PD: Just a heads up, this chapter has an optional theme, it's called "Dragon Ball Super - Formidable Foe Epic Rock Cover (long version)". When you see an "*" it's played and when you see an "**" it's stopped. I don't own the original version of this song or the rock cover.
Calm Before The Storm, A Colony In Danger
The wind blows relentlessly across the Castelia City area, and as Mint exits the Skyarrow bridge entrance gate, he's faced with the long, daunting bridge once more. The wind blows his fur, fur fluffs, tail, and the end of his scarf to his right side and the bridge almost seems to sway slightly due to how strong these winds are. It doesn't matter, as long as he can outrun the storm and get home before it begins, everything will be fine and dandy. He takes a look to the east and makes a mental note of how close this wall of death is. In the time he spent with Fai, they've covered quite a large distance and if one were to estimate the time of its arrival, he has about roughly 20 minutes. Mint knows he can make it across the bridge in this time, but he'll have to run at top speed to make it and if he stops at any point while crossing, he'll get caught in the storm. He adjusts his scarf, takes a couple deep breaths, gets down on all four paws, and whispers to himself. "I'm coming home guys, just give me 20 minutes to get across this bridge. Here I go!" he then takes off running at his absolute max running speed. His own speed challenges the wind and creates resistance, yet it doesn't slow him down one bit.
The little tapping of his paws hitting the ground can barely be heard over the sound of the howling wind, and the sky above begins to slowly turn from light grey to a darker shade of grey. Mint runs under the archway supporting the suspension cables and he knows he's about a quarter of the way across the bridge. Below him, no cars, trucks, or buses in sight on the road below. Perhaps the bridge has been closed off to vehicles due to the impending storm, or perhaps when he decided to cross, not many people were going in and out of Castelia. This isn't important, what is important is the goal that's still quite far ahead of him. Behind him is the city whose buildings no longer speak to him. He's got all the knowledge he needs now and the only thing left for him to do it take said knowledge, and literally run with it.
Out of curiosity, he looks back and sees the massive city starting to get smaller and smaller with each step. His mind has no words for him to say because there really isn't anything for him to say as a parting gift to the city that opened his eyes. The once super tall buildings begin to look shorter and shorter, and the people and Pokemon on the streets are nothing more than specks of dust moving around a dirty floor. He turns back to look forwards and a gust of wind batters the bridge once more. This gust is so strong that it pushes Mint to the right side a little but he fights it and gets back into the middle of the walkway. He's not going to be stopped by anyone or anything no matter what it takes.
He's now at what can be considered the halfway mark and the faint sound of rolling thunder is heard. A few seconds later, a weak flash of light comes from the east and he looks towards the direction it came from. No doubt about it, that was a bolt of lightning and it serves as a very nasty reminder that he has to keep this pace otherwise he risks being caught in the storm. He doesn't stop and keeps trucking along. He can feel his muscles starting to tire out as well as his lungs asking for more air than he can supply, creating a sharp pain in his chest.
In the distance, not too far away, he can see the tops of the trees swaying and the leaves shaking with each gust of wind. Another flash of lightning from the east catches his eyes but this time, it's much brighter than before. The clouds above him are starting to become a very dark grey, nearly classifiable as black but not quite there yet. Along with this comes the steady change from simple overcast skies to light drizzle. The first few drops of rain fall around Mint and a few of them fall onto his fur, dampening the tiny spot it landed on and darkening it in the process.
Each step he takes kicks up a very small amount of dust and dirt that's collected on the walkway from all the people and Pokemon that walk to and from Castelia city. His feet dig into the walkway with each step and push him closer and closer to his home and the final act as well. He has no idea that his stay in Castelia had caused the entire colony to go looking for him. At this very moment in time, everyone is tired, a bit weak from all the searching, and very much vulnerable to anything that lurks in the forest… including those supposed vicious Pokemon that've been rumored to live deep within. If he knew what was about to happen, it's possible that he might be pushing his body past its physical limit in running speed. He doesn't think about anything, not even the chance of the colony being attacked by someone or something comes to mind. His entire attention is on getting home, no other thoughts exist in his mind besides this one and beating out the storm, which looks like he'll come close to doing. He might just be caught by the heavy rains starting just as he reaches the entrance to Pinwheel forest, either way, he's going to get wet and water never really hurt anyone let alone him of all Pokemon.
At the end of the walkway, he can see the start of the spiral leading down to the Pinwheel forest gate entrance. He's almost there but it still looks like it's very far away. He's made it to roughly the 3/4th's mark and the drizzle is starting to become more and more steady. The wind is as ruthless as ever and continues to batter the bridge and the land. With more raindrops falling, Mint's fur is starting to become dotted with spots of water thanks to these droplets falling on him. He can feel them and simply ignores it, his goal is in sight and as much as his body begs him to concede and drop to the ground out of breath, he forces himself to keep going. The sky above is now firmly in the territory of the color black, and it only seems to get darker and darker. A bright flash of lightning lights the world and 12 seconds after, rolling thunder of an incredible volume is heard for 4 seconds. Mint's parents had taught him when he was younger that if he ever wanted to figure out how far the center of a thunderstorm is from him, he should count how many seconds it takes for him to hear thunder after seeing a flash of lightning. In this case, only 12 miles and while that doesn't seem far, it'll be over him faster than he can comprehend it.
