Chương 8: Chapter 7

The rest of the week passed in a blur. The new training schedule was a hit in some ways, but less popular in others. Anything that increased the amount of time we spent improving was a plus in my knights' eyes, but splitting them up was almost equally unpopular. Still, I made sure to spend at least an hour with each of them individually, in addition to an expansion on our standard regime as a group.

By the end of the week, I was convinced that they had Focus Energy down, and they were getting close to battle ready with their next attack. The notes from the Galarian Joy, whose name turned out to be Edith, were proving completely invaluable. My mom had done good work deciphering Ronda's handwriting, proving the old adage that the only person who could read a Joy's Torchic-scratch was another Joy.

Not only moves to learn, but recommended diets, and advice for training filled the pages of what was rapidly becoming my most valued possession. Still, I was acutely aware that it was only one source, and it couldn't come close to replicating the exhaustive information available for training more common, local species. Finding additional knowledge about Falinks and how best to train them was high on my priority list, but the information just didn't seem to exist in Ferrum.

Not in any local libraries, not on the FerreNet, and certainly not in the training centers and dojos. Getting access to foreign publications was challenging, and acquiring a way to view international Nets was even more difficult. I'd considered asking my mom to reach out to any of her Galarian relatives, but I knew she was still busy, and I didn't want to bother her. I hadn't come any closer to a solution as we approached the weekend, but I wasn't too worried about it.

I was pretty confident that we had training covered for at least the next few months. After that, we might need to worry about looking for more assistance on next steps, but if we got into the Ranger's junior program, that'd end up extending that deadline even further. In other words, it was a problem for future Fe. Right now, I was just enjoying spending time with my knights. When we weren't training, we were playing, and when we weren't doing either of those, we were eating.

As it turned out, I'd been accidentally depriving my knights of some crucial vitamins and minerals. I was chagrined when I found out, and immediately went to rectify the problem. The dent it put in my wallet was… alarming, but that was what Wigletts were for. We spent plenty of time that week buffering our coffers in anticipation of maybe getting into the program, and by Friday, it was actually becoming a challenge to find any of the wily eels.

That increased scarcity, and the incoming threat of a noticeable decrease in our daily income, was probably what convinced us to take on more dangerous prey when the opportunity presented itself. We'd branched out past our usual patrol route, searching for a few more of the Paldean pests to pad our war chest, when Kay called a company halt. I was a bit surprised, Kay wasn't usually one to speak up, but I could tell from the way he was agitated that he had a good reason for the out-of-character exclamation.

We stopped, and Kay used his horn to point to the source of his alarm. It took me a few moments, but eventually, I was able to pick up the problem: a small spire of pitted iron poking up out of the beach. It was difficult to see, blending in with the similarly-shaded sand around it, but once I noticed it, I could pick out some subtle differences in the stone that set my hind-brain tingling.

The slightly-wrong consistency of the ferrous rock, the very slight motions of the sand around the spire, the sense of awful anticipation hovering in the air. I imagine that a Sentret had a similar feeling right before stepping atop a Spidops' snare. We were in the presence of an ambush predator. While the lurking Wugtrio probably wasn't a danger to me, we'd seen time and again that they were more than willing to abscond with one or more of my knights.

I think a Falinks' metal carapace was vaguely appealing to the Wugtrio, which obviously needed a lot of minerals to maintain their rocky exterior/home. Nutrients and rare metals all in one. The perfect snack. Things were different this time, though. We had the drop on it, not the other way around. I didn't see any hint of eyes or a head, so the lurking predator was probably hunting via tremor-sense, tracking the shifting of the iron sand to know when prey was near enough to snatch.

They could probably smell us, Wiglett's and Wugtrio's had huge noses for a reason, but that would just tell them we were near, not exactly where we were. All that to say, they couldn't see us, and we could see them. Going after a Wugtrio was a risk, they were a lot stronger than their pre-evolutions, but this one must have been pretty inexperienced if it wasn't used to fully burying its shell. I made a decision. In the worst case, we could always retreat. A Wugtrio only had three heads after all.

I knelt down next to my knights, and gestured for them to come in for a huddle. First thing was first.

"Well spotted Kay," I told my alert little knight. He preened under the praise, and I took a few moments to rub his carapace before continuing.

