May 2nd

Hearthome City - Sinnoh Region

No matter how many times Astrid visited Hearthome City, she could always find something new to admire and appreciate. It was probably one of her favorite cities in all of Sinnoh, which was saying a lot, because almost every city or town offered something unique or interesting to set itself apart from the rest of the region.

Ever since she was small, Astrid had been fascinated by how Sinnoh's history and mythology was woven into every aspect of its modern culture. Sinnoh was a region that embraced the lore of its past, and the people and Pokemon worked diligently to add the next chapter to the region's ongoing saga.

Hearthome was a perfect example of how the present endeavored to build upon the foundation of what came before, rather than replacing what might otherwise have been viewed as dated and obsolete. The roads were paved and kept clean, and the forests surrounding the city were carefully maintained. Even the buildings were built and designed with the needs of families and Pokemon in mind, so that the center of commerce stood out as having a welcoming environment with a culture that celebrated humans and Pokemon living, working, and playing together.

As a bonus, Hearthome City was one of the few cities where her presence was not met with the usual mix of suspicion and disdain. Mothers of small children still avoided her, but Astrid could hardly blame them for that - superstitions aside, Absol were not the most child-friendly Pokemon to have around. She assumed the more positive reception from the citizens was the result of her species supposedly being popular participants in Contest Hall events. A well-groomed Absol appeared elegant and graceful, and their fur was the right length and thickness to be compatible with a number of different accessories and styles.

As tempting as it was to pay Amity Square a visit, and see whether anything there had changed in recent months, Astrid had other priorities at the moment. For example, the surprisingly difficult task of keeping her young Leafeon companion from getting distracted by all the colorful sights, alluring smells, and overall noise that accompanied every trip through Hearthome City.

"Astrid, can we stop for a second?" Leaf pleaded, and the Absol paused to glance back at her charge. They were standing in front of one of the city's water fountains: a large, circular pool of water with an ornamental statue in the center that was launching a tall spray of water into the air. Several wooden benches were arranged around the perimeter of the fountain, half of them containing people sitting and talking with one another in pairs, or individuals admiring the fountain in silence. Hearthome City prided itself on being one of the most desirable places in live in all of Sinnoh, and fountains like these presented a peaceful, welcoming atmosphere, despite the crowds of people coming and going on a regular basis.

"Okay," Astrid relented with a shrug, but as Leaf approached the fountain, she amended quickly, "You're not supposed to drink from the fountain."

That didn't appear to be Leaf's intention. Without missing a beat, he turned and jumped up onto one of the benches, which was occupied by a young girl wearing a casual blue dress. She appeared to be no older than five or six, and Astrid could see a pair of human adults talking from the neighboring bench who looked like they could be the young girl's parents. Bemused, Astrid walked a little nearer to the bench, but made no attempt to interfere or call Leaf back. The child was unlikely to do any harm, and she had no doubt that the parents would be far more alarmed if they saw an Absol near their daughter than if they saw a Leafeon, provided that Leaf didn't do anything to appear dangerous or threatening.

The girl didn't even seem to notice that she had company. She was gazing at the spray of water absently, lost in her own little world, while her legs kicked restlessly beneath the bench. Leaf sat quietly beside the human girl, observing her behavior with mild interest, and Astrid had to quickly stifle a giggle with her paw. It always entertained her to see an Eevee or one of its evolutions displaying stereotypically feline behaviors, especially since many humans seemed to prefer relating the species' behavior to canines, with Espeon being the obvious exception to the rule.

"Hi?" Leaf ventured cautiously, and the little girl jumped, snapping out of her daydream and focusing upon the Grass-type sitting next to her. She cringed away from him initially, but after taking a moment to look him up and down, all while he tilted his head innocently, her eyes lit up with curious delight.

