The Doomed Sprout
Chapter 14
The moon's light was shining over the trees, illuminating the jungle and reflecting off the Ferroseeds dozing off to sleep, the sound of wind passing through the leaves and a small shimmer setting the calm ambiance for the night. If one were to squint, perhaps they could see faint reflections suspended in the air, in a nearby field, though most Pokemon wouldn't think twice about it. Food doesn't reflect light, and they knew not to look deeper into the Erratic Jungle's truths.
« Could you please stop doing that ? ». Fen rolled her eyes over the hyperactive Volbeat who'd been flying over the Eevee's haul for the past few minutes. He completely ignored her, accidentally passing his light right in her face. « Ow- hey, watch where you're going ! », she yelled in anger.
The Volbeat was surprised and stopped his wings, falling flat on his face. « O-oh, sorry. I get really focused on my work and it's hard for me to notice where you all are while I'm inspecting each batch. Can you please wait outside until I'm done ? », he cheerfully answered, pushing himself up with a clear frown etched on his face. Apparently, he didn't like disturbances. Fen said nothing, walking back towards the exit of the resource depot and sitting down to look at the small pile of crystals. She had mostly brought in berries, seeds and anything that may be of use, but she was also able to find her original entry point inside the caverns, with the huge pile of crystals, and while she wanted to feel useful to the Sprout, she very much still wanted that dragon hoard in her own room, having only brought a few spare crystals to show to Cylan.
« These are pretty ! Where did you find them ? »
Fen looked up, surprised by Sera having sneaked up on her. She walked up to the little pile and picked one up. « They seem familiar… Hang on, you went back into that place ? It's like half a day away ! »
Fen smiled proudly at her, before realizing something. « Wait… Half a day ? I thought it was like an hour at most ! How the heck did we get so far away ? »
« We carried you guys while you were asleep. Ethan's been using some of his spores to keep you two in check, they didn't want you to know the way here », Sera answered, looking away. « I'm sorry about that, by the way. You guys have been nice to me, but they don't really respect Commons here »
« Yeah… At least their leader's giving us a shot, right ? »
« I guess so… Anyway, your turn now. How didja get there ? If you can use dig, can you use Teleport too ? ». Sera leaned in closer, poking at the Nidoran's paws. « I don't think you've walked a lot today even though it was far ! »
« What ? No, I can't use Teleport, why would I ever be able to do that ? », Fen grumbled, rubbing her head. « I just found another entrance, they're like portals you jump in to get to the cave network »
« What's a portal ? ». Fen and Sera turned around, seeing Lumin walking up to them, alongside a small crowd of Pokemon further away who were still enjoying the music that filled his surroundings. Fen smiled, pawing at the ground for him to sit.
« It's like a door that leads to a different.. », She stopped, realizing from their puzzled expressions that she probably needed to start from a point they already knew well. « Do you two know about the Legendary Pokemon Palkia ? »
Both nodded. Sera was about to speak up, but Fen quickly interrupted her.
« So, Palkia controls space and can easily move from one place to another, like if he used Teleport, but he instead uses portals ! A portal is something that anyone can use to get to a different place, far away from where they were before, but it'll always be the same two places where the portals are »
As she observed the two mulling over what she said, Lumin seemed to simply nod, apparently content with the explanation. Sera, as usual, went further into the topic.
« So you found a portal that leads back into the underground ? Didn't you say they were Houndours around ? ». Her ears drooped in worry. «Can't they come and attack us ? »
« Nah, the entire Sprout's hidden by Cylan's illusion. I think. He never properly explained how it worked, but if we couldn't see it before he decided to talk to us, I'm sure other Pokemon also couldn't see it. Besides, it's like a maze in there ! »
The Nidoran lifted a paw, interrupting Lumin whose mouth was already open. « A maze is a place you can get easily lost in and forget your path. Now, I wasn't done. I went back to that spot because there was plenty of stuff to gather there. I'd like you two to keep it a secret until we're sure that we trust the Pokemon here, okay ? »
Fen looked sternly at the both of them, who nodded in silence. This place was incredible compared to the wilderness from before, but intelligence came at the cost of distrust, and she wasn't willing to lose something she found to someone she wasn't certain wouldn't backstab her.
..Then again, can she even trust these two in the first place ?
« Something's on your mind ». The comment took Fen by surprise, and she looked at Lumin who was sitting next to her.
« Lou used to have the same expression you just did right now. She said it was her thinking about something important, and that she wanted to talk about it. So, talk. »
Fen chuckled. « I'm not Lou, but you got a point. It's just… Why are you two here exactly ? With me, I mean. Like, we've got the entire town to explore, tons of new Pokemon to see, and also a place to sleep in.. at least temporarily. So why are you two here, hanging out with a… a Nidoran, right. »
As she said that, she started idly drawing on the dirt, looking down. Sera sat down on her other side, patting her head.
« Hey, it's as you say, we can't trust the Pokemon here yet, right ? This ''town'' is awesome, and I can talk with all the Pokemon instead of being sneaky all the time, it's a dream come true ! ». The Eevee then lowered her voice. « But I don't think they know what they're talking about for half the things they say. They were saying you wanted to poison the farms this morning... »
« And why wouldn't I do that ? », Fen replied sarcastically, earning a slap on the side from Sera.
