(Hello fans of Pokémon! IF YOU CAN GUESS THE THREE MYSTERY POKEMON IN THIS CHAPTER I'LL GIVE YOU A COOKIE! In this chapter we get a detailed account of the mysterious life of Exeggutor, and let me tell you, his story is a doozy. This chapter will have plot twists, mystery Pokémon, and even the first mention of 6th gen Pokémon! Please read, review, and enjoy! )
Book Two: Refuge
Chapter Three
Grovyle woke again. Slowly his senses came back to him, his hearing, his feeling, his sight, all turned on at once as he regained consciousness. He could hear voices quietly discussing things somewhere close, but he was not quite sure who the voices belonged to. As he did every morning, Grovyle struggled to remember where he was, thinking initially that he was still back home in the grass capitol. However his confusion was cleared away as he began to remember the bizarre series of events that led him to be where he was. He remembered the siege of the capitol, his escape with Exeggutor, the death of Sceptile, the appearance of Blaziken, his killing of Arcainine, his weeks spent on the road, his finding of Mienshao, and her coming back to camp.
And of course I can't forget that dream I had last night. Talk about scary…
He shook off his feelings of fear and tried to focus on the present again. It was morning, and there were things to be done. Opening his eyes, he felt sunlight flood his retinas, and quickly tried to adjust to the new brightness. After letting his eyes adjust, Grovyle sat up and looked around him.
"Well well well look who decided to finally rejoin the land of the living if it isn't our most gracious green host himself." Said three familiar voices.
Mienshao giggled somewhere off in the distance.
Grovyle rubbed his eyes and examined his surroundings again. To his left sat Exeggutor, wide awake and staring at him with three smiling coconut heads.
What a sight to wake up to…
To Grovyle's right sat Mienshao, cross-legged and relaxed. It appeared that she was quite comfortable.
"Good morning Exeggutor." Said Grovyle. "And good morning to you too, Mienshao."
"Good morning." Replied Mienshao.
"You two are awake awfully early, aren't you?" he replied.
Mienshao smiled. "I always awake up early." She said. "And come to think of it, I fall asleep pretty late too. I guess you could say I don't like to rest very much."
Exeggutor looked as though he was about to say something, but Grovyle decided to cut him off. He knew what Exeggutor was going to say anyway.
"Yes, I already know what your reason is. Mr. punctual sleeper over here falls asleep at exactly the same time every night and wakes up at exactly the same time every morning. Like clockwork."
Mienshao looked surprised. "Really? The same exact time every day?"
"It's true." Said Exeggutor.
"How can you time it so perfectly?" inquiredMienshao.
Exeggutor took a quick breath and began to speak. "Recent philosophical advancements have produced a working system of day organization that creates twenty four different periods of equal size referred to as hours which can be applied to all manners of day planning one of which being the act of sleep thus in my case I have calculated the optimal quantity of hours to be spent in sleep which is roughly eight leading me to have aligned these eight hours to consecutively coincide with the lack of sunlight."
It's too damn early for paragraphs that long. Thought Grovyle as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.
Mienshao seemed to be in much more of a cooperative mood. She quietly listened to Exeggutor's speech, then responded with a question of her own. "Wow, that's smart. But now that you have these 'hours', how do you measure or keep track of them?"
Exeggutor took another deep breath, which caused Grovyle to groan loudly. "The sun follows a uniform pattern in the sky which leads it westward from its originating direction in the east this path is completely fixed and entirely predictable thus creating a system of rising and setting that lasts nearly the exact same amount of time every day this baseline can be measured at different intervals of the day that coincide quite neatly with my aforementioned twenty four hour system."
"So… the sun's position in the sky can determine what time it is?" asked Mienshao.
"Precisely." Replied Exeggutor. "A series of simple measurements and observations will yield the sun's angle of ascension which then in turn corresponds to the allotted time intervals which range from one to twelve and before you trouble yourself with ponderings as to the fate of the other twelve intervals I assure you that these are accounted for as well since it takes approximately the same time for the sun to cross the sky as it does to remain absent from our vision my system places said twelve intervals during the night thus in full when one considers the twelve intervals of day and the twelve intervals of night they will find that all twenty four intervals have been fully accounted four."
The clearing fell silent. Mienshao stared intently at Exeggutor with one of her eyebrows raised in a rather confused manner. Grovyle sat casually on his bed of leaves, evidently used to receiving tirades like that one. And all the while, Exeggutor sat calmly, focused on Mienshao, waiting for her to respond.
"Ummm…" stuttered Mienshao. "That time you lost me."
Exeggutor nodded politely, then stood up.
