Spices went into the air once the crate was opened. It was a shipment from the countryside, a gift to Rustborough for the festival. The saleswoman, a Pyroar, looked to those inspecting her goods with a sharp look in her eyes.

“Well, how does it look?... Gareda, was it?”

The Pyroar’s pupils dilated as the Garchomp raised a Tamato berry up before her eyes, then dropped back into the crate she’d plucked it from. She scowled at the Pyroar. Bystanders shirked away. It was as if she were trying to pierce the saleswoman’s soul.

“They look perfectly fine. And you are not overpricing them either, are you?” the dragon growled. The Pyroar licked her lips, her legs prepared to bolt off at a moment’s notice.

“Not in a million years. Rubyfolk don’t screw foreigners outta their money, let alone other Rubyfolk. I can promise you our prices are as fair as they can be. As fair as they have been for as long as we’ve been growing berries.”

Gareda tilted her head forwards, the scowl remaining ever so sharp as the talons at the end of her arms. Her scarf remained fastened to her throat even as a heavy wind swept through the street, one which the hooded Arcanine behind her was almost blinded by thanks to his fur flying in front of his face. The other Pokemon on the street fared little better. Gareda was alone in her resilience.

“It would be an awful shame if you weren’t being honest with me.”

“I, I am,” the once proud Pyroar said. “I wouldn’t dare lie about this.”

“As you should,” Gareda replied. “Alas, far too many merchants thought differently over the years. Especially to a non local such as me. But I have no time for those games. All the cheats and liars faced the consequences over the years. As they should.”

Pyroar gulped. The tone of Gareda’s voice betrayed a level of experience far past any ordinary Soldier: Strong, uncompromising, yet calm. Few dared voice their disagreement, even when they were on the right side. A Garchomp could sense dishonesty from a mile away. And fear.

“Yes. ma’am.”

“Keep up the good work.”

Gareda turned slowly and walked off, her tail moving like a shark’s fin poking out of the water. In an instant, relief overtook the Pyroar and her waiting customers, the former even sighing out her worries.

‘No time to act civilised these days. Blegh.’

With a rumble, the Garchomp continued her inspection of Rustborough’s shops and stalls, the hooded Arcanine following closely behind. She sensed the conflict brewing within him; he wasn’t wearing that hood because of a bad fashion sense.

To her surprise, he ended up taking the lead, pawing her on the back and motioning for her to follow into a quiet street, one where the light of the sun was blocked by a tarp, as the city’s dark types preferred. Despite this, there wasn’t any trash, or any other signs of dilapidation.

“Gareda, we need to talk,” Cerben said with a heavy voice. “You’re going too far with this.”

The Garchomp let out an exhausted growl. ‘Why does it even surprise me at this point.’ “That’s your standard response to everything I plan and execute. I told you why this is the best course of action, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” the Arcanine said, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder. No one was looking. “Listen, you know there are limitations to these things. These are civilians trying to live their life! Yet you are treating them as if they’re criminals, thugs, rebels even! You cannot seriously tell me that the fairies in the Agate Province respond well to this kind of treatment.”

Gareda raised a talon. “Of course not. But you can’t tell me that you never tested the waters in your own city. In your entire damn sector, for that matter,” she grumbled. “Pokemon have this awful tendency to get rotten. You may not have realised it. Your brain has, however. That’s why you asked me for help.”

Cerben gritted his teeth. “To help keep order, yes! But I don't see how this will achieve that. You’re frightening ordinary folks, not stopping the Alliance or Dungeons. They’re out of the cities, in the-”

A dismissive growl shot out of Gareda’s throat. “They are here. Without a shadow of a doubt, they are here too.“

Cerben’s ears went flat against his head. “But the city’s defenses are-”

“-Nowhere near as good as you believe them to be,” Gareda retorted, her voice harsh on the ears. She stood on edge as she spoke, ready to respond in kind if Cerben lunged. “Intelligence doesn’t lie, does it? Where is the Othersider again?”

The Arcanine lowered his head in defeat, and sighed. “We believe that he’s found residence here in the city.”

Gareda’s eyes remained locked onto Cerben’s. “Precisely. Now, if he is here, then there’s more. They wouldn’t let him wander about unguarded here. Not in a million years. That boy means the world, Cerben. Especially in times such as these.”

“Of course,” Cerben said. The wind swept through the streets once more, sending his hood flying off; he quickly pulled it back over his head with two paws. “I’ve been grilled enough by the queen as is, you don’t need to join in as well.”

‘Pfft.’ Gareda spat beside her. “This is not grilling. Patrina has her own ways with words.” She reeled a little, not inconspicuous enough to her liking. ‘If only she lost her tongue.’

“Okay… okay.” Cerben patted the sides of his head with both paws. “I’ll admit, they’re most likely here. But we can’t terrorise everyone and make them into suspects when they’re not.”

