Squirrely Sparks: Chapter 4
Part 1: Forging Ahead

The clanging of iron hammers, the carving and chopping of wood, and the chatter of various Pokémon hard at work. Such were the sounds echoing from within the Karuka Caverns and the jungle outside as both the traveling denizens of Tabira and their local hosts labored furiously in preparation of their assault on the witch Gilgamarsh, whose influence threatened to contaminate the continent’s water and bring about a terrible sickness throughout.

Among the intrepid Tabirans who had come to lend a hand in the matter was an Emolga clad in a cobalt colored midriff halter with a blue jewel embedded in the fabric, a much different pattern than her usual attire that had been given to her recently by a good friend of hers. Though she had come to lend a hand in helping prepare weapons and such for the upcoming battle, she stood amongst the crowd with a puzzled look on her face, unsure of how she could contribute to the cause and seeking inspiration on what she could make.

“One thing’s for certain, this won’t be anything like bead making…” she commented to herself, reflecting briefly on her normal profession making all sorts of accessories from materials brought from the Shining Strand by her parents. As the Emolga pondered further, she gazed upon two sets of Pokémon that caught her eye, hoping that perhaps that observing them she could finally get some motivation.

On one side was an Aerodactyl baring a large, dark-purple scar that stretched across his chest, shoulder, and back in addition to several smaller marks around his body and a sash around his neck. Using an iron prosthetic that substituted for the tip of his tail like a hammer, the Fossil Pokémon pounded away at a large sheet of metal with a displeased look on his face, seemingly annoyed by his work and the mundane utility of his prosthetic. It was only when a much younger Archen with a hat that bared a resemblance to a Honchkrow stepped up and tried striking the metal with her own tail that he stopped his work, looking on with a very slight smile on his face as the young First Bird Pokémon giggled.

The other notable group consisted of a blue Mienfoo, a Sylveon with a bell earring on her left ear, and a lanky Fennekin with freckled, unkempt fur and purple and blue colors in her eyes, all of which stood around blueprints of what appeared to be smoke bombs and shields. Though the Emolga recognized the former as Yang and Sonya, the other was a new face to her, but judging by the way she conversed with the two while fidgeting with her paws, it seemed that she was acquainted with the duo and was willing to help out despite her obvious nervousness.

“Hey Ethlyn, what are you doing standing around for? If you’re not going to help, then don’t get in the way of those who are!”

Such was the shout of an Electabuzz named Cetra, the head architect of the Artisans Guild and the overseer of the entire weapon-making procedures. Known for her unrelenting work ethic, Cetra was the go-to ‘mon when it came to building layouts and construction, and it helped Ethlyn that she knew her as a frequent customer at the Wonder Room, thus making it easier for her to find her place among the other ‘mons hard at work.

“I’m sorry for looking so out of place, Cetra” Ethlyn answered, bowing her head in discomfit, “It’s just that I’m not sure how I can contribute to all this. I make beads for a living, not weapons…”

“I suppose that’s understandable,” the Electabuzz huffed as she placed a hand on Ethlyn’s right shoulder, “A lot of the Tabirans that came with us don’t have a lot of experience building weapons of some kind. However, I do know someone you could team up with to help you get some ideas.”

A bright flash enveloped the two Electric-types the instant Cetra finished her sentence, disappearing in a literal blink of the eye before the Emolga could even react to what Cetra had to say. A quick glance to the left corner of her eye helped her orient herself to her surroundings and realize that she had Teleported to a spot to the exact right side of where she stood before, closer to the chamber wall and placed right next to a pair of Pokémon who had turned their attention towards those who had suddenly appeared next to them.

The first of the duo Ethlyn noticed was a Deerling in summer coating with brown eyes and a red collar with a golden jingle bell attached to it. Though she was initially startled by the sudden appearance of Ethlyn and Cetra, she quickly warmed up to the Emolga upon learning that she was going to help and introduced herself as Ginger.

The other half of the duo was a Riolu dressed in a fancy blue attire and a mask that made Ethlyn think he was straight out of a fairy tale, like a prince from a far-off land. Aside from a small glance toward the Emolga and uttering the words “you may call me Marth” to her, the Riolu remained focused on the throwing spear resting before his legs, inspecting it for any cracks and misshapen features.

“I hope you two don’t mind if I help out. I was hoping I would come up with something on my own, but I haven’t had much luck…” the Emolga sighed. “Do you two have anything that would suit a couple of electric rodents of my size…well, one capable of flying and the other not that is.”

The Riolu rose to his feet and huffed as he turned his head towards Ethlyn, “I suppose a bow would be the best fit for you and whoever your friend is. We’ll need to get the materials first before we begin.” He pointed to a pile of cut wood placed on the far end of the chamber opposite where Ethlyn had entered before, instructing her and Ginger to retrieve a couple of the freshly cut logs for him to split.

