Chapter 5: Plan

The sun disappears from the sky. The moon rises. Nidoqueen is casually carrying Stumpy through Sahra town. Turns out the Saloon called for a meeting of all the local townsfolk about the recent theft and public nuisances and vagrancies of Krookodile and his gang. Nidoqueen was telling Stumpy about the information she pulled out of the stranded Krokorok, with Spiritomb's help. A name, whereabouts…and even how good it felt to deal a little payback. She may think of herself as just Stumpy's trusted friend and handmaiden, but Stumpy saw the evidence of just how powerful she could be. Stumpy was feeling better as of now, knowing he at least would have Nidoqueen ahead of him should a fight be inevitable.

"Hey, Stumpy?"

"Yeh, Nidaquaen? Got somthin' on your moind?"

"Um…just a little thing. I-It's no big deal, I think. I was just thinking about our time together these last few days. I couldn't help but wonder how you're feeling about all this."

"Look…we'll get oll are stuff back. Comp'ny will understand."

"But what about you?"

"Me?" Stumpy thinks about it and looks up at Nidoqueen. "Tell yew the truth, luv, it's no' about me. It's about oll o' them. Seems only roight tha' th' li'le mon on the jar foights for wot's roight, innit?"

Nidoqueen smiles, but deep down, she's worried for Stumpy. The last thing she wants is to feel like she couldn't save Stumpy again. The last thing she wants to think is that his efforts would get him seriously hurt, or worse…

Nidoqueen and Stumpy begin to enter the Saloon, and almost immediately are hit with a wave of excited locals, patrons, and tourists who recognize the little Shroomish on the beer bottle. It seems that the news spreads quickly in such a small resort village, especially when Little Andrew's Huge Mushroom Brew is almost as wanted as the scarce supply of fresh water.

The locals were excited and swarmed poor Stumpy to the point of being stuck in place for the next minute or so, and eventually Nidoqueen lifted a hand and tried her best to mosey her way through with Stumpy in her other arm, doing her best not to trample anyone.

But then, Stumpy had an idea. He asked Nidoqueen to lift him high into the air so everyone could see him and so everyone could hear him loud and clear. His unfamiliar accent boomed through the establishment, and it seemed he had everyone's attention.

"Oi, yew lovable lot! We come with mo' of yer fav'rit beer…Or, at least, we would 'ave. But dew any of yew 'ave a gist of what 'append to us?"

A random Bronzong from the back of the Saloon gave a short but ringing reply. "You got robbed. I heard your friend there talking about it earlier today." It seems the news about Stumpy and Nidoqueen's misfortunes had spread like fire through dry wood.

"Yes, yes, yew'd be roight! We got mugged clean and beat down 'ard. An' oll of yew might be wondering 'Who coulda dun such a theng? Who nicked YOR pints that yew pay for 'ere?' Me friend 'ere and an associate of ours came together earlier, an' oi thenk they got an oidentitey."

Another Pokémon, a Salazzle, was quick to jump on the chance to say who it was. "I saw their ugly mugs on the bulletin board outside, too, and I can't stand the sight of 'em around here anymore. All that damn Krookodile does is pull his Krokorok lackeys with him and won't let us rest easy after an honest day's work. Why, I can't even get in the mood these days..."

A Mandibuzz couple said something about flying over the outskirts of the village and looking for suspicious activity. A local Sigilyph mentioned trying to get the news out to Capim Town Brewery on her own, wanting to be the first to break the news to the lands across the sea and hoping some well-established rescue team would come.

As it turned out, there were a few rescue teams in the Saloon already, and they too were fed up with the numerous ways Krookodile would evade capture. One of which, a sophomore crew that called themselves Team Slither, was there. Their leader, a Sandaconda, slithered up to Stumpy and Nidoqueen.

Her words flowed normally, something Stumpy was unaccustomed to with the snake Pokémon he's met in Capim Town. "Team Slither will aid and assist your efforts." The sand serpent proceeded to shake on their word with Nidoqueen, her rattling tail in Nidoqueen's hand, a Seviper and an Ekans behind her nodding in approval, tongues flickering in unison in some sort of group greeting.

