Hard Enough - Chapter 399 - The morning after (Patreon)

The morning after, saw me sitting by a small fire. Over the flames, a small frypan rested with several Pidgey eggs that the Clefairy had helpfully stolen without so much as blinking.

I hadn’t even needed to ask.

Daisy sat across from me, gazing longingly towards the crevices and hidden alcoves where the Clefairy had emerged from. “Do you think they’ll come back?” she asked.

“Not right now,” I replied easily. 

“Clefairy are usually shy pokemon, but they are kind-hearted. Perhaps if fortune favours you, you will see them again.”

Sam hummed thoughtfully, his gaze focused solely on the notepad in his lap as he slowly flipped through the pages of pictures he’d drawn.

I could see Zubat swarms drawn in dark outlines and radiating anger, Clefairy bouncing out of holes in the ground, Wartortle, Charmander, Weedle, and Caterpie all standing firm alongside me and Rhyhorn. 

“You’re quite the artist,” I complimented as I spotted a drawing of myself in full armor. I looked mysterious and wise.

Sam blinked and looked up only to blush when Daisy looked over and blinked. “Oh? This? This is nothing. This, this is just idle drawings I like to do… it’s sort of like a journal for me but… well,” he trailed off and shook his head shyly.

“Can I see it?” Daisy asked, her eyes locked on the notepad.

“Ah? Uhm… I suppose?” he replied, unsure how to deny his crush while also hiding behind his notepad. He ended up handing it over to her and marching over to where Weedle and Caterpie were practising their moves.

His retreat was hastened by my laughter. His obvious concern didn’t stop me from leaning over to inspect the notepad along with Daisy as she began flipping through page after page.

It read, or rather viewed like an artist, drawings of a travelogue of their adventures. Pokémon, trees, people and even cities that we’d passed by were etched onto the pages.

Pidgey flocks, and Pidgeotto’s nesting were interspersed with bug pokemon, trees full of crawling, skittering eyes and shapes all but ready to pour off the page and into real life.

More than a few bug catchers were shown. Old men with young energy gangling Caterpies about with nets. On the pages with people small notes were jotted down.

When moving through the long grass do so slowly to attract less attention. Natural instincts of pokemon to avoid slow moving things. Instinct alerts them that it is either a powerful pokemon, or a predator. Keep this in mind when observing the long grass.

Weedle and Caterpie’s entry into the notepads had more notes than the others with Sam recording his observations along with various milestones he had like learning moves.

When we reached my page, I was surprised to find that I actually had several such pages. The first was me driving off an Onix with a precise strike to the eye.

I laughed out loud when I leaned in and saw comic-like commentary announcing it a ‘critical hit!’.

He wasn’t wrong, even if it had been blind, or Legendary luck at play to allow me that opening strike with a lance.

Then there was my helmet with vibrant eyes peering out through the shadows, but not in an intimidating way, I looked happy and engaged with the world.

Another showed me sitting under the tree with Celebi at my side, my gaze turned upwards such that you could make out my mouth through the gap. My lips were turned slightly upwards as I pet Rhyhorn who was stealing the final slice of oran berry from my relaxed grasp.

Rhyhorn pictures followed, as did the observations, not just about his abilities and strength, but also his character.

This seemed a sticking point for Sam, he constantly reviewed how I interacted with Rhyhorn compared to how others interacted with their pokemon.

The ease of sharing space. The lack of fear that I’d be stepped on and crushed by the rock pokemon. The way Rhyhorn and I acted as one, sometimes without any verbal commands occurring.

Huh, Sam was a sharp one to catch onto that.

Daisy thumbed through the pages until she reached the last few.

There she stood, an entire page dedicated to her.

She held the egg like she had and there was a scowl on her features, but her eyes… they showed a vulnerability to them that Daisy must have thought she’d hidden.

Daisy shut the book and handed it to me, tilting her head down until her hair fell over her eyes.

