Eleventh Move
Moving on
Nesting Hold castle
Griffenhiem Empire
The Bisharp were currently going back to the Pokemons’ chambers, Victoria and her guards having left them earlier, and Weiss was currently looking at his wound.
"Don't be such a cry baby," demanded Shredder. "It's not such a big wound."
"You call this not big!" Exclaimed the former human while showing the 'hole' in his palm to his second in command. "It seems like a bullet hole!"
"It will heal in due time. Besides, the hand isn't hurt."
"Excuse me but what part of a HOLE in my hand doesn't count as being hurt?"
"Right, you are new to this..." commented Shredder to herself as she held his hand and explained. "Think about how you retract your blades, but focus on your hand."
"Why...?" wondered the leader with distrust.
"Just do it."
"Fine then," replied Weiss as he did as he was told. "But if this is some trick I-will you look at that, I have fingers!"
The instant Weiss thought about retracting a part of his body, the armored gauntlet he had for a hand folded over and revealed three thin and sharp looking claws laying beneath it, slowly responding to their owner's thoughts.
"See?" the female Bisharp said. "Your actual hand wasn't wounded at all, so you can stop complaining."
"Is this common sense?" asked Weiss, ignoring Shredder's explanation.
Shredder sighed. "Of course it is. My kind-I guess it’s our kind from now on-can retract certain parts of our body. How do you think we do our necessities with a metallic plate covering our..." the skirt wearing Pokemon then blushed. "Well, you know. Covering the 'exits’."
Weiss remembered the times he had needed to use the bathroom. At the time he didn’t know much about his new body, thus he had been sitting in order for nature to do it's part, and he did remember feeling something move down there.
"That explains a lot, so do male Bisharps have-"
"Go and check yourself!" Shredder abruptly interrupted Weiss' intimate question.
Weiss looked a bit disappointed but smiled in the end. "Pokemon sure are mysterious creatures," remarked the Bisharp as he glanced at his hand.
Shredder had to admit it was interesting to see her closest friend and ally prize her species. "You can focus some attacks through them like Metal Claw or Shadow Claw," as she said this, Shredder retracted her own gauntlet too and showed her own trio of thin appendages, more slim and delicate than Weiss'. They then started to emanate a shining light on one arm, while the other was covered in a dark aura.
"How come I never notice it?" Wondered Weiss while 'pointing' at his colleague's moves.
"Instinct I guess," answered the female as she canceled the energy and covered both hands. "I mean, you may notice our hand's aren't as tough as our armor, so they wouldn't resist a direct impact. So we instinctively keep them, and any other mobile part, hidden at all times, only using it when needed."
Weiss gave his fingers one last look before placing his protection back on. "I will be careful and remember that."
They continued on their way back when something else crossed the former human's mind. "But if you stay here, then how am I going to learn moves and attacks? I still remember the stuff I could do as a human, but it would be a huge waste to not use the moves this body knows!"
"Don't worry," calmly replied Shredder. "I have something already planned."
And so, both Dark/Steel-type reached their chambers, finding the mercenaries ready to go, receiving a cheerful hug from a certain Lopunny and a noticeable group of rather annoyed females.
"... what did we miss?"
The group waited a few hours before Grizelda came for them. "Are you creatures ready?" She joyfully asked, to which the Pokemon simply nodded and followed her towards the castle's exit, where Victoria was waiting for them.
The empress gave the Pokemon a graceful smile as a greeting and said, "Despite the short time we have known one another, I wish you all a safe trip and look forward to your return."
Checkmate replied to the gesture in kind. "I am certain I speak for all of us when I say that we also look forward to returning to this empire as well, your Highness," Weiss said, speaking for his team.
"I would have liked to provide you a more fitting send off, one that befitted your rank. However, as time is short, I won't hold you for long. Godspeed my mercenaries. May your quest be a successful one."
With a general bow from their part, the mercenaries parted ways with the Empress.
The group expected to go somewhere on the bottom level to board their ship, but instead they were taken into a building carved out of the stone on one of the range's mountains. Its inside made the Pokemon think of some sort of station, far bigger and busier than the skyway despite the late hour. From one side to the other, griffins could be seen carrying cargo to different hallways while other groups of late travelers waited for their ships to depart.
