Chapter | 2 | A Sakura Flower

Out of people to talk to, they made their way upstairs, where things were slightly more peaceful. The tavern also doubled as an inn, where tired Pokemon can rest for as long as they need to. Perhaps someone up there knows something or two?

"Mmm... Seems as if nobody else here really knows all that much about the springs. Though, the good thing is we do know a bit more about the Shadow itself," Peanut sighed, "Maybe we should check elsewhere?"

"Yeah, seems we got all we needed from here. Let's...-"

Just as they were about to head off elsewhere, they heard a loud crashing noise. Sounding like someone tripped and fell, dropping a whole lot of stuff in the process. Deciding to investigate the noise, they found a small, pink flower Pokémon on the floor, scrambling to pick everything up as if she were in a rush.

"Are you okay!?" Timothy rushed over to check on the Cherrim.

"Y-yeah… I am." She struggled to get to her feet, stumbling a little as she got up. "Th-thanks, mister…~"

Timothy smiled, "Glad you're fine…"

"That was a lot of stuff you were carrying," Emmett commented. "A lot for someone your size."

"I'll admit, I do take on more than what I can handle…" She sighed.

Putting away everything she dropped, she grabbed a broom and began sweeping the floor, after noticing how dusty it was. "Lots of dirt…" She muttered to herself. "It gets, um, quite busy in here… People always make a mess… I don't like the tavern very much."

"Me either," Peanut's tail dropped. "It's noisy, people get into drunken fights… I prefer the cafe."

"Same…~ It's much more peaceful, I find… I thought I was alone on this, because the tavern always seems to be, um, packed to the brim with Pokemon. Mostly men."

"Ah, ye'll git used to it. Plus, th' ale tastes good."

"I've been to taverns at least twice with you guys, if you don't count just now. You always get carried away with the drinking! I'm not going to have you guys drunkenly wreck a tavern again! And, no, I do not like those kinds of beverages very much, they make my mouth feel funny."

"Seems he's quite the heavy drinker, then…" The Cherrim whispered to herself.

"I heard that!"

"... Anyways, do you know anything about Shadow Pokemon, or the healing spring that we're searching for?" Emmett asked."

"Um... I don't think so…? But, I think I have encountered one before. But not up-front. I remember, um, seeing three of them traveling together in a group. I didn't want to get closer, because I feared they may attack me if I took even a step foward…"

"So, they travel in groups?"

"Y-yeah, or at least, some of them do…"

"I see. Anything else?"

"Not really. Just stay safe out there, Shadow Pokemon can get quite hostile…"

Peanut began to like the Cherrim's company; She seemed like a nice gal, compared to the other girls she talked to in her childhood. Even if she was a little shy, she was very polite and gentle. Even if they had just met, it still was refreshing to see someone of the same gender treat her well. "Hey, what's your name?"

"My name?" She looked up to the ceiling for a bit, then back to Peanut. "My name is Madoka, what about you…?"

"Peanut!"

Madoka tilted her head in curiosity; She never heard of anyone who was named 'Peanut' before. "Peanut…? That's a very unique, yet cute name. Nice to meet you all…~"

Peanut smiled, "You too!"

A'richt, a'richt. Let's get agoin', we gotta go skelp th' road."

"Oh, fine. Well, see you later!" Peanut waved a paw as she happily skipped away with her friends. Madoka silently nodded and continued to sweep the floor as usual, only to hear someone yell in the distance.

"HEY, CAN SOMEONE CLEAN UP THIS MESS OVER HERE?!"

She sighed, running downstairs to clean up yet another stain on the floor.

Meanwhile, Team Discovery decided to head back to the pathway, after finding all that they needed from Cider Point.

"Alright, I think we got all that we could get from Cider Point. Time to start hitting the road once again."

"At least th' Cherrim didnae talk jobby about mah accent..."

They took the passageway that led to a crag, a rocky hill which had plenty of air that blew around the area. Looking around, it seemed as if they were alone.

"Guess we could stop here for a bit, I kinda like the atmosphere here." Emmett yawned, stretching his muscles as his scarf wavered in the wind. "Could also be a good training spot."