Grovyle chuckled. "Haha, I'm honestly relieved. If you lasted much longer in that conversation I would have begun to fear that you were like him."
Mienshao smiled in a laughing manner. "Like him?" she said. "You mean intelligent?"
Grovyle laughed again. "Haha, no I mean crazy."
Exeggutor looked around and focused on the camp, his large palm leaves billowing in the wind. "Crazy is a relative term my friend."
"That may be," said Grovyle. "But turning the sun into a math equation… that's weird."
"That may be" replied Exeggutor. "But last time I checked, the only thing YOU can use the sun to do is get sunburn."
Mienshao and Grovyle erupted in laughter.
…
…
…
Time passed, and soon the newly-formed trio decided that they should move along. Working as a team, they put out the campfire, cleared up the beds, and returned the area to the state it was in when they had arrived. Lastly they packed all their berries into sling pouches, and their other food into similar containers.
Grovyle and Exeggutor did not carry much with them, aside from food and a few trinkets. Eventually all the supplies were packed up, and piled up in the center of the clearing. All that was left to do was fill their water jugs, and then they could resume the journey.
"Hey, I'll take care of those. Just leave them to me." Said Mienshao as she took the water jugs out of Grovyle's hands.
"Are you sure?" asked Grovyle, who had intended to do the job himself.
Mienshao had already started to head down to the river, but as she went, she turned and yelled back over her shoulder; "You two have already been so nice to me so far, getting some water is the least I can do to repay you! You know, start pulling my own weight and whatnot!"
"Okay," said Grovyle. "Suit yourself!"
Mienshao kept walking, and soon she disappeared behind the heavy brush and tall grass.
Grovyle sat down next to the pile of supplies and leaned back. He put his hands behind his head and laid out in the most comfortable position he could find. Soon Exeggutor joined him, minus the hands, of course.
"So what do you think of her?" asked Grovyle.
Exeggutor looked off into the distance with his three heads. After a moment of pondering, he opened his three mouths. "After one day I must admit that she appears to be a very nice Pokémon. I cannot find any serious problems with her."
"That's good. I like her too." Said Grovyle as he closed his eyes and thought about Mienshao.
I hope she stays with us for a long time. I really feel like this Mienshao is different from the other Pokémon out there. Just… different.
"But," interrupted Exeggutor. "I did pick up several minor points of interest in regard to her.
Grovyle opened his eyes in surprise, and looked at Exeggutor. "Like what?"
"Well, first of all I would like to point out her poor body control including reflexes muscle power and general coordination surely you have noticed this."
"Indeed I have. And she explained it to me. It's because she just recently evolved last night, and her body is still slightly difficult to get used to."
Exeggutor nodded three times. "That makes sense."
"Any more red flags?' asked Grovyle.
"She was awake before me this morning."
Grovyle laughed. Looks like somebody finally beat the champ at his own game.
"And my observations indicate that she spent little very little time asleep at all last night to begin with."
"What do you mean?"
"Observations like physical grogginess and body positions indicate that she slept very little however I simultaneously found no impediments in her cognitive processes or mental alertness that usually is associated with a lack of sleep."
"Meaning?"
"The only logical explanation points to a forced tolerance for and acceptance of long term sleep deprivation which most likely manifested itself over the course of her lifetime."
"So… she can't sleep. But she's learned to accept it."
"Precisely."
Now it was Grovyle's turn to stare off into the distance. He briefly contemplated this information as well.
Exeggutor thinks that she has long term sleep deprivation, meaning that she's never been able to sleep right. That kind of issue must have been caused by some traumatic event in her life early on. Namely the instance when her mother and sisters were abducted. That must be why she developed her sleeping problem….
Hmmmm… Although that is interesting, it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. I mean, it's not like she can't sleep at all. When I woke up from my dream I saw her sound asleep, which means that it is possible for her to sleep, I guess it just takes some time. And besides, her personal sleep patterns are none of mine or Exeggutor's business. That's personal life, not ours.
His mind made up, Grovyle turned to Exeggutor and explained himself. Exeggutor listened closely as Grovyle recounted what he had been thinking about, and then nodded in agreement.
"So it's settled. We won't worry about this sleeping thing?" said Grovyle.
"Agreed." Answered Exeggutor.
"Good. So, was there anything else that you'd like to bring up about her?"
"I would like to ask you what your plans are regarding her."
Grovyle looked taken aback. 'What kind of question is that?"
"I mean," clarified Exeggutor, "How long is she going to stay with us where are we going to go with her do you intend to keep her as a permanent member of this team what food is she going to eat what would her duties be would you be willing to trust her in dire circumstances will you be accepting more additional Pokémon in this manner and where is she going?"