The girls rushed to complete their task as fast as possible, weaving through the other Pokémon as they went until their arrival at their destination, their eyes catching sight of a few logs that were short and light enough for small Pokémon to lift. Ethlyn swiftly walked to the logs in question and placed a trio of the wooden objects on Ginger’s back before grabbing an additional pair for her own and walking back with Ginger back to where Marth stood with a Honedge in his hands.

Placing the logs vertically in front of him, Ethlyn watched as the Riolu swung the Sword Pokémon down upon each log, splitting the logs cleanly in half with a twist in one stroke each. He then handed Ethlyn a stone chisel and guided her along as they removed more wood from the ends, using Ginger’s hooves to keep the log from moving in the process, until the remaining wood was straightened. They continued by tapering the length and depth of their bows, leaving the handle alone to keep their product stiff, before adding the notches for the strings to be woven in and scraping off the last of the excess wood.

Satisfied with the progress being made, Marth announced that he would go to retrieve some fiber so that they could make strings for the bows, leaving the girls alone to wipe the sweat off their foreheads and relax for a bit.

“This is going along much more smoothly than I had anticipated,” Ethlyn spoke as she sat down, “Marth seems like quite the professional at this sort of thing.”

“He did mention that he got his skills from home, from what little I was able to get from him,” Ginger said, “still, it kinda bothers me how he takes this so seriously. It’s like he’s looking forward to the fighting we’re about to do.” She paused to turn her head towards Ethlyn, “What do you think of all this?”

“It’s clear that a witch like Gilgamarsh presents a threat not just to this jungle, but to the entire continent. I have no problem with lending a hand to the cause if it means seeing that witch subdued and all the water through the land becoming clean”. The Emolga sighed, looking down upon her feet with a melancholy look on her face for a moment. “If it’s wars among civilizations like the one with Glenmark, on the other hand, I won’t want any part of it…”

“At least you’re honest about how you feel,” Marth said, returning with a pair of long strings that had already been tied from fiber, a loop on one end for it to help tie to the bow staves, “Fighting for a cause you don’t believe in is unwise.”

“Yes indeed. I remember when I was little back when I lived on the shores of the Shining Strand. My parents were glass and bead necklace makers back then, and business was well with those who visited the area. That all changed, however, when a bunch of Tabiran and Glenmark soldiers that were so coincidentally on leave at the same time arrived and started to pick a fight with each other in front of our shop. My father stepped into the fighting to try and break them up, and for the most part he succeeded, but then he got in the way of a Glenmark Bisharp and got slashed across his chin.

“Unruly cowards, senselessly fighting each other and nearly killing someone who was no part of it…” Marth growled.

“I can’t believe they would do that!” Ginger gasped

“He was lucky it wasn’t any lower than it was, his head would’ve been chopped off otherwise,” Ethlyn continued, “On the bright side, his injury got the two sides to stop fighting and help him out. They all apologized for the disturbance and bought some of his wares to make amends, and he kept running the store afterwards like nothing ever happened.”

“Your father sounds like a really cool guy,” the Deerling said with a smile, “Maybe whenever I go to the Shining Strand I’ll pay him a visit.”

The Riolu nodded and turned his attention back to the stave he held in his paws, placing his right foot on one end and tying it to the notch by his toes, bending the bow around his knee and doing the same with the other end to complete the look of the bow. Ethlyn quickly followed suit, using Ginger’s left leg to achieve the same feat, and upon completion raised the bow into the air in triumph.

Marth went back to his pile of various weapons he had already crafted and pulled out some arrows along with several long, slender saplings, Unfezant feathers, and a couple of jars of tree resin. He then demonstrated to Ethlyn how to attach the feathers to the saplings using the resin as glue and tying more string to hold the feathers down before using a hot piece of coal to make the feathers more aerodynamic.

As Ethlyn followed along with the Riolu’s instructions, an idea popped into her mind knowing that she had overheard several mentions of salt being effective towards Gilgamarsh’s minions. She asked Marth if he had any salt on hand and was quickly given a bag as big as her paw, placing it down by her feet before slathering more tree resin on the head of the arrow before picking the bag up once more to sprinkle salt over the sticky substance.

Marth glanced over to see her progress and gave the Emloga a satisfied nod. “You catch on pretty quick. For someone who’s never made weapons you’re quite skilled at it.”

Ethlyn smiled as she finished applying the salt on her arrows, noting that it was “all because I had a great teacher and assistant to lend a hand” and taking a moment to nod towards Ginger in gratitude.

With the arrows finished, all that was left was a quiver to carry them all on her back, and after taking some leftover bark and tying it together, Ethlyn’s work was complete at last, now ready to train for the fight against Gilgamarsh with a weapon of her own.

Satisfied with all that she had learned, she thanked Ginger and Marth for their help as she stood back up and holstered the bow and arrows in the quiver on her back, and with one last wave of her right paw she headed on her way out of the makeshift armory to seek out her friend Patch and stop whatever mischief he could’ve caused in her absence…