A chilly afternoon breeze blew through the crossroads, sending the sails of the nearby windmill spinning around, and I leaned back and rested my head in my my paws, feeling my aura tassels shake a bit from the gale. A few leaves fell every so often from the surrounding trees, their strong yet barren branches still speckled with the occasional dot of warm orange or crunchy brown. A soft sneeze intruded on the otherwise-peaceful scene, making my ear twitch, and I glanced over at my partner, who daintily rubbed at her nose with her blue scarf.

I stared for a few seconds at the cream-furred fox, cracking a grin when she finally noticed me, her bright red eyes locking with mine. "Are you cold?"

"A little, yeah," Rose replied with a nod, blinking a few times as she let her front leg drop to the ground. Her nine tails wriggled behind the treasure bag, brushing against the stones of the watering hole as a couple of them curled around my own tail. The fire type let out another quiet sneeze, and I felt my mouth twitch somewhat when she gave me an embarrassed look. "I'm not used to controlling my fire as a Ninetales yet, that's all."

"If you say so." I shrugged, wiping my pawspikes free of sandstone dust before I dropped my arms into my lap. I glanced down at the blunted chunk of steel embedded in my chest, and let out a cross between a sigh and a chuckle. "Heh... at least we're back from work safe and sound. Nothing planned for tomorrow other than sleeping in and cuddling up."

Rose's head perked up as I finished speaking, a slight blush peeking through the fur of her cheeks. I reached an arm over and tugged her close, and a bright smile quickly formed on her face as she leaned into my chest, scooting around a bit to rest her paws in mine. It felt a little odd, now that we had both evolved and grown about a foot in height. Another gust whipped across the dirt road, and I suddenly shivered as the fur on my belly was ruffled.

"Y'know, we could head back to the bluff and get a little fire going to warm us up," I thought aloud, letting my muzzle dip onto the ends of my partner's scarf as she fidgeted in place. The Ninetales purred quietly in response, and I rolled my eyes, smiling nonetheless.

Another new noise intruded on the pleasant atmosphere, and both our heads turned to watch as a trapdoor slowly rose from the grass, my gaze following the brown arm that lifted the thick wooden planks. We could hear the pitter-patter of little feet scuttling up the stairs leading in and out of Spinda's cafe, and a little gray Pokemon hopped out into the field, soon followed by her stomping mother.

My eyebrow quirked upward as I noticed the pole that Kangaskhan carried in her free claw, a pair of deep baskets hanging from each end. I didn't have much time to dwell on it, though, as the baby Kangaskhan let out a loud coo and started waddling towards us at a surprising speed. The parent waved as she saw her child run to the watering hole. "Hello there, Team Returners! I didn't realize you were already back from your exploration, sweeties!"

I sat up straight and waved back at the normal type, and Rose nodded her greeting, more focused on the baby Pokemon that was making a beeline for the two of us. The fox slid off of my legs and inched forward a little, urging the child to try and make it to her front paws. "It wasn't quite as long of a job as we thought, miss Kangaskhan. What are you doing around here? We don't normally see you and the baby visit the cafe since it's always so busy."

The matron of the local storage outpost stomped over to us, giggling a bit as she watched the baby reach out and press Rose's nose with his tiny arms. The Ninetales gingerly nudged back a few times before looking up at Kangaskhan, who lowered her baskets onto the ground. I leaned forward and peered into them, spotting a few colorful blotches dotting the inside of the woven grasses.

"We were just delivering some fruits to Spinda, you see," Kangaskhan explained, putting a paw on her hip as she took a few deep breaths. With how deep the baskets seemed to be, I couldn't blame her. "Berry-picking time is in full swing, sweeties, and it's looking like Treasure Town's going to need a lot of help again to get everything stocked away."

Rose gasped lightly, eyes widening in shock, and she looked over her shoulder at me, her headfur falling in front of her face. "Oh...! I forgot about the autumn harvest!"

"The what now?" I replied dryly, my mind going blank as I tried to remember what exactly it was that my partner was talking about. It was to no avail, however, and after a second or two of thinking I shook my head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The Ninetales sat up and turned around fully, her tails wagging back and forth as she nodded sharply to flip her headfur back behind her ears. Kangaskhan took the opportunity to scoop her child back up into her pouch; it grumbled a bit as it found itself no longer near the ground. "The autumn harvest's a Treasure Town tradition, sweetie! You've been here for at least a couple of years now, haven't you?"

