Eevee Therapy for Little Magi: Chapter 45; Pop in and Break Out

Sakura studied the map Other had sketched into the sand between their feet. “This is big,” she said simply. “I thought this was just a few raiders, not a major group.”

From her vantage point out of Rin’s device, Captain Bles pursed her lips. “It doesn’t match the number of local raids either, but the descriptions of the human captives clued me in. This must be a distribution hub for all of the peninsula. With those descriptions, I’ve mustered a twenty-man team to hit the camp, but that’s still not enough to sweep them all up cleanly. Thankfully, we’ll have more help.”

“The League?” Rin asked, largely to clarify that her suspicions were correct.

“...of a sort. There is only one person in Unova with rights to breed and raise Hisuian Sneasel. He’d assumed the little one had just run away–”

Sakura’s phone rang. She moved to silence it, only to stop as Bles motioned through the screen for her to look at it. Seconds later, she made the connection, and turned on her device. The stern face of Subway Master Ingo appeared, shaking slightly. “Sakura. Is it true?” His voice was noticeably tight, hat slightly askew.

“Ah,” Sakura winced, grimacing a bit as she nodded. “Yes. I believe Other. Which means someone decided to piss you off. I… Almost pity them.”

“Pissed. No. I am apoplectic.” Ingo’s voice cracked slightly. “And worse, the Young Lord is beside himself with regret and rage. We will be diverting all cars to this broken track, in order to fix this situation.” He shot a short salute. “Do not pity them. Ensure they cannot flee before we arrive.”

“We believe the last hostage, the one kept in the main house as you described, may be someone of importance to the local government. If so, it would explain why no one reported the camp before you contacted us.” Bles let out a harsh breath. “Which is why it pains me to ask you all to try and get inside that house, secure the hostage and as many others as possible, and hold out until we can hit the camp.”

“We can do that.” Rin nodded, grimacing slightly at the thought of the amount of gems she would likely have to spend on doing this, “If absolutely necessary, we can have Agate teleport him out.”

“But-”

“Not the time Agate. As much as we both hate it, the hostage’s life is more valuable than mine. Granted, that’ll be a last resort, but I want it to be on the table,” Rin cut her starter off, eyes hard. “These poachers are essentially slavers, and I will not abide by it.”

“Thank you. Honestly, it’s rather embarrassing; our teams are excellent battlers, but in stealth you have us beat,” Bles admitted. “We’ll give you the signal to raid the camp; if you can stir up trouble early, that’d be great, but you cannot enter the camp until we’re within rapid response time from hitting them. If they scatter with the captives and hostages, we’ll never catch them all.”

“Agreed,” Sakura nodded sharply, looking towards Rin. “ETA, Captain Bles? We’ll time our approach so that even if we’re discovered on approach we’ll have backup coming shortly.”

“We’re coming in with three low-flying choppers and mounted fliers, but our need to spoof detection is slowing us down. I think the Subway Masters are concealing their own approach using a sandstorm. We both should reach the camp in approximately three hours, just after dawn,” Bles explained.

N, from his place at the table, cleared his throat. “We should discuss our plan with the adults before we go in, right?” he asked, looking between the two Eeveelutions, Other, and the two girls.

“Yes,” both Sakura and Rin chorused. “Right now,” Sakura began, grabbing a stick as she began drawing in the sand, “we’re planning on approaching under the cover of an illusion provided by Other and Zorua. After we approach, we’ll make our way to the hostage site, breaking out the Pokemon we can afford to break out and directing them to either escape or rally to us.”

“Captain Bles brought up a distraction, and considering the nature of these people, I have an idea on how to keep them occupied once they figure out we’re there. If we set up some blasting charges in and among their parked vehicles, they’ll be divided between capturing us and fighting the fires,” Rin said, thinking back to the large number of Fire Gems and bits of quartz she could turn into small bombs. “Between freed hostages and Pokemon, our teams, and the structure afforded to us by the house, we should be able to hold off a divided enemy.”

