“—Authorities are still investigating the site of the massive explosion yesterday evening, but no cause has yet been—”

Click.

“—tellin’ you it’s a sign of the end times! Look up at that big ugly bruise in the air and tell me that things are gonna be okay when the sky itself is bleedin’!”

Click.

“—although there were no reported human injuries, the destruction has elicited concern for the local Pokemon population—”

Click.

“—got a close look before the police cordoned the area off, it was the spookiest thing I ever saw. Entire forest got churned up by the wind, yeah, but at the epicenter? Sand. It was all just... sand, far as I could see. Real quiet too, could barely hear myself breathe.”

“That must have been very disconcerting.”

“No shit. Felt like the skin was gonna crawl off my back closer I got. Something’s wrong there, now. Sun was still up but it was like the light didn’t reach all the way, and it was cold. If my heart wasn’t thumping in my ears I could’ve sworn that I’d died.”

Click-thwip.

The small TV in the hotel’s eating area went dark. Astra stared listlessly at the now black screen, chin resting on a folded arm. Across the table, May set the remote down, shaking her head. She took another bite of the enormous muffin she had bought from the breakfast service.

There were a few other TV’s set around the spacious dining hall, still blaring whatever channel those nearby deemed entertaining enough to watch, but no other guests had chosen to sit in their little corner, preferring their own solitude. The morning sunlight shone through the window next to them, a cheery greeting from the sun to harken a new day. Or it would, were there not a new, if unseen, obstruction to dampen the mood.

“Man,” May said, swallowing the chunk of pastry. “I saw the whole thing and I still can’t believe that happened. Didn’t even know you could do that to the sky. Wonder what it was...”

Astra looked down at her own muffin and took a nibble. “... I just hope it doesn’t happen again.” she said, quietly.

“Mmm. Yeah, I suppose. Still,” May pressed, “You must be a little curious too, right? What do you think? Secret government project? Aliens? Maybe it was one of those mythical Pokemon that only show up every thousand years or so.” May took another bite, considering the options. “Bet if I could catch something that could do that, I could beat the entire league in five minutes flat.”

Astra winced. “I’d really rather not think about it,” she deferred. The movie and a dreamless night’s sleep had done well to allow Astra to... not forget, but distance herself from the event. Still, she would really rather not have it shoved into her face every other minute. Dwelling on what she had done, what she had felt— no, she was far better off doing something else. Anything else.

“Tch, you’re no fun,” May muttered, taking off another chunk off her muffin.

Astra just shrugged, turning her attention to her own pastry. It was a delicious new flavor— pecan?— but she couldn’t seem to work up the energy to feel enthused about it. “You said we were going to binge a ‘trilogy’ today?” she questioned, sitting up. Maybe another movie would lift her spirits.

“Mmm!” May swallowed the rest of her muffin, then shook her head. “Uh-uh. Puttin’ that plan on pause, for now,” she said, to Astra’s disappointment. “We can save that for when Brendan finally gets his ass to town. It’ll go better with a bigger audience. Actually, speaking of...” Frowning, May pulled out her pokedex and tapped at it. She scowled.

“Still no texts?” she questioned, incredulous, “I thought he was gonna beat us here. What gives?”

“Maybe it’s taking him longer than he thought it would?” Astra hazarded. She hoped not; if he kept searching around Route 102 he could risk becoming a danger to the village. “Or... maybe he is here, but he doesn’t know we are?”

May blinked at Astra, as if the thought had never occurred to her. “So you think that he thinks...” she said, slowly.

“That we’re still on our way,” Astra finished, polishing off the last of her muffin.

May was silent for a moment, then scowled. “That stupid— oh, I am going to put the hurt on him if he actually thought that weak-ass forest would take me more than a few days. Not even one message!”

“Well, it’s not like you messaged him either,” Astra pointed out.

“Wh— that’s not— you— “ May sputtered, red faced. She coughed, then fixed Astra with a glare. “Well I could say the same about you!” She accused.

“Hey, I didn’t even know it could do that until yesterday!” Astra retorted, folding her arms. Apparently there was a certain number combination assigned to each pokedex, or phones in general. She didn’t know why Brendan hadn’t asked for hers. Did he not want it? She wished she had known enough to ask him for his. “I still don’t really know how it works, and you’ve known about—” She hesitated, “Texting?— for forever. Don’t pin this on me!”

