o
Chapter 72
In the quarters of Team Remorse, the front door slid open to reveal a very weary Marowak.
"H-heya? Anyone around?" Marrow called, dragging his bone-club along the floor. "I uh… I got halfway to the canyon and I realized I brought the wrong club…"
An odd silence hung in the air as Marrow trudged further inside. He didn't know what to expect when he returned to the team hall at such an hour, but he wasn't expecting total emptiness. Someone was always supposed to be home. Someone always answered the door. Even if just one teammate stayed back, or rarely, if they hired someone to stand guard at the door, Team Remorse never left their halls unguarded – especially unguarded and unlocked.
Clack. Marrow jumped halfway out of his helmet as the door slid shut. Of course, it was meant to do that. But it made Marrow realize that he'd gotten a bit nervous. Something didn't sit right.
Almost hesitantly, he approached the door to his bedroom where he kept most of his clubs. Along the way, he glanced at the bedrooms to his left and to his right. Most were open, but a few were shut. Did his teammate fall asleep on duty? Surely, there had to be some reason nobody answered the door…
"Um… let's see here," he considered, glancing at the nearest doors. "Brock, Craw, Raptor were with me when I headed back. Daemon, Shander, Markov are already at the canyon. Kyria… Maybe she's at lunch? Rocky and Ursa… supply-hunting in town, I think. Scythe… might be in his room? But he would have heard me. Not like he'd be asleep or anything. Peh, probably around the base somewhere like he always is."
He gave himself a hidden little grin as he peeked at the door just across the hall from his own.
"And I know exactly where you are at the moment," he chuckled to himself.
But when Marrow turned to push open the door to his room, the one behind him burst open.
He jumped and brandished his weapon for a moment, but turned to see a familiar face standing behind him.
"Ah, scared 'ya, didn't I?" Raon said evilly. "Hah! One of these days I'm going to spook that helmet right off."
Marrow thanked all the gods that his helmet was still on. It hid the face of abject shock he wore.
"Heya," said Marrow casually, straightening himself and propping himself up with the club. "Yeah, I won't lie. Ya got me. Say there, have you seen Scythe? Or… Kyria, for that matter? I think they were supposed to stay back today. But I'm not seein' any traces of either of 'em."
"Oh, ah! They're at lunch," Raon said, peering at the door. "But! I'm holding things down here. Hah ah, thought you'd be at the canyon by now, yourself."
Marrow squinted and approached the Umbreon by a few steps.
"Wrong club," Marrow said, skillfully flipping it around in his hand. "This one's for smackin' brains out, useless for leverin' rocks around. Any idea when they'll be back? I have half a mind to stay and talk with Scythe. Had questions about what we're doin' next at Ingrain."
Raon tilted his head. "Hm, I think I know where I can find Scythe. If you give me a moment, I'll go find him."
Marrow stepped forward again. "Actually…"
THUNK. The end of Marrow's club hit the floor right before Raon's face, blocking him from going anywhere. Frightened confusion flashed in the Umbreon's eyes.
"…There's a few things I think I'd like to ask you, too," Marrow said with a final swagger. "For one, weren't you supposed to be with Team Ember today?"
"Hm? What do you mean?" Raon said cooly.
"Y'know… that meeting we had yesterday? You were there? The one where Scythe says it was your turn?"
Raon blinked. "Oh… yeah, I remember now. Well actually, their mission isn't for another few hours, so I just browsed the job listings for a bit. I thought maybe I could find them a good training job. Then Scythe caught me near the door and told me to come back here and watch the room for a minute."
"Nah. Scythe didn't catch ya, slimy rodent. I did." The Marowak twirled his club with a single hand, smacking Raon to the ground and pinning him down with the brunt of the bone.
"For one, Team Ember is not doing a job right now. They did their job this morning. Now they've got some kind of team tryouts going on, where Char made up the mission all by himself," Marrow grunted accusingly, prodding the bone deeper into the Umbreon's ribs. "For another thing… heh, heh… I just passed them in the hall on the way back. And you were there. Care to explain how you're in two places at once? Arceus almighty, you're probably a spy for Cepheus, aren'tcha? Is that how he's staying ten steps ahead of us? Are you the spy, or is the other one the spy? Or are you both in on this?"
