Nimue was feeling restless.
Despite the positive turn her life had taken after being bonded by Erika, she still wasn’t feeling assured about her future. It was obvious that Erika was destined to experience much conflict and battle, and Nimue was now being dragged along for the ride.
If it were possible, Nimue would have liked to stay in her grove back in Alola, back in her family’s meadow where the flowers were abundant and the nectar sweet, and the wind fresh and clear like dew - but she’d been caught by a passing trainer and sold off, ending up as a display pokemon in a casino in a faraway region.
Being by Erika’s side isn’t the worst-case scenario though, Nimue thought wistfully. At least I know my safety is mostly guaranteed.
As the team’s healer and defensive support, Nimue would enjoy the benefit of staying in the backlines, far away from close combat. That was Mordred and Gwen’s job. Nimue just had to sit on Erika’s head, support the team, and protect Erika’s life.
It wasn’t a bad job, all things considered, fighting from the backlines. Nimue was a peaceful pokemon; she didn’t particularly like bloodshed, and she tried her best to avoid conflict. However, like her father had taught her, there was no such thing as avoiding a fight if one came to you. The only thing you could do was fight back - that, or run, and Nimue didn’t think she could run away this time.
“It’s not that bad,” Gwen said from her side, trying to assure her. “Erika treats us very well. As long as you do your part dutifully and stick it through Erika’s harsh training, you'll enjoy many benefits.”
Nimue smiled in spite of that.
“I’m not worried about that,” she told Gwen. “From what I’ve seen, Erika is quite generous, and she’s burned a lot of money on uplifting everyone. Being treated well is the least of my concerns.”
“The issue with Erika is that she’s involved in too much,” Nimue sighed. “The Celadon Conservatives, the issue with the Claws and Fulton, going through the league circuit and fighting dangerous battles in the wild… this isn’t exactly what I planned on doing for the rest of my life.”
There was some rustling to the left as Mordred shook himself awake. “You planned on being a display Pokemon in a glass box for the rest of your life?”
Nimue frowned at his harsh tone. “Obviously not. I was going to live in my grove and raise a new field of daisies. My father has a beautiful orchard back home which we share with some combee, and I was going to continue nurturing it.”
“Life sucks,” Mordred said bluntly. “We just have to deal with it and stop complaining.”
“Oh hush now,” Gwen said, glaring at Mordred. “Be nice to Nimue.”
Mordred rolled his eyes. “Okay fine, whatever. I’ll play nice.”
He turned his body around and shifted, swiveling back to face the wall and closing his eyes again.
Going back to sleep already?
“Don’t let Mordred’s acerbic tone bother you,” Gwen advised Nimue earnestly. “He’s always grouchy when he wakes up.”
I didn’t know grouchy meant being an asshole,” Nimue said dryly.
Gwen hopped off the table she was sitting on and bounced up to the window, beckoning Nimue to come join her with her head leaves. “The view’s pretty good outside. You should come sit here with me.”
“Mordred has a troubled past,” Gwen said after Nimue seated herself by the window. “I know you haven’t talked to him much, even during our two-month training, but I feel like you and him would make good friends, you know?”
“Perhaps,” Nimue replied noncommittally. “Let’s move onto a better topic though. Training! Erika finally got around to training me, and came up with a proper development plan.”
“You’re the team's support right?” Gwen asked. “I heard a little bit of it but didn’t catch it all.”
“I’m in charge of supporting you guys and Erika’s protection,” Nimue agreed. “Honestly, things have been so boring the past two months. The only things I really did was apply my flower veil to you and Mordred to increase your stamina during training, and eat with you guys at meals. We didn’t even talk!”
“Well, we’re over and past that now, so consider yourself a full team member,” Gwen told her. “I’m the eldest member even though Mordred is Erika’s starter, so if you need anything or any advice, you can talk to me about it. If you have any worries or concerns, any troubles or foibles, just come to me and we’ll hash it out.”
“If I ever have any issues, I’ll definitely take you up on that offer then.”
The two were silent for a while after that as neither of them could think of anything else to say. Nimue just enjoyed the view of the rolling scenery as the Magnet Train continued barreling through the region.
“Let’s move onto a more interesting topic,” Gwen suggested after thinking for a bit. “How about we talk about your future plans? Have you got any grand dreams or aspirations? A dark origin story of murder and bloodshed, of betrayal and vengeance? Do you have any unidentified special powers? Any embarrassing stories you want to share?”’
Gwen’s barrage of words threw Nimue off for a bit.
Nimue uncurled one of her flowers and let it dangle down to catch the sunlight as she nestled herself against the cold glass of the train window. “Um, not really? I just like flowers and caring for them.”
“You don’t want to take revenge against your captors? Ooh, did one of your family members betray you and sell you out, causing you to be caught and sold?” Gwen asked eagerly.
“What is it with you and revenge and betrayal?” Nimue said exasperatedly. “You’ve mentioned that nearly every single time.”
Gwen smiled crookedly.
“It’s a common theme in Arthurian myth,” Gwen explained to her companion. “Just think about our naming scheme and it should become obvious.”
“Arthurian… myth? What’s that?”
The confusion must have been apparent on Nimue’s face because Gwen’s face fell instantly.
“I forgot that you were from the wild,” Gwen sighed, slumping against the window. “Looks like I’ll have to fill you in.”
“Erika is really obsessed with old fairy tales and myths,” Gwen revealed. “You know what a myth is right?”
“A legend that is widely circulated or a fable?”