"Thanks to you, we have an opportunity. Who wants to get some revenge?" that question I directed at the group at large. I would have been surprised by any hesitation, and true to form, all I saw from my partners was eager shifting and determined eyes.

"Alright, glad we're all on the same page." I felt a grin overtake my face.

"This Wugtrio's not going to know what hit them. Now, here's the plan… - Step one went off without a hitch. It involved sacrificing several pieces of driftwood requisitioned from the surf. My throwing arm, already much improved since the beginning of the summer, got some additional, if rather unneeded, practice. I landed the payload on the first three throws, one immediately after another. The third sodden plank had barely begun to settle when an eruption of sand obscured my vision.

The iron grit cleared after a moment, revealing three red, tentacle-like bodies wrapped around the offending driftwood. Sure enough, the scent of prey, along with a disturbance in the sand, was enough to bait the ambush predator out of hiding. The Wugtrio was already sinking back beneath the black sand with their prize, but we had our opening.

"Now!" I commanded, unnecessarily as it turned out. My knights were already in motion, throwing themselves into a series of Tackles that impacted the exposed eels. The blows didn't do much damage, cushioned as they were by the sand, but that wasn't very important. What mattered was that our foe was stunned, momentarily, by the sudden attack. A brief window, but one long enough for me to make one last throw, this time with a red-and-white sphere.

The Poké Ball flew much faster than the driftwood, leaving my knights barely enough time to scramble out of the way after their assault. The metal sphere slammed into the Wugtrio with a satisfying clunk, and then opened, dissolving the Pokémon into a slurry of glowing light that was then quickly consumed by the device.

"Get ready!" I called out. Steps one and two had gone off without a hitch, but now came the hardest part, actually winning a battle with the evolved Pokémon. I was under no illusions that my meager Poké Ball could hold the Wugtrio after only a single Tackle attack, but capturing the feisty eels for a few moments served a few purposes. First, it gave my knights time to collect themselves and surround their opponents' emergence point. Second and more importantly, it exposed our foe.

Sure enough, a few seconds was all it took for the Wugtrio to escape. The ball barely rocked once. They looked different now, though, as they spooled themselves back into physical form. No longer was their iron-encrusted shell buried beneath the sand. Instead, it sat atop the black grains, a vaguely pyramidal structure constructed of black stone. It had three holes in its bottom from which emerged a trio of sinuous, glaring eels. They let loose what I'm sure to them sounded like a sonorous warcry.

To my ears, it was more akin to a Rockruff giving an overaggressive chomp to a mouthful of squeaky toys, but I was determined to stay serious. We had the Wugtrio on the ropes, they would need time to rebury in their shell in the sand, but everyone knew that a Rattata was at its most dangerous when cornered. I was going to assume that the same applied to these vicious predators.

"Smash!" I called out, directing my knights to attack. They were in close, surrounding the Wugtrio's emergence point, and they attacked after only the briefest hesitation as Lance relayed my command. Our foe wasn't idle, and already the trio of heads were laying about in broad, sweeping Slam attacks. The Wugtrio was fast, and even though my knights had the jump on them, Lance still got sent sprawling.

Some hits landed from our side, and then Galad had to shove Percy out of the way of a particularly vicious hammer-strike. The blow left my poor knight half-buried in the sand, struggling to free himself as his brothers continued assailing the wriggling threat. I wished I could do more to help, but this close-in melee was out of my hands. At least the Rock Smashes that were landing were taking a toll.

I could see my knights' attacks repeatedly crashing into the rocky base of the Wugtrios' shell, their eyes glowing with enhanced focus. Maintaining two Focus Energies was intensive, but my knights could do it, if barely, and it all but guaranteed that their Rock Smashes would hit vulnerable areas. The hard shell from which the Wugtrio's three heads emerged ironically made a much better target than the eels' rubbery bodies.

It would have been different if we had a cutting or piercing attack, but for the crushing blows of a Falinks, there was really only one option. Unfortunately, the balance tipped against us. Kay got knocked back, and I knew the tide was turning when he didn't get back up and into the fight. Galad still hadn't unburied himself, and being down two attackers was giving the Wugtrio more freedom than I'd like.

