The Doomed Sprout
Chapter 20
Despite its short duration, the battle had left a heavy mark on the inhabitants of the Sprout. This place, supposed to be a safe area, hidden from all, just had a fight in the outskirts that they barely could hold out, and only thanks to newcomers from mere weeks ago. What's worse, the one who was widely considered as the sole reason why the Lurantis didn't enter the town is a Common, the exact type of Pokemon they're hiding from. To say that they weren't really hopeful about their future would be an understatement…
The medical post was also completely full with the entire combat squad either injured or unconscious, leaving the job of warding off any potential threats to the scouting team. Fen has expected Sera to pest about it, but she took it in stride, training with the other scouts to strengthen her skills. As for Lumin… There was currently a meeting between a few different Pokemon in order to figure out what to do with him. Defeating a rescue team was impressive, but what happened yesterday was orders of magnitude more difficult, not to mention that light…
Fen sighed. She'd been doing her best to focus on healing those wounded with Noelle. It had been difficult to convince them to let a Common help, but Cylan stepping in made them finally accept her expertise. She should be delighted to finally be able to help the way she wanted to, applying medicinal herbs and learning from Noelle while peeking at each of their wounds in order to understand their anatomy, but she was finding it difficult to focus. As she left to get some water, the Nidoran bumped into a furred Pokemon, falling onto her side. As she was getting back up, she could recognize the voice as Amy's
« Oh, sorry ! I didn't know if I was supposed to knock, or... », the Furret started, before pausing. « ..Why are you here ? Where's Noelle ? », his tone shifting to one of fear.
Fen answered in a calming voice. « Chill out, s'fine… Noelle is outside taking a breather. Aside from Jay and Kutz, everyone's in stable condition. These two are still unconscious, which I suppose is for the better »
« For the better ? You want them to be dead ? », Amy pointed out in a cold voice. While Fen had never seen a Furret as particularly scary, seeing one that's towering over her, fangs flaring, was making her reconsider.
« Wait- wait a minute, I didn't say dead ! They're just unconscious for now ! Y'know, asleep ? They'll recover more energy this way, and it also saves them the trouble of feeling the pain », she quickly added. She'd almost forgotten, for all this town has, these Pokemon didn't know a thing about medicine !
The Furret glared at her, staring for a few seconds, before turning around to gaze at the wounded Pokemon, all resting on beds of leaves and silk.
« Give it a rest, birdbrain », Cedric spoke out, grunting in pain. « The pipsqueak's been helpful to us, here. Noelle's a good healer, but she's never been able to discuss the better way to go about it with anyone. Would- ». The Gurdurr shuffled slightly, pressing against a makeshift cloth bandage onto his side. « She would always heal one of us at a time, and Miss here pointed out to focus on making sure we weren't getting worse before actually healing us. Pretty sure it's saved at least one of us in the long run. Also helped with other stuff, but you gotta ask the others, I've had a bad day ». He then laughed heartily, before a coughing fit caught up to him, forcing him to lay back down.
« I'm still not sure how we ended up winning that », Ethan pointed out, holding himself against the wall, his right leg covered in bandages and berry fluids.
Fen sighed. « And I'm not sure why you're not in bed, recovering », she loudly exclaimed, getting only a glare in response as the Breloom didn't move an inch.
He sneered before replying, « What's wrong, don't want us to be talking about that monster you're taking care of ? Who knows, maybe that Lurantis was yours, too, eh ?»
« Hey ! », Fen shouted, before Amy's paw and stern gaze prevented her from saying anything more.
« We're all here to heal, or be healed, okay ? So let's focus on that. The Honorable is figuring out what to do with Lumin in the meantime, he's even gotten some of the oldest residents for opinions ». Saying this, he turned towards Cedric, getting a closer look at his condition. « The Honorable would appreciate if you'd come, once you feel able, of course ». Fen could've sworn the Gurdurr was glowing from pride after these words, even if he said nothing.
The Furret took one last look at the room, pausing over Kutz before looking away and walking out the door. He'd seen the wounds during the battle, there was no point seeing them again. Fen decided to follow him outside, walking in silence together until they reached Cylan's door.
« H-hey, Fen ? », Amy stuttered, looking away.
« What is it ? »
« ...I don't trust you. But thank you for taking care of them», he let out, before quickly entering the house, leaving Fen puzzled. She hadn't realized she was still being shunned. Amy was just good at hiding it, perhaps.