“I— okay yeah, but— look you can’t always just—” May struggled to find the words, gesticulating wildly with every failed retort. She huffed, blowing a stray bang out of her face. “Forget it,” she grumbled, sliding to her feet. “I need some air.”

Astra got to her feet as well, but paused, running the conversation back in her mind. Maybe she had been a bit too accusatory. It wasn’t May’s fault that Astra didn’t know about phones, or that Brendan hadn’t contacted May or gotten her own number. Still, someone had to reach out first, and Astra couldn’t. She’d have to bring it up again in a bit, see about finally finding out where Brendan was.

May paused at the door long enough for Astra to catch up, then the two of them headed out into the sunshine. The sky above was free of clouds, save for a few wisps of white scattered about. People walked the streets, but despite the bright, sunny day, the atmosphere was one of barely concealed worry and anxiety, so thick that Astra could practically taste it.

A glance skyward revealed the cause: in the distance, an ugly dark yellow blotch stained the sky above the forest. Astra could barely see it from this far away, but even that small glimpse sent a shudder down her spine. They stared at it a moment more before May grunted and turned away. Astra followed after, fidgeting and consciously stopping herself from looking back.

“So, if we aren’t watching those movies, what are we doing?” Astra asked, looking around at the various storefronts that littered the street.

“See the sights, pick some fights, grab some bites, say goodnight,” May recited, shrugging. “The four rites of tourism. It’s what I usually do when I move somewhere new. There’s usually a special spot I try to visit first, unless the town we move to is landlocked. Fortunately,” she said, smiling, “Rustboro happens to have one as well! Hung out there yesterday until the whole, uh, thing went down.”

“Oh?” Astra asked, curious. “A special spot? What is it?”

“I think I’ll keep it a surprise until we get there,” May winked, grinning. “Trust me, it’s pretty awesome. Just gotta get to the docks.”

“The docks, huh?” Astra pondered the location. What could be at the docks? A boat, maybe? “Well,” she began smiling back at May. “I look forward to it! It must be pretty special if you enjoy it that much.”

“Of course it is!” May boasted, grinning right back. “I’m the one who’s showing it to you, anything would be awesome if I’m there!”

The smell of salt filled the air as they neared the western side of the city, and the titanic golden towers of the Devon Corporation loomed ahead of them. Astra gazed at the gleaming spires in wonder. The largest house back home had been her own, carved into a cliffside as it was, and the skyscraper towered over both it and the trees, living up to its name aptly. How had humanity even built these behemoths? Was it stone or some other, more arcane material she couldn’t even conceive of? Why did they even need something that tall?

May probably wouldn’t be much help in that regard, Astra mused. If she couldn’t even make a simple fire, Astra doubted she knew the specifics of building construction. Well, maybe she wasn’t giving her enough credit. She had been at least mildly helpful with everything else so far, and this was a human building. Might as well ask.

“Hey,” Astra said, catching Mays attention. “What are all these buildings made of, anyway? Back home it was all wood or stone.”

May stared at her for a half-second, then rolled her eyes and snorted. “I really shouldn’t even be surprised, and yet here I am,” she muttered. “I think it’s... concrete, glass, steel, and plaster?” she guessed, waving a hand at the tower.

Astra tilted her head. “What’s concrete?”

“Fuck, I dunno! I think there’s like, gravel? Maybe?” May hazarded. “I’m not a damn architect, Astra.”

“Mm. Yeah, fair enough. Thanks!” It was more than she started with, at least. Another few things to find answers to. Maybe Brendan would know more? Astra eyed May speculatively. Speaking of...

“So!” she chimed, grinning. “Are you gonna text Brendan yet or not?”

May twitched, then shot a half-hearted glare at Astra. “He should be the one texting me,” she muttered, and it sounded oddly petulant.

“I don’t think he’s going to,” Astra observed. “I mean, he hasn’t so far. I’d like to say that he will, but it’s already been half a week and I want to see more movies!” She gave May an encouraging grin. “Come on, just ask him where he is already!”

“It’s not that easy, you know,” May grumbled, staring down at her pokedex. She hesitated. Typed out a sentence. Two. She paused, added a third, then scowled and deleted the whole thing.

