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Part 4
Next: [link]
Previous: [link]
First: [link]

Varekai: [link]
Team Slow Melody: [link]
Collaboration

-------------------------------------------------------

Entering Tao, the worst of the blizzard seemed to have passed, and when Paulie lifted his head, he could even see little patches of the night sky through breaks in the oppressive bank of storm clouds that had built up. The sight of them brought back memories of sleeping under the stars with his father beside him. The stars twinkled down at him, and they served as a reminder to him. No matter how dark a situation seems... The sun will always rise eventually.

“Oh no! Just look at the place...” The sweet voice of Persia was full of worry and dismay. All around them were empty shells of buildings, and everywhere they turned, there was destruction. “What... What happened?” It had occurred to them on their struggle into the town that Kyurem - or Sorbet, as he had been named by one of their own Guild Leaders - must have gone on a rampage (or as Meranda said perhaps he had ‘gotten out of the wrong side of bed’, even though it was late, and actually time to be going to bed, instead) and called up the fierce storm.

They wandered around in a dazed state for several minutes, before Meranda piped up.

“Oh, what a relief! A friendly face! At least we know Shroomsworth is mostly okay, and that he didn’t get buried, or crushed, or maybe even eaten!” She called out a greeting to their Guild Leader , from the position she had returned to upon Paulie’s back. (Penumbra had refused to budge from between Paulie’s ears, and Persia was following behind the stantler - who was trying his best to carve a path through the snow, so that the hippopotas didn’t find the journey so uncomfortable).

“Ahh, it’s you lot!” The breloom seemed happy to see the two trusty merchant teams. “We require the assistance of anyone we can find, to rescue those trapped in buildings, and escorting them to safety. Team Slow Melody and Varekai...” Here he looked at Meranda and Pen for a moment. “While some of you may not be the best suited to clearing rubble, you’re all we have right now, and I suppose it would be wise to make the best of what we’ve got, correct?” He paused, and took a moment to fiddle with his monocle. “Our first priority is to assist Missy get all the eggs and the young ones out, before something dreadful happens that possibly causes the Hatchery to collapse! It hasn’t sustained major damage, but we still need to get the young ones out as soon as possible, and take them to the Law Firm.”

“But what about my shop, and Winston?!” This came from Chrys, who no longer seemed to be behaving strangely.

“And don’t forget those trapped in my Cafe!” Vertigo seemed not his usual, peppy self, which wasn’t all that surprising.

“Ahh, my good fellows, be rest assured that nobody will be left in a dangerous situation. But the first and most important individuals to rescue are the ones who can’t protect themselves, yes? Which is why-”

A sudden cry filled the air, cutting off the rest of the breloom’s encouraging speech. Penumbra, who had been a little glum since her acknowledgement of the truth of the situation (namely, that she wasn’t going to be much use, and that she had the potential to be so more helpful if only she knew how to fly and wasn’t so afraid of heights) jerked her little head up, and cast a glance in the direction of the source.

“I... I think that was Kangaskhan! She must be trapped. C’mon guys, quick! She may be hurt!” And the pidove’s words were all it took to send the four friends heading for the badly damaged Storage. In their wake, they left the three older pokemon, wringing their hands with worry.

--------

The doorway of the storage was filled with rubble. Eager to prove herself useful, Penumbra hopped off Paulie’s head before he even had a chance to put down Persia’s sack carefully, and clambered in through a gap at the top, despite him calling her back. Meranda, after a moment, followed, making her way up Paulie's neck and down his snout, before disappearing too (and leaving the stantler shuddering, covered with a trail of slime).

It wasn’t too long before Pen and Meranda located Kangaskhan, who seemed to be more worried about shelving away items that had been dislodged and knocked about, than about evacuating the building, even though the two merchants could hear it groaning - a sure sign that it was threatening to give way.

“Come on, Kangaskhan, please, we have to go!” Pen hopped forwards, looking up at the distraught mother pokemon with wide eyes.

