It was another early morning, the crack of dawn to be precise as the Sun started to slowly climb back into the sky. Orange rays peeked through the trees and started to shine over the grass below. Most Pokémon right now would either still be asleep or just waking up, getting the morning fuzz out of their eyes with a yawn and tiredly preparing for the day to come.

However, this wasn’t the case for all Pokémon and perhaps this was most true for Rescue Team members with their work of helping innocent Pokémon and making sure they were safe being tireless work that kept them up from day till night. Sometimes for work that was completely unpaid for and just done out of the kindness of the heart. And this was also true of the members of Team Toukon, a group of three young women and close friends who supported and helped each other through thick and thin for years prior to creating the Rescue Team. And while Team Toukon had only existed for just barely a year, they had become well known around the area as a dependable Rescue Team who did anything they could to protect and help those in need.

The most energetic and outgoing of the members of Toukon was the Fighting-Type Mienfoo, who tended to leap before she looked and punch first and ask questions later. However, no one could really deny her strength and more importantly, the energy, optimism and joy she brought to the rest of Team Toukon and the other Pokémon she met. And those who were on the unfortunate end of one of her beatdowns couldn’t deny the brutality of her kicks and could attest that the last thing you’d want to do is make her angry.

Then there was the shy and quiet Ground-Type Cubone who rarely talked and when she did, it was just barely audible over a whisper. However, she was just as devoted to Team Toukon’s selfless cause as the rest of her teammates and in battle she would become an unyielding and powerful battler who’s Bone Club would deal with anyone who dared to harm her friends or other innocent Pokémon.

And then there was the leader of Team Toukon, the slightly older Water-Type, Dewott. Like Cubone, she was a quiet Pokémon but this wasn’t out of an introverted nature like her teammate. Dewott was just a calm and collected individual who was known as a reliable and kind Pokémon to everyone in their hometown and the surrounding area. She tended to be the voice of reason between her friends, taking on an almost big sister-like role and was thus the perfect fit for being the leader of their Rescue Team.

The three Pokémon were up bright and early, though they couldn’t have seen the sun from where they were anyway. They were currently inside a damp and smelly cavern, the ground underneath their bare feet being wet and slushy mud that stuck to their soles.

“Uuuugh, of course these guys have to choose the dampest and wettest cavern possible as their little hideout. And it smells disgusting to boot, this place might as well be a swamp!”

“Please keep your voice down, Mienfoo. We don’t want to give ourselves away when we just got here…”

“Who cares if they hear us or not, Cubone? We’ve already kicked the butts of so many of these Silver Storm goons that I’m pretty sure they're all still snoozing away. Or actually… maybe they’re all hiding from us, with their metaphorical or literal tail between their legs!”

“Mmm…I’m not so sure. Miss Kangaskhan always tells us that things usually get the most difficult right at the very end.”

“And that was only true maybe once or twice? And we still came out on top in the end and this time won’t be any different!”

“No Cubone has a point, Mienfoo. It’s always best to exercise caution, especially when we’re this deep into the heart of enemy territory. We don’t know what to expect and what we’ll be up against here, so it’d be wise to keep as low a profile as possible for now.”

“Ugh…fine, I guess you have a point, Dewott. I still think we should’ve just charged in and started taking down anyone who came at us…”

The three had entered the Cavern with the intent of dealing with and finishing off a group of outlaws who called themselves “Silver Storm”. They had first run into a few members of the groups when they took a job to deal with some of their members who were hassling the citizens of Symphony Town. Quickly after that, even more and more job requests centering around the group started cropping up and littering the Request Board, with their crimes ranging from minor things like vandalism and just annoying other Pokemon to more serious crimes like burglary and thievery and even brutally attacking other Pokémon.

The members of Team Toukon eventually had enough of the constant barrage of crimes and wanting to put a definitive end to Silver Storm’s many crimes and decided to take it upon themselves to find where the group was hiding and take them down once and for all. After spending the previous day preparing for what would most likely be a taxing personal mission and making sure they were well rested, they had spent the night tracking down some members of the group and after easily beating them, they managed to get one of them to squeal and reveal where the group was hiding. And this was how they ended up in a dark cavern, having gone through a side entrance instead of the mouth of the cave to hopefully avoid immediately being detected and attacked. 

Luckily everything seemed to be going smoothly for the three Pokémon so far, with them having yet to encounter a single soul in the long muddy path they were trekking down.

“Hmm…we’ve been walking down this path for a bit and we still haven’t even seen a sign of any other Pokémon.”

“Maybe…maybe those outlaws we beat earlier lied to us? This could just be some random cave they sent us down or even a trap…”

“No way, you saw how terrified those guys were after we beat them up! It’s hard to imagine they were lying, and even if they were, we can just go back to jailhouse and get the actual answer out of them!”

The three kept on walking for a bit longer, eventually coming across what seemed to be a stony dead end. Mienfoo let out an annoyed groan of disappointment.

“Looks like you were right, Cubone. I can’t believe it, those bastards really were lying through their teeth! When I get my hands on them, I’ll grrrr…”

“Uh…it is possible that the mouth of the cavern would actually lead us to their base…”

“Oh, you’ve got a point there! We went through this weird side opening instead of just barging through the front like I said earlier!”

“That’s…that’s still very dangerous, Mienfoo! Cubone clutched her bone tightly, her usually hushed voice turning into a high-pitched shriek, one that clearly shook Dewott and Mienfoo. As if quickly realizing how shocking her sudden outburst was, Cubone quickly went back to her hushed tone, nervously clutching her bone and rubbing her dirty feet together. “That’s like asking to get hurt or even…even…”

“Nnh…I’m sorry, Cubone. I didn’t mean to make you upset. I don’t really want to give up on this, but maybe it’d be best to head back for now and try and think of some other plan…”

“Wait, you two. I don’t think this is exactly as dead of an end as we thought.”

The commanding and serene voice of their leader brought Mienfoo and Cubone back to attention. The Discipline Pokémon was pointing towards a small opening in the stony wall, one just wide enough for them to slip through. Mienfoo instantly perked up, happy to see that this little trek might have not been for nothing.

“Oh! Good eye, Dewott, you always seem to have a knack for noticing stuff like this! You were the one that had found this little opening we went through after all! I’ll go and check it out!”

“Wait, hold on Mienfoo!”

But Mienfoo just darted past Dewott and started to expertly climb up the stony wall, her fingers and toes deftly clinging on to any small nook and indent she could find. In a matter of seconds, Mienfoo had scaled the small wall, the front of her body fully in the opening and the back half dangling out of it, her dirty feet excitedly swinging around in the air.

“Mienfoo, get down from there!” The stern voice of Dewott brought Mienfoo back down to the ground, the Martial Arts Pokémon landing in her feet with ease.

“What’s wrong? I was just taking a quick peek, that's all!”

“That was less of a peek and more like you were just inviting yourself in! What would you have done if there was even one Pokémon on the other side?”

“Well uh…there wasn’t, Hehe!” Mienfoo let out a sheepish giggle, rubbing the back of her head which seemed to annoy Dewott even more. “Oh, but I did get a good look inside and I do think this is actually their hideout! Seems like that opening leads to some kind of storage room, I saw a lot of food, Poké and a whole bunch of other random stuff in there!”

“Hmm…maybe some of the stolen items we haven’t been able to track down in there. If we can find any of them there, then we can confirm that this is the right place.“

“Right! Alright, I’m going on! Watch my back!”

“Just take it a bit slower this time, Mienfoo and actually look in there before you actually barge in there.”

“Got it, I will!” And with that, Mienfoo climbed back up to the opening and after looking through the hole to make sure there was no one there, climbed through the hall eventually disappearing into the dark and small hole. Luckily for Dewott and Cubone, they didn’t have to wait long for confirmation of Mienfoo’s safety as she poked her hand out of the hole and gave a quick wave with her two partners letting out a sigh of relief.

“Alright then I guess I’m next. Watch my back, Cubone.”

“I…uh…yeah. But actually…” Cubone fidgeted a bit, finding it hard to find the words she wanted to see. Luckily for her, Dewott seemed to know what she wanted to say, giving her ally a reassuring smile.

“Ah, right. You probably can’t get in there with your helmet on. Should’ve thought about that.”

