The base of the mountain came into view six minutes later, and it took half that time to finally reach it. Astra took deep, gasping breaths as she and May finally began to slow down. Never again, she vowed as she slogged through the final mile, legs feeling like jelly. Never. Again.

The mountain in front of them speared into the sky, the odd bush or tree the only break in the uniformly reddish-tan stone. Relatively boring, but behind it loomed Mt. Chimney, a smoking beacon that dwarfed the mountain before her, taller than anything Astra had ever imagined. She had only ever seen the landmark from the few times she had climbed to the top of the village's canopy, or more recently from a few vantage points in her travels. The smoke constantly flowing from the largest peak was a mystery to her. How could a mountain smoke? Was it on fire? But how could you set a rock on fire?

Whatever the reason, it had always been too far away to tell, and the smoke always seemed to billow to the north. But from this distance she could see the row of successively smaller peaks trailing southward, leading to the smaller mountain directly before them.

Route 116 ran up against the mountain, leading up to a large opening in the steep rock edifice. A tunnel through the mountain, it seemed, though Astra couldn’t see the far end. Absently, she wondered how long it would take to pass through. Off to the side was a small lodge with piles of what Astra assumed was mining equipment lined up against the walls, alongside a couple bicycles.

Standing around the lodge were about a half dozen burly looking workers. They were gathered together, glancing at the tunnel mouth occasionally and muttering to each other in low tones. And sitting at a large table next to them—

“Brendan!” Astra exclaimed, exhaling sharply in relief. “You’re okay!”

Brendan, who had been quietly conversing with a forlorn looking old man, looked up and grinned. “Guys!” he called, standing up and beckoning them over. “Glad you caught up in time. Things are getting serious.”

Astra and May staggered through the last few yards, and Astra took a moment to examine the old man. The first thing she noticed was the strong scent of salt, strongly reminding her of the beach. His head was bald and shiny, contrasted by the full white beard and moustache coating the bottom of his face. His face was marked by a swathe of oddly colored spots, laugh lines and crinkles around his eyes. He also looked to have been crying recently, and still seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Brendan, on the other hand, looked like he had been dragged through a bush. His clothes were dishevelled, and he looked to have gained a few scrapes and cuts at some point. Had the Aqua grunt attacked him? Actually, where was he? Astra glanced about, but couldn’t spot the telltale flash of blue. What happened here?

“Who’s this old dude?” May asked between gasping breaths.

“What do— ah,” Brendan started, then blinked. “Right. Just moved. This is Mr. Briney. He’s a well known sailor, so much so that practically everyone in Hoenn knows him.”

“What’s a sailor?” Astra asked, tilting her head. Brendan gave her an incredulous look.

“He travels on a boat a lot,” May answered absently. “Okay so why’s he looking like his pet died?” She looked around, frowning. “And where’s that Aqua jackass? Did he get away?”

Mr. Briney abruptly burst into tears. “Peeko!” he wailed, clutching his hands together and crumpling in on himself. “My darling Peeko! Oh, please be safe...”

“Oh jeez, hey, hey now, don’t worry,” Brendan said, patting Briney on the shoulder. “He’ll be just fine. Me and my friends are gonna go in there and rescue him, alright?”

‘Oh, will you?” Mr. Briney sniffed, looking up at Brendan with shining eyes. “Please hurry. Peeko is my dearest friend in this world. Oh...”

“Peeko?” Astra asked.

“Mr Briney’s pet Wingull,” Brendan answered, patting Mr. Briney on the shoulder once more. He stood up, jerking his head toward the mountain tunnel. “Come on, I’ll explain on the way. The thief is still in the tunnel.”

“The tunnel?” Astra asked as the three of them started towards the cavernous opening. “Don’t tunnels lead somewhere? Why hasn’t he left?”

“Rusturf Tunnel is supposed to lead to Verdanturf Town, but you know that huge explosion yesterday?” Brendan asked. “Apparently the aftershocks were enough to destabilize some of the support structure inside, so there was a big cave in right in the middle. Whole passage is blocked off by a giant pile of rubble. Those workers were called in to clear it, though apparently it’s slow going.”

Astra winced at the reminder of her escapade. Was this her fault too? “Was anyone... inside?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

Brendan hesitated. “I didn’t hear anything about it, so I don’t think there was.”

Astra exhaled, a weight lifting off her shoulders. “Good.” she said, relief in her voice. At least she hadn’t hurt anyone.

The workers nodded to them as they passed. “Good luck in there,” one said, folding his arms. “But try to keep it quiet, alright? We don’t need more trouble than we’ve already got.”

“We’ll try,” Brendan said, nodding back. “Thanks for the info.”

May examined the tunnel ahead, ignoring the well wishes of the laborers. “So when the dumbass ran in, he didn’t know it was a dead end...” She said, a grin spreading across her face. “He’s trapped himself. Fish in a barrel.”

“Fish in a— huh?” Astra blinked, confused. What kind of expression was that? “Okay. Well, at least he can’t run away anymore. Now we just need to get that briefcase out of his hands, and...” Astra hesitated. “Rescue Peeko? Is he in the tunnel? Why?”

“That’d be the fault of our target,” Brendan said, sounding grim. “I caught up to him when the workers tried to stop him from going into the cave. I wasn’t able to take him down, however; he used his Zubat to supersonic the entire camp and took Peeko hostage in the confusion. The noise drew a whole horde of Nincada out of the woods too. I had to deal with the swarm before they could hurt anyone, but they whittled me down to Mudkip in the process. The Aqua member hightailed it into Rusturf Tunnel while I was distracted.”

“So that’s where they came from.” Astra mused. “We fought a dozen of them on the way here. They were chasing some girl.”

Brendan shrugged. “I don’t know about any girl, but I think I did pass someone on the way. That might’ve been her.”

“I’m just happy we can finally kick this bastard’s ass once and for all,” May said, grinning. “He’s been giving us the slip for way too long.”

“Just be careful,” Brendan warned as they entered the mouth of the passage side by side. “There’s an entire colony of Whismur inhabiting the burrows here. We have to be quiet or there’ll be an uproar.”

The air turned chilly past the threshold, and soon the dim artificial lighting from the tunnels' sparse lanterns were all that illuminated the dark. The tunnel seemed to curve south, leaving them with only a few yards of sight. At least it wasn’t super cramped; Astra could fit about two and a half of herself laid out lengthwise from wall to wall. Though if a fight broke out she doubted that they could have more than a few pokemon out without running into problems.

Astra gazed at the tunnel walls, the enclosed atmosphere reminding her strongly of home. The walls were startlingly barren, aside from the frequent man-made structures reinforcing the stability of the rock. Her Grandpa would love to work on such an expansive new canvas.

“What’s a Whismur?” she asked, turning back to Brendan.

“A normal type pokemon, average of two feet tall with a spherical body plan, stubby arms, large, padded feet and two giant ears folded over its head.” Brendan responded, reciting the information stoically. “Mauve with yellow highlights, eyes consist of two sets of four lines arranged in a plus sign.”

“Did you like, memorize a textbook?” May asked, glancing at Brendan. “No really, did you actually sit down and reread one enough that you can just spout lines off it verbatim?”

That was an interesting shade of red Brendan was turning, Astra noted. “What’s a textbook?” she asked, turning to May. “Is it different from a regular book?”

“Anyway,” May continued, ignoring Astra’s question and Brendan’s confused doubletake, “Doesn’t sound like too much of a problem. Just some purple puffballs, right? Even if they get a little mad, we can deal with it no problem!”

Brendan gave her a flat look. “When Whismur get scared, and they scare very easily, they scream loud enough to rupture eardrums.”

May and Astra stopped, staring at Brendan with wide eyes. He stared back, eyes lidded.

“Ah,” Astra said, after a moment. “That sounds... bad.”

“You couldn’t have mentioned that before we went inside?” May quietly hissed, glancing warily at the looming darkness.

“Maybe you’d know if you looked in a textbook,” Brendan huffed, folding his arms.

“If you got one on you I can smack you with it.”

“I still don’t know what that is!” Astra complained.

“And that is very concerning!” Brendan exclaimed, his voice suddenly breaking the hushed silence the three had fallen into. He looked at Astra, worriedly. “When you say that, what exactly—”

“Whismur?”

Everyone froze. All eyes turned toward the newcomer. A Whismur had stumbled out of an unseen side tunnel around the corner and was now staring at them. Brendan, Astra noted, had described it rather accurately. Even the really absurd looking eyes. It shied back, trembling as three sets of eyes abruptly turned its way.

“W-whis...” It whimpered, then darted behind a wooden support pillar. It peeked out after a moment, then shrank back again when it saw them still looking at it.

Astra held up her hands and backed up a few steps, which seemed to help with the large amount of distress she could sense from the creature. “Brendan,” she asked, keeping an eye on the Whismur (which had, alarmingly, started to cry a bit if the wet sniffles were any indication.) “Are they really as bad as you said?”

“I was exaggerating,” he admitted in a whisper, also sidling towards the wall. “But it’s not pleasant. And if there are any more, it really can get that bad.”

“Fantastic, at least I’ll only be mostly deaf,” May muttered. “How the hell did that other guy— whatever. I doubt it wants to fight, so let’s just slide around it. It’s only like, what, thirty yards? Easy.”

May backed against the far wall and began to sidestep down the corridor, Brendan and Astra following suit. Astra skidded along awkwardly, her hat making it harder than expected to keep flat against the wall. If she were alone it would be a simple matter to just teleport down the hall, but that wasn’t an option right now. She couldn’t even risk trying to talk. With the way it was practically radiating fear, who knew what it would do if she spoke up?

Probably scream. Not ideal.

That said, it was well on its way to doing that already. The poor thing was basically frozen in place, and a low keening sound had replaced the sound of sniffling, growing louder with each step they took. Was it... whistling?

“This isn’t working,” May growled, coming to a stop. “We’ve only moved ten yards and it’s already starting to sound like my damn tea kettle. How do these things function? We’re not even doing anything!”

Brendan frowned. “The collapse yesterday must have the whole nest on edge. They’re sensitive, but not this much. Not normally. The Aqua member barging through with a frantic Wingull in hand probably exacerbated the issue.” He paused, then gave May a strange look. “You drink tea?”

“Oh my, yes,” May drawled, her voice suddenly taking on a strange, airy inflection Astra couldn’t place. “I just love to put put a kettle of vintage Oddish blend on in the morning, really start the day off right you know is now the fucking time? Astra,” May said, turning to the smaller girl. “Can’t you like, music this guy asleep or something?”

Astra shook her head. “I left my violin at the hotel. I don’t think I’d know how to do that, anyway?” She thought about what she’d practiced so far. Most of it had been battle songs, and improvised ones at that. She’d have to review the sheet music Trevor had gifted her. “Sorry.”

“Damn. Brendan, any ideas?” May asked. “Cause all I’ve got is to try knocking it unconscious before it blows out my ears.”

