Author's Note

How's everyone doing? I hope you're all fine. That being said, I'm sorry for the slight delay in chapter posts.

LEGEND BELOW

"Oh hi there." = Normal Human speech.

''What was I thinking?'' Normal Human thoughts.

"There there young one." = Pokemon speech.

''I wonder where they are?'' = Pokemon thoughts.

(Water Gun) = Pokemon attacks.

Chapter 5. The Great Tree part 1

Somewhere along Route 2 we find our Pokemon duo walking down the dirt road, quietly talking to each other. Somewhere along the way, they came across a small herd of Bug Type Pokemon that were being attacked by a large Flying Type Pokemon. Realizing the senseless massacre that was about to happen, Zoroark intervened and dissolved the situation.

The large Pidgeotto that was attacking the herd was starving, and had seen a chance for a easy meal. The small herd of Bug Pokemon had no chance to ward off the hungry Flying Type, and were preparing to accept their fate to become food to a larger predator. Yet they tried valiantly to fight back, firing off multiple weak level attacks one after another at the large Pidgeotto. But the Flying Type was too quick to be stopped by the weak attacks, and was preparing to swoop down to pick a few of them off.

That was when Zoroark showed up and stopped the Flying Type short. The Pidgeotto was too hungry to fight back for long against Zoroark, and was easily stopped. After subduing the bird, Zoroark proceeded to ask the small herd about the situation they had found themselves in.

The small bugs had been so thankful to Zoroark for saving them, as they were still in their first evolution stage, which made them easy targets for food. The herd had been made up of Caterpie, Nincada, Wurmple, Spinarak, and Sewaddle. All of them were still rather young and not meant for real life or death combat.

The small herd proceeded to inform their savior about their situation, and how the Pidgeotto had showed up out of no where. Zoroark then asked the bird Pokemon why he was starving, with the abundance of berries all around. The Flying Type huffed when asked that question, before explaining. It was hungry for meat, and had desired to hunt the weak bugs.

Zoroark let the bird off with a warning, telling it to leave the young Pokemon alone. The bird decided that it was for it's best interests that it listened to the Alpha predator, and flew away from the scene.

With the situation defused and the threat scared away, Zoroark decided to continue on with his journey. Yet as he was preparing to leave, the young Pokemon herd cried out to him. They were afraid that if he left them, then the bird would come back. Their nesting grounds were nearby the area, with many larger bug Pokemon living there. They begged Zoroark to escort them to their nesting grounds, and he just couldn't say no to their tiny cries for protection.

That leads us to the present, with Zoroark, Espeon, and the small Pokemon herd closing in on the nesting grounds. The walk was filled with the small Pokemon cooing in thanks for saving their lives. Espeon smiled at their cute displays of affection towards her Master, as she found it rather endearing.

"They're quite the little cuties, aren't they? Maybe we should bring one along with us?" Espeon cooed, leaning her head down in front of Zoroark's face. The bipedal fox Pokemon smiled at her, before shaking his head.

"They are still too young to venture far from home, and I doubt that their mothers would appreciate us stealing one." Zoroark responded with a smile, getting a pout from Espeon. The Psychic cat Pokemon flicked her tail around absentmindedly, her eyes locked onto one of the smallest Caterpie on the ground below her.

"But... But he's just so cute! And look at him waddle along!" Espeon gushed, holding herself back from jumping down to snuggle with it. Zoroark chuckled lightly at her, bring a paw up to pet her.

"And I'm sure that he loves the way you are talking about him, but you should let him grow up in a safer environment first. Maybe if he's still around some time later, we could come back and meet up again." Zoroark stated with a smile. Espeon whined at him, begging him to change his mind. "But for now-" He said, leaning down and very carefully grabbing the smallest Caterpie from the ground, and placing it on his head with Espeon. "-You can snuggle with him all you want." He finished, getting an excited gasp from Espeon. The small Caterpie waddled over to Espeon, and snuggled up with her.

"Oh my goodness! You are just so adorable!" Espeon cooed happily, rubbing her face against the small Caterpie's own small face.

