Squirrely Sparks: Chapter 3
Dry Run

From the trunk of the Great Tree of Tabira, a crowd of Pokémon trickled outside, slowly flooding the open exterior as each of the citizens made their way back to their daily lives. The fifty-sixth meeting of Tabira’s quartet of guilds had come to an end, and many of Tabira’s citizens left with a small sense of dread as news spread of the crisis that was looming largely to the south, where water supplies in Ywaru Canyon had become dangerously low for its citizens due to a mysterious goopy substance poisoning the water and a local mob leader exploiting the citizens for profit in exchange for an unreasonably tiny amount of his supply of spring water. More frightening, however, were growing concerns of increasing witch activity close to Tabira, which if unchecked, would threaten the sanctuary of their lifestyle.

For one Pachirisu, however, his concern was not over witches and contaminated water. Instead, his thoughts were focused on a trio of female Pokémon he had idolized and the fantasies of wooing them with his charms.

“Is there ever a time when he’s not thinking about females?” said a Cinccino with unusually unkempt fur, “Honestly, how can he even think about such things with all the worrisome things the guilds talked about!”

“I highly doubt Patch paid attention to anything beyond the sight of Menthe, Addy, and Cris gathered in one place,” sighed an Emolga with a midriff halter and a pair of earrings, “Once he sets his sights, he seems to go deaf to the world around him.”

“I was listening, Eth, and I’ll prove it to ya,” the Pachirisu countered with his usual grin, “there was goop in the water, Don Kapon hoarding more water, and more witches that are supposed to be causing the water to get goopy, all basic stuff.”

“Well, at least he got the basic stuff…” spoke the little Minccino with a fuchsia bow tied to her neck and walking cane in her hand, her compliment earning a pat on her head from Patch.

“Still, you’d think he’d be more concerned about all that instead of admiring those girls,” the Cinccino sighed, “What if all that comes here to Tabira? I nearly lost my precious daughter to that Vulpix witch, and it bothers me that she’s getting help from that Prier fellow. I may not have lived long here in Tabira, but I know for a fact that as a Keeper and the son of the Bank of Tabira’s head, he ought to be ashamed of himself for siding with that witch!”

“I wouldn’t worry about a thing, Emily dear, the guilds will handle it all one way or another,” Patch said in a nonchalant manner, “Of course, we can always go and lend them a hand, right Aqua-Top?”

“Patch, how many times have I told you not to call me that in public?” Ethlyn growled, annoyed by the nickname he sometimes called her instead of the more agreeable “Eth”, “Why do I have a feeling that you’re looking to volunteer for reasons beyond helping those poor citizens in Ywaru Canyon?”

“If you’re worried about ulterior motives, then why don’t you come with me? You can even tug on my ears the whole time if you want.”

The Emolga huffed to herself, knowing that Patch was serious about going, even if it was largely out of pursuing girls in another part of the continent. Still, she knew that Patch was capable of doing the right thing when he needed to, most recently by helping rescue Minnie from the clutches of the witch Morgan, and he was willing to be tugged around like a Houndour on a leash if it so pleased her, compromises that he didn’t seem to mind making if it meant being allowed to go without fear that he might do something stupid during his time away from Tabira.

“Very well, I’ll come with you on one condition: We’re not doing any tasks with Menthe, Addy, or Cris. You need to put the concerns of the ‘mons that live there ahead of your need to score a date, understood?”

Patch moaned upon hearing Ethlyn’s addition to their agreement, disappointed that he’d have to give up on his pursuit of his top three most favorite females within Tabira’s four guilds if he wanted to go, and with a loud sigh and slow nodding of his head, he accepted the terms she had laid out to him, quickly turning away from her as he slowly began his march to sign the two of them up for the tasks at hand…


Like fire from a Charizard’s mouth, the blistering heat of the desert winds relentlessly bared down upon the expeditioners from Tabira, the one constant in their perilous trek through the arid region of cacti and spiked stones that had forced them nearly to fully deplete their water reserves. At last, however, civilization was before them after a day’s worth of their nearly nonstop trek to Ywaru Canyon, and with it came a sweeping sense of relief upon Patch as he collapsed to the ground.