I paged through the last, finding a drawing of a doctor staring wide-eyed at Charmander and the rest of Sam’s pokemon with the salve smeared over their limbs.

Ah… was that something that wasn’t known back then? Same had the ingredients listed off plainly during one of the earlier pages that Daisy and I had read through.

Seeing it highlighted once again made me think that perhaps people of this era hadn’t yet found out the medicinal benefits of certain herbs and berries.

Ha… whoops?

“It’s Celebi’s fault,” I muttered under my breath, only for my words to cause Daisy to stir. 

“Huh?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I replied, handing her the book back. “Return that to young Sam, if you would please.”

She nodded, glancing towards Sam who had been pretending to not peek at us for the last few minutes while standing near his pokemon.

Upon seeing our gazes turn towards him, he stiffened and pretended to be ordering his team about.

Daisy approached him slowly. “Hey… thanks for that… and… last night as well. I was way in over my head.” she glanced back to me and bowed. “Thank you as well Sir Knight. I had no idea that creep had been chasing after me.”

My chuckle echoed through my suit of armor as I plated up the cooked meal. “I’m rather amazed you hit him with that rock,” I mused. “It was a hell of a throw.”

“I hit him?” she asked.

“You didn’t see?” I replied only to recall that it had been dark, and the kids wouldn’t have had anywhere near as good a night vision as I did with my dark aura.

“You nailed him,” I offered, tapping on my right eye. “Right in the face.”

A short conflict between pride and horror broke out on Daisy’s face only for pride to win out with her puffing up happily. “Good! He was a bastard! I would have made it over Mt Moon and been halfway to Pallet Town if…”

Sam tilted his head. “But then you would never have met Cleffa, Clefairy, or Clefable?” he asked.

Daisy opened and closed her mouth.

Eventually, she coughed. “That… maybe made it worth the scare,” she suggested haughtily.

Sam just grinned at her. “And now we can head home together!”

Daisy’s face twitched. “Sam… I’m not giving you the egg. My family needs this!”

“And I wasn’t going to take it! You won it! Fair and square!” he replied easily.

Daisy stared at him. “O-oh? Well, thanks,” she replied, staring at him like she’d never seen him. “You… you’re different, you know?” 

“No? I’m me?” Sam replied with a confused tilt of his head.

I snorted loudly. “Breakfast is ready, children,” I offered, amused at the show they were putting on. “And we can be back in Pallet Town soon without any issues.”

That had them scampering over and eating quickly.

I stood and marched to a ridgeline to look down upon the world. To the east sat Cerulean and the sea. To the west, Pewter and the Silver range mountains. Last night had ended up being much longer than I’d planned for after an entire day’s journey, but with an early start we’d be done with this little adventure.

There were still several questions burning through my mind but I dared not think on them too much lest I actually voice them.

My eyes turned skyward, tracking any errant shapes that weren’t simply Pidgeot or Fearow on the wing.

It would be hard to spot them but… the sudden blurring and vanishing of dark shapes was good enough to spot out any Dragonite’s overhead.

When I’d given my surroundings a long inspection I turned back to find that the children had divided the meal in two rather than three. 

I stared at the empty fry pan. “There were ten eggs in that pan,” I pointed out as my stomach rumbled.

Both children realised their mistake instantly and bowed their heads. I just waved them off. “It’s fine. I’ll get some roughage on the ride,” I replied. “Pack up and let’s head out,” I ordered, annoyed that I wasn’t going to get breakfast.

The children’s guilt over their greed resulted in the ride down Mt moon and down Route Three towards Viridian Forest to be much quieter than it otherwise would be.

We were just approaching the forest’s edge when my stomach roared in protest and I called for a halt to allow me to forage for food.

Sam elected to help me which I accepted easily enough. 

“Sorry again,” he replied as he hurriedly snatched up some grass.

“It’s no problem, and put that back. It’s poisonous to eat,” I pointed out, before gesturing to the right type of grass. “You’re flustered. Stop, take a breath, and slow down.”

