for getting y’all involved in this mess. I have a bad habit of playing vigilante.”

“It’s all good. It had to be done.”

“Mhmm. Well, it’s no fun when you’re always prepared for what’s next. Don’t worry too much. Think of this as an indefinite vacation.”

“Eh, I’m not exactly worried. Just a bit sentimental, that’s all.”

A deafening crash cut their conversation short. All eyes turned to the source of the sound. Another carriage had made its way into the station, colliding with the stationary carriage and causing it to topple off the rail.

“Oopz!” A high-pitched, robotic voice called from the new carriage. “That’z coming out of my pay.”

The carriage shook as an ex-eyed klink floated out from under it. Its eyes shifted into empty circles as it noticed it was not alone.

“Bzz! We got passengerz! Hi!” the klink continued as Raize eyed it strangely. The gear pokemon floated over to the toppled cart. It hovered over the carriage ominously for a couple of seconds before sticking onto its side like a magnet and pulling it upright. “There! Good az new. All aboard!”

Torr, Raize, and Dolkka climbed into the suspiciously shaky carriage. The klink closed the door from the outside and floated down under the carriage, fitting itself between the carriage and the teeth of the rails.

“So, these carts are powered by klink,” Raize mused. “That’s cool.”

“Yep! You folkz new here?” the klink’s voice sounded from beneath the passengers.

“Yeah, something like that,” Torr responded.

“Welcome, welcome! I, K-Unit2387, will be your captain on thiz trip. Hold on tight, cuz we’re ready to rock and roll!”

A whiplash of musty air knocked Raize off his feet and tumbling to the back of the crowded carriage as they accelerated at an alarming rate.

“Sorry! I’m not uzed to carrying passengerz!” the klink apologized as Torr stifled a laugh and Dolkka cocked his head, amused.

“Oh, stop it. It wasn’t that funny,” Raize grumbled.

A few minutes later, the cart arrived at their destination. Torr thanked Captain K-Unit2387, and the group made their way up out of the station. They were greeted by the sight of a bustling marketplace. Droves of pokemon shuffled about the tiled floor of the vast, circular plaza. A familiar hydreigon sat just outside the stairs they just ascended and was gathering a small crowd of young admirers.

“Can you eat with those hands, mister?” a phanpy inquired, pointing at Blackell’s head-like appendages.

“I would prefer not to,” Blackell responded, embarrassed.

“Dragon types are so cool!” A rockruff jumped up and down restlessly. “Did you know my uncle is a tyrantrum?”

“Ooh, do a dragon pulse! I wanna see it!” a bunnelby squeaked.

“Um…” Blackell glanced over and, upon noticing his teammates, shot them a desperate look.

Before Raize could help shoo the curious children away, a donphan stomped over.

“Fanta, how many times do I need to tell you. Do NOT speak to strangers,” the donphan boomed, shooting Blackell a nasty look. She rolled out her trunk and grabbed the phanpy.

“So-rry mom,” the phanpy drawled, before being lifted away by its mother. The rockruff and bunnelby looked at each other, then also scattered from the scene.

“Looks like you made some friends already,” Torr remarked.

“Yeah…” Blackell responded. He shuffled awkwardly toward the group.

“So uh, where are we head-” Raize started, before realizing Torr had already taken off. “Hey, wait up!”

Following the krokorok’s lead, the group made their way to a seemingly unoccupied building. “The Divine Arsenal” was spelled out in large gold letters across the black wooden wall above the entrance. A metallic odor filled the air as they entered. A large red carpet with an ornate golden pattern covered a majority of the concrete floor. The walls were adorned with rows of weapon racks, each displaying a dozen swords, tridents, maces, et cetera. Display cases full of jewelry and small metal figurines lined the sides of the room. A consistent metallic pounding could be heard from the other side of a steel door at the back of the room.

Torr walked up and knocked on the door.

“Be there in a sec,” a gruff voice responded. Seconds later, the door slammed open, revealing a large pangoro covered in soot carrying an even larger hammer.

“Hey Liebe,” Torr greeted.

“Wha- Torr? Is that you?” The bear’s eyes widened ever so slightly in recognition and a smile formed on his face.

“Sure is!”

“It’s been forever, mate!” The pangoro turned to face the rest of them. “And who may these lads be?”