Though he had promised to not try and flirt with any female Pokémon during their trip, such thoughts were the only things that kept him motivated to continue pressing forward, especially with having Menthe constantly up ahead of him, occasionally looking back at the Pokémon behind her to check on their condition with a look on her face that Patch’s fantasies quickly adapted as a shy expression that showed that she cared deeply for him and his health. Each time that Patch drifted into dreamland, however, Ethlyn was there to give him a tug on his ear to quickly snap him back to the harsh reality of the situation, and no matter how much the heat breathed down his neck or how hard his Emolga companion pulled on him, Patch refused to give up on his admiration for the accomplished alchemist, whom he noted was oddly the only one of the trio of herself, Cris, and Addy to come along on their trip.

“Oi vey, I thought we’d never make it,” he huffed, “but I did it! For Eth and Menthe, I made it to Ywaru Canyon!”

“You know, you wouldn’t be in such poor shape if you hadn’t gone through your share of water so quickly,” Ethlyn sighed, hoisting the Pachirisu back on his feet.

“What can I say, I’m a delicate flower that wilts under the heat.” Patch gave his friend his usual sly grin, “At least you’re used to this kind of weather, since you used to live by the Shining Strand and all…”

There was a half-truth in Patch’s statement about Ethlyn, that being born by the sparkling sands of the Shining Strand and its tropical atmosphere made her more resistant to the heat, and it helped that her outfit was more suited for higher temperatures compared to Patch’s closed vest. This didn’t stop Ethlyn from being covered in sweat, however, and she still had to drink as much water as he did to keep from dehydrating, to which she was better able to pace herself on when to drink so as to avoid running out of water when she needed it.

As the Emolga popped open her canteen to give Patch a sip of her share of water, the two squirrels caught sight of a brown, beaver-like Pokémon emerging from a building marked as the Sheriff’s Office of Ywaru, wiping sweat off her brow as she stood out in the open with a vine lasso strapped to her left arm. The Bidoof then turned her attention towards the duo, particularly at the dehydrated Patch, and began rushing towards him upon realizing his condition.

“Well, shuck me like corn and eat me alive, there’s dames in this here desert!” The Pachirisu suddenly leapt back on to his feet, rushing towards the Bidoof gal full speed and taking her paw before she could react to his revival.

“Hawdy, what’s your name?” the Pachirisu spoke in a cringe worthy attempt at a country accent, “Ah came all the way from Tabira ta find lookin’ for perdy girls like you, and havin’ been greeted by ya after such a long, harsh journey, ah think fate’s lassoed us together. Whaddya say we go cool off somewhere away from all this here heat and get all cozy like?”

Unimpressed by the Pachirisu’s attempt to court her, the Bidoof grabbed her vine lasso and tied his paws together, her sharp glare never once shifting away from the hapless flirt’s eyes.

“First off, it’s “Howdy”, not “Hawdy”, and second of all, you don’t go walkin’ up to ‘mons you see the first time and think they’re gonna go courtin’ with ya, especially when they’re on duty as Sheriff of this here town!”

“Don’t bother wasting any time on him, Barley, he’s a nuisance from Tabira. I’m amazed he came along with us to Ywaru, though…”

It was not Ethlyn who came to Patch’s aid in the face of being forced to spend a few days in the pokey for hitting on a sheriff, but a more unexpected and, it Patch’s case, rather unwelcome surprise in the form of a battle-ragged Hitmonchan that towered over the trio, whom they all recognized as Vander, leader of Tabira’s Trackers guild.

The sight of the Hitmonchan instantly brought the sensation of one’s face getting literally punched in for Patch, for at the same time that Vander answered Barley and Ethlyn’s questions about his familiarity with the Pachirisu, he remembered a time back when he first arrived in Tabira and tried hitting on Vander’s wife, a Lopunny by the name of Curry, only to be quickly blindsided by Vander in an effort to protect his wife from his advances, the pain he felt at that moment a memento of that incident that would remind him not to flirt with Curry again.

