New Friends

[malaise]

The forest seemed as lonely as he was...

Snowflakes fell from the sky as the colder part of the forest was starting to bare itself. A jet of mist escaped his lips as he drew his black cloak closer, looking over to his Toxicroak who waddled next to him as his partner in crime. His cold eyes looked across the area as he sighed. He could not stray far from the Sanctum, as he was the only keeper, and this area would have to suffice until he found more proper guardians.

"Croak!"

"Yes, this is chilly even for me, old friend... but we must populate the Sanctum."

What fruit bearing trees he had, he had made Pokeballs out of the apricots. They were cheap, and at the press time, cheap was the only option. He was not hard to miss, dressed in black in the middle of a white forest. Surely he would attract the attention of something strong should he be able to find it.

"Perhaps we will even find you a precious someone..."

The Toxicroak stuck out its tongue at his trainer and snorted. Malaise chuckled under his cowl as he continued onward into the cold forest. He was not a winter person... but he adored the fall. He wished that he could see the lovely leaves fall across the path, eat pumpkin pie, and squash soup. A warm home with a warm family...

Ahhhh... the pain of days gone by.

He stopped to remember the face of his new beloved. His hand absent-mindedly went to the bandage across his face which hid the fact that he had no nose. He stared at his fingers, cracked skin and all. At least the cold didn't bother someone with such callouses. Still, he knew she would never be his. The disease, though cured, remained dormant in his blood. He had to be careful that it wouldn't spread to others.

Shaken from his thoughts by a pile of snow falling from a branch behind him, he looked around the place, trying to find signs of Pokemon.

[Kçℵ]

"Snorunt. Snorunt. Snorunt. Snorunt."

A nasally voice had begun to sing whistle the breeder had been busy with his Pokemon and looking over the landscape. Padded feet met slightly hardened snow and made a crunching sound as they fell. A little Snorunt, obviously happy with an Oran Berry in it'ssmall hands, marched along one of the paths that held in the forest, almost prancing if it could actually do so. It seemed to often have trouble walking in the tall snow, but other than that is seemed fine.

Once it heard the voices of the human and the fighting type, though, it stopped instantly, the large smile on it's face turning into a mild frown. It seemed to hold it's berry closer as well.

"Snorunt?" it seemed to ask the human, possibly confused as why it would be around here in the first place.

[malaise]

Malaise smiled. He always attempted diplomacy before he went to capture by force. He lowered his stance to kneeling in the snow, looking less terrifying to the creature and slowly offered his hand to the creature to smell.

The defensive stance allowed for caution on the creature's part, and he couldn't blame the icy Pokemon. He would have to find a cold place to raise more of this one's kind... or at least find a snow machine and use ice that it created to keep it happy. Yes, this little one would do quite nicely!

"Well hello there, little one. They call me Malaise. My friends call me Gregory, though. I have a little place in the forest of my own where I wish to gather a lot of new friends to help fight against some cruel people. We have lots of berries there, and a small creek where you can freeze some ice for you to lay on. Would you be interested in joining me?"

The Toxicroak just stood at ready, making sure nobody was going to disturb his master as he was reaching out to the potential new recruit. The giant frog man licked the snow from his nose and kept his eyes darting around the area for other potential recruits.

"If all goes well... I might even find you a special someone to be with. Though that may take quite some time."

Malaise paused, letting the Pokemon make its decision. If it said no, then perhaps it could point him out to some other friends he could attempt to bring to the Sanctum. He learned well from Professor Oak that Pokemon had feelings as well, and were not animals.

[Kçℵ]

"Snorunt?"

The Pokemon seemed confused when the human knelt down and held out his hand, and for a moment might have thought that he was asking for the Pokemon's berry; when he did so, the Snow Hat Pokemon instantly held it's berry tighter to it's body as it's large smile turned into a frown, backing up slightly. It seemed to calm down though as the human spoke, keeping a slight watch on the Toxic Frog Pokemon that seemed to be watching around just as wearily not too far from it's trainer. The Snorunt seemed to either be halfly interested in what the human was saying, or only understood that much; because when the young man spoke of berries, the Snorunt instantly chirped up, looking down at his berry for a moment before looking back to the young man, holding it out slightly.

"Sno-runt?" the Pokemon asked, seeming to say, "Like this?" with a slightly happy tone. Of course, the Pokemon didn't let enough time pass for the man to answer before excitedly answering the human's question with an excited, "Snorunt! Snorunt!" as it slightly jumped up and down, seemingly more interested in the berries more than anything else the man had said. The Pokemon seemed young; but then again, youngness came with that.

[malaise]

Malaise smiled under his hood. A hungry little dear it was! He reached into his pocket and showed the Snorunt the ball he had made from the local Apricots. He would not be as rude as to use it just yet, making sure he had a willing apprentice to tend to the gardens.

"See? I made this out of the apricots that grow there. There are many different berries out there that I am planting. Here, let me share a few."

