There was a soft hum in the air, and a part of that must have to do with the fact that Henry was finally, officially starting his journey. His preoccupation in Cassiopeia had taken longer than he thought it would, with his coffee stop stretching out. (The whole simple farmer thing had definitely taken him by surprise, and Henry was more than a little miffed that arceus allowed men to look like that and be nice.) When he had checked the map on his pokedex, it has highlighted a lake, and the little inlets and creeks around it, as a highlight of the area. Henry already knew he would be spending an extra day or two in the area, it was home according to multiple online sources, to a whole slew of bug type pokemon. It would be wonderful to beef up his team, fill it with variety and color. For now though, he was drawn to the water, troubling as the water was to shuckle.

Henry cursed under his breath as he thought about what he had read in the bug type's file. It was disgusting, absolutely disgusting what those monsters had done to him. Apparently the bug type had a wonderful singing voice, but Henry knew what shuckle needed more than Henry pressuring him to use it and drilling him with contest routines was structure and love. Shuckle needed to tell Henry about his past, needed to say it in his own words.

So until then Henry wouldn't bring it up, though he would make his concessions where they stood. As he climbed the hill, the midday sun shining down, warming the crown of Henry's head, the man sweat and thought, sweat and thought as he crested the grassy area and spotted the sheen of silvery blue that marked the lake. Near him he could hear what sounded like a babbling creek, a bit of water that flowed down into the lake.

Prepping himself, Henry took his starter's pokeball out of his pocket, and let the red light collect into the wiggly form of the bug type, the bug type looking around with wide eyes. "W-w-where are we?"

"We're near Cygnus Lake. I thought I would look for some new teammates, wanted to know if you would help me."

"M-me? H-help you? Would I h-h-have to go swimming?" The shuckle looked worried at the thought, paling in the face and quivering a bit.

"No, don't worry about that. I just want you to talk to them, welcome them," Henry said. "Though I want to avoid the lake shore itself. I'm worried it may be crowded now that its getting warmer."

"I, I g-guess I trust you," the shuckle said, though he still looked uncertain.

"Lets just go this way and cross the brook. Then we can try to find a private little area. If its too much, tell me, okay?" Henry asked, serious now as he watched the shuckle shuffle forward, dragging himself by his long wiggly legs. It was... so cute. Adorable really, and Henry smiled to himself as he watched the little guy, who only got embarrassed when he realized all the attention his trainer was giving him. Attention for shuckle had never been a particularly good thing. It was included with terrible abuse in the name of science or held nothing but pity for a sad little bug. Shuckle knew that Henry stared because Henry liked him, Henry thought it was nice, but well, it takes a lot of time for things to take on better associations. He supposed he would grow used to it, may even start to like it if he was lucky enough.

The idea of a crowd of people staring at him though as he preformed. It made him feel all heebie jeebie.

Still, he followed Henry obediently, through the tall grass which tickled his sides to a small gathering of trees, a fringe from the nearby forest. The branches cast dappled shadows on the ground, lighting which Henry marveled at, removed his phone to take pictures so he could remember the effect, try to replicate it later at night.

The trees parted to a small carved stream, a few inches of running water bubbling along as it flowed. It was crystal clear, shuckle could see the pebbles along the ground a few big, smooth stones. Still, he could feel a well of panic bubble in his throat and he stilled, frozen in place as he watched Henry continue a few steps forward, watched the tall man bend down to study the colors swirling at the bottom of the water.

The coordinator turned, saw the state of the shuckle and his face softened.

"Is this too much?" Henry asked.

"N-n-n-n-n-no."

"You can be honest."

Shuckle wanted to be honest. But shuckle also thought maybe he should brave too. But it was just hard to think, as he imagined his lungs filling with water, the feeling of being weighted down, of sinking sinking sinking with a panic as everything darkened and then fished out to do it again and again, sometimes with new terrible alterations.

"Here," Henry said, bending down to lift, with a small groan, the rock and bug type up in his arms.

The touch surprised shuckle, the gentleness of it. Instinctively he wrapped his tentacles around Henry's arms, anchoring himself as he buried his face into Henry's shirt, eyes squeezed shut.

"We'll cross it and then rest, okay? I'll let you know when its over," Henry spoke, whispering into the shuckle's ear. Henry focused on the water, a few feet wide but not deep enough to pose a problem. Puffing a little bit with the weight of the shuckle (those things were heavy and Henry was so utterly weak. He needed to start working out) he made to step out onto one of the smooth stones when a high pitched, piercing voice surprised him.

"WHATS THE BIG IDEA, EH?" And one of the stones shifted, shaking off a layer of silt and revealing a plated back, blue and purple layered over a bug pokemon. Its whole body shook with tremors as it stared up at the shocked human who teetered, holding on tightly to the shuckle who let out an eep at the noise and clung even harder, straining Henry's muscles and causing a twinge of pain in the man's back.