“So, were you running out of girls to hit on in Tabira and wanted to try Ywaru for a change? What about that Emolga you keep hanging around with, is she not good enough for you?”

“I-I assure you, I have good intentions in coming here!” Patch answered in a panicked tone, flailing his paws in front of him as if he was going to get a Bullet Punch to the face that instant, “Ethlyn is here to keep me in line anyway, so you nor anyone else from Tabira need to worry about me flirting with everyone else here…”

As Patch plead with the Tracker Hitmonchan, he was unknowingly mimicked in both tone and gesture by Ethlyn, drawing confused looks from both Vander and Barley as she made the exact same case for Patch. The two simply shrugged their shoulders and sighed, and Barley soon released Patch from his restraints and handed the two of them a small canteen of water for the two to take a couple of drops of water.

“So, if you’re looking to help out around here, I can help point you out towards something. You’re one of the last ones to arrive here, so you might be out of luck for some of the tasks.”

“Which ones are being led by Addy, Cris, or Menthe?” Ethlyn asked Vander, “I’d particularly want to avoid those since Patch likes those three so much.”

“Well, the only one I know involves any of those three is helping Menthe clean up some of the polluted water at the river, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Cris is helping out there or in helping set up one of those ‘Voice Stones’. As for Addy, I don’t know where she went, so that just leaves you two with two options: Either you help Topaz and Gemma negotiate with Don Kapon, or you can come with me on a special mission. Personally, I think you two would be good for my mission, but I’d prefer we don’t talk about it in public. If you want to help, then just follow me.”

While the two squirrels were somewhat confused at Vander’s “mission”, the approving look on Barley’s face suggested that it was likely going to be something that would be beneficial to the locals, and it didn’t take long for them to quickly follow the Tracker Hitmonchan to his objective, but not before patch gave Barley one last wink at her, to which she replied with a threatening crack of her vine lasso…



“Hmmm, this isn’t good at all,” said a young, blue Mienfoo, “Even if it’s just one old Pokémon guarding that entrance, there might be more nearby…”

“Oh, don’t be such a worrywart, Yang,” countered a sassy looking Plusle, “We just need to get in there and turn that snake into a pair of boots before more of Kapon’s goons show up!”

“I know you’re eager to jump in there and kick some tail, Stella, but it’d be best to wait for Vander to return before we make any moves towards Kapon’s reservoir.”

Such were the wise words of a Girafarig named Sibyl, the head scout of the Trackers guild and one of Vander’s most trusted allies. Waiting in the shadows of an alley alongside a contingent of nearly ten different Pokémon that included Kassi the Hitmontop, the head musician of the Artisans Guild, she had spied upon a lone, old Zangoose with blue colors instead of the species’ usual red coloration resting outside a small compound that had drawn the Tracker’s interest way before their arrival in Ywaru.

Knowing that Don Kapon, the most powerful mob boss in Ywaru, held much of the town’s water supply in his greedy claws, it was rather hard for anyone in Sibyl’s group to believe that the entrance would be so lightly guarded by someone that appeared so laidback, given that the Don often hired some of the area’s nastiest assassins to protect his interests. If they acted before confirming what they were up against, they would surely end up as mangled corpses hung on the local cacti as a warning to all who stood up to him. If only they could find out what they were truly facing, then they could act accordingly and infiltrate the reservoir to help the poor, dehydrated citizens of Ywaru…

“So many gorgeous girls!” said a certain voice from behind her, “Vander sure knows how to pick a group of volunteers!”

Sibyl needn’t turn either of her heads to recognize the ‘mon that had ruined her train of thought was none other than Patch, and true to his casanova tendencies, he was already hard at work hitting on the girls that were part of the group, flitting between each member and drawing reactions ranging from pure embarrassment to a sudden increase in the desire to pound this individual into submission.

