Chapter 3: Requests

An hour or so passes as Nidoqueen and Stumpy settle in the boat. Nidoqueen has been cooking on deck, searing fruit and meat over the heated coals. Stumpy never seemed to get the hang of cooking over something hot. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was something dumb that would make him stumble or fall in. The common motivation of falling and getting back up again is something Stumpy was consistently used to. As is typically said in society, hard times will breed better mons.

It was what helped him gain his old position at the brewery, and yet, falling into something brought about all of his deepest fears, ingrained into every fiber of his being at this point. It was why he asked to recruit a few handsmen and handmaidens to keep that from happening again. Dreams of falling out of the sky, falling into the ocean, into lava or acid or something dangerous like that…it all unsettled Stumpy, shook him to his core, made his little heart pound so hard it felt like it could shoot out of his gut at any moment.

Everytime his thoughts trailed back to that single point in time, he shivered and wondered about what it would take to suppress that memory, to rip it out of his brain. Maybe he could consult a Psychic-type Pokémon and have it done? He knows of Hypno, but Hypno's far too creepy. He knows of Alakazam, but Alakazam's way too busy in the dungeons and exploring to take time out with someone like him. Both Grumpig and Metang at the brewery don't specialize in the sort of help he would like to have. He wondered if there were any Pokémon who could help him, but without that day in his life, there's a high chance he'd have never met-

"Stumpy, our food should be done real soon! Come on over and breathe it in, it smells awesome!"

Apples, roasted over hot coals, glazed with Pecha Berries! Even better, two buttered steaks with a consistent brown color on both sides! Now that's a nice meal worth gorging on, the little Shroomish thought as he took in the scent of it all. Of course, Stumpy loved his Apples and Berries, but it wasn't until a year or so before he became a brewer that he began to experience the joy of good tasting meat. At first, the smell made him feel a little queasy, and the thought of someone and not something being slain for meat felt so barbaric and backwards it made him upset thinking about it. But once he chewed into a piece of lamb that he was offered, there was a sudden paradigm shift in his way of thinking. The meat in his mouth tasted so…full of flavor! It had a rich, savory taste, like a piece of Huge Mushroom that he would be happy to chow down on. Now, he couldn't resist the thought of cubes of meat offered to him.

Stumpy was glad they overstocked the ship's larder before they embarked for Sahra Town. Nidoqueen would understandably eat most of that food, but Stumpy would stuff himself whenever he could. It's likely he even gained ⅛ of a pound on the way from Capim to Sahra! Watching what they eat may be what Dr. Blissey would say to the two of them, but since when is eating bland food or rations good for the psyche?

"Ohhhh…oh, tha's scrumpshes, luv! Oi am so glad yew can cook loike tha'…"

"I guess it takes a lady's touch, doesn't it, Stumpy?"

"I wouldn't dout tha', luv."

Stumpy then settles close to Nidoqueen's leg, and he smushes himself up against it!

"Um…Stumpy…what are you doing?"

"Troina hug yew. Got no arms of me own, but stell…"

"Awww…thanks, Stumpy. You know, I'm glad you convinced your bosses to only have me with you on this trip. I never thought I'd say it, but you've been a great friend to me…and I…I wonder if we can take that a little further."

The look on the Shroomish's face was a lovestruck one. His khaki skin gained a rosy complexion and he looked away, poking at Nidoqueen's foot for a little bit.

"Loike wot sort o' things yew tolkin' about, luv?"

"Well…how about this? How about, once this little cargo job is over, I'll show you what I mean?"

"Oh, yew…yew really…?"

"No guarantees. But, I'd be happy to figure this out with you someday if you feel like you're up for it. Now, if you'd step back for a moment, you little charmer, the food's ready. Let's eat up!"

A hot pot of steak and sweetened apples were divided up evenly between them. The Shroomish gained his one apple and a modest amount of cubes of steak, and Nidoqueen helped herself to the rest.

"Roight, luv! Fanks fer oll thes. An oi'm not jus' tolkin about the food."

