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Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by GAMEFREAK/The Pokemon Company
Darren and Harmony are owned by ScruffyEevee
Chapter 6
The staring continued between the Eevees and the opposing group of Pokemon for a few seconds more seconds.
It seemed both parties were having trouble registering what they were seeing in front of them, and did not know how to respond outside of glaring at one another. Azul was caught in the middle of their standoff, so keeping to himself as much as possible, the Sigilyph slowly floated a few feet back and into the far corner of his gallery. Him, as well as the several other village residents in the vicinity that had heard the commotion, could tell that things might get ugly between the two groups of Pokemon.
The Snivy was the first to make a move, which sort of relieved Darren in a way because their staring contest was getting quite awkward in front of the villagers. The Snivy had blinked once or twice, making sure they were seeing straight, before putting on a small grin and scoffing towards the opposing party.
"Well, well… Look at who we've run into today boys!" the Snivy grinned. The two Pokemon behind him, a Croconaw and a Geodude, turned their heads and looked at each other in confusion before looking back towards the Snivy. The grass-type noticed their puzzlement, and decided to elaborate.
"That yellow-eyed bastard is back," he sneered as he crossed his arms over his chest. Darren didn't flinch at the remark, instead sighing as he slightly turned his head towards his siblings. Sorrel had jumped back on his feet now; his face seeming to display a mix of confusion and annoyance. Meanwhile, Harmony seemed to wear her own mixed expression of surprise and nervousness, and she made sure to take shelter behind both of her older siblings; something she had been taught from birth to practice whenever an imminent threat was present.
Darren knew he was the one that had to confront their sudden aggressors since he was the only one that had a personal relationship with them. However, his attention was forcefully snapped back to the Snivy before he could do anything.
"This is actually pretty awkward," the Snivy said with a small chuckle. "Because you aren't even supposed to be here. Me and my boys kicked you out of here for good after teaching you a lesson. That wasn't an invitation to come back!" the Snivy exclaimed more aggressively.
"B-bro? What is this guy talking about?" Sorrel asked Darren in a low tone. Darren didn't know how to explain the situation to him. He just wished that they didn't have to deal with this right now.
"Sorrel," he muttered. "These are the bad eggs of the group."
Sorrel had a feeling these Pokemon that had suddenly shown up were known troublemakers. He could just assume that by the way they glared at Darren. He didn't expect, however, that these Pokemon would have a history with his brother, yet with that last sentence, he had confirmed it to be the case.
"AND YOU!" the Snivy suddenly shouted, pointing at Sorrel. The Eevee was caught off guard by this action, and his face showed it. His attention was whipped away from Darren and he even stepped back a little.
"M-me?"
"Yeah. YOU," the Snivy growled. "I've seen you once or twice roaming around my village. I don't remember ever giving you the green light to come into my territory, but then again, I figured you must be a rule-breaker. After all, you and that other punk both share some freaky eye color, so you must share the same dumb habits as well. Turns out my suspicion was right!" the Snivy proclaimed.
"B-but boss… I thought you told us nobody could ever be as dumb as the yellow-eyed freak Eevee. How is that guy as stupid as someone like that?" the Geodude behind him muttered curiously. The Snivy closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning around to face his two companions.
"Listen you two idiots. I'm liking your way of thinking - my lessons seem to be reaching you after all - but stay out of this. What we have here is a personal matter I have to deal with. So shut up and let me do the talking," he quietly drilled to the two Pokemon. They both nodded their heads vigorously while applying a snarky grin to their faces.
"Okay, got it!" the Geodude confirmed, causing the Snivy to grin a little bit.
"Yeah! You got 'em Basil!" the Croconaw also joined in with his support. The Snivy frowned at his display however and suddenly grabbed the reptile's muzzle with rage.
"N-NO! You… you… DUMBASS! Don't tell these morons my name!" the Snivy harshly relayed to him. He whimpered in agony as the shorter grass type reached up and painfully grabbed his maw. The Croconaw began profusely apologizing for his stupidity and exclaiming that he'll never do it again as a tear began to form in his eye from the sharp pain. This seemed to satisfy the Snivy, now revealed to be called Basil, as he released his grip from the Croconaw and turned back around to continue his deriding. However, he was stopped by a certain blue-eyed Eevee before he could continue.
"Basil… wait a minute. Y-you're that jerk that Ruby told me about before! You like to terrorize the residents to make yourself feel powerful, don't you? You and your friends!" Sorrel exclaimed. Basil recoiled in surprise, not expecting the Eevee to dig into him like that. His two companions shared the same reaction as well. Basil grimaced at the words being spoken to him.