"Now that ye mention it, we should definitely train here," Kyle added."The fresh air around 'ere feels good."

"Then let's do this!"

The two Fighting types backed away from each other, distancing themselves as they began to pump themselves up for the sparring match. Kyle started off with a Bulk Up, which caused his muscles to increase in mass a little. It wasn't too noticeable from afar, but you could definitely tell there was a change if you were a little closer.

Emmett smirked; he headed in, preparing a Dynamic Punch to the face. Kyle jumped out of the way before Emmett could land his attack, causing Emmett to run face-first into a tall rock.

Kyle then went with Drain Punch, sapping the Machamp's energy with how hard it hit. Emmett got back up, headlocking the Hitmonchan with one of his four arms.

"I call this one the Machamp special!"

Jumping up into the air, he Bullet Punched Kyle with full-force, sending him down crashing into the floor from the sheer number of forces exerted from those punches. Kyle got back up onto his quick feet, bracing himself for the next move.

Peanut sat back with Timothy, watching the fight from a distance. "They're quite the tough fighters, aren't they?"

"Yep," Timothy nodded, "I mean, aren't we, too? I think my Thunderbolt can be pretty nasty…"

She giggled, "Yep, it sure can be! Eviolite can work wonders for Pokemon like you."

"Y-yeah. Never really wanted to evolve into an Electivire."

"I think you're great the way you are! You don't need to evolve into a bigger, bulkier version of yourself. Besides, Emmett has already filled that role as the team's big dude, we don't exactly need another big dude~" She giggled.

He blushed, chuckling a little as he tried to hide the slight sense of nervousness he had. He stared at the distance, noticing that Emmett and Kyle appeared as silhouettes in the mysteriously foggy atmosphere."It sure is foggy around here, isn't it? I wonder why's that…"

"I dunno. It's quite cloudy, too. Maybe it's just how it is around here? No wonder why these two wanted to spar here."

From far away, three feminine voices gossiping in the distance. Overhearing the spar going on, they get a little curious, and decide to investigate the area for the source of the noise.

"Sheesh, are two Pokemon fighting right now? Are there… Shadow Pokemon nearby?" One asked.

"Don't think so," A more elegant-sounding one chipped in, "Usually, they'd sound a bit more feral and uncontrolled. Maybe two Pokemon got into a fight over something?"

"True, true."

Before walking away, one peculiar sight caught their eye; A Delcatty with a pink bow attached to her tail.

"Is that…?"

"No… It can't be. Must be a coincidence that she's wearing a bow that looks similar to the one Peanut used to wear."

Another spoke up."Look closer, you two! It is ze samé béll attached to her tail! It probably really is her!" She had a slight accent to her speech, but it wasn't very obvious.

They decided to get a bit closer to investigate, noticing the pink color that the ribbon had. It was a bit hard to see through all that fog, but once they noticed how similar it looked, it was unmistakably Peanut.

"Oh hello there, Peanut~" She glared with a smug look on her face, "What aré you doing around here? I see you're still with zat dork, Timothy."

"Elizabeth…!" Peanut jumped back in surprise; It was really her. Elizabeth.

"It is funny seeing you again, still with that dork. Did ze wind blow you down here, because of how light your head is?

Her teammates, a Slurpuff and Florges, laughed with her, yet Peanut was not impressed. Far from it, actually. She didn't want to see her face ever again, and yet here she was, confronting her very own childhood bully.

"Leave her alone, Elizabeth!" Timothy charged up for a Volt Switch, only for the Tsareena to retaliate with a Knock Off before he could get a chance to hit her.

"How cute. The little mid-stage thinks he stands a chance with me?" She slapped him again, "Pathetic. You're a pitiful excuse for an explorer."

"Timothy!" Peanut hissed, "That's it, get out of here!" She bared her claws, hissing at Elizabeth as she took a battle position.

"Aww, is ze wittle kitty going to bear her claws?" She glared at Peanut as she stomped on her paw. "Your reflexes are looking a little slow there, sweetie."

Peanut whimpered in pain, her attempts to move her paw away from Elizabeth's, struggling to break free from the Tsareena's harsh press.

"L-let go…!"

