Hickory's POV
"Isn't this sunset beautiful?" she said.
It sure is, But you know who's more beautiful than the sunset?" I paused, then said, "You."
"Aww, thanks," she said cutely, curling her tail around mine.
We were sitting side by side at the field, our pelts touching softly. I shifted over to nuzzle her, and she nuzzled me back.
"This moment with you right now is perfect," I said, bringing my head closer to hers.
"Mmm hmm," she agreed, snuggling closer to me.
I felt something tap me on my right shoulder, but I ignored whatever it was. She was the only thing that mattered right now.
She lied down on the soft grass then patted the grass next to her, inviting me there. I gladly lied down next to her, snuggling up to her soft fur. We stared into each other's eyes lovingly.
I felt a rough push from my right. Annoyed, I broke my gaze with her to jerk my head in the other direction to see what was there, but there was nothing.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly.
"Nothing, everything's perfect," I said quietly, nuzzling her again.
She closed her eyes relaxingly and I did the same. I was enjoying the perfect moment when suddenly-
"WAKE UP HICKORY!"
I groaned, the beautiful sunset gone, replaced with the dark gray ceiling of my den, as well as some orange at the on the right side of my vision. I realized I was no longer on my leaf bed; the soft, pleasant feel on my side was replaced with the cold hard floor.
"Ugh… Falc? What is it?" You ruined a perfect dream...
"Time to start our Guard patrol! I tried waking you up twice already! Let's go!" he exclaimed, flapping his wings exasperatedly.
Peeking past him, I saw that the sky was a vibrant orange. I was not used to waking up this early. I liked sleeping in much better.
"It's so early…" I groaned, stretching my legs out.
"The sun's up, so it's not early at all! Let's go! I didn't think you were such a sleepyhead!"
As we left my den, I took notice of the old Hickory tree across from the entrance. Maybe Maple can help me regrow it.
"What do we have to do?" I asked, yawning.
"We just patrol the area, make sure everything's normal. If we see anyone who looks suspicious or dangerous, we'll interrogate them."
"How do you judge if someone is suspicious looking or not?" I asked, not wanting to bother normal Pokémon.
Falc shrugged. "You'll be able to tell if someone's a Raider or not."
"But… you thought I was a Raider when I first came here," I recalled, giving him a questioning look.
"Well… sometimes I mess up, but very rarely."
"Alright, if you say so."
We started walking, or flying, around the area. The bright morning sun kept me awake for the most part, but I kinda felt sleepy when we entered shady areas with thick treetops.
We passed by an Arcanine mother with two Growlithe pups following her. She recognized Falc and smiled.
"Good morning, Captain Falcon. Are you on guard duty right now?"
"I sure am," Falc answered.
"We can't thank you enough for keeping us safe from those bad guys," she complimented.
"Why, thank you m'am! Don't you worry, as long as I'm here, the forest will be as safe as can be for you and your children."
"It's Captain Falcon!" one of the Growlithe pups whispered frantically to the other.
"Show me your moves!" the second kid requested excitedly to Falc, jumping for joy.
Falc chuckled and said "Sure." He flew up high into the sky, then engulfed his entire body in flames and came diving down. The two Growlithes had their eyes glued to Falc's flaming figure in amazement. As Falc approached the ground, he extinguished the flames, spread his wings out, landed on the ground on his feet, and bowed. The Growlithes whooped and cheered.
"I call that my Falcon Dive," said Falc proudly. I recognized the move as Flare Blitz, but I forgot that the human names for moves weren't used out in the wild.
"Again, again!" the pups chanted, jumping up and down in excitement.
"Now kids, I'm sure Captain Falcon and his friend have some important things to do today," said their mother.
One said, "Aw…" and the other said, "Okay…"
"Have a nice day!" said the Arcanine.
"Thanks, you too!" said Falc. As they were leaving, one of the Growlithes looked back at Falc. Falc winked at the Growlithe with a smile.
"Looks like you're quite the celebrity," I remarked.
"You bet," Falc responded proudly.
As we walked around the forest, many Pokémon greeted Falc and complimented him for his work. A trio of Mightyenas hanging out by a pond saluted Falc. Falc headed over to them and chatted with them. He introduced me as his "day guard in training."