"Hi there!" the girl said brightly, crawling forward and nervously extending her hand towards the young Leafeon. Leaf sniffed curiously at her hand, and the sensation of his nose brushing against her skin prompted a childish giggle from the young girl. "You're cute," she said, extending her hand further and gently stroking the Leafeon's head.

Leaf purred and nuzzled against her hand, moving nearer to allow the girl to pet down his back. He murmured something in response to the compliment, blatantly basking in the child's attention. Spurred on by his reactions, the child continued to pamper him, experimenting between scratching his ears and petting them normally. She lightly traced a finger along the sprout on his forehead, earning a weird look, prompting her to quickly return to the affectionate petting.

A gentle call from the girl's mother soon put an end to the pampering, and the child obediently got up from the bench. "I got to go," she informed the Leafeon, stroking his ears one more time with a smile. "Bye! Be a good girl!" she called, hurrying over to her mother and immediately began telling her parents about the friendly Leafeon who had been sitting next to her.

Leaf blinked uncertainly as the family departed, but then turned back towards Astrid and hopped down from the bench to resume walking towards their original destination. Astrid looked at him curiously, but left him alone with his thoughts for about ten seconds before the question finally burst free.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"I thought she looked kind of lonely," Leaf answered with a shrug, glancing over his shoulder, but the girl and her parents were already out of sight.

"It was sweet of you to give her company," Astrid said sincerely, flashing a smile at the young Grass-type. "I think you really made her day."

Leaf nodded absently, and a frown creased his face. "Why did she think I was a girl?" he wondered abruptly.

Astrid struggled to keep a straight face, a feat made all the more difficult by the way Leaf's voice rose a half-octave during the question, as if he were whining, but simultaneously trying to be taken seriously.

"She didn't do it on purpose, she just didn't know better," Astrid answered nonchalantly, once she was confident that her composure was stable enough to respond without giggling. "It's not a big deal; humans make that mistake all the time. If they're not sure on what pronoun to use for a Pokemon, and it'd be too awkward to ask someone, they just take a guess. Younger children have a harder time telling the difference, so they tend to just pick a designation and stick to it until corrected."

Leaf pursed his mouth thoughtfully. "Is that just a human thing, though?" he wondered aloud, and Astrid could practically see the wheels turning in his head. "Like, what ways do most people use to tell the difference?" he asked.

Astrid hesitated, realizing that the subject was beginning to drift into slightly uncomfortable territory. She didn't particularly mind that he was asking her such questions, but she had some concerns about her ability to give him satisfactory answers without overstepping her bounds. However, she also suspected that blatantly beating around the bush would only stir up more curiosity regarding the subject.

"Good question," she said aloud, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, as if she hadn't given serious thought to the matter until that moment. "Well, anatomical differences aside, there's-"

"I don't know what that means," Leaf interrupted, and Astrid winced. She had honestly forgotten that Leaf got hung up on the use of large vocabulary, and often needed things translated.

"Sorry," she replied with a sheepish smile. "Uh, differences in anatomy?" she attempted, but only received a blank look. "Parts of the body?"

"Okay," Leaf said slowly, but his confused look remained. "I don't really know what that difference is."

"Seriously?" Astrid blurted, so taken aback that she briefly forgot she was trying to avoid this element of the subject. "But you played with Glacia! For almost the whole time she was visiting, you two were running around, tackling each other, wrestling playfully, and cuddling together. You didn't notice any physical differences between you two?"

"Of course I did," Leaf said seriously. "She's an Eevee."

Astrid floundered for words for a good five seconds before deciding it was in her best interest to move on. "Whatever. I was trying to say that males and females often have different traits, like behaviors or speech patterns," she said. "For example, males usually have deeper voices when they get older. It's actually kind of funny, because in some human shows or whatever, some female characters get played by young male actors because their voices are still higher pitched, and some female actors lend their voice to young male characters for the same reason."

Leaf paused to think about that for a few seconds, and his eyes lit up. "Ooh, you're right! Frost and Blizzard sound completely different when they talk," he marveled.

