Maple's POV

The next morning, I went to the field. It was a cloudy day, but oh well. Hickory wasn't there, but his den was farther away from the field so it was understandable that he wasn't here yet. I went to my garden. The normal plants didn't need maintaining everyday, but I wanted to check on the Custap bush. It was growing faster than normal after I used my growing powers on it yesterday. I gathered some energy to grow it again. I noticed that less energy came to me that time than usual, probably because of the cloudy day. I sent my energy into the plant. After energy ball training, I didn't have to close my eyes and focus for a long time in order to grow the plants anymore. The energy just came to me naturally now, and it was always much stronger.

Hickory still wasn't here, nor was there and sign of him coming. He's probably still injured and at his den. I'll go see him, I decided.

I walked over to his den and found him still on his leaf bed, fast asleep. The bruises and injuries on his sides and tail were still visible. I walked up to him, about to shake him awake, but upon seeing the injuries decided to let him sleep more. I sat down on the ground to wait for him to wake up, but then realized it was weird to sit here watching him sleep, so I walked out of his den.

I sat outside his den and tried to think of something to do while I waited for him to wake up. My eyes landed on a particular tree outside his den. I smiled as memories came to me of that tree. It was a hickory tree, the one Hickory was named after. Back in the day, the tree had light bark and bright green leaves. The bark was rough with many indents, which made it perfect for climbing. Hickory and I learned how to climb trees on this tree. It was easy to climb to the top because it was shorter than the rest of the trees and because of its bark. Looking at the tree now, though, its colors were a lot duller and it was missing almost all of its leaves, probably because it was overshadowed by the other trees around it. Hickory's mother used to take care of this tree every day, so the tree was able to thrive without as much sunlight. When Hickory's parents moved away, the tree must've started dying.

I peeked back into Hickory's den and saw that he was stirring. I eagerly walked in to greet him. "Good morning, sleepyhead!" I said cheerfully.

"Huh? Oh, hey Maple," he said groggily, stretching out on his leaf bed.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"Ugh, I feel sore and sluggish now," he complained. "My sides and tail still hurt quite a bit."

"Oh…"

"Sorry, I don't think I can do much training with you today. Maybe tomorrow."

"That's alright, whenever you feel better we can start. It doesn't have to be tomorrow."

He started to get up, but his face showed some signs of strain. "Are you alright?" I asked, concerned.

"I'll be fine, all I need is some time. It's just some aching after a battle, nothing serious," he reassured me.

"Are you hungry? It's already midday."

"Really?" He asked, looking outside. "It doesn't look very bright out yet."

"It's a cloudy day today, that's why," I explained.

Hickory's belly rumbled. "Heh, I guess that answers your question," he chuckled. "Want to head to the field?"

"Sure," I agreed.

Hickory got up from his bed and we walked out. I walked at a normal pace, but quickly realized that Hickory was lagging behind. I slowed down so that he could catch up, watching his tentative movements carefully.

It's all because of those raiders that my best friend is injured like this. I'm so scared of them...

"I'm totally fine, Maple. You don't have to worry," said Hickory, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I was just thinking about the raiders who did this to you… I'm so scared of them…"

"Falc's campaign should keep them busy and away from our forest," Hickory reminded me.

When I looked unconvinced, Hickory paused the walk and put his paw on my shoulder. "Listen, there's nothing to be afraid about."

"Yes there is!" I exclaimed. "I've been attacked by them twice, and I don't know what would've happened if it weren't for Spruce and you. And look at you right now, after the raider attack. How can I not be scared?"

"You have the power to defend yourself now. You don't have to be scared. Whether or not you choose to be scared is your choice. I would recommend the latter."

"You have the power to defend yourself, but you still got really hurt," I brought up.

He paused for a moment. "That was because I was being stupid," he said. "I was trying to talk the raiders out of fighting instead of fighting my hardest. I could have ran away or even beaten them if that was what I had in mind. There was one point where I had them knocked down and vulnerable. I could've defeated them with a fire blast, but I was being stupid and tried talking instead."

"Maybe you need to stop trying to talk with the raiders and just plain defeat them," I suggested. I realized afterward that my suggestion sounded rather harsh, but I didn't mean it to be.

He sighed. "I know I should, and it's what Falc told me too. But I just have to figure out their motives. It's just the way I am. No one is born bad, they're taught to be bad. You know how much I want to figure out why they come here and attack us."