“We’ll hopefully arrive as those explosives go off; we’re not going to let them turn this into a siege,” Bles growled. “A handful of hostages is bad enough, adding you all to the captives would be bad.” She paused, then smiled as something chimed off-screen. “Ah, good news. We’ll be joined by several vetted local rangers; that puts the odds at closer to even.”

“If you could give us a call right when you’re about to attack? We can detonate the explosives then,” Rin suggested, mentally adjusting her plan on the fly as she did so.

“Perfect. Don’t take unnecessary risks, and we’ll see you soon.” Bles nodded before her image blipped out.

Ingo touched the edge of his cap. “We will be there soon. Let us prepare for a derailment, and hope it doesn’t occur.” His own image vanished.

Rin nodded as the group began to gather up. Turning to their mounts, she gave them all looks. “We didn’t pay for the combat package, so…”

“Yeah, we’ll stay here. No offense, you’re nice kids, but getting the whole family together to overrun a gang and rescue us would get pricey for everyone.” The lead Cyclizar quipped. “We’ll hang back, and if we see you running away, we’ll swing in and give you a lift, how about that?”

“Thank you.” Rin looked around, eyes narrowing as everyone suited up. “We leave in one hour.”

--(0)--

Sneasel was… bored wasn’t quite the right word, really.

She’d been terrified when she’d first been captured, but that had quickly given way to anger at herself and rage at her captors. She’d scratched, bit, and torn her way through the first few cages they’d put around her, only to be hunted down by hounds or chased to the ground by fliers.

Seriously, weren’t dragons supposed to have pride? Why would a Flygon work for slavers like that?

After the first time they’d whipped her fellow escapees and left her untouched, Sneasel had realized she would have to escape alone, or fail trying. Her most recent cage was much more sturdy, but she’d been confident she could’ve broken out in time.

And now… new hope. But fighting that hope; the chance of rescue, was the slowly growing numbness, an apathy of repeated failures which seemed… oppressive. She wasn’t really bored, more… listless.

But she refused to accept that. Glancing out into the predawn darkness, the fighting type summoned her inner power, focusing it to beat back the listlessness. She closed her eyes, then focused on the other half of her, trying to increase the potency of her venom. Opening them, she tried to sear her way through the bars, grimacing as the acidic poison only succeeded in eating away a tiny portion of the metal.

“You’d be the escapee, then.” Sneasel’s head snapped up to see a pair of red eyes looking through the bars. An Umbreon flicked his head, staring at her. “We’re moving on the camp and need your help.”

“Oh, really?” Sneasel perked up. “That’d be nice. Did you bring the keys?”

“No need.” The Umbreon ducked down, and Sneasel’s eyes widened as he melted into the shadows, emerging into her cell. “My name is Ren, and I am here to rescue you. Grab on.”

Conceptual darkness control. Using the shadows as a path, which should be impossible. Sneasel grinned as she latched on. “Thank you.” She said as they emerged back out. “Now, I have questions.”

“I may have answers,” the Umbreon stated with more than a bit of amusement. “If it relates to what I just did, however, I don’t have any. My siblings in Sinnoh might know since they’ve run into another Mystery Gift like us, but they have yet to convey to us any information.”

“I know what you did, I just don’t know how. You’re connecting to your type at a fundamental level, where things blur into magic.” Sneasel snapped quietly as they darted through the cages, Other and Sakura prying open the ones which contained the two human hostages as they approached. “Do you know magic?”

“I do not believe so. This is always something I have been able to do on some level.” Ren shook his head as he continued to lope forward, “Though getting it to this level of smoothness has required a level of dedication that most would consider… insane.”

“...so a combination of cheating and hard work,” Sneasel muttered as she approached the accumulating group of freed Pokemon and humans. One of the humans, a little boy in a dirty dress shirt, was clinging to Sakura, while the other, a hiker, was hugging a trembling Timburr to his chest. “Right, okay.”

Sakura looked up as she gently pried the little boy off her. “Rin is still setting the charges. Two minutes after they blow, we need to run to the main building and secure the last hostage.” She whispered.

