Elder's Encouragement

Later on that same day after getting all cleaned up, Mint decided to go out to the main colony in the hopes that someone could give him a job to do or something, but just like he expected, nobody, not a single Minccino in the colony wanted anything to do with him. He's tried to ask everyone but to no avail, and the last Minccino he can ask is quite possibly the worst of them all: Brian.

Considering what had happened yesterday and how the interaction between him and Mint earlier wasn't exactly that friendly, he expects the absolute worst. There is one good thing though, luckily for him, Rachel and Patricia are nowhere in the colony now as they have errands they need to run, so he wouldn't be dealing with either of them for a little while.

Mint nervously stands on the outside of Brian's den. Unlike some of the other Minccino, they have an actual door to their den, something the others were slightly envious of. He lifts up his left paw to knock but hesitates. He's not exactly sure of what to say when he opens the door and his eyes shift back and forth, hoping that nobody's watching him.

He's a nervous wreck and while it would be easier to accept that there's nothing for him to do on this fine day, he doesn't want to and instead stares the wooden door down. He shakes slightly and gulps down some saliva.

"O-okay Mint… you're just looking to be helpful… no hard feelings, r-right Mr. Brian? So… do you have anything that I could do for y-you…?" he thought to himself.

He plans on saying this but thinking about talking to someone and actually talking to them are two very different things for him, with the latter being even harder than usual. A big drop of sweat rolls down the side of his head and from the corner of his eye, he catches it and wipes it away with his right paw before tensing his entire body up and forcing his left paw to knock on the door three times.

He begins to violently shake the moment he realizes that he did it and he tucks his feet in close to his body. His ears also drop slightly down too. The sounds of rummaging and movement come from within and a few seconds later, the door opens to reveal a rather cranky looking Brian. He immediately recognizes Mint and this seems to worsen his mood.

He looks down at him and with a booming voice full of annoyance, he speaks. "What the hell do you want?"

Mint flinches at the sheer volume of his voice but tries to respond quickly and quietly. "...I… I was wondering if… if I- I mean YOU… if you had any I could do… I mean-" he stutters and jumbles his words up.

Brian cuts into him. "Before you tie your brain in a knot, I don't have anything that a runt like you could do, after all, runts are known for fucking up, and I sure as HELL don't need my stuff getting screwed up. It's bad enough my daughter's face is swollen because of you. Now get the fuck out of my sight or I'm gonna blast you into next year."

He slams the door shut on him. So much for that. Mint looks around, tapping his paws together anxiously, hoping nobody saw the train wreck he's gotten himself into. Seems nobody else around the colony noticed and he takes a big breath in relief. He quickly runs away from Brian's den, lest he knows that he'll hurt him if he doesn't.

He takes a look around the colony. As far as anyone was concerned, the colony is quite big. A total of 120 Minccino live in this one area. The colony is set up to be like a town, similar to how humans build their towns and cities. Each Minccino, their partner, and children (if they have any) all have their own dens and everyone can reach each other thanks to a relatively short walking distance between the homes.

In the middle of the colony, an attempt to make a plaza with a fountain was made and although it's not the best, the colony elder managed to get the help of the other nearby Pokemon colonies to make it and it functions exactly as it should. Many younger Minccino tend to gather here to play, make jokes, and talk. As for things like stores, there aren't any oddly enough and any business like that has to be done elsewhere. All the way at the back of the colony is a massive den where the elder used to live.

The elder was a Cinccino, known for being extremely kind and quite understanding towards everyone. Oddly enough, Mint has only seen her once and it was when he was very young, around 1 or 2 years old. He doesn't remember it at all that well but he remembers enough to know that the reason he saw her was because his parents wanted to know if there was something wrong with him due to his odd fur coloring.


"Ah… Emilia and Ross… I had a premonition that you two would be visiting. Now, what brings you to me?"

"We're worried about our son. He was born with mint-green fur and we thought it was maybe a birth thing but his fur hasn't changed to be normal so we thought you might know more about it."