« You're welcome, I guess.. », grumbled the Nidoran before turning around and looking for the well. They hadn't focused on getting water reserves near the medical room, leading her to take regular trips in order to keep things clean. She didn't mind it much, as it gave her an excuse to leave and try to see Sera around, whom she hadn't seen since she left for the Hidden Grotto. The energetic Eevee would be a welcome sight to change her mind about the current situation.
Having gathered two buckets of water, Fen placed them onto a small wooden plank equipped with wheels. There were better methods to transport things, but her lack of proper hands and legs didn't let her use anything larger, she couldn't wait until she evolved… How would that even work, in a world without levels ? Perhaps she should ask Cedric…
A light hum took her out of her thoughts, as a Leavanny stood beside her, eyeing her spikes cautiously. The first surprise passed and Fen couldn't help but notice they were in a pitiful state, having a scar across one eye, and two stumps where her arms should be.
« H-hello, can I help you ? », Fen asked cautiously, intimidated by the Leavanny's appearance.
« You're Fen, right ? Cylan wants you to take part in the meeting », she answered, keeping a smile that unnerved the Nidoran.
« O-oh, sure, but isn't that only for long-time residents ? »
The Leavanny bent down, getting her face closer, before repeating. « The Honorable wants you to join. Don't act out of line, now... »
Fen nodded nervously, before dropping the plank and rushing straight for the meeting room, who was oh-so conveniently away from whoever that terrifying Pokemon was. She eventually caught her breath right before entering the house, she wanted to make the impression of a cool, collected person, both for her sake and Lumin's, who, now that she thought about it, was actually a pretty good role model for that. Maybe she should take lessons from him too.
Having gathered herself, she knocked on the door.
« Come in », came Cylan's voice, though she could hear a few whispers as well.
As she opened the door, she could see the room being completely full, with everyone sitting on the ground around a table. It seems that everything had been cleared out to give more space. It also seemed that everyone in here wasn't very fond of her, staring at her like she wasn't meant to be here. She couldn't spot many recognizable faces besides Cylan, Julian from the resources inspection, and Rajeh the scout. Julian cleared his throat, before flying above to sit on one of the wooden supports, giving his spot to her as she nodded appreciatively and took his place. Perhaps not everyone was against her, then…
Cylan waited for her to sit down before speaking up. « For those who have not yet met her, this is Fen, a Nidoran that has recently joined the Sprout alongside Sera and Lumin. Although she does not exhibit the unique coloration we all share, she has shown intelligence and has been contributing to the Sprout in many ways, such as finding the Hidden Grotto and helping in the recovery mission for the first encounter of the Calamity »
The Calamity ? Do they mean the Lurantis ? I suppose it makes sense since that wasn't a problem linked to their species, Fen thought.
The Zoroark continued, silencing any whispers before they could interrupt him. « She is also the one who brought the music box, as well as taught me how to use it so that I may share the knowledge with all of you ». Fen snickered but didn't dispute his telling of the events. « And Fen is the one with the best relationship with Lumin, whom we have already discussed in detail »
Cylan then turned towards her, bowing slightly. « Since we are at an impasse on whether your Shinx friend is a threat or an ally, we'd like you to tell us anything that might help us make a decision on the matter. Please, be honest, as the Sprout is your home too », he ended.
Fen could hear a few of the Pokemon protesting silently to each other, uncertain about their leader's words. It was a gamble on his part, and she knew better than to try and joke around.
« A-alright. Then... », she gulped, before taking a step forward. « I'll start by making it clear that these are just my own observations, and there's still a lot I don't know about Lumin, but… From what I've seen, he seems to have changed a lot since I first met him. The first time we met, he was looking at me like prey, using what I was telling him as proof that I was easy to defeat, and for a while, I thought that all Pokemon were like that »
A nearby Diggersby shot her a glare. « We are not like tha- », she started, before Cylan shut her up with a flick of his tail, motioning for Fen to continue.
« Right.. At the time, I did not know about Shinies and Commons and the like. But… the more I think about that time, the more I feel like he wasn't acting like a Common either. Just because he wasn't threatened doesn't mean that he should answer to whatever I was saying, all the other Commons I found were either attacking me directly, or spouting about Outcasts needing to die. Lumin didn't do that ». Fen looked around, seeing that a few of the audience were nodding in understanding, with the rest still keeping up their frowns. The Lurantis from before had somehow entered as well, which wasn't helping her stress.