“Remember how I left to join the guild?”

“Ah, so these must be yer teammates,” the bear said, extending a paw toward Raize. “Liebe Pangoro, pleasure tah meet y’all.”

“Raize,” Raize said curtly, accepting the pawshake.

“Blackell.” The hydreigon just nodded.

“A friend of Torr issa friend of mine,” Liebe roared heartily, then crouched down to inspect Dolkka, who seemed to be trying his hardest to remain hidden. “You look a bit young tah be on a guild team, eh? But who am I teh judge? Haha!”

“That’s Dolkka. He’s actually why we’re here,” Torr explained. “We were wondering if you could take in this kid. Found him in a dungeon and he doesn’t have a home.”

Liebe’s brow furrowed. “I’m flattered that you think I’d be a worthy caretaker for this handsome laddie, but erm… am I really the only option?”

“We, or I, got into a bit of a sticky situation with the guild. Long story short, we wouldn’t be welcome back in Estias.”

“You haven’t changed a bit, eh? Always chasin’ trouble.” Liebe sighed. “Normally I wouldn’t hesitate helping out a mate in need, but our financial situation has been shaky lately.”

“Oh… That’s unfortunate. Did demand drop? I thought the barons constantly needed new supplies.”

“That’s not it,” Liebe replied, shaking his head. “There’s a new smith in town.”

“But your smithing is unrivaled,” Torr said, crossing his arms.

“Quality is slow. Too slow for many of my former clients, I’m afraid.” The pangoro walked back into the room and sat down in front of an anvil. He gestured toward a set of benches at the side of the forge. “Have a seat.”

The group obliged.

“As I was saying, this business doesn’t pull in much anymore. At least, naht here. We were planning on moving, actually.” Liebe continued, sliding a freshly forged dagger out of the slack tub.

“Where to?” Torr inquired.

“Dunno, really. Anywhere that needs the craft.”

“Alright, hear me out,” Torr said thoughtfully. Raize braced himself for one of Torr’s terrible ideas that usually followed that statement. “What if you go with us to Ardenvale?”

“Come again?” Liebe raised an eyebrow.

“Well, we’re on our way to Ardenvale. And I’m sure there’s more than enough business opportunities for you there. It all lines up, no?”

“I… This is a bit sudden, doncha think? I mean, we don’t got any concrete plans yet…”

“I think it’s an excellent idea!” came a new voice from outside. Raize turned his head to see a short marowak hauling a large sack of groceries through the door.

“Poli!” Torr’s eyes glowed up. “Man, how long have you been listening?”

“Since five seconds ago. What do you take me as, an eavesdropping electabuzz?” the marowak responded, faking offense. They placed the sack full of vegetables and berries on a table and joined everyone in the forge. “Good evening, friends! The name’s Poliko. What did I miss?”

“Nothing much, other than introductions and that we’ve been banished from the guild,” Torr answered.

“Ah, and now you want to go to Ardenvale?”

“By ‘banished’, he means the guild is probably actively trying to detain us,” Raize clarified.

“Oh dear,” Poliko responded with concern. “Do I want to know how that happened?”

“Caught them making weapons of mass destruction or something like that,” Torr grumbled.

“What?” The marowak’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s quite concerning. We’ll have to catch up, I’ve gotta know what lunacy you’ve been up to.”

“Yeah, I’m down. You gotta show me around the city too. I may have hated this hellhole but damn, so much has changed!” Torr crossed his legs and leaned back on the bench. “Anyways, how ’bout my proposal from earlier?”

“As much as I’d love tah join y’all, I’m not sure we’d be able tah get everything ready in such a short notice…” Liebe piped up.

“Oh, we don’t have to leave with them right away, you dumb bear. Isn’t that right, Torr?” Poliko turned to the krokorok, who nodded.

“Hmm, but… Ardenvale’s nawt really a place where honest folk wanna settle,” Liebe said, scratching his head.

“Aww, you’re always such a worrying watchog. Think about the business!” Poliko persuaded. “Plus, I’m getting tired of this place too.”

“Awright, if it would make you happy I’m down fer it,” Liebe conceded.

“Woooo!” Poliko pumped their fists, then turned to embrace the pangoro. “Thanks hun.”

“Erm. Anyways, who’s hungry?” an embarrassed Liebe said, lumbering over to the sack of groceries.