"But you're risking yourself in the process. I don't want you to get hurt! You're my best friend, remember?"

"...I'll try not to take any more risks in the future. No more negotiating, just fighting. Now, I'm still hungry, can we keep walking?"

I didn't feel reassured about the raider situation, or convinced that Hickory would not risk trying to figure out the raiders more, but I decided not to bring either concern up again, at least for now. It was still cloudy, so the field was not much brighter than the forest. After eating some berries, specifically Oran berries for healing wounds, Hickory started me off on a new move.

"Okay, so before I can teach you the new move, your powers need to be strong enough to perform it. Let me see your energy ball."

I formed as big an energy ball as I could and fired it at the ground. Upon impact, there was a crackling sound, dust puffed up, and dirt went flying.

"That's really good!" He complimented.

"Thanks, I've been practicing," I said.

"Alright, so in order to use this new move, you need to send grass energy into your tail. Let me see you do that."

I gathered my grass energy and directed it all to my tail. I moved my tail to the side and turned my head to see my tail glowing bright green.

"You need to keep putting energy in until your tail is completely glowing all bright green, almost white near the middle."

I continued putting my grass powers in, but it wouldn't glow any brighter. Soon I was feeling tired and feeling less and less grass energy. "That's the best I can do," I huffed.

"Are you sure? I bet you can get more," he said.

I tried my hardest but it wouldn't get brighter. Instead, the light started fading because I couldn't add any more energy and my tail was losing energy.

"I guess you need more energy. You won't be able to do the next step unless you can sustain that energy in your tail for long enough."

"So I'm not strong enough to proceed?" I asked, feeling disappointed.

"Don't worry, as you practice setting up the grass energy in your tail for the new move, you'll get better at it. You should be able to use less and less energy and effort. I want you to practice energizing your tail until you can sustain that energy in your tail for a noticeable period of time. Also, continue to practice energy ball and continue to grow plants with your powers, because any practice with your powers will strengthen them."

"Okay, I'll do that. What's the energy in my tail going to be used for? What's the new move?" I asked, curious. It must be really powerful if I it needs this much energy, I assumed.

"I'll tell you when you've got the energy supply to do it," he said with a wink.

"Come on, why can't you tell me?" I complained.

"It's a secret until you're strong enough!" He said mischievously, grinning.

"Fine…"

Hickory's POV

After growing her garden using her grass powers all this time, I estimated that Maple was already capable of using energy ball properly. That's why she was able to do pick it up in one day and have full power energy balls in less than a week. But she's got some work to do until she's strong enough for the new move. I was still recovering from the attack, so I wasn't in the mood to do physical training. In the meantime, I might as well have her improve her grass energy capabilities while I recover physically.

It was taking me many more days than I expected to heal up after the fight with the raiders. I guess I really took pokémon centers for granted back when I was living with humans. I could walk around slowly, but I definitely needed to be in prime condition in order to perform well in the training I had planned.

Maple came to check on me every morning with a bright smile, which really made my day everyday. I thought she would be more sad because Spruce was away, but she was mostly her cheerful, determined self. I was glad that she wasn't saddened by his absence. Maple was rarely ever in a negative mood, except for some things regarding the raiders and raider attacks. She showed me her progress in energizing her tail. I was amazed by how much she improved each day. She was improving faster than some of the grass types I watched train, if I remembered correctly. She was quickly approaching the degree of grass power expertise at which the move could be performed.

"If you feel up to it, how about I teach you some stuff about gardening?" She offered one morning.

"That's sounds cool," I agreed.

Once at her garden, Maple snapped off several large leaves off of the Figy plants. "Let's make a berry basket for you to carry and store berries in," she said.

She showed me a weaving technique to construct the basket with. The finished product was as good as a human-made basket. Even better, because it smelled like Figy berries. I loved that smell.

Next, Maple taught me how to maintain the berry plants, such a how to make sure all the plants were getting enough sunlight, and how to pluck the weeds in a way that made sure they didn't grow back. I kind of had an idea of what to do while watching some human gardeners, but it seemed like Maple knew way more than them.

"How did you learn all of this?" I asked while we were positioning some branches into a beneficial growing pattern.

"Well, some stuff I figured out, but most of it I actually learned from your mother," she revealed. "After I evolved and told your mom I wanted to start a garden, she taught me everything she knew."

