“So what you’re saying is that Pokemon from your region have last names?” Blu asked while he prepared his shovel to jam into the earth to remove a shovelful of dirt from their future path to salvation they had used nigh a few months ago.

    Pyren shoveled a large pile of dirt out of the way and into a mining cart behind them. “Well, I suppose that, in a way, we really do not, but yes technically.”

    “What do you mean, yes technically? It seems to me like you enjoy being cryptic or indirect whenever I ask you anything."

    "It's a curse, I'm afraid." Pyren wedged the tip of his shovel into the tunnel floor and sighed. Digging out a tunnel was hard work. Combine that with the fact that Pyren and Blu were the only ones digging this particular tunnel, and the task sounded joyously tedious. Even so, there was nothing better to do except let wounds fester, so what could they do? Devonshire had a whole team working on the main tunnel, but he had insisted on several decoy tunnels to help ward off intruders. A cunning plot, Pyren was sure, but one that would be an annoyance in the future.

    He wondered when the Heatran would take up residence in the village's handiwork.

    “So, what’s your father’s name?” Pyren asked.

    “Blu Sr.” Blu’s shovel banged on a rock and he stooped down to pull it out. “I’m Blu Jr, in case you didn’t realize.” He added with a disappointed frown

    “Blu Bluson.” Pyren replied, chuckling. Blu shot him a look before he explained. “You are the son of Blu, therefor you are Bluson.” The more he said the name, the more Pyren wanted to laugh. “Perhaps you know your mother’s name?”

    “Dana.” Blu replied.

    “Blu Danason. That’s much more suitable.” He allowed himself a laugh and went back to shoveling.

    -------------------

    “Why?!” The Scraggy yelled, making the entire Commerce Mushroom go silent and watch the spectacle he was putting on. “Why? Oh, why? Why? Why?” The Dark type got down on his hands and knees and crawled over to his destroyed produce, the illegal drugs that a Nidoking named Trudeau wanted destroyed. “God why? By God why?”

    Amelia watched his performance with pleasure, the sledgehammer used to enact the deed leaning on the floor in her left hand. Beside her were Remington and Trudeau, who were both watching the scene with mixed reactions. “You know, when I asked you to chase off the dealers, I didn’t exactly ask you to take a sledgehammer to their goods.” Trudeau said.

    “No, you asked me to take a sledgehammer to his goods, and then Remington would set them on fire.” Amelia gleefully replied.

    Remington raised his hand and interjected. “I don’t actually know Flamethrower anymore. I asked Master Shao to teach me Thunderbolt.” Reaching behind him, he grabbed the Chargestone Staff that he kept on his back and removed it from its sheath. Remington held the staff’s head above his and charged up its energy, then shot a Thunderbolt at the Scraggy and his harmful produce. The berries were signed so as to be inedible, and the Scraggy was paralyzed and fell to the ground in a series of twitches.

    Amelia smiled pleasantly. “When did Master Shao teach you that? Kinda useful given that the rod-”

    “The staff,” Remington interrupted, holding the Chargestone Rod in front of her “can charge me with electricity. Yes, I know. That’s the exact reason why I asked Master Shao to teach me how to use an Electric Type move. He was kind of unsure, given that you can’t seem to keep track of any of our accessory vouchers and things-”

    “Hey, that was Pyren’s job!”

    “-and that I was a ‘difficult student,’ according to him.”

    “Typical for any teacher to say that about you.” Amelia chuckled and shook her head. “You’ve always been hard to work with.”

    Trudeau gave Remington a friendly pat on the back. “Apparently he gets the job done, at least. As do you, Amelia.”

    “Thank you.”

    --------------------------

    Pyren groaned at Callahan’s offer. “So you’re saying there’s a book about how the world’s going to end, but nobody can read the ending without forgetting it?”

    “Dude, I gotta admit that’s pretty dumb.” Blu added.

    Callahan chuckled and pawed over to them. “Now, now. Who could resist the idea of knowing when and where we’re all going to die?”

    Pyren chuckled back at him. “Well, the only real way that we could all die is if a meteor hit us, or if the gods decided to come down to us and start blowing shit up. Chances are, we’re not gonna see either any time soon.”

    “Oh, please. Do you really believe that actual gods are looking at us right now? Observing our mistakes? Criticizing us? Possibly even directing our actions? I think not.”