###

After a very welcome meal of roasted nuts and spiced cider, Torr and Poliko left to do some sightseeing, leaving Raize, Blackell, and Dolkka with the pangoro blacksmith.

“So, tell me. How’s it like to have Torr as a teammate?” Liebe inquired while washing the dishes.

“I mean, he’s good at his job. One of the best explorers in the entire guild, objectively. It’s just… he always wants to do things his own way. Which usually works because he’s usually onto something. But it’s definitely frustrating sometimes when we want to voice an opinion or two and just get shut down.” Raize twiddled with his glass dagger.

“I figured as much.” Liebe let out a hearty chuckle. “When that krok went bumbling on tah us about joining tha guild, I was like, ‘there ain’t a way under Solgaleo’s might that yer gonna find anyone who will join yer team willingly’. The kid was stubborn as a psyduck under amnesia! So of course, he assured us he’d be fine and took off. I’m a tad curious, how didya end up with him?”

Raize scratched the back of his head. “It’s a bit embarrassing to put in words.”

“Oh, my bad. Don’t mean tah be a nosy nosepass,” Liebe apologized.

“No, no, you’re fine,” Raize replied, flicking his tail back and forth as he reclined on a creaky wooden chair. “A graduated school as a wayward pikachu with no real ambition. My folks didn’t really care for having me around. So since we lived just across the city from the guild, I saw no harm in giving it a shot.

“I had some passing friends in school, but no one to really confide in. So naturally, I didn’t have a team when I arrived at the guild. Well, until this weird krokorok came up to me rambling about being the best dungeon delver the guild would ever see and offering me a spot on his team. He didn’t really mention that there were no other people on the team, so I kinda just assumed there were.”

“The ol’ bait n’ switch,” Liebe remarked.

“Yeah, well we did manage to find our third just a couple hours later. This tiny, mysterious deino was just roaming around like a mareep without a herdier, and Torr just roped him in,” Raize nudged Blackell lightly.

The hydreigon muttered something under his breath. Raize didn’t prod. He knew his reclusive teammate wasn’t too enthused with sharing anything personal. Not even his own teammates knew where he was from or anything about him before he joined the team.

“Quite an unusual origin story.” Liebe finished cleaning the cutlery and sat down across from Raize. “I mean, not exactly what comes tah mind when people think o’ the guild.”

“They let anyone join, really. It’s the first few missions that will weed out the wimps.”

“I assume they’re quite difficult, then.”

“Well, yeah. But not really too physically difficult. Many teams just fail to handle the heat of the moment. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have made it far by myself. It really helps to have two teammates who are completely unfazed in the face of danger. I was, for a long time, quite a liability,” Raize said, cringing at the memories of his first few months of missions. He had to admit that it felt good to let loose his insecurities for once, rather than letting them swim in his head and desperately trying to defend them. “It was smooth sailing after I eventually learned to not shit the bed whenever I saw anything remotely daunting. Felt good to not be the slacker of the group anymore.”

“Nothing’s more effective than experience!” Liebe said as he picked dirt out of the intricate handle of his massive hammer. “My pa used tah tell me: even the dimmest of street pincurchins can become the greatest smiths. All they need is opportunity.”

“That might be true, but it’s not everything. We kinda cruised through the ranks after I fixed my hiccups. Quite a few were jealous of our success, I think. Been in the business for so long and all of a sudden some ragtag team of rookies overtakes them, I’d probably be pissed too,” Raize explained, trying his best not to sound egotistic.

“Oh, wow. Didn’t know I was talkin’ to celebrities here,” Liebe looked up from his weapon, surprised.

“Ah, well. We’re not famous or anything. Just kinda renowned in the guild. I don’t think any team really contains celebrities other than Vigilant, of course.” Raize stretched his legs and yawned. “Sorry, it’s been a long day.”

“It’s probably a given but y’all can crash here fer tonight. I’m afraid you’ll have to roll out some mats on the floor, though. I regret that we don’t got any more comfortable options.”

“Don’t be, we appreciate the hospitality. After all, we’re the ones who popped in here unannounced.”

“Hmph, I already know it was a hundred percent Torr’s idea tah drag you guys here, little rascal. Though, I gotta say, it’s nice tah see him again after… what is it, six years now?”

“Six years… yeah…”