An Introduction

Prologue

Route X, a lone, plain path that winds through the fields and up to the mountains. At a glance, it would have appeared to be peaceful and serene. The wind blew over the tall grasses, and shook the leaves of the lone Oran tree. In the distance, a calm, still lake reflected the cloudy skies, and beckoned the thirsty to drink from its cool waters.

In the distance was the gray-stone mountains of the Kalos region, covered in snow as usual. From this mountain flowed the cool crystal waters that made the lake. Upon the mountain was a lone temple, where ghost pokemon thrived and the dead were layed to rest. Very few pokemon ever had to be burried though, as burials were only performed on honorable pokemon, and very few pokemon were "honorable".

Route X was seperated into 5 major parts. The Oran's Grove was the grasslands, which housed the Zigzagoons, Dedenne, Fletching, and just recently, Eevees. Shroomas Lake, named for its glowing shroom cave, housed Dewotts, Magikarp, Buizel, and Tynamo. The mountains were home to a variety of ice pokemon, but you would usually only see Glaceon and Bergmite.

Haunting the temple were Gengar, Duskull, and Chandelure. These pokemon usually stuck to themselves, enjoying the relaxing silence rather than the screams of guests. The final area of Route X was the Shroomas Labrynth, home to many, many pokemon. This was the "big city" of this thriving community, and many pokemon dreamed of living there.

Each region had an important roll to play in the perfecting of the Route X community. Oran's Grove in particular had one of the most important rolls. Just about every pokemon loved Oran berries, as their taste appealed to anything with a tongue. This meant if the Oran Grove community could collect and send out enough Oran Berries to the other regions, they could keep the hunters from going on their hunts.

The pokemon of this route tried to stay as civil and caring as possible, you see. Smaller pokemon had little to no fear of the bigger pokemon, because as long as they didn't fight, and as long as their job was completed, there would be no reason for the two to enter combat, or worse, commit murder. Carnivores had their berries to munch on instead of mice and birds to chew, and mice and birds had their berries as well.

There was only one legal way a carnivore could make a snack out of someone in the community, and that was through a civil, organized pokemon battle. Even then, the loser had to consent to being eaten, and they never did. Nor will they do it in this story, so don't you start making assumptions.

It was simply a tradition that there was an option to be eaten after the battle. If the loser felt he or she was too ashamed to return to family, especially if the defeat was brutal, they could instead have their life ended in a way that was considered noble and humble. Though, many in the community instead thought it to be cowardice and suicide.

Now that we've introduced the setting in a suitable manner, we can introduce to you the main character of this little tale. We'll be following a female Dedenne by the name of Kot, or as her friends called her, Kottie. Her name was short for "Cotton", which was her family's "Great Obsession". It was thanks to her family line that soft cotton made it to the route, making nights amazing with a comfy pillow to lay on.

Though this gift to the community had kept her family from aiding in the Oran farming roll, like all gifts, they are soon forgotten. This year, the duty of transporting the Oran Berries went to Kot, and her four brothers. This task was the most vital when it came to Oran Grove's roll, as if the berries didn't get there, they weren't worth much at all.

Just delivering the berries a day late to a region could end the lives of many pokemon, and now that burden was on their paws.

This task wasn't to be started for another week, but for them the journey had already begun. They had to begin their survival training, that way they could atleast prepare what to expect for the road ahead. There were many challenges, and it was highly likely they'd have to face every single one of them.

During the training course, they went over seeking shelter from the rain out in the wilderness, how to see where they were heading, and most importantly, how to escape predators and fend off bandits. Kot was fairly good throughout all these courses, except direction notification. Luckily, her brothers were there to help her out.

Four of the five passed the course with flying colors. All except one, the youngest of the brothers. During the predator survival course, each of the 5 Dedenne were fast enough to evade the Eevee's bite attack except for Beren. He was young, cute, and chubby, three things that usually don't help you when it comes to not getting eaten.

After spitting out the poor thing time and time again, Eevee had decided that Beren was to be protected by Kot , as the other 3 would be busy carrying the berries. Kot had no objections, as she loved her little brother dearly, and this allowed her to spend even more time with him. It worried her, however, that Beren could not fend for himself. Should a predator arise, it would be her duty to get him out of the fray. A duty that, if failed, could result in the loss of her dearest friend.

Beren, however, was not shaken. He simply chirpped happily about how excited he was, and made light comments about how bad the Eevee's breath was. We all reminded him that in the wild, you don't get spat out like you do in the training course. The idea of death wasn't understandable to him, however, he was too young, and he felt he was invincible.

A week had gone by, and it was now time to load the berry cart, and set way to the first destination, Shroomas Lake. A peaceful walk there was only to take a bit more than half a day, considering they had a load to pull. Excited, the group pulled off, marking the start of their new adventure~.