“Charges?” Sneasel muttered, before offering one paw for Other to fist bump. “Nice rescue, by the way. He’s easy on the eyes, too.”

“Thank you,” the Umbreon huffed, amused yet also definitely somewhat embarrassed. “Sakura. We should push onwards quickly. They will likely start suspecting something is wrong soon.”

“Yeah, the dogs will smell us soon,” Sneasel chimed in.

Sakura was about to reply when her watch began to vibrate. “...the Captain is five minutes out, and Ingo is coming up on the other side. As soon as–” Her words were cut off when a series of loud blasts sounded from nearby, bright flashes lighting up the air over the palisade walls in the direction of the parked cars and ATV. “-charges are blown, knock down that gate now!” She yelled.

Ren nodded, turning to the gate and dashing towards it, his quick attack causing the doors to buckle but remain in place. Other Pokemon, now rallied, joined him and within seconds the doors were open. Not wasting any time, Sakura followed them as they streamed towards the camp’s command center.

Almost immediately, the hounds were on them, several groups of canine Pokemon converging on their wave in a flurry of paws, fangs, and howls. Sneasel grinned as she smashed one Houndour with an uppercut, the last of her apathy fading.

One way or another, this is going to be fun!

--(0)--

Rin glanced over the small cluster of rocks she’d ducked behind, frowning as she saw some of the guards still manning their spots at the central house despite the yells and calls for water echoing over the campground. Three humans, a pair of Gurdurr, a Cacturine, and a Seviper waited at ground level, while on the roof, a man perched upon a Flygon looked in the direction of the prisoner’s palisade.

Agate nudged her trainer telepathically. “N is on his way, as is Sakura. But if they arrive while these guys are still fresh, they’ll be taken down; her horde is being worn down by the groups she’s fighting through. What’s the plan?”

“We wear them down,” Rin huffed, smiling towards her starter. “No holds barred. These people won’t have any mercy for us, so we won’t have any mercy for them. I want an alpha strike on the Gurdurr to hopefully take them out of the fight, and I’m going to use one of my Dragon Gems to hopefully weaken or knock out the Flygon.” She looked back at her team, Gordon and Libra nodding as Agate peered over the top. “As soon as N gets here–”

“I’m here,” N said, Zorua dropping the illusion covering his approach. “We can help.”

Rin nodded, then blinked as she saw the bulky ground-type guarding N’s back. “...hello, Excadrill. Where did you come from?”

The steel-type huffed. “This is my home, and I want the squatters out. Come on, let’s go.” 

As the mole pokemon vaulted the rocks and charged at the house, Rin looked back at N. “Making friends?”

“Yes, now come on.” N followed the mole over the rocks, Rin at their heels. Libra lifted off, blasting out a stream of Shadow Balls which were joined in their barrage by Electro Balls and Psychic bursts, slamming into the two fighting types guarding the house. As they fell, the Flygon lifted up, sand beginning to shift and rise as they beat their wings to summon a localized Sandstorm.

“No you don’t,” Rin growled, palming one of her most expensive and valuable gems with all the care it deserved. With a muttered incantation and a brief surge of mana, she flung it into the air, “Draco Meteor!” She grinned as the gem shone, and this time didn’t go out prematurely.

The gemstone flew upward in a blaze of purple light tinged with gold, false stone coalescing around the gem as the bottled move triggered properly. Flygon’s eyes widened behind their lenses as the meteor barreled into them, slamming them back in midair and nearly unseating his rider. Wounded, the Flygon dove down to get out of the line of fire from further attacks, leaving only the Cacturine, the Seviper, and three humans, only two of them armed, to face down an Excadrill, five Pokemon, and two kids charging them.

Excadrill hit the Seviper with a Bulldoze, ground energy savaging the poison type. As he tore into the snake, Cacturine was being bashed apart by Noibat and Libra, a combination of ghostly fire and torrential sound buffeting the cactus in a seemingly inexorable tide of moves.

One of the humans drew a pistol, aiming at N. Moments before he could fire, a small yellow blur slammed into the man’s arm, arcs of electricity sending the now screaming man to the floor, gun forgotten before it could even fire. The other armed man’s shots blew through an illusion set by Zorua, before the little black fox smashed into his stomach with a quick attack.

