I do believe I will do whatever I can for this here village from now on. If you should need me... I'll go on adventures with you. So... Well... Uhh... Welcome home, I reckon. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ "Hey! Hold up! Chikorita!" The feminine leaf head reluctantly stopped sprinting and turned around, waiting for her tired partner to catch up. "Sheesh," Totodile managed, panting heavily. "How do you run so fast? I mean, I know you're a higher level, but still..." "I thought I heard a cry. She has to be close." The two were silent and tried to listen. The Forest of Fairies was pretty quiet at that point since they had defeated so many enemies. "H...ello? Anyone?" came the very faint cry again. "Over there!" Totodile pointed towards the path to their left and started running again. "We're close! Let's hurry!" Funny how you NOW have all this energy... Chikorita smiled. They came to a dead end, with a tiny pink Pokémon trembling in the corner. "Cleffa?" "Y-yes. Please, I'm just trying to find my mom..." Chikorita pulled out the connection orb. "We'll take you back to your mother. She's waiting for you back home." "She is? But I thought she was here in this forest!" "Not anymore. She sent us out here to look for you. Come on, let's get you back." The orb started glowing and they disappeared into the light. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ "My baby! Thank you so much!" Clefable hastily sprinted up to them and glomped her little Cleffa in her arms. "You can always count on us! That's what we're here for!" Totodile gloated. "Yes, thank you!" Cleffa hopped with joy. "I thought I'd be lost in there forever!" "Cleffa, what were you thinking, sneaking off into that forest like that?!" her mother exclaimed. "I wanted to find you because I knew you were going exploring in there, but you forgot your lucky bracelet! The one with the stars on it! And I wanted to give it to you, but... I lost it in the forest when I was attacked..." she started sniffling. "Don't you worry about that now. Just promise me you won't EVER do that again." "I promise..." The two began walking to the dock where Lapras was to get a ride home. Once out of sight, the two heroes were approached by their old friend Flygon. "Still out saving the world, I see?" "Always!" Totodile jumped up and down with excitement. "There's always a Pokémon to help, and we won't rest until all is well!" "No rest? Not even a little?" Flygon tilted his head. "Say, when was the last time you two went home, anyway? It seems like you've been here on the Mist Continent forever." Totodile stopped hopping and started to feel a little sad. "Yeah..." he sighed. "It's been a while. Over three months. I do miss my old Pops, but... there isn't really any work for us over there right now. We can't neglect our responsibilities in these other places. I mean, imagine what could've happened to poor Cleffa just now if we weren't here to save her?" "I get you. But I feel like you ought to go home at least every now and then, and just chill out. I bet your old Pops misses you too. I'm about to take a break and go home to Sahra town myself." Well... Chikorita sighed. He has a point. I do miss everyone there too, but... we have a mission and we really can't neglect it. Besides, I haven't even talked to Nuzleaf in ages... not since I sent that letter to him through Pelipper last month. Never heard back... "Well, either way, just promise me you'll take care of yourselves, alright?" Flygon started to fly off. "Don't get burned out!" ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ "Here ya go. Straight from Roselia's garden." "Thank you. This will be plenty enough to last me for a while," Carracosta took the basket of vegetables. "With Totodile being gone, I haven't had to make nearly as much food around here. You're welcome to stay for dinner if you'd like." "Thanks for the offer, but I reckon I'll have to reschedule. I promised Kangaskhan I'd bring the rest of this over to the café. Then I've gotta take the apples to Kecleon's shop, as he hates missin' out on free leftovers. So I'd best get going now." "You know, it's perfectly fine to take a good break now and then, Nuzleaf. You've been working very hard for us and we greatly appreciate it, but you really don't have to feel like you're indebted to us." "But I am! And I'm glad to be. Y'all went and forgave me and them Beheeyem after all we'd done, and were kind enough to let us stay. I promised I'd do whatever I could to serve the village, and I've got no intention to go back on any promise of mine!" "Well, how about this, then: do ME a favor and make some time to rest tonight after your errands. Think you could do that for me?" Nuzleaf smiled. "I reckon I could fit it into the schedule." "Good then. I'll see you around." ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ "Oh my! What a harvest!" Kecleon took the basket of leftover apples that the café didn't need. "They may not be worth much, but everyone likes apples! I'm sure to make a profit! In fact... I'm even feeling a little generous right now. Hey, you there!" he called out to an Unown passing by. "Would you like a free apple, on me?" "Free apple? You're Z best!" he happily took it and was on his way. Kecleon turned back. "Thank you for bringing these, kind sir." "Anytime," Nuzleaf said. "Let me know if you want me to scavenge any of them dungeons for more loot." "Oh, you're too kind, Mr. Nuzleaf. I think I'm good for now. You should relax tomorrow and take a Sabbath day. It's not like you haven't earned it." "I'll rest up good tonight, but that's all I need. I reckon I'll go explore some dungeons tomorrow anyhow. I enjoy the adventure." "Well all right then. Take care." Nuzleaf started heading back home when he heard someone mumbling behind him. "What's with you lately?" "I beg your pardon?" he spun around and found little Espurr nonchalantly walking up to him. "You seem so restless lately, Mr. Nuzleaf. What's wrong? You're always trying to stay so busy at every moment." "I'm perfectly good and well, little one. But I thank you for your concern." "I mean, you work out on Mr. Carracosta's fields even more than he does these days. We all appreciate your service, but I hope you're not exhausting yourself too much." "I've spent my whole life adventurin', so this kind of work doesn't bother me none. In fact I quite enjoy it. I surely do appreciate your concern, but I should be getting back-" "You miss Chikorita, don't you?" Espurr bluntly blurted out without a second thought. Nuzleaf sighed. "You know I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't. But she's doing great things out there, so I have no right to complain." "Don't you want her to come home?" He paused for a second and looked towards the trail leading out of the village. "I would sure love that if it happened, but I ain't expectin' it anytime soon. But I know she'll return someday or another. Both of them will." ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Nuzleaf slept hard that night, per Carracosta's request. In the morning he found himself just lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and lost in thought. I sure do miss that child. I know she's forgiven me, though I didn't deserve it, but I can't help but wish we had more... closure, before those two went and left. Lots of things left unsaid... His thoughts were interrupted when he heard some commotion outside. He got up and went to the plaza. A small crowd of Pokémon were greeting some members of the Expedition Society as they entered the town. Some sort of surprise visit? "Hey guys!" Espurr hopped in excitement. "It's good to see you again!" "Likewise, friend," Ampharos said. He was there with Jirachi and Mawile. "My, my, my.... you're all looking delightful as always. We were just in the area exploring, and I thought, *pose*, we should stop by Chikorita's and Totodile's hometown!" Sweat drops ran down everyone's heads, like usual. Good ol' Ampharos. "Have they been home lately?" Jirachi asked. "Not for a few months," Carracosta said. "I take it that you all haven't seen them lately either?" "We have not," Ampharos looked a little bummed. "They're so busy doing missions all the time. So selfless. I love those two more than Swirlix loves eating..." More sweat drops. "ANYWAYS," Mawile turned to the villagers. "I take it you've all been well? No fiascos or any sort of need for rescuing here?" "No ma'am," one of the Beheeyem shook his head. "All is well here. We're just so grateful for a season of peace for once." "Well, in that case," Ampharos spun around trying to regain a sense of direction. "I guess we should be of-" "EVERYONE! VE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!" Hippopotas came running back into the village, accidentally bumping into Ampharos and causing him to twirl around, making the poor guy dizzier than before. "What's wrong?!" everyone exclaimed. "NECTAR MEADOW'S ON FIRE!" ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Leaves were crunching nearly every moment under the rapid footsteps of the large group. "Faster! Everyone run faster!" The group was high-tailing it into the meadow with all the strength and speed they could work up, not knowing the severity of this fire or how much time they had. "All water and ground types in front!" Magnezone ordered. Leading the group were Carracosta, Poliwrath, Principal Simipour, and a Swampert and Blastoise who happened to be visiting town that day. "What even happened out there?" Deerling asked Hippopotas, who wasn't fast enough to keep up with the leaders of the crowd. "Vespiquen told me before fleeing. It's honey making season, so ze bees are on edge. Ze legendary