Exams…yeah, that sounds like a legitimate excuse. Exams.

None this base belong to us.


"Link?" Richard called out in the forest once again. And again, the only response was the creaking of the old trees in the wind. He sighed and kept walking forward, grumbling to himself, "'Go on a little research trip', they said. 'Sure', I said. 'I haven't gone on one for years', I said."

He looked around to all the ominous trees and shivered. "Now I'm beginning to understand why," he said. Then he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Link! It's not safe here! Let's go!"

A twig snapped behind him. He span around, expecting the swarm to burst out and attack at any moment. He hated being this nervous. After the explosion, he had told himself to be strong and brave for May and Wendy. And although neither of them was there at that time, he nonetheless hated this feeling.

Something else was bothering him as well. No, not really bothering him, more confusing him. After the explosion, much of the foliage he had seen was either knocked down or singed. Here, however, everything was flourishing. The leaves on the trees had grown to the point where practically no light was allowed through the canopy. Ivy, moss and vines grew wild as though they had been growing for years without any human interaction. But most jarring were the trees themselves. Richard had been to Petalburg woods before, not too long ago, and the trees then were a normal thickness. But around him, the trees had turned huge and strong, as though they had aged hundreds of years since he had last seen them. It was bizarre; and a bit unnerving.

The snap showed itself to be nothing; maybe it was just his imagination. Taking several deep breaths, Richard continued forward, one thought dominate in his mind over the paranoia and the bizarre floral activity:

Where did that boy go?

Yes, he had seen him fend off a pack of Poochyena with nothing but a sword. Yes, several days ago, he allowed Link to run off into the night. But there were two major differences between those events and this one. One of those differences was that neither of those two events involved a giant swarm of Bug-type Pokémon. The other was paternal instinct. There was no way that he was going to let Link run into the forest while May watched. And so, he had told her that he would be back with Link.

So where the hell did that boy go?

His mind drifted back to her, still waiting back at the car. If Richard spent too long looking for Link, she would most likely come in looking for the both of them. What if all three of them got lost in the forest? What if the swarm picked them off, one by one?

He tripped, rewarding his paranoia with a mouthful of leaves and rotten bark. After reveling in the irony for a moment, he pushed himself up, spat out the litterfall, and turned around to see what he had tripped over.

What he found was a slab of wood. Curious, Richard picked it up and inspected the backside of it. It was still green and fresh, and the cuts around the edges were clean and smooth. It couldn't have simply rotted and fell off of the tree and it couldn't have been the work of any sort of Pokémon; this sort of precision could only come from someone using a knife…or a sword.

This was Link's handiwork. Excited, Richard stood up and looked around. "Link!" he yelled. "If you can hear me, say something!" Naturally, there was no response, but this discovery had given Richard a burst of energy. Tucking the wood underneath his arm, he ran forward, ignoring the stings of branches and leaves in his face. He stumbled over a thick tree root, but he picked himself up and kept going, and after a several minutes of running, he burst into a small clearing and slowed to a stop.

He buckled over to catch his breath. He could almost hear Norman telling him, 'Damn, Richard, you're out of shape.' He chuckled as he straightened up.

"Norman," he muttered between heavy breaths, "once this is over, I swear I'll take up jogging." Popping his back, he looked around the clearing. Nothing but green circled around him; sheets of moss growing up the sides of trees, thorns and bushes making thick walls between trees, a green man with a sword facing away from him, ropes of vines and ivy, and a species of tree Richard was pretty sure didn't grow in – he turned back around.

"Link!" Richard called out as he walked towards the youth. "I've been yelling myself hoarse out here. Let's get out, it's not safe-"

"Quiet!" Link hissed without turning around.

Richard stopped. "Excuse me?"

"Please be quiet," Link remedied. His sword was drawn, which Richard realized meant that there was something nearby.

"What is it?" he asked in a whisper.

Link didn't respond; he didn't have to, as the answer in the form of a large and very cross-looking Breloom pulled itself out of the bushes and walked slowly towards Link. It slammed its tail on the ground with a dull thud to intimidate the little green human in front of it. But Link didn't flinch (which is far more than can be said for Richard). Instead, he slowly turned his head to Richard and whispered, "When I say now, throw me the shield."

"Throw the what?" Richard hissed.

The Breloom lunged for Link.

"Now! NOW!" Link shouted.

Still not completely understanding, Richard immediately threw the nearest available object: the piece of wood. Link span around and caught it in midair, held it by its sides, span back around, deflected a punch from the Breloom, and slammed the wood into the Breloom's face with enough force to smash the makeshift shield into two pieces.

The Mushroom Pokémon was stunned by the sudden counterattack for only a moment. Then it shook its head and glared at Link with a new level of hatred. Link looked at the remains of the shield, muttered something in a language Richard didn't recognize, and pulled out his sword. The Breloom leapt forward again, its pointed claws pointed straight at Link. He nimbly sidestepped the attack, but was caught off guard by the Pokémon's tail, which clubbed him right in the stomach. As he staggered backwards against a tree, the Breloom turned around to face him and deliver a final attack.

