The Doomed Sprout
Chapter 29
«It has been a while since the last Archon, what happened to my training ?»
«...I've had some things to do. Why, missed me?~»
«As if, Mew-»
«Alpha!»
A sigh. «Fine, Alpha, Beta, whatever. These codenames will not save you, I'm certain you know that. Now answer the question»
«So grumpy today, Beta… Let's just say that some Archons… took care of themselves, and I found out why. Looks like you'll have a really good opponent soon, aren't you glad?»
Beta leaned closer, curious. «It's not usual for you to compliment anyone. I'm interested»
«See? Ain't I the best coach~», Alpha smirked, bringing out another sigh from Beta.
«Do not test my patience. You need me, not the other way around, your help in finding the Archons is only speeding things up for me», they grunted. «Where is that powerful opponent?»
«Living alongside an even greater threat, but this one you'd probably have no fun fighting anyway. The Erratic Jungle's got a secret settlement…»
«Humans?», Beta guessed, a look of complete astonishment on their face. «But… What happened-»
«Shhhhhhhhh», Alpha replied, putting a paw over their mouth. «Not proper humans. More like… alternate ones. They aren't supposed to be here, so just pretend they don't, easy! And hide that frown, will ya? It makes you look dangerous»
Beta huffed, refusing to give in to the bait. A settlement would be found out eventually, no matter where it was hidden. «So, if Archons took care of each other, and you not seeing it as your responsibility… I presume humans have found a way to enslave one of them?Is that my sparring partner ? »
«Precisely! Though, before we go, there is one more thing…»
Fen's next few days were refreshingly boring, as the last remnants of the recent situation were solved, one by one. A surprising amount of Pokemon volunteered to help in rebuilding the walls around the Sprout under Freya's stern gaze, perhaps because they feel indebted to those who actually fought during that siege. Fen didn't really care, though, help was help. If anything, it was probably for the best they didn't try and help, considering what happened to the non-combatants that did...
As she entered the medical post, she shook her head vigorously. Mourn later, work for now.
«Hey Fen, good to see you here! Do you have any Sitrus?»
Fen turned around, facing Noelle, who seemed busy focusing her energy on Ethan's head, the mushroom hat halfway eaten. She somberly noted its poor shape, before facing the Comfey.
«No Sitrus, Julian says we're all out. Got some Oran at least, but we've got Sera's scouting party in the hunt for supplies. They should be back soon», she replied.
Noelle wavered in the air. «W...what? Sera's party? I'm super happy for her, but she's still so new!»
«Take a look around, dummy», weakly grumbled Ethan. «All the other scouts are here, who else are they gonna rely on?»
Fen walked closer, shoving a straw into the Breloom's mouth. «Quit talking and sip. Berry juice's good for ya»
If Ethan was furious, he didn't say it, simply following her instructions.
«Good. We don't have much, and we're somehow all out of Leppa Berries. Even those we planted are gone». Fen looked intently at the Comfey, before sighing. «...No, I suppose it was a life or death scenario. It'd be stupid not to use them. I'm sorry, I still sometimes see all this as…»
She sighed, refusing to finish her thought.
« So… what are you doing?», asked Noelle, floating closer.
«...What?»
«Why are you here? I can treat them on my own right now, you're supposed to be the night shift»
Fen shuffled uncomfortably, before pointing at the berries stacked up near the entrance and muttering a goodbye, taking one last look around before quickly dashing off. I'll deal with them later…
After a little jog away from the medical post, and from her worries, the Nidoran sat down near the berry fields, watching the farmers at work, tirelessly planting berries for various uses and watering them. There weren't many water types around here, due to it being a jungle, but thankfully a duo of Lotads had waddled their way here, leaving them with a large responsibility. The pair was pretty silent, only muttering to each other, letting Fen enjoy the soothing pace at which they worked. She'd tried to help around in the past, looking for her place, and while she's happy to have found it in healing the wounded, having to see some Pokemon wounded because of her own inability to control her friend was definitely weighing on her. It's her main responsibility, by now, even more so than healing, and...
«There you are! Why in the world are you so far away from the rest of town, Fen!»
The voice took Fen out of her thoughts, as she turned to face Cylan.
«Oh- Sorry, I needed a quiet spot to breathe for a moment, I guess...»
«Right, right. Honestly, I'd really like that too, so… do you mind?»
Fen tapped the ground near her. There wasn't much else to sit in, benches weren't a priority when building a town from nothing. «Sure. What's up?»
Cylan seemed to hesitate, before carefully sitting down, avoiding her gaze. «I… don't wanna talk about it»
Fen sighed. «You're gonna kick him out, aren't you?»
«What?». He shot her a confused look.
