I was still somewhat uncomfortable eating the Sneasels, but not enough to go hungry. Honestly, I was beginning to develop a real appreciation for the taste of the Egg thieves. They were greasy like a duck, but at the same time, their cooked flesh almost resembled deer in texture, and if I ignored the source, it would have made a truly delicious roast or maybe marinated, grilled, and sliced thinly over rice…

  I finished my plain, seasoning-deprived meat with a sigh of satisfaction. I still had an entire Sneasel corpse for us to eat tonight, and I grinned at the Alpha as I used a Sneasel claw to pick at my teeth. The meat broke into fibers way too easily, and I would have loved some floss instead—or just toothpaste and a toothbrush. My teeth were fuzzy!

  Oh Arceus, please give me a shower! My hair was stiff and unruly, greasy and dirty in a way that I had never experienced before, even after multiple days of hiking and camping, and I didn't even want to think about the rest of my body.

  Well, I might as well get on with it. I stood from the smoldering embers of my fire, idly asking the Skrelp to hit it with a Water Gun as I picked up the Sneasel corpse. I felt his Water Gun push me sideways slightly, him still being on my arm, but thankfully it was more of a Water Trickle than the torrent that had saved me yesterday. I tossed the Sneasel corpse into the skin of its parent (and wasn't that a morbid thought) before turning to the Tyrantrum.

  "So, want your necklace?" I held up the savage necklace, three claws on either side of two large, vibrant red Weavile feathers. Her eyes perked up, and she crouched down so I could tie it around her neck. The necklace came to rest right on the 'cape' of white fur that extended past her shoulders. It looked even more savage on its killer, and I let a vicious smile come to my face.

  "Look's nice! I'll still get it made into a headband later if you want, but that looks badass!" The two children both nodded their heads wildly, the baby Tyrunt babbling out a stream of words I really wished I could understand. The Tyrantrum looked so smug as she postured I couldn't help but giggle. As she looked over to me, I came to a realization.

  "You know, if most Tyrantrums are like you… you might be the very first Tyrantrum in the history of the world to wear an accessory!" Her eyes grew wide, and I smiled. I didn't see the intrigued look in them as I turned to the two children, who were both looking at me expectantly.

  "Yes, I'll make you two something as well. You both helped take down a Sneasel and fought together. I think I can let go of some feathers for ya. That will have to be later, though; I'd rather get there before we lose too much light. Although, your mom is real fast, so who knows." I heard a low growl of warning, but I ignored it as I turned back to her.

  "Ready to get going? If we can get to the foot of the mountains by nightfall, I can set up a nice bonfire for the night. Then we can run up the mountain as fast as possible before we all freeze to death the next morning. Sound good?"

  She nodded and I bent to the baby, lifting her into the morbid-mobile with slight difficulty. She wasn't full grown or an Alpha, yet, but she was still as heavy as the Skrelp, without the ability to somehow float and negate some of her weight. I placed the Skrelp inside after, ignoring his pout as I detached him from my arm, and looked up at the adult hopefully.

  "If you grab the loop and lift it up a bit, I'll climb in." She carefully bent down and I gently hooked the tied arms of the Sneasel in between her massive teeth before she turned to stare at me.

  I quickly climbed up using her jaw as a handhold, dropping inside feet first. The moist feeling of ribs scaped bare by a titanic tongue on my bare feet was horrid, but I was quickly becoming desensitized to the horror show my life had become.

  As I landed, the Alpha lifted her head and immediately began bounding towards the mountain range, which was far off in the distance. I got a brief glimpse of the scenery blurring past us before inertia and gravity slammed me backward, thankfully avoiding the baby Pokemon.

  After a few minutes of terror that my bindings would come undone, I relaxed a little bit, slowly adjusting to the slight bouncing we were experiencing. Now that she had gotten into a rhythm, it was actually quite peaceful. That lasted all of a minute before she leapt over something, tossing the group of us around like bowling pins. At that point, I gave up any hope for comfort and simply gripped the ribcage flooring tightly, hoping for the best. Praying that I wouldn't be too bruised tonight.