The last man, unarmed, darted back behind him through the door, slammed it shut, and threw the lock shut. Rin just blinked, walked over to a nearby open window, and motioned for Agate to hop on through. “Did he really think that would work?” She asked her starter.

“Less talk, more saving the hostage,” Agate grunted, the psychic cat-fox making her way into the house as she absently unlocked the door with a basic application of telekinesis. “We’re racing against the clock now.” There was a yell from inside, and Rin opened the door to find Agate perched on the chest of that last man. “... Nevermind. He was being stupid instead of moving to hold the hostage more hostage.”

“Right,” Rin muttered as Excadrill tossed the two unconscious gangsters into the building, even as a tide of Pokemon began to arrive at the former farmhouse. She looked over to see N and Sakura coming in the door. “Did either of you see what happened to the flier and his Flygon?”

“They headed out to gather more people, I think,” Sakura muttered, her shadows slamming the door closed. Sneasel purred in appreciation as she joined the group. “We’re all here, though. That Excadrill is digging out a ditch.”

Rin nodded. “Search the building, find those sealed Pokeballs and the hostage.” She ordered. “N, you go upstairs, Sakura, check the basement, I’ll handle the ground floor.”

“Right.” The two other humans chorused, moving to their assigned tasks.

“Ren, you’re out front. I’ll head to the roof with Libra and any of the poached Pokemon who are confident in being long ranged support. Ana, if you could support Ren, that’d be fantastic. Other, Zorua, Gregor, if you could lurk around and take out targets of opportunity?” Agate began barking out, the Espeon directing her comrades around confidently.

Upstairs, N opened a room to find a young girl chained to a bed, looking out the window with wide eyes. She turned to see N, the sneer on her face fading as she saw him. “Who…”

“My name is N.” He smiled at her. “And you are?”

“Alice Koch,” she said, her eyes watering. “Are you here to rescue me?”

“We aren’t. We’re just here to keep you safe until the police and League get here.” He blinked as he was wrapped in a hug. “...Zorua, could you break her chains?”

“Nope, too sturdy. Hang on, I think there’s a Pawniard in the rescued Pokemon, I’ll go get them.” The fox hopped off his partner’s shoulders and darted back out and down the stairs.

--(0)--

Agate looked around the slowly lightening campground, watching as gangsters began to rally to retake the farmhouse, the Flygon trainer releasing a full team of Pokemon at the head of the gathering group. At her side, Ana spread her leaves to gather the light of dawn. “This is going to be fun. How much longer for the adults to get here? There’s at least a hundred Pokemon down there, and they’re going to hit us hard. It’ll be fun, right up until we collapse.”

“One minute.” Agate grumbled, fur standing on end as she worked overtime to try and get any advantage she could, “Though I am not entirely certain we can stall their assault long enough for them to arrive with force. That is… a lot of Pokemon.”

The array of Pokemon was a little daunting. Poison types, grass types, ground types, and more were slowly gathering around the farmhouse. Fliers, led by the still wounded Flygon, circled in the air as the sun began to rise.

Libra floated up through the roof, hovering near her friends. “We’ve used the secure line to call the captain and Warden Ingo. They’re within sight of the Crag, but it’ll take them a little time to get in position. We do not need to hold out for long.”

“So less last stand, and more hold the line. We can work with that,” Ana hissed. “No more time, here they come!”

Not all of the trainers and their Pokemon charged in at once; the Flygon swooped down, leading a charge of dozens of the faster Pokemon in a tide to strike the house quickly, even as the slower Pokemon and armed humans began to advance. Libra inhaled, before blasting outward with a hail of Wil-o-wisps and a scattershot of Embers. Agate flared her gem, Psybeams raking the ground pounders even as Ana’s Leaf Storms joined the barrage, a dozen other attacks erupting from the other Pokemon on the roof.

The Flygon and his rider dipped down, strafing the roof with Dragon Breath. The man called out. “Give up, kids! You won’t hold out forever.”

