A Zigzagoon's Restart

Jagoda

*Whack* *Whack* *Whack* With a final swing, the little Zigzagoon drove the final nail into the sign, dropping the rock he wielding with a sigh. Thanks to offering himself as help and making a few new connections, he finally received the materials needed to take over a little stall in the center of the market. As he stepped back, he admired his work, "Jagoda's Brilliant and Beneficial Berries". The sign hung beautifully under the stall counter, colored with a basic, yet appealing blue on brown wood. It was a start, and that was a good thing.

Yet, it felt hollow, and Jagoda knew why. His mind never let go it of, really... crash into the river, the feeling of drowning, the weight of his bag... life or death... the loss of his possessions... with a yelp, he shook himself violently, snapping himself back into awareness.

Since he had fell into his river, all of the berries he had were now gone. None of them were recovered, fated to flow down the river. It drove him mad as a result, but the only thing he could do now was just try to claim more. Yet, without money either...

Jagoda sighed. He really didn't have anything, did he? No berries, no poke... No customers, but he didn't let himself go too far ahead in his sadness. After all, nobody visited yet. What's to stop somebody from popping up, and buying a- oh wait, no stock... well maybe sell- no, no poke...

With an agitated sigh, Jagoda began to pace around his store, seeming to mutter incoherently as he began to figure out what his future plan was going to be.

The day was bright and sunny, a happy day for the little Skiddo as he carried a small carefully woven basket in his jaws. Aries was hopping through town, glad to have gotten a delivery to a customer done in such a fine day. The skiddo would have gone through even a hurricane to get the job done, but luckily the rather dim child did not have to struggle through such dangers to deliver a simple food item.

He stopped once he heard a curious whacking noise, freezing up completely as his ears detected where the sound came from. He turned his head and spotted a zigzagoon pacing before a strange new building with a sign at the top that he could not quite read. He stared at the strange creature, wondering if it was going to eat him. Surely not? It was in grassveil, a civilized place right? This weird brown thing only reminded him of the big scary ursaring that always threatened to eat his mothers and him.

Was this the pre-evolved form of the ursaring!? Was it going to eat him!? The skiddo's eyes were wide, as he merely stared at the zigzagoon, making no noise save for the soft thud of his basket dropping out of his frozen jaws.

Jagoda

After staring at the sign for awhile, he heard the soft thud of something. Whirling around, he tilted his head, setting eyes on... was that a plant? No, it was... wait a moment! Jagoda's eyes went wide, little ears pulling back. An exotic Pokémon! He had never seen a Skiddo, but he had heard rumors about them, and their fiercer brethren, the Gogoats. He knew how they had a pecking order through use of their horns, and if this Skiddo was anything like he heard-

"I don't have horns! I'm the lowest on the totem pole, I swear!" He blurted out mindlessly, before wincing at his own response. "I mean... uh...?" Great, so much for first impressions.

His eyes began to wander on the basket, and curiosity immediately began to take hold. Curious, he stepped forward, before stepping back... distance was key, right? "Uh... what's... in the basket?" He had to ask... if he didn't know what was in the basket, how could he ever know if there was some kind of foreign berry in it?

Aries's legs stiffened as the zigzagoon began to talk to him, he had no clue what a totem pole was, and could only remain where he was. He finally registered what the zigzagoon was saying, and forced his mouth to move out of sheer fear that the zigzagoon would try to eat him if he did not respond in some form, "N-Nothing...th-there's nothing in it..." he spoke at last. His shivering had become apparent, and he was fighting the urge to flip on his back and play dead in hopes of the zigzagoon perhaps wandering off.

((Ded brain is ded))

Jagoda

Jagoda blinked... the Skiddo was just as afraid as he was! He wasn't beyond realizing this, but at this same time, there really wasn't much he could really do. He didn't know how to calm anyone down, or tell them he's harmless, or support any individual in some way. Naturally, Jagoda decided to do what he thought was the best situation.

"Okay, bye!" He stated, then turned around and went right back to work on his shop, as if nothing had happened. His mind instantly went back to his plans, and the things he would need to do to get his shop open. As he paced around his store once more, the Skiddo could begin to hear him mutter once more. "Well, to get berries I'm going to have to either plant them, or buy them from someone... mmm, I wonder if I they have a berry farm already... If they do, that just means I need to acquire some money, maybe work for them for a bit... something or other, so that I can earn enough Poke to actually get this running.... why did I fall in the river again, Jagoda? Head in the clouds and all that..." He would keep rambling to himself, as if the encodunter with Aries never happened. At least, unless the skiddo talked to Jagoda once more.

The zigzagoon darted off, leaving the fearful skiddo to stand there, still rather frozen in fear. His eyes were still wide, and his ears were still flat. However, the zigzagoon seemed to have completely forgotten his existence on this planet, and resumed minding his own business. The skiddo looked around, not daring to move his head and leave the zigzagoon out of his eye sight, and saw the sign he could not read. He swallowed his fear, thinking about what his father would think if he were to be here. Why, he would think he was some kind of coward! His mothers would be disappointed to.
He approached the zigzagoon, looking up at the sign in fear of looking in the zigzagoon's eyes.
"Wh...what does that say?" he asked.