“Woah, no need for that.” Brendan said, raising his hands up. He hesitated. “Well, there is one thing, maybe. I remembered something when you asked about music. Loudred—Whismur’s evolution—usually sing to their children to lull them to sleep or calm them down, so...”

“You’re going to sing?” Astra asked, surprised. “I didn’t know you could sing.”

“It’s not singing,” he clarified, “Just—humming, really.”

“Well get on with it before it decides to blow,” May said, jerking her head towards the still whistling Whismur.

Brendan sighed, then gave a single nod. Taking a step forward, he kneeled down, closed his eyes, and began to hum. It was a simple melody, but the sound echoed strangely, giving it an unexpected reverb.

The Whismur poked its head out, its kettle-like wailing having quieted to a mere sniffle. Brendan kept humming, and after a moment of hesitation the Whismur padded closer, examining him curiously. Then it began to whistle again and Astra braced for an explosion of noise.

But it never came. Instead, Whismur lifted its ears off its head, and it began to play what sounded like bird-song from two small holes in its scalp. The tune warbled, its player unfamiliar with the melody, and yet even its fumbling attempt lent Brendan’s humming an air of eerie wistfulness in the echoing tunnel.

“It’s... singing with you?” May asked, surprised. “Wow. That’s... adorable.”

“I kinda wanna hug it,” Astra admitted, peeling herself off the wall to get a better look. She pointed at the now swaying Whismur, grinning cheerfully. “Look at its ears moving about! Ah, I bet it’s soft!”

“Down, girl. No provoking the supersonic puffball.”

“Aw,” Astra pouted, listening to the song. It was pretty good, and Whismur used the echoing tunnel to great effect. Very relaxing, almost enough... to...

Astra yawned, then blinked and shook herself awake. She must’ve been more exhausted from the run than she thought. “Wish I had brought my violin,” she said, “I would’ve liked to play along.”

Brendan shot them a glance and rolled his eyes. Eventually his little tune came to an end, and a moment later so did the Whismur’s whistling. It had come within inches of Brendan at this point, and looked up at him happily.

“Whismur wis!” It said, waiving it’s stubby arms. That was fun! Astra mentally translated. She smiled; it seemed the danger had passed, for now.

“Hey there, uh,” Brendan examined the Whismur for a moment, then smiled. “Hey girl. Sorry about the scare, we’re just trying to find someone else who came through earlier.”

Whismur suddenly shrank back, anxiety springing up in full force. Brendan frowned. “Did you cross paths with him? Did he do something scary or hurt you?” His face darkened as the Whismur nodded to both of his questions. “Well, me and my friends over there are trying to make him leave the tunnels. I’m sure you and your family would like that, right?”

Whismur perked up at his words, and nodded frantically. Or, Astra assumed so; Whismur didn’t have a neck, so this movement consisted mostly of her rocking back and forth a few times.

“Whismur whis!” the Whismur said, pleadingly.

“We’ll do our best, then!” Brendan agreed. “Can you show us where he went?”

Whismur hesitated, but an encouraging smile from Brendan seemed to set her nerves at ease. “Whismur!” she chirped, then turned and walked down the tunnel, turning back to see if they were following. “Whis!” she called, urging them on.

May squinted at Whismur, then at Brendan. She blinked. “Did you just turn the sound mine into our tour guide?”

“Seems so,” Brendan said with a grin. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“That was really cool!” Astra agreed, giving Brendan a thumbs-up. “Good job!”.

May shrugged. “It was alright.”

Astra looked at May, confused. “Only alright? He just saved us a lot of trouble!”

“He only hummed, it wasn’t that impressive,” May defended. “I could’ve done that.”

“But you didn’t!”

“Guys, guys, it’s fine,” Brendan interjected. He motioned to the tunnel. “We have other things to worry about, right?”

The two girls glanced at each other, then looked at Brendan and nodded. “Right,” they chorused.

Brendan grinned, and turned back to Whismur. “Lead on, little buddy,” he said.

Whismur chirped and about-faced, trotting down the narrow passageway. Only a few steps behind, three trainers followed her into the darkness. Whismur began whistling cheerfully, a sort of meandering tune with no greater structure resounding through the tunnel.

“Is she... supposed to be doing that?” May asked, glancing from Whismur to Brendan. “I thought we were trying to be quiet?”

“Well, we were, but this is her home, so... I’d say she can do whatever she wants?” Brendan replied, shrugging.

“I guess.”

Something moved in the corner of Astra’s vision. She turned, and saw a small side passage in the rock wall. In it, another Whismur was lurking in the shadows, turning to track them as they went. Astra stared back, a little unsettled. It tilted its head, listening to the whistle from its cousin.

Then it smiled, and waved. “Whis,” it said, barely audible even in the silence.

Astra stared at it for a moment, then hesitantly waved back. The Whismur smiled even wider, and then vanished as the tunnel passed from view

But then a sharp curse made Astra look in May’s direction. She was looking at another side passage, with two Whismurs inside. The Whismur stared at the group, waved, and then disappeared as the side passage fell behind.

Soon enough, another side tunnel appeared with three Whismur within. Then five. And then a dozen or more, watching from hidden alcoves, quiet susurrations filling the air as the group passed by.

“Is anyone else starting to get creeped out?” May asked, eyeing yet another passageway nervously. Several pairs of cross-split eyes stared back, unblinking.

“They were cute at first, but now...” Astra trailed off, shuffling toward the middle of the tunnel.

“It’s okay, this is—everything is fine,” Brendan said, though even he was glancing about warily. “People pass through here all the time. They’re probably just making sure we’re not here to cause any more trouble.”

Were they? Astra glanced at yet another tunnel full of staring Whismur. Why were they all gathering here? Was it their tour guide’s whistling? What did it mean? Frowning, Astra reached out and gently brushed against the Whismurs’ surface thoughts.

New friends! Aid! Expel Noisemaker. Hungry. Brother sleeping! Sing!

The contents rushed into Astra’s mind, and she blinked as she processed the concepts within. Huh. So their Whismur was just alerting all the other Whismur that Astra and the others were here to help? Thoughtful of her. Though, who was ‘Brother’?

Astra abruptly noticed that the whistling had stopped. She blinked, refocusing on the situation. The Whismur they had been following had frozen, staring into the intermittently lit tunnel ahead. Astra looked around. The Whismurs that had been not-so-stealthily following them had fallen back, now cowering in various corners.

“What’s going on?” Astra began to ask, but Brendan held up a finger and made a shushing sound.

“Listen,” he said, frowning.

Astra listened. Echoing softly from further down the tunnel, the faint sound of grinding stones and cursing could be heard, along with the mournful squawks of a bird. Her eyes narrowed. That sound was coming from just around the bend.

“That must be him,” she said. “Peeko too.”

“So it seems,” Brendan agreed. He turned to their guide, patting the Whismur on the head. Whismur sniffed and looked up at him. He grinned. “Thanks for bringing us this far. We’ll take it from here. Stay safe, alright?”

Whismur sniffed again, then hugged Brendan’s leg. He blinked in surprise, then smiled and patted Whismur once more. Releasing her grip, the Whismur backed up. “Whismur!” she said, giving him one last worried look. Good luck. Then she bounded away, to wait alongside the other Whismur.

Turning back, Brendan retrieved a pokeball and turned at May and Astra. “Right,” he said. “Let’s do this. Come on out, Mudkip!”

“Just what I wanted to hear,” May said, grinning. “Let’s go, Torchic!”

“Rise and shine, Treecko!” Astra called, tossing her own into the air. “We’ve got a bird to rescue!”

Three flashes of light heralded each trainer's closest companion. They looked around curiously, and Torchic squawked at the horde of Whismur lurking in the shadows. Mudkip and Treecko looked similarly unsettled, but when the Whismur made no motion to attack they relaxed and looked to their trainers for instruction.

Astra, May, and Brendan looked at each other one last time, nodded in unison, and began to walk, pokemon trailing close behind. The faint cursing grew louder and louder, as did the squawking of a panicked bird. A small barricade came into view, presumably set up to discourage any curious Whismur that wandered near. It was made of solid wood panelling that covered the entire tunnel, and bright light shone from under the door.

Astra grimaced at the frantic despair audible in the voice of the Wingull. It clearly was not happy about its separation. The man inside didn’t seem too thrilled either.

“Wingull! Wingull wingull gull gull wing—!” Peeko cried out, muffled wing flaps beating against something hard and unyielding.

“Would you shut up, you stupid bird!?” A voice inside yelled, and there was the sharp clang of a foot hitting metal. Peeko yelped, then fell silent.

All three trainers narrowed their eyes, but it was May that took action. “So you wanna make some noise, bastard?” she said, striding up to the door. She lined herself up, raised a foot, and grinned.

“Then let's get this party started.”

May kicked, and the door crashed open. Everyone rushed inside, with Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip taking the lead.

“Let that Wingull go!” Astra roared as she charged in, then recoiled as a bright light briefly blinded her. Blinking the spots away, she took a quick glance around the room.

The site of the collapse was quite a bit different from the mostly clear tunnel before it. New, temporary support beams had been placed in the middle of the corridor, and tools and supplies were meticulously sorted on top of a few long tables. A pile of rubble embedded with scattered bits of shattered wood and metal had completely buried the passage, and there were signs there had been quite a bit more at one point, broken down and transported elsewhere by means unknown. A few yards before the blockage, a strange machine hummed and shook, feeding power through a few black cables and into the three powerful lamps that had blinded Astra, which thoroughly illuminated the entire work site.

And right next to the giant pile of rocks, the Aqua grunt was looking back at them, holding a thoroughly embedded pickaxe and looking absolutely flabbergasted. He looked absolutely dishevelled and reeked of dried sweat, and his eyes frantically looked over them, panic and fatigue roiling off him in waves. Next to him, an upturned wheelbarrow shook as Peeko flailed about within. A hole had been dug out of the rubble behind him; just large enough for a man to crawl through and surprisingly deep, but still far from finished.

“You!?” the Aqua grunt yelped, taking a step back.

“Us,” Brendan confirmed. Mudkip, Treecko, and Torchic stepped forward, interposing themselves between the trainers and the grunt. Brendan waved, giving the blue-clad man a mocking smile. “Hello!”

“We’re here for the bird and the briefcase,” May growled. “Hand ‘em over, now.”

“Damn brats...” The Aqua grunt’s hand inched towards the pokeballs on his belt. He glared. “Don’t you know you’re messing with the wrong people? You’ll regret making enemies of Team Aqua!”

Team Aqua this, Team Aqua that, Astra was beginning to get sick of hearing that name. He kept spouting it off like it was some magic phrase that would let him get away with whatever he wanted.

“Yeah, well, there’s nobody here but you right now,” Astra countered. “And there’s three of us, so don’t even think about fighting back! We’ll just thrash you like last time.”

The grunt’s hand stilled, and he glared even harder. “Fine. If I can’t beat you like that...” His eyes dated to the side, and he grinned. “Then I’ll just have to get my hands dirty!”

