Change of Scenery
by MalwareBirb404Crash, Cinder, and Hickory sat around a table outside of a cafe in the town square, as Beacon had suggested the three go somewhere to get to know eachother better. Cinder wanted to step out of the guild for some air anyway, and figured that getting to know the Bayleef a bit more couldn’t hurt. The explorers both sat in silence as each had a cup of Chesto coffee sitting in front of them, all while Crash glanced between the two while stuffing his face with a Cheri berry muffin.
“ Sure are a lot more trees out here… ” Hickory awkwardly said, as he looked around the town square. “ Quite a bit more pokemon around here too… ”
“Yeah, a bit different from your village huh?” Cinder replied.
“ Shoh… whut made youh wanna to come here amyways? ” Crash asked with his mouth full of food.
Hickory glanced at the Scraggy before looking at Cinder. Acknowledging Crash, he gave an awkward smile as he thought back to when Beacon had told him about the “arrangement” that Guildmaster Vernal had with the dark type.
“I guess that explains a bit…” Hickory thought, remembering Crash’s interactions with the Basin Hounds.
“ Well… Explorers have always been good to my village… And I’ve always wanted to be one since I was little, but my parents were against that idea.”
“ Houw coum? ” Crash asked, taking another bite of his muffin.
“The reason they gave was me being the oldest child, having to set an example… Stuff like that… ” The grass type said in a polite, but slightly annoyed tone.
“ But… I always felt like there was something more to it than that… ”
…
Hickory stood in the middle of the field, absentmindedly gazing into the distance. It had been awhile since the trio of explorers had dealt with the bandits lurking around the farm, and the grass type couldn’t seem to get the event out of his head. He shook himself free of the harness he wore which was connected to a plow. Taking a widened stance, standing straight and leaning back, the long leaf atop the Bayleef’s head quickly sharpened before Hickory swung it back and forth, causing smaller bladed leaves to fly off across the field.
“Could still stand to be a bit more focused…” He thought. “Maybe if I-”
“Hey! Hickory!” A voice called out, cutting off his thoughts.
“Hick! You listening?!” The voice yelled again, causing the Bayleef to jump. Hickory quickly turned around to see Maple’s stern face glaring at him.
“ Did a Hypno scramble your brain or something? ” His sister asked in an annoyed tone.
“You’ve been staring off like that a lot lately… And don’t think I haven’t noticed you practising moves when we’re supposed to be working.” The shorter Bayleef said as she stomped closer.
“ Sorry about that… ” Hickory said, sliding his harness back on as he let out a somewhat nervous laugh.
“What’s with you? This about that whole ‘running off and becoming an explorer’ thing?” Maple asked, a bitter tone clearly present in her voice.
“ …Maple? Do you ever feel like there’s something more in your life that you could do…? A dream that you’ve always had, but it’s just ever so out of reach… ”
“Where are you going with this?” Maple asked, tilting her head.
“I want more than just… this… I want to go out and help other pokemon… ” Hickory sighed.
“Well we still need your help too, big guy…” Maple said, with a smirk.
“ I get that… But I feel like there’s someone else out there that needs me too… ”
“Whatever, let’s just get this done.” Maple huffed, as she walked away.
As the two grass types continued their work in the field, Hickory couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. He’d occasionally glance over at his sister, who had a lasting scowl on her face ever since their earlier conversation.
“ You’re mad at me aren’t you… ”
“ Well I’m sorry for not wanting my brother to go off and get himself killed.” Maple snapped.
“ You’re not gonna change my mind about this… ” The younger Bayleef sighed as she stopped pulling her plow across the ground.
“And besides, you’re already nearly done with your half. There’s gonna be a lot more shit to do around here if you leave.”
“I suppose that could’ve gone better…” Hickory thought.
“ Hey, Maple… ”
“Hm?”
“ How about I- ”
“ Look, it’s… fine. I got it…” Maple said in a gloomy tone. Hickory watched as his sister slinked off, dragging her plow along with her.
Later that day, Hickory stood beside the barn and stared at the three Chikorita surrounding him. The trio of grass types gave their most intimidating glares to their older brother, trying to look as tough as they could… which wasn’t really much at all.