"Tch get a load of this guy," he scoffed. "We just met, yet he's trying to put me down like he thinks he's better than me. Listen here 'Bluey', I don't have time to play with some loser like you. Stay out of this - as I have an even bigger loser to deal with."
Sorrel looked unaffected, knowing that he couldn't let this Pokemon's insults get to him. His only priority right now was keeping the situation from devolving into a fight.
"So Ruby was right; You think you're the hotshot of this town?" Sorrel asked with a serious look on his face. Basil just shook his head at the Eevee's persistence.
"Look, you got some balls for speaking to me like that kid; I'll give you that. However, I must say that I'm disappointed. That plump moron that's down the street appears to be giving me a bad name despite telling her to stay in her lane, therefore, I might have to pay a visit to her later," Basil maliciously said. Sorrel flinched at the thought of whatever the Snivy could have meant by that.
"Don't even-" Sorrel began.
"And speaking of plump… I'm impressed with you in particular Egg-eyes!" Basil mocked the larger Eevee behind Sorrel.
"Looks like you managed to get even fatter since the last time I saw you, and your ears are bigger than ever too! Tell me, are you compensating for something?" the Snivy asked, the sarcasm dripping.
"Listen here, Basil," Darren suddenly snapped, instantly grabbing everyone's attention.
"I never wanted to run into you today, or even come here for that matter. We were actually just leaving, and never coming back. Let's just admit that both of our days were completely ruined at the sight of each other and just call it that," Darren tried to reason. His words didn't seem to reach the Snivy though, as he rolled his eyes just as the Eevee finished talking.
"Blah, blah, BLAH. I liked it better when you didn't know how to talk. What say you, boys?" Basil said, referring to the pair behind him. The two Pokemon, who before were barely paying any attention to the situation in front of them, suddenly whipped their heads towards the Snivy at the mention of them.
"Oh... uh. Yeah, yeah!" The Croconaw enthusiastically exclaimed
"Oh yes! Much better!" said the Geodude.
"Haha, that's right boys!" Basil cackled. "Now then, since I would much rather relieve myself from looking at your disgusting face as opposed to wasting my time and energy beating the shit out of it, I'm going to give you a chance," he began. "A chance to get the hell out of my sight."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Darren sighed. "Come on guys. Let's leave." Darren roughly ordered, feeling partially defeated from the whole encounter. Sorrel sighed in a similar sense of frustration as he followed.
The two male Eevees began walking towards the Snivy and his group whilst maintaining a good distance away from them. Harmony, who had just kept quiet behind the safety of Darren the whole time, began following them quickly before being stopped by Basil, who had a grin on his face as he peered towards her.
"Well, helloooo there kid!" Basil said, maintaining an unnerving smile on his face. Darren and Sorrel instantly froze in place, knowing exactly who the Snivy was referring to. Realizing their worst fear at that moment, the fear that Basil would single out Harmony, had become a reality, they both reluctantly peered towards the scene behind them. To their dismay, Harmony looked to be extremely nervous as her attention was turned towards the advancing Snivy.
"H-huh? W-what do you want?" Harmony said as she took a step back in alarm. Darren and Sorrel, now fully facing them, began growling to themselves as anger began welling up inside of them.
"Well now Egg-eyes. I knew you'd never get a girlfriend looking the way you do, but a child? How cruel of you," Basil criticized. Darren's eyes flashed with anger, as did Sorrel's.
"That's my SISTER, you bastard! Now get away from her!" Darren angrily shouted towards the Snivy, and to no avail as they ignored his command.
"Oh-ho! Your sister?! I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff, Egg-eyes!" the Snivy continued to mock him. Darren had been hoping to keep the Snivy's attention partially towards him so that Harmony could slowly make her way closer to her brothers without drawing too much attention, but he cursed to himself as Harmony was frozen with fear. Darren decided this was enough and was determined to go get his sister, even if that meant risking a fight. However, those feelings were multiplied when the Snivy reached out and grabbed Harmony's arm.
"HEY!" Both Darren and Sorrel yelled as the former started running over to them, with Sorrel close behind. The Snivy looked towards them and just sighed in response.
"Why do I bother," he said to himself as he released Harmony to use both his hands to rub his eyes in irritation. "Boys?"
The Croconaw and Geodude standing near him quickly rushed into action and apprehended the two Eevees before they could make it over to the Snivy. The Croconaw quickly ran for Darren and surprised him with his speed so much so that the Eevee wasn't able to dodge the tackle in time, and as a result, was roughly pinned to the ground. The speed of the reptilian Pokemon had distracted Sorrel as well, and the Geodude quickly grabbed him and shoved him into the dirt before he could react. Darren was startled by the Croconaw's sudden attack but kept his attention towards the Snivy in front of him.