“Yeah…I…it’s just a bit too big, I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine, really. You could hand it to me once I get up there and I bring it in sideways, but know how you feel about taking it off so if-“

“No, it’s fine. I’m…I’m fine with taking it off for a bit if it’s just you and Mienfoo. And it’ll only be for a little bit…yeah…” Despite what she said, there was still a quiver in Cubone’s voice. Cubone’s “helmet” meant a lot to her, for reasons she’s only disclosed to Dewott and Mienfoo and a scant few others. To most other Pokémon, it was thought she did it either as a way to intimidate other Pokémon or that it was for cultural reasons, with it not being uncommon for some Cubone and Marowak to wear a Skull Replica to honor the traditions of their past. 

Cubone slowly started to slide her helmet off her face as Dewott climbed the wall as effortlessly as Mienfoo did. After reaching the top and going through the opening she stuck her hands out to receive Cubone’s helmet, which her teammate shakily gave to, standing on the tip of her toes to reach. After securing Cubone’s helmet, Dewott gingerly turned the helmet on its side and brought it inside the opening. Meanwhile, Cubone had started to climb up the wall, her bone club held in her mouth as the pudgier Pokémon somewhat clumsily scaled the wall.

“Mmmnf…nnh…” Eventually however, Cubone managed to get to the opening and climb through, meeting with Dewott and Mienfoo on the other side, with Dewott already holding Cubone’s helmet out for her.

“Here you go, Cubone. Hope that didn’t feel like an eternity for you.”

Cubone quickly grabbed her helmet in the nicest way possible, putting it back on her head with the same agility.

“Aaaah…it’s fine, it’s fine. It was…it wasn’t that long, really…”

Meanwhile, Mienfoo was scrounging through the items in the room. 

“Hey, guys take a look at this!” Mienfoo took out a silver anklet with a beautiful sapphire in the middle and a strange aged book from the pile, raising it up in the air. “I’m pretty sure this is that anklet they stole from Miss Delibird, and this is that tome on unexplored ruins or whatever that they took from Sableye.”

“That seems to confirm it then, this definitely has to be where they’re hiding out. Guess those outlaws weren’t lying after all.”

“Hmm…yeah. Should we go and grab everything and give it back to the Pokémon that lost them?”

“Not now, we’ve gotta take em down first before we do anything else! If they realize we took some of their stuff, they’ll probably abandon this place and we’d have to track them down all over again! This is our one and only chance to squash these Silver Storm thugs once and for all!”

Dewott nodded in agreement.

“I have to agree with Mienfoo here. This is probably the only chance we’ll have to nip this problem at the bud and bring a swift end to the Silver Storm.”

“Yeah…yeah you’re both right. If we can deal with them and their boss now…then everyone can rest easy. They won’t have to worry about having their things stolen or if they'll randomly be attacked or…Yeah, we have to do this…for everyone’s sake…”

Dewott and Mienfoo nodded in agreement as they stared at the rotten wooden door that served as their entrance into the base itself.

“Well girls, we don’t know what’ll be waiting for us beyond this door. So we should be ready for anything waiting for us out there.”

“I’ll open the door!” Mienfoo quickly raised her hand, a large grin on her face. “You know my reaction time is pretty good and you and Cubone can back me up with your long-range attacks!”

“Uh…are you sure, Mienfoo? It could be pretty dangerous…”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll open the door really slowly and you and Dewott are going to be backing me up! I don’t really have anything to worry about!”

“Heh, I wish everyone could have that unyielding optimism that you have, Mienfoo. But still, make sure to be a bit cautious. You never know what could go wrong.”

“Right, right. I’ll be careful!” Mienfoo went up to the door, gripping the doorknob as her body tensed up. Dewott and Cubone were right behind her, their respective weapons at the ready for whatever might be on the other side. “Alright, get ready everyone. In three…two…one…”

The Martial Arts Pokémon slowly started to open the rotted door as its aged hinges started to creek. Light slowly began to flood in and eventually, the three Pokémon would see what was on the other side and that would leave them speechless. Eventually, Mienfoo would be the first to speak up.

“Wha-what the heck is this? This is still a normal old cave isn’t it?”

What awaited them on the other side wasn’t just more of the smelly damp cavern they were expecting. Instead, it seemed like the three Pokémon had somehow accidentally stepped into some kind of ancient temple, the floor and walls being made of a pristine white marble. There were only a few things dotted around the otherworldly room like a few urns and barrels and outside of the rotted door, there seemed to only be two large exits. The young ladies walked through the area in complete awe, leaving their dirty footprints on the marble floor as they tried to regain their bearings.

“Hmm…well I would’ve never expected to find an area like this down here. I don’t feel like anyone ever talked about there being a temple this deep in the forest…”

“Maybe it’s just so old that no one remembers that it existed? Exploration Teams find places like that all the time don’t they?”

“I guess that’s true enough. There’s a ton of places that haven’t been fully explored in this world.”

“Mmm…”

“Hmm? Have something to say, Cubone?”

“Well…it’s all a little strange isn’t it? I mean, you’d think if a group of Outlaws stumbled upon what they thought was an untouched ancient temple that they would’ve turned the entire place upside down and ripped it apart to try and find any valuables. But this place seems nearly untouched, which would be strange if they’ve been using this place as their hideout for the last month or so…”

“Yeah, you’d think it’d be pretty ransacked if this has been their base of operations for some time or at least look like it’s slightly lived in.”

“Maybe they just didn’t really mess this room up for whatever reason?”

“Perhaps it’s still strange though. But pondering about this won’t get us anywhere. Right now we should try and figure out how we’re going to explore this place.”

“Hehe, don’t get too ahead of yourselves girls. No point in exploring anything when you’re about to die soon.”

A mature feminine voice rang through the marble temple as three figures emerged from one of the entrances. The one that had spoken up was surprisingly Jynx, obviously one that has managed to learn the common tongue. She had meticulously styled hair tied up into a ponytail and glossy red nail polish on each toenails of her five-toed meaty and wide feet, the Psychic and Ice-Type Pokémon obviously taking great care of herself. 

Two other Pokémon were beside her, a Male Magmar and a Male Scyther, both of them also seeming clean and very taken care. While all three of them wore the Silvery Armbands that had become synonymous with the Silver Storm Outlaws, something about them seemed radically different. The members of Team Toukon tensed up, not exactly getting into a fighting stance but ready to fly into battle at a moment’s notice. Dewott was unsurprisingly the first to speak up.

“So, I’m guessing you three are members of the Silver Storm Outlaws?”

“Tch, don’t you dare compare us to those vile cretins! To even put us on the same level as them is a grave mockery of the Silver Guardians!”

“Huh?” The three girls looked around in confusion. “But you guys are wearing the same Armbands as them, and I’m pretty sure this is their base isn’t it?“

“Even if you “Silver Guardians” are a completely separate entity from the Silver Storm outlaws, you can’t pretend that your groups aren’t connected. We’ve already noticed that you have some of the things stolen that the Silver Storm outlaws have taken from Pokémon in the area, so at the very least it seems your group has something to gain from their crimes.”

The Scyther growled, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. The Jynx put her large hand in front of her ally, a devious smirk on her face.

“Heh, seems like you were rummaging through our things like the little Rattata you are. I will admit that we have a sort of…partnership if you will with those bandits. We would sometimes task them with acquiring items relevant to our own goals and in exchange for allowing them to use this little base and some compensation. Done out of the kindness of our own heart of course, those cowardly weaklings instantly prostrated themselves at our feet as soon as our glorious Master showed them their power. As for why they call themselves the “Silver Storm” and wear a version of our armband…honestly, I still have no clue. I have to imagine it’s like a group of children pretending to be some kind of Rescue Team, sneaking into places that they don’t belong with delusions of grandeur of taking down a group of outlaws all by themselves...”

“Hmph, don’t you underestimate us just because we’re young! Me, Dewott and Cubone here have taken down tons of crooks like you guys before and you definitely won’t be the last!”

“Heh, big words for such a small girl. Yet not unexpected, you fresh Rescue Teams are all the same. You rack up a few minor victories, save a few Pokémon lost in the forest, and maybe even defeat some small-time outlaws around your area. Then you feel on top of the world, like you can take on any threat. And that overconfidence always tends to be your downfall…”

An even crueler smile spread across Jynx’s’s face and within an instant, Scyther easily closed the distance between him and the girls, his scythe at the ready to decapitate Dewott a murderous grin on his face as he already started to imagine the Water-Type’s head rolling off her short neck and her two friends frozen in shock and horror.