Focusing intently, May typed out a new text. Her eyes flicked to the side, and she bit her lip. She added another. “Fuck, no, no. Just. Come on—” May growled, deleting it again.

Astra tilted her head. Was it really that hard? “If you’re having trouble, maybe just say: ‘Hey Brendan, me and our super cool friend Astra made it to Rustboro, are you here yet?’” she suggested, peeking at the blank screen.

May snatched the pokedex away, scowling at Astra. “I can’t just say that, It has to be better! Something like... hm.” Looking back at her pokedex, May tapped at it’s buttons in a frenzy, pausing only to backtrack when she made a mistake.

“Hah!” she grinned, tapping it one last time. “That should do it! Now we just gotta wait.”

“What did you send?” Astra asked, trying to see the screen again. “Let me see!”

“Nu-uh,” May denied, holding the device just out of reach. “Only way you get to see my chat history is if—urk!”

A man ran straight between the pair, cutting May’s declaration short and knocking the teen aside. “Out of the way, brats!” a familiar voice shouted.

“Oh no!” Astra exclaimed, rushing to Mays' side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” May grunted, as Astra helped her to her feet. “Ass hurts a little, though. Hey, watch where you’re going you— you!?”

Astra turned to look, then had to double take. Growing ever distant, the distinct blue form of the Aqua grunt from yesterday morning sprinted down the street, clutching something in his arms.

“That guy!?” Astra said, incredulous. “What’s he doing here!?”

“Thief!” Another voice hollered, as if answering her question. “Scoundrel! Stop! Please! That is Devon property!”

From the Devon towers, another familiar figure dressed in a green suit hurtled down the street, screaming and moaning to the world. It was the portly employee Astra and May had met yesterday, and whom they had defended from the Aqua grunt.

“This guy too?” May said, bewildered. “Didn’t we just deal with these two yesterday? What is going on?”

The Devon employee sprinted down the street, panting and wheezing. Looking up, he spotted Astra and May. Recognition and hope crossed his face in rapid succession, and he jogged up to them, gasping for air.

“You two!” he cried, red faced. “Thank goodness! Listen, that Aqua scoundrel snuck inside Devon headquarters and stole some extremely valuable property! All of the police are still investigating that damned blast site in the forest, they won’t make it in time. Please, I need you to stop him!”

Astra grimaced at the man's pleading tone. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to help him; his desperation was evident enough, and there was precedent. But after all that she had gone through recently, she was sure she was straddling the knife's edge of ‘normalcy’. Did she really want to go through even more trouble so soon?

On the other hand, she could literally feel the hope radiating off of him as he looked at them. They had beaten the grunt rather handily before, after all. Could she really look this man in the eye and tell him ‘no’, especially when she was the only one who could help?

Astra wavered for a heartbeat, then sighed and shared a glance with May. “Well, we did say we would kick their ass if they showed up again,” she said, lightly.

“That’s all the excuse I need.” May slammed a fist into her palm and smirked. “Looks like this asshole needs to be reminded that nobody gets to shove me around and get away with it! COME ON, JACKASS, I’VE GOT A SHOE JUST BEGGING TO GET SHOVED DOWN YOUR THROAT!”

Whooping, May about faced and dashed down the street, chasing the Aqua thug with wild abandon. Astra followed close after, cloak billowing in the wind. “We’ll get what he stole right back to you!” she called out to the Devon employee. “That’s a promise!”

“Please be careful!” he shouted back, voice fading into the distance. “He’s a menace!”

Rushing after the thug, Astra and May ducked and dodged around bewildered pedestrians and cyclists. The streets weren’t so crowded as to be impassable, but more often than not Astra found herself wasting precious seconds darting around a surprised businessman. The Aqua grunt had no such preoccupations, shoving aside any who stood in his way.

“Keep your eyes peeled!” May ordered, spinning past a woman with an umbrella. “We need to keep on his trail even if he books it down a side street!”

“Look, he’s slowing down a bit! I don’t think he knows we’re on to him yet,” Astra said, huffing as the grunt made a hard left. “I don’t know if he’s going anywhere in particular. Does he have an escape route? Does he even have a plan?”

“Fuck if I know, but I’m not losing him!” May shouted, skidding around the corner. “Look, he’s heading straight for a park! This is our chance!”