From the second floor window, Sakura yelled back, intercepting a blast on a hastily thrown up shadow barrier. “You want us, you’ll have to bring us down!” At her side, Other manifested a blast of ice which ripped out to smack into the Flygon, sending it spiralling down. One of the man’s other Pokemon, an Intellion, sprung up the side of the house, blasting into the room before an Electro Ball from Gordon cut off the attack and sent him tumbling back down to be smashed by a freed Hitmonchan, a Thunderpunch smacking his chin.

More Pokemon arrived, biting, smashing, and blasting. A Scovillain bathed the front line of the defenders with fire before a barrage of wind and poison attacks blasted it into unconsciousness, a Tropius swooped down to bomb the roof before being blasted down by an Ice Beam from Agate, and Rin was forced to get into melee with a Bisharp before Sneasel got into Close Combat and tore the dark-type apart.

Rin panted as the first wave fell back or lay where they fell, the slower groups of Pokemon rallying for the second surge. She looked out the window, counting the next wave and wincing– then looked a little higher, at the land behind the gangsters and the ridge above it. And the two dozen lanky, purple clawed fighting types charging down the slope towards the rear of the gathering horde. Behind the charging Sneaslers, dozens of other Pokemon, led by uniformed men and women, descended like a falling hammer. Two figures, one white, one black, led the charge.

From the roof, Agate watched the Flygon rise, only for its trainer to peer into the air behind her with wide eyes. Looking back, she saw four helicopters and a dozen fliers crest the other side of the crag, a loudspeaker coming on. “Members of the Wild Men, stand down. You are under arrest for Pokenapping, kidnapping, smuggling, illegal camping, disturbing a wildlife sanctuary, littering, and anything else we can charge you with!”

“Well, they certainly were punctual,” Agate hummed, fatigued snark issuing forth from the Espeon with extreme alacrity. “Certainly a good thing too. They had a lot more forces than we expected. Things were not going to be ideal if the cavalry hadn’t come as intended.”

“If we’d had more time, we might have been able to set up a bounded field. But we did not, so…” Libra let out a hiss of agreement, even as the mass of gangsters below shattered, some few throwing down their arms or Pokeballs and kneeling, while others turned to sprint for their vehicles or began firing on the incoming police. A few, smarter than the rest, charged the house, but their ragged line was repulsed by the defenders, preventing them from seizing hostages. The Flygon and their rider took off, angling to escape, only for a familiar Latias to slam into them. The ghost type hummed. “I think Ranger Summer may be here. That’s nice to see.”

Other poked her head up through the roof. “Everyone’s getting refreshed and healed up downstairs. We’ve done our bit, now we can relax.” She peered out and chuckled as the Sneaslers and the trainers backing them ripped through the Wild Men trying to flee, one of the lanky fighting-types flipping an ATV one-pawed. “Leave them to it.”

--(0)--

“Well, her presence explains a lot,” Bles commented as Alice Koch was tended to by a Ranger medic. “I suspect the Mayor of Castelia is going to want to give you all medals, right before he resigns from office.”

“Corruption is a universal truth,” Rin sighed, grimacing a bit at the familiar memory of a parent who hadn’t done what any parent arguably should have, “Even if it was for an understandable and even perhaps justifiable reason.”

“Which is why he’ll be resigning and not arrested,” Bles replied. “His daughter left on her journey six months ago, which coincided when he started getting obstructive in his policies. Now that she’s freed, I suspect he’ll spill everything he knows about the corruption in his office, which is probably going to tie me up for the next three months.” She sighed. “Regardless, that’s another merit on your sheet, and a major cash payout into your accounts. Along with League Credit, which is… significant.”

N tilted his head. “League Credit?”

“After a certain point, regional governments and the League stop paying cash to helpful trainers, and start offering League Credits instead. Those credits are typically only acquired by Ace Trainers, and they allow those who accrue them the ability to trade them for trainer upgrades, licensed eggs, unbreakable Technical Machines, or other restricted rewards,” Rin explained absently. “That we’re getting any as young as we are… that’s going to raise eyebrows.”