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" shouted the Umbreon, flailing with his paws. "Alright, you got me. Happy? I'll tell you everything I know, but we do this behind closed doors."
"Ah yeah? So nobody can hear me scream, you mean?" Marrow said forcefully. "Why should I trust you to lock me inside a room?"
"Listen. Marrow. You can trust me," begged the Umbreon. "I'm not the one you should be distrusting…! I… ah, fine. I'll show you why."
And with that, the form of the Umbreon melted into a blue-diamond light, which reformed into…
…A very familiar Mew.
Now Marrow actually dropped his club and stepped back in wonderment. "…Domo," he breathed in disbelief. "Ah, now I know why you've been absent from the dojo for so long! What in the blistering blazes are you doing?! How long have you been impersonating Raon?"
"…Behind closed doors, please," the Mew whispered. "I'll tell you everything I know."
Blankly and unquestioningly, Marrow followed the tiny floating Pokémon into his friend's room. A burst of telekinesis quickly slammed the door shut behind them.
"I actually haven't impersonated Raon before," sheepishly admitted the Mew, floating around the room and stopping to rest on a countertop. "Mostly… it's been Flamewheel members. I've spent a bit of time as Prince lately. But listen. The reason I'm here…"
Domo looked honestly reluctant to say it. "Promise not to tell the other teammates about this? I really can't afford for them to know about any of this."
"That'll depend on the reason," Marrow sighed, leaning against his club again.
The Mew shivered, nervously floating from one countertop to another. "First of all, this was Prince's idea. He came and asked me to spy on Scythe. When Flamewheel joined the Basin Canyon project just recently, Prince says Scythe wasn't acting right, so he asked me to use my transformations and keep an eye on him."
Marrow felt his blood harden to stone. "So… I wasn't the only one who noticed," he uttered. "Well I mean… not one of us hasn't noticed Scythe actin' a bit funny since the mission up north. But me, I was startin' to think it went a bit deeper than that. Not that I like distrusting my boss, but… what if…"
"What if it's not your boss?" Domo finished for him. "Yes, actually. As a shapeshifter myself, I can say he's been showing exactly the kind of behavior that a shapeshifter makes when pretending to be someone else. It's very possible… Scythe isn't Scythe."
There was an uncomfortable moment of quiet as Marrow let the implication sink in.
"Ahhh, yeah, that crossed my mind once," Marrow said blankly. "I thought it too crazy a notion to be true. What would he be, then? A Ditto? And how'd he get in the base to start with? What with all our checkpoints and security and the ghosts in all the walls?"
"…I've got no proof of it yet, but at this point, I think Zoroark is the best possibility," said Domo in a lower voice. "It's difficult for my Mew to get into his head, so it could very well be a dark-type. Aside from that… could be a Ditto. Could be a magic item we don't understand. Worst case, could be another Mew. But given the timing and the circumstances, I find it very likely this is a spy for Cepheus. Oh, and that isn't all, either…"
Domo's huge eyes shifted suspiciously at the walls, as though keeping watch for eavesdropping ghosts.
"…I don't think Scythe is the only imposter," he whispered. "He's got an accomplice. I'm certain of it. Someone else on Team Remorse or Team Flamewheel is helping him. It's the only way he could have gotten so far."
Marrow nervously twitched. "Well then… should I go discuss this with Prince? If Scythe isn't even here, we've got to stick together about this."
"No, not yet, please," begged the Mew. "If Prince finds out I leaked the secret, he'll kill me. Just… act normally for now. We can't let the imposters know we're onto them. I've already contacted High Intelligence and Xatu says to stay the course."
"Right," said Marrow with a nod. "Yeah, the old policy. You find a trap, you spring it. But uh… I don't like this. The settlement's coming up too soon. If Cepheus has a spy in here… there isn't a lot we can do. There's no time."
"Marrow, nobody likes this," Domo replied. "But we've got to treat this delicately if we don't want a bloodbath in the division base. The spy might not even be working for Cepheus. Could be Adiel. Could be someone else."
"Would certainly explain how Adiel got a message to Team Ember," hummed Marrow. "Also would explain why Xatu says we can't leave Char on his own yet. Hm."
The Marowak paced around the floor, bouncing his club on his shoulder. Even through the mask, Domo could see how uncomfortable he was.
