literature

Finding Himself

Deviation Actions

Published: May 9, 2013

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Literature Text

Ryoshi perched atop the roof of his cobblestone home, dangling his feet over the edge and into the thin air as he had the cliff on the day of his arrival. Only this time, he was watching the morning sun creep above the horizon, its light beginning to cast an orangeish-yellow glow and an invigorating heat across the kingdom of Avalon.

What activities would today hold? As of so far, the Mawile had managed to keep himself happily occupied by assisting a certain Jigglypuff named Amy with repairing bits and prices of the kingdom, but that wouldn't be the case today. Both Amy and the mighty Serperior king Alaric had insisted on taking the day off the relax and recover.

Not that a break caused him, or more specifically, his aching muscles, any vexations. It was always nice to have a break after days of strenuous physical activity, something that he had not always had back home. But now that he was spending the day without the work and without Amy, what would he do to keep himself entertained?

The others he had gotten to talk to before now had hobbies, things to do in their free time, but Ryoshi was having a difficult time finding anything he'd like to do. Swordplay? No... The Mawile could put that idea to rest as a pain that surged up his right arm reminded him that he didn't wish to put a lot of stress on his arms today.

Finally, the Mawile leapt down from the roof to the dirty ground below. "If nothing comes to mind, might as well walk about the town and look for the ideas myself." Ryoshi muttered.

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Ryoshi ran his solid iron hand across the surface of the rough, crumbly stone walls, feeling every ridge and bump glide across his fingers as he walked down the town's roads. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure where he was going, he was simply walking. He hadn't gotten a decent chance to explore the kingdom entirely as of yet; he had only in depth explored the ruins to the housing sector, the castle, the forest on the outskirts around his home, and the immediate area around Amy's whimsical space teepee. But what other spectacles could this new land hold for him?

As he was walking, a subtle yet unmistakable aroma wafted through his nostrils. The damp smell of a salty breeze was all too familiar to anyone who had been near its source, and Ryoshi had lived near it most of his life. The ocean was nearby. Perhaps something exciting awaited him there?

The Mawile followed the scent and the wind until he found his target: the large body of greenish-blue water crashing on the sandy shore. He took a deep breath in and sighed lightly. There was something enchanting about the smell produced by the ocean, and it was something he had missed since he had fled from his homeland. That being said, even though he had been near the ocean most of his life, he hadn't ever gotten a chance to just play around it.

The battalion had taught him to swim, but that wasn't for fun, it was in case he needed it in an assault Not that it bothered him too much; he found that if he swam for too long the ocean water began to stain his skin a red-orange and his limbs started to become stiff.

Never the less, a short swim, he found, was usually quite enjoyable. Slowly, he dipped his foot in the brine, but quickly retracted it when the foam sent a chilling shiver up his spine. "It's too early in the year; the water's still too cold anyway..." Ryoshi grumbled.

A soft plopping sound from across the way caught his attention, causing him to look up. There was something small bouncing along the surface of the water like rubber ball. Upon closer examination, Ryoshi could tell that the object was actually a round stone which had somehow gained the property of slight levitation across the water's surface.

The rocks, which continued to skim over the ocean, seemed to be coming from a Marshtomp sitting further down the shore. He remembered Amy saying something about spending a day with a Marshtomp donned in a blue shirt and brown pants; what was his name... Skipper? Sounded right. How was he doing that with the stones though? It looked like he was just throwing them, but that would just make them splash and sink.

As if to prove the point to himself, he glanced down at his feet, found some larger pebbles and scooped up a handful, and tossed one out to the water. As he suspected, it made a soft 'plop' sound and immediately sank out of sight. The Mawile took another rock from his hand and tried an underhand throw. Again, the stone refused to skip.

"Yabe!" Ryoshi spat. What was that mudskipper doing that he wasn't?! Angry at his apparent lack of knowledge or skills, Ryoshi slung the remainder of the stones in his hand out into the water. Just before he turned to leave; however, he saw bouncing stones out of the corner of his eye.

The Mawile could only stand and blink in confusion. What did he just do different? Throw it like a disk? Slowly, he reached down for a new stone and flicked it sideways towards the water. Miraculously it worked, and he had a rock bouncing along the water. He grabbed a few more and repeated, with the same outcome occurring every time now.

Now that he had unlocked the secret to this activity and knew how to do it, a thought occurred to him that while this was rather relaxing, it required little to no effort, physical or mental. Perhaps this was something to be reserved for times of heavy contemplating. Satisfied with his findings, Ryoshi began to walk off to find something else to occupy him.

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Ah, the forest. Now this was more of the Mawile's speed. Even if he had been raised near the sea, something about the way light so calmly seeped through the mesh of foliage could put any of his concerns to rest while he strolled through forests. The only thing that could really make the forest outside the castle town better in his eyes would be the addition of sakura trees.

Of course, the trees weren't the only things that the Mawile enjoyed about very nature-filled areas. His favorite types of plants had to be the berry plants. He couldn't find a viable reason he enjoyed berries as much as he did, but something inside him admired all the unique sizes, shapes, smells, and flavors each new berry brought with it. Likewise, his warrior side could appreciate how certain berries could be used as a curative. Hmm, on second thought, maybe he did have legitimate reasons.