Grovyle frowned. Most of those questions were aspects he had never even thought about before. "Okay, listen. I don't exactly know what my plans are regarding her, but I can say that I want her to stick around for a while. She seems like a nice Pokémon, and what's more, we could use more companions. There is strength in numbers after all. And as for where she is going, I think that she's going to be going where we're going."
Exeggutor was quiet. Grovyle could tell that he had another thing to say. Finally he said it.
"Where ARE we going?"
Grovyle turned and opened his mouth, ready to say something, but when he pressed his vocal cords and tried to make a sound, nothing came out. He quickly realized that he couldn't think of an answer. He shut his mouth and continued to face Exeggutor, who also turned to look him in the eye. Both of them were silent for a long time, staring into each other's eyes, trying to figure out what the other one was thinking. Finally Grovyle broke the stare by looking away, into the distance.
"I…" he said quietly. "I don't know where we're going."
Exeggutor, thinking carefully, focused at the ground.
Grovyle continued. "We've spent the past two weeks running all across these plains, practically ignoring the question of where we were heading. Waking up every morning, breaking down camp, and heading off in some direction that didn't mean shit. We never got to where we were heading, because we were heading nowhere…"
"Perhaps we should settle this now and decide on a location."
Grovyle thought it was a reasonable proposition. "Fine."
The pair continued looking different ways, neither one offering up any solutions. The air was tensely quiet, the only sound being the soft whoosh of tall grass as it swayed back and forth.
"If Sceptile were here then he would know what to do." Said Grovyle.
Exeggutor winced at the sound of Sceptiles name. Over the past two weeks, Grovyle had found out just how close Exeggutor had been with Sceptile, which turned out to be extremely close.
They were practically brothers…
"I suppose he would have." Said Exeggutor. "But he's no longer with us so this task is one that we must handle on our own."
"Yeah… Okay."
Exeggutor looked up from the ground, and focused his attention on coming up with new ideas. "The grass capitol is out of the question due to the fact that it is being occupied by fire types and the fact that the grass types are now officially aligned with The Cardinal League and it goes without saying that we cannot enter any territory under control of The Cardinal League either due to the fact that we are probably wanted for the murder of Arcainine."
This time is was Grovyle's turn to wince at the sound of a name.
"Anyway…" continued Exeggutor, acting as if he had not just brought up a terribly painful topic. "This leaves only territories belonging to The Blue Union such as the water state or the electric type cities or even the fighting state all of which are valid options."
"Until they realize that we're grass types."
"Indeed. The recent change in sides of the grass types will reflect very negatively on us as a group and it is very likely that we might not be accepted into any Blue Union territories at all."
"Well, we do have a fighting type with us now…"
"She could personally vouch for us and provide us with a means to enter one of the aforementioned states."
"Exactly what I was thinking."
"So shall we head for the water types, the electric types, or the fighting types?"
"Not the electric types. I heard that they are very suspicious of outsiders, and can be extremely rash."
"It is the nature of electricity to be uncontrollable so it is only understandable that a race bred of electricity has a difficult time controlling their own emotions."
Grovyle nodded in agreement. Never thought of it like that…
"Thus we are left with the water types or the fighting types."
"Okay… honestly I don't know much about either one."
"I understand that the fighting types have arranged their territory to much like large rural areas of farming and small villages of peasants that help contribute to larger settlements."
"That fits into Mienshao's description of life amongst the fighting types. She said she lived in one of those small villages." Added Grovyle
"Indeed." Confirmed Exeggutor.
"From what she said, the fighting type's territory doesn't sound like a good place. I think we should stay away. I mean, psychic types can just walk right in and kidnap children? What kind of a place is that?"
"I agree. This leaves only the water types."
"Are you sure you want to go there? We'll probably be treated like enemies when we arrive."
"That is a most unfortunate predicament but it is one that I can see no realistic solution too meaning we simply have to take our chances and journey there regardless."
"I guess so. And besides, like we said before, Mienshao is now with us so she can help our credibility."
"Indeed."
Grovyle smiled. It was relieving to know that they had finally settled on a destination. Relieved, that is, until he realizeed the next challenge was getting there. "Do you have any idea how to get there?" he asked.
Exeggutor took a deep breath and answered Grovyle's question. "Using another system of sun placement I can easily locate any known settlement through the implementation of high altitude-"
"A simple yes would have sufficed." interrupted Grovyle.
Exeggutor nodded his heads, and slowly stood up. In the distance, it could be heard that Mienshao was returning. Soon she appeared through the tall grass, carrying several full jugs of water for the journey ahead.
"I'm sorry for taking so long. This new body is hard to operate as it is, but trying to carry full jugs of water with it at the same time is damn near impossible."