Overhearing some commotion going on, Kyle decided to check on Peanut, only to see Elizabeth stomping on Peanut's paw. "Woah, woah, woah! What's goin' on 'ere? How come is yer foot is on her paw?"

"Oh, hello there! I'm just teaching her a lesson, much like how you should take anger management lessons, blockhead~"

Kyle was highly offended by that remark. He asserted a fighting stance, "Back off, bitch! I will batter ye in yer pretty lil' face if ah have to!"

"Oh? What's ze blockhead in a skirt going to do, punch me in the face?"

Kyle was pissed from that"It's a fuckin' kilt, ye son o' a bitch!" He threw a hard punch at the Tsareena, yet Elizabeth saw it coming, and ducked quickly, surprising the Hitmonchan as he tripped.

"Is that really the best you could do, skirt boy?"

Before Kyle could attempt to angrily swing more punches at her, Emmett butted in - realizing that someone was harassing his friends.

"HEY!" Emmett stood in front of Elizabeth, splitting her up from Peanut's paw as he crossed his arms, "If you're going to pick a fight with her, you're going to have to go through me. And it's not going to be pretty."

Kyle backed away, but kept a watchful eye on Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered; Was this the same dumbass she saw when they were younger? That same Machop who kept getting his ass kicked? The same kid who was cartoonishly heroic about everything?

The same kid… turned into this?

She took a step back, taking a few seconds to process what she's just looking at.

The once grey, dumb kid with disks on his head, who was obsessed with heroism, now had musculature sculpted to perfection, and a handsome little face that could charm anyone with just a smile. He was on her sights for only a few seconds, yet he has already smitten her - despite the fact he never intended to seduce her.

She blushed, her face turning a light pink. Then, she took a bold step forward.

"... Oh my." She paused for a second, "You've certainly changed, and for the better."

Emmett looked dumbfounded, noticing Elizabeth's sudden change in attitude. She went from menacing and cunning, to admiring him in less than seconds.

"U-um… what do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you're a total hunk now!" She giggled, "Look at you! You got every muscle of yours defined and chiseled, so much so it's bulging with strength! Are you seriously going to be with that airhead? Hopefully you two aren't dating, because if you were, it would be a total shame..."

"D-DATING!?" Emmett began to look… mildly uncomfortable, to say the least. "We're just good friends, we aren't dating!"

"That's good to know, then. At least you're not the dunce you used to be, Prince!"

"Erm, my name is Emmett..."

"Nah, Emmett sounds like a name a dunce would have. You're clearly not a dunce anymore, so I'm going to call you Prince from now on!"

Emmett's face turned a bright red; What did he just get himself into? At least Peanut wasn't getting harassed, so there was that.

"P-Prince!?"

"Yep! Prince! It fits you like a glove, so don't complain, kapeesh?" She giggled, "Now, my Prince, when would you like to go on a date?"

"Not interested, no thanks."

"Really? Why, you should go with me at least once, my sweet Prince! And while you're at it, would you be kind enough to ditch that airhead over there? I'm sure the both of us could be a great couple without her."

"Absolutely NOT! She's one of my good friends, I'm not going to get rid of her just because you don't like her!"

"Oh, my Prince… You have so much to learn." She chuckled, "Well, the next time we meet, we're going on that date, you hear me?"

"But I just said-"

She put a finger on Emmett's mouth, silencing him before he could speak further. "Up up up! No excuses! I'll give you a good reward if you doooo~"

She turns to Peanut, menacingly glaring at her as she struts away. "And as for you, Peanut… Back off. You may be his friend, but you will not claim him as your own."

Before she could disappear into the fog, however, she noticed the figure of a Pokemon from far away. The figure notices her, and begins to approach her as it growled at her. The Pokemon, which turned out to be a Herdier from a closer glance, didn't seem to appear well; his eyes were a deep red, his mouth foaming.

Elizabeth entered a battle position, her teammates following her every move.

The Slurpuff looked up in fear, "Uhh… Is this the Shadow Pokemon they've been talking about Cressida? Because he doesn't seem right…"

"Seems so," The Florges charged up a Moonblast aimed towards the Shadow Pokemon, "Step back, I got this."