Marrow turned to the Mew quite suddenly and said, "Alright then. Erase my memory."
"Huh? What?" Domo squeaked, swiveling his tail in the air.
"You heard me. Erase my memory of this conversation," Marrow demanded. "I know you can. Mew is one of the most powerful psychics on Earth. Look, it's the only way I'm gonna act natural about this. And it's the only way I'm gonna be of any use at the canyon. I'll need to fight at top-form when Cepheus shows up, and I can't do that if I know we've been sabotaged from the start. And besides, if you and Prince and Xatu are all dealing with this problem, it sounds like things are in good hands. Nothing further I can really offer. And no sense having Prince killin' you for spillin' the secret either. So? Just send me on my way, if you will. I was just here to swap out my club for a different one. All you gotta do is put me back in front of my room and this never happened."
Domo looked sad and uncomfortable at the request. "Well… I'm not good at doing that. I haven't erased any memories in… well, decades. But if it's only the last ten minutes… I could try."
"I'd appreciate it," grunted Marrow, looking at the floor. "And I wish you well. I'll be counting on you, even if I'm unaware of it."
"Fine. Sit down," Domo instructed. "Sit down and shut your eyes…"
Cliffside Academy
Later that afternoon, most of the elementary classes had ended for the day. Char had no trouble finding an empty classroom to borrow. His group of seventeen Pokémon filed their way inside as though beginning an early-evening class session.
Char didn't often visit the actual classrooms of the academy. He always found something slightly uncomfortable about them – perhaps they were too different and alien compared to the classrooms he knew from the human world, and he didn't feel like he belonged there. The prominence of footprint glyphs all over the signs and posters didn't help with his confidence, either. (When it came to reading, he knew he probably belonged back in the nursery.)
This one he picked was very small; it had nothing like a chalkboard at the front, no podiums or tables or anything that looked like a teacher's desk. It only had a green circular carpet which was very rough to the touch, some tiny supply shelves around the perimeter, and something in back that looked like a giant roll of poster-paper. The walls were all painted to make the room look like a bright spring day. Char figured that he must have picked an art room.
"Time to pick our teams," Char declared once everyone was settled in a lazy circle. "We're supposed to be keeping our teams at four or less, so we'll need to split into our groups before we enter Iron Town."
Tallie interjected, "Question! How do you expect us to pick our teams if we don't even know what our jobs are? You haven't exactly told anyone what we're doing. I don't know what kind of workforce I'll need!"
"We'll get to that," Char said. "But first, before we pick our teams, we'll need to pick our guest leader. So… can any of you tell me some qualities of a good leader?"
"Experience!" quickly chirped Brace, the little Pidgey. "I think a leader needs to know what they're doing."
"Confidence," added Gemstone, the little Nidoran. "Doesn't make a difference how much experience you got, unless everyone else knows about it."
"Eh, I think a leader should take responsibility," Zachel said, glaring at all the Pokémon around her. "A leader needs to admit when they made a mistake. Not blame it on the whole team."
"A leader needs to be clear about their expectations," grumbled Kerzek the Sableye, ironically speaking too low to easily be heard. "Tell you what you're supposed to be doing, not just assume you'll read their mind. And not lie to your face and say you're doing great, and then just fire you the next day."
"Leaders have to be persuasive!" Asunder proudly shouted. "Leaders have to make sure the team does their work, even if they don't want to!"
"I think a good leader needs empathy," Zona said with a little smile. "You need to be aware of everyone's limits and strengths. Anyone can run out of strength, and the whole team might break down."
Char peered suspiciously at the quiet Quilava in the back. "Scarlet? You showed interest in being the guest leader. So what about you, do you have an answer?"
"Oh! Uh… Selflessness, I think," she said, fretting her front claws together. "Knowing that the team and the mission are more important than you personally… otherwise it just makes a great big conflict of interest where you might abandon your team when things get bad. And there's no worse kind of leader than one who abandons the team."
Char felt an awful shudder. Surprisingly good answer, he said to himself.
Oh, really? Eva sneered. Personally, I preferred Zona's answer the most. Perhaps you are biased because it's the same as the conclusion you recently arrived at yourself?