However, the easy kill he expected didn’t come to pass as Dewott just as swiftly grabbed one of her scalchops off her side and parried the blow with surprising expertise.

“And I think it’ll do well for you not to underestimate us based on nothing but your baseless assumptions! I think you’ll find we’re much tougher than you think!”

Without a word between them, Cubone rushed first with her Bone Club in her hand. In one swift motion, she gritted her teeth and slammed the club into Scyther’s side causing the Mantis Pokémon to gag out in pain.

“Gaaack! You little skull-wearing freak!” Scyther growled and despite the throbbing pain in his side, he still managed to let loose a slash at his Attacker, with Cubone trying to jump back as quickly as she could. However, she wasn’t able to get away completely unscathed as Scyther managed to slice her arm.

“Nngh!” Cubone winced in pain, blood starting to flow from the deep cut on her arm. Tears started to well up under her eyes, as she tried to ignore the urge to drop her Bone Club and use her other hand to clutch at the painful wound. The Scyther grinned, seemingly able to ignore the pain of the bruise on his side as he laughed maniacally.

“Hahaha! What’s wrong girlie? I only gave you a little nick and you’re here crying and shaking like I lopped off your whole arm! Look at you, bet you wanna cry all the way home and cuddle up with mommy don’t you?”

“Nngh…mmmm…” Cubone tried to steady her panicked breathing, clutching her Bone Club more tightly as she tried to ignore the searing pain in her arm.

“Trying to act tough aren’t we? Let’s see how tough you are once I cut that head right off tha-Ack!”

Scyther was rudely interrupted with a powerful flying kick to the face from Mienfoo’s dirty foot, the Martial Arts Pokémon’s face red with rage.

“Why don’t you just, shut up!” Mienfoo let loose another powerful kick to the face sending Scyther flying back a bit, blood starting to pour out of his maw. Mienfoo landed back on her feet, still focused on taking out the Pokémon that had injured her friend. However, Magmar took that opportunity to lash out his tail striking Mienfoo harshly in the back. “Gauuugh!”

Mienfoo fell onto her knees, the tail hitting her like an iron bar. The Martial Arts Pokémon coughed up blood as a reddened bruise started to form where she was hit.

“Hehehe. Maybe you’d do well to pay some attention to your surroundings you foolish fighter. If I had aimed for the head you’d be dead with your brain leaking out of your ears!”

Despite her entire back flaring in pain and perhaps even broken, Mienfoo quickly hopped back onto her feet and rushed at Magmar intent on taking the Spitfire Pokémon down. It was clear that Magmar was waiting for that moment, a glint in his eye once Mienfoo was close enough.

“And now your fate is sealed, you foolish berserker.” Magmar let loose flames from both his mouth and tail which started to spin around him and Mienfoo until both of them were engulfed in a twister of Flame, cut off from the other Pokémon in the room.

“Mienfoo! Nnnh!!!” Dewott’s body tried to rush towards the flames to assist her friend, but her instincts caused her to jump to the side instead, just barely avoiding a Slushy Torrent of Icy Psychic energy let loose by Jynx like a destructive blizzard. The bits of energy that managed to reach her ended up cracking the scalchop still attached to her side and making her fear what would have happened to her if Jynx’s attack had directly hit her. It was what finally made her realize that these foes weren’t anything like the ones they’ve faced before. They were facing powerful foes, ones who wouldn’t hesitate to kill them the moment the opportunity presented itself. 

Her first instinct was to tell everyone to retreat, but she couldn’t do that until she was able to get Mienfoo out of that Fire Spin. But she couldn’t do that as long as Jynx and Scyther were still in commission. Quickly trying to assess the situation, she saw Jynx charging up for another attack and Scyther struggling to get back on his feet, the attacks from Mienfoo clearly taking a toll on his stamina. Meanwhile, while Cubone’s arm was dripping with blood, it seemed like the Ground-Type still had some fight in her with her Bone Club arm still able to be used.

“Cubone!“ The Ground-Type quickly turned to Dewott at the sound of her reassuring voice. Without saying a word, Dewott quickly explained her plan to Cubone with only eye contact and quick hand movements. Cubone nodded, completely understanding what was expected of her and the two Pokémon went after their respective targets.

Cubone rushed towards Scyther, the adrenaline now pumping into her body dulling the pain of her sliced arm as her small yet meaty feet slapped and made dirty footprints on the pristine marble floor. She would usually be nervous about fighting such an agile Pokémon like Scyther, with Dewott and Mienfoo usually being a more fitting choice to take them down. But, it was a better option than her trying to get close to Jynx and with Scyther already being weakened, she should be able to take him down. No, she had to for Mienfoo’s sake. She couldn’t let her die, she couldn’t let her die.

Her eyes focused on Scyther, who had both gotten onto his feet and had noticed Cubone running towards him. Despite the pain he was in, the Mantis Pokémon still gave Cubone a bloodied grin, his teeth stained with the blood he had puked out.

“Hehehe, did all that blood loss cause you make you dumb? That’s the only reason I can imagine you would start charging at me like a Tauros seeing red. Makes my job easier though!”

Scyther dashed towards Cubone, his injuries only slowing him down ever so slightly. 

“How about I finish the job I started? I’ll slice both of those stubby arms clean off!”

Scyther closed in on Cubone, lifting both of his Scythes up, his maniacal bloodstained grin made even crazier as Scyther already had the image of a limbless Cubone stumbling back, white in the face as she looked down at her cut off limbs as blood sputtered out of her newly made stubs. With the thought in his mind, Scyther brought his scythes down, readying himself to hear the sound of his scythes cleanly slicing through meat and bone and the subsequent sound of blood pouring out.

However, the sound he heard instead was the sound of his blades hitting dull and hard bone. Looking down in confusion, he saw Cubone managing to hold both of his scythes up with her bone. She gritted her teeth, looking straight at Cubone without an ounce of fear.

“I’m sorry…but I can’t die. Not while my friends are in danger!” With a surprising amount of strength, she pushed her bone forward as Scyther realized what she was about to do or more aptly, realized it when he heard the sound of his blades starting to crack.

“Wha-what! No way, no way!!!”

“Hraaaaah!!!” With one final push, Cubone’s bone went through Scyther’s blade, shattering them completely. Scyther stumbled back, white in the face as he looked down at his broken scythes dripping with blood.

Unlike her opponent, Cubone didn’t waste any time with pointless chatter. She charged at Cubone, ducking her head and head butting Scyther right in the gut. The Mantis Pokémon doubled over, puking up more blood as he dropped to his knees.

“Raaaaaah!!!” With one final battle cry, Cubone swung her Bone Club right into the side of Scyther’s face in the same spot Mienfoo had left her dirty footprint. More blood and some teeth flew out of Scyther’s mouth as his eyes rolled up into his sockets.

“Guuuuuh…uuuunnh…” Letting out a bloody gurgle, the Bug-Type Pokémon crumpled to the ground, spasming from the harsh blow to his head. Drool and blood poured out of his mouth as his round toes flexed and curled. Cubone panted heavily, adrenaline still high as she tapped at Scyther’s limp body with her Bone Club.  She started to feel a bit light-headed from the blood still oozing out of her cut arm but did her best to keep her feet planted on the ground.

“Haaa…haaaah…I…I gotta keep going…I need to help Dewott…and Mienfoo…”

Dewott meanwhile was closing the distance between her and Jynx, with none of Jynx’s Psychic-Powered storms reaching the Discipline Pokémon as she sidestepped each and every one. Jynx was starting to get clearly frustrated, stomping her large five-toed feet against the floor.

“Tch, keep still won’t you, you little cretin! Is jumping around all you’re good at?”

Dewott didn’t bother giving her foe any kind of response as she got closer and closer with each step. Once she had gotten close enough, Dewott prepared to finish her foe off with a quick hit from her Scalchop, a blunt strike that would knock her oddly shaped foe out.

Once Dewott was within Arm’s Reach of Jynx, the Psychic-Type let loose another of her storms and like clockwork, Dewott sidestepped the attack. However, just as Dewott went to grab her Scalchop, she suddenly felt a chill go up her spine. Realizing that something was up, Dewott put her arms up to guard her face and the cold and sharp pain spreading through her arm confirmed she had made the right choice.