Not being able to hold her curiosity any longer, Pancha raised a claw. "No offence manta, but why does this peak looks like a plane station? Weren't we supposed to go on a boat?"
Grizelda, who served as their guide one last time, tuned to reply. "What's a plane?" at this, Pancha gave herself a mental scolding and was about to ask again when Grizelda pointed to a dull looking door. "Here we are, creatures!"
She opened the door for the mercenaries, plus three, to enter the dock. The vessel waiting for them was far more impressive than any of their old world's flying vehicles: a galeon lay on a dry dock with a massive blimp tightly placed above it with hundreds of ropes. The sails were placed at both sides of the ship and were currently being checked by some Griffin sailors, if that was the term for the sky merchants.
"And you guys traded the great flagship for this merchant bark," commented Grizelda with a sarcastic tone.
"Wait, this is our ship?" asked Rouge in surprise.
"Well d'uh! What did you creatures expect?"
"Definitely not a flying ship," replied the Grass-type.
"Don't tell me there are none on your word?"
"There are, but they don't look anything like this," commented Weiss. “They certainly don’t look so…”
"I think retro would be the word you are looking for," Xavier supplied.
"Oi! Are those the mattes we were commanded to deliver?" Asked a savvy tone from besides the ship.
The group turned to see what they thought was the vessel's captain, a Griffin with white fur on his rear and dark blue feathers on his front wearing a simple leather vest and a three pointed hat who swiftly landed beside them and quickly gave them an intrusive gaze as a single flock of white feathers dangled between his eyes. "We already had to let go of some pretty good cargo to accommodate your group aboard, so you better not complain about this gorgeous ship."
Grizelda let go a sigh as she made the introductions. "Creatures, this is Captain Harlock. Blockhead these creatures are her Excellency's independent military team."
'So we have a title, a guild and now a range, it's like Christmas!' Simon happily joked over the mind link.
The group chuckled at the joke, though Harlock just gave them another odd glance.
"I know who they are lass, and if it weren't because of the Empress' wishes, I would have left these creatures on land before ruining my schedule. But things are like this so let's get on with it."
With little to no decor, Harlock let out a loud whistle towards the ship and a wooden plank fell flat before him, some ropes tied to its ends.
"Hop on," was all the invitation the Griffin captain gave as he flew back to the ship's deck.
"Well creatures, this is as far as I go. Try not to wreak too much havoc in her Highness' name okay?" Joked the maiden.
"I only promise to try," replied Simon, but in a not so joking tone.
The Pokemon gave Grizelda a farewell hug as they climbed into the archaic elevator with the exception of Xavier who floated himself aboard. Only Shredder and Roll stayed behind.
"I guess this is also our farewell, for now at least," started Shredder as she gave Roll a warm hug, despite her current level of embarrassment. "Be careful out there and try to keep them in check okay? I will be in contact as much I can."
Roll looked confused for a second and then replied, "Don't be silly honey!" She then kiss her mate tightly while giggling like a schoolgirl. "I am not leaving your side!"
Shredder was slightly shocked by this revelation as well as embarrassed for her wasted show of affection. Thus she turned to Weiss, who simply gave her a shrug. "You knew about this!?" Demanded the female Bisharp.
"As if!" Retorted the male one. "But it wasn't that hard to know."
"It isn't rocket science!"
"Her intentions were clear as water."
"It surprises me you didn't notice it reina."
"The outcome was predictable."
With these words the mercenaries bid farewell to their two comrades, who simply waved at the vessel as it left the drydock. Once the ship was out of sight, the couple turned around and made their way towards the castle with Grizelda.
Yet they stopped when they heard a shout at the distance, "WAIT! IF SHE’S STAYING HERE, THEN HOW THE HAY ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET THE REST OF THE STORY!?"
Roll just grinned devilishly.
The merchant ship, Acadia, wasn't as bad as the captain's attitude made it sound. It was no luxury yacht either, but the mercenaries were in no position to argue...not that they cared about it to begin with.