  A doomed prayer.

  Roughly a half hour into our run, I heard a loud, oddly echoing roar ring out from above us briefly before I felt the Alpha slowing. Thankfully she did it gradually, because I had no desire for inertia to fuck me over any more than it already had today. The Weavile skin was lowered to the ground, but not released, and I slowly peeked out. I stiffened in fear momentarily, but I was quickly learning to trust the Tyrantrum mother as far as other Pokemon went.

  A giant blue three-headed dragon stood before us, its six pitch-black wings idly flapping as it stared at the Alpha. They began to converse, and I couldn't help but admire it. A Hydreigon. An Alpha Hydreigon, if its size was any indication. It was easily close to a dozen feet tall, after all. It began to talk with her, a chorus of growls and hisses ringing out.

  What the hell was this all about? Did the Tyrantrum know every dragon Alpha here?

  Wait, that was stupid. Of course she did, and she probably ruled them with an iron jaw, too, same as that Dragale… No, don't tell me…

  The Hydreigon stepped forward, its main head and two arm-heads alike darting forward to sniff me as they stared at me. Long, snakelike tongues darted forth, tasting the air briefly before the entire creature froze. With a sudden downward swing of its wings, the Hydreigon was gone.

  Okay, good. I don't need any more Pokemon yet, and a Deino was one of the last Pokemon I wanted. Not because I didn't want a Deino; they were easily a top-ten species for me. The little dark dragons were like adorable blind puppies. No, it was because of the biting.

  The Hydreigon line was completely blind until their final form, and relied on smell for much of its senses. And taste. Deino's were known to bite their trainers extensively until they got used to them, and I was already down a finger. I'd rather not lose a hand, or chunks of myself.

  So why were we still here?

  I looked up to ask the Tyrantrum, but a growing speck on the horizon solidified my fears. The Alpha Hydreigon returned, and this time, it didn't even stop. It just took a long, low approach and dropped a Pokemon from its mouth before flying away.

  The Deino, because of course it had to be a Deino, rolled a solid ten feet before it stopped. I was worried for about half a second before it bounced up, tail wagging and happily panting as it looked around. Its hearing was exceptional despite its blindness, so in quick order there was a clumsy dragon-puppy sniffing at the opening.

  I was about to protest, but before I even had the opportunity, the dragon was jumping, and I barely got my head out of the opening before it slammed in, getting stuck head-first as I backed up as far as possible from the sharp jaws. Which wasn't far enough; this wasn't a huge bag of horrors.

  With an earnest wiggle it fell inside, and before I could even yell in surprise the corpse had lifted again, inertia once again proving itself my bane. All of us slammed backwards, the Deino landing feet-first on my chest. With a gasp I tried to push it away with my trapped arms, trying to keep an eye on the wildly swinging head. It turned towards me, and my blood froze as its head stretched towards mine.

  I watched in absolute horror as its open jaws neared my face, but just before it bit down, it paused. If it had eyes, I'd say they would have opened wide in shock, because a second later, its jaws were pulled backward, mouth slamming closed as it whined at me. It was an inquisitive whine with no aggression, but it threw me for a loop.

  That's not supposed to happen with Deino's.

  I shouldn't have a face right now!

  I should have just died, arms pinned to my sides by inertia and a baby Tyrunt as my face was bitten off!

  I didn't have much time to contemplate that horrific thought, as I suddenly heard what I could only describe as pleading hisses. I risked a peek out of the sides, seeing a large black gecko my size bounding along on all fours, looking up at the Tyrantrum as she ignored her.

  Good!

  I didn't need another Pokemon to take care of! What the hell was with these Poke-parents trying to give their fucking babies to me? I would like to choose my team, please! Was it because I had the biggest, deadliest adoptive parent in Galar, who was obviously leaving with a human?

  Probably. In fact, I got it… Still!