"You bastard… I'll kill you!" Darren bellowed between gasps of air as the Croconaw nearly choked him with his powerful grip. Basil grinned at the pitiful sight of the Eevee before looking back at Harmony, who just stood speechless at the sight in front of her.
"Heh, your brother is so damn annoying, you know that?" he said to her as her head quickly snapped in his direction
"Well then, now we can get down to business," the Snivy said as he smiled devilishly. Harmony gulped as she looked into his eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about, but it didn't sound good at all
"W-what is he talking about? Why is he even doing this? … And my brothers ..." Harmony thought as her mind flooded with questions. She was thrust out of her stupor by the Snivy as he forcefully grabbed again her arm to get her attention.
"Sorry little girl, but I'm afraid you'll be leaving your pathetic siblings for now," Basil told her in a poor attempt at sounding docile. Harmony garnered whatever courage she had left just to merely look at him with her pleading eyes.
"W-what are you talking about? What... will happen to them?" Harmony asked in a barely perceivably whisper. The Snivy looked a little surprised at her question.
"Heh, well. You see little one, your brothers have done very bad things to me in the past. Or rather, that yellow-eyed idiot couldn't stop sticking his nose where it didn't belong," Basil explained. This only seemed to concern and worry Harmony even more.
"Eh?" she muttered, tilting her head in curiosity, but still maintaining her sense of alarm towards the pokemon.
"That's right. Ugh. You would NOT believe the shit I had to go through," he lamented. Harmony couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but she did not have the courage to question something like that.
"Well," Basil began. "Needless to say, that freak didn't learn his lesson from then. Not only does he show up in this town again after I kicked his sorry ass out, but he brings his idiot friends along with him!" the Snivy angrily sneered. "And the icing on the cake… he has the nerve to stand up to me when I approach him, and even tries to jump me!"
"Y-yeah! Well… uh... T-that's because you tried to touch me!" Harmony whimpered, slowly gaining enough courage to speak up for herself. The Snivy peered back towards her in annoyance, before scoffing.
"Heh, well then. Since you're too young to understand, and you're also new to this town according to my knowledge, allow me to fill you in on something," he said before slowly stepping towards the Eevee. Harmony leaned back and hesitated before she felt the Snivy's arm wrap around her shoulder in a chill manner.
"You see these Pokemon around here?" The Snivy said, pointing towards the townsfolk who had been watching the scene the entire time. Harmony reluctantly scanned the street and was overcome with embarrassment as the Pokemon looked at her with expressions that alternated between annoyance and pity.
"Every one of them... listens to me," he said as he took his arm off of the Eevee and stood upright again. Harmony scowled back at him before he continued.
"I'm what you would call a pack leader, get it? I run things around here, and nobody questions it. That's how it is and that's how it will stay. Now and forever," the Snivy says, smiling before his face turned into a frown.
"That's how it has always been... so imagine my surprise-" he said, his voice rising.
"-when some Pokemon, a Pokemon who ISN'T supposed to be here by the way, runs into my town and starts making small-talk like it's his fuckin' stomping grounds!" Basil angrily shouted before taking a deep breath to calm himself.
"Now you see? I can't be setting a bad precedent by letting your moron brother walk around after I kicked him outta here. I'm merely doing my duty," the Snivy informed, though Harmony was having a hard time believing everything he was saying.
"You say that, but I don't think you're telling the truth!" Harmony said while taking a defensive stance towards him. "You're lying."
"HA! What do you know, little wimp? It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. That's how things are, and I for one am getting pretty sick of the lack of respect around here," Basil said before advancing on the Eevee yet again. Harmony took a few more steps back, continuing to peer into his eyes.
"What are you trying to do with me anyway?" she asked, making the Snivy halt immediately.
"Why, my dear, that is something you'll just have to trust me about," he said trying to dodge her question.
"Well, I don't trust you! Not one bit! I don't want to go with you!" Harmony started raising her voice as her confidence increased at the Snivy's hesitation.
Basil's eyes suddenly glinted with anger before darting right in front of Harmony's face. She gasped in surprise and stumbled away from him. Before her body could defend itself, the Snivy swiped aggressively at her with one of his sharp, leaf-like claws. His attack cut Harmony across the left side of her cheek, sending her staggering backward and falling to the ground. She tumbled in front of the shop that stood next to Azul's gallery, and it appeared to be closed for the day as not a soul could be seen inside.
The building was also much larger than Azul's place and had an open doorway so that any 'mon could look or walk inside. Harmony lay just beyond its doorway, while the two male Eevees that had been struggling to escape the grasps of their assailants the entire time had heard the sound of a loud CRACK amid their efforts and turned to see Harmony laying on the ground unmoving. The shock instantly jolted through their mind as they had just realized what had happened.
