Spice of Life: The Search for Raziel - Part 2
 
 What does one think when they feel that rush of adrenaline through their veins in that moment of absolute desperation, when a single second can decide life or death. In short, the answer is they don’t; in those split seconds, instinct is the master of the mind. Fight or flight, in the end it’s all inherent to nature’s design. Survival is key, and some will do anything to survive given the right scenario.
 
 
  The group didn’t stop once as they ran through the woods. Though the path was winding and random, the persian ahead of them seemed to know the way they were going, bobbing and weaving in a way that couldn’t possibly be random. In time, the five arrived at a small village of homes forged from sticks and leaves, where meowth silently watched over them. “Alright…” Kaiser huffed, slowing to a halt. “Should be safe here. Those pokemon might be vicious, but they know better than to enter my domain.”
 
 
  “Thanks for the save… Kaiser, right?” Cyn asked, recalling the name Solomon had called him by before. Her eyes turned to the houses around them as she began to idly explore the area, “Nice place. It reminds me of Clearspring back when it first started up, my dad built houses just like these.”
 
 
  “Oh yes, it’s -exactly- like Clearspring.” Spice agreed before lifting his tails slightly to keep the tips from touching the ground as he cringed, “Just the right balance between ‘cute’ and ‘drab’.”
 
 
  Kaiser turned around, staring down the ninetales with his one red eye, the other socket containing an eye that had become a solid, milky white, a scar running across it and over the lid. “Boy, you’d best show some respect after we saved your sorry behind.” He got up close to the fox, causing him to reel back away from his imposing stance. “Or would you have preferred I left you there to be eaten? You know how ariados eat right? They don’t gulp ya down whole, no, that would be a kindness. First, they bind you up with their webs. Then, they bite down into ya and squirt their venom and digestive fluids right into your body. Then, they suck out your liquified innards, leaving the skin and fur and bone to rot.” The feline gave a rather sadistic grin, opening his eyes as wide as he could to further intimidate.
 
 
  Spice let out a high-pitched sound that seemed as though he might have just choked on his own terror. As the Ninetales began to stammer and stutter Cyn quickly moved in to take over for him, “Don’t mind him, he’s a city pokemon. Used to sleeping in a soft bed… I’m trying to teach him, but he’s proving to be more of a challenge than I had thought.” the Liepard explained, “We’re grateful for you saving us, all of us are.” she noted, glancing back to Sol and Kalsea.
 
 
  “Of course, of course.” Kaiser nodded to Cyn with a warm smile. He turned his attention to the other two. “Should be thanking your little fairy friend too. He helped me and my tribe a little while back; I recognised the sound of his hyper voice, and rushed over as quickly as I could with back up. Good to see you again Solomon.”
 
 
  “Likewise.” Sol sat down, wiping his brow with a ribbon after the exhausting sprint. “Though I must say, happy as I am to see you, I’m not quite happy to see everything else. This place was quiet last time we were here, and that was just a few days ago. What happened?”
 
 
  “Hell if I know.” Kaiser began to slowly pace. “One day everything is fine, then suddenly the other pokemon start getting more violent the next. This place has become a madhouse within a span of seventy-two hours. I thought we’d be in great shape after we chased Nova and her brood away, but now everything else has gotten worse. We have a seed shortage on our hands, food is low, and we can’t hunt because that requires supplies we don’t have against an ever-growing threat.” He paused, eyeing up the other three. “By the way, who are these pokemon with you? That one certainly isn’t Corona.” He glared once more at the ninetales, making sure he got a good look at his blind eye.
 
 
  “Goodness, I never thought I’d find someone I didn’t want to look at me.” Spice cringed as he tried to look away from the Persian’s milky eye, “Well, you may have not heard of me out here in the wild, but I am Spice Blaise, Beauty Contest Champion and Hero of Clearspring.”
 
 
  “And I’m Cyn, the unfortunate leader of the adventuring team that ‘Spice Blaise’ is on.” The Liepard introduced herself, holding out her paw to greet Kaiser, “We’re the Winners, and this isn’t our first time in the Dark Woods. Speaking of which, any idea why it’s gotten so hostile? It used to be a rookie dungeon.”
 
 
  “Ah, a fellow leader. My condolences for the extra baggage.” Rather than shake her paw, Kaiser took it into hers and gave it a quick, gentlemanly kiss. “And like I said to Sol, I don’t really know what’s going on. Seems like everything just went crazy one day recently. We’ve seen adventuring teams before, but we tend to stay out of their way. Nothing to be gained by angering the pokemon that can traverse mystery dungeons freely.”
 
 
  “Oh, uh.” Cyn began, unsure of how to take the kiss on her paw before withdrawing it and putting it back down on the forest floor. “I don’t want to cause anymore trouble for you and your group, we were only here hiding from a larger pokemon anyway.” She explained before breathing out a sigh as she looked back to her bag, “Though without our badges we’re not going to get far.”
 
 
  “That won’t be an issue. Cadet! Front and center!” Kaiser shouted, one of the meowth’s scampering up from the small village and to his side with a salute. “Take a group out to retrieve a pair of adventure team badges. Be sure to examine where the alpha squad entered combat, that is where they are most likely to be found. While there, tell alpha to head back to base, I want an update on resources we lost during that fight.”
 
 
  “Yessir!” The meowth agreed, running back into the village to gather supplies and manpower.
 
 
  “I assume what you were running from will likely not be native to these woods. If it shows up here, they’ll notify me. Alpha squad would likely have done so themselves had it not been for the ambush you fell for.” Kaiser’s eye fell onto the Glaceon, who seemed more inclined to watch the village operate rather than participate in the conversation at hand. “You’ve been awfully quiet. Don’t you want to introduce yourself too?”
 
 
  “Hmm...oh, right.” She cleared her throat. “My name is Kalsea. No fancy titles like the other two, unless you count ‘Solomon’s friend’ as a title.”
 
 
  “More like stalker…” Sol mumbled under his breath. As if on cue, the glaceon walked up to him and rubbed her head against his chest.
 
 
  “These Meowth seem to follow you without even questioning it.” Cyn noted, looking from one feline to the next, only for her eyes to land on Spice as he brushed the twigs and leaves out of his tails. Her eyes snapped back to the Persian, “I don’t usually ask for advice but… I’ve got to know if there’s a way to get my team like this.”
 
 
  “Practice, trust, and discipline my dear.” Kaiser gave Cyn a smile with half-opened eyes. “You’re still new at being a leader, I can tell. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of things soon enough.”
 
  “I’m not new, I’m just… coming out of some downtime, I guess.” Cyn flicked her ears back, though given all that Kaiser had done for them she couldn’t exactly be mad at him. She looked over her shoulder, “We’ll come back with berries once we’ve got a strong enough team. You shouldn’t have to starve out here.”
 
 
  “Speaking of berries, that’s another part of the issue.” Kaiser snapped back to the issue at hand, glancing back to one of the buildings in the village; Sol remembered it as the place the village kept their supplies. “Orbs and items are still rather abundant, but seeds? Berries? Apples? all of them are growing scarce. Everything that can grow it seems, as if the land suddenly became less fertile.”
 
 
  “Less fertile?” Spice perked his ears. Cyn’s eyes slowly widened as she came to the same conclusion as the Ninetales, as did her tail as it flew back and curled around one of his tails and began twisting it forcefully. “A-ahaha, owahh. Pr-probably just the season. I’m sure once the weather changes you’ll be rolling in berries again!”
 
 
  “Probably.” Cyn agreed, releasing the Ninetales from her grip. “But we’ll help you as much as we can until things turn around, alright? Consider it Clearspring’s way of trying to establish…” ...damn, where what was that phrase Leaf had brought with him from Moss Rock? “...Diplomatic relations between our villages.”
 
 
  Kaiser raised an eyebrow at the two; he knew suspicious behavior when he saw it, but right now he felt no reason to pry. “I’m not usually one to accept charity… but for the sake of my village, I suppose I have little choice. For their sake, I’ll take anything I can get.”
 
 
  “Kalsea stop it.” Solomon interjected, the ice type still rubbing against his chest. “You’re being...weird.”
 
 
  “Don’t mention it.” Cyn replied to Kaiser, and for her sake she hoped he wouldn’t. She couldn’t ignore the signs, but it still made no sense to her… how could the whole dungeon’s eco-system be so dependant on one magical crystal? She glanced back towards the gates briefly, “How long do you think your scouts will be?”
 
 
  Kaiser chuckled, looking over Sol and Kal before turning his attention back to Cyn. “Shouldn’t be too much longer, barring any complications. They would have sent back someone to report once they rendezvoused with Alpha team.” He looked past the group, spotting a meowth returning to the village with a jog. “And there he is now. Report!”
 
 
  “The attacking pokemon have fled back into the woods.” The meowth exclaimed, giving a salute to his chief. “For the time being, the path is clear. Alpha team is down two members, nowhere to be seen. They are presumed eaten given the circumstances sir.”
 
 
  “...Dammit.” Kaiser scowled. “We’ll give proper mourning later. What else can you report?”
 
 
  “One of the badges have been recovered. However, the battle has damaged it.” The meowth pulled out one of the adventure team badges. It was chipped and burnt, looking as though it took a hit from a stray blast seed. “We are still on the look out for the other one.”
 