"As will I!" A brash, lone Nidoking got up from his seat in the Saloon and trudged towards Stumpy, who was still in Nidoqueen's arms. He seemed to garner a positive reaction from some of the patrons. His physique was intimidating all its own, but his claws and teeth would normally spook the daylights out of the little Shroomish. "You gifted us a good drink, little guy. Seems only fair we try and get it back." He then looked up, glanced into Nidoqueen's eyes with a look of confidence and a smirk in his face that seemed to melt Nidoqueen's beating heart. Perhaps it was natural urges speaking to her, but she's starting to really like everything about that Nidoking.

Eventually, more Pokémon patrons pledged their support, and stood by while they turned to the odd looking rock on the bar's counter shaking about. It sprang to life with a sense of renewed vitality, and Spiritomb emerged in a chaotic flurry that Stumpy was still getting used to, but everyone in the bar came to expect. Maybe they're a regular patron of the Saloon? In any case, Spiritomb spoke loud and clear for everyone to hear.

"Please, everyone, listen to us. We have something important to share. It is because of our new friends that we have located the hideout of the outlaw Krookodile and his henchmen. We captured an incapacitated Krokorok, thanks to both of our new friends, and we were informed of their location deep in the desert ruins.

"But, they have picked up formidable allies in the desert ruins. The Golett and Golurk are joined with them. They have power which shakes us to our very core. We fear their brute strength and advise all to approach these titanic Pokémon with extreme caution. They are the guardians of the desert ruins, and so, they will have extensive knowledge of the land. We cannot simply charge forward at will."

Stumpy immediately had tactics in his head. Scouting the desert ruins for activity would be paramount, so any Pokémon who could take to the skies were important for that task. As for creating a group, Stumpy knew that even having numbers wouldn't be enough. Krookodile was a Ground-type, after all. One Earthquake could spell disaster for an entire group. All he needed was a map, one that hung on the eastern wall of the Saloon, one that Spiritomb and

Stumpy would be fixated on the survey of the lands to the north. Sure, the desert looks simple, it appears mundane. Nothing more than hills of sand, and yet, the sand can hide much. It can bury the past. It can form high dunes and could sink anyone who moves about in the valleys. Stumpy, however, was jungle-born. The trees would block the sun and keep everything under the foliage mild, the rainfall would make the jungle floor damp. It was easy to hide a lot of treasures and artifacts in a place like that.

The local explorers could point out the finer details, they could show him what to look for, what to avoid. Stumpy was intent on learning the nooks and crannies, what lay in those ruins aside from the automaton Pokémon that dwell there. His eyes noticed something strange on the map, however. There was a collection of depicted water and trees into the northeast.

"Th' trees roight there…wot is that?"

Spiritomb looked upon the depiction. "That is the chain of oases that line the eastern desert. Centuries of rain pooled up and formed these watering holes, and the natives see them as vital to their survival. We feel they may be important."

Stumpy nodded in agreement. It looked to be less than a days' travel from Sahra Town as well. Of course, even with water, desert heat was a problem. Stumpy felt it the instant he landed in Sahra Town. He wasn't the kind of grass-type Pokem0n that can just eat sunlight. He couldn't do that. He'd be baked until he's a roasted puffball if he's exposed to that level of sun and heat. Not a good thought.

But even worse, Spiritomb would mention, is how cold a desert can become when the sun goes down. Stumpy worried about freezing, too. Oh, if only he was like that Cacnea kid he met earlier in the day. She seemed like she would d0 really well in the desert, Stumpy thought to himself.

Still, Stumpy knew his role, and he knew how best to play it.

"Roight…Spiritomb, oi thenk we need to form a vangard. Our toughest up front, and oi want yew weth me and Nidaquaen. Th' rest of us can make our way across these li'le ponds in the desert, so we need yor expertise in communication."

"It will be an honor to support you and your group, Stumpy. We will do well to be vigilant in locating your goods."

