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Description
The skies over Attwell remained clear as a Heliolisk and a Flaaffy could be seen navigating the walkways near one of the entrances to the mines. An uneasy look was present on the lizards face as he looked around in all directions as he walked the right side of the path. To his left was an entrance to the mines while to his right was multiple wood shacks, positioned just on the edge of a hill that led down to the water. The Heliolisk couldn’t help but stare warily at the three cabins, his eyes narrowing slightly as he kept analyzing each of them as he slowly advanced.

He paused when he came upon what appeared to be a pile bright orange work vests with a couple of various tools set on top of them. A curious look came over the Heliolisk’s face as he observed the cluster. The longer he stared at it, the more he became convinced that the pile of clothes was moving ever so slightly.

“Are you going to stare at a bunch of trash forever?” a voice called, causing the electric lizard to jump as he turned back toward the Flaaffy, who’s arms were crossed as they tapped their foot in irritation. The Heliolisk looked back and forth between the pile of clothes and their patrol partner as a flustered look came over their face.

“I just…thought that I saw this pile moving!” the lizard spoke, immediately causing the electric sheep to let out a heavy sigh as held a paw to his forehead, his tail swishing in irritation.

“You’re being paranoid,” they replied dismissively, causing the Heliolisk to wince. “You need to relax and stops letting every little thing bother you.”

The electric lizard grunted at this slightly before the Flaaffy turned away from them. “Come on, we need to keep moving!” the electric sheep spoke in an irritated tone as they began to walk away from their comrade.

The Heliolisk still seemed unsure as he looked back toward the pile of clothes and tools before letting out a sigh. “Fine,” he replied in a weary tone as his shoulders slumped, the electric lizard staying motionless for a moment before taking a breath as he began to step forward.

As he did so, a pink tail emerged out from a small opening at the front of the pile of clothes. A wave of water formed over the tail as it swung back to the right before swinging forward straight toward the unaware electric type.

A cry escaped the Heliolisk as he found his feet suddenly swept out from under him. He landed on his back hard, his head hitting the ground as well, dazing the electric lizard. The Heliolisk stared up at the sky for several seconds, unsure what had happened to him. By the time he was able to come to his senses, a large Pignite was already positioned atop him with palm pulled back.

“Oh crap!” the Flaaffy cried out as he began to sprint toward the pair just as the Pignite’s blow connected, knocking the Heliolisk out on the spot. A snarl escaped the sheep’s mouth as blue electricity began to spark around their body.

Before they could launch the attack, a small grey body dashed at them. The Flaaffy grunted as they stumbled back out of the way at the attempted tackle from the small figure as they soared past them. They managed to collect themselves enough to look over at their assailant, a Bunnelby with a nervous but determined look on their face.

A snarl escaped the electric sheep as their electricity intensified before they fired a bolt straight towards the hare. Theodore let out a slight cry as he dodged toward his right before finding himself leaping out of the way of a second strike. The Bunnelby continued to flee to the right, his eyes focused on the Flaaffy and the area behind them.

Meanwhile the Flaaffy refused to relent firing thunderbolt after thunderbolt at the normal type. He was so focused on the Bunnelby that he didn’t see the ice beam coming until it hit them right in the back. The electric type immediately lurched forward and let out a hiss of pain, their eyes widening from the stabbing pain as they gasped from the loss of air from the freezing cold.

The Flaaffy managed to stumble around and turn toward the direction of the ice beam to see a large Azumarill who was glowing white and charging straight toward them. Before the electric sheep could even react they found themselves scooped up into the water rabbits arms as he continued to dash toward the rock wall of the outside of the mines. With a roar of exertion, the water type slammed the electric sheep back first against the rocky structure.

Gunther took a step back, allowing the unconscious Flaaffy to fall to the ground face first, small chunks of rocks falling to the side and on top of the defeated electric type. The Azumarill took a breath as he observed the defeated sheep before turning to Theodore, who was slowly approaching and clearly still on edge.

