PD: Just a heads up, this story is a sequel to "Mintccino", a story I wrote and seemed to be enjoyed by those who read it. I HIGHLY and STRONGLY suggest reading that story first before reading this one as some of it might not really make much sense if you dive head first into this one. Also, when you finish this chapter up, PLEASE read the note at the bottom. Anyway, let's get this started, shall we?
The Perfect Life… Almost...
Within the depths of Pinwheel Forest in the Unova region, a large group of Minccino live together under the unity of a kind, pure-hearted Cinccino. This colony used to be very different, oh so different to the point one would think that a completely different colony of the same species took over and moved in. That's what happens when everyone has someone to look after them and in the process, show them kindness, compassion, sympathy, and lots of love.
6 months ago, one little "runt" Minccino thought his life couldn't get any worse than what it was, and when he evolved against his will, he ran away to avoid what he thought would be a fate worse than death, and by running away, he hoped that his entire life would change. This was not the case, what he thought he gained by escaping his troubled past only transpired into the new persona he had hoped to create for himself, and with the help of a kind Pokemon who gave him the advice and words he needed, he made the decision to go back and accept his fate regardless of what it was.
This Mint-green furred Cinccino now runs the entire colony. His name is Mint, a name that used to be scoffed at within the colony, a name that was heckled at and spit on because of what he was and what he would never become, a name that held pain and sadness, but now holds happiness, kindness, and love. His presence in the colony was one that used to be hated, despied, and unwanted. Nowadays, he's lucky if he can walk through the colony without someone looking over at him and giving him a warm smile of appreciation. The ones that hated him the most, ironically, have now become his closest friends. Rachel, Patricia, Sean, and Wesley. Former bullies as he calls them but deep in his heart, friends for life. To this very day, he's still baffled with the way they treat him.
All of this is exactly what he wanted from the beginning, that very day he ran away from his home. Today marks exactly 6 months since he evolved and during this time, his age has gone up by 1 year. It's late in the morning, and the sun sits moderately high in the sky, but isn't close to its max angle just yet. The cool breeze of the young and slowly awakening spring air blows the deep green grass and leaves around. Little rays of sunlight peak through the swaying trees and leaves, illuminating the ground below where the colony rests. The air is crisp and still holds the very last remnants of the winter within, whisking a chill with it as it flows across the forest.
Compared to the winter, the forest is much more lush and grown now. There's a few flowers of red, blue, and yellows starting to sprout on the sides of the long path leading into the colony while various berry bushes and trees also begin to bloom in beautiful flowers of vibrant colors like pink, purple, and green.
Standing at the head of the entire colony, Mint looks out across everything from the massive den the colony elder would be living in. To many of his fellow Minccino's surprise, he decided not to take residence up in the den. While he'd like to live there, he doesn't want to take away what he believes is still the former elder's home. Technically, former elder Naomi never bestowed the position to anyone before her time was up because the shiny stone she was supposed to give to one of the older Minccino was stolen. In some ways, Mint thinks it's disrespectful to her if he just moved in, especially since he's seen her ghost in the den in the past and he doesn't want to take what's rightfully hers. This "loss" doesn't bother him at all, because he'd rather come home to that little den on the outskirts of the colony and see his parents every night instead of being stuck inside a massive den with nobody to keep him company.
He takes a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, early spring air. It smells like dewdrops and freshly cut grass despite nobody ever taking a blade to the grass in the forest. As the breeze gently flows past him, his tail, fur, fur fluffs, and the end of his scarf are blown a little bit, waving slightly in the wind. Today is going to be a good day and his blank expression changes to a cheerful, happy one as a large smile paints itself on his face and he adjusts his scarf with his right paw. When he finishes, he also makes a quick adjustment to the special pendant that he wears around his neck as well. Now ready, he exhales the deep breath from a few moments ago and slowly starts walking down the long flight of stairs leading up to the den. With each step he takes, he gets closer and closer to the end of the stairs, and as he descends, he thinks to himself. "Another day of being the colony elder as usual… I don't think anything bad will happen today, not like anything bad has happened ever since I've become the elder…"
His mind immediately begins to think of that event 6 months ago, the day he left Castelia City to come back home after someone helped him realize that what he wanted was starting him right in the face. For some odd reason, he can't recall who it was that helped him, but he remembers that they told him that if what didn't happen didn't happen, he wouldn't be the Pokemon that he was at that moment in time. He's very grateful and glad that he met them, because if he didn't meet them, he might be somewhere else right now, or worse: dead. As for what happened that day he came back to the colony, it's something that he still dreads thinking about.