“That shade of blue looks gorgeous on a Mienfoo, maybe you’ll be mine? What about you, my sweet Purrloin berry, have you got anything juicy going on tonight? Of course, it’d be hard to sleep tonight with the beautiful blue rings of this Umbreon shining in the moonlight, and the gentle winds bringing about the divine echoes of this Eevee’s earring, but I’m sure this cute Plusle wouldn’t mind at all, right?”

“Patch Reeses, of all the ‘mons that had to volunteer for this mission, why did it have to be you?!” Sibyl growled and rolled her eyes.

“Sibyl, it’s so nice to see you again! I still haven’t been able to decide which side of you looks best, but perhaps it’s just because you’re so equally beautiful!”

“It doesn’t matter which side is prettier than the other, just which one is the one that’ll put hoof prints on your noggin because you’re interfering!”

Patch slowly backed off upon being threatened by the Girafarig, enforced by the glares from most of the girls save for the Mienfoo, each member of Sibyl’s ragtag group within reach of the Pachirisu if he continued his act in such a manner. Fortunately for all of them, Vander and Ethlyn arrived in time to break them all up and bring the situation under control before any of Kapon’s guards, visible or otherwise, caught wind of whatever plan they had in mind.

“What’s the situation, Sibyl?” asked Vander.

“It’s still just that Oxnard guy you told us about. I don’t see any sign of any other guards though, so I’m hesitant to allow us to go in and infiltrate the reservoir.”

“May I make a suggestion, Sibyl?” a smartly dressed Minun named Stefan spoke, “I propose that one of us goes as a decoy to see if Oxnard is really by himself or not. We could end up using them to lure whoever’s there away so that the rest of us can get inside.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” the Purrloin concurred with a sly grin, “All in favor of volunteering step forward!”

Without hesitation, the entire group save for Patch flexed a leg forward before suddenly stepping backwards, leaving the Pachirisu without a clue as to the role he had been forced to partake.

“Attaboy Patch, how brave of you to volunteer for us,” Vander cheered as the others save for Ethlyn showed their appreciation with exaggerated cheering and clapping, “If there’s one thing that will make girls swoon, it’s a little courage. Now go out there and make us proud!”

Ethlyn frowned as Patch puffed his chest in pride, knowing that the Trackers were exploiting his weakness for female Pokémon to use as a distraction, and by the time she opened her mouth to protest his position in the matter, the Pachirisu casanova was well on his way to meet with the old, blue Zangoose with his signature sly look.

“Hawdy there, partner, mighty hot weather we’re havin’ today,” Patch greeted with another butchered attempt at the local dialect, “Hoowee, I could really use somethin’ ta pass the time while I wait for the sun to set, mind if I join ya, pardoner?”

The blue Zangoose laughed as the Pachirisu approached, seemingly glad that someone had come by to converse with the old ‘mon. “Well, you sure ain’t the only one, kiddo, you know how hard this heat can be on us old folk, so I’m glad yer so nice enough to say hello for a while. So, what brings a ‘lil squirrel like you ‘round these parts? That bad accent tells me ya ain’t from ‘round here.”

“I hear there’s some girls here in Ywaru are real gems, if ya know what I mean, and you look like you might know a thing or two ‘bout those desert diamonds. Care to share a ‘lil advice to a youngin like me?”

“Well, a lot ‘o ‘mons used to say I was quite the handsome type when I was your age, but I’m not the type that would be of much help with findin’ girls, since I’m not a youngin anymore. If I do have any advice on it, however, I’d say to just take your time with these sort of things, no need to rush these things. Heck, the girl I wanna talk about isn’t exactly what you’d call a girlfriend, but she’s real special in my life nonetheless and I think it’d make a good example for you to follow.”

The Zangoose whistled upon finishing his yammering, startling Patch for a moment in his fear that the old ‘mon was summoning a gaggle of goons to his side. What emerged from the shadows of the reservoir’s entrance, however, was not a large group of minions, but a single female Seviper with scales that bared a strong resemblance to a Sandslash’s quills. Though Patch was initially frightened by the Seviper’s appearance, he was pleasantly surprised to see something very unique among her kind, especially since she didn’t appear to carry the hostility that Seviper and Zangoose were known to have towards each other.