They had a single storage to share, but it was big enough for the Pokemon to lay down comfortably, Xavier included. The shiny Metagross, however, had another plan as he and Weiss made their way to the deck. On the deck, a coalition of many Griffins kept the ship afloat. All of them had different tones of skin and feathers but sported the same white bandana around their necks and a sailor hat atop their heads.
"This will work," commented Xavier as he lay down in a spot where his big body wouldn’t disturb the sailors. "The noise and stress of this place will make your training more accurate for battle."
During the few hours they had before departure, Shredder had Xavier scan and copy many of her training sessions for Weiss to learn how to use Pokemon moves more quickly.
"If you say so... " replied the leader as he sat before his tactician while trying to ignore the constant gazes their presence generated on the deck.
Luckily for him, the training was all in his head...literally. As such, he could easily focus on learning instead of looking at the eyes of the sailors. Then again, the constant noise they caused provided a fair amount of difficulty for him.
Mentally, Weiss relived many moments of his second in command's life, slowly feeling how some moves were implanted on his mind. Theoretically, Weiss could learn the basics this way, but he would have to find a way to practice physically if he wanted to know for sure how to pull them off.
Both Pokemon remained in their respective meditative stances for a couple of hours, going from naturally learned moves to TMs and HMs next. While doing this, they noticed how the sailors’ curiosity turned into boredom as they got used to their static presence. Yet they suddenly felt an abrupt increase in their stress.
"It was around these parts, wasn’t it?" commented a group sailors.
"Aye, they say those buggers managed to get themselves a dragon, somehow."
"A dragon? Don't be ridiculous, why would a dragon want to assault a merchant vessel? Those poor bastards could have made up that story to make themselves look less pathetic."
"But then why do they all come with the same story? A huge creature with dark wings which make them all sick with its mere presence. That is more than a coincidence if you ask me."
"Nobody asked, now why don't you do something useful and keep those stories up your..."
"Incoming ship, port side ahoy!" Exclaimed the lookout from his post, causing the chat to suddenly end as they turned to look at the ship.
"Shall we take a break?" Asked Weiss while using the discovery as an excuse and opportunity to stretch his legs.
Xavier accepted and Weiss sprang up, turning his gaze toward the other flying ship.
It seemed to be a couple of miles away, but still one could see it was far smaller than their ship. Yet what caught the whole crew's attention was the fact it had no flag over its blimp, and that it was rapidly closing the distance between them.
The sailors began to look worried about the possible implications, while Weiss simply said one single but enthusiastic line: "No way!"
Suddenly a single warning cannon shot came from the small vessel and a Jolly Roger swiftly took its place atop the main pole.
The reaction from the Griffins was instant, as they quickly began to ring the alarm bells and prepare for the imminent boarding. On his end, however, Weiss was excitedly motioning to Xavier.
"Xavier-Xavier-XAVIER! Look: sky pirates!"
Captain Harlock gave the incoming ship an inspection through his spyglass. "Something is wrong!" exclaimed the Griffin. "Their vessel isn't big enough to pull off an assault on us. They may have some trick up their sleeves..." He then turned to one of the sailors. "Keep a look around, they may be a distraction."
The sailor saluted in reply and took off immediately with two other members of the crew.
The captain kept his spyglass on the ship, only to notice the pirates were doing something strange: They were bringing an odd amount of gongs to the deck, and were constantly slamming them. However, they didn't seemed to be giving a signal. They seemed to be calling something.
"What... Is... That...?" Wondered another sailor with a spyglass. Harlock quickly shifted his position, allowing him to take a closer look at what appeared to be some creature that was clinging to the pirate ship's belly. As soon as he found it, the creature let go of the transport and spread a couple of enormous wings which quickly took it high into the sky.
"You have got to be kidding me...!" Exclaimed the captain as he turned to his men. "Battle stations! Prioritise rapid fire, I don't know how but they have a dragon on their side!"
The crew was awestruck by the information, but was quick to react and take out ballistas and catapults onto the deck, ready to release their payload on the pirates.