That helped the gears start turning, and a mild lump formed in my throat as I thought back to the previous autumn I had spent living in Treasure Town... or rather, the one I had... missed. Rose seemed to catch on quickly, her confused expression swiftly turning melancholy. I instinctively took my partner's front paws into mine, squeezing tightly and looking her in the eye. "I, er... wasn't around last autumn, miss Kangaskhan."

The normal type cocked her head for a moment before flinching a bit from the realization. "O-oh... oh, I'm sorry, sweetie, I'd... forgotten."

I smiled awkwardly as Rose let out a long, wistful sigh, and I landed a quick peck on her forehead before glancing over at the older Pokemon standing next to us. "It's fine. You said something about berry-picking? I thought berries grew pretty fast."

"In mystery dungeons, they do," The storage tent owner remarked, gesturing towards the road leading east to Tiny Town. "But outside, they can take anywhere from weeks to months! And it's around this time when the longest berries that the town cultivates are finally ready to be picked!"

Ah, that made sense. Rose picked up where the older Pokemon had left off, giving me a small smile as she sneezed again. I couldn't tell if she was still cold or if she had just wanted to get my attention. "Right! I helped out back before we joined the Wigglytuff Guild, and I helped last year too. We should go berry-picking together, Bill, it'd be fun!"

"Maybe..." I paused for a moment. Sleeping in and cuddling up were my only plans, and they were good ones, but they weren't long ones. Besides, it was apparently a town tradition, and I was going to be living in town from now on. "Yeah, I think that would be fun."

I got to my feet, helping Rose stand as well, and I dusted my legs off before looking at our companion. She had similarly picked her baskets back up into her claws, preparing to make the hike back towards her home. "Which way are the berry fields, miss Kangaskhan? I've never visited them before, so I'm not sure."

I started as the normal type shook her head vigorously – and stifled a chuckle as I noticed the baby mimicking her movements. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Rose's smile grow larger at the sight. "Oh, not today, I'm afraid. The berries I just delivered were today's crop, and besides, you two should be resting! You've just come home from exploring, after all. If you want to help with the harvest, then you should talk to the Kecleon brothers early tomorrow, okay, sweeties?"

"That sounds good. Thank you!" Rose replied, and I nodded in agreement, shooting miss Kangaskhan a thumbs-up with my paw.

"Why don't we all walk back together?" Rose asked, her nine tails wagging up and down as she peered out towards Treasure Town. Her eyes lit up happily as we began the trek to the bluff at the other end. "We've been gone for a few days, so has anything else interesting gone on while we were away?"

"Oh, plenty, Rose, plenty!" Mama Kangaskhan replied, resting her basket-pole on her shoulder. "Just the other day, actually, when the harvest started, the guild decided to come down and help..."

The three of us cheerfully crabbed on as we strolled into Treasure Town, a chilly wind blowing at our backs and a few colorful leaves swirling around at the crossroads.

"Kecleon!" Rose called out quietly, trying to peer into the empty tent as she leaned against the counter. I blearily rubbed the sleep from my eyes, trying my hardest not to nod off while we waited for the pair of Pokemon that the shop was designed after. The fire type stepped back onto the ground and turned towards the small tent behind the shop, cocking her head in mild confusion. "Mister Kecleon, are you there? We wanted to ask you something..."

I glanced at the sparkling sea that sprawled out to the west, tinted a pale peach from the morning glow. My vision focused a little better the longer I watched as the waving water roll calmly towards the shore. "They're probably asleep, Rose. The sun isn't even fully up yet."

"Er, hello?"

Both of us jumped at the noise, and we turned around to look at the two Kecleon standing behind us, the purple brother carrying a couple iron thorns while the green sibling held a bundle of large sticks above his head. The latter let out a heave as he planted his cargo into the dirt, his tail stretching out to its full length from the effort. The older, purple-scaled Kecleon simply nodded and smiled before trundling into the tent with his makeshift gardening tools.

"Hello, Team Returners!" The green lizard said between grunts. I stepped over and took the heavy load into my paws, and the shopkeeper gave me a grateful look. "What brings you here so early in the morning? Here to help with the harvesting duties?"

"That's right!" Rose took a few steps forward, helping me to roll the bundle of sticks over to the side of the tent, and she spoke up once the wood was securely in place. "Bill and I were wondering if we could go out to the berry fields to help pick today. Is that okay?"

