Eevee Therapy for Little Magi, Chapter 44: Shifting Sands and Young Heroines

Rin pushed up her witch’s hat, glaring out over the dunes stretching before them, her mount shuffling beneath her. “...Sakura, why is there a desert in the middle of a temperate peninsula?” she asked grouchily, sweat beading on her forehead. Her sister, predictably, frowned, and shook her head,

“Don’t ask me. You’re the one that’s good at research.” She paused for a moment, drawing a scarf around her mouth before she looked towards Rin again. “Maybe Libra knows, if you’re really curious?”

Libra bobbed up and down, the fire type unbothered by the heat of the sun above. “Well, people didn’t know it was weird up until a few centuries ago, and then scientists did look into it. It was a hotly debated topic when the library got sealed, actually.” She let out a small puff of purple smoke through the holes in the bottom of her lamp-body. “Anyway… it’s Thundurus’ fault.”

“...what,” Rin said incredulously.

“It turns out, when you have a local who blasts areas with lightning enough to cause constant forest fires, it can cause areas to get… broken. This part of Unova has been where Thundurus and Tornadus have clashed for generations. Thundurus blasts apart all the vegetation, Tornadus blows away any nutrients which would result, and pretty soon there’s no way for anything to grow outside of sheltered areas. It’s not a natural desert, and the heat is mostly a result of congregating Pokemon which like the empty land.” The ghost finished.

Sakura looked around. “...well, it exists. And we need to cross it.” She fished her phone out of her pocket, glancing at N. “How’re we doing on supplies?”

“We have plenty of water, even without magecraft,” N said, checking the saddlebags on his own Cyclizar. “Though we’ll have to walk our mounts unless we bounce from oasis to crag; their running will dry them out faster than if we walk.”

“Hey, we can handle ourselves. It’s nice you’re thinking of us, but we’ve done desert runs before,” Cyclizar hissed.

“Maybe, but it’s still something to consider,” N said, then turned back to Rin. “Are we really going to go after those poachers? In this heat?”

“We have to. They’ve managed to avoid law enforcement; Captain Bles is pretty sure the local rangers and police are compromised somehow,” Rin said grimly, taking off her hat to put an ice pack inside. “Three kids on an adventure are not something they’d avoid; we have a chance to find them.”

“Then call for backup, like Captain Bles told us to,” Agate deadpanned, looking her trainer in the eyes, “This isn’t our problem to solve. We’re just to inform the police and rangers where the crooks are and book it. Hopefully, that’ll let the ones Bles has confirmed as clean catch the dirty ones, and if they’re lucky, get the jump on the poachers.”

“...right,” Rin agreed after a moment’s thought. “I’ll let the captain know we’re serving as bait, and the minute we hit the signal, she should be able to drop in with a teleporter,” she offered, getting out her device and sending off a message, then waiting until a response popped up. “That was fast. Captain Bles says we should be on the lookout for men and women using camouflage cloaks. She also advises that these are likely Wild Men offshoots, so expect ATV.”

Sakura looked over the desert with a frown. “It’s still a large area… but if they’re ambushing travellers, all we need to do is visit tourist spots or watering holes.”

“Then let’s be off,” N said, his eyes a bit sharp.

Within minutes, pounding claws tore up the sand as the three hired Cyclizar dashed over the hills, making their way towards the first oasis. They were halfway there when the roar of engines sounded over the dunes, two tan-colored four-wheelers ripping out from behind a ledge.

As the group skidded to a halt, Rin braced for a fight– only to stop as the four men and women on their vehicles called out to them, laughing. “Hey, kids! Wanna race?”

In the few moments it took for Rin and N to process what was going on, Sakura was already nodding. “Sure. Rules?”

“First one to the Prickly Pear Oasis wins! No attacking each other, no bashing, no regrets!” one of the camo-dressed men called back. “Need a waypoint?”

“Yeah, sure,” Sakura nodded, getting a marker dropped into her device. Showing the map to her mount, they prepared themselves for the run. One of the men tossed a rock into the air, and the moment it landed, two ATV and three dragons dashed across the sand, weaving their way through and over the dunes, Sakura leading their little pack.