“Yeah, exactly, except this one probably has a decent historical basis for being real. How much of it is real is up for debate though, but you could probably ask Mordred, since it's about his ancestors.” Gwen paused briefly. “I’ve been meaning to do that actually, but thus far he’s been pretty reluctant to talk too much about his family.”
“Anyway, the myth is about a boy named Arthur who turns out to be the legitimate heir to the throne of Unova after he pulls a magical sword out from a stone, and he goes on to become king. Lots of crazy stuff happens - the whole story is too long to explain in one sitting, but you just need to know that there was A LOT of betrayal involved and a lot of drama.”
“Erika eats that stuff up,” Gwen said seriously. “Just look at our names! The team starter is named Mordred, Arthur’s traitorous son, while I’m named after his unfaithful wife, Guinevere. You’re named after Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, a fairy enchantress who aided Arthur during his adventures, and which some variations of the myth claim to be Merlin’s student - he’s a wizard by the way.”
“Our good friend sleeping in the corner over there has a very dramatic backstory to go with his name, and so do I, to a certain degree,” Gwen explained. “Mordred was betrayed by his family, Erika saved me from being killed - which makes me wonder: what’s your backstory?”
Gwen looked at Nimue expectantly. “Do you have anything interesting to share?”
“Not really?” Nimue replied hesitantly.
“Other than my grass type, I’m just your average comfey,” Nimue told her. “I don’t have any big ambitions or dreams really. I just want to lie around and take care of my grove… which doesn’t exist anymore after the guy who caught me flattened it.”
“Ouch.”
“It’s tough, but I’ve gotten over it,” Nimue sighed. “Just like the fact that I’ll never see my parents again. I knew I would have to leave them eventually, but I’d still like to go back and visit you know? But Alola is on the other side of the world, and I don’t think Erika is going to be traveling to other regions anytime soon, given Indigo’s… international infamy.”
“I’ve been exposed to a lot of things and learned a lot ever since I got captured,” Nimue told her friend. “The Game Corner kept the prize Pokemon in a pen where we could socialize during off hours, and I didn’t have anything to do so I just listened to the other pokemon talk. I know for a fact that there’s a travel ban stopping Indigo citizens from going to a lot of other regions, so I’m not holding out much hope on being able to return.”
“You shouldn’t give up hope yet,” Gwen urged her. “Indigo and Unova are actually on quite good terms since we’re both expansionist empires - and we’re on the opposite sides of the world. We don’t have any territorial conflicts, and most of the other regions hate us. In my opinion, an alliance between Indigo and Unova is quite probable, and could happen. Who knows - we might be seeing it soon, maybe even next year.”
“That’s why for now, you should focus on becoming strong,” Gwen declared. “If you help Erika become stronger, she has a better chance of becoming a gym leader, and thus an important political figure. If - when Indigo and Unova become allies, maybe she could take a delegation over to visit Unova, and you’ll get to tag along.”
Nimue hesitated a bit. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Just to confirm, you’re a total vegetarian right?” Gwen asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“It just means accommodations will need to be made for you,” Gwen informed her. “Usually speaking, it’s not too hard to accommodate pure carnivores or vegetarians, but you should be prepared for everything. That’s why so many pokemon are omnivorous - it’s a really good survival trait because you can eat basically anything on hand.”
“Are you a biological vegetarian, or one by choice?”
“Biological,” Nimue replied honestly. “I physically cannot digest meat.”
“Okay, that’s kind of a problem,” Gwen admitted. “One which we can’t fix because it’s biological. I think we’re going to need to stock extra fruits and grains during the winter for our journey, because you’re not going to have much to eat in that season.”
“Can you at least drain energy from other pokemon to survive?” Gwen asked.
“Not a fan of doing that, but I can do that in a pinch if I really need to.”
“You should get used to doing it,” Gwen said seriously. “Do you have any moral objections to killing? Being a biological vegetarian doesn’t stop you from directly draining energy.”
“There’s always going to be trees around that I can drain even if there aren’t edible fruits and vegetables,” Nimue offered. “Do I necessarily need to drain a pokemon into a husk?”
“Let’s just say for the sake of argument that there aren’t any trees,” Gwen countered. “This is more a philosophical question anyway. If the area around us was barren or devoid of plant life, and you needed sustenance, would you drain another pokemon to survive?”
That’s an interesting question actually. Would I?
“If it was to survive, then yes,” Nimue answered. “I value the lives of others, but I value myself more.”
“How about if you’re not starving then?”
“Is there a difference?”
“Let’s say that we’re in the wild, and Erika wants everyone to be in top form, so she slaughters a few pokemon for us to absorb energy from. Keep in mind that you didn’t need to absorb the energy to survive, so this isn’t a life-or-death thing. Would you still be willing to do it?”
“There’s definitely going to be trees in the wild.”
Gwen shrugged. “I’ll just assume that you prefer to avoid killing, but you’re necessarily unwilling to do it if pressed. Is that correct?”
Nimue nodded.
“That’s good enough for me. ”
“I’m not trying to find fault with you by the way,” Gwen made sure to add. “I just knew a lot of pacifistic grass types back on the streets of Celadon, who all refused to drain energy from other pokemon, even when they needed it. Even for the omnivorous grass types, many of them refused to eat meat when it was offered. It caused… a lot of issues.”
“What kind?”
“They starved to death during the winter,” Gwen said blandly. “When there isn’t enough sunlight to photosynthesize, and no plants to eat, you either buck up and eat meat or drain energy from others, or you die. Sometimes, what kills you isn’t other pokemon, but your own morals. That’s why I’m asking you now to clear things up in advance.”
“Oh.”
