Chapter 5: Planting time.

  Matty sat in the back of a wagon, reading his guide and watching the dirt road pass beneath him. After trading one of the rare berries he had gathered for the gardening kit, which consisted of two types of berry seed packets, a small shovel, a watering can, and some stakes to hold up the plants. After purchasing them, he noticed that his guide had grown a little. Upon opening it, he found that there was now a section labeled “Farming Berry Plants And Trees”. It detailed things from optimal plot sizes to watering schedules and recommended purchasing larger tools to care for more plants. After returning to the gardening stall, Matty spent about half his money on a shovel, hoe, and some berry plant seedlings. The guide also suggested watering with a water barrel nearby for ease of use, so while carrying his packages out of town, he stopped by the Coopers (barrel/cask maker and repairman) to purchase something to hold water. Hitching a ride with someone heading out of town, he had paged through the guide's notes on gardening and found he had missed a page on foraging for wild berries and Apricorns and how to extract the seeds.

  Looking up from his book and checking on his Pokemon, he saw Grub sitting next to the Spinarak and chittering calmly to it. Looking back to his book, he turned to its page and read:

  “This Pokemon spins a web out of thin but durable thread and will lie in wait for days to catch its prey. Its thread is strong enough to even be used for highly strenuous purposes like fishing.”

  Looking at the characteristics chart, Matty determined it to be under a year old, and female. Watching Grub and it talk and get along, he realized he needed to name it something. Looking at it, he saw a hunger and restraint. Reaching out towards it, he gently picked her up and looked her in all eight eyes. “What do I name you…” He wondered. Looking at how her dappled carapace gleamed in the sunlight, he thought of the northern lights he had seen once as a child. “I know, I’ll call you Aurora, or Aura for short”. Looking back at him, he was happy to see her wiggle her legs in excitement, before crawling down his arm to go chitter excitedly to Grub, probably about her new name. Soon the wagon slowed, and they arrived near the camp.

  After gathering all of the items he had purchased together, and hauling them to his camp, he set them aside and began marking a plot about 30 ft from the edge of his camp. Clearing the small scrub that was already there proved not to be too much of a problem, and he soon had a cleared field. Filling his watering can from the river, he began to place the seedlings about 15 ft apart in a square grid. He dug the holes, planted the trees and bushes, filled the holes, and watered it thoroughly, hoping his new orchard would grow quickly.

  After taking a break while watching Aura and Grub play together, he began the second phase of his garden. Marking out a plot, he dug up the topsoil and exposed the rich earth beneath. Mixing in some ash from the campfire for nutrients, and putting the sod aside to improve his shelter, he pulled out the rare berries. The berries were red, lumpy, and had a particularly spicy smell. Cutting open one and pulling the seeds out, he began to plant them. After he had planted almost finished half a row, he heard a rustling behind him. Looking, he saw that Aura and Grub were looking at him curiously. Showing them what he was doing, he watched as they took some seeds from him, and began to do their best to help. Aura dug the holes, making sure that they would be deep enough, and after seeds had been put in, covered them over. Grub followed closely behind, carrying the watering can, carefully pouring just enough over the new plants. Turning around to grab another berry, Matty was shocked to see a Munchlax about to scarf one of them down.

  Aura was digging a hole, enjoying helping her new leader do whatever he was doing. Her old colony was rather small, and the leader was an angry and violent male. He and Sister had stayed in the same area due to the high prey numbers due to the berry plants, though the male had hoarded most of them. The small prey that she now lived with was strange, but when she had tried to eat it, the leader had made her stop. Hearing leaders shout she turned to see an enemy stealing from her and the colony. Hissing with rage she scuttled directly for it, calling a move to the surface.

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  Matty watched with abject horror as Aura jumped in the air and began to vibrate. As if responding to her call, hundreds of small bugs swarmed the Munchlax and began to attack it. The swarm stung, bit, and harassed it until it was trying to flee. As it began to run for the tree line, Grub pulled a tripwire tight. The Munchlax fell on its face, dropping most of the berries it had gathered, and squished most of them. Scuttling after it, Aura made a horrible screeching sound and its eyes glowed red. Terrified now, Munchlax crawled away as fast as it could, while shoving as much berry goo in its mouth as possible, even though it was thoroughly mixed with dirt, all while still being harassed by the bugs.

  Sitting down hard, Matty looked from the disheveled garden to the pile of squished and scattered berries. He knew that the seeds were still usable, but it made him sad to see his work scattered and destroyed like this. Looking over, he saw his Pokemon celebrating. Grub especially was having fun. Rolling around, spraying string, it looked like it was having fun! Looking closer, he saw the string beginning to accumulate on Grub, and it seemed it was starting to struggle to move. Right as Matty was about to get up, a bright light glowed from within the small caterpie. Watching carefully, Matty was astounded to see the small bug’s form slowly stretch and shift, growing in size until it was about double what it had been before. The light slowly faded, and something new was standing where Grub had been.

  The new creature that was Grub slowly opened its eyes. He didn’t exactly know what was happening, but he knew that it was good and supposed to happen. Looking up at its mother,

  who was slowly approaching, Grub crawled towards them. He wobbled slightly and then fell over. Struggling to get up, he could only wobble back and forth. Panicking as he wobbled, Grub did anything possible to move.

  Carefully watching, Matty watched as the transformation finished. Grub was now twice his size, a solid dappled green that closely matched the grass and surrounding foliage, and was a completely different shape. He now resembled a crescent shape, like a chrysalis with eyes. Grub opened its eyes and looked up at him. Wobbling gently, he soon fell over and began to shake violently. Picking him up, Matty noticed that his shell seemed to be quite soft, but after a moment it hardened until it was like stone. Watching Grub’s eyes dart wildly, Matty talked to him calmly like he would any other spooked animal, gently patting and reassuring him. After some time, Grub began to calm down, slowly relaxing until his cocoon was soft once more. When he was sure that Grub was calm, he went and found his guide to look his new form and the Munchlax up.

  “Metapod is a middle-stage evolution. It is vulnerable to attack when its shell is soft, but when threatened it turns as hard as a slab of steel to protect its soft innards. It doesn't move much because it is conserving energy to evolve.”

  “Munchlax wolfs down its weight in food every day, nearly swallowing without chewing at all. It cares not for texture or flavor, and will eat anything it deems food.”

  While searching the guide, Matty found a new section on Pokemon pests. In it were descriptions of types of pests, and the varying ways to deter them. The most basic of which seemed to be to either make a fence, or have a Pokemon guard the area, or bolth. It seemed it wouldn’t be too much of a problem until the sprouts grew in, but it was good to think about

  Matty finished planting what seeds he could salvage and used about half of each seed packet. After making sure they were all covered in dirt, and the field was in neat spaced rows, he went over them one more time with the watering can. Looking from his new garden to his future orchard he felt a sense of pride.

  Looking over to the pile of sod he had gathered, he decided it would be best to cover his shelter in it when he acquired some boards to make it sturdier. There was a place in town that had sold lumber, but Matty knew he could split wood into rough boards if he did it right He decided to put it on the edges to anchor the tarp better for now, but he was always looking to improve his shelter. Placing grub in a cool, safe spot in the tent, he instructed Aura to guard the area near the garden and orchard until morning. Watching her slowly spin a web between two trees, Matty hoped she would keep his plants safe. After eating his dinner while watching Aura lay down threads through and around the compound, he went to bed. Though the night had often been interrupted by visitors before, none came tonight and Matty slept soundly feeling safe for the first time in a while.