“Yeah, because if we don’t, then the building will! Go, that is.” Meranda crawled forwards to stop beside the pidove, and offer Kangaskhan a warm smile..

Eventually, the large pokemon turned away from the array of items (there were so many things that neither Pen or Meranda had ever seen before!) and she nodded glumly, casting one last, longing glance over her shoulder, before taking her first step towards leaving.

“Wait, what’s this?” Penumbra had spotted a claw on the ground, and hopped towards it. It seemed very sharp, and oddly menacing, and she glanced up at Kangaskhan, who came forwards to inspect it.

“I don’t know where that has come from. It isn’t mine, child, and it certainly isn’t one of my customers’ items. I know exactly what I’m given to look after. Each item has its own place.” She picked it up, and smiled sadly down at Penumbra. “It will do me no good. You can have it, child, as my thanks for coming in here to make sure I was okay.”

“I can put it in my sack to keep it safe for you, Pen!” Meranda piped up, her smile widening, before she narrowed her eyes in thought. “Didn’t Shroomsworth say that the Hatchery was damaged?”

“Oh, yes! I completely forgot! When I heard you cry out, Kangaskhan, I thought you might be hurt! You’re okay, aren’t you? You didn’t get hurt?” She cast a worried glance up at the tall pokemon.

“No, young one. Not physically. But I’m hurting inside, to see my Storage the way it is. I’ve never lost an item, you know? And looking after the treasures of others, its something I take very seriously, and I’m sad to know that I might be letting them down.” She heaved a sigh, and then brightened up a little. “Would you two be kind enough to help me make sure everything is safe and secure before we leave? I’d hate for anything to be misplaced...”

“Sure, we’d love to!” Meranda went to work right away, and immediately found an empty box, which she nudged towards Kangaskhan. The box was gratefully received, and after dusting it off a little, the Storage Keeper transferred some of the goods from a broken draw into the box with the utmost care. “By the way, I’m Meranda, and this is one of my best friends, Penumbra. But you can call her Pen if you want.”

“You can use these, too!” Penumbra had a large piece of wet cloth at her feet (no doubt it had been ripped out of Chrys’s shop at some point by the fierce wind), and there were a couple of feathers on top of it too from her wings. They had been damaged when the pidove had been carried away by the storm, and were of no further use to her (none of her wing feathers were of any use to her, to tell the truth).

“Thank you, Pen. Thank you very much.” And she took the material and feathers, retrieved the most delicate items in her care, and wrapped them up very carefully, cushioning them with the feathers, and gently putting the bundle in the box beside the other objects. Then, after stowing away the box safely, the three of them made their way to the exit, to find that Persia and Paulie had managed to clear away most of the rubble.

After they emerged, Kangaskhan dropped the curious claw into the dirty sack of Meranda’s and bid her new friends farewell, before ambling off to see where she could help out.

“We better head to the Hatchery quickly,” Persia said, looking around at her three friends. They all nodded, and hurried towards the Hatchery, and it seemed that the closer they got, the more desperate they were to get there, and the more fearful they became of the well-being of the young ones.

--------

Thankfully, they found the building in a much better state than the Storage, and they were all able to get in without much trouble.Missy had gathered all the young pokemon in one of the rooms that had been damaged the least (there was only a narrow crack spider-webbing in the far corner, as far as the four Merchants could see) and was struggling to calm them down.

“Thank you for coming, dears!” Missy sounded pleased to see some helpers, but there was no hiding the weariness in her voice. This situation must have been so hard on her nerves. The four friends had been through a lot, and had worried about losing one of their own. And here was Missy, with a dozen or so children to fear for, as well as all the eggs in her care.

“You’re amazing, Missy, you know that?” Paulie couldn’t help but admire someone like her, who gave so much of herself to care for others. It was a trait he held in high esteem - self sacrifice. The stantler bit his lip as a harsh cry from a tiny budew hurt his ears. Patience, too. He also admired the blissey’s level of tolerance. He would never be able to put up with so much crying, he thought.

