{"sf1_id":764656,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Defenders of Evodusai Part 15B","author":"Mizucharoshi","words":2262,"posted_at":"2014-10-05T08:42:00.000Z","tags":["Walrein","pokemon","sealeo","spheal"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/764656-defenders-of-evodusai-part-15b","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/764656","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=764656\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"       \"Hey Winta. do you really think that it's a good idea to leave\nRitch with those two?\" Mishren asked as we walked away from the\nseething chikorita. \"No need to worry,\" I chuckled. \"Liru and\nNyami both have strong personalities so I'm pretty sure that they'll\nbe able to get Ritch to come out of his shell. I'm guessing that what\never happened to him happened to you too?\" The flaaffy nodded.\n\"Yep, but I promised Ritch that I wouldn't talk about it anymore.\nCould we change the subject?\"       \"But we're already here,\" Jorge chimed in. A bell rang as we\nopened the door to the shop. \"Welcome to our shop!\" a pair of\nvoices cried out enthusiastically. Standing in front of us was a\nminun while a plusle waved at us from the counter. Mishren scratched\nhis head. \"Your shop?\" he wondered, \"Did something happen the\nprevious owner?\" \"Are you referring to Mr. Kecleon?\" the minun\nasked. \"Because something did happen,\" the plusle piped in. \"It\nwasn't anything bad though. You see, Mr. Kecleon received a letter\nfrom his brother and immediately packed everything up. As his\napprentices, he gave us the keys to the shop and told us to do our\nbest before leaving.\" \"Any idea on where he went off to?\" I\nasked out of concern. Both of them shook their heads. \"He didn't\nsay but I'm pretty sure he went to go see his brother,\" the minun\nsaid. \"They used to be famous traveling merchants,\" Jorge sighed.\n\"But they broke apart when one of their dealings went sour.\nHopefully they put all that nasty business behind them and reconcile\nwith one another. Anyways lets do what we came here to do and shop.\"       \"Oh, let us introduce ourselves before we get down to\nbusiness,\" the plusle grinned. With a graceful leap off the counter\nshe made a perfect landing next to the minun. \"My name's Posie,\"\nshe beamed. \"And I'm Negi,\" bowed the minun. \"Welcome to our\nshop!\" they cried out in unison. The three of us clapped at their\nperformance before browsing their wares. Most of the perishable items\nwere located near the counter and the deals on some of them were\nquite tempting. Wandering around, I soon spotted an area that had me\ncurious. \"What is this stuff?\" I asked Negi who was organizing a\nshelf close by. Walking over, he saw me pointing at an assortment of\nobjects that seemed to be gathering dust. \"Ah, these are valuable\ntreasures that hold within them hidden powers,\" he explained. \"But\ngetting them to work can be a bit tricky. Some items activate when in\nthe possession of a pokemon with a specific type. This defend globe,\nwhich protects the owner from flying type moves, only works when in\nthe possession of a bug type pokemon. Other objects are more species\nrelated...\"       \"Like this safe scarf,\" Jorge interrupted. Sensing a hint of\nanger hidden within the tone of his voice, we turned to find the\nspheal gripping a golden piece of cloth. \"...Yes, exactly like that\nsafe scarf,\" Negi continued cautiously. \"That object will only\naffect spheals, sealeos, and walreins by making them faster whenever\nit hails. But since it looks like you already that, I'd like to know\nif you're interested in buying it?\" Jorge puffed up in offense.\n\"I'm more interested in how the store got a hold of it in the first\nplace,\" he said gritting his teeth. \"Because this used to belong\nto my mother and I know that she would never willingly pawn off such\na memorable treasure.\"       Hearing the commotion,\nMishren and Posie walked over to find out what all the ruckus was\nabout. Negi walked over to the plusle and whispered something into\nher ears. Staring at Jorge and the item in his hand, Posie shrugged\nand shook her head. \"Um, sorry. I have no idea when Mr. Kecleon got\na hold of that safe scarf,\" she said to Jorge. \"I'd like to give\nit back but that's just bad business for us. A 50% discount is the\nbest thing that I can... are you alright?