"Don't worry about it." Said Grovyle, who quickly stood up as he talked. "Just the fact that you were able to make it all in one trip is impressive enough. Usually it takes me and coconut head two trips to fill them all."
"Haha, coconut head? I can't understand why you two like to make fun of each other so much."
Exeggutor, who was busy loading packs of food and water into his head, paused his task to comment. "It helps to pass the time. And when your subject matter has to be based off a Pokémon like Grovyle then the opportunities come fast and frequent believe me."
"Yeah," chimed in Grovyle. "He's right. That's just what guys do with each to pass the time. None of it is actually meant to be offensive."
"Haha, I guess I'll never understand you two."
"You don't' want to." Said Exeggutor as he loaded the final bag on his body.
Exeggutor held about 50% of the supplies, due to his size and strength. Grovyle and Miensho each took an easy 25% themselves, and together, the three of them worked like a well-oiled machine. Within minutes of getting the water, they had already started their journey. After a brief moment of explaining to Mienshao where they had decided to go, and another brief moment of Exeggutor finding his bearings, the group headed north, in search of the water types.
…
…
…
…
For miles they walked in the Fields of Sway. Soft grass flowing on and on in all directions was the only visible thing for miles around, which didn't seem to bother anyone very much. Exeggutor and Grovyle felt right at home in the foliage, and Mienshao said that the grass made her relaxed as well.
…
…
…
One time they came to a lake, a lake so large that the far side was barely visible. It didn't get in the way of their journey, so the group decided to walk along its outer bank for a while. As they went, they observed small water type Pokémon swimming in the lake. They were mostly just Magikarp, which was incapable of speech or advanced thought. They observed these strange little Pokémon splashing around, then moved back onto the trail.
…
…
…
After about three miles of following that coast, it abruptly ended, and the trio was back to the wide open plains. The grass was noticeably shorter than it usually was, but that did not bother anyone present. If anything, they relished the opportunity to see around them clearly, and to simply think.
…
…
…
All the while that they walked, the group engaged in small conversations, usually not lasting more than five minutes or so. They mostly discussed the land around them, such as which parts of it were beautiful, and which parts of it were not. Almost always the trio was able to reach consensuses on their discussions, but every so often, arguments would occur. Not hostile at all, the arguments were usually half-hearted, and always ended in Exeggutor calling Grovyle some funny name, or vice versa.
…
…
…
During one particularly long stretch of open plains, the group held a long discussion on something that had remained a mystery for years.
"Exeggutor," said Mienshao. "Grovyle already told me about his background, and I've already told you both about mine, so maybe you could enlighten us all about YOUR past? How about it?"
Exeggutor, who happened to be walking in the lead position at that time, squinted his six eyes. "My past is actually quite drab I doubt you would be interested in hearing about it."
This time Grovyle chimed in, who was walking behind Exeggutor and next to Mienshao. "I'd like to hear about it too, actually. As far as I can remember, you've told me nothing about your past."
"Yeah, tell us!" cheered Mienshao.
"Hmmmm…" grumbled Exeggutor. "I already told you my past is of as little consequence now as it was back then."
"Oh come on, we can be the judge of that." said Grovyle.
"Yeah!" Added Mienshao.
Exeggutor walked on in silence for a few seconds, then breathed a heavy sigh. "I suppose."
"Yayy!" shouted Mienshao and Grovyle, in mock excitement.
"But before I say anything I really do wish to inform you that the story will turn out to be one boring and dull event after another with no real climax or interesting point whatsoever." Warned Exeggutor
Grovyle seemed doubtful. Nothing with this guy is ever "boring" or "dull". Nothing.
Mienshao adjusted the pack she was carrying, and then leaned to the side, towards Grovyle. Quietly she whispered into his ear; "He's not serious is he?"
Grovyle whispered back; "He might think he is, but trust me, nothing Exeggutor ever does is usual."
Mienshao smiled, seeming almost happy to hear that. She leaned back to her regular stance, and continued walking. Grovyle also faced front. Together they waited with baited breath, for the amazing tale of Exeggutor.
"As far as I am aware I was born several decades ago. I can remember very little of my time as a child save the fact that I was always rolling around in the most inconvenient of places and that my disposition was one of merriment at all times."
"Wait a minute, rolling around? What do you mean?" asked Mienshao.
"Wait a minute, disposition of merriment? What the hell do you mean by that?" asked Grovyle.
Exeggutor was not daunted by the fact that his story was already so confusing, and answered the questions quickly. "The reason that I was rolling around at the time was because I had not yet evolved as a child and my body was still arranged in the ever precarious situation known as the Exeggcute. And yes believe it or not my time as a child was quite merry in that I had not yet acquired this logically analytical mindset that I now exhibit."