“You’re all trying way too hard to look scary.” Hickory said, trying not to laugh. The three Chikorita pouted in unison before glancing at each other and smiling…
“ What in the world are they doing out there…? ” A Meganium muttered, walking up to a window from inside the barn. Glancing outside, she saw the trio of leaf pokemon laughing as they dogpiled Hickory. Juniper shook her head and opened the window.
“What are you doing?” She sternly asked, raising a brow. The four froze and stared up at their mother, each of the grass types giving a nervous grin.
“Scatter!” One of the Chikorita yelled before the three hopped off their brother and made a break for it.
“ Hey mom… what’s up…? ” Hickory awkwardly asked as he stood back up.
“You know I don’t like it when you get them all riled up like that.”
“ Sorry… ” Hickory said in a polite, but somewhat somber tone.
“I’ll go try to calm ‘em down… The Bayleef said, glancing off to the side. “But they need to learn how to protect themselves.”
“Hickory, we’ve been over this. You’re not-”
“I’ve been training more and-”
“Neglecting your chores…”
“I-”
“And even if you have been training, this doesn’t change the fact that what you did when the Basin Hounds came by was irresponsible.” Juniper said, raising her voice.
Hickory lowered his head as the stern look on his mother’s face was all the leafy dinosaur needed to know that he should probably stop arguing… But something inside of him welled up as he straightened his neck and took a step forward, looking her dead in the eyes.
“Then let me show you I’m ready!” The grass type loudly said. “Battle me, and let me show you!”
The Meganium was taken aback by her son’s challenge, but soon composed herself and sighed.
“…Meet me in the village square in an hour.”
As Hickory watched his mother walk away from the window, all the courage the grass type had summoned faded away as the realization of what he’d just done started to set in.
“ Dear Arceus, what have I done…? ”
…
“You see, my mother used to be an explorer…” Hickory said.
“Really?” Cinder asked, surprised.
“For this guild no less… she was one of the highest ranking they had at the time too… But she quit while I was younger. She never really went into why, but… I always thought something may have happened… ”
…
“Are you sure ‘bout this Juniper?” A Cacturne asked the Megainum. The two stood outside one of the recently repaired wooden houses that lined the center of the village.
“I want to see just what Hickory’s capable of. It doesnt change the fact that I don’t want him leaving… ”
The cactus pokemon frowned and shook his head. “ That was a long time ago… You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened…”
“ He still shouldn’t have to go though that… ”
It was late in the afternoon, and a good number of the village’s inhabitants were gathered to see the battle between Hickory and Juniper. It wasn’t uncommon for a few battles to take place here every now and then. Most of which were done as a way to settle mild disputes, or for somewhat friendly bets that occurred when a couple of the town’s pokemon got bored. Either way, the villagers found these battles entertaining, so long as things didn’t go too far.
All eyes were on Hickory and Maple as they slowly approached the village square. “I still can’t believe you challenged mom to a battle!” Maple remarked, as she glanced around at the villagers.
“What the hell were you thinking?!”
“ Honestly, I don’t think I was… ”
“I’m kinda tempted to just whip you upside the head right now.” Maple said, summoning a vine-like tendril from under the leaves around her neck.
As they walked further into the village square, a thick tension hung in the air as Hickory and Juniper slowly approached the large, open patch of dirt in the center of the village. The two grass types stood on either end, each staring at each other. Contrary to Juniper’s steely gaze, Hickory’s eye’s showed an air of uncertainty. He watched as his mother straightened her stance, and took a deep breath.
“I will ask you this once… Are you sure you want to go through with this…? ”
Hickory felt his body tense up, insensitively taking half a step back. As the full realization of what he was about to do came down on the Bayleef like a ton of bricks. There was a slight cold feeling in his body as he stared at the pokemon before him.
“She seems so different now…” He thought. “She seems… focused… … … and I should be too…” Hickory then took a step forward, slightly grinding his foot into the ground as he did.
“Yes…”
Juniper and Hickory both opened their mouths as green spheres of energy began to form. “Just calm down… and remember why you’re doing this…” Hickory thought, charging his Energy Ball.