The younger Kecleon let out an 'ah' of understanding and rubbed his hands together. The frills on his head seemed to wiggle in anticipation. "Yes, good, good! We were going to take an easy break and watch the shop just now, but since you're here so early, you can take over the job for us instead!"

Before either Rose or I could get another word in, the lizard snapped his head towards the shop and yelled out loud enough that my ears flattened against my head. "Brother! Go get the big baskets!"

"Kecleon, it's barely morning, what are y-you-" I stuttered to an abrupt stop as a loud crash sounded from inside of the Pokemon-shaped tent, and all three of us looked into the heavy tarp with wide eyes. The older brother had been just as startled by his sibling's yelling, and his feet and tail were poking out from within a pile of fallen merchandise – if anyone hadn't been awake before, they certainly had to be awake now. Rose and I sprang into action, quickly going inside and pulling the lizard free. A couple orbs and some satchels of throwing stones rolled down to the floor as the various knick-knacks shifted about.

"Hoo... thank you, Bill, Rose!" The purple Kecleon thanked us before shooting an irritated glare at his kin, angrily lashing his tongue out like a whip as he scolded the other shopkeeper. "Brother! Must you be so loud this morning? Leave the shouting to someone like Loudred!"

The green lizard curled his fists and looked like he was ready to scold his brother right back, but upon seeing his brother's tongue decided to simply bow his head instead. "Sorry, brother."

The two Pokemon quietly grabbed a couple of baskets, the same size as the ones Kangaskhan had been carrying before, and brought them over to me. I picked them up with an easy squat, feeling the rough handle brush against my pawpads, and smiled confidently. "I guess we'll let you take your easy break while we go berry-picking, then?"

"Yes, that, ergh, sounds just fine, Returners!" Both Kecleon muttered in tandem, pushing against the increasingly-unstable landslide (or would it be supply-slide?) in the making. I took a hesitant step back when a large apple fell onto the older brother's head; I didn't want to get stuck in that mess. Neither did Rose, judging from her following my movement. "Bill, Rose, you know the way to the berry fields, right? You two don't need our help to get there?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember from last year. See you later!" Rose nodded hastily, raising her front paw in a short goodbye before turning to me. I looked at her and shrugged, gesturing for her to take the lead. "Okay... follow me, Bill. This way."

The Ninetales turned tail and dashed down the road leading through Treasure Town, and I spun on my heels and pushed into an easy jog after her.

I kicked at a few thick weeds that were sprouting out from underneath the rocks, looking around at the stakes and scattered, unfinished fences that marked the otherwise unmarked path that Rose was taking me on. At first, when we had kept going east at the crossroads, I almost thought she was sneaking out of the town, but I was quickly proven wrong when she ducked north after we passed the watering hole, following what had looked like a dead-end into the forested thicket. "Are you sure this is the way, Rose?"

"I'm positive, Bill," She replied smoothly, nudging at her scarf as she walked alongside me. She poked her head through one of the basket handles, and I let go of the woven container once we were sure it was comfortably hanging from her neck. "Serenity River flows this way into Treasure Town, and that's why the berry fields are through here. Can you hear it?"

I tilted my head slightly, bringing my now-free paw to my ear. It was faint, but the sound of running water did manage to make its way through the branches of the surrounding trees. I blinked, keeping quiet to listen to the noise, and Rose smiled cheerfully as we continued down the trail.

We silently walked through the forest, but soon enough the plants began to thin out somewhat, some stumps appearing amidst the trees and the rough soil giving way to lush, soft patches of colorful flowers. My partner began to walk a little faster, a few bangs of the fire type's headfur falling onto her muzzle as we sped up, and a brief glare of light punctuated our arrival at the fields. I winced, dropping my arm in front of my eyes as the warmth of the sun sank pleasantly into my fur.

"Ahh... everything smells great!" Rose said, taking a deep breath and smacking her lips together. I couldn't help but agree – the sweet scent of ripe, delicious fruit was almost overpoweringly strong, my nose twitching wildly as I took a whiff of the air. I squinted a little and looked out at the rows of carefully-tended shrubs and plants, decorated by colorful shapes, some small, some huge. Once my eyes adjusted to the lack of shade, I walked into the fields with my partner, keeping our baskets right in tow.

"So... where should we start, then?" I asked casually, leaning forward a little as I let out a yawn. I brushed my aura tassels back behind my shoulders as I glanced at my partner, who seemed to be peering around the field for something specific. "Got any ideas, Rose? You're in charge here, I dunno where anything is."