\" Large tears had started\nto roll down Jorge's face while his body began to tremble. Seeing him\nlike this made my body move on its own as I ran up and hugged him\ntenderly. Realizing what I was doing, I quickly snapped back to\nnormal and withdrew from his personal space. \"No need to cry,\" I\ncoughed in embarrassment. \"We can just buy it from them. I'm sure\nthat we could afford it.\"       Jorge wiped his eyes and shook his\nbody. \"It's not that,\" he sniffled. \"I just... thought that I\nfound a lead as to where my family went.\" Mishren rubbed the side\nof his head, unsure of his thoughts for a moment before he opened his\nmouth to speak. \"Um... I hate to ask this but did they abandon\nyou?\" \"What!? No of course not,\" Jorge glared through watery\neyes. \"They were taken away... by humans...\" Hearing that last\nword made my heart beat faster. \"Humans?\" I said in confusion. \"I\nwas told that they all disappeared a couple of years ago. When did\nthis incident happen?\" Rubbing his eyes, Jorge sniffled for a bit.\n\"It was about nine years ago...\"        The earliest memories of my\nexistence were of heavy snowfall blanketing the ground in a thick\nlayer of powdered flakes. Bleak and gloomy at first, it wasn't until\nI saw those rare rays of sunlight breaking through the wall of clouds\nand illuminating the falling flakes, turning them into glittering\ngems of color the likes I've never seen before. I watched them fall\ngracefully onto my mother who had noticed the flakes as well. The\ngolden scarf around her neck began to glow brightly, turning the snow\non ground into an illuminated stage. She smiled and called me over,\nthe light reflecting off of her gentle blue eyes like a mirror made\nof ice. I rolled over as quickly as I could but accidentally bumped\ninto and startled her. Instead of scolding me she simply rubbed the\ntop of my head with her flipper and kissed it. \"Jorge,\" she\nwhispered while we were enveloped in the light, \"Do you like these\ncolors?\" I looked up towards the falling flakes and nodded. Seeing\nthis, she leaned in close and nuzzled me. \"Even though we live in a\nland of whites and grays, just know that there's a larger world of\ncolor out there to explore, my little one.\" After saying that the\nlights began to fade away.        A couple of months had passed after\nthat day had occurred. The harsh season of freezing weather had\nlightened up and the air felt much warmer. It was that time of the\nyear where healthy males would challenge my father for his spot as\nchief. Now my dad was a tough pokemon who was incredibly strong for\nhis age. Working constantly throughout the day to protect the herd\nmeant that our interactions with one another were severely limited.\nWhenever we did talk, he would always scare me with his commanding\ntone and strict personally. Despite that, I don't hate him or\nanything. Everything he did was for his family and I respect him\ngreatly for that.        A large crowd of sealeo and\nwalreins had gathered around the makeshift arena my dad had chosen\nahead of time. He faced the crowd with his chest puffed up with pride\nto symbolize his power. Behind him was the wall of a cliff, to ensure\neverybody that he would not run away from any fights. Since she was\nworried about my safety, I watched with my mother from atop of a\nhill. We were far away from everybody else but I could still see my\nfather as he faced his first opponent. My mother gasped just as we\nrealized who he was fighting against. It was my older brother.        Remember when I said that my father\nscared me? Well, my brother is ten times worse. Being the eldest son,\nhe had to endure living in my father's shadow and the expectations\nthat was forced upon him over the years had turned him into an\napathetic monster. As the youngest, he found me to be an easy target\nfor all of his aggressions. The way I see it, my dad fought to\nprotect his homeland while my brother sought to destroy it. Charging\nforward with a body slam, he made the first move against our dad and\nstruck a direct blow against his chest. Dad's pride deflated a\nlittle, but he stood unflinching and immediately countered with an\nice fang onto my bro's back. Face scrunching out in pain, he\nresponded by sinking his own tusks into dad's back. The clashing of\nopposites intensified as they wrestled with one another. The match\nwas too even to tell and the crowd was split on who to cheer for. But\nnone of us would ever know the outcome. It was at the battle's climax\nthat nets rained down on the crown. A large portion of the herd was\ntrapped instantly while those who were free began to run away. That's\nwhen I saw the humans descending down the cliff side,        My mother placed her flipper atop\nof my head. She was staring at the chaos unfolding at the arena with\na calm yet fierce glint in her eyes. \"Jorge,\" she quietly said.