  The gecko stopped, and for one glorious moment I thought we were free. Then she screeched in the most heart-rending way I had ever heard in either life. Tears instantly sprang to my eyes at the despair in her voice, and I couldn't even understand her.

  The Tyrantrum, however, could.

  Inertia threw me sideways as we made a u-turn, and with a long-suffering growl from the Tyrantrum, she slowed down to let the exhausted Salazzle take the lead. I let myself slide back down in the bag, landing on top of the Deino. It pulled its head away from me in what I could only call 'confused, wary playfulness', but I still didn't have the bandwidth to process that.

  Run to the base of the mountains. Set up camp. Simple. It was a two step process, and now I've got another Pokemon to take care of, soon to be two.

  When the pouch was lowered again I had basically given up. Choose your own team? Capture a powerful opponent, rescue an injured Pokemon that chooses to come along, or befriend them, convince them to come along on my new journey with hope and friendship in my eyes? Nope! I'm given Pokemon by their parents! I liked Salazzles, but I hope she wasn't trying to pawn a male Salandit on me. Poor little guys were basically her slaves, though, so I highly doubted it.

  I poked my head out when we stopped. The area was rocky, with small drifts of what looked like artificially created sand, probably created by the Salazzle's reverse harem for her comfort. It was clearly not the ideal environment for desert dwellers. Well, arid dwellers, I think?

  They seemed successful out here, though.

  Her harem was huge, almost twenty pitch-black Salandits staring at the panting female with worry in their eyes as they hung from boulders and surrounded her, worry in their eyes, but I only had eyes for one. It was tiny, less than half the size of any Salandit here at barely a foot long, and it didn't look newborn with the scuffs that covered its scales.

  It looked like a runt, and I could tell it was barely tolerated by the rest of them. The color was probably the reason.

  Its head was pitch black like the others', with the same orange marking on its back that led down its tail, but the similarities ended there. Its body was pure white instead of pitch black. It was separate from the others but didn't even glance at us as it watched its mother with wet eyes.

  It was a shiny Pokemon—a Pokemon with an alternative color scheme.

  Now I could tell why she was so desperate. I had poured thousands of hours into the video games, and I think I had a grand total of three shinies over the years. That little Salandit was a massive target, double if it was female, and with my luck? It had to be female.

  I didn't even protest as I saw the shiny and adult converse. At this point I was just done with the whole thing. No agency in coming here, no agency in my Pokemon. I never got to choose! I wasn't minding the results themselves, however.

  I was grateful to be here, to be in the correct body, so far I liked my new Pokemon, and if this Deino wasn't going to bite me for some reason, I would love to take it along for the journey. That had been my only gripe with the species, now that I was here in my own vulnerable flesh and blood. I would not be eaten by my own Pokemon.

  Salazzles were cool too, but that's doubling up on poison… Although with Corrosion, the Salandit line could poison even steel and poison types… I already had two of the same species… I sighed as I idly intercepted the Deino's head as it found the Sneasel's corpse, grabbing the spike of hair on its head.

  "Yo, don't eat that. That's for all of us later." Its head jerked as it heard my voice for the first time, then whined a little before ending its attempt to eat our only rations. I released its head and poked my head outside, only to get a face full of gecko as the Salandit jumped in.

  Once again, and hopefully for the last time today, inertia became the enemy.

  Thankfully, there were no more stops after that. However, the following two hours was one of the most miserable of either life. I was practically sitting on the large Deino to start with, who I was sure was an Alpha, but it was hard to get a real sense of scale squished together inside a Weavile skin.

  The baby Tyrunt sat between my legs on the Deino's back, but the poor Skrelp had to make do with holding onto one of the bone frames. The little Salandit did the same, giving everyone wary glances in her spot on the fur as far away from the Deino's mouth as possible.

