C027 - Finding everything but not a Miltank

AN: I made a map. I'm no catographer, but this is roughly what I imagine Evergreen Meadow to be like. Two pictures, one pure nature, the other is what I roughly plan for the placement of plants and the farm house + barns. Yes, it will include a bridge. Yes, that is a waterfall near the mushroom hill. Yes, I purposefully didn't include dimensions because I didn't want to do the math for Pete having 83 trees that are 2.3m apart, growing at an angle of 13° sunward, etc. etc. Just imagine the whole picture's coastline is some kilometers.

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The Ambipom and the Aipom left after a short while celebrating, and the two Minccino the Zorua went back to playing amongst the three of them.

Solosis eventually flew over with Girafarig following behind cautiously. His psychic pokemon eventually asked if Pete could spare some berries for Girafarig's recovery.

Pete used quite a lot of berries for his pokemon in these past weeks, but he had learned by now that berries were actually very expensive, and nobody would give some to wild pokemon normally.

Seeing as his future farm was already set with Exeggutor teleporting whole trees and quite a few saplings over once he found the spot for his future farm, Pete could be more generous. He might need to run his future grass type pokemon a little ragged to speed up the growing process, but if his plans worked out, a giant Vileplume tribe would owe him a favor. And since Solosis rarely asked for anything, Pete would gladly comply.

Pete took out some berries and a potion spray from his bag as Solosis retold the story of Girafarig. Apparently, there was a small herd of these pokemon minding their own business in a valley not far from here. Earlier this morning, a group of Houndoom and Houndour came from the foot of the mountain to hunt and chose the Girafarig as their prey.

They were outnumbered and had the typing disadvantage, so the Houndoom of the group made quick work of the herd. In desperation, they decided to split up and come to this lake. Hours later, this Girafarig is the only one that made it to the lake.

It was pitiful, but this was nature. Not all pokemon were fine with just eating plants and berries, so there were bound to be predators in this world, and stuff like this would happen constantly everywhere.

Pete couldn't do anything for the missing eye, but some Rawst berry slices for the burn and a bit of Oran berry mush for the gashes and bites would probably help immensely with the recovery. He also found two sturdy branches nearby to splint the leg with some tape Pete had with him.

Solosis on her part used Heal Pulse a bit more often, and she got quite a bit of attention from the other wild pokemon at the lake doing it.

Done with the first aid Pete could reasonably provide, he got back to his pokemon and sat down next to Sunkern, who had asked to be dipped into the lake for a short moment earlier before enjoying the sun.

Solosis wanted Pete's attention for a short moment a bit later, but they were interrupted by a whole bunch of Aipom running toward them from the treeline.

The five Ambipom at the front of the group suddenly bowed toward the two Minccino and started placing items in front of them.

It started with berries and regular fruit, and eventually, they even started placing shiny metals and stones in front of them. Pete immediately noticed a particularly large Leaf Stone and a golden nugget both of which were the size of his head among the pile of items.

And it didn't end there because they even placed a pokemon egg in front of the two overwhelmed little Minccino. From the color scheme, Pete thought it unlikely to be an Aipom egg. It was a light earthen brown with a band of a light beige zig-zagging its circumference. He was sure thought despite the pattern, that this egg did not belong to a Zigzagoon. The colors were all wrong.

If they were to keep it, Pete would have to find out what it was later. Once the Ambipom were done placing a small mountain of items in front of the two chinchilla pokemon, they talked for a short moment before the monkey pokemon headed back to their forest. They seemed very eager to teach Double Hit to the rest of their colony.

"You two made quite the splash, eh?"

Pete got closer to his two Minccino and sat down next to them.

"They are yours because you taught them, but I could hold them for you for now. Are you okay with that? And the egg, do you want to keep it or give it to another pokemon to care for?"

The two Minccino didn't need to think and immediately nodded, coming to the conclusions that Pete takes everything, including the egg. Pete left out two Pecha berries, their favorites, and started placing the rest into his thankfully empty enough bag.