 
  “Keep up the good work.” He motioned with his head for Cyn to take the badge. “Hope it still works, otherwise we’ll have no choice but to find the other one.”
 
 
  “They’re designed for damage, it should be fine.” Cyn replied as she took the badge from him, it almost didn’t seem like it was worth what had been lost to get it back, and she certainly didn’t want him to lose even more of his team. “...I’m sorry.” she added sincerely.
 
 
  Kaiser sighed. “Don’t worry about it. This is our problem, we’ll deal with it as needed.” He turned back to the meowth. “Go back to your team and continue to search around. Look for the other badge, and keep your eyes open for any other supplies that might be of use.” With a quiet salute, the meowth ducked back into the woods. “What a mess. That makes five lost in less than a week. I’d be tempted to leave if it weren't for the fact that this is the meowth’s home. They’d never want to abandon it.”
 
 
  “Not yours?” Solomon addressed, picking up the subtlety of his words.
 
 
  “No. I’m an outsider who got lost in here and made it my home. You should have seen how chaotic this group was before me.” He managed to force a half smile. “Don’t you guys worry. We’ve dealt with worse before and pulled through. Like the fox said, this’ll probably all blow over in time. Just a bad season is all.”
 
 
  “H-hey, call him back. You don’t need him to go after the other one.” Cyn insisted before rubbing the badge with her paws, “It’s just a little charred. It probably still works fine.” The Liepard said before turning her attention to Spice and holding out the badge to him, “Look, I’ll prove it.”
 
 
  “Get that thing away from me, it might send us to the bottom of the sea for all we know!” The Ninetales yelped before ducking under the beam as it shot over his head. Pretty soon Cyn was chasing him around the camp with it. “There must be some other way for us to get back!”
 
 
  “Not unless you’ve been hiding an Escape Orb.” Cyn snapped back at him before pausing and turning to Solomon, “Wait, do you have an Escape Orb?” she asked, halting her pursuit of the fox just long enough for him to catch his breath.
 
 
  “That’s how me, Fandango, and Corona got out the first time.” Solomon explained, pushing Kalsea away with his ribbons. “The three of us were able to warp out with one of those things.
 
 
  “We only had the one.” Kaiser shook his head. “Those things are hard to come by, and we don’t often keep them when we see them because we have no need of escaping.” His eyes widened with realization. “But you know what we do have? We have a few scanner orbs. Those reveal items in the immediate area to whoever uses it. We use them if we’re in need of certain items but don’t need others; it allows us to be more precise with what we pick up.”
 
 
  “So we could use it to find the Spearow who took Spice’s badge.” Cyn perked her ears at the plan before glancing back out into the wilderness, “We should be able to keep out of trouble if we just stay on target. Once we get the badge we can warp out before anything else attacks us.”
 
 
  “Either that or an escape orb, whichever pops up first.” Kaiser explained. “I’ll lead the way. I know these woods better than the rest of you, i’ll be able to navigate us around the more dangerous spots.”
 
 
  “Sounds like a plan. We go as a group to reclaim the badge from the spearow, which won’t be a threat to five of us, then we warp out from there.” Solomon reiterated. “Once we’re out of here, we can continue our search for Raziel.”
 
 
  “I’ll not pry into that matter. I’m sure it’s of great importance.” Kaiser nodded to the fairy before whistling up to the other meowth still in the village. “Someone fetch me a scanner orb!” With the smaller cats scrambling about, they were free to talk more briefly. His good eye fell onto the ice type and the yellow scarf around her neck. “Say, isn’t that the persim scarf I entrusted to Corona?”
 
 
  “What, this thing?” Kalsea stopped her attempts to nuzzle into Sol and tugged at the cloth she wore. “I found it on the ground next to that guy. He was in a confused stupor; I used it to snap him out of it.” She pointed to Spice with her forepaw.
 
 
  “Corona must’ve left it behind when she took mine. Hardly a fair trade if you ask me.” Spice replied, turning his nose up at the scarf before adjusting his own, “We’ll have to give it back to her when we’re out of this mystery dungeon.”
 
 
  “When she took yours?” Kaiser tilted his head. “Alright, what the heck happened? Corona told me she was looking for her children.”
 
 
  “Apparently some Zangoose called Raziel told her that I ate them, now we’re trying to track him down.” Cyn explained before perking her ears, “Oh hey, there’s a thought… have you seen him?”
 
 
  “A Zangoose, no, no zangoose...but wait, they’re gone? Poor girl...” The persian wiped his paw over his face. “Enough tragedy. Let’s get ready to set out. My meowth should be here momentarily with the scanner orb. Is there anything else any of you think you might need before we set out?”
 
 
  “We’ve got supplies, we should be alright.” Cyn replied before glancing back to her adventurer’s bag, then to the Ninetales following her, “Oh hey, maybe we should give you guys a few berries. You did save our lives, after all.”
 
 
  “Oh, very well.” Spice huffed as he started digging through his bag. He finally took out a pawful of random assorted berries and handed them to Kaiser, “Here, enjoy.” he remarked, not paying attention to the minun-patterned berry that had entered the mix.
 
 
  “You don’t need to do this, I mean…” The blue berry with tiny lines on it caught his eye. From Spice’s paws he plucked it up, looking it over carefully. “What the hell is this? I’ve never seen a berry like this before.”
 
 
  “Your guess is as good as mine.” Solomon looked over the fruit as well. “I don’t remember seeing the berry before...then again, I don’t know what we have with us, Spice didn’t let me see the inventory.” He glared over at the fox.
 
 
  “That’s a Minun berry, it shrinks whoever eats it.” Cyn replied, recognizing it instantly and quickly taking it back from Kaiser before narrowing her eyes on Spice, “Which makes it completely useless to us. I thought I told you to grab a Chesto berry.”
 
 
  “Clearly I have an eye for rarity that overlooks the plain and common.” Spice replied unapologetically as he took the berry back from Cyn and slipped it into his back before swishing his tails, “And it IS useful, you just don’t understand how it can be used.”
 
 
  “I understand you’re a dumbass.” Cyn retorted as her ears pinned back aggressively. It was clear to Solomon and Kalsea they might be here all day if they didn’t step between the two.
 
 
  “Spice, can’t you just keep your trap shut for five minutes.” Sol complained. “Just accept you made a mistake and move on, your constant self-glorifications are giving me a headache.”
 
 
  “I could keep my mouth shut quite happily if you were inside it, you little know-it-all.” Spice growled at the Sylveon, his tails flaring out as he began to prowl towards him, “Come to think of it, isn’t it about lunch time? I think I deserve a treat.”
 
 
“You would want a treat you fat miltank.” Solomon scoffed. “You do know what - ”
 
  The sound of stretched rubber all around the Ninetales stopped him in his tracks. As he looked about the camp he found the slingshots of every Meowth pointed towards him, and they were all ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Kaiser pinched the bridge of his muzzle to hold back his headache, then held up a paw to halt his men. Kaiser approached the ninetales, letting the fox stare right into his blind eye. “If you were under me, I’d have you eating dirt for acting out of line like that. There will be no friendly fire, understand?”
 
 
“Well, I-” Spice began, his tails twitching in a cocktail of anxiety and outrage as he narrowed his eyes on Sol, “But he-!”
 
 
  “UNDERSTAND SOLDIER!?” Kaiser erupted into a powerful roar. A slap came across his face from the feline’s large paw. “I MAY NOT BE YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER, BUT I WILL HAVE RESPECT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?”
 
 
  Spice didn’t respond, he simply stood there with a red mark over his cheek, staring into nothingness with a dumbfounded look over his face. Of course, he wasn’t the only one frozen in the moment, Cyn stared on ahead with a look of shock and disbelief. Finally she carefully made her way to the Ninetales’ side, “...Uh… Spice..? You okay..? ...Buddy?”
 
 
  The Ninetales slowly turned his head, and as his purple eyes met Cyn’s he began to quiver uncontrollably. The Liepard’s eyes widened as the fox began to whimper, holding back the tidal wave of tears for as long as possible… and in an instant, he let out an ear-piercing wail that sounded throughout the forest.
 
 
___________________________________________________________________________
 
 
  “...And then the brave Hero of Clearspring cried uncontrollably for three hours,” Kalsea finished the story with a little grin, “The end.”
 
 
  “I like that story.” Solomon joked, managing to crack a small smile.
 
 
  “Oh, shut up you two. You weren’t the one getting hit.” Spice scowled bitterly before reaching up to his face and wincing, “O-ow, ow. I think he used his claws. My perfect face, ruined forever...” he whimpered, sounding as though he were about to start crying again.
 
 
  “I didn’t use my claws.” Kaiser grumbled. “I didn’t even hit you that hard. Hell, if it weren’t for us wanting to keep incognito right now, I’d hit you again.” The group, after Spice’s outburst, made their way into the Dark Wood. The persian was under the effects of the scanner orb, able to detect nearby items with the strange, psychic sense it granted.
 
 
  “I’d let you. I’ve been wanting to do that since I met him.” Cyn glanced back at the cat. She was glad that he had decided to come along, if only to keep Spice from enacting his ‘revenge’ on Sol.
 
 
  “You really should have. I’ve never met anyone so whiny before.” Kaiser commented. “I am not being the least bit sarcastic when I say I’ve seen children who don’t complain and act as fussy as him.”
 