Mienshao smiled in amusement as she pictured the six little eggs rolling around and causing mischief. Grovyle had a smirk on his face, he was still busy trying to wrap his head around the fact that Exeggutor had once been a merry Pokémon.
"Hahaha, that's so cute! I've seen Exeggcute before and they're so funny." Said Mienshao.
"Haha, so if you really were once an Exeggcute, how did you go from cute and funny to this?"
Exeggutor took another deep breath as he prepared to respond. "You must understand before I continue what kind of a species the Exeggcute and Exeggutors were."
"What's so special about them? Don't they live in civilized places like most other Pokémon?" inquired Mienshao.
"No they do not. The Exeggutors and Exeggcutes that exist in the wild operate under a mix of tribal and pack-like social structures where all members of the pack move together as a nomad group. Together the pack moves from place to place indiscriminately and in a manner most whimsical that usually forces the group to traverse many unusual climates for example I remember one time as a child when my pack travelled through the tundra of the north the wet rainforests the beaches of the west and the endless deserts all in one year behavior like this is considered quite normal for the Exeggutors and Exeggcutes in a pack."
"That's amazing." Said Mienshao, clearly impressed.
"Indeed in hindsight it does seem quite interesting but at the time I assure you it was quite natural." Said Exeggutor
"I admit, that is pretty cool, but what was life like as a part of a pack? Did everyone act like you do?" asked Grovyle.
"No actually Exeggutors and Exeggcutes are known for being carefree and happy Pokémon mostly. As a group their travels usually are filled with charismatic dances and melodic chanting that help keep time and merriment throughout the pack and these song-chants have gained notoriety throughout the Pokémon world due to their enchanting sound and hypnotic undertones but I assure you that they are wholeheartedly happy songs with no nefarious purposes or designs whatsoever actually such propositions are ludicrous and are merely the product of primal fears like the fear of hypnosis and dark forces."
Mienshao shuddered at the mention of dark hypnosis and enchantment. Grovyle saw her and quickly took mental note of it.
"And so just like my fellow Exeggcutes I was a very happy and merry creature with six independent consciousnesses operating at the same time each one speaking freely and openly whenever it pleased this system might seem hectic and unsettling but I assure you that the few parts of my childhood I can remember were filled with no memories of conflict between these six independent egg-minds. Together we six eggs would roll around the world constantly following our pack as it moved from destination to destination with no particular end point in mind."
"So wait…" interjected Grovyle. "You had six brains at the same time, and they all acted in different ways at the same time? How is that possible?"
"Our six brains were very similar in the way that we all knew exactly where we wanted to go and rolled to our destinations as a group usually with no disagreement whatsoever the only difference between our minds being that we each had a different size and shape as well as different receptors for our senses but we simply put those things aside and worked for the common good of the Exeggcute as a whole. In this way I guess you could say that we were very logical Pokémon who acted in a way to secure the overall advancement of our being as a group which is actually quite similar to the way I act now."
"Woah." Said Grovyle, who was trying desperately to understand what life would be like with six brains.
"Okay," said Mienshao. "But something happened that changed you, right? Something that changed you from a carefree Pokémon to a more logical one?"
"Correct."
"Well what happened?"
"My change in mindset was caused by the acquisition of completely new parental units and a radically different social structure than the one I was used to this change occurred one day when I was separated from my pack. We were travelling and singing through the high mountains one day somewhere in rock-type territory when I glimpsed out the corners of my eyes a glittering rock with a strange green tint to it across a large canyon. Later I was to deduce that this thing was a type of rock called a dawn stone and that such a rock is considered to be highly valuable in today's society."
"I've heard of those before." Chimed in Grovyle.
"I'm not surprised by that after all I would only expect someone as dumb as a rock to be familiar with the study of geology."
Mienshao covered her mouth and desperately tried not to show that she was giggling. Grovyle scowled, then changed to a smile as he reminded himself that it was just a stupid insult.
"So funny…" he said.
Mienshao finally stopped giggling as they walked on through the plains. Now they had come to a large clearing in the grass with a small pond nearby.
"Hey, wait a minute," said Grovyle. "We should stop for a minute and make camp here. The sun is getting close to the horizon, and I know we would all prefer some sunlight while we set everything up."
"Agreed." Said Exeggutor, who leaned down and dropped his packs on the ground.
Mienshao unloaded her pack, then turned to Exeggutor. "Well, while we're setting up, how about you continue the story? You were at a canyon somewhere with a dawn stone?"