“You did well distracting him,” the water rabbit spoke, getting a tentative nod from the normal type. Gunther turned around back toward their first ambush location to see that Abigail had emerged from the pile of jackets and tools, a smile clear on her face. Standing on at the entrance was Jonas, the Pignite smiling down at the Slowpoke while the unconscious Heliolisk was slung over his left shoulder.

The fire pig looked over toward Gunther and his smile instantly disappeared as his gaze met the firm glare from the Azumarill. Jonas quickly beckoned toward Abigail to follow him as he took the unconscious electric type inside. A sigh escaped the water rabbit at this as he effortlessly picked up the Flaaffy next to him and before turning to Theodore. “Come on,” he spoke simply, causing the Bunnelby to hesitantly nod as he turned his attention toward the cabin.

Gunther entered the see that Jonas had already deposited the Heliolisk against the near wall out of easy view from any passersby. The Azumarill nodded at this before depositing the Flaaffy next to the lizard before turning to Jonas and Theodore, who both stood behind him.

“Come on, let’s get them secured and then we’ll move on to the next area,” he spoke sternly, getting a tentative nod from Theodore while Jonas nodded several times in quick succession. The trio made their way over toward the other side of the room where they had left some excess rope and other supplies.

Theodore arrived first, grabbing a batch of rope before turning and handing it to Jonas. The Pignite smiled slightly at this, causing the Bunnelby to return the gesture while Gunther watched the pair closely as he grabbed a pile of rope himself. The trio made their way back toward the unconscious electric types, walking past Abigail on the way as she waddled over toward the rope.

“I’ll restrain the Heliolisk, you two handle the Flaaffy,” Gunther spoke in a stern tone as he got to work. Jonas and Theodore shot a slight look toward the Azumarill but said nothing before getting to work. The three of them worked in silence, none of them saying a word as they secured their defeated opponents, Abigail now standing behind them with a bundle of rope around her tail. Theodore and Jonas finished first, stepping away from the electric sheep before Gunther finished just seconds later. The Azumarill stepped away, observing the two before turning back to his comrades.

“Okay, le-“

“Hey!”

Gunther, Theodore and Jonas all jumped at the sudden high pitched voice, causing all of them to turn toward the entrance where a small Natu flew inside before landing in the middle of the cabin, looking expectantly at the group as Abigail reacted in surprise.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Gunther spoke aggressively as he took two quick steps forward. Theodore quickly stepped in front of the Azumarill, causing him to glare down at the Bunnelby.

“Wait a second!” the hare cried before turning back toward the Natu. “You’re Miyu’s partner, right?”

Gunther tilted his head at this before looking back at the flying type before noticing the blue band around his right leg. “That’s right!” another voice spoke up near the entrance, causing the group to turn to see a Treecko with a bashful smile on her face and a blue bowtie around her neck. “Hey,” she added as she waved toward Theodore, eliciting a bit of a bashful wave back from the Bunnelby.

“Hey!” Jonas cried out enthusiastically as he waved toward the Treecko, forcing a nervous giggle from the grass type as she waved toward him before making her way over to her teammate. Gunther meanwhile shot a glare toward the fire pig before turning his attention back toward the new team.

“I’ll repeat my question,” the Azumarill began, his voice still stern but lacking the aggression from before. “Who are you and what do you want?”

Both Theodore and Jonas shot Gunther a bit of a look at this while Miyu tensed slightly before composing herself. “I’m Miyu and this is Hayato,” she spoke in as composed a voice as she could manage. “We came here to ask for your help.”

“With what?” Theodore asked curiously, causing a slight smile to come over the grass types face.

“When we were scouting out the town, we found a large electrical device attached to a building in town and we need help disabling it,” Miyu spoke in a matter of fact tone, causing Gunther to cross his arms as he observed the grass type.