He found a large patch of assorted berry bushes and bent down to examine the different kinds. Most of the berries were still unripe, small hard and green, and completely indistinguishable to anyone without extensive berry knowledge. Luckily, Ryoshi wasn't one of those pokemon.

He gently scratched off patches of skin on sample berries and sniffed the outer pulp. "Hm... Dry and not very spicy. Chesto Berry... Sweet, bitter, and juicy. Watamel Berry. This one, very minty... What is this..." Ryoshi had never encountered such a scent before, and he had been exposed to almost every kind before.

"Ah, that one is quite rare, and is nearly extinct as a species. It's simply known as a Mint Berry."

In a flash, Ryoshi's instincts had pulled his blade from his sheaved position and pointed it at the neck of the voice that had snuck up behind him, a Roserade which now had its rose covered arms skywards to show it was unarmed.

"Heh, careful with that thing, you'll poke someone's eye out."

Ryoshi slowly dropped the tip of the sword to the forest ground before putting it away once more. This guy seemed harmless enough. Still though... Why was he stalking people in the middle of a forest?

"Talk flower boy. Who are you, and why did you follow me out here?" Ryoshi demanded.

"My name is Ilima, and I," The Roserade accented his introduction with an elegant bow, "am a botanist for the king. I was taking a stroll looking for new specimens for my own collection, when I noticed you my lad! You seem to be a berry connoisseur as well, no? Tell me, do you have a garden of your own?"

At first, Ryoshi was taken back by this Ilima's ecstatic mannerisms and way of speech. However, he soon found his voice again. "N-no, I don't. I'm a knight, not a gardener."

"Don't be silly, fellow flower child!" Ilima cried out as he swung an arm around Ryoshi's shoulders and started wrangling him towards the town. "You don't need to have my job to grow berry trees; that's what hobbies are for! Come, come, we will go to my greenhouse and I will get you some saplings to start off with~."

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By the time the Roserade had dragged the Mawile back into town limits, Ryoshi had given up the futile struggle to get away from the greenery gremlin and allowed him to lead the way, which ended with the arrival to a large, square glass building full of plants.

"In, in, yes!" Ilima insisted eagerly as he pulled the door to.

Even a step inside was enough to make Ryoshi notice dramatic differences to the outside. For starters, the temperature skyrocketed far beyond even the hottest of summer days. The mixed aromas of thousands of unique plants filled his nostrils instantly, nearly overloading his sense of smell.

"Welcome to my greenhouse! This is where I do all of my research on every wonderful plant that I can find~! I have plenty of samples, so I would be more than happy to give you some to grow!" With a goofy grin, the Roserade pranced into one of the isles of bushes and vines, leaving Ryoshi to stand at the door.

"Uh... If you don't mind me asking, why are you so trusting of me to just hand me your life's work?" Ryoshi called out to room. "We just met..."

Ilima reemerged with several potted berry plants in his hand, somehow perfectly balancing more than should have been possible to carry. "Well, it's partially because I would trust anyone who loves berries as much as I do. I mean, if you were going to steal from me, you wouldn't go through the trouble of learning all that stuff. It's... also a little selfishness on my end as well. See, I've been working on revitalizing a select few of endangered berry species. I'm going to let you help me by growing some as well."

As he set down the plants, Ryoshi could get a better view of each one and see that he couldn't recognize any of the berries dangling from the stems.

"This one here is a Drash Berry." Ilima pointed a the bush producing a square pink fruit with a spike on the bottom. "This one's called a Strib Berry." He motioned to a green, pod-like berry. "Nutpea Berry..." He presented a fruit that appeared to be a yellowish-brown shell. "And finally, the Niniku Berry." The Roserade pointed out a large blue berry that had the appearance of several orbs smashed together.

Ryoshi was genuinely impressed with the spread he was being gifted with. "Wow, look at all of these. Amy'll be so excited!" Something clicked in his head when thought that.

"Hey, uh... I don't want to sound rude, but you wouldn't happen to have any... Pecha Berries, would you?"

"Of course I do, they're quite a common species! No problem at all boy, let me go fetch one~."

Ilima ran off momentarily, then reappeared with a small sapling producing the familiar sweet, pink fruit. "There you are. Now..." Vines whipped out of the flowers on the Roserade's hands and moved the pots to a small gardening wheelbarrow. "Take these home straight away and plant them. Don't worry about getting this old thing back quickly, I'd rather know the plants are alive and well."

Ryoshi grasped the handles of the wheelbarrow and rolled it out the door. "Hey... Ilima?" The Mawile stopped right before he left.

The Roserade looked up at him without a word. Ryoshi cracked a rare smile and simply stated.

"Thanks."

No longer cannon!

I think the title's a bit misguiding, but I cant' think of anything better.

Basically, I just wanted to see how Ryoshi would react to things by himself, as well as setting up his own berry garden. I hope the admins don't mind the odd berries he got. For those who don't know, Mint Berries are exclusive to Gold, Silver, and Crystal, whereas the other odd berries such as Drash and Strib were 3rd gen E-reader berries. I see them as endangered speices, since whike they are rare, they DO exsist.

2087 words = 2100 cressents (I think?)