Basil and Thyme's Night under the Stars

    Nighttime near Oran Forest was quiet, but filled with pleasant sounds if one took the time to listen. A cool breeze blew, rustling the leaves of the trees and pushing around the fallen leaves, creating a short-lived swirl of warm autumn color in the air. A Combee passed by, their soft buzzing filling the air as they paused for a moment to look for nectar in the patch of pansies they found. Off in the distance, the Kricketot began their song, filling the air with their soothing melodies as the Illumise and Volbeat began flying in the skies, looking for all the world like stars in the midst of an elegant dance. This nocturnal symphony continued in its harmony for a while, but was eventually joined by the hearty laughter of a honey-yellow Snorlax emerging from the forest and the playful voice of a dark blue Lucario walking alongside them.

    “I’m telling you, he looked me dead in the eyes and said ‘Nice night, huh?” like I couldn’t see the bag he was hiding behind his back. Like I wasn’t literally holding his bounty poster in my hand. I mean come on, if you’re gonna pull a fast one, you gotta try harder than that!”

    The Snorlax chuckled. “Seriously? Oh man, he had to at least stop once you showed it to him, right?”

    “You’d think, wouldn’t you? That would be the sensible thing, but no! He looks at the poster in my hand and goes ‘Who’s that dashing fella on there?’ and just keeps trying to play it off, right up until I send him home!”

    “Ha! I swear, Bidoof’s a worse liar than that, and do you remember how he was after that ‘Grandmaster of all things bad’ thing we did?”

    “Yeah! He tried acting like nothing happened, but he was redder than Corphish! It was amazing!”

    The two stopped next to the patch of pansies nearby, and the Combee flew off. The Lucario began gathering twigs and pieces of wood and began piling them on top of each other while the Snorlax grabbed nearby stones and arranged them around the wood in a circle.

    “So, he called himself a ‘dashing fella,’ huh?” he said, placing the last stone in the circle and sitting down. “I’ll be the judge of that. You still got the poster?

    The Lucario grinned and sat down next to the Snorlax while pulling out a wanted poster from his bag and passing it to the Snorlax, who took it and carefully studied the detailed drawing of a Patrat.

    “Idunno, he’s kinda cute. In a... kid-you-can’t-stay-mad-at kind of way.”

    “I guess, but not as cute as you,” the Lucario retorted, winking. Suddenly, the Lucario gasped and held his paw to his forehead. “Basil! I’m having a vision! I see us camping, but... there’s no food! Oh, the hunger!” he continued in a playfully melodramatic tone.

    “What a terrible fate!” Basil answered in the same tongue-in-cheek manner. “Thyme, tell me- What must I do?”

    Thyme closed his eyes for a moment, then replied, “Anything! This future must be averted at all costs!”

    The two spent a moment laughing, the whimsical harmony of their voices filling the area with warmth, though not quite enough to combat the cool autumn wind. 

    “Alright, you goof, I’ll put together some food if you get the fire going,” Basil said over his shoulder as he searched in his bag for the right ingredients to make something nice. Thyme nodded and began using a subdued Blaze Kick to light their campfire.

    “Say Thyme,” Basil continued, looking at two separate packs of ingredients in his bag, “Do you think the future prefers s’mores or chestnut soup?” Thyme paused for a second as the campfire finally lit, filling the area with light and warmth. 

    “Hmmm, definitely s’mores. Can’t have a nice camp-out under the stars without s’mores.”

    “Sounds good to me,” Basil called, pulling out the smaller of the two packs and setting it down next to him, then reaching into his bag again to pull out two mugs, a small kettle, and a pouch of pecha berry leaves. “I’ll make some tea, too, since it’s fairly chilly out.”

    “Tea’s nice,” Thyme said as he walked over to Basil and sat down next to him, snuggling up to the fluffy Snorlax. “But I’ve got my heat source riiiight here.”

    Basil blushed and took a moment to sit and relax, taking in the sound of the wind and the crackling of the campfire, and found himself leaning toward Thyme slightly, the two having a moment of warmth and peace as the cold wind continued blowing. Their moment of serenity was cut short, however, by Basil’s stomach growling. 

    “Guess I’m not the only one who’s hungry, eh?” Thyme remarked with a smile. 

    Basil laughed. “Yeah, I am pretty hungry,” he said as he filled the kettle with water and set it on the campfire. He opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by Thyme’s stomach growling loudly. 

    “Not as hungry as you, though, apparently!” he said, grabbing a pair of sticks from the ground next to him and sticking a marshmallow on each. He handed one to Thyme, who eagerly took it and began holding his marshmallow over the fire, watching the soft and gooey treat darken and take on a light brown color as the scent of sugar and maple began floating through the air. Basil held his marshmallow over the fire with one paw, using the other to pull out a few of his homemade cinnamon crackers and a bar of sweet chocolate he’d gotten from Kecleon. 