"Yeah, Emilia's right. Take a look at him. He seems like a normal kid but his fur color says anything but that."

Behind them, a very young Mint is playing around with a stick he found outside. He waves it around as if it were a sword and he makes 'wooshing' and 'hitting' sounds. The elder takes note of his mint-green fur and smiles warmly. Mint looks up at her and becomes a bit shy, running behind his parents to hide, dropping the stick in the process.

"He's just as normal as you and me. There's nothing wrong with him, he just has an insanely rare fur color that hasn't been seen in years. I do advise that the others may make fun of him because of it, so being extremely patient and understanding will be key with him when he gets older."

She then takes another look at him. He pokes his head out slightly from behind his parents and his eyes glisten in the light. She seems to see something in him that nobody else sees and whispers extremely softly to herself.

"Perhaps he'll be the one to take it up… if everyone ends up disliking him, they'll love him once they realize what he'll be doing for them in the near future."


This was many years ago and sadly, the elder had passed on not too long after he saw her, and while there was supposed to be another elder to take her place, a Pokemon from outside the forest raided her den one night and stole the only shiny stone she had that is required to evolve Minccino into Cinccino. In other words, the ability to bestow the responsibility was taken away from her and ever since then, nobody has been able to take up the role.

Mint sighs as he walks towards the fountain in the center of the sprawling colony. The water coming out from the top sparkles as the light peeking through the gaps in the leaves on the trees hits it, giving it a majestic look and feel to it. He decides to take a seat on the side of it and stares at the ground for a few seconds. Suddenly, the sounds of kids yelling and screaming happily fills the air.

His attention shifts to a group of younger Minccino about 7-10 years old, quickly approaching the fountain plaza. They're running around and seem to be having fun, not a care in the world nor any problems in sight for them. It reminds him of what he used to have, a care-free spirit, a problemless life, and all the time in the world to have fun. Nowadays, he's lucky if he can crack a smile at all.

He watches them run around, they seem to be playing tag. One of them notices Mint and goes up to him.

"Hey! Aren't you that weirdo that everyone says has weird fur?" they say to him.

He can't get mad at them, they're only a child. He sighs. "Y-yeah…"

They laugh and point at him. "You're yucky! Rachel and Patricia said to never go near you!" she then runs away, laughing at him.

Mint grabs the side of the fountain and clenches it hard. Not even kids are safe for him to be around without fear of being teased or made fun of. He bites his lip angrily and a shadow falls over his face despite being in a spot with sunlight shining down on him. The young Minccino rejoins her group and brings their attention to him. When they all look at him, they notice the extremely dark shadow over his face and run over to him.

Mint doesn't look up or acknowledge any of them. The kids all start making fun of him, something he didn't want to deal with at all. They chant a song that only two Pokemon in this colony would have the ability to teach them to sing.

"Mint is a stinky yucky green slimeball! Mint is a stinky icky yucky green sewer rat!" the chorus of children repeat this a few times and skip around the fountain innocently.

The side of the fountain cracks under the immense force Mint is using to clench it. He's doing his best to not let a furious anger come out at them. He would seem even more like a dick if he yelled and screamed at kids. Bad enough he already hit Patricia and seems to have gotten a bad rep for defending himself throughout the colony.

"Mint is a stinky yucky green slimeball! Mint is a stinky icky yucky green sewer rat!" they continue to chant.

His arms shake and his paws dig further into the side of the fountain, nearly breaking it. He can't believe what he's hearing mere children say to him. They're so innocent and know nothing about what he's had to deal with for most of his life and because of their innocence, they're only adding to it unknowingly. It hurts far more than being bullied by Rachel, Patricia, or anyone else in the colony because he can't say anything to them that won't result in more problems. He can't take it and can feel a scream trying to force its way out.