“I’m assuming you know that we’re part of the team taking out the bandits,” he spoke in a calm but gruff tone. “So why come to us for help with disabling the traps?”

Miyu tensed at this as she looked toward her Natu partner, who simply nodded toward her, causing her to take a breath. “It’s not so much we need your help, it’s more like we need you to watch our backs,” she explained, getting a curious look from the group.

“Does the area have a lot of bandits roaming around or something?” Jonas asked as he tilted his head in confusion, causing Miyu to shake her head.

“No, in fact we’ve hardly seen any activity around the area,” the Treecko spoke; causing Gunther to huff slightly while Theodore shot him a look. “The problem is the device is attached to a building at the end of a large street with several buildings on either side.”

“So, it’s at a dead end?” Theodore asked curiously, causing Miyu to muse on this for a moment.

“Sort of?” she answered, doing little to answer the Bunnelby’s question.

“You’re talking about the main shopping area downtown right?” Gunther spoke up as he took a step forward.

“I think so,” Miyu replied with an uncertain nod, causing the Azumarill to nod in understanding.

“I know where she’s talking about,” the water rabbit spoke as he turned to his group. “There’s a fairly large store at the end of the street with other stores and restaurants on the left and right before funneling into a main plaza. If the device is on the building at the end of the street it would be easy for someone to come in behind you and block you in.”

The Treecko nodded at this, a look of relief forming over her face as the Azumarill seemed to pick up on what she was getting at. “Exactly! That’s why I wanted to ask your group specifically to help!” she spoke, nervousness in her tone but her excitement shone through.

“You wanted us specifically?” Gunther asked, a hint of confusion in his voice while Jonas’s eyes lit up slightly.

“We did!” Miyu spoke up as she continued to smile. “From talking to other members of your guild Gunther, your team seems to have completed a lot of missions!”

Gunther couldn’t help but crack the smallest of smiles at this while a delayed but huge smile formed over Abigail’s face. Jonas meanwhile couldn’t help but shoot an intrigued glance over toward the Azumarill before Miyu began to speak up again.

“And Jonas is the strongest member of my guild that I’ve seen fight!” the grass type continued, immediately causing the Pignite to whirl around toward her. “So having both of your teams help would be perfect!”

Gunther couldn’t help but shoot a glance over to Jonas, who was practically giddy bouncing from the praise he received from Miyu. Theodore couldn’t help but smile at this before it quickly faded, his shoulders slumping slightly as he looked down on the floor.

“Fine, we’ll assist you,” Gunther spoke up, snapping both Theodore and Jonas out of their thoughts. A relieved look came over Miyu while Hayato smiled at her slightly. “However, were you just counting on us, or did you have other teams in mind?”

“I was going to get one more team to disable the trap and one other team for protection,” Miyu replied, causing both Jonas and Theodore to nod in understanding. “It’ll take a little bit for me to get them together, do you mind hanging out here until I can make contact with them?”

A deep sigh could be heard escaping Gunther’s mouth at this, causing him to hang his head slightly before shooting a look toward the Treecko. “There is work to be done, we shouldn’t just be sitting around!” the Azumarill cried out, taking Miyu by surprise as she took a step back. Jonas shot a look toward the water rabbit while Theodore was obviously glaring at him and took two steps toward him.

Before he could arrive, Abigail stopped next to Gunther before slowly lifting a paw up and gripping Gunther’s left hand. The Azumarill jumped slightly before looking down to see his partner, a calm look in her eyes as she matched eye contact with him. Gunther said nothing but he could feel the anger beginning to leave his body before he looked across to Miyu, who was looking down at her Natu partner, who had placed a wing gently along her back.

The Azumarill took a deep breathe as he closed his eyes, gripping Abigail’s paw and swinging it up and down before releasing, causing a smile to form on the Slowpoke’s face second’s later. Gunther opened his eyes to see that Miyu was already preparing to speak again.