«Lumin. Are you kicking him out? I wasn't told where he was gonna stay this time. I even proposed we'd repurpose our own house as a jail if needed, and got nothing»
«Ooooh… No, that'd be stupid», he grumbled, getting a surprised glance. «Lumin's too strong to boss around, and you were still the one to calm him down. We need you two together»
«So… why not kick meas well ?», deadpanned the Nidoran. «You know I'll figure out a way to survive anyway, maybe in the Hidden Grotto»
Cylan paused for a few seconds. «...I'm not the one deciding that. I left it all to Freya. She decided on keeping you and Lumin inside the Hidden Grotto, where there'd be more time to react if he were to go loose»
«Freya?», Fen let out, surprised. «Why aren't you dealing with this, I thought you were pretty good at deciding these things?»
Cylan's face looked guilty, worrying the Nidoran. «I'm just not feeling too well right now. The forced wake-up and all that, then having to do the burials… Glen's a mess, too, the little guy sent mons to run off to their deaths, you know?»
Fen grew a frown, retorting «...You usually have a lot more tact with these things. Glen was trying to distract the Commons for as long as possible. He just didn't know not many Pokemon could evade like an Eevee!»
«That's not how he sees it, is all», Cylan noted.
«...Yeah»
After a few minutes of silence, Cylan tapped on Fen's shoulder. «I forgot, I wanted to tell you something. The Shinxes are waiting for you at the Hidden Grotto's entrance. They wanted to speak with you»
The Nidoran nodded, before standing up and leaving. The town needed her, it seemed. She only hoped she was needed enough to stay.
«I told you she ain't coming. We're scaring her», Lou grumbled, resting against a large tree. «Should've just gone to her instead...»
«It's fine, Lou, let's just wait a little more… We can always find her at the clinic tonight, Noelle said so». Megan pressed a paw against her friend's side, seemingly easing her impatience.
«Then why don't we just do that, instead of doing nothing here!», the Shinx grumped. «We could be hunting!»
«And risk getting wounded, overwhelming Noelle and Fen even more?», she retorted. «We have berries and fruits for now, let's just take those. Don't you think we deserve a rest?»
Lou grumbled, though said nothing, lying down against the bark of the tree. Before long, she felt a gentle tug on her hind leg as Megan warned her of the incoming Pokemon. Slowly waking up from her nap, she gazes towards the newcomer, yawning heavily.
«...I'm not that late, am I?», hesitantly asked Fen.
Lou grumbled. «Do I look fresh to you? We've been here since the sun was on the other side of the sky! What took you so long!»
«Don't blame me, I was just chilling near the farms! It's Cylan that took a while to find me...». Fen sighed, sitting down. «Whatever. You girls wanted me for something?»
«Meat», Lou let out.
«...What?»
Seeing Fen's horrified expression, Megan couldn't help but laugh, before clarifying. «We want you to hunt with us. Not today, though, but considering you have the ability to poison enemies, and we can just cook things to remove the poison, or even mix in some Pecha Berries, you're a pretty safe hunter»
«Even if you suck at sneaking», Lou quipped. «Gonna have to teach you that»
Fen nodded, not minding learning new survival tips. She could still remember the Lurantis. «That's good and all, but I see two issues»
«Lemme guess, you're too weak to kill anyone?», Lou grumbled. «Never learned to defend yourselfcause of Lumin ? »
Fen's mood grew sour, remembering her friend's situation. «Lumin, right...Well, I guess, but I have fought others before. I'm still technically the only person to have beaten him so far. It's more that, for one, I'd rather not kill anyone, and for two, I've already got my hands full with the medical post »
There was a small silence until Lou let out a loud «Wait, you what?»
Before Fen could react, the Shinx was observing her from every angle, poking at her small claws and spikes. Megan tugged at her tail, quickly reminding her to be careful with poison types. Lou ignored her and objected loudly.
«What the hell you mean, you beat him! He could beat up legendaries!»
«Already has, actually», Fen pointed out, sitting down, amused. «Well, a mythical, but same thing. You know, the Diancie you two found?»
Megan suddenly grew worried. «Wait, she's that strong?I thought we just were caught by surprise!»
Fen nodded. «Stronger than a regular Pokemon for sure, though she's not the best example of a Legendary. Lumin ended up attacking her and I had to stop him»
Lou just rolled her eyes, clearly not believing the tall tale. The two Shinxes began staring at Fen, making her increasingly uncomfortable.
«...Fine, fine. I didn't really beat Lumin in a fair fight. I went up a tree and accidentally got him poisoned while fighting Spearows. But that was still enough!». Fen puffed up her chest, refusing to see it as anything but a victory.
«...Poison-type privileges, I swear», Lou muttered under her breath, before protesting more clearly, «That barely counts, you just hid on a tree the whole time!»
«A win is a win!», she shot back. «And we're getting off-topic anyway»
Megan shuffled near her friend's side, gently calming her. «Well, Freya said that we needed to train more Pokemon for combat. Hunting is the best way for that, and it'd also help make the surrounding areas safe again, a lot of Commons are roaming closer than before the breach»
«So get over that pacifism», Lou finished, glaring at the Nidoran.
«Not happening!», Fen shot back, facing the irate Shinx.
Megan could only sigh, seeing the two butting heads. She was already getting tired of these two bickering, and she hadn't even shown Fen her new quarters yet.
Today couldn't end any sooner.