After we left the pond, a Nidorino came up to us. "Uh… you're Captain Falcon of the Guard?" he asked.
"I sure am!" Falc responded gallantly.
When we arrived at the field with Maple's garden, I noticed that Falc was watching a Pidgeot who was soaring overhead. "Who's that?" I asked, not recognizing the Pidgeot.
Falc didn't answer for a few seconds. I was about to ask again when he said, "It's this Pidgeot I met yesterday. She's new around here."
When she got closer by, Falc waved his wing and called, "Hey Ariel!"
The Pidgeot turned to look at who had called her then came soaring down. "Hello," she said, landing nearby, "you're, um… Captain Falcon, right?"
"That's right! You can call me Falc though."
"What are you up to?"
"Oh the usual, doing the patrol, defeating bad guys and keeping everyone safe," said Falc. If you run into any Raiders, don't you worry! I'll be right there to save you!" Falc assured.
"If there's anyone who can stop The Raiders, it's you," Ariel complimented.
"You got that right! Hey, are you free tomorrow? Wanna hang by my place?" he asked in a blur.
"Uh, I'm already busy tomorrow, sorry," she said. "In fact, I was already heading somewhere. I gotta go now."
"Oh…" said Falc, his wings slumping down to his sides. "Well, maybe some other time?"
"Maybe," she said with a nod. "Catch ya later," she said, flying off.
Falc watched her flap her wings, take to the air, and gracefully glide away. I snickered.
"Hey, what are you laughing about?" Falc demanded.
"You're real cool with the ladies," I said sarcastically.
"When you love someone you have to just go for it," said Falc confidently.
I scoffed. "You just met her yesterday, you can't call that love, or even attraction. You gotta get to know someone first."
"You don't know what being in love is like," Falc accused.
"I do too!" I argued.
"Yeah? Who do you like?" Falc inquired.
Uh-oh. I can't tell him I like Maple, I thought, panicking. "Uh… um… nobody…" I stammered.
"So you don't know what it's like," Falc restated.
"Hey, I used to, some time ago," I said.
"Whatever, let's just get back to patrolling," Falc said dismissively. I was glad to drop the subject. We continued our patrol through the forest, Falc continuing to greet the pokémon of our forest and introducing me. Everyone knew Falc. I soon got tired of meeting everyone we saw and protested. "You have to know everyone," Falc said, "otherwise how can you tell a raider apart from someone from our forest?"
I met a Persian, a Kangaskhan, and a Stantler. A Cinccino and a Lopunny. A Gogoat and a Slowbro. An Ampharos and um…an Azumarill with a few Marills, right. And then there was… hmm…
"You don't belong here!"
I was snapped out of my thoughts to see Falc attack a Houndoom and Nidorino. His sudden, random attack startled me. How does Falc know those guys are raiders? As Falc nosedived towards them, his body engulfed in flames, the Nidorino looked startled while the Houndoom shot a flamethrower at Falc. Falc shifted his body and avoided the attack. The Nidorino came to his senses and fired a poison sting at Falc, which Falc also dodged with ease. The two pokémon leaped away in opposite directions to avoid Falc's flare blitz, and Falc directed himself into the Houndoom, slamming into him. I watched in awe as the large pokémon went flying from the force of Falc's attack. I guess Falc's flare blitz isn't just for show, I thought.
As Falc started fighting the Nidorino, the Houndoom stood up, spotted me, and growled at me. I recognized his growl, realizing that he was the Houndour that attacked Maple, now evolved! Time to help Falc out, I thought, firing a flamethrower at the Houndoom. He shot fire back at me, and this time, my flamethrower couldn't overpower his like before. We fought with our fire attacks for a while until he broke it off and came charging at me, fangs bared. His teeth grew long, glowed white, and had really sharp points at the ends. He leaped at me as he approached, so I swiftly hopped backwards to avoid him. He landed in the spot where I was a second ago, right in front of me. I unleashed my flamethrower, sending the Houndoom reeling back with a howl. Then in came Falc, slamming into the Houndoom's side.
