Cherrygrove pulled Parsley close as they entered the auditorium. It had a beige, smooth colosseum-like structure, with two sets of rows and being roofless as the sun dawned over the hundreds of Pokemon filling the seats carefully along the available rows.

Moss and vines covered the rim of the building as flowers blossomed down against the walls.

Near the other end of the auditorium lies a castle covered in black stone-bricks. It was medium sized, larger than a usual home yet not too tall, fitting 3 balconies, two on the middle floor and one at the top slightly hanging into the auditorium. The balcony had gold flowers splattered around the rails and door frames with a flower pendant underneath in the middle.

There, three Pokemon stood over the residents.

One was a maractus drizzled with pearls around her flowers and her neck, carrying a scroll and a feather in her stubs. Her skin was dull, almost as if she was wilting, only staying alive from the jewels she adorned.

The other was a short tropius with teardrop-shaped rings around his fore right wrists and multiple down his neck. His leaves were slowly dipping into a fall red and his bananas were ripe. He wore a set of silver armor and had one of the last tropical birds, a toucan, perched on his shoulder.

Finally, a whimsicott stood in the spotlight, adorning a necklace topped with an leaf-shaped emerald. 3 silver rings lined down her right horns and she donned a silver, green-ish tiara shaped like Arceus' crown topped with 3 emeralds, one on each horn and the last in the center.

She whispered something to the maractus, before moving to the front of the balcony, lifting a horn to her mouth as she called,

"Attention!"

Pokemon gazed attentively as Cherrygrove hastily made her way to a lower balcony where nursery and elder mon rested, evenly spaced. She rested more towards the front, laying Parsley beside her, his head resting along her back.

As the crowd grew quiet, the maractus cleared her throat and continued.

"Welcome Flora Kingdom citizens, today Queen Cotton has news to share about future events, please pay attention to these announcements,"

The whimsicott smiled, stepping up to the spot the maractus retracted from trading the horn to the queen.

"Thank you Thistle," Cotton said, "I would love to announce an event to happen in three lunes,"

Everyone's interest was raised. Even Cherrygrove was curious about the announcement despite what already she knew.

"A few lunes ago, our borders were ambushed by the ghost coalscites, it was an unexpected attack and our defenses were unprepared,"

Gasps filled the stadium, some unsavory words slipping through tongues of the elders, Cherrygrove glaring at them.

Immediately they stopped, a few covering their mouths, just noticing the fawn nearby.

Cherrygrove sighed. No mon's observant around here.

"However, our psychic allies, the Arcane Kingdom, aided us, forcing them to flee back to their territory. To thank them for aiding us, we'll be having a party and their mons are invited. It'll be hosted in three lunes as we'll need the time to make preparations, if you want to help," Cotton paused, "Thank you, that is all I have to announce today,"

The crowd cheered, Parsley drawing his ears back with a scrunched up face, bleating agonizingly. Cherrygrove nuzzled him before lifting him up and heading towards the exit. Minor announcements usually followed which Cherrygrove would stay the few minutes for, but she didn't feel like lingering around longer for Parsley's sake.

On the way out she pondered the thought. While ambushes aren't out of the ordinary, especially in the fall against their borders, this one in particular was off. The Specter Kingdom is known to have little land and very few resources, yet unleashed an ambush of their own. One could chuck it up to being dumb had they not tied for the smartest in Wysteria for centuries, fighting for the title against the psychics.

What could they be planning?

She snapped back into focus, checking Parsley who was playfully cantering around her. Cherrygrove smiled.

The streets weren't completely empty, Pokemon were still lingering about and merchants were still selling. She checked into a shop she dropped by earlier, picking up a bag filled with tiny loaves of fresh bread, the scent making Parsley to lick his lips.

"You'll have to wait," Cherrygrove said.

Parsley frowned,

"I'm hungry,"

"Did you eat at school? It's only been one sundrop,"

"Yes, but I didn't like it so I didn't eat it,"

The two headed towards a split path, Cherrygrove thinking over before responding.

"What did they serve?"

"Bugs, slimy, icky bugs. Hardbacks specifically," Parsley irked at the thought of it, "They said they ran out of berries for the day and that we had to eat bugs instead, Ivy told me to try them, and I did and it tasted horrible!"

"We shouldn't run out of berries for schools that quickly, we haven't had a drought for years,"

Cherrygrove dove into her bag, taking one of the loaves out and giving it to Parsley.

"I was going to save it as a treat for later, but I don't want you to go around starving,"

The fawn wagged his clover-shaped tail in excitement, nibbling on the bread.

"Mrrankyou," Parsley muffled, Cherrygrove giggling.

They made it further down the path on the right leading into a slight downhill filled sparingly with homes like a cave system, one house may be almost above another embedded into the hill while others may be besides each other at slightly different elevations.

They headed to the fourth one down snuggled into the side. The windows were covered and the wooden door loomed over them.

Cherrygrove knocked gently with her antlers and the door creaked a little before being fully opened.

At the door was a gogoat with a gold scarf bejeweled with a silver leaf-shaped badge on the middle and silver gems all across.

She gave a warm smile.

"Welcome home Cherrygrove,"

Cherrygrove smiled as Parsley skipped around before running inside.

"Thank you Olive, I got the bread for tonight," Cherrygrove said entering the home.

Olive followed behind, a press on her hoof as she returned to squishing grapes and berries together.

"I'm guessing Clove is still getting the rest," Olive said.

Cherrygrove stared nervously,

"Well,"

Before Cherrygrove was able to elaborate, a cinnamon pelted fawn ran into the house, her tiny legs scampering around the kitchen as her huge hooves clicked onto the planks. She ran into Olive, stumbling back bleating happily.

"Darn it Nutmeg," Olive exclaimed, lifting Nutmeg onto her feet with one of her curled horns. Nutmeg giggled turning to a sawsbuck entering with bags hanging on his antlers.

"I found her," Clove said.