“A-almost all of the traps that we’ve found have been disabled,” Miyu started nervously, looking over toward Hayato, who simply nodded once supportively. “F-from what we can see as well, it s-seems like almost all of the bandit patrol’s have been handled as well.”

Gunther mused on this for a moment while Miyu took a breath, composing herself before continuing. “I think the bandit leaders have to be noticing that their patrols aren’t reporting back in soon so I think we should avoid moving around in the open as much as possible. It’s likely they’ll be more suspicious now, so we should try not to move out until we have to.”

Gunther held a hand up to his chin as he mused on this while Theodore looked over toward the Treecko, seemingly impressed at her composure and analysis after the Azumarill’s outburst. “That reasoning makes sense,” the water rabbit spoke up, causing everyone to turn his attention toward him. “In that case we will remain here until we are ready to move forward with the plan.”

A relieved look came over Miyu’s face at this while Hayato smiled and patted her on the back once. “Great, I’m glad to hear it!” the Treecko replied in a breathless manner, clutching her chest as she did so. Gunther nodded once at this before looking away only to see Theodore observing him, a questioning glance clear in the hare’s eyes. The pair locked eyes for a moment before the Azumarill turned and looked back toward the gecko.

“My apologies for lashing out at you as well…” the water rabbit trailed off, causing a look of surprise to come over both Miyu and Jonas while Theodore continued to watch him closely.

“It’s a-alright!” Miyu exclaimed, a bashful smile on her face. “I can understand why you were concerned!”

Gunther nodded once at this before making eye contact with Theodore, the Bunnelby keeping a tense stare on him before turning away. The Azumarill looked down at Abigail, who was still smiling widely at him, causing the water rabbit to look away before gently tapping her on the head with the ball of his tails, eliciting a giggle a few seconds later from the psychic type.

“Let’s go!” Hayato suddenly cried out, startling everyone in the room at the diminutive birds sudden outburst. Miyu recovered first, taking a breath before chuckling weakly.

“Right, we need to act quickly,” she spoke before turning toward the group of four. “We’ll go set everything up! We’ll see you all shortly!”

“See ya!” Jonas cried out in response as he waved a hand enthusiastically toward the Treecko while his apprentice gave a much more timid wave toward the Gecko. Miyu smiled softly at this, waving at the pair before following Hayato out the door.

Silence fell over the group of four after their companions left. Everyone look at each other, seemingly lost as far as what to do now. After a minute, a sigh escaped Gunther’s mouth before he leaned his back against the wall of the cabin, drawing everyone’s attention toward him.

“Nothing to do now but wait,” the Azumarill spoke, an intense gaze in his eyes as he stared forward. “Rest, relax, do whatever will help prepare you best for when we move.”

Despite his intensity, there was a clear hint of nervousness in the water rabbit’s voice. This didn’t go unnoticed by Theodore, who had a watchful eye on the Azumarill before he heard heavy footsteps behind him.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be ready to go!” Jonas called out before throwing a couple of shadow jabs. Theodore couldn’t help but be concerned at this as he looked over toward Gunther, expecting the water rabbit to be agitated. To his surprise, the Azumarill was looking straight at Jonas with an almost pensive glance, the pair matching eye contact for several seconds before he spoke up.

“You’d better be.”

Despite the threatening nature of the words, there was an almost relieved tone in the Azumarill’s voice. Jonas smirked slightly at this, causing the water rabbit to immediately look away, prompting Jonas to do the same as he walked away toward the other side of the room, leaving a confused Theodore in the middle as his gaze darted back and forth between the pair.

The Bunnelby focused on Gunther again and noticed Abigail sitting next to him before looking back to Jonas, who threw a couple more shadow jabs. Nerves began to hit Theodore, realizing the danger the group might be walking into. The normal type clutched his paws tightly before taking a deep breath, doing everything he could to calm himself before slowly walking over toward Jonas.

If they were all going to be ready, then he would have to be as well.

