Eevee cheered, jumping around the defeated bodies of Scyther and Pinsir. Litwick Was standing on Don's shoulder as he walked to his partner, her face was in awe. She felt the flame on her head burn brighter; she imagined herself as a Chandelure capable of stopping anything, the one who can protect everyone.
Don put his bag down, bringing out a potion. Heracross gave him a nod and stood beside him, ready to fight again, just in case.
"Guys, I'm going to help them. Let's just hope they've calmed down now," Don said.
He checked over the Pokémon, spraying the most bruised areas and lightly spraying the less affected areas, just as Nurse Joy had taught him in class.
He stepped back, watching wearily as the two Pokémon got up, slowly blinking their way into consciousness. They looked at him, confused for a second. They looked at Heracross and their eyes went wide.
Jumping back, they regained distance. Only then to look at each other in surprise. It looked like they would start fighting with each, but their injuries persisted. Still, they tensed and readied themselves for battle. Scyther raised his blades that had a deadly shine in the sunlight. Pinsir lowered himself, his horns twitched, he was ready for battle at anytime.
"Hey, my name's Don. Can we just all calm down for a second?"
They glanced back at him, no they were always monitoring him, or more likely, Heracross.
Scyther lowered his blades. The first one to stand down.
"Scyther Scythe," He said, his voice was higher pitched than Don expected. Showing that this Scyther was still very young. That was a lot of power for wild Pokémon.
"PINSIR!" Pinsir screamed back at Scyther and left, leaping into the forest, jumping off the tree branches, but Don noticed Pinsir was being careful when jumping, not harming the tree branches in the slightest.
Scyther looked at the retreating Pinsir. His blades hung loosely by his sides, his wings drooped low and while he kept his head up high, Don could see the sadness steep into his stance.
"Are you all right?"
"Scyther," he responded, walking close. Heracross tensed, Eevee too, Litwick looked on in wonder. Scyther bowed, one blade across his chest, one foot forward and one blade behind his back.
"Scyther scyther, scythe scyther," he said respectfully, Heracross loosed up, shaking his head.
"Heracross," he said, walking up and making the Scyther leave the bow.
"Eevee," she went up to the Scyther and patted him on the leg.
"Litwick wick," she said from Don's shoulder, making the Scyther smile at them. Don had no idea what they were saying, but he could tell that they were on good terms with Scyther now.
"Scyther, if it's possible, could you help us go deeper into the forest? I want to learn more about Viridian Forest." Don asked, trying not to bounce on his heels. There was a chance he could finally go deeper and learn more about this amazing environment.
"Scyther," He furrowed his brow, before standing tall once again placing his blade across his chest. "Scyther!" He declared, looking at Don's group and nodding.
Scyther walked off, going the opposite direction of Pinsir, Don and his Pokémon followed the bug Pokémon.
Viridian forest depths were a tangle of overgrown plants. Wild flowers and mushrooms grow everywhere. Grass and Bug types were the most common sight. He saw small groups of Spinarak, Oddish and Bellsprouts playing. The grass felt smoother, and the trees towered over them. The trees got bigger slowly, increasing the deeper they got.
Scyther took a unique path to avoid harming even the smallest of flowers. Don learned a lot about traversing just from watching and following the Scyther. This trip was worth it just for this skill.
Along the way, he saw something weird. Giant trees. They towered over him and his Pokémon, much bigger than he ever knew existed in Viridian Forest. He doesn't know how far he's gone, but it was safe to guess. He's at the point where trees like this would get lost in the background and be part of the sea of trees.
The weird part was the roots. Obviously, the giant trees had massive roots, but Don discovered that many of their large roots had been severed. The cuts were clean and precise. There was enough left for the tree to stay standing, but not enough for the tree to actually get nutrients from it.
Why?
Who did this and why?
His fingers twitched for his notebook, for his camera. Don has seen nothing about giant trees with cut roots in Viridian Forest before. His face broke out into a smile, theories and conspiracies flying around in his head.
He's discovered something new in the world.
Don shook his head, but instead of clearing it, he only got more questions. The tree, despite having the roots cut, was still looking healthy. The bark wasn't rotting, and the leaves were vibrant, only moving when getting caught in the wind.
Did they cut the roots off recently or was there another way for the tree to survive despite its roots being cut like this?
He'd have to find out later. Now he needs to follow Scyther deeper into the forest.
They came across a settlement, not a human one, but one made for Pokémon by Pokémon. It was in a large clearing in the forest. Don looked around; he could see a lake in the distance, Dewpider's peeking out of the water, staring at them curiously. Something had hollowed out some trees, and there were large nests in them. To the side, he saw webs made in the trees, some Spinarak sleeping peacefully.
There was a special tree in the middle. That tree, smaller than the other trees surrounding it, displayed long, stretching flowers. Its petals were a freakish purple, and it pulsed rhythmically and slowly.
In a podium before the tree was a Kleavor, standing tall and proud. Around him, Pokémon made a circle, clearly having a meeting of some kind. Ariados, Rabsca, Blossom, Amoonguss, Araquanid and a Victreebel. Scyther walked towards the group leading Don and his Pokémon. They went silent, all eyes on the strangers.
But what fascinated Don the most was the purple tree. There was something up with it. He could tell it was important to them and he was dying to know why.
He needs to know what it is.
Scyther walked up to the group of Pokémon meeting in the middle. He got on one knee and kneeled before the Kleavor, who covered his face with his axes.