The park ahead was a generous plot of land covered with lush grass. Instead of trees, it dedicated most of its space to large playground equipment. It also happened to be mostly deserted. Free of pesky, obstructing pedestrians, Astra and May began to speed up, gradually catching up to the Aqua thief.

“Hey!” May yelled, catching the thug’s attention. “Stop running, you coward!”

The grunt jerked, then threw a glance and a curse over his shoulder. “Shit, you two again!? Shove off, you brats! This briefcase is Team Aqua’s now!” he yelled, clutching said briefcase closer to his chest.

“No way!” Astra rebuked with a glare. The briefcase again? What in the world was in that thing? Nothing this guy should have, that’s for sure. “We know you stole it! We already beat you once; give it back or we’ll pound you into the dirt again!”

“After all I went through to get this thing? Hell no, the Boss would keelhaul me!” The grunt shouted back, snarling. “And he’s a hell of a lot scarier than you two! You’ll have to pry it out of my hands, you snot nose little twerps!”

“You asked for it!” May roared, pulling a pokeball out of her bag. “Poochyena, take that guy down!”

Poochyena appeared in a flash of red light, already dashing ahead. The grunt took a quick look over his shoulder and the blood drained from his face. Fueled by terror, he burst into an all out sprint, outpacing the viciously barking dog by a hair's breadth.

Screams and shouts erupted from all sides as they burst out of the park and back into the sidewalk. Poochyena was giving it his all, barking up a most severe promise of pain and wrath, but, much to Astra’s quiet, and May’s very, very vocal consternation, the grunt seemed to be ever so slowly gaining ground.

He wasn’t going to give up, was he? Astra narrowed her eyes, breathing labored. She couldn’t keep this up for much longer, and even at a full speed, the grunt seemed to have no intention of slowing down. She exhaled. Fine. If he wasn’t going to go down, she would just have to give him a little push. Concealing her hand in her robe, Astra reached out and—

“Oh, fuck this!” The grunt screamed, fumbling at his belt. “Zubat, use supersonic!”

Another flash of light revealed a small, wildly fluttering blue and purple creature with two wings, two narrow legs, large ears, no eyes, and a gaping mouth that took up half of its head. It flipped around and landed on its masters collar. Turning to Poochyena, the Zubat reared back and screamed.

Poochyena abruptly dropped, howling like mad, and a split second later the supremely high pitched shriek hit Astra. Pain erupted in her ears, and she cried out as the world tilted and swayed around her. The power in her hand backfired and recoiled inside her head as her concentration abruptly vanished.

Astra fell to the ground, clutching at her ears. May, too, had stopped in her tracks to protect her hearing from the sudden, shrieking onslaught.

“Hah!” The Aqua grunt jeered, sprinting away from the scene. “That’ll teach you to mess with Team Aqua!”

“Mother... fucker...” May grunted, taking a few wavering steps forward before stumbling. Astra was no better herself, barely able to stay upright at all. “Bastard! If the world could just stop fucking spinning—”

“What the?” someone said. A figure rode onto the scene, the sound of a bike chain rattling as he pulled up next to them. “May? Astra? Holy crap, are you guys alright?”

Astra looked up in surprise, trying to focus past the ringing in her ears. That voice... “Brendan!?” she gasped, eyes wide. “What are you doing here?”

Dismounting his bike, Brendan hurried over to their side. The black haired boy looked the same as back in Petalburg, sporting a red and black shirt, a white and green hat, and, most strikingly, a pair of shorts over a pair of pants. “You guys left a three block long panic in your wake, I was just following it. Then that screech— never mind that, are you hurt? When did you guys even get here?” he said, offering Astra a hand.

“I’m just... a little dizzy,” Astra managed, taking his hand. He pulled her to her feet and Astra kept her head down, briefly rechecking that her face looked right. She shook her head, then grinned at him. “Still... wearing the double pants... I see?” she mumbled, swaying.

“Is that really what you should be focusing on right now?” Brendan asked, annoyance mixing with worry. “What happened?”

“Oh, now you show up,” May spat, shaking her head and blinking. She scowled. “We’re fine, but that bastard’s getting away. Brendan!”

“Eh?” Brendan looked up, staring at her owlishly. “What?”