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  It wasn't even the smell that was so bad. I had long gone nose blind to all but the foulest of odors, and I had done my best to clean the meat, blood, and viscera from the various skins and bones. No, quite soon after we left the area around the giant tree, the elevation began to rise. Not as much as the mountain would where the snow began, but enough that there was now a persistent, random bouncing.

  I couldn't even brace myself for it properly, and aside from the Skrelp and Salandit we soon got unfortunately used to slamming into each other. I had taken to bear hugging the Deino just so it wouldn't smash into me as we bounced around, with the baby Tyrunt actually hanging onto the support bones with her jaw as she tried not to kick out with her sharp, oversized claws.

  To say I was banged up when the bag was finally dropped from the Tyrantrums mouth would be an understatement. Although my whole body felt bruised, I had surprisingly few visible bruises, but the ones I did were spectacular. My lower back had a strip of raised, parallel bruises from coming down at just the wrong angle on the rib cage floor, before I had tried to wedge myself in.

  It hadn't done much, in the end.

  A vibrant yellow discoloration marked my hip, and though I couldn't see it I knew I had a large bruise on my forehead. After getting smacked by a Deino the size of a large dog, and then thrown around with it for an hour or more, I was lucky those were the only visible bruises. The rest of my body still throbbed, but it could have been much worse.

  I desperately tore my way out of the bag of horrors, emerging onto the edge of a stunningly beautiful clearing in the forest, absolutely packed with flowers of all colors. I could see a huge mountain range ahead of us over the trees, and I may have whimpered a bit at the thought of tomorrow's ride, even as I stood stunned by the beauty of the scenery in the afternoon twilight, skin rising into goosebumps as the chill air hit me.

  Just a little whimper.

  The Alpha stomped off, but before I could even ask where she was going I stumbled in place, the Skrelp slamming into my thankfully covered arm and shoulder. I looked back at the skin, watching it tip over as the Deino began to wiggle its way out, the Salandit already running towards me, fearful eyes glancing back at the skin.

  I didn't let myself react as it climbed up to my shoulder, and it thankfully managed to drape itself over my shoulder without digging its claws in. They had been smaller than I had anticipated, but the rest of its paws had felt like a geckos, obviously, with ridged pads for traction. It was a weird sensation, but oddly similar to the leaf-tailed gecko an old friend of mine had owned.

  As the Deino freed itself and charged, I braced myself with wide feet. Its head darted in, but thankfully the mouth was closed. I still stumbled a bit as it slammed into me, stumpy tail wagging so hard its butt shook back and forth. I laughed as I fell backwards, letting it put its front legs on my thighs as its head came up to mine.

  It's mouth broke open just enough for its tongue to stick out, and before I could jerk back it had licked my entire face, my hair rising with the saliva. I tried not to gag as I frantically wiped the saliva off of my face. I had just gotten myself, if not clean, at least saliva free!

  I pushed it off of me and stood up, taking a moment to wipe my face off. The Sneasel fur was ridiculously soft, but poor at cleaning Deino slobber, unfortunately. I opened my eyes and glared at it, but of course it didn't know that. It was blind, and still just as excited, like it was a dog waiting for permission to play. I sighed before I spoke.

  "Deino, please dont lick my face. Please." It wilted immediately, but I spoke up quickly. "You can lick my hands or something if you have to, but just not the face." It perked back up at that.

  "Okay, first things first. Are you a boy?" He nodded vigorously, and I turned to the Salandit staring at me with wide eyes on my shoulder. "And you're a girl, right?" She nodded, so I addressed them both as the baby Tyrunt and Skrelp both watched on.

  "So for you, little man, I'm assuming your parents wanted you to go with me and get strong, right?" He happily nodded and I turned to the little gecko.

  "And yours wanted you to be safe, and not to draw them too much attention, right?" She looked ashamed as she nodded, but I quickly shook my head.

  "Don't be ashamed, or blame them. Your mom did the best thing she possibly could have for you when she somehow kept up with a running Alpha Tyrantrum and convinced her to come back with her. You saw how exhausted she was when we got there! She did that for you." She nodded at me, but still looked downcast. Well, time heals and all that. It just happened.