Gwen clapped Nimue on the back with her head leaves. “We’ll, you’re on the team now, so you’re my sister. Unless something really dire happens, I’ll try my best to accommodate you and find you vegetarian options. I just want you to be prepared for the worst case.”
“That’s good to know?”
----------------------------------------
When Erika next woke up, the train was barreling at high speed through Mt. Silver.
Gwen was batting her furiously with her head leaves to shake her awake, and Erika rubbed her eyes groggily.
“What’s the matter?” Erika asked blearily. “We’re not at Goldenrod yet.”
‘...look!’ Gwen said furiously.
Erika turned her gaze out the window and gasped.
There was a monstrously large pack of tyranitar ascending the mountain, trailed by an even larger number of larvitar younglings. Most of the procession seemed unbothered by the incoming Magnet Train, as if they were used to the sight.
This must be the Silver Tyrant’s cluster!
Erika pressed herself against the window immediately to take in the view of the sight.
The tyranitars’ massive forms were covered in coarse green plates, which rippled like a sea of blades every time they moved. The younglings waddled behind the elders quite cutely, doing their best to keep up with the pace the giant adolescents set as they ascended. No pupitar were anywhere to be seen - probably because they were pupating underground.
One of the tyranitar decided to suddenly roar at the Magnet Train and snarled loudly, the noise blasting out like a pressure wave.
The tyranitar was about to roar again when its cry was cut short, because a massive sky-covering claw tore its way out of the earth and savagely slammed down onto the tyranitar, exploding its body into chunks of flesh.
The grisly sight made Erika flinch from how sudden and abrupt it was. As quickly as the claw appeared, it sunk back into the mountain again, causing a giant mudslide to happen as it forced its way back underground. The very earth rumbled and trembled in the presence of the claw, and the entire Magnet Train nearly destabilized from the shockwaves.
Erika was agape at what had just happened and her body trembled.
The TV in her room flickered to life and the train conductor came onto the screen.
“Apologies for the noise, everyone. What you just saw was the Great Beast of the East, the ancient Silver Tyrant which has resided atop and within Mt. Silver for over three thousand years. Lord Silver Tyrant is a titled pokemon as I’m sure everyone knows, and we have been granted safe passage through his territory by way of his friendship with our very own Champion Oak’s titled dragonite.”
“Please refrain from worrying,” the conductor continued. “Our journey is a routine one, and Lord Silver Tyrant has given tacit permission for us to pass through. The death of that young tyranitar just now was because he disturbed Lord Silver Tyrant’s sleep. During the months of the summer, Lord Silver Tyrant enjoys hibernating beneath the earth. Any significant noise made during this period is taken as a challenge to his imperial rule, and violators are crushed.”
“Apologies for the noise, everyone…”
It was at this point that Erika realized that what she was watching on TV was a recording, and not a live broadcast.
Her mind spun. This is a fucking recording? No way…
‘Common occurrence,’ Mordred agreed. ‘Silver Tyrant kills many yearly… enough to record warning.'
Erika stared at the vast ravine left behind by the emergence of the Silver Tyrant’s claw. The power to change the very geography and landscape of the world… with mere movements.
I must have a Titled Pokemon!
Erika couldn’t properly appreciate the power of a titled pokemon until she saw it firsthand.
She started salivating at just the thought. Just a casual offhand slap could directly explode the body of an adolescent tyranitar, one of the strongest pokemon species in the world.
Mordred scoffed, clearly understanding what Erika was thinking, but he didn’t turn his gaze away from the ravine left behind by the Silver Tyrant either. He was just as mesmerized as Erika was, he just didn’t show it.
Gwen and Nimue were equally stunned. Erika had never seen her oldest pokemon lose her composure before, but this time Gwen’s composure was completely shattered. Nimue was quivering.
For the rest of the train ride, Erika didn’t really say anything. Erika was just lost and engrossed in her own thoughts, daydreaming of the day she would gain a titled pokemon’s allegiance.
When the Magnet Train pulled into Goldenrod, Erika hadn’t even realized that the train conductor had issued an arrival notice.
Erika walked out of the train dazedly with her pokemon behind her, and recalled everyone except Nimue who seated herself on Erika’s head as instructed.
The interior of the Goldenrod Station wasn’t much different from the Saffron Station, if a little fancier.
However, when Erika stepped outside the train station into Goldenrod proper, she was immediately blinded by a myriad of flashing lights and colors.
The entire city was lit up with advertisement boards and neon lights to the point that Erika found it hard to tell some buildings apart from others, and her eyes hurt the more she looked.
Erika could see advertisements for custom pokeballs, special healing medicines, performance enhancing drugs, various types of food, plush toys, games, consoles, and so much more which she didn’t care to name.
She was a little stunned by how garish Goldenrod looked, as well as how bright it was, but Erika eventually shook off her culture shock and started making her way towards the Northern Gate to enter Route 35.
Erika wasn’t here to sight see, just in transit, so she didn’t waste much time dilly-dallying in the city proper.
There were only two things which Erika really stopped for - the flower shop in the northwestern part of Goldenrod, and an advertisement for the pokeathlon, a sort of intramural sports competition for pokemon trainers and their companions.
Erika wanted to make it up to Nimue for not giving her much attention for the last few months, so she took her into the flower shop to see if there were any flowers to her liking.
The city itself was pretty safe, and this was one of the times Erika tacitly allowed Nimue to leave her head. She didn’t need a guardian halo in the city itself currently, so Nimue was let loose to whiz around the shop admiring the flowers and looking for new ones she might want to acquire.