“That Aqua jackass just shot out our ears!” May snapped, pointing at a dwindling point of azure speeding into the distance, a winding path of shoved-aside pedestrians trailing in his wake. “At this rate he’s gonna get away with it scott free! Get on your bike and go after him!”

“You were attacked?” His eyes widened, then narrowed. “Aqua? The environmental group? Why would they—?”

“They stole something from Devon!” Astra burst out, pushing Brendan towards his ride. “He tried to attack us yesterday for it too! You have to catch him!”

Brendan still looked unsure, but a spark of determination lit up in his eyes. “Alright then. You two better explain this later, though.” Jumping on his bike, Brendan about faced towards the direction the grunt had left, then hesitated. He looked back. “You should phone the police, or at least a medic!” he called, pumping on the petals. “I’ll keep track of him, okay?”

Astra shook her head, shaking off the last of the dizziness. “No way! We’ll be right behind you, Brendan, don’t let him get away!”

“You better fucking talk to me this time, asshole!” May yelled, flipping him off. “Keep us updated, and save some ass kicking for the rest of us!”

Astra and May watched Brendan speed after the Aqua goon, a clearly exasperated wave of the hand his only response. Astra sighed, rubbing at her head. “Good idea. He’s a lot faster on his bike than we are running, he’ll probably catch up real fast, though I don’t know how well he’ll do in slowing him down once he does. I can’t believe he showed up now, of all times.”

“Yeah, whatever,” May muttered, jogging over to pick up her dispirited Poochyena. “Good try, little buddy. You’ll get him next time.”

Poochyena whined, then licked May’s face in apology. May sputtered, letting out a small chuckle as she wiped drool from her face. “Alright, in you go.” A flash of light, and Poochyena vanished.

May turned to Astra and jerked her head to the side. “Come on, let’s get going,” she said, glancing at the whispering onlookers. “At the speed he was going, Brendan’s probably already caught up to the guy. We’ve got a dumbass to beat to a pulp, and I don’t trust Brendan to not get his Mudkip eaten by that guys Poochyena.”

“Right, right, I’m just...” Astra took one hesitant step, then jogged forward, catching up to May. “Yeah. I’m good. Let’s go.”

Pushing past the pedestrians, the two of them jogged in the direction they had seen Brendan and the thug vanish. Approaching the street they had last caught sight of them, they slowed down, unsure where they had gone. A minute passed as they dithered, then Astra and May jumped as a ringing sound came from May’s bag.

Opening her bag, May took out her pokedex, hesitating only a moment before hitting a button and lifting it to her ear. “Brendan?” she asked, tapping her foot. “Did you get him? Where are you?”

Astra blinked in surprise as a voice came crackling from the device. Was this a ‘Phone Call’? So it was like talking but over long distances. Sort of like telepathy, in that you didn’t need to be near the recipient in order to talk to them. The range was surprising; Brendan had to be ages away by now. How did it reach all the way? It was also, to Astra’s frustration, too quiet to hear from where she was.

May’s foot stopped, her scowl deepening in response to the voice on the other end. “Tch, figures. Right, we’re coming after you. Don’t go getting beaten before I can do it, got me?” Pulling the Pokedex away, May turned back to Astra, irritated. “Bastard stole someone's bike when he saw Brendan coming, but Brendan’s still on his ass.”

Astra frowned. “Well, that’s bad. We need to stop him before he does anything else. Did Brendan say where they were going?”

“Yeah. Asshole’s booking it towards the mountains. Shouldn't take too long to get there if we jog.” Examining the street signs, May jerked her head down the road. “Few more blocks then gotta turn east. Time to head down Route 116.”

Route 116 wasn’t much different from the last parts of Route 104. Trees lined both sides of the packed dirt road, through which tall grass made valiant efforts to reclaim precious soil. None of it was particularly unusual, considering it was more or less part of the same woodlands.

Astra and May jogged down the path, huffing as they went. Astra took out her water bottle and chugged, sweat dripping down her face. She was very much not cut out for this. Walking she could handle just fine. That mad sprint earlier followed by non stop jogging? Completely different beast. Couldn’t the mountains have been closer to the city? She gasped as she came up for air, wiping her sleeve across her face and leaving it horribly damp.

