Rain fell upon Agate Township, accompanied by the hollow howling of a northwestern wind. It wasn’t rare that the wind would flow straight from the Dragonspine Mountain in the centre of the continent, but it wasn’t ever a pretty sight, today more so than ever. The Post Tower was closed, as no mail bird wanted to put their life on the line for speedy deliveries. The streets were awash with muddy water, and citizen and Soldier alike huddled indoors.

From the top of the Crest’s headquarters in the city, a wooden structure bound together by vines, Gareda reeled her head back from the window. “What a waste,” she grumbled to herself, pacing back and forth. “No wonder this city’s one big crapsack. Blegh. Where’s duck face and bird brain when you need them.”

It had been a few days since she had dispatched Vli and Luffy to Greenfield village, all on a hitch that a little otter and his clumsy lizard friend would yield clues to greater things. Her sensory hitches generally weren’t wrong.

And indeed, Vli reported that they were accompanied by an Alliance member before they had gotten back home. Then, a day or two after that, they came back with a bombshell. Those two had the flute piece.

That was all she needed to know. It was time to take things a step further. She had ordered Luffy and Vli back to Agate Township to discuss. It was taking them long to get here, though. Too long. She scowled out of the window.

‘I swear to Arceus, I’ll rip the head off whichever joker is messing around with the weather today. Of all the days… it just had to be, hadn’t it?’

Her wait would continue for another hour before knocking came from the tall wooden door behind her. Before she could answer, it flung open, and a familiar red and yellow face entered the room, holding up an arm on which another familiar face sat.

“Sorry for the holdup!”

Gareda turned her scowl at the guests. “Was it so difficult to ask if you could come in beforehand?”

Luffy wiped her mouth off with her free arm. Water was dripping onto the floor from said arm. “Sorry about that. Weather’s not being particularly cooperative today,” she said with an uneasy smile on her face.

Gareda blew air through her nose. “Fair enough. Growing up on the Dragonspine meant dealing with this kind of weather all the time. I take it the islands and the hills got off lucky by comparison.”

Vli shook his large orange bill back and forth, hopping off Luffy’s arm after having made enough of a scene. “Nah. The Azzuros get plenty of rain, but it’s never this darn cold. I’m curious how you continental folk manage to deal with that,” he said, spreading his wings to shake the excess water off.

Gareda scoffed at the Toucannon. “We’re not built like pampered islanders, that’s why.”

“Hey,” Vli said, talons gripping into the floor. For a moment it appeared as if he wanted to say something, then backed off at the last second. His eyes were drawn to the extra teeth Gareda had bared.

Luffy wandered away from the door, arms stretched in a manner Gareda found far too revealing. Close to showing off, but not quite. Then again, her arms had a nice shape to them. Not too thick, not too thin. What a shame they were attached to Luffy. “Eh,” she said. “Back home, the rain didn’t come often, but when it did, boy did it ever come. Everyone always scurried for shelter. Miserable stuff.”

‘I’d run too if a minute of rainwater can make me sick.’ “Right. Let’s not waste our time here,” Gareda said, raising her arms to a handful of small mats positioned around a table. They were thin, and wouldn’t shield from the hard floorboards well, but there wasn’t much better out here. Agate Township wasn’t Luminity City. Most of the locals weren’t the kind of Pokemon to do their business around a table.

Luffy and Vli took their mats bearing faces that tried too hard to seem normal. Gareda’s sensors didn’t fall for it, not even a little. The scowl which had faded when the two first walked in made a comeback.

‘We haven’t even begun yet, and we’re already knee deep in Boufallant crap. Wonderful.’

Gareda took place on the mat on the other side of the table with a sway of her large tail, and cleared her throat. “So then. Let’s hear it. What have you two seen these past few days?”

Vli poked his beak up into the air. “Definitive proof, my lady.”

Gareda tilted her head backwards, letting the star on her forehead rise like the stars in the night sky. “Proof of what?” she asked, as a wind swept past the window. ‘He should remember.’

Someone outside yeled over the sound of the wind. A parent, by the sound of it. No one in the meeting made mention of it. “Proof that those two kids have been aiding the Alliance,” Vli spoke with a serious gaze. “And it’s not just them who’ve been getting their hands dirty. The whole village is practically infested with collaborators and Alliance members.”

