{"sf1_id":733403,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Defenders of Evodusai Part 15A","author":"Mizucharoshi","words":1985,"posted_at":"2014-07-21T08:25:00.000Z","tags":["Chikorita","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/733403-defenders-of-evodusai-part-15a","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/733403","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=733403\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Forced to be with the girls, Ritch sighed out loud as he watched\nhis best friend walk away with that demon of a charmander. \"Oh come\non,\" Nyami complained. \"It's only been like ten seconds and\nyou're already acting mopey. If you don't like our company, then\nlet's just go collect the stuff and be done with it.\" Liru stepped\nin between the two. \"Now hold up,\" she whispered to the\nfrustrated eevee. \"I know how you feel but we've got to sort this\nout.\" Turning towards the chikorita, Liru looked at him with soft\neyes. \"Ritch, you're a part of this team now and whatever problems\nthat you've got becomes the entire team's problem. Just tell us about\nyour situation so that we can help you.\" Ritch backed away and\nshook his head. \"Just leave me and my problems alone. It isn't\naffecting anyone else but me, so...\"\n \"What do you mean it's not affecting anybody?\" Liru growled.\nThe gentleness of her eyes sharpened into a fierce glare. \"Nyami\nand I are on edge because we're worried about you while Winta,\nsomeone who doesn't get mad often, burned hotter than usual today\nbecause of the way you acted. But the pokemon that's most affected is\nyour own best friend. Whenever he looks at you, there's sadness\nlingering upon his face that just stays there like emotional battle\nscars. So don't you go and tell me that your problems aren't\naffecting anybody because if you do, then you're just a blind and\nignorant fool.\" Backed into a corner the chikorita was on the verge\nof tears. \"No... I'm hurting Mishren?\" he sniffled. \"Emotional damage is just as serious as physical damage,\" she\nsaid crossing her arms. \"If you aren't alright in the head then you\ncan't perform at your best. Remember when you blamed Winta's actions\nfor getting your buddy injured? There was no way that Mishren could\nhave lost to Winta in that fight unless he had some kind of handicap.\nWe now know what that handicap was and whose fault it was for giving\nit to him.\" Ritch's legs failed him and he slumped to the ground\nwith a look of disbelief. \"All these years and I didn't even notice\nyet it only took you a couple of days to see. Where did you learn all\nof this from?\" The totodile flashed a smile. \"Who else but Winta?\nEven though she didn't teach me directly, you can still learn a lot\njust by watching your heroes. I've learned a bunch from her when I\nwas still a hatchling... and now I can finally start learning from\nher again after all these years.\" Burying his face into the ground,\nRitch thought about everything that Liru had said. \"F-fine,\" he\nmumbled. \"I'll take a risk and trust in you two to help me move\nforward.\" Standing up, he stared at Liru with hopeful eyes. \"But\nwe still have a task to accomplish. Let's go and I can tell you as we\nwalk.\"\n When I first joined Sofeda, I was originally placed in the\nspecial attack squad. There were mixed feelings swirling around my\nhead when I showed up on the first day. I was happy that I had\nfinally managed to get in a squad this time around, but the newbie\nbeating tradition that this division was known for terrified me.\nAfter getting myself mentally prepared for what was to come, I made\nmy way slowly to the Offensive Superiority building. It was here that\nI met Mishren the mareep for the first time and he was chatting it up\nwith Chief Plena. The confidence in his voice was infectious and my\nworries seemed to melt away when I was with him. Plena also seemed\nlike a nice guy as well and he gave us a grand tour of the place. By\nthe end of the day, I had completely forgotten about the beating\nuntil a group of pokemon came and carried us away. \n We struggled with our captors for awhile until they threw us\ninto an open area. Standing in the middle was a magmortar who had\nsurrounded the area behind him with flames. Considered to be one of\nthe best in the squad, he gave us one look and roared with laughter.\n\"The both of you look pathetically weak! It won't be fun for me if\nI fought you one at a time, so come and attack me with all you've\ngot!\" I hesitated out of caution but Mishren didn't give a second\nthought and shot off a thundershock. It connected but the magmortar\nroared out in amusement. \"I thought I said to attack together! That\nfelt like a soothing massage to me!\" Mishren growled in anger and\ngot ready to charge in but I held him back since I figured out that\nit was a trap. Keeping our heads cool, we kept our distance and\nobserved our opponent as he kept trying to provoke us with words and\nattacks that were easy to avoid. Eventually I discovered his weak\nspot and told Mishren about my plan to exploit it. Together we\ncharged forward, barely managing to evade flamethrowers twice our\nsize. The air became intense for a grass type like me but I kept on\ngoing. Jumping into the air to avoid another flamethrower became a\nmistake as an ember attack made a direct hit against my body. Before\nI fainted, I caught a glimpse of the magmortar's smug grin turning\nsour as Mishren smote him from behind. Mishren said that he got\nknocked out after making that attack and it took all the pokemon\nthere to stop the magmortar from going on a killing rampage. From\nthat point on we worked our hardest by competing multiple jobs for\nour division and climbed the ranks as partners. Soon we became well\nrespected by our teammates and the chief decided to make us mentors.