He rummaged through his cloak and took out some of the berries he had taken with him on the trip. He placed them in front of him, making sure the Snorunt would take them willingly. He kept a safe distance so as not to startle or intrude on the creature's comfort zone.

"I am not certain if these are to your liking, but I plan on planting many berries back where I am, but I will need help to grow them. I am by my lonesome other than my friend behind me. Between the two of us, I can not make my sanctuary as big and pretty as I would like. Do you know any others that might like berries like this?"

[Kçℵ]

The Ice Hat Pokemon stared curiously first at the strange ball the man pulled out that smelled so much like thos fruits that grew on the plants that the humans always took to make stuff out of; they never ate them, for the Snorunt had always seen the strange creatures carving them instead. The Pokemon, of course again, seemed more interested as the trainer pulled out the berries, dropping his own as his ispected the ones the trainer had laid out for him to see. They were different kinds, to say the least. And the ice type seemed excited to say the least.

"Sno? Snorunt!"

The Pokemon had quickly replied with what the human had asked him, quickly jotting over to where he dropped his berry and picked it up, before quickly dashing off a few feet from where the human stood before disapearing into the bushes, giving a call. It looked almost as if it had run away of the sort, but a few moments after it's disapearence, the bushes began to rustle and come alive again. Quickly the ice type re-appearaned, turning around after walking a few feet from the bushes and giving off a small call. The bush again began to move, and all of a sudden a blue-like little rounded creature, with only two feet and long leaves protruding out of the top of it's head and black eyes on it's rounded face appeared.



"Oddish Oddish?"

You could only wonder what a Pokemon like such would be doing in a place like this, but it seemed interesting enough as the Snorunt hobbled up and down in a jump like fashion with a call, showing it it's berry before quickly turning it and leading it towards you. They both stopped, of course, in front of the berries that you have laid out, and instantly, after looking at a few of the berries, the Oddish seemed interested, Snorunt talking to it every few seconds.

[malaise]

Malaise really smiled at the new arrival... ahhh! A plant Pokemon to help with the garden! This would be beautiful! He folded his hands in delight of the two and smiled. Toxicroak seemed to settle down slightly, but kept an eye out for trouble. A gathering of younger Pokemon could attract predators.

"Ahhh! More friends! How delightful! I pray I can make a wonderful garden. Sadly, a place like this is too cold to grow these kind. I will admit it is a little warmer over there, but there is a small creek where I can lay an ice bed."

He paused a moment. Should he tell them the slight bad news? Paradise didn't come without a cost, but he would treat them like royalty.

"I will admit, though. I work for a group who is out to destroy some evil people. That is why I have my very strong friend behind me. I may have to depart every now and then to fight them. I... might need your help to do so."

He looked away slightly, bringing his cloak more tightly around him. He loathed Team Rocket and what they did to his mistress. He sighed for a moment before speaking again.

"They deeply hurt my master. I want to create this pretty garden for her so that she would not be so sad."

[Kçℵ]

"Snorunt Snorunt?"

The ice-type Pokemon's smile turned into a slight frown as it listened in on the human's speech; did he seem upset? It seemed to wonder as the human spoke why he whore a cloak. Was there something wrong with him? As he small dark eyes wondered the larger "creature's" body, he sought nothing wrong with him. Was there? Of course, the small Oddish seemed slightly thrilled as to what the human was saying, and once done, began hopping up and down in excitment.

"Oddish Oddish!" the Pokemon called happy enough to jump and spin for a moment before pausing back around where it had been facing the human. The Snorunt again gave now a small smile and seemed to agree with it's freind; slowly it stepped forward to the man whom held his cloak tight, and thrusted his berry forward as if a peace offering.

"Snorunt?"

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[malaise]

He peeked his face slightly out from under the hood, giving a small smile. He nodded to the two Pokemon and let a little more of his face poke out. He had a bandage over where his nose... would have been. That part of his face was as flat as a pancake. His blue eyes were much warmer than the rest of him. He took the berry carefully, accepting the peace offering graciously.

"I... do not know how much longer I will live. Your company will make things much easier for me. In the case you get hurt, I do have a small machine that can heal you if you are in a ball. I... will not force the matter, however. I use Toxicroak for a lot of fighting, so he has a ball."

He paused for a moment, revealing more truth to his new friends. His long hands took the hood of his cloak off. Even a Pokemon could tell he used to be sick. He didn't smell funny, though. They also appeared to be old scabs, but he was still... well... fugly by human standards.

"... I... used to be very ill. Doctors argue that I am still ill, but I have been eating healthy and nothing has flared up. I will say that, to be on the safe side, if I am bleeding, do not come near me. I would like to keep you two in contact with your friends here, because I know Pokemon have great healing power. You may come and go from Sanctum as you please, but I do ask that you tell me if you are leaving for a bit. I want to make sure you are protected on your trip."