A Stroll Together

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Grassveil Town. It seems to be a relaxing place, from what Tempo has heard. He was leaving the Festivity Forest after his berry hunt, after coming up with no berries. He was going to head home after the expedition, but he decided to stay because of a friend he met on his expedition: Yigo the Sandshrew. He decided to stick around with him, mainly because he needed to make up the time he spent in the water, instead, but... it feels like it's more than that.

He takes a look around the town when he exited the forest. "Never been around here, before, actually. I skipped this place, mainly just to get to berry collecting, but I guess I should look around a bit." He says to Yigo.

It took a moment for Alki to snap out of her fugue and help search for the burrow.  The sight made Darcy flash a warm, amused smile.  Her teammate still seemed to be lost in her own thoughts...  Was she thinking about her new form?  Or perhaps about finally seeing Yigo again?  Either way, Darcy decided not to bother her too much, humming as she resumed combing through the tall, bushy grass.  They would have all day to talk if Alki ever seemed to need it.  In the meantime, if she wanted to keep to herself, Darcy didn't want to be a bother, no matter how happy she was for her little sister...

...Yigo's burrow was certainly well-hidden, though.  Darcy sat down and scratched behind an ear with one of her forepaws, wondering if this was the right hill after all.  Perhaps they were in the wrong place.  She was turned to face Alki, about to ask if she was having any luck...  But then she suddenly cleared her throat, earning a confused glance from Darcy until she too noticed the small group of Pokemon farther down the hill...

"Yigo!" Darcy shouted as she jumped to her feet and a broad smile spread across her face.  Alki gave them a greeting while the Skitty cheerfully trotted down the slope, her eyes flitting between Yigo and the strange blue and white Pokemon alongside him.  "Alki's right!  We're here to see you."

She sat on her haunches right in front of him as a grumpy frown came over her face.  "You're in big trouble, mister!" she pouted while patting him on the head with one of his forepaws, her tail swishing back and forth.  "You got my hopes up, y'know...  I can't help you learn if you're going to keep running away like that..."

...As happy as she was to see him, and as excited as she was to see his reaction to Alki, he hadn't been there for their very first reading lesson together!  Maybe she had overestimated how enthusiastic he was.  The thought put a damper on her mood...

...But, well, she could always spend more time working at the guild, instead.  The shiny, grey badge pinned to her blue scarf was pretty, but grey badges were the mark of true beginners.  She and Alki still had much to learn.  She wore a tiny, exasperated smile at the thought, turning her gaze to the blue Pokemon by Yigo's side.  A water type?  "Are you one of Yigo's friends?  It's good to meet you.  We're from the guild," she said.  "I'm Darcy, and this is Alki.  We're at your service if you ever need our help."

He watched as the Jigglypuff and Skitty walk up to the two, and was confused by the fighting they were doing to the poor Sandshrew... Or was it teasing? Yeah, it looked like teasing, now that he thinks about it. He sighed, but giggles a little bit, anyway.

He saw the approaching Skitty, who said her name was Darcy, and the Jigglypuff was named Alki. "Nice to meet you, then, Darcy and Alki! Name's Tempo, and I'm a recent friend of Yigo, here!" He pets the littke Sandshrew as he said that, smiling and blushing faintly. "We met during the Summer Harvest."

The Jigglypuff´s words were timid yet so serious, like if she was hiding something. She identified herself as Alki but there wasn´t anything that resembled her. She had waved at him with a smile, something that Yigo felt incapable of returning, barely raising his snout to acknowledge her gesture. Just by hearing her name, Yigo´s blood froze, cold shivers running down his spine. Even though she looked different and mature now, it looked like she was feeling the same as he did. Was that Pokemon truly Alki? It didn´t matter, now it was clear why the explorers were there: they were looking for him. Yigo breathed deeply and avoided eye contact with the two Pokemon, turning to Tempo, hoping to find some relief on his presence. He got on his fours, not needing to stand up to identify the explorers anymore, and simply waited for what was to come.