“Well boy hawdy, looks like you’ve got yourself a nice girl after all, mister,” Patch said with a smile, eyeing the Seviper much as he usually eyed a member of the opposite sex.

“I hate to disappoint ya, but she’s just a coworker ‘o mine,” the Zangoose laughed once more, “Her name’s Bermuda, and she may look a ‘lil frighten’ at first, but she’s just a little shy. I’m sure y’all will get along just fine though.”

“Oh yeah, we’ll definitely get along alright,” the Pachirisu inched closer to the Seviper, “in fact, I’d be welcome to treat her to a few cold drinks and a nice massage for those scales. If all goes well, maybe we’ll—“

SHING! Without warning, Bermuda stabbed her lade-like tail into the ground directly in front of Patch, poison dripping off and steaming as it hit the hot desert sand as the Seviper gave a nasty glare to the Pachirisu. It was clear that she had not taken Patch’s advances very well, and she was willing to kill to make him pay. What made the situation worse, however, was the Zangoose’s sudden transformation of his face from an unassuming and friendly to sinister and hostile, a sure sign to Patch that he had been trapped.

“W-well, I rightly can’t thank ya’ll enough for the company,” Patch chuckled with a waterfall of sweat pouring down the back of his head, “sadly, I can take a hint that she doesn’t want to go out with me, so it’d be best I go ahead and keep looking through town for my hot date.”

Patch turned and fled for his life, hoping to use the five second head start given by Bermuda and her Zangoose mentor to bide time for the others to collect as many barrels of water as possible…

The dark interior of Don Kapon’s personal reservoir sent chills down Ethlyn’s spine, the threat of being attacked by his roguish guards lingered in the corners of her mind despite being surrounded by several allied Pokémon that were much tougher than she was. What bothered her most, however, were her concerns about Patch and the decoy role he had been somewhat forced to partake and if he’d be able to fend off the Zangoose and Seviper on his own.

Lost in her fears and concerns, she unwittingly accelerated her walking speed and slammed into the back of Kassi, snapping her back to reality to apologize to the Artisan leader for spacing out.

“You know, as much as we should be focused on keeping quiet and all, I have to ask: What do you see in that Patch guy?” the Hitmontop asked after accepting the Emolga’s apology, “You’ve seen what he does all the time and yet you still hang around him. Are you his bodyguard in some way?”

“Yeah, why would a nice girl like you hang out with that letch?” Stella concurred, “If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s ‘mons who think they can woo anyone they lay eyes on and get away with it.”

“But you notice that he never seems to flirt with her,” Stephan interjected, “There must be some reason why he acts the way he does…”

Rather than let the subject go, Ethlyn turned towards the Minun and testified that when she first moved to Tabira from the Shining Strand, she saved Patch from being strangled to death by an angry male Breloom that was defending his girlfriend from one of Patch’s usual flirting attempts. At first, she thought that it would be the only time she would see him, but when she moved into her new treehouse, Patch offered to live with her as thanks for saving his life. While she was initially not pleased that someone she had just met wanted to move into her house, let alone someone she had already noticed had a penchant for chasing girls, his helpfulness in getting her new home prepared and landing a job at the Wonder Room convinced her to let him stay.

“I won’t lie and say that he doesn’t need to control himself around girls, but he’s a nice guy once you get to know him,” Ethlyn noted, “I truly believe he’s capable of doing good things, he just needs a little guidance…”

“Are you sure it’s not because you’re falling for his charms?” teased the Zorua named Ian, muffled chuckles from the other girls accompanying his remarks, “Since he’s so interested in girls, maybe he’s trying a subtler way to---“

Sibyl’s suddenly stopped in her tracks as she neared a corner with light coming from the other end, prompting the group to cut the chatter and do the same. The Girafarig motioned her head towards Vander, and together the two Trackers peeked around the corner to find several guards, largely consisting of Lombre, Linoone, Cacturne, and Sandshrew, surrounding a large lake-like body of water and several nearby barrels. At last the group had reached their destination, now it was just a matter of getting Don Kapon’s goons out of the way and getting their hands on some barrels to collect the water.