But then again, if you came to care for someone, you learned to take the bad with the good.

“I’m Meranda!” The bright, energetic shellos piped up. “And these are my friends! Persia, Paulie and Penumbra.” She gestured to each as she introduced them. “We came to help with the little ones! Just tell us what to do and we’ll do our best.” She smiled at the budew, who in turn ceased his crying.

“Thank you, Meranda. That’s all I’ll ever ask for.” Missy smiled, and lifted her hand, indicating another room. “The eggs are alright thank goodness, save for a few chips, and one premature hatching.” She leaned down to pick up the whimpering grass type up, and cradled him, humming and rocking him to sleep. “I would have started to move the eggs already, but I couldn’t leave these young ones by themselves.”

“Maybe...” Pen took a step forwards and them moved back again, turning her face away. Kyurem’s rage had opened her eyes, and had shown her something she really didn’t want to see. It was this that deeply troubled her - that though she may have good intentions, and a heart to match, she really wasn’t much use to anybody. Too small to lift or carry anything. Too weak and scared to fly. The only thing she was really good at was being kind. “Maybe I could keep them company, while you show the others where the eggs are.”

“And I’ll keep Pen company,” Meranda said, moving forwards into the midst of young pokemon. “And if they get scared again, or start crying, I’ll sing for them.”

“Thank you, girls,” Missy said gratefully, before turning her attention to the hippopotas and the stantler. “I’ll show you where the eggs are, and fetch all our blankets too. Unfortunately, the room where the eggs are incubated is the furthest from the entrance, so we’ll have quite a way to transport them.” She turned to gently set the budew down beside Pen, and the pidove spread one of her wings to wrap it around him.

Persia was standing by herself in the center of the room, turning her head to look between the room with the eggs, and the doorway. A thoughtful frown appeared on her lips, and her eyes were narrowed slightly in thought. Finally, she looked at the floor (whitewashed floorboards that were grubby in some places, and several large rugs in the corner where the young ones were) and nodded to herself, smiling.

“I have an idea - a way to get the eggs from where they are to the doorway, without Missy having to carry them all!” As she finished speaking, a small rivulet of sand trickled from her back, and it steadily grew into a stream.

Paulie and Missy watched as Persia walked backwards and forwards between the egg room and the way out, building up a solid pathway of sand. She also walked in circles by the door, building up a decent sized area covered in sand. Neither of them knew what Persia was planning, and turning to see their expressions, she smiled a little smile, and explained.

“Missy, you can be with all the eggs, and set them on the sand-trail one at a time. Then Paulie and I can be slowly pushing them along the trail of sand. It’s soft you see, and slightly warm too, and I’ve made it deep enough that the eggs will not get cracked, or come into contact with the floorboards.” She paused a moment, looking a long the snaking column of sand. “The eggs might sink a little, but we should be able to move them along alright, if we’re careful and gentle. The sand might spread out in some places and become thin, but I’ll just build it up again. And there’s plenty of room for them to all wait by the door, which will make it easier for them to be transported.”

“That’s a brilliant idea, Persia! And once they are by the door, we can cover them with blankets until other guild members show up to help!” Paulie grinned, twitching an ear as the wind whistled shrilly through the building. “Let’s get started, before it gets too late.” The sun had already set, and they were losing light quickly.

“Thanks so much for your help, you two. I don’t know how I would have managed without you.” Missy glanced over her shoulder to see how Meranda and Penumbra were handling the babies (they were managing just fine), before heading to the egg room, and picking up the nearest egg and placing it on the beginning of the sand-trail.

Persia nudged the first egg along, and Paulie followed suit several moments later with the next egg, making sure to maintain a good distance between himself and Persia. At last, he got the egg to the end, and rolled it gently to a stop beside the first egg, and he noticed for the first time that they had such pretty colours. A variety of reds, and various shades of blue...

“Ready for another egg, Paulie?”

The stantler turned at the voice of Missy, and made his way across the room to her, nodding to indicate that he was. Missy smiled as she set a second egg down for him, this one a bright, vibrant green, and he carefully set off on his journey.