Jagoda

((The sign is on the bottom of the stall, a edit I made shortly after I made the topic.))

The Zigzagoon blinked... and gave a look of confusion and disbelief. "C-can't you read?" He asked, before giving a bit of a frown... best not to offend someone you just met... but if the Skiddo couldn't read, that would be... well, it's best to answer the question, before he gets himself into trouble.

"It says 'Jagoda's Brilliant and Beneficial Berries', it does. I do a lot of business with berries! Buying them, selling them, making them into wonderful little concoctions... yet..." He seems to pout a little. "I lost all my berries when I feel into the river. Every single Oran, Sitris, and Leppa..." He circles around his stall, before hopping up onto a little stool behind it. Now leaning on top of the counter, he gave a small, yet slightly hopeless smile to the Skiddo. "I don't think you'd want to buy anything from a 'mon who has no inventory, or sell to a 'mon who has no money, eh? Unless you really want you to make something from the berries you have already, there's not much I can really do for you." It almost seemed as if he had a really difficult time talking to Aries, resorting to business talk about berries. Maybe he just didn't like others...? Or perhaps he just couldn't say things the way they were meant to be said. Either way, it could be a cause for concern for the Skiddo.

"N-No..." the skiddo spoke when he was asked if he could read. The zigzagoon proceeded to read the sign out to him. Aries listened, only to become further confused. The only words he understood being "Berries" and "and". His ears flattened, wondering if he should be embarrassed. The skiddo listened as the zigzagoon went on about berries. What was a "concoction"? He had heard of an Oran and Sitris berry, he even had a few in his stock, though he usually didn't put up sitris berries as he needed them when he went dungeoneering, but what was a leppa?

There was a bit of an awkward silence when the zigzagoon finished speaking before Aries finally voiced his question, "What's a 'Jagoda's', 'Brilliant', 'Beneficial', 'Leppa', and 'Concoction'?" He paused to give time for the zigzagoon to respond before speaking, "I-I'm Aries...I run a shop and make things for pokemon...i-if you're looking for berries the best place to go is dungeons..."

Jagoda

Jagoda looked to the Skiddo with a bit of  sadness... it couldn't read? And it was missing so many wondrous words in his vocabulary... the Zigzagoon felt compelled to help, but... how...? With a sudden idea of inspiration, he jumped right up front to Ares, grinning wildly as he burst into song.

Words! Such a magical thing,
To describe every object and thing!
Words! They can be confusing too,
So let dear Jagoda, help you~

He walked his way to the sign, and stood at attention, taking a paw to point to himself.

Jagoda! That's my name,
Selling berries and drinks is my favorite game.
From Orans to Pechas to Leppas to Sitrus,
Pokemon will discover it's like a 2nd Christmas~!

Humming a bit to his own tune, he tapped the two B words on the poster.

Brilliant! Is something that's clever,
Like making a brew with a pull of the lever!
Beneficial! Is something that's good,
Something that can help your mood~

"Oh, that was a half rhyme..." He muttered to himself, before shifting his pitch a half step

Concoctions~ is a mix of fluids,
Just like the old, regarded druids
A berry here, and a berry there,
A drink can be made, with loving care!!!

He started to hop around the Skiddo happily, finally coming up to his final part.

Berries to sell and drinks to brew!
That is the very thing Jagoda will do!
It's quick, fast, magical botanicals!
All brewed just, for, youuuuu~


At the end of his song, he leaned up against his sign, grinning wildly. "So, any more questions?

(Posting from phone please forgive mistakes)

The skiddo's eyes widened as the zigzagoon started to...sing? His mothers used to sing to him when he was scared, however the purpose of this song was to clear the confusion brewing in his mind. The mystery of the words were cleared luckily, however three more were added in their place.

Druid? Fluid? Botanicals? Was this zigzagoon making up words?

ARies stared at the strange raccoon, his mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish as he tried to speak, but he was too ashamed. The zigzagoon seemed to expect him to know these things, and once again he had failed him. His ears flattened and he shook his head, lying about not having any questions, but he did not want to disappoint Jagoda yet again!

Jagoda

While he wasn't extremely good at empathy with those around him, he knew something was wrong. Shifting off of his sign, tilting his head, he offered a paw. "H-hey... vocabulary can be hard, I know. I use astonishing- um... amazing words, and they don't always make sense. Just know that I trade berries, and make juices out of them. Everything else is just... fluff. Extra, to bring attention to pokemon. It's how marketing works, really." With a smile, he rounds his stall for the third time this day (one when he first purchased it), and leaned over the counter, still trying his best to make friends with the Skiddo.

((Shortpost, I know, and apologize. More to come later!))