Char decided to ignore her. "Those are all good answers," Char said, pacing around in the center of the carpet. "As for me, I'd say the most important quality of a leader is adaptability. There is no such thing as a perfect leadership style. It completely depends on the mission, the circumstances, and the Pokémon involved. You might not always know what to do next, but you should know how to use the resources you've got and figure it out. Like recently when Team Remorse needed help on a mission, they went and got Team Flamewheel's help. Or now, when I realized that Team Ember needs help, so we came and got all of you guys. See, a team is like a system. The perfect team kind of just works automatically because all the members communicate with one another and complement one another's weaknesses. The leader is in charge of maintenance; they fix and change the system when it's not working. I knew that Team Ember wouldn't work with only five members anymore, and that's why I'm changing the system.
"…And that's why I'm not going to tell you what your job is until after you've picked your teammates. I want to see how adaptable you are.
"So again, the question… who among you thinks they can lead a team of four Pokémon to accomplish something big?"
There was an immediate answer from the little purple Nidoran. "Me! I'll do it!" she said proudly.
"Whoa, whoa there," shouted Zachel over her. "Care to tell us about your credentials? I uh, see you've certainly got the confidence you were talking about, but what about all those other leadership traits? How much of those you got?"
"For your information, my dad has taught me a lot about running a team," she said curtly. "I'm the team leader all the time on Team Chasm. And I have a perfect record. Lyre can tell you!"
"Last time you fell in a hole!" Lyre snickered.
"No! That was like, last year! And it doesn't count because you still won the mission without me!" Gemstone cried. "Alright look, guys. I know I must sound like a real tryhard right now. But I know how to delegate tasks and manage time. Honest. You'll see if you give me a chance."
Char scratched his chin. "Alright… anyone else volunteer?"
"I have… experience," Scarlet said reservedly. "Quite a lot of experience… actually. I was a substitute teacher before I joined the resistance. For what it's worth."
"Look, I don't know what you're going to make us do, but I know how to fix problems and I don't take nonsense," Kerzek claimed, shaking her head. "I'd get the job done."
Char grinned. "Perfect. Then you three are going to be the logistics team," he instructed. "Gemstone, I'm going to make you the official leader of your group, but really, all three of you will need to practice leading each other. You seem like you all have very different skills, so I want to see if you can recognize who needs to be in charge under which circumstances. You'll also be in charge of coordinating things with the other teams and team leaders. And I guess Lyre can go with you, since it sounds like you've worked with one another before."
"Hah! Good, you won't regret it," Gemstone gladly asserted. "So does this mean I get to fire them if they misbehave?"
Char responded tentatively. "…Yes, it does," he said. "But only if absolutely necessary. I hope I can trust you."
"I guess we'll see, won't we?" Gemstone said, standing up straight and attempting to look down at her two new teammates, despite having the tiniest stature.
Can you keep an eye on them? Char silently asked Eva.
Gladly, said Eva, only giving the slightest sideways glance of acknowledgement. I'll make sure they all… stay honest. Especially that prickly little Nidoran.
Go easy on Scarlet, though, already? Char sighed. She seems more adult than most of these recruits. She doesn't really seem like she's going to cause any trouble. At least for now.
As you say, flatly replied the Espeon. But trust me, if she causes trouble… she will get what is coming to her.
Breathing deeply and keeping his ember steady, Char turned to address his teammates. "Tallie, I'm putting you in charge of security," he declared. "I think you already know who you're getting on your team."
"The Pidgey and the Hoothoot, you mean?" Tallie guessed. "Give me the Skitty, too. If we're going to be guarding something, I want ground control. He seems like a fighter."
"Fine," said Char, waving his hand. "Dragonbane. You're with Tallie. Now… Ray, your team will be in charge of supplies. I'm going to need you to go into town and shop for what we need. We're short on money, so you'll probably need to do some bartering. Show the recruits how it's done! Zachel, you can go with him. And…"
Char closed his eyes and tried not to laugh at the painfully obvious begging-eyes of a certain recruit.
"…And Leo can go with you."
"YAAAAY! Let's go, Ray!"
Zachel waved her claw to get Leo's attention, and grunted, "Hey. Indoor voices. We're in a classroom, remember? Jeeze."