In no time at all, Persia and Paulie had rolled all the eggs safely from one side of the room to the other, and the two of them stepped back to give the blissey some space as she tenderly tucked blankets around the eggs, a beautiful smile lingering on her lips.

She returned to the little ones, thanking Pen and Meranda for taking such good care off them, and wishing the four of them well. She struggled to prise the newborn budew from the pidove’s side, but eventually succeeded, and came to wave goodbye with the baby grass pokemon in her arms.

--------

Paulie, Meranda, Persia and Penumbra lingered a while, not wanting to leave Missy by herself with all the eggs and the babies, but it wasn’t too long before some other guild members arrived (and this group had pokemon with arms, instead of forelegs, wings, or even no real arms at all - much better suited to helping carry eggs and little babies!), and the four set off to see where else they could be of assistance.

“Do you suppose we should seek out Shroomsworth again?” Paulie was saying, looking ove his shoulder at his three friends. “He’ll be able to tell us w-”

“Did you hear that?!” Persia’s outburst cut Paulie off, and for a moment, the four pokemon were motionless, and listening intently.

“It sounds like...” Penumbra frowned. “Like someone’s in trouble, and they’re calling for help! We must go and find them!” She looked down at the shellos as the shiny East Sea pokemon spoke up.

“It doesn’t just sound like anyone...” She trailed off, her voice tinted with worry.

“It sounds like...” Persia’s eyes widened.

Together, the two pokemon who made up Team Slow Melody cried out a name.

“Embory!”

----------------------------------------------------------

Here, the four friends finally make it into Tao where they seek out Shroomsworth, and ask where they can help out. Meranda and Pen help Kangaskhan pack up a few last items before leaving the badly damaged storage. And then Persia comes up with a brilliant idea which enables her and Paulie to help transport the eggs, so that they are more easily accessible.

Art by
Written by

Shroomsworth belongs to
Chrys, Vertigo, Missy and Kangaskhan belong to

Description

Part 4
Next: [link]
Previous: [link]
First: [link]

Varekai: [link]
Team Slow Melody: [link]
Collaboration

-------------------------------------------------------

Entering Tao, the worst of the blizzard seemed to have passed, and when Paulie lifted his head, he could even see little patches of the night sky through breaks in the oppressive bank of storm clouds that had built up. The sight of them brought back memories of sleeping under the stars with his father beside him. The stars twinkled down at him, and they served as a reminder to him. No matter how dark a situation seems... The sun will always rise eventually.

“Oh no! Just look at the place...” The sweet voice of Persia was full of worry and dismay. All around them were empty shells of buildings, and everywhere they turned, there was destruction. “What... What happened?” It had occurred to them on their struggle into the town that Kyurem - or Sorbet, as he had been named by one of their own Guild Leaders - must have gone on a rampage (or as Meranda said perhaps he had ‘gotten out of the wrong side of bed’, even though it was late, and actually time to be going to bed, instead) and called up the fierce storm.

They wandered around in a dazed state for several minutes, before Meranda piped up.

“Oh, what a relief! A friendly face! At least we know Shroomsworth is mostly okay, and that he didn’t get buried, or crushed, or maybe even eaten!” She called out a greeting to their Guild Leader , from the position she had returned to upon Paulie’s back. (Penumbra had refused to budge from between Paulie’s ears, and Persia was following behind the stantler - who was trying his best to carve a path through the snow, so that the hippopotas didn’t find the journey so uncomfortable).

“Ahh, it’s you lot!” The breloom seemed happy to see the two trusty merchant teams. “We require the assistance of anyone we can find, to rescue those trapped in buildings, and escorting them to safety. Team Slow Melody and Varekai...” Here he looked at Meranda and Pen for a moment. “While some of you may not be the best suited to clearing rubble, you’re all we have right now, and I suppose it would be wise to make the best of what we’ve got, correct?” He paused, and took a moment to fiddle with his monocle. “Our first priority is to assist Missy get all the eggs and the young ones out, before something dreadful happens that possibly causes the Hatchery to collapse! It hasn’t sustained major damage, but we still need to get the young ones out as soon as possible, and take them to the Law Firm.”