When he returned to Pinwheel Forest, he ended up finding Rachel in critical condition and when he ran off into the main colony, he found a large group of predator Pokemon trying to attack and kill the ones he now considers his family. After a long, bloody, and dangerous battle, he reigned victorious and protected everyone from what could've been certain doom. The thought that something like that could happen again is quite scary, but after what he did to the leader of their pack, he knows they won't be coming back anytime soon.
He remembers the day after that, everyone had lots of cleaning up to do, and even in their injured state, they all managed to dispose of the Pokemon that, ironically, Mint ended up killing. He never wanted it to be that way, but because it was a fight or die situation, there wasn't any alternate choice that wouldn't end in him dying. Even though he was told by his parents and even the ones he protected to rest and recover for the day, he helped out as much as he could when it came to cleaning up the colony. Near the evening, the entire colony was back to what it used to be before the attack and everything was good. At night, the entire colony held a ceremony to welcome the new elder officially, and even though this was 6 months ago, he still remembers it like it was yesterday. "It feels like it was literally a few days ago. I still can't believe all that actually happened and I'm surprised how I didn't end up dying in that fight. I was hurting for a couple days, and I was sure I had broken something but luckily that was just the result of straining myself and being hit hard by that Pokemon's attacks… I'm grateful to still be alive and I'm even more grateful for everything that I have now."
His thoughts are interrupted as he steps foot on the ground, finally leaving the stairs and walking towards the fountain plaza where every Minccino in the colony is currently located. The day before today, Mint decided to tell everyone that he would have a big announcement to make the next day, and he told everyone to gather in the fountain plaza. "What is the announcement?" is what they were all thinking in their heads, but it's nothing more than a simple little speech of how great the colony is doing and how he appreciates everything everyone is doing. As he gets closer to the fountain plaza, his highly sensitive, large fluffy ears pick up on the whispers of his fellow citizens and he can't help but smile a bit wider than before. "They're really thinking about what I have to say, huh? They shouldn't worry themselves too much about it, I'm only gonna be telling them about how great they are and they deserve it after everything we managed to accomplish since day 1."
He walks into the fountain plaza and once the first Minccino that's facing him lays their attention on him, everyone else begins to notice him and also does the same. Mint walks into the center of the plaza, standing in front of the fountain. When he left the colony 6 months ago, he had damaged this very special fountain and it was one of the first things he fixed once he was able to. Even though nobody else had anything to do with it, they assisted him in repairing it and at his request, together, they all managed to make a couple drastic changes to it. The most noticeable change is that there's a small pedestal that one can stand on along with a much larger base. The other changes were simply aesthetic and involved a few little designs to reflect the colony's values and beliefs: Love, compassion, kindness, and care.
Mint looks to his left, and slowly scans the crowd of 119 Minccino from left to right. They're all looking at him, eagerly waiting for him to speak up and say what he planned to say. While in the 6 months that he's been the elder, one would think that the nervousness and social anxiety that he had would ease up a little and he'd become more confident. This isn't fully the case, he's still nervous as ever but he's a little more confident than he was in the past, and while it does lead to a couple embarrassing moments, everyone understands it and doesn't mind. He walks up to the fountain and takes a stand on the little pedestal, allowing him to see over everyone that is now moving in unison to surround the fountain. Mint notices that they're all ready and so he begins to speak to them.
"H-hello everyone! Today marks the 6th month s-since I've become the colony elder and I kinda heard what you were all w-whispering about. Don't worry too much, I w-won't be sending anyone off into the forbidden zone, but I will be telling y-you all about how great you are. I'm so h-happy to be leading such a beautiful colony, and if it wasn't for all of you… I don't think it would be as g-great as it is right now!"
He gets a bit of applause from everyone, but they quickly quiet down so he can continue. "A-all the great suggestions that you've given me to help improve the colony, t-they've helped contribute to where we are today, and I know some of y-you might think that you don't deserve the praise… you're wrong! It's a c-collective effort to make this colony perfect, and with everyone helping each other o-out, we get closer and closer to our p-perfect end result…" he begins to get a bit anxious, his brain was working a little bit ahead of him but his mouth has caught up to it and he's a bit lost for words. A couple drops of sweat form on his head and slowly start to roll down his face. He gets more applause, but it doesn't last long.
"S-so… I just wanted t-to say thanks for everything… Y-you're all amazing and wonderful Pokemon, and I-I hope we can c-continue to improve the colony for y-years to come. T-together we can all continue to make e-each other's lives better than ever, s-so let's all keep it going with the beliefs and views that I've shown to y-you all and continue down this path of h-happiness…" his voice gets quiet at the end as he's struggling to find the right words to say and he fidgets around slightly in place, nervous that he'll mess up. This doesn't matter though, because everyone in the colony gives applause and cheers for him, but they really should be cheering for themselves.