The grunt lunged toward the wheelbarrow and kicked it over. Now revealed, a moderately sized white bird squawked and burst into the air. In a snap, the grunt’s hand closed around its neck in a vice grip. The bird screeched, wings flapping wildly as he interposed the flailing wingull between himself and everyone else.

“Peeko!” Astra gasped. He was really going that far? Were there no lows this guy wouldn’t stoop to?

“You think a damn bird is gonna stop me?” May demanded, striding forward with a fist raised. “Come over here and fight me face to face, asshole!”

“Wingull!” Peeko croaked out, struggling furiously. The grunt’s grip tightened and Peeko quieted with a distressed gurgle. The grunt grinned as May froze, Astra and Brendan gasping in shock behind her.

“No, I don’t think I will. Can’t do anything while I’m holding this bird, can you?” he sneered, waving the Wingull around a bit. “Guess this was a good idea after all.”

“Coward,” May growled, but lowered her fist.

“I can’t believe a member of Team Aqua would do something like this,” Brendan said, disbelievingly. He shot the man a pleading look. “Aren’t you guys supposed to promote environmentalism? How exactly does theft and holding pokemon hostage protect the ocean? Hell, that’s Mr. Briney’s Wingull,” Brendan stressed. “He’s a regional hero! He advocated for your group in the past; how could you do this to him!?”

The blue clad man hesitated, then shook his head. “I suppose it is a shame that he got caught up in all this. I respect the man, but our goals are more important than one crusty sailor. Times change, and Archie’s got a new plan that’ll wash across Hoenn like a tsunami!” He grinned, teeth shining in the floodlights. “And if we gotta dirty our sails to see it through, well, I’m no stranger to swabbing decks. So how about all of you shut the hell up, or else this bird is gonna get it. Get it?”

No, Astra did not. She wasn’t going to ‘get’ anything for this jerk and she didn’t care for anyone who trampled on innocent old men to get their way! He had to go down. Peeko posed a problem, however. As long as he held onto the bird's neck, they couldn’t do anything without risk of the man... escalating. May and Brendan didn’t seem to have any ideas. May was just clenching and unclenching her hands, glaring at the grunt, and the thug had just shut down Brendan’s attempt at talking. Torchic and Mudkip were likewise unable to help, as May and Brendan had no means of telling them to do anything without incurring the man's wrath.

But Astra could use Treecko silently. That could give her the element of surprise she needed. Maybe he could shoot the grunt’s hand? She hesitated. From the way the man's eyes were flickering, he was closely tracking every movement their pokemon made. He would assuredly notice when Treecko made an attack.

So that just meant that she needed an opening. And she knew exactly how to make one. Astra stared at the man and focused, bringing the slightest amount of power to bear.

“Now here’s what you’re gonna do.” The Aqua grunt continued, sneering. “You’re all gonna stay right here, while I—”

PING

The Aqua grunt twitched violently and let out a strangled yelp, clutching his head as a spike of telepathic noise assaulted his mind. Astra grinned, and Treecko took a sharp breath.

Bullet seed.

Light shone, and a barrage of glowing seeds dug into the man's hand, causing him to jerk back with a scream. Peeko screeched and burst out of his grip, speeding past the trainers and crashing against the barricade behind them. Spotting the open door, she burst through and sped down the tunnel, cawing madly. May and Brendan looked after the vanishing Wingull, blinking owlishly. Slowly, everyone turned to face the Aqua grunt, who was staring at the vanishing bird in horror.

“I’m sorry,” Astra said, cheerfully. “I didn’t quite catch that. What were you saying?”

The Aqua grunt swallowed nervously as May and Brendan‘s gazes hardened. “Y-you little brats!” he growled, still full of bravado. But there was a hitch in his voice now, and the way his eyes darted wildly from Torchic to Treecko to Mudkip and back again made it clear what he was really feeling. “Once Team Aqua hears about this you’ll regret-!”

“Torchic?” May asked. “Ember.”

Astra’s eyes widened as Torchic puffed up. She was going to set the grunt on fire? Wasn’t that going a bit far!?

But before she could protest, Torchic let loose. The Aqua grunt yelped as he dove away from a jet of flame. “Wait, wait, stop! I surrender!” he pleaded, holding his hands up. “Stop the fire! Stop the fire you crazy bitch!”

“Then you shut the hell up about your stupid little gang!” May roared. She strode forward and grabbed the thug by his shirt collar, yanking him down to eye level. “Newsflash, idiot: they’re not here, and judging by how weak you are, I wouldn’t be worried even if they were! So go ahead, tell your buddies about how you got your ass kicked twice. I’m sure that’ll go down just swell.”

She grinned. “Oh, wait. Nevermind. You’re going to jail, so nobody’s finding out jack. Sucks to be you, huh?”

“Y-you...” The grunt gulped, eyes flickering between May and the faintly smoking Torchic eyeing him like his next snack. “You’ll regret this.” he choked out.

“So I’ve heard.” May rolled her eyes and pushed him away. The grunt stumbled and fell to the ground with a yelp. “Light him up if he tries anything, Torchic. Now,” She turned, looking around. “You guys get the briefcase?”

Astra and Brendan shared an uneasy look, but turned to search the tunnel without protest. A brief search revealed the stolen item located on the nearby table. Astra grabbed it, then almost fell over once it succumbed to gravity. “Oof! What is in this thing?” she complained, dragging it over to the door. “Ugh. You take this,” she said, passing it to Brendan. “I can’t carry that.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Brendan said, hefting it up with a grunt. “Woah, you weren’t kidding," he said, letting it rest on the floor for a moment.

“Heavy, you say?” May asked, leaving the pokemon to keep watch on the grunt. “Ooh, new theory: it’s full of gold bars!”

“I was really holding out for that soup recipe, personally,” Astra admitted. She slumped. “But I guess it wouldn’t weigh that much.”

Brendan gave them a strange look, considered the suitcase for a moment, then shook his head. “Probably not. Devon doesn’t deal in gold. Or, uh. Soup. I’d hazard a guess at... Hm. Parts for something.” Brendan frowned at May. “Backing up a bit, May, you really shouldn’t threaten people like that. What if he had actually gotten burned?”

“Pff. He would’ve been fine,” May said, waving Brendan off. “Maybe he’d learn his lesson if he did.”

That was... a bit more flippant than Astra was comfortable with. Brendan seemed to agree, and he looked at May with clear disapproval. “We’re not the ones who get to decide how he gets punished,” he chided. “Trainers like us aren’t supposed to use pokemon against people without good cause.”

“What, is assault and theft not a good cause?” May scoffed. “He attacked us, I’d say that’s reason enough!”

“Self defence is fine, but threatening him when we’ve already won is a different matter,” Brendan stressed. He sighed. “I know he hurt you, but please don’t get carried away. It’s... concerning.”

“Tch. Whatever,” May muttered. She looked away, stalking towards the door. “Let’s just go already.”

“Ah, yeah,” Astra said, still unsure. She did agree with Brendan, but May did have a point. The Aqua member had nearly deafened both them and an entire street of onlookers. Some form of retribution was warranted. But she had expected May to punch the man in the face, not try to set him on fire.

She shook her head; there would be enough time to sort through all that later. For now, they had to get the briefcase back to the city. “Alright, you!” Astra said, turning to the Grunt. “We’re taking you back to Rustboro. Get on your feet, you’ve got a lot to answer for!”

“Anyone got any rope, or anything?” Brendan asked, looking around. A pair of negatives had him shaking his head. “Drat. I would have liked to tie his hands up, at least. Well, walk in front and keep your hands in the air.” He said, giving the thug a sharp look. “Don’t try anything funny, either.”

“Damn brats,” The grunt muttered, raising his arms as instructed. He marched out of the room, followed closely by Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip. Astra, May, and Brendan brought up the rear, watching the thief carefully.

Astra blinked rapidly as they left the bright floodlights behind, the natural darkness of the tunnel reasserting itself. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and she noticed a Whismur, the one Brendan had befriended, was standing a bit further into the tunnel, poking her head out from behind a support pillar. Whismur shied back when she noticed the Aqua grunt walking towards her, but brightened as she spotted Brendan just behind him.

“Whismur whis!” she cheered, waving a stubby arm. “Whis!” She seemed to be saying, “You did it! I knew you could!”

Brendan waved back, and Astra smiled at the sight, a warm feeling in her chest. Mission accomplished. And once they left, the Whismur could return to their peaceful lives.

Or, at least, what counted for peace when humanity had apparently decided to expand a tunnel in the middle of their warren into a thoroughfare. That was... actually fairly alarming, now that Astra thought about it. She glanced at the tunnel walls, their surfaces noticeably smoother than the varied offshoots. It seemed that if humanity wanted a passage, they didn’t much care about whom they disturbed so long as they got their way. More reason for her village to be wary, she supposed.

The Whismur edged around the Grunt, who shot it a narrow eyed glance, before waddling up to Brendan and chirping happily.

Brendan kneeled down and patted her on the head, grinning. “Hey, we’re back. Everything went fine, and now we’ve gotta get this guy out of your hair and back to our city.”

Whismur frowned and tugged at Brendan’s pant leg. It lifted an ear and whistled a short tune, similar to the one Brendan had hummed earlier, then tugged at his pant leg again. “Whismur?” she asked, staring at him hopefully.

Brendan blinked, then shook his head and gave her a sad smile. “Sorry, Whismur. I can’t stay. We’ve really gotta get this guy out of here, and I’ve got places to go as well. I might be able to come back some other time, but this is it.”

Whismur drooped. Brendan thought for a moment. “You could see us out, if you want,” he offered. Whismur perked back up, letting out a cheerful whistle.

The Aqua grunt made an annoyed sound. “Are we going or not?” he snapped, glaring backwards.

“Shut it, you,” May said, returning the glare. “And keep those arms up!” She paused, then turned to Astra. “He’s not wrong,” she muttered, glancing at Brendan and Whismur chatting happily to the side. “I can’t tell if this is still adorable or has transitioned into gag-inducing sappiness.”

Astra just shrugged. She didn’t have any issue with taking a bit of time to say goodbye. It was only a minor delay, after all. “Sounds like a ‘you’ problem.”

“Tch.” May snorted, hiding a smile. “Getting a mouth on you, shorty.”

Whismur led them along the tunnel, tugging at Brendan’s pant leg until he took the lead, leaving their prisoner in the middle of the group.

As they walked, a chipper hum echoed in the stagnant air, a quiet whistle following the rhythm. The side tunnels repopulated with the other Whismur as they passed, all staring at the visitors with trepidation. Their stares were still creepy, but at least they wouldn’t have to deal with them much longer. Astra estimated they were nearly halfway out by now, and it would only be a few minutes until she could see the sun again. Thankfully the Aqua grunt kept quiet throughout the walk, but Astra didn’t like how he kept shooting looks toward the gathered Whismur. Was he up to something?

“Okay, the sing-song clinched it. This is annoying,” May decided, breaking Astra out of her thoughts. “Fuck, we’d better get out of here soon. The whistling is gonna drive me mad.”