“Which is not what we are doing here, is it?” Gareda tapped her foot. Her toe claws were digging into the ground with each tap. “This is little more than simple ‘expecting’. But I do not take it as casually as you do. The process is delicate. The tiniest details can’t escape you. Unless you enjoy having giant problems on your paws later. The Alliance is here, Cerben. And if we work vigilantly, we can expel them. Do not mistake me being rough with terror. My methods bring results. As a matter of fact, we have already caught one disguised Alliance member just outside of this city.”

Cerben tilted his head. “Do… do go on.”

Gareda’s tail swayed left and right as she held her arms in front of herself. “An Incineroar mayor of a town just outside of the city. The first town the Othersider has attacked, in fact. He is in prison as we speak.”

“M-mayor?!” Cerben replied. His breathing turned into pants; judging by the sharp scent of fear, Gareda could tell he hadn’t been told.

“Yes, mayor. Remember what I said about rot?”

“I didn’t… you are sure of this?”

“I am not one to make errors here.” Gareda turned to walk away. “He sympathised. Inaction related to the dungeon inside his town had corrupted him. It’s a shame, but it is what it is.”

“Wait!” the Arcanine growled, before hopping in front of the Garchomp. “You never told me about this. Why?”

Gareda steeled her nerves. ‘Here we go.’ “First things first. Your province, you should’ve known. Second, we aren’t sure how bad the situation is. There are likely more sympathisers in town after the Alliance hit it… they hit us where it hurts. Third… the Othersider was there. And he is who I am after.”

A soft rumble stirred in Cerben’s throat. It sounded as if he were trying to growl, but just couldn’t. Or didn’t want to.

“This, you can’t just neglect telling me these things! We’re in this together, Gareda!”

Gareda felt foreign presences creep up behind. She glanced over her shoulder. Beyond her back fin, a family of Houndoom had just turned the corner and were now coming their way.

“Why don’t we have the rest of this little debate back in the castle, rather than in public?”

Cerben begrudgingly nodded. “We should’ve made sure of that before… yes.” He looked away, Gareda rolled her eyes.

‘Whose idea was that again?’

* * *

The two Lords returned to the central keep. On the way there, as they happened to pass a rather bulbous Magmortar, Gareda remembered something more to discuss. Something that involved her two ‘bodyguards’.

‘Funny how Patrina put those two in place to keep an eye on me, yet neither of them have clawed at my back. Thank Arceus that I’m nothing like her. Contemptible witch.’

They returned to the debate room Cerben had taken them to on the first day. Luffy and Vli came along as well, both having done their rounds for the day. One of the guards was sniffly and ill; he had to be replaced lest he accidentally set Cerben’s map on fire. It took a good ten minutes for everything to be set up: Map, tea, and quiet.

“So, what are we here for?” Luffy asked while standing at Gareda’s side. Given where her big eyes were pointing to, nobody’s answer but Gareda’s would be welcomed with open arms. The Garchomp breathed in deep through her nose.

“A little debate. Cerben and I have had some… disagreements over our approach,” she said, shooting the Arcanine a dull stare.

“This is ridiculous… why do you need your bodyguards at your side here?” Cerben asked.

Gareda scowled back at him. “They’re smarter than they look, that is why.”

“Y-yes, our way of viewing things isn’t quite the same,” Luffy stuttered. “That’s not to say yours is bad! It’s just, you know, when you’re at the top for so long, you forget what the ground looks like. We’ve been helping out Lord Gareda just fine.”

“Not just in strategy, in combat as well,” Vli added.

“Well, riddle me this,” Cerben stated in a booming baritone. “Why should we be so stern to every citizen here? The threat is primarily from outside of the city. Dungeons first and foremost, and the Alliance on top of that! I know fulwell we consider them one and the same now, but this is plain ridiculous. This city has no dungeons and is safer than anywhere else in the Ruby province. And the most loyal!”

Gareda shook her head. “To which I said that it’s only a matter of time before his loyal city is not so loyal anymore. You need to be vigilant regardless of where you are.”

She glared back and forth between Vli and Luffy, waiting for them to answer.

‘Come on now… not all at once.’

Vli flapped his wings a few times, then leaned over the map. “Speaking from my own experiences back home on the Azzurro Islands, how shall I put it… so, there are no cities quite as large as Rustborough on the Azzurros, but there is still a clear distinction between city and village.”

The Toucannon prodded at the map with his feet. “Truth to be told, we are all Pokemon at the end of the day. When we had our huge problems with smugglers a while back, there were kids from all over the islands who got involved! Was quite a shock for me, even a few kids from my village who I’d known for years, even someone I grew up with was involved. But again, we’re all just Pokemon at the end of the day. So where someone’s from isn’t all that relevant to whether they’d get involved with shady business, like the Alliance for example.”

Cerben’s stance on his paws weakened; Gareda felt how reserved he had gotten as Vli brought up his own life story.

“Is… is that true? But-”

“Oh yes,” Vli said with another flap of his wings. “I’m telling you, you better keep an eye out on the city too. Luffy’s from the Ruby Province as well. Where exactly again… the Source Hills, right?”