With his speech over, he steps down from the pedestal on the fountain and almost immediately after, his parents come to him, pushing their way through the now dispersing crowd to get to him. When they get to him, they immediately grab him into a big hug. This is a common thing for him, whenever he gives a speech, his mom and dad always give him a hug at the end, even if the speech wasn't that great. He embraces it fully and they stay like this for a few seconds before stopping. His father, Ross, talks. "Another speech done well, I couldn't have said what you said better myself!"
His mother, Emilia, agrees. "Yeah, that speech was great! It's nice to know that after all this time, the things that we've taught you have transpired into your leadership… not forgetting that we're all working together to make things better for each other."
Mint's cheeks turn a light shade of red. "Aww c'mon… it's just how I am… You both taught me to be kind to everyone no matter what and everyone loves me for it…"
They both nod, agreeing. "Well, you aren't alone in running the colony, while you handle some of the more simple tasks, we're here to handle those complex ones that you might not know how to deal with just yet." says Ross.
This is true, while Mint runs the colony, he doesn't do it alone. There have been a few things in the past that have come up where he didn't know what to do or what to say. This is where his parents would come in, helping him and taking the situation into their hands. Most of the time though, this doesn't happen since the problems and tasks that he deals with on a daily basis are small and easy enough for him to handle. He appreciates the help though, especially since the last big task involved opening up a new trade route between his colony and the Herdier and Stoutland colony deeper into the forest. Had his parents not been there to help him, things might've been a bit iffy.
"Yeah, I know, and I appreciate all the help you guys have been these last 6 months... I wonder if the colony would be a bit different if you weren't here to help me with some of those big tasks…"
Emilia nods. "I guarantee there'd be a few different things. I can't really say what they'd be, but if I were to guess, I'd say maybe less trade routes?"
Ross adds on. "Yeah, and perhaps the issue with the other colony, our friendship with them, it might not be as good as it is now."
"Oh yeah, the Sewaddle colony… I remember how big that was…" He realizes that without his parents, a bunch of stuff would be different. "I know I've said it in the past but… I really have to say thank you for helping me once again. Without you, I don't think we'd be as far as we are now."
Emilia smiles. "We'll be here to help as much as you need for as long as you need it, remember that!"
Ross agrees. "Yes, we wouldn't just let our little boy run the colony and not have any help with big tasks, you would be lost on what to do! We're always here to help and you shouldn't hesitate to ask anyone in the colony for help too. You aren't the only one who has to help them, it should be mutual."
"I know, dad… once again though, thank you both for everything." He then goes up to them and hugs them once again and they reciprocate it. Along with the hug, they both kiss him on the top of his head, something that they started doing after he came back.
After a few seconds of hugging once more, they let go of each other. "We're gonna go back to the den. In a bit, I'm gonna go out to get berries and stuff so if you need anything, Ross should be home, okay Mint?" says Emilia.
"Okay mom, I probably won't be back until later on though, you know how it is…"
"I know, just be good, alright? I know you'll do great as you've been doing great since day 1. I'll see you later." with that, she and Ross start heading back home.
Mint calls out to them. "See you later mom, dad! I love you!"
They yell back to him. "We love you too!"
He watches as they walk out of the fountain plaza and out of sight a few seconds later. His smile disappears and the quick and dirty feeling of boredom begins knocking on his door. While being the colony elder, he gets quite a bit of stuff on his plate daily, but as of recent, there hasn't been that many issues or things he needs to do for the colony. He's been bored for the last few days and today, while it promises to be another great day, is shaping up to be a boring one as well.
He has everything he's wanted: Love, acceptance, and appreciation. He should be out and about with the friends he's made but ironically, he prefers to be alone. He should be having fun talking and playing around with them, but instead, he'd rather be alone. While he has everything he wants, he feels as if he was lacking something. He doesn't know what it could be but he knows for sure that something is missing. It could be anything, but little does he know that deep down, he's missing someone… someone who, once again, will bring some new things to his life.
PD: feel free to leave a review and stuff, but as it stands right now, this story will not get any new chapters for a very long time. If you checked my profile, you'll see that I'm focusing more on my other two stories which haven't really been updated that much and I want to try and continue them for as long as I can. Long story short, this won't be updated anytime soon, so any feedback is appreciated and the wait will be long, but I hope when the time comes and new chapters for this story are ready, that you all enjoy it. FOR NOW, check out the other stories on my profile and I'll seeya in the next chapter!