N called out to Rin as their group was separated from the motorized riders. “Do you think this is an ambush?”

“Not sure,” Rin called back as the group of Cyclizar vaulted a small stone formation, using their ability to climb to catch up with the ATV. “They’re not herding us, at least. Just be ready.”

Their run eventually ended at the aforementioned oasis, the four vehicle riders cheering as they barely reached the edge of the water first. “Well done!” one of the men called out as the kids rumbled up. “Man, they might be from overseas, but those lizards sure can run!” He dismounted from his vehicle, moseying over to the water and letting the cool air wafting off it chill him down. “Those your Pokemon, or are they part of that rental program I’ve heard about?”

“The latter,” Sakura answered politely, seeing no reason to be rude to a man that had been nothing but polite so far.

“Aw, be nice to meet some racers,” he said. “Anyway! You kids interested in some ante battling?” He tapped the balls at his belt. “This place makes a nice battlefield.”

“Ante?” Rin asked, cocking her head to the side as her hand slid down to her belt, touching against Gregor’s Pokeball, “What exactly is that?”

“Mon for mon!” The man laughed. “Not for everyone, but sometimes, you want to really make a proper bet.”

“Pokemon choose their trainers, their lives are not to be gambled away,” N growled.

“Eh, sure. Trading is a thing, though. And sometimes, people don’t have a choice in things,” one of the other men spoke up. “You don’t wanna, that’s fine.”

One of the women spoke up. “Course, if you don’t wanna ante…”

“No, Sherrel. They raced well, leave ‘em be.” The first man spoke up. “Sorry kids, if it’s not your style, that’s fine. You might have trouble getting out of here without getting challenged by someone, though,” he advised, sitting down by the water.

“Well,” Agate hummed, blinking slowly at how easy this had all been, “time to leave then.”

Rin nodded. “We’ll take our chances, thank you.”

“Suit yourselves,” the first man called out. “We just like to ride, but the other Wild Boys around here are more aggressive. Stay away from Yuma’s crag!” He called out.

“Come on, Adam, they’ll want these kids’ pokemon!” Sherrel called out.

“And they can go robbing them if they want. I joined up to be free, so did you.” Adam leaned back into the sand behind him. “Get along, kids. We won’t bother you none, have a good trip.” With a minimum of grumbling, the rest of his team joined him sitting by the water, releasing a few Pokemon and pulling coolers out to set up a small camp.

Sakura looked at the obvious criminals, then turned and motioned to her two companions, the group gathering at the edge of the oasis. “...so, they’re Wild Men. But they’re not… doing anything? Can we call them in, and if not, should we just make our way to Yuma’s Crag? Sounds like that’s where the other gangsters are hiding out.”

“Or,” Rin began, only to frown as Agate shot her a glare, “Ah, right. We should call Captain Bles.”

“On it,” Sakura said, pulling out her device, gesturing at Other to obscure their conversation from the relaxing gangsters. After a few rings, the imposing face of Selvaria Bles appeared on-screen.

“Sakura, please tell me you’re safe,” she led, smile tempered with a furrowed look.

“For now, yes. We met some… relatively unobjectionable Wild Men. They’ve not done anything illegal in front of us, and they’ve told us to avoid a place called Yuma’s Crag, apparently a central spot for their group.”

“Not everyone’s the same level of criminal,” Bles responded. “Let me check… Yuma’s Crag is a large area, an oasis surrounded by cliffs and filled with cacti. It’s well off the beaten path, a perfect place for a camp.”

“So, can you send a team to sweep it clear?” Sakura said, her smile falling to a deadpan to match the captain’s own. “You can’t, can you?”

“I could dispatch a small team, yes. My own. Without more info, I won’t be able to authorize a full sweep from multiple precincts, and any moles will be able to set the Wild Men to scatter. Look, you can fall back now; I can send one of my own scouts to get the info, and it should only take a few days for us to handle it. You’ve given us a lead to get started with,” Bles explained.