  The Deino didn't seem to mind being fucking airdropped to us, so I wasn't worried about him. He looked to just be a happy little guy. Big guy. Hopefully I was a much stronger trainer before he Evolved, because Zweilous was not going to be a fun stage for anyone, especially him.

  There was a crash as a whole dead tree was dropped nearby, the Tyrantrum staring at me. I started to ask her to break it up, but she began to shred the tree and I shrugged. The sun was almost behind the mountains, so I might as well get dinner started.

  I soon had a roaring bonfire at the edge of the meadow, chunks of meat roasting while the younger Pokemon each ate their share as I tried to become one with the flames in the cold air. I had an idea what was going on with the Deino's reaction earlier, and I was grateful for it after seeing his maw in action. His jaws bit straight through the Sneasels torso, and he was soon whining at my feet for more.

  I was about to apologise, but never got the chance as the Tyrantrum stood and turned to stare at me. It took me a second, but I got it eventually.

  "Going to hunt? I'll keep an eye on them. Good luck!" She smiled at me with all of her teeth before turning and beginning to charge up the mountain, far, far faster than we had moved today. I stood there, mouth wide for a few moments before I turned back to the group of Pokemon.

  "Well, what say we figure out some more of your Move pools? How about we start with y-"

  ""May I join you at your fire, human?""

  My blood ran cold at the voice inside my head, and a sudden surge of nausea made me almost vomit immediately. That voice was wrong in so many ways. Human words, from a completely inhuman mind. The touch on my mind was like a spike of ice down my spine. I tried not to tremble as I turned.

  I failed.

  Standing before me was a towering creature made of a swirl of white, blue, and pink hair, a smooth form that slowly lowered itself to head height. My heart skipped a beat when I met this thing's eyes, soullessly bright pupils staring at me from between pitch black irises that shone with a reflective sheen, like an oil slick made of dying fireflies.

  Bright pink eyebrows rose on its pale white face as its mouth opened in what would have been a gentle smile if not for the edge to it. Space seemed to warp around me as she spoke again.

  ""It is considered quite rude among most to keep someone awaiting a reply."" There was less nausea, but the sense of wrongness grew greater. This thing shouldn't be! I began to growl before the Skrelp squeezed my arm. I stopped and took a deep breath. When I looked back up I had a wide smile on my face as I gestured towards the fire. I did my very best to be eloquent and clear in my words.

  Very clear.

  "You may join us for a time and warm yourself, but our guardian may return soon. She is rather protective of us, just to give proper caution to a fellow stranger."

  Please work! Holy fuck thats a Hatterene, an Alpha Hatterene. The Silent Pokemon, wood witch, and a Fairy. Is that why she's freaking me out so bad? That dragon aura theory I had? Fuck I hope that the rules for fae from my world work here. Be polite. Hospitable. Don't lie. Don't say thank you or say that you owe them anything. Treat them like a bomb. A very probably malicious bomb.

  "Would you care for a bit of Sneasel? This is all that I have to share, unfortunately, but I do so freely, with no expectation of payment." I held out a skewer, hand shaking. Not badly, but it was still noticeable. There was no hiding my emotions, unfortunately. Their whole Evolutionary line felt emotions.

  She reached out to grasp the skewer with a dark, gnarled claw from inside her cloak of hair.

  ""Your hospitality does your species credit. Few humans know the old ways, the true ways. Then again, you're not most humans, are you?""

  She plucked the chunk of meat off and tossed it into her still smiling mouth, her words continuing even as she slowly chewed on the meat. Smiling.

  ""A human that travels with tyrants, one who smells of blood both won and lost. A human that I would swear was a dragon, had I not eyes."" Her face drew uncomfortably close and I did my best not to piss myself. I succeeded, but her next words made it very hard.

  ""A human who truly believes that they are from a different world, one with fae so similar to me and mine.""