“Heh, guess your instincts are pretty sharp huh? Because it’s clear you didn’t expect me riding my own Blizzard to attack you until the last minute.”

“Nngh…” Dewott grimaced in pain, trying to ignore her throbbing bruised arm. Grabbing her unbroken Scalchop, she swung it right in front of her stomach, destroying the Icicle Shard Jynx was preparing to drive straight through her.

“Oh? And you noticed my Icicle Shard too? You’re annoyingly perceptive, aren’t you?” Dewott hopped back, shaking her pained arm as she tried to decide what to do next now that she was back to square one.

Luckily, Dewott wouldn’t have to think much on her next move. As Jynx prepared to launch another attack, she was abruptly interrupted when a Bone Club clonked her in the back of the head, causing the Psychic Type’s head to spin as she let out a pained moan. Dewott smiled, her bruised arm glowing with an orange aura. Meanwhile, Cubone’s Bone Club boomeranged back to her, the Ground-Type expertly catching it out of the air.

“Thanks, Cubone! I owe you big time!” Using this opportunity, Dewott rushed towards the dazed Jynx, the aura around her arm glowing even brighter. “Raaaaah!!!!” With the pain she had taken prior strengthening her Revenge, Dewott uppercutted Jynx with her injured arm as if it was perfectly fine.

“Gah!!!! Guuuuuh…” Spittle and blood flew out of Jynx’s puffy lips, as her jaw cracked and her head rattled. Her eyes rolled all the back, only showing a veiny milky white as she was instantly rendered unconscious. She plopped onto her back with a thud, drool running out of her mouth as her light purple soles were on full display. Her pudgy toes wiggled and curled in pain as the comatose Psychic-Type twitched on the ground. Dewott let out a sigh of relief as Cubone rushed to her leader’s side.

“Dewott, are you alright!”

“Yeah, I’m fine thanks to you. Good job, on taking down that Scyther by the way. But now, we just have to focus on helping Mienfo-“

As the two turned towards the twister of fire keeping their friend captive, a body suddenly flew out of it. It was the Magmar, only showing the white of his eyes and blood, embers and drool trailing out of his mouth. He fell onto his head first, before he crumpled onto the floor on his stomach, his toes wiggling and flexing as he violently spasmed on the floor. Dewott and Cubone already knew what had happened to him, with dozens of dirty footprints and bloody and purple bruising all over his body.

“Raaaaaaaahhh!!!” Jumping out of the flame like a demon out of a blaze was Mienfoo with only two sizable cuts on her left arm being her only noticeable wound from the battle along with some light singe marks on body. She violently stomped down on the back of the Magmar’s head, continentally doing so with a snarl as more blood and drool pooled out of his mouth. 

“Mien-Mienfoo!”

“Raaaah!!!!! Haaaaah!!!! Graaaaah!!!!” Mienfoo let out terrifying cries with each stomp as Dewott just sighed with exasperation while Cubone seemed a bit worried.

“Oh man…Mienfoo’s completely lost it, she’s only seeing red.”

“I…I haven’t seen Mienfoo this angry in a long long time. It’s pretty scary…”

“That Scyther probably completely set her off when he insulted and threatened. And who knows what that Magmar said to her while they were in that Fire Spin. Ugh…I’ll cool her off…”

Dewott walked up to Mienfoo, who was still violently stomping on Magmar’s head. Water started to form in Dewott’s mouth and she shot out a Water Gun directly into her friend’s face. Mienfoo blinked a few times, the rage that had built up subsiding as she snapped back to reality.

“Nngh…mmph…Gaaaaah, my back!!!” As if all the pain she was feeling caught up to her at once, Mienfoo suddenly clutched at her bruised back as she fell forward, luckily being caught in Dewott’s arms.

“Seems like you’re back with us, Mienfoo. I’m guessing you're too injured to walk?”

“No…I’m fine, I’m fine. I just need a second, that's all. Nngh…I must’ve blacked out, I don’t remember anything from after these creeps showed up…”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“I um…Dewott…I think it’d be best…”

Dewott nodded, looking at her two friends and the injuries inflicted on them. The cut on Cubone’s arm had to be looked at and she was most likely feeling woozy from all the blood she had lost. Meanwhile, Mienfoo’s bruised back had to be checked out very possibly having been broken. Even she had our own injury to look at, as her arm throbbing arm reminded her of the grisly fate she barely avoided. The leader of Team Toukon knew that even fighting one more Pokémon of similar strength to the three they barely managed to take down could spell bad news for all of them.

“Yeah, we’re going. There’s nothing to be gained from staying here any longer.”

“Huh? But we just got here! Are we really going to turn tail before we’ve even-Nnnh!”

“Sometimes we have to admit we’re in over our heads. These Silver Guardians are on a whole different Level than the Silver Storm Brutes, and just one battle with them has left us injured and barely standing. The best thing we can do now is retreat and tell the authorities about this place. Then they can have more well equipped and prepared teams come here and deal with this.”

“Mhm…” Mienfoo had a downcast look on her face. It was clear she wanted to charge ahead but knew in her head that it was a bad move. “But what if they ditch this place before other teams can get here?”

“That’s just a risk we’ll have to take. And even then it’s not like this little excursion was for nothing, we’ve learned a small amount but still valuable information about these Silver Guardians. But going any further than this would just be foolhardy.”

“…Dewott’s right, Mienfoo. This isn’t worth our lives, no one would be happy if they learned we died here. I’m pretty sure your parents and Dewott’s father would be devastated if they lost you.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s annoying but there’s no point in risking our lives for essentially nothing. Even if I hate to admit it, heading back home is for the best.”

Dewott nodded.

“Good, alright let’s head-“ Dewott suddenly tensed up, hearing the sound of footsteps coming towards them. “Crap, we’ve got more! We’ve got to get out of here!”

The girls turned back towards the rotted door that promised their salvation. However half a dozen sharp-edged rocks flew towards them, with the first two hitting Cubone in the side, smashing across her body.

“Gwaaah!!!” Cubone fell onto her side, red  bruises started to form as an explosive pain shoot through her body, causing her to cough up some blood. “Nnngh…gnnnh…”

“Cubone!” Dewott jumped in front of her fallen ally, cleaving and destroying the other rocks before they had a chance to reach Cubone. Unfortunately, it had given their newest enemies the opportunity to catch up. A female Ursaring and female Quagsire, a bit more scarred and more battle hardened than their fellow Silver Guardians. The Quagsire seemed particularly surprised, seeing her allies down on the ground.

“Well shit. I would have never expected that three girls would have been able to defeat one, let alone three Silver Guardians.”

“Hehe, sounds good to me. It’s been way too long since I’ve had a good fight to the death. Though, they seem a bit too beat up to give us a good time.”

“Hmph, I can think of a way these three can satisfy us. After they’re dead, that is, hehehe.”

The tone of Quagsire’s voice sent chills down Dewott’s spine, with the Water-Type realizing just how bad this situation was. She turned back to her friends, her worry clear on her usually stoic face.

“I’ll try and hold them off, you two just get out of here!”

“Nn-no! We’re…we’re not going to abandon you, Dewott!”

“It’s the only way, neither of you are in any condition to-“

As if she hadn’t even heard Dewott’s plead, Mienfoo dashed past her friend, her eyes focused completely on Quagsire. She jumped up in the air, ready to land a powerful blow on the Water Fish Pokémon. However, Ursaring quickly got in front of her ally and perhaps in a move no would’ve accepted, lunged her head forward and bit down on Mienfoo’s arm, drawing blood as she sank her jaws into the Martial Arts Pokémon’s arm. Mienfoo grunted in pain, now lifted in the air by Ursaring’s jaws.

However, even in this state Mienfoo managed to launch a counter attack, swinging herself around and landing a kick  right to Ursaring’s neck. Ursaring gagged in pain, opening her mouth and allowing Mienfoo to fall back onto the ground. She jumped back, panting heavily and clearly tired. However, her attention was so focused on Ursaring and what to do with her that she didn’t even notice the Pink Pokémon who teleported behind her, suddenly placing the Mienfoo in a necklock as the Pokémon pressed Mienfoo’s body against their smooth wet skin.

“Don’t worry. It’ll only hurt for a short while…”

Before any single Pokémon could react, the Slowking twisted Mienfoo’s neck, her head being turned nearly all the way around a violent bone crunching snap resounding through the marble room. Mienfoo let a harsh and bloody death rattle, her entire body spasming and twitching as her body flopped back only being caught and lifted up by her murderer’s arms. Smaller post-mortem twitches started to take over, her dirty soles on full display as her toes splayed and wiggled for the last time.