“There’s so many of them, how are we going to get the water if they’re all in the way?” Ethlyn asked, peeking through the gap between the wall and Sibyl’s legs.

“I think this calls for a little distraction,” Vander said, “Ian, think you can lend a hand?”

“Not a problem, Vander,” the Zorua answered, saluting the Hitmonchan, “Of course, I know how to make my little trick even better. Yang, Ethlyn, how good are you at playing poor and defenseless?”



“Help! Somebody please help!”

The echoing cry for aid startled the guards stationed around the reservoir, drawing their attention as a Cacturne escorted an Emolga and a Mienfoo on the verge of collapsing on the ground. Little did they suspect, however, that the Cacturne was not who he appeared to be, the unnatural green eyes the only thing that distinguished his true form.

“¿Qué diablos? What are they doing here?” exclaimed the head Lombre, “This area is off limits to outsiders, send them away at once!”

“M-my apologies, but I brought these two in from outside just when I was about to come back from my break,” the suspicious Cacturne answered, “I didn’t want them to get heat stroke, so I brought them here to cool off for a little bit.”

“You know the Don’s orders, if they ‘re looking for water, they’ll have to talk with the Don about it. Furthermore, you brought them down to the Don’s personal reservoir without permission, and we can’t have that if we’re to protect the Don’s possessions! You’ve just made a big mistake, amigo, and I can’t let it slide!”

“P-please, he was just acting on good faith,” Yang weakly spoke, paws clasped together in a pleading manner, “S-surely anyone with a kind heart would’ve helped us the same way he did…”

“Y-Yes, we’re just so poor that we can’t afford to buy your water the normal way and have to suffer for it,” Ethlyn sobbed, her teary eyes as big as dinner plates as she stared woefully at the guards, “we’ll do anything you or the Don asks if it means being able to drink water again…”

The Lombre growled at the notion of either making any exceptions to the Don’s orders or taking in more ‘mons, but his disgust quickly faced a new opposition in the form of the Linoone guards, who quickly began to empathize with the girls and their plight.

“Cut them some slack sir, cute girls like them don’t deserve to die of heat stroke,” plead one Linoone, he and the rest of the Linoone sharing the same sad expression on their faces as Ethlyn, “How about for once we just let them have some water on us?”

The remaining guards debated among themselves as to whether or not they should give the girls water, with the Linoone and Sandshrew demanding they be generous while the Lombre and Cacturne prioritized Don Kapon’s leadership, and soon the two sides began to push, shove and wrestle each other.

Ethlyn chuckled guiltily at how successful the trio’s plan had been, more so at the fact that she did a better job at charming ‘mons of the opposite sex than Patch ever could, and together they tiptoed around the arguing guards to begin collecting the water. Before they could reach the pile of barrels closest to the water, however, the Lombre that was in charge was suddenly flung towards the trio, slamming into their Cacturne escort as he careened into the barrels. Though Ethyn and Yang remained in one piece, the Cacturne that had escorted them had been replaced by Ian the Zorua, who had used his Illusion-making powers to fool the guards into thinking he was one of their own.

“¡Es un truco! Get them, get them all, especially that Emol— “

The Lombre’s command was interrupted by a hard, sudden hit to the face, a boxing glove the size of his own head embedding into his visage to send him to the land of the unconscious. Vander had stepped in before anything could happen with the help of his Bullet Punch, and soon the rest of his group was chipping in to attack the remaining guards.

“Nice work you three, especially you and your Charm, Ethlyn!” the Hitmonchan said as he delivered a haymaker to a hapless Sandshrew thrown to him by the force of Kassi’s Rolling Kick, “We should have everything good to go here so we can get the water to the Pokémon of Ywaru.”