So far, being in close had kept the vicious eel Pokémon from putting too much strength behind its slams, but if too many of my knights got knocked away, it would be free to really start whipping its heads about, striking with the rapidly accelerating ends of their bodies for much more severe damage. Worse, it might be able to use its more effective water attacks, taking advantage of its typing to really start putting damage on my knights.

Lance got knocked away again, and I knew it was now or never to try to salvage this fight.

"Lance, this is all you. Give me your strongest Headbutt!" The advanced Normal-Type move was still a challenge for my partners to pull off, but Lance was by far the best at it, and when it came to Pokémon, nothing encouraged growth like adversity. If he was ever going to get it, I'd bet that it'd be right now. Lance stood still for one moment, and then two. There were a few, sickening seconds where I thought that I might have miscalculated, but Lance proved that my faith was well-placed.

With a belligerent cry, the formation's brass barreled forward, going from standing to a near-sprint in just a few steps. One of the Wugtrio's heads moved to intercept, cracking across Lance's body with another vicious Slam, but the brass weathered the blow. He was surrounded by a corona of glowing, white energy, and the outpouring of power helped him push through and knock the red eel away.

Lance kept going, ramming point-first into the Wugtrio's rocky base with a terrible crash that reminded me of that one time in third grade when I'd seen one car ram into another at an intersection. It was quieter, but the ringing, metallic screech still spoke of pain, and of sudden, unexpected violence. The Wugtrio let out a cry, and the three heads slumped. I couldn't tell if they were fully out of syn, or just stunned from the Headbutt, but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity either way.

I hurled another Poké Ball, lobbing it overtop my knights' heads. It fell atop the Wugtrio, turning the eels into motes of light once again. The Poké Ball absorbed the energy, and then plopped down into the iron sand. It rocked gently once. I held my breath. Then, again. My knights reshuffled back into position. The ball gave a third shake. Galad finally unburied himself, and joined his brothers. I leaned in, I couldn't help it.

I couldn't help the whoop of exuberance I let out either, when the ball gave a final, and satisfying, click.

"Nice job guys!" I called out to my knights, as I ran over to the site of the skirmish. Along the way, I collected Kay, who was slowly coming back to consciousness. His syn was out for sure, and we'd need a visit to the Pokémon center today, but getting patched up was a lot more gratifying when you were doing it as victors. I crouched in the sand next to my knights, setting Kay down for his brother to fuss over, and giving all of my brave partners a few moments of inspection.

I checked their hurts and exclaimed with appropriate appreciation at their valorous war-wounds. None of them were injured too badly, not all that surprising since only Kay seemed to be out of syn, but it never hurt to be too careful. Sometimes attacks slipped through the protective energy that insulated both people and Pokémon from the worst of their injuries, even when that energy wasn't depleted.

Fortunately, they all appeared ok, and I promised my knights a good rest at the Pokémon center so we could be absolutely sure. After recalling them, I retrieved the other Poké Ball, lifting it up with a grin. A Wugtrio was worth five-fold what a Wiglett was, but honestly, the money wasn't anywhere near as sweet as the sense of accomplishment. At the start of the summer, my knights had no chance against a Wugtrio, even a freshly evolved one. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent.

Report any appearances on Amazon. Now? It hadn't been easy, but they could do it. My knights were getting stronger. I held the proof of that fact in my hands. - It was with much confusion that I entered the Pokémon Center closest to the beachfront. When I had scanned the Poké Ball containing the Wugtrio, I had expected it to disappear, just as dozens of Wigletts-containing devices had done before. Same as they had earlier that day, in fact.

Instead, I was left bemusedly carrying the still-full device to the Pokémon Center. As far as I knew, I was exceeding my carry limit, so I made sure to rush to get to the Center and explain my quandary. I didn't recognize the Nurse Joy at the front desk today. I knew a lot of them, but Techne was a big city. Still, she was as professional and helpful as anyone with her title. When it was my turn up at the counter, the nurse took my two Poké Balls without a blink, and set them in the Turmine 3K behind the counter.

While the machine happily chugged away, analyzing the status of its new inhabitants, I explained the issue.

"I don't know why the ball didn't get recalled. I caught the Wugtrio as a bounty, so it should have gone to the center network, but for some reason it stayed with me."