  Oh fuck! Fuck! Their psychic fairies! She can read my mind! Get the fuck out! Courtesy doesn't extend to the privacy of my own mind, you bitch!

  Her grin grew wide, but the surroundings warped as she did something, the air seeming to gain a pink tinge even as my gaze was locked to hers. I couldn't turn away if I wanted to, and I very much wanted to. I was quickly growing angrier, too, which was a bad idea but fuck this bitch, my mind is mine!

  ""To be of my kind is to know emotions. To know the mind, in all its glorious forms. I could no more not listen to your unshielded thoughts than I could let a slight against me go unavenged."" She glanced behind me momentarily. ""You have the progeny of the Three Terrors, and the Tyrant of Land has taken you in as her own. What is it you plan to do with your newfound power?""

  Terrors? Do? I was going to- I was going to go tell a big ol' Tyrantrum a Hatterene was picking on me!

  ""It is no fun if you do that, child. It is also useless. You didn't know? She is the Terror of Land, the Queen of the Lowlands. The Terror of Water rules over his domain in peace alongside both her and the Terror of the Sky. They are the greatest powers in the Lowlands, and as they are peaceful towards each other, each with their separate territories, that is unlikely to change. Or, it was."" Her gaze was too bright as it pierced me.

  ""To think a human managed to convince the Tyrant to go into one of those abominable spheres."" She began to cackle, a sound like nails on a chalkboard mixed with breaking glass. I tried to keep my mind clear, but it was impossible. She looked back at me with interest. I didn't like the look in her eyes. She looked hungry.

  ""I do not eat humans, child. I rarely even kill them. Why do that and end the fun prematurely?… Oh, yes those are some delightful ideas you're giving me from these 'horror movies' from your world… quite inventive, actually! I will have to try that one… No, you haven't figured out my methods yet. I am quite inventive. Oh, is that a 'kitten'? A valiant attempt to redirect your thoughts, but futile. Now, let's see, what to do…"" She cackled again before suddenly rising to her full height.

  Her claw came out of her hair just in time to catch the small form that popped into existence before her. For a moment the entire clearing was quiet other than the crackle of logs in the bonfire, before the little creature began absolutely wailing in distress, a haunting sound that made my heart ache in sympathy.

  It was the first form of a Hatterene, a Hatenna, and the little nightcap-looking Pokemon supposedly got tired and overwhelmed from any strong emotions, good or bad. I didn't have to look behind me to know my team was experiencing more than a little bit of terror, not to mention I was seriously worried I would have a heart attack at any moment.

  The poor thing was overwhelmed as it wailed in the creature's claws. I hesitated to call it a mother, because it looked like the poor thing had been traumatised before she was teleported here. Considering her previous words, I had the horrible thought that-

  ""Yes, she's quite the disappointment for one of my progeny. The rest have adjusted to the entertainment, but this one is weak.""

  She tossed the poor thing onto the ground between us, her wails growing harrowing as she sobbed on the ground. I looked on in horror, frozen in pure terror. As much as I wanted to comfort the Pokemon, it was my presence, mine and my teams, that was causing her distress! Not that I could move!

  ""I was going to cull her soon, but this is more entertaining. I wont see the end of her story this way, but now she must choose. Will she follow you along your path, walk alongside the children of terror? She would be in agony, should she refuse to grow into herself. She wants nothing less. Or, attempt to flee my woods, now that she is this far. Agony, or death?"" Her smile grew wider, a small, delicate tongue coming out to lick her lips.

  Her actual claw reached out, dangerously close to my eye, before it came to rest on my jaw, the tip digging in slightly. I desperately tried not to whimper, but the growl that came out wasn't fit to be called one. I whined as she slowly dragged her claw closer to my eye, over my cheekbone, only to stop just on my eyelid. I could feel the claw almost poking through, pressing on my eyeball. She licked the blood from her claw before smiling at me as I tried to scream.

  I failed.