There was something about the way Nidoqueen ate her food though, that made Stumpy feel totally unnerved. Despite the beauty of a hundred Gardevoirs, she was a voracious eater, not unlike a Dragon-type. Instead of proper etiquette and refined table manners, she would eagerly stuff her mouth and crunch and munch everything up before gulping it all down with aplomb. It made Stumpy think about the path he took to Capim Town for the first time…

7 Years Ago, Jungle Ruins Outskirts

Andrew was alone, as usual. No one looked into visiting him in the rotting log he called a hiding spot, but that was okay with him. He kept his gran's headband tight to him, whether it was on his head or around his petaled waist. Andrew's whole body felt relaxed at last. No one would call him that stupid nickname anymore, no one would push him over when the Breloom weren't there, no one would try to nick his gran's scarf, no one would try to swipe his wet leaves away that he was trying to eat. In here, in Andrew's personal space, it was the one place where Andrew could be free of insults and abuse. It was solitude. He could breathe. Slowly. In and out. In and out.

Tonight was the night he was going to commit to it. He hated living near the Jungle Ruins. He hated the other Shroomish more. And he even despised and resented the Breloom who said they would promise to keep a closer eye on him. It wasn't fair, he thought, none of what he was going through felt fair.

The Shroomish would leave behind everything he knew tonight, and commit to living a life he couldn't imagine while sitting in this damp, rotted, mossy log.

Andrew wanted so badly to run away.

Present Day

"...Stumpy? Are you lost in thought about all this?"

"O-oh, s-sorry, Nedaquaen."

"Like I said, I was just saying that it'd be fun to give it a shot, just once…but I just want you to trust me on it. I've never told anyone else about it, either, so I suppose it'll be our little secret. You're good at keeping a secret, right?"

Stumpy had no clue what she was talking about, unfortunately, but perhaps…the best things in life were mysterious in nature, weren't they?

"Luv, I trust yew more than anyone else in the 'ole wurld, an' these las' two years wif yew 'ave been special. oi'll follow yor lead."

Stumpy smiles, looking into the starry eyes of his most trusted partner, who swipes him right off the ground and kisses him immediately. It makes Stumpy squeeze his eyes closed as the barrage of smooches coming from a mouth as big as his entire body rained upon him!

"Oh, I can't wait till we get back on the water! It'll be the best night of my life, and I'll have you to thank for it, Stumpy!"

Stumpy laughs. "Haha, yeh. But we stell 'ave a job to dew 'ere. Boy the wey, when're they gonna come back? It's been a whoile…"

"Hmm…Oh! I think I see one of them now!"

Clambering down the steps, little by little, is a giant of a Pokémon. Stumpy and Nidoqueen had never seen a Pokémon so large and so intimidating before. What looks like a golem seemingly made of spots of iron and solid clay. Over 9 feet tall, a few inches short of peering over the side of the ship, this titan of a Pokemon introduced itself in a metallic-melded foreign tongue, similar to the Spiritomb when they spoke a couple of words of it. A bronze-plated seal covered a glowing crack in its chest. A closer look showed it had massive fists of plated steel and solid cobalt metal blocks for feet. Its glowing eye carvings looked at the two, blinking off and on a few times, and speaking its foreign language, much to Stumpy and Nidoqueen's dismay. Perhaps the big guy is some kind of ancient work robot or something? Nidoqueen dropped the drawbridge and the cargo door, stepping down to the dock once again.

"Nidaquaen…" Stumpy whispered in the direction of Nidoqueen's rounded ears, "I dunno about thes, luv…coul' be somthen suspeshes loike…"

"Stumpy, it's just one Pokémon, what's so threatening about…one…ohh…"

The big Pokémon (?) was the perfect way to hide some backup. Someone who's so big and spectacular can draw attention away from everything else around it. A band of desert-dwelling Krokorok had begun to march in and snatch the crates, while others began to prod Nidoqueen forward and act merciless and cackle around Stumpy, mock snapping their jaws at him with a hissing laughter.

In Stumpy's head, this wouldn't stand…

7 Years Ago, Jungle Ruins Outskirts

It was nighttime at last.