    Basil pulled his marshmallow back once it had achieved a perfect golden brown color all over, and began using one of the crackers to pull it off of the stick. He carefully broke off a piece of the perfect size from the chocolate bar and laid it on top of the roasted marshmallow, then finished it with another cracker on top. He took a bite, thoroughly enjoying the intense sweetness of the marshmallow and the chocolate mixing with the savory edge of the cinnamon crackers, pulled together by a slight smokiness from the roasted outside of the marshmallow. He continued eating his s’more while watching Thyme roast his marshmallow. Unlike Basil’s, Thyme’s marshmallow was much darker, with a few burned spots where it had been left black on the outside.

    “Careful, you don’t want to melt it too much!” Basil said, knowing full well that Thyme had no intention of stopping until his marshmallow was seconds away from becoming soft and sugary charcoal. Basil devoured the rest of his s’more in a single bite and picked up the crackers, ready to grab Thyme’s marshmallow before it fell off the stick. Thyme pulled his marshmallow back at the perfect moment, taking care to not burn it an instant more than necessary. He pointed the stick over at Basil, who carefully plucked the marshmallow off and placed it on the cracker, then assembled the rest of it. He handed it to Thyme and watched as he eagerly bit into it, melted marshmallow and chocolate leaving small spots in the fur near his mouth. 

    The kettle on the fire began to emit a soft whistling, and Basil picked up the bag of pecha berry leaves he’d set down next to him, then pulled a pair of small metal tea infusers out of his bag. He filled them with pecha berry leaves and set them in both of the mugs he’d left next to the campfire, then picked up the kettle and poured hot water in each, making sure not to spill even a single drop. He sat back for a moment and waited for the tea to steep as Thyme hungrily devoured the remainder of his s’more. Basil smiled and pointed to Thyme’s face.

    “You’ve got a little something on your face,” he said, reminded of all the times he’d gone camping with Thyme and one of them always ended up with something on their face, no matter what it is they had eaten. Thyme cleaned off some of the chocolate on his face with one paw, then licked it off. 

    “Did I get it?” he asked, knowing that he hadn’t.

    “Almost,” Basil responded. “Here, let me just-” he continued, extending his arm to carefully wipe off the bits of marshmallow before licking it off his paw. Thyme gave a warm smile.

    “Our cruel fate has been prevented,” Thyme began, speaking in a jokingly melodramatic tone. “Basil, you are truly a hero among heroes.” Basil chuckled and gave a sort of half-bow, leaning forward and closing his eyes for a second as the already chilly wind grew colder. 

    “Do you think a hero among heroes could get a blanket? It’s starting to get pretty cold,” he said, shivering a bit.

    “Here, I can help with that,” Thyme replied, pulling a red and green plaid-pattern blanket from his bag and wrapping it around the both of them as he snuggled up to Basil and rested his head on the Snorlax’s warm, fluffy shoulder. “How’s that,” he said while looking up at Basil’s face. “Better?”

    Basil shifted a bit to get more comfortable, and leaned so that his head was resting on Thyme’s, the two of them both as relaxed as one could possibly be.

    “Much,” he answered as a warm smile spread across his face. Several minutes passed as the two simply sat together under the blanket, enjoying each other’s warmth and wordless affection. Basil glanced down at the mugs next to the campfire, and carefully reached forward to remove and empty the tea infusers, put them in his bag, pick up the two mugs, and carefully place Thyme’s into his waiting paws. The two of them slowly sipped their tea and gazed up at the sky, watching the wonderfully colorful stars twinkle and shine as the soft and feathery clouds flew by. 

    The tea had a subtle sweetness to it behind the fruity flavor, which alongside the warmth of freshly-made tea, made for the perfect drink to relax with. Thyme felt the worries brought on by the strange dreams he’d been having lessen and fade, and he simply immersed himself in the present moment, surrounded by steam from the tea, the familiar rhythm of Basil’s breathing, and the wondrous comfort of enjoying a drink with him under their favorite blanket. Time seemed to stretch out and the two sat together enjoying their tea for what felt like hours as the cold wind continued blowing. They sat and listened to the Kricketots’ distant chorus, the whistling of the wind through the trees, the rustling of fallen leaves taking flight, and the crackling of the campfire in front of them. 

    Eventually they finished their tea and Basil packed up the mugs, taking a second to douse the campfire with the water in the kettle before stowing that as well. 

    “I think it’s about time we-” Basil started, interrupted by a yawn that forced its way out mid-sentence. He blinked wearily, then continued. “Time we hit the hay, Thyme,” he said, pulling the blanket out from behind them and lying back on the ground before spreading the blanket over himself. He shifted to make himself more comfortable and to ensure there was plenty of room under the blanket for Thyme.

    “Yeah, I’m beat,” he yawned as he lay down and nestled himself under the blanket with Basil, who had apparently already fallen asleep since his soft snoring could be heard as soon as Thyme got comfortable. He glanced up at the sky for a moment and saw a short streak of light fly across the sky. He paused, then closed his eyes and made his wish. Whatever happens, he thought, I want Basil to be safe. I don’t know what I would do without him. He opened his eyes and glanced up at the stars again, and the first star that caught his eye twinkled slightly, as if in response to his heartfelt wish. Thyme smiled, then closed his eyes and began to doze off in Basil’s arms, lulled to sleep by the soothing melodies of the forest surrounding them.