Basil had just attacked their baby sister, and the two Eevee gritted their teeth as their heads shook from the sudden overwhelming rage.
"Harmony!" they both yelled as they struggled even harder to free themselves, but to no avail. The other Pokemon were just so much stronger than the two small Eevees, and they laughed at their futile attempts to overpower them.
Harmony snapped back to reality as an intense wave of pain shot throughout her upper body. Her eyes shot open in the realization of what just occurred, and she quickly stood up despite her body protesting that she stayed down. Instantly she felt lightheaded as the pain continued in waves throughout her head, the epicenter being the cheek she brought her paw up to cover.
Basil definitely meant for his attack to injure her instead of just to startle her since the cut on her face began seeping blood. The arms and claws of the Snivy were quite small even when compared to an Eevee like Harmony. Therefore, the damage done had not been very significant, but that didn't keep it from stinging like hell. Harmony breathed rapidly as she had renewed her fear for the Snivy, and stared fearfully towards him as his eyes seemed to glow red with newfound anger.
" Hmph. You just couldn't come quietly now, could you? This would have been so much easier, but you just had to open your stupid mouth," he spat as he clenched his fists and began making his way over to her. The Eevee, now filled with more fear than ever before, quickly turned and ran into the empty building behind her. Harmony had no more confidence left now, and only felt an overwhelming sense of dread as she watched the Snivy walk towards her. His stride was slow and maintained a calm demeanor, which somehow frightened Harmony even more so than his surprise attack did.
The Eevee came to a stop in the middle of the room. It was then when she realized there was only one entrance to the store, and quickly whipped her head around to see the grass-type had followed her inside. Harmony just watched in silence as he made his way over. The Snivy completely terrified her. Harmony didn't even know that Pokemon like him existed in the world. She was only a month old, and never had an encounter much less a hint as to what a situation like this looked like. She had seen her siblings fight with each other before, but that was for fun usually; they never meant to hurt each other.
This time, however, she was the Pokemon in the middle of a fight, and her opponent wanted to hurt her without holding back. She truly was frozen in place as she realized she was completely powerless in this situation. She was inexperienced, and nobody was there to help her. All she could do was watch and wait tearfully for her opponent to dispose of her.
"Now, like I said before," Basil spoke.
"You. Are. Coming. With. Me," he said, instilling each word with a venomous growl.
"Don't make me repeat it again-" he said as he grabbed Harmony's furry mane with his two hands and pulled her up so that her eyes were on the same level as his. Harmony winced in pain and quickly shut her eyes so she could avoid looking at him.
"-because I HATE repeating myself," he stated angrily. Harmony was now visibly shaking and refused to open her eyes at the monstrosity in front of her.
"I…" she began to say. The Snivy said nothing as he continued glaring at her.
"I... don't want to... come with you," she said weakly. The Snivy barely even reacted to the meek reply.
"I don't care," he said blankly before roughly releasing his grip on her, causing Harmony to stumble down to her knees. He then proceeded to grab her by the scruff, earning another surprised yelp from the Eevee, before turning around to drag her out of the store.
Harmony did not try to fight back this time. She couldn't. She was still shaken up from the sudden attack from him, and she was too afraid of what he could do if she tried something like that again.
She was so wrapped up in her own mind that she hadn't even noticed the Snivy that was dragging her had stopped moving. She weakly lifted her head to try and see what the Snivy could be stopping for.
Was he going to hit her again? Was he planning on doing more than just hurting her? Was he going to… do something irreversible?
The small Eevee glanced up towards the Snivy, only to see he had not been paying attention to her and was staring intently at something instead. It seemed like he was craning his head back to look up at something, but... why would he be doing that? Harmony tilted her head further upwards to see what could have attracted Basil's attention, but was completely surprised when she realized what the Snivy had been looking at.
Before them both was a large and colorful Pokemon; someone that Harmony had met only minutes before she had encountered Basil and his party.
Azul stared intently at the Snivy in front of him and looked to be studying what the Pokemon was doing. Basil looked up at him momentarily with a troubled expression, before shifting back to his glare of disgust. He hadn't even heard this Pokemon enter the store, but it only must have been because they were floating. Basil was already irritated enough as it was, but seeing a new face get in his way pushed him even further.
"What the hell are you lookin' at, ugly?" Basil poked at the Sigilyph currently staring him down. Azul seemed unmoved by Basil's hostility and turned his attention towards the small Eevee he held in his grasp.
"Oh? You got something you want to say? Am I in your way?" the Snivy began pestering him. The Sigilyph ignored him again as he stared at the sullen Eevee for a few more seconds before turning towards the Pokemon currently dragging them.
