Wild Hive

"Come on! Hurry yourself up!" 

 

A loud voice was booming from Infront of him and Emilio scrambled. How this old man could move so quickly he didn't know but he tried his best to keep up. A small water goomy trailed through the ground behind him while a little fire budew happily pranced Infront. "How on earth do your legs move so fast, gramps? Come on, slow down a little bit. Is it just because you're taller? Slow down for the lil guys!" There had been a noticeable article spreading a bit of a buzz within poke-lovers circles, and that was an article regarding combee's. They'd been struggling as of late, the rising temperatures wreaked havoc on them and killed them en mass. Piles of dead combee's were found by the hives that were dried out by the sun and it was worrying everyone. Well. Anyone who cared to pay attention anyways.

 

"Oh, a gramps now am I? I'm not even in my fifties yet brat, I ain't through even half of my life!"

 

"You're going to live to one hundred?"

 

"I'm sure as hell going to try."

 

The old man infront of him was one man who cared to pay attention. John was their name and they were a local restaurant owner. Emilio frequented their stores so he wasn't unfamiliar with the man but he had never properly interacted with them until now. You see, he'd just so happened to be enjoying his lunch at a little table in the corner when John read the article and watch the houndstone man blow up in anger at the situation. No one was doing enough in his mind, and no one would ever do enough. He ranted about how people didn't seem to understand the significance of the Combee's problem and then promptly recruited anyone who caught his eye from the restaurant to help him set up new hives that would better last against the heat. Emilio was one such person. He'd only had a few seconds to grab Lillypad and carry the delta pokemon before he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and dragged out of the restaurant. Jack, the little fire buddew of John's was quick to follow suit despite how fire wasn't the best suited for such a task. The problem was the heat, so bringing in a fire pokemon seemed counter productive but John didn't particularly seem to mind. He let them hop in the car and went to go find where they could get new hives that would withstand the heat before bringing them out here- and it wasn't the type of place that the younger lad thought they would go. Emilio assumed they would go and find a local beekeeper, to help someone who actively handled and cared for the honey creators but instead it was a hive of wild Combee.

 

If he was to be honest here, Emilio hadn't read the articles before and how it would affect wild pokemon didn't even cross his mind. He hadn't thought too much on it and figured others would handle it but being dragged out here now, seeing the sight of the hive crumbling away into dust it caused pain to grow in his chest. It was far worse in person than it was in photos and he quietly clutched at Lillypad even tighter. John too fell quiet at the sight and for a long moment they all just stared. Taking in the sight before John broke the silence. "Alright Jack, I'm gonna need you to keep the peace with the Combee's while we work. Will you be able to do that?" The large man asked and Emilio watched the little critter bounce up and run forward towards the hive. 

 

Dead combee's were littering the ground and quietly Emilio came up to rest his head against Johns back. "... This is a wild hive, are they going to let us close enough to even do anything?" He asked to them quietly "Are we able to do anything about the ones on the ground?" It made him sick. Death wasn't something he was unfamiliar with, he grew up on a milktank farm when he was young so it was a common part of his life- but seeing it out in the wild when it wasn't necessary caused a whole series of unpleasant emotions to rise up in his chest. 

 

John reached over and patted at his head. "Jack will handle that for us, we're just here to help after all. We don't mean them no harm and I'm sure that they will be able to recognize that. We aren't scared of em, and we aren't aggressive either so we'll be able to give em a new home. Why don't you set down your little goomy and let him join Jack yeah? The two of them will ensure we don't get attacked while workin'."