The two moves soon collided, resulting in a small explosion as grass types simultaneously released their attacks. A large cloud of smoke stood between Hickory and Juniper, blocking the Bayleef’s vision.
Feeling that Juniper would use the cover to attack, Hickory created a wall of light in front of him. However, to his surprise when the smoke cleared Juniper could be seen with a flurry of leaves whipping around her in a circular motion. “So we both had the same idea to guard…” Hickory thought.
“But using Leaf Storm like that… How can I- well… I guess that’s something… ”
Hickory lowered his Light Screen as Juniper began to walk forwards. Using Energy Ball back to back, taking out groups of leaves from the spinning barrier. The Meganium then entered a sprint as she released the tempest of glowing leaves towards the ground, dodging another Energy Ball as she did so.
Juniper then made a hard stop before charging forwards, slamming into Hickory and knocking him down beside a few spectators. The leaves around Hickory’s neck then began to glow as the foliage covered dinosaur slowly stood up.
“ Come on, come on… ” He muttered to himself, wishing that his move would replenish him faster. But the next thing he knew, two vine-like tendrils stemming from under the petals on Juniper’s neck wrapped around the base of his own, as well as around his leg.
Looking as if she were waiting to see what Hickory would do, Juniper hesitated for a bit before yanking both vines down. Once he was on the ground again, the Meganium continued to hold on as she repeated her tactic of charging forwards.
“It doesn’t seem like she plans on letting go…” Hickory thought, trying to get himself loose. “…Wait, I think I might be able to use this!”
Leaping into the air, Juniper was about to come down on top of the bayleef. Seeing this, Hickory turned his head to use energy ball and landed a direct hit on the Meganium’s underside.
“Now’s my chance…!” Hickory thought, noticing the vines lose their grip. The Bayleef got up as quickly as he could, running forwards and launching several sharpened leaves in the process. His efforts proved to be in vain however, as Juniper quickly swung her vines to block the attack before striking back at Hickory.
Maple and the crowd continued to watch as her brother and mother exchanged attacks. Hickory would make his move, repeatedly trying to find an opening. And Juniper would block the Bayleef’s advances, countering his attacks accordingly.
“Hickory’s really going at it…” Maple said under her breath.
Watching as Hickory and Juniper continue to fight. Maple noticed her brother was taking a more defensive stance this time, deciding it would be in his best interest to use Light Screen to form cover from Juniper’s ‘Leaf Storm Barrier’ in order for him to heal. But the moment he started, Hickory once again found himself bound by vines. The plant-like appendages reached through the barrier, entangling his body. The Bayleef felt himself lose his footing as he was yanked forwards. As Juniper pulled him closer she charged forwards and slammed into him, once again knocking Hickory to the ground.
“She’s not gonna let me recover…” The bayleef thought, as he steadily got up. He then glanced up at his mother, trying to focus his gaze.
“I can’t let this end now…”
Catching his breath, Hickory then unleashed a volley of razor leaves as he began to run around Juniper. As he did so, Hickory steadily made his way closer to try and close the gap between the two of them.
“Just a bit closer…” The leafy dinosaur thought, watching as Juniper blocked most of the bladed leaves with her vines. That is until Hickory jumped to the side, forming a green sphere of energy in his mouth and launching it forwards.
Landing a direct hit, Hickory took advantage of the situation and fired off another Energy Ball. Juniper however seemed to have been anticipating this, as the meganium whipped around and smacked the second energy ball with her vines. Hickory had no time to react as his attack was now sent hurtling back at him.
The crowd stared in silence at Hickory, the bayleef seemingly on the verge of collapsing. Watching as he’d just gotten back up after being struck in the face with his own energy ball. The yellow sauropod was disoriented, but Hickory managed to regain his footing as a green aura flowed around his body. Juniper’s gaze soon changed from cold and focused, to something more soft and concerned.
“ Hickory, that’s enough… We’re done here… ”
“ No… Not… until… we finish this… ” The bayleef said in between breaths.
Though Hickory had to admit that he was getting tired. The grass type had spent a considerable amount of his energy without making much progress. He was covered in scratches, and still felt a bit dizzy from the last attack he took. But despite his fatigue, the Bayleef felt something coursing through him. Taking this newfound drive, Hickory began to use Energy Ball one last time as he channeled the extra power into his attack.
