Hiya folks. I figured now might be a good time for a new chapter, so here you are.
On with the fic!
"HHRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH H!"
A stone flew across the room, barely missing Corphish and shattering when it hit the opposite wall. Loudred was too furious to care. "HOW COULD THEY DO THAT?!" he screamed, stomping around the room.
"Hey, hey, settle down…!"
The big voice Pokémon wasn't listening. "THEY LIED! THOSE TWO WERE LIARS! THEY SAID THEY WOULD COME BACK!"
After hearing the news, everyone had gone back to their rooms to mull over what they'd heard. By the time the boys had retreated to their room and the painful truth had started to set in, Loudred's emotional numbness had worn off.
His mind was unclear—everything seemed to be blurred into shades of red as he kept thinking about how Piplup and Chimchar had lied. How could they lie?! After all they'd done, how could they lie and say they would be back and then have Grovyle come back alone?! It was ridiculous. It didn't make sense, why didn't they come back, why did they lie like that it was so stupid he couldn't believe this—
Suddenly he felt something pinch his foot, and he gave a roar of pain. The pain snapped him out of the rage he'd been in, though, and it was then he realized that he'd been punching the wall repeatedly.
"Hey, hey, now will you stop it?"
Loudred had calmed down enough to notice that Corphish's voice lacked its usual pep, and turned around to face the crustacean. Still, he wasn't done being angry yet. "NO! I WON'T!" He pounded the wall behind him again for good measure. "This is STUPID! WHY did they TELL us they would come back, and then NOT come back?!"
"It's… it's like Grovyle said, hey? 'Some promises'—"
"I don't CARE what GROVYLE said!" Loudred roared. "Chimchar and Piplup SAID they would come BACK!"
"S-stop fighting…" came a quiet moan from the other side of the room.
Loudred turned to face Bidoof, who had been crying quietly in the corner for a while now. Why wasn't he mad about this? Didn't it make him angry that they'd been lied to, and now their friends were—
…gone.
"Gosh… it's not g-gonna bring them b-back…"
The big voice Pokémon stood there for a moment, stunned. Piplup and Chimchar were gone—they really weren't coming back.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Corphish's cautiously crawling up to him. "Hey… you all right?"
Loudred shot a glare at the Water-type, though tears stung at the corners of his eyes. "I'm FINE! SHUT UP!" With that, he stormed out through the doorway, down the hall, and into the main room of the guild's lower level.
Normally Guildmaster could be heard munching a perfect apple in his room, Chatot would be hopping around to make sure everyone was doing his duty, and Croagunk would be stirring something into his cauldron. But today, the floor seemed dead—the door to the Guildmaster's room was shut, no Flying-type was squawking orders at anyone, and Croagunk was nowhere to be found.
"Wh-where IS everyone…?" Loudred wondered aloud, gazing idly around the room. It didn't matter, though; he knew why they weren't out and about.
He walked around the room for a while, straining his acute hearing to try to figure out where everyone was. He could hear Diglett still crying down in the sentry pit and some hushed voices in the Guildmaster's room. With a growl, he climbed up to the next floor, which, if it were possible, was even deader than the lower level.
He wandered around for a moment, trembling as he continued to strain his hearing. Finally satisfied that he was far enough away from everyone else, he threw himself onto the ground and burst into deafening sobs.
"…I thought I would be alone up here."
Immediately Loudred shut up, slapping his paws over his mouth as his face turned red. Somehow he'd failed to notice the dull green form that was huddled in the corner of the room. Wiping the snot from his face, he carefully approached it. "What are YOU doing here?" he snorted.
Grovyle turned to face him. "Trying to sort out my thoughts." There was a strange calmness in his voice that Loudred immediately picked up on.
"Aren't YOU sad, too?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"I've… taken my time to mourn," he said slowly. "Though it was difficult to bring the news to you all."
Loudred stomped over to Grovyle and took a seat next to him. Despite his anxiety, he tried to appear angry. "WHY did they LIE?"
"Lie?" Grovyle asked, turning to the big voice Pokémon in surprise.
"YEAH! Chimchar and Piplup SAID they would come BACK, and they DIDN'T!"
"…Oh." The Grass-type leaned back against the wall. "They weren't perfect… no Pokémon is. They had no way of knowing what would happen to them."
"What DID happen to them?"
Grovyle remained silent for a moment, as though recollecting his thoughts. "…They… they fought their hardest. While they managed to save the Time Gears… they couldn't save themselves." He bowed his head. "They tried their hardest… and did their best. That's what matters."