“In that case,” N frowns, more than a bit petulant, “Shouldn’t we scout out a bit further so we can get the information you need, Captain?”

“You could, yes. However, the gangs do not fight fairly, and they have absolutely no problem making an example of anyone poking their business where it doesn’t belong. I would not recommend that course of action, though I am woman enough to know that if you all make up your mind on the matter, I cannot stop you without teleporting over,” the good captain replied immediately. The immense weight of her disapproval blatant and obvious.

“... But the information would make it easier for you to conduct a raid that would bring an end to all of this,” Rin hummed, looking consideringly towards the canyon as she weighed the pros and cons. “Potentially hundreds, if not thousands of lives saved at the risk of only a little more than a dozen.” She paused, looking towards Agate. “Seems worth it to me.”

“... Not just over a dozen. You, N, and Sakura won’t be going. Instead, you’ll be setting up camp while Ren, Other, Zorua, Gordon, and I scout them out,” Agate countered steadily, looking her trainer dead in the eyes. “I can teleport out. Ren can take care of himself, Gregor is small enough to not be noticed, and both Other and Zorua can cast illusions to conceal all of us.”

“Sister, that’s too many of us,” Ren protested bluntly, looking towards his trainer with a note of concern, “You stay with our trainers. I’d feel better with you here to teleport them out if need be.”

“... Fair enough,” Agate hummed, looking towards Rin with a feline shrug, “Though you are free to countermand me, Rin, I doubt you will. You know this is more sensible.”

“No, that makes sense,” Rin said, turning back to their dragon-bikes. Mounting up, she laid in a course on her device, Sakura mourning up with Sakura still on the line. “Captain, we’re heading to set up camp overlooking the Crag. We’ll stay out of sight and let our teams scout.”

“Stay safe, and check in every four hours. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll come ASAP.” Bles advised.

“Of course, Captain.” Sakura nodded. “Thank you, we’ll have the info for you soon.” She ended the call, stowing her device. “Right, Rin, you lead. If we run into any marauding or patrolling Wild Men, are we fighting or running?”

“When I said you’re making camp, Rin, I meant you’re making camp somewhere where there isn’t any chance of you being spotted by ‘maraudering wild men’,” Ren replied dryly, looking towards his trainer with more than a bit of amusement. “We stay away from the ridgeline, and find a nice little spot to set up camp, cook, and generally be good little trainers. And if the Wild Men do notice us thanks to smoke or something, then we can fight if need be.”

“...right,” Sakura said. “Other, Zorua, can you… maybe haze our passage? Make us look like a mirage?”

“Oh, I can do that!” Zorua chirped, standing up on N’s hat. “Let’s see…”

Two minutes later, a group of cloaked children passed over the dunes, dodging the few patrolling Wild Men as they made their way towards a small cluster of stones a half mile from the Crag. The group moved quietly to set up a small camp amidst the stones as the sun slowly began to set.

N looked out into the desert as the shadows lengthened, staring at the distant Crag with narrowed eyes. Rin came up on him as he looked at their goal, laying a hand on his shoulder. “N. You feel very strongly about this, don’t you?”

“I do.” N looked over the desert, Noibat landing on his shoulder. “Rin, after everything I’ve learned from you about Pokemon, and all I know from before… poachers and Pokemon thieves are the worst.” He grimaced, looking down. “They’re villains. Nothing more. And that’s comforting, in a way.”

Rin smiled back. “Not quite true… though in this case, the difference is not big enough to matter.” She stared out over the desert. “Everyone has layers. Those men and women we met back at the oasis; they just wanted to ride free. They ended up joining something awful, though.” Pointing at the distant crag, she continued. “They need to be stopped, but let’s avoid doing anything permanent, okay?”

N blinked a few times, then blanched. “I wasn’t talking about killing them!”

Rin paused, recalled that N wasn’t a traumatized Magus child, and nodded. “Good. Not the only thing I meant, but good.”