“Hu-huh?”

“Wai…No…this isn’t…”

Dewott and Cubone were completely stunned, bodies unable to move as they tried to process what had happened. Meanwhile, the Silver Guardians made small talk as if a terrible murder hadn’t just taken place.

“*Cough* *Cough*Dammit old timer! That girl was mine, I needed to make her pay for trying to crush my windpipe!”

“And pay she did, she tried to break your neck and I broke her’s in turn.”

“Whatever, there’s still two intruders that need to be killed. And the legends forbid what’ll happen if I don’t at least get one kill.” Ursaring turned her gaze toward Dewott, the Water-Type Pokémon still completely shell shocked by the sudden death of one of her closest friends.

“Mien-Mienfoo? No…no…”

Ursaring grinned, one of her forearms started to glow a bright gold.

“Hmph, these two will be easy pickings at least. How about I kill the Dewott and you kill the Cubone.”

Quagsire shrugged. 

“Sounds good to me, this really is just a preamble to the actual fun stuff for me anyway.” Quagsire let out a yawn as her own fist started to glow with a light blue aura. “Now let me just finish this other girl off and-Nngh!!!”

Quagsire suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through his wrist from a Bone Club slamming against it with as much force as its wielder could muster. Cubone had recovered from the shock of Mienfoo’s death much faster than her friend did, not because she wasn’t saddened by the sudden loss. She was just as upset as Dewott was, it was just that she was used to seeing such things and she knew she didn’t want to see it happen a third time. Gritting her teeth, she buried her club deeper until she heard the sound of Quagsire’s wrist breaking. Quagsire tried to counter by shooting an Ice Beam directly into the Ground-Type’s face, but the injured Cubone was much faster than Quagsire expected, with her deftly dodging the attack by jumping to the side before once again slamming her club into Quagsire’s side, causing the Mud Fish Pokémon to fall onto her side howling in pain as she rubbed at her developing pain.

“Nngh! You little freak, dammit that hurts!”

“Hmm…seems like one of them is made of tougher stuff than first thought!”

“Yeah, glad you’re able to notice that old timer! Now kill her with a Psychic attack or something you useless-hnnn!”

Slowking let out a sigh, dropping Mienfoo’s limp body onto the ground, which was just what Cubone was counting on. Trying to ignore the sight of watching her friend’s dead body flop onto the floor, she tossed her Bone Club forward, throwing it right into Slowking’s face, breaking his nose as blood started to pour out of it.

“Gaaaah!!! You little-“ Slowking clutched at his injured face as he stumbled back, clearly dazed.

With two of the guardians briefly dispatched, Cubone’s eyes were focused on reaching Dewott. The Ursaring’s arm was ready to slam down on top of Dewott’s head, but she hadn’t moved an inch and wasn’t even looking at her attacker. Dewott’s eyes were only focused on Mienfoo’s body which was now just laying limp on the floor. Cubone wasn’t sure if she could reach her friend, her Bone Club hadn't swung back to her and she didn’t know how much longer it’d be for Ursaring to bring her arm down. Within the split seconds she had to make a decision, she could only think of one thing she could do, one way to save her friend from Mienfoo’s fate.

“DEWOTT!!!”

The Discipline Pokémon suddenly snapped back to reality, Cubone’s raised voice shaking her very core as she turned to her friend rushing towards her. It was only then that she had noticed Ursaring right next to her, about to bring her arm down to split her head open.

“Aaaah…aaaah…” Dewott could only look at the Silver Guardian in fear, her shaky legs still refusing to move or even let her stand back up. Tears started to well up as she simply closed her eyes and hoped that it’d be painless death.

But what she felt immediately wasn’t the force of Ursaring’s arm slamming into her head, it was the feeling of two familiar small hands pushing her away with as much force as they could. Dewott’s body slid across the floor, slamming against the rotted door that had led her into this nightmare. Dewott opened her eyes in confusion, only to see Cubone now where she was and Dewott swore that she could see her friend smiling just as Ursaring’s arm slammed down on the Ground-Type’s head.

“Guuuugh-Guuurk…” The gurgles coming out of Cubone were completely drowned out by the sound of the helmet she wore cracking from the force of the blow and then of her own skull being bashed in as Ursaring’s powerful Hammer Arm caved into her skull. Cubone collapsed onto the ground, blood pooling out of her mouth as her body wildly twitched and convulsed. Horrible and ghastly rattles came out of Cubone as her dirty feet slid across the ground and Dewott could only look on in horror.

“No..no…Cubone why? Cubone…” Dewott could feel her body shutting down, tears flowing without restraint. Within a matter of minutes, Dewott had just suddenly lost both of her closest lifelong friends and no matter how she tried to rationalize it, it was all her fault. It was her final decision as the leader to infiltrate the hideout, believing they knew and could deal with any threat they faced. But instead, all she had done was get both of her friends killed, their lives snuffed out before they could even begin. As her regret and sadness started to reach its peak, her body suddenly started to float in the air being levitated and locked in place by Slowking’s psychic abilities. Despite rubbing his injured face, the older Pokémon still seemed to be quite jovial.

“Such a shame…such a shame. After your poor friend sacrificed herself to save you, you still ended up wasting it. Your freedom was probably only a door away and yet here you are, about to die alongside them.”

Dewott didn’t even know what to say, her usual calmness and courage now only replaced with despondence. Cubone had given her own life up to save Dewott, and she understood why Cubone would do that. And yet all she had done with that great sacrifice was nothing…even less than nothing. Cubone had died for nothing and it was all her fault. Ursaring lumbered towards Dewott with her blood lust still evident on her face, with Cubone’s blood still dripping off her arm. With a slasher grin, Ursaring gripped Dewott's face with three of her claws and sliced down her face to make three deep cuts. Blood started to drip down from her newest wounds but Dewott didn’t even wince, only being able to wallow in her own self-pity, the burning sting of the cuts not even completely registering.

“Hmph, how boring. I think we completely broke this one. This one is the leader right? Isn’t she kind of pathetic?”

Quagsire nodded as she waddled to Ursaring’s side, still rubbing at her own wounds.

“Who cares, just kill her so we can have some fun. I doubt the bitch wants to live anyway, she’s probably begging to die at this point.”

Dewott didn’t say anything, but she completely agreed. Quagsire was right, she didn’t deserve to live at all. She was the only one who should have died, not Cubone or Mienfoo like how her mother had sacrificed herself for others and her father had nearly lost his own for the same reason. She could never face her father, Kangaskhan, Mienfoo’s parents or anyone else in town ever again. She didn’t deserve to live a long and possibly fulfilling life when Cubone and Mienfoo were robbed of that opportunity themselves. The only thing she could possibly do for them now is at least die with them, it was the least she could do for leading them straight to their deaths.

“Hmm…so that’s what you’re thinking then young lady?”

Dewott let out a gasp as she looked towards the Slowking, only just now realizing that the Royal Pokémon pried into her thoughts without her permission. His look was surprisingly solemn, almost as if he actually felt some sympathy for her. He quickly turned that solemn look back into a warm smile, one that almost made Dewott feel a bit better.

“Well if that’s what you want, I’ll be more than happy to provide you with a painless death. Don’t worry, all you’ll hear is a little pop so just close your eyes and think back on happier times…”

Dewott just nodded, realizing such a painless death was probably selfish compared to what her friends had suffered. Closing her reddened and teary eyes, she tried to think back on happier days. When the three of them were just children, filled with so much hope and excitement for their futures. Their promises of how they’d always be there for each other and how they’d be friends forever. Her mind retreated back to those days, just to allow her to escape the cruel reality she had brought upon her friends. Thinking back on warmer smiles and happier days, Dewott only heard a small and barely audible pop before everything swiftly went to black.

Within a matter of seconds, Dewott was now as dead as her friends, blood oozing out of her nostrils and ears as she twitched about a bit in the air. Slowking let go of Dewott’s body allowing her to limply flop onto the marble floor. Ursaring let out a slightly annoyed groan, clenching her fist as she stomped on Dewott’s unconsciously winking pussy.