“Let’s make this one count…”
That evening, a disheartened Hickory sat covered in bandages next to the barn as he stared off into the field. All the Bayleef could do was think about the end of his earlier battle.
Overgrow. A unique trait belonging to his kind as well as a few other species of grass types, sometimes granting the wielder extra strength when they’re in a bind. However it is also something Hickory had no experience utilizing. As the final attack he used in his battle with Juniper had become too much for the Bayleef to handle within the space of the village square.
He could feel much of this extra energy being poured into his attack. So much so that the energy ball Hickory made was a good size larger than normal, making it harder for the bayleef to hold together. Realizing this, Hickory closed his eyes and quickly tilted his head down before firing his attack at the ground.
A loud bang, and a bright flash of green were the last things the crowd experienced before everything went quiet. No one took their eyes off the fallen Bayleef as several whispers and murmurs floated through the crowd of pokemon.
“ Oh Hick… ” Maple mumbled, shaking her head. She slowly walked over to her brother, helping him up as Juniper approached the two…
“ Arceus dammit! ” Hickory spat, stomping his foot in frustration. That is before he quickly sat up, scanning his surroundings and making sure the triplets didn’t hear him. The last thing the bayleef needed right now was to be hounded by his little siblings for saying “bad words” out loud. But the thought of such a thing happening brought a smile to the Bayleef’s face, as Hickory couldn’t help but find their attempts at teasing him comical.
“ Still trying to convince me to stay, huh…? ” Hickory asked no one in particular, looking up at the orange tinted evening sky. He sighed and looked back down at the field.
“ But this is something I have to do… ”
…
“Well, did something happen? ” Crash pryingly asked, finishing his muffin.
“What?” The Scraggy asked, being met with a glare from Cinder. “ We were both thinking it… ”
Hickory gave an uncomfortable sigh as he sank down. “ Well… ”
“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. ” Cinder told the Bayleef, as her eyes crept towards Crash.
“No, I- We’re going to be partners now… I want to… ” Hickory said with a somewhat awkward smile, before the look on his face became a slightly more pained one.
“ As for what happened… I found that out a while before I left… ”
…
In a wooden house close to the barn, Juniper sat inside staring out the window. She could see Hickory off in the distance, as he seemed to be reflecting on the battle between the two.
“ So I take it things didn’t go well… ” Juniper heard a somewhat gruff voice behind her say. The Meganium sighed and turned to her husband, another Megainium named Cedar.
“Even if things had gone better, I still wouldn’t be happy about it…”
Cedar shook his head slightly. “Well you know how that boy gets… And I don’t think that’s gonna change any time soon.” Juniper glanced down as her face softened into a more saddened look.
“ I know. And that’s what worries me… ”
Hickory continued to sit in silence as a gentle breeze rolled by. “ I guess I would miss having moments to myself like this… ” He thought, starting to doze off… That is until he felt a sharp stinging across his back, snapping him out of his drowsy state.
“OW!” Hickory yelled, whipping his head around. “WHAT THE FU- h-hey… Hey Maple… ”
He watched as his sister retracted the vine-like appendage back under her neck’s leaves. “ Can we… talk? ”
“ Yeah… sure… but did you have to hit me?”
“Maybe.” Maple said with a smirk, before her expression changed to something more sincere.
“ Did you… really think you could beat mom…? ”
“ I didn’t even think she’d accept my challenge. ”
“If you ask me, it seemed more like mom was trying to test you.”
“ Yeah… that’s what kind of worries me… ”
“Well after that stunt you pulled with the Basin Hounds-”
“ You’re never going to let me live that down, are you…? ” Hickory groaned, lowering his head.
“And dad was kinda annoyed when you called that team here for-” Maple started to say, before cutting herself off. As she noticed the look on her brother’s face softening from a slightly irritated expression, to a more somber one.
“Hey… I didn’t mean-”
“ No, no it’s fine… ” The bayleef said, giving a somewhat forced smile that soon faded away. The two quietly sat together for a while before Hickory spoke up.