Ethlyn was pleased that she had been of help to Vander and the others in their group, a slight blush appearing from her face as if to say “it was nothing at all, I was glad to help.” Her pride soon gave way to fear, however, for the only ‘mon that was missing was Patch on this eventual celebration, and for all she knew he could’ve ended up surrounded by the Zangoose and Seviper duo that was chasing him, if not worse. Rather than take chances and hoping that he’s alright, Ethlyn ran past the Hitmonchan back the way she came and took to the air in hopes that there was still time to save her friend…



He was amazed at how a threat on one’s life can make a ‘mon move his legs. While situations such as this didn’t usually happen on a regular basis, Patch certainly didn’t enjoy being hunted by individuals looking to put an end to his female chasing ways. Fortunately, his quick footwork and his small stature allowed him to escape into a small alley and elude the pursuit of the Zangoose and Seviper duo with the help of a wooden box that was just the right size for a Pachirisu, allowing him some respite to catch his breath.

With each decrease in the rate at which he exhaled, his thoughts turned from surviving his predicament to the how Ethlyn, Vander, and the rest of the group he had cleared a path for were fairing. Had they gotten a hold of the water that the citizens of Ywaru were desperately needing, or did they run into trouble and now needed help? While he hoped it was the former, he couldn’t help but snicker to himself of the idea that he’d come and save the day, the girls showering him in affection as thanks for saving them, and it was enough motivation to prompt him to begin his trek back.

The electric squirrel stuck his head out from underneath his boxy shelter, scanning the area around him from top-to-bottom, side-to-side to check for any sign of the nasty duo he had fled from, tossing the box aside the moment he felt the coast was clear and whistling a little tune as he began walking out of the alley.

WHAM! The moment he stepped out of the alley, Patch was suddenly sent flying several feet to his left into a cart full of berries, quickly emerging from the pile to find Bermuda charging at him, plowing through the dirt like a bulldozer and crashing into the cart in an explosion of wood splinters and berry juice. As the last berry splattered onto his face, Patch found himself staring up at the old blue Zangoose standing over him, the friendly smile he once displayed replaced with a murderous scowl as he grabbed the little Pachirisu by the collar of his vest,

“Did ya think you’d really impress me with that bad accent? I knew you were one of them outsiders the moment I saw ya walkin’ towards me. I don’t rightly care if you’re by yourself or if you were just trying to distract us, ain’t nobody gonna threaten Don Kapon’s interests and get away with it! Sorry pardner, but I’m havin’ squirrel for dinner tonight!”

From the belt around his waist, the Zangoose pulled out a small vial of a purple liquid that appeared similar to the poison that Bermuda dripped from her tail, popping the cork off as he slowly moved the vial level to Patch’s head. The electric squirrel tightened the muscles around his lips, struggling as the Zangoose’s claws tried to pry them open, knowing well that drinking whatever was in the vial would likely be lethal.

A sudden flash of black and yellow suddenly appeared in between the two, knocking the Zangoose off balance to not only fling Patch from his grip, but also dropping the vial to shatter on the ground, its contents steaming as it made contact with the dirt.

“Ethlyn, you came for me~” Patch said as he recovered from yet another tumble into the dirt, “I thought you and the others were going to let me get killed by these goons.”

“Save the chitchat for later Patch,” the Emolga replied as she held her arms up in a shielding manner, “We need to get past these two and get out of here.”

“Well, ain’t that just too bad Bermuda, the ‘lil squirrel has a gliding girlfriend,” the Zangoose snickered, “Sic ‘em!”

The Seviper lunged towards Ethlyn, the electric gliding squirrel effortlessly leaping upward and back flipping in the air before slamming down upon her head. Rather than be left out of the fight, Patch summoned a long vine from the lone patch of dead grass by his feet, and in true cowboy fashion he lassoed the Seviper’s mouth, complete with a loud “YEEHAW!” as he pulled the Seviper down to the ground.

