I can do that. Let's see, happy ending, happy ending...
[He takes a deep breath, partly because that's just what he does, but also because he doesn't want to fill his time of thinking with just silence. His chosen tale might have been based on a memory, but he had a feeling that those involved might be offended about the severe changes he was making.]
Ah. Okay, so once upon a time there was a grumpy old Shroomish. He didn't like to leave his home or get to know anybody else, so soon all the younger pokemon grew afraid of him, and dreaded having to pass by where he lived. One day, a pack of Poochyena were going out to hunt for berries when the youngest, a curious little girl, wandered off to see who it was that made her family -- who she thought couldn't be afraid of anything -- so scared. If anyone had noticed what she was doing, they would have called her a fool like they had done so many times before, but they continued on their way and soon, the Poochyena was separated from her pack.
Lost and still burning with curiosity, the Poochyena bravely made her way up to the grumpy old Shroomish's house. It wasn't dusty or dirty, like you might've expected from a guy like him, but it was so clean the Poochyena had a hard time finding evidence of anyone living there. She snuck further into the house, using her nose to track down this mysterious old man she'd heard so much about, and eventually she found him resting in a dark room.
Being so young, the Poochyena -- she didn't really understand when people needed to sleep. When she woke up, she wanted her brothers and sisters to be awake, too, so even though she'd been told that she shouldn't, she'd gotten in the habit of pouncing onto whoever it was she wanted to play with. Not being afraid of the Shroomish like the rest of her family, the Poochyena jumped forward and landed on top of the Shroomish. Not surprisingly, he didn't think that was as great as she thought he would. Startled and angry at being attacked while he slept, the grumpy old Shroomish let out a puff of Poison Powder. When he saw who it was -- and how young she was -- the Shroomish did something he hadn't done in years.
He began to feel bad, and another feeling that he didn't know what it was, but I'll tell you because I'm the one telling the story, so I know. He felt some compassion.
Being a Shroomish, and a grumpy old one at that, it wasn't exactly easy for him to carry the Poochyena out from his house and into the town. Once he'd gotten there, though, he found another challenge. Every time he tried to ask one of the other pokemon for help, they ran away in fear. Some even fainted on the spot!
[He clears his throat some, preparing for a lower, gruffer tone, with a lighter one soon after.]
"I'm sorry," he told the Poochyena. "We live in a town of fools. Can't they see that there's work to be done? You need help."
The Poochyena, though poisoned, moved closer at his words, licking him on the cheek. "It's okay. I've been told I'm a fool, but I can still see that you're not the mean old man everyone thinks you are. We just have to show them."
He was mean, and he was old, but even the Shroomish didn't feel like arguing just then. Instead, he sat with her and talked until the moon shone bright in the sky. By that time, the Poochyena's pack had noticed her disappearance, and had spent hours searching for her. When her scent led them to the Shroomish's house, their hearts grew heavy and they made their way home with their heads hung low -- so low that they nearly missed her as they walked by. But because the Shroomish was talking with her, and she was of course the more chatty of the two even feeling as sick as she did, her mother and father heard the sound of her voice and were quick to rush over.
"Thank you for watching over our daughter," they told him as they used the berries they'd gathered during the day to cure the young Poochyena. "We've never known of a Shroomish who was as kind as you to stay and talk with someone in need." But they had, their daughter told them, and her pack was stunned to hear her speak so enthusiastically about the grumpy old Shroomish they'd all feared for so long. After making sure the Poochyena was healthy once more, the Shroomish made his way back to his home, now too clean and too empty.
It didn't stay that way for long, though, what with the pack of Poochyena returning the next night to share their haul of berries with him as thanks, and then the night after to see if he needed anything more. Night after night, they visited the grumpy old Shroomish, bringing with them food, stories, and friends, until eventually there wasn't a pokemon in the area that hadn't heard of his kind deed and grown to like speaking with him.
The Shroomish still thought of them as fools, of course, but he never was quite as grumpy again, and the youngest Poochyena became his favorite fool of all.
[Hiccup falls into silence after that for a few moments, then breaks it with a light cough. He couldn't be certain, but he had a feeling he'd fallen into rambling somewhere in there and could have missed his mark.]