“Tch, was hoping for a bit more considering how they beat Jynx and her boy toys. Yet they crumbled so fast.“

“I really don’t know what you expected. Most of them were already pretty damn beat up by the time we got here, so it was to be expected.” Quagsire went over to Cubone, rolling the dead Ground-Type onto her back and checking her pulse. Unsurprisingly there was nothing, no breaths being taken. While perhaps not as destructive as it would’ve been for Dewott, the Hammer Arm had still done its job and ended Cubone’s life. “Heh, I wonder if she thought she could handle your Hammer Arm, Ursaring. Maybe she thought this Skull would protect her but it was all for naught.”

“Yeah, I was surprised when I hit it, especially since it felt like actually breaking through bone but I still bashed her head in despite that! Actually, did you check on Jynx and the others.”

“Was doing that while you were finishing that Dewott off. They’re all still breathing, though it’s clear some of them are worse for wear than others.”

Slowking just shook his head.

“They just knocked them out. They never had a chance then, it’s much easier to kill your foe than to try and simply defeat them.”

“You don’t have to make it sound deeper than it actually is geezer. Just say they were weak and tried to take on something they couldn’t handle and move on.” Quagsire then grinned, starting to rub Cubone’s pussy as she stared at the dead Pokémon’s dirty and limp feet. “But who cares about any of that now, why don’t we have some fun with these troublemakers? Don’t think I’ve seen such a cute pair in a looooong time.”

“Not yet Quagsire. We must inform our Master of these intruders, they’ll have the final say of what the fate of these three will be.”

Quagsire just rolled her eyes, lifting up Cubone’s dead body and slinging it over her shoulder, Cubone’s dirty feet dangling in front of her as their odor wafted into her nostrils. 

“Uuuugh…fine. You know they’ll let us do whatever we want though.” Ursaring meanwhile lifted up Dewott’s and Mienfoo’s body, slinging them on one shoulder each.

“Nah, the geezer is right in this case, Quagsire. I know you just want to vent some steam but we’ve got to keep Master in the loop of what’s going on.”

“Uuuugh…alright then, let’s get this over with then. What should we do about the three still conked out?”

“Leave them for now, they’ll sleep it off. And honestly, I’d rather not be around when most of them wake up. Pretty sure they’ll be pretty grumpy once they do.”

“Sounds like a plan. Alright, let’s go.“

The three conscious Silver Guardians left their unconscious allies behind with the three dead Rescue Team members in tow. They went deeper and deeper into the temple, going into the heart of it as the sounds of rushing water became more and more audible. Eventually, the three reached the cella of the temple, a pristine white room surrounded by crystal clear water on each side. Three Statues resembling the Legendary Birds stood tall on the left, center and right of the room as water gushed out of their beaks. 

As the three Guardians walked down the long flight of stairs, it didn’t take long for their larger than life Master to come into view. It was an aged Lugia, scars all over their body with a prominent one across his right eye. They were sitting on his royal blue throne as he read a book that sat comfortably within his large palm-like wing. The three Guardians walked up to their master, a bit of that fear that always comes with coming face to face with a Legendary Pokémon. All three Pokémon kneeled down, with Slowking being the one to speak up.

“Oh great Master Lugia. We are so sorry to disturb your peace and quiet, but we just wished to inform you that we've dealt with some intruders who broke into your humble abode.”

“Hmm…” Lugia didn’t even look away from the book they were reading, not even slightly turning towards their servants. Their voice was grand, having a stern male tone mixed with a more motherly and calm one. “More of Ho-Oh’s followers is it? I swear that girl seems so content to have her believers rush towards their death.”

“Actually, it isn’t any of Ho-Oh’s Pokémon or another Temple Raider. This time it was three Rescue Team members who infiltrated this place intent on taking down the outlaws we’ve…allied ourselves with.”

“A Rescue Team? Well that’s different than usual. You think they would have gone through the entrance to the cave proper, but I guess they must have found some other way to sneak in. Ursaring, Quagsire, throw them down.”

The usually fierce and roguish pair of Pokémon seemed meek and a bit frightened as they tossed the three girls' dead bodies onto the ground. Dewott plopped down first, with Mienfoo landing right after her friend, her dirty and grimy feet landing right on Dewott’s face. Cubone was the last to be tossed, her head slumped against one of Lugia’s big and plump toes as one of her dirty feet landed on Dewott’s bruised arm. Feeling the dead bodies against their foot, Lugia looked down at the girls, a bit surprised by their appearance.

“Huh…they seem quite young. They must be a Rookie Rescue Team.”

“That’s what we presume as well, Master Lugia. They did manage to defeat Jynx, Scyther and Magmar however. They’re still alive but pretty beat up.”

“I see…how intriguing and how unfortunate for them. I doubt they thought they would die on this day, it tends to happen when you least expect it. But I do wonder…what kind of lives these three must have led only to end up dead at my feet…”

Lugia’s eyes started to glow an eerie green as their gaze started to focus on Mienfoo. Soon enough, Mienfoo’s unfocused eyes widened and started to glow a similar green as the Diving Pokémon pried into the dead Fighting-Type’s mind. Because even if she was dead, the memories etched into her body would always remain. They dove deep into the memories, Mienfoo’s entire short twenty years of life unfurling around them as if they were reading through a scroll.

The story of the girl was a bit surprising to the Diving Pokémon, not one he immediately would’ve expected of the Martial Arts Pokémon. The beginning of her memories came in the form of words, something that was told to Mienfoo and not something she experienced herself. According to the scripture, mother was an escaped slave, something that wasn’t an uncommon phenomenon in the world. Having escaped with only the egg of her unborn child in her scarred arms, she was luckily helped and given shelter by a Diggersby, a quite wealthy merchant who lived in Symphony Town. The two would quickly fall in love and get married sometime after Mienfoo’s birth, with her mother practically going from rags to riches within a matter of seconds. Thus, Mienfoo never had to suffer the same harsh and cruel life her mother had gone through and instead had a comfortable and pampered life where her every need was attended to.

But Mienfoo ended up growing up to be an overly energetic and fiery Pokémon who developed a love of fighting and a larger love of helping and protecting others. She would commonly stick up for her friends and other Pokémon in the town, always doing what she could for others. Perhaps there was no surprise a Pokémon like her would want to be part of a Rescue Team. She just seemed to be one of those genuinely good-hearted Pokémon, an individual who derived joy and fulfillment from seeing others smile and be happy. Her life and days up till her day were simplistic and easy to understand as well as her unwavering courage and ideals.

If anything it was only a surprise that a Pokémon that lived such a comfy and relaxing life would ever want to risk their lives in such a dangerous profession. Lugia could only imagine that it may have something to do with her mother, perhaps the Mienshao had instilled her daughter with good morals, a desire to help those less fortunate or less powerful. One that would have been based on her mother’s own hardships in life.

Lugia sighed, not exactly feeling sorry for the girl but understanding her a bit better. They turned their gaze towards the dead Cubone next, the green glow in Mienfoo’s muted eyes disappearing. It was now Cubone’s turn to have her memories looked through without her consent, her eyes flickering up as green lights shone out of them like headlights.

Cubone’s life was the opposite of her friend’s, one that was wrought with hardship and sadness. For most of her early years, she lived with her mother as the two traveled from place to place essentially being homeless and barely being able to scrape by day to day. Though it didn’t seem to be too much for the young Cubone, with her seemingly happy just to be alongside her mother despite their living conditions.

Then one dark memory came forth, like a black ooze bubbling to the surface. One day when Cubone was barely seven, the two had the misfortune of running into a particularly cruel and terrible Pangoro. The poor young Cubone had to watch her mother be beaten within an inch of her life by their attacker as she desperately tried to protect her beloved daughter. It was all for naught though, with the Marowak barely clinging to life at the Pangoro’s feet who then dragged both her and the wailing Cubone back to his hut. 

It was there in that place that might as well had been hell that Cubone was tied up and could only watch as the Pangoro raped and abused her dying mother, whose last moments were spent futilely trying to console her distressed daughter before her life was mercilessly stabbed to death by the Pangoro’s knife multiple times. As Cubone continued to wailed, she could only watch as the Pangoro continued to abuse her now dead mother before he sliced the Marowak’s head right off her neck, dumping it in some kind of strange liquid which quickly burned her skin off and only left the skull, which Pangoro wished to keep as a trophy while he buried the rest of the body in places unknown.

