Black Garden | Closed, please go to 2.0 |

Spoiler: Grenfell

"Coward..." Grenfell muttered as he began walking in the direction the Sneasel pointed to, however halted when he noticed his companion was not following him. "Hm? Oi Happy, are 'ya alright? Did 'ya see somethin'?"
The little spirit looked at the ice-type curiously. It was surprising that the Sneasel's first action was to lie, as every Pokémon tells the truth on instinct. Hearing its companion's voice, the blue orb flew around in circles, also gesturing to the other path.
"You mean the thief took that way?" Grenfell asked, narrowing his eyes. When Happy zipped in agreement, the Grovyle begun to think hard. The Sneasel answered the first thing on instinct, which would be the truth, but also spirits never lie...
"Damn, that Sneasel must've been confused or somehin'," Grenfell remarked. "And on further investigation, the direction he pointed to was in the same direction he was runnin' from, and he wouldn't make a good decoy if he stayed close to the real target..." Deciding to trust his spirit, he began to go the other way towards the opposite direction the Sneasel pointed to.

 

Spoiler: Alaunus

It took him a while, with politely asking others to move, and having to wait on others, but Alaunus finally made his way outside. Once there, he took in a deep breath, letting clean fresh air filling his lungs once again. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to make his way back to his home, to see if a certain grovyle came back. He didn't want to seem pushy or anything, but he planned on showing up back to the snivys house and ask him if he could figure anything else on those creatures. He wanted to drag the grovyle along with him, but if he couldn't find him, then he would drop by without him. So without much thinking, Alaunus began making his way back home.

Edit: Forgot to put a spoiler

 

Spoiler: Grenfell

"Yeah, but where did you come from?" Grenfell inquired, a little surprised that the Snivy came to them practically in the middle of the forest. Placing his hands behind his back, he noticed a certain metal rod behind the other grass-type and smirked. "So you're the thief, eh? And here I thought you guys were goody-two-shoes~" he grinned mirthfully. "I mean, stealin' from the people 'ya helped, that's quite low, y'know~?"

 

Spoiler: Alaunus

After another trip through the town, Alaunus had finally made it back home. Without much thought, he opened the door and walked inside towards the living room. The first thing he noticed was the lack of note on the table, so either the note somehow caught wind, or someone threw it out. Walking into the kitchen, he noticed that the container he'd left was no longer on the counter, and the dishes were done. He doubted some random Pokémon had snuck into his house and had done all this, so he believed the grovyle had came back and done all this.

"Hello, Grenfell!?" Alaunus shouted, hoping that he would get a response, but he subconsciously knew that no one was in his house due to the lack of emotions around. Not receiving a response, Alaunus had left it at that, and decided to tidy up the place before he left off to the snivys home.

 

Spoiler: Grenfell

"Yeah yeah, your secret's safe with me," Grenfell crossed his arms, smirking as he knew the Snivy would never admit it. "As for the pole, I'd suggest that you find someone who makes some out of bauxite; those weapons are much lighter," he remarked. "Well I should be headin' back now, only reason I came this far was 'cuz someone decided to interrupt my quite time by stealin' some iron poles," the Grovyle grinned as he turned away from his fellow grass-type and began to walk back towards the Ralts' abode.

 

Spoiler: Grenfell

"We're back," Grenfell said as he opened the door, knocking beforehand to alert the Ralts of someone coming, albeit the psychic most likely sensed the two of them approaching. Happy, energetic as always, zipped towards the room they were staying. Chuckling slightly, the Grovyle opted to look for the owner of the house, who he found was doing some tidying up. Sighing, he decided to help, using his sharp but soft blades to dust the many surfaces of the house. After a while, the grass-type tried to make some small talk (not because he was getting close to the Ralts or anything, but because it was becoming too silent). "So how's your old man?" he inquired.

 

Spoiler: Alaunus

As Alaunus was sweeping the floor, his guest had returned from wherever they've been. He then noticed how the grovile began helping him clean up around the house; he was nearly done with the house, so he didn't really need it, but he appreciated it nonetheless. It was during the cleaning that the grovile decided to break the silence around the house with a single question. "So how's your old man?"

Suddenly, his sweeping has stopped, Alaunus now staring at the floor motionless, thinking about the question that had been asked. There was a pregnant pause hanging in the air, and he wanted to quickly rid of it, so after a quick sigh, he replied. "He's... not getting up. The doctors have said that there are no physical wounds, no concussion, or any sort of grevious wounds, yet he still hasn't woken up. I... I think that it has to do with yesterday's events. It might be a stretch, but I can't figure anything else out. I was actually planning on heading out once I was done cleaning up. I need to know if that snivy figured something out."