“But what about my shop, and Winston?!” This came from Chrys, who no longer seemed to be behaving strangely.

“And don’t forget those trapped in my Cafe!” Vertigo seemed not his usual, peppy self, which wasn’t all that surprising.

“Ahh, my good fellows, be rest assured that nobody will be left in a dangerous situation. But the first and most important individuals to rescue are the ones who can’t protect themselves, yes? Which is why-”

A sudden cry filled the air, cutting off the rest of the breloom’s encouraging speech. Penumbra, who had been a little glum since her acknowledgement of the truth of the situation (namely, that she wasn’t going to be much use, and that she had the potential to be so more helpful if only she knew how to fly and wasn’t so afraid of heights) jerked her little head up, and cast a glance in the direction of the source.

“I... I think that was Kangaskhan! She must be trapped. C’mon guys, quick! She may be hurt!” And the pidove’s words were all it took to send the four friends heading for the badly damaged Storage. In their wake, they left the three older pokemon, wringing their hands with worry.

--------

The doorway of the storage was filled with rubble. Eager to prove herself useful, Penumbra hopped off Paulie’s head before he even had a chance to put down Persia’s sack carefully, and clambered in through a gap at the top, despite him calling her back. Meranda, after a moment, followed, making her way up Paulie's neck and down his snout, before disappearing too (and leaving the stantler shuddering, covered with a trail of slime).

It wasn’t too long before Pen and Meranda located Kangaskhan, who seemed to be more worried about shelving away items that had been dislodged and knocked about, than about evacuating the building, even though the two merchants could hear it groaning - a sure sign that it was threatening to give way.

“Come on, Kangaskhan, please, we have to go!” Pen hopped forwards, looking up at the distraught mother pokemon with wide eyes.

“Yeah, because if we don’t, then the building will! Go, that is.” Meranda crawled forwards to stop beside the pidove, and offer Kangaskhan a warm smile..

Eventually, the large pokemon turned away from the array of items (there were so many things that neither Pen or Meranda had ever seen before!) and she nodded glumly, casting one last, longing glance over her shoulder, before taking her first step towards leaving.

“Wait, what’s this?” Penumbra had spotted a claw on the ground, and hopped towards it. It seemed very sharp, and oddly menacing, and she glanced up at Kangaskhan, who came forwards to inspect it.

“I don’t know where that has come from. It isn’t mine, child, and it certainly isn’t one of my customers’ items. I know exactly what I’m given to look after. Each item has its own place.” She picked it up, and smiled sadly down at Penumbra. “It will do me no good. You can have it, child, as my thanks for coming in here to make sure I was okay.”

“I can put it in my sack to keep it safe for you, Pen!” Meranda piped up, her smile widening, before she narrowed her eyes in thought. “Didn’t Shroomsworth say that the Hatchery was damaged?”

“Oh, yes! I completely forgot! When I heard you cry out, Kangaskhan, I thought you might be hurt! You’re okay, aren’t you? You didn’t get hurt?” She cast a worried glance up at the tall pokemon.

“No, young one. Not physically. But I’m hurting inside, to see my Storage the way it is. I’ve never lost an item, you know? And looking after the treasures of others, its something I take very seriously, and I’m sad to know that I might be letting them down.” She heaved a sigh, and then brightened up a little. “Would you two be kind enough to help me make sure everything is safe and secure before we leave? I’d hate for anything to be misplaced...”

“Sure, we’d love to!” Meranda went to work right away, and immediately found an empty box, which she nudged towards Kangaskhan. The box was gratefully received, and after dusting it off a little, the Storage Keeper transferred some of the goods from a broken draw into the box with the utmost care. “By the way, I’m Meranda, and this is one of my best friends, Penumbra. But you can call her Pen if you want.”