    “First off, I don’t think I want to fight you; I may be a master of combat, but I’m still pretty beat up from that fight on the tree.”

    “Understandable, I suppose.”

    “Second, I’m pretty sure there are. Gods controlling us, that is.”

    --------------------------

    “How did he talk me into this?” Pyren shouted, blocking a Flame Charge from Callahan with a Mach Punch. Callahan was able to use the force of the blow to escape his other fist, also charged with a Mach Punch. Landing on his feet, he shot a blitz of Psychock energy at Pyren, but Pyren flanked the attack and landed a punch on Callahan’s left shoulder. Callahan swung his other paw at Pyren and knocked him away for a moment, but he was quickly able to outflank Callahan again on his other side and throw another Mach Punch at him. Callahan was expecting this, however, and blocked attack again with both of his arms. Pyren swung both arms at him in rapid succession, breaking through Callahan’s defensive maneuver and landing a punch on his snout.

    Callahan was taken aback at the Monferno’s skill. He had had the Monferno on the defensive when the fight started, but it didn’t take him all that long to adjust to Callahan’s fighting style. He formed a Nasty Plot in his head and launched another Psychock onslaught at Pyren. Pyren found a rhythm and avoided all of his attempts to attack him.

    Taking on another strategy, he launched a bunch of Psychock energy at Pyren’s feet and stirred up a cloud of dust that limited both of their visions. Callahan had an advantage in this scenario. He launched yet another round of Psychock at Pyren. More blasts were heard. Immediately after, Pyren rushed out of the dust and right at Callahan. Taken by surprise, he was unable to get away and was forced to try and defend himself, ducking and moving from side to side to avoid his blinding Mach Punches. Changing tactics, he spun around and knocked Pyren off his feet with his tails. The Monferno landed on his hands and immediately flipped onto his feet. Resuming his own onslaught, Pyren kept throwing punches at Callahan and managed to start landing blows. Callahan whipped his tails at Pyren’s feet again, but this time he jumped over them and landed on Callahan’s head.

    “Get off me!” Callahan shouted. He rolled forward and forced Pyren to jump off. Getting back on his feet, he Flame Charged at Pyren before he was able to get his bearings. Pyren tried blocking with his Mach Punch again, but he failed and got thrown on the ground. Once again in close range, though, he was able to start hurling his fists at Callahan. This time, though, Callahan’s increased speed kept him equal with Pyren. Blow after blow was blocked by Callahan until finally he retaliated and shot a Psychock right at Pyren’s chest, sending him flying into the onlooking crowd.

    The observers backed away from Pyren, who was getting up with some difficulty. “Done yet?” Callahan asked.

    Pyren’s tail flared up, as did several other parts of his body. “Not even close.” He muttered, charging at Callahan with a Mach Punch. To Callahan’s surprise, Pyren was  reinvigorated somehow. Callahan was caught in his onslaught once more and was forced to back away to keep avoiding his blows. He thought the battle would turn when the Monferno charged a Fire Blast in his hand, which would charge up his firepower. Instead, Pyren threw the blast at the ground and stirred up more dust. Blind to where Pyren was, Callahan took blow after blow, only managing to block a few with his arms. Pyren landed an uppercut and sent Callahan flying out of the dust and into the clear view of the observers, where he charged and gave one more onslaught of Mach Punches. Callahan dodged as best as he could, but he was undeniably on the defensive. As a last ditch effort, he blasted a Psyshock at the ground between them, but it did not go off and instead bounced up back at the two of them...

    -------------------------

    “You alright?” A voice asked. Pyren groaned and rubbed his aching head. It took a moment to register that the voice was Callahan. “I must admit, you put up a nasty fight. You ought to have stayed at the village to fight the Zoroark clan; you undoubtedly would have been an asset if you are able to fight like you did.”

    Pyren sat up and rubbed his head as his headache renewed itself. “I felt more obligated to help Mike... plus I really would like to avoid going into war again if it’s at all in my control.”

    “Again? When had you gone into a war before?”

    “Well, I doubt it’ll happen for a while, technically, but it’s going to happen.” Pyren’s headache cleared up finally and he was able to get on his feet. “It’s kind of a long story. Perhaps in a hundred years or whatever you can ask me again and I’ll tell you about it.”