"Kleavor Klea," he exclaimed, motioning for the Scyther to stand up. Don realised that maybe Scyther was being a bit over the top. The other Pokémon were laughing, not at Scyther but at Kleavor's embarrassment. The other Pokémon started whispering to each other with smiles plastered on their faces, but those whispers grew louder until they were just full conversations.
"scyther" No one could hear the poor kneeling Scyther on the ground over all this chatting.
"Kleavor!" He slammed his axe onto the ground. The chatting stopped and Kleavor went from embarrassed father to leader. Kleavor pointed at Don, who gave him a little wave.
"Kleavor Klea," he demanded, looking at Scyther.
"Scyther, Scy, Scythe, Scyther" Scyther spoke calmly and explained. Don had no idea what he was saying, but from the expression on Kleavor's and the other Pokémon's faces, it was good for them.
"Scyther, Scy" Don could see how the attention shifted to Heracross, who stood frozen under all the eyes that turned to him.
"Scyther," he finished the story and everyone looked at him understanding. Rabsca floated over towards him and he felt something on his mind. It stopped there just touching, but nothing else. It was strange he could confidently say he felt nothing was affecting his brain, but he felt a poke in his mind. He didn't even know he could make that distinction until now.
"Sure, no problem!" Dom exclaimed, his Pokémon looking at him in confusion.
"Rabsca," she said, and Heracross' eyes narrowed. He scanned everyone around, assessing if they're a threat. Which was extremely obvious to everyone. Don placed a hand on his shoulder, letting him calm down.
Don felt his mind tingle and before he knew it, an old creaking voice spoke to him.
"THANK YO-" the voice boomed, flooding his mind with noise. He was completely overwhelmed. There was no room for thoughts with his mind only comprehending the words and the gratitude behind them.
"Ahhhhhh" Don screamed, clutching his head and collapsing onto the floor.
"Heracross!" Heracross rushed in front of him, his horn glowing with a bright green, a powerful bug type energy rippling off of it.
"Eevee." Eevee ran towards Don, hoping to find whatever was wrong and fix it.
"Litwick wick," Litwick exclaimed in fear. Her trainer was in pain and she couldn't do anything. She was still on his shoulder, watching up close, as his face contorted in pain.
"Rabsca," she exclaimed, trying to calm everyone. She adjusted the link between Kleavor and Don and just hoped the trainer would recover before she gets punted by a Megahorn.
Don felt his mind clear, his thoughts returned, and he immediately realised that conflict would start if he stayed on the ground. Getting up, he picked up Eevee, holding her to his chest and patted Heracross, who looked back at him with relief.
"I apologise for that," Don heard in his mind, the old voice sounded genuinely sorry. No, it wasn't that simple. It was like he could feel or understand the intent behind the words.
"No problem, Kleavor. I'm good now, was a simple mistake," Don said, giving Heracross a wide smile. "Besides, that was kinda cool, not that I would want to do it again. But now, I know what the whole psychic type mind stuff is about," Don babbled.
"Hera," Heracross relaxed, his horn going back to normal. He looked back at the Pokémon. They looked calm next to Kleavor. Except for Ariados, who was looking at him funny.
"Eevee." she looked up at him in concern. Don patted the little Pokémon, his finger sinking into the fur to give her the best scratches. "Eeveeeeeee." Her face went from concern to joy in an instant.
"Don't worry, I'm going to be fine," Don said, leaning his head against Litwick who hugged his head with tears in her eyes, just barely stopping herself from crying.
"Allow me to apologise once again. I simply wanted to thank you for saving my son. He won't admit it, but fighting Pinsir greatly pained him," Kleavor said into his mind, his voice weary and tired.
"Hey, it's not a problem. He took us here, and we got to see all these amazing things in Viridian Forest. Like that tree." Don pointed at the purple tree that was slowly pulsing.
"Ahh, yes, the Viridian Heart is the fascination of many, including myself. It's why we originally set up here to protect it," Kleavor said. Don could feel the nostalgia, pride and justified intent in his words.
"The Viridian Heart?" Don asked him, wonder in his tone. His eyes widened and a giant grin came on his face when he thought of what that meant. Does the heart connect to the forest, or is it the entire land? Does it spread to Viridian City or does it stop at the edge of the forest?
"Yes, the Viridian Heart, as you can guess, is the very heart of this wonderfully kind forest. It's why we will protect it to the end, no matter what it takes." Don could feel a slight change in the air. It felt like acknowledgement and happiness.
"Kleavor, is the forest alive? Not like how trees are alive, but you know, is it aware?" Don asked, looking around, paying attention to each tree to see if he could spot anything off.
"Yes, you could say that. Viridian Forest has a will, and it's unmistakably the kindest land you'll ever know." Kleavor said Don could feel the wonder, respect and worship in words. He looked around and smiled. It was nice to know the forest was kind. He couldn't imagine what would happen if it wasn't.
"If you would be so kind, can you join me on a walk?" Kleavor asked no malice in his intent and Don was more than happy to see more of the deep forest. Kleavor left the podium and walked off to the side.
"Yeah, we can go," Don said, chasing after him. Litwick cheering on his shoulder.
"Scyther!" Scyther flew after them, intent on talking to Don and his father.
"Heracross," Heracross grabbed Eevee and followed them. Rabsca chased after them. Ariados calmly walked the same direction.
AN: Sorry this took so long. Things have been hectic lately.