"That's rather archaic," deadpanned Xavier, before he turned to Weiss, who was currently looking at the dragon flying above them. The creature had two massive wings fused with its thin arms that allowed it to pick up speed fast, a large tail which gave it outstanding mobility and a pair of round ears which allowed it to navigate perfectly through echolocation, yet the weirdest part were the eyes. They were blank and full of scars.
Xavier didn't take long to recognize the dragon as the Pokemon, Noivern, and even less to notice something about it. The tactician was about to give this information to the leader when he cut his thoughts.
"You don't have to mention it Xavier," Weiss said, keeping his eyes on the aerial display the Noivern was giving, which many of the Griffins had to admit was beautiful. "I recognize those maneuvers anywhere."
The dragon then stopped its display and darted towards the Acadia. At the shout of "fire!" from Captain Harlock, all weapons were shot at her, yet neither Xavier, Weiss, nor the Noivern were worried on the slightest. Despite its wingspan, the Noivern avoided the projectiles as if it were a elegant dance. No movement was wasted as the distance between it and the cargo ship turn into meters.
It swiftly passed the ship, but before the starboard barrage could come looking for blood, the dragon made a turn that instantly placed it beside the ship, too close for the heavy artillery to properly aim, not that it stop the sailors from trying.
The Noivern showed no interest in the nets and arrows that were shot in its direction as it open its mouth and let out an ultrasonic scream while moving around the ship. Weiss and Xavier simply stood there calmly, while noticing how the crew began to fall to their knees, as if some unknown sickness had suddenly taken over their bodies.
"Massive disorientation and vertigo," coldly commented the shiny Metagross. "A side effect of the echolocation."
"That explain the stories of before," replied Weiss as the dragon Pokemon focused on him.
"..."
The creature then started to pull away from the boat.
"It seems formalities are done," Weiss said excitedly as he put some distance between him and the ship's edge, before he dashed towards it while the Noivern dive-bombed beneath the Acadia. "Don't let them leave!" was the last order the mercenary gave before jumping off the merchant ship...
Only to reappear a second later atop the dragon's back.
"It’s good to have you back, Edge!" Saluted the leader.
"It’s good to have some company to talk to," replied the dragon with a high pitched yet strong and confident female voice as it headed toward the pirates.
Xavier made contact with everyone on the ship as soon Weiss jumped off of it. He calmed the Griffins as much as he could, while also explaining to them that Edge was one of them.
"If she is with you then," retorted the captain while massaging his templates and doing the best to keep his breakfast in his stomach, "Then why is she taking your leader to them?"
Xavier slowly turned to the pirate ship and focused his senses on his comrades while replying, "She isn't taking him to them. She is deploying him."
Suddenly, the rest of the Pokemon plus Daring barged into the deck, waving and cheering for the incoming spectacle.
"You may want to keep your eyes over there capi," commented Pancha as she too joined the cheers.
The pirates seemed to be comprised mostly of Griffins, but a couple of Pegasi could be seen as well, and all of them were completely confused as to why their secret weapon had suddenly returned with someone on its back.
Yet before any of them could say a word, Edge repeated the same silent scream towards the pirates. This time however, the dizziness was intentional. She then flew close enough to drop her passenger, who simply took a seat besides the ship's rail, waiting for the robbers to be steady enough to listen.
"So... Will you surrender or shall we do this the hard way?" Edge steadily flapping behind him. "Please choose the hard way. I have a couple of moves I want to try."
The pirates drew swords and knives out as soon as their dizy bodies allowed and pointed them at the newcomer. This of course made the mercenary excited, but before he could start his fun a big but fat Griffin let out a shout. "We heard about you creatures. You have to follow the rules of this world!"
Weiss sighed as it seemed they have to 'parley' first. "And what about it?"
The pirate, which Weiss considered to be the leader, let out a sonorous laugh. "That you can't kill! And don't think I don't know who are you either: imperial dog!"
A general laughter filled the ship as the pirates mocked Weiss. However, he didn’t seem to care about it in the least.
"So your point it's that because we can't kill, you and your crew have the upper hand?" The cold yet calm tone alone made the pirates lose some of their morale. "That because you outnumber me I will lose?" Then it was Weiss who laughed. "There are many, MANY ways that I can avoid killing you, yet leave you with a fate WORSE than death, mates!"