"Hmm..." She grunted under her breath, wiggling her neck a little to make the basket more comfortable. "How about... we start with the bluk berries? C'mon, last year they were just over here..."

The fox trotted down the lines of bushes, wagging tails beckoning me to follow her footsteps. We passed a couple rows before she stopped, raising her head a little and nodding. "Yep, right here! Okay, let's get picking."

Rose slowly entered into the little space between shrubs, curling her tails up to leave me more room to walk, and I stared blankly at the berry bushes for a few moments before sidling along the plants and brushing my paw against the leaves, spotting the lumpy blue fruits growing from the stems. With a slight pinch, I tugged the bluk away from its perch, rolling it around in my palm for a moment before letting it fall into my basket. Even with the bright sunlight out, the berry still blended in with the dark stains inside. I shook my head with a smile and looked for another fruit, finding a few much brighter clusters just close to where the last one had been, perfect for uses other than eating.

As I continued to collect the delicate berries, I looked over at my partner, who was carefully taking the bluks in the edges of her mouth before storing them away. A slight grin twisted its way onto my face at the sight, only to vanish when I received an accidental tail in the face, and I stifled a snort of surprise before returning my focus to the bushes, yanking a few light and dark pawfuls of bluk berries off of the branches.

By the time we had gotten to the end of the bluk bushes, the sun had fully risen over our heads, the sky bright, blue and beautiful. We both exited the loam-lined path, taking a moment to catch our breath and let our baskets thump onto the grass. I caught a glimpse of the inside of the Ninetales' basket, filled a fair portion with plump berries. I glanced from the food to her, and we both shared a pleased smile at our work.

"You look like you found quite a lot," I remarked dryly, the corners of my mouth twitching a little as Rose rolled her eyes good-naturedly at me. Lightly brushing my paw against the edges of my basket, I felt a slight rumble in my stomach as I looked at my heavier load. "How do you think I did?"

"Hm? Well, let me see," Rose said thoughtfully, and I moved back to let her come over and inspect my haul. I folded my arms when she furrowed her brow, quickly scanning over the top layer of the bluk berries, and she stuck her nose in and pulled out one of the brighter blue fruits, tossing it into the foot of the plants with a light flick of her head. I patiently waited for her to explain as she turned to look at me, a sheepish expression on her face. "Bill... did you take every berry off of the bushes?"

I could already sense this was going somewhere embarrassing, and I felt myself awkwardly reach back to fiddle with my aura tassels. "Uh... yeah. Not all of them have to be used as food, right?"

"Oh, Bill...," Rose let out a warm giggle, shaking her head before explaining. "Bluk berries don't have any uses in making medicine. Most of the berries grown here are just for food, so you picked all these unripe ones too early."

I blinked, feeling my cheeks begin to burn as I glanced at the berries in my basket with the new information bouncing in my head. "...oh."

Suddenly, the fox hopped up onto her hind legs and leaned into me, forcing me to dig my heels into the dirt to keep from falling onto my tail. She inched her head over and softly licked my cheek, her paws pressing into my shoulders. "I'm sorry... I should have been helping you, since you've never harvested berries other than the ones in mystery dungeons."

I smiled gently, lowering the fire type back onto the ground before affectionately tousling her headfur. "It's fine, Rose. Let's just root through my stuff and put all the good berries into your basket, and then we can empty out the bad ones and pick something else, okay?"

She smiled happily, licking my other cheek before nodding in agreement, her tails wagging back and forth as if they had a mind of their own. "Alright. But I think you'll have to carry my basket once we're done."

I shrugged. It was a fair trade. "Then let's get started!"

"I... I guess I did go a little overboard."

Rose and I flopped onto our backs, hot and tired as the sun continued to defy us any cool autumn weather. Sorting the berries had taken double the time we'd needed to pick them in the first place, and I craned my neck to stare at the bright, unripened bluks, which we had opted to liberally scatter near the roots of the bushes. Our paws were stained with berry juice, and Rose had unsuccessfully tried to clean herself on her scarf, leaving some obvious blotches on the fabric.

"Now you know at least, right?" The fox replied, red eyes twinkling merrily as she spoke, and I grinned cheekily at her in return. "So, where to now? You choose this time, and I'll help you with whatever we work on next."

