The air smelled like defeat and saltwater. Another field, another crop, another failure. Micah didn't need to look at the withered stalks to know the truth. The Hoenn sun, usually a source of life, felt like a cruel spotlight on their family's slow, agonizing decay. For a boy who'd only ever known the land, the betrayal of the earth itself was a bitter pill to swallow.
His parents were shadows of their former selves, worn down by the constant struggle. The very land their family nurtured for generations had suffered greatly in recent times. The once nutritious soil now worn down from the constant wear and tear of supporting its resident farmers and stress of its new unwelcome tenants a batch of recently released water and bug type pokemon released into the local ecosystem by an ecological group.
“Ever since those Bibarel and Surskit were introduced we've been losing more and more arable land to their terraforming. Were already in the red if we lose any more plots…i dont know how-”
“I know honey but there's nothing much we can do we've sent the emails and talked to the local forces and they said they would see what they could”
The two adults seated at the breakfast table clearly frustrated with a problem that had been haunting their little family.
“It's been months, Dahlia! Anything they could do they should have done months ago!”
“Rhys, we have to trust them. What do you want me to do? Go out and battle all the pokemon they brought here?” All we can do is wait and care for what we still have.”
“Soon there won't be much to care for Dahlia.” he says as erupting from his seat and slamming his hands onto the table.
“The fields I tended to as a boy. The land my father and his father toiled over. The home I built for our son!” slowly he steps away from the table his wife and son had dined form hours earlier. Walking towards the kitchen his mother would bake Pecha berry pies for him and looking out the window where that very pie would rest. Wafting its sweet perfume to the rest of the property. The very same property that was slipping through his fingers.
“Its dying Dahlia, eroded by the whims of those city slickers, plagued by those imported water types.”
“I know Rhys, but all we can do is wait. If we were to do anything to those pokemon we wouldn't hear the end of it. We would be giving those people a reason to uproot us.”
“...”
A heavy sigh escapes the fair skinned woman's lips as she glances down at the sea of letters, notices and bills. Her rose coloured eyes dimmed slightly under the heavy weight of their predicament.
“Those Bibarel diverted the river streams which then flooded our crops, so we could probably claim something from our insurance, but we don't have another month of this in us.”
Glancing up at her now pensive husband, she sighs again.
“If we could get rid of or decrease some of our recurring bills we could last longer, but if we lose any more crops…”
Shifting her gaze from her husband to his reflection in the window he had been staring through.
“We might have to consider some of the offers that were given to us”
Her husband reflected on the glass meeting her gaze searching. Searching for something she was not sure of, but forced to put her faith in, Hope.
Burying his face in his worn and calloused hands Rhys wipes away at the fatigue that had built up on his face. Brushing his hand on his unkempt 5 o'clock shadow, he seats himself again at the table across from his wife and resuming the number crunching the heavy topic had pulled them away from.
Little did they know the discussion they had waited for privacy to have was not as private as they had hoped. Back to the wall and under the window his father had been staring through was a seated young man looking towards the horizon past the few remaining fields towards the source of his family's problems.
“Damn city slickers making it hard for everyone else.”
Leaning forward and gathering himself into a crouch Micah begins to slink away rounding the corner of the home towards a small barn finally relaxing into a steady but silent walk he rises to his full height of 5foot7 as the wind blows through his short unkempt dark hair he finally reaches his destination.
Stopping a few feet from the large barn doors he allows his eyes to wander, gazing at the worn red and white paint that coated the barn, looking at the two oddish that took up residence nearby, finally looking forward at the rusted padlock that hung on the open hinge of the door. Micah stood readying himself to meet his old friend pushing open the doors and stepping towards the sleeping pokemon.
Micah, with all the care a 14 year old could muster gently caressed the smooth exterior of the large beast. Feeling the familiar warmth of his trainers son the resting Rhyhorn rose from its rest and got ready for whatever challenges the day could bring.
—----------------
Micah walked with a purpose, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. Rhyhorn kept pace beside him, its powerful steps shaking the ground with a rhythmic thud.
"They think they can wait it out," Micah said, his voice flat and controlled.
"Mom and Dad, they're talking about waiting for the League to get involved. But we both know that's not going to happen in time."
He looked over at Rhyhorn, his eyes narrowed in thought.
"Those Bibarel and Surskit have already done so much damage," he explained. "They've diverted the water, flooded the crops. And now they're just... everywhere. It's like they're reclaiming the land, one field at a time."
"We can't just sit here and watch our home disappear," he continued, a quiet intensity in his tone. "The bills, the debt... it's all going to catch up. We need a plan. Something that doesn't involve waiting around for help that's not coming."