"Give me just a moment to look into it, "the nurse reassured me as she tapped away on the PC built into the front counter. It took her a few moments, she wasn't the fastest typist, but eventually, she turned back to me.

"Did you designate the ball for bounty captures?" She asked. I shook my head.

"No, but I wouldn't think I'd need to. Usually, if you go over the carry-limit, it auto-transfers."

"Well that explains it," the nurse told me with a gentle smile.

"Your carry limit is three, so you're not over it yet. In fact, it looks like your Battle Card just updated. Let me print a new one for you."

"Wait, my carry limit is up to three?" I asked, a bit floored.

"That's right," another gentle smile.

"Congratulations. It looks like you've been granted the ranger exemption." There was a soft thump, and Nurse Joy bent down below the counter for a moment, coming back up with a shiny Battle Card.

"Here, see for yourself." Reverently, I took the small, stamped metal rectangle. Sure enough, along with the usual bevy of identifying information, was my allowed carry limit, now updated to three, with a small ranger symbol next to the number. It felt… sort of momentous, actually. Something that made me different. Exceptional even. I could have three partners. Still, as amazing as that was, it also presented me with an issue in the immediate term, one Nurse Joy was quick to bring up.

"So, do you still want to turn your Wugtrio in for the bounty?" My Wugtrio. The words felt… odd. No longer was it just a Pokémon I'd caught for a bounty. It was mine now, technically. My Pokémon. My responsibility. My… partner? That thought brought me up short. Were they my partner, or even my Pokémon, really? Sure, I'd caught them, but not with any intention of training them, or raising them. Training Pokémon wasn't easy, and the last few weeks had really brought that into focus for me.

Was I ready for a whole new partner to train? Three, in a way, if the differing heads of a Wugtrio were anything like my knights. And what about my starter? How would they take a new partner? Would they feel like they were being replaced? Would they get along with a Wugtrio, when they'd been trapped and attacked by so many of them the last couple of months? The appeal was there, the allure of an immediate option to increase our fighting strength, but the more I thought about it, the more complications I found.

I was still agonizing over the decision when Nurse Joy spoke up again.

"It's not an easy choice, but you're not making it for yourself alone. Why don't you consult your new Pokémon and see what they think? Their thoughts matter just as much as yours in this. Probably more, actually." It felt like getting hit by a Thunderbolt. Something so obvious that I'd just completely missed.

"Thanks Nurse Joy." I shook my head, Mareepish.

"I guess I was overcomplicating it, a bit. Got stuck in my own head."

"We're always happy to help, "the nurse told me with a gentle grin.

"Speaking of which, thank you for waiting." She turned back to the healing machine, and retrieved two Poké Balls from it.

"Your Pokémon are fully healed. They don't seem to have any lingering injuries, and their syn is fully restored."

"Thanks Nurse Joy." I took the balls and slotted my knights' to the magnetic clasp on my belt. I went to do the same for Wugtrio's ball, when I remembered that my belt only had space for one Pokémon. Even my equipment wasn't ready for another partner. I turned on my heel, carrying the ball in my hand instead as I left the building.

"We hope to see you again!" I heard from behind me, followed by, "Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center," as the next person in line approached the counter. - It took a bit of walking to get to an appropriate park. I was going to stop at the nearest one, but it didn't have a water feature, and I figured having a fountain or a pond readily available would be reassuring for the semi-aquatic Wugtrio.

It took another thirty minutes of searching around, but eventually I found a playground with a fountain spraying water into the air, covering the whole area with a fine mist. Plenty of people and Pokémon were taking an opportunity to enjoy a break from the summer heat, and I found myself joining them, luxuriating in the cooling mist. I released my Pokémon, one after another, and I'll admit that it was more than a little gratifying to watch people do a double-take as I let out not one, but two partners.

My knights I let loose right by my side, but I was a bit more careful with the Wugtrio. I wanted to give them plenty of room, considering how recently they'd been wild, so I let them out on the edge of the fountain, out of easy striking distance. I'd been expecting a few different reactions on release, but they managed to surprise me. No looking about confusedly, no immediate attacks or angry cries, just an immediate retreat into their craggy shell.