I sat up, taking in the sight of all the various plants in the field. The lines of bushes almost seemed to blend together, but the sight of a few oddly-shaped trees near the less-leafy trunks caught my attention, and I gestured in their direction with a stab of my pawspike. "What berries are on those?"

"Mm? Oh, the leppa trees!" Rose answered when she followed my arm, rolling back onto her feet, and I stood up and dusted myself off, grabbing the heavy basket with both paws. The fire type led me over to the edges of the field, where the strange, flowery-shaped leaves hung a couple feet away from the tips of my ears. I let out a quiet sigh at the shade that the branches provided, panting a little bit afterward to cool down.

"So what should I be looking out for with these, Rose?" I asked, bending my knees a few times to stretch out the joints. Rose walked a slow, wide circle around one of the trees, giving it a once-over before we started. This looked much more familiar, the round red fruits reminding me of our occasional jaunts into the Apple Woods. None of them were as big as apples, though – and certainly not as huge as the Perfect Apples a certain guildmaster loved oh-so-much.

"Look for the smaller leppas. These all look ripe, but the smaller ones taste better." Rose nudged my leg for a moment and gave me an encouraging stare. "They're hard-skinned, so just pick them and then drop them, okay? I'll gather them up from down here."

I shot my partner a thumbs-up before loping forward and jumping to grab a heavy twig, fumbling around a little bit to find a proper foothold.

"Ouch!"

My eyes widened at the pained cry, and I stopped pulling on a rather twisted bunch of leppas, poking my head out from the foliage to check on Rose. Her nose was wrinkled and her ears were folded low as she tried her best to pat at her headfur. "What happened?"

"One of the berries you shook out hit my head..." She left off her attempts to soothe her ache to look up at me, shakily nodding a couple times. I spotted the offending berry near her leg. "I'll be a little more careful, don't worry."

I opened my mouth to reply, thinking about hopping out of the third or fourth tree we'd been harvesting to try and help my partner, only to be interrupted by a loud gurgling from my stomach. I stared down at my blunted chestspike, bringing a paw over to gently scratch the fur covering my midsection. Rose simply offered a cheerful laugh, still cringing somewhat despite her lightened mood.

"It has been a few hours since we started, hasn't it?" She yelled up at me, placing a paw on the leppa berry and rolling it behind her. I nodded, finally yanking the fruits I had been trying to get off of the branch and holding the cluster between two pawpads. When the fire type was ready, I tossed them down to her, and she quickly picked them up and dumped them into the basket. "And we've been around all this food all this time, too. No wonder you're getting hungry!"

I spotted another leppa berry just close by, and I plucked it with a firm tug, squeezing the hard flesh for a moment as I took in its tantalizingly-red color. "Y'know, we could technically eat some of these berries. They're gonna be food anyway, right?"

"Oh... I don't know about that," Rose replied hesitantly.

"I didn't expect berry-picking to be quite as much work as it is," I added as I swung my legs and slid off of my seat in the tree, touching down to the soft soil with an almost inaudible noise, the leaves rustling from the movement. I smiled as I stood up to my full height, only to clench my jaws together when something hard bonked me on my nose. "Oof!"

I stumbled a bit, reaching up to rub my muzzle as twinges of pain ran through it, and Rose strode over, letting out a brief, worried gasp. "Oh, Bill! You... you shook a loose leppa out of the tree when you jumped back down."

"Erf... then I guess it won't mind if I nibble on it for its trouble," I quipped dryly, squatting down and scooping the little berry up into my paw. Before Rose could protest, I popped it into my mouth, tearing the little leaves off of the top before crunching greedily into it. My stomach let out another hungry grumble as the flavorful fruit hit my tongue, sweet and tart and other flavors mixing pleasantly, but I tensed up when a different growl sounded out. I looked at Rose, who was just as surprised as I was. "...well, well. I guess I'm not the only one who's a little hungry."

The cream-furred fox put on a mild pout, to which I grinned in amusement and tousled her headfur. She playfully stuck her tongue out, winking before shaking her head towards our filled fruit baskets. "Yeah... I just don't want to eat anything while we're in the middle of picking."

"Well, I think I'm done getting leppas out of the trees for now," I shrugged idly, tapping my toes against the dirt as my tail wagged sharply. The first winds of the day finally made it through the surrounding thicket, gently buffeting us as it swept through the berry fields. "And our baskets are pretty full of fruit. Think we should start heading back to the Kecleon?"