 
  “Well, if you two agree on so much, why don’t you just marry each-other and have a litter of rageaholic kittens?” the Ninetales snapped, though a quick glance in Kaiser’s direction had him quickly falling back in line, “...Also, you know that a party is only meant to have four pokemon, right?”
 
 
  “Until we get your badge back, I’d call us a wild group of pokemon who just happen to be travelling as a group.” Cyn replied, deciding to miscount the broken badge in her bag for now, “Speaking of, how much further do you think it is, Kai?”
 
 
  “Kai? ...You’ve given him a nickname?” Spice let out a muffled noise of frustration as his tails began to twist and bind around each other in ways the Liepard had never seen, but were none-the-less highly amusing to watch.
 
 
  “Boy, don’t make me come back there.” Kaiser growled. “If you don’t start shaping up, I might just have to follow you home and make that little marriage quip a true statement. Those ‘rageaholic kittens’ would outrank you the moment they left the womb.” Kaiser chuckled lightly, turning to Cyn. “I’m joking of course. I’d never do that to you; I’m sure you got your own plans and what not. I admit, I don’t have the best sense of humor.”
 
 
  “Well, you’re smarter and funnier than the last Persian I dated,” Cyn commented back at him playfully, “But you and your guys should come to Clearspring, it’d be a lot safer than living out here in the Dark Woods. I bet you’d be able to get onto an adventuring team in no time.”
 
 
  “Yes, and SPEAKING of being an adventuring team. How far away is the badge?” Spice reminded him before glancing back at Solomon and Kalsea, “We want to find it and get out of here as soon as we can, right?”
 
 
  “No need to be jealous Spice.” Kalsea commented. “I’m sure everyone loves you despite your bumbling tendencies.”
 
 
  “You're being nice to him after everything?” Solomon looked at Kalsea with raised eyebrows.
 
 
“Thank you, Kalsey, I’m glad I can at least count on you.” Spice replied, shooting a glance over at Cyn to see if she reacted to the nickname… though as she continued to wander onwards he cleared his throat, “I said, I’m GLAD I CAN COUNT ON YOU, KALSEY!”
 
 
“Her name is Kalsea you twi - “ Solomon began before a small ice shard formed in his mouth, forcing him to be quiet. He cast an annoyed stare to the ice type, though she didn’t bother to look.
 
 
  “Actually, I prefer Kal.” She insisted. “But Spice...maybe turn down the volume a little? Don’t want to draw attention of those big nasties out there.”
 
 
  “You know, Kal.” Spice began again as he pranced closer Cyn, using his tails to guide the Glaceon alongside him as he murred fondly to her, “I was thinking that perhaps you should come back to Clearspring, we could even get a cottage together. Wouldn’t that be-”
 
 
  “It’s close.” Kaiser interrupted, looking off deeper into the woods. “It’s not moving either. Good chance the spearow dropped it.”
 
 
  “Good, that’ll be less trouble.” Cyn replied as she moved forward, it was clear that neither of them had been paying any attention to Spice’s attempts, much to the Ninetales’ frustration.
 
  “Mmph.” Solomon grumbled, managing to spit out the ice after working it with his jaw for a bit. “At least this we’ll be out soon. I don’t know about you guys, but maybe we could look for Raziel another day? This little venture has been more chaos than I bargained for.”
 
 
  “I wasn’t expecting the Dark Woods to be so dangerous…” Cyn sighed before glancing over at Kaiser as her ears folded in defeat. “I think we’d better just get our badge and get out.” she admitted, looking ashamed to have to say it in front of him.
 
 
  “Well, let’s not dilly-dally, time waits for no one.” Spice insisted as he pranced ahead, allowing Kalsea to slip through his tails and reunite with her Sylveon companion as he moved in to grab their goal.
 
 
  Kalsea greeted Solomon with a gleeful smile, he greeted her with a scowl. “Why?” He asked, cocking his head. “Why are you trying so hard to make friends with him? He’s narcissistic, he’s mean, he’s a moron.”
 
 
“All everyone has done has scold the poor thing since all this started.” She interjected. “He needs some encouragement, even if you and everyone else don’t think he deserves it.”
 
 
Kaiser and Cyn crouched behind a bush and looked on ahead. “It’s just in front of us...it should be at least.” the persian mumbled, scanning the area with his senses. A grunt sounded from up ahead; a familiar, ragged-looking ursaring emerged from behind a few trees.
 
 
  “Luke-” Solomon growled. “So he followed us into the dungeon. Well, as long as we get the badge, it’s likely the other things in the woods will take care of him for us. Just gotta find that spearow. Look to the trees, it might be roosting.”
 
 
  “I don’t think that’s the case.” Kaiser shook his head.
 
 
  “Why not?” Sol snapped his head to look at the cat’s. “It makes sense.”
 
 
  “Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling that our spearow is a bit closer to the ground than you might expect.” As he said this, the ursaring let out a belch, releasing red and brown feathers from his large maw. He began to idly pick at his teeth with his sharp claws. “Yeah...well, at least we know where the badge is now.”
 
 
  “Great, now how are we supposed to get it?” Cyn flicked her ears back. She had done a lot of ‘stomach dives’ to rescue pokemon, but it seemed a little excessive just to get an item back… not to mention she was lacking the Leafeon who usually kept her stay in the predator’s gut from being permanent.
 
 
  “I suppose there’s no helping it, we’ll just have to send someone in.” Spice announced before turning his attention back to Solomon and raising an eyebrow as he waited expectantly.
 
 
  Sol rolled his eyes at Spice’s implication. “Why don’t we just make him vomit? He just ate, judging from the look of the feathers, so there should be little damage to the badge inside. Won’t be too hard, just pound him in the gut a bit and it’ll pop right out.”
 
 
  “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.” Cyn replied with a little nod before glancing over at Spice, “How about a flamethrower to get things started? Probably best we get him from a distance as much as possible before the big lug notices us.”
 
  “Kalsea, what do you -” Solomon looked to his side where the ice type had just been, but she was gone. A whistle from up ahead caught their attentions; Kal was up ahead, drawing the attention of the large bear.
 
 
  “Hey there big guy!” She called out, waving her forepaw to him.
 
 
  “Kalsea, what the hell are you doing?” Sol growled. It was too late to call her back however, as Luke was now staring right at her.
 
 
  “I thought you and your lot ran into here.” Luke grumbled, stomping closer to the unwavering glaceon. “Gave up on running have you? Does this mean your going to just give yourself to me? Well, I just ate, but I have plenty of room for -” Before he could finish his thought, Kalsea’s form began to rapidly multiply, encircling the bear with nearly two dozen identical copies. The clones began to hop around and rapidly prance about in a chaotic mess of movement. “What is this?” Luke questioned, swiping blindly at the air.
 
 
  “She’s making a distraction with double team. ” Solomon mumbled. “Would have been nice if she told us she could do that before.”
 
 
“That’s irrelevant!” Kaiser announced, preparing himself to pounce.“Now’s our chance! Go! GO!”
 
 
  Cyn let out a battle yowl as she pounced into action, her claws slipped out of her slender paws as she began to slash endlessly at Luke’s stomach to tear away the fur and leave it exposed. As the Ursaring swiped his heavy paw down at her she nimbly dodged to his side just in time to avoid the firey inferno as Spice’s flamethrower emerged from the bush and struck the bear’s arm.
 
 
  “Gah!” Luke roared, quickling moving to pat out the flames on his arm. As he did this, the real Kalsea forced three ice shards into his back. In a range, he turned himself around and began to charge up a hyper beam.
 
 
  “Save some for me guys!” Kaiser taunted coyly, grinning widely as the gem on his forehead began to glow bright. A thin, earth-colored beam shot forth from it and burned into the bear’s back in the shape of an “X”. “That’s where I’ll be hitting you next big guy!” he taunted flicking his tail about as he prepared to dodge the hyper beam, now pointed at him after his attack.
 
 
  “Uh...Go team go!” Solomon cheered from further back. He didn’t have an efficient means to help at the moment, so he just offered moral support.
 
 
  “You know, you could end this if you’d just cough up that Spearow you ate.” Cyn told him as she began to move around, trying to keep all five of them evenly spread around the pokemon they were fighting, “Give it up, Luke. You’re outnumbered and outmatched.”
 
 
  Luke ceased charging his hyper beam. “Enough of this!” He roared, stomping his foot down into the ground. In that instant, the earth began to shake and crack, flinging rocks and dirt into the air and forcing everyone onto their haunches. In a fit of rage, he stomped again and again, further warping and destroying the ground beneath them, tossing them about like jumping beans. Nearby trees began to topple over, threatening to crush the group.
 
 
  “Ah!” Spice yelped out, the constant pounding against the ground not only ruining his fur but leaving him weaker with each blow. The fire-type’s natural weakness to the move left him practically limp after the third time hitting the ground, and as his paw shakily reached into his bag another slam sent its contents scattering over the forest floor, “Ah! No!”
 
 
  “Spice!” Cyn yelled, reaching out towards the Ninetales as she found herself getting bounced again and slamming into the broken floor. The only way any of them would get out of this was if someone could reach Luke… well, assuming the bear’s red face was due to his anger rather than his exhaustion..
 