"Raon can go with you," Char continued. "Since you'll probably be out the longest, he can protect you from the Watchers if you're out too late. You can do all the shopping, but otherwise, follow his lead and do what he tells you." Turning to the rest of the recruits, he added, "And that leaves Evan, Asunder, and Nincada. Ah, and Zona. All of you are coming with me. We're going to be the home-base team."
Char crossed the room, walking between the attentive group of recruits, and approached the paper supply at the back. On the shelf next to it, there stood a box of many-colored triangular rocks.
Oh… I've seen these before. Perfect. He grabbed a black rock and yanked a big chunk of paper apart from the roll. He set it on the ground as all the recruits crowded around closely to watch. There, he drew several black lines and circles. A very rudimentary map. On one of the longer lines, he wrote the numbers "418", thankful that most Amberan residents seemed to understand Unown digits just fine.
"So for the first step of our mission, I'll need everybody to meet here," Char instructed, circling a dot next to the numbers. "We'll all leave the academy fifteen minutes apart, and meet here in two hours with your teams. You'll know the destination when you see it. If not, my team will get there first and show everyone the understand what to do?"
"Ah! This is so exciting!" Ray cheered, giving Leo a big, static-sparking hug. "Look at all of us! I hope everybody makes it through the tryouts, our team is going to be so awesome! Hey! Who knows the team motto? Until the last ember fades…?"
Dead silence.
"Aww, c'mon! I've taught you the Team Ember motto before!" Ray pleaded. "Leo? Evan? You remember it, don't you? I said it a billion times! Team Stripes should know it!"
Char knowingly smiled. "Don't worry, they'll learn it," he assured the Raichu. "Just so long as they make it through the mission and get to stay on the team. They'll learn it soon enough."
"Or you could just say 'break' like normal Pokémon," Tallie sighed.
Char shrugged. "Yeah, that'll work for now. Alright, everyone! Break!"
Fairbreeze Park
Scarlet had a secret. A big one.
It wasn't just that she was infatuated with Char. No, that wasn't much of a secret anymore, at least to Team Stripes, ever since she blurted it out in a moment of confusion she'd come to regret.
Oh no, her real secret was the reason she was infatuated with Char. And that was something she didn't intend to share with anyone. Except maybe him.
Scarlet didn't even really know if she should call it infatuation. That's what Ray had called it, half-jokingly, when she confessed, and she just went along with it at the time. But infatuation wasn't exactly the right word for it.
Though, yes, he was cute. And he seemed very mature for his small stature. And strong. And she couldn't help but feel a close kinship with other fire-types. And he'd probably make quite the handsome Charizard.
But really, the feeling was something more like… a nagging. Something she needed to resolve. Something she needed to get off her chest. And with Team Ember not only calling for new recruits, but saying they would give special consideration to fire-types… it seemed like fate was trying to tell her something.
"Gemstone, this isn't the right way," sighed Kerzek. "This is nowhere near route 418. We need to be at least ten city-blocks to the west."
"With any due respect, when it comes to directions, I think you should trust the Pokémon who hasn't spent their whole life inside of walls," replied the smug little Nidoran.
"I've spent my life inside of walls, and yet I still know this isn't the right way," muttered the Sableye. "So what does that say about your sense of direction?"
"Oh, be quiet. I'm the team leader. We're doing things my way," Gemstone insisted.
Scarlet decided to speak up. "That's fine, as long as you accept the blame if we show up late," she said sternly. "Don't get the rest of us fired just because you made a mistake. This is the wrong direction, by the way."
Gemstone dug her feet into the ground and turned around. "Alright look, I know where route 418 is! I've lived here as long as dad has, okay? But Char told us we need to stagger our departures so we won't look suspicious. So it's better if we arrive from a different direction." She shook her head and continued on. "Just because I'm little doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. Sheesh. Give me a chance."
"Hmm. But Eva! What will she think?" Lyre said, sounding oddly happy.
"What about her?" Scarlet asked.
"We perform for Eva. Right now," Lyre replied. "She is among us."
"Oh is she?" Kerzek groaned glancing around at the autumn landscape of the park. "Figures Char wouldn't leave us alone. So he's got his psychic kitty spying on us. Well, you mostly. Not me. Not unless she's got ways of getting around shadowfire."