We both walked over to the aforementioned containers, looking into the woven interiors with keen eyes, carefully looking over all of the produce that we had collected. Rose was the first to finish, breaking away from the pile of bluk berries to peer around the field once more. She sucked in a tiny breath and bumped me with her backside, and I did a double-take when I saw her break into a sprint.

"H-hey, wait! Rose, where are you going?" I stuttered out, grabbing both of our baskets and easing into a jog after her. The berries bumped and jostled around with each step, and I tried my best not to let any fly out as I began to catch up to my nine-tailed partner.

"Just follow me!" She called back to me, her voice carrying on the air that rushed past her. "Let's just get one more thing before we head back, okay? I think you'll like it!"

I panted heavily, dragging my feet as Rose and I finally came to a stop at a small patch of well-tended farmland, not a hint of weeds or other problematic plants growing anywhere at the edges of the brown soil. Letting the bluk and leppa berries drop to my ankles, I let my paws rest on my knees, the soft breezes not being as much help as the shade of the leppa trees had been. The Ninetales turned around and walked over to me, poking at my chest with her cold nose, and we took the moment to simply catch our breath. We both had walked what seemed like the length of the whole berry fields, after all.

"So... what is it, haah... that you were wanting to get, Rose?" I wondered aloud, looking closer at the thick plot of dirt, blinking as I noticed a bunch of curly, vine-like stems poking out, covering in leaves and attached to... I felt my jaw drop open slightly as I took in the sight of the biggest berries I had ever seen, pink- and green-striped spheres that sat regally on the ground.

Rose chuckled at my dumbfounded expression. "Do these look familiar at all, Bill?"

Her question jolted me back to reality, and I furrowed my brow in thought, trying to put a name to the enormous fruits. I was sure I'd never seen them before – I would have remembered seeing fruits the size of these very easily. "Hmm... er... no, not really."

My partner blinked in surprise at my answer, lightly patting at the dirt with her paw. "Huh... have you never seen these before? I was sure you'd have known them by heart."

I shook my head, my mind still not putting the puzzle together. Rose looked slightly crestfallen, but shook her disappointment off quickly enough, a cheerful smile returning to her face. "Well then... do you think you could help me pick one of these watmel berries to bring back to Treasure Town?"

As soon as she spoke the name my eyes grew as wide as saucers, and I unashamedly licked my lips as my mouth began to water at the thought of watmel poffins; I could taste the sheer sweetness already. I gently tiptoed over to one of the gargantuan plants, Rose following just behind me as I closely studied it. "So... so this is a watmel berry!? It's huge!"

"Yup! Watmel berries are always really big like this," The fox said, moving across from me and gently placing her front paws atop the round fruit, her tails betraying her excitement as they started to wag faster. "That's why they take a long time to grow... and I've heard they're hard to harvest, too."

I hummed low, gently rolling the watmel back and forth to get a feel for it. The berry was certainly heavy, but its skin was softer than the leppas were, and I lightly flicked at its stem with my pawspike, watching it bend somewhat from the impact.

Then her last few words registered, and I glanced at her. "Wait, you haven't harvested watmel berries before?"

Rose shook her head shyly, wiping her face a bit on her scarf in embarrassment. I reached over and tousled her headfur affectionately, earning a pleased purr from the fox in the process, which made me smile. "No, I haven't... as a Vulpix, they were always too heavy for me to really help with. I always worked with the other berry bushes instead."

"It's fine," I reassured her with an easy wave of my arm, leaning forward and pressing my nose against hers for a moment. Just as quickly, I slumped backwards onto my tail, moving my aura tassels back behind my neck. "We'll just have to wing it and figure it out for ourselves. It shouldn't be too difficult for us, right?"

My partner nodded, hopping down from the berry and tilting her head in thought. I got to my feet and tapped the fruit a few times, my ear flicking reflexively at the hollow noise that came from within. I traced a line down the colorful watmel until I got to the stem, which trailed a fair ways across the patch and into the loamy soil; the ball of fruit had a healthy sheen under the light of the midday sun. I grasped the green vine and pulled hard with both paws, frowning when it didn't give way in the slightest. Rose's nose poked its way next to my pawspikes, biting down alongside me, and she looked over at me with a bright, encouraging smile.

"Rehhy?" She asked between clenched teeth, and I reaffirmed my grip before shortly giving her a short nod. "Ohey. Wuh, uuh, hee!"