\nThat decision was the start of my problems. I'm not gonna mention her name, but our first and only student\nwas a snover who had been a big fan of ours after we rescued her.\nWhen you get used to the hail that always seems to follows her around\ninside the mystery dungeons, you'll see that see had the potential to\nbecome one of the best. However, her big mouth soon drew unwanted\nattention in the form of a mass of followers that always seems to\ncongregate around her at the base. She was like a role model for all\nthose idiots who wished that they could have been assigned to us and\nthey would get us trouble on a daily basis. Then one day that snover,\nwho had been blinded by her inflated ego, became way too\noverconfident in her abilities. We were tasked to bring down an\nA-ranked outlaw and managed to trap him in an open clearing somehow.\nMishren sensed danger in the area and warned us but she ignored\neverything and charged in directly, triggering the monster's nest\nthat the thug lured us to. Her reckless behavior that day dealt\nmassive injuries to the team and unfortunately she... passed away. \n The trauma of seeing your student's life getting snuffed out\nright before your eyes was horrible enough. But when the news broke\nout that she had died under our watch, the trouble rose\nexponentially. All those followers that she amassed in her short two\nmonths of glory banded together and started a hate campaign to smear\nSofeda's name. When Mishren and I were released after getting healing\ntreatment for two weeks, we found ourselves at war with an enemy that\ncan't be confronted with violence. Job offerings began to dry up and\nwe were constantly being attacked when we tried stepping out to\ngather supplies. For some unexplained reason, all the guys would go\nand physically harass Mishren while I got bullied by the females.\nWhen I received the transfer over to the healing division, that's\nwhen I realized how stupid the situation had become. We basically had\nto endure half a year of misery and hardships just because some cocky\nbrat who didn't know when to shut up decided to throw her life away\nfor fame. Things slowly died down when those fanatics learned of my\ntransfer. I guess they were tired of all the fighting and were\nsatisfied with the outcome. Mishren continued to climb the ranks\nwhile I sat back at base. Chief Olein did her research and found out\nthat my dad was a slowking. That meant that I was able to use a move\ncalled heal pulse when I was little, but had forgotten how to use it\nnow.. At first I was defensive about her approaching me but her\nmotherly attitude tore down that barrier in an instant. It took\nawhile but I was able to relearn that move under her encouragement\nand taught how to masterfully control its power. After learning that\nshe forced me to go learn from the medicine-mon.\nAs he said this, the trio\nfound themselves in front of the medicine-mon's home. Ritch gave a\ncouple knocks before opening the door and motioning for the other two\nto follow. The scent of various herbs lingered in the air, which\nsmelt more refreshing than the city air outside. Walking to an open\nwindow facing the backyard, they saw the toxicroak tending to a well\nkept garden. \"Hey old man! I'm here to do some business with you!\"\nRitch shouted out. Startled, the toxicroak turned and smiled. \"Well\nI'll be mankey's uncle. Is that you, Ritch? It's been way too long\nsince I last saw my favorite student. Come here so I can get a good\nlook at how much you've grown.\" The chikorita nodded and approached\nthe toxicroak. \"Oh my,\" the toxicroak whispered as the chikorita\ngot close. \"Do my eyes deceive me or do I see two young lasses\nstanding by my doorway? Gotten over your fear now, eh?\" \"It ain't\nlike that old man,\" Ritch coughed. \"They're my teammates and\nwe're here to buy some medicine for a difficult mission.\" He told\nthe medicine-mon what he needed and motioned for Liru and Nyami to\ncome over. \"Aside from the ingredients, the team leader also wanted\nthese two to learn a bit about medicinal herbs. Could you help me\nteach them?\" The toxicroak rubbed his chin.\n\"Hmmm, it depends on what you need to learn. I can give a few\npointers for free on how to search for and gather them but some of the more\ncomplicated stuff will require enrollment fees.\" \"We'll just take\nthe pointers for now,\" Nyami said. \"But I might come back to\nlearn more about,\" Liru added. After paying for the supplies, they\ngot to learn about a couple of the common herbs growing throughout\nthe land. When if was time for them to leave, they thanked the\ntoxicroak for his time. \"No problem, youngsters. Spreading my\nknowledge to the next generation pleases my aching bones. Don't\nhesitate to come back if you want to learn more, alright?\" Waving\ngoodbye, they began their journey to meet with the others at the\nfarm. As they walked, Liru noticed\nthat Ritch seemed happier. \"That's what I like to see,\" she\ngiggled. Ritched stopped, confused at her words. \"Huh? What do you\nlike to see?\" he asked. Liru poked at him. \"This. The real you\nwho's casually strolling side by side with two girls with a smile on\nhis face.\" Realizing the situation, he coughed as his face started\nto redden. \"Oh. Well... I mean...\" he struggled to find the right\nwords. \"I guess talking about it really did help,\" Nyami smiled.\n\"Come on, let's see if we can beat the other team and get there\nfirst.\" With that she took off with Liru trailing right behind.\nStill thinking about what just happened, Ritch gave a quiet laugh and\nchased after his teammates.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/718340-defenders-of-evodusai-part-14.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/812203-defenders-of-evodusai-part-16.json"}