The Battle for Food

"Mis!"

Misdreavus flew happily through the shade, clutching two Sour Berries as she headed back toward Dian.

She had been looking forward to candied hawthorn for so long.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Dappled patches of light shifted with the sun, making the forest seem deeper and quieter.

Dian leaned against a large tree, enjoying the peace.

In the grass nearby, a red, spiky Wurmple lay without a care, happily munching tender leaves as though neither Dian nor Beedrill existed.

Larvitar looked around curiously. One moment it ran into the grass; the next, Wurmple had caught its attention.

It tried chewing a leaf too, but quickly spat it out. Evidently, leaves were not to its taste.

"Wurm."

Wurmple suddenly raised the spike on its tail and stared warily at a nearby thicket.

All at once.

Misdreavus burst out of it and offered up the two Sour Berries as if eager for praise.

"Misdreavus, where did you find these?"

Dian noticed the breaks at the stems. They did not look as though Misdreavus had cut them with Shadow Sneak or pulled them free. Some force had snapped them off.

He stroked Misdreavus and praised her.

Of course, two Sour Berries were nowhere near enough. He was heading into the desert, and he would need far more than that.

Still, if Misdreavus had brought back two, there were probably more. That was better than finding none at all.

He had looked it up before. Slateport City produced plenty of Sour Berries, whose trees had unusual requirements for soil and water. That made them difficult to sprout, and they could not survive in ordinary ground. Oddly enough, though, they could grow in desert oases.

If he could not find enough Sour Berries near Slateport City, he would have to buy some spray in Mauville City