A/N: Hello all. I'm sorry for not updating See the Light in months, and I don't think I ever will. I sort of lost inspiration for the story, partly because I started thinking about another favorite subject of mine: pokemon! I hope that all of you enjoy the first chapter of Seedlings!
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If the tax collectors could see the motley crew trooping through the forest coming to get them, they would beg for mercy. The elite team of pokemon were deadly, resourceful, and worst of all: efficient.
"Py, will you please tell me why we're working on our day off?" an oshawott whined.
"Are you seriously okay with rouge tax collectors stealing a priceless necklace?" Py, a victini, asked.
"Well, no. It's just that we haven't been home in months, and we have to spend it working," the oshawott explained.
"Oh, I get it. Asher's mad that he doesn't get to see Winnie," a nearby totodile teased.
"Shut up, Jaws! It's not like that," Asher protested.
"Ignore him, Asher. Jaws is just jealous that he doesn't have a girlfriend," a zorua advised.
"Zero, not you too!" a female deerling chided, hiding her grin behind a hoof.
"For Arceus' sake, we talk about Asher's crush on Winnie at least once a week," a chikorita complained.
"Uh, who are we tracking anyway?" a cyndaquil asked quietly.
"Some idiots named Explosion, Plus, and Minus," Py replied.
"Arceus, what stupid names," a sandile criticized.
"Says the guy who calls himself Shades," Asher remarked.
An eevee who had scouting ahead ran back to the main group.
"Shh! Their campsite is right ahead, I can hear them talking and I can see the campfire," she reported.
The team of pokemon immediately transformed from goofy friends to disciplined troops.
"Okay, Shades, I want your only focus to be getting the plusle and minun. Jaws and Asher, I want you two guarding the river, not fighting.
The two water types groaned.
Ignoring them, Py continued. "I want Val on the electric types too," he said, nodding at the deerling. "The rest of us need to tackle Explosion; he's a salamence so we have our work cut out for us."
By now the trackers were behind a bush right next to the camp.
"Everybody ready?" Py checked. The group nodded in confirmation.
"Okay… now!" the victini commanded.
The team exploded out of the bushes, each member running towards their respective target.
The deerling and sandile charged Plus and Minus, mud shots and jump kicks flying everywhere.
The other attackers charged the salamence, who swung around to confront the threat.
"Wait! They have a hostage!" the eevee, Lua, noticed the shinx clutched in the dragon's claws.
"What hostage? You mean the shinx who was trying to steal our loot?" Explosion asked stupidly.
"Yeah, now's a good a time as ever to take it," the shinx chimed in, surprisingly not terrified.
"Would someone please explain-"the salamence was interrupted by the blue electric type.
"You might want to cover your eyes," the shinx advised the hunters.
"What? That doesn't help- MY EYES!" the salamence screamed, blinded by the light emitting from the shinx.
The shinx wiggled out of Explosion's grip, and scooped up a pouch laying near the campfire.
"You should hurry, it wears off pretty fast," the blue cat recommended.
The dragon let out a roar of anger, having recovered his sight.
"Well, good luck," the shinx said, running off towards the river.
"Uh, no. We were gonna miss the fight to guard the river; there's no way you're getting past us," Jaws announced.
The oshawott and totodile backed the shinx into a corner, engaged in a stand-off.
"How dare you blind me, Explosion, master off-"
"Shut up," Zero ordered, spitting a shadow ball in the monster's face.
"Ow! My minions! Plus and Minus, destroy them!" Explosion roared.
"Sorry boss," Minus said, from where he was tied up across the clearing.
"You defeated them that fast?" the blue dragon asked Py in disbelief.
"Yeah. You're next," he said, and promptly hit the salamence in the face with a searing shot.
The shinx's fur was crackling with electricity, Asher held up his scalchop threateningly, and Jaws bared his fangs.
The electric cat glanced over at the fight with the tax collectors, shocked to see that all three of them had been soundly defeated.
Crap, I'm dealing with pros here, she thought.
The rest of the team was approaching as well, and her panic grew worse and worse. The nervous charge going through her body could rival a power plant.
"Y'know what guys, I've got this" Asher declared, striding towards the shinx, preparing to smack the weapon into her head.
With the shell only centimeters from her skull, she let out all the pent up electricity, positively frying the oshawott, who fell over, unconscious.
Everyone else had only been hit with only glancing blows, and Shades stood up and trapped the exhausted shinx with his teeth.
"He didn't have this," Shades commented, impervious to the continued slight electrical shocks the cat was still giving off.
The chikorita, May, was smart enough to use her vines to pry away the pouch the shinx had clutched in her mouth, and the shinx slumped over, defeated.
"Who are you?" Py questioned.
The shinx stared back at him blankly. "Your mom."
Py grimaced with annoyance, and the deerling took over, stepping to the front of the group.
"My name is Valentine, and we need your full cooperation. Who are you, and why were you stealing from thieves?" the pink deerling asked politely.
The blue cat looked at her calculatingly, and slowly nodded to herself.
"Okay, I'll tell you who I am. My name is Solidad, queen of outlaws," she announced with fake bravado.
The team looked at her in disbelief. This defeated scrap of fur was a hardened criminal?
"Well, we tried asking nicely. We'll take her to the base for questioning," Jaws suggested.
"No, we aren't allowed-"May began.
But it was too late. The totodile had already knocked the shinx out with a swift blow to the head, and had slung her over his shoulder.
"Great. What do we tell the board now?" May demanded.
Valentine, who had been placing the unconscious Asher on her back, glanced at Py to see his response. Gradually, the whole team turned to stare at their leader in askance. They had broken protocol, had a hostage that they didn't know what to do with, and a bunch of rouge tax collectors.
"We'll tell them that we had to take her in for questioning," the victini announced.
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A/N: Comments are welcomed, and I hope you thought it was a bit interesting at least.
- Skykitty of the Night