We grunted loudly as the two of us started to tug as strongly as we could, the tough stem only shaking some of the looser clods of mud off of its little leaves from our effort. I took a step backwards, standing up straighter as I shifted my weight to my heels and continued to try and uproot the great plant, with little success. After a few solid minutes of pulling, we left off, Rose coughing and spitting out bits of green gunk, her teeth having scraped down the stem a short ways.

"Hah... haaah... no wonder the Kecleon don't like trying to get these," Rose panted, her tongue lolling out of her muzzle as she ran her lips across her jaw. I pinched the tip of her scarf and brought it up, helping to clean her up. The Ninetales glanced gratefully over at me, both of us resting comfortably in the sun-warmed soil. "Do you have any ideas, Bill?"

I shook my head. "No, not really... well, let's try pulling at the root one more time, and let me hold onto the berry itself when we do so. Maybe tearing the stem off will work better?"

Rose looked up at the sky in thought, lightly drawing a line in the dirt with her paw, her headfur ruffling slightly as another breeze swept through the field. A second or two later, she briefly hummed in agreement, bowing her head and readying her jaw near the stem – albeit shifting her position to the base of the stem, away from the torn part that she had been biting on previously. I chuckled inwardly... though I could also hardly blame her. "Maybe that'll work... okay. Let's do it!"

I skipped back behind the great berry ball and wrapped my arms around the soft rind, both limbs reaching just more than halfway across the watmel. I swallowed hungrily, though it did nothing to deter my watering mouth; this really was the biggest berry I think I'd ever seen. Rose spied me out of the corner of her eye, and I locked my gaze with hers, shooting her a confident grin and a thumbs-up to tell her I was ready.

We both yanked fiercely on the striped fruit, watching the dirt shift again near the other end of the stem. The leaves that covered the winding vine started, just started, to reveal tiny hairs that were likely seeing the light of day for the first time. Rose growled in the back of her throat, her jaws moving back and forth slightly as she tried to keep from losing her grip on our prize.

Finally, I felt the watmel berry begin to move more loosely against my fur, and I felt my heart begin to pound in excitement as I took a step away with the fruit still in my arms. "Rose, keep pulling! I think we're finally starting to uproot it!"

"Uh? Uh, weh!" The fox grunted her response, a couple strands of her headfur falling in front of her ears as she moved with me.

"Just a little more... we've almost got it," I muttered under my breath, tapping my chin against the berry. "Rose, what did you say? I couldn't understand you!"

"Uuh, uhh-uhh! Ah ehh weeeeh-!"

The balance of weight abruptly shifted, and I found myself quickly stumbling backwards as the watmel berry was freed from the patch of dirt it had sat in. My eyes shot wide open and I let out a garbled yelp of surprise as I tumbled over, holding the sweet fruit tightly to keep it from rolling away. Some ways away, I could hear Rose let out a 'blech' and start to spit again. "I said to wait... are you okay, Bill?"

"Yeah..." I grunted, leaning forward a little as I attempted to sit up. I tensed up when I felt something wet dampening my fur, and I stared slowly down at my chest. "But I'm not sure the watmel was so lucky."

The Ninetales gasped lightly at that, glancing at our two other baskets of crops to make sure they were okay before jogging over to me, concern evident in her face. She peered at my chest and balked, noticing its wetness, then turned her head towards our ball of fruit. "Oh..."

A round bruise was forming right in front of our eyes on the otherwise green- and pink-striped surface of the berry, juice leaking profusely from the shallow wound. I brought my paw away to dab at the fur on my chest and belly – I'd held the watmel so tightly that my chestspike, blunted as it was, had bumped hard against the soft rind.

Rose let out a disappointed hum. "I accidentally bit through the stem, Bill. We probably should have just... had you use your metal claws to cut the stem in the first place."

I grabbed the fur at the base of my chestspike and squeezed, tentatively touching my pawpads to my tongue afterward. The oh-so-sweet juice of the fruit sent a tingle down my spine, and I started to chuckle at our blunder, reaching over to pull Rose into a hug. She yipped as I embraced her, but soon began to giggle alongside me, her tails curling comfortably around my back. As she nestled her head in the crook of my neck, I let the watmel berry gently drop to the side of my leg, the dry grass crinkling at its touch.

"I guess I'm not quite used to what I can do as a Lucario, either," I started to say, grinning at my partner as she began to purr again. I stroked her headfur out of her face, from between her ears down to the small of her back. "But now I guess we both learned something, didn't we?"