Before Patch could literally tie the knot on the Seviper, she was freed by her partner’s sharp claws, the night black aura glowing off them strongly indicating a Night Slash attack. The Zangoose glared at his partner before the duo charged, only to stop as Ethlyn unleashed a Thunderbolt attack at the space between them, stopping the assailants and forcing the Zangoose to turn his attention to her. The Emolga bobbed and weaved around the old Zangoose’s claw swipes, striking him in the midsection the moment an opening presented itself and knocking him off his feet. As she readied herself to deliver another strong blow, however, the yells of her friend as his second attempt to lasso Bermuda failed drew her attention, watching for a moment as the Pachirisu was swung helplessly around in the air before getting slammed to the ground.

Stunned by the impact, Patch struggled to move his limbs, unable to move out of the way as Bermuda raised her poison-laced tail, poised to let it slash his neck for a most certainly gruesome demise. As the Seviper swung, Ethlyn leapt in front of the attack as she tackled Patch, yelling in extreme pain as the tail slashed her midsection.

“End of the line, squirrels” the Zangoose said with a wide smile as he and his partner approached, “You’ve caused us both enough trouble today, so let’s get this here game done with once and for all!”

The instant the Zangoose raised his claws in the air, he was suddenly blindsided by a mighty punch, the sound of a small group charging following as half a dozen or so Pokémon leapt on Bermuda and began to pummel away at her. Vander’s team had arrived in the nick of time, and the tide was truly turned against the assassins, and it was enough to make Ethlyn smile before her world went dark…



“Eth…Ethlyn Monica, wakey wakey. “

The Emolga slowly opened her eyes, her vision coming to focus to find Patch and his trademark grin occupying most of her line of slight as he stood over her from her left side. As one would expect of waking up to a close encounter with someone standing over their unconscious self, Ethlyn slapped the Pachirisu across his left cheek, knocking him down to the ground as she sat upright, frantically moving her head side-to-side to find that she was on a pile of straw that served as her bed and was perfected centered in the middle of the wagon’s interior as the evening light was making way for the night.

“P-Patch, don’t do that!” the Emolga reprimanded upon getting her bearings, “Even I have to have personal space when I’m sleeping!”

“Well, you were out for so long I was afraid I was going to have to do the old ‘kiss the sleeping beauty’ trick to wake you up,” Patch snarked, “at least you’ve still got that wicked slap of yours.”

“How long was I out? What happened?”

“Long story short, you got knocked out by that Seviper’s poison, but we got rescued by Sibyl and brought here while Vander and co. dealt with those assassins. Bad news was that you got a pretty big cut on your midsection, but thanks to how quickly we got help and the fact the cut wasn’t so deep, you’re just need a good night’s rest and you’ll be up and at ‘em again!”

“Then it looks like our mission was a success, wasn’t it?” Ethlyn said with a smile, “The Pokémon of Ywaru are going to be so happy to have water again, and we all did it together.”

“What can I say, we make a good pair, you and me,” Patch replied with a nod, “Oh, that reminds me, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

The Pachirisu reached over the back end of the wagon and retrieved a container filled with a deeply pigmented dye that seemed to resemble a clear night sky, which dazzled Ethlyn upon noticing the dye.

“This Flygon named Aurelio gave it to me as a thank-you gift. They said this thing can grant someone magical powers if this is slathered on their clothes. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I took the liberty of doing so while you were out cold to put it on your clothes. Consider it my thanks for once again saving my hide.”

Ethlyn’s face glowed bright red upon hearing that Patch applied the dye on her outfit, her eyes shifting to notice that the dye had mostly been applied to the straps around her neck, with a slight, barely noticeable coat applied to the rest. Before she could speak out to Patch, her top began to glow as the evening light nearly completely gave way to the night, seemingly reflecting the night sky that would be visible to her once she stepped out, and her panic and anger were quickly replaced by awe and gratitude.

As she smiled at the Pachirisu, her thoughts returned to the questions from earlier in the day about why she hung around with Patch despite all his girl chasing antics, and inside she was laughing to herself, knowing that despite it all she put up with, he still knew how to treat at least one girl right.