Astra tilted her head. “It’s not that bad, though?”

“Well, maybe not, but the echo is messing with me,” May grumbled, “Still not a fan of being watched like this either.” She shot a glance at the horde of Whismur in the walls. When she looked ahead again, she paused. “Hey!” May snapped, causing everyone to tense. “I said keep your hands in the air!”

“My arms are tired, brat,” the Aqua grunt shot back, turning to face them with a scowl. His arms had indeed been lowering, his left hand slowly inching toward his face. “And my nose itches. What, can’t I scratch my damn nose?”

“Not on my watch, buddy!” May snarled. “Hands back up, now!”

“I just wanna scratch my nose,” the grunt repeated. “It’s not gonna kill you.”

He smirked, and a flash of emotion thrummed through the air, and Astra’s eyes widened. “He’s lying!” she yelled, sending a frantic message to Treecko. “Take him down!”

Springing into action, Treecko spat a flurry of bullet seeds and leapt forward, bringing his tail around in an arc. Dropping his arms, the Aqua grunt blocked the bullets with his forearm, cradling his head as Treecko landed a brutal slam across his forearms. In response, the Grunt stared directly at Astra, grinned, then shoved his finger and thumb into his mouth. Then, he blew.

A deafening whistle pierced the air, echoing off the tunnel walls. It lasted only a moment before all Mudkip had tackled the grunt in the abdomen, sending him staggering backwards—only for Brendan to come in and shove the man to the ground and kneel on his back, throwing the briefcase past May and Astra.

“What are you doing?” Brendan hissed, pinning the grunts' arms to his back. “Whistling? Here? Do you want to bring the whole warren down on our heads!?”

“That’s the plan, genius!” The grunt crowed. A sick grin crawled across his face. “And judging by little miss waterworks over there, well. I hope you brought earplugs!”

Brendan opened his mouth, then paused. His eyes widened, and Astra had just a moment to process the grunt’s words herself before the first sniffle pierced the air. Every head in the room turned toward the crowd of Whismur in the side tunnel. They were shaking, tears pooling at the corners of their eyes. The one who had sniffled stood at the forefront, and their breath hitched when they noticed several sets of eyes had abruptly focused on them.

The Whismur shook violently, took a step back, and hiccuped. Their ears stood on end, and a piercing whistle began to sound.

“Oh shit,” May whispered.

It screamed. The noise hit them like a wall. A wordless cry of pure terror and fear, reverberating endlessly through the entire tunnel. And then it was joined by another, and another, and then almost every single Whismur in the warren was crying out in panic.

Astra clutched at her ears, her very thoughts being shredded by the sharp knife of the Whismurs’ collective cry. To her side, May had fallen to her knees, desperately trying to plug hers. Her mouth moved, but nothing could be heard over the piercing din. Brendan had fallen over, teeth grit and eyes clenched. The Aqua grunt had curled into a ball, hands on his head. Treecko and Mudkip were grimacing, but Torchic had collapsed to the ground, twitching.

Astra did not know how long their scream lasted.

But, after a seeming eternity, it came to an abrupt stop: a long, low howl from far away halted the Whismurs’ cacophony. Astra looked around as it sounded again, closer. Next to her, May shook her head and stood, glancing about warily while Brendan took hold of the Aqua grunt once more The rock of the mountain trembled, the tunnel shook, and Astra felt the vibration in her very bones. A voice like the deepest of horns thundered from deep within the warren.

“I-it feels like the whole mountain is shaking!” Astra exclaimed, backing up against a wall. She could sense something approaching, its fury as prominent as an angry sun. “Wh-what is that!?”

“Best guess?” Brendan said, staring into the now silent crowd of pokemon. “The Whismurs’ patriarch.”

Red eyes glared from the darkness. The Whismurs parted, and from the shadows emerged a new figure. A hulking blue animal of nearly five feet, his light red eyes glared balefully at the intruders. His head was brutish, a lowered brow crowned with a ridge of seven cylinders and paired with an terrifyingly wide jaw. His three-clawed feet carved gouges in the ground as he stomped forward, and his three-fingered hands clenched at its side. A pair of tails that looked like pipes jutted from the creature’s rear and shook as air passed through, striking an impossibly deep reverberation into the air. He stared, brows furrowed, considering the group of trainers arrayed before him.

He didn’t look happy. Astra swallowed, mouth dry. “Brendan? What is that?”

“Oh,” Brendan said, dumbly. “That’s an Exploud.”

“Bad?” May asked, voice hushed.

“Third evolution,” Brendan confirmed, sounding faint. “Extremely.”

“Maybe it’s friendly?” Astra said, hopefully.

Her hopes were summarily dashed when the Exploud’s eyes narrowed, and a low growl shook the air as he stepped forward. Astra heard the sound of scurrying feet, and she blinked when their Whismur interposed itself between the Exploud and the group.

“Whismur whis!” Whismur said, waving her arms frantically. “Whis!”

Exploud halted, considering Whismur for a moment. His gaze panned across the group again, and a bit of the building fury seemed to sputter. “Exploud?” he asked, a surprisingly complex series of whistles and horns accompanying his words.

For a moment, Whismur looked off balance. “Whis?” she asked, as if surprised that Exploud hadn’t immediately brushed her aside. She brightened. “Whis! Whismur whis!”

Exploud grumbled, the accompanying series of whistles sounding quite annoyed. He seemed to be calming down, rage being slowly replaced by annoyance and suspicion. Astra shared a hopeful glance with May and Brendan. Maybe they’d still be able to get out okay!

“I cannot believe your little puffball is saving our ass again,” May murmured, glancing at Brendan.

“I make good friends,” Brendan said, smiling. May rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, no,” the Aqua grunt interjected. He bucked, throwing Brendan off and twisting to his feet in one smooth motion. “I’m not letting my chance slip away that easy! Even if I can’t finish the job, I can at least toss you brats to the sharks!”

Exploud’s gaze snapped to the Aqua grunt. Treecko and Mudkip turned, already preparing attacks. Torchic, however, was still on the floor, dazed from earlier. The grunt eyed the bird and grinned. He sprung forward, dashing through a burst of seedshot and water, and snatched Torchic straight off the ground. The bird squawked, then began pecking wildly at the grunt’s fingers.

“Torchic!” May screamed, scrambling to her feet. “Let him go!”

“Oh, gladly,” the grunt said, smile widening. He turned toward Exploud. “Hey ugly!”

Exploud looked at the Grunt. The grunt drew back his arm.

“Catch!” he called, then hurled Torchic directly at Exploud’s face.

May cried out, reaching toward her pokemon uselessly. Brendan tackled the Grunt again, trying to wrestle him to the ground once more. Astra reached out, reflexively calling on her power to snatch the bird from the air—

What if they see?

—then stopped, fear and hesitation halting her in her tracks. And then it was too late.

Torchic flew, and Exploud recoiled as the flailing bird bounced off his nose. A giant fist snatched the bird from the air, then hauled him in front of the giant, hulking face. Exploud growled. Torchic, frightened out of his mind, shot a burst of flame into Exploud’s eyes.

Exploud roared, the cavern shaking from the sheer force of its outburst. He dropped the fiery bird and howled in fury, scratching at his face. Torchic scrambled to his feet and dashed to May, chirping wildly.

“Move!” Brendan bellowed, sprinting down the tunnel. Astra was a quarter-step behind him when May abruptly grabbed her arm and hauled her in the other direction. The Whismurs scattered, fleeing down the tunnels. Howling, Exploud charged blindly after Torchic and just barely missed Astra and May, crashing into the tunnel wall and blasting the area in a thick cloud of dust and stone shards.

“Holy shit!” May yelped, dragging Astra further down the corridor, Torchic and Treecko close at their heels. “That would’ve pancaked us! You’re welcome, by the way,” she added, looking at Astra.

Astra grunted, rubbing at her wrist as May finally let go. She stood up on shaky legs, brushing herself off. “Thanks, but did you have to drag me?”

“You’re too slow,” May replied, bending down to give Torchic a reassuring scritch. “Exploud would’ve run right over you. At least I got us to safety.”

Something moved, and Astra’s head snapped toward the dust cloud. “Not for long,” she warned, staring at the rising shadow. Maddened red eyes turned sharply in their direction. Astra took a step backward, swallowing nervously. “Exploud’s between us and the exit, and he looks really mad!”

“Where’s Brendan?” May asked, standing back up. Torchic stood in front of her, feathers puffed.

Astra hesitated. She could sense the grunt’s Zubat trying to take bites out of Brendan’s Mudkip, and Brendan himself stood between the grunt and the exit. Astra felt like banging her head against the wall. Why hadn’t they taken his pokemon!? “He was on the other side with the Aqua guy. If he’s not here, he might have his hands full.”

“Tch, so no help there. Well, dead end behind us, one hell of a monster in front, alone together.” May reached back and tightened her bandana, staring at the figure in the dust. “I guess it’s a fight!”

Astra looked at the huge hole in the rock and wished she knew where May got all of her confidence from. Personally, she would have felt a lot better if the tunnel wasn’t so cramped. Being able to overwhelm Exploud with sheer numbers would have been nice, but there just wasn’t any room for them to not get in each other's way. “He looks really strong. Do you think we can win?”

“Don’t really have a choice, do we? It’s do or die, Astra!” May grinned, looking just a bit manic. “Besides, we’ve made it out with worse odds, haven’t we?”

Astra shot May a flat look. “I wouldn’t really call that one a ‘fight’. And we didn’t win, either. But,” she sighed, “I suppose you aren’t wrong.”

“That’s the spirit,” May said, cheerfully. “Try not to die.”

The sound of heavy footfalls silenced their chat. Exploud emerged from the dust cloud, face contorted into a rictus of pure rage. “LOUD!” he roared, sound blasting through the tunnel.

Astra gulped, paling at the sight. She really didn’t want to fight. Maybe she could still reason with him...? “Wait, please stop!” she pleaded, trying to form a link to Exploud. “It wasn’t our fault! We didn’t—”

RAGE. The connection broke. Astra gasped, reeling.

“LOOOUD!” Exploud screamed, louder, longer, and leaving Astra’s ears ringing once again. He inhaled, all the pipes on his body whistling as they sucked in vast quantities of air.

“Fine then!” Astra snapped, pointing forward. If he wouldn’t listen to reason, then she wouldn’t hold back! “Treecko, bullet seed!” Aim for his throat!

“EXPLO—urk!?” Exploud gagged as a barrage of golden seeds flew into his gaping maw. He coughed and slammed his chest, the holes on his body letting out a wheezing bleat with each blow.

“Alright Torchic,” May called, raising a clenched fist and sweeping it out. “Light him up!”

Torchic chirped, and a stream of fire scorched across Exploud, leaving a singed black streak up his leg and across his torso. The fur along the edges shone in a fiery gradient, creeping outwards at a painful crawl. Exploud gurgled, pawing at the burn mark. He coughed, spat onto the ground, and roared in pain. Eyes blazing, he glared at the two pokemon arrayed against him. Thin smoke wafted from his fur, and Exploud growled. He charged toward Torchic, arm cocked back.