 
  Solomon, being further away, didn’t receive nearly as much of the impact as the others, but he knew a strong attack when he felt it “At this rate, there’s gonna be a crater before we get that badge back!” As he grumbled, trying to think of something he could do, he looked up in time to see one of the various trees descending upon him. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. A large crash signaled the impact, but he was still alive. Kaiser, quick on his paws despite the string of earthquakes, grabbed the fairy type by the scruff of his neck in his jaws. “J-j-jeese!” Sol looked over the tree that almost crushed him. “I owe you one Kaiser.”
 
 
  Kaiser let the sylveon down next to Spice. “Do what you can!” he yowled, dashing towards the bear, working his way past debris and waves of force to see the bear’s back. With a powerful pounce, the persian slashed at the bear’s back with his forepaw, which glowed with a black light as it struck. The force was enough to cause the bear to trip, ceasing the earthquakes for the time being. “Told you I’d hit you in the back again. See, I keep promises.”
 
 
  Solomon looked over Spice, seeing him having trouble getting up after the constant barrage of super-effective attacks. “Can’t believe I’m doing this…” he grumbled, stepping up to the fire type. “Hold still!” with his order given, a ball of white light began to form over his head. “Wish will take a bit of time, but you’ll be up again.”
 
 
  “I-I don’t need your help, you-” Spice cringed before wincing as he felt the surge of energy entering his body. He felt numb, then warm… his pain seemed to fluctuate until he finally had enough strength to grab an oran berry and cram it into his mouth. He slowly pulled himself back to his feet, chewing it up as he watched the others work on battling the Ursaring.
 
 
  “Do what you must, I need to keep the other’s strong!” Solomon dashed off towards Cyn, looking to get her strength up next.
 
 
  “Come on big guy, let’s dance!” Kaiser chuckled, bouncing about on the heels of his paws as Luke got back up to his feet; despite all the beatings, he was still looking strong. His large claw came crashing down, missing the persian by only inches as he dashed out of the way. The strike was followed by another, and another still, in a flurry of slash attacks that continually missed the nimble cat.
 
 
  “We need to get that badge out of him, any ideas?” Cyn asked Kalsea, flicking her tail and sending a shadow ball hurtling through the air towards Luke, only to have it pass straight through him without so much as phasing him, “Damn it, my shadow ball has no effect.” she hissed in frustration, “If I’m going to fight him, I’m going to have to go toe-to-toe with him.”
 
 
  “Hold your ground!” Solomon rushed up to Cyn’s side, using wish once more. “Everyone got tossed around by that earthquake, you’re not rushing ahead until your back to a better shape.”
 
 
  “I’m still thinking of a way to get our prize.” Kalsea panted, watching what few of her double team clones remained; they were not helping right now, since Luke was more interested in Kaiser. “Getting kinda hard...gotta keep focus to keep the dopplegangers up.”
 
 
  “I’d stop wasting time on them and actually fight him if I were you,” the Ninetales spoke up as he approached, flicking his tails as he watched Kaiser and Luke battle from a distance, “If we don’t hurry up, we might be saving Kaiser from his stomach too.”
 
 
  “If anyone rushes in unprepared, we’re all going to end up inside that thing’s stomach!” Solomon interjected. Wish’s light entered into Cyn’s body, the aches and pains she felt melting away.
 
 
“Thanks Sol… phew, wish I knew how to do that.” She shivered, shaking herself to get rid of the last of her pain before glancing over the floor at the various berries, “Nice work holding onto your gear, Spice.”
 
 
“I’d like to see you use an oran berry while you’re getting tossed about like a Spoink on a Trampoline.” Spice huffed before lowering himself and narrowing his eyes on the pokemon, “But if we’re all healed, I suggest we finish this before he can have another temper tantrum.”
 
 
“You two go.” Solomon gestured for Spice and Cyn to fight. “I still need to tend to Kalsea.”
 
 
  “I’m...hng, fine.” Kalsea protested, through it was clear Sol wasn’t going to accept no as he began to use wish once more.
 
 
  “Come on you tub of lard, come on!” Kaiser continued to taunt, bounding about between the ursaring’s assaults. Suddenly, the claws made contact with his side, sending him reeling back with a yowl. The blow was massive, with enough force to knock him away a whole yard.“That...all you got?” He managed to stay standing, but he was clearly losing steam. “Come on big guy *pant* bet you can’t *pant* hit me again. Hehehahahaha!” the laughter sounded like a mix between a cough and a chuckle. Sure enough, Luke charged forward and reared to slash once more.
 
 
  A red blur leaped in the way of the blow at the last moment and Cyn let out a growl as she found her legs almost buckling. She stood between the wounded feline and the bear that would claim his life, and as the pain swept through her her fur began to darken before she swung her claw back towards the Ursaring’s face, the force of the blow left him staggering back. “Payback, bitch.” Cyn spat, her tail flicking maliciously back and forth, “Kaiser, get to Sol. He’ll fix you up.”
 
 
  “I’m fine,” Kaiser grunted, though as he took a step he nearly fell onto his side. “Alright...maybe not quite as fine as I had hoped. Heh.”
 
 
  With a snort, Luke regained his composure. Charging in towards Cyn with a roar of rage. The Liepard let out a gasp and leaped backwards, bounding gracefully over Spice and leaving the Ninetales between her and the aggressive ursine. The Ninetales yiped in fear and lowered himself as a shimmer of light swept over his fur and left Luke’s fist bouncing harmlessly off of it, “Ah! Not the face!”
 
 
  “The face? Good idea!” The Liepard called out as she pounced onto the Ninetales’ back and used him to springboard herself up to the Ursaring’s torso before beginning to swipe furiously at his face with her claws, leaving him letting out muffled roars and snapping his jaws at her as he tried to pull her off of him with both hands.
 
  After a long struggle, Luke finally managed to tear Cyn from his chest, slamming her down into the ground. He began to take a few steps back from them, looking over Cyn, Spice, and Kaiser. Inside his look of hate, a twinge of fear began to take form; he threw everything he had at them, and they were still going at him. He was doing well too, all until....
 
 
  He turned and looked over to Solomon, who was still tending to Kalsea. Him - the healer. If he goes, he could just use earthquake again to take out the others with no further hindrance. But he’d have to be quick, take him out before the others can rescue him. Falling to all fours, Luke charged full force towards the fairy type. He didn’t notice, his back turned to the action. “Sol…” Kalsea tried to warn him.
 
 
  “Quit tensing up, I’m almost done.” Sol complained, his wish nearly complete. “It’s more effective if you take it when -”
 
 
  “Look out!” With a forceful shove, Kalsea rammed the sylveon out of the way, getting plucked up by Luke’s jaws as he continued dashing past into the concealing foliage.
 
 
  “Kal!” Sol screamed, shooting back up to his feet. He tried to follow, but the uneven ground made it difficult to maintain a decent speed.
 
 
  “Kalsea!” Spice gasped as he raced after Solomon, bursting through the thin branches and getting his coat covered in leaves and thorns. He made a point to grab the Sylveon with one of his tails as he saw him struggling to keep up, “Which way did they go?”
 
 
  “They went -” Sol began, only to be interrupted by a loud roar. Suddenly, the ursaring’s body came flying back like a cannonball. “Hit the deck!” he shouted, flinging himself into Spice to get the two out of the way. Both crashed into the dirt, missing getting hit by the bear by only a hair’s width. The bear crashed into one of the toppled trees before finally rolling to a stop, ending up on his back.
 
 
  Stepping forward, Kalsea stood before Spice and Solomon. Her normally calm face had become scrunched up with rage, but only for the briefest of moments before it fell back into her smile. “Hmhmhm...hope you two are alright.” She chuckled.
 
 
“J-just a little dirty.” Spice replied, blinking slowly as he tried to process what he had just seen. The Ursaring had gone flying, and the Glaceon was completely fine… and the weirdest of all, he had just described the condition his fur was in as ‘a little dirty!’ “Ah! No! Leaves! Ack, please tell me that isn’t mud.” The Ninetales cried as he rapidly started brushing the foliage off his fur, leaving Solomon to deal with the Glaceon.
 
 
“I’m alright.” Sol rose up. “You saved me from him.”
 
 
“I did.” She confirmed. “Next time, you should pay more attention in battle.”
 
 
“I guess so...thank you.” Solomon looked over Kal’s form. “Are you alright though?”
 
 
“Of course I’m alright. That was kinda fun.” She insisted. Sol opened his mouth to question the logic to the statement of it having been fun, but he found himself unable to form words after she gave a short wink. “I know you’re worried about me, I understand. I haven’t really showed great battle prowess.”
 
 
“That’s not true.” Solomon assured her. “You may not have big flashy moves, but you’ve acted really smart with your moves. I’m quite impressed.”
 
 
“Look alive you two!” Kaiser shouted to them, grabbing their attention. “This battle ain't over yet.” He gestured over to Luke, who finally managed to sit up after the massive blow. “I don’t know what you guys did to him when you vanished into the clearing, but that was one hell of a blow you landed.”
 
 
“Orrg...urp…” The ursaring held his plump belly, which groaned with an upset rumble. Suddenly, his jaws opened wide as he released a long, loud, rather painful sounding belch. Along with the air, Spice’s badge erupted from his throat, covered in saliva and bile.
 