“You can use these, too!” Penumbra had a large piece of wet cloth at her feet (no doubt it had been ripped out of Chrys’s shop at some point by the fierce wind), and there were a couple of feathers on top of it too from her wings. They had been damaged when the pidove had been carried away by the storm, and were of no further use to her (none of her wing feathers were of any use to her, to tell the truth).

“Thank you, Pen. Thank you very much.” And she took the material and feathers, retrieved the most delicate items in her care, and wrapped them up very carefully, cushioning them with the feathers, and gently putting the bundle in the box beside the other objects. Then, after stowing away the box safely, the three of them made their way to the exit, to find that Persia and Paulie had managed to clear away most of the rubble.

After they emerged, Kangaskhan dropped the curious claw into the dirty sack of Meranda’s and bid her new friends farewell, before ambling off to see where she could help out.

“We better head to the Hatchery quickly,” Persia said, looking around at her three friends. They all nodded, and hurried towards the Hatchery, and it seemed that the closer they got, the more desperate they were to get there, and the more fearful they became of the well-being of the young ones.

--------

Thankfully, they found the building in a much better state than the Storage, and they were all able to get in without much trouble.Missy had gathered all the young pokemon in one of the rooms that had been damaged the least (there was only a narrow crack spider-webbing in the far corner, as far as the four Merchants could see) and was struggling to calm them down.

“Thank you for coming, dears!” Missy sounded pleased to see some helpers, but there was no hiding the weariness in her voice. This situation must have been so hard on her nerves. The four friends had been through a lot, and had worried about losing one of their own. And here was Missy, with a dozen or so children to fear for, as well as all the eggs in her care.

“You’re amazing, Missy, you know that?” Paulie couldn’t help but admire someone like her, who gave so much of herself to care for others. It was a trait he held in high esteem - self sacrifice. The stantler bit his lip as a harsh cry from a tiny budew hurt his ears. Patience, too. He also admired the blissey’s level of tolerance. He would never be able to put up with so much crying, he thought.

But then again, if you came to care for someone, you learned to take the bad with the good.

“I’m Meranda!” The bright, energetic shellos piped up. “And these are my friends! Persia, Paulie and Penumbra.” She gestured to each as she introduced them. “We came to help with the little ones! Just tell us what to do and we’ll do our best.” She smiled at the budew, who in turn ceased his crying.

“Thank you, Meranda. That’s all I’ll ever ask for.” Missy smiled, and lifted her hand, indicating another room. “The eggs are alright thank goodness, save for a few chips, and one premature hatching.” She leaned down to pick up the whimpering grass type up, and cradled him, humming and rocking him to sleep. “I would have started to move the eggs already, but I couldn’t leave these young ones by themselves.”

“Maybe...” Pen took a step forwards and them moved back again, turning her face away. Kyurem’s rage had opened her eyes, and had shown her something she really didn’t want to see. It was this that deeply troubled her - that though she may have good intentions, and a heart to match, she really wasn’t much use to anybody. Too small to lift or carry anything. Too weak and scared to fly. The only thing she was really good at was being kind. “Maybe I could keep them company, while you show the others where the eggs are.”

“And I’ll keep Pen company,” Meranda said, moving forwards into the midst of young pokemon. “And if they get scared again, or start crying, I’ll sing for them.”

“Thank you, girls,” Missy said gratefully, before turning her attention to the hippopotas and the stantler. “I’ll show you where the eggs are, and fetch all our blankets too. Unfortunately, the room where the eggs are incubated is the furthest from the entrance, so we’ll have quite a way to transport them.” She turned to gently set the budew down beside Pen, and the pidove spread one of her wings to wrap it around him.

Persia was standing by herself in the center of the room, turning her head to look between the room with the eggs, and the doorway. A thoughtful frown appeared on her lips, and her eyes were narrowed slightly in thought. Finally, she looked at the floor (whitewashed floorboards that were grubby in some places, and several large rugs in the corner where the young ones were) and nodded to herself, smiling.