“Two smuggling rings, the Castelia Siege, and the cock-up with the rangers. You’ve earned the points, spend them wisely,” Bles shot back. 

“Fair enough,” Sakura shrugged, accepting their due reward with nonchalant grace. “Is there anything else, Captain Bles, or are we free to go?”

“You’ve been debriefed, and I’m sure I’ll see you eventually,” Bles said, waving with a smile. “I won’t say ‘stay safe’, but do keep in touch.”

N nodded. “Thank you.” He turned as four Pokemon and two humans walked up, the two humans in familiar black and white outfits, both stained with dust, and the white one also stained with blood splatters. He blinked. “Ah, Subway Head Emmet?...”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s not mine.” The man waved it off. “I am fine!”

N nodded, focusing on the bulky ground type trundling up. “Hello, Excadrill.”

“Good to see you survived, child. The rangers have promised this place will calm down again.” He nodded once. “Goodbye.” He turned and walked off.

“...abrupt,” Ingo murmured, then walked over to Sakura. Behind him, two Sneaslers and the rescued Sneasel walked over to her. “Our tracks converged again, Sakura. Thank you for your efforts here.”

“You are welcome.” She looked back and forth between the Sneasers and their little ward, who was tapping her paw on the ground. “Hello there.”

One of the Sneaslers, the female of the pair, stepped forward. “Our child often talked of running off to find adventure, and when she went missing, we assumed she’d done so. That she had been captured is something we never considered, much to our regret.” She grinned, giving her daughter a pat. “Then again, she did find adventure, and a gateway to more, no?”

“Maybe.” Sneasel took a breath, then stepped forward, looking between Ren and Sakura. “I want to join your team.” She said bluntly.

“I see.” Sakura hummed, more than a little taken aback, “I have no reason to refuse, but may I ask why?”

Sneasel flexed her claws, poison beading on the tips. “I want to learn how to use Poison conceptually. I think you’re my best bet.”

Mama Sneasler elaborated. “Fighting and Poison are contradictory in temperment, much of the time. Our lineage tends to favor the fighting type, using poison to supplement our melee combat. My kit wants to learn the more esoteric aspects of poison, to corrupt, wither, and confound; as a mage, she thinks you might be able to help her.” She looked down at Ren. “And she wants to puzzle things out about the ‘handsome dark-type.’”

“Ah, Ren,” Sakura nodded, giving her starter a fond look. “Very well then. Would you prefer a battle beforehand, or do you simply want me to ball you?”

“I think I need a few days rest and a weeks reconditioning before a battle, thanks,” Sneasel huffed. “Does she pass muster, dad?”

“Her aura is dark, but pure. No stains, just the night sky and stars,” the male Sneasler rumbled, eyes flaring with aura for a brief moment. “Take care of our kit, please,” he asked Sakura.

Ingo coughed before she could reply. “I will put a note in the logs that you are permitted to adopt a protected species. I know you are trustworthy, but rules must be followed.”

Sakura smiled, producing a Pokeball. “I will care for her just as well as I care for all of my other Pokemon,” she said simply. “Welcome aboard.” She held out the ball, Sneasel tapping it and disappearing into the light, before emerging with a grin.

“Nice. Now, I need you to show me how you do the shadow-merge thing. A few dozen times. Slowly,” she ordered, grabbing Ren and trying to drag him off.

“Ah… I don’t think so,” Ren said in response.

As they bickered, Ingo motioned to the prisoner transports arriving. “Now, the League will be heading south back to Castelia, but our track diverges with theirs. If you would like to attach your carriage to ours, we can all go to Nimbasa City together.”

Rin stepped forward, stifling a yawn. “I say we do it. We need sleep, and Pokemon riding when we’re this tired seems dangerous.”

Sakura nodded along. “Alright. Thank you, Ingo.”

“Thank you. You’ve done much good for Unova already; I think your tunnel is on an upward slope,” the Subway boss said, looking back at the vehicles pulling up. “A journey is supposed to be an adventure, and you have certainly proved it may be.”