Scarlet uncomfortably bit her tongue. She knew it wasn't enough to simply never speak her secret to anyone. She also had to hide it from psychics. Thankfully, it was the first thing she learned how to do. She made sure to learn the techniques necessary to keep her dark secret just beneath the surface layers of her consciousness, keeping it muddled with other thoughts and never dwelling on it directly. And she'd kept the secret from all the mind-probes at the Gold Division base, and she was pretty sure she'd kept it from High Intelligence, too. Really, it had been easy to keep her mind off of it for most of her life.
That is, until she met Char and learned some of his secrets. Then things got much harder.
Really, she should have made her move before he started hanging out with that Espeon all the time. That possessive, over-protective Espeon. Scarlet knew exactly what was up with her. Eva wasn't even shy about it. She didn't even bother to keep it a secret that she had claimed Char. They were inseparable now. Always standing next to one another. Always walking together. And Eva was always swaggering and brushing up against him as though trying to impress him and get his attention. And Char was always doing that little head-nod and eye-sparkle at her, which obviously meant they were whispering to one another in telepathy.
Eva was making things a whole lot harder on Scarlet. She'd have to get past her somehow. She refused to let Eva know the truth before Char did.
Luckily, Scarlet didn't consider herself easy to beat. She wasn't a pushover. She just needed a little more patience. Getting herself onto Team Ember was the logical next step.
Then maybe she would have found a proper place to belong.
"Kerzek, you can phase through floors, right?" Gemstone asked suddenly, hissing under her breath.
"What kind of a question is that?" Kerzek coughed. "I was on Team Cog. How do you think I'd get any work done if I couldn't move through floors?"
"…And you can take Pokémon with you, right?" said Gemstone.
"…As long as they're touching me, yes," the Sableye replied. "Why are you asking, exactly…?"
"Good. Do it," ordered the Nidoran. "Now."
"Um… why…?"
"You heard me. Do it. Right now. With all three of us. Take us through the floor."
Kerzek hesitated for a good, solid moment. "I don't think that's a good idea," she replied. "Taking corporeals through walls is one thing, falling through floors isn't exactly the safest – "
"Trust me." Gemstone hissed quietly.
The Sableye considered her for another moment, then shrugged and did as she was instructed. She took Scarlet's paw in one hand, Lyre's giant maw in the other, and waited a moment for Gemstone to run up and pounce on her.
One disorienting flash of darkness later…
Scarlet felt herself thunk onto a sloppy, dank floor.
She heard a squeak from Lyre. "Yike! Poison points!"
"Yeah. I know. That's why I fell on you and not Scarlet, because you can't get poisoned. Scarlet, some fire please…?"
Scarlet let her heart pound for a moment, which fueled her quills and lit up the surrounding area. It was a dark and dirty tunnel, but surprisingly large. Nearly large enough for a Rhydon to burrow through, she thought.
"It's a bunny-burrow," Gemstone quickly explained. "Dad took me here when I was younger to teach me how to dig. Also, you idiot Mawile, you almost ruined it!"
"…Me?"
"Yes, you! I was trying to pretend I didn't notice Eva following us. You know, element of surprise? You didn't have to go blurt it out."
"…Curious, but how did you know she was following us?" wondered Scarlet, getting down on her all-fours to help shine her fire through the cave.
Gemstone put her nose in the air as she stepped forward to take the lead. "It was obvious," she said. "We were the only recruits who weren't assigned a senior member. And Eva was the only senior member who wasn't assigned to any recruits. Char was testing us."
"Are you sure Char wasn't just trying to keep an eye on us?" Scarlet said oddly. "For safety's sake? Like a responsible leader would?"
"Maybe, but what do you think Char would say if we couldn't even shake off a spy?" Gemstone huffed. "Some resistance team we'd be. Anyway, we should have lost her. Now follow me, and these tunnels will take us right down to Route 418. We'll get there at least thirty minutes early." She grinned back at her followers. "Trust me yet? Told you I know what I'm doing."
As Scarlet tip-toed through the chilly mud of the tunnel, there came a voice inside her head: Well-played. Char will hear about this. I'll see you at the bunker. …And then there was silence.
Grayleaf Reserve
It had been a long day of walking, waiting, more waiting, and even more walking. But it was done. The first endeavor of Team Grayleaf was a success.