But the pain was overwhelmed with a jolt of awe as Henry stared, wide-eyed and mouth opened in an "o" shape as his brain supplied, quickly, the species and typing of the pokemon he had nearly crushed beneath his foot. It was a wimpod. What was a wimpod doing here? Normally they stayed in deeper water, large river and oceans were they ate along the sea floor consuming waste and avoiding larger land predators that would want to make them a snack.

"I'M TALKING TO YA, YA HUMAN!" The bug cried out, eyes narrowing even further as she watched the man stumble back in shock, ass hitting a crest of grass as he clutched some strange creature even closer to his chest. "D'YA GOT ANY MANNERS?"

"Oh, well, sorry about that," Henry said, voice dazed as the shuckle opened one beady eye, terrified during the fall that he was going to be buried in water but, having found himself still safe in his trainer's eyes, somewhat curious at who was making that loud noise. His eyes widened at the wimpod who began to advance upon Henry, though her body still shivered with what shuckle could only recognize as fear.

It was easier to see it when you have lived it.

"E-e-e-excuse m-m-me," the shuckle said, forcing himself to do the breathing exercises they taught at the lab, centering himself in the distinctive smell of Henry's cheap shampoo, registering the feeling of his soft from wear t-shirt. "W-why w-were you t-t-there?"

The wimpod screwed up her face, twitching her tail. The audacity of these two, nearly stepping on her and then demanding she tell them her life story! So what if she got a little lost on the annual migration, eh? She was doing just fine right here where she was. She didn't need any pity from that spineless little bug, even if she was painfully aware of how exposed she was. Heck, she already had some flying type come round trying to take a bite out of her. "I'm doing just fine!" She said, softer this time but tone still biting. "I'm just trying to eat my dinner here, yeah! And not get stepped on!"

"I honestly didn't know why you were there, but I'm very happy to meet you," Henry said with a blink, looking down at shuckle who was slowly relaxing his grip on his trainer, turning his head to peer at the wimpod.

"Is, is t-there a-anyone here with y-you?"

"Happy to meet me?" The wimpod huffed, eyes flicking between the man and the shuckle. "The audacity of kids these days. And no, there's no one with me."

"But that's extremely unusual," Henry blurted out as he cocked his head. "Wimpod do best in groups for protection. You're exposed out here."

"Don't ya tell me about me!" The wimpod shot back. And if she could blush she woulckhe truth!"[/b] Henry argued back, brow furrowing. "Just like any other first stage bug pokemon, wimpod do best in large groups where they can defend themselves collectively! Your moveset is nearly nonexistent, you should be buried deep in the water, dirtier water than this. You'll starve to death trying to find waste to eat here."

"Well! Its not my fault that some punk picked me up at the shores, stuffed me in his bag, realized I didn't take kindly to it, took me up here, and then dropped me off in some crappy little stream!" The wimpod shot back. "Whats it even to ya?"

"Well, I can't just leave you out here to die," Henry said, indignant as his shuckle tensed.

"H-h-hey g-g-guys."

"I don't think its any of YER BUSINESS!" The wimpod hissed back.

"G-g-g-guys."

"As a bug aficionado of course its my business!"

"S-S-STOP!" The shuckle shouted, beady black eyes pressed closed as he huffed, curling his limbs into his shell. Both looked at the little bug type in shock as he shuddered. "L-listen. I k-k-know y-y-you're s-scared," he said, releasing his deep breath. "B-b-b-but t-that shouldn't s-stop you from a-asking for help." Voice small, the shuckle forced himself to open his eyes and stare at the shuddering wimpod.

"H-H-Henry m-means well. H-h-he cares a-about bugs. L-like us," shuckle said.

"And I'm not going to leave this place until I know your safe," the man said, cheeks a little flushed. "Because you're a wonderful pokemon that I may never have a chance to see you again. And because it wouldn't be right. Listen, you don't need to stick with me forever, but you need to be moved. The lakes nearby and I can drop you off there. Or I can even take you to the sea, but you're just not strong enough to make it on your own."

"I know that!" The wimpod groaned, hunkering down in the few inches of water, which rippled and swirled around her in its frenzy to flow. "You really care too much, dontcha, kid?"

"H-he c-cares enough," the shuckle said from Henry's lap. "A-and I d-don't want you to-to g-get hurt either," the yellow and red pokemon said, blushing lightly.

The wimpod sighed, her quivering dying down as she considered the offer. "Well, it would be annoying to have to sit here with ya babbling on and on. And that bug there seems pretty attached to ya, so ya can't be too bad if ya coddling a lil worry wort like him."

She paused, watched Henry as he blinked at her.

"Well come on now! Wheres ya pokeball! Or are ya some kinda second rate trainer who doesn't even have one of those!" The wimpod said, avoiding eye contact as Henry, rose, taking a few steps from the water to put shuckle on the ground where he could feel safe.

"Here," Henry said, taking out one of the red and white orbs out of his bag. "For you."



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