 
“Yoink!” Cyn grinned as she bolted past the bear, her tail picking up the badge and running it back to the Ninetales. She tossed it over to him in a quick swish of her tail, “Here, use it!”
 
 
“Get that thing away from me, it’s covered in filth!” Spice yiped, quickly moving his paws and tails away from the disgusting badge. All the while Luke was slowly getting back to his feet and growling between his heavy breaths.
 
 
  “You can clean your paws later, just use it!” Cyn yelled at him, practically shoving the badge against his face as the Ninetales squirmed against it. By this time the Ursaring was making his way towards them, each step leaving the ground trembling as spit flew from his muzzle in every rumbling growl. Finally the sound moved up his throat and emerged from his mouth in a tremendous and terrifying roar.
 
 
  “I can’t believe he’s still going after all that!” Sol grumbled, stepping forward to heal Kaiser. As he moved, his foot tripped over something soft. Looking down, he spotted the minum berry that flew out of Spice’s bag earlier, With a determined look towards the bear, he got an idea. He took up the berry with his ribbon, turning now to their foe. “Hey!” He shouted, though his call was being ignored in favor of the ninetales. With a growl, Sol picked up a rock and lobbed it at the back of Luke’s head. “Look over here dammit!” He shouted. The bear snarled with anger, baring his sharp teeth at the fairy and turning his attention to him. Solomon stood his ground as the beast approached. “I’ve had enough of you! You had so many opportunities to run, so many opportunities to give up, and you still attacked us! Well no more!”
 
 
  “Sol, are you nuts?!” Cyn hissed at the Sylveon, “Get back behind us, you’re not going to be able to take him by yourself!”
 
 
  Luke unleashed another ear-shattering roar that echoed through the forest. “You’re small time Luke! You always have been!” Solomon yelled back, lobbing the minum berry into the ursaring’s throat. The roar was silenced with a choke, the fruit forcibly swallowed by reflex. In no time at all, the bear’s form began to shrink, much to his own dismay. Within seconds, the bear had been reduced to little more than half-a-foot in height. Suddenly, all the anger and rage that built up in the bear were replaced by terror as the sylveon towered over him. He tried to run, only to be pinned beneath Solomon’s paw.
 
 
  “Small time?” Kaiser questioned with a raised eyebrow, managed to limp over to the fairy’s side.
 
 
  “Ugh...sorry. Didn’t even think about that before I said it.” Solomon groaned in embarrassment.
 
 
  “I might’ve gone with ‘Little mistake’,” The Ninetales noted before grinning proudly as he sat up straight and wagged his tails, “But looks like -someone- owes me an apology. Turns out a minun berry was exactly what we needed.”
 
 
  “Yeah… no. You almost got us killed, I’m not apologizing for anything.” Cyn replied flatly before turning her attention down to the tiny bear poking out from under the Slyveon’s paw, “Still, look who’s terrified now… so, who gets to do the honours?”
 
 
  “This guy’s been a thorn in our side for nearly a month.” Solomon suggested, pressing his forepaw down harder on the now-squeaky ursaring. “I think it only perfect irony that I end this.”
 
 
  “Oh please, you’d probably end up coughing him back up.” Spice rolled his eyes before looking down at the Ursaring, his stomach growling lowly just at the sight of him. The Ninetales couldn’t help but lick his lips, “I on the other hand have been a -very- useful asset to the team all day. I’d say it’s only fair I get the reward~”
 
 
  “The only useful thing you’ve done is bring the berry, which -I- used to actually end this!” Solomon took his foot off the bear and got into Spice’s face. “Ever since we first headed out, all you’ve done is complain, make excuses, and kiss your own ass!”
 
 
  “Well, at least I haven’t been a little know-it-all who just stayed back making wishes throughout the fight.” The Ninetales replied, narrowing his eyes on the Sylveon’s as the two pokemon found themselves head to head, “I don’t think you even fought him directly, all you did was hide behind the bushes and cower!”
 
 
  “And what did you do? Act tough untill you became the target, then you’d scream and run away like a child!” Sol barred his teeth, growling at the one who was driving him crazy from the very beginning. “And if I recall correctly, my wishing brought your sorry behind back up so that you could continue fighting; without me, you’d be writhing on the ground like a caterpie!”
 
 
  “And without Kaiser, -you’d- be gurgling in my stomach like a poffin!” Spice reminded him as his tails stood on end. He didn’t need to argue with the Sylveon, he was both bigger and more important than him. He reached down to where the Ursaring had previously been, only to rapidly pat the grass as he realized the prize they had been fighting over was missing.
 
 
  “Mmm~” Kalsea drooled as she ran her tongue over Luke’s front, just taking in his flavour. “Heh, kinda earthy. You’ve got a great flavour big guy.” the Glaceon murred before rolling onto her back and dangling the tiny pokemon over her mouth with a playful grin, “Actually, I guess that’s ‘little guy’ now. Wonder if all that strength you were throwing around is going to get you back out of my stomach.”
 
 
  “H-hey, that’s mine!” Spice whined, using the weight of his many tails to pin Solomon to the ground as he reached out towards the Sylveon.
 
 
  “I don’t know about that. Seems like I’m the one who got him to return the badge.” The Glaceon reminded him with a little smile as she blew cold air up towards the Ursaring, leaving him shivering as she lowered him towards her muzzle, “And besides, aren’t we ‘best buddies’? Seems like the least you could do is give me this, Spice.”
 
 
  “Spice, I swear if you don’t get off of me I’ll blow out your eardrums!” Solomon growled. He fought against the overly-groomed tails that pinned his form down.
 
 
  Spice responded by shuffling back slightly and sitting entirely on the Sylveon, resting his haunches on his face while he watched the Glaceon. Kalsea gave a little smile to the Ninetales before looking back to Luke, “So, any last words from the big bad bear?”
 
 
  Luke couldn’t respond, all he could do was watch as the Glaceon’s tongue flicked out of her muzzle and slurped over him once more, cooling his battle wounds before she finally dropped him into her maw, “Heh, didn’t think so~” she murred before closing her mouth behind the tiny Ursaring. She suckled gently on him, treating him like a piece of candy and tossing him around in her mouth as she paused to see how the other’s reacted to her sudden snatching of the prize.
 
 
  Cyn didn’t seem to mind, if anything she looked both glad that the fight was over and proud over how it turned out. She wouldn’t even let Spice’s antics get in the way of how much she was enjoying seeing Luke get his comeuppance.
 
 
  Kaiser seemed rather unfazed by the turn of events, instead stroking over the bridge of his nose with a forepaw. He seemed more bothered by Solomon and Spice arguing again than he did about Luke being eaten.
 
 
  “Mmm, heh. No one’s going to stop me, Luke. Looks like you should’ve tried harder. Ah well, life goes on… well, not for you, but you get the idea.” Kalsea murred around the bear before opening her mouth once more to give him a final glimpse of world beyond the cold inside of her mouth. Solomon finally managed to get his head free from under Spice’s tails and was greeted by the sight of his Glaceon stalker’s maw, and his enemy about to disappear into it forever.
 
 
  “Bon Voyage~” Kalsea chimed before snapping her mouth closed and tilting her head back, sending the bear tumbling towards her throat. Despite his small form it still took a few gulps to bring him down, as well as some pushing the squirming bulge he made with her paw. She breathed out a cold sigh of relief as he disappeared behind her chest and licked her lips, “Mmm, mind if I have one of these berries? I want to get the taste out of my mouth.”
 
 
  “Go nuts, gotta chase him down with something.” Cyn joked before wiping Spice’s badge clean with a leaf. “I guess we’d better get going… thanks for sticking with us to the end, Kaiser. You can have the rest of the berries.”
 
 
  “Thank’s Cyn, I'll be sure to put them to good use.” Kaiser gave her a bow before moving about, picking up the fruit that was scattered on the ravaged ground. He still had a limp, but it was nothing a few of the orans he was currently plucking up couldn’t fix.
 
 
  “But those are my supplies!” Spice gasped as he finally climbed off the Sylveon, leaving him gasping for breath as he laid on his side. He could still see Kalsea’s stomach squirming with the pokemon hidden within it, as she swallowed down the berry in her paw he could almost hear her stomach churning as it worked over the little morsel.
 
 
  “You alright?” The Glaceon blinked as she made her way over to the Sylveon and reached out her paw to help him up, “Sorry for taking your prey. He wasn’t that good, if that makes you feel any better.”
 
 
  “I...uh…” Solomon was having trouble finding words. She put on quite a display downing the bear; he wouldn’t have bothered with the taunting, the tasting, or anything else of the sort. It was so strange...did he enjoy that display? It wasn’t like the dreams he kept to himself, but this was so much more...real.
 
 
  “Sol, you’re drooling.” Kalsea chuckled, pointing to her own mouth with her paw. Getting the clue, the sylveon wiped his mouth off with his ribbon; too bad for him that he couldn’t wipe off the blush that lit up his face like a christmas decoration. He took her paw with his and rose back to his feet. “Doing alright?” She popped an oran berry into her mouth.
 
 
  “Yeah I’m fine. Honestly, I didn’t really care what happened to Luke. I’m just glad all that’s over.” He told her with a nod. “Only real bad part was almost getting crushed by spice’s blubber.”
 