The only thing he didn't pack yet was the Leaf Stone. There was something a little different about it, but even after turning it over again and again, he couldn't figure it out. Pete mused it was just like that giant Moon Stone he had found at the three-way fight in the forest near Herbert's mansion. Simply bigger.

But Solosis once again roused Pete from his musing. He stashed the stone away to walk over to Girafarig and Solosis, but they had company this time. A tiny little Azurill and two Marill were looking at Solosis like the second coming of poke-jesus.

Solosis filled in why very quickly. The two parent Marill had seen Solosis use Heal Pulse and apparently the little Azurill had just cut itself while playing and as pokemon a little on the lower end of the foodchain here, they didn't have access to berries that could heal their little daughter.

That said, Solosis had told these pokemon about Pete's plan to live on a farm south from here, and all four pokemon had asked to join. Girafarig simply wanted to wait a little longer in case some more of her herd were arriving and convincing them to follow along. The other three only stayed in the lake because that was where they were born. If they had the strength, they might have already tried leaving.

Pete did say he wanted some water pokemon, and another psychic type that he could document a previously unknown evolution for was a nice bonus, too, but he was a little torn. So many pokemon to care for was a really tall order. Especially because he still wanted to convince a few Miltank to join.

Yet, he couldn't say no to getting three elusive fairy type pokemon, even if he wanted. A properly trained Azumarill with Huge Power was a force to be reckoned with.

And, he would head to Evergreen Meadow tomorrow and stake out his claim for the farm. Once that was done, it would all slowly take shape. Since it was like that, Pete got out four of the twenty empty luxury balls he had prepared for the trip to the outskirts of Goldenrod City and balled all the pokemon for a short moment.

Girafarig's last apprehension was lost the moment Pete fed it some of the food he took out for the four new pokemon to enjoy. Since the Azurill line usually only ate water plants which Pete had no idea how to cultivate or even differentiate yet, he took off his shoes and shirt, and got into the lake with the two Marill following along happily. Azurill meanwhile stayed with the Minccinos and Zorua to watch their game.

An hour later, there was no sight of any stray Girafarig or any Miltank. Pete had finished his short lesson on what plants Marills like to eat and instead enjoyed a refreshing swim with the two mouse pokemon to pass the time.

"Ah, look over there! Those are Pete's pokemon!"

Sophie's voice suddenly rang at the lake's shore. It looked like the twins and Exeggutor had found him.

Pete was only deep enough that his chest and head would be above water when his feet touched the ground, so he quickly walked to the shore to meet with Jasmine and Sophie.

"Hey, isn't that your friend over there in the water?"

And it looked like they had brought Whitney with them.

"And look, he's naked."

And Whitney was apparently eager to stir up some misunderstandings.

"Hey, you three. I'm not naked, I have shorts on. How was shopping?"

"The shops Whitney showed us were amazing! However, I'm tempted to go back to buy a cute bikini to take a dip myself. I left my swimsuit in the hotel before we went outside," Sophie gushed an excited smile.

"Oh, and Jasmine over here picked up two Rhyhorn eggs at customs. As gym leader, I could speed up the process," Whitney proudly announced with an upturned nose and a smug smile.

"It was like two minutes that we saved," Jasmine mumbled, so Whitney didn't hear.

"You're not at all bashful running around half naked in front of three cute girls like us, are you?" Whitney asked with a tilt of her head as she looked at Pete, who got out of the water to meet them and was wet and only had shorts on.

"Well, this isn't underwear, and we're at a lake," Pete answered with a shrug. He asked his Marill to try and user water type energy to dry him and his shorts.

Whitney pouted a little when she didn't get a rise out of Pete but quickly lost all her unwillingness when she saw Azurill hopping on its tail next to Sunkern.

"Oh dear Mew! What in the name of all cuteness is that pokemon!"

Whitney shouted loud enough to disturb all nearby pokemon. Good thing this was a safezone, and the weary and thirsty pokemon didn't take this as a cue to start a fight.