The fire type barked out a louder laugh, interrupting her purr. "Yeah, I guess we did. Now we know what to do next year!"

Next year... my partner scooted off of my lap somewhat to look me in the eye, as if to ask me if there was going to be a next year, right? I felt a goofy smile worm onto my muzzle as I gingerly nodded, opening my mouth to speak-

RRRRUMMMMBBBLE.

We both stared at each others' stomachs. Rose was the first one to break the short silence, snorting in embarrassment and amusement. "...maybe we should get these berries back to the Kecleon brothers."

"Y-yeah... heh," I chuckled, getting to my feet and retrieving the watmel berry.

Explorers passed to and fro on the dirt road that cut through Treasure Town, small groups of Pokemon huddling around the various tents that dotted the western end of the settlement. A green-scaled Kecleon spoke quietly with a Chesnaught who was squatting down to look at the items they had stocked for the day. "Is that Delphox over there your friend, sir? Perhaps you should bring along some rawst ointment, in case of-"

"Hey, Kecleon! We're back from berry-picking."

The shopkeeper, grimacing at being cut off, turned to look at the owner of the voice who'd called his name. He softened his expression at first, but upon seeing the large, green-and-pink berry that nearly barreled him over, he lashed his tongue out in shock and danced away. The Chesnaught hid a snicker behind his large arms. "W-what!?"

"Not what, watmel. And some bluk and leppa berries, too," I quipped airily, placing both baskets near the end of his counter. Glancing at his older brother, I gave a friendly wave.

Rose continued where I had left off, her tails wagging merrily as both brothers immediately grabbed the two loads of fresh fruit and brought them further into their tent. "Though, um, the watmel is leaking. We weren't sure how to pick it."

"Leaking? Oh dear... hrm," The older Pokemon grumbled in thought, toddling over to the watmel in question and looking it over. "We usually don't collect the watmel berries until the very end of the harvest, Team Returners. I'm not sure what to do with this right now."

"Er, well," I began, sheepishly scratching at my neck, feeling my aura tassels bump against my pawspike. "We were out in the fields for a while, and I had a thought..."

I dug hungrily into the thick slice of fruit, juice dribbling down my chin and onto my knees as the wind blew past my ears, the flag just outside of Sharpedo Bluff waving from the breeze. Rose dabbed her mouth daintily on her scarf before putting her paw down and taking another mouthful of her own portion of berry, chewing a few times and swallowing, letting out a refreshed sigh as she did so. "This is great! This is just the kind of lunch we needed."

"I didn't think they'd be so receptive to letting us have the berry all for ourselves, though..." I murmured quietly, gnawing on the empty rind before setting it on a small pile of eaten slices behind me. I clapped my paws together before grabbing another piece. "Never had raw watmel before."

"I still think I like yache better, but these are really nice," My partner replied, slurping the end of her sentence as she licked her lips. I grinned into my food, and she turned to look at me, smiling brightly.

"And it's big enough that we'll probably have plenty to eat for the next few days, too." I stared out at the sea, waves crashing against the rocks at the base of the cliff. We'd stored our watmel berry – or the other half of it, now that I'd cut it down to size – safely near the wellspring inside of our home. I leaned back, the cool wind, warm sun and delicious food lulling me into a contented state. "This was fun, Rose. I'd be happy to do this again next year."

"Yeah... I had fun too, Bill," She replied warmly, her smiling widening as she leaned over and softly licked my cheek. She blinked in surprise, recoiling slightly. "Hehe, you've got watmel juice all over your face."

I shrugged nonchalantly, gulping down the last big bite of berry before leaning over to her and licking her cheek right back. I recoiled as well, grinning with my tongue still poking out of my muzzle. "So do you."

She giggled and scooted closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder, her tails tangling themselves up with mine. I smiled softly, affectionately letting my arm rest on her back as we simply sat in silence, the wind at our backs and a pleasant fullness in our bellies.

A/N: Consider this an apology-of-sorts for my recent inactivity on both Beyond the Sky and To Live. Things went on in August that pretty badly stifled my creative spark, and after a few months of laying fallow I think I'm finally starting to get my groove well and truly back. I'm doing an RP blog elsewhere for Pokemon XY, so that may take up a fair amount of my time at the moment, but I should be getting on track with my other work here soon enough.