Pokémon Chronicles: The New Beginning

In the village of fruit trees.

After realizing that Natsume was missing, Uncle Darby and Aunt Eileen were frantic.

They mobilized everyone in the village to search for Natsume, but there were no results.

"I heard there have been several cases of missing people in the slums lately."

"Natsume, he wouldn't—he wouldn't..." Aunt Eileen covered her mouth, unable to bring herself to say it.

Uncle Darby's face turned suddenly stiff. If Natsume really was missing, how could he face his deceased brother?

Meow!

Just then, they suddenly heard Luxray's call coming from the direction of the entrance to the fruit trees' grove.

"Luxray has found something…" Darby's heart tightened as he grabbed Aunt Eileen and ran toward the sounds.

At the entrance, they indeed saw Natsume, along with the Rhyhorn carriage slowly leaving the fruit trees' grove.

Seeing Natsume's back turned to them, Aunt Eileen let out a heavy sigh of relief. "It's really little Natsume. I'm so glad!"

"Natsume, where have you been?"

Hearing the voices behind him, Natsume turned around to see his anxious uncle and aunt, and his heart warmed again.

Uncle Darby stepped forward and sighed, "Don't run off like that. I've already lost Petilil; I can't lose you too..."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly froze, staring blankly at the Petilil in Natsume's arms.

"I went to save Petilil..." Natsume said with a smile, reaching out to gently pat the Petilil's head.

Petilil's round eyes gazed at the grove of fruit trees and then at its owner, suddenly welling up with tears.

Although this grove owner was quite despicable, always plucking the leaves that had just begun to grow on its head, at least... it wouldn't be in danger of losing its life.

"It's really Petilil! Oh my goodness."

Aunt Eileen approached, covering her mouth in disbelief.

But why was Petilil here? Oh, right! Natsume said he went to save Petilil, but how did he manage that?

"I healed Baron Reiser, and they agreed to let Petilil go," Natsume said casually, leaving his uncle and aunt even more puzzled.

Healed Baron Reiser?

If it were that easy to help Baron Reiser, they wouldn't have taken Petilil to brew the Full Heal.

With Petilil back in their hands, both Uncle Darby and Aunt Eileen were extremely excited.

"Alright, little one, we can go home now."

Natsume smiled at the Petilil in his arms and started walking towards the grove.

Uncle Darby and Aunt Eileen exchanged glances and followed along, and the dark clouds hovering over their heads instantly dissipated.

They passed through the ordinary fruit grove, heading toward the grove of fruit trees.

The grove of fruit trees... Petilil sighed inwardly. It didn't like being here, but returning to this place brought an inexplicable sense of comfort.

The fruit trees were to ordinary fruit what Pokémon were to common beasts; each type of fruit tree possessed special effects.

Just like the Oran Berry that helps recover stamina, the Pecha Berry that cures poison, and of course the Chesto Berry he used to brew the Wake potion earlier.

The unripe fruit trees before them were all Oran Berries, looking like blue oranges, their various scents mingling together, making them incredibly delicious.

At that moment, a few Cherubi came out into the sunlight to soak up the rays.

Natsume keenly noticed the short stem on one Cherubi's head, where the harvested fruit had already grown back.

The fruit atop the Cherubi was very sweet and delicious, also serving as food for many bird-type Warcraft, packed with nutrients.

The fruit growing on these Cherubi had clearly been taken by people, but just like any ordinary fruit tree, the fruit on a Cherubi would regrow.

Consuming an entire Cherubi was an extremely luxurious affair even for nobles, while eating the fruit from Cherubi was the norm. Keeping Cherubi and continuously harvesting the fruit they produced could yield more profits for the orchard.

Upon noticing Natsume, Uncle Darby, and Aunt Eileen approaching, the Cherubi visibly quivered.

Cheep cheep cheep.

Just then, a bird chirped.

Natsume then spotted a small gray bird perched on a tree.

"Starly..." Natsume murmured, memories of the Starly filling his mind, warming his heart.

Diligent and devoted, this was his deepest impression of Starly.

When Sir Belin and his group intruded into the grove of fruit trees, Starly was the first Pokémon to stand up to protect Petilil.

As a result, it suffered severe injuries from the Pokémon Sir Belin brought, and now it had bandages wrapped around its body.

Thinking of this, Natsume's fist instinctively clenched. He would definitely settle the score with that knight at some point.