“Good,” Agate hummed, eyeing their surroundings with a wary eye. “But we should keep the chatting to the minimum. We’re tempting fate as is. Ren, Zorua, Other, Gordon. If you could leave now?”

“We’ll be back within the next three hours. If we are not, call for backup and assault the camp.” Ren answered, melting into the shadows. Gordon saluted, before using Agility, then zipping across the expanse, Other and Zorua both fading into the twilight as they bounded after him.

N bit his lip as Zorua vanished from sight. “...be safe,” he whispered.

Sakura came up on his other side, pulling him back into the cleft in the rocks they were sheltering in. “They’ll be alright. Now come, I’ve got some rations warming up.”

--(0)--

Ten minutes later, four little Pokemon peeked over the edge of the cliff, looking down into the mostly shadow-strewn valley between the rocks. The flat area surrounding the shallow waters of the crag’s oasis was the size of two football fields, surrounded by rapidly rising rock faces and clefts leading through to the desert. The rough grasses and cacti which clung to the edges of the oasis and trailed up into the rocks were the only splashes of color amongst the browns, grays, and yellows of the canyon, but they didn’t draw the eye nearly as much as the small cluster of structures near the water. Four rough little buildings, sheet metal and stone, surrounded and covered in string lights, with two dozen ATV and trucks parked in the shadows outside the lit area. Dozens of men and women in camouflage and leather talked, yelled, and laughed as they partied in the lit area, moving between tents and buildings as they laid out food and exchanged objects too small to see.

The sight would’ve been cheery, even pleasing, if it weren’t for the cages stacked near the buildings and in a small palisade, surrounded by a pit. From his vantage point atop the cliffs, Ren could smell dozens of Pokemon, and a few humans, languishing there.

“Right.” Ren began, Sakura’s starter peering over the edge of the cliff with an unamused expression, “Other, you and Gordon are on infiltration. Zorua and I will stay here and provide backup in case you’re discovered. Try to find something we can use as evidence, and come back safely.”

Gordon hopped down into the canyon, bounding over the landscape. “Right. Stay alert, everyone, I’d not be surprised if they had hounds.”

“Got that.” Other faded from view, skulking down the slope and into the camp.

Gordon was the first one to reach the outskirts of the camp, shifting from bouncing to crawling as he closed in on the light cast by the fires and string lights above. He ducked into a shadow to avoid a group of humans, their Pokemon fortunately all balled or busy with their own discussions. Under his breath, Gordon muttered. “Tsk. Always rotten to see Pokemon gone bad. Loyalty to your trainer, sure, but active participation…”

“Humans and Pokemon both are self-aware. That means they’ll always have the potential to be good or bad. For better or worse,” Other shrugged, her voice low as she slowly stalked forward herself, illusions covering her every step.

Gordon nodded. “I know. I don’t have to like it.” He peered around the camp, taking in the gathered gangsters. “Cages, eavesdropping, or should we see if there’s anything in those buildings for use as evidence first? I vote we check on the cages first.”

“Reason? Not disagreeing, but I want to hear your rationale,” Other asked.

Gordon shifted. “Honestly? If we take something, you’ll need to carry it out, and then I’ll be down here alone. I’d prefer you to stay close.”

“Aww, sweet. And of course,” Other murmured back, the two Pokemon moving outside the firelight and around to the palisade holding the majority of the cages.

The two scouts paused as a small group of Pokemon, one each of Herdier, Yamper, and Houndour, trotted near the palisade. “...when she’s going to escape again? That little weasel is always a hoot to chase down!” One of the Yamper yipped as the group of dogs settled outside the palisade.

“Dunno. She tries to break out at nights, but after her last attempt and laying up Michael for a week, they put her in a much more secure cage,” a Herdier sniffed. “I’m just glad she stopped trying to break out the others on her way out; boss had the right idea, punishing them for her actions.”

“You all can respect her if you want, but I’m tired of having to chase her down,” the Houndour groaned. “I know she’s valuable, but can’t we just chew off her leg or something?”