The myriad of Pokémon of the night were making merry. Andrew took to looking around, looking to see if any of the Breloom were gone. Lucky for him, they've all left him alone on this night. Good, Andrew thought, let's ge' the fuck outuv 'ere. From out of his hiding spot, he tumbled down a hill and found a clearing, as if it were some sort of path. Andrew knew better than to walk down an open path, however. Walking down a wide clearing would just expose himself to all sorts of Pokémon who may find him as nothing more than a delicious snack. He hopped and ran towards the safety of fallen leaves.

He kept going, hugging the cleared path, when suddenly, something had snatched him up from underneath! Andrew panicked! He rolled to his feet, looked behind him and saw…a tree root. Panicked, fast breaths became calm, slow breaths once again, with a tinge of anger that he did something so embarrassing. All he did was just trip over a damn root. At least there was no one around to see him do that. Shaking himself off, he continued on his way.

It wasn't until a few minutes worth of walking adjacent to the path that the Shroomish would come across a group Pokémon that wasn't like him, not in the slightest. They had pitched a tent, and had a rather peculiar symbol on the side, like…some kind of flower? This was odd. His gran would tell him a few stories about other Pokémon that would explore in groups and try to find out all sorts of things about the world. Maybe they knew what to do, or more importantly, where to go. Maybe they would try to let him in for safety? Andrew hid in a nearby shrub for the next few minutes, watched them call it a night, and closed the tent.

Andrew would make a few noises outside the tent, just to see if anyone would wake up, and luckily, one of them did. A Zigzagoon's head poked out of the tent and immediately saw Andrew, yawned, and moseyed out of the tent without waking anyone else up. The features were hard to see, but the Zigzagoon he's met before weren't harmful to him or any of the other Shroomish. Andrew locked eyes with the seemingly young critter.

"Hey, you…you want something? Lost? Scared?"

"...I wonna get out of 'ere…Go somwhere be'er fo' me, wher oi won't be pushed around like a fuken log."

"...Oh. S-So what's your name? Are you from around here?"

"Yeh, an' th' naeme's Andrew."

"Andr…wait, n-no way…you're a human, aren't you? That's a human's name!"

"Erm, n-no, I'm no' a 'uman."

"But you got a human name, and a cool scarf on you! You sure you're not?"

"Neva been one, no. Bu' me gran tol' me about 'em…"

"Aww, that's too bad. I've always wanted to have a human friend, you know. Just like in the legends where a human comes to our world and saves the world with a friend and all that?"

"'eard of 'em. Bu' oi'm no good at tha'. You woul'nt moind tellin' me how you go' 'ere?"

"Yeah, that clearing took me here from the coastline."

"Fanks, bruv, bu' oi've gotta get out of 'ere."

"Aww…you wanna stay in here till morning?"

"No."

"But, it's dangerou-"

"oi'm. leevin'. Go back to sleep, bruv."

"Wait, please don't go!…"

And just like that, without a goodbye, the Shroomish ran off once more, hugging the clearing's path. He couldn't stay. He couldn't raise any more attention. He couldn't bother anyone else. He had one thing on his mind: to get out, and right now, no one and nothing else mattered.

Present Day

"Agh, yew fahkin..OOOGH!"

Stumpy had already taken quite a beating. He coughed up fresh blood, the same that trickled from his petal crown and his mouth. Nidoqueen did her best to fend off the attackers, but there were just too many to overcome, and they'd leave her bruised and beaten, and all Stumpy could do while on the ground was helplessly watch her fall to the ground in a heap.

"هذا ما يكفي من كرم الضيافة في الوقت الحالي ، أيها الأصدقاء."

Another figure stepped down from the cliffside steps, and the Krokorok stepped aside, revealing a Pokémon with almost the same features. His red scaled body had several scars, and one eye looked like it was gouged out in a fight. No doubt that this wasn't just some petty thief, but a dangerous Pokémon that would probably just toss them into the ocean like they were pieces of plastic.

"اريد نظرة فاحصة على الصغير!"