 
  “What was that, Sol?” Spice snapped as his ears perked up and his tails swished warningly, though as his badge soared majestically through the air and found it’s mark on the side of his head he grabbed it and glowered over at Cyn, “Oh, alright, alright. Let’s warp out.”
 
 
  “Thanks again, Kaiser. I won’t forget you.” the Liepard said, turning her attention back to the Persian before lowering her gaze, “And, once again… I’m sorry.” she breathed out and shook her head, “I should’ve… yeah.” she finished indecisively before moving back to the Ninetales side.
 
 
  “Relax, everything’s gonna be fine...for now at least.” Kaiser assured her. “I’m gonna have a long talk with my tribe. They may not like it, it may even cause a schism, but I care for their safety, and this place is not as safe as it used to be. I think it would be good to get them to Clearspring.” He gave a short chuckle. “Who knows, maybe I can pay you for your kindness to me by helping make your team more responsive. Especially you!” he pointed at Spice and gave him an intense look. Kalsea and Solomon joined the other two at their sides.
 
 
  “I’d like that… I’ll see you in Clearspring, Kaiser.” Cyn replied with a little smile and a nod before glancing over at the Ninetales, “Whenever you’re ready, Spice. Unless the Dark Woods is growing on you.”
 
 
  “Not if I can help it, it’s not.” Spice replied in a grumble before raising his badge above his head. As the sun caught its face the four pokemon were lit up in a powerful, almost blinding beam of light, and with a whistle familiar only to those who had warped before, they were sent back home to Clearspring.
 
 
____________________________________________________________________________
 
 
  The dizzying vertigo faded around them as gravity finally remerged from its hiding place among the light. Sol found himself stumbling as he felt his feet connect with the ground once more, but as he looked up he saw the familiar sight of Clearspring before him. Cyn breathed in the air deeply before sighing, “So, today was a disaster.”
 
 
  “Not entirely. We convinced more pokemon to come to Clearspring… brutish as they were.” Spice replied with a little smile before wagging his tails excitedly, “I’m just glad to be out of the woods. I never thought I’d be so pleased to see the village again.”
 
 
  “Uhh..yeah sure.” Solomon mumbled. He had only heard sound come out of Spice, not really paying attention to the words he formed. No, his eyes were still affixed to Kalsea as his mind continued to try and process her consumption of Luke.
 
 
  “Too bad we weren't able to track down Raziel.” Kalsea huffed. “I guess it was a crapshoot from the moment we started; we knew where he was, not where he went or where he was going.”
 
 
  “Eh, if he wandered into the Dark Woods I don’t like our chances of ever finding him… probably good riddance though.” Cyn shrugged it off before nodding the group over towards the clinic, “C’mon, let’s see how ‘Team Berry’ did. Maybe today wasn’t a total loss.”
 
 
  “That sounds like a...plan…” Kalsea agreed, looking over Sol. “Hey, you feeling okay?”
 
 
  “Hm? Oh, uh...yeah.” He responded hastily. A blush was clearly visible on his face, though he tried to hide it by looking away.
 
 
“You’ve been acting weird since I ate Luke. Are you sure you’re alright?” Kal tried to walk into Sol’s field of view, only to have him continue to look away from her. “Aw come on Sol. If there’s something wrong you can share it with us. Your face is all red, maybe you're running a fever.”
 
 
  “I’m fine Kalsea.” Solomon pleaded. “Im not sick; trust me, if I was sick I’d let you know.”
 
 
  “Are you upset that I ate Luke?” She sat down and raised her forepaws up. “I’m sorry Sol. Would it help if you got a view of him? He was small, but he’s still visible if you look. Still moving too.” Sol couldn’t help but have his attention drawn to her abdomen from her display. Sure enough, Luke’s form still fought inside, making the small bulge in her belly wobble about. His blush grew a deeper red.
 
 
  “And here was me thinking you liked him, Kalsea. Everyone knows the best way to experience prey is to feel it.” Cyn joked as she turned her attention to Sol with a little grin, “Maybe he’s just tired.”
 
 
  “Oh I don’t know. I have a hunch that he’s less upset about not getting luke and more upset that he -wasn’t- luke.” Kalsea gave a wide grin, dropping her front paws back to the ground. Before Sol could open his mouth to protest, Kalsea opened her’s and breathed a cold breath onto the fairy’s nose, giving him a view of her dark, wet throat.
 
 
  “S-stop that.” Sol cringed, clearly trying to hold onto his professional tone. “Let’s just go to the clinic, okay?”
 
 
  “And here was me hoping I might get a turn,” Cyn teased before canting her head towards the clinic, “Come on, Kal. And hey, you two should drop by the Den later, I get the feeling you’d both enjoy it.” she purred before turning and walking to the clinic, following in the footsteps of the long-gone Ninetales.
 
 
  Kal and Sol followed suit after the liepard, walking side by side behind her. “What is the Den anyway?” Solomon asked, trying to make sense of the statement and how it tied to what just happened.
 
 
  “It’s a place for pokemon to live out their wildest fantasies without the usual consequences that come with them,” Cyn replied vaguely before purring back to Kalsea, “and of course, couples get a discount.” she winked.
 
 
  “I don’t have ‘wild fantasies’.” Sol protested with his head held high and proud.
 
 
  “You clearly have fantasies of being prey pinky.” Kalsea interjected, bumping her body into his. “In case you haven’t figured it out, you have the worst poker face. I saw how you looked at me when I ate Luke. And just now when I breathed on you, you were redder than a tamato berry.”
 
 
  “I...I was not.” Suddenly, his proud stature turned to staring at the ground.
 
 
  “Were too!” Kalsea sang, giving him a short wink. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anybody.”
 
 
  “Yeah, if you can’t trust a dark-type with a secret, who can you trust?” Cyn replied with a little smile before purring gently, “But between the three of us? ...I think you’d make a very cute stomach bulge.” she teased him.
 
 
  “Um...thanks, I guess.” Solomon wasn’t sure how to take being the center of such a strange conversation. Never the less, the talk fell through as they reached the clinic. He gave his face a quick rub to hide his blush and ready himself to reunite with Fang and Corona. The three entered, to be greeted by a pink Fandango.
 
 
  “Sol!” He cheered, bouncing in place in a bout of excitement. “We saw Spice, and knew that everyone else would be back too!”
 
 
  “What on Earth happened to you?” Sol asked, his eyes left wide by the sight of his friend and his new colors.
 
 
  “Not to mention -you-.” Cyn added, gesturing down to Corona’s heavy gut as she sauntered up to greet them. Leaf couldn’t help but blush and look away and Typh responded by snickering behind his hand.
 
 
  “Hello Sol, Cyn, and...uh…”
 
 
  “Kalsea.” the glaceon replied with a smile.
 
 
  “Kalsea. Ill remember that; guess we can call this a formal introduction.” She chuckled, turning to Cyn. “Well, a friend of yours stopped by. Malus, I believe his name was. He had a bit of an attitude, so i took care of him accordingly.” She gave her large belly a firm pat, causing it to shift and jiggle about with wet sloshing sounds. “It’s been quite an eventful day, considering that we were supposed to just test berries.”
 
 
  “And we did so, we’ve now tested all of our berries, as well as a few of the seeds.” Leaf announced proudly as he held up the clipboard before pausing and tilting his head, “But I notice that Raziel isn’t with you…”
 
 
  “Yeah, sorry about that Corona. We can try again tomorrow.” Cyn replied, turning her attention to the Ninetales before looking down at her gut, “And I’m glad I don’t have to deal with Malus tonight, the last thing I need right now is a headache.”
 
 
  Corona frowned. “I guess that means you didn’t find him…” She let out a sigh. “Alright, alright, we can worry about this another day. Sounds like you four had a hard time out there.”
 
 
  “Im surprised Spice didn’t immediately start complaining the moment he walked through the door.” Solomon commented, looking around the room. “Where is he anyway? Fang said he saw him enter.”
 
 
  “He barged straight past me and into the backroom. I suppose he’s using my bath.” Leaf replied, glancing over his shoulder before shaking his head, “It certainly sounds like you all had a hard time, but so long as you’re staying overnight, I suppose we could show you the local attractions.”
 
 
  “I’ve already given them free passes to the Den,” Cyn told him, her tail flicking playfully against Sol’s nose so subtly it could have easily been a mistake. She then turned her attention to Corona, “I hope Leaf’s told you all about it.”
 
 
  “Oh, he has.” Corona smirked. “Gotta say, I’m rather interested in seeing the place myself.”
 
 
  “They wouldn’t let me know what it is.” Fang added, flicking his tail about with mild frustration. “But I already figured out that it’s a club. Seriously, I don’t know why you wanted to hide that from me, that’s not so bad.”
 
 
  “That’s right, you did Fang.” She patted him on the head, all the while giving Cyn a wink. “So what’s the plan now? We going to head to where we’re staying for the night right away?”
 
 
  “Well, unless you want to spend more time eating berries for Leaf’s amusement.” Cyn joked before canting her head over to the door, “C’mon, Spice’ll catch up when he catches up.” she said before heading back towards the door.
 
 
  “Alright, sounds like we’re heading out.” Corona chuckled. “It’s been a pleasure Leaf, hope you got everything you needed out of us.”
 