The final stretch, he enters the spiral and from here on out, he's pretty much made it back. The drizzle around him has now evolved into a steady, light rain that won't last for long before becoming very heavy. Another flash of lightning and rolling thunder as he spirals down towards the entrance gate. About a minute later, he enters the gate and finally, he can take a breather. He hunches over, begins to pant loudly, and places his paws where, anatomy wise, his thighs would be even though it doesn't look like he has any. He stays like this for a few minutes to let the strong feeling of fatigue and lightheadedness pass. He knows that the lightheaded feeling is probably because he ran top speed all the way from one end to the other end of a 1 mile long bridge, something that he's never done before.
Once this feeling passes by, he starts to walk out of the gate at a brisk pace and upon coming to the exit, he's met with the pouring rain. The small break he took was enough for the storm to completely catch and overtake his progress, but the point is that he got back home before this started to happen. He's won that battle, but the next battle he'll be fighting is merely moments ahead and just like he said to Fai, whatever welcoming party that he'll face upon stepping foot back in the colony, he'll face it with pride, courage, and take it on full force.
He looks out at the paved road that divides the forest in half. He still doesn't know if this road actually cuts through the middle of the forest or if that's just a rumor, but it's a pointless thought to worry about and he quickly gets back to what he was focused on. As he walks out into the rain, his fur immediately takes the brunt of each raindrop that falls over him. Even though the trees block out most of the rain, whatever gets caught on the leaves slides off and turns into a mini-waterfall, and anyone who dares walk under it will be soaked in the early winter, ice cold rain. Mint's used to this cold rain, he's sat out in it many times in the past and it simply reminds him of what he's returning to. It makes him crack a small smile as he walks down the side of the road, getting closer to the dirt path that will take him back home.
Small puddles of water sit in on the paved road, reflecting the darkened trees and sky above. Little ripples form on the surface with each raindrop that falls in, starting from where it landed, a small, little wave of water spreads out in all directions, then stops upon hitting the edge of the puddle. Mint's feet walk into these small puddles, splashing up a little water with each step. Walking through these puddles reminds him of how he used to jump and run through them when he was younger. It makes him feel happy, because he'll be able to do that once again when he arrives back at his den.
A bright flash of light and more thunder, except this clap of thunder doesn't roll, it roars and booms across the forest. Mint gets a slight chill running down his spine as he hears this type of thunder, he never liked it when he was younger, and even as an "adult" Minccino before he evolved, he still didn't like it. To this very day now as a Cinccino, he still hates this type of thunder, but hearing it reminds him of the days when he was younger, when he'd huddle up with his mom or dad and they'd tell him a story or two to keep him calm. It makes him feel nostalgic because when he walks into that den of his, he's going to be the one telling them the story of why he left and what made him come back.
He stops for a moment to take it all in, the calm before the storm as one would say. He looks to his right and the path leading back to his colony awaits him. Once he enters, whatever will happen to him will be set in stone and he'll accept it, even if it means the end of his own life. He turns back and looks down the road towards the Skyarrow bridge entrance. The soft glow of the light from inside is reflected through the drops of rain and every once in a while, the drops set up in such a way that the light reflects and gets right into Mint's eyes. It doesn't bother him, but he finds it somewhat pretty. The loud pitter-patter the rain makes drowns out the sounds of anything else. The sound is slightly different depending on what surface the drops hit and it transforms the forest into what feels like a completely different place just from this alone. He slowly turns around to face the path to his colony and he starts to walk down it. He's dead silent as he walks along this path and while something tells him that he should start running to get home faster, he doesn't want to because he's still a bit tired from running across the bridge. His fur is completely soaked now and since the path has many trees, there's tons of little waterfalls of ice cold water along the path that he simply walks through, further soaking his already dripping wet fur. The dirt path has transformed into more of a mud path due to how heavy the rain is and each step Mint takes makes his feet wade a little into this mud and while this would normally make him wanna clean himself off, he doesn't get this instinctive feeling.
The path is silent with the exception of the rain, thunder, and lightning. The wind seems to have calmed down a little bit, but it's still strong. The whole forest seems to be silent, Mint's ears don't pick up the sounds of other Pokemon from the nearby colonies and the only thing he hears besides the rain, is the gentle sound of his own breathing and the steps he takes in the mud. He continues to walk down the path, eventually coming to the fork that signifies that he's getting closer to his home. He's happy that he's almost there, but that bad feeling from earlier starts to rise up again for some strange reason. He looks down at the ground and notices that in the mud, there's a bunch of strange looking footprints that don't seem to belong to any of the Pokemon living nearby. He questions it. "Whose footprints are these? They certainly don't belong to anyone in the colony nor do they belong to anyone from the colonies nearby, so who or what could've made these?" he stops and hunches over to take a closer look at the prints.