The pupils in Gareda’s eyes widened. Like lightning, she slammed her talons against the wooden table. “...Say that again?” she asked, her voice stern and clear. That the Oshawott and his friend had unknowingly been running errands for the Alliance, she knew. But the rot running down to the roots was unexplored territory. She imagined herself back in front of the crowd that had greeted her in the village that day. She felt their stares. The exact temperature of the sun on her scales. The wind. Her sensors panicking. Those two.

Neither of the other two at the table had given a response that wasn’t giving Gareda an awkward stare. “You… Do you mean to say the Alliance…” she muttered, then fell silent. Finishing the sentence was a bridge too far. Her thoughts were jumbled and scrambled, crushed and scattered to the winds, and she was left salvaging what she could. An image appeared in her head. Patrina. The queen’s teeth shining as her vines lashed out towards her body… and towards them.

“...Yes, that is what we’re saying.” Luffy drummed her claws on the table, her eyes gazing a little downward from Gareda’s sight. “Well, maybe not the whole town, but more than just one or two, we think. We can confirm a few ties, though. It’s a close knit community too. I find it very unlikely this stops at just a handful.”

Gareda shook her head. “This… this cannot… Arceus almighty. And the flute piece is gone, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Vli replied. “Either that, or they threw it into a Mystery Dungeon for no reason.”

“Then we’re in trouble,” Gareda growled between her teeth, her eyes darting around the room in search of any comfort she could get a hold of. Her sensors acted up as she realised there wasn’t any to be found. ‘Why did I order the room cleared out, damn it…’

“How do you mean?” Luffy asked. “Surely we may be able to interrogate-”

“The queen, duck face, the queen!” Gareda said, talons pointed at her face. “She demands the flute piece, and nothing but the flute piece. She has zero patience for this kind of failure, you know this! Forget about what the Alliance wants to do with the flute, we won’t see the day they’ll use it if we screw up like this!”

Luffy shivered and leaned backwards. “Y-yes, Gareda. My apologies-”

“For the love of Arceus, don’t apologise, you hear?” Gareda hissed through gritted teeth. “Either you do better, or you’re as good as dead.”

“W-well…” Vli uttered. He had his beak pointed at a wall, leaving a lone twitchy eye visible to the Garchomp sitting at the other end of the table. Gareda’s eyes narrowed out of frustration. Her sensors had detected a deep seethed fear. Of all times, just when they were teetering on the edge of the abyss.

‘Ugh, the sooner you spit it out, the sooner you won’t have to look at me anymore, bird brain.’

Vli fluttered his wings out. “M-my lady, what, uh… what do we do now, then?”

Gareda crossed her arms. “First off, none of us says a word about seeing the flute. You did not see them carry it into the woods. You did not have any idea that it was even there in the village. None of us had any clue of its whereabouts, only that we have found a potential scent. A lead, nothing concrete. Is that clear?”

“Yes, very clear,” Luffy said in a hushed tone. Gareda nodded along to it, tapping her talons against one another. ‘What a liar she is.’

“If I may,” Vli then said, “do you think the Queen will find out if we cover all of this up? Because, uh, she has a real knack for finding out the truth one way or the other, and-”

“Quiet, you.”

Gareda’s words got Vli to shut up without a single pant. The window behind her being pelted by rain and wind wasn’t making things easy on her two companions. She leaned her head slightly forward; the movement was matched by Luffy and Vli both.

“I’m not about to put my neck on the line for the sake of your conscience, Vli. This is the last time you will bring this up. We will be keeping our mouths shut.”

“Gareda, I-”

The Garchomp let a growl rumble in her throat. “Listen, you bird-brained ingrate. She will have our heads on a silver platter if we blow this. She won’t stop there. I’m not going to risk that. Not. One. Bit. And if you have any ideas in that head of yours about running off and telling her anyway, then you’ll have saved yourself from Queen Patrina, but you won’t have saved yourself from me. And trust me, you won’t be saving yourself from me. Clear?”

The Toucannon froze up. It was as if he had been turned to stone. Even the courage to not look Gareda straight in her eyes was missing. “Y-yes, Lord Gareda. I understand…”

“Good.” ‘Hopefully I’ve saved myself one hell of a headache.’