Astra scowled, thinking rapidly. Exploud was large, and with the way he walked off that impact with the wall, she was betting he had toughness to spare. Physical attacks wouldn’t do much; she’d have to focus on hitting weak points or bypassing his physical defence entirely.

“Treecko, climb on his back and use absorb!” Astra commanded a moment later.

“Torchic, dodge!” May shouted.

Torchic jumped backward. Exploud’s fist descended, stone fragments scattering as the ground where Torchic had stood was pulverized. From the side, Treecko lept. He landed on Exploud’s back and scuttled upwards toward his crown of horns. Holding on for dear life, Treecko slammed a needle-ridden hand into the back of Exploud’s skull and pulled, siphoning away thin streams of verdant energy

Exploud jerked, twisting around and taking a wild swing at thin air. He turned around once more before realizing that something was clinging to his head. Bellowing in frustration, he awkwardly pawed at his back, the horns on his head preventing his arms from reaching all the way. Giving up on that, Exploud turned and slammed his back against the wall. Only a quick command and subsequent evacuation saved Treecko from being flattened against the now broken stone.

“Focus up, Torchic!” May ordered. “Hit him where it hurts! Ember!”

Torchic inhaled, and then spat fire across Exploud, scoring a direct hit against his lower abdomen. Exploud howled as the scorch marks spread, the air filling with the smell of charred fur. Attention now thoroughly grabbed, he set his sight on Torchic and bellowed once more, charging towards the diminutive bird.

“Shit. Torchic, dodge again!” May called, urgently.

“Treecko, Bullet Seed!” Astra added. “Distract him!”

Torchic squawked as he narrowly dodged between Exploud’s legs, barely escaping as a foot stomped down where he had been, the heavy impact causing a small shockwave. Torchic tripped and tumbled, rolling a short distance down the tunnel before coming to a stop, dazed. Exploud turned around, the promise of brutal vengeance pounding with every step he took.

A few golden seeds whizzed through the air, battering Exploud across the arm and the side of his head. Exploud paused, gaze flicking to Treecko, who clung to the top of a support pillar. Exploud turned away with a growl, ignoring the potshots that Treecko shot at his back.

“It’s not working!” Astra said, panicked. “He’s ignoring Treecko!”

“Shit, I was hoping we could’ve kept ping-ponging him. I gotta get Torchic out of there!” May said, holding out Torchic’s pokeball. A laser shot out and hit Explouds leg, dissipating uselessly. May hesitated, half leaning from side to side. Another laser shot out, but was interrupted by Exploud once again. A flicker of worry flashed across her face. “I— I can’t get an angle,” she said, paling. “Torchic, run!”

Torchic wobbled to his feet, shaking his head. He looked back, baulked at the giant barreling down at him, and fled, cawing wildly. His speed, however, was no match for Exploud’s maddened speed, the beast catching up in four thundering strides and swiping at Torchic, clipping him in the side and sending him spinning into the wall with a dull thunk..

“Torchic!” May cried, reaching out. Astra grabbed onto May’s shirt, barely stopping the taller girl from running directly into battle. May growled, nearly yanking Astra off her feet as she dragged the smaller girl forward. “Get away from him or I’ll turn your skull into a fucking bagpipe!”

“May, stop!” Astra yelled, struggling to hold her footing. “You‘ll get hurt!” She looked at her own pokemon in a panic, “Treecko, stop Exploud! Bullet Seed! Absorb! Something!”

But though Treecko shot seed after seed, each one leaving dark bruises or shallow scrapes, Exploud ignored them all. Another booming step took him to where Torchic lay, and he raised a foot, intent on ending the threat once and for all.

Treecko scrambled forward, hands glowing green but far too slow and weak. Astra’s breath caught. May reached out, eyes wide. Exploud’s foot descended.

“Mudkip, Mud-Slap!”

A blob of brown muck shot into Exploud’s eyes. The giant flinched, his foot missing Torchic by the smallest of margins as he bellowed in pain, wiping at his eyes. Then he roared once more as Treecko hit the back of his head like a missile. Slamming back into a wall to dislodge Treecko, Exploud scraped at the gunk covering his face. Torchic staggered to his feet and fled back to May, a parting shot leaving Exploud’s back as scorched as his front.

“Torchic!” May exclaimed, scooping the bird into her arms and shaking off Astra’s grip. “You’re okay!” she said, exhaling in relief. Torchic chirped, and she flicked him on the head. “Dude, you really gotta stop getting into these bad spots.”

“Hey guys!” a voice called. Mudkip came barreling into view, followed closely by Brendan. He gave them a tired grin. “Need some help?”

“Brendan!” Astra said, brightening. Maybe they’d stand a chance now that it was three on one! “Good timing! Now we can—” she paused, noticing a distinct lack of a certain blue jerkwad. “Wait, where’s the Aqua guy?”

Brendan grimaced. “Had to let him go. You guys were facing off against an Exploud and it would have taken me way too long to deal with him. There just wasn’t any way I was going to let you two do this alone!”

May let out a bark of laughter. “My hero,” she said, rolling her eyes with a grin. She pulled out a potion and sprayed Torchic with it, the bird perking up and ruffling his feathers. She set him down and turned to Exploud, eyes blazing. “Thanks for the save. Now, let’s kick this guy’s ass! Torchic, Ember!”

“With you all the way!” Astra cheered. With all three of them here, fighting as a team for the first time, it made Astra giddy. It was a moment worthy of song, and Astra suddenly found herself dearly wishing she had her violin. Her fingers twitched, pressing down imaginary strings. “Treecko, Bullet Seed, then Absorb!” Make him choke, and drain him while he’s distracted!

“If we keep him off balance and chip him down, our victory is assured!” Brendan said. He pointed at Exploud, voice firm. “Mudkip, blind him with Mud-Slap!”

Exploud had meanwhile wiped the last of the previous mud from his face and was inhaling deeply, the tubes on his body making a deep vibration. “EX—!” he screamed, but cut off as Treecko flipped off his head and fired yet another golden seed into his maw.

Exploud choked again, and then a fresh ball of mud slapped across his eyes. He wheezed, furiously scraping the muck away. Flickering light shone, and then flame burst across his back, scarring him further. The three smaller pokemon easily dodged the blind swipes that followed, and Treecko lept on Exploud’s back to siphon off more energy.

“That’s how you do it!” Astra cheered. “Now, just keep it going and—eh?” Astra cut herself off, uneasy. Something in the air had changed. Her eyes flicked across the scene, searching for the aberration. It took her a moment to realize that Exploud wasn’t screaming. More concerningly, his fury was gone.

He was still mad; the depths of his loathing an incomprehensible, frightening abyss. But it no longer burned. It had instead crystalized into a dark, cold hatred. Exploud stood up, one giant hand digging into the mud caking his face and scraping it away. A deep, rumbling whistle began to emanate from his many horns.

“Hah, that trick again? Keep trying, windbag, I’m sure it’ll work out this time” May cackled, unconcerned by the repetitive display. “Just do yourself a favor and give up, or else me and Torchic will turn your ass to ash! Ember!”

Another stream of fire raced across Exploud’s side, and the reverberation intensified. Exploud turned and slammed his back against the wall, Treecko jumping off and narrowly avoiding getting squished. Exploud’s arms shot up, blocking the retaliatory bullets and mud balls.

Red eyes glared in the darkness, and Astra was quite suddenly reminded that they were not fighting a novice. Exploud had, in fact, evolved twice. It had been defending these caves for what had to be quite a long time, against targets far stronger than they.

And it wasn’t an idiot.

Exploud’s eyes narrowed, staring at Torchic, then slowly drifting towards May. The humming stopped, only to be replaced with a deep, whistling inhale. His arms raised, intercepting the burst of bullet seeds destined for the openings on his head. He opened his mouth, and the world seemed to hold its breath.

May paused, grin frozen on her face. Exploud opened his mouth. May paled. “Oh shi—”

Exploud screamed. An explosive roar, more physical than mere sound should ever be, erupted from his horns. It shook the earth and sent a shockwave of dust blasting through the tunnel. It blasted into Astra, forcing her to her knees and drowning out everything with a cacophony of pain.

“Stop it...” Astra choked out, clutching at her head. The din reverberated, hammering her ears in an unceasing tide. “Stop...!” she begged, pleading directly to Exploud. The noise continued, heedless of her anguish.

“I... said... stop!” Astra silently screamed, eyes squeezed shut. Power surged, Astra pushed, and suddenly the noise ceased. She looked up in confusion, vision hazy and head pounding like a drum. Next to her, May was similarly incapacitated, and she doubted Brendan was much better. She thought she could hear May swearing up a storm, but Astra could hardly make it out over the sharp ringing in her ears. Their pokemon were doggedly rising to their feet, stubborn even in the face of overwhelming power.

Ahead of them, Exploud was yanking his head out of the wall. Astra blinked, thoughts fuzzy and scattered. How had that happened? Exploud turned, face twisted into a horrid snarl. He took a few steps forward, and it took Astra a second to realize he was coming for them.

She shot to her feet, but stumbled as the world tilted and found herself lying flat on the floor, cheek stinging. She blearily lifted her head and found the bulky pokemon staring at her. Exploud considered Astra for a long moment, then snorted dismissively and moved on, stomping toward May. The girl was kneeling on the floor and clutching her head, groaning in pain. Exploud’s eyes narrowed, and he raised a fist—

“TOR!”

A blast of flame burst across Exploud’s hand, scorching the fur. He recoiled as Torchic rushed forward, standing guard over his trainer. May looked up, wincing. “What...?”

“Torchic tor!” Torchic screeched, blasting another bolt of fire. Exploud blocked the flame with his arm and glared. He raised a hand, then brought it down and cleanly backhanded Torchic into the wall. Stone crumbled, and the bird vanished under a pile of rubble.

“Torchic!” May sprung to her feet, lamely reaching for the fallen bird. Her hand clenched and she jerked to face Exploud, then recoiled, a snarled expletive dying in a whisper. May stared at Exploud, so close that her hair blew back with his breath. Red eyes glared into blue.

Astra watched in mounting horror as Exploud once more wound back. She reached for her power, but the agony from the scream lingered and it felt like all she could grab was a fist of broken glass. “May!” she yelled, struggling as the pain in her head spiked. “Run!”

A second passed. May jumped back. Exploud lashed out. A dull thump, a sharp exhalation, and suddenly May was flying through the air, rolling across the ground and coming to rest in a limp pile. She clutched at her side, eyes wide. She choked, then wheezed, sucking in air with pained, heaving gasps.

“May!” Astra screamed. A mirror of her cry rang out behind her.

Astra turned and saw Brendan, staggering forward with a hand on the wall and Mudkip at his feet. Treecko was draped across Mudkip’s back. Why was Treecko on Mudkip’s back? Treecko looked at her, bleary eyed and a little embarrassed.