Astrid giggled, and her tail wagged. "So maybe, because you're still young, you sounded more like a girl. You were also being rather sweet and gentle, which is sometimes more of a girl thing, but not always. Males can be sweet and kind, and females can be aggressive or whatever. Sometimes it has to do with species, you know?"

"Like how you're a predator?" Leaf guessed. Astrid nodded, deciding not to comment that this was an over-simplification of her point. The Leafeon fell silent for a few moments, his eyes roaming their surroundings. Astrid took this opportunity to gently guide him towards the city's western gate, passing several more water fountains along the way.

Leaf's ears perked up at the distant sound of running water, and his nose twitched curiously, no doubt picking up the sweet smells of honey and berries that spread through Hearthome City's western route. A few small cottages were built near the outskirts of the city, and Astrid recalled from her traveling days that a family of berry farmers lived there, tending to their enormous berry fields, and offering samples to travelers heading into Hearthome City.

They continued walking along the path, until the city gate was practically an object in the distance, and the water cascading down a cliffside had grown into a muffled roar. Astrid often suspected that part of the family's success was due to the pure mountain water that rolled down Mt. Coronet as a river, cutting through the route and irrigating the berry fields. For whatever reason, the water played a huge part in the quality of the berry crops and flowers of the surrounding meadow. As such, this path was a popular campsite for travelers and their Pokemon. It was an oasis of serenity between Mt. Coronet and Hearthome City, and the smell of ripe berries in the air rivaled that of a Combee's Sweet Scent.

"We can stop here if you'd like," Astrid said, noticing how Leaf was eyeing a patch of sunlight located next to the mountain spring. "There's a few berry trees over there that we can check if you want something to eat," she added, gesturing with her scythe horn towards the bush. "Nothing to hunt, though. Most Pokemon living out here are Bug-types," she lamented.

Leaf nodded with enthusiasm and stretched out in the sun, soaking in the rays of light with a satisfied sigh. Astrid sat down at the edge of the spring and took a long drink, savoring the crisp flavor of the water.

"Does it ever bother you to hunt stuff?" Leaf wondered, his tone somewhat dreamy, as if he were half-asleep. Astrid blinked at the unexpected question.

"No, not really," she answered honestly, cocking her head to one side. "Why?"

"I dunno, just thinking," Leaf answered, adjusting his position slightly to be able to look up at the Absol while he talked. "What if those Pokemon had friends or family?" he murmured. "Does that ever bother you?"

Astrid studied the Leafeon blankly for several seconds, wondering why he was bringing up the subject at all. Very rarely had she ever noticed Leaf asking questions purely for the sake of asking questions. These sort of inquiries usually led to some sort of point that he wanted to make, or at least connected to a related subject.

"I try not to think about it," she answered finally, offering a shrug as a sort of apology for the non-answer. "Feeling bad for prey doesn't change the fact that predators have to eat."

Leaf was silent for a few minutes, long enough for Astrid to assume the conversation had ended. Her eyes peered through the water, searching for a fish or two that she could snatch up for a quick meal, but the only fish she saw were swimming well out of her reach.

"Do you enjoy it?" Leaf asked, the sudden question almost startling the Absol. "Hunting?"

"A little bit," Astrid admitted, without a trace of embarrassment. "It's kind of like a game. Trying to sneak close enough to strike without being noticed. Sometimes there's other predators in the area, competing for the same prey, so that makes it more fun."

Turning back to the water, she spotted a fish swimming past and uttered a delighted squeal. She swiped her paw through the water, catapulting the hapless creature onto the shore. It flopped about in agitation, but the Absol swiftly skewered it with her claws and bit down on its body to ensure its swift demise. Purring proudly, she settled herself down to devour her catch, as Leaf looked on with mild interest.

"You used to travel with Dad, right?" the Leafeon wondered. Astrid nodded enthusiastically through a mouthful of fish, but made sure to swallow before speaking.