Erika mostly browsed through a catalog of specialty mulches made using oran berries for Gwen to take root in as a gift, and purchased some cardinal flowers for Mordred, since the shopkeeper advertised them as being native to Unova, his homeland.
It’s a nice gift, Erika figured. Plus it doesn’t cost me much.
“Found anything interesting, Nimue?”
‘Yes!’
Erika’s newest pokemon floated over and nudged her, pushing her towards a rather pretty looking pink flower with six petals that emitted a subtle yet aromatic scent.
“How much for this flower?” Erika asked the shopkeeper. “My pokemon wants this one.”
“This one isn’t for sale,” the shopkeeper apologized. “Sorry. You’ll have to pick something else I’m afraid.”
Now I’m curious.
“Why isn’t it for sale?” Erika pressed. “There must be a reason right?”
The shopkeeper fidgeted a little under her gaze. “Well, my father left me the flower before he died. He told me it’s a rare flower from another region, so I should keep it well and preserve it. It’s a keepsake really, so I just don’t want to sell it.”
“Oh.”
Erika lost her interest after hearing that. She coveted the flower, but she wouldn’t go so far as to seize a gift a father had passed on to his son.
Strangely enough, the shopkeeper actually seemed more enthused when she lost her interest. His gaze took on a strange quality, as if he was peering right through her.
Erika didn’t like that feeling one bit.
“I could sell it to you actually,” he said slowly. “If we’re being honest, I’ve kept this old flower for far too long. It’s just a reminder of my dad now, and I’m sure he wouldn’t want me to dwell on his passing. Why don’t you take it off my hands?”
This sounds… suspicious.
“How come you changed your tune so suddenly?”
“Well, I just had a change of mind.” The shopkeeper shrugged. “There isn’t much to it.”
“What’s the price tag on it then?”
“10,000₽.”
Erika nearly jumped up. “Are you shitting me? You’re running a scam operation, old man!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“It’s a treasured keepsake passed down by my father,” he countered. “I’ll have you know that I’m suffering a lot of heartbreak here by selling it! In fact, I think the price should be higher!”
“We’re leaving Nimue,” Erika snorted. “Come on, let’s go. Ten thousand is far too much for a stupid flower.”
Erika turned to leave, but Nimue didn’t follow. She was still eyeing the flower and hovering around it, looking at Erika expectantly.
Erika’s face twitched a little before she walked back and offered up her credit card to the man.
“You better not charge me extra,” Erika warned. “Ten thousand, and not a pokedollar more.”
Erika left the shop with a new flower in her possession - well, Nimue’s possession really, because she was cradling it like her own child atop her head.
Nimue had already added the flower into her collection, and she was happily admiring it and nourishing it with her aura.
At least it has a pleasant smell. With Nimue sitting on Erika’s head all day long, Erika wouldn’t have been able to stand it if she gave off a bad smell.
----------------------------------------
“I’m beginning to miss civilization already,” Gwen boldly asserted. “Far be it from me to complain about hardship, but I think staying with Milly has really spoiled us.”
Mordred smirked. “You’re the last of us who should be saying that, given that you were raised on a farm.”
“Let’s not bring that up okay?”
“Ugh. Fine.”
“Are you enjoying the wilderness, Nimue?” Gwen asked.
“Not really?”
“You seem to be saying that a lot,” Gwen observed. “Weren’t you born wild though? I thought you might appreciate the routes more, given that you’re not used to city life.”
“Well…” Nimue wriggled on Erika’s head. “This isn’t exactly what I would call a meadow.”
“Up ahead,” Erika warned suddenly. “Keep your eyes sharp and stop talking.”
Everyone shut up at that.
Gwen did her best to peer at what Erika was pointing at.
I can’t see anything?
“Even further,” Erika clarified. “Here.”
Gwen’s master handed her a pair of binoculars expectantly, which Gwen grabbed and squeezed with her head leaves to keep it level with her eyes. Erika helped crank the knob on the binoculars to spread out the lens more to accommodate her different facial structure, and it was only then that Gwen could see what Erika was talking about.
It’s a golduck! An adolescent probably, judging from its smaller size.
The golduck was sunning itself by a small shallow pond, lazily reclining and enjoying the limited sunlight that wafted through the dense tree cover. Route 35 was a more open route which was well worn and paved, but certain parts of it were still largely forest, and that was the section Erika and her team were currently traveling through.
“Let me see as well,” Mordred said brusquely. “Please?”
Gwen passed the binoculars to her companion and he hoisted it up to his eyes using his hands.
Gwen tried not to be envious. I wish I had hands.
It was one of the rather unfortunate downsides of being an Oddish. Gwen had gotten used to her lack of hands, simply because she never had any in the first place, but that didn’t stop her from appreciating their usefulness.
Hands were incredibly versatile. The ability to just pick things up and grip them… Gwen wanted that.
And you’ll get that when you evolve, a part of Gwen’s mind whispered. You just need to be patient.
Gwen had been patient for a long, long time.
From her humble beginnings as a farm oddish to where she was now, every single step was accompanied by grueling hardship and pain.
Gwen never complained a single time. She bided her time, suppressing herself to build a perfect foundation for her evolution into a Gloom, both so that she could be of better use to Erika, and also so she could push herself further on her journey of growth.
When she told Mordred that she wanted to become a titled pokemon, Gwen hadn’t been kidding. She was dead serious.
It was an unattainable dream far out of reach and out of sight, but Erika was the one to teach Gwen that dreams were only dreams so long as you didn’t actively work towards them.
Dreams that you worked towards with careful planning and research… were goals. And goals were achievable.