"Did you… do this to her?" he calmly asked.
Basil huffed at his question, raising his chin towards the psychic-type. "What does it look like you moron? Get out of my way," he growled before attempting to force his way past the Sigilyph but was hindered by Azul's black and green body darting back in front of him.
"Where do you… think you're taking her?" Azul questioned. Basil's eyes seemed to flash red with anger again as he gripped Harmony a little harder, causing a small yelp to escape from her
"That's none of your damn business," he said through gritted teeth. "You don't want your shit beat in too now do ya? So move!" he barked as he took a step forward. Before he could continue any further, the Snivy suddenly was lifted into the air as an odd sensation enveloped his body. Basil grunted in surprise as he floated off of the ground, releasing Harmony from his grasp as well. He tried to move his legs and arms, but some kind of force had kept him from doing so.
"She said she doesn't want to go with you… so let her go" Azul said to the struggling Snivy. He was only able to move his head slightly and used that fact to look up towards the psychic type.
"Gugh, what are you… doing to me! Let me go you dipshit!" Basil angrily demanded as he continued struggling. Azul softened his look towards the struggling Snivy as if he almost felt sorry for the humiliating situation he was in.
"I believe… you weren't planning on releasing her… yes?" the Sigilyph asked as the Snivy ignored him.
"You absolute shit! You… you must listen to me! What I say in this town, goes! You can't be doing this… W-what I say is the law!" Basil screamed. Azul closed his one eye in response and bent over slightly as if to sigh towards the Snivy.
"Us adults… agreed during our town meetings... to not interfere with you or your actions… for we believed that… you were but a child needing to learn... the consequences of your actions by yourself," Azul said as he gazed towards the ground. Basil did not respond as he continued trying to get out of the psychic hold.
"But now… it seems you have gone too far," Azul continued, turning towards the Eevee on the ground.
"This child before you… likely hasn't even learnt about the bad things… some 'mon are capable of doing… until now that is. And along with… many public displays of immoral behavior… you have now proven to be incapable of living here… without being a complete nuisance," Azul finished before looking back towards the Snivy. Basil suddenly groaned loudly in pain as the psychic hold on his body was strengthened. Then, with a quick and powerful amount of energy, his body was suddenly thrown towards the open doorway of the story. Basil screamed in surprise as he sailed through the air and out of the store, his fall being quickly broken by the dirt of the street.
Darren and Sorrel heard the scream and looked in the direction they heard it from. They watched as Basil flew out of the building he had entered a few moments ago and landed in the middle of the street. They both looked stunned at the sight before them. The two watched earlier as the Snivy trudged his way into that store to go after their sister, who they figured had tried to run away by entering it. They both could hardly believe what they just saw. Was it their sister who did that? The Geodude and Croconaw heard it as well, and looked just as stunned as the Eevees when they saw their leader sailing through the air like a piece of garbage.
"What the…?" "Boss?!" the two said as they watched, concern and worry becoming very apparent on their faces. Darren used this distraction as an opportunity to escape, but the two had maintained their strong grip despite the distraction in front of them. The Croconaw looked down after he felt the Eevee try to break free, and grinned at his failed attempt.
"Nice try, freak," The Croconaw snickered. Darren sighed as he glared ahead towards where the Snivy was currently recovering after getting tossed outside. Basil furiously lifted his head towards the building he was just thrown out of after lifting his body up using his arms and knees.
"Damn, this asshole is strong," he thought to himself as he sat up and rubbed his head in pain. He quickly stopped once he noticed the Sigilyph coming out of the building with Harmony floating in front of him. The Snivy quickly stood up into a defensive position, before he heard the shouting of someone to the far left of him.
"Ay boss! Are you okay?" Basil turned his head to see his companions looking at him with concern.
"You took a nasty-looking hit dude!" the Geodude asked. The Snivy just looked at them and the two Eevees in their grasp with annoyance.
"Yeah, whatever! Just keep those two stooges down alright?!" he yelled at the two, pointing a finger at them. Both goons quickly nodded in response before Basil looked back towards the Sigilyph, who had floated a bit closer to him now, and returned to his defensive stance.
"Listen, you ugly piece of shit. You don't wanna mess with the likes of me or my boys, you hear? Now, give me back that damn Eevee before I gauge your only eye out!" he commanded.
"You poor child… are you sure you would like to fight?" Azul taunted. "After all… that would include… all of us," the Sigilyph said as he looked past the Snivy at something behind him. Basil looked confused at what he meant by that and turned his head towards whatever he was looking at. The Snivy widened his eyes in disbelief at what he saw.