Black, she had discovered, was very good at absorbing the light of the sun. And its heat. Very definitely its heat. Why hadn’t she listened to the Guard so long ago? At least she could still psychically billow her cloak for some air flow, but May’s presence made it a much trickier task.

Astra glanced at her companion, who seemed to be taking the ordeal somewhat better than Astra was. Sweat still beaded down May’s face, but it was set in determination rather than Astra’s own exhaustion. Still, even May seemed to be flagging a bit.

Jogging a bit closer, Astra poked May in the side. “Hey,” she said, offering her the bottle.

May blinked, then nodded, taking the bottle and drinking deeply. She exhaled, handing the significantly lighter bottle back. “Thanks.”

“Yeah. How much further is it, do you think?”

“Dunno,” May answered, peering at the mountain ahead. “Maybe another ten minutes?”

Not too bad, then. She could hold out that long. She took a deep breath, pace steadying out. Hopefully Brendan and their target were at the base of the mountain, and they wouldn’t need to sprint somewhere else. Silence descended on the pair, Astra too tired and May too focused to talk.

Up ahead, a shape formed on the horizon. Astra blinked as she made out a small figure dashing for their life down the road. It soon resolved into a small girl, wailing in despair.

“What the hell is it now?” May groused, glaring at the girl. “We’re behind enough as is.”

“Hey!” Astra called out, stopping to catch her breath, May reluctantly coming to a halt as well. “Is something wrong?”

The girl ignored Astra, blasting past them in a tear filled blur. “I DON’T WANNA GET EATEN BY BUUHUUUHUUUGS!” she howled, vanishing into the distance.

Astra and May stared at the dwindling dust cloud, bewildered. They looked at each other.

“Did you understand that at all?” May asked, waving a hand in the girls direction.

“Not really?” Astra said, shrugging. “It wasn’t very coherent.” She paused as something at the edge of her hearing began to buzz. “Wait, do you hear something?”

“No? What is it?”

“I dunno, it sounds like those lights back at the Pokecenter—oh.” Astra stopped as the buzzing grew louder, staring at the road ahead with wide eyes. “Oh no.”

“Eh?” May said, blinking. “What’s—oh shit.”

On the road ahead, a dozen insectile forms scuttled angrily down the dirt path, white carapaces gleaming in the sun. Black and green eyes glared balefully up at them, and their stunted wings buzzed with enough force to drown the air in sheer noise.

“Nincada swarm!” Astra bellowed, fumbling for a pokeball. The foot-tall insects had rarely traveled south enough to bother Astra’s village, but on rare occasions a great swarm would crawl in from the north and try to devour the entire garden. Psychic assaults had been workable, but another strategy had proven to be far more effective.

After all, everyone knew that Nincada couldn’t swim.

“NINCADA-CADA-CADA-CADA-CADA!” the Nincada screeched, fury thrumming through every word. “CADA-CADA-CADA-CADA-CADA—!”

“Marill,” Astra called, tossing her ball into the air. “Water gun! Drown them all!”

“Marill ma—Mar!?” Marill appeared then recoiled, shocked at the sight of so many Nincada. Shaking her head, she heeded Astra’s command and swelled up, then blasted a pressurized stream of water down the trail.

The great chorus cut off as a Nincada took the hit head on, crumpling under the blow and crashing into the Nincada behind them. The two fell to the ground in a clump, thoroughly soaked. Their limbs twitched, struggling limply before falling inert. Marill let out a whoop in celebration, then prepared to fire once more. A moment later, Lotad appeared next to her, blinking at the oncoming horde.

“Just one hit? Hah!” May sniffed, grinning. “Don’t even need to worry, this’ll be a piece of cake! Lotad, blast them to smithereens!”

“Tad!” Lotad warked, adding her own blast of water to the mix and forcing another Nincada to fall.

The two water pokemon fired rapidly down the trail, four more falling to the onslaught. One Nincada, larger than the others, let out a rallying cry as the remaining five closed into melee range. They split apart, two Nincada diving for Lotad and the larger one leading the last two in a charge against Marill.

Astra grimaced. She had hoped that Marill would have gotten them all before they closed into melee. She’d seen the sorts of injuries Nincada had left on the village guards, and she’d wanted to spare Marill from that. If Marill could just ward them off for a bit...