The only reason Cubone herself was still alive was ironically because of her incessant crying. A Pokémon who had just been passing by had heard it, and after sneaking a peek inside the hut and seeing the terrible scene quickly rushed to tell the authorities. A high rank Rescue Team would eventually come to Cubone’s rescue, apprehending the Pangoro but they would be much too late to do anything for Cubone’s mother, the only remaining part of the Marowak being her skull.

 And that’s when Lugia came to a shocking discovery, the “helmet” the Cubone wore was no mere replica, it was the skull of her mother, the only thing she had left of her. While it was common for Cubone to wear their dead mother’s skull millennia ago, it was no longer something that happened due to the lack of deaths in childbirth among their species and it was just being seen as macabre in a more modern and civilized world. Though some still wore replicas either to honor their heritage or intimidate their enemies.

A lot of things started to make sense about the Cubone. Her quiet and meek nature, her difficulty in speaking up for herself and her strange reliance on the skull in general. There was a reason why Dewott and Mienfoo were the only real friends she was able to make in the town outside of her adoptive Kangaskhan family. However, it also explained something else, why Cubone gave her all to protect her friends and why she would sacrifice herself for them. To see someone else she cherished die in front of her would be too much to bear, and it was something she had hoped to never see again. It was only sad that her sacrifice in this case was in vain.

Lugia shook its head, as if trying to get rid of the grisly memories they had just looked into. However, there was still one more dead intruder to look into, the leader of the group, Dewott. Just like Cubone before her, her eyes flickered open as that same light green warm light shone out of them.

Ever since Dewott was nothing more than an Oshawott toddler, her life has always been surrounded by the Rescue Team lifestyle. Both her mother and father were part of a Diamond Rank Rescue Team alongside a neighbor, and Dewott had always aspired to be like her parents, wishing to create a famous and reliable team just like the one her parents created.

In order to achieve her dream, she trained day and night either under her parent’s tutelage or by her lonesome. Because of the nature of their work, it was extremely common for her parents to be gone for days at a time. But Dewott always had confidence that her parents would return home, and they always did. 

But when she was fourteen, her parents returned home but it wasn’t with the jovial laughter, tight hugs and warm smiles that the Dewott had grown so accustomed to. Instead, her father returned, having completely lost one of his arms. And her mother and their neighbor…had returned laying dead in a wagon, their body but their feet covered by a blood soaked blanket. Dewott was absolutely devastated, her mother so suddenly ripped out of her life and her father maimed for the rest of his own. Many in the town expected that this would be the end of Dewott’s own dreams of creating a Rescue Team after seeing one of the possible fates that lay in wait for her.

However, if anything this event only seemed to have embolden her own desires, with her training and studying going into overdrive afterwards. And now with her father always home, he had his guiding hand and wisdom to help hone her skills not only as a fighter but as a leader as well. After feeling confident enough in her own abilities and talking about it with her closest friends, Cubone and Mienfoo, they decided to create Team Toukon about two years ago and had quickly risen up the ranks and become extremely well known and beloved in Symphony Town. 

But now that was all for naught, Dewott and her teammates were now dead and as far as the dead Water-Type was concerned it was all her fault. All that was left in the end was regret. In the end, it seemed like Dewott was more than willing and even prepared to die herself. But what she wasn’t prepared for was the death of her friends, the Pokémon she had convinced to join in on her own selfish dream of being a famous Rescue Team.

Lugia wondered if her father had similar feelings to his daughter, if he felt lifelong regret over the death of his wife and own friend as the leader of his team. They wondered how her father would feel if he had known about his own daughter’s death and the crushing regret she felt by dragging her friends down with her. Perhaps it was a blessing that Dewott didn’t escape, that she didn’t go through that door and get away. If she did, she would have most likely become a shell of her former self, only haunted with the regret of having knowingly marched her closest friends, the two Pokémon that implicitly trusted her and followed her lead to their untimely deaths.

The glow from Lugia’s eyes disappeared, the Legendary Pokémon looking more disappointed than anything.

“So we have a well off lass who’s selfless wish to help others lead her straight to her death. An orphan wearing her mother’s skull, who wished to save others from her mother’s fate only to share in it. And the daughter of legendary Rescuers, who died only with regret and sorrow over those she got killed. What an unfortunate end to such a tight-knit group of friends…”

Lugia gave Slowking a quick glance, with Slowking seeming a bit disturbed before speaking back up.

“So…what should we do with them, Master Lugia?”

“Do as you wish with the bodies, I don’t have any opinion on that matter. As long as it keeps our secrecy, I’m fine with anything.”

The three Silver Guardians nodded, with Ursaring and especially Quagsire seeming quite giddy with the freedom their master has given them.

“Thank you, gratuitous and grand Master!  We truly are unworthy of your generosity!“

“Hmph. Now take your leave and take the bodies with you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must continue reading this tome. I just know something in this area will reveal to me the power I desire, I just know it…”

The Silver Guardians nodded, lifting up the three dead bodies and taking them out of the Cealla, leaving Lugia to their lonesome once again. They already knew where they were going, somewhere where they could have a bit of privacy with the three Pokémon they limply carried in their arms. Quagsire in particular was especially giddy, a new found spring in her step as she carried Cubone in her arms.

“It’s been waaaaay too long since we’ve had fresh bodies to play with. I was disappointed we had to leave behind all those dead Ho-Oh devotees when we switched bases, but these three would make a perfect start to our new collection.”

“Mhm, you’ve got a point, Quagsire. I know these three will satisfy us for a very long time. And they’ll be pretty easy to take with us even if we end up having to abandon ship again.”

“Hehehe, these three lovely feet have been teasing me since I first laid eyes on them. So which ones do you two want to play with first? I’m fine with any of them and admittedly it’s not like I really did much to help in taking them down…”

“Nah, if it wasn’t for your initial Rock Slide those three would have probably escaped. And if we’re counting our achievements by our number of kills, then I guess the old timer gets the first pick.”

“Oh you youngsters really do flatter me. I just do what I must for the sake of Master Lugia and the Silver Guardians. But hmm…I think if you’re giving me the first choice I’ll have to choose the Dewott.”

“Ooooh, have you developed a bit of a crush on her? You did give her a pretty swift and painless death.”

“I just felt a bit bad for her, that's all. Her whole world came crashing down in a matter of seconds, it would have been criminal to allow her to wallow in her despair.”

“Mmm, so a crush got it. She’s pretty cute I’ll admit. And what about you, Ursaring? Are you taking the Mienfoo or the Cubone?”

“I’ll take the Mienfoo. If I couldn’t get any payback by killing her, she can at least repay me for nearly destroying my neck by letting me have fun with her feet. And admittedly, what Master Lugia said after going through that Cubone’s memories was a bit…disconcerting…”

“Oh what, that whole wearing her mother’s skull bit. I just thought Master Lugia wasn’t speaking literally, this kid is really wearing her mommy’s cleaned off skull, Slowking?“

Slowking nodded, having had the memories shared with him through nothing more than a quick glance between the two Psychic Types earlier.

“It’s true. And it’s quite an awful story behind it. I really can’t imagine the trauma that Cubone had to make her feel like she had to wear her mother’s skull.”

“Eh, I’m fine with it. Not like I’ll be messing with her face too much anyway. I’m much more interested in this chubby little rescuer’s bottom half if you know what I’m sayin, hehehe~”

The three Silver Guardians eventually reached their destination, a small room deep into the temple which more so resembled the cavern the three Team Toukon Members had entered than the temple they had died in. It had a dirty and rocky floor which the three dead Pokémon were unceremoniously dropped down onto. Without another word between the Guardians, they started to play with the dead Pokémon they had chosen earlier.

Despite wanting to make her “pay” Ursaring was surprisingly gentle with Mienfoo’s body, tenderly stroking her sweat and dirt stained body with her claws. 

“Mmm…you’re surprisingly soft. It seems like you actually take decent care of yourself. I think I can even smell a bit of high quality incense wafting off your body. Guess that’s what Master Lugia meant when they said you were well off. I think I might just bury my snout in that fur for a little while…”

Ursaring did just that, burying her face into Mienfoo’s furry body. Alongside the scent of sweaty B.O. and the strong sense of blood was the strong scent of an incense she must’ve slathered onto herself, with it smelling similar to a wonderful mixture of honey and ripe berries. Ursaring let out a pleased moan, the scent getting trapped in the bear’s sensitive nostrils.