One step at a time. Each step is horrible and painful, and it makes you want to give up. But you can’t give up. Each step I take brings me closer to my goal. Each step makes me greater and more powerful. Each step is meaningful.
These were words that Erika had imprinted deep within Gwen’s heart.
‘Discipline is the gap between success and failure,’ Erika used to say to her, after poring over her old books in the library. Her eyes would shine brightly. ‘To become great, you must first be ruthless. Ruthless to others, and even more ruthless to yourself! You must punish yourself harshly, squeeze out every bit of your potential, cut off all roads of escape… and only then, on the precipice of life and death, will you truly become great. Under immense pressure, will you be a coal that shatters, or one which metamorphoses into diamond?’
Diamond! That was Gwen’s resolute answer.
For Erika, Gwen could do anything. Charge through any fire, wade through any water, throw herself against a deadly foe, endure immense pain and suffering.
For Erika’s grace, her blessing of life in saving her from being butchered and stewed, Gwen would forever stand beside her as a loyal companion. Never would she falter or hesitate, and never would she doubt.
However, that didn’t mean that Gwen didn’t have agency of her own. Oh no. She had plenty.
Erika had never forced Gwen to do anything. Everything Gwen did for Erika was always entirely voluntary on her part, and that was why Gwen respected Erika so much.
“Gwen?”
Erika was patting her head. “Did you hear what I just said?”
“Sorry!” Gwen almost shouted. “Could you repeat that please?”
It took a little bit for Erika to figure out what Gwen was saying, even as the bond supplied her with the intent behind her words.
Gwen sighed in annoyance. That’s another problem that needs to be tackled soon. My bond with Erika isn’t nearly as strong compared to Mordred.
It was almost unfair how easily he could talk with Erika. It was even more unfair that Mordred didn’t like talking to Erika much.
Gwen would give the world if she could talk to Erika at length every day.
“We’re going to be attacking the golduck,” Erika informed her. “It’s tonight’s dinner!”
“Plan?”
“We’re going to be going back to an old thing I came up with,” Erika explained. “Remember the whole Plan D business back in Rising Stars?”
Gwen racked her brain. “The bit where Plan D meant go underground and it was an encrypted command to avoid enemies learning about our plans?”
“Come again?”
Curse this bond!
“She understands,” Mordred interjected in her place. “Gwen is talking about the time where you gave her a list of encrypted commands so that your enemies wouldn’t be able to listen in on your orders.”
Erika understood what he was saying immediately. Gwen sulked. How unfair. Mordred’s words come across as whole sentences, and Erika probably doesn’t even parse my words as legible speech, only rough intent.
Intent was good and all, but it wasn’t particularly effective when talking about detailed things.
“Good,” Erika said, relieved. “We’re going to be expanding on that right now.”
“The golduck is decently far away from us, enough that we have to use binoculars to see it,” Erika continued. “So this is a safe place to talk strategy, and how we’re going to implement it.”
“From now on, we will have four basic plans,” Erika told the entire team. “Plan A: Mordred will occupy the attention of the enemy, and everyone else will focus fire onto that particular enemy. I will stay back and fire arrows.”
“Plan B is for multiple enemies. Mordred will occupy the attention of a chosen enemy, and everyone else will harass and distract the others.”
“Plan C is where Mordred and I occupy an enemy, and Gwen lures away the other enemies.”
“Plan D is for escape: it means we all collectively run away and you do your best to cover my back as I run.”
Erika said all of that in one breath, so she had to breathe deeply when she was done, puffing out a breath of air.
“Does that make sense?”
“I assume I stay on your head?” Nimue asked.
Erika nodded. “That’s right. In all of these plans, you are backline support, just like me. I will fire arrows, and you will cover your teammates and harass or attack from afar. When I run away in Plan D, you will be defending me with reflect. How good is your reflect now?”
Nimue formed a thin panel of psychic energy in response. Erika struck it roughly and the panel shattered into fragments before fading.
“It’s good enough for one solid hit,” Erika judged. “Even if it doesn’t block the attack completely, it should at least ablate the force enough to prevent me from dying or suffering a severe injury.”
“Mordred, you’re going to have the most dangerous job,” Erika told him. “You are the vanguard which will block the enemy charge and occupy their attention. Are you up to the task?”
“Up to the task?” He said indignantly. “My ancestors have been the vanguard of knights for millennia! How dare you say that!”
“I’ll take that as a yes?”
Erika turned to Gwen. “Your job is mostly heavy long range firepower, and harassment or luring enemies away. You’re nimble and quick on your feet, and you can spew dangerous acid and throw razor leaves accurately. Have you memorized your roles?”
Gwen nodded eagerly.
Erika clapped her hands. “Great. For now, we’ll stick to these four basic plans. I will refine them later into more advanced plans, like A1, A2, A3, A4, all of which cover the aforementioned scenario of Mordred blocking an enemy and everyone else focusing fire, but with different variations of actions. However, that’s too complicated to learn in one sitting, so we’ll start with the basic four. If needed, we can also revise the plans later.”
“This is an evolved pokemon,” Erika warned them. “Although it may be an adolescent, and it looks recently evolved, we must still be wary. Four on one gives us good odds, but that’s only if we work together well to take it down. Our elemental advantage helps us suppress it as well, but that doesn’t mean you should let down your guard.”
“Watch out for its confusion and zen headbutt!”
“You especially Gwen,” Erika told her. “If the golduck charges you, immediately hide behind Mordred and let him take the strike. Getting struck by a full power zen headbutt will probably severely injure you or render you comatose, if not dead. The confusion isn’t a worry as long as you keep your distance and avoid telegraphing your movement.”