“Tail whip!” Astra ordered. “Don’t let them get too close!”

Marill whirled around, tail neatly smacking one of the small Nincada and sending it flying into a tree. The other two, furious and undeterred, descended on Marill, claws raking a multitude of shallow gouges across her sides. Marill screeched in pain and anger, spinning around and blasting the smaller Nincada in the face. The insect rocketed into a tree and fell to the ground with a wet thump.

“NINCADA!” The large Nincada roared, flaring its stunted wings. It jumped on Marill, claws scoring marks into her head as it furiously slashed away.

“Ah!? Throw him off, Marill!” Astra yelled, wide eyed. Stop, drop, and roll!

Curling into a ball, Marill spun forward, crushing the surprised Nincada between herself and the ground. The Nincada released its hold and fell, twitching as it lay on the packed earth. Suddenly it flipped over, glaring daggers at Marill. An eerie calm overcame its eyes, fiery rage transitioning into cold calculation.

Astra blinked, surprised. This was one tough bug. Nincada weren’t usually this stubborn. “Finish it off with a water gun!” She bellowed, pointing at the defiant insect.

Marill swelled, but before she could fire, the Nincada quickly bit into the earth and then spat. A glob of brown shot through the air and hit Marill directly in the left eye. Marill cried out in pain, water spilling onto the dirt as her stubby arms wiped frantically at her injured eye.

“What!?” Astra said, shocked. Had it just shot a wad of mud into Marill’s eye? What a sneaky little bug. She tensed as light flashed in the Nincada’s eyes. “Come on, Marill!” Astra called, focusing. “Don’t let this bug get the better of you!” Roll left and fire!

Marill growled, scraping away the last of the mud off. Though her injured eye was free of debris, Marill kept it closed. Curling up on herself, Marill pushed, sending herself barreling to the side. At the same time, the Nincada reared back and leapt forward—directly to Marill’s left!? “Marill, wait!” Astra shouted, panicked. “It’s already—!”

Marill had uncurled, already preparing her water gun. The water caught in her throat when she saw Nincada already descending upon her. She recoiled, half-formed water gun falling apart once more in an alarmed gurgle as Nincada’s claw slashed down.

Pain.

And then Marill screamed. A red line opened across her remaining eye, trickling crimson down her cheek. She clutched at the wound and fell to the ground, rolling around in agony.

“Marill!” Astra exclaimed, reeling back as the pain surged along the psychic link. “No no no— return!” Red light flashed, and Marill’s cries were mercifully cut short. Astra stared at the pokeball, grimacing.

To her side, the duo of Nincada facing May’s Lotad had finally been vanquished in an aquatic beatdown. May glanced over at Astra’s battle, then cringed. “Holy shit,” she muttered, wincing at the brief glimpse she had seen. “That looked really bad. How the hell are you getting bodied this badly?”

“I don’t know,” Astra growled, glaring at the Nincada. The insect stared back, eyes gleaming and claws raised. “But I’m putting an end to it. Slakoth,” she said, her newest teammate coalescing onto the trail in yet another burst of light. “Let’s go!”

“Sla?” Slakoth blinked, taking in the Nincada before him. He gave it a lopsided grin. “Slaa...”

The Nincada seemed to take offence to that. Buzzing furiously, the insect darted forward, claws poised to strike—

“Rock tomb,” Astra said, flatly.

—only to stumble and shriek as a quintet of rocky needles erupted from the ground, piercing its chitin and pinning it in place. The Nincada wriggled furiously inside its stone prison, chittering furiously.

“Nincada! Cada-cada-cada-cada-cada—!”

“Slakoth?” Astra asked, sweetly.

“Sla?” he responded, giving his trainer an expectant stare.

“Throw it through a tree.”

Slakoth grinned. “Koth!”

The Nincada stilled as Slakoth meandered up to the spiky prison. Beady eyes widened in alarm as Slakoth’s paw descended. “Cada!?”

“Slak.” Slakoth grinned, and then there was a light crunch as his hand closed around the Nincada’s back, breaking the stone needles with casual ease. Nincada struggled against Slakoth’s grip, legs clawing frantically at thin air.