“Cause slow is smooth, and smooth is fat,” he murmured.

“Fast, not fat,” I pointed out, causing him to blush once more and break into a stammering mess.

“Sir Boulder! Sir Boulder!” called a woman’s voice.

I straightened and found myself staring at a maid who was approaching with a bound up package.

Food? My gaze locked onto the package as the maid approached and bowed to me. “Sir Boulder! The serving staff discovered this in the bushes the morning after you left. We all think you deserve it!” announced the woman.

Undoing the tie on the wrapped up package I discovered a rather large pokemon egg in my grasp.

Huh, this would go well as a midday meal.

Then my mind caught up to what I was thinking, and I coughed. “After I left you say?”

The maid nodded quickly. “Indeed! We think that it came from that Draongite that your pokemon smashed into!” she smirked proudly. 

It took me a moment to connect the dots, which I could only blame on my lack of food.

“Oh,” I replied as understanding set in. “Thank you for giving this to me,” I offered, bowing over it.

The maid curtsied back at me. “Not a problem, and if you don’t mind me saying… We heard what you did for our lady. Thank you, she’s an unfortunate soul, but I think you’ve helped her.”

With that said, the woman turned and made her way back to the Gemheart manor.

I stared after her, the reminder that it had been my own Grandmother slapping me in the face at the same time that the knowledge that it was my grandfather abusing her rose to the fore.

I was half tempted to stomp back up to the manor, kick in the door and kick the old man’s teeth in. He wouldn’t need those to sire Lola after all.

“Wooooooah, a pokemon egg!” gushed Sam.

Looking down I found him gazing at the egg in awe, not a hint of avarice or greed on display. 

He looked up at me with a grin. “Who’s pokemon egg is it?” he asked.

I pushed the egg into his chest. “Yours Sam. It’s yours,” I replied as understanding crystallised.

This was it. This was how Samuel Oak, future Legend of Indigo, gained his Dratini.

It wasn’t a starter pokemon like so many suspected, nor was it discovered. 

It was a gift.

“W-what? I can’t take that!” wailed Sam in surprise.

“You will Sam. It can do you more good than it can me,” I replied, kneeling down to put a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me when I say that I know hard times are ahead.” I tapped the egg. “You’re going to need each other. To watch each other’s backs and to also find a way to be good in hard times.”

“Huh? I don’t understand?” he replied.

“No, and that’s alright,” I offered kindly. “Stay inquisitive and open. Find the good where you can.” I turned my head towards Daisy. “Not just in yourself, either Sam. I think… no. I know that you have greatness in you. Just make sure you do good when you have the chance to. It will make all the difference.”

Sam chuckled. “Me great?” he mocked.

I reached out and tapped his head. “You’re overthinking it with your head. Let your heart speak,” I said. “Now. let’s get you bo—”

A loud roar had me turning to find an Onix emerging from the west. It had a small wound on its eye, and it glared at me before tossing its head.

The noise appeared to attract another group of people as I could see them kicking up dust as they raced to get closer to us.

The Onix ignored them, instead tossing its head and glowering at me in particular.

“Ah… you wish to have a rematch?” I asked.

The Onix nodded proudly, rising up and wiggling in a dominance display. I snorted and strode back to Rhyhorn.

Hmmm, I didn’t have a lance this time…

I shook it off after inspecting the Onix. It wasn’t that strong. I should be able to win this pretty easily.

“I accept!” I declared, causing Daisy and Sam to fall back. Daisy did a double-take when she saw that Sam had an egg in his grasp before her gaze snapped to me.

Not wanting to be questioned on it right now, I snapped a hand forward. “To battle!” I ordered, feeling entirely useless on Rhyhorn’s back, but rather enjoying it as Rhyhorn took off.

Our foe lurched forward in a counter, and the ground rumbled as we closed on each other.

Something clicked in my mind as dust was thrown everywhere, and I knew something important was about to happen.

Then Celebi shot out from in front of me with a smirk and threw itself into me.