Dizzy, he thought. Well, Astra could certainly understand that predicament all too well. The two shared a brief moment of mutual commiseration.

Brendan stared at Astra, wide-eyed, then glared at Exploud with grit teeth. The giant had begun to plod towards May again. “Water Gun!” he yelled to Mudkip, making a staggered run toward Astra. “Aim for his feet!”

Astra raised a hand and Brendan grabbed it, pulling her upright and causing the world to tilt again. Astra staggered, leaning against Brendan for support. Her head was still pounding, but she would still fight with whatever she had. Astra focused, the mere effort of sending a message wracking her mind. “Bullet Seed!”

Meanwhile, a blast of water struck Exploud’s leg, and he stumbled, falling to one knee as one leg skidded across the wet floor. A growl permeated the air as a few bullet seeds ineffectually dug into his back. Exploud punched the floor and removed a large chunk of stone. Turning around, he roared and hurled the rock.

Astra saw the rock fly as if in slow motion. She could barely hear Brendan scream out his own order as she begged them to move, but Mudkip was still stunned from the roar and Treecko was too slow at getting off his back and the stone was moving too fast—

There was the sound of rock hitting flesh, an all too horrifying spike of pain, and then silence.

“No...” Astra whispered, reaching out toward the fallen green form. She could see Treecko move, sheer grit overcoming the agony she could still feel ripping across their bond. Even Mudkip was still crawling forwards. After all of that, they still had enough determination to try? Astra would have been proud of them, if not for the despair that had swallowed her heart.

Exploud stomped toward the fallen trainer. May wheezed, slowly uncurling from the ball she had huddled into. She looked up, squinting at the figure towering above her.

Then, she laughed. A short, giggling thing bordering on hysterical. “Come on, big guy,” she taunted, eyes wild. She stared, grinning maniacally. “Was that your best shot?”

Exploud snarled, and raised a fist.

“May!” Brendan screamed and let go of Astra, gently dropping her to the floor. He staggered forward, arm outstretched as if to simply pluck her away from danger.

Astra grit her teeth and desperately tried to gather power. An endless onslaught of sharp teeth gnash at her head, but despite all her effort, what little she could muster passed through her grasp like fog. She gasped in pain, abandoned the attempt, and looked at May, wondering if it would be the very last time she could.

May met her panicked gaze. Then, to Astra’s utter bafflement, she smiled. Something pricked at the edge of Astra’s awareness. A familiar feeling. And at the last second, she noticed that it wasn’t dark anymore.

Exploud roared, and brought his fist down.

A pile of rock shifted, then was thrown aside.

Light filled the hall.

Talons scraped on stone as they raced forward.

Thud.

Exploud’s fist stopped, a pair of clawed hands blocking its fall.

“Hey, Torchic.” May said, swaying. She grinned. “Good to see ya.”

Torchic stood before May, clad in a brilliant white aura. But he had changed. His legs were longer, half hidden by a covering of orange feathers and thick with muscle. His talons—larger, darker, sharper—dug into the stone as the halted punch pressed down from above. Yellow plumage covered his upper body, and two feathered arms sprouted from what were once bits of fluff. Now-orange eyes glared up, widened beak clenched in effort. His crest twitched, now dyed crimson and twice as tall.

Astra stared at Torchic, stunned. Ahead, Brendan halted his mad dash, awed.

“That’s no Torchic...” he said, faintly, then with a surge of cheer. “He’s evolved into a Combusken!”

Exploud peered down at Combusken. “Loud?” he said, confused and outraged at the continued resistance. “Loud!?” he roared, pushing down even harder. Combusken grinned, dug his feet in, and began to push.

“Com—” he said, taking a step forward and shoving Exploud’s arm back. Exploud grunted, then redoubled his assault. Combusken’s guard buckled, but did not break.

“BUS—!” he shouted, heaving Exploud’s fist aside. Exploud stumbled, knocked off balance by the throw. Combusken crouched, and then jumped.

“KEN!” Combusken crowed, a taloned foot delivering a devastating front kick to Exploud’s jaw. Still in the air, Combusken spun around and slammed his other leg into Exploud’s face. Something crunched, and Exploud reared back, falling to the ground and clutching his bloody nose.

“Combusken!” Combusken declared, flipping backwards and landing in a crouch. He stood in front of May, taking a rough stance and poised to strike.

“Oh hell that was cool,” May breathed, slowly rising to her feet. She gave Combusken a shaky thumbs up. “Good job, buddy.”

Astra watched Combusken preen, but couldn’t help the dread still creeping in her mind. Combusken, fresh off his evolution and ready for round three—would he be enough? Exploud was still monstrously strong; fatigued, yes, but still able to break stone and scream at will. If Combusken messed up once...

Exploud held his nose, now dribbling crimson, and blared, a sound that May would describe as a fog horn blasting through the tunnel. He rose to his feet and charged at Combusken, a whistling bellow screeching from all horns.

“Get ready Combusken, May said, wheezing slightly. “Don’t get hit!”

“Ken!” Combusken said, crouching down.

Exploud came at them, feet falling like meteors. He roared, cocked his fist back—and then a burst of slick mud rocketed under his foot from behind, Exploud flailing wildly as he skidded through the muck. His legs shot out and he fell onto his back, groaning. Astra blinked. Where had that come from?

As if to answer, a voice called out from behind. “Marsh,” it said in a familiar, if deeper warble.

Brendan stiffened, then turned around, gaping. “Mudkip?” he whispered. Brendan paused, then grinned. “No. Marshtomp?”

Astra followed his gaze and stared. Mudkip, too, had changed. Twice as tall, the gills on his cheeks had narrowed and lengthened into spikes, and his three fins had darkened and grown larger. He walked up to Brendan, front legs now much longer and thinner.

“Stomp,” Marshtomp said, crawling up to Brendan and brushing against his legs.

Brendan reached out, trailing a hand across Marshtomp back. Marshtomp rumbled, leaning into the touch. Brendan smiled. “Heh. You were that close, huh? I should’ve known. Alright then.” He looked up, eyes shining. “Let’s finish this!”

“Marsh!” Marshtomp agreed, turning back towards the Exploud.

Astra, feeling a bit like a bystander, lifted herself up a bit, resting on her forearms. Mudkip had evolved too? But wait, if Mudkip had, then where was—? Had he—? She could sense him, he was awake, and moving! Astra grunted, heaving herself to a kneeling pose, head swimming. She blinked, took a breath, and heaved herself up. Her vision lurched, but she had to see, she had to know. She turned—

But her world blurred and spun, and Astra felt herself falling again.

And then she stopped. Long, thin, green arms hugged her, halting her descent. Astra stared at them, confused. What was...?

She looked down, but not as far as she expected. Yellow eyes stared back into her own, familiar, yet different, filled with worry and flicking around to spot anything amiss.

His head was sleeker, more angular, a wider mouth curved into a worried frown. Eyes embedded inside instead of sticking up. A long, long piece of grass sprouted from the top of his scalp and trailed down his back, curling up at the end into a spiral. She could see two more poking from his lower back, and three each newly grown from his wrists.

They looked at each other for a moment, and then Astra smiled.

“You got taller,” she mumbled. “It looks good.”

He looked at her smile and relaxed, the frond on his head uncurling in relief. “Grovyle,” Grovyle preened, hoisting his master upright.

Astra wobbled for a moment, then held still. She closed her eyes and just breathed for a second. The fog in her head cleared, if only a little, and she looked at Treecko. Or, Grovyle now, was it? He really had grown, Astra saw, a bit more than half as tall as she was.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to carry you anymore,” Astra noted wistfully.

Grovyle blinked and examined Astra, then looked down at his new, much heavier form. He drooped. “Grove...” he whined, disappointed.

“You’re just too big,” Astra explained. “I doubt I could support that kind of weight.” She grinned, glancing at the arms still holding her steady. “But I guess it’s you who’s supporting me, now. Right?”

Grovyle blinked, then rolled his eyes and smirked. “Vyle.”

A loud roar interrupted them. Astra turned to see that Exploud had gotten up again. Combusken was kicking him relentlessly, a flash of fire accompanying each kick, while Marshtomp fired bullet after bullet of thick mud at Exploud’s face and body. Exploud looked to be slowing down just a bit. Had all the fighting finally begun to take its toll?

Astra shook herself loose of Grovyle’s arms and propped herself up at the wall. She looked at Grovyle and gestured at the battle, grinning.

“Shall we?” she asked.

Grovyle smirked and held up an arm. Green energy flowed across his skin, and the leaves on his wrists suddenly straightened out in a brilliant verdant glow.

“Grove,” he said. Power.

Astra stared at the inexplicably sharp leaves, then grinned. “Heh. Well, that seems handy. Alright then.” Astra straightened, readjusted her hat, and pointed at Exploud as dramatically as she could manage.

“Let’s give it all we got, guys!” Astra yelled, newly energized. “Grovyle, Grass Cutter!”

Grovyle bent forward, then shot off in a blast of dust. Past Brendan, who ducked back in surprise. Past Marshtomp, firing salvo after salvo of mud. Ahead, Exploud faced Combusken. The kick-happy bird jumped, delivering a flurry of blows to Exploud’s face. Exploud grunted and staggered back, his guard blown wide open. Grovyle darted up, and lept.

“Grovyle!” Grovyle yelled, and slashed down across Exploud’s back.

Exploud roared in pain as a deep gash opened across his back, crimson dripping from shoulder to hip. He turned, eyes flickering between Grovyle, Marshtomp, and Combusken, and in Astra’s senses a new emotion surfaced. Above the pain, and steadily supplanting the rage and the hate.

Fear.

“EXPLOUD!” Exploud bellowed, fist thundering toward his new assailant. Grovyle jumped back—

“Mud Shot!” Brendan called.

—and a jet of thick mud flew past, smacking Exploud across his arm and face. Exploud missed Grovyle and stumbled, shaking and scraping the mud off. He stood, staring at Grovyle and Marshtomp with a newfound desperation. He inhaled, a sharp whistling filling the tunnel—

“Double Kick!” May yelled.

Combusken charged, coming up behind Exploud and swinging his leg out in a fiery arc. Exploud raised an arm to block, flesh torn and scorched as it withstood the brunt of the blow. The whistling wavered—

“Grass Cutter!”

A new line of red opened across Exploud’s back, marking a weeping cross. Exploud gasped, then growled and threw Combusken back, swiping behind him to drive off Grovyle. Eyes flashing, Exploud shut his mouth and sucked, air funneling into his horns in a massive rush—

“Bullet Seed!”

“Mud Shot!”

“Aim for his horns!” Astra and Brendan shouted together.

—and then Exploud choked, sputtering and coughing as liquid dirt and piercing bullets shot down into his airways. He fell to a knee, coughing out lumps of mud and filth—

“Keep kicking him!” May yelled. “Go for the jaw!”

“Keep him down!” Brendan ordered, “Cover him in as much mud as you can!”