Behind him were dozens of angry village Pokemon, all of whom glared daggers at the grass type. Many appeared to be shopkeepers that had probably come out of their shops to see what all the commotion was. All of them combined formed a semicircle behind the Snivy, and they appeared to be slowly closing in on him. All of them looked ready to fight, with some even holding tools presumably used for whatever job they had.
Basil could feel the sweat beginning to drip from his forehead, and quickly broke out of his defensive stance as he looked at the Pokemon around him. They were all an evolved form of some Pokemon, the most notable ones being a Lucario and a Camerupt, and they did not back down even as Basil glared back at them. Eventually, the Snivy just sighed as he looked back towards the Sigilyph, who had the same glare the other Pokemon did. The Snivy lifted his hand and rubbed his head.
"Grrr, fine," he said finally. "I don't have enough time to deal with you idiots anyway. And I don't need that bitch of an Eevee either." he snarled before turning to look at his two companions, both still restraining the two older Eevees.
"BOYS! Get over here! We're leaving," he shouted to them. The two heard the order clearly, but both hesitated to obey it. They looked at each other with uncertainty, before getting off of their two captives. Both Eevees were on their feet in an instant and growled at the two as they quickly bolted away from them and towards their leader. Basil watched emotionless at his companions approaching him, before turning to Darren and Sorrel who were slowly walking towards him.
"Next time I see you two bastards around… I'll do more than just scratch your faces," he growled before turning to leave, his goons right behind him. Two Pikachu who were watching the scene quickly parted to allow the Snivy through.
Darren paused as he watched the retreating forms of his enemies, though Sorrel continued following them. Darren curiously looked over to his brother wondering what he was doing, only then to see that Sorrel was currently baring his fangs towards the figures in front of them as he watched the Snivy just leave after everything he had done. He suddenly advanced towards the trio, fully intent on giving that Snivy a piece of his mind, but was stopped by a yellow wing-like appendage appearing in front of him.
Sorrel quickly whipped his head around to see Azul staring at him with a sharp glare, and the Eevee knew then that he wouldn't be able to get closer to the Snivy even if he tried. This, however, didn't stop him from facing back towards the Snivy's direction in order to yell at them as loudly as possible.
"Hey, you jerks!" he angrily shouted. Basil stopped in his tracks and peered his head back towards the Eevee. "I swear… if you ever come near my sister again, I'll end you!"
Basil hardly seemed threatened by the Sorrel's outburst, and just smirked as he watched the Eevee glare back at him. He then burst into laughter as he turned and continued walking away from him, earning an irritated snarl from Sorrel who could only watch as the Snivy and his friends left the area. Darren looked to his brother solemnly before turning back to Harmony. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the Eevees condition, and he quickly ran over to where she lay on the ground.
"Harmony!," he said as he walked up next to the tired Eevee. Harmony opened her eyes to see her brother's yellow irises staring back at her, and smiled with newfound happiness.
"B-brother," she said eagerly as she attempted to get up. She staggered to her feet as Darren watched intently, and tried to walk towards him while holding a paw over her injured cheek. She gasped in surprise when she noticed her brother running over to her and pulled her into his large, fluffy mane.
"Hey, hey," Darren said calmly to her. "Harmony, I… I'm sorry you had to… deal with that," Darren said, shaking slightly. Azul and Sorrel both looked over at them in their embrace before turning around in order to meet up with them.
"No. I-It's okay, big bro. That guy, Azul… he saved me, " Harmony said quietly into Darren's chest before being released from her brother's embrace. Darren looked at her sadly as he realized that someone else had saved her. The fact that he wasn't the one that was able to keep her safe in her time of need had worn him down immensely. Darren could hear footsteps behind him and turned around to see Sorrel approaching, now with a look of worry instead of anger.
"Harmony!?" he called out to her, to which she opened her eyes and looked towards him. "Are you alright, Harmony?" he asked frantically as he came to a stop in front of the two. Harmony looked down shamefully and held her paw over her injured cheek. Sorrel gasped in shock as he saw the drying blood stains covering three small gashes on her face.
"T-That bastard! How dare he hurt you like that! Wha- ...why. Why would he even do this to you!?" Sorrel shouted, perplexed and upset. Darren watched his brother's reaction, and sat there in silence knowing that his brother was speaking for the both of them. He did not know what he could say to Sorrel to help him, much less answer the questions streaming from his mouth, and even if he did, he did not want to speak much at all to his brother in his current state for fear of somehow making things worse for him.
"It's… fine, Sorrel. It doesn't hurt that much," Harmony said quietly towards her upset brother. She had never seen her brother so upset at something.