While the Jigglypuff appeared to be taking her time, Darcy reacted as soon as she noticed Yigo. Her feet trotted downhill in something that looked like a careful charge. He was in deep trouble. Yigo, unable to react, not knowing how to, and simply closed his eyes as he lowered his head. At least he´d made someone have an easy time on that exchange. The Skitty was the leader of Team Friendship Alliance and Alki´s team leader. They´ve met before a couple of times during both happy and sad moments. He managed to learn a lot from her, like the power of the word over the blade, fang or claw. If she knew what he had done, she´d surely be ashamed. On his way back, he had slashed at least five other Pokemon with his right claw. How could even look at her directly, at the one that showed him that violence was never a good solution? Even then, that was not the only lesson that she had managed to get into him. His vision of the world, the one that showed him that no one was bad or evil and that, if you just knew other Pokemon better, you´ll end up being friends came from Alki and then proven right by Darcy. But that was not the last thing he discovered from team Friendship Alliance. He discovered a skill called reading that allowed him to access all of the knowledge that books contained, and the Skitty was willing to teach him how to! After all of what Team Friendship Alliance did for him, how else could he take anything that Darcy threw at him? He would not move. He´d just... wait.

She struck rapidly, her paws reaching his forehead in an expected approach that made Yigo´s tears roll on contact. She didn´t need to apply any force to make him cry; in fact, she had barely even gotten her paw on him, patting him like she knew that he liked. The Skitty´s word took the worst out of him. Yigo used to wait for them at the entrance of the guild almost every day. Sometimes, He´d end up accompanying them on the team´s adventures. However, he had been gone for how much? Twenty moons? Thirty? The sad day of his exile, the day of Easter as they called it, was the day before their first reading lessons and he had missed that appointment. He wanted to shout. He wanted to cry louder. He wanted to open his eyes so he could see the Skitty´s gaze of disappointment but he did nothing besides keeping his eyes closed while his heart felt like it was containing a fire and burning him from the inside each time he tried to compose any word.

What did achieve during his journey? Did he grow like Alki did? No, he had gotten worse.

A second paw got to his forehead that managed to change his thoughts. Unlike the previous one, this one was not Darcy´s. Tempo was calmly and gently rubbing from the top of his head to the end of it at his nose. It felt so... good. Like his type indicated, the Oshawott was able to put out the fire that consumed Yigo from the inside. At last, he was able to open his eyes even though there were tears flowing from them. He got back on his two feet and, as an answer Tempo´s question, he nodded to the two of them. It was faint but Yigo managed to smile after Tempo´s intervention. It looked like the Sandshrew did, in fact, find something of great value during his journey.

As much as he wanted to introduce Tempo to Darcy himself and probably do more cute stuff with him to make himself (and hopefully Tempo) feel cheerful and happy, there´s was Alki to take care of. Unlike her team leader, the Jigglypuff had been a bit distant. Yigo was not completely sure about that Jigglypuff being his dearest friend. There was only one way to know for certain. The Sandshrew readied himself, standing on all fours and leaning forward before he started dashing uphill. His heart skipped a few beats as the distance shortened. Just like when they had first met, Yigo pounced on her but, this time, he was not going to miss the jump. He landed on top of her, making sure that he didn´t end up squeezing her in the process. Her new size allowed him to surround her with his arms. That was the key to his plan: he had to feel her.

It felt exactly as that day on Grassveil, the day in which he had confessed that he was a coward. Her hug made him feel better and lift his spirits in such a way that it didn´t matter anymore. And that was what he was feeling as soon as he made contact with her.

"Alki!" he cried on her. It was truly her! "I´ve missed you so much! I´m sorry for having gone missing! It won´t happen again, I promise!" Even though tears kept flowing from the ground type´s eyes, the same sensation as that wonderful day overwhelmed him with joy. He was finally happy and complete with her by his side.

Alki watched the events unfold before her with a small smile on her face. She interlocked one of her hands with the other, waving them ever so slightly in the wind. She could feel her heart beating, much faster than it normally would. She tried to calm it down. It would not. Darcy was going on about lessons of some sort, but the jigglypuff found it hard to pay attention. The oshawott seemed nice enough, but the sandshrew took up almost all of her attention. Aside from Darcy, he’d been her first friend in Grassveil. They’d explored the town together, and while their very first meeting had been a bit nerve wracking for both parties involved, Alki couldn’t imagine not knowing him. He’d been so nice to her! She couldn’t quite figure out why her hands felt so cold. She felt almost as nervous as the first time she’d met Darcy, and her heart seemed to be trying to outrun her nerves.