"Thank you miss!" Came the small voice from the tiny Bug Type Pokemon snuggled in her paws. Espeon had to hold herself back from snuggling the young Pokemon to death, as it got comfortable in her embrace. Zoroark smiled from below, imagining what was happening. He couldn't see them as they were on his head, but he had a good idea of what they looked like. Espeon looked like she was snuggling a small stuffed toy, except that it wasn't a toy.

"Oh please let me keep him Master! I don't want to let him go!" Espeon begged adorably, whining from atop Zoroark's head. He would've given in if he was any normal Pokemon, as the way Espeon begged made it almost impossible to deny her anything that she wanted. Even then, the small Caterpie still had a home to return to, with a worried mother waiting for him.

"Then you better prepare to fight his mother for him." He joked, getting a thoughtful hum from the Psychic Type. "Don't even think about it." He said, knowing what that humming meant. "You're going to have to let him go." Zoroark felt like he was explaining to a child why he had to take her toy away, and it was rather funny in his eyes.

"Oh you big meanie..." Espeon sighed, realizing that she wasn't going to get to keep him. Zoroark continued through the forest, following the herd of Bug Pokemon. They eventually came to a large tree in the middle of a small opening in the forest. The tree looking like it housed many different kinds of Bug Type Pokemon, young and old. There were many Kakuna and Metapod hanging from the abundance of tree branches, all of them resting.

As Zoroark approached the tree, he was suddenly surrounded by multiple adult Butterfree and Beedrill. Zoroark raised his arms in a calming manner, which seemed hard with the claws that were attached to them.

"Relax, I mean you and your group no harm." Zoroark said calmly, appealing to their protective nature. The Flying Bugs didn't let their guard down however, as they saw Zoroark as a threat to their colony. "I am just safely returning your lost young ones." He stated as he bent down to the ground, drawing their attention to the group of young Bug Pokemon that surrounded Zoroark's feet. When the adult Bug Types noticed their missing young cowering behind the intruder, their expressions softened and they lowered themselves to the ground.

"We are sorry for threatening you traveler, as we thought you were here to cause harm." One of the older Butterfree apologized as he bowed down, many of the other's following his example.

"Don't worry about it, no harm done." Zoroark dismissed causally. "I presume that they belong to your colony?" Zoroark asked, pointing to the Pokemon below him. The Butterfree nodded, as the other adult Pokemon led the herd of young back to the safety of the tree.

"I thank you for looking after them, I don't know what would have happened if you didn't." The lead Butterfree sighed in relief. Zoroark smiled at the old Bug Type.

"You should be more careful with them from now on. Letting them wander off like that would lead them to an early demise." Zoroark warned, getting a nod from the Butterfree.

"I understand that... I've already been chewed out by the mothers of the young..." The butterfly Pokemon exclaimed tiredly. It had been a long day for him, that was for sure. "But now that they are back, I'm sure that the mothers would love to thank you for saving their young." The Butterfree commented, as he started to fly towards the den. Zoroark laughed softly at that, realizing that he was probably correct. "Perhaps you should stay the night here. It's getting dark, and we have more then enough space for something of your size." The elder Butterfree offered.

"O-Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude..." Zoroark said, thinking that it was a bit too good to be true. A nice warm place to sleep, how long has it been since he last had something like that? The elder Butterfree chuckled good naturedly at the large Pokemon's reaction.

"Nonsense, I insist you stay here for the night at least. It's the least I could do for you." The elder said. Zoroark seemed to think on it, before Espeon spoke up ahead of him.

"Sure, we would love to stay." She said, getting a smile from the old Butterfree.

"Splendid, then I shall go and ask them to make arrangements for the two of you." He said before flying away somewhere into the massive tree. Zoroark sighed as he sat down against the tree, waiting for someone to tell him that a place was ready for him.

"You just want to stay here longer so you don't have to leave your new snuggle toy as soon..." Zoroark stated with a smile. Espeon stuck her tongue out at him in defiance, the small Caterpie placed comfortably in her arms. "That's fine then. I'm not sure how long it's been since I last slept in a warm place, surrounded by other life." Zoroark said with a yawn, getting a confused frown from Espeon.

