Mission 4 Prologue

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Tiva smiles at Wren and waves goodbye as he and the rest of the Ardents get aboard the ship. Soon enough the ship’s loading dock is taken aside and the vessel starts to move away from the dock, waves lapping at the gap it left. Tiva watches as they pull out and then turns away from the water, towards the Roaring Icebergs that Jay had left her. With a slightly nervous expression on her face, she takes a deep breath and clenches her fists at her sides, walking towards them.

“Alright, Icebergs! We’ll wait out here until Jay…” Tiva’s voice fades as the scene changes to a shrouded hill that overlooks part of Attwell.

A mysterious ribombee lowers a pair of binoculars, speaking slowly and evenly.

“I thought you said an angry mob chased you out of Neve. You never mentioned that they were a bunch of children.”

Her voice changed drastically at the last word, spoken with venom.

Kudos, who was standing behind her with Calypso, sniffs in protest.

“Children? I would hardly call them that. A bunch of devils they were! Besides, they attacked in a horde. I doubt you could do any better if you were in our position.”

“Whatever the case, they’re proving to be a bigger problem than we anticipated,” the rimbombee states simply.

The bushes rustle behind the trio and Keone, along with Gulshan, Moran, and Leith appear. Rava turns toward them, waiting for their report.

“The red group is heading toward Asteria, while the others seem to be holding out here in Attwell,” the gloom says, her words slightly muffled behind her mask.

“Yeah, but those stupid red guildies took the Translator with them!” exclaims the teddiursa, stamping his boot firmly on the ground.

“What do you want us to do Rava?” Gulshan steps forward, looking at the ribombee, Rava.

The ribombee was silent for a while, but then spoke, maintaining a look of calm.

“They may have taken the Translator, but I believe they found something else of interest.”

“Yeah! They drug out a weird glowy thing from the mines,” Moran states, before a look of sudden realization crosses his face. “Wait, you don’t think-”

“Possibly. If that artifact they found is at all related to what the boss is after, we’ll need to secure it for ourselves before heading back.”

Without moving, Rava’s eyes lock onto Kudos and then Gulshan as she speaks their names, her words precise and quicker than before.

“Kudos. Gulshan. Track the ship. Slow it down. Try and set up obstacles for that gyrados if you have to. We need to give the boss more time to prepare.”

Rava’s eyes flick over to Leith, Keone, and then Moran as she gives the three orders.

“Leith. Keone. Moran. Go back and warn the boss about the ship headed to Asteria.”

Everyone nods, about to get on with their missions, when Gulshan speaks up.

“What about you and Calypso? The artifact?”

The rimbombee’s eyes grow sinister and an odd smile creeps it’s way on her face, the inflection the first sign of remote expression on her otherwise deadpan face.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle things here.”


—-


Next morning.

Tiva awakes in one of the warehouses the Spiked Cannons had allowed them to use. Sunlight filters in from the upper windows of the building, dust particles dancing in their warmth. Looking around she sees some of the other Roaring Iceberg members waking up as well.

The aipom gets up and walks outside. Some of the early rising teams were out, talking, looking around, or just lazing about. Even though she didn’t like being left behind, she thought that it was probably best for everyone to get some rest after everything that had happened recently and after all the hard work they done. She just hoped Jay was okay and would get back as soon as he could.

Just then a pair of dock workers passed her and headed toward the river. Her gaze was drawn to the brillant gleam on the waters as the morning sun peeked over the horizon. Instantly her thoughts were drawn to Wren. She briefly wondered if he was having fun on the boat when a gust of wind hit her from above.

“Hey!” The voice belonged to a dragonite, Whips. He lands in front of Tiva, the downdraft from his wings kicking up the dirt around him. Tiva shields her eyes until it clears away, being blown away by the slight breeze. She turns her attention to Whips.

“Have you seen Nami or Fjord around?”

Tiva glances around.

“No. I haven’t seen them at all this morning, but I just got up, haha. Maybe-”

Before Tiva can finish, a buizel, Ozzy, runs into view, gasping, a panicked look spread across her face.

“Come quick! Something’s happening in the square!”

A scream erupts from the direction of the square that freezes them, turning Tiva’s blood cold.

Without needing any prompting, Tiva, along with Whips and Ozzy head toward the scream that was heard in the square. Some other teams, along with some of Attwell’s residents, were already there, staring in horror at something that Tiva had yet to see.

Then she saw the reason for their terror.

On top one of an old building was a ribombee. Beside her, tied up, were Nami and Fjord, along with an eelektross. Wait- was that the same one from Neve!? Nami was struggling against the restraints and the eel mon’s electricity, but Fjord didn’t look responsive at all.

A bead of sweat formed on Tiva’s neck. What was going on?

“Hello,” the bug simply greeted, staring down at the crowd that had amassed below.

Tiva, with a swell of courage and fury, steps forward.

“Let them go! I- we won’t let you-!”

All of a sudden, with a nod of the rimbombee’s head, the eelektross tosses down the marill and slowbro.

Tiva jumps back in surprise as the two land in the dirt only a few feet in front of her. She stares at them in bewilderment.

“What…?” Tiva says, her voice a whisper.

“Oh please, I don’t have any need for a worthless, old man and his pet project. We have your mayor, but merely for bargaining. Some of you have found something recently that is of some interest to us. A glowing artifact. Hand it over and we’ll leave your mayor and your village unharmed.”

“A glowing artifact?” Tiva repeats, not knowing what the rimbombee meant at first. Then it hit her.

The key. They were after the key.

But Jay had it with him.

“Oh. We… don’t... actually have that. No one here has it.”

“...” The square goes silent as the rimbombee doesn’t respond for a while. There was a slight twitch of her eye.

“Don't be a fool. You will give us the key.” Her voice rises a bit. She stares down at the crowd, her gaze more intense.

“I have the waters of Attwell rigged so that it’ll electrify at least half this town and it’s residents if you don’t cooperate. Do you understand?”

Most of the crowd was gaping up at her with a mixture of fear, puzzlement, and fury. The rimbombee’s face darkened as her voice rang out, with more than a hint of warning in it.

“Deliver the artifact by sunrise tomorrow or the citizens of this town will be fried, and you’ll never see your mayor again.”

As she was speaking the words, two Alolan raichu appeared at her sides. Down below some Pokemon emerged from the shadows. Plusle and Minun. Too many to count at first glance.

“And if any of you dare try to interfere, there will be serious consequences.”

And then, almost in a blink of an eye, the rimbombee disappeared out of sight with a strange shimmer.