“When we fight that golduck, we’re going to start with Plan A,” Erika declared. “Mordred, Gwen, Nimue, you know the drill. Let’s sneak up to the golduck, and then charge it when we get close.”
Their group snuck closer to the golduck, and once they were within thirty meters of the golduck, everyone broke into an all out sprint, running straight for it without caring about being seen.
Mordred blasted off the ground and headed straight for his target, aiming himself to smash his body into the golduck.
It squawked in alarm and spewed a water pulse at Mordred, slowing his descent and dizzying him, but that didn’t stop him from slamming the heavy end of his tail into the golduck’s head.
His tail was deflected by the water just enough that the bladed edge didn’t make contact with the golduck’s head, but the force of his tail smashing into the golduck’s cranium still concussed it and sent it spinning away.
The golduck screeched in pain and wailed loudly, and then glared hardly at Mordred, eyes flashing with an indiscernible gray light.
Mordred choked up as he felt his grass aura stiffen and stop moving, the disable crippling his ability to move his aura through his tail. The sudden loss of aura in his extremities threw him off enough for the golduck to raise its claws and slash at Mordred, but a thin reflect screen appeared at an angle between Mordred and his foe, which blocked the claw and made it slide off harmlessly. The reflect screen became cracked immediately as well, and the second claw strike shattered it completely, but Mordred had already recovered by then and brought his tail up to meet the descending claw.
Even without aura, his tail was still abnormally tough, so the impact of the golduck’s claw meeting Mordred’s tail sent them both rebounding backwards.
Suddenly, dozens of razor leaves flew in towards the golduck at high speed.
It instinctively gathered water with its tail and swept up a column of fluid to block the leaves, but due to the quantity of razor leaves Gwen had fired, some made it through and sliced deep into the golduck’s flesh. The elemental interactions between grass and water also ensured that Gwen’s razor leaves penetrated its water screen more easily, and it screeched in pain.
Mordred took advantage of the golduck’s lapse in attention to smash it with his tail again, ramming his tail against its arm and cruelly breaking it. The golduck’s right arm hung limply, and Mordred kept up the pressure, lunging in to strike and blocking it whenever it tried to attack one of the other team members.
Gwen was circling it from further away, throwing razor leaves into its blindspots whenever it was fighting Mordred to harass it. Although it managed to block most of her razor leaves, the few which made it through would cause it to bleed and accumulate more injury, and the golduck gradually started slowing down.
Gwen didn’t dare to boost with growth and throw a truly massive razor leaf, because she wasn’t confident that it wouldn’t hit Mordred accidentally.
Erika fired arrows intermittently from further away, but her arrows suffered from the same problem as Gwen - A. the golduck was able to manipulate water to nudge the arrows off course, and B. Erika was worried she would hit Mordred, so she didn’t fire even at times when there were good opportunities to do so. Unlike Gwen though, her arrows didn’t have any grass aura to help them penetrate the golduck’s water, so she didn’t land any arrows.
Its skill with water manipulation is fairly high, Gwen mused. Recently evolved psyduck usually aren’t this proficient. Too bad it's about to become dinner.
Just when things seemed like they were going well, the golduck slipped past Mordred and charged directly for Erika with a gleam in its eyes that promised murder. Finally having broken through Mordred’s blockade, it intended to deal a fatal strike to the person behind the operation - Erika.
Erika shouted in alarm and leapt back, firing another arrow at the golduck, but it deflected the arrow with a gout of water and swiped at her at her throat.
No! Gwen did her best to throw a few razor leaves at the golduck from behind, but she couldn’t get to Erika fast enough to protect her. Mordred was also a little too far away to block the golduck’s charge, but he was still sprinting toward it nevertheless.
However, just when Gwen thought Erika was going to get her throat torn out, fairy aura blazed to life on Erika body as Nimue’s flower shield activated, covering her with a skintight film of protective fairy aura. A thin rectangular reflect screen appeared as well, interposed between the golduck and Erika, adding a second level of protection.
The reflect collapsed instantly under the golduck’s overwhelming strike, but it blunted enough of the force that when its claw continued forward and hit Erika, she merely got knocked back instead of being killed.
Erika choked from the impact of the strike since the flower shield still transmitted some blunt force though the protection, and the golduck had struck her squarely on her throat. However, the sharp ends of its webbed claws didn’t shred her skin.
Before the golduck could raise its claw for a second strike however, Mordred tackled the golduck from behind to the floor and started wrestling with it. Multiple vines emerged from him and began binding and tangling the golduck, and he layered more and more until it was hopelessly tangled up, even as it tried to claw its way out.
Gwen avoided using acid since she assumed Erika wanted to eat the golduck, so she just threw more razor leaves at the golduck. Can’t use absorb either or the meat is going to spoil.
Now that it was rendered immobile, Erika was finally able to fire arrows at it freely. Without any water screens to knock her arrows off course, a well placed arrow to the head ended the golduck’s life. It twitched briefly when Erika’s arrow pierced its forehead, and then went limp.
Everyone was silent for a moment as they recovered.
Mordred seemed barely winded, but Erika was panting from the exertion. Gwen was sweating from the near death experience Erika just went through.
Good thing we have Nimue now. Otherwise, the wilderness would be a lot more dangerous for Erika.
The mortality rate for young trainers was fairly high, especially for those with reckless natures like Erika. Not a lot of new trainers would dare to challenge an evolved pokemon like golduck, especially without sufficient protection, but Erika had gone ahead and done it anyway.
Gwen could only hope that Erika reached the External soon, since it would provide another level of protection for her reckless master.