The end. Sorry, you know, if that wasn't happy enough.
well this got stupidly long
[He takes a deep breath, partly because that's just what he does, but also because he doesn't want to fill his time of thinking with just silence. His chosen tale might have been based on a memory, but he had a feeling that those involved might be offended about the severe changes he was making.]
Ah. Okay, so once upon a time there was a grumpy old Shroomish. He didn't like to leave his home or get to know anybody else, so soon all the younger pokemon grew afraid of him, and dreaded having to pass by where he lived. One day, a pack of Poochyena were going out to hunt for berries when the youngest, a curious little girl, wandered off to see who it was that made her family -- who she thought couldn't be afraid of anything -- so scared. If anyone had noticed what she was doing, they would have called her a fool like they had done so many times before, but they continued on their way and soon, the Poochyena was separated from her pack.
Lost and still burning with curiosity, the Poochyena bravely made her way up to the grumpy old Shroomish's house. It wasn't dusty or dirty, like you might've expected from a guy like him, but it was so clean the Poochyena had a hard time finding evidence of anyone living there. She snuck further into the house, using her nose to track down this mysterious old man she'd heard so much about, and eventually she found him resting in a dark room.
Being so young, the Poochyena -- she didn't really understand when people needed to sleep. When she woke up, she wanted her brothers and sisters to be awake, too, so even though she'd been told that she shouldn't, she'd gotten in the habit of pouncing onto whoever it was she wanted to play with. Not being afraid of the Shroomish like the rest of her family, the Poochyena jumped forward and landed on top of the Shroomish. Not surprisingly, he didn't think that was as great as she thought he would. Startled and angry at being attacked while he slept, the grumpy old Shroomish let out a puff of Poison Powder. When he saw who it was -- and how young she was -- the Shroomish did something he hadn't done in years.
He began to feel bad, and another feeling that he didn't know what it was, but I'll tell you because I'm the one telling the story, so I know. He felt some compassion.
Being a Shroomish, and a grumpy old one at that, it wasn't exactly easy for him to carry the Poochyena out from his house and into the town. Once he'd gotten there, though, he found another challenge. Every time he tried to ask one of the other pokemon for help, they ran away in fear. Some even fainted on the spot!
[He clears his throat some, preparing for a lower, gruffer tone, with a lighter one soon after.]
"I'm sorry," he told the Poochyena. "We live in a town of fools. Can't they see that there's work to be done? You need help."
The Poochyena, though poisoned, moved closer at his words, licking him on the cheek. "It's okay. I've been told I'm a fool, but I can still see that you're not the mean old man everyone thinks you are. We just have to show them."
He was mean, and he was old, but even the Shroomish didn't feel like arguing just then. Instead, he sat with her and talked until the moon shone bright in the sky. By that time, the Poochyena's pack had noticed her disappearance, and had spent hours searching for her. When her scent led them to the Shroomish's house, their hearts grew heavy and they made their way home with their heads hung low -- so low that they nearly missed her as they walked by. But because the Shroomish was talking with her, and she was of course the more chatty of the two even feeling as sick as she did, her mother and father heard the sound of her voice and were quick to rush over.
"Thank you for watching over our daughter," they told him as they used the berries they'd gathered during the day to cure the young Poochyena. "We've never known of a Shroomish who was as kind as you to stay and talk with someone in need." But they had, their daughter told them, and her pack was stunned to hear her speak so enthusiastically about the grumpy old Shroomish they'd all feared for so long. After making sure the Poochyena was healthy once more, the Shroomish made his way back to his home, now too clean and too empty.
It didn't stay that way for long, though, what with the pack of Poochyena returning the next night to share their haul of berries with him as thanks, and then the night after to see if he needed anything more. Night after night, they visited the grumpy old Shroomish, bringing with them food, stories, and friends, until eventually there wasn't a pokemon in the area that hadn't heard of his kind deed and grown to like speaking with him.
The Shroomish still thought of them as fools, of course, but he never was quite as grumpy again, and the youngest Poochyena became his favorite fool of all.
[Hiccup falls into silence after that for a few moments, then breaks it with a light cough. He couldn't be certain, but he had a feeling he'd fallen into rambling somewhere in there and could have missed his mark.]
The end. Sorry, you know, if that wasn't happy enough.