Gareda pulled her head back. The sensors on the side of her head put her at ease. Any loose lips the other side of the table might’ve had were well and truly sealed shut now. Or so she hoped.

“Right… second of all, we must move quickly against that town. We’ve got all the proof we need that there’s something going on there. First we have that wimpy Raichu running around, and then those two kids with him are caught up in this whole mess as well. We need to apprehend them, and quickly. We may be onto something big here.”

Luffy huffed a grey cloud out of her mouth. “I don’t think it will be so easy to do that. It’s a small town. Their neighbours will stand with them no matter what.”

Gareda lowered her arms past her sides. “You’re right, of course. I’m from the Dragonspine, nothing but villages up there. I know precisely what a village’s bond is like. It’ll have to be a full fledged raid. Nothing else will do.”

“Huh?” Luffy and Vli uttered simultaneously. Gareda shook her head.

‘They’re acting all surprised. Idiots.’ “If the enemy stands as one, then we will have to do so as well. It’s as simple as that. Strength in numbers always leaves an impact. If you were there in Agate Province a few years ago, when the Crest wiped out a large chunk of that damned Prince’s followers, you would understand that. This won’t be so difficult. We get a hundred of the Soldiers stationed here, we arrest who needs to be arrested, we’ll put down anyone that tries to resist, and we’re out. You’ll go get the Raichu, I’ll get the kids, simple as. No bloodshed required.” ‘Some wishful thinking that is.’

Luffy gulped. “Um, Gareda? It’s a lot more than the Raichu and the kids.”

Gareda held her arms over one another in front of her; it was as if she were meditating. “Go on.”

The Magmar wobbled back and forth on the mat, her eyes darting back and forth between Gareda and her tail bobbing up and down next to her.“We think we’ve figured out who’s been giving them the orders related to the flute. There’s a café in the town run by a… Dusknoir, yes.”

Vli nodded, and took over. “His name is Hein, and we’ve overheard him talk about the delivery of the flute. He knew it was with the children, somehow. Reason enough to intervene, I’d say. Not to mention the other-”

The Garchomp suddenly looked upwards. “Hein…”

“Is something wrong?” Vli asked, the nerves pinching on his voice.

“That name seems awfully familiar,” Gareda said, now leaning sidewards, her pupils pressing towards the direction of her right sensor. ‘Way, way too familiar.’

“Uh…”

“Change of plans, then. I will take care of this Hein. Not many have expertise in handling ghosts. Not even in the Crest’s Army.” ‘And I’d rather not use force on children. I’m not stooping that low.’

Vli and Luffy nodded along. “Sure. I’d rather not face a ghost myself,” Luffy said. “You’re way more equipped to deal with one of ‘em if something goes wrong, right?”

Gareda nodded. “If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

“So… when do we make our move? We have to be quick. They’ve already got what they want, and we must be quick,” Vli said. A flare in Gareda’s left sensor alerted her to a buildup of gas in the Toucannon’s beak. ‘Spoiling for a fight, aren’t we.’

“Yeah, we better hurry if we’re going to do this. How quickly does it take to prepare these things?”

Garede held a talon up. “Not long at all. We will make our move tomorrow afternoon…” she looked at the rain stained windows; the light was fading away. “If this storm lets up that is, that’ll be the earliest we can do what we have to do. If not, we’ll have to wait another day. Whatever happens, I want you two to prepare the troops to move out at a moment’s notice. We’ve got a meeting with destiny, and we’re not going to be late. Clear?”

“Clear.”

“Right. Time to get going.”

The two guardians left the room in a quick, yet inconspicuous manner. As fast as they could go without raising anyone’s ire. Gareda let it slide. Tomorrow wouldn’t be easy. No days really were, but there was always a deeper point in the abyss previously undiscovered. Tomorrow, she’d have to sink there once again. She walked over to the window, and sighed as she watched the rain fall upon Agate Township. All the hostility vanished from her eyes, leaving a sad, desperate echo behind.

‘Arceus almighty, please have mercy on our souls. Why oh why must I be stuck between the Queen and the Prince, and why do they have to be as well? Please, do not abandon us all now, not like this…’