\n\"Be a good boy and roll on home. Mommy has to go help protect the\nherd with your father from the humans.\" I was about to complain to\nher until I saw a huge bolt of electricity shoot up into the sky. \"GO\nNOW!\" she screamed before taking off towards the enemy. With tears\nin my eyes, I bit my lip and rolled with all I got until I reached\nour cave. Alone and frightened, I hid myself in the deepest and\ndarkest section of the cave. The waiting nearly drove me insane as\nminutes turned into hours. Sleep eventually took over and a day\npassed with no word from the outside. With nothing but the sound of\nthe wind echoing off the walls to keep me company, I eventually left\nmy hiding spot to go check the situation.        Gone. Everybody was just gone and I\nwas left alone in this sea of disturbed snow. I began calling out\nnames, just hoping to get an answer from anybody. Howling wind and\nthicker snowfall was the only response I got and it just buried the\nremains of the ambush. I went back home and sheltered there for a\nwhole week, constantly going out to forage for some berries and\ncalling out for my family to keep myself occupied. It was on the\nninth day that a miracle happened. It was blizzard conditions when I\nstupidly went out to do my usual routines. Visibility was severely\nlimited that day, but as I called out I could faintly see a splotch\nof red approaching me.        Freaking out inside, I began to\nrush back home and hoped that it didn't follow. Munching on an aspear\nberry I had stored the day before, I was surprised to see another\npokemon staring at me from the entrance of the cave. \"Nice place\nyou have here kid,\" he said with a toothy grin. \"W-what do you\nwant from me?\" I managed to spit our fearfully. With those long\nsharp claws of his glinting dangerously in the dark I was sure that\nthis pokemon was going to kill me. But he just sat down and took\nsomething out from a pouch hanging from his side. \"What's a brat\nlike you doing all alone in a place like this?\" He asked while\ntwirling the object around in his claws. \"Shouldn't you be at home\nwith your family?\" Hearing this I broke apart emotionally and the\nzangoose stood up with a concerned look on his face.        I explained everything to him and\nhe just listened in silence. When I finished, we both just sat in the\ndarkness and listened to the weather outside calm itself down. \"Hey\nkid,\" he asked a couple of minutes later. \"You said your name was\nJorge, right?\" I nodded. The zangoose stuck a claw towards me and\nsmiled. \"My name's Truce. Say, would you want to come with me? I\nwork for an organization that helps pokemon in need of our services\nand you've got potential to be one of the best...\"        \"After using his badge to\nteleport us to Sofeda,\" Jorge sniffled, \"he introduced me to the\nchief of special defence, which was a probopass named Pakojo. Pakojo\ntook me and raised me like his own son. I've learned a lot from him,\nbut I can't help but think back to all that I've lost that one\nfateful day. Truce told me that he took a job request that told him\nwhere to find me and I have always wondered who could have posted it.\nSeeing my mom's scarf in your shop made me realize that she must have\ngone through this area at some point.\"        Almost everybody was in tears after\nJorge finished recounting his past. All of us except Mishren bunched\ntogether around the poor spheal and gave him a group hug. At the end\nof our visit to the little shop, Posie dropped the price of the safe\nscarf down to 1000 poke. After purchasing it, the three of us waved\ngoodbye to our new friends and began to head to the farm to regroup\nwith the rest of the team.","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"}