Moltres flew into ze meadow earlier and vanted to take a rest, or so she sinks is vhat happened. But ze Beedrill sought Moltres vas zere to steal zeir honey, so zey attacked and angered him. So he fought back and vound up setting ze meadow on fire. Zat iz all I know..." "What in the world was Moltres doing in this area? It's- ah, never mind. It's no use right now. Let's just focus on getting there." "Deerling..." Goomy muttered. "I'm nervous about this. Let's stay together, okay?" "Sure thing," she said. She turned her head the other way to the Unown traveling with them. "I'm Y. Don't ask me why I'm here. I don't know why." "Hey," Mawile turned to Jirachi. "We can give this a shot, but I don't know how useful we'll be in putting out a wildfire, with us being steel types." "We'll figure it out," Jirachi smiled. "I am a genius, after all!" Nuzleaf was towards the end of the line with Ampharos, who had just gotten over his dizziness. "I could've sworn Nectar Meadow was back that way," Ampharos pointed behind them. "Ah, but my directions aren't always on point, are they? *Sigh* I truly hope we can save this forest before it's too late." "I rightly hope so too," Nuzleaf said. "It's an awful shame we couldn't hold down the peace around here." "It'll be all right. I'll make sure of it, indeed. After all, I am, *pose* the Dashing Wanderer!" ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ The group finally arrived at Nectar Meadow, and could already see black smoke emerging from within. It was worse than they thought. "All right, team. Onward!" Magnezone commanded. "Onward! Pi-pi-pi!" echoed Magnemite and Magneton. Once they got into the depths of the forest, they were nearly surrounded by flames. Those Beedrill must've seriously pissed off that Moltres... they all thought to themselves. The water types started firing their hydro pumps and aqua jets, with Hippopotas launching some mud shots. Sadly none of them knew rain dance, as it could've made life a whole lot easier. They were making a dent, but the fire kept growing in other areas and spreading around. It was getting scary. All Mawile could do was use fairy wind, for whatever it was worth. "Keep going, Mawile!" Jirachi suddenly called from behind. He levitated above her and used psychic to intensify the move and increase the speed of the wind, blowing out a good amount of the flames. But it still wasn't enough. "GYAAAAHHHH!" Nuzleaf cringed in pain as a flame singed his leg. It left a pretty intense burn. "Someone get us out of here! We're trapped!" Deerling and Goomy cried out in unison. They were surrounded by a complete circle of fire with no way out. Espurr used telepathy to find them, since the fire was nearly blinding at this point. "This isn't just ordinary fire if it's from Moltres..." she whispered to herself. "Ah! I found you! Don't worry, I'll be right there." The team's firefighters were too focused on the areas that they were already trying to put out to even notice the cries from the children. Eventually Nuzleaf heard them, and started making his way in that direction, though he was still blinded by the brightness. Suddenly, a water gun attack came from behind all of them, putting out a surprising amount of flames in one area. At least, enough for the others to see clearly again. "Don't worry, everybody! We're here to help!" "Totodile!" Espurr cried out. "You're back! Where's Chickor-" Within a blink of an eye, Espurr was caught in the circle of embers along with her classmates. "Don't worry! We'll get you out!" Totodile yelled after her. Carracosta turned around and met eyes with his son. "POPS!" Totodile scurried over to glomp his father. "I'm so happy you're okay! I missed you... SOOOO much! Waaahhh!" he began to sob, but Carracosta gently set him back on the ground. "I've missed you too, son. But now's not the time for warm reunions. Let's stay focused." "Right!" Nuzleaf, trying to ignore the excruciating pain from the burn, kept looking around. Totodile didn't come alone, now... did he?" "GET US OUT OF HERE!" the kids continued to cry out. "We're running out of moves. It's hopeless!" the army of water types started to break down. The once beautiful meadow was now black. The trees were burning to a crisp. After a few moments of despair, there was a sudden, strong wind from behind them. They all turned around to find Flygon entering into the scene, levitating in the air. And below him stood Chikorita. "Finally!" Totodile shouted out. "Come on guys! Let's do this!" All Nuzleaf could do in that moment was gaze out at Chikorita, trying not to get teary-eyed. It had been too long. But, with a determined look on her face, she simply ran into the chaos, towards where her former classmates were trapped. She paused for a second, and then... ran straight into the thick wall of fire. "CHIKORITA! What are you