The forest is a nice place to rest when you've been on foot for weeks. The scattered sunlight pouring through the leaves of the trees, the ample wild plants, many of which are not toxic and perfectly edible... Compared to the mountains or desert, this was like heaven on Exathor. For him, it pretty much was.
Isak Mategu, a Buneary, lay on the ground contemplating what the day would bring him and his partner, Beryl Ibha, a Donphan. The last weeks had been hellish for them, having narrowly escaped death, followed by a seemingly endless trek through barren lands. But the end was in sight now. Isak saw it last night: Union City was less than a days walk away. They were almost home. The pair of Gold Tribe would finally be able to find more of their kind that had not succumbed to the spirit of death.
For now, however, they just needed to rest. Or, rather, Beryl did. The trek, tough on both of them for certain, had an even greater effect on her. She was needing more rest every night now, to have enough energy to walk on. She was a slow walker too... Isak blamed his lack of medical skills for that. He'd done the best he could with the supplies he could scrounge up, but she needed an actual doctor to help with her more serious wounds. Herbs and berries could only do so much.
In fact, Isak was astounded she had made it this far in her condition. She was an exceedingly tough old Pokémon, and he was thankful to the spirits that she was. He watched her restfully breathe through her long, grey nose. Even though she was obviously battered and scarred from battles that Isak had probably only heard of, the scene was calming.
Still, Isak felt the need to do something welling up inside him. He closed his eyes and paused for a few seconds. He decided it was time to go explore the area for the days rations. He'd come back every once in a while to check on the older Donphan, but the forest was too calm to do them any harm today. He could sense it.
...
After scrounging the area for as many edibles and plants with medicinal properties he could find, Isak's small brown bag was overflowing. Still, Isak had not found a plant yet with anti-bacterial properties. He needed one to cleanse one of Beryl's wounds. He knew of approximately five varieties that grew in the forests around Union City that had such properties, but the spirits just were not on his side so far.
He closed his eyes and sniffed the air. It was common for him to do so when scrounging, as it helped him trace familiar scents back to their origins. If only he could find one of those plan... Hey, wait a second. Was that...
He sniffed the air again. He thought right. He knew that smell. It was the smell of one of the more uncommon plants with anti-microbial properties. A particularly stinky one at that. The idea that he had missed the smell earlier seemed impossible. He hated that plant. And yet...
...he needed it. It was only a matter of locating the plant now. He felt the wind blow past him... It was racing southeast. As it carried the smell, the plant would, therefore, be somewhere to the northwest. He started running in that direction, dodging under bushes and over roots, until... Yeah, that's the plant. Holy crap did it stink. It was repugnant! It was a plant pollinated by wild Venomoth and Venonat that were attracted to its smell.
He felt like vomiting. His nose was far too sensitive for this. Still... He held his breath and quickly snapped off one of the plants branches before running back to where he and Beryl were resting that night. He made a mental note to thoroughly wash his bag when he got back to Union City, as even the single branch he snapped off, while enough to create a salve, smelled terrible.
...
When Beryl woke up, it was to the smell of something terrible. She hadn't smelt anything like it before and was about to get up to investigate its source when she heard the sound of rocks smacking into each other. Isak was, apparently, making more of his improvised medicine. She was thankful for all his help in getting her this far, but she seriously considered asking him to leave her there rather than cover her in anything that smelled that rank. As she attempted to stand up, however...
"Don't get up, yet, Beryl. I haven't cleansed your wound yet."
Ever attentive Isak had been apparently been watching her when not preparing the medicine. Ugh... At least one of the benefits of Isak's medicine was the numbing factor. Among other things, it helped dull the pain of the gash on her belly, the reason she had taken to sleeping on her side ever since... that battle, was throbbing.
"How much longer until it's ready", she asked, referring to the stinky medicine.
"One more time...", came the reply from Isak. Beryl heard another sound of stone hitting stone and the bunny grunting. Then came the sound of movement. Isak was up and moving now.
She couldn't see him. She could see the ground and the skyline, not her backside. She heard movement to her right, and then came a stinging sensation as something was applied to her belly. SH*T. That stung. But, even as the pain was registering in her mind, she felt a numbness taking it over.
Isak the Buneary then stepped into view. He was carrying a flat rock with a green paste on it. His paw was covered in the paste as well. He looked like he was going to cry. Beryl couldn't blame him, his paw was covered with the disgusting smell of some weird plant. Still, he dabbed his paw in the paste, and reached for her broken tusk.
"I'm sorry about this, Beryl..."
The smell was worse when it was right near your nose. Oh Arceus, the smell. And the pain. OW. Isak had touched the end of her former tusk with his paw covered in the green paste. The stinging sensation was worse there, it was far more sensitive. The pain soon subsided like before but the smell was not going to fade for a while.
"You can get up now, Beryl."
That little bunny did not have to tell her twice. What with that unbearable smell, there was no way she would be standing still when she smelled like that.
He hopped off while she got up onto her four legs. She shook her head. The smell was mind-clearing. She reminded herself of their goal: get back to Union City. The Buneary soon hopped back, his paw significantly less green than before; he apparently had wiped it on something, though there was still green paste on it.
He fumbled with his bag and pulled out a fruit of some sort. It looked like a small Sitrus Berry. He offered it to her, so she grabbed it with her trunk and threw it in her mouth. It wasn't a Sitrus Berry for sure; the flavors were too dull. Still, it would have to do. The pair proceeded to eat more of the plant parts that Isak had gathered, until his bag was empty and it was time to get moving. Though she was not full, what nourishment he had gathered for her would have to do. They started walking towards where Isak had saw Union City the night before.
"Thanks, Isak. You've been a real help to this old timer."
"You're not old, Beryl. You're just experienced."
She was that too, but she was definitely getting old. With each step she took, she felt her old bones rattled and sore legs. Even though they were so close to home now, it would probably seem like an eternity to actually get there.