—only for more sludge to encase his legs. Exploud struggled to lift himself up, the thick ooze resisting his efforts. Combusken rushed in and spun, delivering a brutal roundhouse kick to Exploud’s jaw. Exploud's head snapped around, eyes bulging and mouth loosely falling open.

He fell to the ground, landing upon the mud beneath in a disgusting squelch. But even as Marshtomp poured more and more mud over Exploud’s body, Exploud struggled to dig himself out. He pushed himself up by one arm, still expelling globs of muck from his lungs and weakly shovelling the sludge away.

“Exploud...” he said, voice weak and the once deep whistles that accompanied it now faint and off-key. He looked up, staring at them all with wild eyes. “Exploud!”

Asta had to admire the Exploud’s sheer grit. Even with a broken nose, blackened skin and fur, a diced back, befouled airways, and battered jaw, Exploud still had the tenacity to lift itself back up and keep fighting. She watched his gaze slide past her own, and she followed it. Then, she sighed.

In the alcoves, a few brave Whismurs remained, the friendly one among them. Of course Exploud would be fighting so hard. He had come out to protect his family. It was a cause Astra sympathized with. Was she not out here for the very same? But neither of them could do that while the other continued to fight. And while Astra had been perfectly happy to leave Exploud be, the Aqua grunt’s actions had locked away any chance of a peaceful resolution.

That said, any sympathy Astra held towards Exploud himself had vanished when he blew their ears out and punched May.

“Grovyle,” Astra said, resting against the wall. “Drain him dry.”

Grovyle leapt onto Exploud’s back, shoving the large pokemon back down into the muck. A glowing verdant spike bloomed from Grovyle’s palm and he struck down, driving it deep into Exploud’s shoulder. The submerged pokemon cried out in pain as streams of green energy were siphoned away.

“Ex...” Exploud rasped, still trying to push himself up. One hand weakly grasped at the mud. “Ex...!”

May staggered along the tunnel wall, hand clutching at her side. Coming up to the mud-soaked pokemon, she stared, eyes glinting.

“Combusken,” she said, quietly. “Axe kick.”

Combusken stepped around the muck piling around the fallen giant. Standing before Exploud, Combusken looked down at the larger pokemon. Exploud stared back, eyes hazy.

“Ex—”

Combusken swung his leg up, and brought it down with a resounding crack. Exploud’s skull smashed into the ground, rebounding off the stone beneath the mud. The force lifted Exploud’s gaze just enough to look at Combusken. Then, at last, his eyes rolled back and he went limp, head thudding to the floor.

Victory.

Astra exhaled, sliding down the wall. It was over. She heard Brendan rush over to May, worrying over her injury—

“I know how to take a fucking punch, Brendan! I’m fine!”

“Yeah, maybe from people, but that was an Exploud! What if there’s internal bleeding?”

“Ugh.”

—but their argument was somewhat indistinct. A rather distracting ringing sound persisted in Astra’s ears, a remnant of all the impossibly loud pokemon she’d run into today. It seemed to be fading a little, which was good. Going deaf would likely ruin her plans, and her music as well.

She looked back at the fallen Exploud, seeing Grovyle yank his hand back, the spike retreating into his palm. Exploud was lying face down in the mud. Would he be able to breathe like that? She could just make out a faint whistling from a few unfouled horns, but it’d be safer to make sure.

She signaled to Grovyle, forming the message slowly to avoid a mishap. Flip.

Grovyle blinked at Astra, then shrugged, nodding. Calling out to Combusken and Marshtomp, the three dug the mud off Exploud and turned him over, freeing his gargantuan maw from the muck. He was still breathing, so Astra called it a win.

With Exploud no longer in danger of suffocating and May seeming as lively as ever—

“Does it hurt to breathe?” Brenden pressed.

May rolled her eyes, petting Combusken as he returned to his master. “I’m fine! Just... let me sit down for a minute, fuck.”

—Astra leaned back and sighed, taking a moment to just... breathe. Take stock. She felt Grovyle sit next to her, and she absentmindedly reached out to stroke his head while she thought. The Aqua grunt had escaped, which was bad, but the briefcase was still here, lying on the ground and slightly muddy where Brendan had tossed it. Mission accomplished, she supposed, though Astra didn’t like that the grunt had gotten away. Who knew what he would do next?

Idly, Astra noted that her illusions had fallen off at some point. She carefully began to weave them back into place, her head still a bit tender from the earlier din. She doubted either May or Brendon had noticed, but it wouldn’t do to get careless. Astra had just finished her height adjustment when she noticed a faint sniffling.

She shot upright, eyes wide—when had she closed them?—only to see that the side tunnels had once more filled with Whismur, all staring at their fallen protector. Their eyes shone with unshed tears, and one brave Whismur had stepped forward and was weakly pushing at Exploud. Astra recognized it as the same one they had met earlier.

“Whismur...?” Whismur said, voice wavering when Exploud failed to respond to her prodding. “Whis...?”

Astra looked from Whismur to the small crowd in the surrounding tunnels, all of whom were drowning in a miasma of despair. That wasn’t good.

“Guys,” Astra said, urgently. “We’ve got a problem!”

“Hm?” Brendan looked up, having been hovering over May for the last minute. “What’s—oh no,” he gasped, eyes wide.

“Oh hell,” May hissed, peering around Combusken. ”It’s the fucking Whismur? Now?”

“They really don’t seem to like that we knocked Exploud unconscious,” Astra explained. She gave Brendan a pleading look. “Brendan, you calmed them down earlier. Can you do something?”

Brendan hesitated, looking at the horde of Whismur in the side tunnels. Steeling himself, he nodded, expression firming. “I can try.”

Quietly approaching the lone Whismur, Brendan hunched down and called out. “Hey, buddy,” he said, causing Whismur to whirl around in shock.

“Whis?” Whismur stepped back, staring up at Brendan. Astra could see her shaking, fear and hesitation warring in her mind. Brendan paused, then shuffled backwards a step. Whismur stopped shaking, confused, then looked between Exploud and Brendan. “Mur?”

“Worried about the big guy?” Brendan asked, glancing at the fallen Exploud. “He... should be fine. Maybe his nose will look a bit weird, but I don’t think there will be any permanent damage. He'll be up and about after a bit of rest.”

Whismur frowned. “Whismur mur!” she said, pointing at him accusingly. Astra briefly considered peeking at Whismur’s surface thoughts to translate, if only for herself, but she was having a hard enough time saving energy to maintain her illusion and talk as it was.

Brendan winced. “Yeah, we did beat him up pretty hard. I’m sorry it went that way, but he wasn’t giving us much choice. If I had just held the man from Team Aqua down better—”

“Whismur?” Whismur said, looking at Brendan intently. “Mur Whis-whis!”

“Um,” Brendan said, looking faintly lost. “Right. It was that guy's fault, for doing that. But we—” Brendan continued, motioning to himself, Astra, May, and their pokemon, “—had to defend ourselves. I hope you can understand that. And, maybe help calm down your, uh, extended family?” Brendan eyed the Whismur in the tunnels, who looked a hair's breadth from panicking once again. “We do need to leave, and I think they’d like that too.”

Whismur stared at him, then back at Exploud, deep in thought. Seeming to come to a decision, she looked at him and nodded. “Mur, mur-whis.”

“You will?” Brendan said. He smiled. “Thank you!”

“Are we in the clear?” May asked, still sitting by the wall. “What’s happening?”

“The Whismur is going to calm the rest down,” Astra answered. “Though, I don’t know how—eh?” Astra went silent as a soft whistle filled the air.

“Whis mur-mur whis, whismur-ur ur-ur-whis~” Whismur sang. It echoed in the tunnel, gentle reverberations overlapping in perfect harmony. Unlike Brendan’s song, this one seemed designed for the echoing warrens, and much improved for it. WhIsmur paused, giving Brendan a look.

Brendan blinked. “You... want me to sing with you again?” he asked. Whismur nodded. Brendan hesitated again, then shook his head and smiled. “Alright then, I’ll try my best. Though, I’m still not any good at singing, I’ll have you know.”

Whismur giggled, then lifted her ears and inhaled. Brendan cleared his throat and began to hum. Then, they sang. Humming and whistling mostly in sync, their tune was a work that reminded Astra of cool, windy nights and the utter calm that came with it. A very insistent calm, one backed by Whismur’s innate power.

‘A lullaby?’ Astra wondered, listening to it reverberate through the tunnel. It grew on itself as it rebounded, the notes and melody becoming more complex as past chords synced with the current. It was fascinating, and trying to figure out how it worked was all that kept Astra from falling asleep on the spot.

Astra yawned, heavy eyelids threatening to flutter closed. Once all this was over, she was going to take a long nap. Looking over, Astra saw May doing much the same, her eyes watering a bit as she yawned into her hand. Their pokemon had already succumbed; Grovyle having sort of fallen over and sloppily curled around Astra’s side while Combusken had sat next to May and dozed off. The surrounding Whismur didn’t seem to be sleepy at all, but they had stopped shaking, and a few were even poking their heads out. Apparently judging that good enough, Whismur brought her and Brendan’s little duet to a close.

“Whismur!” Whismur cheered, smiling at Brendan. She turned and waved at the other Whismur, who cautiously emerged from the side tunnels, watching the three trainers closely. They began to stream through the corridors, skirting past the trainers and beginning to dig Exploud out of the muck. Astra didn’t know what they planned to do once they excavated Exploud’s comparatively massive bulk, but at least they weren’t terrified anymore.

“Huh.” Brendan blinked, watching the procession dig the mud away one tiny clump at a time. “Well, that works. Thanks, Whismur.”

“Whis!”

“Ugh,” May cut in, grunting as she stood up and carefully not disturbing Combusken. Shaking her head, she returned Combusken to his pokeball, then picked up the briefcase from the floor. She rubbed at her eyes, blearily looking at Brendan and Astra. “Well, we got the stupid briefcase back. Can we leave now?”

“Sounds good to me,” Astra agreed, recalling Grovyle. She stood up, checking to make sure everything looked right as she rose. Finding everything in order, she joined May and Brendan, massaging her aching head with a wince. “Ugh, my head hurts...”

“I’m just glad the ringing stopped. Any more of that and I might’ve gotten tinnitus,” Brendan remarked, calling Marshtomp back as well. He grimaced. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’d happened before. Those miners must get some serious hazard pay.”

“If this thing doesn’t pay for something, “ May added, motioning to the suitcase, “I’m going to... to... I dunno. Fill that guy's mattress with gravel,” she muttered, yawning again.

Brendan gave her a strange look. “That’s... inventive.”

May scowled and flipped him off, but didn’t comment further. Astra wondered which ‘guy’ she had meant. Presumably the Aqua grunt, but she wouldn’t rule out the Devon employee either.

“Whismur!” Whismur said, drawing everyone's attention. She was waving at the group of Whismur digging out Exploud. They all turned and stared. Whismur kept waving. “Whismur whis! Mur mur!”