Description
The skies over Attwell remained clear as a Heliolisk and a Flaaffy could be seen navigating the walkways near one of the entrances to the mines. An uneasy look was present on the lizards face as he looked around in all directions as he walked the right side of the path. To his left was an entrance to the mines while to his right was multiple wood shacks, positioned just on the edge of a hill that led down to the water. The Heliolisk couldn’t help but stare warily at the three cabins, his eyes narrowing slightly as he kept analyzing each of them as he slowly advanced.

He paused when he came upon what appeared to be a pile bright orange work vests with a couple of various tools set on top of them. A curious look came over the Heliolisk’s face as he observed the cluster. The longer he stared at it, the more he became convinced that the pile of clothes was moving ever so slightly.

“Are you going to stare at a bunch of trash forever?” a voice called, causing the electric lizard to jump as he turned back toward the Flaaffy, who’s arms were crossed as they tapped their foot in irritation. The Heliolisk looked back and forth between the pile of clothes and their patrol partner as a flustered look came over their face.

“I just…thought that I saw this pile moving!” the lizard spoke, immediately causing the electric sheep to let out a heavy sigh as held a paw to his forehead, his tail swishing in irritation.

“You’re being paranoid,” they replied dismissively, causing the Heliolisk to wince. “You need to relax and stops letting every little thing bother you.”

The electric lizard grunted at this slightly before the Flaaffy turned away from them. “Come on, we need to keep moving!” the electric sheep spoke in an irritated tone as they began to walk away from their comrade.

The Heliolisk still seemed unsure as he looked back toward the pile of clothes and tools before letting out a sigh. “Fine,” he replied in a weary tone as his shoulders slumped, the electric lizard staying motionless for a moment before taking a breath as he began to step forward.

As he did so, a pink tail emerged out from a small opening at the front of the pile of clothes. A wave of water formed over the tail as it swung back to the right before swinging forward straight toward the unaware electric type.

A cry escaped the Heliolisk as he found his feet suddenly swept out from under him. He landed on his back hard, his head hitting the ground as well, dazing the electric lizard. The Heliolisk stared up at the sky for several seconds, unsure what had happened to him. By the time he was able to come to his senses, a large Pignite was already positioned atop him with palm pulled back.

“Oh crap!” the Flaaffy cried out as he began to sprint toward the pair just as the Pignite’s blow connected, knocking the Heliolisk out on the spot. A snarl escaped the sheep’s mouth as blue electricity began to spark around their body.

Before they could launch the attack, a small grey body dashed at them. The Flaaffy grunted as they stumbled back out of the way at the attempted tackle from the small figure as they soared past them. They managed to collect themselves enough to look over at their assailant, a Bunnelby with a nervous but determined look on their face.

A snarl escaped the electric sheep as their electricity intensified before they fired a bolt straight towards the hare. Theodore let out a slight cry as he dodged toward his right before finding himself leaping out of the way of a second strike. The Bunnelby continued to flee to the right, his eyes focused on the Flaaffy and the area behind them.

Meanwhile the Flaaffy refused to relent firing thunderbolt after thunderbolt at the normal type. He was so focused on the Bunnelby that he didn’t see the ice beam coming until it hit them right in the back. The electric type immediately lurched forward and let out a hiss of pain, their eyes widening from the stabbing pain as they gasped from the loss of air from the freezing cold.

The Flaaffy managed to stumble around and turn toward the direction of the ice beam to see a large Azumarill who was glowing white and charging straight toward them. Before the electric sheep could even react they found themselves scooped up into the water rabbits arms as he continued to dash toward the rock wall of the outside of the mines. With a roar of exertion, the water type slammed the electric sheep back first against the rocky structure.

Gunther took a step back, allowing the unconscious Flaaffy to fall to the ground face first, small chunks of rocks falling to the side and on top of the defeated electric type. The Azumarill took a breath as he observed the defeated sheep before turning to Theodore, who was slowly approaching and clearly still on edge.