Thanks to his sister's help, Saura managed to covertly send a message into the Gold Division base. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before it would reach someone who could help. Maybe it would even reach Char. But even if not, just having a single competent resistance team on his side would do wonders to relieve his worries.
Now he just had to wait for a response.
"So you said your friends just passed through there? Just an hour ago?" Saurvor wondered as they approached the edge of their homeland. "That's a real shame. I guess if the line would have been just a little shorter, we could have run into them."
"They pass through there all the time," Saura said. "That's the entrance to the base where I used to work. That Slacking usually keeps track of who enters and leaves. Apparently Char isn't even coming back tonight! Apparently he's doing an overnight mission with his entire team and didn't even say where."
"But the message is sent, right?" Saurvor said again. "That means it's going to get picked up by someone quick… right? I mean, your base doesn't lose messages a lot, do they?"
"…Not that I'm aware," Saura sighed. "I mean, accidents always happen. But their system has been pretty reliable for as long as I've been there. The upper teams were always able to contact the base whenever they needed…"
The siblings continued down the trail in uncomfortable silence. The night was falling, the shadows of the trees were lengthening, and the darkness was approaching. But it wasn't the threat of the Watchers that bothered Saura; he knew how to get back to his family's den with more than enough time to spare. It was the darkness of uncertainty which crept into him, getting stronger by the day.
Just knowing they'd asked for help didn't provide a lot of relief.
"Saura…?" asked the little Bulbasaur quietly. "We're not actually going to die… are we?"
"Not if I can help it," Saura grunted, forcing confidence into his voice for his sister's sake. "We're going to do everything we can to keep the family safe. I just… I wish I knew what we're up against."
"Saura… if nobody from your base comes to help us… what do we do?" Saurlee meekly asked.
"I… I don't know," Saura grumbled forlornly. "I'll sleep on it and think of something by tomorrow. I just… I wish I knew what we were up against, exactly. All we know is that it's something so… strange and unexpected that not even a time-traveler could figure out what causes it. But hey, I'll think of something else tonight."
"Saura…." Sniffed the little Bulbasaur girl, "I don't want everyone to die…"
The first stars of the night were starting to twinkle as Saura stopped to embrace his little sister, tenderly nuzzling his forehead against hers. "I know, Saurlee. I know. But that's why we're Team Grayleaf. We're not going to quit. Okay? Either we stop this, or we don't go down without a fight. Alright, look at me, Saurlee… I'll promise you one thing. Maybe… maybe I won't be able to protect the family. But if I can't… I'll at least protect us three. Okay? And maybe we can find that Redeemer guy again and tell him what's really going on, so he can help prevent it in a different timeline. So maybe he can save them next time."
Saura knew it didn't mean much. He really had no information to go on. Some sort of swift, silent death was coming to them all… a virus? A disease? Couldn't be, not when the Venusaur line is immune to most illness. Was it a spy? Was it another of the Master's generals, someone he'd never heard of before? Or maybe someone who didn't work for the Master at all?
Was it a natural disaster? Would they get flooded? Frozen? Torn away by a tornado? Those were all scary things, but not that difficult to survive if you knew they were coming.
Then there was the worst possibility of them all… what if one of them was the cause? What if Saurvor, Saurlee, or even Grayleaf were unwittingly the cause of their collapse? What if it was the new baby seedling? What if it was himself?
Could he really destroy his whole family on accident while trying to save them? But how was that possible, if the Redeemer hadn't told him ahead of time about the danger, yet they still died in all the other timelines?
Saura found it difficult not to be paranoid of absolutely everything. If he didn't regain control of his heart quickly, he'd begin to see red eyes and evil faces in the shadows of the trees all around him. He'd imagine the trees reaching down to strangle him. He'd imagine the rustling of the wind through the treetops was caused by malevolent ghosts plotting his doom.
And even in the waning of the sunlight, Saura thought the grass-munching Rhydon in the field were stopping to eye him suspiciously.
Thanks again to everyone who came to the Twitch reading of the chapter! (Except for certain people who made me read a certain comic. You know who you are. That was agony.)
Tentative date for the reading of Chapter 73 will be Sunday, December 13th at 7pm Central, and the update will be posted to FFnet on Tuesday, December 15th. Can I get 2 more chapters done by the end of the year? Let's find out!