I found it amazing that I was learning my mom's knowledge through Maple. Back when I was an Eevee, I sometimes watched my mom garden and quickly concluded that it was really boring. That has changed now that I'm older and my best friend actually achieved her dream of making an awesome garden. I remember my mom saying she wanted me to evolve into a Leafeon so that I could learn her gardening tricks, which were apparently many generations worth of knowledge. Maple was the next best to pass the knowledge onto, and now, I was learning it all anyway. When I see my parents again, I'm definitely going to show Mom some of this stuff.

At some point, an Arcanine followed by two Growlithes came by. "Hey Cassie!" Maple greeted the Arcanine.

"Hey Maple!" she replied. "Hi, I'm Cassie," she said, introducing herself to me.

"I'm Hickory," I said. I started to raise my paw for a respectful greeting, but then remembered that it was a human thing and stopped.

"Hickory is childhood friend back when we were Eevees," Maple explained. "He recently came back here."

"Welcome to our forest! Or perhaps welcome back! There have been less new pokémon coming here recently. It must be the raiders," Cassie remarked.

"Hey! You're Captain Falcon's buddy!" one of the Growlithes exclaimed, pointing his paw at me. "Brandon, don't you remember him?"

"Brian, it's rude to point," Cassie told her son.

"Yeah, I do!" said the other Growlithe. "Captain Falcon is so cool! You must be cool too, because you're his partner!"

I chuckled at what the boys were saying. Falc sure is popular, I thought.

"Can you do what he does?" one of the boys asked.

"I can try," I said. "Stand back," I warned.

The boys nodded and took several steps back, eagerly awaiting whatever it was I would show them. I gathered up my fire energy for a fire blast. I created as much fire as I possibly could, which was quite a lot, given my extensive training. This big of a fire blast was not practical during a battle because it takes way too long to set up and way too hard to aim with, but it's perfect for showing off! I pointed my muzzle towards the sky and started releasing my flames. They gathered around my muzzle in a star formation and grew bigger and bigger until it was as wide as my body. Then I launched the fiery star into the sky.

The two Growlithes had their eyes glued to my fire blast as it went higher and higher, getting smaller and smaller, until it dissipated. I grinned at them.

"Woooooooow, that was SO COOL!" the boys said in unison, jumping up and down. "What else can you do? Show us!"

I showed them some other tricks such as making a Growlithe shape out of fire and some iron tail tricks. I was quickly getting tired though, because using moves in a cool way requires a lot more energy than using them for attacking.

"Your kids really like Hickory," Maple remarked.

"He seems to be good with children," Cassie complimented. "Speaking of kids, are you going to have kids?" Cassie asked Maple.

"It would be nice… but I don't think Spruce would want to," Maple answered.

I couldn't help but listen in. Spruce is just not right for Maple, I found myself thinking.

"Why not?" asked Cassie.

"I don't know… he just isn't too good with children," Maple said.

I'm good with children, I thought as I played with the two Growlithes.

"I'm sure he'll have a change of heart later on," Cassie predicted.

"I hope so," said Maple.

I doubt it," I thought. All Spruce cares about is being the popular awesome night guard guy. Why does Maple have to be with him?

The boys wanted to play more, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Show us more! Show us more!" the boys chanted endlessly.

"How about you two play with each other?" I suggested.

"But we always do that!"

"That's always what mom and dad say!"

"C'mon, one more trick?"

"Please?"

Another Arcanine showed up and was talking to Cassie and Maple, probably the boys' father. When I started walking away towards the Arcanine pair and Maple, the Growlithes grabbed my tail to try to hold me back. I tripped and fell, and the Growlithes hopped onto my back.

"Uh-oh, looks like my little angels are misbehaving," said Cassie with a chuckle.

"Mom, don't call me that! It sounds girly!" Brandon said to his mom.

"Tell you what," I huffed, "how about you go ask Maple to show you what she can do!"

"Okay!" the Growlithes said happily, jumping off of me and running towards Maple. "Can you show us some tricks?" they asked her.

Maple laughed. "I can show you boys some things that Hickory taught me, but it won't be as cool as what Hickory has shown you."

Maple brought the boys over to the garden and showed them growing the plants with her grass powers. The boys were just as captivated by her performance as they were with mine.

"Hey there, I'm Hickory," I said to the new Arcanine.

"I'm Max," he said, bowing his head politely. "I see my boys have taken a liking to you."