In an attempt to avoid that, Mint bounces off the side of the fountain and runs off towards the elder's house, pushing whoever is in his way to the ground. As he runs, a few sparkly tears force themselves out from his eyes and land on the ground. His eyes are tightly clenched shut and the dark shadow over his face continues to persist as he reaches the stairs leading up to the former elder's house.

Even though nobody is allowed inside anymore, Mint sometimes sneaks inside to escape the stress of his daily life. This is one of those times. As he stands at the base of the stairs, he takes a good look around him to make sure nobody is watching. The children from before are nowhere in sight, he was sure they started following him the moment he ran, it's what children do.

Lucky… nobody in sight and dead quiet. He turns around and quickly runs up the stairs before someone shows up. He runs around to the back of the massive den and digs at a rather peculiar looking patch of dirt that is a slightly different color a few feet away under a very tall looking tree. A few seconds of digging reveals a unique looking panel that he presses to open up a hidden passage in the trunk of the massive tree, granting him access to the den without making anything look out of place on the frontside.

The passage is a bit dark but fortunately, is a straightforward path that leads to a ladder with a few torches at the end that are barely clinging to life. Mint doesn't recall these torches being lit before whenever he decided to sneak inside in the past.

"W-what the…? Who lit those torches? Nobody lives in this den anymore and everyone is barred from entering unless they had special permission…" he thought to himself as he crawled closer and closer to the ladder.

About a minute or two later, he reaches the ladder and climbs up, opening a hidden hatch on the floor in the middle of the elder's bedroom. He pulls himself up and into the room. He immediately notices something is wrong about this place. There are candles all over the room that are lit, something that would be not only a fire hazard, but potentially life threatening to everyone in the colony if something caught ablaze.

The room is dimly lit thanks to these candles and despite Pinwheel forest having a rather chilly but tolerable climate this time of the year, Mint has a massive chill. The room is colder than usual, the work of only a few things he can think of: an Ice type Pokemon, a Ghost type Pokemon, or a Legendary Pokemon playing a prank on him.

The only legendaries nearby are the grass type Sword of Justice, Virizion, but Mint has never seen them before so that can't be it. Ghost types don't usually come around Pinwheel forest either, same with Ice types…

"S-something's not right… these candles are lit and the room is colder than it is outside right now…" is the only thing he can think to himself before a ghostly apparition floats past the draped entrance.

All the fur on Mint's body stands up on end as he catches a glimpse of the apparition from the corner of his eye. A drop of sweat forms on his head and he nervously but quietly calls out, hoping for an answer. "H-hello? I-is someone… s-someone there?"

No response. His heart sinks. Although he's never believed it, there have been stories of actual ghosts in the forest before, but nobody had physical proof they were real. He doesn't want to become part of the next ghost story in the colony so he makes a brave decision and goes to confront whatever passed by the entrance. He barges out of the bedroom and into the long hall, nobody in sight.

Mint is on full alert. The apparition went from right to left so he decides to go all the way down the hallway in the same direction. At the end, is a wooden door slightly ajar and the sound of someone humming can be heard. A shrill and soul piercing chill runs down Mint's spine as he places his left paw on the doorknob, thinking about whether or not he should enter.

"H-humming!? A-are those s-stories true!? G-ghosts aren't… no… t-they can't be r-real! S-someone's playing a-a nasty prank on me…" he thinks to himself.

With no other option, he throws the door open and what he sees made him take back everything. In what appears to be a rocking chair, the colony elder sits, a warm, pleasant bright light cloaked around them and a sparkly aura surrounding them. She's humming a familiar tune but Mint can't place a paw on it. She stops humming and notices his presence. Her blank expression changes to a warm smile as she speaks to him, her voice sounding a bit ghosty but crystal clear to the point of bone-chilling.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't Ross and Emilia's son Mint. It's been about 18 years, hasn't it? You've grown so much since I last saw you."