I looked for the Nidorino and spotted him in the process of standing up at the sidelines. Suddenly I heard a screech, the Houndoom's flamethrower having made contact with Falc's face, causing the bird to fall backwards to the ground. The Houndoom decided to make a run for it. I went up to Falc to make sure he was alright, but Falc was up swiftly. "I'll get that Houndoom," he said angrily, beginning to fly off at high speed. "You go after the other one!" he commanded me.
I looked in the other direction and caught a glimpse of purple before it disappeared behind a tree. "Yes sir!" I instinctively called after the soaring off bird. I laughed at how ridiculous I sounded saying that as I ran off to pursue the other raider.
Weaving through the trees, I desperately tried to keep up with the Nidorino. He was faster than me; eventually I could only catch a glimpse of the Nidorino's purple body before it disappeared behind the next tree. We were quickly approaching the edge of my forest. Luckily there was a valley in between my forest and the Nidorino's forest. When I exited my forest and reached the side of the valley I could see him down below. Taking careful aim, I shot a powerful star shaped Fire Blast in the Nidorino's path, then I charged down the hill. My attack came in contact with the ground in front of him and exploded, causing him to stop in his tracks with a yell.
As he turned around, I ran straight at him, quickly closing the distance. Tensing the muscles in my tail, I dug one of my forepaws into the ground and spun around, swinging my Iron Tail attack at the Nidorino. I didn't feel my tail make contact with the target though. As I turned to face my opponent, I saw him stand up from his ducking position. Glowing purple needles shot out of his mouth towards me, a poison sting. I tried to dodge by hopping to the left, but some of the needles hit my right leg. I winced from the attack, but my leg was able to fight off the poison, preventing it from spreading throughout my body.
As I landed on the ground, I gathered fire into my mouth and then shot it at Nidorino as a Flamethrower. The Nidorino tried to counter my attack with his own poison type attack, but my attack overpowered his and went straight for his face. The force of my attack blasted him off of his feet and into the air, then he hit the ground.
Not trying to sound cocky or anything, but this guy didn't seem as strong or threatening as the other two raiders I've encountered. If I stop attacking, maybe I could talk to him.
"What did you come here for?" I asked. I wanted to know more about the raiders, if this guy was willing to speak. Maybe we could settle this without any more fighting. I didn't risk pausing the fight and trying to talk last time because I was only focused on protecting Maple, but since it was only this Nidorino and me, I had the opportunity now.
"None of your business," he responded angrily.
He suddenly ran towards me and leaped with a burst of speed. I guess that means we won't be talking, I thought. Acting quickly, I rolled onto my back and shot my four paws forward, catching the Nidorino by the stomach and flinging him over my head. He went flying into the ground behind me. I quickly stood back up and shot a flamethrower at him. He rolled out of the way but still got hit by my flames a little. Once standing again, he opened his mouth and out came a sludge bomb.
I used iron tail and swung my tail at the purple glob, sending straight back at him. He was expecting that I would have to dodge or something so he was in the process of starting another sludge bomb. He was not prepared for getting hit in the face by his own attack.
While he was recovering from the deflected attack, I could have rushed in and slammed him with iron tail, but I decided not to. Once he had gotten his bearings again, he faced me. I stared at him evenly but didn't show any aggression. Instead I held a look of curiosity.
"So, what did you come here for?" I asked again.
He ran towards me again. I charged up my iron tail and swung it at the oncoming opponent. The Nidorino couldn't dodge quick enough. My tail slammed into his side, sending him into the air. He landed on the ground, coughing. He struggled to get up, breathing heavily, with a distraught look. I still didn't attack him.
He was silent for a few moments. Once he figured out I wasn't going to attack him back, he said, "I've had enough of this. Sorry about attacking you. Please don't hurt me anymore. Let's just… forget we ever met, okay? I won't come back again."
Without waiting for an answer he turned around and started to walk away as quick as he could. "Hold it, don't go yet," I called after him. He froze, but didn't look back towards me.
"I have some questions for you," I said, walking up to him.
"L-like w-what?" he asked, sounding uneased.
"Well, first off, I'm Hickory," I said, introducing myself in order to sound friendly. "What's your name?"
"I'm Spike," he said. "What do you want from me?"
"What did you come here for?" I asked.
"Well… I, uh…" he stammered.
"I just want to know why you came here. What are you raiders here for? I'm not going to attack you if you don't attack me," I promised.
