CHAPTER 6

The sun Was already High up in the sky When Muez And Haribon Arrived at the Spot they've both chose to build their Shelter. Once they've arrived, Muez Immediately Went to work.

Earlier, When the two was about to Go here, Muez Fortunately Remembered that he have to Grind the River stone Into An shape so, After finding a Suitable Stone that will Act as the grind stone, Muez Grinded For almost 3 hours before he Achieved an Acceptable result. The Stone Axe Head Was Sharp enough For Muez To start chopping small trees down.

Now that the Axe head is done, Muez now need to make A Sturdy Handle. One That can Handle Repeated Impacts From Chopping things.

So, With that goal in mind, Muez Asked Haribon to hunt for some fish in the river. Something That Muez Forgot to Do when they're in the Stream earlier.

Haribon Cawed In Affirmation before Taking off To Grab some fish for the two of them. The magikaro that Haribon brought Was Not To Muez's Liking. Probably Because of the thought That Pokémons Themselves Had the ability to experience and express Emotions aswell as Establish Conversations and Friendship with humans Like him. The thought of chomping down At a Creature that can understand you As well as Interact with you slighlty Disturbed Muez.

Seeing Haribon go, Muez Stood up and Went To the Nearby trees to find A branch that will serve as the Handle of his stone axe. After walking around for Almost 15 minutes, Muez Was unable to find a Branch that was Sturdy enough To be Handle.

Muez Sighed In annoyance. Man,even finding branches now Is Proving itself a Hard Thing to do. Left with no choice, Muez Can only Use his Sharpened Axe head to cut down a small tree as thick as his Arms.

Swing after swing, Muez Slowly Cut the Small tree in it's Lower Part. The Small tree shook with each Chop that Muez Made. A Passing by Ratata Saw what he was doing and Decided to watch in curiosity.

Seeing the Human Struggle With cutting down a Small Tree, Ratata Decided To Give Muez a helping hand.

Muez Wiped The sweat that was forming in his head With his Left Hand And was just about to resume Cutting the tree when something tugged at his jeans. When he looked down, Muez Saw a Ratata Pointing Towards the tree he was cutting with it's Paw before Gesturing with it's Teeth.

It took a while for Muez To get What the Pokémon was Trying to convey and is more than happy to let the Rodent Pokémon Handle the work.

"Really? You're going to help me? Awesome!"

Making way for the Helpful pokémon, Muez Watched as The ratata made it's way to the small tree before Opening it's Mouth wide. Muez Saw the pokémon's Huge front teeth Glow Brightly.

Ratata Let out a squeak before Taking a Huge Chunk of wood with It's Move. Ratata Had used bite.

Muez Watched in amazement as Ratata Ran around the small tree, Taking chunks after chunks of wood with each Bite that it Used. Not long after, The small tree Swayed and fell to Muez's Front, The Ratata standing triumphantly On top of it.

Muez Couldn't help but Smile At the scene in front of him. This, This was the Thing that Made Him and Diana Love Pokémons so much. The mischievous, Adorable, And Wholesome Moments In the Anime That Shows How Great it was To have A pokémon by your side.

"Alright, Thanks for the help, Ratata. How about You come With me to Rwceive your payment?", Muez Offered while Taking the Small tree In his Hands.

Ratata Cocked it's Head In confussion. Payment? What's That? Can it eat it?. Noticing The Pokémon's Confusion, Muez Smiled and made a 'eat Food' Gesture With his Right hand. Something that Ratata Understood immediately.

Ratata's Eyes Grew wide before It started Nodding Like a Pecking Chicken.

"Nice! Let's Get going, Then!"

. . .

Haribon Returned at the Camp site With a Huge fish Dangling In her Claws. Upon arriving, Haribon Saw Her Partner Sitting on a Stone with a Ratata Eating by his side.

Muez Saw her Arrive And waved At her in greetings. Putting the Things in his hand, Her partner Stood up nad made his way to her. Haribon cawed In Delight when Muez Began to stroke The Crest On top of her head.

"Thanks For the hardwork, Haribon. Take a Good rest and let me do the work, Alright?", Her partner said before Taking the fish Beneath her in his Hands Before Making his way back to where he was just sitting Earlier.

Comoletely in a Good mood, Haribon Hopped off the Stone she was standing at to Look for the two magikarp That she caught in the Stream Earlier. She Hopped And jumped Around the site and found the Vibrant red scales of her food. Eyes Lightening up in Glee, Haribon Took off and flew towards her food. however, Upon arriving there, She froze Mid air In a Somewhat comical way when She Noticed That One of the two magikarps she Caught was missing.

Descending towards The magikarp, Haribon Saw A trail with the same width with her Food. Eyes Narrowing In Deep thought, Haribon Flew And followed to where The Trial will lead and Was Confused when it led to Where Muez was Sitting at.

. . .

After Receiving the Fish, Muez Used the leaves Behind him to Cover It Entirely to prevent Flies from laying their eggs on it. After that, Muez Sat down and resumed what he was doing earlier. Cutting the Tree Into a Comfortable size for his Stone Axe's Handle.

With the ratata Minding it's Own business beside him, Muez Began to Chop the Wood In the middle. Muez Planned on cutting the tree into an Arm Length Handle. Chop after chop, Swing after swing. Slowly, Muez Made progress and the Tree was gradually Cut Into Two. Using the Sharpened axe head in his hand, Muez Trimmed the Branches and twigs In the tree before He started cutting it A little bit smaller Again.

While Chopping the wood, Muez Saw Haribon Fly down from above in front of him. Her eyes switching between him and the Rodent Pokémon in his side.

Confused By her actions, Muez Halt His work And turned to The ratata By His side. Muez Saw that The ratata Was alnost done with the Magikaro that he Gave To it as payment for helping Him Before Turning back towards haribon.

When he Looked at her, He saw her Deadpanning at him Before He turned towards the Ratata again. Muez stared and stared Before a realization Struck him. How Dumb of him. Haribon Hunted these Magikarps herself and not him so By logic, Muez Don't Have any rights to Use them For his own Agenda.

Realizing that, Muez Turnes Back to haribon and started apologizing to her.

"Sorry, Haribon. I forgot To Ask you About Giving Ratata here One of your Magikarps. Well, You see. . .Ratata helped me Cut this tree Down When I'm Struggle To earlier. So. . .", Muez Trailed his words, Too embarassed to even continue His sentence.

Haribon Stared at him for a few seconds before she Sighed in Understanding. At least He used it In a good way, Right? Haribon cawed before Flying back towards the Remaining magikarp From earlier.

Muez Scratched his head in embarassment before resuming At what he was doing. After cutting the Wood To A suitable Length, Muez Began to Remove the Bark on it with A stone Chisel that he made after grinding the Saxe head.

With a Sturdy Wood that he found in his feet, Muez Removed the bark before Carving A mortise Large enough for his Axe head to Fit. Like a Seasoned Sculptor, Muez Carved And carved until a Mortise formed to haft the Axe head. Turning the handle Around, Muez Began to Work on it. however, The Chisel In his Hand Suddenly Broke into Half.

Muez Stared at it before sighing in exasperation. Muez Pondered for a while, Looking for other methods to finish what he's working since he was too lazy to spend another One to two hours to make another Stone Chisel. After thinking for a While, Muez's Eyes Brighten Up when he thought Of one method.