"No Harmony! That's not the point! That jerk, he… he hit you! It wasn't even a Pokemon attack or anything, he just slashed you in the face!" Sorrel told her. Harmony just kept staring at the ground as she took in her brother's words. Along with Darren, she also didn't know what to say to him that could make him feel better.
"I… well," Darren began as he looked at the injury, "He has very small claws, so it shouldn't scar. There's that at least."
"Yet she was still slashed nonetheless! He drew blood from her Darren! We should have been there to protect her!" Sorrel quickly protested, to which Darren frowned and lowered his head in shame.
"No… you could not have done anything… since you were being restrained." Azul suddenly chimed in from behind him, to which the three Eevees quickly turned their heads to face the psychic type.
"I could have done something sooner… but I was too… naive… to do anything. I should have acted sooner… but I just froze… like prey that's spotted a predator," he said. Sorrel looked at him blankly, before letting out a sigh.
"You saved her… and stopped me from doing something I would've probably regretted. We owe you one, Azul," Sorrel told him.
"No… I must apologize instead... for letting such a thing occur outside of my gallery. Please excuse my actions," the Sigilyph replied. Sorrel and Darren both just stared at him, unable to think of a response, until Harmony suddenly voiced her thoughts.
"Azul… it's fine. Thanks a lot for saving me!" she said, trying to sound grateful despite the sullen mood. Azul appeared to cheer up upon hearing this, despite lacking much in the means of expressing himself.
"It was my pleasure… Miss Harmony. Again… I apologize for that nuisance. Do not worry about him for now… I and the other authoritative figures of this village… will definitely take care of him after what he's done today. You may go peacefully now… so please find your mother… and tell her about this incident. It would be the best course of action… my friends," he advised.
"Of course, but… I'm afraid of what she'll think. We were supposed to protect our little sister, but… we weren't… able to," Darren said with his hung low.
"That… well. You will just have to accept her response. For now, I believe we must part ways... "
"Yeah, we need to get to the terminal at the town's square. That's what I was going to say before our run-in with that prick," Darren informed them. Sorrel looked at him and nodded.
"You're right. That'll take us to another box since mother isn't in this one apparently," he said. "Let's get outta here already."
His siblings nodded, not having to be told twice. With that, the three Eevees sat up and turned to head towards the town square, with Sorrel stepping back up front to lead. Harmony then looked back at the Sigilyph, who watched as they departed, and put on a cheerful smile.
"Thanks again Azul!" she said before turning to walk with her brothers. The Sigilyph nodded their body to acknowledge the gesture.
Of course my child… Goodbye," he said as he watched the Eevees travel away from him.
By now, the townsfolk had determined the situation to have been handled and were back to whatever activities they were in the middle of prior to the confrontation. Interestingly enough, none of them seemed to check on the Eevees to see if they were alright.
With a satisfied gleam in his eye, the Sigilyph turned back towards the small stand where he intended to rest for the remainder of the day.
The walk from Azul's gallery to the center of the village had not been lengthy in the slightest. It was a shorter trip than the route from Ruby's shop to Azul's in fact. After only one or two minutes, the trio had arrived at their intended destination; the village's flowering pavilion.
Upon viewing the structure for the first time, the Eevees paused to marvel at the beautiful and vibrant flowers and vines that decorated it. Darren could recognize at least one or two kinds of flowers that he remembered seeing in the forest before they arrived in the village. It was safe for him to assume that most, if not all of the flowers on the structure had come from the neighboring forest. The vines surely must have come from there too since it was the only forest in the PC, and vines could only be found in this biome. Darren mentioned his knowledge was limited about the PC, but this he was sure of.
"Wow," Harmony gawked from beside her older brother. He turned to see her eyes gleaming with amazement and her mouth wide with awe. Darren smirked at her reaction before looking towards his other sibling. Sorrel held a similar look to his sister, with his attention solely on the flowering structure in front of him.
"Indeed. It is very nice, don't you think?" Darren proudly inquired. Harmony kept her eyes on the structure in front of her without seeming to have heard her brother speaking to her, but she responded with a slight nod before he continued.
"Well, Sorrel," Darren said, looking over to him. "I do remember this being here when I was a kit. It looks like it did back then; very well kept and beautiful, of course," he stated. Sorrel nodded.
"It looked like this last time I saw it a few months ago as well. It is surely the pride of this town," he chuckled. "Let's go see if we can use the terminal in it," he said before continuing onward towards the large object.
"Sure we can use the terminal. All three of us and mother are on our trainer's main team. That's why we can even go outside the PC in the first place," Darren stated. Sorrel sheepishly rubbed his head as he realized his brother was correct.
"Heh, you're right. I forgot," he said before stopping at the foot of the flowering structure.