"Yup!" she replied, her tail slapping against the ground cheerfully. "Echo was my first teammate, actually, so we knew each other longer than anyone else on the team."

"Really?" Leaf blurted, looking up at the Absol with renewed interest. "What was that like? How old were you? Was he already a Vaporeon? Did-?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down a little," Astrid interrupted, but she was smiling, her tail wagging more rapidly. She honestly hadn't expected one of her offhand comments to spark such curiosity from the Leafeon, but she welcomed the opportunity to focus on something other than her predator nature.

"Sorry," Leaf replied automatically, still looking up at her. "So how'd it happen?" he pressed eagerly, his leaf-like tail flicking. "Did you and Dad battle? Did he beat you? Or did you actually want to join?"

Astrid scrunched up her face in confusion, prompting the Leafeon to wince and mumble another apology, but she stifled a giggle with her paw and shook her head. "No, your questions are fine," she reassured him, taking another nibble from her fish. "You might have gotten the wrong idea, though," she continued, licking her lips. "I was the first member of Brian's team, not Echo...but yes, we battled."

Leaf seemed mildly perplexed by the revelation, but soon shrugged it off. "Who won? Wait, was he even a wild Pokemon?"

Astrid's smile widened a little. "Yup, Echo was a wild Eevee when we met," she confirmed, taking another bite from her fish, but chewing and swallowing quickly so that she could resume speaking. "I won, but he put up a good fight. Age wise...um...he was older than you are, but younger than Shadow is," she continued, frowning thoughtfully in an effort to recall the details.

"What did he touch to get his name?" the Leafeon interjected curiously.

"What?" Astrid looked at the Leafeon uncertainly, but recovered quickly. "Oh, Brian named him. He had a tendency of naming his Pokemon with little puns or in-jokes," she explained, her tone becoming somewhat rehearsed and deadpan.

"Right," Leaf said, looking at her expectantly. "So...?"

In spite of herself, the Absol smiled reminisciently. "Echo used to mimic my behaviors," she explained. "He'd growl when I growled, for example. It was kind of hard to tell if he was doing it to try and annoy me, or if it was a habit to try and seem more confident or intimidating, or whatever. So Brian called him 'Echo'."

Leaf purred, his eyes half-closed, clearly enjoying the mental image her answer provided. "When did he stop doing that?" he wondered, a slightly devilish grin flashing across his muzzle.

"Around the time A/C evolved, I think," Astrid said. It was actually difficult to pinpoint when the Vaporeon ceased mimicking the behaviors of those around him. By the time Renard and A/C had joined the team, Echo's tendency to 'echo' people's mannerisms had become little more than a running gag maintained for the sake of it, rather than being an actual habit.

The only reason she believed it ended when A/C evolved was because Echo had greatly enjoyed napping alongside the sleeping Abra, curling his body protectively around the young Psychic-type and cuddling against her as though she were a stuffed toy. The Abra was fully aware that he would do this, but made no attempt to discourage the behavior, later admitting that it offered a sense of security that wasn't otherwise available. However, Kadabra did not require sleep to nearly the same extent as the pre-evolved form, and her body was no longer suited to being Echo's sleeping plush, so the mimicry had finally run its course and was no longer endearing or humorous.

Leaf was about to ask another question, but his gaze flicked towards something behind Astrid, prompting her to turn and see what he was looking at. A familiar quadruped was making its way across one of the wooden structures bridging the gap between Mt. Coronet and the rest of the trail. Golden-white fur seemed to glow vibrantly in the sunlight, and nine majestic tails fluttered behind the fox Pokemon with every step he took, making Renard's body look bulkier than the slim figure he possessed in reality.

Astrid seized this opportunity to polish off the remnants of her meal, and by the time Renard reached their location, she was licking her paws clean. "I was starting to worry that we were at the wrong place," she told the Ninetales teasingly, rising to her feet and affectionately rubbing against him, taking care not to nick him with her scythe horn.