Exeggutor nodded, and then continued his story. "Indeed. Of course at the time in my jolly mindset I had no idea what the strange stone was and only knew that I wanted to get closer to it so together my six eggs rolled towards it at full speed while singing and chanting. My pack continued on in the other direction completely oblivious of the stone and of the fact that one of their young ones was rolling towards the edge of a tall canyon and so when I suddenly started slipping and rolling down the side of the hill there was nobody nearby who could hear my screams."
"Oh god. That's horrible." Said Mienshao.
"As I rolled down the canyon my speed increased and little rocks which littered the sides caused the six eggs that made up my consciousness to bounce apart and separate. I felt like I was falling and rolling for ages but logic tells me that such a thought was ridiculous and I was probably only falling for a few minutes at most anyway the six eggs eventually stopped falling and when I did it became clear that I was now trapped at the bottom of some deep cave below ground where very little light and sound penetrated. And after frantically yelling and calling out my six eggs found each other in the darkness and set out to find our escape from the cave. However as we went we only seemed to get more lost than we were and eventually it reached the point where we were completely disoriented miles below the surface of the earth."
Exeggutor paused to use a psychic attack that cut some nearby grass at the roots. It fell softly to the ground in a big pile, which Exeggutor swept up and moved to the center of the clearing, thus making his bed. Grovyle and Mienshao had done similarly, and now the three of them sat together on their beds, arranged around an un-lit campfire.
"The cave I was in was not completely pitch black because there were glowing stones that lined the walls and ceilings on all sides which emitted enough light to see but the cave was still very dark compared to the surface world I assure you of that but such stones do not exist on the surface and do not exist very close to the surface and thus in hindsight with the knowledge that I now possess I would say that I must have been located approximately five miles below the surface. So as a little Exeggcute I rolled along these caves blindly for more than a week in utter fear until finally I met a creature that would rescue me from my torment."
Grovyle, who had previously been trying to light the campfire, paused his work to question Grovyle's story. "Five miles below surface? That's ridiculous. There farthest below ground I've ever heard of a Pokémon existing is some stories about a Pokémon named Steelix, and those things only lived three or four miles below ground at the most!"
"I understand your skepticism but I assure you that my story is completely accurate it just so happens by complete chance that the cave I fell into was a cave known as The Black Deep in Pokémon lore perhaps you are familiar with it?" replied Exeggutor.
Grovyle though for a moment. "You know… I think I remember hearing something a cave called The Black Deep once from the city's storyteller. Isn't it supposed to be a bottomless cave?"
"According to Pokémon legends it is a bottomless cave but this is only rumor and hearsay for the actual cave itself only goes down about six miles and practically no Pokémon live there just rocks and glowing stones."
"What do you mean when you say practically? Do you mean there are Pokémon living all the way down there?" asked Mienshao.
"There are. Very few species of Pokémon exist that far below ground."
"Well who are they?" inquired Grovyle.
"One of the species was Carbink and these Pokémon were relatively peaceful creatures similar to a living rock formation with several glowing stone covering their body these little creatures usually paid me no mind and generally left me alone as I travelled throughout the caves. Another one of the Pokémon was of a much more menacing nature they are known as Sableye."
"I've never heard of either one of those Pokémon." Said Mienshao.
"I'm not surprised after all these Pokémon are not capable of advanced thought processes and thus have no drive to form social structures anywhere above or below ground however I assure you that while both the Carbink and the Sableye were non-intelligent Pokémon they had nearly nothing in common. Carbink were peaceful but Sableye were vicious hunters that existed of pure darkness and terror these monsters would roam the dark caves eating glowing stones and crystals wherever they went which led them to literally grow crystals on their bodies as a direct result of their absurd diet."
"They sound like devilish little creatures…" said Mienshao.
"They were. Standing roughly at two feet tall these little Pokémon usually travelled alone because they preferred enveloping darkness over actual companionship. Constantly as I wandered the caves I would hear terrifying sounds like footsteps and demonic laughter appearing to come from nowhere at all of course in hindsight I now know that the sounds actually came from Sableye who liked to stalk their prey and feed of the feelings of fear emitted by those unfortunate enough to be their victims."
Grovyle felt a tingle go up his spine as he tried to imagine a Pokémon so vile.
"Anyway as I was saying the Carbink and the Sableye were the only two Pokémon species I encountered for a week straight of wandering. The blind rolling and yelling nearly drove me insane as I struggled to feed off of crushed rocks and dirt which obviously do not serve any nutritional purposes at all."
"You ate dirt? For a whole week?"
"I did what I had to do to survive."
Grovyle was silent. Note to self, remember to make fun of Exeggutor for eating dirt…
"But finally mercifully even the week of terror came to a close when I met a Pokémon who helped me." continued Exeggutor.