I paused, glancing at my Pokenav and checking it for new messages. "We have to do something, Rhyhorn.” “But first we need to figure out whether the fields are recoverable” turning off the weathered pokenav as i focussed my glance back onto the road, and the rising hamlet on the horizon.
It is a small town with no particular name. Compared to Fortree and Mauville, the closest major cities, the hamlet that Micah calls home is populated by a significantly smaller population. The number of families that call this hamlet home could be counted on two hands. Not that it mattered to the average resident. as they were mostly concerned with their next meal, and the occasional gossip. Menial things like how someone's poochyena lost to a local oddish, and the unfortunate circumstances that Micah's family are dealing with.
Making my way into town Rhyhorn by my side I navigate the familiar well trodden path to a quaint cottage on the edge of town. Stopping at the entrance and pulling out my pokenav.
Ring ring
‘Hey Micah, whats up’
‘Hey Finn im outside your door right now.you ready?’
‘Yeah! give me one sec.’
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“Alright Rhy, he’ll going to be down in a bit. Then we’re heading out to check out the fields”
“Rhyhorn”
“I'm not stupid Rhy. There are too many of them for us to go fight them.” i say as i look up towards Finns window for any movement, and then back down towards my older companion ”we’re just going to check out the damage, and see if there's anything to recover”
Suddenly the front doors burst open revealing a lean and short boy, with wavy shoulder length sandy blonde hair. bangs that curl downwards curving into brown, almost beige, eyes. The young man slightly out of breath clutching a multitude of tools and a full satchel at his side.
“Im ready, Lets go.” he says as he wrangles the tools into a more comfortable grip
“Great, you're fine with riding on Rhy right?”
“I'm not a toddler, I can walk on my own!” he exclaims with a stomp.
“I don't know. Last time I checked, even toddlers could beat oddish especially with a poochyena.” I teased.
“Vandal was tired okay. We were on our way back from our super secret training, and it jumped up at us out of nowhere.”
“Sure. you have him on you right? Poochyena?”
“VANDAL is fine. He has a name.”
“Feels more like a punishment than a name but to each their own” taking the tools out of his hands and securing them under my arm.
Sensing that our banter was over Finn steps forward towards Rhyhorn, and with a sigh begins to mount the beast. Once he sensed that his lean passenger was well secured. The large beast stoically began treading to the next destination. Catching up with a short jog i joined the rest of my posse sticking to Rhydon's flank.
“What's this secret training thing by the way? Last time I asked you didn't seem particularly interested in becoming a trainer. What changed?”
“It wouldn't be much of a secret if I told you.” he said with a bit of a giggle. “ and it's not like there's much to do here other than work, eat, gossip and sleep.”
“True, but isn't it a bit late to start training your pokemon? Most people start training at 12, and the others left town for their journey months ago.”
“I could ask you the same thing. Why didn't you leave on your journey yet?”
“...”
“You don't have to say if you don't want to. I'm just grateful there's someone my age that i can talk to. Arceus forbid i stay here surrounded by all these boring oldies”
“No, it's all right. I just didn't want to leave them alone to deal with this whole situation. Though now it feels like there's not much I can do.”
“Dont say that, You've been doing alot. You have been helping your father care for the fields, you've been chasing away the wild Pokemon whenever your parents were away, doing all the chores. So many things that my mother has been comparing me to you and forcing me to help out way more than usual.”
I let out a short laugh. His attempt to cheer me up lightening the mood was super effective as even Rhydon seemed to tread forward with more ease.
“Thanks Finn. honestly im not sure im really interested in training pokemon” i look towards him and meet his inquisitive gaze. “Dont get me wrong, I do like the idea of traveling and exploring the region. I'm also curious what it's like to train and care for interesting and rare pokemon. But with everything going on i dont want my parents to worry about my safety on my journey.” breaking eye contact i turn my head towards the horizon and say "I also just like what we do. Tending to the land and taking care of the plants that grow from it.”
“Booringg!” he chuckles out “At least you're good at what you want to do. If you think losing to a oddish is bad you should have battled some of the kids that left town.”
“That bad?”
“Pretty bad, I once saw a kid try to go into the wild with a Magikarp he had just caught. Thankfully officer Jenny managed to find him. Unfortunately that was after he had tried to battle a Lotad with a Magikarp that only knew splash.”
While he is usually the most stoic and mature pokemon in the room, even Rhyhorn couldn't help but laugh at the story. Our little group was slowly getting closer to the recently flooded and damaged field. Their steps turn into a squelch as they go from dirt and grass onto the muddied and ruined fields. The initial sight is just as grim as I feared, with water-logged soil and dead crops and berry bushes littering the once rich and luscious field.