« Ermh.. What I'm saying is that Lumin seems to be learning from his surroundings. He's been learning from my and Sera's actions. I started using a leaf bed, and now it seems like he simply refuses to sleep without one for himself. Sera taught him a better way to grasp with his tail, and you've all seen how he's carrying the music box around. I don't… He's not a normal Pokemon, we can all agree, right ? »
The audience nodded along, with a few chuckles.
« Well, I don't think he's a normal Common either. I think his sister managed to change him deeply and now he's slowly starting to think more and more... ». Fen stopped, noticing that the room had become much louder, everyone whispering between each other. Cylan, seeing the unrest, loudly cleared his throat before turning to Fen.
« I don't suppose you could tell us more about that sister ? Is she similar to Lumin ? ». The question was fairly simple, but she understood the undertones. They wanted to know if they should worry about a second rampaging Calamity coming here.
Fen shook her head. «No, no. I think Lumin's the only weird one. The sister is just a Shiny like us who had to leave for… obvious reasons. For the parents, we've been chased away by them and nothing really happened, so they clearly aren't like him either»
The Nidoran shuffled, anxious about what else to say, before noticing Cylan giving her a thumbs up, greatly confusing her. Looking more closely at the Pokemon around her, she noticed they were all looking… touched ?
...Oh, right, they've all been chased and hunted too. Well, that's one way to get them to bond with Lumin's situation.
« I have a question ! », a voice shot up in the opposite end of the room. Fen was surprised to recognize the Teddiursa that was hidden behind other Pokemon. How old was Matt actually ?
« You said that Shinx has a Shiny as a sister. He's the one that got her to leave, right ? You're just trying to avoid saying she's dead ! ». The Teddiursa glared in anger, waiting for an answer.
Fen, surprised, backed away instinctively. « Wh- no ! He didn't ! In fact, the first thing he did when he arrived here was to ask if there were any Shinxes around, he's trying to find her ! ». She waved at Cylan, hoping for support.
« That is correct. Lou is her name, if I recall », he answered.
Matt backed off, grunting but accepting the answer. He took a deep breath, but the door opened at that same time, letting in Cedric as Julian took the occasion to leave entirely, claiming to have work to do.
Once both Cedric and Matt sat down, the discussion started again.
« That should be enough information about his perception of Shinies, Fen, thank you », Cylan warmly announced, before continuing. « Do you have anything you could tell us about his strength ? »
She paused for a moment. « I'm not sure… I didn't even know he was anything special until Sera told me. And the rescue group. And pretty much anyone in the Sprout ». Fen grumbled, uncertain of how to explain that she had very little battle experience to judge anyone on. « It just never clicked for me is all. So I never asked. I'm pretty sure you already did, though, so I presume Lumin doesn't know either ».
Cylan's chuckles could be faintly heard in the room, drawing a few eyes. Fen looked at him confused. « We didn't ask, assuming that he wouldn't talk », he answered to her questioning gaze.
« ...Then go do that ? », she let out, exasperated. « Did you guys seriously do an entire tribunal about someone without even talking to that someone ? That's just dumb ! »
« I'm starting to see why Sera likes you », Cedric said, before letting out a hearty laugh, leading to most Pokemon covering their ears.
« Let's just stay on focus, okay ? », Fen replied, hiding a blush. She's not used to compliments, especially here ! « Lumin is strong, and the only one who would know about it is himself. I'll go ask him since I am the one he is closest to, and there can be a witness if necessary. Once we learn more, we'll continue the meeting, does that make sense ? »
Cylan coughed, putting himself in the center of the room. « We will gather more information about Lumin straight from the source. The meeting is on pause for now. When the bell rings, please come back here to continue. Thank you all ». With that, he closed his eyes, before a bell could be clearly heard from… somewhere, Fen wasn't certain, it was like it came from the air itself. Everyone started leaving the room, one by one, some talking to each other, others still glaring at the blue Nidoran, uncertain of whether to trust her word or not.
Cylan sat down next to her, looking at the Pokemon leaving, before whispering to her. « I'm the leader, remember. I need to make these decisions, not you, even if they're completely fine ones »
« Sorry », Fen let out. « Still, it went pretty well, I feel »
« It did. But it all depends on what Lumin says, now »