A memory flashed through my mind. 

I remembered when they’d taken me from, and I hastily tried to roll my shoulder, expecting Galahad’s lance to be attempting to impale me from the joust only for nothing to happen.

I blinked as I sat up and found myself once more on the outskirts of Viridian Forest. Nearby, there wasn’t any Onix, or Sam, or Daisy.

The sun had shifted back to morning instead of being midday, which gave me a wave of vertigo.

Then my gaze drew towards the north, where Pewter city stood.

There were large patches of smoke drifting upwards from almost the entire eastern-facing side and several towering buildings that had been present mere seconds ago were now toppled or reduced to ruins.

My mind made a mental leap to when I was.

And I didn’t like the answer at all.

I was during the war.

“Fuck you Celebi, I hope Darkrai eats you,” I muttered darkly as I began making my way to the ruins of my hometown.

_______________

A few minutes later saw me and Rhyhorn marching into Pewter City, or rather a nightmare of what Pewter could be.

“—and no one likes you cause you’re short!” I growled as I cursed out Celebi for some catharsis.

“Rhyhorn!” agreed Rhyhorn loyally. “Rhy horn! Horn! Horn!”

I considered that for a moment before deciding it wasn’t worth repeating, and not just because it wasn’t PG-thirteen.

“And his head looks like an onion!” I tacked on, feeling darkly pleased with myself. Rhyhorn was just happy that he got to swear without being reprimanded by his mother.

It perhaps wasn’t the most constructive use of the five minutes walking towards Pewter, but in my defence, I was hungry, tired, and so, very fucking done with this adventure.

Also, running towards a city that had just been attacked probably wasn’t the best idea.

“Halt! Identify yourself!” barked a crew of men that had been clearing away debris when they spotted us.

“I’m a Knight Errant of—”

“He’s a weirdo! Get him!” shouted a small furrety-looking man at the back.

A trio of men marched forward, and I sighed.

I didn’t want to be here during this time period. I wasn’t asking for much, just an easy adventure, teach a kid some morale fibre, then back home. In and out, was that too much to ask for?

Glowering at the advancing men I was more than ready to throw down when another man’s voice spoke up. 

“Stop there! I recognise that knight!” 

Everyone turned to find an absolute unit of a man marching towards us. He was only as tall as my chest but he made up for it by being almost as wide. On his head a rounded helmet was slapped and a scowl looked like it was permanently affixed to his face.

“Captain!” barked the group of men as they all saluted as one.

The man, rather than being happy to see the group respect him, rounded on them furiously.

“The fuck are you doing? You know, Blackthorn elements would love to pick off—”

A shadow fell over the group, and I didn’t stop to think, I just acted.

Dismounting from Rhyhorn should take a bit of time, but being in armour, I could roll to the side, ignoring the spikes before hitting the ground and ripping my hand through and up into the sky.

Rhyhorn matched me, sending a wave of rock high and smashing into a descending Fearow rider.

The Fearow’s wing got clipped and the pokemon and rider both went down in a breakneck tumble that saw them smashing into sections of rubble.

For a moment, everyone stared, then the Fearow rider staggered out of the dust, coughing and wide-eyed.

Instantly, the gang of labourers that had been about to lynch me had a new target.

The trio of men advanced. “Oh, please, resist~!” one of them growled as he cracked his knuckles.

I watched this, more than a little dead inside and just… done with this time period. Then I recalled that I was better than this.

“Stop, just take him into custody!” I said at the same time as the ‘Captain’. We both blinked and shared a look at each other. I bowed my head, conceding that this was his show as it were. 

The group clicked their tongues at this while the Fearow rider still looked dazed.

I suppose I should be glad I didn’t just kill someone cause that… well, it would be bad… I worked that around in my mind for a bit. Right now, I just found that I couldn’t care, as bad as that might sound.

“Huh, it is you,” remarked the Captain as he inspected me. “You and your Rhyhorn don’t look…” He shook his head. “Well, I shouldn’t be unkind, but I can’t help but wonder what the hell was going through your head.”