"I don't know much, I've only been a raider for a few days," he said.
"Well, let's start off with how you joined The Raiders," I requested.
"A lot of males have been joining The Raiders lately. I was asked to come along, but I didn't really want to."
"Then why did you?"
"It would've looked bad if I refused to join when asked," he said.
So it was peer pressure, I thought to myself. "Okay, now why were all the other males joining?"
He thought for a moment. "The first time I heard about The Raiders was I guess a few months ago. They went around the forest saying they needed help. These were well known, respected pokémon, so others were willing to listen."
"And what did they want help with?"
"Um… they wanted to attack certain pokémon from this forest," he said slowly.
"Like who?" I asked.
"Are… are you part of The Guard?" he asked me cautiously.
"Yes I am," I said, causing him to take a step back, away from me. "The Guard is your target?" I asked.
"Y-yeah… that's who the raiders are after…" he said, sounding very distraught now.
"Calm down, I only want answers. I'm not going to attack you if you don't attack me," I repeated. "You said you joined because everyone else was joining, and I'm assuming that's the reason some others joined, but why do the older raiders want to attack us?"
"They seem to really hate the pokémon on The Guard," he explained. "Sometimes they call it The Gang."
"Okay, why do they hate us?" I asked, hoping for some solid reason.
"They say it's because The Guard keep beating them up," he answered.
"Well why did they come here in the first place?" I demanded, starting to get irritated now.
"I don't know, I've only been with them for a few days," he said. "I don't care about why, I just want to get home and back to my mate at this point. I'm not coming back here, I promise."
"Alright, I guess I'm done with you. Thanks for the information," I said.
"You're welcome. I won't be coming back, so I won't be seeing you again," he said, walking off towards his forest.
As I headed back to my own forest, I still had a lot to figure out. Can I trust Spike's information? I think I can; he sounded pretty honest saying that he joined only because others were joining. In that case, I still need to figure out why the raiders hate Falc and the rest.
"There you are, Hickory!" Falc called. I turned my head to see him approaching me. His feathers looked a bit ruffled, but I saved the observation for later.
"Hey Falc," I said.
"You look pretty unscathed," he remarked. "Dealt with that Nidorino easily?"
"Yeah, and I asked him some stuff about the raiders," I said.
"You what?"
"I convinced him to stop fighting, then I asked him what the raiders were doing here. His name's Spike, by the way."
"And what did he say?" Falc asked in a rather disapproving tone.
"He said the raiders attack us, The Guard, because they apparently hate us, but he didn't know why. He's new, only been with them for a few days, and isn't planning on coming back."
"How can you trust him?" Falc asked.
I shrugged. "He seems okay," I said.
Falc rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't trust some random raider," he remarked.
"Aren't you interested in figuring out why they attack our forest?" I asked him.
"I'm not willing to take any risks. My duty is to protect all of the pokémon of this forest."
"Do the raiders often attack other pokémon in our forest besides us?"
Falc thought for a moment. "Yes they do. I guess it is usually us, but they certainly do attack other pokémon sometimes."
"Spike said they hate you because you've been beating them up," I said.
"That's because they always attack us or someone in our forest!" Falc exclaimed. "Are you trying to help them or something?"
"No, of course not!" I immediately responded. "I just want to find out why they come here and attack us. Can you think of any reason why they would come here in the first place?"
"Beats me," Falc said.
"Maybe we can work this is out with them and stop fighting," I suggested.
"Nah, if we beat them up enough times, they'll stop coming here eventually," Falc said. "I guess you had an easy time talking to that Nidorino because he's new. The serious raiders will never talk to us. They hate us."
"I won't accept that. I'm gonna figure out why they attack us, and then I'll find a way to get them to stop," I declared determinedly.
"Fine, whatever suits you," he said. "Now, let's get back to our patrol."
"Spike said there aren't anymore Raiders coming today," I said. If I don't have to patrol, then I can go see Maple.
"First day of patrol and you already want to slack off?"
"Alright, fine…" I sighed. I wasn't in the mood for more patrolling since I was tired from being woken up early today. Maybe I should do the night watch instead, then I can sleep all I want… I thought. But then I can't train with Maple during the day, I realized.