 

Spoiler: Grenfell

"Oh really?" Grenfell chuckled, crossing his arms. "I just met up with him, actually," he said mirthfully. "Caught him stealin' somethin' from the locals, though he won't admit it..." the Grovyle trailed off, snickering as he imagined a flustered Snivy panicking under his gaze.

 

Spoiler: Alaunus

"So did you report him to the authorities?" Alaunus asked, placing index finger and his thumb on the bridges of his nose. "Actually, you don't need to answer, I have a distinct feeling that you don't care enough to do so. I wouldn't care much, but the towns going through some shit... the last thing we need is more problems.

After letting out another sight, he took a look around the house and noticed that he was now done. Putting the broom away, he gave the grovile an expecting look. "So what now?"

 

Spoiler: Grenfell

"Ya said you were gonna visit the Snivy, no?" Grenfell replied, carefully wiping his blades with a small piece of cloth to remove the dust on them. "I haven't seen his house before, and I'm as curious as you are about our current predicament," he added, placing his hands behind his head. "Happy, you comin'?"
At that moment the blue spirit suddenly burst out of the room the two were staying in and raced towards the Grovyle and Ralts. "So are we goin'~?" Grenfell asked, awaiting the psychic's answer.

 

Spoiler: Alaunus

"Either you have short term memory loss, or selective memory, but in case you've forgotten, we've already been in his house before." Alaunus announced, looking at the grovile with a confused look. "Don't you remember? You broke a book shelf on your way in, and we ate stir fry. We were discussing... yesterday's events." He finished, with a depressed tone.

Quickly pushing his negative thoughts aside, he motioned Grenfell to follow him outside. "C'mon, I still remember the path to get there. No guarantee he'll be home, but I've got nothing better to do. Hell, I'm even surprised that you're coming along, I've assumed that you'd skip town at this point."

 

Spoiler: Grenfell

"Details, details," Grenfell grinned sheepishly, slightly embarrassed that he forgot about such a thing as he and Happy followed the Ralts outside. Hearing the psychic's comment about his not leaving town, the Grovyle chuckled. "Nahh, this town's actually quite fun, eh~? I was plannin' to find a place here, anyway," he replied, walking behind his companion.

 

Spoiler: Alaunus

"Well if you're planning moving in, I recommend finding a job that could help the town in any way. That way, the head of the town will approve of your stay. The town's short on guards, but I have a distinct feeling that you aren't interested in that kind of task. So I recommend being a hunter, that's probably more up your ally, and we're quite low on hunters anyway, so we'll all benefit. And who knows, you might be able to buy yourself a house for dirt cheap, considering some Pokémon are selling their houses to leave after yesterday's events." Alaunus spoke, trying not to think too negatively about the towns situation, while following the path that leads them to the snivys house.

Looking behind him to verify if he was being followed, he lets out a small sigh when he sees Grenfell behind him. Looking back at the path ahead of him, Alaunus slightly frowns as he continues to make his way towards his destination; not because he's upset at the grovile, but because he couldn't bring himself to smile.

A few minutes pass as they continue walking, when they finally see a familiar looking hut, and an even more familiar looking snake, attacking a dummy. Without much thought he made his way towards Maokaw, stopping when he was a safe distance away from the training Pokémon; wanting to let him finish his training before bothering him. Looking back at Grenfell, he decided to say what was on his mind. "You know, I find it strange how you decided to show up at our town yesterday. A violent Pokémon showing up during an even more violent catastrophe, and if it weren't for your appearance, you'd seem no different from those creatures; smiling as you'd cut them down with your blades, and laughing maniacally..." Alaunus started, looking at the grovile dead in the eyes with a straight and unmoving face. "...Thank you..." He paused, finally looking away towards the practicing snivy. "If it weren't for you showing up at that moment, my dad and I probably would've died. I was scared out of my mind, I was trying to carry my father to safety but it would've been difficult to get him out of that building at the time. But watching you fight that snake, it woke me up from my shock. It was at that moment that I realized that standing there wouldn't accomplish anything; and while I'm not as strong as most Pokémon, I could still help in other ways. And once everything was over, I'd come to realize that I was then filled with confidence, and I have you to thank for that. Sure, you've got a few loose screws in your head, but I can tell you aren't a bad Pokémon, so thanks, for what you've done for me..."