Chapter 7

The Iron Valiant crashed through the trees, breaking through the branches but landing on its feet—it had taken worse falls before. A nearby Girafarig, one hiding behind a trunk to peek out at the fight, reflexively kicked out its hind legs when its tail noticed the Iron Valiant's presence, but the Iron Valiant only needed to bring up the staff of its polearm to blunt the blow, and then the Iron Valiant took off running.

So many sets of eyes followed its approach.

Before the pair of Scream Tail knew it was there, its blade was already swinging, and the edge of its weapon gained a psychic blue glow. Though it did not land the slash against its target, the move cleaved through a shout the Scream Tail had been building, and then a twist raised the lower blade of its weapon to deflect a hair swipe that came from the second Scream Tail nearby.

The Iron Valiant crouched, readying itself against its two opponents. An old, injured Farigiraf lifted its head from the ground. The grove was silent, and the only noise came from a muffled shout of the other battle taking place out front.

In the distance, Nick yelled. Having been left behind, he shouted that he was going to find a slope to slide down.

And then, growls snapped out. Both Scream Tail jumped. The Iron Valiant slashed to intercept a kick, but the other end of its blade was caught by a fanged bite. A flash of Dazzling Gleam blasted that Scream Tail back, and then the Iron Valiant charged to shoulder-check the other one that was trying to reposition for another strike in the air.

Its two opponents hit the ground and slid, jumping back to their feet. They took one look at the Iron Valiant before exchanging a glance. Then, they ran.

But it was not to flee.

The Scream Tail moved with intention, aiming to join with the original third member of their group. The Iron Valiant gave chase, and though it struck with its weapon, the Scream Tail could puff themselves up and deflate to move in unexpected ways and avoid attacks. While the Iron Valiant was able to mostly keep up, it did not have the speed to land a solid strike against its fleeing targets. One-on-one, it would have won a direct fight, but that was not what was taking place here.

When the Scream Tail reached the very edge of the grove, they ran straight to where the first member of their group was standing strong against the defending Farigiraf. Two of those towering Pokémon lay on the ground, their bodies bruised from dozens of blows, and a third was still standing—but only just barely. The earth itself had been churned apart by the Scream Tail’s namesake screams.

As the group of two Scream Tail became a proper group of three, the Iron Valiant positioned itself between these attackers and the Farigiraf. It was being watched from both sides, but it lowered itself for a defense. Once more, it readied its stance, but all that did was give its opponents time to smile.

All three Scream Tail yelled. The force saw the sound waves visibly shake the air. The combined moves threatened to send the Iron Valiant to the ground, but it stabbed its polearm into the earth to let it remain standing, defiant in the face of this trio.

Then, through the damage, it took a step forward.

After that, it took another one.

And another one.

Its polearm dragged behind it.

The deafening sound continued, but at a certain point, the pressure decreased. Though the wavering air meant the Iron Valiant could not see past this move, it could see where the effect was originating.

With a second wind, it charged. It felt as though it was running through the bottom of a lake, but it was still managing to move, and it reached the point where it could swing for a final blow.

Everything was cut into silence when the strike hit its target. A Scream Tail, just one, took that slash and bounced back across the ground. The sudden lack of force gave the Iron Valiant a chance to look around; the other two Scream Tail were gone.

Mostly.

A pair of shouts came, one of Nick running closer, and one of the two Scream Tail running out of the grove itself. Though their attacks had stopped, they had not abandoned their objective. The Pokémon had their hair wrapped around a bundle of berries, and they dashed to escape the trees.

The injured one in front of the Iron Valiant scrambled to run away as well.

The Iron Valiant lurched to give chase, but after sustaining that constant, world-shaking shout, it felt as though its legs were about to give way underneath it. It fought to stay standing and was forced to watch the trio escape, but doing so let it realize just how outnumbered it really was—it was not just these three Scream Tail here.

A dozen more Scream Tail watched from atop a small hill. They could barely stand as a group, with their aggressive nature already seeing several of them snap and bite out growls among themselves. The three that had attacked returned to the group and disappeared behind the hillside. But one Scream Tail, a larger one with red eyes and a purple mane, looked down at the Iron Valiant, grinned, and then turned to leave.