I’m not afraid of getting hurt since I can recover quickly, but it's different with Erika. Maybe we should go back to hunting easier targets like pidgey.
As much as Gwen wanted it though, she knew it wasn’t in Erika’s nature to do so. The recent success of hunting the golduck would only embolden her further, so all Gwen could do was brace herself and be even more wary and paranoid on behalf of her master.
Erika dragged the carcass of the golduck to the side and started butchering it, slicing its skin open and skinning it.
Gwen gave the golduck a solemn nod. Thank you for becoming my food. Be at peace.
If that golduck could hear her words, it would probably furiously curse her, because who wanted to become food for others?
But that was just how the world worked. It was simply the circle of life. Would the pidgey feel guilt for hunting a weedle? Would the victreebel feel bad about eating a poliwhirl? Not really.
Gwen’s experience with life on a farm had led her to understand that she wasn’t anything special. Everyone and everything ate each other, and that was just how things were, and she had long since been desensitized to that fact. She was just lucky to be chosen as a pokemon by Erika.
Once Erika fully butchered the golduck, the team did their usual and set up the cooking station.
Erika was feeling the urge for hotpot again, and this time, she had her culinary compression canister, so they had more spices on hand to use.
Gwen went off to forage for plants to include into the hotpot nearby while Mordred carved out another stone pot next to Erika.
She hummed a merry tune and started collecting some wild garlic growing out of the ground, and picked a few stalks of wild onion. Whatever Gwen found, she would grab and then pile it up on her head, using her head leaves as a sort of bowl to hold everything. There wasn’t much else nearby, so Gwen took her harvest back to Erika and helped her clean it.
Erika threw everything Gwen collected into Mordred’s stone pot and dumped a generous amount of all purpose seasoning in, followed by some hotpot soup base and peppercorn. The golduck meat went in last, and she slid over a stone slab to cover the pot just like last time.
“Let’s switch up our meal next time,” Gwen suggested. “How about we try to find some sweet potatoes?”
“That’s a good idea actually,” Erika agreed hungrily. “We could bake them in clay underground. I saw that in a recipe book while browsing the internet, and clay shouldn’t be hard to find around here.”
While they ate, Mordred led Erika away from the others to sit beneath a tree. Gwen continued eating her hotpot, but she listened in from afar.
“Let’s talk a bit,” he said casually.
Mordred leaned up into the tree and made himself comfortable, wiggling himself against the bark of the tree to scratch his back.
“You haven’t really done anything… morally abhorrent for a while,” Mordred admitted eventually after being quiet for a bit. “That’s surprising, but also not surprising at the same time. I believe that it's less the fact that you’re changing, and more that you haven’t been given the opportunity to act unscrupulously.”
“Are you serious?”
Erika crossed her arms, unimpressed. “Are you really bringing this up again?”
“See, there’s this thing called performativity,” Mordred explained slowly, as if recalling something from long ago. “My father used to tell me that if you acted a certain way - A LOT - then you would start genuinely behaving that way. That was why he encouraged me to never be unchivalrous or parsimonious, because I would eventually become that way.”
“I’ve noticed that ever since I got kidnapped, my behavior has been getting worse and worse. Now, normally, I’d just attribute that to the whole, you know, getting kidnapped thing. However, I’m starting to think differently now.”
“I believe an inaction of good deeds is just as damaging as an action of evil,” Mordred revealed dramatically. “During my captivity, I was deprived of many things - food and water to a degree, freedom of movement, sunlight among other things - but what really hurt me most… was that I couldn’t be chivalrous and good to others inside my cage.”
“Doing good things can change a person’s character for the better. Conversely, not doing good, or doing evil, will also correspondingly change a person’s character - for the worse.”
“So? You want me to start doing what? Good deeds?”
Erika scoffed. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.”
Gwen was straining her ears to listen now. This is very interesting.
Mordred poked Erika with his hand. “From now on, I want you to do at least one chivalrous deed everyday. I will go with you, and we will both perform a good deed for society. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing it genuinely or not - all I care is that you do it at least once per day, whenever possible.”
“What happens if we’re in the middle of the wilderness and there’s no one to be chivalrous to?”
“Eh?”
Erika’s words clearly threw Mordred for a loop. She smirked broadly at his realization. “It’s not like I perform chivalry on myself right? While we’re traveling through the wilderness on the routes, it's not uncommon to go days and weeks without seeing other people. Who am I supposed to be chivalrous to then?”
“That…” Mordred hesitated. “I’ll think of something later. At the very bare minimum, you’ll do one good deed for society whenever it's possible. If you physically cannot do it - as in there is no one to be chivalrous too, we can put it off until later. But if an opportunity presents itself, you must take it.”
Inconvenient, but worth arguing over.
Erika sighed. “Fine. You’re already cooperating with me, so this is a major improvement over what we had before. I don’t mind adding one more thing on - however, these good deeds that I do cannot interfere with my progress as a trainer. I will not do anything that damages my self interest. Is that clear?”
Mordred shrugged. “It’s as good a start as any I guess.”
After finishing their afternoon meal, the group set off again.
They continued trekking through the forest for over two weeks at high speed like this.
Erika only really stopped their march for brief one hour training sessions or hunting sessions, before resuming the journey.
Throughout this process, the team started working together a lot more cohesively and cooperatively.
Gwen learned how to take advantage of the gaps in enemy blindspots when they were occupied with Mordred better, and Mordred became much better at anticipating where an enemy would move, so he could better block them. Nimue got MUCH better at using reflect, since she had to put screens up to block ranged projectiles coming at Erika often.