  ""Isn't that a fun choice? You humans like to change your answer after a time, but there's no going back on your word. Not in my woods. Goodbye, enigma from another world."" She took a single flowing 'step' backwards.

  ""I grant you and your 'team' safe passage through my woods, human, but once you leave them all accords and pacts between us are void.""

  She began to glide away before pausing, turning back to me with a delighted smile.

  It was the most horrific thing I had ever seen.

  ""Pray that we do not meet again, for my curiosity has been slaked."" She spared one more sneer for her daughter before she simply wasn't there anymore.

  There was no flash of light, no displacement of air. One second she was there, the next she was gone, taking her oppressive atmosphere with her. I fell forward onto my hands and knees, gasping for breath. Holy shit that was too much! I was not sleeping tonight, that's for fucking sure. My limbs felt like lengths of rope, with no strength in them whatsoever, and my heart still felt like it would soon burst.

  The little Hatenna's wails decreased dramatically, but she continued to sob into the dirt as I looked at the rest of my team. Everyone looked the same, scared shitless and disturbed. Holy shit, that was a fae! No no no NOPE! Why me? Why? I looked down at the sobbing creature in front of me and my heart broke.

  I was extrapolating, but this poor little girl probably watched her monster of a mother… torture who knows how many people. The only one who didn't 'adjust to the entertainment'. The thought turned my stomach as I crouched down next to the traumatised Pokemon. My touch was featherlight as I reached out to stroke her head. Her hat. The top of her? It wasn't a hat, but damn if it didn't look like one.

  She shuddered under my hand for a second before turning over to look at me. I guessed, I didn't see any eyes behind her curly hair, but I smiled weakly as I spoke, voice breaking. I was trying not to cry, but it was hard. She was so sad it hurt my soul, and I still felt like I was about to die in the next moment as the fey came back to finish us off.

  Not that she could.

  "H-hey there, little one. You're safe with us. I-I'm sorry we're causing you so much pain, but once I get out of here I'll find you some h-help, okay? It's going to be okay now, I promise you. We won't hurt you." There had to be eyes under there, as tears began to flow again before she hopped up and threw herself into my lap, quietly sobbing into my stomach as I stroked her.

  The rest of my team had come over and began to huddle around me, Skrelp in his spot, Salandit on my other shoulder. The baby Tyrunt came to my side, while Deino remained standing in front of me, head scanning around in wariness. We just sat there waiting, hoping, and I couldn't help but start to cry a little bit as the fear began to run its course. A lot, actually…

  I didn't just almost die. I just almost had a much, much worse fate. What the fuck was wrong with that thing? It was so wrong on an instinctive level! Dragon and Fairy crap aside, that had been evil!

  My brain and emotions felt like they had been scraped raw from the experience, so when the Alpha returned a half hour later I barely reacted. She dropped what looked like a Copperajah of all things in front of us, the steel-type elephant missing its head. Judging by the way the neck looked, she had ripped its head off. And probably eaten it, knowing her.

  What was it with her and eating heads?

  Her daughter immediately began to roar, and I let the Pokemon talk it out among themselves as I continued to stroke the still-crying Hatenna gently. The Alpha Tyrantrum's growls grew in volume the longer she listened, and I let her. I was pissed too. That monster deserved death, but I was grateful when she didn't try to run off and fight. Instead she shoved her head into my face, trying to look into my eyes.

  I couldn't meet her eye as I continued to stroke the traumatized child in my lap. Not for a long time.

  Eventually, finally, I looked up, meeting the concern-filled eye directly in front of me. My voice was quiet and calm, but it carried finality. Let the wood witch hear it if she's around. She had promised me safe passage, and I knew that she couldn't break her word. They were the last words I spoke that night, before we settled in with the Tyrantrum in a pile of bodies close to the roaring bonfire.

  I spoke them and meant them.

  "I'm going to make sure that thing dies. I swear it, and if it's listening? Try and break your word, monster. I dare you."

  If I couldn't get someone to do it for me, I'd come back and do it myself if I had to once I was stronger.