“You did well distracting him,” the water rabbit spoke, getting a tentative nod from the normal type. Gunther turned around back toward their first ambush location to see that Abigail had emerged from the pile of jackets and tools, a smile clear on her face. Standing on at the entrance was Jonas, the Pignite smiling down at the Slowpoke while the unconscious Heliolisk was slung over his left shoulder.

The fire pig looked over toward Gunther and his smile instantly disappeared as his gaze met the firm glare from the Azumarill. Jonas quickly beckoned toward Abigail to follow him as he took the unconscious electric type inside. A sigh escaped the water rabbit at this as he effortlessly picked up the Flaaffy next to him and before turning to Theodore. “Come on,” he spoke simply, causing the Bunnelby to hesitantly nod as he turned his attention toward the cabin.

Gunther entered the see that Jonas had already deposited the Heliolisk against the near wall out of easy view from any passersby. The Azumarill nodded at this before depositing the Flaaffy next to the lizard before turning to Jonas and Theodore, who both stood behind him.

“Come on, let’s get them secured and then we’ll move on to the next area,” he spoke sternly, getting a tentative nod from Theodore while Jonas nodded several times in quick succession. The trio made their way over toward the other side of the room where they had left some excess rope and other supplies.

Theodore arrived first, grabbing a batch of rope before turning and handing it to Jonas. The Pignite smiled slightly at this, causing the Bunnelby to return the gesture while Gunther watched the pair closely as he grabbed a pile of rope himself. The trio made their way back toward the unconscious electric types, walking past Abigail on the way as she waddled over toward the rope.

“I’ll restrain the Heliolisk, you two handle the Flaaffy,” Gunther spoke in a stern tone as he got to work. Jonas and Theodore shot a slight look toward the Azumarill but said nothing before getting to work. The three of them worked in silence, none of them saying a word as they secured their defeated opponents, Abigail now standing behind them with a bundle of rope around her tail. Theodore and Jonas finished first, stepping away from the electric sheep before Gunther finished just seconds later. The Azumarill stepped away, observing the two before turning back to his comrades.

“Okay, le-“

“Hey!”

Gunther, Theodore and Jonas all jumped at the sudden high pitched voice, causing all of them to turn toward the entrance where a small Natu flew inside before landing in the middle of the cabin, looking expectantly at the group as Abigail reacted in surprise.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Gunther spoke aggressively as he took two quick steps forward. Theodore quickly stepped in front of the Azumarill, causing him to glare down at the Bunnelby.

“Wait a second!” the hare cried before turning back toward the Natu. “You’re Miyu’s partner, right?”

Gunther tilted his head at this before looking back at the flying type before noticing the blue band around his right leg. “That’s right!” another voice spoke up near the entrance, causing the group to turn to see a Treecko with a bashful smile on her face and a blue bowtie around her neck. “Hey,” she added as she waved toward Theodore, eliciting a bit of a bashful wave back from the Bunnelby.

“Hey!” Jonas cried out enthusiastically as he waved toward the Treecko, forcing a nervous giggle from the grass type as she waved toward him before making her way over to her teammate. Gunther meanwhile shot a glare toward the fire pig before turning his attention back toward the new team.

“I’ll repeat my question,” the Azumarill began, his voice still stern but lacking the aggression from before. “Who are you and what do you want?”

Both Theodore and Jonas shot Gunther a bit of a look at this while Miyu tensed slightly before composing herself. “I’m Miyu and this is Hayato,” she spoke in as composed a voice as she could manage. “We came here to ask for your help.”

“With what?” Theodore asked curiously, causing a slight smile to come over the grass types face.

“When we were scouting out the town, we found a large electrical device attached to a building in town and we need help disabling it,” Miyu spoke in a matter of fact tone, causing Gunther to cross his arms as he observed the grass type.