"So they're HEROES!" Loudred said, grinning despite the tears that stung at his eyes. "HEROES…!" He flinched a little, only to become overwhelmed with grief once more as he burst into sobs.
Around the sounds of his own crying, Loudred heard Grovyle stand, and felt him rub his shoulder gently before walking off.
It had been a few days. The guild may have become active again, but Croagunk wasn't sure. It was hard to tell at night, when everyone was asleep.
He slowly climbed down the ladder, somehow managing to keep his balance quite well despite the fact that he had a sack slung over his shoulder. Not much was on his mind, then—just the task he'd set before himself. Head down the ladder rungs… five, four, three, two, one.
He touched the floor of the lower level of the guild, glanced around, and nodded. Even after all that had happened, it was nice to be back.
Still, Croagunk didn't reflect on that for too long; his work was not yet finished. He made his way over to his cauldron, set his bag down next to him, and opened the mouth of it. After taking a moment to look over its contents, he pulled out a gold charm with a green string tied around it. Carefully he dropped that into his cauldron and began to stir.
One, two, three, four, five.
He shuffled around through the bag again, and this time pulled out a short white fang, which he examined for a moment before dropping in as well.
One, two, three, four, five.
One final item, a bundle of thin orange hairs, was stirred in, and, in a bright flash, the cauldron spat out a new item—a yellow hat with a red brim.
Croagunk set this object down onto a little stand on his left side, then continued his work, dropping in more items and collecting the ones that the cauldron spat out. After setting the final item down onto the stand, he stepped back to observe his work.
A yellow hat, a white sash, an orange ruff, a yellow cape, a blue dagger, and a gold crown with a blue jewel sat all together.
Yes. That was all of them.
A melancholy grin spread across Croagunk's features, and he silently bowed his head.
After standing there quietly for a few moments, he heard a quiet tinkling sound where Chimchar and Piplup's old room was. A soft voice followed it. "Oh, Croagunk, you're back..."
The frog turned. "Meh-heh, hey there, Chimecho," he said, melancholy grin not fading. "How's it going?"
The wind chime Pokémon gave a weak smile as she drifted up to her friend. "It's... it's been fine."
The dark circles under her eyes did not escape Croagunk's notice, but he did not comment on them. "Good to know," he said, rhythmically puffing out his cheeks a few times. "Has the guild resumed work?"
"Yes, we've all been trying our hardest," Chimecho said with a nod. "Things are… still a little bit of a mess, it seems, so there's been a lot of jobs coming up."
"Meh-heh-heh, I noticed. I've been out for a while on a little personal project… So have you been cooking and running the assembly?"
"Cooking, yes… but Chatot's been running the assembly, actually."
"Chatot, heh?"
"Yes… I've been taking care of Grovyle."
Ah, so he was still around… The frog's cheeks puffed up a few more times. "How's he been holding up?"
"He's…" Chimecho's voice faltered. "I've…"
Croagunk remained silent. She could take her time.
"Croagunk, he's not healing…!" the Psychic-type said at last, eyes welling up with tears. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong!"
"Meh… he was burned, right? He'll probably still have scars."
"No, no, that's not it! They're not scarring! They're not doing anything! His body is just not healing!"
Croagunk kept his grin, but his expression changed a fraction—just enough to make him look a bit more serious. "What else?"
Chimecho gave a start, then looked down at the ground. "…I've been by his side while he was asleep. He talks, sometimes…"
"What's he say?"
"…'Grovyle, you're wrong…' 'Shut up, Grovyle…'"
"Why, has my talk been boring you?"
The two Pokémon turned to see a familiar Grass-type leaning against the wall. He seemed a little shaky and tired, and his smile was somewhat strained.
"Oh! N-no, that's not it, Grovyle," Chimecho stammered, carefully approaching him. "Sorry, I must have sounded rude… You need to go back to sleep, though. You're still in poor health."
Croagunk stood back, watching the scene carefully and puffing his cheeks out a few more times.
"I'll do that, then," Grovyle said. "I thought I would greet Croagunk first, though, since it's been a few days." He looked over at the Fighting-type.
"Heh, it has." The frog did not approach Grovyle. "Hello."
"…Hello."
"Well! It's… it's good that everyone's back, now," Chimecho said, attempting a smile. "But you really do need to get some sleep."
"…I will."
With that, Grovyle turned and left. Not a movement he made escaped Croagunk's notice.