“ The Basin Hounds… those guys that came by the farm… They’re not the first to show up around here, and they won’t be the last… I want to get guys like that before they have the chance to do things to places like this, or anywhere else.”
Hickory inhaled, slightly flicking the leaf atop his head as he turned towards his sister. “ I don’t expect you to understand… and I don’t expect you to change your mind… But I’m not going to let this stop me. ”
An air of tension lingered over the kitchen as the family of grass types sat around a large, rectangular wooden table. Hickory and Juniper would occasionally look up from their plates to glance at each other, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Maple or Cedar.
“How come everyone’s acting all weird?” One of the triplets asked, breaking the silence.
“It’s nothing.” Juniper bluntly said before she resumed eating. Hickory’s brow furrowed, as something about his mother’s response had struck a chord with the bayleef.
“I wouldn’t really call it nothing…” Hickory thought as he was eating. He didn’t consider himself to be an angry pokemon, not often being one to show off his ire or contempt. As the most anger he dared show was tensing his body, and grinding his foot against the floor.
Picking up that something was wrong, Maple tried to change the subject. “ Uh… H-hey… how about we-”
“Aw come on, I wanted the last one!” Spruce cut in, leaning up against his brother as he was seemingly trying to reach for something. Maple rolled her eyes, this was nothing new to the Bayleef as her and Hickory’s younger brothers had a habit of fighting over grepa berries… and just fighting over dumb things in general.
“ You said you’d stop doing this. ” The chikorita groaned.
“Battle me for it, and it’s all yours” Pine said in a mocking tone, the other leaf pokemon holding up the yellow berry with a vine from his neck.
“Fine then, let’s do it! I wanted to test out-”
“Boys!” Juniper said, raising her voice.
The two froze and looked at each other before Pine lowered the berry. “ Split it…? ”
Juniper sighed as she glanced towards Hickory, the Bayleef having the sinking feeling he was in for it now.
After dinner, Juniper led Hickory outside and away from the rest of the family. “ It’s already hard enough getting them to be still for a few moments as it is… ” The Meganium muttered, rubbing her temple with the tips of her vines. “I thought I told you to stop showing your little brothers those things!” Juniper scolded.
Hickory narrowed his gaze and took a step forward. “I only taught them that stuff so they could protect themselves when-”
“No!”
“ You keep saying that… But you never give me a real reason!” Hickory shouted before quickly recoiling back.
“ It’s always… ‘ You’re not going anywhere, you need to set an example for the others… ’ or ‘ You’re not ready… ’ and ‘ We’re not talking about this now ’ … ”
“You’re still so sure of yourself aren’t you…” Juniper sighed as she glanced away from Hickory, who stared at her with watery but determined eyes.
“ Just… stop beating around the bush and please give me a reason… that’s all I ask… ”
“…”
“ Mom… please… just tell me. ”
“…”
“ Fine then- ” Hickory said, frustration and a hint of sadness present in his voice as he slowly lowered his head as he turned to walk away.
“There’s still a lot about the world that you don’t know about… ” Juniper cut him, a pained tone present in her voice.
“ Like how certain pokemon react to being confronted… and what they’ll do when they feel they have no other option… ”
…
“ It all had to do with her partner… ” Hickory said as a somber look crept over his face.
“ Holly… that was her name… She… got killed on a mission… and from what my mom said, I think she always felt like she wasn’t strong enough to prevent it from happening… ”
Cinder was taken aback by what the Bayleef had said, the sienna colored fox shrinking her posture as a chill ran down her body. Given what had transpired over the past few days, the fire type was met with a familiar and unpleasant feeling. “ Oh… I’m sorry to hear that… ”
“ Apparently I remind my mom a lot of her… ” Hickory quietly said before wiping his eye with a vine.
There was a long, somewhat tense silence between the three pokemon until Hickory spoke up. “ Well… Sorry if I brought down the mood there…” The grass type said, giving an awkward grin as he tried to change the current mood of the metaphorical room.
Crash sat with his arms crossed, as something inside of him wasn’t sitting right. “So what happened next?” The Scraggy bluntly asked, almost as if he were trying to change the topic.