I tilted my own, entirely unsure what he was referring to. “You have me at a disadvantage,” I offered carefully.

He sighed. “Ah, that’s true. I was there the day you charged that Onix. Saw you go in but didn’t see you come out.” He patted his pokebelt. “Confused the hell out of everyone as they thought you got launched. That kid you were with was a bit cut up about it.”

I grimaced. That… hadn’t been how I’d wanted to end our adventure together. 

I’d probably caused Sam to develop a mild case of trauma from losing his mentor figure.

Which… huh… that was a thing, certainly.

Eh, for once, it wasn’t something I pushed to future Brock so much as got to blame Celebi for.

Fuck that little winged bastard.

“I was rather… out of form,” I offered up as an excuse.

My stomach chose that moment to roar in protest, and the Captain's eyes rose. 

“Sounds a bit like you're out of form at the moment as well,” he jerked his head behind him. “Come on, there’s still some chow being served. After that, I’m conscripting you to get some rubble cleared.” His eyes dipped up and down my form once more. “Fella like you, I reckon you can help out, yeah?”

“I would be very agreeable to that,” I replied seriously.

The captain shook his head. “Well you certainly play the part of a knight. Make sure you don’t go sweeping too many maidens off their feet.” His eyes turned to the west. “We need the other things knights are known for right now,” he muttered.

“I can do that,” I replied easily. It was rather odd that having to deal with Lance, Claire, and Bruce had set me up rather uniquely to handle the Blackthorn clan of the past.

Perhaps I was going to cause some generational trauma for them?

The captain led me towards a tent that had various camouflage nettings laid over it to obscure it from anyone who might fly overhead. On the walk towards said tent, I saw more than a few buildings covered in the netting. 

“Is the foundry still standing?” I asked, knowing that during the war it was a priority target for the Blackthorns.

“For now,” grunted the Captain.

I eyed him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name. I am Sir Boulder,” I offered, recalling how I’d forgotten to introduce, or rather, reintroduce myself to Sam Oak straight away.

“Nate Dustmen, or as everyone calls me lately, The Captain,” he replied easily. 

“A, yes. I met a few of them,” I offered before glancing around. With no Sam Oak or Daisy around to recognise me, I decided I might as well take off my helmet to eat. I didn’t need a reason to cause any more suspicion after all.

Nate watched me carefully only to grunt. “Hmmm good, you don’t look like one of them infiltrators we get every now and then,” he muttered.

“Ah? Blackthorn infiltrators?” I asked.

Nate nodded and waved to a man in army fatigues who bustled over with two bowls. “Yup, they think they’re clever but you can pick em up a mile away.”

“Thank you!” I offered the serving staff as I accepted the bowl, only to turn back to Nate. “How do you pick them?” I asked, as I began to demolish my meal. I kept the bread aside for Rhyhorn, knowing that he’d need something a little bit more substantial than this but for now it would do.

Nate’s eyes flicked down to my empty bowl and the bread I’d handed to Rhyhorn. “Oh… It’s pretty easy. They’re stuck up, even as kids. Also, they have this weird habit of pausing and checking the air when the wind changes direction.”

That… huh, I’d seen Lance do that occasionally but I’d thought it so he knew how to pose for his cape to flap dramatically when he wanted it to.

“Is it something they were trained to do? For when they take flight?” I asked.

“Yup! The only sorts I’ve seen are the old flying club members, but they’re…” Nate shook his head and I made a noise of understanding.

Historically, the Pewter Flying Club had been one of the first targets that the Blackthorns had destroyed. The club, despite being taken by surprise, had mounted up and fought back hard enough for alarms to blare throughout Pewter, resulting in the secondary raid against the foundry, a raid that historically would have taken them by surprise, to fail.

