A house nestled in the forestation of Eterna’s verdant landscape attracted two weary travelers. The manmade construct looked as natural in the scenery as any tree or flower as if it were all part of a painting. Fruit bearing vines blanketed the sides of the stone structure and a bed of multicolored flowers sat outside to greet any visitors. The humble stone home practically invited the travelers to meet the owner. 


“Why did we eat so many of those berries?” Auran grumbled. The lucario shambled while clasping his stomach. His stomach was still queasy.


“Because you wasted all our money in that fucking femboy hooters,” Remus snapped. “Why did you drag me there? Everyone knows their wings are shit,” the midnight lycanroc complained. After a prolonged stay in Galar, the brotherly canine pokemon returned to blah blah blah. But before they left, their dear cinderace friend encouraged them to go binge drinking. Self-control not being one of the boys’ strong suits, they blew the money they should have spent on food for travel which is what led to Auran using his survival instincts to identify berries the duo could eat. His survival skills were limited to half-remembered facts; they were lucky a bad case of stomach cramps is all they were suffering from. 


Auran rolled his eyes. He didn’t have much patience for his brother’s complaining normally. The rumbling in his stomach did not help matters. “Don’t worry. We’ll just stop at the Pokecenter. Just a few…more…miles…” Auran gagged. Sweat covered his forehead. The lucario fell to his hands and knees, telling himself he only needed a short rest. 


“I’m gonna blow chunks,” Remus added. The lycanroc stumbled dizzily. He looked green in the face. 


Auran breathed heavily. What if this wasn’t a normal illness? What if those berries were seriously poisonous? What if he accidentally made his little brother ingest something that could kill them?


“Do you guys need some help?” A tender voice asked. 


The lucario looked over his shoulder. His guardian angel kneeled down so that Auran could see he was a grass type like most pokemon around this area. The green fur on his head stood up between some white horns. Auran looked into his golden eyes. The strange, deer-like pokemon gave him a comforting but uneasy smile. He couldn’t identify this pokemon but he didn’t care. “Y-Yes, we ate…these weird pink berries back there and…are we gonna be okay?” Auran pleaded. 


The grass type took the same berries out of his satchel. “You mean these?” he asked. The duo nodded. The unfamiliar pokemon tittered, patting his leg as he wondered how best to explain the situation. “You’ll be fine…but,” he hesitated. “Maybe you should come inside,” he comforted. He placed his light green hand on the lucario’s shoulder, nudging him in the direction of the house. 


Once the boys were inside, Auran and Remus sat on wooden stools, clutching their aching abdomens while their new acquaintance worked on something in his kitchen. They couldn’t make out what he was doing, but the white and green pokemon was mixing something in a pestle and mortar. 


“Wait a minute. I know you. You’re Shaymin,” Auran realized. He could add that to the list of legendary pokemon he’s met. This journey might have destroyed his digestive tract, but the lucario was still grateful to meet the gratitude pokemon himself. 


The shaymin turned back towards his guests, holding two small bowls of soup; twin trails of steam followed the bowls as the flower child pokemon handed them to his friends. “My name’s Percy,” the shaymin politely corrected. 


Remus and Auran exchanged a look. “I thought legendaries used their species as their name. You know, like Mewtwo,” Auran questioned. 


Percy shuddered, his ears lowering against the sides of his head. Suffice to say, he had heard of Mew before. Recomposing himself, the shaymin explained, “There’s a bunch of shaymin. People think we’re legendary because of how rare we are.”


The canines continued slurping their soup. After drinking the last drop of broth, Auran and Remus were back to their energetic and often annoying selves. “That’s some good stuff. I feel better already,” Auran exclaimed. 


Remus finished drinking the last of the soup straight from the bowl. “It needs meat. Still good though,” he said, licking his lips.


The shaymin took the bowls back. “Thanks, but that only treated the symptoms. The poison’s still in your system,” he lectured. The boys’ worried expressions returned in full. “Uhh, I mean, you’ll be fine in a few days. It’s not deadly or anything,” he clarified. A sweat drop went down the sheepish shaymin’s head. 


Both canines breathed a sigh of relief. Auran looked around the quaint little cottage. All sorts of potted plants lined the shelves and tables of his home, from flowers to herbs. Naturally, the shaymin knew which ones had medicinal properties. As Auran’s eyes scanned the area, he noticed a picture frame on the wooden table in the corner of the room. The photo was old, like seeing a fossil preserved in a museum. It showed a shaymin who looked identical to the one they just meant with friends of various species. “Hey, Percy, is this your grandpa or something? He looks exactly like you,” Auran asked trepidatiously, like he already knew what the answer would be. 