"How long have you lived alone Master?" She asked quietly, her tail rubbing small circles on his head. Zoroark hummed quietly at her question, thinking back to the last time that he had.

"Too long..." He said quietly, before closing his eyes to silently wait for the other Pokemon to get him. Espeon felt saddened by his answer, and tried to sooth him by purring. He smiled softly at her. Espeon's purring truly did have some kind of soothing powers, as he felt his sad memories flow away from the comforting sounds she made. It also had the side affect of lulling him to sleep, which was evident by the fact that he was snoring quietly below her.

Espeon smiled softly at the sound of him snoring. Who knew that she had the power to put him to sleep? Everything seemed calmer now, and the small Caterpie in her arms was fast asleep as well. The sun had set just a few minutes ago, the day light leaving along with it. The forest had a serene quality to it at night, as a calm silence passed over the land. The only sounds that Espeon could pick up were the quiet scuttling sounds that the Bug Pokemon made as the moved around the tree.

Her head perked up when she heard a few of the Bug Pokemon crawl out from the tree, and move towards her. Two Illumise flew towards her and Zoroark, and landed right in front of them. They both bowed their heads to Espeon, before pointing over to the entrance to the tree.

"Accommodation have been made for you and your Master." The one on the right said, her quiet voice barely reaching Espeon.

"If you would both follow me, I will show you to your room..." The Illumise on the left said, only to stop when she realized that the large Pokemon was out cold. "Why is he asleep? He was awake only a few minutes ago..." She asked, getting an embarrassed blush from Espeon.

"Heh heh.. I may have put him to sleep... On accident..." Espeon informed with a nervous laugh. The Illumise sisters sighed, seeing as they had come to take the large Pokemon to his room that they worked hard to prepare, and now he was out cold outside of the tree.

"Well then, let's just move him inside. Right sis?" The left Illumise sister said, getting a nod from her sister.

"Yes sis." The right Illumise sister replied. Espeon hopped off from Zoroark's head, so that they could move Zoroark to the room. Espeon felt like there was something that she needed to tell them, yet she couldn't remember at the moment. It was something important, that she remembered. The Illumise sisters approached the sleeping Zoroark, both of them crawled under the sleeping Pokemon and picked him, one under his back and one under his butt. They then proceeded to carefully carry him away to the room, his weight somehow not bogging them down.

Espeon yawned as she followed after them, she made sure to grab Zoroark's hair so it didn't drag on the ground. She knew how much her Master took care of his hair, and hated when it got dirty. They walked through the tunnels in the tree, dim glowing rocks illuminating the way. This tree was much larger then Espeon had originally thought, as it took them a minute before the came to the room prepared for them.

The Illumise sisters huffed as they carefully lay Zoroark down on the bed made of leaves. Espeon struggled to remember the thing that she thought was important, but when she saw her Master start to shift in his sleep after the sisters sat him down, she suddenly remembered. Zoroark was sleeping on his back, his left arm hanging off the side of the bed. He twitched in his sleep as he subconsciously went to turn over, one of the Illumise sisters almost lost her head, as his claw swung by her. The only reason she got away safely, was because Espeon used her powers to pull them away before she was killed.

The Illumise sisters flopped on the ground in shock, they swore they saw the air it's self get cut when Zoroark's claw came near them. They both gulped in fear simultaneously, before turning to a sweating Espeon.

"Right, that's what I forgot to tell you... Don't get near him when he's asleep, or you might just find yourself hurt... Or worse..." Espeon informed nervously, remembering the reason Zoroark always slept alone. The sisters glared at her, as her forgetfulness almost got them killed.

"How did I never see those claws before? They look like they would cut through stone easily!" The left sister exclaimed in shock.

"T-They almost cut me!" The other sister freaked, reflexively rubbing at her neck.

"I-I'm sorry about that. He reflexively lashes out like that in his sleep if anyone comes near him. I-I'm not sure why exactly, and he doesn't know either..." Espeon informed quietly, her eyes locked onto the deadly blood red seven inch long claws that gleamed in the moon light.

"T-That sounds horrible..." One sister said, while watching him sleep. He didn't look so dangerous when he was asleep, but it was that thinking that got others killed in the past.