"Heh, yeah. They tired me out though," I chuckled.

"Oh yes, they tire me out everyday. But at the same time they always make me smile," he said.

"That's great to hear," I said.

"So, you didn't go on The Guard's campaign. It feels like I'm the only adult male who didn't go." He was exaggerating, but it was true that a lot of adult males left to go on the campaign.

"I would have gone, but I was injured a few days ago," I explained.

"I didn't go because I have these two to take care of," said Max, gesturing towards the boys. "A lot of fathers went off on the campaign, leaving their mates and children at home. I would never leave my family."

"I don't really like The Guard," he continued. "I know they're protecting us from the raiders, but I really don't see the problem being that big. I think they're just exaggerating, glorifying themselves. And they walk around the forest all high and mighty and important because they say they're protecting us. They're a bunch of arrogant, overconfident show offs. And everyone falls for it."

"That sounds a bit harsh," I remarked.

"That's how I see it, and I can't stand it," he said.

"Uh… Max, I'm part of The Guard," I said.

"You are?" he said, surprised.

"Yes. Now to be honest, most of the raider attacks are directed at the guard members, but we do guard our forest from the raiders for real. I will agree with you that the others kind of glorify themselves a little though."

"So you're part of The Guard and you didn't go on the campaign?" he asked skeptically.

"The Guard defeated three raiders a few days ago, which was a major victory. They decided to go on the campaign in order to push our current advantage and stop the raiders once and for all. I was severely injured in the fight, so they let me stay home and recover."

"Sounds like an awfully heroic story," Max remarked, looking at me suspiciously.

"It's all true though," Maple interjected. I turned towards her; apparently she had been listening for a while. "He's saved me from raiders before," she said.

"How did you join The Guard?" Max asked.

"Falc is my old friend," I said.

"You mean Captain Falcon? That guy doesn't seem like he's all that he says he is."

"Dad, Captain Falcon is the coolest guy in the world!" one of the boys exclaimed. "You should be more like him!"

"Brandon, just because someone looks cool doesn't mean he is cool," Max told his son.

"You're wrong dad, Captain Falcon is the greatest pokémon ever!" the other Growlithe proclaimed.

Max sighed. "See what that bird has done to my children?" he said, although he did crack a small smile.

I laughed. "You know, Falc's name used to be Fletchy, back when he was a tiny little fletchling. He used to be the size of your tails," I told the Growlithes. "Every morning he would wake everyone up with a sweet morning chirping song."

"Ew, singing is for girls!" said Brandon.

"But Captain Falcon always sang a lot," I said, smiling.

"Dad, I changed my mind. Captain Falcon isn't that cool after all."

"Me too. Let's go tell mom." They ran off towards Cassie and Maple.

"See Max, there's nothing to worry about," I said with a grin.

"Good thing, I was starting to feel concerned with them," he admitted.

"They'll get older and realize how awesome and important their dad is. Don't rush them."

"How are you so good with kids? Do you have kids?" He asked.

"No, I don't, but I've worked with a lot of kids in the past. I used to help out at a daycare."

"What's that?" He asked, confused.

"It's a place where humans drop off their young pokémon," or their older pokemon when they want more young ones, I said in my head, wanting to keep that part out.

"What? Humans?"

"Oh yeah, I used to live with humans."

"Humans? Tell us about them!" One of the boys yelled. "Mom and dad say they're evil, but we don't believe them!" The other one added.

"Humans aren't evil," I said. "Well… some are, but most aren't. Just like how some pokémon are evil and some aren't. Would you like me to talk about them?"

"Please! Please!" The boys begged, jumping up and down.

"Max, Cassie, are you alright with this?" I asked, wanting to ask for permission first.

"I would love to hear all about humans myself," said Cassie.

"I suppose it would be good to hear," Max agreed.

And with that, I talked about some of my adventures. My life wasn't as action packed as I made it seem; I only picked out the most exciting parts in order to entertain the boys.

"Isn't Hickory the coolest?" Maple asked the boys.

"Yeah! Definitely!"

"He's my new hero now!"

I blushed from the compliments, mostly Maple's. She smiled at me, but I looked away sheepishly to hide a potential blush.

"Oh, not again… Hickory, could you kindly tell the boys not to believe in heroes again?" Max asked me.

"I don't know Max… they seem pretty hooked to me." The four adults laughed.