 
  “I’ll come by the Den later, but for now I’d better get the berries and Rainbow Lense inside before the wild pokemon start their night-time hunting.” The Leafeon replied with a little smile before waving them off, “Be safe, all of you.”
 
 
  “Oh, before I forget.” Kalsea chimed up, undoing the yellow scarf around her neck. “I believe this belongs to you?”
 
 
  “My persim scarf!” Corona cheered, allowing the ice type to tie it around her neck, as it was when she first came to Clearspring. “So that’s why Typh couldn’t find it, thank you so much Kal! Can I call you Kal?”
 
 
  “Of course you can, and it’s nothing.” Kal gave a friendly bow before following following Cyn out of the clinic.
 
 
____________________________________________________________________________
 
 
  Corona, Solomon, Kalsea, pink Fandango, Cyn, and Typh began heading for the Den. The sky had become a deep shade of amber, the sun having colored the dusk sky with it’s radiant glow. “So, you ran into Kaiser again?” Corona asked; as they walked, the group was recapping what happened during their trip out. “And that bear that attacked us weeks ago?”
 
 
  “Yep, that’s the gist of it.” Solomon nodded. “It’s been one heck of a trip, if I do say so myself.”
 
 
  “It’s good to hear Kaiser is doing well...mostly well anyway. It’s a shame to hear about the living conditions declining. But hey, if he comes to Clearspring I’m sure he’ll be able to keep his tribe safer.” Cory turned her eyes to the crowds of pokemon moving about on the street; it was surreal, she had seen it before, but she only now that she wasn’t out for vengeance that she found the fascination in it all. “And what happened to Luke? You guys leave him in the woods?”
 
 
  “No, he’s certainly not in the woods.” Kalsea beamed. “Let’s just say that he and Malus have something in common. Minus the benefit of a reviver seed.”
 
 
  “Really? None of you look the part.” Cory gave her belly another firm, slosh-causing pat.
 
 
  “You might be surprised,” Cyn chuckled gently before looking back at Kalsea and giving her a wink, deciding to leave it up to the Glaceon whether Corona’s curiosity would go unanswered or not.
 
 
  “It’s a bit complicated. But to put it in basic terms, Luke just came up short. -Bleeech-” She chuckled at her burp, looking over to Sol to see his reaction to her talking about her food again. Surprisingly, he was able to keep a rather efficient stone-still face when the others were around.
 
 
  “I don’t get it.” Fang voiced up, cocking his head to the side.
 
 
  “Leaf will have to show you what the Minun berries can do at some point.” Cyn grinned over at Typh, who finally caught onto what she was saying.
 
 
  “I think he might’ve looked better on you, Sis. Still, if he was small I guess he’s a lot more noticeable on Kalsea.” Typh chuckled as he crossed his arms over his heavy stomach. His eyes drifted over the crowd as they entered the town center, pokemon moved about and packed up their market stalls as they prepared to return to their homes for the day. “Heh, I love this time of day. Everyone’s going somewhere they can relax.”
 
 
  “Yeah, it’s so peaceful, so pretty, so…” Corona’s smile faded and she stopped in her tracks. Solomon bumped into her back leg.
 
 
  “Everything alright Corona?” The sylveon asked, walking up to her side. He saw her eyes affixed to a specific point in the crowd, and looked off in the general direction she was watching. And there he was; walking among the crowd, his arms wrapped around his middle and hunched over, looking around with a paranoid glance - A zangoose.
 
 
  “Raziel…” Corona growled, stepping away from the group towards the normal type who, to her luck, had not seen her yet. “Surround him, I don’t want him getting away.” She told the others, not bothering to turn around to address them.
 
 
  “Got it.” Cyn agreed before nodding to Typh. The two siblings moved away from each other and began to circle around Raziel, removing his paths one by one as the others joined their formation. Soon the Zangoose would be surrounded, all that remained was for Corona to approach him.
 
 
  “Raziel!” Corona bellowed, drawing the zangoose attention, much to his obvious dismay.
 
 
  “Ah! C-Corona! W-what a surprise!” He took a few steps back from the fire type, his body shaking. “I was a-actually -”
 
 
  “You have a LOT to answer for!” She growled, stomping forward as he tried to move back. Panicked, he tried to turn around and run off, only to find him face to face with the Liepard as she began to prowl towards him.
 
 
  “I’ve heard you’ve been talking about me, Raziel… I don’t know how, I don’t think we’ve even met.” Cyn swished her scythe-like tail through the air in a cutting motion, each time he tried to pass her she would just move in the way again, “I think the three of us need to have a talk about what really happened… unless you’d rather talk with all six of us.”
 
 
  “You lied to us Raziel.” Solomon stood beside Cyn, with Kalsea beside him, keeping herself quiet and observing. “You told us Cyn was the one who killed Corona’s children. Why?”
 
 
  “I-I p-panicked!” He spat out, darting his eyes around the circle that was quickly forming. “Cyn was the name that s-stuck with me when I left here during my trip. I-I didn’t think -”
 
 
  “You didn’t think we’d follow up on your claim.” Solomon finished his sentence. “Or maybe you thought you’d be long gone before we found out the truth?”
 
 
  “There are a lot of pokemon watching us…” Fang mumbled, looking around at the crowd that was forming to watch the spectacle.
 
 
  Raziel, seeing what he believed to be an open spot, tried to make a dash to freedom. His sprint ended abruptly as he found himself bouncing off the Swampert’s heavy gut and landing on his rear. “Let ‘em watch, we’re not going to get violent unless our buddy here gives us reason to.” he narrowed his eyes on the Zangoose, “You’re not going to give me a reason to get violent. Are you, Raziel?”
 
 
  “Ah-” Raziel scooted away from the huge swampert, backing himself right into Corona’s front legs. he flipped around, seeing her distended belly for the first time. The others closed in on him, giving him little room to move. “I-I-I-”
 
 
  “Speak!” Corona roared, baring her teeth in a way that made Fandango cringe next to her.
 
 
  “I-AHHH!” Raziel shouted to the sky, slamming his clawed hands into the ground. “I’m sorry! I lied to you back near the grotto! I...I came here looking for you! I couldn’t bare what I’ve done; I figured I’d find you here, or be able to find you nearby!” He began to sob, his tears falling into the dirt. “I did it…” He choked. “The vulpix that lived at Goldgrass Grotto, I’m the one who ate them…”
 
 
  Corona’s eyes grew wide. She knew Raziel lied to her, but this what what he was hiding? She didn’t want to think it true, not after they had become friends. “Y-you?” She forced, barely making the word with her mouth.
 
 
  “It’s true!” Raziel continued to writhe on the ground. “I thought you found your children at the sanctuary, so when I found that place and didn’t see the guardian that was supposed to be there, I ate the vulpix. There were five of them.”
 
 
  “Only five?” Solomon interjected. He recalled from the sanctuary files that there were supposed to be a total of thirty. He chose not to say this aloud; it was likely the others never survived the trip to the grotto.
 
 
  “Yes!” the zangoose sniffled. “I never once thought they could be yours Corona. It wasn’t until you told me that you didn’t find them that I put two and two together. I was afraid to tell the truth, so I told you to stay away from the grotto. I figured you wouldn’t listen, so I confronted you three there to explain what happened. But then I saw you; that anger, that misery. I panicked and made up the lie about Cyn; her name was the first that came to mind after my trip to the town prior.”
 
 
  “Well, that explains that mystery.” Cyn flicked her ears back as she narrowed her eyes at the zangoose, “You’re a piece of work, you know that? Eating wild pokemon is one thing, but eating kids? Have some standards, asshole!”
 
 
  “Cyn, maybe you should let Corona do the talking here.” Typh suggested in a low rumble as he narrowed his eyes on Raziel. He had some words for the zangoose himself, none that he could say in polite company though, “He’ll get what’s coming to him.” he reassured his sister.
 
 
  “Corona, I’ve done a terrible thing to you. I’ve done a terrible thing to everyone. I’m so sorry!” Raziel remained at the ninetales’ feet, his forepaws folded together in plea. “I will take any punishment I deserve! I just couldn’t go on living knowing what I’ve done!”
 
 
  “Rest assure, you will face punishment for what you’ve done.” Solomon growled, getting worked up himself.
 
 
  “C-can’t we just let him go?” Fandango hesitated to bring up.
 
 
  “What are you talking about!?” Sol snapped. “Let him go? He’s a murderer!”
 
 
  “We’ve eaten pokemon too.” He explained. “I’m not saying what he’s done is right; it’s not, but look at him: he’s broken. This isn’t someone just pretending to be sorry to escape punishment, this is someone who’s being haunted by his own actions.”
 
 
  “Fandango, this situation is very different.” Sol added. “He killed children. Children. The pokemon we ate in the wild were adults -”
 
 
  “I don’t want to see any more death!” Fang barked. “Hasn’t there been enough already!? This is no longer about doing something good; this is about revenge! Revenge has never solved anything!” He turned to the group with a look unlike he had given before. It wasn’t cute, it wasn’t childish, it was the look of someone who refused to be ignored. “I’m sorry for the loss of Cory’s children, I am.I wanted to see them to, play around with them, see them have fun with their mother...But more death will be pointless. Don’t try and tell me this is justice, I may not be smart, but I’m not stupid; I know what you all intend to do, you’re going to kill him! Probably eat him! Am I right?” He looked over the crowd, specifically at Cyn and Typh. “WELL!?”
 