"No, I just had a further distance to travel than you did," Renard replied solemnly. "I presume Shadow has yet to resurface?" he continued, his eyes sweeping the surrounding meadow.

"Yeah," Astrid confirmed with a sigh. It had been about a week since the Solaceon Ruins incident, and Astrid had finally reached the point where it felt foolish to wait around at A/C's den in the hopes that Shadow would find his way back from wherever it was that he had disappeared to. While the consistent shelter offered by A/C's den was appreciated, there was a limit to what she and Leaf could accomplish while staying there, and Astrid felt they'd make more progress if they regrouped with Renard and worked out a plan.

Of course, that left them with the issue of how to get in touch with the Ninetales. While it was likely they'd find him at Echo's former territory, neither she nor Leaf relished the idea of making the hike back to the Eterna region, and then having nowhere to go from there in the event Renard was not currently staying at the territory.

A/C had come up with an admittedly unorthodox solution. Since she had never visited Echo's territory before, she was reluctant to attempt such a long-distance Teleport, even by herself. What she came up with instead was to contact a colleague stationed at the Eterna City Pokemon Center, and make use of the Pokeball Transfer function to instantaneously arrive in Eterna City. From there, the Kadabra would be able to deliver a message to the Ninetales on their behalf before returning to Solaceon Town and confirming the rendezvous point.

"Is Shadow going to be okay?" Leaf asked, his lower lip trembling as he sat up.

"I can say with certainty that he is definitely alive at the moment," Renard assured the younger male. "The protective wards I have in place around Echo's territory have not wavered."

"One of these days, I'm going to bite one of your tails," Leaf grumbled, put off by the Ninetales' formal speech and vocabulary.

"That is not advisable, but point taken," Renard replied calmly, and he closed his eyes, looking for a moment as if he had aged twenty years or more since Astrid had seen him last. "Unfortunately, I come to you with dire news of a different nature," he said, opening his eyes at last and sighing.

"What about?" Astrid asked, a shiver running down her spine, but when Renard spoke again, his attention was focused upon Leaf.

"Following you and your brother's departure from Eterna Forest, I assisted Bee-Bee in learning how to wield the Beedrillite we obtained, but afterwards she was eager to return to the forest, so I requested her to accompany me to the Old Chateau, to follow up on Shadow's suspicion about Diablos lurking within."

Astrid's eyes widened. This was...actually somewhat new information to her. Leaf narrowed his eyes, his body tensing with anticipation.

Renard steeled himself, but pressed on. "It was precisely what I feared. Diablos was indeed residing there, and confronting him was...unwise beyond my imagination. I made a very dire mistake in going there as unprepared as I was."

"What happened?" Astrid asked, her heart beginning to pound in her chest.

Renard cringed and averted his eyes in shame. "Diablos goaded us into striking at his Spiritomb core with the full extent of our wrath, revealing that he had been absorbing the souls of those who fell in battle within the Forest," he whispered. "Bee-Bee lacked the raw power to damage him, so I activated my Key Stone to trigger her Mega Evolution...and unknowingly undid one of his seals."

Astrid cursed under her breath, and Leaf looked horrified, although the Absol suspected it was the mention of what Diablos was doing with the souls of the dead more so than the last statement.

"It is worse than that," Renard continued somberly. "Centuries ago, Diablos appeared to me as a Pokemon I had never seen before, and have never seen since. When Shadow told me he was a Spiritomb, I assumed that the creature who dealt with me back then was a possessed puppet for a sealed Spiritomb seeking to undo the shackles that bound his power. I was wrong...the form I met two hundred years ago is Diablos' true form, but he does not seem to have retained his full memory."

"Erm...is that significant?" Astrid asked, looking uneasily at the Ninetales.

Renard nodded grimly.

"It will be."