All three heads withdrew in a heartbeat, leaving a small stone spire perched precariously on the fountain's edge. I blinked once, then twice, a bit nonplussed. My knights looked at me, clearly confused about what was going on, and I settled for explaining things to them first.

"Hey guys, turns out, I have permission to have more than one partner now. I was thinking about asking the Wugtrio we caught if they want to be our new partner." My words earned a variety of reactions. Lance, of all of them, looked intrigued. Maybe interested in a potential new training buddy, or a fresh subordinate? Probably something along those lines. Percy shifted nervously, clearly unhappy, while Bers didn't have any immediate reaction.

Kay and Galad looked wary, eyeing the Wugtrio's spire with suspicion, and Tristan, of all of my knights, let out a vocal cry of dismay. I held up my hands placatingly.

"I haven't made any decision yet, and I wanted to get all of your input before we make any choices. That includes you guys, as well, Wugtrio." That last statement I directed at the unmoving stone pyramid perched on the fountain's edge. I saw a little hint of red poking out from one of the holes, maybe a flashing eye, so they were definitely listening in. I turned back to my knights, trying to evaluate what they were thinking.

I saw some shuffling, some discontent in the ranks, so I knelt down to their level, and made sure to look them all in the eyes.

"We've taken Wugtrio away from their home, so I want to do right by them, but I get that this is a big decision to spring on you all so suddenly. Tell me what you're thinking, all of you. Hold nothing back." What followed was… difficult. It involved a lot of pantomime for each of my knights' to get their opinions across, and I felt a bit of red in my cheeks as the other park-goers watched me play charades with my partners. If we could use an AR Visor, this would be super simple, but we didn't have that option.

Still, getting to the bottom of how my partners felt was way more important than any little bit of embarrassment, so I weathered the attention as I worked out what each of my knights was thinking. Lance was only interested if Wugtrio was willing to help with training and battling, which made sense. His single-minded determination to get stronger was in all of my knights, though he clearly felt it the most. Tristan and Percy were worried that my attention would get diluted, which was more than fair.

It already felt stretched at times, taking care of my six knights. Another Pokémon, another three heads, would be a lot, but I was confident that if I had to, I could manage, and I impressed that on them. I think I mollified them both, but I resolved to keep an eye on their reactions. Bers, as it turned out, didn't have strong feelings either way, which I should have expected. He did have a tendency to go with the flow. Galad and Kay were the hardest to convince.

They'd had too many negative experiences with Wugtrios over the last couple of months. Eventually, I was able to get them to agree to least hear out what our new partner wanted, and then make their decision after that. With my knights polled, I turned back to the stone shell perched on the damp wall of the spraying fountain.

"Wugtrio, this affects you more than any of us. Please come out so we can talk about it," I commanded. I waited a few moments, but my imperative didn't get any reaction beyond a small shuddering from the rock that gave me the impression of shivers. I frowned. Maybe I was taking the wrong tack. I was so used to having to give my knights commands, but I wasn't talking to them. Wugtrio was a semi-wild Pokémon, and apparently a pretty skittish one at that.

I knelt down again, getting eye level with the holes in the stone. Gently, I tried again.

"Wugtrio, I know things are different, and a bit scary, but I want to get your input so we can do the best thing for you. Please come out so we can talk about it." I watched the spire hopefully, but didn't still didn't see any movement.

"We won't hurt you, okay?" I put as much sincerity into my voice as I could.

"I promise." It took one moment, and then two, but eventually, three heads poked out of the stone, flashes of red with the hint of beady eyes and large white noses. Their full bodies didn't emerge, but it was enough of a reassurance that they were paying attention that I decided to forge on.

"When I originally caught you Wugtrio, it was with the intention of handing you over to the rangers so you could be released again somewhere your presence would be less destructive." I watched the reactions of my new Pokémon closely, but I didn't get much of an impression. I wasn't even really sure they understood what I was talking about, so I decided to try simplifying things a bit.

"Basically, we were going to release you into the wild again. Do you know what I mean?" One of the heads bobbed, slowly. Encouraged, I kept going.

"Or, if you would rather, you can be one of my Pokémon from now on. You would need to be willing to battle, and to train, but I promise I'd watch out and take care of you. Understand?" Again, a head nodded, though this time it was a different one. When they weren't viciously attacking my Pokémon, the Wugtrio was actually pretty cute, with their button noses and tiny eyes.