“Mmmm, now that’s nice. That’s very nice. Hopefully you’ll be able to keep that scent for a long while, I doubt we’ll be able to find nice incense like this ourselves. But now let me find out if you put some of that incense on those lovely feet of yours…”

Ursaring went down to Mienfoo’s limp feet which were stained with dirt, mud and other grime. The sour stench of sweaty feet immediately hit the Hibernator Pokémon’s nostrils, though she did still manage to catch a whiff of that honeyed incense even on her soles. Finding himself already extremely aroused by those filthy paws, Ursaring started worshiping her feet properly by sucking on Mienfoo’s decently bulbous toes like they were spoons of honey. The Fighting Type’s sweat drenched fur tickled against Ursaring’s tongue, releasing some of the salty sweat drops and clumps of dirt trapped in her fur as it fell onto her mouth. 

After having her fill with Mienfoo’s toe, Ursaring started to more feverishly lick up and down the dead Pokémon’s dirty soles, happily filling her mouth with the salty and surprisingly honeyed taste of Mienfoo’s feet. Her feet were a strange mixture of a rough sole that came with being a Pokémon who trained and fought a lot but also one who obviously either took care of herself or at least had someone who took care of her. Ursaring thought back on things, remembering someone once telling her about how different Mienfoo and Mienshao descended from different tribes had wildly different battle styles. She noted how almost all of Magmar’s injuries came from powerful kicks and stomps and wondered what kind of style that had to be and imagining all the Pokémon who have been downed by a flurry of powerful kicks from Mienfoo.

Ursaring was completely satisfied, rubbing against her own pussy as her toes curled in pleasure as she continued to lovingly worship Mienfoo’s dirty feet, believing she had chosen the correct Pokémon to play with. She moaned in pleasure as she continued her worshiping session, completely finding herself mesmerized with the limp feet in front of her.

Meanwhile, Quagsire was admiring Cubone’s equally dirty and sweat-drenched body, a more natural and smelly odor wafting from her body. That didn’t deter Quagsire however, who was excitedly inspecting the dead Pokémon’s pudgy body and lifting up the arm that Scyther had cut, completely covered in her own blood.

“Surprised you were able to keep fighting for so long with a cut that deep. I’ll admit that you’re made of much tougher stuff than I could’ve ever managed. Shame you had to die, it’d be nice if we could have convinced you to join the Guardians though I doubt you would’ve…”

Quagsire rubbed one of her slimy hands against Cubone’s pinkish pussy while using her free hand to pleasure her own. Licking her lips, her gaze turned towards Cubone’s face, still covered by her mother’s cracked skull. Quagsire pondered if she should just take the skull off, wanting to see Cubone’s face underneath even if it would be somewhat bloodied. But there was a part of her that felt like it’d be wrong, like she’d be tearing Cubone away from her mother forever. Not like she believed in an afterlife or anything, but Quagsire thought at least they could still be together even in death. Quagsire, rubbed the bottom of Cubone’s face, stroking the dead Pokémon’s snout and maw giggling to herself.

“And honestly, I don’t care if it’s creepy or whatever. I think you’re really cute wearing that skull. And like I said earlier, I’m a lot more interested in that lower half of yours anyway.”

Quagsire continued giggling as her attention turned over to her prize, Cubone’s meaty and pudgy feet. They have been teasing her since she caught a look of them when Cubone collapsed to the ground because of her Stone Edge, with Quagsire getting a good view of those dirty wrinkled soles rubbing against each other. And now they were all hers to do whatever she pleased. 

Quagsire didn’t even need to get too close to smell the scent of Cubone’s feet, but she still ended up falling in love with the odor even more once they were right in front of her face. They had a strong stench to them, the smell of ingrained dirt and grass that had deftly stuck onto Cubone’s feet. It was a strong and musky smell expected of such a hardworking Pokémon who also probably didn’t care too much about keeping up appearances. She took a few more whiffs, taking in that stinky stench and really trapping that smell in her nostrils. Licking her lips, she then instantly went to worship Cubone’s feet properly.

Quagsire started by sucking on Cubone’s bulbous toes, her slimy tongue pressing up against Cubone’s tiny toes claws, which were absolutely stained with all kinds of dirt and grime. Quagsire moaned in pleasure as tons of dirt and sweat fell from Cubone’s leathery sole into her mouth, causing her own large toes to drum rhythmically in complete bliss as she started to more vigorously rub her pussy. She even weaved her meaty tongue in between Cubone’s toes, shoveling out everything that was stuck there. Quagsire absolutely adored Cubone’s feet, which had a nice leathery feeling alongside the slightly calloused texture to them. Quagsire was in an absolute sexual haze, unable to pry herself away from those feet as she slathered them with her gooey saliva. She was in love with Cubone’s dirty feet, and was already thinking of how much more fun she’d have with them in the future.

Lastly there was Slowking, the older Pokémon started to gently stroke Dewott’s body, wet both from the sweat she had worked up and also just the natural wetness that comes from being a Water Type. Slowking tenderly rubbed against her face, getting blood on his finger from the cuts on her face. As he trailed up Dewott’s face, he noticed they were still stained with her tears which he wiped away.

“Poor, poor girl. It’s fine now, it’s okay. You can finally rest easy now…” Slowking spoke to Dewott like he was a parent trying to comfort their distressed child. He brought his face close to Dewott’s, with there still being a faint hint of warmth still coming from the dead Discipline Pokémon. He could smell the scent of wet and sweaty fur wafting from her and even somewhat smell the scent of the Oran berries that Dewott had eaten before heading into the cavern.

“Hmm…you poor soul. You’re fine now, you no longer have to worry about anything anymore. No more anxiety, no more fear, no more regrets.” As Slowking found himself being more and more drawn by Dewott’s strange serene beauty, his dick getting harder and harder. “Ah…it’s strange, you already seem so much more beautiful now that all your worries are so far away…” Slowking found himself drawn closer and closer to Dewott’s face until he finally kissed Dewott, their wet lips locking with each other as the Royal Pokémon also started to rub Dewott’s drenched pussy the old Pokémon moaned in pleasure. The taste of Oran Berries filled his mouth as he continued smooching with Dewott.

Though eventually, he managed to pry himself away from Dewott’s lips. Like his two more aggressive allies, and almost all the Silver Guardians, Slowking’s favorite part of the body was the feet and with him being fully aroused, he crawled over to Dewott’s large black feet which just like her allies were extremely dirty and grimy. But due to the natural dampness of her fleshy feet, the dirt and grime had become mushy like slop. That was fine with Slowking however, just something that would make those feet more enjoyable.

He gave Dewott’s feet a nice sniff, and it was an unsurprising smell for such an active Water Type, having a stench similar to a rotten and sour fish. It was a smell that Slowking enjoyed, one he was all too used to from his own feet as Slowking started dripping pre-cum.

Slowking quickly went to worshiping Dewott’s wet feet all the sloshy and wet dirt and grime just rolling into his mouth. Slowking let out shrill and aroused cries as he alternated between sucking on Dewott’s flat yet still decently meaty toes and licking up and down her wet wide soles. The mix of sweat alongside Dewott’s naturally wet feet made for a salty yet fishy flavor that Slowking savored, already feeling himself orgasming from the wonderful experience of worshiping Dewott’s lovely feet.

“Aaaaah, by the legends your feet are so wondrous. Mmm…I’m so happy you stumbled in here, I love these feet so much…”

Slowking chuckled to himself as he continued worshiping Dewott’s feet, all six of his own toes wiggling in delight as his saliva started to coat the dead Team Leader’s feet and caused the naturally black feet a shine.

And that was the fate of Team Toukon, the fate of three young Pokémon who sincerely only wanted to help and protect others. Their short careers ended in a grimy cavern, their limp feet of being worshiped by their killers and their bodies now being nothing more than playthings for the Silver Guardians for what was most likely many years to come. Those they loved would most likely never know of their fate, what had happened to or what had befallen to those they cared about. Unlike her mother and her neighbor, Dewott and her friends wouldn’t even have the decency of their bodies going home where  they could at least be buried. The only good thing one could possibly argue…was that at least the girls were still together, the tight-knit friends staying with each other even after death.

In the end, this was one of the two fates that a Rescue Team could face. They would eventually live to become a well known hero or die and become forgotten by the annals of history. Unfortunately for Team Toukon, it seemed like in this case they were doomed to be the latter…