A bittersweet smile formed on Percy’s face. He walked over, gazing nostalgically at the photo. “No, that’s…well, that’s me,” he said.


“Dude, that photo looks like it’s from a hundred years ago,” Remus said incredulously and crossed his arms. 


“It is,” Percy responded. 


Auran and Remus looked at each other, dumbfounded. “But…how…time travel?” Auran speculated.


Percy chuckled, “Good guess. Shaymins have a really long lifespan. That’s all.” This made his guests incredibly curious. It was only natural for different species of pokemon to have different lifespans, but they didn’t know any of them could be over a hundred and not look a day over twenty five. 


“So…how old are you?” Auran asked. 


“Today’s my birthday, so,” he began, counting on his fingers, “One hundred and seventy five,” he answered as if being a centenarian wasn’t unusual. 


Auran and Remus stared dumbfounded for a moment. “You’re fucking what?” Remus blurted, causing the shaymin to recoil at his crass voice. 


Auran subtly gestured for the lycanroc to quiet down. “You look like you’re twenty five or something,” the lucario commented. 


“Once we reach maturity, we more or less stay the same until we’re elderly,” Percy clarified. 


“Lucky,” Auran said. 


“Yeah, sorta,” Percy said half-heartedly. 


“What’s the big deal? Dude, I’m scared of turning thirty,” the lucario chuckled.


Percy smiled in a way that signaled his complicated feelings. Remus, on the other hand, wasn’t as reserved. “Everyone else in that picture is dead, idiot,” Remus venomously whispered in his brother’s ear. 


The lucario felt a twinge of guilt stab him. “S-Sorry, Percy, I didn’t mean…” he stammered. 


“It’s fine. I don’t feel bad about it anymore. At least, I try not to,” Percy assured. “If I’ve learned anything it’s to appreciate what I have. I like to think my longevity gives me more time to enjoy life, even the painful parts,” he said, gazing at his memorabilia. Looking back at the canine brothers snapped him back to his senses. “Sorry, you don’t want to hear an old man ramble,” he tittered, rubbing his neck. 


“Nah, it’s cool. Hey, do you want to come with us to Eterna City? There’s this awesome ice cream parlor you gotta try,” Auran encouraged. 


Percy looked at him quizzically. “No, you don’t want me hanging around…” but Auran wouldn’t take no for an answer. 


“Come on, grandpa. What’s the matter? Can’t leave home without your walker?” The lucario jested, putting an arm around the grass type’s shoulder. 


“Alright,” Percy laughed. “But we’re just getting ice cream. Don’t post this on Snap-gram or Tweet-tok or whatever it is you kids are doing these days,” he teased. 


Remus was texting someone. “I told Mewtwo we’re on our way,” he said, putting his phone back in his pocket. 


The shaymin froze before hesitantly turning his head towards the lycanroc. “Did…did you say Mew?” 


“No, thank fuck. I said Mewtwo, ” Remus clarified. 


“Although, Mew does have a way of finding us ever since we became friends with Mewtwo,” Auran thought out loud. 


The door burst open and a wave of pink psychic energy radiated through the doorway, accompanying the small pink catlike pokemon. “Hi, Auran! Hi, Remus!” Mew greeted. “My little bro was worried you got lost in the woods and asked me to help look for you,” he exposited. The legendary was beaming with vitality like always. “Whatcha doing in this weird, old house?” he asked. His curious eyes fell on the remaining pokemon. “Percy?”


Fear gave way to panic. “No…No!” Percy cried. 


“I haven’t seen you in forever,” Mew said. “Percy was my bestest friend before Mewtwo was born,” he said to the canines. “And if I remember correctly, today’s your birthday. You know what that means,” Mew sang. 


Percy looked at his new friends for any chance of salvation. 


Mew grinned before making a paddle out of pure psychic energy. “It’s time for your birthday spankings!” 


“Keep him away from me! Keep him away from me!” Percy cried and bolted from the room, leading to the shaymin being chased around his own home by the pink cat, trying to keep his soft white bottom away from the paddle’s swing. 


Auran and Remus tried to interfere to protect their new friend. Thankfully, they had enough experience dealing with psychic pranksters to avoid Mew’s attacks. Escaping with Percy and their underwear still intact would be a bigger challenge. Painful or not, Auran and Remus still intended on celebrating their friend’s birthday before the day was over.