“I’m assuming you know that we’re part of the team taking out the bandits,” he spoke in a calm but gruff tone. “So why come to us for help with disabling the traps?”

Miyu tensed at this as she looked toward her Natu partner, who simply nodded toward her, causing her to take a breath. “It’s not so much we need your help, it’s more like we need you to watch our backs,” she explained, getting a curious look from the group.

“Does the area have a lot of bandits roaming around or something?” Jonas asked as he tilted his head in confusion, causing Miyu to shake her head.

“No, in fact we’ve hardly seen any activity around the area,” the Treecko spoke; causing Gunther to huff slightly while Theodore shot him a look. “The problem is the device is attached to a building at the end of a large street with several buildings on either side.”

“So, it’s at a dead end?” Theodore asked curiously, causing Miyu to muse on this for a moment.

“Sort of?” she answered, doing little to answer the Bunnelby’s question.

“You’re talking about the main shopping area downtown right?” Gunther spoke up as he took a step forward.

“I think so,” Miyu replied with an uncertain nod, causing the Azumarill to nod in understanding.

“I know where she’s talking about,” the water rabbit spoke as he turned to his group. “There’s a fairly large store at the end of the street with other stores and restaurants on the left and right before funneling into a main plaza. If the device is on the building at the end of the street it would be easy for someone to come in behind you and block you in.”

The Treecko nodded at this, a look of relief forming over her face as the Azumarill seemed to pick up on what she was getting at. “Exactly! That’s why I wanted to ask your group specifically to help!” she spoke, nervousness in her tone but her excitement shone through.

“You wanted us specifically?” Gunther asked, a hint of confusion in his voice while Jonas’s eyes lit up slightly.

“We did!” Miyu spoke up as she continued to smile. “From talking to other members of your guild Gunther, your team seems to have completed a lot of missions!”

Gunther couldn’t help but crack the smallest of smiles at this while a delayed but huge smile formed over Abigail’s face. Jonas meanwhile couldn’t help but shoot an intrigued glance over toward the Azumarill before Miyu began to speak up again.

“And Jonas is the strongest member of my guild that I’ve seen fight!” the grass type continued, immediately causing the Pignite to whirl around toward her. “So having both of your teams help would be perfect!”

Gunther couldn’t help but shoot a glance over to Jonas, who was practically giddy bouncing from the praise he received from Miyu. Theodore couldn’t help but smile at this before it quickly faded, his shoulders slumping slightly as he looked down on the floor.

“Fine, we’ll assist you,” Gunther spoke up, snapping both Theodore and Jonas out of their thoughts. A relieved look came over Miyu while Hayato smiled at her slightly. “However, were you just counting on us, or did you have other teams in mind?”

“I was going to get one more team to disable the trap and one other team for protection,” Miyu replied, causing both Jonas and Theodore to nod in understanding. “It’ll take a little bit for me to get them together, do you mind hanging out here until I can make contact with them?”

A deep sigh could be heard escaping Gunther’s mouth at this, causing him to hang his head slightly before shooting a look toward the Treecko. “There is work to be done, we shouldn’t just be sitting around!” the Azumarill cried out, taking Miyu by surprise as she took a step back. Jonas shot a look toward the water rabbit while Theodore was obviously glaring at him and took two steps toward him.

Before he could arrive, Abigail stopped next to Gunther before slowly lifting a paw up and gripping Gunther’s left hand. The Azumarill jumped slightly before looking down to see his partner, a calm look in her eyes as she matched eye contact with him. Gunther said nothing but he could feel the anger beginning to leave his body before he looked across to Miyu, who was looking down at her Natu partner, who had placed a wing gently along her back.

The Azumarill took a deep breathe as he closed his eyes, gripping Abigail’s paw and swinging it up and down before releasing, causing a smile to form on the Slowpoke’s face second’s later. Gunther opened his eyes to see that Miyu was already preparing to speak again.