“Oh, right…” Hickory said, being caught a bit off guard by the dark type’s rather forward and sudden question.
…
Over the next few days, Maple noticed that something seemed different about Hickory. The bayleef was much quieter and closed off than normal, often appearing like he was either deep in thought, or looking for something. A more serious expression displayed across Hickory’s face as he did his chores around the farm. Occasionally stopping in the middle of his work, mumbling to himself and sometimes making small gestures with his vines.
“Now what are you up to…?” Maple thought, the bayleef raising a brow as she continued watching her brother.
It was evening, and Hickory was sitting in his room as he stared down at the paper in front of him. The bayleef had an outstretched vine wrapped around a pencil, which was currently being used to repeatedly tap the side of the wooden desk.
“ Why is writing so hard… ” Hickory quietly groaned. The yellow sauropod took a deep breath and sighed. “ Okay… here we go… ”
Dear Mom, Dad, Mapl
“
Wait, no…
” Hickory said to himself, crossing out what he had written down.
Dear everyone, by the time you read this, I will be on my way to Timberglade. I apologize for leaving in this manner, but this is something I have to do. There are other places out there, like our town, that bandit groups feel are easy targets. I want to be able to stop them before they even get the chance to make their move.
I understand that this is something that goes against what you’ve expected of me, but this is something I truly believe I should do. I love you all, and I promise I’ll be back sometime.
– Sincerely, Hickory.
“Is this good enough…? Maple was always better at writing… ” The Bayleef thought, glaring down at the paper.
“ Trying to give me another reason to stay…?”
Early the next morning, before the sun had even begun to rise. Hickory sat awake in bed, looking through an old saddlebag he had found in the barn.
“ I think this should be enough ‘till I get to Timberglade… ” Hickory said to himself, using his vines to prod though the various items and berries sitting inside.
“ Right… now for the hard part… ” He muttered.
Hickory then reached for a paper that sat on the nearby desk. Carrying it in his mouth, he put the bag over his back before quietly making his way across the wooden floorboards in his room, inching ever closer to the door. The bayleef slowly opened it and peered into the main area of the house, checking for any sign of his parents.
The living space was fairly furnished, having two different sized, somewhat worn couches on either side of a small table that sat in the middle of the room. It had an overall cozy feel to it, which was made all the more present to the Bayleef as he continued his mission. “Egh… what am I even doing…?” Hickory thought as a feeling of sudden uneasiness came over him, almost as if the house itself was telling him not to leave.
Glancing across the room into the open kitchen, there was still no one in sight. But this still did nothing to ease the sense of looming dread. “Just set the letter on the table, and leave… Dammit, why is this so hard…?” The grass type thought, slowly walking towards the table. As he steadily placed down the note, a sudden sound of creaking floorboards coming from behind caused Hickory to jump.
“So you’re still going through with this, huh…?” Maple quietly said, walking towards her brother.
“I have to… I can just… feel that something is going to happen. ”
“…You know mom and dad are gonna be pissed, right?”
“Well, I-”
“ Look… As much as I still don’t like it… ” She said, glaring off to the side. “I’m not gonna stop you…” Hickory looked as if he were about to cry before a more assured expression appeared on his face.
“Good luck… I mean it… ”
Hickory nodded before slowly turning to walk towards the front door.
The walk to Timberglade was a bit longer than he thought I’d be. Hickory often had to remind himself not to stop and take in the sights after the open fields transitioned to the more tree-laden forest, as there was a chance his mother was following him. She knew her way around this area very well, no doubt being able to catch up to and find the Bayleef if she tried. Without stopping, Hickory used his vines to take a map out from his bag as he glanced around at the surrounding forest.
“I hope whoever they partner me with is better at navigating…”
“ Wait… ” Hickory muttered as he looked back at the map and sighed. “ Please be this way… ”
After what felt like an eternity, the sun finally had begun to creep over the horizon. Hickory found himself stumbling through the brush and into what looked like a town that had been built into the forest itself. As he looked around, a massive tree nearby quickly grabbed the yellow saropod’s attention. Noticing a few pokemon wearing green scarfs hanging around the outside the tree told Hickory all he needed to know.
