Chapter 4 - Dammit

He looked through the gate, to the forest beyond the fence, to the world beyond the yard.

He saw them go, saw them pass, saw them fine, but he couldn't pass, he couldn't leave, he couldn't escape.

He was trapped here.

He was locked here.

He was tied here.

But it was fine, since the world was dangerous for him.

He was fine.

He was ok.

There's nothing outside that could make him want to leave.

He was fine.

He was ok.

_______________________________________

She had to admit, 'Fergus', or how the bunny thing called the horse, wasn't as bad as he thought.

Really just like a gentle giant.

He took the hole team through the forest, most smaller low-grade Beasts ran from him without conflict and any middle-grade one was dealt by Tapu Koko with no problems.

Witch, she must say, was terrifying since a middle-grade beast, depending on the species, structure and magic, needed two to three low level middle-grade hunters.

The way he looked so disappointmented every time the beast died made her wonder how high he thought of her to be so excited about a fight.

The expectant eyes he gave every now and then made her shudder.

It took some time for them to arrive on a rocky path, obviously made by humans, and soon they saw the 'ranch'.

It was a big welcoming building with a calm atmosphere, she felt herself being more at ease at sight of the place.

It looked like a human building, just like the path.

"Raboot!"

The bunny thing, sited right in front of her, got her attention.

He jumped out of Fergus back, running to the ranch.

She tried to see what had got his atencion when her eyes stopped on a group inside the ranch, more specifically two individuals got her atention.

A handsome tall man with dark skin and black hair a few inches below the shoulders and a flustered looking bunny things similar to the one guiding them, at his side, a beautiful tall woman with white skin, red hair like fire and a little Chimp on her shoulder.

Both had the an Eagle emblem on their chest.

'Why Soaring Sky's guild master and main blacksmith are here?!' She thought helplessly.

_______________________________________

Aiden arrived at the ranch for the second time, but this time was different.

"So this is the place you've run to hide huh?" A female voice said

Helena had discovered him and forced herself on the trip

Now here he was, with Natham, his grandfather, Helena and Friedrich.

"Char!"

Oh, and Fiama too.

She was snuggling happily with Helena, who winned the Chimp's heart almost instantly.

"Traitor" He said to the Chimp, who giggled at him.

He could only smile helplessly, incapable of staying mad at her for long.

Anyway.

He saw the familiar fence with a sight, the simple but charming yard and small open wooden gate that could do little to keep intruders out, but gave a nice touch to the place.

They walked through the massive entrance door, soon seeing a familiar bunny-like creature.

"Raboot!"

The Raboot runed from a couch to him looking happy, but curious.

"Hey missy" He said "Where is your brother?"

Hearing the question, she made a face and took a little notebook and a pencil from her pocket, writing down something.

(It's his turn to babysit the troublemakers/ What brought you here so soo?)

He blinked at the answer and the cue to change the subject, an amused smile forming.

"I came to show the place to some acquaintances" He said "They seemed to like Fiama here and want to look at the other pokemon"

He pointed at Helena and Fiama, but, before anyone could do anything, she launched herself into the Raboot.

"Boot!"

"Cute!"

Helena tackled the Raboot on her arms with a silly smile, while the poor pokemon dyed her face in a bright red color and Fiama climbed to the woman's shoulder, giggling.

That was the exact same reaction Helena had when she saw Fiama, who loved the attention.

But it seems Raboot didn't like it as much as the Chimp, or just wasn't used to it.

He thinks it might be both.

"Let her go Helena" Friedrich said "She's flustered"

Helena finally seemed to see the damage of her actions, leaving a barely responsive Raboot on her arms.

He quickly took her from Helena's arms, letting the pokemon wrap her arms around his neck while he comforted her, leaving a hurt Helena behind.

"Boot!"

A familiar cry reached his ears, making him turn around.

And there he was, the Raboot brother, who came to his sister's rescue.

Aiden lowered himself to let the brother take his sister, who now he noticed was a little smaller than the male, then standed up again to make sure to stay between them and Helena.

She looked ready to do the same with the brother.

"Leave them alone you beast!" He said to her.

"Who are you calling a beast?!" She roared at him.

"Who else but you, you bear!"

"You little-"

"Excuse me?"

They both stopped the fight and turned to where the Raboot brother had come from.

And God, where the hell did this horse come from!?

The biggest horse Aiden had ever seen (well, not counting the horse-like beasts he saw before) was standing at the entrance of the Ranch, five people on its back.

All of them carried the emblem of a lion on their chest.

"What brings membres of the Golden Lion to this place"

Golden Lion guild, the third best guild of the Golden Empire.

It wasn't really that good, but since the guild master was the fifth son of the royal family, it has a lot of influence among nobles, even though its members aren't that strong or capable.