"Well, it's about time we get going," Cassie announced. "Boys, say thank you and bye to your new hero!"

Maple's POV

Today, finally, Hickory was all healthy and ready to teach me the new move. I couldn't wait to know what I would be doing with my tail. The sun was shining bright without a cloud in the sky, yet it still wasn't uncomfortably hot. It was the perfect day today. Before going to his den, I went into my garden to check on the Custap berry bush. I've been using my powers to grow it as much as possible these past few days. It was as tall as me now, with bright red flowers blooming everywhere. I directed my energy into it and watched it glow green.

To my slight disappointment, when I got to his den, Hickory was sleeping in, missing out on the beautiful day. I wanted to wake him up and get started, but I restrained myself. Sitting outside his den without much else to do, I started up an energy ball. It was so easy to do it now, unlike when Hickory first taught me. My powers really felt like a part of me now; they never did before. I easily created a ball of energy in front of me and poured my grass energy into it. Once it was so big I couldn't control it for much longer, I exhaled and fired it forward. The ball whizzed straight ahead and exploded on the trunk of a tree.

I stared in awe at the large dent I made in the old tree. But then I realized something...

Oh no! This is Hickory's special hickory tree, the one he was named after! And I just destroyed it! He's gonna be so mad! I frantically turned around and looked into his den. He was still asleep. What am I going to do? I paced around, panicking. Okay Maple, calm down. Think, how do you fix a tree? I jumped up as I realized, I might be able to heal it with my powers! I've never tried growing anything except my berry bushes before. It probably won't work, but it's worth a try…

I faced the old hickory tree and transferred as much grass energy as I could to it, focusing on growing it. The huge dent in the trunk from where my energy ball hit glowed bright green, but nothing happened. I did all I could to send more of my grass energy to the tree. I still didn't know whether it would even work, but I poured all my will into repairing Hickory's special tree.

Remarkably, the trunk started growing back. My eyes widened. It's working! It's really working! I was starting to feel tired now, using up all my grass energy, but I kept at it. I didn't know how long it took, but eventually the trunk was fully repaired. When I stopped sending the tree my energy, I immediately found myself breathing heavily and sweating from the effort. I immediately sat down on the grass.

It's amazing how my powers can both destroy and repair, I thought, staring at the healthy looking trunk. I'm so glad Hickory taught me all of this!

"That was really amazing, Maple!"

I jumped up, startled, and turn around. Hickory was standing there, grinning cheerfully. "W-when did you wake up? You scared me!"

Hickory laughed. "Sorry about that. I just got up. I saw you outside my den doing something, so I came out to see. Turns out you brought life back to my hickory tree! Now it's just like it was back when we were Eevees!"

"What?" I turned around and gasped. Not only had I repaired the trunk, the entire tree was budding with green leaves again, its branches back to a light brown, as if it was a young tree again merely waking up from winter!

"Oh my… I-I did that?!" I exclaimed. I tried to picture what the tree looked like just a few moments ago. It was definitely old and leafless, with its branches a dull, dark brown.

"Why are you surprised? Weren't you trying to revive the tree?" He asked, confused.

"No… I was only trying to repair the trunk… I was so concentrated on the trunk that I didn't realize I was growing the whole tree… No wonder it was so tiring…"

"Well anyway, you saved my hickory tree! When I just returned here, I was so sad that my tree was dying. My mom usually took great care of it, but I guess since my parents left it started to die. But you saved it! Thank you so much, Maple!" He came up to me and gave me a hug. I hugged him back, although a little guiltily.

"You shouldn't be thanking me…" I said as he let go. "Earlier, I was using energy ball and made a huge dent in your special tree by accident. I didn't realize it was special tree until after I had hit it. So I was only trying to repair my own damage," I explained.

"Well… you didn't only repair your own damage, you also made it grow again, so yes, I should be thanking you! And If you can grow a whole tree, you're definitely ready for the new move! C'mon, let's go to the field!"

"How are you feeling today?" I asked.

"I feel all better. I'm back in fighting and training condition. Now c'mon! I've been waiting these past few days to recover so that I can teach you the best new move ever! And I know you've been waiting too!" He started running off without me.

I laughed, seeing a part of his Eevee side come back to him. I guess he's in a good mood because I grew his special tree. These powers he showed me are just so awesome. I wonder what I'll be doing with my powers next.