As it stood, Stumpy could afford to bring one m0re Pokémon to join them. He needed another strong, menacing and intimidating Pokémon on his side to make a journey into the desert. The little Shroomish didn't think twice. He requested Nidoqueen to bring him to Nidoking.

"Oi, s0 you're Nidakeng, roight?"

The mighty looking purple Poison/Ground-type spoke in a gruff, yet youthful voice, the kind that sounds like a distiller rumbling with brew inside it. "I suppose there's no mistaking me, is there? Seems about right, cause you're lookin' at the strongest mon in all of Sahra Town!"

Nidoqueen was actually shivering in place for some reason. Stumpy didn't pay much mind to that, and looked into Nidoking's eyes.

"Heh, no shortage o' confidence, oi taeke it. Oi thenk you'll dew well up front then…with th' two of us and Spiritomb roight over there. Wot dew yew say?"

Nidoking let off his fearsome grin, showing off a pair of massive fangs. He wasn't opposed to combat, it seemed, given the litany of scars across his body. But despite his rough looks, he seemed like a good guy, at least in Stumpy's eyes.

"Count me in, little guy. No way I can pass up a chance to pound some crooks into dust…and get to know the both of you, too."

All Nidoqueen could do was freeze up and giggle a little, her face a blushing mess. She'd be covering her face if she wasn't carrying Stumpy in her arms. Part of her was really tempted to follow him wherever he went, ask him on a date, fall in love, bear eggs and raise their children. A breath, drooly and warm, escaped from her mouth. Was it just plain instinct talking to her? In any case, she shook it off in her mind, trying not to let those lascivious feelings distract her. They had a mission: to find their stolen crates of beer and to bring to justice a band of thieves and their accomplices.

"Annnnd seeing as the two of you are stunned into silence by my impeccable physique, I'll tell you that I'll be waiting at the Saloon in the morning, just like everyone else here. Little guy, we'll go on your command.

"But for now, I'm going home to get some shut-eye. And seeing that the two of you probably don't have a place to sleep, there's a hotel just across the path that'll give you a helping hand or two."

Nidoqueen was stunned into silence still, a blush forming on her cheeks, but Stumpy spoke up and thanked Nidoking for the directions, to which the big purple guy smiled. Stumpy could swear he saw what looked like a cartoony gleam of light coming off his teeth.

Teeth…sharp as knives…

Stumpy shook off his fears for the moment. Besides, he and Nidoqueen had things to think about and things to do. To each other, perhaps. As Nidoqueen walked out of the Saloon and towards the hotel, she looked down at the Shroomish she carried, torn by feelings of love at first sight from the Nidoking and from her love for Stumpy.

"Oi…yew were auful soilent back there. Luv him, innit?"

Nidoqueen sighed. "...Look, I…I don't know what to feel anymore. Just looking at him, I saw a family and a husband a-and all that special stuff. And kids! But…"

"Bu'?"

"But I don't wanna miss what I have with you. You've cared for me so much over the last couple years. I just…I don't know what I'd do without you, Stumpy."

"Aye. Oi get et. Yew wanna famley. Ef 'e's enterested in yew, oi wouldn't moind if yew go toiein' yeself up with 'im. Bu' there's ollways toime fer us, enytoime yew need me fer 'elp. Tha's how oi see et. No pressure, luv."

Nidoqueen made her way to the hotel room, Stumpy in her arms as usual. She set him down on the bed before unloading what they had along the wall. Their explorer's bag, first aid, a chunk of wood from their destroyed ship... as well as a couple bottles of Little Andrew's. She twisted off the lids and set one of the jars down for Stumpy to drink. And a straw.

A gift from the Saloon, Stumpy surmised.

Stumpy took in all that heavy brew, and already he felt the stumbles. Nidoqueen laughed, drank hers in a few gulps, and laid on the bed next to Stumpy, eyes looking into his with a powerfully alluring gaze. Nidoqueen wasn't looking back.

"C'mere~…"