She found herself unable to move, as if paralyzed, as the sandshrew began to cry. Was he that emotional? She’d just grown a bit taller, was all! Maybe he was crying about something else? What was there to cry about? Alki cocked her head slightly, trying to find words to comfort him, and after a long while, she managed to choke out one simple sentence. “I’m really happy to see you, Yigo.” She managed to say. After a few seconds, between the patting from the Oshawott and the Skitty, and maybe even her own words, she saw the Sandshrew stop his crying, and he looked around at Darcy and Tempo, and he smiled. Alki grinned, relieved to see he wasn’t too sad.

Her eyes widened as she suddenly saw him dashing up towards her, uphill, and it reminded her of their first meeting. She took a step backwards without really meaning to, before she reminded herself that this was Yigo, who, aside from Darcy, was now her best friend. She laughed loudly as she let the larger ground type tackle her. The fairy found herself on the ground, being embraced tightly by the sandshrew. She hugged him back, smiling widely with childlike innocence and joy in her eyes. She opened her mouth a couple of times, but didn’t find words to describe her emotion. The jigglypuff simply embraced Yigo tighter, shaking her head as she smiled. What was he talking about? She didn’t know, but all the same, she wanted to make him feel better. “You don’t have to apologize for anything!” She said, giggling. He was here! With her! “I missed you too...” The smaller pokemon said, looking up at the sandshrew. She couldn’t know it in the moment, but if she could see herself, she would know that the emotion in her eyes could only be described with one word: love.[/color]

Darcy gave Tempo a cheerful nod.  The summer harvest!  She had wondered if Yigo would decide to take part or not.  It was a crowded event, one she hadn't been sure he would enjoy, but it was also such a good chance to stock up on food and medicine.  The guild had sure taken advantage of it.  She ahd hoped that Yigo would, too, since he lived all alone outside of town...  And he had.  Her tail swished happily as she looked Tempo up and down.  He'd even made a friend out of the whole endeavor, a friendly-looking Oshawott, the affectionate head-pats and the rosy hue on his face suggesting that those two were quite close...  Darcy found herself grinning, without quite realizing it.

...Until her eyes fell on Yigo again.  ...Were those tears, flowing from his big, black eyes?  He offered a smile and a nod, but it did little to quell the worries sprouting in Darcy's heart.  She was about to raise her voice, to ask him what was wrong...

...But then the happy reunion between himself and Alki unfolded in front of her eyes, and the Skitty's smile returned, everything starting to make sense.  "Those two really like each other," she whispered to Tempo with a small giggle as she took a seat beside him.  "...They're cute, huh?  It's been a long time since they've gotten to meet.  Alki's been so excited all morning..."

He watches as the two hugged each other after they met each other after such a long time. It was very cute from his eyes, and he giggles as he saw it.

He saw the little Skitty walk up and whisper to him. "Yeah, they are pretty cute when they meet up, huh...” He said, though henfelt something... Jealousy? He giggles a bit to try and hide it, but he couldn’t help himself and hugged Yigo again... but stopped soon after with a blush. “Sorry sorry, I just felt... um, left out! Yeah, that was the reason! Totally!” He tried to cover up that fact...

It was comfortable. If it was for him, Yigo might have remained there with Alki for an hour. It just felt... great to finally get back to a place he could call home, surrounded by friends and people that cared about him besides his mother. Alki... his goal was to see her back. Why? What was so special about her? He didn´t know it. It felt great being with her and talking to her and playing with her and… he just liked her, more than anyone. What was that strange feeling? It was starting to make him feel awkward. What if he left and he could not stop her? Could he stand being away from her at all? She was part of a guild after all and expeditions were something that he had heard other explorers talk about.


It was like if the fear and feeling of being alone evolved into manifesting when Alki was not with him. He felt a strange pressure in his chest, the comfort began to become annoying in a way. He tried to get free but Yigo just noticed that Tempo was behind him, the water type´s arms surrounding his and getting in between Alki and himself. It was strange but Tempo´s actions made him be relieved of his anxiety towards Alki. Leaving Alki for a moment, he smiled and decided to give Tempo some attention. He got his paw between his own before dashing behind him and resting his head on his shoulder "A...Alki! This is Tempo! He... uh... we met at the Summer Festival and.. uh... I like him! He is my friend!" He waited for a moment for Tempo to introduce himself to Alki. Wouldn´t it be great if they could do something together? Among the comfort of his loved ones, Yigo just snapped out of it and reminded himself that Alki and Darcy had come there to do something "So... what do you and Darcy want?"

Yigo started shaking, his feet moving around without being able to find any comfortable footing. Were they there because Yooka wasn´t successful?