The Whismur group looked—shocked? Sad? Astra couldn’t tell. But, as one, they looked over the three trainers and waved at them, a goodbye whispered en-masse. “Mur!”

That done, Whismur ambled past Brendan and down the tunnel, turning back to beckon them forward.

“...What was that?” May asked, looking at Brendan.

Brendan blinked. “I suspect our new friend wants to finish her escort mission.”

“She’s been pretty helpful so far,” Astra said, shrugging. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

“If she starts screaming, so will I,” May warned.

“It probably won’t come to that, but please don’t,” Brendan said, shooting May a flat look. Turning to Whismur, he smiled. “Lead on, Whismur! We’re counting on you.”

Whismur chirped, and the three trainers followed the softly whistling pokemon through the tunnel. Aches and pains made themselves known with each step, and the exhaustion was felt with every slow blink, but the promise of escape kept them marching onward. Soon enough, light blossomed in the distance and, finally, they emerged into sunlight.

Astra squinted at the sun, shading her eyes. It was still somewhat close to where it had been, marking the beginnings of mid-afternoon. Had it only been, what, twenty minutes? Half an hour? It felt longer. Astra scanned the area and sighed. No signs of the thief. She hadn’t really expected him to stick around, but it would have been nice to tie up a loose end.

A cheerful squawk drew her attention. Turning to look, Astra yelped as a Wingull swooped over her head. It circled above them with joyful cries of “Wingull!” Astra stared at it for a second before she remembered.

“Peeko?” she asked.

“Wingull!” the bird cried out.

“She made it out alright,” Brendan said, sighing in relief. “That’s good.”

“If she doesn’t stop circling my head like she’s about to lose some weight, she won’t be for much longer,” May grumbled, eyeing Peeko warily.

“Oh, there you are!” a voice called out. “Are you three alright?”

Astra turned, spotting Mr. Briney walking up to them. His brow was furrowed, eyes glancing over them and noting every scrape and bruise. After a moment he let out a relieved sigh. Putting two fingers in his mouth, he let loose a sharp whistle. Peeko wheeled around and descended, alighting on the old sailor’s shoulder. He smiled, stroking the bird’s head.

“Thank you so much for rescuing my darling Peeko. I dare say she owes her life to you three,” he said, looking at the three trainers in turn. “I was worried when you didn’t follow her out, and then all that racket started... That birdnapper left before you did, fled straight into the forest before anyone knew what was happening! I thought that something awful had happened.”

“The thief caused some trouble with the Whismur, and escaped in the confusion,” Brendan explained. “There was a fight with their patriarch and... well, we’re pretty battered, to be honest.”

“Oh dear. Well, I’m glad to see that you’re all in one piece, at least.” Mr. Briney grimaced. “I’d hate for a couple of kids to get injured on my behalf. That said, I’m not one to let a debt go unpaid. If you ever need anything, be sure to let me know!”

May squinted. “What would I ever need from some old guy? A bingo club ticket?”

Brendan rounded on May, but before he could say a word, Mr. Briney began to laugh.

“Do ho ho ho!” Mr. Briney smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Ah, such spunk from youngsters these days. I will admit, I can’t do much these days,” he admitted, tugging on his beard thoughtfully, “But if I do say so, I am quite the accomplished sailor. By the looks of you three, I wouldn’t be amiss to think that you’re going around collecting gym badges for the pokemon championship, are you?”

“We are,” Astra confirmed. “We just fought Roxanne the other day, actually.”

“You did?” Brendan said, blinking. He groaned, facepalming. “The one day I don’t visit the gym. Of course. Did you win?”

“Kicked her ass,” May confirmed, smirking. She turned back to Mr. Briney. “Yeah, we’re going through the gyms. What of it?”

“Well, there just so happens to be a gym down south on Dewford Island,” Mr. Briney said, grinning. “I daresay you’ll be hard pressed to find yourself a way there without buying a boat ticket. You could swim there yourself, of course, but those waters are awfully treacherous, especially near Winter’s Eye.”

“Oh!” Astra said as the pieces fell into place. “You’d be willing to take us to Dewford Island?”

“That I could, young miss,” Mr. Briney confirmed. “That is, if you’re amicable to the idea. Heck, I’ll ferry you to Slateport afterward too. Anytime you want! For my Peeko, I’d say that’s a fair deal.”

“Gull, gull!” Peeko agreed, nodding wisely.

“Oh man, I could go sailing with Mr. Briney!” Brendan exclaimed with starry eyes. “It’d be an honor, sir!”

Mr. Briney chuckled. “No need to call me sir, Briney does me just as well. If you insist on being formal, well an old sea dog like me, I suppose Captain would do eh? Oh!” He blushed, suddenly looking contrite. “I’ve been so caught up in all the excitement that I’ve forgotten to ask your names! Care to trouble an old sailor with them?”

“My name’s Astra!” Astra said, giving Briney a large smile, which he returned. He reminded Astra of her Grandpa, a bit. He was nice. “Thank you for the offer!”

“I suppose you didn’t hear me earlier, but you can call me Brendan. Brendan Birch.” Brendan said, offering his hand. Briney shook it, giving Brendan a firm nod.

May considered Briney for a moment, then shrugged. “Name’s May. I suppose a free ride wouldn’t be too bad. Sure, why not.”

“Ah, that’s good to hear!” Briney said. He bowed, with Peeko fluttering to stay balanced on his shoulder. “Once again, Astra, Brendan, May, thank you all. Should you want to take me up on my offer, you can find my house just south of the Petalburg Woods, on the beach. It’s the one with the pier.”

“Oh!” Astra said, surprised. “I think we saw that before, didn’t we May?”

“Huh. Yeah, I remember that. That’s your house?” May asked, receiving a nod in return. “Alright, got it. We’ll see you there, I guess.”

“Very good! I’ll see you then. Farewell.” Mr. Briney smiled one last time and turned to leave, but paused. “Oh, and Brendan? That little one by your feet seems to want your attention.” He waved, then walked off, Peeko taking off and circling overhead with a happy caw.

“Eh?” Brendan blinked, then looked down. Whismur peered out from behind his leg, staring intently at the shrinking Mr. Briney.

Noticing his stare, Whismur looked up and smiled. “Whis!”

“Oh, hey Whismur,” Brendan said, smiling. He knelt down, his tone a bit more somber. “I suppose this is it, then. Thanks for helping us out back there, it saved us a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah!” Astra agreed. “If it weren’t for you, we’d have been in real big trouble with all the other Whismur. You’ve been a big help!”

May yawned. Everyone waited a moment. May rolled her eyes. “Mhm. Sure. Thanks,” she muttered, dryly.

Brendan shook his head. “Heh. Well, I’m still not much of a vocalist, but singing was kind of fun. Take care of yourself—huh?”

Brendan paused as Whismur puffed up and angrily waved her arms about. “Whismur whis!” she said, glaring at him.

“You’re not saying goodbye?” Brendan asked confusedly. “Er, Whismur, I know you liked singing with me, but we do have to leave—wait.” Brendan paused, looking even more confused. “Do you... want to come with me?”

“How did he get all that out of ‘Whismur mur’ and a bunch of flailing?” May muttered to Astra, who shrugged. This was unexpected, though. Why would Whismur want to be captured? Didn’t she know that she’d be fighting? Whismur, as a species, seemed particularly disinclined to seek power for power's sake. So, what reason could there be?

Whismur nodded, leaving Brendan looking bewildered. “Why?” he asked, echoing Astra’s musings. “It can’t just be because you liked singing with me. I mean, you do know what you’re asking for, right? A trainer's pokemon needs to be able to fight. If you want to come with me, you’d have to learn how to battle.”

Rather than deterring her, this appeared to reaffirm Whismur’s resolve. “Whis!” she said, looking Brendan in the eye. She pointed back to the cave and started waving her arms around a lot. “Whismur whis whis! Mur mur whis! Whis!” she said, miming a punch and a kick, the latter of which made her fall over. She scrambled back up and pointed at Brendan. “Whismur!” she finished, nodding in finality.

SIlence.

“Did... anyone get that?” May asked, looking from Brendan to Astra. Astra shrugged, feeling as lost as May looked.

“I think I have a theory,” Brendan said, examining Whismur carefully. “Because we beat Exploud, Whismur has lost confidence in Exploud’s ability to defend the cave.” Whismur started nodding, encouraging Brendan to continue. “So, I think Whismur wants me to train her, because we’re stronger than Exploud, so she can become an even better guardian for the cave. More or less?”

“Whismur!” Whismur chimed, nodding rapidly.

Astra stared. Well, she could understand the motivation far too well, but wasn’t there a huge problem with that plan!? “How would she defend the cave if she’s stuck with you?” she asked Brendan, confused.

“Well, when the time comes, I could just release her,” Brendan said, thoughtfully. “It’s not like I have to keep her forever.”

“Oh,” Astra said. She hadn’t known that trainers could just... let pokemon go. The concept hadn’t even occurred to her. But now it seemed obvious. If Astra had caught something that was so totally hostile or uncooperative as to be a danger to herself, she wouldn’t want to keep it around either. She supposed that would apply to more mundane reasons as well, such as a permanent injury or... a deal, as the current situation was going.

She thought about it for a second, then shook her head. Leaving home to protect it—a familiar story. So similar. Yet... so different. “I hope you know what you’re getting into,” Astra told Whismur. Joining up with the first human she met, or one that could beat her? Personally participating in all these fights? Left under the whims of whatever random person had captured her? Such a plan never would have worked in Astra’s favor. She could only wish the smaller pokemon luck.

“I can’t promise that you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for, but I’ll do my best to try. But it will be hard,” Brendan said, bringing out an empty pokeball. “Are you sure about this?”

“Whis!” Whismur declared, puffing up to her full height. Which wasn’t much, but Astra couldn’t deny the determination in the Whismur’s eyes. That was impressive, considering Whismur’s eyes were basically a few slits where proper eyes would be.

Brendan looked at Whismur for another moment, then nodded. He grinned. “Alright then. Hello, Whismur, I’m Brendan Birch. We’ll be partners from here on out. Glad to have you.”

Brendan tossed the pokeball. Whismur chirped, jumping to catch it. The ball bonked her on the head and Whismur vanished in a swirl of red light. The ball chimed thrice and fell still with a soft click.

“Neat. Now in a month we’ll have a personal ear-breaker,” May grumbled as Brendan stashed it away. “Can we go back to Rustboro now? Getting out of bed this morning was a mistake.” May rubbed at her side for a moment, wincing.

Astra gave her a worried look. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” May said, waving Astra off and confidently striding towards the road. “Just gotta— erk!” She halted, holding her side with grit teeth. “...gotta walk it off,” she finished, muttering.

Astra and Brendan shared a look. “Well,” Brendan said, watching May carefully. “I should probably tell the miners what went down, but yeah. Let’s go back to Rustboro.”

...

“What do you mean you ‘knocked out the Exploud’!? It’ll take weeks before we can go back in there without it trying to assault us!”

Incidentally, the miners weren’t happy.