Finn finally hopped off his stoic mount onto the muddied field splashing a little mud with his landing. Finn exhaled as he looked down at his muddied denim. Having clearly underestimated how dirty they would get on their excursion.
“You brought it with you right?”
“Yeah it should be in my satchel.” he says pointing at the bags hanging off of Rhyhorn's side.
As I drew closer to the beast of burden I offloaded the various gardening implements I had been clutching onto Finn. I pet Rhy and looked him over, and once I confirmed he was fine reached for the beige satchel on his side.
Looking into said satchel I pulled out a worn soil testing kit that Finn had bought second hand from Pokebay, and an equally worn notebook. Turning to Finn that was now crouched and poking at a drowned berry bush, I asked. ”Hey, did you manage to make digital copies of my notes” catching his attention he turned to meet my glance.
“Yeah my mom managed to upload them when she went down to mauville, I'll send them over when i get home. They're really well organized for someone who would get average grades.”
Visibly frowning I shot back “and you talk a lot for someone with bad ones. But hey i dont judge” satisfied with the tools i pulled out and the scoff i heard i turned back walking further into the muddy field.
Unpacking the testing kit and readying its implements I slowly began going over the procedure I had repeated for each of the previously damaged fields, and got to work. As I began Noting down the various results from the tests. Finn must have sensed or seen a scowl build on my face and decided to speak up.
“Hey you said that they brought in Surskit and Bibarell right?”
“Yeah, or at least that's what we were told. Why?” i said keeping my eyes on my notes and tests
“Well… I was never good with pokemon biology but does Bibarell leave those kinds of prints?”
Concerned I stood, brushed myself off and stepped towards the suspicious prints. They were interesting to say the least, while Bibarell are heavy in comparison to a human being they wouldn't be heavy enough to make prints that are this inset into the mud. Though what really caught my attention was the shape Bibarell are mammalian pokemon that had paws with three digits. However these prints looked a lot more like hooves than paws, the hooves were split. The hoof shared some similarities with Gogoats but the pokemon was far more heavy than any healthy Gogoat could reasonably be.
“Thats weird.”
“What?”
“Dont they kind of remind you of a Tauros print?” i asked
“Is that the one that is kept in safari zones?”
“Yeah, the bull pokemon with three tails.”
“The prints are similar but it wouldn't make sense to see one here of all places, and i don't think they get big enough to make prints this size” his gaze following the prints "they're heading towards the river.” … ”Do you think this could be the reason for the water pokemons terraforming?”
Following his gaze I look in the direction of the recent renovations the land's new tenants have made. ”I doubt it” looking a bit further I set my gaze at mount Pyre in the distance. “did anyone come into town recently?”
“There were some trainers around our age but none of them seemed interested in the area. They seemed to just be passing by or resupplying.” After quieting to search his memory further he seemed to have remembered something, “Oh, there was a guy in a snazzy coat that came by and asked about the geology of the area.”
“How could you forget something like that?”
“I was pretty busy at the time training Vandal so my mind was elsewhere.”
“...”
I just patted him on the back and went back to Rhy to put away the testing kit and notebook.
“Are you going to do anything about it?”
“About what?”
“The Guy! The prints in the mud!”
“Im not interested in some random Suits weird pokemon.”
“But isn't this your family's field? shouldn't you be worried some random trainer is parading his pokemon about?”
“Not really. It's not like there's much left here for him to steal. If that is what he was here for, and he probably battled some of those Surskit while wandering about.” I shrugged as I reached towards the gardening implements Finn held in his grasp. ”So he can continue doing whatever he wants.”
Handing me the tools "aren't you curious?” he said exasperated.
“I am curious but that doesn't mea-”
Ring ring
“One second” i said as i pulled out my pokenav “hello?”
“Micah, where are you?” Mom's voice, laced with a mix of worry and exhaustion, came through the pokenav.
“I'm checking out yesterday’s damage with Rhyhorn. Why?” I said, glancing at Finn who was now climbing up onto Rhyhorns back.
“Oh, thank Arceus,” his mother sighed with relief. “I was getting worried.”
“Is something wrong?” Finn making eye contact with me from Rhyhorns back
“There's been a commotion down by the river. I wasn't sure but I heard some loud thuds and shouts.”
My mind raced. The prints, the encroaching pokemon. It all clicked. I looked at Finn, who met my gaze with a look of shared understanding. The weird prints, the strange trainer was probably out there battling.
“Mom, we’ll be home soon.” I said, voice firm.
hanging up the pokenav i turned to Finn. “I have to get home, and fast. Is it cool if I drop you off near town?”