"Who was that?" asked Mienshao.
"I am not aware of its name and I believe that no other Pokémon on Earth is aware of its name either due to the fact that it simply does not have a name. This Pokémon… these three Pokémon that is…. They were unlike anything I had ever seen before and anything I have ever seen since."
Mienshao and Grovyle were silently watching with anticipation to find out who these mystery Pokémon were.
"I was rolling along on day seven of my hellish week when finally I ran out of energy due to my lack of nutrients and sunlight so much so that all six of my brains were on the verge of fainting and my vision was turning dark as the sound of maniacal Sableye filled the air. Having tried so hard to survive it was an utterly depressing moment when I finally gave up on life and surrendered myself to the embrace of death this time coming in the form of a Sableye."
Exeggutor paused and stared into the fire, which had now been lit by Grovyle.
"As I closed my eyes for what I thought would be my final time I witnessed the most amazing sight. A nearby rock formation started shaking and after watching it through my dying eyes the entire formation which was an estimated five feet tall stood up on two legs and started glowing. What I had thought was a pile of rocks actually turned out to be a giant living Pokémon!"
Grovyle and Mienshao were in shock. Exeggutor stared deeper into the fire as he sifted through his memories and tried to relate the story to his two eager listeners.
"I will never forget this sight for as long as I live. It had seven glowing eyeballs on its face but other than that the Pokémon was literally just a walking pile of rocks with arms legs and a robust chest. It stood up and looked at me and then down the tunnel in the direction of the creeping Sableye. I heard the Sableye scream in fear then go running backwards down the tunnel away from this strange rock Pokémon that now towered in the path which led me to believe that the Sableye had met this Pokémon before and revered it as their only true fear."
"So what happened next? Did it attack you?" asked Grovyle.
"I thought for sure that it was about to but the Pokémon simply looked down at me and after observing my miniscule size it turned abruptly in the opposite direction and walked away. Naturally I was terrified of this mysterious Pokémon but I decided that if it could keep the Sableye away then I had better go follow it and use the creature's presence as a deterrent for future Sableye attacks."
"And did it work?"
"From that moment on I never heard or saw a single Sableye for the rest of my life."
"Wow…" said Mienshao. "Whoever this Pokémon was, it must have been really strong if the Sableye feared it."
"Indeed it was. I quickly rolled after the Pokémon and followed it around throughout the cave systems. Its systematic motions and complete silence led me to understand that this Pokémon was very knowledgeable about the deep caves and could easily traverse them at will. Another interesting thing I noticed about this Pokémon was that it never appeared to do any task superfluously but instead chose every action very realistically and basically only moved or acted when it was absolutely necessary."
"That sounds a lot like you." Added Grovyle.
"Exactly. It was from this Pokémon that I learned to act the way I do. He appeared to be completely devoid of emotions and literally never spoke a single word out loud so naturally as most children do I began to mimic him in every way I could. Soon the carefree songs of my family's pack were forgotten and replaced with silence and methodical grunts only at times of absolute necessity. It even taught me about the powerful implications of sleep and how to budget my time effectively throughout the day."
"Sounds like he was your dad." Said Grovyle.
"Indeed this Pokémon began to take on a very fatherly role to me and it was not before long that I began to imagine myself as it's equal after all we were both the only intelligent Pokémon around for miles and miles meaning we shared numerous characteristics. However I cannot say that me and this Pokémon were the only intelligent beings around because there were technically two other creatures like him that lived in the same cave system."
"There were more of them?" asked Mienshao.
"Two more. The first one was a sleek silvery color that made an odd metallic sound every time it moved. This creature had the same odd dots on its face as my father's but they were arranged in a different pattern and this creature's body was also much harder than was the body of the Pokémon I had first encountered. The other one was a silver-blue color with the same dots also arranged in a different matter except this Pokémon was made of another strange material that was so cold and frigid it literally left footprints of ice wherever it walked. I feared this Pokémon greatly because of the harsh freezing cold it exuded but I still preferred its company in place of the Sableye."
"Fascinating…" said Mienshao. Grovyle was equally entranced.
"These two Pokémon had the same personalities as the first one I met which was actually more of a lack of personality than anything else. They showed no emotion and spoke no words between each other whenever they met. They also never seemed to directly look at each other and instead preferred to stare straight ahead or in whatever direction they were going at the time however something interesting to note is that these Pokémon were obviously aware of each other's presence while at the same time not acknowledging it this much is evident through the fact that they never accidentally bumped into each other or any of their surroundings."
