Thunderlight

Meet Lenny

Surprisingly, he wakes up. It would be a pleasant surprise if the bed he was on wasn't so unpleasant.

Blinking blearily at the world around him, he takes a few moments to adjust. He's in a small room, far too small for his tastes, lying in a straw bed. The wooden walls and floors suggest he's in a cottage of some sort. There's a small bookshelf with ratty books against the wall, and a poorly made vase resting on a chipped end table. The rug beside the bed looks scratchy and uncomfortable.

He's not in much better shape than his surroundings. At the very least, all his injuries have been cared for. Electric burns marr his skin, wrapped carefully in bandages. He tries to move, but the motion shoots stinging pain throughout his entire body, and he falls back. The impact makes him wince.

As he waits for the pain to subside, he glares at the ceiling. How is he supposed to beat Zekrom now? The dragon was already unbeatable, but now he's got all these injuries weighing him down. He doesn't have time to recover; he needs to return to his father's good graces as soon as possible.

Just as he's considering scrounging together some cash and hiring some cheap mercenaries to do the job for him, the rickety door swings open with a loud creak. His head shoots up to see a swadloon waddling in with a bowl of soup. The swadloon, in turn, jumps at the sight of him awake and drops the bowl on the floor.

"Oops!" The bug laughs, his tone absolutely delighted in spite of the mess on the floor. "Silly me! I oughta clean that up, though—"

As soon as he bends over to pick up the bowl, he bumps right into the end table. The vase wobbles dangerously, and before Montgomery can even say a word, the swadloon bumps into it again and the vase falls over. The loud shattering sound startles the bug, who quickly whirls around.

...And then runs straight into the bookshelf, knocking several books off the shelf.

With that same carefree country accent, the swadloon remarks, "Aw, shucks. Well ain't that just a mess?"

The swadloon chuckles to himself, cleaning the soup. In what was once a peaceful room, this lone bug-type managed to let all Hell loose in the span of five seconds. Montgomery trains an eye on him warily. He's not gonna die in some dusty hovel because of a clumsy insect.

Out of nowhere, the swadloon shoots back up. It does not make Mongomery jump.

"Pardon my manners, I haven't introduced myself! My name's Lenny, what's yours?"

When Mongtomery is certain Lenny isn't going to accidentally knock the roof down on them, he responds, "Montgomery."

Lenny's face brightens. "Montgomery? Well that's an awfully nice sounding name! But we have some neighbors with the last name of Montgomery, and it might get a little confusing if we keep mixing you up. You might need a nickname..."

Montgomery bristles at the thought. "No."

Lenny doesn't seem to hear him, head in the clouds as he picks up the fallen books. "Mind if I call you Mott? It's got a fun little ring to it, don't you think?"

Montgomery scowls, deciding he isn't just cautious of this Lenny. He hates him.

"Why am I here?" He demands, glaring at the back of Lenny's head. Lenny turns, still smiling, the hostility going right over his head. "And where am I?"

"We're at my folk's home, just outside the valley in Wheatfield Village. I was out picking berries last night when Zekrom attacked. I saw him knock you into the river before flying off, so I dragged you back home."