One of the Krokorok kicked Stumpy like a ball to the big Krokorok-looking Pokémon's feet, and Stumpy gasped for the air that couldn't get into his lungs. He couldn't do anything at the moment but look like he'd been through hell. He couldn't even struggle, his vision was blurred to the point where he could only make out shapes and colors, and could barely react to who just picked him up.

"إنه لأمر مؤسف أنك ستكون حيا أكثر من ميتا. كنت سألتهمك أمام صديقك هناك دون تفكير ثانٍ. ولكن ، إذا كنت ترغب في أن تعيش طويلاً بما يكفي للعودة إلى المنزل ، فمن الحكمة أن تعطينا المزيد من مياهك المعجزة."

The Krokorok surrounding the red-scaled leader cackled in unison. The leader in red commanded his underlings with the crates to leave, while some stayed behind to guard their leader. He barked another command at the imposing titan, and with a Hammer Arm, it easily smashed a hole in their only means of escape. The only silver lining was that the ship was in shallow water and the bulkheads took in the brunt of the crashing waves. It sat there, a broken ship that would take weeks to repair.

"لا تقاتل تمساحًا لئلا تتمزق أحد أطرافك."

Stumpy had no idea what was being said, but it couldn't be anything good. He still had just enough strength to spit some bloody sputum at a Krokorok while they all turned and walked away, and the last thing on his mind before passing out was getting even with those bastards who hurt his handmaiden and took away his pride and joy…

7 Years Ago, Jungle Pathway

Andrew was on edge as the night dominated the landscape, his whole body shivered from the air being too cold. What little warmth he had was leaving his body, and each step he took left a chill up his body. Andrew considered calling it a night and finding a place to hide, but before he could, he heard a shrill, piercing cry echo through the jungle. It caused the Shroomish to freeze in place in fear. He didn't know what he heard, but he was afraid of what it could be.

Something large sped through the clearing at a frightening pace. Whether it was what made that cry or not, Shroomish didn't know. However, Andrew's fears would be realized once he felt the ground shake under his feet. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. It felt like…footsteps? But if it were, whoever was making those footsteps had to be massive. Stumpy dove for the bushes, watching something akin to an ancient monster roaming the jungle. It browsed its surroundings, and as it came closer, Andrew knew exactly what it was. It was a Tyrantrum! The dinosaur Pokémon looked around, its mouth salivating with the desire to devour, to gorge and feast.

It wasn't until its eye turned in Andrew's direction that he knew he was going to die tonight. Suddenly, leaving the safety of his group of Breloom and the safety of what was his home felt like the worst decision he ever made in his life. It let out a thunderous roar, one that made Andrew lose all sense of where he was and what was going on. He shut his eyes and braced for the end, and the last thing he could hear was the sound of Tyrantrum's jaws clamping shut around him, as flashes of memories sped through his mind, and a vision of his dear gran, a faint smile on her face as her life was fading away…

When Andrew came to with a gasp a minute later, he was on the ground in a wet, slobbered heap. Andrew knew then and there that he just cheated death. In a strange sort of way, he was infuriated he wasn't even worth killing right then and there. He was infuriated by the fact that he was captured in the jaws of a dangerous, predatory Pokémon, one that was clearly hunting for food, and in the end, he wasn't even worth eating. On some strange philosophical level, Andrew wasn't given what he knew he deserved: a fitting end because of the single worst decision Andrew ever made in his life.

He knew he would be fine just running away, farther and farther away and out of this accursed jungle, but when he looked behind him, he saw the Tyrantrum walking in that direction…towards the camp of the exploration team and that young Zigzagoon he met an hour ago. Andrew would normally think "They don't need my help. I need this chance to run away. I need to hide. I need to survive!"

And yet, a strange, selfless steak, completely unlike his usual, timid, scared self, caused him to snap, and he told himself in this one moment, this one fixed point in time, that something was wrong, and only he could save that exploration team from meeting an untimely demise. He wasn't going to watch or hear or even have the thought of someone else dying on his conscience, not when he was just granted a second chance to live. His mind was blinded with the thought of his gran Cybil's death.

Andrew didn't think twice. He immediately decided to give chase and risk running into the jaws of danger again.