The pirates were no longer smiling, yet they kept their weapons firmly pointed at him.
"Last chance..." added Edge coolly, much to her ex-crew's surprise, though it didn’t last long, as they were quick to scream back things like 'traitor' or 'ungrateful'. The dragon simply snarled while giving them a glare from her blind eyes. "I don’t remember ever being one of you. I just happened to need a place to crash, and you guys happened to be passing by everything I did before was just me paying the rent."
And thus, negotiations ended.
The large creatures dashed toward Weiss, swinging their blades at him. Weiss simple reached for his pockets and took out some pebbles, which he quickly use as ammunition while saying a single line: "Fling."
The pebbles weren't big or sturdy enough to damage the pirates beyond an annoyance, but the fact that they were targeted at their eyes made them all halt and scream in pain. The moment they turned to look at the intruder, it was already too late for them. Weiss remembered what his comrades taught him and his arms shone with a silver light as a couple of claws took their place.
"Metal claw."
The shining limb hit a Griffin on the side, clearly breaking some bones beneath the feathers.
'Collarbone.'
Leaping to the next pirate, Weiss used the claw part of his attack as he dug into the flesh, causing some bones to dislocate as a result.
'Shoulder'.
Next was one of the few Pegasi, who had used its smaller size to jump towards him, yet Weiss' halberd blade began to shine as he headbutted the Pony with an Iron Head, careful not use the blade itself as he cracked its bones.
'Nose.'
Finally was the bigger Griffin of the group, who instead used his height and claws to pin down the Pokemon. Weiss however decided to do something a bit flashier. He threw his fist at the pirate's chest, a strong light covering it as he made contact with the creature. "Giga Impact." The big Griffin was sent flying towards the other side of the deck, taking some of his crew alongside the way.
'Ribcage.'
"What the flock are you waiting for!" Demanded the pirates' captain once his stupor ended. "Flank this son of a crow from the sky!"
At his command some Griffins took off, only to be suddenly knocked back by Edge. "How rude of you captain," mocked the dragon. "To have forgotten about me so soon."
Edge's distraction gave Weiss enough time to cool off from the Giga Impact. 'Okay, great output, terrible reload,' he thought as he thanked Arceus for his comrade's presence. The number of attackers had diminished by half and there was enough room for Weiss to try one last thing properly.
The Bisharp removed his clothing calmly and said, "Scary Face." Then his expression became terrifying, at least to the pirates.
They were too scared now to even think about attacking Weiss, which told the mercenary that it was time to end things. He pull out both of his blades which began to glow softly. "Fury Cutter."
Now having the speed advantage, the former human dashed around the remaining foes as he listed each obliterated limb.
'Claws.'
'Beak.'
'Lungs.'
'Femur.'
'Jaw.'
Each time his blades made impact, the glow which cover them become shinier and shinier. By the time he reached the pirate's captain, they were blinding.
"P-please... I-I surr-We surrender!" Exclaimed the captain in defeat, however he never let go of his sword.
He raised his sword as soon he thought Weiss was distracted, he brought it down, only to hit air, before a single line was uttered from behind him.
"Wings."
The fat Griffin let out a terrible scream as he jerked on the floor, both of his wings bended in various unnatural ways. "Please!" screamed the Griffin. "Kill me!" It was unknown if it was the pain or the fear of losing his wings what made him say that.
"Sorry captain, but I am an imperial dog," slowly replied Weiss as he retrieved his blades, picked up his clothes and entered the ship's lower floor, leaving the poor creatures to their torment.
Weiss looked around the ship for any more pirates to fight, yet he found none. Instead, he found something he thought was of far more importance: the armory.
"Jackpot!" Exclaimed the Bisharp as he focused on a wall filled with knives of many shapes and sizes. “These will work perfectly with Fling,” he thought out loud as he removed a knife, only to find a big and dilated eye on the other side.
At first, he thought it could be a victim of the pirates...until it blinked.
"Oh my, it seems our luck has made a turn for the better," commented a female voice, apparently the owner of the eye.
Weiss could only give one response. "Dafak!"