“ I’m here… I’m actually here… Think they could maybe at least put up a sign or something… ”
…
“You came in through the back of the town…?” Cinder asked, tilting her head.”
“ I’m now aware… ” Hickory replied, cringing in mild embarrassment. However, Cinder soon watched as the Bayleef’s mild shame shifted into further discomfort.
“You doing alright there?”
“It’s just, the more I look back on it now… I guess what I did was pretty selfish… It’s like now I have to prove that this was the right decision…” Hickory said, as the leaf on his head began to droop.
“Look, if you’re feeling all guilty about leaving home. That’s gonna go away real quick after a day out in a mystery dungeon.” Crash said as he got up from the table, not bothering to hide the frustration in his voice.
“So whaddya say we get going. I know you were pretty eager to leave earlier weren’t ya powder keg… ”
Cinder and Hickory watched as Crash walked off towards the guild. “Uh-”
“ Don’t mind him Hickory, he’s just being a dick again… ”
“Again…?” The Bayleef thought.
“I don’t know, he… seemed kind of upset… ” He acknowledged, the grass type tilting his head.
“Crash’s dickishness carries over to whatever mood he’s in.” Cinder responded in a somewhat aggravated tone. “ Since we’re a team now, you might wanna to get used to it… ”
“Well… They’re not exactly what I had in mind…” Hickory thought as he leaned his head back slightly.
“ But you can make this work… you have too…”
“Everyone around here looks so gloomy…” Hickory said, entering the massive tree alongside Cinder.
“Well something… happened… a few days ago. Thought Beacon would’ve told you.” Cinder took a deep breath and turned towards the Bayleef.
“There was a mission to find and catch Team Raiders… and as you can guess, it didn’t go well… ” The vulpix said, glancing toads Crash.
As the two continued to follow the Scraggy inside the guild, Cinder noticed Char at the far end of the lobby. The silver Ninetales’ fur was a bit messier than normal, having lost a bit of it’s natural shine. His tails just barely hung above the floor as he slowly came back presumably from behind the guild. Char looked… tired . At least that is what Cinder could gather.
But as soon as the Ninetales noticed the two, he perked up as they came closer. “Hey Cin, how- Well, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here.” He said, turning his attention towards Hickory.
“And here I thought you said-”
“ About that… ” The bayleef said before catching a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, the Bayleef could see his mother hastily approaching.
“Oh no… no, no, no-” Hickory thought, internally panicking as he instinctively, but ever so slightly backed away.
“I can not believe you just snuck off like this! Coming here no less!” The Meganium yelled, marching up towards Hickory. “And after I explicitly said-”
Juniper then cut herself off, as she slowly glanced down at the green scarf and guild badge around her son’s neck. “ …You… already registered… ”
“…Mom, I-”
“ You’re- … You, where’s Vernal?” Juniper said, turning towards Char.
“I’m not quitting.” Hickory firmly said, stepping up to the Meganium. “If this is about me running off like that, I’m sorry. But I’m not qui-”
“Yes you are!”
“If I had told you what I was doing, what difference would it have made?!” Hickory shouted back before quickly recoiling, and taking a few steps back.
The two grass types silently stared at each other. Not particularly noticing that their argument was starting to gather attention from the other guild members.
“ Uh… excuse me… ” Char hesitantly said, trying not to stir more conflict.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Juniper… would you?”
“…So you know of me?” The meganium said, trying to regain her composure. Char nodded as a more somber expression came over Juniper’s face.
“ Then you’re aware of what happened…? ”
“Yes… I am… a bit too well now actually… ” He said, glancing away. Juniper tilted her head as Char took a deep breath.
“ Can we… talk for a bit…? ”
Char and Juniper soon made their way up to the first of few platforms stationed along the guild’s winding staircase, where they still had a good view of Cinder and Hickory below.
Juniper sighed. “Holly was much like Hickory… She had a good heart, but that Roserade… she was… cocky… ‘ There’s no need to worry ’ she’d always say… We were some of the best the guild had to offer…”
“ And you felt like you couldn’t do anything about it…? ” Char asked as his tails drooped down.
Juniper nodded. “It also put a few things into perspective…” The grass type said, glancing down at Hickory. “I don’t want him to just go and throw everything away…”
“ I understand what you mean… ” He replied.