“A-almost all of the traps that we’ve found have been disabled,” Miyu started nervously, looking over toward Hayato, who simply nodded once supportively. “F-from what we can see as well, it s-seems like almost all of the bandit patrol’s have been handled as well.”

Gunther mused on this for a moment while Miyu took a breath, composing herself before continuing. “I think the bandit leaders have to be noticing that their patrols aren’t reporting back in soon so I think we should avoid moving around in the open as much as possible. It’s likely they’ll be more suspicious now, so we should try not to move out until we have to.”

Gunther held a hand up to his chin as he mused on this while Theodore looked over toward the Treecko, seemingly impressed at her composure and analysis after the Azumarill’s outburst. “That reasoning makes sense,” the water rabbit spoke up, causing everyone to turn his attention toward him. “In that case we will remain here until we are ready to move forward with the plan.”

A relieved look came over Miyu’s face at this while Hayato smiled and patted her on the back once. “Great, I’m glad to hear it!” the Treecko replied in a breathless manner, clutching her chest as she did so. Gunther nodded once at this before looking away only to see Theodore observing him, a questioning glance clear in the hare’s eyes. The pair locked eyes for a moment before the Azumarill turned and looked back toward the gecko.

“My apologies for lashing out at you as well…” the water rabbit trailed off, causing a look of surprise to come over both Miyu and Jonas while Theodore continued to watch him closely.

“It’s a-alright!” Miyu exclaimed, a bashful smile on her face. “I can understand why you were concerned!”

Gunther nodded once at this before making eye contact with Theodore, the Bunnelby keeping a tense stare on him before turning away. The Azumarill looked down at Abigail, who was still smiling widely at him, causing the water rabbit to look away before gently tapping her on the head with the ball of his tails, eliciting a giggle a few seconds later from the psychic type.

“Let’s go!” Hayato suddenly cried out, startling everyone in the room at the diminutive birds sudden outburst. Miyu recovered first, taking a breath before chuckling weakly.

“Right, we need to act quickly,” she spoke before turning toward the group of four. “We’ll go set everything up! We’ll see you all shortly!”

“See ya!” Jonas cried out in response as he waved a hand enthusiastically toward the Treecko while his apprentice gave a much more timid wave toward the Gecko. Miyu smiled softly at this, waving at the pair before following Hayato out the door.

Silence fell over the group of four after their companions left. Everyone look at each other, seemingly lost as far as what to do now. After a minute, a sigh escaped Gunther’s mouth before he leaned his back against the wall of the cabin, drawing everyone’s attention toward him.

“Nothing to do now but wait,” the Azumarill spoke, an intense gaze in his eyes as he stared forward. “Rest, relax, do whatever will help prepare you best for when we move.”

Despite his intensity, there was a clear hint of nervousness in the water rabbit’s voice. This didn’t go unnoticed by Theodore, who had a watchful eye on the Azumarill before he heard heavy footsteps behind him.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be ready to go!” Jonas called out before throwing a couple of shadow jabs. Theodore couldn’t help but be concerned at this as he looked over toward Gunther, expecting the water rabbit to be agitated. To his surprise, the Azumarill was looking straight at Jonas with an almost pensive glance, the pair matching eye contact for several seconds before he spoke up.

“You’d better be.”

Despite the threatening nature of the words, there was an almost relieved tone in the Azumarill’s voice. Jonas smirked slightly at this, causing the water rabbit to immediately look away, prompting Jonas to do the same as he walked away toward the other side of the room, leaving a confused Theodore in the middle as his gaze darted back and forth between the pair.

The Bunnelby focused on Gunther again and noticed Abigail sitting next to him before looking back to Jonas, who threw a couple more shadow jabs. Nerves began to hit Theodore, realizing the danger the group might be walking into. The normal type clutched his paws tightly before taking a deep breath, doing everything he could to calm himself before slowly walking over toward Jonas.

If they were all going to be ready, then he would have to be as well.