“I have an idea - a way to get the eggs from where they are to the doorway, without Missy having to carry them all!” As she finished speaking, a small rivulet of sand trickled from her back, and it steadily grew into a stream.

Paulie and Missy watched as Persia walked backwards and forwards between the egg room and the way out, building up a solid pathway of sand. She also walked in circles by the door, building up a decent sized area covered in sand. Neither of them knew what Persia was planning, and turning to see their expressions, she smiled a little smile, and explained.

“Missy, you can be with all the eggs, and set them on the sand-trail one at a time. Then Paulie and I can be slowly pushing them along the trail of sand. It’s soft you see, and slightly warm too, and I’ve made it deep enough that the eggs will not get cracked, or come into contact with the floorboards.” She paused a moment, looking a long the snaking column of sand. “The eggs might sink a little, but we should be able to move them along alright, if we’re careful and gentle. The sand might spread out in some places and become thin, but I’ll just build it up again. And there’s plenty of room for them to all wait by the door, which will make it easier for them to be transported.”

“That’s a brilliant idea, Persia! And once they are by the door, we can cover them with blankets until other guild members show up to help!” Paulie grinned, twitching an ear as the wind whistled shrilly through the building. “Let’s get started, before it gets too late.” The sun had already set, and they were losing light quickly.

“Thanks so much for your help, you two. I don’t know how I would have managed without you.” Missy glanced over her shoulder to see how Meranda and Penumbra were handling the babies (they were managing just fine), before heading to the egg room, and picking up the nearest egg and placing it on the beginning of the sand-trail.

Persia nudged the first egg along, and Paulie followed suit several moments later with the next egg, making sure to maintain a good distance between himself and Persia. At last, he got the egg to the end, and rolled it gently to a stop beside the first egg, and he noticed for the first time that they had such pretty colours. A variety of reds, and various shades of blue...

“Ready for another egg, Paulie?”

The stantler turned at the voice of Missy, and made his way across the room to her, nodding to indicate that he was. Missy smiled as she set a second egg down for him, this one a bright, vibrant green, and he carefully set off on his journey.

In no time at all, Persia and Paulie had rolled all the eggs safely from one side of the room to the other, and the two of them stepped back to give the blissey some space as she tenderly tucked blankets around the eggs, a beautiful smile lingering on her lips.

She returned to the little ones, thanking Pen and Meranda for taking such good care off them, and wishing the four of them well. She struggled to prise the newborn budew from the pidove’s side, but eventually succeeded, and came to wave goodbye with the baby grass pokemon in her arms.

--------

Paulie, Meranda, Persia and Penumbra lingered a while, not wanting to leave Missy by herself with all the eggs and the babies, but it wasn’t too long before some other guild members arrived (and this group had pokemon with arms, instead of forelegs, wings, or even no real arms at all - much better suited to helping carry eggs and little babies!), and the four set off to see where else they could be of assistance.

“Do you suppose we should seek out Shroomsworth again?” Paulie was saying, looking ove his shoulder at his three friends. “He’ll be able to tell us w-”

“Did you hear that?!” Persia’s outburst cut Paulie off, and for a moment, the four pokemon were motionless, and listening intently.

“It sounds like...” Penumbra frowned. “Like someone’s in trouble, and they’re calling for help! We must go and find them!” She looked down at the shellos as the shiny East Sea pokemon spoke up.

“It doesn’t just sound like anyone...” She trailed off, her voice tinted with worry.

“It sounds like...” Persia’s eyes widened.

Together, the two pokemon who made up Team Slow Melody cried out a name.

“Embory!”

----------------------------------------------------------

Here, the four friends finally make it into Tao where they seek out Shroomsworth, and ask where they can help out. Meranda and Pen help Kangaskhan pack up a few last items before leaving the badly damaged storage. And then Persia comes up with a brilliant idea which enables her and Paulie to help transport the eggs, so that they are more easily accessible.

Art by
Written by

Shroomsworth belongs to
Chrys, Vertigo, Missy and Kangaskhan belong to