“You know, at first I didn’t want Cinder doing this either… Arcus knows I still worry about her… But when I look at her now… I think she may have needed this… ” The fox said as he looked over at the newly formed team.
“And maybe Hickory needs this too.”
Juniper turned back towards the two, watching as Cinder and Hickory conversed amongst themselves, before turning back toward the silver Ninetales.
“Yes, what he did was selfish, but… I can tell he did it for a selfless reason…”
“ Perhaps… ” Juniper hesitantly replied, sounding deep in thought as her antennae started to twitch.
“However… I’d like to keep speaking with you.” She said, turning her attention back to Char. “There is clearly something you have on your mind…”
“Wonder how much longer they’re gonna talk for?” Cinder asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Hickory replied, glancing up at the platform. He then began to pay attention to some of the other pokemon amongst the guild, waves of murmurs spreading throughout the various guild members.
“ They sure are pretty talkative all the sudden… ” The bayleef noted.
After a while, Juniper and Char came back down and stood before the two younger pokemon. Hickory straightened his posture as his mother appeared to be waiting for him to speak.
“I know you think I’m not ready, but I’m ready… But I want to do this…”
There was a long pause before Juniper hesitantly responded. “ …I can’t believe I’m saying this. … You can… stay… ”
Hickory was speechless. He just stood there, the bayleef unable to believe what he was hearing. He took a step back, his mouth agape as he stared her in the eyes.
“However-” Juniper said, holding up a vine. “You should expect me to keep tabs on you.”
“ I guess that’s fair… ” Hickory sheepishly said, using a vine to rub the back of neck.
“But thank you… for letting me do this…” The two grass types slowly walked towards each other, Hickory leaning against Juniper’s neck as she wrapped her vines over him.
“ What’d you say to her…? ” Cinder quietly asked, leaning towards Char.
“Don’t worry about it too much…” He said, holding up a paw. “Just make sure the two of you do your best out there.”
Char then looked back at Juniper as she and Hickory said their goodbyes. As she sauntered off, it didn’t take long for the silver Nintales to catch up to her.
“Is there something else you needed?” Juniper asked, noticing the fox.
“ I think those two will work well together… ” Char replied, turning his head and staring back into the guild.
“I’ll admit, Cinder can be a bit… rough around the edges sometimes… But I have a good feeling about this… they’ll look after eachother. And in the end, that’s what matters… ”
As Juniper left the Timberglade Guild, she turned back and saw Hickory, as he and Cinder gave each other looks of assurance. Much like she and Holly had done all those years ago. An amalgamation of sadness and pride ran through her, a soft smile creeping onto Juniper’s face. Wiping away at her eye with a vine, the Meganium soon made her leave.
Upon reaching the dirt road outside, her pace started to slow as a part of her conversation with Char played over in her head.
“As much as I blame myself… and as much as it hurts… I’m starting to feel as if I shouldn’t quit… Cause if I do, all of the pain Thorn went through would have been for nothing…”
Juniper turned to look back at the guild, giving a slight smile. “ Holly… If you’re listening, do me a favor and keep an eye on them… ”
As Crash leaned against the job board, he couldn’t help but listen to most of what had unfolded. “ She actually came all this way for him… ” The dark type muttered. Crash clenched his fists, slamming the post holding up the board.
He soon crossed his arms and leaned his head back, looking up at the winding stairway along the tree’s inner walls. “Just forget about it Crash…” He thought, before tilting his head back down and glancing at some of the present guild members. “Just be glad the focus isn’t on you right now…”
“Ah, yes! Let’s have three cheers for ‘Team Kindling’ !” Crash said as he watched as Cinder and Hickory approached the job board. Slowly clapping his hands as he did, before crossing his arms again.
“ So can we go now? ”
Cinder just rolled her eyes, and groaned at the remark before browsing the available jobs.
“Hmm… How about Lightwood?” Hickory asked.
“ Team Lightwood… I mean, since we don’t have a team name yet. Unless you two-”
“No!” Cinder exclaimed. “Uh… fine,
lightwood is fine. Let’s just… go…
”
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