“That’s right!” Luffy nodded in a way that could be mistaken for a bow. “Born and raised, the ol’ Source Hills are when I’m from. Still a Ruby girl deep down!”

“Ha!” exclaimed Vli while puffing out his chest. “Now, you’ve told me plenty about how the Rubyfolk see one another as one big family, right? Same’s true for the Azzurros! Well, bit more focused to one island, but you get the idea. Windswept Island was my family, the others were cousins. Which is still family, but eh-”

“It’s okay,” Luffy said with a grin. “But yes, that’s something all Rubyfolk know. You too Cerben.”

“O-of course,” Cerben said. “Of course.” Gareda stared up at the ceiling to roll her eyes.

‘What a pushover.’

Luffy drank from her tea, which had been made from fresh Bluk Berries. “To be honest, I’m kind of surprised hearing this from you, Cerben. If there’s anyone here who should know that’s the case, it’s you, right? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you’re doing a bad job, and I really admire that you trust Rustborough that much, but…

She folded her arms. ”Well, the thing is, you’ve kind of been given them preferential treatment. More tax money is spent here, more festival supplies are organised for Rustborough… it’s not fun, speaking as someone who’s from the Source Hills up north. And that’s not even as far away as some other places in the Ruby Province. We’re all one big family at the end of the day. And people here in Rustborough won’t be happy to hear how the small town folk are doing.”

“Yes, yes! I get it, I do,” Cerben hacked out. The slight Ruby accent he usually spoke in was lacking this time around. “Listen. We need to keep a good appearance up here. That is why I do not enjoy this tactic, necessary though it may be! Why do you think I am making this much of a fuss about it to begin with?”

Gareda tilted her head up, and narrowed her eyes. “Because you are obsessed with being viewed in a positive light, that is why. How ironic that it only results in you being viewed worse than ever. At this time, you will keep Rustborough happy, while the rest of the Ruby Province will be pissed. Why don’t you step on a few toes to try and keep things steady?”

“Ggghh…” Cerben rumbled. Gareda sipped from her Bluk tea, waiting a minute for an answer that wouldn’t come.

‘What a waste of time this was.’

“So…. what are we going to do now?” Vli asked, tea dripping off his beak.

“Simple,” Gareda grunted. “We work to fix what is broken. Starting with up north.”

“My home region?” Luffy asked, pleading Gareda with her eyes. One simple nod later, and the Magmar positively squeed with glee. “I’m going back home!!”

Gareda bonked on the table with a loud thud, shifting it a few centimetres back. Tea spilled out of everyone’s bowls and cups, leaving stains dangerously close to the map, much to Cerben’s chagrin.

“Careful now!! That map is custom made!”

“Apologies.” Gareda shot a stare at him. ‘Mad dog.’ “Now keep yourself under control, duckface. This is not a holiday, this is work. There’s trouble in that area. Alliance activity coming out of people’s damned noses. You’re going there to reestablish control. And if you prefer to keep your heads attached to your bodies, then you'll do your best to make sure the flute piece there doesn’t end up in the wrong paws. Is that clear?”

Vli saluted, while Luffy hesitated. “Yes, Lord Gareda!”

“O-of course.”

The Magmar grabbed onto her tail for comfort, while Cerben shook his head, growling out his disapproval.

“This better work out the way you think it does.”

Gareda returned the gesture. Like bitter old enemies caught in a chance meeting, they gazed at one another, waiting to see who was going to draw their weapon first..

‘Oh, it will.’

* * *

When the sourness in the room dissipated, Gareda and Cerben went separate ways. She wouldn’t see him again that day, or Vli for that matter.

Luffy, on the other hand, crashed into her bedroom just after dinner.

“Hey… can we talk? For a minute?”

Gareda let out a tired sigh. “Fine by me. But keep it short.”

Luffy gulped. “Uhm, so, since we’re going to my region next, and since the festival is fast approaching now… would you want me to show you where I’m from?”

The Garchomp shrugged. “If there’s trouble, why not. But why do you ask?”

Luffy gulped, her tail flame dimming a little. “It’s, I just really wanted to show you. I like you, you know that. Right?”

Gareda laid her head on her pillow. “Of course I do. You’ve been real clingy these past few weeks, I’ve noticed.”

“There…” Luffy trailed off. She looked worried. Very worried. “There’s something I’d like to admit to you. It’s personal, but-”

“Now's not the time,” Gareda deadpanned, her eyes half closed already. “Today’s been a rough day. Got a bad enough headache as is, any more and my damn head would split open. Give me some time, yes?”

“Y-yes,” Luffy said. Gareda felt a sense of shock pass through her, and the wave of disappointment that washed it away soon after. “I won’t bother you with it now. G-good night.”

“You as well, Luffy.”

Once the door was closed, Gareda rolled onto her other side. She didn’t think much of Luffy’s sudden break in, nor what she was so desperate to get off her chest.

She just felt a little lonely that night.