doing?!" Nuzleaf screamed from afar, astonished. Flygon whipped up a sandstorm. "Hey, you all over there!" he called out to the exhausted army. "Use your attacks now! It'll be easier with the help of the storm!" The group resumed their efforts, finding it to indeed be easier, but still not sufficient. Chikorita came out of the pit of fire, with her friends wrapped up in her vines. She was clearly in pain from running in there and being scorched, but didn't let it stop her. She extended her vines far out into the distance and away from the conflagration and released her friends. She then slowly started making her way towards Nuzleaf. Flygon whipped up a powerful whirlwind attack and launched it full-force towards the rest of the wildfire, nearly putting it out. ...Except, a large amount of it was blown to the side without being extinguished. And it struck Chikorita straight on and consumed her. "AIIIEEEEYYHHHHHHHH!" she screamed for a split second before going silent. "CHIKORITA!" Nuzleaf shrieked as he raced full-speed over to her. The water types ran over and used the rest of their power to put out the huge fireball. The smoke cleared. She lay there completely roasted, looking lifeless. "Noooooo! Chikorita! Is she gonna be okay, Pops?!" Totodile gripped onto his father's hand. "Come with me, son. Quickly! Let's go back to the village and get help!" The Expedition Society members were all fine, but had fainted from the intense heat. Ampharos had tried shielding his steel-type friends, but they all lost strength after so long and overheated. Flygon was taking them back to Lively Town, also hoping to find help for his friend. While the others simply stared in astonishment, Nuzleaf ran up and fell to the ground before Chikorita, not paying any attention to his agonizing wound. He placed a hand on her and gently tried to shake her awake. "Chikorita? Can ya hear me?" Nothing. "C'mon now, don't you go and leave me like this..." tears started spilling down. "You gotta still be in there! C'mon, please just say somethin'!" Nothing. Without another word, tears still spilling down, Nuzleaf lifted Chikorita up onto his back and started walking towards the forest's exit, before falling down to a knee in pain. "Nuzleaf!" an exhausted Beheeyem cried out. "You're hurt. You shouldn't be putting so much extra weight on that knee. You might not make it out of here." He placed Chikorita on the ground, gathered himself, and then picked her back up in his arms and kept moving. "Y'all best not try and stop me," he shouted back. "I will do NOTHING until I get this child home safe!" And as he limped his way out of the now-charred meadow, he thought he felt the faintest breathing... ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ "Ugh... owww..." *Heavy breathing* "W-where am I?" She slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and she was trying to adjust her eyes to the light. She felt a cold rag on her head. As her eyesight slowly became clear, her heart felt warm as she saw Nuzleaf sitting in a chair in front of her. His eyes started to sparkle as he smiled and knelt down to her bed. I'm... home... "Why hello there, sleepy head," he began, trying yet again to hold back the tears. "...How are ya feelin'?" "Ouch..." she cringed in pain as she slowly sat up. "Nuzleaf... what happened? All I remember is that wildfire, and I set my friends down, and then... blacked out?" "You've been out cold since long before the sun started settin'. You were, well... caught in some fire back there in that forest after Flygon's whirlwind. He sure feels awful bad 'bout that. I brought you back here, and nurse Audino came over with some medicine and bandaged you up real good. Even had Roselia come and do some aromatherapy. I reckon it did wonders, 'cause you sure do look better." "I, um..." she tried to stand up but collapsed. "Whoa! Easy there," he held out a hand to help her back up. "You oughta be savin' your energy 'til you heal up." She tried to ignore the pain and looked back up at him, gasping a little when she saw his leg. "Oh my gosh! What happened to you?!" He simply closed his eyes and smiled. "Oh, that's nothin'. You don't need to worry about me none. You just focus on getting better." "So..." she tried to gather her thoughts, "...you carried me all the way back here, while wounded, and took care of me and stayed in that chair until I woke up?" her eyes began to water up. "Well... yeah." He stood up straight, fixing his gaze on the ground. "I'm just... just so darn right relieved that you're okay!" "I just want you to know..." he continued, "that I'm so, unspeakably sorry for all that I went and put you through back in the day. You've sure as heck gone through more than a child should have to. First that, and now this..." "But... we've been over this. I forgive you. It wasn't your fault. You were