Mint has no words for what he's seeing or hearing. "I-I-I-I…"

She stands up from her chair. The long fluffs of fur coming from her head wrap around to her back and move elegantly along with her body's movements. She goes right up to him and looks him right in the eye. He does the same but can't hold his gaze for long and blushes in embarrassment, looking away from her in response. She chuckles at his reaction.

"Seems you're as shy as you were when I first met you." she begins to walk around him, one of her long fluffs wrapping around and rubbing the right side of his cheek.

"You've also gotten very strong too… I would hope you don't have to use your power to harm anyone in the colony… I'm well aware of what you did to Patricia. She deserved to be shut up, but if she does what she did again, a quiet heart but a strong willed grit is the best way to go about it."

He becomes a bit surprised hearing about this. The elder is a ghost of all things and yet she knows about him hurting Patricia. "B-but… h-h-how do you k-know I d-did that?"

She chuckles, stops in front of him, and puts her paws on her sides. "Because you just told me you did."

He doesn't realize it at first but then facepaws himself upon realizing that he gave himself away by asking said question. She waves it off.

"Don't trouble yourself with it. Now, I want to know something: what are you doing in my den? I didn't give you permission, not that it matters now, but something ails you deeply child and I won't stand to let you leave without telling me."

It is said that elders, no matter what Pokemon they are or where they're from, know more about someone than anyone else just from looking at their face. This is something that is proving to be very much true. Mint can't hide it, she already knows he's here for a reason so he fesses up.

"I… I don't want to be made fun of or teased…"

She thinks for a moment, then goes to grab his hand and despite what logic about ghosts would dictate, he feels her touch. She closes her eyes and smiles. "That's exactly what I figured… But, is it the right thing to do? Trespass and break into a place that you have no business being in?"

He shakes his head, ashamed that he had been caught by her of all Pokemon, but hey, better than someone from the colony, he'd never hear the end of it.

She pats his paw. "At least you realize what you've done is wrong. Responsibility for your actions is an important lesson many Pokemon are unable to learn in their lives. I know how you feel… hated… betrayed… and unloved… but you shouldn't forget that your parents and those outside the colony appreciate you and enjoy seeing you. Life isn't always about those you've grown to know, but sometimes, it's about those you meet along the way."

He looks at her, eyes open a little wider than usual as this idea plants itself in his mind. She's right, but at the same time, he has everyone around him to blame for the Pokemon he's turned into. This secondary thought saddens him almost instantly and she takes note.

"Child… do not frown…" she places her right paw under his chin and lifts his head up a little. "Smile… you have much to do and much to see. There's a whole world out there for you to explore and moping around isn't going to make anything change."

A few tears drop from his eyes forcibly. She keeps her warm, inviting look despite her words making him cry. She reaches into her scarf and pulls out a very strange pendant on a necklace. She holds it up to him.

"Whenever I got upset, I always looked at this pendant and thought about all the wonderful things that are in this world, all the good things I've got…" she then turns his paw over and hands it over to him.

She closes his paw over it and grasps his paw firmly. "Remember all the good things in your life… they outweigh all the bad…"

With no warning, she begins to glow brightly to the point of being impossible to look out without squinting. The room fills with a beautiful but painfully bright light and as fast as it comes is as fast as it goes. The light dissipates and he's suddenly outside at the base of the stairs to her den. In his right paw is the pendant necklace she gave him but he's more concerned on how he ended up back here without moving.

"W-what happened? Did… did I actually talk to… the elder? W-was it a dream?" he thought to himself as he looked down at the pendant.

The pendant is a one of a kind, something that may never be replaced by anything else in the world. Where the elder got it from will never be known but one thing's for certain, there's no other one like it out there in the world. He comes to his senses from the ethereal experience and realizes that if he's seen by anyone, he'll be questioned for being so close to the den, so he decides to hightail it back home. As he runs, the pendant faintly glows and sparkles with the same aura the elder had surrounding her.


PD: What's that pendant for you might be asking? well, I'm not telling because it's a big spoiler. Have fun thinking about what it'll do though. Seeya in the next chapter!