It was a noble playground, to say the best.

So he raised his guard, and so did the others.

"We were hunting and got lost" Said the woman on the front giving the horse some pats "These guys helped us and brought us here for treatment"

"Koko!"

"Za!"

An ape appeared at the top of the horse's head, and a strange creature floated above them all, Aiden recognised the calls.

'Oh, so these two are the 'rascals' from the call' He thought amused 'They must also be the troublemakers'

"And what brings Soaring Sky's guild master and main blacksmith here?" The woman asked in a serious tone.

He took a good look at the group, most of them were fine, health even, apart from a cut or two, but the woman obviously had a hard time, he saw the state of her ankle, she probably couldn't walk well right now.

"I've found this place by chance and came to investigate" He admitted "But right now? Just showing the place to the fam, so chill out girl"

The woman narrowed her eyes, not believing him.

"Anyway" He said turning to the siblings "Could you call Nate? I wanted to talk to him"

The sister nodded, running off in a blink of an eye, the brother stayed to collect the things she dropped when Helena grabbed her, using it to write something.

(Could you keep an eye on these two?/ I'll take these people to Tapu Lele)

He didn't know who Tapu Lele was, but since it was for these people, it must be for healing.

"Sure thing" He said.

The Raboot nodded, writing something.

(Punch them if needed/ The Zarude may be young, but is as strong as and adult man/ Can take a beaten)

With this, he left with the horse, not giving time for questions, and leaving the two pokemon behind.

The first thing he did when the group disappeared was take his pokedex out.

"What is that?" Nathan asked.

"A Pokedex" he said "It gives information about pokemon.

He pointed it at the Ape, soon the Pokedex opened itself and started the introduction with a picture.

"Zarude, the Rogue Monkey pokemon, of Dark and Grass type. Within dense forests, this Pokémon lives in a pack with others of its kind. It's incredibly aggressive, and the other Pokémon of the forest fear it. Once the vines on Zarude's body tear off, they become nutrients in the soil. This helps the plants of the forest grow"

It was obvious that the Zarude in front of him was still a cub, not having the structure nor shape of the Zarude in the picture, but it still sounded impressive.

"This thing is pretty useful" Said Gogan.

Satisfied with the results, he turned it to the other one.

But who would expect such a result?

"Tapu Koko, the lightning-wielding guardian deity of Melemele, of Electric and Fairy Type, Tapu Koko is brimming with curiosity and appears before people from time to time. Although it's called a guardian deity, if a person or Pokémon puts it in a bad mood, it will become a malevolent deity and attack"

He froze with the explanation.

A moment of silence washed over the ranch.

A deity?!

This guy is a deity?!

And Raboot just told him to punch him?!

Can you punch a deity nowadays??

Wait, this guy is also Tapu, does that mean Raboot just took the Golden Lion guild to see another one?

How many deities are there???

"Mister Aiden!"

He was pulled out of his sea of thoughts by a familiar voice.

He turned around to see Nate, now wearing much more casual clothes, wearing baggy pants and a long-sleeved blouse that fell off his shoulders over a black blouse, a pair of fingerless gloves in his hands, two strange bracelets on his wrists, a fanny pack on his torso and barefoot with only anklets on his feet, his hair still in a neat braid as earlier, Faith, Mune or Solana nowhere to be seem, but a new one accompanied him.

It was white, blue and pink, it had a strange ribbon that kept moving by itself and had a missing leg, a big scar was left in its place.

"It's good to have you here at the ranch again!"

The boy approached on tiptoe, quite literally, he tiptoed until he got to where they were and stood up like that.

"Good to be here again" Aiden said "I hope you don't mind the company"

"Of course not!" The boy said with a smile "It's so good to have people coming to the ran-"

He was interrupted by Helena, who ran at him and tackled him in a bear hug.

"What-"

"Cute!"

The boy had the exact same reaction the Raboot sister had, his dark skin was dyed red, completely flustered, but his reaction came with something new.

His hair, perfectly combed, puffed like cat hair.

This reaction makes him assume the boy must be a druid of some kind, as he has seen similar reactions from some druids of the guild, that also explained him walking on bare foot and tiptoeing around.

Animal habits can be hard to separate from humans, and their whole bodies work as a face sometimes, making them easy to read.

"Let him go you bear" Aiden said "He'll die of embarrassment"

Once again, Helena takes a look at the damage of her actions, letting the boy go.

"I-Its ok" The boy said with the most awkward smile Aiden had ever seen, taking some steps back, face still red and hair still puffy "B-But who might be your friends?"

He couldn't help but to chuckle quietly, not wanting to amberess him further.

His grandfather was the first to introduce himself.

"I am Goban, this rascal's grandfather"

Next was Friedrich.