Her flower shield and flower veil were also put to great effect, providing considerable protection and stamina boosts to everyone. Nimue also started becoming able to sense the presence of enemies further away, and began giving advance warnings to her teammates if she found something of interest or of danger.
Several times, it was Nimue who saved everyone on the team from a grisly death by warning them that there was a strong pokemon up ahead, so they could hide or change direction.
Once, Nimue shrieked in alarm after sensing a group of hungry weepinbell nearby.
Although the entire team was doing their best to harmonize their auras to the dense grass aura of the forest around them, it was hard to hide from other grass types, who were intrinsically familiar with and good at perceiving grass aura.
The weepinbells detected Nimue about the same time as she detected them, and Erika broke out into a dead sprint away from weepinbell pack.
That was the first instance of Plan D being activated.
Mordred hung back behind Erika to block the razor leaves the weepinbells fired, using his large, now six feet tall frame to cover Erika’s comparatively smaller body.
When the weepinbells spewed acid over, Nimue manifested a reflect screen to shield Mordred, and the two took turns covering each other. Gwen sat on Mordred’s head like a turret and fired razor leaves back, taking turns attacking the weepinbell as everyone ran away.
If Erika just let Nimue use reflect to block the razor leaves, then she would run out of energy fast, so it was more economical to let Mordred absorb the blows with his body. However, if acid was ever used, Nimue would immediately raise a reflect to help Mordred block the attack. In this manner, the entire group fled and kept running until the slow moving weepinbell eventually gave up on the chase.
After that horrifying incident, Erika started expanding more on Plan D and methods of escape.
“D1 is the same as the original,” Erika informed everyone. “This is for when I can’t think straight. I’ll just leave it up to your judgment, and issue commands from time to time. Basically, run like hell, do your best to protect me however you can, and I’ll tell you if you need to do anything else.”
“The others are going to be for more specific situations,” Erika explained. “D2 is where Nimue detects an insurmountable enemy in advance. I will make this symbol with my hands.”
Erika grasped her fist and splayed her other on top of it. “This is a signal that it’s time for Plan D2. We will quietly sneak away. I will recall Mordred, since he’s heavier and makes more noise, as well as Gwen, leaving only me and Nimue.”
“Now, here’s the important thing Erika said dramatically. “If Plan D2 involves Mordred and Gwen being recalled, why do we need a non verbal signal? Surely I can just recall you right?”
“Well, it has to do with Plan D3,” Erika explained. “When I make the D2 signal, I will recall Mordred and Gwen. If I release you again within the next five minutes, you have to be prepared to conduct Plan D3 immediately.”
“Plan D3 is where Mordred and Gwen do the sacrifice play and occupy enemy attention, letting me and Nimue escape,” Erika told everyone. “After distracting our pursuers, I will recall Mordred and Gwen from a distance since pokeballs have a decent recall range.”
Sounds reasonable, Gwen thought. Mordred and I are the physically toughest here, and most likely to survive even if we suffer traumatic injuries. We also heal the fastest.
“For now, let’s stick to these three escape plans,” Erika told them. “Hopefully, we’ll only need D2, as long as Nimue can detect enemies in advance enough for us to sneak away.”
Thankfully, there weren’t any more life threatening events that happened after that.
The next week was fairly unassuming, with the team only pausing for training sessions and hunting their food.
Gwen really felt like their coordination as a team was growing.
She was getting very used to working alongside Mordred and Nimue, and it felt like a lot of the initial awkwardness had faded away. Now, they got along a lot better and even joked around sometimes.
Being in a life and death situation had a way of bringing people together, it seems.
Gwen started joining Nimue during her practice sessions of draining kiss, offering her advice and her own experiences in using absorb and mega drain. She figured that they shared similarities, since they were both energy draining moves, so the two worked together to help each other progress more.
It was around this time that Nimue finally figured out how to use synthesis, borrowing from the knowledge that she gained from the high grade energy ball technical machine.
As a move, the principles of synthesis were mainly about gathering energy from the sunlight and agglomerating it. Energy ball covered a lot of the same things, so Nimue eventually got it working and learned her first self healing move.
Now, Nimue could sustain herself in combat slightly longer, and she could ensure the team’s continued longevity in battle longer as well.
However, this wasn’t something that you could use endlessly without consequence. Ultimately speaking, the energy gathered from sunlight was external and harder to control, so the more you used it to heal yourself, the less effective it would become over time, at least until you thoroughly refined all the energy into your own aura. Of course, if you were more skilled, you could integrate all the energy you absorbed faster, which would let you keep using synthesis without consequence.
Mordred learned a few more tricks using his vines to entangle enemies when he was occupying their attention, and Gwen continued practicing her accuracy with throwing razor leaves and spitting acid. Her training back at the Grand Verdant had already set a solid foundation, and engaging in live combat helped polish it even further.
Gwen could feel a powerful pressure beginning to build in her body, accumulating slowly but surely.
Soon. Perhaps not this week or this month, but my evolution draws near.
Gwen could hardly wait. Few oddish could get to this point.
They were a highly economical farm pokemon whose body parts could be used in creating superfoods, so the vast majority of oddish were farmed and harvested.
However, evolving into a gloom would ruin those properties that made them useful for creating superfoods. Furthermore, gloom smelled… really bad. The books Erika had gone over said as much.
I’ll need to start learning how to control my scent. Or really practice with sweet scent.
Although Gwen was confident Erika wouldn’t abandon her, having a horrible smelling pokemon trailing her everyday surely couldn’t feel good.
They ended the night again by setting up camp in the trees, and Gwen went to sleep dreaming about her impending evolution.