"Or, if that doesn't work for you either, we can try to figure out something else. Okay?" The third head nodded, seemingly with comprehension. I suppressed a sigh of relief. We were getting somewhere.

"Do you need me to elaborate on any of those options for you all?" I asked. Making sure we were on the same page would be the most important part of this conversation, considering how easy it would be for us to misunderstand each other. A few moments passed, and then all three heads wiggled.

"Does that mean you want me to elaborate on all three options?" I asked them, a bit uncertain. The heads nodded, and all three of them offered a squeak that sounded affirmative. It was hard to say for sure, but I decided to trust my impression.

"Okay, so for the first one," the head that had initially nodded perked up.

"We can't let you go again where we caught you, but we can hand you over to people that will make sure you get released somewhere else that will suit you just as well." I was confident in that. From everything I'd read about rangers, their first priority was caring for Pokémon. They wouldn't just drop Wugtrio off in the middle of nowhere, they'd make sure that they chose a place that would be ideal for the Pokémon while mitigating the ecological disruption the release would cause.

"You'll be on your own again, in the wild. I promise, you wouldn't be beholden to me, or anyone else, just like before. In fact, you'd probably get released somewhere you're unlikely to run into people again." After all, there were plenty of beaches in Ferrum, kilometers of untouched coast all along the Western side of the region. Places where there wasn't iron sand for the Wugtrio's to gorge on. Also potentially places with species better able to predate on and control the invasive species' population.

It probably wouldn't be an issue for a fully-evolved Pokémon, but things would be more risky for their offspring, and it didn't feel right to ignore that.

"It'll be dangerous, you'll be living in the wild, but you'll be free," I promised them.

"I don't know if it will be more or less safe than where you were before, but you won't need to be worried about getting captured, at least." That seemed to give the first head plenty to think about, judging by the way it retreated until just the top was resting against its stone shell, staring into the sky in thought. Apparently, Wugtrios could consider multiple things at once though, because the second head quickly rose up, staring at me attentively.

"Okay, the second option," the head nodded encouragingly. This one seemed more outgoing, more friendly than the other two. Made sense that it would be the one to hear me out in this case.

"I'm training to become a junior ranger." I thought for a moment.

"Or, I will be soon, anyway. This means that I need partners that are willing to train hard and battle, who can protect me and themselves from wild Pokémon. It won't be easy, or always relaxing, but I promise, I will take care of your needs. You'll always have a home with me, you'll never want for food, and you'll have the chance to get stronger."

I could tell by the way the head was nodding along that at least some of those things sounded appealing, but as the second head settled in to think, I couldn't really get an impression of what it was feeling in total. The third head rose up, and I took a deep breath, and then began again.

"I don't want to make this a binary. To tell you that you have to take one of those two options. If you're willing, I'm sure there are other paths available for you. We'll need to work out what you want, but if there's something else, something more, we can try to discover it together." It'd be hypocritical of me to do any less for Wugtrio, considering how vehemently I'd avoided the paths set for me. I had choices, and it was my responsibility to make sure that a Pokémon I'd caught had choices too.

I answered a few more questions, mostly reassuring Wugtrio that I meant what I said. Once the queries started getting more complicated, I had to enlist the help of my knights to interpret, which brought us back to pantomime. It was the most effective method we had of making sure that we weren't misunderstanding one another, so if that's what it took, it's what we'd go with. Eventually, all questions had been asked, and answers had been provided, as best I could.

There was nothing left but to wait while Wugtrio's three heads deliberated. While they discussed, I felt my own mind turning, considering. I'd made sure to make this about what my partners wanted, but what about me? How did I feel? A new partner was exciting, but honestly, it also felt overwhelming. I'd need to figure out so much about Wugtrio. How to care for them, how to train them.

Chances were there wouldn't be much information readily available either, since they weren't endemic to Ferrum, nor usable as battle Pokémon. I thought for a few more moments, but couldn't come to a solid conclusion either way, which was probably for the best. It meant I could happily abide with whatever Wugtrio decided. It took them some time. Almost ten minutes, by my watch's reckoning, but eventually, they shared their answer.