"I'm Friedrich, this girl's grandfather"

Than Nathan.

"My name is Nathan"

And Helena was the last.

"Hi! I'm Helena!"

They all had decided to introduce themselves without family names or titles, so as not to pressure the boy.

Now more calm, the boy introduced himself to the others.

"I'm Nate, and it's a pleasure to have you all here at the Ranch, now, how shall we help you today?"

"Veon~"

They're attention was taken by the pokemon acompaining the boy.

It was standing from a safe distance, looking at the boy with a smug smile.

"Haha" He forced a laugh "Why don't you come here then smartass"

"Syl!" Was the response.

The boy ruffed a laugh, shaking his head.

"That's Sylvester" He explained "He's my main partner, my first pokemon and a rescue, and you guys must have meet Fergus, Raboot told me he brought some people on his back to see Tapu Lele"

The horse's name was Fergus? Or was it his species? He couldn't tell when it came to pokemon.

But right now he was curious about something.

"May I?" He asked, raising the Pokedex.

"Of course!"

He soon pointed the Pokedex at the pokemon.

"Sylveon, evolved form of Eevee, a Fairy Type Pokemon. Sylveon cuts an elegant figure as it dances lightly around, feelers fluttering, but its piercing moves aim straight for its opponents' weak spots. This Pokémon uses its ribbon-like feelers to send a soothing aura into its opponents, erasing their hostility"

Ok so the ribbon wasn't a ribbon and is actually not only dangerous, but helps to calm others.

Good to know.

But there were two things that called his attention.

"This is the second time I heard about evolution" He said "And why is Sylvester different from the picture?"

The Sylveon in the picture was more pink than Sylvester, which was kind of interesting.

"Sylvester is actually a Shiny" The boy explained "Shinies are pokemon with a different color scheme than traditional Pokemon, being even a little stronger than most of their species, but not all Pokemon with different colors are shiny, as there are pokemon, like Meowstics, that looks different depending of the gender"

He recalled how Nate introduced the Meowstics, Mune being the male and Solana the female.

Just like lions, lionesses and albino lions.

Same species, just slightly different.

"And evolution" He continued "Are like metamorphosis, they change to a new beginning depending of certain factors, like number of fights, climate or emotional state, but evolution can also affect personality, an example of this is Raboot, who evolved from a Scorbunny"

Now that was something.

Aiden found it similar to a Demonic Beast, that mutated depending on the place it leaves but are over all the same.

But Pokemon were a bit strange.

He saw the Scorebunny picture from earlier, it was small and looked really energetic.

That was one of the reasons he didn't chose Scorebunny, as he thought he wouldn't be able to keep up with it.

But when he looked at the Raboot siblings, he could see himself having one, as they were much calmer and good to be with.

How could evolution affect a creature in such a way?

"It's strange how evolution works" The boy said with a smile "Eevee with a strong friendship with their trainer will evolve to Umbreon when it's night, but will become Espeon if the same happen during the day, they'll become Sylveon if they love their trainers, but will become Flareon if they touch a fire stone"

"Strange indeed" Sayd Nathan "But curious"

"Exactly!" The boy said exited "But not all pokemon evolve, like Zarudes, and some pokemon, like Audino, who also can't evolve, and Charizard, Charmander's last form, can have a quasi-evolution using mega stones, called Mega Evolution, which is only temporary, but really powerful"

The boy stopped for a moment, browns frowning.

"Now that I stopped to think" He said "A lot of pokemon related things can resolve around rocks, Z moves, mega evolutions, normal evolutions…"

The boy didn't talk for a moment, but then shook his head.

"Anyway! Would any of you like to know more about our services or have Mister Aiden explained it to you?"

"I have explained to then, and drop this 'mister' thing, makes me feel old"

"Nonsense!" The boy said "Guests are guests and must be treated as such! So respect is a must!"

"Veo-"

"And you stay quiet!"

They all saw Sylveon snickering at the boy, seeming amused by the interaction.

"Anyway!"

Bringing the attention back to the subject, the boy looked at them.

"I'd like to have a little help"

The first to talk was Nathan, which was kinte a surprise.

"What kind of help?"

"I work as a butler in a big house" Natham explained. "And sometimes it can be hard to take care of the place, are there any Pokemon that can help me?"

That seemed a strange and specific request, which didn't look like something Natham would ask, as he prided himself of being able to keep that mansion shining.

But well, age must be hitting him.

He wouldn't be disappointed if the boy couldn't give what he-

"We actually do"

Excuse me?!

"She's, in fact, one of ours rescues" He explained "Her trainer was an old man who lived alone in a mansion, she was his Butler, handmaid, chef and more, but the man died and the family couldn't keep her"

A rescue?

Who would have imagined?

"She's in the Orchard with some of the young ones, would you like to meet her?" The boy asked.