 
  “Typh said it best, it’s not our decision to make.” Cyn flicked her ears back before narrowing her eyes on Raziel, “Bastard almost got me killed just to cover his own ass, but I’m not going to bother getting my revenge on him. I’d know that no matter what I did, nothing would satisfy me more than seeing Corona get back at this guy.” she turned her attention to the Mightyena, “So maybe you shouldn’t be addressing your questions to me and my brother, Fang.”
 
 
  “Corona agrees with me! Revenge is meaningless, Right Corona?” He looked over to the ninetales just in time to see her pull out a berry that she had been hiding between her tails. It was an odd looking berry, and she ate it with several greedy bites.
 
 
“Wait… wasn’t that-” Typh began, he moved to charge towards her, only to find himself held back by his sister. The Liepard quickly shoved him to the side before moving after him. It was Corona’s fight, and she would decide how it ended. Not them.
 
 
  Corona began to grunt and groan in pain. Before everyone’s eyes, the tips of her tails began to split and open, becoming what could only be described as mouths. Each of her nine new maws yawned wide in Raziel’s direction, much to his own shock. “Die…” She hissed, a white light forming in each mouth, including her normal one. Ten solarbeams were pointed at the normal type, and he had nowhere to run.
 
 
  “No!” Fang cried, tackling Corona’s body with his own. The blow was enough to knock her off balance, forcing her solar beams to be shot off into the sky in an array of blinding light. In that instant, Raziel bounded out of the circle and took off towards the woods bordering Clearspring. Corona, snarling and chomping her teeth in hate, forced herself back up and started chasing down the zangoose, slowed down by her malus-filled belly. As she ran, she fired off more and more solar beams, missing as the normal type ducked and dodged in his panic.
 
 
  “After her, quickly! There’s no telling what that berry could do to her, it’s one of those unstable freak ones Leaf told us to throw away.” Typh yelled to the others before chasing after the Ninetales, though he was quickly overtaken by his much faster sister as the Liepard sprinted after Corona.
 
 
  “Dammit Fandango!” Solomon scolded to the canine. “What were you think- Hey!” Fang didn’t bother listening to the sylveon, instead taking off after Cyn and Typh. He managed to overtake Cyn, passing her up as he went.
 
 
  “We better go too Sol.” Kalsea gave him a tug, rearing to follow. “That attack of hers caused a panic in the crowd, we need to go before we get caught up in the gaggle.” With a nod, Sol followed her in the same direction, leaving the heart of the town behind them.
 
 
  Raziel was at the edge of the forest; it appeared that he was going to make it out. An explosion in front of him dashed his hopes, a solarbeam knocking down a tree in front of his path. He turned, only to find the enraged fire type cornering him. “We were friends Raziel!” She seethed. “I trusted you despite how little we actually knew about you! You murdered my children! You lied to me! You almost made me kill an innocent Pokemon!” Raziel could only tremble in place. He tried to move, but Corona let loose a volley of solarbeams as he did, striking a number of nearby trees in the process. “Everything I love is gone because of you! Everything I’ve tried to accomplish this past few weeks if for nothing because of you! All this pain I feel, all this misery and anger, all of it is because of you!”
 
 
  “Corona!” Fang rushed ahead of her and skidded to a halt, standing between her and Raziel. “Stop this!” He barked, tears rolling down his face. “This isn’t like you!”
 
 
  “Move out of the way Fang! Now!” Corona got into the mightyena’s face with a look that struck terror into his heart.
 
 
  “Corona!” Cyn yelled out, running to join Fang before feeling a hard yank on her tail. She narrowed her eyes back at the Swampert who slowly began to reel her in by it before holding her tightly to his front, “Let go of me, Typh!”
 
 
  “This isn’t our fight, Cyn.” Typh reminded her seriously, more-so than she had ever seen him be. The Swampert looked over towards Corona once more, “We’re here to make sure that berry doesn’t do anything else, that’s all.”
 
 
  “Are you kidding me?” Cyn snapped at him, “Why do you care so much about the stupid berry?”
 
 
  “I only ate half of it when I first found out what those berries do.” Typh explained as he continued to watch the Ninetales, “Leaf’ll probably need to look at her after this… no matter what happens, win or lose, I need to make sure she gets back to the clinic.”
 
 
  The Liepard could only breath out a frustrated sigh and give one final squirm against her brother’s arms before going limp and just watching Fang as he faced up against the vengeful Ninetales.
 
 
  His legs shook; he wanted very much to run away. Never once did he think that Corona, the one who raised him as a pup, would be one of the things that would scare him. Fang bit down on his lower lip, before raising his head up high. “N-no! I will not move!” he shouted back. “I won’t let you betray who you are because of your anger! I was always told that revenge solves nothing, that revenge did nothing but make things worse! You taught me that!”
 
 
  “I said MOVE!” Corona brought up one of her forepaws and slapped it across Fang’s muzzle. He stared at her, wide eyed, his face stinging and bleeding from the strike she made against him. Suddenly, he began to sniffle. Seeing his face contort as it was made something snap inside Corona. She had just attacked the pokemon who looked up to her more than anyone else, whom she had raised from a puppy, out of anger. “Fang! Oh my god Fang!” She panicked, gasping at the prospect of what she had done. Her face shifted to one of concern and horror. Her paw moved to caress his face where she had scratched him, only to have him reel back away from her.
 
 
  Fang gave a whimper before turning around and running away from Cory, bawling loudly as he moved. “Fang! Wait!” Corona chased after him, managing to get in front of him and stop him. “Fang! Im so sorry! I don’t know what came over me!” The mightyena continued to whimper. She reached her paws over his neck, pulling him in for a hug. “You were right Fang...you were right.” she began to cry herself, her tears seeping into the pink fur. “This isn’t right...I’ll let him go.”
 
 
  “C-corona?” Raziel began to step towards the two as they embraced, the ninetales growling at him for his trouble.
 
 
  “Don’t you dare come near us!” the fox hissed through her tears. “Just go! I may not kill you, but I will NEVER forgive you!” Raziel, caught up in a storm of emotions, turned tail and fled into the forest, disappearing into the foliage and darkness.
 
 
  Panting from the run, Solomon and Kalsea arrived and stood beside Typh. “What happened? Is everyone alright?” the sylveon asked before looking over to the side and seeing Corona embracing Fandango. “Where’s Raziel? Did she finish him off?”
 
 
“She let him go.” Cyn replied, still a little distant as she watched what had happened, “After everything he did to her, everything he put her through… after lying to her face, she just let him go.”
 
 
“She did what she wanted to do. Wasn’t that what you wanted, Cyn?” Typh replied, looking down at his sister before shaking his head as he watched on. He found himself unable to bring himself to step closer, it wasn’t his place… Corona and Fang needed to talk it out first.
 
 
  “C-cory?” Fang choked.
 
 
  “Shh...It’s alright Fang.” Corona stroked a paw over the fur on Fang’s back. “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done to you. I don’t know where my mind was.”
 
 
  “Please...never do that again.” Fang pushed his muzzle into her neck. “Seeing you like that...it hurts.”
 
 
  “I know Fang, I know.” She rocked their bodies slowly from side to side. “I was just so angry, and so sad…”
 
 
  “Should we go over to them?” Kalsea asked the group. “I think it’s safe to say that it’s over.”
 
 
“Yeah… come on, let’s get back to Clearspring.” Cyn replied as she moved towards the two, “Hey, guys… we don’t want to be around the forest when the sun goes down, alright? Wild pokemon are pretty active in these forests at night.”
 
 
  “I agree, I think we’d better-” A creaking sound interrupted him. Ahead of them, next to Fang and Corona, one of the trees she blasted with solarbeam began to topple over, and it was poised to strike them. “Corona! Fandango!” Sol screamed, running in their direction.
 
 
  Corona looked up as the shadow of the tree was cast over their forms. Her eyes widened in terror as the great oak descended upon them. “Fang, look out!” She screeched, shoving the mightyena away from herself.
 
 
-CRASH-
 
 
  Fang was left tumbling onto his side from the push and the force of the impact. When he finally managed to get back onto his feet, he saw that the tree had crashed down over Corona, pinning her over her chest. “Corona?” Fang muttered. There was no response. “CORONA!” Fang began to tackle the tree, trying in vain to move it off of her.
 
 
  “Oh my god!” Solomon gasped. “Typh! You need to get that off of her now!”
 
 
“Hold on!” Typh yelled out as he grabbed onto the tree and started yanking it with all his might. With a loud heave he pulled it free of the Ninetales and threw it away from her, leaving it crashing through the undergrowth. Cyn bounded over the tree and to the vixen’s side, unable to do anything but stare at the fallen Ninetales.
 
 
  “CORY!” Fang screeched, nuzzling her limp body trying to get her to wake up.”
 
 
  “Stay back Fandango!” Solomon butted in, placing his ear to her chest. “There’s still a pulse! We need to get her to Leaf’s clinic fast or she might not make it!” Overhead, in the scene of tragedy, the ever-present sun that followed the ninetales around for all her life faded behind dark gray clouds.