possessed by Dark Matter." "I know. But I tell you, part of me deep down believes I could've stopped, if I'm honest. I ain't sure if it was only that Dark Matter that caused me to... enjoy doin' all that awful stuff I did..." "Nuzleaf..." "I became a monster. That Dark Matter had its control of me, but... I was still fully aware of what I was doin'. I was takin' pleasure in turning Pokémon into stone. And there ain't no possible way I could tell you just how ashamed I am... I must've been pretty darn screwed up before, for them Dark Matter claws to sink into me like that..." "Nuzleaf! Stop it! It wasn't your fault!" Chikorita found the strength to stand up straight. "Forgive yourself. Even if you were aware of what you were doing, that evil manifestation wasn't you. And besides, would a really, inherently evil Pokémon ever do what you did for me tonight?" Smiling down at her, he shook his head. "I reckon not." "You came back to help us fight Dark Matter... even though you could've left. And you brought Totodile back. And... I could've died today if it wasn't for you..." "You can mark my words, right here and now: I ain't never gonna let that happen." Behind him in the distance, Chikorita caught sight of something hanging on the wall. "Is somethin' the matter?" "You... got my letter?" He turned his head and looked back at it. "Sure did. Did you get mine?" "Wait, what? No, I didn't..." she looked down. "I... well, I was wondering why I didn't hear from you. I guess Pelipper must've lost it or something?" "Hmm, guess so. Well that's a darn shame." She smiled back up at him. "You put it on the wall and everything?" "Heh, well... what can I say? I sure do miss havin' you around, kid." "I miss being around..." she sighed. "How did y'all find out about the wildfire, anyhow?" "Ampharos called Dedenne, and then Dedenne called us. We came as fast as we could. And we asked Flygon to come along, since he's dealt with fires before." "I'll tell ya this: that arrival timing of yours was impeccable. Them old classmates of yours are safe because of you." "I'm so glad they're all right..." She paused for a moment. "So, just out of curiosity... what did your letter say?" Nuzleaf took a couple steps back and leaned against the wall. "I was just... talkin' about how we all missed you in this here village, and how I hoped y'all were safe and doin' well. I wanted you to know that... if you ever did want to come back for any reason, or any amount of time, short or long, that I truly did mean it when I said this is your home. You're welcome in this here house, and... I'll always be happy to have ya. Because, well... I reckon... you've sorta become like a child of mine... I mean, with you livin' here for that short while and all. And I'll always be here for ya if you're ever needin' anything..." Chikorita fought through the pain and ran up to hug him, tears coming down. Though taken by surprise, Nuzleaf began borderline sobbing as he hugged her back. "Welcome home, Chikorita..." Her energy was quickly fading and she started to doze off, without ceasing the embrace. "Thank you... Papa..." she whispered before drifting off into dreamland. His eyes widened. "Y-you just said..." he felt her deep, sleeping breaths. "Well... I reckon... that rightly is my role now, ain't it?" he whispered as he laid her back down in bed. He watched her for a few moments through the doorway before shutting off the lights. "Yeah. I'll always be here for you, child. And I've got no intention to go back on any promise of mine!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: That is all. I JUST LOVE LEAF DAD SO MUCH. (Time to fangirl): This game's storyline wrecked me emotionally. I was just super disappointed with the way the story completely stops after getting your partner back and talking to a couple Pokémon one last time for their final speeches. I just REALLY wanted more and figured that since it's not in the game, I might as well continue the story myself. And I couldn't help it with the fluff and cheesiness, because Leaf Dad and Leaf Child just make my heart so happy ;.; So yes. Nuzleaf is my favorite other than Ampharos. Because Ampharos is just so fabulous and I just wanna hug him. o; (I know I left out several classmates and ES members, but I really didn't want to spend a bunch of time trying to capture every one of their characters. So... yeah.) Anyways. I welcome feedback (ngl I thought of most of the plot when I was half awake). I also welcome anyone who wants to strike up a conversation about this game because I love finding other people to fangirl with since no one I know personally has ever played this game. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, this game, any of the lines quoted from the game, or anything else. Just a crazy fangirl who got way too emotionally attached to video game characters.