"Yes please"

The old butler seemed curious, an emotion not many have seen on his face.

The boy then guided them through the building, the deity and the Zarude cub following close, until they were in front of a wooden door.

It was adorned with symbols that reminded Aiden of grass and leaves, right in the center, a Pokemon similar to Taku Koko could be seen.

"That's Tapu Bulu" The boy explained "He takes care of the Orchard with the help of some of the older Zarudes and other pokemon"

Another Tapu, probably another Deity.

Since when deities were so easy to find?

"And before we enter" The boy continued, oblivious to Aiden's confusion "There are some arrays in this room, spatial array being one of them, so this place is much bigger than it seems so to accommodate the plants and pokemons, and please, don't get too far from me since this place is practically a Zarude enclosure, and they're really territorials"

"Zaru!" The Zarude cried out with pride.

The boy opened the door, and revealed what seemed to be the most beautiful forest he had seen, a garden so well kept that he was sure Friedrich was envious, with an enormous tree standing proudly above all, a fountain of pink colored water falling from it.

That was the Orchard?

Wasn't that just the floral paradise?

"This room was projected to imitate the environment of multiple regions" The boy explained "This way we can keep the necessary plants for all Pokemon who leave here"

He started to walk, they all followed, Sylvester closed the door followed from behind.

"How do you even keep this place?" Friedrich asked in awe.

So he was curious.

"Tapu Bulu is a Grass and Fairy Type Pokemon" The boy said "One of his abilities is to command vegetation, so he can grow any type of plant if the conditions are good, and we also have the help of some Grass Type Pokemon, like Zarude, a kind of healer type, and Grookie, that have the ability to make the plants healthier"

"Zarude is a healer?" Aiden asked, astonished "Like Audinos?"

"Yeah" The boy said "Some Zarude can learn a move called Jungle Heal, an special ability that let them become one with the jungle and heal others, this ability could even cure a person on death bed, they usually use it when there are pokemon in bad shape, not to mention their vines, they can make plants grow faster once they're teared of, the hole species can do this, but no worries, it doesn't hurt them"

Aiden had to admit, a really interesting ability, he can see Friedrich already getting ready to get one of each, Zarude in particular, since it had such a good healing ability.

"But also"

Oh, so there's more?

The boy pointed to the enormous tree in the distance, the water pouring nonstop.

"That's the Heart Tree, Zarude's natural habitat, also known as Healing Spring, that water can heal anything, be wound or illness, it is the main reason this whole place has such a good environment for so many different plants to live here"

Aiden and the rest of the group freeze, eyes on the tree.

The boy and the Pokemon stopped with them, the boy, Fiama and Zarude looking confused, but Sylvester and the deity seemed to analyze their reactions.

An eternal fountain of healing water capable of healing anything.

Zarude was one thing, as it wasn't so strange to see powerful Healers capable of the same.

But the spring…

If such a thing was discovered by others, this whole place would be in danger, most guilds would try to monopolize the fountain, the government would definitely steal it, and the emperor…

Aiden's whole body shudders.

He didn't want to think…

He turned to the boy, approaching him and putting his hand on the boy's shoulders, giving him the most serious look one could give.

"Never" He said "Never tell anyone what you just told us, do you understand?"

"Yes? But why?"

He seemed genuinely confused, it made Aiden wonder how innocent this kid was.

"There's a lot of bad humans out there that would do anything to take that spring" He explained "So if people with bad intentions discover about it, it will put not only you, but all pokemon, in danger, do you understand?"

At the possible danger to the pokemon, the boy became serious.

"Yes"

With this, Aiden finally relaxed.

Nate was naive, but not as much as he feared.

Well, at least not when pokemon were involved.

"Now!" He said trying to lighten the mood "How about we try to find that Pokemon you were talking about?"

A smile soon appeared on the boy's face.

"Right! Gothitelle should be close to the Heart Tree with the young ones! Here, I show the -"

Boom!!

A loud sound, accompanied by a strong earthquake made the group stop.

"What was that!?" Aiden asked Helena to ask.

"Unfortunately" The boy said "I think I know"

He looked in a specific direction, face dark and tired.

"And a really wish to be wrong right now"

He hesitated for a second, seeming ready to ignore the comotion.

"Lets go, it's this-"

"Nature!"

"Zaru!"

"Dammit!"

At the sound of branch cracking and leaves fluttering, two forms approached them from the trees.

It was the Hawlucha from the rescue's folder, accompanied by Zarude obviously older than the one accompanying them, but still not quite like the one in the picture.

Aiden expected a lot of things from the encounter, be it a weird call or a atack like how Fiama did earlier.

But never, never, what happened at that moment.

"Nature! Snorlax just Gigantamaxed!"

The Hawlucha spoke.