"H-How does he not kill you when you a-are sleeping? O-Or do you both sleep away from each other?" The other sister asked, confused as to how Espeon was still alive. The pink furred cat Pokemon sighed, before blushing.

"W-Well I always sleep in his hair, away from his claws... H-... He has also never swung at me before, a-and I'm not sure why..." Espeon said quietly. Maybe it was because he trusted her, and so his body didn't react when it sensed her presence? She didn't know. The Illumise sisters shared a look with each other, before turning back to Espeon.

"Well then, I think we will leave you alone now..." The left sister said nervously, as she made for the door.

"I'll uh, cover over the entrance so that no one enters the room and gets cut up..." The other sister said, shuddering when she passed by the end of the bed. Zoroark's feet were hanging off the end of the bed, his larger toe claws gleaming dangerously. He twitched slightly in his sleep, making Illumise jump in fright. "Eeek!" She ran out of the room, blocking the entrance when she did. Espeon giggled nervously, as she crawled over to the bed.

"Goodnight Master..." Espeon said quietly as she crawled into his soft fluffy hair, the sleeping Caterpie snuggled in there with her. Zoroark didn't even so much a move when she snuggled up with him. They slept peacefully the rest of the night, Zoroark getting the rest that he needed...

The sun had began to rise into the sky, signaling a new day. The Bug Pokemon colony all woke from their nightly rest, preparing to go about their day. Zoroark was still asleep in the room prepared for him. He usually would be up by now, but this being the first time in a while that he was allowed to sleep on a bed, he ended up sleeping in longer.

Espeon had woken up a little while ago, and had been going about her usual morning routine of cleaning her fur. The small Caterpie was sitting comfortably on her back, watching her from his high perch. Espeon realized that Zoroark was going to probably end up sleeping in longer, and so she decided to leave the room and look around the colony a bit.

She left his room, looking around at all the other Bug Pokemon that moved about the area. Her large purple eyes blinked as she looked around the hallway she stood in. She turned her head to the small Caterpie resting on her back, gaining his attention.

"Hey sweetie, do you know the way around here?" She asked with a smile. The small Caterpie wiggled happily as he crawled up to the top of her head, pointing his head in a direction.

"Yeah yeah! Over here is da' food place. Momma' always gets da' food for me." The small Caterpie cooed happily. Espeon smiled at the small bug.

"Thank you cutie." She said as she trotted down the hallway, heading for the dining area. She made a turn down another tunnel, before it opened up to a larger room filled with many Bug Type Pokemon feeding on many different types of berries. "Oh wow. This is amazing!" Espeon exclaimed quietly, as she walked over to the Butterfree that seemed to be giving out the food. The Butterfree smiled as it noticed her approach, as it remembered her from last night.

"Ah good morning miss. I take it your Master is still asleep?" The Butterfree greeted with a smile.

"Good morning to you too. And yes, he's still sleeping right now." Espeon informed with a sigh, gaining a chuckle from the Butterfree.

"That's fine then. But I hope he wakes soon, because the mothers of the young he saved have yet to thank him. They've been pestering me all morning, asking me when he might wake up." The Butterfree said with a smile, before moving to a bundle of berries that were placed on a large leaf. "But I bet you are hungry right now, right? Here you go, this should satisfy you and your Master." He said as he handed the berries to Espeon, who grabbed them with her Psychic powers.

"Thank you kindly." Espeon said as she walked away. The Butterfree blinked when he noticed the small Caterpie sitting on the Psychic Pokemon's head. The Caterpie waved at him as Espeon trotted away.

"Bye bye daddy!" The small Caterpie cooed happily as he and Espeon disappeared around the corner. The Butterfree sighed, as he realized that's where his child had been this whole time.

''At least he's having fun...'' He thought, before preparing another bundle of berries for the other Bug Pokemon. ''I wonder if his mother knows...'' He mused absentmindedly.

Espeon trotted back down the dimly lit hallways, heading back for her room. She turned down a different tunnel and made her way to the open room where she left her sleeping Master. She poked her head into the room, noting that Zoroark was sitting up on the bed.