The berries that the three Scream Tail had gathered were not enough to support a group of that size. With the potential product of this grove, the group of Paradox Pokémon would definitely be back.

With that realization, it was only after the Scream Tail disappeared that Nick finally managed to catch up.

“You okay?” he said quickly, swinging his backpack around to let it hang off one arm. “I’m pretty sure that box I took has some supplies for Pokémon...”

He started to dig through, but the Iron Valiant stopped him, pressing the flat side of its blade to his chest to hold him back and bring his attention back behind.

Though the Scream Tail had left, there were other Pokémon still there. Shaking, the more battle-ready Farigiraf returned to their feet, and that leading group was now watching the Iron Valiant with wariness clear in their eyes. Other Pokémon poked their heads out from behind the trees, but their expressions were different. The Girafarig seemed to be solely curious, and it was almost strange to be looked at that way. Out of all of the Pokémon the Iron Valiant had seen outside, this was the first time it was not stared at with hate.

“Hah,” Nick wheezed. “I was trying to be cool on the cliffside, but now that I’m actually down here... There’s a lot of them, isn’t there?”

The Iron Valiant didn’t raise its weapon, but it didn’t lower it, either. Even with the lack of hostility, there was no telling if this group would attack just to scare them off.

The tension made the air heavy, and the Iron Valiant was prepared to fight, even if it had just helped these Pokémon. It did its best to stand tall, but it couldn’t stop its wince. The surface of its metal had been reshaped by the Scream Tail’s screams, and the uneven dents and grooves left behind saw it fall to one knee.

The sudden movement shook the Farigiraf. Nick’s expression became defined by worry. The leading group of this herd of Pokémon narrowed their eyes, and it was clear that their wariness had been turned up to a full ten.

But someone else moved before any attack could occur. Nick took a step forward. And though he wore that same smile the Iron Valiant had seen so many times, this time around, the human had to fight to have it reach his eyes.

“Let us help,” Nick said, obvious in his attempts to stand tall in the face of the entire herd. “We were just passing through and saw what was happening, and it was just that... Well, we couldn’t let it last.”

He breathed in.

“We need a place to rest a bit, and we need a place to treat our wounds. You saw how well the Scream Tail were fought off, but they’re going to be back.”

Two of the Farigiraf exchanged a look. Another one stomped its hooves. That act was a defiant response; it was trying to say that it would fight back.

However, out of the three Farigiraf in the front, the defiant one was the Farigiraf that carried the most injuries. Even among its allies, very few responded to that statement with belief.

“I can’t help you train, but we can help you practice. And, I do have some tips on moves and abilities I can share. If you let us stay here for a bit, we’ll help. We can give you a better chance for when the Scream Tail show back up and help you learn to fight just as well as... this Iron Valiant?”

He looked at the Iron Valiant as if confused about how to refer to it. The Iron Valiant felt a strange heat in its chest.

It wasn’t sure if anyone had ever directly referred to it before.

Obviously trying his best to be convincing, Nick gestured at where the Iron Valiant knelt, and the Iron Valiant attempted to stand back up. However, it had taken a significant amount of damage in that fight and couldn’t immediately return to its feet. Its legs collapsed, sending it back down, and stabbing its polearm into the dirt was the only reason it didn’t fall onto its chest.

Pokémon primarily communicated through body language, and though Nick spoke with words, every small action to him practically screamed out his desperation. For the Iron Valiant, though it rarely let itself be so obvious, the weakness in its current state was clear—if push came to shove, it would not be a threat.

With one last, silent conversation, the three Farigiraf exchanged a final look, and they all turned around, walking back in. Revealing their backs without any obvious defense up was a show of trust, and walking inside was an invitation to follow them in.

Offering a hand, Nick leaned in to help the Iron Valiant up. As it allowed itself to be dragged back to its feet, Nick sent it a whisper close to its head.

“Alright,” the human said, some of his confidence returning to his voice. “Looks like I got us some training partners.”

He patted his own weapon and began to walk ahead. Only then was the Iron Valiant able to trudge toward the grove.