Knowing he would hate himself later, Richard ran forward. "HEY! Over here, you mangy, ugly-!" he yelled at the Breloom, waving his arms and trying to divert the attention. The Breloom gave him an incredibly pitying look before turning back to his original target. In desperation, Richard began picking up stones and wood on the forest floor and threw them at the Breloom to change Richard's status of yappy, pathetic into being a genuine threat.

Unfortunately, it worked. The Breloom turned to him with its head low and glaring daggers into Richard. He stumbled backwards, nervously chuckling. "Eh…heh. Well, this is bad…I've just got on the bad side of one of the most powerful Grass Pokémon species recorded… Hm. Ah, heh, why don't we…just…back away and…" His voice slowly drifted off as the Breloom advanced. He winced as it raised its red claw to deliver a fierce blow-

It stopped. Out of one half-opened eye, he saw the Breloom, frozen with one claw still raised high. Then suddenly, it yelped, and bounded off into the forest, far out of sight.

Where the Pokémon had stood was Link, one hand clutching where the Breloom's tail had caught him, the other holding his sword tightly. On his face was a grim smile.

Richard did not return the smile. "What were you thinking?" he asked. "Didn't you hear me? It's dangerous to go alone out in places like this!"

Link's smile quickly vanished, a deep frown taking its place. "I saved your life!" he said indignantly.

"You put yours at risk!" Richard yelled right back.

Sheathing his sword, Link growled, "You think me incaple?"

Richard blinked. "Think you what?"

"Incaple," Link repeated. Then his frown became tinged with confusion. "Incaple? In…in…inca…" he muttered, rolling the word around in his mouth, trying to find the proper pronunciation.

"Incapable?" Richard suggested.

"Thank you," Link said. "You think me…incapable?"

"No, I think you crazy!" Richard shook his head in irritation. "I think you're crazy. You run off without so much as a word to anyone else, go swinging a sword at anything that moves-"

"I use this to protect!" Link objected, pointing to his weapon.

"You have a skewed idea of protection."

"You!" Link yelled, pointing at Richard. "You do nothing! You let things happen around you! In Hyrule, you would be-"

Link then clapped a hand over his mouth, shame replacing the anger on his face. Richard frowned. "In where? I didn't catch that."

Link didn't respond. Instead, he looked around, as if only just now realizing where he was, looking very lost and confused. Sympathy panged within Richard. Link truly was a stranger in a strange land. 'Hyrule', though; the name didn't sound very familiar. Maybe Link had mispronounced a different name, though if he did, why was he ashamed?

Richard's frown faded away. "Link," he said softly, "I'm sorry." Link finally turned back around to face him. Richard continued, "It's been…a very long couple of weeks. And I really am glad to see that you're alright."

Link gave him a sad smile. "Thank you," he said. He then stooped down and picked something up from the forest floor. "And sir?"

"Just Richard, please."

"…Richard," Link said, and then he handed over the thing from the ground to Richard. Richard held it up to the light to identify it as the spore ball from the Breloom's tail

"Thank you for saving my life," Link finished. Richard smiled and pocketed the spore ball.

"You saved me first," Richard conceded. "Just promise me one thing."

Link cocked his head curiously.

"Warn me before you go running off next time."

Link's smile widened. "Of course." His smile dimmed as he turned towards where Richard had come from.

Richard followed his gaze. "What is it?"

"Listen," Link said.

Richard listened closely.

"I don't hear anything," he whispered after a while.

"Listen," Link insisted.

Richard sighed and quieted down again. This time, he could hear something faintly on the wind; a voice yelling something far away. A young woman's voice. A girl's voice.

"May!" Richard yelled. He began to run off into the forest when he stopped and turned around. "Link, stay here, I'll be right back," he called out quickly. And with that, he turned around and ran off into the depths of the forest.


Link watched him disappear. Richard was a good man. Here in this land, it was good to have an ally.

Which reminded him; he had mentioned Hyrule. He had to be more careful. They had specifically told him not to mention Hyrule. On the other hand, he was to do this task alone, a clause that he had clearly broken already, so it couldn't be that bad to mention his homeland…could it?

He shrugged to himself. Hopefully, Richard wouldn't pry. Right now, there were more important things to do. Namely, the shield. He looked back at the split piece of wood and cursed. His old Deku Shield never so much as splintered, unless it caught on fire. So what happened with this one? Was it the wood itself or the creature's punch?

He gave the wood one last look and sighed. If wood here reacted like that, a shield wouldn't be any use at all. He left the splinters where they were, took a swig of potion, and walked into the forest.

If he was right, he was going to walk right into trouble.


I'm not dead yet!

Please review, your reviews give me motivation to get another chapter done.