« Because you're too smart for that ! You don't know how to fight, and you're a worse runner than any of us, I'm pretty sure you're still hurt from the Houndours too ! You'd never plan something so risky in that state ! »
Fen looked at her incredulously. So the Eevee really just didn't think she'd hurt other Pokemon because she'd not be guaranteed to get away with it ? That's essentially saying she expects Fen to do that, were she smarter… She sighed, realizing that there was work to be done both for the Pokemon in the Sprout, but also to get some more trust with her… partners ? Friends ? Let's go with acquaintances for the moment.
« I don't think Fen wants to hurt anyone ». Lumin's voice caught her by surprise. « She went on to find Pecha Berries for the Pokemon she hurt, and she did the same thing when we met too. »
Fen's eyes welled up… Alright, maybe one of them was a friend.
« Report for the day, sir ! »
Cylan looked at the Volbeat, addressing him with a weary smile. « Seeing your cheerfulness at the end of the day is always a pleasure, Julian. Though it appears you forgot to turn off your tail. Respecting the sleep cycles is important ! »
Julian blushed, quickly fixing that mistake before presenting the Honorable with a Leppa berry. « Here, sir. The usual, as ordered ». The Zoroark's smile grew wider as he chomped down immediately on it.
« What a pleasure… If only these could last forever. Have we made any progress with the planting of Leppa berries ? I remember they wanted to try a colder climate, in one of the hothouses ». As he turned to face the Volbeat, he could see the large frown on his face.
« Sir, I'm not a farmer, thank you ». The venom in his voice got Cylan by surprise, who mumbled an apology. « I'm here for the gathering report, as I have been for the last twenty-eight weeks. Would you like to hear said report ? »
« Yes. Sorry, Julian. I was only talking to myself ». Cylan scratched his head, before motioning for him to speak. « I'm not used to you running here this late, so I presume someone came last minute ? »
« Not quite, sir. Today has simply been a very fruitful day is all, we've gained mostly construction materials from the usual gathering crew, mainly sticks and leaves with some large stones ready for carving. A new bush of Persim berries has been found, hidden in the ruins, though it's uncertain what Kutz was doing there, so close to the Sprout »
« Persim berries are always good for morale. I think Noelle will appreciate the find, she'd been feeling a bit dazed after the rescue mission. As for Kutz's unusual choice of gathering, I'll question him tomorrow. Anything else ? »
Julian nodded. « Two of the three newcomers came to help out. The Eevee, Sera, managed to dig up some provisions hidden by a Common. Seemed to mostly be regular bananas though, so she was given permission to bring a few back with her »
Cylan scratched his chin. « She still found out about a Pokemon's stash though. That's a valuable skill to have, though we'll need to teach her safety precautions when entering Common territory... »
« If I may continue ? ». The Zoroark sighed, letting Julian take the lead again. « The second newcomer was the Common Nidoran. She seemed to have a pretty good understanding of the task at hand, and managed to find a rather large haul of sticks, pebbles, berries and even cloth »
Cylan's eyes lit up over the find. This was much more than expected even from veteran gatherers, especially finding cloth !
« She has denied giving any information as to where he has obtained all this, but promises to keep getting more over time », he continued. « It also seems that she has plans to see you tomorrow about a gem she found, though I have no further information to give you. I believe that this Nidoran should work for the gatherers. Perhaps it is through her unusual digging abilities that she found so much »
« You may be right, or it could be a fluke. Her refusing to tell us where she found all this seems pretty suspicious to me, it might have been her own stash accumulated over the years. Thank you for the heads up for tomorrow, I'll see what I can do. You're dismissed, Julian »
The Volbeat lowered his head before buzzing away, closing the door on the way. The Honorable has a few quirks that come with his intelligence, and distrust of newcomers is one of them, though he was really confused as to why he seemed so cautious about the Nidoran. The Shinx seemed to have been given much more freedom already, what with not being under constant observation, but her ? Something was going on, but Julian had no interest in digging deeper into it, all he cared about was having his place in the Sprout, and he wouldn't risk that for the world, nor an unknown Nidoran.
Elsewhere, the trio had gone back to the shack they now lived in. The night had fully set in, and they were all tired from their respective workload from the day, but it didn't stop Lumin from gathering more leaves to refurbish his bed. Sera, meanwhile, seemed perfectly content with her current sleeping spot, that being her slouched on top of Fen while the poor Nidoran was trying to figure out an excuse to leave.
« You know, we literally have the space for ourselves, do you really need to sleep on me ? I'm sure you'd like a leaf bed, Arceus knows Lumin did when he tried it ! »
The Eevee put a paw under her chin. « I've never really thought about it… naaah, I'm good here. You're warm ! And comfy ! »
« I have spikes ! », Fen shot back. « How is that comfortable ! »
« They aren't sharp, and I've got enough fur to not even sense them all that much. Quit complaining, I'm going to keep doing it ! »
« Usually when someone complains, the others listen ! »
« I'm listening to you ! It's just that you can live with it ! »
A loud snarl suddenly could be heard, interrupting the two's bickering. They turned towards the sound, which appeared to come from the path Lumin had gone to. As more seconds pass, the two begin to worry, deciding to stealthily get closer and find out what happened.
« You can come. I'd like to speak with you three ». The voice from behind the trees surprised them, it was completely calm, if a bit… excited ? After a moment of hesitation, Fen moved first, closely followed by a frightened Sera. When they came into view of the unknown Pokemon, Fen froze in place, recognizing who was sitting on top of Lumin's back. A mystical Pokemon with curious eyes and the nonchalance that only Legendaries could have.
« C-Celebi ? »