Exeggutor finally turned his gaze away from the fire. Now his eyes flittered around freely as his tale continued, sometimes stopping to observe the peaceful sights that now could be seen in the dark. Indeed night had finally settled over the land, and Exeggutor began considering going to sleep soon. Grovyle and Mienshao, however, were wide awake thanks to the riveting story being told to them.
This story is even better than I thought it would be… I had no idea Exeggutor had such an amazing past. Thought Grovyle
"Anyway… I wound up following this creature for a very long time and before I could tell what was happening I had spent four whole years down below ground with my three companions."
"Four years?! You spent four years of your life miles below the surface of the earth wandering around with a bunch of silent monsters?" questioned Grovyle, who could not believe what he was hearing.
"Well that is one way of telling the story." Said Exeggutor in reply.
Grovyle was awestruck.
"My rock father-figure never fought me stepped on me tried to eat me hurt me or ran away from me it was as if the Pokémon had simply come to accept that fact that I was there to stay and since it saw me as clearly not a threat it decided there was no harm in letting me stay. Aside from the first time I met it the Pokémon also never once looked directly at me or seemed to acknowledge my presence. Until I evolved."
"What did he do then?" aksed Mienshao, who naturally was very intrigued by the concept of evolution.
"He just watched me evolve. As you know the cave was full of glowing stones so one day by complete chance I happened to stumble upon a leaf stone with caused my evolution to begin it was a relatively short process much like the one that you described but as it was happening I remember seeing the creature watch me closely and observe every second of the transformation once it was complete however he turned his attention away and continued on with his usual routines."
"That's interesting, but how did you respond to evolution personally?" asked Mienshao.
"This took place two or three years after I had first fallen into The Black Deep so by this time I already had developed most of the traits exhibited by my strange companions such as total lack of emotions and logical mindset. When the onset of evolution was finished, I inspected my new body, made several logical deductions, then continued right on with my life. It was really quite a trivial event in the larger scheme of things."
"Wow," said Grovyle. "You were even more cold and logical then than you are now."
"Very much so. During those years I reached the peak of my logical mindset. I did not talk I did not emote I did not look anywhere I did not blink I did not cough I did not sneeze I did not trip I did not sing I did not chant I did not think. I simply acted."
Exeggutor took a deep breath. "I had become a being of pure purpose. Driven by logic and reason, I was as lifeless as the rocks that surrounded me."
Grovyle and Mienshao silently listened in awe as they tried to imagine the situation Exeggutor was describing.
"However it did come to an end eventually. After four years of aimless wandering and existing I decided it was time for me to come back to the surface world because it was so much better suited for my continued health. Now that I was much larger more intelligent and more able I simply navigated through the cave systems and emerged on the surface world somewhere inside grass type territory. My new life had begun."
"Then what happened?" asked Grovyle, who desperately wanted to hear more.
"I'm sorry Grovyle but it has reached that time of day when we must go to sleep. I wish that I could go further into the story but I will have to just wrap it up for you now."
Mienshao and Grovyle tried to resist, but Exeggutor was stubborn. He had a schedule to follow, and nothing would make him waver.
"Because I feel bad about cutting the story so short, I will leave you with one more piece. The first Pokémon I met after I emerged."
Grovyle and Mienshao smiled, happy that they would get to hear more of the amazing story.
"I emerged from a cave inside of Grass type territory and wandered the countryside for a short while as I took in my surroundings such as the plant life and new food sources available to me. Then in a twist of fate I happened to walk over the crest of a hill and accidentally come face to face with an intelligent Pokémon for the first time in over five years."
Exeggutor paused, almost as if he wanted Grovyle and Mienshao to feel the anticipation. Finally, Grovyle took the bait. "Well, who was it?"
Exeggutor smiled his three heads at the same time, a gesture that had only been observed once or twice in the most extreme of situations. Then he opened his three mouths, and answered Grovyle's question.
"His name was Sceptile. And he was my best friend."
End Chapter Three
(Okay, so maybe I wasn't serious about the cookie thing. If I was, I probably would have given you a chocolate chip cookie though, after all, you can't beat the classics. Anyway, the three mysteries Pokémon really shouldn't be that hard to figure out, and if you're a true fan of Pokémon then I doubt you'll have any trouble deducing their identities. If you can't figure it out, then I'm sorry but this category of fanfics probably isn't for you. Don't worry though! It's never too late to start on your quest to become a Pokémon master! And it might seem like I forgot about that whole "dream attack" that happened to Grovyle last chapter, but don't worry, because I haven't. This mysterious force is still watching over him, and next chapter will be the time when it finally strikes. Get ready for action, fighting, jaw-dropping twists, and the introduction of a brand new character to the story, one that I hope you'll all love! Trust me, he's gonna blow you away. Thanks for reading everyone! AND PLEASE REVIEW!)