“Thankfully, they haven’t tried anything with Viridian that I’ve seen,” I reported, knowing that historically Blackthorns actually avoided targeting the forest for some reason. What that was I had no idea but it worked in my favour being able to pretend that I’d been standing vigil within it.

“Thats where you’ve been?” Nate asked.

I patted Rhyhorn. “Best spot for us. Flying and bug types aren’t a concern, and as long as you stock up on Pecha berries you’re fine for things like poisons.” My gaze turned towards the large cooking pot. Hmmm, I probably shouldn’t push for more with rationing likely to be in effect.

“What are you gonna do if they drop a Thunderwave on you?” he asked.

“Oh, I have Cheri Berries for that, but I don’t have to worry too much as Rhyhorn is immune to Thunder Wave,” I replied.

“Huh, know where we could get some of these berries?” he asked, his eyes tracking me as he made a gesture to the serving staff.

I hummed, accepting another bowl of food that was offered without me even having to ask. “Oh thank you, I didn’t want to impose,” I stated, bowing in thanks as I devoured another bowl.

When I was done, Nate raised his eyebrows. “So, those berry groves?” he asked.

It was then that I realised I might have spoken a bit more than I should have. When had the uses of the berries been documented and shared around? After the war, it was common enough knowledge, but back then… or rather, now? What was the case?

Once again, my mouth had written cheques, and now I was having to cash them.

“There are several, but it can be tough to spot which are currently bearing fruit, as the pokemon of the forest will often know. I found it best to track the Beedrill hive movements as they will set up within an area of trees likely to bear fruit that is included in a…” I rubbed my chin. “Roughly a kilometre wide radius from their nest. Then just work your way clockwise ahead of them, and you’ll collect berries.”

“Clockwise?” he asked dubiously. 

“Something odd I noticed once. Beedrils will naturally start to the north and then arc around when defending their nest. The same occurs with their foraging. Just be careful that you don’t take more than… half the berries on the trees at a time, and the swarm hive shouldn’t become too agitated,” I lectured.

“Huh, you’re a real knight of the woods. I’ll have to share that around,” he made a face, “Along with the warning. Some extra supplies would go a long way.” Then he leaned forward, got anything else you’d like to share about the forest’s bounty?” he asked, the casualness of his act well and truly gone now.

Thai was close to becoming an interrogation.

“Nothing that comes to mind,” I offered back blandly.

Nate hummed, a look of extreme doubt flashing over his features, only for the sound of someone crashing into several pots and pans sounded out throughout the kitchen area.

Nate sighed. “Fucking new kids,” he growled. He gave me a look before shaking his head. “Alright, I’m off. I’ll have a private come and pick you up for help with the rubble, we need that cleared and stacked in certain areas.”

I wasn’t even able to reply as he stood, and marched off, his head turning to bark orders at the kitchen. 

“Oi! Stop fucking around back there like you’ve never seen a pan! Clean em and move on!” he ordered.

“It’s not my fault! The tower was stacked wrong by someone else!” whined someone who got the Captain’s full attention rounding on them.

I sighed and shook my head as the Captain started giving the person complaining the mother of all chew-outs.

Affixing my helmet back onto my head, I stepped out of the chow hall only for a kid to run straight into me.

“Oowwww,” he grumbled. 

Reaching down, I lifted him into a standing position. “Hey there, let me help you up,” I offered.

He glanced up and found myself staring at Forrest in army fatigues.

My mind short-circuited, about to demand what he was doing here, only for Forrest to scowl.

“You can let me go now,” the boy sneered.

Rather than let him go, my fingers twitched, clenching on the boy’s shoulders.

Oh shit, this was Flint.

_________________

A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!

It’s a bit of a shorter chapter, I know, but I wanted to get the lurch in time periods coming in mid chapter and show how unamused Brock is with Celebi pulling a fast one on him.

I have a few scenes that I hope people will find rather entertaining!

It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter.

Editor’s note:- Twmmy - think I told this to viva a while back.. Chapters he considers ‘short’ are huge compared to other authors :D Anyhow, enjoy!