The pavilion itself was nothing too complex in design. It was octagonal in shape and was pure white. Its clean frame shone as it reflected the artificial sun's light, and a stain or smudge couldn't be seen on the frame; a testament to how well kept it was. Four sides of the structure each were carved into the shape of an archway, to allow Pokemon to walk inside of the structure and access the lone terminal. The pavilion was at the center of an intersection between four large pathways, and each archway faced one of these streets. The structure itself was made of a sturdy metal, and the four sides of the octagon that weren't carved into archways contained a lattice pattern. One could easily mistake it for a lattice fence, but it was actually a bright white metal. Darren had always believed that the bright white was a great backdrop for the many colorful flowers and colors adorning it, and most others would agree with him on that.
At the top of the structure was a pyramid-like dome, except its base was in the shape of an octagon instead of a square in order to match the shape of the main structure below it. This part was made of the same metal as the structure below, but instead of a lattice pattern, it looked more akin to a chainmail motif. Vines strewed down from the tip of this octagonal pyramid and covered the lattice walls. These then met with the shrubs and flowers surrounding the structure at the bottom. The flowers and bushes themselves were all colors of the rainbow, and dozens of different types could be recognized, although the Eevees knew next to none of them. Though one particular flower, the Gracidea, could be easily distinguished among them thanks to their excessive popularity.
Sorrel entered the structure through one of its archways first before being followed by Darren and Harmony. The inside of the structure had more than enough room for them, and while not having quite as much decoration as the outside, the interior contained thin vines with small pink and purple flowers that traveled down the walls. The Eevees came up to the terminal to discover that it was already on and active.
Upon viewing the screen, the Eevees saw that the machine requested a scan of a Pokemon's hand, paw wing, or any other type of limb, as well as a few alternative scanning options in the case of a user not having any limbs whatsoever. Sorrel turned to his brother after seeing what they had to do.
"You got an idea of where to go next Darren?" Sorrel asked.
"Yes," he responded. "We should try going to Box 9. It's the only other box that has a capacity upgrade like the one we're in right now, and it's also the place where Martha stores her Pokemons' eggs," Darren explained. Sorrel and Harmony turned curiously towards him after hearing that last detail, trying to understand what their brother was getting at.
"W-well," Darren stutterd. "I'm not suggesting anything by that, but it's also the only box a Pokemon on the trainer's main team can access. If she wanted alone time or something, then she would go there, right? It may not make much sense to go into the PC to relax, but it's worth a shot," Darren said, defending himself. Sorrel just shrugged, accepting his idea since they had nothing else to work with really.
"Sounds fine with me. If Pokemon like that asshole earlier can travel to every box but that one, then I'd probably go there as well," Sorrel reasoned.
Both Darren and Harmony nodded in agreement. Now knowing where they were to head next, Sorrel activated the machine by touching the scanner with his paw. Then, in a bright flash of light, all three Pokemon were teleported out of Box 1 and were now on their way to Box 9.
Author's Note:
Hello, friends! Yet another long chapter that unexpectedly doubled in length during the writing process, thus causing progress to come much slower than originally expected.
You'd think I'd be used to this.
Anyways, I mentioned in the last chapter that the next update will contain a larger chapter just like the previous one (Chapter 5). In the end, I decided to split Chapter 6 in half and release them as their own chapters. I released the first half as its own chapter (what you just read) and the second half will be released as Chapter 7. It was a good move in hindsight since it allowed me to focus more on the events contained within the original chapter 6 that I may not have explored as much as if I went through with my original plan (which is why despite being the first half of the original Chapter 6, which was projected to be about 8k words long, this chapter instead has over 8k words long)
That being said, I will likely complete the next chapter soon. It will likely be shorter than this one, but it will probably take the same amount of time to write.
Why is that? Well firstly, it will be dealing mainly with the past of our main characters, and I want to make sure I mold it just the way I want it to before continuing onwards in the present. Not only that, but the plot will expand a bit more into unfamiliar territory near the end. New characters will be introduced, and more intense writing will occur. "Intense" as in it's more closely tied to serious and important developments in the story; unlike the braindead insults and bickering seen in this chapter that one could also identify as "intense".
That's the first reason why I think the next chapter will take a while to release. The other is that I will be working on a brand new story that will contain a completely different tone from this one, and dare I say, more "professional" dialogue and story-telling.
It will be based on the new Ratchet & Clank game, so if you're interested then I would suggest following my profile. But before I go, I must say it yet again as I have at the end of every other chapter...
Thanks a lot for reading! I'll likely work on the first couple chapters of my new story first before working on Chapter 7. Until that time comes, however, thanks for reading this story, and have a wonderful day! :)