*He holds his right paw out in front of him and turns it over to compare the prints to his own. He turns his paw back over, presses it into the mud, removes it and compares his fresh print to the one next to it. "Not even close… these prints aren't from a Cinccino or a Minccino either…" he says to himself quietly. He stands up and continues along the path, getting closer and closer to his home. Suddenly, out of nowhere, through the darkness of the storm and the heavy rain, he notices someone that seems to be limping. He starts to run over to them and as he gets closer, he notices that they're beat up, bleeding and seriously wounded. He recognizes who they are and his small sprint turns into a full blown run. He calls out to them, saying their name. "R-rachel!"
She hobbles, stumbles, and loses her balance but luckily, Mint is fast enough and manages to reach her and catches her before she falls. He helps her stand up and some of the blood on her fur gets on his, but it doesn't stay for long because the rain washes it away. She looks at him, very dazed and confused. "..Mint…? Is...is that you?" her voice sounds low, full of pain, and quite upset.
"Y-yeah, it's m-me! What the hell h-happened to you!?" he says, worried about what would cause her to be in such a condition. Looking at her body, starting with her face, it looks like someone scratched her and bit her real bad. There's cuts, bruises, and deep wounds all over it. Her arms, body, feet, and tail also exhibit similar wounds, but the worst part is that they all look fresh and are bleeding quite badly.
She coughs a couple times, and tries to firmly stand in place, but wobbles a little before steadying herself. She then explains. "..I...I don't know what they were, but while we were getting ready to head out… these weird, powerful Pokemon came from out of nowhere…" she's short of breath and loses her balance once again. She begins to stumble forward and Mint catches her, this time holding her by her paws to keep her from falling over. She continues. "...We're being attacked… I… I managed to escape but… they beat me up real bad in the process…"
Mint becomes extremely serious, he was expecting to come back to them getting ready to kill him or something, not this. He growls lowly in frustration before asking another question. "W-where's the others? Are they o-okay!?"
She shakes her head. "...I don't know… I… I think Wesley, Sean, Patricia, and a few others tried to fight them… I don't know if they're even alive now… those bastards kept yelling something about being hungry and wanting to eat…"
Mint's eyes become intense, a shadow falls over his face, completely darkening it thanks to already dark surroundings, and his tone changes into something that Rachel's never heard before. "...I suggest you h-hide somewhere… I don't w-want anyone else getting hurt… Y-you're already wounded, and I d-don't need you getting killed…"
She nods, and for the first time, she's never been more grateful to see him in her life. Her pained tone hides a happy undertone and she speaks. "...We've been looking all over for you… Guess it's better that you showed up late than never…" she coughs again and this time, she also spits up a little bit of blood. Whatever attacked her and the rest of the colony has to be real strong. She looks up at him, a small smile forming across her face. "I-I know… it isn't the best time to say this… but… I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything I've done and said to you…" a few tears begin to form in her eyes. They mix with the rain and quickly roll down her beat, wounded, and cut up face.
Mint accepts her apology, but at the same time, he doesn't. "No… I'm the one who should be t-thanking you and all the others f-for what you've done…"
This confuses her, but because she's in so much pain, it's hard to tell. "...You… you are?"
"Yeah, y-you'll understand later… for now, go hide… I gotta g-go help the others…"
She nods. Mint lets go of her paws and she gets down on all fours and even though she's wounded, she quickly heads into the thick brush to hide. He watches as she disappears from sight and then he turns back down towards the path. Now, out of nowhere, he can hear the sounds of yelling, screaming, and pain. It's coming from the colony and Mint's heart sinks upon hearing this. The last thing he wanted to come back to would be his own deathbed, but this is the one thing that would be worse than that. While the others may not see it, his broad and new perspective of what they did to him makes him see them as not just friends, but family as well in some ways. They're all the same species of Pokemon, and like he's said in the past. "If there's one thing I despise from the bottom of my heart, it's those who dare hurt the ones I love the most, be it friends, family, or even the enemies that bully me." His mind fixates itself on this thought, and as he now makes haste down the path to enter the colony on all fours, the pendant around his neck begins to glow extremely bright, emit streaks of light, and radiate powerful sparkles. He's not about to let everyone suddenly be taken away from him for real, he didn't just come back home to see everyone die. "Not today, I'm not gonna let this happen. They gave me the life I've wanted, and now I'm gonna pay them back in full. I won't allow this colony to die!" he says to himself through his clenched teeth as his paws dig into the mud, kicking it up, and getting onto his stomach. This is it, the final act has begun and everything he's learned up to this point in time will be tested, but most importantly, will he be able to protect the ones he truly loves?**
PD: Here we go... no summary for this one... the next chapter brings it all together... Seeya in the final chapter...