“Nincada!” it said, head swiveling violently, searching for any possible salvation. Its eyes alighted upon its fellow Nincada scattered upon the ground like refuse and it paused, all hope draining from its eyes. “Cada?”

“Koth.” Slakoth agreed, winding back.

Slakoth eyed a tree near the trail, wound up, and threw. Nincada screamed, wings flaring uselessly. The bark crunched as the insect collided with the trunk, and myriad cracks burst open along Nincada’s back. Nincada let out a mournful croak, then fell to the ground, twitching.

Astra glared at the Nincada for a moment, then sighed. “Good job, Slakoth,” she said, raising his pokeball. Slakoth gave her a wide smile as he vanished into his pokeball.

“Well, that happened.” May said, looking around at the scattered bodies. She frowned as one of them jerked upright, but relaxed when it merely looked around woozily and stumbled off into the forest. “What the hell set them off?”

“I’m not sure,” Astra admitted, turning back to the road. “Maybe that girl earlier...?”

“No way,” May disagreed, shaking her head. “With the way she was squawking, that kid never would’ve messed with a bunch of Nincada. Maybe it was that Aqua jerk? But how would he make a bunch of bugs riot if he was running from Brendan?”

“I don’t know,” Astra said, starting down the road again. “But we’d better hurry. If something happened—”

“Nin... cada...” A raspy voice called out from behind them. Both trainers whirled around in shock, staring at the large Nincada. Said bug had struggled to its feet, and even now was limping towards them, breath rattling with every shaking step.

“How the hell is it still moving?” May grimaced, eyeing the large rends in its back.

“Why is it still moving!?” Astra demanded, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “It should’ve been knocked out twice over from that! Why does it... huh?” Astra paused, staring at the Nincada. The white hot rage and icy fury it had radiated earlier had vanished. In its place was stubborn determination, respect, and... something.

Struggling onward, the Nincada came to a stop a short distance away from the two of them. It appeared to study Astra for a moment, before nodding its head and... knelt?

Astra stared at the Nincada. There really was no other word for it: it had folded its front legs under it, closed its eyes, and then leaned forward, dipping its head down. It was kneeling. Why?

“Nincada,” It rasped, syllables coming out between harsh gasps for air. “Cada-cada-cada nin.”

Puzzled, Astra brushed against the bug’s mind, searching for an explanation.

Submission.

Ah. Well then.

“I think,” Astra started, slowly, “That it wants to join me.”

“Yeah, guess so.” May said, considering the bug. She frowned. “Not a fan of bugs, personally, and these guys seemed pretty fragile. Gonna go for it?“

Astra hummed, considering Nincada in a new light. “He didn’t seem weak at all.” she mused, thinking aloud. “He was smart enough to target Marill’s weak points and fast enough to actually hit them when it mattered—”

“Okay, yeah, fantastic,” May interrupted, brushing Astra’s monologue aside. “Just toss a ball and let’s go. We’re in a hurry, remember?”

“You’re the one that asked,” Astra muttered, fumbling for an empty pokeball. “Yeah, got it. As for you,” she said, staring at the Nincada. “I don’t like you. But you’re good, and I suppose that’s enough.”

Nincada looked up, antennae twitching. Its eyes flickered from the pokeball to Astra. If it could have smiled, Astra got the feeling it would have.

“Nincada,” it intoned, oddly formal. It bowed again, and then vanished into red light. The pokeball fell to the ground, wobbled thrice, and then fell still with a chime. Astra picked it up and stuffed it into her bag. She’d have to sort it out later.

For now, they had to catch up to Brendan, and catch the Aqua thief. She grimaced. Not having Marill would be a major hindrance, and while Slakoth did well, she hadn’t yet tested him in a full scale battle yet. She shook her head, going to May’s side and returning to their journey. No use worrying now. After all, Treecko was still completely fresh; so long as she had him, there wasn’t anything that could stand in her way.

“Hey,” May began as they ramped up to jogging speed again. “Weren’t you complaining like, two days ago about not finding anything to catch?”

Astra huffed, already feeling her legs straining once again. She glanced at May. “Yeah? What about it?”

May grinned. “With all these pokemon basically falling into your lap, I guess you’ll never have to bug me about it again, huh?”

To her astonishment, Astra found she still had enough air in her lungs to groan. “You’re terrible, you know that?

“Haha!”