“No, and don’t suggest it again,” the Herdier shot back, growling. “She’s worth all three of us and the rest of our teams to the right buyer. We cripple her, he’ll sell us next.”

“Fine, fine…” Houndour sniffed twice, glancing around. “...electric. Hey, Yamper, you need a bath.”

“Hmm? Yeah, probably.” The group started padding off, Yamper’s stubby legs churning to keep up. “The heat is killing me…”

As they departed, Gordon eased out from his hiding spot. “Hmm. Interesting, but is it relevant?”

“Potentially. There’s not a lot of ‘weasel’ like Pokemon, and she’s worth a lot. That’s already actionable intelligence. But we should confirm if my suspicions are right and these Poachers are playing with something that’ll get them on an international wanted list or not,” Other mused slowly, scenarios running through her mind as she nodded towards Gordon. “Can you try and see if you can make it to her cage? We won’t want to break her out just yet, but we can hopefully talk with her a bit and get some more intel.”

“Hold on, let me check…” Gordon hopped through the spiked pit and up the palisade wall, peering down into the space within. Hopping back to Other, he spoke. “No guards that I could see. Three dozen cages, six empty. Mostly Pokemon, two humans in there as well.”

Other nodded, drifting across the pit and phasing through the wall. Shimmering into transparency, she moved between the despondent Pokemon and humans in their cells, looking around for anyone who could fit the bill, before coming across a cage that had been reinforced on three sides with stone and equipped with an alarm.

Through the narrow open door of the cage, the ghost-fox could see a bipedal figure, claws tracing a pattern on the back wall of her cage. The matted fur of the gray-coated Sneasel was barely visible in the dim light, but Other’s ghostly eyes could catch the determination burning in the captive.

“You the escape artist?” Other asked quietly.

Sneasel flicked her eyes up, red meeting gold. She walked up to the door of her cage, eyes glinted. “I am.” She scowled. “If you’re truly free, spirit, stay out of sight. You’d be a prize beyond even myself.”

“That’s the plan. However, I am a trainer mon, and my trainer doesn’t necessarily agree with these… poachers or their practices. We’re planning to bust all of you out, but we need more information. Defenses, how many of them are here, the layout of the camp, how many captured mons there are, the whole dealio.”

“...well.” Sneasel’s grin shone in the dim light, even as Gordon hopped over to join them. “I can give you all you need to know.” She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “There are few static defenses, beyond the palisade and ditch. There are between forty and fifty Wild Men here at any time, some carrying no Pokemon, most carrying one or two, and their four ‘Alphas’ each have three or four. I think there are only three Alphas here right now, though; Morgan had a falling out recently, and took their eight closest friends with them when they left.”

Gordon perked up. “Trouble in the ranks?”

“Morgan likes money, but from what I’ve heard they wanted to shift to something less objectionable. Not sure if it’s morals or just trying to keep the heat down.” Sneasel shrugged, then continued speaking. “All the activities in the camp are centered on the campfires, with humans peeling off to use the tents and two of the structures for privacy. The other two buildings, including the old farmhouse, are reserved for the Alphas; they have their secure transceiver in the farmhouse. Deliveries and sales are picked up via convoys; there’s one coming next week, supposedly.” She motioned to the camp. “There’s three human captives; one a hostage, two for ransom purposes. One of the ransoms is kept in the farmhouse. There’s about seventy captive pokemon kept in cages, but I know they keep locked Pokeballs with more in the old workshop. That’s also where they keep the armory; they stopped letting folks carry their weapons around after the third time these idiots dueled drunk.”

“... Well, I do believe that’s more than enough actionable intelligence, Gordon. Shall we go deliver the good news to Ren and Zorua?” Other asked her fellow mon.

“Of course. We will be back soon.” Gordon squeaked.

“...ugh, I’ll have to put off springing loose until you bring the cavalry. Mind setting me loose when you attack? Even if you fail, I could probably get away and back to Nimbasa,” Sneasel asked.

“Of course.” Other responded decisively, before turning tail and slowly ‘booking’ it back towards safety. They had intelligence to deliver and a raid to plan, after all…