"Good morning Master." Espeon greeted happily as she trotted up to him. Zoroark blinked a few times, yawning lightly as she approached him. She set the leaf bundle of berries down on the tree stump that served as a bed side table stand. The pink cat then crawled up onto her Master's lap, snuggling into his grasp. Zoroark groggily rubbed his face against Espeon's.

"Good morning to you too.." Zoroark said, blinking away the morning blurriness. He turned to the side, noticing the bundle of berries. "Did you get these for me?" He asked as he reached for one. Espeon nodded happily as she used her powers, making the berry float into her mouth. Zoroark hummed happily as he bit into the juicy berries. "Oh wow. They must have been just picked, because they taste great."

Espeon had to agree with him on that, as they did in fact taste great. Her thoughts were interrupted by the whining from atop her head. "Oh sorry sweetie, here you go." She said, making a large Oran berry float up to the small Caterpie. The little bug nibbled on the berry quietly, letting Espeon and Zoroark talk.

"So how long do you plan on staying here?" Espeon asked. Zoroark sighed, as he wasn't sure.

"I'm not sure. I live to travel the world, but I'm not against staying in one place for a little while." Zoroark explained, getting a happy smile from Espeon.

"Good. Now then, let's go." Espeon said brightly, jumping back down to the ground.

"Go where now?" Zoroark asked with a raised brow, getting a smirk from the psychic cat Pokemon.

"It seems like you have some admirers that want to properly thank you before you leave." She said with a grin, getting an annoyed groan from her Master. "Now now, none of that, i'm sure that they are very nice." She reassured with a smile. Zoroark's shoulders slumped with resignation before he got out of bed. Espeon smiled happily at her Master as he walked by, a leafy plate of berries in his left hand.

"Alright then, let's go..." Zoroark said, though from the lack of enthusiasm in his voice, it was clear that he would rather be doing something else at that moment... Something like sleeping in longer, because that's all he really felt like doing at that moment. Espeon sighed in exasperation before running to catch up to the larger Pokemon.

"Oh come on Master, cheer up." Espeon said happily, trotting alongside him. Zoroark cracked a smile at her cheery attitude, popping another berry into his mouth.

"Oh alright, I'll cheer up for you." He said with a smile, making the psychic cat Pokemon blush. They walked through the tree in a comfortable silence, passing by many of the other inhabitants as well. It only took a few minutes for Zoroark to find the common room where most of the Bug Pokemon liked to meet up in. He and Espeon stepped into the large open room, and suddenly found all eyes on them. Zoroark smiled lightly at the crowd of happy smiles he got when they recognized him.

Zoroark suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides by the grateful Bug Pokemon, as they voiced their praises to the towering Pokemon standing before them. All of the Pokemon in the room where barely at shin height compared to Zoroark, and being the gentleman that he was, he bent down to ground so they could talk at a more comfortable level.

"Oh thank you so very much! If it wasn't for you, I would have lost my children!" One of the female Butterfree exclaimed, giving Zoroark's snout a hug. The bipedal fox smiled awkwardly as he reached up to carefully pat the crying mother Pokemon. He was suddenly aware of many more Bug Pokemon clinging to him, crying out their thanks.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

"I'm crying tears of joy! My children are safe!"

"I'm not sure I would have been able to go on if I lost them!"

"We are all in your debt, how could we ever repay you?"

Zoroark had a hard time making out everything that was said as more and more cries of thanks and joy abound around him. He glanced back to Espeon, noticing that the cat was quietly giggling at his predicament. He could manage to comfort them all with his hands, so he had to settle for words to do the job.

"Hey, it's alright now, your children are safe." He said calmly, slowly managing to calm the crying mothers. But even then, they still had some pent up emotions that burst forth. Seeing that words alone weren't going to do the trick, he spread his arms out wide signalling for a hug. The flock of crying Bugs practically jumped into his soft embrace, their crying disappearing as his strong arms carefully closed in around them.

The other Pokemon in the room watched the scene unfold before them, and smiles were brought to their faces as they watched their mates being comforted by the large fluffy giant Pokemon. The rest of the day went on like that, and Zoroark couldn't find it in himself to ignore any of the little bug Pokemon that exclaimed their thanks to him...

Chapter 5. End